《The Last Primal》 Chapter 1 - 1 - Darkness (Part 1) Darkness. The ultimate ruler, the true One-Above-All. Everything starts from it, and everything returns to it eventually. People say that in your final moments, darkness seeps in your very existence, engulfs your whole being. They say it''s an incredibly rxing feeling that takes you on your journey to your afterlife. They say that in the very darkness, the ''nothingness'' your weary soul will finally be able to rest and rx. This brings up some very philosophical and existential questions. Do you even exist? To be perfectly honest it sounds a load of cr*p to me. First of all how would ''they'' know? If you have to die to experience it, how would you describe the experience? But I must admit the second part is true. How do I know? Well.. I had no idea where I was, or even what I was. I only thought that there was literally nothing around me, but I knew that I am alive in this ''nothingness'', this evesting darkness. I guess it kinda felt like if I would be in a section of the universe, there would be no stars in it, and I would be just floating. It was a very weird experience. I had some blurry memories about talking with someone or something that was surrounded with bright white light, and then everything changed. Thest words he said to me were: ''With this, we have an agreement. I will be watching you, my dear friend. Everything rests on your actions.'' I''m not sure how much time must have passed, but as I was pondering on these words, and their meaning, I remembered one more thing: ''You just need to will IT. Remember only you have this ability, do not tell it to anyone. This is your own special gift, the one you wished for. Make sure to will ''Enya'' to appear in your mind and learn everything before you arrive in the new world.'' He said ''Enya'', and that I will be able to see myself in the ''way asked for''... What does that mean? I just have to think about it? Well, it can''t hurt to try.. it''s not like I have anything else to do here. ''Okay, so I''m supposed to focus on this Enya? But how? What is that? A name? Eh anyway let''s just try to focus on the word and treat it as a name. Enya! Enya are you there?'' [Greetings Aiden. How can I help you?] seemingly from nowhere a soft female voice replied to my query. The sudden reply which felt likeing from inside, startled me so I blurted out a series of questions, yelling basically. "Woah, what is this? Who are you? Where are you? Or better, where am I?" [I am inside you. With your current knowledge, the best description is that I am inside your soul. So there is no need to yell if you think about the question I will be able to hear it, so just think about your queries and I will reply to you.] Enya calmly replied to my most obvious problem, then continued answering all my previous questions, one after another. You have died and the almighty Ioris, provided you with the option of choice. You opted to enter the cycle of life and be reincarnated. However due to the circumstances of your death, and because your soul was incredibly unique, your new life is special. You are no longer on Earth, but in a new world, another ''dimension'' if that is better for you to understand. As for the question of where you are, that would be the Gate of Life and Death. You are currently only a soul as you need to answer a few questions and finalize your choices before you can be reborn.] ''Woah that was a lot of information at once Enya. Okay, let''s go step by step. Who is Ioris? Was it that bright light thing? Is that God? Did I just talk to God?'' The idea of me talking to the creator of life seemed so bizarre that I just had to ask to get confirmation. I wasn''t a deeply religious guy or at least that''s what I vaguely remember, but I still had an idea about the root of all religions back on Earth. They all called it differently, but the basis of 90% of the religions was about 1 almighty being that created all life and should stand above all. [It is a God, yes, but not in the way you think it is. Since you are aic book fan, let''s phrase it in a way that you will be familiar with. Let''s just say he is the Ultimate One, the One-Above-All. The reason he pulled you from the Gate of Life and Death after your unfortunate demise, was because your soul called to him. It was shining in a golden light, something that in the zillions of years never happened before. He pulled you out from the Gate and you two talked. In short, you had a very strong desire to live, and you opted for a second chance at life.] Enya calmly exined a few of my questions. It does seem she skipped some details, but I should not press for more in my current situation. I did get the gist of it anyways. ''If that is the case why can''t I remember? I only remember just some small bits, I can''t even recall how I died or who I really was? And I can''t remember that conversation, just that I had to call for your name.'' [That is because you are currently In-Between. Normally you have no ess to your memories that your soul stores. In your case, there are some special circumstances that I am not authorized to currently tell you, but rest assured everything will be clearter on. Just know that your current objective should be to get your bearings. However I can give you a few details about your primary previous life. I have to warn you may have some difficulties processing them, but it is important that you understand them. Would you want me to give you the details?] Enya asked the question that I wanted to ask as well. I unhesitantly yelled out: "Yes please!" [You are a Primal. They are an ancient race that existed billions of years ago. For reasons currently unknown to me, they were an extinct species, until you showed up. Your circumstances around your birth unfortunately are unknown. One thing is sure, that your previous parents weren''t your birth parents as they were human. Primals were the precursor race to humans, and they were undoubtedly a higher tiered existence. Primals are a very special race, as they were the only evolver race in existence. In ancient history these species were an anomaly, something that wasn''t directly ''created'' by Ioris, but seemingly just ''came-to-be''. We could not find the root cause of this incident, and in the end, Ioris did not intervene. Primals weren''t like other species, they weren''t looking to spread their influence, they were living amongst themselves with a stable poption. The evolver term means that their primary means of survival was to hunt and absorb the life essence of other beings, acquiring their traits, skills and abilities. The process wasn''t always guaranteed, but as time passed, their power grew, and eventually the other dominant species learned of their existence. Unfortunately, this part of the history is missing, but after their discovery, a short whileter the entire species disappeared. The current hypothesis is that they were wiped out, because they were feared. The problem with you is that we do not know how you came to be, your first cycle of life was your previous one.] ''What do you mean by that? My parents weren''t my real parents? This is a lot of information for me to process..'' I sighed. This is a lot to take in at once. Also, there''s one more question that I need an answer to: ''Sorry, one more question. Enya, what are you exactly?'' [Regrettably, we have no information about you and your real parents. Also for some reason there''s a lock on the information surrounding your birth, so I cannot answer your question about your parents. I am the System that was imnted into your soul by your request.] ''By my request? And what do you mean by system? Is it simr to something of an AI from Earth?'' [You could say I am simr. I''m not a machine or a program, but your current you will not be able toprehend the truth, so just go with what you arefortable with. You can check your screen and navigate like you would in a program on a monitor just with your thoughts. That was your request to the Creator. Simply focus on the system that you should be able to feel inside your soul, and your System Screen will be visible to you. Any questions you may have I will be able to answer you.] Once Enya informed me, I did notice a weird feeling, that I should be able to call up something from inside me. I focused my thoughts on it, and just as I was told, a screen came up. Name: Aiden Race: Primal (Evolver) Form: ? Condition: ? Might: ? Agility: ? Spirit: ? Skills: Primal Absorb [?] Effects: Blessing of Ioris [?] So I''m called Aiden, huh. That''s good to know. There was also a notice: [Before you can begin, you have to finalize your details. Please ''Finalize your selection''] It had the word BEGIN blinking in green so I couldn''t help but focus my attention to it. Once I did, my screen changed immediately: [You have received 5 points that you can distribute between your primary attributes. Please focus on each individual attribute to see the details of it.] Might: 0 Agility: 0 Spirit: 0 I focused on the word ''Might'' first: [Might: Measures how physically strong you are. Affects your prowess, your overall power, and your physical appearance. It controls your ability to learn might based skills.] Then I went through all of them: [Agility: Measures how agile you are. It also has an effect on your speed. It controls your ability to learn agility and speed based skills.] [Spirit: The power of your soul, the depth of your spirituality. It is your connection to the universe spirit pool, it has an effect on your ability tomunicate and see mythical entities. It also controls your ability to learn spirit-based skills.] Interestingly, this reminds me of those RPG games I used to love and y Hmm... The Spirit is very unique, the "power of your soul"? ''Enya, can you tell me more about this Spirit? [All of your attributes govern a certain aspect of you. Might controls the physical power, Agility controls everything rted to speed and coordination, while Spirit controls the power of your soul. This also means your connection to the universal spirit pool which will allow you to use that power to your liking and manipte your elements to your will. In certain worlds this is called Magic, while in other worlds it might bepletely different.] ''What are these points, and what does 1 point for example in Might would mean to me? How does it work?'' [Each point is a level of that attribute. Each level will increase that attribute by a level. Normally these would increase as you train in that field. However with the help of the system you can skip this procedure and directly increase the chosen field. Another way that you can increase their levels will be your Primal Absorbing ability. The creature you absorb could affect you by providing you an increase in your attributes as well.] ''One more question: What is this Blessing of Ioris, that I can see under Effects?'' I asked. [It''s a little gift to help you in your early days. Since you are Primal, your start will be unique. The blessing you received has 3 uses, and it is designed to assist you in your time of need. Once you finish your attributes, we will discuss what it is for. For now, assign your attribute points.] ''Alright.. Hmm'' Enya was right, I should spend my points. ''So I have 5 points. Each point is basically a level. Each stat can be trained as well and I can also get them by absorbing. I will need to understand that ability more but that cer. Right now, I think the best course of action would be to focus on Spirit, since it is directly rted to my soul and my intellect. Also seems rather unique, has something about the magic pool, andmunicating with mystical entities.. I will have to ask Enya about thister as well...'' After some more thinking I decided to go with my initial thought, since Might and Agility should be easier to increase than Spirit. So my attributes are as follows: Might: 1 Agility: 1 Spirit 3 Once I was finished, the skills section came up. But this time with a lot more information. Skills: Primal Absorb [Level 1] I focused on the skill to get more information about it. [Primal Absorb: Absorb the life essence of the defeated enemy. Based on the lifeform, you can acquire it''s unique skills, and get an increase in one or more of your attributes or obtain attribute points to spend. You can absorb lifeforms 1 level higher than your current skill level. It only works from your Primal Slime state.] ''Level? What is that? How can I increase it? Also, can you tell me about levels in general?'' [Level is the system''s summary of the overall strength of a given life form. The system is capable of analyzing a lifeform, and creating a visual summary of it''s attributes, strengths, weaknesses, and skills. It also has stored information on many of themon life forms. The level of a skill is a representation of your current depth and knowledge of a given skill. By giving it a simr value, you will be able topare and get a grasp of it. For example, the Primal Absorb Level 1 is capable of absorbing lifeforms of level 2.] Last section was the Effects, where I had the Blessing of Ioris. I focused on it, to see it''s description. [Blessing of Ioris: You have been blessed by the God Ioris. You can forcefully absorb any life form regardless of state of health. Warning! Because of its power, it puts a strain on your soul putting you in aatose state for 24 hours after usage. You can use this ability 2 more times.] ''Woah, that sounds incredibly useful! Enya, what happens when I have used the skill 2 times? Will the blessingpletely disappear?'' [Yes. Once you use your skill 2 times, the blessing will be gonepletely.] Enya confirmed my suspicion. ''In that case, I will need to be really careful about using it. I shouldn''t waste it away.'' After I read thest remaining section, my character sheet updated again, and my condition section got updated. Condition: 100% Level: 1 Experience: 0 Once I read through my finalized character screen and all rted information I had, a new male voice spoke to me before everything went dark again... [You are ready. I will be watching, my friend.] Chapter 2 - 2 - Darkness (Part 2) ''Ugh.. What was that voice? What happened?'' I cursed once I regained my consciousness. I was hurting. Like really hurting. My whole body hurt, outside and inside. I was unsure what was happening, only knew that after the voice spoke, everything went dark again, and when I came to be, I felt pain. Overwhelming pain. On top of that, I was unable to move my body. I couldn''t even open my eyes. [The pain is temporary, in a few minutes it will fade away.] Enya exined. After a short while the pain started fading away and with that, I slowly opened my eyes. The first thing I saw. Was actually nothing. It wasplete darkness. ''Enya, can you exin to me what is happening? Why can''t I see anything? Where am I? Am I blind?'' [You are deep inside a cavern in arge cave system, far from any natural source of light.] Enya answered inly. Another thing that was really weird is that even after the pain faded away, I couldn''t really feel anything about my body. Honestly, I felt like I''m in some kind of jelly. It was a very disturbing feeling. ''I can''t feel my legs and arms! Nor can I really feel anything about my body.'' [You are currently at your species birth state, an amorphous blob, or in easier terms, a slime.] ''I''m a slime?! Those jelly blobs that everyone murders easily at the start of their journey in the games I yed? Am I fated to stay this forever?'' [Rx Aiden, as I said this is your birth state. Without any gics every soul''s default state is simr. You will be able to evolve into other forms once you acquire their gics. You will also be able to merge multiple ones and create unique entities.] ''Okay, I get it. First things first, how do I get some sort of vision? I need to be able to see my surroundings to be able to n my next steps.'' After my momentary panic, I focused my mind to calm myself down and to understand the situation I was in. Shortly after Enya''s voice ringed in the silence alongside a new notification. [Aiden you have received a new Personal Quest. With this, the Quest System is also unlocked for you. Before you ask, quests are an objective based system, designed to assist you. There are multiple types of quests, but right now, you should focus on Main and Personal Quests. Main Quests are usually rted to the important events of the world, while Personal Quests are designed to help you only. They wille when you are in need of help and will give you pointers what you should be doing while giving you incentive to do your best, as there are associated rewards as well. Would you like to open up your new Personal Quest?] ''So it really is like a game system. Interesting. Yes Enya, please show it to me.'' I focused my attention to the new notification in the upper right corner of my vision. [Personal Quest: First Steps - My first evolution! Difficulty: F-E Objective: Consume Mushroom Bugs to absorb their life essence (0/5) Optional Objective: Consume Mushroom Bugs (0/10) Reward: Mushroom Bugs evolution unlocked, +2 points to Spirit, Dark Vision ability gained. Failure Condition: Death Penalty: System removed, Soul cleaned and returned to the Gate of Life and Death for reincarnation without memories.] Reading through the objectives and rewards, it''s clear that the quest is specifically created to help me out from my current predicament. What''s interesting, is that there are optional objectives. ''Hey Enya, if Iplete the optional objectives or do some part of it, do I get additional rewards as well?'' [You will usually get graded based on your performance, so if you do the optional objectives partially you will be graded higher and will earn additional rewards based on your grade. Currently however, you will need toplete the optional objectives to be graded higher.] ''Okay, that''s clear enough. Can you give me some pointers about this Mushroom Bug? How can I find them, if I can''t see anything?'' I have to admit, I''m not that happy about eating some bugs in a damp cave as my first thing in my new life. [5 meters ahead of you at the cavern wall there are Mushroom Bugs, which is a species living in deep cave systems, feeding mostly on mushrooms and various herbs. They are usually around 7-8 centimeters in size with big erged mandibles functioning simrly to stags. You should absorb as much of the bugs as you can by feeding on them, to get their unique dark vision ability. They are one of the very few species that hasplete dark vision, being able to see inplete darkness, devoid of any light. Different from Night Vision, which merely enhances the skill user''s sight around minimal light sources. Also remember Aiden, you are a slime currently, an amorphous blob. Your means of travel is to resonate your membrane, your outeryer in the direction you wish to travel oozing forward. Try to experiment with this sensation to get the feeling of it. To consume the bugs, just move over them and absorb them inside your body.] Grumbling to myself, about the unfairness of the situation, I slowly moved forward in theplete darkness, trying to feel my surroundings. I focused on Enya''s advice about how movement is made in my current state and first tried to feel my body itself. I did not have any hard edges like any normal living being would, but instead it felt like I was a big pile of jelly. I could however clearly feel a thicker outeryer that kept my smic fluids in shape. I had no control over these fluids, but I could freely reshape my membrane, twitching my way forward slowly, but surely. 5 meters may not sound like that much, but in my case it took me quite a while to cover this distance. I have no real sense of time currently, I have nothing to rte to. Upon reaching the target destination, I could feel a big hard shell of something. The moment I touched it, it probably sensed danger and tried to scurry away. Before it could do anything, I twitched my membrane again covering the whole bug and I absorbed it. I could feel something inside of me, slowly being dissolved to bits and pieces. I felt some energy entering me powering some part of me, that I currently had no knowledge about. While that was happening, I continued along the cavern wall, absorbing anything that I could along the process. What was interesting was that while I couldn''t tell what I absorbed exactly, I could differentiate between them. I knew when I absorbed another Mushroom bug, or something else. I was paying attention to the objective disy as well, seeing it slowly creep up. After a few rounds of going back and forth around the edges of the cavern walls, I finally absorbed 10 Mushroom Bugs alongside some small pebbles and a few mushrooms. From the first bug I knew it would probably take around a few minutes topletely process the bugs, and to have the questplete, so while I waited, I checked the various options avable to me currently. There were a few options visible when I focused on them. They were the Status, Quests, Inventory. I also received a new notification that I unlocked the Map function while I was ''hunting''. ''Enya, this Map feature, how does it work? I can see an outline of the cave walls. Are these the sections I explored?'' [Yes, you will keep a detailed map of every area you visited and explored. There are additional functions rted to it, but they are currently not avable to you.] I was happy with this revtion. While I still had no vision and I may need some time to get the familiar visual sensory stimuli avable to me again, the map function that was avable to me, did provide some sort of basic idea of my situation. Currently I was at the edges of a cave, most likely somewhere deep in a cavern system, however that''s just a theory. I couldn''t help but exim my brief happiness of this realization. ''That''s really helpful! Oh, meanwhile the questpleted. Let''s see the rewards.'' I immediately focused on the quest to open up it''s panel. [Personal Quest: First Steps - My first evolution! - Completed Objective: Consume Mushroom Bugs to absorb their life essence (10/5) Optional Objective: Consume Mushroom Bugs (10/10) Grade: E Reward: Mushroom Bug evolution unlocked, +7 points to Spirit (+5 Bonus), Dark Vision ability gained, Bonus: Fusion unlocked] I was speechless. The rewards were astounding. After I read through the list, I could feel some power inside me growing, the feeling itself getting stronger. I could feel the power inside me, rumbling, wanting to let itself known to the world. This was a very elevating feeling, and if I had any way to do so, I would definitely have roared to the sky. I wanted to confirm so I checked my attributes and I could see that my Spirit is now at 10. However, what was most surprising is the notification that followed. [Dark Vision ability evolved to Dark Sense.] Before I could ask another question to Enya, the notification quickly exined itself, as I could suddenly feel my surroundings. It wasn''t vision as I have no functioning eyes, but I could still feel everything in a short radius around me. I wasn''t sure about the exact numbers, but it felt like I could ''sense'' everything in 2-3 meters around me. I could feel my own blobby shape. I could not see colors or textures, but I still ''felt'' the wall, I could also sense the light vegetation around me. Assuming from their shape, these must be the mushrooms the bugs were feeding on. [Your Dark Vision mutated to Dark Sense, since you do not have any type of organ to grant you vision. On the other hand, you can use your Spirit to power your sense, sending out pulses around you. Try to tap into your inner power, and power your senses.] I listened to Enya''s description and then focused my mind. The silence and darkness is really helpful in this regard, as there''s basically no outside stimuli I can freely experiment. I focused my intent on my soul, around the feeling I felt earlier when the questpleted. It''s funny actually, cause I imagined myself closing my non-existing eyes, and exhaling like how you see people meditate. Obviously, I can''t do that, as I have no eyes, no lungs or a mouth. I could however, imagine my inner self do so, and in some way it did help me focus. I stopped shaking my membranepletely and just tried to find the area inside myself that this ''power'' should be. At first, I felt nothing, even if I desperately tried to feel around the same area where I felt that rumbling feeling. I was getting anxious, and started losing my focus, but Enya quickly jumped in. [Calm down. Empty your mind Aiden. Remember the feeling when you first felt the system inside you. Focus on that area, but not on the system itself, just that area. Once you sessfully do that, you will feel that rumbling once again.] Once again, I imagined myself exhaling, and tried not to think about anything, just to feel the calming sensation of this state. I don''t know how much time has passed, but after a while I could feel a faint rumbling inside me. Like if deep in the ocean the ground itself was shaking, and I could feel it resonating far away. I focused my mind on this faraway noise, and I slowly kept moving my inner self towards it, making the feeling be stronger and more vibrant. Once I got close enough, I felt like I could submerge myself in it, like if it was a pool of water. ''I can feel it. I can tap into it.'' I eximed. [Good. Now remember this feeling. While you tap into this pool of energy, use your senses and try tobine this power with it. Feel the changes in your senses, and keep on trying once you be familiar with the process.] Listening to Enya''s advice, I submerged myself into this pool while I activated my Dark Sense. I could feel a powerful energy coarse through me, pulsing through the area my vision covered, and went even further beyond. I could feel my sensory vision became clearer, sharper as the energy passed through the area. I could also see further, as the pulse covered previously dark sections. I could feel the shape of the wall, even the small edges. I could clearly feel the cluster of mushrooms that previously served as a meal for the group of insects I absorbed. I could even feel the moss on the wall. I still couldn''t tell the color of the mushrooms, or the moss, but I could tell they were different. My best estimation was that my current vision doubled from my previous state. I repeated this process a few times to get familiar with the process. At first it took some effort, but as I repeated the process, it became easier to tap into my energy pool, andbine it with my senses. Once it did, I started gliding around the edges of the wall to map the area and get the cave mapped out. As I did this, I also got increasingly better at moving around, and I even got to the point that I could alter my shape to some degree. I could morph my membrane basically emting the movement of bacteria, and elongate my body shape then contracting it to the new position. With my new ability and my improved movement ability it only took me a rtively short time to map out the entire cave I was in. The cave had nothing really worth mentioning, other than a few clusters of mushrooms, and some more different types of insects that I sampled randomly, there was nothing in it. I found an exit as well, but before I exited into the unknown I wanted to get to the remaining rewards I got for the quest. Chapter 3 - 3 - Mastery Now that I know how I could leave my temporary ''home''. I wanted to know more about the rest of the rewards I received. I asked the question to mypanion: ''Enya, could you please exin to me the Evolution feature, and the Fusion bonus I unlocked?'' [Certainly Aiden. Once you unlock an evolution path, you can use the new Evolution option in the system, and then pick one from the avable options to evolve into it. Fusion is an advanced feature, you can fuse your evolved forms to create new species entirely. The new species usually brings traits and abilities from the ''parent'' forms. The possibilities are virtually endless, the end result will vary based on what you fused together. However keep in mind, that you can only fuse forms that you haveplete mastery over.] ''Mastered? What do you mean?'' [Check your newly unlocked Evolution menu Aiden. You will see your birth form as your currently active form. You will see a Mastery section below it, that will increase over time. To getplete mastery over your forms, you will have toplete a series of tasks that is designed to guide you through the full capabilities of it. Mastering a form, in most cases will need you to understand that species fully, and that will require you to spend an extended period of time in it. Completing the tasks will guide you but it may not be enough, you should spend appropriate amount of time until you feel confident using all your traits to its full extent.] I was startled by this new information. Apparently it''s not enough to evolve into the new forms, but I will most likely need toplete various tasks that will go towards my mastery of the species. Unless I master that species, and have aplete understanding of it''s capabilities, I will not be able to use its advantages fully, and furthermore, I will not be able use it as aponent in the fusion process. Well to be fair, it is understandable that this is needed. After a brief moment ofmentation, I focused my mind on the new Evolution menu choice that was avable ever since I received my rewards. Once I focused on the option, a new window came into view giving me a new series of options. [Evolution System Menu Evolution Status Evolution Tree Fusion] Enya''s soft voice chirped in, giving me a brief exnation. [The first option will show your current evolution status, with your active form, it''s mastery and if there are any tasks that you need toplete or havepleted. The second option will show you the evolution path, or tree if you will, with your currently avable options, while thest option is the Fusion menu, that will let you fuse mastered forms together and see projected results. You will have some options to pick what features to keep and what to drop to keep a bnced state. Once you go in there we will discuss it in more detail.] Listening to Enya I picked the Status to check the progress in my ''birth'' form. I refuse to refer to myself as a slime, it is way too degrading. Birth State or birth form sounds much better. [Evolution Status Current form: Primal Slime (Birth state) Mastery: 75% Tasks: Cover a distance of 50 meters total, mastering movement (53/50 - Completed) Dissolve a total of 5 different objects/lifeforms in your smic fluids (17/5 - Completed) Create a ge from your membrane (0/1) Use your ge to move 10 meters around (0/10)] It seems I still need to experiment with my current form, topletely master its capabilities. It seems that it already counted my hunting and movement I did previously. From the numbers it also seems that it counted non-living objects such as the pebbles that I tested my dissolving capabilities earlier. The remaining tasks rte to me forming a tentacle-like limb, a ge to assist movement and hunting. I focused my mind, remembering the sensation from earlier where I started morphing my membrane creating an elongated shape to assist in my movement. It was a step in the right direction, so I thought I should build upon that experience. I tried remembering the feeling when I first started using the technique for movement. At first it was just a random action on my part, I was just experimenting with my body shape, while exploring my surroundings. However, I quickly realized that it was infinitely better than just simply oozing around. With these thoughts in mind, I focused once again on a section of my outeryer, visualizing a boneless limb forming out of me. Then I tapped into my inner pool of energy giving this feeling more power. A small bump started forming on my outeryer, slowly growing, bing longer while keeping a tentacle cylindrical shape. After I felt that the new body-part I grew was about as long as my main body, I stopped focusing on the growth, and focused my senses on getting familiar with the new limb. It took a while, but eventually I managed to actively use it, instead of just whipping it around. Using it as a handless arm to pull myself forward, and sometimes to push myself away from obstacles. It was actually a very enjoyable experience, it felt like no time passed when I got the notification from the system that I mastered my first form. [Primal Slime Evolution Mastered!] I quickly navigated to my Evolution Status window to check my statistics. [Evolution Status Current form: Slime (Birth state) Mastery: 100% Tasks: Cover a distance of 50 meters total, mastering movement (53/50 - Completed) Dissolve a total of 5 different objects/lifeforms in your smic fluids (17/5 - Completed) Create a ge from your membrane (1/1 - Completed) Use your ge to to move 10 meters around (10/10 - Completed)] Since I was finally done mastering my birth form, I quickly navigated back to the previous menu, and selected the Evolution Tree this time, giving myself a new screen once again. [Evolution Tree] Current: Primal Slime - Clean - Tier 0 (Mastery: 100%) Avable options: Mushroom Bug - Clean - Tier 1] Well, not that it''s that surprising that I only had 1 option avable to me currently. Still, there was some information that was worth learning about, so I queried Enya about these. ''Can you tell me about what Clean and the Tier 0 and 1 mean?'' [Clean is the status of the unlocked evolution option. Clean is the most optimal state, it''s not mutated or corrupted. Once you select the life form, you can be certain that you will be evolved into a healthy specimen of the selected species. If it would be corrupted, you could have birth defects, while being a mutated specimen, could result in unforeseen mutations from the optimal healthy result. These can be either advantageous or could be a fault, you will only know when you evolved into it. Tier is a universal grading system for lifeforms across all worlds. The higher the grade, the more power it will generally process, the higher the specimen is in the evolution path. Most basic lifeforms that live on the surface or below it will be ssified as Tier 1. This is true for animals and most monsters. Humanoid lifeforms that have evolved higher intelligence will ssify higher. For example, a simple human is ssified as Tier 2. While they can elevate their existence higher, by default all humans are birthed as a Tier 2 species.] ''I understand. This seems like that the Clean is the default state, and ''mutated'' could potentially give better results, with an equal chance of something worse, while ''corrupted'' will always result in a worst case scenario. Okay then, let''s check how my first Tier 1 form would look like, and what do I need to do to master it!'' As I said this, I was already focusing my mind on the Mushroom Bug evolution. As I selected it, my senses suddenly shut off, my body started vibrating. My membrane was wildly shaking, hardening, forming a hard shell all around me. The shell closed off, seemingly protecting me from outside stimuli. I felt my insides churning, rapidly changing. Time passed and my bodypletely transformed. The protective shell burst apart, as I regained my senses. I grew 3 pairs of legs, I had a clearly visible head with arge mandible that grew out of my mouth that I could do a snapping movement with. On my back I had a hard kitin shell, and what''s best, I had a pair of eyes on the top of my head! My size shrunk down a bit, but I was stillrger than the average mushroom bug. I was probably double their size, which would probably count me as a giant in their species butpared to my previous form I was still smaller. What was interesting was that I kept my Dark Sense ability, while it also had the qualities of the Dark Vision as well. I looked around to check out my home again, this time with my new pair of eyes. I could see the world in color for the first time since I got to this world. While I did not see any water source, the cavern walls were very damp, which probably was very healthy for the moss that covered the wall all around. At the opposite end of the cave there were a group of familiar looking bugs gathering around a cluster of mushrooms. I looked at the exit that I found previously looking into the previously dark natural made corridor. The moss was hanging from the walls, and the asional cluster of mushrooms with its usual residents was ever-present, just like inside this cave. Nor your senses, nor your visions could pick up anything new or worthwhile. Eventually the corridor led into anotherrger cave that you could not peer into from your current position. But, before you left your ''home'', and ventured into the unknown, you had to check something important. Chapter 4 - 4 - Bug Life (Part 1) ''Before I leave this cave and venture forward, I should check my status and see what I need to do to master my new Mushroom Bug form.'' I thought. ''You know, I never imagined that I will be an insect in my next life. I wonder. did I make some mistakes in my past life and now is this my repentance.'' Imented, half-jokingly. I know it''s just a temporary stop in my journey, and I was looking forward to the future, but it was still frustrating that after arriving to this world, I''m forced to spend time as a small insect that''s only goal in life is to chew on mushrooms far away from everything in the world. [Don''t look down on these little survivors too much Aiden. Mushroom Bugs are a very reclusive species, and while they are small, they are natural born survivors. While they can be considered very primitive, the survival instincts and skills they are born with is something that will be very helpful for you. Just look at your Evolution Status window and focus on your tasks and you will slowly learn everything you need to know.] While I still had my concerns about this situation, I refocused and checked my new Evolution Status. [Evolution Status Current form: Mushroom Bug (Tier 1) Mastery: 1% Tasks: Use your mandibles to crush various objects (0/5) Climb 10 meters vertically, and jump down (0/10) Consume mushroom (0%) Spend at least 6 hours in your current form (0/6) *LOCKED*] Most of the tasks are pretty self exnatory, I have expected most of them. I also saw that I''m forced to spend time in the form itself as well. However thest task was hidden, and that confused me. ''Why can''t I see thest task? How will Iplete it, if I don''t even know what I need to do?'' I asked Enya, hoping to get some rification. [Thest task is not avable currently because your current understanding of the species is very limited. Once you get to know your traits and unique abilities more, it will unlock and you will be able to read it. I would suggest that instead of worrying, you should get to know your current form and get used to it.] She was right. Instead of worrying about something I have no control over, I should just do what I can. Bring out the best of the situation. I closed my eyes, took a moment to clear my mind and started feeling around. First, I wanted to see the differences in my movement, now that I had legs, my means of travel should have increased considerably. I could move my 3 pair of legs separately from each other, and I could also synchronize their movements, greatly increasing my speed. I spent a while scurrying around the cave, enjoying this new yet familiar sensation. After some rounds of going around randomly, I arrived next to a wall. I picked a section where there was a bit more vegetation around the ground as well, not to hurt myself too much. ''So from what I see, the small bristles on my legs should be able to give me enough grip to be able to cross almost any type of surface. I looked up checking out the rocky height that seemingly went all the way up to the ''heavens''. Well, at least from my miniature standpoint. I tried picking a section that had more ridges then normal, hoping that they would assist me more in the matter. I know it''s an unfounded notion, but I just couldn''t help it. The fact that the entire cave was very damp, bothered me a bit, but considering that these types of bugs lived in these types of environments, I hoped that my biology was prepared to handle this type of surface. The slightly slippery surface shouldn''t be an issue. ''Here we go'' with these thoughts I put my frontal legs on the wall, pulling my body up, and using my middle pair of legs to grip another section of the wall as they came in close contact. It felt easier than I expected in my mind, it was a natural action. Before I realized it, I was already climbing, no, running up the wall without bothering about anything at all. I was ying close attention to my System''s screen, checking when the prompt showed I climbed high enough. In no time I reached my goal of 10 meters, so I took a quick stop. I checked my notification once again, just to be sure that I do need to take a leap of faith. [- Climb 10 meters vertically, and jump down (10/10)] The prompt showed I climbed high enough, but it was notpleted, confirming that I was still missing one final task. ''I should be fine right? I''m an insect, falling from higher ces, should be an everyday urrence. If nothing else, my shell itself should protect me. Probably. I do not have any bones that could be crushed anyways. What am I even afraid of?'' Hyping myself up, I took onest moment, then pushed my legs against the wall and leaped off. I was prepared for the iing pain and my loss of ability to move, or for something even worse happening, but other than feeling my shell bumping against the surface, there was literally no pain. For a second I even thought that I just imagined jumping off, and I was still on the wall, but the updated notification brought me back to reality. [Climb 10 meters vertically, and jump down (10/10 - Completed)] I also received a second set of notifications, which got me really excited. I wasn''t prepared for it, so it took me by surprise. [Hidden Requirement Completed! Physical Resistance (level 1) gained! Fall Resistance (level 1) gained! Water Resistance (level 1) gained!] [Aiden these are your species'' natural abilities. Since youpleted the prerequisites and reached a new milestone in mastering your new form, the system unlocked these abilities for you.] Enya proactively answered my iing question. ''Huh, this is awesome! I checked my main status screen, to confirm the newly gained effects, and they were indeed there now: [Effects: Blessing of Ioris (-), Physical Resistance (level 1) Fall Resistance (level 1) Water Resistance (level 1)] The new gains quickly increased my motivation and with the lingering effects of my increased adrenaline boosted my confidence and increased my creativity. ''I couldbine the next 2 tasks. I need to chomp down these big mushrooms anyway, as I need to eat them. I''m not sure if the other bugs would attack me if I would try to invade their mealtime, so I think I should look for another cluster, with less customers present.'' I checked around looking for a smaller cluster, as I wouldn''t want topete with others, at least not until I''m confident in my abilities. After finding my target of 2 solidary mushrooms a short distance away from me, I quickly made my way there. Along the way I tried using my mandibles, to see the range of motions I could do with them. Unfortunately, they seemed to be ''wired'' to only be able to do a chomping, scissor-like snapping action. Arriving in front of my target, I looked up the grey colored stalk all the way to the snow-white gills of the mushroom. I ced my mandibles around it''s stalk, and using the previously exercised motion, I snapped them shut. To my surprise, I snapped the entire stalk in two without feeling any resistance at all. I expected some sort of resistance, but it felt like I was cutting through the air, it was really just that smooth. The upper half fell to the ground, bringing the supposedly tasty part of the mushroom, its gills within reach. I moved next to it, burying my head into the gills. I started chewing on it, without any hesitation. I haven''t felt any real taste, just that my body craved this type of substance, and without realizing it, I lost myself absolving nearly the entire cap in minutes. I haven''t felt hunger, or in this case, ''being full'', instead I was refreshed, full of energy. I consumed easily 3 times the amount of my current body weight, but as if it was nothing, I was already eyeing the other mushroom. This one was one of the few different looking one. Most of the mushrooms inside the cave had a grey cap and stalk with snow-white gills standing proudly in the ground. They were probably around 20 centimeters in height, but to me they were like giant trees towering all the way to the sky. The second type of mushrooms and the one in front of me, was slightly different. They were still around the same height, but their cap had a slightly reddish hue, and the gills were darker as well. I would describe it as light grey, or you could say it was a ''dirty white''. Whichever you prefer, the end result is, they weren''t snow-white like the other one. I looked at my next victim, I still had a task toplete, and the feeling of suddenly feeling energized was really addicting, I wanted to experience it more. This one gave off a different vibe, but I just couldn''t wrap myself around it. Looking to the far corner I could see the other bugs eating all kinds of mushrooms even this type, so I quickly shooed away my negative thoughts. Aligning myself like the previous time, I repeated the snapping process, and quickly dived into my meal once again. This time, I gained less energy, then the previous time, I felt nothing different. At least until I received a new notification, that would make my jaws drop if I would be capable of such motion... [Hidden Requirement Completed! Poison Resistance (level 1) gained!] Chapter 5 - 5 - Bug Life (Part 2) I did get a sour experience when I took my first bite, but it quickly faded away so I haven''t paid any attention to it at the time. I don''t have taste buds, so I can''t be exactly sure, if anything tastes different, I can only differentiate based on the amount of energy it provides. I figured it was just me converting the food to energy, but as it turned out, my body was processing the poison for the first time. This slightly reddish mushroom was poisonous, and it lives among it''s healthy ones. Interesting. I took another bite out of the mushroom, but now even the sour experience inside me was gone. It just provided less energy than it''s white and healthy counterpart. After finishing my meal, I wanted to check my current progress towards mastery. The fact that based on my understanding I could unlock rewards, boosted my already sky-high motivation to unseen levels. I knew I still had a lot of time that I needed to spend in the form, but regardless, I had a feeling that thest task must require me most of my remaining 5 or so hours. With these thoughts in mind, I opened up my Evolution Status window. [Evolution Status Current form: Mushroom Bug (Tier 1) Mastery: 40% Tasks: Use your mandibles to crush various objects (2/5) - Hidden Requirementpleted!) Climb 10 meters vertically, and jump down (10/10 - Completed - Hidden Requirementpleted!) Consume mushroom (40%) Spend at least 6 hours in your current form (1/6) *LOCKED*] So both rewards were tied to specific tasks. I wonder if I have any additional ones to acquire. I had a feeling that thest task, the currently locked one, should provide me something other than bumping my Mastery, but I can''t be sure. ''So the 2 types of mushrooms counted as 2 different objects. I hope that if I consume another mushroom from the healthy one that would still count otherwise, I''m not sure what else could I crush other than some pebbles hoping there are some minerals hidden within them.'' I eximed inwardly. Unfortunately the next cluster was arger one, with a few Mushroom Bugs around them. Looking at them from the distance, I saw that they were mostly oblivious about each other, every bug kept to themselves, gorging on the healthy substance. Most of them were eating the gills, but I saw a few digging into the stalks as well. I even saw one little guy that was eating the cap of the red poisonous one, which I thought should be inedible. I took a look behind me on the remaining pieces of my previous meal, but in the end I decided it''s time to get into contact with the others and see if it would be possible at all tomunicate or interact in any way. The feeling I got from their behaviour was that they weren''t developed enough for any type ofmunication, and they just kept to themselves. Regardless, I had to give it a try. Calming my mind, I slowly started to make my way towards the cluster. Along the way I wanted to further test the crushing power of my mandibles on a pebble, so I kept moving around the wall. This increased the distance a bit, but I wasn''t in that much of a hurry, as I still had 5 hours to spend. I picked up one simple looking rock which once again, defied my initial impressions about my capabilities. I thought I would have trouble picking up a rock that was easily my size, but I didn''t even feel any weight. Then without thinking too much about it anymore, I closed my mandibles and easily crushed it to pieces. The feeling was simr to the stalk of the Mushroom, it literally felt like if there was only air instead of solid matter. Confirming my objective had updated, I continued my small journey around the edges of the wall towards my destination. I was really hoping that I could just continue eating mushrooms without worrying about finding 2 more things to crush, as I would like to avoid fighting to the death with these peaceful creatures. I already felt pain in my heart that I had mindlessly absorbed so many of them previously, but at that time I didn''t really know what I was doing. I wanted to know if I could cut down another of the same mushrooms I already consumed, so I moved to one that was still standing and ced my mandibles around it, I cut it down. Luckily it did count, so with that in mind, I went to the white gills and continued my meal. At first I was paying attention to my surroundings, seeing if any of the bugs woulde closer, but as none of them showed any sign that they even noticed me, I quickly lost myself in eating. I was happily eating away the energy rich substance without a care in the world, when I suddenly noticed something next to me, doing the same. I quickly regained my senses and looked at the neer. It was a Mushroom Bug with average length, whichpared to me, was very small. Some would think this would ignite fear in their hearts, but this one acted like I wasn''t even there. I wanted to greet him, but it was at this time that I realized I had no idea how I should do that. It ignored mepletely, and though I have a mouth, I don''t think I''m capable of creating any type of sound, or even if I were, I wouldn''t be capable of processing it. I haven''t seen or felt any kind of sound processing organ on my head or body. One thought came to mind, so I just moved my head towards his, and lightly poked him with my mandibles. I remember from somewhere that some insects were using simr ways tomunicate with each other back on Earth. Sadly, it didn''t give any reaction to my attempt, and just kept eating away. ''Hmm.. So I can''t talk to it, and bumping into him didn''t work either. I don''t really see any other way Enya, do I have any other ways tomunicate with them? Are they even capable of such actions?'' I asked mypanion after a brief moment of thinking. [No Aiden, your assumption is correct, they are not capable of such actions.] answered Enya. With that confirmed, I could do nothing then to also forget my attempt to make a new ''friend'', and just continuepleting my tasks to get a better grasp of things. I should continue to eat until my objective would go to 100% while I would chop down a few more stalks toplete the other task, before leaving this cavern. I spent the next half an hour cutting down and eating mushrooms. I kept eating mostly the gills, but seeing that the others were eating every part of it, I tried the stalk and the cap as well. They gave varying amounts of energy, the best was the gills, closely followed by the stalks, while the cap gave only a miniscule amount. I kept wondering where all the energy went, but then when I traced it, I found it was going into the pool of energy that Enya kept referring to as my ''Soul Power''. While referring to them as a Pool of Energy wasn''t that far fetched, Enya told me, I see it as a pool only, because my mind processed it that way, in reality it doesn''t have any shape. She also told me once again, that this is the power that I can use to manipte the various elements, bending them to my will as well, and that I could tap into it freely to enhance my current senses. In fact, I have been constantly using it since I started using my Dark Sense, and by now it became like second nature, I could do it unconsciously. After confirming that both of my tasks werepleted, I looked towards the exit. I knew I can''t stay here any longer, I did what I could, and I still needed to unlock andplete thest task before I could think about my future actions. Having made up my mind, I made my way to the entrance of the corridor. I tapped into my Soul Power and used it to enhance my Senses to map out as much of it as I could. The corridor wasn''t long, maybe around a few meters at most. Moss was hanging from the walls, and the asional cluster of mushrooms with its usual residents was ever-present, just like inside this cave. Nothing different from the previous time. I could see all the way to the next cavern. Before leaving however, I wanted to check my main status screen. I gained a lot of new passive skills, and with my Soul Power increasing, I wanted to see if there was anything else. [Name: Aiden Race: Primal (Evolver) Form: Mushroom Bug (Tier 1) Condition: 100% Soul Power: 2 Might: 1 Agility: 1 Spirit: 10 Skills: Primal Absorb (Level 1) Effects: Blessing of Ioris (-), Physical Resistance (level 1), Fall Resistance (level 1), Water Resistance (level 1), Poison Resistance (level 1) ] As I expected I had a new row for disying my Soul Power. I had a faint idea what the number represented, but it was always better to ask my faithfulpanion. ''Enya can you tell me what does the 2 mean next to my Soul Power?'' [It works simrly to your Might, Agility and Spirit attributes. Every point shows you your current depth of that resource, or you can refer to it as a rank or level as well. In simpler terms, the higher the number, the more you can tap into and use it.] I decided that I will keep working in the future on improving it as much as I can. Looking back into the cave onest time, I mentally said my goodbyes, then I stepped into the corridor. I kept moving alongside the wall, as for some reason that felt safe, it was ufortable to be away from it for any period of time. It might have been a false sense of security, but as it kept my mind calm, I decided to follow this instinct. Even while I took a brief stop at one cluster of mushrooms to have a brief snack, it still only took a very short time to cross the distance and arrive at the entrance of the new cavern. This ''room'' was mostly simr to my previous one, however I noticed a bigger rock surrounded by various mushrooms, even some that I haven''t seen previously. Between them, I saw a few small darker white, almost yellowish looking, oval shaped objects. I wasn''t sure what they were. Curiosity drove me forward in my previous life as well, so I made my way closer to them. The objects were slightly bigger than me, and the darker white color turned out to be a mixture between a mushy white and mild yellow. There were about 10 or so of these scattered between the mushrooms. Deciding to check it''s sturdiness, I moved closer to one of them, tried wrapping myrge mandibles around them. I could open them up more, making the gap wider, to grab ontorger objects, so this action took no real trouble. First I wanted to check it''s weight,, so I tried lifting it up from the ground. It was around the same weight as one of therger rocks I lifted previously, but not heavier. I noticed that the insides might be hollow, so I prepared to snap my mandibles to cut into half and check the insides. Just as I was thinking that, I suddenly had an awfully bad premonition, like if something terrible is about to happen. I put the object down, and turned around to be met with a pair of glowing yellow predatory gaze from above me. It was just now that I realized that the objects I was ying with weren''t just hollow rocks... Chapter 6 - 6 - The Cave Viper (Part 1) Thinking about it, I was really an idiot. It was so obvious what these objects were, looking at them again. Why was I incredibly stupid, that I wanted to snap it in two, and yed with it. It was obvious they were someone''s eggs. And the least I could judge from its size was that their mother would be several times my size and most likely wouldn''t take kindly trying to harm its children. ''Aaargh, I really need to grow some brains in my next evolution! I really can''t believe what trouble I got myself into!'' I was crying, while scurrying my way around the mushrooms in a zig-zag motion to avoid the enraged mother of the eggs, a huge golden scaled snake. It was like 30 times my size, or maybe more, it could swallow me without even realizing it. It was quite fortunate that I had the Dark Sense ability as without any hearing organ, I wouldn''t really know where my huntress was, but with this ability, I could clearly see how it was closing the distance between us. ''I have to find some hole to hide, otherwise I will quickly meet a very premature death, because of my stupidity.'' I had to find some sort of hideout for the next few hours, hoping that the snake would calm down a bit. I could also think about my next action, as I need to devise a strategy to ovee this hurdle. While changing direction to the right to zag around a big redcap mushroom and avoiding a bite with a hair''s breadth once again, I empowered my sensing ability and sent out the pulse to scan my surroundings for possible cover. Even the smallest, most ufortable hole would be enough right now, it would mean the difference between life and death. I have absolutely zero chance of survival right now and it''s just a matter of time before the mother huntress eventually catches up to me and adapts to my movements. As the scan''s radius was growing as it travelled to the edges of my vision, I noticed a small gap between therge rock and the ground at the other side. It would require me to survive going through the open space while being chased. I couldn''t waste any more time contemting, so I quickly cut to the left, and started rushing towards the direction of the rock. It was some distance away, but I could wiggle my way around the mushroom stalks and it''s eggs to create some distance. The best choice does seem to focus on running along the eggs as the snake seems to be less aggressive while I''m around them. I could go from egg to egg for some distance and cover myst bits of the remaining distance using all my power to rush into the relief that the small gap represented. [Aiden, remember that you can use your Soul Power to increase your speed by empowering your legs with the energy. This could give you the boost that you desperately need.] Enya''s reminder came as a surprise, because up until this point, I didn''t realize that I could use my Power for such purposes. I only used it for my vision thus far, and while I was looking forward to the point where I could use this mystical energy to shape the ground around me, or hurl balls of fire, or maybe use this power to cut through solid objects with just the air, I never realized I could use it to increase the output of my muscles. ''How do I do that? Is it simr to how I use it with my Dark Sense? I just tap into it, and direct the flow of energy to muscles in my legs?'' I asked while I continued to dodge and keep my lead. [That is correct. Just guide the flow and shape it to your liking.] With no time to waste, as every second could be the difference between me surviving or bing lunch, I tapped into my Soul Power. I wanted to feel it clearly, before I attempted something I had never done before. It was always such an incredible experience, everytime I submerged myself in this mystical pool of energy I wanted to feel it more and more. I could get drunk on this. The thrill of the chase already gave me a boost of adrenaline, and now these levels got further boosted when I engorged myself into my own power. I felt like with a bit more I could even take on this massive predator, changing our little status quo. I knew I wouldn''t really stand a chance against it, but still the feeling it gave me, almost wanted me to stop on my tracks, turn around and fight head-to-mandible with it. I shook my head to clear it from the ill thoughts, and then guided the flow of energy into my 3 pairs of legs, and connected them to my muscles. I immediately felt my tiny muscles in my leg branches swelling and going overdrive, increasing my speed. The boost this gave me almost doubled my speed, swooshing forward like a tiny ck rocket confusing the snake with a sudden turn of events. It was really close, and was just waiting for me to leave the range of its eggs to end this little charade. ***(Snake PoV)*** It almost caught up to this insect, it was just waiting to rush towards the mushroom stalks, to bite down and put an end to this pointless cat and mouse game. However now, with its prey suddenly increasing speed it got really angry. It could not let this little insect get away after endangering one of its eggs. It was an inferior species, below the food chain, just some simple meal. It was already confusing that it tried to scurry away, as these bugs usually just eat the mushrooms, and do not even defend themselves. The main reason it ced its eggs deep in this cave system was because this was the primary home of these brainless, but very tasty insects. Crunchy and juicy, full of energy, it was the perfect substance for the children. They could exercise and train their hunting habits on the endless supply of these bugs. But now, this one bug, this one pesky little creature, had the gall not just to stand up for itself, but to almost crush one of the eggs! And to top it all off, now it''s running away! It was bigger than the others as well, almost double their size. It could not let go of this insult, it had to swallow this insect now. With renewed determination, the snake opened its mouth wide, and with a loud hissing sound, it aimed it''s fangs in the direction of its prey. Dark, green thick liquid was spit out from the roots, soaring through the air, towards the target. This was the snake''s primary weapon, it''s ultimate trump card, a very corrosive acid. It could even dissolve the rocks in this cavern with ease, it should be no trouble killing one bug. Soaring through the air, it missed its target just by a small margin, because that pesky bug suddenly dodged to the right, seemingly noticing the liquid projectile ahead of time. The thick, sticky green liquid was now sizzling on the ground, proof of it''s incredible corrosive trait. This was just another one of the wonders that this prey did so far. With another angrier hissing sound, it opened its mouth again, and gathered its corrosive saliva to gather for a new spit. ***(End of Snake PoV)*** Thank god, that the Dark Sense ability was kept empowered all the while. It did put a toll on the already quickly decreasing pool, but this time this investment proved it''s worth, as it saved my hide. I noticed a projectile flying towards me, and I just had barely enough time to dodge to the right to avoid yet another close call with the reaper. I could not look back, but checking my sensory radar, I saw the liquid sizzling on the ground, showing that my predator wasn''t just ying around with me. This really was a battle to the death. ''Why did it be so angry?! I haven''t hurt the egg, I just lifted it from the ground! I admit I was just about to crush it, but that was just because I thought it was a mineral! I was crying inwardly. This whole situation could have been avoided if I would have thought just a bit, before I let my curiosity get the better of me. I really need to work on my behaviour if I survive this ordeal. Self restraint, and a calm mind, is paramount of survival. Acting on my instincts is an animalistic trait, and while I am an insect currently, I am, or at least I was a human. Thinking back to the start of this ordeal, it was really just a misunderstanding. I was lifting that egg, and when I noticed that deadly gaze on me, I put the egg down, and turned around to meet the angry mother. I slowly crawled backwards, thought that I was giving its due respect, however that just angered it more. The mother opened its mouth, and moved its head lightning fast towards my direction trying to swallow me down. It was at that moment that I jumped to the left, unfortunately knocking the same egg away and avoiding the deadly bite. This action just poured more oil to the already raging mes, and without any other way to express myself I instead turned tail or in this case kitin shell and scurried away along the small forest of mushrooms. While I was running away, I got a new notification, making me curse inwardly yet again, on my streak of unfortunate events. I''m not going to say I was a pacifist in my previous life or if I''m nning to be in this one, but I would rather avoid senseless killings, even if the target is just an animal or insect. Unless I have a good reason, I would prefer doing that. Sadly this time, I was forced into a deadly encounter with my pursuer, as thest task was: [-Survive and kill one of your natural predator (0/1)] Looking to the sizzling mound quickly exiting my range of senses behind me as I was making my way towards the gap, I realized we are far over from any sort of discussion. This fight will go on until either this snake, or me will meet its End. Strangely, instead of panic, this realization calmed my mind, making me more focused. I increased my speed a bit more and shot my way towards the gap. The snake seemed to notice that my pace increased yet again, increasing closing its mouth, and increasing hers as well. It seemed determined to catch me before I could get into the cover. ''I''m sorry, but this will probably hurt your pride quite a bit. I WILL GET TO THAT HOLE WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!'' I shouted in my mind, and with that I was at thest few meters, thest few seconds to get to safety. At least temporarily, until I could get away. The situation turned for the worst, when the snakeunched itself to the sky, flying through the air at an incredible speed towards the hole. It seemed to notice that its only way to catch me, would be to do this risky maneuver. I wasn''t going to let this be the end either, I used all of my remaining energy and pushed myself way over my limits, and increased my speed yet again. My legs were hurting like hell by now, probably caused myself somesting damages as well. The pain was starting to get to me, making it increasingly harder to stay conscious. This time however, wasn''t the time for any regrets, or second guesses, so with myst bits of the remaining willpower I shut down my Dark Senses, directing that tiny bit of energy as well to my legs. I was once again in theplete darkness, but I knew that my destination was just ahead of me. With that information in my mind, Iunched myself into the air jumping for the second time in my short bug life, just before I lost consciousness Chapter 7 - 7 - The Cave Viper (Part 2) ...Darkness. Once again, I''m back here. In this state of nothingness, just existing in this state of nirvana, the ultimate bliss Or so I thought, but I could hear a faint voiceing to my mind, gradually clearing it.. [Aid.n... Can...y...hear...m? Aid.n] I could not make out who was speaking and what it was trying to convey. It was almost like a faint buzzing. [AIDEN, WAKE UP!] Suddenly a female voice shouted loudly, startling me. ''Wha-what happened, where am I?'' I blurted out the question as I came to my senses. I realized that the voice that helped mee back was my faithful system, Enya. [Finally, you woke up. Regarding your question, I have bad news and good news. Which one would you like to hear first?] Although she was supposed to be just a system designed to assist me, it did feel that Enya was more than just a machine. Much more in fact. Listening to her cheeky voice, it was clear she was capable of human emotions, and from her earlier outburst, and her tone now, it seemed to care for me, warming my heart. ''Please start with the bad news first, although I have an idea where we should be. I''m not in the hole I aimed myself at right?'' [Yes your observation is correct Aiden, you failed to reach safety. The Cave Viper swallowed you. The good news is, the snake was so eager to im victory, that it swallowed you whole. The system, with the help of your Blessing''s excess energy, could switch you back to your Slime form, giving you immunity to the acidic fluids of the Snake''s stomach. You could actually absorb this liquid in this form, and convert it to bits of energy, recharging your reserves. I suggest you use this small timeframe and recuperate using the acidic fluids to recharge your own reserves.] Enya''s advice was correct, my situation may seem dire, but actually it could be a blessing in disguise. My huntress thinks her hunt was sessful and that she caught the troublesome bug that dares disturb her rest. I was sad that I lost my vision once again, and with my reserves almostpletely drained, I could not even utilize my Dark Sense ability either. I was once again back to square one. My small blobby body was standing in some shallow fluid, that was supposedly acidic. To me it just felt like regr water would when the waves caress your body. No harmful or violent reactions at all. ''So I''m really immune to these in my Birth Form, huh. It is good to know.'' I eximed inwardly. I wanted to test how much energy such fluid could provide, so thinking back to my earlier escapades, I absorbed a small amount of the liquid mass. My body immediately started working in breaking down the fluid to its core elements, and then converting them to energy. It only took a short while, and I could feel the familiar feeling of being revitalized by the energy. It coursed through my entire body and my inner self, resting in its ce inside my body in its non-corporeal state. From the first ''sip'' only a miniscule amount entered my reserves, the rest was used up by my tired body. I repeated the process, sipping up small amounts, then waited to be fully converted to energy, and settling down in my reserve pool. Once I felt that the remaining bits of energy rested in my reserves, then did I only take another sip. It was a long, arduous process but I had 2 reasons to be cautious. First, I wanted to slowly feel how the energy converting process worked to be familiar with it and learn it. Being able to revitalize and restore my reserves seemed to be a core element to my existence, as I was able to do it in my Bug form as well. Energy is the very core part, a critical element to my being, so I need to be innately familiar with it. The second reason for my cautiousness was that I did not want to alert the snake in any way. I did not know if it could do anything to me in this ce, but I did not want to find out either. Thest thing I want in my current situation is another unforeseen circumstance showing up making my already critical situation even harder. I still have no idea how I could even escape my current situation, but at least I now had the means to survive. Right now, at this moment, however, I do not need to think about escape. I am safe, and I just need to work slowly and silently to restore my Soul Power. I need to be in peak condition before I can think about such things. An indeterminate amount of time has passed while I was mindlessly absorbing and converting the fluids to energy. I could feel the shallow pool of fluids slowly draining, and at some point I had to stop and wait for the responsible organs to refill them. This further increased the required time needed for me to recharge, but currently time was the onlymodity that I had plenty of. Once I felt my reserves almost fully recharged, I took a look at my Status in the system. [Name: Aiden Race: Primal (Evolver) Active Form: Slime Form (Tier 0) Condition: 75% Soul Power: 2 (90%) Might: 1 Agility: 1 Spirit: 10 Skills: Primal Absorb (Level 1) Effects: Blessing of Ioris (-), Physical Resistance (level 1), Fall Resistance (level 1), Water Resistance (level 1), Poison Resistance (level 1+)] (A/N: From this point on, outside of the Auxiliary Chapter: Character Sheet, I will focus on showing only the changed, updated or relevant sections of the Character Sheet. There will be a lot more detail added, and it will be confusing in theter chapters to see a huge wall of text that is not needed. Obviously, the Auxiliary Chapters will be regrly updated.) ''I still need some time before I ampletely refilled.'' I was focusing only on my condition and Soul Power section that''s why I haven''t noticed the small change in my Effects section. ''Enya, what is the plus sign next to my Poison Resistance section?'' [That section is an indicator there is a change regarding that skill. Unfortunately however, until you resolve your current predicament, the system will not be able to provide you more information on this matter. I''m sorry Aiden.] The response surprised me a bit, but then I realized that the ultimate goal for the system is to help me and push me forward. I calmed my mind, and while remembering to get back to this matterter. I absorbed a small amount of stomach acid once again, and while converting it to energy, I kept focusing on the condition''s section of my Status screen. It was interesting to see that my condition had the priority in using up the refreshment, and from every sip, only around 20% of it went to my reserve pool. It didn''t take that much longer to see my condition get back to its peak state, with my Soul Power reaching it slowly afterwards. Now, however, I had to think hard about resolving my current situation. I was focusing only on restoring myself to peak state, but now that I''m almost there, I should try to analyze the situation and my options. Although I had no clear memory of my past life, I could vaguely recall that I used to rely on my analytical mind many times. I was inside a snake. Said snake was dumb enough to not chew me, but used my motion to counter it and swallow me whole. I felt no movement at all since I woke up, so most likely it is resting now. I am probably around the eggs or at least close by. I can survive inside as long as I stay in my current form. However, once I change back, the energy fluctuations will alert the Cave Viper that something is happening and it will try it''s best to crush me. This means that once I morph back, I will be on a timer, so I need to think about my big ''escape'' n right now. ''Hmm.. I don''t think my current form could do anything to absorb any of the inner walls of the snake''s flesh. But, if I morph back to my Bug form, I still don''t think my mandibles could do anything, it''s not sharp, it''s not for thrusting, it''s used for lifting and crushing objects'' I was deep in thought, but after a few minutes Enya chimed in. [Aiden, remember you have the Blessing that you could use for your current situation. While it has severe consequences, this cavern is rtively safe once you get rid of the viper.] That''s right! The Blessing of Ioris, the help I received from that Almighty One. He probably foreseen this event ying out, and it might have been that reason that he gave me this Ability in the first ce. However, I still had one concern with it. ''That''s true.. But, would it still count towards my current Evolution Task? Will it stillplete it?'' Thest task before I could master the Bug form and finally learn all of it''s secrets, and potentially maybe the reason behind thisst task hidden initially is something I do not want to skip with some easy cheat. If that is the case, then I would rather think more and continueying low until I can figure something out. [It will still count towardspletion. The Blessing was a gift to you as a means to help you in your early stages. Even the cave that you were ''born'' into this world, was carefully selected to give you a trial to go through.] ''That''s just fantastic. Really happy that me being EATEN was a carefully thought out n. THANKS!'' My frustration reached its peak with the news I received. I can''t deny that the first cavern was peaceful, and it helped me get my basics ironed out. But being eaten is not a fun experience. Anyways, enough self-loathing, and let''s end this battle once and for all! Finalizing my n of attack, I stopped my absorption, and focused my mind to the previously experienced process, using my energy I converted my outer shell back into the cocoon-shell and started morphing back into my Bug form. While doing that, I gave the order to Enya as well: ''Enya, once I finish the evolution process, please initiate the Blessings ability and let''s absorb this pesky snake!'' Chapter 8 - 8 - The Cave Viper (Part 3) Last time I had no way of measuring the time it takes to evolve to another creature. It was dark, and I had nothing to measure time with. This time wasn''t that much different either. The only difference I had was that by the time the cracks started appearing on my cocoon, and I could expand my Sense again, the fluids in the snake''s stomach were refilled to their original state. With an outburst of energy, I shattered my protective shell, and once again emerged as a ck The sudden outburst of energy was most likely felt by my predator as well. I could feel movement, and my surroundings started rumbling. The gig was up, I had to immediately initiate the n. ''Enya, activate the blessing ability and get me out of here!'' I ordered my system. There was no time to waste. I had no idea how much time I had, until something deadly would happen. Instead of the ability activating, I received a stern warning from mypanion this time. [I have to warn you Aiden, that the strain that the blessings effect will put on your soul, will cause heavy damage to you. After the effect ends you will be in aatose state for the next 24 hours and you could suffersting damages. Please confirm your choice once again with this knowledge.] While thesting damages is not something I want, I simply do not have any other choice. I have to live with it or die here right now. ''I understand and ept the risks. Now start the process! We have no time to waste!'' I confirmed my choice. Instantly I could feel a huge increase in power, and I started radiating golden light. The aura I suddenly emitted, destroyed every particle of the snake innards, quickly making its way outwards. The Viper had no chance to react at all, in mere seconds its entire body was destroyed by this golden aura. As soon as I was free and my predator disappeared in this sh of light, the aura submerged back into me. As the aura entered back to my body, I felt the sudden surge of power apanied by an iprehensible pain. It wasn''t physical pain, nor mental, but something in between. This was the first time I felt this type of pain. It felt like something was trying to tear me in half trying to force itself out. I tried to release the tension by shouting but I was unable to, I still had no way ofmunicating, since I was still a bug. I couldn''t do anything as the pain just get sharper, and more and more real. I slowly lost consciousness, and the familiar darkness engulfed my soul once again If I would have been awake, I could have heard Enya''s voice that sounded like she was on the verge of tears speaking to me. [Blessing Bacsh initiated. Hibernation started. Countdown: 23:59:59.. Sorry Aiden, but this is for your own good] With the countdown started, my Body started showing golden glowing cracks all around and shattering to tiny bits and pieces shortly after. As the resulting dust settled, a ck egg shaped cocoon was left in its wake. It was simr to the cocoon I used when I morphed from my Birth Form to my Bug form, but at the same time it was different. Unique. Harder. It really looked like a small ebony colored egg. Like if the darkness that was all too familiar to me at this point, was given a solid shape to hug and protect my very soul that resided inside. ...I had no idea how much time had passed. I only know that when I woke up I was inplete darkness. However, I wasn''t alone as I could hear my sweetpanions voice. I could feel some sadness in it this time, however. [Wee back Aiden. Before you ask, you were put into hibernation as a result of the bacsh that you received for the usage of the Blessing. However, once you get your bearings, you should check the notifications you received for the fight with the Viper.] Following her advice, I turned my attention to the upper right corner of my vision where a slew of notifications was still blinking. While waiting for the dark shell to crack and set me free, I opened up all of them. [Due to the effects of the Blessing, your overall Soul Power has increased by 1!] [-Survive and kill one of your natural predator (1/1) - Completed] [Mushroom Bug Evolution mastered! Rewards: +1 Might, +1 Agility, +50 XP, Leveling system unlocked.] [Congrattions for defeating a mature Cave Viper! Cave Viper form, and Guided Evolution Path system unlocked.] [Due to the heavy bacsh of energy overdose, Spirit received reduced by 3 points, but received +50 XP] [First Guided Evolution Path life form obtained, Evolution Shop unlocked.] [Poison Resistance Bonus! Because of your experience with the stomach acid, your Poison Resistance leveled up!] [Primal Absorb ability received 50 xp bonus from Evolution Mastery!] Okay, that was a real big wall of text with way too many changes and features all at once. Let''s go over them one by one. First, it should be good to check up on my updated Status Screen. I received new stats, upgrades and unlocked a new feature as well. I opened up my Status Screen and checked up the changed attributes. [Name: Aiden Race: Primal (Evolver) Form: Mushroom Bug (Tier 1) Condition: 90% Soul Power: 1/3 Experience: 100 XP Might: 2 (0/100 xp) (+1 reward for bug form mastering) Agility: 2 (0/100 xp) (+1 reward for bug form mastering) Spirit: 7 (0/100 xp) (-3 for bacsh for blessing) Skills: Primal Absorb (Level 1) (50/100 xp) Effects: Blessing of Ioris (-), Physical Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 xp), Fall Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 xp), Water Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 xp), Poison Resistance (level 2 - 0/100 xp) ] (A/N.: I know I said I will refrain from posting it, only to post it immediately again, but there''s way too many changes to skimp over them this time. There''s a lot of back and forth discussion going on in this chapter to get introduction to the core features of the system, and main mechanics.) Okay, there''s a lot of changes that I need to slowly go over. My current Soul Power pool is drained which is understandable, and the damaged condition is probably the result of the bacsh effect. Thankfully, with the defeat of the snake, I can rx in the cavern for a while to recharge. I received a boost to my Might and Agility, so that''s one thing to test out. I really want to see that if I can feel any real changes to my body regarding those stats. The penalty to my Spirit stat is a bit troubling, but as my Soul Power increased overall, I cannotin that much. My Poison Resistance got stronger as well, which I can, once again, understand, as I spent god knows how much time in the belly of the snake covered in its fluids. The Experience points and the leveling system however is something I need to get more information about. ''Enya, can you please give me a brief overview of the Leveling System, and what the Experience points represent?'' [In simple terms, it is tied to the second new feature you unlocked, the Guided Evolution Path. Once you evolve into a life form that has an Evolution Path associated with it, meaning it could evolve into higher life forms, the leveling system will unlock with it as well. In short you can look at the Experience Points you received as a sort of system currency that you can assign to either leveling up abilities, attributes, to your level, or even spend it in the Evolution Shop.] ''I see. So, I can assign these points to any of my abilities, but from what I see I can also get experience on them naturally or as rewards and bonuses, right? How can I get more points?'' Currently this was the most important concern in my mind. I need to know how I can farm these points since it can be used for almost anything in the system. [Yes, you can receive points to specific skills, abilities, or even attributes as rewards. You can receive points in many ways, that 2 mostmon points avable to you currently would be defeating hostiles orpleting assigned quests.] While I still have a lot of questions, most of them could be resolved with time. I moved on to the next category that I want to take a look at. Opening up the Evolution Menu so see the changes. I saw the new ''Shop'' menu between the Evolution Tree and Fusion which I have yet to try out. I opened up the Evolution Tree. [Evolution Tree] Current: Primal Slime - Clean - Tier 0 (Mastery: 100%), Avable options: Mushroom Bug - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%), Cave Viper - Clean - Tier 1] Yeah, the new option is the Viper, I defeated, in pristine condition. Before I evolve into it, I wanted to first take a peek at the Shop and see what it is about. By now, I was pretty familiar with the navigation of the system, so without any issues I got into the Shop menu. What greeted me is a seemingly endless list. From what I could tell from a quick browse, it had various abilities that could be purchased for an exorbitant amount of points. For example the first feature that caught my interest was ''Short range Blink'' for a price of 50 000 points. And that was one of the cheapest avable! The ability itself was a quick teleport forward from your position 20 meters. It could be a very useful addition to the repertoire, confusing the enemy during battles, but with that price it will be quite a while before I could afford it. Not mentioning that there were abilities and even traits for forms like Draconic Wings in every color ranging from 20 million to a whopping 100 million points! While I had yet to see the Guided Evolution Path in action, I had a feeling I first had to evolve into my new Cave Viper form to see it in action. Exiting from the Shop, I navigated into the Evolution Tree, and selected the new, shiny avable form only to get engulfed into the familiar cocoon once again... Chapter 9 - 9 - New Heights I have to admit, I was super excited to finally be something that''s notpletely useless. Being a bug was a pretty pathetic experience. All I could do was eat and eat, and let''s not forget, be food for anything that''s bigger than me. What an exciting life! Time passed while I rested inside the cocoon. I could feel my body changing, quickly growing, filling out the big shell that I was engulfed in. Previously I had a lot of space, but now it felt that I was filling it up almostpletely. By now I could tell when I will emerge. I felt the energy coursing through me, ready to erupt and shatter my protective cover. In a moment the egg shattered, and I could feel my vision slowly returning. For the first time in my life I could feel a regr head forming, with its usual essories: a pair of eyes, a mouth with teeth, and a tongue! No mandibles, no antennas, nothing weird. I had no legs or hands, I was almost the exact same copy as my deceased predator, just slightly bigger. I would say I was about around a meter long.. More or less, hard to be exact. I had crystal clear vision, and with my boosted Dark Sense, I could clearly see and sense the entire cavern system I was in. It was actually pretty weird, as I could ''see'' the entire corridor and the connecting cave as well. I could not see it with my eyes per say, butbined with my vision and my system assisted mapping feature, I knew every single detail in my previous home. Looking back to it now, that cave was about half the size of this one. Howrge it felt back then! My whole body was covered in golden scales. They looked really cool, very shiny. I had 2rge fangs in my mouth that I felt I could use to spray my venomous spit ahead of me. I probably need to practice with itter on, as I have no idea how to aim with it currently. It was just a feeling, and I could remember that my huntress used it against me previously as well. I probably spent way too much time just slithering around myself and looking at my body at every angle. Just let me enjoy myself a bit, finally I wasn''t at the bottom of the food chain. I really just wanted to release a loud roar to let the world know they should get ready because I aming! Unfortunately, while I was capable of producing sound finally, it was limited to hissing and simr sounds. Anyways that will not going to ruin my mood, so with that I hissed as loud as I could. ''This feels much better. Okay let''s take a look at the Evolution Status now.'' I had a feeling it had some incredible additions. [Evolution Status Current form: Cave Viper(Tier 1) Level: 1/25 (0/100 xp) - Mastery: 0% Tasks: *LOCKED* *LOCKED*] ''Really? Both of them are locked? How will I know what to do?'' Iined. First of all, I can only see 2 tasks, and both of them are locked and hidden. What should I do now?! [Simple Aiden. The system after the fight wants you to go out and explore. It will not give you visible pointers and would like it if you could just go and live your life.] ''Live my life? But *sigh* You are right, if I just go from task to task that will not aplish anything at all. It was quite useful so far, but if I have to do my own thing from now on, then I will do just that. Will the tasks unveil themselves at some point?'' I had to admit, that while it annoyed me that the safety that I was given previously was taken away, this is a liberating feeling as well. I do not need to rely on the tasks solely, I should just live my life to the fullest. [The tasks will be unlocked if you happen toplete them, or if in any case the system deems it necessary to guide you. Most likely you won''t even need them. Your mastery rating will go up as you naturally understand your current form better. ] Answered Enya. ''Also how does the level that I can see here work, and what is the Guided Evolution Path that brought so much change to you?'' [The guided evolution path is a specialized evolution tree that is avable to different life forms. Your current form has aplete tree that will be avable to you. Once you reach the level requirement for the upgrade, you will be able to evolve into a new species that is one step higher than your current one. As for what those are, unfortunately that is not something I can show you. Once you are strong enough, you will be able to pick and select from the avable ones. Also note that with the Absorb ability in most cases you will not get enough life essence from the absorbed life form to be able to evolve into it. So far you absorbed only primitive life forms, so you got it pretty quickly, but most likely from now on, you will just get a very small amount of usable essence, and you might just want to use that and convert them to experience points in the system to use it to strengthen your abilities.] Enya went into a long-winded exnation, to answer all of my uing questions. She was right, I started to think of my Absorb ability as a surefire way to get new forms right out of the bat. That should not be the case. There was one more thing that kept bothering me. I just could not remember anything since I woke up to how I got to this cavern, who I am, and what I am. I mean, I know that my name is supposed to be Aiden, and the sisterly voice I keep hearing is called Enya, and that there''s a unique guide inside me, deep inside my soul that provides me this weird system that Enya keeps referring to but besides that nothing. Before I could ask the question, Enya noticed my inner thoughts, and with a pained voice spoke up. [I''m sorry Aiden, but the questions that concern you I cannot give you an answer to. That was the price you had to pay for using the Blessing''s all-empowering effect to ovee the dangerous situation. I''m really sorry.] Her voice sounded really pained, like if she was on the verge of crying. I could hear the concern from her voice, that she was full of regrets and pain that she cannot juste out and hug me. It filled my heart with warmth. ''Don''t worry about it Enya. I understand, it was my decision. If this is the price, then we will just go forward with it. It is not your fault, please don''t be so sad, I much prefer your happy soothing voice then this one.'' I tried to console her to the best of my abilities. It might only be just some clumsy attempt, but I really hoped my feelings have gone through. I want her to be happy and not sad. It''s as simple as that. It seems that even if my attempt was mediocre at best, my feelings and my inner thoughts did get through, as shortly after I could hear a shortughter, and a few sweet words from her, apanied by some giggle. She was still struggling but I could hear her feeling better. [Thank you Aiden My, I should be the one giving you the advice, not vice versa... ] After our very short intermezzo, I closed up all the screens that were still open and focused my vision to the eggs that belonged to the deceased Cave Viper. I wasn''t really sure what I should do with them. Sensing my thoughts, she came up with the answer without me asking it, once again proving how lost I would be without her constant vigil. [You do not need to bother with them. From all these eggs, there is only 1 that is actually fertilized, the rest are just a diversion. This is one of the defence mechanics that these Vipers utilize to keep them safe. You could either leave it be, as once it hatches, it will instinctively search for food. You could also destroy it, or stash it into your inventory in the system. That will freeze it in time, it will not age, so you can keep it safe until you decide what to do with it.] Oh yes, my inventory! So far, I haven''t even checked it, I had no reason to. It''s hard to describe it, it''s like a space inside me, like if it was a separate world, that existed only inside my soul. I could, with just my thoughts, delve inside it, ce anything there, or even take them out. I didn''t know why, but I knew that time had no meaning inside that space, everything I would ce there would be kept in the same condition as it was ced in, until I would take it out. Without her mentioning, I knew I could transform this space. I could use my Power to energize the space and if needed making it a real living world, a subspace, a unique dimension that would only exist inside me. It''s weird, and I had no idea why I was so sure about this, but I just instinctively knew. I made a mental note to myself that one day I will explore this idea and see what I could do there. For now, I decided to ce the eggs inside this subspace. With Enya''s guidance, I just had to touch the eggs and ''will'' them, to be ced inside. They all just vanished into nothing in the real world, one by one, and in my system, I saw 2 new icons appear that represented the eggs. [Inventory: 1 Cave Viper Egg (fertile) 9 Cave Viper Egg (unfertile)] My focus was interrupted by a low rumbling noiseing from my stomach. I was hungry, I haven''t eaten for more than a day. I was also low on energy as well. Looking around for food, I noticed a group of Mushroom Bugs around a stalk of Mushroom close by. As usual they had no concern about danger at all even when I was close by. I know I need to feast on them, as now, everything that is weaker than me, is considered prey. I know, but just a day ago, these guys were my silent ''friends''. Okay, friends may be a stretch, but we were the same. Now, I need to kill them to survive? That''s just cruel. [Aiden, do not be worried about these bugs. They are low level life forms that can reproduce at an astonishing rate. They are very rich in essence, which will be helpful to replenish your empty reserves. They feel no pain, or any emotion and as you experienced they do notmunicate at all. Don''t worry about them, eating a few will not cause any problems in the long run. Right now you are a predator, and you need their essence to restore yourself and be ready for the outside world.] Enya consoled me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was finally able to not just mentally but physically express my inner turmoil and calm myself down. Being able to express yourself in this way actually helps a lot. The mind works weird ways sometimes, I know. If anyone would have seen it, they would probably be out of their minds right now. It must have looked funny to see a golden scaled snake, close it''s red glowing eyes, then inhale and finally exhale. It might have been an alien reaction from a Viper, but I needed it. I had to calm myself down, and shift my mindset, to be able to fight the inner turmoil I was having. ''I''m really sorry, but I need to do something horrible to you all.'' I gave one final note, and with that, I focused my attention to a big and juicy looking bug closest to me. Little fe was chowing on the scalp of the mushroom that a few others were also feasting on. I slithered closer, and while keeping my gaze on it, I slowly opened my mouth to as wide as I could. Once I felt I was finally ready, I struck down my victim, and while piercing it through its head with my left fang, I ended its life, then swallowed it down in one quick notion. I was so quick the whole process didn''t evenst a single second. It was just a golden streak struck the insect and then it was gone. The others seemingly didn''t give any concern about their deceased friend and just kept chewing the various parts of the lying mushroom. I hunted down all the bugs that were gathering around the mushroom. At first, I took my time, positioning myself behind the bugs, then aiming and finally striking at my prey. The whole hunting session took at most a few minutes, but probably less, I still had no real sense of time. The individual hunts themselves were a few seconds at most, I was lightning fast with my strikes in each case. It wasn''t just me exerting this much force into it, this was my instinct as a snake. It came from within. While I was slowly digesting their corpses inside my belly, I made my way towards the small passageway that led a few rays of sunshine battling its way inside the darkness that ruled this small cavern system. It was time to make my exit and see the world. Chapter 10 - 10 - Fresh Air (A/N.: This is the first time I used a timed publish, hopefully it will work without any issues, as unfortunately I''m away from my PC and I''m unable to manually publish it. If it doesn''t work, you shouldn''t see this message anyways. :D) --- Slithering my way, I followed the source of the bright rays, while I was making sure the mapping feature was saving every little detail that I sensed in my range of vision. As I emerged from the cavern entrance, the bright light caused me a momentary blindness. This was the first time I felt the rays envelop me. I could feel its warmth. The sunshine caressing my scales. Heating me up, providing me with a natural source of replenishment. The view that unfolded before me was incredible. The forest that was before me, was gigantic, luminous and thriving. Its canopy was monopolized by por, hawthorn, and hickory and abundant dancing lights bounced through their crowns for a hodgepodge of shrubs to take advantage of the moist and fertile bottomyer below. Bundled branches waved from many a tree, and a pot-pourri of flowers, which desperately tried to avoid the shadows, added some bright touches to the otherwise uniform forest floor. I have not mentioned it yet, as I have not seen an ear, but apparently I could finally process sounds. I have to tell you; the world got so loud as I crossed the entrance. It was like I exited from a sound bubble. Suddenly I could hear a mishmash of noises. A variety of animal sounds, predominantly those of foraging beasts, reverberated through the air, forming a chaotic orchestra with the sounds of a fight over dominance between most likelyrger animals or maybe monsters. In the distance you could also hear the trickling sounds of a gentle river stream. Thinking about the flowing stream of water, I suddenly had the urge to dive into it. The sound came from the east, thus after considering it for a moment I started making my way there. Judging by the sound, since it was outside of my vision, even if I empowered my Dark Sense ability, it must be quite a distance away. Not that it bothered me. Making my way through the tall grass, feeling the moist ground around my body was quite thrilling. In the distance, to the north, amongst the tall trees and flower bed, I saw the asional light grey and white tuft of fur popping up, alternating with a pair ofrge fur covered ears. I assumed it must have been some kind of hare that found some food there. The nt that it was near to was also rather unusual. The nt the hare was focusing on was a small one. It had narrow needle leaves that were emerald colored. It had 3 small flowers on it, one ck, one dark red and one light orange colored. I couldn''t really tell but it seemed that whenever the hare attacked it, the nt grew small thorns around its body, that could be retracted back to its thin stem. It was quite a scene; the hare kept trying to attack, while the flower thwarted it every time, with the suddenly emerging thorns. I made a mental note toter investigate this strange nt but, right now, I continued my way over to the river. In a few minutes I was at the edges of the trees, hiding in tall grass, looking in front of me. There was a rtively small creature resting next to the stream. It was the size of a frog, but it had two legs and two arms, with a short, stubby tail. It had a thick, smooth oily looking skin, covered in small, ck coarse scales with some asional light blue and dark silverbinations. The size of this creature was all around. For example, its rtively small head had a pair of small, hanging ears on top of it, while it hadrge eyes, which was closed currently, with a very wide, but simple nose beneath it. It had arge mouth, almost half of its head. It did not seem to notice me, and it was probably resting after finishing his meal, which from the remains seemed to be some sort of fish. It also produced a high pitched rhythmic snoring sound. I kept my gaze on it, while I slowly creeped closer to the creature. It either did not care, or its awareness was really low, as I did not notice any movement, not even a twitch. In mere moments I was already behind the creature, in my attack pose. I was gazing down at the animal, I did not notice any reaction from it. Looking at it, I thought back to my earlier battle with my consciousness. I know I shouldn''t feel sorry for every animal and monster I will hunt down. I''m a predator, I need to hunt them down. I need the experience; I have to be strong. If you are weak, no matter where you are, you will be at the bottom of the food chain. If I want to keep myself alive, I need to strive for the top. For that, I had to shift my mentality. I must be a true predator, not just a wannabe. I slowly opened my mouth to its maximum capacity. Judging from the size of the creature, I could probably swallow it whole, but just to make sure, I nned to bite down on its head, sinking my fangs and injecting my venom into it. This served two goals. One, is that I wanted to see the power of my bite, and second, I wanted to test out the toxicity of my venom. Even if it destroys my prey, it would be a worthy experiment. The creature died peacefully. It did not even make a sound, as I bit into its head with lightning fast speed. Its ears twitched momentarily, but as my venom made its way into its body, the movement quickly died down. As the creature''s movements stopped, I slowly closed my mouth, as I bit down its headpletely, and swallowed it down. I did not want to swallow it down whole, as while its size was small, it would still cause a rather big protrusion in my belly area. After the first bite, I bit down anotherrge chunk and after a few more bites, the entire creature was now taking its final rest inside my tummy, slowly being converted to energy. I took a rest in its previous spot, while focusing on the conversion. I wanted to see the amount of energy it provided and thenpare it to the mushrooms and bugs. However, my momentary rest was disturbed by the system''s notification. [First sessful huntpleted! Hunt (level 1) ability granted!] [Forest Stone Frog hunted! Received 5 xp!] This reminded me, I still had 100 xp from the rewards, which I have yet to spend. Although it''s not much, but I already had an idea where I wanted to use these points. ''Enya, please convert all the experience points I have towards my level.'' I ordered. Instead of a reply, I got a new notification. [105 XP used. Level 2 reached. 10 XP granted to Might and Agility.] So the increase in level, also provided a small boon to the physical attributes. I wonder if this will always be the case, or there would be other benefits in increasing levels, other than reaching the threshold. That was my main goal now, but if it provided other benefits, all the better. Keeping my sense active, and constantly scanning my surroundings for movement, I closed my eyes, and rested my head on a nearby rock while lulling myself to a daze listening to the sound of the flowing stream of water. Processing the frog was a slow process, and while that was going on, I decided to just enjoy this idyllic atmosphere. It was incredibly peaceful. I have no idea when I fell asleep, but with my belly full, the soothing sound of the flowing river eventually won the battle over my awareness. I just couldn''t help it. When I woke the sun was already setting, and the temperature was slowly dropping. It was actually this colder weather that caused me toe back to awareness. A cold breeze blew through me, causing me to shiver momentarily, and groggily awaken. I raised my heads and sent out a series of invisible energy pulses to scan my area for any dangers. Registering that there were no immediate problems, I had a few options ahead of me. The day had sadly passed, which was not my intention, but I could still follow my initial intention and dive into the water. However, since it''s already so cold outside, I wasn''t keen on that idea anymore. The other, and safer option would be to return to my cave for the day, and while I''m not that tired anymore, continue resting up till morning rises and follow up my n tomorrow. The third option, since I hadpletely consumed the frog now, and I felt full of energy, I could continue to explore the surroundings and check that weird flower, the hare was attacking earlier the day. It was such a unique-looking nt, and its defensive mechanism was so interesting, so unique, that it might provide me some benefits. Since I could now constantly keep up my radar with my empowered Dark Sense, I gave myself time until the sunpletely sets. Not sure how much time that would be, but since I do not want to take any risks right now, that seemed the best route. Leaving my new luxurious resting ce that this river provided, I made my way back into the thick and tall des of grass, and made my way towards the weird nt that I could already sense it was still standing proud, in the middle of the flowerbed, now devoid of any small mammals pestering it. The small hare gave up eventually since it couldn''t get past the prickly thorns. ''Wonder if it''s poisonous? I can''t think of any other reason for being victorious against the animal.'' I contemted. This fragile looking small nt, with its 3 different colored flowers, won against that small creature. If it was not poison, I don''t know what it could have been. Maybe it got scared of arger animal? While thinking of various reasons for this rather uncanny ending, I was already near it. I slowly slithered around it, I tried not showing any hostile intent, since it seemed to be able to sense and react to it. I still wasn''t sure about this, neither of the fact that the thorns could cause me any damage at all, but I did not want to test this theory. Using my usual attack stance, once my mouth was wide open, I bit down and ripped it out of the ground. It did not react to my attack at all, so I quickly swallowed it down. I was experiencing pain, if it was poisonous, but other than some dull pain that quickly subsided, there was nothing else. However, the notification confirmed my suspicion of the end of the previous battle. [Poison Resistance (level 2) received 25 XP!] Chapter 11 - 11 - Aquatic Adventure My theory got confirmed immediately after processing the strange nt. It gave me a slight increase to my Poison Resistance skill. Sadly, this was the only specimen of its species in my near vicinity, and I did not want to go on a venture just for a chance to find more. I''m not confident to be able to handlerger predators, and with my immediate vicinity already mapped for any potential dangers, I would rather stay here. At least for the time being. There''s only 1 section that I could not map out. It was the river that I visited in the morning. I already nned to explore it then, but with the Frog and the sun I had to postpone that n. Not that I regret napping on the sun, it just caused a slight dy. With my ns decided for tomorrow, I made my way back to my cave, and not long after, I hit the hay sack. Early the next morning, I woke up. I was quite hungry to be honest, but I decided to not snack on the bugs anymore. My first meal today will be that fish the weird Frog creature was snacking on yesterday. Slithering my way to the riverside, I went to the same spot as yesterday, and just stared at the body of the water. It was muddy, in fact, you couldn''t see the bottom, even if it at most had a meter depth. Even with my scanning ability, I couldn''t map out anything from the surface. I had to dive in. Problem was, in my current form, I wasn''t sure if I was amphibian or not. I had a feeling, you could say an instinct that I would be fine, but I was still skeptical. Even if this is not water but some toxic liquid, I should still be fine, right? At most, I would just transform back to my Birth Form, and that should save me. The current is not strong either, so I should be able to get back to drynd in case I have problems, so why am I hesitating? To be honest, since waking up from the bacsh, the most I can recall from the past is the moment I was born in the cave as a Primal Slime. Nothing before, like how did I get here, or from where. I had a feeling that Enya had something to do with this, asst night when I asked about this, she dodged the question and refused to answer, which was very uncharacteristic of her. So, sadly I don''t know why I am such a nervous train-wreck all the time. I know I have to work on it, which I am, and so far, taking a deep breath, and slowly exhaling it, seemed to work best. After calming my nerves, I slowly made my way to the edges of the water source. As slow as I could, I edged myself into the liquid, trying to feel if it''s harmful or not. Thankfully other than a refreshing coldness, nothing struck me. With that information I creeped deeper into it, while I still kept half of my body out on drynd. I also kept my head above water for the time being, and just kept myself still. I wanted to get used to the coldness, and the feeling of the water caressing my scales. My scales also seemed to instinctively react to the water, slowly opening then closing, almost like if they were breathing. With this information in mind, I slowly sunk my whole body into the water, with the exception of my head. I kept to the edges where the river was not deep. My n was to keep to this part, move around a bit, and slowly as I regained my confidence, sunk into itpletely, then to see if I could move around using my slithering movement, or I should think up another method for traversal. I probably spent around an hour just hanging around doing nothing while keeping my head out of water and dutifully scanning my environment. I knew this whole panic was just in my head, and I have no grounds to behave this way. I knew that. But it was just not that easy to ignore it. I had to take my time, okay? How should I have known that I would be able to breathe underwater?! What part of my body would scream: ''You are amphibian!''. I realized that thisst hour was totally wasted, as when I finally submerged underwaterpletely, I realized that I can breathe just as good as I did above water. Just to confirm, I took a quick peek at my Mastery progress and noticed that the bar slowly kept increasing. Not much but from the initial 1% it was now close to 10%. Another good thing that came out of this, was that now I was able to finally send out pulses and map out the area. I could sense a small school of simr-looking fish that the frog probably ate yesterday close by. They were rtively small, well, at leastpared to the frog, they were like half its size. They had small side fins, and onerger dorsal fin with a short but powerful tail ending in a longer rear fin. They had thin, coarse scales which were usually either light grey, red, light yellow, ck or abination of those colors. They seemed to be herbivores, as they were all gathering around a group of seaweed. From the distance, if not counting the colorful scales, they reminded me of the Mushroom Bugs back in the cave. Gathering in groups, eating the same nt, while being totally oblivious of their surroundings. Not caring the slightest that a carnivore such as myself, was eyeing them. With my belly on the alert, sending me signals in the form of low growls I knew what today''s menu will be. Before I could hunt however, I had to test out my ability to move. Who knows if my previous technique will be adequate underwater? Well my question got answered immediately. I pushed myself from the ground, and using the simr slithering motion, instinctively, I was slowly making my way towards the school of fish. ''Wonder what these fish are called. It''s actually pretty interesting, that the system gives the names of the creatures I kill. Does it know? Is this information avable somewhere? Can I ess it?'' While I made my way towards my unsuspecting prey, I was wondering about my system. It''s pretty unique. I can''t remember where and how I got it, but for some reason I knew how to use it, and I knew that the soft mature female voice is called Enya. Unfortunately, Enya was still silent and did not answer any of these questions for me. Ever since our talkst night, she went silent. She did not answer my questions rted to my amnesia, or what happened, but just went silent. I could feel her inside my soul, but I could not make her talk to me, no matter what I tried. I just had to give her time, something seemed to bother her. Deciding that it''s not worth troubling myself over the matter as she will talk to me when she is ready, I arrived close to the school of fish. I tried to be as sneaky as possible, and with the low current it wasn''t that difficult to get to my usual attacking distance. This time I just wanted to grab one, then get tond with it, andze on the sun while enjoying my spoils. I was pleasantly surprised that the changing the medium from air to water, my speed did not falter much. I could grab one fish, while the rest scurried away quickly. I sank my teeth into the juicy body of the fish, and injected a small amount of venom, to end its suffering. After its movements seizedpletely, I made my way to the shore, to the same spot I used yesterday. Exiting the water I could feel my scales close down, go back to the resting position. The fish turned out to be even more rewarding than the frog yesterday. As I swallowed thest bits, I could already feel a huge amount of energy refilling my reserves, refreshing my body. The amount of energy it provided as I was processing it waspletely ridiculous. On top of that the energy it provided coursed through my entire body, even feeling it submerging with my scales. My scales and with that my entire body was shining. I also took a quick look on my system and noticed a few new notifications. [Rainbow Carp (level 1) hunted! Received 5 xp!] [Hidden Requirement Completed! [Underwater Breathing (level 1) gained! Swimming (level 1) gained!] I was shocked. It provided as much experience as the frog that hunted these creatures, and I also seemed toplete a hidden requirement towards mastering my Viper form. I could already breathe underwater, and was able to swim, but maybe with the skills now visible on my character sheet I could keep them? That would be certainly incredibleter on! I also get to know the name of my meal, Rainbow Carp. It was easy, harmless, and it was avable in huge numbers, unlike the frog which I haven''t seen any other since yesterday. Taking a quick peek at my status screen, I could see that I gained experience towards my Hunting skill as well. I decided that today I will hunt as many of them as I can... Chapter 12 - 12 - Essence I haven''t even noticed when it got so dark. Just a ''little'' while ago, I was happily hunting the Rainbow Carps, and in the next, when I came back up for the umpteenth time, suddenly I realized that we were far into the night. In the distance you could hear hodgepodge of beastly sounds, most belonged to prowling animals setting out for their nightly escapades. Since I still wasn''t sure how I would fare against other, bigger, nastier predators, I decided that I will go back underwater and explore that small hole I found earlier. Heck, I wasn''t even sure how I would fare against that small frog creature if we would have faced-off against each other in a fair fight. Earlier today, between 2 sessful hunts, I found a small hole in the bottom of the river. I wanted to map it out a bit, but for some reason I could not sense its interior. There was some kind of force that repelled my attempts to send in my usual pulse of energy. It had some sort of barrier, or a wall made of unique energy, that prevented mental entry. I did not test it out, but for some reason I was certain that I could go in myself, physically, but as I was having a st with hunting, I did not put much thought into that idea. Besides at that time, I was thinking that in thete afternoon I will just return to my cave as usual. As the night overcame the daylight, the wildlife also shifted with it. The idyllic sounds that ruled the forest was mixed with sinister howls, and simr beastly howls. This was also true in the underwater atmosphere. The peaceful Carps are now gone, and the dark waters were carrying something eerie. Although I was a predator, I did not want to get into conflict. Not yet at least. I was cautious as I was making my way to the hole, I was sending out empowered pulses, to the maximum distance that I was capable, which was now bordering a kilometre radius. I noticed a few unique life signs in the distance, but none of them were in the way, so I safely arrived in front of the algae covered hole. As I was looking at it, I could feel some sort of invisible membrane vibrating at its entrance. Like some sort of door, separating the outside from the inside. Looking inside, I could only see a massive gape of darkness that went beyond, like if it was the door to the underworld. It had an ominous feel to it. I took onest look around, and even sent out another pulse, to scan if there''s any hidden dangers nearby. I had a sense of foreboding, that something bad will happen. I just couldn''t get a grasp on it, but something about this hole was tingling my rms. I tried asking Enya as well. ''Do you sense any dangers about this cave entrance? What is this energy that I can feel? Why do I have this ominous feeling?'' Sadly to no avail, I did not receive a response. I could still sense Enya inside, but it was like she was in a deep sleep, she was not answering, and I could not feel any activity from her for a time. The system itself still worked, I could use my map to navigate, I received notifications for each sessful kill, but she did notmunicate or show any signs of life since yesterday. Although I was getting worried about her, I could only wait for her toe and talk to me. I could not force this. Although I still had this sense of danger ringing rms inside my head, I slowly crossed the border. I could feel the barrier tingling my scales as I was crossing it, but other than that it gave me no harm. The interior of the cavern was dry, like if I wasn''t deep underwater. As I looked back to the outside you could see this massive wall of water. Quite the unique sight. It was a mesmerizing scene, seeing the massive pool of water standing like some sort of aquarium. Looking back into the dark corridor that kept ongoing seemingly to eternity, I tried sending out a pulse to see if I could map it out now. Interestingly I was still unable to do so, something was messing with my attempts. I could map out the passageway a bit further ahead, until a point it opened into a cavern. I could not sense the cavern at all. It had a simr feeling, like if the cavern itself was repelling my probing attempts. Not that it matters, since I already entered the cave, this will not force me to return. Looking around, the passageway itself wasn''t very spacious, and while I could slither my way through, the frog-like creature that I hunted first, would have problems squeezing itself through the narrow walls and stctite covered ceiling. Well, it might be a bit of an exaggeration to say these little protrusions are stctites, however they still could be hundreds of years old. The whole ce seems like a relic from a bygone era. How did this ce remain so clean, so uncontaminated by ''life''? I felt a bit guilty for intruding, like if I was tainting the ce with my presence alone. There was no vegetation, no sign of life as I made my way to the end of the corridor. The entrance also had this membrane of energy. However,pared to the outside, this one was barely visible, you could see it vibrating in the air. It was almost like a clear piece of translucent jelly that was ced here to bar entry. It radiated power, you could feel the amount of energy it contained. It was on a whole new level, it was almost like this massive wall of energy had some sort of self-awareness. It was the source of eeriness that I felt before, but it also contained a sort of familiarity. It was giving me the vibe that I should be cautious but should step inside, as something important to me was inside. Waiting for me to im it for myself. Almost like fate was guiding me. The strands of destiny, the flow of fate was guiding my way, machinating behind the scenes, so I eventually entered this hole in the bottom of a river. Eventually, I listened to these silent whispers and came into contact with the wall. It gave minimal resistance, but I could push myself through, slowly but surely. Breathing became hard, the air around me was much thicker, I was still inside this massive block of energy. The cavern was dark, however as I went a few steps I noticed a faint whirlpool of golden light deeper inside. It was swirling, giving itself a shapeless, but amoebic form, shining, radiating this golden colored light. As I was getting closer, the light also became brighter and brighter, to the point that I had to avert my eyes, or close them, as it became unbearable. It also emitted a high-pitched bell-like sound. I really wanted to ask Enya what this thing is. Why did I feel so much familiarity to it? What is this ce, why do I feel this pull, this need to absorb it? It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. As I made my way closer, I felt my consciousness slipping away, putting me in this trance-like state. I kept closing in on the object, that was floating in the air, changing its formless shape as it was swirling. Suddenly, the ever-familiar female voice rang in my head, bouncing me back to awareness. [Do not be afraid Aiden, this is not something that is harmful to you. I can sense its intent; it wants you to absorb it. It is very rich in energy, and it has some sort of familiarity to you. Unfortunately I can''t provide more information as it is unknown to me what it is, however if you absorb it, I will be able to analyze it.] ''Enya, you are finally back! I was so worried!'' I eximed inside in surprise. ''What happened?'' [I''m sorry for my silence, and in time I promise that you will understand everything, but for now, please just focus on what is ahead of you. You will need to revert back to your Primal Slime state, and use your innate skill, Primal Absorb on it.] ''But... *sigh*, alright, but this discussion is not over.'' I grumbled. She just dodged the question that was burning in my mind. I know she was right though, I had to focus on this whirlpool ahead of me. Reverting back to the Primal Slime state, or what I prefer to call, Birth Form, is almost an instant process at this point. ck mass oozed through my body, quickly changing my size and shape back to the blob. Its size grew a bitpared to before. The size is probably rted to the amount of energy I have nowpared to back then. It seems that the more I can store and have the bigger the size. I was wondering if this form could evolve as well, if my primal state could be my main state, and I could just fuse these other forms together? Finishing my shapeshifting, I came into contact with the energy, and pushing out a tendril from my body, I absorbed the energy into my body. I was quickly enveloped in the golden light that was radiating from the whirlpool earlier, barely clinging to my consciousness. Just before I lost my awareness, a new notification popped up: [Mature Primal Life Essence found. Beginning assimtion process... Hibernationmencing... 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1....] Chapter 13 - 13 - A Hut In The Woods A couple of miles away, in the very same forest, was a very special clearing. This little area had a cozy, wooden hut in it. It was surrounded by a short wooden fence, mainly to separate the wildlife and the herb garden that was carefully nted and tended to. The hut itself looked old, but still had that ''wee home'' vibe to it. It looked like it was built from some strange dark wood intermixed with white cedar looking wooden decorations. Small rounded windows were carefully ced to provide the much-needed natural light to its residents. Suddenly, the dark brown colored wooden door was smacked open and an 8-9 year old blonde pig-tailed girl with a moderately long ear ran out of it giggling happily, while shouting behind him. "Come on Granny, I don''t want to miss the bunnies! You know we can only see them around those funny flowers in the early morning! I really want to hug one today!" Not long after the cheerful missy ran out and yelled back, a sack of baggy, ragged red clothes walked out. Its aged owner smiled gently towards the energetic, and cheerful missy, and donning the simrly styled red hoodie around its wrinkled face, she gently responded. "Calm down Lily, there is no need to rush. I''m sure we will not miss them. Now,e back and help your grandma, these old bones are not like they used to be! Carry the basket for me, we have to gather some of those herbs today, or have you forgotten that we need to gather the herbs to brew the potions for tomorrow?" "Haaaai!" The cheerfuldy nodded in response, then hopped back to her grandmother and took the empty basket from her. Soon, they were both making their way through the foliage. They were familiar with this part of the forest, as this has been their second year living together here. It took almost a whole year for Lilly to ovee the trauma of losing her mother. Her mother was an elf and she was living with her at the outskirts of the nearby elven vige. The vige did not take her kindly, as most often the case with half-breeds, they hated her very existence. They viewed her as an insult to their race. She had no friends there. However, besides the scornful looks they gave both of them, no harm came to them. Mother and Daughter lived their lives in rtive peace, until that night Gingerly shaking her head, the elderlydy brushing off the depressing thoughts from her mind. Lily really came a long way since then. While she probably still deeply misses her mother, she seemed to have moved away from the trauma, and finally in thesest few days she was even cheerful. She really wanted to catch one of those white forest rabbits and pet them. Actually, it wouldn''t really be such a bad idea, as it would work wonders for her state of mind, but those little critters are almost impossible to catch. As soon as they detect a presence approaching them, they bolt away lightning fast. "Remember Lily, while we can definitely try to catch some of the Forest Rabbits, don''t get your hopes up. Our main goal today is to get your basket full of Devil Cloves and Sweet Sumacs. They are those small, dark red and orange flowers. The first is needed for the potions, while thetter is for your dessert. The more you harvest, the more sweets we can bake." Granny tried to coax Lilly, while they were leisurely strolling towards their destination. Speaking of, their target area was quite a distance away. That was the main reason they set out so early, as said flowers, only grew in that particr area of this forest. It was near a small hill and the river. The area there was more humid than the rest, and it was also much richer in mana then the rest of the forest. The whole ce was emitting a unique variation of mana, that was somewhat simr to Earth Essence, but at the same time, it seemed to contain a unique variation of Life Essence, and something unknown as well. This world had something that most called ''mana''. Mana was the term for the various essences that built up all life: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and the 4 higher and very rare Life, Death, Time and Space. You could say that these 8 elements were the ''building blocks'' of life. Casting magic was basically just manipting these essences to your will. For example, if you wanted to cast some form of Fire Magic, you had to have affinity towards said element, so it could flow through you. This flow determined the amount of mana you could work with. Gathering and using this essence would then allow you to shape it to your will. Shaping and creating the required effect is a whole science in itself, which -for the time being- we do not need to dive into. Most people had affinity to at most 1 of the Essences, and in very rare cases maybe 2. Granny was one of these unique cases, she had affinity towards Earth and the very rare Life Essence. This allowed her to be able to brew potions, and work as an alchemist. She would gather herbs and concoct Healing and Mana potions which then she would sell or exchange at the nearby town to the shopkeepers. Lily was still very young, most children would not show signs of affinity until they turned 10 years old, regardless of race. Lily was 8 years old this year, but has already started showing signs of affinity towards the Life Essence and showed great interest in Alchemy. This filled Granny with great joy and has started to teach her the tools of the trade from then on. Walking towards their destination, Granny looked at her Granddaughter filled with joy. She never would have thought that due to a series of events, she will end up with this little angel in her care. At the beginning she was afraid that Lily would not ept her, as in most cases Half-elves hated their human sides. Humanity was a very aggressive race especiallypared to the usually reclusive and peaceful elves. Most Half-Elves were conceived in terrible situations, sometimes in raids, wars, or kidnappings. The end result, these children were usually either parentless or was sold to very, giving them a deep scar at the very beginning of their lives. "Granny, look! We are still not toote! I can see the bunnies over there!" Lily''s voice snapped Granny out of her reverie. They were getting closer to their destination, and Lily could finally spot those beloved critters of hers. With that exmation Lily immediately bolted towards the group while giggling loudly. Obviously, this attempt did not go unnoticed by said group, who then quickly bolted in random directions as soon as the sound ofughter reached their ears, leaving their ''prey'', the thorny dark red colored flower alone. ''This child'' smiled Granny inwardly, watching the scene y out. Once the bunnies were gone, she continued her steps towards the flower. "Aww They got away again Granny!" pouting with her lips, Lily looked back at her Grandmother as if she would be able to fix the situation. "Lily, if you keep on running towards them like a wild animal, whileughing loudly, of course they will notice you miles away. You need to be silent, and you should try sneaking up on them instead!" She tried to console Lily. "I know.. But I just can''t help it!" "Alright Lily, take that flower, that''s the Devil Clove, we need as much as we can find. Also remember that the Sweet Lcs will have orange colored bell-shaped flowers. They should be around here. Try to fill your basket, okay?" Lily happily nodded with a simple "Okay!", then started filling her little basket. The area was filled with various types of flowers and herbs, and the 2 flowers she needed to gather were not the mostmon ones. They were prepared to spend the whole morning here and even prepared a few sandwiches for lunch if needed. It was important to fill up the basket today, as brewing all the potions would require at least 3 nights, and they already promised the shopkeeper back in town that they will try to get the potions delivered by the end of this week. Considering it''s already the second day, they do not have that many days left to spare. Still even if they were prepared to spend a few hours here, they were still surprised how fast lunchtime came. Luckily, they were almost done with the gathering, so they had some time to spare. "Come Lily, let''s rest a bit, and we will finish after lunch!" Granny shouted towards Lily, who just went past the treeline, towards the small river. She liked to rest next to the water, it was really refreshing. However, after several minutes there was still no response. "LILY! WHERE ARE YOU?" Granny got up and was looking around for signs of the missing misscheaver. After a few more breath''s time, Lily''s voice came from the direction of the river. "Granny! Come quickly, here''s a weird looking egg! And I think it is just about to hatch!" Granny was surprised, and quickly made her way towards the voice. What greeted her was something she never expected. Not at this forest at least "Impossible! Th-that''s a That''s a Dragon Egg!" Chapter 14 - 14 - Little Brother! Granny grabbed Lily and pulled her away and held her in her embrace. Lily tried to squirm her way out but to no avail, so she could only pout and look at her Granny with pleading eyes. However, Granny did not budge. "Sorry Lily, but you can''t get close to it. Most dragon species are powerful and arrogant creatures. It could hurt you and I would not be able to save you, even if it''s just a newborn. For now, let''s just observe, if it''s peaceful we will get close to it." Granny looked around the vicinity of the egg. It was sitting in a small crater next to the river. The strange thing was that the water did not flow into the crater but seemed as if an invisible wall was still there, guiding the body of water away from its precious treasure, lest it would stain it. While she has seen magic barriers, but nothing like this before. This barrier had no element! This was so far unheard of, magic barriers were always infused with their caster''s elements. This one however seemed to be void of any element... Or maybe it was infused with all? It was hard to tell, but she could feel the density from this far away. Both of them were eyeing the slightly shaking ck egg with curiosity in their eyes. Lily''s eyes were sparkling with expectation while Granny''s were contemting. How did it get here? Why is in this crater next to the body of water while protected with a very powerful and thick barrier? Just based on that barrier alone, she could tell that whoever ced it here was powerful beyond measure. --- While thedies were looking at the egg, its resident was still in a deep sleep. He was obviously Aiden, still in the hibernation process, assimting with the Primal Life Essence, totally oblivious of his surroundings. Enya was monitoring the situation outside, and she did notice the pair as they made their way there. In fact, she was the one that guided the younger one here. She knew that after emerging from hibernation the new form of Aiden will be very vulnerable, and she will need to be taken care of, at least for the first few months. After assimting with the Primal Essence, Aiden will be in his new ''Birth State'', a Primal Youngling, which would be very simr to a little humanoid child. He would be small, vulnerable, and would need to be taken care of. The pair she noticed earlier didn''t seem to be evil and monitoring them for a while she could see that they were a gentle and kind pair, probably family. This is exactly what Aiden would need when he would emerge from the cocoon. When she heard that the older one mistook the cocoon to a dragon egg, she smiled. It was often the case that a mature Primal was mistaken as powerful dragons. Older, mature dragons could take on human forms, and they would usually use that appearance to mingle amongst civilization from time-to-time. They could even hide their aura, so unless they deliberately let it out, nobody could tell the difference. Luckily, most dragons were reclusive beings, and preferred to stay alone, away from all life, mostly just sleeping, sometimes for centuries. Primals were even harder to differentiate. Newborn Primals were in a shapeless amorphous blob form, at least until they could take in enough life essence to shape their body to their matured form. Sometimes they were more animalistic, sometimes, they took on a more humanoid form. In Aiden''s case, the Primal he is assimting with currently, took in the form of a Mature Ancient Dragon. This was unexpected, absorbing the mightiest race of dragons, was no easy feat. Not to mention that it was in a clear condition either! Looking at the system, the remaining time on hibernation was slowly ticking away, and in the next few minutes, Aiden would finally emerge from his cocoon. Hopefully the pair outside would greet him in a friendly manner and ept him into their family. Time slowly ticked away, and the countdown reached its end. Shortly after that, the outer shell of the cocoon started shaking, and the encased power slowly started to shine through the cracks that appeared everywhere. Meanwhile inside, Aiden regained consciousness, and the first thing he did was to look at his new status. [Name: Aiden Race: Primal (Evolver) Form: Ancient Dragon (Tier 3) Level: 1/100 (0/100 xp) Condition: 100% Soul Power: 50 Experience: 105 XP Might: 27 (0/500 xp) Agility: 27 (0/500 xp) Spirit: 32 (0/500 xp) Skills: Primal Absorb (Level 1) (50/100 xp), Hunt (level 1 - 5/100xp) Effects: Blessing of Ioris (-), Physical Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 xp), Fall Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 xp), Water Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 xp), Poison Resistance (level 2 - 25/100 xp)] Aiden was shocked seeing his new stats. His Soul power along with his Might, Agility and Spirit basically skyrocketed. Also, his new form was of an Ancient Dragon? How strong is he currently? How could he test it? Questions filled his mind, but for the time being, the first task would be to break the shell, and get in some fresh air once again. Then to check his new form. He could feel that he finally had legs and arms, and that he had a humanoid shape. --- I slowly started squirming and moved my newly acquired hands to touch the shell. Exerting a bit of force, I could easily crack the hard shell, breaking the protective energy that surrounded me. Slowly my hands greeted the outside world, followed by the rest of my body as more and more parts of the cocoon broke apart. I could not see anything at first, the bright light caused momentary blindness. I could however hear and see a young female giggling, and shortly after a set of soft arms around my neck. As my vision returned, I saw a small, blonde, pig-tailed girl with her arms around me, as she giggled into my ears, while looking back at herpanion, an elderlydy wrapped in ragged, red clothes. "Granny, granny look! He is no dragon, he is a boy!" The elderlydy looked at me, with a questioning gaze. I could feel her scanning me, probably trying to determine if I would be a threat or not. "Calm down Lily, we still do not know who or what he is." Then she looked into my eyes. "Who are you? Why were you in a Dragon Egg, and what are you doing here?" Suddenly bombarded with questions, I could not answer at all, so I just looked back at her. Meanwhile Lily, who was still hugging me, looked at her Grandma. "Granny, don''t be so mean to him! Can''t you see that he is alone? He is my new brother!" Granny was shocked in this sudden exmation, but instead of answering her, she looked at me once again. "Where are your parents, boy?" Parents? The term sounds familiar, but for some reason I can''t recall it''s meaning. As for the earlier questions, I wasn''t sure how I should answer her. Another thing that bothered me, is that they were speaking to me, and while I had no idea how to answer them, I could understand them. It''s like they were speaking some unknownnguage, that was immediately tranted in my mind to a form I could understand. I phrased the question in mind to Enya. ''Enya, how can I understand them, but can''t talk back to them? What''s going on?'' Her reply came immediately, like if she was prepared for this one already. [It''s because the system can trante anynguage to a form you can understand. You will also be able to gradually learn thenguage that is being spoken to you, just by listening. The system will analyze it in the background and gradually impart the knowledge to you. For now, you can''t reply to them verbally.] With this in mind, I tried thinking of ways to answer thedy in some way. The only thing that came to mind was to gesture, which was very limited. To answer her question, I just looked at the ground, and tried to express a troubled expression. However, thedy probably misinterpreted what I tried to convey, as her face and tone immediately changed to that filled withpassion. "I see Sorry for your loss kid. Are you alone here? Since Lily here already took a liking to you, would you like toe back with us? We just wanted to eat something for lunch, you could join us if you''d like." I nodded my head, then looked at Lily who hasn''t left my neck all this time and smiled at her. "Yey, little brother,e with us! We have yummy sandwiches!" Instead of me, my stomach decided to answer that exmation with a loud rumbling. This caused both Granny and Lily smiling at me. "Come, we were camping not far from here!" Smiling back at them, I stood up but quickly fell down back to the ground. My legs were still shaky, and I couldn''t stand on them. I have never used them before, the whole sensation was still new. Granny looked at me and lifted me up in her embrace. I hugged her, and with this, we went back towards the flower bed. (A/N: There''s a change in perspective from first person to third person. It is meant to be symbolizing change, let me know if it''s stupid, or if just causes confusion, I can switch it back in that case. It''s just that since new characters are introduced, first person could be problematic to follow when the attention is shifted from Aiden to others. Anyways it is meant to be an experiment.) Chapter 15 - 15 - A Tragic Past Strolling through the woods a trio could be seen walking towards arge and colorful flower bed. There was a young blonde girl, who was happily hopping forward, while next to her was an elderly woman, who had a small boy in his arms. The small boy was probably around 6 years old, with slightly bronze, tanned skin, ck shoulder length hair, that was kept in a messy state. His eyes, which had golden colored irises, were currently closed as he rested his head on top of the elderlydy''s shoulder. The boy was thin, his weight caused no problem for the Granny who was humming a tune while gently petted his back. "Rest your eyes and rx. You must be tired for what you have gone through." Then she turned to Lily. "We could have gone back instead and eaten ate lunch or an early dinner at home instead. Could you finish gathering the herbs, while I let him rest a bit?" Lilly nodded her small head, and raised her hand to the air. "Leave it to me Granny! Tend to brother, and I''ll get you all the sweet flowers! We will have lots of desserts for dinner!" Then while giggling, she bolted forward and started her little crusade against the flowers. The victories could be identified by the asional giggles. At the same time, Granny sat down next to arger tree and kept pampering him. --- Aiden who had his eyes closed all the while was having a conversation with Enya along the way. ''Why do they think I suffered some kind of tragedy? And why should I go with them?'' Enya was ready for him once again. [They will be your family Aiden. You need someone to tend to you, you are no longer a wild animal, you can''t keep feeding on raw fish, or insects, you need proper meals, and a home. Fate guided these two to you, and they are kind enough to offer their help, just ept it. If you haven''t noticed, currently you have the appearance of a fragile human boy. You couldn''t even walk.] ''But I do not know them, nor do I know their goals. And now they are taking me somewhere But I have to admit, resting on her shoulders is really nice I could doze off actually.'' [Then just give in to this feeling and go with the flow. Sleep Aiden.] Aiden did not answer, just went with what Enya suggested to him. While being rocked and petted he slowly dozed off to dreand. His new life, his life as a member of a family started on this very day. -- Granny rxed when he finally heard the light snoring soundsing from the boy. There were no trace of the hard and questioning gaze that she had earlier. If someone looked at her, she could only see care and worry in her eyes when she was looking at this frail-looking boy. ''Just what happened to him? How did he end up here? And what is he? He is certainly not a human, even if he looks like one. Could he really be an Ancient Dragon? But from what I know, Dragons can''t transform themselves to human form until they mature, yet this kid was born looking like one. This just doesn''t make any sense.'' Granny was filled with questions still, but for the time being, the only thing that mattered was the safety of this child. Seeing him earlier, reminded him of Lily when she met her. In that stormy night, full of bruises, just crying tattered and alone at the base of a tree. Not far way you could see a blond haired female elven woman full of arrows dead on the ground. The sound of the heavy storm shielded them from their supposed pursuers. Earlier that day, she was contacted by the elven woman, Medine, that she needs to tell her something very important. Even if they were not rted by blood, she always thought of Medine as her daughter. After all, she took care of her for many years. When she arrived at the meeting ce, this scene greeted her. Extending her Magic Sense, she could sense a lot of weak signatures closing on this ce from a distance. She knew she doesn''t have that much time, and while the signatures looked weakpared to her, they were numerous, and a small girl was also here, that she would be unable to protect. Crouching down, she looked at the little crying girl, and while slowly and gently caressing her head, she told her the next steps that they need to take. ''Sssh.. little one, listen to me, this is very important. We need to get out of here quickly, before your pursuers catch up. I don''t know why are they chasing you, but I was Medines mother, so you can refer to me as Granny, okay? I will take you out of here, after we put your mother to rest. Be strong, just for a little more!'' Even though she was still balling her eyes out, and snot was running out of her cute little nose, she nodded her head silently, and slowly crawled behind this elderlydy. She knew that they will meet an olddy, dressed in tattered red clothes, that her mother told her was her mother, and Lily would be staying with her for a while. Looking at the child silently nodding, a small smile creeped towards Granny''s wrinkly face. She then stood up, and with her palms open and pointing towards her deceased step-daughter, she murmured a few words that sounded gibberish to Lily. Soon after Granny finished her incantation, white light enveloped her hands, then slowly after, the very ground started to wrap around Medine''s body, silently swallowing it to its depths. A few secondster, the body was nowhere to be found, and only a single blue colored, star shaped flower was left in its ce. "That flower marks the grave of your mother child. We will never forget her, but now, we have to leave. Are you ready?" Lily nodded her head, while looking at the grave of her mother. Everything was happening way too fast for her to process, the only thing she knew that she felt safe with thisdy. She looked at her wrinkled, and gentle face, and for the first time, in an almost inaudible voice she asked her: "How how how can I call you?" Granny slowly caressed the girls head, while answering. "Poor child, I''m so sorry for what happened to you. I''ll promise that from now on, nothing like this will happen again. You can call me Granny, like everyone does. What''s your name?" "My name is Lily Granny." answered Lily. Granny then picked up the child and while walking back towards the treeline she came out of, with her left hand she picked up a piece of cloth from one of the pockets of her ragged clothes, cleaning up the snot and stain on Lily''s face. "There-there,e now, let''s go back to my ce, okay? I have some desserts that I prepared for you, I''m sure you will love it! You can eat as much as you want while warming up next to the fire." By the time the sounds of men closed in on this ce, Granny and Lily was long gone, and the only reminder of the tragedy that happened here was a single piece of blue, star shaped flower next to a simple looking tree. .. --- Coming back from her reverie, Granny looked at the still sleeping boy. Lily''sughter could still be heard from around the area, so she probably was still gathering flowers. ''I have a feeling that most of the flowers she picked will be for the desserts. Oh well, we should have enough Devil Cloves for the potions we need to make, it shouldn''t be a problem.'' Soon after, Lily came back, with her basked packed heaped with mostly orange colored flowers, with some asional dark red ones. "I see you have finished filling up your basket. But why do I see mostly Sweet Sumacs, hmm?" Said Granny grinning at Lily. Lilyughed at her little mischief: "Hehe, we need more sweets today Granny! We have a little brother that we need to cheer up! I still got a lot of the red ones!" "Alright Lily, I will let it slide this time, but you have to be quiet while we go back home okay?" Said Granny, then while looking at the sleeping boy she continued. "He looks really tired, let him rest while we walk back." Lilly nodded her small head. "Okay Granny!" Granny then stood up, and while still holding the boy in his arms, she motioned with her head for Lilly to follow while keeping a low voice. "Nowe, let''s head home. I will bake you all the sweets you want, and you can eat it with your new little brother." --- Inside Aiden''s soul-space, the soft mature female golden colored blob of light was watching the scene. If she had a face it would be smiling now, but unfortunately, she had no body, she was just the spirit of the system, residing in Aiden''s soul. [Rest up Aiden You are in good hands now. Hopefully when you will discover the truth, you will be able to forgive me] Chapter 16 - 16 - A New Home The return trip was uneventful. By the time they arrived back in front of the in looking wooden fence, the rays of sunshine lost most of their luster, and the gentleness of the night was slowly starting to caress the horizon. Aiden yawned, and then looked at the sight ahead of him. A set of in looking wooden fences separated the outside wildlife from the inner courtyard of a herb garden, and a cozy hut that stood proudly in the middle. The hut itself looked old, but it had this strangely weing feel to it. The contrast of the dark wood with some white decorations mingled in-between was quite the rare sight to behold. The windows were also rounded, adding to its uniqueness. "Wooaah!" Aiden couldn''t help but exim loudly. Granny and Lily looked at him smiling at his reaction. Granny pinched his cheek lightly, while gently looking at him. "So you can talk after all. I was beginning to think that you are a mute. Are you better now? Can you tell us your name?" Aiden looked at the Granny. He was still in herp, his bum resting on her arm while his arms were wrapped around her neck. He still couldn''t understand everything, but with the help of the system, he managed to decode most of the things. He separated his right arm, while still keeping the left in the safety behind Granny''s neck, he pointed towards himself, and eximed a single word: "Aiden." Then pointing at the elderlydy, he continued to express his observation results: "Granny". Lastly, pointing towards the small girl, he said her name as well: "Lily". Lily''s smile was already wide, but now it was threatening to break free from its holds, she was grinning so wide. "That''s right little brother! I''m Lily! Your big sis! You have to listen to me, okay? Hihihi" She couldn''t contain her giggling, she was so happy. Everything was so perfect today. Even when her Momma was with her, she was hoping for a little brother to y with. It was very lonely, she never had anybody to y with. She was determined that if she ever will have a brother, she will be there for him every time, so he will not experience the loneliness she felt. Granny was also smiling. Gently caressing his silky ck hair, he softly replied. "That''s right little Aiden. I''m Granny, and this energy bomb next to me is Lily. You know, while our meeting was unconventional, to say the least, we will do everything to make you feel safe and happy in your new home. Living as a family if you wish so. " Aiden was listening intently to Granny''s words, and although he couldn''t understand everything, he stored the information in his mind, to let the system decipher all the information and help him gain familiarity with thenguage. For the time being, he just decided to go with the flow. The only thing he wanted to do, was to test his newfound stats. He gained a lot, and he was unsure of what did those trante to in reality. With that in mind, he just simply nodded his head, and then rested his head on the shoulders that he found sofortable in this small trip. "Ehehehe, brother is so cute! I can''t wait to y with him!" Looking at her brother, Lily almost wanted to ''eat him up''. He was so adorable! Snoring all the way back, then first thing waking up is calling everyone by their names! He is cute and clever! It was so hard to remain calm, she just wanted to run around shouting to the world: "I HAVE THE CUTEST BROTHER EVER!". Passing through the fence, Granny looked at Lily. "Lily dear, when we get inside please separate the flowers for me okay? I will bring Aiden to his bed, so he can rest a bit more until dinner is ready." "Sure Granny! Leave it to me! He will be sleeping next to my bed, right?" Lily asked with hope sparkling in her eyes. "Yes dear." Granny nodded. She knew today was a dreame true to Lily. It would hopefully make her be able to close the past and move on from her trauma once and for all. While she did show signs of moving forwards, she still had days where she would be silent and mncholic all day. Arriving in front of the dark brown colored door Granny looked at the small boy cradling in her arms, and while patting his head once more, she gently whispered into his ears. "We have arrived. Wee home Aiden." --- While they both Granny and Lily were going their separate ways, Lily handling the flowers they brought back and Granny moving towards a room, Aiden was actively going through his system notifications, and checking his progress towards understanding thenguage. He really wanted to be able tomunicate, as nodding and grimacing wasn''t very effective in conveying his thoughts. The notes showed steady progress, and he also learned that they were speaking the ''Common''. Probably the mostly recognizednguage around here. [Analyzing Language: Common. Progress 5%] [Analyzing Language: Common. Progress 10%] [Analyzing Language: Common. Progress 15%] . . . [Analyzing Language: Common. Progress 75%] ''I''m almost done with analyzing. Once this is done, I would learn thenguage as a skill, right Enya?'' [That''s correct Aiden.] Enya''s reply was instant as always. ''Is there any way to speed up this process? Or once the analysis isplete, will I be able to talk with them?'' Aiden''s main concern was that even when the analysis waspleted, he wouldn''t be able to use the skill immediately. He really wanted to surprise the elderlydy, and the small girl during dinner, to thank them for all their help and care they showed to him. [Once the analysis isplete, the system will beginpiling the processed information and start creating the necessary skill for you. This process will take an estimated 12 hours before you will be granted the skill.] Aiden was immediately dejected on hearing this. ''So, there''s no way for me to thank them at all?'' [That is not true Aiden. While you will not have the skill, the system has gathered enough information by now, to assist you. A simple ''Thank you'' should be feasible if you wish so. However, this will cost you 50 experience points.] ''Oh, that''spletely fine. Enya, please when the timees during dinner, please let me thank these two for their care. They epted me into their home, without knowing anything about me, and even prepared food.'' With an ted expression on his face, Aiden woke up from his ''sleep''. Looking around, he found himself in a room, on 1 of the 2 beds ced in the 2 sides of the room. The beds had a small cupboard next to them, and next to his, was a sweet-smelling liquid in a metal cylindrical container. The container had an extra piece of metal welded to it, giving it 1 ear. It was a strange sight to see. Aiden could hear a sigh in his soul space. [Sigh.. this is called a ss Aiden. The drink is just some cocoa. Don''t be afraid, it''s a sweet and hot drink that has no real powers besides it''s sweet taste that soothes the soul. It''s just a gesture of goodwill.] Exined Enya. Aiden got embarrassed hearing the first part of Enya''s words. Now that Enya mentioned it, it did make sense that it''s a ss. ''Howe I couldn''t recognize it? What happened to me?'' [Don''t worry about it too much Aiden. This is just the side effect of the blessing''s bacsh. Your past memories are repressed. Over time you will gradually regain them, but this is one of the reasons you need these two to take care of you.] Sighing, Aiden simply nodded his head, then slowly ced his feet on the ground. It was his second attempt to stand since emerging from the cocoon, and he still wasn''t 100% he will be able to stand up. He did regain most of his stamina while resting on the way here, but he was not in control of the power and strength in his body. Some trial and error is expected. cing his hand on the cupboard for some additional assistance, he ced his weight on his legs, and slowly stood up. His legs were wobbling, and with the fear of falling to the ground he exerted a bit of extra force on his hand gripping the edge of the cupboard. Unfortunately, the cupboard couldn''t withstand the sudden surge of force, and the cupboard crumbled into pieces with a loud noise. The sound was carried out the room, and rang all around the house, alerting its residents. Both Granny and Lily, quickly rushed into the room, seeing the cupboard in pieces while the small fragile looking boy was standing still next to the legs while trying to regain his poise with iling hands. Granny rushed to him, and grabbed his hands, helping him regain his bnce. "There, there. Don''t force yourself. I can see, you have problems adjusting, huh? You have more power resting inside you than I thought. You can rely on us, we will help you, okay?" While still gripping his hands, Granny slowly started moving towards the door, guiding the boy in his first steps. A small smile could be seen emerging on the so far expressionless boy''s face, while a single tear could be seen forming... Chapter 17 - 17 - Thank You In the middle of an open-space room, that was probably used as a small diner was arge wooden table filled-to-the-brim with various types of food. You could find arge bowl of delicious-looking fruits, arge te of various roasted meat, a basket of pastry, consisting of mostly rolls, and crescents with a few slices of bread. Next to the bowl of fruits, was another bowl filled with different-looking vegetables as well. 3 tes were seated on the table with 3 transparent non-metallic sses with a white liquid. Aiden did not know what material was used for those sses to be transparent, but he was sure it wasn''t any metal nor wood. ''Probably some sort of magic..'' he thought. Granny looked at the open-mouthed boy, with a satisfied grin, and only after a few moments did she speak to him. "Aiden, please pick a seat, and help yourself to any of the food you see here. Thisrge feast is prepared just for you. Hope you will find something you like. After dinner, Lily and I have prepared some baked sweets." Lily''s eyes immediately sparkled, and her tiny right hand shot up to the sky in exmation. "Yosh! Prepare yourself, brother! Those are the best sweets in the world!" Looking at the cheerful little girl, a small smile crept up once again, on Aiden''s usually expressionless face. Or maybe, it shouldn''t really be called expressionless anymore.. Nodding his head towards Lily, he made his way towards the closest seat on the table, the middle. He still was a bit unsteady on his feet, but in thest few minutes with the help of the elderlydy, he was able to practice the motion and get a better grasp at the motion. It''s not like the experience was entirely alien to him, he had a strange familiarity, and it was as if his muscles just remembered some past experience. In just a few short minutes he was already capable of walking alone. The main issue was not that using his legs was alien, but to use only the right amount of force. He didn''t gain this power gradually and with the sudden burst, he had problems exerting the right amount. Holes could be seen on the floor all the way from the bedroom towards the dining room, marking his progress. In the end he was close but still had to train a bit, not to cause too much trouble. He made a mental note to spend the next day training and familiarizing himself with his new body. For the time being, Aiden did not want to do any sort of transformation, not to scare his two benefactors. Getting used to this body, that''s probably gonna be his new default state from now on should be the most important task after all. Seeing Aiden taking his ce in the middle, bothdies took their respective seats to his left and right on the table. Granny was on the left, while Lily on the right. Lily immediately picked up a small piece of meat, with a roll and some vegetables, with a few small pieces of purple round fruits crowned on her te. With a satisfied grin, she looked back at the staring Aiden. "Shishishi, the best way is to pick from everything! Try them out, everything is fresh!" Aiden, then looked at Granny who filled her te with a mixture of vegetables and fruits creating a very colorful painting with it. She too looked at Aiden and gently smiled at him. "I''m not a meat-lover dear, but don''t let that deter you from it, they are critters from the forest, it should be very delicious, Lily loves it, especially the wolf meat, right Lily?" Lily, who was already devouring the contents on her tray, could only nod her head while her cheeks were stuffed. "Mhm!" ''The best course would be to sample from everything'' thinking to himself, he picked a single piece of meat and ced it on his te. Both girls stopped their meals and watched the boy intently. Aiden picked up the meat with his hands and took a small bite to taste it. His eyes opened wide immediately. ''This is so much better than those bugs! It even beats those fish! Although it does not provide as much energy, the taste the tastepensates for it!'' Aiden could feel the food he swallowed slowly being processed, converted to energy, filling up his reserves. Granny''s eyes narrowed, her eyes scanning the boy while he was swallowing. She could see a subtle stream of energy spreading out all over the boy''s body as he swallowed. ''Interesting'' she murmured to herself. Looking at Lily, she was already back on her quest topletely destroy the contents of her te, so she could move forward to the desserts. Smiling, she continued with her own as well. Meanwhile Aiden, finishing the meat, he continued onwards, and tasted everything one-by-one. While the fruits and vegetables weren''t bad, he disliked the taste of the pastry products. His absolute favourite was the meat, as it had the best taste, and gave the best amount of energy as well. After the small taste test, he filled his te with meat, and started working on them. Seeing this, both girlsughed. "Looks like brother is a meat-lover! Hehehe! Be sure to save some space for the desserts!" reminded Lily. "I agree dear, Aiden looks just like a little carnivore that found its prey!"ughed Granny. Ignoring their antics, Aiden was focusing on his te. Previously when he was a snake, or even before as a bug, he did not put much attention to it, but by now he was sure that his body worked differently than others. He could feel the food being converted to energy, but the food that he swallowed never arrived at his stomach. Only the energy that was processed from the substance gathered there, slowly going out filling all parts and ends of his body. ''Hmm.. could I actually overcharge myself? Can I go beyond ''full''? How would that look like'' thinking, Aiden wanted to test his limits, but he wasn''t sure if it would be wise to do so, in front of these 2. ''Guess I''ll test it outter For now, let''s focus on getting full, this body needs much more than my previous one..'' Making a mental note forter, he decided to just focus on the here and the now, and he continued clearing his te. Time slowly passed and soon all 3 tes were cleared of food. Seeing that, Granny stood up, and looked at the 2 children. "Are you guys full? Would you like to get some desserts?" Without waiting for Aiden to get a chance to answer, Lily''s right hand immediately shot up to the sky, as she loudly eximed: "YES! YES! YES! We want deserts!" Then she looked at the staring but expressionless Aiden. "You will love it brother! They are the BEST!" Aiden nodded at her exmation and looked towards Granny who was making his way towards the kitchen. Arriving at the entrance, she looked back at the table and waved her hand, forming a small rune while murmuring something under her breath. Her hands shined in golden light that in the next moment, engulfed the contents of the table. After a few breaths of time, the light faded, and the table was clean of all its contents. Aiden''s golden eyes were shining, as he was processing the scene he saw. Looking at him, Granny''s eyes once again showed some thoughtful glints, but shortly after she turned around and walked into the kitchen. Meanwhile inside Aiden''s mind, the sound of a notification disturbed the silence. [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 5%] Enya''s voice followed shortly after. [Aiden, as I mentioned previously, the system will automatically analyze all new information it receives, and once it''spleted, it will begin converting the processed information to a skill for you. This is automatic, so just make a note of it. On the other hand, the analysis on thenguage they spoke isplete, and the system began processing the information. You can check the notification for the remaining time before the skill is created.] Aiden followed suit and checked the next 2 notifications in the system. [Analyzing Language: Common. Progress 100%] [Analysisplete, processing information, creating skill. Remaining time: 11 hours 58 minutes 55 seconds] A smile once again, for the umpteenth time crawled on Aiden''s face. Seeing that the returning Granny who had her hands full of a te full of delicious looking tarts, asked. "What are you smiling at Aiden? Are you looking forward to the desserts that much?" The questioning tone reminded Aiden of something very important he wanted to do at the end of dinner today. He quickly made themand for Enya. ''Enya, please use the experience we talked about earlier, and help me thank them, for their help!'' [Understood. Aiden, you can continue, the system will now assist you.] Nodding, Aiden looked at the elderlydy, and as he opened his mouth, he could feel the system forming words that weren''t familiar to him. He said 2 short words, that he instinctively understood, based on both girls'' reactions. These words were rtively in, simple, yet filled with emotions, that caused the elderlydy to start shedding a few tears, while Lily smiled as wide as she could. The words he said were: "Thank you." Chapter 18 - 18 - A Small Glimpse At Alchemy Time passed unperturbed, and thest rays of light had already seeped below the horizon, giving space to the tranquil atmosphere of the night. The distance brought forward the ever-eager sound of wild animals getting ready for their nightly escapades. In a clearing stood a singr hut, whose chimney was puffing a steady flow of smoke. The firece was lit, and the fire was cracking while a small, blonde-haired girl was sitting on the floor in front of it with a contented smile on her face. "Aaaaah I love desserts! It is the best!" She then opened her eyes, only to see that her brother was no longer sitting next to him, but made her way towards the elderlydy, who was preparing arge cauldron. She was currently cleaning it, making sure there are no residue or stains inside it. She had to be thorough, as anything could cause impurities in the final product. Impurities that would lower the end products pristine quality, and she couldn''t have any of that. Her pride as a Master Alchemist would be in ruins after the fact. As she was cleaning, and humming to herself, she just noticed the boy that was in front of her, looking at her every movement with focused eyes. "Oh Aiden, are you interested in Alchemy? Would you like to watch?" Granny asked the boy. Aiden, who could now perfectly understand their speech, but was still unable to express himself, at least not until the system finished its process and granted him the necessary skill, nodded his head in affirmation. "Alright, but do not touch anything okay? Just watch, and I will do my best to exin the steps to you." Then she turned towards the resting girl. "Lily you shoulde as well, and stand with Aiden, okay?" Lily frowned a bit, as she was in an absolute bliss, caressing her full tummy, like if it was her unborn child. However, after thinking about it momentarily, she could be with her brother, and as his senior, she could help him! This realization transformed the frown to a happy smile and filled with energy about this newfound revtion she hopped to her feet and ran to them while cheerfully answering her Granny. "Sure Granny! I will help little brother exin things! Leave it to me!" Granny smiled at Lily''s shenanigans, then she focused once again on the task in front of her. Continuing the cleaning process, she gently exined. "Cleaning the cauldron, or in fact whatever you will be using to brew your potions or pills, is of paramount importance. You have to make sure there is not even a tiny speck of dust or grime left inside, as that could cause impurities, failures or in some rare cases even explosions. You see, standing next to an exploding cauldron is not something, you want to experience, so you could understand how important this preparation phase is, right?" Listening to Granny''s words, Aiden nodded his head. However, he was wondering, would he survive the explosion? His new body is pretty durable, and even if the power of the explosion would prove fatal, he could still shapeshift into a more durable form. For example, his ''Birth State'' may be able to withstand it. ''I have to get a form that is more durable, in simr cases it could be useful.'' he thought to himself. [That would be a wise decision Aiden. One of your main goal should be to assimte as many life forms as you can. You will also need to start using Fusion at some point, to fuse specific abilities to your main form.] Enya''s soft voice resounded in his soul space. She was right, so far, he didn''t even take a look at the Fusion feature. Not that he had any reason to, there were no abilities to gain from the Bug form, and he did not want to do anything with his Birth state if it''s not forced onto him. Now he had this new, default form and his previous form, the Cave Viper had his toxic, incredibly poisonous spit that could be useful. However, he could not control it, and the idea that the contents of his mouth would be always deathly venomous is not something he was looking forward to. So, for the time being, he decided to wait for a form that would have better abilities. As she was cleaning the insides of the cauldron, Granny was taking peeks at Aiden every now and then. She could see that the boy was watching her every move, with an incessant, fervent gaze. It was as if he was analyzing her every move, trying to understand the underlying meaning in her smallest movements. ''This boy just how many secrets does he hold..'' she thought to herself while continuing the cleaning. In fact, she wasn''t wrong. Aiden was indeed analyzing her every move. Or to be more precise the system was, through Aiden''s vision. He could see the notifications popping up every now and then. [Analyzing Alchemy. Progress 2%] [Analyzing Alchemy. Progress 3%] However, he noticed that he will probably need to watch the entire process multiple times, as after reaching 5%, the progress stopped and it said that he needs to watch the next phase to continue with the analysis. [Analyzing Alchemy. Progress 5%. Threshold reached. Continue watching the next step, to continue gathering information for analysis.] As Granny was doing thest scrapes in the cleaning of the cauldron, she looked back at the 2 and continued her lecture. "Once you are absolutely sure that you have cleaned your cauldron, and even double checked it, just for safety, we can continue with the next step." Then looking at Lily, she asked. "Lily my dear, can you tell me what the next step is?" Lily raised her right hand to the air while eximing loudly. "I know! Preparing the ingredients in order!" Granny smiled and gently asked the follow up question. "That is correct, and in our case, since we want to create Basic Healing Potions, what do we need to prepare?" Lily thought for a few seconds then, as the answer formed inside her head, she cheered once again loudly. "We need Devil Cloves and Boiling hot water. Thest ingredient is the MAGIC! We need that whooshy green light to go inside the cauldron then WHRRIM and WHOOSH and then after 2 days of letting it be, we would get the red syrup!" Grannyughed at the exnation. "Yes that is correct, we need Devil Cloves and once we prepare them, we have to put them into the cauldron that would already be ready with boiling hot water. Thest part was almost correct, we will inject our Life Essence into the cauldron, and that would be the catalyst." Then looking at Aiden who was listening to them, she exined. "Thest part that Lily said, the 2 days of wait time, is also needed. Once we are finished, and I will show you when we are, we need to put on the lid and let the whole thing cool off for 2 full days and nights. Once that is done, we can pour the contents to special vials that could store the liquid for a longer time before it would eventually expire." Pointing at the direction of the cupboard in the kitchen, she exined. "We have plenty of vials at the cupboard in the kitchen. Don''t worry yourselves, that part is covered." Picking up the cauldron, she groaned, and put it on top of the cracking fire inside the firece. Then looking at Lily, she continued. "Lily please bring the water we prepared yesterday from the kitchen. Aiden go with her, and help her bring it here. It would be too heavy for her alone." Aiden nodded, while Lily pulled his hands as she bolted towards the kitchen. "Come brother, I will show you what we need!" Arge wooden barrel at the size of Lily was standing at the far left corner of the kitchen. Looking at it, Aiden couldn''t help but exim inwardly. ''How the hell would this frail girl lift this barrel if it is filled to the brim with water?'' Arriving in front of said barrel, Lily pointed at it. "This is it brother. It is super heavy, so be ready!" Aiden couldn''t let this frail girl, overexert and hurt herself, so just gripped her left shoulder and shook his head signalling to not do anything. "Huh? You want to try it? But it is super heavy" looking back, Lily couldn''t understand why Aiden stopped her. Signalling with his hand for the Girl to stay back, he stepped forward looking at the barrel. ''Now finally I can test my strength. Let''s see how much 27 Might trantes to in the real world'' Crouching down, he gripped the barrel, and without thinking much about it, he tried lifting the barrel. To his surprise, it felt like nothing, almost as if he were holding condensed air and not a wooden barrel full of water. Standing up, he turned and slowly started walking back towards Granny, with the stunned Lily in tow. "Wooow Brother is super strong!" eximed Lily. "Granny look at brother, he could lift the barrel by himself!" Granny, who was still in the process of cutting the useless parts from the dark red flowers, looked at them. Seeing the fragile looking boy, holding a barrel twice in size and thrice in weight as him and bringing towards her easily, she was stunned. ''Just who is this boy'' Chapter 19 - 19 - Strength : Trouble A gentle breeze blew by, rustling the tree''s leaves and allowing a few glimpses of first sunlight to poke through its canopy, knocking on the rounded windows of the cozy hut, signalling the arrival of the next day. Tonight, was the best for Aiden so far. A warm andfortable bed, and not leaves and the solid ground to turn his head for the day. The first thought that crossed Aiden''s mind was to check up on the remaining time for the system, before he would be granted the skill. [Analysisplete, processing information, creating skill. Remaining time: 1 hours 47 minutes 50 seconds] ''Not much more...'' smiled Aiden happily to himself. Turning to his left, he checked on the room''s other resident, the happily snoring little girl, Lily, on her bed on the other side of the room, still sleeping. She was hugging a stuffed bear toy, and low murmurs could be asionally be heard: "Hehehe. Brother" Shaking his head while smiling on his new ''sisters'' shenanigans, he leisurely stood up from his bed, and stretched his arms and legs. ''This was the best sleep so far. I''m so refreshed!'' Making his way towards the room next door which served as a primitive bathroom, he was thinking about today''s n. He should definitely make time to test out his new body and see his limits. His strength is much higher than he expected. Lifting the barrel full of water was child''s y yesterday, and before that, when he was trying to learn the usage of his limbs, He destroyed a section of the floor. ''Come to think of it, I should help the olddy, fix the floor I ruined. Well that can wait until I can talk with them.'' --- At the far side of the corridor, Granny noticed Aiden entering the bathroom, probably to freshen up and getting ready for the day, she sighed to herself. ''This kid is full of mysteries... He has abnormal strength, high intelligence, and - from what I''ve seen so far - an analytic mind. I bet he tried to analyze and learn everything he saw yesterday. Today since we have nothing important while waiting for the cooling to finish, we should go and test out his strength. Lifting that heavy barrel without using any magic'' --- Minutes passed, and soon all 3 of them were sitting around the fully packed dining table. Simrly to yesterday, various dishes were ced on it. Fresh vegetables, fruits, baked pastries, and some cooked meat as well. 3 sses filled with the same white liquid that the 2 called ''Milk'' yesterday, was also ced in front of them. They picked their portions, just like yesterday, Granny filled her te with a mixture of fruits and vegetables, Lily got a bit of everything while Aiden filled his side with only meat. After a brief greeting, and Lily''s usually cheerful attitude, they enjoyed their morning ritual in rtive silence. Only the sound of food crushing and munching could be heard. --- After breakfast, they all gathered outside, at the back yard. When they finished eating, she told them toe, as they should spend some time testing out the limits of Aiden''s strength, which they all agreed. Pointing to arge rock in front of them, Granny exined. "Okay Aiden, that stone in front of us, is about 3 times the weight of the barrel you lifted yesterday. Once you are ready, try picking it up, okay?'' Aiden nodded then went ahead and ced his hands on the stone b. Compared to the barrel yesterday, he did feel the rock, but it still did not provide much challenge. Lifting it in the air above his head, he turned around and looked at Granny for the next set of instructions. Both Granny and Lily were stunned seeing the sight of the fragile boy, lifting a huge b of stone from the ground easily. Shaking her head to get out of the stupor that sight ced her in, he smiled at Aiden. "You are really, really strong. Stronger than I expected. So much so, that it might be difficult to find your limits... Hmm... " Thinking a bit, an idea struck her head. "Let''s try throwing it!" Then pointing her right hand towards the distance, away from the hut, she said "Throw it away from the hut, towards that direction. We shouldn''t disturb anything in that area." Looking at the direction she was pointing at, Aiden closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He really wanted to test his limits, so gathering some of his energy, and empowering his muscles in his arms, he threw the stone with all of his might. The rock''s sudden increase in speed created a loud boom as it immediately crossed the speed of sound from his previous inertia.The rock rocketed to the sky, like if some rocket wasunched instead, and slowly blinked out of the horizon, with no sign of it decreasing its altitude. The sonic boom that was created, pushed the little girl to fall on her bum, while Granny could still hold her ground. They were both stunned once again, not expecting such a show of might. "I was not expecting that" eximed Granny. She was incapable of saying anything for the moment. She experienced way too many shocking events in a short time, for her aged mind to process. "Woooooaaaah! Brother you are super strong! We couldn''t even see where the rocknded! Awesome!" Then standing up, she started hopping around and cheerfully giggling. "Hehehe my little brother is awesome!" Just like these 2, Aiden was also shocked to see his own power. If he would have punched the rock it would have probably crumbled into dust. ''This is not what I expected'' Shaking his head Aiden looked back at Granny with a dismayed expression. He wasn''t sure what to do now, and he hoped that he didn''t cause any troubles for the two. Looking at the boy''s troubled expression, Granny regained her rity, and smiled at him with a gentle voice. "Don''t worry Aiden, there''s nothing in that direction for miles. At worst you would crush some wild animal, but most likely the rock willnd outside the forest with nothing around it. You see, there''s nothing there for hundreds of miles!" Seeing as they most likely finished for now, she signalled to Lily, and then spoke to them. "Let''s go back inside, I will make some cookies for you two, to snack on." Lily immediately raised her right fist to the air, gleefully eximing "YOSH!". Making their way inside, Aiden was deep in thought. ''Now that I know roughly what my current might trante to, I should focus on controlling it. When I threw that rock, I tried exerting my full power, and I have also used a small amount of energy as well. " thinking about energy, he suddenly remembered something that he hasn''t used since emerging from the cocoon. His Dark Sense. Before, he relied on this special sensory ability, to be aware of his surroundings. Even if he is in a safe environment, knowing what lurks behind the bushes, should be second nature to him. ''With so much stimuli, I somehow forgot something this important'' Taking another look at the countdown, he still had a little over 15 minutes left before the process would finish, and he would be finally able tomunicate. Activating his dark sense, he immediately noticed a change. With the evolution he gone through, his Sense seemed to have also morphed, and evolved into some sort of sixth sense. He could sense, life signs all around him, and could roughly tell the distance as well. Looking at his mapping feature in the system, he noticed that instead of mapping out the environmentpletely, his new sense made small dots appear on his map. ''Are these the various life signs I sensed? I guess they are the various wildlife around us. Thank god, it doesn''t seem to be tracking all the insects around me, otherwise it would be useless...'' Smiling at this, he was about to dismiss the screen in his mind, when he noticed 3 dots close to each other making their way towards them at a fast pace. Turning his head towards their direction, he creased his eyebrows. Something told him that these 3 dots will be trouble... Granny noticed Aiden''s sudden change, and how he was looking towards the front door. A bad premonition grew inside her heart, which she couldn''t exin. Looking at Lily, she grabbed her shoulders. "Lily, my dear, please go inside your room, and close the door. Do note out, until me or Aiden tell you to, okay?" Lily looked at Granny and nodded her head with surprising understanding. ''Seems like this wasn''t the first time something like this happened.'' thought Aiden to himself. Without a word, Lily went into her room, and closed the door. Then Granny looked at Aiden, and grinned. "Aiden, it seems like you noticed the arrival of some unwanted pests. Let''s go, greet our new guests, shall we?" Chapter 20 - 20 - The Young Master (Part 1) "Hey, old hag! Get you saggy ass out here, right now!" a youthful male voice could be heard from the front yard followed by 2 snort-likeughter. In front of the hut, a trio let himself inside the fence, awaiting for the arrival of the resident. The person in the middle was a short and fat youth. His bowl-cut ck hair just reached his ratherrge ears. In his left ear he was wearing an earring, that to be honest looked ratherical instead of being fashionable. To top off its headwear he was wearing a crimson colored conical hat as well. His rather plum body was covered in a tight, crimson and brandy colored tight waistcoat adorned with golden buttons in the middle, fastened by tags. Below that, he was in a very close-fitting breeches, which just further disyed the outlines of his figure. His arms were covered in sleeves, although the end was shed. His back was adorned in a mantle trimmed with white fur. Stomping his feet on the ground once more, his stylish leather boots slushed in the mud. "Damn this ugly ce! Get out here RIGHT NOW!" cursed the young man. On his both sides, 2 grinning, muscr guys were standing adorned in ck simple looking clothes. The only differentiator was that they wore a tunic adorned with the picture of the outline of a roaring lion on their chests. They were both holding a simple looking longsword in their hands. Looking at his 2 minions, the young manmanded. "If the hag doesn''te out shortly, go and break into this sorry excuse of a home, got it?!" Both of them grinned evilly and nodded their heads. "Yes, young master!" they replied in unison. The front door slowly creaked open and an elderly woman wrapped in ragged red clothes slowly came out. A young creole skinned boy with silky ck hair came with her supporting her steps. The trio could catch a glimpse of his slightly glowing golden eyes as the boy briefly looked at them. Even though the boy was expressionless, all 3 of them suddenly got a chill running through their spines as their gazes met. ''Who is this brat?!'' eximed the young master inwardly. "How can I help you Young Master Leon?" asked the Granny with a kind smile on her face once she arrived on her front porch. She was holding the boy''s right hand with her left. The boy remained expressionless and just looked at the trio. They could feel the boy''s golden eyes scanning them, like if it was trying to rip their secrets open from their very soul. It was a very unsettling experience. The cronies gripped their swords tighter, while the young master snorted loudly, in an arrogant tone. "Who is that brat next to you? Another one of the filth you found?" Looking at the boy her smile turned gentler. "Who he is, is none of your concern. But if you really want to know, he is my grandson." Measuring the boy, the young master''s arrogant tone has not changed after Granny''s answer. "He is just some filth you found, and taken in, just like that mongrel you call your granddaughter. She is inside isn''t she? You should know such filth belongs in chains, under my boots, and not in a household. She was born to be a ve until she dies. "stopping for a moment, his arrogant gaze looked over the boy once again, then he continued. "Just like this mut." Aiden''s expressionless gaze morphed into an angry one, when he heard this pig-of-a-man referring to the innocent, cute Lily as a ve. Feeling the air around Aiden starting to vibrate with energy, and seeing how he stared at the young master, she gripped his hand a bit tighter. Whispering to him softly, so only he could hear, she tried to calm the boy. "Calm down Aiden, he is just trying to rile you up. Don''t bother with him." Seeing his mockery managed to rile the boy up, he continued. "What mut? How dare you look at your master like that? Your only saving grace is that you are with this waste of a human, this old sack of bones, this "he spat on the ground before finishing his mocking." ...hag." Aiden could barely hold himself, but as he wanted to listen to Granny, he closed his eyes, exhaling loudly, and instead tried focusing his sensing ability to scan the energy level of this pig''s 2 followers. ''They didn''t amount to much. This fat guy is the weakest among them. Not sure how he can order those two around'' Seeing his newest attempt didn''t have any sess, he coldly snorted, then looked at Granny. "Old hag. Hand over the healing mixture you prepared. I have decided that I will be taking over your order this week. You shouldn''t really butt into our business, you are not townsfolk. Besides, you know that my family is the number one, alchemist''s in the city, don''tpete with us." Smiling gently, Granny responded. "Young master, I''m not sure what you are trying to get to,ing into my home in the forest and trying to threaten with empty words. My deal was with Mr. Norton, and not with your family." The young master snorted coldly, and waved for his 2 minions toe closer. "I don''t care who you had dealings with. You are not part of MY town, and any deals you made are now MY deals. Now move, and bring me MY merchandise, otherwise I will just take it from your dead corpses." Then looking at the fragile boy, he grinned evilly. "Otherwise, we will start gutting this mut." Granny''s gentle smile hasn''t changed a bit, upon hearing the threats, instead she just shook his head. "Your threats do not work here young master. As I said before, my deal was with Mr. Norton and not with you or your family. Also, let me point out the slight error in your previous statement. The city is not yours nor your family''s. Or should I go and visit the region lord and ask if this has changed since thest time I was in town?" "Peasants like yourself have no rights to visit the Lordship! It''s only a matter of time, before it happens Anyways, my patience wears thin hag, BRING ME MY MERCHANDISE!" The young man was practically screaming thest part of his dialogue. In Aiden''s eyes, this ''sorry excuse of a man'' was sounding more and moreical by the second. ''How can he be so arrogant, with so little power to back it up?'' Looking at the 2 other guys behind him, he couldn''t really understand his behavior at all. He shook his head in contempt, however at this second, he heard a ding, and saw a notification popping up blocking his vision momentarily, almost transforming his face to a wide grin. [Analysisplete, Information processed. Skill: Language: Common (-) created.] ''This skill has no levels.. Interesting..'' Seeing the contemptuous gaze of the boy, the young master flew into a rage. Looking back at him, he snarled. "You got a problem mut? Want to die right now? I wanted to save you until we got what we wanted, but I guess we can make an excuse and send you to the afterlife now!" It was the first time since his arrival that the young master could see a change in Granny''s expression, her face showed worry finally, making him feel even better at himself. "What hag, you finally realised the trouble you are facing? It''s toote now, if you would have been cooperative from the start, you wouldn''t have to lose this filth Bo-" Looking back at his cronies, he was just about to order, but Granny interrupted him. "The boy cannot talk because of a trauma. I''m not worried about his safety, but yours Young Master. I would advise not to cause trouble for yourself by angering my grandson. It would be ill-advised." Misinterpreting the advice as a threat, he stared back at the olddy. "Are you threatening me, old hag? You do know the consequences if I tell it to my father, right? Just because of this, I will now-" Before he could finish, he was once again interrupted, but this time it was the young boy, who spoke. His clear, and deep voice resounded in the area. It was almost like it wasn''ting from the boy, but from the entire jungle was speaking to them. "No. You weak worm, how can you be so arrogant with this little power to back up your words? Tell me, weakling, how do you n to back up your words, if your power is below an average frog? Are you gonna perhaps rely on your 2 ''friends''? They are barely stronger than yourself. Tell me, human, what were you nning to do..." While he was talking, Aiden''s eyes were glowing, radiating that strange golden light, his hands were slowly transforming, dark, ck scales were slowly emerging all over his arms. His fingers now had ended with terrifying ck ws. At the very end of his monologue, his voice was also much deeper, as if a thunderstorm raged around them. It was as if a dragon had descended... Chapter 21 - 21 - The Young Master (Part 2) Aiden''s transformation was spectacr, to say the least. His arms were shrouded in thick ck scales, his fingers morphed into terrifying ck ws. His face was still the same, however, his amber eyes were illuminating, which gave him a dangerous vibe. His back now had a pair of huge scaly wings protruding out of it. The end of the wings had terrifying,rge ck ws, simr to his hands. The whole wing was several timesrger than Aiden itself, and the very end of the wings had borne a hole in the wooden board on the porch. As the transformation finished a terrifying roar left Aiden''s mouth. The ground itself was shaking as if the thunderous voice that left Aiden''s mouth had brought fear to the very Earth itself! By this time, both the young master and his 2 minions were lying on the ground, visibly shaking, unable toprehend what was happening. Granny was fine, but she was also deep in thought as she was sizing up Aiden''s new attire. ''So, he is a dragon after all. And from the looks of it, seems to be a genuine Ancient Dragon. To be able to transform at such an age... Incredible!'' The young master looked at the boy from the ground, still shaking. "Just w-w-who are you? D-d-don''t do anything stupid! My family is very influential if I am hurt... M-my father will pay you back tenfold!" There was no trace of arrogance in his voice anymore, his new tone was simr to a mice squealing. Looking back at his two minions, he regained a tiny bit of hisposure and immediately ordered them. "You two, get up, and kill this brat!" The two looked at each other and gulped as a confirmation of the order given to them. They all felt the incredible aura that swept through the area just now. Whatever thing this child is, the power he possessed was much higher than anything they have ever felt. They are like ants trying to bully a lion. What a joke! But sadly, there''s no option for them, their master''smand is absolute, they cannot defy it. They stood up, and while looking for their weapons that got thrown to the ground, they took a few deep breaths trying to regain theirposure. At the very least they should put on a good show, and as soon as the Young Master escaped, they would follow behind. Hopefully, they will still be alive by that time... "Move it you two! Kill HIM!" The young master shouted. This whole situation got out of hand too quickly. He was nning to score some easy money, and with luck remove one problem, while gaining a new ve in the process. It would have worked well if this unknown kid wouldn''t have shown up! Damn his existence! All the ns he made for today now in the dust. The only thing left is to escape. However, for that to work, he has to sacrifice these two mindless goons... ''What a waste... And I was nning to use themter...'' He murmured to himself. He had ns on using these twoter to gain ownership of the other shops in the district. His n to use force to gain wealth and power in the city is now ruined! ''Curse this child!'' he cursed. He was looking at his 2 guards, waiting for them to get in position so he could get out of this cursed ce. The worst of all, he can''t even alert his father of today''s blunder. The two guards with their swords in hand were now slowly closing on the boy. Granny, who was just silently watching the scene, put her hands in front of Aiden, to stop him from doing anything. In a low voice, she whispered to him. "Do not kill them Aiden. You should never take life, not unless there''s no other way. Every life is precious." Then without waiting for a response from him, she looked at the two closing guards. "You two should escape just like your Young Master did just now. Do not throw away your life meaninglessly." She waited for the two to look back, only to see the rounded back of their master vanishing in the vegetation at the tree line where they came from. As they looked at each other, then to the elderlydy, she continued. "Your master has already left you here to face your demise. Instead of ending you, I will give you a bit of advice. Run. Turn back and escape. If you have some brain in your heads, then you should not return to the city, but go to the next one and restart your lives there." Looking at each other, then to the strange boy, andstly, to the elderly woman, they nodded their heads while distraught was still visible in their eyes. They knew this would happen when their master gave them theirmand, but still knowing it, and experiencing it is different. They knew their lives meant nothing to him, but still... To leave them to die so he could escape at the first sign of trouble.. Why should theyy down their lives for such a pathetic person? They nodded their heads to the woman, then throwing their weapons away, they turned around and escaped into the tree line in a different area then their young master ran off to. Sighing out a breath of air in relief, Granny looked back at Aiden''s still ''battle-ready'' state, and with her gentle voice, she spoke to him. "Calm down Aiden. They are no threat. These two just followed their master''s orders, and the young master has already run off as well. We should be fine for now. After getting mad for her sake, you don''t want to frighten Lily, right?" Her words struck deep into Aiden''s clouded mind. With the newfound rity, he exhaled deeply, and his ws, and scales and wings slowly receded. The radiating light also receded from his eyes, and just his golden irises remained. As he returned to normal, he felt exhausted. Weariness spread through all his body, and suddenly, even standing still felt too tiresome. His vision darkened, and thest thing he saw was the wooden boards growing in size. Grabbing the unconscious boy, Granny shouted towards the rounded windows, where a small blonde head could be seen peeking every now-and-then. "Lily, help me open up the door, we have to put Aiden to rest!" Immediately, tiny footsteps could be heard scurrying towards the entrance, and soon the door was sprung open as a distressed Lily was running towards them. "Is brother okay? What happened? Did he scare off the bad guys?" "He is okay, he just overexerted himself. You know, Aiden is strong, he just never used this much of the power sleeping within him. A little rest and he will be fine. You have to be strong for his sake, okay?" answered Granny. Lily was almost crying listening to Granny, but hearing herst words, she shook her hand, and clenching her tiny fists, she replied with newfound determination. "Yes! I have to be strong for my brother! Leave it to me, Granny, I will watch over him, so he can rest!" Lightlyughing at her cute behavior, the two walked back inside the house, toy the unconscious Aiden to rest... --- In the forest, a disheveled looking, young man could be seen running towards the city of Highrove. His attire had tears and mud stains all over, as well as his face, providing picturesque detail of his ordeal. Seeing the city walls in the distance, the Young Master finally slowed down, and took a moment of respite at the base of a tree. Looking back, his face turned into an ugly frown, as he cursed. "Damn you brat! I will repay today''s humiliation! Mark my words, I promise you... You will regret this day!" He then gripped the ends of his sleeves and cleaned up his face with it. He had to be presentable for his father when he returned to the city. While he shouldn''t involve his father in today''s blunder, he still had to keep up pretenses. Just because he failed today, that doesn''t mean he can give up on his ambitions. No. He waited too long. "Father you were in power for too long. It is time for you to retire" he smirked evilly to himself, as he stood up and slowly walked towards the city gates. --- Meanwhile, as Aiden was resting in his bed, a series of new notifications was blinking in the system, trying to gain their masters attention. Suddenly a hand, made of pure golden light, dismissed these, and a gentle, soft female voice resounded in Aiden''s soul space. [Let him rest for now. He can check these when he wakes up. Awakening to an innate ability taxed his body too much, he needs his rest. While he rests, the system also needs a little update.] Then looking up towards the empty space, she called out. [Commence the update!] Chapter 22 - 22 - Listen To Your Big Sis! Thest rays of the sun were receding over the horizon when Aiden regained his consciousness and started fluttering his eyelids. Lily, who was still sitting next to his bed, immediately called out when she saw it. "Granny, brother is starting to wake up! Come quickly!" Then moving and kneeling down beside his bed, she put her tiny hands on his chest and called out to him. "Wake up brother, you were sleeping all day! I wanted to y with you all day, and you just slept! No fair!" a small drop of tear formed in the corner of her eyes, and soon she was crying her heart out. Finally seeing Aiden waking up, broke the final dam in her psyche, and all day''s worry was finallying out. It was at this time when Granny arrived into the room. Seeing her little angel crying over Aiden''s still half-asleep body made her put on an empathetic smile. (A/N: I had to look this one up. Empathic is the old style, empathetic is the modernized version. I honestly thought otherwise. Huh, seems like you never stop learning..) "Don''t cry Lily, it''s not that bad. He was just exhausted. He should be better now, and probably waking up soon. Instead of crying, let''s think of some real good dinner for Aiden when he wakes up. He must be hungry!" Snot and tears still on her face she looked at the ceiling seemingly deep in thought. Then, as if a lightbulb was lit above her head, her face changed into surprise then happiness as she looked at Granny. Looking like she found the cure for cancer she replied happily: "Brother loves meat! So, for dinner we should make something super tasty using one of the rare meats! And some desserts! He likes tasty desserts! Like tarts! YOSH! He would love some tarts for desserts!" "Are you sure, he is the one that would love some tarts for desserts and not some little missy that I know of?" replied Granny. Lily could only reply with a cute "Ehehehe." Their little discussion was cut short as the sleeping boy was showing signs of waking up. Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was a little blonde missileunching towards him from the side, while crying for him and immediately snuggling on his chest. "Lily, you should give him some air, and let him get up. Don''t make him fall back just as he finally regained his state of mind." Granny lightly reprimanded her little minx. Seeing the emotional little girl, Aiden lightly patted the back of her head, and in a clear voice, he consoled her. "There-there, I am fine. Don''t cry little girl." Looking up, she pouted. "I''m not a little girl, I''m Lily, your sister! Remember that!" however, it was at this moment that she realized something very important, her face lit up and astonished she asked: "Wait a minute, you can talk? Why didn''t you talk to us before besides saying thank you yesterday?!" Instead of replying, he just smiled wryly. He couldn''t just tell them that he was waiting for a magical system inside his head to process and analyze information he received from the both of them and create a skill that allowed him to finallymunicate.. That sounds like something a lunatic would say! Looking at his troubled face, Granny sighed. "Don''t be too hard on him Lily. He must have gone through something terrible, just like you did 2 years ago. Remember, you took a lot more time to open up. Help him ovee the trauma, and be the big sister, he most definitely needs!" Sighing once more, she looked at both of them, still lost in their little world, she pped once to get their attention, and continued. "Now, get up you two, and let''s make something together for dinner. Would that be good for all of you? We could talk during dinner. Is that alright with you two?" Both nodded their heads, and shortly after, the trio left the room. "So, Lily said you would really love something special made with meat. Is that right Aiden? What would you prefer?" asked Granny with her trademark gentle smile. "Well.. I liked the meat before, as that was the food that gave me the most energy. The taste was good as well, so yes, if I get to choose, I would prefer eating something simr, or even more fulfilling!" answered Aiden after a brief moment of contemtion. Listening to his answer, both Granny gentle smile changed into a surprised one. "So, taste is only secondary to you, and you mostly look for anything that provides you with the most energy. Thinking back, I did notice a strange behaviour when you were eating yesterday. I didn''t know it back then, but this morning''s events filled a bit more of the puzzle." She gave her gentle smile once again, she used her free hand, and patted his head gently. "You are a dragon, are you not? You were born from a dragon egg after all. But if that''s the case, do you know what happened to your mother? How did you get to this forest?" Sighing deeply, Aiden looked up at the elderlydy, and with a wry smile, he answered. "I''m sorry, but I can''t talk about that right now. Please don''t think anything bad, it''s just it''s hard for me. I''m really happy that you took me in and helped me recuperate. If there''s anything I can help you with, please, let me know. I do not wish to intrude on your peace without at least paying back the kindness." Hearing his words, Lily punched his shoulders, while crying out. "Don''t you dare say anything like that brother! You are family now, and family looks out for each other!" "But we are not-" Aiden tried to say that she was mistaken, as he is not her real brother, but he was cut short as another punch came from Lily. "Don''t you dare finish your words! It doesn''t matter what happened before, you are my little brother, and I''m your big sister! And you have to" she started sniffing, and tearing up at thest parts of her outcry "listen to your big sis!" "I" Aiden was at a loss for words. He never expected such a strong reaction from this little child. He did notice that she had a strong attachment towards him from the moment they met, but he never expected that she was that deeply affected. He noticed another hand on his back gently patting him. Looking at the source, Granny was looking at him with her trademark smiling face, and just nodding, as to give him confidence, for his next words. "I understand. From now on, we are family" he stopped and seeing the expectant gaze in the girl''s eyes he gulped audibly, before finishing with the words Lily was waiting for "...big sis." These were the magic words she needed to hear. She humpfed happily, and from that point, all the way to the kitchen, and even during their little get-together, Lily was attached to Aiden. The dinner ording to Aiden''s wishes was mostly meat this time with the tarts as desserts, making both Aiden satisfied, and Lily happy. As the munching started to calm down, Granny coughed and looked at Aiden before changing the silence that ruled the event so far. "So Aiden, can you tell us about this morning? What happened to you back there? I can''t say I''m an expert in your kind, but I''ve never heard of a dragon partially transforming. Is that something unique to you or your kind?" Aiden put down the piece of meat he was currently eating and went into deep thought and closed his eyes. A few minutes had passed before he reopened them. By this time both Granny and Lily were looking at him, waiting for his answer. "I''m not sure to be honest. It was not something I did on purpose either. It''s just that when I heard that man calling you and big sister all those bad names. I just felt rage overwhelm me. The next thing I know was that he was nowhere and you were looking at me with worry, then I felt extremely tired and wanted to rest.." Lily only heard the words "big sister" that caused her to elicit a proud smile and a happy giggle, while Granny nodded her head as if she was expecting this answer. "I see. It is most likely an innate ability that you have awakened to. Tomorrow if you''d like, we could work on it, to try to understand how it works. Would you like that? We still got a full day before we could finish up the potions after all." Nodding his head, he answered. "Yes, that would be good." Her words also reminded him that he hasn''t checked out his status page since awakening, nor could he hear or feel Enya. All the events since waking up kept him upied. Taking this momentarily pause in the discussion, he took a quick peek at the only notification on his system, and immediately got surprised by the content. [Update in progress, system is unavable during this time. Remaining time: 0 hours 27 minutes 34 seconds] Chapter 23 - 23 - Hunting Trip (Part 1) Thankfully this time, the update did note with the loss of consciousness, nor would it require extensive research after the fact to understand all changes. This time, when the system came back up, and Aiden could feel Enya''s presence once again, she exined: [This update was mostly to amodate your power surges in the future. The innate ability you awakened to is rted to a fused innate that your predecessor who acquired the Ancient Dragon life essence developed. This partial transformation, that is called the [Dragon''s Wrath] will boost your power while giving you draconic abilities. This includes ws, wings, and most importantly, increased might. Your voice will carry the draconic heritage, which causes fear in low level creatures. You will also radiate your Draconic Aura that has simr effects. All in all, it is a very powerful ability, but the drawback is, your current Soul Power can barely activate it for 3 seconds before you will overtax your reserves. You will need to be mindful of this and work on your power as much as you can.] ''How am I supposed to work on that? I just got it boosted, I still have no idea how to increase it naturally..'' grumbled Aiden on the suggestion. All he can do is to make another mental note to himself to keep an eye on techniques in the world, and maybe ask Granny if he knows anything about it. While it''s doubtful, it still should be worth a try, right? Sighing deeply, he sat down next to Lily in front of the firece, while taking another tart. Lily''s face was messed up with the remains of multiple destroyed desserts by now, but seeing Aiden picking up one, she also picked a new prey to munch on. "Ehehe, brother let''s see who can eat it faster! On 3.2...1 GO!" Not waiting for Aiden''s answer, she immediately started devouring her piece of tart. AIden, smiled at her shenanigans, but still decided to y along. He did skip all day and have not spent any active time with the little girl, so he felt like he owes a lot to her. He started cramming down his piece, but rtively slower. He could actually just simply absorb the whole piece and let his wondrous insides do the work processing it, but then he would skip the most important part of eating desserts, the tasting! He would also ruin the spirit of the game, as he felt like doing that would be cheating. A fair fight would make this minipetition much more enjoyable, and he could also let her win. Of course, not to everyone''s surprise Lily did finish her piece much faster than Aiden. Seeing that he was still eating thest scraps, she sported a haughty victory pose, and with a boisterousughter, she eximed her victory! "Haha! I won! For that, you will have to give me a prize!" Thinking about it for a few seconds, Aiden got up, walked towards the still celebratingdy, and hugged her. Kissing her on the cheek, he whispered to her ears. "Congrattions big sister." The sudden turn of events shocked Lily to her core and made her stunned for a few seconds before she coulde back, and immediately return the hug and the smooch on his cheeks. "Ehehe of course little brother! This is the best prize I could receive!" Meanwhile, Granny was watching them from the kitchen with her trademark gentle smile on her face. Seeing these 2 getting closer to each other each passing day, gave her so much joy. She wished for nothing but them to slowly develop a bond and rely on each other in the future. The world out there is cruel, especially if you are a half-breed like Lily. Having a strong and reliable boy like Aiden watching and supporting her, would be everything she could hope for. Letting out a cough to bring attention to herself, Granny walked into the room, and sat in front of the firece. "We will go into the forest tomorrow to hunt for some game. We need to get some new meat for Aiden, he consumed all we had." Scratching his head, Aiden smiled wryly while giving a whispering "Sorry." in embarrassment. Grannyughed at it, then continued. "Don''t worry Aiden, it''s okay. Me and Lily do not eat that much meat, so it''s understandable that you would go through our stock in such a short time. One important note that I will make here, and Lily already knows this, that we do not kill the forest animals unnecessarily. Unless they attack us first or show hostility, we do not hurt innocents. We live with the forest and follow the rules of the forest." Giving a momentary pause for increased effect, she exhaled then continued. "That being said, there''s plenty of wildlife out there. We could go out and look for wolves to hunt for. While they mostly hunt in packs at night, there are some activity from them during the day as well. Since we only need a few, I suggest we go out tomorrow morning and look for them." Aiden nodded his head in confirmation. What she said was reasonable and he was already looking forward to fighting them, as he could finally test his strength in a real-life situation. While he could not sense any power from Granny, something told him that she is far from being weak and as fragile as she looks. Seeing the expectant look in Aiden''s eyes, Granny''s smile grew wilder. "Tomorrow I would like you to fight the wolves alone Aiden. Lily and I will be watching, in case you would need help, but I can tell you are eager to test out your limits, am I right?" "Yes, thank you Granny." answered Aiden. With a pleading look in her eyes, Lily jumped into the conversation as well. "Can I help him Granny? I want to hunt with brother tomorrow!" However, that did not help her cause, Granny shook his head in denial. "We will let Aiden fight alone tomorrow mainly. Unless he needs our help, we will just watch. There will be time in the future for you to spend time with your brother, but for now, let him test his limits, and get familiar with his might. You and I can gather the rest of the food we would need for tomorrow. Depending on how much we gather and hunt we could have a small feast to celebrate our first adventure as a family. What do you guys say?" Lily''s hands immediately shot up to the sky upon hearing the news and her cheerful giggle resounded in the house. "YOSH! Our first family trip!" Aiden''s generally stoic and expressionless face also morphed into a smile hearing this, and nodding his head, he thanked. "Thank you Granny. I would very much like that. I will do my very best to face my enemies in fairbat." Giggling at his response, Lily rebutted. "This is not a duel brother. We will be hunting. While we do not hurt the cute ones, the wolves are mean and nasty, so they needed to be taught a good lesson! Beat them up good!" At the end her right fist was once again in the air giving more power to her exmation. --- They talked a bit more about nning tomorrow''s trip while enjoying thest pieces of the delicious dessert, before returning to their beds to end the day. Today was eventful, and thankfully nobody got hurt, and Aiden also managed to awaken to a new ability and further his understanding of his new draconic self and heritage. --- As the first rays of the sun shine through the rounded windows lighting up the room, Lily was already awake and being very energetic, running around the room searching for various parts for her ''battle attire''. Aiden woke up to the sound ofughter, feet trotting all around him. Groggily looking around, seeing the little energizer bunny scurrying from one end to the other in the room, he couldn''t help but ask. "Morning Lily. What are you doing so early?" Looking at him with a wide grin on her face, she exined. "I need my lucky socks, so we will return with a lot of sweets today." Her grin turning to a pout she continued. "It''s just that I can''t find them anywhere!" Sighing, Aiden advised. "Instead of running around, why don''t you ask Granny about it? She might know where it is. Besides, running around will just tire you out and you will have no energy left in the afternoon." Surprise visible on her face, as if she just realized the solution to all her problems, she bolted out of the room, while crying a loud "Thanks brother!", probably also alerting Granny of the iing "danger". Smiling, Aidenid back on the bed, while muttering a low "Just a little bit more" Just like Lily, he was also looking forward to today''s adventure.. Chapter 24 - 24 - Hunting Trip (Part 2) Forest. Returning to the embrace of the surrounding trees, making my way through the dense foliage that ruled this part of the forest, was a genuinely nice feeling. It was like I returned home. While it is not entirely true, as the small little hut that I spent thest 3 days was also quickly bing ''home'' for me, I have to admit, since I was born, my environment was kind of harsh until I met my ''new family''. God, referring to this little energizer bunny and the elderlydy as family is still so satisfying to me. This little blonde, pig-tailed girl, with her ever-present cheerful glee present on her face, with this strange, elderlydy, wrapped in ragged red clothes, with her gentle care, and concern for our wellbeing. I was alone at the moment, in the dense part of the forest. I''m not that familiar with all parts of the forest, but one thing that I am sure is that we are not close to the river and the cave that was my first ce I referred to as ''home''. My goal today is to face off against the various types of wolves that inhabit this area. We are a few hours'' distance from the hut as well. Granny and for the record, Lily as well told me multiple times yesterday evening and this morning to not actively hunt and kill creatures, I should only save those that are attacked, and defend if I am ambushed by these clever predators. They told me that these wolves hunt in packs and are highly intelligent. They can set up ambushes, and even dig holes and cover them with foliage to create traps. They have one leader that are considered their ''alpha'', the strongest. The mostmon wolf types are the Grey Wolf with their aptly named Grey Wolf Alpha, but there are different kinds, with some small differences. I was also told to watch out for the ck furred versions, they are called ck Wolves, and if possible, try to not engage any member of them. They are the strongest of the bunch and are extremely aggressive and cruel beasts. Unique to animals, their hierarchy is based on battles, and kills, the one at the top is usually the nastiest of them all with the highest kill count. They kill not just for food, but to boost their standing in their flock as well. Unfolding my Dark Sense to its maximum capacity and sending out the asional empowered pulses I noticed quite a few life signs all around me. For the time being I''m not familiar with how the wolves look and feel like, so with nothing better to base the information I have off, I headed to the direction to the north, where arger group of life signs was closer to each other. It did look and feel like that 4 smaller signals were being cornered by 5rger ones, so my bet shouldn''t be that far off. Getting closer I could hear snarling and growling soundsing from ahead. Sneaking closer, I hid myself behind the trunk of arger tree and looked ahead. Just as I expected, the 5 grey furred wolves cornered 4 deer-looking animals. The 4 frightened animals were clearly scared, grouped up close by together, as if hoping for safety in each other''s embrace, or maybe to face off against their death as a family. They had green fur with asional brown patches in it. They were at least half a size taller than these wolves, but as herbivores they weren''t known for their strength or power orbat abilities. ording to Granny they were peace-loving creatures. The 5 wolves cornered them from every direction and were slowly closing the circle they created. Closing my eyes, I exhaled deeply to regain my focus. I quickly recalled the feeling from yesterday, when the anger overwhelmed me, and I partially transformed. I wanted to use this ability but with only transforming my arms and controlling the energy output. My discussion with Enya at night revealed that I should be able to transform only partially, drastically decreasing the required output, and to be able to control it. Only problem would be keeping it up for an extended period of time. Exhaling once again, I could feel a simr tingling sensation inside me, I instinctively knew that this is what I was looking for. Infusing it with my own pool of soul energy, I could feel the tingling sensation spreading all around me. I had to force it with my pure willpower, and contain it only around my hands otherwise the transformation would overtax me again, and that could be fatal at this part of the forest, even if Granny and Lily are close by. Sweat drops started gathering as I was trying to force this power, limiting its influence. I couldn''t waste much time, if I nned on saving the deers either, and that steeled my determination. Taxing my willpower to its maximum, in a few seconds I could finally feel that the tingling sensation was now only present on my hands. Letting it continue, the ck scales suddenly grew out, covering my otherwise creole skin, and my fingers transformed to long and thick ck ws. Looking at them, I suddenly had an idea, and I quickly asked a question mentally. ''Enya, how does the fusion process work? Can I make it that only my ws would be coated in the Cave Vipers venom? Can I do it now, or would it be better to experiment with it back at home first?'' [I would suggest to wait until you get back Aiden. While it is definitely possible to target specific areas with the desired mutation, it could provide unforeseen results, and it would cost you some of your energy as well, tiring you out. Not to mention the process would take time. Time you don''t have if you wish to save that family of Forest Deers.] ''I see.. Thanks!'' answered Aiden. Looking at the results of the transformation Aiden smiled happily. This partial transformation instead of costing him his entire pool of reserves, was only 10 energy so far, and it seemed that to maintain it, he only needed to pay 2 energy every minute instead of every 5 system seconds. What''s best, he could still feel the overwhelming increase in his power. However, he couldn''tpletely contain his Draconic Aura from spreading. He could only limit its area to a 5 meter radius around him, but that was still enough to ruin his chances of an ambush, as the closest wolf was immediately alerted of a new dominating and frightening presence nearby. He howled and looked at hispanions while signalling with his head behind him. They seemed to understand what it was trying to convey as they immediately left the deers and gathered up to close in on therge tree trunk that Aiden was using as cover. Seeing that, Aiden cursed inwardly of hisck of control, and slowly walked out, to unveil his presence to his enemies. ''You can do this Aiden!'' psyching himself up he got ready for what''s toe next. This would be his first real battle in his life. So far, he only hunted defenseless insects or those tasty fish. He did not count that frog either nor the snake, as with the frog that was unaware of his presence until it was toote, and for the case of the viper he actually lost and was eaten. The wolves were getting ready for the battle, using their usual tactic, they started circling around Aiden.They liked to attack from all directions, making their prey unable to defend against all of the attacks and slowly but steadily wearing it down. Their tactic worked all the time, so they will not change it up this time either, and why would they? Snarling against their new prey, they were getting ready to pounce, however Aiden isn''t gonna wait for them, and as one of them closed in on him from the right he suddenly jumped at him, swiping at its body with his ws. He still wasn''t entirely sure of the power of his attacks, so he did not control the output and using his full might and the added momentum the end result was rather gruesome. The wolf was actually torn apart, his upper and lower body separated, and its intestines poured out to the ground below. Dark red blood dripped from the end of Aiden''s ws who was shocked at himself momentarily. He did not expect such a result. Sure, he was expecting that his power would kill the wolf, but not that he would slice through like nothing! The remaining 4 seeing their ''friend'' dying horribly did not wait anymore and jumped at Aiden simultaneously. A smile creeped up on Aiden''s face as he got ready for his first realbat. The day has just started and he is already facing off against a group of wolves, what could happenter? Chapter 25 - 25 - Hunting Trip (Part 3) Exhaling slowly to heighten his internal focus he pushed his sensory abilities to its maximum. Injecting a strand of energy to his eyes, ears and nose, he could feel the world slowing down, as if time itself bowed to Aiden''s request, slowing its pace. With his heightened senses, he could see the four remaining wolves in the airunched towards him with a vicious growl visible on their faces. Still in his battle-ready pose, he flexed his calf, and as they got close enough to him, he stomped andunched himself to the air. While these events felt like it took a few seconds, -in reality-, only a fraction of a second has passed. Aiden''s body simply vanished from the trajectory of the 4 wolves, who in turn, crashed into each other. Meanwhile Aiden was several meters in the air, with the gravity slowing his ascend, and slowly turning it into a descend. Aiden readied himself, basicallyunching himself down from the air, as his wed hands were opened, ready to rip apart the beasts that were unfortunate enough to fall under his descending grasp. --- From a small distance, Granny and Lily were watching the fight with astonished gazes. "Woah, brother is so fast. Did you see that Granny? He just *WOOSH* and now the 4 meanies hit themselves, and now he is up in the air so high!"ing back from her reverie Lily immediately cheered for her brother. "That is true dear. Aiden suddenly got incredibly fast. His power is simply terrifying. I don''t expect this battle to go on for much longer. Come, let''s make our way towards those frightened deers, and help them!" "Haaaai!" With that, the duo slowly went around thebat area, getting closer to the 4 deers that were still grouped together, watching the events ying out in front of them. --- "Get ready! This is the end for you all!" As Aiden shed against the 4 remaining wolves, it only took a few seconds for the noises to die down. What remained were torn flesh and fur covered in dark red blood and intestines all around. In the middle of them, stood a figure covered in the same mixture as he was gasping for air. ''I might have got a bit too into it'' Looking around, he frowned. He enjoyed the gruesome battle more than he would like to admit. The damage his ws were capable of was incredible. Not to mention that strange state he got himself into.. When he focused and empowered his senses, suddenly everything became much clearer. ''So I could actually use my energy to increase my senses as well, not just my muscles. Basically, I can empower anything myself with the correct amount and usage of energy, right?'' He asked the question to his system. [Yes Aiden. Energy flows through you, you can direct its flow to all around you, focusing on specific areas, increasing any attribute. Just keep in mind that it taxes your reserves, and you can''t keep up this ''Empowered'' state for too long. Also the more organs you empower, the more energy you will require. ] ''I see Hmm'' Deep in thought, he looked at himself, just noticing how disgusting he probably smelled and looked. ''Oh I should find a ce to clean myself.. Or maybe ask them, ''what I should be doing now.'' Seeing the duoing out of the cover of the foliage, he waved and walked towards them, who were making their way towards the deers. Lily saw his brother''s wave, and immediately walked towards him. However, after a few steps she halted her steps, and had to cover her nose, to mask the nasty smelling her way. "Ew.. Stop there brother, you smell nasty! Wait until Granny finishes with the deers, and she will help you." With a frowning face she ran back towards Granny, leaving Aiden grumbling alone. From the corner of her mouth a small smile creeped up, however at this moment she was focusing on the small frightened group. --- "Much better, you don''t smell so nasty now! Brother, you were so awesome back there! How you defeated those, and how fast you got, I couldn''t even see you!" As the stench and blood were cleaned up by Granny using some unknown magic, Lily closed the distance and started retelling the events of the battle she witnessed. "Aiden dear, how are you feeling? Do you want to go on, or should we return? We got enough meat, but if you would like to go on, we could go on for a bit more." Granny started. Although she was worried, she wanted him to make the decision and not make it for him. Thinking for a bit, he looked back at Granny, and with his usually expressionless face, he answered. "I think I could go on a bit more, but it would be safer to just return, I got enough experience from today. We wille back another time, right?" Nodding her head, Granny replied while smiling. "Of course my dear. We need a steady supply of meat if we want to keep you fed." Then magically pulling out a small basket out of the depth of her rags, she continued. "Let''s have a small pic if we are already out here, what do you all say? The sun is so nice, and we have enough time to return after having our lunch." With both of them agreeing, the trio soon spread the cloth, and started setting up for lunch. Lily was humming a song that was unfamiliar to Aiden, and with his eyes closed he was simply enjoying the atmosphere, while having his Dark Sense run at maximum efficiency. After a few moments, his eyes snapped open, and looked at Granny with a serious expression. Noticing his gaze, she nodded, and only asked curtly. "How many?" Looked to the north and then all around them to the foliage, and the cover of the trees, he briefly counted the red dots there closing in on their position. "10. There''s also arger life signatureing from the north, I would guess that will be the leader of the pack." Closing her eyes, Granny''s hands arced in a strange manner, forming golden, glowing runic symbols in the air, that was unfamiliar to Aiden. He focused his gaze, analyzing the symbols that were formed. At the end, as the symbol''s forms finalized, Aiden heard the familiar sound of the notification in the system. [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 10%] As the formation of the symbols finished, Granny whispered something under her breath, as a film of energy formed around them from the air. "This barrier will hold them off for a while, but not forever. Aiden our only chance to get out of this alive would be to kill them. Me and Lily can help you from range, but you will have to face them head on. I don''t have much, but take this it should help you restore some of the energy you used earlier." She pulled out a strand of meat from the depth of her rags, once again stunning Aiden at how magical her clothes looked like. Seeing his gaze, she smiled but reprimanded him. "We do not have time for such thoughts now! Take this meat, it should be enough to restore hopefully enough, so we could ovee this." Then turning to Lily, she gave a few more words. "Lily, this time you have to help and protect your brother. Here''s your bow and some arrows, assist him the best way you can." Nodding her head in determination, she took the bow and arrows, without questioning how she pulled it out of her rags once again seemingly from thin air. "Leave it to me Granny! I will make sure to protect brother so no nasties will hurt him!" Aiden was still looking at the piece of meat that he got from Granny, with more and more questions filling his head. This piece of meat was actually from that fish that he hunted in the river! It was the most nutritious, energy filled source he tasted so far. Enya''s voice pulled him out of his stunned reverie, and as he was once again, reprimanded, but this time in his mind, he took the whole meat and swallowed it down without chewing much. This time, he did not eat it for the taste, but to make sure he has enough energy to maintain his battle form. He needed every ounce of energy he had left and had to make sure he could ovee this trial. He can''t let anything bade to his new family. [Also, remember Aiden, if nothing else works, you still have 1 more usage of the Blessing you got. However, be prepared, if you use it, you will be transformed back to your Slime form, while you absorb the target, and you will probably be knocked unconscious afterwards. Only use it as ast resort.] Nodding his head, as he felt the energy refilling his tanks, he got ready and his arms once again, transformed. Slowly afterwards, pairs of glowing eyes could be seen popping up all around them, and a huge ck furred wolf slowly emerged. It only had 1 functioning eyes, torn ears, and a cruel and vicious gaze. It looked at the thin membrane of energy that shielded the prey, and nodding his head, it gavemand to begin the assault. Chapter 26 - 26 - Hunting Trip (Part 4) "Aiden, the barrier will not hold for much longer. Lily, ready yourself as well, be steady with your aim just like we practiced." Granny gave the instructions. There were no gentle and kind smile on her face, it was all seriousness at this time. She was genuinely worried. A big group of ck wolves! Why these, out of all the possibilities? She was hoping that Aiden could handle himself, and she knew that Lily''s aim was impable. Her magic however is not suited forbat, the runic magic she is using is an ancient art, more suited for everyday life and keeping herself and others safe and healthy. Shaking her head to clear the distracting thoughts, she started drawing another runic symbol in the air casting another unknown spell. This time however Aiden could not watch the process, as he was already watching the 2 closest wolves crashing themselves into the barrier relentlessly. He was also keeping a close eye on the biggest one, with the torn ears and scarred eye. He was obviously the alpha of this group. It was very interesting to see the big wolf looking around its subordinates and barking and growling at them while asionally shaking his head. It might seem random to the untrained eye, but Aiden could tell that it was givingmands that only they could understand. His hands were already covered in scales, his fingers now transformed into long, thick ws. He was also keeping his breathing in check and was prepared to enhance his vision as soon as he could see the barrier destroyed. Speed was the most important factor in any ambush, and if the prey was faster than the ambushers, that could turn the tables quickly. Meanwhile Granny was just finished drawing the next rune in the air, that glowed in bright white light then dispersed all around Lily and herself, turning them transparent and at the end of the cast invisible to the enemies. They were visible to themselves, and she knew that Aiden can ''see'' them without vision as well. Lily was also focused, there was no trace of her childish glee and mischief this time around. She took her role, -protecting her brother, seriously. Bow in hand, with an arrow prepared, her eyes were darting back and forth looking for the first ''meanie'' to cross the barrier Granny cast. As time creeped slowly forward, the first cracks of the barrier could be seen all around them. Their focus, the tension was high in the air. They could see the leader wolf grinning evilly, as it charged to the barrier itself, and with a loud bang, crashed it to pieces. At this moment, the first arrow was shot from Lily''s bow, arching its way towards the closest wolf in front of them, while Aiden enhanced his senses and the muscles in his calf. The next moment, he vanished from their eyes, and appeared behind the 3 farthest wolves, with his hands ripping 2 of them apart, as both of his eyes closed on to the middle one without any obstruction from the other 2. As the first arrow pierced the forehead of the wolf, the second arrow was already prepared, and in the next moment shot to the second one. The wolves could not detect where the arrow came from, only that it appeared out of thin air. In the span of a few seconds, almost half of the attacking party was killed off and mutted. The leader, stopped and howled into the air, then gave another bark as a set ofmand, for which all the remaining ones stopped their approach and gathered around the leader, as they continued their pace towards the only visible target, Aiden. The leader knew that 2 others were hiding somewhere in the area, but without any vision and smelling from any direction it was unable to pinpoint their location. So without anything better, hemitted to the only visible target. Its n was, that if they could put pressure and maybe kill off the visible target, the 2 hiding ones woulde for the rescue. The orders it gave was to protect him, and watch their nk, for the approaching enemy as they attack the boy. Meanwhile the third arrow was shot, but this time it wasn''t a fatal hit, as it only pierced the back of one of the wolves surrounding the leader. Aiden was ready. Exhaling some used air, he regained his focused state, and directed some of his remaining energy to his calves and senses once again. He had to rely on his speed, and thin the herd. As he vanished from the sight of his enemies once again, flesh and fur was torn apart on the 2 of the wolves guarding the leader on its left side. Howls filled with pain and suffering resounded in the next moment as the 2 crashed to the ground dead in the next second. The leader was frustrated. All of its ns were literally torn to shreds in a matter of seconds. It couldn''t see or detect the 2 that was visible a few minutes ago, and this seemingly fragile human boy was death incarnate. The hunting party it prepared is now gone, and with only 2 of its subordinates remaining, their chances to survive were bleak. By now he understood that it has no chance of winning this, and the only chance for survival would be to retreat.. However, for that thest 2 of the wolves will need to be sacrificed. Barking the next set ofmands, the 2 wolves looked at their leader, as if asking for confirmation. An angry snarl came as a response, which scared the 2. With nothing to do, they ran towards the boy, one healthy and 1 with an arrow stuck out of its back. Looking at its subordinates running towards the enemy, the leader turned tails and started running back towards the direction it came from. Today''s hunt was a failure, but with it surviving, there was a chance for revengeter on. However suddenly, an arrow appeared out of thin air, aimed towards it! Snarling angrily it jumped up and with incredible dexterity, it grabbed the arrow out of the air with it''s jaws and snapped it. Howling in the air, it then quickly disappeared in the foliage. Meanwhile Aiden was just finishing up his battle with thest remaining wolf. His reserves were spent, and he could not speed up anymore, so thest 2 proved more of a challenge to his spent body. As thest standing wolf was slowly gaining the upper hand in their little bout, and was about to bite into the boy''s legs, another arrow whistled through the air, piercing the wolf in the eye, killing it off instantly. Seeing thest wolf fall to the ground, Aiden quickly followed, and fell onto his back, breathing heavily. This encounter spent all of his reserves. Luckily, Granny was here, and he did not need to worry about their safety, but still.. Fighting against such arge group of coordinated predators, was a first. His eyes closed he startedughing with the asional coughs mixed into it. "I''m totally spent" he eximed. "You did great Aiden." the gentle sound of Granny sounded next to him. In the next moment, her translucent body followed by the little blonde approaching rocket named Lily slowly took shape. As the girl crashed onto him, she giggled happily. "Did you see that brother! I did good right? I protected you!" nuzzling her head into his chest, thest parts of her sentence could be only heard by Aiden. Looking at the 2 youngstersying on the ground, she did not want to disturb them, so instead, she made her way towards the in wolves and started gathering their parts. Compared to their grey furred counterparts, the ck wolves fur and fangs were also very valuable, and not just for alchemy, but the fur was a prime material for tailors and leather workers in the city, while the fangs were good for crafting arrowheads for Lily. The remains of the carnage were all around them. The ground was painted dark red with the spilled blood and torn intestines lettered all over. She had to admit, she expected a harder battle against this many ck wolves. While the leader that seemed to be highly intelligent escaped, that was a problem for another day. She just had to make sure to mask their scent, and they should be okay, at least until they returnter. "Thatst look it gave We will have to be careful next time Hmm."mented Granny. With that thought in mind, she went back to the trio who was still lying on the ground muzzled against each other. With the returning gentle smile on her face, she had to ruin the mood. "Okay you two, get up, we have to get ready and leave. Their leader did escape, and we have to make sure, it can''t follow us back. Stand up ande next to me, while I cast the spell to hide our scent." Granny slowly started drawing a new rune in the air, and Aiden was ready this time around. As he jumped up, his eyes were focused on the symbol slowly forming in the air, and as the colorless spell engulfed them, hiding their scent from the world, he looked at his system and happily nodded his head seeing the notification. [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 15%] Chapter 27 - 27 - Ripples At the far northern section in the city of Higrove, stood a luxurious mansion. Inside this decorated,vish mansion that was attended by a small army of guards, the sounds of clinking, and breaking could be heard intermixed with veritable curses. Thevish mansion''s young master was currently wreaking havoc, while a group of scared maids was shivering at the edges of the master''s bedroom. "You good for nothing, useless pieces of garbage! All of my men are useless! AARGH!!" with a loud curse he threw another priceless artifact, a simple looking vase towards the maids at the door. "Tell me, why shouldn''t I just kill you all?! My shitty father has grounded me, just because I lost 2 of my own men! Who does he think he is?! I''m not a kid anymore, he thinks he can just boss me around as he sees fit?!" Taking a deep breath, the young master Leon, forcibly calmed his nerves, then with his usual arrogant tone, he ordered the 3 shivering maids. "Get the hell out of the room, and don''t let anyone in until I say so. Got it?" The maids nodded, still shaking with fear, and quickly scurried out of the room closing the door behind them. They were right to be afraid, as it wouldn''t have been the first time when a servant was killed or used as an outlet for his dark fantasies by the young master in a fit of rage. "Now-now, young master Leon, throwing a temper tantrum will not serve our purpose" as the maids left the room, a dark corner of the room suddenly vibrated and a tall and muscr man, covered in ck leather armor. His face was covered with a ck faceless mask that also covered his eyes. However, theck of vision did not seem to hinder the man at all. Without waiting for the answer from the young chubby man, he continued in his raspy voice. "If you truly intend to be a part of the organization, the results you showcased so far will not be enough. The deadline for the test is still ticking. Instead of behaving like a spoiled brat, you should n your next steps." The arrogance was reced with fear and anxiety as Leon listened to the voice berating him. With his palms sped together, he hesitantly answered. "I...I''m trying my best sir. However, I met some unexpected difficulties back with that old hag in the forest. I wanted to take over her business, but she had this this kid-" "You are telling me, that you got your fat, ugly ass handed to you by a small kid and a senile old hag? Tell me again, do you really n to join us..." he paused in his monologue, and a small shining de slowly emerged from the depth of his leather gloves as he leaned closer to Leon''s scared face "...or am I just wasting my time with you?" Gulping audibly, he shook his head. "N-n-no, sir! I will make sure that I will pass the test set out to me by the deadline! And as a bonus, I will make sure you will have my father''s head! I promise this to you! Also... may I req-" Once again, without letting the young master Leon finish, the man raised his hands to stop him in his tracks. "You may not. The test is set to you to pass by your own merits. If you cannot ovee this small hurdle, you have no ce in the organization at all. Don''t make us regret giving you this chance." At the end of his words, the man slowly dissipated to ck smoke, vanishing from sightpletely. As the man disappeared, the young master fell on his ass on the floor and sighed loudly. Thest few days were probably one of the worst days of his life. Starting with his failure in taking the old hag''s business, losing his trusted bodyguards in the process, which caused his other ns to fail as well and worst of all, being shamed by his father, beaten and grounded like a little child in front of the staff. "I will not fail you By the end of the deadline, you will have my father''s head presented to you, along with thepletion of the task assigned to me And you were right, I need to make new ns" The evil grin once again appeared on his face, as he stood up, making his way towards the desk, to scribble some new notes and devise a new n. After all, he still had a lot of manpower at his disposal, and a lot of money to throw around as well. The loss of 2 of his man, is not the end of the world, and although the humiliation still burned deep in his heart, he had to focus his attention on the task at hand, andter, when everything is set, he could repay the ''favor'' that the annoying ck-haired kid gave him.." --- Somewhere in an underground chamber, on a throne made of various skulls and bones sat a dark-robed figure. The only source of light was a set of candles carefully ced around the room. His face was covered in a faceless ck mask, and a ragged hood that was part of his tattered ck robe. His hands were covered in ck leather gloves. Slowly lifting his hand and pointing his index finger that was decorated with a red skull-shaped ruby ring in a hollow, otherworldly voice talked to the seemingly empty dark corner of the chamber. "What news.. do you have... number 4?" The empty space of the corner vibrated, and with a puff of ck smoke, the same man that just visited Young Master Leon appeared. As he appeared, he immediately got down to his knees and with a bow, he respectfully replied. "Grandmaster, the candidate has not made any progress so far. However, I do believe that he could stillplete the test we assigned to him. Should I keep watching him, or shall I end his initiation test?" The figure lightly shook his head, and with his unnatural voice, he replied. "No need Just, let him continue for now. Watch him from the shadows" Looking at the other empty dark corner of the room, he continued after a brief pause. "I will trust your judgment. If you decide that he is doomed to fail finish the task you were given. And end his initiation as well If you need help. You can contact number 6 and 7 Come back to me only when his test is finished or youpleted your assigned task" With a wave of his hand the figure forcibly removed number 4 from the room, then as the ck smoke dissipated, with his vision still looking at the empty corner of the room, he gave another set ofmands. "You have your task as well..., number 3" A soft and sweet-sounding voice replied from the empty space, "Yes, grandmaster." and the empty air vibrated briefly, as the invisible figure ported away. As the chamber once again, regained its peace and quiet, the clothed figure, with his left hand caressing his ruby ring, looked in front of him and an unearthly cackling sound left his mouth. As the unrecognizable sound left this mouth, the skull-shaped ruby ring started glowing, its faded red, slowly became brighter. The energy slowly transformed, and a thick, red smoke slowly engulfed the room, blowing the candles, and shrouding the presence of the figure, as he receded back to his throne, bing a part of it His n was finally set in motion, and even if some uncalcted variables suddenly emerged, he was confident that he had set the necessary countermeasures to deal with them... --- In the forest, the slender frame of a dark clothed figure appeared on a thick branch on top of a tree. The figure sighed and looked down at the small cozy little hut that stood in the middle of a clearing. Inside, a small family was currently happily enjoying their dinner that was their spoils from today''s hunting trip. Watching the small and happy family, the figure sighed once again, then with a silent wave of its hand its presence vanished into thin air. --- Inside the hut, the trio was enjoying their much-earned dinner. Aiden, while not showing any change on his face, was currently checking his map, and having a discussion with Enya, his ever-present resident inside his soul space. ''Are you sure, the new arrival is not hostile? It just appeared suddenly, we don''t know what it wants after all'' asked Aiden inwardly. He noticed a new blip on his map suddenly appearing out of nowhere on a nearby tree. While the presence did not show any hostility, its life signature was grey, the color of neutrality, meaning the system could not clearly identify if it as either good or bad. [The figure currently only seems to be watching you without any hostile intentions Aiden. Keep an eye out, but I would advise against alerting the others for now. I will monitor its movement and behavior and notify you if anything changes. For now, just try toy low, and do not use your transform.] ''Just who is this person? Why did ite here? What does it want?'' sighed Aiden inwardly. He had a bad feeling about this new turn of events... Chapter 28 - 28 - To The City : Duty As the first rays of the sun prated thest stand of the night bringing forth the next morning, Aiden got up from his bed groggily. He did not sleep much, he was keeping a constant vigil of the stationary blip that appeared on the map yesterday, during dinner. He decided, against his better judgment, to not mention this to Granny nor Lily, as for now, he wasn''t sure of its intentions, and there may have been more presences hiding in the back, outside of his range. He couldn''t even focus on the finishing steps of the potion brewingst night, as with the 2 days and nights of cooling, it was finally ready for the finishing touches. He was still there, but his system and himself weren''t focused, and he did not gain any progress in the information gathering of the skill. Since yesterday they finished preparing the potions, today they will pack them up and venture forth to the city and sell them to the merchant Granny had a deal with. During dinner, Granny exined to Aiden that today they would be going to the nearby town of Higrove, to a local general goods merchant, named Mr. Norton. Mr. Norton has his store at the southern side of the marketce, close to the city gates. That would be their first stop, but after that, they could explore the marketce a bit and buy some necessary supplies. They also agreed to spend lunchtime in the city, which immediately elicited a cheer from Lily. While Aiden was trying to gather himself, and be ready for today''s journey, the door to the room was shut open as Lily ran in cheerfully and seeing Aiden waking up,unched herself towards him apanied by a very loud ''Yaaaaaaaa!" battle shout. Thest bits of grogginess was immediately expelled from his system, as the blonde rocket crashnded on his chest. With the air being pushed out of his lungs as well, the need for increasing the intensity for gathering oxygen increased, and Aiden fulfilled this need with loud gasps, as Lily was still nuzzling her face, with cheerfulughter. "Wake up brother! We have to get ready! Granny said we will have a small breakfast, then we need to set out! She also said we can get some of the yummy sweets before lunch if we can arrive early enough. So no more sleeping!" "S-sure. Let me get up then Lily, if you keep pushing me down, I won''t be able to get ready," said Aiden while patting Lily''s back. Lily with a cheerful "Ehehehe", got up, and ran out of the room, back towards the kitchen from where she came from when Granny mentioned that Aiden was waking up. Smiling at the bolting blondie, Aiden finally left the bed, and after a fast breakfast, they packed up the potions, and with 3rge bags filled, Lily and he was waiting for Granny outside the house. While waiting, Aiden was focusing on his map, to see the course of action their new ''friend'' would take. When they left the hut, Aiden sneaked a nce towards the tree where the blimp was located only to see nothing unusual on top of its branches. He had to admit that whoever or whatever that blimp was that was keeping an eye on them, it was really patient, as it hadn''t moved an inch since its arrival yesterday. ''Enya, just to be sure, there were no updates from yesterday? Did you find anything new out?'' he asked inwardly. Even if the guest could have escaped from his attention, there was no chance to slip past the detection of an entity like the system. [No Aiden, the figure has not made any movement or action at all. The system analysis could not bepleted for the time being but from the current progress being halted at 40%, the information it could gather so far was that it is a humanoid, and based on its posture and figure, most likely a female. It or I should say she is masking her presence along with her power level, so until ites out of the shadows, the system cannot provide more information. Her intent is still neutral, and seems to be only monitoring, probably gathering information.] ''I see. Thanks for all the information that you could gather so far. I couldn''t even imagine myself without you!'' Thanking the system for the information it provided to him, he looked back towards the house, where the jam-packed figure of the elderlydy appeared on the doorstep. She had a backpack along with 2 bags filled to the brim with potions, while Lily and himself only had 1-1 small baskets. "Let me help you carry some of that Granny." he ran to him, and forcefully plucked the 2 bags from her hands, earning a sigh along with a gentle smile. She rewarded his consideration with a few head pats as she gently thanked the boy. "Thanks, Aiden. I appreciate it, dear!" Looking at him, and while her face still had her trademark gentle smile, her voice was stern this time. "Okay, so Lily already knows this, but when we get to the city gates, be close to me, and let me speak. Be calm, and don''t show any aggression. They will need to get you a temporary pass and the guards tend to charge extra for that. We should avoid trouble, and just pay the price without causing any problems, got it?" Aiden nodded in confirmation without listening much as he was stillmenting about whether to inform them about the guest or not. Neither options were inherently good or bad choices, there were positives or negatives to it. However, in the end, as he decided to at the very least let Granny know about it, he looked up to her, and with a low voice, he gave voice to his decision. "We have a guest watching us since yesterday''s dinner. I have not told you about it, as there was no hostile intenting from its direction. I haven''t told you then, because I wasn''t sure about its intentions, but since yesterday, it hasn''t moved, and just kept a close watch on us." Without any change in her facial expression, she finished patting his head, and with a curt "I understand, thank you", she made his way to Lily. "Let''s get ready, if we can get into the city early, we can get some extra sweets before lunch from Mr. Norton! Come Aiden, let''s go!" --- As the trio''s figure vanished into the treeline, number 3, who was tasked with monitoring them, also moved. Keeping her presence hidden, she soundlessly and agilely jumped from branch to branch, crossing the distance atop the thick treeline. While she still couldn''t really understand the need to monitor this solitary-family in the forest, it was not something she should question. The Grandmaster''s orders are absolute, there''s no ce for doubt in the ranks of the organization. Especially, when you finally prove your worth and earn your number and be an official Executor of the Grandmaster''s will. Being in the ranks of the Executor''s was of the highest privilege, as it not just proved your worth and dedication, but it was also a testament of your power. There could be only 12 Executors in the Organization at a time, so bing one, and earning your number earned both respect and awe in the lower ranks. As an Executor, they mostly had to do espionage, infiltrate governments, armies, and anything of strategic value to the Grandmaster. Orders for assassinations were rare, but there were some cases, where a job that was about monitoring an individualter evolved into an assassination. While she herself did a number of assassinations previously, it was always against targets that she also thought that deserved their end. Corrupt politicians, generals with their own nefarious agenda, ve traders all of the targets that she received were always people that she could agree to, stand behind the decision. This time, however, her target for observation was a family of 3 in the depths of the forest. The elderlydy seemed to be an ordinary alchemist, while the blonde girl was just a half-breed. Although their kind was sought after as ves, it was not something they usually would send an Executor out for. The boy was the main target that she had to keep a watch on, but besides the momentary glimpse in her direction earlier today, he had not showcased any action that was worth the invested time and effort. The Grandmaster also ordered to keep monitoring the boy until new orders were given and provide weekly reports, which were also hinting that this gig will be going for an awfully long time. As a short sigh escaped her lips, she jumped to the next branch as she kept her pace with the trio, who was closing on the nearby city gate where 3 other Executors were already gathered. Chapter 29 - 29 - Entry Aiden''s eyes were wide with astonishment as they arrived at the edges of the forest, and he saw the first glimpses of the towering brick walls that protected the city and its residents. Towering and wide walls, with the asional duo of guards patrolling on them. "I see you like the scenery, huh?" asked Granny, noticing the boy''s wide-open eyes. Lily also chimed in, seeing Aiden''s reaction. "It''s awesome, right?" Then with her small fists clenched, she donned a determined gaze and continued. "But just you wait, the sweets are even better inside!" Shaking his head with a smile, Aiden patted Lily''s head, while answering Granny. "Yes, it is an incredible sight. However, I still prefer the calm and rxing atmosphere of the forest to these cities anytime. Seeing so many people just fills me with unease." "I can understand that, and I''m also the same in that regard. We will just deliver these potions to Mr. Norton and his family, and then after a filling lunch we can go back home," answered Granny with her gentle smile. Fixing her hoodie and with a few pats to her ragged clothes to clean it up, just a little bit, they arrived in front of arger crowd of people waiting in a messy line. They were waiting to gain the approval of the guards stationed in front of the gates, and gain entry. The group waiting for entry ratherrge, and while you could see all kinds of faces, they were probably all from the same social ss. You could not see silk or any fine clothing on them, they were all rather crude, in or simple. Not minding the few obnoxious stares they were receiving, they stood at the end of the line. Granny looked at Aiden, and with a stern expression, she whispered to them in a low voice. "Listen here, whatever happens, try to remain calm okay? If you transform here that will cause bigger troubles for us, okay? We may have to pay a small contribution to gain entry, but that''s just how it goes. It''s important that we remain low-key, as long as we are in the city. Promise me you will remain calm Aiden!" Without answering, Aiden simply nodded his head then closed his eyes, to instead focus on his system while waiting for their turn. Quite a few events have passed in thest few days, and with the system in semi-automatic mode since thest upgrade, he did not pay any attention to it. First, he wanted to see his status screen, to see the gains he received from thest hunt. His end results were substantial at that time. He also noticed that the system seemed to have automatically gathered some of the in wolves'' parts without any input from him. [ Name: Aiden Race: Primal (Evolver) Form: Ancient Dragon (Tier 3) Level: 4/100 (50/800 XP) Condition: 100% Soul Power: 50 Experience: 0 XP Might: 27 (50/500 XP) Agility: 27 (100/500 XP) Spirit: 32 (0/500 XP) Innates: Dragon''s Wrath (Level 2) (0/1000 XP), Skills: Primal Absorb (Level 1) (50/100 XP), Hunt (level 3 - 10/100 XP) Effects: Blessing of Ioris (-), Physical Resistance (level 3 - 15/100 XP), Fall Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 XP), Water Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 XP), Poison Resistance (level 2 - 25/100 XP) Inventory: 1 Cave Viper Egg (fertile), 9 Cave Viper Egg (unfertile), 5 Grey Wolf Fur (damaged), 8 ck Wolf Fur (damaged), 4 Wolf Fang, 1 Monster Energy Orb (Tier 1) ] Seeing his updated page, he immediately had quite a few questions. It seems that the system operated in a semi-automatic mode, not just automatically spending his experience to level up, but various parts of the defeated wolves have alsonded inside his inventory. One item, in particr, he had to investigate it. It was the orb that had some ck mass swirling inside of it. [Monster Energy Orb (Tier 1) - An Orb containing the energy residue of an entity with a connection to the Spirit Pool. The Orb can be consumed, gaining an immediate boost to the user''s maximum Energy Pool. It can also be used as an ingredient for Fusion.] ''Enya, can you give some more information about this orb? It says I can use it for Fusion, how does it work?'' [Aiden, during the fusion process, you need to provide 2 or more of your life forms or any forms of life signatures as ingredients for the fusion. Once this condition is set, you will be able to advance forward and see various projections of the results, and even alter them. While you do have to maintain 100% Stability, you will be able to add or remove traits or even visual features from the end result to modify it to your liking. Based on theplexity of the fusion you will also see an estimated time required toplete the fusion. You can even save your drafted results beforemitting it, and start the fusion at ater date, as some fusions could take the span of multiple days.] After Enya''s lengthy introduction to the feature Aiden carelessly neglected for too long, he wanted to try it out. However, before he could have done so, he heard somemotion ahead and opened his eyes to take a look. Avish carriage came from the road, and from the arrogant look of the driver itself, it was obvious that it carried someone of higher social standing. The guards have also bowed deeply, and without causing any fuss, they bowed and opened the gate to let the noble into the city ahead of the crowd. This privileged and unfair treatment earned the ire of the crowd, and the crowd that gathered started shouting at the guards. The guards, in turn, doubled down on their attitude, and most likely increased the entry fee, as the first few waiting in line shouted even louder. Themotion started to gain traction, and the sounds reached the ears of the guards stationed on the walls. Shortly after a man with a simr attire as the guards but with a slight color variation and a small silver star sewn onto his shoulder pads arrived and started questioning the guards and the angry mob to get an overall picture of the situation. After a brief round of questioning, he understood the gist of the problem. Shaking his head, he exhaled then loudly addressed the crowd. "Everyone please calm down. Citizens with higher social standing have the right to enter the city without interruption, skipping waiting in line. The guards while they had no right to increase the toll, " reaching the point of his speech, he gave a stern look at the guards who in turn shivered and lowered their heads" have done nothing wrong, just adhere to thew. Obviously the entry fee has not increased, and I also have to warn you all that if you continue to cause trouble, you will be denied entry to the city and we will be forced to remove you." Giving a brief pause, he looked at the crowd sternly, then with a loud sigh, he continued. "Now, please get back into the line, and wait for your turn. Any troublemakers will be immediately removed from the line and denied entry from now on." As he finished his speech he turned to the 2 guards and said a few words to him that was inaudible to the crowd, but from the looks of it, the captain did not give them praise, as the 2 guards shivered in fright in response. With a wave of his hand, 2 new guards arrived to rece them, and with that, they all went back inside the wall, to their previous posts. Looking at the whole scene ying out, a few words of praise escaped Aiden''s lips. "This captain has a high sense of justice. He could have taken the side of the guards and nobody could have done a thing, but he remained impartial." "Yes, he is Captain John Deere, one of the few reliable officers in the ranks of the guards. We are actually lucky that it was him that arrived, and not some of the less favorable captains. Anybody else would have arrived then the oue would have been vastly different." answered Granny. The crowd shortly quieted down, and as the new guards started working, listening to the various reasons for entry, and taking the fee, the line finally started moving. It was still quite some time, before their turn, so after a few rubs on Lily''s head that earned him a cute "Ehehehe", he closed his eyes and focused his concentration on the system once again. ''Okay Enya, you mentioned I could experiment with the fusion and I do not need tomit to it, but I could back out and save my results for ater time? Can I only store 1 result or how does this feature work?'' [You can save only 1 as a draft. Later you will be able to get back into the system and selecting the stored draft, open it back up, and thenmit to it. One thing to remember is that you will be able to use your mastered forms an infinite number of times while orbs that you gather can only be used once.] ''I see Thanks for the information, Enya. Now, let''s check this feature out finally!'' Chapter 30 - 30 -Fusion By the time Aiden realized, time passed and they were already inside the city. "Huh? Wha- When did we get in?" he gasped waking up from his long inner discussion with Enya. He got lost in the multitude of options that were presented to him once he finally checked the Fusion feature of the system. This feature raised a lot of questions, questions that he needed answers to. His curious nature, that he still couldn''t understand where it came from, needed the answers to the questions that were drilling his mind. Thankfully, Enya was more than happy to assist in this endeavor, and by the time they realized an unknown amount of time had passed and they were already walking along the busy streets of the city. "We figured you were just lost in all the stimuli that the first sights of a city can cause. You know, Lily was the same, when she first came to the city with me, she was so cute, hehe. Granny chuckled thinking back. "Granny!!!" pouted Lily. Keeping his silence, he looked at the 2 and a small, almost invisible smile could be seen creeping upon his face, as he sank back into his consciousness, digesting all the information he just received. --- Back at the gates... [Fusion * Step 1 of 3 * Please provide the ingredients for the process. Once ready, continue to NEXT step.] A very brief window greeted Aiden as soon as he pressed the Fusion option in his system menu. ''So now, I need to provide the required mastered forms here from the system or the Energy Orb, right? How many I can provide, and what are the benefits of adding more?'' asked Aiden from the system. [While there''s no real upper limit to how many can you add, I would not advise adding more than 3, otherwise, the end result will be very hard to calcte and the likeliness of mutations will also increase.] ''Alright, let''s see'' Currently, Aiden had 2 mastered forms that he could add, and one of them ispletely useless, while the other one is something that he can''t imagine would give many benefits. To top it off, his first useful form, the Cave Viper, has not progressed much, it was still only halfway done. ''Well, at least I could check how the system works, forter when I actually wanted to use it'' With that, he added the Prime Slime form, and as the second option, the Monster Energy Orb he received from the hunting trip, before focusing his will on the shing NEXT button. [Fusion * Step 2 of 3 * Selected Life Forms: - Prime Slime (clean) - Monster Energy Orb (Tier 1) (clean) Chance for mutation: Calcting... ...] The screen flickered for a few seconds before the calctionpleted and the information continued toe into view. [... Chance for mutation: 5% Calcting results Please stand by.] [Once the calctionpletes, you will be able to select from the projected results and continue with that one while you discard the rest. Make sure you are happy with your selection, as once you go to thest step, you will not be able to go back anymore. Your only options will be to tweak your selected result, and then save it as a draft tomence the fusion at ater date.] ''What happens if I want to start the fusion immediately?'' [The system willmence the hibernation as it did before, and you will be put into your cocoon once again until the fusionpletes. That could take from hours to days or even more.] ''I will just check out the options. So, as long as I do not go to thest step, I''m fine, as you said. I have not used up my Orb, right? After all, I just want to familiarize myself with the feature. '' [No need to worry Aiden, as long as you don''t progress from this step, the Orb will not be used. However, as soon as you continue to thest step, the orb will be used up.] ''I see...'' Aiden mumbled to himself. Meanwhile, the calctions seemed to have finished which was indicated with the screen flickering up blocking his vision. [... Chance for mutation: 5% 1 Fusion result found. Fusion options: Fused Form: Primal ck Wolf Alpha (Tier 2+) Potential: D 1.5 - 2 meters tall, thick ck fur, red glowing eyes, Skin fused with Slime''s membrane, creating a jelly-like cover, that provides higher resistance against all types of physical damages. The wolf alpha has higher speed and strength than its regr counterparts.] While the results were a bit less than expected, as only 1 came up, it provided 2 new parameters that will probably be importantter. ''I have two questions, Enya. What is the plus sign next to the tier and what does the potential mean?'' [During fusion, the results are only calcted, and not 100%. The sign just gives you an indication that the end result could potentially differ either positively or negatively. Keep in mind that. This also means that the Potential rating will be affected. In this case, the end result can be either the one calcted or slightly better.] --- Back to the present The trio was leisurely making their way towards the marketce area. On their way, Aiden was looking at the various houses, shops, and other food ces. The asional passerby sent a few gazes towards them, but they mostly kept to themselves. Aiden however, was using his Dark Sense ability to its maximum, he was focusing on keeping every little detail, every unsavory looking blip on his screen. He also noticed that the little ''birdie'' that was following and spying on them since yesterday, made its way into the city still following them from a distance. At this point, it seemed more like a silent guardian than a spy sent to gather intel about them. Apart from the ''birdie'', he also noticed a group of people in an alleyway gathering, radiating dark, violent impulses. They, -somewhat-, seemed simr to the predators that he could sense during his first few nights in the forest. Predators waiting for their prey walking into the trap that they set. Well, whatever or whoever they were, they weren''t of concern to Aiden currently. He kept a note of their locations and moved on. Thankfully, he didn''t find anything else noteworthy. Slowly they arrived at a very crowded square in the city, with a few lines of carpets spread out on the ground with various products ced on them. The best way to make money for the everyday man was to sell their products be it meat they butchered, vegetables or fruits they grew, or treasures they found. While pretty rare, you could even find herbs, or even alchemical products cheaper than the shops around town. So it''s not much of a surprise, but all types of people gathered in the marketce. From the penniless to the highest of nobles, all made time in their day to visit at least once every now and then. However, the trio was only window shopping, as their first target, today was the General Store at the other end of the marketce, owned by an elderly pair, Mr. and Mrs. Norton. They were good friends with Granny, and they had a long-time order set up for a shipment of healing potions, every 2 weeks. Their store sold a variety of things useful for everyday life, mostly dairies. While they were making their way through the sea of people, Aiden noticed a few of the unsavory presences that he picked up on the way spread out. They seemed to be looking for their prey, picking up a few stragglers, and unprotected bags. However, they could not cause any problems for Aiden, as he could spot them with the help of his ability, and the system''s map --- A few blocks behind the group, Number 3, with its presence stillpletely hidden, was carefully following behind the group. Number 3 also noticed the thieves that were probably working for the same group and was currently spread out at this busy hour at the marketce trying to a few easy coins. Since the order was to only monitor the group and report any noteworthy activity, it did not bother removing the few stragglers that got close to the group. As the trio arrived in front of the general store, Number 3 was thinking about contacting the other Executorspleting missions in the city, to exchange intel, and if it''s needed to provide them assistance. There was one thing that was bothering it since it started watching this small family in the forest. It wasn''t the boy that was sure that he noticed its presence already. It also wasn''t the elderlydy that was shrouded in mystery. It was the young blonde half-elf girl that raised some gs something about her reminded Number 3 to a certain mission in the past (A/N.: I''m not satisfied with this chapter, and I have kept rewriting it over the course of thest week. This version is actually my 7th attempt, I just don''t like the end result, or by the time I reach the point I wanted to include in the chapter, I''m already way over my own word limit. This attempt is halfway decent, and while I still couldn''t arrive where I originally wanted to, most of the information I wanted to convey was included, and the setting is perfect for the next scenes, so I figured it''s a good attempt. Hopefully, I will be back on track from now on and won''t get stuck again. :D) Chapter 31 - 31 - Business In the backroom of the General Store, a group of people could be seen sitting around a wooden table. A big pot of tea could be seen in the middle of the table as well as a cup of it silently steaming in front of everyone. The room itself was simple, yet perfect for such asions. The main furniture was the big wooden table in the middle of the room, surrounded by chairs all over. A small cupboard was ced at the northern end just under the window that provided a view of the beautiful back garden that apanied the house. A few pictures were hanging on the wall, but nothing too personal, as this room was used for business meetings and friendly gatherings in the past. This was the Norton''s General Store''s back room. At one side of the table were Granny, Lily, and of course, Aiden, while on the other side, an Elderly Lady was sitting, with slightly puffy cheeks, and rounded sses. She was holding her small cup of still steaming tea and was resting her eyes on Lily''s beaming smile. She met her a few times in the past, but she never saw her this happy before. It wasn''t hard to guess what caused the change in her behavior, as the little missy was giving the asional nces to her right, where an expressionless, slightly darker-colored skinned boy, with semi-long ck hair, was sitting. His whole presence was incredibly unique not to mention those golden irises that could gaze into your very soul, making you lose yourself in its prating gaze. As she was silently measuring the boy, he also looked at the elderlydy with its expressionless face as a question slowly left his lips. "Why are you staring?" This startled thedy and pulled her out of her thoughts. Equipping a gentle smile, she looked at the boy. "Sorry. Don''t take it as an offense, I did not mean to be rude." Then looking at Granny, she continued. "Granny, we are always happy to have you guys visiting us. While my husband attends the store, please tell me how I can assist?" Returning the gentle smile, the same expression could be seen on Granny''s face. "You are too polite Mrs. Norton-" "Please, just call me Camille, there''s no need to be formal." Interrupted the elderlydy. "...Camille. First, I have to say that I just love your tea the best! Isn''t that right kids?" "Yes" both kids nodded while sipping on their cups. "The purpose of our visit today," continued Granny" is to deliver the potions your husband asked for and see what your next order would be. Mr. Norton mentioned when we were herest time, that you guys would need some remedies specialized for illnesses, and insomnia as well. While they are not a big problem, I would need some more details on the request, so I can prepare the proper ingredients." Sighing, Camille answered. "The insomnia is for Henry, my husband. He has trouble sleepingtely, ever since that Young Lord, from the Leon Family, visited us with his goons and started throwing threats. You know how Henry is, don''t you? He hates stuff like this, and it just gets on his nerves. I would say, if you could make something that would give him a little peace and would allow him to sleep at night, we would be immensely d and thankful. As for the other request" Putting down her teapot, she continued. "...It''s just a small idea we had recently. The apothecaries are far from here, and as the marketce grows bigger day-by-day so does the need for the everyday citizen for some alternative options to cure their headache, or stomach pain, or some of the general illnesses that asionally haunts them. Can you create something generic, that would be good for such? I know it might be a naive request, as most of these need specialized cures, but we would be just looking for a quick pick-me-up or something along those lines." Finishing her long-winded sales pitch, she picked her pot back up and started sipping from it, while waiting for Granny to think it over. The silent sound of sipping was only broken after a few minutes. "..Hmmm... " started Granny. "As you said, there''s no all-around option that would cure every illness there is, especially if you consider the non-human races, but for something generic, or just to give some boost, I think I have an idea. I was thinking that a stamina potion could do the trick, what do you think?" "Aren''t those only for adventurers, soldiers, and the like? Aren''t they too strong for the everyday folk?" asked Camille with concern in her eyes. "Don''t worry, we can dilute it down, so it would be less potent. That way it could provide the boost you are looking for." "Hmmm That could work Also, and this is something that just came to my mind, can you make it in multiple vors? That way we could cater for a wider range." Thinking about it for a few seconds, Granny nodded her head. "Yes, but only fruity vors would be possible, at least currently. For other variations, the mixture would need to be modified, and then tested. While not impossible, that will take more time, and it might mean a higher cost as well." With a wide smile, Camille put down his pot once again. "That is perfect! Just make a few different vors, and thenter, if customer requests came in, we could discuss other solutions." Cupping her hands, pping loudly to exim her happiness in the sessful business deal, she yelled out towards the door. "HENRY! COULD YOU CLOSE THE SHOP A BIT, AND COME IN?" A muffled groan could be heard as a response to the query, but not minding it a bit, she looked at the trio. "For the rest, we would like the same amount with the healing potions, as usual. As you have a new set of helping hands, I assume you would be fine with the increased amount?" Nodding her head, Granny answered, and while looking at Aiden, she answered with a gentle smile on her face. "That would be fine. Aiden is such a strong boy, I am blessed to have him with us, right Lily?" Immediately, nodding her head, Lily proudly answered Granny. "Yes, my brother is the best!" ---- A few minutes passed with some small talk when the door finally opened and a pudgy, round old man with short grey hair and a scruffy beard came in. He was wearing a blueish id shirt with greyish trousers. He too had a rounded ss assisting his aged, tired eyes. Taking his seat next to his wife, he picked up his empty pot, and while filling it with some leftover tea, he greeted the guests. "Please excuse me for being sote in greeting you. I hope you all had a great time so far, and hopefully, all the boring business talk is already out of the way." Hitting the back of his head, Camille looked at his husband with a strict face. "Henry!" Then, just as her face changed back to her calm expression, she turned back at the guests. "Do you have any ns for lunch? What would you say, we quickly finish the business we have left, and then you guys stay for lunch with us? It was so long that we could entertain guests, and" looking at Lilly, with a knowing look. "We have much better food and desserts then the restaurants around here. So, what do you say, will you stay?" --- Meanwhile at the top of a building, away from prying eyes, 2 figures could be seen shrouded in dark clothes, with hoods covering their heads, and a dark faceless mask covering their identities. "So, what news do you have, number 4?" Asked the feminine-looking figure. She was number 3, the person tasked with keeping a close watch on the unknown boy. The muscr figure from the trio groaned in an annoyed tone, as he answered the question of his peer. "I honestly doubt that the fat pig will be of any use to us. After throwing a temper tantrum in his room, he shortly left his mansion and got into contact with a local group of thugs. You probably saw them, they are the group mostly working at the marketce, mostly small-time stuff, stealing and extorting money. After some discussion there, he made his way to the local branch of the assassin''s guild and spent his afternoon there. Since then, he seems to be biding his time, waiting for something. I''m not sure exactly what the n is, he still has a few days until his deadline, we will see if he canplete the task assigned to him. What about you, Number 3?" Sighing, Number 3 looked at her colleague. "Honestly, I don''t know why we need to keep such a close watch on a kid. They are just a small family living in the forest, making a living from brewing small-time healing potions to sell here. I don''t see the use of this boy in the Grand n." sighing once again, she changed the topic. "Anyways, if you run into any issues, I will be nearby." Silently nodding his head, his figure flickered and both of them vanished from the spot. Unbeknownst to them, the main topic of their discussion, the boy Number 3 was assigned to keep an eye on, was silently monitoring their location with his system''s map... Chapter 32 - 32 - A Bloody Night (Part 1) (A/N.: The following story will contain scenes that could be revolting to some. While I understand, and I''m also against such behavior, believe me when I say the following is needed to provide a window into the mindset of some important characters. I''m not gonna say anything else, and will try to keep these graphic scenes to the absolute minimum.) ***Early morning on the same day*** As the first rays of the sun broke through the dark shroud of the night Young Master Leon woke up from his luxurious baldachin bed. He felt much better today, he finally managed to vent his frustrations. A muffled, barely audible cry could be heard from next to him on the bed. A naked, badly bruised and vited body of one the maids serving him, was currently ''resting'', clinging on to herst bits of sanity, as scenes ofst night''s nightmare assaulted her mind. Her face was swollen, the jawbone, both legs, arms are probably broken, and without the assistance of a qualified healer, it would never be repaired. She could only curse her own bad luck, everyone in the mansion knew about the Young Master''s violent tendencies, and with the humiliation, he received from his father something like this was bound to happen. Young Master Leon didn''t even spare a nce at his newest ''conquest'', and while hopping up from the bed, and going to his wardrobe, he shouted outside the room. "Get in and take her away. Get me a new maid and help me get dressed. NOW!" he ordered. A few secondster, 2 guards came in, and after saluting their master, they picked up the half-dead girl and brought him away from the room. Shortly after a maid came in greeting her master with a deep bow before she started tending to her new duties. --- Some timeter Leon was making his way through the streets of Higrove. To not stand out that much, he donned a dark robe over his regr clothes to hide his identity. He also had a ck cloth wrapped over his face, with arge hood crowning his attire. His destination was a dark alleyway a few streets away from the marketce, to meet up with a local gang of thugs, the Red Snakes. The group was known for iming the marketce as their own ''turf'', robbing the unwary citizen, and ''protecting'' the sellers for a ''small'' daily contribution. The gang operated around the marketce for a few months now, their predecessor, were just a band of orphan''s-turned-thieves, from whom they quickly integrated the talented ones and killed off the useless ones. Now the Red Snakes had an astonishing 50 members, which was considered one of the biggest bands of the city. One other aspect that kept this group above the others was their leader, a big burly man. He was called Cyclops, which wasn''t the nicest nickname, considering he had only 1 good left eye. His right one was lost sometime in the past and was covered up by a ck eye patch. Adding the fact that he was a humongous 2.3 meters tall man, the nickname wasn''t unfounded. He was known for keeping contact with some of the nobles and working with them from behind the lines. One of his contacts, the Young Lord of the Leon family, the wealthiest family in the whole city has just arrived in front of him. With a creepy smile donning his face, he bowed deeply, while greeting him. "Wee to our humble abode, Young Master. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Scoffing at him, the Leon curtly answered. "I have a job for you. It has to be done tonight." Hearing this, the leader''s already creepy smile got even wider, further morphing his face to some monster straight out of a nightmare. "I see. Please tell us the details, Young Master." "You will have to rece the guards in my father''s mansion tonight and mask yourselves as them. A group of masked individuals will arrive, you will have to let them in, and then lock down the mansion. Once you see the signal, a red me shooting to the sky, you will start murdering everyone in the mansion. Leave no one alive. Once your job ispleted, ce the dead guards back, and leave the area before the guards arrive." Leon exined. A few short minutes of silence followed his description, as the leader was pondering over everything he heard. Only after that, did he look back to the Young Master. There was no smile on his face this time, his face was serious. "This will be... problematic, Young Master. Our rtionship with the city guards are already shaky, and if weplete a job of this caliber, and they find out that we were involved, theye after us with everything they got. So" his creepy smile crawled back up to his face, while he gave a small pause in his answer "...so the price will obviously have to cover the risk on top of a guarantee from you that our involvement will be kept a secret." "Guarantee? What do you mean? Who are you to demand such a thing from me?" asked Leon with unmasked contempt visible on his face and in his voice. Not minding his employer''s tone, the leader answered. "You will do a blood oath right here, right now. Once you do that, we can finalize the details and pricing." Blood Oath. Once done, the performer could never go against the words he swore to hold, otherwise, his very soul would perish, leaving only an empty husk behind. It was a gruesome ritual, and it was mostly done to finalize dark dealings, by mostly unsavory groups. The ritual consisted of cutting your finger and mixing a drop of your blood in a bowl over fire. The person overseeing your ritual will also add a drop of his blood into the mix, and as fire purifies them, the performer loudly exims what he is swearing for and saying the phrase "Bou''ra Incantatem pe zondra esta!" which roughly trantes to "I swear upon my soul" in an unknown ritualistic ancientnguage, he drinks the mixture of blood drops. It''s a very straightforward and obviously illegal ritual. Gritting his teeth, Master Leon could only agree. He did not have the time, the deed has to bepleted today, no matter what. "Fine. Let''s get this over with..." --- An hourter Master Leon left the alleyway and was moving across town, in hurried steps. His next destination was an inn, The Hungry Bear in the depths of the slums. This was a ce inhabited by the lowest scum of society. Apart from the Inn, in the depth of the district, no corner was considered safe here. You could be mugged, knifed and nobody would even bat an eye, or shed a tear. Even the guards avoided this ce unless they wereing inrge groups. This particr inn was also the hideout of a notorious group of individuals, the Assassin''s Guild. If you needed somebody taken care of it was this group that you hired. If you had the capital there is. The higher the target on the socialdder, the bigger the risk, the bigger the price. There were no target too high profile in their eyes, if you could afford it, they would even move against kings! Arriving in front of the run-down wooden building, he sighed deeply. He could hear the sounds of sses clinking against the wooden tables,ughter, and an unintelligible mix of gibberish that was thebined sound of the residents talking,ughing or arguing at the end of their days. Basically, the usual atmosphere that you could expect from such an establishment. With onest exhale, just to calm his nerves, and appear as calm as possible, he opened the door, crossed the border, and entered inside. Quickly making his way towards the counter, he put a golden talisman with the figure of a skull stabbed with a dagger on the counter. The innkeeper looked at him, then nodded his head pointing towards the back door, signaling him to pass through. Not waiting for any other confirmation, Leon quickly entered the door. A dark, barely lit set of stairs greeted him, that continued down seemingly infinitely. He knew this was just illusion magic, a safety measure. He will only be able to cross the stairs once the guild has managed to verify his identity. Measures such as these are what kept them running over the centuries. While they did lose some branches every now and then, however, nobody ever managed to deal a substantial blow to them. Well apart from one organization, that is After a few minutes, he finally saw the end of the staircase, where a simr door that he just came in was in front of him. This door however had one slit at the upper half of it, so people on the other end could look at the new arrivals. As the Young Master arrived in front of the door, the slit slid open, and a pair of brown eyes greeted him. The raspy voice of the owner of said eyes weed Leon. "State your business." Chapter 33 - 33 - A Bloody Night (Part 2) "I have a job that needs to be done tonight. High Priority." stated the facts curtly the young master of the Leon family. The slid shut close, without an answer and for a few seconds, nothing could be heard from the other side of the door. Only after a few seconds did the door suddenly opened up, and the dimly lit corridor became visible for the Young Master. The guard, whom he was just talking to, was standing to the side holding the door and nodding with his head for him to move on. He was wearing the guild''s colors, the standard ck leather armor, with a ck cloth face mask covering half of his face. Only his brown eyes and his bald head was visible. His muscr figure gave an ample warning to every neer to not try anything funny and just follow the rules set by the guild. Nodding his head, he followed the direction set by the guard and slowly made his way through the dark corridor. This area was yet another illusion set up by the guild as a safety measure. The walls and floors are set with wards designed to pry deep into your soul and see your true intent, your real purpose. This way the higher-ups in the branch will be aware of your true intentions even before you have a chance to state it yourself. You can only cross this section if they deem you worthy of their time, and let you pass. Otherwise, you will just arrive back to the guard who will promptly let you out. The young master obviously knew of this safety measure as well, and just calmly kept walking forward. He was sure that his intentions will raise interest in the guild''s higher-ups and will let him state his business. He was right on the money, after a short minute, he arrived at the end, where another door was waiting for him. This time, however, there were no guards, or any more tests, the wooden door, slowly creaked open, and yet another dimly lit room greeted him. At the middle, there was arge wooden desk, where 3 cloaked figure was sitting and looking at him. They all had a skull-faced mask covering their mugs. As the Young Master walked in, the middle figure waved its hands, and the door behind him shut close. Then, while measuring the pudgy figure in front of him, it interrupted the silence. "State your business Young Master Alfred Leon. What is the request you wish to hire our guild for?" Gulping loudly, the young master tried calming himself down. Too much was at stake here, he had to get this task done tonight. Something about these 3 creeped him out. His usual arrogant tone was nowhere to be heard before these figures. "I wish to hire your esteemed group, toplete a job tonight. It is a high priority and I will pay you ordingly. The job is to assassinate my father tonight in his very own vi. I have already made arrangements, and the guards will be reced by my men, so your entry is covered." He gave the details of the mission briefly. The 3 figures looked at each other and nodded. Then the middle figure looked back at Alfred, and while it could not be seen, judging from the voice, a smile probably was on his face. "I see. It can be done. The target is high profile, and with the short time frame provided for the mission, it will be categorized as 3 Stars. I''m sure you are familiar with our ranking structure." The shock was visible on Alfred''s face upon hearing this figure''s words. 3-star target! The guild prices their targets based on this rating system. The prices ranged from 1 star all the way to 5 stars. While 1 and 2 were the mostmon ratings and they were already pricey, 3-star ranks were usually very high-profile targets, and well-known personalities, like ministers and members of royalty. Even kings and emperors were only ranked as 4 stars. There''s no record of the guild''s history as every rating someone as a 5-star target. Them rating his father as 3-stars meant that the price is more the double of his original estimation! While he can still afford it, this implied that he will be almost penniless after this, almost all of his savings, even his secret stashes will have to be emptied out, just to be able to hire the group. Gritting his teeth, he answered with a curt "Fine", before they discussed the details of the job, and finalized the pricing. An hourter, master Leon''s figure could be seen exiting the inn and shortly after leaving the entire slums district, heading back to his own mansion. With everything set, he just had to wait for the news to arrive tomorrow. While it was pricier and even cost him to make a blood oath as well, all pieces are finalized, and the match is set. Tonight will be colored with various shades of red --- News of a gruesome murder shocked the citizens as the next morning arrived. Last night, the patriarch of the Leon family was brutally murdered along with all his staff and guards. One thing that puzzled the city guards as they investigated the scene was that the only way they could identify the murdered patriarch was through his si ring, and the fact that he was murdered while sleeping in his bed, as his head was missing, it was cut off clean. His wife, who was sleeping next to him, was also murdered, her neck was cut. All across the mansion, the bloody bodies of the deceased staff could be found. "This will take the whole day to clean up" muttered one of the city guards, looking at the state of the mansion. Then as his captain arrived, he jumped to salute. "Greetings Captain!" "At ease, warrior." The captain epted the salute, then with a stern voice, hemanded. "Give me the details, what have your group discovered so far?" "Captain, both Mr. and Mrs. Leon, the head of the Leon family, was murdered in his sleep tonight. We could only identify the patriarch through circumstantial evidence, as his head was missing. He still had his family si ring on the cupboard, and his wife was sleeping next to him at the time of the murder. Mrs. Leon had her neck cut clean. She does not have any additional bruises on her body nor any sign of forced intercourse. The staff however..." He paused briefly, to exhale "... was brutally beaten and murdered. While the male staff showed signs of torture, some had multiple fingers and even arms, legs missing. Others had their eyes gouged out, ear cut off, or suffocated in their own intestines. Most of the female staff had their clothes torn and were assaulted before they were killed. The state of their bodies was gruesome, captain." As he finished his report he audibly gulped. The mess that he and the guards saw was repulsive, to say the least. The scene will be etched into his mind to haunt him for months toe... "Hmm From your report, it''s safe to say that the way the staff was murdered, and the underlying intent was different then from the head and his wife It''s as if 2 totally different parties are involved. One to murder the head and his wife, and the other to silence the staff" He paused briefly, and as if something especially important had juste to his mind, he looked at the guard in front of him and continued. "What about the rest of the family? Are there any survivors?" "Alfred Leon, the Young Master is still alive, he was resting in his own mansion. We have no information for the rest of the family as the uncle, the patriarch''s brother has no residence in the city Captain, he is currently living in the capital. We have sent word to them already, informing about the murder." "Great job warrior. I will take a look at the scene and will let you know when you can start cleaning up. I won''t take long, there are only a few things I need to confirm." He nodded then without waiting for a reply, he made his way into the mansion. He was almost certain that there are at least 2 groups involved in tonight''s murders. One responsible for offing the family, they seem to be the professionals, while the other group might just be opportunists or an outside force. As there was no report of anything being stolen, he could rule the robbery out of the equation. "Rival family perhaps? Hmm It just doesn''t feel right. If that would be the case, they would make a statement out of it, not murder him in his sleep cleanly. His head was taken as well That points to the fact that the killers were hired toplete a job, and they probably had to present the head as proof. As for the staff They are probably murdered by a group of hired mercenaries, or thugs to silence everyone involved. Who would benefit from something like this, and why bother hiring two different groups for the job? Just what is the motive here" As he made his way into the mansion to check for any clues that could help him solve this ''puzzle'', he sighed. Today''s going to be a long day... Chapter 34 - 34 - The Winds Of Change While Aiden''s little group enjoyed their lunch with the Norton''s, somewhere at the Noble District in the Young Master Leon''s mansion, the pudgy little man was walking back and forth in his room in an agitated state. He received news ofst night''s sess, but he still hasn''t received word from Him about the decision. He didplete the task assigned for him as a test and even prepared the head of his father to provide as proof, but so far there was no contact. Still, he was sure he was aware of it by now. But then, why hasn''t he given any signs? It''s already past lunchtime, how long is he going to keep him in suspense? Were the results satisfactory for the organization, or did he fail in some aspect? "Come on show up already, and give me the results, you snake!" cursed the young master loudly in frustration. This waiting was just unbearable. There was no turning back from what he did. He cannot fail, he has no n for that scenario, no idea what he should be doing then. He had his own parents murdered in cold blood just for this chance after all! "Snake? That''s not a very nice way to greet your supervisor, Young Master." Suddenly, a familiar voice resounded in a dark corner of the room, and shortly after the air vibrated and the ck-clothed, hooded and masked figure of Number 4 appeared. "We have seen the show you provided yesterday. I have to say, it was quite entertaining. It would have been better if you did the deed personally, we can appreciate the usefulness of a hired hand. Especially the way you handled it. One group for the assassination, and another for the cleanup. The only fault was that troublesome blood oath they made you swear, so you cannoty the me on that band of thugs. Oh well, this way is actually more fun, seeing how you will handle the aftermath." Hemented. Although it couldn''t be seen, Alfred was sure that the guy was grinning behind his mask. ''The bastard!'' he cursed inwardly. Then as if his frustration was nowhere, he donned a neutral face and with as much effort as he could, he tried speaking in an uninterested tone. He didn''t want to sound so agitated. "So, in that case, what is the decision regarding my situation? Did I pass the test bypleting the task?" Hearing the effort put into the voice, Number 4 smiled behind the mask. "Well, I can safely say, you have passed the first hurdle, which was the Test of Determination. You have also shown your resourcefulness, which is a very handy skill to have. However, we have not seen anything about your might or knowledge. In order to pass and be ready to take the Initiation Trial, you need to showcase your overwhelming might and your undeniable, unparalleled wits. Only once we have seen proof, will you be taken in as a candidate." His figure started flickering, and before the young master could ask anything, his figure vanished and just hisst words lingered in the air. "...You have one day to prove yourself..." As the figure vanished from his sight, Alfred Leon could feel his frustrations build up once again. After all this nning, and careful execution he just passed the ''first hurdle''? He still needs to showcase his might and his wits? Seriously, how should he do that? Go to town and start randomly beating up people? No that would be stupid They are probably looking for some unique, clever way of showing both at the same time. "Hmm Yeah, that might work. I need to make some arrangements, I only have today toplete this task after all." He quickly donned his garb and left the mansion in a hurry. His destination was the local branch Academy, an institute for younglings to study the various forms of magic, science, or even train to be a warrior --- Meanwhile, Aiden''s group had just left the Norton''s General Store (and home), and was making their way across the marketce, towards the city gate. With her tummy filled, Lily was humming contentedly. Although the cake she got for desserts wasn''t as delicious as the tarts Granny usually makes, it was still incredible. As she was humming, she looked at Aiden, who was currently deep in thought, and had a serious look on his face as he was musing seemingly into the distance. "What is the problem brother? Did you not enjoy the lunch?" she asked. Hearing a voice speaking to him, Aiden shook his head slightly, and with his expressionless face, he answered. "No. I was just thinking about other things." He wasn''t sure how to describe what he was currently doing. Ever since they left their home, he was keeping an eye on their ''unwanted guardian'', the ''Eye in Sky'' as he was referring to the blip inwardly. The person left their watch as they went inside the store and seemed to meet up with another for a few minutes. Unfortunately, as they were too far away, he couldn''t get any useful information out of this meeting, but he was sure that the second blip was another associate of the same group that decided to follow them, for reasons he wasn''t currently sure of. Confronting the person would cause the whole group to enter an alerted state and with the intentions currently unknown, he decided the best course of action was to keep an eye on them while they kept an eye on him and his new family. Anyways, shortly after their meeting ended, the blip came back close by, and as they left, it started following once again. Looking around, he just noticed that the townsfolk were not as calm as in the morning, most of them seemed to be in a distressed, panicked state. Looking at the elderlydy in front of him, he asked. "Did something happen? Why do people seem to be... Distressed?" Halting her steps, Granny turned towards the younglings, and with her ever-present gentle smile, she answered. "Don''t worry about it dearie, from what I heard from Camille, one of the wealthiest nobles in the town was found dead in his mansion this morning. People are panicking as this could be a sign of a starting rivalry between families." "Rivalry?" Asked Aiden in confusion. Why would they fight each other? What''s the point? He just couldn''t understand it. He didn''t notice it, but his usually neutral visage changed, as in recent days it started to show his thoughts and feelings more often. This time, his confusion was clearly visible in his face. Seeing the innocent, honestly confused look on his face, Granny couldn''t help but let out a chuckle. "Aww, you are so cute when you are like this Aiden! But to answer your question, you see, usually, the richer you are, the more inclined you feel that all this wealth is the source of your power. The more you have, the more powerful you feel. And with this false beliefes a need to unt it, and the desperate need to prove it to others. So, these type of people sh against each other to show everyone who is more ''powerful''." "But If what you say is true, they know that this is not true power. Then why do they feel the need to hurt each other? This is just stupid..." sighed Aiden. What a stupid belief! "Haha, it is stupid, just as you say. You see, we, humans, are a stupid race. Stubborn, and stupid. This is what makes us so dangerous." "Interesting" said Aiden curtly, and then went silent. Seeing him entering deep into his thoughts once again, Granny just smiled and then turned to Lily. "And how are you feeling, little angel? Everything alright, or would you like something before we return?" Lily, who was watching the discussion with interest, shook her small head so hard that her golden bangs shook wildly. "No Granny, I''m fine! Let''s go home!" "Alright then, let''s head home." Taking their hands, the trio made their way through the marketce, then the busy streets. Soon they made their way to the city gates, where the guards did not give them any trouble this time. The line to enter the city was still going, and it even seemed to be longer than in the morning. Looking at the line, Aiden''s only reaction was a short "Incredible..." before the trio continued on their journey back to their home. Their small trip to the city was sessful, and Granny even made a new order with multiple requests this time, which meant more opportunities for Aiden to learn about the basics of Alchemy. More than happy to be given the opportunity to learn a new useful skill and a profession, he was eager to delve back into the depths of his system and learn how it worked. So far, he noticed that he could acquire skill simply by paying attention and watching the skill in action. The moreplex the skill, the longer it took for the system to analyze and process it. In terms of thenguage, he managed to cross that hurdle rtively quickly, but it still took him a full day. For the Alchemy and the strange type of Runic Magic, Granny seems to be practicing, it will require more time and effort. He still had much to do, apart from learning from Granny, he wanted to keep on getting stronger. With all the events transpiring recently, he just couldn''t shake off the feeling that something major wasing their way, changing their lives forever... Chapter 35 - 35 - Experimenting (Part 1) He was so deep in thought that he didn''t even notice how and when did they arrive in front of their home. He only realized it when the small fists of Lily kept poking him to wake up. "Hey Brother, wake up! What are you doing standing there like a statue?" Poked back to reality Aiden slightly shook his head, before looking back at Lily, and with a small smile creeping upon his face, he apologized. "Sorry. I was just thinking about today." Innocent inquiry visible on her face, and with an O formed by her small mouth, Lily continued. "What about today? Do you mean the food with the nice auntie and the uncle?" Hearing her reply, the smile became kinder on his face, and as he gently patted the top of her head, he answered her. "Not exactly. Just all the things that happenedtely. Anyways, let''s go inside and help Granny. She probably needs us to prepare." "Yes! Let''s help Granny!" agreed Lily, as they went inside the house. Meanwhile, from the rounded windows, the aforementioned elderlydy''s smiling visage could be seen, as she was looking at the duo. "I can''t shake the feeling that this boy is not just a simple dragon. Sometimes he behaves like someone with years of experience, and other times like a kid that is in desperate need of familial love. I don''t understand it at all..." shemented. Everything that happenedtely just confused her. He was impulsive when the ones he cared about were mentioned, but other times, he was cautious and calcting, almost scarily so. Like with the little ''birdy'' on the trees that have kept her watch over the course of days relentlessly, he knew about her immediately, but chose to not do anything, but continue to keep watch. And then, there''s the situation with the hunting trip. Whenbat was initiated, he behaved like an adult. He was calm, he had the situation under control even during the ambush. "*Sigh*... I hope that all of this is not just some prelude to something terribleing. I''m not sure how he would react if something would happen to me or Lily. I just don''t understand this kid" she sighed as she walked back towards her currently clean and empty cauldron. They should use thest rays of the sun as effectively as possible and work a bit on the requested extra ailments. While she is clear about what to do with the stamina-refilling energy drink, she needs some experimenting on how much she should dilute the regr stamina drink to make it feasible for the normal person. The regr version would be way too potent and could cause heart problems with such a kick. "Lily, Aiden pleasee here! We need to work a bit on the drink Mrs. Norton has ordered from us!" She called the 2 stray cats. Soon a blonde pig-tailed head peeked out from the room across the corridor followed by a pair of innocent eyes. Looking around like a cautious rodent, once she confirmed that the area is clear she dived back into the depths of her room. However, soon her giggling sound could be heard as Aiden pulled her out of the room and hand-in-hand they made their way towards Granny. "Today would be a bit of experimenting on the dosage. We need to make sure that the stamina drink we create will be digestible for the normal people. Our first step is to prepare everything normally for the Low-grade Stamina Potion, which are a bit of Devil Cloves and a dose of Grey Wolf Blood." Smiling at Aiden, she continued. "You see, stockpiling meat for you wasn''t the only reason we went hunting, their parts are also a good ingredient for many professions. Their blood is a good ingredient for our case. Grey Wolf''s are the lowest rank among their kind, it would just be perfect for our case." "So, we have another reason for the hunt. I see." nodded Aiden and continued to watch with unfettered focus. He wanted to make sure he maximized his gains from this session. Meanwhile, Lily could be seen dangling her feet from the chair she was sitting on while listening to Granny. She wasn??t really interested in working today, but she wanted to stay close to her brother. "I will describe the steps we will be taking, so pay attention. Lily, that means you as well." Granny looked at Lily who was looking at the windows currently. Hearing her name called out, she twitched, but then she jumped down from the chair and trotted to them. "Sorry Granny, I''m listening now!" she apologized. "*Sigh*... With this potion, it is important to boil the ingredients together from the start in hot boiling water. So first, we will fill the cauldron with water, then boil the water. Once that is done, we will have to add the 2 ingredients at the same time. This is exceptionally important, so I will need both of your hands to assist me with this. We need 2 full vials of the blood and 1 handful of the Dark Red flowers we gathered previously. We will prepare these together and once I give the signal, we all pour the ingredients in, then close the lid and wait a few hours for the concoction to brew. One thing to note is that once the concoction is ready, we will need to dilute the potency of the concoction down, and for that, we will need to use cold water AFTER it is ready. I would assume that we need to lower the rank of the potion by at least 1 whole grade, for it to work, but we will see once we are ready." She stopped and as she looked at both of the children, she could see that they both were focusing on her words, so she did not ask if they listened, but instead sent them for the ingredients. "Okay, let''s start it up. Aiden bring us the water barrel, it should still have just enough for this brewing. Lily, go to the pantry and bring the Devil Clove flowers. You know, the ones you gathered before, they are those Dark Red bell-shaped flowers. We should still have enough. We will need to head out to gather new herbs for the sleeping potion anyways so tomorrow we will head out. Now, go bring me those herbs, while I get the blood ready and make sure the cauldron is clean!" With that, all of them went towards their own destination. Aiden went to the kitchen and picked up the same barrel he did before, and easily made his way towards Granny. Meanwhile, Lily scattered to the pantry at the back of the house, where most of the herbs, flowers, and even the food were kept preserved. The floor had a unique runic symbol on it, that made sure the room''s temperature was kept cool, regardless of what season was outside. The rune also made sure that everything was kept fresh twice as long as normal. Although Lily was interested in the strange form of magic Granny used, she was told she is too young to be able to learn. Granny told her that once she grows and matures a few years she will start teaching her the basics. If she knew that Aiden was already making progress in it, she would probably pout and pressure Granny more than she did so previously Looking around the shelves in the room, there were a lot of different herbs prepped and preserved forter use. On other shelves, you could see various kinds of fruits and vegetables, while the meat they hunted was still hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room. Focusing more on the shelves containing herbs and flowers, she eventually found what she was looking for: The dark red, bell-shaped flowers, they gathered previously when they found Aiden in the forest. The memory made her giggle, and while picking up an empty basket from the corner of the room, she filled it with all the herbs she could fit in. Once her basket was filled, she trotted back. By the time she got back, Aiden and Granny were both finished with their tasks and were just waiting for her to finish. As she arrived, she presented her filled basket to Granny as she proudly eximed: "I''m back Granny! And I got all of the flowers you asked for!" Taking the basket from the girl''s hands with her right, she patted the top of her head with her left hands, as she gently answered her. "Yes, you did sweetheart." Then turning towards Aiden, she motioned for him toe closer. "Okay, now let''s begin! While we were waiting for you Lily, we already filled up the cauldron with water. Our next step is to start the fire and make sure the water is boiling before we add the blood and the flowers." She flipped her hands and drew a quick rune in the air. She murmured something under her breath and the rune started glowing bright red, before shooting towards the prepared wood under the cauldron. As the symbol reached the wood, it vanished, and soon after the crackling of the newborn fire could be heard. "Now, we just need to wait until the water is boiling." Chapter 36 - 36 - Experimenting (Part 2) (A/N.: I''m honestly trying not to do long chapters, but every time I sit down I finish up with almost 5000 words, and at the end has to cut it up to smaller, better digestible parts. This arc will have 1 more chapter, but believe me when I say I tried to cut it down to only 2 parts) --- While the trio was chatting while patiently waiting for the water to get ready, Number 3, was paying close attention to their actions, while scribbling down the details of what was happening. "It seems like they are making a new potion this time. Judging by the ingredients they gathered, it is probably some type of energy booster. Still that boy could easily pick up and bring that huge barrel Something is definitely not normal about him." She mumbled to herself. Another thing she noticed was that she couldn''t follow the girl when he went to the back of the house. Once she entered the back room, her vision and even her stronger sensing abilities failed to prate the invisible barrier that surrounded the room. She noted this tidbit down as well. She also noticed the strange way of how the Granny started the fire, which was definitely not some simple, low-level spell. Noting everything down to her journal, she continued paying attention to the happenings of the family --- Meanwhile, the trio was enjoying some fresh tea, while waiting for the water to heat up to the required temperature. Aiden had a ridiculously hard time keeping his happiness in check as he saw the notification in the system when it analyzed the symbol, Granny had cast another one of her Rune Magic spells. This one was probably the word for "Fire" or "Ignite" or something simr Aiden thought. [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 18%] With this, his knowledge of the Runic Symbols was steadily growing, and with that, also his insight into the way these strange ancient symbols are used. While his progress and knowledge were still low, he could already tell, this method was aimed more for everyday life, and for defensive purposes than towardsbat potential. Closing down the notifications, his gaze shifted towards the distance, towards the ''little birdie'' outside on the tree branch. Some time has already passed with their guest doing anything noteworthy. He was still on the fence on what would be the best course of action. While it is rtively harmless to have her watching them, he wasn''t sure if the uneasy feeling he was having since leaving the city was rted to her, or it was something else. Granny noticing Aiden''s gaze asked with a concerned voice. "Are there any problems Aiden? Did you see or hear something?" She didn''t feel any threats at all. While she could also sense the spy outside, but as she wasn''t doing anything harmful, and from what she noticed she wasn''t paying attention to Lily, she didn''t want to cause any issues and just let her be. "Alright! It should be ready soon, Lily, Aiden each one of you pick up one of the vials containing the wolf''s blood. I will handle the herbs as that needs to be precise, and it needs some extra attention, unlike the blood that I have already prepared for both of you. We need to be extra careful, and make sure that we add all the contents at the same time. The slightest dys can create unforeseen results!" She reminded them. They both picked up their vials and stood next to the still closed up cauldron, that was on top of the crackling orange colored fire. Granny also picked up a handful of the already prepared and grounded herbs and walked next to Aiden. "Let''s see if it''s ready. Be ready, as soon as I give the signal, pour it in immediately, okay?" She asked once more just to be safe. Both of them nodded their heads, and while Aiden remained silent and focused, Lily cheerfully replied: "Yes Granny, we are both ready!" Opening the lid slightly, Granny peeked inside, before smiling contentedly and then finishing the motion, picking it off and putting the lid on the table. Closing her eyes and exhaling slightly while murmuring something that both kids couldn''t understand. In the next moment, the water that just started boiling inside the cauldron turned from the default transparent, colorless version to be tinted by a light hue of yellow. The slight coloration that singed the liquid made Aiden''s eye widen with surprise. Lily, on the other hand, wasn''t surprised at all, as she knew that this was a technique that Granny often used to check the temperature of liquids. Seeing the color, Granny nodded with a satisfied smile on her face, and as she prepared the herbs in her hands, she gave the sign in a clear voice to both children. "Okay, add the blood. NOW!" As both kids poured the blood, Granny threw the grounded herb into the mixture, and then using the already prepared long timber handle, he stirred the contents a few times. "Good job children! With this, we should be fine leaving it as it is for the next 3 hours. You can go have some free time, but don''t leave the house, it''s alreadyte!" Putting the lid back on the cauldron and closing it, she then made her way to the kitchen, to start preparing for dinner. They still have a lot of time so a bit of dessert can''t hurt anybody, right? They both nodded their heads, and while Lily scampered back to her room, Aiden sat down to the floor next to the crackling fire. He wasn''t really paying attention as he was super excited inside. His ''hard'' work, continuing his training session with Granny bore fruit, and the previous hurdle, that stopped his progress at 5%, finally moved forward. He noticed the beeping sounds previously but as he wanted to maximize his gains, he didn''t check them. Now looking through them, he was so happy he had a really hard time containing it inside. [Analyzing Alchemy. Progress 6%] [Analyzing Alchemy. Progress 7%] . . . [Analyzing Alchemy. Progress 10%. Threshold reached. To continue gathering information for analysis, please proceed with monitoring a new session.] ''It is much slower than the Rune Magic, but it''s okay, I''m not in a hurry. Hopefully, I can gain progress when we will be brewing the same healing potions and I do not need to analyze new recipes every time...'' Enya broke Aiden''s inner monologue and immediately shattered his hopes in gaining easy progress. [Unfortunately, Aiden, if the system analyzed a recipe already, it will not provide you with continued benefits, and your progress will not increase anymore. To gain continued progress, you will also need to watch new recipes. Also, just to make sure you do not forget, there''s another notification in your news feed Aiden. Please make sure you read it, as it is rted to your current problem.] Reminded by her, Aiden clicked thest notification and opened it up, only to see a new Side Quest being assigned to him. And this time, it was rted to alchemy! [Side Quest: The eager Alchemist! Difficulty: E Objective: Finish thest steps of the brewing alone, without any assistance. Make sure to follow the instructions of Granny during the dilution process. Reward: +5% progress in Alchemy, +50 System XP Failure Condition: Receiving direct assistance Penalty: -5% progress towards Alchemy, Alchemy Analysis Progress cannot be made in the next 30 days] ''Hmm It is not a difficult one, and the penalty isn''t that bad either. Though I would hate being locked for a full month, it''s not like with my previous personal quest, where the system would straight up kill me.'' While Enya did not reply to him this time, he could almost feel her presence inside his soul space, and he was sure that she was smiling at him. ''Anyway, let''s rest up a bit, and during dinner, I will let them know that I would want to do this step alone. Hopefully Granny will let me. If not then...'' as the thought came to his mind, he called for the system. "Enya, what happens if I cannotplete this quest, but it is not rted to my inability, but to some outside factor? Is there a way to cancel quests?'' [No Aiden, once a quest is assigned to you, there is no way to ease your way out of it. Later on, however, when you grow and you unlock some of the currently unavable features, you will be able to freely select Quests for yourself and well you''ll see.] While thest part of her reply was vague, it didn''t bother Aiden too much. Since he can''t cancel the quest, he just has to make sure he canplete it. He was confident that Granny will be happy that he shows enthusiasm for the craft and will do her absolute best to guide him. What''s the worst that could happen anyways? It''s just about adding cold water to the finished product... He stood up and with a happy smile on his face, he made his way towards his shared room with Lily. Since they had a few hours to spare he figured he will spend some time getting to know the little girl more. It hasn''t been that long, but he already has grown quite fond of this little bag of happiness. While he knew there was some dark past involved with her, from his short observation she seemed to be fine and moved on already. Regardless, Aiden felt that he needed to make sure she will be happy from now on. After all, back when that fat young master said those hurtfulments about Lily, he just lost reasoning, and anger overwhelmed him. While not to this extent, but something simr could be said for Granny, she is also someone that Aiden already considers family. If anybody would try to cause harm to any of them, Aiden wasn''t sure what he would do Chapter 37 - 37 - Experimenting (Part 3) "Are you sure you want to do it Aiden? If you are not absolutely sure, it is best if you just let me do it." Granny asked with a worried expression. During dinner, out of nowhere, Aiden asked her to let himplete thest step in the brewing process alone and to only provide him with instructions. She didn''t understand the reason for the request, it seemed too sudden, but seeing the honest look in his eyes, in the end, she relented and agreed to the request. The added benefit of seeing Lily''s eyes lit up withpetitive fire was also satisfying. After this, Lily will work extra hard to keep up with Aiden, which is good, as she wasn''t really enthusiastic about studying before. "Yes, I''m absolutely sure. Just tell me the instructions and I will execute them. This way I can learn the process better. After all, what we are doing now is just to water down the finished product to lower its potency, right? What could go wrong?" answered Aiden. Granny elicited a small giggle in response to Aiden''sst question. "Oh sonny, there''s a lot of things that could go wrong. We are in uncharted territory here, and I''m not sure about the reaction it will have. Hopefully, there will be nothing unexpected, but just be ready for anything. While adding cold water is a generally epted way of lowering potency and quality of half-finished and finished alchemical products, there are cases when the end product reacted rather violently. In simple terms, the moreplicated the mixture, the riskier it will be to water it down. In our case, we should be fine, as this recipe is still quite simple." Then, as to change the atmosphere, she pped her hands loudly, startling Lily, and looked at Aiden while patting the pouting princess'' head. "Okay Aiden, if you are ready, then let''s begin. First things first, since we need cold water, pour some from the barrel in the kitchen and bring it here. I will help you cool it for you since you don''t know how to do it yet." Nodding his head, Aiden went to the kitchen. Grabbing a sizeable pitcher, he ced it down to the ground, and then as if it was nothing, he picked up therge barrel and carefully aimed it''s opened hatch to the mouth of the pitcher. --- The scene looked rather incredible. A small 8-year-old looking boy, using a barrel bigger than himself and carefully aiming with it like if its weight was nothing. Looking at the scene, Number 3 wasn''t even that shocked anymore, when she saw the boy carrying therge wooden barrel with ease, she was shocked, but by now? It was still an incredible sight, but shocking? No, not anymore. She carefully scribbled down what she saw, then continued watching the family. --- Seeing the pitcher quickly filling up, he ced the barrel down, and with the pitcher in his hand, he walked back to the firece where Granny and Lily were waiting for him. "Great job Aiden. Now, give me the pitcher, and while you open up the cauldron and check if the mixture is ready for us to continue, I will cool it down. Remember the end color should be dark, brownish, almost ck. The darker the color, the higher the potency basically. If the color is still mostly red or reddish-brown, then it still needs time. Although she said as it could not be ready, she was absolutely sure that the mixture is ready for them to continue. Still, since Aiden wanted to gain first-hand experience, she told him what to look for so he can learn from checking it himself. While Aiden was busy checking the readiness, Granny ced the pitcher down to the table, and with her right hand, she wrote the runic symbol "Chill" into the air. As she finished it, the symbol started glowing in a light blue color, then a light coat of energy with the same coloration shrouded the pitcher. It onlysted a second and the energy coating vanished into thin air, however, if someone would hold the pitcher, he or she would be shocked, as it was ice-cold While Aiden wasn''t focusing on the rune this time, his system, Enya did not forget to make sure the system analyzed it, producing a small almost imperceptible smile to creep up on Aiden''s face looking at the notification. [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 19%] ''Thank you, Enya. I really don''t know what I would do without you.'' Aiden didn''t forget to thank her. [No need for thanks Aiden. We are a team when you are unable to, it is my job to be your eyes and ears. You just focus on your task in front of you.] Enya''s answer came. Even though she said otherwise, the happiness for Aiden''s gratitude could be felt from her voice. While the small smile was still sitting on Aiden''s face, he opened up the lid to peek inside the contents of the cauldron. "It... is dark brown! We are good to go!" "Okay, that''s good. Now open up the lidpletely, and put it down to the table, and then pick up the pitcher. Do not pour it in before listening to my instructions, okay?" Nodding his head, he followed instructions. Picking up the pitcher he felt how cold it got in a matter of a few short seconds. ''This magic she uses It''s pretty useful for everyday life.'' Standing next to the heated cauldron with the cold pitcher in hand, he looked back at Granny waiting for the next set of instructions. "Now, slowly start pouring the water and watch how the color of the mixture gradually changes. Make sure to only continue if the color lightens and starts going back to reds. We want the end result to go from dark brown all the way to a clear red without any brown in it. That should be enough for our purposes, I think." Granny instructed. As this whole process was an experiment, she couldn''t be 100% sure that what color the end result should be, but based on her many years of experience, she expected that a normal red color should be good. Focusing on her words, Aiden carefully aimed the pitcher and made sure that the water only poured into the cauldron in a thin stream so he could carefully observe as the color gradually changes. Just as she said, the color was slowly lightening, strays of red started appearing. "It is slowly changing color I can see red, but only in sections, other areas are still brown." Granny smiled, as this was the result she was hoping for. "That is perfectly fine. Keep on adding the water until you see that at least half the mixture has red in it. Then, just give it a whirl, and it should be ready." Once again, following the instructions, he kept pouring the water slowly, carefully. As soon as he could see that half of the mixture changed colors he picked up the wooden handle from the table while putting the pitcher down and mixed the contents with a good, strong stir. "Okay, I think it is ready. The contents are fully red, there are no brown patches anywhere." Walking to the cauldron to check it herself, he patted Aiden''s head gently. "This is perfect, you did a great job! This is exactly the result I was hoping for. We will still need to test itter, but for now, we should just let it be until morning. Put the lid back on to close it down, and we should be done for now. Tomorrow before we head back out to gather herbs, we can check how it turned out, okay?" "Yes. I hope it will be good." Meanwhile, with feet dangling as she was forced to sit still, Lily was listening to both of them, and couldn''t hold herself back anymore. She raised her tiny right fist to the air and loudly eximed. "Granny! Next time let me do it! I want to help as well!" Looking back at the pouting girl, Granny couldn''t help butugh at her shenanigans. "My-my, you were never this passionate about Alchemy, dear. What changed?" Still pouting, she answered. "Humpf! I can''t let brother get too far ahead of me. I am still his big sister, I need to be the one to be able to help him!" Hearing this, Aiden''s face morphed into a gentle smile, and as he sat next to her, he gave his reassurance. "No matter what happens Lily, you will always be the big sister. You were the first, you found me, and you were the first to ept me, and that will never change. I will always be grateful to you." Failing to fight her tears flowing, she couldn''t stop herself anymore andunched at Aiden, knocking him off his chair and falling to the floor. "Brotheeeeeer!!!" Chapter 38 - 38 - Premonition As he was patting Lily''s back, consoling the sobbing little princess, he couldn''t help but show a satisfied smile, as he was checking his notifications. [Side Quest: The eager Alchemist! - Completed Objective: Finish thest steps of the brewing alone, without any assistance. Make sure to follow the instructions of Granny during the dilution process. - Completed Grade: E Reward: +5% progress in Alchemy, +50 System XP] This was followed by another notification indicating that the reward has been distributed already. [Analyzing Alchemy. Progress 15%.] He also checked his Status Page, and as he expected the experience from the quest was already added to his system pool. [Name: Aiden Race: Primal (Evolver) Form: Ancient Dragon (Tier 3) Level: 4/100 (50/800 XP) Condition: 100% Soul Power: 50 Experience: 0->50 XP Might: 27 (50/500 XP) Agility: 27 (100/500 XP) Spirit: 32 (0/500 XP) Innates: Dragon''s Wrath (Level 2) (0/1000 XP), Skills: Primal Absorb (Level 1) (50/100 XP), Hunt (level 3 - 10/100 XP) Under Analysis: Rune Magic - Current Progress: 19% Alchemy (Basic) - Current Progress: 10% -> 15% Effects: Blessing of Ioris (-), Physical Resistance (level 3 - 15/100 XP), Fall Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 XP), Water Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 XP), Poison Resistance (level 2 - 25/100 XP) ] Seeing the progress he made in Alchemy, Aiden was happy. Even though he still had a long way to go, the progress he made today was already astonishing. Not to mention, he even received some extra benefits in the form of System XP. "*sob* I love you *sob*, brother! I''m so happy *sob* you are here *sob* with us!" Lily''s muffled, sobbing voice woke Aiden up from his inner thoughts. She had her head hidden in Aiden''s chest and was holding onto him, like if it was thest piece of a wooden board keeping her afloat and drifting in the ocean. "There, there. Calm down, Lily. Everything is okay." Aiden tried consoling the little girl. He wasn''t sure what did he do that broke her so badly. Looking at the duo, Granny just smiled, and with a wave of his hand, brought out a tray with some tea on it. Pouring a small cup for both, she put the tray in front of them. "Lily dear, drink some fresh tea, so you can calm down. There''s nothing wrong, Aiden is here with us." Granny''s soothing voice had an immediate effect on Lily, she slowly peaked, and seeing the cup of tea, she picked it up, however, she refused to leave the safety of Aiden''s embrace. "Dearie, if you don''t move to your seat, Aiden will not be able to enjoy his cup of tea. You don''t want that, do you?" "N-no.." An almost inaudible voice could be heard from Lily, as she shook her head, and then stood up to take her seat once again, leaving Aiden free to sit back up from the ground. Taking his seat, Aiden sipped his tea, while looking at Granny and mouthed a silent "Thank you" to her, which she received with a nod and a gentle smile. After calming down and finishing their tea, they said their goodbyes and went to their rooms, to rest. Today was eventful, and tomorrow they need to wake up early and go out to the forest to gather herbs to fulfill the orders for the rest of the potions the Norton''s requested. --- As the next morning came, and the first rays of the sun peeked in through the windows, both Lily and Aiden were awake. Turning to his side, Aiden looked at Lily while asked in his calm voice. "How are you feeling Lily? Did you feel better after a good night''s sleep?" Looking at his roomie, Lily smiled and replied with her usual cheerful tone. "Yes, I''m much better! Sorry for what happened yesterday, brother. I will be stronger, I promise!" Smiling Aiden stood up from the bed and stretched his arms and legs while answering Lily. "Huaaah, don''t worry about it, I''m just happy you are better now. Remember you can alwayse to me if anything bothers you, I will do my best to at least listen." Then, as he finished stretching, he stood up, and while walking to the door, he continued. "Nowe, let''s go greet Granny and get breakfast before we all head out. I''m sure she is also worried about you!" After a rather rxing breakfast, apanied by a calming cup of tea, the trio was ready to set out to the forest and gather up the required herbs. Handing out 2 baskets to both kids, Granny gave them the instructions. "We will set out a bit further to the east, there''s a de with a huge bed of all kinds of herbs and flowers that we will need. Since we have Aiden, and both of you shown interest in learning the craft, we will gather a bit of the rarer, hard-to-find herbs as well. I packed some sandwiches for lunch, so we can have a nice pic in this sunny weather. Now, we have to set out, as our destination is quite far away, it will take us a good while to get there." Then, looking at Aiden, he continued. "We will be relying on you Aiden, to keep watch. While you did a good number on them, those ck wolves are a nasty group, and they have high intelligence and a good nose as well. I hope that nothing bad or unexpected happens, but just to be sure, keep up your guard, okay?" In response, Aiden silently nodded his head and made sure that he pulled a bit of his energy into his Dark Sense ability to make sure it is running at maximum efficiency. He also kept the map up at the corner of his vision, so if any new dots would appear in vision, he would be immediately alerted. He couldn''t shake off the ominous feeling he felt since yesterday. He also kept the blimp of their spy, the ''little birdie'' he used to call it, active on the map, and made sure that Enya was keeping a watch on her every action while Aiden kept watch of her movement. ''*Sigh* Today''s gonna be taxing, I can already tell'' Sighed Aiden inwardly. All this stress just because he had this foreboding It was taxing on his mind. He was d that Enya could at least ease some of this tension by keeping watch on the spy, it was still hard on him making sure that he would be on top of any problem if and when it would arise. Handing out 2 vials of the energy drink they created yesterday to both kids, Granny looked at both kids. In a bit of strictness in her voice, she exined. "Make sure to keep these safe, and only drink it if we are in danger, and you feel you need the little boost. This is the watered-down version of the Stamina Drink we created yesterday. It should be just enough for you both, and while I hope we won''t need them, it coulde in handy." Then, as she closed the door, she looked back at the kids, and with his gentle smile returning to her face, she calmly said. "Now then, let''s head out! We have a long way to go!" --- "We''re almost there kids, just a bit longer." Said Granny. They were already been walking for an hour. While Lily was still trotting between Granny and Aiden while happily humming some unknown song, Aiden was showing signs of exhaustion. He was being tense and kept watch all the way. Their ''little birdie'' also kept following them while keeping her distance. He couldn''t see or feel anything close by, but as they kept moving towards their destination, the ominous feeling he had, kept getting stronger and more intense. Suddenly, as he just couldn''t keep silent any longer, he halted his steps, and looked at Granny, who sensing Aiden''s tension, stopped as well. "What''s the problem dearie? Do you sense something?" she asked her, with a concerned voice. Shaking his head, Aiden answered with an agitated voice. "No.. I''m not sure, but I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen if we continue I can''t really exin it Sorry" "Don''t be, Aiden. I understand your concern, but we can''t run away from fate. Instead, let''s get ready, and do our best, and face whatever fate has in store for us, okay?" said Granny. She didn''t show it, but she also had a bad premonition. Something sinister, something dark was awaiting them, just ahead. The reason she kept going was that she was sure she could keep both kids safe and in the worst-case scenario, escape with them. She also wanted to teach the kids a lesson, that the best approach is to face your fears and problems, instead of trying to run away. Try to ovee them. Only this way can you get stronger, and be ready to face the dangers of the world... Chapter 39 - 39 - Arrival The view that unfolded before them when they arrived at the de was picturesque, to say the least. Knee-length high beautiful light-green colored grass, with a huge patch of flowers and herbs of every color mixed in-between. In the middle of the de was a small pond, with crystal clear water in it. Looking at it, Aiden wasn''t even sure how it got there, it made no sense. Everything about this ce was so incredibly beautiful that he just couldn''t wrap his head around it. Lily on the other hand, when saw the de, her mouth went agape with the shock and surprise. Shortly after a cheerful ''Uwaaaaa'' could be heard as she bolted towards the patch of flowers and promptly got lost herself in it. ''Well, at least she is having a good time. That''s good.'' thought Aiden looking at Lily. The bad, ominous feeling he had was giving him such an intense pressure it was almost impossible to stay calm. He still had his Dark Sense running at maximum efficiency and was checking his map for new blips. Their ever-present spy, the little birdie was still close-by, just a few trees away. One of the problems he was facing was that he will not be able to use his transformation skill if a problem arises, as to not give away any of his unique skills to the spy. Aiden still didn''t know the purpose of her presence, and to whom she reported to. Granny, seeing what Lily was up to, couldn''t help but smile at her actions. Walking over to the patch of flowers where Lily''s small head could be seen popping up every now and then at different locations, she motioned for Aiden to follow. "Come here kids. We shouldn''t waste too much time, there''s a lot that we want to aplish today. Lily... " looking at the blonde pig-tailed head that popped up close to her, she continued with a gentle smile. " ...you have more experience in this than Aiden, so help him okay? Your job will be to gather the rarer flowers this time. You know, anything that you find interesting, star shapes, bell shapes, red colors, blue colors, yellow colors, all is good. For Aiden, help him gather as much Devil Cloves as you can, we need a lot if we want to fulfill the request and help you two learn as much as possible, okay?" "Sure, Granny! What will you do? Will, you alsoe and gather some flowers?" asked Lily. Usually, Granny woulde with her and help fill up the baskets, but this time it seemed she has other ns. "Not this time dearie. I need to prepare and do something important. Granny has this bad feeling and wants to make sure you two are safe. Now go, and have fun with your brother while you fill-up the baskets!" "Haaaii!" Then looking at Aiden, Lily waved her hands as she stood up. "Come, brother, let''s go! I will show you what to look for!" As the kids went to look for the flowers they will needter, Granny walked to the middle of the de, next to the pond. Closing her eyes, she stretched out both of her hands in front of herself. Murmuring something in an ancient tongue, she started drawing a set of symbols into the air with both hands simultaneously. Yes, this time she was drawing multiple characters, all of them new for Aiden, whose system was diligently recording the event, providing him with new progress towards understanding this craft. [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 22%] As she finished a rune, she immediately started drawing the next and continued her chant with her eyes still closed. The runes glowed in different colors and stood still in the air. The whole scene was mesmerizing, an extraordinarily unique way of casting magic. Number 3 had to move closer cause this was the first time she saw this unique way of casting. She had no idea what the elderly woman was up to, but it looked like something big, something unheard of. As she finished thest rune, Granny''s eye snapped open and as she pped her hands the runic symbols still lingering in the air, immediately vanished. Soon after the ground around her started glowing, and a blue-colored pentagram appeared. She sat in the middle, and once again closed her eyes, while facing it towards the location of Number 3 Startling to see all of this, Number 3''s first thought was to escape, she had a bad feeling about what was about to happen. However, before she could think further, an unfamiliar female voice suddenly resounded in her head. ''I do not know your true purpose for following us, watching us for the past couple of days, but you do not seem to be a bad person.'' Looking towards the direction of the elderlydy, Number 3 was baffled what was happening. ''Who, what are you? How can you do this?'' She asked in her head. She was certain, the elder can hear the question. Just as she expected the answer came to her mind almost immediately. ''You can call me Granny like everyone else. As for the past, let''s not bother with it, it doesn''t matter anymore. The only thing that''s important is the safety of these 2. However, some terrifyingly evil presence is heading this way, and I am not sure if I will be able to deal with it myself. So my only hope is to ask you... Please make sure these 2 are safe.'' The elderly voice started cracking up as she said thest few words. It sounded like she was pleading. ''I-I can''t interfere. I''m not allowed to, I can only watch and register what''s happening with him.'' answered Number 3. She wasn''t heartless, but she had to follow the orders of the Grandmaster. ''If they die here, how will you report back? I understand that you have to follow your orders, but if you let these two to their deaths, how will you do that? Not to mention, only a heartless person would leave innocent children to die, and I am sure you are not one.'' ''But... if I show myself, I will not be able to continue and will be forced to retreat'' Number 3 answered. ''We have known about your presence since the day you appeared. You have no idea what this boy is capable of, he immediately noticed your presence. The only reason he let you be, was because you didn''t seem like a bad person, you had no ill intent.'' answered Granny. This answer shocked Number 3 deeply. She was absolutely certain she hid her presence, nobody should have been able to notice her if she didn''t want it to. This technique was taught to her by the Grandmaster himself, how could it not work? It is impossible! ''That''s impossible! I hid my presence immediately when I arrived. How could a child like him possibly know about me? Don''t lie to me!'' she snapped back at the elderlydy. ''You are way too young and inexperienced. You have not seen all the wonders of this world. From your words, you still think that this child here is just some exotic-looking human right?'' The snickering voice of Granny, irritated Number 3 quite a bit, but swallowing her feelings, she answered. ''Yes. He is just a human kid with slightly tanned, colored skin. While I admit that his golden eyes are indeed strange, I presume he is from some farawaynd, maybe an exile or something simr.'' Chuckling could be heard inside Number 3''s head for quite some time. Slowly, as theughter died down, Granny answered. ''Let me tell you, that boy is not human. I hoped you would have noticed it by now, but he is far from being an ordinary ''human kid'' as you just called it. He is'' The voice paused, making Number 3 even more curious. After a few seconds, however, Granny continued. ''Sorry, the connection is starting to weaken, I''m not sure how long can I keep this up. That boy is not a human, but a Dragon. A very unique one at that.'' ''Impossible! I can''t feel his aura at all! If he would be a dragon, he would be radiating his heritage!'' protested Number 3. All dragons capable of transforming to human forms are the highest of their kind, it''s not something a newborn like him could achieve. All those types should have that terrifying draconic aura, the signature of their draconic blood. ''I have no reason to lie to you. We found him as a dragon egg in this forest. He hatched like this, in his human form. He has some kind of innate ability to hide his presence and currently, he doesn''t seem to haveplete control over it. During extreme duress, when he is stressed out, his heritage unfolds, and he will lose control. If this happens here, I''m not sure either of us would be able to calm him down and stop him from doing something he would regretter on. You are my only hope. Please I beg you, help them!'' Before Number 3 could think about what to answer, she could feel the connection sever, and then she could see the elderlydy slowly standing up, as the pentagram around her faded away. She wasn''t sure what to do However, before she couldment on her options a bit more, she suddenly felt a terrifyingly evil aura, something sinister has arrived... Chapter 40 - 40 - Return Of The Dragon Lily was happily skipping inside the sea of flowers when suddenly she felt the air turn thicker, and that the bright and sunny day got clouded by a gray miasma that was oozing from the edges of the gale, slowly surrounding everything. She stopped and looked at Granny with a face full of worry. "Granny, what is happening? Wh-what is this?" The elderlydy garbed in tattered red clothes has already left her previous spot in the middle and arrived at the edges of the flowerbed. She looked at the blonde girl with her gentle smile, and with her right arm stretched out, she motioned to grab it. "Don''t worry, juste to us, Aiden, and I will keep you safe. Come now, quickly!" Meanwhile, Aiden was also next to Granny already. He noticed the neer a few seconds ago before it arrived, however, it was still a mystery to him how it managed to sneak up so close before the system finally managed to notice its presence. ''Enya, can you tell me how did this happen? Why couldn''t I see the iing danger miles ahead like I usually do?'' There was no answer for a few short seconds before the mature female voice resounded inside his mind. [Unfortunately, I have no answer to that query currently. It seems like the target has some sort of cloaking that masked his presence and intent.] ''But the spy that keeps watching us also uses something simr, and we could still find it. What''s different this time?'' [The person that is watching you is using a spell to hide. With that, we can still trace the lingering energy she is using and manipting her will. But with this new presence, what it is using is not magic, it is a skill, most likely something it was born with. An Innate ability. As such, it is untraceable by any means.] ''I see... '' thinking Aiden realized something very important from Enya''s reply ''Innate ability like my Dragon transformation thingy? If I could absorb some of the new enemy''s life essence, could I get this ability as well?'' [Yes, however, most likely you would need most if not all of the body mass to have a decent chance to acquire it. For that, you will have to defeat it first, and at the moment, I cannot give you an urate reading on the target''s statistics, but based on this gray miasma it is radiating, it is probably very powerful. It also seems to have intelligence, as it did not immediately rush in to attack like a normal beast, but it is keeping watch and letting its presence felt, to instill fear to all of you. Be very careful with this one, Aiden.] --- Number 3, who was at the far side on top of the tree branches, had a difficult decision to make. If she chose to intervene and save the kids, her cover would be blown and would be no longer able to continue the mission. She would receive new directives and depending on the Grandmaster''s decision based on her report, the target would either be deemed too problematic to be left alive or someone would rece her. However, on the other hand, based on what that old woman has told her, she never had any cover, it was just an illusion, they let her watch them. Most likely scenario is to decide her intentions and at the same time, show that they are not a threat, and there''s no real need for monitoring. ''Aargh, why did I have to be the one to be ced here'' she cursed. For the time being, she decided to continue watching as the situation unfolds and will make a decision when the timees --- As Lily was making her way towards Granny, she felt worse by the second. This thick, grayish substance, something simr to smoke, surrounded her, and it started to block her senses. Her vision, her breathing, even hearing became a hurdle. It felt like the more she struggles against it, the tighter its grip around her became. After a few meters, she stopped and looked ahead but couldn''t see anything anymore. As her breathing became increasingly harder, she struggled herst few words out, which contrary to her usual tone, was almost inaudible. "I can''t he lp me... brother" with herst words to her beloved brother whom she only knew for a few short days but treasured deeply, lost her footing, and as her consciousness slipped away she fell forward. However, before she could hit the ground and knock herself out for good, a familiar pair of arms, interjected her trajectory, and caught her. The soothing voice of a male, her most treasured person gripped herst strands of sanity. "I caught you, big sis! Don''t you dare leave us!" Picking her up in a princess carry, Aiden carried her out of the flowerbed, through the thick miasma that surrounded her. As she felt her brothers embrace, and could smell her masculine scent, the rosy color slowly returned to her pale cheeks. She struggled to open her eyelids, but when she managed to peel them just to be able to peek through the cracks, she saw him, her fairy-tale prince as he saved her. "Brother... ehehe" she let out a weak chuckle, then continued to snuggle in his arms. This was the first time in her short life, that she felt so safe. This ce, her brother''s embrace was the safety she was looking for ever since she lost her mother. She tried to move on, and to never look back, but there were days when it was really hard Even with everything Granny did for her, she missed her mother deeply, and there were times when the feeling of loss lingered around her, pushing her into depression. During these not-so-fleeting moments, her sleep was often haunted by terrible dreams. Memories mixed together with the fear of the past. A recurring nightmare for her was to be reunited with her beloved mama, only for the scenery to change in the next second and then seeing her lying on the ground in her own blood, motionless. Leaves rustling in the distance, several footsteps getting louder as they got closer and closer She usually woke up during this point in the nightmare crying, covered in sweat and tears. Only the gentle embrace of her Granny could offer a tiny bit of respite, a flickering light standing against the darkness. However, everything changed when she met the boy in the funny-looking ck egg in the forest. Although she didn''t understand why he was in an egg when he wasn''t a bird or an animal, still as soon as she saw him, she knew. She felt it. He was the one, he was what she was missing. A chance. The flickering light... Yearster when she will look back, she will treasure this memory fondly, as this was the first time, when this boy first made his way into her broken, scarred heart and began to rapidly heal the cracks, shooing away the bad guys, still lingering there, haunting her every now-and-then. "Ehehe I love you brother" with her strength finally spent, she fell unconscious in his brother''s arms as he carried her back to Granny. ''Sleep well, big sis...'' he kissed her forehead and put her to the ground next to Granny. "She is fine, just fell asleep. Whatever this gray smoke is, it was siphoning the life out of her. What is this?" he asked Granny. "Hmm That IS indeed interesting But what''s even more interesting is that why didn''t it have any effect on you?" said Granny, surprising Aiden. It is true, but he didn''t even pay any attention to it at the time. When he saw Lily struggling to even stand, and seeing her vision bing clouded, the next he knew that he was already at her side and holding her. ''What happened Enya? I don''t understand'' asked Aiden. [When you saw Lily getting in danger, you subconsciously activated your [Dragon''s Wrath] ability, and used your increased speed to catch her. Also, you are effectively immune to the effects of the smoke, your Primal body could just break down the inhaled amount without any problems. If you will check your notifications, you will see the effects.] Just as Enya suggested, Aiden took a quick look at the series of new notifications that popped up previously. [Unknown substance found. Analyzing... 50% ] [Unknown substance found. Analysisplete. Minor Mind Control and Memory Altering effects found, countering effects. Completed.] [Psychic Resistance (level 1) gained!] [50 System XP gained!] Rage erupted in his mind, the thought of someone trying to cause harm to this innocent little girl, was too much for him. Deep within him, a slumbering, ancient power erupted forth. The air around Aiden changed, it started vibrating. His eyes glowed in golden light. The skin of his arms morphed, and golden scales grew out, the end of his fingers had long, thick ck ws. At the top of his back, around his scaps, a pair of wings adorned in golden scales appeared. Above his glutes, but just below in the middle of his lower back, a small simrly golden-colored tail peeked. At the same time, the thick miasma, and the terrifyingly evil aura that the concealed presence emitted got pushed back, by his stronger, majestic, draconic one. The aura of royalty, the aura of an ancient dragon! Aiden turned around, and was now facing the source of the troubles, a currently concealed presence at the edges of the de. His thundering voice resounded all around the air, shaking the trees. "SHOW YOURSELF WORM!" In response, the leaves at the bushes at the point where Aiden was looking out started shaking, and a huge half-humanoid, half-wolf-like figure appeared. This thing, this monster was bipedal and was at around 2.5 meters tall. It was wolf-like, with thick ck fur, and a pair of ck eyes, but he still strangely resembled some humanity. The most surprising thing, however, was not his half-humanoid looks, but the fact that this monster could speak! A deep, otherworldly voice snickered in response to the thundering shout. "Hehe, my-my, look at you, pup, you managed to dispel my neat little trick and you also found me No matter, I''ll just have to take action directly to end your life for hurting my son and my pack..." Chapter 41 - 41 - Clash A familiar, mature, female voice shouted inside my mind, snapping me back to reality, and calming my raging mind. [STOP! CALM DOWN AIDEN! YOU CAN''T MAINTAIN THIS FORM, CALM DOWN!] Seeing that Aiden started regaining his consciousness, but it would be too slow, she did something that he didn''t know she was capable of A bright shining light appeared inside his soul space, and with its white light she banished the darkness that was present there, calming the boy''s raging mind. As the light triumphed over the darkness, the scales, the tail, the wings, and the ws slowly receded. In a few short moments, the half-dragon-half-human Aiden transformed back to his regr self, and with that, the huge bipedal wolf-like humanoid felt his power level rapidly decreasing. It was still quite strong, but nothing like it was just a moment ago. Seeing that, it let out howl-likeughter. "Ahahaha! I thought we would have a nice and interesting battle, but who knew you are just a worthless pup, trying to y adult?" Then turning its attention towards the elder, who was currently drawing a series of runes in the air, most likely trying to cast some spell. All thepleted runes glowed in a different colored light. "And you, you old sack of bones, what do you think you are doing? I know about you from the reports of my pack. Those symbols they are magic, right? Well then, let''s see how you handle my ck Smoke then!" As he finished, he let out a strange howl-like cry, and the grayish thick miasma oozed out of his body and quickly made its way in the air towards Granny. Gritting her teeth, Granny immediately felt the effects of the smoke on her mind and body. Her thinking became foggy, her vision blurry and breathing started to be challenging. However, she had to finish thest rune and make sure both kids are safe. She couldn''t be sure that her talk with the spy would be fruitful, but she decided to take the risk. Working together will be better for both sides, she was sure that she will also understand that. Seeing that the smoke did not stop the chant, the ck wolf-like figure growled in anger and went on all fours before it started rushing towards the elderlydy. If tricks don''t work, the good old method of ripping the target apart would surely do! Aiden also bolted from where he stood as soon as he saw the creature rushing towards Granny. Sadly, because of his outburst, he didn''t have much left in his ''tank'' but his pure physical power should still prove more than enough to at least defend her. The creature who was focused on the elderlydy wasn''t paying any attention to the small fragile-looking boy. Especially since he lost his dragon-like form and reverted back to this fragile human one instead. Because of this, it didn''t notice as Aiden, using all his strength, crashed onto him, altering its course, and rocketing it onto the trees with a loud crashing sound. While standing back up, it growled once again. "So pup, you really want to be the first one to die, eh? Well, whatever, it''s not like the hag''s kitchen magic can hurt me And it''s not like she can save you either. Fine then! Let''s see what you''re capable of!" as the creature finished, it was already on all-fours once again, and was ready to bolt towards Aiden, however, this small window was enough for Granny toplete her spell. "Crux Stoix Hor! Banish the darkness, let the light triumph! Begone foul beast!" Granny shouted. The runes in front of her shined brightly in their own colors, before they bolted towards different directions, towards the edges of the de before vanishing. As they all vanished, a shining bright bubble made of pure, translucent energy started forming and quickly enveloped the entire de in its protective care. Seeing the strange magic, the creature jumped backward, outside of the radius of the bubble, and looked at it with a scowl visible on its wolf-like face. "Tch! Do you really think this can save your lives? It just made my hunt interesting!" Howling once again, the ck miasma, soothed out of its body and crept towards the edges of the forest. This time it couldn''t enter, the protective barrier blocked the smoke''s path. In response, the smoke started ''attacking'' the barrier, and like a chemical reaction, sizzling sounds could be heard from the point of impact. "How long do you think you can keep this barrier up, hag? Unless you have another trick up your sleeve that can save your sorry asses, then it is just a matter of time before I break your shield and crunch on your bones!" It howled again, and more of the strange, thick miasma oozed out from its body and assaulted the barrier. Sizzling and crackling, the crashing sounds of violent reactions of opposite energies shing against each other could be heard. Granny looked towards a point at the edges of the de, with pleading eyes. She didn''t say anything but just looked at that particr spot Where Number 3 could be seen, watching the entire scene enveloping right before her eyes. So far, she did nothing but kept watching as the situation unfolded. When the boy transformed and let out that incredible aura at that point, she herself wasn''t sure if she would be his opponent. Sadly, that transformation quickly faded away and the boy returned to his previous fragile self. She just watched as they first shed against each other, while the red-robed elderly woman finished her strange chant, and this shining energy shield surrounded the entire de, protecting them all. Well, at least for a time, as the creature continued its assault. ''That Worgen is not normal, this smoke it is using... I''ve never seen it before. Not sure what it does, but based on the reactions, it seems to be clouding their senses. Maybe their mind too Argh, what should I do, what would be the best course of action?'' shemented. She keptmenting, whether to intervene or not, while the wolf-like creature, that she referred to as a Worgen, kept up its assault. Watching it from the inside, the usually calm expression of Granny morphed into one of a frown. She looked at Aiden, and she took a deep breath before exining the next steps. "Aiden listen to me carefully now. This monster will break my shield in the next few minutes. When that happens, I''m not sure if I could keep you all safe. Go to Lily, stay next to her. I will use thest of my reserves to send you two back to the house. Stay there and wait. If I "she gulped before continuing, swallowing her sorrow, hiding it from Aiden for what she is about to say next "If I will not make it back by morning, then please take care of Lily for me. You can stay at the house, everything there will be yours to use, just, please please don''t let Lily get hurt. Don''t tell her the truth, at least not for now, maybeter, she lost her only family, her mother a while ago, and I don''t think she managed to move forward from that. You appearing in her life, made her progress more in thesest few days then she did in the entirest year *sob*... Know that I love you both" at the end she couldn''t help but shed a few sad tears. Steeling her resolve, she motioned Aiden to go. "Go, get close to your sister, and I will draw out myst bits of energy..." "Granny Don''t" Aiden tried arguing, but looking at her eyes she saw unwavering resolve. He knew it would be a futile effort to try and argue with her. However, he wasn''t ready to just give up on this kind woman, who was ready to give up her life just to make sure both kids she cares about are safe and sound. No, that''s not something Aiden could ignore. Quicklying to a decision, he walked forward instead of walking back to Lily startling Granny who tried grabbing his shoulders. "Aiden, no. Please, don''t do this, let me save you both" Shaking his head, without looking back, he continued forward towards the Worgen, as he said his final words "Granny, I thank you for everything you did for me. While our time together was short, know this: You and that little girl finding me, and taking me in was the best thing that happened to me in my short life. I''m not sure how to say this but know that you 2 are the closest thing I can consider as a family. Thank you." As he finished his words, without waiting for a response, Aiden started running towards the edges of the de. The Worgen was currently focused on breaking the barrier. Seeing how the boy decided to throw away his life, it snickered, waiting for him toe and meet his own demise Chapter 42 - 42 - *Spoilers, Title At The End* Before Aiden could continue rushing, suddenly a ck-robed, hooded figure appeared before him and blocked his path. Gently pushing him backwards, a soft, female voice sounded from under the hood that blocked everyone from seeing her face. "Stay back kid, this is not your fight. Stay with your family, and let me handle this oversized, ugly wolf!" said the slender female figure covered in ck clothing. Her face was hidden behind a ck faceless mask, while the ck hood was covering the rest of his head from the onlookers. Still Aiden knew that this was the very same ''little birdie'' that was following them all this time. "Eh? Another one to the chopping block? Listen here, bi-" the Worgen started its rant, however, it was cut short by a sudden surge of wind hitting its face hard, and sending it flying all the way to the trees,nding with a loud bang, crushing a few trees in the process. Standing back up from the crash site, it looked at the figure, who still had her backhand up in the air. It couldn''t see the figure''s face, but in her voice, contempt was clearly visible. "Silence you mut! Who said you can talk? Didn''t your master teach you how a good doggie should behave?" The words and the tone angered the Worgen to no end. Seething with rage, its eyes turned bloodshot, and with a low growl, it sneered. "How dare you?! I am the King of the ck Wolves in the forest, not some dog you can order around! This earned you the first ce, congrattions! You can be the first, who I will rip to pieces! AAAARGH!" Without waiting for any remark from the unknown figure, it got on all-fours and charged at her. The mysterious figure just stood there motionless, her eyes fixed on the charging ''wolf-king''. As the creature got into a few meters distance, itunched itself in the air, with its hands ready to rip its target to shreds on impact. Just before it could reach the figure and rip her to pieces as it desperately wished for, the air suddenly vibrated and she vanished to thin air, only to appear right behind the Worgen. Sheunched a heavy kick on its back, sending him down to the ground with a loud crashing sound and setting up a fair amount of dust. Keeping her feet on the lying wolf-kings back, she arrogantly taunted it. "Now-now, if I don''t allow it, you are not to jump around. Be a good doggie and learn to behave or I will have to discipline you. Do. *stomp* You. *stomp* Really. *stomp* Want. *stomp* That? *stomp*" As she said thest words, she kept stomping on the creature''s back, eliciting painful cry-like howls from it. "Why you I WILL TEAR YOU TO PIECES FOR THIS!" as its rage reached the absolute maximum, its previously bloodshot eyes turnedplete dark red, and the ck smoke that he kept using previously oozed out from his body once again, this time surrounding it as a sort of formless, protective coat of armor. Its strength also clearly increased, as while it had troubles getting up previously under the figure''s constant pressure, now it managed to jump off the ground, throwing the figure almost off-bnce. Turning 180 in the air, it immediatelyunched a punch to the figure, who -because of the sudden turn of events-, couldn''t sessfully block it, and was sent flying several meters in the air, before she managed to regain her control. Hovering in the air, she levitated back towards the raging Worgen. With a smirk clearly visible in her voice, she mocked it even further. "Oh my, did the puppy got mad? Aww! You know, that was a semi-decent punch there, too bad I will have to discipline you for it as you seem to already forget my previous words" Waving her hand as if backhanding the air, the Worgen was sent flying once again when a gust of air hit him in the face that felt simr to heavy punch, sending him flying backwards, crashing and rolling on the ground a few meters. It coughed and spat out a bit of blood as he stood up. Itsst bits of sanity seemed to have vanished as its rage seemed to reach new limits, new heights it never knew its capable of reaching. Completely overwhelmed with rage, it was unable to speak or think anymore, and simply rushed towards the still hovering figure. Its hands in a posture that would make it easy to rip the flesh of its most hated enemy, it was ready to end this humiliating battle once and for all. --- As the fight continued, Aiden went back to Granny, both of them were silently watching the spectacle in front of them. Aiden was the first to break the silence between the two. "So did you ask her to help us, or did she do this on her own ord?" Hearing the question, she expected she sighed as she nodded. "*Yes, I asked her that she should provide her assistance when the time calls for it. She was very reluctant, as apparently that would blow her cover and she could no longer silently spy on us" With a confused look, Aiden looked at Granny. "But we knew about her since day one Did you tell her that she was never hidden from us?" "Yes I did, but I wasn''t sure that he actually understood that at the time. Anyways I''m not sure what the future will hold now, but we can leave that discussion forter. For now, let''s focus on ourselves. Pick up Lily, and I''ll get ready with the spell to take us back." Aiden shook his head. "No, we can''t leave without her. She risked her life for us, and probably saved Lily, you and me as well. The least we can do is wait for her. I''m not leaving her behind Granny." Seeing the determined look in his eyes, Granny could only helplessly nod. They gathered around Lily, and continued to silently watch as the fight amongst the 2 unknown ''titans'' continued --- Meanwhile, the battle between the King of the ck Wolves and the female figure continued. The figure kept agilely evading the ws of the Worgen, and she asionallynded a punch or two at its sides. As the creature receded back to its savage bestial self with its seething rage, his logic and reasoning also faded, making the fight be more and more one-sided as time went on. As the beast continued to futilely w, punch and asionally kick the air, its eyes slowly lost their dark red luster, and rity once again returned to it. Feeling its strength and vitality rapidly draining, it understood that this battle is over, and the best course of action would be to fall back momentarily. Gritting its teeth, it jumped back, creating some distance between them. In response, Number 3 just stood still in the air, where they had their sh previously. "I admit, you are stronger than I expected You may have won this battle, but I will have my revenge! I got all of your scents memorized. Our pack will find you wherever you are hiding in the forest, and once we do we will rip you all to shreds and feed you to our pups! I will have my revenge!??? With its threat for revenge said, the creature turned around and was about to jump back into the treeline and escape when it felt an incredible paining from its back going all the way through its heart. As it looked down, with disbelief it saw a bloodied slender handing out of its chest, with its still-beating heart in it. It didn''t need to look back, to understand what happened. Thest words it heard were the silent murmurs the figure whispered into its ears. "No, you will not have your revenge. I told you before, I will have to discipline you for your disobedience PUP" Making sure that the former wolf-kingst sight was its own heart crushed, she pulled out his hand from the creature''s back. Looking at her bloody hand, Number 3 shook her head. Disgust visible in her voice, she muttered to herself. "Tsk I hate it when it gets so messy" She waved her still bloodied hand, and silently cast a spell. At the next moment, his hands briefly shone in white light and as the light faded, all the blood and gore were gonepletely. "Much better" she muttered to herself, as she turned around, and slowly made her way towards the trio. Looking at Granny, she nodded her head, and looked at the boy, before she started. "It was very brave of you kid to sacrifice yourself so your family could escape." Aiden was about to reply, but she continued before he could. "Brave, but incredibly stupid! What did you expect what would happen? He kills you, and then what? Hmm?" "I" Aiden was at a loss for words. He wasn''t expecting to get yelled at for trying to save the ones he held close to his heart. He also couldn''t exin that what he was about to do, would have definitely won the battle, and would just have knocked him out of the "game" for at least a full day. "Yeah, you didn''t think it through, did ya? The Worgen, as that what that big humanoid wolf was, would have then continued and massacred these two. You would have aplished nothing! How can you be so idiotic? Think for a bit next time kid?! Don''t expect anyone toe and save you the next time you do something stupid like this." With her rant out of her system, Number 3, sighed and then continued as she faced Granny this time. "Anyways, with this out of the way, I will bid you farewell. Since you now know about me, I have to return and report my failure to the Grandmaster. I do not know if someone will rece me or not, but know this: he is interested in this boy, he felt his power previously, and now wants to know if he could be useful for his ns, or not. That''s why I was sent here, to determine, what should be the best course of action." Granny looked at the figure, before speaking with her ever-present gentle smile stered on her face. "And? What is the verdict?" ----- Chapter Title: Number 3 vs The King of the ck Wolves Chapter 43 - 43 - Arrangement Granny looked at the figure, before speaking with her ever-present gentle smile stered on her face. "And? What is the verdict?" Number 3 looked at the boy, and in a clear tone that contained no traces of negativity, she said. "He is immature, brash, and easy to agitate. He needs to be able to stay calm, keep his anger in check. From what I''ve seen just now, as soon as his rage reaches a point, something snaps in him, and as if like another personality surfaces that he can''t control. This ''alter-ego'' puts a heavy drain on his energy, so I''m guessing he can''t even maintain it for even a minute, probably only for a few seconds. Aiden''s face turned downcast on the harsh critique received. She was right, he knew that, but it was still hard to hear it. "However" She exhaled and continued in a much gentler tone "he has a heart of gold and is willing to do anything for their loved ones. As I just mentioned, what he did, while it was incredibly stupid, it was still very brave. Seeing that neither of you had any chance left to survive this ordeal, he didn''t hesitate to jump to the front and carry the weight of this burden himself. Such heart, such determination is seldom nowadays. "And with that, our time together hase to an end. I don''t know what will happen now, the best I can do for you guys, is to ry everything I know to the Grandmaster and he will decide the best course of action. Try to stay safe, all of you." Her goodbyes said, she turned around and was about to leave, when the boy called out to him and grabbed hold of her clothing. "Wait! Please! Don''t leave You have no logical reason to leave your duty. We have known about you since the day you appeared on the branch of that tree just outside our house. I have not said a word, because you had no ill will towards us. Now, however, I know you are a good person, and much stronger than I am. Why don''t we work together instead? You can report all you want, but please stay" Supporting Aiden''s words, Granny also chimed in. "I agree with Aiden, you should stay. At least stay for dinner and some tea, and let''s have a good talk. I''m sure Lily would also want to meet you. She might as well let you taste her favorite desserts as well!" Listening to them, Number 3, had a slight smile on her face behind the mask. Coughing to calm her beating heart, she nodded towards Granny. "Fine, I don''t see a reason to decline the invitation." That settled, with a small smile on his face, Aiden walked back towards the still sleeping Lily and picked her up in a princess carry. Grouping up with Number 3 and Granny they all made their way out of the now devastatedndscape of the previously beautiful de and started making their way towards home. With the help of Number 3, they could have used magic to open a gate and arrive back home immediately, but the walk back should be peaceful, and with all that''s happened today, this small amount of respite would be soothing for their weary soul. Number 3 and Granny made some small talk along the way, while Aiden was focusing on the notifications of the system. While he didn''t gain as much from this whole ordeal as he had hoped, it was still rather fruitful. [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 25%] He was, however, thankful that Enya was working with him, and not against him, as when they crossed the dead body of the Worgen, she ced it into his inventory for further analysis, and hopefully, provide the maximum benefits for Aiden. Another thing that surprised him, was the fact that the system picked up on the type of magic Number 3 used during the fight. [Wind Magic discovered! Analyzing information 5%] ''Enya, I have to say, once again, I''m so d I have you. Sneakily picking up the dead body without them noticing it, was brilliant. Is there a way for the system to ess it from the inventory and see if there''s enough life essence left to be able to get that form?'' As usual, Enya''s response was almost instantaneous. [Yes. If you give the order, the system can start working on it. Keep in mind that the creature was a mutated one, so you might need to wait for a while before the system can give you an update.] ''That is fine, just let me know once you know something.'' [As you wish Aiden.] As the system started working on the information the deceased body could provide, he exited from his system and listened to the small-talk Granny and Number 3 had. Along the way, they all got to know each other a bit better, and finally got the figure''s name which to their surprise was very strange. She called herself ''Number '', third of the twelve executors under the Grandmaster. She didn''t say any more about this mysterious Grandmaster or the group she is a part of, nor about their goals. She also mentioned that as an executor she has rtively big freedom in how shepletes her missions. Only results matter, the way she achieves them, do not. The afternoon sun long shone its brightest by the time they arrived back to the hut, thest rays of the sun was slowly receding below the horizon. Lily slowly started regaining her consciousness, and groggily waking up. Realizing she is still being princess-carried, she let out a giggle and snuggled her face on his chest. Her low voice was only heard by Aiden. "Ehehehe I love you, brother!" Smiling, Aiden gave a kiss on her forehead, as he whispered to her. "Rest well big sis, we have just arrived back home. I will carry you to our room, and you can rest until dinner is ready. We will have a guest, but don''t bother with that for now, okay?" As she continued to snuggle, no words could be made out through her muffled mumbling, only the giggles she let out every now and then. It was way into the evening by the time dinner was ready, it was dark and eerie outside. Sitting around the table, Lily looked at the still cloaked figure and as she couldn''t really understand her reasoning, she asked confusedly. "Lady, why are you still having a cloak and that ugly mask? How will you eat if you can''t use your mouth? You could remove them, you will have a better time then!" Aiden startedughing hearing her innocent words, and even Granny let out a small chuckle before she cleared her throat. "Sorry for that, she is still a child. Please, don''t take offense for her words." Shaking her head, Number 3 answered. "No, it''s quite alright, she is right. I have no reason to hide anymore." Taking off her mask, and then hood, a dazzlingly beautiful face revealed itself. She had long, silky ck hair, that was mysteriously hiding behind the hood previously, and deep-sea blue eyes, that you could get lost for all eternity. Spotless bright skin it felt like an angel was amongst them, a perfect being. Looking at her, Lily as innocent as she was, gave voice for her admiration. "Woaah! Lady, you are sooo pretty!" "Thank you" smiling, she picked up a piece of meat and ced it on her te. "I know it''s not my ce to say this, but let''s eat, shall we?" Agreeing, they all started picking their favorites and started eating. Soon, the trays got reced with Lily''s favorite tarts, and some tea. cing down her cup, Granny looked at Number 3 and broke the silence. "Listen. I know your mission is above everything and all, but you see, we''re have no desire to cause harm, or do anything against you guys. We didn''t even know you existed till you showed up! However, what I would like to suggest is that we work together. You also saw the main issue with Aiden right now, his power. He has too much power and has no idea how to effectively use it, how to exert his strength in a proper manner. He also needs guidance, someone who could teach him the basics ofbat, and anything that I sadly cannot provide him with. What do you say?" Before Number 3 could react, Aiden looked her in the eye, and added. "What she says is true. I would be grateful if you could teach me. You can even report back to your Grandmaster and continue with your mission meanwhile, we will say nothing that you moved in, and started interacting with me." Lily also chimed in. "Yes! You could move in and be more effective in watching us! You could teach brother and do your job!" Listening to all of their arguments, she couldn''t help but sigh, and as her angelic face donned a gentle smile she nodded. "I can''t argue with you guys If you keep it a secret, let me continue report back regrly, and let me observe your brewing sessions, I am willing to stay and teach you both. But! You have to keep my presence here a secret, I will not show myself when you go back to the city, nor will I defend any of you there, and we will act like you don''t know anything about me, understood?" Chapter 44 - 44 - “Hell On Earth” It was just before the morning twilight when the door to our room was kicked open by a rtively young-looking woman, probably well into her thirties, though still keeping the ''candlelit''. Contrary to her usual attire, this time she was wearing simple, in coarse clothing. The white shirt she had was made of some rough material, it looked simple, peasant-like. Below that she had simple greyish-colored trousers, from the same material as her shirt. She was wearing wooden sandals on her feet. Her long, ck silky hair was made into one ponytail at the back of her head. She was wearing a strange ring on her left hand, that had a skull head as a symbol on it, with tiny green emerald-like eyes. She didn''t give us much time to gawk, as right after she kicked the door open and barged in, she also shouted. "Get up, youzy bums, naptime is over! Get to the backyard, your days of ying andzing around are gone, hell has ascended to this house! Training starts NOW! Both of you, get to the backyard, you have 5 minutes! Breakfast in 2, if you are not there you are not getting any!" With that said, the ''drill sarge'' turned around and left our room. Lily looked at me with her pleading eyes, as if I could do anything about our situation. This is something we wanted, we literally begged her to stay This is the result. Shaking my head, I had to bear the consequences of denying a request of the blonde little princess, as she pouted and grudgingly got up and stumbled her way towards the bathroom to wash up and get ready. Meanwhile, I checked my system, as I noticed a new notification in the system. [Mutated King of the ck Wolves carcass life essence extracted. Analyzing results] [Analyzisplete. Mutation found. Ratio: 20%. Analyzing mutation Estimated time forpletion: 21 hours 34 minutes 15 seconds] ''The mutation causes difficulties in synthesizing usable life essence to create a form for me to use?'' [Mutationsplicates things. Generally, they could be positive, or they could be negative. Even if you knew what mutation the creature had, be it positive or negative, it does not mean you will get the same one. Even the system will not be able to tell it to you 100%, it will give you a shortlist of what you can expect, and once you active the form for the first time and your life essencees into the mix, then will we know what you will be dealing with. However, for the time being, just let the system be, and get ready. If you wish to have breakfast that is, you have 20 seconds left from the 2-minute deadline Aiden.] Enya gave a long-winded answer. I have a feeling she did that deliberately just to screw with me. This system, or whatever she is, shows more emotions day-by-day. I''m not sure what she actually is, as she never answered that question clearly, only gave a vague answer that she is a ''higher existence''. Anyhow, I had no time to dwell on the matter as time was ticking and I still wasn''t ready. Quickly, while still donning my clothing, I rushed out of the room, half-ready, I didn''t want to miss the morning meal, especially if today''s gonna be hellish torture that this woman will be calling ''training''... --- After a rushed breakfast, and -to Lily''s great sorrow-, without any desserts, they were in the backyard, standing in front of Number 3 as she was sternly looking at them. "Listen kiddos. Today marks the day of a new beginning. Today is the day where we will break your frail minds and feeble bodies, and from the ashes... We will build up something spectacr. This will not be easy, you will experience more pain and suffering than anybody else, but! From this sweat and tears, you will build up the foundation of your future, you will be like the butterfly that just emerged from its cocoon." Giving a short pause, so both kids can process her speech, she only continued after about a minute. "A few yearster you will look back to this day with pride and happiness. Sure, you will hate me tonight, and maybe for the foreseeable future, but I assure you, this hate will transform into love. Now then, let''s get ready!" Without waiting for us to respond, she waved her hands in the air, and behind us, the air suddenly vibrated and visibly transformed. Before we knew it, a ck swirling mass of energy was behind us, looking very eerie and sounding very ominous. Looking behind us, we hesitantly asked, however, we both probably knew the answer... "What is this?" Briefly looking at the elderlydy, Number 3 snickered on the question before she answered. "d you asked! That is Aiden a Gate. It''s high-level space-type magic, and it will take you to a pocket dimension that Granny and myself created for youst night. Thatndscape will be your training grounds, you will spend your training there, unable toe back until youplete a trial. Before you go, there''s a few words of advice we will give you. Thatndscape will be hard, unforgiving, and brutal. There are monsters and mutated creatures everywhere that will test your every fiber. Both of you will need to learn to adapt to the situation and ovee the hurdles that ce will throw at you. Every trial youplete will open a portal that will take you back here to us, where you can spend the next day to refresh yourselves." She looked at Lily, who still hasn''t processed all that was happening to her today. Apassionate smile was visible on her face as she continued." All the tests are specially designed in a way that both of you will need to put in an equal amount of work to seed." Exhaling she stopped her speech. Granny stepped forward and as she patted Lily''s head to calm her, as she was visibly getting more and more shaken, Number 3 continued the briefing. "Our goal here is to train you so you will be able to face the dangers life will throw at you, together. Remember, you guys are a team, now and forever! We will not help you, we will note with you, but we will watch your every move and you can be sure that if you get into a situation where your life would be threatened, we will pull you out, ending this training prematurely. So calm down, and just look forward to the adventure you two will face together." She looked at Aiden, who was still standing expressionlessly watching both of Granny and Number 3. She whispered thest words so only he could hear them. "Aiden, I know you still haven''t used all of your abilities, as you are afraid to show them. However, at that ce, you will need to use everything you have to survive, don''t hold back, or you will hinder both your and Lily''s training. If you are afraid of us seeing you, don''t be, we will only be monitoring your life signatures, and not be visually there. Only Lily will see you, but I don''t think you have to be on guard against her." Aiden''s usually expressionless face morphed into one of shock as he processed Granny''sst words. If what she said is true, he will be able to use all of his abilities, and his forms to ovee all difficulties they will be facing on the other side. He was already thinking of ways to tell them his true nature, as although he is a dragon, but at the same time he is more, he is so much more Coughing to bring attention to herself, Number 3 looked at both kids. "With this, we said everything we needed to say. Although it might not mean much to you, but I hope one day you will understand it and will soar towards the sky as your potential unfolds. I hope you guys will seed and achieve everything you were meant to and even more. Now go and begin your training!" Although she wanted to say much more, in the end, she decided against it. They will understand one day, she was sure. --- As they crossed the portal, thendscape morphed and vibrated, as they felt like walking through a colorless tunnel made out of pure energy. They held hands as they walked forward, and after a few short seconds of a seemingly aimless walk, thendscape changed again. They were stunned at what greeted them. Lily, with a face full of worry, pulled Aiden''s hands and with a voice that was fighting against an erupting cry she asked: "Brother, what is this ce? What should we do now?" Looking at the distressed girl, Aiden had to fight against his rising anger. He had to fight against it, everything here was devised for them. It was not created for leisure, but to train them, to make them stronger as both individuals and as a team. Signing, he answered the girl. "This? This is literally Hell on Earth" Chapter 45 - 45 - “That Dog Is On Fire!” Looking around thendscape, the phrase "Hell on Earth" was probably the best description Aiden coulde up with. The color palette changed, now it was dominated by the various shades of red, the air was tinted with a lighter variation, with the asional dark red fluff-s floating high above, probably functioning as the local variant of clouds. The barren teau they arrived at, was of a dark color, almost ck, with a slight red hue going through it. To the north, at the distance, the edges of an unknown forest could be seen. To the south, opposite from the forest, he could see a long mountain line functioning as a sort of barrier, marking the very end of this ''world''. To their left and right, Aiden could see nothing as far as his eyes could go. All-in-all, the whole ce seemed huge, bigger than he anticipated when he heard that this was specially created overnight, just for them. Looking at the still visibly shaken girl, he decided to give her a little push and let her decide their first destination. "Hey big sis, since you are the older, wiser of us, where would you want to go first?" Startled by the sudden question and responsibility, Lily looked up at Aiden and timidly answered. "I-I don''t know! Everything is so scary! I just wanna go home" Patting her head, Aiden meekly tried to soothe the young girl''s troubled heart. "Lily, the ce looks scary because they want us to grow up and be strong. We have to be strong if we don''t want bad things to happen to us anymore. You want to be protected, or you want to be the one that protects what''s dear to your heart? You have to decide now and pick the road towards that goal!" Hearing Aiden''s words, Lily closed her eyes, and balled her fists. After a good minute of silence, she finally exhaled, and as she opened her eyes, the newborn sparks of determination could be seen. Raising her balled right fist to the air, she looked at it, and with a cute, yet determined voice she eximed. "You are right brother! I am the big sister, I need to be responsible! I don''t want to be protected all my life, I should be able to do that. I need to protect Granny and my brother." As if not noticing that the one he is talking about is standing right next to her, she continued with this newfound zeal. "Mostly brother, he can be stupid sometimes, but he has a big heart, and I love him!" Smiling wryly, Aiden simply rewarded the girl''s exmation with a few head pats, that was received with some giggles. Only after she received her just reward, did she continue. "To answer your earlier question brother, we should head towards that forest in the distance. I have this weird tingly feeling that something important to us is there. Maybe there''s the first test?" "Hmm... you could be right for what we know. I doubt we have anything to do with the mountain line to the south, and towards our east and west, we know nothing of. Judging from what we know of this ce currently, our best option is to go towards that forest and gather more information as we go. Good job, Lily!" as a reward he patted her head again which was, once again received with a few delighted giggles. With their direction picked, hands held, they started making their way through the deste red teau towards their destination. --- "Are you sure, this was the best way to train them? Sending them away to a pocket dimension filled with horrors, and ruin the next few years of their childhood? Lily has been through a lot already" said Granny with a voice full of worry as she was still looking at the spot where both kids vanished from. Sighing, Number 3 shook her head as she answered. "*Sigh*, I know this looks very cruel from the outside, but believe me that this is exactly what they need. If you continue to shelter and protect that little girl, she will never be able to grow up and move past her trauma. She needs to face her demons head-on and learn how to ovee them. She also has Aiden with her, and if worstes to worst, we can pull them out anytime." "Yes, that''s true. I still worry though. It''s still too sudden. A day ago we didn''t really know who you were, we just knew that you were always here, watching our every move. In fact, it was Aiden who convinced me that you are not a bad person and have no ill will against us. *sigh* That boy is something else" "That he is Come to think of it, what IS he exactly? I''m sure he is not an ordinary human, but I also don''t think he is a dragon either. Dragons of his age shouldn''t be able to take on human forms However, that Aura from back then, that was something I only felt once, and that was from Dragon Royalty. Is he some sort of hybrid?" Granny looked at Number 3, and with the gentle smile on her face emerging, recing the worry, she answered. "To be honest I don''t know. My best guess is that he is some sort of Ancient Dragon, he just ''hatched'' from his egg less than a month ago. It was in a crater next to the riverbed in the forest. Might be that something destroyed the area around it, and as a result, leave some sort of hibernation prison that it was ced in I don''t exactly know, but what I know is that he has incredible power still sleeping untapped within him, waiting from him to wake it up. Once he manages to control that power of his It''s gonna be spectacr" "Ancient Dragon you say? Hmm... " Creasing her brows and caressing her chin, she submerged into deep thought. Several minutes of silence passed before she continued. "I''m not entirely sure, but maybe you are right. There are no records that describe Ancient Dragons, after all, they have Ancient in their names for a reason. It''s just I have this feeling, that maybe, just maybe he is something more, so much more" Then turning her head to face Granny, she asked. "By the way, did you see him fight? How is it?" "Yes, we went hunting for wolves once, as since we took him in, he preferred meat over anything else. That''s the part that puzzled me the most, he is not picking the food he eats based on taste, but on how much it can fill him, or something simr. He never really exined, but from when he first arrived, he tasted everything then settled on the meat eventually, since then he exclusively ate only meat during every meal." Said Granny. Listening to what she said, Number 3 answered after some thinking. "He is picking food based on how much energy it contains. Interesting... Anyways, tell me about how he fought during the hunt!" "He had no real fighting style, he fought with instinct. Duringbat he seemed to be able to control the transformation and restrict it only to his hands, turning them into ws. Using his ws, he simply tore through all the wolves." answered Granny. "Hmm, I see. If that''s true, then once they get back from their first trial, we will need to do some adjustments in the pocket world, alter it a bit" Then, turning around, she started walking back to the house. A few steps in, she stopped and waved back towards Granny. "Come, let''s get inside. There''s no use standing here, it will be a few days at least before they get back, maybe even a month" Sighing, Granny turned around as well and started walking inside. She couldn''t help but worry about both of them, but especially for Lily, as she is still just a small girl with a great trauma guing her heart Hopefully, she will be able to conquer her fears, and grow strong and could proudly stand beside Aiden --- Back to the duo in the pocket world, after a long and arduous walk through the dead teau, they finally arrived at the edges of the forest. Looking inside, it looked eerie. Same to everything here, the red color dominated the entirety, as if this whole world was deliberately painted in the color of blood just to rattle the calmest of minds, set in that never-ceasing uneasiness. Gulping, Lily shook her head, then, looking at Aiden, with the same determination she had before, she said. "Okay brother, let''s go, we have to be brave! Let''s explore this forest, and hopefully, we can gather some more clues about our whereabouts!" Without waiting for his answer, she started marching ahead. Smiling at this event, Aiden quickly followed along A few minutes and only a few hundred meters into the depths they suddenly heard a howl that gave both of them the chills, just ahead of them, through the dense scrubs. Aiden ced his hands on Lily''s shoulders and gently pulled her back, behind him. "Stay behind me, and let me check what that was, okay?" Not letting herself be protected and staying helpless anymore, she shook her head, and passed Aiden, making her way through the shrubs. "No brother, I can''t always stay behind helplessly. I have to be strong, I have to-" She stopped abruptly as what she saw when she peeked through stunned her. Ahead, in a small clearing, looking at them and growling a big ck dog covered in mes stood still. However, despite how it looked, the mes didn''t seem to hurt the creature at all "Look, brother, that dog is on fire!" Chapter 46 - 46 - Facing Your Fears Lily''s newfound and seemingly unswerving determination sadly onlysted until she met the first scary-looking monster in this hellish ce. Fear quickly set in, overwhelming herpletely, making her frozen on the spot. As the scarlet eyes gazed on her, she felt as if the monster was looking deep inside her heart and pulling out the strings of fear, and doubt, turning her legs wobbly and smearing water on the corner of her eyes. Not daring to take a step further, she gulped and stuttered in a weak voice. "B-b-brother help meee! I-i-i don''t know w-w-what to do!" Standing next to her, Aiden put his hands on Lily''s shoulders and smiled. Then he stepped out of the shrubs and faced the hound face to face, focusing his mind on his [Dragon''s Wrath] ability. He actually wanted to work on the transformation and get to know it more during his time in this pocket world, so he wouldn''t face such embarrassing moments like before. Focusing his will, he forced his transformation only on his hands. Lily watched as Aiden''s hands morphed, growing golden scales, his thin fingers changed, became meatier and as they grew huge, thick ck ws at their fingertips. Suddenly a simple bow and a quiver full of arrows appeared on the ground in front of Lily, catching her off-guard and surprising her momentarily. "Pick up your weapon big sis. I stored your weapons for you, but now it will be your job to carry them and assist me. We are supposed to be a team, remember? Let''s defeat this enemy together!" Puzzled she looked at Aiden and was about to ask what he meant about ''stored'', but thening back to her senses, instead she just looked at the weapon tailored for her on the ground. She really wanted to know more about this ''storing'' he mentioned though and made a mental note to ask it if Aiden will not give an answer. Looking at the weapon in front of her in the ground, she smiled and picked it up. No, she can''t always hide behind the back of her brother and Granny all the time! She wanted to be standing WITH them, not behind their backs. She wanted the two of them, brother and sister to be a true team, a team that would help each other and works together to ovee any obstacles, and not just rely on Aiden to save her all the time. ''I''m not gonna be scared all the time, I will not let anybody else be hurt because they were protecting me! I''m not gonna lose brother, no that''s not gonna happen! Pick up the weapon you scaredy-cat!'' She berated herself inwardly. Shaking her head, she picked up the quiver and ced it on her back, then pulled out one arrow as she readied the bow. Meanwhile, Aiden already engaged the hound. The terrifying-looking animal wasn''t that difficult to ovee, but he was keeping an eye on Lily, and seeing that her eyes cleared, he wanted her to kill the beast to anchor her determination and shoo away the fear once and for all. This symbolic victory would be the anchor, the moment she could always return to when she would feel doubt set in her heart. This would be ''...the first trial!'' Aiden eximed inwardly. He just realized that most likely Granny and Number 3 ce this beast here to rattle the girl''s frail mind and make sure with his help she would ovee her inner demons and be much stronger. Smiling, Aiden kept blocking the beast''s attempts at wing and biting on his flesh, while also doing light scratches on its body, just to keep it upied, and to slowly drain his stamina. Seconds felt minutes as he was waiting for Lily to shoot the arrow. ''Come on shoot it Lily You can do it'' Aiden muttered to himself. He couldn''t look back or voice it out loud, this was something Lily had to do herself --- Holding her breath as her mother once taught her, Lily aimed at the head and pulled the bowstring until it stretched. ''With this, I am no longer what I was. Let this arrow be the start of the new and strong Lily!'' Finished with her self-motivational chant, she let go of the string and watched as the arrow flew straight to its intended destination piercing the unsuspecting beast in the left eye and settling its tip deep into its brain, ending the creature''s life in an instant. Blood, mixed with brain tissue spewed out of the point of impact, spurting a little bit of it on Aiden''s arms and chest, as he jumped back. Transforming his hands back to normal, he turned around and while still smiling, he looked at Lily. "Big sis, you could have aimed at somewhere else and stille out victorious. You just had to aim at the one spot where I would be covered with this goo!" Giggling, Lily stuck out her tongue and cheekily replied. "Blee! That was the easiest spot to prate! And you deserved it for being a meanie!" "Oh really?! Well then, let me give you a bit of the victory juice!" He smeared a bit on his hands and ran towards Lily. "E, don???t smudge that icky goo on me Waaaaaa!" Lily started running the opposite direction while giggling loudly. The chasested for several minutes, but in the end, both of them were smeared all over and were sprawled out on the ground, happily resting. Turning his head towards Lily, Aiden gave her a genuine smile as he addressed her. "I''m proud of you big sis. You sessfully ovee your demons, and as a result, you are so much stronger!" Looking at his brother, Lily felt overwhelming happiness bubbling from the depths of her heart, rapidly healing the holes that her troubled past left there. Alongside this happiness, she also felt the first seedlings of pride, a feeling that she never felt before. She was happy and proud that she finally managed to be useful, and instead of being the one hiding in the back, she faced the danger together with her beloved brother! This was a feeling she wanted to experience more from now on. While she knew she will have to work hard, -at this moment-, Lily wouldn''t mind fighting even gods if she would face it together with Aiden! "Ehehehe" a weak and tired giggle was the only thing that left her mouth, as she closed her eyes. Aiden looked at the tired girl briefly, then turned his attention to the starless scarlet sky. Sighing, he continued. "You know, I have a feeling this was the first trial or at least a part of it. You had to face a challenge and grew much stronger as a result. I''m just not sure if that was all, or there''s something more... You faced your fears" As hemented on the battle, he suddenly realized. ''That''s it! That must be it! It has to be!'' Before Aiden could continue with this train of thought, Enya''s mature voice resounded in his head. [Before you do something you might regretter, think it over once more. You should not put the girl in unnecessary danger by telling her everything about yourself.] Closing his eyes in the outside world, he ''descended'' to his soul space, and faced the light that symbolized Enya. Frowning, he asked. ''What should I do then? To ovee this trial, I have to be able to trust the one who''s most important to me. I have to talk to Lily and tell her I''m not a dragon that everybody seems to think, but instead I''m something else.'' [Aiden, that doesn''t mean you have to burden her with such heavy baggage. Think it through. The Primals have disappeared many, many millennia ago. Telling her will not give you relief and will not provide you any benefits. Also, she probably has no idea what a Primal is even if you tell it to her and you will just confuse her.] ''What should I do then?! I can''t keep her in the dark, I have to tell her something! I will need to use this time we have in this pocket world to get familiar with my shapeshifting abilities. I can''t keep using the ws for everything, I would be wasting this golden opportunity'' [You should tell her some of the truth, but not everything. Tell her that you are something more than a dragon, something ancient, something long forgotten. Tell her that you can change your body of the foes you conquered but that you can only maintain that form for a short duration. That is something that she will not question, as there are a few individuals capable of simr feats. While it is not the whole truth, it will be sufficient to ovee the test, while also protecting her. Make sure you also tell her to keep this an absolute secret, even from the other two, even from Granny! She is much more than you think...] ''Much more? What do you mean?'' [Not important currently. Go now and talk to the little girl!] as Enya finished, she forcibly expelled Aiden''s presence from his soul space. Opening his eyes, he groaned, but at the next moment, he turned his attention towards the still resting girl, looking at her dozing off and sleeping without a care in the world returned the smile to his face. ''This girl'' Chapter 47 - 47 - "Can You Turn Into A Cute Rabbit?" Slowlying back to reality from thend of dreams, Lily opened her eyes. Stretching her arms and yawning, she slowly turned to her side only to see that Aiden was sitting and looking at her with his stupidly charming, gentle smile. "Ah, did you rest well big sis? The trial must have tired you out, you have slept for quite a while!" "I-i did? I thought ehrm, I just wanted to close my eyes a bit and follow your example" she sheepishly said. "Oh yes, you slept for 2 full hours. You know, sleeping in an unknown ce is not safe, if we would have been out deep in the forest, this could have been a grave mistake" Aiden lightly berated her. She had to understand that such actions while not harmful currently, could prove to be a fatal mistake in the future. She had to learn from such mistakes, as that was the goal of this entire training exercise. "Sorry brother" she answered, feeling embarrassed, casting down her eyes, not daring to look at his brother at all. Standing up, Aiden walked over to her and patted her head. "It''s good if you understand. Don''t be so sad..." Helping her stand up, he sighed and continued. "Look, this was your test, but my portion still remains. I have to tell you something important about myself. However, please listen to me when I say, it is important that you keep what I tell you to yourself, and NEVER tell anybody! Can you promise me this?" Looking in his eyes, Lily knew that whatever Aiden is trying to say, it is incredibly important to him. Not wanting to disappoint her dear brother, she held his hands in hers and nodded. "Yes, brother. Whatever you want to say, it will be our secret. Nobody can force me to betray your trust, I will carry it with me forever, never to tell anybody unless you tell me to!" "Thank you Lily. I''m" he faltered, he couldn''t find the right words to say. Sighing, he looked her in the eye, and after a few brief moments, he said. "...I''m not just a dragon. I''m something else, something moreHere, let me show it to you." Taking a step back, he closed his eyes, and at the same time, he gave themand to the system. ''Enya, it should be fast since I already mastered it, right?'' [That is not entirely true Aiden. If you mastered the form, acquired all that it could provide you with, and if the form is of the same tier or lower than yours, you will be able to transform into it without initiating the Morphing process. However, if the form you are trying to transform into is of a higher tier, even if you mastered it, then the standard procedure will be required.] ''I understand. For now, please turn me into my Cave Viper form.'' [Understood Aiden.] Light shrouded Aiden''s body, briefly blocking the view. Using her hands, Lily instinctively protected her eyesight with her hands. After a few short seconds, the light faded, allowing her to look at her brother or in reality nothing as she could no longer see her brother in front of her. "Brother, where are you?" Scared if she suddenly lost him, she looked around nervously, only to see a yellow snake on the ground, where previously Aiden was. Confused, she crouched down, and looked at ''neer'' not understanding what was happening at all Seeing the confused look on her face, Aidenughed inside his mind. Sadly, in this form, he was limited regarding how he could express himself. He had however one idea, and with that, he slithered towards Lily, and as she was still crouched on the ground, she coiled up around her from her legs, all the way onto her hands. There, he looked up at his big sis, and just stood still, looking at her, waiting for her reaction. Lily couldn''t really process what was happening currently and was just frozen stiff, with the sudden turn of events. A moment ago, Aiden said he wanted to show it to her what he really is, and then some weird light shone around his body, blocking her sightpletely. As the light faded, and she could once again look at him, he was gone, but a new creature appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Sadly, in her confusion the fact that this could be Aiden, didn''t even appear in her mind, she couldn''t process the events at all. She looked at the snake as it rested on her palms, not sure what to do. Confused, and to calm her troubled heart, she spoke to the snake, not sure what to expect. "Do you know where my brother went, little snake? He was here a moment ago..." Not expecting an answer, she was about to look around, when she saw the snake fervently nodding his head. Stunned, she gazed at the creature once again, and leaning close, she continued trying to probe for information. "You do? Where is he! Please point in a direction! I have to find him, he may be in trouble!" The response confused her once again, as the snake, using his tail simply pointed at himself. "Huh? I don''t understand Why are you pointing on yours-" Suddenly the realization hit her. "What?! Aiden? How...What Can you change yourself back, or do you need me to help you with something?" The snake nodded his head, as if to say "Yes, I can", then slithered down from her palm back to the ground and created a bit of space between them. Looking her in the eye, the snake suddenly was encased in the familiar ck shell that Lily saw back at the river when they found Aiden. This was enough to assure her that this little creature is, in fact, her brother. She sat down in front of the cocoon and patiently waited for her brother to emerge once again, this time, in his ''regr'' form. It took almost a full minute before the shell started to crack, and the simrly blinding light shone through the cracks. As more and more cracks started to appear, the blinding light once again blocked her eyesight. Shielding it, it took a few moments for it to settle down. Once it did, a familiar figure, her beloved brother stood in front of her. She immediately stood up, and bolted into his embrace, snuggling against his chest. "Ehehehe Don''t scare me like that brother!" Patting her head, Aiden looked at Lily, and smiled. "There, there I did say I will show it to you, didn''t I? As I''m sure you have guessed it by now, I can change my body freely, and take on the shapes of the creatures I have defeated." While this wasn''t entirely true, it was the easiest way to exin it to her. Aiden wasn''t sure how deep her knowledge is about the various essences surrounding them. He will tell her one day, but for now, this was the perfect solution in his mind Her eyes lighting up, she looked up at her while with bubbling passion, she asked. "Oooooh, and what other animals you can copy? Can you turn into a cute rabbit?" "Not currently, sorry. I can turn into a tiny little bug, but that''s not really helpful. If you would like I can try to learn that formter" Lily nodded her head with fervent passion glimmering in her eyes. "Yes! YES! YES! YES! Please do it!" Smiling, he reassured her. "Sure, once we get the chance." Then the smile receded from his face, and with a stern expression, he looked her in the eye as he continued. "But please, remember, this is our secret, never tell anyone, nobody can know about this! It is very important!" Still in his brother''s embrace, her glimmering eyes showed determination as she responded. "You can count on me brother! This is our secret!" Then realizing something, her giggles resurfaced. You know brother, this is our first secret! Something that only we know about!" Aiden was about to respond when suddenly the air in front of them started to vibrate, and the magical essences in the air started to glimmer as a ck portal, simr to the one they entered here opened up. "Heh, I knew this was the first test. Look at it Lily, we passed the first trial and we can go back and rest as a reward!" "Woah, we were so fast. We just arrived a few hours ago! Ehehehe, this is awesome!" Lily eximed. Separating herself from his chest, she held his hand and walked forward. "Come let''s go home, follow your big sister!" Aiden couldn''t help but silently smile as he followed along and they both stepped into the ck swirling mass of energy. --- Back in the forest, in the backyard, Both Granny and Number 3 were already standing and looking at a particr spot. Number 3 broke the silence first. "They havepleted their first challenge. Huh, such speed... I was expecting that it would take at least a few days, not just a few hours! You were right, these kids are indeed incredible." "I know. But, are you really going to let them rest for a full day?" Number 3 looked at Granny, and a cheeky smile crept up on her face. "Oh, I have so much in store for them for tomorrow. There''s no rest during training! Inside the pocket dimension, they can train their bodies and prepare their minds to face the various challenges, but back here, they will have to do something I''m sure they will hate more than anything" "And what is that?" asked Granny, however she had a faint idea what Number 3 had in store for the kids. "Hehe they will have to study!" Chapter 48 - 48 - Teenagers In a world that was brought to existence and filled with all kinds of life, just for the sole purpose of providing a means to an end, to train 2 individuals. In this very ne, on a dead teau, at the very edges of the Southern Ridge, 2 teenagers could be seen sitting around a small campfire. 1 boy and 1 girl. The girl, who had features of 2 races mixed together, some elf and some human, was currently roasting a piece of meat. She looked around 14 years old, with long blonde hair held together in a ponytail at the back of her head. Her mesmerizing deep blue eyes were currently focused on making sure the slice of meat will be cooked equally on all sides. She wanted to be sure that the meat is perfect. She was undoubtedly a perfectionist and would be unable to forgive herself if the dinner she made for her brother wouldn''t be the best she could provide. "Just a few more minutes and its ready brother!" she eximed happily. She was obviously Lily, the blonde pig-tailed ever-happy, however deep-down, the troubled little girl. Her voice matured a lot over the years they spent in this hellish ce. Well, not just her voice her mentality and her demeanor also. She was no longer hunted by the nightmares, the trauma of the past. Ever since they passed the first test, something changed. With the help of her brother, she could finally move on. She stood up to turn the meat once more, so both sides could be roasted. She knew her brother preferred both sides roasted crispy. Not too much, so the insides are still full of their delicious nutrients! As was often the case she jumped up, still as energetic as she was when they started their training all those years ago. Her two moderately sized, -considering her age-, and still growing mounds, the prime examples of her defiance to her elven heritage followed along and shook under the cover of the thin cotton fabric of her white shirt. Below that, the ck trousers did little to hide her toned legs and her toned little buttocks. She was already a dazzling beauty, that many men would drool over if they could just so much as steal a nce at her. Seeing her careless attitude, the boy sighed. "Don''t jump so carelessly Lily. Remember to act like a properdy. If you behave like this when we get back, you know people will look at you." Giggling, she looked at her brother, and in her every-happy soft voice, she replied. "Aww it''s just us brother, what''s the worst that could happen? Just rest a bit more and give me a few more minutes to cook dinner. It''s almost ready!" Silently shaking his head on her response, he closed down his eyelids, hiding his golden eyes. Simr to her sister, he looked to be around 14 years old. He had long ck hair held together in a ponytail simrly to her sister. Although he was currently meditating, you could still make out most of his body features. He was most likely taller than Lily, probably around 6''-6''1" feet tall while Lily was more like a 5''7". (A/N.: 185 and 173 cm, the bad and dated measurement system from the US fits better here. :) ) His body was toned, and while he wasn''t too buffed, his lean muscles could be seen all over his body. Especially since he wasn''t wearing any shirts currently. It was ced next to him over a rack closer to the fire, to dry it. His creole skin, shined in bronze as the light from the crackling fire gleamed on it, making a tantalizing scene. He was none other than Aiden. With his eyes closed, he was currently focusing on his system. Over the years he gained a number of benefits and managed to gain important breakthroughs. He opened up the status screen and looked at his statistics with a smile on his face. [Name: Aiden Race: Primal (Evolver) Form: Ancient Dragon (Tier 3) Level: 10/100 (450/800 XP) Condition: 100% Soul Power: 500 Experience: 0 XP Might: 30 (0/500 XP) Agility: 30 (0/500 XP) Spirit: 35 (0/500 XP) Innates: Dragon''s Wrath (Level 2) (0/1000 XP), King''s Grip (Level 1) (0/100 XP), Shapeshifter (Level 1 - 0/5000 XP) Skills: Primal Absorb (Level 1) (50/100 XP), Hunt (level 3 - 10/100 XP), Martial Arts (level 3 - 0/100 XP), Underwater Breathing (level 1), Swimming (level 1), Language: Common (-) Under Analysis: Rune Magic - Current Progress: 80%, Alchemy (Basic) - Current Progress: 50%, Sword Mastery - Current Progress: 20%, Wind Magic - Current Progress 5% Effects: Blessing of Ioris (-), Physical Resistance (level 4 - 0/100 XP), Fall Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 XP), Water Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 XP), Poison Resistance (level 2 - 25/100 XP), Psychic Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 XP)] He still couldn''t believe all the changes he has gone through. During his time here, he learned how to control histest form, the Mutated Worgen, not to mention even mastering it! The mutation he got was sadly something he expected but hoped against, the ck smoke, that was now called the "[King''s Grip]" by the System. Against most creatures this was a highly effective tool, clouding their senses, and dulling their minds, making them a drooling mess. It made hunting a child''s y. The best thing about the skill, however, was that ever since he mastered the form, he gained this mutation as an Innate, meaning he could use it outside of his Worgen form! Another very important addition to his inmates was the arrival of the [Shapeshifter]. This was a passive skill, meaning it was always active and provided him with its benefits day and night. The skill basically allowed him to change his form at a moment''s notice, to any of the mastered ones. He could freely change his form in a second as long as he mastered it. For forms that he did not master yet, but had some knowledge about it, such as his Ancient Dragon form, he still needed some time, depending on the tier. For example, if he wanted to revert back to his Ancient Dragon form inbat from his Worgen form, he would need a full minute, and the system would ce him into the familiar ck cocoon, that Lily jokingly nicknamed Aiden''s ''Baby form''. He didn''t progress on his Fusion since he did not find his only choice with the Worgen useful in any way. Unfortunately, their years spent hunting beasts in the Pocket World did not help Aiden broaden his options in the Fusion menu in his System. The beasts in this magnificent but sadly fake world are all a product of magic, therefore they do not have any Life Essence. Over the years, he also gained a few benefits from the outside. Every time they managed toplete a challenge, they would spend a few days outside studying various arts from Number 3, who got pretty close to them as well. They no longer thought of her as an outsider, but instead, she was somewhat of a mother-/master-figure to both Aiden and Lily. A harsh teacher no doubt, but also a caring and kind person at the same time. He also started and continued his studies on a number of subjects. Whenever he had the chance, he would learn Alchemy and would continuously study the Rune Magic that Granny used. Number 3 focused on practicalbat skills, such as Martial Arts, which was a great addition to his repertoire giving him great finesse into his previously brute and feral battle style. He had also started learning how to handle the sword, but still had a long way to go. Last but not least he also increased his reserves substantially, his Soul Power was now at a staggering 500, which was 10 times what he had when he first ventured into this world. This was the result of the continuous pressure he put his reserves to, whenever he used his Innate abilities. Closing the screen, he looked at the translucent female figure inside his Soul Space. This otherworldly being was none other than Enya, who also gained a few updates during their time. She now had a body, although it wasn''t exactly material, more of a spiritual one, it was still a huge change, nheless. She was 5''9", a bit shorter than Aiden, but with a very mature curvy figure. She had long silky golden hair, and golden eyes, the same as him. She was wearing a long ck robe with golden lines sewn into it, but that still couldn''t fully hide her generous feminine shapes. The golden dragon-head symbol on the front of the robe, was almost indecipherable, as the two huge dangling mountains on her chest transformed it to an almost unrecognizable state. They both smiled while looking at each other, and it was Enya who spoke first. [Aiden, are you ready? This will be thest and most likely the deadliest trial you both will face. Even with your current strength, you might not be able to muscle your way through. Remember the previous tests, all of them were designed that both you and Lily faced simr dangers.] ''I know. We spent so many years here, and we finally arrived at this moment! We can''t back down now. And remember, if we were to die, Master and Granny would immediately pull us back. There''s no real danger.'' After they returned from the rest, they earned forpleting their 5th trial, Aiden started referring to Number 3 as Master. While technically it wasn''t wrong, as she was the one that taught him, it was still something that Enya did not like. They still do not know that woman''s true intentions, and without that knowledge, she felt that cing such high trust in her is a mistake. However, as every time she brought it up, Aiden would just shrug it off, she decided to keep these thoughts to herself, and just make sure that when (and if) the timees, she will be vignt... Chapter 49 - 49 - The Night Before... Opening his eyes Aiden silently looked at Lily, who has just finished cooking and was now setting up their dishes, while humming that unfamiliar song she always seems to do so. He did try asking once about it when they were younger and was told that she herself doesn''t know what it is, it was just some tune that her mother used to often sing. Looking at her, he just silently smiled and continued his mediation. Lily noticed that Aiden woke up, but as he himself decided to go back and meditate, she decided not to bother him for a few more minutes as she prepared the food. She still preferred sweets over everything, but over the years spent in this ce, she came to like other stuff as well. One example was the same types of meat that her dear brother loved so much. There were days, even months at a time when they had nothing but what they hunted during the day. Their times back home with Granny and Number 3 were mere fleeting momentspared to the seemingly eternity they spent in this ce. During those ''fleeting moments'' they were mostly forced to study various subjects by Number 3, who she hated at first, but over the years as she realized how caring and kind she actually is, she came to like her more and more. What surprised her more was that Aiden started calling her ''master'' on multiple asions, stunning everyone who heard it... Anyways, during those fleeting moments back at home, they indeed hadvish dinners and Granny always surprised them with fresh baking of her favorite tarts. Those dinners were the best rewards they could have received after every trial, every test, and hurdle they passed. The tests were designed in a way that both of them had to participate and face simr dangers. They had to work together to conquer the obstacle that was in front of them. So far, counting the very first day they arrived, they faced and passed nine trials. That meant they had 9 delicious and filling meals over the years After a few minutes, she finished setting up, and looked at Aiden before eliciting her cheerful smile, and called for him. "Brother, it''s time to wake up, dinner is ready! Let''s eat!" With that said, she picked up her te and started munching on her portion of the meat that was simrly cooked like Aiden''s with some berry''s that they found edible after testing nearly every other nt in this world. It had a simr taste to the ck currant, and it was simrly colored as well. All other nts they tried were either poisonous or tasted and smelled so bad they just couldn''t stomach them. Another positive im for these berries was the fact that they were energy-rich. When Aiden tested them, he said they provide almost as much energy as the meat they ate it with, effectively doubling the amount they could replenish with no extra effort. Since then, they both ate a portion of these berries as a sort of garnish for the main course. Aiden opened up his eyes once again and silently nodded while standing up and walking closer to the bonfire. Sitting down with his te in his hands, he looked at Lily who also looked at him with a slight blush creeping up on her face. "Thank you for preparing the dinner once again big sis." He knew that she loved it when he called her ''big sis'', something she first said to him back when he joined the family. Upon being called big sis, the blush became a tad bit more visible on her cheeks, and as to regain herposure, she averted her eyes, while muttering an almost inaudible "Stupid brother!" Oblivious to her raging emotions and thoughts, Aiden started munching on his food while thinking about tomorrow. They nned to ascent the mountains, the ce where thest trial should be taking ce. This was the only ce they haven''t investigated yet, as the mountainside was steep and dark red colored clouds raged wars with the environment constantly, hurdling simrly colored lightning bolts to the rocks and its inhabitants. It was several thousand meters high, and with no other ways to gather information, they will have to climb without any idea of what they will face along the way. Trusting his instincts as it never failed him over the years, he knew that there will be grave dangers ahead. "Khm..." coughing lightly to change the mood, Aiden continued. "We have a big challenge awaiting us tomorrow. Fill your belly and try to rest up as much as possible Lily. We head out to ascend the mountain tomorrow early morning. I''m not sure how long it would take or if we will have any rest along the way, so make sure you recharge as much as possible, okay?" Facing her brother and listening to her words, a thought crossed her mind, causing the return of the rosy color of her cheeks. Embarrassed she faced the ground, and with a low voice, she mumbled. "If... that''s the case, would you mind letting me recharge a little bit of my supply of THAT as well? Just a little bit" Confused he looked at her and asked. "Ehrm, what are you referring to Lily, What supp-" he suddenly realized what she was referring to, giving him a troubled look. "Really? But I still don''t understand what supply does that give" Seeing her downcast look upon hearing his words, Aiden sighed, and stood up, moving closer to Lily. "*Sigh* If that is what you want, I will not deny it from you. But just one this time, okay?" Hearing the response she was hoping for, her distress immediately faded away as if it was never even there to begin with, and jumped up while bolting towards her brother, with her trademark happy giggle. "Ehehe, one is fine! I would be recharged and ready to face even the gods themselves tomorrow, I promise!" Then she jumped to his embrace and sped her hands together behind his neck. Demanding the reward she wanted, she looked him in his mesmerizing golden eyes. "Now give me my reward brother!" Aiden smiled, and moved his face closer to hers, and gave a small peck on her cheek. The small rosy color on Lily''s cheeks became bright red, almost as if they wanted to make her cute cheeks their permanent residence. Only the sound of her breathing could be heard for several, long seconds. Only after about a minute did she reluctantly let go. The bright red blush on her face still visible, she looked at Aiden, and after a few breaths of time, she thanked him. "Thank you for that brother. You know that is my favorite reward! With this, I''m SOOO recharged we could go and climb that stupid mountain right now!" Smiling at her boasting, Aiden patted her head as that was usually their ritual before ending the day. "Go and rest well. Get recharged, who knows what awaits us tomorrow!" Lily nodded and raised her right hand in the air with her fists balled. "Yes! Let''s finish this trial, and leave this ce once and for all!" Then as they both got on their little makeshift beds on the grounds, they looked at each other onest time as they wished good night to each other. Both of them quickly got asleep, and while they looked careless, Aiden''s Dark Sense was now passively running all the time, even without him focusing on it. Over the years this has be an almost passive function. He had to be constantly aware of their surroundings after all --- Back in the real world, in the little hut, and elderlydy tattered in ragged clothing and a mature female beauty in an average, housewife-looking cotton clothing were sitting in their chairs in front of the firece, watching the crackling fire as they both sipped on their tea. The elderlydy looked at the mature woman, and after cing her pot on the table, she asked with slight worry visible in her tone. "Tomorrow they will start to climb the mountain Do you think they will be okay?" Sipping onest time, before cing the pot on the table, the maturedy looked at the elder and gently smiled. "No need to worry, you know if something bad happens we can always bring them back in a moment''s notice. Besides, they both performed brilliantly thest 9 times." Looking at her, the elder looked at the mature woman and mockingly remarked. "Sure, you are calm now, but I wonder what you would do if HE would be in danger He already calls you ''master''! Don''t think I haven''t noticed how happy you were when he said it thest time they were back!" Looking at the fire, the maturedy smiled at the memory. "Yes Looking back, I never knew this is how we will end up. You know, I hadn''t been sure for a long time, that joining you and helping these children get stronger was a wise decision, and if I would be called back by the Grandmaster" Looking at her, the elderlydy asked. "And now? What do you think about them now?" Still looking at the fire, she sighed before answering. "Now? They mean the world to me" Chapter 50 - 50 - …the Climb Whether you like it or not, the next morning will alwayse, to rece the night. It''s a never-ending cycle. This is the same in the pocket world that was artificially created through mastery of various space, time, and most like other magicws. Although to be fair, talking about day and night at this ce would be a bit of an exaggeration, there''s not much difference. The sky is still red, just a shade lighter than a few hours ago. As usual Lily was the first to wake up. Yawning cutely and as quietly as possible not to disturb her still sleeping brother, she got up and stretched her limbs while walking towards the still crackling fire. One positive about this ce is that the wood here can fuel a fire for much longer than on the outside. She added a new piece of wood to make sure that the flickering mes can go on their crackling rampage, so she could cook a filling breakfast. As she usually does, she picked up two small slices of meat that they prepared the previous night and skewered it with the same twig she used during dinner. Sadly, since they have no spices here, and all the vegetation they tried were god-awful, she was simply roasting the meat to give them that crispy feel that they both liked. She knew that Aiden would probably wake up in the next half hour, which was the perfect timeframe to get everything ready. While the food was getting ready, she picked up thest bits of the berries and created two equal portions for both of them. However, when she portioned both, she realized that it would be better to leave some of it for the road as they are quick to eat, and they provide their bodies with a lot of energy. ''Hmmm Yeah, I should leave half of it for the road, who knows how long it would take and if we could get something along the way? Yes let''s half it down.'' With that, she halved both portions and saved it for the road that awaited them today. Returning to the fire, she started humming the familiar song while making sure all sides of their breakfast was cooked. A short timeter the boy at the opposite side of the fire started moving, showing signs of returning from thend of dreams. His eyelids slightly trembling, he was currently checking the system map for any new blips that the system might have marked during the night. Satisfied that they were safe, he slowly opened up his eyelids, revealing those mesmerizing golden irises that not even Lily could easily escape. Sitting up, he yawned while stretching his arms. Then, he looked at her already busy-bee sister, and with a small smile creeping up at the corner of his lips, he greeted her. "Good morning big sis! Is breakfast ready?" Struggling to fake to be upset about the question, she ''angrily'' snapped back "Shameless little brother! Is that your first question to your dear sister? Nothing about if my sleep was peaceful, or what I dreamt about?!" Not moved by the slightest, he didn''t reply but kept staring at her. This was, by now, another routine, that Lily yed every now and then, so he got used to it over the course of time. Seeing that her attempt didn''t gain the response she was hoping for, she quickly caved in, and with a cheeky smile and with the tip of her tongue pushed out and visible at the right corner of her closed mouth, she replied. "Blee! You could at least y along with me just once, stupid brother! Breakfast should be ready soon. I saved half of the berries for the road, who knows if we will have any chance to sit down and eat along the way?" "Yes, that''s true. Nicely done sis! Hmm... We should cook an extra portion of the meat along the road. It wouldn''t be as good as if we were to cook it fresh, but as you just said, we might not have the chance to sit down and rx once we start to ascend the mountain. Do we have any left?" Checking her bag, she pulled out thest piece of meat they had prepared a few days ago. "Yeah, one more. I''ll cook it after these 2 are finished." Looking up at the mountain behind them, she couldn''t see much, as after around a thousand meters thick dark red clouds were raging and hurling their reddish bolts of lightning non-stop. "Do you have any idea what might await us? Or better, how will we get across that storm? We have been waiting for a week now, and that storm never ceased, it''s the same as it was a week ago. I have a feeling that might be the first part of the test It''s definitely not a natural phenomenon." she said. Aiden chuckled at her words a bit, and while looking at the clouds himself, he said. "Can anything be natural at this ce? But yes, I agree with you, that is most likely the first hurdle we will have to cross. As for how, so far I have no idea, but as we get closer, we will be able to see if the lightning could hurt anything at all. We are too far away to make any deductions. Worst of all, we will descend and look for a solution after we learned a bit more about it." Lily nodded her head to the n, and then as she looked at the skewered meat, she motioned for him toe closer. "Sure let''s do that. But nowe, let''s eat breakfast while it''s hot." Soon only the sounds of crunching and slurping could be heard as they both devoured the contents of their te. --- "So what do you think little brother? We could just climb, that''s probably faster, or use the narrow ledge as it seems to go up all the way along the ridge. It''s probably a lot longer, but less exhausting and we might be able to rest along the way." Lily asked when they arrived at the foot of the mountain. After finishing breakfast, she cooked thest portion of the meat and packed everything up while pouring some water to douse the mes. Even if they couldn''t do any real damage by leaving the fire as it is, it still was a better practice to put it out, when they are done. "Hmmm I would really like to finish and get back, but let''s not be too hasty. Using the path is safer and I have a feeling it was created for us. It would be a waste if we would miss out on all the fun Master and Granny prepared. Come, let''s go!" Seeing her brother leisurely step on the path and begin theirst adventure, she sighed, and while shaking her head, she quietly mumbled. ''There we go, again you calling that woman master We still don''t know who her so-called Grandmaster really is or what was the n for her toe to us I just hope she won''t betray the love and trust you already gave her.'' Looking at the back of her brother, she sighed and followed along. She also liked that woman, and over the years, she felt as if she was her new ''mother''-like figure in her life, but there were still some questions that remained unanswered even after all these years. Like what was the point of hering to their hut and watching them? What changed that she showed herself? What is the n of her boss now? Is she loyal to that group, or is she with them? So many questions with little to no answers. While Lily was deep in thought and was mindlessly following along, Aiden was busy focusing on the environment and pumping extra power to his [Dark Sense] ability, and keeping it running at maximum efficiency. It still puzzled him what this skill truly is, as for some reason it was never listed under his skill on the status screen, but he still had ess to it. When he asked Enya, she said that this skill was integrated into the system, and as such, it is a function of the system now, and not a part of his skillset. This came with the benefit of not needing to keep any attention to it, as the system can use it freely, and as he was medium, the system still drained a tiny bit of his Soul Power to keep it active. At first, it was slightly distracting to keep attention to it, but as the years went by, he got used to itpletely, it had be another sense to him, like smell is for others. Suddenly, far ahead a red blip appeared on his system map. He halted his steps and also signaled for Lily to focus up. She moved closer, and while readying her bow and pulling out an arrow from her quiver, she quietly whispered. "What is it, brother? Is there something ahead?" She was already used to such actions, her brother could spot enemies from away, even before they had a chance to spot them. It was a miraculous ability, and something they relied on heavily. Aiden nodded and signaled with his hand using the signals they created over the years. He showed "one" with his pointing finger and waved it three times towards the direction the blip appeared. ''So 1 potential enemy around 1500 meters ahead.'' She replied with a silent nod and ran behind a nearby rock for cover while peeking out and keeping the bow ready, so she could aim and fire at a moment''s notice. Aiden stood in the middle of the road, looking at the distance while getting in his regr attack poise. He had this smile on his face, he loved this part. The moment, the rising tension just before the battle. His body, his blood craved for this, it thrived in the carnage... Chapter 51 - 51 - Who Are You? Aiden didn''t know who or what the approaching blip was. The system couldn''t scan it, making him wary of it. Whoever or whatever is capable of such a feat is by no means a simple animal ced in this ce as a means for substance, but most likely a test, or a predator to hone their skills. There were quite a few of such cases already. One time they had to fight a whole pack of those ck wolves all by themselves, and at another time, green- and brown-skinned humanoid-like figures attacked them with primitive self-made weapons. They were slightly taller than Aiden, probably reaching between 2 and 2.2 meters in height, and they were all very hunky. They were luckily sluggish and seemingly not very intelligent, as Aiden and Lily could just rely on their superior speed to shoot and w them all down before they could properly react. They didn''t know what they were called and never had the chance to ask Number 3 or Granny either. Since that particr encounter and now, they weren''t back home at all. In the end, they just called them Boar-men, because their faces slightly resembled the boars in the forest. Standing still in a poise that would make him ready to pounce at his enemy in the brink of a second, ready to rip its throat out, he looked at the distance where a dark figure slowly appeared on the horizon. It seemed to be walking in a slow and steady manner, seemingly not bothered by them in the slightest. They couldn''t make out any of its features apart from it seemed to be bipedal and most likely humanoid-like. Keeping his vision at the approaching wanderer, Aiden waved his right hand sideways back-and-forth a few times. This was another one of their devised signals, meaning "stand ready". They quickly realized that they needed a sort of system that was silent and easy-to-understand even in the midst of the battle, and in the end, they came up with this hand-gesturing solution. They had hand gestures for almost all types of battlemands, designed in a way that duringbat, most enemies will not even notice it, let alone decipher it... With an arrow served and ced in the arrow rest, Lily was ready to stretch the bowstring in a second and fire at the neer if she receives the ''FIRE'' signal from Aiden. For now, she just stood ready, to assist and protect her beloved brother. Slowly, as seconds formed into a minute then to another a figure of an old man in ragged, used, and seemingly well-worn brown cotton robes could be recognized. The robe he was wearing had many holes and patches on it. Around her waist, a thick rope was used in ce of a proper belt. As the figure got closer even more detail could be made out now. The ''belt'' had a few attachments hanging on it. On his left, there was a leather case with a knife sheathed, and a small dark brown colored pouch with some leaves peeking out from its corners. On the right, a few herbs were ced and were jiggling as he walked. From his neck, a purple-colored and slightly glowing feather was hanging. He had several feathers ced on his head ranging in all kinds of colors, but apart from the one hanging on his neck, all others looked like to be normal feathers. He was using a staff as a means to assist his traversal. The staff looked simple, although the top of the staff was also crowned with feathers of all colors. The "bird-man hermit" as Aiden referred to him on his system map, got to a hearing distance and stopped, looking at the young man in front of him, not showing any reaction, nor trying to initiate any types of conversation. He just stood still and looked at the young man. Not knowing what to do with the awkward situation, Aiden nodded his head as to convey a silent greeting gesture to the hermit and to see a reaction. The response came immediately as the old man also nodded. Looking at the figure, scanning him with his eyes Aiden broke the silence with his clear voice ringing all around the area. He had a lot of progress in using his Draconic Heritage innate, making him able to use other ''features'' of it separately from the ''full package'', not just the ws. "Greetings wanderer! May I ask, who are you and what are you doing in this ce?" The old man didn''t respond for a long time and just kept staring at the young man. After several minutes, he finally opened his mouth and under the protective shroud that was his messy grey beard mixed with various leaves and such, he slowly spoke, emphasizing each word. It felt very surreal, almost as if this whole encounter wasn''t really happening and if it was just a dream "Hello Aiden" he twisted his head and looked at Lily''s direction for her next words "... and. Lily." Then he faced Aiden again, before continuing, in a simrly rugged manner. "I am the guide." "Guide? Are you a part of the trial?" Aiden asked curiously. He still had his battle-ready poise up. What he learned over the course of this training, Number 3, or ''master'' as he liked to call her nowadays, she could have devised any sort of trap to force him to be aware at all times. The old hermit nodded his head in response to the question and without waiting for the kids to react, he turned around and slowly started walking back the way he came from. Looking at the old man, Aiden motioned Lily toe, as they probably should follow along. She also got into a more rxed position, but inwardly he was still focusing on every movement, every small change in the old man''s posture. ''If he is not a real person, and just some illusion or a product of magic created for the test, that would probably exin theck of information and intent gathered. But he is so realistic, so life-like, I''m beyond words How powerful those two actually are?'' [Based on the detail of this world they created I would say they are both incredibly powerful. We already know that the elder is using an ancient form of spellcasting, and the mature female could even handle the mutated Worgen with ease back all those years ago.] Enya''s reply was instant, as usual. ''Hmmm'' Aiden got into deep thinking, while both Lily and him followed behind the hermit. One problem he faced was theck of information about the rest of the world, and how powerful he actually waspared to others. The only information he had was that the 2 elders, Granny and Number 3 was both immensely powerful individuals, with seemingly unfathomable levels of power. And to top that off, there''s this mysterious Grandmaster that he only heard a few words about. He decided that once he gets out of here, he would focus on getting more information about the world. Another thing that started to bother him was theck of motivation,ck of goal in his life. He still couldn''t remember much of his early days, as there was a ck fog over that portion of his memories Even when he tried asking Enya, she refused to answer and just told him, this was a result of their decision, and will have to live with that. One thing she told that once the timees, the system will assist him remember the important details. Apart from his family that he came to love and cherish, Aiden didn''t really care about this world at all. Good, bad these moral concepts meant nothing to him if siding with one meant that it would endanger anyone close to him. However, there was this slight feeling, this bubbling sensationing from somewhere deep inside him the need to be respected, to be feared. He meditated a lot on this feeling but couldn''t get any higher insight other than this came from his Draconic Heritage. This was another problem he started to face. It seemed that when he acquired the form of his defeated foes, he got more than just their appearances and abilities. He got an insight into their mind, a small seed of their thoughts was ced inside his Soul World, slowly merging with his consciousness, altering his way of thinking, steering the wheel slightly. He noticed this during their outbursts when he wanted to protect Lily, but after he got the Mutated Worgen form, and as he mastered it, his mentality also subconsciously changed. He got more vicious, cruel, he relished battle, he thirsted for his enemy''s blood. This was a frightening realization, and ever-since he worked really hard to suppress it. In the meantime, he also got afraid of acquiring new forms for the moment, as he already had trouble dealing with the ones, he currently got Aiden tried to keep all his worry a secret from Lily and forced himself to behave in a neutral manner as much as he could, but Lily long since noticed the changes in his dear brother. She also promised herself that she will do everything to help her brother and be with him all her life. He meant the world to her, even she wasn''t sure what she was feeling Once they finally leave this ce for good, she will be spending time with Granny and with Number 3 trying to express her concerns, and to try to help his brother dealing with his demons Chapter 52 - 52 - The Final Trial Lily and Aiden kept following the funny-looking old man for quite a while. They walked in silence behind the feathered crazy looking hermit, watching his every move, every gesture. Both of them were on high alert. After all, for what they knew, he could be a part of the test. After a while, they arrived at the end of the road, which ended at the ledges of the mountain. Standing there they could see almost the entire pocket world in all its glory. Ahead of them, just a step further, 2 ck masses of energy swirled in the air. They were simr to the Gate they used to get here. Aiden looked at the old man braking the silence that engulfed them all the way here. "What is this? What should we do?" The hermit looked back at Aiden with an expressionless face and answered with the same raspy, stuttering monotone he greeted them before. "Test Entrance. One for. each of you You have to pass it... alone" "We have to do this test alone?!" Lily cried out loud. So far they could face every challenge together, so for them to be separated was a really sudden and unexpected change. Aiden''s creased his eyebrows, thinking, analyzing his words. After about a minute, he spoke up. "Yes, it must be part of thest test. We have to have confidence in each other, trust each other that we have the strength to pass the same hurdle. Prove that we are equals." Hearing his response, Lily balled both of her fists. Raising the right one into the sky, she eximed, reminiscent of her younger days. "Yosh! Let''s do apetition brother! Let''s see who passes first!" A slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she continued. "The winner... can ask something from the loser!" Smiling, Aiden nodded his head. "Sure, sounds fine. But make sure that your main concern is your safety, don''t rush into danger headfirst, okay?" "Yes, brother! Still, be prepared to fulfill my wish because I will win!" With that said, she gave Aiden a cheeky smile then stood in front of one of the swirls, before looking back and speaking up again. "Come on now, what are you standing there for?!" The reason Aiden went silent wasn''t just because he was listening to his sister''s shenanigans, but because the system gave him a new notification, he actually received a new quest!. It surprised him because he hasn''t had any ever since he arrived in this pocket world. So, to suddenly see the familiar notification was quite a surprise, to say the least. [Primary Quest: Cries in the Dark Difficulty: D-A Objective: Banish the Nightmare Spawns (0/???) Optional: Fix the vision by cleansing the nightmare Reward: ??? Failure Condition: Being pulled from the Pocket World, Defeated by any Spawn Penalty: Death, Soul returned to the Wheel of Life and Death] ''What the hell Enya, why can''t I see parts of the description on the quest?'' asked Aiden inwardly while he slowly made his way towards his gate. [Unfortunately, I do not have any information on that for you Aiden. Most likely the reward is either something of extraordinary quality or something rted to a system function you have yet to gain ess to. Either way, you will know more if and when youplete this trial. Judging by the information you gained from the system, most likely you will have to fight nightmare-spawns, products of very high-level illusion ss magic. Be prepared, and steel your mind.] Listening to Enya''s reply, Aiden looked at Lily, and before they would step in, he said. "Be very careful inside Lily. Most likely we will face our nightmares, alone. Steel your heart and remember, that whatever you will face there, it will just be a product of your magic, it is just an illusion, a vision. Even if I can''t help you during this test, just remember, that I will ALWAYS, ALWAYS stand by your side. Okay?" Lily slightly blushed while listening to Aiden''s exmation. Still, she exhaled to calm herself down, and regain her focus, while she nodded and answered her brother. "Don''t you worry brother! Nothing can scare me! I''m not that little girl anymore! I have you!" Their hands met halfway, and with onest smile towards each other, they stepped into their respective portals, only to be swallowed up by it, transported to some unknown ce --- It took a few long seconds for the ''light show'' to cease. She hated this type of travel, Lily had her eyes closed for the entire time, not willing to look into the nauseating swirling of lights and energy waves. When she finally felt the hard ground under her feet, she slowly opened her eyelids and was immediately stunned by what she saw. She was back in the forest, in a vaguely familiar section. She wasn''t sure, but she had a feeling she was here once in the past It was seemingly night time, and apart from the asional hootings of the owls, the night was quiet. If she focused, she could faintly hear the rustling of the leaves, the bushes, the sounds of various predators embarking on their nightly hunts. She could see a faint light flickering in the distance to the north, and with no other point to guide herself, she quickly decided to head that way. Keeping her bow ready, she made sure to watch and listen to her environment, just like she always did when they went hunting with her beloved brother. Thinking about her brother, brought the blush back to her cheeks, and a smile crept up at the edges of her cute lips. ''Ehehe... Wonder what brother is doing now, where could he have arrived?'' Shaking her head to clear all distracting thoughts, she made her way towards the source of the only point of interest, the flickering light in the distance. --- Meanwhile, as Aiden opened up his eyes, he saw an unfamiliar white ceiling. Sitting up, as he was in a modern-looking one-person bed, he looked around. He was in a small modern-style room. Next to him, on a cupboard was a small framed picture with 3 people in it. On the left was a middle-aged brown-haired woman, on the right a simrly aged man with short dark brown hair and a simrly barely visible mustache. They both were hugging each other with 1 arm and had their other arm resting on the shoulders of the unfamiliar young man in the middle. The young guy in the picture seemed to be in his early twenties, with dark brown neatly styled slicked-back hair. One thing that was interesting was her yellowish eyes. Aiden didn''t know who these people were, but strangely, the longer he looked at the picture, the more intense his head ached. Grabbing the back of his head, he closed his eyes and tried to calm down. (A/N.: The hairstyle is worded deliberately that way, the ''slicked-back hair'' is a real one, you can search for it if you are interested in how it really looks. I figured this would be a better method to showcase the looks, but if you are against it just let me know. :) ) ''What is this? Why does my head hurt so much? Enya do you know something?'' he asked inwardly. However, there was no answer from Enya. Slight panic engulfed his heart, he didn''t know what happened. Remembering that he needs to stay calm, he exhaled some air, then closed his eyes once again, and focused on his soul space. The system was still there, and he could also feel Enya''s presence, albeit faintly. ''Enya, what is the matter, why are you not answering? Did something happen to you?'' he asked. Hearing the worry in his tone, Enya sighed, then finally, after a few seconds of silence, she answered. [I just can''t Sorry Aiden, but what you are currently seeing are your memories. That person in the middle of the picture is you, and those two next to him are your parents.] Aiden was confused. This whole ce is strange. The bed wasfortable, but the fabric was not something he recognized. Also, the whole room looked simple, yet so modern, so uniquely designed, but still, it had this familiar feel to it. As Enya mentioned, Aiden started to feel some familiarity with this environment. Apart from the bed and the cupboard, there was a white wooden desk, with afortable looking padded chair, and at the opposite end of the room, a series of shelves and a cab. The shelves were filled with books, from all kinds of subjects that Aiden doesn''t have any knowledge of. Sciences, Mathematics, even some thin books with drawn pictures of people wearing capes and costumes. Closing his eyes again, he focused on Enya to gain a bit more understanding of his situation. From her earlier words, he understood that this whole ce is a vision created by this so-called ''Nightmare''. This whole situation is his trial. To be able to pass it, he first will need to gain more understanding, some direction to find his footing. ''What do you mean this is my memory? What is this ce exactly?'' [This, Aiden is a day from your previous life. This was your veryst day!] Chapter 53 - 53 - Facing The Nightmare (Part 1) Looking through the forest that was only illuminated by the serene rays of the two moons resting atop the clear night sky, a female figure could be seen, as she was making her way through the dense foliage. The only sounds were the snarls and hoots of the various predators that were out on their nightly escapades in the distance. The figure, Lily, was walking towards the flickering light she saw when she ''arrived'' at this ce. While she didn''t know where she exactly was, she had this feeling that at some point in her life, she was once here. She didn''t know it, she just felt it. When she first looked around, although she couldn''t recognize the ce, her heart started aching as if a long-forgotten needle pierced an already sutured scar. Still, as she wasn''t a little kid anymore, she didn''t crumble and she wasn''t crying on the ground as she would have a few years ago, but calmly, relying on the methods she learned from her dear brother, Aiden, she looked around to examine and analyze her surroundings. One of the first things he taught her was to always have a clear head when you are at unknown locations and check your surroundings. ''Find your bearings, and use everything to your advantage.'' He used to say. It was thanks to that she noticed the light source in the first ce. With nothing else to go on, she decided to go and investigate it. She wasn''t sure what this test was about, but she understood that this ce must have some relevance to her past, present, or maybe even her future. ''As long as I have my brother, nothing can hurt me. I can face whatever challenge that woman throws at me!'' she eximed inwardly. As she was getting closer, the outskirts of a vige emerged on the horizon. A vige that she wasn''t that caused Lily to remember back to her old home. These were unpleasant memories, stuff that was best left forgotten. This was the elven vige where she had to live on the outskirts alone, with her mother. A small tear formed in the corner of her eyes, and with her fists balled, she continued her steps. She will not falter, she will push on. She now had someone to rely on... --- ''My previous life? What do you mean?'' asked Aiden, confused. [It is something that you have forgotten. You had some faint memory of it when you arrived, however because of you using the power provided by the Almighty Ioris, it brought a bacsh on your soul and as a result, these memories were locked away on the deep recesses of your subconscious. This situation could actually be a blessing in disguise. It could help you trigger you to recover more and regain some more important details.] ''Important details? Like what for example?'' Asked Aiden. Enya however didn''t borate on this any further. [Aiden instead of sitting around all morning, wake up and start gathering information. You have a trial toplete as well as a quest toplete. You don''t have time to waste.] ??Sure, just change the topic when it is no longer convenient for you So typical!'' He grumbled. However, he still followed her advice and stood up while he also opened up his eyes. Giving it a once-over, his eyes rested on the picture onest time, then he made his way towards the closed white wooden door, that separated this small den from the rest of the household. As he had no idea what to expect, he was ready to jump intobat in a moments'' notice and was also using his [Dark Sense] to its maximum efficiency. Unfortunately, the skill couldn''t prate the closed door for some reason, so unless he himself experienced the ''outside world'', he wouldn''t get additional information. Pushing down the handle and opening the door, arge living room greeted him. There was arge couch ced next to the eastern wall and a table in front of it in the middle. On the other side, there were various electronics that Aiden wasn''t familiar with. One of them even showed pictures, scenes of people interacting, and fighting. The middle-aged man that he saw on the photo was slumped on the couch and was currently leisurely watching the screen. He either didn''t notice Aiden leaving his room, or he didn''t care about it in the slightest. Not sure how to handle this situation, Aiden was puzzled. Looking at thezy bum on the couch, he felt that he knew this man. Connecting the clues from Enya and the picture, Aiden took a big leap and while internally screaming in trepidation, tried to speak as calmly as he could. "F-father?" The man turned his head towards Aiden, but after a few moments, his focus went back to the screen in front of him. He still hasn''t said a word, nor did he greet the boy. "Good Morn-" Aiden continued and wanted to greet the man himself but was cut short as he waved his hands and rudely spoke a few words. "Shut it brat. Go to the kitchen to your mother, don''t bother me." Aiden was stunned by this reply. The situation was confusing, to say the least. In fact, he was so confused, that he mindlessly waved the system''s notifications away. Feeling lost and not sure what to do, in the end, he followed the man''s rude advice, and took the door to his right and followed a small corridor that ended with 2 rooms both on his left. Checking the first door it opened to a modern bathroom, so Aiden quickly made his way towards the second one. The second room didn''t have a door but just a few scraps of cloth were dangling, doing a lousy job as a separator. This room was obviously a kitchen, although Aiden couldn''t recognize most of the equipment that was ced here. There was also a middle-aged wavy brown-haired woman working in front of a stove in regr clothing and was also wearing an apron. Just like the man before she also didn''t even look at the arrival. She kept on focusing on the contents of the pot in front of her. "Mother. Good Morning!" Aiden started the conversation. The woman looked at him with a stern face and then motioned for him to sit at the table. Without any other alternative, Aiden decided to follow the events for now and sat at the table as he was ordered. When Aiden finally took his seat, the woman ced a te in front of him with some scrambled eggs. She also gave him a ss of milk, and without saying anything she went back to the stove not bothering Aiden the slightest. ''What is happening here? Why are they both so cold towards me? Did I do something to earn their ire?'' Thought Aiden as he was mindlessly digesting breakfast. As he expected the food did not provide any energy to him, but they did have a familiar taste. Everything he experienced so far just confused him. Everything was alien, but at the same time, everything had this faint sense of familiarity in it. He understood that everything he experienced should be from his memory, but at the same time. His brain was working in overdrive trying to process everything, every information he received. He was so overwhelmed that he didn''t even check the notifications the system was showering him with. --- Carefully sneaking around the outskirts of the vige, Lily made her way towards the eastern side. More specifically she made her way towards a small cottage at the very outskirts and was currently standing in front of the door, unsure what to do. This was her first home, where she spent the first 8 years of her life with her mother. Thinking back, those 8 years should have been miserable, as being born a half-blood, she was basically an outcast. The residents while didn''t exile them, did not wee them either. She had no friends, nobody to y with. Because of her, her mother also received the same rough treatment and had a hard time to even get the stuff that was absolutely necessary for their daily lives. However, even with all the troubles, they lived a happy life. They had each other. Lily stayed at home, and when her mother was back from her trips, she always yed with her. Despite everything, they lived a simple, happy life. All changed during that fateful night. Bad guys came and robbed them of this slice of life. Lily never really understood who those people were, and what they had against them, they just suddenly appeared and started killing everyone. Old, weak, woman, child none of that mattered to them. They weren''t even trying to take ves, they were mercilessly wreaking havoc. Lily was reminiscing the past and was about to knock on the door when suddenly she heard screams towards the center. Madine, Lily''s mother was on her way back from her usual trip gathering the fruits and veggies for dinner when she heard themotion. Screams echoed in the evening, apanied by blood-curdling sounds. Immediately understanding what was going on, she rushed home. She didn''t know how much time she had, but she was sure that the invaders will soon get to them. Luckily, they didn''t cover all exits and instead were making their way towards the center from the south and west. If she is fast enough, she should be able to escape through the east exit and be safe. Arriving closer to her house, she saw a young girl, vaguely familiar standing in front of their home. She stopped a few steps away from the girl. Madine looked at Lily who had tears in her eyes and asked. "Who are you, and what do you want? Why are you standing in front of our house?" Chapter 54 - 54 - Facing The Nightmare (Part 2) Finishing the delicious, but sadly not-so-filling meal, Aiden, looked at the woman, who was still focusing on her cooking. He gulped and then stutteringly spoke. "T-t-thank you for the breakfast, mother." Not even bothering to turn around to face him, she curtly replied. "Wash up and get ready. You are supposed to be going to the Academy soon." "Yes, mother." Aiden bowed respectfully then turned around and left the kitchen. As he left, the woman looked at the doorframe and shaking her head, she muttered mostly to herself. "What a disappointment" Getting ready was uneventful, and quick, as all the bathroom appliances were familiar to him, just modernized. After he got ready and got dressed in a white shirt crowned with a dark blue tie and blue jeans. He was wearing dark blue uniform trousers and a simrly dark blue colored uniform suit that had the crest of a roaring lion on its chest. What surprised him was that seemingly his body remembered dressing up properly and tying his tie even without him actively remembering anything. It took a few minutes to finish up, probably more than he should have spent on it, because as he was doing his finishing touches, suddenly there was a knocking on his door. Shortly after, he heard his mother calling out. "You will bete, son. Get ready and go to that school already! I''m not going to remind you again." As she finished, once again without waiting for him to respond, Aiden heard the sound of her receding footsteps. Sighing, he picked up his bag that was just sitting on the ground between his desk and his bed, he opened the door and looked at his father who was still resting on the couch and watching the screen on the strange device. "See you, Father, have a nice day." Slightly bowing he respectfully said his goodbyes. As he thought, he has not received any meaningful reaction out of him other than a snort apanied by a *Hmpf!* and a wave of his hand to signal him to not bother him. As he went to the kitchen, he repeated this ritual, once again not receiving any response. His mother didn''t even bother looking at him, and just waved with her hand, to let him know she received his wishes. ''I don''t understand. Why are they both so cold towards me? Is this really how I lived my life? No Something feels wrong with all this.'' Aiden thought to himself, as he was making his way towards the Academy. This time he didn''t need to ask as therge towers with the samerge crest that he wore the miniature version his chest could be seen even from the busy street. [You were not paying attention Aiden. I told you before, this is yourst day, but also this is a test. If you would have bothered to check the system, you would have noticed, that both figures were engulfed with ck auras. They had evil intent oozing out them.] Enya replied. He abruptly halted his steps hearing her reply, causing a bit of amotion. A few grumbled sounds could be heard as people avoided him, but Aiden didn''t really bother with all of that. ''ck auras? Do you think, they are both created by the Nightmare I''m supposed to ovee? What do I need to do? I don''t think I am supposed to be killing them'' Aiden could hear Enya''s reproachful tone as she replied to him. [Again, you weren''t paying attention. What does the quest require you to do? Read up the objectives once more, if you are unsure.] Following his suggestion, Aiden brought up the details of the quest to check his required and optional objectives. [Primary Quest: Cries in the Dark 1 Difficulty: D-A Objective: Banish the Nightmare Spawns (0/???) Optional: Fix the vision by cleansing the nightmare Reward: ??? Failure Condition: Being pulled from the Pocket World, Defeated by any Spawn Penalty: Death, Soul returned to the Wheel of Life and Death] ''Remove the Nightmare Spawns'' [Exactly. It does not say ''Kill'', it specifically says ''Banish''. Most likely they are part of the trial, you have to be able to recognize the irregrities in their behavior.] ''That still doesn''t give me any info on how to do that at all. The optional objective could be a clue though. Hmm'' As he was thinking, he kept standing at the middle of the road. People kept grumbling and some even tried pushing him away only to hit the unmovable obstacle that he was. His strength was far above the average human, especially in this illusion that was created from his recessed memory of his previous life. The sound of Enya''s mature female voice brought him back to reality. [Aiden, you should not idle around any longer. You have to follow and let the events y out as they are supposed to. If you dawdle any longer, you will not arrive in time to the Academy. It is still quite a distance away.] ''You are right, sorry. I was just thinking about what you and the quest said. If what you say is true, then both my father and mother are either ''Nightmare Spawns'' themselves or maybe these creatures are residing inside them, changing how they behave. Either case, I have to be able to make them revert back to their original states, so I could remove them from the illusion. How I will do that, I do not know yet, however...'' Aiden kept muttering to himself as he was making his way towards therge tower at the distance. --- Looking at her mother, Lily had an incredibly hard time to not crumble to the ground and cry her eyes out. She stood there motionless, looking at the woman for nearly a minute, before finally gulping and answering her question. "Sorry to interrupt. My name is Lil ianne, Lilianne. I am an adventurer and have just arrived in this vige. I was about to knock to ask for directions when I heard amotioning from the vige center." Madine was focusing on the young teenage girls'' tone, and her gestures as she was answering. She realized she was lying when she gave her name, but apart from that, she seemed to be telling the truth. As a retired adventurer herself, she knew that it is not that easy to give out your real name to a total stranger. However, as time was of the essence, she pushed through her, and as she was opening the locked door, she spoke. "I see. Then pleasee inside quickly, as we do not have time to waste. Some unknown assants attacked the vige and are killing people left and right as we speak. I have to move and make sure my daughter is safe!" Finally unlocking the door, she rushed in, while shouting. "LILY! COME HERE, WE HAVE TO LEAVE!" Meanwhile, Lilianne, or the ''real'' Lily, was following behind, not sure what to do. ''Is this the day she dies? Why am I here'' She didn''t understand what was happening. This whole situation is weighing heavily on her heart. She''s feeling bitter and distressed. It took her years to finally move on from this bad memory, but now, she is forced to relive it? What is she supposed to do? Madine kept shouting while rushing all around the house, however, she couldn''t find anybody, and she received no response. Growing increasingly more anxious, she kept shouting and madly rushing all around. "LILY! WHERE ARE YOU? COME HERE, SWEETIE!" Coming back to her senses, she looked at her mother as she was rushing all around. ''This isn''t how this should y out. If I remember correctly, I was hiding under my bed'' With that thought, she quickly made her way towards their shared bedroom. Madine noticing this, she followed along, while anxiously looking at her. "Did you see her? I can''t find my daughter!" Instead of answering, Lily got on all fours and looked under the bed. However, instead of finding her kid-self, she saw nothing but darkness. "This isn''t right I should be here" she muttered. "What did you say?" Madine asked confused. Looking back at the anxious woman, Lily tried to elicit a friendly smile, as she replied. "I.. I mean, I think I heard your daughter under the bed, but when I looked, she wasn''t here anymore I am absolutely sure she was supposed to be here" Hearing these words, Madine quickly got on all fours and pushed Lily away. "LET ME THERE, LET ME SEE! LILY! COME HERE!" Moving aside, Lily looked at her mother, and doing her best to try to calm her down, she spoke to her from behind. "Calm down Mot-...dy. She should be close by. I know I heard her voice just a moment ago, she is probably just scared. I know I would be" "HOW COULD I CALM DOWN WHEN I CAN''T FIND MY DAUGHTER ANYWHE-" however as she was speaking she saw the darkness momentarily vibrate, and as the strange ck aura faded, the sounds of a crying little girl could be heard. "LILY! FINALLY!" Madine cried out in relief as she embraced her daughter. Mother and daughter were crying on the floor, they needed to release some of the stress. Thest few minutes were hard on them... Chapter 55 - 55 - Facing The Nightmare (Part 3) While both kids were slowly starting to progress in their own Nightmare Illusions, outside the pocket world, back in the cozy little hut, Number 3 and Granny were sitting by the firece and sipping on their usual afternoon tea. "You know, thatst test is really cruel. Forcing both of them to face a tragic moment of their lives, and to make it even worse by injecting a bit of Nightmare to it You were definitely not going easy on them. If I didn''t know you by now, I would say you are trying to break them." said Granny breaking the silence between the two. Number 3 who was wearing her casual clothing instead of the ck attire she used to be in, smiled, and ced the cup down to the table next to her. Then while looking at Granny, she answered. "Only by facing the darkest moments of their lives and oveing them can they truly grow. By facing these challenges and oveing them, they managed to create a strong bond between themselves, and also learned a variety of skills that will be useful in their lives. Now, however, they will need to be able to function alone and under high mental pressure. I know it sounds harsh, but this is for their benefit, you also know that." She paused briefly, and sipped from her tea, before continuing. "Let''s just hope they can pass their respective challenges and reunite for the second part." Even though Granny agreed that these tests benefitted the kids greatly, she couldn''t help but worry about thisst one. This was a very cruel challenge for them to face, and for the entire first part, they will be left alone for their own to figure everything out. She could only hope that they will be able to pass it and meet up for the second half which will need both of them --- Up close, Aiden finally realized that the ''Academy'' that he thought was just thatrge tower, was just 1 part of the series of buildings that sprawled out on a huge area. The ''Academy Grounds'' as people around referred to it, engulfed an entire district in the city, and it had its own facility buildings and even dormitories so students that came from other cities or even countries could have a ce to stay and could focus on solely on their studies. In fact, the application system was designed in a way that would give you more points the farther you are from the Academy Grounds. It was a carefully designed, and brilliant system. Obviously, the students managed to circumvent the rules. There were a lot of local students staying in them, and living the time of their lives, engorging in all the nightly activities they could think of, women, drugs, alcohol. You name it, they did it. As Aiden followed the students along, he was getting closer to arge central building. The one that had therge tower that could be seen from all over the town. Along the way, he listened to the conversations and with the help of the system, he even managed to get the information out from the silent whispers as well. He gained a lot and also understood a lot more about this whole ce. Apart from learning much about the dormitories, he also got information that today is the day where the final scores of each student will be posted on the whiteboard in the main hall. These final scores are calcted from your test scores and your attendance and are the primary factor of deciding if you will be allowed to take the final exam and get your degree. This was the day when people could get the chance to soar in the sky or to see their hopes and dreams crumble, and shatter into pieces right before their eyes. Destinies were decided by a number posted on a paper on this very day. ''This illusion probably revolves around the score I got this day. Unfortunately, I have no idea what to expect, but this time I will be sure to analyze everything I see. If Enya wouldn''t be vignt, I would have already missed a lot of important clues.'' Aiden berated himself inwardly. How could he have made such a blunder this morning?! He prided himself for always paying attention, no matter the situation! Now, however, just some small illusion and he got so lost in it, that he forgot what was important. ''This is just a trial, I have to fix the mistakes in it, and expel the Nightmare. I will need to restore the events so they will y out how they were supposed to. I will also need to make sure I return to my parents and fix themter.'' As Aiden wasmenting inwardly, he got arge group of people that crowded around a wall in the hallway. He could just make out the edges of a whiteboard, but as the mob was around it, he had no chance of getting closer. He was thinking about how to get inside when he suddenly heard a voiceing from behind. "Hey bro''! How are you? Did you manage to check your scores yet?" Turning around, he saw a short blonde-haired young man probably around the age of twenty waving at him with a big smile on his face. Aiden felt some familiarity from this figure, and while he couldn''t put a name to the face, he felt that this person was probably a friend in his previous life. This time he also made sure to pay attention to the person''s aura and intent. Seeing that he has no irregrities, Aiden smiled and extended his hand which the boy promptly epted. "Hello! Unfortunately, I wasn''t able to check mine yet, I can''t get past this wall of people" The young guyughed at Aiden''s words. Patting his back, he cheekily remarked. "Well, that''s what happens when you don''t get here on time bro''! Lucky for you, however, I already checked your scores as well! If you sessfully fulfill a wish of mine, I may even be generous enough to let you know." Creasing his eyebrows, Aiden looked at the boy in front of him. "Come on, don''t be like that Aiden! You know I''m just having fun! Come, let''s go, and I''ll tell you your results over a few drinks! We could invite the others as well!" said the boy. "The others?" this piqued Aiden''s curiosity. "The others, the girls, you dimwit! What is wrong with you today asking such stupid questions?! Nowe, let''s go and get them from the dorms!" While they were making their way towards thedies'' dormitory, Aiden was speaking with Enya inwardly. He also made sure to pay attention to his friend as well, so he won''t look weirder than he already is. ''Was my name Aiden in my previous life as well?'' [No, it wasn''t. Most likely when the illusion was created, the caster wasn''t focusing on such small details. I don''t think they expected that your Nightmare will be from a previous life, Aiden.] ''I see. Also, previously you mentioned that this is myst day. Does that mean I will have to die in this illusion toplete it?'' There was no response for a while to Aiden''s question. Only after a few minutes did Enya finally reply. [Unfortunately, I am not sure Aiden. This is the day that I am certain of, however that does not mean that events will y out until the end. They may very well do We cannot be certain. The best you can do is to make sure you follow the events as they progress and keep an eye on any irregrities.] ''Yes, that is all I can do for now'' Aiden sighed. Meanwhile, they arrived at their destination, in front of the Ladies'' Dormitory. They went towards the entrance where a middle-aged woman, the doorman was standing guard, blocking their entry. "Hold it right there boys! What are you doing trying to sneak your way in?" she bellowed. For a woman, she had quite a loud voice. "Good Morning Ms. White! You are as beautiful as ever! We came to invite our friends to celebrate! You know the scores have been posted this morning." the blonde boy greeted thedy. ''So, she is called Ms. White. That name sounds familiar as well. Hmm'' Aiden thought, as he checked the woman for any irregrities. Unfortunately, she also was just normal, there were no anomalies within her. "*Hmpf* What is the room number? I will call them down. You know the rules, NO men allowed inside!" Ms. White asked. Her tone hadn''t changed, it was still rather rude and condescending. "It''s room 307, my name is Andrew Norman, and I am here for my sister Katie Norman and her roommates. Could you please call them down? They are already expecting us!" Meanwhile, Aiden was inwardly happy, he could finally put a name to the face. ''Hmm, your name is Andrew, and your sister is Katie. Wait a second'' As Aiden was familiarising himself with the names, his memory jogged, and pictures of his childhood started flooding his mind. While they seemed like moments out of a movie of someone else''s life, he knew that these were his own memories. Events of his past life with the brother and sister pair. A small smile crept up on Aiden''s face, as he silently muttered. "I remember you guys..." Chapter 56 - 56 - Facing The Nightmare (Part 4) Lily was lost momentarily looking at the beautiful scene in front of her. Seeing her mother happily caressing her younger self Was something she often dreamt about when she started living with Granny. Right now, they don''t have much time to waste, soing back to her senses, Lily coughed to get their attention. "Khm! I''m happy you found your daughter, but right now, you have no time to waste. You have to escape before the invaders arrive here. Go and I''ll hold them off for as long as I can." Madine looked at the teenager, with aplicated expression. There were many irregrities in her behavior, something big she is trying to hide. Even though, it''s undeniable that she is a good person, with a good soul and that she is trying to help them escape to safety. Still, she was not someone who could sacrifice others for her personal benefit, so she shook her head and looked at the teenager with a gentle smile on her face. "Thank you for your brave words Ms. Lilianne, but I can''t just leave you here to die for 2 strangers you just met. It would be going against everything I believe in. Instead, let''s go together, and you can make sure we stay safe while you guard us. How does that sound?" she argued. Even though Lily wanted to argue and try to convince Madine to escape with her daughter without looking back, seeing the same determination in her eyes that she had when she first arrived in the pocket world. She knew that it would be pointless to argue with her, and also, she didn''t really feel the strength to go against her mother, even if she wasn''t real. It already took everything from her mind to keep herself from just running over and embracing her and letting everything else go. In the end, after a few seconds of thinking, Lily nodded her head and agreed to Madeleine''s suggestion. "Okay, let''s do that. But we really have to leave now. We have no time to waste! Pack the essentials quickly. I will watch the windows and see if anybody is approaching. If it''s just one or two, I can take care of them, but if it''s more" She looked at her younger self, who was watching her with a frightened expression under the embrace of her mother. Then she looked back at Madine who understood what she was trying to convey immediately. "I understand. I will be as fast as I can!" Then, with her daughter still in her arms and scared as a little bunny, she stood up and left the room to start packing. After both mother and daughter left, Lily could finally rx. This was really hard on her. However, the events didn''t y out the same way as they happened, there were changes. Like how her mother couldn''t find her younger self hiding under the bed. Not until she pointed to her hiding ce again. She was a clever girl and could connect the dots and untangle parts of the mystery she was now forced to y a part in. ''I think, I just need to make sure that the events are going to happen how they should, and make sure I fix the mistakes that are happening. Like how that ck fog kept my young version hidden under the bed. I wonder if that is really what this trial is about? We have already moved on from our past, why force us to experience it again? It just doesn''t make any sense." As she sat down near a window that was overlooked in the front area of their house, she kept thinking about what happened so far. She also couldn''t help but think and wonder about the trials her brother must be facing. "What could Aiden be facing right now? Hope she is fine" she muttered to herself. "Who is Aiden?" Suddenly a weak, yet familiar voice came from the other side of the room. While her mother was busy packing, Kid Lily wandered off. She felt some strange connection with the adventurer, and she feltpelled to get close to her for some reason. Lily was surprised that she didn''t even notice the Kid Lily sneaking up on her. Looking at the young child, she smiled, remembering the times when she was just like her, afraid of everything, powerless, weak against fate, unable to stand up for herself, and for her loved ones. After a few moments, she answered while turning her attention back to the window and focusing her gaze towards the distance where the fights were still happening. She knew that they only had a few more minutes before the fighting would cease and the first invaders would arrive. "Aiden? He is my brother that I love more than anything in this world. He was my guiding light when I was lost. He is" she trailed off. "Your brother? Where is he? Is he safe?" asked the Kid Lily, with an innocent expression on her face. "He is currently away on some business of his own, but I am sure he is safe. He is strong after all, much stronger than I am." Lily replied, while still looking at the distance. "Why are you two apart from each other? If you love him so much, and if he loves you just as much, why would you separate? If I would have a brother, I would never want to leave him!" Kid Lily eximed. Hearing her younger self''s innocent response made her smile. Talking to herself, even if it was just an illusion was a unique experience. She sighed and looked at the Kid Lily as she answered her. "I know what you feel, believe me. I wouldn''t want to be separated from brother either. It''s just that we both have our own challenge to face, and we can only meet and be reunited once we ovee them on our own." As she looked back to the window, she noticed 2 invadersing from the direction of the vige center. Both the leather armor and the des of their swords they were gripping were smeared with blood. Blood of the vigers they massacred, fueled by their greed and hatred. As they were slowly marching closer to their position, Lily looked at her younger self and urged her. "Go, check if your mother is ready, tell her we have no time left, we have to leave now!" Kid Lily nodded and scampered back to the direction of where her mother was. Meanwhile, she silently opened the window and readied an arrow in her bow. Suddenly a lightning pain shook inside her mind. It felt as if something deep inside her brain got released, wreaking havoc, causing her endless suffering. Closing her eyes, to ease her suffering a bit, a vision, a memory of someone else... Or maybe of another lifetime? As the memory became clearer, she found herself in front of an altar. On the altar was a tall and chubby statuette of a mature elvendy looking down gently at her subjects. She was wearing a light green gown with a simrly light green colored crown on top of her head. As she was lost in the sight, she heard a soothing feminine voice from behind her. "What a surprise! You came to pray as well, Sister Madeleine?" Looking back, she was stunned at the beauty of the owner of the voice. In front of her, there was a curvaceous mature elven beauty. She was wearing the same clothing as the statuette, the light green colored gown that could pass for sexy nightwear. Her long, silky blonde hair was like golden threads, that the gods blessed themselves. She stood there like a goddess, gently smiling, looking at Lily with those kinds, light green eyes, that you once saw, would never be able to forget. ''Goddess.'' That was the only thought that came to Lily''s mind as she looked at her. "Is there a problem Sister Madeleine? You look troubled." Thedy asked, smiling at Lily. ''Madeleine? Wha''?'' Lily got surprised, upon hearing the name. ''What is this memory? It''s not mine'' Shaking her head, she looked at thedy in front of her, not sure what to do. However, as she looked, somehow she felt like she knew who this person was. The answers flooded into her mind, taking control of her actions, as she answered automatically. "Nothing at all, High Priestess. I just came to give my respect to Mother. I wanted to give her one more prayer before I head to bed. Please let me apologize if I disturbed you with my rash actions." as she said that, she also felt the need to bow down deeply and apologize to this woman in front of her. The High Priestess came closer and lightly grabbed Lily''s shoulders, to stop her from bowing. "Please Sister Madeleine, you did nothing wrong. Nothing can make me happier when my sisters feel the same connection to our Mother as I do. Please let me apany you!" Instead of letting Lily stand up, the High Priestess knelt down to the ground next to Lily and closed her eyes as she faced the statuette. "Us, direct descendants of Mother, the Goddess of Nature, Naone the Everloving, we have the power to connect to her and ask her for aid in our time of need. Please, close your eyes, and repeat after me. Feel her love and care, feel the connection we all share with her!" "Oh Naone, gentle and kind mother of all elves, please bless this arrow and guide it against those that want to cause us harm! Please let this unworthy one stand strong against our enemies! Owa tho ih!" The prayer reverberated inside Lily''s mind, she felt as if a previously locked away part of her being was finally released from its chains, and filled her very being, her soul with its care, its warmth. She felt incredible, as if she was everywhere, like if she was a part of nature. Lily opened up her eyes, and while nobody saw, a flicker of green lightning could be seen crossing in her eyes. Aiming at the closest invader, she readied her bow while she muttered the prayer she memorized inside the strange memory. "Oh Naone, gentle and kind mother of all elves, please bless this arrow and guide it against those that want to cause us harm! Please let this unworthy one stand strong against our enemies! Owa tho ih!" As she finished her chant, she let go of the bowstring and watched as the arrow flew through the air, towards the unsuspecting enemy. As it whistled through the air, a faint green light enveloped the arrow. At the same time as the energy shrouded the arrow, a second one materialized in the air next to it, and slightly altered its course, towards the second invader. It all happened in a fraction of a second, and because both invaders did not suspect any resistanceing from that singr hut, they were not prepared to react in any meaningful way. They could only watch in horror as the shining green energy prated the middle of their foreheads, ending their greedy lives in an instant. It all happened so fast, they weren''t even able to mutter a single word, and just fell to the ground as life left their bodies. Faint, barely visible ck fog left their bodies and faded into the air. Looking at the results, Lily was satisfied. This was a chant that her mother taught her many years ago, but until now, she wasn''t able to use it. But now, back in this ce, after everything that happened, she finally found the strength her mother said is in her. Maybe it was being reunited with her mother, or maybe that she was no longer haunted by these shadows of her past Whatever it was, she was finally able to utilize this power. Looking back, she saw Madine in the doorway with her daughter next to her with a bag on her small back. Lily smiled seeing this and stepped away from the window. "We are okay, but not long. I have dealt with the first group, but more wille. And when they see their partners on the ground, my surprise attack won''t work against them." However, Madine just looked at Lily with shock visible on her face. She couldn''t believe it when she heard this teenager chant her family prayer. This was that was only known by her family, it was absolutely impossible for an outsider to know about it. "How?! How did you know one of the Sacred Chants? Just who are you?" Chapter 57 - 57 - Progress! A few streets away, in a regr looking cafe a group of kids, 2 boys, and 3 girls were sitting around a table, and happily chatting while slurping on their drinks. This group was Aiden and his friends. Well, to be more precise, his friends from his previous life. They were currently celebrating their results. As it turned out, all of them have managed to score high, meaning their years weren''t a failure, and they all have a chance at a bright life. "Kat, not so fast, why are you in such a hurry?" Andrew berated her sister, who was loudly slurping on the drink she ordered. It was an iced coffee with a scoop of vani ice cream added in it. They called it "Cannes'' Coffee". It was expensive but it tasted incredible, no one could really me her for being greedy. "I''m sorry Andy, but it''s just soo good. You should have a taste, you will understand!" instead of feeling remorseful Kat actually offered a taste. "You know I don''t like coffee even if it''s something like that dessert thingy you ordered. Also, why would you drink that? It''s still morning, shouldn''t drinks like that be ordered in the afternoons?" Andrew retorted. While the siblings were arguing about something pointless, Aiden looked at the other 2 girls that came with Kat. One of them was a blonde-haired petite girl, that if you would look at from a distance you would presume she is still in her early teens and would never guess that she is actually the oldest of the group. She was actually 25! She was at least a head shorter than Aiden and was wearing round sses. Her blonde hair was tied up to a bun, and she was wearing a in-looking burgundy colored blouse, with a simple light blue unisex jeans. She was Elena. She was looking at the siblings as they quarreled with a distant look in her eyes with a small smile crept up at the edges of her lips. She was just holding his cup oftte that she ordered without drinking it, seemingly lost in her thoughts or perhaps her memories of someone. The other girl, Natalie, had shoulder-length straight brown hair, and an average body. Aiden couldn''t really judge but she most likely was an early B-cup, nothing fancy. She was slightly taller than Elena, but still at least half a head shorter than him. She was wearing a light, yellow t-shirt that had the image of a shore in it with the words "Always look at the bright side of life!". Below that, she was also wearing some simple-looking dark blue jeans, but this one, contrary to what Elena was wearing was clearly designed for the women. It was a tight fit, that also put the focus on the backside, highlighting her butt. She was also paying attention to the siblings with a bright smile on her face, but instead of being ''somewhere else'', she was silently drinking from her Iced Tea with the help of the straw she also requested. "And why can''t I order something like this in the morning? Is it against somew? Or did you want to forbid me of doing something again?!" Kat''s voice forced Aiden toe back to his senses. The sibling''s quarrel started to spiral out of control, Aiden was wondering if he should step in at some point, but thankfully Andrew took a step back, not wanting to ruin the mood today. This was supposed to be about celebration so him berating his sister wouldn''t be appropriate. At least not now. "S-sorry I didn''t mean to upset you sis. It''s just that" she stopped him abruptly. "You just what? Felt the need to point out the mistakes I made once again?" "No, nothing" Andrew stuttered a response. ''Something is not right This pointless argument is spiraling out of control way too fast. Wait a second'' That''s when Aiden realized he haven''t checked the girls in the system yet. However, he was sure that Enya didn''t make this mistake. With that thought, he looked at Kat more closely. That was when Aiden noticed that the system had already marked her as an enemy based on her emotions and intent. She clearly wanted to cause pain and suffering to her brother, which was rather unhealthy for a girl of her age. She was radiating negative thoughts, hatred, anger, and the pure desire to cause suffering to Andrew. She was focusing this intent on her brother currently as if she was trying to break his will. From the outside, for the regr person, this just looked like a heated quarrel between siblings, but for Aiden with the help of the system, this was much more. This was the first irregrity he finally found in this illusion! ''I really need to pay attention'' Aiden muttered to himself. Once again, he was so lost in the moment, that he almost missed another important detail. Fixing it however was another matter. He can''t just punch her and be done with it! ''Enya, how can I remove the Nightmare from her? What do I need to do?'' She replied instantly. [You need to fix the irregrity in the events Aiden. You have to end this quarrel, by any means necessary. That would expel the Spawn out of the body and banish it from the illusion.] ''I see... I thought they are monsters like all the others we''ve met so far.'' Aiden could hear Enya''s chuckling, while she replied. [Not every conflict will need to be resolved with your fists Aiden.] Embarrassed, he did not respond, but opened his eyes, only to see that conflict got more heated in the few seconds he was ''out ofmission''. Nobody even noticed him dozing off, it seems. "Why do you always feel the need to control my life? Why do you always stand in my way? Huh, brother? ANSWER ME!" At this point, Kat was already standing and was shouting at her brother with a flushed face. "Sis Please, stop this" Andrew couldn''t really muster any courage to stand up against her and just weakly muttered. "ANSWER ME!" Kat shouted angrily. She stepped closer to him, and raised his hands, preparing for a p. However, before she could do so, suddenly a hand grabbed her wrist from behind. It was Aiden, who -seeing the conflict escting to a point of no return- utilized his superior speed and grabbed hold of Kat''s wrist. He looked at her deep in the eyes causing her to be flustered. "W-Wha-What are you doing? L-Let me go!" Aiden smiled gently at her and pulled her close to her embrace. Simrly, to how he sometimes embraced Lily to calm her down when she was agitated, or frightened, he did try the same with her. Pink tint crept up on Kat''s cheeks, she was so flustered that she simply couldn''t react to the situation. After a bit of weak struggle, she went limp, and just the warmth that came from Aiden''s chest. Nearly a minute has passed in silence. Nobody spoke a word and just kept looking at them with mixed andplicated expressions. ''Khm! That should be enough. Could you let go of my sister now?" Andrew''s voice broke the rather intimate moment. Frightened by her brother''s voice, Kat jumped out from his embrace, and with her eyes cast to the ground, she turned to ''face'' her brother. ''Listen, Andy, I''m s-sorry. I don''t know why I got so mad Please forgive me!" she said. Andrew sighed, and with a small smile on his lips, he petted her head. Meanwhile, I heard the familiar sound of the notification in my head. Briefly checking it, I noticed that my quest objective updated, showing the progress I made. [Objective: Banish the Nightmare Spawns (1/???)] Apart from his mother and father, Aiden didn''t know how many he will have to face. But one thing was sure; he made some progress finally! "Don''t worry about it sister. I was in the wrong too. I shouldn''t have said what I said. Please forgive your idiot brother!" Then he looked at Aiden and nodded. "Thanks, Aiden. I owe you one." Aiden shook his head and replied as he walked back to his seat. "Not at all. Today should be about the celebration, so what''s the n for today? I''m guessing we are not nning to spend the whole day in this cafe, right?" "Of course not. This was just to rx a bit and get you all up-to-date. I just didn''t expect to" Andrew looked at his sister who still had eyes cast on the ground in shame. Then looking back to me, he smiled as he continued. "Anyways, so the n is that we go back to our dorms and then meet upter in the afternoon. There''s a big celebration party that will be happening at 5 PM in the Boy''s dorm. We will meet in front of the building at 5 PM and then party until the next morning!" "S-sure." Aiden replied curtly. He still didn''t know what to expect but was feeling increasingly more agitated as time passed on. He knew from Enya that today is herst day alive, and if he is toplete the illusion, he might need to make sure he dies the same way he is supposed to! Chapter 58 - 58 - Escape Madine was looking at Lily with shock clearly visible on her face. She couldn''t believe her ears when she heard this teenager chant her n''s sacred prayer. This was only known by her n, the Daughters of Naone; it was absolutely impossible for an outsider to know about it. "How?! How did you know our family chant? Just who are you?" "We have no time for that, we have to leave before more of theme!" Lily replied. Madine wanted to argue and get some information out of this teenager, but she knew that the girl was right. The only thing that matters currently is the safety of her daughter, everything else can wait. Gritting her teeth in frustration she relented. "Argh! Fine! But after we get to safety, you will tell me everything! Got that?" Lily nodded in agreement. "Sure mo- *khm* Madine. Now, do you have a back door where we could exit the building and run for the woods? That would give us some cover while we put some distance between us and them." Lily said. She pretended that she was thinking but in reality, she was just trying to guide her mother to follow the events as they should. She still wasn''t perfectly sure about what she should be doing, but based on the happenings, she just needs to follow the events as they happen, and gently guide it back on course when it would start to diverse. ''Whatever happens, I will not let mom die!'' she promised to herself. Even if her death would be a requirement for the illusion, she will do everything she can, to save both of them. ''Maybe it''s okay if I die instead of her?'' She was thinking that maybe the trial would still ept her sacrifice instead of her mother''s Well, only time will tell. "Y-yeah, we have. How do you know?" asked Madine. She couldn''t understand who this girl was, but the more she interacted with her, the closer she felt to her. She couldn''t exin it, but there was this feeling, this faint nudge in her heart telling her to listen to her, get close to her. "There''s no time for that! Let''s go!" Lily retorted. Then, she picked up one of the bags that Madine prepared and ran towards the back door she already knew about. She didn''t know how much time they had, but she knew that they couldn''t have much before the invaders will start showing up. Coming back from her reverie, Madine picked up the other bag she packed along with her scared little daughter and quickly followed after the teenage girl. Just as they left the house, they heard the sounds of the second group of invaders making their way towards the house. Seeing their deceased mates'' corpses lying on the ground in front of them, they readied their weapons and got into an alerted state. Both of them noticed the group slowly approaching the house in the distance thanks to their heightened senses. While Madine was a pure-blood and Lily a half-blood, they both still had increased hearing. "We have to be really silent now, and slowly, carefully sneak towards the treeline. Make sure you are silent! Once they enter the house and see the back entrance they will realize which way we went and chase us. Hopefully, we can put enough distance between us by then." Lily said as they slowly sneaked from their house to the trees. "Y-Yes! Let''s do our best." Madine stuttered with her answer. Everything was happening so fast, she had trouble keeping up. The only thing keeping her steady was her motherly instincts. She had to keep her precious little Lily safe, no matter what. While they were keeping their slow, but steady pace among the cover of the walls, she wanted to exin something important to the girl. "I-I have called in a" she started but the girl interrupted her, with her hand, to keep silent. "I know. You called in the person that raised you, while you were packing your stuff. A tattered, red-clothed elderly woman called Granny, right?" Lily silently whispered, stunning Madine once again. "Y-yes, but h-how?" she tried to ask but was interrupted once again. "How do I know? It doesn''t matter right now, but you made the right call in calling her. She will however take some time to arrive, and we need to put as much distance between us and these invaders as we can. Don''t worry, I will keep you safe." Lily said. Then, she motioned for them to be silent, and follow her. They were getting close to the forest, and soon they will have the cover they need to increase their pace. However, thesest few meters would be critical as they have to cross a small clear section without anything to hide them from the onlookers. Arriving at the edge of thest bit of the cover the wall provided, Lily faced Madine and silently whispered. "You two should go now. Go towards the clearing you should meet Granny. I will be behind you and hold the invaders off. Don''t worry about me, just make sure you both are safe, okay?" Madine shook her head and looked at the girl as her eyes started tearing up. She still didn''t know who this girl was, but the thought of losing her, caused her heart to ache. "No! Come with us, we can all escape! Don''t sacrifice yours-" Once again, before she could finish, Lily interrupted. "I will be behind you guys. Someone needs to stay and hold them off, so the others will have the best chance to escape. Please don''t waste time and go!" she pushed them forward, ending the conversation. Madine looked back with a concerned expression and after a moment of hesitation, she nodded her head in affirmation. "Fine. But stay close behind us! Remember, you still owe me an exnation youngdy!" "I will! Stay safe moth-, *khm*, Madine," Lily answered with watery eyes. Then, she turned her head back towards the house and readied her bow. Although the girl wanted to hide it, Madine still saw the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She smiled, reassured that her feeling was right on point about her, then started making her way towards the treeline with long, hurried steps. Meanwhile, Lily was focusing on the house. She could hear that the invaders were already close to the house and that it was just a matter of seconds before they pushed inside. Suddenly, she felt the familiar lightning pain that she experienced before. Closing her eyes, she rxed her mind, offering no resistance to the feeling that started to overwhelm her senses. As she rxed, the pain slowly faded away, and in the next moment, she was once again, before the same statuette of the Goddess Naone. "Ah Sister Madeleine, you are back to do your nightly prayer again?" The soothing female voice sounded from behind her. Turning around, Lily saw the High Priestess who taught her the strange chant that empowered her arrows. Following the feeling that was guiding her, she bowed deeply as she greeted her. "Greetings High Priestess! Yes, sincest time we prayed, I felt my soul closer to Mother. I was just about to start my prayer, may I have the opportunity to pray beside you?" Smiling, the High Priestess, walked beside Lily and knelt down. "I would love that Sister! Pleasee, join me, let''s pray again! To reward your diligence, let me teach you 2 prayers this time!" Lily bowed once again, and knelt down besides the High Priestess, and listened to her teachings Opening up her eyes, Lily pulled out an arrow from her quiver and readied it onto the bow. Before releasing the string, she silently chanted the first prayer she learnt from the memory. "Oh Naone, gentle and kind mother of all elves, please bless this arrow and guide it to the hearts of our enemies! Please let this unworthy one stand strong against our enemies! Roaloth tha ih!" Releasing the bowstring, she watched as the arrow tore through the wind and flew at a high speed towards the currently closed back door of the house. Halfway through, the arrow was suddenly shrouded in the familiar green light, and in the next second, the arrow simply vanished. There was no sound, no visual of it anymore. A few momentster as the first invader kicked the door in and made their way inside the now empty house, a short green light beam greeted him and tore through his body without losing much of its momentum. As the next guy was close behind, he couldn''t react and was also killed on the spot. However, the rest of the group could, and have jumped to the side, escaping the deadly beam''s path. Still, out of the 5 that came, 2 were killed without any chance to react. Worse, they didn''t even know who or what attacked them. Nobody noticed when a faint ck aura left both of the dead bodies, quickly vanishing into the air. Rage rising in their hearts, they gripped the hilt of their swords tightly and rushed inside the house, only to find itpletely empty. They soon found the lonely closed door at the back. Smarter than previously they didn''t immediately stand in the door but stationed themselves at the left and right side of it. Thest guy nervously gripped the handle and pushed the door open. Without waiting for anything he immediately threw himself to the left. Not a momentter, the familiar green light beam flew past him and while it did not prate him, it still burned the skin on his back. He cried out in pain, and as he slowly stood up, he bellowed to the distance. "I''M GONNA ENJOY SKINNING YOU ALIVE, WHOEVER YOU ARE! THERE''S NO ESCAPE FOR YOU!" Lily chuckled at his rage-filled shout, and as the group rushed out of the house, she already released another arrow. She didn''t even look at it, but quickly picked and readied the next onto the bow and was aiming for the second guy in the back. The arrow flew through the wind, straight to the first guy. As he was already prepared, he tried deflecting it with his sword, but sadly he overestimated his capabilities. He did not swing in time but was a moment early, and as a result, the arrow prated his hand, ruining his sword arm. "AAAAARG!! CATCH THAT BAST-" He couldn''t even finish when he saw the second arrow flying toward them. Due to ack of better options and time to react, he simply threw himself to the left. As he hit the ground, he saw the guy in the right, falling back with the arrow resting deep in the middle of his forehead. "GO BEHIND HIM! WE HAVE TO KILL THIS BASTARD!" he shouted filled with rage. If he couldn''t take the head of this bastard tonight, he would never find peace again. Whoever this guy was, had to die today! Chapter 59 - 59 - Death (Part 1) It was lunchtime, and Aiden was navigating through the crowded streets back towards his home. Meanwhile, he was thinking about today''s events and the supposed end to this trial. ''Do I really need to die? Who thought that this was a good idea for a test? I don''t want to die!'' he cursed inwardly. [You have to die in the illusion, and not in reality. If our theory is correct, you have to y out the day''s events as they are supposed to, and once you get to the end, then you will have to die. If your deathes prematurely, most likely you will fail the trial and will be booted. You will not die in reality.] Enya answered promptly. ''How can I follow the events if I don''t remember anything about it?'' Aidenined. He only knows that this is his life because Enya told him. He did feel some familiarity with the faces on the picture back in his room, but that was it. He had absolutely no recollection of anything that happened, or who these people really are. Heck, he couldn''t even recall his supposedly best friend''s name! Then, how could he even hope to guide the day''s events?! [Remember Aiden, that you can spot the irregrities by relying on your system. Just make sure you are vignt. Also, once you get home, you have to banish the Nightmare out from your mother and father. However, that might be harder as you left them there in the morning, and since then, they have fed off from the negative emotions, and could be much stronger now.] Listening to her, Aiden sighed. Yes, he was careless and didn''t even bother checking them in the morning, he got lost in the events. ''Yeah, I know. I will think of something, don''t worry.'' [Just make sure you rely on the system and don''t forget yourself again.] Enya replied. He could hear the smirk in her tone. Not bothering to answer, he focused his attention. He has just arrived in front of his house. ''What should I do, to get their attention? First I should know what the root cause of the problem is, I guess *sigh* It would really help if I would remember how they should be acting towards me. I don''t even know what am I studying at the Academy.'' he muttered to himself while making his way up the stairs in the stairwell. Thinking about it, there was another thought that kept bothering him ever since he ''awakened'' in his room. ''Come to think of it, just how powerful Number 3 and Granny are to create such a detailed illusion, not to mention this whole pocket world?'' [The pocket world was something that already existed, and it was not something they created. Most likely this is something that she had ess to as a high-ranking member of the group that woman belongs to. Maybe it''s a training ground that their group no longer uses, or something simr.] ''Hmmm Maybe. Anyways, we have arrived, let''s see how bad the situation is, and see what we can do to fix it.'' Opening the door and stepping inside, he was in the small hallway that led to the kitchen, bathroom, and directly opposite of where he was standing, the living room. Stepping inside, and looking to his right, he saw that his mother was still in the kitchen, just like she was when he left for the Academy. "Hello, mother! How are you?" Aiden greeted. As he expected, the woman did not reply but only scoffed at his greeting. She kept focusing on the contents of the pan. ''Well, let''s check her then.'' Focusing on his [Dark Sense] system-ability he poured some extra Soul Power into it and focused it on the middle-aged woman. Looking at the results on the map, he was astonished, that he didn''t feel anything. The woman basically oozed out the ck fog-like aura. Her intent was also full of negativity and it was directly aimed towards Aiden. Anger, Disappointment, Pain Thoughts that normally should never surface in the mind of a mother. ''What is she so angry about? Also, Disappointment and Pain? What did I do?'' Aiden thought after seeing the results on his screen. However, before he could continuementing, he heard Enya''s berating voice in his mind. [Focus Aiden! Try talking to her and guide the conversation to you and what you did. That will surely elicit a reaction.] ''Yeah I will banish the nightmare spawns out from both of them. I will get to the bottom of this!'' "Mother, I havee back from the Academy. I checked my scores today, I am among the top scorers!" The only reaction he received from her was a loud "Humpf!". Aiden sighed at this, then continued. "Mother, didn''t you hear? Your son has achieved good results! Why can''t you be happy with me? What did I do to earn your ire? Hearing his words, the middle-aged woman stepped away from the stove and looked at the boy. Anger visible on her face, she slowly replied. "Why? You dare ask me why? After all, didn''t we ask you to not go to that Academy and instead help your father in the business? We needed you, but thanks to you neglecting your parents, he had to file for bankruptcy. We have no idea how we will make enough to live for another month, but yes, we should be d for you that your SCORES ARE HIGH ENOUGH?! CAN YOU PROVIDE FOOD WITH THOSE POINTS? HMM?!" she answered. By the end, as her anger reached the boiling point, she was basically shouting at the boy. "This is not you, mother. You should be happy that I achieved sess. Snap out of it!" he said. "HAPPY?!! YOU SAID I SHOULD BE HAPPY?! SURE, LET ME SHOW YOU HOW HAPPY I AM!" she grabbed a rolling pin lying on the kitchen counter, and was ready to hit the boy when they both heard a male voiceing from the living room. "Shut up both of you! I''m watching TV! You can discuss my misery after lunch, let me at least have a bit of peace and quiet before that!" Hearing her husband, she visibly calmed down and put the rolling pin back on the counter. Looking at the boy, she scoffed and turned her attention back to the stove. After a few seconds, she snorted under her nose. "Go back to your room. We can talk after lunch. At least give that little peace to your father and to us." Still stunned by the turn of events, Aiden could only nod, and silently leave the room. He wasn''t shocked by the words the woman that should be his mother said, but the fact that the nightmare had such a strong grip on her. When she was ready to hit him, her face distorted and a dark shadow engulfed it. Her eyes turned red briefly, and Aiden wasn''t sure that if the man in the living room didn''t interrupt, what he would have done. He didn''t want to resort to violence, as that wasn''t the goal of this scenario. He didn''t feel any attachment or emotion towards these people that should be his rtives and friends, apart from that vague feeling that kept bothering him in his heart. Quickly entering his room, he closed the door, and in the next moment, he fell down on his bed. Looking up at the in white ceiling he sighed ''This will be harder than I thought, Enya. I''m not sure I can do this without violence.'' he muttered mostly to himself. Just a simple question got such a strong reaction, what would happen, and how he would resolve this he had no idea. The difficulty of this trial was much higher than the ones before that, he was certain of. --- A figure holding a small child could be seen running through the shrubs in the forest. She was heavily huffing, as she had been running without any rest for several minutes now. Running out of air she finally halted her steps, and as she put down her daughter, she leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree. "*Huff* *Huff* We should be far enough for now. Lily, dear, stay close to me, we will take rest for a few minutes before we continue. *Huff* Mommy needs to catch her breath." Heavily huffing she addressed her daughter. Looking back towards where she came from, she couldn''t help but worry. She left that teenage girl all on her own, while she escaped with Lily. She could only hope that the girl would follow not far behind. ''Just who was that girl Is she from the n? How else could she know the sacred prayers?!'' Sighing, she closed her eyes while she sat down on the ground while still leaning against the tree trunk. Seeing how tired she was, Lily was worried. She didn''t know what happened, but she could understand that whatever was happening was bad. She didn''t know why they left the kind blonde girl behind. Looking up at her mother, she tugged at her clothes and asked in a worried tone. "Mommy, will the girle after us?" "We can only hope honey. Let''s pray for her safety while we rest, okay?" Chapter 60 - 60 - Death (Part 2) Panting sounds echoed through the forest as a young blonde long-haired teenage girl was running through the trees. She would stop every once-in-a-while to take a peek behind and check if any of her pursuers have caught up. She could hear their angry shouts from the distance. Multiple ones. Back in the house, after Lily managed to eliminate 4 out of the 5 invaders, thest one escaped back and alerted the rest of the group. Lily saw him running and let him be, as she needed them toe, otherwise the event would y out differently. She was already worried that she changed the events too much and would fail the trial. ''Doesn''t matter. I will not let theme to harm. I I just can''t! I will take her ce!'' she muttered to herself with determination. If the scenario will only end if someone dies during the escape it will be her and not her mother. No. She can''t lose her again, even if this is just an illusion. She felt extremely tired. She kept relying on the strange new sensation, this new source of energy she found within herself. This potential, this power. It helped her greatly so far, but it did take out a lot from her as well. After dealing with the first 2 groups, she felt that at most she had 1 more ''magic shot'' in her. Lining up her next arrow, she aimed at the distance where a group of clustered people were angrily making their way through the bushes while shouting various rage-filled curses. There was onest phrase she hasn''t tried yet. It was time to test out the third prayer. Closing her eyes, she recalled the distant memory once again. She was once again standing in front of the high priest, who was on her knees, praying to the chubby figure of the Goddes of Nature, mother of all elves, Naone the Everloving. The prayer was once again, gibberish to Lily in this dream-like vision, apart from 3 words. "Dennui tho ih!". Once again, as she focused on these 3 words, the words of the prayer naturally flowed into her mind. Closing her eyes, while stretching the string, she whispered the prayer to the wind. "Oh Naone, gentle and kind mother of all elves, please bless this arrow and guide it to the hearts of our enemies! Please let this unworthy one stand strong against our enemies! Dennui tho ih!" As she said the 3 words, she released the string and watched as the simple wooden arrow whispered through the air, towards the unsuspecting assants. Halfway through the distance, the arrow started to, once again, bathe in an emerald green light, but this time seemingly nothing else happened. It simply continued to traverse to its intended destination, while coated in the unnatural light show. The leader of the group that was pursuing the girl, noticed the strange light that was quickly making its way towards them. Recognizing that it''s the same magic that annihted his previous group, he immediately shouted while ducking to his right side. "WATCH OUT! MAGIC ARROW!" However, the group did not understand and therefore couldn''t react in time. They were toote to notice the iing green energy beam and it made contact with the first guy behind the leader who was already on the ground. The green light beam exploded on contact. The green light expanded and covered a huge area around the impact point,pletely covering the group that was pursuing Lily. In the next moment, the energy bumble vibrated, and with an incredibly loud rumble, burst apart. For a while, nothing could be seen as the released energy run rampant. The mixture of white and green light that still covered everything, hid the carnage that happened. --- The sound of the explosion could be heard from miles away, alerting both the rest of the invaders back in the vige, who also saw the green light deeper in the forest. They gathered up and started rushing towards the scene, leaving only a few people behind. Not that it mattered anymore, the vigers were almost all finished off. In another direction, Madine and her daughter also heard the explosion. Looking back, they also saw the green bubble in the distance. She had her mouth wide open with astonishment. ''She could use this one as well?!'' Looking at her daughter, who was also looking at the direction of the explosion with worried eyes, Madine shook her head. ''No, that can''t be'' Her daughter, the Kid-Lily, looked up at her mother, and with a shaking voice, she asked. "Mommy, is she okay? What was that sound?" Madine kept her gaze on the disturbance. She didn''tpletely understand, but tears started forming at the edges of her eyes, sadness, and worry bubbled up in her heart. Why did she care so much for this girl? Was it because of the sacred prayers she also knew? Could she be a distant rtive from her n? Lightly patting her daughter''s head, she remained silent for a few seconds before eventually she sighed and replied. "Let''s hope so. We have to keep moving, we cannot waste the opportunity she gave us through all this effort. Come, let''s go, honey, we are not that far away!" --- The light slowly faded away, and after the smoke vanished into the air, it finally revealed the results of the carnage Lily''s prayer had brought forth. A moderately sized crater centered around the point of impact. The group of assantspletely vanished, not even a trace of blood remained. The vegetation was also annihted, and only splinters remained where once the tall and proud trees stood. It wasplete and utter destruction. Panting, Lily leaned against the trunk of the closest tree and sat down. Her newfound energy waspletely exhausted, and along with it, her stamina was also all used up. She was tired, she simply couldn''t continue forward. Even though she knew that the invaders that were still looting and murdering in the vige heard the explosion and was probablying towards her direction, she still smiled. She aplished what she wanted, and gave more than enough time for her mother to escape. She looked up at the night sky, and albeit tired, she happily giggled. "Ehehehe I did it! I hope I was faster than brother, so I could im my reward!" Several minutes passed in silence before the first sounds of the newest wave of pursuers could be hearding from the direction of the vige. Lily tried standing up, only for her legs to start wobbling and falling back on her butt. "Well, this is as good of a ce as any" Looking back at her quiver, she saw that she only has 3 more shots before she is out of arrows. Smiling, she picked one and readied it in her bow. "Let''s make thisst 3 count. I may not have any power left, but I can take a couple more with me." The string stretched to its maximum, she aimed at the distance, looking for the first head to pop up. She was ready. --- Opening her eyes, Lily found herself back in the pocket world, standing before the strange old hermit, that guided her and her brother to the trial grounds. She quickly checked her body, and upon seeing that there''s no cuts and bruises, she fell to the ground with a sigh of relief. "*Huff* *Huff* I was the first, I was the first to return! Ehehehe! The reward is mine!" The hermit with his eyes closed, slowly turned her head towards the girl that just returned. After a few brief seconds, he opened his mouth, and in his raspy, tattered voice, addressed the returner. "Congrattions You passed the... first part... of the trial. Please wait... for the other applicant... to return." Lily didn''t get up from the ground and just kept gazing at the starless scarlet sky. She did it! She met with her mother and managed to save her. Even if it was just an illusion, she still felt that some part of her finally got the closure it desperately needed. She overcame her demons, she conquered her fears, and now, she got the closure she wanted and even faced death itself, saving her mother in the process. She felt that a great burden was lifted from her heart --- "Huh, who would have thought, Lily was the first toplete the trial." Said Number 3, then she sipped from her tea as she kept musing at the crackling fire. "Yes. Still, did you expect that she will sacrifice herself instead of letting the events end the same way? Was that your n?" asked Granny. As ever, she was worried about the little girl. This test was very cruel, facing the darkest moment in her life, Granny feared that Lily would crumble. However, Lily sessfully conquered the trial, and with a result that she did not expect! "I couldn''t be sure. Her trial would still be sessful if she would have just let the events y out as they were supposed to. Her changing it and sacrificing herself to save the others, was a wee change. That little girl has more secrets than we expected. For a half-elf to win the blessing of the elven goddess and even be able to sessfully use it" Chapter 61 - 61 - Lifting The Veil Aiden got woken up from his little mid-day nap with a loud knock on the closed door. His father''s voice shifted his brain back to gear, as he curtly called out for him. "Lunch!" After he said that, Aiden could hear the footsteps. Sighing, he stood up from the bed and quickly stretched his limbs. Thinking back on the short shout-fest that was supposed to be a talk with his mother, he summarized what he knew. He had toe up with a solution to their problems during lunch, and free them of the Nightmares grasp. ''So, the fact that father lost his job and that he is currently wasting away in sorrow is faulted to me not helping, but instead going to the local school to further my education? How the hell am I going to convince them that this was the right choice? Argh, this is so hard!'' he grumbled. He was prepared for almost any challenge he could think of. Well, almost anything. He wasn''t too confident about battling ''enemies'' with his wits alone. Aiden may have been social in his previous life, but that''s all gone and done. He is not that person anymore. Heck, he doesn''t even remember anything about that life. From the conversations over the years, the only thing he managed to squeeze out from Enya was that he was supposed to remember them, but due to some ''unlucky'' idents, they are sealed. She also said that there is a chance for him to regain most if not all of his sealed memories, but as to how, she could not, or would not say. Managing to sessfully wake up and finishing his stretching routine, Aiden left his room and went to the kitchen where both of his parents were already seated. They were silently waiting for him, with all food prepared already. It was a traditional lunch, with 3 courses. The first the soup, the second the main dish, and for the final, some coffee with desserts. Well, traditional for this locale. The soup, which was broth, was fresh and delicious. Tasting it, Aiden couldn''t help but loudly slurp up his first spoonful of it. The middle-aged man, his father grumbled, while the woman, his mother also voiced his annoyance. "At least mind your manners! Is making us suffer the only thing you can do?!" Aiden looked at the woman, with a confused expression. "I''m not sure I follow your logic, mother. That was just my instinctual response, voicing my fondness of the taste. If anything, you should be delighted. That was a natural reaction, conveying my feeling, that the soup you made is delicious." The father continued to grumble under her breath, while the woman scorned at the response. "Manners! Etiquette! This is not how we raised you! If you like the food than politely thank the chef. Don''t act like a pig!" Aiden gently smiled at the woman and tried to showcase as much kindness and love in his voice, he spoke. "Mother, you are right. I behaved incorrectly, and for that, I apologize. As for the food, I would like to say: Thank you. I may have not tried the other dishes yet, but the soup is wonderful. Thank you for doing all this effort trying to please us." With his monologue finished, he continued consuming his soup. This time, however, he tried copying their spoon movements and act as politely as possible. He decided that he will roll with the flow and try to convey kindness and filial piety. Hopefully, that will break through to their hearts, banishing the Nightmare surrounding it. "Humph!" A loud snort was the only response Aiden received for his heartfelt effort. He didn''t mind though, this was another small step towards the right direction. The rest of the first dish was finished in silence. The main dish was another traditional course of the locale, fried chops with mashed potatoes. Just the smell itself was mouth-watering for Aiden. He had a really hard time holding himself back, trying to act politely and not just jump in and gobble everything up. The strangeness of the situation didn''t even ur to him. Back in reality, while he preferred specific foods (mostly meats), he didn''t ''like'' the food in the traditional sense. He prioritized everything based on the energy, (or in other words: Soul Power) it could provide. Here, in the illusion, however, he genuinely thirsted, hungered for the taste. It was very human-like. After giving it a taste, he looked at his mother, and with the same gentle smile just like before, he gave his praise for the food. "Khm, continuing my previous words, this is also very tasty, vourful. If you wouldn''t mind me saying, this dish is absolutely mouth-watering, mother!" As if a slight crack appeared on the invisible bubble that the Nightmare represented on her heart, the middle-aged woman was at a loss for words on how to react. There was no sarcasm, no additional meaning behind those words, just pure kindness, and gratitude. Not sure how to react, she looked at Aiden, and without smiling, she curtly responded. "Thanks." Aiden was visibly delighted upon hearing this response. He finally got through! Even if it was just for a short bit, he managed to get a genuine response. There were no negative emotions conveyed neither from him nor from his mother. The rest of the lunch went uneventful. After the main dish was consumed, thedy made some coffee and picked up the chocte pudding that was safely stashed away in a big white electronic box that they called "refrigerator". Aiden continued his assault against his mother''s heart, and after tasting the dessert and sipping from the coffee, he thanked her with the same kindness that he conveyed before. "Mother, once again, thank you for this wonderful treat. I really like it!" The imaginary cracks became wider as she heard an honest and kind thank you, filled with filial love. She elicited a small smile the first since Aiden woke up in this illusion. Seeing the results, and the small curve at the edges of her lips, Aiden could scream in happiness. Not because of the non-existent filial love, as he still had no real feeling towards these 2 strangers, but because this was a huge step forward. He expected that he would need to put in a lot more effort to push through. ''Haih! Progress!'' he eximed inwardly. [Now is the time Aiden. Bring up the discussion you had with her before lunch.] Enya suggested. Agreeing with her, as this was the best chance he had, he stood up and looked at both of them, trying the logical approach, he spoke. "*Khm*, Mother, Father, please let''s talk about the issues you both are having with me, and let''s work it out. We are a family, and I''m sure you both agree that we shouldn''t be living like this. Let me say this before anything else: If I made you disappointed or angry with any of my choices, I am sorry. My decision, however, to go study at the Academy and carve myself a path for a better future shouldn''t be shunned by any of you, it is something you guys should push me for." Then, looking at his father, he continued. "Father, the fact that you lost your business and are now without a job is unfortunate, but at the same time that is not a reason to give up on life and just waste away in the living room. You should move forward, and notment on the past." Aiden turned towards his mother and addressed her as well. "Mother, I know you are stressed about our family''s future, and I appreciate all the effort you have put into this family. Still, you should be happy for me, and for my choices. This morning score was amongst the best in the academy, and that should be reason enough for celebration. I may very well have a bright future ahead of me, and you shouldn''t worry about me not caring for you guys." Finishing his speech, he sat down, and while looking at their reactions, continued sipping from his coffee. While his father''s face turned increasingly scarlet as his rage boiled, the mother was sending mixed signals. Her emotions were in turmoil, she didn''t know what to do. Aiden''s words were true, thinking about it she didn''t even know why she was so angry with him at all. She is her mother, she is his son she ''...I love my son, what am I doing?!'' The Nightmare''s hold on her heart was already growing weaker, but uponing to this realization, thest strands of its grip were cut, and warmth reced it. The opaque ckish miasma evaporated from her body and vanished into the air. As if a heavy veil was lifted from her heart, she looked at Aiden, and the first time since forever, she gave him a genuine, kind smile. "Thank you son, I''m sorry, I don''t know what came ov-" she couldn''t finish her words as from her left, the rage-filled man stood up, and with the kitchen knife in his hand, he bellowed towards Aiden. "Pesky brat, who do you think you are to lecture me?! I''m not going to stand for it anymore!" Chapter 62 - 62 - An Idiot In the small room, Aiden was resting on his bed, eyes closed. He was recuperating currently. He wasn''t bloody or bruised, but he was mentally tired. ''Making sure you only defend and disarm your opponent during a battle is more taxing than I have thought.'' he sighed wearily. He was tired, but, at the same time, he was extremely happy. He banished 2 more Nightmare spawns, and resolved the issue with her mother and father, thus making progress. His quest objective indicator showed a proud 3 instead of the previous 1. --- Back about an hour ago "Pesky brat, who do you think you are to lecture me?! I''m not gonna stand for it anymore!" The man bellowed and as he stood up, he pushed the middle-aged woman, the mother to the side. "Get out of my way! I will show him today that he shouldn''t have messed with us!" "Don''t do it!" "SILENCE!" *SLAP* With a loud p, he silenced the woman who was now on the ground with reddened cheeks, on the verge of crying because of frustration, sadness, and worry. She didn''t know what was happening to her husband, he never acted this way, aggression was something he detested all his life. Now suddenly being so overly aggressive, was very out-of-character for him. Yet, she couldn''t do a thing. "Aiden just run! Don''t let him get to you!" she shouted at the boy. Aiden, who was standing and facing the slowly approaching raging bull of a man, smiled and while not taking off his focus of the threat, he calmly said. "Don''t worry, mother. I am more than enough to handle him. Rest assured nobody will get hurt, and I will force him to regain his senses." Hearing his words, her mother wasn''t sure how to react. He felt the confidence in his voice, and while she couldn''t believe it, she couldn''t help but nod her head. At the same time, his father, upon hearing his words, he felt his rage soar even higher than before. "How dare you still look down on me?! You can ''handle'' me? We will see about that!" As he was already in front of the boy, he suddenly swung the knife towards Aiden''s throat. While the speed his father used was higher than the average human of this world, it was still like slow-motion in Aiden''s eyes. ''I guess his strength and speed have increased because of the Nightmare. No matter, it is still a far cry from me. I will have to make sure to not hurt him, and just tire him before I disarm him. I have to shake his will to have any chance on waking him up.'' Looking at the approaching de, Aiden simply leaned back avoiding it by a hair''s breadth. Seeing how easily his attack was avoided the man growled in anger and stroke again, drawing a horizontal arc around Aiden''s chest area. Aiden once again, simply leaned slightly to the back, using minimal effort to once again, barely avoid the tip of the de. Cutting nothing but air once again, the middle-aged man grew frustrated. "STOP DODGING! FACE ME LIKE A MAN!" he bellowed. His next attack was a thrust, once again around the middle of Aiden''s chest. The attack was, once again, only met air, as Aiden leaned to the side, still not left his original position. Frustration bubbling in the middle-aged men, he repeatedly shed and thrust with his knife, only to cut, slice, and thrust the air each and every time. As time passed, so did the limited stamina the middle-aged man was blessed with. The slices lost their power and the thrusts became weaker, but no matter how hard he tried, he never managed to cause any harm. "ARGH! I CAN''T EVEN DO THIS RIGHT!" finally the frustration reached its peak, and while dropping the knife, he also fell to the ground. His frustration slowly turned to silent sobs, as he buried his face into his hands. "I''M A FAILURE! I''M NOTHING BUT A FAILURE!" He cried out. Raising his head slightly, he looked at the knife on the ground, and as a dark thought crossed his troubled mind, he suddenly reached out for it. "I DON''T DESERVE ANY OF YOU. I''M A FAILURE OF A MAN AND AS A FATHER!" with that he thrust towards his heart hoping to end his bleak existence. However, suddenly his hand met some resistance, and his thrust was halted midway through. He opened up his eyes only to see his son''s gently smiling face looking at him. At the side, his wife was silently sobbing her left cheek still red from his earlier p. "No, Father. You are not a failure. You are just a bit lost. Yes, you may have met an obstacle, but that just means you have to try harder. You have a loving family, a kind wife, and a loving son that looks up to you. Please,e back to us, don''t let darkness cloud your heart any longer!" As he looked at the honest and gentle smile and heard his pure words, the middle-aged man''s heart trembled. Slowly cracks appeared around the invisible barrier that the Nightmare had on it, and as the warmth returned to it, so did the cracks widen only to eventually shatter. The moment the Nightmare''s hold was shattered from his heart and as the warmth returned to it, so did the realization of what he just did. His face contorted to pain, and he continued sobbing while he looked at his wife. "Honey, please forgive me, I I don''t know why I hit you. I...I" He couldn''t continue as the woman put his finger on his lips sealing it. "Shhh! I know dear, I felt the same just a little while ago. It was our son that freed me, just like you." He looked at Aiden, not sure what and how to say. He stuttered. "Son, I I don''t" Aiden raised his palm in the air, silencing him. As he stood up, he calmly said. "Don''t worry about it, I know you weren''t yourself. Try to rest up, and don''t let yourself fall into the same ''pit'' again. Okay?" Unable to say anything, the man weakly nodded his head, and looked at his sons receding back as he left the kitchen going to his room. Only after he went into this room did he manage to look back at his wife, who was still smiling at him. "He is so much stronger than before" The middle-aged woman smiled at his words. Her arms around his neck, she rested her head on his shoulders. "I know honey. He is incredible" --- Back in the room, Aiden was currently resting. With another problem solved, he was satisfied with the results. Sure, things escted a bit, and it got to a point he didn''t anticipate, in the end, everything turned just right. The problem was that it took out more of him than Aiden expected. Even though he didn''t have any familial feelings towards these 2, they were still his parents, and as it turns out, it was hard for him to fight off the attacks of his Nightmare-crazed father. ''*Huaaah* At least this part is over. I still don''t know how this story should end. We''ll see how the day and most likely this story ends at that party tonight. I still have a few hours before it, so let''s rest a bit.'' Yawning he turned to his side. Closing his weary eyes, he soon drifted to sleep. --- "Where the hell could they be? Did I arrive too early? Hmm No, I should be at just the right time" Aiden was grumbling. He arrived at the agreed location, in front of the Boy''s 2nd Dormitory just a few minutes ago. However, his friend and his sister weren''t there. Since he had no idea what to expect, he simply changed his shirt to a ck one that had the school''s emblem on it. He wore the same jeans as well. "Hey, Aiden! Did you wait for long?" He heard a familiar voice from behind. Turning around, he saw his friend, her sister and her smallpany arrive elegantly dressed, theplete opposite of him. Looking at Aiden''s attire, Andrew could only sigh. "Really man?! Didn''t you read the messages I sent you? I told you to dress up!??? Aiden had no idea what he meant by messages, but he figured it would be something he should have seen beforehand, so he smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, I fell asleep after lunch and just woke up. I just arrived here, not wanting to bete." "You''re lucky I expected you to be like this man! Come we can go to Jake''s room, he has a spare suit for you. It should be around your size too." Aiden looked at him with a confused expression. "Jake?" "Did you hit your head or something?! Jake! You know... Argh, we don''t have for you to be an idiot, get a move on, now!" he started pulling Aiden towards the door. However, he stopped midway and turned around to face his sister. "Kat, please wait here! I''ll make sure this idiot will be properly dressed, then we will head to the hall together, okay?" Chapter 63 - 63 - The Banquet "Seriously bro, what is wrong with you today? You act like you don''t remember any of us. Did you hit your head this morning or something? You were like a lost chicken this morning as well! *Sigh*..." Andrew kept grumbling as he was pulling Aiden along the hallway towards Jake''s room. "You are lucky, I have expected you to miss your messages, and called Jake beforeing here. Make sure you thank him AND don''t act like you don''t know your own friends!" Scratching his head, Aiden embarrassedly nodded his head. "S-sure I think it''s just I''m still tired. I haven''t slept that wellst night." he said. While it was a lie, it was still the most believable scenario. The fact that he had no memory at all about any of these events and the people made the whole situation just that much harder. Arriving in front of Jake''s door, Andrew turned around and turned serious. "Look, man, I don''t know what happened to you, and I really hope it''s just exhaustion and your cluttered mind because of the finals. However, just to be sure... Tomorrow, you wille with me, and we will get you examined, ok?" ''Tomorrow? I''m not gonna be here by then.'' Aiden smirked inwardly. Matching Andrew''s gaze, Aiden smiled and nodded. "Sure, I will go with you, tomorrow." "No bro, listen, you have to have it checked out! It could be something seri- Wait, you will?!" Andrew was not expecting that Aiden will agree on the spot and was prepared a long rant to try to convince him. In fact, all the way on the bus everyone was discussing how to get Aiden to agree to it. "Yes. Why wouldn''t I? If you guys really think this could be a problem, it''s better to have it checked out. Maybe it''s nothing." Aiden casually remarked. He really didn''t have any problem with the suggestion, this whole illusion should end in a couple of hours anyway. "Well, that''s f-fine then! d you agree! *Khm* Anyways, let''s move on!" With that, he turned around and knocked on Jake''s door. --- "What takes them so long?!" groaned Kat in annoyance. "They have been there for like 15 minutes now. And people say we, women take a long time to get ready!" "It might be your brother is talking to him about the hospital tomorrow. You know how stubborn Aiden can get." "*Sigh* I know, I know Not just stubborn either" As Kat said, her cheeks turned red. Noticing her embarrassment, both of her roommates smiled. "Hehehe! You want to get together with him tonight, are you? Do you think he will finally notice you Kat?" "I will do my best! I''ve been trying to get his attention ever since we were kids, but that doofus just never notices me! What should I do girls?" she replied. "You look gorgeous tonight Kat, don''t you worry! Once we get in and sit down, we will sneak away and pull your brother with us as well. You will have your alone time with Aiden, work your magic!" As they were talking about tonight''s dates, the boys finally got back. Aiden was also changed, dressed up, ready for tonight. Jake''s suit was a perfect match. All 3 girls gazes were on him as soon as he appeared, they couldn''t utter a single word. The negligent loafer, that always looked like some street vagrant now looked like a real man. To Kat, it was even more shocking. He looked like a modern prince from a fairytale,ing to pick her up, and ride to their new castle! Her face turned bright red, and as she met his gaze she immediately looked down to the ground, not daring to look up anymore. Aiden smiled and walked close to Kat. Offering his right hand, he said. "Kat, you look absolutely gorgeous today! Would you allow me to be your partner for the evening?" "I w-would l-love that!" Kat stuttered, unable to form normal sentences. She epted his hand, and as they sped their hands, they looked at the others. All of them were looking and smiling at them. "That was fast Kat! Way to go girl!" One of the girls eximed. "S-stop it!" "*Khm* Shall we head to the event? Andrew, could you guide us there, you''re the one that actually knows where to go and how to get in." Aiden said changing the subject. They have already wasted enough time as it is. "Yeah, follow me!" Andrew replied, then turning around, he started going towards the direction of the main building. Along the way, Andrew got closer to Aiden, and while the others weren''t paying attention he whispered into Aiden''s ears. "Protect her for me, will you? She really wanted to spend the night with you." Aiden looked at Andrew, and with an honest smile on his face, he simply nodded. Soon, they arrived in front of the main building, that waspletely transformed for tonight''s event. The main entrance wasvishly decorated, and not just the entrance, but the whole area reeked of elegance. There were 2 bulky men standing guard at the entrance. They looked at their group, and the left one curtly asked. "Invitations?" The group looked at Andrew who in turn knowingly smiled. He walked to the guard and whispered something into his ears. The guard''s face changed in shock, and as he looked at Andrew he asked. "Are you sure? Would you mind if I verify that?" Andrew smiled and nodded. "Sure, go ahead, call him. Tell him Andrew is here to im that favor he owes me." The guard turned away and whispered something into his earpiece. While the group couldn''t hear anything, Aiden could clearly listen in to their conversation. "Boss, here''s this kid, he says he knows you, he is called Andrew. He said that he saved you a few months ago and that you owe him. He said he is here to im that favor and wants to get into the banquet. Shall we let him and his group through?" The reply was distorted and barely audible, but thanks to Aiden''s superhuman abilities and the system, he was able to get the answer out. "Damn, why did hee today of all days! This will affect our ns! Argh! *Sigh* Well, there''s no helping it, let them inside, it''s not our problem anymore. Stick to the n!" "Are you sure boss? You know what will happen tonight, if they are your friends, we should turn them ar-" "Don''t argue with me! Let them in. It''s their problem, not ours. You just do your job and stick to the n." "Yes, boss!" With the conversation finished, the muscle head turned around and looked at Andrew. He nodded his head towards the other guard. "Let them in! They are clear." The other guard stepped to the side, giving them a way to get inside. Both guards bowed to them and as they motioned for them to get in, they greeted them. "Wee to the Grand Banquet!" Stepping inside, they were stunned at the luxury that greeted them. Lavishly decorated tables, with all kinds of drinks, waiter''s walking around with trays with sses full of champagne. The people that were invited were top of the cream, the upper echelons of society. They could recognize a lot of faces, they were celebrities, or high-profile businessmen and politicians. This whole event was so extravagant, so out of their league, they didn''t know what to do. Aiden looked at Kat who was stunned beyond belief. Smiling, he nudged her hand lightly, causing her to look at him. "Would you like to drink something with me, Kat?" Red as a tomato, Kat was unable to reply, instead, she shyly nodded. Smiling, Aiden looked at the group, as he said. "Guys, we will get something to drink. Would you like toe as well? It''s not the best idea to stand here in the hallway." "Yeah, let''s go get something to dri-" "No, we will go a bitter, you guys just go ahead without us. Have fun!" Andrew wanted to reply but was silenced when both girls'' hands covered his mouth. They both smiled at Aiden and Kat and waved them to go away. Walking into the crowd, Aiden agilely picked up 2 sses of champagne from a waiter''s tray, giving one to Kat. "To us!" he eximed as they clinked their sses. "T-to us!" Kat stutteringly answered. Both of them drank it in one gulp. Kat took a deep breath to calm herself down, then looking into Aiden''s mesmerizing eyes, she took a leap and started what she wanted to say for years now. "Aiden, I.. I really want to tell you something. *Sigh* Look, it''s really hard for me. I I... " "Kat..." "No Aiden, let me say it, please let me say this! Okay, calm down Kat, you can do it! *Sigh* Okay, so! Aiden, I really, really like you. Ugh, that sounds like we''re in Kindergarten! I love you! I''ve been in love with you for a while. I would like you to give us a chance, and not look at me as Andrew''s little sister, but as a woman that is totally, hopelessly in love with you." As she reached the end of her speech, she was already in tears. It was hard, but finally, she managed to say it out loud. She finally said it! Chapter 64 - 64 - Uninvited Guests "Kat, I" Aiden wasn''t sure how to react to the unexpected confession. He didn''t even know if his old self had any feelings towards this girl, or if he only ever saw him as a sister. Not to mention he couldn''t even imagine how he would react if this would happen back in the real world. However, before he could continue, Kat ced her finger to cover Aiden''s lips. She smiled with a few tears formed in the corner of her eyes. "I know you don''t see me the same way as I see you yet, Aiden. But please, let me enjoy this night and just give me the chance, open up your heart, and let me show you how much you mean to me. Please, Aiden." She said as the tears were now flowing down on her cheeks, dripping on her dress. "I *sigh*" Looking at the girl, using his right hand he quickly picked up the falling tear. Mostly recovered from his shock, the smile he had before returned to his face. Wiping her face with his hands, he continued. "Let''s do what you suggested. But I can''t promise you anything other than I''m willing to give it a try, okay?" This was the answer she was hoping for but never dared to dream about. Suddenly overwhelmed by emotion, she hugged Aiden. Her face buried in Aiden''s chest, nothing could be heard from her for several seconds. Aiden hugged her back in response and gave a peck on the top of her head, causing the girl''s currently hidden face to turn even redder, if that was possible at all. --- From the distance, Andrew and the girls were silently looking at the scene while they enjoyed the food and the free drinks. "She did it! Look at them, hugging each other so emotionally! Do you think they are a pair now?" Asked one of the girls. "I think so, yeah. I''m so happy for Kat, she dreamt about this moment for so long, she deserves it." Answered the other. "Y-yeah... Wait, Kat was in love with Aiden? Since when?!" Surprised, Andrew asked turning to the girls. "Oh my God, how could you never notice it? She liked Aiden ever since you were kids ying at the yground. She''s in love for more than 10 years now, you as her brother never noticed anything? Sheesh, how blind can one man get?" "I I never noticed. I just thought he liked hanging with us and that he looked at Aiden like his second brother." He answered, embarrassed. "God, you are so stupid sometimes" they both eximed. Then turning their attention back to the newly formed pair, they continued spying on them from the distance. --- Just outside the banquet hall, under the cover of the brick wall, a group of masked men was gathered, armed with military-grade assault rifles and ker vests. They all had ck stic faceless masks covering their faces. The guy in the middle of the group looked at the others. Reloading his weapon and readying it, he spoke to them in his husky voice. "Is everybody ready? Everyone knows the n?" The group nodded and whispered almost in unison. "Yes, captain! We are ready!" Good, follow the n then. We move in as soon as we see the signal. Until then, be ready!" The captain said and the others nodded to his words. Everybody knew the n and the importance of this mission. They have been preparing for it for months now. Soon, as they were watching the main entrance from their cover, they saw the guards look at their direction and nod. shing the light briefly both of the guards then walked away from the entrance. "This is it, boys, that was the signal! Everything is set, GO! MAKE YOUR COUNTRY PROUD, SHOW THEM WHO THEY MESSED WITH!" The captain eximed as he raised his weapon into the air. The rest of the group followed suit and raised theirs as well as they all cheered loudly in unison. Leaving their position, they rushed to the entrance, ready to rush in and make history --- Aiden and Kat were sitting together at a nearby table and were enjoying each other and the drinks they took. Suddenly Aiden cocked his head toward the entrance, causing Kat to jump in fright. "W-what is it Aiden?" she asked, with a bit of worry mixed in her tone. She felt that something must be happening for Aiden to react this way. "We have a problem. Armed men are going to attack. Not sure what their goal is but they look like soldiers ." he replied while still looking at the entrance. "Attack? Terrorists?!" Kat jumped in fright upon hearing his words. If what he said was true then this was no joke. "W-what should we do?!" She asked stutteringly. "First, let''s gather up with the others before we think of anything else. Don''t worry we shouldn''t be the targets here, we are nobodies,pared to the other people present here." Aiden stood up and held out his hand for Kat to grab onto. "Come, let''s go to the others and think of a way to get out of this situation." The others were surprised when Aiden and Kat hand-in-hand rushed to them. The girls smiled cheekily at Kat, and in a suggestive tone, they teased. "Ehehe, what happened guys? Missed us so soon? We thought you will be lost in your own little world for a bit longer!" Although embarrassed, Kat shushed them. "Not now girls. There''s a big problem!" Hearing the graveness in her voice they quickly turned serious themselves. "What is the problem Kat, Aiden?" Aiden looked at the group and whispered. "Armed men will rush in a few seconds. With Kat, we think that they are probably terrorists. Most likely they are targeting the people here in the banquet as apart from us almost everyone is very high profile." Turning to Andrew, he smiled wryly. "This is why we shouldn''t go to parties we don''t belong" "H-how do you kn-" Andrew asked but was hushed by his sister. "Doesn''t matter how! What''s important is to quickly think of something so we could escape." Realizing the graveness of the situation, he nodded his head and turned silent. Then, as all of them were looking at Aiden, waiting on him to say something, Andrew asked. "What''s the n Aiden? What should we do?" "I don''t really know theyout of this ce We need to find a backdoor or maybe check if the bathrooms have any windows we could use." The group turned silent, trying to think back on the building''syout. Several seconds of silent contemtion passed. Aiden was looking at the entrance and sighed. "We''re out of time They are here." At that time, suddenly a sound of gunfire could be heard mixed with various screams. A group of armed and masked people rushed. A few quickly blocked the entrance while the rest of the group started herding the people together to the middle of the room. One of the assants, probably their leader, walked to the middle and stood up on a table to elevate herself. Then he shouted with his husky voice. "EVERYBODY STAY CALM AND DON''T DO ANYTHING STUPID! GO TO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM AND SIT YOUR ASSES DOWN! IF YOU BEHAVE NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN TO YOU." Then he aimed his gun at one old man who had this arrogant look stered all over his face. There was no trace of fear on it. Suddenly the guy pulled the trigger and shot the old man in the head. Then he continued his speech. "IF YOU DON''T BEHAVE OR IF I EVEN CATCH YOU LOOKING AT US LIKE THIS SACK OF BONES DID, THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN. WHILE WE WOULD LIKE TO KEEP ALL OF YOU ALIVE, WE DON''T NEED EVERYBODY FOR OUR PLANS! GOT IT?! IF YOU DO, THEN GET TO THE MIDDLE AND SIT THE FUCK DOWN!" While Aiden''s group was herded, he silently whispered to them. "Guys, listen to that guy and don''t do anything stupid. Let me think of something. If I can find an opening I will take it. Until I say so, you guys will behave, alright?" The girls nodded, but Andrew looked like he wanted to say something, so Aiden quickly shushed him. "Don''t. Believe in me, I am stronger and faster than you think. Now shush and sit down in the middle." They followed suit and sat down with the other guests in the middle of the hall. The captain was checking the group, looking for certain figures. When he found them, he motioned for a nearby guard to pick those people up and gather and bring them over. Soon, a group of 6 frightened guests was in front of the leader. They were all men, 3 middle-aged, 1 old, and 2 youth. The leader looked at them, smirking under the cover of the mask. After about a minute, he finally spoke "You 6, are our dearest VIPs tonight. Now, I would like to ask Mr. Police Commissioner to please be so dear and call the Minister. We have a great party tonight, and we should let him know, don''t you think?" Chapter 65 - 65 - The Hero (Part 1) The leader looked at them, smirking under the cover of the mask. After about a minute, he finally spoke "You 6, are our dearest VIPs tonight. Now, I would like to ask Mr. Police Commissioner to please be so dear and call the Minister. We have a great party tonight, and we should let him know, don''t you think?" The old man defiantly looked at the captain of the terrorists. However, before he could utter a word, the leader got close to him, and ced a finger on his mouth, silencing him. "Now, now, Mr. Police Commissioner, you should have realized by now that we are not joking. We are not a bunch of kids that you can threaten with your words or your position. Remember what I said at the beginning? If not, let me refresh your memory." He nodded to one of the soldiers that were standing guard around the group of people in the middle. The guard turned around and picked up a brown-haired young man from the group and forcefully dragged him to the leader. "I said" the leader continued "that we don''t need everybody alive for our ns." Then he aimed his rifle on the boy "So, Mr. Police Commissioner, can we get you to cooperate with us, or will you force our hands? I will give you a count of 3 to decide. One, Two and.." "STOP! I WILL DO IT, JUST STOP! DON''T HURT MY GRANDSON, PLEASE!" the old man cried out. "There, that wasn''t so hard, was it? Now then" he moved closer to the old man, giving him a phone that was already dialing a number. "Please, let the dear Minister know that this great party is missing him. Make sure hees here. If you alert him and hees with the police or military, just know that your dear grandson and family may have a tragic lead-overdose incident." Shortlyter as the call connected, the old man did as he was told. The same event was yed out with the other VIPs, they had to call and invite other high-profile people to the venue, while also making sure to not alert them of what''s going on. When all was left and done, they were led back to the rest of the group. The leader stepped up to the table once again and looked at the scared crowd. "Don''t be afraid people, if you do what you are told and behave, nothing will happen to you. Once our business is done, I promise you can all go to your merry way! Now, since this is supposed to be a party, why don''t we enjoy ourselves while we wait for the others?" Looking through the crowd, the leader''s eye stopped on a gorgeous beauty. He pointed at her, and with a bright smile, he asked. "Hey there beautiful, don''t be afraid. Come to me, and let''s enjoy this party!" The beauty he was speaking to was Kat, who was terrified by his words and quickly hid her face in Aiden''s arms. Aiden looked at her and patted her head as she tried to calm her. "Don''t worry Kat, nobody will hurt you while I''m here." His friendly invite being rejected, the leader''s voice turned sour, and he looked at the boy, while he motioned with the guard close to them to pick them up. "Don''t be like that, your boyfriend can alsoe, we can all have a great time!" The guard stepped closer to them and wanted to grab the girl to pick them up, but his hand was suddenly grabbed by the boy he wanted to ignore. Feeling the powerful grip cracking his bones, he couldn''t help but groan in pain as he looked back at the leader for help. "Boy, if you value your life, I suggest letting go of my friend and let him do his job. You don''t want to suffer a simr fate than the guy before you right?" As he said that he pointed towards the dead guy they shot at the beginning. Aiden, however, wasn''t afraid, and with an expressionless face, he looked at the leader, as he loudly broke the guards'' hand, and flung him across the hall towards the door. Then with a chillingly calm voice, he addressed the leader. "I don''t care who you are, or what your business is, but nobody touches her. This was your first andst warning." Then he sat down, patting the crying Kat''s back as if nothing happened. Both the guests and the terrorists were stunned at his disy of prowess and for a few moments, nobody could even utter a single word. Andrew and the group were looking at Aiden as if he was some kind of alien. Who was he? When did he gain such strength? Andrew was the first to break out from his stupor and quickly whispered to Aiden. "What are you doing? They might kill you for what you did!!" Aiden just looked at him as a warm smile curved up on the corner of his mouth. "Don''t worry, I know what I''m doing. When I will give you the signal, you run to the door and escape. Don''t look back and make sure you drag the girls with you, okay?" "W-w-what are you nning to do? Don''t be stupid Aiden!" Andrew stuttered. "Just do as I say!" slightly raising his voice, Aiden''s eye shed in golden light and a small bit of his draconic aura oozed out, causing Andrew and the others close by to look at him with a mixture of fear and awe. It was an indescribable feeling as if they were looking at a higher being. Maybe God? They didn''t know for sure "Y-yes!" Andrew stammered, but still agreed. "Who do you think you are, boy, to hurt my friend? You will pay for this with your life!" The leader''s voice interrupted their talk. He already had the gun aimed at Aiden and was about to shoot, when suddenly Aiden vanished. The next moment the leader felt someone from behind. With his rifle still at the ready, he slowly turned around, only to see the boy standing there. Before he could utter a word ormand, the boy hit him in the chest, causing him to crack several of his ribs, and flung him back several meters in the air. The rest of the terrorists seeing this realized the graveness of the situation, and with their training, they quickly got back their footing. Aiming at the boy, they shot at his location. Aiden''s figure flickered once again, and at the next moment, he appeared at the nearest soldier, only to punch him in the chest, causing him to fly backward just like his leader. In the next moment, he flickered once again and punched another guard. The process repeated itself several times until there were no more guards standing around. As all guards and the leader were still groaning on the ground in pain, Aiden shouted. "Andrew, GO! NOW!" Although Kat vehemently tried to convince her brother to stay, he grabbed her arms and forcefully dragged her. "NOOOOO! WE CAN''T LEAVE HIM!" she was screaming. "We will call help! You saw how strong he is, he can handle this, and we would just hold him back. Let him y the hero without worry." As Kat was dragged away, followed by her roommates, Aiden sighed in relief. He knew how this night should end, but he didn''t want them to see it. However, now, as they were out of the picture and hopefully safe, he no longer needs to hold back. Turning around, he looked at the group of terrorists, who were slowly standing up, and smiled. A loud growl resounded in the hall, and at the center stood Aiden, with a creepy unnatural smile on his face. His eyes were glowing in its golden color. His gaze was terrifying, to say the least. As Aiden gazed at the leader of the terrorists, the leader couldn''t help but shiver at his sight. "Don''t youe closer, you...you monster! EVERYONE SHOOT AT THAT THING!" --- Andrew, Kat, and the girls were a few meters away from the building when they heard the gunfire. Hearing the sounds, Kat''s face gone white and as all strength left her body, she plopped to the ground. Tears rushing from her eyes, she cried as she looked back at the building. "Noooooo!! *sob* Aiden!!" Grabbing her hands, Andrew looked at her sister, with worry visible in his eyes. "We have to be strong sis! Trust that he is fine, he is a clever and strong man! We have to do our part and get help for him! He is counting on us! That''s the best we can do!" Her brother''s words seemed to work, as her eyes cleared up, and she slowly got up from the ground. "Y-yes, you''re right! We have to get help for him, I can''t lose him now that we finally" Looking back at her roommates, she bawled her fists, as she eximed. "Let''s go, quickly! We have to get help for Aiden!" Chapter 66 - 66 - The Hero (Part 2) Back in the pocket world, Lily was still resting on the ground. A couple of hours have already passed since she finished her test, with no sign of Aiden returning. Tilting her head towards the old hermit, she asked. "Do you know how long we need to wait until Aiden returns?" The hermit still standing still in front of her with eyes closed, shortly replied with his raspy voice. "Time flows differently on the outside... Then inside We can''t tell. How long. The illusion is" "Time flows differently? How long was I inside then?" Lily asked. "1 hour" the old hermit replied curtly. "1 hour only?! I was in for several!! How is this possible?!" she eximed, shocked. He wasn''t sure how much time she spent inside exactly, but it had to be at least 5. No matter, this new information raised several rms inside Lily''s head. If 1 hour counts as 5 inside the illusion, then what is going on with Aiden?! "This time uhm, difference is it the same as Aiden''s illusion?" The old hermit shook his head before slowly answering. "No It is different for the both of you" With a troubled expression, Lily sighed and plopped back down to the ground. With this, she had no idea how much time had passed for Aiden and couldn''t even predict when to expect his arrival. "Huah where are you brother, and what are you doing?!" She asked looking at the starless scarlet sky. --- Back in the illusion Inside the main hall of the Academy, there was a fierce firefight happening between the terrorists and Aiden. His figure could be seen flickering back and forth amongst the terrorists, deftly avoiding the storm of bullets that were hailed at him. His increased stats were so out of the worldpared to everyone in this ''world'', that he looked like some kind of superhero straight out of aic book. He wasn''t attacking the terrorists, he was just merely avoiding. Actually, he didn''t really know what to do. First, he thought that by making sure that his friends would be safe he would fulfill the requirements for this illusion, but unfortunately, that didn''t happen. Right now, he was thinking if he either needs to sacrifice himself to make sure the rest of the guests have a chance, or the point of this trial would be something else. There was also the matter with the quest. So far, he only had small sess, he banished 3 Nightmare Spawns but made no progress on the optional objective. In fact, he had no idea what it even meant. ''Do I need to kill this group, or just keep them upied and let the others escape? Hmm'' he was thinking inwardly while keeping up his pace. [Aiden, whatever you decide, making sure the guests can escape would be a good idea. Lowering the risk of causing innocent casualties, and then you could resolve the situation will be beneficial for thepletion of your quest.] "Yeah, you are right" he muttered. In the next moment, he flickered to the pair of terrorists closest to the guests, and with a hit on to their chests, he flung them across the hall. "Run! Escape now! Don''t look back, just run out of the building and find help!" he shouted to the frightened group. "I will keep them busy, but you have to be fast unless you want to stay here and die!" As he finished, he flickered once again and appeared next to the leader, who still had trouble breathing, thanks to his earlier strike. He punched again, making sure that he used just enough power and momentum that the leader of the terrorists would still be able to take it. Still, the man was already heavily injured and spent, so even this small attack pushed him back several meters and caused him to cough up some ck substance. With difficulty, he stood up. What surprised Aiden, was that instead of blood, a ck thick substance oozed out from his injured body. The leader snickered as he looked at the boy with raging in his eyes. "I''m not going down easy as the others!" he groaned. His hatred and his anger rose to new heights as he looked at the boy. The rising emotions clouded his mind, he could no longer think rationally. The mission no longer mattered, the only thing that did, was this monster in front of him. Only by making sure that he would send him to hell would his soul find peace. "EVERYONE FOCUS ON THIS MONSTER! WE WILL KILL HIM TONIGHT EVEN IF IT IS THE LAST THING WE DO!" he shouted, filled with rage. The remaining terrorists looked at the boss and nodded their heads. While they noticed the hostages making a beeline towards the entrance, they can''t go against his orders. They raised their rifles and aimed at the boy. "SHOOT! SHOOT! KILL THIS BASTARD!" The leader bellowed as he opened fire, with his team following shortly after. Aiden once again flickered and appeared behind another guard, and chopped down at his neck. In the corner of his eyes, he could see that all of the guests have finally left the building. Smiling, he looked at the leader as he held the neck of the now unconscious terrorist in front of him as a sort of human shield. As the bullets flew, some eventually made way into his new human shield, ending his life. "You know, you were stupider than I expected. All the big talk and the show trying to sell yourselves as professionals But look around! Now that we are alone, I can finally let loose and put an end to this party." As he finished, he threw the body towards the closest terrorist, and flickered, only to appear behind another guard. This time, however, he transformed his arms, and as the ws grew out at the end of his fingers, he pushed his ws through the ker and the body of the unsuspecting enemy. The sound of bones crushing could be heard and in the next moment, a set of bloodied thick ck ws appeared as it pushed through the front of the ker. As Aiden''s eyes slowly turned golden, he looked at the leader from behind his now deceased teammate, snickering. "One down" As he flung the dead body against another terrorist, he flickered once again and appeared behind his new target. The events happened so fast, that the group had no time to react. The leader stood hopeless, looking at this demon. He single-handedly ruined everything! Everything they painstakingly nned out was ruined just because this kid was here. "Who are you? You shouldn''t have been at this banquet at all" He said as he watched another one of his group die horribly with a hole in his chest. "Oh me? My friends and I just sneaked in, we wanted to have a good time. Not sure if it''s our luck or yours that made us cross paths." Aiden answered nonchntly as he appeared behind another guy. The group was desperately trying to fight off this Reaper but to no avail. There was no hope. They are all going to die by his hands, and there''s nothing they can do "...Even if we die, we are already prepared. We already knew that by doing this means there''s no turning back. Did you think we had no contingency n? If we die, we will make sure you areing down with us BASTARD!" as he said that, he picked up a remote controller that had a red light blinking on top of it. Next to it, was a button that he already pushed down as he picked it up from the side of his ker. The rest of the terrorists stopped fighting and closed their eyes, waiting for the inevitable. As their leader said, they have already made peace and knew that this mission would be theirst. They were hoping for at least iming their revenge, but seeing as there was no helping it, they didn''t resist. "WE MAY HAVE FAILED HERE, BUT YOU ARE COMING WITH US! DIE BASTARD!" the leader shouted. As he released the button, the light stopped blinking and shone in red light. In the next moment, the bombs that all the terrorists were carrying, blew up, and as the explosion destroyed the building and everything in its vicinity, Aiden''s vision turned also turned dark. ''So that''s how it ends, huh Well, I hope at least I achieved what I could.'' He said inwardly. As he was floating in the dark, the air around him started to vibrate, and transform. The scarlet sky appeared on top, and as he looked around, he found himself back in the Pocket World, on the ground. "Huh?! Is it over?" he eximed, still not sure what happened. However, the big blonde rocket that crashed onto his chest soon cleared up all confusion in his mind. A happy cheerful giggle was all it took for Aiden to realize that hepleted the trial. "Ehehehe, brother you were sote! I was getting really bored waiting for you here!" the muffled sound of Lily could be hearding from his chest area where she buried her face. "There, there, everything is fine now, we bothpleted our parts." Patting her head, he slowly separated from her and stood up. Looking at the old hermit who was standing motionless, he asked. "So, if my guess is correct, this was just the first half of the trial, and we still need to face the second part, right?" The old hermit finally moved, turning his head, facing Aiden. His face turning into a crooked smile, he opened his mouth, and with his raspy voice, he answered, surprisingly not stuttering this time. "That is correct. You have bothpleted the first part of the quest, which I congratte you. However, to finish this trial and be able to leave this world once and for all, you will still have to face thest hurdle." He finally opened up his eyes. They werepletely ck, with no visible iris or sclera. As Aiden gazed into it, he could feel an unnatural pulling to take him down. Aiden sighed, as he already guessed, what was going to happen when he did not see the questpletion notification when he exited the illusion. Transforming his arms once again and focusing on the old hermit, he said. "Lily, hope you have rested enough..." Chapter 67 - 67 - Ripples And Sparks Aiden sighed, as he already guessed, what was going to happen when he did not see the questpletion notification when he exited the illusion. Transforming his arms once again and focusing on the old hermit, he said. "Lily, hope you have rested enough..." Lily''s voice sounded from behind. There was no hesitation, nor any fear in it. "Of course brother! Let''s do this together!" As she said that, she already had an arrow ced in her bow. Stretching the bowstring, she closed her eyes, and silently muttered the chant to Naone to bless his next attack. "Oh Naone, gentle and kind mother of all elves, please bless this arrow and guide it to the hearts of our enemies! Please let this unworthy one stand strong against our enemies! Roaloth tha ih!" Releasing the bowstring, she watched as the arrow turned into the familiar light green beam of light and closed in on the old hermit who until now hadn''t moved an inch. He was just staring at the teenagers with her ck creepy eyes devoid of any emotion. Meanwhile, Aiden was focusing on his system and was checking the old man''s aura hoping to get some estimation about his strength. He was also standing ready, in case he made a move, ready to intercept and block his path. [Currently, the only thing I can say Aiden is that he also has a Nightmare residing inside him. This one, however, seems to be much stronger than the ones in the illusion. However, I can''t provide any estimation unless he makes a move. Sorry, Aiden, he is blocking our attempts at scanning, so we can only analyze his power by his attacks.] ''It''s okay. We will know how we stand shortly.'' Aiden replied. He was a bit surprised when he heard the prayer Lily whispered before her attack and was even more surprised when she saw the arrow changing into a new energy projectile. Unfortunately, as the light beam was about to hit the old man, it got suddenly blocked by the air as a previously invisible energy barrier sizzled up, eating up all of its power. Small ripples could be seen spreading all around the old man as the full power of the attack was swallowed up. The old man didn''t react to the attack at all, instead, he just kept staring at them with his creepy smile. "This isn''t gonna be that easy" Aiden muttered to himself. Before he could ask, as if reading his thoughts, Enya''s voice already resounded inside his head. [No need to ask Aiden, this attempt did not give us any valuable information. I already expected him to have some sort of defense up since it blocked our attempts at scanning. However, Lily''s attack was fairly powerful, and the barrier had no trouble blocking it. Try bombarding it together, I need more data!] Turning to Lily, Aiden smiled. "Sis, let''s attack together! We need to push through his shield if we want him to take us seriously!" he eximed. Giving him a thumbs up, Lily cheerfully replied while she picked another arrow out from her quiver. "Yes! Let''s do it together! I refuse to believe that we can''t get through! Together we are unstoppable!" Aiden nodded his head in affirmation, then focused his attention on the task at hand. Remembering events from the past, he realized the best approach would be to use the [King''s Grip] the thick ck miasma that he gained as a mutation from the Worgen form he gained. Activating the innate ability, he could feel his pores all around his skin open up and ooze out the disgusting ck fog. Thankfully while it wasn''t much, he still could maintain a basic level of control over the direction it spread. Willing it to attack the barrier in front of him, he opened up his eyes and watched as the smoke slowly crept closer to the old man. Lily seeing his brother already in action, aimed once again and muttering the same prayer as before, released the string. As the light green energy beam crashed against the barrier, the ck smoke also began its work causing light sparks to sizzle at the point of impact, while at the same time ripples began to spread from the point of impact where the small explosion the light beam''s crashed into it. This time the ripples didn''t seem to cease that easily as before, while the ck smoke continuously caused sparks to fly off. "Continue shooting Lily! Try to aim where I''m attacking with this smoke! Don''t give up, we are making progress!" Aiden eximed looking at the results. Agreeing, Lily quickly grabbed another arrow, and soon another light green energy beam crashed into the barrier causing yet another wave of ripples to spread. Meanwhile, the old man was still standing motionless inside the safety of his barrier. He kept his full ck eyes on the duo while also smiling eerily. Since the beginning of the battle, it hasn''t spoken a word, nor made any move. ''If my guess is correct, he will not do anything until we can actually make it past his incredible protection.'' Aiden thought to himself. Enya''s mature voice soon resounded inside his mind. [That is most likely a correct assumption Aiden. So far other than confirming that this barrier is very high-level magic, we couldn''t gain any useful information. But, judging from the level of this spell, we could safely assume the battle will be incredibly difficult.] ''Yeah, I know...'' Aiden replied. Sighing, he looked at Lily, who was continuously shooting. "Lily, I only have 1 more quiver full of arrows, so try to conserve as much as you can. You have around 20 more shots, and we will need everything we have in the battle ahead. Let me finish this up myself, while you rx, and prepare yourself for the actual battle, okay?" Aiden suggested. He didn''t want Lily to join him up close on the battle, as while he still had multiple trump cards in his repertoire, he wasn''t sure he could protect Lily against the unknown. " But.. *Sigh* alright brother, I understand. Give me thest quiver and I''ll prepare while you finish this up then." Lily reluctantly agreed. She wanted to help her brother, but she knew that she had to conserve her shots and her energy. She could already feel her stamina draining. Plopping down to the ground, she watched the battle as her mind wandered back to the memories where she learned these magical chants. ''These chants I got from those memories are really taxing on me Still, I wonder Did those memoriese from my mother, or from someone else? But the High Priestess kept calling me Sister Madeleine, just like my mother Hmm, once we are out of this ce, I will need to talk to Granny about these.'' All the while sparks kept flying as the ck fog kept its relentless attack on the barrier. Aiden wasn''t sure how much more until it finally breaks but judging from the constant ripples he was sure it shouldn''t be that long. --- Inside the cozy hut, Granny and Number 3 were sitting in front of the crackling fire and were sipping their usual, afternoon tea. "Seriously, that second part is way too hard for them. They can''t possibly win there, and you know that! What''s your goal here?" Granny asked with a concerned expression. cing his cup down the table, Number 3 smiled at Granny. "I know what you are thinking. I''m not that cruel. I don''t expect them to win. As you have also seen, during all these trials and tests that we ced for them, they sessfully have grown from small, frightened children, into fearsome and brave warriors. I''m sure you are proud of them just as much as I am. You know just as much as me how cruel the world outside is. The threat of death or an even worse fate is always out there, you can never know when you go to sleep at night if it isn''t yourst. The whole point of thisst trial is to experience this feeling, the loss and the threat of death. Both of them solved it brilliantly, and the second part is to work together and falter against a foe that they have no hope to win against." Sighing, Granny ced her cup down to the table and looked at Number 3. "I get that, I was there when we created the trials. But, please be honest with me. This Nightmare did you ce it there? What is it?" As Granny mentioned the ck miasma that appeared during thest trial, the smile that was on Number 3''s face, morphed into a troubled expression. "I I *sigh* That''s something I cannot talk to you about, I''m sorry. All I can say that it is a product of The Organization and that I haveplete control over it, don''t worry. I will not let the kidse to any harm." Granny only gave her a look, as she picked up her cup and sipped from her tea. After a good minute, did she finally respond. "You better be. You know who I am or more precisely what I was and what I am capable of." Number 3 picked up her cup and gulped before she sipped from it. She did not look at Granny but kept gazing at the crackling mes. I know'' she muttered to herself. Chapter 68 - 68 - The Power Of A Primal Inside Higrove''s Academy, at the top floor of the main building, a chubby man was looking out of the windows. While he was wearing a long dark blue robe that hid most of his body, it still had a wide girth. "Sigh, it''s been almost 7 years The next phase of the n should start. I wonder if that annoying Executor that was monitoring me back then will show up this time too." he sighed. While he may have changed over the years, this person was none other than Alfred Leon, thest surviving member of the Leon family that survived the unsolved massacre back 7 years ago. He was also now a proud, full ranking member of The Organization, the secret society that he was aiming for all those years ago. As a member, he was serving under a Master, that governed the area from the ''shadows''. While he was nothing more than an expendable minion, he knew it was just a small stop in his thirst for power. He will climb the ranks and reach the coveted Executor rank. The only problem was that the number of Executors was limited at 12. They all had no names, just a number that also served as ranking. They went from Number 1 to Number 12. There were legends about another Executor, their mysterious leader, the strongest being in the whole organization after the Grandmaster of course. This person was rumored to be Number 0, but most just referred to him as the Reaper. Nobody knew who it was, or what it was, this figure rarely appeared throughout history iming thousands of lives in a single second on a battlefield before vanishing just as mysteriously as it appeared (A/N.: more about it in the "World Legends" chapter in the Auxiliary volume) Balling his right hand into a fist, Alfred punched the wall angrily. Looking at the small gash that opened as a result he looked at the distance, as he silently muttered. "Mark my words, I will take your spot and be one of the Executors. You forced my hand back then, and you will have to pay the price. Just you wait." --- Back in the Pocket World, the situation was still the same as before. As minutes passed, beads of sweat gathered on Aiden''s forehead. He was concentrating, focusing his will on breaking the seemingly unbreakable barrier. While he was focusing his everything on the goal ahead, inside his Soul Space, Enya was looking at the events with a troubled expression. She had long guessed that most likely this enemy was much stronger than them, and the aim for this exercise wasn''t to win, but something else, something much crueler. [What does she want to teach with this No matter, we will prove him wrong, and ovee this obstacle just like all the others!] she muttered to herself. Then focusing on Aiden''s mind, she talked to him. [Focus Aiden, you can do it! Prove everybody that only YOU can decide your fate, you write your own Destiny! Prove your master that nobody should look down on thest primal!] ''I know But what more can I do?! I''m doing my best already!'' By now, Enya knew how most of Aiden''s power worked. His Draconic Heritage that he gained back in the underwater cave during his very first days was strongly reliant on his emotional state. Looking back, the first time the innate ability was activated was when that Young Lord from the city came looking for Granny and was saying harmful things about his loved ones. [Emotions I see.] she muttered. With that, she now knew what she must do. She has already intervened once, and she will do so again if it means Aiden will survive. Nothing else matters. [Aiden!] she spoke. [If that is all the power you can muster, then your little sister, Lily will be hurt. She may even die here, and it will be your fault. Can you understand it? The one that''s most precious to you, will suffer just because you were too weak, too pathetic to protect her. You promised to yourself that you will keep her safe!] ''Stop it!'' Aiden groaned. Enya could feel his heart rate increasing, meaning she was on the right path, but she needs to push more. [I''m sorry for this Aiden, but you need to see.] As she said that, the system started flooding Aiden''s mind with images of the destruction this battle would cause. They were possible scenarios, possible futures, where he failed in various ways. In the first one, he managed to push through but as he was too tired to continue, he was defeated easily. As he watched himself lying on the ground unconscious, he saw Lily desperately attacking this unbeatable foe, only to be horribly mutted by a single blow to her head. The next moment, her lifeless and bloodied body fell to the ground right next to Aiden. Aiden saw as the old man looked at them with a cruel smile,ughing at their miserable fate. The next moment, another scene appeared inside Aiden''s mind. This time, he didn''t even manage to push through, and as the old man raised his hand, ck tentacles formed from the void appeared and prated both kids at the same time. They watched how their bodies withered as the tentacles siphoned the Life Essence out of their bodies, leaving only a lifeless husk behind. Various scenes of their gruesome and brutal demise appeared one after another in Aiden''s mind, overloading him. ''Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it...'' he muttered. As despair filled his heart, the ck smoke started to fade, dissipate into the air. Looking at the events in front of him, he felt as reality started to slip away. He looked at Lily, and as tears started forming in his eyes, he whispered barely audible. "I''m sorry I don''t I can''t lose you..." Lily was shocked by seeing his brother in this state. One moment he was fine, and he was close to pushing through and in the next, he was crying and apologizing to her. What happened?! "Brother What is wrong? How can I help you! Tell me!" she asked. Just looking at the state he was in, she was also fighting to calm herself down, lest to cause more grief to the already unstable Aiden. "No I failed. You can''t I need to I need to" As Aiden was struggling to continue, Enya''s voice finally broke through the emotional barriers he surrounded herself with inwardly. [Push through Aiden! You have to protect her! Don''t let those visionse to reality. Only you control your fate and nobody else! You are not weak, you are strong, you are a PRIMAL! Now show the world the true power of a primal! Feel your power, push through the gates, and let it out!] Hearing her voice, Aiden looked at Lily who was waiting for him to continue. He could see that she was fighting against her tears, and was trying to be strong, not showing how scared she actually was. "No. I" momentarily stopping Aiden sighed, and continued." ...I promised that I will keep you safe, and I will do just that. I will not let harme to you, you are my most important treasure, my precious little sister." "Big sister, you dummy..." she muttered, barely able to keep herself from crying out and rushing into his embrace. This was not the right time for that. "Yes, my precious BIG sister! I have to do something I never did before, just please, trust me. I may not know how this will end, but I will not let anything harm you!" Not waiting for her answer, Aiden looked back at the old man, who was looking at them with his ck unnatural eyes still motionless and safe inside his energy shield. [Now Aiden, focus on the feeling you felt when you saw Lily die on all the visions you saw. Don''t focus on the failing, only on Lily. Find that anger, find that fury, and grab hold of it! Once you do, grab hold of it, and don''t let go! Feed off from that emotion, let your fury consume you, and open the gates to your inner power!] Doing as instructed, he once again looked at the images. Thinking back on the scenes, first, he only felt the same despair because of his multiple failures. Despair, anguish because he couldn''t keep his promise to the one person that mattered the most. Distress, sorrow, and disappointment because in the end, he was just a weak nobody, nothing more. But, behind all this self-loathing, he found something else, something more. A tiny spark of anger buried behind all those negative emotions, anger, and fury against his enemies, who dares to cause harm to this innocent girl. That was it, this was what Enya wanted him to find! Focusing on it, he pushed through the walls of depression and just focused on this rage, this anger, this fury directed towards one person. Opening up his eyes, he looked at the old man and smiled. The battle has only just begun! Chapter 69 - 69 - A Primal’s Fury [That''s it Aiden, that is what we need! Feel the anger! Let it flow through you, open those gates that still hold most of your power locked away.] Looking at the old man, he only saw the one responsible for the death of Lily, the cruel murderer from the visions that clouded his mind. Reality once again started to slip away, but this time it was something that Enya was hoping for. Everything she said and did, was to force Aiden to be lost in his rage. Yes, she may have crafted the events and used the true power of the system, the hold it has on his mind to manipte Aiden, but it was all for a reason. She had the only goal in mind, and to achieve it, and protect Aiden, she will do anything that it would require. No matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice Looking at Aiden, Lily didn''t know what to do anymore. He was slowly pushing through the barrier, then he suddenly stopped and started crying and losing himself in sorrow, apologizing and talking about how he failed. Then, after a few moments, he changes his tone and promises to keep her safe. Now, she wasn''t sure what was happening to him anymore, she didn''t know how best to help him. "Brother, let me help" she spoke. Standing up, she tried walking closer to Aiden but was stopped when an invisible force pushed him back down. Struggling, she pushed through the pain as she was still pushed to the ground, and looked at the source, only to be stunned at what she saw. The old man had suddenly raised his left hand and was looking at her with that cruel smile stered on his face. Then he looked at Aiden, who was already shaking with fury, and with his raspy voice, he mockingly said. "That''s all you can do?! If so, then allow me to give you a bit more motivation" As he said, he raised his right arm and aimed it at Lily. As soon as he did that, Lily felt the pressure on her double. It was already hard for her to hold it, but now she felt as if she was slowly getting crushed. Unable to hold back, she desperately cried out. Seeing her sister suffer just like she did in his visions, Aiden felt something break inside him. His fury running rampant inside him, he looked at the old man with pure hatred. "STOP IT, YOU BASTARD! AAAAAAARGH!" Aiden let out an otherworldly shout, as his eyes shone in bright golden light. He felt that he tapped into something sleeping deep inside him. This untapped potential, this sleeping power was a result of some of the forms he mastered, nor was it a reward from the system. No, this power was always a part of him. This energy came from his very soul, his being that not even the Great Ioris could define. This was the true power of a Primal. [What is happening?!] Enya eximed inside his soul space that was currently shaking. The darkness that always ruled this ''world'' was being pushed back by a golden light that came from below. Notifications kepting from the System, but Aiden did not care for them now. He felt this new power fill his body, reinvigorate him, refresh, and even overflow his reserves. The golden light that was his eyes now, shone even brighter than before. The air around him vibrated, it was like if the essences in the air couldn''t remain still after being reunited with a long-forgotten friend as this new source of energy once again interacted with them. Soon, Aiden''s whole body was lightly coated in the same golden light as were his eyes. As his power increased, the force that pushed her down and almost crushed Lily dissipated instantly. The old man didn''t stop his attack, it was all a result of what the boy was currently doing. Lily slowly sat up and looked at the state her brother was in. She couldn''t help but feel delighted. After the rollercoaster of emotions he went through, he finally found something inside him. Maybe it''s a new power, maybe it was always there, whatever it was, she was happy thinking that her beloved brother may have gained something extraordinary. "Go, brother, show this old man that you are the best!" As the energy hid Aiden, nobody saw the transformation he was going through at this time. The ck smoke, the [King''s Wrath] has long dissipated as it was no longer maintained by Aiden. Even the old man looked at the boy with a hint of surprise visible on his face. While he was merely following the directives set upon him by this world, he still had limited conscience. This turn of events was not something that was projected to him, and as he felt the surge of power that radiated from the boy, he wasn''t sure that the next phase of the fight would go the same way as it was nned As Aiden''s power kept surging, soon not just his Soul Space but the whole Pocket World was shaking, trembling in front of the uncontained potential that radiated out from him. Other than Lily, who was strangely unaffected by the force, all the creatures that still resided in the world struggled to even stand. The smaller animals and monsters were already lying on the ground unconscious, just thergest and strongest beings could barely keep up. --- Number 3 and Granny also felt that something wasn''t going as nned. The whole testing ground, the pocket world was being shaken by some incredible power. "What is happening there?! We have to pull the kids out, now!" shouted Granny, as she felt the power. She was about to stand up and rush out to the back yard, but Number 3 pushed her back down. "Stay. Focus! This power ising FROM Aiden, and not somebody else. You can also feel his life essence, he is fine along with Lily. Something has happened to him that is causing this. We have to investigate more and see if this is beneficial to him!" Granny looked at Number 3 with a troubled expression and sighed. She was right, she could feel that both kids are perfectly fine. In fact, he could feel more vitalitying from Aiden than ever before. The power he was radiating however felt like nothing before. She, who lived longer than anybody would expect, has also never felt anything like this. "But what is this energy that ising from him? I never felt anything simr." she eximed after a while. Number 3 was gazing at the fire, lost in her thoughts. As she kept racking her brain. "I don''t know This energy is not something I ever felt either. It''s stronger than anything I ever experienced." Coming back to reality, she looked at Granny with a serious expression. "We should get ready. We may really need to pull them out. Aiden might not be able to contain this power and we may have to calm him down before something tragic happens! Come! Let''s get ready!" --- The Pocket World was experiencing something simr to a cataclysm. The whole world kept shaking, entire forests destroyed by just the sheer force that came from Aiden, creatures squeezed too much or ripped to pieces. Nothing was safe in front of the overwhelming, unsurmountable power that came from the boy shrouded in Golden Light. Everything was experiencing the world''s destruction. Everything and everybody, except Lily. She was fine,pletely unaffected by his brother''s power. She was looking at him smilingly, happy that his brother found something so incredible! Not wanting to disturb his concentration, she didn''t want to speak or even breathe loudly. She just continued sitting on the ground and looked at her beloved brother with deep affection visible in her eyes. Inside the Golden Light, Aiden was experiencing something new. All of his senses were overwhelmed by some power he never knew it existed in him. He was trying hard to contain it, but he was having a really hard time, as the energy was insurmountable. [Aiden get a hold of yourself! This is your power, you are in control! Calm down, and feel the power, feel as it flows, and direct it back. Don''t stand against it, go with it! Be one with it, this is your power, your potential.] Aiden could hear Enya''s voice, and as he closed his eyes, he did as she instructed. Feeling the power all over his body, he followed the flow of the stream, feeling it. As he no longer offered any resistance, he started to enjoy the feeling, as the energy coursed through him. Slowly calming down, he could finally feel that he had some sort of hold over it. Gently guiding it back, he asked Enya. ''What is this power? Where does ite from?'' Enya looked at Aiden, then smilingly answered. [This, Aiden, is the true power of a Primal. Tap into it and use it to defeat the enemy!] Chapter 70 - 70 - Forced Primal Evolution No longer fighting against it, but instead bing one with it, the world''s trembling and destruction soon stopped along with it. The light show, the energy that was continuously released started to swirl around Aiden. The air around him vibrated, and the light distorted giving the whole event a fuzzy, unreal appearance. Still controlled by the directives he received, the old hermit did not move or attack, he simply stood still and looked at the strange turn of events. He did not bother with the fragile-looking girl, he only attacked her to get a reaction out of the boy. Lily looked at the cocoon Aiden shrouded himself with an excited expression. The power Aiden released was so incredibly strong it shook the entire Pocket World! How could she be not excited now?! Inside the protective cover of the swirling energy, Aiden was experiencing tremendous changes. He could not see, could not hear, speak, or feel anything at all. He was not just simply overloaded, he felt that the energy was changing, evolving him. As he already decided to not fight it, he allowed the energy to coarse through him, and do as it pleased. Several long seconds had passed before the energy started to calm down and slowly the silhouette was visible. It was slightly over 6 feet in height (A/N.: you could say 185 cm, so technically 6''1, but you can''t be that exact from a single nce), while the structure of the body remained simr than what was before. As the light continued to fade, a sporty, lean but still toned creole body of Aiden was in front of them. Apart from gaining some height and maybe a bit of muscle mass, the other thing that was different than before was that his hair seemed to have be even longer. He already had silky ck hair, but now it reached below his shoulders touching his back. Both his eyes and his entire body had golden colored sparks sizzle around it. While visually the changes weren''t that drastic, his power level has experienced a drastic change. Sadly, he felt that this change wasn''t permanent, he could already feel a toll on his reserves. Still, looking at the notification, Aiden couldn''t help but smile. [New Primal Evolution Achieved! Primal Slime (Tier 0)has evolved and has now be Primal (-). Primal Slime (Tier 0) form is no longer avable. Blessing of Ioris (-) ability has been upgraded and is now avable to be used while in Primal (-) state. Note: As the Primal (-) is a special form, details are not avable in the system until further analysis can bepleted.] There were also a few more notifications in the system that was relevant. Aiden quickly skimmed through them. [Warning! Special State: Primal (-) energy requirement is too high to maintain. Time until energy exhaustion and forced change: 00 hours 09 minutes 50 seconds] [Note: Due to the Special State: Primal (-) being active, all primary attributes have received a temporary boost. Details are as follows: Might: +30 (Current Value: 60) Agility: +30 (Current Value: 60)] While the duration of the state wasn''t that long, it should hopefully be enough. Still, the power he felt inside him was incredible, almost intoxicating. Although there were many questions that were bugging him, Aiden knew that now was not the time. He had a very limited time to enjoy these gains and make the most out of it. Roughly 10 minutes to be exact. Still, Enya already knew what he was thinking about and promptly provided some answers. [We can''t be sure Aiden, but I think that basically your main body, your Primal state has gone through a qualitative evolution ahead of time. That caused this special form, a sort of semi-state to be created. It provides you with some part of the benefits you would receive as if you would have naturally matured. Unfortunately, because a Primal''s adult form is of a much higher-tiered existence than what you could currently handle, the energy consumption is too much for the system.] Listening to his words, another question came to his mind, which, again, was promptly answered as if Enya was already expecting it. [I know you have lots of questions, but they will have to wait. Currently, you are on borrowed time, and with the amount of energy this state saps from you, you have to be very careful. If you overdraft, it can damage your soul, and then the system will hibernate you to recover. Focus on the battle ahead. You have limited time and should not waste away this opportunity.] ''I know'' Aiden mumbled. He knew that she was right. Shaking his head, he looked at the old man, then to Lily. He wanted to say to not take action, but he knew that would be selfish of him. They already agreed to stand as equals, so if he would force her to stay back, she might not forgive him. So, in the end, he could only sigh, and just ask for apromise. "Lily, I know that we talked about this before, but please, watch for yourself. Once you are out of arrows, you will stay behind and note any closer, okay?" Lily looked at Aiden, slightly pouting, but she still nodded. "Fine!" Smiling at her response, he focused his attention on the old man once again. Aiden didn''t know why he hadn''t made a move when he had plenty of opportunities. Still, it''s not like he willin! "I''m going in!" he whispered. In the next moment, Aiden vanished and shed with the Energy Shield. As he punched the shield, the golden sparks that ran all around his body shed with the energy causing a loud explosion. Huge waves rippled through its surface, much more intense than before. "It''s working! Try again, brother!" Lily shouted excitedly when she saw the results. Previously, theirbined assault couldn''t muster up for half of what Aiden could now achieve alone. The second punch caused an even louder bang, as Aiden put in even more of his strength on the swing. Again, the ripples strode on the surface of the shield. At the point of the impact, small transparent cracks appeared. "You are almost there! One more time!" Lily shouted excitedly. She already had her bow in hand with an arrow prepared. The third punch was the strongest. Putting in all the strength he had, he punched the same spot where the cracks appeared. With a momentary resistance, Aiden felt his fist go through a mass of energy. Finally breaking it, this mass of energy could no longer be contained and with a loud explosion, it got released. The energy shield shattered as if it was like a huge upside-down ss bowl. Not willing to wait until the situation calmed down or if the old man has a chance to react, Aiden vanished once again, only to appear above the old man in the next moment, with his fist rocketing towards him. The golden sparks were coursing through on his skin rushing towards his fist ready to wreak havoc upon impact. The old man simply looked up, and with incredible speed, he raised his hand and managed to block the hit. The golden sparks crashed into the dark energy and quickly died down. With the same cruel smile he had before, he looked at the boy that just managed to attack him and threw him back on the ground in front of him. Aidennding on his feet was already swinging for his next punch as a light green beam flew by his head and was promptly blocked by one hand, while the Old man was already moving his other hand to block his second punch. His speed was much higher than they expected. The ease of how he blocked both attacks at the same time was simply out of this world! Not giving him any time to rest, another arrow was already en route, while at the same time, Aiden''s golden light-coated fist was also closing in on the old man''s face. The old man once again moved his hands to intercept and block both attacks, but this time Aiden was prepared. Just before his attack would have been blocked, his other fist was flying to give the old man an uppercut. In a split second, however, the old man managed to react to the surprise attack, and with his right leg, he kicked Aiden in the chest, pushing him back a few meters. "This is gonna be harder than I thought. He is simply too fast" Aiden muttered while holding his aching chest. The speed and precision were simply too much. The strength of the kick was calcted to not cause any harm but to only create a suitable distance. It felt like that the enemy was still only measuring their power. However, he couldn''t back down now, he had to keep up the pressure, or he would risk him getting free and attacking Lily at the back. Rushing in once again, Aiden jumped up in the air, and with both of his hands, he was aiming for the old man''s head. At the same time, another light green beam arrived only to be blocked by one of his hands while he raised the other to block Aiden''s attack. However, just as the light green beam was about to crash in, it split into three smaller parts. While the old man managed to block two, the third slipped through! Jumping back, Aiden looked at the wound. As the ck substance was slowly dripping out of it, he couldn''t help but feel proud of themselves. They aplished something that he never did in all of his visions of the future. Inside his Soul Space Enya was also smiling at the results. Chapter 71 - 71 - An Unexpected Outcome Looking at the ck substance that substituted as blood, Aiden thought back to the illusion. The quest he received from the system said that he had to banish and cleanse the Nightmare, this unknown entity that corrupted their host''s minds. Every time he banished one, and as their hosts overcame their clouded thoughts, feelings, or died in the case of the terrorists, a simr substance evaporated into the air. It was only for a fragment of a moment, but Aiden still managed to catch the sight several times. While notpletely the same, the feeling he got from looking at the oozing thick ck substance was the same. ''So, he is also affected by the Nightmare Their influence on him is probably higher than in the previous cases. Hmm'' Aiden was thinking to himself. The old man was looking at him with those ck emotionless eyes of his tirelessly gazing in his direction. Slowly he lifted his right arm and held his palm in the air. A ck whirlpool formed in front of it, and from it, a ck energy-formed tentacle, simr to before shot out, flying towards Aiden, ready to impale him. However, before it could reach halfway, a light green energy projectile crashed into it. As the sound faded away and the dust settled, both the tentacle and the arrow was gone for good. Lily''s giggle could be heard from behind. "Ehehehe, are you tired, do you want me to take over brother? We have merely scratched him!" Scratching the back of his head, Aidenughed as he replied. "Haha, I was only catching my breath sis! Let''s go in again!" As he finished, he already vanished from his spot only to appear before the old man again with both of his fists swinging at the side of his head from left and right. A momentter another arrow enchanted with Nature''s power was zipping through the air aimed at the middle of the Old Man''s forehead. She aimed deliberately there hoping he can''t possibly defend against all 3 attacks. And even if he did, she already had the next arrow set. Aiden''s arms transformed midway, the golden scales grew out from his skin, his fingers became thicker and the terrifying thick ck ws appeared at the tips. He knew that the old man could most likely defend against their normal hits, so bybining his now enhanced but temporary state and his [Dragon''s Wrath] innate he might just gain enough to push through. The downside was that the energy consumption spiked to dangerous levels, rapidly draining his reserves. New notifications rang in his ear, but even without checking them, she could also hear Enya''s voice berating him. [What are you doing Aiden?! You can''t sustain both forms!! Your reserves are tanked, the drain shot up, and the system''s previous estimation of 10 minutes is now out of the window! You only have about a minute left before all of your reserves are drained empty!] Instead of answering, Aiden grit his teeth, as he pulled even more strength into his arms. With his inhumane speed, the old man raised both of his arms to block both of Aiden''s attacks, while not really caring about the arrow for some reason. His arms created several afterimages in the air at the speed he raised them. Seeing this, Aiden''s eye glowed brightly in its golden luster, and with a thundering voice, he bellowed. "HOW DARE YOU SQUIRM AGAINST ME YOU LOWLY MAGGOT?! KNOW YOUR PLACE!" As he said that, both his lizard-like draconic tail and his scaled wings appeared on his back. The air around him suddenly became thicker, and the remaining golden lightning bolts that still sparked all around his skin gathered into his arm. It all happened in the split of a second, and Aiden only felt a sudden surge of power. Not questioning it at the moment, he pulled everything into his arms as it crashed against the insurmountable wall that the Old Man''s arms represented. Unlike in the previous cases, this time, however, the ws managed to dig deep into the steel-like flesh of the old man, ripping skin, meat, and bones in the process as itpletely destroyed the living obstacle. Although the pain most likely has been inhumane, not a shred of emotion could be seen on the Old Man''s face as both of his arms became a mess of lingering flesh in a second. Passing the defenses, while Aiden''s fists lost some of its initial momentum, they still carried a tremendous amount of power. The cracking of bones could be heard from both sides as the fists crashed into the old man''s head from both sides. At the same time, Lily''s light green beam of the enchanted arrow also crashed into his forehead. Most likely passing a certain threshold, the Old Man opened his mouth and a blood-curling shout escaped from his throat. The power the shout carried was enough to create a push and force Aiden to take a step back and it also destroyed Lily''s arrow. ck thick blood-like substance dripping from both sides of his head and also from his forehead, the Old Man finally smiled genuinely. The damage he received would have been enough to even kill a minotaur, a half-bull half-humanoid freak of nature, but he still stood still as if he only received a simple p on the face. "Not bad kids, not bad. While I am forced to congratte you as you have passed thest trial, I cannot help but want more! However, sadly this host is already spent but" He looked at Aiden, as his cruel smile appeared on his face once again. "I found a much better body to use in the future!" As the ck substance continued to drip out of his body, instead of falling to the ground it started to swirl around the Old Man. Suddenly new tears started to appear on his flesh all over his body opening new wounds, new paths for the blood to escape the already spent body. The blood changed, turning into a ck thick cloud that continued to surround the old man. The ck has faded from his eye, revealing the sclera and the already greyish pupils, revealing the sad fate he already suffered. The old man, the previous host of this Nightmarish fleshless monster had died. He could have been dead for a while, or he may have died due to the injury he just suffered, Aiden and Lily didn''t know. What they did know that with this monster now free, there''s no telling what might happen. As the swirling tornado of the ck cloud continued to increase in pace, soon turning into a miniature tornado that surrounded the now-deceased flesh of the Old Man, the body soon crumbled into pieces and disappeared as it was grounded in the air. Turning it into energy, so thest bits of the previous host could provide a small sort of refreshment, a fate worse than death. Nobody deserves such a fate, no matter what life he lived, and under what circumstances he became the host of this monster, and the guardian of this strange world Strange, unrecognizable voice echoed from the cloud as it spoke. Sadly, even with the help of the system, Aiden couldn''t understand a word of it. "FL IENB ZEG AL, FEO!" the cloud echoed the words of an ancientnguage as it shot towards Aiden. However, after it flew in the air for a few meters, it crashed into an invisibleyer of energy. Although it couldn''t be understood his tone carried a hint of worry. "JE, JE, JE NH SMJ''H FL RMWWLJNJV! JEH JE!" A familiar mature female voice came from above, echoing all over thendscape. It was as if this world''s ruling goddess had graced them with her attention. "Oh yes, you are out of time. We have warned you before, and I did it againter, to not harm these two kids. Yet, you dare to defy, and go against our words?! Looks you grew arrogant during the millennia you stayed here as this world''s guardian. Refreshment is in order!" From the scarlet starless sky, a bolt of scarlet lightning struck down and hit the ck cloud. Fading, non-decipherable gibberish could be heard echoing, but soon that faded away with thest speck of dust that just a moment ago was the terrifyingly powerful foe. The familiar voice once again resounded this time carrying a gentleness in its tone. "Kids, both me and Granny are very proud of you. You have passed all trials and thuspleted your training. I know you both have many questions about everything that happened, but first,e back and rest up, you earned it!" As Number 3''s voice died down, the 2 familiar ck gates formed in the air in front of Lily and Aiden separately, ready to take them home. Looking at each other, they smiled and silently nodded at each other before stepping in the whirlpool of the void. With blood, sweat, and tears, they have finallypleted all of the trials and can take their well-deserved rest as a reward. Just as Lily was about to step in, she saw the light fade away from Aiden''s eye as his eyelids suddenly closed. His wings and tail disappeared along with the changes on his arms, as he unconsciously fell through and vanished in the portal... Chapter 72 - 72 - The Runaway Many miles away, in the capital city of Elsaid, a figure of a man shrouded in a brown tattered cloak was currently sneaking in an alleyway just outside the royal pce. He was watching his every step, careful, not to make any noise, he was heading towards the direction of the city gates. ''Come on, careful there you idiot, or that hound dog will find you!'' he whispered to himself. His face was currently hidden behind the tattered cloak''s hood. His right hand was ced on the hilt of his sword, whichpared to his current attire was adorned with jewels. Arge green emerald was inserted into the pommel in the shape of an eagle''s head, while a few other gems were also ced along with the grip all the way to the crossguard. The hilt was designed to be the upper part of an eagle with its head being the carefully crafted emerald, while the crossguard served as the animal''s raised wings. It was beautiful craftsmanship. The de couldn''t be seen as it was currently resting in its scabbard. Only the top of the scabbard was visible, the locket, that was pure gold with the emblem of the Royal Eagle embedded on it. The figure ced his hand on the hilt trying to cover the design and the emblem of the scabbard at the same time. Anyone who would see it would immediately recognize it as only members of the royalty could carry such. As the meters behind him grew, he increased his pace, and soon he was running through the city, sticking mostly to alleyways and out-of-the-way roads, so he wouldn''t be seen by the guards or the Nobility. After a few minutes, as he reached the wall that separated the nobility from themoners, he pressed a few bricks seemingly randomly. As he pressed the fifth, a small tunnel opened up in front of him. ''Finally! I''m out!'' he eximed happily as he stepped into the tunnel. --- Inside the Royal Pce, arge brown-haired man could be seen walking in hurried steps towards the Throne Room. He had arge scar running across his face all over his left eye. Miraculously, or maybe with the help of magic during the time when he received this reminder of his exploits, he hasn''t lost the light of his eye. He was wearing red silk threads, with the Royal emblem embedded just above his heart. On his right, a sword could be seen hanging. While it wasn''t as incredible as the one that the cloaked figure had, it was still a fine craftsmanship. The sword was resting in a simr scabbard than what the figure had, and the pommel of the sword carried the Royal Emblem, the Soaring Eagle. As he reached the Throne Room, he stopped before the guards, and with a strict and demanding tone, he loudly stated his purpose. "I have to see your highness. The matter is rted to the crown prince!" The two guards that guarded the entrance, looked at the man with a wry smile on their faces, as they asked with a mocking tone. "Did you lose sight of him again Sir Lloyd?!" Sir Lloyd didn''t answer but the troubled expression on his face answered instead of him. He looked at the closed door then to the guards before he asked again. "Let me talk to your highness. Open the door." They nodded, and opened the entrance to the Throne Room, giving way to him to report his mistake. As his figure vanished and the door closed once again, the guard on the right smiled victoriously and looked at his partner on the left as he ced his open hand towards him. "I won! Give me my money! I told you he will lose sight of him in 2 days and looks like he actually did!" Grumbling, the guard on the left, gave him 10 silver coins. The coins all had the royal emblem on them. "I shouldn''t have agreed to this, it was obvious he would lose sight of him again. This is what, the third time this month? At this rate, his bodyguard saw the Crown Prince less than anybody else in this castle!" The guard on the right took the coins and ced them inside his coin purse. Grabbing it to get the feel for the wealth he obtained, heughed. "Hahaha! So true Evan! Seriously, why does your Highness even keep this guy? I get it that he was once a legend but look at him now! He can''t even keep his sight on a rowdy teenager!" As they continued to talk andugh at his expense, Sir Lloyd arrived in front of the King and knelt down. In front of him was a throne that was crafted in the shape of a giant eagle. The crest was the eagle''s head that looked down with its green emerald eyes, judging the mortals that stood before this mighty being. The armrest was crafted to be its wings and it ended with 2 huge green emeralds once again. The throne was an incredible sight to behold. The old man resting in it was currently looking at the kneeling person with a tired look. He buried his face in his hands as he already knew what the man kneeling in front of him was going to say. "Your highness, please excuse me for my intrusion! I" he started, but the old man in the throne silenced him quickly. "*Sigh* Let me guess. You lost sight of him again didn''t you?" the king asked while not bothering to lift his face from his hands. "I I did your majesty. I''m terribly sorry. I don''t know how he slips away every time. I was keeping a close watch in front of his room. I I failed you, your majesty, please punish this lowly servant of yours." he bowed his head even deeper in shame. "It''s not your fault Sir Lloyd, it''s him that I''m worried about. I ced him under your care hoping he would grow up and stop acting so immature, but it seems I was wrong. *Sigh* Do you know where he went?" "Yes, your highness, I believe you and I both know" he replied as he raised his hand. He had a troubled smile on his face. "*Sigh* I know Please go after him and bring him back. I will talk to him. It seems that there is no reason to swim against the tide" "Your majesty! Are you saying that you will let him" Sir Lloyd started to speak, but the King once again interrupted him. "Yes. I will. Now go, and bring my idiot son back" --- Inside the forest, in the backyard of Granny''s cozy little hut, 2 ck gates formed. Both Granny and Number 3 were already waiting for the kids to return. Soon the gentle smile on their faces disappeared and was reced by worry when from the right one the unconscious body of Aiden appeared. In a sh, Number 3 disappeared and caught Aiden''s falling body before it hit the ground. A momentter, Lily also appeared and immediately rushed to her brother''s side. She was already on the verge of crying, with tears dripping from her face. She looked at Number 3 as she carried Aiden inside and with a shaky voice she asked. "I-is he alright?" Number 3 didn''t answer her and with hurried steps, she quickly entered into their shared room. Her focus was on her talented little apprentice who was currently in a deep state of hibernation to recuperate due to the excessive overuse of his energy and the additional strain he ced on his soul with the forced evolution. Granny, who was right beside her patted her head gently, as she replied. While she also was anxious, thanks to years of experience, she still managed to speak in a calm tone. "Don''t worry dearie, I''m sure he will be fine. He must have just taxed himself too much. Remember, he already did this years ago when he first arrived. Sit down and drink some tea. I have also made your favorite tarts if you would like to munch on something while we ce Aiden down to rest!" She poured some tea for Lily, offered her some tarts, and promptly left in the direction of the room where Number 3 was already checking up on Aiden. Lily was holding the cup of tea in her hands and with a worried look in her face was looking at the room where he was at. Inside the room, Number 3 had her palm ced on Aiden''s forehead and the other on his heart. Her eyes were closed, and she was silently muttering some words. A short timeter, her hands shone in bright white light. However, as soon as the light interacted with Aiden''s body, and tried to invade, an invisible force erupted and pushed it back along with her hands. As the light faded from her hands, she looked at Aiden shocked. Only when cing her hand back on Aiden''s chest and feeling his heartbeat did she manage to calm down. Granny who just entered the room, looked at her, and with worry visible on her face she anxiously asked. "So, what did you manage to find out? Is he okay? What happened to him?! At one moment he waspletely fine and in the next, we lost all signs of him!" Chapter 73 - 73 - Demons Behind The Sunset "I don''t know for sure, but he is still alive. The whole situation is very strange as if he is in some sort of deep sleep. He has no visible injury in him, but I can''t feel his consciousness at all. I tried diving inside, but some boundary force kept me out. All we can do is keep him safe and sound and wait for him to wake up." She turned around and as she looked at the door for a second before continuing." "We need to ask Lily what happened Maybe she can give some information about what happened." Granny shook her head. "She is shaken, tired and just saw her brother unconsciously fall forward. We should let her calm down and let her rest today. We can ask her tomorrow morning after breakfast." "We need to know what happened! I know how she is, but we can''t leave Aiden like this!"Number 3 argued. "I know, but you have to understand how she feels! Let her rest at least tonight before you interrogate her! You can''t possibly exp-" Granny couldn''t finish as the door suddenly opened as the tear-stained Lily entered the room. Looking at her brother sleeping on his bed, she looked at Number 3 with determination visible in her eyes. "It''s alright Granny, I''m okay. I need to, no I WANT to help brother. I couldn''t rest knowing that I could have the slightest chance to wake him up." Granny looked at Lily with a troubled expression as she walked closer. Caressing her head, she gently asked. "Are you sure, dearie? It is alright if we do this tomorrow morning. Aiden is safe now, nothing will happen overnight." "I''m sure Granny. I want to do this." Then she faced Number 3. "Ask away Master." Number 3 sighed, and with a gentle smile on her face, she patted Lily''s head as she walked by her. She stopped at the door as she addressed her without looking back. "Thank you, Lily. Let''s leave so he can rest and hopefully recover. We can talk at the table." As she finished, she left the room. She silently sat down at the dining table and closed her eyes as she waited for them to arrive. Lily followed along and sat opposite of her. Although she wasn''t crying anymore, her smeared tears were still visible on her face. As Granny rightly guessed, she was pretty shaken by everything that happened today, but she still wanted to do her best to help her brother recover, so she forced herself to remain strong. She was no longer a child, she had to be strong for him. For her beloved brother. For a good minute nothing happened, Number 3 kept her eyes closed and remained motionless while Lily kept staring at her with determination in her eyes. Granny didn''t follow them, she sat down at the edge of Aiden''s bed. She was looking at him with her usual gentle smile, and with a long sigh, while gently caressing his legs she whispered into the air. "Poor boy, what could have happened to you" Looking at his sleeping face, her smile still on her face, a small golden flicker shed through her tired eyes for the first time in many years. With the golden glow faintly sparkling in her eyes, she whispered. While she was very silent, her voice still carried a new depth to it, simr to how Aiden''s was when he was using his innate ability "You have to wake up boy, you can''t leave us just as I finally found you You have to understand, I have been searching for centuries, I have already given up hope before you suddenly appeared in front of us! You carry our heritage, you have to be her son, you have to know where she is!" --- *13th Day of Sarenith, Year 575, The Slums, Capital City Elsaid* The tip of the sun was about to slip below the huge, crude stone walls that surrounded the capital city, protecting the residents from the dangers. The brown tattered cloaked young man was sitting at the rooftop of a house, mused as the orange glow receded below where heaven and earth collided. He couldn''t help but think back to the past. *Year 565, Royal Pce, Capital City Elsaid* Through teary eyes an aging old man, dressed in royal garb watched as the sun fell behind the horizon, painting the sky shades of red and pink. He thanked the gods that this hade and finally gone. All the pain they suffered, all the hurt they''ve felt. Everything. Gone. "Do you see the colors, son?" The man asked the silver-haired young boy beside him in his mostforting voice. "They are symbols. Each of them showing you the good tomorrow could bring forth." "Yes, father, I understand." As he looked at the sunset, the boy replied to his father with a respectful tone although the tiny bit of resentment wasn''t missed by his father. The man simply smiled and kept musing at the beautiful scenery in front of them. He wanted to tell his son that soon these colors will be hidden within the ck despair of night, a symbol of the suffering that tomorrow is going to bring. Instead, he kept silent. It''s better to suffer alone, he told himself. After a while, the old man gave the boy a fond pat on his shoulders causing the boy to turn and look at him. With a gentle voice, the old man said. "Listen, son. I know you feel that everything is unfair, but as my first-born, you have to be more responsible than the others. One day, when I''m gone, you will be the king and everyone will listen to your every word, every action you will take. If they see you falter, or you be weak, the hyenas hiding in the shadows will take that chance and mercilessly ughter you down and take everything you hold dear to your heart. You may not understand what happened today, but just know that everything I do is for the benefit of the people, and for the future of this country. Know that I love your brothers and sister just as much as I do you, but I also have to keep in mind what is best for the future no matter how much it hurts me." The boy looked at his father with the generic polite smile on his face. Although he was smiling, his eyes betrayed him. All the anger, the resentment was like sparks in them. He was taught to always be respectful to the king, this man, his father. While he didn''t understand what he was trying to teach, he knew it was rted to the happenings of today. Today, after breakfast, a group of nobles came and after a closed-door discussion, they left with his crying two brothers and his sister. He rushed to his father asking where they were taking them, only to be pped and told to shut up and never ask this question again. "I know you may hate me for what I have done today, and I can only hope that one day you will understand everything son" the man muttered mostly to himself as he gazed at thest orange rays diving below the horizon. *Back to the present...* As the young man kept gazing at the sunset, a small tear escaped the corner of his left eye. As he used his hand to pick it up. Looking at it, he clenched it into a fist and raised it towards the setting sun. With a shaky and taut voice, he whispered into the sunset. "I will find all of you, no matter how long it takes. That old bastard no longer has any control over me." As the sun finally receded below the horizon, he stood up and jumped down from the rooftops. Soon, his figure vanished amidst the dark alleyways. --- Alfred Leon was sitting in his office on the top floor of the Academy''s main tower. He was currently flipping through a big pile of documents, asionally scribbling down his signature. After around the twentieth page, he sat back on his chair and sighed audibly. He put his chubby arms on his face as he rested his eyes. "Argh, I hate this shit so much! Why do I have to spend days going through this shit!" he cursed in an annoyed tone. Suddenly a knock could be heard outside his office, and a trembling female voice called for him. "Sir, is everything all right?" Hearing his assistant''s voice, her alluring figure came to mind. As the lecherous thought surfaced in his mind, his lust suppressed his tiredness, and with a devious smile on his face, he called out for her. The annoying paperwork can wait. "Angelica, pleasee inside, I have some work for you!" With tears in her eyes, Angelica could do nothing but push down the handle and resign to her fate as she stepped inside and closed the doors behind her... Chapter 74 - 74 - A Long-lost Girl Silence ensued around the dining table as Lily and Number 3 kept staring at each other. Number 3 was waiting for Lily to collect her thoughts and calm down a bit before she would force her to recount her experiences. Several minutes passed in silence until Number 3 finally spoke up. "Lily, if you feel you have calmed down enough, start by telling what happened after you got out of your illusion. From our end, everything seemed fine at that point. Make sure you don''t miss even the smallest detail." Clenching her hands into fists, Lily nodded. Wiping away the tears that started gathering in her eyes, she looked at her with a determined gaze. "Not much happened until Aiden arrived if I''m being honest." She started. "After I bled out from my wounds, I suddenly felt that something pulled me and in the next moment I was drifting in the ck swirling tunnel only to fall down to the red dirt just in front of the Old Hermit." Lily looked at Number 3 who was focusing on her every word, and after a short pause, she continued. "When he saw me appearing, he looked at me briefly before he closed his eyes again, and with his weirdly slow and staggered and monotone speech he told me that Ipleted the first part of the trial and I have to wait until brother also leaves." Number 3 creased her eyebrows upon hearing this. "Did he say the word brother?" Lily shook her head. "No, uhm" she looked above as she thought back, after a while, she snapped her fingers and looked at Number 3. "I remember now! He used the phrase ''other applicant''. Is this important?" Number 3 smiled and nodded. "Yes. It means that everything was fine at this point. You see, the being that was inside the Guardian was called "The Nightmare". They are a spectral race, not directly from our world. It''s not easy to describe what they actually are, but let''s say that they feed on your hmmm" Number 3 clearly had a hard time describing how these beings worked. For several seconds she kept mumbling inaudibly before she looked at Lily and continued. "...they feed on something that is hard for us to understand. They feed on their hosts negative... emotions, so to speak. Like Anger, Sadness, Despair feelings like that. They feed on these and convert it to their own energy, but we should not get into this for now as it would take too long to exin in a way you would understand. Can you follow me until this point Lily?" Lily silently nodded her head in response, and Number 3 seeing that continued. "They invade others and influence their emotions. As the host grows more and more unbnced, the more power they can siphon out of them, growing stronger in the process, until they take away enough to leave behind only an empty husk. The Old Man was housing such a being, a rtively high level one at that. We thought we had control over it but in the end in turns out we were so wrong." At this point, Number 3 looked at the ceiling and sighed audibly as if the exhale all the pain her arrogance had caused. Reeling it was a fruitless effort, she looked at Lily with pain still lingering in her gaze." "Anyways Lily if you could, please continue." Seeing her pained state, Lily didn''t know how to react. A few seconds of silence ensued once again, as Lily kept looking at Number 3 with a troubled expression. "Lily, please continue. For Aiden''s sake." Number 3 broke the silence once again. Somewhat flustered, Lily jumped on her seat, then hung her head apologetically. Though snapped from her reverie, it was clear she still had something on her mind. For now, however, she pushed that thought back and continued to recount her tale. "Not much happened after that until Aiden also left his illusion. I rested mostly on the ground, while the Old Man just stood still like a statue. It was creepy, he was so good at it, it was kind of unnatural" Lily thought back. "I see. So, everything was in order until that point. Good. Please continue." Number 3 said. "Yes After a short while, Aiden also arrived. I''m not sure what happened to him in his illusion, but he arrived simrly to me: appearing out of nowhere and plopping on the ground." "Okay, so far so good. Continue" Number 3 ordered. Lily nodded and continued recounting the story from her point of view. --- Meanwhile, as those two were talking, Granny was sitting at the foot of Aiden''s bed with her golden glowing eyes. Pulling back his red ragged clothes from her right hand, she ced it on Aiden''s chest. She could feel his steady breathing, which just raised even more questions. Is he conscious or not? At least, his life was not in danger, he looked as if he was in a peaceful sleep. She focused on her hand, whispering a single word that while it would have sounded gibberish to most, they would have still felt the tremendous amount of power that single phrase carried. *THUM* As the chant left her mouth, a powerful force gushed from her hand and hit Aiden''s chest, crashing into him with a loud sound. "What? How?" Granny was astonished upon seeing this reaction. "This is impossible! What is happening? Why can''t I scan his vitals, what is this force that can repel even me? Is this him?" she muttered in disbelief. "Let''s try again" she muttered and once again, sent the same force, trying to invade Aiden''s body. However, the same situation yed out, an invisible boundary repelled her attempt reflecting the attack back to her, throwing her hand up in the air. "This is incredible" she mumbled as she pulled her hands back. Whatever was happening, it was clear that Aiden was still alive, just in some sort of deep sleep. At the same time, some incredibly dense energy surrounded him, protecting him, shielding him from all kinds of harm. Thinking about all of this, Granny sighed, as she gently patted Aiden''s chest. "Even if I can''t check what happened to you, I''m d that you seem to be fine, Aiden. Once you wake up, I hope we can sit down and talk. If what I think is true, then you are her son If it''s true" she turned her head, facing the window. Silently, as tears started to flow down on her wrinkled face, she wept, mourning someone she thought she lost forever. But now, for the first time in forever, a small light flickered in the dark, giving rise to new hope. While she was afraid to decisively grab onto it, fearing it''s just an illusion, she still wished from the depth of her heart that it was true. That her dear daughter is somewhere out there... --- Inside Aiden''s Soul Space, the visage of a curvaceous mature woman was looking in front of her. She didn''t have a body in a regr sense, it was more of a visage, an apparition formed from the surrounding energies. She was currently reading information from a screen that was floating in front of her. If Aiden could see it, he would recognize that this was his system, only that this was a section that was currently not avable to him. It was simr to the status screen, but instead of showing numerical values, it showed various signals and strange symbols. The woman sighed after a while, and waved with her hand, removing the screen. Taking a step forward, a chair made of the strange white energy formed behind her, as she sat down. [Aiden, Aiden why can''t you listen to me Once again, you used too much of your energy and overtaxed yourself. Also, using the new halfpleted evolution of yours, the damage to your soul is substantial and will require time to heal. *Sigh* You can only me yourself for this] She looked up, and while the Soul Space was a sort of separate, boundless dimension, she looked as if she could see through it. [However, while you recuperate, the others are clueless about what''s happening, and we can''t inform them There is an option, but that would require me to once again, do something that will cost you.] Raising her right hand, she looked at it as a ball of white energy formed in it. Grabbing it, she squeezed it a few times, as she sighed once again. [Still You would agree with going through with it, right?] A caring, gentle smile crept up on her face, as she squeezed the ball of energy once again. Then, as she came to a decision, she threw the ball. After flying a few meters in the air, the ball exploded, transforming into a white gate, simr to the ck one Aiden and Lily used in the Pocket World. Smiling onest time, the figure stood up and vanished as she stepped into the swirling mass of white energy. Chapter 75 - 75 - The Apparition Looking at the visibly tired but still determined look on Lily, Number 3 smiled as she stood up. Walking next to the girl, she rested her hand on her shoulders and started gently caressing it. "You are a really strong girl Lily, for going through my selfish request. I know I''m asking a lot from you, and I really appreciate everything you did today. You see" she looked up, lost in her thoughts momentarily, as she continued. "You see, I wasn''t even supposed toe into contact with you guys. But everything changed. We got to know each other, and we grew closer. I honestly look at you guys not just as my apprentices, but as my very own children. You and Aiden are both very dear to me. I know we haven''t really talked much, and that you still think I have some ulterior motive against you, and I will continuously work on proving you wrong. I have lost a family once, and now that I found you guys I will not let history repeat itself. You see that''s why I am so focused on making Aiden wake up. I just can''t lose him I hope you understand." With her speech finished, she gently patted her shoulders once more before she slowly went towards their room to check up on him onest time. Lily was silently looking at her back as she walked away. Tears clouded her vision, but she refused to wipe them away, or even let out any sound. No. She promised her brother that she will be strong and will not be a crybaby anymore! She can''t, she mustn''t! She just sat at the table, shaking as she was fighting off the urge to cry out to her heart''s content. --- The sound of the door opening caused Granny to slightly shudder. She closed her eyes, as she calmed herself. When she opened them up back in the next second, the golden glow was nowhere to be seen. She also quickly wiped away the tears from her face, as she turned around. Looking at Number 3, she forced a smile on her face as she greeted her. "Did you get anything important from Lily? What happened to Aiden?" Choosing to ignore her shaken state, Number 3 instead focused on recounting the events including their fight and Aiden''s sudden release of power that shook the very foundations of the Pocket World. "In the end, I think that for some reason a power that was sealed inside him got released prematurely causing too much strain on his body and soul." She gently ced her right palm on Aiden''s chest and listened to his beating heart and breathing for a few seconds, before sighing in relief and continuing. "As he seems to bepletely healthy from the outside, he either might have simply overtaxed himself, and are just resting, or he damaged his soul due to this strain. If thetter is true, then" Number 3 turned around, facing Granny as she looked her in the eyes. With a stern expression, she continued with a serious tone. "Then, we will need you to create a soul-healing potion. I know you know the one I''m referring to." "I know." Granny answered determinedly "I will do it, but the ingredients are rare and cannot be found in this forest. I assume you know what they need, apart from that, right?" "Yes. Don''t worry about them, I can get everything in a few weeks. Just make sure you are ready on your end." She looked at the closed door as she continued. "Including taking care of her. Hmm Let''s send her to the city. She should be old enough to take in the city by herself. She could register as an adventurer at the Guild, maybeplete a few easy requests, get to know how it all works. She is exceptionally talented with the bow after all." "I know It''s just that I don''t like the idea of her being alone in the city. I would much rather have her around the house, maybe sending her to gather some herbs?" Number 3 shook her head in response. "No. She is not a kid anymore, and she wants us to respect this. She wants to show Aiden that she is strong and that we can rely on her. In the morning, after breakfast, you will talk with her, and send her to the city. She needs to do something that would upy her, so she wouldn''t stress out about Aiden non-stop." Granny looked at Number 3 with a conflicted expression for several long seconds, before she finally relented, and nodded. "Fine. But I will tell you right now, I do not like this, one bit! Also, if Aiden wakes up, and doesn''t see Lily anywhere, what will we tell him?" "The truth. She is out working as an adventurer. I''m sure he will go after her and join. Then those 2 will be an unstoppable duo." Looking at the sleeping boy, she smiled gently and stepped over to him, sitting down at the side. She lightly caressed his head, and for the first time, she kissed him on the forehead. "Get better, Aiden! We are all worried about you!" After the small peck on his forehead, she stood up and silently walked out of the room. All the while, Granny was smiling at her. Once she left, she also gave Aiden a small peck on the forehead and left the room. --- Arriving back to the dining table, she was surprised to see that Lily was still sitting while Number 3 went to her usual spot beside the firece and was already silently sipping her tea. Walking beside the girl, she gently caressed the top of her head. "Dearie, what the matter? If you would like you could go and be with him now, he is just resting, he is not injured." Hearing the words she was hoping for, Lily immediately jumped up, and eagerly looked at Granny with her tear-stained eyes. "Is he really fine?! Are you not lying, Granny?!" Smiling, Granny nodded. "Yes dearie, he is fine. He seems to have tired himself out and may stay asleep for a while, but otherwise, we did not find any injuries on him." Lily bolted towards the room as soon as she heard Granny''s words. She was already at the door when Granny finished, and without looking back she waved with her hands, and without turning back, she thanked her. "Thanks, Granny! I will go and rest now! See you! You too, Master!" She also waved towards Number 3, who smilingly raised her cup at seeing Lily''s actions. "This girl" she muttered to herself mostly. --- Closing the door behind her, Lily slowly walked towards Aiden''s bed. Sitting down at the side, she looked at his peaceful sleeping posture. "Dear brother Please wake up! I don''t know what to do I''m trying really hard to be a big girl, like I promised But it is easier said, than done. "Tears clouded her vision once again, her voice started breaking up. Closing her eyes, she gulped, trying to calm herself. After a few moments, she exhaled, and as she opened up her eyes again, she continued whispering to Aiden. "But rest assured, even if you keep on sleeping, I will continue to work hard, to be better, stronger Someone you can rely on. Aiden, I" Instead of finishing her words, she smiled at his sleeping brother, and gently pushed him to the side, making room for one more. Quickly she snuggled next to him. Resting her head on his chest, she rxed to the sound of his slowly beating heart and to the rhythm of his steady breathing. After several minutes, she silently whispered. "Aiden, I lo-" However, before she could finish her thought, suddenly a white blinding light illuminated the dark room. The air vibrated and distorted, and in the middle of the room, a gate, simr to the one they used to traverse between the worlds formed, only this was white instead of ck. From the white portal, a figure, or more like an apparition stepped out. She was made of the same white energy as the portal she used, but Lily could still make out most of her defining features. Curvaceous, and mature female, probably simr in age as Number 3. She couldn''t make anything out of her face as the energy that formed her body wasn''t solid and kept restructuring itself. While the whole visage was otherworldly, Lily wasn''t afraid. Instead, she jumped up, and while she didn''t have her weapon at the ready, she still entered into a battle stance. If needed, she was ready to sacrifice her own life for the sake of her beloved brother. Yet, the apparition didn''t show any hostility, and just stood still. She kept facing Lily, even as the door opened up and both Granny and Number 3 rushed in. They both rushed between Lily and the invader, eyeing the ''thing'' in front of them. "Lily! Are you alright?! Did this thing hurt you?" asked Granny while she still kept her eyes on the apparition. Number 3 didn''t talk but was listening to their discussion to determine the best course of action. She didn''t feel any hostility from the being, so she did not attack. Before Lily could answer, a soft melodic female voice came from the being resounding in their minds. [Sorry for the intrusion. I bring news about Aiden''s situation.] Chapter 76 - 76 - The Guardian Angel Not giving any space, Number 3 looked sternly at the apparition in front of them, and with a decisive tone, she asked. "Who are you exactly? What did you do to Aiden?! Speak up!" A burst of melodic, bell-likeughter resounded all around them in response. Shortly after, they once again heard her mature voice in their minds. [My name is Enya, and you can think of me as hmm let''s just say, guardian angel. His wellbeing was and will always be my only concern. As for what I did] The figure walked next to Number 3. cing her hand on her right shoulder, she leaned closer to her ears and whispered. This time, only Number 3 heard her voice. [I did nothing. It''s you who caused all of this, but I think you already know this.] Then, before, Number 3 could react, she walked back, standing a few steps away from their group. Facing all of them once again, they could hear her voice inside their minds. [Just so you all could understand, I will use simple terms. Aiden is currently in a deep sleep and will stay in that for at least a week. His reserves have to regenerate naturally. During the battle against the Nightmare] At this point although they couldn''t make out any features on the swirling energy that served as her head, they were sure that it turned to face Number 3 as she continued. [...he went through a sort of forced evolution, putting tremendous pressure on his soul. We were lucky it wasn''t badly damaged, but the bacsh caused too much pain for him to handle, and because of that, I had to put him to this state immediately.] Then she faced them all again, as she continued. [I had to sacrifice a lot to be able to appear in front of you, but I chose to do so, as you 3 are the only ones he considers family in this world, and he wouldn''t want to keep you all in the dark. As she finished, they noticed as her body began to slowly dissolve around its edges. Seeing this, the apparition spoke again. [It seems, I can''t keep up my form here any longer. Onest thing before I leave: The potion you are nning to make, will help him, although not in the way you are expecting. It will strengthen his soul, so such situations could be avoided in the future.] As her body began to dissolve, even more, she looked at Lily. [Little Lily, it will be quite a while, but we will meet again eventually. You don''t know it yet, but you also have incredible potential. Continue doing your best!] Finished, she turned around, not waiting for any response from them, she stepped into the white gate. Shortly after the white portal closed and vanished from sight as if it wasn''t even there to begin with. While Lily had a resolute look on her face and was tightly clenching her fists, Number 3 and Granny was still trying to process everything that just happened. "Guardian Angel, huh? Interesting" muttered Number 3 to herself after a while. Then, she turned to face the others and spoke. "Okay, I think we had more than enough action for one day. Let''s rest on this and discuss it in the morning. Good Nightdies!" With that, she simply walked out of the room, heading towards hers. She had to process everything alone. The apparition was right, she knew she was the one that forced the kids to take on this adventure, and train themselves in that harsh world that was created by his Grandmaster. She knew it wasn''t fair to throw them in and expect them to ovee all the challenges. Granny and she made sure to tune the trials in a way that would fit them better, but thest trial, she wanted it to stay true to the original idea and be a harsh lesson for both. This world is cruel and unforgiving, and unless they are prepared to face this reality, they would only suffer. Still, she could have intervened much earlier, and pulled out both of them. Facing that otherworldly monster alone, without any knowledge about it She can only me herself for this mistake. As she sat down on her bed, she looked out at the window, gazing at the clear night sky. While there were no tears in her eyes, her voice cracked and was clear she was struggling as she whispered her grief into the night. "I''m sorry" Meanwhile, Granny after wishing "Good Night" to Lily, also left the room, heading for hers to think about everything that yed out. The potion the apparition mentioned, what they nned to make with Number 3 to give to Aiden It was surprising that she knew about it. "Was she somehow listening in on us? Well, it doesn''t matter in the end She mentioned that the potion will help Aiden, and that''s what is important. We have to make it, I will talk to her in the morning in case she changes her mind" Granny thought as she entered her room. Only Lily was left with Aiden. After both of her elders left the room, she turned around, facing her still soundly sleeping brother, and quickly snuggled to him. Giving him a peck on his cheek, she whispered a "Good Night, Brother!". Although it took her a lot of time, eventually she managed to sleep, even if just for a few hours. --- Inside Aiden''s Soul Space, the air trembled, and as it began to vibrate, a white gate made of energy formed. Staggering, and spent, Enya walked out of it and quickly fell face-first to the air that materialized in front of her. After a few minutes, she raised her head and turned to her back, looking at the boring darkness that surrounded this strange world. Raising her hand, a screen that resembled Aiden''s body appeared. Looking at the various vital signs, she sighed in relief, then waved it away. She was satisfied with their reaction, and even if Aiden would be mad at her at first, she knew he would understand that what she did was for him. Right now, the only thing Aiden needed was time, so he could regenerate all the damage the forced evolution had caused. As she spent all her energy, her figure dissolved into the air, only leaving the brightly shining ball of energy behind, as it floated lonely in the darkness. --- Sticking to the shadows, corners, and the dark alleyways, the brown cloaked figure has finally arrived at his destination, a small run-down house on the outskirts of the city, in the Slums. Without hesitation, he knocked on the door twice and stepped back while he kept his hand on the hilt of his sword. This section of the city was where the forgotten and the unwanted resided. Beggars, homeless, thugs This ce had nothing good to offer. On the other hand, it was also the home for various, special services, that even the nobility used from time-to-time. However. the service that the figure had intended to buy was not something that those lecherous bastards would have cared about. The door slowly opened and as a small crack formed, the face of a middle-aged man covered in horrendous scars peeked out. Looking at the cloaked figure in front of him and with a gravelly voice, he spoke. "What is your business?" The cloaked figure raised his hand and showed it to the scarred man. The man quickly took it and closed the door. After a short while, however, the door creaked open once again, and the scar-faced man peeked out. He looked at the figure up and down, as if searching for something, and eventually, his eyesnded on his hand covering the hilt of a sword. Although he couldn''t see it, he could feel the power radiating from it. "Are you sure? This will be costly, you know" asked the man, without looking away from the hand that tried to cover the ornamental hilt. Seeing that the figure did not answer, the scar-faced man eventually sighed and nodded. "Fine. We will make sure that the package will reach its intended destination with the requested privacy, safely. Whatever happens after the delivery is on you. The price is triple. Take it or leave it." A low grumble could be heard under the cloak, as the cloaked figure threw a small leather pouch filled with coins to the scar-faced man. He grabbed it and without opening it up to check, he hid it behind the door. "Be at the Southern Gate in 2 hours. Our men will be there waiting." With that said, the door promptly closed, ending the conversation. As he turned around, the figure looked up in the night sky. With onest sigh, he determinedly whispered into the night sky. "Finally, after so many years I will find you all and we will be together again. And anyone who stands in my way will pay the price!" Shortly after, his figure quickly vanished amidst the shadows. Chapter 77 - 77 - The Amulet By the time, the first orange hued rays of the sunrise peeked in through the windows, Lily was already awake. She was still clinging to Aiden''s chest. She loved to listen to her steady breathing, it calmed her mind. In fact, it was this rhythm that eventually managed to bring her to sleep. Looking at his resting face, she giggled, as she snuggled into his chest onest time, before reluctantly leaving him, and standing up. "Rest well, brother! I will work hard today, so you can be proud of me when you finally wake up!" Halfway to the door, she stopped, and with another giggle, she quickly scurried back and gave a peck on his cheeks. Then, giggling at her own mischief, she went to the bathroom to freshen up for the morning. By the time she left the room, the dining table was already set, and both Number 3 and Granny was waiting for her. Seeing her up and ready for the day, Granny couldn''t help but think back to the little princess who used to yawn, still sleepy, still in her pajamas, as she came for her breakfast. "Good Morning Lily. Are you feeling better?" Granny asked with her trademark gentle smile stered on her face. "Good Morning Granny, Good Morning Master! Yes, I''m much better!" she replied cheerfully. Number 3 who was silently sipping from her tea, looked at her, and with an expressionless face, she curtly asked. "How is he?" Not minding her rude tone, Lilly giggled happily, thinking back to the kiss she gave him and cheerfully replied. "Brother is still resting! He must still be tired!" Number 3 gave a low "Hmmm" in response and simply continued to silently sip from her tea, not minding them in the slightest. She had a lot to aplish today and was already thinking about them. "Sit down dearie and enjoy a good breakfast with us!" Granny invited Lily, which she dly epted. As they filled their tes and started enjoying the morning meal, Number 3 looked at Granny, signaling her to start the discussion. Understanding the intent, she sighed and looked at Lilly. "Dearie, we have something very important to talk to you about." "Hmm?" She asked, looking like a hamster with her cheeks filled to the brim with food. "Oh gosh, swallow it down first. You are ady, act like one!" Number 3 grumbled. Chewing down the contents of her mouth, almost a minute had to pass before she could talk again. Embarrassed, she lowered her head as she answered. "Ahh, sorry master!" "It''s alright Lily. Now, listen to Granny as what she needs to discuss with you is important, okay?" Number 3 answered. "Sure master!" Then, turning towards Granny, Lily asked with curiosity shining in her eyes. "Yes, Granny?" Granny looked at her, wondering how she would react when she hears what they are about to ask of her. Would her cheerful smile fade, she wondered. "Lily..." she began. "You are no longer that small little princess, that used to be scared of everything. You are such a strong, brave girl now, it always amazes me." "I have promised brother that I will no longer be weak, and scared! I have to be strong, for him!" Lily interrupted with fervent determination shining in her eyes. Hearing this, Number 3 smiled as she continued to sip her tea. "That''s very good, and just as luck would have it, you will get the chance to prove it to yourself and Aiden today." "Oh?" Lily grew curious upon hearing Granny mention her brother. "Hehe, you could finally be his big and experienced sister, guiding him when he wakes up. He would be the one that would follow your lead. So, are you interested?" Asked Granny, smiling. Lily could barely contain herself when she heard Granny''s sales pitch. Raising her hands to the air, she eagerly replied. "YESS! What can I do?! Tell me, Granny!" "Hehe, dearie, it is simple. You and Aiden both finished the training and because of that, you both are very strong. However, you guys have no experience from the outside world. To fix that, you will go with your master to the city and register as an adventurer! Spend some time, do some easy requests, and get to know the people and the area.Now, it''s important for you to know that Number 3 will only take you to the city and will not stay with you, you will be left alone. Can you handle that?" At first, Lily got slightly startled when she heard she would be left alone as she hated that more than anything. However, during more than once, inside the Pocket World, they had to go separately toplete their own trials, so it wouldn''t be the first time. So, after a few seconds, she had a resolute look in her eyes and nodded. "Yes, Granny! It will not be a problem. Besides, I will only take tasks that I canplete during the day, and I cane back for the nights! I will not leave my brother alone for the nights!" she eximed. "Good, in this case, go and prepare for the journey. Remember, there is no Aiden this time to carry your stuff, so pack whatever you think you will need for the day. I will wait for you at the front." Number 3 said as she put her now-empty cup down to the table. Standing up, she began walking towards the front door without waiting for Lily''s response. "Yes, master! Just a few minutes and I will pack my stuff!" Lily jumped up and bolted towards her room. Seeing how excited Lily was, contrary to what she expected, Granny just looked at the back of the little girl as she scurried to her shared room. "Huh she changed so much, I can hardly recognize her. To think that just a few years ago, she would have cried." Then turning towards the window, she gazed at the distance, not really focusing on anything in particr.She muttered, mostly to herself. "Oh Madine, my dear apprentice, if you could see your daughter now, what would you say, how would you feel? Would you be happy, proud?" Then, she stood up, and went into the kitchen, to pack some sweet little desserts for her. --- A short whileter, a young blonde-haired girl and a feminine figure were strolling on a footpath that was barely visible by the thick forest floor. Lily was humming happily as she walked beside Number 3. Number 3 tried to contain her curiosity, but upon seeing how happy and nonchnt the little blonde girl was, she couldn''t hold back anymore. She stopped, causing Lily to halt her steps as well, as she looked at her Master with a curious expression. "Is there something on your mind, Master?" she asked. "Yes, Lily. Tell me, how can you be so happy and cheerful when you know Aiden still hasn''t woken up? Don''t you worry about him?" Number 3 asked. Although her ck faceless mask now covered her face, it was clear from her tone that she was anxious. Lily giggled at her question, and with her bright smile, she answered. "It is simple, really. I know he is alright, and that he would want me to look forward. Worrying about him would not solve anything. I know he will wake up, and by then, I will be a great adventurer, and he will have to listen to her experienced big sister!" Sighing, she was about to reply but instead chose against it. In the end, she nodded her mask-covered head. "I see. You really are incredible sometimes" A short whileter, as they arrived at the edges of the forest and could see the city walls, Number 3 stopped once again. Looking at Lily, she said. "This is as far as I can take you, Lily. Remember what we talked about when we first met. I can''t take you any further, from this point, you will have to rely on yourself. However" As she said that, she pulled out a small, golden medallion in the form of an eagle''s head. and the upper part of its body, the raised wings. Its eyes were tiny green emeralds and they emitted a faint barely visible light. You could feel a faint presence emanating from it. As she pulled it out, she hid the medallion in a small ck leather pouch and ced it around Lily''s neck. As she ced it around Lily''s neck, she continued. "This amulet will keep you safe. Just make sure you keep it on you at all times." "Sure master!" Lily replied cheerfully and was about to step out but was pulled back by Number 3. She hid the amulet under Lily''s clothes, making sure none of it was visible, as she lightly berated the girl. "Wait until I finish, you silly girl! Make absolutely sure that nobody can see it, okay? This amulet is incredibly precious, nobody can know that you are its owner, not even Granny or Aiden. Got that?" "Even brother? But I" she asked, however, she was cut short, as Number 3 ced her index finger on her lips sealing it. "Not even Aiden. This is very important! If anybody would happen to know that you have this, it will cause you and your loved ones endless troubles. Promise me you will keep it safe, and you will not let anybody see it, Lily!" Chapter 78 - 78 - Alleyway Little flustered, Lily shook her head and replied. "I promise, Master!" she patted the spot where the Medallion was hiding underneath her shirt, she continued. "I will make sure nobody knows about this ne. What is it anyway? It looked so cool!" Number 3 stood up, looking towards the city gates, she exhaled some air, before replying. "The less you know, the safer you are. Just remember that from this point on, you are the true owner of it, and it is your duty to keep it secure. But enough about that, go and stand in the line. Your task today is to register as an adventurer and pick a request you can do by yourself. Also, make sure not to worry Granny and get back home at night." Before Lily could ask, Number 3 answered the question that was in her mind. "I will not be at home when you get back. There are a few things I need to do, and they will take me a few days toplete. Don''t worry; I will be back by the time he wakes up." Finishing what she wanted to say, the edges of her body slightly vibrated, and in the next moment, the air around her distorted. She vanished without a sh, not a sound or trace remained. As the air around her returned to peace, herst words came to Lily''s mind. Looking at the spot where her master was, Lily couldn''t help but look at the ce amazed. "Wow! I hope she will teach me that technique one day!" Then looking at the road ahead and the long line of people waiting to gain entrance to the city, the same cheerful smile returned to her beautiful face and left the refreshingly cool shadow cast by the trees. --- Unlike previously, this time, there were no difficulties besides the hour-long wait to gain entrance to the city. The guards took the toll that Lily already prepared, then she stepped onto the busy streets of Higrove once again after many years. "Wow, this ce is so incredible!" She muttered to herself in amazement as she looked around. Last time when she was here, she was merely a child, but despite the passing years, her awe of the wonders that only a city like this can provide didn''t cease. Realizing that she forgot to ask her Master about something essential, she eximed loudly. "I forgot to ask her where the Guild''s hall is!" Not far from Lily, a group of people was looking at her direction. A short, brown-haired young man, wearing a simple brown sleeveless leather chest te above his white linen shirt, and ck leather reinforced trousers, licked his lips as it turned into a cruel smile. "Boys, I think I found our entertainment for tonight." As he said that, the group looked at the direction their boss was looking and seeing the blonde girl that stopped at the entrance gasping in her honest naivety, they allughed, understanding the meaning of his words. "Shall we grab her now, boss?" asked one tall, muscr, bare-chested bald guy. Shaking his head, the short, brown-haired youth, their boss spoke up. "Not yet. Let''s see where she is going first; then, we can make a n. For now, let''s just keep an eye on her from a distance." Meanwhile, Lily, as she realized she had no idea which way to go, turned around and went back to the guards at the entrance. Arriving at the gates, she waved the guard over, who was currently not busy interviewing. As he came, she gave her a cheerful smile and asked. "Sir, can you tell me where the Adventurer''s Guild is located?" She asked the guard as she got close. "Young Lady, that''s easy! Just go straight ahead and then follow the signs. You can''t miss it!" the guard replied. He liked this cheerful youngdy; that smile of hers had already brightened his dull day previously when she was paying the entry fee. Interacting with her again filled him with even more joy. "Thank you, sir, you are very kind!" She replied cheerfully, turning around and started walking towards the direction he pointed at. While Lilly was strolling around, she also took the time to enjoy the scenery. Watching the busy streets filled with all kinds of people, it was an incredible experience for her. Sure, she briefly experienced it once before, but that was years ago. Since then, she spent almost all of her time in a hellish environment, honing her skills. Speaking of skills, the group of people that kept following her did not escape her senses. She already picked up the guy that seemed to be the group''s leader when he eyed her with those lust-filled eyes of his when she entered the city. She wasn''t concerned about them; all of them looked much weaker than the invaders back in the illusion. Still, as to not cause unnecessary problemster, she decided to deal with them. Walking around, she entered an alleyway, acting innocently. The group of thugs that was following her from a distance, seeing that their chance hade, increased their steps and hurried after her. As it wasn''t the first time they did this, they already had a routine. Two of the sturdiest of them stood by the entrance, blocking entry and vision at the same time. The rest spread out, hid in the shadows. The leader, the short brown-haired youth, walked in with confidence in his steps. However, as they entered the dark alleyway and sealed the only way, they couldn''t see the girl. There were no traces of her at all. "Where did she go?!" eximed the leader. He suddenly had a bad feeling, and stepping back, hiding behind his men, he shouted the orders. "Guys, go around and look for her. She must have noticed us! That bitch must be hiding somewhere around here! Remember, don''t hurt her!" Licking his lips, he continued. "Well... maybe a few bruises wouldn''t be bad but keep her alive. You know I prefer them screaming!" With the same sinister smile on their lips, the thugs replied in unison. "Yes, boss!" As they searched every nook and cranny in the otherwise deserted alley, the leader got increasingly frustrated. "Where is she?! How could she just vanish?" he grumbled in frustration. Then without turning back, he called out for the two that were blocking the entrance. "Igor, Mook, keep your eyes open, make sure she can''t pass you!" However, as no reply came, he asked again, while looking at a dark corner. Something seemed to momentarily shine as the sun reflected on it, raising his interest. "Igor, Mook, did you understand it?!" Still not hearing any answer, he halted his steps, and with an annoyed expression on his face, he turned around to berate these two idiots. "You two dumb goris, can''t you reply to one simple ques-" As he turned around, the words stuck in his mouth. The two huge goris he mentioned, the bald muscle heads, were lying dead on the ground with a hole in the middle of their foreheads. Blood was still warm and was slowly dripping from it. Their faces froze in shock and disbelief, showing that whatever happened to them, was something they didn''t expect. "What the" he muttered, then he raised his right hand to the air and shouted. "BOYS, GET BACK TO ME NOW!" As hemanded the rest of the group rushed back. Upon seeing two of their friends lying dead on the ground, they suddenly got agitated and gripped the handle of their weapons. The leader looked to his right at a short matte ck-haired boy and waved with his hand. "Matt, go and check them. Tell me what happened." The boy shook in fright as his leader called out to him, then as he heard him shout "GO!" he immediately ran to the two lying bodies. Crouching down, he picked up a bit of blood from around the hole from the closest body and checked it between his fingers. Bringing it to his nose, he gave it a smell then a lick. Then, he went to the other guy and did the same. He also looked around the bodies and tested the dirt. Finally, standing back up, he looked at the leader and replied. "Boss, they were shot down with an arrow that came from above." Annoyed by his words, the leader grumbled, couldn''t believe what he said. "Hmm... We should have heard the sound of fighting, or if anybody came to help her. You must be wrong, check again!" The boy shook his head. "No boss, there wasn''t anybody else here. They were killed by that girl. "Are you sure?! How could we not notice or hear anything? The girl shot two arrows and killed both of them without us noticing?! That''s simply impossible!" The boy shook his head once again and raised one finger to the air in response. "No boss, you don''t understand. These guys were murdered at the same time." The boss was already shocked hearing this, but the next statement almost made him fall to the ground in shock. "They were killed with the same arrow. This girl only fired her bow once and left." Chapter 79 - 79 - The Adventurer’s Guild (Part 1) (AN: Sorry for the hiatus, I had to release Friday''s chapter way earlier due to a system bug, and I was dealing with it over the weekend. Hopefully, everything is fine now, and starting from this chapter, there should be no off days anymore.) --- A few blocks away from where the group of thugs was still trying toe to terms with their losses, Lily was strolling happily. Her bow was resting on her back, along with her quiver still full of arrows. One arrow in particr, although she cleaned it with a piece of cloth, it still had a few smeared stains of blood visible on it. Soon, she arrived in front of a crossroads. From the three routes, Lily remembered that the one in the middle that continued straight was the one that eventually leads to the Marketce. However, she had no clue about where the right or the left forks would end. Looking to the left, she saw a sign ced that had the sigil of a shield and a sword on it, pointing towards that direction. On the right, there were no signs, but from a nce, Lily thought that it was probably some sort of residential area. "Well, the guard mentioned that I should just follow the signs Since there''s only one sign here, I guess I should go left." she muttered, and with the decision made, she went to the left. Still strolling at a leisurely pace, while following the direction of the asional signs that popped up in her vision, she eventually arrived in front of an impressive wooden structure at least twice the size of their little hut back in the forest. It had huge wooden double doors decorated with the same sigil of the shield and the sword that she saw on the way here. Looking around, the surrounding buildings were clearly catering to the increased presence of adventurers, mercenaries, and the like, as was apparent from the various signs indicating the nature of shops lining the street. cksmiths, tailors, alchemists, bars, inns, and all manner of amenities help unburden the pockets or pouches of the wary travelers. "Woah, so big!" Lily eximed, looking at the towering building in front of her. Stepping forward, she was about to enter; she remembered the words of Granny that she said years ago. She warned her about the dangers of being a half-breed that the world of humans or "Purebloods" as they called themselves will not take kindly to them. Tobat this tant racism, Granny taught her the basic illusion spell that would slightly alter her appearance. Sighing, she pulled the edges of the linen hood and pulled it over her head, hiding his only visual elven heritage, her small, pointy ears. She learned it, and although she hasn''t used it before, she still remembered the phrase. Closing her eyes, she muttered a single word, that to this day, she still didn''t know its meaning. "Itl''thiolei.." As with the case of the ancientnguages, as the word left his mouth, the power it carried, coursed through Lily, and slowly gathered at the pointy tip of her cute little ears. Bright white light enveloped it, although only for a short moment. As the light quickly faded, all that could be seen were a pair of human-like ears. The pointy tip was now turned to a gentle curve. With the preparations done, Lily finally pushed on the handles, and as the doors creaked open, the hall greeted her. The interior was lined with tables, despite being mostly vacant, there were still a number of parties sitting together. Small groups of three to five, predominantly men, but a few women could be seen as well. Well-armed, swords, axes could be seen dangling from the sides, while others were resting their spears or other simrly sized armaments next to their seats. What was surprising to Lily, is that of all the people gathered here, she saw no mages or anybody that resembled her Master or Granny. All of them seemed to be physicalbatants. Fighters with all types of melee weapons, and a few that were carrying bows, or crossbows. Realizing she had been standing at the entrance for too long, Lily stepped in and focused on the counter at the end of the spacious hall. Walking in front of one of the employees, she smiled at the curly brown-haired girl sitting behind the desk, and with her usual cheerful tone, she introduced herself. "Good Day,dy, I really love your hair! It looks incredible!" Hearing thepliment, the attendant looked at the blonde-haired girl in front of her. Seeing that there was only honest admiration in her eyes as she kept gazing at hair curls, she smiled gently at her. "Thank you, I also like your beautiful silky golden locks. You look incredibly beautiful!" Then extending her hand over the counter, she introduced herself. "My name is Mary, wee to the Higrove Adventurer''s Guild!" Grabbing and shaking Mary''s extended hand, Lily smiled. "Hello Mary, I''m Lily. I''m new to this city, and I would like to register as an adventurer. Could I ask you to help me with how to get started?" "Oh, you are here to register as a new adventurer? Certainly! You are at the right ce!" she smiled, then pulling a piece of paper from the desk, she handed it to Lily. "Please, take this form, sit at one of the tables, and fill it in. Once you are done,e back here, and we can continue!" "Thank you, Mary; I will be right back!" Taking the paper, she stepped away, only toe back a secondter. "Sorry to bother again, but could I ask for a pen? I don''t have any." Smiling at the pureness of this blonde girl, Mary gave her a small metallic tube with a pointed blue crystal at the end of it. There was a round-shaped red ruby ced at the other end. "You can use this one. Just activate it, and you can write with it." Taking the metallic tube, Lily looked at it, confused. Looking at Mary, she shyly asked. "Sorry, what do you mean by activating it? What do I need to do?" Pointing at the red ruby, Mary smilingly replied. "It''s actually quite easy to use. Simply touch this ruby once. It will start to glow, and while you see the red hue, you will be able to write using the other end." "Wow, this is incredible!" Lily looked at the tool, with amazement shining in his eyes. Then turning to Mary, she slightly bowed as she thanked her. "Thanks for the help, Mary! I will be back shortly!" Then, as she turned around and ran back to her table, Mary sighed with a smile on her face. "Where did this girle from to not know what a pen is? Ah, so refreshing to see someone so honest." Sitting down at the table, Lily looked at the tool once again. "So, I should just touch this red gem and it will be activated..." Then as she touched the ruby, it started glowing with a faint red hue indicating it was now turned on. "This is so cool!" Lily eximed happily, turning a few faces towards her due to the noise she was making. Seeing all the attention she was garnering, she nervously bowed her head, and without looking up, she muttered a low "Sorry!", before trying to focus her attention on the paper in front of her. Mary was fighting hard not tough at all of this. This blonde girl was so pure, so honest, it was something she hasn''t seen for a long time. After a few minutes, Lily stood up and went back to Mary, handing her the paper and the pen. "Here you go! What do I need to do now? How can I start?" Mary took the paper and quickly went through it. Seeing that there were a few sections empty, she looked back up to Lily. "From what I can see, you haven''t filled up a few sections. I guess you haven''t done any simr work before, right?" "Yes, this is my first time!" Lily answered with a smile. "And you are 14 years old?" Mary asked creasing her eyebrows. "Yes, is that a problem?" Shaking her head, Mary answered with a smile. "No, it''s not, it''s just Under your preferences, you checked in that you are not looking for a party. As a neer, we advise you not to work solo. This is a dangerous line of work, and you could get injured or worse! Are you sure you do not want to look for a group?" Lily nodded her head as she replied happily. "Yes, I''m sure. I''m not actually alone, well right now I am, butter on, my brother will join me! He just needs a few more days, and meanwhile, I wanted to get a head start!" "I see. Who is your brother? Is he a higher-ranked adventurer already?" Mary asked. "No, he is like me, this will be our first time registering!" Lily answered with a confident smile. Mary, hearing this, sighed, then looking at Lily, she continued. "If that''s the case, I would still advise you and your brother to look for a group and set out with others. You are safer in a group rather than being alone." She tried convincing this girl. However, Lily simply shook her head, and with the same confident smile she had before, she proudly eximed. "You don''t have to worry about us, my brother and I are very strong!" Chapter 80 - 80 - The Adventurer’s Guild (Part 2) "*Sigh* I understand, but while your brother is not here, you are alone. Even if you are strong, you shouldn''t be alone, especially as a woman, Lily. Anyways, before we continue, let''s sit down at the table you just used, and I will go over the basic information we give to everybody, okay?" Mary answered with a sigh. She saw the unshakable confidence Lily had in her brother and herself, and that it would be pointless to argue. She hoped that after going through all the basics, and by mentioning the weekly grouping event that actually would happen tomorrow, she could be swayed. Sitting down at the table next to Lily, Mary, took a deep breath and started the practiced speech that she gave multiple times already. "As you may already know, the Adventurer''s Guild is a multinational organization that has a contracted branch office in almost every city in the continent. This here is the Higrove Adventurer''s Guild. The basis of every branch office and the Adventurer''s Guild, in general, is the extermination of monsters and the safety of our contracting city. In our case, Higrove." Pointing towards the east wall, which was filled with tons of papers in various sizes, she continued. "Over there on the Mission Board, you can find all the requests our Guild currently has listed. While most of them came from the citizens, there are some requests from the nobility, the ruling lord, or even the city guard themselves. Theye to us, set a request, and after we categorize them, it will be posted on that wall." Standing up, she motioned for Lily to follow. "Come with me, Lily, before I continue, let''s go there and check how a valid request looks like." Arriving at the wall, Mary and Lily walked towards the section closest to the Guild''s counter as she spoke. "All the requests here are sorted by their difficulty. As you can see..."She picked up one paper and quickly checked it. Seeing it is good for her example, she continued. "...for example, this request here, which is a gathering request probably to a local alchemist, has 1 star, meaning it''s an easy request for our newest members, on the first rank." Then, cing the request back to its ce, she picked one from the second section. "This request here, has two stars, meaning it is for those that have more experience, and have already advanced in the ranks. Make sure to remember that until you rank up, you can only pick quests from the 1-star section!" She ced the request back to its set, then while motioning for Lily to follow, they walked back to the table they were at. Sitting down, she continued the speech. "Now, to thest part of the introduction, the ranking system. When we finish the registration procedure, you will receive a Guild Card, showing that you are a member of the Adventurer''s Guild. Make sure you don''t lose this item! While it can be reced, all the progress you made since yourst rank-up test will be lost!" She paused momentarily, to breathe in some fresh air. "Sorry, it''s quite lengthy, but all of this information is important for you to know. So, the guild categorizes its members in a ranking system, ranging from one all the way to ten. When we finish your registration, you will be a Rank 1 or mostmonly known, a 1-star Adventurer, meaning you have just started. You will be able to pick any quests with a 1-star difficulty. When youplete a quest, you have toe back here and show proof of yourpletion, and we will credit it on your card. Once youplete enough quests, you will be eligible for a rank-up, earning another star to your name. It''s actually simpler than it sounds, don''t worry you will quickly get the hang of it!." As she finished, she looked at Lily for a short while, and after a few seconds of silence, she asked. "Did you get everything so far, Lily, or do you have any questions?" Listening to everything, Lily shook her head as she replied with a bright smile on her face. "No, thank you for the introduction, Mary, I got it. So, I will be a rank one adventurer, and as such, I will be able to pick from the 1-star quests that are ced on the wall. Once Ipleted the quest, I shoulde back here so you or another attendee can credit it on the card you will give me. Hmm, actually, I do have a question. Do I need to pay you for the membership card?" Mary shook her head as she answered. "No, the first card will be free of charge. If you happen to lose it and will require a new one, then there will be an increasing fine. The first recement will cost you one gold; the second will be ten, and so on. I would advise you to hold onto the card, Lily." "I see. Everything is clear now! Can I get the card and then pick a quest?" Lily asked as she jumped up from her seat. Creasing her eyebrows, Mary raised her right hand as she continued. "About that, your card will need a day before it is ready. Also, there is a weekly group-up event we hold at the first floor in this building. It is designed for new adventurers just like you. There you can meet up with others that, just like you, just started and has no fixed group. There you can meet up and hopefully find a group for yourself. Also, there will be several veterans there to help answer any questions you may have and even provide mentorship services." Mary looked Lily in the eye, grabbed her shoulders, and with a stern tone, she continued. "Once again, Lily, I HIGHLY advise you to go to this event and try to find some friends there. You don''t need to group up with men, there will be girls there, so if that''s what you are worried about, you can group up with them. Please, don''t be rash, and at least give this meet-up a chance. Okay?" Lily gently grabbed Mary''s hands and pulled them from her shoulders. Then with a gentle smile on her face, she replied. "Thank you for your concern, Mary. I will go to this gathering and see if there are any friendly faces there, okay?" Changing the subject, she looked at the Mission Board, as she asked. "So right now, I can''t pick any quest, right? I have to wait until I get my membership card?" "Yes, I am sorry, but wait for tomorrow when you get your card. Then, you can pick your first quest, Lily!" Mary smiled sympathetically. Grabbing Lily''s hands, she squeezed it lightly, as she shook it. "You are such an incredibly pure girl, Lily. Make sure you watch out for yourself; there''s a lot of nasty figures out there that would want nothing but cause harm to you! Please, be careful, okay?!" Lily giggled happily, remembering her run-in earlier. "Haha, don''t worry, Mary, I can defend myself! I will be going now, but I am delighted to have met you!" --- After saying their goodbyes, Lily turned around and left. As it was still quite early for her to start going back home, and with nothing better to do, she decided to go and check up on some old friends. Once again, back on the streets, Lily continued her leisurely stroll while taking in all the sights. She loved watching as the residents haggled, talked, or even just simply greeted each other. Stopping in front of a street stand, she ordered one portion of frozen sweets in an edible cone. The elderly man that sold it even gave her some extra chocte frosting on top for free. "Thank you, sir; you are very kind!" Lily thanked the man as she took her candy. "Ahaha, don''t mind me, dear, you are so sweet, you remind me of my granddaughter! Enjoy your sweets!" The elderly man answered with a heartyugh. Now, with her candy in hand, and with renewed vigor, she strolled towards her next destination, a small little General Store, at the northern end in the Marketce. Many years ago, it was the home of a kind elderly couple, the Norton''s. Lily hasn''t met with them ever since. Granny kept up the business with them through all these years. Now that both Lily and Aiden were back, she wanted to check up on the kind elderly couple that invited them to a friendly lunch all those years ago. --- Meanwhile, in an underground ce, at an unknown location, sitting on a throne made of skulls and bones, a dark-robed figure looked at a corner in the dimly lit room. Although its face was covered with a faceless ck mask, the red sh in her eyes briefly illuminated his surroundings. "Speak." it spoke with an unnatural hollow voice. A female figure stepped out from the shadows and knelt in front of the throne. She was Number 3. "Grandmaster, I came with a request. I need" She started stating her request, however, she was quickly silenced with one finger raised from the Grandmaster. "I know Take it." It then waved his gloved right hand. Therge skull-shaped ring''s eye sockets briefly shed in red, which was briefly repeated by the smaller, but simrly designed ring that Number 3 was wearing. As the sh slowly faded, Number 3 bowed once again, and with deep respect in her voice, she briefly spoke. "Thank you, Grandmaster!" The grandmaster did not respond and returned to its previous position, ignoring Number 3. Number 3 bowed once again, and in the next moment, her figure vanished from sight. As Number 3''s presencepletely vanished from the chamber, the eyes of the Grandmaster lit up once again, and with its otherworldly voice, it muttered. "Interesting" Chapter 81 - 81 - Old Friends, New Problems The socialdder, the hierarchy in the kingdom was stringent. While the Royalty and the Nobility were closely tied, there was a wider gap between them and the rest of the citizenry. But even then, the average ss citizens, the working force, was still respected somewhat. Below them were what they liked to refer to as "The Scum." The poor, the downtrodden, the unlucky. Thisyer that resided at the bottom of the socialdder was the group of people that nobody wanted to interact with. In every city, just like in the capital, or in Higrove, there was a district that the everyday citizen usually avoided. They referred to this district as The Slums. An ugly mocking word that looked down on everyone that was forced to live there. However, they were also the group that was usually the best for certain types of jobs. The Scum couldn''t enjoy the preferential treatment that the other sses got; they received no benefits and weren''t weed in any of the shops and facilities outside of their own area. Racism against other races was high, but it was almost just as worse against the socially challenged. Because of this, some of the residents that spent their days in the Slums had to resort to shadier means to get by. The criminal activity was booming in these districts, gangs ran rampant, imed their own territories, offering their protection for a little mary contribution. Also, there were certain services that you could only find in these areas, that garnered for wealthier customers. One of these peculiar services was ve-trading. It was a booming market, and while it was officially considered illegal, nobody ever stood up against it. In fact, there were benefactors from the highest ces, rumors stating that even some members of the Royalty were involved, along with several noble households. Inside the Slums, at a run-down shack, a tall shirtless bald man stood guard. Next to him, leaning against the wall, a colossal halberd was resting. Fresh blood was still dripping from its head, signaling that just a short while ago, it had seen some action. The bald man kicked the dismembered torso in front of him a few meters away as it loudly grumbled. "Fucking assholes trying the same shit every damn time. Now I have to clean this mess up again! Argh!" As he kept kicking the torso and the various body parts thaty around him in the mud, the door behind him slowly creaked open. A pompous short brown-haired man dressed in elegant silk clothing stepped out, not bothering with the gruesome scene in front of him a bit. Looking at the grumbling guard, he spoke with an arrogant tone. "Keep your misery to yourself. You are the guard, handling rats is what you are paid for, or do you want me to talk to the management about a timely recement?" Hearing the words of this person, the bald guard immediately shut up and knelt on the ground. Keeping his gaze down pinned to the ground, he spoke with a shaking voice. "I''m sorry sir, please don''t do that, don''t talk to the management! I ampletely fine with my job!" The elegantly dressed noble looked at the guard kneeling in front of him, shaking with a satisfied grin. After about a minute, he finally gave an audible and theatrical sigh and spoke. "Humpf! Fine, I guess I can let it go onest time. Now get up, you miserable insect, and do your job. High-profile buyers areing tonight, and they won''t appreciate this this mess you have here. Clean it up!" "Yes, boss! Thank you, boss!" Quickly gathering himself, the guard got up from the ground and started to clean up the area. --- Meanwhile, as this was going on, in another part of town, Lily arrived in front of Norton''s General Store. Last time she was here, she was just a small child, but she still had fond memories of the kind olddy and her husband. Looking at the sign, she smiled, and opened the front door; she stepped inside as the bells that signaled a new customer rang. "Just a minute!" The familiar voice of Mrs. Norton came from the back of the building. After a few minutes, footsteps could be heard, and shortly after, an elderlydy with rounded sses and puffy cheeks came to the counter. "Hello there, how may I-" She started her practiced greeting, but as she looked at those golden locks that peeked out from under the cover of the young girl''s hood, she became speechless. She couldn''t exin why, but she felt some vague familiarity with this person. As the youngster hadn''t talked, nor had she taken off her cover, the elderly woman took a breath and continued. "Excuse me, miss. So how may I help you?" she continued with her sales pitch. However, once again, she became speechless as the hooded young woman suddenly erupted in a peal of loudughter. For nearly a minute, she kept giggling when she finally grabbed the edges of the linen cloth and pulled the hood that covered her face to the back, revealing her long golden hair, and beautiful blue eyes. "I am terribly sorry, Mrs. Norton; it''s just, it has been so many years since I saw you, and I just couldn''t resist. I hope you and your husband are doing well." Mrs. Norton observed the woman, and spoke absentmindedly. "Yes, dear, we are both fine." Finally, as the wheels started churning, she recognized the youngster in front of him."Oh my Lily?!" Lily smiled at this as she gingerly replied. "Yes, Mrs. Norton, it''s me, Lily! I haven''t been able toe in thest couple of years, as my brother and I were away training. We just got back, and since I was here in the city, I wanted to see how you and your husband are doing. Is everything all right?" Now, as she finally connected the dots, Camille smiled at the not-so-small girl. "Lily, my dear, you have grown so much since Ist saw you! Come, don''t stand there,e to the back, and join us for lunch! I''m sure Henry will also be stunned to see you change so much!" Turning around, she started walking towards the back, but she stopped after a few steps. Looking at Lily, she waved at the door. "Sorry, dearie, could you flip the sign and close the door? It''s best if we close up for now and enjoy some peace and quiet! This whole neighborhood is so noisy! You wouldn''t believe it, I tell you!" Then, resuming her steps, she shouted towards the back of the house. "HENRY! COME BACK HERE! WE HAVE A GUEST! YOU CAN FIX THAT HOLE LATER!" A short whileter, as Lily and Mrs. Norton were sitting at the dining table waiting for Mr. Norton toe back, Lily suddenly spoke up. "You mentioned a hole? Is there a problem, Mrs. Norton? What happened?" "Ah dearie don''t worry yourself over such trifles, it''s something we will have to deal with. Let''s talk about where you were in all these years instead. Every time Granny came, she just said that you and your brother are away training. Where did you guys go, and why? Did something happen?" Mrs. Norton said, changing the subject. Lily was silent a bit, thinking about how best she could answer this question. Since she promised, she can''t mention anything about her master. After a while, with her eyebrows creased, she spoke. "Well, it is quite hard to exin actually. We were in a distant ce, in closed training for thest several years. This was a decision we made ourselves, and Granny agreed. I was tired of being helpless and always the protected one; I wanted to show that I can change, that I can be someone whom my family could rely upon!" Listening to her, and seeing the determination sparkling in her aquamarineeyes, Mrs. Norton could only smile. She could see how strong her will was on this subject, how deeply she cared about bing strong. "I admire your will dearie. I can only hope that you will never be in such a situation. I know this world is a cruel and nasty ce, but angels such as yourself shouldn''t be tainted by it." Although she had more to say on the matter, she stopped talking as the door to the dining room opened up, and the dust-covered old man, Mr. Norton walked in, loudly grumbling at his wife, not noticing Lily sitting next to others. "Why did you call me back, Camille?! We have to fix up the storage room after those thugs broke in! You know that the City Guards arepletely useless!" Standing up, Mrs. Norton looked at her husband angrily. "Henry! Stop it, you buffoon! I said we have guests!" Just noticing the blonde girl, he looked at her, trying to connect where did shest met her. Seeing the obvious confusion on his face, Mrs. Norton sighed as she introduced their guest. "Honestly, as the years are passing over you, you be senile, Henry!" **** (AN: I debated for a while to post this, but in the end, I decided to do it as it will also give you great rewards. This novel is also a part of this month''s Win-Win event. If any of you want and wish to win 300 Credits to your ount, you can buy Privilege for this novel. The first tier was designed with this in mind (and that it''s an easy way to get a feel of how it works). It costs 1 credit, and it will help out the novel, the author, and actually you as well. I can''t post links to the novel nor to thements, but if you are interested in more details, check out the news about the event Thanks, and sorry for the long note!) Chapter 82 - 82 - The Angel Of Justice The sun had already shone its best and had started receding when Lily left the Norton''s. Because of Mr. Norton''s mistake, they ended up telling her what happenedtely in the city. Lately, as the taxes, you had to pay for the ruling city lord, and the nobles increased, life became harder for the everyday folk. Those that didn''t have any safeguards or some sort of business could hardly even sustain themselves, not to mention their families. As such, a lot more started looking towards uwful means to get their coins to fill their and their families'' bellies. The already established gangs saw an increase in numbers, and new ones started appearing as well. The biggest ones began spreading its ws to the other, previously safe districts, iming it as their turfs. Invading already ''imed'' territories also became a regr urrence with bloody fights breaking out almost every night. While the city guard was keeping order, it was mostly for show, as some of the major gangs had ties with the nobility, giving them almost free reign. One of the newly formed gangs, a group of youth that came from the neighborhood have broken in and robbed multiple stores in thest couple of days, including the Nortons as well. What was even worse, thatter they would visit these very stores saying that they saw the unfortunate incident happening and they could offer their protection in exchange for a ''minimal'' fee. If the store owners refused, they would continue to rob the ce and make the store owners'' life miserable, until they eventually relent. A vicious but very effective method that so far, worked. Last night the gang broke in and cleaned out their storage, causing significant damage. They said that they have already alerted the guards, but apart from acknowledging the robbery, they did nothing to apprehend the criminal and return the stolen goods. While Lily, when the Norton''s asked her not to do anything brazen, agreed to them, she already decided to take matters into her own hands. Lily thought that if she could solve this matter and help out, besides helping the elderly couple, she would also prove her brother how awesome she became, and that she could proudly stand by her side and not be a burden anymore. Thinking back to that fight against the old man, Lily clenched her fists and increased her pace. Bow in-hand, and hood covering her face, she was currently sneaking around the block looking for traces, and clues. Based on what the Norton''s told her, she thought that there was a big chance that the group will return tonight, break-in again, and then visit the shop tomorrow and offer them to ept their ''generous'' service. Circling around for a while, jumping from shadow to shadow, she was like a predator hunting an unsuspecting prey. She eventually found a good vantage point at the rooftop of a rtively small ground-floor building. Keeping her bow at the ready, she was watching the poorly patched section of the shop when she heard multiple footsteps from the west. ''Heh, they really came back Incredible..'' Lily muttered as her lips curved into a smile under the cover of her hood. Pulling an arrow from her full quiver, she turned her attention to the group of youth that was approaching. 6 poorly dressed young man came with mismatched weaponry in hands. One was carrying a board that had a few nails hammered into it; another was brandishing a kitchen knife. Not your uniformed military, that''s for sure. They didn''t even bother covering their faces or trying to be quiet about their goal as they approached with confident steps. Lily could clearly listen to theirughter-filled discussion even without trying. "Man, too bad that this time we are robbing those 2 old fogies, and there are no babes we could enjoy. Such a boring job especiallypared to thest gig. Damn, that jewelry store owner''s wife was such a treat!" One of the thugs, who kept brandishing and swinging the kitchen knife, spoke out. "Yeah, that bitch was incredible. Damn, those tits, and how loud she screamed! Too bad, that in the end, she couldn''t take it, and offed herself, it would have been so much better if we could have brought her back with the stuff we took!" Another one eximed. The guy in the middle, the dude with the only rtively normal weapon, a short sword that was tied to his belt and was swaying on his right side, suddenly halted his steps, turned around and angrily spoke. "Idiots! We lost that shop because of you guys couldn''t think outside of your pants! We rob these shops, but we need to keep them under just enough pressure so they will ept the protection. What you did; caused us to lose one of the best earners in the block! The boss was furious when he learned about it! If we fuck this one up as well, we are all dead, so FUCKING BEHAVE!" The rest of the group frowned upon his words but did not speak out. Their discontent was visible on their faces, looking at their self-proimed and hypocrite group-leader. He was the first that ravished the big-titted mature housewife, and now he talks like it was their fault only?! Pfft! Hearing no retort, the group leader''s face contorted into a satisfied smile and turning around; he continued his way towards their destination. Listening to all of this, Lily''s face was twitching. Closing her eyes, she whispered the silent prayer to the Goddess of Nature, just like she did in the illusion and in the pocket world as she stretched the bowstring. "Oh, Naone, gentle and kind mother of all elves, please bless this arrow and guide it to the hearts of our enemies! Please let this unworthy one stand strong against our enemies! Dennui tho ih!" Releasing the bowstring, she watched as the arrow radiated a light green faint light as it flew towards the group that by now arrived and was getting ready to break the patched section of the wall once again. "Okay guys, the n is the same as before, we go in, and break some stuff, and bring back some booze! Let''s GO!" The group leader spoke and pulled his sword. He was about to kick in when he noticed the green light beam fired from the opposite building. "What the" hisst words weren''t anything memorable, nothing smart nor witty. It was pure confusion. He had no idea what was happening as the light green energy beam hit his body and exploded. A loud explosion disturbed the otherwise rtively quiet sunset in the neighborhood, followed by a blinding light that came from one of the back streets. A short whileter, as the light faded and the dust settled, all that could be seen was a destroyed section of the street, with a few remaining bits and pieces of a previously haughty group. Even if the remaining bits weren''t enough to identify them, everybody knew who they were. While they were anxious about what will be happening next, they were also relieved to see that the group that terrorized them for thest couple of weeks have finally met their just end. As the group of people kept discussing the events, one middle-aged man noticed a cloaked figure standing atop the opposite building, bow still in-hand. As the wind blew by, the figure turned around and left, its figure vanished with thest rays of the sun. The man smiled at this, and as he turned his attention to the group that was loudly discussing what could have happened, he curtly spoke. "They have met a Guardian Angel and was delivered swift justice." Hearing his words, the group of people gave him puzzled, and questioning looks. The man, however, instead of continuing, looked up at the now-empty rooftop, with a smile on his face. --- A few blocks away, Lily was giggling as she was hopping towards the city gates. The rush! The relieved faces on the townsfolk, the happiness that this nightmare could maybe, finally end It gave Lily such a rise; she could hardly contain it within herself and not shout out loud to the world! ''it was soo cool! The look on their faces when they saw that the baddies that hurt them are now gone It was so good!'' She continued to giggle, all the way to the city gates, and kept it up as she vanished in the dense shrub of the forest treeline. She couldn''t wait to get back home and tell everything that happened today to Aiden! "Ehehehe!" ''Brother, I hope you will wake up soon, so we can once again do everything together!" As she was making her way, happily giggling and reminiscing about everything that happened today, she had no idea what events her actions have set in motion, and that her heroics have already started spreading amongst the local townsfolk, eventually reaching the ears of certain individuals... Chapter 83 - 83 - The Meet-up (Part 1) After a good night of sleep that she obviously spent together with the still sleeping Aiden, Lily was back in the city and had arrived in front of the Guild Hall. ''So, I get my license, and I will be able to pick a 1-star quest! Can''t wait!'' with great enthusiasm, she pushed the door open, only to be met with arge crowd of people blocking the view. "Woah, so many people, what the" she muttered with great astonishment. Yesterday, this ce was almost empty, but now "Wait for a second Didn''t Mary say that there''s some kind of event taking ce today? Don''t tell me, this huge crowd came for that?!" Deciding it''s best to get ahead and ask the attendee herself, she slowly started making her way through the densely packed hall. Thanks to her lean stature and cute voice as she repeatedly said "Sorry, sorry" apart from receiving a few grumbles, she eventually got to the front, where another group of proud and armored adventurers stood facing them. The guy in the middle, who was wearing a shiny golden breastte with 3 stars etched above the Guild Hall emblem that was shining just above his heart spoke up. As he spoke, Lily could see a few green essence particles shing and trembling. Founding this sight rather peculiar, she looked at the man, who just started addressing the crowd. His voice boomed in the hall, quickly silencing everyone. His golden helmet that covered his entire face didn''t seem to block any of his voice. "Let me be the first to wee you all to Higrove Guild Hall''s monthly Meet-Up! My name is Michael Sonovan, and I''m one of the few 3-star adventurers our guild has. In case you don''t know, our guild is using a ranking system, to track the strength and experience of our members, making sure they are safe and only do requests that they have a reasonable chance toplete without fatal injuries. Still, even with this much care, and attention, this type of work carries great risks, so before we proceed with today''s event, I want all of you to think it through once more, and decide if you are really willing to risk everything just for some fame and money?" He silently looked through the crowd with his prating, stern gaze. A few moments that felt like an eternity passed before he coughed to grab the attention and spoke again with the same booming voice. The green essence particles kept shing around his throat. Lily looked around but it seemed that either nobody noticed, or nobody cared for it, so she decided to ask about itter, and just kept listening to this loud man''s introduction. "We will be upstairs on the first floor waiting for everyone that will decide to take this step. Don''t worry, nobody will think any less of you for wanting to not risk your life if you leave. While we will wee all of you in our ranks, it is much more important than you arefortable with this choice and that you make it for yourself, and it is not forced upon you. Take your time everyone!" With his speech finished, the man turned around, and walked upstairs, with the group of armored people quickly following behind him. As soon as he left, the crowd erupted, and various discussions, exmations could be heard. "I will go, I will be a great adventurer just like Sir Michael!" "You will die you, idiot, I bet the first monster you face will eat you up!" "Who said that?! Come and face me if you dare!" Lily smiled under the cover of her hood, and walked in front of the reception desk, smiling at Mary who seemed to have already spotted her. "Lily, I''m d you are back! How are you?" she greeted with a great smile stered on her face. "Good Morning Mary, I see you are blooming today! Did you receive my Guild Card?" Lily asked, smiling back in return. "Sure did! Give me a second to get it for you!" Crouching down, she started going through a big stack of papers when she eventually pulled out an envelope. Standing back up, she looked at Lily and with arge grin on her face, Mary handed the envelope with both of her hands rather ceremoniously. "Here you go, Lily. The Guild Membership Card will be inside, and all the information you provided yesterday is already registered on it. Now, I did not mention this yesterday, but there is a few extra neat features to this card that I''m sure you will like!" Taking the envelope, Lily looked at Mary surprised. "Oh, what are they exactly?" Mary giggled in response for a bit before continuing. "Ehehehe, well, you see, as an official registered member of the Adventurer''s Guild you are exempted from the entry fees to the town. Additionally, once you reach rank 3, or in other words, you be a 3-star adventurer you can even use the Noble''s entrance and avoid the long line as well!" she said smilingly. "Ah, awesome! That is good to know! Thanks, Mary!" Lily eximed happily. She decided that once Aiden wakes up and joins her, she will talk to her about that their first goal would be to work towards ranking up to Rank 3. "*Khm*" Mary coughed to grab Lily''s attention as she seemed to have trailed off. "Also, the shops you can see around the Guild Hall, all have specialized equipment that you can ask for with your card. Once you have the time and the money you should take a look in their wares!" "I see, thanks! One more question, can I pick from the 1-star quests now?" Lily asked excitedly about her uing adventure. Mary gave her a wry smile in response. "Normally you could, but as today is the Meet-Up, you have to wait until the event is over. During the event, as the parties form and if one of the higher rank mentors agrees, they have a priority to pick from them and even head out together to learn the basics." "So, I have to wait once again?" Lily asked, dejected. She was so looking forward to embarking on her grand adventure and getting the head start so she could act like the proper big sister she always wished to be and help Aidenter. "Don''t be so sad Lily, instead, you should go up and join the others and try to find a group that would suit you. As I mentioned yesterday, you could even find girls-only groups as well. I''m sure you will find something that will match your taste! In addition to finding new friends, learning from an experienced adventurer could provide great benefits. Don''t be shy, give it a try!" Once again, Mary tried her sales pitch, trying to convince this obstinate girl. She couldn''t understand why was she so adamant about going out alone. Whoever her brother is, he will also be an inexperienced boy, and they would just be running to their deaths without some proper guidance. How could she not understand that she is just trying to help her?! Sighing dejectedly, she nodded. "*Sigh* Fine! You are trying really hard to get me to attend. However, if I don''t join any groups in this event, can I still take a quest afterward?" In return, Mary could only nod and sigh as well. ''This girl is just so stubborn!'' she grumbled inwardly while showing the same smile as always. "Yes, Lily, if after the event you still have not joined any groups, you can pick a quest and do it yourself. You could even join up with your brotherter on and create a new Official Adventuring Party." "Official Adventuring Party? What is that? Is that something good?" she asked, surprised upon hearing Mary''s words. "Yes, you can form or join official parties if the members allow you entry. They are recognized by the guild and the people. In addition to the recognition, the party itself will gain ranks as youplete quests. You will hear more about this in the event, but once your party reaches the 2-star rank, you will be able to pick quests 1 rank higher than your party. So, for example, if your party is 2-stars, you will be able to select a 3-star ranked quest and do it together and you will all receive the credit for it. This has many benefits, you will earn much more credits than a 2-star quest. Anyways, once you join the meeting, this will be exined in great detail." Mary exined, happy that she finally managed to grab this girl''s attention. Now she was sure that she will join up with someone and will not head out to face the dangers alone. Mary was immensely proud of herself that she managed to save another poor unfortunate soul from the gruesome future with her glib tongue. Satisfied, she looked at Lily with arge smile on her face. Lily was pondering for a while when she finally realized something. Excitedly, she looked at Mary and as her face gradually got pinker she happily eximed. "That is awesome! This way brother and I could be officially recognized as a pair! YES! YES! YES!" Chapter 84 - 84 - The Flickering Flame While Lily was busy with the Guild-organized event, at the other side of the town, in The Slums, close to a particr section of the walls stood a small run-down shack. While the building itself was nothing that could catch the attention, the 2 sturdy, mountain-like men that stood guard in front of it, would. Their wear consisted of ck leather armor and ck padded leggings. Both had a short sword attached to their hips. Below the leather chest, they were wearing ck sleeveless t-shirts that gave way for everyone to look at their incredible physique. On their right arms, both of them were wearing the tattoo of a white snake that was in the process of devouring a human skull. While it only had 1 single white color with a ck contour, it was still an incredibly detailed tattoo. Both of them stood tall and motionless. While none of the citizens knew the name of this group that took residence in that shack, they knew what they dwelled in. They had a wide range of services, one of them was transportation. As the shack''s door squeakily opened, the figure of a man shrouded in a brown tattered cloak stepped out. His shoulder-length silver hair fluttered in the wind. His aquamarine eyes scanned his surroundings for a few seconds until it rested on the 2 gori''s standing guard at the door. Sighing, he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and turned around looking at the man with simr scars that he had seen on his counterpart in the capital. Although the hood was hiding the scorn on his face, it couldn''t hide the disgust visible in his tone as he spoke to this frog. "What do you want?" The scar-faced man that looked more like a frog than a man bowed courteously and as he looked back up to the young man, he gave a very polite smile as he replied. "Excuse my rudeness young prince, but may I know what business you have in this little town? It would be our pleasure to assist the crown prince in his endeavors whatever they may be." The disgust and disdain he felt for this toad increased by the minute. Not wanting to spend any more time in hispany, he took a step back, and with the same tone as before he replied. "Nothing that your group can help me with. In case I need your services I will contact you." As he finished what he wanted to say, he turned around and started to leave, however his steps quickly halted when the toad spoke once again. "Are the prince perhaps looking for his little sister?" the scar-faced man asked with a knowing and satisfied smile stered on his face, seeing the effect his words. The prince gripped the handle of his beautifully decorated sword and turned around. Fighting to control the urge to slice this disgusting figure and controlling the rage and fury that started to overwhelm him, he spoke with much difficulty. "What do you know about her?!" The man courteously bowed once again as he respectfully spoke. "We know that she is currently in the city. She is a ve fighter and goes by the name of "Wild Tigress". She has regr fights every week in the Pit, my prince." Hearing the news that a princess of this kingdom and his precious little sister was forced to live as a ve, a diator because of the choices of his father, he could barely contain himself to not go on a rampage right here and now. Exhaling and taking in a breath of new although not so fresh air, he forcefully calmed himself down, and looked at this man once again. "What help can you offer me? And more importantly, what do you want in return for the information and assistance that you could provide?" he asked, this time hiding the disdain in his voice. The change of tone was a pleasant surprise for the scar-faced man. Keeping his face respectfully on the ground he answered. "We can help the prince locate her, and even assist in breaking her free. We want nothing but to make sure the Young Prince will continue being our ally, and good friend in the future." "Tsk! What you want is to make sure I continue to support and be your benefactor in the future. With my backing, you would be unstoppable in the entire kingdom" the prince muttered mostly himself, but it was still audible enough for the scarred man to hear causing his smile to be a wide grin instead. He kept his face stered to the ground to avoid the prince seeing his face. "Fine! I can agree to that, but only if your group will not have anything to do with ve Trading in the future. If I catch wind that you guys are trafficking ves in the Kingdom, I will use everything I have to crush you. You got that?!" As he had already expected this answer, the scar-faced man, looked up for the first time from his bow, and with the same satisfied smile on his face, he answered while nodding. "Yes, of course, my prince. While I admit we have transported ves as cargo before, we never officially supported such business and we always made sure to notify the respective authorities when we could. We will continue to do so, so the Young Prince can rest easy, knowing that we will be his eyes in the underworld." "Enough about this, give me the info about my sister. Where is she? Where can I find her?!" The figure changed the subject, unable to contain his desire to find his sister any longer. "Patience my prince, we do not know her exact location currently, but we know that she is scheduled for a match 2 days from now in the Pit, which is an Underground fighting arena here in the Slums. Come back here in 2 days just before sundown and we will provide you with an entry to the event." The prince silently nodded and turned around. As he started walking away, he once again halted his steps, and looked at the man over his shoulders. "Thank you." he said curtly. Then, without waiting for any answers, he pulled the hood and quickly vanished in a nearby alley. Looking at his back as he was walking away, the scar-faced man''s smile that was ever-present on his ugly mug, turned even wider, and a hint of cruelty shined in his eyes. Looking at the guards that stood motionless while all this conversation took ce he spoke in amanding tone. "Go and inform the rest to stand ready. The n is set in motion, we just need to attend the party. Get a VIP ticket so our little prince can crush ourpetition for us" Then he turned around and walked inside the shack. He had a lot to report to his superiors --- Darkness. All around there was nothing but the void. If you think about it, this entity, this void could be considered the highest existence in all creation. In fact, you could say it stood above it. It was there before the first light was created, and it will stay there long after its me has died down. It was a symbol, an assurance that whatever happens, it will stay there. Inside this void, this closed dimension, a singr golden spot started to glow brighter, and although previously it''s light was very faint, it slowly, gradually started to brighten up. After a while, the spot grew and changed, and as if something had woken it up, mes suddenly erupted on its surface wrapping that golden ball in its caressing tinges. Again, some time passed, and the intensity and power of these golden-colored mes increased. After a while, you could no longer say it was a tiny spark, but a huge fire, that battled against the void that tried to silence it. No more! As the battle raged on, neither side could gain any ground against the other. The golden me had its own tiny spot of brightness that proudly stood against this encroaching monster trying to silence it, without any sess. As the consciousness recovering inside this golden me seemed to show signs of activity, a white bright ball came into existence next to it. It''s white bright light, fused together with the golden mes, giving it more power. After a while, a mature female voice came from this white ball of energy as it spoke to the golden mes. [You don''t have to fight for much longer, I promise you. Hold out just a little bit longer! He almost recovered enough energy to wake up!] As if the me could understand her words, it increased its intensity as it battled against this metaphorical threat. The mes burned even brighter, and its size also increased. As if the ball could understand the emotion transmitted behind these actions, although she no longer had a face, if she would, you could see her gentle smile as she looked at the heart of the me, where a golden-colored spectral seed was resting. [Hope you wake up soon Aiden] Chapter 85 - 85 - The Meet-up (Part 2) Following Mary''s advice, Lily walked up the stairs and walked to the meeting room. It had arge double door as the room was used forrge-scale gatherings, likerge party gatherings, strategy meetings, or events like these, where new recruits are weed. Arriving in front of the big, stylish double door, Lily gasped at the motifs decorating the edges. They showed various moments where the stylized little heroic figure triumphed over its enemy. The enemy varied from scene to scene, but they were mirrored at the other side, giving the door a regal, almost holy feel. Pushing the handles down, Lily slowly pushed the door open and gazed at therge ballroom that was filled with all kinds of people. Although she was sure that the huge crowd from downstairs had been trimmed down quite a bit, it was still an astonishing amount of new, eager groups of people hoping to be adventurers. Luckily her face was hiding under the cover of her hood, as her mouth went agape just with the sheer volume. As she kept standing at the doorway, arge man, simr to the person that introduced himself as Michael Solovan earlier came to her. He had long blonde hair that was resting atop his shiny silver shoulder pads. His silver breastte had 2 roaring lion heads carved into it, with 2 golden stars shining proudly above the right one. With a generic smile on his face, he looked at the hooded feminine figure and leaned closer. As his face came into Lily''s view, she could see 3rge w marks going through his left eye, most likely a reminder of a fierce battle of the past. How his left eye remained intact was a miracle of itself. With a clear and plummy voice, he spoke to her. "Wee little one! Did you finallye to a decision and took the step towards the risky but rewarding future?" Lily looked at the man not understanding how someone could ask such a question as an opener. Luckily the hood hid her shocked expression, however, the surprise was visible in her voice as she replied. "N-no, it''s nothing like that. Or, I mean yes, I did but not because of the speech that man gave earlier, I was already registered. I just came, so I could learn more about forming parties and that I could finally pick a quest from the board." The man heartilyughed as he heard the response. A few groups that were quietly talking nearby looked at her as they heard the blonde man''s boisterous guffaw. "Oh, that was" he started, but as he had no air left, his reply was ragged "...that was awesome! Look, ehrm, littledy, right?" he looked at the feminine figure for confirmation, and as he saw the singr nod, he continued. "Aight, so littledy, in that case, you havee to the right ce! This guild-organized event is aimed for people that have just registered or are thinking about signing up as an adventurer in the future. Come, join us, and listen, Sir Michael will start soon!" As he spoke, he grabbed the much smaller figure''s delicate right hand and pulled her into the room. Meanwhile as the enchanted and stylish double door closed by itself, Lily looked through the crowd as they were also looking at her direction. For the most part, the crowd consisted of males, but she could see a fewdies every now and then. She even spotted a few groups, most likely newly formed parties that consisted of only females. Eventually, Lily''s eyes rested on the golden armored man that introduced himself as Michael Sonovan who was stepping up to a small podium. Once again, Lily could see the momentary buzzing of the green particles around his throat. Taking a quick nce, she was sure that she was the only one noticing this. Not sure where to put it, she once again reminded herself to ask Granny once she gets home. Unfortunately, all the events that happened yesterday, made her forget to ask about this when she got back. Michael''s booming voice resonated through each corner of the room, quickly silencing all the ongoing conversations and whispers. "Once again, on behalf of Higrove''s Adventurer''s Guild, I wee you all to this gathering! As I said before, my name is Michael Sonovan, and I''m one of the few 3-star adventurer''s this city has." Stretching out his arms, he continued. "My colleagues and I will make sure all of you have all your questions answered! However, before that, let''s talk about a crucial and probably the most important aspect of being an adventurer." As he rested his arms, he swept through the crowd, satisfied at their focused gazes. Noticing a hooded figure with a simple-looking bow and quiver resting on its back, all the while uninterestedly leaning against the wall next to the doors. He looked at it for a brief second longer before he focused his gaze on the crowd once again, as he continued. "Mates. Friends. People you can rely upon, depend on. Parties are an important and officially recognized aspect of adventuring. Forming parties with multiple like-minded people can be the difference between life and death out in the field. There are many benefits for joining or even forming one, and one of today''s main goals is that by the end of this meeting, you are all familiar with them." He stopped once again, and then looked at the armored people standing just below the podium spread out and facing the crowd. "My friends here are all highly experienced, 2-star adventurers. While I will exin the basics, don''t be afraid to ask them any questions you have. Also, if some of you have already decided on forming a party together, you can ask any of us, and we can schedule a first outing. We will pick a quest for you and head out with you to give you hands-on experience!" The armored adventurers smiled proudly and nodded to affirm what their leader, Michael just said. After a short pause, giving the crowd ample time to discuss between themselves, Michael continued. "I can already tell, some of you have decided to start out together. Good job! Some of you, however" At this point, he nced at the hooded feminine figure still leaning against the wall away from the crowd on her lonesome. "...are still undecided. To help youe to a decision, let me exin how partying works with the guild." Once again, he waited only for a brief moment, to give more power to his next words. "To understand the true benefit and importance of parties, I have to talk to you about the credit system we use. You might have heard some of us mention it previously, either at one of our contracted shopkeepers or by the attendees at the reception desk downstairs. Credits are a special currency we use to purchase goods and services that is only avable to us members of the Guild Hall. These are epted currency all around the continent, in every city where you can find one of our local branches. Typically, when youplete a quest that somebody contracted us with, you will receive at least 2 rewards. One wille from the person who posted the quest, and this can be either Gold, Silver, Copper, or any type of local currency they use there, or maybe an item. The second type of reward will be Credit, which will be added to your name when you show the proof ofpletion to any of the attendees." Once again, he stopped talking and patiently waited as the crowd started discussing what they heard. While waiting, Michael kept ncing over at the lonesome figure standing by the doors. Something was peculiar about this person, but he couldn''t figure out what. Deciding to follow up on the matterter, he gazed at the crowd once again and continued. "Now with this information in hand, it will be easier to understand the incredible benefit parties can provide. As you decide to form your party, it will be registered just like any new adventurer would be. They will also be able to earn credits that will be added to the party ount, just as you all. This means, that if youplete a quest as a 4-man party, all 4 of you will earn the corresponding credit just as your party will. Each party will also be ranked in the system and just like you, they will be able to rank-up and earn new stars to their name. Andst, but not least..." He paused briefly, looking through the eager gazes of the crowd with a satisfied expression. He knew hisst words will shock them, and he was already enjoying it. "You can ept quests one rank higher than your party''s level! Earning even more credit and better rewards than your level would normally allow you!" Just as he predicted, loud gasps and discussions broke out as soon as he spoke those words. All kinds of chatter broke out, discussing the endless possibilities partying up could bring them. All were eager to join up and head out earning the fortune they always dreamed of. As he nced over the cloaked figure, who was looking at the crowd uninterestedly, he sighed. Well, maybe not everyone was convinced... Chapter 86 - 86 - Sir Michael’s New Lover? As Michael continued to focus on the lonesome cloaked ranger leaning uninterestedly at the wall, he decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. Stepping down the podium he briefly thanked the group of people that gathered to greet him, while he excused himself and continued on his way towards the figure. Lily had long noticed how he kept looking towards her direction as he gave his speech, so she wasn''t surprised that he decided toe over. Still, she continued to remain disinterested in everything that was happening. She had no intention of joining any of the newly formed groups; to her, the only partner she ever needs is her brother who was still unconsciously resting back at home. As he approached, Michael opened the visor of his golden helmet providing Lily a first peek at his brown eyes and surprisingly youthful facial features. With a bright smile on his face, he stopped just an arm''s length away from her, and while taking off his golden armored gloves, he extended his hands towards Lily. "Greetings friend!" He kept his hands hanging in the air awkwardly for a few seconds, and since he did not receive the figure''s hands in return he eventually retreated it, not showing any difort on his face or in his tone as he continued. "I noticed you standing alone in your lonesome here while the others were already making friends. Would you like me to introduce you to the others?" As he asked, he was paying attention to every little detail, every little motion the figure would show or do, to gain more attention. So far, he could only roughly guess that most likely this person was a woman, but he couldn''t be certain. As his curiosity was reaching its peak, and as he did not receive any response, he asked again. "Friend? Can you hear me? Can I help you in any way?" Although there was no movement, after a few seconds, with an apanying sigh, a gentle and heavenly voice sounded under the hood. "Thank you, kind sir, but I am fine. I am just waiting for the event to end, so I can pick a quest finally." As the heavenly, angelic voice reached his ears, Michael''s heart started thumping harder than ever before. This was something that never happened to him before in all the previous 25 years of his life, not even when he was introduced and betrothed to his wife that came from a renowned noble family. No, he didn''t even see a glimpse of the owner of this angelic voice and his heart was already beating faster than ever before. He gulped, trying to calm himself down, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t stop the strangely excited thumping. Taking a deep breath, he looked at the hood, trying to nce under it, sadly without any sess. In the end, his curiosity winning over his rationality, he asked with forced calmness in his voice. "Dear friend, may I ask you to grace us with your heavenly visage and remove the hood? I don''t mean any disrespect, but I would like to see the warrior maiden that would dare to brave the wilderness alone, despite knowing the dangers." The first time, the edges of the hood moved as Lily turned her attention towards the tall golden armored knight looking at him with a heated expression. "I''m sorry, Sir Michael, but I would prefer to keep it on. Hope you can forgive me." She answered once again causing a massing increase in the intensity of the thumps of Michael''s heart. Although he was very eager to have a nce at the owner of this angelic voice, he knew he had to be patient. He knew that eventually he would get to know this undoubtedly unmatched beauty and make her his. He had to, there was no other option. Slightly shaking his head while smiling politely, Michael answered with a slight bow. "Not at all, Miss?" he looked up, hoping for a name. "Lily. My name is Lily. So, Sir Michael Sonovan, could you let me know when I can take on quests and start working?" Lily asked. Every time he heard Lily''s voice, Michael had trouble keeping himself calm. Just her mere voice caused such a reaction, He doesn''t know what would happen if he ever gets to peak at her beauty. Quickly realizing that he has an amazing opportunity, his smile broadened, and as he continued to try to peer under the veil of the hood, he politely answered. "Normally you would have to form a group and with a mentor in-tow, you would head downstairs and pick your first quest and head out as well, however, if Miss Lily would like I could apany you and help you in that regard. What would Miss Lily say for this option?" After a few seconds of silence, as she pondered about her options, Lily eventually relented. Nodding her head, she curtly replied. "Lead the way, Sir Michael." As if like a Knight eager to please his Mistress, Sir Michael bowed deeply and promptly pushed the double door open. Courteously bowing and showing the way, he stood at the door as he waited for Lily to leave the room. Meanwhile, his actions caused a stir in the crowd, as people started guessing the identity of the hooded figure and her rtion to Sir Michael Sonovan. "Who is that person, and why is Sir Michael so respectful toward her? Is she a noble?" someone asked in the crowd. "No that can''t be. Look at the quality of the garb she is wearing or the bow she is carrying. It''s simple woodwork, there are no ornaments, no sigils, or emblems. She is most likely just amoner." ady wearing a decorated full iron armor answered with disdain visible in her voice. She was clearly upset about the thought that a dirtymoner could attract the attention of such a dreamy figure like Sir Michael. "Open your eyes, you idiot! Can''t you see how courteous Sir Michael is towards her? Maybe she is his lover?" a male voice came from the crowd, causing a new round of loud uproar explode amidst the crowd. Even the experienced adventurers, the mentors that Michael mentioned were looking at the door with questioning looks, they couldn''t understand why their leader was acting in such a way. After all, this never happened before. Still, trusting their leader, they focused their attention on the crowd and started calming them down. Soon, as the double doors closed, the discussion returned to the formation of new groups Closing the door behind them, Michael halted his steps and turned around to face the figure. Keeping his gaze respectfully on the ground, he politely spoke. "Miss Lily, before we continue, let me ask you, are you sure, you do not wish to join any party? In case you would be willing to, let me offer you a spot in mine. All of our members are experienced 2-star adventurers, with a lot of credits behind our name. Our goal is just a few steps away from ranking up and bing the only 3-star group in Higrove." Lily didn''t need to give much thought before she politely declined the opportunity. "Thank you for the offer Sir Michael, however, I''m afraid I already have someone I wish to form a party with in the future, so I will have to decline." Hearing that his request was declined, an ominous feeling started brewing inside his heart. Trying to stay calm, he looked up while he asked. "Oh, may I ask who this person is? Is this person a registered adventurer?" Lily giggled at his question, causing Michael to almost fall to the ground, fearing that the heavenly bells that tolled would cause permanent damage to his heart. There was no more hope, he fell in love with this angel''s voice. "Ehehehe, he has not registered yet, he is currently resting!" The ominous feeling grew inside his heart as the seeds of jealousy sprawled its roots. He could barely contain the palpitation inside his heart. Just who is this person? How could he dare to take her attention and be the owner of such sweetughter?! This is not right! He had to take a few moments, to silently calm down. Doing his best, he continued to ask about this mysterious man, his unknown ''rival''. "Such an angel is forced to go out alone while his partner is peacefully resting at home? How could such a being be called a man?! I''m terribly sorry that Miss Lily has to suffer this much!" As soon as he said those words, Sir Michael felt a prating gazeing from under the hood. The previously reserved andter happy tone, was nowhere, as the miss erupted in an angry shout as she defended her dear brother''s honor. "HE IS AN INCREDIBLE MAN! HE IS MY BROTHER, THE BEST AND BRAVEST PERSON IN THE WHOLE WORLD! DO NOT OFFEND HIM! HE IS JUST INJURED AND IS RECOVERING!" Sir Michael was stunned that his words caused such an intense reaction, but he was more stunned as the hood rolled down when Lily heatedly started defending this person. The sight of the young maiden, with straight, long golden locks, and mesmerizing aquamarine eyes Sir Michael knew that he had to get this angel. Only he could be worthy enough of her smiles, and her tender care... Chapter 87 - 87 - Picking A Quest Sir Michael was in a trance as he looked at the fluttering golden tinges as Lily defended her brother''s honor with a heated passion. He knew he had to be patient if he wanted to obtain this angel, but it was hard to calm his rapidly thumping heart. Bowing deeper and focusing his gaze to the ground, he respectfully spoke as he slowly extended his right hand while his left was resting on his chest. This was the standard form of apology amongst the nobility across the nation. It was considered a humble and honest gesture and was the highest form of respect one could show to the other in the social etiquette. "Please, excuse me for my rudeness Miss Lily. I truly meant no offense to you or your brother. It''s just strange for me that such an angel as yourself was forced to travel alone, while there''s a big brother at your residence. May I inquire why is he not apanying you at the moment?" Pulling the hood back onto his head Lily took a good minute before she sighed and answered the question. "It''s okay Sir Michael, you didn''t know. My brother was injured recently and is currently recovering at home. He should recover soon!" Then, she strolled past Sir Michael who was still bowing with his head held down. "Now, let''s go, I really want to pick a quest and see if I could do it today!" ''Injured, eh? Interesting'' his lips twisted into a cruel smile as he thought about Miss Lily''s words, but as he straightened himself up, it quickly turned back into the same polite one and followed behind the girl. Mary who was sitting in her seat was stunned to see that the first group toe down was Lily closely followed by the famous Sir Michael, the only 3-star adventurer in the city. As they arrived in front of her, she nced at the lord behind the girl she met and registered just yesterday and respectfully asked him. "Sir Michael, what a pleasant surprise to see youe down so early. Is there a problem, how may I help you?" Sir Michael gave the attendee the same polite smile he usually wears and looking at the cloaked beauty next to him, he answered. "This new adventurer here is Lily, and she would like to pick a quest. Please let the others know that I have authorized this and will be apanying her today, so I will be unavable for the rest of the day." Mary nodded in acknowledgment as she replied. Standing up, she walked around the desk and looked towards the Quest Board on the eastern end of the wall. "Certainly, Sir Michael, Lily,e with me!" Arriving in front of the Large Board that was separated into columns taking uprge sections of the wall, Mary looked at the 1-star quests section as she spoke again. "What type of quests would you like to do? We have a lot of elimination quests mostly to gather various parts from monsters and animals, as well as herb gathering quests." "Hmm give us a few minutes to look it through." Sir Michael answered while Lily was eagerly looking at the wall with papers of different sizes pinned on it. As her eyes passed over the papers, she noticed one at the top which caught her attention. Pointing towards it, she asked. "Mary, can you tell me about that one? It looks like this is a quest that could be done inside the city?" Following where Lily was pointing at, Mary picked up the quest paper and showed it to them. "Invitation: Marketce Vignte Difficulty: Description: A night ago, a mysterious vignte destroyed a group of thugs that had been extorting and terrorizing the local Marketce residents. We, the residents would like to invite the hero and offer our thanks. This quest is posted in hopes that he or she would read it in the Adventurer''s Guild. Rewards: -" "Marketce Vignte? What happened at the marketce?" Sir Michael asked out loud. "A shop owner that lives in that area came yesterday and asked us to post this note on the wall. He paid for 7 days and left. There are no objectives for that quest and there are no rewards either." Mary answered helplessly. She was just as clueless as to the others on the matter. Luckily her face was covered under the hood, as Lily was shocked as she read through the description. She was absolutely certain that they were talking about her and her actionsst night. Her thoughts were racing, she didn''t really think that such a small thing would earn her such a reputation. However, seeing that she helped out others and not just the Norton''s, she couldn''t help but smile happily. She was pulled back from her happy thoughts with Sir Michael''s voice. "Hmm Anyway, this is unfortunately not something we can work on. Let''s see How about one of these two Miss Lily?" He grabbed two smaller and crumbled pieces of paper from the wall and presented it to the hooded ranger. Both quests were elimination quests that were requested by some alchemists. The first one showed a picture of a frog that had several protrusions all over its body. "Gather Thorny Forest Frog Gall dders Difficulty: Description: We would require Thorny Forest Frog''s intact Gall dders. We require to bring back at least 6 intact Gall dders in pristine condition for thepletion of this request. Reward: 10 Draquilean Bronze Coin / piece" The second paper had a picture of a rat that stood on itsrge back legs. It had a long tail, longer than its entire body that ended with arge tuft It''s frontal legs that looked like tiny stagnant hands were short and small. It had 2 pairs of long whiskers on its face. Looking at the picture, Lily found the animal adorable and made a mental note to ask about it from Granny when she got backter. "Gather Jumper Rat Tails Difficulty: Difficulty: We need exactly 10 Jumper Rat Tails. The tails need to be in perfect condition with its tufted ends. This request is urgent! Reward: 1 Draquilean Silver Coin" "If I may provide some advice, while the reward for the Jumper Rat Tails is high, I would advise against it, as finding and hunting them down could provide challenging. The request is marked as urgent. While the reward seems higher, in fact almost double then what you could get from the other one, that has no upper limit, and you could spend all day farming the Frogs just outside the city alongside the riverbed, and bring back as many of their Gall dders as you can carry."Sir Michael offered his advice. Although Lily agreed to his words, it wasn''t for the reason that Sir Michael stated. She simply found the Jumper Rats too adorable to hunt them! Turning towards Mary, Lily pointed to the first paper. "Mary, I would like to take this request. Can you register it to my name?" "Right away Lily!" Mary answered smilingly and turned around to head back to her desk. Lily then faced Sir Michael, who was still standing beside her, with that same stupid smile on his face. "Thank you for your help Sir Michael, I have my quest now, and I will be heading out. I don''t want to take more of your time, so if you want you could go" Lily wanted to mention that he could go back to the meeting and attend the other adventurers, but she was interrupted as Sir Michael shook his head and raised his hand. "No Miss Lily, I would bring shame to the Sonovan household if I would let you head out alone on your very first quest. It is my duty as a Knight and a 3-star adventurer of this city to apany you and help you in any way I can!" "This..." Lily was stunned to see the persistence of this man. Why is he so adamant to join up and assist her? Shouldn''t he be at the meeting, helping others? Why is he so persistent? "Sir Michael, the quest is to eliminate a couple of frogs, it is not that difficult of a quest, you don''t need to waste your precious time. I''m sure that there''s a lot of people that are waiting for a chance to talk with you upstairs." Shaking his head in denial, Sir Michael once again bowed and faced the ground. Not caring if others would being to the building, he eximed loudly. "Please don''t deny this wish of mine and allow me toplete my duty and apany you!" Just like Lily, Mary was also looking at the scene with a shocked expression. She has never seen Sir Michael behave like this in all her years as a Guild Attendant. His current behavior was so out of character, that it was shocking to see. To bow, and beg for an unknown girl like this? Her female instincts were telling him something so out-of-the-world, that she couldn''t believe it. However, as she continued to look at his disy, she couldn''t shake the thought. ''Is he trying to court her?'' Chapter 88 - 88 - Resonance Aftering to a decision, it wasn''t long until Mary registered the quest under Lily''s newly registered name. With a smile under the cover of her hood, she happily strolled out of the Guild''s Hall and was on her way towards the East Gate. Behind her, a tall and sturdy man wearing a golden set of armor was walking. His eyes, which was covered under the visor of his golden helmet, were shining with fervent passion. His zeal, his determination was set, he was fervent to show his new muse how deep and honest her feelings were. He was certain that if he showed his worth and proved that he is the best choice avable, Miss Lily will reciprocate his feelings. It doesn''t matter if there''s a weak boy waiting for her at home, the rules of the world are dictated by the strong, while the weak could only cover in shame. The 2 city guards recognized Sir Michael as he passed behind the hooded figure. Puzzled, they looked at their direction as they were walking towards the river''s direction. "''Doesn''t he have a wife at home? Maybe he is wooing the girl to be his new mistress?" asked one of them. However, the other angrily yelled at him. "Don''t talk about this, don''t even look at their direction. We are simple folk, we haven''t seen, or heard anything. Just do your job, and don''t bring trouble over your head!" "Miss Lily, we are getting close to the river where these frogs could be usually found. Please let me take the lead and stay safe behind me!" Pulling his long sword out of its sheath, Sir Michael walked forward as they left the city gates. Even just outside the city in the ins, there were risks. Since his goal was to impress this girl, he nned to take the lead and have the girl amazed at his skills. Lily let him take the lead, as she was leisurely strolling while humming a tune. As they were getting closer, she already had her bow ready in her hands. From the looks of it, she wasn''t really paying attention to the eager knight. Soon, they heard the sound of frogs croaking ahead of them. As they got closer, they spotted two rtivelyrge specimens sitting motionlessly at the shore. They were both probably around half a meter in size, dark greenish and brown colored with spiky protrusions growing all over the surface of their bodies. It was an incredibly ugly sight to behold. "Stand back Miss Lily, let me handle these vile beasts!" spotting the first two of the required animals'' Sir Michael was eager to showcase his skillset. He grabbed the grip of his longsword harder and started making his way towards them with confident steps. However, he didn''t even take two steps forward, when an arrow coated with glowing green energy whistled by his left ear. Instinctively he jumped to the right, and watched with wonder, as halfway to their target, the green energy beam suddenly split into two, and prated into the back of the skulls of the frogs. Both animals fell forward, spasming onest time before the light left their eyes. Sir Michael was awoken from his stunned silence by Lily''s angelic giggling. "Ehehe I''m sorry Sir Michael, I hope I did not scare you! Would you be so kind as to extract the required parts from the animals?" Unable to process the events that just transpired, Sir Michael dazedly nodded at Lily''s question and forced out a stuttered "S-sure" before he mindlessly walked over to the two dead animals. Looking at the back of their heads, he only saw one arrow drilled into the skull of one of the frogs, while the second frog simply had the hole proving that he was indeed killed the same way. Looking back at the figure covered in a tattered brown hooded cloak, he wasn''t sure what to ask. Killing two targets with 1 arrow was not an easy feat. And that green energy that he saw previously? Did she just use magic? "Miss Lily, did you just used magic?" Sir Michael asked after a while. People that were able to use magic, was scarce. If that was the case, he had to rethink his strategy, but he was certain; he absolutely had to make this woman his! "Ehehehe, I''m not sure" Lily giggled at his question. Then pretending she was thinking hard about an answer, she continued. "...maybe? I just wished to kill both of them, and then it happened!" ''Maybe she never tested for affinities? Hmm.'' Sir Michael was thinking about his best course of action. If this girl never tested for any affinities and never had anybody teach her about magic, this would be a great opportunity to lure her in. Coughing to focus, he looked at Lily, and while hiding his thoughts behind a polite smile, he asked. "*Khm*, Miss Lily, did you ever check for affinities? If not, we could head to my residence once we finish here and check it for you." Although Granny had already taught her about this subject, Lily pretended she didn''t know, and while tilting her head sideways, she ''innocently'' asked. "Affinities? What is that?" With a bright smile, Sir Michael started exining the best way he could. As a noble and a knight, while he had no natural-born affinities, he managed to awaken a light fire affinity using his family''s wealth to obtain the required elixirs. "I''m not exactly sure about the reason, but some people can have some sort of connection to some of the elements. Ehrm, I may not be the best in exining this, but if I''m right that Miss Lily probably has an affinity towards Nature or maybe Wind? Either way, when we head back, we could have it checked. If you have an affinity, you would be able to enroll in the Academy. The Dean is a friend of the family, and I could make sure Miss Lily would get in." Although he couldn''t see it, but based on her cheerful tone, Michael was sure Lily was smiling. "Thank you, Sir Michael! But for now, let''s get back topleting my quest!" The smile widening on his face, Sir Michael quickly finished dissecting the dead frogs, and as he stored the two gall dders in a leather pouch on his belt, he stood back up and looked for their next victims. Soon, he spotted another pair just a few dozen steps away. Pointing in the direction, he silently eximed. "That way, Miss Lily! I can see two there!" It didn''t take too long before they finished gathering the six Thorny Forest Frog gall dders toplete the quest. As Michael finished dissecting thest frog that had its head cleanly cut off by his de, he ced the organ inside the leather pouch on his belt and walked back to Lily who already ced her blow on her back. "Thank you for the help Sir Michael, you are really kind!" She happily thanked the knight. Giving her a slight bow, Sir Michael was happy to receive thepliments. Thinking that he made a good impression, he respectfully asked. "Since we finished the quest, should we head back? If we can quickly turn it in, I could escort Miss Lily to take the test? "Test? What test?" Lily asked, confused. "The test to see which elements Miss Lily might have affinities for. Then, if Miss Lily wants, I could talk to the dean and make sure Miss Lily gets epted. If I remember correctly the semester should start next month." "Oh? Sure! Let''s go, we should hand in the quest!" As Lily eximed, she was already darting towards the city gates. Thinking he had made good progress, Michael had a satisfied smile on his face as he followed behind the cheerful littledy. --- It was around lunch time, and the streets were crowded with people. A silent figure was dexterously making his way through the crowd. The rugged, tattered linen cloth that was covering most of his body and face kept fluttering as he swooned through between the small gaps in the crowd. The only clue he had about the location of his sister was from the local branch owner of that smuggling ring. Although they didn''t officially deal with ves, he wasn''t an idiot to believe them. Without any other leads to go on, he had nothing to do. Unwilling to waste away two full days doing nothing, he was making his way to check out the local branch of the Adventurer''s Guild, to check what kind of requests they have and see if there''s anything that he could take just to spend these two days. After all, he was already a registered member. Just as he passed through the double doors and entered the hall, he suddenly felt the buzzing of his sword. Puzzled, he looked down and unwrapped the linen cloth he used to hide the decorated and recognizable royal sword. As he saw the gem in the pommel shine, he was stunned and almost fell onto his knees. The glow meant that it resonated with another royal artifact that was close by! Chapter 89 - 89 - Social Queues Scanning through the crowd, the cloaked man elicited a frustrated sigh. "It''s like searching for a needle in a haystack. What is this crowd? The crowd is even bigger here than in the capital!" Wrapping the hilt of the sword in the linen cloth, he hid the sword once again. Although the gem in the pommel continued to glow with a faint blue light, a few extra rounds of cloth managed to hide this fact. Now, with his royal treasure hidden, he nced at the crowd once again. ''It is here somewhere The best option would be to stay close to the door and watch everyone that leaves The resonance will be stronger as the 2 artifacts are closer to each other." As the thought crossed his mind, he took a few steps to clear the way and leaned against the nearby marble column. His previous n no longer mattered, he was determined to check each and every person, hoping to find the owner of the other artifact. After all, only his brothers and sister could be wearing those! Meanwhile, Lily and Sir Michael came back and were currently in front of the reception desk, talking with Mary about the quest they justpleted. "Here are all the Gall dders Miss Lily gathered for her first quest. Please check their quality and if you find it adequate register the questpletion on her Guild Card." Sir Michael ordered. "Yes Mary, if you could, please check these for me! I did my best, I hope all of them are fine!" Lily cheerfully added. "Certainly, give me a moment to verify them." Mary smilingly answered and took the leather bag that Michael was handing over. Then with the pouch in hand, she walked to the back, and after knocking on the back door twice, she entered without hearing any audible answer. As they were waiting, Lily felt a vibrationing from the leather pouch hanging on her neck. Grabbing it, she felt the increased heat that the amulet was emitting. Luckily the leather that covered the medallion didn''t let any light escape. ''Why is this thing quivering? And why did it get hotter? What does this mean? It would have been good if the Master would have given some information about what this is, and how does it work'' As she kept inwardly grumbling, Michael was nning his next steps on how to gain the affection of his muse. So far, he felt he did good, Miss Lily went from being neutral to friendly in their outing. He thought that if he yed all his cards right, he could strengthen their friendship now. He knew he had to calm himself down and be more thoughtful. He had to do this right. With his status and influence in the guild, he could bring her to the testing room and have her affinities tested. ''She probably has at least one affinity To think I would meet such an incredible woman in this event! Such luck!'' He couldn''t help but sneer at his own luck. However, he was interrupted with Miss Lily''s angelic voice. "Is there a problem Sir Michael?" Coming back to his senses, he put on his usual polite smile, and with a respectful tone, he answered. "Nothing of the sort Miss Lily. I was just thinking about the next steps. I will bring you to the testing room to have your affinities tested. Normally there is a set schedule when this can be done, but with me as your guide, we can ignore that. Knowing what affinities you may have, will be an incredible benefit for Miss Lily. Miss Lily may not know this but having a natural-born affinity to one of the elements is an incredibly rare gift to have, and once the news spread, your reputation will soar. So, I was basically counting myself lucky to have managed to befriend mydy before she got famous throughout the city. I''m afraid I would not have the chance otherwise!" Lily giggled at Sir Michael''s clever response. She already knew what affinities she has, Granny has already told her, however, she was quite curious how the testing process works. Although the idea of being able to attend the Academy and learning more about the world was tempting, she didn''t want to do that without her brother. Shaking her head lightly, she looked up to Sir Michael and spoke. "I''m sorry Sir Michael, I would like to wait until my brother gets better. I want to take the test together with him. I hope you don''t mind." Forcing the polite smile to his face, Michael hid the bubbling anger and jealousy deep inside him, as he spoke with forced calmness. "No, it is not a problem Miss Lily. I do hope your brother gets better soon. Just let the receptionist call for me, when you and your brother decide to take it, okay?" "Sure!" Lily cheerfully replied upon hearing this answer. Before they could continue their little chat, the back door opened up again, and the smiling Mary came back with an empty leather bag. She gave the empty bag back and looked at Lily while handing over the Guild Card to Lily. "Here you go Lily, we have verified the organs. All 6 are in pristine condition, so I''m happy to say, your first quest is officially marked aspleted. We have added 20 Credits to your name and also" As Lily took the card back, Mary picked up a wooden box from under the table and ced it on the desk in front of her. Pulling out a bronze key from under her blouse that had a stylishly designed eagle head with tiny green emeralds as eyes, she opened the box and picked 6 bronze coins from it.Looking at Lily once again, she handed the coins over as she continued. "...Here you go, the 60 Draquilean Bronze Coins as stated in the description." Lily took the coins and after checking the eagle emblem on them, she ced all of it into her own currently pretty empty pouch on her waist. "Thanks, Mary, you''re the best!" she happily thanked the girl and looked at Sir Michael. "Do you know a good ce to eat?" Michael was startled by the sudden question but quickly regained hisposure. Thinking for a moment, he answered. "I do" Then realizing the chance, the polite smile returned to his face and with a slight bow, he continued. "Please, allow me to invite you for lunch to the best restaurant in the city! Only the best can be worthy of you Miss Lily!" As she was a sheltered girl and also was living in a harsh environment for years with his brother, Lily wasn''t knowledgeable about the social queues, and also didn''t really think much about Sir Michael''s behavior. She thought he was just being friendly to the neer. As such, she looked at the man with a troubled expression, as she asked. "That sounds awesome, but I only have the 6 bronze coins I just got from Mary. Will that be enough there?" Confused at her words, Michael wasn''t sure how to reply for a while. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he stood back up and calmly exined. "I may not have been clear, please excuse me. By inviting Miss Lily, I meant that I will pay for the meal, Miss Lily just needs to ept and spend lunch with me." Thinking about her ns to visit the Norton''s once again, she wasn''t sure how much time would she be spending if she would go with him. "Would it take long? I would prefer to eat something fast, as I want to visit some friendster before I head back home." "II... " Michael was at a loss, once again. She actually refused because she wants to eat something fast?! Other girls would die for the chance to have lunch with him! Shaking his head slightly to regain some of hisposure, he continued. "It would take a bit, yes. In that case, if Miss Lily wouldn''t mind allowing me to escort you to the back, I''m sure there are some leftovers from the meeting from the morning. What does Miss Lily think of that idea?" "That sounds lovely! Thank you, Sir Michael, you are really kind! Let''s go then, lead the way!" "Certainly, please follow me, as the event has ended, the food has been brought to the back." Looking at Mary, Sir Michael asked. Miss Mary, right? You wouldn''t mind if we would use the back room and have a quick lunch there, would you?" Startled, Mary shivered, and as her face turned red as a tomato in embarrassment, she stuttered as she replied. "N-no, of c-course not! F-feel free!" "Wonderful! Thank you Mary, I will let the management know of your hard work today. I''m sure they will be d to hear that there''s such a hard-working girl here." Michael smiled at the girl, who was looking at the ground to hide her embarrassment. Then, they made their way behind the counter walking to the back door that Mary just used before. --- Suddenly, the buzzing feeling and the heat that came with the glow faded. As nobody has left the building, the cloaked man wasn''t sure what happened and was nervously looking back and forth. ''What happened? Did the owner notice me? But how could he leave without me noticing?! I was standing here, and this is the only entrance and exit" Then, as he looked at the reception, behind the chestnut curly shoulder-length haired receptionist girl, he noticed another door at the back. Other than the stairs it was the only definite exit from the hall. "... Could it be an employee? Hmm" With that, he slowly started walking towards the reception... Chapter 90 - 90 - Drake Aquila "How may I help you, sir?" Mary asked the ragged clothed man in front of him. Simrly to Lily, he was also trying to cover himself, although his attire wasn''t nearly as good as Lily''s, and she could see the silver tinges shining under his hood. His ruffled,nk hair reached just under his chin, providing an additional obstacle for his left eye. Speaking of eyes, Mary was stunned when he noticed those shining silvery irises. They had a tint of light blue hue over them. "That door behind you." The man said in his silvery voice as he pointed his wrapped right hand towards the back door. "I would like to know what''s there." Following the line of his pointed finger, Mary looked at the door where Lily and Sir Michael just left. "That? That is the service door to the office area of the guild. Are you looking for an employee? If so, can you tell me his or her name?" Pulling his arm back, he looked at the receptionist, with uncertainty in his eyes. Although he stuttered a bit, his creamy, silvery voice made Mary not notice it. "N-no. I was just curious. *Ahem*" he coughed, to change the subject " I would like you to check up my name and see if I have any active quests listed under it, that would be doable in this area." Mary gave the man a surprised look. "Oh? Did you just arrive? May I ask your name, sir?" "Drake Aqu" the man answered. Although that was not his real name, this was the name he registered as an adventurer in the capital and has been using every time he sneaked out from the pce. To him, this fake felt more real, than his actual birth name that only reminded him of the sorrow and anguish of all those years. "Thank you, since you are not from here, please wait there for a moment, while I go and check the details. I won''t take too long, but please, sit down while waiting." Mary answered as she pointed to the couches and chairs on the side. Then, with a slight professional bow, she turned around and quickly left through the back door. Meanwhile, Drake watched intently as she opened the door and left through a long hallway. His left hand resting on the wrapped-up hilt of his sword, he muttered to himself. "Yes, I''m sure that another artifact wielder is through there. Question is, how could I get there, without raising suspicion or breaking anyws" As the door closed, he silently walked to a nearby couch and plopped down with a tired sigh. There was no point in keeping up his vigil, as the person he was looking for was no longer in the hall. Several minutes passed before the back door finally opened and Mary returned. Promptly standing up, Drake walked to the desk. Smiling, Mary spoke with a very respectful tone. "Sir Drake, I f-" she started, but was interrupted by Drake''s silvery voice. "Just Drake, please don''t use Sir, or Lord or anything of that matter." "S-sorry." she meekly answered, then after taking a short pause and a long and deep breath, she continued with her previous respectful tone. "So, Drake, we got your profile, and I have to say we were surprised. 3-star adventurers are already few and far between, but you being one rank higher" she looked at him with admiration, as she continued. "You are the only 4-star adventurer in Higrove currently, and while we do have a few 4-star requests they are aimed forrger parties instead of solo adventurers. You also have no open requests under your name, so I would suggest you take a look at our board over there and try to find something to your liking." Looking over to the request board, she pointed towards thest column on the right as she spoke. "Thest section is the one where we list the hardest group requests our guild asionally receives. Please take a look at them, but feel free to pick anything from the other sections as well. I hope you find something to your liking." "Thank you" he was looking at the woman with a questioning look, as she never told him her name. Reeling the mistake, Mary turned beet red and embarrassedly answered. "M-mary." "Thank you, Mary. I will go and take a look now." Walking to the Quest board, he took onest nce at the back door, and with ast smile to Mary who turned beet red once again when she noticed his gaze, he looked at the posted requests. "These would all take more than a day. All of these are requests that would need me to dive deep into the nearby forest I need something faster, something that would allow me ess to the back door. Hmm" he muttered to himself as he looked through all the columns. He noticed a special request that was more of a notice then a proper request, he picked it up. "Marketce Vignte? What the hell? Nobody would be this stupid to actually fall for this trap" he smiled as he read the note and put it back to its ce and continued looking for something suitable. Eventually, he picked up a hunting request to kill a tribe of skinks, small primitive humanoid lizard creatures living under the city in the sewage system. It was a messy quest, but it allowed him to map out the underground areas of the city, while also checking for alternative ess routes to the back area of the guild. Not to mention, he could check for alternative ess and exit routes for the Pit, the diator Arena where his sister would have a match tomorrow night. This was a 3-star difficulty group quest which was understandable, considering that a skink would be able to match the strength of an average 2-star adventurer, but they always fought in arge group and relied on their numbers and other, dirty tricks to get the upper hand. Because of that, even a 3-star adventurer would have a hard time dealing with all of their dirty tricks, and not fail. Seeing the request Drake has ced in front of her, Mary looked at him with a conflicted expression. "Are you sure you want to do this request alone? This is marked as a 3-star group quest, because of the type of enemies you will be facing. They are nasty and extremely agile creatures, so make sure you know the risks you are taking." "Don''t you worry, they won''t be a problem. However, I do have a question if you don''t mind." Drake asked and continued without waiting for a response. "I''m not familiar with this city, so I have to ask How and where can I gain ess to the underground sewage system?" "Ah, let me show you on the map" she picked up arge rolled-up sheet of paper and unfolded it on the desk. It was a detailed map of the city. She pointed at the various entrances that Drake could use in every district. The closest one actually just before the marketce, in an alleyway. Memorizing the area, he smiled at Mary as he straightened his back. "Thank you for the help Mary, I will get going then. See you in a bit!" With that he turned around and left the building. Mary silently watched his receding back with a thoughtful look on her face. ''Just who is this man? His face is so familiar, but I just can''t ce it'' she mumbled. --- Granny was sitting alone in front of the firece and was sipping on a cup of fresh warm tea as she gazed at the dancing mes. She was lost in her own thoughts, somewhere faraway many-many years ago. ''I really hope that you are her son Aiden That would mean, she is still alive somewhere, and I still have a chance'' Her thoughts were interrupted as suddenly the front door opened up, and a bloodied Number 3 walked clothes torn and dirty while holding arge wool bag. She silently walked to the dining table and ced the bag on it, then she plopped down on her usual chair in front of the firece and picked up the cup that Granny had already prepared for her. "I guess gathering all the ingredients was slightly challenging, even for you." Granny broke the silence with a slight smirk on her face. Then, as Number 3 looked at her, and took off her cracked mask and ced it on the table. Taking a sip from the tea, she finally sighed, and then while she gazed at the fire she talked with a tired voice. "Yes. I got everything. I even had to ask the Grandmaster for a favor. It wasn''t easy, but we are ready to start and bring Aiden back." Granny smiled at Number 3 then gave a slight chuckle. "Sure, but before that, go and clean up." Chapter 91 - 91 - The Ritual An hourter a clean and refreshed Number 3 walked back to herfy chair in front of the firece and plopped down into it with an audible sigh. Granny was looking at her with a smile on her face. Refilling both of their cups, she pushed a teacup in front of her. "Drink up and rest for a bit, we will begin in the afternoon. It''s going to be quite taxing you know." she said after a few silent sips. Nodding her head, Number 3 took a sip from her cup before she answered. "Yes, I know. Although I have never seen the ritual, I''ve read about it in the ancient texts. The Grandmaster has quite the extensive library you know." Sipping once again, she contently sighed and continued. "Still, the fact that you are just like him It''s hard to wrap my head around this fact. Between him, The Reaper, and you, who is the strongest?" "Don''t be silly, I am just an old granny, nothing more!" Granny nonchntly answered between 2 sips. "Sure you are" Number 3 mumbled under her breath and continued to enjoy her tea in silence. --- After an enjoyable but uneventful lunch, both of them gathered in front of the firece once again. This time, however, therge cauldron that Granny used for her alchemy sessions were ced on top of the steadily crackling fire. "This power will not be enough for this brewing Sadly, I have to change the mes" Granny mumbled mostly to herself, while Number 3 just silently smiled. Using both hands, Granny began to draw 2 runes in the air simultaneously. The rune she was drawing with her left hand was giving off a blue hue, while the right was shining in a bright red color. Seconds quickly passed turning into minutes and the only sound that could be heard besides the steadily cracking fire was the faint humming noise that the floating runes gave. Number 3 was intently watching the whole event. After about ten minutes, Granny finally added the finishing touches to both runes. As soon as she did, both runes glowed in their respective blue and red colors brightly. Gently touching both runes with her index fingers, she whispered two words in the ancient tongue. "Primo Ignis" The next moment, as her fingers touched the runes, both of them flew into the fire merging with it. The fire turned blue, then scarlet, and finally purple. They no longer felt any heat radiating from it, but there was an uneasy, unsettling feelinging from the purple mes. "Soul fire Never thought I would see it once again in my life. Incredible." Number 3 said while gazing at those mes. Then, she looked at Granny who was back to her usually gently smiling self. "So, these are the famous mes that can burn even the living souls while leaving the bodies untouched?" Granny did not answer the question, instead, she picked up the brown bag that was already ced next to the firece and gave it to Number 3. "I will need to give my total focus to this ritual, so you will have to handle the ingredients. Start preparing them, while I begin, we don''t have much time." Grabbing the bag, she opened it up and poured the contents to the nearby table they used for their regr tea sessions. Various hard-to-find, and rare monster parts and herbs rolled out. Hearts, huge reptilian eyes, fangs, ws, and pure ck flowers were just some of the most interesting contents of the bag. "Water." Was the first word Granny spoke as she arrived in front of the cauldron. In response, Number 3 simply waved her left hand, and the huge barrel swiftly flew in from the kitchen and floated above the cauldron, awaiting the next order. "Just a bit, two fingers." Granny gave the order upon which the barrel slightly tilted, and a weak flow of clean water started pouring into the empty cauldron. "Enough. Put it back. Give me a few minutes to prepare for the first part." Number 3 silently nodded and waved her left hand. In the next moment, the barrel still full of water swiftly flew back into the kitchen without spilling anything to the ground. Once again, minutes passed in silence, as there were no more words from Granny. Instead, she was gazing at the fire and mumbling something iprehensible even for Number 3, while keeping both of her hands above the cauldron. As she continued her monotonous chant, blue and red rays of light asionally flew from her hands and vanished into the thinyer of clear water. As another ten minutes passed like this, she suddenly stopped her chant, and abruptly gave her nextmand without pulling her gaze from the cauldron. "Give me the Fire Smandra Heart now, and ground up the Demon Clorys, I will need it soon." "Hmm" Number 3 silently hummed, and with another wave of her left hand, the huge heart from the desk flew up and levitated into the cauldron. As soon as it did the previously colorless water turned thicker and darker. Closing her eyes, Granny resumed her monotonous mumbling while keeping her open palms above the cauldron. As the asional red and blue rays of light shoot out from her hand into the cauldron, the thick ck gooey substances started bubbling. Meanwhile, Number 3 prepared all the remaining ingredients. She grounded the herbs into dust and prepared it into an empty bowl. Then, without waiting for the next set of instructions, she started preparing the remaining monster parts on the table. Once again, stopping her chant, she gave the next set ofmands. "Give me the Demon Clorys dust and prepare the Dark Lion fangs and the ws. You can grind them up simrly and mix them together. Try to be fast, as we are soon starting the second phase." With another wave of her left hands, the flower dust flew into the cauldron, once again changing the gooey substance. This time, the goo changed viscosity again, picking up a syrupy characteristic while simrly changing its color from charcoal ck to a silvery grey. After that, Granny continued to bombard the contents of the cauldron with the red and blue light rays, while keeping up the chant. Beads of sweat started to shine on her forehead, the first signs of her rapidly depleting stamina. Noticing the beads, Number 3 softly asked. "Do you want me to help? Can you handle the next part?" Shaking her head, Granny sternly replied without facing the woman. "Don''t bother with it. I can handle it. Just focus on your job." "As you wish" Number 3 mumbled to herself and continued grinding the monstrous ws and fangs into a bowl. Minutes passed once again in silence, as Granny continued with the ritual. Beads of sweat continued to gather on her forehead, but she did not falter and continued to bombard the contents until it finally turned from silvery gray to a mixture between silvery blue and silvery red. As soon as the two colors were visible on the surface, she gave the next instruction. "Give me the rest of the ingredients then stay next to me." As the ground up ck dust flew from the bowl to the cauldron, the syrupy multi-colored liquid immediately reacted and a loud sizzling sound could be heard, while a ck smoke started to rise from the surface. "Argh, we need to be faster" Granny grumbled, then while keeping her hand above the cauldron and continuing the steady pace of the multi-colored energy bombardment, she spoke. "For the next part, you will need to steadily inject your energy while I add the final ingredient." Nodding, Number 3 walked up to the cauldron and while cing her delicate hands above the cauldron, simrly to Granny she closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, her hands started to glow in white, and a steady heat could be felt radiating from it. She kept up the concentration, and without opening up her eyes, she whispered. "Is this enough? Or should I increase the output?" "It is fine. Keep this up while I prepare for the second phase." Taking a deep breath, Granny focused herself on something hidden deep inside her. A legacy, a power that was somewhat simr to Aiden, but at the same time,pletely different. As she opened her eyes, it was radiating the same golden glow as it did a few nights ago. Her hands that were still above the cauldron rapidly transformed, the wrinkly old skin turned golden in color as the draconic scales appeared. The end of her scaly fingers grew thick ck ws. A majestic and familiar draconic aura burst out from her body, the particles in the air around her buzzed with excitement. Although she was expecting it, it still took everything for Number 3 not to tremble in fright as she suddenly felt the incredible aura pass through her, radiating from the previously harmless old woman. "She is still incredible" she muttered under her breath as she kept injecting the energy to the cauldron. Chapter 92 - 92 - Roar Of The Dragon With the sharp w on her left hand''s index finger, Granny pricked the skin on her right hand making a tiny opening to the flesh between two scales. Gritting her teeth, she sternly looked at her golden scaled right hand as her dark red blood streamed down on his left hand and finally dropped into the multi-colored syrupy liquid in the cauldron. As the first droplet of blood vanished in the liquid, she pulled her hands away from the cauldron. The liquid immediately entered into a heated chemical reaction. Foam quickly formed on the surface, while alsorge silver bubbles formed and burst apart. Seeing this, Granny closed her eyes and slowly and deeply exhaled. Her draconic aura soon receded, while her scales returned to her previously wrinkly skin. Only a tiny bruise could be seen in the middle of her right hand, a reminder of the act. Opening her eyes, the golden luster was no longer there. She tiredly looked at Number 3, and as her trademark gentle smile resurfaced, she ruggedly spoke. "Hah it should be done. Keep injecting your energy until the foam dissipates from the surface, then it should be finished. I need to sit down for a bit" There was no need for a verbal response, Number 3 slightly nodded her head, and continued radiating the heat from her hands. Granny sluggishly made her way back to her chair and poured a fresh cup of tea from the kettle that was seemingly always on the coffee table. She silently sipped from it and watched as Number 3pleted the finishing touches on the concoction. Several minutes passed like this until Number 3 finally pulled her hands away as the light faded from them. She smiled as she looked at the finished liquid, then following the elder alchemist''s example, she also walked back to her chair and poured herself a fresh cup. "The fire." was the only word she spoke. "Oh right, let me fix that." Granny replied, and with a single p, the purple mes changed returning to their original orange color. Immediately, they could feel the warmth from it. Returning to her resting pose, she continued to gaze at the mes. "Honestly, I don''t know if I can repeat this in the next few decades. It really takes its toll on my weary bones." she let out a tired sigh. "Oh, don''tin. Even if you were in a much worse state, you would still do it without any hesitation, if it meant you could save Aiden or Lily. Instead, tell me: how long before we could give the elixir to Aiden and wake him up?" Number 3 asked. "It should be ready before dinner time. It needs a couple of hours to cool down, and then we should be ready. I assume you already have a vial ready." Granny responded while she continued to rest and sip from her cup. "Hmmm. We''re nearly done. I never thought I would see the famous elixir rumored to even be able to bring back the dead" She sipped from her tea, and as she continued to gaze at the mes, she remembered the event a few nights ago. Number 3 looked at Granny as she spoke. "Still, the words of that apparition What do you think could it mean? Strengthen his soul?" "Hard to say," Granny thoughtfully replied "there are still many questions about that kid. Like how can he be a dragon while born in a human form? Also, his powers Don''t you think it''s strange? He is so young, yet so feral, so wild. The ghost, or apparition or whatever that woman was is just anotheryer on the mysteries surrounding him." "True. The fact that the Grandmaster noticed and even ordered to keep an eye on him" Number 3 seconded Granny''s thoughts. "Anyways, let''s just enjoy this nice cup of tea, and rest up before we bring the drink to him." Granny answered. They enjoyed their cups while they gazed at the fire and thought about the night where Aiden would finally wake up from his long slumber. Hopefully, they would finally get some answers to some of their most burning questions. --- Inside the void where the golden me continued its metaphorical battle of survival against this monstrous enemy, the white ball that kept up his relentless guard, softly spoke. [Not that much now Aiden. Not much] As if understanding its words, the golden me flickered. The seed that this me continued to protect, was now clearly visible. Both the white ball and the me knew that soon, it will be able to leave, and return where it belongs. Suddenly, a girl''s hollow and faint cry could be heard echoing across the void. How could it traverse if this ce was truly devoid of any medium, would be an excellent question. Regardless, the faint sound of this familiar-sounding girl''s voice kept echoing. As time passed on, this echo started to be louder, clearer. As the sound eventually reached the only residents of this ce, the seed that was sleeping soundly inside the me started showing signs of activity. The white ball kept up its close guard, but as the voice reached them, it also became agitated. Not because of the owner of the voice, but because of the meaning behind the cry and the consequences this would carry on. The seed started to violently shake, and as the girl''s voice started to be clearer, louder, and you could take out bits and pieces, a low unnatural growl came from it. "Bro sav" Seconds continued to ruthlessly pass, and by now, both the me and the white ball kept watching the seed. The ball''s soft female voice carried a hint of worry as it spoke to the seed. [Calm down, Aiden. I know you want to go, but it will be dangerous if you leave now!] However, when the girl''s voice echoed again, and as the words became clear, the low growl became a loud roar. As it shattered its chains, its light became bigger, brighter, and in mere seconds, the previously dark world where it recuperated became a white colorless space. When the seed eventually vanished, the white ball sighed and looked at the seed''s previous spot with worry. [Let''s just hope those two are ready with the potion, as the consequences of him leaving prematurely will be big] --- Time passed by and thete afternoon soon arrived. After the tiring alchemy session, Granny and Number 3 as well didn''t even have the energy to enjoy their lunch. She brought a small tray of cookies and just snacked on them, while theyzed on theirfy chairs. However, as the first orange hues of the setting sun started to peek through the windows, Number 3 broke the long silence they previously enjoyed. "So, is it ready? Can we begin?" Nodding her head, Granny slowly got to her feet. As she got up, however, suddenly an unsettling feeling struck her. Instead of walking to the cauldron, she went to the windows, and as her eyes swept the curve of the forest, taking their time she let out a loud sigh. Startled by her reaction, Number 3 followed after her. Looking at the forest, she couldn''t help but ask. "What is it? Did you feel something? Is something wrong?" Uncertainly shaking her head, she kept looking at the forest, not sure what the source of her troubled heart was. "I-I am not sure No matter, I guess." She turned around, and as she walked to the cauldron she continued. "Never mind me. We have more important matters now." "Hmm" Number 3 hummed skeptically, but regardless, she followed along. She kept her eyes on the crystal clear purple-silvery liquid and put her hand in front of Number 3 as she demanded. "Give me the vial." Number 3 silently pulled out the small crystal vial, that she kept on her belt and ced in Granny''s hand. Using arge spoon, Granny quickly filled the vial, and after giving it a few good whisks, she contentedly noted. "Yes, this is perfect. We should be good. Quick, let''s go and wake that boy up! He slept more than enough!" Grabbing the vial like if it was her most precious treasure, both of them walked towards Aiden and Lily''s room, ready to finally wake the boy and get some answers. However, just as they arrived at the door and was ready to push down the handle and enter, suddenly a golden light blinded them. A loud earth-shattering roar sounded from Aiden''s direction followed by arge explosion of energy as the full power of his draconic aura unfolded, covering arge portion of the forest. The wooden door blew to pieces as Aiden''s draconic rage-filled voice thundered all around. It was a cry, a call to battle, and it was only one word. Or to be more precise a name. "LILY!" As the dust settled, both Granny and Number 3 could only see the rubbles of the previously standing wall and the remains of the bed where Aiden was sleeping just a few moments ago. In the distance, a golden streak was whooshing across the stress at a frightening speed. His destination seemed to be the city, and from the golden streaks of lightning that zigzagged across his golden scales, one thing was sure. Whoever dared to cause harm to his dear sister, better prepare... Chapter 93 - 93 - Kidnapped (Part 1) (AN: Please don''t lynch me, please don''t lynch me! Before you throw the first rock at me, remember I did mention that we will be opening up the world and cover some darker themes. I already made concessions against the original version, so please just try to enjoy the arc and know that I will make it right, I promise!) Underground of Higrove''s notorious Slums, in a dimly lit room a battered, beaten and chained girl sat on the ground only in her underwear. Torn remains of her clothing were scattered all around the dirty floor, mixed with her red bloodstains. Strangely, however, her captors left the amulet on her neck untouched, still carefully hidden inside the ck leather pouch. She had her face buried in the depths of her kneecaps, she was sobbing. Maybe this all was her fault. In retrospect, she was naive. She should have been suspicious about the invitation. Who in their right mind would post a public post about it? And who would be stupid enough to actually show up? What was she thinking? Either way, it doesn''t matter now. The worst that could have happened already happened. However, she still hoped for a miracle. Her savior, her beacon against the darkness. The light that saved her all those years ago and pulled her back from the depth of despair. Her beloved brother. Even if it''s just a wish of the heart, a nonsensical idea, she still clung to this tiny sliver of hope and kept muttering the same sentence under her breath, wishing that he woulde and save her from all her heart. "*sob* Brother, please save me. Brother, please save me *sob*Brother please save me!!" ***Several hours ago, on the streets of Higrove*** After a filling meal, Lily and not too far behind Sir Michael was walking on the streets of Higrove. Lily was silent under the cover of her hood, thinking of ways what she should say to make sure this clingy knight would finally leave her alone and just go away. Meanwhile, Sir Michael was thinking of possible locations she could invite Miss Lily to and enjoy a romantic afternoon together. He felt that he did really well today and made a lot of progress. He wanted to ''hit the iron while it''s hot''. Gathering his courage, he spoke up. "Miss Lily, would you perhaps like to enjoy the refreshing afternoon breeze with me? I know a spot that Miss would most certainly find beautiful!" Stopping in her tracks, and pretending to think about the idea, Lily answered after a few brief moments. "I''m sorry Sir Michael, but I have to meet up with friends soon, so I have to decline. Perhaps another time?" "Of course Miss, although I''m sad to hear that you already have arranged obligations, I will take the option Miss advises. How does tomorrow afternoon sound?" Michael advised. "Sure, that sounds good. See you, tomorrow Sir Michael, and thanks for the help today!" Lily followed up, while happily smiling under the cover of the hood. She finally found a way to get rid of him without hurting his feelings! Bowing, Sir Michael respectfully gazed at the ground, acknowledging and obviously misinterpreting the meaning behind her words. "Not at all, I''m happy to assist the eager and new adventurers, and as a knight, it''s my duty to protect miss!" Lily giggled at his response, giving the lovestruck knight another fatal shot in the heart. "Ehehe, Sir Michael, you sure are funny! But I have to go now, so have a nice day, and see you tomorrow!" Turning around she started walking towards the direction of the Marketce, but after a couple of steps, she stopped and faced the knight who kept gazing at her motionlessly, startling him in the process. "Yes, Miss Lily? Did you forget something?" he asked after the momentary surprise. "Oh yes, I almost forgot! Thank you for the lunch! It was delicious!" Lily answered with a wave. "R-right, you''re wee Miss" Sir Michael mumbled as she kept gazing at the receding back of the girl. As her figure finally vanished amidst the crowd that was heading to the marketce, disdain set upon his fixture as he thought back that after spending the day with an angel, he has to go back home and look at the ugly sight of his wife . . . After finally being freed from Sir Michael''s stiflingpany, Lily was enjoying the fresh air, as she was happily hopping between the crowd towards the Marketce. She was heading to the Norton''s General Store. There was an invitation posted on the Guild''s hall about a vignte that helped the local district residents free from the terror of the bandit group. Although she wasn''t sure what they could possibly want with her, remembering Granny''s teachings, she didn''t want to refuse the kind gesture. Besides, she also wanted to check up on the elderly couple and see if they are finally back on track after the break-ins, and the extortion has stopped. Thinking about how she will tell everything to Aiden when she wakes up, she was cutely giggling to herself along the way. "Ehehe I wonder, what will brother say when I tell him that I saved them? Will she be surprised? Happy? Proud? I can''t wait to tell him!" She only came back from her happy reverie when she entered the busy and crowded district and bumped into a chubby back of a woman. Feeling a light thump on her back, thedy turned around, only to notice a little girl with long golden flocks plopped down on the ground, awkwardly smiling back at her. "Sorrydy, I wasn''t paying attention. Hope I didn''t hurt you!" Lily stood back up and immediately apologized. The plump woman looked to be middle-aged judging from the ck hair that already had several silver tinges mixed in. Her face had adorable rosy cheeks that just made her look like an honest innkeeper. "Don''t you worry dearie, I have severalyers of protective armor under my skin, hahaha!" The chubby woman heartilyughed at her own joke. When she noticed that her joke didn''t hit the spot she intended, she naturally exined it. "Ah, you know, because I''m fat as a well-raised pig just before you would cut it down! Ahahaha!" "Anyways, are you alright? I tend to be in the way as I get lost in my thoughts I never know where to start and what to buy. I tell you, missy, shopping is not as easy as it sounds!" She continued, then she extended her hand, which Lily, who was still shocked by the woman''s behavior, epted. "My name is Maria, and my husband and I run a small food stall on the western side of this marketce. I know, looking at me, my slender waist and my mere skin and bones body must havee as a shock, right? Hahaha!" Once again, she heartilyughed at her own joke. Lily awkwardly smiled, not sure how to react. After a few moments, however, she shook her head and followed. "Hello Mrs. Maria, I''m Lily, and once again I''m terribly sorry for bumping into you like that." "Don''t you worry about that, and just call me Maria, no need for such honorifics! I''m not a noble even if I am as chubby as one! Hahaha! Hey, as it''s still lunchtime, what do you say, would you like toe with me? I could offer you a nice, fresh, hot bowl of soup. It even has some meat in it! I don''t know what, but trust me, it''s tasty! Hahaha!" The hearty peals ofughter that apanied almost every second sentence this woman said, quickly turned the awkward situation into a happy one. In just a short few exchanges, the shocked Lily calmed down, and soon she was also cheerfully smiling at thedy. "I''m sorry and I would really love to, but unfortunately I already had lunch, Maria!" Lily apologized. Even though Granny taught her that it is considered rude to decline such a gesture, she just finished a filling meal, and could not take another bite no matter who offered it. Well, maybe, except if the offer was about some delicious tarts "No worries dear. Our stall will be there every day, soe and find me in case you would change your mind in the future!" Maria answered with a happy smile. Then looking at the direction of her stall, she sighed and continued. "Well, I have to go otherwise I don''t know what state my stall woulde to if I left it in the care of the silly buffoon any longer. Well, Lily, remember my offer, in case you would go hungry, don''t worry I can always spare a portion for you, I will not starve to death anytime soon! Hahaha! See ya!" With a heartyugh, Maria waved goodbye and left towards the west. "What a nicedy, I will have to visit her with Aidenter" Lily smiled as the chubby woman left, then pulling back her hood and covering her face once again, she continued towards the Norton''s General Store. Chapter 94 - 94 - Kidnapped(Part 2) Arriving in front of the elderly couple''s General Store, Lily pushed on the door and cheerfully shouted. "GOOD DAY MR. AND MRS. NORTON, I''M LILY, I CAME TO CHECK UP ON YOU!" As she walked to the counter, she couldn''t hear any response nor any movement. Thinking that they may be in the back, she shouted once again. "HEYA, MR. AND MRS. NORTON, IT IS ME, LILY! ARE YOU IN THE BACK? DO YOU NEED ANY HELP?" Once again, waiting for a few seconds and not hearing any sort of response or reaction, she decided to check up on them. After all, they were both in their advanced ages, and she was worried that they might have hurt themselves packing some big boxes. Shouting once again, she also made her way behind the counter. "I will go to the back, okay? As she got to the corridor separating the front and the back area, she noticed signs of struggle which rmed her, so she readied her bow.. Small, dried red stains could be seening from one of the rooms and trailing all the way to the back. The door was damaged, and although it wasn''tpletely destroyed, it was also not in a usable state anymore. Following the trail back to its source, Lily frowned when she entered the room where she just enjoyed a nice chat with Mrs. Norton only a day ago. The room was in ruins, the wooden table and chairs they sat on were now on the ground, in splinters. The room looked like a wreckage, but as there was nothing that she could use to get some understanding of what could have happened, Lily turned around, and while keeping her trusty bow in-hand, sternly looked at the half-destroyed door, and left the room. Slowly, carefully following the trail of blood while focusing on the smallest of sound she was soon in front of the second room with another battered door that was probably kicked-in, judging from the splintered remains of what used to be the ce for the door knob. She was not a rookie anymore, and although the blood seemed to be at least several hours old there could still be people hiding. With her previous entrance, the enemy was already aware of her presence, and could be hiding in any corner or shadow waiting for the right moment to ambush her. Steadily following the path, she peeked into the second room, which was probably used as a sort of kitchen-sh-dining room in the past, using the bottom limb of her bow. It was in a simr state as their living room: destroyed tables and chairs left in splinters, wrecked cupboard, and massive trails of blood, the signs of a scrap. Between the rubble, Lily noticed a shining object. Carefully entering the room, she made her way to the debris and crouched down. "This is probably her ring" she muttered to herself as she picked up the dusty object. cing it into her pouch to return it to herter, she got up, and while maintaining her vigil, she left the room. The only room left unchecked was the storage room in the back. That was the biggest room in the building and also, the farthest from the entrance, Lily was expecting surprises. ''Bastards Hurting such a nice couple because of your greed'' she grumbled inwardly but kept her focus on the outside. As she closed on the only door that was kept intact, Lily slowly stretched the bowstring. She carefully sneaked in front of the door, and ced her head on the frame, listening for clues. After a few seconds of painful silence, keeping up her focus, she still heard and felt no presence on the other side. ''Here goes nothing Gosh, I wish brother was here now, he would know if there''s anybody hiding'' She slowly pushed down the handle, and then quickly grabbing the bow and keeping it ready, she used her right feet to push it open. As the door creaked open, it slowly revealed a dark, unlit room. The light that sneaked in from the hallway illuminated a slender section ahead, the ruined remains of some boxes and vegetables was revealed. The trail of blood continued all the way until it stopped in a small dried-up puddle in front of the wall opposite to the door. As the light reached the walls, a gruesome sight revealed itself to Lily. A severed hand, the source of the blood she was following, was pinned to the wall. The wrinkly hands were hogging on the crumbled piece of paper. Grimacing at the horrific sight, Lily carefully entered the room, still being alert of a potential ambush. She couldn''t be sure that there weren''t any more surprises left for her lurking in the shadows. Finally confirming that there were no more surprises left, Lily walked to the hand, and after a brief struggle, she fried the note that was left there. As she expected, it was a message left for her, although the brief notification caused her to grimace once again. "If you would like to see the rest of the old hag and his wimp of a husbande to the Slums. Look for the building with the red eagle painted on its door and knock thrice. Don''t try anything funny, we will know." ''Bastards'' she growled angrily. They actually cut Mrs. Norton''s hand in front of his husband''s eyes and nailed it to their own wall! They will have to pay for such cruelty! Lily swore then and there that she will pay back to whoever is responsible for this. Putting the bow back on her back, Lily immediately stormed out of the shop and rushed back to the Marketce. She had no idea where this ''Slums'' district was, and since she didn''t know how much time she had left she figured that she would ask the kind chubbydy hoping she would be able to point in the right direction. Rushing agilely through the crowd, Lily took seemingly no time to reach the western end, where she soon noticed the chubby rosy cheeked Maria arguing with a simrly overweight man, most likely her husband. As she rushed towards them, Maria soon noticed the girl. "Hey Lily, did you change your mind? What can I" However, as she closed on, she noticed her agitated state and quickly realized that this is no time for jokes. Changing her tone, she looked at the girl seriously and changed the question. "What is the problem Lily, how can I help?" A thankful smile shed on Lily''s face briefly in response to Maria''s concern and attention. Huffing briefly, she quickly exined her question without going into too much detail. "*Huff* I need *huff* to know where the slums are! It''s urgent, can you point me where to go?" Although she wanted to calm the girl down, as she also felt the urgency from her tone, she decided against voicing it. Pointing towards the west, she answered in a serious and clear tone. "Exit the Marketce to the west and then just keep following the road. Eventually, you will notice the warning signs. Just keep following them, you will notice as soon as you reach the district. It doesn''t have pavement, it''s muddy, it''s dirty, and you will get an overall unfriendly vibe from the residents. HEY, IT''S A NASTY PLACE SO PLEASE BE CAREFUL!" Maria had to shout herst words as Lily was already running towards the pointed direction. With no time waste, as every second could be the difference between the life and death of the kind elderly couple, Lily was running with her maximum speed, zigzagging between the crowd. ''I was such an idiot This is all my fault'' she kept cursing herself inwardly, feeling responsible. She was the one that killed that group of thugs the other night, thinking about what she did was good, not thinking about the consequences. ''I''m still just an idiot kid, unable to do anything right All I achieved was cause great sorrow to that kind couple. I''m sorry Aiden, Granny. Please forgive this stupid disciple Master'' Clenching her hands as she kept rushing, and gritting her teeth, she fought against her tears. No. Crying will not help. She must stay focused and do everything she can to save them. Soon, the pavement was reced by ground, and she slowed her steps. Stopping in front of a wooden board nailed to the trunk of a tree, she read the warning probably given by the City Guard. Quickening her steps, she entered the district, looking for the target destination, the building with a red eagle painted on it. As she was agitated and focused on the goal ahead of her, she didn''t even notice the eyes hiding in the shadows watching her every step The figure smirked as she saw the young girl rushing to the depths of the district, and signalled to hisrades waiting for a few meters behind. As the group of thugs, and killers and all kinds of nasty looking men gathered, the figure smirked under his wrinkly nose. Reaching to his pockets, he pulled out a colorless ss crystal. Crashing it with his hand, he closed his eyes, and as he felt that the connection was established, he reported the news to the other end. "Boss, the girl has arrived, she is on her way." Chapter 95 - 95 - The Trap It didn''t take too long until Lily found the specified building in the depths of this shady section of the city. She was standing a few blocks away on the t rooftop of a dull-looking building. Looking at the run-down building that had an eagle crudely smeared on the side with dark red paint, she had an uneasy feeling about all of this. Something felt out of ce. The building wasn''t thatrge, and from all the carnage the thugs have caused and the fear they have put into the locals, Lily found it hard to believe that such a small shack was supposed to be the headquarters of a powerful group. Only a solitary musclehead, a bald tall guy wearing a simple ck sleeveless shirt and light brown linen trousers that reached only to his shin. His barren feet that were sploshing in the muddy ground. The ''guard'' or hired muscle was the only force Lily could spot even after carefully sneaking around several times. "Well, whatever, I am not taking any chances. His friends may be out or waiting somewhere nearby I''m not taking any chances." she mumbled to herself as she ced an arrow to her already prepared bow. After a brief moment with her target in her crosshair, she steadied her breathing as her mother taught her back then. Briefly holding it in, she released the string and watched as it whooshed through the air only to submerge into the temple of the stiff guard with a soft crack, followed by a louder ssh as he copsed into the mud. "One down" Lily mumbled. She didn''t move at all but was carefully monitoring her surroundings, looking for signs of activity. Minutes passed in quick session, but there was no reaction from anywhere, making Lily increasingly more confused about this entire situation. "Really? Only one guy? I may not be the brightest, but I''m sure there''s more hiding. Well, if I want to free Mr. and Mrs. Norton, it looks like I have to walk into the lion''s den." she remarked as she agilely jumped off the t rooftop. Silentlynding on her feet, she warily approached the deceased guard. Seeing that the arrow was no longer usable, as the arrowhead was buried deeply in his skull, Lily snapped the shaft, then cing it back to her quiver, she left towards the closed wooden door. There were no windows that could give her an idea of the dangers that lurked beyond this closed door. There were no sounds that she could listen to. The only information Lily had, was that somewhere inside Mr. and Mrs. Norton and the rest of the group of these thugs were waiting for her. Grabbing the doors rusty lever, she cautiously pushed it down, and slowly pushed on it. As the door slowly creaked open, Lily noticed a long set of stairs going down underground. At the end of the arduously long and battered stairway was another door. That one however was painted ck and was made of some sturdy material. The only source of light was what could reach from the outside, and with the door also painted this way, Lily couldn''t tell what material they used, not that it really mattered. At around eye level, there was a slide on the door, that Lily only noticed once she arrived in front of it. She left the door open so the tiny sliver of sunlight could give her a bit of vision. Although it also increased the risk she is taking, it was still better to see where she was going than going into enemy territorypletely blind. As soon as she arrived in front of the ck door, the slide pulled to the side and a pair of dark brown eyes looked at her. Soon, a raspy voice came from behind. "Took you long enough" Immediately, Lily snapped at the obvious taunt. "YOU! LET THEM GO!" "Tsk, tsk if you want to reunite with the old hag and his whimpy husband, you will have to follow the boss'' orders. First, put down your bow and quiver to the side and leave it there. If at any point we think you are hiding any weapons, you can probably guess what will happen to them." The owner of the pair of eyes snarkilymented. Then looking at how Lily growled but stillplied, he followed-up. "Good. If you continue being an obedient little pet, everybody will be happy, and nobody has to get hurt." The slid closed up, and a momentter the ck door opened up, revealing a dimly lit entrance. The walls looked as if it was carved out from the earth, and with only a single torch burning, there wasn''t much light, giving the entire entrance an eerie vibe. An average man with short, almost non-existent hair, the owner of the dark brown eyes, were looking at her with a smirk stered on her scruffy face. Pointing to the intersection just a few steps ahead of them, he spoke. "Turn to the right and follow along until you reach the end of the hallway. There will be another unmarked wooden door. You can enter without knocking, everyone is already waiting for you. If you wander around, know that we will know.??? Gritting her teeth, she silently walked by the man and ignored him. She knew that she had toply, at least until she learned the situation and coulde up with a n. Arriving at the intersection she looked as the corridor split into two routes, one going to the left and one to the right. Both looked exactly the same, the same carved walls, with sparsely ced torches on the wall. Thanks to her eyesight granted by her elven heritage, even with only every third torch being lit, her vision wasn''tcking in the slightest. Continuing to the right, Lily cautiously took one step after another, while she perked her ears. The faint sound of unfamiliar cries reached her ears, from the left hallway. Stopping, she turned around, looking at the source. Gritting her teeth and clenching her fist, she turned around and continued to follow to the right. ''No. I can''t, I need to learn more first. Be patient Lily'' Eventually, Lily reached the end of the hallway and arrived at the simple-looking unmarked wooden-door. Grabbing the lever, she ced her ear on the wooden panel, trying to listen to any sound. Once again, she heard nothing, but as she was already expecting this, she sighed preparing for the inevitable, then pushed on the lever and slowly opened the door, ready to evade any iing threat. The door slowly opened up, revealing a dark, unlit room. As if it was enhanced by some kind of magic, the faint light that the nearby torch provided couldn''t reach into the dark at all. ''Yeah, you couldn''t make it any more obvious'' With her thoughts racing, she decided to take that first step, and sprung the trap she already knew was awaiting her. Taking the first step, she was still clenching her fists embracing herself for theing impact, and maybe even try to dodge it. Unlike Aiden, she wasn''t good at close-quartersbat, she could still be considered an adept in the style of martial arts that her master has taught them. Evading the hit of a mere city thug, shouldn''t be that difficult, she was almost certain, she could even have a decent chance at winning if they don''t all just jump her at the same time. However, the hit that she was expecting never arrived. She couldn''t feel imaginary thugs breathing down on her neck or their presence from behind. Confused, she took another step,pletely vanishing in the darkness that ruled over the room. After a few steps, she heard a thuding from behind. Looking back, she frowned as the door closed seemingly by itself. As she expected, this was a trap, designed especially for her. Suddenly a pir of light lit in the middle of the room, and a disembodied voice resounded in the room. "Honestly, I am genuinely surprised you came. You are either exceptionally brave or exceptionally stupid Well, no matter I guess. Before we talk and discuss the details, you probably want to see your friends. Here, you can''t say I''m heartless! Hahahaha!" His shrillughter filled the room. An image formed in the pir of light, showing the elderly couple tied down in chairs. Both of them were badly beaten, bruised, with blood, tears, and mud staining their looks. The elderlydy, Mrs. Norton, who was missing her right hand, had her right arm crudely wrapped in a bloodied linen cloth. By the looks of it, both of them were unconscious. "You you monster! Why did you beat them? They are just a kind elderly couple trying to make a living!" Lilly snapped and rushed at the light. As she reached the pir, the expected oue didn''t happen, she simply ran through the light. "Ahahahaha, oh my You really thought that they were sitting there? It was just an image, they are safe for now. As for the future we will see how you behave!" Looking at the pir of light Lily was clenching her fists so hard that it started bleeding. After a brief moment of silence, while gritting her teeth she asked the question that she already dreaded hearing the answer to. "So, what do you want?" The same shrillughter filled the room once again, as the voice sniggered on her misery. "Ahahahhaha, it''s so good, it''s so good, I can barely stand it!" It took almost a full minute for the voice to finally calm down and with a sinister tone answer the question. "You will be my new warrior, you''re going topete as tonight''s main attraction!" Chapter 96 - 96 - Promises (AN: I decided to cut down and summarize the rest, it is already taking me 4 full chapters where I only nned to spend at most a half on Lily. But as always, I get too focused, and before I knew it, I''m already at 4000 words and just half-way done. I wanted to detail a bit more on what happened with Lily and I may still use what I had already written in the future, but I think we should continue with the story. I actually nned to add a new section to the Auxiliary chapters section for bonus stories. The torture and the harassment scene could find its ce there Although who wants to see this cute angel suffer? MONSTERS!) Sitting on the ground only in her underwear, Lily was crying, the painful realization of all the naivete she strolled around the city, doing whatever she felt like. This naive, girlish thinking brought her nothing but pain and sorrow once again. Because of her stupidity, two innocents got hurt, or maybe worse, she got forced into signing a contract, basically selling herself into very as a female diator, entertaining the masses. The bruises and the ripped clothing were a punishment she got after defying the overseer of the diators. That was the result of thatnky, gaunt bald man with that ugly unkempt ck beard and horrific stench. After agreeing to the terms, she was cuffed and was taken to the lower sections. The holding cells for the fighters. However, before she could take her new ''residency'', she had to meet with the overseer, the leader of this area. As soon as she was escorted to his office, she could feel his prating gaze undressing her. Without any hesitation or modesty, he walked to the handcuffed girl and reached out with her grabby hand with a coy smile on his face. The beating and humiliation she received was the result of the headbutt Lily gave to that pig when he leaned closer and started breathing into her ears. He was confident that no ve girl would ever dare to defy him, he was thew and order in this hellhole! As he fell back to the ground with blood gushing out of his broken nose, he couldn''t even react when Lily firmly stepped on his little gpole and scrambled his eggs. He could only cry out in pain, as he reached out and rolled on the ground. It took him several painfully long minutes before he could squeeze out an order to the guards. "Take her back... beat her up badly. The boss needs her tonight. don''t break her arms and legs. keep her alive" The guards took their time torturing the girl. Using whips, sticks, or their fists and legs, they beat the girl mercilessly for hours. When they finally left, Lily slowly crawled to a corner, and with her head buried between her legs, she wept. She cried not because of the physical pain, the torture she endured; that was nothing to her, she felt worse in the pocket world. What hit her hard was the emotional burden; knowing that because of her actions, that kind, elderly couple got into trouble, and are now suffering, or maybe even worse. She couldn''t be sure anymore. They might as well be dead already Sobbing, she let out all the grief, all the despair she felt weighing down her chest. Her only hope, her only shining beacon was one person. Even if she knew it was impossible, she still wanted to cling to this sliver of a chance. Her dear brother, her hero, the warmth in her heart "Brother please save me! I can''t do this alone!" She repeated the same phrase like a mantra, desperately hoping to reach him. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind. A loud roar echoed inside her head, and she felt a golden light momentarily sh inside her mind. She immediately knew. Her prayers were answered, her brother heard her! ***Back to the present, in the forest just outside Higrove*** With his current speed, it didn''t take more than a couple of minutes to reach the edges of the forest. Reaching the end, he stopped just behind the treeline, looking towards the city gates. Looking at the western section of the wall, Aiden clenched his wed fists. His ebony long hair fluttered in the wind, his golden eyes were focusing on the guardsmen standing guard. A moderately sized queue of eager people was waiting for entrance. "I swear, I''ll burn the whole city down if I have to, and there is nothing and nobody that will stop me!" he swore to himself. He felt responsible, if he didn''t push himself too hard, and would have listened to Enya''s warnings all of this wouldn''t have happened. ''Come to think of it Enya? Where are you? I can''t feel you at all?'' Aiden asked inwardly after he noticed that his trustypanion was nowhere to be found. He couldn''t feel her at all. ''Enya? Talk to me!'' he tried calling but to no avail. The mature female voice that was always with him, protecting him from harm, was not heard, her presence nowhere to be found. ''ENYAAAA!'' he shouted once again, refusing the believe that this would be it. No, she was a higher being, a stronger existence. Even if she might have been affected by all that happened with the old man in the pocket world, she wouldn''t vanish without a trace. That''s just not possible. Sitting down on the ground, he closed his eyes and focused his will to search for her inside his soul. Soon, he finally could feel a familiar presence faintly flickering in the depths of her soul space. Looking at it, he saw her; she no longer had her mature humanoid female form. She was once again, back to her earliest state, a small, white ball of concentrated energy. ''Finally! Enya! What happened to you, why are you like this?'' he asked. A multitude of contradicting emotions started to overflow his senses, giving him a headache. Rage, pain, despair, sadness, relief, happiness, he was receiving too much impulse in a short amount of time. [A lot has happened Aiden. I had to spend my energy to warn them. That you were fine. and just needed some time to recuperate. I am sorry Now I need time as well... ] The weak, tired, and ragged voice of Enya could be heard from the ball of energy. After a moment of respite, she followed. [I can''t assist you for a while Aiden. But please even if you broke your chains and set yourself free earlier than you should have Don''t rush in. Trust those two Think, before you act. Remember. You are thest.] After she spoke, Aiden could feel her presence fading. She waspletely spent. All the energy she slowly regained over the years, gone, because of him. ''Just rest, Enya. I''m the one who should apologize, I''m still just an idiot I promise I will make it right!'' In a few moments after his awakening, he already swore twice, making two promises to fix the mistakes he made. Opening up his eyes, he exhaled, and as his arms transformed back to normal, he stood up. Looking at the gate once more, he nodded his head to himself and was about to leave the cover and walk out, when he heard a familiar voiceing from behind. "Wait, don''t go yet, Aiden!" Turning around, he saw Number 3 rushing toward him, with Granny not too far behind. They both had concerned looks on their faces. "What happened, Aiden? How did you wake up? Why did you rush here so angry?" With a pained look, Aiden looked at Number 3 for a few seconds, not sure what to do. He actually wanted to leave them behind, before he causes more pain, but thinking back to Enya''sst words, he decided to honor her. With a sigh, he spoke as Granny arrived as well. "Lily is in danger. I felt her cry, I could feel her pain. She is somewhere in the city in that direction! We have to save her!" he pointed towards the west. Number 3 recognized where he was pointing, and as the wrinkles set up on her forehead, she gently caressed it with her right hand, while she spoke. "Dammit! I told her to be careful! If you are sure that she is in that direction, then she is at the Slums district in the city, a ce where all the scum of society gathers." Nodding, Aiden turned around and started walking, however, he was unable to, as she felt Number 3''s hands on his left shoulder pulling him back. "Wait for me to finish, boy! Don''t run in so mindlessly, think before you act! Before she went into the city, I gave her an amulet that would protect her. That amulet is special, and the thugs that most likely are holding her captive, wouldn''t even be able to see it, so her life is not in danger at least." Seeing the relief on Aiden''s face upon mentioning that if nothing else, Lily would be alive, made her smirk, and continued giving the boy even more surprise. "Additionally, the second reason I gave her the amulet was that with it, I can always find her." Chapter 97 - 97 - New Power "Please master, look for her! Even with the amulet, I could feel her pain, and I heard her cries!" Agitated, Aiden urged Number 3 to start whatever spell or ritual she has to conduct so they can rush in and save his sister. She couldn''t bear to waste a single second. "Rx Aiden, I already told you, if her life would be in danger, the amulet would save her, and port her away. Also, while I''m searching for it" she looked at Granny and signaled with her head to the small vial with the syrupy ck liquid swirling inside it to give it to the boy. Granny understood her meaning, and with a singr audible cough, she brought attention to herself. She raised her right hand holding the small crystal bottle, and while taking off the cork she presented it to Aiden. "While she is busy, please take this elixir and drink it all at once. It''s important you take it all at once, okay?" As Aiden looked at the liquid, he couldn''t help but frown when its stench reached his nose. Still, as he trusted both of them, he epted it, and without hesitation, she downed the contents in one go. Although the taste wasn''t that greatest, the experience was much better than what the liquid''s horrific, rotten stench would suggest. As he swallowed, he almost coughed it back up when the series of notifications he never saw before came before his eyes. [Note: Soul Strengthening Liquid found! Absorbing Done! Merging changes with the source...] [Milestone Requirements met! Soul Power updated. Please check the statistics screen for more information.] ''What the'' was the only thought that crossed Aiden''s mind. He really wanted to ask Enya about the details, but unfortunately, she wasn''t avable. Granny had a satisfied smile on her face as she took back the empty vial. She gently caressed Aiden on the head, as she calmly whispered, careful, not to bother Number 3 who was already deep in her own spell. She was holding a ck crystal in her hands and was mumbling something that they couldn''t understand. The power of a tool like the system Aiden was blessed (or cursed) with seemed to show its effectiveness when the new notification came, startling Aiden quite a bit with its contents. [Ancient Language: Demonic discovered! Analyzing information Error: Spirit attribute is too low to progress in this discovery.] "Demonguage" Aiden muttered absentmindedly after reading the contents of the notification. Startled by what she heard, Granny looked at Aiden, then to Number 3 with concern. "Demonic? Are you sure, Aiden?" "Yes, why? Is that bad?" Aiden asked, surprised by the graveness in Granny''s tone. "How could you understand it? Do you also speak it?" Instead of answering, Granny continued with her questions, with a serious expression. The previous smile that was on her face was nowhere to be seen. "I" Aiden wasn''t sure how to answer this question actually. He started to notice how much he actually misses Enya''s constant reminders and jump-ins to handle situations like these. "I no, I don''t speak it. I just ehrm recognized the words the old man in the Pocket World spoke just like her." In the end, he couldn''te up with anything convincing, and with the stuttering, it was clear as day, that he was hiding something. Something he wasn''t ready to share. Granny noted this fact in her mind, but for now, she decided not to push further. "I see. Don''t worry about it for now. Instead, sit down, and try to digest as much as you can from the elixir. It is for your damaged soul, it should help you recover slightly faster." Relieved by the change of topic, Aiden nodded his head and sat down at the base of a tree. Closing his eyes, he quickly opened up his Status Screen and checked histest stats. As he was navigating, he realized that ever since the Old Man''s fight, he didn''t even check the notifications of how that quest ended. [Primary Quest: Cries in the Dark 1 - Completed Objective: Defeat the Nightmare Spawns in the dungeon (13/???) - Optional: Cleanse the nightmare (1/1 - Guardian Defeated) Grade: A Reward: Evolution System Upgrade (Warning: Requires a 24-hour downtime during the process, manually initiated), 1800 XP (100 XP / Spawns defeated, 500 XP for Guardian)] While Aiden really wanted to check what that Evolution System Upgrade meant, he knew that he had to keep his focus on what was important. Right now, he had to check what the update with the Soul Power meant as it was very ambiguous, very weird. It took Aiden a bit more time than he expected, but that was understandable ever since he got used to Enya, he had her managing these tasks, and he just asked her to show the important information. Now he had to manually do everything. Opening up the screen, Aiden was pleasantly surprised by new information. [Condition: 100% Soul Power: 1000 - (Level 1 - 0/1000 XP)] Previously his Soul Power was tied to his Spirit statistic and seemed that the number could only be increased if he fed points to this attribute. Actually, as he has never seen any other use for it, that was solely what he used it for. Now a new option, the level has appeared next to it. Aiden wasn''t sure if by increasing the level of it would increase the number or maybe provide some other type of benefit. Once again, he sadly remembered how much he actually misses Enya''s help in situations like these. With a sad sigh, he opened his eyes and looked at Number 3 who was still deep in her own ritual, and Granny who was sitting in the shade of a tree opposite of him and was humming to herself. Seeing he still had some time, he focused himself again, and with the decision made, he quickly spent 1000 Points, leaving his experience at 900, which was still an incredible number considering how hard it is to acquire them. As the counter in the screen reached 1000, the number flipped over, and as the system updated Aiden felt a warmth spread deep inside her, close to her heart. Thisfortable energy spread all across his body, refreshing him. It only took about a minute, but as it finished, he felt as if he spent several hours rxing. He wasn''t sure what actually happened, but he felt like his connection to his pool became stronger, he could actually feel the depth of this mystical source. He could also feel the invisible threads spreading out from this pool, all around his body, the rich substance flowing in them, vitalizing his body. His understanding of what he experienced wasn''t up-to-par, and without Enya''s exnation, he could only guess that while his pool hasn''t increased, and there weren''t any visible statistical changes to the numerical amount. He could utilize this energy much better than before, hopefully wasting less of this golden resource in the future, and also be able tost in his peak form much longer. Taking onest look at the screen, he just shook his head helplessly on the number of points he would need to gather to experience this feeling again in the future. [Condition: 100% Soul Power: 1000 - (Level 2 - 0/10000 XP)] Opening up his eyes, he was surprised to see that both Granny and Number 3 was looking at him with stunned expressions leaning closer to him. "Errr Is there a problem?" he asked ufortably. "Aiden Just a moment ago, that aura what was that?" Number 3 asked after a bit of silence with a shaky very uncharacteristic voice. "Aura? What aura?" Aiden asked again, still not understanding what is going on. Seeing that this conversation will not lead to anywhere if it goes on like this, Granny shook her head, and after a small cough, she exined. "Just a moment ago, while you were meditating, you released an aura, unlike we have ever seen or felt. It wasn''t like your draconic one that we already know. It was an unfamiliar presence, but it was very thick and powerful. Although I''m not sure, it felt even stronger than the one you usually use when you let out your Draconic Heritage. Did you really not notice it?" Shaking his head, Aiden honestly replied. "No Granny, I don''t know what you are talking about. I was just resting while I was waiting for Master" He looked at Number 3 before he continued. "to finish her spell, so we could locate Lily. So, can we go?" He urged them at the end. They have already wasted more than enough time, he was itching time for action. "Yes, I did Wait! Wait, before you rush in, here, put this on!" Number 3 quickly pulled out a white faceless mask made out of a material that Aiden couldn''t recognize at first nce. It was warm to the touch and flexible. The mask had two small holes for his eyes. It had a thin line of thread at the back that could be used to fasten it. "Put this mask on and follow me. We can''t enter through the front gate." He pushed the mask to Aiden. Without waiting for him toe back to his senses and react, she walked past and started walking towards the western section of the city walls. Chapter 98 - 98 - A Special Way In the cover of the thick shrubbery and the treeline, the group of three were making their way towards the western section of the city walls. If someone were to look at the trio, they would probably think they are some sort of attraction in a circus. The youth in the middle, a man with long ebony hair fluttering in the gentle wind, was wearing a white, oval-shaped faceless head mask. His golden eyes practically shined through the two small eye holes. To his right, an elderlydy was following along wearing red, ragged garbs. She had arge dark red patched hood providing cover to her face. To the left, a middle-aged, feminine figure could be seen, who was half a head taller than the boy. Simrly to him, she was wearing a ck faceless mask, simr to the color of his eyes, making the mask the perfect cover of hiding every feature of her face. The dark blue suit she was wearing was very tight-fitting, unable to hide the modest curves she was blessed with. The cloth belt that tied together her tunic and pants gave her a unique and distant feel to it. (AN: I just realized 98 chapters in, that I never really described Number 3''s battle dress, only her casual clothing. Imagine her in traditional "Japanese" assassin (aka ninja) garbs. Haori for tunic and Hakama for pants. She is not wearing the Tabi, as that would fit well with the setting, but the rest of the dress is pretty much what I was aiming for.) Leaving the cover of the trees, they increased their pace, and not long after they reached the city walls, continuing, seemingly searching for something. After a couple of hundred meters, the feminine figure on the left halted her steps causing both the elderlydy on the right and the boy in the middle to follow along. Looking at the woman, the boy in the middle asked in a low tone. "Is this it?" To him, there was nothing special with this particr section, it looked and felt just like the rest. "Hm." was the curt response from her. Walking a few steps ahead, she faced the city wall and in quick session, she touched several bricks seemingly randomly. As soon as she touched thest, the bricks she gently pushed on, slightly subsided against the rest, while the ground in front rumbled, as a hidden panel revealed a set of stairs leading underground to a dark tunnel. The boy and the elderlydy watched in astonishment as all of this unfolded before their eyes. "Interesting Does your group have simr entrances to every city in the kingdom?" the elderlydy asked with a tinge of shrewdness in her tone. "Does it matter? What''s important, is that now we have a way into the city." the figure replied with annoyance, as she walked ahead, slowly descending into the darkness ahead. The elderly woman did not reply, and even if she was cunningly smiling under the cover of her baggy hood, nobody could see. The boy silently followed after the figure, with the elderlydy in the rear. "Try not tog behind too much, there are multiple routes you could take and end up at different sections of the city. I will get us into the Slums."The feminine figure, Number 3, in the front said. She followed it up after a brief moment of silence while they continued their path along the long, dark corridor. "Also, we have another problem." "What? Did something happen to Lily?" The boy, Aiden immediately asked with concern and agitation in his voice. "No, nothing like that, calm down Aiden. The problem is different in nature, and I wasn''t sure if I should mention it actually I''m still not sure if it''s a good idea, but I don''t want to keep information from any of you." She answered. Halting her steps, she turned around, and while there wasn''t any light, Aiden could clearly see her with his [Dark Sense]. Granny also stopped as if she also weren''t entirely blind "What is it? Please tell us, Master!" Aiden asked, looking at the feminine figure. "Huh, interesting, I never knew you could see Anyways, the problem, or it''s better to say, the potential problem I was referring to was that there''s a second artifact in the city." "Second Artifact? What do you mean?" Aiden asked. "Ah, we have no time to exin what it means. Just know that there is another person in the city with a simr item, that I gave to Lily. The problem stems from the fact that this person can also locate the amulet, and obviously us as well. These items have a special connection with each other: they react when there''s another in their close proximity. We will need to be careful." "Is this person the one that hurt Lily?" Aiden asked, clenching his fists to subside his rising anger. Every time he thinks back to the desperate plea that woke him up, he could feel the rage quickly overwhelming him. Number 3 shook her head, as she answered. "No, that person was close to the city gates when I tried to locate Lily. I guess he or she was just on his way to leave the city. We should be fine, at least for the time being, but we can''t waste any time. The method I used to find Lily, was probably felt by that person as well." After the brief discourse, they continued making their way through the underground tunnel system that covered most likely every district in the city. There was no source of light at all, making the entire journey rather daunting, but neither Number 3 nor Granny seemed to have a problem with it. While Number 3''s expert navigation could be exined as she had a good chunk of experience with the underground system, Granny''s ease of traverse did surprise Aiden. ''Hmm Granny still has some interesting secrets it seems.'' he smiled to himself. A bitter they arrived at a cross-section that branched to 3 directions seemingly going the same way. Without hesitation, Number 3 chose the rightmost one and walked into it. Aiden and Granny followed, and as they entered, Aiden couldn''t help but ask. "How did you know which one to pick? All 3 routes look exactly the same and seemingly goes the same way as well." Number 3 chuckled at the question, and while keeping their pace, she replied without turning around. "Hehe, I wondered if you would ask about it, Aiden. There are hidden markers that only us, higher-ranked members of the organization can decipher. Rest assured, we are going the right direction." Hearing her response, Aiden frowned under the mask but didn''t reply, only nodded. However, as they continued their journey, he couldn''t help but think about her words. "Hmm I didn''t notice anything on the walls though. Wonder why" Aiden mumbled to himself. Although it wasn''t intentional from his part, Number 3 could hear his words, causing a smile to creep up on her face, under the cover of her mask. A short whileter the same event happened again: The path branched to three distinct routes, all heading the same direction, and looking exactly the same. This time, Aiden focused on the routes but still, he couldn''t spot any difference, as Number 3 picked the middle one this time. Number 3 hasn''t said a thing, they silently continued crossing the underground system. Shortlyter, the event happened once again, and even though Aiden tried to spot anything that could be out of ce all his efforts were to no avail. As Number 3 picked the rightmost path among the three seemingly identical, he just grumbled to himself in frustration. Number 3''s bell-likeughter interrupted his thoughts. "Ahahaha, oh my, that was really, really good Aiden! Don''t be so mad, nobody can spot the markers, they were created that way by the Grandmaster himself. We have a special method to spot the correct path, even I can''t see the markers, nobody can." After she managed to calm down, she tried to console the fuming boy. "Anyways" as she said that she abruptly halted her steps. They arrived in front of a dead-end. cing her hand on the muddy wall in front of her, the eyes of the skull-faced ring on her hand shed red briefly, and a momentter, the wall moved back by itself, revealing a set of stairs that led to some sort of room above ground. The lighting was dim and murky, Aiden couldn''t spot too much. The tunnel led to a room, or perhaps a small hut. He wasn''t familiar with the city at all or how spread out it actually is. "...we have arrived. Follow me. After we leave the tunnels, I will need to cast the spell again, to pinpoint Lily''s location." As they left the tunnels and entered the dimly lit, unfurnished room, they realized they were in a run-down shack somewhere in the city. While they waited for Number 3 to prepare and cast the spell that would locate Lily, they didn''t know that the person they talked about just a few moments ago, was rushing towards their direction. After he felt the hilt of his sword resonate once again, he immediately turned around and ran towards the Slums... Chapter 99 - 99 - Siblings And Artifacts "I need a few minutes to pinpoint her location, in the meantime, try not to run along okay?" Number 3 said as she looked at Aiden. Even if the mask covered her facial expressions, the sarcastic undertone was clearly heard by the boy. Aiden didn''t react to the remark at all, instead silently walked to the lone window to get a grasp of his surroundings. Without the aid of Enya, he felt naked, as if he lost a crucial part of his being. He had trouble getting ustomed to this new situation. The section of the city they were at waspletely different from what he remembered the city to be. In his memories, there were tall buildings, clean streets, pavement, signs, and busy townsfolk going to their everyday lives. Compared to his memories, what he saw when he looked through the transparent ss felt like a run-down vige in the middle of a swamp. Mud and dirt reced the clean pavement, run-down dpidated, crumbling wooden huts and shacks instead of tall and proud buildings. Instead of busy townsfolk, you only saw the asional stares from the corners and shadows. A lonesome, dirty beggar was sitting in the mud lonely and miserably. He looked at the poor fellow, but he wasn''t paying attention to his pitying look, his thoughts were elsewhere. He had his own issues, he had to reflect on his own issues in the little downtime they had. He also had trouble keeping his emotions in check. Just the mere thought of his sister being in trouble caused his emotions to erupt, he could hardly contain his rage. He feared that if he couldn''t get a grasp on them, he would go berserk, and hurt anyone he could reach regardless if it would be friend or foe. ''What should I do? Enya, if you would be with me, you would probably know the answer to my problems Perhaps you knew about it already and you tried to warn me, but I just ignored you'' Focusing on his system, he navigated through the menu and erged his map. Thanks to the magic of the system, he had a vague idea of where he was, as the system kept the section of the map that he discovered years ago. Looking at therge square and the General Store at the end of it, he smiled. Gazing at the green rectangle that symbolized the store building where Mr. And Mrs. Norton lived, he couldn''t help but smile as he thought back to the time they visited them. It was one of his treasured memories of this lifetime. ''I wonder how are they now? Do they still have the store? I think it would do us good if we would visit them after all of this is resolved'' he mumbled. While Aiden wasmenting on his own existence, Granny silently watched him. She also had quite a few questions that she wanted to discuss with the boy, but all of those could wait. What mattered the most was the safety of Lily and obviously Aiden. Looking at his back she walked closer, and by cing his left hand on his shoulder, she looked at him, and with a gentle smile on her face, she asked. "How are you holding up, dearie? You had a serious injury and have just woken up. The elixir probably helped but I can''t imagine that it alleviated all the pain." Aiden looked at the caring elder, then at her left hand resting on his right shoulder. Then as he returned his gaze to the lonesome beggar out on the street, he spoke. Although he tried to conceal his bubbling emotions and force a monotone emotionless voice, the asional fluctuations were noticed by the experienced woman. "No, there is no pain anymore. I''m fine. Once we get Lily back, I" he stopped his trail of thoughts. Exhaling deeply, his attention turned towards the corner of a nearby building where a pair of eyes were gazing at their direction under the cover of a brown linen hood. "...we might be having somepany soon." he changed the subject, alerting Granny. Following the direction, he was gazing with her eyes, she also noticed the suspicious figure. "I see." looking at Number 3 who was still deep in her chant, she returned her focus to the hiding fellow. "She still needs some time. Let''s not do anything hasty, and don''t let him notice we saw him Aiden. He might just be a lookout." "Uhm." Aiden hummed in response, as he switched his attention back to the beggar. He had already marked the guy in his system''s map, so as soon as he makes any movement, he will know about it, even without actively focusing on him. If there wouldn''t be the chance that his actions would endanger Lily, Aiden would have already rushed out and ripped the bastard to shreds, just to satiate his thirsting emotions, even if only just a bit. Even just the thought of doing it, causing his emotions to ripple inside him, forcing him to close his eyes and push these thoughts down deep into the back of his mind. "Let''s just wait then." He muttered. --- Unbeknownst to him that he had already been discovered, the figure, Drake was hiding behind the crumbling walls of a shack just a few buildings away, watching the point where he believed the owner of the third artifact was hiding. He was nervously gripping the handle of his sword and felt the warmth of the gem as it continued to emit a faint blue light. "Who would have thought that I would have the chance to meet with another. Who could it be? I know for a fact that sis is not here, but then who? One of my brothers? He should also know about me by now, but then, why isn''t heing out? What could have happened?" As his thoughts raced, he thought back to his old man, the bastard who was the cause of all his siblings suffering. Gritting his teeth in anger a tear escaped through the corner of his eye, escaping from his eternal prison and agilely slithering down across his face. Closing his eyes, he silently breathed in some air, trying to control his thoughts. Rationalizing, there was a chance that the artifact holder could be an enemy, and not one of his siblings, even if he didn''t want to think about that possibility. No, these were powerful items, artifacts, relics from the past. They held many incredible secrets, a few mere nobles or thugs shouldn''t even be able to spot them if the artifact itself didn''t want to. Artifacts are relics from a bygone era with incredible powers inside them. Some of the most powerful artifacts, such as the ones he and his siblings were carrying were so powerful that the swirling mass of energy did awaken some resemnce of sentience. While it couldn''t be considered a ''living being'', they had a will of their own, and unless the items themselves epted their handlers as owners, they wouldn''t be able to utilize their wondrous properties. The sword he was carrying for example was his father''s before he eventually received it. On the day when his siblings were taken away with their respective artifacts, the sword denied his old man, and no amount of pleading, begging or even force could make it ept him any longer. Maybe it was destiny, maybe it was his punishment, but on that night, the king, his father lost his sword. When a few dayster it was presented to his only remaining son may have felt the resentment, the thirst for revenge inside the boy, he immediately epted him. As he grabbed the hilt of the sword, he could feel the presence of something connecting with him. The being couldn''t converse, but Drake could feel its will, its intentions, its desire to be reunited with the other artifacts. He understood that simrly to him, the sword also feels the same resentment towards his father just like him. It wanted the same thing, and it could also feel his desire for the same. The sword reached out, and Drake listened. They formed a strong bond then and there, they weren''t master and subject, but as equals, as partners, as friends... Easing on his tight grip on the hilt, he gently caressed the pommel, while he mumbled. "Calm down, I know. I know it is inside, but we can''t be hasty. We don''t know who is inside, he or she might not be friendly." As he spoke, he felt the vibrations of the gem inside the pommel. As if he understood what the sword was trying to convey, he looked at the hilt with a surprised expression. "Are you sure? You can do that?!" The gem vibrated briefly once again, and as its thoughts connected with Drake''s mind, he looked at the hilt with a stern expression sitting on his face. "If that''s the case, we have no choice. I can''t waste this chance. We need to know what happened to my siblings" Turning around, he stuck to the shadows and covers as he slowly circled around and closed in on the building from behind. Chapter 100 - 100 - Gold Vs Silver Aiden smirked when he noticed on his system map that the figure started moving and making his way towards them in a roundabout way. Turning around, he looked at Granny then at the singr wooden door at the back. "He started moving Granny." Then walking to the door, he grabbed the handle and continued. "Shall I handle him? Master still needs time." Thinking about it for a moment, Granny smilingly shook her head. "No, Aiden, let''s just capture him. He could have important information for us. He may have information about Lily, and her current situation." Continuing to gaze at the door''s lever, Aiden silently nodded his head and pushed on it, opening the door with a loud creaking noise. He leisurely walked out and closed the door behind him. Dusting his ck linen shirt and wrinkly maroon khakis, he calmly paced towards their approaching intruder''s direction. Although he carried a certain amount of mystery with his strange white faceless mask covering the entirety of his face, it wasn''t something that the average citizen hasn''t seen before. Many chose to hide their facial features, especially in the Slums, not just your everyday criminals, but adventurers, mercenaries, or sometimes even the citizenry as well. To the average onlooker, he looked almost like the usual poor city kid. Apart from his lush ck silky hair fluttering against the wind and his unique golden eyes that shone through his mask, the average man wouldn''t be able to tell the difference. He wasn''t carrying any weapons or bags. He wasn''t even wearing anything on his feet. Ever since he started being more proficient in using his transformations, he found it ufortable to force himself into restricting clothing. If it weren''t for the stern lecture he would receive from his Master and Granny he probably wouldn''t even be wearing these two pieces of clothing either. To him, it just didn''t really make sense. Although he looked carefree as he strolled towards the sneaking enemy, he was in fact deep in thought. He wasn''t sure what he should do to only disable and not outright murder the man. He never had to control his strength, so now that he was supposed to, he wasn''t sure what to do. ''Hmm I can''t use any of my forms that''s for sure. Should I just try to talk to him? No, that''s stupid, he would just try to escape Oh, right! I should just grab him! So simple, I''m such an idiot!'' While Aiden wasmenting on how he should handle the uing battle, the person in question, Drake was carefully sneaking from wall to wall while making sure he always stuck to the shadows. When he was finally behind the building and only a few blocks away, he noticed as the door creaked open, and a young boy calmly walked out. Even though he was garbed in dark clothing, and was also covering his face, he didn''t have any foul vibe on him, he looked like the average city pauper. ''Bah!'' He shook his head. ''I can''t be deceived by the looks. Someone inside that building is holding an artifact that he stole from my family! He doesn''t look like a threat, let''s just capture him, what do you say?'' He caressed the pommel of his sword while asking the question inwardly. In response, the knob of the sword glowed in faint blue warm light momentarily. ''I knew you would think the same way!'' Drake donned a caring smile and caressed the pommel once more, before silently continuing his way, this time closing in on the ''poor'' boy. He was gripping the handle of his sword. As the boy looked rtively weak and helpless, he thought that a single definite hit on the back of his head would do the trick. After all, he looked so weak --- Finallypleting her spell, Number 3 opened up her eyes. Although still being covered by her mask, Granny still noticed the change and walked over. With her usual gentle smile, she asked. "So? Did you have any luck?" Nodding her head, Number 3 answered. Quite unusual to her demeanor, Granny could hear the smallest tinge of happiness from her tone. "Yes. I know exactly where she is. Also" she looked at the wall, towards the direction where Aiden and Drake were closing rapidly in on each other. With a sigh, she switched her attention back to Granny. "...care to tell me what is going on? Why is the third artifact holder here? I sincerely hope you at least told Aiden not to kill that man. He is actually very high-profile not to mention we will need his help unless we n to have a bloodbath inside the city." Grabbing her forehead, Granny let out a tired groan. "Aiden noticed the man spying on us while you were busy with your spell. After a while, he disappeared, and Aiden said he is trying to sneak around and ambush us from the back. I''m not sure about his intentions, but still, I told Aiden not to kill but only capture and bring him back, so we can question him. We thought he might be a lookout and could have some useful information about where they are holding Lily. But what do you mean high-profile? Is he a noble or something?" "Well" Number 3 trailed back at the scene just starting to unfold a few blocks away. Smiling under the safety of her mask, Granny frowned hearing her cheeky undertone. "...something like that. Let''s just say he has the authority towfully resolve the situation." As she continued to speak, she also started slowly walking towards the door. "But enough talking,e, let''s stop them before the whole situation esctes too much." Leaving the building, with Granny closely following behind, they quickly rushed towards Aiden who was already fighting against the ''mysterious'' figure. --- ***A few minutes ago, outside the building*** Aiden continued to stroll towards the general direction of the figure. He could clearly see his movement through his system''s map, but he pretended he was clueless. He actually still wasn''t sure what to do, his fighting style is what you would call feral, wild, uncultured even. He honed for all these years wasn''t aimed to defeat his opponent. He always fought for survival. Either kill or be killed. That was the rule both in the forest and in the Pocket World. He could easily rip the average human to pieces in mere seconds, or just the mere power of his punch could cause gruesome, horrific damage. Sure, the trained soldier, mercenary of adventurer would probably have higher defense and resistance, but Aiden had no knowledge about that. From what he had seen from humanity apart from his family was that they were weak and patheticpared to the other creatures of the world. Still, for some reason, they were the dominant race. There had to be a reason for it, he just doesn''t know what. Sure, his master was powerful, maybe even stronger than himself, and Granny had her deeply rooted secrets, but apart from them, the ones he had met and seen were even weaker than the weakest of predators in the forest. As he was thinking about these deep thoughts and turned around at the corner, he suddenly felt a light hit on the back of his head. Quickly checking the map, he smiled and halted his steps. Without turning around to face the man, he growled in a low tone. "What was that? That''s all your power?! If you are this weak, I''m not sure how I will be able to hold back this much... *Sigh* They will be so mad at me..." As he finished, Aiden vanished from sight the next moment, only to appear behind the hooded figure the next. Grabbing the back of his head, he effortlessly picked the boy up and threw it towards the nearby wall, destroying it in the process. Looking at the rubble, he grumbled. "Damn, that was still too much" Raising his voice, he shouted. "Hey, you alive there?! Sorry, I may have used too much strength, it''s not that easy to use so little!" Instead of a verbal response, blue light started to shine between the cracks from under the rubble, exploding in the next second. Battered, and with his hooded linen cloak torn, a silver-haired young man, probably close to Aiden in age walked out from the rubble. A thin line of blood was flowing from his bruised forehead and with his angry expression, he looked menacing. "It was my fault for underestimating you It won''t happen now. Previously, I only wanted to capture you, and get some answers, but I don''t care anymore, YOU ARE DEAD!" He bolted forward with his sword tightly gripped, he swung forward in a wide horizontal arc as he closed in on the masked boy. The de of the sword shone in faint blue light and hummed as if to second his master''s rage-filled exmation. However, before they could sh against each other and start round two, Number 3''s figure appeared between them. With his left hand, she effortlessly stopped the arc of the de, while signaling with her right hand for Aiden to stand down. Looking at the silver-haired boy, she spoke in a stern tone. "Stop it! Young Prince, he is not someone you can defeat, and Aiden," she turned her head to face him "he is someone we need to rescue your sister!" Chapter 101 - 101 - Aligned Interests An ufortable silence followed the ''bomb'' that Number 3 dropped on both boys. Both of them stared at each other with a mixture of disbelief and stubbornness. "W-Who are you people?! And you!" The silver-haired boy who already fell down to the ground pointed at Number 3. "How do you know me? Why do you have one of our family artifacts! TELL ME!" As he became increasingly more agitated, he was already back on his two feet. Pointing at Aiden, he continued. As his mind and heart were now in chaos, his voice carried this chaotic undertone of mixed emotions. His tone was fluctuating. "A-And t-this boy How can such a weak, scrawny nobody, carry such an explosive strength? W-who are you people?" He repeated his earlier question. Meanwhile, Granny, who arrived in the meantime, walked to the silver-haired kid, and ced her wrinkled right hand on his shoulder, gently caressing, massaging it. Warm invisible strands of calming energy entered the boy''s body through that point of contact, untangling the chaotic emotions that were already wrapped around his agitated heart. A good ten seconds passed in silence as she continued to calm the silver-haired boy before she spoke. "Calm down, dearie, we are not bad people, and from what we''ve seen and heard so far, you don''t seem to be one either. Let''s just all take a step back, and talk, like civilized people, okay?" She was facing Aiden, directing her words to both of them. She also slightly increased her grip on the boy''s tired shoulders, sending a warning to him as well. As expected, both boys replied with unison. While Aiden''s voice didn''t fluctuate and was emotionless, Drake was frightened. "Yes, ma''am!" "Yes, Granny!" "Great! Let''s go back to the house and talk about who you are dearie and what you want, and then who we are and what we are here for." She said, and with that, she pulled the still trapped frightened boy with her. Number 3 and Aiden silently followed behind. Due to the house''s unfurnished state, they all leaned against a section of the wall close to each other, with the exception of Granny who stood between the three. "So, let''s start with introductions." she started. "My name well, everybody just calls me Granny, so feel free to do so yourself. That boy there is Aiden, and thest one is his master, who goes by her title, Number 3. We are here to save Aiden''s sister, a blonde-haired girl who came to the city a few days ago. We came to know that she may have encountered some trouble and needs our help, so we came." Then, looking at the silver-haired boy, she asked. "Now it''s your turn. Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Gritting his teeth, he refused to answer and just turned his head away in stubborn defiance, with an audible "Humpf!" "He is Draco Morth''gan de Draquilea, the current crown prince of this very kingdom." Number 3 answered the question instead of him, dropping another bomb into the conversation. As soon as he heard his name being mentioned, Drake or Draco faced the masked woman, and with his hands balled into fists, seething with anger, he grumbled just loud enough for all of them to hear. "I''m not the crown prince anymore, I refused that title, and I don''t listen to that name either! My name is Drake Aqu, an adventurer." "I see So, Draco, sorry, Drake, right?" Granny continued, while removing her hood, and revealing her wrinkled but kind-looking face. "What are you doing here? Why did you spy on us?" Refusing to answer once again, Drake was looking at the masked feminine figure leaning against the wall with her arms folded. Instead of coherent words, Drake was merely grumbling at the sight of her. "Ah, sure, let me answer that for you as well then." Number 3 straightened up. "He was drawn to us when I used my search magic using one of the ancient artifacts. These artifacts, you see..." As she said it, the tiny emerald eyes of the skull on her ring momentarily shed with a green light, and in the next moment, a ck crystal about 30 centimeters tall appeared hovering above her open palm. The crystal shape was basically a bundle of triangle-shaped surfaces that came together and formed an intricate object. It looked like two pyramids attached at their bottoms. (AN: Sorry for the short interruption, but I just wanted to mention that the geometrical shape is called a scalenohedron. I probably spent an entire morning trying to find a better term for it, but in the end, there wasn''t any. So, instead of using a phrase that 99% will not be able to understand, I went the roundabout way. Also, I made sure this 78 extra words will not go over the usual length of a chapter.) "...have a special connection with each other. They can sense when another is close-by. That''s how our prince, oh sorry, ADVENTURER noticed us. He probably wants to know how am I holding this crystal, right?" Number 3 looked at the stunned boy. Her tone carried a hint of smugness. "T-t-that''s! W-why...H-h-how do you have it?!" As soon as the crystal appeared, Drake''s eyes went wide and mouth agape. That was not an ordinary crystal, it was a royal family heirloom! It should still be in the treasury buried away deep, and not out in the open in the hands of a stranger. "Let''s not dwell on questions, you better not know the answer to. If I''m correct you also felt another artifact in the city earlier, right?" Number 3 changed the subject. Although he really wanted answers to his burning questions, he still nodded his head. Still stammering due to the shock, he answered. "Y-yes I-I felt one earlier this day I-in the Guild''s Hall B-before I could find out who it was, they left the building." "They? What do you mean they?" Aiden''s ears perked up at the answer. Could it be that Lily wasn''t alone when she was kidnapped? Was the person she was with the cause of her misery? The mere thoughts caused his anger to rise. Balling his fists, he looked at the silver-haired boy menacingly. The golden hue shined through the tiny eye sockets under his ck mask. "U-um, yes. I wasn''t sure but just before Marf lost the signal, I saw two people walk into the guild''s back area through a door. I wanted to follow along, but the attendee wasn''t really helpful." "Marf? Who is Marf?" Aiden asked confused at the mention of yet another name. "Oh sorry!" As the conversation went on, Drake slowly calmed down. He was still on alert about these three powerful figures, he didn''t feel any enmity from them. Grabbing the hilt of his sword that was now resting on his side inside the decorated sheath, he continued. "Marf is my sword. Just like the crystal that thedy is holding, Marf is also a royal artifact. In fact, he can''t be wielded by anyone, only by those that he recognizes." Looking at the crystal and Number 3, he sighed as he went on. "*Sigh* This is actually true for every artifact I know of. That crystal Should still be owned by my father How can you use it?" "I have my means. Anyways, about the third artifact" Turning his palm facing down the ground, the tiny emerald eyes of the skull on her ring shed again and the crystal disappeared.Then she walked to Aiden, cing her hand gently on Aiden''s head, caressing it. "...that is also mine, but I gave it to his sister when she went to explore the city. Before you ask, it was Ikliss, the eagle amulet." Hearing that, Drake''s previously calm face contorted into anger. Grabbing the hilt of his sword, he sneered. "How did you get your hands on my sister''s amulet? WHY DO YOU HAVE IT?! WHY IS SHE A SLAVE?! ANSWER ME!" As his anger rose, the pommel also started humming and bathed in blue light. Number 3 who was the target of Drake''s full ire didn''t even bother looking at him as she answered nonchntly. "Do you really want to question me, boy?! Even with the full power of Marfedelom, you will notst long. Let''s just calm down, okay?" Seeing that the raging boy didn''t seem to understand their difference in strength, she let out a tired sigh and waved with her left hand. A huge invisible force hit Drake in the chest and threw him back a couple of meters before he crashed down to the ground, incapacitating him in a fraction of a second. Walking over to him, Number 3 extended her hand towards him. "Just calm down, we shouldn''t be fighting, from what I understood we are actually aiming for the same thing. You want to find your girl, and so do we. You came to this city because you heard the news about her from the capital, right?" Drake begrudgingly epted the offered hand as he sat up. Looking at the ground, he was silent for a few seconds, before he eventually started talking. "Yes. After many years of searching, I finally found a clue that she is here in this city, so I rushed here using a smuggler group''s services. They then told me that my sister, who is now called the "Wild Tigress" will be having a match in some Fighting Pit tonight. We made a deal, and they should be able to get me inside the facility so I could save her!" "HehIs this fate? Or destiny? No matter" Number 3 mumbled to herself, then looking at the silver-haired boy, she patted his back. "We are also heading there, why don''t we team up?" Chapter 102 - 102 - The Pit (Part 1) It waste afternoon, or probably early evening. Half of the fiery orange globe has already dove below the horizon. Thest orange rays created a romantic tinge to the otherwise grey and dark brown muddyndscape. A group of four, 2 boys with simr physique, a feminine dark clothed masked figure, and an elderlydy wrapped in tattered ragged red clothes were making their way towards a run-down shack close to the city walls. While the shack itself wouldn''t garner any attention, the two sturdy, mountain-looking bald men that stood guard sure would. They donned ck scaled leather armor and ck padded leggings. Both had a short sword attached to their side hanging just below their belts. Under the scaled leather chest tes, they wore simrly colored ck sleeveless shirts that did nothing to hide their intimidating muscles. On their right upper arms both had a tattoo of their organization''s insignia; The white snake that was devouring a human skull. Both men stood tall and motionless regardless of the weather, sometimes rather harsh conditions. They were the guards of a famous or better to say, notorious underworld group, that ran by the name: Vyde. This wasn''t their full name, however. It was merely a shortened version of the full. The full name of the group was a phrase that all full ranked members knew by heart, and swore their life on it: Vyde Soneic Ikliss, which could be somewhat rudely tranted to themon as "Snake eats Eagle. The full story and the meaning behind the name were lost to many but the higher-ranked members. While there were some theories as the eagle most likely represented the royal household, the snake itself was unknown what it meant. Stopping in front of the two sturdy ck-clothed guards, one of the boys in the front, spoke to them in a demanding tone. "Bring out your master. It''s time to make good on our deal." The guard on the left scanned the group of four pokily before finally, he rested his eyes on the hooded boy in front of him. The silver ends of his hair peeped out from the linen cloth. "The deal was only for you. The others are not part of it." He said with a voice full of disdain. "Who are you to talk back? Go fetch your master, gargoyle." Drake answered to the disdainful voice with his own conceited one. The guard didn''t talk back, but his grunting could be heard as he turned around and entered the wooden door behind him. The other guard didn''t react to anything that yed out in front of him, he looked at the distance with unwavering discipline. A few minutes after the guard on the right vanished at the other side of the door, it slowly creaked open, and he came back with an ugly frog-like man in tow, who had arge scar on his face. As soon as he saw the prince his ugly face morphed into a horrendous smile that probably meant to be a polite one, and as he bowed with the same respect as one should in front of a member of the royalty, he spoke with his toad-like creaky voice. "Wee back, young prince. I see you havee with friends this time. May I know the reason for the increased headcount? You may not be aware but the sudden change in the n could cause unwarranted" he looked up at the prince, and the polite-looking smile subtly changed into a more honest, greedier one. "..plications. The price may need to be adjusted" "That is fine. What do you suggest then?" Drake asked. "Nothing much. Luckily, we have prepared a few extra passes that your friends could use, but they didn''te cheap. My request is that you and your friends will have to do a tiny task for meter, once the current matter is resolved. If you and your friends can agree to that, I''m more than happy to provide you with four passes instead of the one." Although he was facing the ground, the smug smile that worked its way up to his face was seen by the group. "This man Who does he think he is? I''ll sho-" Drake raged, but was cut short when Aiden raised his arm in front of him and stopped him in his tracks. Under his faceless mask, he silently muttered to him. "Just go with it, it is fine." "Are you sure? This toad will ask something outrageous, I''m sure of it" Drake whispered back. It''s not like he was actually concerned about the safety of this hastily-made patchy party, but he didn''t want to owe anything to a group like the notorious Vyde. "It''s fine. Remember what the goal is." Aiden reminded him. Growling in response, he faced the toad, and after a few short breaths'' time to calm himself, he forced the words that made the man''s smug smile grow even wider in satisfaction. "Fine. We agree to your deal. Now give us the passes. It''s alreadyte, we have to get going." "Perfect! I knew you woulde around, young prince! Also, don''t worry, the favor I will be asking of you and your reveredpany will not be anything atrocious! We are a proper business after all." "Sure, proper business, my ass." Drake grumbled under his breath but still just loud enough for the toad and his goonies to hear. "What did you say?! Even if you are some fancy prince, you have to show respect to us, you brat!" The guard on the right immediately flew into a rage and quickly backed-up his words by swinging his right fist towards Drake''s hooded face. "Kiss my fist you brat! LEARN SOME RESPECT!" he bellowed. The guard on the left didn''t reach and the toad-like man just watched it with an amused smile. Before his fist could connect, however, it was effortlessly caught by the masked boy on the left. "You! Let go of my" The guard tried to set his hands free, but unexpectedly the boy''s grip was vice-like and it just didn''t budge. "What the AAAAARGH!" He tried to force it, but as Aiden increased the force, he quickly fell onto his knees and cried out in pain. The toad-like man''s face morphed into surprise then into a frown and eventually, he forced a polite smile, before he spoke up. "Dear sirs and madams, please excuse us for this uneducated swine. You see it is very hard to find proper employees nowadays. Could you please, excuse my employee for his rude behavior and let him go?" Aiden decreased the force in his grip but didn''t let go. Instead, he looked at Drake, and when he nodded did he remove his grip and free the guards obviously crushed hand. As the guards whimpered behind his master and the still emotionless guard on the left, the toad looked at the masked youth. For a brief moment, he could swear he saw a sh of golden light shine through the tiny eye holes of his faceless white mask. Hidden behind the boys, both Number and Granny were smiling under the respective covers. Seeing Aiden dominate that gori was strangely satisfying for them. It made them proud. Looking at the whimpering guard in the back, Drake spoke with the same disdainful tone the guard greeted them just a few moments ago. "Teach your men better then. If this is how you handle business, I will not be able to support your endeavors in the future. Your group can''t leave a stain on the royal family''s reputation." Bowing deeply the toad hurriedly replied. As he spoke, he looked at the man on the ground behind him. As the guard caught a glimpse of his master''s cruel expression, he shivered in fright. "Rest assured, young prince, I will PERSONALLY make sure such misconduct will not happen ever again." "Master, please let me exin, they were speaking ill-" The guard immediately begged as he understood the obvious meaning behind his master''s words. "Silence! I will deal with youter! You!" He switched to the guard on the left with a stern voice hemanded. "Go and fetch the passes!" The guard on the left emotionlessly nodded, and with hurried steps, he went inside the shack. A few minutester he came back with four wooden bs. The wooden bs had the letter ''V'' painted on them in white, and on their backs, they all had the logo of a red-eagle carefully printed. The guard silently presented them to the group, while his master spoke. "Here they are, these will get you in without raising any problems. The rest" He looked at the group with the same mischievous grin he had before, as he continued. "... is up to you." As the group took the passes, he bowed deeply once again. The smile still on her face, he forced the respectful tone back. "I hope that the young prince will be sessful, and he can be reunited with his sister. Once you get her out, pleasee back to us and we can handle the administration so you will be able to legally free her." "About that..." Drake raised his hand with his index finger pointing towards the sky. "There is one more girl that we will rescue and will need her papers fixed." Chapter 103 - 103 - The Pit (Part 2) Although the additional rescuee will cause another round ofplications, for the sake of a partnership, the toad-like man agreed to the extra work without asking for more in return. He said to take it as an apology for his badly trained guards earlier ill actions, which the group epted. With their business finished the group of four was heading towards the center area of this muddy city section. ording to the information provided by the toad-like man, the local branch manager of Vyde, the entrance to the underground Pit was at the center, in a simr-looking run-down shack with dpidated walls, just like theirs. There should be a red eagle painted on the walls of their buildings, serving as a marker for the territory they govern. Due to the fact that most of their business is handled under the ground, only a handful of buildings, serving as entrances are marked in the Slums with their logo. Nevertheless, as the strongest and most influential entertainment facility, the diator pit served arge number of customers every day. To keep order and to handle arge number of ves and warriors the group had an astonishing amount of hired forces serving under the crudely painted red eagle banner. They were told that there are two entrances. The one that has no guards, is the service entrance. While the one with tworge muscle heads protecting it, is the front entrance. As part of the n, they need to keep a low profile and use their passes to enter as VIPs. They will be escorted to a separate balcony. From there they will be able tounch their nned operation without any unwanted eyes on them. Going through the empty alleyways and hard rock serving as crudely ced streets, Aiden was focusing most of his attention to empowering his [Dark Sense], trying to map as much of the area above and underground as possible. As they got deeper and deeper into this dubious area of the city, he found traces of the underground tunnel system that he was told about. He didn''t know if the tunnel he is currently mapping out is part of therger system they are looking for, or if it is a separate dungeon owned and maintained by another group. Still, mapping out as much as he could, could only prove beneficial to them in the future. As they made their way towards the center, Aiden suddenly felt a familiar pulseing from under the ground. It was faint, but he could still feel it! It carried a lot of distress and a great deal of pain. Stopping in his tracks, Aiden clenched his fists in anger. As the emotion started bubbling inside him, the golden lustering from his eyes shined through the white faceless mask hiding his identity. The particles of the air around his figure started to visibly vibrate in trepidation. As if they could feel the surge of emotion being transmitted by the youth, they reacted to it. Seeing the boy''s reaction, the others also stopped. The mature feminine figure who was wearing eastern-style clothing with a ck faceless mask covering his face walked to the youth and silently hugged him. Startled by the sudden show of familial love, Aiden froze on the spot. With his focus interrupted, his bubbling sea of rage calmed down, and slowly the golden luster faded from his eyes. "I know, Aiden. I can sense her too. I also understand that you want to make those that hurt her suffer, but you have to calm down. We will save her, and we will make sure such a thing can never happen ever again. I promise you that, okay?" Number 3 whispered into his ears. Buried in her Master''s embrace, Aiden finally rxed, and after an audible sigh, he nodded. "Yes. I know. Thank you Master" he said as he finally calmed his emotions. Looking up to catch his master''s eyesight, Aiden remarked. "Also, I think I managed to inform her about my presence. I can''t be sure, but I think she noticed my presence" "I know, I know." Number 3 continued to caress Aiden''s back for a bit longer before she eventually let go, and looked at the boy with her right hand invitingly raised at him. "Come, let''s go, we shouldn''t waste time here! After all, we have a very packed evening ahead of us!" Grabbing the offered hand, Aiden walked hand-in-hand with his master. "Yes, let''s continue." Drake was watching the events as they yed out in stunned silence. The power that this young man radiated almost toppled him to the ground. The golden light that shone through the tiny holes of his mask also terrified him to his core. It was as if he was looking into the eyes of something incredibly ancient. ''I should try to remain on his good side He really is not an ordinary boy I''m not even sure if he is human anymore'' --- Not too longter, the group finally spotted the first shack, with walls so aged that it was a wonder in itself that it was still standing. The crudely painted red eagle emblem on its side was the only positive thing about it. This one had no guards in front of it, and its door was a simple wooden door that was already worn-out by the years of long exposure to the unruly weather. Looking at the worn-out wooden door, Aiden had to forcefully look away lest he would charge in headlessly and start a murder-spree ruining all their carefullyid out ns. "Let''s go. We can''t use this one." He said with forced calmness and continued on his treks, causing minor surprise to the rest of his group. Granny had her trademark gentle smile on her wrinkled aged face. Although covered by the tattered cloth hoodie, it was still noticed by Number 3 who pinched her sides in response. "He is growing up, isn''t he?" Number 3 whispered. The pride was visible in her tone. "Yeah, he does. I was sure he wouldn''t be able to restrain himself, especially after his outburst earlier. Heck, even I have a hard time not going in" Granny responded as a sigh escaped her lips. As they continued their journey, the empty muddy streets were gradually filled with more and more people. They all seemed to be heading the same direction, a sign that they were on the right track. Not long after, as they followed amongst the increasing crowd, they spotted another run-down shack that had the very same red eagle painted on its sides. This one, however, had a ck thick door guarding its secrets against the curious outsiders. In front of it, there was a line of queued up people waiting for the two robust armored guards to inspect them and validate their passes so they could head inside. Silently, they took their spot at the end of the line, while Aiden continued to use his skills to their maximum efficiency, and map out all the nooks and crannies he could, even before they entered. Interestingly, as he gradually explored the convoluted tunnel system, he found a series of rooms not too deep underground where his sense couldn''t prate the massive energy barrier that surrounded it. Even with him actively feeding his own energy and empowering the skill, he was unable to take the tiniest peak. "There''s a carefully guarded area not too deep below us. It looks like arge room that is close to the back entrance we left earlier. Do any of you know what it could be? I can''t scan it, no matter how hard I try." He whispered. Neither of them responded initially, but Aiden could tell they both were focusing on trying to find the area he was speaking about. Sure enough, a short whileter, Number 3 responded in a low hushed tone. "Interesting. Neither can I enter that spot. Regardless I don''t think that ce has any importance to our ns currently. The cells should be much deeper underground." "Yes, that ce is probably a secured meeting room where the owners of this ce would meet with high-profile clients. At least that''s my guess. Still, it has no importance to us." Granny seconded. Aiden hummed in response and continued to explore the underground system as they waited to gain entrance. --- Under the ground, in a separate area made for the fighter ves, a young blonde-haired bruised girl was sitting in the dark corner. She was no longer in her underwear, but in a simr leather bikini that was supposed to serve as protection in her uing match. The guards told her that soon, she is supposed to be having her first match against a famous opponent, but she was no longer scared, she was no longer distressed. She was actually smiling! Hope and happiness filled her heart, rapidly healing the cracks her suffering made appear. Just a moment ago when she called out for her brother, he responded! She didn''t know how this was possible, but she was certain that she felt his presence above her. Her brother is awake and he hase! She felt his anger, his rising rage, and she knew that he would make sure the bad guys that made her suffer would have to pay the highest price. No longer afraid of the future, she was actually looking forward to the uing match. It seems it is going to be one that this city will not forget anytime soon! Chapter 104 - 104 - The Pit (Part 3) After the excruciating wait for their turn to get their passes validated, Aiden''s group finally gained entrance to Higrove''s famous underground arena, the Pit. The in, muddy tunnel system that was carved out from the ground only added to the whole gloomy atmosphere that ruled over the underground corridor the group was traversing forward. The torches that were set up at regr intervals alternating between the left and right side only also did nothing but contribute to the mood. "This way honored guests!" The brown-haired female attendant, wearing an elegant, ck and white sexy suit and a leather cor around her neck, showcasing her ve status bowed deeply as they arrived in front of a ck door that had the same red eagle emblem painted on it. Above the emblem, however, there was a red crown painted as well. As Aiden and the group looked past the attendant, they could see several simrly designed doors all along the long hallway. The ve girl attendant opened the door revealing arge balcony area with 4 luxurious padded chairs with 3 small tables ced in between them.Scarlet enchanted silk curtains served as a separator against the other VIP boxes around them. It was enchanted in a way that nobody could see in, but they could see through as if they weren''t even there. Still bowed, the ve girl spoke up again with a respectful tone. "Please honored guests, take your seats. Tonight''s show will start soon." The group silently entered the box. As they took their seats, the attendant who followed behind them, bowed once again. "Honored guests, would you like anything as you wait? A drink, or some meal perhaps?" The masked youth, Aiden, waved with his right hand and curtly answered. "No." Misunderstanding the meaning behind his words, the attendant audibly gulped, and as she straightened herself, she closed her eyes, and with a robotic, rehearsed movements, she started unbuttoning her dress. "I understand. In that case, please use this worthless ve as you see fit." As she opened her eyes, there was no light in her eyes. The gray, dismay that now ruled over her expression was a painful visage to look at. Seeing her actions, the elderlydy that had wrapped herself in manyyers of red tattered clothing gently grabbed her hands. "Dearie, there is no need for any of that. You can attend to the other customers, we are fine, don''t worry." Although her face was somehow always in the shadow under the cover of her patched hoodie, the ve-girl attendant could still hear the honesty and concern in her voice. Hearing this, the ve-girl eyes quickly became hazy, and tears started to flow out uncontrobly. She started crying, all the pain, the anguish, the humiliation she had to endure, all bubbled up and erupted in an unstoppable fashion. It wasn''t hard to guess what sort of horrors this girl had to endure being an attendant for the most important business partners for this shady group. While Number 3 and Aiden weren''t concerned with her anguish, Drake was visibly trembling, fuming with rage. His fists clenched, he punched the padded armrest of the chair he was sitting on. "Bastards, bastards, bastards If they hurt Scarlet I''m" he mumbled to himself but was stopped when Aiden, grabbed his hands. "Don''t. Never think like that! We will free both girls, and when they are officially free, we will make sure this never happens to anyone ever again. Remember the n that YOU devised." Aiden whispered. "Grrrr." Drake didn''t answer, just grumbled. Then he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Yes, the n they devised with yet another shady group Was it worth it? Perhaps. Trading one shady group to another. Still, they do need their services to officially free the girls and remove their ve statuses. Otherwise, they would just be stealing the owner''s property however bad that sounded, they would be the onesbeled as criminals. "I know" he mumbled after a long time. Meanwhile, Granny hugged the girl, and as she lightly patted her back, she gently whispered into her ears. "There, there! I may not know what you have gone through, but here, with us, you can be at ease. We will not hurt you, I can promise you that." Several minutes passed like that before the attendant could finally collect herself enough to reluctantly separate from theforting embrace. Coughing, to cover her embarrassment, she spoke. "Khm, apologies for my unsightly behavior honored guests. If you have no need for any of our services, I will take my leave. Please do not hesitate to use the crystal by the door by injecting some of your energy to call for an attendant in case you need one." As she said that, she motioned towards the ck door behind her. There was a transparent ss crystal edged into it at the upper frame. She turned around and opened the door, only to stop at the door. Turning her head sideways she closed her eyes once again and muttered a barely audible "Thank you." towards Granny before she continued her steps and left the room. Smiling at her action, Granny turned around and faced the group as the door closed. "Okay, we have some time still, before the event starts. We have to find and rescue both girls. As we discussed, we" she pointed at herself and Number 3 as she spoke "...will stay here while you two will go ahead. Make sure to crush the crystals we gave you if you are in trouble or if you have found the girls." Both boys nodded as they grabbed the small ck crystal they got from Number 3. Granny looked at the silver-haired boy as she continued. "Drake, we do not know each other for that long, but I can feel that you are a good kid. I know that simrly to Aiden here, you are also fuming with anger and want nothing for retribution for all the suffering your little sister had to endure for all these years because of someone else''s decision. Still, try to stick to the n, and not cause too much trouble as you try to get to her. Also, there is probably no point in reasoning with her, remember she has lived her life as a ve for many years. We can''t guess how she will react to you. Hopefully she may recognize you, but there''s a chance she will not. Just prepare yourself for everything." "Yes, ma''am." Drake nodded. They already discussed the n and rehearsed every step over and over again. Still, he knew that she repeated it because there''s a big possibility that he will not be able to do what is needed when it is needed. Hurting his sister, even if to just escape with her, is not something he can easily do. As Drake wasmenting about his uing actions, Granny looked at Aiden. "Aiden... "she sighed "...please, try to control yourself. Do not do anything rash, before you have Lily with you okay? Just please promise us that!" Her speech towards Aiden was more of a pleading than a lecture. Still, Aiden simply, silently nodded while he gave a curt "Hmm" in response. "Okay then" she spoke softly looking at Aiden. "In that case, go and free the girls. Don''t worry we can handle everything here!" Aiden and Drake looked at each other, nodded as if they understood each other''s thoughts, and walked towards the door. As Aiden opened it up, Number 3 spoke up. "Aiden." She started, without looking at the boy. "If Lily is hurt, nobody can be left alive. Got that? Stay true to your true self." "Yes, master" Aiden curtly responded, as he left the room with Drake in tow. The dimly lit hallways were not devoid of any life, all the guests had already taken their boxes, and the attendants were busy serving or servicing them. Muffled moans could be heard from the distance, some guests have probably taken the third option it seems. Ignoring the sounds, Aiden quickly crossed the hallway and took a right as they arrived at the first crossing. Drake followed him silently. He still didn''t understand how, but he was told that he should just follow the boy''s lead, he will know the way. Still, he was nervously grabbing the hilt of his sword, ready to take it out of its sheath at a moment''s notice. However, it seemed that the boy really did know this underground tunnel system like the back of his hand, he confidently led him, taking a left or sometimes a right without any hesitation every time they arrived at a fork. He didn''t bother with these thoughts for long, he was finally close to finding his dear sister, and had the chance to reunite. Everything else is secondary, that was the only thing that mattered to him currently. For the past several years, the thoughts of getting her back were the only thing that he could think of. That, and serving justice on his father for the pain and suffering he caused. After a few short minutes, they arrived in front of a barred gate. Looking at the bars, Aiden turned around and faced the young silver-haired prince. Covered by his white faceless mask, the murderous intent in his tone was still visible. "We have arrived. Once inside always stick to the left until you arrive at another closed metal door at the end of a hallway. Your sister should be there. Once you secure her, crush the crystal you got from Granny and Master and they will get both of you out. Leave the rest to me." He turned back facing the gate. Grabbing the bars, he was about to ''open'' it up when Drake''s voice sounded from behind. "And what will you do?" With a murderous glint in his eyes and a cruel grin covered by the simple mask, he replied with a low growl. "Me? I''m going to let loose" Chapter 105 - 105 - Countdown Arriving at the first intersection, the boys separated, with Drake silently leaving to the left. Nervously gripping the hilt of his sword, his silhouette soon faded as he traversed in the dimly lit underground hallway. Frequently ced thick steel doors on the left and right; each room holding one or maybe more ves used for the sick games. Weak muffled moans and pain-filled cries slipped through the cracks, each another needle to prick his already agitated heart. Gripping the sword''s handle so hard that his hand started to turn white from theck of cirction of blood. The gem in the pommel shined brightly, feeling the emotions of its master, it too felt a wave of bubbling anger, ready to erupt andy down its wrath to the scum of this ce. "I know I know We will, I promise you, we will, but right now, we need to find my sister and leave this ce. Once she is safe, we will make sure this never happens again, I promise you." The pommel shined once again in bright light, conversing its thoughts to its master. Drake closed his eyes and with an inaudible sigh, he nodded, affirming their intentions. "Yes. He will pay for this too. He is the root cause of all this suffering. A parent capable of doing this to their child He is not my father, I refuse to ept such a reality." With onest satisfied hum, the shine in the sword''s pommel faded, and returned to its rxed state. Continuing on the eerie hallway, he was once again in front of an intersection. There were three paths, each looking exactly like the next, even with the same moans and cries echoing through their walls, reaching Drake''s ears. Closing his eyes once again, he thought back to his strange maskedpanion''s words: "...always stick to the left" "Fine, I hope you are right Aiden" he mumbled to himself. Due to ack of better options, he decided to trust the words of the boy, and without any further hesitation, he entered the leftmost hallway. As he entered this new hallway, after a few steps, something new, the grating sounds of metal against leather reached his ears along with muffled, but still clearly male fragmented whispers. They were different from the ones than before, these were probably not ves but most likely the sounds of guards that were patrolling just ahead. "It''s showtime, my dear friend" A vicious grin came over his previous stoic features. Finally, he can vent some of his umted anger, and bathe Marf in a scarlet shower. Pulling the hood back, he continued on his trek, and soon he was met with the source of the new sounds; two guards standing in front of a simple ck metal door. Both were wearing a padded leather vest. The edges of their chest te were etched in heraldic designs andced with bits of gold leaf. They wore simrly decorated reinforced pants. At their sides, both were wearing a simple dark brown leather sheath with a short sword resting in it. While not that stylish as the rest of their garb, the sheath also wore their insignia: a crudely painted red eagle. Both were wearing a ck cloth mask covering only the lower half of their faces, leaving their glowering, sinister eyes free for Drake to peer into. Seeing the uninvited guest appearing from the dark corridor, the guard on the left slightly nodded his chin pointing at Drake. The guy on the right just noticing him, reached for his short sword but he did not unsheathed it. Speaking with a croaky, grated tone he spoke. "What do you want, brat? This is a restricted area. You have one chance to turn around and scram, lest you want to meet your maker right now" The guard on the left didn''t speak, however he was clearly observing, focusing on the neer''s reaction while gripping the hilt of his sword. They were obviously experienced veterans, this guarding gig was clearly not their first job. The vicious grin still resting over his face, Drake couldn''t help but bury his forehead in his palm as a snicker left his mouth. It took him nearly a minute to calm down and look at the haughty guards. If it would be capable, their eyes that tried to pierce the arrogant youth could spew bolts of lightning. "How wonderful! I was about to offer both of you the same, but it seems you were faster. Still, you have this one and only chance to walk away and keep your miserable lives. You can go and take other jobs, both of you are clearly not new to this business, I can see the scars the years in the field has left." Motioning with his head sideways, he continued in a low growling tone. "I will give you a count of 3 to obediently walk away. If you refuse to ept this lord''s kindness, you can only me yourself for the consequences." "You! How dare y-" The guard on the right immediately flew into a rage as he heard this brat''s bragging. "3" Without waiting for him to finish his cursing, Drake started his countdown while grabbing the decorated hilt of his sword. The gem in the pommel eagerly shed in blue light, looking forward to what wille next. "DIE!" The raging guard on the right couldn''t take it anymore and with a lightning-fast motion, he unsheathed his sword and pierced it towards the silver-haired youth. It was a quick and decisive action that he was sure that the matter was now resolved. Unfortunately, today proved to hold even more surprises as his attack was effortlessly parried by the boy. The speed he grabbed and deflected with his sword was so incredibly fast neither guard could actually see the action. "2" Drake continued his countdown as if nothing happened. This time however he kept his sword in his hand. The de of the sword as well as the pommel was glowing blue, thirsty for its red nectar. The guards looked at each other, and with an affirming nod, they charged at the boy. The one on the left tried to pierce towards the boy''s stomach, while his partner did a right swing aimed at his neck. As the des closed in on him, Drake agilely dodged backward, avoiding the swing just by a hair''s breadth, while simultaneously swinging his sword to deflect the tip of the second de. With the very same momentum, he nted his feet in the ground. Contorting his muscles, heunched himself forward mercilessly stabbing it into the leftmost guards who were still confused by the sudden parry he received. As all of this happened in the span of a single second, the guards didn''t even have the chance to react to the sudden counterattack. Drake''s de pierced the padded vest as if it were hot butter only to rest between the guard''s heart and lungs, tearing up several muscles and breaking a few ribs, reaching all the way to his spine. The de''s blue luster increased several folds as the blood that was gushing out of the piercing wound sizzled on the mysterious metal. Unable to ept the gruesome reality, the guard looked at his reaper with a shocked expression. He started coughing, spewing out a mouthful of blood that found a new route to exit from the rapidly faltering body. Leaning closer, Drake looked close into the shocked eyes of the fading guard, and with his cruel tone, he whispered into his ears. "1" With that, he pulled the de from the body and watched as it fell down on the floor. Precipitately, but ultimately futilely trying to fill the hole that this reaper of a youth left in his chest, the guard couldn''t ept such a harsh reality that his life would end so suddenly. In a few short moments, he breathed hisst and the light left his eyes, entering the peaceful slumber of the afterlife. The remaining guard looked at the silver-haired youth as if it were a terrifying demon, no longer wishing to participate in this futile quarrel, he backed out. Lifting his hands in the air, he dropped his sword on the ground, and with a faltering voice, he begged. "Please, I don''t want any trouble. I I would like to take the offer and leave I never saw you, you do what you need, okay?" Traces of blood still dripping from the happily humming blue de, Drake slowly walked closer to him. His grin was even crueler, more sinister than before. "You wish to take me up on the offer now? I offered you the chance, I waited, I counted yet you and your friend attacked me. Why would you think that window is still avable?" "I.. I" He stuttered, unable to form a cohesive sentence. As the boy crept closer and closer, his haughty attitude was nowhere to be found anymore, he fell on his knees, and with tears escaping his eyes he begged. "Please Please don''t kill me I''m sor" Sadly, he couldn''t finish what he wanted as the de pierced through his throat crushing his sternum and trachea. As the blood gushed out and the guard desperately gasped for air, Drake looked him in the eye, and with a low tone, he growled. "Sorry? There is no forgiveness for what you guys have done to my sister" Chapter 106 - 106 - Reunion As the blood continued to gush out of the wound, the guard fell to the ground while he made hisst feeble attempt to desperately gurgle for the saving grace that the air would have meant to him. There was no saving grace for him. He had his chance but because of his own arrogant haughtiness, he didn''t take it. "Better luck with your next life" Drake said looking at the now-corpse of thest guard. Stepping over him, Drake tried pushing on the door, only to find it locked. "Figures" he mumbled in annoyance. Turning around, he crouched next to the dead body. With a frown on his face, he quickly went through the dead guard''s pockets. Eventually, wedged between the two connecting tes, hidden with the heraldic design he found the singr copper key. Now, with the key in hand, he walked back to the door. He was already feeling positive, as while there probably was some sort of dampener etched into the walls of this ce, he could still feel the light buzz of Marf''s excitement. It felt the presence of another artifact, and it wasn''t the one that the mysterious woman that came with his group carried with her. It was another one, carried by someone behind this metal door. "Rx buddy, I know, I know! I''m excited too I waited so many years for this moment" he muttered. His face contorted into a painful smile as he remembered thest moments when he saw his dear sister and two brothers being carried away; his father''s emotionless face as he watched this happening Clenching his fists, he smeared the few teardrops that were about to slither down and escape their eternal prison. Inserting the key to the rusted keyhole, he had to exert a small bit of strength to make the key turn around. Once it did, and he heard the satisfying deep-toned clicking sound, he grabbed the metal hold and pulled the door. It was much thicker than he expected, in fact, it was almost like what the nobles used to keep their wealth safely stored away in their vaults. This was a genuine, bonafide vault door; several inches thick, and probably weighed at least a few hundred pounds. In fact, it was so heavy and rusted that Drake had to use both hands and exert almost all of his strength to slowly pull thisst metal barrier that separated him from her missing sibling. Once he managed to create an opening wide enough for him to squeeze in, he nervously peeked through. A dark, damp room greeted her, that only had a single source of light, a sort of contraption mounted on the ceiling that glimmered with a faint white light. In the corner of the dimly lit room, he could see the silhouette of a feminine figure, sitting, hiding in the shadows. Agitated, he took a step inside the room and stopped right at the entrance. The pommel of his sword glowing in bright, powerful blue light, illuminated his visage. "Scarlet?" He nervously called out to the silhouette, not taking any step, standing still, forcefully radiating a calm and collected aura, even if he was incredibly nervous. He dreamt about this moment at least a million times in the past years, carefully nning what he was gonna say. Yet, now at the moment, he didn''t know how to begin. There was no movement or any sort of visible reaction from his first call, so he tried again, this time with a bit more force and certainty in his tone. "Scarlet? It''s me, Draco, your brother. Do you remember me? I have finally found you" On his second call, he saw the head, still hiding behind the shadowy corner jerk towards the invader. Shortly after a weak, faltering voice came from it. "D-dra-co?" It clearly struggled to form the word, yet Drake could feel the emotion behind it, the will to push it out, and let it be carried with the air. As if tasting something delicious, something new and exciting, the figure inched closer to the light, still sitting on the dusty ground, repeating the name and adding a rhetorical question, as if to test its own sanity. "D-draco? B-brother?" The emotional weight that these two simple words carried were like hammers to Drake, he struggled to keep standing. Unable to hold his tears, he burst out crying as he let out all the pain he umted over the years. He slowly, unsteadily started wobbling forward, towards the figure who was also crawling towards him. "Y-yes, I finally found you After all these years" As the distance between them slowly decreased, the figure slowly got up to its knees and eventually, it was on its feet, closing in on the silver-haired man. In thest 3 meters, as they got close to the singr source of light, the toned body wrapped hiding behind a dark-brown leather bikini was revealed. Her greasy, unkempt curly hair still carried that fiery strength she was known about and named after. She hadrge scars running through her entire face from her right eye, all the way to the left corner of his lips. She was dirty, she smelled, but that didn''t matter. As soon as Drake saw her, he regained his strength and grabbed the toned, bruised, and battered body of her sister and lifted her into the air. Gradually as she could saw his tear-stained face and familiar silver tinges, her previously lifeless face morphed. After many years of rest, her face muscles contorted and a sad, painful smile revealed itself on her lips. The dry channels that refused to water themselves for many years, regained their ability, and after years of abstaining herself, she finally let out an emotional cry. "Brooother!" She buried her face into his long-lost brother''s chest. For several minutes the only sounds that escaped the gaping crack of the room. As the minutes passed, the siblings let out their umted sadness and wee this new powerful positive feeling. Happiness. Their hearts beating a thousand a minute, they were truly happy for the first since their forced separation. As the minutes passed, Drake forced some rationality on himself and separated himself from his sister''s tight hug. "My dear sister! I''m so sorry it took me so long to find you! I" He started, but soon realized he can''t continue, his feelings were too chaotic, his emotions were out of ce. Also, as he spoke a small index finger sealed his lips. Still tear and snot-stained, Scarlet looked at his brother, and as the first smile in many years crowned her, she responded in a faint tone. "It''s okay You were the only thing that kept me going, the thought of one day one day, I will get back to you. And that one day" Her smiling face revealed a decisive murderous glimpse. "...and that one day, I can have my revenge on that bastard that tossed me away like garbage!" Gently grabbing the back of her head, Drake lightly caressed it as he blew a kiss on her forehead. "My dear sister I know. We will pay him back for everything he did. But first" he reached to his back pocket and he pulled out the small ss crystal he received. He presented it to Scarlet, motioning her to grab hold of it. "...we have to get you out of here. Grab this crystal with me!" "Brother, what is this thing?" Scarlet asked in confusion upon seeing the strange object. "Is this some of the family heirlooms?" Smiling, he gave another kiss to the girl on her forehead before he replied. "No, this is something I got from my new... Hmm let''s say friends, I guess. I was told we need to crush it, and then it will take us to a safe ce. So grab onto me, and let''s see if this thing works at all!" Obeying her brother''s words, Scarlet tightly wrapped her arms around his brother''s chest and closed her eyes, waiting for the magic to happen, and take them away from this hell she had to call home for many years, suffering through countless tribtions. Thinking back, she let out a small smile as she buried her face in her brother''s chest yet again. Yes, there were many tribtions, horrible events, moments that will probably haunt her for the rest of her life, but still, in the end, she found him. She could not hope for a better ending than this. Taking onest look at her sister, he sniffed at her hair, and as her smell filled his nostrils, he let out a contented sigh. Looking up, she looked at him with a small pout. "Pervert." Although the term was harsh, the tone it was carried with was gentle. Drake smiled at her sister, and as he raised his arm to the air, he exerted a bit of strength and crushed the ss crystal. ck smoke escaped from its ss cell and quickly engulfed the siblings. In a few moments, as the smoke filled the room, their presence could no longer be felt, they were no longer in the room. Chapter 107 - 107 - The Monster Unleashed (Part 1) Separated, Aiden walked a few steps into the right hallway before he stopped and turned out to see as Drake''s figure vanished in the other corridor. Once he was certain that he trekked a decent distance in his own hallway, Aiden''s grin under the cover of his mask turned vicious. The eye sockets basked in golden light momentarily. With a low sadistic undertone, he growled into the air. "I know we discussed to keep a low profile But they hurt Lily! There''s a price to pay for that" As the sinister grin took its rightful ce on his face, the golden luster kept the eye sockets radiating their glory to the long eerie tunnel that was in front of him. Steel-framed doors ruled the journey ahead, tightly ced to his left and right. The weak, faint muffled moans and hollow cries warned the outsider to their miserable existence. They were all ves, some used for the nightly diator matches, some served as servants while others used for other services. No option was better or worse than the other. If you were ced as a warrior, you had to put your life on the line just for the entertainment of some nobles and the like. Fighting against the other ves in usually a life and death battle, or sometimes together against captured monsters, only to be mauled or eaten. If you were picked as a servant, one would think you lucked out. Sadly, being a servant meant to humiliate yourself to the lecherous nobility, serving them drinks and food as they took their ces and in the case of VIP''s your body as well.They could beat you, torture you, mutte you, or just simply use you. The death rates for this line of the job was almost as high as for the warrior route. Then, there was the third option, where you were directly used as escorts or just straight up prostitutes. While this was the safest in terms of life preservation, it was still counted as the worst of the three. The amount of mental damage one suffered through this line of work was tremendous. An ordinary ve usually could handle at most two to three months of service before they were considered broken beyond repair and used as substance for the captured monsters. Life wasn''t good for these people. Some of these were political captures, some came from military conquests, some were transferred here from the city jails, and some sold themselves as a means to provide ie for their families. The contracts they got made sure that even if they were to decease, the family would still continue to survive. So, it came to no surprise that none of the wails that slipped through the cracks between the steel frames and the rocky surfaces were hollow. Gritting his teeth, and clenching his fists, Aiden walked past them, not offering his help. They have already agreed to focus on their objective for now and leave the rest forter. Number 3 and Granny told Aiden that Drake was a member of royalty, the highest-ranking family in the entire kingdom. His family, while troubled and suffering, still carried the highest authority and couldmand the military and city guards at ease. Thest part of their n actually relied on their family''s power and authority to make sure that this hellhole would be closed down for good. Well, it was a good n, but Aiden had some other ns. Every time he heard Lily''s desperate plea or pain-filled cry ring in his mind, the rage and anger that he kept locked away in the depth of his soul started boiling, threatening to overwhelm his senses, turn him berserk as it erupted like a volcano. He followed the route that he already mapped out with his system without stopping. Reaching the end of the first hallway he was greeted with a simr intersection that Drake found; three identical tunnels going the same direction. The same wails and cries echoed through the walls reaching his ears. Since he already had the route set, he decisively picked the rightmost tunnel and entered the dark corridor. As he was paying attention to the road ahead, he wasn''t surprised when the first sounds of the guards reached his ears. In fact, he was already grinning from ear to ear under his mask. His arms at the ready, his muscles tensed, his hand contorted and ready to swipe at a moment''s notice he walked in front of the two armored guards standing in front of a small corridor that would reach further into the tunnel system, to the rest of the ves. The two guards were garbed in simr uniforms as the pair Drake met. Both wore a sleeveless padded leather vest protecting their upper body. The edges of their chest tes where the front and back connected were etched with heraldic designs andced with bits of gold leaf. Beneath their belts, their reinforced pants were simrly decorated. Hanging on their sides, both had the same dark brown leather sheath with a short sword resting in it. The sheath had their group''s emblem, the red eagle logo crudely painted on it. Both had a ck cloth piece serving as a mask, hiding the lower half of their faces and only leaving their glowering, sinister eyes free for everyone to gaze into. They stopped their heated discourse as they noticed a frail-looking masked youth casually walk towards them. Puzzled by this, they both instinctively reached for the hilt of their short swords and were looking at the long ck-haired boy. The first one to break the taut silence was the guard on the right. He had arge deep and ugly scar run through the top of his bald head all the way through the top of his left eye, which was miraculously spared. "Who the fuck are you and what are you doing here, runt? How did you even get in? This is a closed-off area, fuck off before we throw your dead body to the wolves!" Contrary to their expectation the boy did not run off nor did he show any signs of being scared. Instead, the small eye sockets on his white faceless mask glowed in golden light, and a sinister snort could be heard. The boy then spoke, first in a normal albeit deep, rich tone. "Ahahaha! Interesting" As he continued to speak, his voice gradually changed, turning deeper, acquiring an unnatural eerie vibe. "...Wolves you say? Fine, let''s go with that then." At the end of the speech, his voice almost turned into a howl. The air around the boy vibrated, his figure blurred. In the next moment, his shape changed, doubled in size. New strands of muscles formed at the right ces and his attire magically vanished, his dark thick fur revealed itself. The length of his arms grew, the nails on his fingers transformed into ck ws. His face also transformed, although the strange mask he was wearing kept up with his new elongated nose and animalistic features, still covering his features. The whole transformation didn''t take longer than a second. As Aiden morphed into his Worgen form, a sinister howl resonated under the mask, shocking both guards stiff. "Ahahaha, here, I give you guys a wolf then. What do you say now?" Both men, albeit they have seen many strange things in their many years serving as mercenaries, the sight they were greeted with was a first. At one moment, a weak, frail-looking boy was in front of them, and in the next, he turned into a huge humanoid wolf-like monster dwarfing over them both in size and in power. Grabbing their sword both of them simultaneously pulled it out from its sheath and nervously ced it in front of their bodies. Their proud and powerful aura that their years of service should have formed was nowhere to be found. Their nervousness was visible on their faces and represented with their shaking hands. "You you monster! What the fuck are you?! What do you want?!" The guard in the right asked. The one on the left nodded, with simr thoughts guing his mind. "What am I? Monster? Hmm I''m your worst nightmaree to life. I''vee to take the price you will ALL have to pay for your arrogance. I''m your executioner. That''s what I am." Aiden growled menacingly in response, still not taking a step further. His wed hands were stretched out and his muscles in his arms tensed. Resting his eyes on the man on the right, then slowly pacing it to the one of the left, he continued to growl, as if taunting the guards to take action. Both men looked at each other and with an affirming nod, they gulped. They knew that running for their life was futile, so their only option was to gaze into the abyss and charge against the certain doom. With that onest loud, audible gulp they swallowed their fears and gathered their courage, and with a loud reckless shout, they charged at this abomination, this monster. Looking at the iingmbs, Aiden snickered silently. "Perfect" Chapter 108 - 108 - The Monster Unleashed (Part 2) The guards charged at the wolf-human hybrid with all the strength and speed they managed to muster up. Their loud battle cry echoed to all directions in the hallway disrupting the weeping of the ves. The call to arms reached further back, eventually reaching an open-space carved out area serving as a makeshift guard room. There, currently off duty, a group of 5 guards was ying some sort of card game around a round table. Copper and Silver coins, donning multiple insignias were piled up in front of each one in various sizes. The guy with the biggest stack in front of him raised his head as the muffled shout echoed through the halls eventually reaching their ears. "Huh?" He eximed as he immediately became alert, jumping off from his chair. Looking at the direction of the sound. "Did you guys hear that?"He asked, keeping his gaze at the dark hallway. The rest of the group stopped their current game and looked at the direction their leader was looking at. "What is it, Igor? Did you get so scared of losing your cheating money, that you had to find an excuse?!" One with a moderately sized stack of bronze coins resting in front of him spoke up with a smug look on his face. "Shut up idiot, can''t you hear it?!" Igor, their leader reprimanded. Walking closer to the entrance, he pricked his ears listening to the muffled noises carried by the thick walls. Soon, another set of sounds reached his ears, causing him to nervously jump, straightening his back. Looking back, he agitatedly shouted as he ran towards his bunk to grab his armor and weapon. "Quickly! Armor up! There are sounds of battle up ahead! We are attacked!" However, by this point all 4 of them were standing and rushing towards their own bunks; they all heard the sound of battle and the bloody gurgle apanied by a sinister howl... ***Back to the source of the sounds, just a few moments ago As the two guards closed in on the monstrous creature in front of them, they both swung from a right arch with their swords at the same time. The one on the left swung at a little above the waist area, hoping to sh into the creature''s abdomen and rip some of its intestines. Meanwhile, the guard on the right seemed to be the one with morebat experience, as he intuitively swung from the left aimed at the wolf-like humanoid creature''s neck. While both swings were pretty fast, to Aiden they felt like if it was in slow motion. His heightened senses, the huge difference in attributes made both threats negligible. Raising both of his hands, he parried both swings simultaneously. The sound of steel colliding with something even sturdier resonated around them. Deciding to use this opportunity to vent some of his umted frustrations more, Aiden decided to toy with his prey more. Expecting a retaliation as both des bounced off the ck ws of the furred creature, they were quickly pulled in front of their owners in a nervous shaking defensive stance while they also jumped back. However, contrary to their battle-hardened experience, the expected counter-attack never came. The creature lowered his arms to the same tensed state as it was before their attack. Looking at the duo, Aiden snickered contemptuously. "Come on, do your worst! This is pathetic! Is this all the might warriors such as yourselves have?!" Ashamed and humiliated as he trampled on their pride, both guards flew into a rage and rushed in for a second attempt. Charging for the second time, the left guard decided to thrust his sword this time, aiming at the creature''s stomach once again. His partner next to him decided to try swinging his de against the creature''s neck one more time, using the same left-to-right arc. Aiden''s eyes shed momentarily as he watched both iing attacks with excitement. He felt euphoric, his blood was boiling with passion. He wanted more, he NEEDED more! As his excitement reached new heights, his rationality started to be clouded with hazy fog, letting his thirste to the forefront of his mind. The eye sockets of his mask were no longer shed for brief moments but remained a constant source of the ominous golden light. His zeal, his thirst took control of his sanity, he howled while raising both of his hands, effortlessly parrying the swing, while also grabbing hold of the tip of the lunged de towards his abdomen. As the parried de bounced off his right hand''s ws, he immediately shed down. The sound of bones breaking,meat and skin being torn to shreds could be heard. Soon after a painful cry echoed across the hallway, carrying the agonizing shriek in both directions. As his partner looked at the guard on the left, his face contorted the horrified frown; the arm that was holding the de was shed in half, leaving only a bloody stump, while the lower half fell to the ground with a thump. The separated limb was still holding the hilt of the sword. As the blood continued to ooze out of his now mutted limb, the guard fell on his knees as he continued to shout and wail uncontrobly. Horrified by this unexpected oue, the guard on the right jumped back a few steps and grabbed the hilt of his weapon with both hands, raising it in front of him. Ignoring him for now, Aiden looked at his kneeling partner, and he raised his right hand into the air. As the hand hung above the man like the mythical sword of Damocles, Aiden released another menacing howl. In the next moment, as the hand swung down, the crying and whimpering died down and was reced by a bloodied gurgle. Desperately trying to sp down on his torn windpipe with his remaining left hand, the guard soon fell down to the floor as the light left his eyes and he sumbed to his death secondster. Blood still dripping from his ws, Aiden now switched his attention to the remaining guard shaking a few steps further away, nervously holding the hilt of his sword with both hands. The man watched with fear as the monster took its first step towards him. The eerie golden glow that shined through the tiny eye sockets of its mysterious mask only enhanced its horrifying visage. He wanted to react, he thought about turning around and escaping but as the fear settled in his heart, his legs did not respond to his mentalmand, they remained stiff, nted into the dusty underground floor. "D-don''te any c-closer...you you M-monster!" He stuttered due to the fear. His body shaking widely, even holding his sword started to prove a challenge. "P-please don''t please let me go I beg you" he started begging as the tears smeared his once-proud face. As he arrived in front of him, Aiden leaned closer to the right ear and whispered as he breathed hot air into it. "Did you listen to those words even once in your life? As the man and women cried the same, looking into your eyes, did you ever consider giving them the same courtesy?" The next moment, the man felt an intense tingle, something simr to an electric shock from his abdomen. Looking down, and noticing the furred hand deeply buried inside his body he knew instantly what this feeling was; it was the moment when his nervous system went haywire as the thousands upon thousands of circuits were broken, ripped to shreds when the wed hands gnashed into his insides. Shortly after, the shock transformed into intense heat. Heat that he never felt before This heat was the precursor to the pain that came shortly after. As the pain intensified, and his eyes went wide-eyed, he suddenly ignored the fact that his reaper was still in front of him, he grabbed his gushing wound with both hands, dropping his sword onto the ground. Aiden stretched his ws, tearing more and more of his intestines and ripping through his visceral fat. Exerting a bit more strength, he raised his arms, tearing through the man''s insides all the way to his heart, stopping just before it. Grabbing the still-beating but rapidly waning organ, Aiden whispered the guard''sst words in this life. "No. There is no forgiveness. Maybe in your next life" Then, with a decisive pull, he ripped the heart out from its socket, and crushed it, before the guards fading eyes. As life left his body and he fell sideways to the dust, the veryst thing he saw in his life was his own heart being crushed in the hands of his murderer. As the second thud signaled the end of the short bout, Aiden raised his head towards the ceiling and loudly howled, letting the sound of his victory be carried forward, warning the rest of their approaching doom. Tonight, the monster was finally unleashed, and there''s nobody that can quell its thirst for blood... Chapter 109 - 109 - Gruesome Fates The captain and his smallpany hurriedly donned their armors and grabbed their swords and were already running through the dark hallway towards the source of the sound they heard previously when a second howl reached their ears. The 4 guards shivered when they heard the terrifying animalistic shout. It felt like it came from some sort of wolf or simr creature. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn''t be an issue for a group of seasoned mercenaries such as them, but the meaning behind this one meant that it already crossed the first hurdle, the two guards stationed at the doorway. This meant that whatever creature or creatures the two met, managed to defeat them. "C-captain" One of them, as the realization that they might just be rushing headstrong into the unknown that could spell their demise, spoke with a shivering tone. "...Shouldn''t we ask for b-backup from the other groups?" "Shut up!" The captain shouted with anger and frustration. "We don''t need anybody else to deal with a bunch of crazed animals!" "B-but" he tried to argue but one sideways look from his captain marching in front of him silenced his doubts. After the loud howl an eerie silence set upon the dimly lit hallways. The only sound that broke this were the sounds of their boots kicking up the dust when it hit the ground. In only a few minutes that felt like an entire lifetime for the group, the silhouette of arge humanoid creature standing above two bodies lying on the ground have drawn out in the distance, causing them to slow their pace down to a rustle of careful steps. The shimmering, weak light provided by the nearby torch only provided a sideways glimpse at the invader. His silhouette was humanoid, but it was strangely rough around the edges. As they slowly approached, the flickering torchlight revealed the reason for the roughness; the creature had glossy dark fur covering its body. A pair of golden glows, most likely its eyes shined through a strange, white mask that hid most of the creature''s features. "W-w-wha w-what is that?!" The same guard at the back couldn''t hold his calm anymore, and while he pointed at the monster with shaky fingers, he loudly eximed. The group halted their steps, and as the captain sized-up the creature with his eyes, he kept gripping his sword. The rest, while not expecting a definite answer, were also nervously grabbing the hilt of their swords waiting in painful silence for the order. "What the fuck is that thing" The captain muttered to himself, then as if to calm down, he shook his head from side to side. Contorting his muscles, he popped the joints in his fingers holding the hilt. Not taking his eyes off the creature, he gave the dreaded and awaitedmand with a low and serious tone. "Get ready people. We will charge in together. Try your best, this thing it doesn''t look like your average beast" As he finished, he already had his sword raised in front of him, and with another,st battle shout he and the rest of thepany charged forward, against the unknown creature. Seeing all this y out before him, Aiden tensed his muscles and nted his feet into the ground. Taking in a deep breath, he pushed against the dusty floor, and lunged forward ws barred. As the distance rapidly shrank between them, the group shifted into an impromptu formation: They halted their march; two of the guards jumped to the front, two remained at the back, while their captain remained between the two pairs. As the horrific, ck bloodied ws closed-in on them, the two guards in the front raised their swords in front of the bodies. They were focused on the beast''s movement, ready to parry the deadly blow, protecting their own and the captain''s body. Meanwhile the pair in the back stuck to the walls to the left and right, ready to thrust from their position. Unfortunately, they were expecting the reactions of a mindless, savage beast, but this wolf-human hybrid wasn''t ordinary. Just as Aiden was about to sh with the two guards at the front, he jumped into the air, vaulting above the momentarily stunned guards. As his upper torso reached beyond the human-blockade, he swung down, ripping apart the back of their unprotected heads. Aiden flicked his arms while still in the air in a downwards arc, effortlessly ripping the mutted heads in half, and also throwing their blood and brain matter on their shocked captain. As his ws were no longer barred in the right position, he crashed into the captain as gravity took its toll on his downwards arc, throwing him onto the ground several meters away from his previous position. It all happened in a matter of seconds; two of theirpany were brutally murdered, and their captain lying on the ground covered in dust and bloody bits of the two guards. The remaining two stood still, standing still, their backs still stuck to the wall, nervously gripping their swords, afraid to take any action. Feeling their frightened gazes on his back, Aiden snickered, as he stood up and casually walked to the lying captain. As he dwarfed above the seasoned mercenary, he casually struck down with his right hand, tearing through his leather chest te and pulled his intestines out from his body. The man, still dizzy by the powerful impact, couldn''t react in time, as he heard the sound of his leather chest being ripped apart, and then shortly after as the electrifying shock and burning pain informed him of his gruesome fate. With great difficulty he raised his head, only to see his own intestines spilling out from his lower stomach area, being unfolded onto the ground around him. With its job finished, the furred beast didn''t even bother with him any more, he turned back, facing thest two of the ill-fated group. Watching their proud and powerful captain mangled in mere moments, both guards were shaking in fear, looking at the slowly approaching nightmarish creature. The guy on the right, the same person that had voiced his doubts previously dropped his weapon to the ground and raised his hands into the air. As the monster turned its head to face him, he tried his best at begging. "P-please, spare me! I-I didn''t do anything! L-let me go, I beg you" Although also scared for his life, hisst remaining partner looked at his ''friend'' incredulously. Still grabbing hold of his weapon, he kept it raised towards the ck-furred creature. "What are you crying for? It''s not like this stupid, mindless thing can understand you! It''s just a mindless bea. AAAAAARGH" Halfway through his rant, his voice turned into a gurgling groan. Immediately dropping his weapon, he sped on the remains of his torn neck, the creature he just called stupid and mindless, ripped his trachea into shreds along with most of the apanying front muscle. Blood oozed out from the gaping hole, as the man slowly slid down to the ground with a face stuck in eternal disbelief. He died in seconds. A foul stench reached his sensitive nose,ing from thest remaining, unarmed guy. Turning around he almostughed out, the proud, experienced mercenary actually pissed himself in fright. Aiden took a deep sniff, he wanted to memorize this smell. This was the stench of man who knew his inevitable death wasing for him. This was fear in its truest, purest form. Arriving in front of the sobbing adult, he gently grabbed both of his hands and ced it around his own neck. Leaning closer into his right ear, he growled. As the animalistic low-toned groans entered his ear canal, and his brain processed the words, his tear and snot covered face morphed into a shocked fright. He asked, hoping he misheard the words the beast spoke. "What?" Snickering, Aiden slowly repeated his words, this time changing his tone to the clearer, majestic draconic one. "Kill. Yourself." Hearing the very same words, the guard couldn''t help but repeat them onest time, hoping for some miracle. "K-kill myself?" Grabbing his hands and exerting a tiny fraction of his immense strength, Aiden exerted some pressure and slightly blocking his ability to breathe. As the guard was gasping for air, he rxed his grip and leaned in again. "Yes. Kill yourself. Unless you want me to rip you to shreds Like I did with your friends." His eyes snapping wide, almost falling out of their sockets upon hearing the words he dreaded, the man knew there''s no other solution. There''s no escape, there''s no one that will save him. His only saving grace is that he was given the option to die by his own hands. Taking hisst bits of resolve, he tightened the hold around his own neck. As his breathing became increasingly hard, his hands instinctively started to lessen their grip, but before he could rx in his breathing, the monster''s hand tightened around his own hands, further increasing his own hold. The monster leaned in on his face, looking deep into the man''s dark brown eyes. "Look at me! Look me in the eye as your miserable, worthless life leaves your body. I want to be thest thing you see in this world. Burn my image into your soul, and remember it in your next life" As his breathing became increasingly hard, and his vision blurred, thest words he heard before his mind was engulfed by the weing darkness was the beast''s taunt. Chapter 110 - 110 - A New Discovery As thest guard slumped down on the dungeon floor, Aiden turned his head towards the direction they all came from. He could only map out the dungeon system until this point, his senses were blocked beyond this doorway that was not littered with mutted human corpses. Relying on his smell wasn''t an option either, as it was distracted by the foul stench of piss and the blood of the battle. Even if he could ignore these, it would still not give any fruitful rewards as with all the dirty vesyin and weeping in their own muck and who knows what Sighing defeatedly, he stepped away from the dead body and started walking towards the unknown. He only knew that somewhere inside he could still feel Lily''s presence. He can follow this feeling and let it guide him at least. His thoughts were interrupted when he was about to step over the mutted body of the captain of these guards. As his foot lingered above the carcass, he thought about trying something he never had a chance to so far. "Hmm" He took back his leg and crouched. "It would be good to have Enya''s opinion right now, but oh well It can''t hurt to try" As he took the mask off, it visibly altered its stretched shape back to its original round form. Looking at it, Aiden was once again stunned by the number of resources his strange master has. "I still don''t know if we can fully trust him But after all these years, she has been nothing but helpful. I can also feel she genuinely cares for Lily and me" Aiden looked at the guard''s frozen expression. The fear, the regret, and unwillingness contorted his features, which amused him for some reason. Still, his thoughts were not on the man, as he muttered to himself while he raised his right hand into the air. "...Well, I just hope everything will be fine. I owe her so much already" As his thoughts kept lingering about Number 3, he struck down and dug into the dead body of the guard captain. His hand reached towards the man''s silent but intact heart, and with one decisive notion he ripped it out. Holding it in front of him, Aiden''s thoughts came back to reality. "...Let''s see if this is enough or if I need more Luckily, I have many more test subjects" Taking the organ into his mouth, he started chewing on it. He was never really bothered by taste, the only thing that mattered to him and to his body was the amount of energy he could gain, and in the case of an organism with unique life essences, if it would be enough for him to acquire the new strain to form. Chewing on it just a few times, he then eagerly swallowed and immediately closed his eyes and focused on the potential changes. As the food slid down, it was soonpletely turned into tiny particles as his body and the system processed it. Shortlyter he felt the satisfying warmth spread out from his stomach area all the way to the end of his limbs. A massive amount of energy was released into his body, refreshing him and filling his only slightly drained reserves. In fact, the amount was so much that he had trouble containing it. The power bubbling inside him raged, it wanted to be set free. Abiding by this feeling, he stretched his arms to the sides and raised his head towards the dark ceiling. As he howled with all his breath, the air around him formed into a transparent ring and with a loud explosive sound, it was released. The erupting force was so powerful that the resulting waves that were released to all directions in the air destroyed the nearby sections of the wall and also shattered some of the steel doors in Aiden''s vicinity. A few of the ves that were closest to Aiden also got hit by the powerful shockwave even after it was being significantly weakened going through the walls and the door, throwing their weak and battered bodies back onto the walls. The cracking sound of a neck snapping of one poor unlucky man went unnoticed. He silently fell to the ground, relieved that his misery has finallye to an end The explosion made the whole underground structure slightly shake for a few brief moments. While it was not felt by the guests who were eager to see the start of tonight''s show, it was indeed noticed by a few Granny and Number 3 looked at the ground, towards the source. Sighing, Number 3 grabbed her forehead under her mask, and audibly sighed. "I had a feeling he will not be able to stay calm... Well, it shouldn''t be that much longer now..." The ever-gentle smile did not leave Granny''s face as she kept looking towards Aiden''s direction. "It is fine. We shouldn''t need to keep this up for much longer. As soon as they are ready, we can all leave." --- At another, closed-off area in a dark room, a figure raised his head as he felt the slight vibrations. Looking towards the direction of the sound, his lips morphed into a conniving grin. Although the developments were not in line with his original n, even this turn of events could prove beneficial to his ultimate goal. Shifting back, he looked at the dark door frame as if thinking about his next steps. Shortly after, there was a knocking from the other side of the door. Although there was no response, the door was pushed open, and arge humanoid creature stepped in. The creature had dark brown skin with a tinge of dark green mixed. His face resembled a human although both of his canines were mutated intorge fangs, it reached out of his mouth all the way to his wide nose. His headpletely bald, there was no hair on his face, not even eyebrows. His forehead bulged out slightly, providing some extra cover to his small dark brown eyes hiding behind the shadow it created. He wore the same ck decorated leather chest te that all the guards were, although his chest was barren beneath it. His bulging muscles could be barely contained by the reinforced padded armor piece. The creature stopped a few steps away from the desk, looking at the figure unnaturally shrouded in the shadows, even as the light from the hallway cast a stark trapezoid onto the floor of the dimly lit room. "Master." The creature bowed in respect, as the word left his mouth. His voice was deep and hoarse. "Rx. Let him take her. It is okay. While I didn''t know he is this powerful, it is actually a good thing. This can very well work in our favor Don''t even tell the warden, let him die with his toy soldiers and pets. With him in the picture, we can now start focusing on the next phase of our n" The shadowy silhouette spoke, then as it silenced, the air behind him vibrated and a ck gate, simr to the one Number 3 used for the pocket world opened. "Come, we should go now." As soon as he finished, his figure vanished in the swirling energy mass in the portal''s surface. Obeying his master''s words, the creature simply grunted, and walked into the portal. As his bulky figure vanished, the portal also closed, leaving only the empty dark room behind. --- After some time, Aiden finally calmed down. He felt his body was refreshed and was full of power as if he just woke up and hadn''t just been through a brutal massacre. Opening his eyes, he was shocked by the carnage and destruction that was all around him. Rubbles, remains of the previously standing wall and steel splinters and pieces of the destroyed cell doors lie in the dirt. The dead bodies that surrounded him were no longer there, there were no traces of them left. He also saw a message blinking at the corner of his eyes. As he opened it, he was shocked by its contents. [New Life Essence found! New Form - Human created! Assimtion avable for currently active default state Beginning process Estimated time beforepletion: 00 hours : 01 minutes : 00 seconds] ''Huh? What the...?'' Aiden was bbergasted at this new discovery. He received a new form, but as he already had a simr feature with his default draconic state, the system automatically merged the two together. What did that mean? ''Will my appearance change?'' He frowned at the idea, and then with a sigh, he pulled out the white mask that he ced into his inventory previously. As he ced the mask on his face, it automatically changed, to cover all of its features once again. Deciding that it''s best to wait for the system to finish up, he sat down cross-legged, and closed his eyes, trying to feel out his body, while also monitoring the countdown. As the countdown reached zero, a new message appeared in front of Aiden, which he couldn''t read as just as the timerpleted, a searing pain entered his mind, causing him to clench his head with both of his hands, and focus all of his willpower not to scream out loud. A few momentster the pain was reced by a sudden surge of pictures, images, moments of another life As he focused on these images, he soon realized, he was watching the memories of the guard captain! Chapter 111 - 111 - Memories Images kept flooding Aiden''s mind, filling his consciousness. He saw all the important moments of his life, starting all the way from the moment his newborn hazy eyes first met with the light of the outside world. The look on his mother and father as they greeted their newborn child. "Wee to the world, Igor." Were the father''s first words to his son. Then, their happy, tear-stained faces as they watched him take his first uncertain steps. The images kept shing, as one moment yed out, it was quickly reced by another, ying the next. He saw his first spar with his father as he trained him with the ways of the sword. His first test showed he has no affinity towards any element. The sad look on his parents'' faces, as they tried to console him. Aiden felt the man''s determination at that point. That moment was the first of many that shaped his life and ultimately led him to his demise as a guard captain working for a shady underground organization, beating, torturing, and selling ves. The videos kept ying in Aiden''s mind, soon the small boy was in histe teens, happy and proud. He was marching towards the City Guard Barracks. After years of training with his father who held the rank of Sergeant, he was sure he would be able to pass the test and join up. Ever since he failed the magic affinity test, he was pushing extra hard to be an exceptional swordsman. He hated the sad look on his parents'' faces, he was determined to never experience it again. Opening the door into the building, he was stopped by the entrance when a familiar, and very much hated voice came from behind. "Where do you think you''re going, Igor? This is no ce for talentless weaklings like yourself!" His hand still on the handle, Igor turned his head sideways to catch a glimpse of the red-haired, freckled young boy behind him. He was wearing the city guard''s uniform, reflecting the fact that he already passed the test that Igor was just attempting for the first time. Snorting in contempt, he pushed on the lever and slowly opened the barrack''s door. Just before he took a step inside, he contemptuously snorted at the boy. "It has nothing to do with you, Ginger. Fuck off." Leaving the boy fuming in anger, he entered the building. However, before he could take another step, he was stopped once again by a booming voiceing from his left. "Stop! Who are you and what business do you have here?! This area is off-limits to civilians!" Turning to the left, Igor faced the owner of the voice, arge man wearing a set of hardened leather armor over his chest and legs. He had leather gloves on his hands and a matching leather head cap at the top of his head. His weapon, a pike, was resting beside him leaning against the wall. Igor respectfully bowed his head, as he spoke. "Sir, I''m here to take on the test and join the ranks. I wish to be just like my father, a City Guard!" Looking at the boy, the man hummed as he grabbed his chin, contemting over something. After several seconds, he snorted and posed another question against the boy. "Who is your father, boy?" Igor audibly gulped to swallow his fears, and respectfully answered. "It''s Sergeant Rex Collins, from the 5th Group, Sir!" "Hmmm So, you are Collins'' brat A''ight, then!" He said, then he hit Igor''s back causing the boy to almost fall on his face by the sudden force. He took several steps forward to resist the power behind the casual hit. Seeing this, the man roared heartily, enjoying the boy''s misery. "Ahahahaha, oh boy Listen, boy! Go to the right and walk straight all the way to the end of the hallway. Knock on Captain Hills'' door, and state your business, he will sort you out!" He said. Igor nodded. He could still hear the guard''s heartyughter echoing through the corridor, apanied by thest words he threw towards him. "I hope we will meet again over lunch someday!" The scene ended as Igor knocked on the wooden door of the captain''s office, and it was reced by another scene that shaped the deceased man''s life. It was a rainy evening. Igor, who was already wearing the City Guard''s uniform, was nervously rushing towards his family home. He was gripping his sword in his hands. His de was still red, stained by the blood it tasted just minutes ago. Rushing through the streets, he knocked over several civilians that stood in his way. Nothing mattered anymore. As he reached the family home, he stopped before the wrecked gate. He waste. They have already arrived. His face turned gloomy, and he fixed his grip on his sword''s hilt. Taking a deep breath, and exhaling he refocused his senses. Walking over the splintered wooden pieces that were the remains of the gate, he took one quick glimpse on the ground where his childhood friend, his dog, Mackie was lying dead in his own blood. There was arge cut on his neck and a footprint on his belly. Probably he was kicked to the side after they slid its throat. Approaching the door, the sound of steel shing and the cries of a familiar voice reached his ears. ''There''s still hope! He is still alive!'' Relieved by the realization, Igor donned a small smile, as he pushed on the door, only to have it frozen in the next second. Just as he pushed on the door, he saw as the red-haired, freckled young man, his hated nemesis stabbed his father in the back while he was busy defending against another thug. Looking at the door, his father gasped for air, shocked at the realization that he was defeated in such a way. "Noooooo!" Igor shouted as he watched the de prate his father''s back. The red-haired man delighted that Igor came in just at the right moment, looked at him with a cruel grin on his face. "Look at your father! Look him in the eyes as life slowly leaves his pathetic body! Look how he dies because of you!" He kept moving the de inside the man''s body, wreaking havoc everywhere it reached. Rex, Igor''s father coughed up a mouthful of blood, spitting it on the thug''s face that he was just battling a moment ago. Then he slowly turned his face towards his son, and with a fading voice, he spoke. "I''m sorry I wasn''t strong enough" He coughed another mouthful of blood as the red-haired menace kept thrashing and slicing his organs. With onest kick from him, his body fell to the ground with a loud thud. The man motioned with his sword towards Igor, and the two thugs that kept battling his father approached him, while the red-haired boy turned towards his mother crying in the corner of the room. His voice carried a familiar contempt, something that Aiden recognized from the previous memory. "You know You should have never crossed me. I gave you a chance to fall in line, but you refused. Now, you will watch as I take everything from you slowly" As the man approached the crying and desperate woman, the scene faded and was reced by yet another. The scenes, the moments of the man''s life kept ying inside Aiden''s mind, revealing all his dark and closely guarded secrets. He learned as to how that moment of despair forever marked his soul and changed him. The light, the justice failed him, and he lost his father, and shortly after, his mother. They left him there, watching as his nemesis brutally vited his mother and killed her right in front of his eyes. After that moment, he no longer feltpelled to fight for justice. Shortly after he quit the city guards and started working as a mercenary. During one of his gigs yearster, he met with a man that offered him the chance to enact revenge and join him, which Igor dly epted. Strangely, Igor had no memory of the man''s face, it was a ck blur in all of his memories. The red-haired man, who Igor refused to even remember his name, waster promoted and became the leader of the 5th Group, the same group his father and himself used to be a part of. With the help of his mysterious new employer, they managed to lure the red-haired freckled man and his thugs into a trap and capture them. He personally finished off all the thugs but kept the red-haired man chained and alive for weeks. They captured all of his families, and Igor spent each and every day to torture and kill off everyst member of his family n right in front of his very eyes. The young, the elderly none were spared. He kept the man alive to watch as all of his rtives, his son, and his wife was brutally murdered right in front of his eyes. The feeling as Igor saw the despair and craze shroud the man''s eyes was euphoric to him. He felt invigorated! Chapter 112 - 112 - Shining Beacon In The Dark From that point onwards, Igor''s memories were full of darkness and vile. The intoxicating feeling forever tainted his soul, andter he officially joined up with his mysterious employer,ter bing one of his Guard Captains when he opened up The Pit. The memories kept shing in front of Aiden until it finally got to thest day of Igor''s life. He watched as they brought his chained sister, Lily, and entered the Warden''s office. He saw as the man tried to push himself on her but failed and got punished in the end. He watched as they took her away and as the group of 7, the very same guards he just murdered, vented their frustrations on her for hours. They couldn''t enjoy her body to the fullest as their Master has warned them that she has to be kept intact for the auction after the match, but that didn''t mean they couldn''t torture and humiliate her. Aiden clenched his fists as the moments of her humiliation and torture kept ying to him. How they ripped off her clothes and beat her with a whip. How they kicked and punched her chained body until it was bloodied. How she could do nothing but hold her tears and voice, how she tried to defy them, and not give them any satisfaction, only to anger them further. Eventually, the torture ended, and they threw a low-grade healing potion on her, that was just enough to put her in fighting shape, but not enough to remove the scars and bruises from her body. The scene didn''t y for too long after that, it was just minutes before they heard his howling and rushed into their own deaths. As the vision ended, his raging heart was interrupted by the sound of the System''s notification. [Assimtionplete! Memories processed, System updated!] Although the message was rtively vague, Aiden still got the gist of it. As he consumed the guard captain, besides his life essence, he also gained his memories. As he checked the new Map, he also understood that as the System processed these memories, it also updated itself. ''This whole thing is just way too bizarre'' he muttered. The System he was ''blessed'' with kept making decisions after decisions without bothering to ask for input from his behalf. He previously thought that this was the work of Enya, but it seems that was not entirely true. Regardless, this turn of events was beneficial for him in his current situation. He now had apleteyout of the underground tunnel system, with all the relevant names marked as well. He got more and more anxious, as the seconds passed, while he continued to scan through the names on his map. He couldn''t find Lily''s name anywhere! In the end, he found a cell named ''The Vignte'' that he remembered being mentioned in one of Igor''s memories. He wasn''t sure who this nickname meant, but he could remember the bits and pieces where this name was mentioned in Igor''sst days. His master wanted to capture this person, as it caused a significant setback for his business. As he concentrated on the memory, he also remembered how they wanted to lure this Hero of Justice into a trap by capturing the owners of the General Store behind the Marketce. Aiden remembered that kind elderly couple that used to live there. He could only hope that nothing bad happened to them The captain had no memories of them, so most likely he never went to that ce. He wasn''t part of that part of the n. As he finally settled the raging tide in his mind, Aiden stood up, and marking the location of this person, he stepped over the dead body of the guard captain, looking towards the direction of the open-space room, that they used to rest in-between shifts. Taking a step forward, he once again stopped in his tracks and turned to face the mutted carcass. Crouching down next to it, he took the set of keys that hung from his belt. "Thanks!" He thanked the dead body and stood up. Although he could probably get into any door he wanted to, he didn''t want to trigger any potential rms or traps. Although, as he looked around checking all the carnage he left behind, people probably already know about his presence. Turning away, he looked in the direction of the room once again. Turning his head sideways, he looked down at the ground, in the still open eyes of the man. Opening his mouth, he only whispered his next words. "And I''m sorry for what happened to your family. Hope you could finally be reunited with them." Saying everything he wanted and with the keychain in his possession, he left the gruesome site and walked towards the guard''s room. As he crossed the room, he grabbed the weapons ced in the room. A couple of bows, a few quivers full of arrows, pikes, halberds, a few round shields, and some short swords. Checking his map, he noted the route that he had to take to reach the Vignte''s location. From a slow leisurely stroll, he gradually increased his pace into a jog. He wasn''t sure how much time he had spent processing the memories of the captain. From the n they discussed, he knew he only had a limited timeframe to free Lily. As he crossed the halls, his thoughts went back to the silver-haired boy that came for simr reasons. ''I hope they are out by now Sadly I can''t check on them. Still, it''s weird how deep and extensive this whole ce is Howe nobody ever noticed it from the City Guards?'' His face turned glum as he remembered the Red-Haired, Freckled boy that caused so much misery to Igor. ''Yes Obviously they already know about it, they just chose to ignore it. Money? Power? Whatever the reason, they can''t be trusted either.'' Turning right in the next corner, he further increased his pace, as if to vent the bubbling frustration inside his heart. As his thoughts kept running back and forth on these matters, unbeknownst to him, the eye sockets of his mask were tasked with the lighting from his eyes. Every now and then, a hint of red tainted the otherwise bright golden brilliance. ''They can''t be trusted. Nobody can be trusted in this city. Everybody has his or her own goals, their own agenda, their own desires'' Realizing the dangerous course of his thoughts, he slowed his jog to a sudden halt. The red tinge in his eyes shed again as the anger in his heart erupted. He hit the steel door that was just next to him with a powerful blow, tearing arge fist-sized hole in the middle. Taking a deep breath, he forcefully calmed himself. The red faded from his eyes, returning to its ''normal'' golden state. "What is wrong with me?" He sighed to himself. Shaking his head, Aiden ignored the frightened look of the cell''s resident, as he inched closer to the hole in his door. Picking up the pace again, he soon ran through the halls of the prison block. As he kept closing in on his destination, he was alerted that even though he crossed many hallways, and saw countless prison cells, he couldn''t feel Lily any closer than before. He was hoping that it was just some sort of warding that blocked his senses from connecting with her, and nothing worse. Eventually, he arrived in front of a thick ck door that contrary to the others, it had no barred window to gaze into. On the map, he saw the dot that was supposed to represent the resident, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t feel any presence on the other side of this door. ''Hmm I guess it is warded against such measures'' Aiden thought. Picking up the crude iron key, he inserted it into the keyhole. As the satisfying loud clicking sound signaled that the door is now unlocked, Aiden suddenly felt a wave of nervousness wash over him. Grabbing the lever, he slowly pulled on the door, opening it slightly ajar with a loud creaking sound. The dim light from the eerie hallway fell pale as revealed a dark and dusty room. As Aiden carefully peered through the gap, his eyes took a brief moment to get used to the darkness. As his [Dark Sense] automatically activated, the singr resident of the nightmarish void was revealed. In the far corner of the room, in chains sat a slender figure. Even though it was dark, he felt a vague familiarity with her silhouette. Pushing the door further, Aiden stepped inside the chamber, his eyes resting on the person. As he took the first step in, the figure raised her head, looking at the new arrival. As soon as she saw him standing in the doorway, she stood up. Although the chains kept her in ce, she still slowly approached as far as she could. A warmth of happiness that she finally met her dearest brother filled her heart. She called out with a crackling voice. He finally arrived, he came to rescue her! Her hero, her shining beacon in the dark! "Broother! You finally came!" Chapter 113 - 113 - Change Of Plans Seeing his dear little sister so roughed up was especially hard for Aiden. With tightly clenched fists and trying his best to stay as calm as possible, he approached the chained-up girl standing a few meters in front of him. Just as he was about to reach the girl, who had her arms raised in the air inviting his brother into a hug, with a tear- and snot-stained face, his figure flickered and vanished only to appear right behind her. He grabbed the shackles holding her snow-white legs captive, and with a decisive motion, he ripped them apart. Then he pulled out a rough, light brown linen bag, that had three holes at the bottom. While it wasn''t its nned use, it could be used as a makeshift dress. He silently pulled the sack over the stumped Lily, who silently raised her arms to the air, and with a smile raised her chin as the cloth fell on top of her head. As soon as her arms found their exits, she firmly wrapped her arms around Aiden. As she hid her face in his chest, the tears once again escaped from the corner of her eyes. She kept silently sobbing for the next couple of minutes, while Aiden did nothing but kept her in his firm embrace. He removed the mask from his face and leaned close to her ears. "There, there I''m sorry you had to suffer. Everything is going to be okay now. I''m never going to leave you again. Calm down, Lily." he whispered kindly into her ears. In response, she only increased the intensity of her sobbing, eliciting a loud cry. As the minutes continued to pass one after another, Lily finally showed signs of calming down. As her loud sobs started to fade, she looked up from the firm embrace she was still enjoying. The pain that continued to contort his facial muscles slowly rxed, and as she closed her eyes, she sniffed his scent while contentedly whispering a soft sigh. "I missed you, brother I really did" Kissing the top of her head, Aiden smiled as he responded. "I missed you too, big sis!" Then, while keeping up the firm hug, he asked with a serious tone. "Tell me, what happened? Why did you end up here?" Another sigh escaped Lily''s lips when she heard his question. This one however carried an obvious pain that Aiden could feel. "I messed up... "Was the only words she managed to squeeze out. Her mind wandered back to the elderly couple that most likely met their ends because of her meddling, and the tears once again started to gather at the corner of her eyes, threatening the girl and the boy with their escape. Gently wiping her eyes with his hand, Aiden softly spoke. "No, Lily, you didn''t. Whatever you did, I''m sure you had a good reason for it. Please, tell me everything from the very beginning." Sniffing, Lily started recounting the story of how she first arrived in the city, how she met with the Norton''s, how she heard their problems, and then eventually how she dealt with the group of bandits. Then she started telling the events how she registered as an adventurer and her first adventure but she was stopped midway as Aiden silenced her. "Wait, who is this Sir Michael you keep talking about?! Why did he apany you? Didn''t you say he is the top-ranked adventurer in the city? Why would he spend a whole day escorting a neer?" Aiden asked with annoyance and incredulity in his voice. "Oh, he is a very kind person! He came to me during that big meeting and said it is his duty as a knight to help. He apanied me to my first quest and even helped me with the killing and gathering stuff. He even invited me to lunch when we got back to the Guild Hall! He has ess to the office area!" Lily answered with a smile on her face. "Still, that doesn''t exin why he spends so much time with you. Well It doesn''t matter, we can investigate itter. Please, continue with your story." Although he had a bad feeling about the man in question, he decided to not think about it, for now, it wasn''t relevant to their current predicament after all. "Okay, brother. So, after the events with the guild, as it was still early in the day, I decided to visit the Norton''s once again before I would have gone back home However, when I arrived at their store, I felt something wasn''t right" Lily continued to recount the events obediently, even if they were painful to recall. As she arrived at the point where she found Ms. Norton''s severed hand pinned against the storage wall with a message inviting her to the marked building, she was already sobbing. Wrapping her in his firm embrace, Aiden once again kissed the top of her head and let her cry to her heart''s content, silently waiting, cradling her. Eventually, she managed to calm down, and her sobbing stopped. Raising her head, she looked at her brother''s gently smiling handsome face. As if just remembering something, she asked. "By the way, brother, who is Enya?" Hearing the question, Aiden froze in ce. With a shocked expression, he looked down at his sister. "H-how do you know about that name?" Confirming her suspicions, she continued her interrogation instead of answering. "So, you do know her Who is she to you?!" Seeing that there''s no escape, Aiden defeatedly sighed. "She is hmm let''s say a sort of family figure? A guide? Not sure to be honest. She is from somewhere far away. You don''t have to fear her. Did you meet with her?" Nodding, Lily answered. "Yes. At night when we got back from the Pocket World, she appeared in front of us. You know, we were very worried about you!" She started answering, but as she remembered how her brother fell through the portal unconsciously, she got mad. "Yeah... I''m sorry, during the fight, I somehow tapped into something inside me, but I wasn''t ready, I guess. I overtaxed myself and the bacsh was that I got into some sort of deep sleep." Aiden exined grabbing the back of his head with his right hand. "Yes, that''s what she said as well. She said we do not need to worry, you will wake up by yourself in due time. We just needed to be patient. During that time, I wanted to surprise you, so I came to the city and joined the guild as an adventurer. But due to my actions that kind couple They are probably. Already" She continued, but as she got back on the topic of the Norton''s her voice cracked, and the tears started gathering in her eyes, clouding her vision. However, Aiden''s next words shocked the girl. "Don''t worry! I know where they are kept actually. I know where they are kept actually." Looking at her brother in the eye, she left her embrace and grabbed his shoulders. "Where?! Are you sure? We have to save them! Granny and master might be able to heal them!" Grabbing her hands, Aiden peeled her hands off his shoulder. Smiling, he caressed her head. "Are you sure? You have been through a lot already. Master firmly ordered me that once I found you, I should bring you to safety, you know." Lily firmly shook her head in response. "No! I''m not leaving if there''s even the tiniest chance of saving them both! Also, we can''t just escape! There''s a lot of people suffering here, and that that nasty warden He he" Remembering the experience, was once again proved too much for her heart, she couldn''t continue. However, this time, she refused to weep, or even let a single teardrop out. She steeled her heart, and just simply averted her gaze. "I understand. Master will not be happy with us, you know" he said with a wry smile. Lily looked sternly at Aiden, and while shaking her head, she continued. "Don''t worry about her, brother. She will understand! We can''t leave these poor souls here! They they suffered enough!" Seeing her sister''s resolve, Aiden relented with a smile. "Sure big sis! I already nned to paint these halls red with their blood for the pain and suffering they caused for you. We could add saving the Norton''s to the list before we leave, it doesn''t really matter. I will receive a stern lecture either way." Snuggling back into his brother''s warmth, Lily giggled for the first time since they reunited. "Ehehehe I knew you would not be able to just simply leave! My dear brother!" Giving the girl onest kiss on the top of her head, Aiden broke the hug they were still keeping. Then as he extended his hands a simple wooden longbow and a quiver filled with arrows materialized. "In that case, take these, I grabbed them along the way. I want to see how the city''s newest registered adventurer deals justice Miss Vignte!" He said in a mocking tone. In return, Lily simply flicked her tongue and took the weapon. "Let''s go!" Chapter 114 - 114 - Reaching Out Two youths, a boy, wearing a torn ck shirt and simr pants and a girl wearing a brown linen bag over her body could be seen trekking through the dimly lit eerie underground hallways. The boy had a white faceless mask hiding her facial features, only the faint golden glow that emanated through the tiny eye sockets could betray him. The girl looked ratherical with therge sack being used as her makeshift dress. She cut a bit off from the edges to create a belt, which she tied over her waist. She had a wooden bow ced across her back alongside with a quiver chock full of arrows. Contrary to her usual self, she had a serious expression on her face as she walked alongside the long ck-haired masked boy. As they walked through the dark underground tunnel, the girl kept swaying her eyes to the left and right. There were countless steel doors with barred small windows on each side wherever they went. Behind each door, she could hear the muffled cries of the wretched. Each cell contained at least one but sometimes more people, ves who lost their human rights, either willingly or forced. As they arrived at the next intersection, the boy turned to the right, only to enter the exact same hallway for the 5th time. With an annoyed grunt, the girl loudly sighed. "This ce is way too huge! I can''t even count how many cells are here! How can we rescue so many people, brother?" The boy smiled at herment under his mask. "Don''t worry about it, Lily. I know you want to help everyone, but we have to focus on what''s important. We will have our revenge" He spoke but as he saw the usatory look on her sister''s face, he coughed and corrected himself, "...sorry, we will enact justice on the ones responsible first, then make sure to rescue Mr. and Mrs. Norton and leave. As for the rest, you don''t need to worry, it will be handled by someone else." ''At least I hope so But I wouldn''t put too much hope into it, considering the city guards are most likely in it as well...'' he added inwardly only. "Hmmm And how much longer before we reach that bastard?" The blonde-haired girl, Lily inquired. She wanted to meet with the Norton''s, she wasn''t too keen on meeting up with the Warden once again. "Not much longer. There''s a room at the end of this hall where I can''t peer into. It seems to be warded. But from the information I have, it should be arger one. Most likely it''s an office." Aiden recounted the information he had on his map. He decided to skip through the details of how he got the information. He wasn''t sure how Lily would react, besides she was through enough already. The only reason he agreed to her request to bring her with him, was that Aiden felt better knowing she was close to her. If something unexpected happens, he could use the crystal to take her away. However, as they continued to cross the remaining distance, Lily couldn''t help but speak up once again. "You know, brother, where are all the guards? Why didn''t we meet a single one? When I was taken to that cell, they were stationed pretty regrly. However, "we haven''t met a single one so far" She confusedly asked. "Yeah, I only met one group on my way to you actually. I''m not entirely sure, they may have been alerted? I may have been a bit too loud" He answered, remaining as nonchnt as ever. "Oh! You were the cause of that earthquake? The ground was shaking so hard. I couldn''t hear anything, but somehow I knew it in my heart that it had to be you!" Lily eximed as a small smile revealed itself on her face, remembering the moment she knew his brother wasing. Thinking about that, another question popped into her mind. Not hesitating she asked. "By the way, where''s Master and Granny? Did theye as well? Previously, I think I felt her presence as well, but I wasn''t sure it was really faint." Aiden halted his steps, as he pondered how to answer the question. To bepletely honest, he wasn''t sure if they are still in the building, or if they have left already. The n originally was to rush to Lily as quickly as possible then escape using the crystal he got. However, when he absorbed the first human, he lost any sense of time as the new memories flooded his mind. Realizing this, he almost hit his own head, as if he could reach out to Lily, he most likely could do the same to his Master or Granny as well! "I''m not sure actually" He answered to Lily after a few moments of silence. I came with them and another person who also had someone that had to be saved, but we all separated and I''m not sure how much time I spent down here Give me a minute, let me try and see if I can reach out to them. I could actually reach you" He answered then, not waiting for an answer, he sat down on the ground in a cross-legged position and closed his eyes. Focusing his mind, he tried sensing a pulse, finding a familiar aura, in the general direction he believed they should still be at. He also tapped into his energy reserves, empowering his ability. Unfortunately, he couldn''t find any traces of them. Maybe he was too deep down or maybe something else was missing, or maybe something was blocking his attempts Whatever the case, he couldn''t feel their presence anywhere. Agitated he tried injecting more power into his ability to sense his surroundings, but he never received any satisfactory response. As if sensing his brother''s troubles, Lily gently wrapped his arms around his neck from the back and gave her a loud kiss on his right cheeks as she leaned over. Then resting her head on his shoulder, she softly whispered. "Don''t worry, brother. I know you can do it! You mentioned you can take us out using a crystal. Maybe using the crystal, you can use the crystal for something other than porting away?" Hearing her suggestion, Aiden''s eyes suddenly snapped open and he jumped up from his sitting position, startling the girl. "You''re right! I''m such an idiot!" He eximed as materialized the small transparent ss crystal he received from his Master. cing it in his hands, he closed his eyes, and focusing on the tiny object, he started injecting some of his energy into it. Immediately, as his energy mixed with the strange substance floating inside the crystal, he felt a familiar presenceing from it. In the next moment, a mature female voice, his master''s resounded in his mind. ''What is it, Aiden? Where are you right now? Did you find Lily?'' She fired her questions as soon as she felt that the connection was established. ''Yes, Master. I have found and rescued Lily already. We are on our wa-'' He started exining their intentions, but he was cut short with Number 3''s angry shout. ''THEN WHY ARE YOU NOT BACK YET?! The prince and the princess have alreadye back, what are you doing down there still? I do believe I told you to go for the girl ande back! So, tell me, what are you doing exactly? And don''t you bother lying, we already felt you releasing your powers previously." ''Uhm'' Aiden hesitantly started his exnation. ''I''m sorry, I was met with some guards and had to uhm kill them.'' ''Yes, go on. That doesn''t exin the sudden release of power.'' Number 3 threw her response, startling Aiden once again. ''Uhm I''m not sure, as I fought it just sort of happened I will exin it better when we are back, but we can''t leave until we rescue a family. Tell Granny we are on our way to rescue the Norton''s she will know who they are. Lily wants them safe, as she feels responsible for what happened to them.'' ''Ugh How troublesome.'' Number 3''s tired voice resounded in Aiden''s mind. ''Fine. Go get them. But try not to murder anybody else before you get back, okay?'' ''About that'' Aiden started ''...There''s one more person that I will rip to pieces before I leave. I will ept any punishment, but I''m not leaving until I crushed the man''s heart right before their eyes and hung him from his own intestines.'' His rage could be felt on the other side. He didn''t exin further, he remained silent. He couldn''t possibly exin what happened to his sister without the fear of going berserk with rage after all. After a brief moment of silence, Number 3''s stern voice resounded in his mind. ''I understand. Do it. But after you are done, get back, okay? AND KEEP LILY SAFE!'' It seems she understood the gravity of the situation without any further exnation. Opening his eyes, he broke the connection by stopping injecting his energy into the swirling mass inside the crystal. As the crystal vanished from his hands, he looked back at Lily, and with a cruel grin under the mask, he spoke. "Let''s go, Sis! It''s time for payback!" Chapter 115 - 115 - Suffocating Fury Approaching halfway through the hall, Aiden and Lily finally spotted the ck door at the end. As the crudely painted red eagle insignia became visible in the distance, Lily subconsciously clenched his fists and audibly gulped. She turned glum and set her gaze towards the dusty floor. Seeing her reaction, Aiden reached out, gently patting the top of her head, startling her in the process. "It''s okay, Lily. Calm down. It will be over soon." Enjoying the warmth of his hand a bit more, Lily could only muster a weak "Uhm" in response. As the hand left her head, she looked at it yearnfully. Arriving before the unguarded steel door, Aiden grabbed the handle. Before he pushed in on it, he faced his sister who was looking in front of herself, psyching up for the uing emotional encounter. Sighing, he softly whispered. "Listen I may lose my calm in front of this bastard and may turn violent. In fact, it''s already getting harder to contain myself and not rip this door open and shred everybody inside to pieces. I... just want you to know" He spoke, however, he was silenced before he could finish his thoughts as Lily ced her right index finger on his mask. Although it wasn''t that effective, he still subconsciously silenced himself. Looking at her, he saw her painful yet heartfelt smile. As the tears slowly started escaping the corner of her eyes, she faintly muttered. "It''s okay I will never be afraid of you. Do what you must. I know you have to vent your pain, otherwise, it would consume you. Don''t forget, I know you the best, brother." Seeing her face, and hearing the pure honesty and love flowing through her voice, Aiden could only muster a curt "Thanks."in response. Then, as he turned towards the door once again, the glow in his eyes increased in intensity, as he pushed down the handle and pulled therge door open, slowly revealing the bright interior. Contrary to the entire facility, the room had multiple lit torches spread all around the room lighting the room to an almost daylight luster. At the far end, behind a steel table, the warden sat with a smug look on his stubbly face. In front of him, a full group of ten guards wearing the same studded leather breastte, decorated at the edges with the same heraldic designs as the ones before. However, contrary to those, these chest tes also had the crudely painted red eagle insignia above their heart. Their reinforced leather pants also had the same design. They all also had a ck leather helmet on their heads providing additional protection andpletely hiding their facial features. Theced leather gloves they were wearing had small metallic protrusions on them concentrated around the knuckles. They had varying weapons already in their hands. Some hadrge halberds, some had long swords. A few maces could also be seen. Two ck war dogs, dressed in armor were also present, snarling menacingly at the two neers. As the warden looked at the two youths willingly walking into the trap he so ''cleverly'' set, he couldn''t help butugh out loudly. "Ahahaha! Wee, wee!" Looking at the girl with contemptuous eyes, he smugly continued. "Wee back Miss Vignte! You didn''t think that I wouldn''t take revenge on what you did previously?! You really thought you have a chance against us? You should already know your ce!" He spat on the ground and continued. Aiden and Lily watched him with a frighteningly calm expression, although Aiden''s couldn''t be seen, but felt. "You ves You should just be under your master, epting your fate. Yet, you dare to defy me?! Oh, this is gonna be so much fun, as I watch you lie in the pool of your own blood. You and your... " He looked at the small, frail boy next to the girl. "...''friend'' gonna regret ever crossing me." He pushed the word, showing his contempt against him. Then looking at the guards, he was about to continue but was silenced as the boy raised his right hand in front of his masked face as if he was contemting something. As his eye sockets continued to emit a bright golden light, he scanned through all the present guards before he calmly spoke. "Is this all of your guards? Are they some sort of elite group?" Thinking that the boy was trying to mask his fright with his forced cool, the warden smugly replied. "Yeah, they are all the best of the best, the elites. Each one of them worth more than 10 city guards. They are the best private force money can buy. What? Are you scared?" A guard that stood in the middle of the group, scuffed as he looked at the unarmed boy. "Tsk! Who told you toe here? You can only me yourself for your own stupidity. Don''t even dream about leaving this room alive, boy. You and your girlfriend will be served as food for our dogs!" Hearing the word ''girlfriend'', caused Lily to turn beet red, while Aiden, slowly looked at the two war hounds growling at him. Then he slowly gazed at the man. As the golden glow in his eye got tainted by a tinge of red, the guard gripped the hilt of his long sword tighter. He suddenly felt a wave of dread wash over him something terrible,ing from the boy. "So" Aiden calmly spoke. "...are you this group of guard''s self-proimed leader? Are you the strongest from them?" Although unsure of the boy''s real strength now, he still felt confident in dealing with this wretched sod. He confidently nodded at the question. "Yes. I am. Are you ready to beg? I may give you a quick death if I feel you''re honest." "Hmmm" Aiden looked at Lily and asked. "What do you say, ''VIGILANTE''," he deliberately put emphasis on the word. "Should we go on our knees and beg for forgiveness? Is this why we are here?" Responding to the question, Lily chuckled lightly, as she shook her head. "Ehehehe, I don''t think so!" Nodding, Aiden turned towards the self-proimed leader. Suddenly his figure distorted and vanished, only to appear right in front of the man in the next instant. Looking deep into the startled man''s eyes, his voice gradually turned into a predatory deep growl. "You know, why would I beg someone that''s just about to die" As his voice changed, so did his hands. His fingers increased in length, his nails transformed into long ck ws. His creole skin grew shiny golden scales. With a decisive thrust, his wed hand easily tore through the reinforced leather protecting his upper torso. Before he or anybody could react to the sudden turn of events, Aiden already had his wed right hand deep in their captain''s stomach. The bone-chilling sound of flesh rending could be heard, as his ws wrought havoc in the man. Then finding his target, Aiden grabbed hold of the man''s intestines and pulled them out of his body, spilling it on the floor. Dropping the weapon, he fell on his knees just like he mocked the boy previously. A bloody gurgling sound came from him, his face morphed into a frightened expression, as he looked at his own spilled insides falling to the ground. Watching their captain fall to the ground in mere seconds, with his own blood and organs ripped to shreds by a boy that looked pathetic and harmless just a moment ago, they couldn''t react. Even the warden had a horrified expression instead of the previous smug one he arrogantly wore previously. As Aiden also unfolded his Draconic Aura, they felt his suffocating presence in the room. The terrifying power he emitted caused the vicious war hounds to whimper and fall back hiding behind their master''s legs. Everybody, except for Lily felt the same dread wash over them, silently watching while nervously gripping their weapons, waiting for a miracle. As their captain fell down to the dust floor, Aiden scoffed at him. "What? No response? So rude" Then ignoring the dying soul, he turned his gaze towards the fat man sitting behind the desk. "What? You were so arrogant before, why are you silent now? Why aren''t you ordering your men to attack? Hmm What did you say? How did you phrase it?" He grabbed his chin with his bloodied ws contemting on the man''s earlier words. Turning his head towards Lily, he asked as if it would be the most important thing right now. "Lily! What did he say to us? I can''t recall" Chuckling, Lily put her small hand against her mouth, as she answered her brother. She waspletely unphased by what just transpired as if this was apletely normal thing to do. "I believe he said, we will regret ever crossing him, and that he will watch us with satisfaction lying in our own pool of blood in front of him." Raising his right index finger, his gaze turned towards the now-frightened warden. "Ah, that''s right! Now I remember!" Leaning closer, the warden could see as the red reced the golden luster in his eyes, scaring him even more so than before. "So, do you regret crossing us now?" Chapter 116 - 116 - Regret (Part 1) Matching the youth''s terrifying golden re, the warden started to sweat profusely. If he knew that this blonde brat had such a monster for a brother, he would have never dared to have any thoughts towards her. He would have even offered his help and helped her regain her freedom. That way he could have scored a valuable ally for the future and finally form his own enterprise, be somebody in this world! s, he didn''t know, and his lustful thoughts caused the ire of this monstrous existence. Even just now, he further gloated in front of this boy and continued with his childish taunts. Only now, did he realize how much of an idiot he was. "I I" he stammered. He truly feared this young man in front of him. The power he has just shown was beyond anything he had ever witnessed. Not even those high-grade warriors and martial artists he had heard myths and tales about could be this fast and decisive! Resting his hands behind his back, Aiden took a step back, right next to his still smiling sister. From all the horrors she faced today, she could only feel safe when she was close to her brother. To her, her brother, her hero was beyond anything this world could offer, she would always be confident about his triumph over their enemies. "Yes?" Aiden asked with the same chilly calm voice as before,pletely unfazed that he just brutally murdered someone. His eyes scanned the group of guards in front of him, lingering a bit longer on the two war hounds that were covering behind their masters. Each of the warriors nervously gripped their weapons harder as they felt that golden re scanning through them. Their strongest and consequently their loudest was just killed in a mere second. They didn''t even get the chance to react! They just stood in their posts, hoping to escape this predicament but refusing to run. They were all seasoned veterans, after all, they wouldn''t abandon their employer just like that! "I" The warden continued to stutter, unable to vocalize the thoughts in his chaotic mind. If he were to listen to his heart he would be screaming and crying, begging for mercy! However, he was unable to voice any of these thoughts as he tried to match those terrifying eyes of his. Taking a deep breath, he tried to forcefully calm his raging emotions, and then looked at the blonde girl, whom he thought nothing more than an outlet for venting his lust on previously. He couldn''t help but feel regret swelling up in his heart now! "Miss please I" He started, looking at the blonde girl with pleading eyes. However, as he spoke one of the guards looked at him with fierce eyes and audibly coughed, forcing him to smile wryly and correct himself. "...sorry, I meant we all are deeply sorry for what we did. and caused you. Please. forgive us and let us go!" Instead of answering, Lily giggled at his plea. Grabbing his brother''s right arm, she leaned onto it, feeling, enjoying the warmth that was coursing through inside his body. It always calmed her agitated heart and troubled mind. "Hmm You had me whipped for hours" Lily started, putting an index finger on her lower lips, thinking back. "I will punish the guards who dared harm you!" The warden immediately replied by jumping up from his chair. He saw this as a chance, he will obviously grab it, even if he has to throw everyone present in front of this little monster! Lily was about to answer however she saw Aiden covertly signaling to her with his hand to shush, so she just looked at him. "Who were the ones that tortured her?" Aiden abruptly asked with the same calm tone that now utterly terrified everyone present besides Lily. "Uhm it was these four!" After a brief moment of hesitation, the Warden pointed on four of the present guards, then he looked at the one lying dead on the ground. "And the one you killed was the leader" He was not just their leader, but his right-hand man! However, he didn''t dare utter such words. He gulped, swallowing such harrowing thoughts and lowered his gaze, not daring to look at the youth any longer. "I see. You four, step forward and kneel down in front of her. Beg for her forgiveness." Aiden stated with his calm, emotionless tone. The guards that were mentioned looked at each other, cursing their employer in their minds. They only followed his orders! Why are they the only ones suffering?! However, as things havee to this, they will not lower themselves, but instead, try their best! The four of them were all highly trained warriors after all. Looking at the five others in the room not reacting, he stomped his halberd onto the ground, causing all eyes to fall on him. Then, swallowing his fears, he defiantly spoke. "Guys! What are we all afraid of? Even if he is strong, we have the numbers and the years in our favor! What can he do against all nine of us!" Then pointing the weapon towards the boy, he shouted at him. "So, what if you are stronger than each of us?! We still have more experience! You and your whore will die here today!" Although she didn''t know what that word meant, Lily felt it was something bad, as the tone was condescending. Looking at her brother, he let go of his arm and pointed at the man. "Brother he was the one that tore my clothes that Granny gave me with a whip. He... whipped me for hours!" "I see" Those were the only words that left Aiden''s mouth. Facing the man in question, he tensed the muscles in his arms. His hands contorted into his usual swiping stance, he flickered from his spot only to appear in front of the guard in the next instant. The guard was already prepared for an attack and he instinctively held his weapon in front of him trying to block the iing swipe, however he grossly underestimated the power behind Aiden''s earlier attack. As Aiden appeared in front of the guard, he was already in a swiping motion. His right hand took the golden scaled draconic form sliced through the steel weapon like butter. As the weapon didn''t offer much resistance, the arc continued in its downward arc going through both of the guard''s hands that held the pole just under the protective rondel. As the weapon and both of his hands fell down to the dust, the man burst into a loud painful cry. "AAAAAARGH!" He shouted, almost bing crazed by the sheer volume of searing pain he felt at that moment. His nerves ring, he was unable to remain calm. Looking at the rest of the guards he angrily shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?! ATTACK HIM, OR YOU WILL DIE!" As if just awoken from their stupor, the rest of the guards looked at each other, before nodding and raising their weapons. With arge synchronized battle cry, they all charged at the boy. All, but the two war hounds, who refused to obey their master''s orders, and continued to cover and back away to the far corners of the room. Readying her bow, Lily pulled an arrow from her quiver as well. Raising the weapon, she armed at the furthest guard, carefully. Factoring in the size of the room and the speed and trajectory of the man, she stretched the string as she aimed at a specific spot in front of her target. Meanwhile, Aiden had already finished off the mutted man in front of him with a second swipe tearing through his throat. As the man fell down next to his hands to the dust, he gurgled hisst in a matter of seconds. Taking a quick peek at his sister, he saw as she was already aiming for the one in the back, ready to join the battle. He smiled under his mask, and not wanting to take her opportunity, he intercepted the iing attacks with both of his transformed hands. Blocking two attacks with a thrust of his ws, only to swing sideways simultaneously with both hands, he parried the first four. While the others tried to circle towards his back, he snorted when he saw thest one fell to the ground with an arrow standing out from the small opening of his helmet. Lily pierced the man through his eyes, killing him instantly. As she was aiming for his second shot, Aiden alsounched his attack, tearing into the two guards in front of him. With one quick thrust with both arms, he basically tore a hole through both guards with ease. As both men fell, he jumped over them, evading a second round of swipes and thrusts from the others. As he turned around, he also saw the second arrow flying in the air next to him, ending yet another life. Looking at the remaining four guards, Aiden snickered. The red hue started to, once again, dominate the golden glow in his eyes, slowly washing away his sanity... Chapter 117 - 117 - Regret (Part 2) Seeing that more than half of their group was already lying on the dirt lifeless and mutted, the remaining guards'' confidence took a serious hit. They hesitated for a brief moment, looking at each of what to do. However, this proved to be a mistake that veterans of their calibers shouldn''t have made. No matter the situation, on the battlefield there is no ce for hesitation. The singr arrow whistling through the air shed light on their mistake as it mercilessly pierced another in his left eye, causing him to fall back down to the ground with a loud thud. From the three remaining guards, the one on the left, closest to the dogs, looked at the war hounds with an angry expression and while waving his sword in the air, he shouted at them. "You muts, what are you doing there! Go and obey your masters! TEAR THEM APART!" His rant was interrupted when the demonic boy in front of them erupted in a loud bray. "They... " Aiden spoke between two breaths. "They won''t help you. They already know their ce, they have more brains than you lot." He looked at the two hounds whimpering in the corner and addressed them. His voice suddenly changed, it was several octaves deeper, akin to a wolflike growl. Yet it was still understandable to everyone present. As he spoke, the mask''s eye sockets were bathed in deep scarlet light, recing the golden glow it had before. "You two. Defend the girl!" To the guard''s shock, both dogs silently obeyed the boy''smand and walked over the blonde archer girl growling menacingly at their old masters. While all of this was ying in front of him, and as more than half of his elite guards fell down one by one, the Warden, had a sorrowful expression on his face. He tried racking his brain for a solution, an answer that could save him from his impending demise. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t think of anything. Seeing that the two hounds obediently took their new ce, Aiden returned his attention to the remaining guards in front of them. All three of them had their weapons raised in front of them, nervously gripping their weapons. Seeing them shivering in fright, Aiden snickered once again and raised his right wed hands in front of his masked face. Looking at the blood dripping from his ebony thick ws, he felt a desire to lick those tantalizing scarlet droplets. It carried the life force of multiple humans He suddenly felt it was way more appetizing than anything before. Slowly, his left hand crept to the edge of the mask, subconsciously wanting to lift so he could have a taste. As his hands grabbed the edges of his thin white mask, he was suddenly awoken from this trance by her sister''s voiceing from behind. "Brother? Are you okay?" Shaking his head, he lowered his hands, fencing towards the three remaining enemies. "Yeah Let''s just end this, we should return home. After all, you don''t want to miss dinner and your treats!" The mention of desserts curbed a smile on Lily''s expression. Grabbing another arrow from her quiver, she readied her bow for another shot, aiming at the previously loud guard. "Yes, brother! It''s time to go!" As she released the bowstring, Aiden also flickered, only to appear in front of the other two with his hands swinging in a horizontal arc from the left and the right ready to meet in the middle. Although the attack was sudden, both guards have already seen this pattern, and instead of trying to face it head-on, they both jumped back, dodging the deadly blow. As the ws swiped in front of them, barely missing their studded leather vest, they swung their swords downwards in a vertical swing, aiming each of the boy''s shoulders. While the attack was fast for the average person, to Aiden who had much higher attributes than them, it was as if he was watching it in slow motion. Raising his hands, he parried both blows with ease. Meanwhile, thest guard seeing the arrow flying towards him swayed to the left, avoiding the deadly tip by a hair''s breadth. Then, as to close the distance, he jumped forward, charging at the ranger only a few feet away. Before he could get into melee distance, the two war hounds, that they brought in, had lunged at him biting into his left ankle and his weapon-holding right wrist. Growling madly, they pulled on the grabbed limbs while also sinking their teeth deeper, tearing through the muscles and thews. Reaching all the way to the bone and marrow, causing the man to cry out in pain. Only to be silent in the next moment when an arrow mercilessly pierced him in the eye. Parrying their counterattack, Aiden''s already scarlet glowing eyes shed brighter for a moment as he pushed on the parried weapons with great force. The sudden increase in weight was too much for the two guards, they took another step to the back, only to be met with the wall. Gritting their teeth, they tried their best to desperately push against the incredible pressure. The de slowly approached their necks, despite all their efforts. In the end, they tried to at least divert its course, but all their efforts proved fruitless as the des slowly, but steadily cut into their thyroid slowly cutting through their trachea, causing fatal damage. However, Aiden didn''t stop there. He continued to exert the force, even as their eyes turned grey and they both breathed theirst, he continued to tear through muscles. A loud crunching sound signaled the moment when he cut through their spines. Thest remaining man, the warden watched in horror as this demonic boy slowly but decisively separated the heads from their bodies. When he finished, he grabbed the heads with each hand, then turning towards the singr shaking warden, he threw them in front of him on his desk, before he walked back and stood in front of him once again. The gruesome scene didn''t seem to affect Lily at all, he walked next to his brother, grabbing his right arm, and resting her head against it. Both hounds silently walked behind the girl, obeying the boy''s orders. "So where were we?" Aiden asked with the same calmness, as before the battle, causing another wave of chill run down on the Warden''s back. "Please I beg you" The warden begged, then turning her face towards the blonde-haired girl he continued. "I beg you both Spare me! I"m sorry" Grabbing the man by the throat, Aiden threw him over his desk, right into the floor that was already soaked wet with all the blood. "If you beg, do it properly. On your knees!" Aiden spoke, adding some power behind his otherwise chilling voice. The man obeyed immediately, raising himself from the floor. His face was smeared with a mixture of blood and dust, giving him an even more miserable visage. "I''m sorry, I made a huge mistake, I will change my ways, I promise!" The warden desperately pleaded to the girl, who didn''t even give as much as a nce. Lily was keeping her eyes on his brother, who was once again, grabbing the edges of his mask. "Lily, please avert your eyes. What I''m about to do, might scare you." Aiden solemnly spoke, as he lifted the cover from his face and walked behind the kneeling man. In response, Lily smiled and shook his head in denial. "No, brother. I want to watch it. I will never be scared of you. I want to see this through to the end." Aiden could only sigh and concede to her words. Tensing the muscles in his right hand he contorted it into the same attacking gesture, as he pulled it back a bit. Although the warden couldn''t see what was happening behind him, the sudden chill that washed over him caused his dder to finally tear through thest strands of his resistance. He wet himself. "Please please noooo" He begged with a tear-, blood- and dust-stained face all the way to the veryst moment. He felt a jolt of shock, and then a searing pain through his back as Aiden ws mercilessly ripped his nervous system apart. Grabbing his still-beating heart, he gently grabbed it, and with another push, he tore through all the way, to the warden to see his own organ in the hands of another as the veryst image in this life. As the man''s voice faded, Aiden pulled back and crushed the organ before he swallowed it. Once again, he felt the surge of energy fill his body, rapidly restoring his spent reserves, mixing with his own. Although he hadn''t noticed it before, as he felt the energy course through his body, he saw a notification firing up in his system. However, he couldn''t pay attention to it, as soon his mind was, once again, filled with images, memories, moments of another life. Chapter 118 - 118 - Ugly Truth Several minutes have passed by, with Aiden kneeling on the ground, his eyes closed. As the memories of the warden kept ying in his mind, he could do nothing but to concentrate to process them. Lily watched his brother silently, caressing the heads of the two hounds, not caring about the carnage all around her the slightest. She didn''t even question the loyalty of these trained dogs. Just one order from his brother and both animals immediately switched sides! Eventually, the flood of new information stopped. Before opening his eyes, he wanted to check the series of notifications he received at the end of the battle, and while the memories kept flooding. [Soul Strengthening Energy found! Gained 100 Soul Power XP!] [Assimtion avable for currently active default state Beginning process Estimated time beforepletion: 00 hours : 00 minutes : 00 seconds - Completed!] [Assimtionplete! Memories processed, System updated!] Aiden could almost not restrain himself for not erupting in a loud cheer. Although a bit gruesome, he found a method to increase his Soul Power. However, the information also raised new questions in his mind. Why didn''t he receive experience for the first time? What was different this time? His silent contemtion was eventually interrupted by a timid voice reaching his ears. "B-brother? You okay?" Lily asked after seeing his brother sitting on the ground motionlessly for several minutes. She didn''t see his eyelids fluttering either. Aiden slowly opened his eyes upon hearing the question. Reaching for the mask lying on the ground, he picked it up and turned towards his sister. As his face revealed a gentle smile, he calmly spoke. "Yes, I am. It''s just Hard to exin, actually." He sighed. Then as he was looking at Lily, the new memories he gained clicked inside his head, turning his expression sour. "I received some new information, Lily." "Huh, what? Did the Master talk to you?" Lily asked with an innocent expression, making that much harder for Aiden to force out the next words. "No About the Norton family. They Umm They are in bad shape. Mrs. Norton has lost her right hand and may not have much left. As for Mr. Norton, he was tortured and beaten under the order of this guy." He kicked the dead body of the Warden. "It seems he was furious after you left, and wanted to vent his anger, so he had his guards beat the old man half to death. They used some basic salve on him, so he is alive, but he is also very badly hurt." He sighed after he finished his words. He knew how much his sister cared about this elderly couple since they were always nice to them. Hearing that they are on the brink of death with mutted and tortured bodies, can''t be an easy thing to hear. Lily''s eyes watered as he heard his brother detailing the Norton''s experiences. She felt guilty, she felt responsible, everything that happened to them was because of her actions. She didn''t think, she acted brashly and because of that, an innocent kind couple''s life was ruined. Even if they heal the bruises, the emotional scars they will carry would remain for the end of their lives. This was a hard pill to swallow for her. She didn''t care about her own experiences, she had far worse in the Pocket World. After watching the warden die by the hands of his beloved brother removed some shadows over her heart, but this guilt was painful to bear. As she was thinking about all this, her body was visibly shaking from all the pent-up emotions inside her. Her vision bing blurry, it was increasingly harder and harder for her to hold back her tears. As her legs started to lose their strength and she felt that she will fell back to the ground, she suddenly felt the familiar warm protective embrace of his brother. As his hands pulled her into a hug, she could no longer contain the tears, she erupted in a loud, sad cry. Sobbing once again, in his chest, Aiden did nothing but slowly and silently fondled the back of her head. Several minutes passed by as nothing could be heard besides the muffled sobbing of Lily as she hid her face in his brother''s chest. She always felt the most protected, the safest when he was holding her like this. Holding her sister, Aiden heavily sighed. He knew she can''t go on like this anymore. She was already pushing herself. He raised his right hand, and as the ck ss crystal appeared in his hands, he once again, injected his energy into it. As his energy intertwined with the swirling mass inside the crystal, Aiden immediately spoke not waiting for confirmation if the connection was sessful or not. ''Master, you and Granny need toe here. I need you toe with me and Granny needs to take Lily back. She is very unstable now.'' A curt response came not long after from the familiar voice of Number 3. ''Understood.'' After that, Aiden could feel as the connection was cut. He looked at the crystal, as it started to crack, the swirling ck mass inside its ss contained could no longer sit still. As the cracks started to widen, Aiden threw the crystal forward. The crystal cracked open with a much louder noise that one would expect from such a small item, startling the quietly sobbing Lily, and causing her to turn her head, but still refusing to leave the warmth of her brother. "What are you doing, brother?" she asked timidly. Instead of answering, Aiden simply smiled and kissed the top of her head. Then he pointed with his chin towards the ck smoke that slowly formed the familiar ck gate. As the gate reached the size of a regr door, its surface started to vibrate, and soon the silhouettes of Number 3 and Granny appeared. A few secondster, the silhouettes stabilized and both of them stepped forward, exiting the ck whirling energy. Aiden slightly bowed his head towards them, resting his eyes on Number 3, who was looking at him still wearing her ck mask. "Your mask?" Was the first question she asked with a slight tinge of annoyance in her voice. Immediately, Aiden grabbed the mask again and put it on his face. As the masktched onto him, he bowed once again. "Sorry. I took it off as I finished here." "Granny? Master?" Lily looked at the two new arrivals with surprise. Her face was stained with snot and tears, but as she refused to let go of Aiden''s chest, she looked rather adorable at the moment. Granny smiled, and silently walked towards the girl. Reaching out with her right hand, she gently patted her back. "Come dearie, we have to go." Shaking her head, Lily refused to let go. "No! We have to save them! They are still in trouble!" she shouted emotionally. Granny ced her hand on the back of Lily''s head and continued to slowly, gently caress it. As her wrinkly hands circled around it emitted a faint bright light. The energy seemed to visibly calm the agitated girl, her eyelids starting the be heavier, and her expression returning to normal. A few momentster, Granny carefully grabbed the girl, lifting her up in a princess carry. Looking at Aiden, she gently smiled. "I will bring her back home for now. You guys can handle the rest, don''t worry about Lily." Finishing her words, she turned around and silently left stepping into the ck portal, closing it behind her. Looking at his master, he pointed towards the southeast. "The elderly couple that Lily wanted to save is in that direction. They are both badly hurt. Master, can you save them?" Looking at the direction Aiden was pointing at, Number 3 remained silent for almost a minute. Eventually, she sighed and nodded. It seemed that she already knew the situation of the elderly couple, as her voice carried certainty. "I can. However, the woman will not be easy to fix. Also, without erasing some of their memories, they might not be able to ovee this whole ordeal." "You can modify their memories, master?" Aiden asked with a surprised tone. "No, I can''t, only my master would be capable of that." She said. However, before Aiden could ask the obvious, she continued. "However, I do have an item that can do that. But that will erase thest 24 hours from their minds. You will also need to be careful and make sure you are behind me, as I''m not sure that you would have the mental strength to resist its power." Aiden silently nodded in response. Turning around, he walked towards the door stepping over the dead bodies like if they were nothing. Looking around the room, Number 3 let a faint smile creep up on her face behind the mask. "You made quite a scene boy" Then turning towards the two hounds, she asked. "What do you want to do with these dogs?" Chapter 119 - 119 - The Unconscious Couple "To them?" Aiden turned around and looked at the two ck dogs. Both were looking at them with eager expressions, awaiting hismand. "To be honest, I''m not sure what happened either" "Well, they do seem to be loyal to you, boy." Number 3 spoke with a smile behind her mask. She walked to the two hounds and patted both of their heads while crouching down, which they happily epted. "Look, they are already loyal! If you want, we could bring them back, after all that happened, they coulde helpful in healing Lily." She said while she continued ying with them. "I guess In that case, we should just bring them with us." Aiden agreed. While Lily did put up a strong front while she faced that vile man, she did force herself. As soon as the battle was over, she broke down crying miserably. Standing up and walking back to Aiden''s side, Number 3 couldn''t help but ask. "Anyways, what happened? How did you control these war dogs? Normally this shouldn''t be possible, they are trained since birth to be absolutely loyal to their master and follow everymand without the slightest hesitation" She pondered. "Well, I do not know actually. During the battle, I felt an instinct and ordered them to protect Lily. It wasn''t a conscious action on my part" Aiden honestly answered. Listening to the boy, Number 3 was lost in thoughts for a few seconds, thinking about what could have happened. Looking at the dogs, they didn''t seem to be under any spell, or mind control. That means that somehow, Aiden naturally gained the loyalty of these dogs! "Hmm I will need to research this matterter" She muttered eventually. She had a distant memory about a story she heard a long time ago that could be relevant, but before she could make any conjecture, she would have to dig into ancient texts. "Anyway," She shook her head and looked at the boy. "Bring the dogs with you, and let''s go. Let''s get the two elders back, and leave this damned ce..." Then she stepped out to the hallway. Facing the engulfing darkness at the distance, she lowly muttered, whispering her thoughts into the wind. ''The big fish have already escaped anyways'' --- Two people wearing white and ck faceless masks on the faces could be seen walking in the dimly lit underground hallways followed by two armored big ck dogs. Ignoring the desperate wails and cries that could be heard from the seemingly countless steel doors to their left and rights, they were walking with casual but decisive steps towards their destination. Looking at Number 3 leading the way, Aiden was quite puzzled. Looking at his map, it seemed she knew the dungeonyout perfectly and even knew where the elderly couple was held. "How?" He asked after a while looking at his master, unable to figure out an answer. "How what?" She asked back but continued after a momentary pause. "How do I know where to go?" The smile on her face could be felt by her cheeky tone. Aiden silently nodded, while he kept his gaze on his Master. His eyes shed their golden brilliance for a moment. "You think that I am involved in this right?" She asked again, with the same cheekiness. Seeing the golden luster sh once again in Aiden''s eyes, she couldn''t help herself and chuckle at his disciple. "We didn''t waste our time waiting for you and the prince. We have a pretty good understanding of this underground system now. Also, don''t forget, I already know most of the underground tunnel system that goes under the ground." Hearing her response, Aiden managed to calm down, the golden brilliance in his eyes faded, returning to their normal state. "Still" Looking at the dark hallway ahead of them, he spoke with a serious voice. "This ce is very nasty. So many people are being held here. How does the city or this kingdom ignore this? There must be thousands of people held here, used, and sold for all purposes!" "Aiden" Number 3 sighed at his question. "Do you really want to know? You won''t like the answer." Despite the question, and Aiden''s attentive look, she didn''t continue, instead, she brought up a different topic. "What really interests me, is what happened to you? From what I''ve seen in the room, you were pretty vicious there. I know you have a pretty savage battle style, but still That scene was incredibly gruesome, Aiden." "I" This was a good question actually. Even for Aiden, he was actually asking the same from himself for a while now. During the firstbat, as his emotions reached a critical level, he felt like he lost control over his own thoughts and his body. He wanted to see and feel the blood, he wanted to hear his enemies'' desperate cries He felt like he became a monster through and through. However, he wasn''t sure how to bring this up, even if he felt like he needed guidance. He didn''t want to lose the ''family'' he got. All three of them, Lily, Granny, and Number 3 was important in his life now. "I''m not sure" He answered eventually. "When I saw them and knew that they caused Lily''s suffering, I just wanted to punish them. I was angry, I guess." Although he didn''t lie, he didn''t speak the entire truth either. He wanted to receive some guidance but didn''t want to cause worry. He wasn''t sure what was happening either, but he had a feeling it was rted to his secret, that he shouldn''t reveal. "I see" Number 3 hummed as they walked forward in the eerie corridors. She didn''t speak for a while, seemingly lost in thought. Reaching yet another junction, she silently took the rightmost one, followed by Aiden and the silent dogs. After several minutes of silent contemtion, she finally spoke. "Once we get back, we will train. Just you and me for a while. We need to see what is happening, only then can we find a cure." Aiden silently nodded in response. Eventually, crossing through the seemingly endless corridors, they arrived at their destination. A ck, thick steel door with no windows on it. The door didn''t have any logo or mark on it, and as Aiden tried to use his [Dark Sense] on its interior, he couldn''t, his attempts were thwarted by some mysterious magical energy. "Don''t bother, it''s warded." Number 3 spoke, keeping her gaze on the door. "It is very strange, however. This cell is way too high ss for those two elders. It makes no sense. Why are they ced here" She gently, elegantly waved her right hand vertically in front of the door. As her arc reached its end, suddenly a transparent energy formed a crescent shape and flew into the steel door, slicing it into two. The energy dissipated as soon as it went through the door as well, showcasing an excellent control over the magical energies. Aiden watched the action with great focus, however, his eagerness wasn''t rewarded this time either, he received no notification from the system. Noticing his disciple''s intent focus, Number 3 chuckled. "You want to learn magic? You will have to learn control first! You can''t even control your own emotions currently! Your sister on the other hand" Her thoughts trailed off once again, as she stepped over the doorway. Entering into therge dark room, she waved with her hand once again. A white orb made from the energy formed in front of her, levitating in the air. In the next moment a gentle breeze suddenly came from behind, carrying the orb of light high up above them, keeping it there. As she walked forward, the breeze seemingly listening to her unvoicedmands carried the orb illuminating everything around her in 10-meter radius. Once again, no matter how hard Aiden tried to watch, he couldn''t get a response from the system. Although this puzzled him, as he seemed to have no issue when studying Granny''s Rune Magic. He was wondering what was the difference between them, but sadly, without Enya''s assistance, he couldn''t figure it out. Finally giving up, he sighed, and followed after her master, stepping inside the room. He tried sensing his surroundings, he noticed two weak life forces at the far corners of the room. Pointing to that direction he loudly eximed. "There! They are there!" Following the direction, they soon saw two silhouettes chained against the wall. Coming closer they soon saw the two elders unconsciously hanging from the wall in a wretched, battered state. The woman on the right was missing his right arm, her trunk was crudely wrapped around with linen cloth. The blood stained it dark red. Her clothing was torn, the results of a severe whipping session could be seen behind the torn attire. Her eyes and her whole face were swollen. The elderly man next to her wasn''t in a better state either. While he wasn''t missing any limbs, his clothes were torn as well. His upper torso was covered with wounds, blood still oozing from some of them. He was missing several teeth, his face was swollen just like her wife''s, maybe even more. What was even worse, is that the bruising on his right knee told the tale of how it came into violent contact with some sort of blunt weapon, and how his old bones cracked under such force. "I''m d Lily will not see this" Aiden muttered to himself, which Number 3 could only answer with a heavy sigh. Chapter 120 - 120 - Healing The Scars As Aiden scanned through the unconscious beaten and tortured bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Norton, he had doubts that they coulde back from this damage. They were quite advanced in years after all. With doubts filling his thoughts, he faced Number 3 and voiced them. "Are they really going to be okay? These wounds doesn''t seem to be light injuries. Can they reallye back from this?" Number 3 smiled at the question and didn''t say anything. Raising her right hand, a small crystal jar materialized with thick light green cream inside. Throwing it to the boy, she spoke. "Break the chains and lie the body down. Then use that ointment and anoint it all over it. Make sure you cover all the damaged areas. Be thorough!" Catching the flying jar, Aiden opened its lid. As its gust pervaded his nose, he couldn''t help but hum contentedly. Although he wouldn''t be able to discern all the ingredients, he could smell a mixture of several herbs that could also be found in the forest. At the very least, he recognized one particr smell, those dark red flowers, the Devil Cloves that they used to make Health Potions in the past. "What is this? It has such a strong smell" he voiced his thoughts. In response, Number 3 lightly giggled, before she eventually replied. "That''s a healing salve that was created by your Granny. She prepared it for Lily, but it seems we have a better use for it now. It will heal all the superficial wounds on the body and help restore a tiny bit of vitality to them. Just enough for us to take them to the closest temple." Hearing the response, Aiden was confused once again. "Temple? Why would we take them to the temple?" "Oh boy, sometimes I forget how clueless you can actually be about worldly matters, Aiden" Number 3 answered with a light sigh, as he materialized another jar with the very same colored cream. "Temples are what ordinary folk like them use for healing. There are several types of priests, but the mostmon one you can find in cities will be the followers of Calistril, the Goddess of Light." Seeing that the boy was still looking at her with eager eyes, even though his expressions were hidden behind the white mask. "Don''t just stand there, start working Aiden! Meanwhile, you can ask if you have questions, I''m your master, I will answer to the best of my abilities." "Oh yes, sorry," Aiden asked perplexed. He then walked up to Mr. Norton''s hanging body, and while supporting it with his own, he grabbed and tore the chains off one by one. Watching the scene, Number 3 only smiled under the mask. It was always a sight to see such a young man exerting such incredible strength with no effort at all. Then she followed suit, and with a wave of both of her hands, the 4 small transparent des made out of energy formed next to the chains. At the same time, the same gust of wind that carried the orb of light moved forward, stopping in front of the hanging unconsciousdy. When she clenched her fists all four energy des struck down and cut the chains holding the body. The body didn''t fall down but was gently carried by the gust of wind, carefully cing it on the floor. Aiden, who had already ced the body of Mr. Norton to the floor already, was focusing on the scene. Even if his system can''t assist him in learning these magical abilities, he still wished to grab every chance and study as much as he could. Number 3 noticed his disciple''s eager gaze but didn''t say anything to it. She simply smiled under her mask. Then taking off the tattered remains of Mrs. Norton''s clothing, she quickly made her upper torso barren. "You know, it''s rude to peek on ady, Aiden. Even if she is an elder, you should still give the minimum courtesy." She cheekily said, as she opened the lid on the ointment, and started her work in smearing it all over the body. Startled, Aiden immediately shifted his focus back to the body in front of him. "S-sorry! I wasn''t looking at her, I...I" he panicked and tried to voice his thoughts with a bit of struggle. "Rx, I was just having fun, boy!" Number 3 replied with a chuckle. Then as she was working on Mrs. Norton''s upper torso, she continued. "However, you should really start smearing it all over his body. If you wish to save him, that is." With the reminder, Aiden once again focused his attention on the body in front of him. Tearing the tattered remains of his torn linen shirt, he quickly stripped it clean. Grabbing a big portion of the light green cream from the opened jar he looked at the body, thinking about where to start. ''I should probably go from top to bottom I guess.'' Following his own advice, he smeared the cream lightly starting from Mr. Norton''s neckline, going in a clockwise circr motion. As the cream slowly, gradually created a thinyer on the first wounded area, a light chemical reaction started. As the cream came into contact with the wound, it started sizzling, creating light greenish foam around the surface.White thick steam was released from the reaction, that Aiden first almost mistook for smoke, as he carefully watched the event y out. "Don''t be alerted, that''s apletely normal reaction Aiden." Suddenly he was woken from his reverie by Number 3''s calm voice. "It just means that the salve is working, and it is healing the body. Continue working, don''t stop now." "Yes, master." Aiden curtly answered along with a light nod and grabbed another portion of cream from the jar. He continued smearing it all over the body, covering it with a thinyer of the cream, making sure to cover all the wounded areas. He only stopped when the jar waspletely empty. "Great job, Aiden! Now we just need to give it a bit of time for the cream to do it''s magic, then we can safely move them." Number 3''s voice came from behind him, as he straightened his back. Aiden silently nodded and watched as the green foam slowly covered both bodies. After a while, he looked at his master who came to sit by his right side in the meantime. "Master, can I ask?"he asked. Facing her disciple, Number 3 answered with a gentle voice. "Of course, Aiden. I already told you, you can ask anything, I will do my best to help." "Why do humans do these to each other?" Aiden asked with a grave tone. "What do you mean, Aiden." Instead of answering, Number 3 gave another question to the boy. "I I don''t know, Master. I don''t understand, why would you do this to your own kind? Other animals don''t hunt each other, they try to work together to survive" "No Aiden, that''s not true. Even animals kill their own, if the situation requires it. If a new alpha reces the old, it will usually kill every child in the group just to make sure his bloodline will be the one that continues. This simple statement is true for many species." "Yes, that may be true, but they only do it for survival. Humans kill each other for fun, for sport. There''s no logic or reasoning behind it" Aiden answered with a sad, dejected tone. "This is the bane for the civilized, more intelligent species. Your view of the world is still too narrow to make such statements. There are myriads of species in this world, how can you say that humans are the only ones that kill and hunt their own for fun?" Hearing her master speak, Aiden''s thoughts started to travel far away. He realized that she was right, his view and knowledge was very limited. He already had a thirst for knowledge, and for that, he had to experience more of what is out there! "Yes" He muttered to himself for a long time. Patting his back, Number 3 slowly got up from the ground. "You will have more opportunities in the future, don''t worry. For now, however, let''s go back, they should be healed enough to hold out until we reach the nearest church." She materialized another ck ss crystal into her right hand and crushed it. As the ck energy gate formed in front of her, she walked to the lying woman. She carefully put her arms under the body of Mrs. Norton and lifted it into a princess carry. Then turning around, she looked at the boy, who was still lost in thoughts. "Go, pick up the other one, we should leave. We can talk moreter!" she spoke with a louder tone, startling and waking the boy. "Yes, sorry." Aiden answered, and following his master''s action, he also lifted the body into the same pose. With onest look, they both stepped into the gate, and quietly left this underground hell hole. Chapter 121 - 121 - Familiarity In a run-down unfurnished shack in the depths of the Slums district, a group of four were waiting, having a casual conversation. The elderly woman wrapped in ragged red clothes was standing against the windows overlooking the dirty streets. Next to her, lying on the ground, seemingly asleep were a blonde-haired girl wearing a literal linen bag as clothing. The same beggar she saw before all of tonight''s happenings went down, was once again there, sitting on the mud, looking miserable. Several seconds of silence passed between the group. After a while, the elderly woman released a heavy sigh, and while gazing out the window she spoke. "Such an evil ce I can''t even imagine what you had to live through, Scarlet." Behind him, sitting against the opposite wall, a silver-haired boy and a fiery red-haired girl sat. The girl was tightly hugging the boy, afraid she would lose him once again if she were to even slightly lessen her grip. The boy however didn''t mind her affection and was also hugging, leaning against her. Both of them had bloodshot eyes as they had been crying ever since they were reunited. Snuggling against her brother''s chest, Scarlet, the red-haired woman spoke in a muffled tone. "It doesn''t matter anymore, I got my Draco back!" The silver-haired boy, Draco, clicked his tongue as he cheekily replied. "I no longer listen to that name sis. I''m Drake. I have nothing to do with that bastard and his family. Even if that knight finds me, I''m not going back. Neither of us is going back." The girl released a muffled chuckle as she was still pressing her head and nose deep into his brother''s chest. "Ehehe, yes, yes, Drake, sorry." Raising her tear-stained head, she cutely looked at the boy and spoke in a disarming voice. "In that case, can I get a new name as well? Please?" Listening to their little chat, Granny smiled under her nose, and just gazed at the distance. She was waiting for the rest of the group to get back, so they could leave this awful night behind them. She already had to put Lily to sleep as she couldn''t calm down, and was crying for her brother, refusing to listen to reason. In the end, she had to charm her to sleep, which pained her heart. Getting lost in the otherwise uneventful scenery, she released another sigh, and silently listened to the small little debate behind her. "Sure, sis, whatever you want." Drake answered along with a light kiss on the forehead. "Although, I do like Scarlet, it really suits you. If you just drop our family name, nobody would know who you are. Sadly, or maybe luckily, you left the family almost 10 years ago." "Yeah I did." As he mentioned the fateful night when her father ordered her to go with the old geezers that arrived and could nevere back, caused her smile to droop. Noticing the change in her demeanor, he kissed her forehead again and gently whispered. "Sorry sis, I didn''t mean to bring it up." He gave yet another hearty smack before he spoke again. "Let''s talk about thister, for now, let''s just wait for the team to get back, okay?" Enjoying the warmth of her brother''s chest, and his affection, Scarlet could only mewl out a barely audible "Uhm". Suddenly, crackling noise came from the middle of the room, alerting all of their attention, besides the sleeping Lily. Looking at the source of the sound, they could see as the air became blurry. The particles reacting to some mysticalmand from the ether, they started to vibrate and slowly form a ck doorway. The energy formed a gate, with a ck void surface. From the center of this surface, waves started forming and going all directions. In the next second, two masked figures stepped out from it both holding a person in their arms. The feminine figure immediately stepped to the right and ced the unconscious elderly woman she was holding to the ground, next to the sleeping Lily. Following her master, the boy did the same,ying the unconscious elderly man next to his wife. Before the gate closed, tworge ck war hounds also stepped out, and as silent guardians, followed after the boy, standing one foot behind him at all times. Looking at the two eldersying on the ground, Granny asked with a concerned tone. "Are they okay? Did you use the cream I made?" The woman, Number 3, nodded her head in response, replying in a soft tone, obviously careful not to wake the little blonde girl. "Yes. They both should be stabilized. We will need to get them to the nearest church for a more professional healing. Other than that, we might also need to fix their memories once they get better, going through such an ordeal will leave its mark." The youth, wearing a white faceless mask, raised his head and looked at his master. In a surprised tone, he asked. "Can you do that? Is that dangerous?" Both adults looked at him. With a wry smile, Granny was the first to respond. "Yes, Aiden. Doing something like that is extremely dangerous and incredibly difficult. Altering one''s memories requires an incredible skill set and a good understanding of many ancient concepts. In fact, I only know one well let''s say person that could do it" With herst sentence she was gazing at Number 3, with a slightly angered expression. Number 3 also spoke with the same soft tone as before. "I can''t do such magic myself, but my master can. While I can''t just bring these two to them, I do have an item that was made forme to use in special circumstances." Turning her head to the woman with the mutted hand, she released a soft sigh. "Even if it''s risky, we might need to do it. What they''ve been through is not something they might be able to handle. We could modify their memories so they would think that nothing happened besides a light ident Maybe the woman identally chopped her right hand, and that''s why they woke up in the church bed?" Listening to this crazy talk, the royal brother-sister pair in the far side of the room was bbergasted. The red-haired girl raised her head and meekly asked his brother. "Brother, who are they?" Although her voice was low, Aiden, the ck-masked youth still heard it. Turning around, he faced the hidingdy and walked towards the pair. "Sorry for our rudeness, but we were in a hurry. Thedy is my master, I''m Aiden. The blonde-haired girl is called Lily. I''m sure you know that she was just rescued from the same situation as yourself." Then, looking at the silver-haired boy, nodding at each other he continued. "We owe your brother a lot, he helped us get into the facility and get both of you out. He is very brave, a real hero, you can be proud of him!" Mentioning her brother filled her heart with a teensy bit of courage. Raising her head she looked at the masked face, and with a happy smile, she replied. "Yes! Drake is the best! He really came for me! I knew he would!" "He sure is" Aiden smiled at the response, then switched his attention to the boy caressing the girl. "So, what is the n now? We go back to your friends and make them officially free? After that where do you n to go?" "We continue. I still have to find my two little brothers. I got my sister back, but they are still missing" He replied with a despondent look. "Uhm I" Scarlet started to speak but quickly hid in Drake''s chest once again, afraid to continue. Both boys looked at her. Drake gently patted the top of her head, urging her to continue. "I might know where Little Dan is Or where he was" "Where? Tell me sis!" Drake spoke with increased agitation. "Uhm Last I heard he was some sort of assistant at the local Academy. I don''t know which professor, or where he is, but that''s what they told me as a reward about a year ago" She answered in a muffled tone as she refused to raise her head. Hiding in afortable chest was much better. "This Academy? Not the one in the capital?" Drake asked with visible confusion. "Uhm, I don''t know. I think they meant this one. I never got more information, nor where he is exactly, just that he is working as an attendant to a professor. "He is probably used as a familiar." Number 3''s reply came from the other side. "Those old geezers like to take small children away and turn them into familiars. It''s quite nasty, they force a spirit inside the host, and use them as a sort of medium to chain the spirit to this world." "Is there a way to rescue him?" Drake asked with an agitated tone. "Well There is, although it''s not going to be easy..." she answered. Chapter 122 - 122 - Memory Altering Spell Despite hearing the gravity in her voice, he wasn''t disheartened. Instead, it seemed to even further drive his zeal. With newfound eagerness in his voice, Drake asked the maskeddy. "What do you mean? Please tell us! No matter the difficulty, I will do it!" "Me too! I want to see my brothers once again!" Scarlet also raised her head and looked at the strange woman. The spark of determination was shining in her blue eyes. Seeing the children, Number 3 could only wryly smile under the mask. Collecting herself for a few seconds, she spoke with a calm but serious tone. "Even if you want, you can''t just charge into the academy grounds, it''s one thing that you won''t even seed, but even if you would, the people you would be looking for, the professors would be long gone by the time you wrestle yourself through the Guards and then their Magical Constructs, the Guardians." Giving a bit of pause, she let the thought take root in their minds, but before they could voice any of their bubbling questions, she continued. "What you need to do, is to get into the academy the normal way; -through the yearly entrance exam!" Hearing this, Drake couldn''t help but frown. "But we''re only at the end of Arodus now! It''s still 4 full months before the next exam" Number 3 nodded at the boy''s reaction. "Precisely. It''s also a very good opportunity for you to catch up with your sister and get your bearings together. Also" She looked at Aiden as she continued. "We also nned to send Aiden and Lily there as well. They need to learn about the world, their knowledge is very limited." Looking at Aiden, she addressed his next sentence to him. "You need to hone and refine your skills. You need to learn to control your emotions, you are way too wild and impulsive Aiden." Aiden didn''t refute her words, he was already aware of these problems. "Yes, Master." Then, she faced the royal siblings again. "Be patient and wait for the right time. When the timees, we can meet again, and we will help you guys in freeing your brother." Drake clearly had more to say on the matter, but he was silenced by his sister before he could voice any of it. The fiery-haired girl slightly nodded her head and replied in a surprisingly calm tone. "Thank you for your help. We will go with this n then." Meanwhile Granny was watching the whole scene leaning against the window''s wooden frame. She was keeping an eye on the resting Lily, and her unconscious acquaintances. "So, what are the next steps now? Should we head to that shady group Drake had dealings with?" Aiden broke the silence that lingered in the air after the brief conversation, changing the topic. "Yes Aiden, although we have freed the girls from that ce, officially they are still carrying their ve Mark on their bodies. We need these removed." Turning towards the sleeping blonde girl, she spoke with a gentle smile visible in her voice. "We don''t need to worry about Lily, we can handle that with Granny, but for the princess" "Don''t worry. I will handle it." Drake finished the sentence, while they also stood up from the ground. "We will have to say our farewells, for now, I''m afraid. We will have the mark removed from my sister, then I intend to spend some time with her." Then without waiting for a response from the trio, he and her sister went towards the door. Grabbing the lever, he turned his head sideways, looking at Number 3 from the corner of his eyes. "We will meet again, during the entrance exam then. Stay safe till then. Also, don''t worry about that ce, I will make sure it will be demolished and all the remaining people officially freed." Finishing his words, he pushed on the lever and left the building. The siblings never left each other, they kept hugging even as they eventually vanished from the group''s eyes turning at a corner. "What an interesting girl" Number 3 silently remarked. While the others may have missed, she could see through the veils, and see the sparks hiding behind those deep blue eyes. Her heart will not be able to rest until she got her full revenge on all the people that caused suffering to her and her brothers. "What do you mean, Master?" Aiden''s voice brought back Number 3 from her thoughts. She gently shook her head, in response to the question. "Nothing, it doesn''t matter." Turning around, she walked back to the lying Ms. Norton and crouched down next to her body. Knowing what wasing next Granny walked up next to him, and followed suit. Two small blue pyramid-shaped crystals materialized in Number 3''s hands in the next second, instantly grabbing Aiden''s attention. Walking up next to his master, he asked. "What is that thing, Master?" While she ced both crystals in the middle of the two elders'' foreheads, she responded. "These crystals contain the Memory Altering spell we need. Using these, we will be able to modify their memories, removing all the horrors they experienced and change it to something that is more eptable to their feeble minds. Stay there and just watch patiently Aiden." Then he looked at Granny who was already moving towards Mr. Norton''s crystal. There was no need for words between them, with one look and a synchronized nod, they seemingly came to an understanding on what to do next. Both holding their right palms above their respective crystal''s they started chanting. Even though he focused on the words they whispered, he did not receive any notification from the system, further confirming his theory that he was missing a key ingredient from the ''mix''. A short whileter, their palms started to emit a ckish hue. The hue soon took on a more materialistic, gaseous body. The ck smoke from their palms, snaked in the air, slowly wrapping the blue crystal pyramid with their tendrils. Once it did, Granny and Number 3, decisively smacked down with their palms, crushing the crystals. Contrary to Aiden''s expectations, this time there was no immediate light show or an explosive bang that followed this action. As the crystal containers cracked open, a purple whirling energy ball was released that the hungry ckish tendrils quickly engulfed. As the purple and ck intertwined, their colors mixed, creating a new darker shade. Four gassy limbs grew out from this new ball that slowly descended upon the sleeping couple. Finishing their chant, bothdies slowly grabbed the couple''s foreheads, watching as the strange ball of energy slowly passed through their skin, entering their minds. They both looked at each other and nodded once. They silently stood up, walking back to Aiden. He was confused, what did he witness? What was that? Looking at his Master, he gave voice to his confusion. "Is it done? What happened?" Number 3 nodded. "Yes, it is done. It may have seemed weird to you, but thest two days of their life had beenpletely erased and reced with memories of them staying in their home. We created a small ident, which ultimately resulted in the woman losing his right hand. We can''t restore the lost limb, but we can change their recollection about the event to something nicer." Granny wore an uncharacteristically serious expression on her face. "Yes. It is for the best." She mumbled, mostly to herself. Changing the topic and shifting the mood in the room, Number 3 walked up to Mrs. Norton''s body. Crouching down, she carefully ced her hands under her. Before lifting it up, she spoke. "Okay, with this done, we only need to drop them off in the nearest church as we discussed already, and then we can head back home. Aiden pick up Mr. Norton please, I will carry the wife, and Granny will bring Lily along. Okay?" Following suit, Aiden picked up Mr. Norton in the same princess carry as before, while Granny carried the sleeping little girl in her arms. They left the house with the two ck hounds silently following behind, heading out from the ominous district, towards the Marketce. Although they said church, when Aiden saw the small building, it would have been more appropriate to call the building a warehouse or barn of sorts. It had no symbols, or crosses at the top of it, just a simple brick building with arge orange double wooden door. As they approached the building, the doors also opened, and two nuns rushed towards them. They were wearing a traditional habit consisting of a ck tunic, covered by a scapr and a cowl. They were hiding their faces behind a dark veil. They both silently bowed and took the couple from them without saying a single word, then just as they came, they rushed back in. Everything happened in silence, nobody uttered a single word, as if there was a tacit understanding. Once they left, Granny and Number 3 turned their heels and left towards the Slum district onest time. Their destination was the very same building they were in previously. It was finally time to put an end to this eventful night and rest up... Chapter 123 - 123 - A Happy Morning The rising sun cast a rosy hue across the clear morning sky. The golden fingers of sunlight lit up the messy room, forcing the mncholic darkness to escape to their just corners. As the egg yolk sunny beam reached a big puffy feather-filled double nket, it''s resident slowly came back from thend of dreams, her little feet cheekily pried out from its protective shield. The slow and exploratory movements were followed by a muffled yawn. A messy blonde haystack, the top of the owner''s head slowly showed itself, followed by a pair of defiant, closed eyelids. Her lithe arms flew out from thefy feathery ocean, flying to the sky. The loud stretching exercise, which was apanied by another loud yawn, eventually given enough willpower for the person, to slowly raise her eyelids revealing her beautiful aquamarine eyes. Turning her head towards the window, a small smile crept on the edges of her lips. She really liked the clear summer sky. Her mind still booting for its morning routine, she absentmindedly reached to her right addressing the person that used to sleep next to her in thest few days. "Good morning brother!" She spoke while gently swiping towards her brother''s head area. However, when her hand hit the pillow instead of its intended target, she looked to the right with more vignce this time, only to notice she was alone. Her heartbeat immediately increased, she nervously looked around, only to notice she was sleeping in her own bed, and not in her brother''s, where she usually went after getting home each day. Frowning at her own stupidity, she grudgingly stood up, and with onest yawn, she left thefort of her bed, walking to where she was supposed to be in the first ce, the other side of the room, her brother''s muchfier sleep bunk. Along the way, her mindpletely ignored the two ck mounds puffing at the side. It was way too early for weird stuff like that! Her destination, her desire to get into her brother''s domain was the only thing that mattered to her sleepy mind currently. Arriving at the destination, she was about to sneak in and was already picturing the moment when she snuggled into his embrace only for a few extra precious minutes for a happy morning, when she noticed that it was missing the keyponent, her brother wasn''t there! Her previous nervousness resurfaced with newfound vigor. Turning around, frantically looking to each corner and sides of the room, her heart was palpitating madly. Suddenly her eyes found something new, something unexpected at the ground next to her own bunk, tworge ck mounds, going up and down as the creatures breathed. The ck mounds sparked some of the events ofst night to resurface, causing her to tightly clench her adorable fists. Walking to the two still sleeping dogs, she crouched down, gently patting both of their heads. Releasing a heavy sigh, she continued her patting session, now with both hands, while also giving a hearty smack on the top of their heads. This action seemed to be a temporary cure for her agitated, troubled mind, forgetting her previous folly, she spent the next few minutes hugging and ying with the waking dogs. Although these massive war hounds were terrifying monsters in the eyes of their enemies, in the hands of Lily, they were yful little kids, enjoying the girl''s affection. A happy giggle filled the air, as Lily nted yet another loud smack on one of the doggies. "Ehehehe, you two are so cute! Since you are staying with us now, I will have to think about naming you guys!" Looking at the door, caused her expression to turn sour. She now was awake enough to know and remember most of the events of yesterday, but she had no memory of what happened after she left with Granny. Gazing at the closed wooden door, she mumbled into the air. "I... I have to find out what happened with brother" Giving onest pat on the head to both dogs, she stood up and walked to the doorway. As she reached for the lever, she noticed as she looked at her own arm, that she was still in her pajamas. Hesitating, she pulled her arm back, walking towards her side of the room. Opening a drawer, she quickly dressed,bed her hair, and used the small already prepared wash basin to wash her face. Only then, she felt ready to leave the safety of her ''fortress''. Leaving the room, her ears perked as a familiar tune reached them. Turning her head towards the source of the sound, she found the merrily humming Granny who was in the middle of preparing the table for a hearty breakfast. Noticing the sudden gaze, she turned towards the now-awake girl, and with a gentle smile on her face, she waved for her toe closer. "Come, dearie, help me set up the table. We have been waiting for you to wake up." As she arrived, Granny immediately pulled her into a big hug. Caressing the top of her head, she gently whispered. "Tell me, dearie, how are you feeling?" Only now did Granny notice the two dogs as they silently followed after Lily, still obediently following Aiden''smand from yesterday. Giving a contented nod towards them, she released the girl from her embrace. Seeing that she had a question forming, she patiently waited, looking at her with her usual calming, gentle smile. A momentter, her expectations bore fruit, Lily spoke with clear agitation in her already trembling voice. "G-granny, where is brother? I-is he okay?" Hearing the question she already expected caused her to chuckle. Reaching for the top of her head, she patted her head, messing up her justbed golden locks. "Ahahaha, oh you troubled child. You worry about him instead of yourself?" Frowning, Lily reached for Granny''s head, trying to free herself from the terror. "Granny! S-stop it! Tell me where he is, please!" Seeing her expression, Granny calmed herself and pointed towards the backyard. "Don''t worry dearie, he is fine. Go check it yourself in the backyard. If you listen carefully you can already hear the sounds of their training." Perking her ears, she indeed just noticed the faint noises of her brother shouting and two bodies shing. Unable to restrain herself any longer, she immediately turned and bolted towards the backyard, leaving Granny in the dust. Granny just smiled at the girl while gently shaking her head. "Oh, you poor troubled child. Life is indeed unfair to you... I hope with his help, you can put this nightmare behind." Then looking at the two dogs who were looking towards the receding backline of their new mistress, she patted their heads, grabbing their attention. With her trademark gentle smile on her face, she asked them. "Leave them for a bit, okay? What would you both like to eat? Something tasty I bet!" Sheughed at her own joke once again while she stood back up and reached for two meaty bones from the table. It didn''t take long for Lily to reach the backyard and with a loud bang flung open the door. Although she could already see that Aiden was okay and was in a heated sparring session with Number 3, she couldn''t help herself, she had just had to go and feel her warmth. "Broooother!" Her cry echoed through the wind, interrupting their spar. In the next moment, a blonde little rocket flew through the air pushing Aiden down to the ground before he had any chance to react. She couldn''t calm herself, her tears once again stained her freshly washed face. Sitting up, Aiden hugged the girl''s back, who was already tightlytched onto him. Looking at his master with a helpless expression, he could only smile wryly. Number 3 only gently smiled at the scene, and while shaking her head, she raised her hand signaling that everything is okay, and he should just spend time with her for now. While their training was important as Aiden desperately needed to learn some control over his own abilities and emotions, right now, healing the troubled heart of her sister was much more important. Turning around, she silently left, leaving the two alone in the hoary morning grassy field. "Brooother!!! I was so worried!" Amidst her sobs, her trembling voice could be heard. "Silly girl, what is there to worry about? What could happen to me, when I know my big sis was waiting for me to get back? We just rescued the Nortons and left as well. Nothing bad happened, calm down." Aiden gently whispered, ending it with a hearty smack on the top of her head. The magical smooch seemed to have some calming effect, as the sobs slowly died down, receding into some teary sniffing. "W-where are they? How are they?" Lily stutteringly asked between two sniffs. "Don''t worry, they will be fine. We healed them enough so they would be stable and then left them with professional healers. Granny and Master also erased the painful memories from them, they will not be troubled by those horrors. They will be fine once they get their health back." Lily didn''t answer but just by listening to her slowly sniffing, Aiden could tell that she should be fine now. Keeping up the hug, he slowly stood up. Looking towards the door, he merely whispered as if afraid to scare away the frightened animal. "Let''s go, big sis, the breakfast should be ready." To that, a barely audible meek "Uhm" could be heard. Chapter 124 - 124 - The Request Over Breakfast The serene silence was disturbed by the creaking sound of the old wooden door leading to the back yard of the house slowly being opened up. Using his right feet, Aiden agilely pulled the door before slipping in through the widening crack. In his arm, he was cradling the little ko, Lily, who refused to let go no matter what. In the end, he had toe to apromise and agree to carry her all the way to the already prepared breakfast table, where Granny and Number 3 was silently sitting watching the approaching brother-sister pair. Seeing them approaching in such a manner, they subtly exchanged looks, already aware of what must be done. Arriving at the table, Aiden walked up to an empty chair. Leaning in against her right ear, he gently whispered, his breath causing to tingle and evoke a multitude of emotions in the troubled girl. "We are at the table, Lily. You have to let me go, you promised you will be a good girl." Instead of obeying, Lily just tightened her grip. A muffled response could be heard. "No. I don''t wanna." Smiling, he crouched down a bit, and slowly, carefully put the girl down to the chair while she kept her tight hold. The two dogs not missing a beat immediately walked over with arge meaty bone in their mouths and sat down at each left and right of the chair. "Our two new friends will keep you safe, no matter what. You can rx sis, we are all here. Nothing bad will happen to you." Slowly raising her head Lily peaked to the left and the right she noticed the two ck mounds on her sides, carelessly chumming on their breakfast. Both Granny and Number 3 kept silent while all this was going on, the same gentle and loving smile on their faces as they kept enjoying the scene in front of them. After a few more moments, Lily managed to gather enough willpower to -albeit reluctantly-, but separate from his brother. She sat up on the chair, just noticing their smiling, cheeky gazes, causing her to immediately turn beet red from embarrassment, and try to hide in her small delicate hands. This just made the scene turn even cuter, as while her face was indeed hidden behind her snow-white hands, the tip of her elongated ears were still red as a tomato. While Lily was trying to fight and regain at least a bit of herposure, Aiden walked to thest empty chair, that was happened to be to the right of her Master and sat down on it. When everyone was finally seated, Granny''s contentedly hummed. Waving her right hand once, several trays appeared out of nowhere. Just as before, there were all kinds of food avable, satisfying each of their diets. Starting their breakfast ritual, Granny started filling her te with a mixture of fruits and vegetables, just as usual. Aiden immediately went to therge meat pile that was conveniently ced in front of him, while Number 3 and Lily filled theirs with a bit of everything. A piece of meat, some veggies, a bit of red fruits, and a few slices of fresh bread. As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life after all! For the next several minutes the only sounds were the silent and muffled munchings of the family. After a while, as Granny''s te was halfway cleaned, she coughed once to grab everyone''s attention and with the same gentle smile, she spoke while looking at the kids. "*Khm* So, Aiden and Lily, what are your ns for today?" Hearing the question, Aiden put the half-destroyed remains of some red meat he was enjoying, and while looking at Lily he answered. "Uhm, I am not sure, to be honest You, sis?" All gazes suddenly on her, Lily was once again red from embarrassment. Immediately trying to hide behind the safety of her palms. A few secondster a squeaking, meek response could be heard. "I just want to be with brother..." Hesitation caused her to stutter, she was afraid to voice her desires. Both Granny and Number 3 gently smiled at her. In the end, it was her master, Number 3 that continued to discourse. "Good! That is perfect! We would like both of you to set out to the forest after breakfast and gather a list of ingredients for us. Granny would like to get some herbs that she is running out of, and I also need a few rare materials. What do you guys say?" Instead of giving an answer right at the moment, Lily looked at her brother, who simply smiled and nodded, causing her to turn red for the umpteenth time this morning. She weakly nodded back, unable to meet his eyes. Aiden smiled at this, and faced her master, silently nodding, epting the task. "Excellent! Let us enjoy this bountiful breakfast then! After that we will give you children the list we would like you to look for today. Look them over and make sure to ask if there is anything you will not recognize. Also, while we very much would like if you could gather everything we ask today, don''t overexert yourselves and insteade back home before evening, okay?" After that, she turned towards her own te, resuming her previous action at dominating arger piece of meat. A good twenty minutester when their tes were emptied and their bellies were filled, they were sitting back, leaning against the backrest of their seats. A small coughing from Granny broke this tranquil moment. She pulled out a small piece of paper, handing it over to the ebony-haired boy. "Aiden, this is the list for everything I would need." "And these are the items I require, Lily." Number 3 followed suit and gave a list to the girl. "There''s a bit of everything in these papers, but you will be able to find most of them towards the north. Try to avoid venturing too deep, don''t go too far away! There are countless horrors lurking in those depths, many you don''t want to cross, believe me!" Granny continued, then as she walked over to Lily, she patted both dogs on the head and continued. "Go now and prepare for the trip Lily. I will get your two new friends ready in the meantime!" Silently humming, Lily rose to her feet and scurried back to her room. As she entered the room and closed the door, both adults looked at Lily, with a serious expression. Number 3 spoke in a low tone, careful so Lily wouldn''t be able to hear them. "Be with her and try to cheer her up, okay? She tries hard, but what happened yesterday left a deep mark on her heart and soul. She mes herself for the tragedy that happened to that elderly couple." "Yes, to be honest, you guys don''t even really need to bother with the list, the most important part is that you spend the day with her." Granny chimed in. Seeing their concerned expressions caused him to gently smile and nod his head. "Sure, don''t worry Granny, Master!" Standing up, he walked towards the dogs, and looked at them. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes momentarily shed, shining in their majestic golden luster, and his voice changed, donning a much lower, growling tone as he started to address them. "Listen here you two. Follow and protect Lily from now on. Her safety and happiness are your utmost priority. Listen to her EVERYmand. Got it?!" Both hounds whimpered at the sight of him, and as if understanding his words, they nodded with their heads. In the next moment, they jumped up their feet and ran after their new master, the blonde girl. As they ran after the girl, Number 3 couldn''t help but ask. "How do you do that, Aiden?" Turning around, she looked at her Master with a quizzing look. "Do what, master?" "How do youmand them so easily? It''s not magic, it''s something else. As if they instinctively recognize you as their alpha." She asked again. Shrugging, Aiden could only helplessly smile. "I.. don''t really know. It''s something I just noticedst night, but I''m still not sure what it actually is.... and how it works. Whenever I look at them, there''s this subtle feeling at the back of my head, a sort of urge a feeling. I give in to it, let it flow through my mind, and just talk to them." "I see" Number 3 spoke, stroking her chin, seemingly deep in thought. Looking at Granny she asked. "What do you think? Is this an abilitying from the Ancient Dragon species? Or maybe something new?" "Hard to say..." Granny spoke with a thoughtful expression. "We need to study it more, I think." "Yes, that''s true." Number 3 agreed to that notion, then turning her head, she looked at Aiden. "We will work on this ability of yours more in the future, but now, go! Spend a day with Lily and try to heal her once again! Cheer her up!" "You can count on me." Aiden answered with a bright smile on his face. Turning around, he walked towards their room. His smile wasn''t just because of the task his elders gave him, but because of the notification, he received from the system! Chapter 125 - 125 - Sam And Biggy Standing before the closed door leading to their room, Aiden had a small smile adorning his face. His eyes were stered on the wooden door ahead of him, but in reality, he was focusing on the magical screen in front of him, that was visible only to himself. As soon as he verbally agreed for today''s adventure, a system message popped up, giving him a new main quest! Not an optional quest, not a personal quest but a main quest. From his experiences with the system, whenever such a thing happens it was the precursor of something major, an important event. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened up the message and carefully read it through. [New Main Quest: The Secrets of the Demon Grotto Difficulty: A-S+ Remaining Time: 59 days 23 hours 57 minutes 43 seconds Objective:-Find and Explore the Demon Grotto -Uncover its Secret -Earn its owners eptance Optional: ???? Reward: ???? Failure Condition: -Banished from the Demon Grotto -Failure toplete the quest in time Penalty: Expulsion and Forceful Return to the Wheel of Life and Death] From the difficulty, Aiden could guess that whoever was the ''owner'' of this Cavern or Grotto, must be a terrifying existence if the difficulty would be marked to an at least A level. He wasn''t sure what the S difficulty or even the S+ difficulty meant but he had a feeling it would border the impossible. Apart from the difficulty, he got nks on the Optional objectives and even for Rewards. Regardless, he was expecting that he would gain tremendous benefits from this adventure if he couldplete it. Additionally, for the first time, he had a timer for the quest. Judging from one of the failure conditions, he had to be able toplete it before the timer runs out, lest he wanted to leave this life behind! Still, even with all this pressure, he was happy, he was excited. Being marked as the main quest meant that the findings in this cave would be important to him in the future. His raging thoughts were interrupted when the door to the room flung open and Lily, now dressed in his usual attire, with a bow and a quiver filled with arrows hanging on her back stepped out. Behind her the two ck wolf-like dogs silently followed. "Huh?" Lily looked quizzically at Aiden. "What are you standing here for, brother? Are you ready?" Shaking his head, he silenced his thoughts and hid the notification from his view. He looked at Lily, and with a calm tone, he answered. "Don''t worry, I am ready." Looking at the twopanions behind her he continued. "Did you think of a name for these two? They seem to be keen on following and protecting you after all." Hearing the question, Lily turned around to face his tworge, wolf-likepanions. Even through their ck fur, you could still see the toned muscles. Their presence emitted a certain amount of power that was unlike the average watchdog. This was understandable since these dogs were raised to be merciless killing machines. Them turning so docile from a meremand of Aiden was a huge deal that was only recognized by Number 3 and Granny currently. "I had a thought about naming them, but I couldn''te up with any names. What do you suggest, brother?" Lily asked thoughtfully while gazing at the dogs. "Well" Aiden replied with a sly smile. "Do you know their sex? Before you can name them, you need to know if they are male or females." Hearing this, caused Lily to turn bright red from embarrassment and immediately hide her face behind her delicate eyes. "Brooother! I I I can''t possibly look back there... " "Back where?" Aiden asked, clearly enjoying teasing her. "S-stop it! Y-You know w-what I mean!" Lily replied embarrassedly still ''hiding'' behind her palms. Unable to hold back, Aiden erupted into a burst of cheerfulughter. Hearing this, Lily slowly removed her hands and look at her with a pouting expression. "Mean brother! Nasty brother!" she eximed. "You only know how to bully me!" "Okay, okay" Aiden eventually stoppedughing and spoke with a bright smile on his face. "Sorry, but it was so funny They are both males, I already checked. So, you only need to think about boy names." "Hmm" Although still pouting, she began to rack her brains for some fitting names for his two new friends. After a while, she looked at the left one and eximed while pointing at it. "Sam!" The dog, as if understanding and epting his new name, barked once and nodded.Then, Lily looked at the other one, and with a bright smile, she pointed at it and eximed once again. "Biggy!" The second wolf-canine hybrid nodded and barked once, epting its new title. As the short naming ceremony came to an end, Lily crouched down and snuggled against both dogs. They looked like as if they had been together for years and not days, Sam and Biggy were happily licking her cheeks while Lily was giggling at them. Aiden watched this scene with a happy smile on his face. This was what he was hoping for, after all. By giving names to these two pets, she subconsciously created a connection, a reliance on them. By epting both of them, they became part of her family, they would be the best remedy to heal the scars left byst night''s trauma. Eventually, he still had to break them up, as they had to get going, otherwise, they wouldn''t aplish anything before sunset. Momentster, the brother and sister duo, -apanied by Sam and Biggy- were outside the front door of the hut. Granny and Number 3 standing at the doorway, waving at them. Before they could leave, however, Number 3 waved at Aiden toe. As he obeyed and leaned closer, she whispered. "You still have the crystal I gave youst night, I hope. Do not hesitate to use it if you would like to reach out to me, okay?" Aiden firmly nodded, as he curtly replied. "Yes, Master." Walking back, they waved their goodbyes and soon vanished in the thick shrubbery of the forest, heading towards their appointed destination, the North. As the children left, Granny breathed a heavy sigh, continuing to gaze at the point where they entered the thick forest flora. "I hope nothing will happen to them That girl really needs this outing to get some of her lost spirits back" Number 3 smiled at her words and calmly added. "You don''t need to worry about them Don''t forget the time they spent in the Pocket World. That was much tougher, and that girl survived much worse than this. She is only disturbed because she thinks she is responsible for the tragedy that happened to that couple." Then with a small cackle, she continued. "Besides, there are not many beings that could seriously threaten that boy in this jungle, and none of them should be around the area where we sent them." Granny could only smile helplessly at her words. She didn''t refute her words, she only stared into the distance. After a good while, did she mumble mostly to herself, although it was caught by Number 3. "There''s so much more to this ce than you or that big master of yours knows You don''t know the terrifying history of this ce." As they turned around and walked back to the house, Number 3 couldn''t help but ask. "Why are you so disturbed anyways? You have sent them on simr trips multiple times already. What is different this time?" "I was always there in previous cases." Granny curtly answered before entering the kitchen to prepare a pot of tea for them to enjoy. --- Meanwhile, back in the city, the citizens were greeted with shocking news! During the night the city guards invaded the Slums district and after a gruesome and bloody battle, they closed down an illegal ve market ring, rescuing hundreds of people in the process! The implications of such a matter were incredible, it was rumored that several noble households were visited one after another in the morning. In some of them, they managed to reach a mutual understanding, while in otters fights erupted and resulted in the death of a few city guards and entire noble families to be wiped out. Even the ruling city lord was met with his own guards. While nobody was sure what did they discuss, but they seemed to have reached a peaceful conclusion as, after a while, they were seen leaving his mansion with him in chains. Shortly thereafter another shocking announcement was made, that the patriarch of the Arcus family, the current city lord had abdicated his position and that his sessor is to be announced in theing days. In the interim, the city council will handle all rted matters. The source of these events, a pair of hooded youths, a silver-haired boy, and a fiery red-haired girl were no longer in the city. In the early morning, they left through the front gates and were seen heading towards the treeline, only to be lost from the curious eyes. Chapter 126 - 126 - Turmoil Inside Higrove''s Academy''s main tower''s top floor, a pudgy man in an amethyst-colored silk robe was standing against the window, gazing towards a particr section of the city. The ce where the man''s attention was focused on was avish white mansion. In front of the building surrounded byrge marble pirs on a podium, the ten city council ministers were gathering wearing their official ck robes with the golden eagle insignia etched on the upper right side of it, waiting for the Council Master, the current acting City Lord toe to the hastily erected pulpit, and address the gathered mixed audience. These ten old, robed geezers were all influential existences in the city. Apart from being patriarchs or at the very least elders in the families, they were also Professors in the local Academy. They all held considerable power, both in the martial world and as nobles. Despite being influential and used to looking down on people with disdain, all ten of them were now quivering with fear. The events that happened in the course of a single night and the morning caused them to shiver with trepidation. It was a miracle they were still standing there! After all, it wasn''t just the City Lord who had ties with the Underworld, but all of them as well. It was almost a requirement to have some pull to be able to grasp such an influential position as theirs. Still, so far, they managed to avoid the disaster, and now they were trying their best to survive. Amongst their group only the currently acting City Lord, the Council Master''s hands weren''t stained. He was an old and righteous man, who couldn''t be swayed with mere worldly desires. He always enforced thew, acted justly, and favored no sides in any quarrel. In fact, if it wouldn''t be against thew, he would have been the most likely sessor to the now-vacant position. Minutes passed as everyone waited for the arrival of this old man with bated breaths. Eventually, the crimson-colored double-doors opened, and an elderly man in a silver robe, matching his long unkempt hair and beard came forth, apanied by two soldiers. With a stack of papers tightly gripped with both of his hands, he slowly walked up to the lectern, ced them down. His group of ministers silently took their ces behind this man in an orderly fashion, keeping their eyes on their leader. With his weary and baggy eyes, he scanned through the mixed crowd and coughed lightly a few times to wait for everyone to quiet down. After a few seconds, he coughed once, and began his already prepared speech. Although he was tired and that was clearly visible from his appearance, his voice was majestic and could be clearly heard even from hundreds of meters away. "My fellow citizens, I stand before you with mixed emotions on this otherwise bright morning. From one side, I am happy, as a vile den of evil was found and destroyedst night, with the despicable monsters responsible being apprehended to justice. This is a happy moment, many lost and broken families could finally be reunited after suffering, and have a chance to recover. This is obviously a monumental and historic asion. On the other hand, I am filled with grief, sorrow, and anger. I grieve, because despite saving so many, who knows how many innocents were killed or suffered worse fates because of greed and lust. I am filled with sorrow as the lives we lost there will never be recovered. While we may have closed one den, who knows how many are out there? How many evil groups, bandits, thieves, murderers lurk in the shadows? And I am mad, filled with anger, as these acts could have gone unnoticed by the guards that swore to protect you, and by us, the members of this council, the people that were supposed to lead you towards a better future. We, the council have failed you. For this, I wholeheartedly apologize." As he said these words, he stopped his speech and took this time to switch to the next paper. The audience loudly gasped, and the ministers shivered with fear. They only hoped to survive this cmity. --- At the top of the tower, the pudgy man loudly snorted. Even though he was miles away from the event, he could still listen to each and every word said. He didn''t care for this rhetoric at all. What mattered was thest part of the speech On the other side of the city in the very depths of the Slums, there was one building that was different from the rest. While the others were run-down, or dpidated, this one stood proudly with no signs of time on its clear surface. It was surrounded by a strange white fog, giving it a unique and magical protection. All those who would foolishly trespass and tread closer and unknowingly tread into this mist would have their mind charmed and would only see and remember what the owner of this mansion wished. Those without any sort of protection or knowledge about it would be mere toys for this person. So, despite its contrast to their surroundings, this particr building managed to evade the inquisitive eyes. On the second floor of this mansion, a feminine figure in ckced evening gown was standing against the window, looking towards the distance, in the direction of the speech that was just taking ce. She had ebony long hair that like a waterfall cascaded down to the middle of her back. Her figure was perfect, slender where it needed and curvy where it mattered. She could be considered a heavenly beauty if one wouldn''t take a gander at her face. A huge, ugly scar ran through her face all the way from the top right corner of her forehead through her ruined right-eye and left half of her mouth making a second scar on her lips down all the way towards her neckline. She had a calctive look on her face, as she was intently gazing towards the distance. A soft sigh left her lips, her breath creating flowers in the window''s ss. She ced the ck mask that she was gripping in her right hand back on her face, and with her angelic voice she loudly called out for her steward. "Sebas! Come inside!" Upon her call, the door to the room opened up and a slim elderly butler stepped in. He bowed deeply in the doorway and while staying in that pose, he raised his head and looked at her mistress'' back. He respectfully answered the call. "How may I serve you, Madame?" Turning around, her devil-faced ck mask caused a momentary shiver to run through his old spine. It was such a realistic depiction added with her ckce dress that she always wore it gave her a very eerie aura. Looking at her butler, her angelic voice that carried a distant sadness, contrasted her devilish appearance. "After all these years, Sebas you are still disgusted about me?" The elderly butler immediately shook his head. "Nonsense madame! Please forgive these old bones, in my old years I have be senile, not worthy of the mistress." He hastily, but professionally apologized. She erupted into a light giggle as if her previous sadness was never there, to begin with. "Oh, old friend How could I ever be mad at you? You are my only family, you know that. Without your tender care, I wouldn''t even be here today." Maintaining his subservient pose, the elder responded with a sliver of a smile on his face. "I am unworthy of such words. Seeing the Mistress grow up was my utmost joy!" Thedy giggled once again. Arriving in front of the elder, she gently ced her silkced glove covered right hand on the man''s chin and gently lifted it, straightening his pose. "Rise up Sebas, I should be the one paying my respects to you, not the other way around." The butler didn''t respond this time but looked deeply into the eye sockets of the devil-mask. After a moment, the woman lightly sighed and averted her gaze, looking at the window once again. "The time hase Sebas. It is time for a change. It''s time for the city to hear the real voice of the people." Sebas, the elderly butler nodded upon hearing these words, and respectfully spoke. "Does Miss intend to go for the City Lord title?" Thedy shook her head upon the question. "No, I can''t show my face, you know that. I am merely a shadow, the guiding hand." She said, keeping her gaze towards the distance. Then as if nothing could hide behind her peerless gaze, she paced through the entire city, until her eyes finally rested on a particr mansion in the far reaches of the city. This ce was only recently rebuilt, on the ruins of a destroyed family. In this building''s courtyard, a certain man adorned in golden breastte was kneeling in front of a ck-haired noblewoman. Her face contorted into a smile that was hidden behind her mask, however, her tone still managed to carry this satisfaction. "I have a much better candidate for our ns..." Chapter 127 - 127 - Territorial Dispute It was a beautiful morning. The sun could shine and warm the entire area with its orange rays unobstructed, thanks to the clear morning sky. In a small clearing deep in the forest, a herd of strange animals was enjoying their morning serenity. Looking at them, they were clearly mammals, and most likely omnivores at that, as most of them were enjoying a fulfilling breakfast with the emerald green grass. They weren''t overlyrge, they were probably the size of an average dog, with a pair of back- and front legs supporting their muscr stature. They had a short but seemingly strong tail hanging at the back. Their smooth skin was covered with short, soft fur, that was either dark red, bronze-colored, or abination of these. They had a fairlyrge mouth, their teeth and wide tongue were ideal for their lifestyles. Another unique trait they had was theirrge, nted eyes, thin noses, and small, pointy ears resting on their rtively small heads. While it wasn''t obvious from a first nce, they didn''t seem to rely on their vision too much but instead on their other senses. As they continued to carelessly enjoy the warmth of the morning sun, they emitted low-pitched sounds that seemed vaguely familiar to clicks. A couple of meters away from the herd a pair of youths were hiding in the undergrowth. They were intently watching the strange animals, being extra careful not to make a noise or any movement. Tworge ck hounds werezing behind them, seemingly not caring about anything at all. The ck-haired boy, Aiden, was focusing his gaze on the strange creature, trying to discern what they could be. They originally came this way for an herb that usually grew in this clearing. The Purple Tansima, as they are called, are rtively easy to spot, as they haverge, purple, egg-shaped leaves. On top of it, the flowers of the herb were dark red in color, hence the name. However, when they arrived, he noticed these creatures and decided toy low first and watch them. They weren''t necessarily looking for a fight, especially if they were the ones to intrude on the species'' territory. "What do you think, brother?" The blonde-haired half-elf girl, Lily, quietly whispered. "I don''t think they are aggressive." Aiden answered in a simrly quiet tone. "Look at them, they seem just harmless herbivores. I think it should be safe to approach. At most they will try to defend their spot, if we are careful, we should be able to circle around and get the flowers we need." Looking at the girl he asked. "How much do you need anyway?" Grabbing the crumpled piece of paper from her back pocket, Lily unfolded it and checked her list again. "3 Flowers of Purple Tansima. Make sure they are intact." She read the line, then while putting it back to her pocket she asked. "You?" Because of the system, he didn''t need to check the paper at all, it was already in his inventory. Opening it up, he looked in front of him, seemingly at nothing, then with a blink he returned to reality and answered. "6 leaves. I don''t need their flowers. What does the Master want with those? I could understand the flower for Granny, but the leaves?" Thinking about the matter, another question rose in Lily''s mind. As the idea took root inside, her eyes became wide and with a slightly higher-pitched tone, she asked. "Quick! Show me your list!" Not knowing what she wanted, Aiden summoned the list from his System Inventory and gave it to the girl. Looking at this list, shepared the items from hers with great interest. As her eyes went from line to line, from paper to paper it became wider every passing second. Her lips curled, feeling great joy in her discovery, she squealed in joy, causing Aiden to immediately muffle her mouth. "Ssssh! Don''t shout, we want to avoid these creatures, remember?" Nodding her head, Aiden slowly removed his hands, freeing the girl''s mouth. "Sorry! Bute, look! Your items are almost the same as mine, it''s just that you always require a different part of the nt or fruit than me." Aiden only smiled at this but didn''t respond. Looking at the creatures, he spoke, meanwhile also changing the subject. "Okay, we have wasted enough time. They seem harmless, we can just avoid these animals. If they attack us, I will try to not kill them. You just stay behind me, okay?" Lily shook her head while pouting at his words. "No! I can help, I''m strong too! I have Sam and Biggy too!" Keeping his gaze on the animals, Aiden clenched his fists in preparation. "I know, Lily, but we don''t need to kill them. They are no threat to us, if they attack, it would just be to protect their group or their territory. We are the ones trespassing, so we should just try to avoid them." Although his words were rational and Lily also understood that, she still continued her pouting. She didn''t refute his words either, instead, she kept silent. "Okay, let''s try to slowly circle around at the edges. We will enter the clearing from the other side, the flowers are closer from that way." Following his words, he slowly walked forward, keeping himself crouched and behind the shrubs. After a few steps, he stopped and waved towards the girl to follow. Keeping his attention on the animals, they slowly went through the bushes, approaching the far side. The animals either didn''t hear them or didn''t care for them, as they have shown no signs of being alerted of their presence. Still, Aiden felt that somehow, they knew of their presence, as if they had an extra type of sense. This actually intrigued him quite a bit, but he quickly decided to ignore this desire and shook his head. Noticing Aiden''s weird behavior, Lily lightly giggled from behind and spoke in a cheerful and low tone. "What is it, brother? Did you hit a web or ate a bug or something?" She cheekily remarked. Aiden didn''t bother answering and just kept going forward, giving the girl even more ammunition. "Oooh, it must be web, no, a bug, no Hmm, what could it be that made you shake your head like that?" She continued as if this was the most important topic at the moment. Eventually, Aiden stopped and looked at the girl. "Shush you! You are so loud, you really want us to be noticed?" Although he knew they were somehow aware of their presence, he pretended if that wasn''t the case. It was a good opportunity for Lily to train, after all. "Blee! Smelly brother! Nasty brother!" Lily continued with her cheeky act, causing Aiden to put on a smile as he shook his head and continued with his track. As he continued, soft giggles apanied him from behind. Eventually, they finally arrived at the far side of the clearing. Looking at the creatures, Lily sighed in relief, they were unnoticed! Looking at the boy, she flicked her tongue at him. "Blee! You worried for nothing, they didn''t notice us at all!" Aiden could only silently sigh at this. Focusing on the flowers ahead of them, he quietly whispered. "Okay, let''s focus now. You stay here, and I will gather the flowers and the leaves, okay?" Having said that, he took a step forward, leaving the safety of the undergrowth. However, as soon as he entered the clearing the creatures at the other side raised their heads, looking in his direction. ''Just as I thought'' he inwardly thought while sneering at this turn of events. "Brother They" Lily alsomented with a shocked expression. She thought that they werepletely unnoticed, yet with one step into their ''territory'', they all immediately jumped. "Don''t worry, I got this" Aiden answered, keeping his eyes on the herd. Taking another hesitant step forward, he watched intently how the creatures would react. All of them kept staring at him, not moving or reacting at all. It seemed as if they were frozen in time further puzzling Aiden and Lily. As soon as he took the third step a loud much lower-pitched clicking sound reverberated in the area. In the next second, arger, bulkier mammal from the same species walked forward, looking at the invader menacingly. Before the two hounds behind Lily could have jumped to action, Aiden immediately raised his hands signaling them to not take any action. Understanding what her brother wanted, Lily patted both dogs'' heads, and with a sweet tone, she whispered. "No need to worry you two, brother can handle it without any issues. He doesn''t want us to help, because we don''t want to hurt them. They are in the right to defend their territory. Just stay here, okay?" The two hounds seemed to be much more intelligent than what one would expect at first nce, as after the verbalmand, they silently sat back on the ground, not caring about the events anymore. Meanwhile, Aiden stood up, and while raising his arms in the air, he took another step towards the direction of the flowers, while keeping his eyes on the big creature. Chapter 128 - 128 - Fierce Beast The creature that stepped forward had mostly bronze fur with dark-red spots all over it. He was about half a size bigger than the rest of the herd, with a much stronger, mightier demeanor. He was most likely their leader, their alpha. With itsrge grey nted eyes, it looked at the invader as if it was trying to see through him. As his eyes had no white sclera in them, it made their gaze much more terrifying to meet. It raised its right front leg into the air and stomped on the ground while releasing some air through its thin nose. It also released a very deep, low-pitched clicking sound towards Aiden. ''I guess he is warning me?'' Aiden guessed the creature''s intentions. Keeping his hand in the air, above his head, he took a step to the side. He was now just before the small purple patch of flowers they needed. Seeing that the creature had not taken any action, he slowly crouched down, and while still keeping his hands in the air, he pointed at the flower patch with his right hand. Thinking back to the moment when hemanded the dogs, he tried forcing his mind to repeat that moment. Fiercely looking at the creature, he spoke. "Back off. I only want a few pieces of this flower. There is no need for any fight, okay?" However, there was no golden or scarlet glow in his eyes this time, nor did his voice equip the draconic undertone he was familiar with. There was no effect this time. ''Not good'' he cursed inwardly, seeing that his attempts failed. The only result he got was another fierce look and a stomp on the ground from the alpha. It gave another warning: Take another move against the flowerbed, and there will be hell to pay! ''I guess, it''s inevitable at this point'' he sighed. He didn''t know what he was missing, why couldn''t activate this ability at will. Was it a different state of mind? Or was it controlled by his surging emotions? He didn''t know, and couldn''t understand it either, he could transform at will after all. Slowly lowering his hands, he clenched his left hand into a fist, while going for the closest flower. Keeping his attention on the animal all the time, he slowly plucked it from the ground, and instantly stored the entire thing in his System''s space. As soon as the flower disappeared, it also blew the tense atmosphere up. The created lowered his head, and with another deep-toned clicking sound, it flew into a charge towards the boy. Its speed was astonishing, even for Aiden, he couldn''t flicker away and had to raise his left hand in front to block the impact. Raising his hand, his skin rapidly transformed, covering his skin with the golden scales. His hand also changed taking on the traits of his draconic transformation. In the next moment, his arms met with the surprisingly thick forehead of the creature. The power behind the impact pushed him back several steps before he could stabilize himself, startling him. For the first time in a long while, he felt pain! The power behind the creature''s charge was immense, and while his scales managed to absorb some of the force, but not all, and it traversed through his bones, causing the numbing pain to spread all over. "Woah That was unexpected" He eximed with a surprised expression as he shook his arm. Seeing the worried expression of Lily as she peaked from the bushes, Aiden released a smile towards her direction while waving with his right hand. Meanwhile, the beast took a few steps back, increase the distance between the enemy and itself again. Stomping on the ground a few times once again, it released a deep-toned clicking sound, and went for the second attack, charging in headfirst. ''The same will not work twice, my friend!'' This time, however, Aiden was prepared. As the creature rapidly approached, he cocked his right fist behind him, gathering power and momentum. Jumping forward, his punch collided with the beast''s reinforced forehead, releasing a massive sound burst and throwing both of them back several meters. The collision released a massive shockwave alerting and scaring the local fauna. Birds of all colors and sizes escaped into the air, while small critters rushed away in panic. Lily was startled as well, falling on her butt as the force reached her. Sam and Biggy immediately jumped to action and walked in front of her, growling towards the clearing. "Don''t worry guys, I''m okay, I was just startled, I didn''t expect it. You can go back to rest, brother can handle it!" She exined to them, seeing their reaction. Obeying her words, they slowly lied down, but did not go back, they stayed in front of Lily. "You guys" She smiled, seeing their protective action. The creature didn''t initiate the third charge immediately, as the impact did cause momentary dizziness for it as well. After a few short seconds, however, as it regained its rity, it slowly retreated, creating the same distance once more. Seeing that, Aiden shook his head in annoyance. "Really? This is all you can do? It''s really predictable, you will never win this way." Beingpletely prepared this time, he tightly clenched his right fist, cocking it for another powerful thrust. Gathering all of the power he had, he was intently focusing on the beast, as it prepared it third and hopefully final assault. "Okay then,e! I am ready!" He excitedly eximed. Although he didn''t notice it, his eyes began to faintly glow, releasing a red hue. Unbeknownst to him, the muscle mass in his right arm increased, while the golden scales revealed themselves on his skin. The excited smile contorted, transforming into a scarier, crueler almost manic expression, as he intently gazed at the creature. Noticing this, Lily was startled. He saw these eyesst night, and afterward, he quickly got lost in his frenzy. She immediately picked up her bow andmanded to hispanions. "Sam, Biggy go and charge at the beast. Don''t kill it but only immobilize it! Go! NOW!" She quickly pulled an arrow from his quiver and aimed at the space between his brother and the beast. Pulling the string, she whispered the prayer for the explosive effect that she learned back in the vision. "Oh Naone, gentle and kind mother of all elves, please bless this arrow and guide it to the hearts of our enemies! Please let this unworthy one stand strong against our enemies! Dennui tho ih!" Releasing the string, she watched as the arrow flew through the air. Midway it became engulfed with the light green coat of energy, transforming it into something akin to a beam of light. Before the beast could initiate its third charge with all his strength, tworge ck war hounds suddenly jumped out from the bushes and lounged at it. Suddenly, it felt two sharp pain ring through their receptors, both hounds decisively grabbed hold of its front legs with their strong jaws. At this time, as Aiden was getting lost in his frenzy and was about tounch himself at the creature, the light green energy beam mmed into the ground in front of him, releasing an explosion and throwing him back several meters. In the next moment, Lily rushed out from the bushes with a worried expression and ran towards his brother. "Brooother! Are you okay?" She was almost crying. Noticing her frightened state, the red glow in his eyes faded, and his arms returned to their normal states. He sat up from the ground, looking at the iing girl. "Why did you attack?" He asked, confused about the events. Shaking her head, she jumped into his embrace, not giving him any chance for refusal. Leaning on his right shoulder she meekly whispered. "Y-you were turning You had red eyes and you looked scary" "I did?" He looked at the girl surprised. Then turning his head, he checked the beast that was already ''disarmed'' by Sam and Biggy. It took them almost no time at all. Looking at the girl tightly hugging him, he gave her a quick peck on the top of her head while gently whispering. "I''m sorry I didn''t mean to scare you I I don''t know what happened, I guess I got lost in the moment." Hearing his words, Lily shook her head. "No This was something else. Your face was a scary one, brother. It felt as if simply defeating the beast was no longer enough for you, it was as if you wanted its blood or maybe to see it suffer." Aiden couldn''t answer to these words, he could only continue caressing her sister, while giving her small pecks on the top of her head. As their leader was defeated, the remaining members of the herd took a few steps back, not showing any hostility at all. They released low-toned clicking sounds while looking at their lying mate. Noticing their reactions, Aiden nudged Lily. "Tell your dogs to let that poor fe go, the herd is agitated. Remember, we just wanted a few flowers!" Nodding her head, Lily begrudgingly left her favorite spot. Looking at his doggies, she waved at them. "Sam, Biggy, release it, let it go back to its group!" Chapter 129 - 129 - Ambush Hearing their master''smand, the two canines let go of the creature''s front legs and took a step back. They kept up their vignce and warningly growled against the alpha, watching its limping movement as it walked back to its herd. They kept up their guard even after the beast got lost with the others of its kind. Looking at the herd''s direction they kept growling. Only after they heard their master''s cute voice did they finally rx and walk back for the rewarding head pats. "Come back you two, it''s okay now!" Arriving back in front of the blonde half-elf girl, they slightly lowered their heads, giving convenient and easy ess to receive their rewards. Seeing their shameless action, Aiden broke out in a hearty guffaw. "Oh my, they are really incredible" He spoke in-between two snorts. After giving out the respective rewards, and giving them a big hug, Lily turned towards the flowerbed in front of them. "So, how much more do we need? Let''s not waste time here, I don''t want to intrude on their territory longer than we need to. We already caused enough mess." Quieting down, Aiden nodded, then crouched down. Gently holding one of the purple leaves of the closest flower, he contemtively spoke. "Yes, you''re right. Well, we need 5 more flowers and 8 morerge leaves. Gather the flowers but make sure to not hurt the rest of the nt, and I will get my leaves." As he talked, he already gently pulled on the base of the leave, plucking it off from the herb. Lily quickly followed suit, looking for a few moderately-sized flowers in the purple-sea of flowers. Meanwhile, the dogs lied down, seemingly uninterested with the rest of the events around them. However, from time to time, they peeked at the group of animals on the other side of the clearing, ready to jump back into action at the moment''s notice. Looking at the animals, they kept close to each other and while they were in an alerted, agitated state, they did not make any additional attempt against Aiden''s group. They returned to their normal routine of enjoying the emerald green grass while eliciting the low-pitched clicking sounds. As she gathered half of the required flowers, Lily looked back at Aiden. Grabbing the back of her head, she asked with a thoughtful expression. "Brother, do you know what is this clicking sound they make? Is this how they talk?" Raising his head, Aiden looked at the group ahead of them for a while, then shook his head. "No, I don''t think so. Although I can''t be certain, I think this is some sort of method to scan their surroundings. I''m not so sure that they see that well, to be honest." Looking at the creatures Lily had a surprised expression. "Huh? Are you sure? Their eyes are so big." "As I said, I''m not certain. It''s just a feeling. Their eyes are too weird to judge Master and Granny would probably know more about them.?? Plucking thest leaf of the herb he was currently stripping, he stood up and changed the subject while dusting his linen pants. "Are you done, Lily? If so, let''s go, we still need a few more things, before we can go home! If we can make good time, we could surprise them and get back for ate lunch!" Plucking the flower that she just grabbed, Lily jumped up and waved it in the air. "Yes, I''m done! Let''s go!" Then she turned around, facing the herd, and made a slight bow towards them. In a quieter, respectful tone, she addressed the animals. "Sorry for the intrusion, I hope you can forgive us." After that, she turned around and hopped back towards his brother. Once she reached him, she presented the 5 medium-sized dark purple flowers. With a wide grin on her face, she looked at him and cheerfully spoke. "Here they are, take them for me." Taking and storing the flowers he smiled at the girl. She''s always so cheerful and happy around him, he couldn''t help but think aboutst night''s events. However, he didn''t want to bring up the topic. He was perfectly content even if she was just pretending currently. Her two newpanions and this little trip will help her. After all, back in the pocket world, she endured way worse treatment and harsher wounds. Aiden was sure that her sloppy moodst night and this morning wasn''t caused by the beating she received. As they turned around to leave, Lily waved at Sam and Biggy to follow. Soon, they vanished in the foliage, continuing their small adventure towards the north. Crossing through the thick foliage, Aiden abruptly halted his steps and raised his right-hand signaling for Lily to stop as well. Sam and Biggy also seemed to sense something, they jumped to alert, growling to the left and right side of them, while surrounding their master. As his mood turned solemn, Aiden''s eyes shed golden momentarily. Clenching his fists, he looked ahead of him and spoke in a low, calm tone. "Lily, ready your weapon. We have enemies approaching us." Hearing his words, Lily immediately readied the bow. cing an arrow and resting her fingers on the string, she whispered. "Where? How many? What should we do?" Standing still, Aiden tensed the muscles in his arms. Still in his human form, he took a slow, measured step forward as he responded with the same calm tone. "15 life signs. I''m not sure how strong they actually are, but they are just starting to spread out and circle all around us." Hearing this, Lily turned serious. She looked to her left then to the right, checking the spots the dogs were growling at, but couldn''t spot anything unusual. Turning back towards Aiden, she asked again. "Are you sure? What''s the n?" Thinking for a bit, Aiden''s eyes shed golden again. His lips contorting into a cruel smile, he spoke while flexing his hands. "I say, let them execute their ns. I don''t think we need to worry that much, at the very least their signals don''t seem overly strong. I would say they are like the human guards back in the city maybe a bit weaker. Hard to say from a first nce." Lily silently nodded in response. Scanning her surroundings, she kept her fingers on the bowstring, ready to stress it out at the first signs of any approaching enemy. Both dogs, stood in an alerted state, snarling at the seemingly empty bushes. Aiden didn''t take any step, nor any action, but kept the muscles in his arms in a tensed state with his hands flexed. He could see the enemy positions clearly. There was one, slightly brighter, stronger signal just ahead of them, most likely the leader of this group. As the seconds kept passing, and with no signs of activity, Aiden started to get antsy of the tensed atmosphere. "Come on don''t waste time Attack already" He frowned. As if he said the magic word, in the next moment, loud high-pitched shouts rang through the surroundings. Small, child-like creatures rushed out, charging at their group. Their skin color varied. Some of them were closer to the green spectrum with their darker shaded army colors, while the other half donned darker brown, syrupy color. They were ragged, tribal-like furred leather rags, just hiding their most important delicates, and swung crude stone and wood weaponry, like spears and clubs. In front of Aiden, the stronger life sign was a simr creature, but it was wearing a tattered bronze-colored robe and held a gnarled walking stick in his hand. At the end of the stick was a scarlet gemstone that kept humming, radiating its carmine glow. Their faces resembled something akin to a human, except for the row of sharp pointy teeth in their mouths, and therge flopping pointy ears. Most of them were bald, only a few sported some small patches of ck hair. The leader was the only one in the group that had the top of his head fully covered in rippling onyx hair jumbled at the top of its head. Raising its stick towards Aiden, it snickered as its face revealed a cruel grin. It was that its strategy was executed wlessly and that it was just a matter of time before they captured their newest prey. As the first few creatures reached into melee range, Sam and Biggy jumped into action and lounged themselves at the first two humanoids they found. Snapping their jaws they instantly tore through their long scrawny necks, ripping flesh and skin in the process. Dark, muddy, thick brownish liquid spurted like a fountain, as the first two little creatures fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Lily already released her first arrow, ending the assault of another one. Seeing as how three of its soldiers instantly fell, the leader''s vicious grin turned into a frown. It raised its stick into the air, releasing a loud battle cry. The gem shed brighter, releasing a burst of red energy. The energy quickly rippled through the air, seeping into the assants'' bodies. In the next moment, their muscles stretched and throbbed. The color of their eyes also changed from their original varied darker colors into dark bloody red. They all stopped their charge and released a loud howl into the sky. "Huh so you have some tricks? Come then!" Aiden snickered seeing the changes. It seems that this ambush will not be as boring as he first thought it would be! Chapter 130 - 130 - Crazed Mayhem Cracking the jolts in his fingers, Aiden spoke. His tone gradually changed, from his clear tone to the deeper draconic one. His voice carried great majestic power. "I will handle the leader, you guys can handle the rest." At a slow pace, he started walking towards the leader. His voice was contorted into a vicious grin, his eyes were brimming with a bright golden luster. His arms rapidly changed. Golden scales appeared all over his creole skin, providing an additionalyer of protection. The fingers grew, his nails morphing into thick ck semi-curved ws. After his arms finished its rapid transformation, he also unfolded his Draconic Aura, enveloping several hundred meters of the lush forest in its domain. The sudden surge of powering from the seemingly harmless human boy startled the leader quite a bit. Originally, he thought that they caught some easy prey and will be able to bring great merits to the n. However, in the first few seconds of their perfectly executed ambush, three from his group died without any chance to retaliate. While it was a nuisance, he quickly made the decision to empower the rest of the group. Even if it sapped quite a bit of energy from his reserves, it would be still worth it in the end. He was confident that with the spell they had the victory for sure, but now, this boy revealed a terrifying power. He could feel the human''s presence, his authority surrounding him as if his will was the highest in all existence. Angered and distraught at the same time with the sudden turn of events, his expression turned crazy, as he grabbed his stick with both hands and raised it above his head. He started chanting something seemingly unintelligible. The red gemstone at the top of his stick started glowing in bright crimson color at themand of his words. Aiden wasn''t in a hurry, he wanted to see what this little guy was up to. He halted his steps, standing only a couple dozen steps in front of him. He stayed in a vignt stance but didn''t take any steps forward, instead he focused his gaze, trying to understand and analyze his actions. Continuing his chant, the gemstone started pulsating. Amidst the bright blinding light, it started to emit a scarlet-colored thick smoke. The smoke seemed to have a mind of its own, as it quickly surrounded the leader, shrouding his figure. Raising his voice as it got to the end of his spell, the leader decisively smacked the gnarled stick on the ground, releasing a surprisingly loud bang and a shockwave. Although the power of the shockwave was not threatening, Aiden still unconsciously crossed both of his arms in front of him, as if it were blockable. The thick red smoke that shrouded the leader''s figure quickly seeped into his body through his pores. Immediately his muscles tensed and contorted, emitting a steady pulsing rhythm all over his body. His blood vessels all over his body swelled, increasing the blood pressure to feed the increased stamina consumption of his empowered state. The white sclera got reced by a crimson color, turning his gaze crazed and giving his facial expression a maddened feel. With the spell''s changes now in full effect, the leader raised his bloodshot eyes on the strange, half-draconic boy in front of him. Forgoing the stick, he pulled a crude dagger from his right pocket, and with a cruel grin on his face charged at him. His speed increased several-fold, it only took the leader a moment to cross the distance, and lounge into the air. With the dagger tightly gripped in both of his hands, he was aiming to stab his enemy in his forehead, attempting to end his life instantly. Although the creature''s burst of speed was much higher than what he was expecting, it still wasn''t difficult for him to react in time, and agilely evade to the left. As he stepped sideways, he also swung with his right hand. Contrary to his initial expectation, his ws couldn''t dig deep into the monster''s body, it only managed to pierce its skin, his muscles felt like marble. The power behind his swing, however, managed to swat the leader out of the air and throw him several meters to the left. Crashing to the ground, he tumbled several meters before the leader managed to regain control over his body and stop. Although it didn''t receive any major damage, the nerves in his right side still violently red. He reached for the wound, only to notice a looming shadow over him. Not giving it any time, Aiden flickered, only to appear in front of the guy in the next instant. Before he could regain the rity of his mind, he was already swiping with his right hand, this time, with more power behind the attack. Meanwhile, Lily was relentlessly firing her arrows, ending one life after another. Sam and Biggy weren''t idle either, in their jaws, the mangled remains of two brownish creatures hanged. Another arrow flew through the air, only to find its ce in the middle of a dark green monster, who was currently airborne, trying tounch himself on Sammy from the back. He immediately crashed to the ground, unable to stand back up. He wed briefly at the shaft protruding from his chest, then sagged to the ground lifelessly, as the tip of the arrow sessfully pierced his heart. Lily had a confident smile on her face, as she quickly prepared yet another arrow, and aimed at another little monster.While the creature''s violence seemed to have jumped up a level, they were still rtively easy prey. Her two doggies also had no problem at all mangling into their flesh, ripping their bodies to shreds. Looking back at Aiden, his downwards swing sessfully caught the leader by surprise who in turn could only raise his left hand to weakly defend against the iing blow. As the density of his muscles were weaker in his forearm, it was unable topletely block the blow. His skin shredded, and the terrifying ck ws tore deep into his flesh, only stopping at his radius bone. He shrieked in pain, causing a momentary halt in the brutal battle. As the remaining fewpanions looked towards the source of the sound, the bloodlust faded from their eyes, as shock and fear reced it. They saw their fearless leader as their left forearm became a mangled mess of flesh and skin. Dark green blood spurted out from the deepceration, painting Aiden''s golden scales as well as the ground below them. The leader fell back on his back to the ground and desperately mped his right hand over the huge gnashing wound, trying to cover it. The bloody craze faded from his eyes, the vicious maddened grin vanished, only to be reced by a fear-stricken expression. He could no longer look at the half-dragon half-human boy as a simple enemy, he saw his nightmare, the reaper in him. Seeing his new expression, caused great satisfaction to Aiden. He felt euphoric, oveing the enemy, crushing his confidence to this point It was something he craved for, in the deepest recesses of his mind. As the golden glow got reced by the scarlet hue in his eyes, he stepped forward and crouched down. Leaning over the leader''s body, he revealed a cruel grin. His voice was much lower, unnatural, as he slowly growled the words. "Where''s your fierce power now? Is this all you can muster?" cing his right wed hand over his chest, he continued. "Tell me, was this the oue you hoped for when you jumped at us? Are you afraid? Can you feel your looming death?!" He continued to mutter the words, almost growling like some beast. Before the leader could have a chance to respond, although not that it could understand their tongue, Aiden pushed down with his ws with great power. As the spell''s effect had abruptly ended, his flesh no longer provided any meaningful resistance against Aiden''s power, it easily tore through, clearing the path towards the precious organ that Aiden instinctively craved for. Grabbing the waning organ, Aiden looked into the creature''s terrified eyes and snarled. "Pathetic weakling." With that as hisst words, he violently ripped his heart out from its socket. Without wasting any second, and not caring for his surroundings, he immediately swallowed it. He wanted to, no, he had to experience once again as the power filled his body. As he crunched it down, Aiden closed his eyes and swallowed. A satisfied smile rested on his face, as he fell to the ground, with his arms spread to the sides. In the next second, he could feel a violent surge deep inside him. A massive torrent of energy rushed through his veins, reaching to all ends of his body. Afraid to release and waste this power, he tried his best to contain it inside himself. Every bit of this power was precious, he was not willing to let it out! Chapter 131 - 131 - A New Form (Part 1) After the brutal demise of their leader, and the loss of their empowered state, the rest of the humanoid creatures lost their will to prolong the fight and turned tail to run for their lives. Unfortunately for them, this was a fruitless endeavor, as neither Sam nor Biggy was willing to let the prey go. Their master, Lily also continued to fire arrow after arrow, ending lives one after the other. In a manner of seconds, the entire group of the small humanoid creatures was lying on the ground, dyeing the emerald sward with their dark green viscous, thick fluids. With their work done, the two ck hounds leisurely walked back to their master''s side, sitting down on the ground. They were looking ahead panting happilypletely ignorant of the carnage all around them. As for Lily, she immediately rushed towards Aiden, with her bow still in her hand. Arriving next to him, she hurriedly knelt down on the floor. Looking at his grinning face, she grabbed her right shoulder and gave a good strong shake. "Brother, are you okay? What''s going on?" While keeping his eyes closed and the satisfied grin still stered on his face, Aiden slowly shook his head. He spoke between breaths. "Nothing I''m going to change Don''t worry I am going to be okay..." Having said that, Aiden turned his head towards the sky. Although his eyes are still closed, still, as if he could still see, his face had a gentle, calm expression. The satisfied smile changed, the nasty curve became gentler, gradually turning into a calm and serene happiness. Lily sat down on the floor, not moving from his brother''s side even an inch. Her two guardians sat right next to her, snuggling next to her, yowling for her gentle caress and attention. "Oh, you two Come here, let''s wait for brother together.!" Lily smiled at their shenanigans, pulling their heads into her embrace. Their heartfelt moments became a bright contrast to the cruel scenery around and behind them. Meanwhile, Aiden wasn''t sleeping, despite what others could have thought of seeing his expression. At first, he just wanted to enjoy this addicting feeling of the surge of power. He also received a string of new System Notifications but before he could take his time to open them up and read them, images started flickering inside his mind, clouding his visions with scenes of the past. Just like with the Guard and the Warden he ''absorbed''st night, Aiden saw the life of the humanoid creature ying for him. The creature, who was called ''Zart'', was part of a speciesmonly referred to as ''Goblins''. All across Eora, the goblins were ugly, evil creatures that were hated by most other civilized races. Just like other goblinoids, they had a short and nasty temper. Due to their incredible breeding rate, individual lives were not valued amongst their species. Their leaders usually came to power through betrayals or coups. Sometimes, just like with the now-deceased Zart, they were born under lucky stars, became mystics, or shamans, leading their folk through their ritualistic zeal. Zart was such a goblin. He was special from the moment he was born. As the first-born son of his father, who was the previous leader of the tribe, he was destined for greatness. During his early years, he ventured into a cavern with his group and found the dead body of a human male. He was wearing ugly and useless dark brown cloth robes. In his hands however, he had the gnarled wooden stick that had a shiny red gemstone at the top. As he wrestled the stick from the dead man and came in contact with the gem, he heard a deep, unnatural voice call out to him inside his head. Zart didn''t know first what or who this person was, but it promised great power to him if he would pledge himself to his servitude. To show his power, the voice taught him how to evoke the spell inside the magic wand, urging him to try it out on hispanions who were still nearby. Tempted by the thought of power, Zart made his way out of the cave. Seeing as how the rest of the team were just a few meters away still fighting over the remains of a deer, he grabbed his stick with both hands, and just as the voice taught him, raised it above his head. Focusing on the gemstone at the top, he repeated the seemingly jumbled mess of words. First, he was quite skeptical about how these meaningless phrases could do anything, but after just the first few lines he chanted, his eyes caught the weak flickering light deep inside the gemstone. Continuing the chanting now with more faith behind his spoken words, he could see as the small flickering light grew bigger and bigger until the red gemstone could no longer contain it. Dark red thick smoke escaped from its crystal surface and as if it had a mind of its own, oozed towards him, shrouding his figure, leaving only a blurred visage. Noticing the pulsating strange light, the team approached Zart, looking at his new treasure with greedy eyes. As ifing to a tacit understanding, they all pulled out their weapons, and with a loud cry lounged themselves at him. As they got close, using their crude, primitive weaponry, they sliced, mauled, and bludgeoned, already thinking about how to distribute the new shiny spoils. However, the expected result never came. While their attacks did connect, they felt as if hit a sturdy wall, and not a living being. They all took a step back, nervously grabbing their weapons, looking at the blurred figure in front of them with puzzled expressions. They took on a defensive posture, readying themselves for a potential counterattack. The figure that was revealed when the remainder of the smoke dissipated into the air, scared them stiff. The goblin in front of them was no longer the same. No, it was much taller than them with big bulging veiny muscles. He had bloodshot, scary eyes and a cruel, ominous expression on his face. Before they could have made a decision between fight or flight, Zart was already in front of them with both of his fists raised into the air. With great power, he mmed them down, crushing the heads of the two closest goblins to bits and pieces. After that, the rest of the battle was cut short, as with two side swings, the remaining two were swiped to the sides with crushed ribs. Seeing how he murdered a group of four with such ease, Zart''s face contorted into a cruel grin. This was the power he was craving for. This was what he needed. Heughed maniacally at the sight and was already nning his next steps. The image blurred and faded, only to be reced by new ones in front of Aiden. He could see how he schemed against his father and eventually killed him. How he destroyed the rest of the elders andpetition that vied for his position. He could see how with his and the demonic voice''s guidance, his small and insignificant tribe grew, only to eventually be part of arger horde, consisting of hundreds of simr tribes of goblins under the rule of the much stronger creatures. At this point, it seemed that something was blocking the rest of his memories to y out, something powerful. Although Aiden could tell that Zart had memories of these creatures, he couldn''t get these images to y out. As the images faded, and Aiden now understood more about these goblins that lived at the foot of the nearby hills and deep in the forest as well, he switched his attention to the System Messages still blinking at the corner of his vision. As the notifications unwrapped themselves, Aiden could only smile. Once again, he gained something unexpected. [New Life Essence found! New Form - Goblin created! Memories processed, System updated!] Unexpectedly, Aiden gained enough essence from this goblin leader that allowed the system to open the path for this species to be used as a new form. Deciding to give it a go, Aiden suddenly opened his eyes and sat up, startling Lily with the sudden movement. "Lily, uhm" He wasn''t sure how to tell her this. Although he told most of the secrets about himself already, among the years they spent inside that hellish dimension, he never gained a new form. This did not happen for many years. Taking a breath, he made up his mind. Looking at his sister, Aiden had a serious expression. "Lily, remember when you first found me? Back many years ago?" Thinking for only a moment, Lily nodded. Seeing that, Aiden continued. "I will once again go back to that cocoon, or egg if you prefer that, and will change myself to take on the form of one of these creatures. Don''t be afraid, you have already seen me change before and also duringbat. This is the same, it''s just Slower as this will be my first time trying this out." Seeing the look in her eyes, Aiden could only sigh. She clearly did not understand what he was talking about. Chapter 132 - 132 - A New Form (Part 2) Closing his eyes once again, Aiden focused his attention to navigate through the system''s interface. As he was doing so, his thoughts wandered off once again, he missed Enya''s constant voice and assistance. Navigation and ess were usually handled by her, he just voiced or thought of themand and she carried it out. Now, however, there was no assistance, there was no advice, no help. Her voice was silent, she was still deep inside his soul space, regenerating for the foreseeable future. Shaking his head, he cleared his mind, focusing on the task at hand. After a bit of stumbling, he finally got into his Evolution Path, and opened up the visible details for his newest choice. [Evolution Tree Current:Ancient Dragon - Clean - Tier 3 (Mastery: ???), Avable options: Mushroom Bug - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%), Cave Viper - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%), Worgen - Mutated - Tier 2 (Mastery: 100%), Goblin - Clean - Tier 1 / 2 ] Looking at the screen, he was surprised. This was the first time he had seen a form that was counted as both a Tier 1 and a Tier 2 existence after all. Sadly, he couldn''t voice his question to anybody currently, causing him to inwardly sigh. After a brief pause, to gather his thoughts, he made the decision, and chose the new form, only to be met with another prompt. [Warning: The form: Goblin was never used before. If initiated, the host will be forced to stay in that form for 03 hour(s) 59 minute(s) 59 second(s), before being allowed to leave. Do you wish to proceed?] This was once again something that he never bothered with, this was a reminder that Enya used to warn him. Nevertheless, since he already decided to go through with it, he selected ''YES'' from the avable choices. In the next moment, he felt his consciousness fading, as the ever-engulfing darkness pulled him into his gentle caress, drifting him to thend of silent dreams. From the outside, Lily was startled when he saw as Aiden''s body suddenly shed in bright blinding light. As the light faded, she dizzily peaked, only to be startled once again. Where Aiden was lying previously, was now a ck egg, vaguely simr, familiar to what she remembered when they first ''met''. The egg was slightly smaller than her, probably around a meter and a half in height, and had a solid outer shell. Unable to stand up due to the fright, Lily crawled towards the strange object. She was agitated and worried, a moment ago her brother was resting and now he went back to the egg he was in when they met at the riverbank all those years ago. Arriving at the egg, she sat up next to it, pulling herself on its hard shell. nting her right ear on the outeryer, she nervously asked in a loud voice. "BROTHER?! ARE YOU IN THERE? ARE YOU OKAY?" However, there was no response. Her brother didn''t respond. She was about to freak out and think of ways to break him free from his ''prison'', when she suddenly felt a warm pulse from deep inside. "Is this you, brother?!" She asked again, feeling the familiar warmth once again flow through her. In response, another singr pulse came from deep within, warming her heart and body and calming her mind. Feeling the response, she happily giggled. "Ehehehe, this is fun!" Her smile receding, she donned a pouting expression, and gently, lightly smacked the ck leathery surface of the egg. "Stupid, mean brother! Don''t scare me like that next time!" Again, a singr warmth pulse was the response she received, causing her pouting to vanish, and be reced by her bright cheer. Giving a loud, hearty smack on the shell, she lovingly whispered. "Don''t worry brother! I will guard you while you do your ''thing''!" Having said that, she jumped from the ground with newfound power. Facing her lying caninepanions, she spoke with a stern expression. "Okay! Sam, Biggy we have to do a good job of protecting brother. Go and guard him! Nothing can get close while he is resting! GO!" As if understanding her words, the dogs nodded and barked once, and walked to the left and right side of the ck egg-shaped cocoon. Taking their positions, they both lied down once again, lounging without a care for the world. Seeing this, Lily smiled, and readied her weapon, taking her spot closest to her beloved brother. With her vignt guard, nothing can get by. She was sure of it. Inside the egg, massive changes were happening to Aiden. His body seemingly melted, returning to its mass discolored viscous gelled fluidic consistency. Inside the dark void of the cocoon, the fluid was violently swirling as it floated in the air. If Lily could have seen this fluid, she wouldn''t be able to tell that it had any sentience, that this grunge was her brother that sent out those warm pulses to her questions. As time slowly passed, the swirling fluid started to glow, radiating a faint golden a hue. The shade of the fluid started to shift between white, green, blue, red, ck, asionally a mixture of these. Eventually, it halted, donning a dark green shade. A secondary, brown color spawned at its center causing the two to intermix in an incoherent swirl. Time passed once again, and the fluid began to writhe and expand abruptly, slowly spiraling out into the unstable foundation of a smaller humanoid shape. Bones began to form and grow out of the foundation, creating a skeletal structure with increased density. A thin membrane slowly formed over it, covering the snow-white bones. Tissue began to form, veins and arteries materialized in many intricate patterns to soon fulfill their purpose. Snaking up from the void, red flesh formed, muscle-fibers coiled andpressed into threads of muscles and spread throughout the entire foundation. Lastly, organs and nds soon formed, followed by an array of sensitive yet controlled nerves and all other sensoryworks within the body. Instead of the dark green fluid that was a trademark of the species, dark red blood cells began to fill the newly created veins and spread throughout the body. As the final touch, the juniper coloredyer of highly flexible skin slowly began to form over the framework of the body, covering it up as a protective coat of armor. As the finishing touch, long silky ck hair quickly grew out from the top of the figure. As he slowly regained his consciousness, loud cracking sounds came from his jolts. It was the first time they made any movement. The figure reached out in the darkness, his hands reaching a dark fleshy wall. Exerting a bit of his strength, his hands slowly tore through the thinyer of barrier, letting in thing strays of sunlight. From the outside, Lily, Sam, and Biggy were already in full alert, watching as the resident made his first attempts to break free. Suddenly they were startled as the ebony surface tore and a small dark green pair of hands revealed themselves for the first time. Soon, the hands became arms, then finally as the entire surface ripped into two, a smaller yet vaguely familiar figure emerged. The figure was at around the same height as the egg it emerged from, a bit smaller than the half-elven blonde girl. He had long, silky ck hair that reached down his back. Despite its small frame, his body was toned, with just the right amount of muscles where it mattered. He had dark green, juniper colored skin. Opening his eyes for the first time, Lily revealed a smile seeing the golden-colored irises that he remembered and loved. Seeing her happiness, the figure smiled back. Looking down at his body, he noticed he was already wearing light brown linen pants, the same he had before changing. Thankfully the system equipped his pants otherwise their first meeting would have been a pretty embarrassing one. Opening his mouth, a croaky, hoarse, staggering voice greeted the girl. "Hey Lily" In response, Lily shyly responded, with a questioning tone at the end. "Hey Aiden?" Hearing the uncertainty in her voice, the figure smilingly nodded. His tone became increasingly clearer as he became used to his new body. "Yes It will take me a... bit more to get used to, but this is still me." Looking at himself carefully once again, he gave a nod along with a satisfied smile. He continued to move his arms, getting a feel for his muscles as they worked for the first time. "I have to say It feels good in a way Being a human feels better, but strangely, I feel much more. Agile, think? Faster? Not sure how to exin It''s a new sensation that''s for sure." Calming down, and finally epting that the creature in front of him is still her brother, she walked closer to him and ced her delicate right hand on top of his head. Measuring their height differences, she giggled while patting the top of his head, with a bright glint in her eyes. "Haha, you are smaller than me now, brother! A, so cute!" Chapter 133 - 133 - The Tribe (Part 1) The snapping sound of a twig broke the serenity of the forest as a group of four crossed through the thick undergrowth. Thin rays of sunlight, that managed to pierce through the canopy of foliage from above them illuminated the eerie atmosphere. The group, Aiden, Lilly, and her two caninepanions, Sam and Biggy followed the track the goblins used to trace it back to their tribe. After all, if a horde of these vicious little creatures settled in nearby recently, they had to report it back to Granny and Number 3. Also, through the memories of the leader, Aiden wanted to check his hut, as just like the beings there was something there that manipted its mind making it unreadable. The lively green and colorful foliage were gradually reced by brown, grey, and ebony colors as they got closer to their destination. The flowers were reced by skulls of a variety of animals hanging from the tree branches adding to the eeriness. The green shrubbery turned to wooden skeletons, the remainders of a once-lush forest scenery turned to a deadnd. Looking at her surroundings, Lily frowned, absentmindedly voicing her displeasure. "This ce is so sad. What creatures can do such a thing to this ce? Look!" She looked down at the dry, barrenndscape "Even the ground changed! What did they do?!" Aiden, still in his new goblin form continued in his trek as he pensively responded without looking back. "Hard to say, Lily. I think this is in their nature. These creatures are greedy, evil, vicious beings. Since they are weak, they have to resort to such means as these to turn the tides to their favor. Like in the battle, they are weak against one on one, they prefer backstabbing, or ganging up on a single foe." As he continued marching forward, he picked up a dead twig from the ground and threw it sideways. As itnded,rge wooden spikes erupted from the ground snapping together in an attempt to pierce the unwary traveler. As the trap sprung, he continued. "See? They resort to tricks and these traps. Just, try to ignore this sadndscape, and be on guard. Our goal today is only to check out their camp and see their numbers then report back to Granny and Master." Raising her right fist into the air, Lily cheerfully eximed. "Yes! You can count on us brother!" Sam and Biggy also barked once in response, agreeing with their master''s sentiment. Slowing his steps, Aiden raised his right hand into the air while cing his left index finger in front of his lips shushing the group. "Silence guys! We are almost there. Stay on alert from now on!" Just as he said, in the distance, a makeshift wooden palisade appeared. Long pointy wooden staves were nted in the mud in front of them, adding to its otherwise questionable defensive power. Four dark green humanoid figures in motley leather and fur clothing holding crude, primitive wooden spears stood guard. Halting their steps, Aiden pointed towards the four guards and spoke in a hushed, whispering tone. "There! Can you see them?" Even as a half-elf, Lily''s eyesight was keener than the average human''s, thanks to her elven heritage. In fact, in terms of sight, she was even better than Aiden if we do not count his [Dark Sense] ability. Looking at the group of four, she silently nodded. Seeing that, Aiden continued. "From what I know, they are only low-rank warriors in the tribe, probably just cannon fodder." "Why do you think that?" Lily asked with a surprised expression. All she could make out was that these four were wearing some sort of tribal clothing and were holding wooden spears with a sharp stone head crudely attached to their tips. They barely had any hair and their skin seemed to be toned a clear dark green color. There was no brown mixed in. Thinking for a bit, she continued. "Is it because of theck of hair?" Aiden smiled at the response. "You are half right. Hair is an important aspect to them. Only higher ranked members of the tribe are allowed to grow it out. In fact, the lowest in their society can''t grow any even if they wanted. But, besides that, their skin is clean, there are no blemishes, no damages, no color-alterations. These four never hunted, never contributed to the tribe. They are probably new additions to the group, that the new leader ced as guards." Pointing towards the weapons, he continued. "Also, look at their weapons. They are different from the ones the previous group had, they look way too primitive, way too simple. There''s no craftsmanship in them. They are not loots, they are not acquired through a raid, or a hunt, they are something they quickly put together." Switching his gaze, he looked at the wooden fence. Thinking for a bit, he added. "We need to get closer and see what we can find inside. Hopefully, we can find out why they settled down here and what their ns are " Listening to his words, Lily gasped, as a frightening thought spawned in her mind. "Do Do you think they are preparing for an attack against the city?!" Aiden nodded to her exmation. Keeping his gaze on the fence, scanning it for any spots where they could sneak through, he spoke after a while. "Yes, I think that''s exactly what they are nning. Also, keep in mind, that these goblins are merely acting as scouts to a muchrger horde" A few minutes of wary silence ensued after their little discourse. Aiden kept scanning the wooden fence, the spikes, looking for holes, spots they could use, and Lily just kept silent focusing on the guards ahead. After a while, Aiden let out a long sigh, seeminglying to an undesirable decision. "There''s no other way, Lily. We have to trust that my current form will be able to fool them." "Yes" Lily answered absentmindedly, focusing on the guards ahead. She shuddered as she finally processed his words and realized what he was about to do. "WHAT?! Are you out of your mind? You want to go in by yourself?" "There''s no other way. Besides, I should be able to blend in, I''m a goblin now after all!" "B-but your hair and your eyes they are different!" Lily continued to argue. "It should be okay, hopefully, they will think that I came from the horde with new orders or something. My hair should represent a higher authority." Turning around, he ced his right palm on top of her head. Giving a gentle smile, he continued. "Besides, if there''s no other way, you know that I am much stronger than them, I can just fight my way back!" Looking at Sam, Biggy then at Lilly, he continued." "Just stay here and keep watch. If anything unexpectedes, fire one of your shy exploding arrows to the sky and I will immediately run back. Just make sure none of you guys are spotted while waiting, okay?" Enjoying the head pats, Lily had her eyes closed and could only respond with a "Uhm". Even if he was in a different form, she still loved his pats the most in the world. Satisfied by the response, Aiden turned around, and was about to leave, when he felt a hand tugging at his arm. Turning around, he looked at the blonde girl who was on the verge of tears looking at him. "Don''t worry Lily, you should know me this much by now. These creatures cannot hurt me in the slightest. I will be back, I promise!" Sniffing, fighting against her tears, she looked at her brother with a troubled expression. After a few seconds, she managed to gather enough strength to mutter a barely audible question. "Promise?" In response, he went ahead and hugged the girl, nting his face into her chest, as currently, he was more than a head smaller than her. Regardless, he still calmly and gently whispered his response. "I promise." They stayed in each other''s embrace for almost a minute before eventually, Aiden started to break it up. He looked up, trying to wriggle himself out of her hug. Letting out an awkwardugh. "You know, being the smaller one, really makes you the big sis now. I bet you enjoy it, huh?" Giggling, Lily looked down and nted a big smack on the top of his head as she replied. "Yeah! I love it!" Wriggling again, he finally freed himself and took a step back before she had the chance to pull him back into her embrace. Seeing how he escaped, Lily pouted, crossing her arms. "Okay, let''s focus now. We have work to do! Lily and you guys, keep watch here, and as we agreed, let me know if you see some trouble heading our way. I''ll head back immediately then." Not waiting for a response, he turned around, looking at the guards still patrolling the perimeter in the distance. Exhaling loudly to calm himself and focus his mind, he took a step forward and started making his way decisively towards them. Chapter 134 - 134 - The Tribe (Part 2) Standing in front of the entrance, two goblins were having a heated discussion in their crudenguage that bore simrities with the Common and some snarling, ttering mimicking sounds. However, they soon put an abrupt halt in their discourse when they noticed a lone goblin with lush ck hair and a pair of strange golden eyes approaching from the bushes.He had no weapons and no upper clothing. He only wore a single light brown linen baggy pants to cover his delicates. He had juniper, dark green colored unblemished skin, but contrary to their expectations, he radiated some strange power, as if he was a born leader, someone they needed to respect. Seeing the approaching outsider, the two patrolling guards also rushed back to the entrance to meet up with the rest of the group. Raising their crude spears in front of them in a cross, they blocked the entrance to the vige, giving a stern look towards the approaching goblin. As the loner arrived at a sufficient distance, the closest to him signaled with his hand for him to stop where he is, and in their native, he spoke in a loud ordering tone. Unfortunately for the lone goblin, who was obviously Aiden, he couldn''t understand a thing of what they were saying. The memories didn''t give him the skill to do so, and there were no Enya to assist here. He could only wryly smile and go with the flow. Meanwhile, he quickly peeked at the notifications that signaled that the system started analyzing theirnguage. [Analyzing Language: Goblin. Progress 5%] . . . [Analyzing Language: Goblin. Progress 15%] . . . [Analyzing Language: Goblin. Progress 30%] The progress made a rapid increase, confirming Aiden''s suspicion that thenguage itself isn''t too deep orplex. Unfortunately, the progress still wasn''t fast enough, he couldn''t understand anything the goblin guard was mouthing. However, from his wary expression and how the rest of the group were looking at him and gripping their weapons, it was clear that he wanted to know who he is and why he came. Thinking a bit, while listening to the continued unintelligible spewing, he thought of an idea. He slowly raised his right hand and opened its palm towards the sky, making sure his gaze never left the guard in front of him. The guard was looking questioningly at the empty palm. Switching his focus on the palm and the neer nervously, not understanding what he was about to do. Nervously gripping the middle of the spear''s shaft, he was about to thrust it forward to scare the weird guy away when his eyes opened wide with disbelief. In the lone goblin''s empty palm, their missing tribe''s previous, now-missing leader''s sacred weapon, the magic stick suddenly appeared! The gnarled shaft and the scarlet gemstone at the top were unmistakable, this was the real deal! Seeing the weapon, all four guards were looking at the new arrival incredulously. Just who was this guy? Did he kill the leader? Does that mean he came for his spot? However, their general has already imed it Does that mean he came to challenge the current leader then? As they were pondering about the possibilities, Aiden grabbed the gnarled magic wand and raised it high into the air. Although he didn''t know the chant, it didn''t matter, his idea was to only scare them, not killing them. Raising the wand above his head, he grabbed it with both hands, and with a cruel smile on his face, started loudly chanting gibberish. Just as he expected, seeing the fearsome stick raised in the air, made all four guards shiver with fright, and immediately moved to the sides and knelt down in reverence. They didn''t dare to raise their heads either, it was stered on the floor. Seeing their reaction, a satisfied smile appeared on his face, as he lowered the weapon, and kept it in his right hand. Looking at the kneeling guards, he gave an audible "Hmpf!" and walked past them finally entering the premises of the recently constructed vige. --- Meanwhile, in the distance, Lily was watching with bated breath as his brother made action. She was already holding her bow with an arrow ced on it, ready to be fired at the first signs ofbat. Even though he told her to stay put, she will not let anything hurt her brother if she can do something about it! However, seeing how the goblin protracted on the ground after he raised that ugly-looking wand, she sighed in relief. Gently patting Sam''s head, she silently muttered. "Huh, he made it through the entrance. Stay alert guys, we need to make sure nothing slips past us unnoticed. Brother is counting on us!" Both dogs snarled once in response as they continued to pace their gaze left to right, sniffing, searching for new scents. Lily also kept her weapon at the ready while watching the four goblins at the gate. Even after Aiden left them, they kept prostrated on the floor for a long time, visibly shivering. Seeing this, she slightly frowned. "Just what is that wand to them?! Why are they so afraid?" --- Passing through the gate, Aiden was greeted with a series of makeshift wooden shacks hastily put together in an unorganized fashion. There were no doors to separate the outside from the interior, and there were no real furnishings done either. An unknown animal''s hide,plete with its head was ced on the ground serving as the bed and living space for its owner. All eyes were stered on him as he slowly walked past shack by shack, walking towards the center, towards the absorbed leader''s hut. That was the first ce where he saw the blurred and tempered memories. He didn''t know what was inside, just that the wand in his hand was a keyponent to unlocking an important secret. Meanwhile, he was focusing on all the silent shushes and the fragments of speeches he could pick up as he casually walked towards the leader''s hut. The progress nted a bit, but it was still incredibly fast, he wasn''t that away before the system could provide the skill for him. He was already lucky to be able to pass through the entrance without uttering a single word, he didn''t want to risk it any longer than it was necessary. [Analyzing Language: Goblin. Progress 40%] . . . [Analyzing Language: Goblin. Progress 50%] . . . [Analyzing Language: Goblin. Progress 55%] . . . [Analyzing Language: Goblin. Progress 65%] The progress was steady, but not enough, he had to think of something. Halting his steps, he looked around with a stern expression, as if searching for somebody. As he did, he made sure to listen to all the whispers. Noticing a frail-looking male that looked younger than the rest, he slowly turned and pointed the wand towards him. Seeing that he was singled out, the goblin youth jumped in fright, and immediately prostrated on the ground, not daring to raise his head. Aiden smiled at this, and slowly started walking towards the kneeling boy while checking thetest notification. [Analyzing Language: Goblin. Progress 85%] ''Not much longer However, I will still need a bit of time before the system creates the skill Hmm I need to buy more time.'' Arriving in front of the youth, he slowly paced the gemstone at his head and gave a loud ''Hmm''. Finishing his act, he turned around, looking for another youth on the other side. Spotting a female, Aiden pointed his wand at her, giving her a stern look, and just as before, he slowly started making his way towards her. In response, the frightened girl immediately prostrated on the ground, just like the boy before, and while shivering in fright, kept her gaze down, towards the ground. Making sure he has the same strict, stern expression, he walked slowly and steadily. Inwardly, however, as he checked the notifications, he was very satisfied. [Analyzing Language: Goblin. Progress 100%] [Analysisplete, processing information, creating skill. Remaining time:hours 9 minutes 55 seconds] As the analysispleted, the system already started the creation process. Although he wasn''t sure why the timer was so fast, he didn''t question it. As long as he gains the skill, he will be satisfied. ''I sure hope this won''t backfire on meter'' He thought to himself. Arriving in front of the gal, he repeated the same process as he did with the boy. Knowing he shouldn''t repeat the same y a third time, he sighed, looking towards arger hut in the city center. Although the vige itself wasn''trge, it was still quite a distance away. Letting out onest breath, he gripped the gnarled shaft tighter, and continued making his way towards the hut. --- As the long ck-haired and golden-eyed mysterious stranger left towards the leader''s hut, the prostrating boy and gal hesitantly stood back up. They didn''t know what just happened, while the guy had their sacred rod, and while he offered his blessing to them. As they were looking at his receding back with incredulous expressions, the rest of the goblins beside them were looking at both of them with reverence in their eyes. In their eyes, this goblin lord has selected them, epted them into his fold! Chapter 135 - 135 - The Tribe (Part 3) Aiden continued making his way towards the decorated hut that belonged to the previous leader at a steady, slow pace. As he continued his trek, the goblins that were busy on the streets all made way for him, creating a sort of gilded route made of goblins for him. He felt so out of ce, a sort of new, ufortable feeling welled up inside his heart. ''''What have I gotten myself into!'' C he grumbled to himself. While the vige itself wasn''t overly big, maybe the size of an average district in the city, it still housed several thousand goblins, strangely, mostly males. It was hard to guess the ratio from a nce, but Aiden estimated that for every 9 males, there''s maybe 1 female. Also, most of them were either too young or already over the prime of their lives. ''How do they keep up the poption? Or maybe they just arrived, and the rest of the vigers are still on their way?'' He ruminated. In all honesty, thetter was a real possibility, as all the huts and shacks seemed to be hastily put together, in fact, in some ces the mud they used to ''paste'' the wood together still hasn''t dried uppletely. He continued to focus on the silent whispers his enhanced senses could pick up. While he still had no skill and was unable to understand the meanings behind the phrases, he noticed that thenguage itself is pretty basic, and borrows most of its structure and words from the Common, with some weird animal mimicking noises mixed in. A snort here, a gnarl there with some words he felt vaguely familiar with already. After a while, about halfway towards his journey towards his destination, he felt two presences behind him. Halting his steps, he turned around, only to notice the two youngsters following behind that he ''blessed'' previously with reverent faces. As soon as Aiden turned around, both of them immediately knelt down on the ground, with their right fists over their hearts and their gazes stered to the ground. They also spoke a word loudly and proudly in unison, which Aiden couldn''t understand still, but he could already guess it was some form of address towards him. With a sigh, he motioned with his hands to stand up. Since he still couldn''t properlymunicate, he decided to go with the flow and motioned them to follow him. Both of their faces lit up with reverence as a response and nodded while eximing once again, a short phrase that was probably inpliance with the same address added to the end. Turning around, Aiden continued his slow-paced journey. He could already see the row of armored warriors standing guard and blocking the entrance in the distance. Compared to the ones at the vige gates, these were much better armored, with real weapons. They were probably higher ranked members, warriors of their society. They were all wearing a furred leather chest te that covered all of their torso while keeping their arms free. A simr furry, leather gloves protected their hands, and thick, padded leather pants hid their lower body. They were all wearing steelnces, not sure if it was something made by them, or stolen. One thing that was sure is that their weapons were regr-sized, making it look humongous next to their smaller frames. None of them were wearing any helmet, they let their small patches of hairs proudly swing in the afternoon breeze. Their skin was mostly dark green, with small brte patches every now and then. Adding to their higher standing in society, they all had blemishes, gashes, records of their battles on their arms. While he understood that their race is an aggressive, mostly evil race, Aiden couldn''t help but see that there were all kinds of members already in their society. Yes, the males mostly seemed like battle-ready, but amongst them, there were those that seemed like normal vigers that just wanted to live in rtive peace. ''What should we do with them?! Although from his memory, I can already tell their primary goal foring here, it just doesn''t feel right to wipe them out... '' He wasmenting. As he was surveying the vige, his eyes paced behind him, noticing the proud expressions of the two youngsters following behind. ''And what should I do with these two now?!'' He sighed inwardly while making sure to keep a dignified appearance on the outside. ''I need to end this charade soon'' After the awkward march, he eventually arrived in front of the guards, who immediately blocked the way by crossing theirnces in front of him. Looking past them, he could see some lighting from the hut with the edges of a shadow of a humanoid figure peeking out. Someone already took the previous leader''s ce! ''Huh, that was fast So the knowledge I gained was true after all. They really do not waste time'' He smirked. Taking a quick peek at the timer for the skill, he sighed defeatedly. [Analysisplete, processing information, creating skill. Remaining time:hours 1 minutes 27 seconds] ''That''s too much time, to just awkwardly stare at them Hmm... what should I do?!'' As he was thinking, his entourage, the two youngsters came forward and began to speak in a proud, arrogant tone with the guards, asionally pointing at the wand in his hand. While not exactly sure what they were talking about, he could still vaguely guess the contents. As they pointed at the gnarled magic wand, he slowly raised it into the air, grabbing it with both hands. Just noticing the sacred weapon in the hands of this strange goblin, their faces turned pale with fright. This was their holy relic! Their sacred weapon! The defining memento of their tribe! How did it end in the hands of this stranger?! However, they had no time to ponder on these questions, because the goblin started the ritual already! The two youths immediately prostrated on the ground as they saw the weapon raised into the air, with reverent expressions on their faces. Quickly, the guards dropped their weapons and followed suit, not daring to look at the outsider or his weapon at all. Seeing that the same trick worked once again, Aiden smirked inwardly, while keeping the stern, dignified expression on the outside and slowly lowered the weapon, tightly gripping, keeping it in his right hand. He gently patted the heads of the two youths that followed him, signaling them to stay at this ce. They both fervently nodded, jumping on their feet, and stood in front of the entrance, not letting anything through. The guards who were previously standing there obediently stood to the side, letting them do their jobs. They didn''t know who this neer was, but based on his incredibly long, lush hair and the sacred relic in his hands, he must have been someone very high above them, which meant these two youngsters following him must have been his escorts, people they definitely couldn''t afford to offend in any way. Approaching the decorated hut''s entrance that resembled more like a tent than anything else, he noticed a silhouette of arger humanoid figure sitting in an armchair in the far corner. As he entered, the shadowy figure loudly sniggered. Despite the set of candles that lit up the room, his figure was still kept in the shadows, almost as if some sort of spell was cast on him. As the figure saw that the neer arrived, his vague shape stirred, then stood. In the next moment as if the spell that hid his presence faded and revealed arger humanoid creature that looked like a mixture between a goblin and another pig-like race. It was almost a head taller and bulkier than the rest of the goblins. It had dark brown skin, closer to ck than anything else. He wore no armor on his upper body, but a set of tribal-looking ritualistic bone-white tattoos covered almost every inch of his body. He had a full head of ck hair, with a growing beard on his face. Amidst the curvature of lines, four distinct animal heads could be made out. On the left side of his chest, an eagle could be seen, on the right, it was a boar. On the left biceps, you could see something that resembled some sort of horse-face, and on the right, it was something that he couldn''t recognize at all. It had a vaguely humanoid shape for a head, but with 2 pairs of eyes, with tworge fangs protruding from his lower jibs. Whatever that creature was it looked much more terrifying and sinister than the other three. He wore no pants, only a fur tribal loincloth that only covered his delicates. He held no weapon in his arms, but despite that, Aiden felt that this guy in front of him could put up a decent fight. With hisrge ck eyes, the tattooed goblin looked at the new arrival, and with its croaky, loud voice it spoke, surprisingly not on their own, but using the Common. Although he had trouble with the grammar, it was still understandable. "You! Hair too long! Where did youe from? Why you have Sacred Relic?!" Chapter 136 - 136 - The New Chieftain Raising his right arm, he pointed at the gemstone tip of the gnarled magic wand towards the tattooed creature. "This?" Aiden asked using the Common tongue with a questioning gaze. Seeing as how the Sacred Relic is raised and pointed towards him, the creature jumped to a fighting stance and raised both of his arms. His fists iling in the air in front of him, he shouted a singr word that Aiden couldn''t understand. In the next moment, the wild boar tattoo and its surroundings lit up, giving off a dark red hue. The muscles in his arms visibly contorted, his veins bulged out, working overtime to pump the excess amount of blood. The joints in his fingers cracked as he prepared for the uing battle. Donning a stern expression on his face, he slowly uttered the question. "You Want fight? You Come to Kill?!" Aiden jumped backward seeing how the events suddenly took a turn for the worst. He raised both of his hands in front of him and waved it while also shaking his head in denial. "No, no, no! I came only to meet you." He responded. Although he wasn''t afraid to fight them, the purpose of himing here was to gain information about their ns and their reason foring to this ce so close to a human settlement. Fighting and killing his way out would probably solve his current predicament but wouldn''t shed light on the underlying issue. He might be young, but this sort of basic reasoning didn''t require years of experience. With his increased attributes, his mental capacity also grew, and with the added bits and pieces from the memories he gained, he could deduct that there''s a bigger threat, an underlying issue with the appearance of these frail creatures. Seeing his reactions and hearing his response, the creature lowered his fists, and the glowing of his boar tattoo faded as well. He rxed his tensed muscles and sat down on the makeshift throne. He once again looked at the neer from top to bottom. With a casual, nonchnt expression on his face, he spoke with his brokenmon dialect. "Who are you? You speak ournguage?" Taking a quick nce at the timer, he sighed in relief, as he only needed a couple more seconds before he would gain the necessary skill to understand and respond in their local tongue. Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, Aiden lowered his hands, guiding his right hand behind his body. Once the wand was hidden, he ced it back in his inventory. As his right hand became visible again, the weapon was nowhere to be found. Seeing how their Sacred Relic vanished without a trace, caused the tattooed goblin to raise his eyebrows in confusion. However, before he could ask a question, the neer finally started speaking and in their own goblin at that! "Greetings, new chieftain of the tribe." As soon as he received the notification in the system that the [Language: Goblin] has been created and granted for him, Aiden immediately began his speech, beginning with an easy, formal greeting. Taking a moment so that the chieftain can regain hisposure, he continued. "I only came here with the intent to inform you that your tribe''s previous leader has fallen. His weapon, this ''Sacred Relic'' you called earlier, is now in our possession and for the time being, we will hold onto it. Hope you don''t mind." Listening to his words, the chieftain''s face turned ugly with anger. Hitting the armrest with his right fist, he jumped up, as he shouted his angered response. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO IT! THAT IS OURS! GIVE IT BACK NOW!" Giving a wry smile to his angry exmation Aiden replied in a calm tone. "No, that item was never yours, to begin with. Not to mention you, who just took power because your predecessor gave you an opening, even your previous leader didn''t dare to im ownership of that item. You should know who I represent, and why I even bothered toe here in the first ce. So" Tapping into his [Draconic Heritage], Aiden''s eyes suddenly lit up. He released his aura in the room but made sure it didn''t leak outside the premises. Focusing his intent on the tattooed leader, he continued with a much deeper,manding tone. "...SIT BACK DOWN!" As the full weight of his aura descended on the standing chieftain, his knees buckled, and he fell back down to his chair. The anger vanished from his face, only to be reced by a mixture of confusion and fright as he continued to look at this monster in front of him. He no longer thought that he could be an equal to him, even if he would forcefully open and activate all four of his tattoos. No, this aura alone was enough to buckle his knees, he couldn''t even withstand the pressure of his gaze, let alone his full might! Taking a few moments to calm himself, he took a loud gulp, and with a much calmer tone and with much more respect, he continued. "So, what can I help this lord with? You may already know, but the previous leader didn''t tell us all of the details of the ns. We only know that we had toe here and set up our home at this location. Besides that, we were only told to hunt and gather on the premises and kill all trespassers, there can be no witnesses." Seeing as to how the chieftain''s attitude changed, Aiden pulled his aura back. The golden light in his eyes faded and his voice returned to ''normal''. Giving a courteous smile, he spoke in a calm tone. "I see Then, how many of you are in this vige currently, how many can fight, and are there any othersing in the near future? I need specifics, to report back." "Uhm" The chieftain nervously scratched his head as he listened to the bombardment of questions. "I" He didn''t know how to continue. He just took up this spot, he had no idea about such details and didn''t even care for it. Why would he? He could give a rough estimation, but he wasn''t sure if this lord would ept something like that. "What?! You don''t even know?" Aiden asked with the same calm tone and a simple smile. However, at this point, the leader could feel some underlying, hidden threat behind his calm attitude. Certain, that he wasn''t just imagining it, he gulped loudly again, and stutteringly began to answer. "I I don''t know the exact details, sir. I... I just took up the position. I can only g-give a rough estimate." "Then just give me these rough estimates. It''s still better than nothing." Aiden responded with a defeated expression. "Y-Yes, Sir! So, uhm, we have around three thousand vigers currently, with roughly two thousand of them in a battle-ready state. If the situation requires it, we could pull in the hunters gaining another five hundred. The remaining five hundred are the elderly and the young ones." The chieftain responded with a respectful attitude, aplete opposite of his haughtiness just moments ago. "Okay, what about the rest? Are there any othering? Is this your full tribe?" Shaking his head, the chieftain replied immediately. "N-no, Sir! Sorry, I mean y-yes, we do have another group that should arrive early next week. I am terribly sorry, but I don''t know the details about them... The previous leader knew it." Aiden''s eyes immediately red up hearing this response. His voice turned deeper, and he unfolded his aura once again, concentrating his intent on the sitting chieftain. "DO NOT LIE TO ME, YOU RAT!" The ''proud'' and haughty leader squealed under Aiden''s pressure. Lowering his head, he hurriedly continued. "I-I am sorry, Lord! I made a mistake! I wasn''t paying attention when we got the information, so I don''t know the details! I can only say that I think it should be around the same size as our current poption!" "YOU THINK?! WHY ARE YOU SITTING ON THAT CHAIR THEN? WHAT PURPOSE DO YOU SERVE?!" His thundering, booming voice resounded throughout the entire vige. Fragments of his voice also reached Lily''s perked ears, who giggled at hearing this. She patted Sam and Biggy''s heads as she cheerfully eximed. "Ehehe, brother is angry! We should be ready, I''m guessing the fun is starting soon!" Meanwhile, the residents of the vige trembled as the thundering shout swept through them. Even the strongest shivered in fright, that strange, lush-haired goblin did have some incredible powers. The only two that stood proudly were the two youngsters that Aiden identally selected as his entourage. They already expected that their new ''master'' was an incredible person, and now they were sure of it. They proudly smiled while guarding the entrance. Back in the hut, the pale-faced chieftain was already prostrating on the ground, desperately trying to beg for forgiveness from this lord. The immense weight of his piercing gaze was enough to send shivers down his spine and be frightened to death. Even with his mixed blood, he was still, in the core, a goblin, a frightful creature. "I''m sorry Lord, I know I made a mistake, this goblin is stupid! Please, calm down!" Chapter 137 - 137 - Troubled Thoughts Eventually, the golden luster faded from Aiden''s eyes, while his [Draconic Aura] receded, releasing the unsurmountable pressure from the chieftain. He looked at the prostrating leader on the ground. A small, unnoticeable smile momentarily swept through his face as he addressed him with his ''normal'' voice. "Rise. Despite your stupid greed, I will give you onest chance. Be responsible from now on and take good care of the residents of this vige. Be different from what the world thinks about us, be better." He turned around, looking at the two youths standing guard at the entrance, looking very proud despite theck of weapons in their hands or anybat experience. He could only inwardly sigh seeing this, this was caused by his acting after all He had to take some responsibility for their changed fates. Looking back at the goblin chieftain, who just stood up, still having a frightened expression, Aiden continued. "Also, take care of those two. They are good seedlings, they could be exceptional warriors one day. They have been chosen." The goblin looked at the backs of these two youngsters for a moment, before nodding his head. Even if he couldn''t see anything special about them now, he didn''t dare toin. He respectfully answered the order. "Yes, Lord. I will personally train them! I swear on my life! But" he turned meek as his thoughts trailed to the harsh life of their species. He only continued after a few audible gulps. "...But the training can be harsh, and I can''t protect them at all times. To survive and be full-fledged members That''s down to them only." Naturally, while Aiden never experienced their life, after witnessing the previous leader''s memories, he was familiar with his words. The training he mentioned was more like a series of trials. To progress, they had to set out on increasingly dangerous hunts and bring back treasures or food to obtain merits. Only by obtaining a sufficient amount of standing could they eventually progress to thest part, the Selection. This was a gruesome and cruel event, where they all battled in diatorialbat, oftentimes against each other, but on rare asions against captured wild beasts. At least half of the participating young fledglings met their early ends there. This might seem counter-productive, but one has to remember, that goblins do not put much value on individual life, due to their incredibly fast reproductive rate. Figures like this chieftain that had some sort of shamanistic power were incredibly rare, but regardless of that, they still had to go through this ''Rite of Passage''. Listening to the chieftain''s words, Aiden lightly nodded, agreeing with him. "I know. Their fate is up to their own. However, they will have the right to enter the Selection, regardless of what merits they obtain. Train them well and leave the rest up to them. With that, you can save yourself as well." Turning around, he stepped towards the entrance, but before he left, he spoke in a cold tone, sending another wave of shivers down the chieftain''s spine. "Remember, I will know if you betray my trust. You don''t want to test my patience." With that, he stepped out of the building, leaving the frightened creature to himself. He said what he wanted, and even made some way for the two younglings who still had no idea they were simply used. --- Walking past the two young goblins, he stopped for a moment. He turned his head sideways, and spoke in a clear tone, shocking the two of them. This was the first time they could hear his voice, so far he had been silent! "The chieftain will personally help you in your training. However, it is still up to you if you can pass the Selection and be recognized as warriors. Train hard to be one and be worthy!" With that, he was about to walk away but was stopped when a delicate dark green hand grabbed his left hand and gently pulled on it. "But" The female goblin opened her mouth to speak, with a respectful, reverent tone. "...We want to follow the Lord!" The male youngster fervently nodded his head next to her, adding his already obvious thoughts to the argument. "Yes, Lord, we want to go with you, and learn about the world!" Aiden sighed inwardly. He created a much bigger mess than he intended, with his actions. He needed to act a bit but couldn''t just wander around since all eyes were on him as soon as he entered the premises. They treated him like some kind of holy being! He obviously knew from the gained memories that his hair was an indicator of higher standing, but he still underestimated it greatly! He could only sigh andment on his actions but could not back out unless he wanted to massacre everyone. In the end, after a brief moment of silence, he turned around and looked at the two youngsters who were looking at him with shining, hopeful eyes with a polite smile. Still, in the end, he shook his head, knowing he wronged these two. "Sorry, you can''t follow me for now. Later, once you are full-fledged and recognized adults, warriors of your tribe, you will have the chance to follow me. For now, stay here and train hard." Although they were sad hearing his rejection, they still nodded their heads, epting his words. Both of them spoke in unison. "Yes, Lord! We will work hard to earn your favor in the future!" "Go, meet with the chieftain, and listen to his words. Don''t worry, he shouldn''t do anything to harm you." Aiden urged them. Looking at the entrance to the hut, they hesitated for a moment and turned back towards the young goblin lord in front of them. After a brief moment of silence, the female managed to blurt out what both of them were thinking about. "Lord, when will we see you again?" Aiden smiled at the question, trying his best to look calm and collected. Inwardly he was almost screaming with frustration already. He wanted nothing more than to leave. "I can''t give you a definite answer to that, I''m sorry. I will return in the future, until then, do your best to be better than what the general view paints our race. Not all of us are evil monsters. You two are prime examples of that!" He didn''t want to wait and give them more chances to ask questions. He had troublesing up with answers, so as soon as he finished speaking, he turned around, and with measured but hurried steps he walked away. He wanted to get out of this ce and just put this whole ordeal behind him. Still, despite the mishaps, he gained a lot of information that he can report back to Granny and his Master. Goblins arrived and settled in the depths of the forest! Although the new leader was an ipetent greedy idiot and didn''t know much, he managed to get some important information out of him. Combined with the memories he gained, along with the blurred ones he could piece together some pieces of this puzzle. He didn''t know the relevance of this strange gnarled magic wand that the old leader was carrying, nor did he know why it was put to such a high pedestal in the eyes of these vigers, but he knew that these weak-minded fools were merely pieces, puppets moved by someone else. The existence gained control of the leader easily, and from that point on, he used him as a pawn to further his goals and set up something grand. These creatures were merely heralds, precursors for an iing disaster that could swipe through not just this small irrelevant city, but the entire kingdom. Walking forward, he ignored the nces the rest of the vigers gave him, he was deep in thought. Thinking about it, why should he even care about these humans? Most of them were dark, with tainted hearts and evil thoughts. Wouldn''t it be better to just let ''nature'' take its course? But thinking about it a bit more, he knew that his sentiment was wed. There were good people as well in this crowd. The elderly couple, the Nortons, that suffered because of them was one prime example. Or the red-haired princess and his brother could have some merits as well He was sure that his family would be safe, regardless of the dangers, Granny had many mysterious secrets around him, and his Master was incredibly strong as well, they would not let any harme to Lily. ncing at his system''s interface, he reminded himself of the pending main quest he also just received. He had a small glimmer of hope that he could find some clues about this ''Demon Grotto'' he had to visit, especially after seeing the tempered memories of the ex-leader, but in the end, he came back with nothing. He wasn''t closer to solving this mystery than before... Chapter 138 - 138 - The Wanderer’s Respite The afternoon sun bathed the pebbled road in its warm light. Two dusty travelers hiding behind decrepit, tattered cloaks could be seen walking with a calm, steady pace. They were already half a day away from the city that just a day ago meant the literal hell for them. "Where are we going, Drake?" The feminine figure asked his partner. The fiery red tinges of her beautiful, long hair could be seen peeking out under the cover of her baggy hood. Despite the hell, her life must have been, hopeful sparks shined in her eyes as she looked at the male figure to her left. The other one turned towards the woman. Even though his face was hiding behind the shadowy cover, his voice betrayed him. The calm, love, and affection were clearly visible in his tone as he addressed the scarlet haired woman. He gently grabbed and caressed the unruly tinge of hair that refused to stay hidden as he spoke. "Don''t worry, Scarlet, we''re not going back to father. Not unless we are ready to pay him back for what he had done. We still need to head towards the capital, I have a few contacts there. We will settle in for a few days, before we decide on our next course of action, together." "But why couldn''t we stay in that city then? Why did we leave? Is there a reason?" She asked with confusion in her voice. "Do you really have to ask, sister? You were forced to live in that ce for years. You need some change. Besides" He responded with a concerned tone. However, before he could finish, the woman interrupted him. "You don''t have to worry about me! I''m much stronger than you think! As long as I have you with me brother, I can take over the world if needed! Don''t forget, I survived for 10 years in that ce." Grabbing her chin, she thought back tost night. The people that his brother was with, the other blonde girl That strange, masked boy and his partner That elderly woman... "Brother, who were the people you were withst night? They were such an odd group of people. An olddy, a mysterious masked pair of a woman and boy. And that other blonde girl. Did theye to rescue her? How did you meet them?" Luckily the hood hid the embarrassment on his face thinking back to how that boy, Aiden beat him effortlessly. Coughing loudly to calm his voice, he responded to the question after a while. "Well Let''s just say I met them by chance Yeah." He started. He could feel the piercing re of his sister even if he couldn''t see her eyes. Ignoring it, he cleared his throat and continued. "They dide to rescue that blonde-haired girl. Since we were basically going to the same ce with the same objectives, we decided to group up. I have to say, they are really capable people. That boy Is incredibly strong. And the two adults with them are very powerful casters as well. I have no idea how or what type of magic they used to get us out, but to be honest I don''t really care. I got you back, and that''s what matters!" As he said that, he gently patted the back of her hooded head, showing his true feelings on the matter. A few moments of silence ensued as Scarlet just hummed, enjoying his brother''s feelings. He was her everything, the only reason she could stay strong and push forward even during the worst of times. However, soon another question came to her. Opening her eyes, she voiced her thoughts in a troubled tone. "Also, who was that other elderly couple they came back with? They seemed to suffer quite a lot" "I don''t know. The n was to get you and the girl, Lily, and get out of there. After that, I would use the royal seal tomand the city guards to raid the ce and shut it down for good. I have no idea who they were and why did they go for them." He answered. "Do you trust them? Will we work with them to get our brothers back? I had this weird, unexinable feeling from that mysterious masked woman. I''m not sure what it was like if we had met before, I think? There was this vague sense of familiarity from her presence. I can''t really exin" She continued with her bombardment of questions. After years of silent mutterings in the shadows and her prayers, she couldn''t stop herself from voicing her thoughts. Drake went silent for a while, thinking,menting about the questions. He also had no idea what to do, the group seemed friendly and good-natured, but he also felt this faint sense of familiarity from that woman. He couldn''t exin it, as he could see nothing from her besides her vague figure. After nearly a minute of silence when the only sound was their soft footsteps as they paved the road ahead, he finally spoke up. "I''m gonna be honest sis. We need them. I don''t know if we could fully trust them, but they dide to rescue their own. They are definitely a capable bunch. With them, we have a much higher chance to get our family back together. As for that masked woman??? He went silent for a moment thinking about her. "...I also had this feeling. I''m not sure why, but she also has two of the royal artifacts in her possession. She had one on herself, and from what they told me, they gave the amulet to the blonde-haired girl. In fact, that''s how she found the ce." A loud gasp could be heard as he revealed the information to her sister. In a shocked tone, she loudly eximed. "WHAT?! H-HOW?!" "I don''t know. I had no time to ask any questions about it either. I''m not sure who she is" he spoke thoughtfully thinking about that strange woman. "Do you think that she she could be" A dangerous thought surfaced in Scarlet''s mind, but she was unable to properly phrase it. Smiling under the hood, Drake finished what they both were thinking about. "If she could be a member of the family? Perhaps, a distant rtive? I don''t know Maybe?" These thoughts were dangerous, the implications, if they were turned out to be true, were too huge for them to even process. Even so, Scarlet shook her head. Forcing herself and her trembling, faltering mind, she stuttered her real thoughts. "N-no I d-don''t think she is a distant rtive. B-b-brother What if s-she, s-she, is Mo-" "NO! DO NOT FINISH THAT THOUGHT!" Drake interrupted her loudly. Tightly clenching his fists, he turned towards the sky, sighing deeply to calm his raging heart. Moments passed, turning into minutes as they continued walking on the empty road. Eventually, Drake sighed once more and looked at her sister. Grabbing her hand, he gently spoke. "Sorry about that. I just No, I can''t ept that thought." She responded by gripping his hand. Still facing the empty road ahead, she spoke with a hushed, whispering tone, as if afraid that someone could hear them. "I know. But we can''t rule out that possibility. You said it yourself, she had multiple family heirlooms. Who else could she be then?" Drake didn''t respond, he silently followed the road. His hand however was tightly clenching, intermixing with her sisters. They walked silently hand-in-hand towards their destination. Several minutes of silence has passed like this. Scarlet didn''t want to continue the topic, and Drake couldn''t voice his thoughts on the matter. He knew that she was right, he already had this thought back then. That woman was familiar with them, knew who he was at first nce, and could easily control the artifact''s powers. However, these weren''t enough, they needed more clues, something more conclusive, something that could prove or deny this dangerous conjecture without a doubt. --- The evening sun cast long shadows on the ground. The nting rays of the setting sun gave a warm orange tinge to the sky by the time they arrived at a lonely, lit roadside inn at the side of the road. This ce was called the ''The Wanderer''s Respite'', a ce to rest for the night for the travelers on the road. It was situated roughly halfway between the two big cities, Higrove and the capital city, Elsaid. While you could get to visit a few smaller settlements between the two, the main road only had this one ce for the traveling merchants, wandering adventurers, or to the lost soul, who found themselves under the eerie night sky. As the brother and sister duo approached the timber and brick building with the dark red tile roof, the soothing sound of a piano reached their ears along with a low hubbub. Soon an enticing, mouth-watering smell perked their noses, causing an increase in their pace. Entering through the thick, wooden door they are met with the wrinkle of a bell. The silent mutters halted for a moment as the adventurers '' taking their evening meals nced at the neers. Ignoring the inquiring eyes stered on them, they hurried towards the polished oak countertop, taking their seats on two stools. Maybe it was because they were tired and hungry, but as they sat down, they failed to notice the scruffy person sitting by his lonesome in the far-right corner holding arge ceramic mug in his hands. He had arge and ugly scar running through his face, all the way to his right eye. His gaze followed the two youngsters as they took their seats. A small, barely visible smug smile crept on his unkempt face. "Finally found you, young prince" he muttered to himself. Chapter 139 - 139 - Another Reunion The figure gave onest nce at the duo at the countertop. Lifting his mug, he gulped the remaining golden liquid that he kept swirling for a while now. He reached to the side where a carefully wrapped sheath was resting against the wall. There was a sword in it, but besides the hilt''s vague figure nothing could be made out, as the thick linen wrapping carefully hid its decorative motifs. He stood up and slowly put the holstered weapon back to the empty scabbard on the left side of his ck leather belt. Raising his arms in the air he yawned loudly and stretched his tired back. After several days of information gathering and fruitless search, he finally found this runaway boy. The only thing that puzzled him, was the second person, the female figure that arrived with him. Who was she? He couldn''t nce at her due to the baggy hood they were wearing, but in the end, it doesn''t matter. He had a job to do, and he can finallyplete it and bring him back. ncing at them with one eye, as he finished his refreshing exercise, he slowly walked towards them. He was in no hurry, he wanted to catch a few bits from their silent whispers before interrupting. As the scruffy man slowly, leisurely walked forward, Drake waved at the stout innkeeper who just came back from the kitchen with arge te. Just looking at the te full of steaming hot, dark brown grilled meat was enough to start the duo''s waterworks. As for the bed, white rice was served with sliced mockernut and leeks. A bit of fried chard and chokeberries could also be seen. It was hard for the duo to restrain themselves and not jump at the te after a long and tiresome day of journeying. Seeing his hand, the innkeeper walked up to them. Giving a friendly smile, he greeted with his loud, powerful voice. "Good Evening to you guys, the name''s Arvin, the owner of this fine little establishment. What can I serve ya?" Drake pointed at the te that was just served as he replied in a hushed tone. "That. Two servings please." The friendly smile not leaving his face, Arvin nodded and looked towards the kitchen. In the same manner, as he greeted them, he shouted back ''sending'' the order to the person attending it. "Ey, Elyn! We got two more servings needed!" Then, he turned back, gesturing a thumbs-up with his thick right hand. "Okay folks, it should be ready in a few minutes. You can wait here or" he briefly nced at the room, looking at the tables before he continued. "...you can take a seat somewhere. I will call for ya when it''s ready." "Thanks." Drake curtly spoke. After Arvin stepped away to take the order of someone else, he looked at Scarlet who was still looking at the already half-empty te next to them as if she was in a trance. Sighing, he gently caressed the back of her hooded head, waking her from her stupor. He didn''t say anything, just smiled at his sister. Their tranquil moment was interrupted when suddenly a big hand lightly tapped Drake''s right shoulder. He turned to look at the person only for his face to turn ugly upon seeing the smirking fellow. Seeing his brother''s reaction, Scarlet also turned to look at the guy. Scruffy, unkempt beard,rge ugly scar on his face, and dusty ck short hair. He looked vaguely familiar, but she wasn''t sure from where. However, before she could ponder on the matter more, Drake addressed the man. "It''s you I hoped you would give up, you know I will not go back, no matter what you say." The man gave a tired sigh upon hearing his words. Caressing his brows, he spoke in an exhausted tone. "Let''s not start this again, Draco. You know I have to take you back, this is not up to me or to you. We both know that you have responsibilities, you can''t just shirk them away. You can''t just elope with everymoner girl you-." As he nced over at the woman, his words froze in him on the spot due to the shock. Looking carefully at her fiery red tinges, the shadowy visage of her delicate face Even after so many years, he could still recognize her. He stuttered to continue. "P-p-p-princess?! H-h-how did When What?!" He mumbled in utter disbelief. He couldn''t believe his eyes, the little girl that was taken away years ago with her brothers are back. Drake smirked at the man''s shocked expression. With a smug tone, he asked. "What? Were the years this hard on you? Did you forget what I said to you before?" As the man''s shocked gaze switched to him, he continued with an even wider grin. "I told you that I will find her, and I did just that." The man couldn''t speak. The appearance of the little missy was too much of a shock to him. He continued to look with wide eyes at the gently smiling girl. Eventually, with a clenched fist he loudly hit the area above his heart, and with a proud and loud tone, he eximed. "I am so d to see you return safe and sound my-" He couldn''t finish his greeting, Drake''s hands covered her mouth, silencing him before he could say anything that would blow their cover. "Shut up you idiot! Do you want to expose us? You were never the brightest knight Lloyd, but still, this is a new record even for you" Drake grumbled. Hearing the name for the first time, Scarlet''s face curved into a much broader and happier smile. Looking at the man''s scruffy, bearded face again, she bowed her head slightly. "Greetings, Sir Lloyd! I didn''t expect to see you. What are you doing here?" The man, Lloyd, nced at the boy, as he replied with a much quieter tone. "I am supposed to protect your brother here. Unfortunately, he is hellbent to make my job as difficult as he could. As soon as there''s an opportunity he is out of the castle" He sighed at his own misfortune. Scarlet giggled at his response. "Oh, it couldn''t be that bad, Drake is just teasing you!" "Drake?" He asked with a questioning gaze. Then, remembering the prince''s fake name he used to register as an adventurer, he looked at the boy with a wry look. "Drake? Really? You hate your father so much that you even refuse your name now?" Drake''s face turned serious, he tightly clenched his fists. Looked at his right fist on the countertop, he growled as he repeated the words, he swore himself up to. "Mark my words, I will have my vengeance on that bastard. What he did to us, Lloyd There''s no pardon for that." "Drake" Lloyd ced hisrge right hand on his back, gently patting it. "...Your father He had his reasons. It wasn''t easy for him too, but he had to take this step, for your future." Swatting his hand away, he looked at his bodyguard with an angry expression. "Had his reasons?! I don''t care, there''s nothing that should make a father sell his children away! I will NEVER forgive him." Listening to him, Lloyd could hear the determination in his voice. He could only sigh and ask in a concerned expression. "So What are your ns? I guess there''s no point in convincing you to return home, right?" "The next time I return will be the day I will slice that bastard''s head off!" Drake snickered angrily." Thinking back on that night, Scarlet''s smile receded, and sadness settled in. She had a distant look, as she remembered the early days of her nightmarish years. Being forced to go with those men, only to be thrown in a cage The torturous training, the painful memories of the painful kisses of the whips She lived a sad life, only because of a decision made by her so-called father. "Drake is right." She suddenly spoke up, breaking the two man''s discussion. As they looked at her, their expression soured. Her eyes blurred as small droplets of water escaped from the corner of her eyes. Although the memories were painful, there was always a small light that pushed her forward. Once again, she looked at her brother, filling her visage, shooing away the nastiness. "That man is not my father. We will pay him back for everything For every day I spent as a ve Separated from my brothers! No. There''s no pardon for that." She eximed with an expression that scared the other two. The cute, innocent little girl was gone, they could only see a seasoned warrior, a veteran that was christened in a sea of blood. Her gaze alone could tell tales of the hell she must have experienced. Drake grabbed her fist and gently pulled it closer. "Don''t worry sis. After we found and rescued our brothers, we will visit that bastard. He will answer for this unforgivable crime!" Chapter 140 - 140 - Martial Arts Training (Part 1) New orange rays shone through the window, showing the beauty of the many tan hues that weave together to make the fabric of the new day. On the best closest to the oval-shaped window, a cute yawn could be heard under the cover of the cool sheets. A warm ball of light filtered through her thin eyelids bringing her back from dreand. Rays of brightness cast their circles on the wooden tile floor, reflecting onto several objects in the room which decorated its otherwise simplicity. She blinked a few times, in an attempt to adjust her eyes to the illumination directed at her defenseless figure. Rubbing her still sleepy eyes, she peeked at the other side of the room where another messy bed could be seen. Seeing as its resident was already gone, she clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction. She raised her arms into the air, and stretched, waking her sleeping jolts and muscles along with another, louder yawn. In response to her shenanigans, tworge ck dogs at the side of the bed responded in kind, and slowly stood up. Just like every other day in the past week, they approached their master for their morning head pats and kisses. After more than a little more than a week of cohabitation, they truly started to love this cute little master. Although themand of the alpha still lingered in their hearts, they no longer had any doubts against it. Compared to their old life they felt like they were in dog-heaven! She was kind, she loved them, fed them, yed with them With their tongues out in the open, and with a wide smile on their faces, they gently lowered their heads as they arrived in front of the blonde master. "Aww, you two! Come here!" The blonde girlie, Lily, smiled as these two were already in position. Giving them their due rewards, Lily got on her knees and gave them one big group hug, nting her face in their necks. After two noisy kisses, she slowly stood back up, looking at the door. "Did brother already get up and went to train with Master?" she asked her caninepanions. In response, the dogs barked once simultaneously; their agreed method for saying ''yes''. "How does he do it? How can he wake up before sunrise every single day? I just can''t catch him at all" she ranted into the air with a cute little frown on her face, gazing at the closed wooden door. After letting it out of her system, she let out a soft, defeated sigh. "Ah well, let''s get ready, and see what everybody is up to! --- Getting ready for the day, Lily left her room with Sam and Biggygging just a step behind. Approaching the already set dinner table, sounds of a heated fight reached her elongated earsing from the back yard. She walked towards the closest window to take a peek at her brother''s and master''s morning exercise that they''ve been doing every single day during thest seven days. Looking out the window, two blurry silhouettes could be seen shing and then separating at high speeds. Although their figures were blurry, with a little focus, Lily could almost make out the half-naked body of Aiden as he tried tond a punch against his master, only to miss once again with a simple wave of her hand. After histest attempt, the boy jumped back several steps, creating a bit of distance between him and Number 3. Heavily panting, the half-naked, long ck-haired Aiden nced at her master''s casual, nonchnt stance. She looked just how she was every time. While he stressed his body to the limit, she always managed to casually and effortlessly evade and parry all of his attacks. No matter how fast he tried to swing, or how hard he tried to throw a punch, he never managed to get in a hit. A simple wave of her hands, a sidestep was enough to miss his intended target every single time. "*Pant* This *Pant* is *Pant* not fair, Master!" He expressed his discontent. In response, Number 3 only gave a faint smirk but did not respond. She slowly approached her tired student, giving her a warm towel to dry up his sweaty body. Giving it to him, she gently patted her right hand over his left shoulder. With a warm smile on her face, she asked him. "What do you think, why can''t yound even a single hit, Aiden?" Wiping his face, he thought about this question a lot already. It was frustrating, but no matter how hard he tried, he could never get past her defenses. It didn''t matter how fast he was, or how much strength he exerted The result was always the same, he hit the air instead of her body. After a few moments of silent deliberation, he looked up at her smiling face. Letting out an exhausted, tired sigh. "I''m not sure" Thinking back about thest fight, he tried to think back all of his attacks. Soon noticing the repeating, simple pattern of the types he used, his expression changed for the better. With an inquiring expression on his face, he inferred. "My attacks are too simple?" Number 3 smiled at how he finally noticed the root of the problem that she was trying to show him in thesest days. She nodded, confirming the boy''s theory. "Yes. Your fighting style is simplistic and savage,ing from pure instinct. You fight like how a beast would. While it can be effective against other beasts and monsters, against a trained and experiencedbatant you will lose just like how you did against me." She paused for a moment, looking at his still sweaty upper body. Pinching his left biceps, she continued. "Do you honestly think I''m faster or stronger than you? No. I''m only a human, don''t forget that. You should be faster and stronger than me by a lot. Yet, you still fail tond a strike no matter how hard you try. Why?" She waved with his right hand. As her hand traveled the essences in the air vibrated giving a visible transparent arc of energy along with a slight whooshing sound. As always, Aiden was intently focusing on the movement, trying to understand the mysteries behind it. The simple arc that her hand made carried so many intricacies, so many mysteries that he had a hard time wrapping his head around it. It was in its core [Martial Arts], not a new, unknown skill, but something he already had, but never really relied upon. While the movement was simple, it seemed to carry something else, something new, something that caused the particles to be excited, and react to this simple movement. He learned the basics of it already in the past, mostly to understand which parts of the body he should focus on attacking. Although the system granted him the skill, Aiden never spent time processing the knowledge on his own, never tried to gain any insight from it. "I already taught you hand-to-handbat in the past, and you did learn the most important parts, but now it is time to delve deeper into it. We will spend the uing days to teach you the art and then work on refining it into your own style." Looking towards the kitchen, she continued. "We will continue after breakfast. Someone is already eagerly waiting for us to notice her after all." She nced at the blonde crown that was still visible despite its owner''s best attempts to hide. A muffled giggle could also be heard as they approached the windowsill. Entering the door, they saw the little crouching and giggling girlie, hiding behind Sam''srge body. Seeing how she was exposed, she stood up, looking at the duo with a cheerful smile. "Good morning, brother, Master! Did you finish?" Gently caressing the top of her head, Number 3 responded to Lily''s question. "Only for the morning. We will have to continue afterward. Before you two could go back to the city as you wanted, you need to have some more training done. That means you as well little sleepyhead!" --- At an unknown location in a dimly litrge room that looked like it was carved out straight from a stone a group of stout, bulky, dark, brown-skinned humanoid figures was standing in an organized fashion in front of an empty podium. They were all bare-chested, the only decoration on their upper bodies were the reminders of their past achievements; scars, blemishes, and wounds. They weren''t covered up, they all wore it proudly. These weren''t shameful, to them, these were their pride, their aplishments. They were all looking in front of them, at the empty wooden podium, waiting for the arrival of somebody. They were an elite group, highly trained, skilled, and experienced veterans. Leaders, and warlords of their own tribes, ruling over thousands of simr-looking creatures. Yet, right now, they were mere warriors patiently waiting for the arrival of their king... Chapter 141 - 141 - Martial Arts Training (Part 2) In the hut, the small family of four sat around the dining table that was already packed full of all the goodies they liked. While Granny filled his own te with her usual mixture of fruits and vegetables, Aiden picked up arge slice of dark red wolf meat and ced it on his empty te. Lily followed along with a smaller slice and healthy garnish of veggies. Meanwhile, Number 3 kept hers empty for the time being, and just smiled at the scene in front of her. Although her face kept the gentle calm as she kept enjoying the happy scene in front of her, her mind was being troubled by thoughts of a distant past. Ever since she saw those silver tinges Those determined eyes, her strong determined heart was troubled by memories that she wanted to keep buried in the deep recesses of her mind. s, the heart was a tricky and fickle being, it didn''t always do what you wanted it to. Exhaling some air, she lightly shook her head and reached for the pitcher full of water to pour some for herself. As she picked up her mug and looked at the tranquil surface of the water in it, she couldn''t help but smirk at herself. She was about to teach Aiden the art of controlling her emotions and using his own potential to enhance his own fighting style, but here she is, having trouble controlling her own aching heart. As if noticing her troubles, Aiden swallowed thest piece of meat on his tter and looked at her. With concern clearly visible on his face and voice, he asked. "Is everything alright Master? You seem troubled?" Her thoughts interrupted by his voice, Number 3 looked at the boy. Giving a friendly smile, she calmly answered. "Don''t worry, Aiden. I am okay." Her smile turning into a cheeky smirk, she continued with a pert tone. "You should worry about yourself. The training we are going to start with the both of you is not easy." Facing the surprised Lily, Number 3 continued before she could voice her shock. "Yes, you will be joining your brother as well. You need to be able to defend yourself, you can''t just rely on your archery inbat. What if you run out of arrows? What if you lose your weapon? Will you just watch as your brother fights alone?" Lily''s shocked expression turned sour, knowing that she is right. However, a momentter, her clenched right fist was up in the air, to give more power to her determined words. "No! I will do anything to help brother! Right Sam, Biggy?" Answering her call, two distinguishable loud barks came from the side, agreeing to her words. "Right. That''s why you will also train with Aiden after breakfast. With all the looming dangers, it is that much more important for the both of you to widen your repertoire." "Master!" Aiden spoke up. "What will we do about the goblins settling to the north in the forest? They migrated here due to someone''smand." Number 3 smiled at his question. "Do? Why should we do anything? They are no threat to us. Don''t worry, with Granny and me here, they will never have any ideas. Besides, didn''t you were taught to value life? Did they directly hurt or threaten you?" Aiden couldn''t give an answer to these questions. His master was essentially right: they were no threat to them, only to the humans in the city. The city that housed so many demons in the shadows Should he really care about them? However, there were a few good souls that were worth his attention, his care, his protection. Raising his right index finger, he looked at Number 3. He was about to voice these thoughts, when Number 3 continued, freezing his words in him. "I know what you want to say. You want to protect those elders we saved the other day, and you think there are simr people worthy of saving amidst the shadows" She looked at Granny who also was looking at her with a wry smile on her face. As their gazes met, they lightly nodded at each other, affirming their thoughts. Looking back at Aiden, she continued. "These humans have to face the consequences of their actions, Aiden. The cmity that is going to befall on them is the result of their rampant racism and disregard for the other races. For centuries, these humans thought of themselves as some higher beings, above the rest of the world. This horde you spoke of is the hammer of justice that is necessary to wake them from their stupor." Switching her attention to Lily, she went on. "But don''t worry. You will have a chance to save those you want to. There is still time. The goblins are still in the middle of settling down, it will take months, maybe a few years before their forces will be ready." Turning back towards Aiden, she reached out and with the back of her hand, she gently caressed his cheek. "What you need to worry about now is to gain control of your raging emotions. Losing yourself in every battle is very dangerous Aiden, you could even hurt those you love." Hearing these words have shaken Aiden''s already anxious heart. Back in that underground ce, then in the forest As the battle went on, he felt as if someone else slowly took control of his thoughts and body. He could feel his own pure self being pushed to the background to simply watch as this other ''being'', this second, bloodthirsty persona took the ''wheels''. With this shifted mentality, all of his thoughts were on the actual battle in front of him, he wanted to cause the maximum amount of pain, he felt enjoyment in his opponent''s cries and sorrows. While this ''state'' dramatically increased hisbat potential, Number 3 was right; he wasn''t in control of himself during those moments. He could potentially hurt even those that he cared about. As his thoughts were running in circles about this issue, Aiden suddenly felt Granny''s wrinkled hand as it gently grabbed his tightly clenched left fist. Waking up from his reverie, he looked at the elder''s gently smiling face. "Calm down, dearie, we are all here for you. These troubles you are having now Don''t try to wrestle with it yourself, you can count on us. The training you both will be having in the afternoon will be incredibly useful for the both of you." Turning towards Lily, Granny continued with a gentle smile on her face. "Aaaand, if you do a good job, there are some delicious treats as a reward waiting for you all!" "Aww yes!!! Brother, let''s hurry, we have to do a good job!" With the potential reward of desserts, Lily was already sold on the idea and was eager to get started whatever they needed to do. Despite the years, she was still the same in this regard as in the past, her love for tarts and all kinds of desserts never wavered. Seeing the care they have surrounded him with, caused his lingering doubts to fade, and a small smile to curve on his lips. Looking at the cheerful Lily, Aiden silently nodded with the barely perceptible smile on his face. Perhaps Granny is right, he doesn''t need to face his problems alone --- As the breakfast eventually came to an end, the group of three made their way towards the back yard once again. Watching as they left through the back door and entered into the yard, Granny sighed, watching Aiden''s receding back. "My dear daughter If you are still out there somewhere I will find you eventually In the meantime, I swear I will take good care of your boy" As her tired old eyes lingered on the back of the boy, Granny''s thoughts raced back to the past, to a much different era Thinking back to the tragedy, a singr droplet of water escaped the corner of her left eye and slithered down, escaping towards freedom. "I will find you" she muttered once again before standing up and taking her leave towards the kitchen. After a few steps, however, she stopped and turned around facing the still full table. "Oh right I''m starting to forget things... Can''t leave such a mess" She muttered. Then she waved with her right hand. As her hand continued this simplistic arc, the contents of the table gradually faded from existence as if they were never there. In the next moment, everything was gone, only the clean empty surface remained. "Much better. Now, let''s prepare something good and energizing for those two" Turning around she left the living room, entering the kitchen. --- As Granny started her own day, In the back yard, Lily and Aiden stood in front of Number 3, who was silently looking at them with a stern expression. The stifling, silent atmosphere was quickly bing too much for the little girl. Squirming, after a few moments, she exhaled loudly, as she eximed. "Don''t be like this Master! Tell us what to do!" Chapter 142 - 142 - Martial Arts Training (Part 3) In the backyard of Granny''s cozy little hut, Aiden and Lily were standing in front of Number 3. While Aiden could keep his calm as he waited for his Master to start the session, Lily wasn''t this patient. After a few minutes of suffering in the stifling silence, she squirmed and painfully eximed. "Don''t be like this Master! Tell us what to do!" Seeing the impatient girl, Number 3 sighed exasperatedly, cing her right hand over her forehead. "Be patient, Lily. Master has her reasons." Aiden calmly answered instead. "Try to keep your cool, this is already part of the training." Before Lily could respond to his words, Number 3''s gentle voice calmly reached their ears. It was like if she was standing next to them, leaning against their ears, silently whispering into them. It was truly magical. "Sit down and close your eyes, children. Clear your minds and calm your hearts." Her enchanting words were like a gentle summer breeze, they found it incredibly soothing. Obeying her words, both of them sat down on thewn cross-legged. Closing their eyelids, they tried following her words, with differing sess. For Aiden, this wasn''t the first time he did this exercise, back in the past when Number 3 taught him the basics, they used to spend time meditating, clearing their souls. Remembering how he used to aplish that serene state of mind, he deeply exhaled a few times. As for Lily, she wasn''t known for her calm and patience regarding these matters. Sitting on the ground, she opened her left eye from time to time peaking at her surroundings. Seeing how both master and Aiden was sitting and doing nothing, she sighed and followed suit. However, after a few minutes of painful silence, her thoughts came back towards her two doggos Sam and Biggy. What were they doing right at this moment? Are they bored? Are they missing her? No, this doesn''t matter right now! She needs to focus on the training, otherwise, she wouldn''t be useful in the future! She shook her head, trying to clear her mind once more and try to follow along once again. All this time, while her eyes were closed, she was clearly listening in on the girl. A small imperceptible smile curved on the edges of her lips, which quickly vanished as Number 3 continued to focus to immerse herself in meditation. After a short while, as she felt the girl''s fidgeting movements once again, she gently breathed, whispered into the air. A magical, invisible current carried her words, to the girl, so she could listen to it without interrupting the boy. "Breathe in, then breathe out Lily. Calm your heart. Feel the feeling of breath entering and leaving your lungs. Feel as life circtes within and without, the energy of the calm breeze, the gentle sun Feel as they echo through your heart. Let this noise pass through you, be unshakable, remove the disrupting thoughts from your mind and you will reach the serene state just like Aiden." Listening to her master''s words, Lily took in a deep breath, then after a few seconds, she slowly exhaled. As the air left her lungs, she repeated the process. Eventually, she could feel as her heart rate became slower, the rhythmic rapid beating became a slower much more majestic thumping sound. Eventually, she calmed down and became just as still as her brother. Nothing could shake the tranquility she felt for the first time. Almost an hour passed like this. Aiden kept his perfect calm, immersed in his inner soul world, calming his heart from the raging emotions and clearing his mind of all the unnecessary, disturbing thoughts. Although there wasn''t a skill that the system generated for him as of yet, he felt that it shouldn''t be that far off if there was any at all. He could feel and enjoy the tranquil peace just as a child would enjoy his mother''s loving embrace. He was alert,pletely aware of his surroundings, yet at the same time he was calm, clear-headed, he was at peace with himself at this moment. While Lily didn''t experience such a profound state, she also managed to gain a lot from her first session of meditation. In the past, she saw her brother do this exercise from time to time, mostly with Master during the end of their training sessions. Back then, she couldn''t understand the benefits. Now, however, she felt as if all the troubles and pain she experienced in her short life so far didn''t matter anymore, they were irrelevant. They only served to shape her life, to guide her towards her beloved brother, her Granny, and towards Master. There''s no point in feeling sad about what happened in the past anymore. Number 3''s eyelids slowly fluttered open, revealing her shining eyes. Looking at two meditating brother and sister pair in front of her, the same caring smile reappeared on her face. Once again, she breathed into the air, sending her words with a gentle magical breeze this time towards both of them. "Search deep inside you, go to the source. Feel that energy deep inside you, follow its path, be one with the flow. Go with the current, follow this torrent of energy, this power till the end." Number 3''s words were cryptic and mysterious, Lily couldn''t reallyprehend what she was talking about. Although she enjoyed this session and found some sort of peace out of it, she was nowhere near the level that would allow her to understand such intricacies. Nevertheless, she tried her hardest to follow along and look deep inside herself, to find this ''so-called'' source. For Aiden these words were easy to follow, he was already aware of his pool of energy inside him. In fact, he used it as a resource to feed and energize his skills and abilities. He was also aware of its flow, when he suddenly managed to increase the level of his Soul Power, he already had a brief experience with this sensation. Closing his eyes, he followed his master''s words. As his will descended into his inside world, he focused on his iprehensible, intangible pool, the source of his powers. Exhaling once, his will followed along with the flow, like if he was riding a current in a torrential river. In the span of a few seconds, his will traveled with this river to all ends, nooks, and crannies in his body, just like before. "Get familiar with this feeling, try to get used to this feeling. This energy, this flow you feel, is simply put, life itself. Once you feel ready, slowly open your eyes, but keep being aware of this flow inside you." Number 3''s voice tingled in their ears once again. Since she had no sess in stepping into these mysteries, Lily was the first to look at her master with a sour, downtrodden expression. Seeing her face, Number 3 silently smiled, she already expected such an oue from her. The mysteries of this art was not something that could be grasped so easily, otherwise, there would be countless practitioners. Even in the organization, even only a handful of people were able to start on this path. Even amongst the executors, not even half of them were able to train this particr skill. Suddenly she felt a wave of energy pass-through her, a fluctuation in the air due to the eager buzzing of the invisible essences around them. Looking at the source, her face morphed to a show of surprise, then to a satisfied, happy smile. In front of her, and next to Lily, Aiden who was still sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, had a faint golden hue surrounding him. A high-pitched buzzing sound apanied this glow as if his glowing coat of energy that surrounded him reacted to the particles in the air. As he kept up his concentration, the light increased in intensity, the sound became more agitated. This increase continued until Aiden''s body was no longer visible. Looking at her brother''s state, Lily asked with audible concern in her tone. "Master, w-what is happening to him? I-is he alright?" Number 3 nodded with a gentle smile on her face to the question. "Yes, he is fine, don''t worry." She answered. "What you see is perfectly normal. Your brother just entered into a realm that only a handful of people was capable of." A few secondster, the golden glow transformed, a golden pir of light shot into the sky, a loud burst of shockwave traveled through the air, almost knocking both of them back, and kicking off a handful of dust from the ground. The blinding golden pir vanished as quickly as it appeared, only leaving the dust in its wake. Eventually, even this cloud evaporated, revealing the healthy-looking boy in its depth looking at his master with an expression that had surprise mixed together with happiness. The source of his happiness was his sess, he was reveling at the contents of thest notification he received. He unexpectedly created a new skill from mixing and transforming together two of his others! Chapter 143 - 143 - Mystic Martial Arts With a smile on his face, Aiden once again checked thetest notification he received from the system. [The skill [Martial Arts] - Has been upgraded and into [Mystic Martial Arts]. The new skill has been moved under the Innates category. The new skill, while containing the source skills details, also has a new, active element, that can be activated by using [Soul Power]. Consumption: 10 SP / second.] [Due to the sessful session in understanding the mysteries of the energies, you received a 300 XP bonus to your [Soul Power]. Additionally, the skill, [Meditation] has been created and granted to the host.] Focusing his will on the second skill, a new window opened on top of the previous one with detailed information about it. [Meditation: Active Skill. Gain 1 XP to [Soul Power] for every second spent meditating in the clear, perfect state. Note: Depending on theprehension of the host, reaching this state may take some time. Before that, there is no XP to be generated.] ''So the system finally generated this skill after so many times'' Aiden thought to himself. He wanted to check out the other skill as well, but the mature, clear voice of her master interrupted him. "How are you, Aiden? How did you feel?" His eyelids fluttered open, revealing his golden irises. With a calm expression, he looked at Number 3''s kind, smiling face. After taking a breath and exhaling it, Aiden responded. "I I am fine, Master. I gained some insight into the energies flowing inside me. I think I can utilize this power to enhance my fighting style." Number 3''s kind smile curved even higher, turning into a satisfied grin as she looked at her apprentice. Nodding at his words, she went on. "Good, very good, Aiden! This is what I was hoping for!" Then turning towards Lily, with a wry smile she spoke. "Lily, dear, I am sorry, but I will need to focus on continuing the session with Aiden. He gained some incredible benefits, but he still needs to practice with it. I hope you understand, dear. You can continue meditating, and let me know if you reach any sess, okay? Also, if you find it too difficult, don''t worry, it is actually very difficult to do it. I had to spend months before I was sessful." Taking a breath, she continued, still looking at Lily. "In case you got bored or tired with trying, you could train with Sam and Biggy, and work on your team skills. It is actually just as important as meditating." Lily''s expression first turned sour as she listened to her Master''s words, she felt useless, a burden. However, as Number 3 went on, she regained some of her wits, and even a small smile started to form at the edges of her lips, thinking about ying with her doggies. In the end, she nodded. Although she seemed determined, neither Aiden nor Number 3 knew what aspect of the training she was fired up about. "Yes, master! I will do my best! You just focus on helping brother!" With that said, she immediately turned around and ran into the house. Momentster she was already back with shining eyes and her two caninepanions in tow. "I see. Alright, have fun, Lily!" Number 3 smiled at her and turned around to face Aiden, who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground, with already closed eyes. While his master focused on Lily, Aiden opened up the details for the new skill, the [Mystic Martial Arts] for better understanding. [Mystic Martial Arts: An enhanced, upgraded version of the baseline skill [Martial Arts]. It relies on the same skill for the basic skill set, providing the same benefits passively, however, all movements are empowered with the usage of the [Soul Power]''s energy pool. By activating the skill, the host will utilize this constantly flowing energy inside the body, gaining a boost to strength and speed. At higher levels, the always avable Essences lingering all around can be utilized, adding additional effects to the movements. Consumption while active: 10 SP / second] Reading through the details, he closed all the system windows, and opened up his eyes again, looking at Number 3. She was still gazing at Lily''s direction who was already at the far end of the yard, ying with Sam and Biggy something simr to a game of tag. "Master... " Aiden spoke up, grabbing Number 3''s attention. As she looked at him, he continued. "Shall we try another battle? I want to test myself once again." A small smile was visible on his face, he was hoping for bigger sess this time. "We will, Aiden, but first, let me see what you gained." She vertically waved with her hands, as she continued. "Stand up and face me." Following her words, Aiden quickly stood up, standing still watching his Master with his focused, perceptive gaze. "Okay, Aiden. Let''s try something simple. I will show you the movement, you just focus on it first. Then I will exin it to you, and you will try to repeat it. Here is the first." Just like before, she did a simple wave with her right hand in front of her face. As the arc went on, the air trembled behind her hand. The lingering essences in the air, reacted to her energy, giving her motion a blurred, transparent tail made out of energy, while also emitting a faint buzzing sound. "By relying on your inner flow of energy and utilizing it, focusing it on the back of your hand you will gain this effect. While this one has no realbat potential, it serves as the basis of all the others we will go through. Try to repeat it in my movements. Remember, to focus on your own energy and use it as soon as you begin the action. Now go, show it to me!" Nodding, Aiden activated his new [Mystic Martial Arts] skill. With the skill active, in addition to his experience with how his energy flowed inside his body, he had no trouble in repeating his master''s motion at his very first try. Looking at his beautiful, blurred transparent arc of energy, Number 3 revealed the same gentle smile that Granny usually has. "Great job, Aiden! Really great! You did it on your first attempt! Now, let''s do something useful. With this energy inside you, you can enhance your abilities. For example, like the speed of your swings" Saying that her whole right arm blurred as she made a simple forward thrust, creating several afterimages in the air. As the simple thrustpleted, a loud explosive sound rang out as her fist released apressed ball made out of a mixture of energy and air heading towards Aiden. As it reached the startled boy, he felt her fist hitting his chest. Looking at his chest then at his master with a surprised look, he was eager to give it a try. Before Number 3 could exin the mysteries behind this movement, he was already in action. Activating the skill again, he focused on increasing the speed of his right arm. As his muscles contorted under the increased pressure, his arm was thrust forward, simrly to how Number 3 did. His speed was fast, but not to the point of creating afterimages in the air, and there was nopressed air that was released at the end. He looked at his fist as if trying to find the fault of his failure in his hand. "It was a great attempt, but you relied on your muscles too much, Aiden. Even if you pour everything into them, they will not be able to ovee their physical limits. Instead, use the energy directly, simrly as how you created the trail of energy behind your hand previously." Number 3 exined with the same kind, gentle smile. Listening to her instructions, Aiden tried the action once again. Activating the skill for the third time, he thrust forward once again, while relying on the skill itself to enhance his speed instead of relying on his own muscles. This time, his speed was considerably faster than before. His arm actually blurred, but still not to the point of creating afterimages in the air. At the end of his punch, a small,pressed gust of air was released with a much quieter bang. The gust of air reached all the way to Number 3 who could feel a gentle summer breeze whoosh by. Although it wasn''t the same effect, the improvement was drastic. Aiden managed to repeat her actions without much difficulty in just two attempts. This was previously unheard of. Although Number 3 didn''t exin it in full detail, this action required a much better control, much higher understanding, and experience to aplish. She wanted him to try and struggle with it, so he could gradually increase his ownprehension and gain his own insights. Yet, the boy managed to almost perfectly copy the action so quickly. Her shocked expression turned into a satisfied smile, then as the edges of her lips curved, it revealed her cheeky grin. "Incredible, Aiden. I think you are actually ready to try and fight me again. Let''s see if you cannd a hit on me this time! Chapter 144 - 144 - I Will Not Give Up! On the emerald greenwn, in the back yard of Granny''s cozy little hut, two figures could be seen standing just a few steps away from each other. One of them was a female woman seemingly in her thirties, dressed in a simple white linen shirt with khaki-colored linen pants. Her shoulder-length silver fluttered in the wind. She had a small, friendly smile on her face as she looked at her eager opponent. "Are you ready, Aiden?" She asked the boy in front of him. "Remember, your goal is to sessfullynd a hit on me. If you do so before I can sessfully tire you out, then you can be considered the victor." "If I win, will you allow what I asked?" The boy asked with a questioning stare. "You promised to us before!" Hearing his question and retort, Number 3 chuckled a bit before answering. "Yes, of course, Aiden. I will stay true to my word. If you can win, then you have my and Granny''s permission to get back to the city. Although I have to tell you, I have no idea what is so interesting in that ce..." "I want to see more of the world, Master." He answered, after a moment of thought. "I don''t want to stay inside and train all the time The Guild Hall that Lily talked about sounds really fun, I want to experience that life a bit." He gave an honest sounding answer. While it was true that he wanted to see more of the world, the real reason behind his push to let them go out was to gather more information about the location he needed to find and visit for his main quest. There was a timer on that quest after all, and he had already spent a full week with this training. Even if this week of training wasn''t a waste and that he benefited a lot from it, he still made zero progress on the matter. His first idea, to gather information about it in the Goblin Vige was a dead end too. The new leader had even less of an idea of what was going on. Their whole tribe was used merely as pawns in a big chess game. While Aiden got into his starting poise, Number 3 stood calm and collected, without any apprehension at all. With the same smile, she reminded Aiden. "Remember, no transforming this time. Try to rely on yourself and reflect on your gains from your meditation! Otherwise, there''s no point to our little bout!" Nodding, Aiden agreed to his Master''s words. Then, just as how Number 3 taught him, he cupped his fists and bowed slightly towards her as a show of respect. Number 3 repeated the motion with a smile. Smilingly, she gave the order. "Come Aiden, show me what you got!" A momentary golden light zapped through Aiden''s eyes, as he smiled in anticipation. He nted his foot in the ground, contorting, stretching the muscles in his calves. In the next moment, with incredible speed and momentum, heunched himself forward, kicking off a handful of dust and greenery in the air. As his figure vanished from his starting spot, Number 3 made a simple upside swing with her hand in the air. Her hand left several afterimages in its arc. As her open palm reached the peak of her movement in a fraction of a second, it made contact with something solid. She gently pushed back on the solid matter, revealing Aiden''s fist as it revealed itself. He had to take a few steps back in response to her simple parry. While it seemed harmless, it still carried a tremendous amount of force. Both movements were incredibly fast to the naked, untrained eye. Lily only saw as his brother vanished and then at the same moment got thrown back by a simple movement from her Master. "Wooaaah! Look at that boys! Brother and Master are fighting again!" She eximed with sparkling eyes, plopping down to the ground. Sam and Biggy took their spots on her sides, lying down and silently enjoying the battle of these titans. Although his first attack failed, Aiden immediately jumped into action once again, vanishing from his spot and kicking off another handful of dirt and grass. Number 3 swung her left palm sideways around her hip. Once again, the movement looked incredibly simple, yet, it seemed to distort space, leaving behind several afterimages along the curve it took. Upon reaching the end of the momentum, it once again hit solid matter that just took shape in the form of Aiden''s right shin flying towards her with great speeds. She once again gently pushed the leg back, while also giving a thrust with her right open palm on Aiden''s chest, causing the boy to violently flung back several meters in the air, only to crash and thumble more in the ground. Silence ensued over the yard after Aiden finally stopped rolling. Lily looked with a stunned expression at her master, unable to believe her eyes. She really had the urge to jump up and assist her brother, but she knew that this was their business, and none of them would appreciate her meddling. In the end, she could only clench her fists and look at her brother lying on the ground with an eager, hopeful expression. "Use your energy Aiden. Relying on your own speed will not get you further than this." Number 3 sighed, trying to give some advice to her eager pupil "I know, Master" Aiden replied as he jumped up, without any sign of damage. He was slightly dirty, but besides that, he was still in tip-top shape. "I just wanted to test the waters a bit first" Focusing on his system, he quickly activated the [Mystic Martial Arts] skill. Feeling as how he could feel the energy flowing, streaming relentlessly in his body, he inhaled arge amount of air and closed his eyes. Holding it in for a moment, he engorged himself to this feeling He slowly exhaled all the excess air he still held in his lungs, clearing his mind. Suddenly, a thin goldenyer of energy formed around him, creating a sort of transparent, shiny bubble. Letting go of all the stress in his body, he simply took a step forward. Contrary to the expected result, he once again vanished from his spot, but this time there was no dirt lunged in the air. It was as if he truly vanished. In the next instant, his figure appeared just a few steps in front of Number 3. Number 3 smiled and nodded approvingly at this change. With an eager expression on her face, she spoke. "Come, it''s time for round 2!" "dly!" Aiden answered with a bright smile, both of them vanishing in the next second. --- Lily had a pouting expression as she watched the two blurry figures shing against each other at high speeds. She couldn''t make out anything, everything happened too fast for her eyes to follow. Seeing how far behind she waspared to her brother, she only clenched her fists even tighter. In the past, she probably would turn sad, maybe even depressed seeing how big of a chasm there is between herself and her brother in terms of power. But that was in the past, she will not be left behind any longer. She will not let herself get into trouble, only to wait in frustration to be rescued by her family. No. Not anymore. "I need to get stronger. At this rate, I''m just a burden to him... I''m only holding him back" she muttered to herself. Remembering her master''s words, a newfound determination surfaced in her heart clearing any doubt she previously had. "I can''t falter, I will not give up! I will stand beside my brother and not behind him!" Changing her position, she returned to the cross-legged meditating position just how she was instructed. Inhaling arge amount of air, she closed her eyes, and slowly exhaled, rxing her troubled mind and heart. She no longer had any desire to watch the spectacle in front of her, it no longer mattered. She wanted to catch up, close that chasm, and be able to stand closer to her brother. Even if their styles are different, she still wanted to be as close to him in terms of power as possible. Sam and Biggy as if feeling Lily''s newly formed zeal, also closed their eyes and slumped slightly closer to their master, resting their heads on her knees. As the seconds slowly passed, soon the disturbing noises from the outside started to fade. It was as if she was in a separate space, unrted to everything around her. Her mind calmed down, there were no needless thoughts, only the desire to get stronger. The disturbing images and visions faded, only leaving Lily with newfound rity. As she continued to calmly meditate, and focus on this feeling, this calming emptiness, the darkness that surrounded her heart started to crack, simr to how a chick would crack its shell when she was about to be born. A mixture of white and green light escaped through the cracks, shattering the previous empty void, creating a new world that did not exist inside her before... Chapter 145 - 145 - Meditation And Decision As Lily finally reached the perfect, clear state and found the rity she needed, Aiden and Number 3 have already begun the second round of their duel. Aiden''s silhouette flickered and in the next instant, appeared in front of Number 3 with his right fist flying towards her Master''s abdomen at incredibly high speeds. Compared to his previous attempts, this attack seemed to be simple. His muscles weren''t stressed to the brim, it was as if he leisurely swung his arm at the woman. However, the speed behind it was immense, his visage actually blurred, and a hollow afterimage could be seen lingering as the arc continued, closing in on its intended target. Seeing the iing attack Number 3 gently raised her right palm, ready to block it. Just like before, as her hand made the upward motion, the arc it left behind blurred and created several afterimages. The whole movement was contradicting on several levels. It looked gentle, simple, and casual yet it carried incredible power. It looked slow to the naked eye, yet it seemed to distort the space with the speed behind it. Reaching the end of its movement, her palm intercepted Aiden''s fist effortlessly. She didn''t retaliate, but simply deflected the blow by pushing it to the side. At the same time, since Aiden already expected his first hit to miss, his left fist was flying in its curve in the air against her chest area. In response, Number 3''s left palm was already in position, blocking the hit once again. As his fist collided with her palm, Number 3 calmly spoke. "You can do better than this Aiden! Come on, kick it up a notch!" Aiden jumped back immediately after his first two attacks failed to connect. However even before hended, his figure seemingly vanished, only to appear behind Number 3. His clenched fist was already in mid-air by the time he reappeared ready to connect with her master''s nape. However, just as Aiden''s hit would have connected, his fist went through Number 3 without any resistance, dispersing the silhouette as it was yet another afterimage created by her. At the moment he felt pain from his right side and was sent flying several meters to the left, tumbling in the grass and dirt. He rolled and tumbled several meters before he eventually stopped. Although he felt a small sensation in the area where his master hit him, he didn''t react to it and jumped back up to action once again. As heunched himself back into action, Number 3 couldn''t help but notice the small smirk on Aiden''s face. As his figure vanished once again, she also spotted the momentary golden sh in his eyes. The battle went on without any progress for several minutes. Aiden kept flickering and reappearing trying tond a hit from all directions. Even though Number 3 kept parrying and deflecting all his hits, even as he noticed how his [Soul Power] reserves kept depleting rapidly he didn''t falter. Even though he was eager to jump back intopleting the quest that the system has tasked him with, right now he just wanted to enjoy this thrilling battle. There was no ce for anything else in his mind at this moment besides the joy he felt as they fought. He didn''t get frustrated, angered, annoyed, or emotional in any sense of the way as they fought, he felt rity, he was still himself. Deciding to increase the difficulty a level, this time he pooled some of his energy into his muscles, enhancing them as well, while still keeping the same amount making sure he would not lose any of his speed. While this effectively doubled the usage, it would also significantly make it harder for his Master to block them. Immediately the veins in his arms bulged, and his muscles contorted. As he reappeared at Number 3''s left, he was already mid-way of his right hook. His fist actually blurred once again, leaving behind a couple of afterimages hoovering in the air as it continued on its arc. Number 3 noticed the increased power behind this attack. The smile on her face curved higher, turning into a satisfied grin. Responding in kind, she also added a bit more power behind her palm, as she raised it to get ready to intercept and block the iing swing. However, just before the attack would have connected with her palm, Aiden smirked and vanished only to reappear at the other side. Before he could enjoy the sensation of his victory, he once again suddenly felt a pressure in his chest and was sent back down to the ground. He looked at her master with a quizzical look who was somehow facing him with her open right palm still held in the air, at the spot where she hit him. Seeing his puzzled expression, Number 3 chuckled. "Nice try, great effort on thatst attack, Aiden!" She raised her arm towards him to help him stand up. Neither of them had to say it, they both knew; he had lost once again. epting her hand, he stood up and quickly dusted himself from the mud and grass he collected. He took a few breaths to collect himself before he opened his mouth to respond. "Nevertheless, I still lost the duel." He calmly said, after a while. Number 3 shook her head, as she continued. "No, Aiden, you did not lose. In the end, I had to actually turn serious to block thatst attack. Think about it, if you could have used your abilities and transform with the boost you would have gained that attack would have connected." As she said, her face revealed a meaningful smile. Hearing her words, Aiden''s mood immediately turned for the better. With a hopeful glint shining in his golden eyes, he looked at Master, asking in a wavering tone. "Master, do you mean that I...?" Before Aiden could finish, Number 3 nodded. With a gentle smile on her face, shepleted his thought. "Yes, this win should go to you, Aiden." Although he felt joy and was excited upon hearing her words, he still remained rtively calm and collected on the outside. He made a slight bow towards Number 3, speaking up with a respectful tone. "Thank you, Master!" Number 3 spoke with the same smile. "You should take the rest of the day to rest, you spent a lot of energy, you are probably already feeling tired." Looking at the meditating Lily a bit further way in the back yard, with her two dogs also calmly resting in her legs, she continued. "However, I think you will be going out alone this time. Lily will want to stay and continue with the training." Turning around, Aiden looked at Lily. Seeing how she emitted a faint green light around her, Aiden smiled and nodded, understanding what his master was referring to. "Yes, that is for the best." he muttered into the air. Without waiting or expecting any response, he turned around and silently left the yard through the door. His part of the training was now done, he wanted to give some space for his master to focus on his sister. He wanted to find Granny and talk to her about a few matters anyway. --- After some unknown amount of time, Lily''s eyelids fluttered and slowly opened, revealing a calm and entirely new look from the usually cheerful girl. She seemed calm, at peace with herself. Something she was struggling with ever since that night in that awful ce. Although she seemed happy and cheerful most of the time, All three of them knew that this was just her usual mask, she liked to put on, burying her real emotions deep inside. Only her brother could grant her some temporary sce, that''s why she was so eager to be around him as much as she could. He was her guiding light in the darkness, her oasis in the middle of the desert. As her eyes slowly opened and she regained some of her vision, even if it was still blurred, she saw a familiar, feminine silhouette sitting in front of her. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the figure in front of her again. In front of her, Number 3 was sitting cross-legged just like she was, looking at her with a kind, loving smile on her face. She didn''t say anything, she patiently waited for Lily to speak up and ask the questions that she most likely will have. This was her first time experiencing this state, she just opened up herself to apletely new realm. Lily looked at her Master, thinking about what she just experienced. After a while, she finally asked in a calm tone. "What happened, Master?" Looking at this little girl in front of her, seeing the changes that were already visible in her demeanor, Number 3 felt proud of her. She didn''t know when, but she realized that this little girl and the boy meant more to her than mere students she decided to teach. "What happened you ask? Instead, I have a much better question for you... You have reached a decision, am I right Lily?" Number 3 spoke with a knowing smile on her face. Chapter 146 - 146 - Goodbyes Sitting around the lunch table, Aiden looked at his sister with concern in his eyes. "Are you sure about this, Lily?" Hearing the question, the blonde girl took a moment to calm her rapidly beating heart. Although she was nervous and slightly afraid of this talk, she was also determined. She had to get stronger in order to be able to not be a burden anymore. She caused far more problems to him already as it is. After a few dozen tense seconds, she looked up, matching her brother''s gaze. With a determined look on her face, she decisively nodded. "Yes, brother. I am far too weakpared to you. I found a way to be able to grow up and be able to stand with you. I need to do this, I''m sorry." Seeing the determination in her eyes, Aiden could only acquiesce. His concern turned into eptance, revealing a faint, brotherly smile. "If that is what you want then I won''t stop you sister. We still have almost three full months before the start of the academy''s entrance examinations. Grow stronger till that time and show me the fruits of your determination!" This time it was Lily''s turn to look at her brother with great concern. "Are you going out, brother? When will youe back?" She worriedly asked. With a pained smile, Aiden shook his head. "I don''t know, Lily. At thetest, I will be back before the exams. I" Lily''s vision started to be blurry as her eyes rapidly watered up. A small stream of tears escaped from the corner of her eyes. Still, she didn''t let out a single word, but her whole body was shaking. Seeing as to how Aiden was struggling with his words, Granny, who was silent all this time, gently grabbed Lily''s shaking fist, trying to calm her down. "Aiden has his own problems he needs to face in the meantime. The whole reason he trained so hard in this past week was to have the confidence to face them. He has to set out and find the answers he needs and ovee these demons by himself." Adding to her words, Aiden spoke up. "Yes, I am sorry as well Lily. I wille back, I promise" Hearing both of them talk, Lily''s spirit started to return, and after a while, she managed to calm down enough to speak. She returned their words with a weak nod and a loving smile before she meekly muttered a few words. "I understand I am too weak I..." She wanted to continue and say more, but she couldn''t when she felt her brother''s warm touch as he reached for her left fist and wrapped it over with his hands. With the same loving smile he had before, he spoke warmly. "Don''t worry, Lily. I will return, I promise. Until then, train hard with Master! I want to see you be the big sis you always were and protect me from harm when Ie back!" "Uhm." That was the only thing Lily could mutter. Even though she was determined, and made this decision, it was still hard to say goodbye to her beloved brother. After all, ever since she ''got'' him, she was never ever from him for more than half a day. Now, they will not see each other for several weeks, or maybe for even months. It wasn''t easy for her. --- Standing in the doorway, Lily, Granny and Number 3 were looking at Aiden who was about to leave his home for the first time ever since he joined Granny and Lily back all those years ago when he left his cocoon that they mistook for an egg. Behind them, two ck shadows, Sam and Biggy were standing, looking at Aiden''s with great vignce. He had a warm smile on his face, a big contrast to his emotionless state when Granny and Lily found him all those years ago. Back then, he didn''t really know who these people were, or what they wanted, but still decided to go with them. He didn''t think that his decision back then would lead him to have this family. Now, the only person that was missing was the guiding voice inside his mind, Enya. He still had no idea when she would be able to wake up. Thinking back about it, Aiden couldn''t rationally exin why she showed himself to them. Why did she risk all the reserves she had just to warn them. She shouldn''t really care for them, she should be part of the system, the guide for Aiden. Over the years, she did show strings of emotions every now and then, but Aiden never really paid much attention to it. Thinking back, he probably should have. ''I hope you are okay'' he thought, but quickly shook his head, revealing the same gentle smile he had. Turning towards, Number 3, he bowed slightly, showing his respect. "Thank you for letting me have this opportunity, Master. I swear, I will do my best with the chance you have given to me!" In return, Number 3 nodded to him. "Do your best, Aiden." Looking at Granny, who had the very same gentle smile that she always had, Aiden bowed once again. "Thank you for everything Granny. You, Lily, and Master are the only family I have. I have to go and set out for now, but I wille back as soon as I can, but if nothing else, by the start of next year." Granny''s smile curved slightly, and her eyes shimmered for a brief moment, but seemingly nobody noticed. She also nodded towards the boy, her voice remained calm. "I will look forward to your return, dearie!" Her face and tone remained calm, but inside nobody knew the surging emotions she kept. Ever since she found this strange boy, she felt that he is someone important, that he may really be family Her grandson. Still, she didn''t reveal any of her thoughts, and just kept her calm appearance. Lastly, as Aiden''s eyes wandered to Lily, she stepped forward with watery eyes. She was really doing her best to not cry, she did actually promise to not do that anymore. She wasn''t a little girl anymore. However, standing here, and seeing her brother probably for thest time for months toe, she could no longer keep her emotions in check. She ran forward, and jumped towards Aiden, flying into his embrace. "Brooother!" She cried out as she burrowed her face in his chest. Wrapping his hands around Lily''s back, Aiden gently caressed and patted her. Leaning closer to her ears, Lily could feel his warm breath as he whispered causing her to feel a sudden shock to run through her body. However, this feeling wasn''t bad, it was actually veryforting. Although her face remained hidden, even the tip of her ears became beet red, revealing her embarrassed state. "Silly girl Lily, my big sister! Don''t cry, I''m not going away forever, just for a short time. You will barely even notice me missing, with all the training you will do with Master and with Sam and Biggy We will meet again, and you can show me all you learned!" As she looked up, Aiden could see her red eyes as she cried them all out. Giving a big hearty kiss on the top of her head, giving her yet another reason to remain beet red all over. "B-brother, s-stop that!" She cried out in embarrassment. "When, When you get b-back, I will show how strong I have be! I will be stronger than you!" She made her promise right at the spot. Giving onest kiss to the top of her head, despite her weak protests, he spoke in a gentle, loving tone. "I will be looking forward to it, Lily." Looking at the hugging youth, both elders, Number 3 and Granny had a warm, loving smile on their faces. It no longer mattered where they came from or how they came together, right now they were a family. The past did not matter, only to keep all of them safe. Everything had toe to an end eventually. After some time, Lily begrudgingly separated from Aiden and stepped back between Granny and Number 3. Her hands subconsciously reached for the dogs that immediately stepped by her side and caressed them. Before Aiden could turn around, Number 3 stepped forward. She raised her open palm towards the sky. In the next moment, the tiny gemstones of the skull figure in her ring shed. The air in her palm began to vibrate and visibly distort. A secondter, the same ck crystalline object that they used back in The Pit materialized out of thin air, alongside a small leather purse heavy with coins. She reached out towards Aiden with the same warm smile she had. With a gentle tone, she spoke. "Aiden, take this. You know what it can already do, if you ever find yourself in trouble, don''t hesitate to reach out to me. But beware where you use it! I am not the only one that can use this method ofmunication! Be sure to only use it as ast resort!" epting the crystal, Aiden firmly nodded to her words. Without saying anything else, he gave onest look to each of his family members, memorizing their smiles as they waved towards him, then he turned around, looking towards the direction of the city. His journey has only just begun. There were countless unanswered questions that needed answers... Chapter 147 - 147 - Back To The City Under the clear morning sky, a long ck-haired young boy could be seen casually crossing through the dense shrubbery of the forest. He was wearing a thin linen short-sleeved beige shirt with khaki-colored simple linen-pants. Even though he was told to wear a bit more, he really hated wearing much, it felt too restrictive. Adding to this, he always had to keep his garment in mind, especially inbat. Even his hair was left freely fluttering against the wind, it felt better, natural that way. Reaching the edges, he halted his steps and leaned against the trunk of a nearby oak tree. He had a remote look on his face, seemingly lost, gazing at the dusty road just ahead. Despite the early morning, people have already started to form a serpentine line. Looking at it, his golden irises shed momentarily, his lips curved forming a thin smile. This wasn''t his first time here, nor was it the second. Still, despite that, seeing the entrance, he still remembered the past and couldn''t help but smile. At that time, he still didn''t know that yearster his twopanions from that time will one day be his most important people in life, his family. Coming back from his memory trip, he shook his head, smirking at himself. Taking a step forth, his figure seemingly vanished from existence, only to appear a couple of dozen meters ahead on the road, at the end of the snaking queue. --- Robert was a small trader, selling the crops and everything their vige managed to produce in the city marketce and using that money to gather up all the required materials and necessities the vigers needed. Today they came early since they had a long list toplete. They even came with some extra coins just to be safe. He was sitting on his cart, grumbling at their misfortune that despite them trying to arrive early in the morning, they were still toote, and had to wait through the tedious entry process. He just casually nced at the direction of the forest when he noticed a long ck-haired farm boye out and look at the direction of the city. He seemed to be lost in thoughts as he kept his attention towards the gates. However, when he suddenly took a step and seamlessly vanished, he jolted in shock, startling his wife in the process. "What is it?!" Joyce, the middle-aged brown-haired mature woman looked at his husband with confusion. She was just about to doze off when he suddenly jumped up, as they probably still had at least an hour before they could gain entry. "T-there w-was a boy" He pointed towards the spot where he saw that long-haired youth just a moment ago. Looking at the spot, Joyce grumbled. "And? Why did you shout?" "H-he just disappeared Was it a ghost?" He responded still in a daze, not believing his eyes. Hearing her husband''s words, Joyce frowned unhappily. Leaning closer she smelled at his breath before speaking up. "Hmm you smell drunk Maybe you are just still tired. We did have to wake up pretty early today. Go and sleep, we still have an hour at the very least." Keeping his gaze at the now-empty spot, Robert sighed. "Maybe you are right I am still a bit sle-" His words froze in him as he turned his head around, he noticed the same farm boy behind them, casually taking his spot. He nervously poked at his wife next to him, speaking with a much higher-pitched, agitated tone. "Joyce, there, behind us! It''s that boy! He just appeared behind us! Can you see it also?" Turning her back around on the seat she saw a wild, long ck-haired boy. He was wearing poor, baggy linen clothing. He had no baggage on him, seemed to bepletely penniless. Keeping her gaze at the boy, she answered. "You mean this ck-haired boy?" "Haha, then he really wasn''t a ghost! I really did see him!" Robertughed out with joy. He started to think he was seeing things. However, in the next moment, a thought came to mind, that didn''t let him rest. "How did he appear here? I swear, he was at that spot a moment ago, then he just vanished, Joyce! Simply vanished into the air!" --- Aiden noticed as the chubby, balding middle-aged man pointed at him, discussing his sudden appearance at the end of the line, but he didn''t really mind. In his opinion, he didn''t do anything outrageous. Why would he be bothered by them? Besides, they looked good-natured, reminding him of the Nortons. Thinking about them, Aiden''s expression soured. How are they now? Did they manage to leave the temple, and got back to their lives? Maybe they left the city? Or, perhaps, they are still recuperating? He made a mental note about it, promising himself to visit them when he gets the chance. Eventually, after a painfully long time it was finally Aiden''s turn to pay the entry fee and after a short round of questioning, gained entrance to the city. Thinking back, he could have entered much quicker, using the same route that his master, Number 3 used. However, the reason he didn''t, was that he didn''t know if that was a special entrance and could be tracked by the group behind her. She did say that he should be careful, hinting about the group she was also a part of. Stepping into the city, Aiden''s first thought was to take a look at his system''s map and use his [Dark Sense] to scan his surroundings. He walked to the side, so he wouldn''t bother the people streaming in, and closed his eyes as he inhaled some air. Keeping it in for a moment, he exhaled, calming his nerves, and released a wave of an enhanced strand of energy to surge arge radius around him and check everything that he could in great detail. As the information came flowing back to his mind, he smiled, as most of the things stayed the same as they were all those years ago when he first visited. He could also see the cart of the couple that entered before him was slowly waddled forward, towards the direction of the marketce. However, his first stop would be the building that Lily talked a lot about, the city''s Adventurer''s Guild, to register as a newbie. That was the best way to find clues about this mysterious Grotto that his main quest was about. Since he didn''t know where the ce was, he decided that, for the time being, follow along with the couple, and see if he can ask someone or find some markers that would point him in the right direction. After all, the Guild Hall should be an important building in the city, easy to reach. Slowly pacing forward, his thoughts once went back to the quest he received. Why is it that there''s always a punishment added? Who and why is forcing him to y as they so desired? Why would he be even punished with death upon failure? These questions were sadly left unanswered, at least for the time being. He could only follow the whims of the system, he had no choice in the matter. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud noiseing from a bit further ahead. Shaking his head, he looked at themotion, and amidst the crowd, he saw the top of a familiar cart peeking through. His face turned serious, he sent out an empowered pulse of energy scanning all the life signs ahead. Just as he thought the two familiar signals, the couple seemed to be in a quarrel with arger group of signals. Equipping his white faceless mask, he moved ahead, listening in to what could have happened. As he pushed forward in the crowd, he focused on their conversation as the situation slowly enfolded in front of his eyes. The cart was stopped, and a pudgy looking man with a group of mercenaries around him blocked the way and stopped the cart. "Robert, I told you to note back to this city anymore. You are not wee here, especially after you tried to cheat on our poor citizens!" The pudgy, mustached guy sneered as he loudly, theatrically eximed more to the crowd than to the couple sitting on the cart. "What are you talking about, Mr. Fallow? What are you using us of? You tried to coerce us to sell our wares to you for almost nothing! Now, youe and block our way with your thugs in broad daylight? Have you no shame?" Instead of Robert, his wife, Joyce shouted angrily at the man ahead. The cruel smirk not fading from his face, the pudgy guy, Mr. Fallow pointed towards the couple. "We, the good citizens of Higrove will not listen to your lies anymore! You might as well have some stolen or illegal wares in your cart. My men and I will take on the responsibility and assist the guards!" Chapter 148 - 148 - The Mysterious Blur "You! You can''t do this! This is daylight robbery!" This time, it was Robert who yelled out with a shaky voice. He was anxious, the goods he had was the hard work of all the vigers, his friends, that ced their trust in him that he would exchange it for goods they all desperately needed. Mr. Fallow sneered listening to Robert''s anxious yelling. He contentedly curled the tip of his bushy mustache, as he spoke with a haughty, theatrical manner. "Robbery? What are you talking about?! We are just confiscating your obviously stolen goods and will be working with the city officials to apprehend you, criminals! Trying to steal from our fair city''s good citizens! Shame on you!" Then he looked at his henchmen and signaled with his hand towards the back of the cart. "Men, take their stolen goods!" The crowd just shook their head at the couple''s misfortune. Everyone knew this was just a scene, a y.Most of them knew who Mr. Fallow was, he was a wealthy, influential businessman in the city.He even had some of the City Guards on his payroll! Obviously, he was not afraid of any repercussions and could do shameless actions like this if he so desired. Hearing their master''s order, the 6 armored guards sneered at Robert and Joyce and marched towards the end of the cart to ''lighten the load''. Seeing as the guards approached their crates, desperation started to set in both of their eyes. They weren''t afraid of their own fate if they were really sent to jail on fake charges, they only felt sad for the vigers who had their hard-made products stolen just like that. However, as the first guard approached the truck and reached out for the nearest crate, he was suddenly flung back like a broken kite. His trajectory went high above the crowd and crashed onto the rooftop of the nearest building. As he rolled down, the snapping sounds of bones breaking could be heard. With a loud thud, he crashed onto the dusty street and didn''t move anymore. A puddle of blood started to ooze out from his crevices. Even if he was still alive, there wasn''t much hope for him anymore. Everyone, the crowd, the henchmen, Mr. Fallow, and even Robert and Joyce stared at the scene with shock and utter disbelief. What on earth has happened? The seemingly resident smug expression faded from Mr. Fallow''s face. He looked at the simple-looking couple on the cart, and with an angered tone he yelled out. "What is the meaning of this?! What are you doing? Are you resisting?!" Robert shook his head as he kept staring at the back of his own cart. He also couldn''t believe what had happened. After a few moments, he muttered in a shocked tone. "I-I don''t know either! I have no idea what happened" "Hmpf! It must have been a fluke! Don''t just stand there you lot! I''m not paying you to just stand around and do nothing, start working!" Mr. Fallow yelled out towards his guards seeing as how they didn''t make any movement. Although they were hesitating, they couldn''t refute their master''s orders. After a few seconds, two more guards stepped forward and with a careful, slower approach they reached for the nearest crates. Their eyes were darting from left to right, their legs nted into the ground, ready to jump back at the first sign of danger. As their hands crept closer to the crates, suddenly both of them were once again flung into the air. Both of them spurted out blood as they crashed once again on the wall high above the citizens. Once again, when they crashed onto the ground, next to their already lying thirdpanion. The thudding sound was muffled by the snapping sound of bones breaking. They lied on the ground unconsciously as two small puddles of blood started to form below them. The three small ponds merged together, forming onerge, creepy dark red pool. Once again, nobody has seen a thing, nobody could see what happened. There was no magical effect, so it definitely wasn''t a magical artifact. The only thing that Robert seems to notice was a momentary darker shade that shed just for an instant before both guards were suddenly thrown back. As the shade shed, he could also feel a small gust of air. Looking around the crowd, his eyes stopped on a stranger that had a strangely familiar figure. He couldn''t see his face as it was covered with a white faceless mask. Still, he felt some sort of familiarity with him, as if he had seen the man or boy. Noticing how his husband''s expressions seemed to change as his eyes rested on a particr spot, she looked at the direction he was looking, also spotting the strange figure in the crowd. As she looked at it, she suddenly saw a sh of golden lighting from the small eye sockets of his mask. This made her jolt from her seat in shock. She knowingly nodded towards her husband, and as they looked at each other, a small, knowing smile formed on their faces for a single moment, before they hid it, and looked at the frowning Mr. Fallow. Meanwhile, Mr. Fallow was in shock. In a span of a few seconds, half of his men were lying in a half-dead state from causespletely unknown. He watched them approach the cart intently, but still couldn''t see anything, he had no idea what caused their men to be thrown back like some helpless dolls. His eyes darted towards the crowd, scanning the faces, looking for some sign. However, no matter how he looked, did not bring any results. With a scary, maddened expression, he yelled towards the crowd. Behind the madness, there was an increasing undertone of agitation and fear as well. In his own frustration due to the helplessness, he felt because of the situation, he turned towards his guards and yelled towards them. "GO! ALL OF YOU! GET TO THAT FUCKING CART AND GET MY STUFF!!" He no longer cared for the theatrics, he wanted those crates. Ever since he started his business, even the highest noble families had to be respectful towards him, yet now some unknown person yed him like a fool, humiliating him in front of a crowd. None of the guards made a move, despite their master''s yelling. Despite their insubordination, the crowd could sympathize with them. If they had to choose between being kicked out of the city and gaining some bad reputation and dying without even knowing how everybody would choose the first. At the very least, that way they would still be alive. They could just migrate to somewhere far away and start up again. They would still have the chance. Their lives may have been pretty good here, but if faced with dying, most wouldn''t risk their mortal gains. The remaining three guards looked at each other and nodded. They seemed to havee to a unanimous decision. They both took several steps back, getting closer to the crowd and far away from the now-terrifying cart. "WHAT IS THIS?!" Mr. Fallow yelled out with a maddened expression. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down a volume, he continued with a calmer, but much colder, threatening tone. "You go against my orders?! You all know the consequences I will give you one more chance. Go, and reach for the cart. NOW!" However, regardless of how he yelled, how he would have threatened, they would all rather face his wrath, then this mysterious entity that killed them one by one. It didn''t even take the three a second to drop their weapons on the crowd and immediately mix into the crowd and run away from this scene. Mr. Fallow was shaking with anger. He started to regret his decision in setting up this ambush today, and that he even paid the guards to dying here. Now he had nobody to rely on. Three of his men have most likely died, or will soon, and the other three he came with have run away, despite threatening them. He was so confident that he could easily shut this small-time nobody couple down, and get their stuff, earning a good profit from it. Hell, maybe even take that wife as his own. She wasn''t the prettiest, but the satisfaction that he could ruin a worthless life would have been worth it. Now, however, he had no cards left. Yet, he couldn''t back away, not after going this far. Shaking with anger, he clenched his fists as he walked towards the back of the truck. "Fine I see how it is It doesn''t matter, what I want is mine, nobody can stand in my way. I will just take it myself!" He walked towards the back of the cart with hastened steps. Although he was mad, boiling with rage, he didn''tpletely lose his mind, and as he stepped reached for the closest crates he was very careful, his eyes were darting from left to right, trying to spot the culprit amidst the sea of people. As he reached toward the crate, he suddenly felt some pain around his throat. In the next moment, breathing became an issue. Only then did he notice that he was seemingly floating-, no, flying in the air. Desperation quickly set in, but before he could cry out, he felt a sudden jolt of pain from his back. He realized he had been flung back just like his men before. As the pain started to set in all over his body, his eyes remained wide open as he fell to the ground and quickly lost consciousness. He couldn''t ept this end. This was not fair. Chapter 149 - 149 - Haunted House The crowd watched in shock as the body of Mr. Fallow fell down and crashed into the dusty pavement with an audible thud. Silence ensued the crowd, they looked at the motionless body lying on the ground as the dark red liquid started to pour from his orifices and paint the pavement under it. The couple on the cart looked even more stunned than the crowd. They saw as the greedy man reached for their wares, but then suddenly a darker colored shade briefly appeared than left with a small gust of wind. As soon as this mysterious phenomenon appeared in front of the merchant, he was suddenly flung back. It was so fast that, that if they weren''t watching everything ying out in front of them, they wouldn''t have noticed it at all. Soon, however, their shock turned to happiness. They rejoiced, they were happy that the tragedy that almost befallen onto them was resolved. Eventually, as the first group of guards appeared at the scene, the crowd started dispersing. Aiden turned around and entered a nearby small street as well. He took off the mask and ced it back into his inventory. He quickly dusted his attire and crossed a few small streets before eventually, he came out back to the wide main street and leisurely marched towards the marketce once again. Maybe he was careless, but he didn''t notice as a pair of eyes were watching him even leave. The figure who was standing in the shadows on the side, had a thoughtful look as he watched the strange bronze-skinned boy quietly leave the scene. Although the figure had a slick, shiny silk cape over its body, ending with a hood that diligently hid the figure''s facial features. Even so, the figure had a certain feminine silhouette to it. It didn''t make any sound, and as the boy''s figure eventually vanished amidst the busy crowd in the distance, it turned and left as well. Others did not notice it, but the figure did. It saw as the boy''s figure shed, vanished for a fraction of a second just as the henchmen and in the end, the merchant itself reached for the cart''s contents. Even if the boy''s movements were so incredibly fast, the figure''s eyes still managed to catch this tiny bit of detail. It was sure that the boy was the culprit behind this mysterious event. --- Aiden was quite content, he had such a great opportunity to further work on his technique. Not only did his speed increase by arge margin, but it was silent and light. If he focused, he felt as if he was flying just above the ground. What was the most wondrous thing about this change was that he didn''t actually felt that he became faster, it was as if the world itself became slower instead. When he walked forward and hit the first guy in the chest with his right palm, it felt as if everything was moving forward in slow-motion. When he went back to his spot and stopped using the technique, the world returned to its normal pace and the guy was suddenly jolted backward. Although he did want to help that poor, unlucky couple, the main reason he decided to assist was that he just wanted to work on his skills. Also, besides helping them out, he also benefited, as new, previously unseen notifications appeared in his system. [The skill[Mystic Martial Arts - Level 1] gained 5 XP.] . . . [The skill[Mystic Martial Arts - Level 1] gained 5 XP.] [The skill[Mystic Martial Arts - Level 1] gained 5 XP.] . . . [The skill[Mystic Martial Arts - Level 1] gained 10 XP.] For some reason, every time he used the skill, he received some experience from the system. He didn''t know what changed, or why did the system reward him for such small actions. It felt vaguely simr when he was studying other''s work, like when Granny was working on her alchemy, or when Master used one of her skills. Still, even if the gains weren''t big, this showed him a new path to move forward. The new martial arts skill he gained from his time training with Master was truly wondrous, magical. Another thing that surprised him was that the merchant guy seemed to give double the points that his guards the trained soldiers did. What was the reason behind it? He did throw him back differently, he grabbed his throat Did that change double the amount he earned? With so many thoughts upying his attention, he only came back to reality when he arrived at an intersection. The road continued three different ways, one went to the right, one to the left, while he could also continue forward like before. He knew that the marketce was just ahead, he already visited there and besides, he had his map in the system that assisted him in case he had forgotten. Towards the right, he saw a slew of houses curving all the way till his eyes could reach. He also remembered that it was that direction where the Slums were. He was certain that the Hall wouldn''t be close to it, it was an important spot in the city, the destination of many, be it travelers, the distressed and troubled, and people from all social standings. They couldn''t associate themselves with a rotten part of the city like that. He turned towards the left fork. The only differencepared to the right fork was that there was a sign ced here that had the sigil of a shield and a sword on it, pointing towards that direction. Keeping his leisurely pace, he strolled through a long-winded residential area with the asional food stalls, groceries, and general stores. After a while, the residential houses were reced by all kinds of shops. Aiden could see apothecaries, bookstores, cksmiths, tanners and leatherworkers, tailors, and other stores that catered for special audiences and adventurers. At the end of this alley, a huge wooden building stood out, serving as the core of the entire street. The crowd here is noticeably different as well. They weren''t your average citizen, they all had the posture of experienced people, be it adventurers, or someone of higher social sses. He could see people walking around in steel armors and thick shields andrge weapons, or simply colorful light robes. Regardless of their attire, they all carried the aura of proudness, something they collected through their years of experience. With casual steps, he walked towards the big wooden building with the giant double doors. He could also make out the same sword and shield emblem painted on the door. Meanwhile, he checked out disys and windows. Most of the items he could see could not interest him a bit, he didn''t spend much time in front of the stores. As he crossed by the windows, his eyes spotted a ran-down smaller building between tworger, wealthier ones. Nobody bothered with it, from the outside it looked as if it was deserted. Aiden, however, was surprised, his [Dark Sense] couldn''t scan the premises, it was bounced back with the same warding technique that he saw and noticed in the underground pit in the Slums. Surprised by this fact, he felt that there was something special about it. Still, why did nobody even give as much as a nce? Was it truly abandoned? If so, why didn''t a new store open in its ce? Deciding to give it a look, he crossed the street and approached the three buildings. As he arrived, he stopped and took another, a closer look at it. It seemed to be an old two-storey mansion that couldn''t withstand the ravishing time. Their ck paint was pale, the wooden walls were dpidated, the windows were broken. Clearly, it felt like it was long abandoned. "Why is this building here? If it''s abandoned, why didn''t anybody move in yet? It''s barely standing" He muttered, seeing the state of the ce. A crisp, male voice came from the side, answering his rhetorical questions, surprising Aiden. "That ce has a legend. Nobody dares to approach it anymore." Aiden looked to his right where the sound came from and saw a short and brown-haired boy with a friendly smile on his face looking at him. His simrly brown eyes gave him an average face, with a simr average build. He was about the same height as Aiden, maybe a bit taller but it wasn''t a noticeable difference. He wore a leather vest above his butter-colored long-sleeved shirt. He had a mace attached to the side of his belt that also served to hold his dark-brown pants in ce. Seeing as how the boy looked at him, the brown-haired boy reached out with his hand. "Name''s Phamas, Cole Phamas." Seeing the friendly look on Cole''s face and that Aiden felt no ill-intention from him, Aiden epted the gesture and shook his hand. "Aiden." He pointed towards the old mansion and asked with an innocent face. "What is this ce? Do you know anything about it? Why is it here and why did nobody bother with it?" "That ce?" Cole looked at the building as well. His friendly smile turned into a troubled expression as he continued. "That is a very dangerous ce, they say it is haunted... " Chapter 150 - 150 - The Mysterious Power Aiden looked at the dpidated mansion for a long time digesting the words of the honest-looking brown-haired youth, Cole. "Haunted? Huh Are you sure?" He mumbled mostly to himself, but Cole still answered the questions. "Yes, though it''s just what the people say. Nobody dares toe close, there''s some weird barrier that surrounds the premises. No one can cross it." Aiden turned his head, looking at the boy slightly behind him. "So this is all just spection, and nobody really knows?" "I I guess? Still, there were several missions posted already and nobody couldplete it, so it eventually turned into this myth. One traveling 5-star adventurer came once and epted the mission to investigate this ce. After a few days, he came back with a ghastly expression and returned the quest saying that the ce is haunted, and nobody should disturb its peace." Cole exined. Aiden raised his eyebrows hearing this. No one questioned his words ever since, and just epted it as the absolute truth? What kind of logic was this?! He looked at the building ahead once again with a solemn expression. "Let me see this barrier" He mumbled as he took a step forward, slowly striding forward towards the entrance. "Wait! It''s dangerous!" Cole shouted from behind but did not dare to take even a step forward from the street and trespass into the spooky territory. Although the boy was sincere and kind-hearted, Aiden did not pay any attention to his warnings. From what he felt with his [Dark Sense] even as he tried infiltrating with empowered energy pulses was that it had simr warding as the underground ve-traders had in the Slums. His pace was slow and steady, and he looked calm from the outside. Inside, however, he was focused, his mind was pacing at high speeds. He continuously tried to attack the barrier with Energy Pulses, testing its defense. As he got closer, he could feel slight fluctuations, vibrations in the air. There were no visible distortions or blurred visage, but the slight trembling he felt was definitely not carried by the wind. After a few more steps, he stopped in his tracks and looked at the air in front of him. He slowly reached out with his right hand. As it neared a certain point, the seemingly invisible air suddenly trembled, he could feel an increase in the pressure as he tried to push forward. Ripples ran through the surface as it revealed a transparent energy shield surrounding the mansion. The golden light in Aiden''s eyes suddenly lit up, his piercing gaze was stered on the invisible barrier. He removed his arm but did not ce it down to rest. Instead, he slowly cocked it back, while it also slowly morphed. Golden scale rapidly grew out from his bronze skin, strengthening the surface. The end of his fingers once again changed, revealed thick, ebon ws. Taking in a deep breath, he took a moment to gather all of his power into his arm, and in the next moment, he decisively struck forward. His whole arm blurred and left behind an afterimage in its ce as it rocketed forward. In the next instant, it collided with the barrier, releasing a massive explosive sound that resounded in the entire ''Adventurer''s'' Street. The massive burst of air that was released from the collision broke several windows in the two nearby stores and even flung a few unaware passersby on their backs. The powerful blow sent massive waves from the point where Aiden''s wed arm crashed into the magical surface, causing visible distortions as they rippled through the entire surface. Still, even with this power, the barrier stood still. Eventually, the ripples died down, and the serenity returned to its transparent surface. He only managed to barely dip the tip of his ws a few millimeters into the surface, but the resistance proved too much for him to push through. "Huh This is strong. I''m not sure that even if I transformpletely and use all of my power, I would be able to break through" Aiden muttered seeing the results. He wasn''t mad, or dissatisfied, but had an expectant grin on his face. This ce was important He couldn''t exin how or why, but he felt that he needed to ovee this challenge! It was as if the ce was calling out to him, inviting him His thoughts were interrupted with a trembling voice shrieking out from behind. "J-j-just w-what are you?! W-what was that power?!" Cole eximed with a horrified expression looking at Aiden. Aiden slowly removed his arm. As it returned to its resting ce at the side, it rapidly changed back into his original appearance. The golden light also faded from his eyes as he turned around and gave a friendly smile to the shaking boy looking at him from the street. As he walked back, he noticed that the previously busy street was eerily silent. All the eyes were stered on him, the long ck-haired, bronze-skinned boy in the cheap, linen, farm boy clothing. "Yeah, there is a barrier there. Quite interesting to be honest." He spoke calmly as he arrived next to Cole. "W-what did you do?! H-how do you have that much power?!" Aiden didn''t respond to the question. He turned towards therge wooden building with the double door and the emblem. "So, that is the Adventurer''s Hall? What is it like?" As he asked, he already started strutting towards the building. Hearing the ridiculous question from the youth, Cole even forgot his previous fright. He looked at the back of the youth who was already a few steps ahead. He quickly rushed to his right matching his pace. "H-how can you not know? Aren''t you an adventurer yourself? Your strength is obviously not of the average citizen''s." He spoke out incredulously. Once again, Aiden did not answer the question, just gave a friendly smile. Ignoring the gazes of the people nearby, they eventually arrived in front of the big building. "Are you an adventurer yourself?" Aiden asked. His eyes did not leave the building, it scanned the front of the building from top to bottom. He wasn''t sure of the type of wood, but the whole building radiated some sort of majestic, royal feeling. It was huge, and while it looked to be only two stores high, each of the floors was designed to not be for the average human. Even the doors could fit in a troll easily, it was humongouspared to the average human. Even Aiden, with his rtively tall build, looked small inparison. At around the center of each of the double doors, the sigil of the Adventurer''s Hall, the Shield, and the Sword crossing each other was painted on. "Y-yeah, I am. Rank 1 still, but I hope to qualify for the second rank soon, I just need a few more aplishments to my name, and I will be eligible for the test." Cole answered. First, he was a bit startled, but as he went on, he gradually calmed down, and by the end, a tinge of hope could be seen sparkling in his eyes. Looking at the mysterious strange youth, he asked. "Are you here to register? If you want I can help you sign up! Judging by the power you exerted, you might not even need to be tested to qualify" "Yeah." Aiden answered with a small smile on his face, but as soon as he heard thetter part, his expression turned to a surprise. "Wait, what is this ''test'' you are talking about? Since when did you have to go through this testing process to qualify as a new adventurer?" "Huh?" Cole looked at Aiden with a questioning gaze. "Well, the test was always there but if you just wanted to register as a new adventurer it wasn''t required. However, a few days ago, this new change was implemented by the executives. I don''t know the exact reason, but it should be rted to the uing City Lord voting." Aiden finally looked away from the building and turned towards Cole with the same surprised expression as before. "City Lord voting? What does that mean? What happened to the previous one?" Cole looked at Answer with confusion written all over his face. "How did you not know this? Where were you?" He asked but did not wait for any answer as he continued to exin. "Approximately a week ago, during a night, the City Guards suddenly sprung to action and raided a nasty illegal establishment in the depth of the Slums. Then at the same night till dawn, they also went to several Noble Households and took them away in chains. They all had connections to that ce. The City Lord was among the ones they escorted away." "Ah, so now the city needs a new City Lord! I see Is one of the candidates rted to the Adventurer''s Hall in some way?" A wry smile crept up on Cole''s face hearing Aiden''s question. He sighed heavily as he answered the question. "You could say that Our top and only rank-3 adventurer, Sir Michael Sonovan is one of the candidates. They say that he has some new, powerful backing supporting him! He has a very high chance to win the elections!" Chapter 151 - 151 - The New Adventurer Aiden''s previously innocent, inquisitory expression changed upon hearing that name. The eager golden knight that was like a buzzing fly around his sister. A cold glint shed through his eyes, which he quickly suppressed. He once again looked at the strange, talkative, brown-haired guy. Aiden couldn''t understand his goals, he walked up to him and acted as a friend from out of nowhere. Although he didn''t feel any negative intent from him, nor could the system pinpoint anything, he was still wary of the youth. Cole could barely contain his fright and the shivering in his heart; he felt naked, exposed under this mysterious boy''s prating golden eyes. "Thanks for the info, Cole. But tell me... Why are you so friendly towards a stranger like me?" Aiden asked after a while, still keeping his eyes on the boy. "I I don''t know" Cole answered with his eyes stered on the ground. He couldn''t withstand the boy''s eyes at all. "I''m still rtively new in the guild, without any friends. You felt like someone who might be in a simr situation as me All the established groups have set harsh requirements to be even considered. It''s hard to be alone" Aiden kept silently staring at the boy for a while longer before eventually he eased up the pressure and revealed a smile and reached out towards the boy with his right arm. "I see. In that case, let''s start again. As I said, my name is Aiden. I live" he paused for a bit and nced at the general direction of the forest. "...outside of the city. I just arrived hoping to register as an adventurer." Cole''s eyes timidly looked up from the ground, taking a quick peek at the boy''s expression. Seeing how he was smiling and reaching out for a handshake, his racing heart started to calm down. The friendly smile slowly, gradually returned to his face and epted the boy''s hand. "Sure! Cole Phamas, rank 1 adventurer! I have alreadypleted two 1-star missions from the guild. I hope that a few more and I could be eligible for a rank up test! Let''s be friends!" "If it''s so easy to be rank 2, why is it that the city only has a single rank-3? Is the gap so big?" Aiden asked curiously. If you only needed to do a couple of quests to rank-up, why was it so incredibly rare to have a rank-3? "Heh, you misunderstood me, Aiden." Coleughed out bitterly. "I meant, that I need a couple more quests to be eligible for the test. That doesn''t mean I will be able to rank-up at all. The test is not easy, you will have to face up against one of the officers and at the minimum, not lose instantly. That''s not easy, I tell you" He sighed once again. "Still, even if you lose, you can gain some insight from the duel ande backter and try again. Are they really that tough?" Aiden asked again, with a troubled expression. "Heh, you still don''t get it, Aiden." Cole sighed again, then exined. "Once you fail the test, you will need more points to be eligible for a second try. If you lose a second time, the cost increases once again, and so on. If you are too arrogant and lose a few times, it bes incredibly hard to even be eligible for the test." His eyes nced over at the distance, as he continued. "To answer your second question, yes, they are all very powerful. They all came from the main branch of the capital, they are all above rank 5! They are basically monsters in human skin! I heard there is even a caster amongst them!" "Oh? Now I really want to see them!" Aiden''s eyes shed expectantly. Turning towards therge double door, he grabbed the handles with both hands and pushed against them. The doors slowly creaked open, revealing arge hall filled with dozens of people inside. If Lily would have been here, she would be amazed by the changes that happened to the previously simple interior in such a short amount of time. The previously simple wooden floor was reced, and a shining extravagant marble tileset was put in its ce. The furnishing was also reced with a tier higher counterpart. The simple wooden tables that filled the halls had exquisite designs carved on them, with scarlet silk cover adorning their surface. Groups of four to six were sitting around them, nning their next adventures. The groups consisted mostly of men, but you could see the asional feminine curves as well. What was surprising to Aiden was that from a first nce, he couldn''t spot a single caster, or anybody simr to his Master and Granny. Based on the weapons, he guessed that the vast majority were melee fighters. Swords of all kinds, maces, and axes were the mostmon choices for their trade. The bow or knife was incredibly rare and was mostly favored by the few females present. As if understanding his thoughts, Cole spoke from behind. "There are no local casters in Higrove. All those that have any talent in the mystical arts are professors in the academy or move away to the capital and join the guild or the royal forces there. Since their powers cany waste to cities, they are sought after." Aiden, silently nodded as his eyes scanned through the crowd once again, before he calmly took a step forward, walking towards the far end of the spacious hall where a long desk separated the Guild Attendees from the adventurers. "Good Day and wee to Higrove Adventurer''s Guild! How can I help you?" A kind brown, curly-haired girl, that Lily would immediately recognize, greeted him with a friendly smile. "Hello. I just came to the city. Could you tell me what do I need to do to sign up with the guild and register as a new adventurer?" Aiden asked with the same friendly smile. "Ehehe, certainly!" A small rosy tinge appeared on the girl''s cheeks as she got lost in the boy''s incredible golden irises. "First, allow me to introduce myself. "My name is Mary, and I work as an attendant for this local branch of the Adventurer''s Guild!" She pulled a piece of paper from her desk and put it in front of Aiden. "Please fill out this form with your details! Once you are done, bring it back to me and we can continue! If you need any help do not hesitate to ask!" She looked at the brown-haired youth behind the boy, as she continued. "I am sure that Mr. Phamas over there, or myself can answer you!" Nodding, he picked up the sheet of paper but did not step away. With the same calm, friendly smile on his face, he asked. "Could you hand me a pen? As you can see, I don''t have anything on me that I could use for writing." The small rosy tinge on Mary''s cheeks became brighter, more vibrant as she was reminded by the boy. "Ah, sorry, I forgot!" She reached inside her desk and pulled out the small metal tube with a pointed blue crystal at the end of it. There was a round-shaped red ruby ced at the other end. "Thank you, Mary! I will be back shortly." He took the pen with a smile and turned around to leave. Just as he took a step, Mary called out from behind. "Do you know how to use it? I-I c-can show it to you if you would like" Looking back, Aiden couldn''t miss the bright red tinge on her cheeks and the hopeful yet embarrassed look in her eyes. The friendly smile never leaving his face, he gently shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, Mary, but my sister already exined it to me." With that, he turned and left towards the nearest empty seat. "Your sister?" Mary mumbled, repeating his words. Who could he possibly mean? Sitting down, Aiden picked up the pen and touched the red gemstone at the top. A sliver of energy was injected, activating the device, causing it to emit a faint red hue, indicating it was activated. He quickly went through the form, filling it with his basic information. His brows creased up for a second as he saw the answers for the "Race". As it only had Human and Other as an option. Could other species even register? Isn''t this country only ept humans as it''s legal citizens? With a smirk on his face, he ticked "Human" andpleted the rest of the form in a few minutes. He deactivated the metallic device by touching the gemstone again and stood up. He walked back to the girl with the brown, curly hair who was already blushing as she noticed the approaching boy. His handsome face curved into the same friendly smile that caused Mary''s heart to race for some unexinable reason, and with a calm tone, he spoke. "Here you go, I filled it out. What''s the next step?" Chapter 152 - 152 - New Regulations Aiden deactivated the metallic device by touching the gemstone again and stood up. He walked back to the girl with the brown, curly hair who was already blushing as she noticed the approaching boy. His handsome face curved into the same friendly smile that caused Mary''s heart to race for some inexplicable reason, and with a calm tone, he spoke. "Here you go, I filled it out. What''s the next step?" "Uhm The next step" Mary had some trouble gathering her thoughts. For some unexinable reason, she had a very hard time keeping herself calm and collected. Those mesmerizing golden eyes caused her little heart to thump faster, with much more ferocity than ever before. She didn''t know what this feeling was, but she knew that she never felt it before. After a few moments of bbering nonsensical phrases, she eventually managed to gather her thoughts enough to continue to the registration process. "The next part is the test. Uhm, I would ask one of the examiners to test your skills. He or she will decide based on your abilities that you wouldn''t just be rushing to your death. Uhm" She checked the top section of the form he just handed over for the name." Aiden, could you please take a seat and wait a bit? I will be back as fast as I can." Having said that, Mary quickly bowed and rushed to the back and entered the door where her figure quickly vanished. Seeing her ran for an examiner, Aiden turned around and went back to his seat, where Cole was still waiting.Looking at the boy, Aiden still couldn''t figure out, why was he sticking to him so hard. Was it because of him testing the barrier surrounding that old, supposedly ''haunted'' mansion? ''Was I too excessive there?'' He thought to himself as he sat down on his chair. "Be careful with the next part Aiden! The examiners are tough, and some of them are very cruel as well! If they don''t like you, they will torture you!" Cole''s worried voice sounded from next to him as he took his seat. "What do you mean? Never mind that Instead, tell me: Where do theye from? My sister who registered a bit more than a week ago didn''t mention any tests during her registration. She only mentioned some sort of meet-up" Aiden asked. "Well" Cole began but stopped after a word. He nervously nced around the room, checking if anybody would be looking at them, then with a lowered voice he continued in a hushed tone. "I only know that they came from somewhere outside the city supposedly a couple of days ago. The new local branch leader was suddenly changed to Sir Michael, and this was the first change he immediately made. He reasoned that the adventurer''s power was way too low and pathetic, we couldn''t serve the city properly and let such an atrocious establishment take root in our little city. "He said." "This is necessary to root out the unwanted weeds and ept those that have the potential for growth." "That doesn''t sound that bad, to be honest" Aiden spoke with a thoughtful expression. "But then why are you so worried about them?" Cole sighed, cing his right hand above his heart to calm himself, he answered. "It does sound good, but then, the group that arrived supposedly from the main branch looked nothing like the usual people the guild would work with. They all wore ck clothing and covered their faces with ck veils. Their leader, the only caster, was even more mysterious, she hid her entire face with a silver mask. She never said a word. Since then, many that tried to take the ranking tests became crippled. The passing rate is below ten percent" "That still doesn''t necessarily mean they are evil at all, they could just be strict. Anyway, let''s not talk about them anymore, I will see it for myself soon. Tell me about Adventurer''s Guild a bit more My sister only told me the basics" Aiden asked. Cole sighed hearing this, but didn''t force the topic any longer, Aiden will experience the hellish torture soon enough anyway. He took a long breath and started his long-winded exnation about how the guild was built up, how the ranking system worked, and then about the mission board and difficulties. "So, when all of this ispleted, I will be officially recognized as a Rank 1 or 1-star adventurer." Aiden summarised thest fifteen minutes in a sentence. Then, his eyes lit up as he remembered something that Lily mentioned. "What about that meet-up? I heard it is a weekly event where you are forced to meet the other newly registered people and form parties. Do I need to attend to that?" "Well" It used to be an optional event, but the new leader made it a mandatory thing for every newly joined. The event itself changed a bit, it''s not just a friendly gathering anymore but supposedly there''s a small tournament that is held in it as well. I-I don''t know much about it, but it is said to be organized tomorrow, so if you pass the test, you can check it out. You will need toe back for your card anyway." "I see. Thanks for all the info Cole. I still don''t understand why you are so friendly, but I appreciate it." Aiden spoke with a friendly smile on his face looking at Cole. "Ehrm No problem, Aiden." Cole replied with the same friendly expression. "If you are not against it, would you like to party up with me from tomorrow?" "Huh? Don''t you have a group for yourself already?" Aiden asked with an innocent stare. "No. I told you I don''t have that many friends, and joining an established group is very hard Nobody epted me" Cole replied with a dejected look on his face. Looking at the sad look on the youth''s face, Aiden reached out with his hand and patted his back. "In that case, let''s team up together then!"He said with the same friendly smile as before. He didn''t have any doubts about him after this. He looked honest, his words sounded true, and the system didn''t mark him as a hostile entity either. Besides, he didn''t know many people in the city, and Cole was just the right person to show him around. "Thanks Aiden." Gratitude could be seen in Cole''s eyes as he looked at the long, ck-haired, golden-eyed boy next to him. He himself didn''t know why he decided to approach him, he just had a sudden feeling He couldn''t exin it to himself, but he felt an unexinable pull, something deep inside his head told him that he could help him with his problems But he had to be careful, he couldn''t just bring the matter up now. Not yet anyway. They continued talking for a while before, eventually the back door was opened, and Mary came back with two figures garbed in ck clothes. They both wore a painted steel chest te with matching steel legtes covering their entire bodies. The guild''s logo, the insignia of the sword hitting the shield was painted with gold paint on top of their hearts. They both wore simrly painted, ck steel helmets, hiding their facespletely. They looked fearsome and masculine, but you couldn''t be certain, the armor they wore hid all curves and characteristics. The one on the left had a huge broadsword on its back, while the one on the right had arge, towering shield that easily matched the figure''s height, with a long sword hanging on its right. Mary discussed something with them, pointing at Aiden''s direction. In turn, they took a nce at him, then expressionlessly left through a second door that was on the right side of the hall. Mary quickly rushed over to where Aiden and Cole were waiting. Panting for a few seconds, she spoke. Her voice wasn''t happy anymore, it carried worry with a tinge of fear and agitation mixed in. "Aiden, you will be tested by two examiners. I''m sorry, I don''t know why but they said that they both wanted to be present." She gulped before she continued as she pointed towards the same door on the right side. "If you are ready, go through that door." Aiden nodded with the same friendly smile and stood up from his seat before speaking in a calm manner. "Thank you for the help, Mary. I will be back shortly, and then we can finalize the process." With that said, he calmly left the two, approaching the door. However, he didn''t even take three steps, when Mary called out once again, with even more worry in her voice. "Aiden be careful, okay? They are both immensely powerful and they seemed weird when they read your profile. I don''t know why." Aiden turned around, and with an even brighter smile, he nodded. "I see. Thank you for the warning, but don''t worry. I can handle them." Chapter 153 - 153 - Exam Entering through the door on the right, Aiden found himself in arge training room. Aiden stopped at the door and slowly scanned through the building with his golden eyes The height of the room wasparable to the height of the main building. There was even an upper floor where Aiden spotted a group of people dressed in simr ck clothing as those two armored knights. The only interesting person was the smaller, fragile-looking one in the middle, that wore some sort of hooded robe, pulled down over its head, hiding its features. Yet, Aiden could feel the figure''s gaze. Suddenly he felt that his presence seemed somewhat familiar, however, he couldn''t put the feeling anywhere. Leaving the group of spectators, Aiden''s eyes nced at the figure getting ready in the middle. He was tall, probably around the same height as Aiden with a lean physique. He had a cloth wrapped over the top of his head from which only small ck tinges of hair peaked out. He wore simple linen clothing, a simple white shirt with short-sleeved light-brown pants. A pair of daggers could be seen hanging from both sides of his belt. Noticing the boy''s gaze, the man gave a friendly-looking smile and waved at the boy. His ck eyes, that carried years of experience, however, had a glint of cruelty that did not escape Aiden''s piercing gaze. "Come here, boy! Aiden, right? Get yourself ready, the first round of the exam will start soon!" He greeted the boy. Aiden silently nodded and walked opposite of the man who was still doing some basic warmups. As he was walking towards the predetermined starting spot, the group on the upper floor were in a deep discussion about him. The man to the right of the clothed figure spoke up with an uncertain tone looking at the boy. He was the only one amongst them that had no visible weapons on him. He wore a painted ck leather vest with painted ck reinforced leather pants. "Are you sure that this kid is a dangerous boss? He looks really scrawny. I don''t feel any power from him. Are you sure you are not mistaken?" "How dare you question the leader, Garf?" "Preposterous!" "What gives you the right!" Several yells came from the group at the same time in response to his question. Garf, the unarmed figure frowned at the sudden outcry, but before he could say anything, the clothed figure raised his right hand into the air, instantly silencing the group. A calm, crispy soothing melody reached the group''s ears as the figure spoke up. As the figure spoke, they felt as if some angelic being soothed their turbulent hearts. The tone carried a feminine charm to it, but at the same time, you couldn''t be certain of the speaker''s gender. It carried some elevated state as if the speaker was someone above humanity as a whole, as an angelic being. "Just watch as the situation unfolds. You will understand soon enough." As the figure''s voice died down, the group also stopped discussing and watched the two below as they were getting ready. The figure with the white headscarf looked at the boy in front of him. With the same friendly smile he had before, he spoke. However, both the glint of his eyes and his tone did not carry this friendliness but were intermixed with cruelty and mockery. "Little friend, the goal of the first test is simple. We will duel. Your first round can be considered sessful if you can hit me in the next 60 seconds. Simple right? You don''t even need to defeat me, justnd a sessful hit?" Aiden did not respond, he kept his eyes on the robed figure. He was seemingly lost in thought. Seeing how he was being ignored by a mere, unknown penniless brat, the headscarfed man''s face quickly soured. In the next moment, however, he forced the same friendly smile on his face as he spoke out once again. "Young man, are you ready? Don''t worry, I will try not to hurt you too much" Aiden still did not bother looking at him, he kept his eyes on the robed man. He could feel that it was also looking at him, he could feel its unnatural gaze. Aiden furrowed his brows as he felt a chill run through his spine. Seeing how he was still being ignored, the headscarf-wearing man clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. He slowly pulled his daggers from their sheaths and focused on the boy who was still calm and ignorant of the looming danger he represented. At this moment, the boy raised his arm, but still did not look at him, it was as if he was addressing the robed figure. "Wait. Are you sure, you want me to fight this one?" The robed figure did not answer immediately but kept staring back at Aiden under the cover of the hood. After a few seconds, however, he lightly nodded his head in response. Thinking that the kid might have noticed something, the man spoke up with a forced, friendly tone. "Do not be afraid, I will try not to hurt you too much! This is just a test, to test your potential, after all!" Aiden still did not bother looking at him, he was focused on the robed stranger. He spoke with a casual, calm voice. "You misunderstood my intention. You are just too weak, and I do not want to be responsible for what happens next." Angered by being humiliated and looked down upon by some kid, the friendly smile vanished from the headscarf-wearing man''s face. He looked at the boy with a solemn expression as he coldly spoke. "Brat, do not be so arrogant! You are just a little kid, what could you do? If you could touch me, much less hit me, I would be shocked!" He licked his lips with expectation, he could already taste victory. This pathetic youngling barged in and even dared to be disrespectful towards him, a 2-star adventurer, and one of the fastest hands in the city. "Don''t say I never warned you, arrogant little shit" He muttered. He was thinking of first severing his tendons, and then as the boy cried out in pain, his hands would ''identally'' slip and cut his arteries as well. Then he would watch in joy as the kid would bleed to death in just a manner of moments. He might get a slight scolding, but his reputation would be even fiercer, and he could maybe reach higher and be an official examiner as well. That would be a huge boost to his social standing after all! However, as he was about to jump into action. The kid finally turned and looked at him. He felt a sudden cold wash over him, his hands suddenly started shaking, and his teeth ttering. His heightened senses warned him of the sense of dread, an approaching danger. The emotionless boy''s figure flickered and vanished in the next instant, stunning both the headscarf-wearing man and everybody present, even on the upper floor. In the next moment, the man felt a surge of pain spread through from his chest as something heavy crashed against him. He felt his ribs breaking under some incredible pressure. Before he realized, he was already flung back in the air. In the next moment, he felt blunt force hitting his back, crushing and injuring several of his organs. He was in utter shock and disbelief, as he fell down on the ground, as he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Before the light faded from his eyes and he lost consciousness, he realized the bitter truth; he violently crashed against the wall several meters behind him Aiden''s figure reappeared at the same spot not a momentter. From beginning to end, not a single second seemed to pass, but his opponent was violently flung back and lost consciousness with critical damages. At the moment, it was hard to tell if he would make it or not. Silence engulfed the room at this unexpected turn of events. Both the group watching at the upper floor and the two armored knights standing at the sight couldn''t believe their own eyes. The shock and disbelief were visible in their expressions. Aiden looked at the robed figure once again, and with a casual tone, he spoke to him. "I remember you now! You were watching the poor merchant family being harassed earlier. Huh, so you noticed me there?" The robed figure nodded its head. Once again, the angelic voice came from the covers of the dark hood as it spoke with a melodic tune. "Yes, I did see you there." Instead of surprise, only a frown was visible on Aiden''s face in response. "If you saw me, then why did you ask me to fight something this pointless?" He asked with frustration in his voice. He nced at the two armored knights still standing at the side, as he continued with a grumbling, dissatisfied tone. He could already guess what the next part of this ''exam'' would be. Chapter 154 - 154 - ***Spoilers, Title At The End*** To not much of a surprise, two ck ted knights stepped forward and took their ces in front of Aiden. The one on the right pulled therge full body length broadsword from his back with such momentum that a small gust of wind reached Aiden and fluttered the side of her hair. The one on the left also grabbed the huge, towering shield and equipped it with his left arm. As he put the huge steel door down to the ground, it actually blocked almost 90% of his body, even with his broad physique. On his right, a simple, iron longsword was ready to slice and thrust ahead. Once they got ready, they did not say a word, nor did they make any sudden movement. They kept staring at the much smaller boy in front of them. Despite their terrifying presence this youth didn''t seem to be affected even by a bit, he kept looking at the hooded figure, the leader of the examiners on the upper floor. There were no words exchanged for a while, yet the atmosphere became tenser by the moment. After a while, the unarmed man to the left of the leader yelled out towards the boy. "Get ready you runt, what are you waiting for? They are your examiners, you have to face them, otherwise, don''t even dream of bing an official adventurer of the guild!" Aiden did not even look at him, much less answer him, he kept his piercing gaze on the hooded figure. Suddenly his eyes began to emit a golden hue, his expression became fiercer. The group on the stand could feel the pressure behind his gaze. The unarmed-looking man to the right yelled out again. "What are you doing, brat?! Do you want us to-" However, he was silenced when the hooded figure raised its right arm. Immediately the pressure they felt from the boy, lessened and gradually disappeared. The figure slowly lowered its arm. Finally, its unnatural heavenly voice could be heard all across the room. "I do apologize for the inconvenience we may have caused you, young Aiden. We simply wish to test your potential, there is no ill-will here. Let me offer you this. If you can defeat these two fine knights, not just your exam will be sessful, I will immediately give you a 2-star rating. You will start as a Rank 2 adventurer on the spot." "But Leader, we can''t-" The man to the right tried to speak again but was silenced by the raise of the right arm again. Nobody else dared to speak up in the group after that. After a momentary pause, he continued. "But do not be afraid. If you fail to ovee this increased challenge, we will still give you the usual 1-star, and you can start just like everybody else. Think of this test as an extra, I myself would like to see how much potential you have inside you." Although the offer did sound nice, Aiden didn''t smile, nor seemed satisfied by his words. With a calm tone, he asked. "Why is this beneficial to me? Honestly, I don''t see the point. What do you want?" "What do you not understand brat! You can be a Rank 2 from the start! Every neer''s dream would be this, yet you are asking why is it good?!" The man to the right angrily yelled out. This brat couldn''t understand and appreciate the gift he is bestowed upon, and even dared question his leader''s good will! Actually, it wasn''t just him finding the boy''s words offensive, almost the entire group frowned and looked at the boy with contempt and disdain. The man could barely contain his anger anymore and not explode on the spot. He turned towards the hooded figure and asked. "Leader, allow me to teach this brat a lesson, he doesn''t even understand how lucky he is" Raising its arm for the third time, the leader silenced the grumbling group. "No. His concern is understandable, we are in the wrong here for putting him through such trouble with no exnation." Then turning towards Aiden, the figure spoke with an apologetic undertone to the heavenly melody it emitted. "My apologies for the inconvenience, Aiden, but let me refrain from answering your questions for the time being. After you pass this hurdle andplete the test ahead of you, I promise I will give you a proper exnation. Would this work?" The man on the right once again wanted to speak up and voice his displeasure but he did not dare to anymore. He did remember to teach this brat a lessonter for his insolence against the leader. Aiden silently looked at the figure for a while before eventually he sighed and nodded. "Alright, I ept your terms." The reason he didn''t argue any further was that he truly did not feel any hostile intent from it, just curiosity. The hooded figure seemed genuinely interested in him, or to be more precise his power. Unlike the man to its right, from whom, he could sense something. While he will not reveal his secrets to anyone besides his family, he could still probably easily defeat the average humans and adventurers, his parameters are way above the norm. His draconic heritage made him stand high above them. With the deal made, Aiden finally looked at the two statuesque knights in front of him. They did look rather impressivepared to the rest of the warriors he faced so far, he had to admit. There was a certain presence, or aura that radiated pride and fearsomeness towards their foes. Looking at both of them, he asked with an honest tone. "How will we do this? Are you guys going to fight together? Or do you want to go one by one? I don''t really mind either way. If you want my honest advice, I would suggest going together though, but it''s up to you." Neither of them spoke, but the intent they released became much denser, thicker suddenly. The knight on the right raised his giant broadsword with both hands and stepped forward. At the same time, the guy on the left raised his shield and held it in the air. He cocked his right arm back, and looked at the boy, ready to charge at the first sign of action. "Together it is then" Aiden muttered. In the next instant, his eyes began to glow once again in their golden luster, and he clenched both of his fists. A small smile expectantly curved at the edges of his lips, looking forward to the uing battle. In response, the knight with the shield released a loud yell, and while holding the shield in front of him,unched himself forward and bolted towards the boy. Halfway through he thrust both his shield and his cocked arm in an attempt to push against any sort of attack and deal critical damage at the same time. The other one didn''tg behind and charged forward as well with his humongous weapon raised above his head. Facing both knights at the same time, Aiden''s lips curved into an even broader smile. He nted his left and right feet on the floor. He activated his [Mystic Martial Arts] skill with thought and guided the flow of energy to both of his fists. He did not use any of his transformation abilities but relied on his own boosted strength. As he felt the energy flow into his clenched fists, a thin golden barrier was formed. In the next moment, as he felt both knights approaching, he thrust both of his first forward, hitting both the huge shield and the tip of the de that was already swung towards his head in an attempt to slice him apart. As the opposite forces shed together, a loud bluster rang throughout the room alongside arge amount of dust that was kicked up high in the air due to the shockwave that was created. To Aiden''s surprise, however, none of the knights were flung back but could hold their grounds. Therge steel shield, neither the edge of the broadsword could withstand such blow, and both cracked. Both knights jumped back, creating a bit of distance between them and Aiden. They did not fly into a rage, nor did they begin a second push against the boy, but instead, they both began to inspect the status of their equipment as if they weren''t in the middle of a battle currently. Seeing as how the broadsword was simply beyond a simple repair and would need to be reforged, the knight threw it to the side, and raised his gloved hands in front of him, and clenched it into fists. His steel gauntlet could still dish out rather destructive blunt damage after all. The shield wasn''t in any better shape either. The boy''s simple punch carried such tremendous power that the steel door couldn''t withstand it, and a huge fist-like bent could be seen on it. Tiny cracks could be seen rushing to all sides of the shield from the point of impact. Just like his colleague, he also threw the destroyed armament to the side and raised his still mint-condition sword as his lonesome weapon. However, before they couldunch a second wave of attacks, pping could be heard from the upper floors, and a happy and melodious tune reached their ears. "Marvellous! Just as I expected! We can stop the test now, there''s no reason to continue and cause more damage. Aiden, you passed!" Title: Aiden, Rank 2 Adventurer Chapter 155 - 155 - Curse Or Blessing The hooded figure drew a pattern in the air with its right index finger. A golden streak of energy was left lingering as a trail of its finger. Once the circle-like shape waspleted a single throbbing sensation could be witnessed as the symbol pulsed in the air before it quickly faded. After that, it turned its head towards Aiden and spoke with its melodious angelic voice. "You can go now Aiden, I have informed the guild about your results." "What about your promise?" Aiden asked with a frowning expression on his face. "Tomorrow, when youe back for your Guild Membership Card, I will ask the attendees to bring you to me. I will tell you what you wish to hear then. Go now. We are finished for now." He waved with his hand. In the next moment, it stepped back, and silently turned towards the door in the upper floors and left. As the leader left, the group gave onest disdainful look at the boy then quickly followed behind their leader and left. While the headscarf-wearing man was still unconscious in the far end, nobody seemed to care about him. The two ck knights gave a slight bow and left Aiden as well. ''What the hell was this? What does that figure want? And what is it anyway? I couldn''t tell anything about it'' He gave a tired sigh, and turned around, taking a nce at the door. He took a step forward, but shortly after he stopped, and checked the system. As the duels went on, there were a few messages that popped up, but he ignored all of them in the heat of the moment. [The skill[Mystic Martial Arts - Level 1] gained 5 XP.] . . . [The skill[Mystic Martial Arts - Level 1] gained 10 XP.] [The skill[Mystic Martial Arts - Level 1] gained 10 XP.] Just like before, he gained some points as he actively used the skill duringbat. This was different from usual, it was a direct increase to the specific skill and was added to his generic pool. He looked at the skill and nced at his remaining generic experience pool as well. [Mystic Martial Arts -( Level1 50/100 XP)] [...Experience: 900 XP] To test if he could still influence its progress, he used 50 points to upgrade the skill to the second level. He also wanted to know, if he could feel anything. He wondered if it would be somewhat simr when his [Soul Power] gained a rank. Focusing on the floating screen in front of him, he focused his will on the Experience section on his Character Sheet. As the number changed colors, gaining a bright green background he then turned his attention towards the [Mystic Martial Arts] skill, under his Skills tab. Once he felt that a connection has been created between the two, he began streaming the points into skill. He felt as if he was directing a stream of a gentle river, altering its intended course. There was a slight resistance, but it wasn''t too hard on his mind, he could easily withstand such mental pressure. In the next moment, a visible curve began to express itself on his face as the number slowly began to grow. Slowly, but steadily the points began to approach the threshold. A few secondster, as the number turned to 99, an ufortable sensation set in the back of his mind. The feeling was strange, and it was unlike anything before. If he wouldn''t be testing the system directly, he wouldn''t have been able to pinpoint the root cause. It didn''t hurt at all, not physically and not mentally. It was more like a constant difort, a buzzing noise in the back of his head. Aiden sucked in arge gasp of air into his diaphragm, only to exhale it a momentter, calming his mind by a great deal. Then, he continued focusing on streaming the flow of points into the skill. As soon as the threshold reached 100, and the level gained an increment, Aiden felt as if something broke through a dam inside his mind, and his mind was flooded with a sea of information about more precise control of the flow of energy and even new techniques of how he could more effectively utilize the potential of the skill. Taking his time to process the information, Aiden sat down on the floor in a lotus position and closed his eyes. Once again, he sucked in the air and stored it inside his diaphragm for a few seconds before he slowly began to exhale. He repeated this process while inwardly he continued to focus and process all the new information that flooded his mind. Unbeknownst to him, his body began to release a faint golden hue, giving him a holy, majestic visage. As he continued to process, and focus on the information, he did not notice the notifications that continued to relentlessly pop up in the system. However, after several minutes, he felt as the previously calm flow of energy inside him turned violent, and began to rage. He stopped processing the information and checked the flood of notifications he received. [The skill[Soul Power] gained 1 XP.] [The skill[Soul Power] gained 2 XP.] [The skill[Soul Power] gained 1 XP.] . . . [The skill[Soul Power] gained 2 XP.] There were hundreds of these, shocking him quite a deal. All in all, he gained 350 points, putting him to 750 points but still far away from the threshold for an increase in level. Why is the flow of energy inside him so torrential then? ''Hmm Maybe it is the increase in the [Mystic Martial Arts] skill? That''s the only skill that directly interacts with the flow and not just the energy'' He thought. As he only knew two ways to solve the situation and the first would be too violent, he continued to focus and inhalerge gasps of air, store it inside himself and slowly exhale to calm the tide inside him. Several minutes passed in silence before he could feel the tide dying down inside him and his reserves returning to a calm state. As he did so, a new notification popped up in the system. [The skill [Mystic Martial Arts] increased to level 2! You have been awarded 100 Soul Power as a reward!] Deciding to test the system further in an attempt to understand these changes, he once again created a connection between his remaining Experience pool, and with his most basic and defining ability that he unfairly neglected, the [Primal Absorb]. After so many years, it only gained a tiny bit of experience, after all, he did not absorb many different and unique life forms. Once again, focusing his will, he poured the points slowly and monitored the changes in himself as the experience slowly reached the threshold for the next level. Just like before, he could feel as if a dam had been opened, but instead of a sea of information flooding his mind, he felt afortable warmth spreading through him. What surprised him the most, was that he felt his fading attention suddenly became sharp and refreshed once again, as if he took a few hours of sleep. A new notification also popped up. Opening it, he was shocked, and also a bit regretful about his stupidity. [The skill [Primal Absorb] increased to level 2! You have been awarded 1 point to [Spirit] as a reward!] ''What is going on? Was it always like this? Or is this something that I gained after thest upgrade?!'' he couldn''t understand what was happening. Previously he never gained such bonuses, nor did he had this much control over the system. It was always something that was with him, but it was a separate entity. Now, however, he felt as if it was a part of him His thoughts once again went back towards Enya. He would have an answer for the changes that he was experiencing. The system felt as it became more active, as it was pushing him towards something while giving him the necessary power to aplish its goals. He started to feel that this magical construct was not a blessing but maybe a curse. Ever since the appearance of the Main Quest, he felt as if the control over his own life was slipping away from him Although first, he was happy that he received a goal with potentially great rewards, but with the time limit, and the impending death that his own system threatened him with turned the whole thing from a dream into a nightmare. His eyebrows creased and his closed eyelids trembled under his troubled thoughts as he continued to meditate. He continued to inhale and slowly exhale to calm himself and clear his mind of all the negative thoughts. There was no use of thinking about these, for now, he could only continue moving forward, while also setting up a new goal to fight against his fate, and wrestle himself free from the grasp of this construct. He will regain his own freedom and free Enya in the process! Chapter 156 - 156 - That Is Her Home "Oh, there hees!" Mary cheerfully replied to Cole who could be seen nervously fidgeting. He was afraid that Aiden might have got into some sort of trouble, after all, the examiners weren''t known for being merciful. People who went to take an exam, often became crippled, if they even managed toe back at all. So, now that he also noticed the side door opening and the calm boying out, he sighed in relief. Looking at him, Cole was slightly surprised as he could see no tears on his clothing, or any kind of damages. It was as if he did not fight at all, which was clearly impossible. "Aiden! Come here!" Mary happily waved at Aiden, who responded with a friendly smile and casually walked to them. As soon as he arrived Mary started her bombardment of questions. "So? What happened? How do you feel? Is everything okay? Do you need any healing?" It was just now that she registered that the boy in front of him lookedpletely unharmed, not even his hair seemed ruffled. Astounded by this fact, she asked another question. "Huh? Why do you seempletely okay? Did you not fight at all?" Aiden silently smiled and waited for the girl to take a breather and stop before he calmly began to answer. "Calm down, Mary, there is nothing wrong, we did fight. I was just a bit stronger than them, that is all. The person with the hooded robe said that I had passed." "Ah, that is good. Well, just give me a moment then, let me go to the back and confirm the next steps. Just a moment, okay? Don''t go anywhere!" Hearing Aiden''s response, her expression turned even brighter, and turned towards the office door behind the reception area. She bolted as fast as she could, herst words were yelled as she was already at the door just before her slender figure vanished in the office hallways. Turning towards Cole who was silent next to him, he noticed the utter shock that was set on his face and the disbelief that was visible in his eyes. "Is everything okay?" Aiden asked with the same calm tone as he addressed Mary. First, Cole couldn''t even respond, he looked at the youth in front of him as if he was some kind of monster. After a few seconds, he eventually managed to gather enough willpower to voice the only thought that kept ringing in his mind. "H-how are you fine?!" Aiden didn''t mind the question, he could feel there was no ill-will aimed at him. Cole was genuinely concerned about him when he went in and was baffled at the oue. "We fought, but I was stronger and faster. You already saw the strength I possess when I hit that strange energy barrier around the haunted mansion, so you shouldn''t be that surprised by this oue." Only now did Cole seemed to calm down. Embarrassment set on his expression, he averted his gaze, looking at the ground. He nervously scratched the back of his head. "Ehehe, yeah that is true. Sorry I was just nervous, that you would suffer as everyone else did under their hands." "Don''t worry about it. I could tell those guys were strong, stronger than the average Adventurer." Aiden replied with a friendly smile. Then, as he looked at the closed office door in the back where Mary left just a few moments ago, with a thoughtful look he wondered. "I just don''t understand, why did that guy make me a Rank 2 immediately. I did not do anything special" Hearing his words, Cole almost fell on his back. With his mouth hanging open and wide eyes, he looked at Aiden with even more shock than before. "W-what did you just say?!" He stutteringly asked. "Huh?" Aiden looked at Cole with surprise. "I just said, I don''t understand why did that hooded figure say that I am now a Rank 2 Adventurer. I just wanted to register, but for some reason he immediately upgraded me. I don''t understand it, I didn''t even show anything special." "T-t-that''s???" Cole looked as if he had seen a ghost, he stumbled and fell on the ground. Pointing his shaking fingers at the boy, he eximed with a mixture of shock and fright in his eyes. "J-just what are you? H-how?! That''s never happened before" "Uhm, are you okay? Why are you shaking? Did something scare you?" Aiden was puzzled, he did not know why Cole reacted this way. Why was the fact that he was unharmed such a big deal? Shouldn''t this whole thing be just a test to measure the strength of the person? "Nobody has ever be a Rank 2 as soon as they registered! You have no experience, no idea how the system''s work, and no credits to your name! Simply put, you just can''t be a Rank 2! It''s impossible!" Now, he understood the reason for Cole''s seemingly strange reaction. The ''Reward'' he got was simply too exceptional; it went against the Guild''s rules. However, as he could feel a familiar life sign approaching, he simply smiled and nodded towards the window. "If you don''t believe me, then let''s just listen to Mary toe back." Just as Aiden finished his words, the back door opened and Mary rushed back, with a stack of papers in her hands. She had a flushed expression. As she got back to the desk, she raised her right index finger trying to catch her breath before she flusteredly began reporting back to the boys. "Aiden... *pant* *pant* I got word from management! *pant*" ''It''s okay, take your time, we are in no rush." Aiden smiled, trying to calm the girl. Unfortunately, he did not get the reaction he expected, instead, the flushed girl got even more flustered, she nervously fidgeted, averting her gaze to the ground. Her cheeks turned bright red in the process. Aiden could not understand her strange reactions at all, unlike Cole who smugly smiled back at him. In the end, Aiden helplessly shook his shoulders and decided to just wait for Mary to calm down. After about a minute, she finally managed to collect herself. With a faint rosy coloring on her cheeks, she coughed and continued with a forced cool in her voice. "So, Aiden, I got the news from management, that you have received a pass on your exams. Also," She altered her gaze between the two boys as if trying to read anything from their reactions. While Aiden remained calm and did not have any visible reaction at all, the other boy, Cole was already looking with expectant eyes, as if he was just waiting for confirmation on something. "Aiden, I was specifically instructed to register you as a Rank 2 Adventurer. Honestly, I do not understand why, or what you did back there that made theme to such a strange decision, but nevertheless, I can now officially wee you as the newest member, as well as one of the elite group of adventurers for the Higrove''s Adventurer''s Guild!" She pulled the top paper from the stack she brought over and handed it over to Aiden. "Here''s your registration details. Your Guild Card will require a day, and that''s when you will be able to pick quests and join or create parties as well." Then he picked up another paper, that was the map of the city, with several buildings circled over. "And this is the map for all the Inns that we are in contact with. If you would need amodation in the meantime, feel free to contact these establishments, they will give you a discounted price." Taking a look at the map, he noticed several buildings circled over and marked with their names such as "Lionhead Inn", "Swords and Shields" and so on, none of these names were familiar to him As he looked over the map he noticed that there was another building that was marked with a different colored ink. While the rest seemed toe from the same pen, thisst one, judging by the shape, it was hastily marked, with a different, blue ink. Looking at the girl, Aiden noticed some blue leftover stains on the edge of the sleeves of her dress. He had a guess that it was done by her, while the others may have been marked by a different person, maybe by that strange, hooded figure that spectated his fight. "Mary, may I ask, what is thisst building supposed to be? There''s no name next to it. Is that an inn as well?" He asked with an honest, innocent stare. "Uhm That?" Hearing the question, Mary became flustered once again and began to fidget even more than before. Her face once again turned red as a tomato and couldn''t look up from the ground. Although she nned to exin and even made up a viable excuse as to why she would mark that specific building, now, as she faced the question she practiced along the way, she couldn''t speak up. Seeing her helpless state, Cole already had an idea. Deciding to help her, he spoke. "Aiden, I think that is her home." Chapter 157 - 157 - Morning Mediation By the time the first orange rays of the morning sun peeked through the window and illuminate the wooden floorboard, the room''s current upant was already up and sitting in the middle of the room in a lotus position. As the ray of light slowly crept closer and gave light to the half-naked upper torso, the small glistening drops of sweat that covered his body The small, glistening drops of sweat that covered his entire bare chest reflected the singr ray of light. He had his eyes closed and had a calm, serene expression over his face. If someone uninitiated could have look at him, he or she could mistakenly think that he is a weirdo that slept that way, and he would be gravely mistaken. The boy was in a deep state of his meditation that he kept up for several hours now. He woke before the sun and was meditating ever since. Feeling the warmth of the illumination that the morning sun basked himself in, his closed eyelids slowly pulled apart, revealing the golden irises and milky sclera. His normally calm expression was disfigured by the small cheeky curve at the edges of his lips. He was rather satisfied by the results of his short meditation. He nced at the Character Screen of his System''s interface once again, as the small curve turned into a wider, satisfied smile. [Mediation ended. Effective time spent: 02 hours 25 minutes 53 seconds. Experience gained: 8753 XP] He was creeping closer and closer to the next threshold for leveling up his [Soul Power]. Currently, it was looking as follows: [Soul Power: 1100 (Level 2 - 9503 / 10000 XP)] Although the level up would not necessarily increase the pool itself, instead, if it was like before, it would provide a qualitative jump. He would be able to utilize it better, using less for maintaining his costlier abilities, while also providing a significant increase in power for his [Mystic Martial Arts] as that directly utilized it. He could make his kicks and punches faster while also carrying even more strength. His only slight problem was the fact that by Meditating he could not gain points for his generic pool. Apart from increasing the level of his skills, he also wanted to find out what would it mean if he would increase his own levels. So far, every level gave him a small increase in his attributes and Soul Power. However, he had no idea what would happen if he would happen to reach that maximum hundred. What could happen? Back in the Pocket World, he asked Enya multiple times, but she never answered, nor did he could directly query the system for anything rted to that. It was aplete mystery. He only had a vague feeling that reaching it would be important for him. Standing up, Aiden''s first destination wasn''t to leave the room and go downstairs for some breakfast, but to head to the side door that would lead to a smaller, cleaning room. Although one could also call it and actually use it as a closet, as the only two ''furniture'' in it was a moderate-sized wooden tub that was filled with water every-day by the staff and could be used to soak in it, and a small also wooden toilet that looked simr to arge bucket with some additional nks ced at the top of it creating a crude seating. The bottom part of it was enchanted and would transport all the ''input'' to somewhere else that did not need any sort of investigation. The bathtub also had a small wooden handle attached to the right side that held soap in it. Walking over Aiden who already ditched his undergarment slowly stepped into the bathtub and let himself submerge in the still warm water. Thanks to some easy enchantments, the tub could keep the temperature for a full day, hence the reason for the daily refills. After about half an hour, the side door opened again, and a clean and refreshed Aiden walked out. He already had his regr simple and cheap-looking linen cloth attire on him. He left his long ebony hair drop freely from his shoulders, that looked even shinier than usual after the morning bath. As he stepped towards the main door of his room, his thoughts came back to yesterday''s events, and he couldn''t help but smile and shake his head. ''I still have a lot to learn'' he mumbled to himself as pictures of yesterday resurfaced in his mind. --- ***Back in the Guild''s Hall, the previous night*** After noticing that one spot on the map he was given was circled with different ink, he thought nothing of it and wanted to ask for the reason. His first thought was that it was probably another potential tavern that maybe the management missed or something among these lines. However, the girl, Mary, had a very strange reaction to his question. She began to fidget, blood seemed to color her cheeks and she just couldn''t phrase a single sentence correctly. Her flustered state was aplete mystery to him. It didn''t help at all to solve the mystery behind her actions when Cole revealed that the building was her own home and not a tavern. Why would he mark that? Did she have a vacant bed that she wanted to offer to him in case none of the taverns and inns would be suitable? Aiden looked at Cole with a questioning stare before turning his head and looking at Mary whose face was so red, and from the looks of it, she seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Is that your house, Mary?" Aiden asked with the same questioning look as he pointed at the blueish circle on the map. The building was only a few blocks away from the guild''s building, making it the second-closest location to spend the night. "Y-y-yes." A meek, barely audible whisper was pressured out from Mary''s closed mouth after a bit of struggle. She averted her gaze, she couldn''t even look at Aiden''s general direction. Even the floor seemed slightly scary at this point. Right now, she was so ashamed of her own actions that if she could find a spot she would dly bury herself and hide. Why did she do something like this? She never behaved this way. "I-i-i w-w-wanted t-to... " she stuttered in the same meek voice. She stopped, and took a few breaths, and slowly exhaled before continuing with a bit more willpower, but still rather weakpared to her previous cheerful attitude. "In case you would like to I have a free room You could ehrm use waaaah!" She couldn''t continue and began to shake. With shaky legs, she took a step back behind the counter and fell on her bum in the next moment. She hid her face in her palms, not daring to look up at the boy''s handsome face.. Seeing her actions and strange behavior, Aiden didn''t know what to do or say. Was he rude at some point? Should he have done something? Was she under some spell or effect? He couldn''t understand why she was behaving this way at all. He scratched the back of his head as he looked at the smirking boy next to him with a helpless expression. "Did I do something?" He could only ask the boy, as he couldn''t find any answer himself. Cole shook his head, but the smirk didn''t leave his face. "No Aiden, you didn''t. If you didn''t understand her intentions, then there is no point in exining. This is a question that you yourself have to find the answer to." Freeing the map from Aiden''s grip, Cole spread it out and nced at it. Checking the few closest marked buildings, his eyes finallynded on one that he knew. "Here, this one. The Salty Pig. They are cheap, have pretty good meals, and the service itself is better than most! Coincidentally it''s the same one where I am at." Hearing his words, Aiden checked the marked building that Cole was pointing at. It wasn''t the closest, but also not too far away, slightly closer to the marketce than the Guild''s Hall but that was still manageable. Since he had no information about any of these establishments, and he had no reason to not to trust his words, Aiden quickly agreed. Before they would have left, however, he looked at the still sobbing girl sitting on the floor behind the counter. She kept mumbling something that Aiden couldn''t make out, even as he tried to focus. Most of what she muttered was unintelligent garbles. The only phrase he could make out, and only because it was repeated over and over again was "...Stupid, stupid Mary, what are you doing, he probably thinks you are a creep now!" Not sure what to do or say, Aiden sighed, and tried to think back on his interactions with Lily when she was upset or sad. In the end, he only helplessly smiled and spoke with the same care and warmth in his voice when tried to console his sister. "Don''t be sad, Mary, you did nothing wrong. I will go for now, but I hope I can see you some more tomorrow, I really enjoyed talking to you!" With that said, he turned around and walked towards the exit with the still smirking Cole following quickly behind. As he left, Mary sobbing eventually stopped, and behind the sniffing, a childish giggle could be heard. Mostly to herself, she mumbled with a wide smile on her still rosy face. "Ehehe, he said he enjoyed talking with me!" Chapter 158 - 158 - Friends? Friends! As he walked to the staircase, a pleasant smell hit Aiden''s senses. This heavenly greeting caused a small, contented smile to appear on his face, as he approached the stairs and slowly walked down, making sure to enjoy every second he could. He wasn''t a big gourmet, taste was not that important for him. Usually, he just picked the food that provided the biggest benefit for him. Still, now even he was tempted. He could smell a variety of roasted and grilled meat, giving him a challenge not to start drooling right then and there. Reaching halfway down, a different scene was revealed in front of his eyes than what he sawst night. The tables were full, but instead of a jungle of mugs with different levels of liquid contained within their ss or wooden circr walls, there was a sea of tes with hot, fresh, steaming breakfast dishes. At the far right corner, as the figure saw him, he jumped up and began to excitedly wave in his general direction. His shouting was swallowed up by the other residents'' loud drivel, but it wasn''t that difficult to guess that he was shouting his name and asking him toe over. Nodding at the request, Aiden walked down the stairs and casually went to the young man who was still eagerly waving at him. Crossing through the ground floor, Aiden noticed that most tables had the same dish on them, a pair of bright brown steaming sausages, with some fried beans and mashed potatoes. Although the sausages looked rather small, they also seemed ripe, and juicy. Also, it was the culprit of the incredible delight he could smell from upstairs. As Aiden arrived at the desk, the man, Cole greeted with a bright smile on his face. "Good Morning Aiden, did you sleep well? I ordered you the house special, that''s what almost everyone orders for the morning meal. Hope you don''t mind!" "No, it is fine." Aiden replied with a smile as he took his seat in front of Cole. As he sat down, he casually scanned through the ground floor once more. "This ce is packed once again. Is this normal?" "Yeah, this ce has one of the best foods in town! Peoplee here just to eat. Even families! Just take a look over there!" Cole answered as he motioned with his head towards a nearby table. Following his signal, Aiden nced at the table, where a family of four, a middle-aged slightly over-weight, balding pepper-and-salt haired and mustached man was enjoying his breakfast with his middle-aged grizzling wife and with his two boys. Both were enjoying the same dish that by now Aiden was sure was the signature te of the ce. "I see. To be honest, if nothing else, the food does smell good." Aiden spoke as he took his eyes off from the family and turned back to Cole. "Right? I''m absolutely sure you will love it!" Cole replied, and as he nced forward, his eyes gleamed. "Look, it is alreadying!" The next half an hour was passed as both enjoyed their breakfast while having a friendly chat. Although the food tasted great, their energy values seemed rtively low, much lower than what Aiden was used to. Still, the taste was really good, so Aiden wasn''t that disappointed. During the breakfast, Aiden also got to know the short brown-haired boy a bit more. He wasn''t anything special, he was your average vige farm boy. He was originally from a nearby small vige. His parents had a small farm, with a modest field that earned them just enough to scrape by year-round. While his father hoped for him to take over after he grew old, Cole was born under a different star. He always looked at the distance, ncing at the mystical forest that covered thousands upon thousands of miles and was a majorndmark not just of the kingdom but even in the continent. He spent long nights, gazing and sighing as he envisioned himself taking up the leather boots and set out on his own journey. His desire never ceased, and eventually, after some back-and-forth debate, his parents agreed to him toe to the city and try this life out. He arrived some time ago, and after registering, he tried joining several parties without much sess. On the bright side, he still managed toplete some of the easier quests and had got some minimal amount of points on his still fresh card. He was still quite a distance away from reaching his dream, to be a Rank 2 adventurer. As their tes got empty and they drank a mug of water, Cole looked at Aiden once again. This guy ever since they met, seemed good-natured and was incredibly forward and friendly towards him. Aiden still couldn''t understand what drove him toe and approach Aiden out of the blue, but looking back, he no longer cared. He could also understand why Cole freaked out so much after hearing he got promoted to Rank 2 right off the bat. Still, he did not get jealous and never harbored any bad thoughts against Aiden, otherwise, he could spot it with the help of his system. "So what''s your n today, Aiden?" Cole asked, noticing the boy''s silence all of a sudden. Brought back from his reverie by Cole''s question, Aiden slightly shook his head and looked towards the door. The image of the strange, hooded figure shed through his mind as he answered with a thoughtful stare. "I have to go back to the guild to get my card and meet with a certain individual. After that" he looked back at Cole, and remained silent for a few seconds, before revealing a small smile, as he continued. "After that, if you would like we could team up and pick a quest together. Only if you don''t mind of course." Cole couldn''t reply immediately, he received such a shock from his words, that he could only stare as if he couldn''t decide if he was still dreaming or not. "R-really?!" He stuttered after a while. "A-are you serious?!" "Of course!" Aiden nodded with a friendly smile. "We are friends, aren''t we?" Hearing this, Cole almost cried in happiness. After all the struggle he went through, he finally made a friend. When he saw that strange kid looking lost and gazing at the Haunted Mansion, he took a leap and decided to trust his guts for once in his life. He didn''t know at the time if it was a good idea or that he made a mistake, but he decided to go through with it. Now, he was sure that he made an incredibly good decision! He finally made a friend and a strong one at that! "Yes We are! We are friends, Aiden!" He replied with a blurry vision as tears started to relentlessly gather in his eyes. --- Inside Higrove''s Guild Hall, at the back-office area, a heated discussion was going on. Behind arge table, the ck-robed and hooded figure was sitting and looked in front of him, where the ck, unarmed figure who was standing at his right and the ck-armored knight who wielded therge towering shield and longsword stood. The unarmed figure had an ugly expression looking at his leader. "But why?! Just tell me the reason why are you trusting that brat so much? We know nothing about him! He just came to the city and saved some unknown farmers while almost killing that idiot in the process. Why is that such a big deal that you want to pull him in so much?!" The robed man didn''t respond, and since its face was hidden behind the hood, nobody could guess its thoughts. Instead of giving a straight response, the hood turned looking at the proudly standing armored knight. The unnatural and heavenly melodious voice came from under the hood. "Tell me, what do you think? You fought against him, what is your verdict, my loyal knight? Do you also think he is not worthy of my attention?" "No, sir. That boy is incredible. That strike he did carry incredible power, yet, both Right and I could tell that he didn''t even give it his all, and still managed to shatter both my shield and Right''s sword. That should be impossible." The knight answered emotionlessly. "Tsk" The bald man could only click his tongue in dissatisfaction. He grumbled under his breath in dissatisfaction. "Bah who cares. Who would name themselves Left and Right anyway? Such a stupid name to give for your twins" Left, the armored knight did not respond, but the bald man could still feel a chilling presence wash over him. He shivered and took a step to the right increasing the distance between him and this frightening existence. The hooded figure did not seem to mind the small quibble between his men. It turned its hooded head towards the bald man. In the next moment, the same melodious tune came from the hood, stating his question while also calming their troubled and agitated hearts. "Do you still think my attention is wasted on that boy after hearing my loyal knight''s words?" The bald man didn''t answer, just silently averted his gaze, looking down at the ground. He did not dare to utter any words, he knew just how frightening this person in front of him could be. Chapter 159 - 159 - Meeting (Part 1) The journey back to the Adventurer''s Guild was uneventful. Although when Aiden walked by the Haunted House, he stole a few nces at its direction, he did not halt his steps. He was sure there would be a quest to investigate it, and then he could check it with all the authorization that could be needed. As he got to the Guild''s house and pushed on the tall double-doors the same packed front hall greeted him, simr to how it was yesterday. "Is this ce always this full?" He asked as the same crowd greeted him. "Yeah, pretty much." Cole''s voice came from behind. Patting Aiden''s shoulder as he walked past him, he smirked as he continued. "Come, let''s get your guild card, and get ourselves a juicy quest!" As he talked, he was already several steps ahead, walking towards the Quest Board on the sidewall with hastened steps. Seeing him rushing forward so eagerly, Aiden smiled but didn''t say anything. His eyes scanned through the crowd, eventually resting at the curly brown-haired girl standing by the counter looking at his direction with an already rosy cheek. She had a shy look on her, and couldn''t directly withstand the boy''s stare, she could only steal a couple of nces every now and then. Walking forward, Aiden approached the desk, while his eyes looked at the back door. In his system, he already had a bit of that area mapped out, but after a while for some reason, his [Dark Sense] was blocked off. He couldn''t tell if it was the same warding that he met a few times already or something entirely different, but he couldn''t get a full map of the building''syout no matter what. As he got close, he smiled at the shy, already beet red girl, and with his calm voice greeted. "Hey Mary, how are you doing today? Do you know if my card is ready?" In response, Mary hesitantly nodded once, then before Aiden could ask anything more, she turned around and rushed towards the back door. Only when she got to the door did she speak up. "Y-yes! I will go and get it for you right now! G-give me just a moment, okay Aiden?" Although she phrased it as a question, she did not expect any answer as by the time she finished talking, her short figure was already gone in the depth of the halls unknown to Aiden. "Hey, check this one out Aiden!" Cole''s loud yelling came from the left. A short whileter he came with two pieces of paper iling headwind as he rushed to him. "Check these out! These are cool, and we could probably do them together!" Taking the papers, Aiden checked the information on them. They were both a quest that required them to venture outside of the town. The first asked to gather some sort of white flower that grows at the riverbank, and the other one was a quest to gather some weird frog''s gall dders. "Gather Hydros Flower Buds Difficulty: Description: We would require the White Flower Buds of the Hydros nt that grows alongside the riverbank just outside of town. Please bring back at least 10 intact Flower Buds in pristine condition to consider the quest aspleted. Reward: 10 Draquilean Bronze Coins / Piece" "Gather Thorny Forest Frog Gall dders Difficulty: Description: We would require Thorny Forest Frog''s intact Gall dders. We require to bring back at least 6 intact Gall dders in pristine condition for thepletion of this request. Reward: 10 Draquilean Bronze Coins / Piece" Looking at the quests, Aiden had to admit that they were indeed rather convenient for them. They looked rtively easy, and while he was already told what the stars meant, he couldn''t really know if they would be too easy or not. In the end, he decided not to worry about it too much. Looking up, he gave a friendly smile to Cole. "Yes, they look fine, we should pick them up." "Great, then I''ll go and register it under my-" Cole immediately began to excitedly exim and was about to rush to the desk to the first free attendee, when he was stopped by Aiden. "However, before you go and register them, wait till I get back. Remember, what I told you? I have to meet up with the examiners still. Their leader invited me for a talk yesterday. Wait for me to get back and then we can register them and maybe evenplete both of them before we get back to the tavern to rest for the night." Just remembering what Aiden told him, Cole embarrassedly scratched the back of his head. He gave an awkward smile. "Oh yeah... Sorry Aiden, Ipletely forgot. I was just so pumped up... You know my first official party, and we could set out and quest and stuff Sorry, I will wait for you. I will" He nervously looked to the sides, and after finding an empty table, he pointed at it as he continued. "...I will wait at that table. I will keep these quest papers for now, and once you are back, we can register it with Mary and do them." With that, he quickly escaped to the appointed table and took his seat while he continued gripping both pieces of paper as if they were some precious treasure. He wouldn''t let anybody take those two sheets from him no matter the means. As Mary was still not back, Aiden scanned through the crowd. Seeing the colorful people, all the adventurers, a small smile began to curve up on his lips. This atmosphere, this feeling was something he realized he needed. Although there were only humans, and he did not meet with other intelligent races so far, he was still happy. He could see people with full leather sets, mail, and steel garments Swords, Maces, Axes Carved Staves, and even Bows of all kinds. They were all busy, picking Quest Notices from the Board then discussing it with their parties, deciding on what their next adventure would be. This life, living on the edge, eating and living only what they earned. This... this excitement was missing from his life. He had to admit, he had an unquenchable thirst for this lifestyle. Although the main reason that drove him to set out alone was toplete the main quest the system enforced upon him, and registering as an adventurer was only a means to this end, it may not be that bad after all. He already met up with Cole after all, who slowly overthrew his first, bad impression of this greedy race. "A-Aiden... " He heard his name being called out from behind by a weak, meek voice. Turning around, he was met with Mary who got back from the office area with a small silvery card made out of some unknown material in her hands. Her face, just as before was beet red as she nervously stole nces at Aiden''s handsome expression. Raising the card towards him, Mary continued with a nervous, weak voice. "H-here it is, Aiden. Your card is ready. It was also already upgraded to reflect your Rank 2 status. Now, I''m not sure if you were already told, but being a Rank 2 gives you the right toplete quests up to a 2-star Difficulty rating. Or up to 3-stars if you join or create a party. Although, I would advise you to join an established one, being a Rank 2 would make you a hot pick among all of them." She coughed lightly, and with a bit more power behind her voice, she continued. "Also, I was informed that the Examiner''s Leader would like you toe and meet him now if you would have the time. I was told that you were already informed about this meeting?" She looked up with uncertainty in her eyes. When their gazes met each other, she tried withstanding the pressure, but she couldn''t hold out for long and averted her gaze shortly. "Yes, that was our agreement yesterday. Could you show me the way?" Aiden asked with a gentle smile, causing Mary''s face to turn a shade darker. "C-certainly! F-follow after me, Aiden!" She stepped to the side and raised the table to let Aiden through. After he came over, she lowered it back down. Taking a deep breath, she nervously but decisively grabbed Aiden''s right hand, and while almost fainting over the embarrassment she rushed towards the door while pulling Aiden behind. "Ce! I will lead you to the Leader''s office! Y-you are already expected!" Not giving any chance to resist, Aiden was quickly pulled to the back-office door, his figure vanished through the door as the eager and embarrassed Mary pulled him with great momentum. As his figure vanished from sight, he failed to notice a group of guys watching Cole from the side. Their eyes did not hide the cruelty and murderous intentions as they looked at the brown-haired boy as a juicy little target... Chapter 160 - 160 - Meeting (Part 2) "Come in, it''s open!" The strange, heavenly melody came from the other side of a door. In front of it, Mary stood still hand-in-hand with Aiden. She rushed through the hallways while nervously gripping the boy''s hand and pulling him all the way to a particr door. From the outside it lookedpletely average, in fact, all the other doors on the floor were different, much higher in quality. Judging from the looks of it, you wouldn''t think that anybody important would take residence here. You would be more inclined to believe that it was just a closet or some sort of storage room, and not an office to the most powerful examiner, the so-called ''Leader''. Taking a deep breath, Mary turned around, and despite how she acted previously, she resolutely looked Aiden in the eye. If the tightened grip on his hands wouldn''t betray the girl''s bottled nervousness and anxiety, you would think that she had only acted previously, and this would be her real self and not the other way around. "Look Aiden. I don''t know why the Leader wanted to meet with you, but please, take my advice and be careful! That ''thing'' is incredibly powerful, and nobody can guess its thoughts. This group came only recently and with the highest of authority in the guild but still, everything smells fishy Something is going in the background, and we are just too small, too insignificant to matter... " She took a deep breath and kept it in her diaphragm for a moment before she slowly started exhaling it. After half a minute she seemed to visibly calm down, she continued while pulling Aiden''s hands to eye level and grabbed with both hands. "I know I don''t matter to you and I just seem like some crazy girl, acting weird and all Even though I can''t exin why I am acting like this, it''s not like me at all" She exhaled again before continuing. "Anyway, that doesn''t matter right now. What I wanted to say is that you try your best to stay calm and try to resist that charming tune. It can pull you in without you even noticing it, and before you realize you are already a ve to ''that''!" With a much quieter tone, she leaned closer, and with her right hand, he reached for her side pocket. A momentter a pair of butter-colored cotton plugs were pulled out." Take these and put them in your ear. They look cheap, but don''t let that fool you! We each got 2 pairs from management the day when the examiners arrived. They told us to keep a pair of these in our ears at all times!" She looked to the side, presenting her ear to show that she still had one ced inside her ear canals." Don''t ask me the specifics I have no idea, but they are enchanted!" Aiden nodded with a friendly smile and grabbed the cotton earpieces. He promptly inserted it into his ear and covered it up with his long ck hair, so they werepletely hidden. Once they were done, he smiled at the girl once again, and with a hushed tone, he thanked her. "Thank you for all the help you have given me Mary. I don''t know why you are so nice to me that you even potentially endanger yourself, but rest assured I will remember this gift and will make sure to repay you someday. For now, I can only say that I am blessed to have such a friend like you!" He took a step back and gave a slight bow to show respect, and then without waiting for a response, he pushed on the door and stepped inside the office, leaving the girl alone with her already beet red cheeks and an embarrassed expression. She turned around, kept looking in the direction of where the boy''s back vanished as the door quickly closed behind him for a long while, before she eventually sighed, and shook her head. "What on earth are you doing, Mary?! I''m acting like an idiot Why did I be like this? Why can''t I think when I am around him?!" She sighed onest time, then turned around and left, walking back towards the Guild''s Hall. "Just who is he? Why do I have such an intense reaction for him?" She kept mumbling to herself as she soon left through the halls. --- Entering into the office room, the first thing that greeted Aiden''s eyes was the simplistic wooden table that took most of the space in the room. Huge stacks of papers were ced on it, literally hiding the figure sitting behind it. A single rectangr window was the only source of light. There were no chairs, nor a couch ced in the room as furniture to be offered for the guest to take their seat and be just slightly morefortable during the discussion. Clearly, the room was designed so that the invitees would spend as little time here as possible. "Greetings Aiden, thank you foring. Excuse me for not offering you a seat, I don''t usually have guests that I wish to keep here." A melodious voice came from behind the stacks. Suddenly, they began to slide to the side and open up a path, revealing the hooded dark figure sitting behind. "Much better." The figure sighed with a satisfied tone. "Now, I presume we should start with introductions. I already knew your first name, but please, do me the honors to start." However, Aiden simply shook his head with disagreement. In a clear and calm tone, he spoke. "Before we do anything, stop hiding behind your clothes and reveal yourself. If you wish for me to be honest and even think about anything you are about to say, the least you will have to do is to not hide in the shadows." With a slight frown on his face, his eyes suddenly shed with a golden hue, and his tone changed a grade lower, adding a growling undertone. "I''m really starting to get sick of your kind." Instead ofplying the figure, raised its hooded head, and asked with interest behind its voice. "My Kind? What "kind" are you referring to?" With his eyes still glowing, Aiden clicked his tongue. He answered with the same slightly transmorfed voice. "Hiding in the shadows. Trying to control everything. Always with a secret agenda. Thinking they are better than everyone." With a hushed, whispering tone, added mostly to himself. "You, humans." Although the whisper was also caught by the figure, it did notment on it. It kept looking at Aiden in silence, contemting his request. After a while, a soft sigh could be heard under the hood. The heavenly unidentifiable melodious tone seemed to vanish, leaving a soft, female voice behind. "Fine, I guess that is a fair request." The figure grabbed the edges of its hood, but before pulling it back and revealing itself to the boy, the same womanly voice came from its depths. "Before I did this, Aiden knew that only a few, selected individuals have ever seen my face. By showing it to you, I ce my trust in your care. I hope you can appreciate it." Aiden silently nodded at her words, without a change in his expression. He kept his attention on the figure. With its words said, a soft sigh could be heard from the depths of the cover. In the next moment, its hands moved, slowly pulling the ck cloth cover back. First, a purple tinge peeked out showing itself to the world for the first time in who knows how long. Gradually the rest of the face came in front of the morning light, revealing a beautifully carved godly beauty. Even for Aiden, who never cared for beauty before, had to gulp to be able to remain calm and collected. The figure had long, straight purple exotic hair that cascaded down over her shoulders reaching the middle of her back. She had white, porcin-like perfect skin. Her slightlyrger than average purple irises could make you lose yourself in her mesmerizing stare. Her small rosy lips had a slight hesitant curve to them. The peerless beauty stood still, and although slightly embarrassed under the boy''s stare, she did not avert her eyes. After about a minute of silence, she eventually opened her small mouth and while keeping the small smile on her lip, spoke. As she began, the outline of her purple irises turned bright and glowed faintly. Her voice had the same melodious undertone once again. "So, what do you think Aiden? Hope you appreciate it, I do not do this for anyone." Aiden''s eyes continued to glow, emitting the golden radiant shine, his voice equipped its draconic features as he responded with slight anger in his tone. "I would appreciate it if you could stop using your charm against me. If you want an honest discussion, don''t try to sway my mind, witch!" Chapter 161 - 161 - Meeting (Part 3) The purple shine immediately faded, returning the beauty''s eyes to their normal, but still perplexingly mesmerizing state. The leader had an apologizing expression on her face as she spoke. "I am terribly sorry, Aiden, it was not my intention to offend you in any way. You see" She sighed and looked towards the window. For a moment she remained silent, lost in her sea of memories. After a brief moment, she looked at the boy again, with a sad look in her eyes. "You see, this ability of mine sometimes activates without me wanting it to. It is just as much of a blessing, as is a curse. Please do not take offense, I did not mean harm. I honestly wanted to have a talk with you." She silenced for a second and kept looking at the boy. She had to admit, she still slightly underestimated him while she did not hope that her [Charm] would have any effect on him, but to still remainpletely calm and collected, that was unexpected of someone of his age.. Her face revealed a friendly,forting smile, her purple eyes had a kind shine in them, as she spoke again after a few moments of silent contemtion. "Aiden, tell me, do you know the current state the city is in?" She asked. Aiden did not answer immediately. Thinking back of thest time he was in the city, he ended up infiltrating that horrendous den and had to fight his way through to free his sister, the Norton''s, and a long-lost princess with Drake. While they did not really bother with the rest of the events, he had already heard a few scraps about a change in the City''s Leadership that also had an effect on the guild. In fact, his current talk with the leader of the newly joined examiner group is also rted to that. Would this leader and her group stille and change how the ranking processes work? He couldn''t know. What are the group''s real intentions? What are they after? Aiden had no clues on this front, but to be perfectly honest, he couldn''t really care. The schemes of the human world are not something he would like to be involved with. As long as it doesn''t concern him or his loved ones, he would not care. After some thinking, he simply shrugged his shoulders. "No, I don''t. I just heard that the guild''s registration and rank up processes were changed with your group''s sudden arrival. As for whatever reasons you came, I don''t know. I just came to this city two days ago." Although his calm attitude carried a tinge of coldness in it, this did not seem to affect the Leader''s attitude much. She retained her friendly smile and gleaming eyes on Aiden, as she continued. "That is perfectly fine, Aiden, don''t you worry. You see, the reason we came and did what we did is rted to the same cause. Our intentions are not bad, believe me, we all want for this fine city''s Adventurer''s guild to continue to shine and be a strong backing to the city." She stood up from her seat and walked to the window. As she turned away from the boy, her expression changed from the polite friendliness to a solemn look as she gazed out on the city. "As you may have heard, the previous leadership, the City Lord, was involved with a very nasty and illegal business in the city. He and his House were one of the leaders of a ve Trading Enterprise that had its roots set deep in the Slums area. Nobody knows how, but suddenly a bit more than a week ago, the City Guards received a royal decree and raided the establishment, freeing hundreds of poor, unlucky souls overnight." She stopped for a second, waiting for the boy if he had any questions or remarks. Seeing how he remained calm and did not even flinch, a small smirk shed through her face for a moment before she continued with the same mncholic tone in her voice. "They also managed to round up and arrest many of those involved with managing that ring. They did a lightning-fast investigation and by the dawn of the next morning, they already surrounded several nobles'' households in the city. Several of these had high positions in the City Council as well, let me tell you. I still do not know what happened, how did they manage to uncover and solve all the mysteries in a manner of a few hours But I guess it doesn''t really matter, does it?" She looked back at the boy with a wry smile. The boy still did not seem to be affected by the least of her words, which just further confirmed her theories. Leaning against the window. With her arms sped together, she continued on. Her focus was the boy, trying to read out anything from his expression. "This leaves us with the current situation. You see Aiden, during the time of such a crisis, our currently avable force was weak and pathetic. They couldn''t help out the citizens in their times of need. While one could argue that the adventurers did not swear to protect them, what good we are when our strength is needed, we can''t even offer it? Do you know that there is only one person that''s at Rank 3 currently? One single person! Our ''veterans'' that are Rank 2, are weak and worthless, most of them would barely even qualify as a Rank 1, much less called with such illustrious titles!" A look of contempt shed through her face that quickly vanished, returning her expression to the serene friendly smile. She took a breather, which she then slowly exhaled to calm down before continuing. "You see Aiden, these so-called Rank 2 ''veterans'' would barely be able to hold a candle to the ones at the Capital. Not to mention they have Rank 5''s and even a few experts almost at Rank 6!" At this point, Aiden''s calm expression finally shifted, showing a thoughtful look. Looking into the leader''s eyes, he insipidly spoke. "How does all this rte to me? Is this the reason you immediately upgraded me to Rank 2? Or is there another reason behind it?" With a brighter, knowing smile on her face, the Leader nodded at his question. "Yes, you are right for both questions. One of the reasons I wanted you to be a Rank 2 from the start, is that you are already much stronger and seemingly more capable than our entire roster of veterans." "And as for the second reason? What do you want from me?" Aiden interjected with a suspicious stare. "I''m not going to lie to you Aiden. I need you." Seeing how he raised his eyebrows, she raised her hand, and with an elevated tone, she hurriedly spoke. "Sorry, let me rephrase that! I need your power. I really need someone like you, with such overwhelming strength, and an untainted mind to work for me directly. Together, we could make this ce and this city as well a better ce!" "Why should I bother? These issues you are referring to is your guild''s problem, not mine. As for the city, I''m just a traveler, I don''t have any reason to be involved with the schemes and machinations of others." Aiden responded with an insipid stare. "I know that, and that is perfectly fine. I am sure that there is something we could offer you that could change your mind Just let me know? I already know you are not affected by political power, money, or fame But there must be something that you are interested in, or maybe looking for? Just let me know, give me the chance to prove that I am really honest about all this." The leader spoke as she slightly bowed. She stayed in that posture with her eyes stered on the ground. She waited for the boy''s words, hoping to showcase and prove her good will. "Hmmm There is something" Aiden spoke after a few seconds. Although he did not hope for much, he still wanted to try his luck. After all, his main reason foring to this city was to find information about the ce that was mentioned by the Main Quest he was forced to take on. The leader looked up, waiting for the boy to continue with bated breaths. "You see, I dide to this guild in hopes of finding clues about a ce. If you could help me with it, I could offer my help in return. What do you say?" Finally, Aiden gave his offer, which caused the first bright and honest smile to express itself on the Leader''s face. She straightened her back and looked at the boy in the eye. "Certainly! I am sure I could be of help, whatever ce you would like to find. While I''m not a local resident of Higrove, I do know almost all the surrounding area, and even some of the neighboring countries as well. Tell me, what ce are you hoping to find?" Chapter 162 - 162 - The Proposal Letting out a breath of air, Aiden looked at the woman who was watching him with keen interest. He didn''t know what to think about her anymore, this person was just too strange, she was shrouded with too much mystery. Just who was she? Aiden wasn''t even sure that she was human anymore. She looked like one, but just like him, she could also have a human form. Her voice, her strange alluring ability There were just too many questions regarding her background. Even his system couldn''t provide any help in judging her intentions. Was she an ally? Or a very powerful enemy? He didn''t know. He only knew that this was the only path he found so far, his chance at finding any clues about this mysterious ce. The Demon Grotto. It had a very ominous, eerie feel to it. As if it was some sort of dark ce. Could it have a connection with Aiden, or with his origin? As question after question started to pop up in his mind, Aiden shook his head. Steeling his resolve, he decided to put his trust in this mysterious woman. "I am looking for a ce called ''Demon Grotto''. Do you know anything about it?" A strange, uneasy expression surfaced on the Leader''s face as soon as Aiden mentioned the name of the ce he was looking for. It was a mixture of shock and surprise with a tinge of sorrow as well. "Why are you looking for it?" She asked with forced calmness in her voice. She looked into the boy''s golden eyes, looking for hidden, unsaid clues. "Does it matter? I need to find that ce. As I said, if you can show where I can find the entrance to this ''Demon Grotto'', then and only then will I help you in return." Aiden responded calmly despite the Leader''s piercing, prating stare stered on him. The Leader did not answer immediately to Aiden''s offer. She turned back towards the window and silently gazed at the flow of people walking by, living their daily lives, oblivious to the struggles of those above them. They were happy and content as long as their own personal living wasn''t affected. They wouldn''t need to care about who governs the city, they only cared for their own wellbeing. The ones above them didn''t care about these ants either. "Could you answer me a question, that I have been wondering about for a while now?" The youth''s crisp voice woke her from her reverie. Turning around, she looked at the boy, with the previously friendly smile as she asked. "Sure, go ahead and do what you would like to know, I will do my best to alleviate your concerns." Aiden walked next to her and looked out at the window as well. Seeing the busy townsfolk, he asked after a moment. "Why isn''t the ruler of this kingdom, or the royal family appoint someone in ce of the previous City Lord? What is the need for all this hassle? I don''t understand. From what I heard, there are multiple candidates this time. Who will decide, and how?" Hearing the question, her previously forced friendly smile didn''t change, but at the same time, it had a qualitative improvement. From its previously fake, political curves, it became gentler, more honest. "That is an excellent question, Aiden! You see, while you are right and the Royal Family would indeed have the power in paper to simply appoint someone as the next one, they would earn the ire and contempt of the Nobles they so heavily rely upon. If they turn the powerful households against them, they could face a catastrophe or even full-on destruction. The royal lineage is powerful, but it''s not the only strong and ancient one." She looked at the boy who was focusing on her words with such focus, with such attention that she rarely has seen before. She smiled and continued. "The most powerful households in the kingdom are all ancient, very powerful bloodlines." "So, while the Royal Family lords over thend in theory, in reality, they heavily rely upon these noble households to keep their ce. So then doesn''t that mean that the true leaders are these powerful households? How many of them are there?" Aiden interjected. This whole situation about the kingdom seemed weird and tooplicated. Shouldn''t this be easier? The strong should rule over the weak. That''s what his instincts were telling him anyway. "Well, the fact is the Royal Family, the Draquileans are strong enough to contend against the four ancient bloodlines. They can''t win against them, but they wouldn''t necessarily lose either. The end wouldn''t be beneficial for either of them, so over time a sort of treaty, a pact was made. The Draquileans would be the ruling family, and the others would form a High Council." She exined, with a calm and delighted attitude, as if their previous discussion about Aiden''s offer hadn''t taken ce at all. "I still don''t understand how this is relevant to this current situation, or even how this ''council'' has any real power and hold against the Royal Family. If the royals are as strong as you say, then what sort of hold do these four strongest nobles can have against them?" Aiden asked again. This whole situation was way too convoluted. "The High Council is not just the four households. At least not anymore. It was in the past, but over time, it grew and the smaller, but still influential families have joined. While they do not have too much sway in terms of decision making, the Council does protect its members. And with thebined power they are slightly stronger than the Royals." The Leader answered with a knowing smirk. Looking at the boy, she waited just for a breaths'' time before continuing, "Before you ask, no, they have no interest in overthrowing them. If they would do that, then their alliance would immediately fall apart as all the ''Big Fours'' would want the number one spot. Even the small ones would want a piece of that pie. In the end, even if there would be a winner, it would be spent and would suffer heavy losses. The kingdom in turn would be weak and fragile, a prime target for all the surrounding countries to take a jab at us." As the look of understanding surfaced on the boy''s face, she continued with an even brighter smile. "You see, the current situation, this ''bnce'' if you would call it, is perfect. The Royals are strong so our neighbors would think twice before trying anything, and even if they would, the Council would immediately respond. But just as this can be a blessing, it is a curse as well. Because the two sides have roughly equal strength, the Royal Family had to make many concessions over the times. Some were tougher, harder than the others" She sighed as she gazed out at the window, not continuing her train of thought. After the momentary silence, she went on. "Anyway, the Royal Family can''t appoint their own men anymore, the Council would immediately interject. The result is that all those that have the necessary resources and power could contend for the City Lord position. The candidates would have to go and garner supporters behind them and state their case in a publicly held event a monthter. While this event would in theory only be where they would state their resources and power to the currently active City Council, the whole thing is usually just one big battle, where, in the end, there would be one candidate left standing." At this point, Aiden could now finally roughly guess what the Leader wanted. Still, with a small smile curving on his face, he spoke. "And this is where Ie into y, I presume?" The leader smiled wryly but still nodded in the end. "I''m going, to be honest here, Aiden. Yes, that''s the main reason I wanted you here. However, at the same time, I do honestly hope we could work together, even if this whole situation with the City Lord selection wouldn''t be, I would have still reached out to you after witnessing your actions." She once again looked out at the window, and with a much lower tone, she whispered, mostly to herself. "Although I might not be here in that case..." Giving it a brief pause, the Leader looked at Aiden, awaiting his response. Every card was out in the open by now, there was nothing left to be said. She could only hope he would ept. She was actually feeling vulnerable for the first time in many years. Her abilities had seemingly no effect on him, and even with her magical prowess she wasn''t confident in defeating the overwhelming might and unbelievable speed this youth showcased so far. To make matters worse, she was fairly certain that he didn''t put in his all at either time. A few seconds had passed in intense silence before the boy finally looked up. With a cheeky smirk on his face, he spoke. "I understand everything now. While in the end, none of these really matter to me, I can still help you. However, if you want my help, you will need to tell me everything you know about the Demon Grotto." Chapter 163 - 163 - Quest Picking "Hey, Aiden you''re finally back! You spent such a long time in the back!" A familiar and joyful voice could be heard from the hall as soon as the back office door opened. Shortly after a long ck haired youth stepped out. Mary, the brown curly-haired guild attendee was immediately startled when he saw the boy came back on his own. Dropping what she was currently doing and leaving the guy he was attending to hanging, he ran to Aiden''s side. With a slightly rosy cheek, she smiled and spoke jovially. "Aiden, you actually found your way back? I-i would havee and picked you up but I did not receive word that you were finished. D-did the two of you had a good time?" As she blurted out question after question, she also made sure to check the boy all over, to see if there were any signs of struggle. Seeing as there were no blemishes or wounds, nor were his hair any more ruffled than it already was, she sighed in relief. Aiden actually came back from meeting the Leader of the examinerspletely unharmed! She wouldn''t have dreamed of such an oue, she would have been contemptuous if he wouldn''t be too badly hurt. "Yes, we havee to an agreement. I will be assisting Miss Rox in the future." The boy answered with a friendly smile and cheerful attitude. Obviously, he was very happy, as he managed toe to an agreement with the strange and mysterious leader. She, who in the end introduced herself as Miss Sarah Rox, in the end, revealed that she had never heard about such a name before, but she indeed knew of a mystical area deep in the forest that could very well be what he was looking for. The ce was a closed-off valley where even the wildest, most fearsome beasts didn''t dare to set their foot upon. There was a barrier that seemed to protect the premises. As soon as you crossed over, it was as if you entered into apletely different world. The daylight would vanish, leaving only strange eerie darkness behind. If you would look up, you would only see a dark red, bloody sky. What was the most terrifying was the unnatural, guttural howls that you could hearing from deeper within. Nobody knew what lied deep within its depth, but people who came back reported sighting scarlet demonic eyes from the shadows. They said that the ce was cursed, demonic even. Miss Rox said that that''s the only ce that she could think of, but as she wasn''t sure she promised to send in a scouting team to see if there were any artificial caves in its depth. If there was then they could be certain that the ce they found was what Aiden was looking for. In turn, Aiden agreed to help her when they would need her help during the Selection event being held roughly in a month''s time. During that time, he would also be providing assistance for Miss Rox if the need would arise. As for additionalpensation, Aiden was to have free reign over what Quests he would be picking from the board and he would be free forming whatever groups he would wish without any restrictions that would be put upon any other that was newly established. All in all, while Aiden would need to participate in a pointless political struggle that he really didn''t want to be a part of, in return he would hopefully gain information about the ce he was desperately trying to locate and even be able to move with rtive freedom inside the guild. "Ah, t-that''s fine. Did you get hurt anywhere? I-i hope that nothing bad happened to you!" Mary stutteringly responded as she continued to look all over Aiden with concern. Aiden let the girl do her thing and check him out from head to toe before he looked at the girl and with a friendly smile he nodded. "Yes, everything is fine. We did not fight, we simply talked about interests. She wanted me to join her, and she asked what I would like in return. In the end, we came to an agreement, that''s all." With his thoughts said, he stepped away and began to walk to the madly waving Cole who already rushed to the front side of the receptionist''s desk, looking towards him with an expectant smile. Looking at Aiden''s back as he walked away, Mary was stunned for a moment by his words. Not about the agreement, but the fact that she referred to the Leader as "Miss". She didn''t even know all this time that the Leader was a woman. How would she know anyway? The Leader always wore a hood covering her facial features, while her robes hid her feminine features perfectly. As for her voice, it always sounded otherworldly, nobody was able to discern anything out of it other than it was really soothing to the heart and soul and melodious at the same time. Her reverie was broken when Aiden''s found rang in her ears. Shaking her head, she looked ahead, seeing how the boy was already at the other side of the desk waving at her with the same friendly smile as always. "Hey, Mary! Don''t just stand there,e help us. We would like to register our party and take up two quests from the board at the same time!" Shaking her head, she smiled as well and quickly ran back to the desk. "Sorry about that. I was just" She took a deep breath, to calm herself down. Taking a few seconds to collect her thoughts only then did she continue, with a much cooler tone. "It doesn''t matter, sorry. So, Aiden, Cole, what can I help you with?" Aiden looked at the boy next to him and nudged him forward. "Show her the papers you took!" He whispered into his ears. "Y-yeah, uhm" Cole nervously ced the two almostpletely crumpled pieces of paper on the desk, in front of Mary. With an elevated tone due to his anxiousness he spoke. "W-we would like to take these quests together as a new party. W-we would be the members. C-could you register us please?" Taking both papers, Mary silently looked them over for a while before he finally looked up and nodded. "Yes, these should be okay. So, you two would be taking this on as a new party? Have you decided on a name?" "Uhm, we don''t have one" Cole answered embarrassedly while averting his gaze and looking towards the ground. Why didn''t he think of a name while waiting for Aiden? How could he be this stupid?! "Mary, could you just create the party with our names? As per our agreement with Miss Rox, I should have-" Aiden began to calmly answer, but he was interrupted by a hoarse yell from behind. "Hold it right there! Our group will take those quests. Attendant, register it under the Bloody Dagger party!" A dumpy, rough-looking man with an unkempt, stubbled face stepped forward. Behind him, a group of four-man garbed in dark leather armor and a pair of daggers on each of their sides were looking viciously at the duo. Looking at the approaching man, Mary looked at the man with fright in her eyes. Taking a moment once again, she exhaled to collect herself and spoke with a weaker voice. "B-but Mr. Ross, both quests were already picked up by Mr. Pharas here. By right, they have the right to register it under their name, and unless they willingly gave it to you, you can''t forcibly interfere." Hearing the attendant''s words, the man frowned. However, he waved at his man who then promptly surrounded both boys, looking at them with eyes full of cruelty. It was clear that they didn''t think too much about the duo. After all, they both looked fragile, weak boys. Nothingpared to their experienced group of ruffians. "Oh, don''t worry about that Miss. I am sure that both young men will be wise and know that these quests would be too much for them to handle alone. Besides, they don''t even have a group yet, how could they take these two on?" He turned around, looking at the terrified Cole and the strangely calm looking unknown youth. He looked at the ck-haired youth with puzzled eyes, did he not understand the gravity of the situation they were in? Is he an idiot? Nevertheless, he quickly regained his wit, and with a fake smile, he pped his hands, grabbing the attention of both. While Cole had the expression he wanted, the other boy''s nonchnt attitude started to irk him quite a bit. Still, he kept it in as he was sure he will have many opportunities to teach him ''manners'' soon. "So, what do you two say, we would temporarily allow you both to join us, and we canplete these challenging tasks together! That way, we could also show you how things are done, and you could gain some valuable experience! Doing these two quests alone could cause you unexpected harm!" Although he was smiling, his eyes had a cruel, menacing glint in them that didn''t escape Aiden''s attention. Aiden''s lips curved into a small smile as he thought of an idea. Chapter 164 - 164 - The Hunter And The Prey (Part 1) "What do you-" Cole wanted to retort but was cut short as he felt Aiden''s hand on his shoulders pulling him back. Looking back, he saw him smiling and shaking his head. There was a strange glint in his eyes, that radiated confidence. Although he wanted to fight for their rights, seeing his friend''s confident expression, he decided to trust him, and stepped back, letting Aiden take the lead. Cole could hope that the boy knew what he was doing, this group didn''t seem like good people, they all had that aura of cruelty surrounding them. "So, you would like us to join you guys toplete these two 1-star quests? Why would we do that? What''s in it for us? Why would you care for such easy quests, there are other, much more rewarding ones out on the board." Aiden calmly inquired. There was no hint of fear in his expression, irking the leader more by the minute. "Our humble group is an experienced group. You may be new here so we can''t me you for not knowing, but the Bloody Dagger is just a bit shy away from being ready for the rank-up! Our members are all almost considered veterans, being almost ready to rank up to 2-stars themselves, while my humble self" His face revealed a haughty expression as he proudly announced his own status. "I am already a Rank 2!" "Now, do you understand why it is your incredible luck that we noticed you two newbies and were kind enough to offer our assistance?" The leader looked at the two younglings confidently. He expected the look of awe and wonder on their faces and was already haughtilyughing inside. However, when he looked at both of them, he saw no changes in their expressions. The ck, long-haired, and unruly, wild-looking golden-eyed youth had the same nonchnt, unnaturally calm attitude, while the short brown-haired one stood a step behind, hiding behind his friend. Although he had a tinge of fear shing through his eyes, as soon as he looked at the other one he got noticeably calmer. "Excuse me, Mr. Ross, but your group has no right to-" Mary wanted to intervene and tell the fact that Aiden held special privileges but was also cut short with Aiden raising his hand in the air. "It''s okay Mary, there''s no problem here. Thank you for your concern, I appreciate it!" Aiden turned to the side, looking at Mary, he gently whispered. Then, he turned and faced the rough, scruffy leader of this band of ruffians. With a friendly smile, he calmly suggested. "I don''t really think that these two quests would be adequate for a teaching session. If you truly wish to help us, why don''t your group also pick up a 2-star request that we could do alongside these two? Meanwhile, I and my friend here will register these under our name, and then we can do all together. This way, nobody will vite any guild regtions and we will all benefit from each other. What do you say, oh wise leader?" Taking a moment to digest the boy''s words, the leader looked at his cronies. The same cruel grin shed through their faces that quickly returned to the knowing and friendly-looking smile, as they silently nodded at each other, epting the boy''s suggestion. After all, this would actually go along perfectly with their n. They could get the rewards from all three quests, reach the rank-up for all of their members, and for their group as a whole, immediately jumping up to the higher-ups in terms of power in the guild. Understanding this, the smile on the leader''s face curved even higher. He looked at the wild-looking ck-haired boy and nodded while also extending his right hand towards him. "I agree, that sounds like a fine n boy. The name''s Jack Ross, the leader of the Bloody Dagger and a Rank 2 adventurer. Since you will be rolling with us for this small adventure, you can just call me Boss, like the others, so there''s no confusion." "Nice to meet you, Mr. Ross. I am Aiden, and my friend behind me is Cole. I just registered yesterday, and Cole is also rtively new. We will be in your care for the rest of the day." He bowed and epted the offered hand, slightly shaking it making sure he did not show any real strength. "Great, then we will go and pick a 2-star quest that could be done in the same area as the two you guys picked. Wait for us here, we''ll be back in a moment!" As he said, his group was already on the board. Seeing how the group got out of hearing range, both Mary and Cole immediately raised their concerns and bombarded Aiden with their questions. "What are you doing Aiden? They are clearly out for you two! Do they want to hurt you? Why didn''t you tell them that you are also a Rank 2? They will try to hurt and rob you while also iming credit for your quests! Why are you so reckless?!" Mary eximed in an agitated and concerned tone. She had a worried look on her face. "Yeah, Aiden, why are we trying to join them? They clearly want to rob us of all we have!" Cole added with the same worried expression. In return, Aiden simply smiled at the two, before he cooly exined. "Don''t worry you two, I am perfectly aware of their intentions. You don''t need to worry, everything is under control." Then he pushed the two crumpled pieces of paper towards Mary, as he stated. "Could you please register these two under our new party?" "C-certainly! G-give me just a moment Aiden!" Mary responded while trying to hide his blushing cheeks. She quickly got to work, and rushed to the back, vanishing through the office door. Not even a minute had passed as the door opened once again, and she rushed back,pletely out of breath. Taking a moment to catch and collect herself, she huffed for a bit before nodding with a flushed face. "I-it''s done. T-the quests are registered to you two." As soon as she said that, Aiden''s expression froze, only to reveal a strange grin a momentter. While Cole did not see as he was behind him, Mary immediately blushed even harder, thinking that he was smiling at her for doing such a good job. She couldn''t speak and had to avert her gaze otherwise risking of fainting on the spot under his mesmerizingly beautiful eyes. The real reason that Aiden was grinning was because at the moment he heard that the quests were now officially registered under their name, the System immediately reacted, creating two new notifications for him. Opening up the notifications his theory was immediately confirmed; the two guild requests spawned two system-generated, optional missions for him toplete and receive additional rewards! [New Optional Quest: Gather Hydros Flower Buds Difficulty: F-E Objective: Collect Intact White Flower Buds from Hydros nts (0/10) Optional:Consume Intact White Flower Buds for Analysis (0/3) Rewards: 100 XP] [New Optional Quest: Gather Thorny Forest Frog Gall dders Difficulty: F-E Objective: Gather Thorny Forest Frog''s Gall dders (0/6) Optional: Consume Thorny Forest Frog''s Gall dders for Analysis (0/3) Rewards: 100 XP] Seeing the text, Aiden really couldn''t help but grin with happiness. Although the rewards weren''t groundbreaking, they were still free Points that he would get forpleting the Guild assigned quest. Additionally, not to mention there were optional benefits for analyzing both ingredients, there were no punishments for notpleting or failing the quest! Finally, something that would only offer him a choice but not threaten him with death or punishment for notpleting it! He couldn''t help but grin stupidly for several seconds, before gaming back his awareness when the Bloody Dagger group came back with boisterousughter and mmed a piece of paper in front of Mary. Their leader, the "Boss", Jack looked at the still embarrassed Mary, and with a haughty and smug look on his face, he loudly eximed. "Attendant, quick, go and register this one to our group! Remember, Bloody Dagger!" Mary took the paper and quickly scanned through it. Her face changed as he read through the description, from embarrassment to a frown than to a frightened expression, eventually settling with a milder, worried look. She alternated looking at Aiden and the Bloody Dagger''s leader as she asked to confirm their choice. "Are you sure you want to take this on? Umm, it could be dangerous, you know. While it is posted as a 2-star quest, it can actually be considered a 3-star one. These monsters are very vicious and alwayse in packs!" Hearing her words, the leader simply shrugged his shoulders and dismissed her. "Don''t question our decision bitch! Just do your job and register it as you should! Now go, chop-chop! We can''t waste all day standing here listening to you yapping!" His words were cruel and hurtful, but Mary did not seem to take it on. She looked at Aiden and Cole with worry, before sighing and turning around to go to the back door. Meanwhile, a sh of golden light, a small, miniature spark zapped through Aiden''s eyes. He clenched his fists for a moment. The sounds of his jolts cracking could be heard. Chapter 165 - 165 - The Hunter And The Prey (Part 2) Aiden took a few breaths to calm his raging heart down. It was not the right time yet. As his eyes were closed, nobody noticed when they began to glow nor when the light faded, and it returned to their exotic-looking but an otherwise normal state. "So, what quest did you guys pick?" He asked, changing the subject. Meanwhile, he also nodded towards Mary with a smile, who, understanding the notion, smiled back with a thankful expression, and turned to leave towards the back office door with the quest paper in her hands. "Nothing too difficult, don''t worry. It''s just some monster hunting request." The leader of the group, Jack replied with a fake smile. It was clear he didn''t want to borate on the matter and wanted to move on to another topic. "What about you guys? Did you guys regist-" Unfortunately for them, Aiden didn''t want to leave the matter at that. Interrupting Jack''s words, Aiden asked again. "What quest did you guys pick? The attendant seemed worried that it''s not that simple of a request."His voice was calm, but towards the end, there was a barely noticeable, underlying coldness in his tone. While his demeanor hasn''t changed, his words still sent chills down the group''s spines. Jack gritted his teeth, and while some veins seemed to bulge on his temple, he swallowed his annoyance and anger and forced to keep the smile on his face. It took him a bit, but he managed to answer with rtive cool in his tone. "It doesn''t matter, kid. It''s just some semi-intelligent species of fish-like humanoids that live in and around water. They want us to quell their numbers a bit, nothing more." "And you are sure you can handle them? Based on what I heard they could prove troublesome, even for your experienced group. Are you not afraid of losing someone?" Aiden continued his questioning, not minding the ugly stares he received from the members. "Tsk!" Jack clicked his tongue in annoyance. He could barely hold back his anger anymore. He had to take several seconds in silent forced contemtion to mask his bubbling rage before he could respond. "Don''t worry. We are all experienced with these creatures and know how they operate. You two just need to follow our lead and listen to ourmands and nothing bad will happen. On the contrary, you two will have the chance to learn from this encounter and be much stronger as a result!" With a surprised expression on his face, Aiden''s friendly smile that seemed to be a constant resident on his face curved slightly higher. He slightly bowed showing his ''gratitude''. "Ooooh, I see! I can only thank you for kindness then. Once we are all done here, we could head out, and do all three quests in one go, right?" Seeing the boy''s naive smile, calmed his anger by a considerable margin. With the same fiendish smile on their faces, Jack and his group smiled back at the boy. "No problem, it is our duty as veterans to assist the young and inexperienced!" At this moment, the back office door opened, and Mary came out with a much calmer appearance as before. She smiled brightly at Aiden, as she walked back and only gave a momentary apathetic nce at the group before speaking. "The rank 2 quest has been registered under the ''Bloody Dagger'' group.Aiden, you and Cole will also receive credit from it when youplete it, so don''t worry!" Aiden once again nodded at the girl. "Thank you, Mary. Cole and I wille back in the afternoon to credit these to our name and finalize the creation of our group! Hope we can meet again then!" Desperately trying to mask the rosy tint on her cheeks, she responded with an averted gaze. "S-sure! I will be waiting for you!" All the time, shepletely ignored Jack and his group, she only talked and looked at Aiden, slightly irking the group in the process. However, thinking about the two prey that will be walking with them, made Jack quickly ignore this. He looked at the boys, and with the fake, friendly-looking smirk that he tried presenting as a smile, he spoke. His tone was forced, as he tried his best to make himself present as a friendly expert trying to help the younglings. "So, are you two ready to head out? We should go as soon as we can so we could finish before nightfall!" Cole, who did not speak but continued to hide behind Aiden all this time, looked nervously at Aiden, waiting for a response. To his surprise, Aiden continued to remain calm and collected, as if everything was within his calctions. Aiden nodded at the question, and as he responded, he slowly and casually began walking towards the Guild''s entrance. "Sure, we are ready. Come on you guys, let''s head out! We have quests toplete!" Seeing his receding figure, Cole quickly rushed after him. Shortly behind, the group of 5, the Bloody Dagger followed, cruel grins on their faces as they looked at the two unsuspecting prey walking in front of them. --- "Aaand that''s 4! Great job Cole!" Aiden cheered at the brown-haired huffing boy who just fell down on the ground,pletely exhausted from his earlier battle. He fought one on one against the brown,rge frog-like monster. The beast resembled an oversizedmon toad, only that it had bone-like protrusions all over the back of his body. It wasn''t overly strong or dangerous, as long as you were careful and avoided its relentless jumping attacks. Aiden and the group that hase with could have easily deal with the beasts, but Cole wanted to at least contribute with 1 kill without any help. He didn''t want to rely on others for all the work, he would never be able to learn from it and grow stronger. Still, the fight took everything he had and then some. He was overly exhausted, he lied down on the ground while huffing heavily. He closed his eyes, but a satisfied smile curved her lips. "I I did it! I killed one Aiden!" he spoke in between two heavy breaths. "Yes, you were incredible! Now, leave the rest to us, you just rest up, okay?" Aiden smiled at his new friend. His fight was honest, and after witnessing his style, he could now safely say that he had no bad intentions towards him. He turned towards the group of five, that stayed a step behind them silently measuring both of them. With a questioning gaze, and an innocent-sounding tone he asked them. "Why are you standing there? Aren''t you the experienced veterans? Shouldn''t you be showing us how to properly do these quests?" Hearing the question, the group looked at each other with a predatory grin on their faces. They knowingly nodded at each other, they slowly circled around the two, entrapping them. They all slowly pulled their daggers and entered a battle-ready state. Their leader, Jack, finally shed the mask of the kind veteran and revealed his true self. His ruffled, unscrupulous face morphed into a cruel, vicious grin. He licked his lips and raised his daggers pointing at Aiden. "Don''t take this the wrong way boy, we truly want to teach you both some a lesson. A much needed one about the cruelty of life!" He and his groupughed at his words and at the two unlucky sods they are about to rob. Theirughter was loud and unrestrained,pletely ignoring the fact that their despicable act was taking ce in daylight and just a couple miles away from the rood and the city. Hearing theirughter, Cole set up nervously, reaching for the short sword that was lying next to him on the ground. As he grabbed the hilt and pulled the weapon closer, Aiden''s calm voice resounded in his ears, almost making him jump in fright as he startled him. "Don''t worry, just stay still and watch the show. The reason I wanted them toe with us, was to get their quest as well. That way we can cash in a Rank 2 quest for free. These idiots pose no threat to us!" Expecting the boys to be shivering in fright, the leader was shocked to see that the bronze-skinned, ck long-haired youth was still staring at him with a calm, collected expression on his face. His exotic, golden eyes had no hint of fear in them. He looked at him as if he was looking at a poor idiot. This contemptuous look irked him to no end, and with his ns already being revealed, he no longer restrained himself. He looked at his men, and with unmasked anger in his voice, he loudly shouted. "Men, let''s go and beat them up! Let''s cut a few fingers while we''re at it, and let''s leave them as bait for the Sahuagin!" With that, we can get the credit for all three quests, and finally have the chance to rank up!" Chapter 166 - 166 - The Sahuagin As the beautiful orange sun''s rays reflected on the des held by the group of five, they looked at each other once more with a cruel, predatory glint in their eyes. In the next moment, as if onmand, with loud, raging battle cries, the Blood Dagger adventurer''s group began their charge with weapons first at the two boys. Two at the left charged at Cole while the rest, including the leader aimed at Aiden. Seeing as how the man was closing in, Aiden smirked, then in the next moment, he simply vanished. Startled by this development, Jack and the two thugs halted their steps, looking at the empty spot he stood a moment ago with confusion. Suddenly, a painful shriek hit their earsing from the left. Looking at the source of the noise, they saw Aiden''s figure blur and seemingly warp back into reality at the same as the two thugs that were aiming for Aiden were suddenly flung back into the air. The sound of bones cracking could be heard as they rocketed with high speeds towards the nearby river, only to fall below into the clear blue surface a secondter. Shocked and frightened by this turn of events, they looked in horror as their friends emerged from below the surface and desperately try to swim their way back to the riverbank. Their attempt to escape the deathtrap they all knew the river meant was futile. 6 blueish membranous hands came from below and grabbed on the frightened rogues, pulling them back. As their ribs were shattered by the hammer-like impact they received from the ck-haired youth they couldn''t cry out for help, they only managed to rattle garbled words that vaguely resemble something simr to ''HELP!''. They gave onest despaired look at the remaining three, as they were pulled below the surface. The bubbling watery surface quickly died down, returning to its peaceful state in mere seconds. Stunned by what just happened, Jack and his remaining twopanions, looked at the river with wide-open eyes. As the ck-haired youth slowly turned around, and the same cruel grin that they all had a moment ago was revealed on his face, they instinctively took a step backward. Meanwhile, Cole who just witnessed the ''true'' power of Aiden, could only stare at him with shock in his eyes. "W-what have you done?! Just what are you?! H-how can you be so strong?!" With a shaky voice and hands, Jack pointed his right dagger-holding hand towards the boy. His two mates were already another step behind, still nervously holding their daggers but not daring to charge or attack anymore. "What do you mean? Didn''t you want to teach us a lesson a moment ago? Where''s your fire now?" Looking at the frightened trio, Aiden slowly began to approach them. His eyes were glowing brightly, radiating their golden hue. Despite his grinning expression, his voice kept his unnaturally calm, cool tone. "N-no S-stay away from us you... M-monster! Y-you are not human!" The approaching terror that this young boy suddenly meant, Jack took another step back. Hispanions followed behind. Seeing as how the boy kept approaching, they couldn''t hold theirposure any longer. The trio threw their weapons away, and turned around, and rushed towards the safety that the road meant. Unfortunately, before they could cross any meaningful distance, the boy''s figure flickered and appeared a few steps in front of them. He raised his arms to the air as if inviting them into a hug. His cruel grin turned to a strange friendly one, as he looked at them. "Why are you running away? Do you want to leave us alone to go against these Rank 2 creatures? Shouldn''t you be showing us how it''s done? No You can''t leave yet!" His figure flickered again. Just as his still blurry silhouette appeared right in front of them, they felt a hammer-like strike against their chest. As the pain began to spread and they could hear their own ribs cracking under the pressure, they could also feel as breathing suddenly became a chore. With a splintered bone seemingly ripping a hole in their lungs, they didn''t even register the fact they were on-course in the air towards the watery surface just like theirpanions a moment ago. Everyone, besides Jack, who was pushed down the ground and forced to watch as theirpanions, friends and mates were flung to their doom. Regret and anger filled his mind. He knew that they were all doomed. Still, he couldn''t ept the fact that a fragile, weak bronze-skinned, brown-haired, golden-eyed youngster was their reaper. No. This rookie, this Rank 1 newbie how could they all die to him?! There must be something else at y! "T-this" He fought to push out the words. He was in great pain. While his ribs were not shattered, he couldn''t make a movement. The boy''s leg, albeit it looked thin and powerless, held him in ce perfectly. He felt a great pressure pushing against his spine where the feet and his own back met. Feeling the squirming fellow below his feet, Aiden looked down. With the smile and the golden glowing eyes, he looked like something straight out of a nightmare to Jack. In a calm tone, as if nothing strange had happened a moment ago Aiden spoke. "What''s the matter? Aren''t you going to teach us how this cruel world works? Why are you acting like this and going against your word?" As he asked, he also slightly increased the pressure he exerted against Jack''s spine, but he made sure not to go overboard. At least not yet. Under the heightened pressure, Jack felt immense pain. First, he tried to hold it in and fight against it, but soon he couldn''t bear it any longer. Looking up towards the sky, he loudly began to cry. His garbled voice carried his grief, pain, and anger. Although Aiden could make out most of the words, he still looked down once again and increased the pressure once more. Slight cracking noises could be heard, as some of the ribs began to give in to the increased weight. Aiden looked down at Jack and asked again. "What were you saying? So, Jack, leader of the Bloody Dagger please let us listen to your teaching and exin to us, what are these creatures, and why are they so dangerous?" Meanwhile, as Aiden spoke, Cole has made their way toward him. He was still frightened and shocked by all that happened, but he didn''t fear the boy. On the contrary, he felt safe with him. These vile, cruel people wanted to use him as bait and kill him toplete their quest and also steal their credit. Although he was still new, he already heard of simr stories, and also experienced the ugliness of the world. Tightly gripping the handle of his short sword, he stood behind the calm and collected Aiden, who simply smiled at him as he arrived before returning his glowing gaze at the men below his feet. "So? Speak!" He once again pushed on his back. Another round of cracking could be heard as several more of Jack''s ribs gave in to the incredible pressure. Jack''s pain-filled cry reverberated all around, he uncontrobly sobbed and wept, no longer showing the expression of an experienced warrior. Under his never-ending cries, the watery surface started to bubble, startling the two youngsters. The initial calm surface popped one air-filled bubble. In the next moment, another three came, then it underwent a rapid increment as the surface began to frenziedly seethe simr to how boiling water would act. Shaking his head in contempt, Aiden spoke with a disdainful voice looking at the leader of the bandits. "That wasn''t very smart Jack. For someone that is supposedly Rank 2, and with SO much experience to make such a stupid mistake I guess you can only serve onest purpose now." With that, he increased the pressure onest time and snapped the man''s spine. As the man cried out Aiden lifted his leg, only to kick him away closer to the riverbank. He looked back at Cole, and with a troubled expression, he spoke. His voice carried concern and worry as he looked at his newly made friend. "Sorry you had to see all this, but scum like these makes me lose myself. I understand if you don''t want to party up with me anymore, but at the very least let''splete these quests. Okay?" "N-No I mean yes I mean, I''m not afraid of you, I" Cole nervously shook then nodded his head trying to find the best way to express himself. In the end, his words froze in him when he saw the water''s surface fiercely bubble, and shortly 6 blue small heads resembling fish heads emerge. Shortly after, their short humanoid but fish-scaled blue slimy bodies followed. They all held a spear-like weapon in their hands that seemed to be made from some fish-bones instead of wood and stone, and with theirrge, ck, sclera-less eyes, they approached the weeping Jack who was already on his deathbed. As they surrounded him, Jack let out onest despaired cry as they stabbed him, ending his miserable existence. Chapter 167 - 167 - Stabbed Even after he died, the strange humanoid-shaped, fish-headed creatures continued to hack and stab Jack''s dead body. Only after his carcass turned into a mangled mess did they stop their relentless assault. Two of them picked up the shredded remains, and pulled it back into the watery surface, soon descending into its depths. With that, the remaining four suddenly turned towards Aiden and Cole, looking at the youths with theirrge, ck eyes. As they had no eyelids to blink, nor sclera to discern where their pupils would point at, it just made their gazes all the more ufortable. Cole shivered in fright looking at the horrendous creatures and instinctively took a step back while he continued to nervously hold and grip the hilt of his shortsword. Feeling his fright, Aiden looked at Cole with a gentle smile on his face and spoke in his usual calm tone. This time, however, there was no cold undertone. "Don''t worry, as long as I am here, they will not harm you. If you want, you can stay behind and I will deal with them." As he spoke, he began his slow-paced march towards the creatures. His fingers were contorted to a weird w-like poise, ready to pounce and rip once he gets the chance or reaches melee range. "Wait! I-I" Seeing Aiden walking towards the enemy, he felt ashamed at his own inability to stand against the enemy like his friend. How could he let this newly made friend of his face the enemy alone? He took a deep breath, storing it in his diaphragm for a bit, he slowly began to exhale. Although his nerves couldn''t really calm down, and he couldn''t rx like he would have preferred to, he still managed to gather enough willpower to take that important first step and follow behind Aiden. "I I will not let you do this alone Aiden! I will help you, we are a team after all!" He spoke with a shaky but determined tone. "Uhm." Aiden nodded, his gaze did not leave the weary enemy that until this point did not make any sudden movements. Still, based on their posture and stance, they were ready to pounce if the duo continued their approach. "By the way Do you know what do we need to gather from these, to prove that wepleted the quest? I never checked the Quest Details, and we can''t check the leader''s possessions any more" Aiden asked, as they continued to slowly, but steadily pace closer and closer to the humanoid fish creatures. "Uhm Judging from their appearance, these creatures should be Fish Heads. Sorry, Sahuagin! They are primitive monsters Strange thing is that they shouldn''t appear in a river like this, and this close to a human settlement." Cole answered with a hesitant tone. Sahuagins was an aquatic, predatory race that usually took residence in the depths of oceans, seas, andrger mostly undergroundkes. While sunlight didn''t hurt them, they preferred the dark. Theirrge ck eyeballs gave them Night Vision, something slightly simr to Aiden''s [Dark Sense] skill with the main difference being is that it was a sight skill and not a sensing ability. They could see in the dark, and not sense presences, it was something simr to a sort of echolocation. While the official term for them was Sahuagin, they were usually referred to as Sea Devils or Fish Heads. Their bodies had varied sizes, with most of them being on a simr height as themon goblins, small, shorter than the average human, although their species had a wider range in terms of height, with some stronger subspecies reaching almost 2 meters. They had dark bluish or dark green colored skins, that were usually darker on the back and a shade lighter around their bellies. Their hands and feet were not too surprisingly webbed as they spent most of their time underwater. Variations of the species could have additional webbing over their back, elbows or some could even sport a fin-like tail. Judging from the group, it seemed that the number of variations had a corrtion with their spot in their hierarchy. They were evil, vicious predators and savage fighters. Inside their wide and powerful jaws sat long, sharp fangs they often used in battle. While they weren''t overly strong, they knew no fear and would fight until the very end. They often used some sort of poison on their weapon to give them that required edge to ovee muchrger and stronger foes. As the duo reached a sufficient distance, the middle Sahuagin raised his spear that seemed to be made out of some aquatic beasts bones, and let out a gurgling battle cry towards the sky. Following his shout, the water surface bubbled again and the two that left just a few moments ago walked out looking at Aiden and Cole with their unreadable, emotionless eyeballs. "Well We can figure out what to gather for the creditter, right now, we have to fight them!" Cole continued as he raised his sword in front of him, entering a defensive posture. The golden luster returned to Aiden''s eyes as he scanned through the group of 6 fish-like humanoids. As Cole was behind him, he decided to not transform, at least for now, and instead of holding his hands in a wing gesture, he clenched them into fists. He did not respond to Cole''s remark, but instead, he activated his [Mystic Martial Arts] skill. He suddenly felt the flow of his own inner energy more intensely. Guiding some of it towards his fists, Cole noticed as Aiden''s fists began to emit a faint, colorless light. The light gradually intensified, soon surrounding Aiden''s bare fists akin to a glove made out of energy. The Sahuagin didn''t back down, instead, the leader pointed the boney head of its spear towards Aiden and released another loud gurgling shout. In the next moment, all six of them pounced forward, lounging themselves against the bronze-skinned boy. The abrupt change in their status quo startled the inexperienced Cole, who could only raise the sword slightly forward ready to deflect the iing attack. Aiden did not back down despite having five of the 6 focusing on him. His figure suddenly blurred, as he flickered. In the next instant, his right fist collided with the closest creature releasing a loud blustering sound in the form of a sonic shockwave, thwarting the trajectory of the other four airborne creatures and throwing them slightly off-course. His arms tore through the creature''s scaled body, leaving arge gaping hole on its chest as it was thrown on the ground. Despite its scales being slightly stronger and sturdier than the mostmonly used leather breasttes, his chest was shattered without offering any meaningful resistance. It wriggled on the ground for a bit more before its soul shortly left its body, leaving behind a dead carcass. Although one of theirpanions was instantly killed, that didn''t seem to affect the remaining creatures at all, it seemed to even drive them into a maddened frenzy. Cole was already struggling to keep up with the single opponent and defend against its relentless blows, but now as the speed and even power of its swings and blows increased by a substantial margin, he could barely hold on. He felt the aching pain all over his body, his arms began to go numb. He used all of his willpower, and gritted his teeth, not letting out any sound. He continued to hold on, and hoped that somehow, they could ovee this hellish situation. Back to Aiden who was now surrounded by the four remaining creatures, with the one in front of him being the supposed leader. Adding to the webbed feet and legs, he was seemingly almost a full head taller than the rest of itspanions, with a small, webbed protrusion on its elbows signaling its higher social standing. Even its weapon, the spear had a slight variation in color. While the rest had bone-white weapons, the tip of its spear was of a more natural, slightly yellowish color. Not waiting for their second charge, Aiden charged against the creature, andunched himself in the air, pouncing towards the leader. His right arm cocked slightly back, he was ready to punch when he suddenly felt a stinging paining from both of his sides. Gritting his teeth, he continued with his movement, and punched forward, although with less power and momentum than he initially nned. With the power behind the strike significantly lowered, it was no longer threatening to the Sahuagin. It raised its spear sideways epting the blow head-on. As the fist and the hilt of the spear collided, the attack still released a ring of energy that pushed both sides slightly back. As they separated, Aiden looked down, noticing as the tips of two bone-white spears were pushed even deeper inside his body. A stinging pain, followed by some searing pain rang through his body. He felt some sizzling reactioning from the tip of the spears that seemed to quickly die down. Suddenly notifications began to ring and pop up, one after another, causing him to smirk when he quickly nced at the contents of the first message. [Unknown poison has entered the body that had been neutralized by your [Poison Resistance]. 50 XP has been granted to the skill: [Poison Resistance]] Chapter 168 - 168 - Fight [Unknown poison has entered the body that had been neutralized by your [Poison Resistance]. 50 XP has been granted to the skill: [Poison Resistance]] . . . [You have received damage, your condition has deteriorated!] . . . [Current Condition: 95%] . . . [Unknown poison has entered the body that had been neutralized by your [Poison Resistance]. 50 XP has been granted to the skill: [Poison Resistance]] . . . [You have received damage, your condition has deteriorated!] . . . [Current Condition: 90%] Although the sizzling reaction had died down, and the searing pain has been numbed, the stinging feeling has not left his body. Keeping his attention on the leader of these aquatic humanoid monsters, he reached to the two bone spears in his sides and snapped the weapons in half, leaving the tip of both spears embedded in him. Gritting his teeth, due to the pain, his body flickered away, reappearing a few meters behind, creating a bit of space. He quickly nced down, looking at the wound on his right than the one on his left. Grabbing the tip of the spears that were still etched in him, in one quick, swift motion he pulled them out. Once again, notifications rang in his mind, informing him of the obvious oue. [You have received damage, your condition has deteriorated!] . . . [Current Condition: 85%] . . . [You have received damage, your condition has deteriorated!] . . . [Current Condition: 80%] This wasn''t the first time he was hurt during battle, but that still didn''t make it any better. As the pain continued to radiate throughout his body, his golden glowing eyes began to darken. Rage and anger began to boil, threatening to ovee his sanity once again. The golden irises slowly, gradually turned crimson. While the white marble-like sclera turned charcoal ck. He continued to grit his teeth, turning towards the struggling Cole he yelled out, in an already much lower-toned, almost growling voice. "I''m sorry, Cole" While he startled by the strange tone, the brown-haired boy who was doing his very best to keep deflecting the relentless frenzied blows of the lone Sahuagin that assaulted him, he couldn''t avert his attention. He yelled back whilst keeping his focus on the webbed ws of his opponent, blocking the blows with the de of his weapon. "What are you saying? What''s with your voice?! Just hold on, and try your best, Aiden! I know you can do it!" His ragepletely engulfing his mind, Aiden roared towards the sky. The thunderous power that came out of him reverberated all around in the entire field. Apanied by this release of power, his draconic aurapletely unfolded, putting sudden, invisible pressure on every living being, except for Cole. Aiden''s arms rapidly changed, golden scales began to appear above his skin. His fingers became denser, and long, thick ebony ws grow from their tips. Luckily, he managed to grab hold of his emotions before he wouldpletely lose control and transform entirely, so his tail and wings didn''t rip apart his clothes. He snickered at the four Sahuagin in front of him, who turned sluggish, a huge contrast to their previous frenzied selves. Aiden''s figure vanished once more, reappering in front of the leader with his right w already mid-air swinging towards the throat of the creature. Meanwhile, Cole was surprised to see that sudden change in his opponent''s action. The relentless assault he could barely hold up against suddenly calmed down. The strong blows became weak and frail. Whilst the creature''s expression didn''t change, and there was no trace of fear on its face, it no longer looked terrifying. Despite the big change in its demeanor, Cole wasn''t going to give it any chance, changing from defense to offense he began his own assault and began madly swinging against the chest of the solo Sea Devil, trying to hack and sh it to pieces. The creature was shaking, his arms moved at a snail''s pace,pletely unable to block any of the blows. While most of the blows were deflected by his sturdy scale, Cole quickly adapted, and changed from the armored torso towards the much lighter colored belly area. His idea, that hopefully the scales weren''t that thick as in other regions on his body, was turned to be fruitful, as, after a few attempts, he finally grazed past the skin and made an ugly wound. Blueish thick viscous liquid began to slowly slither down. The creature angrily and loudly gurgled against Cole and began to raise both of his webbed ws in the air in slow motion, still affected by Aiden''s thick aura. Seeing the action, Cole wasn''t afraid anymore, he continued to rapidly hack deeper and deeper into the creature. While Cole''s heroic struggle turned around, Aiden was in the middle of what could only be described as brutal ughter. When he reappeared in front of the leader of these creatures, his ws struck down. Hebined the effects of his transformed state and further amplified its power with [Mystic Martial Arts]. The result was unsurprisingly brutal. He easily sliced through the scales, meat and even the bones of the creates, leaving a deep gashing and deadly wound. As his ck ws ripped its vocal cords, the leader immediately let go of its spear and tried grabbing its throat. Instinctively it tried to block the hole as if that could save him from his impending doom. It fell on its knees and a secondter it was already lying on the ground. Its dark, blueish blood continued to ooze from its body, further painting the ground. Aiden didn''t stop with one swing, both of his arms were already traveling in their new arc, rapidly approaching the two monsters on the side. These two were the creatures who managed to cause him damage, not to mention even attempting to poison him. While the creatures were still under the stunning effect of hispletely unfolded draconic aura, the reaping ws passed through the thick, sturdy chest scales with ease. The sound of flesh being ripped apart and bones breaking could be heard as Aiden reached for their insides, looking for the orbs that provided life and power to these monstrous existences. Creatures once reaching a certain power level and gather enough energy inside them, could go through evolution by transforming their own hearts into an Energy Orb, a Core that would from then on serve as both the heart and pumping that quintessential blood while also functioning as a sort of battery to power their unnatural abilities. Sahuagin were evolved existences, so they would naturally have a Monster Orb inside their bodies. As Aiden reached deeper, he suddenly felt the crystalline surface. His mouth curved, as he grinned at the struggling creatures. In the next moment, he grabbed each orb, and with a sudden motion, he ripped it out of their bodies. The Sahuagin''s bodies immediately turned lifeless, and without any struggle, they fell down to the ground with a loud thump. While there was one of the initial four still standing, it was no longer any threat. It desperately tried to struggle, but under Aiden''s powerful aura, it could only stand still, awaiting its due justice. As he kept holding the orbs in his hands, Aiden had multiple thoughts racing through his mind. He wanted to absorb them, but he also wanted to try crushing them However, he suddenly remembered that they needed some undeniable proof about the culling of these creatures, and these orbs could be the proof they needed. Deciding to ask Cole about the matterter, he stored them in his System''s inventory. With the decision made, the two dark blue crystal balls suddenly vanished from his wed hands. He turned his attention to the only creature that was still standing and wed at his throat just like he did for their leader. A momentter as his body fell to the ground amidst a loud gurgling cry, the glow in his eyes began to fade. The scarlet moon that presided over the dark sclera, returned to their default state. The ws and the scales vanished from his arms, and his aura quickly receded, no longer putting its unbearable pressure on the area. Aiden let out a tired sigh, and turned around, to finally check on how his friend has been holding up. For the first time in his life, he felt a strange emotion as he slowly turned towards Cole, hoping he wouldn''t be disgusted or afraid of what he had just seen. He was also mad at himself for losing control just because of some damage. He hoped that by learning from his master, Number 3, he would be able to contain his emotions and not lose himself so easily in battle again. He couldn''t deny that he did make some progress, but unfortunately, it was still not enough. He was still a threat to his friends or maybe even to his own family. If he were to be thrown into a critical situation, would he be able to not give in to the bloodlust and hurt friend or foe? Would he be able to still hold on to a strand of his sanity? Enya''s figure resurfaced in his mind once more, Aiden realized once again, how desperately he needed her assistance... Chapter 169 - 169 - Aftermath As thest standing Sahuagin fell to the ground with a loud thud, Aiden walked over it and crouched down. He looked at the body for a moment longer, measuring it from top to bottom, before he abruptly and emotionlessly struck down with his right hand to reach for the monster''s core. His fingers coiled around the crystalline object once they felt its cool touch. In the next moment, he decisively ripped it out, then he stood up. He looked at the strange ball-like dark blue crystal orb sitting in his palm. He raised it into the air, letting the sun trying to shine through it, and see through its mysteries. Before this, he only saw a simr item once, years ago, which he obtained from the defeated mutated wolf-humanoid hybrid creature that his now-master defeated, protecting them. Even then, he only got the item with the help of his now-silent and still recuperating Enya. The beasts they hunted for survival in the Pocket World, had no such things in their bodies, nor did any of the trial creatures had. Looking at it through the sunlight, the dark blue color of the crystal ball seemed toe from a strange substance that filled out the hollow inside. It was so thick, that without the proper backlight he wouldn''t have been able to spot it and would have thought that the entire ball had the same color. "What is this thing?!" He muttered to himself, mesmerized by the strange gaseous substance resting peacefully. "Some say it''s the soul of the creature, others think it is the source of their umted power. In reality, nobody really knows." A familiar weak voice came from behind answering his rhetorical question. Keeping the orb raised in the air, he kept his focus and attention on it as he answered with a thoughtful tone. "Do you think, these balls would be a good proof that we killed these creatures and get the questpletion credit?" Cole looked at the orb for a while thinking about Aiden''s question for a bit before he nodded. "Yeah, I think they should be okay. Although I''m notpletely sure that these orbs would be taken as definite proof, I have no idea what other orbs look like. I have never seen one from this close. Still, I don''t know anything else besides these orbs that could work." "That works. At worst, we can just sell these to the guild or some of the merchants. I bet someone will take it off our hands. Take this, I will gather up the rest!" Aiden was satisfied with that answer. While he would like to be able to obtain the credit for dispatching these ferocious monsters, he would be satisfied with just selling them as well. That way, he could keep one and experiment with it. He remembered a feature of the system, that he never really had the chance to make use of: the fusion. He once tested it out and saw that he could offer up these monster orbs in ce of his transformations and use those instead, but at the time, he had nothing meaningful to test out. Now, however, he could think up a few interesting ideas and experiment a bit. A short whileter, Aiden walked back with 6 bloodied but intact dark blue orbs in his hands. With each orb roughly the size of an apple, he looked like a juggler from a circus. He walked up to Cole and reached towards him with his full palms. "Here. Put them in your bag!" He spoke calmly. Taking the small leather pack from his side, he threw the items inside, before he responded with a slight frown. "Why me? I will still have to take all the Gall dders and the Flower Buds!" Aiden simply shrugged his shoulders as he was already on his way towards the riverbank, where a small patch of the white flowery nts could be seen grouped up together. "I have no bags, remember? Anyways, I''ll gather what we need, you just stay there and rest!" He shouted back, as he continued pacing towards the patch of flowers just ahead. Plucking one of the buds, he raised it in the air and looked at it more closely. It looked like your average, harmless bud of a flower. From the light-green stem, it had a singr yellow pistil, surrounded by 5rge petals. It had no distinct or obvious smell either. From the outside, it looked like apletely average, useless piece of nt. Still, that was probably not the truth, otherwise, why would there be a regr quest for it ced in the guild? Remembering he also had to consume and test out three of these buds, he plucked two more and quickly swallowed them all. As the buds entered his body, the system immediately popped up multiple notifications. [1 Hydros nt Intact White Flower Buds consumed!] [Quest Objective Updated: Consume Intact White Flower Buds for Analysis 1 / 3] [Starting Analysis Estimated time forpletion: N/A - Error: Unable to begin analysis due to insufficient volume of materials.] The notification startled him. What did that mean? However, as the rest of the notification continued popping up, his confusion was quickly answered. [1 Hydros nt Intact White Flower Buds consumed!] [Quest Objective Updated: Consume Intact White Flower Buds for Analysis 2 / 3] [1 Hydros nt Intact White Flower Buds consumed!] [Quest Objective Updated: Consume Intact White Flower Buds for Analysis 3 / 3 - Completed!] [Intact Hydros Flower Buds Analysis In Progress Estimated time forpletion: 02 hours 59 minutes 58 seconds] Did that mean that he needed the three buds for the system to gather enough ''material'' for the system to be able to begin its mysterious process? Although he still had many questions, he didn''t want to waste any more time pondering on them. Later, when the system finishes its process, Aiden could hopefully find some more answers. He checked the Quest in the system again, and after confirming how many he would need to gather, he quickly but carefully plucked ten more buds. As the notifications rang, he quickly ran through them. Once he saw that thest one has shown that the main objective has been filled, he eagerly waited for the confirmation of the Quest Completion. But, contrary to his expectations, he only received a new type of note: Quest Updates! [Quest Objective for Optional Quest: Gather Hydros Flower Buds has been updated! New Objective has been added: Report back to the guild with the items to receive your rewards! (0/1)] Slightly annoyed by this, he took a moment to cool down and regain hisposure, before standing up and walking back to Cole. "Here you go. 10 intact white flower buds for the quest." He gave the flowers to Cole and then turned back to the riverbank. His eyes scanned back and forth, before letting out a sigh a few momentster. "The other quest will be harder. I can''t seem to find any more of these frogs Were they scared off because of these monsters?" Aiden kicked the bloodied body of the Sahuagin at his feet. "How should weplete the quest now?!" He still didn''t dare to look at Cole''s expression, he was afraid to see the fear or disgust ruining hisplexion. He was afraid that now that Cole had seen his ''true self'' he would be disgusted and would leave him as soon as he could. Aiden kept a calm tone whenever he spoke to Cole, but his heart and mind was in shambles. He was mad, angry at himself for losing himself in the fight. He kept looking towards the river, desperate to find some more of these ugly thorny toads so he could beat them up and vent his frustration. Suddenly a hand reached out and gently grabbed his left shoulders. It wasn''t aggressive, no, on the contrary, there was gentle kindness behind the motion. Although he didn''t look back, from the tone, he was certain that Cole was smiling at his back. "Don''t worry Aiden. We will find some more. We could follow along the river a bit, I''m sure that farther up ahead we will find some more." He turned towards the side, and following his own advice, he slowly began to walk away. A few stepster, however, he stopped. Turning his head sideways Aiden could barely make out a small smile curving up on his lips. "What are you waiting for? Come, we still have time!" Aiden looked at his back with an undecipherable expression for a few seconds, before he smiled and nodded. "Sure Go ahead, I will follow you shortly." He looked at the bloody battlefield they left behind, he knew he couldn''t leave it just like this. "I will just quickly clean up. Don''t worry, I''ll be right behind you." Cole nodded once at his words, the smile never left his face. After that, he looked ahead and silently began walking away, following the flow of the river, searching for the remaining toads toplete thest quest. Chapter 170 - 170 - Benefits Flying in the air, Cole abruptly lunged himself towards the brown, hideous-looking thorny toad monster. With his sword in hand, he struck down towards the unsuspecting beast''s head, his decisive motion made the short sword in his hand pierce deeply into the beast''s skull. Amidst the sound of the bones breaking under the sharpness of the steel de a crunchy, mushy sound could also be faintly made out. The whole event happened in a split second, the toad didn''t even have the time to let out a croak before it sumbed to the fatal attack and sprawled and briefly spasm on the ground, bing motionless a few secondster. With one swift motion, Cole retrieved his weapon from the shattered skull and wiped it clean with a piece of now-dirty, bloodstained cloth that he used for such activities. As the de wasn''t clean, to begin with, his action merely smeared the gooey substance all around the de of the weapon instead of neatly removing all the stains. Cole frowned seeing this, his eyes darted towards the river, he really wanted to have a clean edge and fuller. However, despite his desire, he didn''t dare to take a step towards the surface, afraid of the blueish, slimly, webbed hands pulling him under, forever vanishing under the watery depths of hell. "That was incredible Cole! Nicely done! That should be your sixth kill." A clean and crisp youthful voice came from behind. A soft hand was ced on the brown-haired boy''s shoulder, patting it lightly. In the next moment, a long, ck-haired youth with slightly tanned, bronze skin and exotic, golden eyes walked next to him. He had a friendly smile on his face. "Since it''s your kill, you should have the honor to retrieve its Gall dder. I can''t possibly steal this honor from you!" he said with a light chuckle mixed in his words. Before Cole could react, the boy looked ahead and spotted another one of these monsters. The friendly smile curled up a bit more, his voice turned eager. "While you are busy, I will get a few extras, I can''t possibly have you take all credit after all!" Following his words, he immediately dashed forward. This time, however, he did not exert any superhuman feats, his figure didn''t flicker, he simply charged forward. "Sure let me do the ''honors''! You are so generous Aiden!" Cole shouted at his friend''s back with the continued frown on his face before he approached the in creature and crouched down. He pulled out a small skinning knife from his belt and began the gruesome process of cutting the carcass apart. While he wasn''t really that enthusiastic about having the ''honor'' of cutting the beast apart, he had to also admit that Aiden had no knowledge about what to do. He saw him how he retrieved the Monster Orbs from the Sahuagin after all! He was fearsome and brutal. He would most likely damage the important organs, not to mention he had no idea about the other, important bits and pieces, that they could sell for some extra cash. So, while he didn''t want to, Cole had no choice but to grit his teeth in annoyance andplete the job for the sixth andst time. At least for today. While Cole was busyining to no one in particr and doing what was necessary, Aiden had already crushed the poor beast in a single strike. As the monster died under his hands, he swiftly lifted its body in the air with his left hand. Then he simply watched as the creature quickly dematerialized into particles and merged with the air, only to reappear inside his System''s inventory, next to two simr carcasses he gathered along the way With its assistance, he could easily obtain the required parts from the beast. Concentrating, he closed his eyes and sat down in a lotus position and looked towards the river''s serene surface. He focused his will on the first carcass and watched as the system did its magic. In the next instant albeit not visible, a tiny dark red organ appeared next to the creature. Focusing again, he watched as the item vanished as the system consumed it. The notifications began to ring in his ear, giving him credit for the deed. [1 Thorny Forest Frog''s Gall dder has been consumed!] [Quest Objective Updated: Consume Thorny Forest Frog''s Gall dders for Analysis 1 / 3] [Starting Analysis Estimated time forpletion: N/A - Error: Unable to begin analysis due to insufficient volume of materials.] Seeing the messages pop up, a satisfied smile appeared on Aiden''s face. He quickly repeated the process with the other two bodies and watched with apt attention as the notification continued to pop and ring inside his mind. Opening up thest three, he confirmed that the same situation has happened as it did before. [Quest Objective Updated: Consume Thorny Forest Frog''s Gall dders for Analysis 3 / 3 - Completed!] [Thorny Forest Frog''s Gall dder Analysis In Progress Estimated time forpletion: 02 hours 59 minutes 58 seconds] Thest message was about the Quest Objective update that he got when theypleted the previous quest. What surprised him, however, was that the system seemed to be capable of tracking progression even though he wasn''t the one holding the requested items, but Cole who should have no connection with it at all. He couldn''t wrap his mind around it at all How did the system know? Enya wasn''t the one holding the reins this time, she was still ''out ofmission''. Did the System itself have some sort of sentience? Or was it something else? He quickly shook his head, he shouldn''t waste time dwelling on this matter, it was pointless. Still, he was even more determined to find out more about this magical construct that resided in his soul and lorded his every step along the way. He sighed, and shook his head, trying to clear his mind from these troubling thoughts. Focusing on thest notification he opened up to confirm hisst suspicion. [Quest Objective for Optional Quest: Gather Thorny Forest Frog Gall dders has been updated! New Objective has been added: Report back to the guild with the items to receive your rewards! (0/1)] Sending out a pulse of energy, using his [Dark Sense], he found that Cole was still busy with obtaining the merits of his earlier victory. He smiled and while he still was slightly against it, he swiftly consumed all three creatures with the system. His body slightly trembled at the sudden increase in mass before it calmed down. Aiden felt as if his body was pricked with tiny needles all over his body, that was quickly followed up by a familiar searing pain. The calm expression on the outside of his face slightly trembled as a result, before it returned to the serene calm that he exerted all the time. New notification began to appear inside his mind a momentter. [Unknown poison has entered the body that had been neutralized by your [Poison Resistance]. 50 XP has been granted to the skill: [Poison Resistance]] . . . [You have received damage, your condition has deteriorated!] . . . [Current Condition: 78%] . . . [Thorny Forest Frog Essence obtained. Received 100 XP] The messages repeated three times. In the end, he gained an additional 150 Points in his Poison Resistance, giving him a direct increase of 250 XP in the skill, bumping it directly to Level 4 from the original Level 2 while still boosting him to near the Fifth Level. While he did not feel anything during this level up, contrary to the satisfying warmth he could feel when his Soul Power reached a new height, he could still feel that the searing pain be slightly fainter after his level up. Also, his condition seemed to deteriorate less, by only losing 2%, and 1% after the fourth level up. In the end, his Condition and his skill were as follows: [Condition: 76%] [Poison Resistance (Level 4 - 75 / 100 XP)] Strangely, while he did feel slightly weary after the battle, there was no pain, despite his deteriorated condition. Another interesting fact was that even after consuming the three frogs, the system seemingly was unable to gather enough essence from the beast to be able to synthesize a new form for Aiden. He also only received 100 XP for the first body, and 50 for the second and third. This made him wonder, that was the essence less for the second and third, or did the system deliberately offered less for the consecutive absorbs? All in all, he still managed to an easy 200 points, that would if nothing else, effectively double his rewards from the quests once they go back to the guild. After finishing his ''tasks'', Aiden opened his eyes and stood up. Turning around, he walked towards Cole, who was also doing his finishing touches to the now mutted remains of the frog he killed. As he approached Aiden had a wide smirk stered on his face. He was very content with this first adventure they had! He had already gained so much He had to fight gruesome, life or death battles for days inside the Pocket World against fearsome, brutal beasts, and monsters to be able to get simr results! Chapter 171 - 171 - Commotion As therge, wooden double doors to the Guild Hall creaked open, Aiden and Cole were met with a surprisinglyrge crowd that gathered in the hall. From the looks of it, it seemed that while most of them were adventurers or at the very least seasoned warriors, there were quite a few civilians mixed in. They were chirping to each other, adding to therge buzzing noise that the gathered had emitted. The hall was so packed that the duo couldn''t even find a way to squeeze through and could just barely squeeze themselves in and close the door behind them. "Do you know what is happening here? What are all these people doing here?" Aiden asked with confusion in his voice. He heard about a guild meeting that his sister had to attend and met that annoying golden-armored guy who kept following her, but this seemed different. It had a different vibe. "I... " Cole couldn''t answer immediately, he himself had no idea what this was. His head darted back and forth, trying to make sense of the situation but even after almost a minute, he couldn''te up with anything. He sighed as he continued. "I don''t know. This is certainly not a gathering for the Meet-Up, there''s a lot of civilians here. Besides, this is way too many people for that." Looking through the crowd, Aiden saw that most of them kept stealing nces over to the upper floors as if they were waiting for someone toe and address them. "Hmm" He wondered, remembering the discussion he had with the leader of the examiners, Sarah. She did mention that one of the candidates are from the Guild Management, and from the looks of things, this could be a gathering to listen to the candidate''s speech. Realizing this a deep frown appeared on his face, smearing his previously calm and smilingposure. Noticing this, Cole looked at this with a confused expression. "What is it Aiden? What happened?" Shaking his head, the frown disappeared from Aiden''s face, and with the same smile as before he looked at Cole. "Don''t worry about it, it''s nothing!" Suddenly, picking up some movement from the upper floors through his [Dark Sense] he turned towards the railings, as he insipidly continued. "Anyway, it is starting. Let''s just listen for now." "Huh? What is starting? Listen to what? What are you going on ab-" He began bombarding Aiden with his questions, but soon he was silenced as a familiar figure appeared on the upper floors. Wearing his golden breastte, Sir Michael raised his hands to the air with arge smile on his neatly trimmed, bearded face. His crisp and booming, deep voice filled the entire hall. "Greetings, my friends! I am greatly humbled by all of you that gathered here today! I swear that I will continue doing my very best to be worthy of such devotion!" He gave a theatrical bow towards the crowd, showing gratitude and earning a loud sea of cheers as a response. He kept his humbled posture for almost a full minute before he slowly straightened his back, and raised his hands, expertly silencing the crowd. Just from this first interaction, Aiden smirked at his figure from the back, it was clear that he was experienced addressing such crowds. His golden eyes shed for a moment, as he scanned the man. Although the golden glow onlysted for a fraction of a second as it just merely shed through his eyes, Sir Michael, due to his years of experience, still managed to catch it. He quickly nced over at the youth in the far end, before his eyes went back to the crowd. "As this ''race'' is nearing its end, we are approaching the date for the Event. I''m going to be honest with all of you, thepetition will be fierce, and brutal. Our victory can only be achieved through the sweat and tears of your devotion! I can only hope that you will all continue to support me, all throughout the uing days and during the Event. What I can promise you is that if we wille out victorious, I will lead our home, this city out of the tainted swamp that we have been led to." His eyes slowly paced through the crowd, he had a solemn expression on his face. Michael raised his voice ever so slightly, and with great conviction, he empathized each word he spoke next. "I WILL BRING OUR CITY BACK TOWARDS THE LIGHT!" Following his words, the gathered crowd erupted in a crazed, maddened cheer. For several minutes following his words, the people kept shouting his name, they looked at the man above them as if he were a god. The reaction greatly pleased Sir Michael, he was snickering, bathing in delight inwardly, but he managed to retain a somber expression on the outside. He let the crowd continue his maddened chant for quite a while before he raised his hands again, grabbing their apt attention. "Thank you for the trust you have all ced in me! I promise you that those that are responsible for bringing the filth to our home and casting us into its shadowy tendrils will pay the price! THEY WILL ALL RECEIVE THEIR DUE JUSTICE!" He raised his right fist towards the sky as he shouted thest part, once again with great devotion in his tone. The crowd ate his words once more, erupting into the same crazed devoted shouting just like before. Basking in the limelight, Sir Michael let them continue for a while. Meanwhile, Aiden wasn''t really paying attention to Sir Michael''s words. His eyes rested on the hooded figure behind him, just a short distance away, expertly staying in the shadows, avoiding the gazes of the gathered audience. When his eyes spotted her figure, Aiden could also feel that from behind the cover of her shroud she was also looking at him. He felt her gaze, it was as if they had created their silent, separate little world. They could both feel the presence of each other. Abruptly, a pair of purplish glow emerged from amidst the void, as if a slumbering beast has awoken. In response, Aiden''s eyes lit up once again, countering the magical, charming effect. The hooded figure kept up her "assault" for only a moment longer before she averted her gaze, looking at the ground. The light also quickly faded from Aiden''s eyes, returning to their original state. However, he kept his focus on the figure. In his opinion, the man speaking was just a wealthy idiot, that was put in the spotlight as he was a perfect little puppet to control. While the silent staring contest went unnoticed by the crowd, Sir Michael, once again, spotted the golden glowing eyesing from the back. Even though he wasn''t the subject of his power, he could still feel an incredible force surging through him, causing him to shiver for a moment. He now couldn''t help but wonder who that figure was and made a mental remark to investigate the figureter. He can''t have such an enigma remain unsolved... Sarah, the hooded figure behind him, saw the change in Sir Michael''s posture, this idiot must have noticed Aiden! She gently sighed, shaking her head in contempt. She still couldn''t fully understand what her mistress wanted with him. Yes, he might be an idiot that could be controlled with slight nudges, but also, at the same time, he was impulsive and keen to make rash decisions. He wasn''t someone that should be put into such power He much rather suited the role of an easily expandable frontline soldier. Looking at the back of this idiot onest time, she let out another sigh, before she looked at the boy in the back once again. He was the only one worthy of her attention, the only one that could match her. "Just who are you Aiden I swear, I will find out your secrets one day and make you willingly join us!" She muttered to herself. Luckily the hoodpletely hid her face as a small smile began to curve her usually expressionless and stale lips. --- Several blocks and districts away, in the depth of the notorious and abhorred ''Slums'' district, hidden behind the magical warding an elegantly dressed feminine figure stood by the window as if overlooking her territory. Her face was hidden behind avish, elegantly designed silver mask, only her ck irises were visible from the tiny holes. She was looking towards the direction of the Guild Hall, silent and unmoving. She didn''t even flinch as the closed-door suddenly creaked open, and the elderly butler came in. He stopped a few steps away from her mistress, giving a courteous bow. He held a few sheets of paper in his hands. "Mistress, the young miss has sent back the report you requested." As he spoke, he raised his arms forward, presenting the object in question to the feminine figure who hasn''t even looked at him since his arrival. "Thank you. Put them on the desk, and please leave me alone." She coldly spoke, not giving even a look. "As youmand, Mistress." The old man kept his bowing posture as he reverently spoke, before cing the paper on the desk as requested and promptly exiting the room. Once the door closed, the figure released a sigh. "Sarah, Sarah my child What are you up to now?" She whispered to the window. Chapter 172 - 172 - Reporting And Choosing Rewards "Here you go, Mary. All the white flower buds and the disgusting frog gall dders you could imagine!" With much more enthusiasm than it was needed, Cole promptly emptied the contents of his leather bag on the table. As the contents flew out of the bag due to the intense swinging, the 6 dark blue Sahuagin Monster Orbs were also revealed. Raising her eyebrows, Mary looked at Cole and Aiden with a puzzled look before she asked. "And these are?" "Uhm, these are the Sea Devil Monster Orbs, that was a request for that Rank 2 quest that the other group picked" With nervousughter, Cole scratched the back of his head. He felt rather tense, as they did not pick the quest, it was assigned to the now-deceased Bloody Dagger group. Still, if nothing, they could at least cash it in for some coins. "I know what these are, I was asking what are these doing in your possession? That quest was assigned to the Bloody Daggers." Mary responded with an inquisitory gaze. As she recalled the name of the group, she took a once-over the hall, searching for the people in question. Not seeing any trace of them, she looked at Cole once again. "By the way, do you guys know what happened to them? I thought they would be back before you and would" She choked on her own words, unable to finish the thought. Taking a quick breather, she focused on Cole once again. She really tried to not take any nce over at Aiden, as if she would do that, then she would be unable to credit their work, due to her own nervousness. Still, while she looked calm, collected, and focused on the outside, she was already a nervous wreck, trying really hard to focus on the job in front of her. "They" Cole was really unwilling to talk about what happened, he nced at Aiden, beaming for him to take over. "They could not make it back. They were really nice and taught some valuable lessons about the dangers of the adventuring life. They even gave us these monster core''s sorry orbs, to bring it back to you." Seeing how Cole was begging with his eyes for him to take over, Aiden gave in and spoke up. As soon as Mary heard his clear, and charming voice, her face turned a shade redder. Doing her very best mentally, she slowly turned around trying to look at the boy, only to fail miserably and avert her eyes towards the ground then back to Cole. With a much fainter voice she spoke. "Uhm Unfortunately, we can''t credit the quest to you two, as it was registered to them. Unless they drop the quest, the posteres and requests us to assign it to someone else or it expires by itself you will be unable to get the credit for it." As she spoke, she stole a few quick nces at Aiden''s handsome face. Every time she looked at him, she saw his charming smile and had to immediately look away, lest she would faint on the spot due to her heart unable to keep up the rhythm of her tumultuous mind. "I see" Aiden sighed with a hint of sadness in his voice. "Is there anything else we could do in that case?" Thinking for a moment, Mary once again focused on the silent Cole instead of Aiden as she answered. "Uhm The best we can do is to take the items from your possession and give youpensation in either Guild Credits or regr currency" "Guild Credits? What is that?" Aiden perked up hearing this. He vaguely remembered something that Lily mentioned, but he wasn''t really paying attention at the time, unfortunately. The only thing he could recall was that it was something closely rted to the guild. "It''s the Guild''s own currency system." Mary began her exnation, still focusing on Cole and the ground in a regr rotation. "While the coins are useful on the outside, you can only ess most of the guild''s features by using the credits you gained through quests or by turning in various valuable materials, just like these. You could also pay with them to some of the merchants and skilled craftsmen! Not just in this city but all cities in the ENTIRE continent where there''s a Guild Hall present!" Leaning forward, she only whispered herst thoughts. "In terms of usefulness, I would say, they are much more valuables than the Draquilean Coins!" Then, with that said, she looked at Cole, awaiting their answer. "So, what would you choose?" Would you like to turn them in for Credit or Currency?" Cole looked at Aiden for his decision. He was already, subconsciously treating him as the leader of their miniature party. Seeing his friend looking at him for confirmation, Aiden sighed heavily. Why is he looking for him for answers? When did he be the leader, wasn''t this whole thing Cole''s idea?! Deciding not to dwell on the matter too much, he looked away from Cole turning towards Mary. His face quickly donned the usually gentle, friendly smile he always treated her with, he voiced his thoughts. ??I''m sorry, I am new in the city. I don''t really know which one would be better. Which one is better in your opinion, Mary?" He asked, but then another thought came to his mind, so he followed up with another question. "Can we use Guild Credits to pay for our Rooms in the Tavern we are currently staying at?" "Uhm" As always when she could feel Aiden''s gaze upon her, Mary''s face turned beet red, and she started fidgeting. Thinking about his question for a bit longer, she continued with a weak, shy tone. "Not all, but the ones I mentioned yesterday will ept it. They are in contract with the Guild after all. However" She took a breather, to calm her rapidly beating heart before she continued. "However, you would need to register and pay for your amodation here, in the hall. Don''t worry, by the time you get back they will be informed." She added. "I see" Aiden replied thoughtfully. Then, looking at Cole, he went on. "In that case, I think we would be better off with the extra Guild Credit. From what Mary told us, they have more uses than the coins. Although, if you prefer, I don''t mind using the coins. Doesn''t really matter to me, you make the decision." With his thoughts said, he walked away, leaning against a marble column, closing his eyes in the process.He really didn''t want to bother with this, he was much more interested in the updates he received in the system as Cole presented their items to Mary. Focusing on them, he quickly opened them up. Just as he expected, they were the Quest Completion notifications. [Optional Quest: Gather Hydros Flower Buds - Completed! Objective: Collect Intact White Flower Buds from Hydros nts (10/10 - Completed!) Report back to the guild with the items to receive your rewards (1/1 - Completed!) Optional: Consume Intact White Flower Buds for Analysis (3/3 - Completed!) Grade: E Rewards: 100 XP, +1 to all attributes] [Optional Quest: Gather Thorny Forest Frog Gall dders - Completed! Objective: Gather Thorny Forest Frog''s Gall dders (6/6 - Completed!) Report back to the guild with the items to receive your rewards (1/1 - Completed!) Optional: Consume Thorny Forest Frog''s Gall dders for Analysis (3/3 - Completed!) Grade: E Rewards: 100 XP, +1 to all attributes] As soon he opened the notifications, he felt afortable warmth, a new source of energy emerging from the depths of his soul and spreading all over his body. He felt his muscles contract and tense for a brief moment before rxing in the next. He suddenly felt as if his connection to his own pool of energy, his Soul Power became just a tiny bit clearer than before. This was the feeling he hasn''t felt for quite some time. The feeling of getting stronger It was just as addicting as it was thest time he felt it. He couldn''t help but smirk as he felt the euphoria wash over him. He kept his eyes closed and tried remembering the feeling for a while longer before he eventually moved on and checked thest two notifications. Both were about the update for thepleted analysis, he was really interested in what benefits the consumption of the flower bud and the toad monster''s organ could give him. Opening it up, he was quite surprised at what he saw. [Analysis Completed - Results for Thorny Forest Frog''s Gall dders: Small, dark green colored organ. It stores the amodated bile produced by the liver. Alchemy Material, used in various recipes, mostly known for its poisonous and corrosive attributes. +1% Progression towards the skill: Alchemy (Basic) added!] [Analysis Completed - Results for Intact White Flower Buds: The Flowery Bud of the Common Riverside Hydros nts. Known for its sweet light-yellow pistil and snow-white petals. Alchemy material, used in various recipes, mostly known for its cool and soothing attributes. +1% Progression towards the skill: Alchemy (Basic) added!] Chapter 173 - 173 - The Madame With a loud creaking noise, the adorned,vishly decorated room of the study room opened up. A pir of light quickly slid in through the rapidly widening crack from the brightly lit hallway. A momentter, a long shadow revealed itself, a feminine figure donned in a dusty, ck silk cloak stepped inside from the hallway. The figure looked inside, its eyes that were safely hidden under the dark shadows of the cloak''s hood spotted the masked figure standing in front of the window, it took a deep gasp of air. As it slowly exhaled the umted air, it could feel its tense nerves slowly calming down. Once it felt ready, it opened its eyes, and from it, a heavenly, melodious tune disrupted the serene peace and quiet of the ce. "Mother *khm* Mistress, I am back." The figure spoke. From the void of the hood, a pair of purple glow abruptly lit up, adding that mystical aftereffect of its voice. The masked woman simply hummed in response, not sparing even a single nce at the neer. Although the response was within her expectations, it was still not an easy thing to hear. Regardless, the hooded figure could only grit her teeth to hide her pain, and with a solemn expression, stepped inside the room. Promptly closing the door behind her, she took a few steps forward, stopping a few feet away from her Mother and Mistress. Taking onest look at the back of her head, she knelt down. "You called for me, Mistress?" "You sent me information about this new fellow that caught your eyes." The masked woman insipidly spoke. Her attention seemed to be looking into the distance, towards the direction of the Guild''s Hall. "Yes, Mistress. I did. He is called Aiden. I believe he would be a good choice. Much better than-"Sarah, the hooded figure and leader of the Guild''s Examiners began but she was promptly silenced by the Mistress with her right palm raised up high. "Enough. I know what you want to say. Tolerate that buffoon, we need a figure like him for now. You should also know that we have to stay hidden, we can''t show ourselves, we can''t step out into the light." The masked woman replied with a stern tone, not giving any room to the kneeling girl behind her. "But" Sarah wanted to speak up and voice her concerns, but feeling her Mistress'' tone, she could only keep it to herself. She sighed, then changed the subject. "I understand, I apologize, my Mistress. As for Aiden, he" She wanted to go into details about her findings, but was once again, silenced. "I read your report, Sarah." The mistress spoke. "Are you sure you can control him?" "Yes, Mistress. I am sure." Sarah nodded. The masked woman did not respond to the question immediately. The small holes that gave way to her charcoal ck irises kept piercing towards the distance. As if her all-seeing eyes would be able to scan every minute detail of thendscape and there would be nothing that could hide from her. After about a minute of silence, she broke the agonizing silence that followed the girl''s words. "Do not lie to me. You failed multiple times already. How do you n on controlling him?" "I" Sarah didn''t dare to raise her head, she kept her eyes stered on the floor. Small beads of sweat perspired on her forehead. Trepidation noticeable in her voice, she answered. "We havee to an agreement, Mistress. He agreed to help me, no, help us, and in return, I promised him to gather information about a ce he was looking for." For the first time since she came into the room, the masked mdy turned around and looked at the kneeling woman. Although her expressions were hidden behind the silver mask, her tone betrayed her. For the first time, it carried a tinge of surprise. "What ce was he looking for?" Feeling her Mistress'' gaze on her, Sarah, nervously looked up slightly, not daring to match her eyes. "He Aiden was looking to find a ce called the Demon Grotto, Mistress." A microscopic jolt could be seen pass through the masked woman''s body upon hearing the name. With a stern tone, she continued with her questions. "And what did you say to him?" "I pointed him towards that cursed ce in the forest. The one with the strange, mystical aura surrounding it, which we could never explore because every team that was sent in has disappeared. I" Sarah took a gulp as she saw her Mistress shaking upon her words. As she spoke she could feel as the temperature of the room suddenly turned colder, chillier. "M-mistress?" She looked up, taking a nce at the famed mask, but still avoiding her stare. The woman did not reply to the question. Her body kept shaking, her trepidation reaching new levels. The cold, chilly aura was released by her, engulfing not just the room, but the entire mansion as well. Faint but approaching footsteps could be heard from the other side as it increased in volume as it approached the source. A few momentster, loud knocking could be heard, and an elderly voice spoke from the other side. "Mistress, are you alright? I aming in, please excuse me." The door quickly opened, and the elderly butler rushed into the room. He skipped past the still kneeling girl, stepping next to the now-visibly shaking masked woman. Light blue strands of energy could be now witnessed as they seemed to be pulsating outwards from its body. In its wake, this transparent but visible energy carried a chilling cold. Hoarfrost began to appear on the window ss, a thinyer of ice began to form on the tile. Raising his palm in the air, the elderly butler closed his eyes and began to whisper seemingly jumbled words. At least they carried no meaning for Sarah, who could only make out fragments. A couple of secondster, as the butler finished his ancient chant, Sarah gasped as he saw his palms lit up with an orange me. Promptly, the butler thrust his ming hands against her Mistress. As his hands made contact with her back an invisible shockwave of energy was released with the butler and the Mistress as its origin, extinguishing the blue aura and immediately raising the room''s temperature back to their previous, normal level. With the situation resolved, the butler stepped back and knelt next to the kneeling woman. His eyes were stered to the ground, as he asked with great care in his voice. "Madame, are you feeling better now?" With her rity seemingly returned, the mature masked woman, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled before she responded. "Yes. Thank you once again, my dear Sebas." Contrary to the cold, insipid tone she spoke towards the woman, her voice carried affection when she addressed this aged man. "Please, Mistress, your words are wasted on these old bones. This is my duty and honor." She reached for the man, she gently ced her silkced glove covered right hand on the man''s chin and gently lifted it, straightening his pose. "Rise, my dear Sebas, you know you never have to kneel before me." The difference in how the elderly butler and she was addressed, stung Sarah''s heart a lot. Still, she kept the pain bottled in, and kept her eyes on the floor. However, even the tiniest of changes in her aura couldn''t be kept hidden before the madame''s heightened senses. With gentleness in her voice, she addressed the butler once more. "I still have to talk to Sarah, could you please leave us, my most loyal caretaker?" The elderly butler nodded and bowed. "Certainly, madame. Please excuse me."With his words finished, he turned around and quickly left the room, closing the door on his way out. Once his footsteps died down, the masked woman turned her attention towards the woman once again. She kept silent, as her eyes scanned the woman in front of her. A few momentster she approached her, and just like with the butler, she reached out and gently raised her up. She pulled her hood back, revealing her unique purple hair and pain-filled eyes. "Don''t be afraid, you should know how much I care about you, Sarah," she spoke, but this time her voice was much more alive, it carried a kind, loving emotion with it, surprising Sarah by a great deal. "I" Sarah couldn''t respond to her words. She couldn''t even recall thest time, she was addressed by such a tone. Her vision quickly became blurry as, despite her will, tears rapidly began to gather and escape from the corner of her eyes. Deeply rooted emotions began toe to the surface and escape through the watery drops as they slid down on her spotless, beautiful face. With her left hand, the maskeddy pulled her right glove off her hand, and reached for Sarah''s face, picking up some of her teardrops. "Don''t be sad You know that I love you. My dear daughter!" Chapter 174 - 174 - Care Of A Mother (AN.: Sorry for the abrupt ending yesterday. I wasn''tfortable cutting anything out, and I didn''t want to go too overboard with length.) --- With some great difficulty, Sarah only managed to utter a short nod apanied by a muffled "Uhm" as a response towards the Masked Woman''s gesture. Yes, she was her mother, but had she ever treated her like a real daughter? Ever since she knew, she was treated with coldness and were just taught the mystical arts. She had no knowledge about the concept of what a Mother''s Love really meant, the only thing she ever got was the harsh stares. The simple gesture from the masked woman didn''t develop further. There were no hugs or any show of real motherly and familial love. Still, the much warmer, the kinder tone was what really had an effect on Sarah''s heart. It was a unique, new experience for her. "Moth-, Mistress, may I ask what happened to you just now? Did I say something I shouldn''t have?" She first wanted to refer to her as Mother, but remembering what happened thest time she did so, she changed it back to Mistress half-way. There was a momentary jolt that shed through the masked woman''s body when she heard her daughter speak and almost refer to her as Mother. She sighed internally, understanding the fear and hesitation in the girl''s heart; after all, she never has been a proper parent. She was just hoping that someday in the future, she will understand that all she had done was for her benefit alone. In this harsh and cruel world, one needed the strength to be able to survive! She gently touched her demon-faced, silver mask on her face, this was a lesson she learned the hard way. Now, because of her own naivety, she is forced to hide herself, never daring to go out into the light ever again! She pulled her hand back from the girl, her other hand still gripping the silk glove. She turned around, walking back to the window. She remained motionless and silent for so long that Sarah started to feel ufortable once again. Did she say something bad? Should she now excuse herself? What would be the right thing to do? She was still wondering if she should just apologize and leave when her Mistress''s voice startled her. This was the first time, she heard such a painful, sad toneing from her! "That is a story, that I can''t fully tell you. Not now at least. I''m sorry." Hearing the words, Sarah hurriedly bowed and spoke out with an agitated tone. "D-don''t worry, my Mistress! I should be the one apologizing to you, not you! I-I am sorry, I will excu-" She couldn''t finish excusing herself out of the room and the mansion when her Mistress''s voice interrupted her. "Don''t. Stay, please. I see it now, that I was too hard on you in all these years. I know you resent me for what I did, and what I didn''t in all these years, but just know that all I am doing and what I was doing was for a single reason only. I am not blinded by hatred or revenge. Nor do I care about the wealth of others. It''s not the power I want either." The woman didn''t turn around, still, Sarah could feel her presence enveloping her. It was as if an invisible thin silk cloth was carefully ced around her shoulders. She felt an unfamiliar sensation. The energy felt simr to what the Mistress''s radiated just a moment ago, but it wasn''t cold like before. No, it had a strange warmth to it that entered her body, refreshing her tired body, and giving her new, unfamiliar emotions at the same time. Before she could linger on these feelings more, the Mistress continued. "The only thing I ever cared about was you. You alone, my daughter." Her words shocked Sarah to the core. The Mistress cared about her? Yes, she knew she wasn''t heartless, after all, she had a very unique position, but she never had any benefits of being the young Mistress. She slept just like the servants, she trained with the soldiers The only difference was that she was trained to utilize her gifts. She received schooling and personal teachers that taught her the mystical arts. She could manipte the energies in the air, she was told she was gifted in Fire, Air, and to everyone''s shock and surprise, a bit in Dark magic as well. Having two affinities was already considered an incredible feat but having a third was considered a miracle! Still, her best talent wasn''t any of these. It was the strange but powerful eyes she inherited from her mother. As if she could see her expression even when she was turned away from her, the mistress continued on. "I know. It''s hard to believe and ept. I was hard, maybe too hard on you. I was hoping that by doing this, you would grow up to be a strong and independent woman, and you wouldn''t suffer the same fate as" Her voice trailed off not finishing her thoughts. She took a breather, before turning back and changing the subject. "Anyway, that area is dangerous. Even I would have to tread carefully there. It doesn''t matter whoever you send, they will never be able to return." "I see I have made a mistake. In that case, I have to apologize, Mistress. I will try to talk to the boy tomorrow and exin the situation." Sarah said with slight dejection in her voice. She epted the proposal without properly thinking it through and brought shame to her Mistress. "No. I" While her face couldn''t be seen, her body gestured that she was in great turmoil. In the end, she sighed painfully again, before continuing with a weaker tone. "While I can''t really speak about that ce, Sebas can. He knows just as much about it as I do. Talk to him, he will be d to answer all your questions." Then she turned back towards the window once more. She didn''t speak anything else, she returned the cold, indignant persona she wore before. Understanding the social cue, Sarah pulled up her hood, covering her face, and gave a deep, respectful bow towards her Mother and Mistress. "Thank you for your help Mistress. I will excuse myself for now and find Sir Sebas."She then turned around and left. Upon reaching the door, however, the Mistress''s voice stopped her. "I trust your judgment on this matter, Sarah. Bring the boy the information he desires, and then bring him back to me. I will have a talk with him myself." Her voice was rigid and cold, just like when Sarah first stepped into the study room. She nodded at the request, epting the order, and after giving an "I understand, Mistress." she promptly left the room. --- In another, much more elegant part of the town, the familiar and chubby man, the not so young Master Leon''s figure, sat in a chair. He was wearing tight, form-fitting, expensive clothes, something that was standard amongst the nobility. Unlike before when he was just a young master, however, this time, he radiated a powerful, violent aura, giving him a much more mature outlook. In front of him, 5 sturdy-looking armored men could be seen kneeling, their heads lowered to the ground. Master Leon wore a stern expression on his face, his forehead was full of wrinkles. His fingers kept nervously knocking on the armrest of the chair, betraying the cold exposure he was trying to express towards this group of soldiers. He wasn''t afraid of them, no, after joining the mystical secret society of The Organization, he became much more powerful over the years. He wasn''t the helpless, rich, and spoiled brat he was before, he held much power now. A group of warriors such as these, wouldn''t have taken him any meaningful effort to deal with at all. His worry came from another source. His ns so far to knock out any opposition has met with failures. He wanted, no he NEEDED to get the City Lord position if he wished to make his dreamse to fruition. Yet, every n, every move he made was aplete and utter failure. Today''s meeting was yet another report about how the group of assassins he had sent towards that pompous idiot in the Guild''s Hall had disappeared without a trace! Just what was happening? He looked at the group in front of him with a disdainful look. These 5, sturdy, stout, and rough-looking men were the leaders of his gathered forces. He still had a trump card, a secret group that was much more powerful, but he could not reveal this until there was no other hope left. He didn''t utter a single word, yet the group of 5 kneeling in front of him shook in fright as his cold gaze swept through them. Eventually, after a long and tense silence, Leon''s cold and slightly angered voice reached out to them. "Tell me, what happened, how you failed once again." Chapter 175 - 175 - An Eventful Dinner (Part 1) The sun was already on its downward curve by the time a particr trio left the Highrove''s Guild Hall. Therge shadows cast by the night were momentarily pushed back by an orange pir of light that wafted out from the inside as the double doors were pushed open. The boys were apanied by the still slightly nervous curly, brown-haired girl, Mary, who after finishing her shift, wore a simple but still elegant white top with a khaki medium-length skirt. It took all her willpower, but she managed to force herself to stand by Aiden''s right side, leaving Cole to take his left. With the change in the time of day, the type of people that could be seen on the streets changed. While they remained rtively the same in Adventurer''s Street, as they left it, they were met with a vastly different crowd than in the morning. Guards could be seen with increased numbers patrolling the streets, with the asional weary men, tired from the day''s robot crawling towards their little slice of heaven for the respite they oh so deserved, be it thefort of their homes, or the closest pub to drown their sorrows with a few mugs. The noise of the bustling, busy daytime crowd was gradually reced by the ttering of the steel boots on the stone pavement as the armored guards patrolled back and forth, apanied by the faint sounds of music, and chatters that came from the nearest pub or tavern. Mary was in great turmoil currently. By the time she finished registering thepletion of Aiden and Cole''s quests and giving them the agreedpensation, it was already almost the end of her shift. She wasn''t willing to separate from Aiden so abruptly, and with the heat of the moment, she blurted out a question that she still couldn''t believe. She actually asked Aiden and Cole if they could wait up for her and have dinner together! ''Just what was I thinking?! What is wrong with you Mary? What are you doing?!'' She berated herself inwardly as she walked in silence with the boys. She couldn''t understand herself at all in these past few days! She just couldn''tpose herself in front of him at all, and kept acting like a total idiot, aplete nervous wreck! She couldn''t even look at him! Every time she saw those beautiful, deep golden irises, she found herself lost in them, with no willpower to muster anything meaningful. It was simply magical! "Where would you like to go to have dinner, Mary?" Cole inquired curiously, breaking the silence that surrounded the trio ever since they left the Guild''s building. "Huh?" Awoken from her thoughts so abruptly, Mary couldn''t respond at first but kept blinking with an empty expression on her face. It took several seconds for her topose herself and think about the choices. "I I would be fine with what you two would pick, no need to go out of your way just for my sake" She answered weakly. She focused her attention on Cole, trying to avoid matching Aiden''s eyes. She wasn''t certain if she could take another dose of him today without fainting after all. "We were nning to just simply grab whatever they would have back at the tavern," Aiden spoke with a nonchnt tone. The grub there was really good. So good actually, that even he had, was looking forward to it, and not just for the amount of energy he could potentially receive from the uing feast! He remembered the taste of the breakfast they ate Ah, it was incredible! "Yeah, but don''t worry, that ce is incredible! The breakfast we had was the best! Right, Aiden?" Cole chipped in with great joy in his eyes. The atmosphere, the look, the taste, the prices everything was perfect about that ce Especially for someone like him, he wasn''t used to delicious dishes at all, living in a small vige and all. "The Tavern? Hmm The Salty Pig, was it?" Mary thought back but immediately turned beet red as she recalled how she marked her own house as an option. She turned away and took a few gasps of air to calm herself. "That''s fine by me" She answered faintly after a great while. "Yes, that''s the one! Not sure about the other ces, but that ce was really good! Let''s eat there then!" Cole eximed and the group silently agreed. They continued their trek with a destination in mind. It didn''t take long before they found themselves in front of the building. As usual, the ce was filled to the brim with groups and groups of adventurers returning from their escapades, ready to turn in for the night but not before downing a few mugs of beer apanied by some hearty dinner. Standing outside, they could hear the loud, boisterous guffaws, as they told tall tales of the adventures they embarked on beforeing home. The faint sound of music, a piano, and a violin could be heard as well, surprising the boys slightly as they pushed the door and walked in followed by the timid Mary behind them. "Since when do they have live music? I don''t remember hearing it yesterday" Aiden spoke in surprise as he looked at the musicians at the far corner on a small makeshift podium preparing and tuning their instruments. For instruments, there was a piano, beautiful craftsmanship, shiny charcoal ck, a violin with simrly great qualities but in a sparky pecan color. Next to them, a man was sitting on a stool, that was busy cing four strange cylindrical objects in front of him. They all had various sizes and had different colored thin leathers stretched out covering their top sides. They were veryvish, with elegant, and unique embroidery on their sides. However, it wasn''t their design that caught Aiden''s attention, but the faint aura that these objects surrounded themselves with. All four had a different and very faint aura that surrounded the objects. They were clearly not ordinary items but had some magical properties. The fourth andst instrument was slightly simr to the violin with the key difference that it was a handheld andrger version with two separate necks instead of one. It was vaguely simr to a guitar, but it had ten strings instead of the usual six. Besides the drum-like objects, none of the instruments seemed particrly interesting, at least for Aiden. Taking onest look, he turned away, as the trio looked for an empty table to take their seat. While the ce was bustling, they still managed to find a table closer to the band and the bar, far away from the door. With a silent nod, they quickly agreed and began to push and wrestle their way through the crowd to get to it and begin their well-deserved rest for the day. With Aiden leading them, they managed to get through the barrier with rtive ease and arrive at the empty table. Letting Mary taking the seat first, Aiden motioned for Cole to follow suit and sit as well before he looked at the two, and with a friendly smile, he spoke up. Despite the noise surrounding them, both could clearly hear him. "I''ll go and get something for us to eat and drink. What would you guys like?" Not sure what to answer, Mary began to look around to see some of the avable choices. While she was ''picking'', Cole cheerfully eximed pointing to the group sitting at the neighboring table. The group there were in a heated discussion, as arger, buff guy was waving with hisrge hands, most likely boasting about a ''huge and ferocious'' beast he had heroically ovee during the day. They had the same dish in front of them: A pair of steaming, hot light brown sausages, with some mashed potatoes and a simr portion of light-green beans, apanied by arge mug of foamy, golden nectar. "I would be fine with that one!" Cole said with an expectant smile pointing at one of the dishes on the table. "Sure, that''s fine for me too I think." Aiden nodded, then turned to Mary. "And for you? Have you decided?" "Uhm... " Mary fidgeted at the boy''s stare, unsure what to answer. Unable to withstand the pressure, she pointed to the same te that Cole did as well, and while hiding her face with her other hand, she spoke in a muffled tone. "T-that would be fine for me too" Aiden smiled at the sight. "Sure, and as for drinks? A beer, or water?" He asked both of them. "Uhm some water for me please" Mary responded weakly, hiding her face with both hands now. "B-b-beer for m-me!" Cole spoke up, trying to sound determined but failing miserably as he stuttered the response. He never dared to drink it before, even if he was already considered an adult with his 16 years. He felt it was wrong, he didn''t deserve it before. But now, after all the things they did today, he felt it was finally appropriate to celebrate with a manly beverage! Nodding at the requests, Aiden turned around and left towards the counter, to ce their orders. He was happy, and content with all that happened today, he just wanted a peaceful dinner with his newly made friends and rest for the day. Unfortunately for him, tonight had a lot more in store for them Chapter 176 - 176 - An Eventful Dinner (Part 2) Aiden slithered his way through the crowd, smoothly reaching the counter with ease. Looking at the innkeeper for tonight, was a venerable old man. His long, white beard swayed back and forth as he belying his own age ran around the counter taking the orders and shouting towards the back, where a hearty, womanly response could be heard every now and then. Apart from the bushy beard, the innkeeper had little-to-no hair left on the top of its wrinkled head. Gaps could also be witnessed in his mouth, he had lost quite a few teeth over the years and the rest donned a grimy, yellow color. He wore simple, red linen clothing, only slightly better than the tattered rags the average beggar could be seen in. While he wasn''t skin and bones, he wasn''t toned either, the skin hung loosely over his body, but still, some meat could still be observed keeping up and withstanding the passage of time. His charcoal ck eyes rapidly darted back and forth, scanning for new customers to serve. His pace, his attentiveness was something that someone wouldn''t expect from a man of his age. Not long after Aiden leaned against the top of the counter and looked in the elderly man''s direction, the man noticed him as well and quickly ran in front of him. With a friendly albeit slightly hideous smile on his face, the elder promptly greeted the youngster with a kindly tone. "Greetings young man, how can I help you tonight?" Matching his expression, Aiden smiled back with the same friendliness as he answered in his crisp, clear voice, matching the elder''s tone. "Greetings, elder. Yes, my friends and I would like to dine here tonight. While we are not sure what the menu is, we saw this te on the neighboring table that we all really liked. It had a pair of sausages with some mashed potatoes and beans as the side. Can you give us three servings of it?" The elder nodded its head, his expression not changing the slightest. "Definitely, that is tonight''s house special, I am sure you and your friends will love it!" Then, without waiting for a response, he looked at the back and yelled out towards the kitchen. "HEY! 3 MORE OF THE SPECIAL! QUICKLY WOMAN!" The response came immediately in the form of a grumbling loud shout. "WATCH YOUR TONE YOU OLD COOT, OR I WILL HIT YOU WITH MY PAN!" Ignoring the ''angry dragon'' in the back, the old man turned back to Aiden, and with the same friendly smile, he continued with taking his orders. "Alright, your food is on its way. As for drinks, would you guys like something? Water, juice or maybe some beer?" Aiden wasn''t interested in alcohol that much, but he wasn''t against it either. With no desire at all, he shrugged at the thought and gave his order. "Two mugs of water, and one beer, please. Thanks." "Okay, I got everything I need from you. You could go back to your seat, but I would advise against it." Giving a helpless look at the crowd he continued. "Today is a bit unusual, so it would make my life and yours easier if you would wait for your order here and take it back. Hope you don''t mind." Aiden shook his head in response, the smile not leaving his face. "No, not at all. I assume it wouldn''t take long?" "Just a few minutes. Thanks, kid!" With that said, the elderly innkeeper was already in front of the next customer, taking their orders and repeating the same discourse he had with Aiden while also yelling towards the kitchen. With nothing better to do than wait, Aiden turned his attention towards the band that was still in the process of setting up their musical instruments and tuning them for the live musical event that would be starting soon. He didn''t know if there was any asion for it or if this was a regr thing, this was only his second night in this ce after all. Giving a quick nce at the innkeeper''s direction and seeing how busy he was, Aiden knew he couldn''t bother him with such a useless question either. So he kept his attention on the band, mostly focusing on the strange, magical drum-like objects. The aura they emanated was really interesting, he felt a soothing wash over him just by feeling it. He was increasingly interested in what purpose did it serve, and what was the point in bringing it to such a ce as this Back at the table, Mary seemed much calmer than a few moments prior, it seemed that being in the presence of Aiden made her heart jump and beat at a much faster pace than normal. She looked at Cole, her face revealed a cheery, jubnt expression. "Cole, may I ask how did you two meet? Don''t take this the wrong way, but you guys don''t seem that much alike." "Ahaha, no I don''t mind it at all!" Cole chuckled at the question. "True, Aiden is strong, fearless, and brave. He knows no danger, seemingly nothing could cause him harm. Believe me, I''ve seen him fight against the Sea Devils!" He looked down on his body, as he continued. "Then, look at me! Weak and fragile. I don''t have any real talents, apart from being a big dreamer, I guess." He looked up, matching his gaze with Mary''s as he went on. "How did I meet with him, you ask? Hmm I will probably disappoint you with it, it''s nothing big. I just saw him standing outside, looking at the Haunted Mansion. He seemed lost, so I just wanted to help him and ask what he was looking for." Contrary to what Cole expected, Mary''s brows perked up, she inquired further, with even more curiosity in her eyes. "What Haunted Mansion? What did he want with such a ce?" "You know, the dpidated, abandoned building just a few blocks before the Guild''s Hall. The one that usually has a request for an investigation, but nobody ever takes it because it''s an impossible task? That one. He just kept staring at it, like as if he was in a trance." A muffled, shocked yelp came out from Mary as he put her hands in front of her mouth, frightened by Cole''s tale. He leaned closer, motioning for Mary to follow suit, as he only whispered the next words. "The weirdest thing was that despite my warnings he approached the building until he met that invisible barrier that keeps everybody out. However, he didn''t back down even then, but he suddenly punched at it with such power that a visible ripple of energy was released, silencing the entire street with a loud bluster of a sound." "Did he manage to get inside the barrier in the end?" Mary asked with a hushed tone with shock still visible on her face. Cole smiled wryly in response, shaking his head. "No, he couldn''t. Or maybe he just did not want to cause anymotion, as people were already looking his way." Leaning back against the backrest of his chair, he thoughtfully added. "Whoever he really is, he is really, really strong." He sighed, looking at his friend''s direction before continuing. "He is fearsome and brutal at least towards his enemies. I can also feel that he is really kind. Just look at me! He treats me, nobody like a friend, even going as far as letting me join him!" Looking at the boy''s thoughtful expression, Mary was about to speak up and inquire about the nature of their rtionship further when suddenly they were interrupted. A man plopped at the empty seat next to her, while his group quickly surrounded their table. Another, arge and bald guy wearing nothing but two leather straps on his otherwise bare, muscled chest plopped at the empty seat next to Cole, looking at Mary with his obvious, lustful eyes. The guy next to Mary, a blonde, greased and neatlybed haired youth gave a charming smile towards the curly-haired girl. "Hey there, miss. Please excuse us for the intrusion, hope you don''t mind us joining you. We saw that you guys have some space, and seeing how crowded this ce is tonight, we had no choice." He turned his attention towards Cole, quickly sweeping his eyes from top to bottom at the weak-looking boy. A sh of contempt shed through his azure blue eyes, which quickly vanished, reced by a friendly mask. "Friend, I hope you don''t mind. We really just needed a ce to sit down." "I" Cole wanted to speak up, but the blonde hair youth did not give him any time, as he was already back on Mary. "Young Miss, you look so lonely, without any meal or drinks. May my friends and I invite you for dinner?" Mary did not respond immediately. The previously friendly and cheerful smile she had whilst talking with Cole faded, only to be reced with a cold look as her eyes swept through the group.Although she looked cold and collected, she was trembling inside, thinking about ways to fix the situation. She wasn''t afraid of them, she was afraid that Aiden would see them and misinterpret it! Chapter 177 - 177 - That’s My Seat "Sorry, but that seat is already taken." She answered curtly, looking at the blonde-haired youth. "Yes, our friend has just gone to ce our orders for tonight!" Cole chimed in, gathering up his courage from Mary''s words. Hearing this, the boy frowned then gave a slight, imperceptible nod towards his bald, muscled henchmen. The man, understanding the request, gave a loud boisterous guffaw, masking his intention as he gave a strong hit on Cole''s back in the guise of a ''friendly'' pat. Cole was almost thrown off the chair under the strong blow, barely able to hold himself straight and not hit the table helplessly. "Ahahaha! Boy, you sure are funny!" he bellowed amidst hisughter. Still, while he wore his armor, the single blow from the man gave him pain simr to if he was hit by a powerful blunt object. He coughed in response, spitting up small droplets of blood on the table. Seeing the expected result, the blonde-haired youth smirked inwardly, while projecting a sympathetic expression on the outside. He had a worried look on his face, as he leaned closer to Cole. "Hey brother, are you alright? Are you sick? You don''t look so good, you should check yourself out in the bathroom!" He looked at the still-standing members of his group, signaling with his eyes to take him away. Two of the closest out of the five standing immediately nodded with a grin on their faces that they quickly covered with a sympathetic look, as they approached the coughing boy. "Hey little brother,e, let us help you!" However, Cole whilst still continuing his coughing hit, pped their hands away. Then raising his right hand in the air, he spoke between coughs. "I *cough* don''t need your *cough* *cough* help! *cough* I am fine!" Mary could clearly see the hidden motive behind therge bald man''s earlier action. It was done deliberately, she could see the cruelty shing through his eyes for a moment as his gaze met with the blonde guy''s. Whatever their intention was, it was surely bad, and with the lustful gazes aimed at her, it wasn''t that difficult to guess what their goal was. She nced towards the counter, but due to the big crowd, she couldn''t make out Aiden''s figure at all. She could only sigh, trying to think up something else before their dinner would turn even worse than it already is. She gave a cold, contemptuous look towards the blondie and spoke with an agitated tone. "What are you guys doing?! Why did that big gori hit my friend? Who invited you guys here?! Go bother someone else!" Being called with such terms angered the bald man. His face contorted, and he was about to jump up and yell at the girl, threatening and most likely scaring the living hell out of her, when he was immediately silenced as the blonde young man raised his left palm, motioning him to calm down and sit in silence. He then turned towards the girl, meeting her contemptuous gaze with his most charming one that he could muster. Although he was slightly annoyed at the attitude of this girl, he couldn''t show it to her. This wasn''t the first time they did something like this, he had plenty of experience in how to deal with situations such as these. They met with simr feisty women before, and in the end, they all danced to their tune, leaving their men behind and went with them. Tonight will be the same, she could act tough now, but it will just make this whole ''hunt'' all the more pleasurableter! "Do not be so mad littledy, my friend did not mean to cause any harm. Right, Ben?" He looked at the bald guy with a friendly smile. "Yes, bo-" He was about to blurt out the usual response, but reminded by his leader''s stare, he quickly changed his wording. "I mean, yeah, I am sorry. It was just so funny, I couldn''t help myself. I only wanted to be friendly, nothing else!" Nodding at his henchmen''s response, he turned back at Mary donning the same charming smile that seemingly had zero effect on this girl. While this annoyed him to no end, increasing his frustration by the minute, he still held it all in and remained calm and collected on the outside. "See miss? We all apologize if we offended you both! Here, let me fix my friend''s mistake by ordering some drinks for you. I know you have dinnering, but at the very least, let me offer you this much!" As he talked, he kept slowly inching closer to the girl. Once he was at a suitable distance, his right arm began to slowly slither through the backrest of the chair. As if a snake approaching its prey, it slowly reached the edges of his chair and invaded the neighboring Mary''s chair''s backrest. Reaching the halfway area, it abruptly stopped in its ''hunt'', remaining still, not to alert the ''prey''. "I said it before, we have someone who has already gone ahead to ce our orders. He will be back shortly and will want his seat back. Please leave us alone." Mary firmly stated, hoping that they would just listen otherwise Aiden would really misunderstand the situation! "Who cares about a servant? Our boss granted you his precious time and attention, you should be happy to be granted this favor!" One of the standing guys closest to the blonde youth spoke up with an annoyed face and slightly angered tone. "Yeah do not be so cold, you should be jumping with joy!" Another one chimed in. The blonde youth simply raised his right index finger into the air, and that seemed to be enough to scare the group surrounding them into silence. Looking over at their frightened faces as they all nervously looked at the ground, Mary started to have a clearer picture of this group of people in front of her. She was an attendant at the guild for over a year now, she had heard many tales and stories about the nightlife of the city. The blonde-haired yboy was the leader, and the rest was his henchmen that yed their pre-assigned roles. She could feel their hungry, lustful gazes from the moment they first approached them, she was clear that whatever they came for couldn''t be good. "I will ask you again, please leave us be. You don''t want to be here when our friendes back." Closing in on his internal boiling point from the frustration, the blonde youth had an increasingly harder time to keep his emotions and his smile in check. A few seconds passed in silence before he could speak up and continue with his friendly act. "Don''t be like this miss, we only wish to join you tonight. Look around, the ce is full, where could we possibly go?" Meanwhile, as the coughing fit finally stopped and he didn''t spit up any more blood, he spoke with a weak, frail tone. "You guys you guys should leave on your own free will before our friendes back and throws you out" Although his voice was akin to a whisper, the entire group could hear it. Angered by the threat contained in his words, the bald man looked at the boy with a baleful expression. Raising his right palm in the air ready to swipe down at his back once more, he roared. "Are you threatening us, boy? Watch your words very carefully, or my next p wouldn''t be an idental one! Nobody will care if you meet your maker here!" The rest of the group that was standing also had a scary, menacing look on their faces, as they stared at the boy. The three closest also slowly reached for their des hanging by the side of their belts. They did notunch into an attack but kept looking at the boy menacingly, awaiting their leader''smand. The blonde youth raised his left palm in the air, halting all attacks, and while still keeping up with his ''friendly'' smile, he spoke, asking Mary onest time. "Your friend seems to be awfully rude to us, I''m afraid I won''t be able to hold back my agitated friend at this rate. I would like to ask you again, would you be willing to spend the rest of the evening with us? If you agree, my friends would be able to calm down, otherwise, I''m afraid, something bad could happen." Mary was startled by the sudden development. She was thinking about what she could do. For some reason, she had a blind trust in Aiden, she was sure he could handle the situation with ease. The problem was she didn''t know how to grab his attention and call for help so that he could hear it but it would not cause harm to Cole who was already surrounded by the group. The big guy''s hand hanging above his head like the scythe of the reaper. However, suddenly a crisp, familiar voice came from behind, causing Mary to immediately blush and reveal the first smile since the group sat down uninvited, invading their dinner. "Blondie, you are sitting on my seat. Get up." Chapter 178 - 178 - Tavern Brawl Surprised by the arrival of the unfamiliar voice, the group surrounding Cole as well as the blonde youth that was called out all looked at the source. Upon seeing that the owner was of a simr physique and build as Cole, only with a bit more ''wild'' side to him, his lips curved into a cruel smile. He looked back towards Mary, who was already blushing and acting shy, aplete 180 from how she acted in front of him, he was already annoyed and angered. Pointing at the wild-looking, long ck-haired and golden-eyed boy he spoke with a threatening tone. "Is that the guy you were talking about? Is he here to make us regret disturbing you two?" Without hesitation, Cole answered before even Mary had the chance. "Yes! You should run now, otherwise, you will not have the chance anymore!" He spoke confidently, despite the situation he was in. With Aiden''s arrival, his fear had vanishedpletely. With his friend around, he was certain that these idiots can''t do anything. "Are you agreeing to this weakling?" The blonde guy looked at Mary once more, gritting his teeth due to the sheer amount of frustration that kept building up in him. Mary kept looking at Aiden''s direction shyly, not daring to look at him for too long. She didn''t answer the man''s question, but her reaction was quite obvious. It didn''t take a genius to figure out what she was thinking. "Fine then! Watch as we beat your little man up!" He growled, releasing the pent-up emotions in one-go. Turning towards hisckeys he impatiently waved his hand and gave the order. "Go and beat that shithead up! Make sure he can''t sit up! GO! Once you are done with him, take this brat away too! "He pointed at Cole, then turned towards Mary licking his lips with expectations about what he would do to her tonight. "Leave me with this bitch for a bit, then we can take her away!" "Yes, boss!" The group yelled with excitement shining in their eyes, which morphed into a cruel glint a momentter, as they turned towards the still calm, and nonchnt youngster. His golden eyes showed no fear, as he looked at the blonde man. His voice was still calm and cool as he addressed him. "I said, you are sitting on my seat, blondie. Are you deaf? I will say it onest time, in a way that even you can understand it." He took a step forward, arriving next to the guy standing the closest to Cole. He gently ced his right hand on his left shoulder. He leaned forward and looked at the blonde guy with an expressionless gaze. As he opened his eyes to speak, his voice was still calm, but there was suddenly a chilly undertone to it, that caused the group to involuntarily shiver. "Stand... Up... Before" At this point, his eyes suddenly lit up, glowing in a golden color. The guy who he was leaning on suddenly cried out as the sound of bones crushing could be heard from his direction. He suddenly fell on his knees, grabbing his crushed left shoulder, sobbing miserably unable to endure the pain. Ignoring his cry, Aiden simply ced his palm on the desk continuing with his threat. "...Before I kill you all." With that said, the light from his eyes faded, returning to their original state. The group could only stare at the boy with shocked expressions at this sudden turn of events. Even the blonde man couldn''t believe their eyes. What just happened? Still, he couldn''t ept the fact that his group wouldn''t be able to handle just one boy, even if he was stronger than they originally expected. After the momentary shock, he came back to his senses and turned towards his blonde muscleheadckey and snorted loudly. "Don''t just stand there like an idiot, go deal with him! You two Ben! Crush him to pieces, don''t worry about the consequences!" He yelled out angrily. His words managed to wake the group from their shocked state. The shock quickly vanished from their faces, the previous menacing re returned as they eyed this neer as if he was already dead prey. "Sure, boss." Ben, the bald musclehead nodded with a cruel grin and jumped up from his seat. Cracking his knuckles, he slowly approached the youngster, the rest of the group slowly following suit. A few of them were already reaching for the handle of their weapons, as they eyed the golden-eyed boy from the top to the bottom. "Boy, you may have some shy tricks, but that doesn''t matter against pure unconstrained strength. You have angered the wrong crowd today, you can only curse at your own misfortune!" Ben growled cruelly as he closed in on the boy. "Don''t worry, I will make sure to keep your girlfriendpany all night and make sure to teach her how to behave! Her life''s new goal will be to please me and my friends! AHAHAHA!" The blonde guy gloated, looking forward to Aiden''s misfortune already. His cheery mood however soured after he nced at the boy and saw his still cool and collected face. He seemed to be unperturbed despite everything, not putting his group and even him in his eyes. This made him frown, and inwardly question if they have maybe made a mistake. Unfortunately, he couldn''t back out now. Gritting his teeth, he angrily yelled out once more, giving themand to the uing spectacle. "GO, KILL HIM!" Ben''s giant fists were already raised in the air, and with hismand, he abruptly swung both his fists in a downward arc in an attempt to smash the youth''s head to bits and pieces. While it seemed that the boy didn''t pay any attention to him, midway through the swing, he suddenly felt a jolt of pain spreading through from the surface of his chest, rapidly spreading through his insides. The searing pain quickly followed suit, his nerves working in overtime to deliver the message about the abrupt hit he received. His swing halted mid-air, as he was flung back like a helpless doll a momentter, crashing against a neighboring table. Thanks to his heightened physique, however, he didn''t lose consciousness. The heat in his chest however was unbearable, he quickly grabbed his crushed torso. Feeling as several of his ribs were crushed to splinters, he cried out, unable to swallow the pain. "Aaaaargh! You motherfu-" He couldn''t finish his words, as feet abruptly clouded his vision, as it rapidly came down, colliding with his face. A simrly sizedrge bearded, rough-looking fe sprung up from his chair, sending another kick towards the crying baldie. "Fucker, what the hell are you doing ruining my dinner!" He kept sending kicks at the baldie''s face. Meanwhile, the rest was already up in arms, with their short swords and daggers in hand as they swung towards the unarmed youngster. Aiden agilely leaned to the side, evading two des. Grabbing the wrists of attackers, the sound of crushing could be heard, followed by painful bellows as two more fell to the ground, desperately holding on to their broken limbs. A secondter, another man was sent flying by another invisible palm, crushing against yet another table a few tables away and angering another party who then went down on beating the already semi-unconscious man to a pulp. Once thest guy was sent flying, crushing two tables in the process, and angering more people in the process, only the blondie was left as he looked at the wild youngster with wide eyes. He couldn''t believe what just happened. His whole group was sent flying or disabled in a manner of seconds. Even the big Ben, the main pir of his group, was nothing in front of this youth! Fear finally settled in his eyes, he sprung up from his seat and took a few steps back as he looked at the still calm youngster with terror in his eyes. He was unable to keep his cool anymore and kept backing away as he yelled out with fear. "S-s-stay away from me you m-monster! Don''te any closer to me" His voice trailed off in the end as he hit some solid surface with his back. Feeling a shadow looming over his head made him feel ufortable. Looking up, he gulped loudly as the object he unintentionally hit wasn''t a solid surface but the back of therge rough, bearded man who kept kicking the now unconscious baldie. Turning around the bearded guy snickered angrily at the blondie as his fist immediately swung through the air as he turned around to face the next batant''. "You came to save your friend huh? Taste my fist then!" Before he could react, the blondie was sent flying once more crashing into a table. Another group stood up, and while two ''dealt'' with the semi-unconscious and unfortunate blonde man, the other two looked at the bearded guy. Cracking their knuckles, they yelled out. "You want a brawl, you big oaf?! We will give you one!" With that, they charged towards him with a loud battle shout... Chapter 179 - 179 - A Magical Concert "Are you guys okay?" Aiden''s voice came from behind, jolting Cole to straighten his back in surprise, while Mary was looking nervously to her left and right. Due to their actions be it direct or indirect, a brawl had broken out. Whilst the original group of ruffians that interrupted their mealtime and tried to intrude themselves on Mary and Cole was already out ofmission, the agitated adventurers had broken out in no-holds-barred fisticuffs. Sitting down next to Mary, Aiden turned to face her. Revealing a friendly smile, he lightly patted her head causing her to almost jump from her seat due to the shock and also turn beet red in the process. "Calm down, Mary. Everything is alright. I am sorry for taking so long to return, I did not expect that such a thing would happen." He spoke in a calm and soothing tone as if he was addressing his sister. "N-no, don''t worry about it Aiden! I am just sad that we can''t enjoy dinner now" Mary responded, looking at the boy, with a caring expression on her face. "Yeah, don''t worry about it Aiden! I wanted to speak up, but they were stronger than me" Cole added with an apologetic expression. "Huh? What are you saying?" Aiden looked at Mary, with a cheeky smile, as he reached out with his left hand above the table. His open palm was facing down, he slowly swayed his hand. Behind the trail the horizontal arc of his arm, the tes and mugs they ordered suddenly appeared, seemingly materializing out of thin air. "Who said we can''t enjoy dinner?" He grinned at Mary, content with his feat as he saw her stunned look. "Wha-? How?!" Mary looked at the table with wide eyes. Taking a quick nce at Cole, she could only see him smiling knowingly. Did Aiden know magic? Could he be a gifted one? However, before she could utter any other words, she felt the gentle pats on the top of her head. Looking at the source, she saw Aiden''s gentle smile and could barely contain herself anymore. Her face was already red as a tomato, threatening her of fainting by the surge of blood that kept gathering. "Don''t worry about it. Ignore the ruckus around us and let''s just enjoy the dinner just as we nned!" Aiden spoke calmly, as he pulled one te and a mug closer to himself. Without waiting for the others, he reached for the fork and knife and began slowly enjoying the delicious meal. While it still wasn''t as energy-rich as the meat of the wolves from the forest, the sausages were still surprisingly rewarding. After the momentary shock passed, Mary only smiled at the boy''s actions, and whilst lightly shaking her head, she reached for a te and a mug. She felt safe in Aiden''s presence and decided to ignore everything else and just enjoy the night to the best of her abilities. Shortly after, Cole also pulled thest te in front of himself and reached for the beer, creating a unique scene where three youngsters were silently having dinner whilst all around them the group of adventurers kept bashing and hitting each other. The strangest of the situation was that for some inexplicable reason, they all avoided hitting against their table and did not interrupt them. Whenever someone had looked at them and had the urge, they suddenly shivered in fright as they felt a tremendous pressure wash through them, filling their very bones with dread. Unsure of what it was, they all decided to avoid the terrible presence that loomed above the youngsters The free for all match was eventually put to a stop when the City Guards finally decided to show up. The innkeeper has secretly sent word for them, and while it took them quite a while to actually show up, they did, and after taking away to noisiest ones and pulled the unconscious away, peace returned to the ce just as abruptly as it was shattered to pieces a bit ago. After the guards left, the only indicator that something could have happened was the thinned density of the crowd and the sparse furniture that remained in the ce. What really surprised Aiden was that the bandpletely ignored all the ruckus and continued prepping for the session regardless of what happened with the gathered audience. As he finished thest bits from his te, he gave a contented sigh and leaned against the backrest of his chair. Looking at the band''s direction, he voiced the question that kept bugging him for some time now. "Hey, guys, what is up with those people? Howe they ignored all this noise, and are still preparing? Isn''t that strange?" Following the direction where he was looking, Mary smiled as she exined. She gave a light chuckle. "Ehehe, Aiden, they are an experienced band. This is not their first time having a session in a Tavern like this. Fights like these are amon urrence, especially in the rougher neighborhoods. As long as the group does not bother them, they learned how to ignore them, and just focus on what they were paid for." Just as she finished exining, the group alsopleted their preparations and setting up. Stepping their feet to a rhythm they counted to three and began ying their respective instruments, creating a soothing, and slow-paced melody that quickly engulfed the entire ce. The central guy, who was responsible for handling the magical drum-like object kept rhythmically hitting its leather-wrapped surface, releasing a low-thudding beat, the base of the music. A short whileter, as the melody reached a height, he closed his eyes and began to sing a song. His clean voice was in sync with the tune being the crowning jewel of the production. "There was once a battle onnd and on sea Where men and gods, as unlikely as that may seem Stood confronting great warships and captains and gore When along came a man, a bard of lore Aiol, his name, though more than he seemed A god of secrets, but a secret was he With great power never seen a song of discord He struck dissonant sounds like the ng of a sword The men on the ships resisted at first But soon drew blood of their men with a thirst Not a hand was lifted as they watched in delight As a great magical zap from a wizard did light On their heels, they did jump and fear for their lives But others were bewitched and stabbed with their knives When all was safe and the battle was won Aiol was seen with a grin and a hum. Not much is known of these God''s among men But theye to aid poor souls... and again. Not much is known of these God''s among men But theye to aid poor souls now and again." (AN: Inspired version from the Battle Hymn of Ryukyu. There should be a version avable on the for even more immersion. The wording was altered to fit more the world and the story) His singing mesmerized the crowd, they all looked at him in silence. As he reached the end and the music slowly quieted down, there was only dead silence in ce of the previous loud shindig that ruled the atmosphere. A momentter, however, the crowd erupted in a loud cheer, pping and cheering at the band and the mysterious singer. Mary and Cole were also standing and cheering with a loud ted ovation, while Aiden looked at the man with shock on his face. He saw it! As the man kept singing and rhythmically hitting his drum, he released magical currents into the air. These waves traveled at rapid speeds, washing through the crowd, slowly losing their energy along the way, eventually fading as they reached the far corners. The energy that the drum released entered the crowd, ying with their minds. Looking around, he saw that besides him and the aged innkeeper, nobody seemed to be able to resist the drum''s magical powers, they all seemed to enter a sort of trance, looking at the band in a dazed state. The bard remained silent and only grinned at the sight, seemingly unaware of the lonesome boy unaffected by his power. He nodded slightly at the innkeeper, who returned the motion along with a friendly smile. The band patiently and silently waited for the crowd to calm down, before starting their next piece. The drummer began to slowly smash against his instrument, releasing invisible energy rippling through the tavern hall once more. As the other instruments slowly joined in, the pace of the beat began to pick up, increasing the tempo of the song, from the beginning cool and calm to a more fiery, rapid piece. With each hit on the surface of the magical instrument, the invisible threads of energy were released, grabbing the attention of the already dazed audience, pulling them into an even deeper trance-like state. Looking at the dazed crowd, standing and staring with hollow, empty eyes at the band, Aiden furrowed his brows. Chapter 180 - 180 - The Gallant Knight The second piece was vastly different from the first song, the calm and slow pace that it started with gradually became a fast-paced fiery, emotional masterpiece. At its height, the invisible magical energies that surged through the Tavern Hall equipped a transparent, red, and yellowish hue. It also seemed to incite the dazed crowd, they began to shout with excitement and passion burning in their eyes. After the fiery emotional middle section, thest parts of the song began to slow down once more and return to its calm, beginning state. Thest notes were so quiet that it was akin to whispers to one''s ears. Although unaffected by the drum''s magic, Aiden had to admit that this group of musicians were a master at their craft. His friends, Mary and Cole were still under the effects and were standing and shouting with excitement as they loudly pped their hands in synchrony with the rest of the crowd. What surprised him the most though, was the elderly innkeeper that seemed to be able to resist the effects of the instrument. Just who was he? Taking a few minutes to ept the crowd''s appreciation, even if it was under the effect of their magic, the band stood silent. The central figure, the handler of the drums and singer at the same time looked through the crowd with his emotionless eyes, only perking up slightly when he noticed a pair of golden eyes staring back at him from a cornering table at the side. The boy seemed different from the rest of the crowd, just like the old man, he seemed to be able to resist the effects of his drum. He gave a slight nod at the boy in appreciation of his strong willpower before he turned around and walked back and sat down. Just like the drummer, the elder also noticed the golden-eyed boy who acted different from the crowd, he wasn''t put in the same dream-like trance. His gaze only lingered on the boy for a few seconds, before it traveled back to the dazed audience. His friendly smile turned stern in the next moment, he raised his hands in the air, and a momentter, a loud bang, his pping boomed through the hall. The soundwave released by his pping was so powerful, so blustering, that it immediately silenced everyone. He repeated the motion once again, releasing an even louder soundwave. The sound of the elder''s pping also grabbed Aiden''s attention. He looked at the old man, with interest, and focused his vision on his pping. He felt something strange, something unnaturaling from him. He felt the air resonating all around the area as if reacting to the old man''s ps. As the second p came, he was already focused, ready to learn the secrets behind his seemingly simple action. Just as he expected, notifications began to ring in Aiden''s mind, confirming his suspicion that whatever the old man was doing, wasn''t simple. [Spirit Magic discovered! Analyzing information 1% Warning: Spirit attribute is too low toplete the analysis.] ''Interesting That old man is anything but simple'' Aiden remarked inwardly, looking at the elderly innkeeper. Beforeing to the city, he was certain that his attributes were much higher than that of these humans. In fact, he was certain that besides a few special individuals, like his Master, he would stand high above everybody else. This theory of his seemed to be proven false time and time again ever since. He already epted the fact that Granny and Number 3 were special existences, much stronger than that of the strongest of what humanity can offer, but now this seemingly frail old man, was capable of feats that his system was unable to analyze? Also, there was the Examiner''s leader, Sarah. She also held many secrets, and while Aiden felt that he was stronger than her, he wasn''t sure that he woulde out unscathed if they had evere to fight it out. After the second p came and reverberated through the tavern, rity slowly returned to the dazed, expressionless eyes of the audience. Shaking their heads, they looked around with confusion and uncertainty reflecting in their gazes. They didn''t know what happened, but from their rapidly beating, palpitating hearts they felt that they went through a surge of emotions listening to the concert. They gave onest standing ovation and thunderous apuse to the band before they returned to their seats. The band itself didn''t start packing to leave, but continued with a third song, albeit without using the magical effects of the drum this time. The music returned as a sort of rxing background noise, instead of being the main attraction. The innkeeper gave another nce at the direction of the golden-eyed youth, before turning around and walking to the kitchen in the back. He made a mental note to investigate the youngster in more detailter "Woah, these guys are incredible!" Cole eximed with shining eyes, looking at the band as he returned to his seat. Contrary to him, Mary had a troubled expression, looking in front of herself, staring at nothing in particr. Her eyes revealed her confusion of the events of thest couple of minutes. Noticing it, Aiden, gave her a friendly smile, giving her a friendly pat on the head. "What is troubling you, Mary? Can I help?" He asked in a calm tone. In response, Mary first looked shocked, her already perspired skin equipped a reddish tone, feeling Aiden''s hand on the top of her head. She was unable to respond at first, looking at Aiden with a shocked expression that gradually turned to embarrassment. Once reaching a peak, she averted her gaze once more, turning towards the floor as if it held much more interest than those piercing golden irises of Aiden''s. "Uhm" She mumbled eventually. "N-Nothing." Looking at her now-empty te and mug, she took a breather and spoke. "Anyway, we should all soon head to rest, the day was long enough, and I am sure you both are exhausted from today''s events." Turning towards Cole, she stood up, and gave a slight bow, before doing the same towards Aiden. "I should go home now, it''s gettingte, and I still have work to do. Thank you for the delicious dinner A-Aiden and Cole." With her piece said, she turned towards the door and was about to leave when she felt a hand gently grabbing her shoulders, putting halt to her escape attempt. "Wait" Aiden''s voice came from behind. Afraid to turn around, Mary kept staring at the door for a moment longer, before letting out a sigh to calm down and collect herself a bit before turning around and facing the boy that kept troubling her maiden heart. "Allow me to escort you home Mary. There are many dangers lurking in the shadows, I wouldn''t want you toe to any harm." He spoke with apassionate expression. "B-but The area where I live is close-by and" She wanted to argue, that thanks to the patrols, the entire neighborhood is safe, this area is an important section of the city, after all, the city can''t afford to skim on the protection here. However, her words stuck in her throat as she looked at him, unable to voice these thoughts any longer. Her words trailed off, and could only stare at his eyes silently, lost in them. "Please Let me keep you safe." Aiden spoke again, in his usually calm and collected tone. "S-sure Thanks, Aiden." Unable toe up with any thoughts, Mary didn''t try to argue any longer, and just epted Aiden''s offer. Cole nodded at Aiden, as if ''understanding'' his thoughts as he smirked at him. Confused by this, Aiden only nodded back, before leaning towards him and whispering. "I will escort Mary back, so no more harmes to her. I will be back after that, but you should just turn yourself in for the night and rest. We will meet tomorrow morning here for breakfast, okay?" Cole nodded once again, the same ''knowing'' smirk stered on his face as he responded with the same hushed, whispering tone. "Sure man, enjoy yourself for the night!" Aiden looked at him confusedly, not understanding what he meant, but before he could speak up and ask, Cole have already stood up and left them, quickly rushing towards the stairs. Once on the stairs, he turned around and waved at them, before turning around and entering his room on the upper floor. While Aiden could not understand the meaning behind his friend''s words and actions, Mary could. She could not hear what the two whispered about, but Cole''s sudden exit and smirk on his face as he dashed towards his room was a clear sign for her of what he was thinking. She nervously nced at Aiden, who had a momentary confusion sh through his eyes before returning to their usual calm state. As he turned around and smiled at Mary once more, she could feel her cheeks firing up once again, as the blood rushed towards there for the nth time today. She felt her heart beating rapidly, pumping the blood with eagerness. Although she was looking forward to their moonlit stroll, she was also afraid that her maiden heart would be able to keep up with the pressure any longer and would faint. Chapter 181 - 181 - Moonlit Stroll Under the clear night sky, two figures could be seen walking next to each other, slowly crossing through the empty and eerie streets. Only the asional guard patrol was the only disturbance to the romantic air that surrounded them. First, when they left the tavern, an air of nervousness surrounded them, mostly emanating from the feminine figure, Mary. With a constantly beet red hue dominating her youthful cheeks, she just silently walked next to the tall and well-toned physique of Aiden. She didn''t dare to look at his dashing and handsome features, she only managed to steal the asional nces of the side of his face or his long, charcoal ck, silky hair as it fluttered against the wind. Whilst his eyes were not glowing, at least not directly, the exotic golden irises still gave a sort of guiding presence, giving a sense of warmth and kindness, a familial love that stood proudly against the ever-present darkness, the void of the night. Mary gripped the edges of her dress, tightly pulling at its edges, not knowing what to do with her hands or with herself by that matter. She felt her heartbeat perpetually increasing, giving the illusion of popping out of her chest any moment. She had to exhale arge gasp of air every now and then, just to keep her mind rtively in check, otherwise, she was really afraid of fainting on the spot. She couldn''t exin her reactions to this youth, to this man at all. She was a guild attendee, experienced in dealing with all kinds of people. During the long months, she had to deal with people with all kinds of nature and attitude. She felt the lecherous gazes of the nastier individuals, the contemptuous look of the arrogant, the talented, or those of noble birth. She stood still against the mad, crazed, or angered ones. She defended against threats or even called the guards to some. Still, she never felt this helpless against someone. The worst of it all was that she kinda liked this feeling. She liked feeling her rapid heartbeats whenever she interacted with this mysterious boy, she liked the feeling of getting lost in his incredible eyes She even liked the feeling of the heat that kept emanating from her cheeks whenever he smiled at her or even spared a nce. She liked her mind that stored all the moments as eternal memories of all the interactions. Her mind kept racing a million miles per hour, as she kept following the pavement with her eyes walking next to the boy that now had a permanent ce in her heart and mind, not leaving even in her dreams. Suddenly feeling a hand on the top of her head, she felt as the heat that previously only dominated her cheeks spread through her entire body, originating from the contact of the palm and the top of her head. "Huh?" Was the only thing her mind could voice out. She looked up with a stunned expression as she secretly enjoyed the feeling of his hand caressing her brown, curly hair. Aiden gave a gentle smile at the girl next to him. His smile only caused even more heat to spread throughout the girl''s body, turning not just her cheeks but her entire face rich in blood. "Nothing, I just felt you are way too tense. Is my presence troubling you? If you want, I can stay behind you and just guard you from a distance." At first, Mary had trouble even processing his words, much less voicing any answers. However, a few momentster her mind managed to catch on. She shook her head vehemently, and with all her willpower she looked the boy in the eye and answered with a sweet smile that colored her currently tomato-like expression. "N-no, please don''t leave. I-I" She had to avert her gaze and look at the pavement once more to be able to continue. Her voice also trailed off, bing much lighter, meeker. "I like you being here next to me." Aiden enjoyed the strange reactions of this girl. He could sense every quick nce, every attempt of hers as she tried looking at him. He could even hear her rapid heartbeat. First, he even thought that she might be having some sort of health problems, but the system''s ping showed her aspletely healthy, debunking his first thoughts. Unfortunately, without the assistance of Enya, Aiden couldn''t tell what was happening to the girl, but for some reason, he felt that all her reactions were quite enjoyable. He smiled back at the girl, nodding at her words, as he responded in a kind, calm manner. He wasn''t sure why, but he felt simr vibesing from her as he could feel from Lily, causing the friendlier, brotherly tone he started to use when speaking to her. "Okay then. I will be d to keep apanying you." Turning his head, he checked out the empty streets ahead. "I vaguely remember your home being somewhere close-by" He spoke thoughtfully, trying to recall the map that had all the taverns marked. "I-I" Thinking back to the embarrassing event, Mary could only nervously stutter. "I-it it''s just a f-few b-blocks ahead" She pointed ahead at seemingly no particr building. With the assistance of Aiden''s System, however, Aiden could easily mark the building Mary was pointing at. Nodding slightly, he gave onest caress on the top of her head, before taking back his hand giving a noticeable relief to the girl but also slight dismay secretly as well. Still, without the pressure of the warmth of his palm, Mary managed to collect herself a bit more and speak to him normally for the first time today. "Sorry. I meant that my home is only a few blocks away, just ahead." Looking around and not seeing a single soul, Mary smiled, as she continued with a slight cheekiness in her voice. "You see? I told you this is a safe area! The Guild Hall and the whole Adventurer''s Street for that matter are an important section of the city. People from all parts of the social dder''e to visit us to ce their requests. And this is not restricted to the city either, we have peopleing from all over the area. The leaders can''t afford to not keep a close watch and root out all the evil. In fact, I would say that this is one of the safest ces in the city!" As she continued to speak, she gradually became calmer and let go of her reservations gradually. Unbeknownst to herself, for the first time since meeting Aiden, she managed to speak without any reservations at all. She spoke naturally, just like she usually does for everybody else. This change was also observed by Aiden but deciding to not agitate the girl by teasing this change of tone, he decided to not voice these thoughts out. He simply nodded at her words, only speaking when she finished her monologue. "I see. Still, I wouldn''t feel right, if I at least didn''t escort you home. While I may be ignorant for most of the matters, at the very least, I know that it''s rude to leave a girl such as yourself alone and face the potential dangers of the night alone. My Granny and my master taught me to be a better person than that!" As he spoke about his Granny and Number 3, there was an unmasked proudness in his voice. "Granny? Master? They must be really good people if they taught you such values. You may not know this, but such qualities are rare nowadays. People are selfish and greedy, nothing like you." Mary responded with a kind smile. As the barriers, she ced herself in crumbled around her heart and she managed to gradually open them up and let this boy step closer, unknown to him, her nervousness slowly faded, and she became calmer and happier in the presence of Aiden. As they continued to walk, slowly crossing the streets, Aiden looked up at the clear starry night sky, gazing at the visible piece of the moon ruling the natural dark ceiling above. He sighed as the memories of his home and family resurfaced in his mind. "Yeah They are incredible people. Not just them either, my sister as well. All three of them are the reasons for what I am today. Without them, I would be someone else something else" Letting out another sigh, she looked at Mary with a kind smile on his face. "Also, and I may have forgotten to mention this previously, but you have already met my sister. She hase to the city before me and registered as an adventurer." Mary perked her ears and raised her eyebrows at his words. Did she meet Aiden''s sister? When? Who? Looking at the boy with a questioning gaze, she asked with curiosity in her tone. "I did? Who was she? What was her name? When did I meet her?" Chapter 182 - 182 - The Invitation (Part 1) The arrival of the dawn marked the beginning of a new day and with it, new adventures. As the first rays of the sun peeked through the windows and basked the dark room with its light, therge hump under the nket began its first movements. Mere momentster, the nket was pulled back revealing Aiden''s half-naked figure. Last night, after escorting Mary home he returned to the inn and went to sleep, he did not do any Meditation this time around. Although he does not need to sleep every time, he was rtively tired and spent from all the events that transpired yesterday. He also needed the time to slowly recuperate and be at his peak state for today as well. He was so tired in fact, that he did not wake up early as he usually did before. In return, he felt refreshed and ready for the day. Just for safety, he focused his mind and opened up his status window on the screen, only to let out a satisfied smile as he nced at his Condition and Soul Power statistics back to being their maximum states. [Condition: 100% Soul Power: 1100 - (Level 2 9503 / 10000 XP)] What surprised him the most was the fact that his level has automatically increased after thepletion of the two quests that he took up from the guild yesterday, raising his main stat to just a step higher and closer to his goal of reaching that famed maximum. Due to the increase in level, just as before, he experienced an increase in his main attributes, raising them by 1 level each, but also removing the umted points in the process. Therefore, his new status was as follows: [Name: Aiden Race: Primal (Evolver) Form: Ancient Dragon (Tier 3) Level: 11 / 100 (50 / 1000 XP) Condition: 100% Soul Power: 1000 - (Level 2 - 9503 / 10000 XP) Experience: 800 XP Might: 33 (0 / 1000 XP) Agility: 33 (0 / 1000 XP) Spirit: 39 (0 / 1000 XP) Innates: Dragon''s Wrath (Level 2) (0/1000 XP), King''s Grip (Level 1) (0/1000 XP), Shapeshifter (Level 1 - 0/5000 XP), Mystic Martial Arts (Level 2 - 0/1000 XP) Skills: Primal Absorb (Level 2 - 0 / 1000 XP), Hunt (Level 3 - 10 / 100 XP), Martial Arts (level 3 - 0 / 100 XP), Underwater Breathing (-), Swimming (-), Language: Common (-), Language: Goblin (-), Meditation (-) Under Analysis: Rune Magic - Current Progress: 80%, Alchemy (Basic) - Current Progress: 52%, Sword Mastery - Current Progress: 20%, Wind Magic - Current Progress 5%, Spirit Magic - Current Progress - 1% Effects: Blessing of Ioris (-), Physical Resistance (level 4 - 0 / 100 XP), Fall Resistance (level 1 - 0 / 100 XP), Water Resistance (level 1 - 0 / 100 XP), Poison Resistance (level 4 - 75 / 100 XP), Psychic Resistance (level 1 - 0/100 XP)] (AN: It was quite a while ago since I posted a full character sheet, so just as an exception, I added it here. I will also update the one found in the Auxiliary Section in 3 days.) Looking through the details on the screen, Aiden was quite content with the development of his abilities. The fact that his Poison Resistance could level up so easily, providing him with additional protection against all forms of toxic substances was a wee development. The increase in his three primary attributes was also something that he still couldn''t wrap his mind around. Previously as he lived a sheltered life in the forest, he thought that might, agility, and spirit was way above the levels of what humans should be capable of. Whilst this was mostly true, he kept bumping into exception every time. The leader of the examiners in the guild, the old innkeeper, his master, probably granny, and most likely that man with the strange drums as well. They were all unique beings, much stronger and more capable than the rest. Heck, even that annoying brat, Drake and her sister were probably much more capable than the rest. ''Maybe I was wrong'' Aiden thought to himself, thinking about all these existences, exceptions to his theory. The only thing that slightly soured his otherwise ted mood was the ''Under Analysis'' section. For all this time, the days, the months, the years spent with his family, he still couldn''tplete the two first and most promising skills he started observing, the Rune Magic and Alchemy. Even worse, after a certain milestone, he kept getting messages that he couldn''t increase the progress on the skill by observing the same concoctions, he had to find and observe a variety of potions being made in several sessions. As for Rune Magic, that was a skill that he only ever saw Granny performing, and he was helpless in finding new sources. For the other two, the Wind Magic and Sword Mastery, Aiden was fairly certain that if he were to put in the effort, he could learn them with rtive ease. Unfortunately, he didn''t like the feeling of a sword in his hands, he felt that his true potential was constrained with it. He preferred using his own, free hands, and ws for dishing out damage or deflecting against blows. Her transformed, scaled skin was much stronger than the de of a sword, or even the thinyer of steel of a shield. He was also fairly certain that as he continued to absorb a variety of monsters and creatures and assimte its features into his own self, over time, his own skills and traits would be much better than any magical de found in this vast, expansive world. He was also very interested in the meaning behind the main level. He managed to reach 11, slowly creeping higher and higher reaching that hundred mark. There was still a good distance, but with every increase, he felt as his own power increased, as the chains that kept him shackled to this mortal in easing up just a little. What would happen when he eventually reaches it? Was it rted to his life force? Would he evolve into an even higher state? Would he die? He had no idea, couldn''t even make a guess. Giving another look-over, Aiden sighed as he closed off the screen. Standing up, he went into the connecting bathroom, and quickly refreshed himself, before equipping the same clothing he wore yesterday. Just like with his choice of weapons, he didn''t like most of the clothing, humans or other intelligent creatures liked to wear, it felt restricting. The loose, linen-shirt, and pants he wore was the only piece of clothing that he could endure. It was still a chore though, as every time he would do aplete transformation, he had to make sure to first quickly store them inside his System''s Inventory, or they would be ruined. Another feature he was itching to finally try out and y with was the System''s Fusion feature. He never had enough life forms stored to be a worthwhile endeavor, but now, as he held a few prime choices, he could finally have a y with it. Still, as it would force him to stay in a potentially monstrous form for an extended period of time, he still couldn''t risk using it in the city and with others close by. Still, he made a mental note that once he finally was left alone and away from civilization, he would spend some time with it. As he got ready for the day, he walked to the door and left his room. The noise of the morning crowd hit his ears, albeit much quieter than the one he experiencedst night. With a smirk stretching across his face, he slowly approached the stairs, looking for a familiar figure on the ground floor. Just like yesterday, he soon spotted the eager and energized figure of his friend, Cole fervently waving in his direction with arge, beaming smile on his face. epting his greeting and giving a wave and a nod back at his direction, Aiden walked down the stairs and made his way towards his friend who was already waiting for him, with two tes of meals ready to be consumed for the breakfast. "Hey Aiden, Good morning! How are you, how was your night with Mary, huh?" As he got closer, Cole immediately began his assault, trying to pry out all the juicy details his mind could think of. "Morning Cole. Nothing much, I just escorted her home, and came back." Aiden answered calmly, as he took his seat in front of his friend. As he reached for a te and a mug to pull closer, Cole didn''t give up and attacked with another round of questions. "What do you mean nothing? Did you guys kiss or something? Come on, don''t be like that!" "Kiss? Why would we kiss?" Aiden looked at his friend with a confused expression. "We just talked, that''s all. She is a kind soul and a good friend. I think she is quite simr to my sister, in fact, we talked about that mostly." Aiden answered as he recalled the surprised expression of Mary as he spoke about her meeting Lily. She hasn''t expected that the blonde, cheerful girl that came just a short while ago was somehow rted to the boy walking next to her. Chapter 183 - 183 - The Invitation (Part 2) After the hearty brunch and friendly chat, the duo quickly made their way to the Adventurer''s Hall. As soon as they pushed on therge, double, wooden door and stepped inside the already busy building, they were greeted by a cheerful, feminine voiceing from the far side of the room, the attendee''s desk. "Aiden! Cole! Here!" The cheery shout came again, alerting the duo. Looking at the source of the sounds, Aiden revealed a friendly smile and waved back at Mary who was already working. They quickly made their way towards the girl and greeted her with friendly smiles. "Hey Mary, did you rest well?" Aiden was the first to speak, causing the girl to, contrary to her shy behavior yesterday, not avert her eyes but instead, smile back. "Yeah, I did. Thanks for taking me home Aiden, even if I probably would have been fine. Still, I really appreciate your kindness." Meanwhile, Cole decided to just simply wave, feeling a bit like a third wheel in the conversation of the two. He gave a friendly smile as he stood silent, next to Aiden. "Anyway, it still baffles me that you are the brother, Lily was talking about when she was here. Who would have thought!" Mary eximed, still surprised by his revealst night. "Also, I''m guessing you are already aware, but the golden armored man that spoke yesterday? That was the man that kept following and pursuing your sister. He is a wealthy noble with great connections and a wife. He is also the only Rank 3 adventurer registered in this local guild as of today. Although" She smiled sweetly at Aiden, as she continued. "...I believe that is going to change soon." Turning her head to the side, she gave a nod at Cole as well, before turning to look at the both of them. "So, what are you guys going to do today?" As they have already decided during breakfast, Aiden spoke up, with his usual calm attitude. Leaning against the desk, he pointed towards the Quest Board on the side. "Well, we figured we could pick up one or two quests today as well, maybe aim for around 2-stars, maybe 3, and do them. We don''t want to go on longer adventures, at least not yet, but want to gather more experience in working together. Yesterday, we couldn''t really do that because of the disturbing group, you know." "Yeah, we want some simple quests that could be done nearby or in the city. Do you have any rmendations, Mary?" Cole chimed into the conversation. "Well" Mary looked at the stack of papers at her side with a wry smile on her face. "We do have quite a few requests that came inst night and this morning" Turning around, she faced the closest pile. Approaching it, she was ready to dive in to search for suitable requests for her friends. "Give me a minute, let me look this through quickly, I am sure we can fin-" However, before she could finish her thought, one of the strange crystals ced below her desk lit up and began to emit a faint yellowish light, informing the need of her presence at the back. "Uhm Wait a bit for me guys, I have to go to the back. The higher-ups are calling." Before the two could have had a chance to respond, she turned around and rushed to the back office door, quickly entering and vanishing in the long halls of the office area. Left alone, Cole and Aiden decided to not waste the time, and walked to the request board, looking for suitable requests in the process. This time they did not stop at the first section, but immediately went to the second and third. Time passed slowly as they kept looking at the posted papers, but most if not all of them required them to either be a bigger party, have some female members, or travel farther. Ones that they could in a close enough distance were simr to those of yesterday, the always avable Thorny Frog Gall dder farm, several different types of flower or bug gathering requests, and the like. Nothing that would take them any effort toplete and would be at the most a few hours distance away. "Maybe, we should just wait for Mary toe back and let her look through that pile of papers that was not yet posted?" Cole spoke up after a while. Albeit unwilling, Aiden could only nod and agree to his friend''s thoughts. Unless they were willing to travel farther away, they should just wait for Mary and hope she could find something. "Fine. Let''s just wait for her." Just as he spoke and acquiesced, the back office door suddenly sprung open, and Mary ran back to her spot, heaving heavily in the process due to the distance she ran from the office all the way back to the desk. Noticing her, heated and huffing figure, Aiden and Cole walked back. Leaning closer on the desk, Aiden was the first to speak up once again with his usual smile ever-present on his face. "So, what is up Mary? Why the rush? What happened?" He inquired. Looking at him, Mary continued to huff and heave for a while before she rested enough to answer. "I was called back by the Leader of the Examiners." She answered, looking at the boy. Her expression turned from happy to serious, as she continued. "They would like to talk to you, Aiden. You are to go back and meet with the Leader right now." "Huh? Me? Right now?" Aiden asked back. Why would she want to talk now? Did they already get the information about the Demon Grotto he requested? So fast? Didn''t she tell that it would require at least a couple of days before they could get anything? ''Regardless, if he was called it is best to just agree and meet with her.'' He thought, nodding at Mary. "Sure, I will go." Looking at Cole, he added. "You should talk with Mary while I am gone and look for one or two quests that we could do. If there are no 2- or 3-star quests we could do, then just pick something, anything." "Sure man, leave it to me! Mary and I will find something by the time you get back, don''t you worry!" Cole responded with a thumbs up and a cheery smile on his face. "Do you need me to walk with you?" Mary asked with a troubled look on her face. Aiden shook his head in response, smiling gently as usual. "No need. I remember the way to the office." He had the system already map out the route, and unless the hallways magically shifted overnight, he would need no help navigating through the crooked halls. He walked past the desk, calmly approaching the back office door. As he reached for the handle, he turned his head and spoke to Mary and Cole once more before he left. "Try to find something we can do, okay? I will be back as soon as I can." With that, he opened the door and left the hall, and began making his way towards Sarah''s office. As he walked, he sent out regr pulses using his [Dark Sense] skill, trying to map out as much as he could along the way. Unfortunately, just as thest time, it seemed that her sensing and mapping abilities have hit some unsurpassable hurdles, at least for the time being, as he couldn''t sense past the next hallways, but was always met with an intangible wall of energy pushing his pulses back or dissipating it entirely. Eventually, he reached the door for the office hest visited. Seeing as how he couldn''t scan inside without opening the door and stepping in himself, he reached for the handle, before knocking on the door. Soon enough a familiar melodious voice came from the other side. "Come in!" Recognizing the owner of the voice, Aiden smiled to himself, before pushing on the door and stepping inside. "Wee, Aiden! I have been waiting for you!" The hooded figure of Sarah greeted him as soon as he stepped in. There was no heavenly undertone in her voice, she forcefully gave a stop of using her powers. Motioning for the boy toe closer, she spoke as she pushed the cover of the hood revealing her wide smile and porcin skin. Her purple eyes weren''t glowing, she forcefully gripped her powers and willed it to a stop, trying her best not to offend the young man in front of her. "I have been waiting for you Aiden!" She repeated her earlier statement and continued before Aiden could respond. "I have visited the Mistress, our leader, and I have good news for you!" She spoke, giving a theatrical pause to her speech and giving Aiden time to react. "Huh? What news?" Aiden asked, just as she expected. The smile on her face curved even brighter, as she answered the expected question. "The Mistress would like to meet with you! She will be able to give you details about the ce you want to find and also have an offer for you!" Chapter 184 - 184 - The Invitation (Part 3) "The Mistress? Who is that? Why would I need to meet with her? Why would I need to care?" Aiden asked, confused by the leader''s enthusiastic greeting. The glee not fading from her face, Sarah, the leader of the examiners responded instantly. "The Mistress is the true leader of our faction. She is my leader, our wise captain, that is tasked with the burden of guiding us towards a better, more just future. She is one that has suffered in the past under the unruly,wless, and cruel hands of civilization and took it upon herself to rid of this world of filth." "I see. And she would like to meet with me? What for?" Aiden continued with his inquiry. It was just too sudden, he just met and talked with Sarah the other day. Getting in touch with the one behind the scenes was just way too fast to be natural. Giving a wry, troubled smile, Sarah began to exin the events from yesterday. "You see, yesterday I have met with the Mistress to get the information that you requested in exchange for your cooperation in the uing events. Things happened, she heard about your feats and became interested. She is the one that will be able to give you the information you seek. She is willing to work with you, but first, she wants to talk with you one on one, face to face." Although Aiden felt the exnation was short, and there were some crucial parts left out, what was important to him was that he now had a goal. If he could get the information he needed by meeting with this woman, it didn''t matter to him, he would do so. "Okay. That sounds reasonable." He replied after a few moments of thinking. "When will we meet? Where do I need to go?" Upon hearing the question, Sarah''s smile turned slightly wider, donning the facial traits of a grin now. With an ted, happy tone she spoke. "Well, if you are willing, we could go right now. She is waiting for you at this very moment." Surprise settled on Aiden''s face hearing this unexpected answer. "Now? How? Is she somewhere in the building?" Subconsciously he sent out another wave of pulses trying to scan the inner features of Sarah''s office, only to be met with intangible barriers made of energy blocking all of his attempts. As if she was capable of sensing his energy signatures, Sarah''s grin turned cheekier, as she remarked. "Now now Aiden, why would you think that? She is far from this ce, but thanks to her incredible powers, we can meet with her if you are willing. You just need to agree to it and she will take you." She spoke, then paused to give a moment for Aiden to process the meaning behind her words. However, before he had the chance to speak, Sarah quickly added. "Don''t worry, she will also take you back here once you are finished. I can assure you, there is no danger involved in the travel, although she might test your skills a little I can''t say for certain. You see, she likes to be certain of the quality of her assets" Giving the invitation a few moments to think it through, Aiden saw no issues with just meeting with this mysterious leader. Even if he were to be ''tested'' in some way, the benefits he could gain was tremendous. The possibility of finding a clue about the location of his main quest was of the utmost importance. The failure would mean his life in this worlding to an end. With a scythe like that hanging above his head constantly, giving him enormous pressure every moment, the cost of working with a shadowy leader with some warped sense of justice was a small price to pay. Also, why would he care about the world of humans? Apart from the weak connections, he made with the select few individuals, he doesn''t feel any belonging. As long as the ones he cares about can be saved, he wouldn''t bat an eye for the rest, it has nothing to do with him. "Fine, I agree with your request. Let me meet with her." Aiden nodded after thinking it through. "Excellent!" Sarah sped her hands with excitement upon hearing Aiden''s answer. She pulled a dark, familiar-looking ss crystal from the depth of her desk and presented it to Aiden. Just like the one his master, Number 3 used back in the underground arena, this one also had a ck viscous smoke-like substance swirling inside of it, filling every inch of the crystalline container. "You should just crash the crystal in your hands once you are ready. The Mistress will then open a gateway that you can then cross through to meet with her in a ce of her choosing, where she is already expecting you." Seeing the concern surfacing in Aiden''s eyes, she added with a friendly smile. "Don''t worry though, I am almost certain she is at the mansion, waiting for you in the Study Room. That''s where she usually meets with her guests." Although he had many more questions, not just about the meeting or the origins of the woman she kept referring to as ''The Mistress'', Aiden also wanted to know more about the fact they also had these crystals Did they have a connection with her master, or the group, the Organization behind her? Still, he decided to keep these for himself for now, and just voice them once he is face to face with the woman on the other side. Taking the crystal from Sarah''s palm, he raised his right hand in front of him. Taking onest look at Sarah who kept giving him a friendly smile, they nodded at each other onest time, before Aiden decisively crushed the crystal in his hands. The dark viscous substance was released, it slowly levitated in the air, before stopping at around Aiden''s eye level at arm''s length. Suddenly, its calm state turned violent, and it began to rapidly swirl and whirl in the air, rapidly forming a ck vortex made out of energy. Its edges began to blur, merging with the particles in the air. A momentter it began to slowly expand, slowly reaching towards the ground and creating a form of a gate, a doorway barely big enough for Aiden to fit through. A few seconds passed before the gateway was finally formed, and while it looked familiar, it also had a strange, unique quality to it. First, its shape was slightly different from those that Granny and Number 3 formed, it had a wider arch at its top, and at the very top, there was a face looking down at him, a sort of unnatural being lording over the created magical tunnel. The surface of the gate wasn''t the same either, while it had the same dark quality that the other one had, you could vaguely see into this one, and see a long, cylinder-shaped tunnel spiraling inside, seemingly to eternity. Taking a few steps forward, Sarah walked to Aiden''s right sight. Looking at him with the same, friendly, inviting smile, she gestured for him to step inside. "Step through the gate Aiden. You will be instantly taken to the other side, you have nothing to worry about. This is a very high-level spell, not many are capable of such feats in the entire continent. The fact that she is willing to spend such a cost just to invite you for a talk It shows how much she values you already. Go through, I will await your return here." Hearing her words, Aiden looked at her with a surprised expression. "You''re noting? Howe?" Sarah, simply shook her head, not giving any exnation. Instead, she urged him again. "Come on, go through. The Mistress is waiting." With no other choice in the matter, Aiden could only acquiesce and nod at her words, before turning his attention towards the portal in front of him. Keeping his vignce at its peak, he continued sending out energy pulses not trying to map out any previously unregistered detail but to be aware of all sudden movements and motions. He couldn''t be certain if all of this wasn''t simply a very borate trap carefully designed to catch him off-guard. However, there were no signs of danger, there were no dangerous vibes from anything. Sarah was friendly and had an expectant, almost reverent look on her face as she kept looking at him and the gateway that was formed from the crystal. ''Here goes nothing I guess.'' He sighed inwardly, before taking that first step that marked the beginning of a long, and dangerous cooperation with the one that everyone just referred to as ''The Mistress'' or The Madame. She, who is one of the tendrils reaching out from the shadows She, who had suffered enough, and is ready to enact her twisted vengeance and justice upon the city, the kingdom, and even the world. She, who holds many secrets, even for Aiden... Chapter 185 - 185 - An Unexpected Trial Stepping through the gateway, he was greeted with a slightly different experience than thest time he used a simr means of transportation. This one wasn''t instantaneous travel, but instead, Aiden found himself in a strange cylindrical-shaped tunnel with a t surface made out of transparent energy. All around, he could only see the swirling mass of the dark void with the asional speck of light mixed in, creating a fuzzy, hazy experience. The void-tunnel as Aiden nicked it in his mind wasn''t long, nor did it spiral at all. It was a short, straight hallway, he could see a simr ck door-shaped tear in the space marking his potential exit from this sub-dimension. Instinctually, Aiden sent out a few pulses of energy, but there were no responses, his system map couldn''t map and record anything. Since he couldn''t find any traces of a trap, or danger at all, Aiden could only go forward, and embrace himself for the strange trip ahead. Just with other experiences, the first step changed everything. Suddenly the short tunnel stretched out, just a little bit, pushing the boundaries and the exit just a step further, matching the distance he traversed. Raising his eyebrows in curiosity, Aiden raised his left leg that hasn''t made a movement as of yet, and slowly raised it from the transparent floor. Keeping a close watch on the exit, he slowly moved his leg, ahead of his right, whilst also shifting his center of gravity forward. At the moment his left leg touched the ''ground'', space buzzed once more, and the exit was pushed back just a bit, once again matching the distance his leg covered. "What the" He eximed, not understanding the logic behind the strange phenomena at all. "Is this the trap?" He asked himself, but then remembering Sarah''s words and expressions, he shook his head. "No, it''s probably not meant to be one. Hmm Maybe a test? Does the exit move every time my feet touch the ground?" To test his theory, he once again lifted his right foot off the ground and moved it ahead of his left, this time covering a bit more distance than what he usually does with an average step. Just like before, once his foot touched the hard surface made out of the unknown energy, the exit seemed to blur from existence and moved further away, matching the distance covered by his movement. "I see" His theory confirmed, Aiden began to dive into his thoughts, thinking of possible solutions to this puzzle. "I can''t walk that''s for sure. What if I run?" Continuing with his theories, Aiden lifted his left leg and ced it in front of the right. As the door began to shift to match the distance he covered, Aiden suddenly began to slowly jog forward. The door, however, seemed to be able to match his pace, it did not stop but kept matching the distance his feet covered with each step. Expecting this result, Aiden only smirked, and slowly began to increase his speed whilst keeping a close eye on the exit portal''s position. His speed gradually increased, but to a normal degree only, which was always matched by the portal. Seeing that his attempt was met with a failure once again, Aiden wasn''t annoyed by the slightest, in fact, he was already expecting such a result. Closing his eyes, he pooled into his Soul Power reserves, and also activated his Mystic Martial Arts. Focusing on the flow, this time he guided the energy towards his legs. As the energy sept into his muscles, his dashing figure suddenly blurred as his speed crossed the limits of what naturally would be capable. His figure gradually turning into a streak of a ck bolt of lightning he zapped towards the exit with rapid speeds. This speed was still met with a failure, however, as the gateway managed to keep with his pace and zoomed back just enough to be a step away from Aiden''s reach. Still, it wasn''t aplete defeat as the sudden increase in power seemed to cause an issue to the door frame to shift and match his speed, and the original distance almost halved. Inspired by this realization, Aiden gritted his teeth, he activated his second innate, the [Dragon''s Wrath]. His eyes suddenly lit up, they began to emit their majestic golden luster, basking the ck streak of lightning with a golden afterglow. Controlling the change, Aiden focused on the transformation and the power on his wings and his legs. The muscle mass in his legs suddenly contorted, and pulsed, increasing in density. His previously tanned skin began to alter slightly in color, donning a golden saturation as thick scales emerged from seemingly nowhere. At the same time,rge bones grew out with a thin membrane made out of golden silk-like skin sprawled across. Although Aiden had no idea how to use his new appendage, he still decided to grow it out, hoping that it would assist him. If nothing else, maybe some hidden instinct or just a feel of his back muscles could maybe help him get a better feel and maybe control over it. Still, with the transformation of his legs, his speed once again surged, as he continued dashing forth, charging against the pesky exit that kept escaping his grasp. He managed to halve the distance between them again, but after that, the gateway managed to match his new speed a few momentster. The exit was only a slight distance away now, but Aiden had no other options to use, he was already using both of his power-ups. The only thing left was the appendage he decided to grow out on a whim, but the problem was, he had no idea how to utilize it, or if it would even be capable of lifting him off the ground at all. "Well, I see no other options left" Aiden gritted it through his teeth, closing his eyes once more whilst keeping his speed and both skills activated, rapidly draining his reserves. He began to focus on his back muscles, focusing on the feeling around the bones that grew out from the edges of his scap. To his surprise, he could feel the nerves connecting to the new appendage, and after a minimal effort, he could feel that he could move the new muscles in a simr fashion as he would his arms or legs. Keeping his speed, he slowly stretched his new ''limbs'' and began to slowly move and p them, increasing the power and speed over time as his body got used to the action. As the seconds continued to pass he could feel his body bing lighter as he was slowly lifted from the ground. On the other hand, his speed began to slow down, but on a good note, so did the gateway. Finally, the gateway stopped in its tracks, with Aiden''s feet no longer touching the ground, but being kept above it as long as his wings could keep him above it, the door did not react to him at all. Deactivating his [Mystic Martial Arts], he pped towards the exit gateway, letting out triumphant boisterousughter just as he crossed over its surface. Just as he crossed over, he quickly deactivated his [Dragon''s Wrath] innate, removing his new appendages and his returning his legs to normal whilst the glow in his eyes faded. Before long, the dark void was reced by a colorless light from all sides, slowly forming the walls of avishly decorated, exquisite room of a mansion. The fog created by energy slowly formed hard surfaces, creating the decorations and furniture. Therge frame of the window formed at the far side of the newly created wall of the study room. In front of it, a woman dressed in a darkced night dress appeared, his ebony, cascading hair reaching midway down her back. As Aiden''s silhouette materialized from the subspace, thedy created, she slowly turned around facing the youth in front of her. As the traversal finalized, Aiden took a moment to look around and take in the space he has now found himself in. His eyes thennded on the mature figure of the woman who was also looking at him. Her entire face was hidden behind a silver, demon-faced mask, her eyes were dark that provided absolutely no insight through the small holes. They kept staring at each other for more than a minute before finally, thedy gave a slight, courteous bow to the neer. "Let me be the first to wee you to my humble abode, Aiden." She then looked at him, and while her expressions were hidden behind the mask, Aiden could still feel a smile through her tone as she asked her first question. "I hope you didn''t mind my small test so much. I wanted to make sure you are just as capable as my daughter has exined to me." Straightening her back, she walked away from the window, reaching the desk where a few papers were already prepared. "I have to say" She began, her voice carrying recognition of Aiden''s feat. "I did not expect for you to simply power-through the challenge instead of using other means. It really surprised me. However, this raises another question." Her eyes jolted wide, her ck irises began to emit a faint purple, familiar glow. Her voice suddenly carried some eerie underdone. "...Just what are you, Aiden?" Chapter 186 - 186 - Bloodlines Matching the Mistress'' gaze, Aiden spoke in a calm and collected manner. "Just a new adventurer in the city, nothing more, nothing less." He shrugged his shoulder, then leaned slightly closer to thedy, returning the question in kind. "I could ask you the same though. You referred to Sarah as your daughter, and she has some very unique abilities, which unfortunately for you, has no effect on me. Who or what are you two?" Just as he said, the Mistress'' first try was to use the same skill as Sarah tried as well. The corners of her irises were glowing in a bright purple manner, but besides the ufortable, the uneasiness of her fierce stare, Aiden waspletely unaffected by her [Charm]. This time, however, Aiden was focusing on the skill in effect, trying to see if the system could give her any information as it tried to automatically process and analyze it. Unfortunately, the only notification he received was just a notification informing him of the failed attempt of an attack of unknown origins. [Warning: The system detected an invasive action of unknown origins.] However, the second notification that quickly followed was something he did not expect. [Your [Psychic Resistance] has increased 100 XP due to the sessful absorption of a high-level mental assault.] [Your [Psychic Resistance] skill has transformed and has been upgraded to [Mental Resistance] due to sessfully absorbing a high-level mental attack.] ''Interesting.'' He muttered inwardly, quickly glossing through the messages, before he returned his focus to thedy in front of him. "Are you done with your attempts?" He asked with some annoyance in his tone. In response, the purple outline from thedy''s irises quickly faded, returning to their original charcoal ck color. Although her face was hidden behind the mask, her tone suggested that she was probably smiling apologetically. "I must apologize for my rude behavior. It''s an unfortunate habit of mine, ites with the nature of our bloodline you see. It''s hard to control and keep ourselves in check. It will not happen again." She gave a slight bow towards Aiden, then she walked behind the desk and sat on the chair. She pulled the small stack of papers closer to her and picked out the three papers from the top. As Aiden followed along and walked in front of her, he took the closest avable seat, thedy pushed the first paper in front of him. It was the form he filled out when he registered. "Name: Aiden. Hmm... Is that your full name? Why did you omit your family name? Is it a secret?" Thedy began with her questions. Shaking his head, Aiden responded with a smile. "No. That is my name. I don''t have a second one if that''s what you ask. From where I lived this was enough." "But you must have a family, right?" Thedy continued with the topic, unwilling to leave it at that. ??Yes, I do, what of it?" Aiden returned the question with a curious smile on his face. "Well, your family must have a name as well, right? That would be your second name. What is that?" Thinking that maybe this boy was an uneducated one living in one of the remote viges around the city, she exined, hoping to get some much-needed answers. A boy with strength like his, couldn''t be a nameless person, he must be a hidden heir from one of the powerful nobles'' houses, or from a previously unknown inheritor of a bloodline. She had to have all the answers to be able to control the situation to her liking, unknown factors would be uneptable. "Uhm" Aiden thought about her question for a bit before he simply shrugged his shoulders. "No There''s no second name. There is Granny, my sister, and my master. Neither of them has anything like what you describe. My name is simply Aiden, is that some sort of a problem?" Thedy sighed at his response, grabbing the top of her mask as if caressing her forehead. "Right now, it is enough I guess. In the future, you will need a full name if you wish to be able to properly navigate through the human world. If you do well and make enough contributions I might as well" She coughed, changing the topic. "But we can talk about that in due time. Let''s continue." She pushed another paper in front of him. This was Cole''s sign-up sheet, which was a few weeks older than Aiden''s. "He is yourpanion, right? Cole Phamas registered almost 2 weeks ago but had limited results until he mysteriously joined up with you. On the previous day, you both returned afterpleting your first two quests as well as trading 6 Sea Devil Monster Cores with the guild. On the same day, the original group that took on the quest the ''Bloody Daggers'', which was famous for their cruelty and notoriety has gone missing since then. May I add that they werest seen leaving with you two? Do you have anyments on the matter?" The Lady asked, her tone carried the trace of a cheeky smile hiding behind the mask. In front of the facts, Aiden managed to keep his calm and cool. With his usual friendly smile, he shrugged his shoulders once again, as if he had no idea what she was talking about. "No, I can''t say I have any idea what happened to them. They gave us some information about what to do then we went our separate ways. I have no clue what could have happened to them Giving a thoughtful look, he continued after a brief pause. "Maybe Did they overestimate themselves? I heard the Sahuagin, or Sea Devils as you called them, are ferocious nasty creatures. They might have ambushed them, and pulled them to the depths? Who knows!" In the end, a small curvature of a smile could be spotted on the edges of his lips. "I see... " The Lady responded knowingly. Obviously, she knew what happened to them, and did not care the slightest. The group was a bad omen, causing trouble wherever they went. It was more appropriate to call them thugs and thieves than adventurers. They were a shame, gue-spot under the guild''s banner, which she was already thinking of eliminating at some point in the near future. The boy''s actions just lessened her burdens, so if anything, she would be grateful for his actions. However, she did not voice any of that. She kept her slightly cold and questioning attitude. She picked up the third prepared paper and was about to push it in front of Aiden when he spoke up. "Wait a bit before you continue with your questions. I do have some of my own. If you want my cooperation this needs to be done back and forth, not like this." He spoke with the same friendly smile, then without waiting for her response, Aiden continued. With a thoughtful look, he continued. "You mentioned the term bloodlines at the start. That the attack you did was the result of your ''bloodline''. Could you please exin what that means? What is a bloodline?" Giving it a momentary silence as she thought through what to say, thedy eventually spoke up. "Fine, I guess it''s a fair request. I will answer your question." Although the words sounded natural, if the elderly butler, Sebas, or her daughter would have heard these words, they would be shocked to their very core. The Lady, the Mistress would agree to a rude request like that? That was unthinkable! "Bloodlines, in other words, Heritage, is your connection with your family all the way to their roots back in the past. Everyone has their bloodline, it''s just that some are more unique, special than others. Some families have roots that go beyond human boundaries. In our case, we have this gift or curse our eyes have the powers to... dominate." She felt slightly ufortable talking about her past, but she forced herself to reveal at least this much. "Please don''t ask more, it''s hard for me to talk about these matters." She added in the end, with a troubled tone. "I see." Aiden nodded, storing this information in the recesses of his mind. "So, some families, -and I guess mostly the nobles'' households are the most affected-, have some special abilities?" "Yes." Thedy nodded. "But this is very rare, and only the 4 Great Noble Houses has such bloodlines apart from the Royal Family which you already know about. "Anyway I have answered a question of yours, so let''s continue." She changed the topic and pushed the prepared paper in front of the boy. With a coy smile that was unseen behind her mask, she asked. Her gaze carried great curiosity, greatly interested in the boy''s reaction. "What would you say about this adventurer?" Agreeing to her attempt to continue the questioning, Aiden smiled at her before he turned to look at the next piece of paper, she wished to show him. However, as soon as he saw the name on the form, his calm immediately vanished, his anger rose rapidly. His eyes lit up, and his draconic aura subconsciously unfolded putting the entire room under his tremendous pressure. His voice also changed, carrying an unnatural growling undertone as he looked at the masked woman, with visible anger in his golden glowing eyes. "Why... " He slowly blurted out every word, giving more and more pressure to his speech. "Do. You. Have. Her. Paper?" Chapter 187 - 187 - Cooperation Although she could feel the immense weight of the boy''s anger, the Lady withstood it without as much as a visible flinch in her eyes. Instead, her eyes became crescent-shaped as a smile began to settle on her face behind the safety of his silver demon-shaped mask. "Now, now, Aiden. Calm down, nobody is threatening you with the girl. I just wanted to know what''s your connection with her, as she is the only other newly joined adventurer without ast name." Thedy''s speech was calm and gentle, despite the pressure of the boy''s aura. Hearing her words, Aiden''s anger began to gradually subside, his aura began to recede, slowly easing it up on the Lady and on the room as well. The golden glow that originated from his exotic eyes began to fade, returning to their original state. Whilst his subconsciously activated innate was turned off, he was still on alert against this masked woman who seemed to know way too much for an average person. "I have to say" She continued, adding a bit of cheekiness to her tone. "I just wanted to test it out, as she kept mentioning her brother who was sick or bedridden at the time. I wasn''t sure if that was you Well, it seems my hunch was right." "She will not get involved with you or anybody for that matter. If you know about her, you know what happened to her as well, and then you should know what happened to those that kept threatening her happiness" Aiden scowled, adding a clear, and obvious warning. Even if he were to fail, he would go all out against those that would threaten her dear sister''s safety. "You have nothing to fear Aiden, I give you my word. I will never do anything against the girl." Thedy responded, ignoring the threatening tone of the boy as she kept her gentle attitude. "However, you should know that this is a very obvious weak point to your invincible facade. Others, with not as just intentions as myself, could easily find out about her and use her against you. They could even control you through her. You should work on fixing this fault in the future." Aiden did not respond, but there was a flinch in his expression, as anger began to slowly rise again. Seeing how her words would not hit the mark she would be aiming for, thedy decided to change the subject. "Anyway, let''s continue." She reached for Lilly''s registration form, and pulled it back to the stack, before pulling out yet another one. This one was visibly aged, possibly a few years older than Aiden''s. She pushed it in front of the boy, closely observing his reactions. "Do you know this person?" She asked with great curiosity. Giving onest angered look at the masked woman, Aiden turned to look at the paper presented in front of him. The form was older, it seemed toe from a time where there were different requirements to sign up. There were several questions that were no longer avable on today''s forms. The first question, the top on the paper, however, remained the same. "Name: Michael Sonovan" He read out the name on the paper, before looking up facing the woman. "No, I have no clue who this person is. Should I?" He answered honestly. "Are you sure? You have met him already, and he even came into contact with your sister. In fact, he showed great liking towards her when they first met." The woman added, keeping a close eye on his reactions along the way. Just as she expected, as soon as her sister was mentioned, Aiden reacted, his anger once again rising, and a faint hue starting to shine through his eyes. His voice however did not change, but there was a coldness to it. "Sir Michael?" He asked curtly, upon which thedy responded with a nod. "The famed golden knight, the only Rank 3 Adventurer in our small city to this day. The hero of Highrove and so on, and so on He is also my current candidate, you see. I n to put him in charge of the city so he could carry out my orders." She answered truthfully, not minding to hold back any information at all. She stated the fact in a nonchnt manner as if she didn''t just reveal an incredibly huge and important secret. "Your knight?" Aiden asked, surprised by the reveal, his expression returning to a mad scoff shortly after. "If he is such a big hero of this city, where was he when my sister got in trouble? Where was he when she needed help? Huh?!" "Indeed, he was preupied by his family matter at the time, without any idea that his muse was currently in great danger. But that did not matter, right? You met someone else someone more capable, who happened to also search for something or somebody." She continued, revealing even more information, shocking Aiden in the process. "How do you know so much about me? How did you spy on me? I haven''t noticed anything" Aiden blurted out in surprise. Was this woman keeping an eye on her since the very first time when he first came here with Granny and Lilly years ago? How?! "No need to be surprised Aiden. I have eyes everywhere in the city, there''s nothing that can stay hidden before me, especially in the Slums." She stood up and walked to the window as she looked out, ncing at the distance. "I have noticed our escaped prince since the moment he stepped foot in the city." She turned silent for a while as if taking in some old, forgotten memories. She gently touched the surface of her mask, as if caressing her own face, before she continued with a much lighter and honest-sounding tone than before. Her thoughts seemed to trail off, not present in the room anymore. "I know a bit about his history and the tragedy of his family. Even more than the young crown prince himself." She sighed, returning to reality. She turned around, looking at the boy once again. "But this doesn''t matter right now. What matters is the deal we want toe to terms with." She walked back to her desk and pulled out a new set of papers from the top drawer and presented it to the boy. "I know that Sarah did not give you any info on the ce you are searching for even though I gave her the permission to do so." Her crescent-shaped eyes revealed that she was possibly smiling under the mask, her tone was apologetic. "Please excuse me but I just can''t talk about that ce. Not that I don''t want to, I just can''t. All the info you need will be given to you by Sebas, my main butler. He knows everything about the ce as I do, maybe even more" At the mention of the name, there was a set of knocks on the door, and an elderly, respectful voice came from the other side. "Madame, did you call for me?" The woman did not answer the butler''s question but instead kept her attention on the boy in front of him. "And in return for the information, you would like me to work with you and do your bidding. Be your little soldier, warrior, or whatever you wish me to be?" Aiden added in a sarcastic tone as he nced at the paper in front of him. Indeed, it was a written agreement between the two parties about a cooperation for an unset time. "You could phrase it that way, although it would be very off-the-mark, and rude as well. I am not looking for a ve in you, but a willing participant. I want you to join me in my crusade against the filth that festers our world together. Your sister has suffered already at the hands of those that seek only evil. I want nothing more than to root these rats out and remove them. They are a disease, and we are the cure, Aiden. You and me." Aiden did not answer her motivational speech but took a closer look at the papers in front of him. It seemed to be the written form of what was said in between them, a sort of writtenmemoration of the deal between their two parties. "How long, would I be required to stay at your side? How much freedom do I retain? If you say that we are equals in this cooperation or partnership as you say, then I shouldn''t be restrained by you. Am I right?" "That''s right. All I wish to request from you is that you work closely with my daughter. Listen to her, be with her, and" She took a deep exhale before continuing. "...and protect her when the timees. Can you do that for me?" Silence settled in between the two for a while before Aiden eventually looked up, returning from his thoughts, arriving at an answer. He did not answer directly, but his friendly smile revealed his intentions. "You can call in your butler, I am ready to listen to what he has to say." Chapter 188 - 188 - Rat Problem "Okay, with this one, we are done for the day, Aiden! Let''s report back to the guild and get the rewards!" Cole spoke with an unmasked enthusiasm, as she struck his de down and killed thest of therge horrendous rats that infested an emptied mansion at the edges of the Noble District. "Sure, get its tail and we can go back." Aiden spoke with a friendly smile on his face as he looked at the enthusiastic Cole. Remembering the credits his friend now had, he added with an unmasked appreciation behind his voice. "With this quest, you will be finally eligible for the Rank Up test, right?" Already expecting such a question, Cole confidently nodded while pulling his bloodied sword out from the nape of the now-deadrge rat. Sheeting his weapon, he pulled out a smaller dagger and crouched down, reaching for the beast''s tail to take it as proof of the kill. "Yes, as soon as we get this done, I should have just enough to qualify. I could do the test now, but" He revealed a slightly troubled expression as he continued. "...I don''t feel that I am ready for it, like at all." "Although I can''t say that I know what it is like but on my test during my registration I had to face a seasoned, rank 2 adventurer and was told to hold against him. I wasn''t required to win, they were judging my performance, not the oue." Aiden spoke, thinking back to his test against that scarfed roguish fellow. "So, just do your best, and you will be fine. Try to defend against him for as long as you can. Nobody expects you to be the victor of the duel!" Aiden tried consoling his worried friend. "If that''s the case, then did you win against your opponent then?" Cole retorted usingly, already expecting the answer. "Well" As expected, Aiden had a wry smile on his face as he had to face his friend''s question. "I did, but that was different, you know that. Anyways, just calm down and do your best, okay!" "Heh, of course, you won" Cole sighed, picking up the severed tail in the process. Then, standing up, he stretched his back, turning towards the door. "Let''s just go back and finish the day." Heaving a sigh, he walked towards the door, leaving Aiden without giving him a chance to continue the conversation. As the door to the mansion was pushed open a small group of the staff hurriedly approached the heaving brown-haired boy. Amongst them, arger, middle-aged woman, wearing a traditional chef''s garment, spoke the loudest. "Mister, did you finish the job?!" She asked with clear impatience in her voice. She was holding arge, wooden, cooking spoon in his right hand that she kept waving in a threatening manner as if it was a lethal weapon. Forcing a smile on his face, Cole weakly responded. "Yes, the mansion is clear once again. The dead bodies of the rats still have to be cleaned, but there are no live ones left, you are safe to return." Shock settled on her face, hearing her words, which soon was reced by anger, as her facial muscles contorted. Waving her lethal weapon in the air fervently she yelled at the boy. "What do you mean, the dead bodies have to be cleaned?! Do you expect us to clean up after you? What is this service?! We sent a request to clean out the rats, not to litter their corpses all over our Master''s mansion like that?! You better go back and clean up after yourself, otherwise, I will go and ce aint with the guild right NOW!" Cole was about to surrender and acquiesce to her demand when his friend''s cold voice resounded from within the mansion. "Go ahead andin to the guild." Hearing the clear voice of the previously silent long, ck-haired youth speak with such coldness, alerted the middle-aged plump woman. Looking at the new arrival standing at the right side of the brown-hairedd, she had an incredulous expression. "W-wha... what did you say?!" "I said" Aiden had a calm and friendly expression as he looked at the woman giving it even more power behind his cold tone. "That you can go ahead andin to the guild. However, don''t forget to mention that despite your report, we have diligently killed off all therge rats that infested your bellowed lord''s home." Taking a step forward, he leaned closer to the stunned woman. "Make sure you don''t forget to mention all that." Then, without waiting for her reaction as she seemed to be stunned still due to a mixture of shock and fright, he walked away, leaving the mansion. A few stepster, however, he stopped and turned sideways. He spoke with a much warmer tone, addressing his friend. "Come on, let''s leave this ce, they do not appreciate our kindness. They even forgot what they requested. Let''s just report our work and get ready for your advancement test. Don''t bother with such meaningless things." "Y-yeah, right. W-wait up, Aiden!" Woken up by the sight of his friend''s words, he quickly jolted after him, leaving the stunned and shocked crowd to themselves. Seeing how Cole was finally woken up from his trance, Aiden smirked to himself, before looking ahead and resuming his slow pace. Before leaving the premises, however, he stopped once more after a few steps, and without turning back, he coldly uttered a few more words to the still shocked head-chefdy. "Although the request was to KILL the rats and there was no mention of CLEANING your ce as that would be YOUR job, I have done that extra step and done your work as well." With his thoughts spoken out, he then left the mansion slowly vanishing amidst the crowd of the busy street with Cole in tow. Only after their figures havepletely vanished from the stunned crowd of the service staff did the chefdy react, revealing an embarrassed, regretful look, looking at the gate. She heaved a heavy sigh, but could not utter any word in response. After a long while, she shook her head and turned towards the door to the mansion, and stepped in. Her voice trailed off as she gave themand to the staff standing outside. "Get inside and start cleaning. The Miss and the Lord wille back in the afternoon, we have to make the whole house shine! Get to it, pronto!" Her words seemed to have the magical effect of waking the staff from their reverie. They shook with fright hearing the head staff''s berating words and quickly rushed inside to resume their work after their break due to the rat infestation. --- Walking the streets with his friend, Cole keeping up the pace next to him, Aiden thought back to the events ofst week. Since his meeting with the masked madame, a whole week has passed. After receiving the information about the location of the strange and mystical, otherworldly ce, he agreed to join the Madame. He was not a soldier or a contracted mercenary in service of the Lady, but a willing participant, an equal partner in-exchange. He agreed that if there''s a request, he will hear them out, and if it''s something he can help with, he will offer his assistance, but they can never force him to do their bidding. Aiden, however, agreed to join up in the uing ''Election Event'' the fake war for the City Leader position. Even though he wanted nothing more than to grab that arrogant golden armored man''s throat and squeeze it until he stops breathing, he still agreed, due to the urging of the Lady. He had a feeling that if he were to refuse the offer, he would get her mad, and Aiden wasn''t sure if he would be able to take her on. At least not without suffering as well in the process, and with his energy reserves already taken a hit due to the test earlier, he had no other choice. The Lady had a very strong presence, much stronger than her daughter, the hooded leader of the examiners. Aiden felt that her power was probably around his master''s, Number 3''s level. Still, since Sir Michael, the golden knight was only used as a pawn, an expendable piece on the chessboard. She didn''t reveal the reason, but the Lady said that she cannot step outside the shadow any longer, and has to remain hidden, from the world and from their existing and future enemies. After that, the Lady opened another rift, a tear in space, for Aiden to travel back. After looking at her usingly, she revealed with a burst of cheekyughter that this time, there would be no tricks or traps, the travel would be near-instantaneous and would bring him back to the same spot he left from. After returning, a few days passed without much happening. They epted some easy requests every day and returned to their rooms at the Inn at the end of every day. Mary continued to diligently serve them, not letting them go to another attendant. As the days passed, she became more and more eager and confident to approach and engage Aiden. The days passed in peace, and today they epted their first urgent request toe and clean up a mansion that was suddenly infested withrge rats overnight. Chapter 189 - 189 - Special Quest (Part 1) Although the Noble District was quite a distance away from the Adventurer''s Street, it didn''t take Cole and Aiden too long before they arrived back at the Guild''s Hall. Whilstpleting an urgent assignment such as the one they just did, had increased rewards due to its limited and critical allotted time frame, Cole couldn''t think about it at all. He had a worried look on his face as he stepped inside and with Aiden next to him, made his way towards Mary, who was already giving them a friendly and cheerful smile, eagerly awaiting their return ever since they left. "Hey, you two! Did youplete the rat infestation assignment already?" She asked cheerfully looking at both of them with an expectant smile. Nodding, it was Aiden who responded to her question, as Cole was still busy with his own troubled thoughts. He was way too deep in his own doubts about his own strength and his ability to ovee such a hurdle. "Yeah, we got it done, even if we weren''t really appreciated by the staff." Aiden spoke with his usual calm and nonchnt attitude. "What? What happened?" Raising her brows due to his reply, Mary asked with a questioning look. "Nothing serious, don''t worry about it." Aiden shrugged his shoulders, refusing to give any further exnation about the matter. Seeing that it would be futile to inquire any further, Mary turned her face to look at Cole who kept acting rather strangely. "And what is up with you Cole? What''s the matter?" She continued with her bombardment of questions. "Also, do you have the tails as proof of the kills?" Without answering any of the questions, Cole reached for his belt and took the small, brown leather pouch in his hands, and silently gave it to Mary. After doing so, he heaved a heavy sigh while taking the asional nces towards the door at the right side of the hall. The same door where Aiden went through during his registration day to test his skill and rank. Confused by the brown-haired boy''s actions, Mary looked at Aiden. "What is up with him? Did something happen? I mean... Besides the trouble with the staff?" She asked, hoping to get some answers at least for the reason for Cole''s behavior. Turning his head sideways to look at his friend, Aiden smiled wryly. "He is afraid of his uing Rank Up test. You know, he is afraid that he will not qualify like most of the others before him" He answered the girl''s question after a while. "But" Mary immediately wanted to retort but the words froze in her. How many did manage to pass through the test? 10%? 5%? It was hard to guess, but it was true that a sessful result was incredibly rare. Nobody was sure, why was the bar set so high, or what were the passing standards of the examiners, but it was a fact that most failed to get a sessful result, and even worse, injuries or even crippling oues could be the end for some of the unlucky ones. "Just" She continued after a few seconds of silentmentation, trying to find the right words to pass over to her friend. "...Just try to calm down. Being so nervous will not help you. Also, you have Aiden, who you can rely on! Try your best, and just focus on keeping your safety as your first priority! Being rash or unreasonable will not only make you fail to pass the test, but it can result in injury! Aiden and I will be rooting for you!" Although first her words were rather weak and did not sound confident at all, gradually during her improvised speech, it got more and more power under its tone, turning into a real, believable encouragement towards the end. Her right fist was also shot above her head as she got more and more into it. Seeing her ted, fiery look in her eyes, Aiden couldn''t stop to let out a small chuckle, as he cheekily remarked. "Yes, just what she said! We will be rooting for you Cole, don''t you worry!" Realizing how much she got lost in her own speech, Mary''s face turned beet red upon Aiden''s remark, quickly hiding her face in her hands. "S-stop it Aiden! D-don''t make fun of me!" She meekly squealed behind the cover of her palms, which just resulted in a burst ofughter from the boy in question much to her continued chagrin. Cole''s mindset began to gradually calm down as he enjoyed the scene of his friends ying out in front of him. A small, barely perceptible smile began to creep up on his face, contorting his facial muscles to a much better outlook than before. Even a small cackle managed to escape his previously closed lips, prying its prison open in the process. "Heh, much better!" Aiden gave a pat on his back with a friendly smile noticing his friend''s much better state. "Y-yeah, you should be fine now. Just keep calm and everything will be alright!" Mary added, albeit still embarrassed that it was her embarrassing actions that lead to Cole''s change of state. To change the topic and clear her mind, she opened the leather bag and turning it upside down, she poured its contents on the table. The twisting, pretzel-looking gray-hairless rat tails fell down, piling up on each other, creating a rather twisted, ufortable sight. Still, neither Aiden, Cole nor thedy amongst the trio, Mary minded the scene at all. She separated the tails, quickly giving them a headcount. "Okay, this is 11 no, sorry 12!" Noticing a small one under arger she quickly corrected herself. Pulling a small wooden tray from under the desk, she piled the tails on it, whilst she gave the leather pouch bag to Cole. "I will quickly bring these to the back, and we can then credit you both. I will be back in just a moment!" Turning around, she quickly left through the back office door, not giving the boys a chance to react. Smiling at the vanishing figure of Mary, Aiden shook his head slightly at her action, then turning to the side, he focused on his friend once more. The smile on his face began to fade, and worry began to resurface as the girl left their group. "Didn''t you just listen through Mary''s speech? Why are you worrying so much about it?" Aiden spoke up, the smile not leaving his expression. "You just don''t understand this Aiden" Cole answered after a few breaths with a saddened look in his eyes. "You are strong, incredibly strong almost to the point of being inhuman, you can''t understand the woes of the average folk." Turning his head towards the door on the right side, he heaved another heavy sigh, trying to calm his racing, agitated mind. "...This whole test is very terrifying for me. Not just the fact that I might fail, but I could be injured or even worse, crippled for life. I have seen people being thrown out like a sack of potatoes only to be left lying on the floor for hours, unconsciously. Lost or broken limbs aren''t that rare either The fact that you went inside and came back victorious and without any injuries that was a first." Taking onest look at the door that meant hellish torture, a nightmare to Cole, he looked at his friend with a sad expression. "I just... " He took a brief pause, grabbing the hilt of his de, gripping it tightly as he continued. "I just don''t want to lose my chance to be somebody just to some stupid test that has no real value besides giving me a star under my name in the Guild''s Catalogue" Aiden, gave apassionate smile, not speaking a word, but gently cing his right hand on his friend''s shoulder. "If you want, I will go in with you and make sure no harm wille to you. You just focus on passing the test, okay?" He gave his reassuring words after a few moments. Surprised by the offer, Cole couldn''t answer at first, he could only look at his friend as a mixture of emotions shed through his face. His initial sadness was reced by shock and surprise, then with joy only for the realization to set in and the sadness to return. "No, tests needed to be done alone, you can''t go in with me. Not unless we are trying to rank up our party itself." Aiden only shook his head, the smile not leaving his face. "You don''t have to worry about that. I can assure you that I will be able to go in with you and nobody will question it." Just as he said his reassuring words, the back office door was sprung open, and Mary rushed back towards them, with a flushed face. Arriving, she huffed for air for a few brief seconds before looking at Aiden as she raised her right index finger in the air. "Aiden *huff* *huff* I''m sorry, but *huff* *huff* ...the leader of the examiners is expecting you! *huff* There is an urgent quest that they need you for especially. You" turning to Cole with an apologetic face, she continued" you can''t apany Cole for his test I''m afraid" Chapter 190 - 190 - Special Quest (Part 2) Crossing through the back office hallways of the guild and arriving in front of the now increasingly familiar office door did not take too long for Aiden. After all, he already has done this small trek a few times in the span of this week. Instinctively sending out a pulse of energy to try to prate the room''s warding, he was once again, just like every time, was met with failure. Shaking his head with a smile on his face, he then gave a knock on the door. The familiar feminine, clear voice chirped from the other side, already aware of the guest that is awaiting entry into her ir''. "Don''t just stand there Aiden,e in,e in!" Pushing the door open, Sarah was sitting behind her desk, behind several huge piles of paper blocking vision to her sides. However, one paper was ced in front of her, that looked different than the rest. For one, it had a golden thread squiggling around its edges, embroidering it, giving it a more luscious, elegant outlook. The feel of the paper also seemed slightly different, it was clear, shining white, almost jewel-like,pared to the slightly yellowish pergamen-style paper sheets. Thest clue that tipped off Aiden as it was probably something important was the ink it was used with. It did not have the same fish-oil type smell then the others, it was something different, something that felt vaguely familiar but at the same time,pletely unique. It was a strange feeling, and Aiden was sure that he could only sense it due to his heightened, much keener smelling than humans. Even then, it was just a vague feeling, and without changing into his worgen form, he would be unable to make more out of it. Turning his attention to Sarah, who unlike usually, had not hidden her face and exotic purplish eyes, was smiling at her. "Wee Aiden, thank you foring so quickly! I hope I did not interrupt anything important" She began as a cheeky, knowing smile creased up on the crevices of her mouth. Keeping his calm, collected attitude, he responded with his usual, friendly smile. "Not at all. My friend was just about to take the rank up test when you called. He was afraid of being hurt and I offered to go in with him to make sure nothing bad happens. I assume you will not mind, right?" His friendly smile copied the qualities of Sarah''s cheekiness as he asked her back a question, surprising the woman in the process. Although surprised by the sudden ''attack'', Sarah''s demeanor didn''t change, she simply nodded with a bright honest smile, as if she was unaware of any fault going in the background. "No, not at all. You can apany your friend, naturally. Anyways..." Then she looked at the paper in front of her and gently pushed it in front of Aiden, changing the subject to the main reason he was called into her office. "The reason I called for you was because of this new assignment." "Assignment?" Aiden frowned at the term. "I thought we havee to an agreement that I am not your mother''s little soldier that she can just order around" "You misunderstand the situation, Aiden." Sarah only smiled at his already expected response, ncing at the paper, signaling him to take a closer look. "This is an assignment to the both of us. To be more precise it is for me." "Oh?" Surprised by this reveal, Aiden grabbed the paper to read it through. It was a mission, but it was different from the ones posted on the Quest Board in the hall For one, it wasn''t formatted to the style that they had, it was more of a letter, ordering the girl to take action. There was no clear difficulty rating either, nor any talk about rewards. All in all, it was more of an order than a quest assignment, a job given to the guild. "Sarah, As I have briefly mentioned to you before, apart from the current political climate of the city, there''s a lingering threat of the other races hanging above us. There are more and more reports of goblins and now even orc sightings in the depths of the forest. As you know, goblins very rarely act alone, and whilst they are savage, cruel little creatures that rely on their numbers rather than themselves, the fact that there were orc sightings is a troublesome matter. They could mean that we are amidst the early stages of an invasion happening right under our noses. Investigate the matter thoroughly, get to the source of the matter, and root out these creatures for good. This matter is very serious, and it''s not something any of those weak, adventurers in the city could handle. Please handle this matter personally, and don''t forget to ask for assistance from the boy. You will need him. Return to me once the matter is handled, GR" ''Huh, so they finally noticed the goblins... '' Aiden thought to himself, keeping his calm expression outwardly. As he finished reading the letter, he looked at the expectant looking Sarah, and with his usual calmness, he asked curiously. "Who is this GR, who signed this letter?" "That is the Mistress. Gloria Rox." She answered truthfully, the smile not leaving her face. "Mistress? Why don''t you say, mother? She is your mother, right?" Finding the fact that she kept referring to the masked woman as Mistress rather than "mother" which should be the natural reaction, Aiden couldn''t help but ask. "That''s" Albeit expecting the question, Sarah found it hard to answer. Taking a moment, she exhaled slowly to collect herself before continuing. "Let''s not dwell on that matter. Yes, she is my mother, but more importantly, she is my Mistress." Turning her attention to the letter, she continued. "This assignment was meant for both of us, even if it was sent to me personally. As you are probably already aware, the quality of the adventurers registered in this local branch is pathetic. Most of them will never be able to even get to the second rank, that''s still nothing more than the beginner''s level, not to mention that we only have one idiot currently at Rank 3. Also, I''m still skeptical about how he managed to achieve it... " Her words trailed off as a scoff was revealed on her pretty face that vanished a momentter. "Regardless, we can''t post this as a regr Quest for the guild, nobody would be able to take it." "I see." Aiden nodded understandably. Looking at the girl, he revealed a wry smile, adding his thoughts to the conversation."In that case, how could I be of assistance? I am also a mere Rank 2 myself. You should know that it was you who approved my rank." "Oh don''t even start that, Aiden." Sarah retorted immediately with an annoyed look on her face. "We both know you are not ''just'' a Rank 2. In terms of strength and capabilities, you are probably on par with Rank 4 or maybe even Rank 5 adventurers. It''s just we can''t just put you on such a high rank without any history behind your name." Aiden did not refute her ims or acknowledge it. He simply kept his friendly smile not revealing his thoughts at all. Inwardly, however, he was thinking about Drake, the runaway crown prince who came to rescue his sister previously and even made a deal with him to gather again at the start of next year for the Academy''s yearly admission process. "I need your help Aiden, I can''t do this alone. While I could probably handle the goblins if I am careful enough, I can''t face off against a horde of orcs, and I can''t rely on anybody else." She continued. "Please" The outlines of her irises lit up, glowing in a bright purple hue as she kept her focus on the boy in front of her. "Please help me, Aiden. I need your help." "Stop that." Aiden looked at her with an annoyed expression. "You know that your tricks have no power against me But anyways" He heaved a sigh, unable to withstand the pressure of what a begging young girl meant to his heart. "I will apany you." Taking another look at the paper, he quickly skimmed it through, searching for some extra detail that he might have missed. "I''m guessing we can''t bring anybody else with us? Or can I bring along Cole?" Shaking her head, she promptly denied Aiden''s suggestion. "No, we can''t. This assignment is not something a mere rank 1 or rank 2 could handle. They would just be a hindrance, I''m sorry." Although her words were somewhat harsh, she had an apologetic look as she talked, helpless about the situation. "I see." Aiden did not argue with her at all. Remembering how fierce and brutal even that small ambush of goblins were, he couldn''t even imagine how terrifying a simr group of orcs could be. The average human would stand no chance against such brutes. "What is the proposed difficulty rating of this quest anyway? The letter did not state it at all." He asked curiously. If this was something that even the strongest groups in the city couldn''t hope to handle, he really wanted to know what it would be rated for. Thinking about it for a second, Sarah revealed her usual cheeky smile as she responded. "Well.. It''s hard to say, but I would say, it is at least a 4 star, or maybe 5 star" Chapter 191 - 191 - Letters And Assignments Although he should have been shocked by Sarah''s response, Aiden only smiled with a strange, satisfactory, contentious grin stretching on his face. He was d, he felt happy as this was a chance for him to test his full power, and maybe, just maybe gain new insights to himself as well. Thest time he had the chance to go full power was quite a long time ago, he felt increasingly bored with this human city. If the dangers of the main quest wouldn''t be looming over his head, he would have long returned to his family or maybe he would have gone much deeper into the seemingly endless forest and uncovered more of its mysteries. Or he could have decided to go beyond the borders of this Kingdom, and just explore new heights and also increase his repertoire of life forms. After all, as he matured, he felt this need, this thirst for more power, for more life essences. Going stale and just living the life of a lowly human went against his very basic instincts. Not just his dominant Ancient Dragon genes, but even his usually silent Primal ones. So, when Sarah revealed that the newest mission that she was assigned to and was asking, no, begging for his help was rated to at least being a 4-star difficulty or maybe bordering the 5-stars He was happy. Nodding his head, he tried his hardest to hide his wide and expectant grin, without much sess. "I see." Looking at the paper onest time, he managed to calm his nerves and return his expression to his usual calm and collected outlook. He looked at the girl, who obviously noticed his excitement that was visible on his face for just a moment as she was also grinning at him knowingly and he asked. "So, when do we have to set out? How long will this quest be expected to take? You do know that we will need to be present for the big event happening in a week''s time, and I also want to explore the Grotto, as that was my primary goal for evening to this city in the first ce." "Tomorrow, early morning." Sarah replied with a smile on her face. "Go and support your friend for now, and just tell him you will be gone for a few days, starting tomorrow on a Special Assignment from the guild. Get to the eastern exit by sunrise tomorrow, I will be waiting for you there. Will that work?" "Okay, see you in the morning then, Sarah." Aiden spoke as he turned around and walked out of her office. As soon as he closed the door, he heard the familiar sound of a notification popping up in his system. Bringing the note up, in front of his view, he smiled as what he expected had happened. The system automatically created a mission for him. [New Optional Quest: Thwart the Invasion - Part 1 Difficulty: B-D Objective: - Find proof about a possible invasion of the hordes (0/1) Optional: ??? Rewards: ???] Although slightly surprised by the return of the question marks and the hidden details of the quest, he wasn''t too surprised. After all, the quest was rated to being a possible B difficulty, and from the name, it seemed that the system already nned at least one follow-up afterpleting this stage. However, as he kept thinking, a scary thought crossed his mind; how does the system know about this? Does it have some sort of divine power and have information about the future? Or maybe even more than one possible oue? Where does its informatione from? Previously, he thought that it was Enya that supplied most of the data to the system, but with her still being out ofmission and would be for the foreseeable future, Aiden didn''t know what to think anymore. ''Maybe the reason I received the Main Quest to investigate that strange ce is rted to the system''s mystery?'' Thinking about it more, this theory seemed to be more and more usible. Bringing it up, he checked on its timer, as he took more than he expected to finally find out more about the ce in question. As the quest details appeared in front of him, Aiden heaved a sigh in relief seeing that he still had more than enough time toplete this ''Special Assignment'' from the Lady with the mask and participate in the idiotic, pointless y to decide the oue for the City Lord''s elections before he would embark on this dangerous journey. ''Alright, let''s go back, Cole must be on the verge of tears by now.'' He thought, smiling at himself, as he began to cross through the office halls and get back to his friends. --- As the door closed behind Aiden and Sarah was left alone in her office once more, she let out a tired sigh as she slumped back on her chair. Pulling back the decorated letter from her mother, she turned towards the window, her thoughts racing a million miles per hour. ''Just what is it that you are nning, Mistress? Why would you need us to handle this matter? You have more than enough capable men at your disposal to do something trivial such as this'' Whilst she didn''t show it when Aiden was present, Sarah was full of questions herself about the sudden assignment. It made no sense to her as to why would the Mistress, suddenly send them this letter. Even more puzzling was the fact of asking her to team up with Aiden and investigate the situation together. The Masked Lady, The Mistress, was someone who was living in the shadows for years now; she had a very skilled army of spies she could have sent out to get every important detail she would have needed. Even if they would be unable to deal with the situation themselves, they would still report back the information via the Communication Crystals they all carried. Her ignoring this, perfectly safe and surefire route and sending the request for her to personally attend to this assignment was suspicious, to say the least. Just what could her n be? She wanted to find out more, but Sarah knew that it would be pointless to go back to the mansion and ask. If the Mistress didn''t state it in her letter, she would not say a word. Letting out another long, tired sigh, she carefully folded the paper and put it into the top drawer next to the scarce collection of simr letters. She never said it out loud, or let it show on her face, but she treasured these messages or every memento from the mistress dearly. Just like the unique, special moment when she hugged her during theirst meeting, she treasured every moment when her Mistress thought of her as her daughter. Suddenly, as she was still lost in her thoughts looking at the treasured contents of the drawer, the air in front of the desk began to buzz and vibrate in a very high frequency. A few momentster, the air began to blur, as a crude spatial tear began to form, revealing an endless void in its depths. Amidst the depths, a ck-clothed feminine figure stepped out, her face covered with a bva, a sort of headscarf or bandanna wrapped not just around her head but in front of her mouth as well. Only her piercing, green eyes were visible, not revealing much about the person at all. She silently walked forward and ced another letter with simrvish designs and golden threads decorating the edges throughout. cing the letter in front of the surprised girl, she quickly turned around and left through the same spatial tear as she came, not giving Sarah any chance to react or say a word. As soon as her figure vanished through the endless void, the particles around the hole began to buzz with excitement, glowing in bright white light as they began to repair the tear in space. The spatial rift began to rapidly shrink, closing, vanishing from existence just a secondter. As the rift closed and space returned to its original state in just a few mere moments, Sarah also awakened from her sudden shocked induced stupor, and eagerly pulled the new letter in front of her. This was, after all, another letter sent by the Mistress, whatever its contents were, it was already regarded as a precious treasure, the newest addition to the collection of mementos sent to her. Her hands shook with excitement as she grabbed the paper and carefully unfolded it to take a look at its contents. A momentter, her face blushed, her eyes watered as she read it through. It was phrased much differently than the others. This was sent not by the Mistress, but by the Mother... "Dear Sarah, As you head out tomorrow, make sure to stay safe. Rely on the boy for most of the problems that would undoubtedly arise in your quest. He is capable, much stronger than you would give him credit for. Befriend him, get closer to him, it would be beneficial for your future. After all, he is a good match for you, my dear daughter. Your mother, Gloria Rox" Chapter 192 - 192 - Naybeah Walking through the halls of the Guild''s office didn''t take too long for Aiden, he was already quite acquainted with the area after all.In just a span of a few minutes, he arrived in front of the door separating the front from the back, pushed down on the handle, and slowly creaked it open. As his figure appeared in the doorway, the already nervously fidgeting Cole sprung up from his seat and walked back to the receptionist''s desk, at the side as Mary was currently dealing with another adventurer. He looked at Aiden who looked just as calm as usual, with the same expressionless look on his face when he was scanning his environment. As his golden, exotic eyes found the brown-haired boy, he gave him a friendly, kind smile and made his way towards him. Arriving in front, he crossed the desk and patted Cole''s back as he seemed to be lost in his thoughts once more. "Hey man, what are you dreaming about?" Aiden greeted with a cheeky undertone. Jolted by the sudden p on his back and his friend''s words, Cole jumped up in fright, yelping a few octaves higher than his usual voice. A few momentster, amidst the low, barely audible but still incredibly embarrassing snickering of the few close-by people, he turned around and looked at Aiden with using eyes but with uneasy, heated cheeks. "S-stop that! You know I am already on edge because of the test! Don''t tease me like that!" He lightly berated his friend, which in turn, he only received a light, chuckling response from Aiden. "Hehe, don''t take it to heart, I was just ying! Anyway, I got back from my meeting, and I have some good news for you!" Aiden responded, whilst also slightly diverting the topic, trying to cheer his mood. The trick seemed to work, as Cole''s eyes sprung wider with a curios glint shining in them. He looked at his friend with an honest, inquiring expression. "What is it?" Instead of answering right away, Aiden nced at Mary, who was already in thest stages of providing support to the blonde-haired female warrior-esque woman. "I will tell you in a bit, but let''s wait for Mary to finish up as well! She would also like to hear it." Although quite curious, Cole nodded at his friend''s proposal, and turned to look at the woman Mary was currently dealing with. Just like Aiden, he was also quite surprised, wondering how he did not notice such a sight before. ''Heh, I must be quite stressed I guess'' He thought to himself, as he looked over the warrior. The warrior was much taller than the both of them, with almost a full head above Aiden, literally dwarfing over them like a tower, a literal giantess. As she looked over her naturally strong build, wide hips, and healthy, fit toned body, the first thought that came to Cole was that she was probably an amazon, or something quite simr. The size, the frame, the rough, but also vaguely feminine outlook were all qualities of the mysterious group of warrior women living somewhere far off to the south, away from the continent in an ind surrounded by the great ocean water. She had long, blonde hair, tied up in a single ponytail at the back of her head, giving a very exotic contrast to her tanned skin. Looking at the desk, she was probably handing in some items for either crediting a quest shepleted or just simply trading them for some guild credit. Noticing the stares from the two, the woman looked at them, but instead of getting angry or nervous, she gave a goofy grin with a thumbs up. "What is up boys? Did you never see an amazon before?" Her tone was pert, yful as she addressed them, whilst also confirming Cole''s earlier suspicion. Aiden did not answer immediately but kept focusing on the girl. His eyes seemed to try to pierce into the very depth of her soul, by the looks of how hard he was staring. It was Cole who snapped out of his daze first and decided to speak up. "Sorry miss, I *khm* we didn''t mean to be rude, it''s just like what you said You are quite a rare sight here in our small town. May I ask what brings you here?" He asked respectfully, as it was a known fact that amazons were a very unpredictable and fierce bunch with much higher, almost inhuman strength. Listening to his words, the giantess pped the boy''s left shoulder while she gave a burst of bellowingughter. "Ahahaha, I bet you that''s true! Ever since I arrived I kept getting stares from all directions, like I''m some new type of animal!" ncing at the other boy, who hasn''t spoken a word nor did his face flinch at all in thest minute, she asked, not minding his stare. "What''s up with him? Is he frightened?" Coming to this realization, the smile on her face widened into a grin, she leaned closer matching the boy''s gaze. "Come to think of it Boy, you have some strange eyes Huh, incredible!" "You are strong" Finally, Aiden''s focused gaze, eased up a little, he returned a smile, as he admitted the obvious. "You betcha!" Satisfied by his words, the amazon woman flexed her arms with pride. Her words were haughty as she enjoyed herself to the fullest. The light coughing of Mary from the back brought the group back to reality. She gave an using stare at Aiden for his misdemeanor and looked at the giantess once more. "Okay, so Miss Naybeah, I registered all the items you brought to me. I will take them to the back, and you should be good to go." Her words were cold, as she spoke, nothing like what it was previously as they spoke. Without as much as a ''humph!'' she turned around and left the group to themselves as she quickly vanished through the back office door with arge tray of ck, familiar damaged orbs in it. Noticing the items, both Cole and Aiden looked at the contents of the tray with surprise. "Sea Devils? You killed Sea Devils?" Cole eximed with a shocked stare. Sizing up the amazon once more, he still couldn''te to terms with how she managed to do such a feat all by her lonesome. "D-did you did you... " he stuttered, unable to voice his thoughts properly in front of such an incredible feat. Seeing his friends bbering, Aiden shook his head, and joined in, helping Cole out. "...He was trying to ask, did you do it all by yourself? Sahuagin, or Sea Devils are quite a feral bunch, a challenge that a woman such as yourself would find quite hard to ovee." "Oh, you guys recognized those? Huh I thought this ce doesn''t have any capable people at all Mary told me that even Rank 2''s are a rare sight... " The amazonian woman, Neybeah was quite surprised by the fact both boys could recognize the Monster Orbs at all. After all, Monster Orbs were not something every creature had, and it required some decent strength to ovee such a being. Not a feat that such a backwater town like Higrove should be capable of producing. "Yeah We dealt with a group before ourselves." Aiden revealed the shocking truth with a nonchnt attitude, stating it as if it was just a small feat, nothing to be too proud of. To be honest, he was right, to him, these bipedal fish-monsters were nothing better than those goblins he faced in the jungle with his sister. Whilst they provided some good exercise, they were far from a good challenge. "Still How did you know the orbs were from them? ck isn''t a unique color, many creatures had the same looking orbs. Sahuagin, Most of the Imp and Low-level Demonkins How did you guess?" The woman inquired further with a still surprised look on her face. "We didn''t know. We just handed in the very same looking orbs, albeit in not such a demolished state roughly a week ago, so the memory is still fresh in our minds. We or at least myself, had no idea there are other creatures with simr-looking orbs residing in them." Aiden answered honestly, as Cole was still in the process of regaining hisposure. "Anyway, your name was Naybeah, right? Where are you from? May I ask for what reason did youe to this city?" Aiden asked his friend''s earlier question again, quite interested in her story. The blonde giantess, Naybeah, gave a wry smile at his inquiry, not giving an answer immediately. A few momentster, as the door to the back office door opened, and the curly-haired Mary returned with the now empty tray in her hands, did she bother to speak up, although not giving much of an answer to the questions. "Yeah, I''m called Naybeah, nice to meetcha boys!" She responded, not asking or caring about their names. Still, her attitude was honest and kind, so Aiden didn''t really mind. As Mary arrived back, they finished some quick paperwork, before Naybeah turned around towards the exit. Before, she left, however, she looked at Aiden once more, and whilst winking her right eye, she gave her a bright, yful smile. "If Naone wills it, we will meet again. If you want an answer to your questions, you have to ask it the right way!" Chapter 193 - 193 - Rank Up Test (Part 1) Looking at the receding figure of the blonde amazonian giantess, Aiden was left speechless for quite a while. Whilst he did notment on it as they talked, the most incredulous thing he found wasn''t the height, build, or the power she emanated from herself. No, what Aiden found the strangest was her attire. Apart from some ragged piece of ck fur that was wrapped around her to cover her delicates, the only piece of clothing she wore was arge and spacious hooded cloak that she used most of the time to pull on it to cover and hide her front, mostly barren body. If she found it troublesome, why didn''t she use normal, proper clothing to cover herself? What was the point of such revealing attire? Aiden couldn''t put his mind to it. Shaking his head lightly, he forced these thoughts out of his mind and focused back on his friend. Now that Naybeah was gone, Mary was, once again, free to join in on their conversation, albeit she continued giving the cold shoulder, much to Aiden''s continued chagrin. Deciding to just ignore the matter with the girl, for now, he gently patted Cole''s back, waking him from his stupor for the nth time today. With a friendly smile stretching on his face, he spoke in a calm and gentle manner. "Don''t worry Cole. Everything will be all right." Matching his gaze, Cole looked at his friend with a troubled expression. "So, what did you wanted to tell us? Mary is here now." He took a quick nce at the curly-haired woman, who had a cold, hurt look on her face, but was clear that she was listening in on their talk. Upon his words, Aiden also nced at Mary, only to sigh at how hurt she looked. Aiden didn''t know what he had done that offended her, as he was just talking to the giantess. He did not speak ill and was just curious about the exotic look of the female warrior. Still, something must have set her off, as she was not looking hurt, but instead offended. He smiled at her wryly, before turning his attention back to his friend. Taking a breath of fresh air, he decided to change the subject and began to briefly tell what had happened in the office during his meeting with Sarah. However, he did not go into detail, at least not yet. He still had time to tell everything and sour their mood tomorrow morning. No, right now, there was a much more important topic they had to cover. His attention slowly shifted towards Cole, who was still rather nervous, about the test he was about to face all by his lonesome. Finally, as he got the important and relevant part about Cole''s test, he stopped talking and as the smile on his face slowly widened into an obvious grin, he waited a few moments before he revealed the information he got from the leader. "...and, you do not need to worry about all the injuries or faulty y during your test, as I was allowed to go in with you and foresee the whole test. So you do not need to worry, but doing your very best, and try to pass the trial! I know you can, you even fought to a standstill against those Sea Devils!" "You? They allowed you to go in and oversee the test? H-how?!" Mary yelped out in surprise upon this shocking revtion. Usually, the event was supposed to be private, and only the examiners and the examinee were allowed to enter the side room. Well, there were the asional exceptions, like with Aiden''s case, but in general, this was a true statement. Cole''s eyes also lit up with the spark of hope as soon as he processed his friend''s words. "R-really?" He eximed with surprise before he stopped in his own tracks and took a moment to collect himself before continuing. "Ehrm, I mean, that is good, for sure, but I still need to be able to pass the test myself. You can''t help me or cheat me through. I need to be skilled and strong enough to pass this hurdle." Nodding, Aiden agreed with his friend. "That is true, but at least you do not need to worry that much anymore. At worst, you will just fail to pass it this time, and will just need to train even harder! There will be no fatal injuries that would set you back!" Although reassured and quite relieved by Aiden''s words, Cole still had a slightly worried look on his face as he turned to face the door on the eastern side of the hall. Taking a long,sting look on the closed wooden door, he seemed to havee to a decision about the matter. His worry morphed to confidence and determination as he heaved out all the air that troubled his mind and heart all day today. He then turned to look at Mary, who without even having the need to mention anything, nodded in understanding, and spoke. "I see, you have made up your mind. Shall I go and inform the examiners about your uing test and deduct the credits from your ount?" Even though she knew the answer to the question, she was still required to ask it out and wait for his clearly obvious response. As expected, Cole nodded with a determined expression. He had already made up his mind, he will not change it anymore. His friends are supporting him and even made sure that he did not have to worry about foul y anymore. What right did he have to back out now? "Yes, please do so. I am ready to take the test." He nodded. A smile finally reced the cold, hurt expression of Mary, as she picked up a form from under the desk and quickly began to scribble something on it, filling out a few rows hurriedly. Barely a minuteter she was finished, and as she grabbed the paper, she turned at Cole with the friendly, professional smile on her face. "Okay, I will go to the back and let the examiners know about the uing Rank Up test. Please wait for a few minutes, I will let you know once you can go in, through that door. "She pointed at the eastern door, the same one which Aiden used for his registration. As soon as she said what she was obligated to, she immediately turned around and rushed through the back office door, her figure quickly vanishing through the long hallways as the door closed behind her. "Come, let''s just sit back. You need to rx and be at your best when you go through that door." Patting Cole''s back, Aiden motioned for him towards the closest set of empty seats. Silently nodding, Cole walked back, trying his hardest to keep hisposure, and cool. It was a lie to say that whilst he sounded confident and determined a moment ago, he wasn''t still nervous about the whole uing ordeal. Yes, he fought against a Sea Devil, a real Sahuagin with Aiden before, but the fact was he never won. He was just barely able to avoid his crazed blows, and cling to his life by a hair''s thread. He wasn''t Aiden, he wasn''t an unnaturally powerful, incredible beast hiding in human skin. He was just your average youth, hoping to make a change in his life and not fall back towards the bottom and live a meaningless life being a farmer in some nameless vige, paying tribute to his vige chief and governing Nobles. No. He wanted something more, he NEEDED something more. It was fate or maybe the Gods that brought him towards Aiden on that fated day, and by staying at his side, he slowly grew better and better. He was no longer the bullied newbie that just arrived in the city, there were severalpleted quests and challenges under his name. He got gradually better at wielding his short sword, and whilst he had no special skills or talents, he still felt that he was quite capable. At least by his own standards. His nervousness slowly faded as these and simr thoughts began toe to the surface of his mind. He creased his eyebrows, as his fading confidence found a newly formed pir it could lean on. It was, as if a single bright ray of shining light pierced through the dark, eerie convergence of stormy clouds amidst the sky, and put a stop to the despair it poured down towards the ground-dwellers. As time slowly passed and more and more thoughts and happy memories pierced through the despair of clouds, it slowly basked the gloomy ground of Cole''s mindset in its colorless, bright rays of hope and confidence. The nervous haze from his eyes slowly being lifted, Cole reached for the hilt of his short sword dangling from the side of his belt, and tightly gripped it. He was no longer afraid, he had no worry in his eyes, not even when from the back office room, opened up and amidst the office floors, two huge men, donned in ebony ck armors, -one with studded, reinforced leather and one with a shining, metallic feel to it-, walked out with Marygging not too far behind, and walked towards the side room in a slow pace. He was ready to face any challenge they could throw at him! He was ready for the test! Chapter 194 - 194 - Rank Up Test (Part 2) Following closely behind the two towering soldiers, Cole and Aiden entered into the samerge dojo-like room where Aiden took his registration test before. In the upper section, the same group of examiners, with Sarah hiding behind herrge hooded robe stood in the middle. Although her eyes and face were hidden behind the cover, she was clearly, obviously looking at the neers, and a small, barely perceptible nod could be witnessed as her gaze met Aiden''s. Cole had a determined look on his face as he followed behind the two, ck-armored towering giants. His right hand was gripping his sheathed sword''s handle tightly on his left, ready to unsheathe it and swing it at any iing threat at a moment''s notice. Next to him, Aiden was following along, with a rather nonchnt, carefree attitude. His hands were behind the top of his head, focusing on nothing in particr, looking like a guest if anything else. As he walked in his carefree manner, he took a casual nce at the group upstairs leaning against the handrails, looking at the boys with their judgemental, condescending eyes. The bald captain-looking unarmed man, who usually stood to the right of the leader, was there this time as well, looking at Cole instead of Aiden. Although it was only for a fraction of a second, Aiden still managed to catch as a cruel glint shed across the man''s eyes as he sized up his friend from head to toe. No doubt, he had nothing good going on inside his head. ''Just what is up with humans and their tendency to cruelty against their own kind? How could they be the ruling race across the world? I just can''t believe it'' Aidenmented inwardly, masking a sneer with a friendly smile as his eyes met with the bald examiner. Taking his eyes off the man, he looked at the two giants walking in front of them. The one on the left had a painted, ck, studded, leather chest ced over his simrly colored, charcoal ck linen shirt. Padded fingerless ck leather gloves protected mostly his palm, and going with the same routine, a ck leather padded pantspleted his armor set. He had arge ebony ck brogue protecting his feet, matching his outlook. He wore a simplistic ck leather head cap, buckled up, and protected most of his head but leaving his face free. His rough, scruffy expression, matched his set, giving the whole dark-set a rather ominous feel. The only elevating decor on him was the guild''s logo of a sword hitting a shield with golden threads sewed above his heart. The man on the right, albeit donning the same color-scheme, wore apletely different set of protection. First, he wore heavier, somewhat metallic material, but Aiden wasn''t sure if it was steel, iron, or something else entirely. One thing that he was sure of was that it had the same metallic shine as Sir Michael''s shy but most likely useless garment. His breastte had the same logo decorating and quite unfortunately, marking his heart making it a clear and visible target for attackers from a range. Contrary to his leather-armored partner, his entire arm was also protected by the metallic frame, all the way down to his hands, where he wore a gauntlet with a few protruding rivets carefully ced above his knuckles to provide a nasty surprise during a fistfight. The same ck protruding rivets could be also witnessed above his kneecaps, and around his neck, providing protection against suffocation attempts. He wore a full helmet, providingplete coverage with the addition of the visor that he had also closed shut. As for weapons, they both used slightly simr types, focused on causing bludgeoning, and trauma-type injury. The dark leather-armored one on the left had a one-handed war mace hanging from his side. The mace head was circr withrge spikes protruding from its surface. As for the metal-knight, his weapon consisted of two of the same type: a war hammer. It had a slightly simr shape to what his friend was using, the head of the weapon was crude, it looked like a simplerge metal brick attached to two wooden handles. Both weapons were capable of causing serious injury, and with the size and strength of these two, it was obvious that this battle would be decided by sheer strength, rather than skill. With a continued slow pace, they eventually reached the middle of the battle area, and the two warriors suddenly stopped. They both looked to the bald man leaning against the railing upstairs and waited for his approval before turning around. The man kept his cold demeanor as he nodded, although his eyes slightly betrayed him, as the same cruel glint shed through once again as he bowed his head. Returning the nod, and understanding the underlying, unvoiced order of their superior, they both turned around at the same time and looked at the brown-haired youth in front of them. Aiden stood still next to his friend, unmoving, despite the uing battle, the only change he made was to move his hands from the top of his head, resting against the sides. The ck warriors looked at him, and waved with their heads, giving a silentmand for the boy to move to the side and not interfere with the uing duel, an order which Aidenpletely ignored. Seeing that this would be going nowhere and that his fun could potentially be ruined by that monstrous golden-eyed boy just like before, the bald-man turned towards him and angrily yelled out. "Hey, you there! It''s one thing that you were allowed to watch the test, but that does not mean you can just go ahead and assist him during it! Move to the side and do not interfere!" Aiden slowly turned his head to match the bald man''s annoyed gaze, and whilst revealing a friendly smile, he answered calmly. "Do not worry, as long as there is no foul y involved, I will not interfere. However" He turned and looked at both warriors facing in front of them. His eyes suddenly shed with a bright golden luster causing a shiver of fright to wash through the seasoned veterans. ??...If you have any ill intentions, I will make sure you will fail, and suffer the consequences" His calm tone only gave an eerie contrast to the coldness that radiated from his eyes. Unable to withstand the sudden invisible weight of his threats pressuring them down, both warriors took a step back and looked back at the bald man for assistance. Just as expected, the baldie, although shocked by the power of the youth''s underlying threat, managed to keep hisposure, and angrily yelled back. "H-how dare you, a meager newly joined, little boy threaten the examiners and use them of foul y?! You should be puni-" However, before he could finish, he was silenced with Sarah''s right palm being raised in the air. She looked at Aiden and began to speak in her usual public style, the melodious, heavenly tune, giving her the mystical aura. "Aiden is right, there will be no foul y here. We are just and honest judges, and want nothing more than to make sure that the candidates are ready for the increased responsibility. Isn''t that right?" Although she didn''t directly phrase it, the bald man understood the meaning behind her words, and hurriedly nodded, speaking in an apologetic and frightened tone. "Yes, Leader, you are absolutely correct. What we want is to make sure that the eager youngsters are strong and skilled enough to handle the increased weight of what themunity will be putting on them. There is nothing more, nothing less here." He did not speak further, and just silently watched the uing fight with a solemn, somber expression on his face. He did not answer the asking gazes of his warriors, nor did he bother to answer the annoying smiling face of that long ck-haired brat. Inwardly, however, he was fuming, and was deep in thought of how he could deal with him in the future After all, his previous attempts were met with horrendous failure Hearing Sarah''s reassurance and then acquiescing to the baldie''s words, Aiden continued to look and smile at him for a while longer before he turned back to face the 2 giants dwarfing them. He took a step backward, exiting the uingbat, and patted his friend''s back. "Now it''s your turn, Cole. I did all that I could, the rest is up to you." He spoke in a lowered tone, making it so that only Cole could understand it. "They may be huge and fearsome, but don''t forget, that size is not everything, it''s actually a hindrance as it will make them slow, much slower than you! Do your best, and don''t lose focus!" Listening to his words, Cole nodded whilst keeping his focus on the two opponents in front of him. As the seconds continued to pass in tense silence, making them feel like an eternity had passed, the leader of the examiners finally raised both of his hands in the air, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. Chapter 195 - 195 - Rank Up Test (Part 3) The leader''s heavenly, melodious voice, that made Sarah''s sex an ambiguity for those ''uninitiated'', she spoke loudly, reaffirming the rules and stiptions for the test. "Cole Phamas, Rank 1 Adventurer, we the Highrove Adventurer''s Guild''s official examiners wee you on your first Rank Up Test!" She gave a slight pause in her speech, and lowered her hands, grabbing the railing before she continued. "To pass and achieve a positive result all you need to do is hold your ground against one of the warriors in front of you until I say it is enough. I will not say how long it will take, but you can rest assured that since this is only for the second rank, you will not need to hold out for too long. You can choose which one, but let me warn you, they are of equal strength. The most obvious choice may not be the correct one. The test shall begin once you have made your choice." Then she turned towards Aiden and addressed him as well. Although she kept the mystical tune behind her voice, it carried a bit more emotion than before. "You should not interfere with the test itself anymore. I give my word that the duel will be an honorable one. I will personally punish those that would go against my word." As she said herst sentence, the bald, unarmed examiner next to her, felt a shiver pass through him, causing him to shiver in fright momentarily, before gulping audibly. He nervously nced at the ck warriors on the ground floor. His eyes telling everything, the warrior on the right, closest to him, gave a long blink and a barely perceptible nod under his helmet, understanding his newmands. "Then I am relieved." Aiden nodded with a friendly smile on his face, as he took a few steps to the side and casually leaned against the wall, folding his arms. He seemedpletely calm, and nonchnt as if this whole ordeal meant absolutely nothing to him. Truth be told, that wasn''t that far from the truth either. While he obviously cared for his friend, even if he only met him just such a short time ago, this ''world of humans'' was less and less interesting to him as the days continued to pass. All the cruelty, needless violence against their own kind, the darkness that gued them made him wonder about the other races of the world. He was told that besides humans, who popted most of thends, there are many others out there. Beastkin or Beastfolk, which was an evolved version of the myriad animals and predators found out there, had a whole kingdom to themselves to the far west. At some point, Aiden''s master, Number 3 also told tales about elves, the race of his sister''s Lily''s mother living in small viges, colonies inrge forests such as the one where they lived. Granny and Number 3 told tales about many other beings, some living under the ground, and even some that lived above the skies! At that time, he wasn''t that interested as he felt some strange, unexinable connection to the world of humans, but as he continued to experience their world, he felt more and more disgusted by it as the days passed. Once this whole ordeal with the main quest and then the consequent deal he made with the prince is finally finished and he regains some of his ''freedom'' once again, he decided to set out and explore the world! The edges of his lips curved a bit higher at this thought, as he shook his head and focused on the duel in front of him that was just about to start. --- Cole, thinking about the leader''s words for a bit, decided that in the end will still go with his own, first thought and picked the guy on the left wearing the leather armor and carrying the mace with the spiky, metal ball head. As the boy raised his hand and pointed to him, the dark leather-wearing warrior nodded with an expressionless face and stepped forward, whilst his partner turned and left towards the side, towards Aiden''s position. Halting several steps away from him, he simply stood still like a statue, unmoving and stoic as he continued to watch the battle between the brown-haired youth and his partner. Even if his face wouldn''t be hiding behind the helmet, no expressions or thoughts could have been read from it, as he looked ahead insipidly. Taking a few deep breaths, to calm his inner turmoil and steel his heart, Cole slowly unsheathed his sword and raised it in front of his chest diagonally the edge turned towards his opponent. He had a determined, focused look on his face as he scanned the enemy looking at his smallest movements, actions. The warrior had an emotionless but cold look on his face as he grabbed the hilt of his weapon, and held it in his right hand. He did not enter any battle stance, the weapon was hanging upside down at his right side as he stood still, looking at the boy in front of him. At a first nce, one could feel that his poise was full of openings and holes as if he was an amateur. However, in the next moment, as he blinked once more, and his eyes opened, suddenly an ominous, eerie aura was released from his body. It was nothing magical, it was the culmination of years of hard work and experience, it told tales about a cruel and brutal life lived on the battlefield, being on the edge of life and death. Aiden''s nonchnt smile faded as he was hit by the warrior''s aura, his intent as he released it. He felt a tremendous amount of cruelty, a big thirst for blood Just this aura alone could set the hearts of the novices to a deep perpetuating fear, making them unable to react to the actions on the outside as their hearts and souls trembled in front of this monstrous entity, this reaper of lives. As the warrior''s aura hit Cole and he felt the dread wash over him, he grabbed the hilt of his sword even harder and shook his head. He did not let out any word, not even a yelp as he withstood the pressure bravely. Seeing how unaffected the brown-haired boy was even after such a psychologic attack, a small smile began to curve up on the warrior''s previously expressionless face. Raising his weapon-holding right hand, he motioned at the boy invitingly, and put an end to the silence. His raspy rough voicepletely fit his image as he spoke. There was a chilling, strange happiness in his voice as he addressed the boy in front of him. "Come now, kid! Show me what you got!" In response, Cole bent his front knee a bit and put a bit more of his weight on it, as he prepared onest time. In the next moment, whilst keeping the de diagonally in front of him, but cocking it slightly back to prepare for a mid-charge swing, he let out a loud, heartfelt shout and rushed forward. As he rapidly closed the distance, once he got into range, he swung his weapon-holding arm with all his might aiming for a horizontal cut across the man''s chest. Against such a simplistic attack, the seasoned veteran didn''t need to n out too much, he made a very basic move to raise his weapon and put it in front of the boy''s rapidly approaching arcing de. As the de collided against the mace a loud metallic clink rang out in the room. The arc was put to a halt, only to be thrown back by the physically much stronger enemy''s casual push of his arm. Following up the parry, as with his arms thrown to the side giving arge and fatal opening, the warrior grinned as he raised his right leg in the air, and gave a strong kick on Cole''s chest with his boots. Flung back like a broken kite, Cole barely managed to hold onto the hilt of his sword as he crashed against the ground with a loud thump. Gritting his teeth, he spat out a bloodied goop of saliva, and jumped up, ready to get back into action after his first failure. Although he could have followed up the kick easily with a thrust and end the boy''s life then and there, the warrior knew that he couldn''t y dirty this time around, so he just stood still, and did not approach. He let the boy get back up and collect himself. However, a small smile was revealed on his face as he looked at the deep boot-mark that was left on the boy''s chest, covering arge portion of his frontal upper torso. "Try again, but don''t be such an amateur on your next attempt. If we would be out there in a real-life situation, that mark on your chest could be your guts being pulled out. If you make such a fatal mistake once again, I won''t care about your friend anymore and just end you!" He spoke out, berating the boy for such a fatal mistake. If he is at this level, why is he even attempting the test?! Chapter 196 - 196 - Rank Up Test (Part 4) In the face of the man''s usations and taunts, Cole gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. But, even though he felt indignant and wanted nothing more than to refute his words, Cole knew that the man was right. Even though his words were harsh, what he said was theplete and absolute truth. What he did was a very naive and pathetic attempt at an attack that showed no skills whatsoever. He was just like a child iling his hands in desperation, only to be pushed aside. If this would be the extent of his skills, it would be more than justified to fail him and kick him out of the test, there would be no point in continuing this farce any further. So, at most he could just ept the taunting words and grit his teeth, as he slowly rxed his tense shoulders and gripped the hilt of his weapon even tighter. His eyes raged with a burning fiery passion, he scanned his opponent who stood still just a dozen steps away from him in the same casual, leisure, seemingly nonchnt manner as before. He held his weapon in his right hand, as it hung upside down at his side, not bothering to put up any meaningful stance. It was a humiliating sight for Cole as it was clear what or actually how little the opponent thought of him. The worst thing was it wasn''t even just blind arrogance from the opponent''s part, it was an obvious examination from his first attack and how he wielded the sword. It shows nervousness, uncertainty, and most important of all, inexperience. Wiping his bloodied lips with his weapon holding arm, Cole slowly walked a few steps forward, closing the gap just a tiny bit, as he responded to the usations. His voice carried a mocking tone as he spoke amidst spitting a few bloody balls of saliva. "Yes, you are right" He answered, as his facial expressions slowly began to twist into a cruel grin, sizing up his opponent once more. "...I am shaming everything I want to stand for if I continue to act in that manner" The cruel grin and calcting, cold look in Cole''s eyes surprised not just his opponent, but Aiden as well who kept his eyes close on his friend from the start. His earlier nervousness, and bubbling, emerging reassurance, and determination, that felt weak and frail at the start, seemed to finally settle inside him, changing his demeanorpletely. Whilst this did not give him any sort of magical increase in how skillfully he wielded the de, nor did it give him any supernatural might, it did change his mindset, by abolishing the doubt from his mind. Clenching his sword-wielding hand, Cole raised his weapon diagonally in front of his chest once more, as he slowly strolled forward, closing the distance between him and his opponent with each step. His eyes were focused on the man, ready to react to even the tiniest movements instantly. Seeing the change in the boy, the examiner had a small smug smile stretching his scruffy, unkempt face. He slightly raised his mace lifting it only that it was no longer upside down but going parallel with the ground, perpendicr to his body. The spiky metal ball head of the weapon stretching out as if a guard dog were ready to pounce at his prey upon the firstmand of his master. With each step, Cole got closer and closer, slowly closing in, getting increasingly closer to the critical distance, the melee range. As he closed on, Cole slowly began to cock his weapon-holding hand slightly backward, giving off the motion of a simr swipe that he attempted just as before. Seeing the frown being revealed on his opponent at the sight of his action, caused Cole to grin inwardly, as his bait seemed to work perfectly. Keeping the same expression, careful not to reveal any of his ns on the surface, he stepped forward, entering melee range and putting an end to the tense, tight silence that engulfed the duelists for thest several seconds. As soon as he made thatst step and entered into his attacking range, the silence and standstill exploded, as the ck leather armor-wearing warrior immediately thrust his spiked ball-headed mace forward, aiming at Cole''s abdomen. Even though the thrust looked casual, Aiden noticed it carried a tremendous force, and if it would hit it would cause severe blunt-force trauma to the much weaker, and mostly defenseless youth. Even then, he did not even flinch and continued to watch his friend with great interest, keen to inspect how he would react to such an obvious attack. Against the iing attack, Cole did not stutter, nor did he freeze out of fright. His new, and battle-focused mindset immediately gave themand to his body, as he agilely slid to the right and, at the same time, he swung his de towards the left, aiming at the warrior''s hip, albeit in a much wider arc, he initially intended. Seeing how his attack missed the target and how he was the subject of an immediate, but slightly amateurish counterattack did not cause much surprise to the seasoned veteran. With his padded and protected, open gloved left palm, he struck against the iing de whilst pulling his weapon back. At the same time, as his palm collided and deflected the de, putting a stop to the attempt, he was already mid-motion in a body-spin with his mace approaching Cole''s side with a rapid pace. With no time to properly reach, Cole could only thrust his instincts as he threw himself backward, falling on his back once again. This time, however, there were no bloodied stains or any signs of damage to the boy. Although the opportunity would have been prime to strike, and im victory, and even though his senses were screaming at him to do it, the warrior gripped the base of his weapon and took a step back, giving time for the boy to stand back up and collect himself for a third round. "Now, that was much better than before! Still, a bit naive to think that such a wide arc, could possibly hit the target, but at least you did show some skill this time. Still, you need to show more if you wish to convince us!" Although his tone was slightly mocking, taunting, there were some reassuring words mixed in as well. Albeit the whole encounter took only the span of a few seconds, the rapid back and forth exchange was a refreshing sight to everyone in the room, especiallypared to the first, pathetic excuse of an attack. Under the shadowy cover of her hood, Sarah gave a small unseen smirk, alternating her gaze between the brown-haired boy and the nonchnt-looking Aiden at the side. To her right, the bald, unarmed man could only watch the boy with a contemptuous look, unable to give anymand to his men, afraid of the wrath of his demonic leader. Still, from the tightly almost ghastly white clenched fists, it was obvious how annoyed he was about being restricted and threatened to such a degree. He nced at the long, ck-haired boy leaning against the wall with his arms folded in such a casual, carefree manner. He was the cause of all his recent troubles and was even more determined to pay back all grievances tenfold to this pesky brat. Back on the ground floor, the momentary respite has passed, and suddenly Cole sprang into action, by jumping back on his feet, and charging against the already awaiting opponent. However, just as he entered striking range, he jumped to the right and jumped up in the air whilst swiftly raising his sword above his head and striking downwards with all his might. Against the fierce, surprise attack, the seasoned warrior still did not flinch and simply raised his weapon above his head, ready to intercept and block the attack. However, what surprised him was that the boy already perceived this obvious attempt and just as he was mid-air, he kicked out with his right feet surprising the man and hitting his face, causing him to blink and lose sight of the boy for a fraction of a second. This momentary loss of vision and as a consequence his control of the actions, caused him to put less strength into his weapon-.holding arm. As the de collided with the metallic spiky ball his arm began to falter against the added pressure of the boy''s full might plus his not-so-meaningless weight. His legs began to tremble, as without a proper stance, withstanding such a sudden pressure started to prove to be a challenge. Still, in the end, although his arms hurt due to the numb pain of the sudden overexertion, the warrior managed to block and deflect the blow, as he swung with his left fist and punched the boy to the side. Thinking he had a few seconds once again to recuperate, he began to swing his right arm, trying to shake the numbness, whilst looking at the boy, and sizing him up once again. "Now, that was really unexpected. Such a dirty trick! It almost worked, you justcked the required strength to push it through! But don''t falter, in a few years, you will be-" However, before he could finish voicing his thoughts, the boy suddenly jumped up and charged at him once again, with a fierce, determined gaze, not giving him any time to recuperate. Cole was determined to prove himself today. Chapter 197 - 197 - Determination And Result The warrior just barely had the time to raise his weapon holding arm and crudely swing it in front of him in an attempt to parry the iing hit of the feral youth. As their weapons collided and the loud clunking noise reverberated in the area, he sighed in relief that he managed to thwart such a sudden impulse of his youthful opponent. He looked ahead, ready to give another speech, but before he could open his eyes, his senses tingled, and instinctively blindly swung his weapon again at the general direction from which he felt the threat. In the next instant, the sound of another collision rang out in the small arena. Although the power wasn''t anything dangerous to the seasoned veteran, the ferocity of the attacks started to eat up his ease, he started to finally focus and take this challenge seriously. With a stern look on his face, he no longer attempted to lecture his opponent but was focusing on his movements as he stood just a few steps away from him slightly to his right side. Without any warning, Cole sprang into action once more, his figure quickly dashing forth. As he charged, he also raised his weapon above his head whilst grabbing the hilt with both hands, and cocked it slightly backward, getting ready for another deadly, but wide-arched vertical swing. Focusing on the iing attack, the leather-armored warrior raised his empty left hand, and with a sudden movement, he thrust it forward with a grabbing motion. At the same time, he did a right-side swing with a shortened arc around the hip area. There were no smiles, or friendliness on his face, only the stern, the focused gaze of a reaper of lives, a warrior of the battlefield. However, just as the two sides were about to crash onto each other, the Leader who was silent all the while upstairs raised his right palm in the air, signaling for a stop in their duel. The outline of the purplish glow in her eyes lit up and shone through the darkness of the hood over her face. Standing up, the heavenly melodious tune sang out and immediately encroached the two, stopping them in the midst of their movements. "Stop! That is enough. We have seen your determination, Cole Phamas." Sarah spoke whilst keeping the ambiguity in her voice with the help of her innate skills. Turning her head, she first focused on the ck leather armored examiner. "Please step back, this fight is now over. I would like to hear your thoughts, what do you think of him? Is he ready?" While her expressions could be seen, and thanks to the strange otherworldly effect, her sex wasn''t clearly distinguishable, you could still feel a knowing smirk from the way she phrased the question. As expected, after only a brief moment of contemtion, the warrior nodded his head at the boy. Whilst he put his battle mace back on his belt, he spoke in his raspy voice with an appreciative tone as he sized the young man up once again. "Yes, leader. He is more than ready. While his strength and skills need a lot of work before he could be called an experienced warrior, his will, his desire to grow is there." Turning around, he looked matching the darkened gaze of the leader, he nodded, before he walked to the side, and took his ce next to his still motionless partner. Hearing the judgment of his opponent, Cole''s fierceness faded from his ce, a hopeful glint soon recing it. Lowering his weapon to his side, he looked up as well, bravely matching the gaze of the mysterious hooded figure on the balcony. After a short but tense few seconds of silenceter Sarah spoke again, this time to man of the hour, Cole. "Cole Phamas, let it be known, that from today onwards you are no longer considered a Rank 1 Adventurer of Higrove''s Adventurer''s Guild. Once you step out from this room, you will be known as Cole Phamas, the guild''s newest second rank. Congrattions!" Adding to her words, she gave a short p, which the group of examiners quickly followed up. A bitter, as their ps faded, they all left the arena. Before the bald man left, however, he gave onest look at the long ck-haired youth leaning against the wall, with a carefree smile on his youthful face, as if he knew he was being watched. The man scoffed with annoyance, as he turned around and left the arena as well. The two towering statuesque warriors on the ground floor, also turned and shortly left, leaving the two boys alone to themselves. While all this was happening, Cole stood still, frozen in ce due to the shock of what he just heard. Did he seed? He did it on his first try and he wasn''t even hurt like all the others? Is this a joke? He couldn''t immediatelye to terms with this possibility, and just stared in front of him, with an incredulous look on his face. He was broken out by his reverie a short whileter, with the lone pping from the side. Turning around to face the source of the noise, he saw his friend, Aiden, smiling at him with his ever-present friendly smile on his face. His ps filled the empty arena, as he slowly approached him. "Good job Cole! Way to go! I knew you could do it!" Aiden gave words of praise, honestly happy for his friend''s sess. Seeing how his friend remained unresponsive with his wide-open eyes, still trying toe to terms with this new unbelievable reality, he shook his head with a smile as he arrived next to Cole. Lightly patting his back, Aiden continued, while gently tugging, pulling his friend towards the door. "Come, let''s leave, I''m sure Mary is worried about you! Let''s tell her the good news before we head back and take a well-earned rest back at the inn!" "Y-yeah" Cole managed to blurt out only a meek, faint response, still lost in his thoughts, as they left the arena. --- As soon as their figures appeared in the Hall, they heard the familiar sound of a cheerful feminine voiceing from the registration desk. "Cole! Aiden! You guys are finally back!" Mary quickly put on the "Away for Lunch!" sign in front of her desk and rushed towards her friends. Not a full momentter she arrived in front of them and started to take a closer, more detailed scrutinizing look at Cole. Seeing no visible injuries and blemishes on him, she heaved a sigh of relief before she turned her attention back to Aiden. "What happened? Why is he acting like this?" She asked with a slightly worried tone. Although there were no physical injuries, there could be mental or psychological damages, or he may have been lost in his own despair because of a potential failing result. "He" Aiden began with a serious expression, stopping after the very first word. He took a long look at his friend, and sighed, lowering his head, as if trying to avoid Mary''s stare. "He" He ''tried'' again, but once again, stopped after the first word. Thinking that Cole had, unfortunately, didn''t make it, she gave apassionate smile to the brown-haired boy, as she put her left hand on his right shoulder, gently gripping it. "Don''t worry, Cole! I''m sure you will make it next time!" As if just waking up, Cole looked at Mary with a questioning stare. "What are you talking about?" He asked, not understanding the meaning behind her words. "Don''t worry Cole, most who try it the first time don''t seed either. Think of it this way, you arepletely fine, so you can freely try again once you have the credits saved up on your ount!" Mary tried to console, not surprised by Cole''s first reaction of denial. She thought it waspletely a natural first reaction. "What are you saying? I did not fail, I seeded. Weren''t you already informed?!" Cole looked at the girl suspiciously, not knowing what y she was making here. However, as he nced at Aiden and saw the cheeky glint in his eyes, he knew what had happened immediately. "W-what? Y-you did? B-but Aiden said-" Looking at Aiden and seeing the increasingly widening grin on his face, she realized she was fooled. The worry vanishing quickly from her face, she pouted with a hurt expression. She looked at Aiden usingly. "T-that wasn''t nice you know! I was really worried about you two!" She harrumphed and turned around ready to bolt off due to her embarrassment. "If that is how you two n to y then I guess I won''t be bothering neither of you anymore. Good by-" But, before she could bolt off, she felt Aiden''s hands on her shoulder, lightly grabbing and pulling her back. "Stop, I am sorry, okay? It was just fun." He spoke in an honest, friendly voice, however, the cheeky tone soon resurfaced as he continued. "But I have to add, I haven''t said anything" Chapter 198 - 198 - Departure After an evening spent with celebration, the next morning eventually arrived. By the time the first rays of the sun intruded upon the ss windows and began to light up the dusk, dark room, Aiden was already up and ready. He was slightly concerned, as he did not have the opportunity toy out the news of the entire truth of yesterday''s meeting with Sarah, and his temporary leave from the city because of it. To add to it, Cole already started making ns during the night about the next grand missions their now Rank 2 duo would overtake, starting today. Last night, Aiden did not have the heart to burst his bubble and simply let him bask in his own glory, at least for one night before he would most likely ruin the mood during this morning''s breakfast. Walking out from the simplistic bathroom, with his face still dripping water, he quickly equipped his usual clothing, the khaki-colored linen pants, simr shirt, and reached for the door to leave the room. Before he did, however, he closed his eyes, and focused on his inner self, searching for a faint flickering light in the dark vastness of his Soul Space. Locating the entity, he sighed in relief and quickly returned to reality, afraid to bother or interrupt her recovery. ''She is doing fine, that''s good'' Hemented inwardly, shaking his head and pushing on the door. Approaching the stairs, Aiden was surprised to see the already awake and patiently waiting figure of his friend, the hero-of-yesterday, Cole sitting on their now-usual spot in the far corner, all by his lonesome, with two tes of the breakfast meal already prepared. Just as he noticed his friend, Cole also spotted him. His face turned into a cheerful smile, he jumped up and waved at him, motioning, signaling him to get over. "Hey there Cole, how are you this morning?" Aiden was the one to speak first when he walked over. He had his usual friendly smile stretching across his face, as he looked at his friend, and took his seat across him at the table. "I couldn''t sleep, I was so excited! I still can''tpletely believe that I have done it you know Like me, Cole Phamas, did a sessful Rank Up, not to mention on my very first try? It''s too unbelievable, I still feel as if I am dreaming." Speaking, he looked at the tes in front of them, and whilst returning Aiden''s friendly smile, he continued. "I hope you don''t mind, but I have already ordered for both of us. The usual, of course!" Shaking his head, the smile did not leave Aiden''s face as he spoke. "No, of course, I don''t mind. Let''s dig in, I also have something important to tell you But it can wait after we have filled our bellies!" He spoke, and, not giving chance for a response or refusal, he pulled the closest te in front of him, and began chewing it in." If nothing else, Aiden had to admit that the food, the delicacies he found in the human world was incredible. Beforeing here, he wasn''t that interested in taste, the only thing that mattered was the amount of energy they provided to his body. While this crucial fact did not change, and it was the number one key factor in deciding what to digest, he found a joyful surprise in the taste of the food offered in this particr establishment. Granny was great at creating desserts for Lily''s sweet tooth, but as for cooking? She never really bothered. Both her and Lily''s and for that matter, even Number 3''s requirements were fulfilled with the simple raw gathered fruits and vegetables. The meat was usually simply cooked with little-to-no seasoning, just the bare minimum. Even so, Aiden wasn''t entirely convinced that was done by Granny, as he never really did see her doing anything of the sort. So, this discovery, the taste of the herbs and seasonings Were the first new positive discovery of the otherwise grim-looking world of humans. As they were enjoying their meal, Aiden was suddenly alerted by a familiar presence approaching. Soon enough, the doors to the inn opened, and a curly-haired, chirpy-looking gal appeared in the doorway. She scanned through the thin crowd swiftly with her eyes, and as soon as she spotted their figures, her already smiling face turned even brighter. She quickly galloped over and looked over at their table. Although Aiden had already spotted her, Cole was surprised to see Mary appearing at their ce so early in the morning. Usually, they met at the guild, after all. "Hey guys, got room for one more?" She greeted with a cheery smile, ncing more towards Aiden than Cole. Understanding the unsaid request, Aiden smiled and silently scooched aside, giving her some space to sit. Surprised by the familiar voice, Cole looked up from his half-finished breakfast. "Huh? M-mary? W-what are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be at the guild already?" He asked between two gulps. Giggling at her friend''s incredulous look, Mary responded with a chirpy tone. "I guess, I could I usually just go to the guild and have my breakfast there at the back office But figured since you guys are eating here every morning, I would rather enjoy it with you two, instead of by myself or those dumbos at the guild" She spoke, as a momentary frown shed across her cheery face. "Oh I see... Well, happy to have you join us!" Cole spoke, and as he was about to dive back into his te, he realized that it would be rude to not offer at least some of it to her. He looked back up, and with a slightly troubled undertone, he asked. "Uhm do you want some? Or should I order another one for you?" Shaking her head, Mary wanted to refuse. "N-no, no need to, just enjoy yourself, I-" However, before she could finish, a te appeared in front of them from the side, as Aiden pushed it over. "Here, you can take mine, I am full already." While that statement wasn''t entirely true, his condition and statistics were indeed restored to the max. He did not feel hunger, nor did he ever feel any detriments other than a deteriorating condition in his character screen when he did not eat anything for days. He wasn''t entirely sure how often he would need substance, but just like with sleeping it was obvious and clear that he could go on for days when needed. "I-I can''t p-possibly" Marry stuttered due to the shock that the secret prince of her dreams, her handsome friend, suddenly gave her his own breakfast! Was he only doing to not be rude? Or did he mean more by it? She was desperately clinging to the second possibility. Whilst she was in deep turmoil inwardly, she tried her best to maintain her cheerful and casual attitude on the outside. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the te and was about to gently push it back, but Aiden stopped her, as he reacted faster. "Don''t worry Mary, I am really full. It would just go to waste, so just feel free to enjoy yourself." Seeing the hesitant look on her face, another thought came to his mind, something that his master taught her years ago about personal space andmon sense. "Oh You don''t want to eat my leftovers, right? Sorry, it was rude of me." He grabbed the edge of the te and wanted to pull it back but this time, he was stopped as the girl repeated his earlier action and grabbed on her newfound breakfast nervously. "No! Don''t! I-I I want it!" Realizing what she had just said, her face instantly turned beet red. Shaking her head, she quickly corrected. "I mean, I am hungry, and I don''t mind this te at all! In fact, I''m happy and delighted that you would offer it to me!" She quickly, afraid of his refusal, grabbed the edges of the te and not minding the used cutlery, quickly began to rapidly chortle up its contents. Smiling at her reaction, Aiden did not mind and did not try to take back the te anymore, he smiled at her shenanigans, and enjoyed as his two friends finished their meal in rtive silence. Only once theypletely emptied the tes in front of them, did he speak again. "It is actually rather lucky to have you join us this morning Mary, I have something important that I have to tell both of you." Although he was still smiling, he turned serious slightly scaring the two. "What is it Aiden? What is bothering you?" Cole asked, worried about his friend''s sudden change of tone. "Yeh, what is bothering you? You can tell us, Aiden!" Mary added, with the same worried look as Cole, her earlier shyness quickly vanishing from her mind. "I" Taking a sigh, Aiden decided to just quickly throw the bomb out into the open, and not run circles around the subject. "I will need to leave the city for a few days on an important assignment from the guild. Before you ask" He looked at Cole with a wry smile on his face. "...I can''t take you with me this time, sorry." Chapter 199 - 199 - Before The Journey Just as Aiden expected, his words caused the mood of their friends to drop by a huge margin. He could only sigh at this, and just stay in silence, awaiting some sort of response from them. While Mary wasn''t happy, she still took the news slightly better than Cole. "Aiden Was this the topic of discussion on your meeting yesterday with the Examiner''s Leader?" She asked, with apassionate but slightly worried smile on her face. To respond, Aiden silently nodded, before turning his attention towards his friend, who looked as if he saw a ghost just a moment ago. "W-why?" Was the only thing he managed to blurt out after several seconds of effort. Is he still not strong enough? Is he still holding him back? He did just rank up, was this still not enough? What more does he need to qualify to stand and face the dangers together with his friend? Aiden didn''t know how to respond. What Sarah said was true, while Cole is talented, and grows at an incredible pacepared to others, at the end of the day he is still far from what this assignment would need. Thinking about it for a bit more, Aiden decided to just go with the truth, like he usually does. Smiling wryly at his friend, he began to exin in apassionate tone. "Cole The leader told me that I can''t have you join us for this one. The quest is too dangerous, you could get seriously hurt" However, this statement from him did not achieve the result he had hoped for. In fact, now, not just Cole, but Mary began to visibly stress out, unable to keep her cool, she chimed in with a worried but slightly hurtful tone. "What?! If it is so dangerous, why is it that you are still going, and alone for that matter?! What makes it okay, to risk yourself, but not taking your friend with you to protect each other?! Why take the mission in the first ce?" Mary was starting to get into a hysterical mode, something she herself didn''t expect. The thought of letting this boy go and face a potentially fatal encounter caused her mind to enter into a state of shock, and her worried heart to take over. Not letting any of the boys respond, she continued to cry out. Her voice getting slightly higher-pitched and to an increasingly raised volume, a few eyes from the surrounding tables began to look towards their direction. "Is it money? Or fame?! I didn''t think that you, Aiden, are someone that cares for those! Maybe I was wrong, and you are just the same as all the others out there!" At this point, it seems she had reached her limit, and broke out into a desperate weep. She was about to jump up and rush away due to the stabbing pain in her heart when she was gently pulled back down. Turning her head towards him, Aiden looked at him deep in the eye. His exotic, golden eyes caused the girl to calm down a bit, and whilst continuing her sobbing, she nted herself in the boy''s chest. Hugging her gently, Aiden patted her back. Leaning closer into her right eyes, he whispered into her ear. His voice, while whispered, it carried a great deal of emotion and concern. "Don''t cry, Mary. I am not going alone, the leader is going with me. In fact, she asked me to apany her, as she can''tplete the assignment alone, but it is of vital importance, that it is done. Sadly I can''t exin much, but know that our return with the information could mean the life or death of this entire city." Cole, who just kept to himself, and thought about his friend''s first words, was pulled back from his mind upon hearing his friend''s words. Looking at him with a shocked, surprised expression, he asked. "What? What is" He wanted to ask about the details, but knowing that he wouldn''t answer, he changed his words. "Are you sure you can handle it? Do you want me to follow you guys from behind, just for safety?" Looking up, Aiden smiled at his friend while shaking his head. "No, don''t worry, I will be fine. Trust me when I say, I can handle a lot more trouble than what you have seen so far. And" Looking down, he gently grabbed the still sobbing girl''s chin and raised her head so she would look at him with her blurry, watering eyes as well. "And, if it woulde to it that I couldn''t handle it myself anymore, I still have a few tricks to ensure my safety. I WILLe back, hopefully in only a few days or at most before that stupid Wargame event for the City Lord position. I have promised the guild to assist them, after all!" He gave them a reassuring smile, as he continued to pat the girl, who still couldn''tpletely calm down and collect herself. Cole did not speak anymore, but it was clear he wasn''t entirely convinced and had several thoughts in his mind. Still, he decided to voice them out, and looked down, at his empty te. A few minutes passed in this awkward state of silence before finally, Mary separated herself from the weing warmth of Aiden''s chest. Rubbing her bloodshot eyes with her hands, she spoke with a meek voice. "I I can''t say that I am a deeply religious, devoted person. I do not go to any of the temples and do not expect anything from the gods. But! From now on, until the day you return, Aiden, I will pray to the gods that you return safely to us!" In a much lower tone, only audible to herself, and unbeknownst to her, to Aiden as well, she added. "...and to me..." "Yes, Aiden,e back to us safe and sound, okay? After all I still haven''t met the famous sister, who you keep talking about!" Cole added, with a smirk, trying to lift the mood. As they were not in the mood to continue with their breakfast, and that Aiden had to leave for the eastern gate, they shortly left their tables and left the inn. Outside Aiden, walked with them to the Adventurer''s Street in silence, before with onest heartfelt goodbyeter, they finally separated. As he turned around, and slowly left towards the gates, he felt the worried and longing gaze of the curly, brown-haired woman as she kept looking at his back all the way until it eventually vanished amidst the crowd. Once it did, she sighed deeply, looking at the boy''s direction onest time, before turning around, and following after Cole. She could only pray and hope that the boy of her dreams, the owner of her heart, would return to her safe and sound. --- Leaving his friends and being alone once again Aiden kept thinking about his experiences so far since he left the safety of his home, just for the sole reason, toplete a System assigned quest. That was the reason for his arrival to this city that he had mixed feelings for, and also the reason why he went to the Adventurer''s Guild. After all, he wasn''t on the same thought as his sister was, he had no dreams about being famous, nor did he care at all for others besides his loved ones. While he did have a thirst for adventure, and a deeply-rooted, instinctual thirst for finding more out of the world and to get to know and collect samples from all the various life forms inhabiting it, he did not care for any race in particr. After all, whilst he could take their life essences, and create a form simr to them in truth, he wasn''t kin to any of them. When he first saw humans back then, many years ago, he thought he felt something in his soul, that interest quickly soured and turned to something bordering disgust and contempt. This race, their world was full of darkness, many of their kin were hellbent on hurting not just other races, but even members of their own race. They were highly destructive, and it was aplete mystery to Aiden how they could be still the most popted, dominant race? But then, just when he thought there would be no hope for them, he met with kind souls as well. Cole, Mary, the elderly couple of the Nortons were all prime examples that even amidst them, there are souls worthy of salvation, worthy of his attention. As for the masked mistress, and her daughter, Aiden wasn''t sure they could still be ssified as humans They had this strange vibe, a feeling that they were something else, something more... ''Maybe it''s their bloodline Just like how she exined'' Thinking about it, it may very well be the case, but if that was the case, then why didn''t he have the same feeling when he met up with the estranged crown prince and his sister? What was the difference? Deep in his thoughts, Aiden didn''t even notice when his leg carried him back in front of the gate. He was only brought back to reality when he heard the excited yell of the usually majestic sounding girl in front of him. Chapter 200 - 200 - The Oblivious Observant In front of Aiden, he saw Sarah Rox, the leader of the examiners in an attire he never would have expected. Her hair was put into a ponytail behind her head cascading down at the middle of her back, so it wouldn''t get ''in the way''. She had a form-fitting, stylish dark-purple long-sleeved shirt, covering her arms all the way to her hands. Above that, she wore a ck, studded leather sleeveless chest te, that whilst most likely giving her more than enough protection against conventional attacks, did enhance the visual treat that her figure meant to the average male. As for the gear below the waist, she wore dark, thick-threaded tight-fitting leggings, something very akin to stockings but still looking a bit more than that. Whilst he wasn''tpletely sure, Aiden felt that the threads that it was made of, most likely wasn''t conventional fment, but something more something much more durable. Above it, she had a short leather skirt, in a matching ck color just like her chest guard, that had steel tes sewed into it, giving it a scaly visual. Completing her set, she donned ck long boots that covered her all the way up to her knees. All in all her attire looked incredible, and whilst it offered a great deal of protection, it was clear that each piece was carefully selected to match her style. "Hey, Aiden! What are you still standing there for?! Come on already, we have to get on the road!" His inspection induced reverie was broken by the girl, or to be more precise, the woman in question, as she waved again while stepping closer to him and poking him on the chest. "Come on, wake up and stop daydreaming already!" She poked again, looking at the boy who just seemed to regain rity in his eyes. Looking down at the girl as he was the taller amongst them by almost half a head, he smiled as he answered. "I was just lost looking at your new attire. I have never seen you without your huge and ugly robe and hood. You look incredible surprisingly normal." Sarah turned shy and wanted to hide her face upon the boy''s words, at least until he uttered thest two words in his statement. Her cheery, delighted mood immediately soured, and unlike her usual stoic self, she held out the tip of her tongue, before stepping back and giving the boy a pouting, offended look. "Normal? That is the best you can do, Aiden?! I carefully selected every piece just to appeal to-" Realizing she almost let the cat out of the bag, she quickly silenced herself, and haughtily turned her head away from the boy, and gave only a loud "Hmpf!". A short whileter, they turned towards the gate, and swiftly left the city premises, their feet traversed the dusty road towards the west, closely following along the humungous forest''s edges but never crossing over. "Where are we going? Didn''t we need to get into the depths of the forest rather than walking aimlessly?" Aiden asked after a while, not understanding what they were doing. In response, Sarah only gave the boy a cheeky grin, as she continued on the road. "That is true, but do you know how big this forest actually is? Do you have any idea about the dangers lurking in its midst?" She spoke, haughtily, as if giving a lecture to a naughty child. Aiden looked at her with his usually nonchnt, friendly smile, not wanting to burst her bubble. At least for now. He looked at the girl in silence, waiting for her to continue the exnation. "No, we do not dive into the forest immediately, we should travel further away. I have sent out some of my men to scout ahead. They should be waiting for us at the rendezvous point, we will meet them there, and after that, we would cross the borders based on the update they would give us. After all, first and foremost, we are to investigate, and should remain unnoticed, at least for the most part." "Investigate?" Aiden asked with a thoughtful look on his face. "If I remember correctly, we are also tasked to root out the problem for good." The grin not fading from her face, Sarah nodded. "That is correct, which is why I said we should be unnoticed for the most part. First and foremost, we need to find out about the nned invasion, get as much detail as we could then we should put a stop to it." For the first time, her grin morphed into a frown as she continued. "Apart from the annoying goblins, we also need to deal with orcs. We need to be very careful, they are not your average foes, they are strong, robust creatures." "Hmmm." Thinking about the matter for a bit, Aiden continued asking as they traveled. "I get that they are probably stronger and sturdier than Goblins, but where would you ce them, between the Sahuagin and Goblins?" Without any thinking, Sarah immediately answered with the same frowning, solemn look on her face as she turned to look at the woods once more. "Much stronger. They have thick, dark-colored skin, which itself could pose a serious threat against most. They are huge, bulky, musclebound creatures. Their physique is made to dish out as much damage as possible. Whilst they are not the brightest bunch, you should never underestimate them, especially when ites tobat. They are born from violence, as soon as they can walk, they are immediately thrust into their cruel world." Turning her head away from the forest, she looked at Aiden as her face revealed a knowing smile. Before he could speak, she continued. "You might think that humans are just the same, scheming against their own, and killing each other But they are nothingpared to these violent creatures. Only the strongest and cruelest can survive their childhood. Most of their children die during their early years, either killed by their peers in a scuffle or duringbat training or end up being eaten by the various predators or even by their own elders." Giving a sigh, she revealed a wry smile as she continued. "Still, this isn''t even their worst trait. Simr to their weaker counterparts, the goblins, they" She gave another sigh, and while shivering at the mere thought she still continued. "Let''s just say, their violence doesn''t end with killing and eating their foe. They can be very basic when facing a female of any of the hundreds of the ehrm, patible'' races." "What do you mean?" Not understanding what she meant, he continued asking, although he noticed the ufortable look on Sarah''s face, he still wanted more rification. If they are not killed or eaten, what fate would await them? Why is it worse than those?" Seeing the genuine curiosity in his eyes, Sarah could only sigh andment about this naivete of his towards the world. So pure, so untainted, such a miracle to remain like this and not be corrupted by the darkness. "Let''s just make sure we are not seen and if we are, we quickly kill off any orcs we see, okay? We do not want them to alert their kin and ruin our chances of gathering information." She decided to drop the subject, not really wanting to go into more detail than she already has. Looking ahead, she pointed towards the distance where a simple-looking coach could be seen with a pair of horses. "There! That''s my people there! Let''s go and have them give us the report!" Sarah spoke, breaking the slightly awkward silence that ensued between them after their talk. Increasing their speed, they quickly approached the roadside coach, where a group of three figures could be seen waiting at the side. One leaning against the carriage, whilst the other two were sitting on the ground, maintaining and cleaning their weapons. They soon noticed the approaching familiar figure, and jumped up, looking reverently at their arriving mdy. "Young Mdy, it''s an honor to see you!" The group yelled out reverently as soon as they were in hearing range. Nodding at their greeting with a smile, Sarah waved her hand and asked. "What''s the news? Tell us, what did you guys find out?" However, looking around, she seemed to be looking for something or someone. Not finding it, she looked at the trio and asked with a serious and slightly worried tone. "Shouldn''t you have one more with you?" They did not answer their question immediately but looked at the long, ck-haired aloof-looking youth at Sarah''s side. They didn''t know who he was after all and the topic they were about to discuss would be a very delicate matter. Noticing their gazes, Aiden remained nonchnt, uncaring. He turned towards the forest, his golden eyes seemed to scan the distance. He did not speak. "Miss, is he?" The man on the right, who was leaning against the carriage earlier leaned closer to Sarah and whispered in a low-volume. "Don''t worry, he is with me! You can talk in front of him just as you would in front of me." She gave the order and turned towards the other two. "Now then, where is the fourth one? Shouldn''t all of you be back by now?" "He" The man on the right spoke up once again, acting as the senior amongst their scouting group. "He is still in the forest, doing onest round of recon. He said he spotted something unusual, and wanted to check it out before you arrived He should be back so-" He said but was interrupted when the previously silent youth spoke up abruptly, startling the group with his words. "He is inbat currently." Turning around, he looked at Sarah, looking at him with the same uncaring manner as he usually did. "If you want to save him, we should hurry, I doubt he can hold out for long." Chapter 201 - 201 - The Missing Man "What? What are you talking about, boy?!" The man that was actively reporting to Sarah and acting as their recon group''s senior immediately turned towards the boy and whilst looking suspiciously at him. Sarah, on the other hand, understood more of Aiden''s capabilities, somewhat believing him. Still, just to make sure, she decided to ask for more information. "What makes you say that?" "I don''t really need to prove my point, that man''s life has nothing to do with me anyway." Shrugging his shoulders, Aiden turned around and began walking away from the forest, back to the side of the girl. He had a nonchnt, aloof look, totally uncaring if there was a potential human life at danger at all. His demeanor only made him look even more suspicious. The acting senior emboldened by the boy''s actions decided to throw a jab at him. "Yeah sure, like you would know. If you are just trying to appeal to the young miss, lying like this is not the best way to go! What would a rookie like you know about how recon missions work anyway?!" Then turning to Sarah, he continued. "Miss, excuse me for my words, but why would you bring such a boy as him along with you? He would just pull you back and cause more issues in the future. I can tell from experience, that the boy is just a big pile of problems on your journey ahead!" Revealing a professional smile that just turned his face all the more ufortable to look at, he went on. "If young miss needs a reliable second hand, let me offer myself instead of him! I can guarantee you, that I will be much more capable than a no-name like him!" Sarah was thinking about how she should handle the situation the best, but before she could respond, Aiden''s voice once again abruptly interrupted them. He sounded cold, emotionless as he curtly spoke. "No need to hurry anymore." After that, he averted his attention from the forest and nced at the man speaking with Sarah once more. He donned his usual friendly smile, but his golden eyes told no tales of friendship at all. They looked cold, calctive as they pierced at the man as if he was trying to look into the very depths of his shady soul. Startled by the potential grave meaning of his words, Sarah turned to face herpanion. With a slightly worried expression, she asked for confirmation. "What do you mean, Aiden? Please, don''t worry about these men, just tell me what you see." She asked in an honest, worried tone. "Miss, don''t listen to him, how could this boy see or know anything?!" The senior threw another jab at the boy, not believing him a bit. To him, this was an opportunity he would not let go of. Being able to apany the young miss, would be an achievement that could propel his stature forward by a great deal. Even so, being alone with her could give him ample opportunity to get closer and propel himself even higher, as the official man and future lord of their household! He could be the next-in-line once the Mistress steps down, and nobody could stop him! With these greedy thoughts of the future clouding his mind, he listened to no reason and got more and more convinced as he looked at him, that the boy was just there to take his rightful ce from the young miss. His face turned uglier by the second as he eyed this frail-looking, bronze-skinned, long-ck-haired peasant in front of him. He was no real threat in terms of power, at least from the outlook than what could have been the reason for him to be able to apany the young miss? Could it be that he was a potential lover?! Slowly, he reached toward the left side of his belt where his short sword rested. His hands grabbed the hilt of his weapon as if it would be a drug with some calming effect. Suddenly a wide grin began to spread on his ugly, deceitful mug. He did not speak or act yet, he decided to listen more to the boy''s attempts to woo the young miss and see what more lies he had in store. He wanted to crush the boy on all fronts and wake the young miss from the thread of lies this boy had most likely had sewn around her. Aiden obviously noticed the change in demeanor on the man''s face as it turned more and more grotesque. He also saw as he slowly reached for his sword, but he still couldn''t care even for a bit. Even without looking at him in a more focused manner, just by theck of intent, the aura of a skilled fighter surrounding him, was enough to tell him that he wasn''t any real threat at all. Turning towards the forest, his smile did not fade even for a bit, as he answered the question. "You know what I meant, Sarah. He just died, not too far from our position, as we were arguing." Then turning toward the senior man, his friendly smile morphed into a slight grin. "It''s not that I care about these four" Realizing his ''mistake'', he coughed lightly and corrected himself. "Sorry, three, but I figured I would let you know." "You!" The senior man, unable to hold it in any longer, suddenly unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards the boy. "Stop deceiving the young miss with your petty lies! While we are trained for reconnaissance, we were also trained in the art ofbat! We are all capable fighters, unlike you, we could protect ourselves against a couple of measly monsters!" He eximed with a frowning, contemptuous expression as he uttered the words ''measly monsters''. Looking at her own subordinate, suddenly trying to attack Aiden, Sarah didn''t know if she shouldugh or cry. She didn''t even understand how the situation turned so out of control! They just wanted to get an update on the situation from her own men! Turning towards the senior, her expression soured. Her mother strictly forbade her from using her abilities against their own, but she seemed no other ''peaceful'' solution to this situation. She took a deep sigh, and as the outline of her irises began to light up, she was about to speak, when she was interrupted by Aiden as he raised his hand motioning for her to not do anything. He turned towards the senior warrior, who was pointing the tip of his de against him. With a still uncaring, and calm tone he spoke. "Which word of mine was untrue?! Tell me, why are you so agitated? Do you not believe me? Then tell, where is your missing fourth?" "Hmpf! He is on his mission, scouting the enemy patrols, for the young miss! Obviously!" He responded with a haughty attitude, looking at the boy as if he just caught a lying thief. The senior was delighted inwardly, thinking that his n had worked, and he would be able to convince the young miss to let him apany her on her mission instead. "Really? Hmm... that''s interesting" He looked towards the forest once more, his friendly, aloof smile turning into a smirk as if he noticed something. A momentter he turned back facing the agitated ''captain of the bunch''. "What if I tell you that he is already dead, and his body is being chopped to pieces just now by arge robust creature?" Before the man could respond, Aiden looked at Sarah, his smirk vanishing, the friendly smile returning to his face. "Want me to bring his body back to you?" Startled by his words, Sarah could only nod and stammer out a short response. "Y-yeah... Please." Nodding, Aiden turned towards the forest. In the next instant, before the senior man had any chance to blurt out anything or act on his impulses, Aiden''s figure suddenly vanished from their sight, startling all of them except for Sarah as she already witnessed his incredible speed. A few secondster before the group had a chance to calm down, his figure reappeared in front of Sarah. He dumped a dead, mutted body, missing his legs and one of his arms. The body was dark red with all the blood it lost. While the body still had its head, it was almost impossible to tell who he was, from the state of his brutally bashed-in face. The top of his head was cracked open, and a mixture of the white, yellowish mushy liquid has dried on the top of the figure''s destroyed face. Looking at Aiden, he waspletely unharmed, the only change was the dark, the almost ck, oily substance still dripping from his right hand. He looked at Sarah with the same, friendly demeanor as he usually did, and walked back to his spot on her right side, silently, without saying any word. Still, as the group noticed the body, it was the senior once again, who acted, although with much less determination behind him than before. He pointed his still unsheathed sword towards the youth and eximed with a wavering voice. "W-what did you just do to him?!" Chapter 202 - 202 - Dangers Lurking In The Depths "Me? Nothing, I just merely brought him back as Sarah requested." Aiden answered in a casual manner, not minding the still dripping dark, oily substance from his body. Theplete disconnect between his demeanor and outlook gave a shivering, frightful feel to the onlookers. Even Sarah, who knew more about this boy than the rest was startled a bit. "Is that blood?" Sarah asked looking at Aiden''s discolored, messy right arm. "This?" Raising his arm in front of him, he looked at his hand closer. "Most likely." Giving it a brief thought, he shrugged, answering calmly. Keeping his arm raised, he turned his attention shifting it to the worried-looking girl. "Do you have something I can use to clean it?" He asked as the friendly smile returned once more to his face. "S-sure" Sarah answered, pulling a ck silk kerchief from the depths of her leather vest. Although she brought it in case she would like to wrap it over her head, if it would be needed, it didn''t seem to matter now. Aiden epted the square-shaped piece ofvishly adorned piece of cloth and without any care, he began cleaning his right arm, smearing the horrific, dark oily substance from his hand, much to the spectating guard''s dismay. The senior warrior, who was stunned to a shocked silence and then promptly ignored by the youth, finally managed to regain some of his willpower. Shaking his head, he red at the boy once again, while wildly iling his sword towards the youth. "You! You monster! What did you do to our friend?! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM THE MISS?!" Due to the shocking revtion of the rapid turn of events, he was unable to connect the dots and process it. In his mind, the only possible oue was that this boy most likely schemed to trick the young miss into falling into his evil hands, taking her away from him and robbing him of his rightful future! His twisted and demented mind couldn''t even process the terrifying power that this youth most likely had to be able to just vanish from sight only to reappear a momentter with a bloodied hand and a dead body. No, that was probably just a trick. While the others were shivering in fright as they did realize the power required for aplishing such a simplistic-looking feat and took a few steps back, their ''leader'' didn''t follow them. No, instead he took a few steps forward, with an ugly, twisted look on his face, eyeing this little monster from top to bottom onest time. "I''m not going to let you go, you monster! You may have tricked the young miss, but your tricks will not work on me! I will send you back to whatever hole you have crawled out from!" In his mind, he was proudly smirking, he thought he probably looked incredibly heroic, and once the miss was freed from her tormentor''s control, she would be more than thankful to him! Sadly, whilst in his twisted delusion he thought himself as if the hero opposing a great evil he looked more like an ant that was trying to threaten a giant. This was the sad reality that everyone besides himself has realized. If not for the dead, mutted carcass ruining the scene, one could even say it looked ratherical even. Completely ignoring the battle-ready posture of the man only a few steps away from him, Aiden finished cleaning his arm, and promptly put the now-bloodied cloth in his System''s inventory. While the sight of the vanishing piece of cloth gave another surprise to the onlookers, Aiden turned his attention back to Sarah, and with the friendly smile not fading from his face he spoke in a calm and nonchnt manner. "Would you deal with your men, or do you want me to do it?" Sarah while outwardly she looked only slightly worried, she had a great tumultuous storm of emotions raging inside her. Agitation, Annoyance and a great deal of Shame mixed with Humiliation was swirling inside her mind. She couldn''t speak for a moment, but to nod defeatedly. Donning a stern look, she stepped forward, standing in front of Aiden, looking at her own, startled man. "M-miss?" Startled and shocked, the senior warrior''s expression quickly changed from the ugly mug to an incredulous, unbelieving stare. He couldn''t ept the reality that the Young Miss would willingly protect this demon. However, his thoughts soon began to blur and fade, as his gaze matched the young miss''s. "Stop this! What are you doing?! Who are you to defy my order? Are you rebelling against our household?!" She looked sternly at the man as the outline of her irises began to brightly glow. Her words carried the same melodious heavenly tune that she usually used when talking as the leader of the examiners back in the guild. "N-no miss, it''s just that" The man dazedly responded, stuttering as he did so. Twisting his head, he tried to look behind the young miss, and match the gaze of the golden-eyed boy, unsessfully. For some reason, he was unable to avert his attention. "What? Just what did you think?" She continued, slightly raising her voice. "I" The captain was unable to reply to the question, his mind was a jumbled mess. His previous greedy dreams have vanished into smoke, abruptly waking him from his induced, delirious stupor. "You just what? You thought are better than him? You thought you are stronger than him?" Her wordspletely shocked the veteran, as she was reading him like an open book. He couldn''t answer and was just looking at them stupidly. "You can''t even stand up against me, much less against him! You are just a weak worm, employed by the Mistress, nothing more. Don''t EVER think you will be more than that!" She scoffed as she blurted the harsh words. Once finished, she turned around,pletely ignoring their presence. Seeing Aiden''s unblemished, friendly smile, she inwardly heaved in relief, her stern face immediately returned a simr friendly look. "I''m terribly sorry for this Aiden, I did not expect that my own men would act in this way. I really just wanted to get us some updates about the situation" Her tone was much different than just a moment ago, itcked the earlier confidence, it sounded like the frail thoughts of a maiden and not of a seasoned leader. Gently patting the top of her head, and stunning both the girl and the spectators, Aiden smiled at her as he lightly shook his head. "Don''t worry about it. I didn''t mind it at all." Then shifting his attention, he looked towards the forest once again, his eyes looking at nothing in particr. His smile turned slightly aloof, as he was briefly lost in his thoughts. As Sarah looked at him, she couldn''t ce that particr look anywhere. It carried deep emotions as if she looked at his own home, he had this longing look sh through his eyes, albeit briefly. "Aiden" She gently grabbed the boy''s shoulders, waking him from his reverie. "We should go." Turning back towards Sarah, Aiden''s friendly, polite smile returned to his face as he silently nodded, returning to her side. --- A short whileter, Sarah''s remaining members of her recon team gave their reports, with their ''captain'' staying behind the duo silently, afraid to even look at the girl or the boy, they finally left their presence and began walking towards the edges of the forest. As they crossed the natural border and their figures vanished amidst the shrubbery, the recon team could finally sigh in relief, slumping down on the ground, not minding the bloodied and mutted mess of their deceased fourth member. "Are you really fine with how things turned out, Jack?" One of the two, sitting closer to their veteran member looked at him and asked the man focusing on the back of the parting figures of Sarah and Aiden. Hearing his name called out, the man in question did not respond at all, as he turned to face his teammate. There were no traces of greed or scowl on his face. He seemed to be perpetually lost in a dreamlike haze, his eyes were blurry as if they lost their focus. "Is he okay? W-what happened to him?" The youthful-looking man asked, looking at their senior worriedly. The other one, although still rtively new in the ranks, had a bit more knowledge than his friend. Looking at their senior, he could only shake his head with a sad look on his face. "This is the true power of the Mistress and their line" He gently grabbed the shoulder of his once-captain and could only sigh as hemented. "Jack could only me himself for this oue. This is why you should never EVER question or disobey the orders of the Mistress or the young miss. With just a look, they can turn you into this... Empty shell Lost between dreams and reality, never able toe back again" As he said he stood up and looked at the carcass of their fourth member. His sad outlook turned somber as he sighed once more, and spoke, changing the topic. "Just leave him, he is as good as dead now. Let''s just clean up and head back to the city, our job is done, we should report back." Chapter 203 - 203 - An Unexpected Encounter... There were most likely hundreds, if not thousands of different lives just at the outer edges of the forest. Just a couple of dozen steps into the trees, there was a rtively small clearing. This small patch of grass wasn''t anything special, if not for the cute little pair of fluffy, white-furred hares that made it their morning resting ce. The sun had no difficulties in basking this tiny patch of heaven with its glory, giving that soothing warmth that the two critters really enjoyed. Although they looked calm, they weren''tpletely oblivious to their surroundings. Their instincts were honed amidst the dangers of the forest. Despite living their meaningless lives at the outer edges, they still had several predators that would like nothing more than to ''invite'' them to be their next meal. Just like every other day, they rested amidst the light green grass, bathing in the sun, silently enjoying this more than wee change of pace. For some inexplicable reason, this morning they did not sense any of the usual danger, there were no dangers lurking around, preying on them from the shadows. Whilst they weren''t the most intelligent species, every life form had an equal chance on Eora to gather enough Life Essence inside their bodies and form their very own core, thus elevating them from the rank of mindless critters to a higher existence. True, the chances of such a small, harmless rabbit being able to gather the necessary amount was minuscule, especially since they were herbivores, there is that tiny, almost negligible chance of something extraordinary to happen --- Today started the same as every other. Our little pair of rabbits started their morning just like every other. With the first rays of the sun piercing through the thick cover of the canopy of trees, they were already up and ready to leave their little hole in the ground to do their instinctual routine. Once they both left their hole, they covered it up with some leaves, so their home wouldn''t be subject to uninvited guests. Once they deemed their hole was covered enough, they began to make their way towards their favorite morning spot, with the freshest, and tastiest grass they could find, the small little oasis where their love first sparked to the raging me that it is today. It was also the ce where they became one, under the morning sun, they felt each other''s heat, as they relentlessly mated. The result of that action was obvious from a first nce even for the rookiest of spectators, the female thatgged slightly behind the male, already had an already protruding belly, broadcasting her pregnancy to the whole world. Whilst their facial muscles weren''t capable of showcasing it, just from looking at the duo, it was clear how happy and content they were with their meaningless lives. --- As they continued to rest and enjoy their day, suddenly, they both perked their ears. They felt a disturbanceing from not too far, from the south. A strange, unfamiliar noise that whilst were unknown to them, sounded dangerous. Making a split-second decision they both began to stand up and were ready to scurry away in the next instant if they could feel that the danger was approaching. Just as they expected, the noise indeed got louder, in fact, it was rapidly approaching their location. From the noises they felt two muchrger, bipedal creaturesing, no, rushing towards them. Sensing the potential iing harm to its family, the male immediately got ready to run away with its mate. It hopped forward a few steps, and looked back, waiting for the female to follow along. However, as it looked back, the male immediately became stressed. Its mate was in obvious pain, and the discolored fluid around it, as well as the distinct smell, instinctually reminded it, that the female has unfortunately just got intobor, and had obvious difficulties in making rapid movement. It could only slowly make its way towards its mate, as its expression was continuously tormented by the wave of pain that hit it repeatedly and with gradually increasing in volume. Panic started to cloud the male''s mind, it was darting back and forth, trying to think of a way to resolve such a situation. His first and strongest thought was to just run away to safety, it was their ingrained response to any situation that they would encounter. On the other hand, however, there was a budding emotion, something it wasn''t entirely sure how to react to as of yet. Its mate was about to bless them with their newborn, which was somethingpletely unexpected. He felt the need to protect the female and get it to safety at all costs. While they slowly made their way towards the northern edges of the small clearing, trying their best to hide in the sward, the source of the noise their long ears picked up finally revealed themselves. A battered and bloodied human suddenly flew into the clearing, violently crashing on the ground, and began to tumble towards their direction. He was beaten badly, and with hisst bits of strength leaving his already tired body, he released his grip on his weapon as continued to roll, flinging the weapon into the air. The iron de of his weapon plunged into the ground just a few inches away from the frightened duo, as they slowly but surely continued to leave the clearing. Following the already unconscious human, a robust figure stepped out from the shadows and began to approach the body with a hideous grin on his dark green face. The figure was tall, much taller and bulkier than the human, with only a few pieces of furred leather covering up his crotch. He held a huge, heavy-looking bloodied axe in his right, which he slowly raised over his head as it got closer to the body. He snarled with a contemptuous grin stretching over itsrge face. "Shurl orgath!" He spoke in a garbled, throaty, hoarse voice just a few curt words in his ownnguage, before he swung his weapon down, cutting deeply into the man''s chest, and ending his life instantly. Licking his lips, the towering creature crouched down, and using his bare hands he grabbed the right hand of the now dead body, and with one pull, he tore it off the chest and began to clean it down from all the unwanted cover. Fresh human meat was delicious and should not be wasted after all. Seeing how this huge bipedal beast was busy with his newfound lunch, the scared pair of hares resumed their attempt to slowly creep away from the danger and get back to the safety of their homes. They moved slowly, careful to not make any unnecessary noise, not to agitate the fearsome monster just a couple inches away from them. However, luck wasn''t on their side today after all, as the dark green colored figured noticed the two patches of white fur trying to escape. Thinking that they would make a perfect appetizer for the main course, he stood up and cracked hisrge mace-like fists. He didn''t need his weapon to hunt down two critters of the forest, his bare hands were more than enough, not to mention, this way he could keep all the delicious fluids inside their bodies, and not waste them on the ground. Withrge steps he began to make his way towards the slow pair of critters, already licking his lips in expectation. Feeling a sudden threat rapidly approaching them, the male turned around only to see the huge giant closing in on them, already eyeing its mate. In normal circumstances, its instinctual response would have already taken over and the male hare would have already bolted away to safety, but this time, it didn''t move. No, it couldn''t leave its mate behind, the male felt a strange, new feeling bubbling up inside him. With not much time formenting, it decided to embrace this new response, this new feeling, this emotion. Instead of running away, it jumped back, standing in between the female and the approaching giant shadow of a hand that was about to grab it. As nature did not provide their species with any means to dish out damage, it opened its mouth as wide as it could, and as the hand was about to reach them, it bit down, with all the might it could muster. Sadly, that wasn''t too much as it wasn''t even able to prate theyer of dark green skin. It still stung and surprise the creature, causing it to take his hand back, and look at the little white, fluffy critter with wide eyes for a moment before it turned into the previous hideous grin. He clenched his fist, and with great momentum it struck down, aiming to bash the poor, defenseless critter into a mushy pulp on the ground. Even if he would lose some of the delicious juices, he would still have one intact appetizer left The male although scared, was ready to face the danger for the first time in his short life, and go against the very nature, the instinctual response of his kind, and protect its mate. As if it had gained some intelligence, it slowly closed its eyes, and awaited its rapidly approaching death, knowing that it did its best for its female and child to live on Chapter 204 - 204 - ...with An Unexpected Outcome! Chapter 204 - ...with an unexpected oue! The dreadful moment, the expected oue never came, no matter how hard the male clenched shut its eyelids, hoping for the reaper''s scythe or in this case, the fist sttering it to bits and pieces. Although the looming shadow over him did not recede, its instincts were not on high alert anymore, its nerves began to calm down. As it slowly began to flutter its eyelids and open its eyes, its first reaction was to turn around and look for its mate, who was waiting, hiding behind a shrub, waiting for its mate tirelessly. Even though the female was in obviousbor pains, it never left the male hare, stubbornly staying at its side, in rtive safety. Seeing as the female was safe, it turned back and looked up to the towering giant that was about to squish it to a pulp just a moment ago. It stood motionless in ce, his hands grabbing a hole in the middle of his chest, as there was arge, bloody gaping hole there. Not understanding this change of events, but feeling no threat from the giant anymore, the male hopped forward, circling around the enemy. A few hops in, the mystery of the hole was revealed, a second giant bipedal creature, albeit considerably shorter and frailer, was standing behind the monstrous being. His right hand was discolored with the dark, viscous, oily fluidic substance, his hand was holding a strange organ that the little hare couldn''t identify. Although the hare couldn''t identify the organ, it didn''t really care either, especially when it saw the dark brown colored crystalying on the ground in front of the second creature. It was covered with the same dark, oily substance as the creature''s hand, but it did not matter, the male instantly recognized the object: It was a Core! The precious object of desire of every living being, the quintessence of power of therge dark green evil giant! Its eyes transfixed on the crystal, he slowly hopped closer, careful not to alert the second creature, slowly closing the distance between him and his object of desire. It was as if the male hare was in a trance, as it got closer and closer to the crystal all reasons and instincts have vanished from its mind. Eventually, it got close enough to the crystal, to hear it''s wondrous, melodious humming sound as if calling for its new owner. As it got next to the crystal, the visible dark, green gaseous energy began to swirl with excitement and crashed against the walls of its crystalline prison. In response, the male hare began to lick, and nibble on the walls from the other side, desperately trying to make its way through it. Although it was never taught, somehow it knew that what it needed was that swirling cloud behind these strong, protective walls. --- Holding the now-silent organ in his hand, Aiden was in deep thought. He was unsure if he should directly absorb it now and take on the risk or just store it away in his system''s inventory forter. His concern was that if he goes from the burst of energy he received from when he absorbed the first human heart, he wasn''t sure what sort of effect an even more powerful being''s same organ would have on him. Does this towering, robust giant store more energy inside him? Probably. Will he be forced to watch his memories? Will the energy be too much for him to handle? Will he be forced into morphing into these creatures on the spot, just like before? Many questions, and too many uncertainties. However, on the other hand, he was really curious about trying it. He wanted to feel that surge of power, that increase that almost cathartic, euphoric feeling ''No. Not now. Later, when I have more time and space around me.'' He shook his head as reason won over desire. As he flicked his hand to shake off most of the gooey mixture of blood and mushy guts, the creature''s blood vanished from his hand, and at the very same time, appeared in his inventory, giving him a name to the creature he just killed with one punch. [1x Mountain Orc''s Heart (clean, Tier 1) obtained!] As he looked down, to pick up the Tier 1 Monster Orb that he also got from the Orc, he was surprised to see a white fluff of hair next to it, nubbing its walls. "Heh" He smiled at the sight, crouching down, and looking at the little critter from a closer angle. "You really want this little friend?" He asked with a wide,passionate smile as he looked at the little bunny desperately clinging to the crystal walls of the Monster Orb, the Core of the creature. "Alright then, I''m going to leave it to you. I''m sure Lilly would want me to do the same as well" He said, mostly to himself, as he remembered how much his sister loved these fluffy white beings when she was younger. If she was here, she wouldn''t let Aiden steal the little bunny''s ''rightful'' treasure. He could already imagine her stern look, as she waved her little index finger in the air warning her brother not to bother the little being. "Fine Fine" Answering the imaginary silhouette of his sister, he stood up, leaving the hare on its own, and walked over to the dead human body. Grabbing it and lifting the carcass from the ground, he turned around, and with onest smile to the male hare and its new ''treasure'', Aiden vanished from sight, only to reappear miles further, outside the forest startling Sarah and the surviving members of the recon team --- The little hare had no idea that its treasure was just saved by an illusionary being, it waspletely oblivious to its surroundings by now. The only thing that mattered was the crystal and its contents. Even though there was not much progress, it continued to relentlessly nibble at the surface, desperately trying to get closer to the smoke-like energy that kept trying to get through as well. The male even forgot the female who kept watching from the side, afraid to take a step further, even though it also felt that the danger had finally passed. The female did not go even though the frequency of the pains started to increase, it did not want to leave its partner alone. Instead, it kept itself hidden in the bushes, it settled in for the inevitable. If it had to give birth to its baby out here in the open, it will do just that, but it will never leave its mate alone. Eventually, the male managed to make a tiny crack on the surface, that as if a switch was flipped, began to rapidly spread all over the crystal before it burst into tiny pieces in a much more violent manner than it should have. As soon as the hard crystal barrier was removed, the dark green energy swooshed towards the male hare, and through its pores, eye sockets, ears, noses, and even mouths and ears began to ooze into its body, merging with its very soul in a rapid fashion. The energy as it swirled around the white hare''s defenseless body formed a miniature tornado and lifted its body from the ground. For the first time, the little bunny let out a barely audible squirm as it got frightened and rity suddenly returned to its mind, albeit a bit toote. The energy continued to whirl and churn around its body violently, tearing its fluffy white fur from its body, revealing its vulnerable pink skin. Small cuts and gashes on its body started to appear on its body, smearing the beautiful skin with dark red blood all over. The pain was too much for the small rabbit to keep it contained, its weak, a high-pitched voice rang around the clearing, that whilst was mostly dubbed by the loud whirring torrentous energy tornado that kept pouring into its body, it still reached its mate''s ear, perking its head from the ground. It revealed a worried look, but as it already started to give birth, it was unable to rush forward, it could only cry back to its mate, hoping it would survive the strange phenomena. As the energy continued to pour into the little critter, the raging storm that surrounded it began to calm down, its pink, furless body that was covered with its own, red blood and cuts and gashes all over was ced back on the ground. Only his rhythmic pulsating body could be seen as it took inrge gasps of air. Almost a full minute passed on like this, as the little hare was doing its best to calm down and recover as much as it could. However, after about a minute, something warm suddenly began to spread from the depths of its body, spreading a strange sensation all over its body, lifting it from its fright and pain in the process as well. Its worried look suddenly vanished, reced by calm, as it slowly closed its eyes, and traveled to thend of dreams --- On the outside, as the male was drifted to sleep, an ebony-colored thin membrane made of a skin-like material began to form around the little male hare. Creating a fitting cocoon and signaling the arrival of a new creature, a new being, now with its own core providing its body with new energy and abilities. Chapter 205 - 205 - Trouble In The Woods Whilst in the outer sections of the forest, in an unnamed, unimportant clearing a ck egg was in the process of transforming the innocent white fluffy creature into somethingpletely new. A couple of miles away from it, the duo of a purple-haired girl and a ck-haired boy was sneaking forward, aiming for the depths, the inner sections,yers of the humongous forest. "So, what''s the n? Are we just going to sneak around like your men, or do you have an actual n?" The ck-haired boy, Aiden asked with an aloof look. He had his arms behind his head, as he walked a few steps behind the girl, not really bothering to cover his tracks. Stopping in her tracks, Sarah turned around and looked at the smiling boy with a pouting look. "Of course! We have already discussed this, Aiden! First, we will go and map out the area the recon team has investigated. Although they did not stumble on the Orc''s camp, it should be somewhere close by." As she spoke, the pouting soon turned into worry, settling on her face as she continued after a momentary silence. "We should also go and take a look at the Goblin''s camp. From the report, it should be somewhere at a rtive distance from the Orcs. You know, what is strange?" Her worry changed once again, as a troubling thought surfaced in her mind. "Why are the goblins so quiet? It''s really not their race''s usual method. They settled in a ce, hidden but close to a target civilized settlement, and begin to raid it for their resources. Hunt around the vige, keep their little fingers on their settlement''s lifeblood and pulse, slowly suffocating it. Once the vigers or citizens are weak enough and the little monsters are certain there are no more obvious threats they wouldunch their all-out assault and kill and pige everything they could before they pick their stuff and march towards their next target" Thinking about it for more, she was even more confused than before. Shaking her head, clear annoyance began to express itself on her face as her mind couldn''t process all uncertainty andck of information she had to work with. "It just doesn''t make sense! Why did they team up with the orcs? It''s not their style at all! Something is not right" Aiden kept silent all the way as Sarah tried to make conjectures about the report they received. He of course could make out more about the situation that the girl found so strange. After all, he had already visited the little creature''s settlement before and had ess to more information than the girl. Still, he couldn''t just blurt out what he knew, as he wouldn''t be able to exin his source at all. ''That shaman told me that they were forced to march and set up camp here. Although he didn''t know much, what he knew was that they were forced in great numbers to settle here and be ready. Too bad, I couldn''t learn more from the previous leader'' Remembering how he couldn''t even see the being or beings that were in contact with the previous leader from his memories, he could only sigh. It seems that the world has many mysteries that he has yet to understand and unveil. How could someone nt such a strange defense mechanism into another being''s mind? Was it to protect his own identity as he knew that these primitive creatures'' minds'' could be easily manipted and read? Remembering the old leader, he took a nce at his System''s inventory, where he still had their ''Sacred Relic'' the gnarled piece of a wooden stick with the scarlet gemstone resting peacefully. He still wasn''t entirely sure what it was but based on the information he gained from the fallen ex-chieftain of the goblins, it was a necessary item to establish the connection with the mysterious forces that ultimately controlled everything behind the scenes. Just who was this mysterious being, or group that managed tomand so many savage, unruly, ruthless creatures and force them to fall in line obediently? What was his goal, what was the reason behind the gathering of this so-called ''horde''? Aiden doubted that it would be for such a meaningless goal as to punish the humans, there had to be something more Something deeper The set up for something pointless such as that would be too wasteful. Still, there was simply too little information avable. Also, remembering his master''s words, they would need at least a few months before they would be able tounch their first wave of attacks. So why reveal themselves now? Aiden could only sigh, and give up trying to figure out everything. At least for now... Hopefully, this little ''trip'' could shed more light on the underlying mysteries. "What are you thinking about?" A gentle feminine voice woke Aiden from his thoughts and forced him to return to reality. Sarah was standing in front of him, with her hands on her hips, looking at him with a pouting, hurt expression. Leaning closer to the youth, she gave him a fierce look. She repeated the question, with a bit of pert behind her tone. "So, what were you thinking about? Hmm?" "Just this whole assignment in general" Aiden answered with a wry smile. For now, it was best to not reveal any of his thoughts and issues, he couldn''t trust nor the Masked Mistress, nor her daughter, no matter how kind and friendly they looked on the surface. They were powerful, not your average humans. Sure, they sold their abilities as heritages from their ''bloodlines'', but who knew if that was the honest truth?! ''I really miss Enya She would be able to spot the truth between all the lies'' Hemented inwardly, whilst keeping the smile on his face. "You know, this whole thing It''s just too strange" Sarah added, dropping her facade in the process. Worry began to resurface once again, as the most troubling thoughts popped into her mind once again. "What do you think, what could be happening? Could it really be the early stages of an invasion?" Aiden wasn''t sure how to properly respond to her questions, he continued to stare at her silently for a while longer before eventually, he nodded his head. "Yes. Probably." He responded curtly, startling the young miss in the process. However, before she could speak, he continued. "But don''t you think that there''s something else something more?" "What do you mean?" Sarah asked surprised and shocked by Aiden''s words and confirmation of what she was most fearing about. With a thoughtful look in his eyes, Aiden responded to the girl, voicing his own theories for the first time. "Well Sure, an invasion would probably be bad for the city, but if that''s the case, why are they showing themselves so carelessly before the preparations would bepleted? Why risk it all for some meaningless hunts? Something just doesn''t add up" Then, as he did not want to dwell on the subject any longer, he turned his attention to the deeper parts of the forest. His eyes red up with bright golden luster for a brief moment, surprising Sarah for the nth time since their departure. At the next moment, however, the glow faded just as quickly as it appeared from his eyes, equipping his usual calm, aloof attitude, he spoke. "Anyways, we should continue on, but make sure we are careful. Make sure you are alert at all times if you want to avoid being spotted." Matching the direction where he was looking at but failing to see anything in particr besides the dark looming shrubbery up ahead, Sarah could only nod her head before they resumed their trek through the forest. As they continued to traverse through the thick undergrowth that served as a natural separator between the outer edges of the forest from the inneryers, she found the peace and quiet strange. "You know Something''s been bothering me Why have we not met any predators so far? Shouldn''t we have met some by now?" Perking her ears to reaffirm herself, she raised her arms in the air. "Just listen We can''t hear a thing It''s quiet Too quiet" "Well If it is true that there are orcs settled down nearby, then I would guess most of the wildlife ran away from this ce or have already been hunted down. You mentioned that they are a savage, brutal race, so this reckless hunting of the surrounding wildlife would fit the profile. Besides-" He answered, but suddenly he quieted down. His eyes red up again and seemed to pierce through deep into the woods. His whole body began to stiff, he slowly began to clench his fists, cracking his joints. Seeing the sudden change in the boy''s demeanor, Sarah immediately followed suit and reached for the hilt of her weapon hanging on her side. She looked at Aiden with a stern, focused look. As she spoke, her voice was different, it had a serious tone, without any trace of cheekiness. She was just as equally focused as the youth. "There''s trouble up ahead, not too far away. I see 4 figures in battle. But I''m not sure, one of the figures seems vaguely familiar Shall we take a look?" Chapter 206 - 206 - Fierce Warrior "Yeah, let''s go! Maybe it''s an adventurer or a hunter from the city and he could be in trouble!" Sarah spoke, as she turned towards the direction Aiden was focusing at. "How far? Is he okay?" Sending out another empowered mental energy pulse with the use of his [Dark Sense] ability, Aiden took a look at his System''s map. The previously spotted 3 circr dots, one colored in green and the two situated in front of it, colored red, were still there. Also, from the empowered pulse he felt strong life essences oozing out from them, meaning that all three creatures should still be fine. With this information in his mind, Aiden, while not averting his eyes from the ''scene'' ahead, nodded lightly. His voice, usual to his demeanor was calm and collected. "Yes, all three presences are currently alive. Although" The strange feeling he had earlier, hit him again as if he met one of the beings currently inbat previously. Unsure who could it be, without any warning, he began to slowly march forward, towards the battle. Understanding that something was probably amiss as Aiden''s voice suddenly trailed off, and how he abruptly began to get closer, quickly unsheathed her sword and followed closely behind the youth. As they approached closer, soon the first muffled sounds of the battle ahead hit their ears. Surprisingly, or as if to confirm Aiden''s vague suspicion, one of the groans were distinctly feminine in nature. The other two were hoarse, throaty animalistic battle cries. Both of them were clear that these wereing from two orcs, getting more and more engorged in the battle. "I-it''s a woman!" Realizing that one of the sounds wasing from a female, Sarah shook in a mixture of shock and fright. She knew what fate awaits those females that get defeated by these monsters "We have to hurry, we have no time to waste!" Immediately, she increased her speed, and rushed ahead, leaving the safety of Aiden''s back. She had no time to waste, if a human was to face two brutes of this caliber there were little chance of winning, and defeat was much worse than death for their sex! No, she can''t let that happen, no matter what! Increasing her speed even further, she cared for nothing, just to get to the source of the gradually clearing but still muffled sounds ofbating from a decreasing distance away. ''I have to give her time to escape!'' Sarah gritted her teeth, as she activated her full power. Raising the de of her sword vertically in front of her face, she whispered a few ancient-sounding words as she continued her heightened pace. In the next instant, her entire figure began to faintly glow in a purplish, thinyer of energy, further increasing the possible output of her muscles at the cost of increased stamina cost. Her speed increased by another margin, but beads of sweat began to glisten upon her pretty forehead, slithering to the side, acquiescing to the force of the headwind. Although she didn''t pay attention, she didn''t leave Aiden too far behind. Without much effort, he increased his speed to match Sarah''s as he kept following slightly behind with an interested smirk stretching wide on his face as he looked at the woman. Although he wasn''t too shocked that she could use magic, he was surprised when the system greeted him with a notification that he hadn''t heard for quite some time. [Wind Magic Discovered! Analyzing information 10%] ''Wind Magic? Huh, I almost forgot Though I still don''t understand why the progress on these is so incredibly slow'' he thought, focusing on the effects of the spell. Seeing how it enhanced her physical capabilities and gave her another slight boost in speed, his smile turned slightly wider, as he kept the pace with ease. To him, this speed did not even require the use of any abilities, his natural attributes could easily match it up. Not too soon after, the sounds of battle became clear, as they stopped and hid behind therge trunk of a nearby tree. Carefully peeking out, the scene in front of them became clear, stunning them once again, and causing them to be unable to react for a few brief moments. In front of them, in the midst of the woods, a tall,rge, robust-looking feminine figure was widely swinging a humongous war ax. The weapon was quite a sight to behold as well. At the end of its long and thick handle, there was an ornate circr saw-like metallic head, that was already smeared with the now-familiar ck, oily substance. The woman was garbed in barely any real clothing, apart from covering her delicate parts with leather straps, she was almost naked. Her, long, blonde hair that was tied into a ponytail behind her head was swinging wildly, iling against the wind as the woman kept jumping to the left and right evading the iing blows of her twobatants. Despite the dangerous situation she was in, she had a wide grin stretching across her face, she kept shouting unintelligible garbled shouts. Still, despite not understanding the meaning behind her words, it was clear from the tone that she was greatly enjoying herself. Her tone carried her almost euphoric happiness. "Naybeah?" Leaving their cover as she recognized the woman, Aiden stepped out, acting oblivious to the current situation. "What are you doing here?" He asked curiously as he slowly walked forward. Seeing how he was acting, Sarah could only grit her teeth in frustration, squeeze the handle of her weapon even tighter, and follow her partner along. What was he thinking? "Aiden... What are you" She muttered as she got to his left side, keeping a close watch at the movements of the two crazed orcs. Unlike Aiden, she was very much aware of the severity of the situation. Noticing the familiar-looking long, ck-haired, exotic golden-eyed youthing from behind the trees, Naybeah gave him a wide grin, as she swung her weapon horizontally, aiming at her enemies'' chests''. "Oh hey boy! Whatcha'' doin'' here? Give me a moment to deal with these pigs!" She grinned, already midway in her second swing, not giving the opponent any time to attack at all. Stopping a dozen steps away from them, Aiden nced at the two orcs briefly. As if looking at two insects, he returned his attention to the amazon, ignoring the danger that these orcs representedpletely. "You need any help?" He asked with a friendly, casual manner as if they were still talking in the guild''s hall. "Nah, I can handle them!" She grinned at her own response, before letting out another garbled war cry, swinging her de even more wildly than before. Her ferocity could actually match up to the brutal creatures, maybe even surpass it, as the two orcs could only try to block the blows without any hope of counterattacking at all. Soon their situation turned quite desperate, going from bad to worse, as with another wide-arched sideways swing of her fearsome weapon, she crushed one of the crude axe-like weapons the orc on the left was holding, causing wooden splinters to fly all around, whilst therge stone-made sharpened head flew far away at the side. However, instead of turning around to escape, the humanoid monstrosity''s eyes turned bloodshot, as he let out a loud battle cry andunched itself on the woman, aiming to grab and hold her down not caring about her weapon anymore. The other orc, seeing his partner''s situation, jumped to the right, arriving at the amazon''s left side, and raised his weapon, a simr-looking crude war axe to the air. With a loud, ferocious roar, he swung it down, aiming at the amazon''s right arm whilst his partner was ready to tackle the woman to the ground. Seeing their sudden shift in tactic, Sarah turned slightly worried, turned her attention at Aiden, who looked just as calm and smiling as before, not showing any signs of assisting the woman at all. "Shouldn''t we help her? She could get in serious trouble!" She warned, ready to jump and attack the unarmed orc closest to them. However, Aiden continued to smile and silently shook his head. He did not talk but pointed back at the situation for the girl to just continue watching. It was as if he already knew the oue --- A bit further away, in a now-peaceful clearing, a small ck egg-shaped object wasying amidst the tall, lush healthy-green grass. Not far away from it at the edges of the clearing, under the cover of a bush, a female hare has just finished giving birth to its baby, a quiet and already furred leveret. Unlike many other species, it''s newborn was already sporting a short, but adorable white fur, itsrge ck eyes were looking back and forth as it tried to process its surroundings. Soon, however, the leveret''s attention returned to its mother, it released a tired yelp as it snuggled back into its mother''s embrace,pletely oblivious to the fact that its father was just a couple hops away, currently undergoing a massive change not just in its physique, but in its spirit as well A momentter, as if noticing its newborn child''s arrival to this world, the ck cocoon pulsated, releasing a colorless shockwave of energy... Chapter 207 - 207 - Fighting Spirit Facing such a tight situation, the amazonian woman''s excited, almost crazed grin on her face didn''t falter. Instead, it became even crazier, wider, more heated. "THIS IS IT! YES!" She yelled out with excitement, as she jumped slightly to the left and back, creating some distance between the swinging weapon to her right and at the same time, evading the iing mid-flight body whilst she swung her axe towards the flying orc with all her might and momentum. Her response was just as fast if not faster than the orc''s sudden shift in tactic. Although both orcs were battle-hardened, they couldn''t properly react to the unexpectedly agile evasion of the tall and robust human. The flying orc''s only instinctual response was to quickly put his arms in front of his chest creating a protective barrier using his own forearms. As expected, the amazon''s ax collided with the orc''s arms with great power, sliding several inches deep into its flesh, and bones. The loud crunchy sounds of his radius and ulna bones were being shredded to pieces were muffled with the orc''s loud pained, regurgitating cry. At the same time, his partner could thwart his own mid-way swing either, the best it could to dampen the blow was to quickly spin the handle and hit the already crying orc''s head with the side of the weapon''s crudely made head. However, even being a blunt blow, the energy it carried was still quite high, causing a series of spiderweb cracks to spread from the point of impact on his partner''s thick skull. The trauma turned the humongous creature dazed, it''s cries faded, the focus in his eyes turned blurry. Noticing the change of state in her opponent, the amazon swiftly pulled his weapon back from the mangled remains of what once was the orc''s forearms. Lifting her right leg, she gave a powerful kick to the creature''s chest, throwing him back, towards Aiden and Sarah. "Hey kiddo, finish that one for me, will ya?" She yelled at the ck-haired boy with an excited voice. Her attention was already on the now-lonesome, startled, and shocked orc to her left. Shifting her attention to the now single enemy, she turned around to face her, the colossal war ax, already readily held with both of her hands. As the orc dropped to the ground unconsciously in front of them, Aiden only gave a slight nod at the woman, before she turned away to focus on the remainingbatant. Looking at the half-dead bodyying in the dust, Aiden was about to step closer, when a delicate hand touched his shoulder from the side. "Let me do it Aiden. I want to do it myself." Sarah asked, with a stern tone, big contrast to the usual melodious tune that apanied her speech. Without waiting for the boy''s acknowledgment, she already stepped forward, slowly unsheathing her short, curved de. Turning it upside down, she crouched in front of the unconscious body of the dark green robust humanoid creature. Grabbing her weapon with both hands, she raised it above the orc''s chest area, and with a slight grimace smearing her expression, she decisively struck down. With shocking precision and a surprising force, considering her otherwise delicate frame, the de swiftly struck against the hardened skin, piercing it with rtive ease, and sliding deeper inside the soon-to-be carcass. With minimal resistance, Sarah''s single swing pushed through the hardened skin and meat that served not just as muscle mass, but as a shell, protecting the important organs of the creature. The de continued its deadly trek inside the man-beast until a clunking sound put a sudden halt to its trajectory. The hard surface the girl hit was immediately recognized by both as the monster''s most important part, the core. The ugly grimace on Sarah''s face revealed a momentary sh of joy that quickly vanished. A stoic, strict look now dominating her expression, she began to push against the de, cutting around the meat and tissue, working to free the small treasure out of its gruesome depths. "Need some help?" Walking next to her and crouching down Aiden asked with his usual friendly smile. It was quite a disconnect to look at his nonchnt, seemingly oblivious outlook of the brutal scene in front of him. Looking like a butcher from some horror, with her hands and halfway up to her arms turned ck with the oily dark substance that served as blood for the dead creature, Sarah shook her head, not turning her head and focusing away from the operation she was conducting. "No, I''m fine. I want to do this myself, sorry. I" Lifting her weapon slightly, she pushed it down a momentter with even more force, the sound of bones and tissue being tearing could be heard."...I... need to do this, Aiden." "Sure I will check on Naybeah then." Nodding, Aiden stood up, leaving the girl to her own, and turning towards the still ongoing battle that seemed to reach its apex. Meanwhile, the battle between the woman and the orc was about to be concluded. The orc''s primitive weapon couldn''t hope to match up to the ornate, war ax of the crazed amazon. Even though, as the battle turned from bad to worse for the creature, he did not run away. His instincts were honed in simr battles. Instead, as he was falling into a critical situation, his eyes turned bloodshot, his muscles slightly bulged. His swings turned wild and unpredictable. Already expecting his new state, the blonde-haired amazon''s grin returned, she suddenly ducked, instinctually evading a blow, while at the same time, doing a sideways arc aimed at the creature''s ankles. The orc jumped up in the air in response, which was exactly what Naybeah was expecting. Midway in her swing, suddenly her arc changed from horizontal to vertical. The sharpened ornate head of her weapon swiftly crossing through the air, she gave no chance for her opponent to react. The blow was deadly and gruesome as it tore into the creature starting from his most delicate and precious organ, destroying his pelvis and reaching all the way to the middle sections of his abdomen. The suddenly created hatch and with the help of nature''s most basic force, the gravity, the orc''s guts began to spill out, dropping beneath him as his battle yell instantly turned silent, and he fell forward, lifelessly. He died in seconds, without any chance. Giving one good look at his defeated opponent, Naybeah plopped down the ground, next to her newest victory, dropping the weapon to her side. Looking up at the sky, she gave a tired but contented sigh. "Woah, that was intense!" She eximed with a bit of fatigue in her tone. "Nicely done, Naybeah." The calm and crisp voice of the long, ck-haired boy came from her side. Turning towards the source, she saw as the exotic eyed youth sat down next to her. "What are you doing here?" He asked after a short while, with his usual calmness. Instead of answering, Naybeah slowly turned towards the purple-haired girl slightly ahead who was still in the process of dissecting the first corpse. Then, as her eyes traveled to the second cadaver, she sighed once again, before answering. "These orcs jumped at me, that''s all." She gave a half-hearted answer. Shaking his head, the friendly, kind smile did not leave Aiden''s face as she looked over the much taller woman. "What are you doing here? I doubt that you came just to explore." Forcing the fatigue down, Naybeah heaved another long exhale of air, before she slowly began to reach for the thick handle of her weapon. "You remember what I told you back at the inn?" She asked as the same battle-crazed grin began to resurface on her face as she looked over the frail-looking boy. "Uhm. You won''t answer until we do so?" Aiden returned a question with the same calm, aloof tone. His attention wasn''t on the amazon, but on Sarah, who was already doing her finishing touches on the first body. "It wouldn''t be fair, you know. You are already tired." Upon his response, the amazon burst into a loudughter, kicking off a sizable amount of dust as herrge hands violently tapped the ground. "Ahahaha, oh you cheeky little boy!" Despite her words, she was perfectly aware of the deceptive look of this youngling. Whilst he looked weak and frailpared to her, there was an uneasy feeling surrounding him. Hisplete calmness and uncaring attitude also caused her instincts to re up, warning about a hidden danger lurking around. Deciding against the weapon, the amazon, hopped up from the ground, jumping in front of the boy. "Come on, just a short one! We don''t need to go for too long, just to get a feel for each other!" Seeing how her words caused the friendly smile to curve slightly higher on the boy''s face, she became emboldened. Reaching out with her right hand, she wanted to help him stand up. "Come on, I know you want it too!" She added with a wide and expectant grin. "Fine! But don''t say I didn''t warn you!" Acquiescing to her demands, Aiden epted the offered hand and jumped up. Stepping back to give a bit of distance between them, he slowly clenched his fists, cracking his joints. It would be a lie to say that he wasn''t expecting something simr to happen after all... Chapter 208 - 208 - Honest Discourse Inside the forest, amidst the trees, two figures stood against each other. One was a tall, robust amazonian woman. She had an excited, almost fervent look on her heated face, as she focused on the second, much shorter, and scrawnier-looking boy in front of him. Clenching her fists, the amazon''s knuckles cracked with a clear, audible sound. Eyeing the youth from bottom to top once more, she spoke with great excitement in her voice. "Are you ready boy? I''m not going to go easy on you!" In front of the woman, the much thinner but still rtively tall youngster had a leisurely smile on his face. Upon his opponent''s request, he simply silently nodded, letting only a simple ''Uhm'' escape his lips. On the side, already done dissecting one of the orcs, and on her way towards the second Sarah, didn''t say a word. To be perfectly honest, she didn''t think anything bad would happen. This little scuffle served only to get to know the two slightly better. Amazons had a weird, very primitive outlook on the world, but at the same time, they were honest. They said that the best way to get to know the other truly was through his or her fists. Also, she was quite interested to see how Aiden would fare against a true amazon. Whilst he seemed exceptionally fast, she wasn''tpletely aware of the limits of his strength. This was a perfect opportunity to get to know her partner slightly better as well. Thus, she kept her silence, and just kept an eye on their little ''discourse'' whilst she approached the second corpse and began cutting out his core as well. "Since this is not a life-or-death battle, we will go until one of us hits the ground, okay? That means you lost, fair, and square. Got it?" Once again, Aiden lookedpletely calm, and nonchnt at the whole ordeal. He did not even enter into any sort of battle posture. He nodded with the same kind, friendly smile on his face. His eyes were cool, his whole body did not emit any sort of danger towards the amazon. "So, once you hit the ground, you will tell us your story?" He asked, with a smile that foreshadowed the results of the uing battle. Hearing the question and understanding the meaning behind his tone, Naybeah, the blonde amazon burst into a loud guffaw once again. "Ahahaha oh for Naone''s sake, you sure are an interesting one kiddo!" Collecting her breath for a moment after the violent outburst, she nodded to the question. "But yes, if you can make me fall, I will admit the loss, and recognize you as an equal and a friend. Only then, will you get to hear my story." Finishing her speech, suddenly her eyes became focused, as it shifted towards the boy, registering even the slightest of movements. "Anyway enough chit-chat kiddo. Let''s see how much you can take!" Contorting the muscles in her calf, she nted her legs in the ground, before leaning slightly forward and flinging her body forward, charging at the boy abruptly, not giving any additional time for him to prepare. Seeing how the boy did not seem to startle or react in any way, her grin turned wider as sheunched her right fist towards the boy''s right side aimed at her abdomen. However, just when she thought she made contact with the body of the boy and caused some damage, Aiden''s body suddenly vanished without a trace. As her fist flew through the now-empty air, she stopped at the position where Aiden was previously. She suddenly felt the boy''s presence from behind, causing her to swing her left arm in a wide but violent arc as she turned her body around, only to hit the air once again. Seeing the sight, caused Aiden, who was now at Naybeah''s previous position to chuckle, pointing with his index finger in a slightly mocking but mostly cheeky manner. "What are you doing? I thought you wanted to fight!" He asked with a faked innocence. This did not anger the amazon woman in the slightest. No, instead it caused her grin to once again stretch, thinking about the marvelous battle she could have with this youth. "Heh, you are fast kiddo, but are you strong enough as well?" She asked mockingly, returning the boy''s stare. "Hmmm" Once again, faking a contemting expression as he was debating the thought, he looked at the woman a few secondster, with the same friendly smile. Nodding his head, he raised his arms in the air, creating arge opening for the woman to hit his chest. "Sure, show me what you got. I want to feel the strength of your kind!" Although she was slightly surprised by the boy''s agreeing manner, the manic grin she had in the battle against the orcs a moment ago quickly resurfaced. Clenching her right fist tightly, she began to cock in backward, focusing all of her inner strength and muscles into one powerful punch. Not wasting any energy, she simply walked closer, in front of the boy. Seeing how he kept his inviting posture, she got ready for the powerful blow, but before she released it, she asked once again, already expectant of the answer. "Are you sure? If you get hurt, it''s your fault. Nobody can save you here. Not even your little partner." Shaking his head, the smile did not leave Aiden''s face as he answered. "Don''t worry. Everything will be alright." Then turning towards Sarah, who had a slightly worried look on her face, stealing nces at their duo, but trying to focus on the work ahead of her, Aiden spoke to her. "Don''t worry Sarah, everything is okay" "S-sure.. If you say so" She mumbled, not daring to look at them directly. Turning back towards the amazon, Aiden nodded. "Come, show it to me!" Answering his request, Naybeah did not hold back anymore. Releasing a loud battle shout, she raised her cocked arm slightly higher, and with all her gathered power, momentum, and strength she struck forth, punching forward, aiming at the middle of Aiden''s chest. The hit was purely physical with no extra magical or mental energy added. Still, this simplistic attack carried an immense force capable of even shattering rocks into tiny shards if it were to be forced to withstand a direct hit. Just as the attack was about to make contact with Aiden''s body, he activated his [Mystic Martial Arts] and focused on guiding his inner energy, his soul power towards the impact area, eager to see if he could absorb such an attack. Once the two impossible objects collided, a massive shockwave of energy was released, creating a violent wind to travel through the air along with an explosive bluster of force. The incredible attack kicked off a heavy cloud of dust, shrouding the two in the process, causing Sarah to stand up in unmasked worry, and yelp in fright. A few seconds of intense silence ensued in the area before the dust finally started to settle and began to reveal a massive shadow of a blurry silhouette in its core. A few secondster, before Sarah lost herst strands of patience, the dust cleared off, gradually revealing a slightly shocking, but still stunning sight, despite the expected results. As if frozen in time, Aiden was still standing, perfectly unharmed, with his arms raised in the air, smiling as if nothing had happened. In front of him, Naybeah''s figure was in the same punching posture, her right fist, still in contact with the boy''s chest. The only sign, the only proof that something extraordinary had happened, was the waste that surrounded them. Torn bushes, charred remains of grass, and a small crater that formed around them on the ground. Swallowing her own surprise and shock, Naybeah hummed with content, pulling her fist back from the boy''s chest. She took several steps back, creating some distance between her and the boy, and nodded. "Not bad, I admit, not bad at all, kiddo! Now, it''s your turn!" Deciding to follow along, she also raised her arms, creating an opening for the boy totch onto. "Hit me the same way, with everything you got! Let me feel the true power that resides in you!" Dusting his khaki linen shirt from the dirt it gathered earlier, he began to casual approach the amazon. With the same smile as before, he shook his head. "Since you honored me with such a fine attack, I will do the same. Prepare yourself and let me know once you are ready." Halting his trek only a step away from the amazon, he stood still, focusing on cleaning himself. "Aiden, I think it should be enough" Sarah tried to interject but was quickly hushed with the amazon''s loud burst ofughter once again. "Ahahaha, yes, that''s it! Come on, show it to me, hit me! I wanna taste that beast inside you!" ncing at the side with a slightly wry expression, Aiden first addressed Sarah. "Don''t worry, I will not go overboard, but I have to give her the proper respect." Then turning back on the amazon, he gave the usual friendly smile as he slowly clenched his right fist. Without the need for any other word, with his [Mystic Martial Arts] innate active Aiden focused his inner energy, the flow of his [Soul Power] towards his arm and mostly, into his fist as heunched a casual-looking punch. However, both Sarah and Naybeah became wide-eyed with shock in the next instant when his seemingly casual thrust caused his own arm to blur, and buzz in the air, flying towards the amazon''s massive bust. For the first time, Naybeah felt a sense of dread wash over her as she focused on the blurry, approaching blow. Chapter 209 - 209 - Lifting The Haze Contorting and stretching every muscle, every fiber of her being, Naybeah was quickly preparing for the worst. Feeling that dreadful sensation, that quickly soured her battle-hungry mood, was a first in her life. Although she liked, no LOVED being in the midst of battle, feeling the ongoing carnage, spilling guts and the blood of her enemies, being on the receiving end of such an incredible and frightfully powerful iing blow was a new and not-so-enjoyable sensation for the amazondy. It wasn''t just her either. Unable to stop herself, Sarah was basically just crouching next to the second orc corpse, with her weapon plunged deep into his chest, as she was focused on the duel between these two titans. She was already shocked to witness such a fearsome blow from the blonde giantess, but when she saw that strange unnatural strike initiated by this strange, golden-eyed boy, she was rendered basically speechless. She was looking at the spectacle wide-eyed, with both of her hands covering her oval-shaped yelping lips. What was even more incredible was that in the next instant, several afterimages of the traveling fist began to appear in its wake as it rapidly traversed its short arc. Each mirage lingered in the air standing still in ce, serving as an eerie warning not to belittle this youth. He was like a ''dragon'' amongst men. She would probably be shocked to death if she knew how right she was with that assumption The crazed grin quickly vanished from Naybeah''s face, reced by a stern outlook. Gritting her teeth, she forced a fierce look on herself in the next fraction of a second, focusing only the iing blow, and the blurry doomsday fist ahead. Clenching her fists, she couldn''t help herself anymore and began to move her arms, subconsciously, trying to deflect or at the very least block most of the blow before it would reach her vital organs. Even then, there wasn''t any time for any meaningful defense, even with her battle experience. So, other than swirling her wide-open arms, and flexing her muscles as much as she could, she couldn''t possibly intercept the blow in time. With no other options left, she averted her face and closed her eyes. At this veryst moment of her life, she felt a strange, newfound rity. The cloud of battle lust, the thirst forbat finally evaporated from her mind, lifting the hazy curtain of mist that clouded her judgment, and forced her to take on such an incredible opponent. Still, she did not regret it in the slightest. This was the path that she decided to embark upon, this was the way of the amazons. Only through pain can they reach Nirvana and earn their rightful ce next to their goddess. Just as her mind reached such peace and serenity the iing fist arrived, reaching the collision point. She could already feel the heated temperature of the air surrounding them, searing the animal-fur cover over her torso. However, at the veryst possible moment, just as his fist was about to make contact with the woman, he suddenly stopped. Just an inch away from the dreaded collision. Still, even though the brunt of the attack was thwarted deliberately by the boy at the veryst second, the surroundingyer or energy still managed to briefly brush against the bristly fur of her attire. There were no shy explosions or a soul-shatteringly loud blister of a sound like what normally one would expect. No, Aiden, managed to stop himself at the veryst second. It wasn''t necessary to cause damage to his opponent this time. He just had to prove a point, that''s all. Other than a fist-sized burn-mark on the amazon''s chest-coverage that he left as a reminder of the potentially fatal blow, there were no lingering blemishes. Keeping his fist in ce for just a few moments longer letting their thoughts settle in both girls'' minds, Aiden swiftly pulled his arm back, letting it rest once more at his side. He looked deeply into the amazon''s shocked eyes, and giving a wide, knowing but still polite smile, he turned around and silently began to walk towards the just-as-equally stunned Sarah. On his entire trek, silence ensued the trio. Only after he as well crouched down and grabbed the hilt of the de still plunged into the dead orc''s torso did the amazon finally recover enough to burst out in a loud guffaw. "Ahaha!" She continued her loud, unrestrained burst ofughter for a long while before she managed to stop. "That was a first, I have to say!" Following the amazon, Sarah also managed to recover, and quickly took over the de from Aiden, with slight barely noticeable blush coloring the upper sections of her cheeks. Feeling the increasing warmth shaming her usually collected expression, she did not dare to look up but kept silently working on the body, not giving the boy any space to interject. Deciding to keep shush about the fact that he noticed her embarrassing state, Aiden simply let the earlier smile continue to linger on his face, as he stood up and matched the blonde amazon''s contented look. "That was incredible kiddo! You really convinced me! I almost peed myself there for a moment!" She continued walking towards her weapon that wasying on the ground at the other side of the second orc that Sarah was currently working on, she reached for it and picked it up. Keeping the head on the ground, she leaned against the handle, taking a deeper look at the youth in front of him. "You know. I knew from the moment I first saw you in the city that you are something else. You could fool others, but I can see through your facade!" "Oh really?" With an unfaltering smile, Aiden walked to a nearby tree to lean against its trunk. "And what do you see under this ''mask of mine''?" Although he sounded calm, Aiden was actually quite intrigued by this woman''s words. While she coulde off as a bit too brunt or maybe primitive even, he knew that there was quite a receptive mind inside that blonde head. Noticing that she got his attention, Naybeah smirked at the boy. Straightening herself back up, she grabbed the colossal, man-sized war ax andtched it onto its hoister on her back. As the sps etched on and held the heavy weapon in ce, she slowly walked towards the boy, with a knowing smirk stretching across her face. "There is no need to say it out loud, am I right?" She began to express herself in a cheeky, slightly flirty manner as she kept closing the distance between the two, in both the literal sense and figuratively. "We both know that you are much more than what meets the eye. Although you may look like a young boy You are much more" Arriving closer, she leaned closer to the youth, and gently touched his chest, as she whispered herst words into the boy''s ears. "You are a man, no, a beast under this cover. Am I right?" Surprised and stunted, Aiden couldn''t react to the woman''s flirtatious actions at all. Still, he managed to forcefully keep his calm, cool and collected look while he was a literal mess on the inside. This was the first time, someone acted this way towards him after all. Sure, Mary was overly friendly, and he felt that she wanted to be good friends with him, nobody was like this before He took a few moments to collect himself, under the close watch and fiery gaze of the blonde woman, before he let out a long-winded sigh, changing the subject in the process. "So, what was the reason for you to leave your home ande so far to this no-name piece ofnd?" He asked, quite curious about the answer. "Heh" Naybeah smirked eyeing the little ''kid'' for a while, letting her eyes take in the sight slowly. After half a minute, she eventually continued. "Well, I did promise you, right?" However, before really answering the question, she shifted her attention, looking at the woman, who has just exported the precious core from the dead body of the orc. "You done there ying doctor? I know you are listening in, but I like to look at the enemy up front, rather than feeling the daggers in my back if you catch my meaning!" Using a small piece of already quite-used but stillvishly embroidered piece of light pink silk cloth, she carefully cleaned the ck gemstone-like Monster Core, before neatly packing it away in her side bag. Once she was done, she stood up, slowly packing away her smeared piece of clothing as well, before she finally turned to face the smirking amazon with a stern expression. "Sure, hopefully, you won''t throw yourself on Aiden meanwhile" With such a meaningful and witty remark, she walked next to Aiden, standing at his right side, slightly closer than she usually did. As she looked at the amazon once again, she had thatpetitive look in her eyes, that the amazon didn''t fail to notice. Her grin resurfacing on her face, she matched the purple-haired woman''s gaze, not faltering the slightest. Meanwhile, Aiden looked at the two with increasing confusion, not understanding what they were doing at all... Chapter 210 - 210 - Uninvited Guest (Part 1) "So, now that Sarah is also here, can you tell us your story? If you are in trouble, we might be able to help!" Aiden, seeing the strange behavior of both women, decided to speak up and try to steer the topic towards what really interested him. Upon the boy''s words, therge, blonde amazonian turned her gaze towards the boy once more. Her expression changing, she looked much calmer, friendlier than before. "Well, I''m not out here on a random stroll, or because I had a sudden desire to explore and take in the sights. I came to this city, to this ce with a specific goal, a mission from the Queen, but I''m sure you have guessed that already. I have to find a specific ce that was rumored to be somewhere here in the forest. There''s something that belongs to my people, and we want to get it back." She began to exin the reason for her appearance, focusing her attention on the boy in front of her, whilst giving the cold shoulder towards the purple-haired petition''. The smile on her face gradually expanded as she continued on, her eyes lingered on Aiden''s figure that looked much more masculine after their ''introductory'' battle. Although she was speaking with a rtive focus in her eyes, inwardly, nasty thoughts, bubbling desire were beginning to fan the mes of her amazonian nature. Hers was a people that respected strength first and foremost, and whilst venturing out in the ''world'', regardless of reasons, they would always keep an eye on potential partners, potential mates, age not being a concern for them at all. If you had the power to beat an amazon on a one on one, you would be automatically a worthy ''suitor''. This was the big secret that she did not tell the boy about their duel, nor did Cole or even Sarah had any knowledge about. This ritual of theirs, wasn''t just simply a way to get to know each other, but to find that worthy seed amongst the weed. As her eyes rested on the youth with an increasing hunger shining in them, it was soon noticed by Sarah who loudly clicked her tongue voicing her displeasure. Snapped out of her momentary reverie, Naybeah only gave a mischievous smirk towards the girl, before returning her attention to the boy and continued recounting her tale. "When I first arrived I asked around and was told that the overall situation in the city wasn''t too great. The guards kept bbering about some supposedly huge scandal that happened recently in the Slums, with corrupt City Officials and even the City Lords or whatnot To be honest I didn''t really care about what they said at all." She sighed, shrugging her shoulders, remembering the annoyingly buzzing city guards back at the gates. "However, the main thing I got out from all the information I was told that the city barely had any capable warriors, not even avable casters, which was surprising considering the academy close by" Taking a once-over at the boy''s simplistic, khaki-colored, linen clothing, lush, long ck hair as it reached down at his back, reaching the middle of his lean back His mesmerizing, exotic, golden irises that crowned those pearly white sclera surrounding it Naybeah found even these small details more and more tantalizing as time passed by. Thinking that this lean but taller than average youth managed to get the upper hand between their little bout earlier on with such ease, caused a tingly feeling to swell from deep down and excite her entire being. His youthful vigor, that unblemished, tanned-looking creole tone of his skin, the aloof, nonchnt, confident demeanor and attitude he carried himself with even when reaching deeper and deeper into the surrounding forest Not to mention his perfect age... She was now certain that he was the one, she had to bring home as her chosen mate. Nobody cane close to him! Her grin turned wider once more as she continued to look at Aiden with her hungry eyes, like a predator eyeing its defenseless prey. Although only a few short seconds have passed, the way she started to eye the boy started to be slightly unsettling for Sarah, who once again, decided to jump in and try to guide the conversation. "Did you check these facts with the Guild as well? While I admit that Higrove isn''t the best when ites to these resources, we could most likely find some suitable assistance for you. There are several experienced groups that we could have assigned to you if needed." Keeping her gaze lingering on the boy who seemed to not notice or ignored itpletely, Naybeah reluctantly shifted her attention to the speaking woman. "Yes, in fact, I checked in the local guild hall, to convert some Sea Devil fish cores I had to take out on my way here, and also to ask the clerk about some deets. Sadly, the woman there said that there was only one rank 3, and he wasn''t avable for such tasks himself, as he was a candidate for the uing war games or whatever." As if just realizing Sarah''s words, she continued with a mocking chuckle. "Also, I would not want to bring some inexperienced group of rookies to the depth of the jungle. I want to progress, and find what I came for, and not tutor some children. If you want assistance in training, then pay me. Why would I pay for offering my services?!" Looking back at Aiden, she gave a light lick to her lips as she continued whilst focusing her attention on those beautiful eyes of his... "Still, I have to admit, I did not expect that they were lying If I knew there were such fine men I would have-" "Khm! Please continue, Miss Naybeah." With a loud cough, Sarah interrupted with a visibly annoyed face. The fact that she continued to ''assault'' Aiden so openly, without any care for her started to really eat at her patience. Still, as a senior executive of the guild''s local branch, and being the person she is, she did her best to keep herposure. "Well, there''s not much else to say, really. With the information at hand, I left the city and decided to just go alone. Better be by myself than being troubled by inexperienced fledglings." She answered as she once again gazed at the purple-haired girl, whilst walking a bit to the back leaning against the clean bark of the nearby tree, her arms crossed, she looked at the girl awaiting the iing lecture. However, before Sarah could continue and really get into a heated argument, Aiden, looking at the tall woman with an inquisitory gaze, spoke up. "And what is the ce you are looking for? Maybe we can help each other!" "Hmm" Naybeah, turning her attention back to the youth didn''t answer immediately. She kept silent for nearly a minute, silently contemting over something before she eventually nodded as if acquiescing to a directmand. The teasing, hungry gaze vanished from her face as if finally demasking some facade, she looked much more serious. She had a stern, confident shine in her eyes as she looked over the boy for the nth time since their meeting in such a strange ce. "My Queen wants me to locate a ce called the ''Demon Grotto''. There''s something lying in there that is ours that was taken from us a long time ago. We want to get it back." She admitted suddenly the full purpose of her presence here, surprising Aiden and Sarah as well. Her demeanor, her posture, and even the way she spoke changed abruptly. It was as if suddenly it wasn''t Naybeah but someone else speaking to them. Feeling an alien presence wafting out from the tall blonde amazon, Aiden''s eyes suddenly lit up. He took a step back, nting his feet in the ground carefully, ready tounch himself intobat if needed. Clenching his fists and cracking his joints, Aiden, whilst looking at the woman with a stern but calm expression spoke in a much colder, unfriendlier tone than before. His sudden change, as well as the weird way Naybeah suddenly carried herself, also alerted Sarah, who immediately jumped next to the boy gripping the hilt of her weapon. There was a faint buzzing sound surrounding her body in an invisible but protectiveyer of energy. "Who are you?" Aiden asked, speaking curtly, addressing the new presence with cold wary in his tone. "Me?! I''m Naybeah, what are you talking about?! Are you tired boy, are your ears and eyes ying tricks on you?" Naybeah spoke with a mischievous smile slowly creeping up on her face, stretching across it in a wide and uncharacteristic grin. Opening his fists lightly, leaving them in a contorted, wing posture, he slowly raised his right arm, cocking it slightly backward, addressing the presence once more with even more coldness in his tone. As he spoke, Aiden''s voice gradually changed, carrying amanding, otherworldly tone. "I will ask onest time. Who are you?" Chapter 211 - 211 - Uninvited Guest (Part 2) Shivers of fright ran through Sarah''s back as she heard the low-toned but equally frightening andmanding tone in Aiden''s new voice. She turned to look at the boy with a shocked expression, stunned by the sudden change in the youth''s entire presence. Looking at him, she suddenly felt a strange, previously never before seen or felt aura, a presence, a pressure that was so incredible, that she wasn''t sure where it came from. Was this Aiden''s true power? His true origin? Was this the power her mother was hinting at? ''Just who are you, Aiden?'' she muttered to herself, increasing the grip on the hilt of her weapon, getting ready for the uing sh. The wide mischievous smirk not fading from Naybeah''s face, she opened her arms wide, leaving her entire upper torso undefended. Looking at the boy, she took a step forward, as she began to speak. Her voice was different as if it was not Naybeah''s but if it belonged to someone or something else. "Now, now Aiden, there is no need for being so hostile. But to bepletely honest, you are right, I''m not Naybeah. Or actually, I am, but not at the same time. I''m merely using the bond we all share to speak to you." Taking another step forward, Naybeah stopped a few feet away from the boy and the agitated, purple-haired Sarah. Her arms are stretched wide, far away from the front of her body and from her back where her colossal and deadly weapon rested still. "I am called Klemeia, the current ruling queen of the Amazons. Sister Naybeah here has reached out to me, exined the current situation, and asked for guidance on how to proceed." The presence inside Naybeah spoke. Her grin curved even higher as she continued. "After learning that she lost to you in a duel and that you are her chosen mate, I just had to see it for myself!" "What?! C-chosen mate?!" Sarah gasped as she was abruptly woken from her stunned stupor due to Klemeia''s shocking reveal. She had a feeling that Naybeah''s weird, hungry eyes had some deeper meaning than the remains of some pent-up emotions due to the consecutive battles, but she did not expect that the woman was this set already. Although it''s notmon knowledge it is still widely known that amazons chose their partners, they intend to mate with through duels and one on onebat. If the suitor manages to ovee and defeat the amazon in fairbat, then he would be considered worthy and could be considered as the ''Chosen Mate'' for the woman. Still, before they could continue and progress their ''rtionship'' their Matron, their Amazonian Queen, also has the right to check and judge the qualities of the male. If she would find the chosen mate unworthy, usually death what''s awaited the suitor "Wait Aiden wasn''t even trying to go after the woman at all!" Sarah yelped out, slightly worried about what is toe next. Naybeah, or the currently controlling Klemeia raised her hand to silence the woman. Her eyes not leaving the boy in front of her, she spoke. Her voice now carried a majestic tone, truly fitting of someone of her standing. "Silence! I know the details of what had transpired! Still" Her wide grin returned to a smirk as she continued to eye the lean body of the youth in front of her. "Not knowing our rites does not mean you are exempted from them! Aiden! This woman here considers you as her chosen mate. You have defeated her in a one-on-onebat and won her heart. What are your ns with her? Are you willing to take responsibility?" Aiden did not answer but kept focusing on the presence inside the blonde amazon. After a while, he shook his head lightly. "I do not know what you are talking about. If you mean if I consider her as a friend, then yes, I can consider her one. From our fight earlier, I learned that she is a kind and honest soul, that is just looking to help her people." He answered truthfully. His voice, whilst still cold, carried much less hostility than before, but he did not rx his muscles either. The power that he felt oozing from the depth of Naybeah''s soul was ancient, something that was much stronger than what he felt so far from all the other humans in this city. It was strong, much stronger than Naybeah herself. Hearing the boy''s words, the smile on Naybeah''s face transformed into a frown. "So, you n to not ept Sister Naybeah, is what you are saying, boy?!" Suddenly the presence that Aiden felt, increased in intensity, an increased pressure began to descend on himing from the depths of the amazon''s soul. "If that is the case, I''m afraid I will have to punish you, human!" Klemeia''s words turned condescending as she looked at the boy with a continued frown, with slight anger beginning to surface in her eyes. "Aiden watch ou-" Sarah yelled out, trying to warn the boy but was suddenly thrown back by an invisible pressure with a casual wave of Naybeah''s hand. "Silence, wench!" Klemeia didn''t even bother to look at her as she sent the girl flying in the air. Rage began to bubble inside, as Aiden saw Sarah being flung back like a broken kite. Crashing against the trunk of a far-off tree, she slid down the ground, looking unconscious. Although he could still feel that she was alive and mostly okay from the returning pulse he sent out with his [Dark Sense], rage still engulfed his mind upon seeing such a disy of disrespect towards his people. Looking at the sky, Aiden released an earth-shattering roar as he unfolded his full-powered Draconic Aura. A bright light surrounded his entire presence, as his body rapidly transformed. Large, scaled, wings grew from his back, reaching down to the ground and even a full head above him. A thick lizard-like tail grew out from his lower back, plopping down on the ground, basked in shiny golden scales. His whole stature seemed to expand several inches and previously unseen muscles began to convulse and work in overdrive. His chest and biceps became broader filling in the louse, baggy linen shirtpletely. His olive, tanned-looking skin grew simr, golden scales all over the visible surface, his fingers ending inrge ebony ws. The golden glow in his eyes turned even more radiant. The pressure that descended on him vanishing, it was now Klemeia who suddenly turned shocked and surprised by the sheer power that started to put its weight on her and the body of the blonde amazon she was currently ''using''. "YOU MONGREL! HOW DARE YOU? WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO ACT IN SUCH MANNER IN MY PRESENCE!" A deep, growling draconic voice thundered in the aura, shaking the very air itself as it bellowed. "KNEEL BEFORE ME!" Hemanded at the woman and the presence inside her. Unable to withstand the pressure any longer, Klemeia was forced on her ground, forcing Naybeah to kneel in front of the boy and the ancient,manding presence inside him. Unable to wrestle free, she was forced to look at the ground, as she began to speak in a much meeker, shakier tone. The word fear that previously unknown to her, was now etched deeply in her mind. "Please, calm down Aiden. I did not mean any harm to any of you! I am just protecting Sister Naybeah here! She likes you very much and I just wanted to see if you would be worthy of her heart!" Not answering, Aiden slowly eased on the pressure, not lifting itpletely. Anger was still visible in his expression as he continued to eye at the blonde woman. "While I may have overreacted, I have to protect my sisters from the dangers of the outside world. This is something I''m sure you can acknowledge. I can see that you harbor no ill-will, and are just. I can only ask you to help out Naybeah, she very much needs it." As the pressure continued to lessen on her, Naybeah slowly stood back up, but not before giving another bow acknowledging the boy''s power. "If you will have the time, pleasee to visit our hometer. I would very much like to personally wee you, if nothing else to apologize for my rude behavior earlier." With that said, her presence instantly vanished from Naybeah, causing the blonde amazon to fall to the ground unconsciously. Seeing that the dangerous presence has left, Aiden quickly calmed down, returning to his normal state. With the wings, tail, and ws vanishing, in a few brief moments, his skin returned to its previous unblemished creole color. A minuteter as both Naybeah and Sarah began to wake and stand back up there was not even the slightest trace of the previous battle of wills that unfolded here. With his usual friendly smile, he approached Sarah and helped her back up her feet before turning back at the blonde amazon who looked at them with a slight blush dominating her cheeks. Chapter 212 - 212 - A Magical Place The rustling vegetation marked the progress of the 3 distinct silhouettes as they wrestled to get through the increasing density of the lush forestndscape. They were staying close-by to each other as they traversed the brush, making sure to keep a rtively straight trail as they ventured deeper. The foliage was getting so thick as that if they were to leave it, they would be lost in no time. Well, apart from the youth staying slightly in the back. In front of him, a purple-haired beauty was making sure to stay in-between the tall blonde amazonian woman and the boy at all times. After their brief disclosure following the strange ''meeting'' with Klemeia the Amazonian Queen, Naybeah, Sarah and Aiden agreed to keep venturing deeper together. Although surprised at the time, Aiden did not mention anything about the ce Naybeah or more precisely Klemeia revealed to be the destination of her mission. He decided to keep it to himself for now, and just see how things will go. The fact that the tall woman ''liked'' him, was still alien, unknown to him. He didn''t really understand the true meaning behind her feelings and thought that most likely she thinks of him as a member of her tribe. Even after asking, she couldn''t talk about the ''connection'' they share with the queen, or how she suddenly appeared through her. What was it exactly? The system at the time did not provide any warnings, as there were no real attacks or assaults on him apart from the pressure the woman''s unfolding aura gave. She did not attack him directly, and the system either did not have enough information or just couldn''t begin the process to analyze the nature of their ''connection''. As they continued to make their way through the huge ferns and thick and tall light green grass, the air gradually started to change. As if they crossed some sort of invisible barrier, the air became humid and hot, more and more oppressive as they continued forward. These parts of the forest were rtively ''untouched'' by the destructive human nature, they could even feel the increased volume of pollen in the air, nearly causing them to sneeze as the trio looked around. Dozens of gigantic trees stretched towards the sky, shrouding the air as they reached towards each other turning the area dark under their hugging canopy. The untouched foliage grew to previously unseen heights, the ferns were reaching the height of Aiden''s eye level, giving them a feel as if they were mere ants under the giant sky. "J-just what is this ce?!" Sarah was the first to break the serene silence that shrouded them since their departure from the small clearing. Nervously darting from the left to the right, she felt an eerie, ominous presence in the air surrounding them. "This whole ce feels unnatural. There''s a heaviness in the air" Naybeah whispered from the front as she continued in her pace tightly gripping the thick handle of her war axe. Aiden did not speak but had a stern look on his face as he looked forward seemingly lost in the distance. The air around them was indeed strange, something that even his system started to pick up. [Warning: Unknown magical particles present in the air! Proceed with caution!] Although the message was vague, and there was no real, tangible effect, the system did feel some threat from the surroundings, giving the warning to Aiden. ''If Enya would be here, she would probably know what was going on'' Aidenmented inwardly, heaving a long winded-sigh and startling the two girls in the front. "W-what is it Aiden?!" Startled by the noise from behind, Sarah jumped in fright turning around and facing the golden-eyed youth. Naybeah also halted her steps but did not turn around, she kept her eye up front looking for potential threats. Still, she was listening to their conversation with keen interest. "We entered some territory. There''s active magic in the air. That''s what we are all feeling. Not sure what it is for but be on alert from now on both of you." Even without looking, Naybeah knew that the situation was severe just from hearing his tone. There were no traces of his earlier aloofness, he sounded very much alert. Sarah was also surprised by the sudden change in the previously calm boy''s outlook. He had a stern, strict look on his face, his eyes continued to dart from the left towards the right, not settling in any particr direction as he continued to scan their surroundings with relentless fervor. As they continued to trek even deeper towards the dark, the foliage began to show signs of slight changes. The previously mostly green brush now had patches of deep, wet purple with strange-lookingrge fern leaves that seemed to dip under their own weight. The sunlight could barely pierce through the thick, dark canopy up above. Thick, ebony, and dark grey colored barks served as natural barriers to almost all directions, leaving only a thin, barely perceptible trail they could continue upon. "I don''t like this at all. We are being led towards a particr direction." Naybeah spoke with a grim tone. "I know. Don''t worry, for now, let''s just continue." Aiden responded, as his eyes began to glow with a faint golden light, scanning the distance, piercing the thick wooden, natural walls with rtive ease. "For now, we are safe, but we shouldn''t linger here for much longer." Continued with even higher alertness than before, the thin trail soon began to broaden, increasing the navigable area quite nicely, allowing them to stand next to each other instead of following each other from behind. As if they crossed into another realm, the foliage suddenly began to thin, revealing a deep, rich brown ground moist with water that seemed to constantly drip from the canopy high above. The lush foliage vanishing, all that remained were the gnarly barks of the surrounding trees and strange, deep purple tall man-sized ferns. In the distance, they could spot t, round disks that seemed to vaguely surmise a mushroom-like nature. Slowly, they continued forward, both women tightly gripping the handle of their weapons, whilst Aiden kept a rtively collected, but battle-ready stance as they continued forward. The heavy air, the lingering magical activity, the strange and sudden changes in their surroundings were all rming factors that they just couldn''t ce anywhere. At least not yet. As they egged on, the path soon was split in two, one going towards the left, whilst the other arched towards the right. Stopping in front of the natural intersection, knowing better by now, both girls looked silently at Aiden for directions. Heaving a heavy sigh at the two women, he turned towards the left first before he took in the right. Feeling no presence from either direction, he shrugged before he spoke. "I have no idea where to. Both ways are clear, I can''t feel or see any beings in either direction. I don''t know where the orcs are, so it''s your pick." He looked at Sarah, before turning to Naybeah. "We first need to investigate the situation with them, before we could check out the ce you are headed to. If you don''t know where to go, you might as well just continue with us. This ce doesn''t feel too safe to venture in alone, regardless of how strong you or even I are." Naybeah could only give a light nod in response before turning away from the boy, as the pinkish-red tinge began to color her cheeks once again. "The reports from the scouts said that the orcs'' base is towards the area where the dead trees are overgrown with the bioluminescent lichens. Can you see them?" After some brief thinking, Sarah asked looking at Aiden with a questioning stare. Looking once again in both directions Aiden focused his eyes on the rtive distance, trying to spot the faint glow of the supposed vegetation on the ground. Spotting some faint flickering light from the far left he pointed in that particr direction. "In that case, we should go that way." Not arguing about the decision, the trio continued following the trail towards the left. Soon, they were greeted by an incredible, eerie but at the same time unbelievably magical sight. At their sides, corpses of dead trees littered the groundpletely covered in bioluminescent lichens creating a glowing rainbow-esque nket that covered all the way where their eyes could see. The colorfulposite organisms carpeted the ground in a nket of shifting, almost psychedelic hues as far as their eyes could take them. "For the great Naone, what is this ce?!" Naybeah was the first to exim as her eyes took in the marvelous sight. With the thick canopy shrouding them in rtive darkness the luminescent ground gave them a wondrous, otherworldly feel. It was as if they stepped into a different world suddenly. "This is incredible" Sarah added, also lost in the sight. Not speaking, Aiden continued to sternly fix his gaze towards the far-left side of the clearing, where the narrowing trail led them. Although he couldn''t feel anything, he had an ominous feeling. This whole area was just too strange, too different... Chapter 213 - 213 - Symbols And Branches Towards the far left, which was actually by pure coincidence towards the west, there was a small, thin, visible pathway leading out of the illuminated, majestic little slice of heaven that the trio had found themselves in. The tall, deep purple wide ferns seemed to die off at that area only to give way to some aggressive lichens that slid around, from left and right towards the top, creating an arching pathway, creating an entrance to yet another picturesque but equally as eerie of a world for them to step into. As they continued to trade on the soft ground beneath them. On the side, they could see the continuation of dead trunks of trees engulfedpletely by the strange, and aggressive lichens around them. "Are we... being led?" Sarah voiced her concern looking at the almost too perfect scene guiding them towards a particr direction. "Yes. Keep at the ready. Aiden, do you see or sense something nearby?" Naybeah responded, keeping her attention to the path ahead. She continued tightly gripping the thick handle of her colossal war axe, ready to swing it at the first sign of trouble. Her pure strength and the incredibly sharp edge of her weapon was a guarantee that whatever decided to block their way, would meet a brutal and premature end. "Uhm." Nodding, Aiden only gave a curt grunted response, focused on his surroundings. He could feel the buzzing of particles in the air, and with the addition of the continuous beeping of his system''s warnings, he was sure that his earlier premonition was probably spot-on; this whole area was not natural, it was part of something greater. The dark thick canopy of dreadful trees above them, the illuminated, colorful, psychedelic disy of strange lichens, the strange and vastly different vegetation further out Everything pointed to something at y and judging by the feeling Aiden felt, it was probably something sinister Crossing through the picturesque ''hallway'' of this strange part of the forest that seemed to gradually transform into a jungle biome, they eventually reached an ''end'', a natural blockage, a sort of door-like separation created by a thick clump of overgrown branches blocking the path ahead. Activating his [Dark Sense] skill and sending it on overdrive by using a bit more of his [Soul Power] Aiden''s eye lit up with their now-usual golden luster, trying to prate the path ahead and get some information for them. However, simrly to how he felt back in the underground parts (and even in the Guild Back Offices) of the City, his vision and attempts were thwarted by some strange runes lighting up, seemingly only visible to him. Still, even with this failed attempt, he received an important bit of information and further confirmation of his earlier theories. This whole path was not natural, it was created, most likely by the use of some magic. Whatever is ahead, they need to tread very carefully. Stepping forward Aiden raised his arms in front of the two girls, blocking the way for them. "What is it Aiden?" Sarah, knowing a bit about hispanion by now, immediately knew that there was something important that the boy had noticed. Grabbing the hilt of her sheathed weapon, Sarah put her left leg behind her and leaned a bit more against it, entering into a battle-ready state. Naybeah simply continued gripping her weapon, but the straining strands of muscles in her arms gave away that she was also alert and ready for anything. "I''m not exactly sure what is ahead." Aiden began, giving a surprising revtion to the girls. Before any of them could ask about his words though, he continued. "And this fact is the most troubling. There''s some spell that blocks me from trying to see what''s ahead." Turning his head sideways, he nced at Sarah as he went on. "It is actually quite simr to the spell that I noticed inside the guild hall, and in the underground arena. It''s some sort of runes that just blocks me" "Uhm I don''t know what you are talking about I didn''t cast any spell simr to your descriptions inside the guild, nor do I have any knowledge about such magic" She replied with a wry expression. From the look of her eyes and the slight blush on her cheeks, Aiden was sure that she was telling the truth. "Maybe your mother knows more?" He asked, thinking about it for a while. That woman was powerful, dangerously so. The borate trap or ''test'', as she mentioned, was simr in nature to his Master''s Pocket World in a sense. The masked madame was mysterious and most likely quite powerful. Knowledge about old and forgotten magic might not be too far away from her reach. "I" Sarah wasn''t sure how to answer the boy''s question. She couldn''t outright deny the possibility, but at the same time, she couldn''t go against her mother''s wishes and orders. However, thinking about it a bit more, she never said anything about something like this and did say that she should do her best to get closer to this boy Taking a deep breath, she shook her head, answering Aiden. "I don''t know, to be honest. The Mistress never told anything like that to me, but she has extensive knowledge about magic, so she might know a little." "I see. I guess I will need to ask about this at some point. But for now" Turning his head, Aiden focused on the blockade ahead once more. Clenching his fists, he took in arge gasp of air, before taking a step forward and reaching for the branches. "Both of you stay here for the time being, and let me check this out myself" Hearing his sudden statement, startled both women. "No, there''s no way I will let you go there alone-" Naybeah was the first to voice her thoughts but was interrupted by Sarah who chimed in midway. "Yeah, just like she said, Aiden, we are not leaving you alone!" Raising both of his hands in front of the girls, Aiden turned his head sideways, looking at the girls behind him. His lips curved into a smile, that gave his whole side-profile such cool that both girls had to avert their eyes with a tinge of pink coloring their cheeks. "Don''t worry, I just want to check it out. If there''s trouble ahead, I will call for you both don''t worry, but we need to be cautious. We don''t know what awaits us there and we need to be cautious, all of us shouldn''t walk into a potential trap." Seeing that both girls wanted to raise their argument to his words, Aiden shook his head and continued with a calm and reassuring tone. "Don''t worry about me, you both should know that I can handle myself quite well. You should just wait here and look around, see if there''s any other way around." Turning his head again, he focused his attention back on the blockade ahead. Reaching out with both hands, he spoke up again as he began to push the branches to the side, creating a thin hole in their defenses, to squeeze himself through. Both Sarah and Naybeah couldn''t utter another word and kept on looking at the boy as his figure slowly slid through the natural barrier. Once his figure vanished, however, Naybeah suddenly stepped forth, raising her axe high above her head. Giving out a loud and energetic cry, she swung her weapon down at the strange branches with great ferocity, so fast that Sarah couldn''t even voice her concerns or interject in any way. As her weapon coursed through the air, rapidly approaching the dry, old, overgrown branches ahead, the only thing in the blonde amazon''s mind was that the boy was at the other side without her protection. She couldn''t possibly leave him by himself, he was her chosen mate! He had to be safe and the best ce for that would be with her! Expecting that the ornate, circr head of her colossal weapon would easily carve a path through the bush, both girls were surprised when the weapon collided with the seemingly frail surface only to see a strange white runic symbol to lit up and throw the metallic head of the weapon back, causing the tall amazon to take a few steps back to regain herposure and not fall down. Shocked, both girls looked at the wooden branches once again, with an increased focus this time. While Naybeah took a few moments topose herself, Sarah walked forth, and slowly reached for the branches. Looking at the spot where the strange runic symbol appeared just a moment ago. As her delicate fingers reached the first twigs, the same runic symbol lit up again, creating a tangible but invisible sort of barrier of energy, blocking her from further reaching out. She gave a few pets and caresses to the air-formed wall of energy in front of them, revealing a frown shortly after. "What is it? Can we get through?" Naybeah asked with concern in her voice, seeing Sarah''s reaction. Chapter 214 - 214 - The Shack "What is it? Can we get through?" Naybeah asked with concern in her voice, seeing Sarah''s reaction. With the same frown she had just before, Sarah shook her head, as she looked at the tall, blonde amazon with a defeated expression. "No. There''s some sort of energy blocking the way ahead. We just can''t get through." "Huh?!" Shocked by what she just heard, Naybeah almost dropped her colossal weapon on the ground. "Are you sure? W-what should we do now?! Aiden could be in trouble! We can''t just wait here!" Sarah''s eye wandered towards the left, looking at the thick dark grey tree trunks, and vegetation going further ahead, creating a wooden wall all around. "Let''s take a look around first. That''s what he said also. There has to be another way through. If this ce really is not a natural phenomenon then there has to be another way forward to avoid the traps." Turning towards the left side she raised her right arm, pointing in the chosen direction. "I will check the left side, you should go to the right and let''s call for the other one if we find anything interesting. Okay?" Not waiting for the blonde woman''s response, Sarah left towards the chosen direction with quick, hurried steps. Even though she did her best to sound cool, she barely managed to keep herself from falling to pieces with worry. Not wanting to waste even a second, she immediatelyunched herself into the task at hand, trying to find any spot through the vegetation to reach the other side. At the same time, Naybeah also threw herself to be the first of finding a way through to her chosen mate. Nothing and nobody can possibly stop her from saving the youth, trapped at the other side! While the girls busied themselves in finding a way through the luminescent de they were now trapped in, Aiden found herself in a vastly different scape all of a sudden. Crossing through the wooden branches although was quite inconvenient, did not prove too much of a hassle. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt a solid, hard surface, something vastly different from the smooth soil he felt just a moment before. If the area behind him were created through magic, then that meant that the ce he was seeing now was the true, originalndscape that should have greeted them. Looking around he found himself in a wide clearing, probably more than fifty feet across from one end to the other. The vegetation was basically none-existent, the ground, and the trees werepletely charred, giving the feel of a wastnd than that of a healthy forest biome where they should be at still. Even the air was dry, much different from the humidity he felt just a few steps before. At the far side of the barren clearing a makeshift, circr yurt-like tent could be seen, looking more like a rundown shack than a proper tent. Although the side was dark, and there were no signs of life, Aiden''s senses suddenly gave warning of arge coalesce of energies inside. Someone or something that had an apt control of his or her own energies were residing inside. Knowing that whoever or whatever was inside was most likely part of the horde and would not take kindly to humans invading his or her space, Aiden closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As his feet began to slowly take him forward, his whole figure began to rapidly change. His lean but tall body suddenly began to shrink, his bronze skin turned darker with each step. His shirt vanished into the depths of his System''s inventory, whilst he kept his linen pants that suddenly seemed several sizesrger. Although his hair hasn''t changed a bit, it now seemed to reach all the way down at his now dark green back, reaching the lower reaches of his hip. It did seem much more unrestrained, slightly spikier, wilder. His golden eyes gave an exotic, but at the same time majestic presence to the little goblin lord, he became in just a few simple, silent steps. As the final touch, the gnarled goblin staff with the scarlet gemstone perched at its top appeared in his right hand as he approached the hut. He tried searching through the memories of the absorbed goblin leader for some mental notes about this ce, but unfortunately, he was met with blurry, unreadable images each time. Someone or something modified the goblin''s mind to make sure that no information was exportable from that defenseless organ of his. As Aiden reached closer to the yurt, the dark entrance that had several smaller bones hanging from threads began to collide and make way as a decrepit, dark-grey-skinned wrinkled old figure wobbled out, using a simrly gnarled stick with gemstones as his walking aid.Although there was no hair on the top of his head, the aged figure had an incredibly long, silvery beard stretching all the way down towards the ground, just a couple inches short of touching it and sweeping away the dust. As the old man lifted his head from the ground to take a closer ''look'' at the uninvited guest, Aiden could see no irises inside the pearly-white sclera in his eyes. Still, he felt as if he saw perfectly, or at least there was some sort of sense-type skill at y that provided her with all the visual aid that he would have required. What was more important was the fact that Aiden felt the same thick swirling, tumultuous convergence of energies inside that frail, thin body of his. Even though he lookedpletely miserable and defenseless as he walked bent over using a gnarled stick as aid, Aiden was sure that if it woulde to a fight, this old man would be the hardest challenge he had ever faced. Tense silence ensued between the two figures as they slowly scanned each other. Although the momentsted only for some seconds, it felt as if an eternity had passed before the old figure''s stoic, bearded face began to twist and slowly contort into a probably unfamiliar grimace of his, a friendly smile, a weing gesture. "Greetings, little one. What brings you to this ce? What are you looking for?" The raspy voice of the elder spoke the goblin tongue fluently, much to Aiden''s surprise. Although it sounded friendly and kind, the years of experience that merged into his mind from the absorbed goblin leader warned him of a different situation. The figure in front of him was some sort of shaman, an Orc Ritualist, a powerful figure at the top of the orcish hierarchy. As such, he should know that by the size of his hair, Aiden should be a pretty high-standing figure in their kind''s societaldder, so the address of ''little one'' was quite a rude remark. Not to mention, that if Aiden was a high-standing, leading figure of the goblins, then the elder should also be pretty much aware of the meaning of his presence, and he should guide him towards their camp to meet with the leaders. But instead of that, he simply smiled, calling him a nameless, titleless being and asked about the reason for his arrival. This was tant disrespect, not just to him, but to his ''current'' race as well. Knowing that he had to take up the mantle and defend his honor otherwise he would not be respected, Aiden''s face twisted into a disdainful re as he eyed the old man. "Interesting. For being the ''wise man'' of your tribe, you are pretty retarded, you old sack of bones. Is this how you greet your allies? No wonder your kind is only referred to as mindless pigs by the other races." Hearing his spiteful words, the orc shaman threateningly raised his stick in the air. The lifeless scarlet gemstone began to faintly pulsate a dim light, giving off a fair warning to the much smaller and weaker-looking Aiden. Raising his head, the full-white sclera seemed to fixate upon the figure of Aiden for quite a while, before the elderly shaman nodded with a content look on his wrinkled face. "Good, good! Seems like you really are different than most of the leaders of your kind. If you are looking for the leaders, just go behind my little shack and enter the vige a bit ahead. Go towards therge tent in the middle, that''s where most of them are at the moment." Nodding Aiden was about to walk forward but the old man raised his hand, blocking his way once again. Looking at the old man, with a slightly offended, and questioning stare, before he had the chance to voice his dissatisfaction, the elder spoke as his lips curved into a nasty-looking hideous grin. "Before you go There''s a question I want to ask." Pointing at the spot where he came from, the old orc raised the question, that Aiden was hoping to skip. "What are the other two tall ones doing just outside? Are they with you, by chance? I was alerted to three presences as you approached." Chapter 215 - 215 -The Sister And The Judas By the time the first orange rays of the sun peeked through the window and basked the room with its warmth, a certain youngdy was already up and ready to start her day. Her increasingly growing golden flocks were cupped up to a long ponytail at the back of her hand, flowing down, way past her shoulders, reaching all the way to the center of her delicate little back. She wore a strange set of uniform, something that if her brother would have seen it, would find quite surprising, quite uncharacteristic of the girl. The clothing resembled some sort of uniform, although its true origins weren''t told to her as of yet. She was just ordered to keep it on for the duration of their training, as it was the required garment. As the official disciple of the Master, she was required to now follow the tradition. She had a dark blue, tight-fitting suit on, somewhat resembling a haori, that whilst looking quite thin and did nothing to hide the generous curves that started to form on her growing teenage body, also provided a surprisingly great defense. The silk-like thin material was reinforced by some unknown method, providing increased resistance to all types of physical harm, and even against some of the mostmonly encountered natural elements. The attire continued with baggy, simrly dark blue, skirt-like pants that if viewed from a distance could be easily mistaken for a long skirt, reaching all the way to her feet. A vibrant, yellow cloth belt was tied neatly around her waist, holding her attire together. On her feet, she had ck leather footwear, simr to a sock. With a worried look on her face, the girl walked out of her room, which, now for several days now, missed its second, most-precious resident and continued walking towards the living room area where an already set table and two other figures were already waiting for her. As her silhouette appeared, the figure on the right end of the table, a female donning a simr attire, albeit with a ck colored belt lifted her head, looking at the approaching girl with a stern, strict look on her face. "You werete, Lilly." She spoke in a cold, emotionless, rigid tone. Arriving at the doorstep, the blonde girl, Lilly, halted her steps and gave a slight, respectful bow towards the two elder figures around the table. "Apologizes Master." Her speech was calm and cool. While it wasn''t insipid like her master''s, it wasn''t overly cheerful or emotional in any way. Compared to her voice just a few weeks ago, the difference was like day and night. At the other side of the table, an elderly woman wrapped in thick, ragged red clothing only shook her head at the sight, as a small smirk began to curve at the edges of her lips. Despite her being firmly against the harsh training regimen Lilly was forced to undertake, she had to admit that under them, Lilly had undergone some spectacr changes. Her childish naivete has seemed to mature a great deal. While she still had that aura of kindness and curiosity around her, she was much calmer, much ''wiser'' in a sense. As she stood in the doorway, awaiting her master''s words, tworge shadows appeared at her left and right, her two faithful guardians, the war hounds, Sam and Biggy. Leaning against the girl as a show of affection, they walked forward and sat down at the empty chair that was usually the girl''s spot on the dining table. Taking a few moments, Number 3, gave a light ''Uhm.'', averting her eyes from the girl and resuming her morning breakfast that she already started before the girl arrived. "Take your seat dearie, and eat up. You want to be full of energy if you want toplete your training!" Deciding to break the tense atmosphere, Granny spoke up with a light-hearted chuckle and her usual, kind smile, inviting the girl to the table. Upon her Granny''s words, the calm stature of Lilly began to crumble. As she straightened her back, ending the bow, she turned towards the elderly woman. Her initially small, pouty lips began to broaden, turning into a gleaming curve. With a loving, familiar, kind smile on her face, she nodded at the woman, and with a much cheerier, and fitting tone she spoke as she approached her seat. "Thanks, Granny!" As she began to take small dribs of her breakfast, her thoughts began to wander to a certain boy, who was somewhere out there, away from her. Was he okay? Did he meet new people, or make any friends? A smirk began to settle on her face, as her thoughts wandered once again. She was hoping that once they meet again, he would be surprised and proud upon seeing her sister''s progress! She wasn''t that weak, helpless little child as she was before. With the help of her master, she now had many surprises in store for when they will be finally reunited --- Inside Higrove''s Academy Grounds, atop the highest tower, a certain pudgy man, wearing his official, amethyst-colored silk robe, was standing against the window, seemingly lost gazing at the distance. His silent trance-like state was broken when a couple of short knocks resounded from the other side of his closed office door. His face souring slightly by the annoying noise, he yelled out without turning his attention away from the windows. "Come in." Upon his words, the handle of the door was gently pushed down, and the door was opened slightly ajar. A meek, shaking woman peaked her ck-haired head in, looking at the Master of the ir''. "Sir, your next appointment has arrived and is waiting for you. S-shall I let him in?" she spoke with a visibly trembling voice. She was obviously, clearly very afraid of this boss of hers. Still not bothering to even give as much as a nce at the trembling girl in the doorframe, the robed man, grunted a response, with visible annoyance resounding from his tone. "Yes. You can tell him, toe and meet me. Make sure that no one will be bothering us for the next hour or so. You are also dismissed for the time being." "Y-yes, sir, as youmand sir." The girl hurriedly responded, as she quickly closed the door and scurried away from the den of her nightmares, her boss''s office. Barely a minuteter, the door was once again opened, but this time there were no courteous knocks of any kind. The ck-robed, a hooded figure appeared at the doorway. Amidst the hollow lighting, his face couldn''t be seen. Without any words, he stepped inside and closed the door behind him before continuing his approach to the pudgy, amethyst robed man at the other side. Just a few steps away, he suddenly stopped and went on his knees, whilst throwing the hood back from his head and revealing his bald head. He was one of the executors of the guild, the ''second-inmand'' for Sarah! "Master." He addressed the person in front of him, with a reverent bow. Still seemingly much more interested in the distance than the baldie behind him, the pudgy man spoke only a single word. "Report." Keeping his kneeling, bowing posture, the baldie inhaled arge gasp of air, before he began to recount all the information he could. He spoke for several minutes, detailing hisst week and the current situation in the guild and with Sir Michael''s candidacy for the City Leader''s position. Towards the end of the report he suddenly stopped, and whilst taking another long sigh, he began recounting what he managed to find out about the ck-haired, golden-eyed boy and his connection to his mysterious leader. Once the robed man heard the description of the youth, he shuddered in realization and for the first time, he turned around, revealing his equally pudgy face. He was Alfred Leon, mostly known as Master Leon by her subordinates nowadays, and amongst his many titles, one of the candidates for the City Leader''s position. "Golden eyes, long-ck hair, light-bronze colored skin, and inhumane strength and speed? Are you sure? What did you say, what was his name?" He asked with an agitated tone and expression. Surprised by his master''s reaction, the baldie gulped as he replied to the question. "Master, he said his name was Aiden. He never said a family name either. When he came to register to the guild, he was immediately promoted to rank 2 after easily crushing all of the opponents I have set up for him. Later on, I sent another group after him, with the orders to cause trouble, but they were also easily dispatched by him. He also seems to have some sort of connection with the Leader, the Leader seems to favor him quite a lot" Taking a short pause to gauge his master''s reaction, he continued. "Master, I think that boy is trouble and can be a problem with your ns. What are yourmands?" Leon remained stoic and silent for a long while, lost in his memories. Eventually, he turned around, returning his gaze towards the direction of the forest "I know who he is, and how to control him. Gather your elites and report at the western gates. There''s a certain ce you will need to visit" Chapter 216 - 216 - Would You Trade Slaves? Remembering a particr memory, while Aiden was caughtpletely off-guard, he was hoping to not have to get into this question as it would raise several unwantedplications. Still, since they were spotted, he could only roll with it. "They?" Acting as cool as he could, Aiden spoke in a nonchnt manner. "They are my two human servants. They are healthy and good fighters whose duty is to serve as my guard. Why?" "Oh, really?" The grey, old orc shaman raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, looking at Aiden in surprise. "Not often do I hear about a goblin who has human ves or ves of any kind for that matter" Grabbing the base of his long beard with his left hand he started caressing it, as he looked at the lush-haired goblin with increased interest. "Aren''t your race mostly cowardly and weak? How did you acquire those two?" Knowing that the old orc was once again testing the waters a bit, Aiden revealed a slightly offended grimace, frowning at the aged shaman with a contemptuous look. "What is that supposed to mean?! Are you this rude to all the other envoys? Can your attitude be considered the official stance of your tribe? You mud-dwelling bipedal pigs are getting more and more absurd with each year, I swear" He sighed, looking at the orc with disdain. The corners of the old orc''s lips twitched when he heard the taunt from the small goblin. He gripped the hold of his stick tighter. Taking several, long seconds to collect himself and regain his almost lostposure, the friendly smile returned to his face. He gave an apologetic bow towards the goblin as he spoke in a much more respectful tone. "Please, excuse me for mynguage. I''m just an old fool, barely a member of the tribe anymore. My words carry no weight, it''s just the ramblings of a senile elder." Keeping his bowing posture, the old shaman waved towards a pathway that went behind his rundown shack towards the distance. "My lord, you should not mind my rambling any longer. Go and meet with the rest of the leaders. They have already started gathering in preparation for the next phase." Raising his head, he revealed the friendliest, most inviting smile the old orc could muster as he continued. "However, let me remind you of two things, young lord. First, you will have to take your ves with you and leave them with the others in their designated building. Don''t worry, they won''t be abused but they can''t be allowed to listen in on important matters. Second, and I am sure you are already aware of this, but due to the fact the majority of the leaders are from Orcish Tribes, the meeting will be held in Orcish, and not in the young lord''s otherwise rich tongue." The new information caused Aiden to frown. Turning around he looked at the spot where he came from, as he raised a question. "Can I leave my guards outside? I don''t want conflict between the ves, you know both of them are quite feisty. They should be fine to wait for me where they are now." The old orc shook his head upon Aiden''s question. "Not possible, sorry young lord. You have to bring them to the designated holding area, you can''t keep your pets wandering around aimlessly." "I see." Aiden sighed in defeat. Thisplicated things by a great deal. Looking at the orc shaman, he raised his shoulders and continued. "And where can I find this holding area? Is it further inside the tribe''snd?" Chuckling, the old orc shook his head once more. "Ahaha, no, why would we let the filthy animals inside where we live? No. The holding area is the other way. Go back, and on the crossing turn toward the right. You will find the ve Pen there. Talk to the guards and they can ce your ves inside a free cell for you,pletely free of charge of course." Giving a silent nod, Aiden turned around and silently began to walk back towards the gate to reunite with the girls and think of the next steps. However, only after a few steps, he was stopped as the orc spoke out once more. "Just one more question, young lord!" He asked, his tone slightly mischievous, his lips curved into the earlier nasty grin. "Would you mind selling those two to the tribe? We could pay a fair price for those two Or even trade them for 2, no, for 3 males for each female!" The elder shrewdly offered. Healthy looking females were amodity after all. Clenching his fist, Aiden took a few moments before he managed to calm down enough to answer in a cool manner. "No. Neither of them is up for sale nor for trade. They are with me, so please don''t ask about it again." Taking a deep breath, he continued. "I will now go back and ce them in the pen ande back." Not waiting for any responses, Aiden walked back to the gate with hurried steps. Using both of his hands, he opened a path between the branches and began to cross through to get back to the other side. Meanwhile, he decided to transform back to his default state, much less to scare the girls. Still, he knew that if they wanted to get more information, they either needed to find another way inside, or he had to reveal some of his secrets to the girls. Although he felt he could probably trust both of them, he still wasn''t willing to reveal such details to anyone besides Lilly. So far it seemed that his race was either erased from history, or they vanished from the world so long ago that there wasn''t anybody with knowledge about the once-powerful race of Primals. Revealing such information could cause unwanted attention or even dangers that he himself wouldn''t be able to handle, at least not yet. So the best approach would be to remain cautious just like he was before. Meanwhile, on the other side, both girls were busy searching their respective sides ever since Aiden went through the brush and they lost sight of him. They wanted to be the ones to find a way through and meet up with the boy first. As they were busy looking for possible ways to cut through the vegetation the sounds of someone crossing through from the spot where Aiden vanished hit their ears. Both jumped up at the noise and quickly rushed back to their ces. Although they hoped it was the boy that wasing through, they had no way to check, and just had to be cautious, both of them were tightly holding the handles of their weapons, ready to swing at any potential green or brown skins appearing. With their weapons at the ready, both girls looked with apt attention at the bursting branches as the noise became louder, closer. Not muchter, a pair of familiar-looking hands pushed through, followed by a pair of tan-skinned arms. Next, a right leg pushed itself through the thick resistance, and a momentter Aiden stepped out arriving back at the luminescent magical clearing. No words were exchanged as the relieved girls immediately jumped on his left and right respectively, hugging him tightly, and weing him back with their warm embraces. Not knowing what to do Aiden could only remain standing still, while the girls continued to enjoy their acquired body parts in their own way. Almost a minute had passed before the strength in their holds began to weaken, and they started to let go of the boy that although only left for a couple of minutes, it seemed to have impacted them more than it should have. "Uhm, what is the problem with you two?" As they refused to let gopletely even after a minute, Aiden couldn''t help but finally raise the question. Refusing to let go or answer, Naybeah, the tall, blonde amazon, continued to hug the top of Aiden''s head, nting his head into her generous bust. Seeing the disy, Sarah could only click her tongue with annoyance as she reluctantly let go and began to answer whilst a slight blush colored her cheeks. "Aiden, even though for you, you just crossed through some branches, we were unable to follow you. Some strange barrier appeared, preventing us from following you, and trapped us here. We tried to search for another way through but couldn''t find any What happened to you? Did you encounter any trouble? Are you okay?" She fired question after question, with clear worry dominating her expression. "Yeah, even my axe was repelled when I tried to cut my way through. Whoever created such magic, I will cut him or her to pieces for trying to harm you!" Naybeah spoke as she finally let go of Aiden so he could actually respond to them. "Huh? Barrier? Repelled?" Surprised by their words, Aiden looked back at the branched pathway. Was there something else at y here? He did see the runic symbols activate and block his attempts when he tried to peak through with his skills, but he did not expect that they would somehow block the girls as well Why did it let him cross through then? Chapter 217 - 217 - Confessing The ‘Truth’ Turning around, Aiden faced the blocked pathway once more. The light in his eyes ring up, he began to focus his attention on the faintly appearing runic symbols, seemingly imprinted in the air, floating just slightly in front of the blockade motionlessly. Although, he hadn''t made an attempt to memorize all the symbols he saw so far whenever he was blocked from ''seeing'', he did feel some familiarity with how the rune curved in the air. Stepping closer, he slowly raised his right hand and reached for the symbol in front. However, there was absolutely no resistance, his fingers passed through with ease, reaching the surface of the gnarled hugging twigs behind it. The whole motion was slow and careful, the girls watched with a mixture of shock and surprise as the expected reaction, the resistance from the invisible wall of energy did not ur and Aiden''s hand easily slipped through the air, crossing the twigs behind it. "What the" Voicing her confusion, Naybeah quickly followed suit and reached out with her right hand as well. However, contrary to theck of reaction with Aiden, as soon as her hand touched the rune that was only visible to Aiden, the symbol suddenly red up with a colorless, white light, and the air instantly transformed into a hardened, shell-like surface, blocking the woman''s attempt at crossing through. "Interesting" Looking at the reaction with increased focus, Aiden''s mind was racing a million miles an hour, trying to figure out the possibilities of the difference in their results. "It seems that there''s something that you both arecking that I do have, that is preventing you from going further" Aiden voiced his thoughts, looking at the girl''s thwarted hand. Pulling his own back, he suddenly grabbed the girl''s hand, pulling it closer to his eyes. Other than yelping in surprise, and blushing slightly, Naybeah did not try to pull her hand back but enjoyed the boy''s touch and full focus. "What do you see Aiden? What could be the difference?" Not wanting to be left out any further, Sarah leaned closer, looking at the two intertwingled hands in front of the boy. ''Could it be that my goblin form is what that allows me to pass through?'' Aiden wasmenting inwardly, not hearing either girl at all. ''But I''m in my normal state right now, how could it possibly know?! And if so, how could I exin that to them?'' Sighing at the possibility, he looked up and shook his head as he let go of the blonde amazon''s hand, who could only pull it back begrudgingly. "I''m not entirely sure, but I have some theories. For now, let''s just go back and try the other way, maybe we can find another route." Changing the subject, Aiden offered to check out the path leading to the right, which he now knew would eventually lead to some sort of holding area for ves and should be at least lightly guarded. Since he couldn''t reveal the knowledge he had gained, he had to be careful with his words. "Yeah, but we should be quick, it''s gettingte, and we should also look for a ce to rest for the night." Sarah spoke as she turned towards the way they came from, letting out a sigh. "This area is not safe, we do not want any unwee surprises during our much-needed rest." Shifting her attention, she looked at Naybeah. "Are you staying with us for the night? I know you told me that your goal is slightly different than ours, but from my knowledge, the ce you both are looking for should be close to the orc''s camp." Nodding at the girl''s offer, Naybeah stole a quick nce at Aiden''s direction, her cheeks betraying her quick notion with their pinkish saturation. "S-sure. The more, the merrier! Let''s do a quick check towards the right and look for a ce to settle for the night. Right, Aiden?" "Yes, that should be fine." Aiden nodded, beginning a slow-paced trek going back the route they came, leaving the strange bioluminescent lichen-filled clearing. The girl''s joining him, the trio soon left the area, arriving at the earlier intersection. Taking at the only, unexplored path ahead of them, Aiden had multiple thoughts racing in his mind. First, he wasn''t sure how he should go on about the knowledge he had about this path and the possible dangers ahead. Second, he wasn''t sure how he should break it to the girls about the only way inside the Orc''s tribe he could find yet. The best approach would be to tell some partial truth. Like that he had an ability, a trick, a ''fake spell'' that allowed him to transform and gain the appearance of a goblin. While this could work, it would raise several additional questions, he wasn''t sure how to answer, at least not right now. However, deciding against revealing any of his secrets, would mean not going forward with the only potential way inside the tribe''s ground, and finding out the required, critical information. Exploring the ve pens area could also potentially alert the orcs of their presence, and significantly increase the difficulty of their quest. "Aiden? You okay?" His silentmentation was interrupted as he suddenly felt a hand gently touching his right shoulder. Seeing the boy''s troubled expression, Sarah leaned closer, she looked at the boy with a worried expression. "I''m fine It''s just" Taking a deep breath, he decided to take the necessary risk. Taking a step forward, he turned around to face both girls at once. Giving a light cough, he raised his arms in the air at his side, as he began to tell the details of his half-thought-out n to the girls. "I wasn''t entirely honest with you both so far." He began speaking, as his wry expression suddenly turned serious. His eyes lighting up, the golden glow suddenly illuminated his figure, creating an awestruck, holier impression of his figure. "I have met and managed to talk with an old orc shaman as I crossed the barrier earlier. He has revealed some important details that we probably need to use to our advantage if we wish to seed." He continued. Raising her right index finger to interject, Sarah asked with an incredulous look. "You SPOKE to an orc? H-how?" Joining the girl, Naybeah also creased her eyebrows, with confusion clearly visible on her face. "Yeah just like she said. How could you talk with these violent monsters?" "Well" Sighing once again, Aiden slowly closed his eyes, as the troubled smile continued to dominate his expression. As his eyelids shut tight, his silhouette suddenly trembled, the air surrounding him began to buzz with visible excitement. His tall stature began to shrink at least a full head, his creole skin darkened as dark green began to mix in, darkening his pigmentation. His muscles stretching and contorting, they seemed to rapidly rearrange themselves into a new form as if they were following a practiced show. In a manner of a few quick seconds, the tall, handsome boy in front of them transformed into a much smaller dark-green-skinned goblin. Whilst his face still vaguely resembled that of Aiden''s natural look and it still had his exotic, golden eyes, it had much cruder contours. His hair remaining the same, but looking much wilder, cascading all the way down to the lower parts of his hip. Seeing the strange sight and the new ''look'' of Aiden, both girls looked at the figure in front of them with shock and horror. If they wouldn''t be standing as witnesses, looking through the whole ordeal, they would never believe that the little creature in front of them was the same youth, the handsome boy that was with them just a moment ago. As the transformationpleted, Aiden slowly opened his eyes, and with the same troubled smile stretching across his face, looked at the girls in front of them. "I used this trick to fool the old shaman." He continued his earlier ''confession''. Slowly darting his eyes from Sarah to Naybeah then back, he asked with a forced smile. "What do you girls think?" It was Sarah who managed to control her emotions better and managed to regain some of her earlierposure, at least enough to phrase a question. "Is this an illusion?" She asked as she looked through Aiden''s body scrutinizingly. Thinking about it for a second, Aiden decided to go with that thought. "Well, that''s half-true. It''s hard to exin, so let''s just say it is something simr to that... " "So this is just some magic trick, and you are still your old self behind this ''disguise''?" Stepping closer, with shock still dominating her expression, Naybeah slowly reached out and poked at Aiden''s chest. Feeling as her fingers pushed on her chest, she gave a slight frown. "It does feel real though" "Woah, it really feels real. Such incredibly potent magic" Following the amazon''s action, Sarah also poked at Aiden''s new body with keen interest. "The skin, the flesh under my touch it feels real" She spoke as she continued to scrutinize Aiden''s new appearance. Chapter 218 - 218 - Woes Of The Heart His lips twitching due to the constant poking of both women, Aiden gently grabbed their hands peeling them off from his skin. "It is still me, in just this ''disguise'' as Naybeah so cleverly stated. It''s nothing more than an borate deception. Whilst I look and feel like a goblin, I am still" He wanted to refer to himself as human, but suddenly he found it incredibly difficult to do so. In the end, Aiden had to change his wording slightly, as he found an inexplicable aversion towards humanity all of a sudden."...myself, Aiden." Continuing with her scrutinizing look, Sarah and Naybeah as well slowly took in the boy''s new appearance. "That still doesn''t exin how you managed to converse with the orc. I know they have intelligence and not just mindless beasts some may think" Sarah gave a sideways nce at the blonde amazon. Before Naybeah could respond, however, she quickly continued. "But still, to converse? I never heard of anyone else being able to speak their harsh, grunting dialect. So that begs the question, how did you converse with the orc shaman?" Already expecting the question, Aiden retained his calm this time. Slightly shaking his head, he exined with his usual, friendly smile donning his face. "I don''t speak Orcish if that''s what you were referring to. However" His friendly smile, curving slightly higher, transformed into a wryly shining grin as he continued his speech, but this time using the [Language: Goblin] skill, conversing fluently in the goblin''s native tongue. "[Goblin] However, I can speak goblin quite adequately." (A.N.: When otherwise not stated in the format I just used above, the speakers would be using Common.) The sudden change and harsh sounding alien words caught both girls by surprise. They could not understand a word what the boy had just said, but from the sound, it did feel simr to what they would usually hear when facing the little humanoid monsters inbat. From the uninitiated, the goblin speech could barely be recognized as intelligent at all. Most of their phrases and verbal phrases were simr to throaty gurgles, and garbled yells. However, behind that garbled mess, there was an actual, definednguage with its own words and grammar. It had its own sophisticated ruleset, its vocabry and it was capable to provide all the expressions as the generally epted and spoken Common was capable of. Even though, that besides their own race and maybe some of their allies, nobody spoke it, it was still a validnguage. "W-what was that?!" Almost at the same time, both girls yelped with surprise after hearing Aiden''s strange words. Seeing their reaction was in the range of his expectations. With a light chuckle, he responded to the eximed question. "Don''t worry, I haven''t gone insane or got cursed or anything. It was just me, conversing in Goblin. I can actually speak it." He gave his best, and most ''honest'' smile he could to further back up his words. He knew that all this info was a lot to take in, but since he now took this leap and decided to entrust them with this half-truth, he would go through with it all the way to the end. "H-how can you speak theirnguage? Who taught you?!" Sarah continued with her questioning, sounding even more shocked than before. "I never heard of anyone speaking it, nor did my mo-, *khmm*, my Mistress ever mention anybody speaking it." Masking the mistake that she almost referred to her Mistress as her mother which was not allowed under any circumstances, Sarah, averted her eyes in embarrassment. "Those who raised me, have taught it to me." Without any thinking, Aiden immediately blurted out a prepared response. Although he looked calm, inwardly he was starting to sweat, focusing on keeping up with his own lies and half-truths to sell this story to the girls. Hoping to guide the conversation forward, his expression returned to his usual friendly smile. "So, with this knowledge, now I can exin what the old orc has told me." Turning around, he looked at the still unexplored right path ahead. "This path will take us to some sort of holding ce for ves. The orc tribe supposedly has many visitors currently, gathering for some reason that I couldn''t understand. Also" His eyes shifted to the still skeptical-looking purple-haired girl, looking at her wryly. "... both of you were spotted outside. I think I managed to convince the old man, that you both are my ves, that I brought with me, but I''m not sure how long that lie would hold. One thing is for certain, we need toe up with a n if we want to get inside, and my only idea is for me to use this disguise of mine." "Hmm" Listening to the boy''s words, Sarah finally showed signs of easing up. Gently reaching for her chin, she began caressing it as she got lost in her own thoughts. On the other hand, Naybeah didn''t take long to be convinced. epting her Chosen Mate''s exnation, the wide-reaching smile returning to her expression, she looked at the goblin-formed Aiden. "Could you you know return to your normal self? If what you say is true then we should wait with whatever we do, we shouldn''t do anything until sundown anyway." "Y-yeah, you are right" Finding it increasingly harder to match the strange gaze that the blonde amazon continued to give him, Aiden stuttered a response before his figure once again began to blur and vibrate. His body suddenly began to grow, his muscles contorted and twitched as they expanded and reformed to match his human form. His skin began to lighten, and regain its healthy bronze shine. The wild, unfettered hair returned to his slightly calmed but still lush state. In mere moments he returned to his previous, ''default state. "Is this better?" Giving an inquisitory look at the tall amazon, Aiden asked with a kind tone. ???Hell yeah, much better!" Seeing that Aiden returned to his old self, the earlier wide, and loving grin returned to Naybeah''s face. With the light-red, pinkish tinge coloring her cheeks, she looked much happier. Witnessing his shapeshifting skill again in action, Sarah remained silent for a while longer, contemting several thoughts, before she nodded as she eventually spoke up. "I agree with Naybeah. We should wait for whatever we are nning to do until around midnight at least. Although I''m not sure how much we can trust an orc''s words, even if it was given to something he mistook for an allied envoy, we shouldn''t rush ahead into the enemy grounds any more than we already did. Let''s go back and find a ce toy rest ande up with a n." Looking at her, Aiden found her demeanor slightly changed, colder, a bit more distant. Although he had some ideas about at least some of the thoughts clouding the purple-haired woman''s mind, he could only sigh for now, and just hope they can talk in privateter. "Okay then, let''s head back and search for a good ce! Come, guys!" Grabbing Aiden''s hand, the amazon turned towards the way they originally came from, and withrge and wide steps she turned to leave whilst pulling Aiden behind her. Deciding against voicing her displeasure of this sight, Sarah only clicked her tongue as she followed the two from behind.Meanwhile, as her eyes lingered on the Aiden-sized bag that the tall amazon continued pulling. Just who was this boy? Was he even human? Are this strange skill and supposed knowledge he revealed was something that he learned from the family he so far didn''t talk about much? She knew about his supposed sister, a blonde girl that visited and got into trouble in the slums some time ago, but besides her, there was no information avable about his background at all.Where did hee from? How did he just appear in this backwater ce? His speed, his strength, his incredible sight, senses, and now his wide range of skills These were all beyond the capabilities of human limits. Could such a powerful skill be a bloodline inheritance? On top of that, the fact that he could converse in the Goblin''snguage with such ease was something she just couldn''t wrap her head around. But even if she would ept all of these, there was the fact that he waspletely immune to her family''s bloodline skills. The mental barriers he had his mind wrapped around were proven to be too much not just for herself but even for her Mistress as well! Resting her eyes on the back of the long, ck-haired youth, Sarah let a troubled sigh escape her pouting lips. Despite all of this, the words of her Mistress kept resounding in her mind. For some reason, the more she traveled with this boy, she found it all the more alluring. The thought of getting closer to him started to sound more and more pleasant, and this thought was incredibly scary for Sarah. Still, it was hard if not impossible to control the heart... Chapter 219 - 219 - The Crackling Campfire Sitting on the ground, leaning against the dark grey, clean trunk of a nearby tree, Aiden was lost in his thoughts as he watched the crackling campfire. Looking at the dance of the mes as they danced in the setting sun was a calming, soothing experience. Crackling in the corner of their makeshift, hastily set up camp, he watched the long shadows that the light cast on the ground as they twisted and curled in odd, obscure shapes and provided a small radius of light. He was lost watching this strange ritualistic tribal performance. The fire itself was pulsating as it continued to crackle, the glowing embers seemed to move in rhythm with the mes, matching every dip and sweep. It was mesmerizing to watch, colors of orange and red gave way to the core donning a mixture of white and yellow, where the emanating heat was the greatest. Aiden found himself lost at this strangely soothing, calming sight. His thoughts went back to the day''s happenings, focusing on the words of the old orc shaman mostly. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t think of any other n, a different n to infiltrate the enemy camp without revealing himself and endangering the two women apanying him. ''It would be much simpler if I would be alone'' He sighed at the thought. Ever since he met up with his family, which he cared for deeply, he found it increasingly harder to be alone, to set his own true self free. All these ''skins'', these forms... Human, goblin, even his draconic traits, were just ayer on top of his true self, the Primal one. After all the years of his childhood through their training in the Pocket World, he never found an answer to the very basic, very first question of his ''Just who or what am I?'' Hemented as another long-winded sigh escaped his lips. Looking up towards the sky, he looked through a small opening in the otherwise thick canopy of the tall trees that surrounded them. Amidst the dark grey that dominated the ''heavens above'', the setting sun let out a fiery orange roar the saturated the despairing darkness. It was the battle cry to the gathering night, ast attempt to stand against the starlit clear night sky. Lost in thought, Aiden was only brought back to reality when a hand gently reached for his right shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. Turning his gaze away from the sky above towards his right, he gave a heartwarming, weing smile at the purple-hairedpanion of his, Sarah who came out from her tent. "Hey." Although it was clear that there were a million things she wanted to say, the only word that managed to escape her pouty, cute lips was a simplistic greeting. Even a smile proved to be too difficult to manage currently. She looked at the boy with a hazy, difficult gaze, impossible to read her true thoughts. "Hey there. Can''t sleep?" Aiden kept up his friendly smile as he nodded at the neer. However, as he looked at her difficult, unreadable expression, the smile soon receded. His facial muscles morphing, an apologetic look, soon revealed itself as he looked at the girl. "Listen, I am really sorry for not-" Thinking that she was still mad at him, Aiden wanted to repeat his apology that he already attempted to convey several times by now. However, he was silenced as Sarah, with a small, barely perceptible smile curving the edges of her lips, lifted her right index finger and ced it on Aiden''s lips, silencing and stunning him in the process. "Ssshhh! No need for that, Aiden." She spoke with a whispering tone, as the curvature of her smile continued to caress her facial muscles, stretching ever-wider, twitching, and turning her entire face into a beautiful, picturesque outlook. Small watery droplets begin to blur and cloud her vision. Moving her finger away, he gently touched, fondled the boy''s right cheek with the back of her palm. "Don''t worry, I''m not mad anymore I was just surprised, by your revtion, is all" Aiden was stunned, shocked to a silent stare as she looked at the emotional woman next to him. Unsure of how to act, or react to the situation, he smiled as he grabbed the woman''s caressing palm and lightly peeled it off his face, pulling it away ever so slightly. "We still need to figure out a way into the camp" He spoke with a pensive tone. "We haven''t made any ns, you all just agreed to ''being'' my human ves. I don''t like that at all I don''t want either of you to be degraded like that Do you have any other ideas?" When they arrived at this ce and set up camp to rest till midnight, Aiden recounted the full story of what the old orc shaman had told him. Contrary to his expectations, both girls instantly agreed to y the role of his ves and went forward with the n. However, he didn''t like this approach at all. Although it would give him the opportunity to work alone and utilize his skills to the fullest, he would, at the same time, leave the girls on their own. They would be exposed to increased dangers, and he would be unable to jump in to save them. Shaking her head, the smile never left Sarah''s face. "No, this is the only way forward. Naybeah and I are stronger than you give us credit for, we can handle a couple of guards no problem. This n would also give us the chance to free the captured ves while you are ying the role of an emissary inside the camp." Looking at the dancing mes ahead of them, Sarah continued after letting out a cute yawn. "To be perfectly honest, the n is good. It gives us the best chances. Every other option I can think of carries the risk of exposing all of us. Mystare, can be broken, I''m not as strong as the Mistress We can''t rely on it too much. You''re shapeshifting skill, however, is real. That is our best chance toplete our mission and get back in one piece." A sudden idea surging in her mind, Sarah almost jumped up, as she hurriedly reached for the pouch resting at her side. Opening it up, she grabbed the two ck crystals, the Monster Cores she extracted from the two orcs the blonde amazon defeated earlier. Pulling them out, she presented them to Aiden, as the smile on her face continued to dominate her expression, giving her a loving, kind look. "Here. Take them, they may prove useful to you, on your way inside!" Looking at the woman with a troubled expression, Aiden was hesitant to take the crystals. "I can''t These are yours, you got them. I can''t take them from you just like that." "No, take them. The mission is much more important than the coins I would get. Don''t forget, I don''t need the credit nor the money that much. However, for you, these crystals could prove critical!" As she answered, Aiden saw a glint shing through her eyes for a moment. Although he couldn''t be sure, it was as if the girl wanted to tell her that she knew more than what he actually told them Giving it some more thought, Aiden eventually acquiesced and took the crystals from the girl''s hands. "Thanks. I will remember your kindness." Upon the boy''s words, a faint tinge of light red hue began to saturate the girl''s puffy cheeks turning her smiling expression even fuller. Aiden found her embarrassed state incredibly cute, and felt a strange, never-before-felt urge bubbling inside his heart to nudge and tease the defenseless girl. Still, he refused to act on it and just kept smiling at the girl. Pulling his hand back, he put it behind himself as the crystals vanished from his hand, only to appear inside his system''s inventory in the next moment. When his palm was visible again, the crystals were already gone from sight. Unable to respond, Sarah continued to look and be lost in Aiden''s exotic eyes. Although being the wiser, she knew she should say something, but as she looked at the boy''s incredible, golden irises, she found herself lost in her own world, unable to move. Then, as if being possessed, her heart sent a jolt through her nerves all the way to her limbs. Reacting to the sudden request, her body jolted to action and nudged closer to the boy. Grabbing the boy''s shoulders, she leaned slightly closer and looked deeply into Aiden''s eyes. Shocked and stunned, Aiden once again found himself in a situation that he didn''t know how to handle. Not wanting to offend the girl, but also unsure of how to ''escape'', he remained still, giving his ever-present, friendly, kind smile to the girl who was only inches away from him at this point. He could feel the girl''s breathing as she exhaled small puffs of air through her small nose on her face. He felt the slowly rising heat emanating from her body, as she continued to focus on his eyes. Opening his mouth, he could only whisper as he tried to match her gaze. "Sarah are you alright?" Chapter 220 - 220 - Firsts As if their lips were mas of opposite poles, Sarah and even Aiden felt an inexplicable force that wanted to push them forward, closer to each other. As Aiden kept matching the heated woman''s hazy eyes, he felt a strange, new feeling, some new sensation, simr to excitement bubbling up inside him. He felt this strange churn in his stomach, he felt the pulsating heat as his body and rapidly beating heart tried its best to match up to the woman in front of him. It wasn''t the first time, he felt the increased pace, the rapid thumping of his heart, but usually, it happened under heightened duress. This situation, whilst it could be considered tense, there was no visible danger ahead, unless his receptors were warning him of something he couldn''t see, hear or sense in any way. It was the first time he felt this strange, new feeling, this hunger to bite on those pouty, small, oval-shaped lips of Sarah. It was the first time, he didn''t know why he found it harder to stare back at the girl as the seconds, the moments continued to pass with tense silence surrounding them. "Sarah, I" Opening his lips Aiden tried to diffuse the situation but was silenced once again when suddenly, the woman, who kept flitting her gaze between his incredible eyes and his lips for several long seconds now, suddenly jolted into action and leaned forward once more. Her pouted lips rapidly closed the minuscule distance and locked themselves with the boy''s as he was once again, for the nth time, was stunned by the girl''s perplexing actions. Wide-eyed he tried looking at the girl hoping to get some answers but to no avail. The girl,pletely giving herself to the moment, has closed her eyes and let her rapidly pounding, maiden heart take over the control. Itsted only for a fleeting moment, before the girl slowly pulled her reluctant lips away from the boy, and averted her eyes, suddenly finding the crackling campfire much more interesting than everything else. As her heart was finally satisfied, it returned the control to her mind, which, unable to process her own actions, froze on the spot. She found the situation much too embarrassing, but some unknown force refused to let Sarah stand up and bolt away before she could get at least some short reaction out of the boy. Focusing her gaze on the dancing mes, she did not dare to peak at Aiden even the slightest before she could hear his words. Looking ahead, Aiden remained frozen in ce for several seconds before his wide-eyed expression started to thaw and return his stunted facial expression to life. His face turning from shock, to surprise to eventually settle on a goofy smile. He wasn''t sure why, but he found the action pleasant. The taste of her lips was sweet, something he didn''t expect to enjoy too much. However, he quickly recognized that the taste was a different kind. This subtle savor was something that seemed to affect his heart rather than his energy reserves or his stomach. The initial warm pulsation and rapid beat turned even faster, more violent. For a moment, when their lips touched for the first time, Aiden actually had the thought of grabbing for his own organ otherwise it might escape through his flesh. Although barely a second had passed, it felt like almost an eternity for the girl as she kept nervously fidgeting, waiting for something tangible from the boy. Feeling increasingly more embarrassed, she was reaching the limits of her patience, and was about to speak up when she finally felt a movement from the corner of her eyes. Suddenly feeling an unexinable loss on the surface of his own mouth, Aiden reached for it and gently touched his own lips, the same spot where just a mere moment ago, Sarah interlocked hers with his. A sense of loss, a tinge of ufortable reaction zapped through his nervous system, giving a reminder and a warning that what he experienced was not something that he could simply rationalize with his mind. "Thank you" Eventually, these simple words seemed the most appropriate. From the slight crack between his upper and lower lip the word "Thank you" was whispered into the wind. He looked ahead, lost in the moment as if the words themselves were visible as the gentle wind carried them forward towards its intended recipient. Even though his response was short, Sarah still felt an almost forgotten sensation, joy surging from the depth of her soul, reaching all parts of her very being. This simple phrase of his, this simplistic, most basic way of showing gratitude was already more than enough for the girl to feel invigorated, refreshed even. Her embarrassed, nervous expression, suddenly calmed down, and a goofy, wide grin began to stretch her facial muscles. She could see their kiss in front of her eyes in the dancing, entangling mes. Even though the whole eventsted barely a second and could be said that it was nothing more than the touching of their lips, for her, it was the best and obviously only kiss of her entire life. She did not find her Mistress''s, no, her MOTHER''s words strange or uforting any longer. Now, she could finally rte to her advice and felt like that the idea of getting closer to this long, ck-haired, golden-eyed, and creole-skinned young man would be really enjoyable. Heaving a heavy sigh, she slowly and silently sat up, and with her face deeply colored with a mixture of red and pink, she looked at the boy next to him who still looked as if he was lost in his own thoughts trying to regain his ownposure. The fact that she finally managed to strain that ever-present calmness from his face, seemed incredibly joyous, she let out a light-hearted chuckle as she spoke with a soothing, gentle voice. "I will take a few extra moments to rest my eyes before we set out." Turning around, she walked back to her own tent before Aiden would have had the chance to react to her words at all. Several minutes had toe to pass before Aiden managed to finally shake down his nervous shackles and regain some of his lostposure. He looked towards the girl''s tent, still not sure what had just happened. He wasn''t aplete idiot, he eventually realized that there were no ill-thoughts from the girl. Sarah didn''t just look at him as a partner for the mission, and maybe a potential friend. No, this was more than that. Touching his lips once more, he found the spot where they touched to be very sensational. Every time his fingers gently caressed that fated spot, he felt his own heart react, and increase the pace of its rhythm ever so slightly. "You know, I was expecting to be your first, to be honest" Suddenly a familiar voice came from the other tent, jolting Aiden from his feverish trance. Turning towards the source of the noise, he saw the tall, blonde amazon emerging from her tent, with a mischievous grin stretching across her face. With confident,rge, wide steps she quickly walked next to the boy and sat down at his left side. Not minding that she would be interrupting his peacefulmentation, she jostled next to him, and without any warning, she leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. A bit more clearer with his situation with the amazon, Aiden could only smile wryly, not running away and letting the girl use his body as her pillow. Several seconds to a minute had passed once again in silence as both of them watched the rhythmic pulsation of the mes in front of them. Fixated on the long dancing silhouette it cast against the ground, the blonde amazon spoke after a long while. "You know, I don''t mind not being your only one" she began, confusing Aiden more and more with her words. ''Only one?! What does that mean?'' However, before he could spend more time thinking it through, Naybeah continued. "...but at least I want to be your first, doing that!" "Doing what?" Aiden asked, unable to keep his silence any longer. He found both girls to be equally confusing in the way they acted. "You know" Lifting her head from her shoulder, Naybeah lifted her brows, waving her head towards the fire, trying to exin her thoughts in the worst way possible. "THAT! The THING!" "Sorry, but I don''t understand you at all" Shaking his head, Aiden looked at the girl with a confused stare. "You know THAT! You can''t sleep with other women before doing it with me!" With great difficulty, she finally managed to blurt out the statement she herself didn''t dare think of. Feeling the burning sensation due to the sheer volume of embarrassment, Naybeah was unable to stay any longer, she jumped up from her seat and rushed back to her tent, but not before stealing a quick smooch on the boy''s left cheek, leaving Aiden by himself once again with his increasing headache over recent events. "Sleep with other women? But I sleep with Lilly all the time" Looking at the entrance of the amazon''s tent, he only shook his head. Turning her gaze towards Sarah''s he heaved a sigh,menting on the events that had just transpired, not understanding either of them at all... Chapter 221 - 221 - Fusion Once Again Being left alone again, Aiden sighed once again as he took another look at both small tents, before shifting his attention towards his inventory. ''I still have several hours and I will need all the advantages I can get to be sessful. My goblin form might not necessarily bring me the results we would need What to do'' Hemented. While Aiden''s goblin form would be genuine and not just an illusion as the girls believed, it would still not be necessarily enough to get him the results they were hoping for. From the absorbed ex-leaders'' memories, Aiden realized a crucial problem: Goblins were looked down on by the other races in the horde. If he wanted tomand proper respect, he would need to either raise his own worth by a significant amount or, and that''s what would be the most feasible, use another form to gain entry. The question was, what? The two monster cores extracted from the bodies of the two dead orcs, might not give him enough life essence to formte the new form Even if it would, he would be considered a regr orc, and would have no knowledge on how to climb the ranks, he did not absorb the orcs directly. No, he needed something more, something special "Wait, that''s it!" Realization suddenly hitting him, Aiden jumped up from his seat hitting his left palm with his right clenched fist. He almost forgot, he had a system feature that he never used, besides taking a quick look at it once! He still had several hours, before they would need to get ready, and now with all the additional items he gained, he might have enough ingredients to create something unique, something that wouldmand the respect he would need! Focusing his will on his System''s interface, a transparent, blue-tinted window appeared, floating in front of Aiden''s eyes. Focusing on the avable options, he selected the Fusion item, from the appearing System Menu. Following that, a faintly familiar and very brief screen greeted him. The Step-by-Step Fusion System Process screens. [Fusion * Step 1 of 3 * Please provide the ingredients for the process. Once ready, continue to NEXT step.] ''If I remember correctly from Enya''s words from back then, I will be able to select as many Mastered Forms as I want plus Monster Orbs if I have any She did say I should try to stick with at most 3 but prefer 2 as that would be still feasible. Anything higher than that would risk potential mutations, whatever they may end up being.'' Deliberating his options, he looked through the list of choices that suddenly appeared. [* Avable choices: * - Mushroom bug -Cave Viper -Worgen (mutated) -Goblin * Usable items as ingredients: * - Monster Energy Orb (Tier 1) (clean) - Mountain Orc''s Heart (Tier 1) (clean)] As expected, his two first acquired but mostly harmless, primitive forms appeared as the first two choices. His more feral, mutated Worgen form was also amongst his expectations. The Goblin form, however, did surprise him slightly, as he just recently acquired it, and whilst he did gain the goblin leader''s memories and was quite confident in using it, Aiden didn''t expect that it would be an avable option to choose. From the items, he smiled, as he was hoping for the heart to be amongst the list of choices and was d that it was the fact. Lamenting about the list of choices for a short while, he selected the ones he wanted to check out first then hit the shing NEXT button. The screen quickly faded, only to reappear with a new one. [Fusion * Step 2 of 3 * Selected Life Forms: -Goblin -Monster Energy Orb (Tier 1) (clean) -Mountain Orc''s Heart (Tier 1) (clean) -Worgen (mutated) (Tier 1) Chance for mutation: Calcting ] The screen kept flickering as the system most likely did the necessary calctions. Thinking back, he remembered that back then this part did not take long, however back then, there was only one possible result disyed. With the three that he selected, Aiden was expecting at least a few. Just as he expected, several seconds passed on with nothing as the transparent, floating screen continued to flicker, blocking most of his vision, the system doing its calctions silently. With no other choice, Aiden tried to rx a bit, and focus on his hearing instead. Right now, he was the most vulnerable as his vision was impaired and being this close to the ''enemy'' territory he did not want to risk any ambushes while he was in this state. Luckily the only noise that he could hear was the crackling sound of the campfire as it continued its ritualistic dance, squirming and wiggling as it continued to eat up the provided substance to provide its light and warmth to the people around it. Eventually, the floating system screen stopped it''s annoying flickering and came back into view. [Chance for mutations: 15-25% Calcting results Please stand by.] Looking at that it took the system this long toe up with an estimation, which was only a range instead of the fixed number like it was previously causing a small pout to sour Aiden''s previously happy mood. Now, he had to wait for more, before he would be able to see the projected results finally. Heaving a long sigh, Aiden once again focused on his other sensory abilities as he waited for the system, to once again, finish its work and give him the results he was waiting for. Seconds, turning into minutes, soon piling one after another, Aiden found the passage of time, longer and longer. Once he heard the familiar bell-like sound ringing in his mind, he quickly focused on the appearing screen in front of him. Focusing on it, Aiden first went wide-eyed, before a smile began to creep up on his face, stretching his facial muscles. The results were even better than what he had hoped for! [... 3 Fusion Results found! Fusion Options: Option 1) Fused Form: Varag (Tier 2+) (Goblin + ck Wolf Alpha) Chance for mutation: 15% Potential: C+ Vaguely resembling hobgoblins, this magical fusion of Goblin and ck Wolf can reach slightly over 2 meters in height if it would stand in its two back, strong legs. However, these hirsute, violent creatures have double-jointed legs and walk in a hunched posture, vaguely resembling their feral origin. They have bestial, distinctly wed fingers and paw-like feet, further pointing to their unnatural, bestial ancestor. Due to their dominant, feral traits, Varags lose most of their intelligence and can barely be considered more than bloodthirsty, violent creatures. However, in exchange, both their strength and speed are several times their original ancestor''s. Even a single Varag can be considered a grave threat, but you would rarely encounter them alone in the wild, but most usually inrger packs. Their vocal cords deformed, they are incapable of speech. Option 2) Fused Form: Hobgoblin (Goblin + Mountain Orc) Chance for mutation: 20% Potential: C+ Larger, stronger, smarter, and much more menacing members of the goblinoids, broadly and falsely considered as the evolved version of the average goblins. In reality, Hobgoblins carry the cunning and magical aptitude of their goblin origin while inheriting the increased might, ferocity, and intelligence of their orcish nature. While still not the smartest of the ''civilized'' races of Eora, they can not be looked down upon in any way. Reaching 1.8-2-2 meters in height, their dark brown, reddish-bronze skin from a distance they resemble tall, darker exotic looking goblins, slightly leaner than their Orc Ancestors. However, with their leaner physique, they also sport an increased speed with a fervor that makes them a considerable threat to anyone. Option 3) Fused Form: Feral Orc (Mountain Orc + ck Wolf Alpha) Chance for mutation 25%+ Potential: B+ This feral and incredibly violent species is the result of the unnatural magical fusion of Mountain Orcs and ck Wolves. Sporting an incredible 2.5-3 meter in height, robust, broad muscles, thick ck fur, and fully red, clear, dark red eyes, these monsters are a frightful sight even from a distance. Their sclera-less, demonic dark red eyes are great fuel for nightmares and scary stories around the campfire. Whilst capable of speech, they barely retain any resemnce of intelligence in exchange for their incredible strength and ferocity. Therge, onyx ws growing from the tip of their fingers, are capable of shattering even full tree trunks into tiny splinters. Whilst their speed is unchanged, their violent, bloodthirsty nature puts them as a grave threat and huge risk.] Looking through the long list, Aiden was speechless for several minutes. Grinning at the air in front of him, he kept reading through the list of options, thinking about the presented options. Whilst there were two that seemed to be considered ''less intelligent'' by the world, that would not be a big problem for him as he would most likely retain his own sanity in the newly acquired form regardless. The problem was how the other members of the Horde would think about him, and how he would fit in. Considering the goal of the mission, although he was very tempted to try out the incredible sounding Feral orc, he shifted his attention towards the second option instead... Chapter 222 - 222 - System Interference? ''Should I do it? It would definitely increase my chances but I would be leaving them defenseless'' Aiden was in deep thought thinking about if it would be worth it to go forward to the veryst step in the process or not. He wasn''t sure how long it would take him to evolve into the selected form, and on top of that, he had no idea what he would do if he would get some potentially dangerous mutation. Still, on the other hand, if he would not do it, he would have a much harder time tomand some respect during the meeting. Goblins are considered barely above the status of ves. They are used as scouts and cannon fodder to wear down the enemy forces before the main horde would arrive and get ready to go all out. They usually weren''t told much, just the bare minimum they would need toplete their objectives. Looking back at it, Aiden couldn''t really wrap his head around what was the benefit for the goblins to join such an alliance with the orcs and the other races? What did they hope to gain? They were used as nothing more than meat shields, barely above the animals and ves! However, if he were to pick any of the avable options, he would turn into either some rare monstrous entity that while inducing fear to most of the tribe members, would also begin questioning his presence. Such violent and non-intelligent races woulde alone and wouldn''t have an ''envoy'' at all. Hobgoblins on the other hand were very rare, and whilst most likely would have a spot in the horde, they would already have their own envoy in there, and that could also potentially blow his cover. Thinking about it for a second, he shook his head. ''No, forget it, there aren''t enough benefits but I stand to lose much more'' Coming to a decision, he was about to close the window when he spotted something that he was sure wasn''t avable there before! ''What is this?'' Focusing on the blinking empty section on the fourth section of the screen. It was as if it was inviting him, telling to focus his attention on it, and select a previously unavable fourth option "What the" Giving in to the inviting blinking screen, Aiden focused his attention on it and selected the invisible button. Upon his selection, the list of choices once again expanded, however, this time there was only one element. A new one, that he hadn''t seen before [List of Choices: - Primal] "Since when can I?" mumbling with disbelief, Aiden was utterly shocked at the sight of the new possible ingredient in the mix. Absent-minded andpletely shocked, Aiden was about to reach to select the only avable option from the screen, when the screen buzzed again and updated. However, at the next second, it seemed that nothing has changed, the Primal option was still the only avable there. Not sure what to think of it, he selected the option and looked at it as the floating window in front of him flickered and updated to show him the previous screen asking for his patience as it did some mysterious calctions. However, the mutation probability also changed, showing a mysterious ?? of the previous 15-25% range. It seemed that whatever happened, the system was unable to predict the chances for a potential mutation anymore. [Chance for mutations: ?? Calcting results Please stand by.] As the screen continued to calcte relentlessly, Aiden was left alone to his bubbling doubts, thoughts. Just why did the screen suddenly change? He was about to cancel when suddenly the screen reacted to his decision Is something, or something trying to guide him, push him into going through with the Fusion? If so, then why? ''Was it Enya?'' His first thought was the otherworldly presence that resided in his soul space. However, he quickly shook his head to shoo that thought away. ''No, she can''t have been, she is still unconscious Then who or what was it?'' No matter how much he tried to think, he couldn''te up with any thoughts. His thought process was forced to end when the screen abruptly blinked again and updated. A new, never before seen message began to appear in front of Aiden, seeming as if it wasing from someone rather than the system itself. [Please select an option from the below choices. Note, that this option is a one-time offer only, you will not be able to return to this exact list of choices in the future.] Raising his eyebrows in confusion, Aiden epted the text and waited for the list of options to appear. What appeared next shocked him to the core. [Primal Fusions 3 Fusion Results found! Option 1) Primal Draconian (Tier 2+) - (Primal + Ancient Dragon + ????) Chance for Mutation: ???? Potential: ???? Draconians are a unique and revered, feared race that was birthed from the eventual consummation between Dragon and Human. Over the years the race has further evolved, incorporating other essences into their mix, but it has remained the same. They have a simr body posture to their human ancestors, however, their bodies are covered with thick scales. They also have an additional appendage at their backs: a snout and short stubby reptilian tail. There are many variations and subspecies in their race with their own social hierarchy. Primal Draconians are a somewhat special and incredibly ancient subspecies extinct and nearly forgotten by today''s world. They were a mighty existence with the blood of the Primals coursing through their veins. There is not much information avable about them, but one thing is sure: Once they were considered the Apex of their race, the irrefutable kings, the true lords, rulers of all Draconians. Option 2) Primal Goblin Lord (Tier 2+) - (Primal + Goblin + ????) Chance for Mutation: ???? Potential: ???? An incredibly mysterious variant of the goblinoids thought of extinct of today''s civilized folk. There are no avable records, only near-forgotten legends of this incredible race. There is no definite information about how they looked, but one thing that was certain from the avable myths and legends: They were the true leaders of their race, possessing the inherent aura of royalty, all goblins had an instinctual reverence towards them. Option 3) Primal Symic (Tier 2+) - (????) Chance for Mutation: ????? Potential: ???? Symics are magic-born creatures of the world. They resemble tall 7-foot tall giant blue-skinned humanoids resembling a cruel mixture of reptiles, elves, and even humans. Their actual visuals depend on the life forms they incorporated into themselves. Simr to the now-extinct and ancient race of Primals, they had the ability to absorb other life forms into their own core gaining their dominant traits in the process. However, the main difference is that they incorporate the life essence of the absorbent into their core and are incapable of shapeshifting or using the base form any longer. Researchers are also debating about their intelligence constantly. Mostly they are used as mere constructs, and to this day, -mostly to theck of subjects- it is not clear if they have a true conscience and soul at all.] The new choices were incredibly unique and at the same time pretty vague. Many of the information was obscured and unavable for Aiden. For example for the Symics, besides the name, the categorization, and a short description, Aiden couldn''t see anything else. Still, these choices are much better than the previous three. Even counting in the fact that he couldn''t check out the chance for mutations during evolution, they were still a much better choice than before. The problem was if what the system said was true, this was a once-in-lifetime choice for him, offered for some unknown reason. What should he do? He kept on going through the avable information over and over again, trying toe up with a feasible decision. In the end, although he would have wanted to get all, he discarded the first option. Dragonians, while sounding powerful and a worthy addition to his repertoire felt much too simr to his already avable temporary transformation through his [Draconic Heritage] innate ability. From the remaining two choices, Primal Goblin Lord or Primal Symic he wasn''t sure which one to choose. He could obviously disregard the text about the Symic Sentience, -regardless if it was true or not-, it would not affect him and his transformed state in the slightest. However, the potential was probably incredibly high for the race due to the fact that it could constantly grow stronger through the absorption skill they possessed, it could interfere with his Primal nature and cause a potential conflict. Or maybe, his Primal Core would weaken the Symic form, causing it to be unable to get other life essences to strengthen itself any longer Thinking it through, Aiden heaved arge sigh, as his attention focused on the second option once again. ''Primal Goblin, huh?'' He smirked at himself, reading through the avable text once more. ''I have no idea what you looked like or what abilities you possess but you do seem to be the best choice here. But as true leaders, royalties of your species, I do hope that my decision will be the correct one'' He sighed once more, as a small smile began to curve the edges of his lips. Slowly, he reached for the screen and focused his attention on the second option... Chapter 223 - 223 - Uninvited Guests (AN: Quick note only, as I guess most people skip the Author''s Note at the end: We do have a Discord Channel, which I invite you all to join! I will be sharing 1000 Redeemeble codes on there EXCLUSIVELY (already had one) and I will post the official art there as well! Link (you can ALSO find it at the synopsis and as ament under here as well): http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal) --- Focusing his mind, Aiden decided to go with his gut feeling and chose the second option from the offered fusion list. As soon as he did, the floating, transparent screen flickered for a moment and vanished from sight. The strange reaction cause Aiden to look in front of him incredulously. However, before he could do anything, suddenly a new window appeared, with the never-before-seen thest step in the Fusion menu. Although, even not seeing this particr part before, Aiden had a suspicion that the text was not the regr, but just as before it was altered to his strange situation. [Fusion * Step 3 of 3 * Selected Fusion: Primal Goblin Lord Ranking: Tier 2+ Potential: ???? Ingredients: - Primal - Goblin - ????] Just as in the previous screen, the text still had sections that were unreadable. However, he noticed something different than before; the strange glyphs that covered the text and turned it into some garbled mess were flickering differently than the floating window itself. As if it was an additionalyer on top of it. He had the urge to reach out for the closest in front of him, but before he could do so, a text tinted in the same light-blue tint as the menu itself began to slowly appear at the bottom, providing additional details of the process and giving a warning? [... Chance for Mutation: ???? Warning: Proceeding with the fusion will force the host to enter the Primal Egg state and turn the system unavable for the duration of the fusioned evolution. Make sure the host is at safety for the duration of the process. Time required toplete fusion: ...Calcting, please stand by...] ''Huh so that strange ck leathery cocoon is called Primal Egg? Never knew.'' He smirked with the newly gained tidbit as he read through the text. As he reached thest part, he looked up with a mix of surprise and slight confusion. ''Wait! Shouldn''t there be additional options avable? I remember Enya mentioning back then, that I should be able to alter the end result by choosing and discarding certain traits. Is that not avable this time?'' He asked inwardly, although he himself wasn''t sure why. There was nothing and nobody there to answer Sighing at the thought, Aiden shook his head as he returned his focus to the still proudly dancing campfire for the time being. Although the constantly flickering and floating screen blocked most of his vision, by now he had no difficulty in ignoring it. Besides, his hearing was sharp enough, so if anything would attempt to get a jump at them, he would hear and even smell from far away. Luckily the ce they picked was quite hidden, the chances of being spotted were minimal at best. After around a minute, the floating, blue-tinted screen blinked and the bell-sound informing Aiden that a process waspleted rang inside Aiden''s mind. Focusing on the window once more, he looked at the bottom section of the text. [... Time required toplete fusion: 02 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds] Below the text, a single button appeared with the text ''Begin'' written on it with bright green. The 2 hours were rtively short, but it was still long enough that he couldn''t just start it without waking one of the girls in the process to trade ces with them. Looking up at the dark, night sky, the time would be just barely enough toplete the fusion and re-emerge from his cocoon by the time they would need to head out. Looking at two erected tents once again, Aiden found himself in a strange, but as he continued to think about it, a serious dilemma. Who should he wake up? Sarah or Naybeah? When they set up camp, they both offered to create an hourly shift which he boldly discarded and offered to stand guard for the entire duration of their rest saying that he could meditate to recuperate and still retain his awareness in the process. Whilst that was true, at the time, he didn''t think such events would y out forcing him out ofmission for 2 full hours! He just wanted to check up the options with the new forms he gained since hisst check on this mysterious system function! Letting out arge breath of air, Aiden sighed in defeat. He couldn''t do anything now, he needed to go through with the fusion, and go to rest. He continued to look from left to right, looking, measuring both entrances, trying toe up with a reasonable solution to this problem, sadly to no avail. Whoever he would pick, he would be subjected to their questionings, which he couldn''t properly answer at all, and would also risk offending the other woman in the process as well. There was no good way forward at all, there were no good answers! ''What should I do?'' Hemented at his own self-caused misery. All the events that happened with the girls and him before made him ufortable to interact with either of them too much for the time being. As he was continuing to heave heavy sighs and gaze at the light, red-orange mes curling and twisting against the light breeze that flew past by, he was suddenly alerted by the sound of footstepsing from further up north. Jumping from his seat, he immediately activated his [Dark Sense] ability, pooling some of hisrge pool of [Soul Power] into it. As the ability activated, he sent out several energy-filled mental pulses in his surroundings but keeping his focus towards the source of the footstepsing from the north. A momentter, his theory proved correct, as the familiar, orc life essence signals appeared on his System''s Map slowly, but surely sneaking towards their camp. ''Scouts? Maybe they spotted the fire? But here, so far away from their camp? What are they doing?'' He frowned at the prospect Something was not right. Although he had several questions, Aiden knew there was no time to waste, he had to act now if he wanted to avert a potential disaster. His face turned solemn, he began slowly walking forward, approaching at the orc''s direction, in a course to intercept them just a bit further away from their camp. As he took the first step, his figure began to flicker, and the space distorted around the contours of his visage. His muscles contorting, they began to rearrange themselves, to wee the new form they were ordered to. His skin rapidly darkening, the dark green colors reced the creole bronze that he usually sported. His figure rapidly rearranging itself, in a manner of seconds his figure donned the goblin look he revealed to the girls just a few hours before. As thest step, the gnarled, gemstoned little branch that the other goblins seemed to revere and even the old orc seemed to use appeared in his right hand as he left the camp and crossed a bush, deliberately snapping a few twigs in the process and hopefully alerting the girls as well. He couldn''t waste the time to check if this attempt was proved sessful or not, because as soon as he left the bushes, he spottedrge, bulky figures approaching from the visible distance. His golden eyes shining brightly, he could clearly see the approaching uninvited guests, they were two Mountain Orcs, simr to the duo they killed during the morning when they met with the blonde amazon. They had dark skin, blending into the nightly environment expertly. Both of them had a pair ofrge yellowish thick tusks emerging from their lower jar reaching the heights of their wide noses. They both carried arge, but crude-looking axe on their barren backs. The only clothing they wore was some fur that they wrapped around their waistline, covering up their delicate parts, the rest was barren, naked for the eye to see. They were tall, almost double Aiden''s current goblin form''s height. Noticing the golden-eyed little fe, both orcs didn''t seem surprised in the slightest, it was as if they were expecting him to show up. Noticing the curvature of the increasing grin on their faces, Aiden frowned. This wasn''t a random, coincidental encounter. This was a deliberate set up. Someone knew they were here and sent these orcs after them. Was it the old orc? ''How did he know our location so far away?'' He asked himself but had no answer to it. At least not now. Still, before he could continue toment on the issue at hand, the orcs arrived in front of him, and without bowing or any form of respect, they smirked at the little dark green goblin before they averted their attention towards his campsite, licking their lips in the process. The one on the right, pointed at the campsite as he looked at the small, frail-looking goblin. Opening hisrge and wide mouth he uttered some strange, unfamiliar words at Aiden. "[Orcish] Thag, wag''rahga! Toga snarg!" At his words his partner to his left snorted loudly, nodding his head agreeing to his unfamiliar words. Before Aiden, could blurt out anything in response, he heard the ever-present system''s gentle bell-like sound resounding in his mind, giving a bit of rity to the situation. [Language: Orc discovered! Analyzing information 1%] Chapter 224 - 224 - “We Take Slaves!” As his momentary confusion passed and read the notification, Aiden quickly closed the system interface and returned his attention to the two uninvited guests in front of him. Although they were addressing him, or more likely COMMANDING him if going by the talking orc''s tone itself. The orcs were looking towards the bushes where he came from, ignoring the small green scrawny being in front of them. Seemingly ignoring the tant disrespect they were showing him, Aiden gave the friendliest smile he could muster, looking at two tall dark-brown-skinned girthy giants in front of him. Opening his arms in a wide, inviting manner he stepped closer, speaking with a calm tone using the Goblinnguage forck of better options. "[Goblin] Sorry, but I really can''t understand what you just said. What did you guyse here for? And as we are at it, could you please tell me how did you find our little spot? It was quite far away from your tribe" Reaching thetter half of her greeting, his calm tone gradually equipped a slightly colder more rigid undertone, earning a mocking look from the so-far silent orc and a huffing smirk from the right-side one. [Orcish] Teg okag muargh'' wa''arthk! Mogag Toga SNARG!" The right side one sneered as he uttered another slew of words, soundingplete gibberish to Aiden. Still, it seemed there was some systematic order behind the gurgled ther as the system''s notification resounded in his mind once again, informing Aiden of the new progress the analysis has reached. [Analyzing Language: Orc. Progress: 5%] ''Hmm Not that difficultnguage I guess Or maybenguages, in general, are easier to analyze?'' He thought as he made a quick check on the note before closing it back down. "[Orcish] Teg sor! Mogag toga snarg! SNARG!" Joining in the ''conversation'' the orc on the left spewed out some another slew of words with a heated tone. This time, even without the system''s assistance, Aiden could recognize some repetition, as if they kept ncing at their camp, and repeating the same phrases over and over. Turning sideways, Aiden pointed towards his own camp, and with a questioning tone, he inquired with an innocent look on his face. "[Goblin] What do you guys mean? That''s the camp me and mypanions have set up. What business do you have with us?" Contrary to his earlier theory, the orcs seemed to understand his words, at least to some degree as they became visibly annoyed as he spoke. Shifting their gazes from the bushes behind him, both Orcs turned to look at the small green long-haired goblin with ugly, menacing stairs. The one on the right, pointing his big and wide right index finger at the goblin groaned, and in the next moment, to Aiden''s shock and surprise, spoke in slightly broken, but still understandable Goblin tongue. "[Goblin] You. Small one. Stand away. We take ves!" He spoke in amanding tone as if what he just proposed was the natural order of things. His partner nodded heavily on his words, ignoring the green scrawny fellow already and giving a lick on his lower lips high with expectation. Thinking that the conversation was nowpleted, and the frail little creature understood the order of his superiors, the duo was about to step forward and go forward to enjoy their newest spoil, when they felt a small, but firm hand pushing against both of them. Halted in their steps, both orcs looked down with a surprised look on their faces, seeing the lush-haired goblin pushing against them, with the same friendly smile on his face, shaking his head as he shifted his gaze towards the ground. "[Goblin] You see, there are a few problems with what you just said. Not to mention that what you said was barely even coherent, it also had a few misconceptions that I think we need to correct before I send you off." Although his tone sounded calm, there was a terrifying coldness under it, that quickly soured the orc''s previously happily grinning expressions. Before they had a chance to further react, the frail-looking goblin continued as he slowly lifted his gaze from the ground looking at the both of them. His brightly brimming, glowing eyes basked in its golden luster looked eerie and terrifying. Aiden''s previously calm tone gradually shifted to a low-toned otherworldly menacing tone, startling and stunning both orcs in the process. "[Goblin] You see, those two back there are my friends, and not my ves. Even if that weren''t true, you can''t just barge in and demand anything. But you know I get it. In your society, I guess it might prove right after all...If that''s the case, then allow me to demonstrate" Only understanding half of his words, the orcs were caught off guard when suddenly they both felt a heavy hit at their abdomen, where the little goblin''s frail hand was before. In the next moment,both orcs, as sturdy and brawny as they are, were flung back several meters in the air before crashing against the ground and tumbling backward like a pair of broken kites. Still, born and raised in harsh and cruel environments throughout their lives, neither orc crumbled under the surprise attack, and quickly stood back up, regaining their footing. Reaching for their weapons on their backs, they both let out a violent cry, charging at the little goblin with their axes raised above their heads. Already expecting the attack, Aiden simply smirked as he cocked both of his arms slightly back, and nted his right feet slightly behind, and leaned against his frontal left one. His gnarled scepter was already put back in his inventory, leaving him bare-handed. As the distance rapidly closed between them, Aiden''s figure suddenly vanished from the orc''s sight, putting a startled halt on their charge. In the next moment, feeling the dread wash over them from behind, they instantly dodged to the side, barely avoiding the abruptly reappearing Aiden''s two-pronged thrust from behind. Ignoring the one on the left, Aiden shifted his focus to the one on the right. From the way he presented himself and from the body posture, it seemed that he was the leader of the two, he probably had more useful information than his friend on the left. Jumping after the falling orc, he raised his right hand in the air, and struck down in the next instant, not giving any chance for the orc to get his bearings. Activating his [Mystic Martial Arts] innate and guided some of his flowing energy towards his flying clenched fist. Watching as the air began to slightly distort around the scrawny goblin''s approaching strike, the orc could only wildly il his axe swinging horizontally and hoping to open up some distance between them, not really keen on experiencing the mystical energies swirling around the dark green hand. Unfortunately, his attempt was easily thwarted with Aiden''s left hand easily blocking the hit. Although not transformed, a slight gnash appeared as the crude tip of the weapon''s de slightly edged itself into the goblin''s flesh. Still, even that caused some damage, firing up and sending fiery signals through Aiden''s nervous system, carrying the jolting pain to register in his mind. At the same time, the notification alerted him of the resulting loss in his condition. [You have received damage, your condition has deteriorated!] [Current Condition: 97%] Luckily the damage was minimal, but the pain still wasn''t overly pleasant, Aiden gritted his teeth as his right hand collided with the orc''s barren chest. For the first time, the orc stared at the little, scrawny, frail-looking dark-green creature with disbelief and horror settling on his expression, watching as the frail hand easily tore through his thick skin and flesh. Feeling an incredible, sharp and searing pain, he didn''t even register the crunching sound of his bones as they were crushed to splinters. Aiden''s hand tore through his skin and flesh with ease, continuing its submerge through the Orc''s organs, searching for the most important one of them all: his waning, but still beating heart next to his Monster Core. Thanks to the crystallized essence the heart refused to stop its desperate attempt to pump more blood and provide the faltering body with more and more life. However, in the next moment, its attempts were put to an abrupt halt as the goblin''s delicate fingers wrapped themselves around the precious organ, and with one decisive tug, it was pulled out of its socket with a tremendous force. Feeling the pulsating organ in his clutches, Aiden grabbed the orc''s still-beating heart, and just like he did with the human''s back in the underground base, he pulled it out of the Orc''s body. Thest thing the Orc saw before the light left his eyes and his lifeless body fell back on the ground with a loud thud kicking up a sizable amount of dust, was the sight of his own palpating heart in the palm of the weak-looking little goblin. The second orc only had time to get up from the ground on the other side, as the entire sequence of events didn''t take longer than a couple of seconds. He had no chance to save his partner before it died right before his eyes literally by the hands of this small creature. Seeing his partner fall back down lifelessly, his eyes turned bloodshot and with an even louder shout, he lounged himself in the air, charging towards Aiden''s back... Chapter 225 - 225 - “Just Rest, Master…” Moments ago, back at the campsite The snapping of twigs albeit wasn''t the loudest, still did its job as both tents started showing movements. A secondter both Sarah and Naybeah rushed out with slightly disheveled hair and clothes, their weapons in hand. Jumping out of their tents, they were expecting some sort of disturbance, but instead of that, there was nothing. The only sight was the faltering campfire, that since it wasn''t fed any fresh material started to show signs of decaying, dying down. "What the? Looking around and failing to spot the boy that was supposed to guard them, Sarah raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Where''s Aiden?" However, in the next instant, before even Naybeah could answer, they heard a loud low-pitched roaring from a bit further away. Looking at each other, they nodded, as if understanding each other without the need for words and rushed towards the source of the sound. It didn''t take them long before they managed to cross through the thick vegetation that served as a sort of natural barrier between their resting spot and the outside dangers and saw the brutal encounter ying out between their very eyes. They saw as Aiden''s figure vanished, only to reappear behind the charging orcs and strike at the both of them, only to miss and separate the two. Then they gasped when they saw Aidenunching himself against the one on the right and outright destroy it with one single stroke, extracting the Orc''s heart in the process. "Woah I knew it! My chosen mate is just too awesome!" The blonde amazon excitedly eximed witnessing the sight. Turning her attention to the stunned and shocked purple-haired girl on her left, she poked her as she asked. "Did you see that Sarah? Wasn''t that just too cool?!" "Y-yeah He is strong" Sarah muttered, still finding it hard to process such incredible powering from such a boy. Even though she witnessed it multiple times by now, it was still such a shocking sight to behold Seeing a weak, frail-looking being toss around huge, bulky, ferocious creatures with ease as if they were only a sack of meat and bones and not incredibly dangerous monsters! It was just too hard toe to terms with this new reality. "Look! The other one is getting back into action!" Naybeah''s shout broke Sarah''s trailing thoughts and snapped her back to reality. Following the direction the amazon was pointing at, she turned to look at the second orc just at the moment when his eyes turned bloodshot seeing his friend die in the span of seconds, falling lifelessly to the ground. Releasing an even louder, fiercer cry towards the sky, the orcunched himself towards Aiden who still had his back turned towards the approaching enemy. However, once again, before they had any time to react and warn Aiden, the situation changed abruptly. Aiden''s figure disappeared, vanishing with the trail of wind, only to reappear behind the charging orc, who, due to the confusing change of events halted his rapid approach and instead grabbed the hilt of his crude weapon tighter and turned to focus on his instincts and senses instead. As he expected, the goblin-formed Aiden reappeared behind him and struck with his right fist. Immediately, the orc jumped forward turning clockwise mid-air whilst he swung his weapon with both hands to counter-attack. Knowing his attack would be evaded, Aiden''s figure shed, causing the axe to swing through the air, carrying his momentum forward and causing the orc to slightly spin farther than he wanted. As the orc was in the midst of regaining his footing, Aiden reappeared again, this time at the orc''s right side with a wide grin on his face. "[Goblin] Bye!" With a farewell as hisst word, he thrust his fist. The orc had no time to swing his weapon to parry the iing blow, so he did the next best thing, and threw his weapon away whilst he threw himself backward, hoping to evade the deadly blow again. Unfortunately for him, Aiden guided arge amount of his [Soul Power] with the [Mystic Martial Arts] innate into his entire arm, causing it to travel at a speed that would be impossible normally. Leaving behind several afterimages in its wake, the rapidly approaching fist caused distortions in the fabric of space causing the attack to turn fuzzy and blurry to the spectators on the side. The Orc only had time to release his hold on his weapon when the small fist collided with his side. The massive force released a loud blustering shockwave. The small fist, acting like a knife against hot butter, traversed through the mass of skin, meat and bones with ease, separating the entire body to a separate lower and upper half. The orc died so fast, his mind couldn''t even register the cause of his death. His lower half falling to the ground with an audible thud, the upper half was blown away, carried by the massive bluster further away. The powerful blow caused a sizable explosion as well, throwing a sizable amount of blood and gore to all directions, smearing the Aiden''s clothes with the orc''s gooey, thick, ck, seared innards. Just barely escaping being covered with the orcish smudge, Sarah and Naybeah left their spot and rushed towards Aiden with worry and excitement on their faces. "Are you okay Aiden?" Sarah was the first to ask, with a worried tone. Although they saw the sequence of events y out, they still couldn''t keep their cool. "You were awesome! You have to show me how you did thatst punch!" Naybeah on the other hand, was incredibly excited, rushing towards Aiden with a heated gaze. Arriving, she immediately grabbed the boy''s dark-green head and pulled it into her generous embrace. "I loved what you did sooo, so much! Those hits! Gosh, you are so incredible!" "Mmmfpbrlgh blrghdgh!" muffled, garbled words were the only response Aiden could mutter as he was buried deep in the tall amazon''s fur-covered chest. The embarrassing sight turned Sarah''s cheeks slightly reddish, grabbing Aiden''s iling right arm, she gently tucked on it. Looking at Naybeah with an usatory look, she eximed with a slightly harsher tone. "Naybeah, let Aiden go, you will suffocate him!" --- "So, what happened back there, Aiden? Where did those twoe from?" Sarah asked, as the trio got back to the camp and sat down around the waning, flickering campfire. Grabbing a few of the prepared dry branches, Aiden tossed them into the me, giving it new energy, returning its bright luster anew. "Not entirely sure" He answered as he sat back down. "We couldn''t really find themon ground. I don''t think they understood much of my Goblin, and I can''t understand a thing from theirnguage" He sighed as he began his exnation. "The only thing, I got was that they came specifically here for you two." He admitted after letting another tired sigh escape through his lips. "For us? Why?" Sarah asked with a confused gaze, Naybeah also shifting her gaze from the fire to the boy as well. "Well" Shifting his gaze from Sarah to Naybeah who kept her usual calm, grinning look on him, he looked back at Sarah and continued with a wry smile curving on his face, contorting his facial muscles. "I don''t have much on this, but from what little I managed to understand was that they most likely knew we were here. Someone is keeping a watch on us" Looking up at the dark, clear, night sky, his wry expression soured, turning into a frown. "I don''t think I should leave this form any longer, sadly. From the way they acted, it seems they have no idea I''m not a ''real'' member of their horde, but just an impostor. Still, we shouldn''t risk it any longer" He spoke, mostly to himself than to the girls. ''...and I don''t think I can risk the fusion any longer either'' He added inwardly, with a sigh. "Yeah, I think that would be for the best." Sarah agreed instantly. If they were monitored, they now needed to y their assigned roles or risk their already thin cover being discovered. Standing up, Sarah began dusting herself, as she continued. "We should also start acting our roles out. Naybeah and I are your ves, so we should be the ones serving you and not the other way around. Looking at the blonde amazon, she waved at her, motioning for her to follow suit and stand up. "Come Naybeah, we should clean the dead bodies for our ''Master''." She emphasized the word, Master, before she left with hastened, quick steps, not giving time for Aiden to refuse at all. Grinning, clearly enjoying the thought of being Aiden''s ''property'', she winked at the boy with a mischievous smirk on her face, before she followed after the girl. Before she left through the bushes, she turned back and bowed giving the boy a good look into the generous but suffocating bosom he already had the pleasure to experience. "Just rest, Master, we, your ves will clean up the mess outside, don''t you worry!" With that said, she turned around and quickly left, joining Sarah and leaving Aiden to his thoughts. Seeing both girls leave like that, Aiden could smile wryly, and sigh in defeat. Still, although he couldn''t risk going through with the fusion any longer, he didn''t cancel the process entirely just put it on hold. Instead of risking the fusion, he now had another method to at least gain some information and some new benefits in the process With that thought in mind, he reached out with his right hand and watched as the Orc''s extracted organ, his heart appeared in his palm. If everything followed the same pattern as before, it was time to experience another set of memories... Chapter 226 - 226 - Searching Through Memories "Let''s hope you will show me what I want" Aiden muttered, dazed as he continued to look at the Orc''s Heart resting in his right palm. If everything followed the same pattern, once he swallows it, he should start seeing images, memories of the creature. So far, it happened only when he absorbed intelligent creatures like humans and the goblin leader. "This doesn''t get any more pleasant" He mumbled heaving a heavy sigh. Taking one morest moment, to prepare himself, he quickly reached for the heart and bit on it. Just like with the guard, the warden, and the goblin before, he couldn''t help but let a contented smile appear and slowly dominate his expression. Whilst the taste could be improved, the effects are always incredible. He felt a surge of power, spread out his body, warming his entire being. A wave of notifications began to resound in his mind with their familiar bell-like sound, however, before he could take the time to slowly open them up and go through them, images started to slowly fade in and appear in front of him. Just like before, these weren''t his own memories, but the past life of the deceased Orc. Gom lived the typical, average life of his species, Mountain Orcs. Years, a few decades ago, just as his race would suggest, they used to inhabit the higher peaks of a faraway mountain. Gom wasn''t the brightest, nor the strongest of his species, one could say he was pretty average. After being born, he was quickly being taught the harshness of the world. Orcs don''t believe in the traditional setup of families. The children were grouped together after the first year of their lives and left out to learn to survive on their own. Just as expected, Gom wasn''t an exception either. As soon as he got 1 year old, his parents put him into the group and left him to survive for himself. Although the memory of Gom''s early years held many interesting facts, Aiden was focused on one particr memory, and didn''t want to waste time on his deceased enemy''s early years. Flicking his fingers, he tossed the memory aside, only for a new one to appear. The new vision was several yearster. Gom was now a full-fledged warrior of his tribe standing in front of the tribe chieftain''s hut amidst several dozens of other warriors and group captains. He stood behind his own captain, arger, robust orc. The captain had his body covered in severalrger and smaller scars, blemishes, reminders of his past achievements all over his body. These weren''t ugly in their eyes, they were marks of a fierce warrior, something every orc would be proud of. Gom couldn''t help but be envious of his captain as he looked over his past achievements. These marks sadly weren''t present on him as of that moment, he was still a new joiner of the ranks of warriors. Unsure how long they stood outside in the cold, harsh weather, but eventually some movement could finally be witnessed from the hut''s entrance. Not long after, an old, saggy-looking figure walked out. He looked aged, much, much older than the rest of the members of the ones gathered in front of him. Using a simr-looking gnarled and gemstoned branch as a walking-aid, the elder slowly moved towards a small podium that was erected just for this very special asion. Looking at the figure, Aiden wasn''t entirely sure, but he couldn''t deny that he looked very simr to the old orc shaman he met. But how could that be? If these memories are true then this figure is probably the chieftain of their tribe. How did he got demoted to some outcast, living at the edges of his tribe? What could have happened? Before he could continue thinking,menting about the issue, the old orc began his speech. To Aiden''s great surprise, in the memory he couldpletely understand their speech, it sounded sophisticated, different from the gnarling, throaty voices that he so far heard. Looking through the crowd with a solemn look on his face, the old orc raised his arms. "Fellow Brethren! My proud warriors! Today I bring a piece of great news to you! From today, we are no longer alone! From today, we join the" As the old orc chieftain continued with his speech, the image suddenly turned fuzzy, distorted. In the next moment, the vision faded entirely, and the next one yed without any interaction from Aiden. ''What the?'' Seeing how the image of the gathering of the orcs has suddenly vanished, only to be reced by another memory, made Aiden raise his brows with confusion. ''Was it that same strange magic that controlled the Goblin''s memories? What kind of magic is at y here that can affect the memories even after death?'' Confused by the events, Aiden could only sigh and focus on the next memory. Whatever happened it doesn''t matter in the end. He was getting closer to the specific vision he was hoping to reach. The next images were meaningless events from Gom''s life. After the speech, they joined the horde which already had several dozens of simr tribes in it. It had an incredibly massive headcount, a fearsome army to face for any nation. Still, it was continuously growing. Unfortunately, Gom knew little to nothing about the higher-ups but it wasmon knowledge that they were very powerful with a vendetta against the ''sins of humanity''. Whatever the reason was, the top branch was way too powerful for Gom to get into contact with. Even if he did so, most likely the rted screens would just distort, like before. Eventually, Aiden reached thest three images, thest memories of Gom''s life. Thest one, the newest would be their encounter, that was for certain. While it would be interesting to see if he could understand their speech from back then, now living it out as the person himself, Aiden discarded the idea quickly. It wouldn''t bring any benefits to him, nor to the situation. He also had to be quick, as the girls would probably get back soon. With that in mind, Aiden decided to select the second image. The first could be an earlier moment after all. But the second was thest memory before Gom''s fated meeting and demise with Aiden, that memory could hold the secrets he was hoping for. Who sent them? Who knew about them camping here? Gom and his friend were inside the dark room. There were no light sources in it at all. The only illumination it received came from the outside, through the thin cracks between the wooden panels in the door. Just like their weapons, you could recognize the crude handiwork of the orcs in it. It served its function, but it was very simplistic, raw, coarse in its design. Gom and his friend were the only orcs present in the room, they were waiting for somebody who previously sent after them. Acknowledging the summons, they immediately made their way and were patiently waiting for the arrival of this person. Through Gom''s emotions, Aiden quickly realized that whoever was supposed toe, was someone higher in the ranks, someone that neither Gom nor the other orc would have no contact with whatsoever. Eventually, the door was pushed open, disturbing the silence with a loud creaking noise. An old, saggy-skinned old figure walked in, using the now-familiar gnarled stick with the gemstone at its head as walking aid. What was different however was the fact that the figure had its face hidden with arge voodoo mask. Still, even without that knowledge, Aiden was more than certain that this figure is the same as the orc chieftain in the previous memory and ultimately the old orc shaman he encountered. Slowly pacing forward, the orc eventually arrived in front of the kneeling orcs. Both Gom and his friend instantly went on their knees when the old orc arrived and kept their gazes stered on the ground. It was a show of reverence and respect towards this figure. "Rise, my brethren." Reaching out with his hands, the old orc lifted both orcs heads to look at him and made them stand back up. "I have something for you two, something you will probably like very much." The old man continued. Even without seeing, just based on the tone, there was probably a grin stretching across his face. He pulled out a pergamen, with the rough depiction of the surrounding section of the forest and ced it in front of them. Before the two could ask anything, he circled a small, elusive spot a bit further away from their current location. It wasn''t too out though, it was still within the rtive distance. "Go to this ce. There''s a goblin there with his two human ves. Take the ves and show that pesky little shit his ce!" He remarked with clear anger in his voice. "The two ves should both be females, and whilst I have no knowledge of how they look, they do seem to act very strangely a bit too close to their supposed master. In any case, grab those ves and leave the goblin badly beaten, but don''t kill him! We need the goblins in the next phase. Go!" Nodding, both orcs took onest look at the map and turned to leave the dark room. Their mission was now clear, and it was one that could turn out to be quite enjoyable! Chapter 227 - 227 - Eyes Through The Void Before leaving Gom stopped at the doorway for a moment and peeked back at the elder that gave them such a weird assignment. The whole thing go out targeting a goblin envoy specifically? Why? While it will be fun to acquire new ves and be the first to taste them, it was still borderline taboo to assault and rob other members of the horde. If the other leaders and captains would hear of this, the repercussions would be grave. What could the old man be ying at? Looking at the old man, Gom raised an eyebrow in surprise. The elder was prostrated on the ground, his back turned towards the door so quite luckily, Gom wasn''t spotted as the shaman was prostrating to the seemingly clear, empty wall before him. However, a momentter, the air trembled, a low-toned monstrous grumbling could be heard as a small tear appeared in the air. Although it was dark in the room, and the tear itself was ck, void-colored as well, the blurry air, distorted space made the spectacle clearly visible. The thin tear began to expand, tiny spiderweb tails spurted all around as it continued to take more and more space to itself. The sight was otherworldly, and even for Gom, who was now a battle-hardened warrior of his tribe, caused shivers to run through his spine. Fear? Was he scared?! ''Impossible! He mumbled inwardly, as he clenched his fists and forced himself to continue watching. He wanted to see where this all would lead to, what was the old man worshipping so reverently. A few secondster when the spiderweb cracks expanded to take a great deal of the surrounding space, the tear slowly started to expand itself, it''s thin narrow crack began to slowly but gradually expand, swallowing the tiny spiderweb cracks in the process. ck, otherworldly darkness greeted the shaman, and Gom still spied in the doorway. What was even stranger was the unnatural, thick dark grey smoke-like substance it began to emit rapidly filling up the entire room, shrouding the event from the hungry eyes. Squinting, Gom tried his best to make out anything from inside, but unfortunately, he was unable to. Turning around, he was about to give up and leave, before he took onest look at the shrouded spectacle, only to have the greatest scare of his life. Amidst the thick dark smoke, a humongous dark red pair of eyes appeared looking directly at him. There was seemingly no body attached to them, but still, the pure, unfiltered evil it emitted was too much to handle for such a simple orc as Gom. Without thinking Gom immediately bolted, making his way out of the building not daring to take another look back. The memory segmentpleted, the image faded, returning rity to Aiden once more. With the other pieces of Gom''s past discarded by him, the Memory was sessfully assimted, returning control to him again. ''What was that thing at the end?'' Sitting up from his meditative position, he leaned against the back of the tent as he thought back to thest moments of the vision he had just witnessed. That huge, incorporeal, floating pair of eyes amidst the thick, dark smoke Was that just an illusion? On the other hand, was that a being that came forth from the tear in space? There was a single moment, a fleeting fraction of a second when he could get a quick peek inside the void and it felt familiar? Heaving a longer than usual sigh, Aiden shook his head. ''To get more information, I will need the shaman''s memories as well'' He scowled at the thought. Although the old man seemed strong, and it was probably practicing something dark, just based on Gom''sst memories Would that be justified for outright killing him? Wouldn''t he go against the very first teaching Granny taught him? However, on the other hand, the old man was clearly making ns against him. Why? From the small talk they had, Aiden never felt that they were too hostile to each other. Yes, there was some friction, but that should be normal amongst the races. At least, that''s what the memories of the goblin leader and Gom have taught him. Would that justify sending two bulky warriors at their location, to beat him to half-death, and steal his ves? Before swallowing the orc''s heart, Aiden was hoping to get answers to his questions, but unfortunately, instead of answers, he got several dozen more new questions with little to no answers to his earlier ones. Still, the most pressing matter now was that just as he thought, the old man, somehow was able to track their position through the forest. Although he was unable to gain proper vision, some sort of magic-induced sense has to be at y here or some other type of trick. Whatever the reason, they were no longer safe, and had to set out as soon as possible. With that thought in mind, Aiden stood up, and was about to leave his tent to gather up the girls to continue, when he realized he didn''t check all the notifications he received when he swallowed the precious organ! Remembering all the benefits and that incredibly addictive feeling when that new source of energy splurged through his body A smirk appeared on the scowl that previously dominated Aiden''s visage he quickly brought the system interface back up and began opening all the notifications one after another. [New Life Essence Found- New Form Mountain Orc created! Warning: Mountain Orc Life Essence was mutated, the new form will have an unknown mutation! Analyzation is rmended before choosing to evolve into it.] [10000 XP received!] [Primal Absorb skill has gained 100 XP and has leveled up! New level: 3] [Shapeshifter Innate has received 1000 XP!] ''Woah, slow down, slow down!'' Surprised, Aiden was barely able to process all the new information he received. Scrolling back up, he first checked the strange note about the new form he gained just as he expected and hoped. What he did not expect and saw no traces of it even in Gom''s memory was any sort of mutation. How could his life essence be mutated then? Did the system make a mistake? No, that''s impossible. However, now he couldn''t use that form as a backup n, without first assigning some system resources and most importantly, time to investigate it deeper, in more detail. Second, was the huge, incredible amount of experience he gained. He was happy, as he wanted to increase his attributes for a while now, he couldn''t really find a proper way. Yes, he was stronger than the weak, average humans, but after facing off against his master he realized that what he had seen of the world was only a very tiny piece. There were other, powerful beings out there that Aiden''s very being was trembling at the thought of. His primal core wanted nothing more than to face off and absorb these existences. Aiden felt a need, no, a hunger for their power Going to the next note, he checked the Primal Absorb skill. Thanks to his continued usage, it directly gained enough points to level up and reach a new height! Knowing that this skill was very special and one of the keyponents of his core form, the Primal one, he was hesitant to level it himself and wanted to simply let it grow through continuous usage. Eager to see if the skill itself had any changes he brought its details up. [Primal Absorb (Level 3): Absorb the life essence of the defeated enemy. Based on the lifeform, you can acquire its unique skills, and get an increase in one or more of your attributes, or obtain attribute points to spend. You can absorb lifeforms 1 Tier higher than your current skill level. Works in any form.] ''It did change, look at that'' He smirked contently. The main thing to note is that there were no mentions of level restrictions at all, not that it had ever given him any difficulties. In fact, he has never seen any numbers or power levels for the enemies he faced. First, he did wonder if there was a missing feature or anything, but when he asked Enya at the time, she only said that he was still missing a system feature and he will gain it in time. Ever since then, he had almost forgotten about it. ''Well There''s no point thinking about it now'' Aiden shook his head and shifted his attention to thest note in the system that gave him thest and probably the biggest surprise. His innate skill, which so far, didn''t know how to train, finally grow! Although, not enough to reach a new level or rank, but it was still something that had not happened before. ''Hmm Was it because of my continued usage of this goblin form or the absorptions I did recently?'' He wondered. Although he wasn''t a saint and had no qualms about killing monsters in whatever shape or form they may be, he himself did not want to turn into one... Chapter 228 - 228 - The Goblin Envoy By the time Aiden finally left thefort of the tent and stepped outside both Sarah and Naybeah have already finished the tasks they assigned to themselves and was sitting around the campfire. Stepping out, Aiden first looked up to the dark, clear midnight sky and quite fat, curvaceous moon glowing proudly, ruling this domain of the night. "It''s time." He spoke curtly, slowly shifting his gaze to the girls who were already looking at him with varying expressions on their faces. Whilst Naybeah had her usually goofy, enamored look in her eyes, Sarah looked solemn, somewhat stoic. "Are you alright Sarah? Is something bothering you?" Aiden asked the purple-haired girl, seeing the look on her otherwise delicate, gentle face. "Mhm." Sarah nodded, as she pushed herself up from the round stump of wood she used as seating as they waited for their ''master''. "I am just getting ready for the rest of the night." She frowned at the thought and deeper meaning of thest word. They would essentially be ying the role of human ves of a goblin and will be escorted to some sort of holding block just outside the tribe''s grounds. Well, despite the fact that they were going to be treated like cattle or worse, it will be a good way for them to get in touch with all the other, real ves ande up with a n to rescue them. "I see. Be careful on your missions we have no idea about the dangers we are about to face, first and foremost just stay alive! I will get inside theirpound and get all the necessary info we would require. Also" He looked at Naybeah who meanwhile came to his right side, hugging his arm like some precious treasure. "Also" He sighed, shaking his head lightly. "...Naybeah, you also make sure to protect Sarah and yourself as well, okay? Don''t try to fight with everything you see, this is the enemy''s territory, you don''t want to pull unwanted attention to yourselves! Got it?" "Uhm. Don''t worry my mate! I wille back to you safe and sound and will make sure she will too." She spoke while she continued to hug and caress his right arm like a pillow. "Right" Aiden responded with a wry smile hanging from his face looking at her actions for a bit more, before he gently pulled his arm free from her grip and pushed her back. "Get ready, everyone. We will head out now." --- A bit further away at the right side of the crossing they visited earlier, a huge, tall and wide stable-looking building stood at the middle of a muddy area. The buildings that looked hastily erected were made of chopped but uncleaned and prepared tree trunks and some weird mixture of literal mud, leaves and probably a few other ingredients to glue them together. Even though the whole structure looked incredibly fragile, and ramshackled, it was surprisingly sturdy. Large sharp pikes were nted on the ground circling around the building, creating a barrier, a weaponized fence-like wall, keeping and warning the outside to not step inside. Only one area was left open, leaving only one single entrance into the inner grounds of the strange building. In front of the fenced gate stood 2 tall, robust, muscr dark-brown skinned Mountain Orcs. They wore full body leather armor sets, covering most of their wide chests and trunk-like arms as well while leaving their hands free. Below the ck, leather belt they had simr-looking padded leather pants reaching just below their kneeline, leaving their shin and everything below that free as well. Strangely they wore no gloves, nor any type of boots, leaving their barren feet get dirty in the slobby mushy ground. Contrary to their species usually favoured weapon types, these two were holding huge, long-reaching pikes, simr to the ones that were nted and used as fences around them. They looked rather annoyed and grumpy, as they had to waste their time standing guard to ves that they weren''t even allowed to touch just guard. All the human cattle that stored here were properties of the higher ups and envoys that arrived in the recent days to the Gathering to discuss the details about the supposed "Second Phase" whatever that could be. For them, life was actually quite simple. As warriors they were considered elites. As elites they were not sent on disgraceful missions like hunting and patrolling, but they were usually assigned to protect a valuable and high ranking member of one of the conjoined tribes. The duty was usually quite lucrative too, and also boosted their own standing in the process. Guarding a shaman, or following a captain, general, or sometimes a tribe''s chieftain It was easy, and their name and standing were recognized there. They were feared and revered in the eyes of themon folk, and their entire group of Elite Warriors loved that feeling of basking in respect and borderline reverence. However, this current gig, this current job wasn''t one of those lucky ones. They were not revered, they were not respected out here. Nobody even bothered about them. They felt like that old outcast, that heretic shaman. Left here to whittle and fade away to nothingness. Tonight seemed especially boring. Not a single soul in sight, and besides the faint sound of the groaning and wobblinging from behind them in the building, they couldn''t even listen to anything to entertain them. Despite that, they did not ck on the job. No, they weren''t those average, pathetic warriors of the tribes, they were at the very top, they were Elites! No matter their unwillingness, they both focused on doing an outstanding job before their shift arrived the next morning. As they continued to sternly gaze at the horizon, suddenly their eyes spotted three silhouettes. Although they were quite a distance away still, they could still make out three distinct figures. Two taller feminine figures, -albeit the one on the right was much taller and bulkier than the others-, and one shorter, frail-looking one walking in between them. Their stoic, stern expression unchanging, both Orc Guards focused on the approaching party as they unseenly refreshed and moved their fingers on the shafts of their weapons. They watched with keen interest, apt attention as the dark silhouettes slowly gained their colors under the star- and moonlight as they got closer. Raising the sharp end of their pikes towards them, both guards raised their free hands motioning for the approaching party to halt their steps. For the next few, but incredibly intense moments, neither party spoke nor uttered a word. The Orcs slowly looked over the party, surprisingly, taking their time on the little goblin, showing more interest in him then the two females he brought with him. After a while, the guard on the right opened hisrge mouth and spoke in broken, but still understandable Goblin tongue. "[Goblin] What business you have?" His tone was harsh, unfriendly. His partner, the other guard did not speak, but kept his eyes on him as well as the tip of his pike aimed towards his throat. Arge, friendly, warm smile stretched across Aiden''s goblin-skinned face, and slowly began to dominate his expression. His eyes turned into friendly, weing crescents as he turned towards the speaking Orc on the right. "[Goblin] I am an envoy of the goblins, and have arrived at this tribe for discussing the future ns. These two" He opened his arms wide gently pointing at the two women at his sides, as he continued his introduction. "Are my guards, my ves. As per the rules, I havee to ce them here for the duration of my stay at your grounds." With that, he did not speak any more words, and just kept looking with the same, warm, friendly smile as before. The guards did not respond immediately and did not lower their weapons either. They took their time to take another long, cautious and thorough look over the little goblin and the two girls as well. Contrary to what Sarah and Naybeah expected, their gazes did not hold any lust, or hunger. Their eyes were cold as they slowly went from top to bottom, only stopping when they spotted the weapons on their bodies. "[Goblin] Weapons, no good. Take them off from your ves!" The guard on the right pointed on the huge battle axe on the back of the amazon and the sword hanging on Sarah''s belt. This caused a frown to appear on both girl''s faces. While Sarah was just simply reluctant to leave himself unarmed in such a ce, Naybeah was borderline furious. However, before she could reach for her axe and swing at the guards, Aiden raised his hand and lightly shook his head, motioning for her to just go with it. "[Goblin] Sure, that''s no problem at all. As I said, they are tasked with defending me, so they obviously need weapons. However, here they will be protected and there would be nobody stupid enough to damage the properties of the envoys, right?" As he spoke, a golden sh of light appeared in his eyes, fading just as fast as it appeared, giving the first shake in the statuesque guards'' expression as they looked at him with slightly startled expressions. Chapter 229 - 229 - Surprises Dread washed over the seasoned orcish elite warriors for a second causing them to shiver and looked at the frail-looking male goblin in an entirely new light than before. Their first impression of this pipsqueak being a weakling lord of his species waspletely wrong as it seems, and the little guy did hold some surprises in that small frame of his. Their mixed expressions of surprise and shock lingered for a moment longer only, before it vanished from their faces, returning to the cold, collected demeanor as before. They were veterans, after all, they were trained to do their assigned jobs to perfection after all. As his expression calmed and returned to the previous stoic look, the guard on the right nodded as he responded with his broken goblin dialect. "[Goblin] You correct, sir. The ves will be safe and sound. The reasons the building is ced outside the tribe was to make sure no "un un" He seemed to have troubleing up with the right word, he was visibly struggling for a bit. "...unwanted mistakes" happen to the envoys'' properties." Finishing the sentence, he let out a slightly longer sigh, looking visibly exhausted conversing with such an ufortablenguage. Still, the fact that it was capable of talking in it, and forming such long sentences, showcases his mastery over thenguage. Aiden had to admit, he was pleasantly surprised, he originally expected to have much more troubles with this ordeal as well. He was even prepared to defend the girls if he would have seen the need, but luckily that was not necessary. "Uhm. Thank you." Aiden nodded, with the same friendly, smiling expression he had before. Opening his palms, he motioned for the girls to give him their weapons, which they, albeit with great reluctance, acquiesced. In the next moment, with a flip of his hands, both weapons seemingly vanished into thin air, surprising the Guards once again at the inexplicable spectacle. Still, they did not say a word but only nodded saying that they are now clear to go through. Motioning to the girls to keep their calm, despite their raging emotions, the trio resumed their trek and began to walk inside, crossing the gates. "Why did you hold me back?! I would have ripped that guy into pieces!" As soon as they left the two guards and got closer to the building, Naybeah immediately erupted, letting out her anger and annoyance. Even though her voice was loud and could be heard by them, she didn''t really care, nor did she have to, the orcs wouldn''t understand the [Common] anyway. The same, friendly, kind smile not leaving his face, Aiden lightly shook his head. "I do not doubt it a bit. But if you do so, we would have needed to kill the other one as well. Then when the next shift of guardses some hourster, they would either see their dead bodies or nothing at all if we would have taken the time to clean up. Either way, they would start investigating what happened, and knowing that they have some sort of sensing capabilities around their territories, they would quickly realize that we have killed them, leading us to not just fail toplete the n and get the information we need, but the chance to slip past the camp and get into the Grotto we both desire." Aiden responded with a calm, but lecturing tone causing the amazon to avert her eyes towards the ground in shame and let out a defeated sigh midway through Aiden''s lecture. "I understand. Sorry hubby." She answered shyly after a short while, her chosen nickname causing Sarah to clench her small fists in annoyance. Whisking with his right hand, Aiden smiled at the blonde amazon''s reaction. "Don''t worry about it." Then turning around, the smile turning into a serious, stern, fierce gaze, he looked at the hastily made door-like wooden barrier in front of them. "Okay, girls. This is the spot where we separate. Remember, your main task is to just stay safe and sound. If you can get some info out from the people inside that''s all the better, but don''t risk yourselves trying to save everyone. You don''t know when and how they got to serve their masters, and where their real allegiance lies anymore. Even if it''s hard, focus on yourselves first and foremost." Turning sideways, he looked at Sarah with the same focused, fierce expression. "You got that as well, Sarah?" Reluctance clearly visible in her eyes as their gazes met for a brief moment before she averted it sideways, Sarah clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I know. I will try my best." She answered eventually, albeit with clearly great difficulties. It was obvious she had other objectives and goals in mind and will be hard to have her let go of those. Knowing it would be pointless to argue with her any more, Aiden turned his head to the other side and looked at the blonde amazon. "Naybeah. Make sure to keep her and yourself safe okay?" Still a bit conflicted about the loss of her weapon, and being berated by her chosen mate, Naybeah didn''t respond, but only nodded at his words. Seeing both girls hurt expressions, caused a strange, new feeling, a stinging, piercing pain surface, and shot itself in his heart. It was simr to the time when he first realized that Lilly was in deep trouble, but at the same time, it felt new, something he never experienced before. This new feeling, however, wasn''t pleasant, forcing him to think of ways to appease the troubled girls with something. Thinking about it for a bit, he let out a short sigh, before he pushed on the door with both of his hands, making it slowly creak open, and give some slight vision to the inside. As the door gave way, it slowly revealed a sight that was hard to process at a first nce. The entire inside was simr to something you would see in regr horse stables. The entirety of the interior consisted of several small,pact wooden stalls that for the most cases housed one or two humanoid figures, mostly human females, but you could see males, and some other humanoid-like species as well. To the right, closest to them and the entrance, for example, were two much taller and thinner figures. As the only source of light was the thin trail of moonlight that seeped in through the cracks, it was hard to tell if they were males or females, but Aiden was leaning towards them being females judging by the feminine contours on their faces. They had golden, almost tinum-colored long curly hairs, which despite being messy and not freshly cleaned, still looked incredibly beautiful. They were most likely elves of some kind, judging by the long, pointed, and branded ears that managed to peek out from their lush mane. They were dressed in drags, barely covering anything on their thin, underweight bodies. They were chained to arge wooden pole next to them wearing arge iron cor around their necks. Their eyes were hollow, they held no reaction or any sort of life in them as they turned to look at the neers. They told a tale of incredible pain and miserable existence that was just waiting for its end. Clenching his fists, Aiden took a moment to calm himself, he continued walking forward looking for an empty stall to ''use''. The hollow, lifeless eyes,ck of reaction, and miserable outlook weren''t unique to the elves either, almost all the other stalls'' upants had the very same reaction or actuallyck of as they crossed through next to them. The only difference was a barely audible "Tsk"ing from the far corner, one of the veryst stalls of the building. It was so silent, that it would have gone unnoticed if Aiden''s senses wouldn''t be much sharper than what could be expected of the form he was currently using. Giving a slight nod towards the far-right corner of the room, he alerted both girl''s attention as they slowly walked forward the only source of sound inside the building. Arriving closer, Aiden could only sense one figure inside the dark stall, hiding, sitting in the far-right corner of the small wooden stall. "H-hello?! You okay there?" With a worried tone, Aiden looked towards the dark where the figure resided and called out for him, using themon tongue. His voice, although slightly altered due to his changed form, still carried the simrities of his original one, making it recognizable for those that knew the ''original'' him. As the figure in the dark heard the lush, long, ck-haired goblin inquire using the human''snguage with ease, it raised its attention to the green goblin. In the next moment, however, as it leaned forward, and as the shadowy figure''s face entered the thin ray of moonlight and its face got revealed, it caused Aiden to almost jump back in shock. His eyes turning wide as an apple, he looked at the figure with shock. "You?! What are you doing here?!" He eximed, his eyes subtly glowing with their usual golden luster as his emotions began to, once again, go into a violent turmoil. Chapter 230 - 230 - Infiltrators? Meeting The face that was revealed when the figure entered the thin moonlight caused Aiden not a small amount of shock, to say the least. The figure in front of him was a female, with shoulder-length, disheveled fiery red hair, which due to the mud and grease hanged from the top of the girl''s dirty head in separate, thumb-wide locks. Still, despite the grease, the mud, the dirt, it was unmistakable: The girl in front of him was Scarlet, the princess they rescued just a while ago. How did she get here? Where''s her brother, the annoying but skilled prince, Drake then? "You? You look simr to someone I met before but at the same time, I''m sure I never met you" The girl looked at the familiar-looking goblin with confusion. His voice was familiar, and most of his facial features, but she was certain she never met such a goblin before, and even if she did, she wouldn''t have entered a friendly discourse. Goblins and Orcs weren''t known for their friendliness towards the other races. "Me? You don''t recognize me?" Aiden asked with a troubled look, however, a momentter he realized the root of the problem, his face changing he continued with a friendly smile. "Ah, right! I''m currently in this goblin form, so it''s hard to recognize me. I''m Aiden, we met a while ago, back in the city of Higrove were your brother, Drake and I rescued you and my sister from the underground ve traders." As if remembering something, he looked thoughtfully above as he continued. "Although, we haven''t talked for that long, so I guess, I can understand if you wouldn''t recognize me, but st--" Before he could finish his monologue, Scarlet raised his right hand to silence him and interjected with an annoyed look on his face. "Yes, yes, okay, I got it! You are Aiden, that long, ck-haired wild-looking boy who was with my brother! Sheesh!" Not sure what he did that caused the girl to act in such a rash way, he looked at the girl confusedly. It was Sarah who connected the dots the fastest, and when the realization hit her that who this disheveled girl in front of her actually was, her eyes went wide and mouth agape. "P-p-princess??" She stuttered with an incredulous look on her face. "W-w-what are you doing here? W-w-what happened?" "Yeah, please, tell us if something bad had happened. What did you guys do for you to end up a ve again?" Aiden asked as his usual, friendly, calm smile resurfaced on his face. "Well" Scarlet sighed, taking her time to scrutinize Aiden''s new unfamiliar form carefully. "This is not what it looks like! But before that H-how are you a goblin?! Is it an illusion?" "Yeah, something like that." Deciding not to dwell on the topic too much, Aiden waved his hand in a casual manner as he responded nonchntly. "I see" Scarlet nodded approaching the wooden panel separating the trio from the ''stabled'' ve. "So, it''s something simr to what my brother is using." She added as she thought about it for a bit longer, surprising Aiden once again. "Wait Your brother, Drake is here as well and is using some sort of disguise? Just what are you two doing here?!" "I" Although Scarlet wasn''t someone who was easily startled, the long years of her younger years taught her about the brutal reality of the world, now, she still found herself unable to respond to Aiden''s simple question or to match the boy''s golden gaze. Some unknown force, or maybe emotion caused her to avert her eyes in embarrassment, and just grumble non-coherent words under her breath. Seeing that their discourse wouldn''t go forward if she wouldn''t intervene and handle the matter, Sarah stepped forward once again, and while cing her right hand on Aiden''s left shoulder signaling him to remain silent and step back, she stepped forth. With a kind, a gentle smile on her face, the purple-haired girl slowly reached out for the princess behind the stall. "Princess, no, sorry, Scarlet, please tell us what happened that made you and your dear brother try to infiltrate this dangerous ce. We have the same mission, so we could actually help each other if you would let us!" Her words carried a warm, soothing trait, causing the grumbling, embarrassed fiery Scarlet to raise her head once again, focusing on the purple girl instead. "Well" Taking a deep breath, Scarlet slowly exhaled, calming her nerves and to rpose herself before continuing. "We came because we located another artifact somewhere around here. We don''t know if it''sing from ourst missing brother, or from someone else, but the signal was clear." Shifting her attention, she looked at Aiden as she continued. "An artifact, one of our family heirlooms that should only be in our family''s hands are here somewhere deeper! You have to understand, we had to investigate! We couldn''t wait for our reunion at the start of next year, we had to know what was happening!" Towards the end of her exnation, her voice turned almost hysterical, her face contorted into a troubled, begging expression as she continued to focus on Aiden at the back. "I see" Sarah continued, grabbing the girl''s attention in the process. "So, you two decided toe here and investigate?" Seeing the girl look at her and gave a slight nod, she continued as the smile curved slightly higher on her face. "In that case, where is your brother currently?" "He my brother... Drake is currently inside thepound!" She eximed after a bit of difficulty, returning her gaze to Aiden and looking at her beggingly. "If you guys n to go inside as well, then please please, I beg you, look for him and help him! He" Something obviously troubled Scarlet, as she had great difficulties with her words. Eventually, as the internal battle she was fighting came to an end, her eyes started to rapidly water up, and tears began to escape from the corner of her eyes. "Please, save him! He should have been back by now!" From somewhere, that even Aiden couldn''tpletely register a circr talisman, simr to the one Lilly had appeared in her hand giving off a faint, pulsating blueish light. "I only know that he is still alive, but nothing more!" Grabbing the amulet, she shoved in Sarah''s face as if it was obvious to anyone what the pulsing light meant. "See?! He is still alive, but probably hurt! I was already thinking of what to do, but I couldn''te up with any good n I''m unarmed and the two armored orcs outside would be too much for me Not to mention I have no idea how to get inside the tribe''s grounds But I can''t leave brother alone! I NEED to do something!" Although he still had several unanswered questions, Aiden now understood the general gist of why Scarlet and Drake would appear here. They already knew that these royal artifacts had the ability to give a vague direction about the other ones if they would be in the general vicinity, which begged a question. "How did you guys locate this artifact? It was probably very deep in the forest. You would find my sister''s amulet way faster than this one." He asked, with an inquisitory gaze. "Yes, we did find another amulet closer to the outer edges of the forest quite a distance away from here. However, every amulet has a unique signal, and we have already known about the one your sister was carrying." Scarlet answered immediately, shaking her head. "Sorry, but I can''t talk about how we can track and locate our family heirlooms. But if what Drake told me is true, then that strangedy that was with you guys before should have used a simr method. Ask her if you would want an answer to your question." Turning away, she only mumbled the next words, however, Aiden still managed to pick them up. "I will honor my mother''sst wish" Although it raised several new questions, he still decided against asking them. The current situation wasn''t fit for such personal inquiries after all. This, however, raised some doubts and concerns about her Master''s identity. How did she know so much about the royal family''s heirlooms? How could she locate Lilly with such ease before? Thinking back, she did act strangely when they confirmed Drake''s identity. Although it was for merely a second, there was a slight fluctuation in her mood, that Aiden didn''t give much thought at the time, as he was fully focused on finding and rescuing Lilly. ''I will need to talk with Master about this at some point'' He made a mental note to himself about the matter, before shaking his head and forcing his usual friendly, kind smile to return to his face. Stepping close to the fiery, red-haired girl once again, he grabbed the frame of the stool. "Okay, I think I heard enough." Shifting his gaze from the wooden panel to the girl, he nodded with affirmation as he casually lifted the panel as if it was nothing and broke it away from the rest of the section. "Rest assured, I will save Drake from whatever predicament he got himself into this time!" Chapter 231 - 231 - Stall Talk Seeing the ease with which Aiden broke off the wooden panel, opening up the stall she was ced at and essentially freeing her with the shrug of a shoulder, caused Scarlet to look at the boy with an incredulous look. The girls next to him, Sarah and Naybeah gave knowing smirks seeing the disy of strength from the boy. "Now then." Throwing the panel away, Aiden looked at the opened stall with a cheerful smile. "Since neither of you can get inside the tribe''s grounds, you should join with the girls, okay? Stay together and do your best guys!" Turning around he looked at Sarah and the blonde amazon as he continued with his lecturing words. "Protect Scarlet; she suffered enough in her life." His tone was solemn and cool. Thinking back on the life she must have had before she was freed Aiden couldn''t help but clench his fists as anger began to rise inside him. In fact, the rage he felt was something simr, akin to the madness he felt when he found out what happened to his sister. Knowing he couldn''t lose control now, he took several deep breaths before he finally started to calm down, and the light that appeared in his eyes began to fade back to normal. "You can count on me, hubby!" Hitting her chest, Naybeah proudly eximed. "I will protect the miss, just like I would you, my Chosen Mate!" "Mate? What does she mea-" Not clear on the meaning behind the amazon''s words, Scarlet was about to ask, however, Aiden intervened, giving a loud sigh. "Anyway" After calming down and collecting himself, he looked and gently ced his right hand on Scarlet''s shoulder. "You can count on them, they are strong, just like you." Stepping forward, he once again shifted his attention towards Sarah, who has already busied herself looking around Scarlet''s stall, looking for additional weak points, or potential solutions on how to open the rest of the stalls without much noise. "Sarah" Stepping next to the girl who was currently focused on therge wooden pole at the center of the stall. The iron chains were fixed on it withrge nails. "Hmm?" Hearing her name being called out by the boy, Sarah turned around, to match the boy''s gaze. As their eyes met there was a momentary silence, before Aiden continued. "Once you guys are done with everything you need to do, let''s gather at the campsite, okay? I will try to get back as fast as possible. Since we need to find and rescue Drake as well, I will try to get back as soon as possible. I''m not sure if I will be discovered, but if I do and my cover will be blown, listen to a dragon''s roar. Once you hear that, don''t wait for us, and just leave! Understood?" At thetter half of his speech, his tone turned colder, somber. "Wha-" Shocked and stunned by his words, Sarah was unable to respond for a short while. Once she managed to, Aiden swiftly silenced her by cing his right index finger in front of her lips. "No. Just agree to it, okay? I can most likely get out, I still have several tricks up in my sleeves!" Winking, he gave a friendly, reassuring smile to the stunned girl. Once said, he turned around, and deciding to not give any more chances for the girls to argue, he swiftly left towards the door leaving the trio of girls to themselves. "Aiden... wait!" After the momentary shock passed, Sarah yelled out towards the boy''s figure, albeit toote, as he was already out of the building and on his way toplete his parts of the mission. Left to their own devices, Sarah pped the wooden pole she was still investigating in the midst of her great annoyance. "This guy" She grumbled. "Can''t he just work with us? Why does he feel he needs to do everything?!" "Ehehe, that''s just how it is. This is exactly how a mate an amazon chose should act. A real man!" Naybeah added with a wide grin on her face still looking at the direction where Aiden was a moment ago. "So" Gulping, Scarlet was not sure what to do. Her interaction with Aiden so far has been very limited. From what she heard from her brother was that this long, ck-haired, exotic, golden-eyed boy was incredibly strong. In fact, Drake had to admit, although begrudgingly, that the boy was much stronger than himself. This was the reason shetched on to the chance to ask Aiden to save his brother. Whatever happened to him, he is in grave danger. Still alive, but who knows for how long? Taking a longer breath than usual, Scarlet decided to speak up. So far, she had no idea what the ns for these two were, why did theye to this godforsaken ce? "Soo. what are your ns? What are we supposed to do?" Lifting her empty palms, she showcased her (well, currently) painfully obviousck of weapons. "Although my options may be limited due to being unarmed, but I am still capable. I grew up in arenas, fighting for my life. A fistful of sand, a sharper stone, a pointy stick sometimes meant the difference between life and death. Just give me the chance to prove my usefulness to you guys! I refuse to be a burden!" She raised her clenched fists in the air, giving more power to her sudden speech. The conviction, the determination was clear, both Sarah and Naybeah understood that her words weren''t said half-heartedly, she really meant what she said. Being a higher-up in the ranks of the Guild, Sarah obviously heard a bit more of the predicament and all the drama that resulted from her escape, she was certain that she could fight to herst breath using whatever she could grab. Living her whole life as a ve, forced to fight for survival each and every day for years toe That''s not a life that should have been the fate of the princess of the country. After a few seconds of silence, Sarah nodded as she measured the fiery red-haired girl one more time. "I understand, mydy, I know you are strong, stronger than the average. I can''t even begin to imagine the life you had to lead before you were reunited with your brother but rest assured, we all will work towards the same goal, and I fully expect you to do your part of the work." Crouching down, Sarah reached for her ankles, and to Naybeah''s surprise pulled out a small knife from under the cloth cover. Standing up, she presented it to the princess. "Here, take this. Not the biggest, but that''s the only extra I have." "Heh, you have more and more secrets. Does hubby know about that hidden weapon of yours?" Naybeah, with a cheeky smirk on her face, remarked. In response, Sarah only clicked her tongue, returning her attention to Scarlet who just took the dagger and began giving a few light swings to get familiar with its weight. "This is more than enough. Uhm Sarah, right?" Scarlet asked as she continued focusing on the weapon in her hand. "Yes. My name is Sarah, and this brute of a woman "pointing at Naybeah, she introduced themselves. "...is Naybeah and actual amazon. Our main objective is to get details about the horde''s ns and if the opportunity arises, thwart them to the best of our abilities." "Well, I''m only here to apany hubby, and to find a location that should be somewhere around here" Naybeah added, earning a frown from Sarah in the process. "Huh? Hubby? Who?" Hearing the term for the second time, Scarlet couldn''t help but ask the amazon for more rity. Her question seemed to hit the right spot, as the blonde giantess immediately became heated, her cheeks turning bright red as she turned her attention towards the door. "Hubby? My Chosen Mate obviously. Aiden, who else? He is the first and only man that managed to defeat me and also stand up against the Queen. She is my chosen one, the only man in my life going forward!" Heaving a heavy and heated sigh, she mumbled enamored towards the closed door. "He is a true alpha, not like those other men He is the holder of my heart, I can''t help but fall more and more in love as I see him in action." "Uhm I see" With a wry smile, Scarlet decided to skip the topic for now, and turned her attention back to Sarah, who meanwhile seemed to move on from the pole and look at the destroyed, splintered wooden panel at the side. "So, what are we going to do?" Scarlet asked the girl who kept herself busy all the while the amazon continued her pointless bbering. "Huh?" As if awoken from her delirious trance, she looked at the red-haired girl with a surprised look. Raising his right arm, she pointed at the nearby stalls still full of ves and aptly listening to them. "We are going to free and rescue everyone, obviously!" Chapter 232 - 232 - Beg For Mercy While the girls busied themselves in setting the other poor, ill-fated ves free, Aiden left the building and was on his way to leave the premises and get back to the shaman once again, hopefully gaining at least some answers to the million questions that kept screaming inside his mind. Already expecting some sort of resistance from the guards, Aiden wasn''t too surprised when he was stopped by the tips of the pike aimed at his throat from both guards. "[Goblin] What happened inside? Something was extra loud?" The guard closest, the left one asked the question with a not-too-bad goblin dialect, meanwhile, he started poking his pike at him. Even though he expected some questioning, having weapons aimed at him didn''t sit too well with Aiden''s already agitated mindset. Instead of answering, his eyes red up, his glowing golden eyes were fixated on the guard. "[Goblin] You sure you want to anger me, orc?" Aiden''s tone was cold, gradually turning lower toned as he continued to speak. A heavy presence, an unbearable aura unfolded from his body, giving immense weight and pressure to the elite warriors of the Mountain Orcs. Still, despite the incredible pressure suddenly descending on them, or the strange behavior of the small goblin in front of them, these warriors were considered elites of their tribe! They wouldn''t just crumble immediately. The guard continued to poke at the goblin, but unlike before he began putting some minimal strength behind his small thrusts aiming to pierce the little fellow''s skin. "[Goblin] Answer me, goblin! What happened! What did you do?" He continued his interrogation, his tone was harsh, cold, unfriendly. He looked at this long, ck-haired goblin as one would look at his enemy. While he aimed several questions to the little guy, his partner began to move closer, trying to stay out of sight and get behind Aiden. Whilst he was doing a splendid job keeping on the down-low, there was no chance of surprising Aiden who was aided with the system''s map. Waiting until the second orc got in position, his lips turned into a cruel, nasty grin, as he began to speak. His voice was no longer familiar to the orcs, it was very low-pitched, simr to some very ancient monster''s, and not something that should be avable to a small, fragile little goblin as the guy in front of them. "[Goblin] I''m going to give to the both of you onest chance. First, the snake behind mees forward. Second, you both get on your knees and apologize for offending me. This is your only chance at survival." Startled by his words, the orc in the front, subconsciously turned to look at the orc positioned behind the goblin. As if they exchangedplete sentences in a manner of seconds, they both nodded, before returning their attention to the frail dark green-skinned goblin in front of them. Tightening their grip on their weapons, both of them began to slowly cock their arms slightly backward, looking at the goblin in front of them as just a b of meat. "[Goblin] Are you threatening us, goblin?" The orc in front spoke in a cold tone looking at the much smaller guy with a condescending look. Seeing the looks he was given, Aiden clicked his tongue while shaking his head. "[Goblin] Looks like until I show you that I am not your average goblin, your pig heads will not understand the danger you are both found yourselves in Allow me to demonstrate" With hisst words, his figure suddenly began to flicker and vanish in the next instant, only to reappear a few steps closer to the shed, just a step behind the sneaking orc, that was ready to thrust his pike forward and backstab the little guy just a moment ago. Not sure of what has happened, the orc was confused about where his target suddenly went. Looking up, he looked at his frontal partner who had a horrified expression, pointing fervently behind him. Confused by his partner''s strange reaction, he was about to ask, when he suddenly felt a chill, dread, a strange, unfamiliar sensation wash over him. Did he experience fear for the first time since his childhood? Perhaps Straightening his back, the orc slowly stood up tightly holding, gripping the shaft of his weapon in front of him. As if that could magically protect him of whatever was about toe As he slowly turned around, his eyes met with the glowing, golden pair of eyes of the widely grinning goblin behind him. "[Goblin] Bye." Before the orc had a chance to react to the goblin''s strange farewell, he felt an immense pressure hitting the middle of his chest. A momentter he felt as his body turned weightless and was helplessly flying backward. He had no idea what hit him, what was that thumping pain hitting his chest especially with such tremendous force. Before his brain could have had a chance to process everything that was ying out, he was already flung back, flying through the air in a wide arc towards arge tree''s wide trunk several meters away. While this was ying out, the other orc was frozen on the spot. He just witnessed something incredible, something that was impossible to his understanding. A frail, weak little goblin moved with incredible speeds, surprising even them. At the next moment when he said his farewells to his partner, he barely managed to catch the glimpse of something thatpletely shocked him to the core. The little goblin made a casual open-palmed punch at his friend''s chest. While the movement looked casual, there was something unnatural, something otherworldly about it. For example, there were several afterimages along its wake! Second, there was some mystical glow, some sort of invisible barrier that surrounded his palm. His stupor was broken with a loud thumping from behind him. His partner''s arc finally came to a halt as he violently collided with therge and wide trunk of the tree, falling unconsciously on the ground as his body, -with the assistance of gravity- separated from the makeshift body-shaped hole from the tree andnded on the ground. Unable to believe what was inly presented to him, the now-lonesome standing guard looked at his partner''s unconscious body resting in the muddy ground with incredulous looks. Just how? What the hell happened? Was that punch really that powerful? Is he dead? Realizing that the perpetrator was still unharmed and in front of him, he nervously gripped the shaft of his weapon, as he slowly shifted his head, turning forward to match the now fearsome glowing pair of eyes already just a step away from him. The same wide grin was present on his face as he nced over at the second orc''s unconscious body. Looking away, he turned to look at the nervous only standing orc in front of him with a lecturing expression as he began his speech. "[Goblin] I warned you both. What is it with you pig heads that makes you unable to listen to reason? You see a seemingly weaker species and no matter if he or she should be your allies you look down and even try to bully him or her! What is up with you?" Unsure if he should be answering the question or not, the orc slowly began to open his mouth to respond, but there were no cohesive, understandable words leaving his lips. Smirking, Aiden looked at the visibly scared "brave and proud" elite warrior of the Mountain Orc''s with a condescending look, returning the earlier gesture. "[Goblin] What? I can''t understand your grunts pig! If you talk, use that little brain of yours and try to make cohesive sentences!" Being looked down and called names by a visibly much smaller and weaker creature was incredibly humiliating for an Orc. Still, even if his first reaction would be telling him to retaliate, he knew better. This little goblin was nowhere near as helpless and weak as his stature would tell. He was strong, unbelievably strong in fact. So, the best he could do for now is to swallow these ''pills'' and acquiesce to the stronger creature''s demands to try to save his own life. After all, under the guise of all that training, that mask of bravery and proudness was an orc who just wanted to continue to survive. Life was the most precious resource, the most treasuredmodity, even for them. Thinking it through several times, and throwing daggers with his eyes at the goblin, he finally decided to do something he would have never expected to. Throwing his weapon on the ground he surrendered. In the next moment, the proud and strong elite warrior bent his body forward and got on his knees in front of Aiden. Albeit begrudgingly and through whispered groans, he managed to squeeze out the words that hurt his pride by an insurmountable amount whilst at the same time gave great satisfaction to the long, ck-haired goblin. "[Goblin] I am sorry, my lord. Please spare our lives, I beg you!" Chapter 233 - 233 - Identity Crisis Looking at the kowtowing orc in front of him, was another new experience for Aiden. He couldn''t deny it felt good. No, it felt incredible, empowering. To see this proud specimen of his violent species fall on his knees and beg for HIS forgiveness It was an incredibly intoxicating feeling. Still, just by listening to his tone and measuring his micromovements, it was clear this orc just chose the easiest way to resolve the current situation, and by no means acknowledges him as his superior. No, that would be preposterous to this pig-headed race, they will never ept a member of the goblins to be the stronger ones, they would rather die in shame. "[Goblin] I will learn from this mistake, lord, and do better the next time." His racing thoughts were interrupted by the continued groveling of the kneeling warrior. Awakened by his momentary stupor, he looked at the orc beneath him with disdain and contempt. It was clear to him that all of this was just a farce, just some y that the orc thought he was so clever to outy him. Keeping a stern gaze for an extended period of time, Aiden eventually let out a long sigh. Reaching for the creases of his temple, he shook his head. "[Goblin] You know, this was actually not that bad. Really. I would have let you live, honestly. Everything would have been much simpler. You, stupid pig as you are would have learned how to behave wouldn''t be needed to be put down, and then we wouldn''t have to be wary of the decreased time frame before eventually, everything goes bad." Letting out another sigh, he stepped closer to the still kowtowing orc crouching down to his eye level. With his right hand, he grabbed his muchrger chin and lifted it so they would look into each other''s eyes. As their gazes met, the glow immediately returned to Aiden''s eyes his golden irises began to shine with their usual, otherworldly luster. His voice following the change of his eyes, turned much lower-pitched, reminding the orc once again that the being in front of him was an ancient beast rather than a frail goblin. "[Goblin] Sadly for me, and for you, I guess as well your primitive, idiotic nature can''tprehend this one, simple fact: You are not the strongest, far from it. There are people that you should not annoy. This mistake, whilst it could have been a simple lesson, will now turn into something that nobody will remember" Seeing the frightened look on the orc''s face, gave another boost to Aiden''s mind. Taking in the sight with great pride, he slowly lifted the orc to a standing position, whilst he himself gradually began transforming. His muscles contorting, giving way to a new build, he grew taller, matching the height of the orc. His skin turned bronze-like with thick scales covering it. The previously gentle feel of his hand suddenly became unpleasant; his hands transformed intorge ebony ws. Albeit he hasn''t grown out his wings and tails, the sudden change in his look was still too much for the orc to process, he just looked ahead with a frozen, stunted look. In his frozen fright, he even forgot that he was talking to a goblin previously, he switched back to his original, orcish dialect. "[Orc] Thwarg'' Raga! Thwarg'' Raga!" He cried, almost squealed in fright, reawakening from his stunned state, trying his best to free himself from the vice-like grip of this unknown enemy. [Analyzing Language: Orc. Progress: 7%] Aiden nced at the notification only for a second, a smirk appeared on his face. Looking at the Orc iling madly, but futilely, for some inexplicable reason, he felt great satisfaction in his torment. Something felt strangely fulfilling, intoxicating about it. Slowly increasing his grip around his neck, the orc''s previously helpless failing began to die down, as the air started to be troublesome. Seeing as his movement stopped, he let some of his grip off, letting some air reach the orc''s lungs. "[Goblin] You know... " Aiden continued his improvised speech, hisst monologue to the fading orc. "...would you like to know why I am showing you this semi-transformed form of mine? Why am I giving you such an incredible, rare look into my true being? Hmm?!" Looking at the orc, he pulled his face closer as he was slowly trying to open his mouth. Some secondster, the orc managed to squeeze out some words. "[Goblin] Just kill me, you monster!" In the end, he even managed to gather enough willpower and saliva to spit at goblin-turned-dragonoid Aiden, greatly shocking him in the process. Not by the action, but hisst word, monster. ''Am I really turning into one? Is it bad to enjoy the demise of someone like this one?'' Questions began to fly inside his mind, doubting his every uing thought as well. His delightful moment ruined, Aiden''s expression soured. Not wanting to ''y'' any longer, his vice-like ws closed off in the next moment, shattering meat and bones with ease, separating the head from the body with one decisive snap of his. Before the head could fall to the ground, even before the body could kick off a cloud of dust as it would Aiden immediately activated his [Primal Absorb] ability and reached out for the two now-separate body sections. In mere moments, the orc''s two body parts stopped in mid-air, as if it would no longer be part of this world, and began to slowly change, transform. As its surface continued to wobble and resonate to some unknown rhythm, it slowly turned dark grey, losing all previous color that defined the body. In the next moment, the clinking sound of the orc''s armor hitting the ground could be heard as it fell through the strangely liquified body. The 2 viscous, dark grey cloud''s first action was to merge back together into one floating body of cloud before it began its traversal towards Aiden''s body. Opening his mouth, Aiden let the already semi-processed essence-mass of the orc''s body enter his own, and let the system take care of processing it. Although he heard several notifications in his mind, he currently was in no mood to look over them. He moved to the still unconscious second orc a short distance away, lying on the ground. "[Goblin] Am I really a monster to you too? Hmm?" He asked the unconscious orc, not really hoping for any response. In the next moment, he struck down with his wed hand, submerging into the orc''s torso, and reaching his still-beating heart. Grabbing the organ, he decisively pulled it out, ending the orc''s life instantly. Looking at the slowly dying organ in his ws, Aiden watched as it slowly ceased to beat any longer before throwing it back in the body. Activating his powerful [Primal Absorb] skill, he absorbed the orc''s body as well. Taking the next few seconds to store their equipment in his inventory he essentially removed all traces of them before finally calming down. As his figure slowly returned to his goblin-state, and the light faded from his eyes, returning it to its original, still exotic golden irises, he looked back at the now empty, unguarded gate with mixed feelings. Was this really okay? Was what he just did eptable? Did he really turn into a monster? Is he turning into the very thing he is fighting against? Did he really not reach any progress with his mediation and training with his Master? On one side, he should be happy; he solved a potential issue, giving the girls more leeway to work with. With this, they wouldn''t be bothered, and their rescue operation should go off without a hitch. On the other hand, he just brutally murdered two intelligent beings, just for doing their jobs. Were they evil? Were they good? It didn''t matter to him. He killed both of them because they were in the way. Worst of all, he actually enjoyed the painful groans and squeals of the one he was holding in his ws. He liked to listen to his cries Many thoughts swirling inside his head, Aiden found no answers, just more and more questions and concerns about his very existence. From the time he absorbed the mutated Worgen, he realized that he not only took over their appearances, their traits, but their behavior as well. The Ancient Dragon is a prideful creature, a true king above all life, and as such looks down on everything else, the Worgen is a bloodthirsty, violent being that enjoys being in the thick of the battle ripping out throats and intestines. There are others as well, but as he continues to absorb and create new and new forms, one question slowly started to rise to the forefront of Aiden''s mind Just what and where is his true self? Is it buried under all this ''rubble''? Or is this mixture Is this ''cocktail'' his new self? His new being? With onest sigh, looking at the unnaturally clean sight, Aiden turned away, fixing his attention towards the distance. It was time to give another visit to the old orc and ask him about his involvement in what truly happened... Chapter 234 - 234 - Comrade Walking the distance towards the strange, bioluminescent clearing with the overgrown lichens took less time than expected, as Aiden''s thoughts continued racing trying to find some answers to his most pressing identity questions. Arriving at the magical barrier that seemed to withstand and block all outsiders from taking a step inside, Aiden, just like before crossed through with ease. Once done so, he quickly found himself at the other side, the barren wastnd, this horrific, another world with the lone tent-like shack not too far away from him. In front of it, there was already arge bonfire lit. Its long, tall orange mes danced their rhythmic dance against each other, wiggling and squirting towards high up the sky. The fire was much bigger than what they set in the camp, reaching the heights of the yurt behind it. Next to the bonfire, the decrepit, old man was already sitting in a stump twiddling the ends of his long silvery beard with what seemed to be a bone from a humanoid''s finger His gnarled stick, which he mostly used as a traveling aid was resting next to him. Seeing the old man again confirmed hisst suspicions; Aiden was now absolutely certain that it was he who kept monitoring them and sent those two on them previously. Still, from the memories of the absorbed orc, he knew that the old man wasn''t the true mastermind, he was merely a pawn, a tool to be used by the being behind him. Although he couldn''t see more, he was also fairly certain that even with getting his memories wouldn''t reveal much more than likely it would be the same as the goblins leader''s. With that, another thought came to Aiden''s mind, his eyes snapped on the very same gnarled, ugly and useless-looking branch with the unusuallyrge red gemstone ced at the top. It was almost the exact same as what the goblin leader had, the same ''holy relic'' the entire tribe almost worshipped. He also clearly remembers that the gemstone was ''talking'' to the deceased and absorbed goblin throughout his life and pushed him to the top of his tribe and to join the horde as well. It also provided strange, mystical, magical powers to him, and to the warriors with him, turning their frail, weak bodies into fearsome, brutal, bloodthirsty killing machines. Could that item sitting next to the old man, that walking aid be serving the very same purpose for this old man? Could the source of his powers, this strange barrier surrounding their tribe, his inexplicable methods of keeping watch, whatever other powers yet to be revealed being from that same gemstone? What type of connection was this? Where and more importantly: who they were connected to? Letting his eyes linger a bit longer on the resting walking aid, Aiden, still donning his goblin form calmly approached the sitting old man. "[Goblin] We meet again, old man." Despite the anger he felt, he still forced his usual calm and friendly tone towards the old man. At least for now. Not minding the obvious fakeness in his voice, the old man nodded at the little, green guy''s approach. "[Goblin] Come, take a seat. We have much to discuss and got so little time to do so." The old man''s raspy voice filled the air between them. He gestured towards the second small little tree stump a bit further to his right. "Hmm" Giving a light nod, Aiden took the offered seat and looked at the old man. "[Goblin] Please, begin." He asked, the friendly, kind smile not leaving his face as he looked at the shaman. Instead of giving a straight answer, the old man simply smiled. Stopping his current action ofbing his beard with the strange piece of bone, he reached out for his walking stick with his frail, bone-like left arm and threw the gemstoned branch in front of Aiden, surprising him with action by a great deal in the process. Not expecting that he would just simply hand over the staff without any fuss, Aiden was at a momentary loss for words. Silently reaching for the ugly piece of wood, he grabbed it and raised it in front of his eyes, taking a closer look at the scarlet gemstone adorned at its top. "[Goblin] It is just as you think. They are connected." The old man''s raspy voice once again could be heard as he continued to put all his attention on his ownbing. "[Goblin] They? What do you mean?" Raising his eyebrows, Aiden averted his attention from the gemstone. It was as if something or someone was waiting for this exact moment because as soon as he shifted his focus back to the old man, a small stream of gaseous substance began to escape through a thin trail of translucent trail of smoke from the crystal. Unfortunately for him, her or it, such an attempt wouldn''t be able to escape Aiden''s senses. He flicked his hand, and to the great shock and surprise of the old man, the entire staff suddenly vanished without a trace. The small, minuscule amount of smoke that already escaped, faded a few momentster as well without the support of the gemstone. Seeing his staff vanish into nothingness with a flick of this goblin''s wrist, caused great shock and surprise internally to the old man. Still, on the outside, barely, just barely he managed to retain his calm and collected outlook, albeit now all his previous nning has gone to smoke, he still had many back-up ns for oues even such as this. His face began to contort, and a grimace-like smile started to reveal its ugly sight on the edges of his aged and wrinkled face. "[Goblin] Nice trick there, young man!" He first gave honest-sounding apuse for the vanishing trick he did, lifting his gaze from the action he had been continuously doing, then before Aiden had a chance to respond he continued in his raspy voice. "[Goblin] I have to admit, I severely underestimated and misjudged you. Not once, not twice but multiple times by now. That is a mistake I sincerely regret." He spoke slowly, the smile not leaving his wrinkled face. His hands stopping in their tracks, he slowly pulled out the finger-bone he was using as ab from his long beard. "[Goblin] Luckily I have found these ws and will now correct it before it would be toote" Grabbing the edges of his seat, he slowly pushed himself up to a standing position. Slowly, as he had just lost his aid, he paced closer to the sitting goblin, with the same smile stretching those aged facial muscles of his. Arriving only a few steps away from his guest, he looked deeply at the little goblin, both smiling kindly, unafraid of each other. Although the whole notion of this simple goblin being so brave was brisking against his orcish nature, due to his age and experience he knew that he should never judge a book by its cover, never look down on a creature just because they looked weak at a first nce. There are way too many mysteries in this world than one could imagine. Looking at the old shaman''s actions, Aiden wasn''t entirely sure how to react. Still, even if he nned tounch a ''surprise'' attack, he felt that he was more than enough in his current form to hold him back. Aiden knew that the old man had tremendous powers inside those frail, wrinkled body of his, so before he would be able to correctly judge his power level, Aiden would only be staying on the defensive. Attacking without understanding your opponent correctly would be a really unwise thing to do after all. In the next moment, however, to Aiden''s great surprise, the old shaman suddenly bowed deeply in front of him. "[Goblin] I apologize for my earlier actionsrade! I have now realized that you are just like me, an agent of them, a herald walking amongst us! I should have realized it sooner, as you did carry their symbol with you earlier, but I was blind! Please forgive my blunt and barbaric actions that may have caused you inconvenience earlier." For the first time, Aiden could only hear pure honestly, a heartfelt desire to apologize for one''s mistakes and get closer to his rade-in-arms'', whatever that may have meant Unsure of what to do, he simply nodded, epting his apology, as simply that seemed the best course of action currently. "[Goblin] Thank you,rade!" His hideous grin curving higher and higher on his wrinkled face, the old man fervently shook the small goblin''s hands before he sat on the ground next to him. "[Goblin] Comrade, are you here for the sanctum as well?" The old man asked, looking at the goblin in a much different light than even just a few minutes ago. Before he could ask, the old man continued. "[Goblin] If you do, I hope you know that you can''t simply enter their Grotto like that! You need to provide the necessary sacrifice, so the ritual can judge if you are worthy of their boon or not!" Chapter 235 - 235 - Two Birds, One Stone At first, Aiden simply ignored what the old man was bbering about. However, his attention was grabbed when he suddenly mentioned a ''Grotto'', a special ce that is further beyond the tribe''s grounds That may be the ce he was actually hoping to find! With his attention now grabbed, Aiden turned to look at the old orc, who kept grinning at him with his hideous, wrinkled dark grey face, sitting on the ground next to him. Forcing to return his sudden kindness, Aiden smiled back, giving his best, friendliest smile he could muster. "[Goblin] Please tell me more about this Grotto, this ''Sanctum'' you just mentioned. Just as you guessed, that is indeed my destination, the reason I came here." The old man pumped his skinny right arm in the air triumphantly upon hearing the confirmation to his conjectures from the goblin. "[Goblin] Haha, I knew it! I knew someone of your caliber wouldn''te to this useless tribe''sst-ditch effort to survive! These bastards are doomed, I tell ya, doomed! They can''t ept the fact that the main horde has pretty much given up on them, and just sent them on this mission to die out!" As he spoke, his expression soured and as he turned towards the tribe''s direction, he spat spitefully on the ground. "Ptooey!" Then, he turned back and looked mostly in front of himself, to the ground as he continued with a much gloomier tone. "[Goblin] You know, this tribe used to be different. WE used to be different. Not this barbaric, savage, brainless mob of monsters that has no more ce in the world of the living, but way back" The old orc let out a sigh, as he continued to be lost in his own gaze, probably reminiscing about a much brighter past. "[Goblin] What happened?" The goblin''s inquiring voice came from next to the old man. Hearing the question, the old man let out another long-winded breath of air and continued to dazedly gaze into therge bonfire still crackling proudly. After a short while, he opened his mouth and in his raspy, aged voice, he was about to recount a tale that, at least for some small bits, Aiden already had a small insight, thanks to the absorbed orc''s memories. Looking at the old man, an idea popped into Aiden''s mind. "[Goblin] Well It''s not an easy tale, and my goblin dialect might not be good enough to tell the story correctly" He sighed, getting increasingly lost in his memories. However, the next words, surprised him enough to pull him back from his reverie. "[Goblin] Tell me the story in your original, Oguage. I want to listen to your story in your own tongue, in your original telling." Turning away from the bonfire, the old man gave an incredulous, doubting look to the goblin. "[Goblin] Are you sure, little guy? I know you are much smarter than the average, but to listen to it in orcish" Aiden gave a friendly, kind smile and instead of answering, he silently nodded, motioning for the old man not to worry and start recounting his tale. Meanwhile, inwardly, he was focusing already, his focus was on the old man''s every word. Previously he noticed that thenguage of the orcs was either too simplistic or held too many simrities to the already analyzednguages, as the progress was rtively fast. With some luck, he would be able to listen to the old man''s tale, and by the end, would be able to join in as well Even if not, getting thenguage unlocked in his system, and being able to understand this growling, throatynguage would be incredibly beneficial to him for his current mission. The old man sized up the small goblin one more time before he finally acquiesced. In the end, it didn''t matter if the little goblin would understand him or not, the matter of fact was, that by telling his story, he was hoping to let out his emotions. He felt guilty for all that happened, he knew that what happened was his fault, his greediness, his stupidity was what caused his tribe to fall. He made them pack up and leave the safety of their mountain, to join this demonic horde to create an idealistic world and a space for their own. It was a foolish dream, a fruitless hope that was destined for failure. He was sure of it now. This world, this dark, cruel, unforgiving ce held no ce for their kind. Taking in arge gasp of fresh air, the old man slowly exhaled it, whilst he collected his thoughts. Eventually, as he was lost gazing at the bonfire, he opened his mouth and began to recount the tale, in his raspy voice. Compared to before, his words were alien, seemingly unintelligent to Aiden. The old man, agreeing to his request, was speaking in Orcish. "[Orc] Thwarg, uiog rouy mnjraghanhst warghthasg raga" His words sounding nothing more than throaty gurgles, without anything coherent for Aiden''s ears to pick up. Still, his system immediately kicked in, calming Aiden''s increasing agitation that it was rapidly processing thenguage. [Analyzing Language: Orc Progress 10%] . . . [Analyzing Language: Orc Progress 13%] . . . [Analyzing Language: Orc Progress 17%] At first, the old shaman stopped after some small sections and looked at the goblin if he was still following along. Seeing his apt attention as he was focusing on his every word reassured the old man, and soon he waspletely lost in recounting his own tale. Just as Aiden was expecting, the system picked up the pace, and the progress made leaps and bounds, rapidly closing on the 100% mark. [Analyzing Language: Orc Progress 31%] . . . [Analyzing Language: Orc Progress 45%] . . . [Analyzing Language: Orc Progress 74%] . . . [Analyzing Language: Orc Progress 94%] Eventually, the progress reachedpletion, and just like back in the goblin''s the text changed and was informing Aiden of the creation of the desirednguage skill. [Analyzing Language: Orc Progress 100%] [Analysisplete, processing information, creating skill. Remaining time: 0 hours 3 minutes 55 seconds] Just like with the analysis, even the skill creation only took a fraction of the usually required time. Aiden wasn''t certain if this was a result of the simrities with some of his already knownnguages, or if the system just got better, or if there was anything else in y Regardless of what the cause was, the fact was that whilst the Old Orc was still seemingly deep in recounting his tale, he got the necessary skill to be able to understand and converse with yet another species. Minutes passed, and seemingly unbeknownst to the old man, Aiden was finally prompted by a familiar bell-like sound ringing inside his mind, informing him of a new message. A message that told him that he now possesses the very much appreciated skill: [Language: Orc]. A small smirk began to creep up on his face as he read the message. He now gained the ability to understand and even discourse with the orcs, giving him a potentially very powerful tool to tackle any uing situation now and in the future! The old shaman also noticed the sudden smirk creeping up on the goblin''s face. Not sure what could have caused it, he stopped in his tracks, and asked out, forgetting to switch back to the [Goblin] dialect. "[Orc] Hey, what''s so funny goblin? Mind telling me?" As soon as he spoke, he realized he talked in his ownnguage, and that the small guy would probably not understand him at all. He was about to correct himself and trante it to the goblin''snguage when to his shock and surprise, the little guy opened his mouth and spoke in clear, and perfect Orcish. "[Orc] Don''t worry about it, I was just reminded of something. Please, continue with your story." The old man was utterly shocked. Yes, he might have agreed to tell the tale on his own, but he wasn''t expecting the little guy to actually understand anything about it. It didn''t really matter anyway, and just as he thought, just the mere fact of letting his emotions out felt therapeutic, refreshing. He felt as if a huge burden was slowly being chipped off from his shoulders and giving him that much-needed breath of fresh air. It was a refreshing, rejuvenating experience. His old, aged bones made a lot of mistakes, -some worse than others-, over the years in the pursuit of power, but ultimately, he didn''t mind most of them. What he did regret and would do anything to be able to fix, was the moment when he agreed to join the horde. That was the point when he personally ruined the tribe, the exact moment in time where the fate of his people, his tribe, his legacy was ripped out from history and thrust into the pits of doom. The lords he decided the serve, those ''beings'' didn''t give a shit about their race! Why would they? They were nothing more than cannon-fodder, warriors to be used and thrown to the frontlines. That''s where they belonged. Chapter 236 - 236 - The Offer The old man knew that there was no fixing of this mistake. His people are already gone. They are nothing more than mindless servants of the horde, warriors to be used on the frontlines against the myriad races they will be ultimately used against as nothing more than tools for ughter. Nobody will remember their history, their struggles, and their victories. The world will only know that they were bloodthirsty, violent monsters, invaders on their ''peaceful''nd, trying to take their life and the world itself away from them. They will only know that they were the demons, the brutal monsters, the violent beasts that were nothing more than bipedal pigs. Apletely twisted joke on their legacy. They had so much more to give, just like every other intelligent species they also had their own history, their own unique, special things that could just as easily define them, as to how the future will now ultimately remember them. Remembering this he let a saddened sigh escape his lips. Looking at the crackling bonfire, the old man remained silent for a while, despite the goblin''s surprising urging to continue with the story. After a long while, he let out one more breath of air, and continued. "[Orc] You know, there''s not much more to say now. I agreed with them, and as I took the staff that you ultimately took from me, I joined their ranks as an agent. I gained the power I craved for, and in the process, I doomed my entire existence and my people. " A small smirk crept on the edges of his lips. He continued to look at the fire as he raised a rhetorical question. "[Orc] You what was the funniest? When I walked out to the podium and looked into the eyes of all those that gathered on that fateful day All the fiery, fervent gazes When I announced that we joined the Horde, and we will be part of something much bigger to create a new world for ourselvesThey actually celebrated this change! They were happy and ready to join in on this adventure of mine, ready to leave their lives, and readily doom themselves. It was at that point when I realized what I had just done. As I looked at them and saw their crazed eyes as they celebrated something that they probably didn''t even understand it just dawned on me then and there. The great mistake I had just made." Once again, the old man returned to silence, as a single tear began to formte and fight to break free from his jail cell. Eventually, the little tear won the struggle and escaped its confined space, only to slide through the wrinkled dark grey dry skin of his owner, and fall down to the dusty ground. "[Orc] You know, at that point, albeit toote, I realized that the only thing I ever really wanted was to be remembered. I just wanted our race to not be forgotten like many others before us. I wanted to make a mark in history, whatever small or insignificant it was." He raised his right arm, and clenched his hand into a fist, using all of his physical strength. A momentter, as his eyes wandered off from the fire to his tightly pumped fist, he formed a hollow smile. He slowly began to move his fist, following his line of sight. As he did so, the outeryers of his hand began to slowly blur, the particles in the air around it started a wild reaction. Slowly, a ck hue began to form, and surround his arm, giving it a strange, unique energy-based coating. The ck-coloredyer of energy formed a glove-like barrier around his fist, a low-tone humming noise could be heard as it continued to linger and possibly protect its wielder. Looking at his own creation with a wry smile, the old man continued. "[Orc] I have gained incredible powers, I was and I can be considered quite strong in fact but what use do I have for all this power? It will all vanish with me, and there will be no traces of my legacy, my people" Waves began to form on the surface of the energy barrier and began to traverse towards the fist, gathering coalescing in one singr point at the tip. As it continued to gather, soon the tip of his fist began to distort the very space itself, creating twisted, hazy imagery of the outline of his clenched hand. The dark, void-colored energy eerily continued to gather, as the old man let his frustration reach a singr point in his body. Meanwhile, Aiden was aptly watching all that was ying out in front of him. The old man, this shaman, exiled leader, held incredible powers. He could already feel the weight, the pressure emanating from his fist. If the old man would hit him with all that gathered power, then despite the fact that the old orc was already frail, and physically weak, that punch would cause serious damage to him, forcing him to use every trick up his sleeve to even survive that singr hit. However, just as the gathered energy seemed to reach a critical mass, the old man heaved a sigh and opened up his clenched fist, revealing his empty palm. In an instant, all that gathered, the incredible amount of energy evaporated, fading back into the nothingness they came from. The ck coating also fading, his original dark grey wrinkled skin tone was visible once more. "[Orc] Just like that All the power, all the things I have been desperately fighting for all my life, will just vanish with me. What an idiot I was. The biggest of us all" He sighed again in his mncholy. After that, a short silence ensued between the two. The old man, seemingly finished with his tale has fallen into a mncholic state, hazily looking at the crackling bonfire, whilst Aiden, the small goblin next to him, was lost in his own thoughts. Although he didn''t understand most of the tale he was told, from the orc''s mood and hisst segments, he got the gist of it. He was regretful, he did not want to end up here. While his people are now beyond saving, he still has some regrets, some mistakes he was hoping to somehow fix. Maybe his 180 change in attitude towards Aiden was also part of this hollow wish. Still, this gave an opportunity to Aiden. "[Orc] If you would have the chance, would you want to take revenge on the ones that doomed you?" Breaking the peaceful serenity between them, Aiden abruptly inquired, starting and shocking the old man for the nth time today. For the first time since a great while, the old man slowly shifted his attention, turning away from the dancing mes and looking at his little guest with creased eyebrows. "[Orc] What do you mean?" Already expecting this reaction, Aiden''s friendly, kind smile returned to his face, as he matched the old orc''s gaze. Nodding, he slowly, calmly responded. "[Orc] I meant what I said. What if you would get the chance to take revenge on the people that tricked you." "[Orc] T-that That''s impossible! How could any of us stand up against them? They are beyond this world! They are immensely powerful! Who could do such a thing?!" The old man, as expected, did not believe the little goblin''s words, and vehemently denied the idea. "[Orc] What if I tell you, that I can promise you that? What if I tell you, I''m not just a simple goblin, that you see in front of you, but something else, something more? What if I tell you, that I have the power to do what I just told you, but I would need your help with it? Would you give me... No. Would you give yourself the chance?" Not minding the old man''s reaction''s Aiden continued with his wide, a gentle, kind smile giving a friendly, harmless expression to the old man. Taking a moment longer, the old man began to once more slowly scrutinize the little goblin. For several times already, he had vastly underestimated this guy, and now he knew that he shouldn''t make the same mistake any longer. Even still, should he trust him? A goblin? How could one, single goblin stand up against the literal darkness and eventually the entire horde? No that was impossible He shook his head and was about to respond, trying to politely decline his words when his words suddenly froze in him. The air suddenly changed between them. An incredible pressure, a brutal weight descended upon him as the seemingly harmless goblin unfolded the full weight of his draconic aura. Aiden''s eye suddenly basked in its glorious golden glow, the figure sitting next to the old man was no longer a simple goblin. No, as the old orc continued to look at him, he somehow felt something different something unexinable He wasn''t sure what it was, but one thing was sure Whatever was sitting there wasn''t a goblin. It was something ancient incredibly so... Chapter 237 - 237 - A New Servant Despite his advanced years, his lifetime gained knowledge The old shaman was trembling as he looked at the terrifying entity that was sitting just next to him. He felt an invisible energy pulsating, radiating out of the small goblin, hitting his aged, wrinkled body with massive power. He really had to concentrate to be able to withstand the sheer pressure emanating from this seemingly harmless boy. Then, those eerie, but at the same time incredibly majestic looking, glowing, golden eyes! That was not something he had ever seen in his long years of life! This was a unique, new experience, a new sensation for the old man. He felt his knees tremble, ready to give up, and hit the floor. He felt his whole body being pulled closer to the ground, ready to prostrate in servitude. If he wouldn''t be this strong-willed, the old man was sure he would already be subservient to whatever this goblin-skinned ancient entity was. "[Orc] J-just w-w-what are you?!" He asked after a while with great difficulty, no longer sure how to look or address the being next to him. "[Orc] You can just call me Aiden. As for what I am Do you believe me now? Do you still believe I would be unable to stand up against the tides of darkness?" Aiden asked, his voice turning much lower, adding that additionalyer of draconic feature, giving his speech much more kick to it. His changed, transformed voice did achieve the hoped result, the old man was bbergasted by all the changes that he so far witnessed and heard. For several seconds he just kept staring at the long, ck-haired figure absentmindedly. Eventually, as his mind processed the question, the old man nodded, however. "[Orc] Y-yes, I do believe you Aiden sir!" "Hmmm." Nodding, Aiden epted the old man''s words. Then, in the next seconds, he pulled back his encroaching aura and deactivated all the draconic features he presented to the old man. The glow in his eyes slowly faded, his voice returned to its goblinesque, slightly higher-pitched state. "[Orc] In that case, I have a task for you. In the end, I promise you will see something extraordinary. If you are willing the work with me, together, we will put an end to those otherworldly beings lording. You will get your revenge! What do you say?" It didn''t take even a second for the old man, to fervently begin nodding at the young goblin. Long letting go of his pride as an orc, he went on his knees and began to prostrate towards Aiden. Happy tears could be seen escaping through his dark grey wrinkled face as he eximed. "[Orc] I swear, I swear on my worthless life that I will work with you, no. Serve you for the rest of my life! If you tell me to look right, I will never dare to turn to the left!" He was loudly banging on his chest as he was speaking, eximing his newfound zeal. The sudden exmation, the orc''s newly made vow caught Aiden by surprise, although he was hoping for his cooperation, he wasn''t expecting such fervent reaction at all. However, there was no time to second-guess and doubting himself at the current situation, no matter how weird he felt on the inside, he maintained a friendly, calm attitude on the outside. Nodding at the old man''s words, Aiden got up from his seat, and gently ced his hand on top of the still prostrating old man''s head. "[Orc] What is your name, friend?" He asked in a calm, friendly manner. "[Orc] This one has lost his name when he was exiled, my lord. I was only known as the old man by the rest of the tribe for several years now." The old shaman respectfully replied, not daring to look up. "[Orc] That''s not good, I need a name to refer to you by. Hmm" Hearing the response was another headache iing for Aiden. He hit so many walls, troubles so far, and he hasn''t even got inside the tribe yet! Thinking for a while, he rephrased his previous question. "[Orc] In that case, what WAS your name before being exiled? Or if that''s not possible anymore, what name would you like to wear? What would you like me to call you?" "[Orc] My old name is not something I wish to be remembered anymore. That is cursed, and it belongs to someone who did many cruel deeds in his life just to satiate his youthful greed. If the lord would provide me with a new name, I would wear it with pride." The old man answered, his tone was reverent and respectful all the way. Hearing the old orc''s words, Aiden knew that this conversation will just go in circles unless he himself provides a name. Thinking only for a bit, he smiled and spoke. "[Orc] In that case, from this moment onward, you will be known as Roas, the New Dawn. Let this moment be the new dawn, the next hopefully much brighter chapter in your life." Hearing his new lord speak, and say his new name, the old orc shivered, trembled with excitement. No longer able to look at the ground, he raised his head and looked his new lord in the eye. There was no hatred, no foul thoughts inside those eyes of his. Only glints of conviction, happiness, and respect could be seen shining through. He began loudly banging on his chest once again, as he spoke with great confidence. "[Orc] From this day on, I am Roas, a servant of the great Aiden, the Ancient One, the great! This humble one will do you proud my lord! I will do my best to pay you back for the great kindness that you have shown me today!" Although he wasn''t sure that it would be possible, he knew he had to give some incentives, some benefits to the old man, to make sure his conviction wouldn''t fade with time. After all, if all you would do is to serve, the faith he ced in him would falter just like it did with the demonic lords. Not wanting to share the same fate, he gave a wide, friendly, kind smile to the old man, and continued. "[Orc] Wee to the family, Roas! If you will prove to be faithful, and you will be reliable, I will share more secrets with you. About me, my origin, and I may even bestow some of my boons to you. You will see that being faithful to me, will be the greatest decision in your life!" Hitting his chest once again, Roas responded in a respectful tone. "[Orc] Don''t worry my lord, I will prove my worth to you!" Raising his right palm, Aiden silenced the reverent Roas, and as he reached out, he also raised him from his kneeling posture back on standing. Although the orc was several heads taller even as he was hunched forward in his advanced years, Aiden could still grab his shoulders and look him in the eye as he spoke. "[Orc] Now then, I have a task for you. I will need to shed this goblin skin of mine. It''s not useful, all the other members of the tribe I have met so far have looked at it with disdain and contempt in their eyes. Even you, you also tried to y with me, and steal mypanions." Hearing the words, Roas immediately began apologizing. "[Orc] I am terribly sorry my lord, I was blind and stupid. Please forgive me for my blunder, in my old years, I had nothing to go for, thest thing I wanted before I died was to screw with the horde as much as I could without being tantly obvious. Still, that''s no excuse for my actions." Shaking his head lightly, the smile did not fade from Aiden''s face as he patiently listened to the old man''s apology. "[Orc] There is no need for that Roas. That was the old you, your past, that you have left behind. Now, you are different, you have a name, and a purpose." Seeing how Roas was about to say something again, most likely continuing with his apology, Aiden shook his head once more and continued as he smiled. "[Orc] Listen, the only reason I mentioned that is that I really need to change my current form to something more respectful, something unique. I will need some time to do that and during that time, I will be unresponsive. For that, I will need your help to keep me safe during that time. If you do a good job, you will not only be the first being to every eyes on something that this world hasn''t seen for thousands of years, you will also gain my respect, and a reward! What do you say!" Roas, hearing his lord''s request, immediately went on his knees once again, prostrating for the nth time tonight. "[Orc] My lord, protecting you while you shed your skin to acquire your true self, would be my greatest honor and reward! Please allow me to keep you safe!" The clear conviction behind the old man''s words, caused a smile to surface on Aiden''s face. With this, he was now ready to do that final step in his fusion and shed this goblin form to finally gain something new, something unique something with more respect With that, he quickly navigated back into his system and selected the half-finished fusion process... Chapter 238 - 238 - Transformation With a smirk stretching widely on his face, Aiden watched with the eagerness and excitement of a child as the window slowly materialized in front of his eyes. Knowing that he was the only one to see the magical screen, he must have looked like a kid in a candy store. Roas, the newly named and appointed guardian, watched with curiosity as the young goblin master looked in front of himself, squinting at times, and grinning at others, unsure of what he was doing. Still, a few momentster he watched with amazement, as the boy closed his eyes, slowly crouched down. A momentter a thin, ck membrane began to form seemingly out of nowhere, slowly creating a leathery outeryer around the small goblin. Before the thin barrier closed up, Roas heard his new young master''s words. "[Orc] It would take me 2 hours toplete my transformation. Guard this egg to the best of your abilities and I will be sure to reward you for your loyalty." "[Orc] Yes, my lord. Please be sure that I will protect you!" Roas immediately eximed with zeal, conviction, watching as the thin ck leather membrane closed off at the top, creating a cocoon, a strange ck egg in the ce of where the young goblin stood a moment ago. The strange egg-shaped cocoon grew ck scales, increasing the density and protection of the mass of energy that could be felt rapidly swirling, churning inside. The life it contained was special, was unique and most of all it was ancient. Roas didn''t know who or what exactly this young goblin was; he was told that his name is Aiden, but besides that, he was told nothing. Still, despite thisck of information, he knew that Aiden had to be special. That aura, those terrifying gaze, and otherworldly voice There was nothing, absolutely nothing even remotely simr he felt before. The power that was radiating out of him was immense, it was incredible If he would have been only half-sold at that point, as soon as he felt that power, he knew that his only choice for redemption, and most importantly of all, revenge, was to switch boats and follow this young master. Whoever, or whatever this young goblin truly was, it was his only hope for a better future. Even if his tribe was only a lost cause, at the very least, he now had a shot, a chance at getting his sweet revenge against those beings that clouded the minds of many for years for the promise of some slight increase in power. Looking back, he could only scoff at his own stupid past self. Power? Pffft! That was nothing, a minuscule drop in the ocean. Against the tide that those lords held his miniature increase was nothing. He never held any hope previously. It was futile, even if he could have freed the minds of everybody else, they would still have no chance even against a single one of those beings, not to mention their entire group! However, when he felt that incredible, dense power, pure might radiate off from this small goblin, he knew that with his help, by following him, he will be able to correct his past mistakes and finally walk on the path of redemption. Being in his servitude and letting go of his stupid, orcish pride meant nothing, it was an easy price to pay in return. Roas didn''t really know how much time has passed as he was lost in his own thoughts. Abruptly, an electrical, energy-filled pulse was released from the cocoon with a blustering loud sound. The energy ring was so dense that it destroyed the still proudly crackling bonfire instantly, along with the tent, Roas''s old home. The energy, reaching the energy barrier at the distance, that Roas and the tribe used to keep most of the unwanted elements outside of their grounds collided with the barrier, and to Roas''s utter shock instantly shattering it with yet another loud explosion. Looking back at the egg that now was slowly but rhythmically pulsating on its surface simr to a calm and steady heart, he was once again reaffirmed that his earlier decision to ce his trust in this, ''Aiden'', was the correct one. Time continued to pass, and besides the earlier instance, there were no more surprises to see. The egg-shaped ck, leathery cocoon continued to slowly pulsate, looking more and more simr to a giant organ that should belong to a probably humungous creature. Despite the calm and peaceful night, Roas remained vignt all throughout the night, watching the stars as they slowly reached their nightly peak. By the time it turned close to midnight, he could finally feel and shortly afterwards, see some small movements on the surfaceyer of the egg. The resident inside entered its final phases of his transformation and was now ready to shed its walls toe out to the open once again. Suddenly, as if marking a significant change, the air around the now-destroyed home of Roas turned eerie silent, dense. The silence was unnatural, the air turned heavy. A pressure began to descend froming from an unknown origin. First, it was barely noticeable, but as the seconds continued to pass it turned gradually heavier to the point that it forced even Roas to exert his full focus otherwise he would have also fallen unconscious on the ground. The pressure continued to increase, reaching an unmarked peak, before it abruptly changed. The vertical pressure that descended from high above, it now turned horizontal, pushing everything and anything away from the source. The pressure wasn''t constant, but it came in periodic waves, just like the ocean''s tides. Against such energy, such power, Roas had to keep his focus at maximum, using his arms to block most of the iing periodic waves of energy in front of him. He felt an incredible powering from the egg and was watching thesest moments with great excitement. The hope for a better future was glinting in his aged eyes as he kept up his apt attention, not daring to miss even a single moment. As the time between the torrential tides of energy decreased, soon thin spiderweb cracks appeared at the top of the ck egg. The thin barely visible cracks began to increase, and traverse all around the avable surface until it finally covered every inch of the cocoon. Amidst the gradually widening cracks, a faint golden light seeped through, giving the ck eerie-looking object a holy afterglow, a sort of religious feeling. The change continued, with the cracks slowly widening, and the faint golden light turning bright and eventually blinding as it covered the entirety of the ck mysterious object. Keeping up his apt attention, despite the fact the light made it almost impossible to follow the events, Roas was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the egg''s resident, his newest form, and the look of his young master, Aiden. Finally, as the cracks turned wide enough, the surfaceyer of the egg finally shattered, and with that, the intensity of the blinding light was turned up several notches. A blustering sound of an explosion rang around the area, blocking yet another of the avable senses, making it almost impossible to get an early glimpse of the being behind the glow. As the cloud of dust slowly began to dissipate, and the light started to fade, it finally revealed the outline of a humanoid creature in their midst. Although the dust still blocked most of what could be seen, the figure still sported a much taller, but still lean build than before. Roughly at the same height as the old man, the figure did not look like your average goblin anymore. As the seconds continued to pass, Roas looked at the slowly dissipating cloud with nervousness. He could feel an incredible, yet familiar power radiating from the silhouette in its midst. A strange feeling, -something he never felt before-, was forcing him, an orc to bend his knee towards this mysterious being. Although he didn''t mind that much as he already agreed to serve his new lord for a chance, a shot at his only goal left in life, it was still a strange sensation to experience. It was an instinctual response to this figure''s natural aura. He felt as if it was natural to kneel down and await hismands or just to hope for his attention even if for just a fleeting moment. ''Is this his true power?'' Roas wondered as he continued to gaze at the slowly appearing figure. Slowly, a dark skin, a mixture of green and brown was revealed. The figure looked a mix between your average orc and goblin with his skin tone and, mostly his physique. Much taller than your average goblin, but not as robust and barbaric, pig-faced as what would be normal for an orc. What was surprising and what shocked Roas as he noticed it was the two small protruding stumps at the back of his figure. It looked strange, like small appendages that served a mystical unknown purpose. Whatever that was, he was sure he would get to know it shortly. Chapter 239 - 239 - The Lord And His First Servant When all the smoke has finally dissipated, all the dust has settled, Roas could finally take in his young master''s new look in its entirety. Sporting roughly a simr height as him, Aiden''s new figure was much taller than your average goblin, or even that of humans, matching the height of the robust, usually towering orcs, albeit with a much leaner, healthier physique. What was strange, was the extra appendages protruding roughly from Aiden''s shoulder des, and the long, thick ebony ws that all his fingers ended at. Going further up, his face retained his humanoid features, but with a much darker skin tone. His eyes growing slightlyrger, those exotic golden eyes were given even more focus as the boy slowly opened his eyelids. His lush, long, ck hair was retained, in fact, it turned even wilder, more unrestrained, cascading through his shoulders reaching the lower reaches of his back as well. Roas remained wide-eyed, as he took in all the changes on the previously small goblin''s body. As he opened his eyes, Aiden felt a strange sensation. He wasn''t sure how to describe it, but there was a strange, previously unknown power wreaking havoc inside him, trashing around, begging to be let out. He felt an incredible power all around his body, he was bursting with vitality. Although there were several notification sounds ringing inside his mind, for now, he decided to shelve them. He wanted to take in and experience his body, his new form first hand. "[Orc] Roas." Opening his mouth, he sessfully startled himself as well as the aforementioned old shaman, as a deep thundering voice came from his throat, just vaguely reminiscent of his original tone. It was much closer to his draconic one but even to that, it carried significant differences. Hearing his master''s thundering, explosive call, the old man subconsciously shook his body, quickly getting on one knee, averting his eyes towards the ground as he responded respectfully. "[Orc] Yes, my lord." Looking at his new, faithful first servant, the earlier power once again began to bubble in excitement inside him. Aiden wasn''t sure what this feeling was, or what he was actually supposed to do, he simply went by pure instinct. Taking a step forward, he slowly approached the old man. Raising his right hand, he gently ced it on top of his servant''s bald, wrinkled head. Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate on the new power, the new type of energy inside him, guiding it towards his right palm. Feeling his hand gradually warm up, he addressed the old man. "[Orc] You did a good job, Roas. Please be patient just a bit more. Let me reward you by giving you a first taste of what this new body is capable of." He spoke. Whilst he wasn''t sure what this power inside him was, he felt it wasn''t a harmful one, its purpose was not to cause damage, but something else entirely. From the feeling he had, it felt like he was supposed to guide towards others and let them feel it, experience it as well. As his master''s hand gradually turned warmer, Roas started to feel a strange sensationing from the top of his head, gradually oozing all around the inner section of his body, reaching all the crevices, cleansing it with itsforting warmth. The aching pains, the markers of the corruption of the granted demonic power soon started to fade, only to vanish in mere secondster. The decade long pains that continued to haunt even in his dreams abruptly vanishing was something that caught the old orc byplete surprise, he was unable to respond but to turn wide-eyed once again. What happened next, caused his surprise and shock to turn to something even greater, grander. Feeling the warmth spreading all around his body reaching even his core caused a never-before feltfort to spread across Roas. Being bewildered he raised his hands to look at them and to confirm if he was just dreaming or this feeling was still part of reality. However, when he saw his own hands, he didn''t know what to think anymore. The baffling changes were already too much for his aged mind to process; he was glowing, he was basking in the same golden luster, the same glory that was befitting of his master! Darting his head left to right, he confirmed that his entire body was basked in his master''s golden luster. The same warmth andfort inside him continued to heal his body and unbeknownst to the old shaman, restructured his very body to something more, something greater. Dumbfounded, Roas raised his eyes to look at his master for someforting words, only to see his kind, friendly smile, and closed eyes. There were no responses from him, but Roas could feel that the master was with him, he was INSIDE him, healing him. As he was already certain that this young master would be hisst lord in his remaining lifetime, Roas decided to stop his squirming and resistance, and just ce his trust in this strange new being, that was his master. Taking a deep breath, Roas closed his eyes, and let the warm sensation continue to do its work inside him. Seconds turning into minutes, Aiden wasn''t sure how much time had passed before he finally felt his own raging new power calm down. Slowly releasing his gentle hold on his servant''s head, he pulled his arm back and looked at the still glowing figure in front of him. Seeing as there was some time, he finally took the time while waiting for Roas''s body to settle down, to open his system back up and take a look at the slew of notifications that kept bothering him with their constant ringing. As soon as he did, he almost turned wide-eyed at the incredulity of the texts that greeted him. [Fusion processplete, new Fused Primal body created. Due to the active mutation and the Primalponent in addition to the Human and Ancient Dragon one, the new form is entirely unique, different from the Primal Goblin Lord. The resulted mixture''sponent variety: 15% Goblin 50% Primal 35% Ancient Dragon The new form will be now renamed to Primal Goblin Dragonlord ordingly.] [Primal Goblin Dragonlord (Tier 2+) (Mutated) has been created and will be turned active for the following duration: 23 hours 51 minutes 23 seconds. Please note, that for the above duration, the host will be unable to change it and shift into another one.] [Mastery Milestone Objective found! -Create your first minion (0/1)] The notifications kepting with their shocking news one after another Aiden could hardly follow them along and process them. Not to mention that his Fusion resulted in something new, something that was previously unseen, he also found and as it turns out used a new power that came with it. Luckily it was a positive effect, and his instinctual response was correct, but still, now he regretted not taking the time earlier to look through all the updates one by one. A momentter, as the golden glow began to slowly fade away and dissipate from around Roas''s body, a pair of new notifications rang inside Aiden''s mind, alerting him of thetest updates. Taking a quick look, a smirk began to appear on Aiden''s face. [Master Milestone Objectivepleted! -Create your first minion (1/1) Completed!] [The first minion has been created. Default name: Roas has been already epted. Would you like to change it?] epting the name as it was, he minimized the system interface to return his attention to the sight in front of him. Still dumbfounded by what happened to him, Roas slowly opened his eyes, feeling much better, healthier than before. The pains that haunted him for decades or even just a few minutes ago have all vanished without a trace. He felt his youthful vigor, his physical strength literally almost bursting, it was almost as if he returned to his earlier, prime days. As the glow slowly left his body, he was greeted with a much different body than just a moment ago. His wrinkled skin regained its youthful health, it was tightly covering his new bulging, muscle covered body. Turning wide-eyed for the 3rd time in short session from all the changes yet again, he quickly jumped, straightening his back, unable to believe his own eyes and palms as he quickly patted his body all over. Unblemished, perfect, tight, youthful skin, bursting with vitality, bulging, never-before-seen muscles all around his body What happened to him? Taking a look inside his own self, to his great surprise he found that all the dark corruption, all the dark power he held before, was also missing now, however, he wasn''t weaker at all No, he felt a newfound power inside him, something he instinctively knew was the boon from his new lord. Turning his attention finally to his new master, he returned to his knee, as his face turned into a happy grimace. A single tear escaping through the corner of his eyes, he reverently eximed: "[Orc] T-t-thank you, my lord, t-thank you!" Chapter 240 - 240 - Let’s Go, Finally! What was even better was the fact that the Roas, the once old, wrinkled exiled shaman, that now sported a rejuvenated, youthful body brimming with power could feel some long-forgotten sensation cascading down from the top of his head gently touching his shoulders. With shaking hands, he slowly reached for the spot, only to feel lush, silky strands of hair from where only his bald head used to be. Unable to process this new reality, he remained frozen, kneeling on the ground whilst patting the top of his head with wide eyes gazing in front of himself, to the absolute nothingness. Seeing him in this state, Aiden''s smile turned into a wider smirk, he remained silent, enjoying the sight a bit longer. However, his silent enjoyment was interrupted with a strange, new notification from the system. It had a slightly different, lower-pitched bell-like sound than the usual ones, which immediately grabbed his attention. Opening the note, it was now his turn to go wide-eyed with shock. [Minion: Roas has been restored to peak condition. Minion Details: Name: Roas Race: Mountain Orc (Tier 2) (clean) ss: Tribal Shaman Level: 10 Condition: 100% (restored to peak) Soul Power: 0 Mana: 100 Experience: 0 Might: 13 Agility: 7 Spirit: 9 Skills: Language: Orc (Lvl -) Language: Goblin (Lvl -) Hunt (Lvl 5) Magic Proficiency (Lvl -) Dark Magic (Lvl 2) Fire Magic (Lvl 4) Spirit Magic (Lvl 3) Effects: Touch of the Primal (Lvl -)] He actually received a character sheet for Roas! This was something he did not expect, and it caught him by surprise. Taking a few moments to process the shock this new update has provided, Aiden took a closer look at the character sheet for his minion, but he only received questions after questions instead First of all, what was that new section under Roas''s race? ss? Is it referring to his current job? He could ept the level, albeit he found it strange that this was the first time this metric showcased itself Nevertheless, he knew it represented his overall experience and strength. Going further, Aiden was curious what could have been Roas'' previous condition, as the 100% now represented his current, peak, restored state Anyway, what was more interesting was the new resource he seemed to operate on, something called Mana. He had no mana, he used Soul Power, but even though it was a visible metric in Roas''s sheet, it was currently 0. His next surprise was when he noticed the attributes. So far, he couldn''tpare his Might, Agility, or Spirit to the real world. He understood he was considered fast and strong, but never realized how much so. If he were to ept that Roas''s metrics were the norm, or maybe even higher than the average, and if he were to ept that orcs were generally stronger, much stronger than humans, what were the normal, default numbers for them? 5? Maybe less? If that''s the case then no wonder he could toss them around like broken toys whenever he hit them, or that even the elite mercenaries proved absolutely no challenge back then. ''Humans are weak, in general, I guess Still, there must be a reason for their dominance'' Aidenmented inwardly. Shelving these thoughts for the time being, what excited Aiden the most was Roas'' skills. He had some proficiency in 3 different schools of magic, something that Aiden stillcked but was really eager to get into or get some knowledge in. His system was learning as he witnessed his Master and his Granny casting, but it was such an incredibly slow-paced progress that till now, he couldn''tplete the analysis, which was one of his great regrets. He never asked them to teach him about it, which, in retrospect, was a mistake. Aiden was wondering if he could use his Minion to learn some of these skills He made a mental note to follow up on itter on. Going to thest section of his minion''s character sheet, the effects. There was only one note here, something he had no idea what it meant but was eager to learn more about it. Sadly, no matter where he focused his attention, he could not find any section on the screen that was interactable, Aiden was unable to bring up any details about any of the skills and effects on the screen. Once again, he was reminded of Enya, his little helper who was sadly unavable in this time of need. She would know for sure what these all meant, and how to move forward Sadly, Aiden could only sigh, and just hope that she would recuperate sooner rather thanter and return to his side. As the days went by, he found himself missing her more and more "[Orc] My lord" His silentmenting was interrupted with a faintly whispered question,ing from his minion. Coming back to reality, he looked at the now youthful, vigorous orc with a barely contained, excited grin stretching across his face. "[Orc] With our preparations now done, it is time to get inside the tribe''s grounds, and meet up with these other supposed leaders of the horde that have gathered here and see what they want. Also, we have a second objective which is just as equally important as the first. There''s a human male that has sneaked inside the camp." Aiden exined, slowly shifting his attention towards behind the remains of the hut, where the supposed entrance to the tribe stood. Hearing his lord mentioning a human male, a confused expression surfaced on Roas''s face. Looking at the young master, he couldn''t help but ask. "[Orc] Excuse me, my lord, but why are you bothered by a single human male? Is he of any value to you?" Although he was confused by his young lord''s interest in this singr male, his tone was still reverent, respectful. Already expecting such a question, Aiden calmly responded, his wide smirk returning to a much calmer, friendly smile. "[Orc] He is a friend of mine. As you have already witnessed, I can alter, reshape my body. This man helped me in my time of need. We will find him and get him out of his predicament. You are to help him and protect him. Understood?" Roas, hearing his master''s question immediately began to fervently nod his head as he eximed with clear determination in his voice. "[Orc] Yes, my lord! I will protect this human with all my strength!" Then, thinking about the order a bit more, confusion once again resurfaced in his face. Looking at Aiden, he voiced his concerns. "[Orc] Umm I''m terribly sorry my lord, but I don''t know what this human male looks like. How will I find and rescue him?" Shaking his head slightly, Aiden smilingly replied. "[Orc] Don''t worry about it, I will be there with you. You can''t speak theirnguage anyway, so you will be hard-pressed to make him understand that you are there to help him and not hurt him anyway." As they spoke, the new, minion-rted notifications kept ringing inside Aiden''s mind. Since it could affect their ns, he decided to not skip them, and open them up just to be sure he wouldn''t miss anything important. A momentter, he was d he did not skip the message, as though it would not affect the current mission at hand, it informed him of such a crucial new feature that he had trouble keeping his calm, collected face on the outside. [Update: Minion Space has been unlocked! Minion Space is a sub-dimension where you can store your minions. The dimension itself is an empty mass ofnd which can be customized by the host using his Spirit attribute. More details can be found once the host enters the minion sub-space himself.] ''I can customize it? What does that mean?'' He asked inwardly, not really expecting any response. ''Argh, I have so much to focus on For now, I should justplete this assignment, then once I''m free, I should explore this new space. After all, if it''s a now sub-world, something simr to the Pocket Dimension I trained in, and if I were to ''keep'' Roas there, I should take my time to get to know it'' Shaking his head, Aiden focused his attention to the now rather than the future. Turning towards his faithful new minion, Roas, with the friendly smile that seemingly never left his face, he raised his arms, pointing behind the destroyed home. "[Orc] Okay Roas, the tribe''s entrance should be somewhere that way, right?" Following the direction his young master was pointing at, Roas nodded as he slowly raised from his knees. "[Orc] Yes, my lord. There will be a few guards at the entrance, but I don''t think they will give you any trouble. Your current look is majestic, and they will be hard-pressed not to immediately bow to your powerful aura." Nodding, Aiden could only agree to Roas'' words. Unfortunately, he found no way as of yet how to suppress his newly acquired aura, it was something different than his draconic heritage one, this was ever-present, affecting all orcs and goblins alike. Looking at his servant, Aiden was reminded of some small detail. "[Orc] Will they not recognize you and cause you trouble instead?" In response, Roas shook his head as a wide smirk resurfaced on his face. "[Orc] No my lord. They will never expect me in this new, youthful body!" Chapter 241 - 241 - At The Gates Large wooden spiky walls, somewhat simr to the wooden piked fence that ''protected'' the ve pen could be seen peeking out in the horizon. On the small path leading towards the mountain orc''s recently made new settlement, two silhouettes could be made out if you squint your eyes. Due to reaching the height of the night, the lighting was faint at best, but still much better than what you could normally expect. The clear starry night and the moon''s reflection gave a somewhat mystical tone to the moment. In front of a closed,rge, wooden gate 4 orcs were standing guard. Simr to their counterparts ''guarding'' the ve pen, they were all clearly not your average warriors of the tribe, but the elites, the real deal, the strongest of them all. They stood in pairs on both sides of the gate with their long halberds that were albeit still crude, but much better in terms of craftsmanship than the ones on the average warriors. They all had simr attire, a ck, studded mail chest, that covered their entire torso along with their thick arms, all the way down to their hands upon which they wore spiked, mail gauntlets. Below the dark brown belt, they had mail legtes ending it with simrly colored, ck sabatons covering thatrge feet. Completing their set their faces and to top it all off, their heads were covered with a mail sallet. Only their slightly reddish, tinted irises could be seen eerily gazing at the distance from the shadows. All in all, contrary to what one would expect from these beings, they all wore a set of full-body armor, protecting them. Even their weapons, which normally should be arge, hastily made battle axe, or a simple pike, was something much better made. You could still see the crude, orcish motifs on the weapon, butpared to the others, they were leagues above the rest: clean, sturdy, thick wooden handle, their heads were much better crafted, almost carefully designed, with a long, sharp de on one side, a blunt, metallic end on the other side, and a thick, long spike at the top. They were also much better disciplined than their lesser peers, they stood in silence, gazing at the distance. There were no words exchanged, they were all trained to focus on the job they were given, no matter what it would be. This night started just like all the others. There was no unusual activity outside, and besides the usual predatory howls and roarsing from far away, marking the start of yet another nightly prowl of a beast, the night seemed to be just as boring as the rest before. However, this peaceful prediction came to an abrupt end when suddenly two dark silhouettes appeared on the horizon,ing from the path that was guarded by the exiled ex-leader, the nameless dark shaman. Refreshing their grip on the handle of their weapons, all four guards raised their attention to the slowly approaching figures. They seemed to being at a steady, slow pace, deliberately letting themselves be spotted. Just before their figures would arrive at a close-enough distance to reveal themselves, they halted their steps. The leaner looking figure seemed to simply wave his right hand, casually pointing towards the guards, upon which, the muscr, robust body gave a slight bow and continued on its trek forward, solo. A few stepster, as he walked closer, the mystical glow of the night sky revealed its figure to being a youthful looking, yet somehow familiar orc. He looked mostly like your average warrior of the tribe, with the exception of being much more robust, muscr. Also, his skin was unblemished which was weird for a warrior of this stature, and he looked incredibly vibrant, healthy. ck, shiny hair was made into a ponytail at the back of his head reaching his shoulder-level, telling tales of that this warrior was not your average one, but someone with great power residing inside them. Seeing him more clearly, the guards all became wary of this individual, not taking the situation lightly anymore. Halting his treks only a couple steps away from the guards, the seemingly unarmed robust warrior cupped his fists as he looked at the foremost guard of the four. Opening his mouth, a hoarse, yet powerful, thundering voice came out of his throat. "[Orc] Open the gate, my great lord, the true leader of all orcs and goblins have arrived! Failure to do so will result in immediate punishment!" His tone wasmanding, fierce, threatening, the figure looked coldly at the guards, giving just enough push to make the situation turn real and that the guards couldn''t take it as a joke. Despite being unarmed, this robust warrior oozed confidence with just his mere presence. A confidence that was vaguely familiar to all four of these guards, yet they couldn''t ce it anywhere. Seeing as how he was given only empty, confused looks upon his exmation, the figure standing in front of the guards, opened his mouth again, to give anothermanding shout. "[Orc] What are you waiting for? Open the gate worms, my great lord, lord of all orcs and even goblins have arrived. Roas here, his servant has spoken!" His voice was even colder than before, giving an even unfriendlier, more threatening undertone to his speech. Understanding his intent clearly, the two foremost guards pointed their weapons towards the throat of this unarmed individual. Although hidden behind the visors of their helmets, it was clear they were grimacing, giving this orc a contemptuous, disdainful look. "[Orc] Who are you to threaten us? You im that your lord is this powerful yet, all I see is a weak, unarmed little weasel, masking his fright in arrogance." Pointing his weapon behind Roas he continued. "[Orc] Go back to where you came from. Crawl back to your little master and tell him to get the fuck away before we slice up his lordship into tiny, little pieces! Bwhahaha!" He guffawed at his own measly joke, his partners soon following out, bursting out into loudughter. The disdainful, contemptuous tone turned Roas'' already cold attitude into a rapidly rising rage. Cracking his knuckles, he clenched his hands into fists and with a sudden surge of movement, he bolted towards the closest, guffawing guard and punched into his face. As he did so, a thinyer of ck energy could barely be witnessed coating his fists with an additionalyer of dark energy. Not expecting a sudden attack from the unarmed figure, nor would he have feared it thanks to the mail protective armor, the guard was caught off-guard against the sudden punch to his helmet-covered face. The punch was much more powerful than the 4ughing guards would have expected. The figure''s fist bent the metal like it was nothing and gave way to a bone-shattering collision to the abruptly silenced guard''s lower jawline, lifting him from the ground in the process and sending him on a short course towards the other orc guard only a few steps behind him. The loud noise of the trashed metal and shattered jawline silenced theughing quartet-turned-trio, they watched with clear shock as their fellow partner was sent flying with the seemingly harmless, unarmed orc''s singr punch to the visor-protected face. Still their stunned inability to react onlysted a second, soon regaining their wits, they all entered a battle-ready state, looking fiercely at their opponent whilst raising their weapons in front of themselves for an additionalyer of protection. Still, they did not brainlessly charge in, but eyed their opponent from top to bottom, looking for an opening. As the guard unconsciouslynded on the ground with a loud, audible thump the unarmed figure, Roas, raised his arms sideways turning towards the rest. He looked ''innocently'' at them as he spoke in a casual, matter-of-fact manner. "[Orc] I might have forgotten to mention, but I honestly expected it to be amon-sense amongst you guys: Never, ever make such a rude remark on your future lord. Before you raise your weapons and follow your partner to the ground, let me remind you once again: Punishment is sometimes necessary to discipline the unruly minions. I gave you all fair warning to give way for us and open the gates, but you all refused. Not to mention the tant arrogance and stupidity of your actions, you even dared tough, make light of the situation!" He turned towards the unconscious orc and spat on its unmoving body, angering the remaining trio further. "[Orc] Your partner should be d that it was only me giving out the punishment. If my master would have done so, he would be already dead." He suddenly looked at the trio, as he continued. "Along with you lot." With his speechpleted, he took a step back and lowered his arms to a resting pose once more. He looked coldly, but calmly at the clearly nervous, shaking trio, awaiting their response. They would either acquiesce to their simple demand or would suffer the punishment... Chapter 242 - 242 - Gaining Entrance Several seconds passed in intense silence, as the remaining trio of guards continued to shake and silently measure the unarmed vigorous orc from the top to the bottom. Against such piercing, scrutinizing gazes, Roas remained silent, and simply withstood them with a cold, but the calm outlook on his face. He did not react, nor gave any micro movement, but let the three think their options over. After what seemed like an eternity but in reality, was only just a dozen seconds, the closest of the guards, raised his halberd once more, pointing at the road, and the still motionlessly standing leaner silhouette on the road. "[Orc] Turn back and leave with your lord from where you came from. We do not want your kind here, outsider." The guard gave his warning to the unarmed figure. Roas, hearing their denial once again shook his head whilst clicking his tongue with dissatisfaction. "[Orc] I really wanted to settle this peacefully. After all, you all used to be my people" He sighed before he continued. "...but it seems that the darkness has now run too deep in your blood, corrupting your very being, your mind too deeply. You are unable to think clearly and see the big picture any more" Taking a step back he turned sideways and turned towards the leaner silhouette a bit further away. As he spoke, his voice no longer held any traces of coldness, but it was filled with reverence. Respect and loyalty towards that unknown figure. "[Orc] My lord, they are beyond saving. I have done all I could, but they refuse to listen to reason. I''m afraid they need your guiding hand." The figure in the shadows finally showed signs of life, as it slowly stepped forward. As the silhouette entered into the moonlight, a strange, never before seen figure revealed himself in front of the trio of guards. He looked vaguely a mixture between an orc and a goblin. He looked much leaner, scrawnier than an orc, but he was much taller, darker skinned than the goblins. It was aplete mystery to them, what this man actually was. However, they couldn''tment, think about the origin of this being, as suddenly when the figure took his second step forward, a strange pressure suddenly descended upon them, forcing them towards the ground. It was a strange sensation, an invisible force, engulfing, surrounding their entire being, pushing them steadily on the ground. Taking them off-guard, at first, they struggled against it thinking that as time went on, they will get used to it and will be able to withstand it. Unfortunately for them, the pressure didn''t seem to ease even after several seconds. As the figure slowly approached them, the feeling only intensified, instead of easing up. Their knees wobbling, they struggled to even remain standing against this strangely now-terrifying being. "[Orc] What are your goals? What are you all thinking about? This pointless arrogance just to end up dying without even a grave to remember you by Is it worth it?" He stepped closer to the forefront guard, gently reaching out to him with his frail-looking hand. Reaching his chin, he suddenly grabbed the orc''s neck and with no change in his calm, smiling expression he lifted the orc off the ground with ease, shocking the other two in the process. "[Orc] See? You are nothing. Standing against the tide will you nothing but an early end without a grave to remember you by. Stop your pointless struggling and stand with me instead. Open the gates silently and you will be spared." With his warning said, he simply threw the orc back to his remaining two partners and took several steps back into the darkness. As he did so, the pressure slowly eased up on the trio, giving them a momentary relief. Although they were proud, seasoned warriors of the tribe, they weren''t that clouded in their minds to not realize the clear difference in power. Whilst they thought they could probably contend against this unarmed orc that downed their fourth partner with a singr punch, they feltpletely, utterly powerless against that monstrous entity behind him. That being was not an orc, nor a goblin. Whatever it was it was not something that the three of them could ever hope to match up against. Just his mere presence almost forced them on the ground, suffocating, pressuring them into a subservient, kneeling posture. Suddenly, they found this unarmed orc''s earlier exmations in a new light. It was no longer hrious, it no longer felt like a joke, a pointless threat. No, it sounded truer by the second. Looking at the lean figure at the back, they could somehow understand how he was referred to as the true lord of the orcs and goblins It was not a joke, he truly seemed capable of such a feat. Whatever he was, or more precisely whatever THEY were, it was not their job to contend against them. They were clearly beyond the measly warriors and guards of their fading tribe. They were probably the real powerhouses of the horde. Thinking all this through, they all came to the obvious conclusion to not stand against them any longer. Whilst one of them pulled their still unconscious fourth partner away, the other three stood back at their posts. The other one closer to the gate, raised his right hand in the air whilst shouting at the sky. "[Orc] Raise the gate, envoys from the Horde have arrived!" Upon his shout, behind the walls, sedulous work began. Wheels began to be turned, and with their loud churning, therge wooden gate slowly began to open, revealing the inner grounds of the recently erected tribe of their fading but still proud Mountain Orcs. Meanwhile, all of this was ying out, Aiden, ying the role of the ''young lord'' was doing his best to find a solution to the strange aura he seemed to be incapable of controlling so far. What he understood so far, it seemed to affect all of the orcs and probably goblins and simr races who were not under hismand, like Roas. It would put a sizable amount of pressure on them, continuously forcing them towards kneeling on the ground. Although this power was incredible, it would prove a significant hurdle if he were to explore the tribe grounds. Unlike these three warriors, the rest of the orcs may not take lightly against him. Whilst he could deal with most of them, it would still raise the difficulty by a marginal amount, also turning the quest to gather intelligence impossible toplete in the process. Even though he mostly only cares about finding the entrance to the Demon Grotto, it would still leave a sour taste in his mouth if he would fail toplete such an easy quest as to gather intelligence Thinking back on how he managed to control his draconic abilities, he focused, concentrated on his inner being, tracing the aura emanating, radiating out from him back to its source. Slowly, but surely, he found a brimming, shining core-like object etched not into his body as it would normally be the case for other beings, but floating inside his inner soul space. It was shining with a brilliant greenish light, something that he found simr to the energy-traces of the lording aura he oozed out from his body. ''So this is the core of this form? I wonder... Will this strange crystal stay active even after I change forms? How did it appear here?'' Hemented inwardly as he scanned the crystal carefully. Without guidance, he could only act by instinct and go carefully. Using his own reserve of soul power, he carefully guided his energy around this core, connecting it into his own inner flow and giving it a protective coating of energy. As he did so, he could finally feel the new object inside him, as it became one with him. Even though he still felt it as an alien, unknown material was inside him, it wasn''t particrly unpleasant, diforting. There was no attached positive or negative feeling to it, it was a weirdly cold, neutral feeling. Just an object that suddenly became a part of him, that he had only very little control of. At the very least, now he could feel he could control the power it was radiating, by using his own energy to coat it, surround it with his own Soul Power. This way, he could feel, the strange, lording aura diminish, giving him a lot more leeway once they finally got inside the tribe''s grounds. Luckily, whilst he had to constantly maintain the energy to surround the crystal floating in his soul space so the aura would not be visible, the energy consumption was minimal, Aiden would be able to keep it up for days without much problem. Also, when it was needed, he could just simply let it out, giving him yet another weapon to contend with the currently unknown leadership of this tribe and the horde gathered deeper inside... Chapter 243 - 243 - A Brief Look Back To The Past As the wooden gate slowly creaked open upon the constant churning of a wheel somewhere behind the protective walls, a new, previously never-before-seen world slowly unfolded before Aiden''s eyes. Whilst keeping his stoic, cold look on the outside, he was very eager to finally witness another civilization for the first time. Yes, the orcs may have been primitive in terms of their weapons and beliefspared to the much more sophisticated humans, but at the same time, they were more honest as well. They didn''t hide their nasty secrets underground, away from the prying eyes, they would put it in the forefront and be proud of it. When he visited the goblins, their small tribal settlement felt as if he stepped back in time. Small round, circr buildings, instead of doors they used small separators Personal Space was an unknown term to them from what the small glimpse he was granted through the eyes of the absorbed ex-leader goblin. As he got the first glimpse of the inner grounds, the real, first look at the tribe''s grounds, Aiden was granted a simr sight, albeit in a slightlyrger scale. The same circr, rounded yurt-like designs dominated thendscape from where he could see. There was little to no nning behind how the vige was structured, the small, tent-like buildings made of wood, mud, and a mixture of leaves were ced all over the ce. They weren''t sturdy, with a well-ced kick, punch, or strike, the whole ''building'' could copse upon its usually singr resident. In fact, they were so small, that Aiden was even doubting that those robust, bulky warriors could fit withfort. Following his young master''s gaze, Roas spoke after giving him a few seconds to take in the sights. "[Orc] These buildings are the Worts, or in other words, wooden tents erected by each warrior. They onlye here to rest once they get back from a mission or a shift. They are not given much care and they are not used that often. The warriors often sleep under the sky, or in other ces." "[Orc] Worts? Interesting So, you orcs have no real home''s to return to at all?" Looking away from these wooden yurts, Aiden shifted his attention to Roas on his right. While taking in the sights and discussing it, they began to walk at a slow, but steady pace, leaving the still wary guards, and finally entered the tribe''s inner grounds. "[Orc] Home? Once we had those Before I ruined my tribe and forced them to leave the mountains and join the horde. Ever since then, the horde never settled in one ce for too long and was constantly on the move. We had no time nor any reason to erect proper houses since then, and we settled into this lifestyle." This information was new and unexpected, Aiden raised his eyebrows as he inquired further. "[Orc] Huh? I thought the Horde''s main purpose would be to find a ce for you all to live. What are you all gathered together for if not that?" With a sour expression, Roas looked at the clear night sky. Letting out a sad, long sigh, he exined. "[Orc] It''s true, my lord, that the original purpose of the horde would be to gather all the races that were hated or disdained by the more civilized ones and wrestle themselves somend they could finally call home under one collective, unified banner." As if remembering some of the dark moments of his past, Roas heaved yet another heavy sigh before continuing. "[Orc] In fact, it was this promise, this hope that led most of the other races and tribes to join up. Hundreds of Orc, Goblin, and even Ogre and other tribes joined rapidly growing in numbers and creating a humongous, deadly army." While listening to his eager follower, Aiden also kept his attention on his minimap, and also made sure to use his [Dark Sense] ability to map out as much of the tribe''s grounds as he could. After all, whilst information gathering was the original purpose of himing here, he now also had to find out what happened to the prince and hopefully get some additional clues about the true location and entrance of the Demon Grotto. Surprisingly, the inner ground seemed much more expansive than what one would expect at first sight. They have been trekking straight towards the inner sections of the orcish settlement, but so far, all he could see was a literal forest made out of simr-looking wooden yurts or ''Worts'' following Roas'' exnation. Seeing no change in sight, without looking at him, Aiden continued his inquiry. "[Orc] If that''s the case, what happened after that? Also, you joined for the promise of power, I presume at ater date? What changed?" "[Orc] I''m not entirely sure, my lord. One night I was visited by a mysterious being and he gifted me the holy staff you took away from me and freed me from its demonic control. He said I had had great talent and offered me a ''better future''. I could feel great power radiating from that shadowy figure, and my stupid younger self was blinded by the promise of it." Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he continued. "[Orc] I was considered a gifted one since birth. I had a unique talent amongst our race, an affinity, a talent towards magic. My father, the previous leader of our tribe taught me everything he knew, but that wasn''t much. I got a taste of this mystical, magical source of energy that could evoke the powers of nature and even more. I loved this power, and I wanted more, I thirsted for more." He raised his hands as he spoke and watched with dazed eyes as a variety of scarlet, golden, blue, and ck lights began to rapidly swirl at the surface of his hands only to fade a few momentster. "[Orc] I was stupid and blinded by it all. So, when this mysterious being suddenly appeared in front of me and I could feel the incredible, dark pressureing from him I just couldn''t stop thinking, dreaming about it. That power, that dark, incredibly thick energy I wanted it, I needed it!So, without much hesitation, or any thinking I almost instantly agreed and pledged myself to their cause. I was granted that staff and my life changed almost instantly" Listening to his exnation, Aiden thought back to the memories of the ex-goblin. Although his circumstances were different, he also found a simr artifact and was granted power beyond the limits of his race, however at the cost of his own sanity. Slowly, bit by bit, the dark presence, the otherworldly being corrupted the weak mind of the goblin and made him into his mindless follower. Thinking back on it, probably something simr was happening here, but contrary to what happened to the goblin ex-leader, Roas somehow managed to retain a small bit of his sanity. This strand, -however small, frail it may be-, was what eventually saved him, and allowed a new hope a new life to the once old orc shaman. Looking at him at the right, Aiden revealed his usual, friendly smile and calmly asked. "[Orc] Let me guess, the staff gave you powers beyond your imagination but there was also a constant presence, another being that whispered to you in both in your dreams and in your wake hours, slowly, but surely corrupting your very thoughts." Shocked by his master''s incredible insight, Roas couldn''t answer instantly but look at his young master wide-eyed. After a few seconds, however, he managed to regain a bit of hisposure and nod at him. "[Orc] Y-yes Just like you said, my lord. I gained knowledge to bend a new type of energy, the darkness itself. However, that being that promised the power to me, seemed to be able to reach out to me through the staff itself. Through his constant whispers, I almost lost myself to the insanity" He answered letting out yet another sad sigh. "[Orc] But you still managed to hold on despite the years. You managed to retain some bit of your sanity, Roas, something they have not expected. What was th-" Aiden asked, but halfway through his question, he turned silent, as suddenly a muchrger structure appeared on his minimap, soon followed by arge silhouette appearing on the horizon. Shifting his attention, Aiden looked at the huge shadow of a building, that looked vaguely simr to the ve pen, the stables looking building from earlier, but on a much, muchrger scale. "[Orc] What is that?" He asked, keeping his focus on the building ahead. Following his master''s gaze, Roas quickly shifted his mood, going from the sad remembrance to a stoic, focused state. In a respectful tone, he answered once his eyes met the huge building further ahead in the distance. "[Orc] My lord, that is the central building of the tribe. It was not built by us, but something that supposedly created by the true leaders of the tribe, the dark, otherworldly overlords." Seeing how his master remained silent and continued to gaze at the strange building with a stern, focused gaze, he added in a hushed, whispered tone. "[Orc] That is where the other gathered envoys and leaders of the horde that are present should be gathered at. Also in its depths, you should also find the sanctum leading to the overlords" Chapter 244 - 244 - Stone Guardians Hearing Roas mention the ''gateway to the overlords'', Aiden, halted in his tracks and turned his attention on him with his eyebrows raised. "[Orc] Gateway to the overlords? Are you sure? You mean their Grotto?" He asked, with unmasked interest. Although he referred to it differently, he was fairly sure this ''gateway'' or ''grotto'' was the very same Demon Grotto he was looking for as well. Seeing his master focusing all of his attention on him, caused Roas to slightly shiver for a moment before he managed to blurt out his answer. "[Orc] Y-yes, my lord. It''s the same. Whilst I do not know for certain where it is located exactly, it should be somewhere at the lower section of the building." "Hmm" Turning his attention back towards the humongous structure stretching out in the distance, Aiden went into deep thought. Taking another, scrutinizing look at the gigantic silhouette from top to bottom, he asked after a while. "[Orc] Does this building go underground as well?" Hearing his young lord''s question, Roas nodded fervently. "[Orc] Y-yes, I believe so, my lord. Unfortunately, I was exiled from the tribe before we settled down here and was just used as an expandable scout." He answered with a downhearted expression. "Huh" Listening to his exnation, Aiden''s interest was piqued. "[Orc] Come to think of it" He turned his attention back to his servant, as he continued with a friendly smile stretching across his face. "[Orc] So far you didn''t tell the reason for your expulsion from the tribe. What did you do that made them rece you, and strip you from your name, title, and honor?" As he asked, he noticed the increasingly souring, downtrodden look that began to settle on his servant''s face. Gently grabbing Roas'' left shoulder, he calmly added, seeing the clear difficulty of what his servant was going through. It must be still hard for him to remember back on these dark moments of his life, he was obviously still not over yet, despite the devotion he was showing Aiden. "[Orc] Roas... " He abruptly awoke his servant from his downhearted reminisce of these dark moments of his past life. "... if it is too difficult, don''t worry, you do not need to say a thing. I was just interested, please do not feel obligated to recount these moments of your past." Seeing the surprised look that slowly began to rece his previous look on Roas''s face, Aiden''s smile curved slightly higher, kinder. He continued with adding a few extra reassuring words. After all, he wanted to build a true friendship with his first follower and not just your typical master-servant rtionship. "[Orc] Remember, your past deeds no longer matter. As soon as you pledged your allegiance to me, they be irrelevant. I have promised you that we will take down those dark ''demonic'' beings as you said and will give your heart and mind some peace. Trust me, I will not fail you, Roas." Even though he had his strong willpower, hearing the young master repeat the same words that were his mantra and the only strand of hope for these past several years, caused Roas'' eyes to turn blurry with all the water that started to gather in them. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to contain them, and several droplets began to escape through the corners of his eyes, sliding in rapid session down his rejuvenated, youthful face, only to throw themselves in a leap of faith towards the faraway ground. "[Orc] Y-young m-master! T-thank you!" It took Roas several seconds before he was able to collect hisposure enough to be able to respond to Aiden''s words. Taking a knee to the ground, and his right fist over his heart, he began pumping his chest as he took a bow and responded with an increasing volumeing from the truest depths of his heart. "[Orc] I will continue to serve you proudly for as long as my life will let me!" Not wanting to raise any unwanted attention, Aiden quickly grabbed his kneeling servant''s shoulder and promptly pulled him back up. "[Orc] I am happy to hear that but calm down for now. We do not want to raise attention to us, remember we have several objectives we have toplete! Focus!" He spoke in a hushed, but lecturing tone. "[Orc] Y-yes! I-I am sorry my lord, I-I just" Roas immediately began another about apologizing for his earlier outburst, in a simrly loud tone, only to be silenced by Aiden''s index finger sealing his lips. "[Orc] W-what did I just tell you?!" He lectured with a simr, but a slightly harsher tone, looking at his servant with a berating look. Seeing Roas''s finally acquiesce and simply nod with a startled expression, the friendly smile returned to Aiden''s face. Shifting his attention back to the huge structure in the distance, he slowly pulled his finger back from Roas''s lips, effectively unsealing them. "[Orc] Anyway, we wasted enough time standing around here. At the very least we need to get that human prince out of this ce before the first rays of the dawn arrive. Come, let''s get to that building, I have a feeling we will find him there along with all our other objectives!" Not waiting for Roas to react, Aiden resumed his slow, but steady pace, approaching the strange, much different structure in the distance. With Roas quickly following along, they slowly but surely closed by on the humongous structure. As its features slowly became visible under the moonlight leaving the dark shadows, Aiden was once again surprised by what he saw. It was obviously a much better craftsmanship than what he has seen from thisbative, primitive race so far. The outeryers of the multi-story building were carefully andvishly decorated, with several motifs adorning the edges all the way as the eye could see. Between the clearly separated floors, there were stone statues of horrific-looking monstrous entities withrge wings. Even though his system scan did not return any obvious threat from these stone guardians, there was still some ominous feel to them. Their delicate craftsmanship, the attention to the smallest detail made an onlooker think that they were not just your average, everyday stone-carved statues, but something more something sinister. Even without Roas mentioning it earlier, it was obvious from a first nce that this structure could not have been the work of any Orc craftsman. It was way too different not just in style, but in its attention to detail as well. A huge, ck double door made out of an unknown material greeted them as they arrived at it. Strangely, and against what Aiden would have expected, there were no orcs stationed in front of the building on guard duty. In fact, there was no sight of anyone, not one living soul as they got in front of the building. Seeing the confusion in his young master''s face, Roas broke the peaceful silence that ensued between them after their talk. "[Orc] There are no guards stationed here as there is no point. The building is considered sacred, holy ground for the members of the horde, nobody would be foolish enough to misbehave here." Pointing at the stone monster statutes ced around the building, he continued."[Orc] Also, the building has its own guards. In case of danger, the overlords can awake these stone guardians." "[Orc] I see" His earlier thought confirmed, Aiden took another look at the stone monsters that were visible all around the walls, perked at the very corners, looking down at them with their ominous, eerie look on their stone-carved faces. "Do you know how strong these guardians are? Have you seen them in action?" Upon hearing the question, Roas firmly shook his head. "[Orc] No, my lord, I haven''t. I was exiled long before this building was created, I only heard the rumors and myths surrounding it. However, from what I heard, these guardians are much stronger than the most powerful orcs in the entire horde, not to mention our tribe. A single guardian could wipe out our entire race in minutes." The words of his servant caused Aiden to take another, more focused look at one of the seemingly lifeless, stone statues perched just above them, to the left side of the huge, ebony door. From a first look, they all looked like simple statues, there was no life in them at all. It was hard to believe that these lifeless stone carvings could turn into such fearsome killing machines. Focusing on his inner self, Aiden activated his [Dark Sense] ability and sent out yet another pulse but this time, he poured some of his still almost full reserve of [Soul Power] into it, empowering it in the process. However, even with doing that, all he got back was that these monstrous figures were just that. Lifeless, stone carvings. Delicate andvish, but nothing more. Although he did not doubt Roas'' words, it was still strange and hard to believe that these could suddenly turn to life and wreak havoc in mere minutes. Shaking his head, he cleared his head from these thoughts. Ultimately none of that mattered. He did not need to bother with these guardians, even if they were lifeless or could be turned into living, real monsters. What mattered is to get inside this supposedly sacred ce, and find and rescue that adventurous prince... Chapter 245 - 245 - The Warding Shifting his attention from the monstrous statues, gargoyles perched high above, Aiden turned towards the ebon-colored massive double door just a bit in front of them. Following the strange, non-standard design of this castle-like building, the door itself was most certainly made of a strange, unknown material. Instead of doors, one could say it looked like one massive, humongous gate that would lead one to theherworld, or at the very least, to some other dimension, perfectly fitting the motif the architect or creator of this structure was obviously going for. "[Orc] So, do you have any idea what will greet us inside? Will they detect we are no longer one of the ''followers''?" Aiden inquired, as he continued to size the massive door from top to bottom. "[Orc] I have to apologize, but I just don''t have any information about it. I only heard rumors from others, and they were also pretty vague. Like that the chamber where the gathered envoys and leaders of the horde should be meeting would be somewhere towards the top. Besides that, I only heard that there should be a huge, expansive underground part to the building as well that would eventually lead to the gateway to the true leader''s world, but the entry is barred by some sort of magic." Roas responded from behind. "[Orc] I see. That should be good enough for now. Thanks, Roas." Turning his attention towards his first and currently, the only follower, Aiden spoke with his trademark friendly smile stretched across his face. Then, turning back to the gate, he let out a sigh, the smile immediately vanished from his face, only to be reced by a solemn, strict look. "[Orc] Still, it is very strange that such a structure could just appear... " He muttered, focusing on the double doors ahead. He could already feel a faint feeling as he got closer to this central structure previously, but as he resumed his trek and got even closer to the door, the faint feeling gradually turned stronger, giving him an ominous, ufortable sensation. Unlike his draconic and his newly acquired, ''lordly'' aura, this one was more an ufortable sensation that struck through the surface of his skin. It was simr to a cold gust of wind that would sometimes blow through thendscape, carrying that icy northern air with them, causing you to shiver as you try to stand against it. Arriving in front of it, Aiden slowly reached out with both his hands to push against the door. However, as his hands touched the clean, dark surface, he felt a strange resonance pass through him. As if an invisible strand of energy was trying to invade inside him, trying to analyze him through his soul. Confirming his suspicions, the familiar bell-like sound rang inside his mind, informing him of a new notification. Taking a quick nce at it, although the text was new, not something that he saw before, it still made it very clear what was happening. [Warning: An attempt of intrusion of Dark Energy from Unknown Source has been blocked!] [Update: Mental Resistance (Lvl 1) received 20 XP!] Upon reading both messages, Aiden quickly let go of the door. Turning his head sideways, he looked at his servant and inquired. "[Orc] Roas, do you know what sort of magic this door has been enchanted with? I could feel some strand of dark energy trying to enter me as I touched the door." Hearing what his young master said, caused Roas to gasp in shock. A momentter, realizing the ''mistake'', the ''blunder'' he had made, he quickly bolted forward, standing in front of Aiden''s lean, dark green body. Looking at his master, he immediately bowed deeply. His reverent outcry was like, as if a servant was begging for mercy before his feudal lord. "[Orc] Please forgive me, my lord! I have made a grave mistake and let you stand against danger!" His tone was at the verge of crying, as it trembled. Before Aiden could interject, he continued his outburst with an increasing volume. "Please punish this useless servant of yours, young master!" Not wanting to alert anybody, Aiden quickly reached for his servant and pulled him back up from his bowed, apologetic posture. Before he could continue and blurt any other nonsense, Aiden swiftly silenced this rejuvenated old servant of his with his index finger pushed against his thick lips. "[Orc] I get it, don''t worry about it, but don''t shout like that! I already told you to be careful!" Giving a few short moments to Roas to calm down and collect himself, he waited patiently, only continuing when he saw as rity slowly returned to his eyes. "Now, back to the topic at hand Do you know how we can pass this hurdle? I may be able to destroy the door with a strong enough punch, but that would alert everyone inside. Preferably, we would want to avoid doing something like that, I hope you understand." Giving him a wry smile, Aiden slowly pulled his index finger away from his servant''s lips unsealing them. Seeing how he remained silent and did not resume his loud outcry letting out an apologetic bluster of sound warning every resting orc surrounding them, he heaved a sigh in relief. "[Orc] Uhm" Giving it some thought, Roas looked at his young master, as he respectfully revealed an idea. "I am not sure about this, but uhm, young master, I may be able to do something about it" As he spoke, his face turned troubled, instead of showing signs of happiness, alerting Aiden that something was amiss. Not wanting any more surprises, he swiftly inquired about this conjecture of his. "[Orc] Roas You seem troubled. Is there a problem? If it''s dangerous, don''t worry about it, we can just continue looking for other solutions." Although he was inwardly happy for his young master''s reassurance, Roas shook his head. "[Orc] No, young master, there is no other way, I am afraid, besides you destroying the door and alerting every leader of your arrival No, this is the only way forward. It''s just" "[Orc] What is it? Tell me Roas, don''t worry, I will do my utmost to help you. We are a team, never forget!" Letting out a friendly smile, Aiden tried his best to reassure his troubled servant. Taking a moment to breathe in arge gasp of air, Roas slowly exhaled, calming his agitated nerves before he finally continued. "[Orc] I may be able to use my own knowledge and expertise in Dark Magic, to try to dispel the warding on the door The problem is, if it was done by any of those beings, I may not have enough energy to do so If that is the case, I am not sure what would happen If ites to that, just leave this useless servant of yours and escape!" Not daring to look at his young master''s eyes, afraid of his disapproving look, Roas averted his gaze, turning towards the ground instead as he spoke. However, as he finished, he felt his young master''s slick fingers reaching for his chin and slowly raising his face to match their gaze. With a bright, friendly smile dominating his dark green face, Aiden calmly spoke. "[Orc] Don''t worry about it, Roas. I will try to help you. If I see you are faltering, I will immediately jump in and save you. I don''t care if we end up standing against the entire horde, I will not leave you behind!" Giving him a few moments once more to get ready, Aiden let go of his face and turned back to focus on the current hurdle in front of them, the ebony door. It didn''t take long before Roas was back to his previous self. Stepping forward, he approached the door. He cracked his knuckles before reaching out and slowly, carefully touched the surface of the door. Immediately, the same invasive action, caused a shiver to run through his back. However, not wanting to disappoint his young master, he gritted his teeth, and focuses his mind, activating his modest reserves of mana. On the surface, Aiden could only see that after the momentary shiver that ran through his servant''s body, a simrly colored, dark hue began to radiate from Roas''s body. Although it was faint, much weaker from the looks of it at first, at leastpared to the massive darkness that pushed against him from the other side, it gradually turned stronger, more vibrant, sessfully thwarting the invasive actions of the demonic warding on the door. Seconds passed, quickly turning into minutes as Roas continued to relentlessly withstand against the magic of those otherworldly, demonic beings. He refused to let the other side push even an inch further and eventually emerge victorious as that would mean not just his failure, but it could cause problems, possibly even a threat to his young master. He gritted his teeth even stronger, as he continued to pull all of his power and continued to push against the warding. No, he will not let on, this will be his first victory against those demons that destroyed the future of his people. Chapter 246 - 246 - The Invisible Battle Aiden was watching Roas with apt attention all the time. Although it would have been preferable if they would be able to bypass this horrible warding and get inside the building without alerting anyone, if the cost would be the life of his first servant, he would much rather just destroy the whole thing straight on. So, he was watching him, ready to pull him away by force if the situation would call for it. He saw Roas struggling, his hands were already in the poise ready to shoot out and grab the broad dark green shoulders of the robust orc servant any second. ''Why is there such a gruesome spell on the door anyway? How do the other envoys get inside? There has to be an easier, more convenient way to get inside'' He was inwardlymenting. It was incredibly inconvenient if every leader, envoy, or guard that would be stationed inside had to go through such horrible torture just to get inside the building. No, that would be incredibly improbable. There had to be a way where they could get inside without any of this hassle. As he was thinking, suddenly he felt a change in the air around them, suddenly it turned colder, with a strange, gust of air seemingly gushing around them, surrounding them in an invisible barrier, separating them from the rest of the world. Aiden could feel a vague presence looking at them from somewhere far away He couldn''t actually pinpoint the source, he could only feel it very faintly. Even locating the general direction where this new, powerful presence came from proved to be too much of a challenge. The presence itself seemed to only nce at them for a brief moment before it lost its interest and pull away. With it, the air returned to its calm, normal state. The sudden cold eased up as well. Alerted by this ominous turn of events, Aiden immediately reached for his still struggling servant and touched his back with one hand while he reached for his shoulder with the other. However, as soon as his palm touched Roas''s sweat covered, glistening barren back, a new notification popped up suddenly, blocking a sizeable portion of his view. [Would you like to empower your minion: Roas (Lvl 10)? Note: You will need to maintain close contact with the selected minion in order to keep up Empowering. Once you disconnect, the transfer will be canceled.] ''Empower?'' Aiden was stunned for a moment when he saw the details of the new note. Below the text, there were two buttons blinking, one for ''Yes'' and to simply dismiss the text. Although most likely if he would simply remove his hand would be the same as simply selecting the ''No'' option. Taking another fast look at Roas, Aiden quickly made the decision to go forward with the transfer, whatever type of energy he would transfer to his first minion. Roas was clearly struggling, barely holding on. Only by the sheer amount of his willpower was what kept him still standing, he was obviously at the veryst strands of his stamina. Focusing on the blinking ''Yes'' button below the note, Aiden instantly felt as his own reserve of Soul Power deep inside the very depth of his soul began to stir. The previously calm mystical sea of his deep energy reserves suddenly began to boil, and in the next instant, he could feel a new flow of energy traverse towards the hand that was touching Roas'' back. The flow was higher in volume than what he would usually move in normal circumstances when activating his [Mystic Martial Arts] but not by too much. It was still a considerable amount, but regardless, Aiden was willing to sacrifice any amount if it would mean to help out his struggling servant. As the energy arrived at its destination, to the palm of his connecting hand, a golden glow suddenly lit up covering his hand in a bright radiatingyer of light. A momentter Aiden felt as his energy left him, entering the body of his servant, and began to do its job in restoring his depleted mana reserves. Roas was way too focused on the task at hand. The invisible battle between the dark energy that tried to invade him required hisplete and unfettered attention. If he would falter, or just let on for just a single moment, would spell certain doom for him. He squeezed everyst drop of his mana as he pushed against the unsurmountable tide of dark energy that continued to push against him. His entire body covered in sweat, his struggle was clearly visible to anyone that would look at him. Still, even if he would have to sacrifice his life force, he would do so willingly if it would mean that he could destroy this barrier and let his savior, the young master inside. It would be worth it. At least with that, there would be at least a marginal amount of meaning to his pointless existence. There would a single victory against the tide of darkness, the demons that ruined not just his life, but his entire tribe as well. With such determination in mind, he did not hesitate as he felt his pool of mana dry out during this continuous struggle. He was ready to start channeling his very soul, his life force to keep pushing against the warding and get the chance to destroy it when he suddenly felt a new, previously unfamiliar warmth enter his body from his back. Not even a momentter he felt thefortable warmth rapidly spread inside his body, refilling his empty reserves, and refreshing his body and soul, removing the tiredness entirely. Although he couldn''t turn back and look at the source, he was almost certain this was the doing of his young master. He was sure that his young master couldn''t watch any longer, and just as he promised he decided to help out. His previously frowning, grotesque expression suddenly returned to a much calmer, focused state. With his master behind him, his devotion and confidence in himself and in his master reached newfound heights. With a smirk curving the edges of his lips, he suddenly increased the intensity of his channeled energy. The thin, dark coating of energy surrounding his hands turned much denser. He could feel as he slowly, but surely overcame the previously invincible tide of darkness and began to push it back inch by inch. Without any feedback, Aiden wasn''t sure if what he was doing was helpful or not, but he decided not to pull back, and continue for as long as he could. He wasn''t using the same type of energy this ''mana'' that Roas called upon when casting his spells, and he wasn''t certain if there were any type of conversion avable. Still, at the very least, he could see as his tensed muscles suddenly calmed down and saw as his expression returned to a much healthier almost smiling state. This was enough for him that if nothing else, helped to remove some of the physical tension Roas was experiencing. Although his Soul Power was slowly depleting, he still had almost 70% of his reserves remaining at his disposal, and if the situation allowed it, he could just take a short rest to restore some of it. While the girls would be probably worried if he wouldn''t get back by dawn, they knew that the mission would probably take some time toplete. A change returned his senses to reality. Abruptly, he could feel a change, a source of energy fadinging from the direction of the door. With a wide grin on his face, Aiden shifted his attention and focused on the humongous dark door ahead. Focusing his [Dark Sense] he felt that the previously strong magic was now much weaker, almost at the cusp of vanishing from existence. This removed all the worry he previously had and focused his all on keeping up the transfer and making sure that his devoted servant, Roas had all the power at his disposal he needed to ovee this hurdle. Roas could also feel that victory was now at his grasp. Just a bit more, and he would finally push through! He would not fail in his task and cause great shame to his young master. Feeling as his reserves were continuously restored by the unfamiliar warmthing from his back, he increased the intensity of his channel once more. Both Roas and Aiden was watching as the previously invincible warding began to slowly show signs of cracking. Not letting any chance for it to rest and regain even a single strand of his power, Roas kept up his magic. They both watched as the cracks continued to spread on the demonic rune that due to its constant activation turned into a visible state. As the spiderweb cracks soon covered the entirety of the eerie floating rune, both master and servant watched as it finally gave in against the constant pressure and exploded, vanishing into nothingness, removing its restrictive powers from the surface of the ebony door, no longer blocking entry. With his taskpleted, Roas could finally rest. Canceling his spell, he plopped down to the ground, with an audible thud, letting out arge sigh of relief. "[Orc] Young Master *huff* Iple-" However, before he could even finish his sentence, suddenly they both felt a crunching, churning noiseing from above them... Chapter 247 - 247 - A Mighty Punch Following the sound back to its source, Roas gasped in a mixture of horror and fright. Even though he was a brave and proud member of his tribe, not to mention a deeply devoted servant of his new, young master, but seeing that one of the stone guardians, the dreaded, demonic gargoyles began to stir, and awaken from its eternal slumber, was something he couldn''t just simply watch with a stoic outlook on his face. "[Orc] Y-young master! Look!" He pointed up to the lightly shaking, stirring stone figurine perched above them towards the right. A ck, ominous aura surrounded the grey, stone gargoyle. "...I-I think it''sing alive!" "[Orc] Interesting... " Aiden muttered, as he focused on the statue as it slowly started to awaken. Contrary to just a few minutes ago when these figures were clearly just lifeless carvings made out of some type of stone-like material, there was a massive change inside of it. A few moments ago, when the first sounds could be heard, a small, tiny seedling made out of the same type of dark energy that barred their attempt to step inside the massive structure seemingly appeared out of nowhere inside it, serving as its core. Momentster, this tiny seedling of energy sprouted several veins that rapidly traversed the entire insides of the figurine, reaching from its furthest toes to the top of its head, all the way to its sharp, deadly horns. Another short momentter, massive amounts of dark energy began to ooze out from the tiny seedling, traversing through the newly sprouted veins, creating a circtory system. The energy kept flowing through the body using the newly made paths and slowly, but surely it began to ''pump'' a sort of life into the lifeless body. Although in this sense, life wasn''t an urate word, as by the sense of definition the stone gargoyle was never a living being, it''s merely being animated by the use of some sort of dark ritual. "[Orc] M-master! Y-you have to get inside! These beings are incredibly powerful; their only purpose is to kill and destroy! Please, just escape inside, I will do my best to hold them up whilst the master is searching for his friend!" Turning towards his young master, Roas grabbed Aiden''s shoulders and shook him. His words carried an obvious fear, he obviously feared these elite guardians created by the demonic overlords. However, there was something else in his voice. That fear wasn''t projected towards his own life, no, he did not care if he would die, as long as he could serve his purpose and protect his young master, that gave him his hope back. Just like before with the warding on the door, as long as he could be useful, he wouldn''t mind sacrificing his own existence. He would do so, dly. Seeing his servant being so determined to save him, Aiden couldn''t help but smile at the broad, robust orc. Grabbing his hands, he gently removed them from his shoulders, and looked Roas in the eye with his gentle, friendly smile on his face. Shaking his head, he calmly responded. "[Orc] No, Roas, I will not run away. I will never escape, I will never leave you alone. I promised that I will be there for you, that I will help you when you will need it. I don''t want a simple puppet, I want a faithful servant. No, I want a friend." Shifting his attention towards the now shaking, and vibrating, ominously glowing stone figure, he continued. As he spoke, his eyes began to glow in a golden hue, marking his activation of his [Draconic Heritage]. His features slowly began to change, his arms that sported this dark green, almost brownish color began to equip a golden gradient, turning brighter as it reached his hands, that now sported fingers ending in thick, dark ws. The barely visible slight bumps in his back sprung tall simrly golden scaled wings, and from the lower reaches of his back, a long, golden-scaled tail sprung out, plopping down on the ground. His draconic aura also unfolded, descending around them, engulfing arge portion of the forefront of the building as his own territory. His voice several octaves lower, it carried a mighty, majestic power, thundering around them boisterously with each spoken word. "[Orc] I will show these pathetic rats, hiding in the shadows, who they are actually messing with. How dare they send such petty measly little toys against us!" Meanwhile, the energy traversing through the gargoyle, reached its peak, making the previously impossible feat possible, forcing it to slowly stand up from its eternal crouching posture, and turn towards Aiden who now was in his almostplete, Dragonoid form, and the still stumped Roas. The sockets that would serve as its eyes suddenly lit up with a dark rose-tinted hue. Although it was a lifeless statue that was only being animated through the use of magic, as it ''looked'' at them, Roas couldn''t help but shake once more and take a step back due to his instinctual fright. Through the years the horrendous myths and stories about these brutal, merciless killing machines were deeply imnted in them, creating an instinctual, deeply etched fear towards them. "[Orc] Just stand back and let your master do his job for once. I will show you just how pathetic these big lumps of stones are!" Aiden smirked as he boldly matched the stone figure''s demonic gaze. Taking a couple of wide steps forward Aiden stepped out from under the door and out to the clear open, inviting the magical, animated stone guardian. Following the Dragonoid with its lifeless, glowing eyes, the stone figure slowly turned its head, keeping his attention on the obviously muchrger threat than the orcish worm shivering in the corner. As Aiden took its spot on the clearing, the gargoyle, bent its knees slightly, only to sprung himself away from its perch where it rested previously, andnded just a few steps away from the young man with a loud thud, kicking off a massive cloud of dust in the process. As it slowly straightened his back, it towered over Aiden''s already generous, but still, rtively normal height with its massive 3.5 meters (AN: Roughly 11.5 Feet). The stone guardian looked at its much smaller, leaner opponent in silence, not moving the slightest. Tense silence ensued around the two, and while it onlysted for a couple of seconds, to Roas, who was looking from further away, from the safety of the massive building, it felt like hours. Despite feeling the incredible presence and mighty pressure surrounding his master when hepletely activated his strange, mystical powers, he still couldn''t help but worry. Through all the tales he was told through the years of servitude towards the whispers of the dark lords, he never once been told about anyone being able to stand up against these mighty creations and survive to tell about it. It was only the calm before the storm as people would usually say. Suddenly, the seemingly slow-moving stone demon figure sprung into action,unching itself towards its opponent. His arms and long, stone ws raised in the air, he swung down with them, ready to rip the draconic boy into several tiny pieces with one swing. Roas could only barely follow the movement, the abrupt change of pace as the gargoyle charged at his young master. He couldn''t help but worry, desperately hoping that Aiden would be able to do something to block the swift and deadly attack somehow. Although he couldn''t help but be scared as he looked at the demonic stone statue, he still wanted to be at least somewhat useful, and not be a burden to his master in times of crisis like this but, he couldn''t think of any way to assist, other than praying for his master''s safety. Seeing how his master remained unmoving even as the deadly, stone ws swung down almost reaching him, Roas wanted to cry out, and warn him to jump away at the very least, minimize the damage resulting from such a fatal-looking blow. However, before he could do so, just at the moment when the gargoyle''s ws could get in contact with his skin, Aiden''s figure suddenly vanished, only to reappear just above the stone figure''s head. His hands sped together he swung down, giving a massive loud, blustering blow on the enemy''s head. The blow was brutal, and itunched the figure down on the ground, sending out a massive ring of bluster all around the area, waking and alerting several sleeping orcs in the distance along with a massive cloud of dust. Despite being not too far away, Roas couldn''t see a thing. Thest scene he could see, was the moment the fearsome stone figure crashed into the ground, engulfing both itself and his master in a mushroom cloud of dust Seconds continued to pass in a strange, and eerie ringing sound as the aftermath of the singr blow. Due to the massive amount that wasunched into the air, the dust was dissipating way too slowly for him to be able to see anything However, as the battlefield continued to slowly settle, a familiar winged, but lean-looking silhouette could be seen standing in the midst of it all... Chapter 248 - 248 - A Puzzling Sight It took quite a while before the sizable cloud of dust finally settled enough to grant just enough visibility for Roas to see the results of the sh between his young master and the animated stone figurine. Aiden, his young master, could be seen standing over a small crater that was formed in the ground due to the dense, heavy stone gargoyle crashing into it with great momentum. Besides being a bit dusty, Aiden was unharmed, making him the clear winner of the short sh. He was standing at the edges of the small crater, looking down on it with a solemn expression. Even though the guardian that deeply imnted into the ground waspletely still, unmoving, Aiden could still see traces of the dark magic that made ite to ''life'' just a few moments ago, however, it was slowly fading, as if whatever power this energy had granted to the stone figure, waspletely defeated. Still, until the veryst traces of the energy left the statue he would not rx. Although the battle was over with one single strike, the enemy was still much more fearsome than most of what he had faced so far. The only reason he could win so easily was due to the fact that the gargoyle was simply being controlled via magic and had no consciousness at all. It couldn''t think on the spot and analyze the changes and react to such a sudden change in the situation. If let''s say, the guardian would be truly revived and granted real life, the oue could have been much different. Finally, as thest strands of the dark energy left the statue, Aiden heaved a loud sigh in relief. Deactivating his transformation, his features swiftly returned to their original, Primal Goblin state. ''I haven''t even stepped inside and I have already used up so much of my [Soul Power]... This is not good.'' Hemented inwardly, gazing at the cracked body of the statue in a lost, hazy daze. "[Orc] M-master are you alright?" The familiar hoarse, raspy voice of his servant, Roas came from his right, awakening him from his momentary stupor. Turning towards his devoted servant, he let out a slightly tired, but content, happy smile, speaking in his usual, calm tone. "[Orc] Yeah, everything is fine. Still" Aiden paused for a moment, sizing up the broken statue lying in the ground onest time before turning away and shifting his attention towards the still closed albeit disarmed huge, ebony double door. "...Why did a guardian suddenly wake up? Was this some sort of extrayer of defense? And also, why are there such defensive measures put in ce?" Taking a longer sigh, he continued after a short pause before Roas could respond. "[Orc] We are probably missing something that would recognize us as true members of the horde. What surprises me in that is the fact that you also had no information about this. Although, being an outcast and all could be the reason for you being kept in the ''dark''..." He spoke thoughtfully, measuring the door in the process. "[Orc] I am truly sorry for my ipetence, my lord! I am just a-" Before Roas could finish apologizing for the nth time this night, Aiden raised his hand, silencing him instantly. "[Orc] Stop. Don''t apologize, it''s not something you could have known. What''s done is done, we just have to do our best. Most likely they are now aware of us. I did feel a strange presence just before" Not sure how to react or what to say, Roas just stood at the right side of his master in silence, looking at him, awaiting his nextmand with a pensive look on his face. Seeing his expression, Aiden gave a light smile, breaking the previous tension that lingered in the air, and walked back towards the double door. Slowly reaching out, he gently touched the surface with both hands. Keeping his hands on it just for a few short moments, he made sure that there was no magic, no extra tricks left, and that they would finally be safe. At least for the moment. "[Orc] Anyway... " Aiden spoke up, breaking the ensuing silence between master and servant. "We have wasted enough time here already. Let''s go, we have a job to do!" Pushing open the door, he was greeted with a simrly stunning, unique, and unexpected sight that stunned him when he saw this out-of-ce building for the first time. Going with the same motif as on the outside, the inside of the building that was revealed was incredible. What they saw, was probably some sort of hallway that snaked and eventually turned into a fork far in the distance. Ruby red carpet was rolled out on the ground, whilst the marble-looking walls were almost glowing in a silvery hue. Embellishing it all the way until their eyes could take them, strange, seemingly random, but most definitely creepy objects were ced on the wall. Several different types of skulls,rge gemstones of almost every color just to name a few. The hallway wasrge, probably designed for creatures of even much greater height than what Aiden had seen so far. Far above them,vish chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling, shining with the gold which were decorated with a myriad of gemstones. Looking through the incredible sight that greeted them, Aiden was now absolutely certain; these orcs had nothing to do with the creation of this building. Whoever or whatever made this, was most definitely not of themon races, he couldn''t be either an orc, goblin, or whatever brutish creatures they had in their ranks besides these two or any of their variations. "[Orc] Incredible" Stunned by the sight, Roas was amazed and was looking around with wide eyes. "So this is what it looks like from the inside" Although the sight was indeed stunning, they had a job to do, and time was already rapidly running out. Not to mention that dawn was probablying on them mercilessly, they have probably alerted the orcs on the outside with the previous battle. Aiden shook his head and activated his [Dark Sense] ability. As usual, he pooled some of his [Soul Power] into it, empowering it, and sent out several invisible pulses to map out as much of the building as he could. Judging only from what he had seen from the outside and from this first look, if they were to jump into their search blindly, they would need not just a few hours but probably several days or maybe more to even have a slight chance in aplishing what they set out to do. Previously he was unable to take a ''peak'' on the inner design and map out any potential routes as he was strangely blocked from any attempts, but now that he got inside, there were seemingly no more obstacles. His pulses traveled in every direction, giving him lots of information in the process. He closed his eyes, focusing on the system''s map and looking through all the details that appeared one after another as he received the information. Seeing his master standing still, Roas looked at him with curiosity. Seeing how the young master had his eyes closed but still looking focused, Roas remained silent, and patiently waited, standing by his side, ready to protect him from any iing danger, just like how a good servant should. After nearly three minutes of silence, Aiden finally opened his eyes. His previously focused, stoic face revealed an increasingly curving grin stretching out his facial muscles. With a much more delighted tone than before he spoke just as he began marching forward at a steady pace. "[Orc] This building is incredible! Whoever made it, was clearly a very powerful being!" He eximed, stopping after only taking a couple of steps, and turned back looking at Roas. "Come, don''t just stand there, we have quite a long way to go!" Confused about what could have made the sudden change in his young master''s mood, Roas was at a loss for words. With a confused, questioning look on his face, he nodded at Aiden''s words and stepped forward, following behind his young master silently whilst keeping his confused gaze at his back as if all the answers to this strange enigma could be found there. Seeing Roas''s expression, Aiden couldn''t help but let out a chuckle and resumed his trek marching forward, to the stairs just a bit further ahead of them whilst he continued sending out pulses and keeping half of his awareness on the map looking for signs of life. What seemed slightly strange to him was the fact that whilst there was heavy protection set up on the perimeter, barring entry for any unwee guests, there seemed to be nothing set up once they got inside. Probably they never expected anyone to be able to ovee such a surefire obstacle... The reason why he was in a much better state than before was the fact, that while he strangely couldn''t detect any enemy signals no matter where he sent out his energy pulses, but on the other hand, he did manage to find a faint, yet familiar life sign just a bit below them... Chapter 249 - 249 - A Troubling Mistake "W-what the " A beaten, battered and bruised, but still alive albeit quite weary silver-haired youth cried out in a mixture of shock and surprise as the metal door opened, revealing a strange dark green looking humanoid figure with a robust-looking orc following behind him. As they stepped inside the dimly lit storage-looking dusty, empty room, they stopped just a few steps away from the silver-haired human sitting on the ground. "W-who are you? W-what do you want?! I told you before, I will not say a word, you are just wasting your time! Hmpf!" He cried out with a fierce, determined gaze, despite the many beatings he surely must have received in the course of several hours. Looking at the duo, he spat on the ground, and harrumphed, adding a few words under his breath in the process to his previous outcry. "Not that any of you pig heads could understand normalnguage" Contrary to this belief of his, the dark green, lean and tall figure that had strangely familiar facial features revealed a cheeky grin. He crouched down, matching the silver-haired youth''s fierce gaze. As he opened his eyes and began to speak, his words, or more to say thenguage he used, stunned not just the human but the orc behind him as well. "Now, now my dear friend, this is how you greet arade? Drake, you weren''t like this when we went to that underground ve pen in Higrove to rescue both our sisters Well, I guess this is just how royalty is" Even his tone was familiar, but as soon as the figure said those words, Drake''s eyes almost fell out of their sockets in his surprise. He couldn''t even respond for quite a while and just looked at the strange figure as if he were seeing a ghost. However, after a while, as he finally managed to process his words, he cried out once more, this time even louder. "AIDEN?! W-what the How in the world W-when did you" He stuttered, unable to phrase a singr question as a multitude of them raced inside his mind at the same time. Seeing his stunted look, Aiden, still in his Primal Goblin form couldn''t help but chuckle at the sight of him. "My, that''s quite a lot of questions there, Drake! Well, I guess I can answer a few... Yes, it''s me Aiden, and this form you see here is an illusion taught to me by my family. I''m here on a mission from the Adventurer''s Guild. We have already met with your sister, and my friends have probably already freed all the other ves, or at the very least in the process of doing so. They should have no problems in doing so as I have already cleaned up the guards there" Aiden answered, the wide, satisfied grin not leaving his face in the process. Turning towards the orc standing stoic behind him looking at the human with emotionless, uncaring, rigid, cold eyes he continued. "This here is my servant, Roas. He is not allied with the orcs here, nor any of the other races of this ''Horde'' or whatever it is really called." Then, shifting hisnguage, he also addressed Roas, not leaving him in the dark, although he probably has already figured at least some of the details out by now. "[Orc] Roas, this here is the human I know. He is called Drake, and although he is an idiot for trying to infiltrate the horde''s settlement by himself, he is actually not a bad person. Treat him with the very same respect you would give me and make sure he stays safe, got it?" Hearing his friend speaking the very same sounding, gurgled, hoarsenguage as the orcs here did, stunned Drake once again. It wasn''t that long since they departed, and during that time, that strange, unreadable youths have changed by such a great deal it was hard to evene to terms with it. He just looked at his back that was turned towards him as he discussed something with the orc guard. "[Orc] Yes, my lord! I will make sure this human-" Roas immediately responded, the cold look instantly vanishing from his face and a reverent, devoted expression recing it, giving yet another surprise to Drake who was witnessing the peculiar scene. "[Orc] Drake. His name is Drake. Don''t refer to him by his race, address him by name." Aiden interjected, speaking in a calm yetmanding tone. Hearing his young master''s words, Roas gave a deep, respectful and apologetic bow as he continued. "[Orc] Y-es, my lord, please excuse me for my rude behavior!" Waving with his right hand, Aiden silently dismissed the issue as it wasn''t a huge mistake, to begin with, letting his servant continue with his acknowledging words. "[Orc] Rest assured, my lord! I will make sure that Drake, your friend will be kept safe and sound! As he is the young master''s dear friend, I will make sure to give him the same respect as I would to the young master!" Aiden gave a smiling nod at his servant''s devoted acknowledgment and turned around, facing the still wide-eyed, puzzled-looking silver-haired prince. His face turned stern as he fixated his gaze upon the man sitting on the ground in front of him. "So, do you mind telling me what the hell are you doing here? Are you and your sister arepletely retarded?! This is the camp of the horde, swarming with orcs, goblins, and who knows what else?! What were you even expecting?! Even I had to go through quite the hoops to even be able to get inside!" He berated, only stopping to take a short breath before continuing with the ''lecture''. "Your sister was worried about you! You have just managed to save him and reunite with each other and what is the first thing you do?! You go and get yourself captured and tortured! Are you tired of living? You could have just told me that, I would dly ept such a request!" Grabbing his temples Aiden heaved a tired sigh, mumbling to himself. "Seriously, you humans are so troublesome to deal with" Although his muttering was hushed, Drake still managed to catch the drift of it, creasing his eyebrows of what he had heard. "W-what did you just say?!" He inquired with the same puzzled look. "Doesn''t matter, don''t bother with it." Aiden waved his hand in dismissal, not wanting to continue this particr topic. "What you should be focusing on, is to get yourself back on your feet and getting out of here! We can''t waste too much time on you, we have already wasted too much on the outside" Although he clearly couldn''t speak the Commonnguage, unbeknownst to the both of them, Roas, for some reason, could hear his master''s words inside his mind speaking in his own native, Orcish dialect. Thinking that it must have been his master''s doing, he listened to each and every word he spoke, smirking as he harshly lectured the captured and beaten human. However, as he heard him mention leaving the building, and remembering the loud explosion that most likely alerted most of the settlements resting orcs, he stepped forward, gently touching his young master''s shoulders. As his master turned to look at him, Roas respectfully spoke. "[Orc] My lord, it may not be the best course of action to step outside for the time being." Surprised by the sudden actions of his servant, Aiden asked with an inquiring tone. "[Orc] Oh? What do you mean?" "[Orc] Master''sst battle with the guardian most likely awoke the orcs resting in the vicinity. They would probably be outside the building right now, investigating the scene. Once they see the destroyed stone guardian, they would report to their captains. The whole camp should be on high alert by now, searching for us outside." Roas'' words shocked Aiden. Yes, how could he have forgotten such an important detail?! He should have grabbed the remains of the statue and ced it into his system inventory! How could he have forgotten such an important detail?! Although he was agitated, he retained his mostly calm outlook as he replied, asking another question. "[Orc] And do you think they would look for us inside this building?" To his relief, Roas firmly shook his head in response. "[Orc] No, they would not. This is a sacred ce, not everyone can step inside. Only the highest leaders of the tribes, and their generals. We should be safe here but leaving the camp''s grounds will be quite difficult. If Drake were to step outside, he would most certainly be caught almost immediately, and he wouldn''t be simply taken to some holding cell, like previously. He would be killed on the spot." Grabbing his chin, Aiden responded thoughtfully. This was quite a troublesome turn of events, making their return just that much more difficult, all because of a single mistake he made. Thinking about it, Aiden suddenly turned wide-eyed with shock. A momentter, however, his expression changed once again, changing into a stern, stoic outlook as he asked his servant again, this time in a much colder tone. "[Orc] What about outside the camp?" Chapter 250 - 250 - The Escape (Part 1) "Come on you two, get a move on! We have a job to do, my hubby is going to be expecting us to return and wait for him by the time hees back from the orcs!" The robust giantess eximed, looking at the much smaller purple-haired and fiery red-haired women talking in the semi-destroyed stall. "Oh shut it, you dumb oaf! Unlike you, we are actually trying to devise a n to get everyone out safely and silently!" Frowning, the red-haired girl immediately snapped, hearing the giantess'' urging tone of voice. It wasn''t as if she was keen on staying in a ce like this where they looked at her as if she were mere cattle instead of a human being. "And also, stop referring to Aiden as your hubby!" The purple-haired miss added with a simr facial expression turning towards the blonde giantess. "Huh?" Hearing Sarah''s words, Naybeah, the blonde amazon looked genuinely surprised. "Why not? He is my chosen mate, why shouldn''t I call him my hubby?" Clenching her fists in annoyance, Sarah was almost visually shaking with frustration. Just listening to this stupid warrior woman was more than she could handle. Despite being an appointed officer and leader of the examiners in the Adventurer''s Guild, she wasn''t the best at handling strong personalities like Naybeah. She usually let the others handle such menial matters while she preferred staying in the back handling her trusted group of aides. "Grrr He is not your hubby, nor your mate, or whatever else you wish to call him! He never epted your aggressive courting, so stop saying stuff like that!" Unable to contain her anger, she snapped, yelling, and letting out some of her umted frustration. As soon as she realized what she had done, she immediately put her hands in front of her lips in a futile attempt at sealing them. However, what''s done is done, and no matter how hard she would try, she couldn''t turn back time. Due to the loud exmation, the trio of girls jumped to a battle-ready stance and turned towards the door at the far end of the stable-like building, awaiting the inevitable creaking noise. "Are you both this stupid?! What are you two doing?!" While nervously grabbing the hilt of her dagger that was given to her by Sarah, Scarlet muttered in a half-hushed tone that carried clear anger towards not just the yelling girl in question but to the blonde amazon as well. Knowing that she made such an amateurish mistake, Sarah couldn''t respond to the princess'' words at all but instead focused on the still silent door ahead, awaiting the guards that would probably being any second. "Hey, it wasn''t me that yelled out, what did I do?" With a cheeky-looking grin stretching wide on her face, Naybeah grinned at the duo as she pulled her broad weapon in front of herself. As usual, she wasn''t afraid of the approaching danger, but instead turned more and more heated as the seconds passed. True to her nature, she was always ready to throw down and jump into the heat of battle. Although she set out on a mission given to her by her queen, she was an amazon. A tribe of warrior women raised through brutal training and fierce battles ever since she learned how to walk. As their society was somewhat simr in nature to that of the other battle-oriented races, their values were vastly different than the ''normal'' civilized races. Trueborn amazons such as her usually had only two goals in their minds: to reach new heights in their skills and to eventually find a worthy mate to bring back. As such, they were always on the lookout for opponents to test their mettle against them, and orcs were one of the best targets. They were strong and brutal, the perfect targets to hone one''s skills. Not to mention defeat would have meant a future something even worse than death. The seconds continued to pass in tense silence as the trio focused all of their attention towards the door, ready to charge in and do their absolute best in oveing the trial that was sure to be facing them. However, as the time continued to mercilessly tick away, the door still did not budge, it still did not creak. There were no footsteps, nor any signs of movementing their way. It was silent outside, too silent. "What the Where are the guards? There''s no way they did not hear your yelling" Scarlet muttered, breaking the ensuing stillness. "Hmm" Lowering her sword, Sarah''s expression eased up. Looking at the door, she whispered after a while. "Could it be that Aiden took care of them?" Putting her humongous weapon back on her back, Naybeah burst into a loud guffaw. "Ahahaha! That''s my mate for ya! I knew he couldn''t just leave us without taking care of any potential problem that could arise!" "Oh shut it! And I told you not to refer to Aiden as ''your hubby'' or ''mate''! He is not yours!" Annoyed by her words, Sarah eximed once again. "Why not? I already told him I like him, and I want him." Naybeah responded with an innocent expression. A momentter, however, it turned into a knowing smirk as she turned to take a closer look at the purple-haired, blushing girl. "Oh I get it, you also like him!" These words immediately caused Sarah to turn stiff, and turn to a stuttering, a weak attempt at a retort. "N-n-no I am n-not! I m-mean, yes I like him, as a valuable partner! I m-mean as an adventurer, h-he is very strong, and r-reliable and-" She couldn''t finish as Naybeah put her index finger on her lips, instantly silencing the girl in the process. Her smirk slowly, gradually transformed into a gentle, much kinder, warmer smile as she looked at her rade-in-arms''. "Sshh Don''t worry, I do not want to monopolize him. We amazons know that men like him can''t be tied down to just one person, nor do we have any wish to do so. I would not mind having you as a sister, Sarah!" These words caused her already pink cheek to turn a darker shade of red and seemingly steal her of the ability to think and form any sort of proper response. She could only turn and look at the amazon with wide, stunned eyes and with an unbelieving look on her face. This caused another loudughtering from the amazon as she turned away from the stunned girl and shifted her attention back to the still silent door in the far end of the building. Pulling her weapon from her back, she pulled it once again, and without saying any other words, she slowly began approaching the object in question. Following her only a couple of steps behind was Scarlet, still holding the dagger tightly in her grip. A couple of stepster, as she managed topose herself a bit, Sarah also followed after the duo. Although they ignored the rest of the ves so far, as they slowly approached the door and walked by the different stalls, Scarlet could see as all the ves were silently looking towards the door with fear and horror clearly visible on their faces. The thought of the dreaded monsters bursting in was fuel for their nightmares. Although she wasn''t born with any special abilities, her years as a diator honed her senses, she was able to sort of ''feel'' or ''sense'' potential threats and harmful intent from some distance away. Contrary to what she was expecting, she could not feel anything from the other side of the door, no matter how close they got. It was silent, eerily silent outside. Did what Sarah said could be true? Did Aiden really take care of those elite guards without them even catching wind of it? "Just how strong that boy is?!" She muttered, voicing her puzzled, conflicted thoughts. "Hehe Incredibly so! My mate is the best there is! Even the queen was no match to him!" Naybeah, walking in front, proudly eximed. "Hmpf! My brother is still better than him!" She whispered in a defiant tone before both of them turned silent arriving in front of the door. As they could hear still absolutely nothinging from the other side, Naybeah, freeing her right hand and holding her huge battle axe in her left, slowly reached for the closed door in front of them. Reaching the lever, she slowly pushed down on it, and pulled the door, resulting in a silent, but still audible creaking noise as it slowly revealed the outside world to the enclosed trio. Only opening it half-way, Naybeah removed her hand from the door and grabbed her weapon tightly once more. Taking a deep breath, she peeked out, looking towards the gate, ready to pull back if she would spot even the slightest sign of danger. Looking at the calm and serene scene on the outside, she was silent for several seconds. Agitated, both Scarlet and Sarah were about to ask about what she could see, but before they could do so, the proud and smug-sounding voice of the blonde amazon came. "Hehe, I told you, didn''t I? He couldn''t just leave us in danger!" Chapter 251 - 251 - The Escape (Part 2) Hearing the blonde amazon''s words, Scarlet just had to take a look at the supposedly silent and ''orc-free'' outside for herself. Stepping forward he grabbed the door and pulled it wide open for everyone to see. The sight that greeted them, shocked not just her but Sarah as well, who was just behind the two, still a bit heated as a result of the teasing of the grinning amazon at the front. "What happened here? Where is everyone?!" Seeing that there were absolutely no signs of the guards, Scarlet cried out in a mixture of surprise and shock. Surprise because of the fact they were truly safe, but also shocked because there were absolutely no signs of the guards, not even signs of any sort of struggle. They just seemed to ''vanish'', for ack of a better word. "Huh? What do you mean?" Sarah asked from behind, taking a step forward as well and taking a look. Seeing how it was calm, and there were absolutely no signs of the guards, she went into deep thought once more. Being the most knowledgeable of Aiden''s abilities of the three, she had some vague idea of what could have transpired here. Still, she couldn''t be sure, and besides, it wasn''t that important anyway. A content smile began to gently curve the edges of her lips as her thoughts raced back on the strange young man that walked into her life from seemingly nowhere, surprising her with his shocking feats time and time again. "Heh, he really couldn''t sit still He just had to take care of them" Sarah let out a sigh that could be mistaken for a sign of annoyance, however, the gentle look in her eyes and the unmistakable smile on her face told a very different tale. Turning around, she left the other two walking back towards the far end of the building, to the furthest stall after Scarlet''s. "Once you are done wasting our precious time gawking, we should get to work. There''s quite a lot of stalls we need to somehow open up and set the people free." Her words caused the other two to wake up from their stupor and pull back from the door. Putting her huge weapon back on her back, Naybeah only smirked as she looked at the purple-haired girl''s back, silently following after her. Shortly behind her, the fiery red-haired Scarlet followed along, still perplexed about what could have happened at the gates. He did see the boy rip his stall to pieces with ease just earlier, but he didn''t really think he would be this strong. Although the feat was impressive especially if you would take a look at the boy''s visible muscle mass, she just contributed it to some magical artifact, or that he knew where to grab the old wooden board to rip it out. However now, after witnessing the scene on the outside and the fact that there weren''t any to begin with, she started to think that maybe, just maybe there was something more to that long, ck-haired, exotic-eyed youth than what she first believed. The fact that he could pull off such an incredibly realistic illusion to alter the look of his body was already an amazing feat. Thinking about the boy, her eyes wandered off to therge, blonde amazon walking in front of her. Although she spent most of her youth locked away in cells and fighting for survival day in and day out, she did hear some stories about their fierce race. One story, one myth stuck to her mind: The fact that not just anybody could win an amazon''s heart. The male had to be incredibly strong, as he had to be able topletely, utterly dominate the woman and also be epted by the Queen of the Amazons. Not many could achieve such a feat, so the fact that this blonde giantess was so clearly smitten with that much smaller boy was a telltale sign that something was not ordinary about him. Then the fact that the purple-haired woman, who whilst looking much more ordinary and bashful than her robust friend, had this aura of mysticism surrounding her. She wasn''t physically strong, but still, Scarlet knew that when it came tobat, she could easily hold her own. The stall right next to Scarlet''s housed two humans, a man, and a woman. Besides the thin and patched, dirty, ragged linen bag that served as their ''attire'' they were practically naked. Large, ck metal chains were sped around their necks, fixed to the pole in the middle. As the trio walked to their stall and looked at them, they jumped in fright and scampered to corners of their little ''room'' trying their hardest to blend in with the shadows, hoping that these fearsome, terrifying women will ignore them and not hurt them instead. Their reaction soured the previously uncannily happy mood the trio of girls were in, pulling them back to the harshness of the reality. These pairs went through unimaginable nightmares to react to anybody like this. The horrors they experienced was not something they would be able to process, and nor should they have the need to. Taking a big gulp to swallow the sadness and anger that began to settle on her face, Sarah forced the friendliest, kindest smile she could, and took a slow step forward, grabbing the wooden edges of the stool. Leaning forward, she closed her eyes for a second. A momentter, as she opened them back up, her eyes suddenly lit up, emitting a faint purplish hue. The air around her began to visually buzz and vibrate, as her innate ability began to activate. The tone of her voice changed, equipping a much different, otherworldly almost heavenly attribute. She calmly addressed the still shivering pair of humans trying to hide in the far corners. "Fear not, I can promise you we are not here to hurt you. Instead, we would like to help you, we want to set you free! We want to remove the shackles that chained you to this ce, to this fate, both physically" Sarah took a slight pause in her speech, making sure to observe the frightened pair''s tiniest of reactions before she continued with a simr smile on her face that would usually be seen on Aiden''s face. "...and mentally." Listening to her words, the pair felt a strange soothing sensation, afortable warmth spreading out inside their minds, gradually calming them down. Their defensive, frightened posture gradually eased, their expression became much better to look at. The change was so shocking, that both Naybeah and Scarlet had a difficult time masking the shock of what they had seen. The previously fragile, harmless-looking girl has suddenly be much more dangerous. Although Scarlet had a hunch, it was still shocking to witness her suspicion prove true. They remained silent, trying their best to hide their shock, albeit with great difficulties. Their turbulent thoughts wrought havoc in their minds, swarming them with dozens of questions that would probably never see any answers. Still, this wasn''t the time for any of that, they had to ce their trust in this now unknown, mysterious woman that she would do the right thing, and get the pair toe out of hiding. Seeing the calm that began to settle on the pair of ve''s faces, Sarah slowly reached out with her right hand towards them. "Come to me,e to us! Let us help you, so you can take back what was taken from you!" Turning silent, Sarah patiently waited for the duo to slowly process her words and make a decision for themselves. Although she was fairly certain that she would be able to take control of their minds and force them toe out, she did not want to do any of that, that wouldn''t be right. They have to make this first step on their own, nobody could do it instead of them. After almost a minute of silence, the pair finally made their decision. The fear slowly but surelypletely vanished from their faces, only to be reced by a newfound determination. As they looked at those glowing purple eyes of this mysterious woman, they were strangely not afraid. No, they felt a strange calmness, a new hope, a faint but still visible guiding light in the despairing darkness of their souls. Turning towards each other, both the man and the woman, saw the same zeal in each other''s eyes.With a reassuring nod to each other, they finally took their first steps by standing up from the ground, and slowly leaving the safety of the shadowy corners began to walk towards the purple-haired girl. Seeing their reactions, Sarah responded with a gentle smile. Keeping her gaze on the pair, she waved towards her friends behind her toe closer and assist. Although she managed to free the shackles binding their minds, she was powerless against those heavy metal chains that bound them physically But this was where the other two woulde in. Chapter 252 - 252 - The Escape (Part 3) "There we go, this was thest one!" Naybeah''s voice bellowed in the now much more vibrant structure as she threw arge piece of broken-off wood to the side. With the path now open, she walked forward to the wooden pole nted at the middle of the stall. There were two metal chains going from its top to each side, a pair of elves looking with big, hopeful eyes at the iing blonde amazon. Just like she eximed this was indeed the veryst one of the stalls, all the others have already been destroyed, and its residents freed. Arge group has gathered just outside the building, enjoying the refreshingly cold nightly breeze on their skin, their very first action in this new world they are going to be released into. Although many had no idea where to go or what to do with themselves, at least for the moment, most just wanted to enjoy this feeling. Despite being arge crowd, they were mostly calm, only the asional hushed whispers could be heard amongst them. While they were all rade-in-arms'' so to say, the feeling of freedom was very new to them. Scarlet, the red-haired princess was standing in the midst of the crowd silently watching them with a much calmer smile on her usually tense face. These people, just like her, went through unimaginable torture and pain. They have already given up hope to ever experience such a feeling, most of them were just waiting for their redeeming demise. However, now, as they sat on the dusty, dark ground and looked up at the clear starry night sky, for the first time, they felt the tiny slivers of hope shine through the despair that clouded their minds and hearts. Although they did receive that first mental push from the strange purple-haired and eyeddy, that was only a temporary measure, she merely re-nted the seeds that for most of these people, have already died out. Turning towards the orc settlement, Scarlet couldn''t help but wipe her face of the few droplets of tears that managed to escape from the corners of her eyes. In a hushed, barely audible tone, her whispers flew away with the gentle breeze that just passed by her. "Thank you Aiden." Going through all the stalls one by one and freeing all the enved people took more time than they all expected. The night was probably at its peak, slowly turning tomorrow into today as they walked ever closer and closer to the next dawn. This thought caused not a small amount of nervousness to Scarlet, as even though Aiden took care of the currently stationed guards, eventually there would be a change and the next shift would arrive turning their previously easy rescue mission much harder. With these thoughts raging in her mind, she turned towards the opened door and walked towards it. Just as she was about to shout at the pair of girls still working inside, Sarah walked out with a scantily dressed pair of identical-looking elven girls in tow. Not too far behind them, the tall, blonde amazon was following with her usual wide grin stered on her face. Her humongous two-hander was resting on her right shoulder. "Before you ask, yes we are done, they are thest." Sarah spoke first, reading Scarlet''s face as if it was an open book. "We should give them a few minutes to rest and then we can leave." "We should leave now, we have already wasted way too much time. We don''t know when the next shift will arrive. We can''t fight AND protect all these people at the same time!" Not really happy with the suggestion of spending even more time at this ce, Scarlet retorted in an agitated manner. "Rx! We have time. Look, at most, it should be just past midnight!" Naybeah answered in a dismissive manner, pointing towards the night sky. "Read the stars, we have spent 2-3 hours here, at the most. Giving these girls a few extra minutes wouldn''t matter much." Unable to refute the blonde amazon''s words, Scarlet could only scoff with annoyance. Without responding, she turned around left walking back to the crowd of people. "Listen up guys!" Getting back to her previous position at the core, Scarlet raised her arms into the air, and yelled out, grabbing the attention of everyone. She patiently waited until she saw that all the attention was focused on herself, before continuing. "We will set out in the next few minutes. Make sure you are notgging too far behind, stay silent, and look after each other! This is still the enemy''s territory, and we don''t want to raise any unwanted attention! Together, we can get the freedom that was robbed from us back!" Although her words were harsher than what Sarah would have liked, it still did the trick, at least for the most part. Most of the eyes there were stered on the fiery princess had a hopeful and determined glint shining in them. A few others were understandably frightened at the prospect of being captured by these monsters again, but even for them, the dark, and hollow despairing look were no longer present. Heaving a tired sigh, she grabbed her temples. "I guess we can work with this" She muttered mostly to herself. Walking to her left, Naybeah gently grabbed her hand on her left shoulder, giving it a light squeeze as she spoke in a calm tone. "Don''t worry, we will get them all to safety." "I I''m not worried about them, I" Before Sarah had the chance to finish her thought, Naybeah spoke up again with the still calm, reassuring tone in her voice. Matching her gaze, she as well looked towards the settlement in the distance. "The best we can do for him is toplete the task that was assigned to us, Sarah. We need to trust him, that he will return safe and sound. Remember, he can take care of himself!" With her part said, she gave onest light squeeze to Sarah''s left shoulder before leaving her and walked towards the middle of the group where Scarlet was speaking to a few people. The confident look on their faces gave the impression to Naybeah that these were acting as the de-facto leaders of the group, with a much stronger will than the rest. They were looking at the red-haired girl with passion and zeal shining in their eyes. "Miss Scarlet, when are we leaving?" A thin, bald human guy asked with a respectful tone, clearly eager to leave this nightmarish ce behind. "Yes, Lady Scarlet, just please let us leave this ce behind. We all just want to leave and never see any of this ce ever again!" A woman, with brown, greasy, messy hair joined in. The bruises on her curvaceous body suggested unimaginable horrors in her life. Still despite all that, she had the same zeal in her eyes as the others. Giving a quick look at her body, Scarlet couldn''t help but frown for a brief moment, before she forced the smile back on her face. "Not for too long, I assure you. We just need to give thest of the freed a moment of respite before we set out. Just like you all, they have also gone through the same, try to understand. I assure you, none of us want to stay here any longer than it''s absolutely necessary." Although it was clear that her words did little to calm their minds, they did not refute her words and did not argue any longer. Giving an understanding nod, the gathered left back towards their own little circle of people eagerly awaiting the answers from the three ''leaders'' before they all nced towards the pair of twins that just sat down on the ground slightly away from the group with the same frightened look in their eyes that many of that had when they first walked out of their own stalls. Looking at their expression, they all understood and did not argue with their own ''leaders'' any longer. They all could guess what went through the twin elves'' minds as they first looked up at the clear night sky, or when they breathed in their very first gasp of air. The feeling of freedom did not hit them immediately, but it needed a bit to slowly settle in. Meanwhile, Sarah, after being left alone with Naybeah''s reassuring words, arrived next to the other two girls with aplicated look on her face. Seeing her expression, Scarlet couldn''t help but ask out with worry resurfacing in her eyes. "What is bothering you? Is there a problem?" Instead of the purple-haired girl, it was the blonde amazon that answered the question, as she turned towards the direction of the orc''s settlement with a gentle, kind smile. "No, she is just worried about him. While we are working in peace and silence, he is already in the den of these pigheaded monsters threading through dangers we can''t even imagine. She is just worried that''s all" "N-no... I... "Sarah wanted to speak up and refute their words, but the bright pink coloration of her cheeks betrayed her before she even had the chance. Just as she was about to force some words out of her stuttering mind, an ear-shattering blustering explosive sound rang out from the direction of the settlement, followed by a powerful wave of invisible energy washing over them, scaring them in the process. "W-what was that?!" Scarlet jumped in fright, followed by most of therge group of people. Therge grin turned upside down on her face quickly, Naybeah gazed at the distance with a stoic, stern look on her face. Her usually calm voice now carried a visible threat as she spoke with a grave, cold tone. "Something bad must have just happened. We need to leave now." *** Please read the author''s note just below! Thank you! Chapter 253 - 253 - Follow The Plan The blustering, explosive sound that came with the powerful shockwave of energy caused a wave of dread to wash over therge, gathered group of people. Although they weren''t fighters, most of the ex-enved knew that whatever could produce such an incredible, earth-shatteringly powerful disy of force couldn''t be normal. The orcs were brutal and fierce but none of them ever seen such a disy of power from them. They were mostly physical beings, rarely seen using any of the mystical energies. The few elves that were more knowledgable in matters of the supernatural, had a much more frightened look on their faces. The twins, who were thest to be set free were visibly shaking as they tightly held onto each other, unable to mutter any meaningful words. Hearing the grave threat in the blonde amazon''sst words, Scarlet turned to look at her with a dour expression on her face. "What do you mean? What could have happened?" "The sound came from the orcs settlement. Most likely Aiden has got into some tough battle. The guards will now be on high alert, we can''t spend any more time here, we have to leave the jungle immediately." Naybeah spoke with the same stoic expression and grave tone in her voice. She pulled herrge weapon to her hand, and walked forward, stopping a few steps away from therge crowd.She turned around, and with a cold, icy look she addressed the frightened ex-ves. "Get ready people, we don''t have any more time to waste, we have to leave NOW!" Although she had more questions, the look on the amazon''s usually cheery face and her unusual tone froze all of them in Scarlet. She turned serious, and whilst pulling the borrowed dagger from her belt she followed after her. "Seriously, what could he have done? For us to feel and even hear his attack from all the way over here, he had to encounter something unexpectedly powerful." Sarah kept her gaze looking towards the source of the sound a bit longer before she shook her head with a wry smile appearing on her face. Following after her ''partners-in-crime'', she got in front of the group. "So how should we do it? We need at least one of us on the front, and someone in the back. We have a veryrge group, traversing through the forest whilst keeping everyone safe will not be an easy task." Sarah spoke up with a n already forming in her mind. Before the other two could chime in, she continued ncing at Naybeah. "We also cannot return to our camp site, it''s way too close, and if what you said is true, then with the increased patrols it is very likely that they will discover that ce." "I also hate the thought, but our only chance is to get out of the forest. We can only ce our trust in him toplete his task." Naybeah added, agreeing to the purple-haired woman''s suggestion. Scarlet, however, couldn''t ept the thought of leaving his dear brother whom she had just reunited with after so many years of being torn apart. Vehemently shaking her head, she almost exploded with these agonizing thoughts. "NO! We can''t leave them behind! I CAN''T DO THAT! NOT AGAIN!" She screamed at the two, her body almost shaking just at the mere thought. Seeing the state Scarlet was in just at the mere thought, Sarah could only look at her with a wry look on her face. Forcing apassionate smile on her face, she reached out, gently grabbing her weapon-holding arm, giving it a light tap. "Don''t worry, your brother will not be left behind. Aiden is looking for him, and I''m absolutely sure that he will do his utmost to bring him back." Then she turned to look at the expectant-looking crowd behind them, as she continued with the smile on her face curving slightly higher. "Still, we can''t just abandon these people. They have suffered enough. Look into yourself and tell me, could you really leave them be?" "I But my brother" Having trouble expressing herself due to the tumultuous storm raging in her mind and heart, Scarlet could only mumble, turning towards the crowd first, then shifting her gaze towards the distance where the settlement lied. "Don''t worry, hubby will get him back! He is strong, a few mere pig brains, can''t stop him!" Naybeah chimed in, her confident grin returning to her face, even if it was forced on for the sake of the fiery, red-haired girl. "Yes ''AIDEN'' will get him back, don''t worry about that. He will return to the city with your brother in tow. We can regroup at the Adventurer''s Guild in the morning after we escorted these people away from danger." Sarah added, emphasizing the boy''s name as she gave a cold look to the grinning amazon. "I... *sigh* Yes, you are right" Scarlet finally gave in with a defeated sigh escaping her lips, turning back to the group of people. "I need to trust them, we can''t do anything else." Taking another, longer exhale to calm her raging emotions, she returned to her focused, serious self. "Compared to you, I''m more on the agile side, I would be best to stand at the core of the group and assisting both of you. I can get to the front or to the back to assist if needed. Besides, I''m not that familiar with these woods" She advised, averting her gaze and lowering her voice at the end. "I will stay at the back, if the orcse, they will most likelye from behind us. I can hold them up while Scarletes to help, and you will escape with them." Naybead added turning away from the group and looking at the group of people that meanwhile got mostly ready for the long and arduous journey that awaited them. "Fine, but let me know if any of you spot anything unusual." Seeing the determined, confident look on both faces, Sarah knew that arguing would be futile and could only acquiesce. Turning towards the group she raised her arms in the air, grabbing the attention as she addressed the group once more. "Okay everyone, we are leaving NOW! Try to keep up the pace we have to move fast at least until we leave the immediate vicinity of the orc''s territory!" --- "[Orc] The captains most likely will send out patrols around the area to search for signs of the culprit. If master''s friends are close by and if they will be discovered" Roas spoke, answering her young master''s question with a haunted expression on his face. His voice was much meeker than usual, not daring to look his young master in the eye. Aiden didn''t respond for a while but had a contemting look on his face. Yes, he could storm out, fight his way through the army of orcs and get back to the girls, but he knew that they wouldn''t want that. He had toplete the task they originally set out to do and gather information on the true intentions of the horde. He also had his System-assigned mission about this ''Demon Grotto'' and that was something that he absolutely had to do, or he would be punished with an unfair death. "[Orc] I see" He responded after a long while. Heaving a sigh, he turned towards Drake who looked at them with a puzzled expression. "There is a slight change of ns Unfortunately, we can not leave immediately, the orcs are on high alert after my break-in. Supposedly we are safe inside this building, the orcs consider this building holy grounds and they will not cross the doors. We only have to deal with some envoys from other tribes and the higher-ups, the leaders." He exined in a brief manner, looking calm and collected on the outside. "W-what about Scarlet?" Although he had many questions about the long-winded discussion with the orc servant that seemed troubling just by watching the changes in their expressions, Drake''s first thought was the safety of her sister. "I have already freed her, don''t worry about it, my friends are probably escorting her and the other ves they freed out of the forest as we speak." Aiden responded dismissively, but then as a question came into his mind, he looked at the silver-haired prince with a much colder look than before. "By the way, how could you leave your sister chained up like that? We just freed her from that horrid ce, and your first thought after setting out together was to ce her back in chains? Are you really this stupid?!" "S-shut up! There wasn''t any other choice! We had to go along with the n! Haven''t you seen that there are no females in this camp, like at all?! All of them are held as livestock outside the main camp''s grounds! She knew we had to keep up the appearances!" He retorted. Although knowing that their n was bad, they still had to go along with it. Still, he did feel guilty about the fact of leaving her like that, but he could do nothing. "Besides she knew I will get back to her after learning about the true intentions of these monsters" He added, muttering under his breath, not expecting Aiden to actually hear his words. Aiden''s expression changed as he heard Drake''sst words. His already cold look turned stern, he clenched his fists in an attempt to quell his rising anger. "What did you say? Who gave you this task?" *** Please read the author''s note just below! Thank you! Chapter 254 - 254 - The Royal Artifacts "Who gave you this task?!" Aiden repeated the question, looking at Drake with a faint glow emitting from his eyes. His tone, whilst wasn''t aggressive, it was no longer friendly either. It carried a coldness that was unlike what the silver-haired adventurous prince was subjected to before. "I" Under the scrutinizing and cold gaze of Aiden, Drake found it much harder to form his thoughts into words. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he collected himself, and after regaining a bit of his lostposure, he continued. "I am not sure who was the original requestor. It was a special quest posted in the guild''s office at the capital. After registering Scarlet and passing her test, we confirmed the objectives with the officers and then epted it." He exined. "What were the objectives?" Aiden asked. He was surprised to hear that Scarlet was also aware of the mission but did not speak about it at all when they freed her. Still, the possibility of both of them being sent to the same quest concerned him, making him shelve this thought for the time being. Although it was not impossible to have two quests with simr objectives, and it was not impossible to ept multiple teams for the same one in cases of culling and gathering-type assignments, for special tasks such as what he and Sarah epted that shouldn''t be happening. Not to mention that this was an assignment given to them directly from Sarah''s mother, who seemed to be powerful enough to be considered among the highest-ranking officials in the guild even if she was not officially a member, it was a type of assignment that should be only avable for one single, high-ranking team at a time. "The quest required to investigate the reason behind the increased orc and goblin sightings and check if it has any rtion to the newly emerged ''Horde''. If it is, then we are to find more information about the true reason and ns behind that arrival to the outskirts of the Kingdom." Drake answered truthfully. "I see" Aiden responded, heaving a sigh, letting the faint glow in his eyes fade out. The quest indeed was simr but not exactly the same. It seems that the threat of these monstrous humanoid creatures made the officials nervous not just in Higrove, the closest to them, but even to the capital''s branch as well. In a much calmer, rxed tone, and with his usual friendly smile on his green, primal goblin face, he continued. "That''s good, me and my team have simr objectives, that we got from Higrove." Then, he reached out with his right palm. "What do you say if we team up and work together then? We want the same, and it would go faster for the both of us if we''re to work together." Drake didn''t really need to think much about the offer, he knew exactly how powerful this boy was. Matching Aiden''s gaze with his own, determined look, he epted the boy''s offered hand and shook it. "Sure, I would really like that!" Then turning around and shifting his attention to the brute, long-haired orc standing behind his friend as a stoic, silent guardian, he asked with a quizzical look on his face. "What is the deal with him then? Can he really be trusted? Aren''t you afraid, he will betray us?" Shaking his head, Aiden responded to his questions with a chuckle. "Don''t worry about him. Roas is faithful and will never betray me or us. He is not just a powerful warrior but one gifted with magic as well." Seeing his silver-haired friend still wasn''t convinced, Aiden simply let out a smug smile, not willing to borate any further. Turning around, he focused on the opened metal door in front of them. "Anyway, we should leave and resume our mission. We need to be faster than this, as this building is huge, and our objective is on the higher floors." Shifting his gaze downwards briefly, he only whispered hisst thoughts. "Not to mention, I have to investigate the lower reaches as well" Although he couldn''t understand what Aiden was muttering under his breath, Drake did catch his brief nce and change of expression as he cast his sight downwards. He found it strange but knowing the boy well enough by now, he didn''t inquire further, instead, he stretched his limbs. After finishing his exercise and refreshing himself just enough to leave this godforsaken room, he suddenly revealed a simr-looking talisman on his neck that wasn''t visible before. What was surprising that not even Aiden''s [Dark Sense] or the system seemed to notice before. The talisman had a simr circr shape to what Lily had, but with a dark-blue ball-shaped gemstone etched in its middle, serving as its core. Closing his eyes as he gently touched the small gemstone, Drake began chanting a few ancient words. Aiden had to really focus his attention to be able to hear it, but strangely, the system did not seem to start any analysis process on it. At the very least, it did not give any notification to him. Puzzled by this, Aiden did his utmost to focus on the slightest of Drake''s movements and his chant, but regardless, the system remained silent. However, before he could attempt further, Drake seemed toplete the chant. The dark blue gemstone suddenly lit up, leaving Drake''s right palm, and began to levitate in the air, in front of its master. In the next moment, a familiar-looking, adorned,vishly-decorated sword appeared in Drake''s now-empty right hand. The talisman finished with its job, flopped back to his neck, and vanished from sight once again. Opening his eyes, Drake gripped the hilt of his beloved de with a smug, satisfied smile stretching across his face. Turning toward his surprised audience, his smile curved even higher, turning into a grin instead. "I am ready, let''s go!" "What was that just now?" Aiden asked with a surprised look on his face. The fact that his system didn''t give him any information and didn''t start any analysis puzzled him to no end. "Oh, this?" Drake touched the invisible talisman hanging on his neck, turning it visible once more. "It''s a family heirloom, only the direct descendants of our bloodline are able to get these. It has a few handy uses, one of them is an emergency storage device. I hid my weapon inside before I tried infiltrating this ce." "How does it work? Can anybody use it?" Aiden inquired further, eager to know the secret behind his system''s silence." Before Drake could answer any of the questions he raised, another, much more important one. "Also Can these items sense, and locate each other? If I remember correctly your sister said something like that you felt one from here. Strangely though, he did not mention any of this quest you guys are on. Why is that?" Hearing the question, removed the smirk from Drake''s face, recing it with a troubled look. "Well, the quest was supposed to be a secret assignment. We were told not to reveal any of its details to anyone." Drake admitted, continuing before Aiden could interject. "As for the talisman. Yes, all of the royal heirlooms have a sort of connection and are capable of sensing each other when they are close. We felt the faint, but clear signal from this camp." Thinking back to it, he heaved a sigh before continuing with a gloomier expression. "However, once I got captured, this signal suddenly vanished" "Are you absolutely certain that the signal came from one of these artifacts?" Aiden asked, listening to his silver-haired friend''s story. "Could it be that it was just some sort of trap set up to lure you in?" ncing over to Roas, he continued. "The orcs have the ability to monitor the surroundings with some unknown method, and it is very likely that they have spotted you guys without you and your sister noticing." "I" Aiden''s reveal was shocking, and the possibility of them being lured directly into a trap was a troubling thought. "I''m not sure, but it shouldn''t be possible for these orcs. Doing something like that requires very high-level magical knowledge and a very thorough understanding of the royal artifacts. Not something a primitive, barbaric race as these orcs should be capable of." His words may have sounded condescending, but it was actually true. While it was indeed possible to achieve such a feat, it was certainly not something that such a brutal race as these orcs or in fact, the goblins would be capable of. Not to mention theirck of magical aptitude but it would be impossible for them to have such deep historical knowledge about the bloodline of the royal family. Listening to Drake''s words, only revealed a knowing smirk on Aiden''s face, surprising Drake. However, his slight surprise quickly turned into a deep shock as he heard his next words. "Hmm and what if I tell you that there are beings with powers beyond even mine from another world acting as the true leaders of this horde? There were powerful wardings and even stone guardians protecting this ce?" *** Please read the author''s note just below! Thank you! Chapter 255 - 255 - A Puzzling Scene The rustling of leaves and snapping of branches followed therge convoy of people that marched across the woods. At its lead, a purple-haired beautiful woman was navigating in a path that whilst mostly followed the main route, it did not cross it or step foot near it even once. She also made sure to not enter areas or clearings where they could be easily ambushed. Although this made the whole journey just that much harder, it also gave therge crowd a bit more reassurance. Thest they would have wanted was to find themselves suddenly surrounded by these horrendous, brutal creatures. "Umm Miss Sarah, may I ask how much longer we have to go before we can take some rest?" A messy, brown-haired girl at the front, meekly raised a question. The group wasn''t like the miss at the front, they weren''t trained fighters, they were weak, spent, and most importantly, tired. "We can''t rest now, we need to put as much distance between us and them as we can. Just grit your teeth and tough it out. If you want to get your freedom back, then work for it!" Instead of the purple-haired miss, another feminine voice came from behind the brown-haired girl, jolting her body in fright. Seeing the girl as it jumped, earned a satisfied chuckle from the woman behind her. She walked forward, revealing her fiery red locks and stepping out of the crowd, walking next to the leading Sarah at the front. "How much longer, what do you think?" She asked as she arrived at her right. "Probably another hour or so. Not sure, we have to be careful." Sarah answered, keeping his focus ahead. As they crossed an especially thorny bush, she turned towards the east and gave a sigh. "We only arrived at the edges of their ''territory''..." She muttered silently, so only Scarlet could hear her words. "What? That''s-" Before Scarlet could finish herint about the speed of their traversal, both her and Sarah''s attention suddenly snapped to the thick, dark-looking section of the woods in front of them. Unsheathing her sword, Sarah entered into a battle-ready stance, and whilst keeping her attention to the eerie sight ahead, she whispered to Scarlet who was already in a simr state. "Go to the back and alert Naybeah, we havepany." Keeping her sight on the same spot as Sarah for a bit longer, Scarlet silently nodded and turned to leave. Taking only a step, she stopped and without looking back she spoke in a tone that only Sarah could hear. "Be safe until I return." "Heh" Sarah gave a silent chuckle at her words, although the girl was already gone, whizzing through the crowd of escaped ves, hastily rushing towards the back towards the tall, blonde amazon. However, as she crossed the halfway point, she suddenly sensed the same feeling, the dark presence of those ugly, brutish orcs from behind them as well. Gritting her teeth, she further increased her speed, rushing through the crowd at her maximum speed. Closing in towards the tail of the convoy, she could already spot the sight of the tall woman as it was gripping her humungous battle axe in her hands, his back turned towards the group, gazing at a dark spot behind them. As she arrived next to the amazon, before she could even speak, Naybeah spoke in a grave tone. "4ing from behind, and I''m guessing they are already at our front as well. We have to act before theypletely surround us, we will not be able to protect everyone then" Shaking her head, arge grin suddenly appeared on her face, she began to breathe loudly, in a manic, battle-hungry manner. Without waiting for an answer from the red-haired princess, she stepped forward, focusing her gaze on the dark woods behind them. "Stay and protect these people. Although I haven''t seen her fight, I know that you don''t need to worry about Sarah, she can protect herself." With that said, Naybeah grabbed her trusty weapon tighter and left the stunned Scarlet. She slowly approached towards the dark section of the woods where both of them could already feel the Orcs. After only a couple of steps, the orcs seemingly realized that they were spotted, and with a loud roar rushed out from their hiding spot. As they stepped out from the dark and into the moonlight, just as Naybeah said, four robust looking, bare-chested, dark-brown skinned humanoid creatures appeared. They held their crude weapons in hand, and whilst raising them above their heads they all let out another battle cry and charged forward, aiming at the tall woman in front of them. Instead of the expected fright, Naybeah only looked more and more excited at such a sight. With a crazed grin stretched dominating her face. She nted her feet in the ground, ready to ept the charged blows of the iing assants. Her muscles suddenly bulged, the veins turning visible as the muscles contorted and flexed. She slowly arched her weapon to the left, her eyes focused on the rapidly closing distance between her and her enemies. In mere seconds the charging orcs arrived at melee range, Naybeah swung his axe sideways at around waist level. Contrary to her size, the weapon in her hand wooshed through the air at lightning speed, ready to slice the enemy in half upon contact. Scarlet could barely even follow the weapon as it flew through its arch. The sudden swing surprised even the orcs, quickly slowing down their rush, lowering their weapon in front of them to block the sudden attack. Just as her weapon was about to crash onto the first weapon, Naybeah smirked in contempt, abruptly stopping the powerful swing in an instant and pulled the weapon back. Sheunched herself in the air, aiming at the leftmost orc, swinging her weapon vertically. Scarlet was watching the sight with wide-eyes and with her mouth open. Although she already knew that this blonde woman was a fearsomebatant, witnessing her ferocity in action was a marvelous sight. Remembering the words of the amazon, she shook her head a few momentster. Concerned about Sarah at the front, despite being told that she can probably handle herself, she turned around and rushed back as fast as she could. As she slowly approached the core of the group, the sounds of battle, weapons shing against each other reached her ears. Increasing her speed, she ignored the frightened looks of the nearby ves, and whilst nervously gripping the handle of her small dagger, she zapped through the crowd. As she got closer, a strange, and puzzling sight slowly revealed itself in front of her. At the front, she saw the standing Sarah, gently waving with her arms as her hands formed strange symbols in the air. A faint purple glow could be seening from her face, but as she was facing the scene in front of her, Scarlet couldn''t see where it wasing from. The scene in front of her however was puzzling, to say the least. Simr to what she saw at the back, four bare-chested orcs were battling, but instead of charging at the defenseless Sarah, they were fighting against each other in a grand melee. Their crude axes were vehemently shing against each other, with such power that would cause fatal damage on impact. This wasn''t just a show of y, these orcs were crazed and wanted to kill each other. Arriving closer, she noticed the simr purplish mist shrouding all four orcs'' eyes. The color and glow were simr to the hue that radiated from Sarah''s eyes. Sarah continued with the gentle waves with both of her hands, whilst drawing strange symbols in the air. Each time she finished one, the symbol briefly lit up with a colorless white light before quickly vanishing in the air. Seeing her intent focus, Scarlet decided to remain silent and just continued to watch the strange and puzzling sight with apt attention, her dagger still tightly held in her right hand. Just like her, the ves at the front were stunned at the sight as well. Just a moment ago, when the orcs suddenly jumped out from the eerie darkness ahead, they almost fainted, knowing that they would be goners if these brutes were to reach them. Their only hope was this purple-haired girl that, besides guiding them through the woods, haven''t shown any skills that would assist her inbat. Whilst they did not voice their thoughts, nearly all of the ves at the front would have felt much better with the robust amazon leading them. However, merely a secondter, as the orcs roared loudly, rapidly closing in on them, they suddenly stopped in their tracks. A strange, mystical purple light surrounded them, and they started hitting each other as if they suddenly turned mad. Unable to exin such a puzzling sight, they turned towards Miss Sarah once more, only to see that a simr purplish glow came from her. Her hands were gently waving against the wind, she was standing calmly, focusing on the sudden melee brawl Suddenly, they all felt that maybe, just maybe this girl wasn''t that worthless anymore... *** Please read the author''s note just below! Thank you! Chapter 256 - 256 - A Bloody Battle Only a few minutes went by before thest of the four orcs that suddenly decided tosh out onto each other instead of attacking the escaping humans, have fallen to the ground with a hilt of a dagger sticking out of its nape. Once the victor of the four-man melee has been decided, Scarlet immediately sprung to action and threw his dagger with deadly precision, ending the visibly battered and bruised victor''s life. Sarah, who has been using her innate ability constantly, making sure that all fourbatants continued to battle to the bitter end, suddenly heaved a loud sigh and plopped down to the ground. She was heavily perspiring, she spent most of her energy and stamina in the process of making sure that none of the escaped ves would be subjected to any danger. Seeing the state this purple-haired girl was in, Scarlet rushed to her aid with a face full of worry. "Are you okay? Do you need any help?" She asked visible concern in her voice. Although she still couldn''t understand the nature of this girl''s powers fully, she at the very least saw that it was an incredibly powerful one, although as it turns out, it was very tiring to keep it up. Still, it was quite an achievement to handle four fearsome, seasoned, and brutal warriors such as these orcs ande out of itpletely unscathed. Unable to respond due to her spent state, Sarah could only raise her hands, stopping the girl in its track and signaling her that she was fine. "I *huff* *huff* I am *huff* fine! I just *huff* need to rest *huff* a bit. Check up on Naybeah, she could *huff* still be in danger!" Between the heavy huffing, Sarah forced the words out, worried about the tall blonde woman. Despite not knowing the situation at the back, she was fairly certain that she was also forced to defend against an ambush of at least of a simr size if not more. Reminded of the fact that the amazon had to handle a group of a simr size in the back all by her lonesome, and without the aid of any sorcery, Scarlet jumped up and rushed back to the crowd without saying a word. Not that she needed to, the fear and worry that settled on her face upon hearing her words, told everything Sarah wanted to know. As the red-haired princess figure vanished amidst the heavily shaking crowd of civilians, Sarah took one more big breath of air and tried to stand up. Her attempt sadly met with failure, as even with the aid of her hands, she was unable to push her body up. She had no strength in her arms nor her legs. She could only look towards the back with worry visible on her perspiring face. Only by the time she was more than halfway through did Scarlet realize that her borrowed weapon, the dagger she received from Sarah was still etched deeply in the now-dead orcs nape. Cursing her own stupidity for forgetting to take it back, she could only clench her hand into fists and hope that nothing bad had happened whilst she was at the front wasting time. Soon, the sound of battle, weapons colliding against each other, and huffed grunts reached her ears. This eased some of her worries and calmed her agitated heart by a great deal. Hoping that the proud female warrior wasn''t on herst stand, Scarlet increased her speed even further as she zapped through the crowd dexterously. A few momentster, as she arrived a pretty gruesome sight greeted her. Two of the four initial orcs were already dead, lying in the ground in their own pool of blood with mutted bodies. The two still standing ones were bruised, with multiple deep cuts covering that dark brown colored skins, their thick, dark blood gushing out from them, rapidly draining their waning vitalities. Their opponent, Naybeah, the blonde amazon wasn''t in any better shape either. She was covered in multiple cuts, some of them looking pretty deep and serious. Her only garment, the piece of fur fabric that covered her generous-looking breasts werepletely destroyed, causing her mammaries to sway unrestrained against the wind. Despite her state, her eyes were almostpletely bloodshot, and she had the same crazed grin stretched wide on her face that she had when she jumped into battle a few minutes ago. She seemed to be just as energetic, if not even more than how she was at the start,pletely ignoring the damage she had already received. Just as Scarlet was rushing towards one of the dead orcs to take his weapon and assist the woman, Naybeah released a fierce bellowing battle cry and jumped forward once more swinging her bloodied battle axe vertically against the orc towards her left. The orc raised his weapon in an attempt to block to iing strike, whilst his friend swung his own weapon vertically aiming at the woman''s navel. Seeing she had no time to waste, Scarlet, leaving the way too heavy weapon on the ground, rushed forward, charging at the swinging orc, focusing on kicking him down to the ground, or at the very least kicking him far enough from Naybeah. Meanwhile, Naybeah''s powerful, battle-crazed strike shed with a loud explosive sound against the opponent''s crude two-hander. However, the weapon only provided just a momentary relief. Just as her attack was thwarted by her opponent, leaving his chestpletely undefended, Naybeah raised her right leg and gave a powerful kick at his chest, whilst alsounching herself forward. The kick, added with the blonde amazon''s bodyweight proved too much for the orc warrior to withstand, especially in his already spent and weary state. He wasunched off his feet and flew almost half a meter back before crashing down on the ground, followed by the amazon closely behind. Her action of jumping forward caused the orc on the left to just barely miss his intended target and merely hit the woman''s side with the handle, which caused no visible pain to the crazed warrioress. At the same time, Scarlet arrived behind him, hitting him with a powerful kick at the back of his right knee. The sudden surprise attack seemed to have caught the orc off guard, his right leg immediately buckled under the pressure, causing the orc to fall on the ground on his knees. Before the orc had any chance to react, Scarlet''s right leg was already flying towards the orc''s temple. However, her opponent wasn''t a rookie, this wasn''t his first life or death experience. Although he was caughtpletely off guard just a moment ago, the orc wasn''t going to let this new opponent get a second hit in that easily. With a rapid swing of his body, he leaned forward, almost kissing the ground with the momentum he carried, evading the iing attack by just a hair''s breadth. The missed attack didn''t phase Scarlet too much, knowing that the enemy was now aware of her presence, she jumped a step back, looking at her opponent in a battle-ready freestyle boxing stance. After all, unlike the others she wasn''t professionally trained, everything she learned, was through her own gruesome experience. Still, with only this knowledge and her will to survive and be reunited with the only one that mattered in her family, she managed to ovee every hurdle, beat every opponent, survive every ordeal she was subjected to. She wasn''t someone who should be looked down upon. While she was busy ''handling'' her opponent, Naybeah was almost done with hers. After the orc crashed against the ground with a loud thud, she has fallen on top of him. With a wide grin on her face, she decisively struck down with her weapon, not giving the opponent any chance to recover from his momentary dizzy state, crushing his head into many pieces. The exploding head gave yet another gruesome cover of blood and brain matter almost serving as a protectingyer of thick sticky, liquid substance. With the third enemy now being dealt with, Naybeah, without showing any signs of fatigue, jumped back up and turned towards the fourth, and the only orc still alive. As she turned around, she released another powerful battle cry, and whilst raising her weapon above her head, she charged towards the only standing opponent who was currently busy handling the red-haired tigress'' rapid blows. Hearing the bellowing cry of the enemy, the orc responded with its own one. As he roared at the sky, his muscles visually bulged, and contorted, revealing the wide protruding veins over his dark brown skin. The white in his eyes turned into dark red. Suddenly, his body began to radiate with a faint, colorless glow. The nearby Scarlet could feel a strange, choking, heavy aura, oozing out from him. Puzzled by this sudden change, she jumped back several steps, increasing the distance between them, and while returning to her previous opening battle-stance, she watched as the orc transformed into something else. "This" She looked at her opponent with a somber expression. This battle was far from being decided as it turned out... *** Please read the author''s note just below! Thank you! Chapter 257 - 257 - On The Verge Of Death Although to the best of her knowledge she had no special talent or active innate abilities like the others, Scarlet had enough experience under her belt to develop a sort of ''battle awareness, a skill that could not be taught but learned through one''s own effort. This awareness, or in other words ''Battle Sense'' allowed Scarlet to sense iing threats, and to have a ''feel'' to the enemy''s strength, to be able to judge its power against her own. This was critical to her survival up till now. Right now, her senses were going overdrive, giving warnings about the grave danger this battered and bruised orc''s new state represented. However, even without this skill, she was clearly aware that the monstrosity that was heavily heaving in front of her, was not your average opponent. He or to be more precise, IT, as it no longer had any sanity, was closer to a monstrous predator than anything else, grew almost a head taller, and at least a category wider. Its already robust body was now monstrously bulked, withrge, wide veins visible under its dark brown skin. His dark red eyes that now had no visible sclera nor an iris glowed ominously at Scarlet, giving her chill run through her spine as she tried to withstand it. Its body had a faint, colorless glow to it, and an invisible pressure, an aura of killing intent emanated from it. "What the What happened?! What is this?!" Scarlet cried out, incredulous at the sight. "I''m not sure" Naybeah''s voice came from behind the creature. Seeing the orc transform, she stopped her mindless charge. She calmed her raging, battle-crazed mind, forcing the rity back in her mind. Although this, in turn, reactivated her suppressed sensors, causing her nervous system to immediately re up and send multiple signals of the searing, burning pain of the severalcerations covering her body. Still, she withstood all the pain, the only visible sign of her being ''normal'' was the scowl that reced the wide grin on her face. Sizing up the back of the still heaving creature, she spoke thoughtfully. "I am not sure but it looks like the orc evolved to something else, whatever this thing now is" Her words shocked Scarlet. bbergasted, she sized up once more the much taller monster in front of her. "Evolved?! H-how? That should be impossible!!" She cried out, unable to ept this strange, new reality. "Not sure to be honest In any case, we need to work together to be able to ovee this! Be carefu-" Before Naybeah could finish her words, suddenly the orc turned around and swung hisrge fist with incredible speed. His swing was simple and carried a monstrous power and momentum with it. Thanks to her instincts, Naybeah managed to raise her arms in front of her, creating a shield with her forearms to block the blow. The sheer strength behind the creature''s blow proved to be too much for the amazon''s weary body. The tall amazon was flung back like a broken kite as both of her forearms snapped under the brutish power. With a painful cry, the blonde girl flew back several meters before violently crashing against the ground and tumbling further away helplessly. As the ground finally put a stop to her cruise, she tried to stand up, however, she was unable to. Although the brunt of the blow was blocked, both of her hands were now turnedpletely useless. Adding the constant pain she was under, she was now finally at her wit''s end. The monstrous creature ignored the much weaker-looking red-haired woman and walked after its first preyying on the ground. The only signs of her still being conscious was the pain-filled groans that could be heard from her direction. With great difficulty, she looked at the slowly approaching monster, before turning her attention sideways. Seeing the shocked and fearful expressions of the crowd of ves they were trying to protect, the image of a long, ck-haired boy came to her mind, and with it, bringing a rxing, soothing calm. Her expressions rxed, she turned towards the sky. A faint smile returned to her face, she silently murmured, whispering to the wind. "I''m sorry hubby, I can''t go on any longer" With that, she closed her eyes, as her mind finally gave in to the pain and pressure --- Sarah was rushing through the crowd herself, running to reach the back with a worried expression on her face. When she felt the sudden change in the air, she knew that something bad must have happened to the girls. Boosted by the adrenaline, she forced herself back to her feet and after pulling the plunged dagger from the dead body of the orc, she bolted towards the source of the danger instantly. Before rescuing thisrge crowd, she had to keep her newly made friends safe. "No, no, no They can''t be" Closing towards the end, she spotted therge, robust silhouette of something that no longer resembled anything she could recognize, towering over a body sprawled out on the ground. Behind this creature, frozen in her spot was the red-haired princess with a horrified look smeared on her face. "WAKE UP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! HELP HER!" She yelled out as she jumped out of the crowd, throwing the dagger with its hilt forward toward the rooted girl. The sudden yell surprised not just Scarlet, but the monster as well. Halting its steps, it slowly turned to look at the newly emerged, third opponent with a vicious look on its face. As its glowering, blood-red eyes turned to look at Sarah, she felt a piercing cold wash over her, almost throwing her off her feet. The creature''s mere presence was enough to overpower her, she couldn''t even imagine what would happen to her if she would have to withstand even a single blow from this... Thing. Catching the iing weapon, Scarlet shook her head, frowning at her own weakness. She almost let one of herrades die! Seeing how the purple-haired girl grabbed the creature''s attention, she silently inhaled some air, and exhaled a momentter, calming her raging nerves, slightly rxing her tense muscles. Whilst the creature''s attention was focused on the newly emerged opponent, Scarlet began to silently sneak towards the unconscious body of the amazon. Meanwhile, the creature seemed to be done sizing up the newly emerged threat, and deciding it was best to deal with it instantly, he began to slowly walk towards Sarah. Sarah, noticing that now she was the target of the creature''s ire and that Scarlet was still on the move, trying to get closer to the beaten amazon, she steeled her resolve. Unsheathing her sword from its sheath, she looked at the monstrous behemoth with determination. Although she was spent and tired, she will give her everything if needed, so they could survive this encounter and ovee this foe. Clearing her mind from all unnecessary thoughts, she huffed lightly and closed her eyes. Not even a secondter, her eyelids sprung open. A weak, obscure purple glow suddenly lit up, showing that her innate mind-altering ability was forcibly activated again. Despite being tired and barely having any energy left, she forced whatever she could to put a halt to this brutish monster. As she entered the creature''s mind, she suddenly cried out in pain, reaching for her head with her free hand. This only served as fuel for her, gritting her teeth, she focused her ability once again and forced herself into the raging, clouded mind of the monster in front of her. "QUICK! SCARLET SAVE HER! I CAN''T HOLD THIS THING MUCH LONGER!" She cried out in pain once again. Her second attempt, whilst giving her tremendous bacsh, managed to finally put a stop to the creature''s approach. His blood-red eyes slowly, gradually began to turn into the same shade of purple that was Sarah''s. However, the resistance was too much for Scarlet to withstand for a prolonged period, especially in her current, weary state. Gripping her weapon tightly, she approached the creature while keeping her ability active. As the seconds continued to pass, the creature''s body began to wobble then shake as his mind slowly but surely pushed back against the psychic invader. The purple color in her eyes slowly, gradually began to turn darker, returning to his previous, dark red, ominous state. --- While Sarah was busy holding off the monster, Scarlet arrived at Naybeah''s unconscious body. Not sure what to do, she lightly began pping her face while trying to reach out to her, calling for her without much sess. "What to do, what to do" She muttered nervously, looking at the bloodied body of the amazon. "Wake up! You can''t die here, you have Aiden waiting for you! I thought you amazons are better than this!" She yelled various curses, shaking, pping the woman, futilely. Finally, seeing how she couldn''t do anything to get her to wake up, she stood up and turned towards the still standing, but now shaking creature. The same purple glow seemed to glow from her eyes, but as she turned towards the weary, spent Sarah, she knew that her hold over the creature would onlyst at most a few more seconds. Gritting her teeth, she gave onest look at the unconscious amazon, muttering under her breath a few words before she charged forward,unching herself in the air flying towards the creature. "If you are not willing, then it''s my turn to step up! I''m not going to watch as both of you die on me!" As she left the unconscious amazon, she failed to notice as her eyes slowly began to flutter. As her heavy eyelids slowly pulled open, her eyes were clear white devoid of any irises *** Please read the author''s note below! Thank you! Chapter 258 - 258 - Unexpected Help "Die you beast!!!" Scarlet roared,unching herself in the air with her borrowed weapon held tightly in her right hand. She was so engrossed inunching a surprise attack against the monstrosity that she failed to notice the faint glow that rapidly begun to engulf the unconscious blonde amazon''s entire body. Midway in the air, just as she thrust her weapon-holding hand forward, her target, that she was hoping to surprise, suddenly jerked its monstrous body to the left with an unnatural speed, causing her attack to miss its intended target and instead go by it towards the already weary purple-haired girl. The sudden movement from the previously rather slow-moving creature caught not just Scarlet off-guard but even Sarah, who was now the unfortunate target of Scarlet''s ambush. As the sh was inevitable, Scarlet''s only action was to jerk her arm more to the right, so at the very least she wouldn''t stab her partner to death, whilst raising her left arm against her face and prepare herself for the inevitable collision. At the same time, Sarah also raised both her arms in front of her body forming an ''X'' with her forearms, whilst throwing her sword on the ground, and grit her teeth. In the very next moment, Scarlet crashed into her, causing her to lose her footing and tumble back on the ground. "Scarlet! G-get off me!" Sarah groaned nervously. Although the fall caused her to hurt all over her body, she was already getting numb to the pain. Her muscles were screaming to her for some rest for quite a while now, but as the situation was still not resolved, she had to keep pushing herself way past her limits. A sharp, searing pain jolted through Scarlet''s body, originating from her right arm sprawled to the right from them. She tried moving it, however, other than being rewarded with yet another jolting electricity running through her nervous system causing her to grit her teeth to withstand the pain, she was unable to do so. Still, she remained silent and moved her left arm to push herself up from the ground, soon aiding her action with her legs. Although she didn''t want to see it, she knew she had to check the state of her obviously broken hand, and at the very least take the dagger into her much weaker left arm. Just as she expected from the almost unbearable, constant pulsating torment she felt, the state of her arm was horrible even just to look at. Her poor limb was in a very unnatural position facing upwards, bent in a direction that it should be normally impossible. Still, to her surprise, she didn''t let go of her weapon but kept gripping the handle. It was in a state that even as she slowly stood up, it didn''t return to a resting position, but kept its perpendicr angle pointing towards nothing in particr. Gritting her teeth, and overwhelmed by the pain, Scarletpletely ignored the threat that they failed to deal with so far and focused only on trying to restore some life into herself. She was about to reach for her arm and jerk back into its intended state when Sarah''s stuttering, terrified yell reminded her of her mistake. "S-S-Scarlet, w-watch out! I-It''s behind you! M-move away!" She screamed, still lying on the ground, relying on her elbows to push herself slightly off the ground. Due to the overuse of her powers, and the constant pushing of her limits, she was unable to stand up. It was already a miracle that she was still conscious, especially after taking such a hit. Reminded by the danger still lurking behind her, Scarlet was jolted awake, and turned around, only to be met with a humungous fist flying towards her face. Knowing that dodging or evading waspletely impossible at this point, she closed her eyes to ready herself for the bone-shattering punch. A single tear escaped from her eyes before her eyelids managed to close up. "Sorry, brother I tried" She muttered under her breath. She tried her best, she really did. At the very least, she managed to reunite with her dear brother before losing her life, and whilst she wanted to spend a bit more time with him, her biggest wish had already been granted. If these were the cards that fate dealt them, she could only ept it. Strangely though, despite witnessing the gigantic fist flying towards her face with rapid speeds, the blow still didn''te, but, instead, the sense of danger, the dread she felt a moment ago seemed to magically vanish. She could also feel a strange radiating warmth caressing her face, slowly restoring her spent stamina. Also, in addition to the strange warmth, she could feel a new, unfamiliar presence in front of her. Unable to hold back any longer, she slowly opened her eyes. However, as soon as her vision slowly began to grasp the sight that was in front of her, her eyes sprung wide open, her mouth almost fell to the ground. The humongous fist was held in ce with the previously unconscious, seemingly half-dead blonde amazon with surprising ease. Her entire body was engulfed in a milky, pearl-colored thick radiance. Her previously wounded, and battered body was now in pristine condition, there were no traces of these horrendous, gushing wounds that covered her entire body just a few moments ago. Her long, blonde hair was fluttering in the air surrendering to the madly swirling energy that surrounded her body. Just like the stunned fiery red-haired princess, Sarah was just as bbergasted by this sudden sight. Just a moment ago, the creature''s unstoppable might was about to end Scarlet, but then, before its fist could connect and destroy her facial structure, the previously unconscious body of Naybeah appeared between them, with its restored, perfect, glowing state, and with a simple motion of her right hand, she put an abrupt stop to the creature''s action. Although they couldn''t see her face as she was turning her back towards them, both Scarlet and Sarah could feel that there was something different, something strange happening with her. Even though for Scarlet the new presence that she felt instead of the blonde amazon was unfamiliar, she could easily tell that it was a very powerful one. "W-what the What is happening" She cried out in surprise. Sarah only frowned as she felt the very same presence that shed against Aiden previously in the outer skirts of the forest. It was unmistakable, who all this power belonged to. "Queen Klemeia" She muttered the frown not leaving her face. "H-huh? Who is tha" Scarlet wanted to ask, but before she could do so, the silent amazon opened her mouth and spoke. Her voice was not of Naybeah''s but instead someone else''s, much more powerful, majestic sounding. "I couldn''t leave my precious sister to die before she had the chance to bring her chosen mate back now, could I?" The presence spoke with a mischievous tone, grinning at the huge creature in front of her who was struggling to free her humungous arm from the much smaller female''s vice-like grip. "I I guess I have to thank you for your assistance then Lady Klemeia, Queen of the Amazons." Still frowning, Sarah could do nothing but ept the help. Without her suspiciously well-calcted ''arrival'', they would surely be goners by now, soon followed by the frightened army of ves shivering behind them. "Don''t worry about it, my dearie. When I felt the life force of my dear sister rapidly fading, I had to check in again, despite knowing that I could earn the ire of that boy" Queen Klemeia replied with a slightly sad tone, remembering their first encounter. Her mood quickly shifted, returning to the battle-ready state, facing the monstrous creature in front of her. "Now then you oversized pig, show me what you can do! Let''s see what you can do!" She grinned widely, letting go of the monster''s fist, and jumping in the air,unching a strike of her own at the same time. Unlike the blonde amazon, the queen''s movements were much faster, despite not using her own body her mere presence was enough to boost the amazon''s attributes by a great deal. With its fist suddenly freed, the struggling creature straggled back a few steps before regaining its footing. Looking up, it was met with the small left fist of the glowing, hated female wench. Before it had any chance to defend itself, the fist collided with a loud explosion of energy. A massive soundwave was released, throwing most of the nearby standing ves to the ground. A blinding white light blocked the vision, not allowing Scarlet, Sarah, or therge group of ves to see a thing. Seconds passed one after another before the blinding light slowly faded, gradually allowing them insight into a scene that none would have expected. From where the two opponents stood just a while ago, there only a lone female figure still basked in its milky white glowing luster. Several meters away from her, buried under several destroyed tree trunks were the previously undefeatable creature, sprawled on the ground, lying motionlessly. "Unbelievable" Scarlet muttered with an incredulous look on her face. *** Please read the author''s note below! Thank you! Chapter 259 - 259 - The Boiling Point While the girls were struggling for survival, Drake, Aiden, and Roas were marching through a seemingly endlessbyrinth of simr-looking hallways. Still, they were slowly, but surely making their way through the levels, reaching higher and higher. "Are you sure that we would be safe just strolling through their ''Sacred Grounds'', Aiden? It still feels wrong to me.." Drake asked with a frown on his face, following after Aiden, holding her trustedpanion, the royal de, Marf in his hands. Surprisingly for him, the usually ''chatty'' sword waspletely silent ever since she was pulled out from the talisman''s sub-dimension. "Don''t worry, just make sure you are between me and Roas, and follow my orders." Aiden responded with his usual calm tone. Despite being worried about the girls that were subjected to unforeseen dangers due to his own carelessness, he retained his calm, cool outlook. He had to be levelheaded and trust the girls to handle the dangers and escape with the ves and their own lives intact. "This n is stupid, there''s no chance that it would work. Which idiot would fall for it?!" Drake groaned, still not sold on the n that his ''friend'' hase up with. "Still it''s really weird that there are absolutely no guards in this ce. This should be the most well-guarded building, considering it houses all their leaders" "Well, normally this ce is imprable. Not to mention the stone guardians, even the warding there ced on the door would be too much for anyone to ovee." Aiden responded with a small smirk etched on his lips. Arriving at the end of yet another empty hallway, he turned right to therge staircase in front of them. Just like all the times before, before stepping on it, he made sure to scan as much of the next floor as he could with his [Dark Sense]. Once he felt that there were no obvious dangers awaiting them, would he step on it and start ascending yet again. Despite all the floors beingpletely empty so far, devoid of any soul, his senses kept telling him to be on alert. He felt an increasing sense of dread, danger as they continued making their way towards the top. Just as he was about to take his first step on the staircase, he noticed the presence of three signals on the far end of the floor above them in thest room before the next stairs. Silently he raised his right arm, signaling for his teammates to stand on alert. He raised three fingers and pointed towards the direction of where he sensed the life signs. "Three, above us, in a room just before the next staircase. Be silent and follow after me." Even though he spoke in Common, Roas could still understand his order thanks to the magical connection they shared as Master-Servant by the System. He simply nodded, clenching his huge fists, getting ready for a potential battle. The grumbling expression transforming into a somber look, Drake silently nodded to Aiden''s warning, tightly gripping the handle of his trustedpanion, Marf. Much slower, silently the trio began their ascent to the next floor, focusing their state of mind on any potential traps and ambushes that could be awaiting them on this floor. ''I knew it was too easy. This n was stupid, doomed to fail from the start.'' Drake cursed inwardly. ''Luckily it''s only three. At least, we have a small, tiny sliver of chance if we could get the jump on them, and silence them before they could alert the whole building to our presence'' Behind him, Roas had a cold look on his face, as he gazed at the room his master pointed at. Focusing his power, his tightly clenched fists started glowing in a faint, dark hue, coating his fist in a thinyer of ebon-colored energy. His eyes had no doubts, only clear determination in them, if needed, he was ready toy down her own life if it would mean that her young master would be able to survive. As an exile, he didn''t know who or what could possibly be awaiting them on this floor, as all the leaders and invited envoys should be gathered on the very top floor discussing the next phase of their ns. Not that it mattered, whoever or whatever beings were waiting for them, he would do his utmost to crush them to pieces. Contrary to the two, Aiden looked rtively calm as he continued to cross the stairs one by one silently. Something told him, that the three at the far end of the long hallway were not as hostile as theirpanions would have thought. For one, the system didn''t mark them with red as it usually did with all enemies. Even if that wasn''t a reliable way to discern enemies from friendlies, it was a good approach. From what he learned about it through the years, is that the system had a mind of its own and had a way to read the souls and intents of others. Second, the signal he noticed was much weaker than what he would expect from the orcs or other beings. While he couldn''t be sure yet, he felt that they were familiar, as if he felt these before. This feeling, this familiarity got stronger and stronger as they arrived on the floor and slowly started to sneak towards the room in question. After a few more steps, a wide smile stretched across his face. Rxing his shoulders, he stopped and turned to look at his slightly surprisedpanions. Roas, being able to ''feel'' his master''s thoughts was surprised when he learned that the three presences were acquaintances of the young master. Still, he kept his guard up but canceled the flow of energy that engulfed his fists. Drake, on the other hand, was surprised to see the wide smile and rxed state of his friend. Not knowing what was up with him, he asked with a whispering, hushed tone. "What''s up, Aiden? Did you find out something?" "Yes, you could say that" He answered mysteriously. Heaving a long sigh, Aiden looked at his silver-haired friend, as he continued. "I want you guys to stay here and wait for me to return. Don''t worry, I will be fine." Then, although he knew that Roas understood most of what he told Drake, he still gave a direct verbalmand. "[Orc] Stay here and protect my friend. If my hunch is correct then, I think I know those three inside the room. They are absolutely no threat to us, but I don''t want to scare them. I will go and find out what they are doing here and why are they aren''t with the others on the top floor." "Yes, my lord. Rest assured, I will keep your friend safe!" Roas responded with a bow and a reverent voice. "Aiden what is going on?! Why are you going ahead? Wouldn''t it be better if instead of letting them get the jump on us, we would strike at them first?!" Not understanding a thing, Drake cried out in an agitated, voice. Although he knew that this boy could protect himself and that he was stronger than him, his pride couldn''t just ept being tossed aside at the first signs of danger. He wanted to be there with him at the heat of the battle, not waiting at the back like some helpless maiden. Turning towards his friend, Aiden lightly shook his head. With his usual friendly smile and calm tone, he responded. "No, it will be better if I''m alone for this. If my hunch is correct, those three will not be enemies but maybe friends. However, before that, I need to make sure and speak to them alone. It wouldn''t do us any good if we were to charge in brainlessly. Have some trust in me, I will be back in a few minutes. Just wait here and stay on alert." With his thoughts spoken, Aiden turned around and resumed his steps leaving the still annoyed and agitated prince and his servant behind. Seeing his friend turning around and walking away, Drake reached out with his hand and wanted to go after him, but before he could do so, he felt arge hand gently grabbing his left shoulder, holding him in ce. "Rawrgh aorg warg''ha Drake!" The hoarse, cold voice of Roas, Aiden''s mysterious guardian''s unfamiliar words came from behind him. Listening to his words, that he could not understand, Drake was trembling with anger. First, his ''supposed'' friend left him behind, looking at him as some sort of nuisance, a helpless maiden, and now this ''thing'' was holding him in ce. "Get your filthy paws off me" Seething with the anger, Drake slowly whispered the words, reaffirming his tight hold on the handle of his trustedpanion, Marf. However, feeling as the orc refused to listen to him, Drake''s anger rapidly reached its boiling point. Reminded by the beating and torture he had to go through in thest 24 hours, he couldn''t hold himself back anymore. With a sudden motion, Drake swung his de backward, jumping in the air and jerking his body to turn around to face this hated opponent of his. "DIE YOU PIG!" He bellowed,pletely surrendering to his rage." *** Please read the authors note below! Thank you! Chapter 260 - 260 - Familiar Life Signs From a bit of distance away, Aiden was leaning against the nearest wall and was watching the spectacle of his silver-haired friendshing out against Roas, his first servant. Watching as the battle rapidly unfolded in front of his eyes, he only smirked whilst shaking his head lightly. He was already aware that something like this might happen the moment he would leave the two. After all, Drake had just gone through probably a hellish, nightmarish torture, and currently, he had nowhere to vent his pent-up emotions, there was absolutely no target for his surging rage. Even though Aiden was aware, he did not warn his servant, he did not see the need to. There were a couple of reasons for this. For one, even without saying, he realized that his servant was capable of understanding his thoughts. There was some sort of connection between them, something unexinable. He wanted to test it, so when Aiden left, he simply made a mental remark about Drake, warning about his possible outburst. Just as he expected, Roas was already ready to receive and block the sudden attacking from the raging prince. His arms from above the elbow were already coated with a thinyer of dark energy. As the right-arcing swing came with rapid speeds, Roas simply raised his right arm blocking and absorbing the strike of the de with his forearm. He did not counter, he only gazed at the prince''s twisted expression coldly. This, however, only served as fuel for Drake''s wrath. Pulling his de back, he followed up with a rapid session of wild, swaying strikes roughly aiming at the robust orc''s torso. "Die! Die! DIE!!" Drake roared. With each yell, the power behind his strikes gradually increased whilst the uracy began to dwindle. Even then, Roas managed to block or deflect every blow with no difficulty. None of the iing attacks were threatening for him. Aiden kept watching as the prince descended lower and lower of his own mental abyss of madness and despair. ''This is pretty ugly'' Aiden could only frown at the prince''s actions. He was calm, he knew that Roas would bepletely fine, Drake wouldn''t be capable of causing any real harm at his current state. As mentioned before, he had multiple reasons for not warning his servant. While his first reason was to confirm the existence of the connection they shared as master and servant. His second reason was that there was no real need to warn at all. With Drake''s current mental state, he would at most, would be utilizing half of histent talent and skillset. It would be another matter if Drake were to be able to use his weapon to its full potential Seeing as Drake''s gaze started to turn hazy with the madness clouding his mind more and more as the time went on, Aiden sighed and turned his gaze on his servant. Focusing his mind, he made another mentalmand. ''Roas, it''s time to end this. Don''t hurt him too much, just knock him out. By the time he wakes up, I will be back.'' Receiving the order, Roas made a light nod, and whilst keeping his right arm in front of his body blocking every second or third hit that was aimed at him, he raised his left fist in the air. The thinyer of dark energy that surrounded it began to surge, increasing its intensity. With a bit more of his energy concentrated on his left fist, Roas struck down, hitting the back of Drake''s head. The hit wasn''t particrly powerful; it didn''t even need to be. Still, as the orc''srge fist made contact with the back of the prince''s hair the rapidly swirlingyer of dark energy could be flowing into Drake, invading his mind. In the next second, the wild swings abruptly stopped, Drake took a step back. His body began to sway, falling on the floor with an audible thud a couple more secondster. With the situation resolved, Aiden nodded with a contented smile on his face towards his servant before turning around and resuming his steps to the far end of the hallway, where the three familiar blimps that appeared on his system''s map. ''Could it be those three?! But how?'' He asked the question inwardly, confused about the whole ordeal. ''If so how were they even contacted?'' Thinking about this, Aiden''s attention wandered to his inventory where two gnarled, wooden sticks rested with a simrly sized and shaped scarlet gemstone etched at their ends. They were twisted, dark, demonic objects that served as a sort of device that allowed the ''otherwordly lords'' to monitor their enved servants'' actions. While it could also be said that it gave magical powers to their users, Aiden had a different idea. From the moment he took Roas'' scepter, he seemed to lose his strange powers. His talent remained but the skills the ''holy artifact'' provided vanished with it. This made him think that in addition to being a monitoring andmunication device, it was also capable of transferring some of the lords'' power. However, this theory would need more investigation to confirm Nevertheless, these items were dangerous. Delved in his thoughts, it didn''t take long for Aiden to arrive at thevishly decorated, purple door. Behind this, stylish, golden threaded barrier made out of a strange, wood-like material were the three seemingly unaware life signs. Still puzzled by how and why were these three the first signs of life in this stupidly huge building, Aiden heaved a heavy sigh, and reached for the door. Halfway through, however, his hands stopped. Reminded by the powerful warding that they were met with when they tried to gain entry, he stopped himself and refocused his mind, activating his [Dark Sense] to scan the door for any signs of the magic. Although he was able to spot the three life signs before, he still wanted to double-check and make sure there were no nasty surprises awaiting the unaware. Not spotting anything in particr, he rxed his tense muscles, and grabbed the door''s lever, and pushed it down to open it ...or he tried it. The door turned out to be closed! Strangely though, it seemed to be locked from the outside and not from the inside, as there were no keys, he could sense in the room at all. Finding the situation strange, Aiden activated his ability once again, this time focusing on the three life signs and their state of mind. With the increased attention, Aiden could now feel the mix of emotions that were present in the 3 beings locked inside the room. He felt their fear, their apprehension, their uneasiness He even felt their tinge of hatred, anger towards the leaders situated at the top of the building ''They are mad about being betrayed and looked down? There are feelings of humiliation, guilt and sorrow?!'' Besides sensing their feelings, Aiden was now pretty much confirmed that the three inside were friendlies, or at the very least familiar to him. He recognized all of their life signs ''Too bad I can''t transform due to the system restriction This can turn out to be really bad if I am not careful'' Hemented, not sure what to do. Obviously, he couldn''t just leave them inside, but with his current appearance and with their agitated, confused, and frightened state he wasn''t sure how they would react. Are they monitored? Will freeing them, alert the ones on the top? ''Argh no matter I can''t just leave them here!'' Even though he wasn''t particrly close to either of them himself, he still couldn''t just leave them be. Steeling his resolve, he pushed down on the lever once more, but this time, with a gradually increasing strength. Instead of kicking the door in, he slowly increased the power he exerted, listening to the lock as it was slowly broken apart as he pushed in the door. With a drawn-out breaking sound, the lock crumbled to pieces giving way and slowly creaked open. Both sides watched with apt attention as the other side gradually was being unveiled. While Aiden only smiled as the three life signs turned out to be just as he expected: The trio of goblins, the tattooed shaman and current leader of the goblin vige, and the two younglings that were assigned for his care. However, the initial interest and surprise of the trio turned to shock then fright as the strange, tall but lean dark green humanoid figure appeared in front of them. After all, they had absolutely no idea what this creature was, but seeing how he simply destroyed the door in these sacred halls, they knew he had to be a powerful, influential figure in the horde. Thinking that this ''thing'' came to humiliate or maybe even torture them once again, the tattooed goblin shaman, steeled his resolve, and stepped forward, pushing the two younglings behind him. Despite knowing the obvious difference in power, he clenched his fists and looked at the tall creature with determination shining in his eyes. While he began to concentrate his own inner energy the animal head marks on his body began to slowly light up one by one. With a growl, he looked the tall creature in the eye, and spoke in their ownnguage, not caring if these arrogant demons would even understand a word. "[Goblin] I don''t care anymore! Even if it costs me my life, you cannot humiliate us any longer!" Before Aiden could even speak a word, the goblin shaman charged forward, ready to strike at him *** Please read the Author''s note below! Thank you! Chapter 261 - 261 - Lending Power Even though the creature was motionless, Naybeah, or to be more precise, Klemeia who, using the mysterious connection she seemed to share with the blonde amazon, was currently controlling her body, did not rx her guard. Slowly she approached the body buried beneath a pile of rubble and destroyed tree trunks, focusing on the tiniest of its movements. Stopping only a few steps away from the body, without turning around she yelled at the tired girls. "Hey, you, redhead! Throw me your dagger, let me finish this oversized pig!" As she spoke she reached out with her left hand waving with her fingers to the girl to acquiesce to her request. "Huh? Me?" Surprised by the sudden request and how she was referred to as simply "redhead", Scarlet was stunned for a second, before she processed the amazon''s words. "Uhm Sure" She nodded before she gently grabbed the de of his weapon, throwing the dagger with its hilt facing towards the blonde amazon. Without even bothering to look at the thrown object, Klemeia grabbed it mid-air as it came into range, surprising both the heaving, extremely tired Sarah who was basically lying on the ground, and Scarlet as well. "Thanks, kid!" Klemeia spoke, swapping the de to her much more agile right hand. Focusing on the still, motionless creature ahead of her, her face contorted, forming a cruel, vicious grin. "Now, it''s time to end this. I can''t stay for too long after all." She muttered under her breath as she stepped forward. The creature was either unconscious or most likely, already dead, as even when the dagger slowly was thrust forward, prating into his head through his left eye, he did not even flinch. Using only the borrowed blonde amazon''s strength, Klemeia pushed the de into the orc''s skull all the way to the hilt, before it slowly began to move it in a circr motion in the socket, making sure she caused as much damage to its brain as she could. Just for added measure, she freed the creature''s buried torso and struck down at it at around the middle of its torso. This time, there was much higher resistance; the creature''s skin proved to be much thicker than even the strongest leather chest tes, almost akin to the armors made of iron Still, it couldn''t possibly withstand the pressure exerted by the queen of the amazons, could it? After adding a bit of her own spiritual force into the power, thebined power managed to pierce through the thick natural barrier and slowly sink into the body. Thick, gooey dark red, almost ck viscous substance appeared and slowly began to flow down the body. Just by being close by, Klemeia could feel her skin react to the strange heat that was radiating from the blood of the creature. ''Huh, strange'' She muttered inwardly, ignoring it and returning her attention to the task at hand. "What are you doing?" Scarlet, not understanding what she was doing with the already dead creature, asked out with confusion. Klemeia only smirked, not responding to the question, and kept plunging his de into the body, slowly widening the hole. "She is looking for its core. An evolved creature such as this will have a powerful one. I''m guessing at least Tier 3" Instead of the amazon, Sarah responded to the princess''s question with a weak, tired tone. "Core? What is it good for?" Scarlet inquired again, turning around to face the purple-haired girl. Having spent most of her life in underground cells and arena''s she wasn''t that knowledgeable about worldly matters. "Oh, it has many uses! Creating strong weapons, armor, potions, enchants It can even be used to directly increase your own power!" Klemeia yelled out with an excited, expectant tone in her voice as she struck down with the dagger in her hand again, widening the hole she formed even further. "Getting stronger? How?" Noticing the excitement in the amazon queen''s voice, Scarlet turned to look at her. From her tone, it was clear that this aspect was the only thing that interested Klemeia. Curious about how such a core looked like, she slowly approached her. As the hole now seemed to be just wide enough to plunge her own hand in, Klemeia threw the dagger aside, and without hesitation, she plunged her right hand inside the hole she just created. She was searching for the strange, out-of-ce, crystalline surface that should be situated close to the heart. Not long after, as her fingers touched the cold, clear surface, a happy smile appeared on her face. She pushed her arm further inside, as she answered the girl''s question. "Let''s just keep that a trade secret for now. It''s not something a greenhorn such as yourself should be bothering with anyway. Just know that it''s possible but it''s dangerous." As she spoke, her fingers wrapped around the crystal''s surface. With a decisive pull, she ripped the object out of its skeletal socket. Her arm leaving the creature''s body, a crystal, as dark as the night itself appeared along with the now the peaceful, dead organ. What puzzled Scarlet the most when she saw the item was the fact that it was clean. Despite being pulled out from the evolved orc''s body and from the looks of it somewhere close to its heart, there were absolutely no traces of its gooey, thick blood on its surface. It was clean. Too clean. Already understanding what she was puzzled about, the hand that held the crystal suddenly began to shine with a faint, barely perceivable light. Averting her eyes from the treasured loot she had just received for a moment, Klemeia looked at Scarlet. Finding great delight in her stunned expression, she merely winked, before putting the Creature''s Core into a small leather satchel ced on her hip. Scarlet did not understand what the amazon meant or what was it that she wanted to convey. Still, she did not ask any more questions, despite being very much interested in learning more. She turned towards the resting Sarah for a moment, before she finally shifted her attention to therge crowd of ves they were meant to escort out from the depths of the forest. Taking arge gasp of air, she slowly exhaled, calming herself in the process. She gazed up to the clear, night sky. It was still dark, the moon still held its domain as the ruler of the sky, surrounded by countless stars. "Get ready, we will resume shortly." She addressed the crowd, walking towards the spent purple-haired girl sprawled on the ground. Her chest was still heaving as she was trying to regain her spent stamina as quickly as she could. "How do you feel? Do you need more time?" Arriving next to her, Scarlet asked with concern, plopping down on the ground. "Yes. I will be, don''t worry." Sarah answered slowly as she huffed another slowly. "However, I will not be able to use my skills for some time, I would need to properly rest for that." "That''s fine. I am guessing we should be close to the edge of their territory by now? Hopefully, we won''t encounter more ''surprises'' after leaving this ce" Scarlet continued, frowning at the thought of any additional ambushes or surprises that could be lying in wait for them. She wasn''t sure if they could handle it anymore, this was already way above their limits. In fact, if Klemeia wouldn''t havee to their rescue she was fairly sure they would all have died to that unbeatable monster. Thinking back on it, she looked at the amazon who, with her objectivespleted, was approaching them. As she arrived closer, Scarlet spoke with a curious look in her eyes. "How did you know we were in danger?" Hearing the question of what she was also greatly interested in finding answers for, Sarah opened her eyes and slowly sat up from the ground. Just like the red-haired princess next to her, she also focused her full attention on the blonde amazon in front of her. In response, Klemeia sighed. With a wry smile on her face, she spoke. "This I can''t talk about it in much detail What I can say is that it''s an ability shared between certain members of our people. They are connected to the queen who in their times of need can lend them her power." "But you are doing way more than just simply lending Naybeah your ''power''. You are possessing her, controlling her body. Is she even conscious?" Sarah asked with a suspicious gaze. The exnation did not exin what she was doing at all! "Well" Unsure how to answer the question, Klemeia averted her gaze and turned to silence. A few momentster, just before the girls could speak up, she continued, ignoring the first half of Sarah''s questionpletely. "Naybeah is alive but currently unconscious. Once I leave her body, she wouldn''t be able to move." Seeing the shocked gazes they were giving her, Klemeia smiled warmly at them. "Don''t worry, I will stay until you guys get to safety." She spoke with a smile on her face. ''Even if it will cost me much more than just a bit of my power, I will not let her die'' She added inwardly. Chapter 262 - 262 - My People While the girls were on their way towards safety, finally leaving the orc''s territory, at the other side in a mysterious, tall structure serving as the core of their settlement a fight just broke out between an agitated and fed-up goblin shaman and an unknown, dark green-skinned, humanoid creature. The goblin shaman''s body that was covered with strange markings made of tribal markings was glowing in a beautiful, multi-colored mor. The animal heads that covered specific points on his body were all activated transferring the mystical power these enchantments contained to the little creature. He was already taller and stronger than the rest of his tribe, but with the power, he gained through his tribal enchantments he now way surpassed the supposed limits of his race. The goblin''s previously bloodshot eyes gradually changed, the ck iris faded, seemingly vanishing from existence. At the same time, his pearl-white sclera glimmered in a tinum-luster. His rtively short, ebony-ck hair rapidly grew, covering his entire head, reaching shoulder-length and flittering in the air due to the constantly radiating, swirling aura of energy that surrounded his also transformed body. His muscles contorted and stretched, the mass multiplying at a visual pace. His height also grew with the added weight, at around half a head, towering over at least one and a half over the younglings that looked at their master with frightened looks from behind. The younglings, the boy and the girl that Aiden randomly picked out just to seem more convincing in his ''y'' from the tribe when he first visited them. His golden eyes, that despite the enraged goblin shaman turning more and more powerful each passing limit, remained calm, nced at them, causing a friendly, but familiar-looking smile to appear on his face unbeknownst to him. Feeling the unknown figure''s gaze, the younglings fearfully turned to match it, afraid to offend this obviously high-profile leader. However, when they looked at him and saw his unmistakable golden eyes, and lush, long, ck hair they gasped in surprise. They looked at each other, trying to confirm with their eyes if the other one also realized the same thing. Could it be that this creature was their great benefactor? The powerful goblin? No, it can''t be! He was a goblin, but this creature is clearly not! But then, who is he, and why does he seem so familiar despite everything? They were both confused, clear about their incredulous gazes as they kept swapping their heads from the creature to the other one,pletely forgetting their master, the current leader of their tribe. They were only reminded of him when he finally finished powering up. His full-powered,plete aura was released from the depths of his body with an explosive bluster, engulfing the entirety of the room they were ced in. The shaman roared fiercely looking at the ceiling before he slowly lowered his gaze, matching the golden eyes of the strange creature. While he looked like a crazed beast, he still had his sanity, and when he saw thepletely calm, smiling expression on the target of his pent-up frustration, he was surprised. He expected him to be scared, frightened, or maybe enraged by the tant disrespect he was showing to someone of a higher ''standing'' in the horde. But this guy did not show any of that. No, he waspletely calm, as if all of this power was nothing in front of his eyes. This just fueled his already tempestuous rage. He was about to charge into battle when the creature simply raised his right index finger in the air as if warning the shaman of great iing danger. However, in the next moment, as the creature opened his eyes and began to speak, his rage rapidly began to subside and transform into a whirling, churning mixture of shock, surprise, and at the end of his speech, joy. "[Goblin] Now, now my dear leader. I would advise you against showing this much hostility to me. Just because I have reached a higher stage in evolution, and my physique is slightly changed, you forgot everything we talked about only a few weeks ago? I have to say, I''m disappointed" Aiden spoke with a faked grievance on his face. Lowering his gaze, he looked at the ground for a moment, shaking his head lightly in the process. A single momentter, the youths saw as his expression rapidly changed. With a mischievous smirk, a glint zapped through his golden eyes. He moved his already extended right hand, opening his palm, looking towards the sky, or in this case, the ceiling. Suddenly, without as much as a warning, a familiar object, the gnarled stick with therge red gemstone appeared, causing yet another shock to the trio of goblins. "[Goblin] Y-young master?! I-is that really you?" The female goblin, mustering all the courage she could, stepped forward, looking at the creature with hopeful eyes. For the first time since the arrival of the brutes, he saw the light. His beloved master, the true master that selected her and her newest brother out from the hundreds of others havee to rescue them! It was hard to truly ept this reality, after all, this was something she dared not even dream about. The creature, Aiden turned to look at the goblin girl with a kind, friendly smiling expression. Instead of answering, he extended his left hand towards him inviting him toe closer. At the same time, he tapped into his [Draconic Heritage]. His eyes suddenly lit up, glowing in their recognizable golden glory. This was the reassurance they needed. The still empowered but cautious goblin shaman finally could calm down. This creature was the young lord that once visited them! Although at the time, they did not leave on the best of terms, but over time, he realized that the lush, long-haired goblin lord was truly the first of their kind that did note with any ill intentions. Even the two youngsters he assigned to his care turned out to be great candidates. They were now both his disciples, his treasured, dear students. His previously arrogant, haughty attitude calmed down as he continued interacting with these younglings As he kept thinking, inwardly reminiscing about his grand change in the short time the young master left them and the time when these savage monsters showed up, he didn''t even notice that his face gradually changed. The tinum color from his eyes faded, his ck iris and normal, white sclera returned. The glow subsided from his markings, his muscle-mass lost their additional, extra weight and his height also normalized. He didn''t notice any of that, nor the fact that his gaze slowly turned hazy, and that a few droplets of tear began to escape from the corners of his eyes. His knees wobbled, the goblin shaman fell on his knees. "[Goblin] Y-young master! It is really you! You really came!" He cried out, letting all the pent-up frustration and emotion burst forth from the depths of his heart. "[Goblin] Young master!" The two younglings, recognizing their beloved master rushed forward at the same time, almost pushing Aiden to the ground as they jumped at him. Without any restraint, they both hugged their beloved young master with such ferocity and emotion that Aiden didn''t know what to do with. True, Aiden was d to see them safe and sound, even if for him, that visit he made wasn''t done with the best intentions in his mind at the time. But just like all the other life forms, he absorbed previously, Aiden''s mentality slowly started to change. The various forms of life he took slowly, subconsciously started affecting his own mind. Just like how he got his thirst for battle and carnage from that mutated bipedal wolf creature, the Worgen, the other life forms also affected his thinking. Now, with the mentality of a true leader, the Primal Goblin Lord, he had more love and care for these goblins than before. At the same time, his anger and hatred towards these so-called ''leaders'' of the tribe grew at an rming rate Where he previously only wanted to spy on them and gain the information needed for thepletion of his quest, now he wanted to punish all those responsible for the mistreatment of his people. ''My people?'' The thought that would have seemed alien to him previously, was now almost natural. As he hugged back the two younglings, his facial muscles rxed, he gently embraced them. ''Yes, they are my people'' He reaffirmed himself as he enjoyed the love and affection he was shown. They stood there for almost a minute, before albeit reluctantly, the two younglings let go of their beloved young master. Walking towards therge bed on the other side of the room, Aiden plopped down on it. Shifting his gaze, he looked at the still shaking and sobbing goblin leader just in front of him. "[Goblin] Now then" He spoke up, as the smile vanished from his face, reced by a somber, solemn look. "Tell me, what has happened to you guys, after I left. How did you all end up here as prisoners, I presume?" **** Please read the author''s note just below! Thanks! Small update on my condition. Chapter 263 - 263 - Do You Wish To Take Revenge? "[Goblin] Now then" With the kind, friendly smile vanishing from his face, only to be reced by a somber, solemn look, Aiden asked the sobbing, emotional goblin leader "Tell me, what has happened to you guys, after I left. How did you all end up here as prisoners, I presume?" Hearing the question, the goblin leader and shaman raised his head, looking at the young master in front of him. His single question and the serious look on his face were like a spell, it unshackled the restricting mental chains from his heart. Taking a few breaths to recollect his lostposure, he spoke with a shaky voice after a long sigh. "[Goblin] Young master! It was terrible! Everything was fine at first, I followed your orders and took in Gob and Galina as my disciples "as he spoke he nced at the two younglings. A glint of pride shed through his troubled face for a moment, gone as quickly as it came as he shifted his gaze back to the young master. Giving a momentary pause, he continued. As he continued recounting the tale, his expression gradually worsened, turning worse by the second. "[Goblin] ...After a while, we were suddenly visited by a group of these orcs. Tall, savage warriors withrge weapons, came and destroyed several homes, tortured and ughtered dozens of our kin! We tried to resist at first, but we were powerless" His eyes turned blurry once again, as he was forced to remember the deaths of his people. To his surprise, it wasn''t just him and his disciples who looked worse hearing the events of that day. Even the young master, who was calm so far, seemed to change. His face contorted into aplex, difficult-to-read expression as his own anger rose rapidly. His hands were balled into fists as he did his best to cool himself, and not let his rage consume his sanity. The source of anger and rage puzzled Aiden a great deal. When the goblin leader mentioned the cruel way these ''great'' leaders weed his people, he almost couldn''t control himself. He felt as if they were trampling on his own pride, his own dignity. This was HIS people, by not showing the proper respect to them, he felt they were offending him. Seeing the state of the young master, the shamanistic leader patiently waited for him to calm down and speak up. After a short while, Aiden managed topose himself. He nodded at the shaman, motioning for him to continue his story, whom which did so immediately. "[Goblin] After having their fun, they finally revealed the reason for their presence: They came to ''invite'' us to discuss the details and theunch of the second phase of the big ''n''... whatever that is." His words surprised Aiden a great deal. Raising his eyebrows, he asked with a bbergasted look on his face. "[Goblin] What do you mean? Do you still have no knowledge about the horde''s ns? Didn''t they inform you about anything? Why were you relocated to this forest, so close to a human city at all?" To answer, the goblin leader shook his head with a dejected expression. "[Goblin] I apologize, young master, I do not know their intentions. In fact, after escorting us we were separated. Only me and my disciples were allowed to enter this ''Sanctuary'' as they called it, and my guards were taken to a different ce." "[Goblin] I see Give me a moment." He raised his hand to silence the goblin, who simply nodded, waiting in silence for the young master to do whatever he wanted. Focusing on the connection he shared with Roas, he tried to send him a question mentally. Thankfully after testing its nature a bit earlier, he managed to do so without much effort. "Roas, do you know if there are any goblin prisoners somewhere in the camp?" Outside the hall, guarding the unconscious silver-haired prince, Roas was waiting patiently for his master to return. When he suddenly felt his presence inside his mind, he almost jumped in surprise, swaying his head from left to right, searching for him. However, when he heard the question in his mind, he realized that the young master reached out to him using the mystical connection he too felt they shared. Not sure how to respond, however, he was looking in the direction of the room he was staying, unsure what to do. He was told to guard the human and to not leave him, but then how should he answer the question. Thinking more about it, he decided to try using the connection, the mystical link between them, and try to convey his own thought on the matter, hoping that it would reach the young master. To his surprise, as he felt that the connection was currently active, he could transfer his thoughts with rtive ease. "[Orc] I only heard from some of the patrolling warriors that they received a group of goblins as offerings and that they have already eaten them. Were they, young master''s friends?" From the young master''s tone, Roas realized halfway through his response, that the group of goblins may have been important to him. As he was asked about their fate, he couldn''t simply lie, and told what he knew, but at the very least, he knew he should offer his support in case the master would want to seek revenge. "...The ones who ordered this are the leaders that should still be residing at the top floor. I swear I will make them pay for this, young master!" "Thanks, Roas. I will call for you when I am done here." Aiden responded, closing off the connection and opening his eyes. Whilst it may have looked like a long time, in reality, their small exchange barely took a few seconds. He looked at the goblin leader with a heavy, solemn expression and spoke the words that the goblin already expected but did not want to hear. "[Goblin] I''m sorry. They are already dead." Aiden did not want to reveal their true fate, knowing that all the men and brethren they have arrived with are all gone was enough. There was no reason to tell them that horrible fate that had befallen them. "[Goblin] I see" The goblin lowered his head as he listened to Aiden. He closed his eyes, trying to recount all their faces in his mind onest time. "...I" Thinking back to them, and to their unjust deaths, he clenched his fists with indignation. "...It''s not that I did not expect it, but still it''s not fair" Seeing their teacher in such a state, the two youths walked to him, joining in his mourning. They too felt that all that was happening to them were not fair. Still, instead of feeling loss, they leaned closer to the goblin leader and with a gentle smile on their faces, whispered to him. "[Goblin] Don''t worry teacher, the young master has finallye to save us. Look at him, he even got stronger! He is tall and powerful now!" Their words were honest, it came from the depths of their hearts. As they spoke, the female, called Galina turned to look at the powerful young master just in front of them. Just his mere presence was enough to scare away all the troubling thoughts that troubled her before. His mere presence was enough to give hope in the despair they all were slowly drowning in. True to their words, Aiden nodded with determination shining in his golden eyes. He stood up, kneeling in front of the trio to their great shock. Before any of them could say a word, Aiden spoke with a warm, reassuring tone. "[Goblin] Just as these two said. Don''t worry, their deaths will not be in vain. We will serve them justice, those arrogant so-called leaders will have to answer for the crimes against our people. You have my word." The young master''s words caused a weing warmth to spread throughout the goblin leader''s body. The promise he had just made, was the first ray of hope that finally managed to pierce through to thick cloud of despair and sorrow that tormented him ever since these monsters came to their vige. He looked up with his blurry, watered eyes, and smiled at the young master in front of him. The smile was honest, it was his only way to show gratitude. Aiden gave a reassuring nod to the shaman and reached out with his right hand. With the same, usually kind and friendly smile, he looked at the goblin in front of him and spoke the words that felt increasingly natural to him since he got this new form. "[Goblin] Tell me, my little goblin friends." His tone turned lower as he spoke, activating his [Draconic Heritage] subconsciously. "Do you wish for the power to take revenge yourself?" His words shocked not just the goblin leader but the two youngsters as well. There was a mysterious power, an unknown strength that came from the depths of the young master''s voice that astonished them, causing them to forgo any doubt they may have had. They all looked at the young master in front of them, with the same, clear, determination in their eyes. It wasn''t a question they had to debate or waste any time thinking over. *** Please read the author''s note below! Thank you! Chapter 264 - 264 -Joining The Fold (Part 1) "[Goblin] Tell me, my little goblin friends." His tone turned lower as he spoke, activating his [Draconic Heritage] subconsciously. "Do you wish for the power to take revenge yourself?" His words shocked not just the goblin leader but the two youngsters as well. There was a mysterious power, an unknown strength that came from the depths of the young master''s voice that astonished them, causing them to forgo any doubt they made have had. They all looked at the young master in front of them, with the same, clear, determination in their eyes. It wasn''t a question they had to debate or waste any time thinking over. "[Goblin] We do! We do!" The youngsters and their aged teacher, the goblin leader-shaman eximed simultaneously. The fervor was shining in their eyes, their face was brimming with determination. With a bright, kind smile brimming on his face, Aiden was pleased to hear their conviction. With a thought, he unwrapped his own energy that subdued his new aura, and let it unfold in the decently sized room. Although he still didn''t know the true essence of this new power he received, as the system so far did not reveal any specifics about it, he just instinctively knew he had to let it surround and engulf his newest subjects. The trio suddenly felt as the air around them changed. They all felt the young master''s aura, as it suddenly descended on the room like a thin, silky sheet, wrapping all of them in its gentle caress. It was pleasant, soothing even. Their hearts, that was previously filled with trepidation, sorrow, and despair gradually began to calm down. With the dark thoughts driven away, a new, warm feeling began to fill the empty holes. As they looked at the young master''s bright smile, brilliant, shining golden eyes they felt love reverence. This image of the young master began to take its residence in the very core of their heart, be the ultimate meaning of their existence. This image, however, held many mysterious properties. For one, they felt as if the young master was with them as if he was always watching over them. If they focused on it, they could swear that they could feel his thoughts, listen to his breathing. Aiden''s gentle smile curved slightly higher when he felt three new connections, albeit currently very faint. They were now officially his new subjects, new servants, minions. But that was not enough. He didn''t want mindless servants, no he wanted partners, friends. Just like with Roas, he wanted to give them hope, give them the power to aplish what they were desperately wishing for. With that thought, he took a step forward and ced both of his hands on the two youngsters. With the same gentle expression dominating his face, his voice was deep, majestic, thunderous. Still, to these goblins, it felt very soothing, despite the power it carried. "[Goblin] Swear up to me, my little friends, and I will grant you the power that you all desire. No, the power you deserve!" The two youngsters, Gob and Galina didn''t even need a second to immediately go on their knees and bow towards the young master. "[Goblin] I, Gob, swear to follow and serve the young master for the rest of my life! I hope you can ept this lowly goblin!" "[Goblin] Galina wishes to serve the young master with all her heart for the rest of her life. My existence is meaningless without the young master!" Both younglings yelled out with a passionate gaze. Even without Aiden asking for it, they would have dly followed the young master everywhere. Ever since he picked them up, they wanted nothing more than to earn this honor. Their lives were dull and meaningless without the young master in it. The goblin leader did not bow down immediately, he kept thinking about the words of Aiden. The power he promised for their servitude. He was not against it, but after seeing what happened to the previous leader, and how they were treated by the leaders of this so-called horde that''s supposed purpose was to rally the exiled races under one collective banner He was cautious. Seeing the troubled, conflicted look on the elder goblin''s face Aiden didn''t say a word, he just gave her a silent nod. He knew that he was afraid, they were burned far too many times. While their rtionship changed a lot since their first ''meeting'', he wasn''t like the two younglings. Aiden didn''t mind his cautiousness at all. No, it was his right, and it was Aiden''s duty to earn his conviction. He had to show them all that he wasn''t just speaking nonsense, but he did have the ability to grant them the power he promised. He himself didn''t understand how this new ability of his work. He just knew that he had to transfer the new energy, the power that was granted to him with this new Primal Goblin Dragonlord form. Aiden closed his eyes and focused on the flow of the new energy inside him. He slowly guided it towards both of his palms and began to transfer it to his two newest subjects, Gob and Galina. Feeling as the young master began to share his own power with them, both goblins felt the same warm sensation that they felt when he released his aura and let it descend on the room. It was a simr but much more intensive feeling. They felt a mystical flow entering seething into their bodies from the top of their heads, slowly spreading towards all ends of their little bodies. At the same time, as the energy continued to gather, culminate inside them, they felt a pulsation from their Core, the very source of their existence. Whilst this was shocking, and not something they have ever felt before, they knew it was the sign that they were about to evolve, they were about to reach a new level. They both had to focus with all their willpower not to jump up and dance around the room from the joy they felt in their heart. No, they couldn''t waste the young master''s efforts, they had to take it all in let the historical moment happen to them. Different from what went down with Roas, this time, he could feel the energy as it was continuously sucked into the little goblins core, gathering more and more essence, more energy inside its crystalline walls. He could feel the creation of a new seedling made out of the mixture of their own and his energy in it, triggering a miraculous event. As the seed was finally formed, Gob and Galina''s bodies suddenly began to shine. At first, it was just a faint golden light, but in mere seconds, the intensity rapidly increased turning soon shrouding their entire bodies with a golden light barrier. Whilst Aiden could withstand the illumination, the goblin leader had to shield his eyes, as the shine was so intensive at this point that it was unbearable for his untrained eyes. The intense glow that created two bright, brimming golden silhouettes, began to slowly grow, gaining height at a rapid pace. Their thin arms and legs gained a bit of weight, as new muscle mass was made. While Galina''s silhouette remained slim and graceful, Gob''s continued to grow, outgrowing his female partner''s by almost half a head, stopping just a bit under Aiden. The transformation took almost 2 full minutes before the light that shielded their bodies slowly began to fade, gradually revealing the new features and look of the duo. Just as their silhouettes suggested, they both grew much taller, stronger healthier. Galina, grew at least two heads, towering over her teacher by a full head. Her body remained slim and slender, with gaining healthy curves that were just perfect for her body type. Nothing too outstanding, but no one could look at her and say she was just a youngling anymore. At the same time, Gob changed even more. Reaching almost half a head taller than Galina, and gaining a considerable amount of muscle mass, he could barely be called a goblin anymore. In fact, neither of them could be called a simple goblin anymore. They had dark green skin, the very same that Aiden had in his Primal Goblin Dragonlord form he was currently using. Their facial features also grew gentler, more civilized, more humanoid. Galina now had beautiful, silky, long, tinum blonde hair, cascading down to the middle of her back, while Gob''s previously bald head was now crowned with aplete, short, spiky ck mane. As they kept looking themselves, trying to take in and get a feel for the changes their teacher on the back was looking wide-eyed andpletely shocked by what he just witnessed. Their two disciples evolved and transformed into something new, something simr to the young master. He could also feel tremendous power brimming inside the previously weak younglings Power! The promise the young master made! The elder goblin slowly shifted his attention matching the gaze of the young master who kept looking at him with a knowing smile. The shaman went down to the ground on both knees and began to kowtow at the young master. There were no longer doubts in his mind nor his heart. There was no hesitation anymore *** Please read the author''s note below! Thank you! Chapter 265 - 265 - Joining The Fold (Part 2) (A.N: I have included character sheets at the end of the chapter. I know that there are some skills that will need some exnation, we will go over them in time, don''t worry.) --- Aiden gave an affirming nod, epting the goblin leader''s show of respect. At the same time, he shelved the notifications that kept ringing in the corners of his eyes, he had onest task to aplish after all. He ced his right hand on top of his head, and just like before, he began transferring the energy, revitalizing and hopefully, forcing an evolution for him too. To be honest, Aiden still wasn''t sure how this new power of his worked, but by now, he had a vague understanding of it. It was the key to creating the system acknowledged minions, his true servants. ''Is this a primal power? Or is iting from my [Draconic Heritage]? Or maybe it''s unique to the Goblin Dragonlord?'' Questions that, for now, had no answers. Aiden shifted his eyes and looked at the kneeling goblin elder and continued the slow but steady-paced transference of energy. With a gentle smile on his face, Aiden closed his eyes and focused on the process. A thought came to his mind. So far, he only used the energy he discovered after he morphed into his current, Primal Goblin Dragonlord form. What would happen if he were to add some of his own, the [Soul Power]? So far, he didn''t dare to try as he could not understand anything about this new power of his and was just going by pure instinct. But after helping Gob and Galina evolve, he gained a bit of insight into how this mysterious flow worked. Just like how he could use his own energy to shield and hide the new aura, he thought he could inject some strands during the creation of the Core''s Seed. With the decision made, he prepared himself to pull back at the first sign of a problem arising, and slowly began to circte his own [Soul Power], guiding it towards his connecting right hand. Slowly, carefully, he guided a thin strand of it along with the continued stream and focused on the changes he could feel. To his surprise, he could clearly feel and follow the flow of his own energy inside the shaman''s body. He saw it as instead of spreading out to assist in the revitalization of the elderly shaman''s condition, it flowed towards a specific direction. Once it reached the central section of the goblin''s upper chest, it began to circle around the Core Crystal. It was an interesting sight, it looked as if it was waiting for a final order to begin its transforming process. With a thought, Aiden gave the order, focusing his mind to make sure he wouldn''t miss anything. The energy, as if reacting to the mentalmand, stopped for a moment and rejoined the current of the other energy that continuously flowed, seeped into the crystal''s depth. Just like with Gob and Galina, a small light slowly began to shine, as a miniature seed was formed. However, this time, thanks to Aiden''s own energy, it was growing at a much higher pace, reaching the size of a bean in a manner of seconds. On the outside, Gob and Galina were watching with rapt attention as their teacher''s body was gradually being engulfed with a simr golden luster, just like them. Just like before, at first, it was merely a faint light, a weak glow that surrounded his body like an opaque, magical barrier. However, the intensity of the shining luster was increasing at a much higher pace than with the two youngsters. In a few seconds, the goblin shaman''s body waspletely shrouded, only a vague silhouette made out of the golden light could be seen. The silhouette began to grow, gaining height, outpacing even Gob''s and only stopping once it reached Aiden''s. At the same time, it also gained a considerable amount of width, following the body type the shaman had previously. Meanwhile, the formation of the seed stabilized, reaching the size of a muscadine. It radiated with a golden, almost tinum color, providing a constant substance to the new and weak cirction of energy that was now present in the shaman''s restructured body. With the process reaching its final stages, the golden luster that shrouded the goblin shaman began to fade, revealing a simr, dark green colored, unblemished skin instead of the old wrinkled one. A youthful, tall figure could be seen where once the old goblin leader was kneeling. He had shoulder-length, ebon hair cascading down from the top of his head. His ck eyes transformed, turning golden, simr to Aidens. He had a strong, muscr, endomorph body structure. His barren torso was covered with the same markings, tribal tattoos that he had before his transformation. What shocked Aiden was the goblin''s hands. Simrly to him, when he activated his [Draconic Heritage] and revealed his terrifying ws and golden scales, the shaman''s hand was covered in golden scales from below the elbow. His fingers ended with thick ebony, slightly curved ws. ''Huh Did my own energy give him some of my Draconic Heritage? If that''s the case, what sort of creature is he now?'' Aidenmented as he continued to inspect his newest servant. A faint smile appeared on his face, if this was the case, he wanted to do the same with Roas, Gob, and Galina as well. He was really interested in what would happen in their cases. Would they also inherit some of his power? Or will they turn out different, unique? His thoughts were interrupted with the sound of yet another round of bell-like sounds. From the corner of his eyes, Aiden saw that a row of unread notifications was waiting for his attention. However, before he could focus on them, he heard his newest servant''s voice. It changed tremendously. His old, rough voice was now akin to a raging, thunderous dragon''s bolstering roar. It was incredible, and it carried a simr power that could be found in Aiden''s when he activated his most powerful innate ability. The goblin, with a serious, stern, fixed gaze, knelt down in front of Aiden, ced his right fist over his heart, and spoke in a reverent tone. "[Goblin] Young master, this lowly one is undeserving of your grace. You have given me a new life, a new hope. For the rest of this lowly Glohn''s life, I will once again, pledge my servitude. The light you provided me with today, is the new beginning of my previously worthless life." The Goblin Shaman, Glohn''s words awoke the two dazed youngsters. Following their teacher, they also knelt down, and by cing their right fists over their hearts, they also renewed their pledged services to their young master. Looking at the three of them, Aiden couldn''t help but reveal a satisfied, contented smile. From the lone Roas, he now increased his army of ''minions'' to four! Although he did not like the system-given term, he preferred to refer to them as partners, or at the most, servants. Minions suggested that they were expendable, that their lives were meaningless in their lord''s eyes, which was very far from the truth. Each and every one of them was important to him. Looking at their renewed pledge of service, Aiden reached out and gently pulled them back up. With a wave of his right hand, he activated the ''Minion Space'' the system''s generated sub-dimension, forming a gateway in the air. While it vaguely resembled his master''s, Number 3''s gates, its inside wasn''t dark. On the contrary, it showed the image of a green, endless grasnd that resided under a clear light blue sunny sky. "[Goblin] Wee to the family, my friends. Once, this is all over, we will talk more, but, for now, I will need you all to enter the portal, and wait for mymand." Without hesitation, the trio nodded and with Glohn in the lead, the trio walked through the portal. Once thest, Galina entered after onest look at his beloved master, the portal automatically closed, vanishing into thin air soundlessly. With the bright, content smile still residing on his face, Aiden walked to the bed in the now empty room and sat down on it, and focused his mind to check all the notifications he gained in the system. What he saw made him speechless... [Minion: Gob has been created! Minion Details: Name: Gob Race: Goblin Dragonling (Tier 2+) (clean) ss: Warrior Level: 8 Condition: 100% Soul Power: 0 Mana: 50 Experience: 0 / 800 Might: 10 Agility: 8 Spirit: 6 Skills: Language: Orc (Lvl -) Language: Goblin (Lvl -) Hunt (Lvl 4) Martial Arts (Lvl 2) Spear Mastery (Lvl 2) Sword Mastery (Lvl 1) Fire Magic (Lvl 1) !!Goblin Dragonling''s Heritage (Lvl 1) Effects: Touch of the Primal (Lvl -) !!Primal Core (Lvl 1)] *** [Minion: Galina has been created! Minion Details: Name: Galina Race: Goblin Dragonling (Tier 2+) (clean) ss: Priest Level: 8 Condition: 100% Soul Power: 0 Mana: 200 Experience: 0 / 800 Might: 6 Agility: 7 Spirit: 11 Skills: Language: Orc (Lvl -) Language: Goblin (Lvl -) Martial Arts (Lvl 1) Mace Mastery (Lvl 1) Magic Proficiency (Lvl -) Life Magic (Lvl 1) Earth Magic (Lvl 1) !!Dragonlord''s Grace (Lvl 1) Effects: Touch of the Primal (Lvl -) !!Primal Core (Lvl 1)] *** [Minion: Glohn has been created! Minion Details: Name: Glohn Race: Primal Goblin Dragonkin (Tier 3) (clean) ss: Ritualist Shaman Level: 10 Condition: 100% Soul Power: 0 Mana: 200 Experience: 0 / 1000 Might: 10 Agility: 8 Spirit: 12 Skills: Language: Orc (Lvl -) Language: Goblin (Lvl -) Hunt (Lvl 5) Martial Arts (Lvl 3) Weapon Mastery: Basic (Lvl 1) Magic Proficiency (Lvl -) Nature Magic (Lvl 2) Fire Magic (Lvl 3) Spirit Magic (Lvl 1) !!Blessing of the Spirits (Lvl 2) !!Primal Dragon King''s Agent (Lvl 1) !!Primal Absorb: Basic (Lvl 1 - restricted) Effects: Touch of the Primal (Lvl -) !!Primal Core (Lvl 2)] --- Please read the author''s note below! Thank you! Chapter 266 - 266 - Minion Management The notification wasn''t done after that. There were several others, causing my already barely hanging jaw to descend further down. Aiden''s eyes threatening him with popping out of their sockets and escaping with the utter disbelief he was experiencing. There was the one he was actually expecting to appear now or at the very least, soon. [New Hidden Milestone reached! -Create 4 minions (4/4) Completed! Reward: Minion Management Menu has been unlocked!] After that, the next update carried a shocking revtion, one of the biggest ones he received ever so far. [Minion with primal essence created! Note: Minions with Primal essences will be assigned as officers in the roster. Please note, that their inherited abilities will be limited by the amount of essence they carry. The essence cannot be extracted, increased, or altered in any way.] [Primal Essence found in Minion: Glohn. Officer rank has been automatically assigned to him. Minions with the officer ranks have the ability tomand and govern lower-ranked minions as per the host''s set parameters. Make sure to properly set the parameters in the Minion Management menu!] ''This'' Aiden was gazing at the floating screen in front of his vision for more than a minute, with a mixture of shock and disbelief clear on his face. epting and providing energy to the three ex-goblins was mostly an instinctual, subconscious action on Aiden''s part. He wasn''t thinking about potential gains other than letting these poor, unlucky sods enter his ''family'' so that they could move on from all of what happened to them. They were abused and were basically nothing more than the ves themselves these orcs kept as pets. The goblins were considered an expendable part of the horde, cannon-fodders, nothing more. It was a natural reaction on his part. He wanted to reach out and since he knew he could provide them assistance, he offered. There was no underlying meaning of any kind. Still, the ever-increasing smile on Aiden''s face was a clear sign of the happiness and excitement he felt. If he really could assign officers, -or how he would call it- captains to the servants that pledged to him and created the unbreakable magical bond with each other, that would be incredible. Not to mention the fact that with this update, Aiden finally got a glimpse into the System''s true goals! It seems one of its goals seemed to be to guide him to create arger force of utterly loyal, devoted, trustworthy subjects to rule over. But what would be the end goal for such an army of powerful creatures? Who was the mastermind behind it? And most importantly, why him?! ''Just what is the goal?'' He sighed, forcing these thoughts to the recesses of his mind. He still needed more information. He got one piece of an enormous puzzle, only a small insight into a huge web of mysteries yet to be uncovered. Aiden''s thoughts raced back to the silent, recuperating spiritual presence residing in his soul space. This mysterious sub-domain that was somehow his spirit, was honestly yet another big mystery he never truly understood. Is this domain, this dark world, that was created by the system as well? Or it''s something rted to his true existence, his true origin, the Primals? Whatever it was, it wasn''t bad for him at the very least. It housed the source of his power, the ever-growing pool of energy, his [Soul Power], as well as it was the home for her currently silent female guide, Enya, who despite her kirks, were looking out for him. When he was out ofmission after overusing his abilities in the Pocket World, she did everything she could to reach out to those close to him. Even if she had her own goals, in the end, she was loyal to him and wanted what was best for his future growth. A conflicted, pain-filled smile appeared on Aiden''s face, he shook his head, recollecting himself. There were still too many questions, and it seems that every piece of the puzzle he found, was just increasing his list of questions. He had more important, pressing matters to resolve. Focusing on the system, the image of the interface appeared in front of him, calmly floating in the air, only present to himself. A new menu option, the Minion Management was now visible, which he promptly pressed with a thought. The screen changed, and a new, previously unseen interface appeared in front of him. The information was grouped into several tabs from which only two were currently avable, but Aiden could see that there were ces for at least 4 more in the future that was most likely locked and hidden from his eyes and mind currently. The first, which was currently active was the Greeting page, which also gave a few statistical information and after taking a look at it, quite a few important ones at that. [Minion Management Info | Manage | Wee to Minion Management, Below host will be able to see the summarized statistical details about the host''s Minion Army. --- Minions: 4 / 10 Currently Active Minions 1 / 4 At [UNNAMED] Minion Space: 3 Minion Quality: 3 x Tier 2 (clean) 1 x Tier 3 (clean) Current Hierarchical Composition: Soldiers: 3 Officers: 1 --- *Locked* ] The information on the greeting ''Info'' tab was pretty vague but it still held a few quite important details. One of them was the supposed 10 limit he had. He wasn''t sure how this would be increased in the future but at the very least, he now knew he ''could'' attain 6 more before reaching full capacity. The second important detail was the fact that the sub-dimension, the ''Minion Space'' that came with this ability was that the world itself hinted at it being customizable through the system at some point. The rest of the information wasn''t new, he knew Roas'', Gob'', Galina'', and Glohn''s details perfectly. Below that were their current assignments, just like how he expected. Glohn being the only higher-ranked because of the infusion of Primal Essence, reached a higher power level than the rest. While he would leave the two ''youngsters'', he nned to further evolve his first servant, Roas further, and make him be his main guardian. However, for that, he needed some way to hide his true identity, his orcish origins. That, however, had to wait until this whole ordeal was finally resolved. Taking a look at the lone window behind him, he sighed. Most of the night was already gone, and he only had a couple of hours left before the next dawn would arrive, further increasing the difficulty of this already quite a bothersome quest. Focusing on his magical connection with Roas, he reached out to him. To his surprise, as soon as Roas felt that his young master was focusing on him, he surprised Aiden by taking the initiative to greet him first. "[Orc] Young master! I felt the creation of 3 new connections! Did master invite new servants into service?" Surprised, Aiden took a few seconds to formte a response. "[Orc] That is correct Roas, we have three new souls joining our new family. They are currently resting in a special space. Once we are done here, I can show it to you if you want. It''s a special world, just for you guys, who pledged servitude and with whom I have this special link." Aiden exined, not hiding anything from his faithful servant. He offered to take him there, even though he knew that Roas will most likely decline. From their interactions so far, he was fairly certain that Roas would never want to leave his presence if possible. As expected, his hurried response came instantly. "[Orc] Young master, please don''t throw me away! I would like to stay at the young master''s side. You gave me new hope and a new meaning to my life, please don''t throw me away!" Aiden smiled at his servant''s agitated response. Standing up from the bed, he walked towards the door whilst he continued the mental discourse. "[Orc] Don''t worry, it was just an option. Anyway, pick up the sleeping beauty ande to me. I am done here, we need to continue further up." As he reached for the lever on the door, he grabbed it, but before pushing down, he continued with a slightly colder tone. "We have a group of arrogant leaders to visit" *** Meanwhile, at the other side of the forest, a caravan of girls has finally reached the edges of the orc''s territory. After the ambush, the rest of the patrols that have been sent out to search for them have either retreated or have been searching elsewhere. The rest of the journey was finally silent and uneventful. Still, none of the ves, or girls dared to rx their guards. They haven''t stopped at all, despite being spent and tired. Sarah, having spent all her energy on the fight, and her stamina barely being regained knew she would be no help in battle. She took the front with Scarlet and continued leading the group in the safest route she knew. At the back, a grinning blonde amazon, with faintly glowing eyes was holding her huge ornate battle axe over her left shoulder like if it was nothing. A majestic, royal presence kept emanating from within her... Chapter 267 - 267 - Cracks On The Surface Chapter 267 - "This ce is seriously way too weird" Aiden sighed, as they found themselves at the end of yet another soulless hall. These empty floors kept repeating, without any sign of stopping. The only difference, the only sign that neither he nor the broad figure next to them that carried a still unconscious silver-haired prince was the fact that the paintings were different on every floor. They mostly depicted strange, horned, thick, dark, ebon-skinned figures with scarlet-colored eyes, but every now and then they showed a scene of some great and bloody battle, or just a charred, barren, hellishndscape. The figures, the scenes, thends they showcased, weren''t familiar to either of them. Even for Roas, who was under their influence couldn''t recall anything. It wasn''t that he forgot, it was like that after Aiden managed to free them, his memories of these beings were just gone. Erased. They have been crossing floors after floors for almost an hour with no end in sight. Their already limited time was creeping towards the dawn ever closer to Aiden''s steadily increasing annoyance. Reaching yet another staircase, that looked exactly the same as all the others they crossed in thest hour, something finally snapped in him. All the pent-up emotions, the anger, the rage, the sorrow, the helplessness were no longer containable inside him. It began to boil, reaching the critical point. In the depths of his soul, somewhere in the deepest, darkest ce, a seed of energy, with the size reaching momentous sizes, began to tremble with excitement, as if it had its own consciousness. The thin crack on the barrier that kept him locked away, that appeared when Aiden first lost control due to his rage in the Pocket World widened slightly. Several spiderweb lines began to travel across the transparent surface, reaching ever closer to releasing this ancient power from its eternal hold. As if connected to it, some distance away, a milky white ball of energy, a spiritual entity suddenly quivered. Turning towards the direction of the sealed space, the being spoke in a familiar, feminine, mature voice. "This is bad He is losing control over his emotions way too quickly, and I''m still too weak to help him" The entity raised its gaze, looking upwards to the limitless void above. It sighed, its tone was full of worry and trepidation. "Aiden" Worried about the potential consequences, the ball shed, and in the next moment, it vanished from its spot... Aiden finally had enough. All this stupid farce has been going for far too long. He stopped in front of the first step, clenching his fists. The air began to buzz with excitement around his body, his long locks floated from their resting position, floating in the air. The air around him continued to whirl and churn around his body, a miniature hurricane of energy was in the midst of forming, surrounding, protecting the tall, lean dark green figure. A golden light began to shine from his eye sockets with increasing intensity from an initial faint glow to a glorious luster. The transformation continued after the seals from his [Draconic Heritage] innate was released one after another. The anger, the wrath kept providing fuel to his ability. From his back, a pair of leathery golden-scaled wings sprung out giving an interesting contrast to his dark green saturated skin color. Along with the wings, a tail began to grow at a rapid pace, with simr characteristics. His arms also changed, simr, golden scales grew from under his skin, covering his entire lower-half of his arms. At the end of his fingers, thick, dark ws warned everyone to steer clever away. The swirling, tempestuous invisible energy exploded with an incredibly loud thunderous bluster, shattering most of the close-by pictures and even some of the doors along with their frames. The explosion was powerful, its sound rang through several floors reaching much higher than otherwise possible, even destroying, shattering some of the windows where the doors were also torn out. To his great surprise, Roas waspletely unaffected by all this. He could feel the impossible amount of energy that just continued growing inside his young master until reaching the boiling point. By reflex, he raised his free left hand and covered his face with his strong, thick arm, ready to grit his teeth to withstand the pain that would follow up the tearing of the entirety of his forelimb. But the pain never came, his appendage did not receive any tearing, searing, or any sort of damage, not even on the surface level. Surprised, he first carefully checked his limb, incredulous of the fact that he was somehow, miraculously spared, before his eyes slowly turned to take the first look up on his seething young master''s true form. The figure that was in front of him, was marvelous. Majestic even. A being that was neither goblin, nor orc, nor any sort of humanoid creature he has everid eyes on. It was beautiful. The pair of huge leathery, scaled wings that rested at his back was shining with a simr golden hue that was reminiscent of the young master. A thick, long golden reptilian-looking tail rested on the floor, motionlessly. As he kept scanning the figure, a low, thunderous growling sound came from the being. While its tone was now much lower than what he was used to, inside his mind and through the magical connection they shared as master and servant, Roas knew it was the young master speaking. "[Orc] Roas." Hearing his name being mentioned, Roas went on his knee and lowered his gaze respectfully on the ground. "[Orc] Yes, my lord! How can this lowly one be of service?" Instead of answering, Aiden turned his gaze upwards, looking at the butter-colored ceiling. His face twisted into a frowning grimace. Releasing his voice, a thunderous roar swept across the building. "[Orc] PATHETIC WORMS! SUCH PETTY TRICKS WILL NOT WORK ON ME! EITHER YOU TURN IT OFF, OR I WILL TURN YOUR HOLLOWED GROUNDS INTO DUST!" His voice, boosted by his power, caused further destruction on several floors above, reaching the highest parts of the building. A few momentster, Roas saw a pair of huge scarlet eyes appearing in front of his young master. He immediately threw the human''s unconscious body on the ground and began circting his own mana, guiding some of his dark magic towards his arms, ready to throw even his life towards the danger and protect the young master. The eye kept looking at Aiden for several seconds. After his maddened cry, the building returned toplete, utter silence. However, suddenly from the depths below, the sound ofughter, a loud guffaw reached them. Somehow, they both knew it came from the being that''s eyes materialized in the air. There was no hostile intent carried with it, something that surprised Roas greatly, while Aiden kept up the frown on his face, matching the gaze of the floating pair of eyes. Soon, as theughter died down, a low-pitched, cold voice came, carrying a simrly powerful momentum with it that Aiden just showcased. "I love it, finally someone interesting appeared!" Even though both of them were clear that the voice did not speak any of thenguages they were familiar with, they could still clearly understand his words without issue. Suddenly, a dark red spark zapped through the outer walls of the building, from below. It was only for a moment, but Aiden could feel the incredible power it carried. Before they could think about anything, the voice continued. "Go boy, I want to see the limits of your power as you take your well-deserved revenge upon those ''Worms'' you mentioned! Don''t worry, I will not interfere, however after you are done. Come down. I will be eagerly waiting to meet you, descendant of the Ancient Ones." With that, both the eye and voice vanished without a trace. Still, they both felt a change. Whatever trick held them back, was no longer in effect. The path towards the top was finally avable to them. However, Aiden couldn''t rx. When the voice mentioned the ''Ancient Ones'', Aiden''s entire soul trembled. Just what was this being? Was he referring to his Draconic Heritage, or maybe saw through him entirely? ''This'' He cursed inwardly. He underestimated the powers behind this ''Horde''. They weren''t as simple as they looked. Aiden was expecting some challenges, but the power this being just disyed far surpassed his expectations. He was still too immature. He still needed to learn, he needed more time to grow. Still, at the very least, one thing that the voice did manage was to shake the boy and clear his clouded mind from all the storming emotions inside him. He began to calm down, and with that, both his aura receded, and his body returned to his default, Primal Goblin Dragonlord state. "[Orc] Come Roas, we can''t waste more time" He spoke to the still stunned, shaken battle-ready servant behind him. Heaving a heavy sigh, he looked at the staircase once again, which now held a different vibe than before, and took that first step forward. Chapter 268 - 268 - A Chance To Learn After the short interlude, Aiden, Roas with the sleeping ''beauty'' tossed over his right shoulder like a sack of potatoes were back on their trek, ascending the tower. As they entered the hall above, leaving the staircase they finally saw a different scene than before. Whilst it was still a long, single corridor floor with royal garments, Aiden could finally feel several presences residing behind the closed walls. In the many rooms that were situated all the way along towards the far end where this time, instead of the usual staircase would have awaited them, only more wall stood. From the distance, they could see arge crimson gemstone, beaming with an eerie blood-red light. The room, contrary to how it was on the lower floors, was basked in the gloom, the only source of illumination was the candleholders ced on the walls. Simr to the gemstone on the other side, all the candles were burning with a simrly colored blood-red fire. "Interesting" Aiden muttered, ncing over the floor. The obscure light did not really bother him, with his [Dark Sense] ability he was not hindered even inplete darkness. After all, he had the to experience the life of a fragile, harmless little bug as well Using the sensory ability, he sent out several empowered pulses, to map out the true nature of the guests that he could vaguely sense the moment they left the holds of the trap they were in below. He watched with interest as the dots appeared one by one in his System''s map, one after another, turning from the initial white color marking the neutral life signs to dark red, meaning they all held hostile intentions and were all aware of their presence. "[Orc] Unlike what you were told, it seems like not just the leaders and the envoys are present Roas." Aiden spoke with an expectant grin on his face. Surprised by his master''s abrupt sentence, Roas looked at the young master with an inquiring gaze. "[Orc] What does that mean, young master? Are there perhaps" Before he could finish his thought, suddenly the 3 closest doors in front of them opened up, seven armoredbatants walked out of them. They were all garbed in a full set of ck, steel armor. Their helmets were designed in the form that matched the face of the stone guardians outside. Long swords, War Maces, and the now recognizable but much better quality War Axes were already tightly held in their hands. At the very back, there were even two ranged each holding arge longbow in their hands with an arrow already armed ready to be fired on Aiden and Roas. "[Orc] This This is impossible! Only leaders are allowed entry! These men Who are these guys?!" Roas cried out in shock, unbelieving what was in front of his eyes. Warriors, no matter their ranking, had no right to step inside the hallowed grounds, no matter the reason. However, despite this irrefutable fact, they were met with not just one, but seven unknown figures blocking their way. "[Orc] I don''t think they are orcs at all. They feel different" Aiden frowned, the moment the creatures began to move and leave the room they were in ''waiting'', he could feel the same dark energy circting in them that was residing inside the stone guardian, or that warding that blocked their entry. Thinking for a moment, an idea sparked in Aiden''s mind, recing the frown with a smirk. With a wave of his right hand, a portal materialized in front of the duo, with the image of lush, vibrant greenery. A momentter as the gateway stabilized, three figures, two males and a feminine figure stepped out from it. As soon as they did, the portal promptly closed behind them. They turned their backs on the warriors in front of them and turned to face Aiden. "[Goblin] Greetings to young master! Awaiting your orders!" The trio knelt down and eximed loudly. There was deep reverence shining in their eyes. Although this was the first time Roas saw these three, he could recognize the connection they had with the young master which was simr to his own. He instantly knew these three were the newest addition by the Young Master, they were his three newest colleagues. Seeing how they looked extremely simr to the young master, feeling the power emanating from them, he smirked. Besides the taller, stronger-looking one at the middle, who seemed just as powerful as himself, if not stronger, the other two were slightly below him. "[Goblin] Glohn, Gob, Ghalina. Behind you, these dark beings are trying to block our way to advance further and find those responsible for the suffering you all went through. They think they can stand up and match our resolve!" Aiden spoke in a confident manner as he looked at the trio. Pausing for a moment, he turned his head to nce at Roas who, just like the ex-goblin trio, was focused on his words. "[Goblin] Roas here is just like you, my faithful servant. Don''t judge him by how he looks, he suffered, just like you. He seeks vengeance responsible for what had befallen, like you. He is your brethren, not just by the loyalty he swore up to, not just the pledge he made to me, but by the simr cruel fate he experienced, like you three." As he spoke, Aiden kept an eye on the 7 warriors that were battle-ready in front of them. Strangely they did not attack, they calmly waited for them to get ready. This fact was concerning, making Aiden think that these beings may not have any free will of their own and were just mere puppets, creations animated either by someone either up top or that powerful being residing far below. With another wave of his hands, four weapons he gathered on the way here: two orcish crude battle axes from the patrolling orcs in the outer edges of the forest that attacked Naybeah and the two pikes from the elite warriors guarding the ve Pen fell to the ground. "[Goblin] These may not be the best weapons, but currently these are what we have to work with. Pick one that suits you guys best and get ready. Defeat all the creatures in front of you, by any means you see fit. Don''t hold back, don''t stop until you reach the end of this floor. Show me the powers you all have." Finishing his words, he turned to Roas once again. Nodding at him, the knowing smirk had not left the edges of his lips. Instead, it curved even higher, already understanding his first servant''s thoughts. "[Orc] You two, Roas. You can leave Drake here and join your brethren. Defeat all those that oppose us. I''m expecting a lot from you, don''t fail me." "[Orc] It will be my pleasure, young master. Please leave everything here to us." Roas, after cing the body of the unconscious silver-haired prince on the floor, gave a deep, courteous bow, and walked towards the weaponsid out in front of his three brethren. Giving a silent bow towards them, he picked up one of the battle axes from the ground. Looking at the crude, slightly bent, used head of the weapon, he smirked, shifting his attention and taking a step forward towards thebatants in front of them. The trio, following the tall, robust orc''s example, picked up a weapon each and stepped forward to face the enemy. Glohn, the current leader of the goblins, and the only one with Aiden''s Primal Essence residing inside them grabbed the second war axe was standing to Roas'' left. "[Goblin] So, you are the first, our senior I presume." He spoke in his newly acquired deep voice. His tone, albeit it was difficult to ess to the underlying power that could be felt in each of his spoken words, carried no malice or negativity whatsoever. "[Goblin] I am Roas, the Young Master''s guardian. Whilst you are the fourth to join our fold, I do not think you should be called our junior at all. Even I might not be able to withstand even one of your blows. You carry a small residue of the master''s power, after all. I can feel it radiating within your body." Roas smirked not taking his eyes off the enemies once. As the other two arrived at Glohn''s left silently nodded, focused on the battle instead. Seeing that from the corner of his eyes, Roas, who was now on the far right, only gave a slight nod, gripping the handle of his weapon even tighter. Seeing that all four of his servants were ready, although not really using any tactical positioning at all, Aiden only smiled to himself behind them. They needed to learn, grow and understand their own powers first and foremost. This uing battle would be the perfect chance to do that. As he nced at his System''s Map once more, the smile curved even higher on his face. He knew that to ovee this challenge on their own, they will need to learn not just their own body''s limits but understand each other as well. He was hoping that by the end, they will all be a team, instead of four servants blindly following their young master''s wishes. Chapter 269 - 269 -Clash (Part 1) A momentary silence ensued in the hallway where two opposing forces stood against each other. At one side a group of armored creatures, with humanoid, robust body shapes. One could just take a look at them and mistakenly think they were the very same orcs since they were currently in the heart of their settlement. Yes, it would be a mistake, a grave mistake to think of them as simple as ''orcs''. While their shape, and maybe even their look that was hidden under the full body armor would resemble one, but if one would take a deeper, closer look at them, he or she would see the differences. For one, they had very little of their own life essences circting inside their bodies. Two, in addition to their own fading energies, they had an additional much more sinister, dark mystical source swirling at their center, engulfing their minds and Monster Cores in its entirety. This dark, twisted, sinister source was their main source of power thatmandeered this small battalion of warriors to stand against the invaders. They had no free will of their own, they were little more than the stone guardians; puppets, with barely any life left in them, moved on magical strings to their master''s amusement. They stood still, looking at the four opponents that stupidly dared to stand up against them, protecting that fragile-looking oversized goblin in the back. The frontline soldiers tightened their grip on their weapons as they awaited the mentalmand to throw themselves on them without a care in the world. --- Looking at the creatures garbed in gorgeous steel armors, an expectant smile curved at the edges of Roas'' lips. A grand battle was about to break out. A chance to prove his worth and show his power to the young master. He wanted to show the power he held, he wanted to prove that he deserved his spot as his guardian. The young master saved him, pulled him out of his wallowing misery, and gave him hope a new source of light to stand up against the despairing darkness once again. He was given a chance to payback for all the pain and torment he and his people had gone through due to the actions of these so-called overlords. The power he was granted, boosted his strength by an incredible amount. He was strong, much stronger than when he was under the influence of that horrible staff. Still, he knew this power was far from enough. He wasn''t even close to the level of his young master, he still needed to train, and looking at the opponents ahead, and listening to the thoughts and whispers of his master through the connection they shared, he knew that this hall will hold much more than this initial weingmittee. Looking at his left, he smiled at the sight of these strange, new creatures that joined the Fold. While it wasn''t explicitly exined, he understood from the master''s thoughts that these three used to be goblins that he transformed, reshaped. They were all evolved creatures, with matching or maybe even higher strength than what he currently held. Looking at them, his resolve increased further. He was determined to prove his worth. He will be the number one, he was the first, and he will stay the first both in standing and power. Still, since it was their first fight together, and for some reason, the enemy still hasn''t shown any intention of initiating this battle, he parted his lips as a guttural voice was hushed into the air aimed at the three new joiners. "[Goblin] I am Roas, the first and the Master''s Guardian. What are you three called, and what are your strengths? We need to work together if we want to make the young master proud." The first to answer was the tallest, strongest, and closest male that held the most simrities with the young master. He was also the one, that seemed to carry the young master''s energy signature within his body. The tribal, ritualistic animal figureheads tattooed all over his body, did give him some ideas about his strengths, and his profession but it was still best to ask while they had the chance. Still, despite this fact, he didn''t seem overconfident, nor arrogant. Keeping his eyes on the enemies ahead, he spoke in a clear, calm tone of voice; another simrity that was the young master''s signature. "[Goblin] I am called Glohn, I am the master''s envoy, the hand to execute his will. I will be with you in the forefront, with Gob while Galina will assist us from the back, as she is more proficient with healing than meleebat." The two younger ones silently nodded when their names were mentioned. Both holding ance in their hands, they had the same determination that did not falter in front of Roas'' own. Witnessing it, Roas smiled at it, shifting his attention and facing the opponents ahead. [Goblin] In that case, I will be counting on you all. Let''s make, the young master proud!" Hisst words were akin to a battle cry, he shouted with confidence as he raised his weapon in the air and abruptly charged ahead. Not wanting tog behind, both Glohn, and Gob followed after, throwing themselves forward without any hesitation. Their sudden action broke the tense atmosphere. As soon as their intent burst forth and they began their assault, the previously stoically standing armored warriors also began to move. Their frontline meleebatants rented their feet, straddling their legs to increase their stability and not be pushed back or thrown on the ground. Behind them, the duo of archers, released the bowstrings they held stretched out,unching a white-feathered arrow each. Passing through the frontline the arrows whistled in the air, flying towards the robust orc and the tall and broad goblinoid looking male at his side, rushing with reckless abandon. Before the arrows could hit their targets, however, a gust of air suddenly arose in the closed hallway crashing into the zapping arrows, causing them to deter from their original, intended trajectory ever so slightly, and miss the charging opponents. One of them crashing into the wall and breaking into pieces, whilst the other flying towards the lone, golden-eyed, long-ck-haired figure at their back. Before the arrow could hit the lone youth, he simply evaded it with a simple movement of his head. This sudden change didn''t seem to phase the archers, they already had another arrow ced on their longbow''s rest and were stretching the string. One of them aimed at the orc, while the other changed his target from the other charging warrior to the female at the back. When the arrows wereunched her hands began a strange series of movements, a bright green light covered her hands, just before the breeze came, canceling their first attack. The archer aimed carefully, awaiting till his partner was ready, and just like before, they both released the bowstring, firing for a second time. Roas didn''t even care for the arrow as he threw himself to the two closest already expectant warriors in front of him. Glohn at his side did the same, jumping in the air and crashing down with a powerful swing of his battle axe. Gob, seeing the arrow passing through his teacher and flying towards Galina, immediately sprang into action. Jumping to the side in front of the whistling arrow, he focused intently on the rapidly approaching deadly wooden bolt. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes suddenly began to shine with a faint golden light, he suddenly felt as if the arrow slowed down, making it easier to follow with his eyes. What was difficult previously, now turned simple. When the arrow got into range, he swung hisnce against it, sessfully hitting it in the air and turning it into small splinters. He didn''t stop here, as soon as the attack was thwarted, he kicked off from the ground, raising his weapon in front of himself, and flew into the closest enemy. Aiden was slightly surprised when he noticed the changes happening to thence-wielding youngling. The golden luster and the increased speed he exerted were simr to his own powers. At the same, while he looked like he was calm and wasn''t really bothered by anything that transpiring, he was ready to jump in front of Galina if an arrow would pass through the three in the midst of the battle. He wasn''t to just stand behind and watch as this little girl would be killed off by a stray bolt. Turning back, he watched as Roas raised his weapon high above his head once again and struck down to the enemy with fierce momentum. The head of the axe was glowing with an eerie dark light, as Roas'' dark magic surrounded it, crashing into the steel helm of the warrior and knocking him down on the ground without any chance to block. A momentter, a second swing came from the right side, destroying thest bits of the headgear''s resistance, diving deep into the creature''s skull with a mixture of crouching and churning sound, ending the first life merely a minute after the eruption of their sh. Aiden who was smiling with satisfaction watching his first servant ending the first enemy, suddenly heard the bell-like sound, causing him to focus on the newest notification. As he opened it, and read its contents, he went wide-eyed with shock. Chapter 270 - 270 - Clash (Part 2) As the life left the creature, Aiden was suddenly alerted to a new notification from his system. Curios of what it might be, he focused his mind and opened the note only to be shocked by its contents. [Minion: Roas has defeated an opponent (*LOCKED*)! Roas gained 15 XP.] The minions under hismand can gain experience and grow stronger just like him? He couldn''t believe it, this was incredible! This way not just him, but everyone that was recognized by the system can grow with him. Although he obviously noticed the level and experience sections under their names, Aiden thought that, just like with all the other skills he had, he will have to supply these points himself. Now, however, they could just gain the necessary points and get stronger ''normally''. ''Wonder if the skills they have could also level up? If so, how would they do that? Unlike for mine, there are no points indicating they could assign their points. Hmm'' Aiden was deep in thought, trying to understand just how deep this new system feature was when another notification popped up. Taking a quick look over it, he smiled. This time it was Glohn who didn''t want to fall too far behind his senior. [Minion: Glohn has defeated an opponent (*LOCKED*)! Glohn has gained 15 XP.] Another thing that surprised Aiden was the LOCKED part of the note. What would that part contain, and how could he unlock it? ''Anyway I can worry about theseter. For now, let''s just focus on the battle'' He shook his head, with arms folded, he watched the fierce skirmish as if it was some spectacle. Meanwhile, Glohn, after chopping off and ending his first opponent, raised his weapon high in the air. Focusing on the nearest ranger that already had his third arrow ced and was aiming at Galina in the back, with a boisterous war cry, he threw the huge axe. His senses tingling, Glohn quickly ducked down, just in time as the de of a sword wooshed inches above his head. He grinned feeling the steel pass by above him, missing him by only a hair''s breadth. Grabbing the deceased, headless orc''s long sword, he forcefully pried it out from his cramped fingers. As soon as the de passed and he felt that orc was pulling his weapon back, getting ready for another swing, he jumped with a spin, swinging his weapon at the same time. The action, albeit sudden, didn''t manage to hit its mark, his opponent managed to raise his weapon just in time, blocking the attack. "[Goblin] You think you are stronger huh? Let''s see if you can handle a bit more power then!" He spoke with an ever-increasing grin on his face. In the next moment, the symbol that looked like a boar-head lit up, glowing in a bright, orange hue, and began to spread, transforming the previously white lines that were spread all around his body with the same color. At the same time, the muscles all around his body suddenly bulged and convulsed. Suddenly the standstill that was still ongoing with the shing des, changed. Inch by inch, Glohn pushed the edge of his sword closer and closer to the puppeteered orc warrior''s neck. "[Goblin] What''s up, suddenly it got hard, huh?!" He remarked. "Don''t worry, it will be over soon" He grinned, adding even more strength to his attack, pushing his closer and closer to the opponent''s neck. Seeing he couldn''t contend with the strange dark green creature''s suddenly boosted power, the armored orc warrior jumped back, leaving the sh. Grabbing the handle of his sword with both hands, he looked at his opponent. A guttural growl could be heard from under the thick steel helmet. A pair of blood-red dots, his eyes lit up from behind the visor. A thin film of ck energy shined through the steel chest te, nketing the orc with a newfound source of power. Aiden raised his eyebrows focusing on the event. The orc''s power that was close to Glohn''s a moment ago, suddenly began to increase. As the dark, sinister energy was released from his body, his power jumped up, surpassing Glohn''s by a great deal, and continued to rise every second. Feeling that the orc''s power continued to rise, Aiden''s previously calm look faded, he turned serious. He unfolded his arms, his hands were already in a wing posture, ready to transform and swipe at a moment''s notice. Although he wanted to jump in, after noticing the expectant, happy, and crazed grin on Glohn''s face, he decided to hold himself back for now. The elder ex-goblin shaman''s face was simr to a battle-crazed blonde amazon''s. Just like the amazon, Aiden realized that Glohn was aware of the change in the situation, but he still wanted to do his best and fight this opponent alone. He wanted, no, he needed this challenge, and it would be cruel to steal this chance from him. Still, he made sure to keep his attention on their battle and jump in if the need arose. He would not watch twiddling his thumbs as his newly joined family members get hurt or even worse. Meanwhile, as Glohn was heaving like a madman, waiting for his opponent to get ready, next to him, Roas was in an intense exchange with the other, axe-wielding warrior. His opponent seemed different than what he expected. From a first nce, he thought that all these orcs were elites, under the direct control of those otherworldly creatures. He expected that due to that, they would barely be more than mere puppets, and wouldn''t fight with such ferocity and savageness. However, his opponent fought like those famed berserkers of the other tribes. They were feral, savage warriors, they were feared and respected by others for their brutality and uncaring attitude during battles. Berserkers, unlike other warriors, learned to utilize that natural racial trait, their blood lust. During the battle, the more the fight went on, the harder they were to kill. Their strength continuously increased, their stamina was almost never-ending, their ferocity, savageness, and brutality grew as the fights went on. You either finished them off quickly, or it was just better to run away. They didn''t fear death, they didn''t feel pain, they reveled in the carnage, in chaos. They were at their best on the battlefield where blood and guts covered the ground as long as the eye could see. Roas'' opponent was just like that. As their weapons shed and collided, the more he got hurt, his opponent instead of getting weaker, turned more and more savage. His strikes, swings, and thrusts turned faster, more powerful. What he felt would be an easy battle, got increasingly more difficult. He already had to rely on his magical energies to empower himself, otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to contend with his opponent''s ferocious swings at all. Suddenly as he felt a familiar source of dark energy, from his left, he made a mistake. He averted his eyes for a moment, to take a look at what was happening. Although it was for only a fraction of a second, merely a fleeting moment, inbat, that could mean the difference between life or death. He felt the danger approaching him and quickly tried to react, but it was still just a bit toote. Before Roas could block the iing blow, the opponent''s axe plunged into the right side of his body. Dark red, thick viscous blood splurted from the point of impact, a jolting, searing pain rapidly spread throughout his body. His nervous system went into overdrive, Roas cried out under the brutal pain. A pair of dark red eyes lit up under the opponent''s visor, a snort could be heard. Instead of pulling his weapon back to strike at Roas again, the orc slowly started pulling it towards himself, aiming to cause maximum damage. He raised his right leg, aiming to throw a kick at Roas'' damaged side. "[Orc] Pathetic weakling. That''s what you get traitor! I will bathe myself today in your blo-" He taunted, as heunched his feet. However, before his feet had a chance to reach Roas''s stomach before he got a chance to finish his words, he suddenly felt a dull pain in his chest. He felt his body turn lighter, his left foot that was previously nted on the ground, suddenly lost its stable footing. Before he realized he was flying in the air, helplessly flung back by a mysterious force that saved his already defeated opponent. Helpless, he crashed into the archer standing behind him, pulling him down to the ground with himself, tumbling for several steps before they both finally crashed into the wall. Strangely, despite the steel chest te that was supposed to protect his body from such idents, the pain did not subside at all. Instead, he suddenly found that breathing became harder. He tried standing up but was unable to do so. He was surprised what had happened, and why did the pain didn''t fade away, why he couldn''t get back to the heat of the battle. He was a true berserker, he was supposed to be able to withstand any kind of pain, and fight until hisst breath. He shouldn''t be feeling this helpless unless Shocked at the thought, the orc berserker, with great difficulty, lowered his gaze, and looked at the state of his torso, only to be shocked to see that his chest te waspletely shattered from where he received that mysterious impact and that his own dark blood covered a deep looking wound Chapter 271 - 271 - Clash (Part 3) "[Goblin] Galina, quickly focus your healing on Roas! He is wounded!" A fierce roar yelled out, startling the tall, girl that stood closest to Aiden, behind the heated frontline. A fierce roar reverberated, shaking the poor dark-green-skinned girl who stood at the back, focused on the ongoing sh between his friends, his master''s other servants, and these strange, haunted-looking armored orcs. His master''s agitated shout, however, awoke her from her trance. Shaking her head, she turned to look at him, only to see his young master''s figure suddenly vanish from even her sight, and reappear between the falling Roas and his ax-wielding opponent. She only saw her young master''s blurred outline before the robust berserker was helplessly thrown back crashing into one of the pesky archers at the back. She was shocked at this sight but was quickly shaken when another fierce roar reverberated the hallway. "[Goblin] GALINA! DO IT! MOVE! NOW!" Immediately, she rushed forward, closer to the tall orc that was already lying on the ground, desperately holding a deep, gushing wound on his right side. She extended her hands, holding them above the wounded area, and closed her eyes. She focused on her own mana, activating it, guiding its flow towards her extended palms. Her hands began to glow in a wonderful light green shimmer. A soothing warmth spreading out from her palms, the terrible pain Roas felt soon started to fade. The calming sensation continued to enter his body, rxing his tense muscles. The pained expression on his face began to cool, reced by a faint smile as he looked at the young master that came to his aid. "[Orc] Master I''m sorry, I wasn''t strong enough" He coughed, struggling to formte any words. Still, he wanted to tell his young master that he was grateful. That he was d he could serve him. That it was okay if he would fall because he knew that he would take revenge in his stead. However, before he could tell any of that, he was silenced. A kind, friendly smile donning his face, Aiden put his index finger on his first servant''s lips, turning him silent instantly. "[Orc] Don''t speak, my friend. Rest. You fought well, don''t worry. We will handle the rest of this rabble." Weariness soon overpowered his senses, Roas felt the heaviness of his eyelids. He wanted to respond, he wanted to reach out to the young master, but before he could do so, darkness shrouded his senses, his consciousness escaped from his grasp "[Goblin] Try to heal him as much as you can. I will help the guys finish this." Aiden stood up, addressing the frightened little Galina with his cold, rigid tone. Although the tone was not aimed at her, but at the enemy, he was unable to properly reign in his emotions. He nced at his system, where the notifications kept appearing. [Warning! Minion: Roas suffered heavy damage! His current condition: 58%] [Warning! Minion: Roas is bleeding, his condition is deteriorating! His current condition: 48%] The messages kepting, starting to annoy Aiden, as in the midsts of the constant ringing in his mind, he found it harder and harder to concentrate. The continuous stream of bells and the shes at the corner of his eyes were getting on his agitated nerves. He was getting closer and closer to explode and enter into a crazed frenzy when suddenly a startling change urred. The notifications suddenly didn''t give any more sound, the shes were somehow deactivated. His system suddenly turned silent, as if a new, or at the very least, previously unexplored feature was activated. For a fraction of a second, he felt a familiar presence showing itself His angered frown turned into a shocked gasp, but before he could call out, the presence vanished. Shaking his head, he cleared his mind, pulling himself back to the battle ahead. In front of him, Glohn was already in a fierce back and forth with the empowered orc that had a thinyer of dark energy around him, serving as a sort of shield whilst also providing him an immense boost in strength. Meanwhile, Gob was still busy handing thest warrior while at the same time, dodging the arrows fired at him by the second archer. Truth be told, he was quite agile on his feet and was doing a great job, but at the same time, he couldn''t really retaliate with all the heat that was flung at him. As Glohn was pretty much in a standstill with his opponent at the moment, Aiden''s gaze traveled to the archer. By eliminating him from the picture, he would lighten the burden on Gob, who couldpletely focus on the warrior instead of splitting his attention. He had to admit though, that these three, especially Glohn, were much more resilient and stronger than Roas, who was his first. With him, he didn''t really know what he was doing, and because of that, he did not manage to evolve, he merely rejuvenated his aged body. He already nned to fix this mistaketer but now, that he was badly hurt, he wanted to see if he could also restore his health with some further injection of his energy. Focusing his gaze on the archer, he shook his head to clear his mind from all these thoughts. He was in the midst of a battle, this wasn''t the time for deepmentation. A cruel grin appeared on his face, as his figure shed, only to reappear behind the archer. His transformed right arm struck drown, his thick, ebon ws shing deep into the back of the archer, shredding the steel chest te as if it was some shirt. The archer painfully cried out, falling on his knees and dropping the bow on the ground. He tried to reach for his back, but before he could take any action, a second sh came from behind, separating his helmeted head from the rest of his body. A loud thud rang out in the makeshift battlefield, as the steel helmet rolled towards the still conscious berserker at the side. His partner, the archer that he crashed into was long gone, his body not showing any sign of life. The berserker was busy trying to assess the damage he had received when suddenly the bloodied helmed entered his eyesight. He was shocked when he noticed that yet another of his brethren had fallen to these mysterious invaders. He raised his tired sight to the hated enemy, the blur that threw him away as if he was a simple toy. Anger rose in his heart, he looked at the lean figure with defiance. He, a berserker, cannot fall like this. He cannot be humiliated like this! He had his pride, he was a feared one, an elite among the elites! He slowly freed his hands from their steel cages and reached for the bent chest te. His eyes slowly turned bloodshot as the rage, hatred, and anguish slowly overwhelmed his senses, and the bloodlustpletely overwhelmed his sanity. By supporting his body on the ground, he slowly pushed himself off the ground, and with great difficulty, he turned around to look at his deceased brethren. A vicious glint shed through his bloodshot eyes, as he reached towards the chest of the archer Aiden did not pay any attention to the orc''s desperate struggle, he did not think of him as any threat whatever he was nning. Shifting his attention, he was focused on thest two fights in front of him. At one side, Gob, now freed from the archer''s constant arrows, was slowly starting to gain more and more ground against his opponent. Close to him, Glohn was currently in a standstill against the empowered creature that as the dark energy continued to eat at his sanity, turned feral, losing most of his technique but gaining immense strength instead. Glohn''s body continued to glow in an orange brilliance, the thick veins on his muscles were visible as they continued to pump as much of his blood as they could to support the constant usage of his muscle mass. Feeling that they were more or less evenly matched, the smile on Glohn''s face curved higher. The marking of the eagle suddenly lit up on the left side of his chest, mixing the previously orange light he was covered with a tint of yellow. In the next moment, his body felt lighter, his movement became more fluid. His speed and agility increased. The previously deadly blows that had difficulty dodging, were now childs'' y. He looked at the figure''s right fist as it was flying toward him, simply stepping to the left and easily evading it. At the same time, his sword struck down, crashing into the thin film of the dark, ominousyer of energy that continued to shield the creature. He felt as if he pushed against a strange boundary, ultimately unable to slice through, and was thrown back. Still, despite that, he heard a painful hiss,ing from under the visored helmet, causing his frown that just appeared on his face to turn into a grin. This fight was far from over... Chapter 272 - 272 - Change Of Plans In an unknown, possibly distant ce, a terrifyingly powerful presence was gazing into a floating transparent frameless window-like image in a dark, dimly lit room. Despite the singr window not too far away from his figure, it could not let get too much sunlight through, as the sky above itself was in perpetual obscure darkness. ck, ebon-colored clouds swam around menacingly on the dark red, scarlet sea of heaven. Inside the dimly lit room, the thin outline of this powerful, dark, shadowy figure could be seen sitting in front of a white wooden desk, focused on the floating borderless image in front of him. The image was about a particr hallway, focused on a dark-green-skinned evolved goblin with shining, ck hair. Whenever the strange, impossible creature''s eyes shone with the brilliant glimmer of gold, the figure honed the image closer to them. "Interesting Could he really be one of the Ancients? But how is that possible?" He mumbled, his brain wrecking at the impossibility of such an idea. "It shouldn''t be possible But this level of power, his essence It''s just too simr to be a coincidence." No matter how hard he wrecked his brain, no matter how hard he tried to deny the possibility, the facts were indisputable. He watched with keen interest as his figure shed with incredible speed that to others would have seemed akin to teleportation, how he threw the robust body of one of the toy soldiers of his servant. He wasn''t angered, or mad at this boy in any way. On the contrary, his interest in him grew even higher. Just like how he felt before in that human settlement, this boy could be the catalyst they were missing, he could be the key to his ns. He needed to change some of his current ns. He leaned back against his chair, caressing his chin as his mind rapidly processed a multitude of possibilities and ideas in seconds. After a short while, seeminglying to a decision, he raised his dark, thin right hand in the air, grabbing the attention of the stoic bulky figure at the back. "Go and inform him to fall back and leave the current ns. We are changing our ns. If that idiot startsining just beat him into submission but try not to kill him. It would be a hassle to create another one" He stated with an impassive, cold tone. The bulky being stepped forward, walking in front of the white desk, at the same time stepping into the only source of obscure, dim light in the room ruled by darkness. The creature had dark brown skin with a tinge of dark green mixed in. His face vaguely resembled a human although both of his canines were mutated intorge yellowish fangs, protruding out of his closed mouth all the way to his wide nose. He bowed, revealing hispletely hairless, bald head. His forehead bulged out slightly, providing some extra cover to his small dark brown eyes hiding behind the shadow it created. He wore a ck leather, padded vest, leaving his strong wide arms free, stretched to the limit with his bulging muscles barely being kept under control. Although he seemed unarmored, there was a medallion in the shape of a scythe strapped around his neck that shone with its silvery luster under the faint pir of light. The creature stopped a few steps away from the desk, looking at the figure unnaturally shrouded in the shadows, giving a silent bow, only uttering two words in response with its guttural, hoarse voice. "Yes, Master." The figure waved with his right hand,menting in his cold tone as the portal appeared behind the robust, bulky creature. Straightening his back, the bulky creature nodded his head with a stern look on his face, turned around, and silently stepped into the gateway, his figure vanishing from the dark ce. Being left alone, the shadowy figure waved with his hand once again, closing the portal. He looked at the image once again and watched with even greater interest as to how the events were unfolding back in the hallway. "Just what are you really Could you maybe be the answer that I was searching for? We will see" He muttered with curiosity in her hushed tone, a great contrast to his earlier coldness. He went into deep thought, trying to get a deeper insight into the mysterious boy at the other side. --- A sudden surge of power awoke Aiden from his stupor, forcing him to turn to the side and look at the berserker he thought would be done with his pointless struggling by now. However, the strength that emanated from his direction surprised him, causing him to frown as his eyes nced at the sight. The creature''s face revealed, there was blood smeared all around his mouth, he was chewing something with fervent passion, assisting the process with both of his now barren hands. Although partially blocked, taking a nce at the peeled chest of the deceased archerying in arge pool of simrly colored thick, dark pool of blood, it wasn''t that difficult to guess at was transpiring. The berserker, seemingly noticed the gaze of the opponent that humiliated him and trampled on his pride, made a loud gulp, swallowing thest pieces of his partner''s vital organ. A cruel grin stretched across his smeared face, he opened his right palm, revealing a ck crystalline object that was most likely the Monster Core of the deceased archer and with a sudden motion he swallowed it. Immediately, he felt a change in his body. His blood boiled, as the new source of energy spread in his body, rapidly restoring his health, and revitalizing his tired muscles. His bloodshot eyes, suddenly darkened, a cloud of darkness engulfed his blood-white sclera, hiding his iris in the eternal void instead. The berserker, suddenly felt a newfound sensation as the core reached the other one and began to merge with it. His previously faint aura exploded with new vigor, releasing a shockwave of energy, kicking up a sizable amount of dust in the demolished hall. His muscles began to contort, and convulse, forming new strands, increasing their mass at a rate visible to the eye. His dark green skin that was previously covered with blemishes, wounds, reminders, achievements of his past victories healed at an incredible pace, restoring to a state that was akin to a newborn orc and not an elite, fearsome berserker. His own energy rose at an incredible pace, mixing together with the residual, controlling dark magic that was imprinted deeply into him, causing his evolution to take on an unexpected, previously unexplored path. Deciding that it would be an incredible opportunity for him, Aiden decided to wait patiently until the orc finished his transformation. Even without the System warning him, he was aware of the sudden change in the creature''s evolutionary path. He felt as the creature''s power skyrocketed, reaching heights that should not be possible to his level. Even if it would turn out to be a greater challenge than he expected it to be, he still had his ultimate trump card, thest use of his Blessing he was ''birthed'' to this world with... Although he wanted to save it to a truly desperate situation where his own life would hang on the line, as the opportunity of such a delicious meal presented itself in front of him, he wouldn''t miss the chance. His mind began to think of the various possibilities of this present of mysterious life essences he was about to take for himself, causing him topletely shut everything else out, and forget that there was another fight happening next to him, reaching new heights --- A few floors above where the battle was still ongoing, in arge room, a mixture of powerful-looking creatures were sitting across arge table. The creatures that looked just like the orcs struggling to earn survive below, only with some minor differences were looking at the humanoid, robed figure seated at the helm with looks of trepidation and fear in their eyes. The robed man had wrinkled, old, white skin, a bald head, and a long white beard that he kept stroking with an unnaturally calm expression on his face. Despite the tense air that lingered in the room, he was calm, as if nothing that transpiring below could affect them. He was humming an unknown tone as he kept enjoying the sensation of the feeling of his own beard. One of the beings closest to the humming elderly human couldn''t take it anymore. With a loud crash, he pped his meaty hands on the desk, pushing himself up from his chair. His eyes that still had a mixture of fear and trepidation shing in them, focused on the nonchnt and all-powerful being. "[Orc] Master Dominus, we ask you that you do something about the squabble that is closing in on us! What will we do when they reach this floor? They have already passed your unbreakable spells!" His tone was agitated as he yelled at the being forgoing the difference in powers between them. The elder''s humming ceased, his face revealed a frown as he listened to theint. He slowly opened his eyes, taking a long look at the orc warlord that spoke up. Heaving a sigh, his dry lips parted, his tone was apathetic and cold. "Don''t grunt at me, you disgusting pig. Sit down before I-" Before he could take action to punish the orc''s insolence, he suddenly felt a buzz in the air behind him. A momentter a dark gate formed from the thin air, causing loud gasps from the surrounding orc warlords. As the elder slowly turned around, a tall, bulky silhouette stepped out from the ck portal. Chapter 273 - 273 - Masters And Servants Waves appeared on the surface of the portal recing the previously calm that dominated it. A momentter, a robust, monstrous body stepped out from it. He had dark brown skin, simr to the orc leaders situated in the room, but apart from that, there were clear obvious differences. For one, his domineering height. Even without standing next to this giant, these leaders, who were considered the strongest amongst their tribe and the warlords, the decision-makers of the horde at best reached up to his torso. This leather armor-wearing giant was truly massive, towering over them. Second, he was monstrously massive. Orcs were indeed known for their strong physiques, but looking at this being''s bulging muscture, they should be ashamed of themselves. Third, his face. Apart from the tworge fangs that protruded from his lower jaw, standing proudly, he looked almost like a human. He had dark brown eyes, that were hidden in a perpetual shadow, due to his oversized forehead bulging out. He was bald, or better to say,pletely hairless, no hair, no eyebrows, not even a strand of bristle. There were no weapons visible on the figure, nor could any of the orc warlords feel an aura or intent radiating from his body, yet, for some inexplicable reason, their very beings, their souls trembled at the sight of this creature. "Y-you W-w-what are you doing here?!" The carefree, nonchnt look instantly vanished from Master Dominus''s face when he spotted this terrifying existence, his Master''s Guardian. At first, the creature did not respond. His stern gaze slowly traveled across the room, scanning and scrutinizing all the leaders of the Horde. He only looked at each of them for a brief moment, each time, a scowl shing through his human-like face. Eventually, he turned to look at the aged elder, giving him a simr look to all the others in the room. His eyes were piercing, each of them, including the bearded master, could feel as if their very existence was being seen through under those dark, emotionless, cold eyes. The tall creature''s lips slowly parted, his guttural, hoarse voice rang out in the room. He spoke curtly, not showing any of the respect, that he demanded from all the other warlords previously. "Dominus, we are finished here. Master expects your presence." He didn''t speak the orc''s nativenguage but was discoursing fluently in the Common, surprising the lords once again. Master Dominus was shocked hearing the newmand. Why did the master want him back now of all times? The next phase of the n was being finalized and should be ready to be initiated. Why the sudden change? Did he make a mistake?" "M-may I ask, why did Master ask for my return?" Opposite of how he addressed these primitive barbarians, the elder''s tone was subservient towards this mysterious being, earning puzzled, incredulous looks from those present. "Change of ns." The tall monstrous figure responded coldly, showing signs of impatience. Noticing the reaction on him, Master Dominus could only sigh defeatedly, as he silently stood up, and walked towards the still open swirling gate. Many thoughts raced inside his mind, he was wracking his brain trying to figure out what sort of mistake, mess he made. Could that invading boy and his strangepany be the cause of his misfortune? He clenched his fists at this thought, turning towards the direction of where their battle was still ongoing. A dangerous glint shed in his eyes, as he memorized the boy''s signature. The humiliation he would be suffering today, he will be sure to pay it back tenfoldter. Master Dominus'' figure vanishing as he stepped through the dark energy, the tall creature took onest look at the remaining warlords with an impassive look, before turning around and leaving through the gate himself. His figure vanishing, the portal closed as well, leaving only the stupefied orc warlords in the room only. They did not understand what had just happened. Who or what was that creature that just appeared, and where did he take their lord, the true leader of the Horde. What were they supposed to do, now that they were basically headless?! The faint sounds of battle, reached their ears, waking them up from their stupor and grabbing their attention. They lost the leader, but the n was also almost finalized They just needed to squash this small problem A cruel smile appeared on the group of 14 warlord''s faces, already looking forward to the next morning --- In the dimly lit room in an unknown, hellishndscape the air suddenly began to buzz with visible excitement. The only resident in the room, a thin figure with a humanoid shape covered in perpetual shadow was looking at a floating screen showing the battle transpiring in a demolished hallway. Even as the air at the other side of the room started to sparkle and when the dark essences in the air began to take form in the shape of a doorway, he didn''t even bat an eye. His attention waspletely focused on the lean figure of a boy with long, ck, silky hair and exotic golden eyes. His dark green skin glistened even under the obscure lighting in the once royal hallway as it faced off a creature that was once an orc that tried to evolve but somehow turned into an abhorrent abnormality. The surface of the newly formed portal began to ripple, as the traveler stepped through its thin, magical membrane. An aged, old man with a long white beard and a bald head, donned in dark grey, threadbare robe appeared. Spotting his master, fear shed through his tired body. He gulped, trying his best to reign in his palpating, trembling heart, and calm the tumultuous storm raging inside his mind. He stepped forward and gave a deep bow as he greeted the being in a shaky tone. "M-master. I was informed you have called for me. How may I be of assistance?" As he spoke, the surface of the magical portal rippled once again, as the strange, bulky giant stepped out from it. He snorted at the human''s subservient posture as he walked by him, taking his ce behind the sitting lord of the room. His figure vanishing as he merged with the darkness once again. Still focused on the image of the boy on the floating screen, the being spoke in a calm, indiscernible tone of voice. "Don''t be so scared, there is no reason for you to worry." A wooden chair materialized out of thin air with a simple gesture of his right hand. "We will be changing our ns, we do not need to rely on your little experiment any longer. Leave those orcs to themselves. Although not in the way we have originally nned, they have still managed to serve their purpose. We have found someone with great potential." Dominus took a gander at the floating image, letting out a gasp as he noticed the familiar face of the figure that it was focused on. "M-my lord Are you perhaps, interested in that one?" "Yes, is that a problem?" The shadowy figure asked with the same calm tone as before, seemingly not surprised by the old man''s reaction. "N-no my lord, I wouldn''t d-dare!" Dominus'' figure shook in fright, as he quickly denied all previous thoughts. He lowered his posture and gazed at the ground below, hoping that he would somehow avoid the master''s ire. His hands were clenched into tightly balled fists, as his anger towards the boy that somehow still managed to cause more and more problems every passing second grew once more. Still, he had to reign his feelings in, if the master was truly interested in him, Dominus had to shelve all thoughts of revenge for the foreseeable future. Well, at least until he was initiated to their ranks Seconds kept passing as Dominus gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, hoping to survive the iing punishment. Yet it never came. Instead, a chuckle was heard, causing Dominus to raise his head, and look at his master with an incredulous, questioning gaze. "I am interested in the boy, but we still need to make sure that he is indeed who I think he is. For that, I believe we can actually utilize that bubbling hatred you have for him." The surface of the dark portal rippled ferociously with another single gesture of the Master, its dark surface slowly changing, showing the sight of a dpidated manor sitting at its lonesome on a hill, the cover of night surrounding it. "Return to your little abode for now and continue with your personal experiments. I will send word once the time is right." The master spoke, returning his attention to the screen in front, ignoring the old man once more. "Yes, Master. I will do as you wish and will wait for your orders." The old man spoke with reverence before he turned around and stepped through the new portal without any hesitation. He was glowing, brimming with happiness, as the Master actually gave him another chance to prove himself! His next task would actually allow him to pay back to that pesky little brat that ruined hisst assignment... Chapter 274 - 274 - Absorb "RAAAARGH!!!!" The mutated, abhorrent creature that just a few minutes prior was a dying orcish berserker bellowed an ear-shattering battle cry, his fearsome battle intent exploding from his body, descending on the battlefield with full force. His aura that besides full with his horrifying battle intent, also carried the mystical dark energies along with it, causing various, differing effects on everyone. His only surviving partner, the empowered and enraged orc warrior seemed to be revitalized, his swipes, attacks carried a renewed vigor, while at the same time, it had adverse effects on his opponent and the enemies. Glohn, Gob, and Galina felt as if a thick, invisible miasma surrounded their bodies, slowly seeping into them. They felt resistance, and continuous struggle, that affected, slowed all of their actions. Aiden on the other hand, only felt a momentary power wash through him, that was rapidly being analyzed and contained by the system, feeling none of what his minions were struggling with. Taking a quick nce at the notifications in the system, an eager smile began to make its first appearance on his face. The system notified him of a new source of energy, that was currently being processed, the progress jumping by leaps and bounds as he kept absorbing the dark essences in the air. "[Orc] Good! Good! Come on, give me more! Is this all you got?!" He taunted with obvious glee. The monstrosity that became of the orcish berserker, roared at the words of the fragile-looking dark green figure ferociously, releasing even more of his power, focusing it on the visibly unaffected being in front of him. His sanity, which was hanging by a thread already, snapped, descending into an eternal darkness, the rage and anger he felt over his defeat and the humiliation and the continuous taunts of this nobody finally shattered, defeated thest bits of his own mind''s struggle. Raising his massive arms in the air, he roared once more, with a bellowing battle cry. He swung both of his enormous fists down smashing the ground and releasing the brutal shockwave, shooting arge pile of rubble towards his hated opponent. "[Orc] Now, now That''s not good, you will destroy the floor." Aiden chuckled, evading the approaching rubble with ease. He did not attack however, he was more focused on the constant updates on his system as it continued to analyze and process the energies that he was constantly bombarded with. [Note: Dark Essence found! Progress... 43% Gathering in progress... The host is advised to continue with the absorption toplete the analysis process.] [New passive skill: Magic Resistance: Dark (Lvl 1 - 0 / 1000 XP) has been sessfully created!] Reading through the ''advice'' the system gave him, Aiden''s eyes nced over the warrior that was once again in a stalemate against Glohn, a cruel smirk appearing on his face upon what he was about to do. Something he hadn''t had a chance to do for such a long time... "[Goblin] Glohn, you have done a splendid job holding off such an opponent. I will have to take over from here, I hope you don''t mind." Before Glohn could react to his young master''s words, Aiden figure blurred, vanishing from his previous spot, stunning the monstrosity for a brief moment, along with the rest. Before they could have a chance to process and understand what happened, his figure appeared behind the orc warrior that was covered with a thinyer of the very same dark energy. The sound of flesh and skin tearing could be heard, as Aiden wed hands pierced through the ambushed orc''s body. Aiden''s eyed lit up, shimmering in its usual golden luster as he looked at the stunning figure of the creature, his smirk creasing, curving higher and higher as he felt the rapidly waning life essence in his hand. His wed hands were tightly gripping the creature''s core, but this time, he didn''t pull it out. No. What he nned was something that he hadn''t tried for a long, long time. The golden luster in his eyes burning with an increasing vigorous luster, his lips slowly parted, letting out amand that once caused even the greatest powers to tremble in fright. "ABSORB." Even he wasn''t aware of the action, his voice rung out across the hallway, thundering boisterously, reaching the higher floors as well. In the next moment, under the shocked gazes of his active minions, an inexplicable, horrifying event began to y out. The body of the pierced orc, began to tremble as rippled began to spread out with his core as the origin. The ripples, mystical waves grew in intensity, soon masking, shrouding the whole figure of the creature. From the core as the source, one after another, his organs, blood, flesh, and skin began to liquefy and flow towards the dark-green-skinned, golden-scale-covered, wed hand, seeping, merging with it at a frightening speed. The visage of the orc distorted, as his body rapidly transformed, turning into a dark, ck viscous liquid that seeped, soaked into the boy''s hand, vanishing at a scarily rapid, fast pace. At the same time, an euphoric look could be seen on the youth''s face, as he could finally feel this wonderful feeling as another life was merging into his very being, strengthening his body and soul. --- At an unknown ne, inside the dimly lit room, the thin humanoid-looking shadowy being jumped up from his seat with shock and utter disbelief. "THIS CAN''T BE! THIS" He was stunned, out of words. The scene that just yed out in front of him was momentous, it was simply impossible! Yet, it still happened, in front of his very eyes in fact. His hands were shaking, his face that was kept behind the tendril of the perpetual shadows that covered his figure hid such emotions that he didn''t know he could feel once again Still trembling, he reached out for the floating screen, that showed the euphoric, delirious expression of the young boy that just did somethingpletely impossible. "It really is true The Ancients After countless millennia" He mumbled, still unable toe to terms with this incredible reality. Taking a deep breath, he slowly sat back down, entering deep thought. His mind was going at lightning speed as it tried processing the possibilities of this momentous feat. Determination shed through his dark eyes, he raised his hand in the air. As a simr-looking, dark portal emerged from the void, he gave themand to his most faithful servant. "Go back and clean up. Clean up the camp, starting with those so-called leaders. Make sure that you are not seen by the boy nor any of his servants as you do your job." The robust, bulky figure appeared from the darkness behind his master. Withrge strides he stepped in front of the desk and gave a deep bow. His guttural, hoarse voice rebounded in the small room with a fervent reverence. "Yes, Master. It will be as youmand." Turning around, he was about to step through the gate, when his master''s voice stopped him. "Also Make sure to leave the entrance to the Grotto intact." "As you wish, Master." The bulky figure nodded, stepping through the gate, his figure vanishing. Being left alone once again, the shadowy figure receded back to his seat, his gaze on the screen floating in front of him. He entered, dived back into deep thinking once more. The little boy that he only had a slight interest in before, turned to be an even bigger surprise than he had hoped. "The Ancients finally returning" He sighed, whispering into the air, his words carrying a mixture of emotions. --- At the room where the leaders of various conjoined tribes resided and were getting ready to give a proper wee to the annoying brat and his party, were once again surprised with the emergence of yet another ck portal. The gateway formed, the frightening monstrous creature that took away their master appeared once more. His cold, dark brown eyes scanned the group of gathered leaders. He slowly reached for the scythe-shaped medallion hanging from his wide neck, speaking in an insipid, emotionless tone he gave the verdict that was entrusted to him by his master. "[Orc] Master has made a decision regarding you all." This time, he was conversing in the orc''s tongue, knowing that these primitive barbarians'' minds wouldn''t be able to understand the better, more sophisticatednguages. His fingers wrapped around the strange medallion, as he kept his piercing, cold, impassive gaze upon the shivering orc leaders. "[Orc] Oh great lord" One of the leaders, closest to the gargantuan creature spoke with a timid, meek tone. "...May we ask, what the wise one''s words were?" If the trio of goblins would saw the subservient posture and submissive tone of this warlord, they would be shocked beyond belief. The vile, evil monster that sent out amand to kill and torment their people, the sadist was acting like a scared little boy in front of this unknown but frightening existence. Keeping the emotionless, impassive look, the medallion transformed in the hands of the creature, rapidly forming into arge, terrifying scythe. Silvery, unnatural shine covering the de of a weapon that reaped countless lives once has appeared once again! The creature did not respond to the orc warlord''s question With the first, menacing grin appearing on his face, his cold eyes looked at the shaking warlords as if they were poultry ready to be cut down... --- Back in the hallway, Aiden was still in the midst of processing all the gains he had just received, unaware of the ripples in the sea of fate he had just caused... Chapter 275 - 275 - Primal Way Feeling a collection of essences gather inside his body, and seep into his very being, his soul, Aiden once again, after so long, felt the addictive sensation of growing stronger in the most natural way to his race, the Primal''s know-how. Strangely, absorbing the very essences of the orc didn''t feel wrong to him at all. On the contrary, it felt good, as if this was the natural way in life. He felt the energy rapidly increase in his body, he felt his muscles contort as they gained even more density. His eyes that were shimmering with a bright, golden luster didn''t seem to cease. He saw a multitude of notifications appearing silently in the system, but for the time being, he chose to ignore them. He checked on the progress in the Dark Essence analysis. [Note: Dark Essence found! Progress... 85% Gathering Complete!... Analyzing] The required amount of essence has been collected. System Analyzation is underway. Estimated time beforepletion: ???] His lips curved into an expression of satisfaction, he was satisfied with the results. Just as he hoped, absorbing the creature soaked and empowered with it provided a significant boost to theprehension process. One thing that puzzled him was that he didn''t get an estimation on when the system would finish the process, and was just greeted with question marks instead. Regardless, he gained what he could, the only thing that remained was to put a stop to this mess and finish what he came here to do. Calming his senses, he lowered his gaze and looked at the walking pile of abhorrent mutant, that was currently being surrounded by his three standing minions. Despite that he was still keeping its glowering, scarlet-colored bloody eyes on him, ignoring the insignificant ants that kept surrounding him. He didn''t know the specifics, but Aiden could feel an increase in his own attributes. He felt stronger and even more agile than before. He wanted to check the slew of messages that cluttered at the corner of his vision, but he knew that he can''t waste the time on it right now. Despite using so much of his own energies, he felt rejuvenated, as if his reserves were restored to their peak state. He wanted to test his own strength, his new ''normal'' limits, without the boost of his powerful abilities and inmates. Cracking his joints his eyes locked on the target, the creature that failed toplete his evolution and became this abomination. Pushing more power onto his legs, he nted them stably on the floor. He bent his knees as he lowered his posture, focusing on the creature swaying his meaty arms wildly at Glohn and Gob whilst Galina stood a step behind the two and kept spamming her nature spells supporting the two. Aiden was simr to a predator, eyeing his unsuspecting prey from the distance. He was focused, he waited for the optimal moment to unleash himself and lunge at this fiend. He did not activate his Draconic skillset, he didn''t enhance his body with the energies of the [Mystic Martial Arts]. He wanted to see what the limits of his own body his true strength could output. As the small ants that the monster did not consider any threat kept pestering him, its annoyance slowly grew, reaching ever higher, culminating to the point where its rage was slowly started shifting from its original target. Even though he was consumed by an eternal madness, with no possibility of turning back, and he lost his sanity to the point it can no longer be considered a humanoid conscious creature and should be referred to him as ''it'', it still realized the problem that if it wanted to reach the creature standing far in the back it first had to crush this current obstacle, these annoying ants. With a bellowing roar, the creature raised its massive arms in the air ready to strike down and squash the bugs in front of him. As he raised his air and continued to gather his strength, even the air around him turned colder, thicker. Gob and Glohn''s senses warned them of the impending doom that was cast on them, but as they were about to move, they felt their master''s presence from their back. Through the connection they all shared, they knew of his n and decided to hold up this horrible existence for as long as they can, so the young master could get ready. Now, that they felt that he was ready, they suddenly jumped to the left and right, opening a path in the middle, in front of the creature. Aiden was just waiting for this moment. The moment the creature raised its arms and made an obvious opening in its previously tight defense, heunched himself forward and charged with an immense speed. It was a far cry to the one when others could only see him blinking, almost akin to teleporting a distance, but it was still not something that could be exined by normal means. His blurry figures, zapped through the short distance, crashing into the meaty giant with a violent explosion of sound and dust, forcing the trio of ex-goblins to shield their eyes momentarily. Before the dust could settle another explosion, another blustering soundwave rang out from inside the cloud, throwing some more rubble and destroying the nearby doors that housed the now-dead orcs not too long ago. The series of punches followed by the loud explosions continued for more than a minute until the sound of crashing could be heard. After that, only a gravely groaning, the creature''s recognizable voice was the only indicator of what could have transpired inside the thick cloud of dust that continued to dissipate but was always fed with even more substance. The trio felt the seconds that continued to pass were crawling at a snail''s pace until finally, it cleared out enough to see the outline of the two confronting figures. The scene, despite only being able to make out vague silhouettes seemed incredible. Therge bulky frame of the mutated creature was deeply imnted to the wall whilst a couple of steps away from him, the lean figure of Aiden stood domineeringly. His chest was puffed out, proud of his achievement of triumphing over such a fearsome opponent using only his physical strength and speed. After the momentary respite, he walked next to the heaving, beaten, battered mutated existence, looking at him with cold, emotionless eyes. "[Orc] Although this may sound hypocriticaling from me, but I do hope that you find peace in your next life. I will now take your core and heart, absorb your memories and use the unique power you garnered for a much better purpose." His words said, he struck down at the mutated orc, piercing its thick skin and plunging deep into its chest. His hand quickly went through the meat, searching for a particr organ and the crystal that was usually found next to it. It didn''t take long before his agile fingers felt a cold, smooth surface. Next to it, a tired, but still beating organ continued pumping the life-preserving blood, albeit with a decreasing rhythm. His fingers quickly wrapped around both of them, while Aiden was looking at the slowly dying creature with rigid coldness in his eyes. He was about to finish off a life, that although done horrible things and most likely caused endless suffering and torment to other, weaker beings, it was still a life. He remembered Granny''s teaching from the past, which seemed to not be able to withstand with the passing of time. Despite being taught to protect life, he still found himself not caring about it at all. As he continued to grow, and evolve, he found himself caring even less and less about those that stood against him or tried to cause harm to those that were close to him. He shook his head, clearing it from these ill thoughts. He couldn''t falter, he had to push forward. He had many things to aplish, he had to stay strong. He had to push forward, to be strong to protect his family, his sister, and his friends. Grabbing the crystal and the heart, he tore them from their meaty sockets, pulling them out of the orc''s body, putting an end to his suffering. His eyes focused on the strange, unique crystal that was now in his hands along with a bloody, rapidly waning organ. The crystal, which was usually rtively small in size, easily fitting in his palm, was muchrger this time. A dark gaseous cloud of energy was swirling madly inside its transparent crystalline walls, with an even darker, seed resting in the midst of it. Aiden was looking at this much darker seed with amazement, he had never seen anything like it before. He was really interested in the use of it, but for the time being, he had to shelve it just like the notifications. With a thought, he stored the Unique Monster Core in his system''s inventory, shifting his attention to the dark, grimy heart that was slowly turning to its eternal slumber. He was already aware of a series of images that the system somehow forced to stall that most likely came from the absorbed orc, and he was now about to add more to that list with this one Still, he was already hungry for the increase in power that he would most likely receive. With expectant, wolfish eyes, he didn''t hesitate for long, opening his mouth he bit down... Chapter 276 - 276 - Restoration And Empowerment As the fleshy organ evaporated in Aiden''s mouth turning into particles of energy to provide him with further gains, the memories of the two orcs that were now part of his being, began to y out with rapid session. From the memories, he could make out that there was a special existence at the very top, governing the entire Horde. This being was someone from another realm, someone that instilled fear and obedience to the various warlords, leaders of the races that were now under his banner. The 13 warlords were nothing more than subordinates of this being, someone whose name Aiden couldn''t make out from the memories nor could he peak at his features. The only clue he could make out was from thest image before their own consciousness was being brought under themand of this being. He was a controller, a maniptor of minds Thest scene that yed out in both cases was a dark cloud engulfing both orcs'' mindspletely, swallowing their consciousness with ease. After that, there only fragmented images focused on the battlefield. The only unique event was the moment of rity that encroached upon the berserker. As he was first defeated and pushed to the brink of death, the magus'' hold over his mind suddenly vanished, only to be reced by a lust for revenge. The scene of him plunging deep into his brethren and devouring his flesh, blood, heart, and core and enforcing his own evolution through his rage as the driving force only to be met with failure halfway through as the very energy that controlled him pulled him back at the veryst moment. The scenes shed through Aiden''s mind rapidly, his mind processing all that was ying out in front of him with incredible speed, mostly thanks to the newly gained parameters and skills that he was yet to take a peek at. Although there two full lifetimes worth of memories to go through, the entire process only took him a couple of minutes, before his closed eyelids slowly opened up glimmering with the very same golden brilliance as they did through the battle. He slowly looked through the demolished hallway, that they turned into a brutal battlefield. Rubble, dust, splintered wooden remains of the destroyed doors to the various rooms Organs and rivers of blood dominating over the once royal carpet The carnage they aplished was brutal. His eyes slowly went through each of the three standing minions of his, his eyes curving into a satisfied, contented smile. Whatever results, rewards, the system would show him, he was proud of each of his minions, they really outdid themselves in their firstbat. These once small and fragile, meaningless existences, were now able tofortably match up to creatures that were birthed and raised through war. Not just any, but these warriors they faced were the elites the very top of their ranks! He nodded at them as his eyes slowly passed through them, finally arriving on the unconscious but still stabilized first minion of his, Roas. He suffered the most in this battle, meeting someone that he couldn''t possibly match. Still, it was him, that gained his first victory, he didn''t hesitate, did not falter when he was faced off against this monstrous berserker He felt guilty, he was his first ''creation'', and he did not know what he was doing at the time. When he was creating Glohn, his most recent one, he knew much more about this mysterious power of his. Determination shined in his eyes, as he made the decision to fix this mistake and properly reward his most devoted servant. He approached the bulky orcs stably lying body, crouching down, nting his right palm under his head, and lifting it up from the ground slowly, carefully. "[Orc] Roas, I am at fault for what happened to you. I nned to fix this mistake after the battle, but it seems I should have done that before I threw you into danger. I''m still too young and inexperienced, I hope you can forgive me." Looking at his slumbering servant, Aiden spoke in a sad tone. With his right hand holding the body of Roas in a sitting posture, he put his left hand atop his head and closed his eyes, focusing on his already bubbling power deep inside him. He released the shackles on both of his auras, letting their power descend on the hallway freely. He focused both streams of his energies and slowly began to guide them towards his connecting palm, to revitalize his fainted friend, and even provide him with further benefits. The moment the young master''s aura descended and enveloped the trio, Glohn, Gob, and Galina turned their attention from the demolished hallway towards Aiden. The powers that he released and kept active, these auras that would be choking, overpowering to his enemies, were incredibly soothing, warm rejuvenating to all of his allies, including the still unconscious silver-haired prince that missed the whole ordeal Thebination of his energies, the one he obtained from his fusion and his original one, the [Soul Power] kept flowing relentlessly into the battered body of the unconscious orc, rapidly restoring it to its peak state. The energy flowing, it quickly reached each and every corner of his body while a thin stream of his [Soul Power] made its way towards Roas'' Core, his crystal, the source of his energy. As the crystalline walls neared, the energy surrounded the precious, magical organ covering and protecting it. With his vitality restored, Roas'' eyelids began to flutter, as he was abruptly awoken to feel his young master''s familiar warmth coursing through his body. His eyes sprung open with this realization, but before he could utter a word before he could phrase a question in his mind, he suddenly felt his own reserves skyrocketing. Unbeknownst to him, a now-familiar-looking seedling began to take shape as the new center, merging with his own reserves and creating something new, something long-forgotten in the passages of history. Reaching the boiling point, the power that was contained within the crystal burst forth, brimming in a familiar golden light. The light that originated from his own core, enveloped Roas''s entire being in an instant. His body that was gently held in his young master''s caring embrace began to change. His already generous rich muscle mass grew, as new strands began to form. At the same time, it gained an additional level of density, increasing the strain and contortion it could withstand. His dark brown skin turned even darker, whilst gaining an even greater thickness, gaining defense akin to a mail armor. The structure of his face began to change, the bone structure, the features evolving as the powerful Primal and Draconic essences converged and mixed together with her orcish origin, forming an existence that shouldn''t exist at current times. Long, shoulder-length, silky ck hair appeared on the top of his head. His eyes now brimmed with the same golden color as what was his master''s. A thick nose, sharp edges, and a vaguely human-like face were what greeted the stunned trio as the light slowly faded. What was even more surprising that just like with Glohn, two recognizable protrusions were now visible on Roas'' back shoulder tes, hinting at a new feature that even he wasn''t truly aware of The end of his hands now had the same thick, curved ebony ws that his master was known for. Standing up, Roas slowly took in all the changes in his body that while mostly kept the same look as before, still had tremendous changes. With this evolution, he got rid of most of the rough, primitive traits orcs were known for. His body, bursting with incredible power and might looked much smoother, better to look at than before. Raising his hands, Roas was looking at his strange golden-scaled lower arms and his terrible wed hands. A smile began to show its curves at the edges of his lips as he realized the incredible gift, he was granted by the generosity of this one person, his young master, his one true lord. He took a bit of time to familiarize himself with his new powers. With a focused thought, he retracted the ws and watched with an increasing smile as his arms returned to their ''normal'' state. Taking arge gasp of air, he spun around, facing his young master, and with an ever-increasing reverence, he began to fervently kowtow. His faith and devotion to this unique existence grew more and more as he recognized all the changes his undeserving being had been granted. "[Orc] Young Master I can''t thank you enough for such an incredible gift. I am not worthy yet, but I will strive to return the generosity you have shown me, I swear on it with the name you have granted me, Roas!" He yelled with reverence, tears escaping from the corners of his eyes. He didn''t know what exactly he had be, but he felt the incredible amount of energy coursing through him. He knew, he was certain that his young master will aplish a great many things in theing future. Neither of them, not even Aiden was clear about the importance of the feat he had just aplished today... Chapter 277 - 277 - A Slew Of Rewards (Part 1) "[Orc] Rise, Roas. It is me who should be apologizing to you, my first one. I have neglected you and because of that, you suffered greatly. I hope you can forgive your foolish master." After pulling the kneeling Roas from the ground, Aiden bowed deeply, as an apologetic gesture, causing great shock to all of his servants. Roas, who was the most affected, was flustered, unsure of how to react to the gesture, he stood still, frozen on the spot. After a few seconds, however, awakening from his stupor, he hurriedly reached for his master, pulling him up from the bowing posture he kept. "[Orc] P-please, master there is no need for that. It is my duty as your guard to keep you safe. Wherever you point is where I should be striking. It is my failure that I was unable toplete the assignment you have entrusted me with." He stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath to settle his thoughts. The glint of determination shined in his eyes as he continued with conviction and fervor. Straightening his back, he hit his chest with his right fist. "[Orc] Today''s failure will serve as the fuel to propel me forward. I will strive to not be a useless waste as I was today. I promise you that from now on, I will not just meet your expectations but even ascend higher!" Aiden did not interrupt his servant''s vow, and while he did not expect such a thing from any of them, he was very happy to see the conviction in his first creation''s eyes. He kept a gentle, friendly smile on his face, as he listened to his exmation, only nodding at the end. "[Orc] I will ept your deration, Roas." After gently patting his minion on the shoulder, he turned towards the trio who stood still in their shock from all they witnessed. The evolution of Roas was truly a special one, gaining traits simr to Glohn, but at the same time, he seemed to have reached a unique stage. Something different, something exceedingly powerful. He had an aura simr to the master, an aura of dominance, power. They kept looking at Roas incredulously, still trying toe to terms with his gains. Their trance was broken with the words of their master. "[Goblin] You all did a great job as well! Glohn, you are very strong, you managed to keep up with the enemy even after he powered up, and even without my intervention, I am sure you would havee out as the victor! I am proud of you!" He started, praising the eldest of the ex-goblins first. Glohn, hearing his master''s words, immediately knelt, lowering his gaze, stering it on the ground. Just like Roas, he began hitting his chest with his right fist as he spoke with a loud, reverent tone. "[Goblin] This one is undeserving of your praise, Master! Even if I failed today, I will work twice as hard as anyone else and promise to be worthy of all the help you have offered to this worthless one!" Following their teacher, Gob and Galina also quickly knelt down and spoke in unison. "[Goblin] We also promise to grow stronger, Master!" "[Goblin] Rise my friends, there is no need for any of that." Aiden spoke in a calm, warm tone as he helped Glohn up from the ground. "You have all done well. The enemy was stronger than we expected, not to mention this was your very first battle since your change. Getting used to your bodies and abilities takes time." Taking a little pause in his speech, Aiden nced over at Galina, who from all of them, seemed to be the most affected by everything that happened. She had a guilty, troubled look on her cute, youthful face, she was clearly battling with her own emotions. "[Goblin] Come here, Galina." With the same friendly, gentle smile on his face, Aiden called out for the troubled girl, reaching his left hand towards her to grab into. "Don''t feel down, you did nothing wrong." Aiden''s words seemed to hit the core of the issue, as at the next moment, Galina''s emotions erupted, her eyes watered, she cried out. "[Goblin] That is not true Master! I was the weakest amongst of all of us! The others had to spend time and energy protecting me from the arrows! I didn''t know what to do, and because of that, Senior Brother Roas was hurt! If I wasn''t such a waste If I" Before she could finish her thoughts, she was suddenly pulled by Aiden, causing her to fall into his young master''s embrace. As her head hit the young master''s strong chest, her emotions reached the critical point, and with a violent, tempestuous explosion she burst into a bitter cry. "[Goblin] Master I''m just a bu-urde-en!!!" "[Goblin] Now now, it''s okay, don''t be sad. We all care about you, nobody thinks you are a burden. You are important to us!" Looking up, he gleaned at the guys who were looking at the sad girl with great concern. "Right guys?" Glohn, Gob, and even Roas who didn''t have much interaction with the neers nodded at their master''s question. "[Goblin] Yes, we do!" They spoke, not just to blindly follow their young master''s words, but from within their hearts. The trio was already a close, tight group as they suffered together, but even for Roas, the girl and the others were already important members of their increasing family. If nothing else, this battle they went through helped him to understand and get closer to these three. Roas stepped closer, cing herrge right hand on the sobbing girl''s back. With gentle caresses, he spoke in a warm, caring tone, in their native, [Goblin]nguage. "[Goblin] I do not fault you for anything Galina. It was entirely my fault for getting hurt, I underestimated the enemy. No" He shook his head as a wry smile appeared on his face. "No, it was me who overestimated my current abilities, and wasn''t focused enough. Instead of ming you, I am thankful that you saved me and gave me the chance to stand up from this grave mistake!" --- It took a good ten minutes before the violent sobs finally calmed down, and Galina managed to calm down. After such an emotional outburst, she felt tired, so Aiden opened the Minion Portal with the assistance of his System and sent her back with Gob and Glohn in tow as they did not want to leave the girl alone. However, before leaving, they asked the young master to call for them as soon as he reached the top floor as they wanted to be there to look that monster in the eye that caused all that suffering to them and get their revenge personally. As he already promised this to them, Aiden agreed. After they left, he turned towards the silver-haired prince who was just now starting to show signs of waking up. Heaving a tired sigh, he spoke. "[Orc] Please, look after this idiot, and keep him in check. If he starts his childish temper tantrum again, feel free to put him back to sleep. I have no energy to waste on him right now, I need to check a few things." "[Orc] As you wish, master." Roas nodded, picking up the lying prince and putting him over his shoulders as if he was a sack of potatoes. Left alone, Aiden finally had the time to focus on the system and all the notifications that he had to ignore during the heat of the battle. He was still puzzled, what happened that suddenly turned the system into an unknown, silent mode, but regardless he was thankful for such a feature. The first couple of dozen notes gave a constant log of their minions'' states. It seemed that he would be able to follow them most likely even from a great distance and be able to react immediately to any trouble they might face in the future. The second segment was the various experience rewards they received for defeating the orc warriors. For a direct kill, they received 15-30 points of experience, however, there was no exnation of what the calction was based off. The only difference was for the two evolved/changed creatures that they fought of. The mutated berserker gave a whopping 150 experience, ten times than the average warrior to Roas and himself, while the glowing one that he ultimately absorbed gave him another 100 points while it only gave half of it to Glohn, Gob, and Galina. After that, he reached for the newest,test note, that showcased the updated status sheet for Roas. Just as he expected, he underwent a significant change. [Minion Status Name: Roas Race: Mountain Orc (Tier 2, clean) -> Primal Orc Dragonlord (Tier 3) (clean) ss: Tribal Shaman -> Guard Level: 10 Experience: 0 / 1000 -> 165 / 1000. Soul Power: 0 -> 100 Mana: 50 Might: 13 -> 15 Agility: 7 -> 9 Spirit: 9 -> 11 Skills: Language: Orc (Lvl -), Language: Goblin (Lvl -), Hunt (Lvl 5), Magic Proficiency (Lvl -), Dark Magic (Lvl 2), Fire Magic (Lvl 4), Spirit Magic (Lvl 3), *Primal Orc Heritage (Lvl 1)*, *Aura of the Orc Lord (Lvl 1)*, Primal Absorb: Basic (Lvl 1 - restricted) Effects: Touch of the Primal (Lvl -), *Primal Core (Lvl 2)*, *Magic Resistance (Lvl 1)*, *Physical Resistance (Lvl 1)*] Chapter 278 - 278 - A Slew Of Rewards (Part 2) Looking through Roas'' updated character sheet, Aiden was surprised by the number of changes his first minion underwent. For one, his new race, the new form that was phrased quite simr to Glohn''s, just with orcish roots was now considered a Tier 3, instead of Tier 2, although he was still not quite sure of what the different Tier''s would have meant. For example, his most iconic and mostmonly used form, the ''mighty'' Ancient Dragon, which by now was considered one with his own Primal one, was considered ''only'' a Tier 3. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to get any details about this, at least for the time being. Shaking his head at this, he continued on. What was surprising, is that Roas'' ss, his role was also updated, now stating him as ''Guard'' instead of the Shaman which he originally was. This, once again, was something that he would have really liked to understand, but, just as before, the system did not provide any additional information about them. Although this was kinda annoying, at least, this time, Aiden could make a vague guess about what it could be. When he first ''converted'' Roas, and made him a minion, he retained most of his origins. His race wasn''t altered, he hasn''t received Aiden''s or the system''s much higher-ranked Soul Power to rewrite his very core. Although he was faithful and devoted to his new master, it was mostly because of the hope he himself represented. The promise of revenge was what pulled Roas out from the pit of despair he has fallen in. However, after being upgraded and his core had been rewritten and he got his Primal Seed of Energy, Roas was now a different person. He was no longer an orc, he had primal essence coursing inside him, their ancient power and unique energy has altered his source. To prove this point, he, just like Glohn, had a new skill inherited from their master. They both had the Primal Absorb, albeit seemingly restricted to level 1, at least for now. Focusing on it, the description that came up, also added more weight to this theory. [Primal Absorb: Basic - A skill unique to a mysterious ancient and forgotten race. Absorb the life essence of a defeated opponent and merge it to the user''s own core. Being inherited, the synthesis of new life forms is not avable. Additionally, the opponent cannot be of a higher Tier than the user. Skill Proficiency: Basic | Usage Limit: Once every 24 Hours. Warning: Extremely high energy usage!] While the basis of the skill was simr to his own, there were several differences that clearly set it apart. Based on the wording of the description alone, it seems that this was an inherited skill something his two servants got, due to the fact that they were now considered Primals in some way. Not like him, that was born as one, but as ones that received his heritage. Also, there were some restrictions and a new term that Aiden hadn''t seen before, the Skill Proficiency. The warning was also a significant reminder that the skill should only be used sparsely, and only when they were sure that there was no chance for a trap or ambush happening. ''Hmm I really want to see the differences'' Thinking about testing it out, Aiden sent out several energy pulses using the [Dark Sense] ability, just to make sure that at least for now, they would be safe. Seeing that they should be okay for now, Aiden looked at the still intact dead body of the orc archer that they killed at the start of the battle. "[Orc] Roas, use your newly acquired Primal Absorb skill on that archer''s body. I want to see what effects will it have. Be careful, as it will have a high energy requirement." Roas, gave a silent nod, affirming the order, and whilst keeping the unconscious prince on his shoulder he walked towards the body. "Wait, put that idiot down, I will keep watch while you do your thing. We do not know what changes it might have on you after all" Aiden warned him, taking over his ''friend'' and put him on the ground next to him. Without hesitation, Roas touched the now bare torso of the deceased body. The mail chest te he was wearing when he was still ''active'' had already broken apart during the repeated explosions that urred in quick session. It was already a wonder how the body was still intact. As hisrge palm touched the orc''s dark brown, thick skin, Roas closed his eyes, and activated the skill his master ordered him to do so. After evolving the system also imnted to his subconscious all the necessary knowledge about the newly acquired skills and abilities, making both him and all the other minions instinctively aware of them. As his skill activated, the Primal Seed, the Primal Core deep within his own core began to churn, pumping out massive amounts of his currently very limited pool of [Soul Power]. The previously 100 points he had, was rapidly decreasing, going all the way down to 0 in a second. This put a significant strain on Roas''s mind, causing him to feel fatigued. He was suddenly drained, his mind got enervated. Still, he wasn''t going to pull back, he had a task to do, his young master was counting on him. This was a simple task, he couldn''t fail, or he wouldn''t be able to face the master anymore. He gritted his teeth, using his willpower to stay awake, and push the weariness away forcefully. Just as he did, and regained his vigor momentarily, greenish-colored particles began to shine around the contacted part of the dead orc''s skin, beginning to converge towards Roas''srge connecting palm and seep into his body. As this strange, vibrant energy entered into his own, Roas felt his body and for a small portion, his mind being reinforced. He felt his muscles contort, pulse. He felt a refreshing warmth in his mind, easing up on the pain due to the strain he exerted just a little bit. At the same time, the dead body was being rapidly drained, leaving behind only a drained-up husk. It was like the body aged several years in a few moments, turning into a decrepit skeleton under the thick skin it had. The meat and body muscture, organs all vanished, sucked up by Roas'' absorb skill. The skill, its effects, and by the looks of the new notifications Aiden just received, its results were much, much different than his own. [Minion: Roas used [Primal Absorb: Basic]. Energy Used: 100 Results: +2 Might, +1 Agility, +1 Spirit. The skill [Martial Art (Lvl 1)]] has been created!] The gains were incredible, he gained not just an increase on his primary attributes, he also received a new skill! Just to make sure, he checked the skill on Roas''s character sheet again, only to see that now, it was greyed and it had a count down on it, confirming that the once a day usage limit was in fact, real and that the countdown started from after the skill was used. There were two new skills Roas had, and while there would be no point in using them for now, at the very least, Aiden wanted to understand what they could be used for. [Primal Orc Heritage - Passive. The user is a member of a unique and mysterious race that was once connected to an extinct, ancient race. Unlike normal orcs, a Primal Orc, has a natural dominance over them, they would instinctively treat the holder of the skill as being of higher standing. Orcs would no longer be hostile and would treat you with an instinctive fear and respect.] [Aura of the Orc Lord - An aura of power rted to the true lords, leaders of the Orc race. In itself, it would grant control over most lower-ranked orcs, but whenbined with the Primal Orc Heritage, it grants full control over even higher ranking members of most tribes. The only exemption is the tribes with an active connection to a higher tiered existence than the skill holder him- or herself.] Aiden was astonished when he read through the descriptions of these two new skills. These two skills by themselves would cause almost an entire race in the world to submit to him, by proxy of his servant. It was incredibly powerful, and he was certain it would have many uses in the future There were two new effects on Roas that would be needed to be checked, however, Aiden couldn''t wait any longer, there were quite a few notifications that were still not read by him. Not to mention that they could provide a much-needed exnation to the newly felt brimming power in him, it would most likely contain many interesting updates as well. With expectant eyes, he closed up Roas''s character sheet and navigated out from the Minion Management menu back to the main section of the System''s interface. His eyes wandered toward the bottom right corner of his vision... Chapter 279 - 279 - Before The Final Ascent With eager, shining eyes, Aiden watched with bated breaths as thest bits of the notifications he skipped over so far has finally opened up. Just as he expected they were all rted to his new usage of the [Primal Absorb] ability. At first, he had some thoughts that the skill might not work, as he wasn''t in a Primal form per se. That was why he actually plunged his fist deep into the orc''s body, as in the case his skill wouldn''t activate, he still wanted to make sure that he would finish him. Luckily, his current form, which was created by the system using his most dominant essences, was still considered mostly primal, thus allowing the usage of his racial ability. Luckily with the skill''s recent level up, he was now able to activate it from any form. Also, whilst the description did not state it at the time, but the absorption process felt like it sped up by a great deal, devouring the orc in a manner of seconds instead of a span of a few minutes like before. Aiden''s eyes beamed with excitement as he read through the appearing texts. [Mountain Orc (mutated) life essence found! The form is already avable, merging essences] [Multiple mutations found on the form. An analysis is required before it will be avable for use.] [The absorption process resulted in the following updates to Host''s Statistics: Attribute changes: +2 Might, +1 Agility! Note: The skill [Hunt] has received 100 XP and has leveled up! [Hunt (lvl 3 - 100 / 100 XP -> Lvl 4 - 0/ 1000 XP)] Note: The skill [Martial Arts] has received 100 XP and has leveled up! [Martial Arts (Lvl 3 - 100/100 XP -> Lvl 4 - 0 / 1000 XP)] Note: New skill, [Axe Mastery (Lvl 1 - 0 / 100 XP)] has been created! Dark Essence Source has been found and absorbed! Analysis Progress has been updated!] [Note: Dark Essence found! Progress... 90% Gathering Complete!... Analyzing Complete!] The required amount of essence has been collected. System Analyzation ispleted!. Estimated time beforepletion: 03 Hours 59 Minutes 47 Seconds] The strengthening in his muscles, the increased power he felt wasn''t just a feeling, he did truly receive instant upgrades from that single orc. Even though his Soul Power was now at 570 Points of the total of 1100, the results he got were more than worth it. He was already aware of his newfound knowledge of handling Axe-based weapons, as quite a few of the processed and merged memories from the orcs were rted tobat training. Although he wasn''t a weapon-based fighter and preferred his own ''skillset'', Aiden still was quite happy with it. He also had to admit, that with the many incredible abilities of the system, he was really gifted in learning. The system could analyze real-time, and while it may be a slow process especially forplex skills like the Alchemy and the various magic ones that have been sitting in his Under Analysis section for years now, it was still something he passively gained with just observing others. Now, for the first time, he also gained multiple increases and an entirely new one as he merged the absorbed orcs memories with his own. Still, none of these mattered ultimately. The main reward, from all of this ordeal, was the Dark Essence, a new source of energy and probably a type of magic he had gathered and now almostpleted. 4 hours from now, probably by the time he would be out of the forest and hopefully reunite with the girls, he would gain this incredibly powerful source and set of skills. Also, as the time for the ''showdown'', the battle for the Town Lord position is only a couple of days away, not to mention he also had to attend the Academy in a few weeks to get epted and save the prince''s second brother, this powerful source of magic will most likelye very handy. Aiden was very excited about this, this would be his very first truly magic-based ability He wanted to see how it would work with him, as his main source of power was different than what he has seen on Roas'' and the other minions'' character sheets. He didn''t have any mana, he used [Soul Power]. Finally finished in going over his gains, Aiden closed all the notifications in the system. Before dismissing the floating screen itself, he took a quick look at the timer on the System''s Mission that was the main reason for himing here. The Guild''s and the Mistress'' assignment didn''t really bother him. He wasn''t human, and from what he saw from them so far, apart from a very few select beings he wouldn''t really care if the city would be ttened by these monsters. No, for that, he wouldn''t havee and risked so much. No, the reason he came was the System''s so-called Main Quest, which was basically a sword hanging above his head, ready to strike down and take his life. [New Main Quest: The Secrets of the Demon Grotto Difficulty: A-S+ Remaining Time: 39 days 21 hours 23 minutes 15 seconds Objective: -Find and Explore the Demon Grotto -Uncover its secret -Earn its owners'' eptance Optional: ???? Reward: ???? Failure Condition: -Banished from the Demon Grotto -Failure toplete the quest in time Penalty: Expulsion and Forceful Return to the Wheel of Life and Death] Quite a lot of time had passed, and while he still had more than a full month to get it done, he had a distinct feeling that he would need quite a lot of time, toplete the objectives and that finding the ce would be the easiest part of the quest itself. Finishing up everything, he closed down the system and looked towards the far side of the demolished hallway where instead of the expected stairways usually stood, there was only a single white, wooden door. It was inconspicuous, there were novish designs, great symbols, or any emblems on it. He couldn''t feel any source of energy either, so most likely it wasn''t even warded. When he tried sending energy pulses to map out what would be behind it, he felt no resistance, his energy could easily pass through, but strangely, he only felt more of the same hallway What was even more puzzling that he could only scan for only a brief distance, after that he felt ayer of energy, some sort of barrier, shielding the way forward. Even if it was a trap, or just somest-minute defenses set up, he was determined to push through and get to the top and get the answers so many were waiting for. He would not falter, nothing could stop him. Taking a breath, he slowly exhaled to collect himself, and clear his mind. He looked at the lying body of the prince on the ground, a sigh escaped his lips. "[Orc] Roas, pick up the prince, but don''t bother sending him back to sleep when he awakens next. It''s time he walked on his own, we could use his skills at the top." He spoke, trying to mask his annoyance with this human baggage they had been carrying. Although the prince, or ''Drake the adventurer'' as he liked to refer to himself was his first human friend, so far, he wasn''t any help. They had to protect him, carry him, causing unnecessaryplications to the battles. While it wasn''t a big problem so far, the next set of enemies would be the true leaders of this huge tribe, the best of their races. Even if he wasn''t really worried about the orcs warlords themselves, there was someone that could control several of the elite warriors with such proficiency. A skilled expert such as this one could turn out to be quite a challenge. If that would turn out to be the case, then neither Aiden nor any of his minions would be able to waste time in protecting this sleeping beauty, he would have to take care of himself. "[Orc] Yes, master. Don''t worry. Just like before, I will keep the human safe until he is ready to walk on his own again." Roas'' gruff voice pulled Aiden back from his thoughts. He nodded at his servant''s words with a small smile, taking onest look at the pile of blood, gore, and rubbleid out in front of him. Giving the scene onest, appreciative scan, he turned towards the door at the far end of the hall and slowly began making his way towards it. Thinking back to the Primal Absorb, he couldn''t help but wonder, what would happen when he would absorb one or maybe even more of the orc leaders? Would he gain more skills? Maybe even some form of control over the thousands of these savage warriors? If so, what would he do with such a huge army that even the humans feared? He didn''t know, but he would soon find it out --- Please take the time and read the Author''s Notes, it only takes a few seconds! Chapter 280 - 280 - Is This A Trap? Inside a mysterious, tall structure that towered high up in the sky, at the middle of a camp of savage orcs, two beings were standing in front of what probably was their final hurdle before finally reaching their destination: the top. One was a tall, bulky, robust orc that exerted a fearsome, battle aura. Opposed to the usually mostly bald warriors of his race, this one had long, ck hair draped over his shoulders, swaying wildly with each of his movements. He held a dominating presence and a cold look, however, there was also a hint of proudness in his eyes, as he silently stood at the other, much leaner, smaller figure on his left. Over his right shoulder, the body of a human-looking figure with his silver-hair swaying with each of his steps could be seen. It was unclear without taking a longer, more scrutinizing check if the body had any life in him. The smaller figure in question, a dark green figure that while had clearly defined muscles, looked like a fragile, weak child next to this humongous giant on his right. From a distance, he held a resemnce to a goblin, but also there were several unknown, alien features mixed within. He took calm, stringent steps, with a rxed smile on his face. They crossed through a scene of brutal carnage nonchntly, stopping only when they reached the very end of the hall. In front of them stood thest barrier before they could continue with their seemingly never-ending ascent towards the top. Both men were focused on the simple, painted, wooden door, thest hurdle they would need to cross. From a look, Aiden guessed that it was either made of themonly found whitewood or por, however, it could very well be made out of something else, something otherworldly just as well. The type of wood didn''t really matter, what did was the strange fact that while Aiden could scan behind the door, he couldn''t extend his [Dark Sense] further than a couple of dozen steps. After that, there was a strange resistance, some sort of boundary field that didn''t let his mental energies through. "[Orc] Young master, should I go ahead? There could be dangersying in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to strike." Roas, the tall, robust figure spoke up in his hoarse voice. His eyes wandered off from the door to his young master awaiting his confirmation before stepping to the front. However, the young master, Aiden merely shook his head. A gentle smile curved his lips as he responded with calm and warmth. "[Orc] No need, Roas. There''s no immediate danger behind the door, at least for a short distance." He did not mention the fact that he couldn''t scan further ahead, as while it could indeed be a trap, Aiden had a feeling that it wasn''t, but it was something else. There was a simple bronze knob on the door, without any keyhole or any visible mechanic, slot, or otherwise. This was slightly baffling as this was the only one of its kind with such features, making it stand out even further from any other they could see in this ''Sacred Sanctum'', this huge and mysterious tower. Aiden slowly reached for the knob, only to stop his hand mid-air, as Roas, his minion yelled out once again, with a warning, slightly agitated tone. "[Orc] Wait, young master! Don''t touch it! We can''t be certain if there isn''t any hidden mechanic, trap, or warding on the door. Please, young master, as your guard let me be the one to check it!" Hearing his servant speak up, Aiden could only sigh and nod with a wry,plicated look on his face. If he were to deny his servant once again, despite showing such conviction, he would be rude. He silently stepped back, allowing Roas to step forward and be the shield he wanted to be. Not that it mattered, as unless these leaders had a way to fool his senses, there was no chance for an ambush happening at the other side. Roas felt ted seeing his master acquiescing to his request and giving him the chance to serve him as his shield and sword. With his right arm wrapped around the human baggage on his shoulder, he reached for the bronze knob carefully. He was focused, ready to exert his mana and push back against any magical warding that could be cast on this seemingly simplistic door. As the tip of his fingers came in contact with the knob, Roas'' mind was already running at full capacity, expecting a simr sort of power that they felt at the entrance. His eyes were burning with a fiery passion, he wanted to show the young master that he was indeed worthy of his self-proimed title. He felt a natural coldness as his skin came in contact with the metallic circr handle, but apart from that, he felt nothing. There was nothing of the unnatural, mystical nature. With that knowledge in mind, his fingers slowly wrapped themselves around the handle, still fully focused to react at the moment he sensed something otherworldly being activated. The whole event took only a second at most, even though it felt much longer for Roas before he confirmed the fact that there was nothing magical happening. The door was indeed just like as it looked. He slowly turned the handle, all the way until he heard the satisfying clicking sound. With that he was once again, fully focused ready to react in case of something was activated at the same time. Behind him, Aiden was watching the scene y out with a cheeky smile on his face. He was fully aware of the fact the door was harmless, he scanned it multiple times after all. Still, even though he informed Roas about this, his servant seemed to be determined to show him how ''good'' and aware he was. He didn''t want to spoil his fun, he waited in silence behind. Meanwhile, as there was no reaction at all after unlocking the mechanism in the door, Roas slowly, carefully pushed against it, keeping his attention to the gradually expanding gap as the wooden barrier creaked open under the invader. The hallway behind thisst hurdle surprisingly wasn''t anything special or extraordinary. There weren''t any presence lying in wait ready to jump at them, it was an empty corridor that seemingly went further on. It was slightly more elegant, had a more ''royal'' style to it, but apart from that, there were no big surprises waiting for the duo as their eyes first nced at the second half of the hallway. A clean, unblemished maroon carpet wasid out on the marble-like floor. An amber-like, mellow, yellow-colored wall stood at both sides. Just like in the loop they were stuck in a few floors below, paintings of various beings greeted them from each side. However, these looked mostly normal, human-like even. There were no protruding horns, or hellish, demonic figures at all. In fact, there was not even one orc, goblin, or any other kind present on any of the portraits. There were no doors at all, and from a first, brief nce, the hallway continued on until their eyes could take them. However, when Aiden used his [Dark Sense] once again, he felt the same resistance just a bit further on. There, just ahead of them, was something, blocking his attempts to peak further inside. "[Orc] This" Roas was looking at this scene with a dumbfounded, incredulous expression. This wasn''t what he was expecting at all. This ce was supposed to be the most important part not just in the tribe but in the entire Horde. At the very least, it should be protected, guarded! But, contrary to his beliefs, there was nothing behind the door. Not a single trap, not a soul, or those fearsome stone guardians nothing! He stepped through, standing back to the right side awaiting his master to follow along. As if reading his thoughts, Aiden spoke as he followed behind his servant. "[Orc] Don''t be downhearted, Roas. There is no need for such measures, this ce is not something that could be reached by an outsider normally. Even if someone woulde, he would be met with thebined wrath of the leaders, warlords of the Horde. What need is there for such measly stone guardians?" He spoke, not expecting a response. Reaching next to the robust servant, he pointed ahead of them with the same calm, friendly smile stretching his facial muscles. "[Orc] Instead of wondering about theck of presence, look ahead of us. What do you see?" Following where his young master was pointing at, Roas first was puzzled. He was pointing at the air! He was sure that the master wouldn''t joke at a time like his, he focused all his senses, and even his mind to take a careful, scrutinizing scan at the empty air in front of them. Suddenly he gasped in surprise, he could actually feel a thin film, a sort of transparent, invisibleyer of energy spread out where his master was pointing. What puzzled him the most, was that without focusing, he would have easily missed this detail, and would have walked into whatever trap wasid out. "[Orc] Young Master w-what is that?" Chapter 281 - 281 - Test Him! "[Orc] Young Master w-what is that?" Roas asked, pushing his mind to its limits trying to find out more about the puzzling sight in front of them. With the same calm demeanor he always had, he responded as he slowly approached the thin, invisible barrier. "[Orc] It''s a barrier, obviously. I''m guessing this is thest thing we need to cross before we could finally get to the staircase and walk up to thest level of this tower." As he spoke, he reached towards the invisible energy. Just like before, Roas tried to call out to the young master, but unlike at the door, this time, Aiden didn''t give him any chance to speak before his hands made contact with the barrier. Immediately he felt stronger resistance where his hand felt the surface. It was as if he touched a gtinous surface, his palm was rebounded, as a smaller circr wave spread out from the point of contact. "Interesting" Aiden muttered, mostly to himself, a thin smile donning his expression as he continued to investigate the magical contraption. Roas was stunned when he suddenly saw a stream of energy ripple across the previously invisible surface, reaching all four walls it was spread out. After a moment, however, as he came back to his senses, he scurried forward, looking at the young master with a worried expression. "[Orc] Young master! Are you okay?!" He called out feeling perturbed. His concern, however, wasn''t needed, as in the next moment, Roas saw the usual nonchnt, easy-going smile and rxed expression on his young master''s face. He was clearly unhurt, and from the looks of it, he probably has realized something as well. "[Orc] Don''t worry, it''s not harmful. Actually, it''s not even that strong It''s just The energy feels familiar somehow As if I have seen this before" Aiden mused for a bit, before shaking his head slightly, turning back towards the barrier once more. "Anyway Let me test out something." He ced his palm on the gtinous surface, pushing ever-so-gently against it. Feeling the resistance slowly build up and push back against his palm, Aiden''s smile only increased. He began to gradually increase the pressure, watching carefully how the energy reacted. The reason he didn''t use his full force right from the start, was that he wanted to find out more about the origin of the energy that built up this protective shield. There was a certain sense of familiarity that he just couldn''t recognize where he felt it before. His hand bent the invisibleyer, causing a visible distortion as the transparentyer folded into itself. Roas was watching the event, focused to jump in and pull his young master away with all his power in case of anything unfortunate would happen. If needed he wouldn''t hesitate to throw away the baggage he was ordered to carry. Although he didn''t show it, he didn''t have a good impression of this silver-haired human so far Seeing how his palm was pushing inside the barrier yet he was still unable to pierce it, Aiden decided it was time to end this experiment. His eyes suddenly lit up from one blink to another as his [Draconic Heritage] innate was activated. At the same time, he also activated his [Mystic Martial Arts] and guided his already boiling [Soul Power] towards his right hand. In the next moment, his hands began to glow, radiating the same golden shine that was brimming from his eyes. Immediately, as his energy came in contact with the blockage, a thin, spiderweb crack appeared and began to spread out rapidly reaching all four ends of the barrier. Aiden continued to exert even greater pressure, not giving any chance to the shield to recuperate. The cracks continued to spread, and growingrger, wider until finally the sound of cracking as if a piece of ss was being broken, rang out. Instantly, the resistance Aiden felt vanished, he no longer felt the energy that was there previously. The same, calm and gentle smile not easing from his face, he deactivated both of his skills, causing the shining luster to fade from his eyes and hands. He had to spend another, a small portion of his power, but it wasn''t anything meaningful. He lowered his arm, as he stepped forward, crossing the previously uncrossable hurdle in front of the wide-eyed and astonished Roas. Turning around, he met his servant''s gaze, as he called out to him in a cheeky tone. "[Orc] What are you doing standing there? Come, we have to meet the bosses of this ce! They have wasted more than enough of our time already!" Pulled back from his daze, Roas stepped forward, following his young master. He did, however, remain careful as he stepped over the area where the barrier stood just a moment ago --- At an unknown ce, in the dark room the thin-looking figure chuckled with amazement at the sight he just witnessed. In front of him, floating just above a wooden desk, an opaque image was showing, closely following the figures of Aiden and Roas as they began their final ascent to the top of the tower. "He is indeed special. To be able to break Dominus'' barrier with such ease! Hahaha! Interesting! Marvelous!" The figure was quite ted, not really worried about the fact that one of his servant''s spells was broken just like that. He didn''t really care about the Puppetmaster. No, his interest was gradually increased, reaching higher and higher altitudes towards this long, ck-haired boy. As he was enjoying the moment, the air suddenly began to buzz. The dark essences, particles in the air began to activate, as the ck gate appeared. His most faithful servant, the robust, bulky creature stepped out of it. He stepped forward, stopping in front of his Master''s desk. As he stepped into the thin, obscure light that managed to sneak in a faint pir of scarlet-light in the room, it became apparent that unlike when he left, he was now covered in bloodstains all over his body. However, there were no wounds anywhere on his chest, the dark leather armor that somehow managed to contain his thick muscles, had no scratches. The silver medallion hanging on his neck however was brimming with an eerie red light. Arriving in front of the master''s desk, he bowed deeply and spoke with a neutral but respectful tone, whilst keeping his gaze stered on the ground. "Master, I havepleted the task you gave me." The thin man did not even raise his gaze, he kept it on the screen, showing the image of Aiden and Roas stepping on the staircase and slowly, carefully approaching the top floor. "Hmm. That''s fine, we don''t need these pigs anymore." He spoke not bothered by the gruesome task his servant had justpleted. Feeling that the time that passed since his servant''s departure and arrival was too short to aplish everything without alerting the ones, he wished to keep unaware, he raised his head, averting his eyes from the screen. "Did you clean up the camp as well?" Hearing the question, the bulky figure flinched for a moment, before responding with an apologetic tone. "No Master. I forgot." Saying that he stood up and turned around to walk back cross through the portal. Before he could do so, the portal suddenly vanished. His Master''s words came the next moment. "Don''t bother. It''s fine actually. It''s fine. This way, we can check what the boy will do, how will he react That''s good in itself as well." The creature faced his master once again and bowed respectfully. "Master, would you like me to test the boy?" "No-... Wait" The thin figure wanted to dismiss his servant''s proposal, but, as he thought about it more, it would indeed provide him with the most data, while the risks would be kept rtively low. The only problem would be if that decrepit old monster would be watching, but even if that''s the case, he could still bring him back. After all, the tower was his domain, even with that monster''s power he was fairly certain everything would be okay in the end. Thinking about it for a brief moment, he convinced himself that the idea was sound. He nodded, as he changed his wording. "You know what? Go, and test him. Make sure to not overdo it, we both know how heated you can get when an interesting opponentes, and the boy Well, if my hunch is right, he will be very, very special" Taking a quick nce at the screen to check where the group was currently, the thin, shadowy figure flicked his right hand. In the next moment, another dark portal emerged from thin air, behind the dark brown creature. "Do not kill him, but make sure he has to go all out. I will be watching you, so don''t disappoint me!" The figure''s face flinched for the first time, showing a tinge of fear upon his master''s words. In the next moment, however, the emotion quickly vanished as his look returned to his usual emotionless, stoic state. "Rest assured I will not fail your expectations, Master!" He spoke, before turning around and stepping through the portal. Chapter 282 - 282 - The Painting After getting through the energy shield, Aiden and Roas could finally see the true ending of this second to thest floor in this strange tower-like Sacred Sanctum. The scene changed, it no longer showed an endless path forward but they saw the very end of the hallway, while on their left, where they only saw the endless wall, the very familiar-looking staircase appeared. There was however a simr, maroon carpet draped over the stairs, while the usual wooden railing was reced by bronze this time. Midway through there was a small kite winder, giving it a U-shape, instead of the previous straight ones. The mellow, amber-colored wall had a single, peculiar painting. From the distance, neither Aiden nor Roas could make out anything it seemed to be apletely ck canvas. However, when Aiden looked at it, suddenly a system notification popped up, giving a surprising note. [Dark Essence Source Found! Please approach the source for the absorption process to begin.] Not expecting something like this, the update surprised Aiden, causing him to squint and scrutinize the painting once again, this time also exerting a sliver of his own [Soul Power] to scan it with his [Dark Sense] ability. He felt a strange, unfamiliar sensation as his energy tapped on the canvas, he felt a buzzing, ufortable feeling in his mind. Frowning, he pulled his senses back, heaving a soft sigh, he stepped on the first step. "[Orc] Come Roas. I''m sure you also felt something from that painting, let''s check it out." He voiced his thoughts to his servant, as he ascended the stairs in a careful, slow manner. He wasn''t sure what this was, and the strange sensation he felt in his mind only raised his awareness more. Behind him, Roas was following, Drake''s still resting body draped over his right shoulder. His left hand was clenched into a fist, feeling the familiar source of Dark Magic from the painting, he was ready to jump into action at the first sign of trouble. Reaching the painting, both of them looked at the peculiar picture hanged on the wall. Even from this close, they couldn''t see anything but apletely dark canvas. To bepletely honest, looking at it, it would be a bit of a stretch to call the painting art. Aiden felt as if the image was inviting him, whispering to him to get closer, to touch it Pulling him closer and closer. He wasn''t in any sort of trance, the pull, the whispers he felt from the dark painting, did not cloud his mind. However, seeing as how the system did not seem to alert him and did not block anything, Aiden was certain, that whatever this ''thing'' was, would be beneficial to him. Otherwise, he would have surely seen messages stating that his resistances have blocked something. His right hand slowly reached closer to the painting, stopping at a bit over halfway, as Roas suddenly cried out, grabbing his wrist. "[Orc] Young Master, no! Don''t do it, there could be a trap set up! Let me try it first and see if it''s safe!" This time, however, Aiden wasn''t gonna let his servant take the lead, he shook his head, freeing his wrist from Roas'' hold. "[Orc] No, Roas. This time I need to do it. I am fairly certain, that there are no traps in here. There''s a lingering source of this Dark Magic, Dark Essence. Not sure what purpose does this painting actually serve, but I''m sure I can take this source for myself. Let me do it." Before Roas could react and try to pull him back once again, Aiden quickly touched the ck canvas. As soon as he did, he felt the surface of the painting reacting to him. The surface of the painting emitted a low-toned buzzing sound, the same he felt inside his head. The familiar sound of the system''s notification rang out in his mind, popping up in front of his vision. [Dark Essence Source Found! Absorbing 1%] The progress meter, however, didn''t stay at 1%, it rapidly rose, reaching 100% in a manner of seconds. At the same time, Aiden could feel the air whirl around his connecting palm, he felt an unfamiliar cold breeze as the newfound source was rapidly sucked up, seeping into his body. At the same time, thepletely dark paint in the canvas began to fade, turning translucent as the percentage rose. Once the process reachedpletion, the sucking, the cold feeling vanished, and with it, the color of the painting also changed, returning to an empty white board. It was as if the paint itself was the energy. In his system, the text changed, while, at the same time, another message popped up below. [Dark Essence Source Found! Absorbing 100%...Completed!] [Merging with existing seed...Done!] [Note: Dark Essence found! Progress... 98% Gathering Complete!... Analyzing Complete! Estimated time beforepletion: 00 Hours 32 Minutes 13 Seconds] The update in the timer''s countdown was a wee surprise, Aiden couldn''t resist releasing a happy chuckle, causing Roas to turn towards him with a questioning gaze. "[Orc] What happened, young master? Did you take the Dark Essence? Do you feel anything?" He fired one question after another, not sure what he should be doing. Was the master in danger, did he fail at his job?" His worry quickly proven to be unnecessary, as Aiden couldn''t help but chuckle, even more, he didn''t answer him, as another interesting note appeared in front of his view. [The ability [Dark Sense] can be evolved with the newly forming source. Would you like to initiate the process? Estimated time required forpletion: 01 Hours 00 Minutes 00 Seconds. Note the following: - The skill will be unavable for the duration of the evolution process. - The process can only start after the prerequisite process has beenpleted.] Aiden didn''t hear Roas speaking he was currently basking in the updates his system presented to him. Although he would lose one of his most important abilities for a short time, it was more than worth it. He didn''t even know that such a feat was even possible! Evolving a skill! What would it turn to be? It was already an incredibly powerful and useful ability, giving him an edge to almost every aspect of his life, so he was quite hopeful about it. A familiar hoarse, throaty gruff pulled Aiden out of his reverie, Roas asked again after seeing his Young Master not react. His tone was slightly worried, uncertain. "[Orc] Young Master! Are you okay? Why are you not reacting? Please wake up master!" He reached out, gently touching the young master''s shoulder, giving it a light shake. Coming back to his senses, Aiden turned to look at his concerned servant. Seeing his worried look, Aiden''s friendly smile returned to his face. "[Orc] Don''t worry, I am fine Roas. I was just focusing on the Essence I just absorbed. I can feel it inside me. It still needs some time, but I can definitely feel as it''s forming a seed inside me. I was just wondering what effects will it provide once it is created." He answered, mixing a few light lies into his speech. He couldn''t speak about his system, this strange, unique trait he was born with, after all. Not yet at least. "[Orc] Anyway, let''s continue. Your revenge is just up ahead" Reminded of the fact there was the trio as well who he promised the same, he sighed. "Almost forgot about them, they are also expecting the same" With that said, he waved with his right hand in the air. The air in front of them buzzed in the next moment, the space distorted as a gateway made out of energy appeared. Opposed to thepletely dark ones that seemed to be the norm for others, this one had a clear image inside him, showing a vibrant, lush green meadow. 3 small figures could be seen in the distance, vanishing one by one as some unique power summoned them. One by one, they appeared, stepping out of the portal. Once thest one, Galina left the meadow, the portal behind them closed, vanishing just as abruptly as it appeared. The trio immediately knelt down, bowing deeply, their gazes stered on the ground as they eximed simultaneously with the same reverent tone. "[Goblin] Greetings to Young Master! We are ready for your orders!" Steeping forward, Aiden crouched down, raising their heads pulling them up from the ground. "[Goblin] Rise, my friends, this time, it is me, who is ready to serve you three." He spoke with a gentle, warm smile. "We have arrived. Just a few more stairs, and what will await us all will be the leaders of the horde. Those that hurt you and the others are also there. This is your time, to get your promised revenge! Teach them, not to look down on the weaker ones ever again!" His words fired up the small team, both the trio and Roas felt the excitement as they turned their eyes towards thest steps before they would finally be face to face with those that hurt them Unknown to them, Aiden couldn''t help being concerned as he looked up as well. After all, he felt a strange foreboding from the uingst floor He wasn''t sure what was it, and as his powers were somehow blocked, he couldn''t even scan... Chapter 283 - 283 - Preparations It didn''t take long for the small group to ascend the final set of steps and step on to the maroon-red carpet that covered the top floor of the Sacred Sanctum, the demonic tower situated at the center of the orc tribe. Following the design from the second section of the previous floor, the floor was covered with the same royal carpet, the clear, clean walls were painted in the same mellow, amber-like color, however this time there were no paintings or any other type of decorations. As they looked around, they noticed that opposite to the other ones, this floor was rtively short, with a singr door at the other end. The door was the same as previously, simple and white. No decoration, no motifs, no emblems, nothing that would make it stand out, just like with the other one. From where they were standing, they couldn''t say for certain what material it was made out of, although Aiden was fairly certain that it was probably simr, if not exactly the same wood as before. Giving the group a short time to take in everything, Aiden spoke up only after a while. Since he was addressing everyone at the same time, and for them, there weren''t any differences in how they were conversing, Aiden decided to use a different approach this time. Focusing on the connection they all shared, he reached to all of them, activating all channels simultaneously reaching out to all of them using the mental link. This action of his, connected everyone, making them able to listen to each other''s thoughts for as long as Aiden kept the channels active. "Okay guys, listen carefully." He began, sending out his voice through the mental channels, making the trio of ex-goblins raise their heads in confusion at first. This state fortunately onlysted for a couple of brief seconds as the mental links and all rted information were something that was deeply imnted in them, making them instinctually aware of its existence and usage. "Look at the door ahead of us. Beyond it, all the leaders of the various tribes are gathered, most likely already aware of our presence. They are waiting, preparing for us." Aiden continued, looking sternly at the white wooden door just a couple dozen steps ahead of them. "Young Master, I will personally ughter each and every one of them!" Roas'' voice could be heard in their minds. "Young Master, I will offer my kills as tributes to your greatness!" Glohn wasn''t gonna let an orc outdo him, he quickly added his own to the conversation. The two youngsters also added their thoughts, following after their teacher. "Yes, Young Master! We will ughter all that oppose you! Let us bring honor to your name!" Gob''s voice was as enthusiastic as ever, while Galina''s were sounded much more faint, meek. "I-I w-will do my best to support you all! For the Y-young M-master!" His dark green cheeks turned slightly pinkish, she tried averting her gaze, too scared, shy to meet the young master''s mesmerizing golden eyes. Aiden calmly listened to each and every one of his 4 servants'' exims, only continuing after Galina spoke. Although he was slightly surprised by her strange reaction, he didn''t put too much thought into it. He figured she probably was just still feeling weak and tired after all that happened. "I am d you all feel that way, but don''t forget! These leaders, warlords are the very best of their respective tribes. Their social hierarchy is based on strength and power. The strongest, most powerful are the ones that earn the others'' respect and with that, the right to lead them." He paused for a second, letting his words sink in for each of them before he continued. "So, be on your best, and do not act rashly. All of you, even you Roas" He turned and looked at his first servant with the same serious, stern gaze as he scanned the door. "You are also a part of the team, the family now. Don''t rush ahead, work with the others. Each of you has their own targets, rest assured I will not interfere, those targets are yours." Going further, he gave the targets and some extra words of advice. Aiden wanted to use this opportunity to hone their skills, whilst also giving each of them their much-deserved chance. Still, as he spoke, he couldn''t shake the foreboding feeling He wasn''t sure what it was, but his senses were warning him of some sort of danger. Still, he just couldn''t peak behind the door, the whole floor had some sort of enchantment, that blocked such attempts. This just added to his already alerted heart and mind. Shaking his head, he continued with his speech. Whatever danger wasying, whatever trap, hurdle was waiting for them, they will soon find out. "Roas, you will have to face the true leader, the one that controlled those elite warriors. From what we know, this one is most likely not an orc, nor a goblin, but something else entirely. He or she is proficient in the same type of magic as you and has a way to affect the minds, the will of his opponent. Be ready, and don''t let it get to you!" "Yes, Young Master! Rest assured, I will defeat this horrible existence. His words will no longer taint anyone else!" Roas'' reverent voice resounded in the group''s minds. With his right fist, he began to rapidly beat the left side of his chest, doing the orcish salute. Aiden nodded at this, turning his attention to Glohn, Gob, and Galina next. Their target was a cruel orc warlord, one that reveled in the anguish, the tormented cries of the weak creatures. He ordered the torture and killings of many of the goblins for no other reason than to instill fear in their hearts. He was most likely a fierce meleebatant, that excelled in brutality. Unfortunately, even after processing the memories of the two orcs, he couldn''t make out much, as most of their rted memories were just a messy jumbled blur. "You three will have to face one of the most brutal, savage monster of the thirteen leaders. Still, do not falter, do not let yourself be engulfed with fear. Remember that he is the one responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent goblins. He ordered his men to go and kill without worry. They tortured and murdered, your brothers and sisters, your parents, children even your elders weren''t spared! Don''t let him get away with it!" Although he tried keeping a neutral tone during his speech, he couldn''t restrain himself, as a tinge of his fury, which he shared with the goblins seep into his words. Gob, Glohn, and even the shy Galina seemed fired up after his little motivational speech. With fiery eyes, burning with passion, they all bowed at their Young Master. "We will kill that bastard!" "For the Young Master, for our brethren!" The boys fervently eximed and even Galina looked a bit more focused after their Young Master''s words. Taking another moment, Aiden continued, speaking to all of them this time. "Before you charge in Be alert to all dangers. There might be some unexpected dangers ahead, we can never know" He warned them, albeit a bit ambiguously as he himself wasn''t sure where to ce the strange feeling that kept bothering him ever since they left thest floor. He didn''t linger on it much, however, and stepped forward, standing at the front. His eyes focused on the door, he was ready to use all of his remaining energy to finally settle everything, once and for all. "Roas, before you go in, just put Drake down on the ground. We can''t waste energy on him at such a moment. If he wakes up, he can assist us, if not, we will just carry him once we are done here." --- At an unknown ce, in the dark room, the thin humanoid-shaped figure covered with the tendrils of the eternal darkness was looking at the floating image of Aiden and his group with keen interest. Although he couldn''t hear anything from their mental conversation, he wasn''t bothered by it a bit. Just by focusing on the small changes in their facial expressions as they conversed using some unique method, he could make out most if almost all of the topics they covered. He even caught the sh of concern that appeared only for a brief moment on the long, ck-haired, golden-eyed boy''s face. He didn''tment, only chuckled, excited about the show that would y out soon. Seeing how the little group was finished with whatever preparations they wanted to make, he snapped with his right hand. At the next moment, another image appeared next to the other one. The new image showed the dark brown figure of the strange, mixed creature that was this being''s number one servant. As if he could feel his Master''s gaze, the creature immediately looked up, gazing at his Master. His guttural, deep voice resounded in therge bloodstained, gory room he was currently in. "Do you have an order, Master?" He asked, speaking to seemingly nobody. However, a momentter, his master''s words appeared in his mind. "They areing. Remember, don''t kill any of them, but make sure to push the boy to his limits. I need to check something. I will pull you back in case that old geezer would be alerted, don''t worry, you can go all out." The figure nodded with an emotionless, insipid look on his face, returning his gaze towards the white door... Chapter 284 - 284 - Somber Stand-off "What the What happened here?!" The voice of a masculine dark-green-skinned tall creature, covered in ritualistic tattoos from head to toe resounded from the doorway. He was shocked to see the state of the room they just stepped into. It was vastly different from what they were expecting. Next to him on both sides, two simr-looking creatures albeit much younger weren''t looking any better. The boy and the girl couldn''t believe the carnage that wasid out in front of them. The floor was covered in a sea of blood, gore, and organs formed small inds on the floor. Various, barely recognizable parts of beings that most likely have been the so-called leaders of the tribes could be seen. The splintered remains of various wooden furniture formed a small hump at the center. The room and its residents werepletely destroyed, the leaders of the tribes, the 13 leaders of the Horde were brutally murdered. ''Just who could have done this? The true leader? Just what could have happened here?'' Aiden, standing behind his servants, was deep in thought, trying to make sense of this gruesome scene. What bothered him the most wasn''t the fact that all the leaders are dead, thus his minions couldn''t enact their much-deserved revenge on any of them, but the fact that something like this could happen without him even realizing it. His skills and abilities that made him think he was above the others, have received a tremendous blow. He had to realize once again, that he is just a kid and not the invincible, indomitable being he started to think of himself. Suddenly his eyes perked up, the thoughtful expression was transformed into a somber, serious outlook. He was shocked to hear the system''s recognizable bell-like sound, warning him of the arrival of a new update. In the next instant, a text appeared in front of his eyes, informing him of something of great importance. [The Optional Quest: Thwart the Invasion - Part 1 has been updated! The Objective: Find proof about a possible invasion of the hordes (0/1) has been updated. New Objective: - Confront the Guardian (0/1) Optional: - Ovee the Guardian''s test and defeat him (0/1) Due to the new objectives, Quest Rank has been updated! New Rank: A-C] However, this wasn''t everything, there was another, much more important update to another quest. [The Main Quest: The Secrets of the Demon Grotto has been updated!] New Optional Objective has been added! Optional: - Absorb the Guardian] He was momentarily stunned after reading through both notes. The fluctuation of energy that came from the dark corner of this room, was indeed a being that was lying in wait. Most likely he was the reaper that reaped all these lives and robbed his servants of their chance at revenge. But why did the quests suddenly update? Why did this so-called ''Guardian''e? Is it rted to what he and his minions were doing? Did the powerful entity that spoke to him, did all this? Did he cast away his brainwashed servants If so, what was the reason? Still, based on the texts, the Guardian will be the answer to many of his lingering questions and doubts, however, he would first have to earn this right However, based on the difficulty of the quests, Aiden was sure it was going to be a tough fight even for him. Both quests are top-ranked, meaning that the dangers they carry would be high, even for him. He looked over the backs of his servants and sighed. What he was about to do, they wouldn''t like, but there wasn''t any other way. With the somber, serious, heavy look on his face, Aiden stepped ahead of his minions, looking towards a particr direction in the far-right part of the room, towards the dark corner. His lips parted, but before his words came, the group of four minions heard his somber tone resounding in their minds. "Step back guys, the opponent is not someone you guys can take on yet. Return to the Minion Domain and wait for mymands." He flicked his right hand, as the familiar-looking portal showing the scene of a lush, vibrant green meadow appeared at the right side. Knowing well enough his first servant now, Aiden''s voice came to their minds before they had the chance to argue. "This is an order. This goes for you too Roas. I will call you guys when the danger has passed." The tone of his voice didn''t give any space for anything but obedience. With heavy looks on their faces, all four of them nodded, and silently walked into the portal, vanishing through the portal. As thest of them, Galina walked through, the portal, just like before closed automatically, leaving the four in the safe, system-created space. Finally being left alone, Aiden''s gaze returned towards the seemingly empty shadows on the far-right corner of the room. "Come out, don''t hide like a rat!" Aiden eximed with a heavy look, his hands were already in a battle-ready position to transform to the ck ws at a moments'' notice. A single, short snort could be heard from the direction he was facing, as a tall, robust, dark brown humanoid-shaped creature slowly materialized from thin air. He looked simr to the orcs at first nce, however, his face was very unique, almost human-like, not to mention the incredibly muscr build could topple even the strongest of the orcs Aiden had seen so far. He was more than two heads taller than him, towering over him like a giant. As their eyes met, Aiden could feel the coldness radiating from him. Just like he sized the creature, the creature did the same, slowly scanning Aiden''s figure from top to bottom. Several seconds passed in silence as both parties measured the other, trying to find a weakness but failing to do so. Eventually, the creature was the first to open his mouth and speak in his guttural, hoarse voice. "Such a small, fragile body Hmmm" He snorted once again, his eyes showing the same unreadable coldness that it did before. Before Aiden could speak up, the creature continued, as his eyes wandered towards the ceiling. "Regardless, it is the Master''s wish, so I will do as I was ordered and not go overboard." His eyes returning to the boy, he snorted, going further with his speech. "Master wants to see your true potential, you will fight me. However, before we do, you can ask your questions, if I am allowed, I will answer them." Aiden was looking at the creature with surprise. What puzzled him the most currently, was the fact that he couldn''t feel any of the power he felt just a moment agoing from him. In fact, he couldn''t feel anything besides his very strong life essence. Who or whatever this being was, he couldn''t even guess at his power level, he waspletely in the dark And to be perfectly honest, he didn''t really like this feeling "Khm" Aiden coughed, forcing his troubling thoughts to the back of his head for now, and spoke with his usual calm tone, showing that he wasn''t afraid of him at all. "In that case, tell me first. Did you do all this? Did you kill off all the leaders?" "Yes." The creature nodded without hesitation to his question and went on. "Master has changed his original ns after noticing you and your power as you ascended his tower." His words shocked Aiden once again. From this, he was now certain that the changes in the quest happened because of him. His actions altered the way the quest was supposed to go down, forcing the system to amodate ordingly. However, while this seemed to force a major change in the optional, rted quest, the Main Quest was still mostly the same, and only added an ''optional'' use to absorb this being The question is why? Sadly, he couldn''t ask this from anyone... "You killed everyone by yourself? Why did your master change his ns? What does he want with me?" Aiden asked although he was mostly already aware of the answers. "Yes, I did. They were no longer necessary and would just be a problematic factor in the future. It was better to end their pathetic existence. Besides... You wanted to do the same, nothing changed in the end." The creature answered with the same neutral tone as he did previously, clearly not bothered by murdering their own species. "Last questions Just who or what are you, and what is this about seeing my ''true potential''?" This time, the creature didn''t answer immediately. His eyes lingered on Aiden for a bit longer, before he slowly closed them. At the next moment, a tremendous force was released from his body, an invisible, strong hurricane-like wind raged across the room, blowing the gory chunks and small and medium-sized bits away. The thick puddle of blood that covered the ground was also pushed back, creating a small, dry piece ofnd at the middle of the bloody surface. The pressure he released was strong, much stronger than anything that Aiden has felt before Still, it wasn''t something he couldn''t withstand. He stood still, facing such a powerful creature... For the first time in his life, he felt like he truly needed to give his all to what was toe, if he wanted to survive. Chapter 285 - 285 - First Test The aura that was released by the dark brown creature was like a thunderous storm, it raged, rampaged in the moderately sized room. The sea of blood that they both were stepping in was pushed back around them, creating a small piece of circr-shaped drynd. Splinters, bits, and gore were picked up by this energy-fueled hurricane, forming a visible barrier around them. His showcase of powers was incredible, yet Aiden wasn''t scared, the smile on his face only curved slightly higher. Such a challenge! His blood was already boiling, his heart was beating faster, he was visibly excited about the prospect of finally meeting someone that could match him! Responding in kind, Aiden followed along, activating his Draconic Heritage innate, the Dragon''s Wrath, not hesitating to let out his full-powered aura. His eyes suddenly lit up, glimmering in their golden brilliance, a heavy pressure slowly descended on the room pushing back against the creature''s all-engulfing domain. The warrior looked with surprise at his young opponent, not expecting that he could actually contend with him in terms of spiritual power. The aura''s collided between the twobatants, pushing against each other. An invisible battle erupted, two different types of energy shed against each other. Sparks, bolts of energy could be seen as the auras continued to fight for their master''s victory and dominance over the other. Yet, neither of them seemed to be able to gain any ground, getting to a standstill at around midway between the two focusedbatants. "Quite decent, kid. Let''s see if you can take more!" The warrior suddenly spoke up, his rough, guttural tone reverberated in the battlefield-turned-room. Following up his words, suddenly even more energy began to surge from his body, increasing the pressure of his aura. The previously equal strength was now seemed to turn in favor of him. The frontline was pushed back, closer to Aiden. Aiden wasn''t worried about this though. Even though his innate was fully utilized right from the start, he still had more he could activate. Although he still couldn''t understand all of his mysteries, since he decided to go all out in this fight and try to get not just the answers to the questions he still has, but the essence of this treasure trove of a creature, he wouldn''t hide any of his cards. Looking at the boy, the creature was ready to pull back his energy, thinking that he clearly won this first round, however, before he could do so, suddenly he felt a change in the air. The air around them suddenly became colder, heavier. The power that radiated from the boy increased, seemingly doubled. The ground he gained over the boy, was once again changed, the frontline slowly moved forward, back to the center where it was just a moment ago. However, this time, it didn''t seem to stop there, the boy''s tumultuous energies were too strong for his own to contend with. The line moved once again, slowly but steadily, only halting a couple of inches from him. "Good, very good! Just as Master hoped, you indeed have some promise!" The creature spoke, his mouth curving into a small, barely perceptible smile, showing a tinge of emotion for the first time. As he spoke, he receded his aura, easing off the pressure. Sensing this, Aiden silently followed along, looking at the creature with the same calm appearance. He didn''t bother asking, he knew that this was merely a first, preliminary check. Now that he passed, he probably earned the right to fight him for real. "You have piqued my interest kid. The Master has very high hopes for you, and I promised to fight you with your top state. So, before we fight take this, and take a few minutes to digest it." As he spoke, a small, white, circr-shaped pill appeared in his palm. He threw it towards Aiden. Taking it, Aiden first looked at it with curiosity. It lookedpletely average, just like the medicine you could get from the various apothecaries in any city. Raising his eyes, he looked at the creature with a questioning gaze. "Don''t worry. It''s a restoration pill. It will help you restore your spent stamina and health and get you back to an eptable state." He spoke indifferently, as he stood still with his arms folded. He didn''t emit any hostility, both his posture and his demeanor were neutral. It seemed that he truly wanted Aiden to get his spent energy back. "Hmm." Aiden silently nodded, only giving a curt hum. Taking onest nce at the creature and not feeling any hostility from it, he threw the pill inside his mouth and swallowed it. As soon as it entered into his system, he sat down on the ground in a meditative pose and closed his eyes, focusing on his Inner Self. Almost instantly, as the pill traveled down it rapidly began to dissolve, its restorative energies exploded. Aiden could feel a familiar warmth rapidly spreading inside his body, easing the pain on his tense muscles and calming the weariness of his mind. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of him, blocking his vision momentarily. [Note: Greater Restoration Pill has been found! Absorbing Done! Merging changes with source Soul Power and Condition has been fully restored. Alchemy (Basic) progress has been updated: Current Progress: 62%] The note surprised Aiden, he had to force himself to not show it on the outside. The benefits he gained were more than what he and probably what the creature expected! Not to mention that the pill somehow managed topletely refill his rapidly depleting tank of Soul Power reserves and restore his condition, it also gave him a 10% boost in his stagnating Alchemy skill analysis. ''Hmm Could absorbing pill and elixirs give simr benefits?'' He raised a thought inwardly, shelving it forter. Swallowing the pill, absorbing and merging it with the help of the system, didn''t take more than a couple of seconds for Aiden. Not sure how much time would be ''normal'' in such a case, he decided to y it down at least for a bit and waited several minutes before he opened his eyes and stood back up while he focused on his opponent''s reaction. The creature didn''t seem to be fazed about his speed, he nodded with a grunt, as he sized the boy up one more time. "Before we continue For passing the first test, you have earned the right to ask two more questions, and I will answer to you if I can." The creature spoke with a neutral, emotionless tone, gazing at the boy with cold, strict eyes. Although there were several questions he wanted answers to, he didn''t hesitate for long with the first one. After all, not just his system assigned optional quest, but also the task that Sarah and himself received from the Mistress was hanging on its answer. "What was the n with this horde?" The creature''s emotionless face once again showed a small curve, his lips revealed a small smile. "To take revenge on the humans, of course. They are arrogant creatures that think of themselves as superior to everything else in the world. They think that the whole world belongs to them, and the other races should bow down to their might, not realizing they are far from being at the top of the food chain. " He scoffed, before adding a shocking revtion. "Besides, thisnd is not theirs, to begin with. They merely stole it." The response shocked Aiden to the core. Thisnd was stolen? How could that be? Isn''t this ce owned by the 5 big families from the past? Wasn''t that the story the Mistress, Sarah''s mother had told him? What was the truth then?! "What do you mean?" He asked the creature with confusion. "You are not yet worthy to hear more about it, boy. If you want to hear more, you have to pass the second test." The creature grunted a cold response. "Do you have anything else you would like to know?" Before Aiden, could respond, suddenly yet another notification rang inside his mind. [Optional Quest Thwart the Invasion - Part 1 has been updated! Objective: Find proof about a possible invasion of the hordes (1/1) - Completed! Confront the Guardian (1/1) C Completed! New Objective: Report back to the Mistress of Higrove about what you learned!] [New Optional Quest: Thwart the Invasion - Part 2! Difficulty: B-C Objective: -Learn more about the history of thend (0/1) Optional: ??? Rewards: ???] ''Huh?'' Looking at the text, Aiden was shocked. The quest objective waspleted by this short answer and the system separated the second part into another one? What was so important about this history that would warrant such an action? Even though the quest itself was optional, a strange scenario started to unfold before Aiden. "So, do you have a second question?" The rough voice of the creature dispelled the daze Aiden was under. Although there were still many questions, there was one that he really wanted to know for a while now. Being kept in the dark was a very ufortable feeling after all "Yes, I have. What is your and your master''s name?" He asked with squinted eyes, focused on the minuscule changes in the creature''s expression. Chapter 286 - 286 - Collision Of Forces A glint of coldness shed across the hunky creature''s eyes upon hearing Aiden''s question. Albeit it was only for a brief moment, Aiden could still catch it thanks to the System''s Map feature showing his previously yellow, neutral color to red before turning back to yellow again. This meant that due to the question, the being''s hostile intent rose to such an extent that the System could no longer consider him a neutral. Strangely though, as the intent vanished, the system''s marked the creature as neutral again. "I am afraid, that I can''t answer your question fully. Unless Master specifically orders it, I can''t reveal his name. As for me, you can call me whatever you would like. I don''t really have a name anymore." The creature spoke in his usual cold, emotionless manner as if nothing about his past mattered anymore. "What do you mean? You had to have a name at one point? You had to have a life, a family once." Aiden responded, inquiring further. "That" For the first time, it seemed that the question seemed to have stumbled the creature for a bit. His cold tone, shifted, garbing a slight, barely visible mncholic undertone as he continued with masked insipidness. "That was long ago, in a different life" He paused for a moment, turning his eyes towards the ground. A momentter however it was already back and pierced towards Aiden''s figure again. He continued. "If you really insist you can refer to me as Murus, I suppose you have earned the right." "Murus. d to meet you. I''m Aiden." Hearing the creature''s name, Aiden revealed his friendly smile and nodded towards the giant. "Now that we are acquainted, can you tell me what is the second test? What do I need to do? And also, what is the purpose of all this? What do I get out of this?" The creature, Murus, gruffed coldly upon hearing Aiden''s relentless assault of questions once again. "You have already asked your questions. If you want to know more, you have to win." Suddenly his figure blurred as it sped forward, his right fist stretched out, flying rapidly towards Aiden''s face. Before the surprise attack couldnd, Aiden''s figure vanished, only to reappear a few steps to the left just enough distance away so that the punch could only hit the air. Seeing that his surprise attack failed, Murus'' only smiled as he stepped back, facing Aiden once more. "Not bad. You have the speed to contend as well." Although his smile was happiness, the face he revealed was horrendous. His eyes were glinting with the same crazed battle-hunger that was all too familiar for Aiden. Just like him, or Naybeah, Murus was also a battle-maniac. "The second part of the test" Murus continued while he was stretching his neck, circling with his shoulders basically while he was warming up to something he was hoping to be grand and beautiful. "...would be to see how long you could hold out against me. However" Suddenly he stopped his movements and gazed at Aiden''s lean figure. "However, instead of that, let''s just go all out and have a real fight. If you can stand your ground against me, I am certain that the Master himself will answer your questions." "And What if I hurt or kill you? Will your master be upset?" Aiden asked with a thoughtful look, causing Murus to freeze on the spot for a moment in stun. Still, he didn''t be conceited, nor did he look down on the boy. Instead, he scanned him once more carefully, remembering the strange burst of power earlier that made him lose hill standing when they shed with their auras. "Honestly, I don''t think you would be capable of doing that. Still, rest assured, if I were to fall here, that would be my fault. Master will not seek revenge on you. To the Master, I am merely a convenient tool to use, just like all the other servants. Anyway" His eyes suddenly shed with a vicious glint while a small smirk formed on the edges of his lips. His hands were clenched into fists as he spoke hisst words with force. "...We have wasted enough time. Do your best, boy!" As soon as his words rang out, Murus rushed forward. His figure blurred as he rocketed towards Aiden for a second time. Due to this, it seemed to like he teleported in front of the boy and flew high up into the air with his fists interlocked together, raised above his head. With great ferocity, he struck down not giving any chance to the boy to react. In his eyes, he saw no reaction, he was sure that his speed caught him off guard. Although he merely used at most 20% of his strength in this attack, he was certain that he would knock the boy out, ending this test promptly. When he was just a few inches away from striking at the top of the boy''s head, Aiden''s figure suddenly vanished from his sight. In the next instant, Murus could feel the presence of his opponent reappear behind him. His senses immediately red up, warning him of an iing threat. Aiden''s punch, just like before looked simplistic, but in reality, it was deep and profound, carrying the mysteries of the [Mystic Martial Arts] inside it. His arm left several afterimages behind, as it flew rapidly at the back of Murus''s head. There was no smile on his face, in fact, he showed a slightly dejected expression as his counterattack flew towards the robust creature''s back. From all the talks and confidence Murus shown so far, he expected at least some challenge in this duel, even expecting that he would have to utilize every skill at his disposal, but from what he had seen so far, there was a clear disparity in terms of power level between them. He really wanted to finally be able to go all out and test his own limits, but unless Murus was just getting warmed up, and he still had more to show, then he would be very far from achieving that. Just like Murus, Aiden was also conceited, judging the enemy from a first impression. Just like his opponent, Aiden thought that the battle would be over from a single hit. However, just like Murus before, he also had to wake up and face reality: Murus had far more experience than any of his opponents before. As the boy''s fist shed towards his back, Murus twisted his body in an unnatural way, turning and facing him in the air. Raising his arms in front of him, he blocked the attack with his forearms. From the impact, a powerful st of soundwave was released, throwing both parties away from each other. Bothnded on their feet, at a simr distance to before. Surprise visible on both of their faces, it was Murus who spoke up first, whilst circting his energy to recover from the numbness in his arms. Simrly, Aiden was guiding the flow of his Soul Power. The strike, that supposed to be a one-hit-wonder, was surprisingly blocked by Murus. "Not bad, kiddo. I have to admit, I didn''t expect you to be worthy of me giving it my all. A mistake that I will correct now! No more ying around!" He grabbed the silver medallion on his neck and tore it down. As he injected his own energy into it, it began to glow with a silvery hue. A momentter, the medallion began to transform, changing its shape, and forming an incredibly huge scythe, towering over the robust size of Murus himself. As the weapon appeared, he immediately dashed forward, the weapon already swiping in a vertical curve, aimed to separate Aiden''s lower half from his chest. The de of the silver scythe shone in the same silvery light that it was seemingly formed from. A faint whistling sound could be heard as the terrifying weapon crossed the air. Aiden''s senses were on full alert as he saw the weapon, he was already on alert when the horrifying attack was en route. Without hesitation, he activated his innate and thrust his hand forward. Thick, golden scales appeared on his forearm while ck ws emerged from the top of his fingers. At the same time, with the guidance of his [Mystic Martial Arts] his own circting energy formed ayer of golden hue around his arm. His golden, glowing eyes were shut into small slits as he concentrated on the arching swipe. The two opposites crashed into each other once again, causing a massive blinding light to cover the entire room along with a massive st of the explosion of sound. The releasing energy was so incredibly massive that both parties, Aiden and Murus was flung back like helpless kites, crashing into the wall at the opposite ends of the room. The explosion kicked off a thick cloud of dust, blocking vision from all ends. For the next minute, there was no sound from either end. Neither party could be sensed, as they wereying still under their respective piles of rubble. Chapter 287 - 287 - Shift In Presence Even after several minutes, even as the dust continued to settle and dissipate, hardly any movements could be heard or seen from either end. Watching from the unknown space the shadowy figure waves his hand in front of the floating screen. At the next moment, the image changed, showing a pile of rubble. The motionless shape of Aiden''s dark green limbs could be seen. Although it looked like it, the thin figure was certain that the battle was far from over, and that the boy is not out of it yet. He shed his dark shadowy tendril-covered fingers again as the screen changed once again, showing the body of his servant, Murus. He growled in frustration upon seeing the state he was in. His lips slowly parted, he spoke with an annoyed tone. "Is this what you came to be?! Murus, you really disappoint me. You wanted to test the boy, yet you are defeated within 3 blows? If this is true, don''t bother returning, I have no need of such a disgrace." He did not wait for a response, he closed the mental connection they shared and returned the screen to the battlefield again. He was certain that what was to follow would reaffirm his beliefs that the boy would be truly the key to achieving his goals "Don''t disappoint me, boy. You should be the Inheritor." He murmured as his eyes returned to the corner of the image, focused on a particr pile of slightly shaking rubble. --- As the dust continued to settle, finally some change can be witnessed from both sides. Murus, after hearing his Master''s degrading words, managed to free himself from his makeshift grave, and slowly stood up. The silvery scythe, the terrifying and equally as a majestic weapon in his hand were no longer glowing with a silvery shine, it was now dull, looking a simple adorned andvishly decorated weapon only. There was no aura permeating it, there was no magical presence inside it, it all died down. Murus looked at his trustedpanion with a heavy heart and sighed. ''You served me well for all these years I never have expected you would die in the hands of such a mysterious opponent How powerful was he to be able to snuff the life out of you?'' Hemented, looking at the de. ''Anyway I can''t feel his presence at all. Did he truly perish? No That''s impossible, Master would have killed me then'' His head swayed, looking towards the opposite side of the room. Suddenly, his body began to uncontrobly shake, his heart began to palpitate. Before he realized it, his entire self, began to shake in trepidation. "What the Why am I-" Before he could finish, suddenly he felt the presence of something truly monstrous emerge from under the pile of rubble where his opponent, Aidenid motionlessly. The debris began to shake and explode with power as a dark red, scarlet ray shot out from under. Amidst the remains, a low-toned growl could be heard, as suddenly a shadow shot out. In the next moment, the beaten, and battered body of Aiden could be seen. He was covered in blood and bruises, his face was akin to a mad, crazed predator. The previously golden hue that radiated from his eyes was now painted in a deep shade of red. His entire right arm was torn off, missing! His blood continued to slowly drip from his now-empty socket. Despite that, the power that radiated from his body was much more frightening. His face looked akin to a vicious, feral, bloodthirsty animal, his eyes slowly locked on to Murus''s figure. Murus looked at the monstrous creature in front of him, his expression changed, returning to the cold, stern outlook. He grabbed the stave of his weapon with both hands, slowly raising it in front of his body, his eyes focused on Aiden''s fully crimson-shaded eyes. ''Just what is happening? He shouldn''t be this strong after suffering such a blow.'' He couldn''t understand what was happening. So far, from what he had seen from the boy, through his master''s screen or personally the boy was strong and capable, but not to such an extent to be a true threat to his life. Not to mention, he had a calm deposition, he wasn''t so feral. ''Regardless, I have to calm him down'' Steeling his resolve, and with clear determination, he swiped with his scythe just at the same time as Aiden''s figure vanished from his sight once again. --- A short while before Sharp, searing pain, and the constantly blinking red text of a critical notification woke Aiden up. As soon as he did, he felt his nervous system re-up and send jolts of electricity to his brain. The pain was almost unbearable, he had to focus really hard not to cry out. With great difficulty, he turned to look at the source only to be shocked that his entire right arm was torn off, only a pool of his own blood remained at its ce. The notification from his system continued to blink and rang, forcing Aiden to shift his attention and take a look at it. [Warning: Critical Damage received, the condition has dropped to 50%!] [Warning: Immediate absorption of Life Essence required to restore body state!] Reading through the texts, Aiden felt rage boiling deep inside him. He was actually defeated in such a manner! One blow, it only required one decisive blow to cripple him! No. This is not the end. This is not how this fight ends! Anger quickly overcame his already faltering mind. The golden radiance in his eyes started to change, a red gradient started to overshadow it. At the same time, deep inside his Soul Space, the crystal-like transparent prison walls that held something locked away cracked more. The surface that was already covered with spiderweb trails grew wider. With every thump of the entity, the power made from the other side, Aiden''s entire inner world trembled. Every thump was akin to the beating of a battle drum, causing his blood to boil, his body to shake under the power from whatever that was locked away. "This is not good" the white glowing guardian spoke in her familiar, mature feminine voice. She was still far from being back to her previous state, but she realized she was out of time. She had to act, and while she wanted to reach out to Aiden, she had to focus on keeping the barrier intact. A white ray shot out from her, engulfing the crystalline prison. Under her majestic energy, the cracks stopped increasing. She could maintain the barrier, but her power was far from healing it. She wasn''t enough, she needed outside assistance. Although she knew it wasn''t fair, she couldn''t see any other way out of this situation. Focusing herself, she merged her mind with the system once more At the next moment, another notification appeared in front of Aiden shocking him at first, however, what he saw quickly turned that into even more fuel to his already boiling anger causing his eyes toplete lose to the dark scarlet void, his mind swallowed up by the cloud of his overpowering rage. A new entity, a new bloodthirsty entity emerged, shifting the dominant role and pushing the previous true Aiden to the backseat. This entity was ferocious and wanted nothing more than the blood of the enemy in front of him. ''Sit back kid, let me take over for a bit.'' It spoke in a much deeper tone, reminiscent of a certain mutated worgen back in the woods Reading the text once again, he simply snorted, and pushed it away, clearing it from his vision. ''Critical Quest huh? Whatever, I already wanted to kill the dude, so I guess it doesn''t matter that much, but once the kid realizes it is you behind all the trouble, he will not be as lenient as I am'' He snickered inwardly, his words prating deep into the darkness of his Soul Space With renewed, rage-fuelled energy, Aiden''s figure flew out of the rubble,nding a few feet away from the bulky giant. ''Big hunk of meat, let''s see how you taste!'' He grinned as his figure shed forward, his ws aimed at the ready to swipe the opponent to pieces As he flew towards the opponent, he grinned, reminding himself of the text that caused Aiden''s current presence to recede to the back of his own mind, and allow him to be set free... [New Critical Quest: Absorb to survive! Difficulty: A Time remaining: 00 Hours 29 minutes 58 seconds Objective: Absorb Murus to find your answers Optional: - Rewards: ??? Failure condition: -Failure to absorb in the allotted time limit. Penalty: Death, Soul returned to the Wheel of Life and Death, Banished from the current world forever] --- Back in the dark room in the unknown space, the dark, shadowy figure was shocked as he saw Aiden''s new presence. Even though he was watching from through a floating window-like image, he was much keener in picking up the minute of details, changes in the boy''s posture. His previously calm, and happy demeanor changed, shifting into seriousness as he immediately vanished from the room Only the still floating image remained... Chapter 288 - 288 - Soul Absorption And A Meeting WOOSH! Before he could have a chance to guard, a set of ominous ck strikes struck down behind Murus. At the next moment, a sharp searing pain red up,ing from his right shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he immediately rushed forward, to create some space between himself and the enraged youth. He knew what this pain meant, he already felt the loss of his right arm, he was a veteran of the battlefields after all. Turning around to face his opponent, he just caught the glimpse of his limb liquefying and converge into the dark-green-skinned boy''s body. A hideous smirk appeared on his face, his dark red eyes giving it an even more menacing, eerie presence. He licked his lips slowly, before speaking. His voice was much deeper than how the boy spoke previously, guttural and hoarse. "Thanks for that. You know how it goes Limb for a limb. You crippled the boy, and now I crippled you." The figure''s voice startled Murus, he didn''t know who this being was, but he was certain, that it was not the boy. This being was sinister, cruel, and bloodthirsty. Aplete opposite of what he had learned about Aiden so far. "Just w-who are you?!" He asked as he gripped the center of his now-pallid silver scythe tightly. Whoever this being was it had a tremendous presence. The blood-red-eyed Aiden chuckled at the bulky giant''s question. "I am him, he is I." He spoke mysteriously. At the next moment, his eyes shed as his lips turned into a cruel, vicious grin once again. "Anyway Don''t worry about it, you will soon join the collective" His body blurred, vanishing in the next instant. Murus immediately jumped back, raising his weapon in front of his body to block any surprise attack. Unfortunately for him, as he jumped behind, he felt the back of his skin being torn apart. A dark, set of ebon ws pierced into his flesh, digging deeper and deeper into his body. With great difficulty, he turned his head to the side to nce at the one that shockingly defeated him with such ease. As their eyes met, the cruel grin on the blood-red-eyed beast curved even higher, his lips parting, he uttered a single word. "Absorb." The next moment, Murus felt his body tremble and convulse. Ripples began to stride at the surface of his skin, he felt his muscles and organs contort. The pain began to fade, as his whole being, began to rapidly transform. His energy, his body began to merge into the alien body etchedtched deep into him. He knew it was over, he lost. He didn''t know who this being truly was, or why did he unleash such a horrific monstrous existence. He just knew that no one, not even his master can save him now. Knowing there was no point to resist, Murus closed his eyes and sighed heavily. His mind was empty, he wasn''t that afraid of death. After all, he could be considered to be his agent Hisst thought before the darkness overcame him, was that hopefully, with this, he had served its purpose and that Master now has a clear picture of what this creature truly was. He hoped he didn''t fail his expectations In mere seconds, the once-powerful creature, a true reaper of the battlefields, a mysterious creature of unknown origins, Murus has vanished, his body, power, and soul absorbed by a fragile-looking, dark-green-skinned youthful figure. As the tremendous surge of life essence flew inside his body, Aiden closed his eyes, with a satisfied contented look on his face. His voice that was previously deep, almost demonic gradually returned to his original vigorous youthful, healthy tone. "Uhmm Although I didn''t want to do it like this, it is fine I suppose. He denied the revenge my servants have hoped for, so he had to pay for it himself. Yes That''s okay, I guess" He sighed, lowering his gaze and slowly opening his eyes. Instead of the red, now it had returned to its original pallid golden color. What was stranger, was that he could no longer feel the bloodthirsty creature''s presence anywhere inside his mind, which was strange as he focused, he could feel each and every being he merged into his Primal Core. Now, however, the Worgen waspletely gone, he couldn''t feel him, nor could he feel any of his thoughts, his constant whispers... Still, he knew he couldn''t just vanishpletely. "Well, I can ask-" Before he could finish his thought, abruptly, the red, critical message that he received earlier popped up again. At the same time, he felt a tingling sensation at his right shoulder. Focusing on the text at first, he opened it up, giving himself yet another surprising shock once again. [New Critical Quest: Absorb to survive! - Completed! Rank: A Time remaining: 00 Hours 19 minutes 28 seconds Objective: Absorb Murus to find your answers (1/1) Optional: - Rewards: [Soul Absorption] Primal skill unlocked and automatically activated for free for the first time.] ''A new skill? What does it do?'' Focusing his mind once again, Aiden opened up the skill description. As he read through it, he finally realized what happened, and why he couldn''t feel the Worgen anymore. [Soul Absorption (Lvl -) - Primal Trait, avable to Primals with Royal Heritage only. The second stage of [Primal Absorb], merging the lingering consciousness of the absorbed entity with the Primal. Overwrites any form of mental hold or guard that it may have. Note: Usable only once every 30 days. Warning: The merged consciousness''s personality can have a permanent effect on the Host Primal!] There was one more notification in the system that appeared shortly after the red text re-emergence. [Due to the overflow of Life Essences, the Restorative Process has been automatically activated. Primal Condition - 51% - Improving State Restoration Process Initiated Restoring Default State...] As the messages kept going, he felt the tingling sensation in his right shoulder socked to increase in intensity. In the next moment, he felt the warmth of his skin, his body temperature began to rapidly increase. Seconds continued to pass, as the heat became almost boiling. The surface of his missing limb'' socket began to churn, ripples began to spread. Aiden could feel the massive amount of energies converge towards his shoulder, he could feel as they changed, transformed, slowly forming a small tiny dark green mound. The tiny protrusion didn''t stay still, as the seconds continued to pass, turning into minutes, it grew and grew, slowly reforming his limb from the massive amount of energy he gathered. Meanwhile, at the forefront of his vision, the strange text continued on. [Primal Condition - 92% - Improving State Restoration Process Initiated Restoring Default State Complete! Converting remaining resources on improving host body...] As his lost limb reformed, he felt no pain, only the calming warmth that slowly spread further and further as his limb gradually grow, reaching its original state in the end. In the end, he felt the return of control over his arm. First, he was wary, he slowly tried moving his fingers, clenching them into a fist, while he was focusing on the feeling of it, looking for potential issues. Only Priests and Nuns, followers of the Gods should be capable of such feats. Creatures capable of simr feats were very rare. Luckily he felt no problems, he could control his hand, fingers, and arm just as well as before. Notifications kept iing, he also felt the now-familiar sensation of the invading memories. Just as before, when he absorbed these higher-tiered creatures, their lives would sh through in front of his eyes as their memories and experiences would flow into him, pushing him further. Before going through the skills, Aiden wanted to go through the memories of the being known as Murus. What actually was he? What did he do, who did he serve? There were many questions he still needed answers to, not to mention the quests, but he also had to know who was the being behind all his troubles recently However, before he could do so, suddenly he felt a fluctuation in the air in front of him. A dark portal formed in the air, as a shadowy thin-looking silhouette stepped out of it. He was covered in unnatural darkness, the tendrils of an unknown shadowy source wrapped him in constant obscurity. None of his bodily and facial features could be seen, only a moving dark silhouette stood before Aiden. He held no presence, no aura, no power was oozing out of him. Still, Aiden''s senses tingled, screaming to get away, this being was much, much stronger, much more threatening than anything he saw or felt before. The shadow stood before Aiden, as the portal closed behind him. There was no movement, but Aiden could feel his pair of simrly dark eyes scan his entire being. After a short while, the thin figure gave a slight, courteous bow. "Greetings, kid. It''s a pleasure to finally meet you face to face. I have to say I didn''t expect you to not just defeat my servant, but also absorb him. Pardon my abruptness, but I have to ask Tell me, boy, are you an Ancient?" Chapter 289 - 289 - Answers "Greetings, kid. It''s a pleasure to finally meet you face to face. I have to say I didn''t expect you to not just defeat my servant, but also absorb him. Pardon my abruptness, but I have to ask Tell me, boy, are you an Ancient?" The shadowy figure''s voice carried no hint of malice at all, all emotions he or (maybe she?) may have had been perfectly masked. No matter how hard he tried, Aiden couldn''t make anything out from this being, this enigmatic existence in front of him. Not to mention that there seemed to be quite eerier to see him covered in constant darkness as if his mere presence would force the light to retreat, shrouding him in an aura of an eternal void. This caused him to not bepletely sure how to handle the situation. He had no time to process the memories of Murus, but from their brief discussion, he was fairly certain that this was the ''Master'' he was talking about. "Ancient? What is that?" After a brief deliberation, Aiden responded to the thin figure''s question with his own. He had a forced calmness in his tone, his posture was rigid. He was ready to jump into action at the first sign of trouble. "Hehehe how interesting" The thin figure chuckled at the boy''s response. "Judging from just looking at you, I am not certain if you are just pretending or you really are so ignorant. Regardless" He flicked his right hand. Upon this simplistic movement, two wooden chairs materialized from thin air, one behind him and another one behind Aiden. He sat down on his own, crossed his legs with a blithe disposition. "Sit. It will take quite a while if I would need to give you a lecture about the history of this world." He signaled for the boy to follow suit, waiting in silence until he acquiesced. Aiden struggled with what to do for a while. He felt no malice, no harmful intenting from this figure, however, he couldn''t feel anything positive either. In terms of his sensing capabilities, the figure in front of him was aplete mystery. His system couldn''t even correctly categorize it, giving him the neutral yellow color in the end. Still, even without any sort of presence, any aura, there was an eerie, ominous feel that caused Aiden to uncontrobly shiver, his heart palpitated at a faster pace whenever he looked at him. He didn''t know why, but all his senses warned him to be extremely wary of this unnatural being. In the end, he decided to follow along. He had a feeling that if he wanted to, he could snuff the life out of Aiden with a snap of his fingers. He had to be so incredibly, monstrously powerful for the system to be unable to analyze him even the slightest, after all "Just, who are you?" He muttered a question as he took his seat in front of this being. Hearing the question, the shadowy, thin figure gave a hearty chuckle before calming down and responding in a cheerful manner. "Well, that is the question of the moment, is it?" He spoke, letting out another light-hearted chuckle, before continuing. "Let''s keep that a secret for now. Since you already have my servant''s memories, you will get a few glimpses sooner orter, especially as you mature if you are truly what I think you are, that is. But if you are, you will know and understand more in time." He answered, waving with his right hand, shrugging the matter entirely. "Anyway, when the timees that you can unlock andprehend the memories you gained we will talk in more detail about those matters. For now, let''s talk about the history of this world." He leaned back on his chair, with the flick of his fingers, a window appeared, floating steadily between the two of them. It showed the still image of strange pearl-skinned figures tending to everyday life in what seemed to be a vige. Judging by the linen cloth attire they seemed to be average vigers. From a first nce, you could even mistake them as humans, which would then beg the question: Why would this shadowy figure show this still image? What would be the point? Knowing this Aiden focused on the figures, only to yelp in surprise a momentter. They were too perfect for the average farmer or viger! Their pearl-white unblemished skin was too clean, too bright too beautiful to be with. However, what stunned him the most, that he didn''t notice at first nce was their slightly different shaped, oval, reptilian eyes. As he continued to focus on the figures on the image, he suddenly felt his heart thump violently as it ached. As if the image caused some memories etched deep inside him, slowly resurface. He didn''t know why, but he felt some strange familiarity with these figures, with this image. He felt a tumultuous mixture of emotions rising inside him Most he couldn''t even exin, but he was very familiar with one of the most obvious, most powerful: Pain. Loss. Unbeknownst to him, tears began to swell in his eyes, threatening to escape through the far corners. "W-what is this?! Who are these people!" The figure was carefully observing Aiden''s reactions. Seeing how emotional he got from this still image, he hummed before he responded a momentter with a much warmer, kinder tone. "No definite name has been left about them. Many, many years, millennia ago, there was once a now-extinct race of strange and incredibly powerful creatures walking thesends. They were rtively peaceful, mostly living by themselves in their hidden territories. Despite their potential they didn''t strive to dominate and control the other just emerging intelligent life forms, simr to the elves of nowadays, they preferred secluding themselves... " His thoughts seemed to trail off as if reminiscing about something. His voice turned slightly mncholic, eventually fading. A few secondster, however, he shook his head,ing back to reality. He continued after a forced cough. "Khm! Anyway, what I wanted to talk about was their special racial traits. Simr to you, they had a very special power. Just like you, they could also absorb other life forms and merge their traits into their own, enriching themselves in the process." His words shocked Aiden to his very core. He could barely keep himself still, his eyes were already wide-open as he intently focused on the figure''s tale. What were these figures on the image he was shown? Were they true primals of an old, almost forgotten age? Are they his ancestors, his family? However, if that is the case, how is he here, in this time and age, if hisst known brethren had supposedly died thousands of years ago? "What happened to them?" With slightly trembling lips, Aiden formed a question, he was already afraid of hearing the answer to. Still, he knew he had to hear it, he had to confirm his suspicion. The figure sighed before he responded with a nod. "Just as you think, boy. They have all vanished with no trace left behind them. There are no definite records of what happened, but the theories are that they probably died. Not sure what sort of a disaster had befallen on them, but the fact is that they havepletely vanished, without any trace, anything to leave to the world." Died. They have died? How?! If they were that powerful, what could have caused such a disaster to them? No that was not possible, there had to be something else, something more to this mystery. Aiden clenched his fists as his mind raced on trying to process the turbulent information he was given. His emotion started to spiral out of control, his eyes began to re up, glow in a golden luster. A new, previously unknown aura erupted from within him, vaguely simr in terms to the one he received with his Primal Goblin Dragonlord form, but it was also slightly different. Other than the traits of that one, it also carried the thickness and power of his draconic one. It was as if this new, previously unseen energy was a mixture of both. The air around his sitting figured trembled, slightly distorting the space itself, causing visual distortions. "No" He growled with an unknown, deep, seething anger behind his tone. "They are not dead. They can''t be dead. That." He couldn''t continue as suddenly the air around him froze and began to calm down. The visual distortions dissipated, his own aura seemed to vanish. As if it was forcibly removed, he felt his mind and his emotions cool down. As he looked at the shadowy figure again, he saw his extended right palm. A thinyer of golden energy wrapped around his dark, shadowy tendrils, as it was pointed at him. What shocked Aiden was not the familiar-looking golden shine or the fact that the shadow that hid him seemed to be a sentient, separate entity. No. What shocked him once again, was the feeling, that he felt when he was bombarded with the figure''s energy. It was familiar it was too familiar! Chapter 290 - 290 - Experiments As Aiden''s erratic aura quietened down, the thin figure lowered his arm. "Now, now, boy. Calm down, there is no need for that. I have said that this is the current theory. No one knows for sure, and even fewer even knows about them at all. There are no definite records surviving from their era. What we know ising from myths and legends going from mouth to mouth." He said with a calm tone. Aiden was bbergasted, and to be perfectly honest slightly wary of this man. With a single move of his hand, he forcibly calmed the violent, raging storm that was his emotions. He had incredibly powerful servants with mysterious origins, he controlled and manipted the Horde, this gathering of creatures without even moving a finger. "What was your purpose with these Orcs? What was the n with the Horde?" After calming down a bit, Aiden asked the question, that he was originally tasked toe here for answers. The thin man chuckled at the boy''s inquiry once more, before answering. "Hehehe, I guess it''s not that important now" He muttered to himself, before answering. "While I could answer with big words like ''Thisnd originally belonged to them, they were the natives while these big families, this empire filled with racists were the invaders But the truth is this was all just an experiment that mostly I was interested in." He flicked his right hand again, and a short, gnarled stick with a scarlet ruby gemstone etched in its top materialized from thin air. Seeing the familiar ''sacred stick'' that granted power and also corrupted the holder''s mind appear in the figure''s hands shocked Aiden. "Y-you" He muttered, as he slowly pieced all the puzzle pieces together. "Did you create these objects? Are you the one manipting all the orcs and goblins?" Seeing the boy''s reaction, the thin shadowy figure chuckled once more. "Ahaha, yes that is right. I needed willing test subjects to examine the effects of what the power would have on these primitives. I have to tell you It was an incredibly fruitful experiment! I received such varying results, you wouldn''t believe!" "You You are the one that caused all the suffering to all of them" "Oh and what of it? They are just ants." He sneered. "Besides, they were useful in providing useful data at the very least, and at the same time, they were working towards a goal that they all truly wished for. Their desires were true, I have not nted false thoughts into them. Everything they did was their own decision." Listening to his words, Aiden could feel his blood boil, his anger rising. He clenched his fists tightly as he forced to remain seated and not act rashly. Just from their menial interaction, he has already realized that this figure was incredibly powerful. "What was the point of all these experiments? What were you... testing?" Forcibly calming himself, he slowly growled out a question. Although this information was already probably enough to mark the quests and even the Madame''s mission aspleted, he wanted to learn more about this man, this unfathomable opponent of his. --- While Aiden was facing off against someone or something shrouded inplete darkness and mystery, at the other side of the forest, arge convoy of people, after trekking with a forced pace, finally arrived at the edges of the treeline. As they finally left the territory of this godforsaken forest and stepped on the dewy emerald grass, one of the two girls leading the front, a disheveled, weary woman with a haystack of purple-colored shoulder-length hair fell on his knees. She almost cried as she finally felt the first rays of the dawning sun caress her mud-, blood- and sweat-covered glistening face. Finally, they survived this nightmare, this hellish ordeal. "Finally It''s over" She sighed in relief as she gazed at the gradually lightening gray sky. However, as the words left her dried lips, the figure of a creole-skinned, golden-eyed boy popped up in her mind. With worry and concern, she hurriedly looked behind her, trying to pierce through the thick woods, hoping to see his figure emerge from behind them. "Waiting for someone, girl?" A cheeky remark came from her right. A blonde, tall woman, draped in ragged, torn cloaks plopped down on the grass next to her. There was a mysterious aura, a strong presence oozing out from her. "He is still at the orc camp. Last I felt his presence was hours ago, then suddenly" She mimicked an explosion with his hands as she continued. "Puff! He just vanished. My guess? He is either dea-" Before the amazon, or more precisely the presence controlling her could finish, the purple-haired girl''s eyes lit up as she turned to look at her with a scowl on her face. "Don''t you dare finish that thought. I don''t care how powerful you are, I promise you I will end you." She growled, muttering the words under her breath. Instead of scared, the amazonian woman chuckled at her response. "Ahaha, don''t worry miss, I don''t want him gone either. My d- ehm, Naybeah here would be devastated if that were to happen." Ignoring the piercing looks of the purple-haired girl, she gazed at the grey sky. "Anyway I need to leave. I have already put this body under great stress" She heaved a long, tired sigh, before continuing. "Sarah, was it? Please, look after Naybeah. After I leave, she will probably faint. She is way over her limits by now." "Then, don''t leave! Help her get back to town!" The purple-haired girl, Sarah retorted, not understanding the need to leave so suddenly. If she could stay and assist them to get out of the forest, why couldn''t she stay a bit longer?! Naybeah, hearing the expected question, smiled wryly, shaking her head. "No. I can''t. I should have left long ago. The more I stay, the more stress Naybeah is under, and the harder the recovery. Normally, I shouldn''t even be doing this at all, but I just couldn''t sit back and watch as she dies She is" A single tear escaped from the corner of the blonde amazon''s eyes. Her voice faltered, the powerful aura of the presence that controlled the previously beat-up body vanished. With the controlling power leaving the body, Naybeah''s eyes closed, she plopped down the ground, sprawled out. Just as the voice said, with her own soul regaining the wheel, she instantly fainted, the strain she was put under was way too much for her to handle. Just as she fell down, a dagger-wielding, leather armored redhead girl, walked out of the forest. Like all the others, the mixture of people and races, her body was dirty, grimy, glistening with sweat. Her fiery red hair was in a messed-up state. Seemingly not bothered by the motionlessrge body of the blonde amazon to the right, she sat down on Sarah''s left. Finally, out of this nightmarish ce, and safely surviving the night, she let out all the pent-up air from her chest, heaving loudly. "Haaaa! Not sure about you guys but once brother gets back, I''m sure as hell never returning to this ce." A timid-looking curly brown-haired girl walked towards them after the urging of the group of peopleying a few steps behind them. "E-e-excuse me, misses W-what should we do now?" She asked meekly. Sarah sighed at the question as she slowly pushed herself up, turning to face the girl and the rest of the ves they had just freed. "Listen up everyone!" She pointed to the right, shouting loud enough for the entire crowd to hear her. "Towards the north-east, about half a day''s distance there''s a small human settlement. After our friends return, we will lead you all there. You can stay there while Adventurer''s Guild will work to find a ce for you to live." There was a mixed reaction from the crowd upon hearing the girl''s words. While most, mostly the humans were relieved to hear that they can finally rest, they were also eager to leave and wouldn''t want to wait any longer than necessary. However, knowing the strength of these three, they didn''t dare voice theirint. On the other hand, the non-human races of the group were exasperated. The fact that after being at the mercy of these savage orcs, now they would be facing the racist humans didn''t sound that much better. Still, just like their human brethren, they didn''t dare to voice their opinions. Sarah didn''t really have the strength and willpower with them and turned away, plopping down the ground. Her main concern was the return of the ck-haired youth, that after learning the situation they were facing, decided to brave the dangers by himself. Scarlet, however, after noticing the frowns and annoyed looks on the group, red up with anger. "You ungrateful lowly bunch! How dare you react like that?! Without us, you would still be nothing but cattle! We risked our lives setting you free, and this is how you repay kindness?!" She pointed towards the road with the bloodied dagger in her hand. "If you rats are so eager, go ahead and leave! The less of you remain, the less we have to deal with!" Chapter 291 - 291 - A New Morning, New Troubles With the arrival of the next day, a group of shady figures, garbed in matching dark travel cloaks could be seen gathering just outside the city walls, far away from the western city gates. There were sizablepany 11 strong. With the hood pulled over their heads and mask pulled over the lower half of their faces, they were shrouded in mystery. Still, there was an ominous feel to the group, the air around them was sinister, cold, eerie. They seemed to be waiting for something or someone, as they stole nces towards the far right, where the city''s sewage system connected into the nearby river. They didn''t need to wait long, as soon, the grating was lifted, and a figure, donning matching clothes as the group appeared. The aura oozing from him, however, was several sses above the rest. "Greetings, Mast-" the closest of the waiting bunch nodded and spoke in a gruff tone to greet the neer, but an unexpected ping from the figure sent him to the ground. As he struggled to get up, he looked at the figure with fear and uncertainty. What did he say that insulted the master? "How dare you? The only Master we serve is the future City Lord, Master Leon. I am merely your boss, do you understand?!" The cloaked figure roared with anger, causing the group to shiver with fright upon the exmation. "Y-yes M B-Boss! I-I apologize for my rudeness, hope you can forgive me." The pped man slowly stood back up, and bowed immediately, apologizing with fear and dread clearly visible in her stuttering tone. "Hmpf. As long as you understand." The figure, obviously the leader of the gathered group spoke indifferently. Shifting his attention he looked at the group. Taking a short gasp of air, he addressed them with amanding tone. "We have a very important task to carry out, given to us directly by the Master. If we can do it to his satisfaction you can all expect some great rewards. We might be able to finally gain the honor to be counted as one of his forces! I hope I need not remind you of the importance of this chance!" He paused in his speech, ncing over the crowd. The gasps and excited yelps satisfied his ego causing a contented smile to appear on his well-hidden face. "There is a new pest that Master has some unsettled debts with. The Master ordered us to show thismoner filth the grave mistake he made when standing against the natural order! We will give a surprise visit to his family and ever-so ''graciously invite'' his family toe and join us. There should be only an old hag and some tasty-looking blonde girl there." He spoke, putting some emphasis on thetter part of his speech. It was clear he didn''t put the family in his eyes. What the Master told him, was that while they could be a bit rowdy, they are notbatants, and should not be any challenge at all. As long as that monster of a boy is not with them, they should be easy targets. "B-boss, are we allowed to" The closest to their leader the one that was pped so brutally just a moment ago raised another question with a fearful tone. Although he didn''t incur their leader''s wrath any longer, they still wanted to know if they were allowed to act like usual or not. "We can rough them up, but can''t taste the goods this time. Master specifically asked for the blonde girl to be brought to him and that he shouldn''t be tasted." Hearing that most of the fun they had in these types of missions was this time forbidden, voices of dissatisfaction could be heard from the group. Still, it quickly quieted down as they remembered that by doing this job perfectly, they would have the chance to finally be initiated to the Master''s Special Forces. They could still enjoy some celebrations in the evening once they were done. Once the group turned quiet and focused on their leader, the man continued. "Let''s get to it, everyone! This is it, the chance we were all waiting for, our chance! From tomorrow onwards we will be members of the Master''s Special Forces Team!" Raising his right fist in the air, the leader yelled excitedly, rousing the group''s morale to its peak. With his speech finished, he turned towards the forest stretching seemingly endlessly across the horizon. A short whileter the group began to dash towards the treeline with excitement and fervor shining in their eyes. Some couldn''t even believe their luck, by merely doing a menial task of collecting some forest-dwellingmoner filth that anybody could do, they would gain the chance to join the Master''s forces! How lucky is that?! --- Sometimeter the group of now 12 shadowy figures could be seen dashing through the thick and grove of the trees, rushing towards a certain direction. Donned in various armors, some had a matte, painted, ck steel glimmer in the thin dawning rays of the sun with a slight sheen, others were wearing studded leathers. Swords, daggers, and a quartet of bows were also present making their team an all-rounder, usually ready to tackle most dangers. The only role they were missing was some spellcasters, but their kind was already extremely rare and most importantly, very high profile for a group such as them. Still, none of them were bothered even by a bit that they had no such support with them, as the task they were given held absolutely no dangers in their eyes. Kidnapping amoner''s family wasn''t something they had anything to worry about after all. Only one person in the group, the leader had a slight frown as they were dashing towards a particr little hut not too deep in the forest. For some reason, he had a bad premonition as they closed towards their target. His trained and heightened senses were tingling, warning him of a potential mistake he was about to make. He couldn''t understand this feeling he had. What could go wrong? Just some alchemist hag and her brat of a child What could possibly go wrong?! ''Hmpf! I''m getting too old for this'' He muttered inwardly, forcibly shrugging of this ominous feel he had. With all the preparations they had made, their trip towards the hut in the woods was without any threat. The predators were mostly asleep by now, the other type of threats were warded away with the protective charms they have brought with them. As they reached the simplistic-looking small wooden fence, the group was already setting up in position. Each of the archers found themselves a tree to climb up, the dagger-wielding ambushers, the assassins, circled around the perimeter searching for an obscure spot or corner toy in wait. The leader of the group and his 4 sword-wielderckeys remained only in in sight. As he looked at the small house, his senses continued to tingle, warning him like rm bells to do not approach this den of hell any further. However, they have already crossed the point of no return. They couldn''t go back to the Master empty-handed. That would greatly disappoint him, which would be equal to a death sentence. Being a master of unarmedbat, he held no weapon in hand, he clenched his fists ever so tightly and kicked at the small wooden gate, destroying it into small splintered remains in the process causing a loud burst of explosive sound at the same time. The loud ruckus he deliberately caused obviously alerted the residents, and not long after, the entrance door slowly creaked open. An elderly woman draped in severalyers of tattered, ragged clothes and a patched-up red hooded travel cloak appeared in the doorway. With a gentle friendly smile on her face, as if unaware of the dangers she was facing, asked the man in the front. "Why good morning gentlemen! May I ask, what sort of troubles did that small wooden gate cause to earn the ire of that young man?" As she spoke, she was full of smiles, her tone was warm, inquiring. She seemedpletely oblivious of the situation. This sort of reaction caused the leader to freeze for a moment and unable to respond. However, he recovered in the next second, he coughed, raising his right arm in the air. This was the signal for his man in the back to get in ready positions and aim their weapons at the target. "Don''t y dumb with me old hag, even with your advanced age and low eyesight, you should still know that you are surrounded by my guys. Even if you are tired of living, you surely don''t want your little wh*re of a grandkid to be humiliated and then killed, do you?" He sneered already expecting the usual fearful, frightened reactions. He really enjoyed the moment as the despair settled on the faces of their targets, the moment they realized that the lives they lived were gone. He reveled in these situations, he hated his undercover role at the guild. This was the true way of life, not that office work. Sadly, the reaction he was hoping for never came. The old woman remained standing, she did not shiver, she did not cower. The gentle, kind smile on her wrinkled face never faded. She turned her head slightly to the left, then to the right as if searching for something. After that, her gaze returned to the leader of the group and asked in a curious tone. "Surrounded? By what men? I don''t see anybody other than you lot." Chapter 292 - 292 - Struggle "What are you talking about, you hag?! Just look around, my men have surrounded y-" The words stuck in him as soon as he turned to the side to nce at the obscure, shadowy corner to the left of the elder. His dagger-wieldingckey that should have been stationed there were nowhere to be found. Confusion and surprise morphed his expressive face still hidden under the cover of his hood, he nervously darted to the right side where the other one should be waiting for hismand to ambush. However, just as before, there was no one stationed on the spot, the corner where he nted his second dagger holder was nowhere to be found. "What the-" He cursed, as the surprise he had before began to transform into shock. Soon nervousness and fright began to surface, adding further to theplexity of emotions that began to trouble him. Already afraid to look back, he raised his right hand in the air and swiped forward, giving the attack signal to the archers that should be on the trees behind them. "FIRE! KILL THE OLD HAG EVERYONE!" He eximed, shouting themand. Upon his order, he and his four sword fighterpatriots that remained with him kicked at the small wooden fence around the already demolished gate and began their relentless charge against the olddy. Unfortunately, the expected rain of arrows from behind him never came, confirming his earlier suspicion. All of his stationed men have mysteriously vanished without as much as a yelp. He couldn''t even sense anything, despite his honed senses. The leader gritted his teeth, and clenched his fist tighter, giving it his al,l to at the very least take revenge on this old woman for tricking them. He was the first to arrive with two of his nearest brethren. The two swords were thrust forward aiming at the elder''s abdomen, while the leader twisted his torso slightly to the right, giving a wider arch to his fist as heunched a ferocious right hook at thedy''s chin. Despite being under such an assault, the friendly, weing smile never faded from Granny''s face. She remained motionless not even bothering to put up any defense. A slight smirk surfaced on the leader''s face seeing theck of resistance, already thinking about how to discipline this hag for her actions without going against the Master''s order, when suddenly he felt a change in the air. The air suddenly turned thicker, colder. His fist that was only inches away from the wrinkled chin of the elder, suddenly slowed to a halt, unable to move any further. At the same time, both swords seemed to hit the same invisible wall, plunged, and stuck into something invisible. As if already expecting the result, the elder looked at the leader of the assaulting group with the same gentle, kind smile on her face. She looked over at the awkward pose his body was frozen. A light chuckle escaped her aged lips as she spoke again, this time with a hint of mischievous tone. "What happened, Sir? Why are you like that?" Unable to push further, nor pulling his fist back, the leader struggled to break free from the mysterious hold. "L-let us go, you old hag!" He cursed, trying to turn his head behind him to nce at the remaining two swordsmen he had. He had a bad feeling, they were behind him, charging just as he and the other two did, but somehow, they never arrived. What happened? Did they got frozen just like him? "Y-you two! What are you doing, we are stuck here, get us out!" Unable to shift his head he could only hope they were still close by, he yelled out to them. He was hoping that they were simply frozen due to the shock and fright of the turn of events and nothing worse had happened. However, no matter how hard he yelled, how hard he cursed, no response came. He couldn''t even sense anything behind, which further increased his worries. "W-what did you do to my team?!" Unable to set himself free or ask for help, he could only helplessly yell at the seemingly harmless olddy. "Me? What could I have done Mister Leader? I am just an old woman, fragile and weak. What could I have done? Surely you jest. Anyway Why are you still standing like that?" The old woman spoke with an innocent, surprised look. "Don''t y with me, you old witch! You better have not killed them! Do you have any idea who my master is? He will have your head!!! YOU HEAR ME! YOU ARE DEAD!" The turmoil of emotions that was raging inside him, the anger, the trepidation, the fear, the regret mixed together to an explosive mixture, erupting as a helpless curse-filled yelling. He was mad, not just at the old woman that somehow tricked them, but also at himself for ignoring the warning of his seasoned senses that were warning, no, screaming at him to get back. He was blinded by greed, he was certain that this assignment would be a no-brainer. They just had to whack and kidnap an elder and some kid living alone in the woods near town. He didn''t even bother investigating the targets. "Now, now, that''s not how you should be addressing your elders, right? Where''s the respect, what is this tone, young man?!" Leaning closer to his face, the olddy clicking her tongue dismissively. Then, as if she was finished, she turned around began to walk back into the house, ignoring the still frozen trio right at her doorway. "H-hey, where are you going! Let us go!" One of the stuck swordsmen yelled out nervously. "Let me go,dy! I promise I will not bother you again!" The other one added as well. "GET BACK HERE YOU OLD HAG AND LET US GO RIGHT NOW!" The leader was the only one with some menial resistance left in him, he continued to squirm, trying to free himself from the mysterious spell''s hold, albeit fruitlessly. The Granny was already in the doorway when she stopped. Without bothering to turn back, she chuckled. "You guys can finish them now, but don''t waste too much time, Breakfast should be ready soon!" With that said, she walked back into the house, closing the door behind him, ignoring the trio still stuck in the air. "W-what are you saying?! G-GET BACK HERE! YOU HEAR ME?" The leader cursed, helplessly squirming, stuck in the air. "Now now, don''t bother with her, she is busy making breakfast you know" A chilling, feminine voice suddenly reached the trio''s earsing from behind. A dainty hand touched the leader''s back, gently patting it. It was a gentle, soothing sensation, the storming emotions began to calm down under the caress of these heavenly fingers. "M-master, w-what are you doing?!" A second, younger voice of a girl appeared from behind them. Her voice carried a tinge of confusion and a hint of curiosity. As she spoke, the trio could also hear low, barely audible growls that most likely came from a pair of animals. "Oh, I''m just trying to calm down Mister Leader here Lily. Just look at him shivering in fright, unable to understand what is happening. Where did hisckey go? Why is he stuck in the air?" The mature voice chuckled at her own words, before continuing. "Don''t you think it''s funny?" After a brief moment of silence, the younger voice responded. "I don''t know They are bad guys, they came here to bother us. Brother wouldn''t have yed around with them like that!" "Oh?" The mature voice behind them eximed with a surprised tone. She pulled her slim fingers away, turning to face the girl. "Tell me than Lily, what do you think Aiden would have done?" This time, without hesitation, the youngster happily eximed. "Brother would have punished them swiftly! He is strong, these weaklings wouldn''t even survive one hit from him!" The mature voice giggled at the young girl''s response. "I see. That is probably right" She added thoughtfully as she turned back to the leader. Her fingers once again caressing the back of the man, as it slowly traveled upwards. "In that case, I suppose we should hurry up. After all, Granny is waiting for us." "H-hey you guys What are you-" Before the Leader could finish his question, suddenly his body turned stiff as an unnatural coldness seeped into his body from thedy''s fingers. The coldness rapidly spread throughout his body. His body, his organs, his mind shut down in mere moments without any pain, any resistance. Thest thought before the void overcame the Leader''s mind was confusion and regret. He should have listened to his senses, that way his life wouldn''t have ended in such a puzzling manner With her job finished Number 3 let go of the now-deceased leader of the group. She turned to look at the blonde teenage girl who was still looking at the back of thest surviving swordsmen. The other one, just like the leader, died in a mysterious way. She sighed at the girl, smiling wryly. "Come on, Lily. We need to get back. Finish up! It seems we have to increase the training regimen, you were too slow!" Chapter 293 - 293 - Warning "What was the point of all these experiments? What were you... testing?" Forcibly calming himself, he slowly growled out a question. Although this information was already probably enough to mark the quests and even the Madame''s mission aspleted, he wanted to learn more about this man, this unfathomable opponent of his. Listening to the question, the shadowy figure erupted into a peal of heartyughter. It took him almost a full minute before he could respond. His words, however, weren''t of much help to Aiden. "I have already told you, boy. Weren''t you listening? I needed to see the effects the higher-tiered energy had on these primitives." With a flick of his hand, the gemmed staff evaporated into thin air, he continued. "As I said before, the results were satisfactory, even if the corruption was too much for their minds to handle." "Well, except for a select few like that orc you imed for yourself." He added thoughtfully. "That reminds me how did you do it? How did you override the control of the energy? Normally it shouldn''t be possible, but somehow you managed to cleanse it! May I ask how did you do it?" He leaned forward, focusing his hidden gaze on the boy sitting in front of him. Unfortunately for him, Aiden wasn''t keen on answering this figure. His hands were balled into fists, as he stared back intensely at this enigmatic being. Although the answer he got was vague, the notification he saw from the corner of his eyes, showed that it was indeed enough for the system to satisfy the mission''s conditions. With that knowledge in mind, he slowly stood up from his seat, shaking his head lightly. "We all have our secrets." He answered curtly, declining any further questions about the matter. "With that, my work here is done." He added and was about to turn around and leave when the shadowy figure flicked his right hand again. Upon his simple action, the air around Aiden turned thick, forming an invisible solid barrier, holding him in ce. "Don''t be so eager to leave, my boy. Don''t be afraid, I''m not here to hurt you. You should be already aware that while you are indeed strongpared to most of these ants, you are stillcking whenpared to existences such as me. Even against my servant that you so rudely took for yourself, you were at best evenly matched. If he would have gone all out, I don''t think you would have been able to defeat him so quickly. Lucky for you, he couldn''t exert his full power due to my instructions." He mused, his tone carrying a hint of ridicule. Hearing his words, Aiden clenched his fists tightly. nting his right feet slightly behind the left, he entered a jump-ready battle stance. Even if he knew he wouldn''t be a match against this impossibly powerful existence, he wouldn''t go down without a fight. However, the figure only chuckled at Aiden''s nervous stance. He waved with his hand, as he spoke in a carefree manner. "Ahahaha, don''t be so trigger-happy. I told you, I am not here to fight you, I just wanted to see you for myself, and get some answers, that''s all." He let out a short sigh as he left his seat and stood up. He waved with his right hand, causing both chairs he summoned to fade away. "Anyway, I got what I came for, so it''s time for me to leave." He turned around and flicked his hand onest time, causing a dark portal to appear in front of him. Before stepping through it, he turned his head to the side and left a remark. "Grow stronger boy, don''t be socent. You are wasting your time. If you think your current strength is enough to protect those you hold dear to your heart, you are in for a rude awakening. Keep your secret well protected, not everyone is so carefree like me." Suddenly a scarlet hue surrounded his visage, the tone of his voice turned much more somber, lower-toned, gaining an otherworldly, yet familiar feel to it. "Be wary, the Seven Sovereigns still covets the secrets of the Ancients. If you wish to learn more, visit the Demon Grotto below ground. Only you can unlock it." Finishing what he wanted to say, the shadowy figure stepping into the portal and vanished from sight. Shortly after the dark portal closed, leaving only Aiden present in the room. Even after he left, Aiden continued to stare at the spot he wasst seen with a vacant look. His words continued to ring inside his mind, he couldn''t make heads nor tails of it. "The Seven Sovereigns still covets the secrets of the ancients? What did he mean? What are these sovereigns, but more importantly what is the secret he was talking about?" He pondered, slumping back down to the ground once again. "Still, he was right about the fact that I am still weak. I am helpless against beings of his level. Heck, even against Murus I would have lost" Thinking about his first disastrous sh against the now-absorbed tall humanoid-looking creature, Aiden sighed exasperatedly. Taking a deep breath, he forcibly calmed his nerves. Changing the subject, he focused on the slew of notifications waiting for him and the memories that was still in the forefront of his mind, waiting to be processed and merged with his being. ''Before I check the notifications, I should probably quickly go through his memories. Maybe I could learn more in the process But, before that'' He opened the portal to the Minion World calling for his 4 servants toe back. Upon his calling one by one, Roas, Glohn, Gob, andstly Galina hiding behind her brethren, stepped forth. As they appeared, they were shocked to see the state of the room. The room they left was already in a pretty brutal state, but that was iparable to what they were greeted with as they appeared. Arge section of the wall was now missing, destroyed, arge gaping hole was left in its ce where you could gaze at the dawning, orange-tinted sky. The massive pool of blood that covered the floor was gone, in its ce wide, ominous cracks reced it. The gore, the small miniature inds made of meat, and organs of the once fearsome orc warlords were nowhere to be seen. Their young master was slumped down on the grown with a weary, tired look on his face, his attire torn to shreds. His chiseled body was out in the open for all to see and enjoy. Galina after everything that happened between them, had to avert her gaze, lest she would lose herself in that perfect glistening body of the young master. Roas, seeing the state he was in, immediately walked closer and knelt down next to him. "[Orc] Young Master! Are you okay? How can we help you?" He asked with worry and concern in his tone. "No I''m fine, just a bit tired." Aiden responded, smiling at his first servant. "I... " He sighed, the smile vanished from his face, reced by a solemn outlook. nting his hand on the ground, he slowly pushed himself up. Although Roas wanted to help, Aiden pushed his hands away. "Guys and Galina you are part of my family, the first to pledge yourself to me. When you did, I promised that I will give you the chance to get your revenge. Unfortunately, this chance was robbed of you, another enemy has popped up and robbed this from you." He paused his speech, and took another gasp of air, before resolving his will. In the next moment, he shocked all four of his servants, he bowed down and continued with an apology. "I have failed to fulfill my promise to you, and for that, I apologize. Although currently, I do not know how to absolve the Master-Servant bond we created, I will do my best to find a solution to it. If you no longer wish to stay with me, I only ask that you be patient until I find a way to set you free from this connection, we all share." Even after finishing his apology he stayed bowed down. In fact, he really felt guilty for failing to fulfill his promise to them, even if it wasn''t his fault. He felt that he had failed them, that he was not worthy of their support and love. The guys were speechless at this sight, unable to respond. Although they did wish to all fulfill their dreams, they couldn''t fault their Young Master for this turn of events, nor did they wish to leave him. They vowed for eternal servitude, and besides, their new life were all granted by him. They could feel the love and concern the young master had for them. It was the shy Galina that stepped up first. She reached for the Young Master''s head, gently grabbing it and lifting it up. "[Goblin] Young Master Please stand up. We are all happy you walked into our lives. Without you, our lives would be meaningless. You granted us a new life, a new form. Everything we have we owe it to you." "[Goblin] Besides" Gob, stepped up as well, kneeling in front of Aiden, his fisted right hand hitting his chest. "[Goblin] ...We can still take our revenge. The one that controlled the orcs is the one that is ultimately responsible! Master, you have not failed your promise at all!" He eximed with a reverent look. Chapter 294 - 294 - Descending Towards The Grotto A gentle smile appeared on Aiden''s tired face as he listened to his servant''s reassuring words. He was d that they didn''t hate him for how the events had turned out. He was truly grateful. "[Goblin] I... I will prom-" Struggling to phrase a sentence he wanted to renew his promise to them, but was quickly silenced, as a set of pained groans reached their ears,ing from the side. The so-far unconscious baggage they carried through the mysterious tower has finally woke up. With great difficulty the silver-haired prince pushed himself up from the ground, and sat down next to Aiden, leaning against the wall. He grabbed his temple, rubbing it whilst he was deep in his own muffled grunts and growls, ignoring the audiencepletely. "W-what happened" He grunted after a while, his eyes still closed, as he kept massaging his own temples. "My head hurts" "*Sigh* You are finally awake man You know, if I would have known that you would just be a nuisance all the way through, I would have left you in your cell, to pick you up when we are done." Aiden replied with a smirky tone. "Wha What do you mean? W-wait" Still unsure of thest events that happened before he fainted, he wanted to rebuke, but the images slowly started toe back to him, he shut up. Opening his eyes, he looked at the creature in front of him. "Y-you! Wait what are you? You looked different" When he opened his eyes and noticed the familiar cold look of the giant figure in front of him, he almost snapped at him. However, after taking a second, careful look at him, he noticed there were significant differences from thest time. Whilst the general figure of the creature remained the same there were many not-so-subtle differences. For once, the already towering height he had seemed to have further increased, giving the creature a dominating presence. The bulging mass of muscles he carried also seemed to have further increased, threatening to burst from the leathery container that tried to hide them. Not to mention, his eyes that were dark as the night, were now vaguely simr in shape and in color to Aiden''s exotic, golden irises. All in all, whilst he looked simr, Drake felt that something important must have happened for this giant to change so much. He only now noticed that besides this giant, there were three other figures present besides him and Aiden. Whilst they were of simr height then himself and had human-like features and faces, the tone of their dark green skins, and the simr, golden-colored eyes were a dead giveaway that they were, in fact, something else. Confused by the strange audience, he turned towards Aiden, whom he could at the very least recognize, even if he sported the same look as the neers. "W-what happened? Who are these ehrm, creatures?!" Not sure of how to refer to them, after a brief moment of pause, he went with the general term, creatures. He asked in a curious tone, careful not to offend them, as he could feel a faint pressure emanating from each of these beings. Facing Drake''s question, Aiden chuckled before responding. He slowly nced over each and every one of his servants, a gentle, kind smile dominating his weary, tired expression as he spoke. "They are my friends family even. The beautifuldy over there is Galina, the boy next to him is called Gob, the elder to their left is Glohn, whilst this towering giant that actually carried you all the way is Roas. Please don''t refer to them as ''creatures'' it is quite offensive. They are like you and me Well, mostly me, but you get the idea." He responded, pointing to each of his servants as he spoke their names. "Sorry I didn''t mean to be rude it''s just a bit" Drake hurriedly responded with an apologetic look on his face. Before he could finish though, Aiden intervened with yet another chuckle. "Overwhelming? Hehe, I guess I can understand that." His face turned serious in the next moment, as he gazed into Drake''s eyes. "Anyway do you remember thest moments before you lost your consciousness?" After a moment of hesitation, Drake sighed and nodded with a wry look. "Yeah Sorry about that I" He paused, taking a deep breath, and exhaled it, to calm his nerves. Then, he turned towards Roas, standing in front of him with a cold, indifferent look. With a bit of difficulty, Drake pushed himself up from the ground, and whilst still leaning at the wall to stabilize his still wobbly legs, he gave a slight bow. "Roas, right? I''m not sure if you can understand ournguage, but if you do, then I hope you can forgive me for my unsightly behavior from before. I shouldn''t have acted like that, I was just too agitated, too nervous. I know this is no reason to behave like that, but I just want you to know that I am sorry." With the same friendly smile on his face, Aiden only silently nodded at Roas who looked at him for support. Truth be told, Roas wasn''t really offended, despite being the original target of Drake''s misced ire, his only concern was to please the Young Master. Although they couldn''t converse in it, all four of Aiden''s servants could more or less understand the Human''s ''Common'' tongue. The rest they could just rely on their shared connection with the master if need be. When Drake apologized, Roas wasn''t really sure what to do, or how to react. He wasn''t even bothered by his attack at all. He was like a puppy trying to bark at a tree. So when he saw the Young Master''s smile and nod, he turned to look at the still prostrating human in front of him and snorted a brusque response. "They can''t speak the humannguage, well not yet, but he meant that he forgives you and that he is not bothered by what you did. It''s understandable that you would be agitated. You were locked up, without knowing the whereabouts of your sister." Aiden added. "What? That single snort meant so much?" Drake turned towards Aiden with a mixture of surprise and confusion on his face and voice. "More or less." He smirked. Feeling that his stamina recovered a little, he pushed himself up from the ground and stood back up. He turned towards the door and stretched a little. "Anyway we wasted enough time. I have recovered some of my stamina, let''s leave this damned ce. I still have onest task to do." Due to the abrupt awakening of Drake, Aiden decided to ignore the System''s messages and wait for the processing of Murus''s memories. Since he couldn''t return to the city until tomorrow anyway, he could process all the queued-up list once he returns to his campsite. Without waiting for a response from the group he stepped forward, walking towards the door. He wanted to put an end to this awfully long night, and visit that damned Demon Grotto and finallyplete the Main Quest. He didn''t like the feeling that his continued existence was on a timer. "H-hey, w-wait up Aiden!" Drake yelled, running after Aiden''s receding figure. The four servants silently followed after them, looking differently at the silver-haired human. --- Venturing through the empty floors once more to descend down the tower not so surprisingly was much faster than during their ascent. Now, that there were no safety measures, traps, illusions, and an armed, controlled battalion of warriors ahead of them, the group of six got safely through the floors and stairs at a hastened pace. While they weren''t walking inplete silence, they weren''t talking that much either. Drake kept asking about what happened while he was out ofmission, which Aiden mostly ignored or just responded vaguely with "I will exin when we meet up with the girls." Eventually, Drake had to give up trying to squeeze out anything from the boy, as it was a futile endeavor. Fifteen minutester the group was already on the ground floor staring at therge, matte ck, double door that would lead them out of the building, back to the orcs'' campsite. "Drake." Aiden spoke, breaking the brief silence that ensued between the group. "Yes? What is it?" Drake responded, his eyes stered on the double door, which he also recognized as the exit of this damned ce. "I still have one more objective that I must do. I am not certain about the situation on the outside, so I can''t just let you leave, as I have promised your sister that I will keep you safe. Still, if you want, I can have you escorted by Roas and the others." "What is this objective you still need to do? And while we are at it, can you exin what happened upstairs? I still have no idea about this horde" Drake asked with clear frustration in his voice. After all, he tried asking this very same question several times already during their descent only to be brushed away with "I will exin when we meet up with the others." Just like he expected, Aiden simply smiled at his question and spoke with his usual mysterious calmness. "You will understand when we meet up with the others. Be patient till then. As for the other task, I need to find something that should be underground this tower. It could be dangerous, and while I can protect the others, I can''t do the same for you. So, think about it very carefully before you decide to tag along." Chapter 295 - 295 - A Familiar Voice Even after the warning Aiden gave to him, Drake didn''t spend much time thinking about his answer. After merely a few seconds, the strict look on his face softened into a reassuring smile as he met Aiden''s eyes with his own. "Don''t you worry about me, Aiden. Although I''m not as monstrously strong as you, I am a skilled swordsman, after all." He patted the hilt of his adorned sword hanging in its lustrous sheathe on his right. "Mort and I will be able to handle ourselves fine! I will stay with you, so just lead the way!" "Hah do as you want, but don''t say I didn''t warn you." Aiden sighed, not wanting to waste time arguing with him any longer. As dawn had already passed and they were marching further and further into the day, he wanted to hasten thisst and hopefully not too long part of their adventure. Shifting his attention from the silver-haired prince, he turned to take in the ground floor of this towering structure carefully. The hallway they arrived in, was the base floor of the building, and as such, to their right, on the far side, an ominous-looking, matte ck, double-door barred their way, that would lead them out of the building and back to the orcs'' campsite. To their right, the hallway ended with a simple dark brown wooden door. The door, unlike the many others that could be seen along either side of the walls, looked quite old, ancient. The wood was already weary, torn by the relentless passing of time. The door had no handle on it, and instead of a regr keyhole, a strange violet gemstone, a beautiful amethyst could be seen elevating the archaic look of the age-old oak wood barrier and giving it a more mysterious feel. Scarlet, silk carpet was draped on the floor over the marble tile. All in all, the hallway that Aiden mostly ignored when he arrived looked quite astonishing,pletely out-of-ce in such a barbaric tribal campsite. Despite the royal feel the ce gave, besides Aiden, no one in the group was surprised by the least bit. For Drake, he already got over his shock when he was first brought here. As for Roas and the rest of the servants, they couldn''t really care about this ce at all. To them, this was just merely an already abandoned bastion of their enemies and not a marvel of architecture. After all, although they have evolved, they still originated from a species that lived in muddy huts and tents "So, where to now?" Drake asked, breaking the short silence, and pulling Aiden out of his reverie. "Hmm I''m not entirely sure" Aiden answered thoughtfully, slowly scanning the hallway. As he did so, he also sent out invisible waves of energy. Using his trusty [Dark Sense] ability he wanted to make sure that there were no more surprises along the way. As the pulses returned to him, he nced over at his System''s Generated Map only to see that they should safe. There were some strange responsesing from the direction of the gemstoned door, but at this time, neither he nor the system could discern if it would be harmful or not. He only felt a small pulsating source of heat, some energying from behind, further below. After a brief moment of thinking, he turned towards the aged door to their left and pointed towards it. "I believe that we will find what I seek behind that door." ''Young Master, would you please allow us servants to go ahead and check if there is any trap ahead?'' Roas''s concerned voice suddenly resounded in his mind. Following his voice, Aiden could feel the activation of all the connections he shared with his servants. He could feel the same worry and concerning from each of them. They were all worried about the same situation happening as before. Not wanting to speak while in the presence of the human, they all focused on the magical connection instead. Being able to feel their true emotions, Aiden didn''t want to deny this wish from them. ''Sure, you can check this floor and try the door as well. However, don''t be disheartened if you fail to open it, as I have a feeling that it will only work for me'' ''No, Young Master! Don''t worry!'' Roas'' excited voice came almost instantly which was a great contrast to his still stoic, cold look he gave outwardly. As he approved, in the next moment, Roas, Glohn, Gob, and even Galina turned towards the run-down wooden door on the left and left the group. As they slowly approached the destination, they made sure to check each and every room they came across. Seeing their receding figures, Drake looked puzzled. Why did they suddenly decide to go ahead? Why didn''t they say a word? Are they trying to trick them? "Umm Aiden" He leaned closer to the boy and whispered with a worried tone. Looking at Drake''s face, Aiden almost couldn''t hold in hisughter. He knew what he was concerned about. After all, they spoke using the mental channel. Still, with great difficulty, he retained his usual carefree, friendly look. With a masked calmness, he asked. "What is it?" "Those four Why did they leave so suddenly? What are they doing? Are they nning something?" Unable to contain it any longer, Aiden erupted into heartyughter. "No, don''t worry about it. They just wanted to go ahead and check if there were any traps, like what we saw when we first got to this building." He exined after calming down. "We were also ambushed on the higher floors, so now they are not going to take the chance. It''s better to just let them do it." Aiden''s exnation didn''t answer all the questions he had, but he decided to not force it for the time being. There were way too many mysteries surrounding the boy already, in fact, his whole being was an enigma. He, despite not looking like it, was incredibly strong and at the same time, agile. He had an unknown power emanating from his body. He could supposedly use some very strong illusion, most likely a bloodline skill or a heritage skill perhaps. Where did hee from, which family''s lost child could he be? Such skillset cannote from amoner background after all. Also his family, he saw back in the Slums That maskeddy he was with she had one of the royal artifacts, just like the blonde girl. ''Could they be some distant exiled part of the family? But if that is the case, how do they own not one but two of the artifacts? That just makes no sense'' Hemented. ''I need to investigate, his whole family is strange'' He was pulled back to reality by the voice of the boy in question. "You okay there? If you want you can stay and wait for us here, but we need to go on now." Looking at the absent-minded prince, Aiden voiced his thoughts. Not bothered to wait for his response, he turned around and began walking away. "Hey, wait up!" After a couple of steps, Drake''s voice came from behind, quickly rushing after the group. --- The oak wood door had no handle to push, no keyhole to unlock. Besides the palm-sized dazzling, violet amethyst etched into the center of the frame, it was just an archaic b of wood. Still, despite all that, the door seemed to be locked in some way, as no matter how hard they pushed, they couldn''t make it budge. After a few failed attempts, the strongest of the servants, Roas even tried breaking it, but no matter how hard he crashed into it, how hard he kicked or hit it, the weary wooden b never gave in, it firmly resisted against the aggressor. No matter what source of magic they tried, nor Galina''s light, Roas''s Darkness, or Fire, they couldn''t make the door move. In the end, they had to give up and notify the young master. "Hmm So it resisted all 4 of you. Interesting" Aiden muttered, leaning closer to the gemstone. "I guess to open it, we need to interact with this gemstone some way. The question is how? My first idea would have been to use your unique Dark Energy but that was a no-go I guess." Turning to face Roas to his right, he asked him. The fluent way as he switched from his generalmon to the orcish still surprised and perplexed Drake behind him. Still, he remained quiet, focusing his attention on the gemstone in front of them. "[Orc] Did you feel anything when you used your Darkness? Was there any feedback at all?" "[Orc] No, young master. The door or the gem waspletely unresponsive no matter what we tried. I apologize for being useless!" He bowed deeply. "[Orc] It''s not your fault. This one is special Maybe we are missing someth-" He spoke, although mostly to himself, however, suddenly he felt a familiar surge of energying from the depth of his Soul Space. He felt a previously dormant presence reach out to him. The mature, clear, albeit still weak voice of his dearpanion, Enya resounded suddenly in his mind. "[Put your palm over the gemstone. This door will only open to a Primal. Nothing else can force it open Don''t be afraid, Aiden] *** *** *** Please read the Author''s note below! *** *** *** Chapter 296 - 296 - The Door Finally Opens Hearing the mature voice of his first, and most importantpanion, the lone spiritual resident of his Soul Space, Aiden froze in his tracks. Shock emerged on his face, causing confusion to spread amid the group of servants and Drake. "Uhm Are you okay Aiden? Why are" Turning towards the boy, Drake asked with a bewildered look on his face. However, before he could finish his second question arge brown index finger shut his lips. Sharing the mystical connection between Master and Servant, Roas understood from the suddenly erupting powerful emotion he felt from the Young Master that whatever was going on, was important. Drake wanted to retort and wrestle his lips free from Roas''s meaty finger, but when he saw the stern, serious look as he focused his attention on Aiden, he calmed himself down. Whatever was going on, must have been important. Simrly to them, the trio of goblin also stood in silence, they could also feel the powerful tide that erupted from the very depths of Young Master''s heart. ''E-enya Is that you? How?! Shouldn''t you be still resting?'' Still not daring to believe that the owner of voice has suddenlye back, he stuttered. In response a faint, but gleeful giggle could be heard inside Aiden''s mind. It took the spiritual guide quite a while to settle down and be able to properly speak. ''[What did you expect Aiden?! While I was away you did all you could to destroy everything? You were constantly overtaxing yourself, getting hurt, and]" As if just noticing something important, she gasped, and turned silent for a bit. Although it was faint, Aiden could vaguely sense her presence, she seemed to be focused on something. The little white wisp of light that was now her body, zapped in the void of darkness inside his Soul Space whilst several additional yelps and surprise-filled wondrous whispers flew left and right. After a while, she returned her attention towards Aiden, in a still wondrous tone she eximed. ''[I have to admit, what you achieved, although quite barbaric, was still incredible. You managed to unlock the Minion Management section in the System! Not to mention the system is ready for an update, although you are probably not aware as you have yet to check your notifications] ''Update?! What does that do?'' He asked, but as he thought about it, he shook his head inwardly, forcibly changing the topic. ''Wait, nevermind that for now Tell me, what is this ce, and why do I need to touch the gem? Just... what is this ce?!'' ''[That I cannot answer you, sorry. This is something you need to check out yourself. Just know that it will not harm you in any way, although this can''t be said for yourpanions. Only you yourself can pass through this door.]'' Hearing his answer, Aiden''s already shocked and stunned look mixed in a tinge of confusion as well, giving him aplex,plicated expression. ''What do you mean, you can''t answer? You obviously know what this is!'' He eximed inwardly, almost losing his control and sending the message through his minion-links as well. A soft sigh could be heard as Enya tried to collect herself to formte an eptable answer. ''[I I can''t tell you, sorry. There are certain limitations, that I, as your Guide has to conform myself to. I can''t sorry.]'' From her tone it was clear she was struggling to answer, her tone carried a visible difort as she blurted the response word by word. ''I see.'' Aiden sighed, understanding that this was yet another mystery rted to his strange system that seemed to be controlling the crucial aspects of his life. ''Just answer me this then: What is this System exactly? Why does it assign me with these... Quests that keep threatening me with ending my life if I would fail to do them? Why am I being forced to keep ''ying'' along? What is the true purpose here? What am I supposed to do?!'' A grand mixture of his pent-up emotions startled the boil and rise to the surface; all the frustration, the misery, his anger, confusion, all came to the surface at the same time. Strong emotions, that could affect Aiden''s state of mind, and further damage the crystalline prison at the very depths of his Soul ''[Calm down Aiden, you can''t get too emotional! Remember the Pocket World, where youst lost control! You don''t want that happening again, do you? Lily, Granny, and even your Master would be very worried!]'' Feeling the threat of the potentially dangerous outburst, Enya warned Aiden with a worried tone. Luckily, the mention of his family seemed to do the trick, Aiden yelped in shock at her words. Closing his eyes, he took in arge gasp of air, stored in his diaphragm for a moment before slowly exhaling it out. It took him a bit, but he managed to take back control over his frustration and all his raging feelings, pushing them back down to the depths of his heart, forcing the calm look back on his face. His eyes however still seemed vacant, he was still motionless as he was focused on his inner world for the time being. The return of Enya was too sudden for him to just move on. ''I understand. Sorry, Enya.'' He apologized to his spirit guide. ''[Don''t worry about it Listen, I know you have many questions, and you want to understand more, but please trust me when I say that you will get your answers behind that door.]'' In a hushed tone, barely enough to be a whisper, she added. ''[Well... maybe not to all of your questions Not yet anyway]'' Then, coughing, Enya cleared her throat while also altered the course of their discourse. ''[Anyway, you should get back to reality Aiden. You have been standing like a statue for quite a while now. Yourpanions are starting to worry. Open the door and also let them know that they need to wait for your return.]'' Aiden could only let out an exasperated sigh, nodding at Enya''s words, before he returned his consciousness, awakening from his sudden stupor. As rity returned to his vision, the first face he saw was his first servant''s, Roas''s serious face, masking the worry he could clearly feel through their shared connection. Behind him, three smaller heads, the trio of primal goblins peaked, looking at him with concerned expressions. Still, the first voice he heard, was the silver-haired prince''s, Drakesing from behind as it grabbed his right shoulder. "You... You okay man? You dazed out for quite a while" "Uhm." He nodded at the question, revealing his usual calm, friendly smile, looking at his servants. "I am fine. I just had to... analyze the situation. Luckily if my guess is right, I know how to get through the door." While he spoke inmon, he made sure to convey the same message to his minions using the shared links. Having said that, he stepped forward, he approached the door. ''[Just ce your right hand over the amethyst and inject some of your [Soul Power] into it. The gemstone will recognize the familiar energy and let you through.]'' Enya''s instructions promptly resounded in his mind, surprising Aiden once again. ''Familiar energy? What do you mean?'' He asked inwardly, meanwhile following the instructions. Carefully, he reached for the gemstone at the center of the oak wood door. ''[You''ll see. Don''t ask pointless questions, just follow the instructions!]'' Fast came Enya''s retort, refusing to provide an answer to yet another one of Aiden''s questions. Although he was denied once again, a slight smirk emerged on his lips. His long lost guide, his sort of spiritual mother, Enya has finally returned and despite all the time she spent dormant, she hasn''t changed the slightest! ''Fine, fine. Don''t yell at me!'' He snickered inwardly, as his palm grabbed the surface of the violet gemstone. Following the instructions Enya provided, he closed his eyes, focusing on the flow of his [Soul Power], guiding a small strand of it towards the connecting palm. A faint golden light could be seen passing through his hand to the crystallized surface, shortly vanishing from the sight. Although the action was merely a fleeting moment, a fraction of a second, the group still managed to catch sight of it, causing shock to settle on most of their faces. Roas, clenched his fists, and stretched his muscles, ready to jump ahead in case of any threat would emerge. The others also weren''t resting, everyone was in a battle-ready state. Gob and Glohn were holding the weapons they took from the defeated orcs from upstairs, while Galina had a focused look, her slender fingers were gently waving against the air, ready to cast the known incantations to assist. In the next moment, as his energy seeped into the deeply etched gemstone, it suddenly lit up, glowing in a bright purple hue. A faint buzzing sound could be heard from its core, as simrly colored capiry cracks made out of the same energy began to spread throughout the door. The energy-based spiderweb rapidly spread throughout the entire surface of the wooden door, engulfing it into its magical luster, giving it a thinyer of purple film. In the next moment, a faint clicking sound was heard, as the door creaked open by itself, revealing a dark cavern as it continued to slither further down, underground. The entrance to the Demon Grotto was finally found and opened! Chapter 297 - 297 - A Familiar Energy The natural-made mineral-rich, cavern walls led Aiden further underground. The moss-covered walls glowed in a feeble light green hue providing the grotto an obscure, eerie ambiance. Thanks to his very first ability he gained during his rtively short lifetime, the [Dark Sense] Aiden had no issues with the dim lighting as he ventured alone. As he passed through a weak pir of what the luminous, glossy moss-covered, a slight smirk could be seen stretching from the corner of his lips. He had an incredibly hard time convincing his team of servants and Drake to actually allow him to continue alone. Roas and the trio of Primal Goblins were adamant in following him, as ''Their purpose in life was to protect the Young Master. They couldn''t just leave him!'' Even after he tried exining that the journey from this point on would be safe for him, and that he would much rather leave them to guard the perimeter, they were a pretty hard-headed bunch to convince. In the end, after much effort, they relented, albeit begrudgingly, and agreed to stay and guard the door. Luckily Drake agreed rtively quickly, but only after he made Aiden promise toe back. Still his quick acquiesce was something that Aiden was puzzled about for a bit, before pushing the thought to the back of his head. The path continued to slither downwards, seemingly without end, the route merging with the darkness in the distance. Even with using his [Dark Sense] skill at its maximum efficiency, Aiden couldn''t sense an end nor a single soul at all. This strange fact greatly worried Aiden, shaking his head he increased the range of his senses to cover the moss-covered cavern walls, the rocky ground, and ceiling as well. Still, even with that, he couldn''t find any fault, any inconsistency, or trace of magic as he was continuously led further and further down to the depths. What really puzzled him that there were no chambers, forking pathways, anything. He was seemingly led in what seemed to be a natural wonder, an ornate staircase to who-knows-where. ''Just what is this ce?!'' He grumbled inwardly. After trekking for minutes, he didn''t feel that he was any closer to whatever was lying in wait for him than when he first stepped through the doorway. ''[Don''t worry Aiden. You are making progress. There are no tricks or traps here. Trust me.]'' Feeling his trepidation, Enya''s reassuring words came almost instantly. Maybe she said the magic words, just as she finished speaking in his mind, a slight increase in pressure could be felt in the air. Feeling the change, Aiden stopped in his tracks and took a step back. As if crossing through a barrier, the light pressure vanished as he pulled his body back to his hind left leg. "Hmm This is strange I can''t see anything, but there''s definitely something here" He mumbled focusing his piercing gaze in the air ahead of him. Keeping his senses at their maximum, he once again, took the same step forward. He raised his right leg, pushing it through in the air slowly, carefully. Feeling no change, he leaned forward, following his adventurous leg. Although there was absolutely no feeling attached to it, when he crossed the imaginary border he made, he could immediately feel the light pressure, the transcending power around him in the air once again. Puzzled and confused by this mysterious sensation, he once again turned to his trustypanion for answers. ''Enya, do you know what is happening? What is this pressure? What is this feeling?'' Enya, his System''s spiritual guide didn''t hesitate with her answer. Her mature voice rang like a gentle bell in his mind. ''[The answers you seek are further below Aiden. Doesn''t it feel different from anything you have felt so far? Focus on the energy, doesn''t it feel familiar? Continue following it.]'' ''Argh'' Aiden could only grumble at her response. She kept not giving any sort of answer about what this ce actually was and kept urging him to just continue crossing this endless path. ''Fine Not like I have anything better to do.'' He grumbled, taking a quick nce at the timer on the main quest in his system. [Main Quest: The Secrets of the Demon Grotto Difficulty: A-S Remaining Time: 39 days 18 hours 55 minutes 58 seconds Objective: Find and Explore the Demon Grotto (1 / 2 - Explore the Grotto and Reach the end.) Uncover its Secret Earn the owner''s eptance Optional: -Merge with the Guardian (Warning: The feat will require the simultaneous activation and use of the Primal Absorb racial skill empowered with the Blessing of Ioris effect. Caution: The strain on the host''s core will be immense!) ...] Aiden was surprised to see that there were some updates on the quest''s text. For the first time, the System gave some additional details, going as far as giving a warning about the optional objective. ''Huh What happened, since when did the System act like this?'' He muttered to himself. ''[Well, it''s your fault, you haven''t read any of the notifications you have received. They contain some very important information you know]'' Enya''s reprimanded. ''I can''t, there''s too many, it would take too much time'' Aiden retorted. An ideaing to his mind, a mischievous smirk revealed on his face outwardly, as he continued with amenting tone. ''Unless someone could summarize the important parts for me'' ''[What? Summarize?! Just take the time to read it. It''s not like you have anything else to do!]'' She eximed, activating the notifications Aiden kept on the sideline ever since defeating Murus and pushed it to the forefront of his vision. Luckily, even though she didn''t say so, she still managed to somehow slightly alter the disy, groping and summarizing the long list of changes into a much more digestible format. [System Notification: The following Quest(s) have been updated. Critical Quest: Absorb to survive! - Completed! Rewards: New Skill Created and automatically activated: [Primal Restoration - (LVL 1 - 0 / 100): Usable in conjunction with [Primal Absorb] only! By altering the flow of the life essences of the absorbed lifeform, the Primal can heal from most types of damage and muttions. Warning: By using the life essences to revitalize and rejuvenate the body, the Primal will not be able to strengthen himself.]; 2000 XP Optional Quest: Thwart the Invasion - Part 2! Updated - Learn more about the history of thend (1/1) - Completed! - Report back to the Mistress of Higrove about what you learned! (0/1) *** System Milestone Reached: System Upgrade unlocked! Estimated Upgrade Time: 48 Hours 00 Minutes 00 Seconds Note: The System will be unavable during the upgrade process! *** ] Below that he also had the same reminder that he could initiate the upgrade process for his Dark Sense ability that popped up after he processed the Dark Essence Source he found. Still, the deactivation of the ability would have rendered him practically blind for an entire hour, which was not an option in his current situation. Still, the most interesting note beside the fact that after the mission he would need two whole days to allow the system to upgrade was the new Primal ability that he automatically used to restore his torn right arm. Sadly, this skill also exined why he couldn''t see or feel any increase in his attributes. This also meant that whatever race Murus was, Aiden couldn''t gain, as the life essences that would be required, were used up for a different purpose. Still, not all was lost, Aiden still had his memories, waiting to be processed. Just like before, by merging the memories and with that the life of this strange person, Aiden could find some answers to some still unanswered questions and gain some further knowledge in some of his skills. Unfortunately, with the missing form, he would be unable to fully unlock the memories, and most likely he wouldn''t get any further details about the shadowy figure that showed such great interest in him. Finished with the shortened list, Aiden closed the notifications, freeing up his vision. As he was focused on the text floating in the air in front of him, he didn''t notice the gradually increasing but still rtively light pressure of the force that surrounded him. Coming back to his senses, he was swiftly reminded by this fiasco. ''[I''m d that you finally took the time to read your own updates Aiden, but you should also be aware of your surroundings. Haven''t you noticed something?]'' ''The air Is much thicker What is-'' Coming back to his senses, Aiden quickly realized the gradual change in the air, and was about to ask, when suddenly he turned silent with a realization. The energy lingering in the air was an aura. That, he was already certain of. However, so far, he hadn''t focused on the energy itself, he merely felt its ever-present pressure, its increasing thickness in the air. Now, that he was reminded of it, a realization suddenly shed through his mind. He turned wide-eyed, halted his steps, and looked incredulously ahead of himself. The energy, the aura he felt, wasn''t mana, or any sort of essence the others used. It wasn''t intent honed by powerful and experienced warriors either. No, it was the very same type he was most familiar with! The air around him was filled to the brim with [Soul Power]! Chapter 298 - 298 - A Way Through The gradually increasing thickness, the cold saturation of the air, theck of dampness despite the cavern walls covered in moss There were many anomalies in this tunnel as Aiden ventured deeper and deeper to the core. There was familiar energy in the air, with qualities simr if not actually the very same as his own [Soul Power]. What did this mean? ''Is this ce rted to me or the Primals?'' He asked inwardly. Either way, this realization would be shocking, and just as puzzling. If the ce would be rted to him, Aiden, the boy then someone in the past knew about him and made ns for him. Someone maybe a rted person? A family member perhaps? Could it be that shadowy figure was someone he should know about? ''No How could that be true'' He shook his head, refusing to believe that conjecture. On the other hand, if this ce had some sort of rtionship with the Primals, the ancient and long-forgotten race then that would be just as equally shocking. Just think about it, a race forgotten and most likely forcefully erased from the history books. A race that should have no imprint, any relic left to the current millennia, still managed to save something for the next generation. ''Still That would be just as unbelievable. How could anything survive the tens if not hundreds of thousands of years that passed since then? How or why did the orcs settle down around this Grotto then? Why did they worship this ce? And, most importantly, what rtion does that strange figure has with the Primals?'' The more he thought about it, the more questions arose in Aiden''s mind, with no answers in sight. Either theory lead back ultimately to that thin figure, that shadow, that dark silhouette. Just who was he? Or maybe the figure was a she? ''No, his voice, although hard to discern, it was still masculine. His figure was also more on the male side than the other. However, who knows, he may not be a humanoid at all'' Hemented, letting out a long sigh. As he did so, the mature bell-like voice of Enya resounded in his mind. ''[Whilst I am prohibited to give a direct answer, I can tell you that what you seek is down there, and none of your thoughts are wrong. By basis, if you think about it, both theories are one and the same. There are no Primals anymore, you are thest surviving member. This is a fact, and that will not change.]'' ''That'' Aiden wanted to argue, but in the end, he decided against it. He took a moment to calm himself, before resuming his lonesome journey. ''Fine, I can ept that. But, why couldn''t the otherse? What dangers would await them here? I can''t sense anything'' He asked again. So far, he had trekked for ten minutes without any change in the scenery. What was so dangerous in this ce that he had to make sure, that none of his party members follow after him? ''[This ce is unlike the outside. You will understand when you arrive. Trust me, Aiden.]'' Just like before, Enya''s response was vague, shrouded in mystery, Aiden could only sigh, and let go of any further ideas to pry something useful out from her obstinate guide. Still, despite his failed attempts, he was d, happy that he could finally hear her voice, feel her presence After all, she was there with him ever since he could remember. She was the closest person to his heart, the only one that knew everything about him. There were no secrets in front of her all-seeing eyes. --- ''What is he doing, I don''t understand why we couldn''t follow him. What dangers? How could it be safer for him alone than with a group of 6?'' sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall, Drake was grumbling. He had his majestic, ornate sword unsheathed and resting in between his legs. He was gazing at the blue, hollow gemstone etched into the pommel, just below the grip. What looked like a simple, expensive jewel to others, was his best friend, hispanion, Mort. Mort was not a simple magical sword. It wasn''t a simple enchanted item, with some feeble enhancements to the wielder''s attributes. No. Mort was a being, a sentient presence. A creature with a soul. Or to be more precise, Mort was the creature living INSIDE the sword. Mort was the progenitor of the royal family. His full name was Mortimer Draquilea, the first king of the Kingdom. In his prime, Mortimer was a fierce warrior, a master of the sword. His de, which by no surprise was the very same Drake was resting his hands on currently, was bathed in the blood of countless in foes. Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Ogres... All kinds of monsters. Legends say he even defeated a dragon, the previous owner of thend. Still, in the end, he himself couldn''t ovee the unsurmountable foe that was Time. No matter how powerful you became, how long you could extend your own life force, in the end, you cannot ovee this opponent. Eventually, it wille after you, no matter how hard you try. "Hey, Mort Do you think he would be fine? Shouldn''t we have followed after him?" Drake asked as he nced at the dark tunnel entrance. In front of it, the four servants of Aiden valiantly stood guard, stoic, and focused. Not even an insect could pass by them, they took their young master''s words very seriously. He had thoughts about trying to push through, but he knew that by himself, without using the full power of his weapon, he would be no match to these monstrously powerful creatures. In response to his voiced thoughts, the damp gemstone briefly shed with a faint blue light for a brief moment. "I know that he is strong, I have experienced it. In fact, we both did, don''t forget, even you weren''t a match for him!" As if understanding the sword, Drake scoffed. The gemstone shed briefly once again, however this time there was a drop of yellow, lighter than gold, but darker than tinum mixed in with the blue glimmer. Still, it was once again, only a momentary sh, also a faint one. If you weren''t paying attention to it, it would be very easy to miss it. Drake''s expression softened as he ''heard'', processed the weapon''s thoughts, revealing a soft, gentle smile. Giving a light rub to the ck leather grip, he responded in a warmer,forting tone. "I know, I know. You haven''t used your full power, the boy had no evil intentions. But that is exactly why I just can''t sit still, knowing he could be in danger" He looked at the burly dark brown Roas. This guy even with his fists alone was the most dangerous, most powerful of the quartet. Adding to that, he had a huge, crude-looking battle axe, the very same Drake had seen on many of the orc warriors outside ced at his side. He alone would have been a huge challenge to get through, not to mention the rest of their group, two male dark green figures with human-like features, and a girl with a shy but determined look on her face. She may have looked the weakest, but Drake was sure that she herself held many secrets within her slender body. There was no chance pushing through them, not without unleashing the full might of Mort. The problem was, if he would do that, he would also unleash the powerful killing intent, the bloodthirsty aura of a battle-hungry Asura with it. He wouldn''t be able to quell its thirst without bathing the de in the blood of his opponents. Normally that wouldn''t be a problem, he wouldn''t care about these four in the slightest. Unfortunately for him, his friend, Aiden clearly said that they were not just his servants, but his family! He couldn''t do anything to them, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''tmunicate with them, much less convincing them about letting him through! As these thoughts tormented Drake''s mind, suddenly the sword shed once again with the same blue color as the first time. This time, the color didn''t change, instead the shes repeated for a couple of times before the sword returned to silence once again. Processing what the sword had conveyed, surprise set on Drake''s face initially. However, as he thought about it again, the surprise transformed into a smile, finishing as an understanding smirk in the end before returning to his expressionless outlook. "Are you sure about this? It sounds risky, and it will eat up a lot of your power to do so but I do not know any other way. We can''t sit here waiting for that boy''s return. He could be in danger, we need to try this at the very least!" With the n formed, he turned towards the living wall of the four servants blocking the path. Relying on his hands, he pushed himself up from the ground and leisurely stretched his back. After making sure he had the attention of Aiden''s servants, the faint smile expressed itself on his face, he grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands. With the de facing downwards, he swiftly plunged the sword into the ground to the great puzzlement of the quartet. In the next moment, the gemstone in the sword lit up once again, glowing with a radiant blue hue. Chapter 299 - 299 - Going After Finally, after descending for almost half an hour, there were some changes in the scenery in this never-ending tunnel. By this point, the seemingly nature-carved cavern''s walls were fully covered with dark green damp moss. Only a few protrusions could be seen every now and then, which more often than not were done by sizable crystalline chunks of various minerals. On another note, as Aiden continued to relentlessly venture forth, descending deeper and deeper into the abyss the air around him gradually turned thicker. The previously faint, lingering traces of [Soul Power] changed, now the atmosphere was rich in this high-tiered energy. So rich in fact, that if one would have focused and squinted his or her eyes, he or she could see the opaque, transparent clouds of dust-like energy. A magical fog permeated the air, rejuvenating and rapidly refilling Aiden''s used-up reserves. Even before the system notified him, Aiden was already aware of this revitalizing characteristic. [Note: Due to the abundant and active [Soul Power] in the surrounding air, the host''s reserves are being gradually restored. Current rate: 2 SP / 5 seconds. Estimated time before reserves restored to peak state: 00 hours 22 minutes 05 seconds.] Before Aiden could fully process what he had just read, Enya''s voice added another important note. ''[You should continue progressing forward rather than turningcent. The air will turn increasingly denser as you continue forward, eventually reaching its peak as you find what was left here for you. Once you get there, you will learn and understand more about your past, present and hopefully, your potential future.] At this point, Aiden was aware that no matter how hard he would try, he would be unable to pry anything out from Enya unless she herself would be willing to exin further. Either some unknown ''limitation'' reinforced on her by the System or just some of her quirks, Aiden wasn''t entirely sure, but in the end, there would be no use trying to waste time and energy on this futile endeavor. With that knowledge in mind, Aiden simply smiled and nodded, confirming her words, before continuing his descent, unaware and oblivious to the events taking ce by the gate on the surface --- After plunging the sword into the marble tileset on the tower''s ground floor, the mysterious jewel, the rainbow-colored gemstone etched into the pommel of Drake''s ornate and sentient sword, suddenly lit up, glowing with a radiant blue hue. Along with the light, a faint buzzing sound could be heard from its core. In the next moment, the four servants could feel a new presence as it tried creating a new mental link, a connection to their minds. This new presence seemed ancient, incredibly deep, and powerful. An aged, archaic voice echoed in their minds as the feeble connection was established. Strangely, even though they couldn''t discern its origins, they could still understand each and every word this new presence was speaking. "Servants of the departed youth! Do not be obstinate! Do not block the way, you should help your Master, he is in trouble! He is deep inside in enemy territory, potentially already surrounded by the very same beings that corrupted the orcs and goblins alike! Let my inheritor pass through and help the youngling! Instead of blind devotion, let your care and love guide you in your path!" A powerful aura suddenly erupted from the gemstone, pushing the four servants down on their knees. Following the show of force, the archaic presence spoke to their minds once again, this time with a much more threatening, authoritative tone. "Think carefully before you answer rashly! If the need arises, we will do not hesitate to cut our way through and make a path through your bodies! Although you are the boy''s servants, we will not hesitate if you force us!" Having said its piece, the faint connections that were established were severed and the powerful presence faded. The brightly brimming gemstone returned to its dim, original state, the pressure they suddenly felt vanished. His words continued to echo in their minds long after the connection was cut, and the presence was gone. Even though the words were harsh, they weren''t wrong. The Young Master was adamant about going alone, and leaving all of them behind, even as they tried to argue that they are still in dangerous territory. What was worse, is that their usually strong connection began to weaken. By now it was at the point that they couldn''t even contact him, and could only faintly, vaguely sense his presence. Even now, it continued to gradually fade, turned ever-so feeble. At this rate, all four of them were worried that they would lose their shared connection and wouldn''t be able to tell if he was all right or not. Still, the Young Master has strictly forbidden them to step through the gate. They were warmed that whatever was behind, he himself would be okay, but he couldn''t protect them. Thinking through his words once again, a new realization hit Glohn, the eldest and wisest of the Primal Goblins. With brightened eyes, he turned towards Roas and sent him a mental note. "[Orc] We can''t go against the Young Master''smand, however, this human could. We weren''t told to hold him back, we were only ordered to stay outside and guard the entrance. We could let him through Worst case, he just perishes to the dangers behind." Listening through Glohn''s suggestion, Roas contemted for a while, before shifting his cold eyes to the silver-haired human youth in front of them. By this time, he had already taken the sword back to its sheath, gently caressing the gemstone at its pommel. Roas''s thick, dry lips parted, squeezing only a single word out with his raspy voice. He had a cold, indifferent look on his face as his dark eyes scrutinized Drake''s fragile build. "Go." He stepped to the side, followed by the others, giving way to him to pass through. Although it was clear that they were not intending to go against the Young Master''s words, they would at the very least allow him to venture forward and brave the dangers alone. Whatever would happen to him, it would be the result of his decision alone, nobody would be willing to provide any assistance. Naturally, Drake understood the true meaning behind the stoic outlook of the bulky giant. He knew that behind that rough exterior, and that mask of indifference, there were deeply-seated worry and concern. For them to acquiesce and give way, it must have meant that they were also worried about Aiden. Not wanting to waste time, as Aiden could already be in danger, Drake gave an understanding nod to them, and with his left hand resting on the hilt on Mort, he passed through them, entering the dark, eerie-looking descending tunnel. Pausing at the entrance for a second longer, he heaved a sigh, his eyes shined with determination as he stepped through and began his descent, going after his friend. --- Meanwhile unbeknownst to him that despite his warning he was now being followed after, Aiden reached the end of his descent. He stood at the entrance to arger chamber. Large, beautiful multi-colored stctites were hanging from the ceiling and protruded from the ground. The air was thick and dense, rich with the familiar [Soul Power]. The rate of his restoration has tripled since the first notification, almostpletely restoring his used-up reserves. What was more interesting, however, was that other than refilling his half-empty tanks, it also restored his weary, tired mind. Just by standing at the entrance of this ce, thisrge cave, this hollow chamber, he was rapidly being healed. He felt like that every minute he stood here and embraced the energy in the air, which was akin to an hour of sleep on the surface. ''Just what is this ce? Why do I feel sofortable? It feels strange, almost familiar'' Although he didn''t mean an answer to his question, Enya''s gentle tone of voice came shortly after. ''[Yes. This is something you could probably consider the closest thing to a true home. Don''t be afraid, everything that you can feel and will find here is meant for you and you alone, Aiden.]'' Besides the colorful stgmites, the cave itself was empty, there was nothing of note to be found here. Still, the richness of the air was quite refreshing, if he could Aiden had the urge to sit down to meditate. He wanted to engorge and take in everything he could. He was certain that an hour spent here meditating would probably benefit him more than multiple hours spent doing the same on the surface. As there were no sources of light this far down and the faintly glowing moss didn''t reach into the cavern, he had to utilize his [Dark Sense] ability constantly to be able to navigate. The obscure, dim lightning could only get him through so far, from this point on, he had to return to the basics and utilize the first ability he gained to its fullest potential. Soon, as his invisible pulses reverberated in the wide chamber, a map of its structure was slowly created in his mind with the System''s Map. Chapter 300 - 300 - The Forgotten Truth (Woohoo! 300 s!) Not counting the entrance Aiden was standing at, the map that the system has drawn, thanks to the pulses generated by his empowered [Dark Sense] ability revealed two other tunnel-like halls leading to new, unexplored sections of this underground cavern system. The system marked the entrance Aiden was still standing at the western side of the chamber, with one of the tunnels being at the far end, the northeastern side leading further below, and the other one, much closer at the center of the southern wall. Thinking about it for only a brief moment, Aiden turned towards the southern side, taking a longer nce at it. His eyes shining in their full-powered golden luster, he himself was the singr light source in the dark and damp convoluted chamber. He looked wondrously at the multicolored stgmites hanging from the ceiling and protruding from the stony ground. Theiryered colors were one-of-a-kind, a literal wonder made by nature over the hundreds if not thousands of years developing undisturbed by civilization. Layers of orange, purple, pink, light green, and even amethyst blue made quite an eye candy for the young boy. If he would have the time, he would have loved to spend more time in this ce, just taking in the wonders at a much slower pace, but sadly, he had to push on, he had to put an end to this life-threatening quest, the System assigned to him. With that thought in mind, he forcefully pushed on, leaving the wondrous sight behind, and approached the exit at the southern side. Arriving at the entrance, he could immediately feel that instead of stepping into a long tunnel or hall, he would be stepping into another chamber, but unlike the previous one, this would be muchrger. Pausing in the archway, he waited for the energy pulses to return and for his System to generate a picture for him to use. Unlike before, this one was much bigger, much more grandiose than before. Inparison it made the previous room look like a simple antechamber that''s sole purpose was to greet the new arrivals and lead them to this grander one. The first thing he noticed even with his limited, achromatopsiatic, ck and white vision was a set of pirs stretching to all the directions he could see. As the map was gradually being generated, he could see countless carved, circr pirs stretching to as far as the pulses could travel. This change in scenery gave a more hallowed feel to this mysterious ce, also promptly humbling Aiden in front of this giant, majestic hall. ''Well this is unexpected Should I just go this way, or'' Seeing the royalty of this next room, made Aiden question his first thought. Should he continue this way, or should he first check out whaty in wait further below towards the northeastern end? Thinking about it, he hesitated, turning his head to the side and ncing in the direction of the other exit. ''I probably should have just initiated the skill upgrade instead of pushing it back. It may have helped'' He grumbled. The system gave him the notification before when he got the Dark Essence Source absorbed that he could use it to transform his skill to something new at the cost of a small inability to ess the aforementioned skill. As the skill was his most important ability when traversing unfamiliar grounds, he didn''t want to lose ess to it even for a single minute much less for a full hour. In retrospect, however, he regretted his decision as it probably would have been incredibly handy. ''Eh, whatever, I will just trust my instincts'' In the end Aiden decided against going the other way and to trust his own senses. Spending years in the Pocket World, Lily and himself had to rely on their instincts, and senses to survive and ovee all the obstacles that Master and Granny made for them. He had to learn through blood, sweat, and tears to trust his senses and body in situations like this, rather than his hesitating mind. Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Aiden stepped through the stone archway, arriving into the ornate and majestic hallway. As soon as his feet stepped into the glossy, smooth pavement a light breeze blew, arriving from seemingly nowhere and vanishing just as abruptly. In its path however faint light green colored light lit up on each of the passed pirs, enhancing the darkness with an obscure illumination, revealing even further details of the carefully carved craftsmanship of the countless pirs that were now basked in this hallowed, otherworldly light. Aiden stood in silence for a brief moment as he took in the strange event. Where did this breezee from? Was it a mechanism? Did he trigger a trap maybe? If so, why can''t he feel any threat? He nced at the closest glowing pir, approaching it to take a closer look at the carefully carved pictogram carved into its surface. It was a scene showing a tall, humanoid figure looking over from atop a higher elevation to the endless world below his feet. Behind him, an entire army of simr-looking figures stood in an array. The depiction was like a rough sketch, resembling more of a hieroglyph than a drawing, yet the humanoid figures looked strange. They were all drawn with elongated thin limbs. The man standing above the others, looking like a leader of sorts were even stranger: He had a pair of wings even taller than himself stretching from his back. A thick tail rested behind him on the ground, looking roughly half his size. Even though the picture was just a rough sketch, the particr details on the leader figure and his army of brethren behind him hit familiar notes in Aiden''s mind. The distinctive features, the dragonlike tail, and even wings Could this be a picture of a Primal? If so, what are those behind him? ''[Venture deeper, follow the scenes Aiden. Trust your feelings, they will reveal the truth to you. The truth that they tried to erase from the history, but yet still managed to leave a small remainder to live through the ages.]'' Enya''s mncholic voice resounded in Aiden''s mind abruptly. Her reminder caused Aiden toe back from his thoughts and shift his attention to the next pir. Stepping closer to it, he took a closer look at the second scene. In this one, the scene did not change that much. The same draconoid-like leader stood in front of his army of brethren. There were no faces drawn, yet just from their body posture, it was clear that the leader was giving some sort of speech, addressing therge army. It made one wonder what was the story behind the picture. Why did such arge army gather? Was this a story of a conquest? Were they the invaders or were they trying to defend theirnds? Even without understanding the context, Aiden could feel a tinge of sadness spread inside his heart as he looked at the scene. For some reason that he was unable to understand, he felt a strange sense of familiarity with these hieroglyphs. He wasn''t sure of the reason, but as he looked at this vague scene, he felt as if his heartstrings were being pulled, his fists were clenched even tighter than before. Unable to understand the reaction and emotions he was experiencing, Aiden heaved a sigh. Shaking his head to clear his head from these bothersome emotions, he looked at the next, third pir in sequence. In the third pir, he could see the very same army lead by the winged Dragonoid leader staring at the distance where another army was rapidly advancing at their location. The army was drawn as arge cloud of dust with only a few horned heads peeking out from it. For the first time, there was some color used in the picture, the sky was painted blood red above them, giving this scene an ominous feel. The faceless army was stoically standing atop a small hill, looking towards the approaching threat. Still, the picture was vague, however, when taking the previous two into ount, the scene the pictures were slowly painted, began to clear out. This was a sh between two armies. One was the army of these faceless figures and the other was that cloud of the angry mob that was charging towards them from the distance. The way the pictures were made didn''t give away too much emotion, yet Aiden could feel the pain in his heart more and more clearly as he continued onwards. He took another short breather before steeling his resolve and shifting his head towards the fourth pir, the second to thest in this sequence that seemed to draw out the same event. He slowly approached the fourth pir with tightly clenched fists and, unbeknownst to him, with hazy, watering eyes. Whatever was depicted in these, seemed to have a deep impact on his heart. Chapter 301 - 301 - The Sad History The image on the fourth pir depicted the scenes of a gruesome battle. The two sides, the army of faceless, draconian humanoids shed against the angry mob. The artist that carved the scenes did not waste time on details when it came to the opposing army. It was just a bodyless, headless mass of amorphous blob, a cloud of the mob. The scene showed the moment of their first sh. The winged draconian leader-like figure flew in a short arc in the air, his wings stretched out, his tail iled behind him and in his hands, he wielded a great sword. His army behind him, fervently following his footsteps, wielding a great variety of weaponsunched themselves into the carnage without any care of their wellbeing. Faceless figures of various shapes and sizes. They could be tall, bulky males. Lean youths, just like Aiden, or females of all shapes and sizes offering their lives a chance in life for the people they left behind. The sky above them held no sun anymore, it was painted with a dark red, vermillion color with the highest reaches gradually turning into the color of the abyss, hopelessness. A single image, a simple scene of battle, yet to Aiden it held so many emotions, it showed so many meanings, it carried such an incredible weight. His heart was beating at an increased, agitated pace, his nails pierced into the flesh of his palm, causing a thin trail of his own blood to drip into the marble floor. He felt an urge to cry out, to release this mncholic, depressing feeling he felt rising ever since he began to inspect these strange pirs. Something about them, rang familiar bells in his mind, somehow, ever since he stepped foot in this holy sanctum, this chamber of secrets, he felt a connection. Gulping, Aiden swallowed his bubbling feelings, all the anger, the sorrow, the frustration, he shifted his attention, turning towards thest, the fifth lit pir in this sequence. This by far not the only pir in the room, but it was thest lit pir in this row, Aiden presumed that the scene it showed will be thest that this room wished to tell him. Approaching it, the scene jumped in its timeline to a gruesome end game. The ground was covered with countless in bodies, be it the faceless draconian figures or various human-like shapes from the opposing sides. The leading figurehead of the faceless dragonkin was in the center of the image, surrounded from all sides. While there were countless dead bodies sprayed all over the ground, the seemingly endless swarm of the cloud-like army remained steadfast in numbers, relentless in their swarm against the dwindling numbers of the powerful but few remaining faceless figures. The color palette changed once again for this, this time using multiple colors for this final depiction of the mythical past. The sky was painted a deep, mncholic purple, gradually shifting to the vermillion as you approached the leader figure standing at the core of the image. The leader surrounded by a ck mass that was the opposing army was painted a more vibrant shade of red, in the color of blood. The emotions the image carried were of deep sorrow, sadness with a heavy mixture of mncholy and depression. The scene showcased the defeat of the valiant defenders of an unknown, forgotten race, depicted by the faceless shapes. They stood valiantly against the entire world shown as the swarm of the endless mob, and whilst they managed to stand their ground for a long time as shown with the changing of the sky, in the end, they too have fallen to the despairing darkness. Even without knowing the full context, Aiden got a lot of information out of this sequence of images. He understood the meaning behind each picture. Whatever was the ultimate cause, this battle that was shown, was probably one of thest struggles of the Primals before they were violently erased from the pages of history. Whilst this provided some very vital information that Aiden was sorelycking, it also raised several new questions. Who was the leader figure? Why was he drawn differently? Why did he have simr wings and tails? Does it have a meaning, or was it just an artistic choice? What is his true origin? Why is he in this world, in this time? Just what happened? On the other hand, he remembered the visions of the Pocket World, what was that other world, why was he shown this ''other life''? Was there a connection? ''[I know you are confused, Aiden. I really do. To tell you the truth, some of this is because of me, and the choices we together had made in the past. Try to not dwell on these questions for now, as when the time is right, you will learn what you need. For now, continue on your journey.]'' Shattering the ensuing silence, Enya''s troubled voice resounded in Aiden''s mind. Upon her words, in the far distance, the frame of a door suddenly lit up, glowing with the same golden color that Aiden could recognize as the same as the color of his own draconic, elevated state. At the same time, as ifpleting a sequence, all the pirs that were still emitting the same faint, blue light dimmed down, returning the hall to the eternal darkness that ruled it before. Still, none of this registered in Aiden''s mind, as he was currently shocked to see yet another update on the system. [New Milestone Reached! Learn more about the history world - The Fate of the Primals - Part I ????? Rewards Unlocked. For more information host is advised tomence the pending update of the System.] Seeing the rtively short, but important text, Aiden called out to her spiritual guide. ''Enya, do you know anything about this milestone? What did I unlock?'' He asked in his mind. He didn''t need to wait for the answer for long, however, just as he expected, it didn''t provide him with much more details. ''[Unfortunately, I can''t tell you more, I too have no ess to this information. To learn more you will need tomence the upgrade. However, I would advise you to postpone that until you get back to the surface, to a safe ce.]'' Sighing, Aiden gave a silent nod at Enya''s words as he fixed his gaze towards the glowing doorway far in the distance. Some guiding force, whatever it was, was clearly showing him the way. He, she or it wanted Aiden to see and learn all that was needed about himself. The main question was, just who or what was it? No matter how many times he tried, he couldn''t sense any other presence, his pulses couldn''t even reach the walls of these hallowed halls, much less prate further into the unexplored regions of thisbyrinthian cavern. Still, there was a faint smile crouching up on his face. Whoever or whatever the ruling force in this ce was, had no hostile intentions towards him. On the contrary, Aiden was finally given some answers to questions that gued his mind for years now --- "What the hell is with this ce?! It just goes on and on forever!" Descending down the tunnel that Aiden ventured through, Drake groaned. This whole tunnel was just an endless straight path leading towards nowhere! The gemstone etched in the hilt of his weapon faintly lit up, conveying his thoughts to his annoyed owner. "I know, I know But still, we have been going for like what? Half an hour by now without any change in the scenery? The only thing that changes are the shapes and forms these strange, illuminating moss covering the walls take on." He nced at the thickyer of moss covering the walls on either side. These strange, glowing, light green ntlife had some vague simrities to the lichen he saw when he first arrived at the orcs'' territory. With the help of Mort, luckily he could shield his presence at that time from its effects, which was still the case so far, but as Mort has warned, he would not be able to do so for much longer. There was a strange quality to the air as they ventured down. An unfamiliar, alien feel to it. It was thick, and although the lighting was already quite dim in this ce, a visibleyer of fog started to further thwart their venture towards where Aiden had vanished. This fog, ording to Mort, was some sort of energy, some unknown source that neither itself nor Drake could utilize. By now, Mort was utilizing all of his reserves to shield his silver-haired young lord from the harmful effects of both the vegetation and the strange, thick fog lingering around them. He also warned that with the current pacing, he could at most, hold out until another half an hour before beingpletely exhausted, drained of all its reserves. So now, Drake had arrived at an impasse. He could either turn around and go back to the surface, or he could continue pushing forward and hope for the best Returning to the surface would be the wiser choice, obviously, but thinking about his friend being subjected to these dangers alone and without the same protection as himself, he just couldn''t leave him... Chapter 302 - 302 - The Golden Room As he slowly approached the archway basked in golden light, the scene began to gradually clear out. The lighting came from the conjoining room. Opposed the dark hallway that Aiden found himself in, the next one seemed to be brimming brightly with the same color as his own eyes. Getting even closer, he could even make out some of the details of the next chamber. It seemed a much smaller one, and unlike the rest, it was clearly not carved by nature. The walls were slick and clean, covered in a material that from the distance Aiden couldn''t figure out, but they were the main reason for the blinding illumination of the room. They seemed to be reflecting it from the source something, most likely an object situated on the other side of the room that couldn''t be seen from this side. There was also a row of pirs, simr to the ones he just saw stretched around in a line at opposing side. All in all, the room had the distinctive qualities of a higher standing, an almost royal feel to it, which was puzzling considering the state of the previous two halls Aiden had crossed through. He was careful, constantly using his [Dark Sense] ability to its maximum potential, as he slowly approached the bright room. Just by the gradually increasing tempo of his beating, palpitating heart, the beads of sweat that glistened on his dark green skin, Aiden was fairly certain that this next room was the destination he was meant to find. There he could finallyplete this stupid quest and heave a sigh as he regains his freedom once again. He could close this annoying chapter of his life, put an end to this horrible night, even though it already dawning the next day in reality. Still, there were many tasks he still had to do: he had a pending skill upgrade that he should have already done, then there was the System''s supposed full 2-day prolonged update as well He needed to find and reunite with the girls and learn what came of their adventure To be honest, he also wanted to get back to Cole and Mary and just spend some time doing menial quests with his first true friend in the city. These great adventures and convoluted political schemes were not his worlds, if he could Aiden wanted to steer clear away from them. Then, there was the biggest wish he had, the main reason for his departure from the safety and warmth of his hearty family in the woods. With thepletion of the quest and being set free from the countdown to his own demise, he could finally return safely and see that in the short time they were apart, how far did his little blonde sister grow to, under the tutge of Master. Then, after all this, he still had two promised tasks toplete before he could take up the boots and venture further out in the world and explore its secrets. He had an obligation to assist the Mistress in the uing City Leader Games and to attend the Academy''s Admittance Ceremony at the beginning of next year and somehow gain eptance to find the missing brother of the royal family. ''Meh So many things to do still'' He frowned inwardly as he reminded himself of all the tasks still ahead of him. Even though his feelings towards humans turned sour and he thought less and less about this dark and corrupted species as he experienced more of the world, he still thought that there were a few hopeful seedlings that were worth nurturing. Thinking about Cole and Mary a thought came to his mind. ''Could I also invite them to the family as I did with Roas, Glohn, Gob, and Galina? Could they also be evolved?'' He was fairly uncertain about it as humans, unlike orcs, goblins and most of the other races on Eora had no Energy Cores inside their bodies. They had no ess to its properties. That meant that unlike the other races they couldn''t evolve when their cores were filled with the required amount of energy. No, humans were forever doomed (or blessed, depends on how you look at it) to remain the same species. Still, they weren''t hopeless. They had much higher potential than the rest. ording to some researcher theories, the whole human body could be considered as one big Magical Core. Their energies weren''t focused on a singr point in their bodies, but instead, they had a continuously flowing path, a sort of bed that guided the mana to nurture everywhere. They weren''t confined to the predetermined limits of their species, they could have an affinity to every type of Essence in existence. Most of the powerful figures, heroes, and legends of ages came from their species for a reason after all Some wild theories went as far as theorizing that the strange unique qualities of the species pointed towards an artificial birth of origin... --- Arriving at the doorway, Aiden paused his steps for a moment. He took a deep breath, trying to cool his rapidly beating heart and calm the raging storm of emotions inside his mind. It didn''t even help that although he could feel the presence of Enya in his mind, she didn''t utter a single word after herst reminder of resuming his journey. He opened his System''s interface and brought up the Main Quest once again to take a look at the active tasks he had to fulfill. [Main Quest: The Secrets of the Demon Grotto Objective: - Find and Explore the Demon Grotto (1 / 2 - Explore the Grotto and Reach the end) - Uncover its Secret - Earn its owners eptance Optional: - Merge with the Guardian (Warning: The feat will require the simultaneous activation and use of the Primal Absorb racial skill empowered with the Blessing of Ioris effect. Caution: The strain on the host''s core will be immense!)] "Wait for a second, what Guardian? I can''t feel any other presence Enya! Do you know anything about this supposed guardian? Was it that strange creature, Murus that I fought with earlier?" He asked out, voicing his concern upon realizing that he still had that strange optional task hanging. However, this time there was no verbal response from his guide, despite feeling her presence, she didn''t utter a single word. "Urgh, fine. Don''t answer then. I''ll just find out, I guess" He grumbled at Enya''s sudden silent treatment, before heaving onest sigh and stepping through into the room. --- In the dark and gloomy other world in arge decrepit-looking mansion a robed figure of Master Dominus trashed around in his undergroundb, cursing to vent his frustration. "That damned kid! I was never humiliated in my entire life like this! I lost my newest source of reliable test subjects and easily controble puppets, that brat even made me lose face with the Great Lord!" He picked up a ss vial and threw it against the nearby wall, heaving a sigh as he listened to the shattering sound as it exploded into a million small shards. "Worst of all, I can''t even kill him, the Lord wants him for himself! AAAAARGHH!" He raged continuing in his vendetta against whatever his hands could grab onto. His fingers soon found another vial that was filled with a dark, oily substance. Feeling the unexpected weight of the object, he stopped himself from throwing it away and pulled the ss contained up to his eye level. A dark, ck, oily viscous substance could be seen resting in an opaque, crystalline vial. The darkness of the fluid wasn''t due to its color but to the fact that it seemingly swallowed all sources of light, only releasing a very small spectrum back to the outside world. Master Dominus shook the vial, watching with growing interest as the strange substance remained still, not shaking, rippling in the slightest. The fluid seemed incredibly thick and way too heavy for something that seemed so small. ''Huh? This is interesting'' Dominus muttered as he continued to examine the strange object. Soon, his annoyed expression faded, reced by a cruel, vicious smile as an idea began to form in his wicked mind. "The Great Lord only said I couldn''t kill or order any of my toys to kill that brat. However, he never said I couldn''t run a little experiment It just happens I have a need to do some live testing ehehehe!" His mood instantly elevated at his own wicked idea, he guffawed with glee, as his rage subsided. He turned towards the dark, barred metal door at his basement, leaving the room and ascending the stairs to his mansion. He had some new ns that are needed to be carried out. In his right hand, he held tightly onto the strange, crystalline vial with the ominous, ck viscous fluid --- "What the" Aiden muttered with an incredulous look as he stepped into the grand-looking small room. Unlike the previous one, the room had a much warmer temperature, the air was much warmer than in the previous halls. However, that didn''t really bother Aiden. He hardly even registered the change, as his eyes were fixated on the central object in the room. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. "Just what is going on?!" He cried out. Chapter 303 - 303 - Surge Of Memories Gritting his teeth in frustration, Drake''s body was shaking as he stood in ce. Beads of perspiration glistened on the visible surface of his skin, he was clearly having great difficulties at this point just simply standing still in this thick, mysterious energy-rich air. His sword was slowly iling in front of him, his hands were tightly clutched at the hilt. At the pommel the royal gemstone was glowing with a mere dim light only, long gone the powerful luster it showcased back at the entrance. Despite the difficulties, Drake was quite an obstinate young man. He refused to turn back and leave that stupid little boy on his own. Even though he was of royalty the cream of the crop while Aiden was as low of amoner as one could get, Drake never looked at him in such a way. To him, who has suffered through the tragedy in his family, and spent all of his teenage years trying to find his siblings, he never cared about social standings. To him, Aiden was a strange boy, that he owed a great deal. While he couldn''t understand how he got 3 strange-looking goblins and a hulking giant-like orc as his followers, he was still the man that helped him rescue his dear sister and now himself as well. He owed too much to him to just ditch him and turn back at the first sign of difficulty. No, he won''t leave without his friend in tow! Gritting his teeth, he forced his body to continue pacing forward, downwards on this eternal slope towards the darkness He will find his friend, even if it''s the veryst thing he does in this life... He already owed it to that boy anyway --- "What are we going to do with all their bodies? They gonna turn stinky soon!" Finished with her assigned task, a blonde-haired girl with a mixture of both human and elven features walked in the wooden door and decisively walked towards therge dinner table where an elderlydy wrapped in tattered, raggedy red clothes and a slender, mature woman in a dark blue sleeveless outfit that looked vaguely simr to herbat attire but a bit more generous andfier were already sitting on their usual seats awaiting for theteer and her trusty duo of caninepanions. "That took you way too much time, youngdy. It seems we need to increase the difficulty in today''s training" The mature woman, Number 3 spoke with a lecturing tone causing the blonde teenager to freeze in her steps, her face turning pale in fright. Before she could utter a word ofint, the elderly woman broke in a hearty chortle. Waving with her right hand dismissively, she addressed the mature woman. "Oh you, stop scaring that poor child! She did marvelously, no one saw her move through the shadows. You should be proud, it clearly shows she is your student. She isn''t training for that long yet, she can already execute such techniques!" Hearing the elders praising words, the maturedy harrumphed haughtily, refusing toment on the subject any further. Still, the small, barely perceptible curvature on the edges of her lip betrayed her true feelings on the matter. Pointing towards one of the empty seats on the table, she turned towards the young girl again. "Why are you still standing there Lily? Sit down already and let''s eat. Granny made sure to make your favorite dessert again, so you would have all the energy to go through today''s training. Don''t forget, we have that assignment we will need to do soon!" "Y-yes, Master. I know! I will work hard to make you all proud!" Awoken from her stupor, the blonde half-elf girl, Lily quickly scampered to her seat, the tworge ck war hounds, Sam and Biggy following behind. As she took her seating, she looked at her te that was already filled with her favorite morning course with the addition of a still-steaming piece of a sweet roll, she had a determined look on her face. She still had a lot of training to do, she was still far from being able to confidently take her brother''s side. She vowed to never be a burden to him anymore. No, she will earn her ce, and the uing job her Master had for her will be the perfect ce to prove this fact With determination, she began to quickly gulp down the breakfast and get ready for yet another day of sweat and tears --- Stepping inside the hallowed, brightly glowing side chamber, Aiden was stunned when he saw the golden egg-shaped objectying on top of a crude, stone-made altar. The bright lighting of the room came from that singr object, that strange,rge egg. The egg was the source of the light and the thick, energy-rich air at the same time. Continuously, as if it was on a beat, it rhythmically pulsed, releasing a perceptible cloud of energy-dust. As he continued to be dazed by the mere sight of this phenomenon, Aiden could feel a faint intent calling him, inviting him to step closer. He could faintly feel a presenceing from the object, urging him to embrace it, touch it. The presence wasn''t threatening, no, on the contrary, Aiden could feel a warmness, a tender care deeply etched into its call. As if understanding his worry, the gentle voice of Enya could be heard in his mind. ''[Don''t be afraid Aiden. Take the egg, it was meant to be yours. Let it speak to you.]'' Knowing that Enya wouldn''t advise anything that could prove to be harmful to him, Aiden finally nodded, epting the mystical invitation, and took a careful step forward, slowly inching his way to the golden object atop the stone altar. Every step he took he felt more and more perturbed. The rich energy in the air wrapped itself around him, gently embracing him just like a mother would his child It was almost as if it had its own conscience, and recognized Aiden. Arriving in front of the altar, Aiden was looking stunned at the sight of the visible excitement of the golden egg. It was shaking, its previous rhythmic pulsations increased in intensity, and became erratic, chaotic in terms of power. The [Soul Power] was so rich around the egg by this point, that a visible cloud of fog started to shroud the sacred object. Steeling his will, reminding himself of Enya''sst words, Aiden shook his head, clearing his head from all the ill thoughts that gued it. Slowly, he reached out with both arms, approaching the sides of the golden egg that was made of some unknown, probably organic material. Whatever it was, there was an incredible amount of power trapped inside it to be able to create such a thick fog around itself. His hands swaying, wavering in the air as it approached the object, inching ever-so-closer in the air. Careful, as if afraid of offending an unknown entity in its depths, the hands stopped a few inches above the glowing surface of the egg. One would expect some heat radiating from the surface, apanying such an intense light, however, Aiden could not feel anything of the sort. There was no heat, he couldn''t feel the same hotness when he leaned closer to the campfire''s flickering mes. The warmth he felt in the air wasn''t a sensation, it was an emotion, a gentle, kind intent that was carried by the invite of the unknown presence. It wanted to make contact, it wanted tomunicate with him, with Aiden, the nobody. The boy without a past, a simple present, and an uncertain future. Taking onest gulp, Aiden''s hands gently touched the shell, the surface of the egg. As soon as he did, he felt a surge of energy forcefully enter inside his body. In the next moment, the continuous ringing of the system''s bell-like notifications rang inside his mind, slowly pushing every other source of noise away. His vision faded to ck, as iprehensible endless images began to sh in front of his eyes at a pace way too fast for him to even have a chance to take a look at it. The endless surge of scenes and memories continuously shed, from which he could only make out the faint shes of light as it zapped through his mind. Gritting his teeth, Aiden could feel a slowly growing searing pain emerging from the back of his head, slowly sneaking towards the forefront of his brain, tormenting it. The pressure of the seemingly endless memories continued to flow into Aiden''s mind, with no end in sight. As the pain continued to grow, swiftly crossing to the point of barely being bearable, Aiden could hear Enya''s concerned tone resounding in his mind, calming his nerves. ''[Bear with it Aiden. Let the process finish. Once it does, you will understand. You will learn of the past that was hidden from the world. The truth will be clearer to you.]'' As if she said the magic word, the pain suddenly subsided, and the endlessly flowing memories stopped. Soon, before he could respond or do anything, the first scene of a memory from a long-lost time began to y out in front of his eyes... Chapter 304 - 304 - Tales Of The Past (Part 1) A pir of light that proudly pierced through the ss windows signified the arrival of the next morning. The bright orange star shone with its ever-present powerful luster, dispersing the obscure darkness that dominated the small wooden room. Upon a small bed just to the right side of the windowsill, the thick quilt began to show signs of movement. A small resident, covered from head to toe began to jitter, causing therge, feather quilt to wobble, sending ripples through its surface. A higher-pitched, boyish yawn escaped through the feathery mountain, sending its waves through the air, traversing beyond the room, ultimately reaching a certain person at the other side. As it was a calling, a mature yet familiar feminine voice came from outside the room. "It is time to get up hun, it''s already morning! Get ready ande out. You need to eat your breakfast if you want to have the strength to impress Master Dor''Ktha. You know how strict he is!" A soft chuckle ended the feminine voice''s speech, with a gentle knock on the wooden door, she seemingly turned around and left, leaving the singr resident to his own. A second high-pitched but much more powerful yawn resounded in the room, stilling from under the weighted cover before finally it was pushed away. Its resident, finally awoke from his nightly slumber sat up, scratching the top of his haystack of short ck hair. The resident, a small youngster, looking 6 years of age at the most yawned for the third time, revealing a row of white, sharp carnivore teeth, instantly shattering any thoughts that he was of human origin despite his physique matching one. His built became clear to see as the boy stood up and stepped into the bright pir of light to stretch his limbs. He was of an average height of someone of his age, with a rtively thin physique. He had very light-yellow toned thin scales covering her otherwise pearl-white supple skin. A small, short, cutesy stump of a tail was flickering wildly against the wind originating from his lower back, just atop his hips. Two small bumps could be seen protruding from his naked shoulder des. Done with his stretching the boy yawned for the fourth and presumably thest time, finally gathering enough energy to slowly part his closed eyelids and reveal his exotic-looking golden eyelids. In actuality, if one would look at the boy from a distance, he had a vague resemnce to Aiden, minus the much lighter tone of skin color and the shorter hair. His fingers also didn''t end with a set of terrifying curved ebony ws, but with normal, human-like nails. "It''s time to get ready!" Fisting the air with the excitement of the uing event of the day the boy turned towards the side door in his room and rushed to wash his face and get ready. He had barely any time to waste before he had to arrive at the training hall to attend Master Dor''Ktha''s test! It was finally time, he finally came of age. He was finally 6, if he could pass the test, he could get his first set of essences and grow stronger! With great excitement, he rushed to wash his sharp teeth and wash his face from the already prepared wooden bucket of crystal clear, cold water. In a few short moments, he was already back inside his room, rushed to put on his clothes, and burst from his room like a small rocket honed towards the dining room. Despite the simplistic look and design, the house was actually ratherrge, something simr to a mansion that if one wouldpare it to the recently emerging human settlements then they would say that it was probably owned by a noble family. However then one would be gravely mistaken. This wooden mansion sitting atop a small hill, overlooking the small circr huts stretching where the eye couldn''t see could bepared to the highest of royal families of any other civilizations. This simplistic little vige was the home of a powerful and very unique race, the Primals. They were simple creatures, not tied down with such faulty concepts and social standing. The only reason the house was any different than the rest that it had the responsibility to guard and protect the residents. Upon times of danger, its sole purpose was to provide respite within its walls to the young and the old. They had no military, there was no need for it. There was unity amongst them. Each and every adult man and woman felt the same desire to protect upon times of need. Not that there was any need for it, there was hardly any other race that would be stupid enough to threaten them. They didn''t require muchnd, they weren''t violent, they lived in peace in their small piece ofnd in the depths of a mystical forest stretching across the entire continent. They were unique, unlike anything else. Their unique body allowed them to adapt and ovee anything. They could absorb other life forms and merge their unique traits into their own bodies. Due to that, there were vast differences in how the different roles looked. While the hunters sported thick, multi-colored furs on their bodies with a set of elongated or in most cases curved ws and were much more agile than the others Others had beautiful white wings that allowed them to sail the skies. There were those that looked much more robust than others, with a sturdy, muscly build. Fists sorge that could block the sun, causing earthquakes with their steps. Yet the most unique of them all was the family with the responsibility to protect them all. The family living inside the mansion at the top of the small hill at the center of their rtively small settlement. "Mom! Mom! Mom!" The little speedster rushed through the hallway, running towards a gentle-looking slender mature woman tending to arge wooden table in the dining room. Her long, silky ck hair, just like a beautiful waterfall, draped over her shoulders reaching the middle of her back. She was setting up the table for 3 seats when she heard the yelling of the little troublemaker as it charged towards her. A gentle smile curved atop her unblemished face. Raising her simr, golden-colored, draconian eyes, she looked at the boy with deeply seated care and love. "Mom! Mom!" The ck-haired youngster excitedly eximed as he arrived in front of his mother. With a smile as wide as it could be stretching across his clearly excited face he asked with sparkling eyes. "How do I look? Is this good?" "Silly boy" Looking at the excited face of his dear little boy, the woman chuckled, rubbing the top of his head and messing his neatlybed hair back to its previous haystack-like state. "To me, you will always be the most handsome little adventurer that was ever born! Nowe, sit down while I call for your dad!" With a pouting face, the boy shooed his mother''s cheeky hand away from his face. "Stop messing up my hair mom!" He whined, trying to fix his little crown back to its neatlybed state with his hand, slowly walking towards the middle seat on the wooden table. Meanwhile, the mature woman, his mother vanished through another door at the far-right side of the room. As the boy sat down, suddenly the world began to blur, and fade to darkness. The memory segmentpleted, it merged with Aiden''s mind, he suddenly found himself back in the glowing golden room. Confused about what he just witnessed, he wanted to ask his trusted guide, however, before he could, another surge of the same searing pain came with its torment, causing new pain to wreak havoc in Aiden''s mind. Grabbing his temples, Aiden slumped to the ground, gritting his teeth. The images started to shuffle once again inside him, rapidly shing through, showing him random moments of the life of someone that lived in the distant past Or did he? There was no end to the number of images they seemed to be endless as they continued to shuffle themselves in front of Aiden. A few momentster, seemingly content with the current sequence of the memories, Aiden''s vision started to fade to ck once again. Before he could utter yet another word, he found himself once again in the imaginary shoes of the strange short ck-haired boy. The scene was still the very same day, only a bitter in time. The boy was now with several other simrly aged boys and girls in arge dojo, standing still, in a neat line in front of a strict looking bearded, burly man. The man had a thick silvery fur across his body, sporting features simr to a now-mythical creature known as the Silverback Gori but with recognizable humanoid features instead of the monstrous ones. Unlike Aiden, he had silver, glowing eyes, he looked cold and stern as his gaze slowly paced through the short line of younglings ready to take their first steps towards adulthood. Chapter 305 - 305 - Tales Of The Past (Part 2) "Younglings!" The silver-furred bulky humanoid-shaped creature eximed in a booming voice, startling the lined-up children and shushing all ongoing murmurs as well. "You are at the age to take on your first trial. The Trial of Ascension is a trial that will give you the answers you seek. It will judge you fairly. In front of it there are no difference between the kin of a hunter, a gatherer, or our protectors. It doesn''t care about your past nor about your future. What it cares about is your potential future, your talent, your affinities." The figure exined with the same volume and fervent power in his booming voice. As he did, his eyes slowly wandered matching each of the attentive children''s gazes, ultimatelynding and resting on the son of the Grand Protector, the short, ck-haired boy with distinct draconian features all over his body. "Boy." After a momentary pause, he addressed the startled but still, clearly expectant-looking child. " Are you ready to test yourself?" Without hesitation the ck-haired boy nodded, his eyes shining with the spark of determination. "Yes, Master Dor''Ktha! This one is ready to test himself!" "Very well. Come with me. You will be the first." Satisfied with the answer, Master Dor''Ktha nodded at the boy, then turned around and stepped towards a light green-colored door behind him. Stepping to the side, he pointed with his right arm towards it. "Step through the door and touch the crystal to begin. Remember to clear your head and let the energy course through you. Let it explore the deepest, darkest parts of your soul. Do not resist, and everything will be fine." Intently listening to the Master''s exnation, the boy nodded, his focus already on the frame of the green, thin-looking door. Unlike most of the buildings, it seemed to be made of some sort of nt, the frame was rtively thin. The color was also not done with any painting, it was probably the color of the nt itself. Taking a deep breath, determination shined in the boy''s golden eyes once more. Steeling his resolve, he gulped as his hand reached for the handle and pushed the door open. Unfortunately for Aiden, the memory segment began to fade to ck once again, this particr scene was deemedpleted before giving him a chance to get a glimpse of the so-called Ascension Trial. However, just like previously, before he could have the chance to voice hisint, the searing pain surged once more, tormenting Aiden''s mind. The memories began to rapidly flip and sh in front of Aiden''s eyes again. Although they were fast, it seemed that his mind slowly started getting used to the sensation, he was able to process the gist of what they showed. It showed the life of the young, ck-haired boy, the son of the Grand Protector of the strange vige. Aiden saw as he walked out of the trial building with a bright smile on his face, holding a small vial of light green fluid in his right hand. He was basically rushing back to his mansion atop the small hill, yelling from halfway towards his mother happily. Then he saw as he began his training with the silver-furred teacher and learned the basics ofbat. In his early years, he was mostly taught the art ofbat, without delving deeper into the theoretical subjects. Those types of lessons started once he turned into a bright and handsome teenager. At that point, his hair also grew slightly longer, reaching down to his shoulders. He had a chiseled face, with a lean and toned physique. The two small stubs on his back sprouted into a pair of golden scaled, leathery wings, his short, cute tail now almost reached the ground. His nails also turned darker, slightly sharper. What Aiden found strange was that as the boy continued to develop, and got his yearly vials of strange essences, he morphed, changed into a form more and more simr to himself. Albeit there were still differences between the boy in the memories and himself, but the resemnce was clear. ''Just who is he?!'' Starting to grow numb to the constant pressure he felt in his mind, he muttered mostly to himself. The mature voice of his System Guide abruptly spoke to his mind. ''[It is as you suspect Aiden. What you see is the past of your people. One of thest settlements of Primals back in an ancient time, before the Great Disaster. The young boy is special. I''m sure you already have your theories, but just continue processing the memories. You will learn more.]'' Just as she spoke, another powerful memory appeared at the forefront of his mind, inviting Aiden to dive into yet another sequence. Once the scene cleared, and Aiden got back his vision, he found himself standing in a clearing. Behind him, thest remaining survivors of his people, his brethren. Thest living members of his tribe. The final resistance against the tide of darkness that was approaching. Unlike before, this time Aiden wasn''t ying the part, like before. No, this time, he was merely a spectator following this middle-aged man, whom he hadn''t seen before in his memories, yet could still feel that he was rted to that young boy from before. He seemed distinctly familiar. He had long, silky ck hair that was tied into a ponytail behind his back. He wore a bronze chest te with matching bronze leggings. The front of his chest te had arge dragon''s head as a motif, whilst the legging followed the same design, with the kneecaps having a set of dark ws protruding. His helmet, shaped like a giant dragon''s head with the visor being its sharp fangs were resting under his right arm. He was looking at the distance with a solemn expression on his face. Arge cut ran through his face, ruining his otherwise handsome visage; a reminder of the past battles he most likely went through. His right hand was resting on the hilt of an ornate long sword. The de, that was nted into the ground next to him was ck as the night, made out of the mysterious material found sparsely in the most dangerous dungeons and caves: obsidian. The hilt that his right hand was subconsciously caressing, was the most interesting, most unique of the entire weapon. Just like his helmet, it was shaped into a dragon''s head. The pommel being his eyes that had a pair of small vermillion rubies shining from the sockets, glowering eerily to anyone that would dare to approach it. The cross-guard was the dragons stretched out mouth ready to sp down and tear apart anybody bold enough to attack it. The obsidian de, that served as its long and sharp tongue was slightly curved. If one focused enough, it could see a strange, colorless substance flowing back and forth at the des fuller, its spine. Spotting the cloud of dust appearing at the far distance, the young man snorted. Gripping the handle of his mythical sword tightly. Pulling it from the ground, he raised it above his head whilst he turned around to face thest remaining members of his people. "Friends!" With a stern look, he eximed. His eyes slowly traveled from face to face, simrly how his old master once did when they were mere youngsters gathered to face their very first trials. "My people, my brethren! We have lost many of our beloved ones. Mothers, fathers... sons, and daughters. We have all lost those that are dear to us." His face remained stoic, cold, and stern as he spoke, his voice was unwavering despite the harshness of reality. He could however see the tears of sorrow escape from many of his brethren''s eyes, many faces soured as they were forced to remember the faces of their lost loved ones. The leader took a short pause, giving each of his words more power, letting them settle in and rattle their hearts. "We have suffered unjustly at the hands of this cruel world. We never wanted more than what we were already given. We lived in harmony with the world. But they!" He pointed his sword behind him, towards the slowly growing cloud of dust in the distance. "They! They were envious of us. They wanted our secrets, they wanted our secrets! They kidnapped, tortured, humiliated, and shamed us! Once they realized they cannot forcefully take what was ours, theybeled us as monsters and began their endless hunt! They slowly, gradually chipped away everything from us, pushing us to this state. We are on the brink of extinction" Although his voice, nor his expression changed, his hands gripped the handle of his sword even tighter. So hard that that beneath his golden scaled hands his skin started to turn paler, even whiter than it already was. "Now, thinking that they are victorious they have alle for your lives. They want nothing more than to take your heads and make trophies of their ''conquest''! I will ask you one thing only. Tell me:" His face turned into a mixture of coldness and anger, he raised his sword high into the air. His eyes suddenly lit up, glowing with a brilliant golden luster. He roared into the sky, releasing an ear-shattering, powerful draconic cry into the air. "WILL YOU LET THEM?!" The response was unified, even louder than their lord''s exmation. All the hands were raised into the air, as thest remaining survivors of this ancient and forgotten race eximed with a fervent passion. Their hearts filled with nothing but the wish for revenge, they all bellowed into the sky with all of their power. "NO! WE WILL FIGHT TO THE END! FOR OUR BELOVED, FOR LORD AIDEN VORAGON!" Chapter 306 - 306 - The Most Important Question "Finally I reached the end" With great difficulties and sheer willpower, Drake eventually reached the end of the downwards slope, reaching the entrance of what seemed to be arge, andpletely dark cave. He was struggling to keep himself standing at this point. The air was hard to breathe, ording to Mort there was an unknown type of energy, something even he couldn''t process. Permeating, lingering in the atmosphere around them. He didn''t doubt that, as although the only reliable source of lighting came from the strange bioluminescent moss on the walls and from Mort who at this point only shed dimly, every now and then. It was clear that his reserves were close to being depleted, the soul living inside the majestic, ornate sword wouldn''t be able to keep up much longer. A faint, hollow sh signaled another message being transmitted to Drake''s mind, who upon receiving it sighed with a saddened, pained expression. "Don''t worry about me... friend. I know you are tired... I am too... But!... Our goal should be just ahead Could could you che-" Suddenly he felt darkness seeping into the forefront of his mind, his consciousness struggled to resist against the ever-present pressure found all around him. His eyes traveled upwards, Drake fell forward, face-first onto the hard, sturdy cavern ground. With a loud thud, he kicked off a sizable cloud of dust in the air. As his eyelids slowly closed down, his mind ultimately gave in to the void, he fainted at the entrance, just a couple of rooms away from the boy he desperately wanted to rescue The boy in question, Aiden was sitting in front of the stone altar in the golden room. His eyes closed, his mind was still in the midst of processing all the memories of this ancient and eternal being that seemed to be fusing with him. He was witnessing the very same battle that was shown on the pirs just before Thest struggle, thest roar of Lord Aiden Voragon, thest Grand Protector of the Primals... --- "NO! WE WILL FIGHT TO THE END! FOR OUR BELOVED, FOR LORD AIDEN VORAGON!" Fervent shouts, powerful roars, and bold exmations blustered throughout under the vermillion-colored ominous sky. Facing the crowd, the man in question, Lord Aiden Voragon, thest surviving member of House Voragon, the current and probablyst Grand Protector of his people stood still, watching the determined cries of thest remnants of his once populous race. These were thest survivors, those that stoically resisted this unsurmountable opponent. Taking a deep breath, Lord Voragon slightly puffed his chest, and with a booming voice he thundered across the battlefield, addressing the small militia that was his army. He pointed towards the approaching cloud of dust in the distance as he spoke coldly and with undisguised disgust. "They call us monsters, abominations of nature! Abhorrent evil entities These are the titles that you all wear!" He lowered his obsidian sword as he went on. "I will say: They do not know the meaning of monsters! They are the monsters, the evil demons that culled our numbers, that pushed us to this point!" With a decisive, sudden strike, he nted his sword into the ground once again, slowly raising his arms in the air at his sides. His eyes kept glowing, radiating that fearsome golden luster. At the next moment, a powerful aura unfolded from within his body, descending the clearing. Feeling the energy, the power that descended into the area, Aiden was stunned upon the revtion. This aura This power was the same that his Innate Skill, the Draconic Heritage, the [Dragon''s Wrath] ability provided to him, just on a much higher level The lord''s wings unfolded, stretching wide across the sky, whilst his thick lizard-like tail vehemently pped the ground causing the ground around it to cave in. The fingertips of his gauntlets slid open, revealing several inch long thick, curved ebony ws, something that was also familiar to Aiden himself, however, these had a strange, multicolored glint traversing through their spines. However, unlike with how Aiden''s transformation went the lord didn''t stop there. The dragon head shaped helmet''s visor shut close, it began to glow simr to a metal being superheated it radiated a deep orange-colored hue. Although he couldn''t confirm it, Aiden felt that the helmet''s change was somehow rted to the lord''splete transformation. The glowing eyes under the cover of the visor slightly changed shape, turning into thinner slits than they were before. In a much deeper tone, he eximed, asking his brethren if they were willing to follow along. "MY BRETHREN! I SAY: LET''S SHOW THEM WHAT REAL MONSTERS LOOK LIKE! LET''S GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WERE ASKING FOR! LET THIS LAST MARCH BE OUR GREATEST, GLORIEST OF THEM ALL!" He yelled, roared with fervent passion in his much deeper tone of voice. And the small crowd didn''t disappoint in the slightest. Raising their hands in the air, they cheered at their lord''s exmation, roaring into the sky just like he did. One by one, the crowd slowly transformed, into various shapes of humanoid-shaped monstrous entities. Some had glossy, silvery fur, others had arge golden-brown mane or feathers even quills and scales. Monsters of all shapes and sizes appeared as the crowd transformed one by one, releasing their own versions of auras from their bodies. Some grow in sizes, their muscles bulged, whilst others grew multiple limbs, a few even sporting beautiful, colorful wings. Whilst their shapes differed from person to person, monster to monster, one thing, one fact remained the same. They all had the same determined, cold look in their eyes. They were all gathered for one single reason: They were going to stop the iing army of racists, or they will die trying. Their heads will not be used as trophies of conquest, they will not be remembered as ves to a corrupted race The scene reaching itspletion, the world began to fade for Aiden once again. This time, however, he wasn''t ejected from the memory, he didn''t return to the ''outside world''. No, he remained in a state of limbo, floating as an intangible presence in the void. Confused by what was happening, he tried looking around and even sending out pulses of energy in hope of making sense of what was happening. Still, no matter what he did, or how he tried, he couldn''t make heads or tails, he couldn''t understand what was going on. Is he still in a memory? Did he maybe faint, and got stuck in this weird in-between? ''Enya, can you hear me? What is going on?'' He even tried calling out for his system guide, sadly to no avail. There was no response, he couldn''t even sense her presence anymore. It was as if he wasn''t even in his own body and mind, but somewhere else Before his confusion could turn to despair, a warm, masculine and familiar voice from the memories he had just processed echoed through the void of space. "Don''t be afraid child, you are safe." In front of Aiden, the figure of the same armored leader, the general of the primal army, Lord Aiden Voragon''s transparent, white silhouette appeared floating. Due to being just a silhouette, a vision of a long-forgotten past, his distinct features weren''t clear, just his vague outline. Still, Aiden was certain that this person was the same as the one addressing the crowd just a moment ago. "Who who are you?! Where am I, what is this?" After a moment of thinking, Aiden fired the three most important questions of the moment with a still-startled, confused expression on his ghostly face. "Although those questions are important, there''s a much more important, more pressing one that you should be starting with, little one." The figure of the leader responded, from his tone it was clear that he was smiling even if that was unclear from his blurry and helmet-covered face. "A more important one? What could be more important than these three?! Anyway... What kinda response is that? Just who are you? If you are a memory, how are you talking to me?!" With an incredulous look, Aiden didn''t falter, he continued firing even more questions, inquiries towards the strange apparition. Seeing the confusion on Aiden''s face, and hearing it behind his flurry of questions, the lord didn''t mind, instead, he erupted into a hearty boisterousughter. His guffaw kept ringing, echoing in the void. It took him quite a while before he managed to calm down and collect himself enough to return his focus on the visage of the boy''s spirit. "As I said, there is a much more pressing, crucial question you should be asking before anything else" He spoke with a friendly, warm tone, much different from what Aiden saw and heard in the memory. He could feel an unknown love and care behind his speech, present in each of the words he spoke. This fact greatly puzzled him, adding to his already great state of confusion even further. "The question you should have started with, young one is the ''WHEN''. Tell me, do you know just exactly, WHEN are we?" Chapter 307 - 307 - Remember! "The question you should have started with, young one is the ''WHEN''. Tell me, do you know just exactly, WHEN are we?" From his tone, a wide grin could be imagined on his blurred, spectral face. He was clearly enjoying the moment, giving a great contrast to the personality that Aiden was allowed to nce into so far. Though, to be honest, all the other memories that kept shing through his eyes were also stored in the back of his mind, mostly managed by the System and would be slowly merged with his existing persona, further shaping it without his direct knowledge "What do you mean by when? Aren''t we still in memory? Why would time matter here?" Thinking about the strange question for a moment, Aiden responded with a skeptical look. His body should still be in the same golden room, what does this question even mean? What should he care about the when? What matters are the details, and the information he could ascertain from the situation. He needed knowledge, not just to free himself from the imaginary sword constantly hanging above his neck, but to also quell his rising thirst for the truth about his origins and supposedly acquired heritage. So when he was thrown off the ''route'' he already visualized and was asked such an unexpected and weird question, Aiden wasn''t sure how to properly react at first. His mind was still filled with questions rted to the leader, the lord, and the familiar traits they shared between themselves. The lordly visage chuckled at the youth''s confused stare and doubt-filled inquiries. Taking his time to enjoy the moment, he eventually responded with the same cheery momentum. "Yes, young one, you are right but also wrong at the same time." He started, pausing for a moment immediately when he saw that the confusion once again resurfaced in the boy''s golden eyes, reaching their peak. Waving with his right hand in front of him, he watched as the dark, space of void rapidly transformed, showing a still image of the fated speech he made, addressing thest remnants of his people under the vermillion sky. It was a moment just a bit after the scene faded and Aiden was ejected from the memory. The transformed, monstrous army of Primals and he as their leader, were standing still, gazing towards the distance where the enemy''s army was rapidly approaching. Keeping his attention on the floating spirit of the boy whose eyes were stered on the appearing image behind him, he spoke again. Just like at the start, his tone carried a gentle warmth, a strange kindness, and love that Aiden just couldn''t understand. "As you correctly guessed, your body is still back in the cave, your people call as the "Demon''s Cave or Grotto" or something simr. Your soul, however, is in this limbo. This is a space, an ''in-between'' if you prefer. Here, the concept of time is nonexistent." "What do you mean by that?" Surprised by his words, Aiden shifted his attention and looked at the floating leader figure. "Here, in this space, there''s no past and there''s no future. Here, there''s only the now, the present." Aiden couldn''t understand the meaning behind the spirit''s words. How could time not pass? They are conversing, moving, and even watching a still image! Just what did he mean by that?! Seeing how the confusion didn''t ease up but instead continued to reach even higher and higher peaks in the boy''s mind, the spirit chuckled and waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Don''t bother trying toprehend it, boy. Not yet at least, ultimately this doesn''t matter. Just ept the fact. We are currently in a special ce, a world for spirits. What matters however is that you came with a reason. You wanted to understand more about the past, and what happened." He spoke, changing the subject, the cheery quip vanished from his voice, donning the same majestic, royal traits that he had when doing his speech in the vision. Without turning around, he precisely pointed at the cloud of darkness that at this point stretched all around the faraway horizon. "What do you think, little one, what are they? What is this army that the memory and even the scenes you could find all over the hall mean? And more importantly, if the two sides shed in such a glorious battle, howe there is no knowledge about this historical moment in your current era, why does nobody even remember our existence? How could even the true name of our race vanish from the minds of even the oldest of the current world, and be one of the banished, forbidden phrases?" Although he was subjected to quite a few questions at the same time, Aiden didn''t panic. Focusing on the image behind the lordly spirit, he gathered his thoughts, gathering all the clues he seen and picked up so far. "Well, first I thought the images were only symbolic." He started, speaking with a thoughtful gaze, remembering the still depictions carved into the pirs. "But then, it was too visual It felt too real for some reason. He continued, subconsciously reaching for his heart atop his chest. "Then as the memories began to y out, I felt something I never felt before. My heart aches even just thinking back to it. It was as if as if I was missing something, something dear to my heart" He had to stop as his voice faltered, his eyes became blurry with all the emotions that seemed to be desperate to break through the dam and erupt with a ranging storm as sorrowful drops of tears. "You are right. You do miss something. Just tell me Aiden, what do you think, who you are?" Instead of answering, the spirit continued asking questions, slowly guiding the boy to some unknown path. "Who I am? I I don''t know. My earliest memory is from my early childhood. When I saw the light of the world, I was in the Forest, by the stream of some river with Granny and my sister, Lily by my side" Aiden truthfully answered, not hiding anything from the spirit. However, the answer seemed to be not what the lordly spirit wanted to hear. Shaking his head, he waved his right hand again, causing the still image behind his change. From the vermillion sky and the soon-to-be bloodied clearing, the image changed into a dark and damp little cave. The cave was devoid of any light, but still, despite that a small blueish amorphous blob could be seen as it slowly wobbled, ripples traversing through its surface as it moved towards the closest wall. Looking at it, suddenly a jolt of pain bolted through Aiden''s spiritual body, causing incredible, tremendous agony all over him. He crumbled, falling to an invisible tform. Though the jolting pain originated from his head, it wreaked havoc all over his body. This was way over the limit of what he could withstand, this was not physical or even mental damage. This whatever this was it afflicted his soul directly. Rolling on the invisible tform, squirming and spasming uncontrobly, he cried, roared into the void. Seeing this the lordly spirit remained unphased, he stood still as he watched the boy go over what he believed was necessary. The boy needed to shatter the chains ced on him, destroy the barrier that barred his memories. He needed to remember who he was, how he came to be, and what his true purpose was. He needed to remember his past lives, the grand meeting with the being standing above all, and the grand quest he was supposed to carry out. --- Back in the ''real'' world, the small ball of light, residing in Aiden''s Soul Space was staring at the darkness with a worried, concerned expression. She knew that when his locked memories will be finally released and he will remember once again, he maye to resent her for what she had done. Still, she hoped that he would be able to understand that what she did was necessary at the time, he had no other way Hopefully, he will understand that all she did was for his benefit only. She hoped that he will understand how deeply rooted her affection and love for him ran. That despite the limitation and rules that she had to adhere to, she did everything she could to ensure the safety of the one dearest to her No matter the distance of the worlds, time, and space, she will always love him The little spirit sighed turning around and going back to the depth of darkness, making sure that the prison would not be broken, and the entity locked away would not escape. That was not something that she could allow. Not now, not ever. Not again. --- Eventually, gradually the pain subsided, the spasms stopped. Aiden could finally feel some relief, his spiritual body could rx. Slowly he sat up, his eyes were glimmering with bright golden light, he looked at the spirit looking at him with a calm stature. "Do you know now?" The lordly spirit asked with matching cool in his tone, to which the boy simply nodded. "Yes. I know, now. I remember." Chapter 308 - 308 - Against The Skies "Do you know now?" The lord spirit asked with matching cool in his tone, to which the boy simply nodded. "Yes. I know, now. I can remember now." Aiden answered with a newfound boldness, assurance behind his voice. A surge of memories, from another life, somewhat matching the visions in the Pocket World was once again unlocked in his mind. He could remember again finally, up to the veryst moments of his life. Whilst there was some obvious difference like he didn''t have all his supernatural powers and his explosive strength, he still did all he could to protect everyone in that fated banquet. In the end, he did manage to make sure that his friends and childhood love escape the room, even going so far as shielding them from the inevitable gunfire that erupted mostly due to his actions. Before his eyes rolled back and life left him on the cold banquet floor, the veryst thing he saw was the troubled gazes of his friends as they forcefully pulled the wailing Kat out of the room. As the light gradually faded to darkness, he just glimpsed on the array of steel boots as they charged into the room. The carnage that exploded in the hall slowly turning into a faint echo in the recesses of his mind... However, when the light of life left his youthful body he found himself in a ce very simr to the one he was currently in. A dark, empty world, void of all life and ultimately, meaning. He floated there for an indeterminate amount of time, all lonely and without any reason, before suddenly a bright ripple appeared in front of him, slowly expanding and forming a gateway. At the rippling surface of the magical gateway, a world unlike any other expanded before him: Bright blinding light wherever he could see. He could vaguely make out, transparent-looking figures floating around the endless white foam that served as the floor to this magical pce. Milky white smooth walls, with beautiful, ornate window frames looking over yonder to the endless heaven all around. Squinting he could just barely make out small transparent figures of distinct shapes and sizes as they floated in the endless, majestic halls of this wondrous endless structure. Despite the serene sight, Aiden at that time was hesitant to go through. He was skeptical, what was this ce? Where did ite from? Why now? And most importantly, what was the space, the world he was currently ''existing'' in? His sudden thirst for knowledge was soon quelled, as a majestic bass boomed throughout the empty dark space he resided in. The low-toned royal shout was masculine, belonging to a being that clearly had power over these empty domains. "Come to me. We have much to discuss." The next moments, as he epted the strange invitation and stepped through the heavenly portal, he couldn''t recall. They were still a blurry, fuzzy mess, but what was clear was that, is that in this meeting, he met someone known as Ioris, an existence closest to being called a True God, presiding over the lives and deaths across multiple worlds, or multiverses. Under his gaze, no soul could cross the Gates unjudged, every living being was an open book to its omniscient eyes. Every single one, except his. Aiden couldn''t recall the exact conversation nor how this being of light actually looked like, but he could recall the very first words of hispanion, Enya: "The reason he pulled you from the Gate of Life and Death after your unfortunate demise, was because your soul called to him. It was shining in a golden light, something that in the zillions of years never happened before. He pulled you out from the Gate and you two talked. In short, you had a very strong desire to live, and you opted for a second chance at life." Due to his decision, and the unique situation he was in, he was assigned a great destiny. He had a mission, he had to fix a mistake that happened due to the interference of other gods, beings that transcended that mortal shell, but still only lorded over their single realms. They were called Lesser Gods, creatures that once, countless millennia ago were simple mortals, walking the very same ground as he himself. He finally understood it all. The strange cycle of life, who he was, where did hee from, and what he was supposed to do. These so-called gods, intervened, growing wary of a group of creatures. They had unlimited potential, birthed with the ability to continuously grow stranger simply by their continued existence. Feeling threatened, they decided to intervene. Through machinations they riled the rest of the world against them, easily influencing the lesser creature''s unprotected minds. Selecting the strongest of each race, they created an army of champions, giving them a sliver of their own power, elevating them to a state of demi-gods. With thisbined force they waged a war, eventually pushing thest surviving remnants into that fated sh that caused the destruction of many souls from both sides. After countless hours of a bloodied battle, the leader stood atop a hill made out of the bodies of his enemies. His body bloodied and battered, was now devoid of his once exotic armor. His obsidian de was now painted in a dark scarlet color, but despite that, he still kept radiating his powerful battle intent, that incredibly dense aura that was reminiscent of his own, just at an entirely different level. A top of the small hill of bodies, surrounded by the surviving demi-gods, the champions of the gods he looked coldly at the dark, vermillion sky. Raising his sword into the air, he yelled out a cold and cruel exmation as his aura enfolded with newfound power onest time. "YOU BASTARDS DARE CALL YOURSELVES GODS?! WHAT A JOKE! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF RATS, SCHEMING TO PRESERVE YOUR MEANINGLESS POWER!" As if answering his words, the sky thundered, a dark bolt of lightning struck down trying to eradicate his very existence. However, their fury was thwarted. The incredibly dense aura surrounding the man''s figure formed an invisible shield above him, blocking their judgment. The skies raged in response, a tremendously powerful roar exploded high above, almost shattering the very fabric of space. The gods were clearly not happy of being called out by this meager ant. "DO YOUR WORST, YOU BASTARDS! YOU MAY HAVE WON THIS BATTLE, BUT YOU HAVE NOT WON THIS WAR. MARK MY WORDS: WE WILL RETURN!" He exploded into boisterousughter, causing the cold-looking armored, humanoid figures around him to look at him, wondering if in his dismay he has gone mad. "YOU HAVE FAILED YOU MISERABLE RATS! MY LAST DESCENDANT WILL LIVE ON, AND YOU WILL NEVER FIND HIM!" He continued to coldlyugh, guffawing towards the dark sky. "WHEN HE RETURNS, THAT WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF YOUR END! HIS WRATH WILL BE TREMENDOUS, FOR HE IS SPECIAL!" The sky raged once again, an ear-shattering roar boomed high above the dark bloody clouds. Another dark bolt of lightning struck down followed by several others, but none could pierce through the thick barrier of energy. "AHAHAHA THAT IS ALL YOU CAN DO! YOUR CRIES OF ANGUISH WILL BE MY RESPITE! MY SON WILL AVENGE HIS PEOPLE AND YOUR WORLD BUILT UPON LIES AND SCHEMING WILL CRUMBLE! THIS WORLD OF DARKNESS WILL FALL BEFORE HIS FEET!" Expanding all of his remaining reserves, his aura exploded, his body bathed in a blinding golden light, masking his figure briefly, before a ring of energy expanded from his body, crashing into all the demi-god champions looking over him at the foot of his bloody hilltop. They were thrown back several meters, violently crashing into the ground as the invisible, powerful force shed with them. Still, the leader ignored them, he continued yelling towards those residing over the skies. "MARK MY WORDS: HE WILL COME FOR YOU. FOR HE IS MY BLOOD, MY SON... THE LAST PROTECTOR! HE WILL BE OUR CHAMPION, A REVENANT, AND AT THE SAME TIME OUR NEW PROGENITOR. FOR HE WILL BRING A NEW ERA, A NEW DAWN OVER THE GORY REMAINS OF YOUR DEAD BODIES!" Ignoring the continuous angry roars exploding high in the skies, he pointed the tip of his weapon towards the closest champion, looking at him impassively. "Come to me, puppets of your masters, and show me the limits of your faith. Let your blood cleanse my de, so when my son returns, he could wield its power once more! COME!" As the group surrounding the battered leader charged at him anger shed across all of their faces, the vision gradually cleared, returning Aiden to the dark void of space, floating before the spirit of the leader. Armed with all this new knowledge, Aiden wasn''t sure what to say or do. He still had questions about how he woke up in that cave. What was special about him? How was all of this what he saw rted to his past life? The lord spirit was the first to break the intense silence engulfing both of them. The warm, gentle tone now had a newfound meaning, something that Aiden still couldn''t properly process and ce, causing him to look awkwardly at the spirit. "Yes, Aiden. You who''s wearing my very name, are of my blood. You are my kin, my beloved son." Chapter 309 - 309 - Revelations Time continued to pass, yet the young Aiden couldn''t properly process the true meaning behind the ghost''s words. How could he rte to these people?! They are of ages past, vanished from the face of the continent and probably the entire globe long ago. "T-that''s impossible." After a long while, Aiden muttered, meekly voicing his dubious thoughts. "You have died centuries, millennia ago. How could you and I have any sort of rtion to each other? I didn''t even know about you beforeing here!" Although due to the blurry, fuzzy visage, it went unseen, the Lord Spirit smiled warmly at the young one''s skepticism. It was perfectly understandable. In fact, it would have been weird if he would have just simply epted his words as fact. "You doubt is understandable, do not worry, little one." He spoke with the same warmth, familial love as before. However, what was strange and unfamiliar to Aiden just moments ago, now had a meaning behind it. He felt and understood the feeling full well; after all, he had a family in his past life, a loving mother and caring father that he loved as well. No, they weren''t rted. He tragically died in his past life and was transferred to this new world to fulfill a role assigned to him by that strange globe of light, the one Enya referred to as, the ''Great One, Ioris''. Before he could voice his concerns further, the lord continued his exnation. "You see, your mother was special." As he spoke, his tone cracked, he was clearly forcing himself to remember the past. Yet, he continued to exin. "She was beautiful, I can still remember her smiles that could melt the coldest of hearts and soothe the weariest of souls." He gave a light-hearted, single chuckle before heaving a long sigh and continuing. "You know, she loved you very much. I can still remember those peaceful days She always made sure you woke up in time to have time for your breakfast before you had to visit Master Dor''Ktha. "She loved you so deeply that she did something that should not have been possible Although the cost was great, she never regretted it. Her pleas were answered, and you were safe, away from the hands of those so-called ''gods'' of this world." The revtions that were rapidly exined to Aiden shocked him to the core. His eyes became hazy due to the rapidly gathering tears, his lips quivered. Still, he could not ept this fact. No. This was not usible. He had his own life in another world. He had his own parents. He was a simple human, going to school, living the life of a teenager. Well, at least until that fateful night. He clenched his hands, forming two balls of fists, his eyes lit up glowing in a mixture of scarlet and gold. The gathered tears began to escape from the corners. "NO!!! THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE! STOP LYING! AAAAAAAARGH!!" His words roared across the endless void, causing the very fabric of this small dimension to shake. His emotions raging a tumultuous new-found peak, all of his auras merged together, violently exploding from within the depth of his soul, his core of existence. The st carried great power with it, transforming the endless darkness into a bright golden luster for a single moment before everything returned to its previous state. Although everything that transpiredsted only for a few mere moments, it still took its toll on the young boy. His knees crumbled under the pressure of his aching heart, he fell down on the invisible ground. His fists hit the magical, transparent floor, causing shockwaves to spread from each of his hits, causing further rumbles, quakes in the void. Despite all that, the lord spirit did not say a single word, he calmly stood still, waiting for the young boy to process his words. Several minutes have passed as Aiden silently sobbed. He knew that what he was told had to be the truth. He could feel it. Still, he just couldn''t ept it. How could it be possible?! Eventually, he murmured into space, his whispers reaching the lordly spirit of his supposed father. "H-how can this be possible?! I had a life in the other world. I I had a family, a life there" "I know." The spirit warmly answered, causing further confusion with his curt response to the already confused boy. "How could you know?! How?! I had a family, a life there! I only came here because I died and" He wanted to exin the circumstances of his supposed ''awakening'', however before he could another pain suddenly surged, causing another wave of havoc and torment in his soul. Under the second wave of unbearable pain, he helplessly cried out. Yet, he struggled to keep going on. The torment, adding further strain to his mind back in the real world, he didn''t care. He needed to understand what was going on. If there was the slightest, tiniest chance that what this being told him could be possibly true, then ''No. This is not possible.'' He shook his head, slowly forcing himself up from the ground. His still-lit, shining eyes glowered at the creature with defiance. His emotions already running rampant, his aura was continuously pulsating causing visible ripples, distortions in the space around them. "We knew it would be hard for you. We are sorry, but please try to understand this was the only way to keep you safe, my son. We had to do it, even if the consequences were irreversible." The spirit continued with his exnation, however, the only thing that stuck to Aiden at this moment was a particr way he phrased his words. "We? We? You and who?" As if waiting for this question for a while now, the tone of the man revealed a hidden smile, a gentle gesture as he responded. "Your mother and I, of course. She was the one that made sure you woulde back here, to the ce where a sliver of my soul remained, just for this moment." Before Aiden could continue asking, the spirit waved his right hand, causing the entire space to begin to quake and rapidly change. From the depths of the void, a single speck of light lit up, followed by another and another. The darkness was rapidly expelled, causing the world to change, revealing the very same-looking, golden room where Aiden''s body should be sitting in a meditating pose. "Now, to answer your third question" The spirit continued, startling Aiden, forcing his attention back on himself. "We are in one of the hidden sanctums, ces existing behind the fabric of the worlds, a space that we call the ''In-Between''. These ces hold our legacies, that we hid from the world and the gods. These are the ces where their veil of lies will be lifted, and you can gain insight into the truth." The figure snapped his fingers, causing the space around them to shatter, expelling their spirits in the process. In the next moment, back in the ''real'' world, Aiden''s eyelids fluttered, slowly parting revealing the very same glowing gradient golden-red eyes of his. His newly formed aura however was not present any more. He looked towards the altar, not surprised to see the transparent and blurry figure of the lordly spirit, his supposed father. He stood beside the stone altar, his arms spread wide in a weing posture, he greeted the youngster as if they met for the first time after a long while. "Wee back, Aiden. This is the Voragon Sanctum, thest bastion of our once-great family." Although he spoke in a grand, majestic manner, probably due to the role enforced upon him, there was an unmistakable sorrow behind his tone. It clearly pained him to show such a decrepit, run-down, and carefully hidden ce to the boy. Although he was much calmer now than before, Aiden still couldn''t fully ept the words of this being. After all, he was still kept in the dark about the circumstances of his supposed escape, and the reason behind his return to this world. If what the spirit said was true, howe that he wasn''t told this when he was transferred? He was just told that he has a great destiny and that his spirit was unique. If all of this was true, why did Enya never tell him any of this? Still, he couldn''t deny the feelings inside his heart. He couldn''t deny the pain, the aching sensations whenever he was reminded of the past. Unbeknownst to him, his hands were once again, balled into tightly formed fists. His body was slightly shaking, afraid of the truth, the dreaded answer to the question he was about to ask. "If what you said is true" He paused for a single moment, taking a deep breath, preparing himself for an answer he might not be ready to hear. "What happened to my mother? Where is she?" The spirit didn''t respond at first but simply pointed towards the boy. "The cost to the ritual, the price she paid to keep you safe, was her own life." He responded, however, there was no sadness in his words. On the contrary, as if he was proud, happy to be asked this dreary inquiry However, his next words, caused Aiden to almost lose his mind. "She never left you Aiden. Her sole purpose is to keep you safe and guide you toward your inevitable destiny." He pointed to his chest as he spoke the next, incredibly heavy words. "My dear wife, your mother never left you for a single moment." Chapter 310 - 310 - Proving Your Worth "What?" Aiden froze on the spot, looking at the floating figure of the lordly spirit with a stunned expression. "What do you mean? I-I d-don''t understand H-how? W-who-" It took him a bit but it finally dawned on him. A single, loud thump could be heard echoing in the small room, as the realization hit Aiden for the nth time in short session. The obvious truth was right in front of his eyes. The only person that was with him ever since he could remember. His lips quivered as his mind tried to ovee yet another burden and process the weight behind such a piece of information. However, the information seemed to be contradicting his first conversations, his very first discussion with his guide. She was an aide assigned to him together with the system that pushed him towards a predetermined direction, whilst ensuring he would have ample opportunities to gain the required power to achieve all he was meant to. "Y-you can''t possibly mean" He muttered more to himself than to the guardian. The spirit didn''t respond, at least not at first, but instead changed the topic after a while. "It seems, all of this was still too much for you. s, no matter, you are aware of some of the truths rted to your very self. However" Suddenly, his blurry figure began to clear out, gaining a solid, material form. The very same dragon-shaped set of armored warriors appeared in front of Aiden. In his right hand, the fearsome-looking, obsidian sword. Behind the visor, a pair of bright golden pair of slits appeared, focusing his piercing gaze on the calm-looking youngster. Akin to a small whirlwind of breeze the air around the figure abruptly blew up, blowing a gust of wind toward the boy, startling him. There was no visible pressure of force, there was no struggle, yet, Aiden could feel a sharp battle intent, an aura honed through hundreds if not thousands of fierce shes and bloodshed. Raising his sword, he pointed the ebony tip at Aiden, his voice turning solemn, cold. "Youngster, bearing my long-forgotten name. Revenant of the Voragons! Before you can gain the blessing of the Voragon Sanctum, the first of the Hidden Primal Shrines, you have to prove that you are worthy! You have to prove that you have the strength to carry on the burden that was unjustly ced on you! Show me that your mother''s sacrifice was not in vain!" Following his words, a notification appeared in front of Aiden, blocking his vision and informing him of a quest update. [Main Quest: The Secrets of the Demon Grotto has been updated! Objectives: - Find and Explore the Demon Grotto (2 / 2 - Completed!) - Uncover its Secret (1/1 - Completed!) - Earn its owners eptance Optional: - Merge with the Guardian Spirit (Warning: The feat will require the simultaneous activation and use of the Primal Absorb racial skill empowered with the Blessing of Ioris effect. Caution: The strain on the host''s core will be immense!)] Although the update finally confirmed that hepleted most of the objective, his expression still soured. As his eyes wandered to the optional section, the fact that he would have to absorb something, -either the spirit itself or probably the egg still resting on the altar-, dawned on him. He would effectively have to merge with his father''s leftover spirit! How cruel was that? His body shook with this realization, his state of mind that was already quite burdened, and his swirling emotions that were still quite chaotic, caused the boy to slowly lose his grip, his control over his own body. His eyes lit up once again, first with the usual bright golden color, but slowly from the far corners, the shade of vermillion began to gradually seep in, turning the single luster in a gradient tone, slowly gaining territory and domain. Before he could go berserk once again, Aiden could suddenly feel the presence of the little white globe of light, his guide appeared in his mind. ''[Calm down, Aiden! He is only an echo, a copy of your father. He is merely the guardian of the sanctum, his only job is to pass the heritage and title onto you. The system correctly understands this and is simply shining its light on the best possible path you should be taking.]'' Her words, filled with concern towards him, managed to reach him, causing the dark red saturation to slowly recede from his eyes. Regaining the rity of his mind, he matched the guardian spirit''s gaze. He nodded, mostly to Enya''s words, and whilst he had many questions he wanted to ask her, he understood that it was not the right time. He had onest test to do, onest hurdle he needed to ovee. Without turning away from the spirit, he simultaneously activated all of his innate skills. His [Dragon''s Wrath] the draconic heritage, assisted by his [Shapeshifter] caused a rapid transformation, changing and morphing his body. His wings, his tail appeared, the surface of his skin turned glossy, golden as his scales appeared all over his body. At the tip of his now much thicker fingers thick, curved ebony ws could be seen. But this was not the end of his changes. The new, fused aura that he created through the unnned fusion of skills in the spirit world exploded from within him with such ferocity that it caused the walls around the room to crack under the impossible pressure. Following that, a dark smoke seeped from under his golden scales, the [King''s Grip] the strange gaseous form of energy that he inherited from the perfected [Worgen Form] formed a dark cloud-like barrier around his body. Finally, with the assistance of the [Mystic Martial Arts] skill, the end of his wed hands and the base of his feet brimmed with a faint colorless light; the flow of his inner [Soul Power] was focused on his limbs to provide, even more, explosive strength and momentum for the inevitable sh between father and son. Although the changes were substantial his transformation only took a couple of seconds toplete. In reality, it looked as if he was suddenly engulfed with a bright golden pir of light, and as that faded, a new creature was revealed to the outside world. The strain on his energy reserves was tremendous, Aiden knew he couldn''t keep up this enhanced state for long; he had to end this battle in a few hits, otherwise, he would surely lose. "It''s still hard for me" Still, despite the pressure of time, he spoke with his changed, much deeper, draconic tone of voice. His powerful volume thundered across not just the small room, but across therge hall outside. "...I still can''t fully ept what you have told and shown to me. Even if I can feel that it is the truth, it''s just too hard There are so many confusing memories If everything is true then what was the purpose of my previous life? Was it all just a dream?!" Not waiting for a response, Aiden shook his head as he continued to speak. "No. That can''t be. It was real, I felt the love and care of my parents there. I had friends, I had a decent life before it was unjustly stolen from me!" A distortion appeared, spreading like akin to a wave on the surface of the raging ocean, it rippled across the empty space crashing into the walls, causing further damage to appear. "I had a decent life! I never asked for any of this! Why do I need to care about the struggles of this world?! DID ANY OF YOU ASKED IF I WANTED ANY OF THIS?!" He roared, as he suddenlyunched himself towards the armored spirit. As his entire figure blurred due to the otherworldly speed he inserted, it only took Aiden a fraction of a second to appear in front of the calmly standing guardian and punch forward with all the pent-up stress and raging emotions that kept causing chaos. The look on his face was fierce, he was clearly, visibly tormented by all the pain that umted in his heart throughout all he had learned. However, unlike what he envisioned in his mind, didn''t happen. His surprise attack didn''t connect, as out of nowhere, the guardian spirit''s obsidian de appeared blocking his trajectory. A loud bang blustered in the room, sending a sonic ripple to all directions, pushing both sides a few feet away from each other. "Not bad, son. It was a decent first strike." Lowering his weapon, the spirit expressed with a calm but satisfied tone. "Just what I was expecting from my kin!" Whilst he fixed his grip due to the aching pain he could feel in his palm, he spoke with an expectant grin behind his closed visor. "Now, let''s see if you can block an attack from me! Show me if you are truly worthy Aiden Voragon!" Following up his exmation, his body bolted forward with a speed that easily matched the boy''s and even surpassing it by several folds. As his muchrger body surged through the air, a still image of his figure was left behind, lingering in the air as an afterimage for a fleeting moment before it dissipated in the air. The sh between the two has just begun! Chapter 311 - 311 - Titanic Clash A loud explosion of sound sent rings of energy rippling across the air. Two forces collided against each other, releasing such a tremendous force causing further damages to the surrounding walls. At one side, a tall, armored figure donning an exotic-looking armor shining with a bronze sheen. Standing against him, a young half-naked, colorful-looking young man. Colorful due to the fact that whilst most of his body had a dark golden tone that could only be seen as the bright blinding light in the small room reached under his thickyer of golden scales above it, giving it an interesting mixture. He had a set of thick, slightly curved set of ebony ws at the end of his fingertips. Just as the tall figure, the guardian''s punch hit him, the youngster, Aiden raised his arms, blocking the strike with his forearms. The attack carried a huge surge of the assant''s momentum, hence being the cause of such a violent outburst. Still, this was not the end of their sh. Following up his averted first strike, therge figure raised his right leg,unching a right-winged arching kick towards the boy''s temple. Already expecting such a follow-up, Aiden thrust his opposing fist towards the rapidly approaching leg, thwarting it, whilst also sending a sliver of energy to reverberate on the guardian''s leg guards, pushing his leg back as a consequence. At the same time, as if having a mind of its own, the dark gaseous substance, named as the [King''s Grip] by the system, slowly crept towards the figure''s left leg that was imnted in the marble tileset. A shadowy tendril sneaked towards the shielded ankle and gently wrapped itself around it. Searching for thin cracks upon the metallic surface, it soon found a barely visible perforation between the two elements, the sabatons, and the greaves. The energy founding its way towards the guardian''s skin, it began to slowly seep into it, slowly corrupting its flow of energy, slowly causing chaos in the stream. Although it was only for a few moments, the damage has still been done. Not expecting such a strange method of reprisal, the guardian was caught off-guard. Noticing the disruptive intruding source of chaotic energy, he immediately broke the contact and jumped back a few steps, creating a bit of distance between himself and the youngster. The same hurricane, the gust of wind appeared once more as it blew much colder, refreshing air between the two. Golden light shined through from behind the thin cracks in the armor as the guardian focused his energy in quelling the raging chaos inside his body. A momentter a dark puff of smoke was expelled from his body, picked up by the whirlwind around him, dissipating it into the atmosphere. "Not bad, Aiden! I wasn''t expecting something like that!" He eximed with unmasked proudness in his voice. "Looks like I do need to take this a bit more seriously, otherwise I would bring shame to our family name!" He eximed and though his face was still hidden behind the visor of his dragon''s head helmet, the wide, expectant grin could be clearly made out. He was obviously happy that his descendant that they sacrificed so much for just so he could escape the traitorous gods have already made such progress! The boy still hasn''t responded since the start of their sh. His mind a bit clearer than at the start, he was still under great pressure due to the many conflicting emotions swirling and raging inside him. With a raging shout, his figure vanished from its ce, appearing in front of the armored figure in the next instant. His ws already high above his head, he swiped downwards with both hands. His mind still slightly clouded in a chaotic mess there was no technique behind the attack, only a sheer disy of force. However even then, with all of his most powerful abilities running at its maximum efficiency even such a simplistic, animalistic attack were much deadlier than anything else. The attack itself warped the air as it traveled with a threatening momentum. Distorted sounds were released as the very fabric of space was being attacked by the sheer power behind the chaotic attack. Before they could connect and rip through metal, skin, flesh, and the bones of its target, the terrifying set of flying ws were abruptly put to a stop. A ck, obsidian de blocked the path for both hands, although there was no shaking from the other side, the attack was something that had to be taken seriously, the guardian had to disy some of his true might to ovee such a hurled assault. At the next moment, the fuller of the de, its spine turned to a darker shade of red, something simr to the vermillion colored skies as more energy was injected into it. The small gemstones in the pommel, the dragon''s eyes lit up with a simr color. The weapon has awakened from its millennial slumber, thirsting for an attack of this caliber once more. "That''s it, Aiden! Show us more!" ted about such an oue, the guardian urged the boy to continue. This was it! This is what he was truly hoping for. The point of their duel wasn''t for his defeat. No, that wouldn''t be possible, after all, he was at the top of the world, he was the strongest of his generation, the Grand Protector, the leader of his race. He stood against the tide of darkness, he spat in the face of those treacherous gods, utterly destroyed their champions. He needed to be sure that his descendant would have the potential to surpass him and could make his wishe true. True, it would be even better if the boy could ditch out a victory even if by just some stroke of luck, but that wasn''t required. As long as the de epted him, it would be okay As his first attack failed, Aiden pulled his arms to the side, raising at his sides, cocking them back. "BLOCK THIS!" He snarled the words, for the first time, a clear disy of his clouded mind being slowly being cleared as the battle went on. Gathering arge amount of energy, Aiden''s arms began to emit a slightly stronger, brighter glow. His [Mystic Martial Arts] was doing its best in circting his depleting reserves, ensuring that it was used as efficiently as possible to its veryst drop. When he felt that he gathered enough power, heunched his second attack. Both of his stretched-out arms moved at the same time. Afterimages, a feat that showed his incredible speed, have lingered behind as a clear indicator of the routes both limbs have sailed through in the air. His hands contorted into a stretched-out pose, both hands surged through the air a mirrored arch against each other. Like arge gaping jaw, both arms shed against each other, closing the illusionary monster''s jaw shut. However, the attack was not meant to tear into flesh. With the loud p, a thunderous, rambunctious sound was released. The visible coat of energy exploded with violent momentum, throwing both sides back in the air several feet. Being the more prepared of the two, Aiden managed to remain standing on his feet and was only pushed back a couple of steps before he could stabilize himself. On the other hand, the guardian wasn''t expecting such a clever use of energy, his feet weren''t nted steadily in the ground. He was grabbed by the st, thrown back in the end. Still, he wasn''t the mightiest of his generation for nothing. With a flip, hended on his feet on the ground after flying in the air for a bit, re-creating almost the same distance that they had initially. Apart from a small ck discoloration on the center of his chest te, there was no visible damage on him. The only visual difference was the fact that the dragon''s eyes of his sword''s hilt were glowing even brighter, humming a strange tune. A strong will could be felting from it, slowly engulfing the twobatants. Feeling the newly emerged presence, the guardian suddenly burst into a peal of tedughter. He boisterously guffawed, happy that his friend has found an interest in his sole kin. "Aahahaha, good one, son! You have finally made it! You are indeed worthy!" Raising his head towards the ceiling, the guardian heaved a heavy sigh, recing the previously cheerfulugh with sorrow. However, this time there was a tinge of happiness mixed in, creating a weird contrast as his breath carried his whispers around the room. "Her sacrifice was not in vain. Just as she foretold, our son is truly special!" A momentter his gaze returned to the boy. He reached for his helmet with his empty left hand, slowly pulling it off from his head, revealing that chiseled, handsome, and battle-hardened expression that although ruined by therge scar that went across his face was still very simr to Aiden''s. A gentle smile stretched across his lips, as he looked at the boy. He fixed his grip on his sword, raising it in front of his body once more. "I can tell you that you have already passed the trial, son. However, I just can''t help myself! I know that your current state can''t be kept up for much longer, son. So, let''s have onest sh, let''s enjoy this battle to the fullest!" Chapter 312 - 312 - Rygintarth Inside the small gold-covered lit room two figures were plopped down on the floor, heaving heavily. Around them, the traces of a battle of grand proportions could be seen. Several smaller heaps of rubble piling up and forming small miniature hills. Around them, cracked floor tiles, craters of all depths and sizes. In the end, just from the clues, it was unclear who won their sh. Both figures were mostly unharmed, and whilst the Guardian''s armor''s shattered pieces wereid across the room spread out randomly, his body was merely glistening with beads of sweat, simr to Aiden. "I have to admit" The guardian spoke between breaths. "...I have not expected that we would be so evenly matched." "Heh, it was a first to me too" The boy responded with a much calmer look and a satisfied smile stretched across his face. "This was quite satisfying. Old man." "Heh" The guardian spirit smirked at the boy''s words. Although he still hasn''t said it directly, it felt that the tension and conflict he had in his heart have been finally resolved, and whilst he refused to let go of his past, he had at the very least started to ept the reality. Unfortunately, all things will eventuallye to an end. Now that the trial was deemedplete, and that the boy is indeed worthy of receiving eptance of the shrine, he has to close this small reunion of theirs. "Anyway" The guardian spirit sighed, as he once again turned translucent, floating up from the ground. At the same time, armor pieces scattered around the floor have begun to glow with a bright, colorless glimmer, vaporizing into thin air, only to reappear on the spirit''s body a momentter. "You have passed the test. This Primal Shrine, the Voragon Sanctum has epted you as the new sessor." He waved his right palm drawing a small arch in the air. A golden glimmer remained lingering in the air, forming something vaguely simr to the runes that Granny usually drew when casting one of her mysterious spells. The short plume shined, resonated with the particles in the air around them, gaining even more luster, growing gradually brighter as the seconds continued to relentlessly pass. The scene slowly changed, forming a set of runes that were not recognizable to Aiden. However, he was surprised when not a momentter his System provided an alert that he hasn''t seen for quite a while. [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 85%] However, he had no time to linger on that thought, as the magical scene that was ying out in front of him changed once more. The runes kept appearing, some he could recognize from before, whilst others werepletely new. The system kept updating as they appeared, which after taking a quick nce at them, curved the satisfied smile on his face even higher. [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 86%] [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 87%] [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 88%] . . . [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 97%] He was ted, happy. How could he not be? Just by merely standing in silence, waiting for the ritual toplete, he had already gained so much! His study of Granny''s mysterious rune magic was one of the very first subjects he began to analyze. After so many years, he seemed to hit a wall as he couldn''t progress, no matter how hard he tried. Now, however, he almost reachedpletion, after barely a few minutes! As the symbols were finally formed in the air, they shone with newfound power, marking thepletion of the spell. In the next second, the runes shot forward, one by one, seeping into Aiden''s stunned body, merging with his soul. After some time, after all the symbols have merged with his Soul Space, the system finally gave a new notification. [Note: Primal Essence Detected! Beginning Analyziation...1%...Error: Unable to process, System''s level is too low! A system Upgrade is required toplete the process!] However, even this initial 1% of progress has already given something incredible to Aiden. [+15000 Main Level XP received.] [Congrattions! The host''s level has increased! New level: [12 / 100 - (9600 / 2000)] [Host has received +1 Might, +1 Agility, +1 Spirit] [Congrattions! The host''s level has increased! New level: [13 / 100 - (7600 / 3000)] [Host has received +1 Might, +1 Agility, +1 Spirit] [Congrattions! The host''s level has increased! New level: [14 / 100 - (4600 / 4000)] [Host has received +1 Might, +1 Agility, +1 Spirit] [Congrattions! The host''s level has increased! New level: [15 / 100 - (600 / 5000)] [Host has received +1 Might, +1 Agility, +1 Spirit] [New Milestone reached! Host reached Level 15! -Fusion Feature Update has been unlocked! The update will be carried out with the next System Update. Required time: 02 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds] ''Woah... All this for just a meager 1%? If I had known that I would gain so much, I wouldn''t have neglected pouring points into my level for so long'' Aiden sighed, just realizing the blunder he had made before. He gained so much, and that was just with 1% of the boon he had been granted. However, all of this, everything turned meaningless after the next set of words that the Guardian Spirit, the remnant of his father''s soul have uttered. "The heritage is with you, with time, you will slowly receive its full effects. However, besides that, there are two more rewards you will need to take. The first" He raised his translucent formless right arm, reaching it towards the boy. In his palm, the obsidian de with the exotic dragon''s markings has materialized, floating in the air. The small beads in its pommel were glowing with a bright vermillion color, visibly excited to be in the presence of his old and newest master. A faint hum could be hearding from the dark de. "The first is this sword. She is not a simple artifact, it''s something much more. This de is a god-ying weapon, capable of shattering the very skies itself when wielded by a talented owner." "For now, it is up to you to understand the mysteries and myths surrounding this one. She is called Rygintarth, the first of the five. Treat her with respect and care for she is not a tool, but your right hand. She is a being from legends, The Fire Starter." His voice turned solemn, he turned towards the sword itself with his next words. "Rygintarth, do you acknowledge Aiden Voragon, my descendant as your next and final master? Will you guide him through the murky waters that fate still has in store for him?" The sword hummed in response, excitement could be felt surrounding the obsidian de. Leaving no doubt in the minds of the two men, in the next instant, the sword slowly levitated in front of the boy, lingering in the air for a single moment before it suddenly red up with a blinding white light and submerging into the boy''s body once again. However Ryingtarth didn''t vanishpletely, its presence could be clearly felt in the boy''s soul space. In the endless darkness, a small spot ofnd appeared, the single ind in the endless sea. Dewy, bright green fresh grass formed creating a beautiful, serene meadow. At its center atop a small rock, a small girl appeared in the next moment. She had long, dark red hair, flowing freely behind her back, reaching down to the ground. Her face, just like her skin looked supple, youthful, matching her childlike appearance. The shape of her eyes was akin to thin almonds, with the very same dark red, exotic color as her hair. A small, barely perceivable smile curved the edges of her small and thin rosy lips. Matching the style and color of her hair and eyes, she wore a cheongsam, a dress adding a bit more to the mysteriousness surrounding the littledy. She looked calmly atop the void of darkness above her. Her thin lips parting, she spoke with a bell-like childish tone. Regardless, the very same power and the threat that Aiden was all-too-familiar with due to his transformations could be heard in the tone. "Rygintarth greets Master." She bowed her head but did not stand up, she kept her sitting position. "I know you have questions, but please keep it for yourself for now Master. We can talk after you finish your business here." Feeling the presence of another, she smirked, as she continued. "Meanwhile, I will have a talk with the other one residing inside you. Huh?" Her eyes wandered below, sensing another ancient presence locked away. A momentter the calm returned to her expression, she sighed as she closed her eyes, awaiting the arrival of a particr being. She did notment further on what she sensed at all Returning his attention to the guardian spirit in the outside world, the spirit was kneeling on the ground in front of Aiden, his head lowered. "...Thest reward that you must take, my son Is me." Chapter 313 - 313 - The Last Reward Although he sort of expected it, Aiden still couldn''t help but frown and shake his head in denial when the spirit spoke the words that caused yet another wave of conflict to spread its chaos in his heart and mind. Conflict, as although he refrained from calling the spirit by what he truly was, he could still feel the truth of it. The spirit was his father, his family in its truest sense. Whilst he had left him, even going so far as to somehow sending him to another world and for some reason, to live another life, it was probably not an easy decision he and his wife, Aiden''s mother had made. Then there was his Mother. What the Guardian Spirit said, confused him greatly, and he still couldn''t process itpletely. Was he referring to Enya? How could that actually be true? She was an entirely different entity, not originating from this world. She was someone that she was given by that all-powerful true god, the one she referred to as Ioris. However, she didn''t truly deny it either. In fact, she was silent ever since this strange trial began. So silent that he could hardly even feel her presence, at least until a moment ago. He couldn''t feel her up until the point that the sword, Ryingtarth submerged into his Soul Space. He knew it was pointless to even try to ask her for answers, as most likely she would just say the same excuse, that due to some ''limitations'' ced on her, she couldn''t. So, the Guardian Spirit''s response was strange, he couldn''tprehend it at all. If not Enya, then who was she referring to. The only guidance he received so far was the deathly threats of the System, a heartless, emotionless tool created by that all-powerful existence. Returning his attention, he looked at the Guardian Spirit with a deep frown on his face, as he once again shook his head. "No. I can''t do that." How could he? Even if the system gave an obvious incentive to do so, how could he possibly absorb his father''s remnant soul shard? Even if it was just a copy or a retained piece for the service of tending to this shrine, how could he possibly cope with such a thought? Already expecting such a response, the spirit wasn''t surprised, instead, he turned to the side, and pointed to the Golden Egg-shaped objectying atop the altar. "Don''t be afraid. My purpose was always to be joining with you. Absorb the egg, the container of my soul. Besides" The spirit smirked, shocking Aiden for the umpteenth time today. "Besides, you have already absorbed one of my leftover shards, silly boy. So, why would you hesitate to take the second? You need the power within it. Trust me." The scene of finding the simr-looking object back at the riverbed in the forest, close to where he came to be re-emerged in his mind. That was a shard? But "If If that is true Why didn''t you show up then? Why couldn''t I see you? Why did you stay hidden from me?!" He eximed, getting more and more emotional once again as revtion dawned on him. He already did the unthinkable. Albeit he was not aware of it, but that didn''t change this simple fact. "I couldn''t at that time. That was a very small, tiny fragment of the whole, my original self didn''t intend to leave that there at the time. In fact, that shard shouldn''t have been there at all Unfortunately, I have no way of finding out the reason." "If so, then how do you even know that it was your shard?" Aiden asked with a skeptical look. It was just a small branch, but he wanted to believe that he hadn''t the unthinkable. The spirit chuckled at his question, which revealed he was still very naive, unlearned about the wisdom of the world. "Oh, Aiden. Isn''t it obvious? Through your memories of course. We were connected, or did you forget that already?" Reigning in hisughter, the Guardian Spirit returned to his serious look and continued on. "What you fear about makes no sense, son. You cannot kill what is already dead. I have died long, long ago. What you see are just copies of my soul that my real self has left behind to test and guide you. These ''eggs'', as you refer to them in your mind" He reassured, turning to look at the golden egg. "Are thest remainders of my essence. The heritage you need. This is the only way for you to receive them. You need to absorb them all from all the remaining four shrines. Now go, don''t waste more time!" Aiden gritted his teeth upon listening to the Spirit''s words. Albeit he was right, it was still not something he was willing to do. He couldn''t shake the thought of him killing his own father, even if that wasn''t the case. Seeing the conflict in the boy, the Spirit decided to continue and spoke again. This time, in a much colder tone. With a flick of his hand, transparent images of three women appeared above the egg. They were his current family, the three most important people in his life in this world. The transparent faces of Lily, Granny, and Number 3 appeared from thin air, calmly floating in the air. "Do you want to lose those 3?! Do you not care about protecting them? What man are you, my son?!" His berating words caused a shiver to run through Aiden''s spine. He clenched his fists, the frown on his face contorted, revealing the instantly growing anger of him. "What do you mean? What are you insinuating?" He snarled the words. Luckily due to the fact, his reserves were still pretty low despite the restorative air around them, neither his aura nor the usually reflective glow in his eyes did not appear. "If you remain like you are now, their demise is inevitable. Haven''t you seen what happened to our whole race in the past? What do you think will happen once your existence is finally revealed to those rats sitting in their thrones above? Theirbined might once scorched the world, what do you think will happen now?" Each and every word carried an explosive power, a great weight behind them, putting more and more pressure on Aiden''s already troubled heart. He couldn''t respond. What the spirit said was quite clearly true. It was obvious. In fact, just recently, he failed to protect his sister, as she was taken away while heid unconsciously after just one show of strength. He was weak. This was the painful truth. An undeniable fact. He might be stronger than most of the humans in the city and those around the vicinity, but he was far from being truly powerful. Just thinking back to the dark, thin shadowy figure he spoke to before. He couldn''t even gauge his strength. "Go. Take it. ept your heritage. Let me join together with you. I promise you, I will stay by your side, and not fade away." The spirit urged the boy once more. Finally, with gritted teeth and tightly clenched fists, Aiden stepped forward, slowly approaching the stone altar. Once there, with an even deeper frown, and a conflicted expression, he slowly reached towards the egg. cing his hand over it, he gulped and was about to activate it, when suddenly the voice he wanted to hear for a while now, suddenly spoke to him. "[Wait! Don''t absorb it now, it will knock you out, remember! Take the orb into your System inventory, and only take it once you upgraded the System! Otherwise, the strain would be too much for you! This is not the same amount of energy that it was with the first one!] Enya''s concerned voice rang in his mind, startling him momentarily. However, he did not hesitate for long, his hands touched the surface of the Golden Egg. With a thought he transferred it into his Inventory, surprising the Guardian Spirit as well. He could feel that the Shard was still active, meaning that the boy simply transferred it to some sub-space instead of doing what he was meant to. He wanted to ask what he was doing, but before he could, his presence abruptly vanished. With the power source being gone, he himself was transferred to a new domain. --- Eternal darkness surrounded him when he came to be, an empty world, a sub-space. Around him, he found multiple seemingly random items, with the Golden Egg, the Shard of his Soul being next to him. He had no idea where or what this ce was, but he could feel that he had no way of breaking out. He could somewhat feel a power around him, that was unlike any other. It was unfathomable, it surrounded the entire space, this seemingly endless void. There was only one thing that he was sure about. This power, this entity was sentient. Chapter 314 - 314 - Another Resident As soon as the Golden Egg vanished followed by the Guardian Spirit, the golden glimmer and the unique qualities in the air faded along with it. The air slowly started to cool down, losing its magical, regenerative qualities, the natural dampness began to mix back into it. As the object vanished, transported into his magical inventory space, Aiden remained standing, looking at the now average stone elevated tform in front of him with a lost, dazed gaze. Lost in thought he absentmindedly swiped the iing notifications away. He was quite aware that he has fulfilled the requirements for the Main Quest, but he was in no state of mind to bother with it right now. He couldn''t care about the rewards, or the feeling of the empowering warmth that continued to spread through inside him, strengthening his flesh and body even further. No. Right now, he had to confirm something. He needed to understand. He couldn''t move on if he didn''t speak up his mind. Taking a deep breath of air, he took a moment to store it in his diaphragm before slowly exhaling it. As his mind calmed down a bit after the long heaving sigh, he called out a name in his mind. ''Enya. We need to talk.'' His tone was cold, there was no trace of his usual cheerful or ted mood whenever he addressed his System Guide. However, there was no response this time, despite knowing she was aware and nearby. She was avoiding him, that was obvious, but this time Aiden wouldn''t just let things go like this. He sat down on the ground cross-legged, ced his hands on his knees, and closed his eyes. In the next moment along with the inhale of a new gasp of air, he submerged into his subconscious world, his Soul Space. In what supposed to be an endless dark void, he appeared above a small speck of bright green colored speck, a little paradise standing against the darkness. Descending from above, he was surprised as his feet touched something that very simr in texture to dewy, fresh grass in the outside world. He could see a paradisical clearing with a small rocky formation at its center. Sitting on one of thergest stone pebble, he saw the red-haired shortdy that he instinctually knew was the inherited de, Ryingtarth. She was smiling, letting out asional giggles, she was talking to a floating white shining ball, who was obviously her ''hiding'' guide. Although they had to notice his arrival, they showed no change, neither of them seemed to be giving him a nce. Shaking his head, with a small smirk curving the edges of his lips, Aiden approached the two. "Quite a ce you made here as your new home, Ryingtarth." He greeted, interrupting their cheery conversation. "It sure is, Master. Someone had to bring some life to this ce as it seemed you were keen to keep it in this despairing state. Were you intent to keep their residents feel like they are in a prison?" The red-haired child-like girl responded, turning away from the floating ball of light meeting her master''s gaze with a cheeky grin of her own. The ball of light, Enya, didn''t respond but remained still. Whilst none of her features were currently visible due to ack of a body, her actions were strange, to say the least. "You are right. This ce was far too empty, I admit. At least you have an empty canvas to work with." He returned her cheeky retort with a gentle smile, before focusing his attention on the silently floating ball. He sighed seeing the emotional state of his partner. Reaching for his temples already prepared for the iing headache, he spoke, addressing both. "Excuse me for interrupting your discourse, but I needed Enya for a bit. I hope you don''t mind Ryg." A wide smile appeared on the girl''s face when Aiden gave her a nickname. She didn''t mind it, no, on the contrary, she seemed to be very happy about this fact. "Sure, go ahead." She waved her hand dismissively. Turning away from the two, she stood up, but before walking away, she turned her head sideways. "However, before you bash her to the ground with your questions. Know that she is not the only one residing in this ce. There is another ''resident''..." With that said, her figure vanished from their sight, appearing at a faraway section of this dark ce Ryg''s remark caused confusion to spread through Aiden once again. He remembered his hectic battle in the Pocket World, where he seemingly lost control and turned bedridden for several days. Could that be rted to what she just said? "[Aiden. I know what you want to ask, but]" Enya''s meek voice brought Aiden back from his thoughts. He raised his right palm in the air, turning the ball of light silent in turn as he interjected. "No. I don''t want to hear the same excuse. Just answer me Is it true what he said?" "[Aiden I I...am]" Before she could muster the strength to respond, suddenly the entire void rumbled. A bolt of golden lightning struck from high above distorting the space between them. In the next moment, Aiden''s spiritual figure was ejected, his consciousness forcefully returned to reality. At the same time, a very strange, a garbled notification appeared in front of him, blocking Aiden''s vision. The contents were barely readable, however, the note still seemed to be important judging by the red color and the ring alert sound rampaging in his mind. [Warning: Do not %$!? /!+ or $?[]@&! It is forbidden to ?!%"/% !!!] Just as abruptly as it appeared, the strange garbled text disappeared in the next moment, and whilst it did not exin much, it did reveal the fact the topic they were talking about was important to the whole mystery surrounding him. There was someone or something behind of all, tied to his soul, his existence. That was now certain. Something strangely sensitive to guarding some of the secrets, keeping everything in its already set path. [Aiden I am sorry There are certain limitations, that I must adhere to. I am your assigned guide, nothing more. I am here to help you achieving greatness and the required strength to reach it.] Enya''s emotionless voice came to his mind. It was devoid of any emotion, it was dry, monotone, insipid. Before Aiden could respond, her presence vanished, receding to the depth of his soul, which as he just realized no longer could dive back to. As if serving as a distraction, the bell sound signaling the arrival of a notification rang in his mind, bringing him back from his thoughts, blocking his view once again. It was the same exact message he had dismissed previously, the quest update notification came back, but this time, strangely, it had a new change. Something he had not expected. [The Main Quest: The Secrets of the Demon Grotto has been updated! Objective: -Find and Explore the Demon Grotto (2 / 2 - Explore the Grotto and Reach the end - Completed!) -Uncover its Secret (1/1 - Completed!) -Earn its owner''s eptance (1/1 - Completed!) -Remove the intruder from the Sanctum before he dies - (Time Gated: Remaining time: 00 hours 14 minutes 57 seconds) Optional: Merge with the Guardian (Warning: The feat will require the simultaneous activation and use of the Primal Absorb racial skill empowered with the Blessing of Ioris effect. Caution: The strain on the host''s core will be immense! - Considered Completed, Egg has been collected, the reward will be provided once the merger is done)] Seeing the new, fourth required objective that just appeared startled Aiden. He looked at the opaque floating screen with a confused expression, mumbling to himself. "Intruder? What intruder? The guys are defending the entrance, nobody could get-" Then it dawned on him. There was one way too eager human who could potentially get past his guards. "Drake" He sighed exasperatedly. Throughout this long night, that human caused several headaches already. While his heart was in the right ce, and he could sort of appreciate that he came after him, it was getting tiresome of continuously having to deal with the results of his actions. He sighed once again, as he stood up from the floor, and turned towards the door. The timer wasn''t generous, and the path back up would be quite long. Giving onest scan to the small room, Aiden still wasn''t sure how to feel. He had learned so much, yet he was still in the dark. He now had a goal, that while wasn''t set by himself, it was still something he realized he needed to do. The other sanctums, hidden in the worlds held pieces of information, memories of his parent''s and in consequence, his own past life. He was also hoping that somewhere along this long and probably arduous journey he will also learn the truth behind his transmigration to the modern world, his ''life'' there, and why and how was he pulled back. Was his whole life just an illusion? Are those people real? Then also, the existence of Enya, who was she exactly? Was she only a guide assigned to him by that god, or was there more to the story? Also, who or what was that force that expelled him, and prevented them from talking about the matter? While there were many questions that got their long-awaited answers in this underground, run-down sanctum, they also created countless more... Chapter 315 - 315 - The Sack Of Problems "Is he the intruder the system is referring to?" Standing over the unconscious body of Drake at the main entrance, Aiden mumbled. Finished with what he had to do in the altar room, he quickly made his way back to the very first mostly natural-made cavern entrance. That was when thanks to his enhanced eyesight he spotted a familiar body lying on the cold cavern floor at the entrance. Besides being drained dry of his internal energies, he was fine. "This guy" He sighed, grabbing his temple. This human, this prince was such a hassle to deal with. While he was brave and had a good heart, he was just as equally stupid. Without thinking he charged in, despite being warned. On top of that, he had to feel the strange qualities of the air here, he had to feel his own strength draining. Then why did he push in so recklessly? What was he thinking? "You idiot, you have your sister to care about and your two brothers to find! How can one man be this stupid?" He shook his head, as he crouched down to take a closer look at him. He wasn''t sure how he would react if he were to inject a sliver of his own [Soul Power] into a human''s body. They were different than most of the creatures, they had no Cores, their method of gathering energy and growing stronger was unique. After all, the very same energy was all around in the air, in fact, that was the very reason for him fainting. Still, despite that, his energy was of a higher tier, it should be capable of enhancing others. When with others it would initiate an evolution meaning it would be the catalyst, then in the case of humans it should help them grow stronger. Or if used in small quantities, it could be a special healing salve ''Well Should I try?'' Hemented. He wanted to test his theory, but on the other hand, would it be alright to potentially risk this man''s life? Sure, he was annoying as a fly, he was overconfident, didn''t understand the difference in strength, but at the same time, he was one of the few in his species that wasn''t tainted, he had a pure heart. In the end, he sighed and pulled his hand back. He couldn''t do it, he SHOULDN''T do it. At least not on one of the few pure ones. He had many other chances to test it on the other, regr, darker ones. They were aplenty after all. In the end, he picked up Drake, throwing him over his right shoulder, like a sack of potato, and stood back up. He nced to the side, towards the second route he did not explore yet. Originally he nned to investigate that path once finishing his business with the altar, but with Drake here, and the mission timer rapidly approaching its end, he had to make haste and go back to the surface. He had to abandon the thought. He frowned, taking onest look at the missed opportunity, and stepped out of the cave, back to the long, arduous journey that he had to cross with haste if he wanted toplete the quest and at least for the time being, be free. As the source of the pollution in the air, the Golden Egg has vanished, the air was gradually clearing, causing Aiden''s passive regeneration to slow down. ncing over at the system, he was barely over 200 points of [Soul Power]. A sliver of his reserves. Still, it should be enough to enhance his speed by empowering his legs with [Mystic Martial Arts] and make the hour-long journey in a quarter of the required time. Taking a deep breather, he activated his innate ability, guiding the small, regenerated pool of his precious energy towards his legs causing a faint, colorless hue to shine through his linen trousers. Flexing his calf, he nted his feet to a more stable position on the ground, only to abruptly bolt forward in the next second, effectively vanishing from sight. His blurry figure whooshed through the straight ascending tunnel towards the distance, the source of light, the exit. --- "Young Master! You are finally back!" An excited, guttural voice boomed across the ground level of the Tower. Roas, being the closest to Aiden, was the first to feel his presence, and spotted his rushing figure in the distance. The rest of his group, the evolved trio of ex-goblins were also waving in his direction with excitement shining in their eyes. Gob and Glohn were at the frontline together with the towering Roas whilst Galina stood a step behind them, hiding behind their backs with a shy look and pink-tinted cheeks. Feeling their magical connection being re-established with him, was a cause of great relief for all of them. Although they had deep, unwavering trust in their Young Master, it was still very hard on their hearts and mind to not be able to ascertain his state of health and location at all. As his lean, dark green figure emerged from the dark depths and stepped through the wooden door back to the hallway, the four couldn''t hold back anymore and threw themselves on him, holding him in a big group hug. "Guys, okay, rx! I am alright! Let me breathe!" Aiden eximed, trying to free himself and his ''package'' from his minions'' grasp, futilely. "Young Master! What happened?! Are you okay? Did you" Roas began his first bombardment of questions but turned silent as his worried expression was reced with a frown when he spotted the annoying human boy''s unconscious body hanging over his master''s shoulder. However, a momentter, he was already reaching for it, to remove the burden from him and threw the sack of problems over his own broad shoulders. "Young Master, I will carry this your friend. Don''t trouble yourself!" He eximed after the deed, causing a slight frown to sh through Glohn''s face, seeing that once again, the giant was eager to put a leg ahead of him. He had to show that he was just as worthy if not even better than that giant loaf of meat! He had to prove that he was also worthy of being the first in the young master''s eyes. Their order shouldn''t be decided by order of ''arrival'', but by their devotion! He coughed, gaining the young master''s and all the other''s attention, he asked with a curious gaze. "Young Master, what is the next step? If we are finished here, we should leave the orc camp!" He clenched his fists as he continued. "Please leave the matter of detailing with this rabble to us! Let us prove us, Young Master!" His excitement caused a gentle smile to emerge on Aiden''s tired face. Without debating much, he nodded, agreeing with Glohn''s words. "Sure. I would like that." He said, with a weary tone. Rushing through the tunnel with an enhanced tempo, drained almost all of his remaining strength. He was tired, he wanted nothing more than to rest. Hepleted all of the missions he had. He had to report back to the guild and to the Masked Lady in the city, and he also had to seclude himself for a couple of days toplete all the pending updates with his system. He needed a rest. Badly. He didn''t want to sh with the swarm of orcs at the outside, but he knew that there was no other way out. ''Well, it should be a good training for them the very least'' He muttered inwardly as he followed after his group. He walked up to stand next to the Galina who took on the support role in the group, not just because of the special skillset she had, but also because of her shy, timid nature. She wasn''t like his brother, Gob, or their master, Glohn who preferred to be at the front lines. She preferred this self-assigned role. "How are you doing now, Galina?" The voice of her Young Master suddenly came from her right, causing her to almost jump in fright. She reinforced her grip on the stolen pike she was holding in front of herself, just to try to regain some of herposure as she meekly responded. "N-n-nothing, Young Master! I-I am f-fine! H-happy to serve!" She stuttered due to her nervousness. She averted her gaze to the side, not daring to meet the young master''s piercing, golden gaze and finding sce in the floor tiles and the red carpet and its bright yellow, almost golden embroidery. With his past life''s memory finally returned, Aiden had a bit more understanding of the girl''s reaction. A gentle, kind smile dominating his face, he reached out with his left arm, giving a light rub at the girl''s back through his leather armor, causing another shiver to run through the girl''s body and her face turning a shade darker, from bright pink to a brighter shade of red. "Do not be afraid, do your best, my dear Galina, okay?" Chapter 316 - 316 - Kneel! As the ebony double doors slowly creaked open, an incredible sight revealed in front of them. In front of therge tower, the orc''s sacred sanctum, an endless sea of orcs could be seen lined up, looking at the creaking entrance with fixed, stern gazes. They were all armed, and ready, wearing simr, simplistic mail or steel armor. They were the foot soldiers at the forefront, holding a mixture of weapons. Axes, Maces, Pikes and Lances even some swords could be spotted every now and then amongst their thick rows. There was no structure other than them being the front liners, the lowest of the military hierarchy, there was no tactic, no strategy involved. Immediately behind them, probably at the same rank, or at the most, one rank higher judging by the simrly cheap-looking leather armor they were wearing was the ranged regiment. Crossbows, Long and Short Bows even theical-looking slingshot made its appearance. A quiver, full of bolts, arrows, or a side bag full of chiseled, round pebbles; they were all armed and ready to sh on a battlefield. Finally behind them, serving as the third, and most important line after the battalion leaders, were the recognizable group of elites warriors. Steel full body armors covering them from head to toe, simr in design to those Aiden and his group have already met at the top of the tower and also guarding the ves. They had uniformed weapons, arge pike simr to the one that Gob and Galina were holding in their hands. Their yellowish eyes could be seen reflecting the morning sun behind the visors of their helmets. Finally, behind them, a single row of officers could be seen, acting high and mighty. Confidence, or maybe arrogance could be seen dominating their gazes as they looked at the appearing small group of enemies in front of them. Although they were at the back, the safest spot far away from the battlefield, they were also wearing simr steel panoplies, armor sets just like the elites. The difference being were their weapons. Most were holdingrge crude-looking battle axes, whilst others had huge two-handed swords The asional bone shatterers, the war mauls could also be made out. All in all, quite a fearsome force has gathered to greet the invading party and give them a run for their money. AS soon as the small group emerged from their sacred sanctum, the hollowed grounds, snorts, growls and sniggers could be heard. A thick aura of hostility was lingering in the air. Clearly, these primitive creatures had no intention of letting them go. Even being ambushed and facing such an overwhelming opposition none of the four servants of Aiden showed any emotion on their faces. Gob, Glohn, and Roas even had smiles slowly curving their faces as they reinforced their grips on their respective weapons. They didn''t falter before such a threat, instead, they saw it as an opportunity, a chance to shine and show their Young Master the height of their devotion. Each one of the males wanted to prove that they were the best of them, the one that was worth the highest of the praises. On the other hand, Galina didn''t share the same crazed battle-hungry gazes as her brethren. Although she would do her best to provide support, she wasn''t crazy, she wasn''t thirsty for battle. She was actually quite content at the moment. She could stand next to the master, and even receive praises. Her target of adoration was just at arm''s reach. "Young Master! Let us clear a path through their bodies!" Roas roared with clear excitement, breaking the intense silence that surrounded the makeshift, soon-to-be battlefield. "Yes, we will show them what is the punishment for standing against the Young Master! We will paint the ground with their blood!" Not wanting to fall behind, Glohn was fast to react as well, raising his battle axe in the sky. Gob didn''t speak but the focused, stern look on his face as he eyes the elites behind the first two lines were a clear indication of his eagerness to prove his own worth. Aiden smiled at the trio. He was happy to know to receive their reverence. His eyes wandered to the side where the once-again unconscious body of Drake could be seen tossed aside, he sighed. There was enough bloodshed already. Why would they need to ughter hundreds upon hundreds of these creatures who were only following their now-deceased leaders'' orders? No, this wasn''t right. "Stand aside guys." He spoke with a calm tone addressing his battle-hungry servants. At the same time, he stepped forward, putting his hands on Roas and Glohn''s shoulders. "We have spilled enough of yourrade''s blood. Let this be enough for now." "B-but Young Master! They came to" Roas was quick to object but was put down quickly with Aiden''s raised palm. "No. They are, in a sense, your old brethren. The people of your old tribe. Despite what they did, are you really okay with killing them all? Wasn''t your biggest wish to avenge them?" His question visibly shook the proud, evolved orc. Thinking back, he knew that the Young Master''s words were true. The target of his hatred was never his people. On the contrary, he cared deeply about them. They were his people, their corruption was a result of his own failure. He led them astray, he was the one that gave in to the dark whispers. That demon or demons were the targets, not these in front of him. Could they be really saved? Was there really a chance? He looked at the Young Master with watery eyes, not sure what to say. In the end, he simply nodded, taking a step to the right, towards the human''s fainted body. He would follow his Young Master''s orders and will ce his trust and faith in him. At the same time, Glohn''s mind was clouded with the memories of his people''s woes and desperate cries. He stood by and had to watch helplessly as the innocents were tortured, killed, eaten, or even worse Still, he knew that they were merely acting on orders, the true culprit was already dealt with. He trusted the Young Master and would never have thoughts of going against his wishes. With a sigh, he also stepped aside, giving way to him, lowering his head in shame. Shame that he even had the sliver of doubt, the wish to go against the Young Master''s orders. "[Goblin] I apologize, Young Master. I have been disrespectful." He whispered, keeping his gaze stered towards the ground. Aiden smiled, listening to his servant, he ced his hand atop his head, gently rubbing it. "[Goblin] Don''t worry Glohn, I can understand you. What they did to you is beyond what a simple apology could offer. However, I ask you to trust me. Let''s end this conflict and bring you all together. Let''s build a better, brighter future for us all, together." He spoke in a warm tone. Finished, his eyes wandered to Gob, who turned to face him as well while keeping his grip on his Pike, ready to jump into the heat of the action in an instant if needed. He wasn''t rxed, but he would never go against his Master. Aiden''s eyes wandered back on the still bowing Glohn. With the same gentle, caring tone as before he phrased a question to all four of them. "[Goblin] Will you all put your hatred and issues behind and ce your trust in me? Will you still stand with me?" He asked, ncing over all of them. Their response just as expected was instantaneous; all four of them, even Galina who stood behind them all knelt on one knee and lowered her gaze just like the other three. In a uniform manner, they all reverently shouted the same response. "[Goblin] Yes, we do! We will follow the Young Master until the end of our lives!" "[Orc] Yes, we do! We will follow the Young Master until the end of our lives!" Aiden nodded with a contented smile, he was happy about once again receiving their trust. Taking another breath of the cold, fresh morning air, he walked past by his group, stepping in front of the army of orcs with a calm, collected expression. His attire was torn and ragged; a result of the arduous journey and many battles behind him already on this very long night, his glowing golden eyes scanned the many heads of the battalions of soldiers lined up against him. He slowly raised his hands up in the air. As his lips slowly parted, they gave way to a booming, thunderous voice, carrying an ancient power. At the same time, the full power of his aura unfolded, descending on the battlefield, immediately putting an invisible pressure on everyone present not under his fold. "[Orc] Let''s end this pointless resistance. Your leaders have already been taken care of! This this, what you are doing now, ismendable but ultimately futile. There is no point in fighting any longer. Instead, I will give you all a chance. A chance to cleanse yourself and atone for your mistakes whilst also walking towards a better future, a better life!" Giving only a momentary pause, he eximed the next set of words, shaking all the gathered hearts. Hismand was simple and direct. "[Orc] KNEEL!" Chapter 317 - 317 - March A booming shout bellowed through the orc''s camp. The thunderous roar was merely a single word, a simplemand eximed by a lean, slender, young, dark-green-skinned figure. He didn''t look imposing, he was wearing torn, shredded clothes. His upper body was virtually barren, free for everyone to gawk at. Small cuts and bruises could still be seen, although they have healed a lot since hisst fight against the Guardian Spirit. An invisible pressure was being released from the depth of his body, rings of energy waves rippled, expanded as they traversed through the air, reaching all ends of the settlement. A simplemand, that no one would normally believe that such stubborn, warrior race like these gathered orcs would listen to. Yet, what happened next would have shocked everyone. The naysayers, the non-believers would have gasped with wide eyes in utter disbelief and shock at the incredulous, unbelievable sight that followed next. Upon his singlemand, one by one the rows of lined up orc warriors in the opposing army, fell down to their knees on the ground, prostrating, kowtowing to this singr, youthful existence. Behind him, his servants the strange, evolved creatures also went to one knee, closing their eyes and turning their attention towards the ground. In unison, they shouted. Even the ex-goblins used the same orcishnguage that the others as if it was a practiced ploy. "[Orc] WE SERVE THE YOUNG MASTER! OUR WHOLE EXISTENCE, BODY AND SOUL BELONG TO HIM!" After their exmation, they followed up with a simple shout, a short exmation that rocked the hearts of all living creatures in the vicinity. "[Orc] LONG LIVE THE YOUNG MASTER! LONG LIVE OUR LORD!" The orcs continued to fall down to their knees one by one, without much resistance. The clinging of metal rang as they all dropped their weapons, kowtowing on the ground towards this singr existence, without any resistance. Quickly, one by one the prostrating orcs joined the chorus, shouting their new lord''s name. "[Orc] LONG LIVE THE YOUNG MASTER! LONG LIVE OUR LORD!" After the frontline squads, the lined up ranged specialists also fell down, just as easily as their battle-hungry brethren. Momentster they also joined the ever-growing chorus, their unified voice thundered through their settlement. Behind their closed visors, the orc officers, the leaders of the current army were greatly bbergasted at the sight. However, before they could have uttered anymands to thest line of defense, the elites, they too fell to the mentalmand. The elites, one after another dropped their weapons, joining their lower-ss brethren, changing their allegiance, and swearing up to this mysterious figure standing proudly in front of them. Finally, the line, even the officers were pulled into the fold. The mentalmandbined with the strange aura that surrounded them was too much for their feeble minds. "[Orc] LONG LIVE THE YOUNG MASTER! LONG LIVE OUR LORD!" Just like that, the once proud and feared orc army of the famed Horde has been subjugated. Before they had a chance, the threat that lurked at the edges of human civilization was thwarted by a single being, a young man. With a simple word of his, the more than a thousand-strong army of battle-hungry, bulky humanoid creatures have prostrated on the ground, awaiting their nextmand. Aiden was looking calm as his glowing golden eyes slowly scanned through therge army of newly joined members of his family. Although it didn''t show outwardly, he was actually quite surprised that he was sessful on the first try. He wasn''t sure if his little experiment would bear fruit so easily. He merely wanted to try the power of his newly formed aura that he created through the fusion of his two existing ones, the still quite mysterious lording domain he got from his newest form and the very first one, which was filled with the mystical, higher-tiered [Soul Power], the one that came from his innate skill, the [Dragon''s Wrath] ability. While the fact that he somehow made the two totally different types of auras into one was a mystery in itself, he wanted to test it out and learn what it was capable of. Now, looking over the prostrating creatures, he wasn''t totally certain what to do, he hadn''t nned this far ahead. However, his mind was running in overdrive, he quickly came to a decision. Turning his head sideways he raised his right arm waving towards the tallest of his first quarter of servants, Roas. "[Orc] Roas,e forward." He addressed his self-appointed guardian with a warm, butmanding tone. Without hesitation the tall giant stepped forward, kneeling down on his left knee once he was facing the young master. "[Orc] Yes, Young Master! I''m am eagerly awaiting your orders!" This time, although he wanted to, he didn''t reach out to help him up. From the many memories he had already digested, he understood the first rule of governing such arge mass of people. You needed to show your authority, your irrefutable rule. Steeling his heart, he looked behind the kneeling Roas, as he waved his right hand in the air, drawing a small curving left-winged arc. From his notion, the air behind the tall giant began to buzz, lining up into an unseen formation as they activated, reacting to an unknown spell they connected to each other. The now-familiar-looking gate materialized behind the servant, showing a still image of the lush green and empty fields of the system''s Minion World. "[Orc] From now on, these orcs belong to you. Guide them to the other side and teach them. I will not interfere in their evolution directly but will grant you the power to do so yourselfter on." Listening to Aiden''smand, Roas had a conflicted look on his face. While on one hand he was d and honored to receive such an opportunity, to be able to fix the mistakes of his past, but on the other hand, he wanted to stay by the Young Master''s side and serve him as his trusted aide. Even without the connection, they shared as master and servant, Aiden understood the conflict rising inside his first minion. He ced his left palm over his right shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, he whispered his next words so only he and his other servants would hear it. "[Orc] I know that you want to stay by me, but I will be returning to the human city soon. We would be garnering too much attention if you were to appear amidst them. Remember that they do not allow any other race than themselves in their settlements. For the time being, be patient, and lead your people. Thend they all were hoping for is already there. In that other world, they can be free and live in peace." Roas clenched his fists tightly, giving a silent promise to himself that he will not fail the trust the Young Master has put in him. The conflict faded from his ce, only leaving conviction and an unwavering will. With a determined look shining on his face, Roas nodded, eximing proudly. "[Orc] Young Master, I promise that I will not fail you! I will make sure to lead this group to a better future under your banner!" With his promise proimed, Roas stood up and turned around to look at the newly subjected army. His bead-like dark brown eyes coldly scanned through the members of the subjugated orcs. His lips parted, he bellowed his firstmand. "From now on, you are under the rule of the Young Master! Form an orderly line and enter the gate behind me! The newnd that was promised to us by our ancestors is awaiting you. A new world for those that have joined the Young Master. As he eximed, he released an aura simr to the young master, although slightly lower quality. However, due to the fact that they were all under the same master, his aura automatically provided him with the leadership he needed. Even though the orcs were a militaristic, warrior race where the hierarchy was decided purely on strength, they couldn''t go against the [Aura of the Orc Lord] that Roas was subconsciously emitting from his body. Even the strongest of them, the officers, the group leaders, captains of the orc army couldn''t go against such an oppressing force. Without any word, therge army formed into two arranged rows, in front of their new leader, Roas, waiting for hismand to begin their march. Roas took onest look at his Young Master, with a wry expression, before the cold, strict outlook returned to his face. He turned to face his old-new people. The very same people that not too long ago have exiled him after dethroning him. The very same people, that shunned him, now look up to him once more. Thanks to his Young Master, his lord, he regained his lost power, his people, and his authority. All thanks to a single decision that he made he was even stronger than before with an irrefutable lordship over this swarm of orcs that came from several tribes. Looking at his Young Master onest time, his lips curved into a thankful smile, he gave a slight nod, before he raised his right arm in the air, and eximed themand for the march. Chapter 318 - 318 - Unexpected Situation Crossing through the thick forest biome, a group of 5 could be seen. At the front of the little group, three light green, humanoid-esque figures could be seen. At the left, a lean, toned youth were marching holding a long pike in his hands. Next to him, at the center of the leading trio, a bulkier, broad-shouldered man could be seen. Holding it in only in his right hand, a humongous double axe, a fearsome carnivore of the battlefields were hanging leisurely from his right shoulder. Unlike the youngster next to him, he had a much calmer expression on his face. Still, it would be a mistake to think he was careless. His senses were continuously sweeping the area, making sure no surprises would meet them along their journey. Last but not least, the third figure was much more slender than the rest. With a delicate figure, blossoming like a beautiful flower a young teenage-looking girl was keeping up the pace. Holding the very same-looking long pike between her lithe fingers, she looked the most nervous of the three. Her almond-shaped ck eyes darted from left to right without rest. She, the only girl, the only designated caster in their group, wanted to prove her worth. Feeling she was being left behind by her brethren, she felt the need to show something for her name. She was being too shy, too afraid to put herself out to face the dangers head-on, and instead ''simply'' supported her friends from the safety of the backlines. She wanted to change that, she wanted to show her beloved Young Master that she is just as good in close quartersbat as Gom, her stepbrother on the right side. ''I will show my devotion to the Young Master! I too am worthy of her praise, his respect, and not just hispassion! I too am strong just like Gom!'' She reinforced her decision inwardly as she kept up the pace with Glohn, their teacher and ex-leader of their tribe. Well, technically he is still the leader, he never stepped down. Behind the trio, the duo of Aiden and Drake were walking in silence. Aiden, silent due being deep in thought about the recent happenings and the almost endless slew of information he could almost drown himself in, whilst Drake silent due to being way too embarrassed to look his friend in the eye. For the second time in a single night, he made a mockery out of himself, his impulsive nature just couldn''t leave him to rest, he had to march into the unknown and brave the dangers to try to save his friend, who as it turned out, didn''t need saving. Although he wasn''t told much, he understood that the strange air had no effect on the littlemoner boy at all. Shortly after all the remaining orcs stepped through the Minion Portal and followed Roas to the ''promisednd'', Drake''s groans signaled hising back to his senses. Helped up by his friend, he was deeply confused about what they were doing outside the tower. More so about where were the orcs? Why couldn''t they see a single soul, not even the tall bulky giant that seemed to be a guardian for his friend for some unexined reason? His questions he subsequently fired, one after another were mostly left unanswered. He was briefly told that he fainted deep down on the cavern grounds and was brought back to the surface. As for the missing orcs, Aiden didn''t answer but vaguely smiled before they set out to walk back. Without any opposition, the group silently walked back the path where they came, soon leaving the orc camp''s grounds, Roas''s old ''home'' and the small ''garden'' of fluorescent lichen, arriving back at the crossroads where everything began. Sending a mentalmand to the trio, Aiden ordered the group to stop. Turning towards the direction of where the ve pen used to stand, he squinted his eyes, focusing towards the distance. Several energy pulses were sent out, with his trusty [Dark Sense] used in overdrive, looking for any signs of life. A few secondster, he sighed, breaking the silence of the group. "They have already left, there''s nobody left in there." He made the statement with a calm expression, turning towards the long route leading out of the inner parts of the forest. "Y-you sure? Where is my sister? Do you know?" Aiden''s words caused Drake to almost fly into yet another agitated tangent. He did his best trying to force himself to remain as calm as possible. The thought of his dear, recently rescued and reunited sister being taken away again was not something he was willing to face. His left hand subconsciously wandered to rub the pommel of his ornate sword. After all, over the years Mort was his only sce inside the rigid pce walls. Drake''s forced calmness almost caused a chuckle to escape through Aiden''s lips. Taking a second, he warmly answered. "Don''t worry. I am fairly certain she is with my teammates. The fact that none of the ves are present, neither any guards, points to the fact that they have sessfullypleted their part of the n. Knowing that our makeshift camp wasn''t a safe ce to stay at, they are probably back in the city by now." Turning towards the road ahead, he gave the mentalmand to resume the march, he waved at the trembling silver-haired boy toe along. "One of them that helped the escape is an officer in the Guild. I''m positive that Scarlet is already there, waiting for her idiot of a brother. Come now, don''t fall behind!" Left with no option to argue, Drake groaned, as he ran after Aiden, hoping that her dear sister would be safe just as he was told --- "So, what now? Are we going to just sit here in silence and wait for that boy and my brother toe back? How would they even know where we are? How do you know they are safe?!" Scarlet nervously yelled out. Just like her brother, neither could she sit still knowing that her brother is still inside enemy territory whilst she was sitting in afy chair in one of the Guild''s Meeting Rooms. After leading the ves to a nearby vige and introducing them to the vige chief, the trio, or to be more precise the duo and that unconscious Naybeah hurried back to the city and rushed to the Adventurer''s Guild where Sara led them to a spacious room used to meet with the important rabble of the city''s society. The meeting room was incredibly spacious, with arge wooden table at the focus. Countless wooden chairs ced alongside it, a group of fifty would easily find their seating, without even filling up all the spots. In thisrge, upstairs room, Scarlet was walking back and forth, nervously, her senses honed on the closed wooden door. Next to her,id down on the floor, the giant, blonde amazon was resting. After the Amazon Queen finally left, her body crumbled, her soul was under such pressure, that it wasn''t clear when and more importantly if she will be able toe back at all Sarah wasn''t with them, she exined that she had to report on the events that transpired as soon as possible. The threat the city soon would have to face wasn''t even close to the estimations the officials and even her mother had. It was much, much worse. So, after leaving her newly made friends in the room, she exined that she will be back with some food as soon as possible, before locking the door and making a beeline towards her office where she could contact her mother, the Masked Mistress. Running through the halls, the purple-haired psychic leader of the Guild''s Examiners hurried towards her office. Her face already hidden behind the hood ever since she got close to the city, she was just as mysterious, and an enigma as she had to be to keep her secrets safe. Her mission was aplex one, her true allegianceid with the Masked Mistress, her mother, and ultimately not fully with the guild. The Adventurer''s Guild was an international organization, with branches in almost every major city on the continent, while her focus was on working towards aplishing her Mistress'' goals wherever that would take her. After all, she was her mother. Who would she be willing to serve than not her only family, even if their rtionship was special, to say the least. With thoughts about how to best ry the information they have seen and the fact that she herself was unsure about that mysterious boy''s current state guing her mind, she wasn''t paying full attention as she rushed through the halls of the back office area. Arriving at her office, without paying any mind to the tingling feeling at the back of her mind, she pushed on the door and sprung the door open, only to be met with an unexpected situation. In her very own office, sitting in her own chair, the golden armored poster boy, the current de-facto leader of the local branch of the guild, the ''only'' Tier 3 of Higrove, Sir Michaels was sitting with her legs resting atop her desk. He grinned expectantly at the long-awaited arrival of the Lead Examiner. His lips curved into a mocking smirk as waved leisurely at the hooded stranger. "Wee back I was waiting for you. Care to exin where have you beenst night and what happened to your bald sidekick?" Chapter 319 - 319 - Boundaries And Schemes "Wee back I was waiting for you. Care to exin where have you beenst night and what happened to your bald sidekick?" Deep in her thoughts about all that transpired during thest day, Sarah was startled momentarily when she was suddenly confronted by the golden mascot, the current leader of the Adventurer''s Guild, the illustrious Sir Michael. He was the Mistress''s chosen little puppet, that she was nning to use to run for the City Leader''s position. After all, he was a well-known and trusted name, a bona fide hero to the citizens of Higrove. As such, all her subordinates, just like Sarah herself, were ordered to cooperate with this man, and follow his orders. They were in no circumstances to go against him. At least not directly Her shock onlysted for a couple of fleeting seconds, Sarah quickly regained her coldposure. Under the enchanted hood''s trusted cover, she addressed the invading party with her usual, melodic, enchanted, angelic voice. "Sir Michael," She started with an impassive tone. "in case you have forgotten, this is my office. As such, I would appreciate you wouldn''t act like if you were home." With a flick of her fingers, she sent a small st of energy, throwing the man''s legs off the desk, startling the man as well as earning his ire. A momentary frown passed through the well-kept and clean-shaven figurehead''s face before he forcibly restored a friendlier smile towards the hooded examiner. Giving a fake cough, he responded, trying to guide back the flow of the conversation to its nned course. "I apologize if I have shown any disrespect, Mr or maybe Miss Examiner." His words were strange, his friendly smile curved into a mischievous smirk midway through his speech. Pausing only for a second, to give a bit more theatrical weight behind his greeting, the golden armored man continued while he sat back up in Sarah''s chair. "The reason I am here today is to inquire about the ongoings in the guild. Some of my men informed me, that they saw you leaving in tow with that long, ck-haired peasant boy yesterday, and you haven''t returned until this morning with two other females without the boy. One of them is unconscious in a critical state, and an envoy for the Amazon Queen, while the other''s identity is currently unknown." Not beating around the bush, the leader expertly revealed most of the cards in his hand, immediately pushing on the examiner to an ufortable situation. Sarah, however, wasn''t going to let this nobody threaten him. With slightly more power behind her voice, she replied with her usual coldness. "Sir Michael Sonovan, I advise you not to continue with your current line of thought if you value your miserable, pathetic existence." Her words were harsh and contemptuous, clearly not giving face and value to the respected sole Tier 3 adventurer and leader. Sir Michael''s smile quickly soured after hearing the Examiner Leader''s cruel words, recing it with the frown that has already appeared for a brief moment a few seconds ago. Before he could have a chance to speak, the hooded magician flicked her fingers again, causing a gust of wind-like energy to hit his ted back and throw him off from the chair. Not too hard, just with enough force to push the man back up her feet. "Also, I already told you to not think you are home. This is my office, I would appreciate if you would at the very least show the modicum of respect." While Sarah addressed the man, taking the reins of the conversation away from him, she casually walked behind her desk and took her seat that she just made free, before waving at the startled and annoyed man to walk back to the front. Sir Michael clenched his hands in fists with annoyance, trying to swallow his rapidly rising anger. With gritted teeth, he took a moment of a breather to regain at least some of hisposure before acquiescing to the figure''s demands and walked in front of the desk as asked. "You" He couldn''t help but growl, he had a hard time swallowing the humiliation he was shown. The only saving grace was that besides this unknown figure no one else saw this greatly degrading scene. He the greatest warrior in Higrove, the adored and respected golden hero was being pushed around like some patheticmoner However, once again, before he could continue with his obvious tangent, Sara raised her right palm in the air, abruptly silencing him and interjecting. "I already warned you, do not follow this dangerous trail." She lowered her hand and leaned on the table. Two purple dots red up behind the darkness of her hood, her voice gaining a mystical undertone. "Do not even THINK for a second, that you have any sort of authority over me. You are nothing but a little rat, a puppet serving the Masked Mistress, the Lady. You are her convenient tool, nothing more. The boons you received from her, can be taken away if you continue with this.., This whatever you think you are doing." The glow faded, her tone returned to its melodic, unrecognizable state, she leaned back in her chair. She waved her right palm, causing the door to sprung open behind the stunned man. "To answer your misguided question, however, I was out on an assignment given by the Lady herself. The young man with me was my partner, someone you do not need to bother with." She coldly, insipidly uttered, adding a sentence in her mind. ''Not that you could ever measure up to him anyway'' Pointing towards the open door, she continued, ending this unwanted conversation. "As for the twodies with me, they were rted to the mission. They are to stay in Meeting Room number 2, until further notice. You and yourckeys are not to not bother them at all. Is that understood?!" His gauntlets were cranking upon the pressure of his might, he was clenching it so hard. There was no trace of his faked smile, his friendly gestures at all anymore. His face was contorted into asting frown whilst his eyes were morphed into slits. His body was visibly trembling with the rage he was feeling. Still, he knew that the figure was right. It would be ill-advised to go against the leader of the examiners. This mysterious being was not closely rted to the local branch. No, the examiners were a group that could move between all the branches in the kingdom, usually working from the capital. Taking quite a while to retrain his emotions, he eventually managed to force a calm exposure back to his face. Whilst nervously holding the hilt of his sheathed sword at his side, he gave a courteous bow. "I apologize for my actions. I was just merely confused about the sudden changes. Besides the respected leader, his trusted aide, the vice leader has also been missing since this morning. As the assigned leader of Higrove''s Adventurer''s Guild, I felt I should know if there were anything going on." Taking a breather, he continued whilst keeping his bowed posture. His eyes were stered towards the ground, his words carried a sort of respect that Sarah, for the time being, couldn''t identify if it was honest or not. In any case, the man''s y was quite decent. "If I overstepped the boundaries of the assignment and trust I was given by the Respected Mdy Mistress, I hereby apologize and am willing to step down." Listening to this man, quickly tired Sarah''s mental defenses. She wasn''t willing to waste any more on this nuisance. She already wasted more than she wanted. Dismissively waving her right hand, she pointed towards the still-open door. "Do not bother with that. Just remember to not question the Mistress''s decisions andplete her orders to the letter. You are dismissed, leave me be, and do not bother our guests." "As you wish." Sir Michael responded with a respected tone, before he straightened his posture, turned around, and swiftly left through the open door. As soon as he stepped out, the door closed by itself, and the clicking of the lock could be heard. The smile instantly vanished from his face, transforming into the earlier maddened, angry look he had. His gauntlets were creaking under the pressure of his clenched fists as he hurriedly left through the hallways while he threw varied curses and threats under his breath towards the figure that just made him humiliate himself and bow. "Just you wait, until I win the uing war, and be the next City Leader. You and that masked b*tch will learn your ces." He grumbled. Turning around the corner, his frown morphed into a cruel smirk, as thest report of one of his ''eyes'' returned to him. "You think you can hide behind your magic and that attire I know who you are... Sarah Rox Just you wait just you wait" He snickered, as he resumed at a much calmer pace through the empty hallway. Chapter 320 - 320 - Woes Of Adoration After leaving the ''territory'' of the now-absent orcs, Aiden raised his hand causing an abrupt stop in their steady march towards the outer regions of this humongous Forest biome. "What is it Aiden?" Drake was quick to inquire about the sudden change in his friend. Ignoring the man, for the time being, Aiden turned to look at his three servants. Smiling warmly at them, he spoke with his usual, calm, and friendly tone. "[Goblin] Guys, we need to separate for the time being from here on out." He began, causing shock to spread through their faces. While the boys were trying their hardest to try to think back and find a fault, a mistake they may have done that caused their Young Lord to banish them; Galina was on the verge of crying and breaking down. Despair quickly surfaced on her pretty face, she felt helpless, unsure of what to do. Seeing their expressions, almost made Aiden let out a chuckle, but knowing that it would be disrespectful towards their deep-seated reverence, he managed to hold back and continue on to exin his order in a bit more detail. "[Goblin] Don''t worry you guys have made no mistakes, there''s no need for such concern. You guys should head back to your vige and prepare your vigers. In a week, I will visit you guys, and bring all of you to the Minion World, just like we did with Roas and his orcs. They are just like you and him, we are under the same banner, the same family. We will create a new world where this tant racism and hatred will not have a footing." After listening to their Young Master, Gob and Glohn''s faces visibly lit up. They were excited, ted about this promising future he was painting to them. Clenching their fists and raising in front of them they looked at their lord with determined gazes. Galina on the other hand, looked shyly, stealing nces at the young master. It seemed that she had something else to say but wasn''t brave enough to speak against him. Noticing this, Aiden smiled warmly, reaching out with his right hand towards her. When she finally managed to gather the necessary courage to ept her lord''s hand, Aiden swiftly pulled her into his embrace causing the girl to let out a surprised yelp and hide her deeply blushing cheeks by nting it deeply into Aiden''s chest. "[Goblin] Little Galina, what is it that is bothering you? Do not be afraid, you should know by now that you can tell me anything." While letting the ex-goblin girl work on calming her rapidly thumping heart, he tried soothing her by gently petting the top of her back. He actually enjoyed using his fingers to brush her long, silky ck hair, it gave a sort offort and a strange new feeling, something simr to pleasure Obviously, such actions did little to help calm the poor girl, instead, it just served as further fuel; her heart was beating so madly, that she started to be concerned about it jumping out. Understanding a bit more about her new, evolved physique, she tried using the Primal Energies from her newly established Core to regain some of herposure. As soon as she could feel the warmth of the energy spread through her body, reaching the very edges and furthest corners, she could finally leave the safety of her Young Master''s chest and take a nervous step back. At the very least she wanted to show that she wasn''t just a helpless little gal, but a worthy subordinate at the same time. "[Goblin] Young Master, I I.." She started, first with great confidence, that just after the first word began to quickly crumble down. Her speech stammered, she quickly felt the loss of her just regainedposure to fail her. As her eyes once more started to turn hazy with the rapid convergence of her tears forming liquid barriers, she suddenly felt the same soothing, warm energy enter her body through the top of her head. Using her right arm to rub her eye she looked ahead, only to notice Aiden''s warm, smiling face, and his right hand atop her head. She wasn''t stupid, being mainly a caster, her mind was quite bright, not justpared to other goblins, but among her evolved brethren as well. Being quite shy, especially in front of her Young Master''s handsome, godlike visage khm, in front of his dominant, manly gaze, she kept mostly to herself, and supported her friends from the back lines. It didn''t take that much for her to understand that Aiden used the very same method that caused their evolution back in the tower. This mystical, unrecognizable source of energy, that swiftly made its way into her core, first working to restoring her draining reserves, then to spread its cool and calmness in her body In a few minutes she once again, found herself ready to express her true feelings to her Lord and Master. Taking a breath of the fresh, morning forest air, she began to voice out the feelings of her heart together with the dewy air. "[Goblin] Young Master, I I would like to request that you allow me to stay with you. Please" "[Goblin] Galina, my dear" Seeing the girl''s expectant, hopeful gaze, Aiden wasn''t sure what to do. While her physique changed, turning more human-like both in terms of weight and features, she was still at its core, a being that wasbeled as a ''Monster'' by the human society. Even if she could sessfully pass the guards'' inspection at the gate, the moment they made a mistake and were found out, the consequences would be dire Considering all this, Aiden could only give a wry, conflicted smile in return, and with a light shake with his head he was about to respond, declining her query. However, before he could do so, the silver-haired prince decided to speak up and intervene. "Hey, Aiden" He began. "Whilst I don''t understand thenguage you are using, it''s not that difficult to guess what the little Missy here wants to do." As the two turned and looked at her with simr, questioning gazes, he reached for his right side to the small brown, leather pouch, that always looked strangely empty and reached inside it. First his fingers, then slowly his entire hand vanished in its depth, causing a wave of a surprise to sh through Galina''s and even Aiden''s eyes before they returned to their previous, smiling state. Even without the System whispering to him, Aiden understood from a first nce that the small leather bag was enchanted with some kind of space magic. While he had already seen the wondrous, skull-faced ring over her Master''s finger having simr features as his System Inventory, he didn''t know if these kinds of magical items weremon urrences or not. After all, so far he hadn''t seen another one during his time among the humans of this kingdom. Drake looked quite busy as he searched for something in the magically expanded depths of his bag. It took him almost a minute and a half before the look on his face change into an expression of happiness. Grabbing onto the item he was searching for, he pulled his hand out of the bag, triumphantly raising it towards the duo. But there was nothing to be seen. No, that wasn''t entirely true. His hand was balled into a fist, and from looking at it more closely it seemed that his fingers were tightly clenched, hiding something small. With a questioning look on his face, Aiden looked up, urging his friend to not waste the time, and reveal what he wanted to show. Drake gave a light cough, and spoke once again, with an obviously forced tone, trying to hide his eagerness, quite badly, unfortunately. "Khm So, I''m fairly certain, thedy would like to stay with you. While I can''t understand for the life of me, why I believe I can still be of some help." He spoke, immediately causing a wave of pink to appear on Galina''s cheeks. Even though she couldn''t speak the human''s ''Common'' tongue, she could understand it with the help of the connection she shared with the young master. So, when the silver-haired human revealed her innermost feelings without any concern for her at all, she was ready to hide behind the man of her adoration, ready to bury herself just to escape the shame she was feeling at that exact moment. However, Drake didn''t seem to care about her much, with the same smile on his face he continued as he slowly opened his fist, revealing the tiny jewelry in it. In his palm, a small golden ring wasying, with a tiny onyx-like gemstone ced in it. Besides the strange choice of materials, there was nothing unusual about it. At least for the first nce. Aiden could feel strange energies, something he could recognize as Mana faintly radiating from the stone etched at its top. Just what was Drake trying to do? Chapter 321 - 321 - Precious New Treasure Since Drake didn''t speak even after waiting for almost half a minute and just kept grinning as if he just won a hard-fought, challenging battle, Aiden couldn''t hold back anymore and asked his friend with a slightly annoyed expression. "Don''t just grin like an idiot, speak up! What is this ring for?" As if he was waiting for this exact question, Drake instantly burst into haughtyughter, guffawing boisterously. Galina was looking at the strange silver-haired human concerned for her Young Master''s safety. ''This human must have gone mad'' She thought as she kept looking at him. After enjoying his moment of joyous victory of finally pulling out something that could potentially amaze this monstrously strong friend of his, he finally calmed down and began to exin, keeping the wide grin stered all over his face. "Aiden, my friend This is the item that got me inside the orcs camp in the first ce! It''s an incredible magical treasure! It has amazing abi-" "Yeah, I could see it working wlessly" Aiden snorted, freezing the already prepared words in Drake''s mouth, and causing his joyous moment to quickly sour back to the grounds of reality. True, he ultimately failed, but the fact remained: The ring was a powerful treasure, almost at the level of the artifacts. "Well" Taking a brief moment to adjust his demeanor Drake continued with a much more cool-headed y. "Although I ultimately failed, that doesn''t change the fact that this ring is a powerful treasure, in fact, one of the strongest weapons in the kingdom!" Sighing as the introduction was already getting annoyingly long and arduous, Aiden waved with his hand urging the youth to continue and get to the point finally. A look of wry annoyance was starting to settle in his exposure giving a bit more pressure to his friend. "Fine, fine I get it! At least let me enjoy the moment for a bit!" He grumbled but continued regardless. "This small piece of gold jewelry is called the ''Ring of Masks''. It has the ability to change the wearer''s look by simply injecting mana into it. To top it off, the illusion canst as long as you can keep up with the cost!" Done with ying around, he pushed his hand in front of Aiden, nodding, motioning with his head to take it, grab it from his palm. "It''s a unique, one-of-a-kind item in the entire kingdom, at least to my knowledge. Take it Aiden and use it. Let this be my thanks for doing everything to save me" Not used to thanking others, Drake had quite difficulty with expressing his feelings. Due to that, as he spoke, he averted his gaze towards the ground instead, his voice gradually lowered turning into senseless mumbling by the end. Still, Aiden with his enhanced senses could clearly understand his friend. With a warm, kind smile, he grabbed the ring, nodding in response. Taking a closer look, instead of waiting for Drake to once again collect himself enough to continue with the description, instead he turned to his guide, Enya. ''Enya'' He asked inwardly. ''Do you know anything about this item?'' The response was instantaneous and should have been expected by all the years behind him. ''[Please ce the item into the System''s inventory first so it can be analyzed.]'' ''Oh, of course sorry'' He responded inwardly, with a guilty tone, ming himself for his forgetfulness. He flicked his hand, masking the fact that he just transferred the ring to his System''s Inventory ce with a sleight of hands. "So, what can you tell me about this ring?" He asked Drake, knowing that he would take a bit before he could collect his thoughts and give a vague description. Whilst waiting Aiden was already focusing on Enya''s faint presence as it worked her magic to give him the requested information. ''[As the human boy said, this is indeed an item called the ''Ring of Masks'', something that once was at the level of Artifacts but by now has deteriorated back to the Semi-Artifact level. As he said, what you or your minion needs to do is to equip the ring and inject your power into it. You could also use [Soul Power] and it would work for days to even weeks with just a sliver of it, but since your minion has no ess to it yet, she should still be able to keep it up for around 2 hours with her entire pool of 200 mana.]'' Giving a moment of pause, Enya continued, already expecting Aiden''s follow-up question. ''[As for the form, you need to feed the gemstone a sample. A strand of hair, a drop of blood whatever you can get your hands on. Obviously, you need to match the gender, or it wouldn''t work.]'' She responded, giving a light-hearted lie. The magic of the ring would actually work, but the end result would be something they wouldn''t want While she spoke, giving the exnation to Aiden, Drake also managed to calm down and began his version of the exnation, mostly matching what Enya has already told them about. The only difference was that he didn''t seem to be aware that any kind of sample would have worked and was told to always use a strand of hair be it from any part of the target''s body. Listening to the exnations, Aiden gave a long sigh, reaching for his temples. The item was indeed marvelous but where would they find a human girl''s sample? The girls that were with him have long left, probably waiting for him inside the guildhall back in the city. He couldn''t possibly think to just go and sneak into some nearby vige and assault someone there, right? "Ehrm So Before you say or ask anything I already have a solution for this particr problem..." Drake suddenly spoke up, with a slightly colored, embarrassed look on his usually haughty face. Seeing as the attention was once again on him, he sighed reaching for his brown, enchanted leather pouch once again, searching for a particr vial in its depths. A few momentster as his fingerstched onto the object, he slowly, reluctantly pulled his arm back. As his hand appeared, he was holding, no tightly clenching a small, opaque, crystal vial. A simple cork was ced at its top, inside it, only a single, red, singed strand of hair was resting. It didn''t take a genius to connect the dots and realize whose it was. After realizing it, Aiden turned to look at his friend''s deeply embarrassed expression, with an aporetic look. Without even voicing it, Drake could clearly hear his friend''s urging tone inside his head, urging him to exin the reason behind holding a strand of his sister''s hair tucked away with him. There had to be conscious, logical reasoning at least for his sake. "Uhm This" Drake, however, wasn''t sure how to exin. Troubled by how to continue, he instead decided to change the topic. "It doesn''t matter why I have this right now. What matters is that you can use this to give a new look for your servant and let her apany you. Still I would advise using hoods and masks in most cases Scarlet might be well-known not just for her background, but due to her" He had to stop for a moment and cough, to mask the unease in his heart as he remembered her dear sister''s tragic childhood. "past within the local nobility. The less they see her face the better for her and for you guys as well." "Don''t worry about that," Aiden reassured his friend with a slightly cold, distant look as he epted the vial from him. Whatever reason he had, Aiden wasn''t truly certain he really wanted to know about. Heck, it might have been for some pill or potion ingredient in Alchemy. Maybe it was to be used for some powerful, life-saving potion! Maybe. Hopefully Deciding not to waste energy in trying to formte reasons pointlessly, Aiden turned to the shy-looking Galina. Stretching his arm towards her, he made the ring reappear in his open palm. "[Goblin] I know you have understood most of what he said, but just to reiterate, you just need to use this ring: Go on and equip it" He started exining, looking at the girl who looked at her Young Master with an incredulous, unbelieving look. Obviously, she was aware of the reason for the gift, but still, being presented such a beautiful ring, her maiden heart was beating so hard that she was afraid of it breaking out of its socket. She had to take several long breaths, just not faint and shame herself and the Young Master. With a trembling hand, she slowly reached out and epted her newest and most important treasure from now on. Taking a closer look at it, she revealed a goofy smile as she put it on her right ring finger, taking even more time to revel in it. However, before she could lose herself in the moment, the young master continued. Chapter 322 - 322 - The Perfect Disguise "[Goblin] Grab the strand of human hair from that vial, and gently ce it atop the gemstone in the ring." With a broad, warm smile, Aiden calmly instructed this fidgeting, shy servant of his. Still bbergasted by all that was going on and her mind in a chaotic mess due to the fact that she received a ring, a piece of precious jewelry from her adored Young Master, Galina had to take almost a full minute before her mind could register the words. Embarrassed by her shameful disy, her green skintone turned into a bright shade of pink at her cheeks, her eyes were watery with all the gathered shame-filled tears continued convergence. Eventually, she gave a weak nod, showing that she understood themands, and plopped the cork off the crystal vial, throwing it far away to the ground. Overturning the vial, she watched as the thin, fiery red strand of mane slowly flew out of the vial. Instead of grabbing it, she ced her ring-wielding finger below the hair''s descent and watched with an expectant gaze as it made contact with the ck, ominous-looking onyx gem. As soon as it did a faint buzzing sound could be heard as the onyx crystal''s surface began to wobble going against allmon knowledge. It felt like that its smooth, solid surface wasn''t solid at all, but as if it was made out of some liquid substance. Slowly, but surely, the strand of hair was sucked into the bead''s core, causing the previously dull, dark surface to emit a faint colorless hue. Another few momentster, the hue slowly receded, whilst the color changed from ck to a darker but still much more vibrant blueish color. At the same time at the ring on both sides the same runic symbol appeared. Galina looked wondrously at what had gone on in front of her eyes, whilst Aiden looked puzzled. His mind was focused, trying to understand each and every minute detail, but he couldn''t. Instead, after a brief moment of daze, he turned to look at his silver-haired friend, Drake, who donned his earlier, victorious, haughty expression over his face. This time, however, he didn''t waste much time on enjoying the moment, he swiftly exined. "The color and the sign on the ring symbolizes that you now have a charge stored inside it. One charge or an illusion can usually be used at most 5 times before the stored material inside will bepletely used up. I I don''t understand it fully but usually, after the 4th or at most the 5th usage, the color will return to the previously seen ck and the text on the ring will vanish." He exined, pointing at the golden ring on Galina''s finger. "Once it is gone, you will need to feed the gem new material for it to function." As if just remembered something, Drake''s face changed into one of worry as he hurriedly added, with a slightly apologetic tone. "Oh, I almost forgot! Once you activate the ring, the girl will feel a small prick. The ring will take some of its wielder''s blood. I''m not sure about the details but it should be a requirement for its magic to work. It''s nothing serious, just make sure to be aware." Aiden nodded, turning to look at his servant who was still deep in her own little world, looking at the beautiful gift, not bothered, not caring about anything. Sighing about the sight, Aiden turned towards her system''s guide hoping to get a bit more detail out of her. Before he even had the chance to formte a question in his mind, Enya already began her exnation. ''[The reason the magic of the ring fades after 5 usages is due to usage of the mana. The low-tiered, unrefined version of this energy, this mana that these people use is corrosive by nature. Basically, the flowing energy that the user itself injects into the gemstone corrodes the source essence. The more energy the user uses, the faster it is used up.]'' She calmly stated, giving only a momentary pause before continuing. ''[If you were to use your own [Soul Power], which is a much higher-quality source of energy, you would be able to use the same illusion hundreds of times more. Unfortunately for you, Galina hasn''t been able to unlock her own pool of that energy yet, so she will have to rely on Mana. Luckily even with that, she should be okay for around 20 usages, as her own mana is already slightly refined thanks to your involvement.]'' Changing the subject, she continued before Aiden could interject. ''[As for the other question you wanted to ask, the ring needs life essence from its user to be able to create a perfectly matching new form. It''s nothing more, you don''t need to think too deeply about it.]'' In the end, Aiden didn''t even need to ask anything, he received his answers without doing so. Thinking about it for a bit more, he transferred all the information he received from both Drake and Enya to Galina using the mental connection they shared, also stating to not reveal the truth to anybody and let Drake think she only has 5 usages. While it seemed like a lot, the entire mental conversation with Enya, then Galina barely took two minutes. All the while Aiden looked to be deeply in thought, so Drake didn''t bother him at all and waited for his friend toe back himself. "Alright" Eventually, looking as if he came to a decision, Aiden spoke. "5 would be more than enough. I still want to see the end result soo" Turning to Galina, he smiled and nodded which she immediately understood. Closing her eyes, she guided the flow of her mana towards her ring finger, transferring a sliver of it into the onyx bead at its top. As soon as she did, she felt a sharp prick, several tiny needles piercing into her skin, causing slight difort. A bright blueish glow emitted from the gem, forming a frosty, nontransparentyer of energy around the startled girl. The energy grew at lightning speeds, swallowing up the girl in a few moments'' time, creating something vaguely resembling a bubble, or an egg of sorts. The surface continued to violently wobble, sending ripples all around. The ripples didn''t seem to settle, instead, they grew in intensity as the seconds went on. Half a minute of time had passed, before the protective bubble began to finally fade out, evaporating in the air. As they did, they released their pent-up, stored energy, forming a cloud made out of their blinding light, giving anotheryer of cover to the host emerging from inside. In a few extra momentster, as the surroundings slowly returned to normal, and the light show gradually faded, what appeared before Drake and Aiden''s eyes were not the sight of the evolved goblin, but a 1:1 match to the fiery-red haired, unruly princess, Scarlet. Drake had to repeat the mantra ''She is not my sister, she is not my sister'' in his mind, not to jump at him with worry. Her height, her body frame, the color of her skin, eyes, hair all of the defining characteristics that made Galina look like well, Galina has changed, matching the owner of the supplied strand of hair. However, that wasn''t the end of the mind-blowing changes that the godly ring of power has made. As Galina''s lips parted and asked a question, both herself and Aiden were stunned. Her voice was not hers but it was matching Scarlet''s! "[Goblin] Young Master What do you think Do I look eptable? Will I be able to get into the town without issues?" Although surprised and shocked due to the change of her own voice, she was also as worried about the whole transformation. Would she be able to follow her master along looking like this? Will she be able to slip past the human guards? She was really hoping, wishing for it to work, she didn''t want to leave. She wanted to stay by his side. Looking at her new form, Aiden was delighted. This ring, that Drake has just thrown at them, was truly powerful! So much so, that he was fairly certain that Drake himself wasn''t aware of the true value of what he had just given away so carelessly. He couldn''t help but smile and look at Galina with a hazy look. He was deep in thought already thinking about the future where this artifact could be incredibly valuable. With this, he could have her other servants get into these restricted areas like the human city with ease. Once they would all learn to use their Primal Cores properly and feed their [Soul Power] instead of mana to the gemstone they could keep up their forms for days The illusion was so perfect, that no matter how hard he looked, he couldn''t find any fault. With a contented smile, he looked into Galina''s worried eyes and answered. "[Goblin] Yes This is perfect my dear." Chapter 323 - 323 - Threats Some say there''s nothing more joyous to the heart than watching the ocean emerge under the golden shimmer of the morning sun. As the big orange ball slowly rises from below the depth reaching towards the highest of the peaks It''s the symbol of the ultimate achievement one can reach, the highest of the highs, the peak of perfection. This morning was akin to that feeling. Standing at the ledges of a clearing overlooking the sandy beach, a stoic, muscr woman wearing an attire made out of a greyish-brown animal''s bushy fur looked at the azure blue ocean as it sent its rhythmical currents towards the shore. She was deep in thought, her dark brown eyes were stered towards the distant horizon. She was still, unmoving, standing there like a statue. With the tall, ornate spear she was holding, she resembled a warrior goddess, a protector of the seas, giving warning to the sailors to be wary of her wrath. "M-my queen" A meek voice came from behind her. A woman, simr in physique knelt on one knee behind her. She dared not to gaze at her leader''s majestic presence lest she would stain it. She was focused on the emerald grass below. "M-my queen" She repeated seeing as her lord have not responded or reacted in any way. "W-what would we do now? I-is she Is your Is Sister Naybeah alright? Should we go after her and bring her back home?" Though afraid of voicing the thoughts of nearly every guard present and bing the object of venting her frustrations, she still decided to speak up and ask her about the next steps. The stoic-looking leader remained stoic, unmoving. She had aplex, unreadable expression on her face as her eyes that were squinted into tiny slits kept scanning the distance, seemingly looking for something. For a while longer she remained like this, whilst her head guard kept her kneeling posture awaiting her words. Eventually, she sighed, slowly begrudgingly pulling away from the sight of the calm ocean surface and turning around to look at her apaniment of guards before looking down at the kneeling head guard. "No. There is no need. She is alright, just spent." She answered calmly, as she helped her stand back up. "Let''s go back, there''s no more point in standing here. I need some rest myself" She spoke, whilst slowly walking back from the ledge she kept ''guarding'' for thest 10 hours " Although her pace was steady, and she looked majestic, a bonafide royalty, if one would have looked closer, she would have seen the slightly shaking hands, the wobbling of her knees, or the beads of sweat glistening against the heavy sun. But who would dare to look at her and try to scrutinize her? Who would be that foolish, that tired of life? She was the leader of this fearsome race of women, a being above the rest For she was, Queen Klemeia, the leader of the Amazons and the big sister of that battle-hungry crazy of one particr blonde amazon whose current state was unknown As she walked back, towards the settlement, she kept clenching her fisted right hand. A look of fury passed through her eyes as she muttered into the wind "If she is hurt You WILL feel my wrath Dragonling" Inside a mansion in the Noble District in Higrove a robed, elderly figure with a bald head and a long shining white beard were sitting in arge throne-like chair at the center of his study. With a broad, wide smile his eyes were resting on the four small vials of dark, viscous liquid atop the desk. Four kneeling figures garbed in leather armors were kneeling. All four were wearing a lower-half face mask covering their mouths. They were all looking towards this Master with empty, vacant looks in their dark eyes. The robed elder callously flicked his right hand in the air. From this motion, four tiny, barely perceptible puffs of ck smoke appeared and shot towards the four kneeling men. The smoke entered their bodies without any visible resistance, vanishing in a fraction of a second. At the next moment, all four of the previously calm figures groaned and fell to the ground. Their bodies convulsed, they groveled and rolled on the floor, clearly going through unimaginable torture. Their torment continued on for several minutes, which the old men seemed to be either oblivious of, or just didn''t care in the slightest. Eventually, the pain stopped, and with their previously vacant, empty eyes regained a newfound vigor, their colorful brown, green and blue irises all changed colors into that of the ck as the night. One by one, they pushed themselves up from the wooden floor, returning to their previous kneeling posture towards this robed figure. "We greet you, Lord!" They shouted in unison and with fervent passion. A tiny smirk appeared on the elder''s face as she waved his right hand again urging the quartet to calm down. "Pick one vial from the desk and drink it." His words word apathetic and cold, painting a figure of an indifferent, uncaring master. However, the eager glints in his eyes betrayed his true feelings. In fact, this was the very first test he was doing. If he wanted his ns to bear fruit, he needed to finalize the form before the big event, whilst making sure he remained out of sight of his Master, that demonic existence. While he was instructed to not interfere, he couldn''t just letst night''s humiliation go unpunished, can he? His carefully constructed ns, which he spent months on, were ruined in a manner of hours due to the intervention of one annoying worm! No! He couldn''t sit still and eat this shame! He had to get his payback! ''Besides Master can''t step onto this ne for long! Since he already did it yesterday, I should be safe for the time being!'' He thought, keeping up the unflinching, insipid look on his face as he watched his four newest puppets drink up the prepared potions He was excited, but also worried, for he wasn''tpletely sure about the results of this first experiment. He kept watching with forced calmness as they all popped the corks and with one swift motion, they all gulped down the dark, ominous contents of their prepared vials. In the next moment, all four of them cried out, instantly reaching for their throats. A burning, never-before felt burning sensation appeared; they felt as if their insides were suddenly being burned to a crisp. Despite just downing a drink they felt as if their throat were parched dry, their lips were akin to sandpapers. They tried to cry again, but no voice came out of them. Just like a moment ago, all four of them wriggled on the ground, rolling and convulsing helplessly. Although most of their bodies were kept hidden under their clothes and armor, however, their necklines that were visible showed the horrendous changes that they were currently going through. ck tendrils, dark as the night of the void itself slowly crept ever so higher; their veins changed colors, either due to the discoloration of their blood or by some other means. It seemed that this thing this change tried to swallow their entire bodies a whole, but for some reason was unable to. It couldn''t reach further than their necklines where they eventually remained still. Minutes continued to pass until finally, their second wave of torture hase to an end. Just like before, they slowly raised from the ground, back to their kneeling posture from before, but unlike before there was a change in the air surrounding them. Unlike before, when they were simple mindless puppets, they still had this air of mortality surrounding them. Now, however There was no presence, no weakness. There was nothing, no soul inside them anymore. Only four husks remained that for some unknown reason still continued to animate. As they all slowly raised their heads and looked towards their masters, the robed elder revealed a delighted, content smile. He has seeded! The experiment was a sess! His ns can now be put into motion! Looking at his servants, his dry lips parted, he addressed his newest servants. "You are all to return to the ranks of your Master and remain hidden within his army. Make sure to hide the changes, and act as if you all were one of his men. Keep abiding your time while slowly, spread your influence within his ranks. Make sure to convert most of his forces before the wargames!" The very same cold smile appeared on the four servants'' faces, as they rose from their posture. As they stood back up, one by one, their appearance changed once again, the ck tendrils seemingly vanishing, and the color of their eyes returning to their original colors. From the outside, they seemed to return to their previous ''healthy'' selves. Silently, they bowed towards their newest master, and turned around, and left his study, and mansion, returning to their old master''s ranks. ''Let the games begin'' He smirked as the robed elder was left alone in his study once more. Chapter 324 - 324 - A New Day, New Goals While trouble was already brewing inside the walls of the city, some distance away from them from the thick tree lines, three people could be seen leaving its dark premises. Finally, after so much trouble, and many-many hours of the exhausting journey, Aiden''s rtively small group have finally got back. As they left the busy lines of various trees behind, Drake was the first to plop down on the emerald-green, dewy grass field, and look up to the bright, light blue clear sky above. "Finally!" He eximed amidst two heaving sighs. "We are FINALLY out of this horrid ce" "Yes. Last night is now behind us." Aiden replied as he sat down next to him. His servant, Galina still in her evolved Goblin Dragonling form, followed suit as well, taking her ce on Aiden''s right. After exhaling all the air he stored in his lungs, and gradually cooling himself down, he turned his head to the side and looked at Aiden''s light green colored, calm expression. "How long are you going to keep up this illusion? You know, you could already change back Otherwise, how do you n on getting back into the city?" "You do know I have my means by now, right? You have already seen it before." Without any worry visible on his face, he replied whilst he stretched out his right hand. As he turned his palm towards the sky, the ck faceless mask, he used once before, have materialized in it. The very same that he actually used back when he came with his Master and Granny to rescue to trapped Lilly. Seeing the mask appear just like that, didn''t startle Drake anymore. He merely smiled wryly, shining light to yet another problem, the boy seemed to be forgetting. "That''s nice, your face will be hidden with that quite well." He started, with a friendly tone, that instantly transformed into a slight exmation. "But did you take a look at yourself recently, Aiden?!" "Hmm?" Befuddled by what he was referring to, Aiden turned his head down, taking a peek at himself, only to exim with a wondrous face when he realized the crucial problem, that he seemed to miss: The ragged clothes that he usually wore, were torn, shredded into pieces, he was basically bare-chested at this point. The mellow, simple linen clothing he liked to wear was basically destroyed during all the heated battles ofst night. Only the neckline and a few ragged shoulder pieces remained, fluttering against the wind as if some sort of makeshift cape. His green, goblin-esque torso was disyed for everyone to bear witness and see. This reminded him, of the constant fidgeting and shy looks he was receiving from Galina, causing his body to tremble and turn stiff for a moment. All the heavy thoughts, and information that was dumped onto him, have caused him to somehow forget about his current look. Unfortunately, even if he were to take back the ring, -which he would never do, by the way-, even then, he wouldn''t be able to solve this predicament. The ring''s magic would change how his body looked but would not magically provide him with clothes. That, he had to solve by some other means. "That''s problematic" He sighed, realizing that he was stuck. He can''t get back to the city looking like this, he wouldn''t be able to get past the guards at the gate! Even if he would sneak around, using the route he took with the family before, how would he sneak around? How would he get into the Guild? All the eager adventurers would look at him like some wandering monster and lounge themselves at him! Drake took a brief moment to enjoy the look on his friend''s face before he sighed and threw his leather pouch to Aiden. He sighed as he smiled at him. "Sometimes I just don''t get you, man. One moment, you act like this unphased mighty leader figure, and the next, you ruin that image by acting like this. Geesh, man! Take this and look for something. We should have roughly the same physique so my stuff should fit you." Showing a thankful smile back his friend, Aiden reached into the seemingly bottomless holder with his right arm. As he wasn''t sure how big, how spacious it actually was he was quite surprised when the entire length of his arm, down his shoulders, have instantly vanished, earning another gleefulughter from the silver-haired prince. "Ahahaha, I forgot to tell you. That is an enchanted bag, a magical item, it has a much, muchrger space inside than what you would expect. Be careful, don''t fall inside!" Drake chuckled. Ignoring the youth, Aiden searched, and not too long after, he brought back a new set of clothes, that whilst didn''t really match his simplistic taste, was at the very least good for the job. Walking behind the nearest tree, to avoid the curious stares of his shy servant, Aiden swiftly dressed up. When he came back, Galina was shocked speechless, and even Drake had to admit, that his friend''s new look, was quite a sight to see, even if he tried to hide behind arge dark fur hooded cloak. Under the spacious cloak that hid his arms and hands as well as most of his facial features, he wore a milky white silk, long-sleeved shirt. His usual khaki linen pants were reced by dark green matching silk trousers and ck long-neck boots that reached up all the way to his knees. Pulling the hood back, and revealing his face as well as his long ck hair, he had quite a new look, matching the vibe of anyone in the royal family. If his skin wouldn''t be as green as a goblin''s, one could easily mistake him a member of the higher-standing nobles or even a hidden, distant rtive to the royals. It was stupidly mind-blowing how a simple change as this could alter one''s outlook, one''s feelings. Galina was stunned silly, mesmerized by her Young Master''s new outlook. For her, even before this, he was the most glorious, godly figure she could imagine, but now She had no words to properly convey what she was feeling. Her heart was thumping chaotically, she just couldn''t avert her eyes, even though she knew she shouldn''t do it. Drake, on the other hand, was stunned only for a brief moment. After that, a wide smile crept up on his face, he nodded at his friend appreciatively. "Well That''s unexpected You look like royalty man! If I wouldn''t know you, I would be easily fooled that you are some big, influential figure." "Whatever you say, man Anyway, so this should at the very least get me into the city without raising too much attention." Aiden swiped his hand dismissively at Drake''s taunts, as he walked back to them. As they arrived, he grabbed the mask that he left lying on the grass, and put it on, only allowing his golden eyes to shine through the tiny carved slots at its upper parts. Finally, as thest touch, he grabbed the edges of his hood and pulled it over his head once again. Not bothering about anyments about his new look, that with the mask, now matched that of some dark evil lords, he slowly paced towards the dusty, wide road. "We still have quite a walk ahead of us guys. Let''s not waste any more time and head towards the city." He spoke after a few moments without pausing in his trek, only turning his head sideways to look at his servant. "[Goblin] Galina, don''t use the ring until I tell you to. The magic inside it is limited, you can only keep it up for two hours at most. Once we are close enough, I will tell you. Okay?" Already behind him, Galina obediently nodded. "[Goblin] Yes, young master. I will await yourmand." With that, the trio was finally out of the woods and left the nightmares ofst night behind them. Their goal was the city of Higrove, where they had hoped to meet up with the rest of the team, and finally, get a bit of rest. The orc''s camp had its many ups and downs, lots of things have gone down. Many questions were answered, whilst even more, were raised, or were still waiting for a proper exnation. Regardless of all of that, Aiden finally learned a lot about himself, his past, his present, and even his supposed future. Even though it wasn''t something he was hundred percent willing, at the very least, he wasn''t feeling ''lost'' anymore. He had a goal, he had a path to cross. He had friends, a family, and even a growing household to his name. Right now, he felt he earned a moment of rest, a bit of respite after such a stressful night. Unfortunately, without them knowing, the wheels of fate were once again churning, moving forever forward, not giving in to their desires. Trouble was already looming on the horizon, bringing forth the ever-present chaos with it. Chapter 325 - 325 - Brother... "How much longer do we have to sit and wait?!" Anxious about her brother''s current situation, Scarlet yelled out in the mostly empty andrge meeting room as soon as the door was unlocked, and Sara''s figure appeared in the door frame. After getting back to the city with thest small batch of human freed-up ves, they all rushed back to the Guild Hall. From there, Sara quickly guided them into this empty room, just in time for the big bulky amazon to suddenly fall to the ground. She still couldn''tpletely understand what happened, but for the exnations, Naybeah had some sort of strange connection with the Amazon Queen. Through this method could this inhumanely strong, powerful demi-human possess the faltering blondie and save her at the critical moment. Ever since, she wrestled against the constant pressure, the ''bacsh'' of this ancient ritual to remain with Naybeah and guide her back to safety before she waspletely ejected. Naybeah, although survived, was still in dire straits; the possession was not something that should have kept up for such an extended period of time. The strain the host''s body and soul had to endure was tremendous, way more than what any mortal should be capable of resisting. After she checked her, Sara exined that she was still alive, albeit barely, she was basically hanging on a thread. The big amazon was stable, for now, but to heal her they would need someone experienced with damages to the soul. After that, Sara hurriedly left her alone saying she had to report everything that transpired and ask if there were an option to get capable help. Before Scarlet could retort, she was left alone, and the door, the only exit was locked down, essentially trapping her inside. The minutes passed incredibly slowly as she was left with her thoughts. At first, thoughts of Sara''s betrayal appeared in her mind, which she quickly dismissed. After what they went through, Scarlet refused to believe that this purple-haired woman would turn out to be a money-hungry backstabber. After that, she couldn''t help but think about her brother who has left for the orcs'' camp, and ever since then she had no information about his state other than knowing he should still be alive. While she entrusted his safety to Aiden, she couldn''t help but worry. Did they escape safely, or were they captured? Sure, Drake should still be alive, but for how much longer? Could those pigheaded brutes be still torturing him for information? This feeling of uncertainty, her being helpless was eating her up. She desperately wanted to escape from this ce and rush back. She didn''t care if they would capture or kill her. Her life would be meaningless without her brother. Throughout the years of her hellish childhood, the only thing that kept the life in her and kept her pushing forward was that sliver of hope that she would one day be strong enough to break free from the chains of her envement and get back together with him and her other brothers. She never thought about her dear old father, the supposed ruler of the kingdom. To her, that man died the moment he agreed to withhold that agreement and allow those bastards to take her, and her other brothers away. The look on his face, the cold, solemn, heartless stare as he watched his two brothers and then herself being dragged away That was the moment he died in her eyes. Revenge? What would be the point? Would that bring back her lost years? Would that make all the horrible things that happened to her go away? No. It might bring some sort of closure, that''s true, but her heart wouldn''t be able to heal by itself. Dealing with daddy wouldn''t bring her the light that she hoped for. She tried hard to forget that dreadful day *Year 565, Royal Pce, Capital City Elsaid* A thin pir of light seeped through the thin slit of the maroon-colored silk curtains that was supposed to protect the sole resident of thevish, exquisitely designed, and decorated room. Whilst the dominating motif in the room was clearly gold, the light pink painted wall, the literal army of fluffy teddy bears made it clear that the slumbering resident wasn''t a male. However, her peaceful rest was about to be put to an abrupt end, as suddenly a series of loud knocks reverberated in the room, soon to be followed by the familiar but agitated voice of her attendant. "Wake up, Princess! You need to get up and get your breakfast. Your father, the king has requested for your presence in an hour!" A short, ck-haired woman wearing a ck and white frilly maid attire opened the door and hurriedly went for the little, red-haired girl that just showed the first signs of movement. She ced the set of clothes she brought with her on the cupboard before she reached for the covers and pulled it back, revealing a wild-looking fiery-red-haired small girl. She quickly buried her head behind her pillow, desperately clinging to those extra seconds of rest. "Princess" The maid sighed, seeing that she would have to go and wrestle with the youngdy to get her to leave the bed. "Mydy, you know that you have to get up. Please don''t be so udylike." As always, she tried arguing whilst she went to the window and pulled the curtains to the sides, and letting the blustering daylight into the room, causing even further difort to the defiant princess. "Mmw!" The red-haired girl groaned helplessly, trying her hardest to resist, but ultimately failing. Letting out a sigh, she sat up throwing her beloved partner, the pillow to the side. She was wearing pink pajamas, and with the sight of her wild, messy dark red crown of hair all in her face, she gave out quite a cute visage. Meanwhile the maid has already gone to the bathroom and came back with a small wooden basin filled with clear, cold water. She stepped in front of her Young Lady and ced the basin down on the floor. "Come on, Princess, let''s get quickly ready, so you can enjoy a filling meal before you meet with the king." "Mwuuaaaah!" The red-haired girl yawned in response, not resisting as the maid washed her face and then clothed her. "Elsa, do you know what does daddy wants? Was he angry?" She asked with a hint of worry in her voice. One had to know that as royalties, they rarely ever saw their father, he rarely took the time to visit them. The only time they could earn his attention was when they did something that displeased him, or during big events. So, since she was asked to visit him, Scarlet immediately tried to think back, what could she have done to earn another session. "I do not know, my Lady. I was only told by Sir Lloyd that you and your brothers have all been asked to see him after breakfast." Elsa responded whilst she finished buttoning her blouse. She stood back up, and whilst revealing the same gentle smile, she reached out her right hand for her to grab onto. "Come now, let''s go. They are probably already all waiting for you." "Oh! Let''s go then! I don''t want to keep my brothers waiting!" With a happy smile, she grabbed onto the offered hand and swiftly left her room together with her maid. She didn''t know at the time, but that was thest time she ever stepped into that room or walked those hallways For that day was the dreaded day when that bastard gave her and her two younger brothers away to those old monsters in exchange for their continued support. *Present Day* Scarlet couldn''t help but clench her fists as she could still vividly remember that day. When they were told that only their eldest brother can stay in the castle and that their future held a different fate when those monsters grabbed each of them and pulled them away Thest scene she saw was how her brother tried toe to their rescue only to be brutally pped and thrown down to the ground by their supposed father. She saw as despite being held back, he tried reaching out, and cried, desperate to save her She didn''t know how, but she could somehow hear his words rang throughout the room, echoing in her and most likely each of her brother''s ears. "I WILL SAVE YOU ALL WAIT FOR ME!" That was thest she saw of her brother for more than a decade. Her childhood ended then and there. She was then continuously beaten, abused, tortured, and trained to be a good, loyal hound, a warrior, a diator to fight for them tomorrow. She would have given up if not for the slight, sliver of light, the hope that her brother''s promise would one daye true, and that he woulde for her. And now, that he did, and they were reunited only to be separated once again, she had an increasingly hard time holding herself back. She wanted to see him. She NEEDED him. Chapter 326 - 326 - Back At The Gates The city of Higrove was situated at the southeastern edges of the Kingdom, with only a few days'' distance to the southern shoreline. To the west, the seemingly endless Forest stretched all across where the eyes could see, whilst to its east you were met with what was simply nicked the ''ins''. A massive, ever-stretching field of ins that, just with the forest to the east, was seen as eternal, never-ending. Whilst this was obviously not true, it was a fact that besides the vague silhouette of a hillside at the far-away distance, only the slithering road and the riverside to the north was the only spectacle for the eyes of the asional traveler. Still, despite that, it wasn''t barren, away from the prying eyes of the city walls life always found a way. Small, miniature huts stretched along the broad riverside, where a variety of folk resembling a mixture between humans and fish lived their lives. In the thick, vibrant green, lush foil of grass, critters and smaller animals of all kinds could be spotted every now and then, with abundant variety. Whilst the vicinity of the roads were mostly safe for the wayfarers, the asional intercourse did happen, especially during the shroud of the night. Anyway, while the western side was mostly uninhabited, at least for what was known to the city folk, the east had several viges ced alongside the road as it ultimately slithered towards the capital, Elsaid. Many merchants, farmers came to and fro daily with their carriages, on horseback or even on foot, to sell their wares for money or exchange them for a mixture of necessities. All in all, whilst the city had 3 official entrances, gates to the city, all guarded by the City Guard, the eastern gate seen the most traffic throughout the day, with the southern sideing in a close second. Contrary to them, the western side rarely ever seen anybodying in, it was mostly used by the adventurers and hunters setting out for their epted quests and whatnot or getting back from their hunts. As for the northern part of the town, there were no official gates, nor bridges, as that part of the city was the Nobles Quarters which also housed the City Hall, the City Lord''s estate as well. There was no ce in that district for the riff-raff to venture into the city. How could those of higher social standing allow the dirty wanderers to soil their territory? Not to mention the fact that the river was flowing there. Even the guards were distributed in a fashion that matched the importance of said entrances: The east and south had a stronger presence, whilst the west was prettyx,id back. Under the bright rays of the sun, 3 cloaked and hooded figures could be seen walking at a leisurely pace on the dusty road. They were sticking to the left side of the roads, letting the mounted traffic pass by them without any issues. All three were mostly of the same height, with two obviously having a more masculine physique than the third, more slender, slicker figure. They were sticking to the main road, their destination was clear, they wanted to reach the city. As they walked, the figure walking at the center, who also happened to be wearing a ck, faceless mask spoke up. His tone was calm, not showing any signs of the wear and tear of the long journey they must have gone through over the course of several hours by now. What was strange, however, was thenguage he spoke. It was not themon most of the human civilization was used to, it was hoarse, and rough-sounding, primitive. "[Goblin] Galina, my dear. Make sure to not say a word once we get to the city. You have not learned the humannguage as of yet. Although most would have no idea, some might still recognize bits and pieces of it. Let''s not risk anything. If you want to ask something, just use the mental connection, okay?" The feminine, cloaked figure that was walking on his left nodded silently. Following her young master''smand, she spoke out mentally instead. ''[Goblin] Yes, young master. I will follow yourmands!'' Her tone was cheerful, she was clearly in a happy, ted mood. How could she not? After a long session of preparation, she was allowed to apany her master to the city and wasn''t forced back to the other world! Also, even though she was incapable of their speech, her looks matched that of a certain fiery, red-haired princess that was almost going crazy by the unease she was feeling. A few minutes ago, as the sturdy walls of the city appeared on the horizon, her masked young master gave her themand to use the ring she received from the third member of their small group, the silver-haired human prince, Drake. "You know thatnguage of yours, sounds really weird. Try not to rely on it too much, if you don''t want to garner any attention guys." Drake advised. By now he heard their rough-sounding chit-chat several times, and although he was quite sure that Aiden would be aware of it, he still wanted to advise them just in case. After all, the guards they will need to pass through rtively soon might recognize some bits and pieces Turning his head to look at him, Aiden spoke with an obvious smile visible through his tone of voice. "Don''t worry, we are aware. Galina will not speak a word at all, we will tell them that she is mute and can''t talk." Hearing the calm and cool from his friend''s voice, Drake couldn''t help but smile wryly. He couldn''t share his friend''s attitude at all. These guards are usually part of the corrupt forces, enjoying the small piece of power they held. They were utterly unpredictable, and in most cases were the judge, jury, and executioners of any problems that could arise. "Well I hope you are right" He helplessly sighed. Sometimeter, they finally arrived at the eastern gate. A long line of people was queued up at the side waiting for their turn to get in. No matter if you came with a carriage, on a horseback, or by foot you had to wait your turn to be checked and questioned while you paid the entrance fee to be able to pass through. Well, unless you were a noble, because then you could just march into the city, unquestioned like it was no one''s business. In truth, Drake and even the disguised Galina could just waltz in if they would have revealed themselves, but that would bring way too many eyes on them. Not to mention Drake, who as a crown prince should have been at the capital, in the pce, Galina, or to be more precise, Scarlet, due to her circumstances, wasn''t overly known by the public at all. So, they took their ces at the end of the snaking line, without revealing themselves. Still, even though they were mostly silent and tried to not bring any attention to themselves, their strange-looking, cloaked trio was anything but ordinary in the line of fat merchants and ragged peasants. People couldn''t help but take a peek at them, only to be shocked and frightened, as they saw the central figure hiding behind a dark mask, letting only a pair of golden dots shine through from the darkness. To them, he looked like a monster, a beast that could pierce into their soul if they weren''t careful. They ended up getting scared, letting out frightful yelps, and turned around, doing their best not to get into further contact with the horrific entity. So, in the end, even though they tried not to, they ended causing amotion, grabbing the attention of a group of guards that were just a bit of distance away from there, currently doing their ''routine check'' on the merchant''s cart. "What is going on?" One of the guards, guarding his captain in looting, khm, INSPECTING the back of the carriage eximed, as he tried looking through the crowd of people. "Captain, something is happening there, should we check it out?" Hearing his men urging him to finish tasting the delicious red wine he found to be too ''dangerous'' to let it into the city, he grumbled in annoyance as he turned around to look at the warrior. "Grrr, what is it, Earl? Why are you bothering me in the midst of inspection?! You should know by now not to bother when I''m in the middle of *burp* serious work." He spoke sternly, but an escaping burp did ruin his strict figure a momentter. All the while, the obese merchant was standing by the side, with mixed emotions. He was mad that his wares were used, but also fearful and wary not to anger these corrupt guards. When he heard themotion from the back, a tinge of happiness also seeped into the mix, as he was hopeful that this farce will finallye to an end, and he could finally move on. He didn''t care about the poor sods that will now earn the ire of this captain and his merry band. All he cared about was to finally get through this checkpoint and sell his stuff. Chapter 327 - 327 - “Let’s Play, Shall We?” "You three! Step out for inspection!" The group of guards that just a moment ago was harassing a merchant with the very same lie, was now pointing at the trio of cloaked figures standing by and minding their business. From the three, only the middle one turned to look at them, reacting to the captain''s yelling. He wore a slick ck mask over her face, with only her bright golden eyes were shining through the shadows of his hood. He didn''t speak but simply waved dismissively at them before turning back to the line. His actions weren''t haughty, or arrogant, although it might havee like that to some. He didn''t snort, nor did he show any emotion whatsoever. Still, this tant show of disrespect immediately irked the captain. He was used to being bossy, this ce, the western gate was HIS yground. He was thew and order in here, nobody could question his decisions. "You! Didn''t you hear me?! STEP OUT OF THE LINE!" He yelled again, with a bit more power behind his voice. His saliva sprayed in the air sshing like a st of a shotgun as he eximed angrily. Seeing as there was still no visible reaction from the trio, his face turned one shade darker as rage started to overwhelm his senses. He pushed the two nearest guards in his group forward and pointed at the trio with a raging, maddened borderline crazed expression. "YOU TWO! GO AND GRAB THOSE THREE! THEY ARE ENEMIES OF THE CITY, CLEARLY HERE TO HARM THE INNOCENT CIVILIANS!" He yelled like a madman. The two soldiers didn''t really need any pushing, as just like their leader, they were also angered about the fact that their rule was being questioned by a bunch of nobodies. They unsheathed their sword and hurriedly walked towards the trio. When they got into melee distance, they pointed their des towards the trio and with a disdainful tone they snorted,manding the trio of cloaked strangers. "You three, step out now or be cut down!" Hearing their tone, and being threatened with a weapon, the nearest to them, was about to reach for his side, but before he could do so, the masked figure at the center, gently raised his hand, motioning for him to stop. At the same time, he did the same to the slightly leaner figure at the other side, and he himself turned towards the armed guards and stepped out of the line facing them. He stood before them, still calm, collected, and clearly not bothered by the fact that his very life was threatened. The two guards sneered with disdain, thinking that their words finally got through to these bastards, and whilst keeping their des aimed at the figure''s mask, they called for their captain. "Captain, what are your orders? We got the perpetrator of themotion here!" Just like his subordinates, the captain, annoyed and still mad about the fact that his previous good time was ruined by this bastard who then even went as far as to question and, what was the worst of all of his crimes, dared to ignore hismand, sneered and walked in between his men. "So, you think you can ignore the words of a guard captain, and try to sneak into the city? What are you? A spy?! We have a very special wee to your kind here, don''t worry!" He roared, pointing at the mask as he continued. "Take off your mask and show us your face!" As he looked at the smaller, cloaked figure in front of him, he was already smirking inwardly, thinking that this time, his words have scared this pathetic weakling. Hmpf! How dares hee here and sew discord? Why does he have to bother with his great time?! He can only thank his stupidity for the problem he and his friends had got themselves into. However, his ridiculing thoughts were soon shattered into small fragments, figments of his overactive imagination as the masked figure simply, curtly answered with a nonchnt tone of voice. "No." With that, the figure was about to turn around and walk back to his friends, when the captain''s de suddenly found its way in front of him, blocking the path. A sigh escaped from under the figure''s mask, conveying an annoying emotion. His golden pair of eyes turned their attention back to the slightly overweight, rugged, unshaven captain and asked. "What is it?" "You!" The captain roared with rage once again, he reaffirmed his grip on his sword, swaying it wildly in front of the masked figure. Still, despite his obvious threats, the figure remained calm and visibly uncaring about the situation. "I give you onest chance, bastard! Take off your mask and show us your face! Don''t try anything stupid, or we will cut you down here in cold blood." He continued spewing his threats, whilst the rest of the 6 guards along with the 2 from before slowly circled around the single threat, seemingly ignoring the other two friends that stayed in line. They either forgot about them or just didn''t consider them a threat at all to turn their backs on them so clearly. "Pull that hood back now!" "Don''t try anything funny!" "You are dead, kid!" Various threats and curses were thrown in the air, as the issue rapidly continued to escte seemingly for no reason. Aiden, the masked figure at the center of it all, actually was quite shocked to be suddenly picked upon by this group of corrupt guards. What did they do? They just entered the line, and stood silently, waiting for their turn to get into the city. Why were they picked upon then? This just wasn''t right. Even though he regained his previously blocked memories, Aiden still had the same disdain towards humanity as before. Even if he was once one of them, or at least he was fairly certain he lived a short life in that other, ''modern'' world, he now began to ept the words of his supposed father. He wanted to believe that his roots didn''te from this, clearly faulty, easily corruptible race. There had to be more, it couldn''t be like this. "How dare you, imbeciles act like this?! Have you no shame?" The previously ignored cloaked figure, who already had an itchy finger from before yelled out, stepping out of the line along with the silent third figure and walked next to Aiden. The third figure never uttered a word, and simply stood at Aiden''s right. "Drake Don''t There is no need for that. They are just ants, gathering around honey, that''s all." Aiden spoke calmly, trying to calm this hotheaded friend of his. "No, Aiden This is uneptable. That fat pig did nothing but drink that merchant''s wine and steal his wares. He is nothing but a disgusting, corrupt-" Before he could finish, Aiden silenced him by interjecting. "I know. He will die soon, don''t worry." Meanwhile, the subject of their discussion was almost going crazy listening to the duo''s talk. He was never ignored and shamed like this! He was a respected individual, a captain of the city guards, the assigned leader to the Western Gate! How do these two, no, three wandering rats question his authority, and tarnish his reputation?! Unable to contain himself any longer, he swung his de at the masked men whilst spewing his words to attack. "KILL THESE THREE! KILL THEM ALL!" Most of the guards were already itching for the fight to get started, they didn''t need any urging. When the captain charged forward, they also began their attacks, without being ordered to. Only one person, one figure questioned his superior''s order. He remained behind, not sure of what to do, instead asked, voicing his concern. "B-but captain Is this right? They haven''t done anything wro-" "SILENCE! I GAVE YOU A COMMAND! YOU EITHER FOLLOW IT OR YOU WILL BE CUT DOWN FOR INSUBORDINATION!" Before the young guard could finish, the captain yelled back as his attack was whistling through the air. He aimed at the masked figure''s face, hoping to slice that annoying ck, faceless mask in two and hopefully giving a deep cut to this bastard at the same time. At the same time, Drake instantly unsheathed his adorned, majestic magical de, Mort, and swung it above his head in a wide arc, parrying several iing attacks at the same time. Galina, the silent third member of their small group, revealed her pike and just like Drake swung in above her head, blocking the attacks that were aimed at her. Aiden, however, still remained calm, not really bothered by the swiftly approaching, deadly, sharp de. Before the captain could fantasize about misconceptions like he was stunned from the sight of his might and such, he was almost shocked silly, when suddenly, just before his de would have connected, the figure''s glove-covered right hand appeared before his face and grabbed the weapon with ease. The golden dots behind the hood''s cover suddenly lit up, and a much lower-tone grumbling voice came from under it. "Let''s y now, shall we?" Chapter 328 - 328 - Defiant Struggle "Let''s y now, shall we?" At the next moment, the masked figure, Aiden, released the entire might of his aura that he so far kept inside him. A whirlwind of invisible energy began to swirl around him, slowly stretching out, iming more and more territory to itself and their master. The captain''s body was abruptly flung back as the energy was released, crashing into the duty road a couple of meters behind and tumbling a bit more before he eventually came to halt. His sword was far behind him, his grip loosened the moment he felt the strong tempestuous hit before, it wasying on the far side, the other end of the road. The thundering invisible storm, the violent energy continued to im more and morend for itself, soon stretching towards the battling city guards, throwing them towards all direction, putting an abrupt end to the ongoing battle. Their bodies could be found ubiquitously, all over. A few crashed against the spectating crowd of lined-up people, another body could be found lying unconsciously at the back of the very same merchant''s cart that they were looting in the name of ''inspection'' just a couple of minutes ago. Still, while some of them fainted on the spot, most of them were still conscious albeit in tremendous pain, just like their captain. He was flung at the center of the road. He was fuming inwardly, his mind was in great turmoil. Without as much as touching him, he was clearly, obviously beaten to the ground. He was shamed and humiliated, her proud, respected visage was crushed to smithereens by a single attack from this masked stranger. This was not something he was willing to ept. No, he was a proud guard captain, soon-to-be promoted to be in the ranks of the true officers,manding over multiple groups like his. He could have been themander of an entire toon even! Now, however, if word got out of his shameful disy and failure to keep order, not just his dream of being promoted to a major or lieutenant were only wishful thinking, but even his current position as Captain of the Guards coulde into question. He might even be demoted back to the ranks of these measly guards! No, that can''t happen, that WILL NOT happen! He will show this good-for-nothing masked figure just who Captain Gregory Horst really is! His mind in a turmoil of rage-induced madness, the captain clenched his hands into fists and used them to slowly but surely push himself up from the dusty ground amidst pain-filled groans. His eyes, bloodshot with the rage he was feeling, slowly traveled upwards to meet with the unreadable but mystical golden gaze of the masked one. His face contorted into a hideous frown, he forcefully pushed each word out of his closed lips seething with anger. "You! You! You will payfor this!" As he spoke, he slowly pushed himself up from the ground, trying his best to stand up, which proved to be much harder than he initially thought. His legs wobbled as his muscles were struggling to keep up with the strenuous pressure they were put under. In the end, he was sessful, he managed to stand still, albeit only through his sheer will to exact his revenge and get back at the mysterious stranger in front of him. For the first time since his obstinate stand against this unimaginable opponent, he felt theck of metal in his hands; he realized he no longer held his sword! Shocked and surprised, he did his best to mask his emotions from showing in his face, his eyes swiftly darted from left to right and right to left, trying to scan his immediate surroundings without anybody noticing. Unfortunately for him, his opponent''s senses were much keener than he could have expected. A smirk-filled voice came from under the protective, dark mask, the cloaked figure''s right hand stretched out, pointing far behind Captain Gregory''s figure. "It''s behind you, in case you still haven''t noticed. Don''t worry, you can go and grab it, I will wait for you." His right arm wandered to his side, pointing at the slithering, long line behind them. "Not like I have anything better to do currently. The line is still long." Meanwhile, as the other confrontations were put to an abrupt end by Aiden''s unleased aura, the still cloaked and masked Galina as well as Drake walked back to take their previous positions in the line, acting as if nothing had happened. His actions seen through, and called out in such a manner, only caused his rising madness to reach even further heights. The captain''s entire body was trembling with the seething, boiling madness, as he slowly turned around and pushed himself towards his weapon. From his trek, it was clear that he was in unimaginable pain, and was barely conscious at this point. It took him almost a full minute to get to his weapon, reach out to it and arm himself once more before turning around to face this hated sworn enemy of his. Sworn, because from the moment he dared to resist him and humiliate him in such a manner, Gregory swore to himself that he will not rest until he had his ''just'' revenge. What was even worse in the situation is that he felt the varied, great mixture of emotions in the spectating crowd''s eyes. Disdain, contempt was the most dominant that he saw and felt, but there were specks of pity and even some worry. He was pitied! He, the great Captain Gregory Horst, the assigned leader of Higrove''s Western Gate, the one who was basically thew and order in this region, was now looked down, and even pitied?! Fuelled by the blinding anger he slowly raised his weapon-holding right arm and pointed at the masked stranger. "You! This is all your fault! How How dare you fight back?! This ce This is MY TERRITORY!" He yelled, lost in his madness, he no longer cared to hold up any pretenses. "HERE I AM THE LAW! IF I SAY THAT YOU SHOULD DIE, THEN HOW DARE YOU FIGHT BACK!!!" He continued spewing his disillusion, his saliva flying in the air as he let out all the emotions from her corrupted heart. He took a wobbly step forward, towards the masked figure. Small droplets of his tear began their timely escape from the corner of his bloodshot eyes while he continued to madly yell. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PROMOTED SOON! I HAD A GREAT LIFE, I COULD DO WHATEVER I WANTED TO!" His newfound stamina that fuelled his booming exmations startled many of the lining crowd. They looked at the captain''s figure, not sure of what he would be still capable of. He seemed to bepletely lost in his madness, not safe and unfit to be a guard. Many knew of how things worked in this region, they knew how they were subjected to this man''s greedy looting in the name of ''inspection''. Apart from his small group of cronies, nobody ever respected him, they were fearful of him. The illusion of respect and awe he built around his image was all just that: an illusion. Still, now, looking at his state, even though he got what he deserved for all the torment he put everyone through they felt sorry for him. No matter how this confrontation ends, his arduous work, his job, his life was done for. There''s no way this event wouldn''t reach the higher-up''s ears, and when it does and a real investigation finally urs, his misdeeds will finally be brought to light, ultimately causing his downfall. No matter what this masked stranger does now, the end result will stay the same. Some snickered at this realization, some felt sorry for him. Even if he was a bad person, a corrupt person, he still lost everything in one moment. Still, ultimately, who was to be med for his end? The cloaked trio? What did they do? Shouldn''t they defend themselves when they were put under scrutiny? They did nothing, they were silent. That everyone knew of. Regardless, in the raging stormy chaos that wreaked havoc inside the captain''s mind and ate away hisst bits of sanity, this sole, masked figure was the cause of his ruin and downfall. It was his fault that events got to this this unfavorable result. In his maddened eyes, the only thing that mattered now is that at the very least he would bring down this stoically standing annoying presence with him. Even if he were then brought to jail for his actions, even if every single thing he did woulde to light, he wouldn''t mind, as long as the root cause of all of that would be dealt with. "YOU! I I" He continued to spew his madness with each step he took. His pace was slow, and whilst the distance between him and his opponent wasn''t great, it felt like an endless, uncrossable chasm by the onlookers. "I WILL KILL YOU!!!!" Chapter 329 - 329 - A Puzzling Scene "I WILL KILL YOU!!!!" The man spewed rage-induced threats and curses towards the masked figure only a dozen or so steps in front of him. His posture clearly wasn''t stable, each step required immense willpower. His legs were wobbling, his body was trembling. He was out of stamina, the only thing that kept pushing him forward was his own pride and madness. He refused to go down like this. He refused to ept that what happened today would be the cause of his downfall. How did ite to this? Why is he failing so spectacrly against this masked wanderer? His opponent barely did a thing, and all his men and even himself were immediately incapacitated. Why just why?! After the first step, his contorted facial muscles reformed into a frown, as he tried to withstand the pain and pressure he was continuously feeling. Even just one step felt like a bigger challenge than anything he had done before. As he raised his left foot for the second step, he almost fell to the right. His right leg was barely holding onto the full weight of his body. He felt like the mail armor he was wearing for protection was like heavy bags filled with sand. In an effort to ease the difficulty, he shook his left hand and threw the gauntlet to the ground, freeing his hand in the process. Whilst his left foot stomped down, and his body regained his light illusion of stability, he took the weapon from his right hand before he threw the other gauntlet to the dusty ground as well. Immediately, albeit most likely just a mirage created by his mind, he felt as if he threw down two huge boulders from his body. He felt a sliver of hope shining through the clouds of despair that settled in his mind. With a renewed vigor, he lifted his right leg again, and this time, as it shed against the ground a fraction of a secondter, a slight curvature could be even seen at the edges of his lips. He felt that heaven''s bestowed this chance, this hope to him. He could enact his ''just'' revenge on this heathen, this defier of the natural order! He continued slowly pacing towards the calm-looking masked stranger, who despite the captain''s snail-paced assault, remained cool, nonchnt. He did focus his golden gaze on him, but besides awaiting his arrival, he did nothing to thwart theical assault. This thisck of respect, thisck of wariness did nothing more than to provide even more fuel to Captain Gregory Horst''s already crazed madness. He gritted his teeth and reaffirmed his grip on the hilt of his long sword as he took the 6th step and arrived at the halfway mark of his journey. As his feet touched the ground and stabilized his posture, he slowly raised his weapon-holding arm, pointing the de at the stranger''s mask. A vicious, contorted grin stretched across the captain''s sweat-covered, unshaven dark, dirty face. "You You RUINED EVERYTHING! You You HAVE TO... DIE!!" He shouted the words from the very depths of his grimy, corrupted heart, giving voice to his heart''s deepest, purest desire once more. He slowly raised his sword above his head, ready to strike down. He took onest step closer and swung his de downwards, using all of his remaining energy, and will to bring forth the end and hopefully a satisfying closure to this drama. Unfortunately for him, life isn''t fair. No matter how hard you wish for something, sometimes, they are just not meant toe to reality. Even though hisst strike carried all of himself with it, in reality, it was a weak, powerless blow, a futile attempt. Not even bothering to block the blow, Aiden simply took a single step to the back, effortlessly evading the captain''sst-ditch effort for revenge. As soon as Gregory registered the fact that all of his efforts bore no fruit, and everything he did, his adamant defiance was just a mere joke to this guy, hisst struggling strand of consciousness broke apart, and he fell face-first to the ground, right after his swinging arm. The loud thumping sound as his body hit the dusty road marked the end of their debate. Giving onest nce at his fainted body, Aiden heaved a sigh under his mask and turned to look at his partners. "This will be a problem. We should find an alternate route, Aiden" Drake, the closest cloaked figure voiced the concern that both men were thinking about. "Yeah No matter what happened, he was still a member of the city guard. Unless we want to blow our covers, we should go." Aiden sighed with agreement. Remembering the route, they took with his Master before he turned towards the south. Albeit he originally wanted to avoid such an entry, there was nothing they could do now. Galina and even himself had to keep their identities a secret unless they wanted to bring forward even more problems. Resigning to his fate, Aiden sighed once more before he walked past the crowd and began his slow pace towards the south. Taking only a few steps, he stopped and waved with his right hand, motioning for hispanions. "Come guys, we need a new way in. It''s best to not bring even more attention to ourselves." Sometimeter, a new batch of guards arrived to check out the scene at the eastern gate after several reports. They were led by a known figure of the City''s Investigation Forces, Captain John Deere. He was one of the few reliable figures, that didn''t sumb to the pull of money and power. He remained truly just and was determined to always get to the truth of the matters he was assigned to. Many reported that Captain Gregory Horst, the guard captain and assigned leader of the stationed guards attacked a masked stranger. The reports were quite varied about the supposed reason, some said the captain suspected the figure to be a spy from some of the other nations, while others stated that the captain just assaulted the figure for ruining his investigation of a merchant with their noisy attitude. Looking at the scene of unconscious guards and even their captain sprawled across the road, John rubbed his bearded chin entering into deep thought. Already experienced with how to begin inspecting each scene, his men were already questioning the long line of people still waiting to be processed and granted entry. "Deputy!" He eximed as he stood above the unconscious body of Captain Gregory Horst. Answering his call, a thin unarmed man rushed towards the broad-shouldered captain. "Yes, sir!" He stood at attention. "What did the spectators say, what happened?" Looking his supposed colleague sprawled out on the ground, John asked. "Sir! While the questioning is still going on, most reports stated that Captain Gregory Horst and his man was inspecting a cart and sampling some wine when they noticed amotion in the line." The thin deputy began to recount the tale that they so far managed to piece together. "From then, we do not know for sure what yed out, but in the end, the captain became crazed and ordered his men to surround a cloaked and masked figure. He had two aplices who also hid their identities that first jumped in to help, but it ultimately proved to be not necessary sir!" "Why is that, deputy?" Surprised by the report, John asked with an inquiring look on his bearded face. The thin man gulped loudly as he continued his fragmented recount of the events. "Unclear currently, sir! We do not know for certain what happened, but most of the reports say that some sort of wind or force appeared and threw all of the guards away. From then on, only the captain stood back up, who just cursed and threatened the always silent masked figure that he will kill him. In the end, he fainted as well." "I see." Captain John hummed insipidly, his mind was already working in overdrive solving the mystery. A few momentster he turned away from the body and looked at his deputy. "Where are these cloaked people then? I don''t see them queued up at all." The thin man''s body trembled in fright as his captain looked at him with his usual stern outlook. He gulped audibly as he answered with a meek tone of voice. "Sir, they have gone towards the south after that. It is currently unclear if they went for the southern gate or somewhere else, sir!" Captain John heaved a sigh as he listened to the report of his deputy. From his recount of it, and what he had seen and known about this corrupted piece of garbage of a man, it was painfully obvious what had happened. This man, Captain Gregory Horst was already known to be a troublemaker, a corrupted individual that operated with bribes and thought of his assigned station as his own territory. He dly took bribes or looted the caravans and carts under the guise of ''investigation''. Still, what was puzzling is that this man wasn''t actually an idiot. He had the brains to eventually grow into a leader and be a figure of the underground world. Why did he then risk everything and attack in broad daylight? Why did he ruin his life for seemingly no reason? Chapter 330 - 330 - A Surprise Visitor? While Captain John Deere and his men secured the scene in front of the eastern gate, south from their direction, three figures have just stepped into a hidden underground tunnel, that would ultimately take them inside, behind the walls. "What is this ce? How did you know about it, Aiden?" Stepping onto the musty tunnel, Drake asked with a scrutinizing tone as his eyes darted around the ce. He was beyond surprised, he was shocked. "My Master showed it to me when we came to rescue my sister." Aiden shrugged, speaking in a nonchnt tone from behind his ck faceless mask. He was at the front his two partners, Drake and Galina disguised with the ring''s illusionary magic as Scarlet the red-haired princess were following slightly behind. "Just how many simr hidden entrances are there? Is this the case for the other cities as well?" Drake continued to voice his concerns, this time not aiming it directly at his friend. Instead, he was worried that each city in the Kingdom has been breached in a simr fashion. "If this is the case in the capital as well, we are incredibly vulnerable against attacks Just what has my father been doing" He sighed,menting the sad reality. For now, as heated, impetuous he is, he can do nothing against the current situation. What he needs is to reunite with all of his siblings then go against his father who has clearly lost sight of what''s right or wrong. Just from their earlier ruction with that guard captain was a clear indicator of what state their once great and mighty kingdom is in. Shady dealings, ve tradings, and other underground activities are running rampant, and the people that would be supposed to stand up against all of that, are actively supporting them instead. Assassinations, kidnappings, ckmailing, looting, and stealing in broad daylight and nobody bats an eye. Thinking about all of that, Drake clenched his fists, the glint shed through his determined gaze. This has to stop. He will do everything he can to put a stop to it, even if ultimately fails in the process, he will do everything within his power. "Aiden." With a stern look in his eyes and a somber tone, he called out for his friend at the front. Slowing his pace, Aiden turned his head sideways taking a nce at his silver-haired human friend. "Yes? We should be halfway in. We will exit at the Slums, in a small and empty house that should be familiar to you." He revealed a cheeky smirk as he spoke. Before he could turn his attention back to the straight, dark, and empty tunnel ahead, Drake called out again. "Aiden. Are we friends?" His question was weird, it caught Aiden slightly off-guard. He stopped, putting a momentary halt to their venture, he turned around to face the silver-haired prince. "Yes, we have been through thick and thin by now Drake. I do consider you one of my friends. Even if you are a bit too hotheaded at times." Aiden smiled at his own jab, before asking a question of his own. "Why the question?" "Once I reunite with all of my brothers and sister I will go against my father, the king. Ever since he made those deals and allowed our family to be torn apart, he just doesn''t seem to care. He is driving this kingdom to ruin." He clenched his fist so hard that blood started dripping to the musty floor. "Just look around. We are walking in an underground tunnel, sneaking into a city. I am sneaking into one of my OWN cities, have to hide my identity! This is not right! Nothing is! Corruption, ve traders even the guards can''t be trusted anymore!" He eximed with slightly more emotion and power behind his voice as he intended. His eyes were flooded with tears, as he continued with a breaking tone. "I I will stop my father and do whatever will be needed to take back the kingdom from those ruling it from the shadows. I will guide it back to the glory that it once had!" Aiden nodded, and although it was hidden a slight smile appeared on his lips. With his usual calm and warm tone, he spoke. "That''s great. From what I have seen so far, darkness and corruption are everywhere. Average citizens, adventurers, guards, even the supposed leaders are tainted. People are hurting, killing each other You think of orcs and goblins as monsters, but from the way I see it, you humans are worse." A light "Humpf!" came from Galina''s direction, she nodded appreciatively at her Young Master''s words. Although she was still not versed in the human''smonnguage, she could understand her master''s words with ease relying on the mental connection they shared with each and every System assigned minion. Surprised by Aiden''s strange phrasing, Drake raised an eyebrow, but in the end, he decided to not push on it. For now. Instead, he raised his right hand towards his friend, looking directly in his two small golden dots that shined through the shadowy cover of his hood. He knew that the number of issues, problems are not small and that even he has a hard time looking behind the faulty teachings. "If I want to stand a chance, if I want to change this world, or at the very least, this kingdom for the better, I I will need to rely on your inhumane strength, Aiden. Can I Can I ask your help? Can you lend a hand to me?" There was no instantaneous response to Drake''s question. His hand remained stretched out, like a symbol of hope, wishing to garner to the attention of the one that could stand up against this endless, despairing void and scare it away. Aiden looked at this human for quite a while, thinking back to all of his experiences with him. Although he was quite hotheaded and was prone to act in a way that did not paint him in a favorable light he was still one of the ''good, uncorrupted, untainted ones''. However, to be honest, even though he regained all of his memories, Aiden still didn''t really care about humans at all. He already epted the fact that he is not one of them, nor did he wished to hide within their ranks. He felt much happier with his family be it his sister, Granny, his Master, or his newest additions, the servants. He also had the first tribe, the conquered orcs rebuilding their once lost civilization from the ground up with the aid of Roas, his first servant. No. His first new addition to the family. Still, should he refuse to offer his help to a friend in need? That''s not something Aiden would be willing to do, it would go against everything he stands for. Eventually, he came to a decision and decided to grab his hand and shake it. "Sure. I wille when you need me. I may not be there for each and every step of the way, but when you need me, you can call for me and I will help fight the battles alongside you." He warmly spoke as he shook Drake''s hand. An appreciative smile began to stretch across Drake''s face upon hearing his friend''s words. He actually felt d that he decided to cross des with this strange boy back in the Slums when he came to rescue her sister. It was that moment that marked the beginning of their friendship and their future campaign ultimately to retake this kingdom After the brief but emotional pause, the trio resumed their steps, and not too much timeter they reached the staircase that led them back to the surface. As the walls of the empty house appeared once again, and Drake stepped into it, heughed. "Seriously? We are back here?" He chuckled, shaking his head at the irony. "This means we are in the Slums, we still have a bit of distance to cross to get all the way towards the residential district and the guild." "At the very least, we are now inside the city. If I had known what would happen at the gates, I would have just used this one from the start" Aiden sighed,menting his mistake. If he would havee here from the start, he could have avoided bringing unwanted attention to themselves. Now, people would be aware of them, and whilst, for the time being, they managed to hide their identities, he couldn''t be sure how long would thatst. He sighed again, as he walked towards the windowsill. He turned towards the direction of the Guild, only wishing to finally put an end to this mission and get back to his room in the inn. He needed a couple of days to do the system updates and to also be able to change his appearance back to what would allow him to freely walk within the city limits again. "Anyway we shouldn''t waste time here and get back on the ro-" Drake eximed wanting to leave, however before he could finish his words, suddenly a loud knock could be heard,ing from the door. Shocked and surprised Drake turned towards Aiden, looking at him if he knew anything. Aiden could only sigh then reveal a lopsided smile and shake his head. Even to him, the neutral, white-colored dot wasn''t visible on his system map before. It only appeared after the knocking. Chapter 331 - 331 - Reunion Hearing no response from the house another round of knocks resounded inside the empty walls of the small house. This time, however, an aged voice could be heard from the other side. "Greetings, guests. My mistress wishes to meet with you all. Madam Sarah and herpany are also waiting for you at the residence." Hearing the voice, Aiden slumped his shoulder and heaved a sigh of relief as he walked to open the door. Before he could reach it, and let the stranger inside, Drake stepped in his way, stopping him. "Wait!" He eximed, pushing against Aiden''s chest lightly. "Do you know who is on the other side and what is he talking about?" Drake had an inquiring look on his face as interviewed his friend. In response, Aiden silently nodded before walking past the perturbed prince. Before he could react and block him again, Aiden promptly opened the door, revealing the stranger that turned out to be an elderly man, wearing a slick, ck full set of a suit, with a white shirt underneath. A matching ck tie was neatly tied around his neck, whilst he was also wearing white silk gloves over his hands. All in all, his entire appearance was quite a sight, especially considering they were currently inside the depths of the Slums District. As the door opened, the elderly butler-looking figure gave a deep courteous bow, as he spoke again, addressing the figure standing at the other side. His words gave quite a shock and surprise to Aiden, as the old man seemed to be able to see through the disguise. That, or he had some sort of a way to pinpoint his identity even when he was hiding behind his mask. "Master Aiden, it warms this old man''s heart to see you safe and sound after your recent adventure. The Mistress has been eagerly awaiting your return. She has already summoned Lady Sara, Lady Scarlet, and the currently unresponsive Lady Naybeah to the mansion." The old butler repeated his previous words, whilst slowly raising back up from his bowing posture. Hearing his words, Drake''s figure appeared in the doorway slightly behind Aiden. "W-what did you say?! My sister is with your master?!" He agitatedly eximed, pushing against Aiden''s right shoulder. Feeling the sudden ufortable pressure, he gently pushed the silver-haired boy back smiling at him with his usual calm and collected outlook. "Rx Drake No need to be nervous, they should be fine. Also, it''s ''Mistress'', not ''Master'', she likes to be addressed that way. Turning around, he looked at the butler again as he asked. "Uhm... Sebas, right?" The butler nodded, patiently waiting for the boy to continue. "So, Sebas, you mentioned that Naybeah the tall, blonde woman is unresponsive. Can you exin what you meant by that?" Although he tried to force it, his voice trembled when mentioning the blonde amazon''s name, betraying his true emotions. Sebas, the butler, however, kept his professional courteous manner, as he answered with a calm, friendly but respectful tone. "Yes, Master Aiden I can." He nodded, continued after giving a moment of pause. "Lady Naybeah was unconscious when she was brought to the mansion. As the youngdy already informed the Mistress about the specifics of her condition, the Mistress gave her treatment, before she was carried to one of the guest rooms for rest. She is stable, you do not need to worry." "I see." Aiden thoughtfully nodded, understanding the gist of things. It seemed that the girls did face some troubles along the way out. ''Could it be rted to my blunder with the stone guardian? That definitely has alerted the orcs'' He thought. Anyway, after arriving back at the city, Sara must have gone and informed her mother of how things went down, who in return probably opened a quick gate to the mansion directly. As he thought about it, he couldn''t help but silently praise Sara for her quick action. Either way, with this, he could meet up with the rest of the team, check up on Naybeah, get the brother and sister reunited and also report to the Masked Woman about her assigned mission before she could return to her room in the inn. Thinking it through, he nodded, whilst mentally sending a call to Galina who stood hidden, behind the wall. "Alright, lead the way Sebas!" He eximed, walking out of the door, with the frowning Drake slowly behind. Shortly behind them, the wary Galina appeared. She tried averting her gaze and hiding herself focusing her attention on the floor instead of the elderly man, hurrying after her young master. Still, despite her best efforts, she couldn''t possibly hide from the elderly butler''s experienced sight. Seeing her look, he hummed with an understanding look on his face, before he turned and walked after the trio. Taking the leading position, he swiftly guided them towards therge mansion in the central area of the district. When suddenly avish, exquisite courtyard appeared out of nowhere Drake and even Galina''s eyes went wide with shock. Drake was astonished, he never heard about such a building existing in this run-down area of the city. As they crossed the invisible barrier, and therge mansion suddenly appeared seemingly out of thin air, he almost fell on his back. The building wasvish, even more grand than the richest noble''s in this city. It was so gorgeous, that calling it simply a mansion wasn''t giving it true justice. It was akin to a smaller castle, a true bastion. He just couldn''t understand; what was such an ornate and bountiful structure was doing in this part of town. Why was it hidden? Just who could be this mysterious ''Mistress''? At the same time, Galina was also bbergasted. After all, she has never seen such a big structure in her life before. However, what got her attention the most was the beautiful garden surrounding it. It gave a huge contrast to the muddy, dirty streets that they were crossing through; the courtyard had beautiful healthy grass, a huge colorful flowery garden at the back. At the other side, a series of small figurines stood still: she could see a small patio of statues where one could rest on one of the wooden benches and just enjoy the magical atmosphere. As they saw the group led by the Head Butler Sebas closing towards them, the group of uniformly dressed ck guards, stepped aside, signaling to the ones inside to open the gate to let them in. Standing in her study, an elegantly dressed slender, feminine figure stood by the window, looking at the small group of new arrivals. Just like always, her face was hidden behind avish, elegantly designed silver mask with only her ck irises were visible from the tiny holes. "He has arrived." She spoke, with a tinge of sweetness in her voice. Upon hearing her words, the second resident of the room perked her head towards her mother, the famed Mistress, and jumped up from her seat. "H-he" She coughed, swaying her unruly purple hair behind her ears. "Is he looking fine, M-Mo, khm Mistress?" The woman smiled at the girl''s question, enjoying a bit more of her nervousness before she turned away from the window and looked at her daughter. "Yes, he ispletely fine. He also hase with guests, one of them seems to be the prince, whilst the other" Her tone turned mysterious, uprehending. She turned towards the door, putting her hands behind her back, awaiting the soon-to-being knocks. "Let''s just say, we will have a very interesting discussion soon." Before Sarah could react and ask for more, the already expected knocks echoed inside the small study. From the other side, the voice of the aged elderly butler, Sebas spoke. "Mistresses, I have brought the guests as you requested." The woman gave a mischievous smirk behind the cover of her silver mask, waving with her hands and speaking a momentter. "You maye in." Before the trio coulde back to their senses and register where they actually were, suddenly a purple-haired figure came rushing at them, throwing herself at the masked figure leading the trio. She hugged his neck, nting her face in his broad chest. Muffled sobs could be heard, as she could finally have a sigh of relief. Aiden finally returned, and he was fine! Meanwhile, the silver-masked mature woman signaled with her hand to her trusted butler, who gave a slight bow and hurriedly left the room. Whilst Drake was watching and feeling ufortable as everything unfolded before him, he pushed the hood back from his head, revealing his silver strands of hair. He turned to look at the masked woman and was about to ask when his body suddenly trembled in shock. A loud and familiar yell reached his ears, followed by another human rocket crashing into their group, clutching herself around the back of her brother. "Drake! You are finally back!" Chapter 332 - 332 - Impostor Even though the time the two groups spent away from each other didn''t seem too long in reality, to them, however, it felt like an eternity. For the next couple of minutes, only the silent sobbing of both girls was the only noise that disturbed the ensuing silence. On one side, the royal siblings, Drake and Scarlet were happy they were once again reunited, both of them looking at the other with eyes full of bliss and appreciation. After the surprise attack, they were now hugging with adoration and happiness to be reunited once more. "Brother! Thank god you are safe and sound!" The fiery red-haired woman''s muffled voice could be heard. She slowly raised her head, looking her silver-haired brother in the eye for a brief moment, before a slight frown emerged on her woeful face. She lightly punched her brother''s chest with her clenched right hand. "You jerk!" She eximed, in a hurtful tone, continuing her rhythmic attacks without any pause. "Why did you have to do something so incredibly stupid and get yourself captured?! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" Drake did not dare to resist, he merely attempted to raise his arms, trying to defend himself through his words. "I am sorry, okay?" He started with an apology. "I wasn''t expecting them to be so strong You know we had to investigate." His words did not manage to soothe the maiden''s troubled heart, instead, it just irked her ire even further. She continued punching his chest, this time using both of her small fists. "You idiot! What would have happened if Aiden and his friends wouldn''t have been there as well? Did you even think about that? You would have died and I I would have been" Before Scarlet could finish, Drake put her hand over her mouth, abruptly silencing her. With watery eyes, she looked at her brother with a hurtful re but did not attempt to break free from him. "I am sorry. I was an idiot, that I am fully aware. I had the time to think things through, whilst I was escaping. I will not do something like that ever again, you have my word." This time he did not try to argue with the girl, he responded honestly, with a woeful look on his face. A small smile began to stretch and show itself, transforming the sad, grief-filled look into one of emerging determination. His eyes cleared, it looked straight into her sister''s teary eyes as he remade his promise. "Remember, my dear sister. We are still missing our two brothers. I will not rest until we are all reunited and get back to father and make him pay for all the suffering he had caused regardless of his intent. He made you all suffer and that has to be paid back in full." Listening to his brother, the hurtful look slowly vanished from Scarlet''s face, in its ce, the seed of hope and happiness began to emerge. She looked at her brother''s determined expression for a while longer before she rented herself in his chest and resumed to let out all of her grief with the silent sobbing. While the siblings were busy in their own little world, on the other side the purple-haired leader of the guild''s examiners and the daughter of the mysterious Masked Mistress couldn''t hold back her erupting emotions. For the first time in a while, her girlish side returned with newfound strength, dominating over her stoic, trained, emotionless side. She sobbed and cried with relief just like an average girl would when her loved one returned from a particrly difficult battle. "Uhm Calm down Sarah, it''s okay. Nothing bad happened." Although he regained his memories and wasn''t that dense and oblivious to matters with the other sex, Aiden was still having trouble handling the situation. He understood that she must have been worried about him, and now that they were back together, both of them were relieved. However, so far, he merely looked at her as nothing more than a true friend, something simr to how he thought about Cole his first teammate, and to be honest, Drake. Even as the brunt amazon, Naybeah kind of forced her love on him, he was mostly shocked and stunned than anything else. Still, he couldn''t deny that it warmed his heart to feel so cared for by another person. To be special to another being, to be worried about, and looking forward to being meeting with Aiden couldn''t deny that it did move him a little. Eventually, he sighed, and hugged the sobbing woman''s back, gently caressing her trembling back. "There there" He muttered so only she could hear his words. "Mmpfgh!" Muffled, iprehensible mumblings were thrown back as a response, Sarah was still not ready for a separation, she needed to feel him slightly more. Aiden simply smiled that remained hidden behind his ck mask, and just continued to caress the girl''s back in silence, patiently waiting for her to calm down. Meanwhile, Galina was looking embarrassed, not sure of what to do with herself. She felt troubled, as not just the friend, but even the Young Master was suddenly attacked by a woman. However, these ambushes weren''t aimed to hurt or damage them, instead, they were the results of their aching hearts'' desperate desires. She was standing, fidgeting in her ce, feelingpletely out of ce. Not daring to look at anybody. She only stole fleeting nces at her Young Master, hoping, wishing for some guidance. At the other side of the study room, the famed Mistress, stood calmly, looking at the heart-warming scene without interrupting. However, her interest was way too piqued when she spotted the look of the third figure. Despite Galina''s best efforts, there was no hiding from the nigh-omniscient gaze of this enigmatic woman. Eventually, her interest reached a peak, she decided to speak up and putting a temporary halt to this reunion. "Apologies for intruding on your heartfelt scene, but I just can''t contain myself any longer." She spoke up with a gleeful tone, causing all eyes to turn on her. She pointed at the third, lone cloaked feminine-looking figure, and asked with great curiosity. "Care to tell me, just who is she?" As she spoke, she flicked her fingers, causing a small gust of wind to breeze through the room, and throw her hood behind her back, revealing a shocking sight. Scarlet almost fell to the floor in shock when she saw herself, or to be more precise, another version of her standing and looking at her! What was going on?! "W-who are you?! Why do you look like me?!" She eximed with a heightened, agitated tone. She jumped away from her brother, her right hand was already holding the borrowed dagger. "Speak up, before I gut you!" She groveled. Sarah, whilst not jumping to an attacking stance immediately like the princess understandably did, also looked at the stranger with stoic coldness. Galina''s eyes were darting between the two women and her Young Master, asking for him to step in and help before the situation would further spiral out of control. She couldn''t respond, she could only understand their words through the connection she had with him. She could only raise her hands in front of herself, trying to motion for the girls to calm down, and that she meant no threat. Whilst this was going on, Aiden was watching silently. He wanted to see how Galina would handle the situation first before jumping in. However, when she saw the scowl appearing on the real Scarlet''s face and saw her getting ready to lounge at his cute little servant, he decided to put an end to this charade and stepped in. "Rx, Scarlet, she means no harm. Hold your hands, do not attack her, she is with me!" He spoke calmly, stepping in between the two. "Stand aside Aiden, this is an impostor!" Scarlet, however, wasn''t ready to give in, she eximed, waving her dagger in the air, warning the boy to not stand in her way. Seeing this, Drake couldn''t hold it any further either and stepped forward to assist his friends. "Sis, calm down. She is really with us. She is looking like this only because of an item!" This seemed to surprise not just the girls but even the Mistress as well. With interest, she asked. "What magic item? How is it capable of creating such a stunning, life-like replica of the girl? Just what did you use? May I see it?" "Enough!" Getting annoyed by the situation, Aiden red up. The dark slits of his mask emitted a bright golden glow, his shout filled the room, startling everyone present, including the Masked Lady herself. "She is with me, and she is staying. No, she will not take off the item, and if anybody has an issue with it, he or she cane to me!" He roared with anger, not giving any space for further debate. Then he turned to look at his servant. He gently rubbed the right cheek with the back of his left hand and warmly whispered. "Don''t worry Galina, nobody will hurt you as long as I am here" Chapter 333 - 333 - Reveal Hearing her Young Master''s kind, warm words and feeling his gentle caress, caused Galina''s body to shake, and her eyes to be quickly flooded with tears. She tried her best to hold back and not speak a word, but it was getting harder by the second. In the end, only a faint "Humm" managed to escape through her sealed lips. She nodded at her Young Master, rxing in her posture and hiding behind the safety of his back. Meanwhile, although Aiden did not release the full pressure of his Innate Power, his glowing golden eyes and the thundering voice seemed to cause enough for the people not just in the study room but in the entire mansion and even in the courtyard to hear it and tremble. Even Drake was taken aback and looked at his friend with a mixture of shock and fear. The unconstrained anger he released was not something he had ever felt from his friend. Scarlet who just wanted to get some answers could only grit her teeth and tighten her grip on the dagger she was wielding. The shiver, the fright, and trepidation she felt when the boy roared in that ancient, archaic-sounding voice almost caused her to fall to the ground on her knees. For a brief moment, a single fleeting instant, she could feel the sliver of an overbearing presence, a being so overwhelmingly powerful that could easily dominate them. Even the Mistress, the Masked Lady was quite surprised by the sudden turn of events. Her being the most experienced and most powerful in the room could also feel the same presence, but unlike the fiery red-haired girl, she could also use her enhanced senses to swiftly try scanning it. However, she was met with another shock when she could not get a grasp on the power of this being at all. It was so overwhelming, so incredibly powerful, that even her, with all her history and knowledge, couldn''t find out anything. Not even who or what it was The only thing she could make out, that it was something closely rted to the mysteries that kept surrounding this enigmatic little figure. She had long had a guess that he wasn''t exactly normal, and that he might not even be a human, or at the very least not an average one. This event, although not orchestrated by her, further proved that the boy might be a first of his kind. Her theory of him being the first human to ever formte aplete core and managed somehow evolve to something more. Her desire to get closer to him and get him to join into her fold, was growing stronger. If her theory was indeed correct and this boy, this Aiden was an evolved, the long spected next evolutionary step for humanity She needed to know how he did it. She needed to uncover this great mystery and learn the groundbreaking technique. Only then could she finally take revenge for what happened in the past. Only then, could she take revenge for the disasters still haunting her from the now distant past She sighed, as she raised her hands in the air and spoke in an apologetic tone. "Calm down, Aiden. We did not mean harm to you or your little protg. We only wanted to learn what was going on, and if it would be safe." Reaching out with her arm she pointed towards Scarlet and Sara with her open palm and continued. "Miss Scarlet here was only shocked on seeing another version of herself standing in the room. Her surprise and reaction could be understandable don''t you think?" She asked with a gradually calming tone. Seeing that Aiden''s apprehension was slowly lowering, the Masked Lady continued. "As for harming her, that was never the intention of anybody present. We are all on the same side, the same team. All of us wants only the best for each other." Slowly, but surely, the tense atmosphere in the room settled, although a hint of awkwardness remained. Knowing that this would not change for the time being the Mistress pped with her hands, bringing all the attention in the study room to herself. Gently guiding the flow of the conversation, she changed the topic, back to the original reason of their gathering. "Anyway While I already heard some of the stories from Sara, I would like to know your side as well Aiden. Could you exin what went down in the orc settlement? How did you find and group up with Young Lord Drake here and who the little miss by your side is? What was the result of your mission, when will this ''Horde''unch its attack on the city?" A lot of questions were understandably raised and aimed at Aiden. After all, Sara''s recount could only cover the parts of their separation and their rescue of the ves. The only strange event they mentioned was the explosive sound that came from the direction of the camp and their attack that ultimately caused the blonde amazon''s loss of consciousness in the end. She could not tell anything about the orc''s ns, as she herself couldn''t get in. That information could onlye from Aiden himself. Before Aiden could begin to tell his side of the story, the Masked Lady raised her right hand in the air. As if just remembering something, she raised one more question. "Also, before you begin Could you exin the reason of your current attire? Why are you still hiding your face?" Hearing thest question, Aiden, sighed. It would be a lie to say that he wasn''t expecting this question, but regardless he found it quite difficult to exin and show himself. Before answering he turned to look at the elderly butler still standing by the door acting like a statue made out of flesh, skin, and bones. Understanding the meaning behind his gaze, Sebas immediately nodded and took a quick nce at her Mistress. Seeing that she was also nodding, the elderly butler gave a courteous bow and left the room closing the door behind him. As the door closed, Aiden stepped forward and grabbed the edges of his ck mask covering his face. Before he could take it off and reveal his exquisite green-skinned facial features, Drake grabbed his left shoulder. "Aiden, you sure about this?" He muttered, whispering his concern so only his friend would hear it. Aiden did not respond, only gave a slight nod, before he unsped the magical mask, and slowly peeled it off. As he slowly lifted the mask, he also threw the hood to the back, revealing himself for the first time since his arrival to the city. Just as he expected, the eyes in the room went wide with aghast. Although both girls, Sarah and Scarlet have already seen his new look, it was still quite a sight, they were looking with the same surprise as before. On the other hand, it was impossible to guess what the Mistress was feeling, thanks to the silver mask thatpletely hid her facial expressions. "He is using a special skill that transformed his appearance. What you see is only an illusion, albeit a pretty convincing one." Drake spoke up first, taking on the role of mediator, exining the changes that were quite shocking. A brief silence ensued the group after this reveal; everyone needed a bit of time, to ept the changes ande to terms with them. "Hmm It is truly astounding Even I can''t see through it. It is almost real" Eventually, the Mistress broke the air, and remarked thoughtfully. "I do not understand though: Why are you still in this form? Is there a certain restriction, or perhaps a limitation that enforces you to keep it up for a period of time?" Aiden nodded at her conjecture. Given the circumstances, she was quite close. Obviously, they had no idea that this wasn''t just a simple illusion but his true form, that part had to be kept a secret. Even from them, at least for the time being. "Yes. Once I change, I need to keep the form up for a full day before it will fade away and I will return to my normal look. Since I took on this form around midnight, I will be forced to spend my day looking like this." "I see. That exins the mask. You couldn''t possiblye in looking like a" She paused for a second, before finishing her sentence. "monster." There was a strange pressure, a hidden emotion carried with how she uttered thest word. Although it was faint, Aiden could feel there was a hidden meaning behind it, however, for the time being, he was unable to figure out what she could have possibly meant. "Alright, I understand it now." Thedy waved with her hand, putting an end to this topic. She walked behind her desk and took her seat while motioning for the others to do the same, expecting that the tale the boy would be telling would take a bit of time to get through. As all of them slowly took their respective chairs, she turned to look at Aiden once more. "Now then, could you continue and tell us what happened exactly?" Chapter 334 - 334 - Leaving The sun reached its peak and was already on a declining steep when Aiden had finally reached the end of his tale. Mostly it was him who spoke, as he continued exining all the strange, wondrous, and mind-boggling urrence that happened during the long night. He obviously skipped through the details about his servants, and also kept silent about his venture to the Sanctum and his strange reunion with his father''s remnant spirit fragment, and how he regained his memories from another life. He also kept the true end for the orcs a secret, and only mentioned that he hadpletely dealt with them. With their leaders'' dead, the rest of the tribe had returned to their originalnds and are no longer having any desires of conquest. This whilst wasn''tpletely true, wasn''t false either, Aiden felt better this way. These were details that were mostly unrted to the task the Masked Lady had entrusted him with anyway. At first, when Drake noticed the strange peculiarities in his friend''s story, he almost flinched and spoke up, but in the end, he decided against it. He must have had a good reason for omitting such important details, and it was also quite beneficial for him, that his pathetic failure was not mentioned to the public. When he got to the end of recounting his side of the story, Aiden heaved a long sigh of relief. He finally got back andpleted thest requirements for the quest in the system. Not a momentter, just as he expected, he heard the bell-like sound of an iing system notification in his mind. "Thank you for taking the time to tell us all that, Aiden. I greatly appreciate your help in this matter." The Mistress gave her thanks first before she added thoughtfully. "So, what if what you said is true, then that means the whole threat of the orcs and this so-called Horde is no longer present. Surprisingly you did not just manage to get the information we needed, but you also managed to end the looming dangerpletely! This is great news!" She eximed, with a tinge of happiness visible in her voice. "For the time being, I have no more tasks for either of you." The Masked Lady nced at Sara as well as she remarked. She pped with her hands, causing the door to open back up and the elderly butler, Sebas to appear once again. Without uttering a single word, he bowed at the doorway, waiting for her Lady''smand. "This meeting took longer than I expected, please excuse me for that." The Lady continued. "Seeing how it is sote today, I am sure you are all famished. Please stay for a bit more, let me invite you all to a meal. Enjoy your lunch with us, before you leave." She offered, which nobody objected to. After all, just like she had mentioned, both boys and all the girls were quite hungry by now. Although Galina still a bit of a problem, as she felt the strain of her steadily lowering reserves, she still agreed. However, before her mana could run dry and her illusion could fade away, Aiden gently ced his hands on her back as they were walking towards therge and ornate dining hall and injected a bit of extra energy into her system. A single yelp was the only thing that escaped her lips, before she could reign in her emotions, causing the transference of energy to be a short one. Still, as her system slowly processed the much higher quality [Soul Power] and turned into the lower quality Mana that it could utilize, it should still be enough to keep her current look for the next couple of hours without any issue. After a delicious, luxurious, and most importantly sumptuous meal, the group now with the addition of the real Scarlet and Sara to the group have left the Mistress'' mansion and ventured out of the slums with rtive ease. Besides Sara, the group was still rather astounded by the sight of therge structure suddenly vanishing from sight as they left the protective bubble that surrounded it. They couldn''t help but wonder if anybody could just stumble upon it. "No, you don''t have to worry. Those without the direct eptance of the Mistress would be unable to get in. Those with weaker wills would simply turn around leave the opposite direction, while others would find an impassable wall of energy. Even if they would still try to force themselves through, the guards would immediately be alerted and would swiftly deal with the threat." Sara exined, understanding to looks in their eyes as they turned around to leave. Surprised by this revtion, the group kept asking the purple-haired girl as they slowly left the district and continued making their way through the Residential District, towards the direction of the Guild''s Hall. Eventually, as they arrived at the crossroad that would either lead them further along, and eventually towards the Salty Pig, the inn where Aiden still had his reserved room, or change paths and get to the Adventurer''s Street, they stopped. Aiden, who was now keeping his appearance hidden behind his ck mask and hood again, turned to look at the awkwardly looking purple-haired psychicdy, he spoke after heaving a tired sigh. "Sara, we need to say our goodbye''s here. I will not be returning to the guild today. I want to get back to my room and rest up. I haven''t had any rest since before we embarked on our mission." "I I see." Sara spoke up whilst lightly fidgeting. She was feeling extremely awkward and embarrassed, she wasn''t sure what she should be doing. From her side, she has long crossed what she should be feeling towards a friend. As she was uncertain about Aiden''s situation, she hade to the realization that he was already way too important for her. The thought of him being in trouble captured or worse was not a pleasant thought. When she finally saw him returning, she just couldn''t control herself anymore and flew into his embrace. At that moment, she finally epted the truth: She liked this boy. Just like her mother, her mistress had wanted, she had fallen for him. The problem was, that all the while the boy didn''t send any obvious signals. Sara wasn''t sure if what she was feeling was purely tonic, or if there was any chance for her to be in his heart already. Still, whatever was the case, she at least wanted to give a chance to herself, to this happiness, even if it would remain purely tonic, one-sided. As she was in the midst of such troubling thoughts, she suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her and pull her into a warm and already quite a familiar hug. Shaking her head and forcefullying back to her senses, she surprisingly noticed that she was being embraced by the masked boy. "Be safe, okay?" Was the only words that she heard; the boy of her heart had gently whispered into her ears as he hugged her. "Em." She couldn''t possibly respond, as her mind was a mess, and she had to hide her face from him, as it was red as a tomato. When they separated, she hurriedly pulled the hood over her head and swiftly turned around, hiding her mess-of-an expression from the group. "I-I-I n-need to g-go now! S-see y-you guys, t-tomorrow!" She left, without waiting for any word from the rest of the group, even leaving Scarlet behind who was now over the shock of meeting the second version of herself and was grinning as she looked at the receding back of her recently made a new friend. "Wow, she is so hopeless" She chuckled, turning to look at her brother. "So where to now?" Looking at the departing figure of Sara a while longer before turning away, Aiden spoke as he turned towards the Salty Pig''s direction. "Not sure about you guys, but me and Galina here will return to the inn. It was an incredibly long and tiresome day, I really need some rest." "As for us little sis" Drake added, matching her sister''s curious gaze. "We will also get a room there and take our well-earned rest. We also need to bide our time for the time being, as one of our brothers, Dan is still in this city." "What?!" Hearing him mentioning that a sibling of theirs is close by Scarlet jumped in shock. "Little Dan is still here? Where? What are we waiting for, let''s go and save him!!" She eximed, already ready to march into whatever dangers she had to, not caring about anything else. Although she had already learned about him back when she was just a ve, that was more than a year ago, she was quite surprised that he was still being kept somewhere in the city limits. Seeing her, Drake smiled, before trying to calm her down. After all, they still had to wait quite a bit before the start of next year and with that, the beginning of the Academy''s Grounds to open its gates for the yearly Admission Tests and select the few most talented and luckiest to be epted as new students. Chapter 335 - 335 - The Salty Pig *CLINK!* The clinging of the bell rang inside the busy and filled tavern. As the door opened up, it revealed a group of four cloaked and hooded people standing at its doorstep. Only a few bored nces were sent towards them, as the others were busy enjoying their food, drinks,pany, or anybination of those. Men of all sizes and shapes were enjoying their little getaway from the wear and tear of everyday life. Loud boisterous guffaws resonated within the walls; a mix of adventurers and the local townsfolk were clearly having a great time. The small and evenrge tables were filled to the brim, with even a thick crowd standing in front of the counter waiting to be served. Ignoring themotion, Aiden''s group walked away from the door and stepped inside whilst he himself scanned the crowd looking for one specific figure amidst the sea of heads. Sadly, he couldn''t see the person he was searching for, causing him to release a small sigh, and turn towards the clearly busy innkeeper''s direction. "Let''s go, guys, we need some extra rooms. Hopefully, there is some, otherwise, I''m not sure what we would do." "Ehrm Aiden, not to burst your bubble, but are you sure that right now is the best time to bother the poor guy with this?" Scarlet asked, voicing her concerns after seeing the stout man that was swamped in a sea of orders. Although he had some help, his wife being the cook and his son and even his daughter being called in to assist, it was still way too crowded for them to be bothering them with such questions. At least, in her opinion. However, not just Aiden, but even his brother, Drake didn''t seem to share her sentiment. "Why wouldn''t it be a good time sis? Do you want to sleep on the street tonight? Although you should be probably safe as no one should have seen your face, it''s not the safest ce to be out, after curfew. Especially for a woman." Drake spoke, already pulling her towards the counter, not giving her any space to resist. Behind them, Aiden and his servant, Galina who was now also wearing a simr-looking, but slightly smaller sized silver-mask that she was gifted by the Masked Mistress was silently following along. Aiden wasn''t really paying attention to them, his eyes were darting from left to the right and from the right to the left, trying to find his friend, that although he only missed for a couple of days, in reality, it felt like ages to him. Although there were quite a few simr-looking heads popping up amidst the jungle of mugs, he had to ept the fact, that his friend and first and currently only official teammate, Cole wasn''t here. ''Eh, I guess he is either at the Guild, talking to Mary, or out on a mission'' He thought, finally giving up on the idea of another reunion, and returned his attention to the task at hand. Squeezing their way in, eventually, they managed to get to the counter, and was now waiting for their turn to be asked. Their eyes wandered around, looking at this afternoon''s colorful collection with a neutral gaze. "Aiden, is this ce always packed so full?" Leaning closer to Aiden''s ears, Drake yelled out, which resulted in a faint whisper by the time it reached him. The noise was pretty disturbing, but, looking at the brighter side, at the very least, it was apletely safe environment. Being this challenging tomunicate with each other, if they were officials, and wanted to converse governmental secrets, there would be no way a spy would be able to pick up anything. Anyway, hearing the question, Aiden looked at his friend from behind the mask and smiled. He simply shook his head, not bothering to shout over the crowd, and instead decided to mostly rely upon non-verbal forms ofmunication. The seconds turned into minutes which rapidly began to pile over, reaching a quarter and even half of an hour before they finally saw the old innkeeper turning to look at them. "What''cha''llneed?" He jabbered, blurting out the words in a swift, jumbled fashion together with a tired sigh. Seeing how both Drake and even Scarlet had absolutely no clue what the old man just asked, Aiden lightly shook his head and leaned closer. "We need 3 empty rooms. I have my own, it should be number 14, under the name ''Aiden''." Now it was the old man''s turn to look like an idiot. He managed to catch only a few words, which he mostly managed to put together, but decided to ask, or in this case shout for confirmation. "YOU NEED A ROOM?!" Although it wasn''t correct, Aiden decided to not bother with it, as it would just be a long back and forth before either one of them would just give up. He nodded, agreeing with the man. A frown appeared on the old innkeeper''s face as he understood their request. Albeit they couldn''t be certain of the reason behind the strange gesture, it wasn''t that difficult to make an educated guess. The old man turned around and hastily left through the back door, entering the kitchen. A couple of minutes went by before he returned with a key cing it in front of Aiden''s group on the table. "ROOM 15!" He shouted, so at least a faint whisper would reach their ears. Although the siblings had some questions about why they were only given a single room, before they could, Aiden had already taken the key and turned to them. "Pay for it. Don''t botherining, there is no point." With that, he threw the key to them and turned around to leave. With Galina following closely behind, he left the ground floor and walked upstairs, enjoying the gradually calming atmosphere. He wasn''t a big fan of such events, he enjoyed the peace and quiet even though they were quite a rare urrence. A minuteter, the sibling duo came after them. As soon as they spotted Aiden resting against the wooden rails, they walked next to him. Before his brother could ask, Scarlet already fired up her question. "What the hell Aiden?! Why did we only get a single room? How should we rest like this?! We needed at least 2, but more likely 3 different rooms!" She eximed, pointing at the silent Galina''s figure. Instead of answering, Aiden ignored the girl and turned towards Drake. "You two probably have a lot to discuss tonight, take that room. Galina and I will rest in mine. We will meet downstairs during breakfast tomorrow. Good night!" Having that said, Aiden turned around and left with Galina, without batting an eye at the fuming red-haired princess. "This boy! AAARGH!" She eximed with frustration. To be ignored like this was not something any woman could easily ept. Still, before she would have had the chance to rush after him and give him a piece of her mind, her brother ced his palm over the top of her head, abruptly startling and surprising her. "You weren''t ignored. You just asked something stupid." Drake exined calmly. "Huh? Why? We do need separate ro-" Incited, Scarlet almost flew into another tangent, but before she could do so, Drake continued. He stretched out his right arm, pointing towards the sea of heads downstairs. "Have you already forgotten? The ce is full. We had to wait half an hour just to get the chance to be asked. Even then, we could barely understand and hear what the old man asked. It was better to get a room for the night, and if we want, ask for another tomorrow morning when there would be lessmotion." He exined, smiling gently at his sis. Having been exined what should have been obvious to her, caused her frustration to transform into embarrassment. Her face turning pink, she averted her gaze and turned to look for their room instead. She did not want to continue discussing the topic, as while Drake was exining she also realized her mistake. Although she wasn''tpletelyfortable with it, after years of being a ve, she didn''t really have too much against the idea. Now, she just wanted toy down, and forget about everything that happened today. She just made a mess of herself on multiple asions. As she scurried away, looking around the hall in search of their new, temporary home, Drake only smiled at her sight for a while longer before deciding to tag along. Meanwhile, as the door closed behind them, Aiden and Galina could finally heave a sigh and rx. They unsped their masks and removed the baggy hoods from their heads. "[Goblin] Young Master, apologies for asking, but can you teach me how to speak the human''snguage? I feel like I''m a burden to the Young Master. I wish to be of help not be a hindrance." Aiden smiled at the request, as he himself had already thought about it. Still, currently, he had a much more pressing matter, he needed to finally get on with the System Updates! Chapter 336 - 336 - A Priceless Doll "[Goblin] Don''t worry, my dear Galina. I have to rest and do something for the next couple of days, but after that, I will teach you how to converse in the human''snguage, okay?" Aiden responded while rubbing the top of the ex-goblin girl''s head, causing her entire face to turn red as a tomato, and hurriedly try to avert her gaze. "[Goblin] Y-y-yes, Y-y-young M-master!" She stuttered a meek response, her gaze stered on the wooden floorboards as it was the most interesting sight in the world. Afraid that the intense beating of her heart would cause difort to her Young Master, Galina stepped away and turned to look around the room nervously. "[Goblin] I-I will look for a p-ce! I do not wish to be a b-bother, please excuse me!" She wanted to escape and run to the furthest corner of the room and hide there, but before she could take a step, he felt Aiden''s hand pulling her back and putting a premature stop to her. "[Goblin] D-don''t leave." He spoke calmly. As Galina turned around, she almost fainted, seeing her warm, kind smile and gentle expression on his face. "You can use the bed there. I will not need it, I will be meditating throughout the night." This sentence of his almost proved to be too much for the young girl''s maiden heart. She already had a hard time keeping her raging emotions in check. Truth was that while her tribe was unlike those barbaric, evil ones of the other goblin tribes that many nightmarish tales were being told about, it was still true that their race was prone to be influenced by their needs and desires. Their emotions were a great driving factor in their decisions. Luckily, she was no longer a simple goblin of the woods, but by the grace of his great lord, the Young Master, she was already at the next evolutionary step. Yes, she was no longer just a goblin, she was a Goblin Dragonling, her desires and emotions couldn''t cloud her decisions! She was stronger than them! Still, whenever she looked into her master''s mesmerizing, golden eyes She felt her heart skipping a beat, she felt the trembling of her body, she felt the thirst, the hunger the desire to be embraced by him, to be loved She knew that ever since being epted by him, there was no ce for any other person in her heart. Even if it was never meant to blossom into something more, just his gentle, smiling image would be enough for her forever. She could enjoy this sight for all eternity "[Goblin] Galina? You okay?" Her trance was broken by the Young Master, abruptly pulling her back from thend of dreams to the real world. As she came back to her senses, she noticed that in ce of that stupidly handsome smile, Aiden was now looking at her with concern and worry in his eyes. After all, she was just standing there in a daze. "[Goblin] Y-yes, sorry for that Y-young Master!" She hurriedly stuttered an embarrassed response, before looking behind him and realizing that she was yet to respond to his previous offer. "[Goblin] Uhm I-I c-can''t possibly take the Y-young Master''s spot! I-I will be fine on the floor! Y-young Master shouldn''t worry about me!" She tried to argue, although there was no power behind her tone, she couldn''t even match his gaze, it was way too hard. "[Goblin] Galina I will not be using the bed." Aiden began exining once again, the earlier smile returning to his face. He couldn''t help but smile at this girl''s little antics. She was just too cute, like a little priceless doll. "[Goblin] B-but... Young Master I c-can''t p-possibly-" Galina''s powerless attempt at trying toe with an argument, why she shouldn''t just ept such a reward was put to a sudden halt when Aiden ced his right index finger over her pouting lips. "[Goblin] As I said, the bed will not be used unless you rest there. If you care about me, you will not say another word about you sleeping on the floor again or you will make me very sad." He said with a serious expression. He pulled back his finger and pointed towards the empty bed once more. "[Goblin] Now go, don''t argue, and just take the bed. If you would like to clean yourself, you can use that door over there. There should be a wooden basin there with some water, you can use it to clean up." He instructed, pointing towards the wooden door at the side. A small mostly empty room was behind it, with a few necessities to wash up, clean oneself using the water in the prepared wooden basin, or to relieve oneself using the empty bucket at the corner. Aiden had to admit, that the only not so happy trait of having his memory returned was that he now realized how precious some of the features of modern civilization were. A clean and modern bathroom and the toilet were some of the things he now started to miss and was truly embarrassed when he remembered the times, he he used that room Anyway, after listening to his words, Galina nodded shyly, and hurriedly scampered towards the bathroom door, rushed in, and closed it behind herself. Aiden only smiled at this scene and shook his head before stepping forward and sitting down on the floor at the center of the room. ''Finally, I have some time However, before we start, I need to make sure'' He debated, before calling out mentally. ''Enya, you there?'' The response, just like usual, was almost instantaneous. As soon as he called out, he felt the presence of his guide appear almost immediately as if she was just waiting to be called on. ''[Yes, Aiden. How can I help you?]'' She greeted with her mature, gentle tone. ''Can you summarize how much time does the system needs and can you also check if I would be able to continue to move around and act whilst the update was happening?'' For almost a minute there was no response to Aiden''s query. He was about to get worried and ask if there was any problem when finally, Enya spoke up. ''[The system needs a total of 50 hours toplete all the pending updates in the system. During this time, the system will shut down and will not be able to provide any assistance.]'' She exined, giving a little momentary pause in her speech before continuing. ''[However, the cool down for your currently forced form will continue to progress, as that is not controlled by the system itself, the system is merely providing you an easier interface to track it.]'' ''Wait What?'' Aiden was shocked to hear her exnation. The limitation of this 24 hours, was not something that the system invented? What did that mean? His current form was a creation of the system''s fusion feature and he was forced to retain this appearance! ''What do you mean by that? Who or what is enforcing me to keep the form? Who created this form if not the system?!'' He asked out, almost eximing it. He found it difficult to believe such a revtion. ''[Aiden]'' Enya called out with worry in her voice. Once more, she hated the fact that she had no tangible form and couldn''t reach out to the boy. It was so incredibly hard to just be able to see but not embrace him This fate, she was forced into was turning more and more into a curse as the days went by. ''[There is much I really want to exin but I just can''t You have to believe me]'' She muttered, before taking a moment to calm down and collect herself and resuming her exnation. ''[While the system did assist you in creating this form, it was merely providing you a convenient interface. The limitation that you have to keep your new form active for a period of time is also something that is rted to your Primal heritage.]'' She dropped the bomb, returning to silence and giving time for Aiden to process what he had just heard. When he heard her words, Aiden turned wide-eyed. He was stunned, unresponsive for quite a while. Even as Galina returned after taking care of herself, and freshened, she didn''t dare to bother him thinking he was already in deep concentration, she silently sneaked towards the bed and with a bit of hesitation, she climbed into it. Laying down into suchfort was a new experience for Galina. She felt like a queen, a royalty, she couldn''t help but silently giggle rolling around, enjoying herself like a little girl. Living the life of a goblin, she never stayed too long at the same ce. Her tribe often traveled, either by being driven out by humans, or other races. Goblins weren''t a wee sight, by any of the conscious races of the world after all. She usually slept on the ground, or on some hastily gathered leaves. A bed such as this was almost a foreign concept to one such as her Chapter 337 - 337 - Growing Stronger Eventually, Aiden regained hisposure just enough to ask another question from his system guide. ''One more question You mentioned that the system will be unavable for this uing update for a bit more than 2 full days Does that include you as well?'' Although he tried to mask it, hide it from her, it waspletely pointless. Enya was an intangible existence, living inside his Soul Space, they shared a connection that ran much deeper than anything else in his life. She was very clear about her feelings and what she was worried about. Still, like many times before, she decided not to speak up against it and acted as if she was unaware. ''[No, I will be avable. While my existence is connected to the System, I have my own will. The only downside will be that I will not be able to provide you information other than my own thoughts and I will not have ess to any of the system''s ehrm skills for the time being.]'' She answered. ''Huah That''s good. I was-'' Taking a sigh of relief, Aiden just noticed the faint giggling that came from behind him. He opened his eyes only to be a witness to an incredibly heartwarming sight. His little servant, the shy girl Galina was finally enjoying herself, acting like a girl she deep inside was. She was rolling around the bed, giggling to herself, enjoying thefort that she found herself in for the first time in her life. Aiden simply smiled at this scene, before turning around and returning his focus to the matters at hand. Exhaling slowly, he cleared his head from all the disturbing thoughts, he closed his eyes, diving deeper and deeper into his own subconscious. Before bringing up the system''s screen, he decided to once again try to enter his Soul Space, from which he was somehow forcefully expelled thest time. However, to his surprise, he felt a new barrier, an invisible wall blocking him. He himself could not enter, but luckily his thoughts could still reach its residents. He could feel the connection he shared with Enya, and the newest resident, the red-haired little girl, Rygintarth. ''Master, are you looking for me?'' Feeling his master''s presence, Ryg reached out, her bell-like child-like voice resounding in Aiden''s mind. ''No, I was just checking something Seems like I can''t visit you personally for the time being'' Aiden sighed. He wasn''t sure what would happen if he would try to force his way in, and he felt it wouldn''t be the best time to experiment anyway. He was about tounch an important change and update the system. Who knows, maybe with the update, this barrier, this blockade would vanish as well. ''Rygintarth understands. If Master finds himself in trouble, please do not hesitate to call out for me. Remember the promise we made! I have vowed to serve and guide you, protect you from the dangers of this world! Please allow me to fulfill my purpose!'' Ryg''s plea-like response came once more before Aiden felt the connection closing. He decided to let it go and just left his inner space, returning to the real world. Shaking his head lightly, he focused his mind and called out for her trusted guide. ''Enya!'' A momentter he felt her presence appear, her already expected question arrived. ''[Are you ready Aiden? Would you like me to start the Upgrade?]'' A brief moment passed again in silence, as Aiden reaffirmed his decision. With his eyes still closed, he gave a slight nod, responding mentally to the ''voiced'' question. ''Yes. Start it. Let''s get it over with. However, before you do, could I ask you to let me know when I can freely change my appearance once again?'' ''[Certainly, Aiden. Starting the Upgrade Process in 3 2]'' Enya''s mature voice came in the next moment, along with the system''s screen showing the message for the upgrade. ''Wait! One more question! Will I be able to use my skills, or will they be locked?'' ''[While none of your skills be locked, there will be slight changes to some of its effects. For example, although you will be able to use [Meditation] and restore your spent [Soul Power], you will not be able to gain experience without the system''s assistance. You will also not be able to reach out to your Minions in the other world, nor would you be able to open the portal to it. As for Galina, your currently active minion, she will be forced to stay in the real world for the duration of the upgrade.]'' She exined. ''Thanks That is fine. Sorry, you can resume the countdown.'' Aiden thanked her, returning his attention to the screen floating in front of him. [System Upgrade Process is starting in 3 2 1] [Warning! The System will be unavable for the duration of the upgrade process. Estimated Total Upgrade Time: 49 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds] With that, the system turned silent, only the count down remained at the top right corner of his vision, slowly pacing, ticking down. As the Upgrade began, and the System seemingly turned offline, Aiden felt a strange emptiness inside him. As if a part of him suddenly vanished, leaving behind nothing but the void. It was a strange, slightly ufortable feeling, he felt exposed. To his great surprise, he felt a sense of loneliness as if someone important suddenly went away. It was vaguely simr to when Enya turned silent and was forced to leave him to recuperate. Even though he knew that this time, there was a strict, defined time when he would be without the mysterious magical construct, he couldn''t help but feel this way. Knowing he had to calm down and clear his head if he wished to enter the meditative state he was taught, he heaved arge gasp of air before keeping it down for a couple of moments. Taking a bit of time, he slowly began exhaling, whilst focusing on the teachings of his Master. Now without the aid of the system, he had to do his session the normal way. A couple of seconds passed without much sess. He smirked at himself, remembering the words of his Master that she gave to Lily back then. "Breathe in and breathe out. Focus on your breathing, feel as the air enters your lungs. Feel as it circtes, focus on the energies surrounding you. Feel their echo in your heart" He mumbled the teaching, following along. Taking inrge gasps, and slowly exhaling it a couple of times, he eventually felt as the rhythmic, rapid beating became a slower, much more majestic thumping sound, his heart entered that perfect, calm state he needed. With it, he himself calmed down, he felt tranquil, as if nothing could shake him at that moment. Once again felt that familiar peace, that once managed to calm his raging emotions, and enabled him to reach this profoundness. He could feel the strange intangible, hollow tubes, the channels where the energy continuously flowed and coursed around his body. It was simr to the venous, the cardiovascr system in his body, but at the same time, it was vastly different. Unlike those, this was for his soul only. It could be referred to as the Spiritual System if we were forced tobel it. It was something that ording to Master''s teaching should be present to every living being, but it was dormant. At its center, acting as its ''brain'' was the same Monster Core, the crystallized organ. As his will consciousness continued descending deeper, he focused on his iprehensible, intangible pool, the source of his power, the [Soul Power]. Exhaling once, his will followed along with the flow, like if he was riding a current in a torrential river. In the span of a few seconds, his will traveled with this river to all ends, nooks, and crannies in his body, just like before. His Master''s teaching rang inside his mind once again. He focused on this energy, the source of life, the base of his power, slowly diving into it, letting his consciousness submerge in its magical energies. While inwardly he was reaching the same profound, perfect state that he reached once before, on the outside a faint, golden hue slowly covered his body, surrounded him. A high-pitched buzzing sound apanied this glow as if his glowing coat of energy reacted to the various particles in the air. Unlike the first time, however, the light didn''t intensify, and the sound also gradually calmed down. He continued on, retaining this perfect state, feeling the energies coursing through and enriching, revitalizing his body and flesh. The spent stamina and energy were continuously restored, whilst his understanding in the profanities of these strangews slowly deepened. Behind him, the giggling has already died down, Galina was sitting with a wondrous gaze on the bed, looking at his Young Master. As she kept looking at his Young Master''s glowing body, her stun slowly transformed into a determined expression, she began to focus on his action with keen interest. She wanted to grow stronger, and not be a burden, she wanted to follow in his footsteps and learn everything. Chapter 338 - 338 - An Unexpected Situation Before he even realized it, the bright rays of the morning sun cast a bright pir of light through the four squared sections of the window, dispersing the nightly shade and enforcing its presence known to the residents of the cozy, little room. Feeling the warm sunlight on his skin, Aiden''s consciousness gradually returned to reality, he ended his nightly meditation session. His eyelids fluttering, they slowly peeled open, revealing the exotic, golden irises of his. He felt refreshed as if he took a long rest, Aiden stretched his limbs in his spot and stood up from the floor. As he looked up, letting out a smaller yawn, it was only now when he spotted the change that his body underwent during the course of the night. He was no longer green-skinned, he was no longer in the form of the Goblin Lord, but instead, he returned to his ''default'' human-like appearance. Also, he felt bursting with power, like as if he was back at his peak Unfortunately, he couldn''t confirm this fact, as with a single nce to the top right corner of his vision he saw the continued countdown, reminding him that the System was still offline. [Total Remaining Upgrade Time: 41 hours 14 minutes 23 seconds] Although he had a faint idea, he wanted to get confirmation, he called out mentally to his guide, hoping that just like she promised, she would still be avable. ''Enya, are you there?'' He called out mentally, with a bit of worry in his voice. However, a secondter, he could sigh in relief when he felt the familiar presence appear, and her mature tone of voice filled his mind. ''[Yes, Aiden. I am at your service.]'' She responded to the call calmly. ''Enya, can you tell me what happened during the night? How did I change back without me being aware of it?'' He was puzzled, truly befuddled by the fact that he somehow turned back without his knowledge. Even though that it was not a problem for now, if it would happen when he was outside and would reveal his secret to others, it could spell disaster not just for him but all of those that are important to him. Her answer, however, caused him further puzzlement. ''[Unfortunately, without the System I am unable to do an in-depth analysis on what could have happened, but I am fairly certain that it was done by you subconsciously. Once the cool down haspleted, your body instantly transformed, returning to your normal state.]'' ''What? I did this? How could I? I was deep in [Meditation], I shouldn''t have been able to'' He argued, trying to wreck his brain as hard as he could to find an answer to this enigma. Sadly, his efforts were futile, as he couldn''te up with anything. He did remember being concerned about staying in this form and forced to wear the mask and hide his body from everyone for the next few days, but that shouldn''t have affected him in this manner. Or could it? Could his wish, his hope somehow activate his subconscious and initiate a transformation like that? If so, could this be a skill, this newfound ability of his be trained? It could turn out to be an incredible advantage, an unexpected boon that could allow his mind to focus on the tasks at hand instead of focusing on the various time limitations he would otherwise have to keep in mindter on. Thinking about the possibilities, the initial concern and worry faded from his expression, reced by an expectant glint. He was still smirking, as he turned around and saw another surprising sight. Galina, his cute follower, was still sitting on the top of the bed, mimicking him. Although it was faint, he could feel the energies converging around her body. He could feel a familiar power coursing through her. She was actually meditating! "What the How? How did she do it?" He muttered,pletely bbergasted at her sight. "How did she cultivate [Soul Power]? Did she somehow manage to convert some of the mana in her body using her Primal Core? But how is that possible?" ''[Through the connection you both share. While you were deeply entrenched in your own self, she was focusing on what you were doing and did her best to copy it and mimic it.]'' Enya exined, giving only a momentary pause as she went further. ''[I noticed her actions and monitored her state throughout the night. Even without the system, it is clear that she somehow gained insight into some of the mysteries surrounding this still unexplored form of hers. She does have a Primal Core now, and although it''s still rtively small, she found a way through trial and error how to utilize it. Aiden, what she is doing, is unprecedented, and not something that normally should be possible. I suspect that her affinity towards the Mystical arts and her determination to follow your path gave her this unexpected insight.]'' She said with appreciation in her voice. ''She did? H-how? What is she doing currently? Is she safe?'' Understanding the dangers behind such an action, Aiden worriedly asked. If her action would cause irreparable damage to her, then no matter what benefits, new powers she would gain from her first-ever meditation, it would never be worth it. Her life was much more important than some increment in her strength no matter the volume. ''[She is safe, for the time being. However, she shouldn''t be disturbed, any interruption in her concentration could result in a disaster. The session, this refining she is currently doing is very delicate. Mana by nature is pretty vtile, she needs peace and silence for the time being.]'' Her words failed to calm his worries, he looked at Galina with concern. ''What can I do then? How long would she remain in this state?'' He continued firing questions after questions, perturbed by this unexpected situation. If she would be capable, she would be smiling as she was listening to the boy''s concerns. This boy was so kind-hearted just like his father She shook herself, focusing on the problem at hand. ''[I am not sure, to be honest. There are no data avable to me, to cross-check. I can only give a rough estimate based on the power fluctuations around her body.]'' ''That is fine, I couldn''t even do something like that!'' He eximed, his nervousness rapidly rising. ''How long do you suspect would she need to keep meditating?'' ''[Based on what I can see and feel, I would say, that she most likely will remain in this state for the day. However, I could be wrong, and she could remain like this for multiple days, or she could wake up in a couple of hours Sorry, Aiden.]'' Enya responded in an apologetic tone. After all, this was the first time, she couldn''t provide direct, factual response and had to rely on guesstimates. ''She needs to be kept safe and protected! I need to stay he-'' ''[Aiden, you do not need to be here. For one, I can keep on monitoring her state through the connection you share with her. Also, you do have someone you could actually ask to protect her while you are away.]'' Enya interjected, freezing the words in him. ''But Why should I leave?! I can keep her safe the best!'' Aiden argued, reluctant to the idea of just simply leaving the girl alone. Expecting an answer from Enya, he was quite surprised and shocked when the bell-like childish voice of the red-haired maiden de, Rygintarth resounded in his mind. ''Master, I believe your aide was referring to me. I can leave your Soul Space and keep your servant safe and sound. Please don''t take this the hard way, but I can keep her safer than you. I can cast a protective aura around her, blocking all sound as well as other forms of potential disturbances in the process.'' ''[Also, you need to get back to the Guild Hall, and find the brown-haired boy and the curly girl. They are waiting for you. You also have only a couple of days left before the Wargames. You can''t stay cooped up here.]'' Enya added, acting like how a mother would instruct her child. ''But'' Aiden tried toe with an argument other than him wanting to stay by her side, but unfortunately, he couldn''t think of anything. What Ryg exined was true, she could be a much better protector than he could be. As for his need to visit the guild and to get ready and other obligations, he wasn''t really bothered. He couldn''t care less who would end uping out victorious and bing the next City Leader of this city. Apart from a very few, select people, he wasn''t feeling any attachment to humanity. Even though he was one in his past life, he now epted the fact that he was no longer that. He also started to ept that even hisst life was merely a stage, a temporary ''stop'' that was orchestrated by his parents for whatever reason. In the end, he could only sigh and acquiesce to the girls'' words. He knew they were right and he would only be a ''disturbance'', just like Ryg had stated. Chapter 339 - 339 - Coles Predicament (Part 1) Aiden looked at his cute little servant, Galina a while longer, trying to calm the torment of emotions still storming inside his heart. Even though he knew, he understood with his mind that what the girls have advised was the correct, safer path, his heart just couldn''t agree to it. He wanted to be close by, and give it his all, in case of whatever problem would arise. This girl is doing something that is not just incredibly dangerous, and equally as risky, but unlike him, she had no proper guidance on how to approach such a subject. She was basically winging it, going forward by feeling alone. This may have miraculously worked for her for the time being, but what if something unforeseen would happen? What if she runs out of mana to convert? What would happen then? Could she end the session normally, or would she suffer some kind of bacsh? Understanding his worries, Enya''s voice came to his mind once again. ''[As I said before, you can rx Aiden. There is no need to worry. Even if this process is not something that should have happened, it is not a bad thing. What she is doing is actually beneficial to herself. By converting the mana in her body, she is naturally evolving herself. She would no longer rely on that source of low-quality energy but instead will use [Soul Power] in the future. Not to mention she would be closer to the elements she has an affinity towards, and she would also be able to use much less of her new reserves for the same effect. Also, she would be able to sustain her illusion much longer, turning it from a ticking time bomb, into a reliable effect. At the same time, the effect would be much stronger, causing it that even those much more advanced in the terms of the mystic arts would have trouble seeing through her disguise.]'' She exined, attempting to calm the boy down. ''But'' Aiden tried to argue, but before he coulde up with an argument, he was cut short as Enya continued further. ''[If anything bad happens, we will be able to handle it. Just go on, and get back to the other ones, they are probably waiting for you. Also, you should find that brown-haired human boy as well. I couldn''t feel him in the innst night at all.]'' Her mention of Cole or the strangeck of his presence finally seemed to do the trick and got through Aiden''s resistance. ''What? Are you sure?'' The missing friend managed to catch Aiden''s attention. ''Maybe he went to a different ce since I was missing? But even if that''s the case, why? I was only gone for a few days unless it was urgent, he would have probably waited for me'' He spected. Looking at the girl sitting cross-legged, fully embraced in her own meditation, Aiden sighed, finally epting the words of the two girls. ''Okay you won. You are right, I would just hinder her and probably you two as well.'' He spoke turning her attention to the sword girl paying attention from her soul space. ''Ryg,e out and protect her. I will be back tonight, I will search for the whereabouts of Cole, a human friend of mine.'' A momentter, the sword marking on her chest red up as the red-haired girl appeared a momentter in a frilly, matching, rose-colored dress. She bowed, sping her hand behind her body. ''As youmand, Master. I will keep her safe and sound while you are away.'' She spoke with an acquiescing, subservient tone. In the next moment, she spun, turning around and facing the girl. She raised her hands above her head in the air, drawing an arc with her index fingers. As she did, the air resonated where her fingers draw a line, forming something akin to a dome made out of energy, covering the entirety of the bed in a protective cover. The formation of the bubble was soundless, and formless, only a brief, barely perceptible fluctuation could be seen as it stretched around the area of its effect. Although he was without the system, Aiden was fairly certain that whatever she did was a pretty high-level form of magic. Her actions were slick, she cast the magic effortlessly as if it was nothing. With her spell cast, Ryg turned around again, looking at the boy with an inquiring look. ''Master, why are you still here? Shouldn''t you be on your way? I am okay here. As you requested, once anything changes, I will contact you using the mental link we have.'' ''[Come Aiden, you should leave now. With Ryg staying behind, I can keep monitoring the situation here through her.]'' Enya added. ''Alright. Stay safe, little Galina, I hope you can fulfill your desires and grow as strong as you hope.'' He muttered to himself, before turning around and walking to the door. As he grabbed the handle, he looked behind him onest time, smiled warmly at the girl, before pushing it down, and leaving the room a momentter. While he couldn''t help but worry about her, he had to find what happened to that kind-hearted but hopelessly unlucky team mate of his. After scanning the rooms in the hall and finding that the royal brother and sister pair was no longer in their rooms, Aiden walked to the rails at the end, and leaned against him, looking through the much calmer and thinner crowd below. Unlike how it wasst night, the morning atmosphere wasn''t anywhere like that. The enticing smell of roasted meat and sausages permeated the air, recing the smell of alcohol, transforming the ce from a run-down pub into a proper, hearty inn instead. After a brief moment of looking around, he spotted the silvery back of Drake''s head sitting at the corner, with his back against him. Opposite of him, the fiery red-haired princess, Scarlet was having a fierce battle against a ratherrge te of several types of meat. From the delighted look on her face, she was leaning towards victory in her arduous, morning sh whilst her brother was seemed to be only slurping something from a smaller wooden cup. As their eyes met, Scarlet yelped in surprise, dropping the half-devoured sausage from her hand and pointing towards her with a shocked, astounded expression, catching her brother''s attention in the process. Following her sister''s gaze, Drake turned around only to be shocked and astounded as well. However, after the moment passed, a wide smirk-like smile stretched the edges of his lips, he waved at the boy toe down and join them. Aiden nodded at his request, turning towards the stairs and leaving the upper floor, descending to the inn''s ground floor to join them in their morning breakfast, but not before heading to the counter and asking for a te of what could be counted as his usual dish by now: A te full of several types of meat with a few fried vegetables on the side. After paying for it using one of the Draquilean Coins he had, he pointed towards the siblings at the corner close to the door, so his food could be delivered where he would be, he turned around and walked towards hispanions. As he arrived, before he could greet them, Drake alreadyunched a series of questions at him. "What the hell Aiden? What were you doing for so long? And when did you change back? Also" Looking behind him and seeing that his masked and hoodedpanion is not with him, he asked with increased curiosity. "Where is your little follower? Is she still asleep?" A mischievous smirk appearing on his face, he added whilst showing an appreciative thumbs up with his right hand. "Did you perhaps tire her out too much during the night?" Before Aiden could answer, a loud smack echoed around them. Scarlet, with cheeks as red as her hair, jumped up from her seat and hit her brother at the top of his head with her fist. "Aargh! Hey sis, why-" He cried out, grabbing his aching top. "Y-you! You pigs! W-what are you saying?! H-he would H-how would he" She was mad and so incredibly embarrassed that she found it difficult to phrase what was troubling him. "What are you saying? What would it bother you if Aiden would have a rtionship with his servant? It''s not like" In the middle of his sentence, the realization hit Drake, he turned surprised, looking at her sister thoughtfully. "Oh I get it now!" He looked at his friend, who looked like one who had absolutely no idea what was happening. "Aiden Tell us, did you do something with the girlst night?" Looking at how both siblings were looking at him with scrutinizing eyes, Aiden didn''t know how to respond. What were they even talking about? What could they even do? Luckily, before he would have had the chance to start exining himself, the big motherly middle-aged woman, the chef, and wife of the innkeeper arrived behind them with a tter full of the delicious morning substance that Aiden craved for so much. Chapter 340 - 340 - Coles Predicament (Part 2) After the brief episode, eventually, they allowed Aiden to finish up his breakfast in rtive peace and silence, but not before they were assured that he did nothing untoward with the hooded girl. Although Aiden asked what they were actually so worried about, they refused to answer and instead guided the conversation towards other not-so-interesting topics. In the end, Aiden couldn''t find out, what the huss was all about, and just focused on finishing up the entirety of his tter. As he was engorged in his meal, Drake decided to speak up, guiding the flow of the conversation. "So, Aiden, what are your ns for today? For myself, I want to register Scarlet as a new adventurer and do some quests together. Wanna join? We could form a team and work together!" He offered, with a clear, expectant glint in his eyes. He was hoping to continue working together with the boy, as not just he was his first and sadly, only true friend, but he was also incredibly strong and powerful. Who wouldn''t want a partner such as him? "Mmpfh t Mmpf!" Aiden shook his head, whilst swallowing down the current piece of meat, which only earned confused looks from the siblings. As it was automatically converted to active energy by his body, he sighed with content and repeated his answer. "I said, I can''t join." He calmly stated, taking a moment to put down his fork, and exining further without the need to ask. "I cannot join for the moment as I need to find someone. He seems to be missing." "What do you mean Aiden? Who is missing? Someone, you know?" Scarlet chimed in, looking into the boy''s exotic, golden eyes. "Hmm" Aiden didn''t answer immediately but thought about it for a couple of seconds before returning his attention to the girl, and nodding. "Yes. He is a friend, and at the same time, my current partner." Looking at the surprised looks of both, Aiden remained calm and collected. He turned towards Drake, exining further. "He is my team mate. You see, he was the one I was working with. He and I had a room here in this inn. A few days ago, when I left for thest mission, we still had our rooms, however,st night he never returned." As he exined, his expression slowly transformed, revealing small traces of worry, which was captured by both siblings. "Hmm What do you think could have happened to him? Could he have just checked out and left the room? Did you ask the innkeeper?" Scarlet suggested. "Mm-mm. Not yet, but I will do so now." He answered, standing up from his seat in the next second and grabbed his empty te. He turned to look at the brother and sister duo, but before he could offer them to stay, they already followed suit and walked next to him. "Before you say, we wille with you. We have already finished anyway, so let''s just ask the innkeeper. Who knows, he may have just checked out and went to a different ce." Drake spoke, turning towards the counter, his small and now empty cup in his hands. " *Sigh* Fine" Aiden sighed as the group left their corner box. As they walked, he couldn''t help but ask. "By the way What were you drinking? Aren''t you going to be starvingter?" "It''s fine." Drake smiled at his friend''s question, already expecting it. "It''s a morning drink, usually served only to nobles. It''s called coffee, it has a peculiar taste that I kind of enjoy, whilst also giving you a burst in energy. It''s a new trend, swiping through the nobility of the Kingdom brought in from somewhere in East." The mention of its special qualities caused Aiden''s interest to rise in this new drink. If it was truly like what Drake described, it could be quite beneficial to him. Although he got quite used to the taste of food, at the end of the day, what his body needed was only the energy. He wasn''t feeling hunger in the same sense as others did. "Coffee I will make sure to give it a tryter on. Thanks, Drake." He muttered, turning his attention back to the counter as they have arrived while they were engaged in their discourse. Raising his hand, he waved at the innkeeper who was currently talking with another customer, a man, looking older, and slightly shorter and thinner than them. He was wearing a set of a violet-colored silk robe, making him look slightly out-of-ce in an establishment such as this. The emblem of a flower looking simr to a rose was embroidered above his heart with pale, yellowish thread. He was mostly bald, with only a single ponytail hanging from the back of his head. He was clean-shaven, and had a flowery smell to him, making it obvious he wasn''t amoner in the slightest. He pulled out a rolled-up piece of brownish paper from his gown and gave it to the innkeeper who looked aghast upon receiving it. He carefully grabbed the pergamen, before bowing in front of the thin, bald nobleman, daring not to look at him any longer. The man scoffed at this disy, his disdain clearly visible in his dark-brown eyes. As he turned around, his eyes met with Aiden''s golden ones for a brief moment before he stood up and left the inn with hurried steps. Aiden was quite surprised, as he felt a strange, yet familiar form of energy around his figure. It was the same as he felt in Roas and even in Galina or any of his servants capable of casting spells. It was mana, but it was much thicker than any he felt before. ''[Yes, Aiden, what you felt was indeed mana. The man had very rich reserves, he is most likely a powerful spellcaster.]'' Enya''s voice suddenly resounded in his mind, confirming his suspicion. Aiden didn''t respond to his guide but instead turned towards Drake whispering his question. "Who was that man? What could he have been doing here? And what did he do?" However, as he looked at his friend, he noticed how his hands were balled into fists, he was tightly clenching them. "What is it, Drake?" He asked another question, cing his right hand over his left shoulder, trying to calm him. Seeing as the innkeeper hurriedly ran towards the back with the rolled-up piece of paper tightly held in his hands, Drake knew they have a bit of time before he would return. He closed his eyes and slowly exhaling, sighing to gather his lostposure. After a few seconds, he slowly opened them, and whispered to the two, seeing how worried Scarlet looked. "He was one of the mages of the Academy. Judging from his aura, and the emblem on the robe, I presume he is from the Elder''s Circle, probably one of the aides to an Elder." He exined, giving it a moment before going further. "Something probably happened, otherwise such a prestigious figure wouldn''t havee to this section of the city, under any circumstances. I have no idea what he had given to the innkeeper, but it must be something important to have caused such a change of emotions to appear on the old man''s face and for him to react in such a way." Aiden frowned after hearing his friend speak. What could have happened that would be important enough to cause a figure such as that man to personallye here? Even though he was technically an aide, a glorified servant to some higher up, just how he dressed, how he behaved was a clear sign that he wasn''t on the same level as the average person. Aiden''s heart stirred, he had a feeling that everything was connected. An ominous, eerie feeling washed through him. "Could this be rted to Cole''s suddenly turning missing?" "I I don''t know" Drake replied, looking at the door in the back opening back up and the old innkeeper appearing once again with a still pale-looking expression. "Come, let''s ask the old man instead of trying to guess. We can''t know for certain." "H-hey dear customers, how c-can I help?" As the innkeeper got to them, he asked, putting on a brave front, but utterly failing a secondter when he spoke up. His tone betrayed his y, it was meek, powerless, he was stuttering. Beads of sweat glistened at his forehead, showing how clearly troubled and afraid he was. ''[Whatever was that note, it clearly made him afraid, Aiden. He is terrified, scared of someone or something.]'' In the next moment, Enya''s voice rang out once again in Aiden''s mind. ''[Strangely though It seems that whilst he is scared of something, he is also afraid of you Not sure the reason, but you can probably push him a bit for answers. Just make sure not to go overboard.]'' She added after a moment. He gave a slight nod before he raised his attention towards the fidgeting old man. The usual smile faded from his face, reced by a stoic, stern outlook, his eyes abruptly red out, glowing with an ominous golden light as he focused his gaze on the innkeeper''s figure. "Speak. Where is my friend?" Chapter 341 - 341 - Coles Predicament (Part 3) "Speak. Where is my friend?" Aiden''s tone as he asked the question, even though it was calm, carried a not-too hidden threat as well. His tone was much gloomier, with an added otherworldly power to it. Combined with his terrifying set of glowing golden eyes, it caused quite a fright to stir in the old innkeeper. He yelped in shock, taking a step back, raising his hands in front of him in a protective manner. "I said SPEAK!" Aiden roared out angrily, hitting the top of the counter so hard that the sturdy surface actually cracked under his might. His voice thundering in the inn caused a sudden silence and all eyes to look at them. "Aiden, calm down. I''m sure this gentleman here would not hesitate to exin himself to us. After all, we just want to know about someone that used his establishment. He doesn''t want any trouble on himself, no need to worry." Drake stepped forward, gently grabbing his friend''s left shoulder, and looked at the innkeeper with obvious threat glinting in his eyes. A nasty grin stretching his lips, the meaning behind his words, or to be more precise, the THREAT that it carried was clear and obvious to the old man. He gulped audibly before stepped forward once again and looking at the long, dark-haired, monstrous-looking boy. "D-dear customer W-who are you r-r-referring to?" He asked meekly, averting his gaze and instead focusing on the counter. His eyes wandered to the small cave-in that the boy had made on the wooden board, wandering away a momentter without showing any change of emotion. "My friend came with me when he took two rooms upstairs. Short, brown-haired boy, around the same height as us, thin frame. He checked in as Cole Phamas. Did he check out recently? Have you seen him?" Aiden asked, with a slight annoyance in his tone. He felt that from the man''s reaction he was obviously aware of who he was looking for, yet he ran these pointless circles. "I-I-I" The old man shook his head vehemently, denying all thoughts and usations. "I-I h-haven''t seen this person. No. I-I d-don''t know who the d-dear customer is talking about." He stammered, refusing to speak up. Aiden could only sigh at this, before cing both his hands atop the counter. Averting his gaze, he looked at the wooden top, focused more on the thin spiderweb cracks that he had caused a moment ago. "You see." He spoke up after a brief moment, shocking all three in the process. His tonepletely transformed, carrying an unfamiliar dark, deep undertone. He was speaking coldly, his words were filled with contempt. "I am really starting to hate your kind. You humans, the weakest of all I have seen so far, yet acting as if you were the kings of this world" His tone and words starting to scare the siblings as well, Drake reached out again, trying to calm him, looking more worried and concerned than scared. "Aiden Don''t get mad He is just afraid He is a simple man, a husband, he can''t fight against the forces that we are facing. Don''t lose yourself." "Yeah, Aiden. It''s not worth it. You already made your point, I am certain he wouldn''t lie to us anymore." Scarlet added, looking at the shivering old man with a scrutinizing gaze. "Right, Mr. Innkeeper?" "Y-yes! I-I-I am s-sorry, I j-just remembered! Mr. Cole Phamas right? Umm" The old man hurriedly nodded at the red-haired girl''s words, gabbling his words in attempt to hurriedly get it out. Listening to all of them, Aiden sighed, his fingers plunging into the wooden board as he tried clenching his hands. He closed his eyes, as he continued to inhale and slowly exhale for a couple of seconds longer before he opened them back up again. Once his eyelids parted for the second time, the golden light was no longer there, his outlook returned to rtively normal. His lips parting, he spoke in his normal, calm, mostly emotionless voice once again. "Yes. Cole Phamas. When did you see himst? Did he check out? Do you know where he went?" This time, the old innkeeper did not deny anything, he revealed what he knew instantly. "Umm He did check out yesterday morning, although he never came here himself. T-that umm... That robed man that just left, came and informed us that they have taken in the young man into their fold and that he would not be returning to this ce any more." He gulped as he saw that that the boy''s grip caused further cracks to appear and spread on his counter before continuing. "H-he also informed us that I shouldn''t worry, this is rted to the Academy and that nobody, not the guards, the nobles, or even the royal family would dare to bother about the matter. In fact, he just returned and gave me a warning that if the word would get out, they woulde for my family and ''invite us'' as well." As he said this, he could no longer contain himself, he fell on his knees on the ground and cried out whilst battling with his flow of tears. "I-I I''m sorry I can''t anger them I''m just an old man, I can''t endanger my family! Please young sirs and madam" He kowtowed on the ground, hitting his head loudly against the wooden floorboards as he begged. "Please, I beg you all Don''t do anything that would anger this group! I can''t fight against them!" While the brother and sister pair looked shocked as they listened to the old man''s tale, Aiden''s expression remained unreadable. As the man finished, he looked at him for a while longer, before asking in an insipid tone. "What did you mean by ''joining their fold''. What does that entail?" The old man remained on the ground, kowtowed as he responded amidst his desperate sobs. "I don''t know young sir! I am just a simple man, running this inn, I have no knowledge about the dealings of something as prestigious as the Academy! Please forgive me!" "Aiden" Drake gave a gentle, light squeeze on his shoulder as he spoke with a worried and equally as sad, sorrow tone of voice. "it means the same as what happened to to" "To our little brother, Dan." Scarlet finished his brother''s words with a deep frown. She was actually just as disturbed as his brother. What did they mean by that not even the royal family would dare to speak up? What was his father doing?! The air trembled around Aiden, as he remained still after listening to the siblings. He closed his eyes once again and sighed several times before he nodded towards the old man''s shivering figure still in his kowtowed posture. He slowly let go of the half-destroyed wooden board of the counter and took a step back. "I see. Thanks for the information old man. Don''t worry, we won''t say a word about this. You have nothing to worry about." He turned around and without saying another word, left towards the door. His hands were tightly clenched, the air around him visibly distorted as he walked. Even though he did not let his anger or aura to go unrestrained, it was still a terrifying sight. A couple of stepster the siblings joined him after cing a few coins on the destroyed counter and turning around, looking at Aiden''s figure with worried, concerned gazes. As they walked out of the building, the ce remained silent, all eyes followed their departure with a mixture of shock, fright, and interest behind their gazes. The old innkeeper remained on the floor all the way as he followed the youngster''s receding back. He was still shivering in fright His heart couldn''t calm down. A momentter as the trio left the building, the back door snapped open, the figure of his wife appeared, rushing towards her husband. "Dear, are you okay? What happened?" She asked with concern as she helped her man up. The old man, however, shook his head, before taking a sigh and looking at the door with a deep gaze. "Nothing. We shouldn''t concern ourselves with any of this. Whatever is going on, is way above us, its best if we remain out of any of it." He stood back up with the help of his wife and walked towards the counter, taking the coins that the royal siblings left for him. "Do not talk about what happened to anyone. Let''s just fix this and return to our work." He spoke, looking at the door with aplicated look. The moment he felt the majestic pressure, that inexplicable presence oozing out from the boy, he knew that this is not something he should be involved with. He was just a small figure, a nobody, he had no ce in between these powerful figures. Although he was a nobody, he was still an adventurer in his earlier days, he could sort of understand the power of others. He could easily guess that the violet-robed man was a powerful mage, but when he felt this inhumane pressure, this incredible powering from the boy, he couldn''t even guess how powerful this youngster could have been. One thing, he was certain about: Something big is going to go down in their little city! Chapter 342 - 342 - Calming The Storm "What are you nning to do Aiden?" As they left the inn, Drake was the first to speak up and ask the clearly troubled and angry boy. Hearing the pretty obvious question with the visible concern intermixed into his friend''s voice, Aiden halted his steps and let out a heavier sigh. He reached for his temple, rubbed it as he spoke after a few seconds of silent contemtion. "I''m not sure about what you two want to do, but I for myself will go and rescue him." Surprisingly, even though he was clearly mad, his tone wasn''t reflecting his emotions. It had an eerie quality of calmness to it. It was unnatural to say the least, causing a shiver to run through both sibling''s bodies as they heard it. "Listen, Aiden" Drake spoke up, forcing a smile to stretch across his face oveing the fear that started to settle into his heart. "I know you want to charge in headfirst and rescue him. Believe me, I" He heard a coughing from his side. Looking at her, he almost jumped, her sister was staring at her with a fierce, dissatisfied expression. " Sorry, WE both understand what you feel. Don''t forget, we also have one of our missing brothers trapped there. For much, much longer than your friend, Cole has." His words, however, didn''t seem to manage to calm Aiden''s heart. He clenched his fists as he responded with a bit more coldness than before. "What about it? What are you implying?" "What my stupid brother was trying to say" Seeing that the conversation was going towards a direction neither of them wanted, Scarlet decided to jump in. She stepped closer and ced her right hand over Aiden''s right shoulder. An uncanny,passionate smile appeared on her face, as she exined. "What he was trying to say, is that we are also just as agitated to go there as you are. Trust me, the faster I could see Little Dan and rescue him from that horrible ce I wouldn''t hesitate. However, we can''t rush in without thinking through our options and devising a suitable n. You can''t just rush in and kill hundreds, or thousands of others unrted to the plots of a few devilish individuals. We need a n." Clenching his fists tightly, Aiden closed his eyes as he took in arge gasp of air. They were obviously right, he shouldn''t always act on his emotions. Even Master made this point several times during their training, but still How could he leave someone close to him to suffer? If he has the power, why can''t he act? Why does he need to care about these people? He took a few moments to keep all the air and with it, all of his frustrations inside. He let them mix together, creating a chaotic mess as he slowly began to exhale, eject all of them out. With the used-up air, he exhaled all the troubling emotions, all the worries he had. As all the useless negativity left his body, serenity once again entered his heart. His troubled, trembling closed eyelids, turned smooth, his frown eased up, a small smile curved at the edges of his lips. His tight hold over his balled-up fists, rxed. At the same time, the chaotic, invisible aura that swirled around him, the agitated essences lingering in the air also calmed down and receded back into his body. Once again, Aiden regained his calm and cool. He understood that although he was worried about his friend, he shouldn''t act like a spoiled child, but should act more responsibly. Scarlet, and even though he would never admit it, Drake as well was right. They needed to think the situation through and devise a n. They should also let the ones closest to them know. Eventually, Aiden opened his eyes. The madness was cleared, he looked back at the smiling Scarlet matching it with his own smile, before turning towards Drake and nodding at him as well. "You are right. We need to think this through. Let''s go to the Guild Hall first and ask if they know anything." He said, turning around and ready to depart. Before he could do so, Drake pulled on his arm, forcing him to turn back. "Wait! Who would you even ask there? Why would they know anything about one little Rank 1 Adventurer? Even if theyply, which I highly doubt, they could at most, tell thest quest he took." He asked. Although he didn''t mean to mock or look down on anybody, the way he phrased his question was easily misunderstood. His sister, Scarlet, could feel the derogatory tone from his brother''s inquiry. With a frown, she lightly punched his side. "Drake!" She chided as if a mother would his unruly child. "What? This is the truth! I''m not trying to be an arse, but this is how the system works! There are several ranks above the boy. In the capital, even a Rank 2 would be a nobody! My Rank 3 is also nothing that impressive, I am barely counted as a regr! I just don''t want Aiden to put his hopes up high and then face disappointment!" Feeling that he was judged innocently, Drake argued with a hurtful look on his face. "Still, you could have phrased it in a much better way! No need to be so harsh!" Scarlet scolded, not moved by his brother''s theatrical disy at all. Meanwhile, Aiden was enjoying their little debate. He was smiling at them, feeling that finally, they all started to move closer together. He always felt a bit of a distanceing from the girl, ever since they first met in the Slums during her escape. For Drake, whilst he didn''t truly hate the boy, he couldn''t be counted as a true friend either. He was more of an acquaintance, someone that had some usefulness. However, he was haughty and despite him being so devoted to reuniting his torn family and get revenge on his own father for his actions, he still sometimes acted like a typical noble, or royalty would: Looking down from a high pedestal as if he was steps above the world just because of the nature of his birth. Aiden understood that this wasn''t intentional on his part and that, unlike the real nobles, he was much more down to the earth, much calmer. He didn''t seem to have any prejudice against people in other social casts, and he was also working on epting other humanoid races. After all, after their first meeting with Roas and Aiden''s other servants, he gradually became much more rxed. After all, he even offered a helping hand for the problem they were facing with Galina. All in all, Drake was a human, that Aiden slowly began to ept and let closer. Sighing, Aiden raised his hands, silencing both parties instantly. He looked at them with a warmer smile, as he spoke to both of them. "Rx guys. I appreciate for defending my feelings Scarlet, but Drake is right. A rank 1 adventurer wouldn''t make a mark anywhere. That''s the initial stage when you join the guild, that''s the rank you would normally get." He exined causing a small pout to appear on the girl''s lips while at the same time, a victorious smile to emerge on the brother''s. Seeing this, Aiden''s smile curved even higher, equipping a slight, naughty quality. "However, who said Cole is a Rank 1? Besides, we have a friend there, she should know what happened." Instantly, the smile froze from Drake''s face, whilst the pout also faded from Scarlet''s expression. Before any of them could speak and continue their little sibling quarrel, Aiden turned around and waved at them. "Come guys, we should get to the guild. I''m certain we will find some answers there. After that, we can sit down somewhere and think through what to do." He advised as he resumed his trek. Seeing his slowly departing figure, both siblings quickly regained their senses and went after him. After the small scene, the trio walked in silence, until they arrived at the now-familiar intersection. While the main street they were on continued further along the residential district, it also forked to the side, entering the rtively famous part of the city, nicked as the ''Adventurer''s Street''. Unlike the others, this alley was much busier than the others. A sea of colorful figures could be seen. Full sets of leather, mail or even sturdier metallic armors shined, making their majestic presences known. A great variety of weapons could be seen hanging from the sides or even the backs of the hordes of adventurer''s pacing, walking to the shops, or towards therge multi-story building at the far end. Whilst both Drake and Aiden were pretty familiar with the sight, Scarlet was wide-eyed as he looked around, taking in all the sights. Although she wanted to spend much more time checking out everything that her eyes could see, the trio made their way towards the Adventurer''s Guild Hall first. As they pushed in therge double doors, as looked towards the counter, Aiden''s eyes froze on the back of a particr duo speaking to the familiar brown, curly-haired attendant. Chapter 343 - 343 - New-Old Teammates In front of the counter, two figures could be seen discussing something with the curly-haired guild attendant, Mary. One of them was a taller male figure which Aiden recognized as the current leader of the local branch, and the celebrated ''hero'' of the city, the golden armored Rank 3 Adventurer of Higrove, Sir Michael Sonovan. However, his back wasn''t what caused Aiden to freeze on the spot, and his previous calm demeanor to shatter into pieces. No, what caused his shock was the other party, the slender back of a girl. Even though, she was wearing a traveler''s cloak, arge dark brown furred hooded cloak, making sure that all of herself was carefully tucked away and hidden She still couldn''t hide away from him. "Lily" Aiden muttered, as his figure trembled with the tumultuous swirl of emotions. His hand once again was balled into fists, clenched so tightly that traces of blood dropped on the floor. "Huh? What did you say?" Drake asked, looking surprised, following his friend''s gaze only to smile with understanding a momentter. "Ah, I get it now." He reached for Aiden''s shoulder, giving it a light pat as he tried calming his friend down. "Calm down big boy. He did nothing wrong, you don''t need to be like that." Scarlet, although he heard both boys, remained silent, looking at the back of the girl with an unreadable expression on her face. At the same time, as if they shared a mystical connection, Lily''s body trembled, as soon as Aiden muttered her name. She sprung up, jumping back from the counter abruptly turning around. As soon as she spotted the familiar figure of her most beloved brother, a rare expression of delight and endless joy colored further her already beautiful face. Sir Michael frowned seeing her reaction, turning around to look at what could have caused such a change of her usual demeanor. Jealousy and anger shed through his eyes for a brief moment as his eyesnded on the long, ck-haired, golden-eyed boy and his smallpany at the entrance. Still, he hid it almost instantly, equipping his usual, friendly, political smile. He looked at Lily, reaching out with his hand, offering her to grab onto it. "Miss Lily, if I may be so blunt to offer, shall we greet the neers together?" However, his offer was swiftly ignored as Lily bolted in the next instant rushing towards the boy at the center of the trio, jumping into his embrace a momentter. He clenched his fists, causing his gauntlets to squeak under the jealous pressure as he was forced to watch a scene. "BROOOTHEEEER! YOU ARE FINALLY BACK!" Lily, throwing away all her cool and usual gentle calmness, returned to her childish nature the moment her bright blue eyes spotted the dearly missed another half of hers. As she was no longer a little child, her action caused quite a stir as her slender figure flew towards the stranger crashing against him and then hiding her sobbing face in the boy''s chest. The anger immediately vanished from his expression, reced by a warm, loving outlook, Aiden wrapped his arms around the trembling girl''s back. He leaned closer to her ears, whispering into it gently. "It''s okay, Lily. I am here." What he did next, caused a storm to go through the spectating crowd and also turned the sobbing girl stiff with shock. Aiden leaned in to her right cheek and kissed it. "I am here my dear big sister" He whispered, making sure only she could hear his words. He reached inside her hood, giving a gentle rub at the top of her head and causing a small pout to appear on Lily''s face as he also messed up her hair. "Meanie!" She mumbled, not wanting to leave the chest she missed so much. Behind them, Drake looked awkwardly, not sure what to do. Due to Aiden and Lily''s abrupt scene, he and his sister were also now under the watchful gaze of the crowd, which they didn''t really want. However, they couldn''t really step away either and were now forced into this situation. Scarlet, on the other hand, was smiling, smirking under the cover of her hood. She enjoyed the scene, watching a new, unexpected side of the usually calm boy was a good change. He was so quick to anger, but besides that, other reactions were almost impossible to squeeze out of him. Unless someone managed to hurt or threaten those close to him, he was almost impossible to force a reaction out of. "Hey, there Lily right? d to meet you again!" She stepped closer to the girl, offering her hand. Not leaving the safety of his brother''s chest and embrace, Lily turned to the side, to look at the familiar voice that spoke to her. Seeing the fiery red tinges and the familiar face, she smiled back warmly. Still, she refused to let go of Aiden and just nodded. "Good to see you as well Uhm Scarlet, right? I hope that everything is much better now that you are free." She looked at the offered hand, donning a wry smile, she added. "Sorry, but I need a bit more, I want to hold on to him just a bit." Scarlet smiled warmly at her words, nodding whilst pulling her hand away. "No problem, I can understand." Meanwhile, a bit further away, Sir Michael was trembling with rage, seeing such a beloved sight. The woman that should be rightfully his, was embracing another man. He had a really hard time, trying to reign in the rising craze and madness. His heart was shouting with rage, ordering his body to pull out his sword and charge at the boy. He wished for nothing more than to hack and sh away, slicing that pest into tiny little pieces. Still, he knew he couldn''t do it. If he wanted to win the heart of his destined one, he needed to y the long game. He needed to be patient and earn a ce in her heart. Only after that can he slowly corrupt her, and make her his, and his only. Behind the group, Mary couldn''t see what was going on due to therge crowd that gathered around. She tried looking around but had no idea what was going on. "What could have caused Lily to react that way" She mumbled to herself, wrecking her brain to think back. Suddenly, shock appeared on her face, her face turned pale, as she remembered a particr boy that was already close and dear to her heart. "C-could it be that N-no that would be too soon, he said he would be away for a while" She muttered, taking several deep breaths, trying to calm her raging nerves. She dared not to step out but could also barely keep still. "Guys, although I hate to break the moment, we should move on. We are disturbing everyone. Also, Aiden, remember we have an objective, unless you do not care about your friend anymore" Seeing themotion that their action caused, Scarlet couldn''t wait anymore and decided to interject again. Hearing her words, Aiden nodded. He grabbed her sister''s shoulders, and gently peeled her off from him, who was still rather reluctant to be separated from her returning ''teddy bear''. However, in the end, she acquiesced to them, and let go of his brother''s back. However, as apromise, shetched herself onto his right arm and refused to give in any further. Leaning against his shoulder, Lily spoke with a frilly, delightful, cheery tone. "Come guys, let''s go. I was just asking Mary there about some avable quests I could take on myself!" "What did that golden guy want? Is he your teammate?" As they slowly walked towards the counter, getting through the crowd, Aiden asked with a masked tone. He didn''t even need to nce at him to feel the man''s fluctuating power through his system. He was clearly agitated, disturbed. Seeing how intimate he tried to be with his sister a few moments ago, it didn''t need a genius to figure out his intentions. "Oh him? He is Michael, a great guy! He was helping me, just like before. We are not a party officially, but he has been helping me before." "I see" Aiden muttered, putting a stop to their pace briefly. "Anyway, what are you doing in the city? Shouldn''t you be at home, training with Master? What happened?" "Oh, that? Hehe!" She giggled, at his brother''s question. "We all came to the city to investigate." Her response caused a frown to resurface on Aiden''s expression. "Investigate? What are you all investigating? So, Granny and Master are here in the city as well?" Lily nodded at the question, leaning her head back to her brother''s shoulder once more. "Yes, we are all here. We all separated when we arrived to check the things out on our own." Her smile faded, reced by a stern look as she revealed the cause of their unnned arrival. "We were attacked a few days ago, Aiden. We want to know who did we anger, and why did he or she send a group of thugs to our home." Chapter 344 - 344 - Calm Down! "Investigate? What are you all investigating? So, Granny and Master are here in the city as well?" Lily nodded at the question, leaning her head against her brother''s shoulder once more. "Yes, we are all here. We all separated when we arrived to check the things out on our own." Her smile faded, reced by a stern look as she revealed the cause of their unnned arrival. "We were attacked a few days ago, Aiden. We want to know who did we anger, and why did he or she send a group of thugs to our home." Just as expected, as soon as Aiden registered her sister''s words, his body trembled with a newly emerging anger, rapidly transforming into something more Thankfully, for the time being, he still managed to contain his emotions in check, albeit barely. He was hanging by a thread, he really started to get annoyed by the constant attacks against people close to him. Still, learning about Cole''s predicament albeit it angered him and made him worry, the feeling was nothing when he learned about a potential attack on his dear little sister. "Hehe Drake, your friend has a huge sisterplex!" Scarlet muttered, leaning closer to his brother as they watched the scene y out from a few steps behind. Drake merely nodded at her sister''s words, wondering if he was simr to him "Brother, calm down! Nothing bad happened, we dealt with the baddies easily!" Seeing her brother''s reaction, Lily gently rubbed his chest, as she whispered while still keeping her head over her proper ce, his shoulder. "I can tell you more, but we should first move from here. People are still looking" She added, looking to the side with a wry expression. It took a bit of time before Aiden managed to quell the storm that was brewing inside him. After heaving a longer sigh, he closed his eyes as he nodded. "Yeah, you are right Let''s talk to Mary, I think they should be able to give us a room." Thinking about it for a moment, Aiden advised, turning his head to the side and looking at Drake and Scarlet. "Come guys, let''s get something more private." Seeing how the sister-brother duo was so lovey-dovey in front of him, Sir Michael''s jealousy-fueled raging heart couldn''t calm down. Instead, it continued to burn with great intensity. ''How dare he that this nobody, touches my muse! He will pay for this!'' He clenched his fists, shaking with anger. However, seeing how the small group turned towards their direction, he quickly forced his feelings down, forcing his usual, polite smile back on his face. Although his hands were balled a few seconds longer, in the end, as the group stepped to his side, to the counter, he managed to smooth it out. He stepped closer to them, ignoring the neers and focusing on the blonde hooded girl only. "Miss Lily, is everything okay? Are you ready to pick a quest and depart?" He probed with his usual fake kindness. He was the city''s hero for a reason, after all. He was, however, to his great annoyance,pletely ignored, as if he no longer existed. The quartet was focused on their discussion with the surprised, curly, brown-haired attendant, Mary. "So, you two are the brother and sister you both have been talking about!" After the initial shock wore off, Mary''s usual smile returned. Although she still tried not looking directly at the boy, she was much calmer than usual. Maybe it was the presence of the others, Lily, maybe she just had time to confirm and ept the desires of her heart maybe it was all of the above, but she could talk to the group. She didn''t shut downpletely like she usually does. After a bit of time, she even managed to gather the willpower to turn to Aiden and ask him about his journey. "So, Aiden, what happened during your quest? Do you have anything to report? Want me to credit the quests?" Mary''s innocent question reminded Aiden of one crucial fact: He didn''t notice any notification from the system when he recounted everything to the Mistress. However, he skipped over a few moments which he felt should be kept a secret. Could that mean that he would have to tell the Mistress everything? ''No That couldn''t be Maybe I just missed the notification'' Hemented inwardly. Thinking about it a bit more, that shouldn''t be the case, he was only requested to tell what happened, which he fulfilled. Knowing he wouldn''t get anywhere, he decided to call the one person that could maybe reveal the truth of the matter. ''Enya! Do you happen to know if I had any unread notifications waiting for me before the system began this upgrade?'' He asked out mentally. In the next instant, his guide''s voice came, sounding a bit distant. He couldn''t feel her presence either, as if she wasn''t with him but was speaking to him from somewhere else. ''[Yes Aiden, you had a couple. You seem to havepletely ignored them, but since they were only quest updates, they weren''t critical for you to read them through at the moment. I nned to bring your attention to them once the system was back.]'' ''I see'' Aiden hummed thoughtfully, feeling relieved for a moment before realization hit him once again. ''Wait for a second Did you check the notes? Were they questpletions or updates? If thetter, did you see what it was requesting me to do?'' ''[They were questpletion updates. Youpleted two quests with simr names. Before you ask, I didn''t check the rewards, you will have to check them once everything is avable again.]'' She sighed, which surprised Aiden considering she shouldn''t be needing air to breathe at all. She had no material form. ''[Sorry Aiden, but I need to focus for the time being. She needs our attention, she is in a critical point in her evolution.]'' With that said, she swiftly closed the connection and ended their conversation. ''Wha- Wait! Hey!'' Aiden tried calling for her but received no response. She closed their connection. Although he still had the connection he had with Galina, other than feeling her agitated state, he couldn''t call out to her. Either Ryg''s protective shield or Enya somehow managed to block his connection to her as well, not allowing him to disturb the girl at all. Learning about this, caused a frown to appear over Aiden''s face, forcing him to return to reality, and finally hear Mary''s repeated question. "Aiden Are you okay?!" As he came back to his senses, he saw the duo of Mary and Lily looking at him with a worried look in their eyes. Scarlet and Drake were behind them, looking quizzically, waiting for his exnation. After all, he just stood there frozen for over a minute Sir Michael on the other hand, was wearing a smug smirk over his face for a brief moment before it vanished as it was reced by a theatrical, worried expression. He stepped closer, next to Lily, looking at Aiden whilst leaning towards the girl. "Are you okay Aiden, right? Miss Lily was worried, you suddenly turned silent and looked lost. Let me know if you are in trouble, I will do my very best to help you! Someone important to Miss Lily is important to me as well!" Once again, to his rising frustration, his disy of care was mostly ignored, Aiden looked at the girls with a warm smile appearing over his face. Reaching out with both hands, he gently caressed both girl''s cheeks as he replied to their concerned question. "Nothing happened, I was just deep in thought." He turned to look at the curly, brown-haired attendant once again. "As to answer your first inquiry Mary, I was with Sar-" "He was with me, Mary. He already reported thepletion of both quests." Suddenly, before he could finish his words and reveal something he probably shouldn''t, a familiar, angelic-sounding, heavenly and ambiguous voice came from behind them. The back door, leading to the office area of the Guild was sprung open, and the hooded figure of Sara, donning her leader of the examiner''s outfit was standing at the doorway. Amidst the eyes of many that saw her appear, she walked closer to the group and continued whilst turning towards Mary. "Please, register thepletion of two 5-star quests under Aiden''s name. Make sure to mark it as a solo-achievement with the highest results." This time, not just Mary but even Sir Michael couldn''t hide his shock. He looked stunned, wide-eyed at the boy that now looked more like a monster than a weakling, a pushover like he thought a few moments ago. "What?! H-how can you say something like that! There''s no way he could take two quests of that caliber andplete them alone!" He cried out, not willing to ept what was just revealed. The hooded Sara, turned towards him, and whilst her face remained hidden, a rising annoyance could be heard from her cold, but magically disguised tone of voice. "I was there with him. Do you question my words, Mr. Sonovan?" Chapter 345 - 345 - Impossible Feat "What?! H-how can you say something like that! There''s no way he could take two quests of that caliber andplete them alone!" He cried out, not willing to ept what was just revealed. The hooded Sara, turned towards him, and whilst her face remained hidden, a rising annoyance could be heard from her cold, but magically disguised tone of voice. "I was there with him. Do you question my words, Mr. Sonovan?" The way she blurted his name, was a clear insult to his stature, yet the golden armored man couldn''t say a word against it. His fists clenched once more, he closed his eyes and exhaled briefly, before the usual kind, political smile ruled his expression once more. "No." He responded, shaking his head lightly. "I dare not, defy the orders, someone such as you, but it''s hard to believe a young boy such as him would be able to handle such a difficult request, not to mention two. And even alone at that! Such a request would require a man with a bit more" He looked over the boy once more, with a hint of contempt shing through his eyes. Although it was only for a fraction of a moment, it was still captured by, with the exception of Mary and Scarlet by everybody else. "Oh?" Sara''s voice carried a tinge of surprise, turning sweeter by the minute as an idea hatched inside her head. "What do you mean, Mr. Sonovan?" "Don''t take this the wrong way, Examiner, but have you following him all the way? Can you confirm that he himselfpleted the objectives of the two quests?" For the first time, since his brother has arrived, Lily turned towards Sir Michael. However, she wasn''t looking like the kind, gentle adventure-loving girl like she usually was. No. There was clear displeasure, irritation in her light blue eyes. "What do you trying to hint at, Sir Michael? My brother is not a liar! He is the strongest!" She eximed, punching the top of the desk with anger. The royal sister and brother pair frowned at the words and the not-too hidden meaning behind them, however, they both remained silent for the time being. Although both of them were now in a battle-ready poise, ready to reach for their weapons in case the situation would escte in an unwanted direction Even the usually calm, cheery, and smiling shy attendant girl, Mary was looking at his boss with a discontent, angered, hurt look. Ignoring the hostile gazes, Sir Michael looked at Lily, professionally hiding his rising anger at seeing his chosen muse''s look, and instead smiled warmly at her, raising his hands in the air. "I mean no disrespect, Miss Lily." He spoke, trying to exin himself. "I just mean, that we should make absolutely certain that he indeed managed toplete quests of such difficulty. Miss Lily is new so she may be not aware, but our little city has no such requests. The most difficult quest I have ever seen posted on these walls was a peak 3-star request. It was probably close to being 4-star but was posted below that so it could be at the very least epted by the strongest parties. Never have I seen a 5-star quest posted. If such a request would appear, we would need to gather all the avable adventurers and also join hands with the city guards and try to ovee the disaster together. Nobody could handle such a request. Not even parties." He bowed in front of Lily, pointing her arms towards the boy in question. "So please excuse me when I am doubtful of such an achievement. I just want to make sure he has the strength to be even counted" He paused for a bit, heaving a heavy sigh, before continuing. " Miss Lily, to keep the Higrove Branch''s name clean and to make sure we wouldn''t be questionedter, I will need to make sure what your brother says could be really the truth or he may have somehow tricked the honored Examiner in some despicable way. Miss Lily, I wish to test him myself. Please allow me to do this." It seemed that he thought that his words and monologue carried enough theatrical disy and effect that will shock his small audience, but when he raised his head and looked at the others, he only saw a mix of smirks and smiles on the faces of everyone. Apart from Aiden, who looked as calm as ever, and the hooded examiner leader, whom he could not see at all, everyone had a simr look over their faces. A varied, but just as an equally annoying stretch of a smile as if all of them were inwardlyughing at his words. As if all of them were making fun of him. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and rose up and turned towards the calm-looking boy. "Boy! Do you dare ept my challenge? I will honor you with the chance to test your mettle against the strongest of this city! What do you say? Have you got enough courage in you?" His words were loud, on purpose, causing a stir to travel through the hall. "What? Did I hear it right?" "Did someone challenge Sir Michael? Is he an idiot?!" "Sir Michael is the best! He is the strongest, his technique is unbeatable! What is that boy thinking?!" "Just look at him! He is weak! He probably just wants to impress the girls with his actions! How stupid can someone be to challenge the best! He should train more before dreaming about something such as that!" Whispers and murmurs could be heard from all over the hall, already twisting and distorting the facts. Looks of contempt and disdain were fired towards this unknown, scrawny-looking boy in question. His defeat was already booked as a fact, the only question was how long could he hold his ground against the heroic adventurer, Sir Michael. "Just look at him! How can hepare to my dear hubby!" "What did you say? How dare you im my dear Sir Michael as yours, you hag! Watch your mouth before I beat you up!" "Both of you hags, shut it before I slice you to pieces! Sir Michael is mine and mine alone!" Whilst the men looked at Aiden with disdain and contempt, thedies were in another type of heated debate. Sir Michael, being titled as the best, and greatest, has enjoyed the infatuation and adoration of many of the females for quite a while now. Still, he couldn''t show any change of emotion, as other than wanting to humiliate the boy, he also wanted to show his chosendy, his muse the owner of his heart, Miss Lily, that how much of a better pick he would be. He waited for a bit before looking at the boy again, and asking again, with the same disy as before. "So, boy, do you ept the challenge? It''s not a shame if you do not dare, we could all understand, you just need to admit to your lies in front of everybody. I promise you, that no harm wille to y-" "I ept." Before Sir Michael could finish, he was interrupted, with the boy''s sudden eptance. For a moment, he was stunned by this fact, he was expecting him to be embarrassed at least a little by being put on the pedestal, but as he looked at his continued calmness, he was proven wrong. Another stir went through the crowd, most of the onlookers looked at the strange, long ck-haired, exotic-eyed youth as if he was aplete idiot. What was even more surprising to Sir Michael was the fact that seemingly none of the other members of the group was shocked at this. All of them retained their smile, as they looked at them. Shocked by this fact, Sir Michael looked at Miss Lily and asked with a confused tone. "Miss Lily, I hope you don''t mind this duel. I will give you my word, I will not hurt your brother!" Expecting a worried and maybe a bit of a grateful tone, Sir Michael was stunned when the blonde girl chuckled at his words and waved her hands dismissively. "Ehehe, you don''t need to worry about that. My brother will be fine!" "Since Aiden epted Sir Michael''s challenge, I will preside over and officiate this duel." Sara spoke up, bringing the attention of the room to herself. He turned towards Sir Michael first. "Sir Michael, you being the challenger, you can state the terms of the duel. Please tell us now how you wish to do it." "It will be a normal fight, going until one of us gives up or would be unable to continue. We will use the arena next door. As for the use of weapons, I will not go too hard against him, but we will need to make sure that he is indeed capable of handling what he is iming. I will only use the practice swords, not my real one! As for the time, we can wa-" "You can use your real weapons, no need to handicap yourself on my behalf. It would be too boring otherwise." Chapter 346 - 346 - Placing Bets "You can use your real weapons, no need to handicap yourself on my behalf. It would be too boring otherwise." Once again, to Sir Michael''s great frustration, before he could finish, the boy once again interjected. Even going as far as insinuating that he wouldn''t be a challenge without his sword! Whilst Sir Michael was trying to quell his rage and push the crazed anger back down for a bit longer, in the hall amotion was rising. Aiden''s words caused another wave of gasps and shock to ripple through the crowd. "This stupid kid is offending my dearie!" "Shut up you hag, Sir Michael is mine! He only looks at me, can''t your frog eyes even see this simple fact?! But anyway, that brat is really an idiot! Sir Michael will beat him so fast, he wouldn''t even realize it!" "Bro, did you hear that?! That kid is something else!" "He actually went as far as to insult Sir Michael, saying he would be too boring!" "Oh my Who is this cheeky brat?! Does he have a death wish?" "Calm down guys! That just makes their duel all the more interesting! This way, Sir Michael will have the chance to ''identally'' injure him and he will have nothing to say. He wished for his demise! Hahaha!" A big-bellied man called out, erupting into a boisterous guffaw. "Yeah! This brat has no idea what he had just brought upon himself!" "Hey, anyone taking bets for this? I wanna ce a hundred Guild Credits on Sir Michael defeating this worm in 2 strikes!" "Me too! I ce two hundred on Sir Michael defeating this brat in a single swing!" The crowd began to stir even louder, even going as far as already cing bets against their fight. Whilst thedies were burning with rage, the men were already investing their hard-earned guild credits. Even though there was not much risk, they still wanted to earn a bit more. Problem was, nobody was willing to ce any money on the boy, making the betting process mostly pointless. At least until, someone from the counter suddenly eximed, raising his hand. "I ce twenty thousand credits on the boy!" Surprising the crowd, and even his own group, Drake suddenly raised his hand in the air, turning towards the obese mace-wielding, loud-mouthed man from a moment ago. "You there!" Drake pointed at him. "Are you the one taking the bets?" The big-bellied man looked at the silver-haired youth. As he scrutinized him closely, he frowned. He seemed vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn''t ce it anywhere. Deciding that it didn''t really matter and it was probably just the brat''s friend, he walked closer stepping away from the crowd. He looked at Drake with a smug expression one more time, before speaking up. "Yeah, I am. Are you willing to risk such a great sum on the fight? Are you certain you want to bet on the boy? You can''t back out once you ced your bet" He spoke, his words carrying the obvious underlying threat. Still, to the man''s great surprise, the silver-haired youth remained unphased, and whilst the red-haired chick behind him looked fiercely, she didn''t speak either. Drake nodded at the man, before nodding. He offered his right hand so they could shake and confirm the pledge. "Yes, I am sure. 20000 on Aiden. The ''boy'' will defeat Sir Michael. I will not specify how many hits, as I don''t want to ruin my friend''s fun. Let''s just say, that their battle will be a one-sided clear victory." He exined, confirming his bets with a mischievous smirk. The obese man was slightly taken back by his words for a moment. He turned to look at the boy one more time, in an attempt to find anything special about him. But no matter how he looked, he felt nothinging from him. He didn''t have the trademark aura of mana that would reveal his expertise in any magical art. His body looked weakpared to what a real man should look like. He was young, barely a youth, especially whenpared to someone such as Sir Michael No matter how he looked, scanned, or wrecked his brain, this boy had absolutely no chance. In the end, he shook the silver-haired man''s hand, a cruel smile stretched across his scruffy bearded face. "Alright, it''s a deal! What''s your name boy? I''m Rick Thon, Rank 2. My friends and I will make sure that all the bets are ounted for, and at the end of the fight, we will make sure to pay everyone. You better not leave until you settled your debts!" "Drake, simply Drake, my rank is not important," Drake responded, the smirk not leaving his face. However, before the man could pull his hands away, he was suddenly pulled closer. Drake leaned against his right ear, and only whispered his next words. "You also better not leave before we are done" The man raised his hand behind him, calming hisckeys who were already reaching for their weapons, in an attempt to rush to their boss'' aide. Rick freed himself from Drake''s grasp a momentter. He grabbed his aching wrist, donning a scowl as he looked at the surprisingly strong youth, before harrumphing and walking back into the crowd. As the man left, Scarlet finally leaned closer and whispered into his brother''s ears with a worried tone. "Are you sure about this Drake? Will Aiden be alright? You might get into trouble because of this!" "Don''t worry about that sis!" Drake patted the top of his concerned sister''s head smiling at her gently. "You have nothing to fear about. This was free money, you''ll see itter!" Whilst they were lost in their little world, Sir Michael managed to regain hisposure, and swallowed his frustration. He smiled at his opponent, pointing towards the door at the far side. The same door he entered and battled for his rank up a while ago. "As you wish, Aiden. I will use my de, but I will make sure not to hurt you too badly. This way Miss Lily and everyone can be satisfied, right?" He asked looking over the group, resting his gaze at the blonde girl in the end. "Yes, this is fine, Sir Michael." Lily giggled, winking at Aiden. "I am fine with this as well." Aiden nodded, looking towards the distant door. "Shall we? I prefer not to waste too much time. We have more important matters to discuss than ying with you." He calmly eximed, turning towards the door. Grabbing his sister''s right hand, they began walking towards the door. Whilst the crowd was shocked yet again, and Sir Michael''s anger was reaching levels that he couldn''t contain anymore, he clenched his fists, and with his teeth gritted, he followed along with the rest of the group. However, he stopped a couple of stepster. Swallowing his rage, he turned towards the hall and addressed the crowd with a smile stretching across his face, perfectly hiding his madness. "My dear friends, do not worry! Everyone here is invited to witness our fight! As this is not a rank-up test, if you are interested, the attendants will guide you to the balcony, and you can take your spots. The fight will begin in ten minutes!" Having said that he turned towards Mary, and waved the other guild employees to walk over. He instructed them to follow his orders and guide all that are interested in the balcony area. Once everything was set, he turned around and walked towards the arena room. A mad, cruel smile was stretching across his face as he was now alone. ''I will show that brat Although I can''t kill or mutte him as he is unfortunately rted to Miss Lily I need to be patient and just work on winning her heart for now. Once she is mine, I can just remove that brat and his annoying group at the same time!'' Thinking about the delightful vision of the future, he couldn''t help but chuckle at his own brilliance. ''Hehe After this, Miss Lily will surely realize my greatness! I will have to not show that I know how deeply in love she is with me, and continue courting her slowly.'' "Ehehehe!" Reaching for the door, a chuckle escaped his lips, he was already looking forward to the rest of his day. He was sure that today will be great! Today will be the day when Miss Lily will finally realize who she should get close to! With thoughts like these, he grinned as he pushed down on the lever, and walked into the arena. His eyes instantly searched for the blonde-haired angel, only her beauty could give him the energy he needed. Seeing how they were still grouped around that annoying boy, he had to take another exhale to calm down, and walk towards them. Seeing how her beloved was hugging another man, a wastrel, a pathetic weakling on top of that, it just served as further fuel towards their uing sh! Chapter 347 - 347 - Face-off Even though he was inwardly seething with anger, he retained a rtively normal disposition on the outside. Only his tightly clenched fists could betray Sir Michael''s true feelings on the matter. He didn''t want to admit it but truth be told, he was jealous. Even if it made no sense, as the boy he was mad at was the supposed brother, a rtive, he couldn''t help himself. To him, Miss Lily should be only with him, the only person who should be allowed to be near this gift of the heavens. Yes, he was possessive, but that was just his true nature. The golden boy, the hero of Higrove, Michael had the same faults that many of the nobility had. He felt entitled, he thought that the world was his yground, its residents were his, to begin with. If he desired someone or something, it should be their honor and joy to be picked up by him. When he saw Miss Lily back during the new joiner''s meeting at the guild, he knew it from the start that she was the one. She was the muse, sculpted by the gods themselves to be his perfect, lifelong partner. Lily was his gods-given right to own, to possess to love. This... ''Boy'' this nobody, thismoner had no rights to be so intimate with her! Unable to watch them any longer, he unsheathed his sword and pointed its pointy end towards the calm-looking boy. "Enough of that!" He bellowed, silencing the gathered, spectating crowd on the balcony at the same time. Taking the ensuing silence as his queue to begin one of his usual speeches, he raised his hands, looked up, as he began another theatrical, practiced speech. "Greetings my dear friends! Today you are all invited to witness an honored duel between yours truly and a new but surprisingly well-progressing adventurer of our local branch, Aiden!" He pointed his sword once again to the boy, who despite being called out, retained his cool. He signaled his friends and his sister to go to the side, whilst mostly ignoring the gaze of all the onlookers. "Look at him! That scrawny piece of trash! Who gave him the right to act so arrogant?!" "Just you wait, trash! Sir Michael will beat some sense into you!" "Woo! Sir Michael! Please ept me as your concubine! I will give you many babies!" "Shut up you wench! My Michael will never look at your ugly body!" The crowd was already boiling with a mixture of emotions. Some were eager to see the boy being pummeled into the floor, beaten into submission, whilst others, mostly the girls, were eager to grab the strongest adventurer''s attention. Besides his friends, no one supported the small, weakling boy. Even though their height wasn''t too far off from each other, their builds were vastly different. While Sir Michael, even without his trademark shining, golden set of armor sported a true warrior bod, with bulging, finely toned muscles, broad shoulders, arms as thick as a sturdy log, Aiden looked thin as a fiddle. This obviously wasn''t the case, as Aiden was far from looking like a malnourished victim of famine, he was far from matching up to his opponent in terms of physique. Sporting a friendly-looking, political fake smile, Sir Michael lowered his weapon to his side, addressing his opponent loudly, making sure that everyone could hear him. "Boy, take out your weapon, and get ready!" then he turned to look at the hodded Sara standing at the side. "You that you will be the judge over this fight. In that case, please step up and start the match!" As he spoke, his weapon holding hand was already raising his de in front of his chest, arching it in a 45 degree to give him cover, his body automatically entered a battle-ready poise. Turning his attention back towards his young opponent, he looked puzzled when he saw him standing in the same, nonchnt, carefree manner as before, with absolutely nothing in his hands. He seemed totally uncaring about this whole event, causing Sir Michael to almost lose his cool. He had to take several long breaths before he was able to voice out the question that burned not just his mind, but most of the spectators as well. "Boy, why are you still standing there like that?! Grab your weapon so we can get started!" As if realizing something, a small smirk appeared over his face, he continued with a faked inquiring tone. "Can it be that you lost your de? Don''t worry, you can borrow one from the side!" However, to Michael''s great surprise, the boy retained his friendly-looking smile as he shook his head. He spoke calmly as if he wasn''t about to get into a heated battle against the best of the city. "Nah, no need. I am fine. We can start whenever you are ready." The young boy''s words only caused Sir Michael''s already hard-to-contain rage to boil with even more ferocity, threatening to erupt and turn him into a berserk state. He tightened his grip over the handle of his sword, swallowing the urge to lose his cool. A couple of secondster, just as Sara has arrived between the two he managed a small nod. "Your decision kid. Don''t say I didn''t warn you." Just like him, the crowd was also raging over the balcony. They couldn''t believe what was up with this arrogant little bastard, what was his deal? Did he really n to go against the best their city can offer, using nothing but his bare hands? Bellowing waves ofughter and guffaws rippled through the spectators, many were pointing at the kid, having the time of their lives ridiculing this misguided little creature. "Did you guys hear this?! What was he nning to do? p Sir Michael to boredom?! AHAHAHA!" Taunts, jabs, and quibbles simr to this were flying left and right, echoing in the arena, causing a small smirk to appear on both of the opponents'' faces. Even Sara couldn''t help but smile under the magical cover of her hood. She was now really looking forward to seeing the reactions when Sir Michael would realize that he just tried to step over an insurmountable wall. Even Drake and Scarlet were enjoying the quips that were thrown towards Aiden. Like Sara, they now knew the incredible power hidden inside that thin frame of his. Although they were far off from the true depths, they both still knew that someone like Sir Michael, wouldn''t stand a chance. Even if he was truly a skilled swordsman and a great fighter, unless he had some incredible secrets up his sleeves, he would face the harsh reality soon. Giving the parties around a minute to get ready, Sara raised her right arm in the air, swiftly turning the room silent. Her bloodline-enhanced magical, ambiguous, melodious voice reverberated across the spacious arena, clearly audible to all present, no matter where he or she stood or sat. "Get ready! The opposing parties are: Sir Michael from the guild''s side, Rank 3 Adventurer and current acting manager of Higrove''s Adventurer''s Guild is facing up against Aiden, a newly joined Rank 2 Adventurer to prove the validity of his im ofpleting two 5-star quests assigned to him by the guild." Sara''s words caused a shock to spread through the crowd once again. So far they weren''t really aware of the reason for their fight. Most had just thought that the haughty boy challenged the leader who given his ''good-nature'' epted the fight in an attempt to teach the boy, and guide him towards the righteous path. They didn''t know that the reason was that the boy was sporting such ridiculous, obviously false ims! Murmurs, mutters, and whispers broke the previously tense silence, anger, rage, and consequently, a rising madness enveloped the crowd. The hushed whispers soon turned to pointed yellings, many now wanted to personally teach this arrogant prick a lesson about lying. They were now hoping that their fight would result in somesting injury that could serve as a reminder that lying and iming such lies is not how an adventurer of their city should behave. Sara was aware that this would happen, she wasn''t surprised nor scared of the crowd''s rising unruly state. She kept her hand up in the air, and returned to speak, her magic-enchanted voice turned a touch higher, overpowering everyone in the room. "SILENCE! Those who do not behave will be asked to leave." Then she turned to look at the two figures standing against each other. "If you are ready, then BEGIN!" Her words were like the ring of the bell that signaled the start of an official boxing match. Without turning around, she stepped away from the battle arena, back to the side. She leaned against the wall, with her hands folded together just below her chest. "Now boy you will see the price of your lies! Taste my first strike!" Sir Michael eximed, his previously friendly smile on his face twisting into something akin to a cruel, malicious smirk. He raised his weapon and struck down, aiming at the still calm, aloof boy''s annoying face. Chapter 348 - 348 - One Strike "If you are ready, then BEGIN!" Sarah''s words were like the ring of the bell that signaled the start of an official boxing match. Without turning around, she stepped away from the battle arena, back to the side. She leaned against the wall, with her hands folded together just below her chest. "Now boy you will see the price of your lies! Taste my first strike!" Sir Michael eximed, his previously friendly smile on his face twisting into something akin to a cruel, malicious smirk. He raised his weapon and struck down, aiming at the still calm, aloof boy''s annoying face. His strike was surprisingly swift, the steel, the shining metal blurred as it sailed through the air, traversing the distance between them and arriving in front of Aiden''s face in a mere moment. Just as it was about to hit its target and cause the fight to end on such short notice, something unexpected happened. The de didn''t stop, it continued moving on, seemingly phasing through the boy without causing any visible signs of damage. In the next instant, the afterimage left by Aiden scattered into the air, giving a just exnation to the strange phenomenon. "Wha-" Before Sir Michael could even finish his curse, the boy''s calm voice reached his ears,ing from behind him?! His mouth gape aghast with the shock of what just happened, he turned around, looking at a scene he simply couldn''t process. Besides their positions shifting around, it seemed like nothing happened. The boy stood still like before, whilst Sir Michael held his sword in front of his chest. A secondter, his shock seemingly passed, reced by the now unconstrained rage. Gritting his teeth, he reaffirmed his grip on the hilt of his sword. "You think you can y around huh? Let me show you the true height of power! Let me give you a taste of what it means to be a real warrior!" Suddenly the air around Sir Michael turned cold, hazy. A strange sensation of chill spread throughout the arena as Sir Michael released something that only a selected few talents could achieve. "T-this This is" "He reached such a level already?!" "Sir Michael is truly the best!" Shock spread through everyone looking, Sir Michael''s reveal was something that nobody expected. "Brother, what is this chilling from him?" Looking at his brother, Scarlet asked with a confused look on his face. "Sword Intent. A sign of true skill. Although it''s barely at the first stage, it is still unexpected. It seems that this battle may not be so boring as what we expected" Drake answered with a thoughtful look. Truth be told, he didn''t expect that this little town would have someone with such a level of skill. Even Sara, though still hiding under her hood, had a look of surprise sh through her face for a brief moment before the calm returned a secondter. "Yes, this is truly unexpected. Still, this is merely the seedling, he barely had stepped into this realm, he still has a long way to go." "Is Aiden in trouble now?" Scarlet asked again, looking at the golden armored man, grinning at his opponent like a madman. "No. You don''t need to worry. This is nothing. My brother can''t be defeated! He will win." Instead of the boy, Lily spoke up. Her fists clenched, betraying her brave outlook, showing how worried inwardly she truly was. Noticing her clenched balled-up fists, Sara ced her right hand gently over her left shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "Do not worry. Even if Michael looks strong now, you should ce more trust in your brother''s power. You should be aware of how he is. Just look at how he is right now. Does he look like someone who is afraid?" "I didn''t say." Lily was about to argue, but as she looked at her brother, instead she took in arge gasp of air, and slowly exhaled to calm herself and regain her lost demeanor. "I know, thanks." She sighed in the end, her tightly held fists eased up, as she returned her attention to the fight at hand. While the crowd was roaring with excitement about this revtion, Aiden still retained his calm, and just kept looking and waiting for the raging man to finish whatever he was doing. "Can you start fighting now? This is boring, I have better things to do than waste my time on you." He spoke, addressing the man with such words that didn''t fit his collected outlook. Still, there was no real emotion behind his voice, it waspletely insipid. "Grrr Arrogant little bastard Take this!" Completely angered by his words, Sir Michael finally lost himself in his rage and charged forward in sh. His speed was shocking, totally not fitting someone wearing such heavy armor. A golden blurry streak crossed the small distance in a fraction of a second, arriving in front of the ck-haired youth. His weapon was already in mid-swing, traveling horizontally aiming to slice the boy into two. His speed and momentum were much higher than before, Sir Micheal was sure that this time he wouldn''t miss. He was already smirking, expecting to hit the boy''s skull and then plunge the side of his de through the thick barrier. He suddenly realized that he shouldn''t kill this waste, even though he really wanted to as that would only cause grief and suffering to his beloved muse. He was about to forcibly put a halt to his uncontested swing when suddenly, his strike came to an abrupt halt. Coming back to his senses, he turned wide-eyed at his young opponent''s inexplicable action. A thin smile adorning his lips, he looked at him with a look that caused shivers in Sir Michael. His eyes were glowing faintly, his right hand was raised, his index finger and thumb pinched at his de, being the cause of the sudden stop to his momentum. "That is all you got?" The boy asked, with a slightly deeper, mocking tone. Letting go of the de, he gave it a light push, causing Sir Michael to stumble back a couple of steps of the unexpected might that his simplistic action carried. Still, he wasn''t ready to give in, Sir Michael reaffirmed his hold on the hilt once again. Gritting his teeth, he straightened his arm, cocking it back slightly, ready to unleash his unwillingness into a third attempt. However, before he could do so, the boy spoke up again. His voice was much deeper than before, filling the hallpletely, causing the crowd to look at him with a mixture of confusion and fear. "Is this what the supposed strongest adventurer can muster? Is this the height you are all so proud of?" His words were a huge blow to his opponent''s and most of the spectating crowd''s previous pride and arrogance. Still, they refused to give in, most of them began to yell out, urging their idol to step up and teach this brat a lesson! "Don''t be taunted by this brat, Sir Michael! Teach him a lesson he will never forget!" "This kid needs to DIE! Sir Michael, let us help!" By now, Sir Michael was shaking, trembling under the pressure of his erupting madness. He was ready to go berserk, and let go of all restraints he still tried to hold on to, and just unleash his full fury against his annoying opponent. However, before he couldpletely lose himself andunch himself into his third and most likelyst assault, the boy spoke again. "Let me show you all what power really is, so you will understand the futility of your actions." As soon as he finished his words, his figure vanished. Not even a secondter, his blurry figure appeared in front of the stunned Sir Michael. He felt a sudden surge of numb pain spreading through his body, originating from the center of the upper chest. His body turned weightless a momentter and as he tried to quell the spreading fire and jolting electricity he strangely felt the wind against the back of his neck. Before he realized the second surge of jolting torment spread from the entire surface of his back. Amidst the torturous torment, he slowly looked down and turned to look at the cave-in over his golden chest te, he realized he was now far away from the boy As the events gradually registered in his brain, he realized he crashed into the wall on the far side of the arena. His eyelids turned heavy, he felt the weight pushing them down. His thoughts turned weary, gradually dripping into the calming void By the time his body fell down to the ground with a loud metallic thud, he was already unconscious. Just like some had taunted haughtily before, the fight did end with one single strike. Although not the way they expected, the difference in power was indeed showcased in a grand and brutal fashion. The strongest adventurer of Higrove, the proud golden star of the Adventurer''s Guild, Sir Michael Sonovan was defeated in one single strike. Chapter 349 - 349 - Collecting Bets Complete and utter silence ensued inside the spacious arena. The spectating crowd looked at the unbelievable results of the duel with utter and wild shock on their faces. The strongest of them, the idol and the unbeatable leader, the skilled swordsman, Sir Michael Sonovan was defeated. Just like that, with one single attack, he was sent flying like a broken kite. The boy was so incredibly fast that nobody even managed to catch his attack. One instant he was standing still looking aloof, uncaring, and calm, and in the next, he was in front of Sir Michael who was then suddenly sent back flying, crashing against the wall violently. Nobody dared to utter a single word, everyone was looking at the scene, unable toe to any proper conclusions in their disturbed minds. Slowly the gazes of the people wandered from the motionless body of their defeated leader to the casual looking, thin frame of this unknown boy. Just who was he? Where did hee from? But most importantly, what just happened? Not bothered by the gazes of the people above them, Aiden turned to Sara, looking at her with a questioning look on his face. Without the need for words, Sara nodded, before walking next to her. She raised her right hand in the air, grabbing the attention of everyone. As she spoke, just like before, her voice was ambiguous, ringing in the air like a heavenly melody. "The duel has been concluded, as his opponent is unable to continue fighting, the victor is clear! Aiden, the adventurer! As a result, he will be credited with the results of the two aforementioned 5-star quests, and thus will also be now considered as the second official Rank 3 adventurer of Higrove''s Adventurer''s Guild. This duel can also serve as the rank-up test." She turned towards the crowd, slowly scanning them over. A pair of purple gloving balls lit up, glowing ominously as she continued, addressing her question to the crowd this time. "I presume nobody has any issues with this?" Nobody dared to speak a word, the pin-drop silence remained as the ruling atmosphere in the room. What a joke! Even if someone would have any concerns, would he or she be stupid enough to go against someone that even the leaders of the city can''t touch? Why on Earth would they do something like that?! No, everyone liked to retain their miserable lives, no words were uttered, no hands were raised. Seeing that there were no disputes, Sara''s eye''s returned to normal. "If that''s the case, then you are all free to leave." After saying the magic words, the crowd instantly erupted with a loud noise, as they began to scurry far away from this scene and at the same time, from this monstrous boy. Amidst the crowd, a particr chubby figure was sweating heavily as he tried to mingle into the midst of the moving mass, hoping to escape the premises and get out of the city. He had only one goal in mind: to get as far away as possible. He stupidly epted a bet for such a huge sum of the guild credits that even if he were to sell everything he owned and then sell himself off to the guild he would still be far away from even gathering half of the surmounting debt he now owed. ''Please Gods just let me get out of here I swear I will turn into a better person! Just this once help me escape!'' He continued begging, praising in his head, whilst trying his hardest not to stand out. Unfortunately for him, all his efforts were ultimately futile. As soon as he left the room and walked down in the midst of the crowd downstairs, a hand reached out to him and pulled him out. A momentter, the very young man he was desperate to avoid was standing in front of him. To his left and right two girls, one sporting fiery, vibrant red hair and one blonde that still wore a light brown, linen hood, surrounded him. The young, silver-haired youth was grinning expectantly at the man. His left hand was resting atop his wrapped, bandaged de hanging on his side, serving as a warning and a not-so-covered threat. "I presume you were just about to get to me, Mr. Thon." Drake grinned, leaning closer to the chubby man. "You see, I remember us making a bet, and you owning me quite a sum." Beads of sweat rolled down from Rick''s forehead, he was trying to wreck his brain toe up with anything to get out of this situation. Should he just charge ahead? He was heavily debating the idea. Even if he was a friend of that golden-eyed monster, he shouldn''t be like him. Nature shouldn''t allow two of such abominations to exist simultaneously, right? Then his eyes slowly wandered to the red-haired girl, who was already holding a short de, a dagger in her right hands. ''Nope, not that way either'' The only option he could think of was to go through the blonde girl. Although shoving her to the side and causing her potential harm, would mean that he would no longer be wee in this ce, he was fine with that. Why would he even want toe back to this damned ce anyway?! There are many other opportunities waiting for him elsewhere! Also, she had no weapons in her hand, and looked feeble, just like how a normal teenage girl should look like. He could just push her out of the way and hope for the best in escaping. With the n formted after a couple of seconds of silent thinking, he looked up at the smirking silver-haired youth in the eye. A hideous-looking grin stretched his unshaven face as he started to speak. "You see Mr. Drake, I was about to go to the others and collect their pay that had lost their bets. With their losses, I could cover your bet, and-" Rick was abruptly silenced before he could finish his thoughts. "Don''t waste my time lying. You have taken all payment beforehand, just like you did with me. Do we look like idiots? Pay up, or else" Giving more weight to the meaning behind his words, his right arm slowly wrapped itself around the hilt of his strange, heavily bandaged sword hanging in its sheath on his left side. "Ehrm You see I" Suddenly, as he spoke with a nervous look, Rick jumped to the left, ready to shove the weak-looking blondie to the side. Thinking that she would not be any problem, he was surprised when suddenly he felt his legs suddenly being flung to the back, shifting the center of his gravity higher, towards his face and causing him to swiftly crash against the wooden floorboards. His escape was put to a stop even before he had any chance of escape. Feeling the taste of iron slowly seeping into the corners of his mouth, Rick cursed at his own luck inwardly, trying to push himself back up. Before he did, however, he was pushed back down, as Drake stepped on his back. "I did warn you not to try anything funny before we made the bet, didn''t I? You epted the conditions and took my money, so now, you will pay us back. Don''t worry Mr. Rick Thon, I''m sure we cane to an agreement. After all, we are all gentlemen here, are we not?" Drake spoke with a wide-perched grin stretching his lips, contorting his facial muscles. Rick could only sigh in defeat He had no other options, left after all His group had left him to suffer, and there were no ways out of this mess he himself had caused anymore Sometimeter, the group was now sitting in the meeting room where Scarlet already spent an arduous amount of time waiting for Sara. Just like then, their group was situated around therge long table, waiting for Sara to show up once more. "Argh, I hate this ce! Can''t we just start already? Why do we even need to wait for her?!" She eximed, not willing to waste another moment in this tense silence. "We need her expertise as well, Scarlet. She has a certain connection we will need if we were to be sessful. With her, we could only charge head first, and hope for the best." Aiden, sitting at the central position, exined in his usual calm tone causing the girl to fall silent. "Who is this Sara to you, brother anyway? You keep talking about him" Sitting on Aiden''s left, Lily asked. A momentter, as if realization hit her, her face brightened up, a wide-stretched smile curving it upwards. "Oooooh! Could she be your your girlf-" "No! She is an important friend to me, to us!" Seeing how nervously his brother responded to the question, Lily only giggled with delight, not pushing on the topic any further. Luckily, before anything further could be said, the door to the room slowly creaked open, and Sara walked in. As soon as she closed the door behind herself, she pulled down the hood, unveiling her purple tinges for the first time for Lily to see. "Sorry for the wait everyone." She spoke, walking withrge strides towards Aiden''s right. Chapter 350 - 350 - Helping Hand "Who is this Sara to you, brother anyway? You keep talking about him" Sitting on Aiden''s left, Lily asked. A momentter, as if realization hit her, her face brightened up, a wide-stretched smile curving it upwards. "Oooooh! Could she be your your girlf-" "No! She is an important friend to me, to us!" Seeing how nervously his brother responded to the question, Lily only giggled with delight, not pushing on the topic any further. Luckily, before anything further could be said, the door to the room slowly creaked open, and Sara walked in. As soon as she closed the door behind herself, she pulled down the hood, unveiling her purple tinges for the first time for Lily to see. "Sorry for the wait everyone." She spoke, walking withrge strides towards Aiden''s right. She grabbed an empty seat and ced it on the youth''s right, taking her ce and looking as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She coughed lightly grabbing the attention of the room, before turning towards Aiden, and voicing her question. "So, now that we are all here Aiden, could you exin what the current situation is? You guys still haven''t told me anything, just asked for me toe." Her face revealed worry and concern as she leaned closer to the golden-eyed, ck-haired boy. "What is the problem, what could have happened to rile you up to such an extent?" Even Lily left her cheeky smile behind and focused all of her attention on her brother. She could also clearly feel that something wasn''t right, he was way too agitated. Even though he showcased a calm outlook overall in their fight, he could see the hurry in his eyes. He was keen to finish up this farce as fast as possible so they could get to this point as soon as possible. When she turned to look at the prince and his sister, they were also acting simrly. They were keen to get to whatever was weighing their hearts and minds down. "Yeah, brother Tell me what happened? We are all here, I can even call Granny and Master back. Sam and Biggy are also with them, we are all here to help you, no matter what troubles you are facing!" The stern look on Aiden''s face eased up a bit after hearing his sister''s reassuring words. Yes, his family, his real family wasn''t those of the ancient past, nor those in that other life. The ones who raised him in this life were Granny, Master, and his beloved, elder sister, Lily! He reached out, cing his left hand over hers, as he spoke with a gentle smile donning over his face. "Thank you, big sis! I know I can count on you" He winked as he added another sentence with a slightly cheekier tone. "After all, you did promise to protect your brother, right?" Lily giggled at Aiden''s words, nodding at him. "Of course! We are all ready to help you. You just need to say the word!" As if reminded by something, her face lit up, as she added with a rising excitement leading her tone of voice. "Oh, oh! You wouldn''t believe how much we all grow! Sam, Biggy, and I have worked really hard you know!" "I never doubted that." Aiden returned a smile to her sister, before turning his attention back to the room. He forced his usual stoic cool outlook as he addressed everybody in the room. "So, while Drake and Scarlet are already aware" He looked at Sara as he added another remark. "and I am guessing you too as well, by now Sara, that my friend, Cole has gone missing." He took a moment before he continued on. "You may not all be aware but Cole is not like us. He is not privileged to be born to some high-ss family, nor was he lucky enough to find such an incredible person like Granny and Master. He was a farm boy, a viger that your human society looks down upon. He was bullied, kicked, beaten, tortured just for the fun of it, and because he wasn''t tainted by the darkness. He was a true friend of mine, and as such, I will not stand idly by and will get him out of that vile ce, even if I have to burn it down to the ground!" What started as a normal speech, turned gradually more and more emotional. Thinking about the pain and suffering his friend has must be going through right now, Aiden could hardly contain his rising anger. "Wait up Aiden, and exin a bit more to us, as I am not entirely sure I understand you. Who is this Cole exactly, and where was he taken?" Sara reached out for the boy, with the same worried look that she had before. "You know that I will stand by you. You helped me when I needed it, going as far as to agree to talk with my moth-" *Khm* She coughed, masking her embarrassment and correcting her wording. "to talk to the Mistress, you can rest assured she will not stand idly by when you are in the need!" "We will also not back down! As you are also aware, we also have someone we want to get out of that ce! Our little brother, Dan will be reunited with us! You have our support all the way, Aiden!" Hearing the girl''s exmation, Drake could no longer sit still, he jumped up, hit the top of the table, joining with his own vow to Aiden''s cause. "Yes, like my brother said, we didn''t have a good childhood. We were forcefully separated and taken away to serve some ancient pledge made between the Great Families back in ancient times. Our lives, our childhood were forcefully taken from us. We have finally gained this chance, we will not squander it!" Scarlet also joined the group, standing up. She grabbed her brother''s hand, as she raised it to the air. "We are no longer members of that tainted family, we will stay by your side!" Seeing how everyone wasmitting to the cause, Lily didn''t want to be left behind. Not anymore. Now that she felt she had the strength, the power to assist her brother and not be a burden, she will not allow anyone to push her away from his side. She also jumped up, balled her cute little fists, and raised her right arm into the air. With a look of determination, she eximed. "Brother you can also count on me! I will fight by your side!" As she spoke, her hood fell behind, revealing her tinum blonde hair and to the great surprise of all the others in the room, her slightly elongated pair of ears. As soon as she realized that, her face turned red as a tomato, she quickly turned away, desperately reaching to hide her ears. Before she could do so, however, Aiden stopped her, pulling her into his embrace and warmly whispering into her red ears. "Don''t be afraid, they will not shun you, they are all people we can trust. You do not need to hide here." Although his words weren''t loud, it was still heard by all three of them. Sara''s shock and surprise eased up, turning into a warm smile, as she stepped closer. She ced her hand on the top of the girl''s head, gently caressed it as she spoke with kindness. "Just like your brother said, you do not need to be afraid when we are amongst ourselves. Nobody besides us can see you here. It doesn''t matter if you are a human, an elf, or half-blood, we will wee you. As Aiden''s sister, I''m sure you are an incredible person. What do you say, can we be friends?" "Yes, Lily, as someone that is in simr shoes as you, being blessed and cursed with a brother that just can''t sit still let''s be friends!" Scarlet also joined in, walking up to them, and cing her hand over the girl''s trembling shoulder. It took her a bit, but as she could not sense any hostility from either of them, Lily slowly, gradually managed to calm down. She slowly turned around, still not brave enough topletely step away from her brother, but with enough demeanor to look at both of the girls for a bit, before donning a thin, weak smile, and nodding silently at both of them. A meek, powerless voice escaped her still wary lips. "Y-yes I would like that" "Great!" Scarlet grinned, grabbing the girl and forcefully pulling her away from the boy. "Come, tell me all the nasty things Aiden has done! I''m sure you have lots of cool stories to tell! In return, I will tell you all the things that stupid brother of mine has done before I was taken away ahaha!" Sheughed, pulling the girl back towards her seat, looking as if her story was merely something that one would tell over a bonfire and not something filled with pain, grief, and suffering. Chapter 351 - 351 - The Better Half After the eventful introductions, the meeting returned to a rtively controlled manner, although it took a bit of effort to get the girls, Scarlet and Lily to return their attention to the task at hand. Still, in the end, everyone managed to return their attention to the important tasks at hand. Pushing his chair behind, Aiden stood up, as he addressed his friends. When Aiden exined the situation fully and his desire to get into the academy and free his friend from there, Sara gasped in shock. A full-frontal assault on them, whilst not impossible, it would have been too big of a bite even for someone like him. Not even the royal family would dare to act without caution. The Academy in Higrove, while not the biggest, was just a mere branch of the one in the capital. Holding many powerful spellcasters in their ranks, the Academy''s strength cannot be looked down on. Their highest-ranked Elders the High Elders are old fogeys. One by one, they lived for several centuries already, extending their lives by whatever horrific, ungodly, and taboo rituals. Some say that the reason they preferred to gather young boys as their servants and turn them into willing familiar was to slowly siphon their lives away. This was never confirmed obviously, but the fact that they constantly looked for families in need of financial support, was surely telling a confirming tale. Anyway, it wasn''t likely that any force would be willing to call them out on this, without clear and undeniable evidence. The fact that they were also present in several other neighboring kingdoms, made the true forces behind the Academy a force not to be trifled with. Sara exined as best as she could, what dangers would such a frontal action would hold, and that what they should do is to not act so haughtily, but instead devise a n. Still, being as Aiden the hotheaded, emotion-driven person as he is, he wasn''t keen on sitting still and letting others have their ways with his friend. After an arduous battle of wits they eventually, after several hours of back and forth they managed to make Aiden acquiesce and let the other prominent figures of their rising ''team'' give their suggestions before taking any sort of action. They agreed to reconvene and meet at the Mistress mansion in the evening and together with the rest of the family, devise a n that could perhaps yield positive results, instead of just spelling doom for everyone involved. "What are your ns now brother? Would you like to meet with Granny and Master?" As they left the room, Lily clinking on Aiden''s left asked him. "We could, but didn''t you say that they are busy investigating the attack? Should we bother them?" Pondering on his question, Aiden returned the question with one of his own. "Hehe" However, Lily chuckled at his question with a mischievous glint shining in her eyes. "I have already contacted them. They should being to us, maybe they are already here." Hearing her, Aiden could only sigh with a pleased and slightly relieved smile. Sure enough, his sister, while has grown considerably stronger, was not much different than when he left them. As if understanding his brother''s look, Lily puffed her growing chest proudly and looked at his brother in the eye. "Brother, would you like to see the progress I made why you were away?" She suddenly asked, bringing Aiden out of his thoughts abruptly, causing him to look back with a mixture of shock and confusion. "What do you mean?" Just now did his brain process what he was asked, his shock only increased adding a hint of stun to the mixture, causing him to look with even more confusion than before. "Are you nning to duel me?" To his further astonishment, Lily nodded at his question with a wide smile curving on her adoring milky white face. "Yupp! But not just me! I want Sam and Biggy to join us as well! You should see how much we have grown in this short time! Hihi!" She giggled at her own words, already looking forward. "But.. Wait up, don''t pull me" Before Aiden could argue further she grabbed his right hand and rushed forward, down the stairs pulling him behind. Aiden could do nothing but turn his head to the side and look at Sara and the Scarlet with a pleading look. Whilst the former looked at him helplessly, thetter grinned back with a face that clearly showed that she was already looking forward to the uing show. Sure enough, just like Lily said, by the time they got down from the stairs to the ground level, the familiar sight of the elderly woman wrapped with several thickyers of tattered red clothing hiding every nook and cranny of her body including her face, and the exotic-looking mature woman with the ck faceless mask covering her face was already at the desk, surprisingly conversing with the same brown, curly-haired Mary. Tworge ck war hounds were resting at their sides panting happily. However, what surprised Aiden once again, was the faint feeling of energy converging around their lying figures. It was small, but there clearly was some internal energy conversing inside them. "What the" Aiden looked at the two canines with shock as he was pulled by her sister to them. "Look who has finally shown himself!" Granny standing slightly behind and mostly just acting as the silent spectator while Number 3 seemed to be deep in her discourse with the attendant girl, was the first to address the iing duo. Her eyes also nced at the prince, and her sister who already had their hood back on covering their faces, and also on Sara who was hiding behind her magic-enhanced gear as well. Still, from the curving smile that pushed her aged wrinkles higher, it seemed that she saw more than what they wanted to. Still, she said nothing and returned her attention to the boy in front of him. She reached out with the back of her right palm, giving a gentle caress on his cheeks as she spoke. "Dearie, how are you? Is everything okay? No, silly me, of course, it''s not." She asked, answering her own question at the same time, with a wry smile. "Anyway Don''t be so agitated, you know what your Master had taught you, do you not? As a family, your problems are ours as well, we will work together like always!" As they were speaking, Lily stepped closer to Number 3, silently bowing behind her, greeting her with a respectful tone. "Master" Number 3 raised her right index finger towards Lily as she was still busy with Mary before turning around a minuteter and looking at her hooded blonde apprentice. Since she was hiding behind her mask, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking, her voice was calm and did not carry any of her potential feelings to the outside. "We got your call, Lily. From what I could feel, you seem to have quite a few mixed, controversial and opposite emotions within you, troubling your heart and hindering your cultivation. Tell me, what is the problem? I thought you would be happier to meet up with your brother." "Master" Lily mumbled again, not sure how to start to recount the tale. In the end, she shook her head and looked at Aiden who was still being ''handled'' by Granny behind them. "It''s about brother His friend was taken to the Academy" Number 3 raised her hand, putting an abrupt stop to Lily''s speech. "Don''t continue. I understand it now, but this is not something we can discuss in the open. Then she turned to the hooded Sara, who jumped in shock in the next second when she heard an unfamiliar voice in her mind. "Miss Rox, please show us to your office room, and please call your mother immediately. Tell her that her better half is back and is requiring her debt to be paid back in full. She will understand." Luckily, her face and with that her expressions and pale, shocked face were covered behind her magical hood. One had to know that being gifted with the power of the mind due to her unique bloodline power, nobody besides her mother managed to get through her mental barriers before. So for her, to suddenly hear another voice, sending her a message without her knowledge or consent was a frightening revtion. Still, it didn''t take more than a nce to understand who the owner of the intrusive voice was. Knowing the severity of the situation, she only nodded, and silently walked forward the group, behind the counter, and hurried to the back office door without saying another word. As she walked away, Number 3 turned towards the royal siblings and spoke to them normally. Her voice however carried a slight concern, and a hint of familiarity as she addressed them. "You two could either wait here or explore the city for the time being. I presume you all have a meeting point already set. I''m sorry but for the time being, we will have to leave you." Chapter 352 - 352 - Family Relations "Miss Rox, please show us to your office room, and please call your mother immediately. Tell her that her better half is back and is requiring her debt to be paid back in full. She will understand." Luckily, her face and with that her expressions and pale, shocked face were covered behind her magical hood. One had to know that being gifted with the power of the mind due to her unique bloodline power, nobody besides her mother managed to get through her mental barriers before. So for her, to suddenly hear another voice, sending her a message without her knowledge or consent was a frightening revtion. Still, it didn''t take more than a nce to understand who the owner of the intrusive voice was. Knowing the severity of the situation, she only nodded, and silently walked forward, away from the group, behind the counter, and hurried to the back office door without saying another word. As she walked away, Number 3 turned towards the royal siblings and spoke to them normally. Her voice however carried a slight concern, and a hint of familiarity as she addressed them. "You two could either wait here or explore the city while we are busy. I presume you all have a meeting point already set. I''m sorry but for the time being, we will have to leave you." For a moment, the royal siblings couldn''t respond, they turned utterly speechless at this mysterious masked woman''s words. However, Drake quickly regained his senses and tried toe with an argument. "Wait! W-we also want to help! Our brot-" Unfortunately for him, he was mercilessly cut off, when Number 3 raised her right hand again. "No. Not yet. You both will be included in that part of the nning, but before that, I need to talk with my apprentices." Her tone was cold, however, there was a certain strangeness to it, that only Aiden seemed to pick up. As if she merely put up a y, she used her mind and energies to mask the true depth of her feelings and only let this rigid coldness reach the surface. Still, without the system, he couldn''t be sure, so in the end, he didn''t say a word about it. Instead, he turned to Drake and Scarlet, looking at them apologetically. "Sorry, you two. While we are busy, why don''t you guys go ahead with Scarlet''s registration? She will need to go through that examination anyway. By the time you guys finish, we should be back as well!" Seeing as how Lily had a pouting expression on her face and was about to speak up, reminding her brother about their exercise they were nning, he turned to look at her and speak with a smile. "We can still test our limits. I''m sure there are private rooms avable for such purposes in the back." "Y-Yes, A-Aiden is right, you two will be able to find a room if you wish to ehrm, duel." Gathering all her courage, Mary suddenly interjected, confirming Aiden''s words. In fact, Aiden knew very well that there were such rooms designed specifically for that purpose. After spending quite some time at the back side of the Adventurer''s Guild, the system conveniently mapped everything out for him to see and memorize before. He was even aware of several hidden underground tunnels that would lead out or into the guild. Whilst he wasn''t sure where they led, he was fairly certain that most of them were used by the several other factions and big families to gather intelligence either on the prominent figures associated or working with the guild, or the guild''s machinations itself. Being thergest, and international organization as it was, knowledge about the local branch''s dealings coulde in handy after all. Anyway, after listening to Aiden and the others, Drake and Scarlet finally acquiesced and agreed to stay behind, albeit quite begrudgingly. Both of them being somewhat simr in nature to Aiden, they wanted to be involved, and not just left behind. They were sure that despite being a ''Master-Disciple'' premise that the maskeddy had said, whatever they would be talking about would be rted to their situation as well. In the end, though, they could only agree even if they didn''t want to. Theck of presence that they felt from the masked woman had told them that she was most likely much stronger than them. Adding the fact that she addressed them with such distant coldness, both of them understood that they shouldn''t get on her bad side. With the situation addressed, Number 3 turned towards Mary, who jumped in fright upon being inspected to this terrifying figure''s gaze, she hurriedly turned around and scampered towards the back door, opening it and signaling for Aiden and his family toe over. "Let''s go. We have much to discuss." Number 3 curtly said, turning around and leaving towards the door. "Come dearie, I know you have questions as well as a story to tell, let us hear it all. Also, don''t worry, she is quite happy to see you, even if she has difficulties expressing herself. You will understand at some point, her history is just as colorful as yours." With an apologetic smile, Granny turned towards Aiden, giving him some reassuring words before going towards the door herself. Aiden sighed, nodding at the elderly woman, following behind silently, Lily and the two hounds of hers following behind. A momentter they entered the back area, Mary closing the door behind them, and walking back to her ce with aplex look on her face. ''Just who is this terrifying woman? She seems even stronger than the lead examiner'' She wondered, trembling as she remembered how she spoke into her mind directly. ''Aiden has such a weird family'' Barely a minuteter, the little group was already in front of Sara''s office, surprisingly led by Number 3 and not Aiden. He looked at his master, pondering about just how many secrets could she still hold when her voice suddenly brought him back from his abrupt reverie. "Okay, we should have a couple of minutes before that annoying fly would arrive." Without turning around, she reached for the knob on the door and pushed on it as she added another sentence. "We have a lot to discuss Aiden." As the door opened and they walked in, Sara was already there, without her hood covering her face. She was standing by the windowsill, looking towards the distance, heaving a heavier sigh. She was tightly holding onto a dark crystal in her right, simr in shape and size to what Number 3 gave to them, causing Aiden to raise a brow as he saw it. When the group got in, Sara hurriedly ced the crystal back into the depths of the upper parts of her robe, before turning around and meeting them with a smile. "Wee, Aiden, Lily, and their family." She greeted, before turning her attention to the maskeddy leading the group. "May I ask, that since the miss here knows my identity and even seems to have a rtionship with my moth- *khm* with the mistress to put off the mask and reveal her identity?" "You may ask after she does the same." She responded, causing a look of confusion to appear on Aiden, Lily, and even Sara''s faces. Granny on the other hand simply smiled, calmly stepping to the side. Suddenly, before the three youths would have a chance to inquire about who she was referring to, the air began to tremble, as a dark gateway formed behind them. From the dark portal, the Mistress suddenly stepped out, donning a dark purple velvet dress, the strange demon-shaped mask covering her face as usual. Sara yelped in shock when her mother appeared before she regained her demeanor a secondter and gave a deep bow. "Wee Mistress, thank you for your prompt response to my inquiry." She spoke with deep reverence in her tone. The Mistress waved her slender right hand dismissively at her daughter''s motion, focusing her attention on the other masked figure in the room. "Well, well, well I never thought I would hear about you ever in this life." She spoke carrying a strange mixture of emotions in her voice. Although her tone seemed stable, the strange storm of conflicting emotions told a different tale. She seemed to be just as equally happy and frightened, worried, angered, and nervous to see Number 3. Aiden couldn''t understand it at all, however, he remained quiet, turning to look at her master to see her reactions. Right now, he really felt that he could have used the system''s assistance Reading these two powerful figures was an almost impossible task even without the strange masks they always used whenever they were out in the public. Hearing the Mistress''s tone Number 3 snorted, before returning the greeting nothing but stoic coldness. This time, however, Aiden felt clear hostility in her, her attitude wasn''t fake, like before. "It was never my intention, believe me. If it were up to me, you could rot in your prison for all eternity before I would give any care. sister." Chapter 353 - 353 - Take Off Your Mask! "It was never my intention, believe me. If it were up to me, you could rot in your prison for all eternity before I would give any care. sister." The room instantly turned dead silent after that sentence. Even Sarah, who could usually control her emotions, was lookingpletely stunned. Every eye was turned to the masked mistress still standing close to the door. ''Interesting I had a hunch that she could be anything but simple Still, I was thinking that maybe she had some connection to the royal family or one of the Big Four (AN: The 4 Big Noble Families standing just below the Royal Family).'' Aiden thought. He also couldn''t help but think about his master more. All the strange items, artifacts, and her secrecy he had a hunch that she was also connected to the royal families in some way. Not to mention that she also seemed to be doing her hardest to control herself and her voice every time she spoke to the royal siblings. However, if she and this masked woman were truly rted to each other, then he wasn''t sure about his first conjectures anymore. Suddenly a light chuckle broke the ensuing, quite heavy silence in the small room. The maskeddy''s hearty giggle lifted the sudden pressure almost instantly. She walked to the window, looking out of it, just like she usually did in her own study, she only spoke after relieving herself. "Oh my, such hostility still after so many years Sister? I can''t even remember, thest time you called me that" She sighed, calming herself. "Still, you wanted me to remove this mask right? Are you sure you can ept what is lying underneath? Are you ready to witness the consequences of that night?" She asked looking at Number 3''s dark, faceless mask. "You see, even if you hide behind those emotionless rigid masks that your new Master provides your group with, you can''t hide from my eyes, you should know that." She continued, her voice carrying a hint of confidence that Aiden just couldn''t understand. He had many questions already in his mind but decided to stay still for now and just watch where all of this was going. Number 3 remained stoic, not saying a word, but her attention was glued to the woman at the window. The Mistress paused for only a few moments before going further. "Tell me, dear ''sister'' of mine Are you truly ready to see IT? After all, this is the eternal reminder not just to myself, but to you as well. The results of that night that scarred not just my skin, flesh, and soul, but also you as well." "Take it off." Number 3 was curt, her tone cold, rigid, distant. The mistress nodded, slowly reaching for the left and right sides of her demon-shaped mask, grabbing it with her hands. However, she didn''t peel it off, but looked up and matched Number 3''s gaze who was also holding the edges of her faceless, dark mask. As if understanding each other, they moved simultaneously, and took off their respective facial covers at the same time, revealing something that caused another wave of shock to spread in the room. Even Granny, who stood by the sideline, sitting on a chair at the corner couldn''t help but revealing a curious smile at the sight. ''Heh, now this is turning weirder by the minute'' Sara was already on the verge of copsing, she plopped down on her chair with a face full of disbelief. She wasn''t sure if she was hallucinating or not. Could it be that this is all just a dream? Lily and even Aiden couldn''t help but be surprised when they saw Mistress''s real face. After all, it was almost identical to Number 3''s! Well, apart from the fact that there was a huge, hideous scar going from the lower-left corner of her lips all the way through her nose and right eyes reaching above her right brows. She also seemed to be blind to her right eye, maybe as a result of the damage, maybe it was something else, only she herself knew probably. Leaving that aside, she and Number 3''s every other facial feature were matching. They looked like the exact copy of each other. "So, what do you say, ''sister''? Do you like what you see?" The Mistress asked with a curious gaze and a thin smirk-like smile adorning her expression. Number 3 took a couple of seconds, focusing mostly on the huge scar with an unreadable,plicated look. After a while, she sighed, as she responded with a strangely much warmer tone. Her previous coldness seemed to instantly vanish, reced by this unfamiliar warmth that she previously only showed to Lily, Aiden, and Granny in private. "You still haven''t healed it" Number 3 muttered. The Mistress lightly shook her head, her smirk eased up, revealing an honest, strangely happy smile for the first time. She gently touched her own scar with her right hand, her slender fingers trailed at its edges as she spoke. "Why would I? This is a reminder of the mistake we made back then. I will carry it forever. You may have moved on since then, but I will never do that." She heaved a heavy sigh, before continuing. "I will never forget them. What we did, will forever stay with me as a reminder." For the first time since Aiden knew her, Number 3''s body trembled as she listened to the Mistress''s words. She clenched her hands, balling them into fists. Her usually stoic, expressionless face twisted and contorted as she tried pushing all the boiling emotions back down. Ultimately she seemed to be failing as her eyes began to turn hazy. Her expression began to twist into something akin to anger. "How dare you" She mumbled under her breath, her words were barely audible. In the next moment, before anyone could ask, suddenly her own shadow started to shake, and transform, it began to grow in size, covering a circr aura around her body at first and slowly began to stretch out, gaining size. The air around her turned colder, heavier by the second as the strange and eerie aura began to slowly spread. "How dare you how dare you insinuate that I don''t care" She continued to mumble, clearly losing herself in the tumultuous rage of her own bottled emotions. Still, despite the events, her counterpart, the mistress retained her smile, and simply leaned back on the windowsill behind her, not showing any signs of being afraid of her. "What? Is it still that hard to listen to the truth? Hurts to hear it right? You left not just me, but them as well to die." Her smile vanished in the next second, turning into a gaze filled with curiosity as she asked. "What do you intend to do now? Kill me, your twin just because I remind you of that day? Just because I''m the living reminder of what you did? Of what WE did?" "Shut up" Number 3 mumbled, barely audibly as the faint buzzing noise, the eerie sensation that continued to grow with her dark shadowy aura continued to spread, now growing twice of its original size. Still, despite being barely audible, the Mistress seemed to be able to listen to it clearly. "What? Why would I? You think you can scare me?" She suddenly stood up, as her own shadow also began to twist simrly to Number 3''s and began to slowly increase in size. The same buzzing noise also began to surround him, however, unlike the cold presence that surrounded Number 3, the air began to heat up around her. The atmosphere around her began to change, a faint, hollow purplish hue began to make its presence known around as the eerie-looking shadow gradually gained power. "Did you forget we are the same?" She asked Number 3 with a confident smile on her face. "You think that you are stronger now because you have joined Them? So what?" There was no response for quite a while, Number 3 remained silent, as she focused all her attention on the look-alike, her supposed twin sister. Her strange shadow didn''t grow any further either, it retained its current power for a while. Still, just before she would have the chance to open her eyes, suddenly a bright golden light exploded between the two sisters, instantly pushing back both of the dark, ominous presences that continued to spread and almost immediately filled the room with a bright blinding illuminating luster. At the corner of the room, Granny who remained calm throughout this verbal fight nodded with a content expression on her face. ''Just as I expected She is your son, my daughter'' Shemented mentally, not moving an inch, shielding her eyes in the next instant as the light filled the room. As the light slowly began to fade, bothdies'' eerie shadows returned to normal, the strange air surrounding them was swallowed up by this new, third participant. As the silhouette slowly began to turn visible, the shock and confusion faded from Lily and even Sara''s faces, reced by a happy, and content smile. Chapter 354 - 354 - Ancients As the light slowly dissipated the figure of Aiden was revealed to everyone in the room. He jumped between the twodies, and let the full power of his aura be released in the room. An incredibly heavy, mighty pressure descended following the golden light show, putting pressure on everyone in the room. The air crackled as golden sparks appeared for a fraction of a second before fading almost instantly. The pressure was so heavy that even the walls, despite their sturdiness, began to crack under it. The window was long gone, sted away to pieces at the moment Aiden released his own power, and let his aura unfoldpletely. Strangely, even though he put the pressure on both the Mistress and Number 3, none of them showed any signs of the weight, they simply stood still, looking at the boy with a keen interest in their eyes. None of them seemed offended, but simply interested. At the side, Granny was smiling warmly at the boy, feeling delighted and almost emotional as he looked at his mighty figure. Although it may have looked more, barely a couple of seconds had passed, before Aiden''s thunderous, deep voice rumbled in the room. "Enough! Stop it you two! We have much more important things to discuss!" He then turned to look at his Master first with his brightly glowing golden eyes. "Master, I don''t know what happened, and what hurts you so much, but this is not the time to act like this. I need your help, please help me." Then before she could react in any way, Aiden turned to look at the Mistress. "And you, Masked Mistress, Sara''s mother, Lady Roxx please try to stay focused. You were asked here to assist us with an issue. If you can help us no, if you can help me, I will definitely owe you one favor." With that, he lowered his hands and sighed. At the same time, the pressure in the room magically vanished, the strange, ancient aura that everyone could feel was gone just as abruptly as it appeared. The glow in Aiden''s eyes also faded, returning to their ''normal'' state. A few seconds have passed once again in silence before Number 3 and the Mistress sighed almost at the same time. "Yes I You are right Aiden, I got carried away, I apologize." Number 3 was the first to react and break the silence. She walked over to Aiden, cing her hand over his shoulder. "I should have acted with a bit more grace. It''s just" She turned to look at her twin sister once again, this time without any hostility, shaking his head. "not easy. She is No... We-" "We share a difficult history together, that is all." Finishing her sister''s words, the Mistress stepped closer to the two, lightly touching the boy''s only free shoulder as well. "Let''s just say, we made some mistakes in the past, that we are still trying to get over with." From the suddenly tightened grip, Aiden could feel the rising anger in his Master. Although he was very interested in their shared history, he quickly changed the topic, leaving their weird embrace and walking closer to Lily and Sara at the table. "Anyway, we call came here to talk about something else." He looked at Master, waiting for him to continue. "Yes." Number 3 coughed, also stepping closer to Sara''s desk. "I did ask all of you here. However, before we get into anything Aiden, I will need you to exin to us everything in full honesty. Start from the mission that this one here gave you and her daughter." Her words, caused Sara to look with wide eyes and an aghast expression once more at the strangedy that keenly resembled her mother. Just who was she? Her Aunt? Just what was her family history? "Miss" She wanted to ask but was turned silent a momentter as her own mother turned to look at her and began to speak. "I will tell you about her some other time, Sara. For now, let''s leave it be, okay? For now, let''s listen to Aiden''s report once again." Taking a moment to calm himself, Aiden coughed, before giving a quick look at Sara as he began to recount the same story he gave to the Mistress just a day ago. Just like then, he went through everything besides the moments rted to his own origin and his followers. The only one that he mentioned was Galina, who was still deep in her own mediation back at the inn. In the end, several hours have passed by once again as he recounted his tale, eventually reaching the point where they got back to the city. As he finally finished talking, another session of silence ensued in the room. Number 3 was deep in thought, thinking about everything he told so far before he turned towards the calm and rxed-looking Granny at the corner. "What do you think?" She asked suddenly, looking at her with thoughtful eyes. Granny smiled at the question, before shaking her head. "Not yet." Then she turned towards Aiden and asked with the usual gentle smile donning her wrinkled face. "Dearie, please continue. What happened after then? I can tell that you met some misfortune. Let us know, so we can help." For the first time, Aiden flinched at Granny''s question. He took a few moments before he nodded and resumed telling his experience from thest day all the way to this morning when he learned about his first friend''s sudden disappearance and the Academy''s involvement. He also exined the connection between Drake and Scarlet''s missing brother that should also be held somewhere inside. All the way, neither of the three adults, Granny, Mistress, or Number 3 have shown any expression on their faces. Once he finally finished recounting everything and bringing them up to speed, Granny nodded and smiled. "I see. So now, you want to find a way to get your friend and the missing brother back?" "Yes, Granny. Even if it means attacking that ce, I would be willing to do it. Cole had suffered enough already, this fate that he suffers now I can''t stand it." Thinking about all that he might be going through as they were speaking, Aiden once again felt the need to charge out. He felt that every minute spent here was wasted and could have been used to save his poor friend. Granny didn''t speak anymore, but turned towards the Mistress and nodded at her as if allowing her to speak. Sure enough, although it looked weird, the Mistress gave a slight nod back to her before turning towards Aiden and spoke with a much more sterner expression on her face. "Aiden, do you know the powers behind the Academy?" She asked, not waiting for him to answer, and continued on. "The academy is somewhat simr to the Guild, at least in terms of how they operate." "The Academy is an organization simr to them, having many branches in many countries, not just in this small kingdom. Also, while the Royal Academy in the capital is the main one, it has its tendrils spread all throughout the other cities. However, the main concern isn''t their widespreadedness." Number 3 added, continuing her sister''s words. "What you need to understand is that their power is iparable to the Adventurer''s, the Mercenaries'', or even any other guild in this continent." The Mistress added, going further. "Not even the countries canpare to their might. They are after all the collection of the mightiest spellcasters of this world." "I don''t care. They will still die the same way as any other" Aiden frowned, as he was about to blurt out ''human'' but in the end, stopped himself. "anyone else. I will go and save my friend no matter what you say. Even if you shun me, Master, I will not leave my friend behind." "Hehe" Suddenly a chuckle brought everyone''s attention behind them. Granny stood up from her seat, slowly walked over, and joined their conversation. "Dearie, I can feel the pride of your Draconic Self." "Wha-" Seeing the boy''s bbergasted reaction, Granny chuckled once again, waving her hand dismissively. "You don''t need to be that scared, Dearie, everyone here is already aware that you are not an average little boy." She said looking at Sara and the Mistress for a moment before giving a warm smile to the boy. "Believe me, I know your plight. I can understand your need to rush there." She patted the boy''s shoulders, as her face returned to the previous calmness. "However, before you charge in, you should listen to those two. They are warning you, knowing your limits. The Academy is an organization that far surpasses what you know about this world." Seeing the boy''s conflicted look, Number 3 took the moment to resume and speak up once again. "Aiden, I''m sure you think that you are stronger than any human, and you might not be wrong about that" "However, those that sit at the top, those that have use of these boys and turn them into their puppets are monsters" The Mistress added, finishing the thought. Before the boy could ask, Granny smiled at him once again, before speaking up and causing him to freeze up as she voiced her question. "Dearie, do you know anything about the ''Forbidden History of the Ancients?''" Chapter 355 - 355 - Mana Transfer "Dearie, do you know anything about the ''Forbidden History of the Ancients?''" Aiden narrowed his eyes upon hearing Granny''s question. Still, that onlysted for a moment, calm soon returned, easing his facial muscles. "What do you mean? Ancients?" Looking at the boy, Granny smiled, shaking her head lightly. It was obvious she didn''t believe that the boy waspletely oblivious to the topic. Still, she didn''t force it. "No, doesn''t matter. What you need to know is that it wouldn''t be advisable to do a full-frontal assault, but instead, try an alternative approach." She reached out, giving a gentle caress on his cheek with the back of her right hand, as she continued with a warm tone. "Dearie, if I remember correctly, you already nned to participate with Lily on the entrance tests at the start of the next year. That is actually the perfect chance to get inside without raising any gs." "But, that''s still months away!" Aiden immediately protested, he wasn''t keen on letting his friend suffer for months just so he could be saved in the most ''convenient way'' possible. No, Aiden, that is really the best solution. You could gain entry, learn more about the world whilst also searching for Cole and the missing Royal Sibling." Number 3 also joined in, giving her opinion. "Besides, you don''t need to worry, they won''t hurt your friend for the time being anyway." She added, quickly raising Aiden''s interest in the matter. "Hmm? Why is that, Master?" The Mistress chuckled at the boy''s question. Looking at him, she revealed a kind-looking smile, that knowing her character, felt strange, and out-of-ce, especially for Sara. After all, she has rarely seen her mother without the mask, less seeing her actually showing such warm emotion. Still, she weed this change. She didn''t say a word and just kept listening to the discussion with a much more rxed expression on her face. Lily was also silently following the conversation along, patting and caressing the dogs'' heads as they sat at her sides, calm and uncaring as always. "You see, Aiden, those old monsters at the Academy need to train and develop their soon-to-be puppets first. The ritual requires the little life bags to be adept in using and transferring mana, and that requires time to teach and learn." The Mistress said, giving only a moment of pause before she exined further. "Before you ask, the skill I''m talking about is an ancient version of the nowadays popr couple''s skill the [Mana Transfer]. Simply put, it opens a channel between the pair of users from which they could transfer mana between each other. Couples and siblings that are adept at the same school of magic like to use it. However, the version the old fogeys will be using is a much more brutal version of this said skill." "That one is called [Sanguine Channel]. Unlike the other one, this one creates a one-way channel with the original caster being the master and the target being the servant. Then the Master can initiate the transfer where he or she can suck out the life force and mana from the servant." Number 3 added, taking over the conversation and exining further. "While they could siphon out everything right from the start, it is actually much better to do it slowly. As you may or may not know, Mana and even Life Force can be restored naturally, at least to a certain degree." "How long does learning this skill take? Also if this is the case, howe that Drake''s brother is still alive after so many years spent there?" Aiden asked with a confused expression. How could the little boy still be alive if these old masters are using him for so long?" Number 3 and even the Mistress smiled at his question, as Number 3 exined. "That''s simple. For starters, they couldn''t use the skill before the boy had the capabilities of learning the servant version of it, and that can''t happen until he matures enough. Sure, they can turn him into a submissive little familiar by using some low-level demon summoning and cing it inside his body, but they needed to wait until he reached a certain age before they started using it." "Also, due to his status of being royalty and being turned into a familiar, he may have been exempted from that fate. Your friend Cole was it? Cole, however, will not be this ''lucky'', he is probably being trained. Still depending on the boy''s talent, they would need at least half a year before they could safely start siphoning him." The Mistress added. "So, dearie, for now, your friend is safe, you don''t need to worry." Joining back to the conversation, Granny nodded with a smile. After that, a brief silence descended on the room. Aiden was deep in thought, processing all he had heard from the three adults. Eventually, he sighed and nodded, reaching for the small space between her eyes. "Fine I understand. Even though I don''t like it, I can understand that the best, for now, is to wait." Hearing his words, all three of them, Number 3, The Mistress, and Granny could sigh in relief. They smiled as they looked at the boy. "That''s the good decision, dearie. There''s no need to be hasty. We should take our time, you shoulde back home and rejoin your sister in training." Granny added patting the boy''s shoulder. However, Aiden shook his head declining the idea, causing Lily to pout at the back. "No, I can''t do that. Besides, even though I have agreed to not storm in, I still want to at the very least find where Cole is held, and how he is holding up. After that" He nodded towards the Mistress''s direction. "I have agreed to help her in the uing War Game, so she could grab the City Lord seat through her idiotic candidate." Hearing that, Number 3 turned towards her sister. She narrowed his eyes, looking at the unmakes woman with using eyes. "What is he talking about? Are you using my disciple against his will?!" "It''s nothing like that, sister" The Mistress calmly smiled withstanding the piercing gaze of Number 3 with ease. It was clear that she had quite the experience dealing with her after all. "We had a deal between each other." She waved dismissively, chuckling lightly as she continued. "You should know already that in this city I have quite a pull already. Even though I am confined to stay there, I am far from being helpless. Your little proteg is talented butpletely clueless about how this world works. In return for some knowledge, we had agreed to help each other, that''s all. Right, Aiden?" Aiden frowned at her word, but still, in the end, he nodded. "More or less. Anyway, I agreed to help her, by assisting in that battle." "You know how these games go, sister It could help in his training, but if you are against it, I can-" "No. You are right, it''s a good opportunity." Before the Mistress could finish, Number 3 interrupted, agreeing to the idea to her sister''s great surprise. She looked at Lily as she added. "Let her sister also join. It would be the perfect chance to get used to her new strength." Then she left the desk, walking to the blonde half-elf. "Lily, you will join your brother, and fight in this event. Do your best and try to not rely on your bow skills, okay? You need to get used to your new abilities, this would be the perfect chance. You can also take your dogs with you." She turned toward the door. Equipping the mask once again, she stepped away from the group and reached for the door. Before opening it up, she turned around and spoke. "Anyway, we have wasted enough time. There''s still much to do. Sister, they have agreed to meet at your ''mansion'' in the evening with everybody. I hope you don''t mind." Before the Mistress had any chance to respond, Number 3 has already left the room. A momentter her presencepletely vanished from the halls, it was as if she was never there, to begin with. Seeing her hasty departure, Granny chuckled. "It''s quite rare to see her like that. You have an interesting effect on her." She mumbled looking at the door. "Let''s just say our history was eventful." The Mistress sighed as she also put back her demon-faced mask on her face. She stepped away, towards the destroyed window frame, as she spoke with a sighed tone. "As she said, we will meet this evening back at my mansion. I will take my leave then." Turning towards the door, she waved with her hand, causing the air the tremble and distort upon her simplistic movement. A momentter a spark of dark energy appeared floating in the air. Instantly it began to stretch, and in mere moments a Gate formed out of thin air. Before stepping over, the Mistress halted her steps and threw a couple more words towards Sara. "Sara, make sure to have a good talk with that golden ''hero''. What he did waspletely idiotic. If we weren''t this close to the actual event, I would have already reced him" With that said, she stepped over the portal, vanishing from the room, just like her sister, leaving only Granny and the youngsters behind. Chapter 356 - 356 - Alley "Finally, you guys are back!" As the back office door creaked open, a sudden yell echoed, only to be muffled amidst the many cries and guffaws that filled the busy Main Hall of the Adventurer''s Guild. As soon as he saw the door opening, Drake yelled out, tired of waiting. He didn''t even need to wait, his honed senses could perceive the group at the other side with ease. Sure enough, as the door finally opened, the now slightly smaller group of Aiden appeared on the other side. Next to him, his hooded sister, Lily appeared at the same time, revealing a kind, happy smile as her eyes met with Scarlet''s. A step behind them, Granny and Sara appeared a stepter, thetter once again hidden behind her magically enhanced hood. "Hmmm?" Being called out the moment they appeared, surprised Aiden, he turned to look at the source of the sound and walked towards them. Not too far away from them, Mary, who was currently busy processing a group''s spoils and calcting the credits they would receive on their ount, could only spare a single nce, and smile at the boy. A faint pink hue colored her supple cheeks, as their gazes met for a brief moment before Mary hastily averted her eyes and forcibly returned her attention to her work. Sadly, she couldn''t always leave everything behind and rush to him, even if she wished nothing more at the moment. First and foremost she was an attendant of the guild and had to do her job. After greeting the curly brown-haired girl with a smile and a nod, Aiden and her group walked to the royal siblings, sitting by the side at a table. As they were about to leave, suddenly Aiden felt a tug on her sleeves. He halted his steps and looked at Sara, who whispered the words, so only he could hear them. "Unfortunately I have to leave you guys for now. I need to tend to our ''brave'' leader, and make sure he calms down." Her tone was meek, carrying a tint of unwillingness. She wanted to stay, but her duties, just like with the case of Mary, had toe first. After losing one of the examiners recently and her being away for a bit, work has begun to pile up. "Sure, no problem, Sa" Aiden responded with a smile, stopping midway through his sentence and giving a light fake cough to fix his wording. " I mean, no problem, Examiner." Then he leaned closer and whispered thest words. "I will see you tonight at your mother''s residence." Having said that, he turned around and walked away with a calm, nonchnt look on his face, leaving behind a girl who could only thank the heavens for her luck that she had her hood covering her tomato-red face. She looked at Aiden''s back for a while longer before turning around and walking back to the back office area. "Hey Drake, Scarlet!" He greeted with a smile that turned into a troubled one a momentter as he donned an apologetic look. "Sorry for leaving you guys behind, Master wanted to talk to us." "About that" Drake sat up, focusing his attention on the boy leading the small group. "Who was she? Although she was cold, I just can''t shake this feeling that I have already met her" He muttered with a thoughtful look. "Well You did meet her when you came to rescue your sister and me." Lily added, walking over to Scarlet''s side and taking her ce next to her. "I meant before that Oh, that''s right!" As if remembering something Drake''s face brightened up. He turned to Lily as he asked. "He did have two artifacts right? You have the amulet and he had another one that was used to finding you!" "What?! Aren''t these items only avable to the royal family?" Scarlet eximed with a shocked expression, swaying her gaze between her brother and her new friend, Lily madly. "No, that is not true" Granny suddenly spoke up, stepped closer, and continuing once all eyes were on her, with her usual gentle, kind smile. "The artifacts you are referring to are not exclusive to your family, dears. The other, big families also have some in their possession. It''s just that your family has most of them, and considers them their own heirlooms, while in truth they aren''t." "B-but" "What do you mean, Granny? Could you exin more?" Seeing the surprised, stunned looks of the siblings, Aiden turned to Granny and asked the question that probably both of them wanted to, but couldn''t. "I don''t know much dearie." Granny responded, her smiling expression turning to a thoughtful one, her right hand reached for her wrinkled chin as she continued. "I''m not sure about these past dealings as they were between the Big Noble families and the Royal Family. However, I know that, besides being able to sense each other, there''s more to these trinkets" She sighed, shaking her head and turned to match the eager-looking boy''s golden gaze. "You should ask your Master once things calm down, she probably knows more. The one Lily has is hers after all." Then, she turned to look at the sitting group, fixed her smile, and asked, changing the topic. "Anyway, I still have stuff to do in the city. You kids still have the rest of the day before the agreed dinner in the Mansion." Looking in Lily''s direction, she asked, pointing at the ground next to her. "Dearie, do you want me to take care of those two meanwhile?" Acting like shadows, the two dogs were silently resting next to Lily, still following the order they were given by Aiden a while before. Still, what gave a small surprise to Aiden was the fact that since their reunion, they retained thatzy, calm attitude, always following behind her sister, silently. Others might not even realize they were there, despite their size, as they were like silent shadows. However, Aiden was sure that at the first sign of danger, both of them would instantly jump into action and do their best to protect the girl at all costs. He was actually quite interested to see their progress. From what Lily hinted at, he wanted to see how these canines could actually grow stronger His sudden reverie was put to an abrupt halt with Lily''s happy exmation. "No, need Granny! Sam and Biggy want to stay and spend some more time with brother!" "I see" Granny didn''t question her words, she simply smiled. "In that case, this old woman will take her leave for now. Take care kids and if you meet any trouble you can''t handle just use the crystal she gave to you and call for us. Okay?" She asked. "Sure Granny, I will!" Lily responded cheerily, reaching for the little brown pouch hanging on her left side before raising her hand in the air and waving. After saying her goodbyes, Granny turned around and left their group, she slowly sauntered towards the exit, before leaving the Hall. Soon, her figure vanished, leaving only the siblings, Lily and Aiden behind. As Granny left them, Aiden finally returned his attention to the silver-haired friend of his. Looking in his eyes, he asked with a curious glint in his eyes. He already spotted the rolled-up piece of paper in his hands. He didn''t need the system to see that it was most likely a Quest he wanted to take on. "So, what do you have there, Drake?" Hearing the question, he was waiting for, a wide grin stretched over Drake and even Scarlet''s face. Without saying anything, he rolled out the pergamen, presenting it on the table. "Are you sure this is the ce? Are you sure you know where they are?" A tall,nky, short ck-haired man asked as he and his partner stepped into a darker alleyway. "Just like I said thest three times, yes I am sure. Now stop asking the same question over and over again, you are annoying the crap out of me. If you are this scared, why the hell did you evene then? I could havee alone you know!" With a frustrated snort, the thin man''s partner, a bald, broad-shouldered, stout man yelled back at his trembling partner. Thenky figure jumped in fright at the response, hastily shaking his head. "N-no, I can''t leave you alone with such a task! The B-boss would have my head if I would return without you!" He vehemently denied the idea of running away even though he wished for nothing deeper inside his heart. He couldn''t do that, no, that would spell him a fate far worse than the potential death that could await for him where they were heading towards. No, he needed to stay with this man and make sure that their task would be aplished. The B-Boss ced great importance on this mission of theirs. Suddenly, a faint noiseing from deeper in the alley reached her ears, causing him to jolt in his ce and turn his gaze ahead. Chapter 357 - 357 - Black Spiders Suddenly, a faint noiseing from deeper in the alley reached her ears, causing him to jolt his head and turn his gaze ahead. Standing in the darkness the silhouette of a robed person could be hazily seen. The figure stood still, unmoving as if it was a statue. Still, there was a sense of dread, an eerie, ominous power that this presence faintly, but continuously emitted. Immediately, the thin man shivered, automatically turned his head to look behind him. His natural instinct of survival kicked in, he was subconsciously searching the potential escape routes. Unfortunately for him, as he turned around, he saw a simr scene: A dark-robed figure stood in the way where they came. A thick, long hood was draped over its head, creating a dark shadow thatpletely hid the figure''s features. Just like its partner ahead, there was no movement, but the eerie feeling, the ominous, dreadful aura could be felt from its direction also. "Calm down. We have arrived." His partner, the bald, stout man''s cold tone jolted thenky cat-like man. He turned around again, focusing his attention on the dark outline of the shady figure ahead with a wary, scared expression on his face. "B-Brock Are these people-" "Yes. Now shut up and stay calm. Let me do that talking." The broad-shouldered bald man, Brock responded with a gruff and stepped forward. Taking a couple of small steps, he immediately bowed his head and gave a greeting with a respectful, reverential tone. "This lowly one greets these Masters. We havee on behalf of our boss, Jay Thornton, the leader of the Sharks. We came to hi-" He hurriedly blurted out the entire speech he prepared. Still, before he had the chance to finish, the figure suddenly made a movement. Its figure blurred from its ce, only to reappear a few steps away from Brock. The thin figure, yelped in shock, stumbling backward and almost falling on his butt. Instantly, he turned around, ready to escape, but was startled with yet another surprise. The figure behind them also got closer, standing just as stoically as before, but its powerful aura made sure to freeze the scared figure in ce. "B-brock W-we We s-should" He muttered with a faltering tone, that seemed to be ready to crack up and transform into a desperate cry at any moment. "S-shut up Bob! Grow a f*cking spine already!" Brock snorted, turning his head slightly to the side, making sure that his eyes didn''t wander off from the robed figure in front of them. Suddenly, the figure ahead spoke again. His cold, insipid voice filled the two thug-like figure''s hearts with fear and dread. "What could such a lowly group of bandits possibly want from us?" Hearing the question, and the coldness that came with it, Brock seemed to just remember something important. He hurriedly reached for his pockets with both hands, nervously searching for an item. A momentter, a look of joy shed through his face as his search yearned the result he hoped for. He pulled out a carefully folded piece of yellowish piece of paper from the depths of his pockets and with shaking hands presented it to the figure in front of him. "M-Mighty M-m-masters Please take this letter. My Boss hopes that you would take a look at it. He said that once y-you see who sent it, you will u-understand" His voice turned gradually meeker as he spoke, trying to find a change in the figure''s state as he spoke. He felt that his words were slightly presumptuous, he was hoping that these Monsters wouldn''t take offense Otherwise, their end would be swift. There was no immediate response to Brock''s words, the air seemed to freeze for a moment. A secondter, only a light ''humm'' could be heard as the figure''s robe rippled slightly, only for the letter to suddenly vanish from the man''s hand in the next instant. The air distorted, causing the already hazy sight of the silhouette to turn even harder to make out before it slowly calmed down and returned to its ''normal'' state. As the scene returned to its serenity, there was no trace of the letter anymore, it seemed to vanish from existencepletely. Although he couldn''t see it, Brock felt that this dreadful Master in front of him no longer focused on them, but was looking at the other Master behind them. He could hear no words, there was no audible exchange, but still, he had a feeling that the two were conversing about the contents of the letter their boss, Jay the Shark had given to them. He couldn''t help but think back to that scene as he nervously waited for an answer from these monstrous existences of the local underworld. He remembered the heavy look on his usually fearless leader''s face as he gave them this task and told them to make sure to deliver it to this group. His voice was heavy, even carrying a hint of fear, uncanny to their boss''s fiery, fearless nature. Just what was in that letter that caused him to change so much, to suddenly turn from that fearless lion, into a weary man in a moment? Brock sighed, shaking his head lightly, returning his attention to the present, returning his gaze to the dark outline of the figure that now slowly shifted his attention, looking at the two once again. "Tell your leader that the ck Spiders epts the assignment. Three moons from now, we expect the payment from him personally. Also, the price is double the usual. Now go." He spoke just as coldly as before, as he finished suddenly their figure blurred once again, before turning into smoke and slowly dissipating. Thenky man yelped in fright once again, hurriedly turning around and looking behind them. Just like the frontal master, the one that stood behind also vanished, only a thick, dark gray smoke could be seen as it slowly dispersing into the air. Bob, the thin man couldn''t take it anymore. Seeing that the exit was once again avable, energy instantly returned to his feet, he bolted towards the sunlit, busy street behind them. Brock frowned for a moment longer, looking at the ce where that mysterious Master stood just a moment ago before turning around and following after his partner with swift, hurried steps. Although he showed a stronger facade than his ''friend'' Bob, the Mice, to be honest, he was just as scared as him. ''These monsters Just what the hell is the boss nning? Hiring a group as these is definitely not something we could afford'' He wondered, pondering about the events as his figure left the dark alleyway and rejoined his partner at the bright side. A momentter, they turned towards the central area of the city, their figures vanishing amidst the heavy crowd. Somewhere below the surface, in a dark dimly lit chamber, the air suddenly began to buzz, and distort. From the spatial distortion that formed, two robed figures appeared. Immediately, as they appeared, they went on their right knees and lowered their heads as they greeted with a reverent tone. "Master, we returned!" In front of them, sitting on a wooden chair, a figure donning simr attire looked at the two arrivals. "What is it?" His guttural, hoarse voice quickly filled the small chamber. "Master, the fat one has sent us a request." Although hidden, the frown that appeared on the leader''s face came through his disdainful tone as hemented. "The Leon kid? What does that fat pervert want?" Instead of responding, the figure on the right stood up and walked closer. From the depths of his robe the light yellow piece of folded paper appeared, he presented it to the leader. "Master, this is the request he sent." The Leader reached for the offered paper, unfolded it, and swiftly read it. "Hmm Interesting" He muttered as he finished with it. His tone returned to its neutral state, no emotion was visible in it, making it impossible to make out what he or she could be thinking "B-Brock, I really thought we gonna die there! I warned you that we shouldn''t take this task, this is way above us!" Running in the midst of the crowd, the thin figure cried out after he felt that they had made a considerable distance between them and that dreadful alleyway. His heart was still pumping chaotically, the air those monsters emitted was way above what his heart could take. "I already told you to shut up!" His bald partner snorted angrily, masking his own nervousness. "How can someone as weak as you work with the boss, I just can''t understand!" They continued to bicker with each other as they crossed through the crowd, closing towards the Marketce. Just before the entrance to the most visited ce in the city appeared in front of their eyes, they took a left and entered another alleyway. Instantly as they entered, they leaned against the wall heaving heavily. Finally, they got away! Or so they thought Chapter 358 - 358 - Observation While events for going in a strange direction back in the shadow of the city, a bit outside in the seemingly empty ins to the west, a group of four youngsters in the middle of a heated battle against arge horde of fish-like humanoid, bipedal monsters. While they seemed weird and horrendous to the rest, for the long ck-haired boy, they were already familiar. He was already quite antiquated with them after all, these primitive monsters, called Sahuagins were the bane of the young, inexperienced adventurers. While they were barely the size of a young child, with a matching physique from a first nce, they often surprised the uninformed with their speed, strength, and ferocity that was kept tucked away in their fragile-looking frames. Their small, slender fingers that had a thinyer of membranous skin between them all ended with small but ominous-looking ck w-like nails that could cut through most leather armors with rtive ease, and even make dangerous dents in mail. Also, apart from the explosive strength they usually shocked their prey with, they rarely came in small numbers. They liked to encircle and surround their opponents, charge and attack them from all sides. Even if their enemies managed to defeat a few of them, these vicious little creatures didn''t seem to mind. Their numbers were endless, their lifespan was much shorter than the average human. The fact thating from a fish-like origin, their rate of reproduction was much higher. A single female could spawn hundreds of spats, eggs, from where at least a dozen would eventually give birth to a new infantile sahuagin. Anyway, just as mentioned before, under the scorching sun the four youths were in the midst of a heated battle. Countless light grey scaled little fish-men were rushing towards the small quartet, keeping their encirclement up not giving them any chance to turn tail. Not that they would have done so even if they were given a chance "Hyaaa!" A bright de sailed across the air horizontally, tearing through not one, but two necks, severing their thyroids, engorging, bathing the wielder, Drake with another coat of blood over his face and upperyer of clothing. At his sides, his sister''s fiery red hair swayed madly in the air, as the hot-tempered girl''s dagger was plunged into the chest of a third creature. Its wailing, clicking cry was suppressed by the loud, desperate gargles of the other two that were doing their best to cover the ripped flesh, and stop the life escaping through the grave wounds, albeit futilely. In just a few seconds, their lifeless bodies thumped on the ground, their fates were clear, as their own brethren stepped over their bodies without care, to have a chance to strike at the hateful human. If one would look carefully, he or she could already see countless mutted, dead bodies carpeting the ground, yet the monster''s numbers didn''t seem to falter, they were akin to an endless sea of greyish disaster. On the other side of their little clearing, a streak of gold could be seen shing with fast speeds. Each time it stopped, a blonde-haired young girl appeared sending out a kick, a chop, a strike before it jumped to the second beast. Each of his attacks was deadly, causing the suffering or in some cases the end of these horrible little creatures'' lives straight up. At her sides, two vicious growls could be heard, as two ck war hounds ripped through the bodies, ripping flesh and limbs with ease. Their eyes bloodshot, they were relentless. Still, despite therge group''s ferocious attacks, the opponents'' numbers didn''t seem to lessen, they kepting endlessly, emerging from below the close by riverbed only to snarl madly and join the fray. "Brother Are you sure about this quest of yours? These things keeping, their numbers are endless!" Plunging her de into the neck of another one and snuffing out its life, the red-haired girl at the front, Scarlet cried out. Truth be told, she couldn''t be med for her question, after all, they have been in this situation for more than half an hour now with seemingly no rest in sight in the near future. Another thing that irked him was the fact that the ck-haired, golden-eyed boy, Aiden was still yet to join in the battle, he was standing still behind them, with that annoying nonchnt, calm disposition of his. As if their situation wasn''t dire enough, he hasn''t even moved a finger and told them that he wanted to observe each of their battle prowess instead. Unable to take it anymore, Scarlet scowled as her eyes wandered to the side and looked at the boy again. With all the helpless anger weighing her words down, she cried out. "And you you! When will you decide to help us out?! In case you can''t see it, we are SURROUNDED!" "Sis, calm down" Although he himself wasn''t sure what his friend''s reasoning was, after all, they had been through, he trusted Aiden''s judgment. He was aware of how much he cared about his own family, he was sure that Aiden would never do something that could possibly endanger his sister. Sure enough, just as Scarlet was about to scoff again and vent his pent up rage whilst blocking another swipe from the nearest monster, Aiden smiled at him calmly, before his figure suddenly vanished from its spot, only to reappear above Lily and crash way behind the front lines in an instantter. In the next moment, a loud explosion echoed in the bloodied field, violent torrentuous energy erupted from where the boynded, throwing a dozen or so sahuagins up in the air. Before the first release of his could die down, another wave was released, twisting the air and sending visible, transparent ripples into the surrounding. The sound it released was also strange, low-toned distorted reverberations rang in the group''s ears, mangling the flesh of the closest monsters in the process. Mangled, bloodied carcasses, flesh, and gore remained, creating a dark red ind in the midst of the endless gray sea. In the next moment, before the rest of the creatures had a chance to react, the source of countless deaths, the reaper of these monsters shed again, vanishing from his spot, only to blink into existence in his previous spot, behind the royal siblings a few secondster. Shocked about this brutal disy of power, Scarlet couldn''t help but nce at the boy once again with aplex look in her eyes. What surprised her the most, wasn''t even this disy of strength at all, but the fact that despite all the carnage he had just achieved in a couple of seconds of time, he was still clean, no drops of blood or gore stained his figure or clothing. A smug smile appeared on his stupidly handsome face that continued to annoy the crap out of Scarlet. He didn''t say a word, but there wasn''t even a need to. His look told more than what simple words could do so. His smile was a clear message to the girl, a challenge, an invitation to dance. Surprised at first, a momentter a smile emerged on her face, as she slid the throat of yet another pesky fish man. A grin appeared on her face, as her hands went without her needing to pay much attention. She turned her head to the side, matching the boy''s gaze. With the grin that easily matched the blonde amazons when she was slowly getting lost in her own craving during fights, Scarlet nodded, expressing herself in only a few meaningful words. "Challenge epted! Let''s see who has the highest count at the end!" With that, she didn''t wait for any response, she jumped forward, throwing herself into the dance of death. Her hands ying to the tune of carnage, they sailed across the air with dizzying speeds, slicing through flesh and skin with newfound vigor. Blood sprayed everywhere, bathing the girlpletely, the suppressed memories of her ve years unlocked, she slowly but surely began to change. A thick, and cold air began to surround her, a chaotic wind engulfed her entire self, a thick killing intent, something that could only be honed through life and death battles surfaced once again. The princess was nowpletely gone, leaving only this bloodied angel of death behind. Behind her, Aiden simply smiled at this scene, not disturbed by this transformation into an incarnation of Asura. He was already aware of hertent potential and the experience that she had. His system, which was currently still undergoing the maintenance, has long informed him about the power that she tried to keep locked inside her frail-looking body. One of the reasons that he agreed to the quest that Drake presented, was that he felt it was the perfect opportunity to see her potential showcase itself. He was certain that while the quest probably looked hopeless, there would no real danger. These fish-men, these monsters couldn''t possibly pose a real threat to them, and even in the case if something unexpected were to happen, he was certain he could escape with them. Chapter 359 - 359 - The Champion As the time continued to pass, the seemingly mindless ughter was finally starting to show some changes. What was a seemingly endless encirclement of hundreds of these hideous fish-men, now was thinned to a considerable degree. Still, the vicious little creatures didn''t seem to show any signs of retreat, as if they were maddened, crazed by something, they violently thrashed and threw themselves onto the humans, only for the mutted bodies to fall on the ground and adding more to the ever-growing bloodied sight that now nketed the previously calm field. Scarlet, who was still in her state of frenzy, deep behind the enemy lines. Every strike of hers created yet another corpse. Her bloodbath created a gruesome path of carcasses. Her face was stretched into a wide, satisfied grin, she was truly enjoying herself, living the moment, oblivious to her surroundings. Her brother, Drake was still keeping the steady pace, but the wear and tear of the continuous exercise were showing its effects: His clothing was torn, his cloak ragged, his silver hair messed up, bathed in vermilion. Still, despite his growing weariness, he was keeping an eye on his sister, wondering what he should do about her strange state. Unfortunately, he didn''t have nor the energy, neither the time and opportunity to leave his spot. His weapon, Mort was singing a deadly tune, he couldn''t stop now, that they finally had an end in sight after an hour of the continuous massacre. Not too far away from him, Lily and his canine guardians were still showing rtive calmness despite the situation. While she kept up the steady pace of strikes, chops, and strikes, her speed was considerably slower than an hour ago. However, she was still in the safest ce she could be, as her ferocious guardians were forming a natural barrier, a small ring of space allowing her to maneuver better. What surprised Aiden the most, was the cooperation she showed with her partners; they seemed to be consciously working together. Lily kept disarming the enemies, while Sam and Biggy finished them off. Aiden kept his stance mostly still, only assisting when it was needed, but not actively taking part in this makeshift war between monsters and them. Suddenly, his eyes snapped forward, towards the surface of the water. He felt a strong presence, an ominous aura emerging from below the depths, a power much more potent than any of what he felt before. In the next moment, the surface of the river turned turbulent, foams began to spread rippling waves, violently crashing against the sandynd as a creature from below began to emerge. First only a pair of dark gray fins popped up, soon followed by a shark-like head withrge bead-like vibrant deep-yellow eyes. A huge, broad-shouldered, fish scale covered slime and grime-covered bulky upper torso followed, with four monstrous, bulky hands. Just like the other fish-men, this one also had ayer of membrane between each of his heavy, meaty fingers. ck, sharp nails protruded from the tip of each of its fingers. Still not the same as real ws, but it wasn''t as simple as what the weaker and smaller-looking sahuagins had. As the creature''s strong legs stomped on the sandynd, a thin cloud of dust was kicked off, before it raised its head to the sky and howled a guttural, deeper-toned cry in the sky. Just like his kin, his voice was also mostly a collection of strange clicking noises, albeit with much more power than the others. The bulky beast''s appearance on the battlefield was like a drug to the other sahuagin, they all joined its howl, before going into a frenzy. Their strikes turned wilder, unpredictable and much more dangerous. The previous calm that dominated Aiden''s expression faded, reced by a stern outlook, he fixed his gaze on the huge monster ahead. Just like him, all the others turned towards the source of the terrifying sound, only to look with heavy expressions. Scarlet, who managed to calm down a bit, threw a question towards his brother. "Brother, is this the one we were waiting for?" "Yeah Though this one seems stronger than what the quest was describing" Drake sighed as he looked at the shark-headed sahuagin boss. He was thinking of the best course of action, as just the eerie feeling he had when it emerged, he was now doubting that if they should keep their assault or if they should turn tails and escape. However, before he could think about it more, ande up with a decision, suddenly a streak of ck shed through above him, jumping above the ring of fish-men, andnding behind the enemy lines. Aiden''s voice filled with excitement thundered in their ears. "Leave the big one to me, you guys finish up the rest." Although their sight was blocked with the still more than a couple dozen fish heads leering at them, they could hear a sneer behind the boy''s tone of voice. Confirming their conjectures about his eagerness for the uing fight, in the next moment, a huge shock wave of energy could be felt as it explosively expanded with Aiden at its source and center. A loud, distorted sound warped, pulling the surrounding noises into itself for a brief moment leaving only an eerie silence in the battlefield before just like the shock wave earlier was abruptly released. An ear-shattering reverberation twisted the very air itself, throwing several of the small monsters on the ground. Looking behind them, a faint golden glow could be seen at the moment behind the enemy lines, facing the twisted, mutated shark-headed sahuagin champion. Since the system was still down due to the maintenance being underway, Aiden couldn''t rely on it to proficiently control his own power, causing the current phenomena. Using only his own gathered experiences and feelings, he released the shackles around his powers and released hisplete Draconic Aura along with the Goblin Lord''s Primal powers. At the same time, his own energy, the [Soul Power] coursed through his body madly, lighting up his entire body. Behind the golden luster, a Golden Scaled, draconoid figure emerged. The shape of his exotic eyes morphing into lizard-like narrow slits, only added to the light show. Two huge, scaled, spiky sets of leathery wings stretched at the ck-haired figure''s back with a thick, more than a meter-long tail excitedly tapping the ground below. He raised his thicker-than-before arms in front of him, equipping a battle-ready martial stance. His curved, ebony ws reflecting the golden shine, creating a terrifying contrast to the holy appearance. "Come you oversized dinner! Show me what you got!" His changed, deep voice thundered loudly across the entire battlefield, bringing the attention of the others still deep in their own fights. "Oh-oh" Lily looked in his brother''s direction with a worried face, before looking at his canine friends. "You guys! Stay here and keep these uglies busy! I need to get to my brother!" As her trance-like state already ended, Scarlet managed to calm down and regain some of her senses. She looked with a mixture of fright and worry towards Aiden''s direction, twisting her head towards Lily when she heard her exmation. "What do you mean Lily? What is going on? What did he do?" However, Lily didn''t have the time to exin, she immediately dashed towards the river, joining Drake''s frontline, pushing it forward ever-so-slightly. "Scarlet! Come and help us! We need to get to my brother before it gets worse!" She yelled out with a dire tone. The royal siblings although still befuddled, nodded and joined up to assist the blonde-haired half-elf. Her tone was serious, grave even. Whatever Aiden was doing, clearly made her deeply worried Behind the frontline, suddenly the tworge figures charged forward, rushing towards each other with slightly simr, but at the same time, vastly different snarling expressions. Whilst the beast''s look was filled with rage, and mindless bloodlust, Aiden''s face was contorted into a twisted grin, he was clearly looking forward to this uing battle. His blood was boiling, he was waiting for this moment. Suddenly, as they entered into each other''s melee distance, both sides attacked at the same time, not worried about the other''s attempt at all. The shark-headed creature raised both of his upper limbs above his head, striking downwards, trying to crush this strange opponent of his into meat paste. As for Aiden, his right arm was traversing a fast and short right-winded swiping motion, his hand twisted into a wing posture, whilst her left hand was already cocked back behind his frame, ready to be shot forward, thrusting towards the beast''s torso and plunge deeply below its fish-scaled armored skin as a follow-up. Still, as he saw the beast''s arm closing in from above, Aiden''s mind quickly processed the iing danger and changed the course of both of his arms, shooting them upward creating a barrier with his forearms, attempting to absorb the iing most likely brutal blow. Although the movements were rich, the psed time was barely a second, as the two sides collided, releasing yet another shock wave of sound and kicking off a sizable amount of dust in the process, engulfing themselves in a cloud of doubt. Chapter 360 - 360 - Violent Reaction As the cloud of kicked-off dust slowly dissipated, the shing silhouettes of Aiden and his 4 armed shark-head opponents were slowly revealed. The beast''s upper limbs clenched up into a fused fist, was trying to push against the sturdy barrier that Aiden''s forearms formed. Still, the monster could not gain any ground, to its surprise this fragile-looking opponent could match its strength seemingly with ease. No matter how hard it tried to exert more of its strength, it could just not gain even an inch more. Still, it was notpletely out of options. His second set of rams were swiftly clenched into fists, the creature cocked both of his arms back and swiftlyunched a punch aiming at both sides of the boy, whilst keeping most of his strength on the upper arm''s relentless push. Seeing the iing attack, Aiden merely smirked, vanishing from his spot and emerging a couple of steps behind. The sudden disappearance of the obstructing force caused the beast to not be able to react ordingly, its upper double fist suddenly freed from the resistance struck down, hitting his own arms with all of its inertia and power. Its lower arms flung away, the beast began to sway due to the sudden shift of his weight, stumbling forward a couple of steps before finally, it was able to regain its stability. As the sight looked ratherical, Aiden couldn''t help but snicker at the shark-headed creature. "You are quite the stupid one are ya? All brawn, no brains? Kinda disappointing" He mocked the creature, looking afraid, and even slightly disdainful at it. Seeing the scrawny little human''s look, and processing the meaning behind his words, the beast stared at Aiden for a moment. Surprisingly, or shockingly even, it showed signs of higher intellect than a mindless beast. Its face reacted to the boy''s words, his facial muscles began to contort, showing an expression vaguely resembling a scowl. It began to growl, emitting a sound vastly different to the strange tongue-clicking noises that its lower, primitive brethren could let out. While it was only a growl, it was induced with emotion that the others were just incapable of: anger, rage, and strangely, wariness. Whilst the first two were easy to understand, as although it probably had a higher level of intelligence, at its core, it was still merely a beast, a monster. However, for wariness, that was not something that a creature like this should have. The loud cry it emitted carried a strange tint of emotion, it seemed to understand that this opponent in front of him was far from the average, weak prey they took below the depths to feed their kin. No, this one was clearly dangerous, the beast realized after their first sh that a frontal attack might not work anymore. Still,ing to this conclusion, merely took him the time it finished with its battle cry. Steading his stand, he nted his legs firmly on the ground, spreading them and creating a steady stance. It looked at the golden-eyed human with anger and hate shining in its full, murky, yellow-colored eyes. It suddenly released a snarling, guttural cry again, its four hands began to sway to a mythical rhythm, looking as if it was trying to caress an invisible ball in between them. Before Aiden could even guess what it was about to do, suddenly the surface of the river behind them began to boil, and in the next moment, four thin appendages made out of pure water shot out. They flew towards the shark-headed sahuagin, or to be more precise, they converged towards the empty space between its four hands. The liquid continued to flow unnaturally in the air, converging to the small watery seed that began to sprout in the air and continued to grow at a rapid pace. The beast continued to frantically snarl, growl and even shout. While the sound it made was gibberish to Aiden''s ears, there was a definite tune, a rhythm to it, making him quickly realize that whatever it was doing and screaming had a definite meaning to it. As the seconds continued to pass, under the constant caress of the shark-headed sahuagin champion, the slowly but constantly converging fluid formed into the shape of a ball made out of water. Seeing as the magic slowly formed into a fitting shape, Aiden wasn''t afraid, scared, or wary by any means. No, instead, the already dominant smile on his face curved higher. He cracked his knuckles, filled with excitement, he was looking forward to this special attack filled with furore. "Come on! Show me your best!" He eximed with tion as his hands were pulled together in front of him, his palms joined together at their base, facing the still birthing ball of magic. Another second passed with choked silence. The battlefield turned eerily silent, all the previous shes turned irrelevant in front of this ferocious battle between these inconceivable, iprehensible existences. Still, although the silence could be a warning sign, neither Aiden nor the shark-headed creature seemed to care. All their attention, their focus was on the other one: while Aiden was eagerly waiting, anticipating the iing magical attack, his opponent had finished gathering the necessary mana and magical elements and was in its final stages of forming them the ball-like shape. Its frantic guttural gurgles reaching itsst stage, it released the recognizable tongue-clicking noise as thrust all of its arms forward, releasing the floating ball from its shackles, acting like the cannon whose fuse had been lit. In the next instant, the swirling ball formed with the fusion of mana and water shot forward with abruptly huge momentum, throwing its caster back on the ground in the process. Already anticipating the attack, Aiden''s face turned fierce, his already prepared palms instantly lit up, with the converging [Soul Power] that continued to converge to it. At the same time, his eyes also lit up, showing that he was fully utilizing all of his cards. His aura red up, winds whistled around his body chaotically. The whole scene took barely a fraction of a second, yet it felt as if time suddenly slowed down, stretching the single instant into a span of minutes. The illusion engulfed the entire battlefield, several eyes looked with a mixture of worry, dread hope, and even an expected victory-fueled erupting happiness. The ball collided with the glowing golden energyyer covering Aiden''s draconic hands. Its surface tension instantly reaching the threshold, it broke, releasing all the stored energy and power inside in a vigorous explosion of force. The sudden synthesis between Primal Power and Worldly Magic entered into a violent chain reaction, activating the surrounding lingering essences in the air, further fueling, adding their own power into the growing explosion. A huge, powerful shockwave swept all the living off their feet, throwing all living beings up in the air before they all tumbled on the bloodied ground. The shark-headed beast that just stood back up, was the one that suffered the most, he was caught unprepared, flung back in the air like a helpless, broken kite several meters before its body violently crashed into the ground. Aiden''s figure waspletely gone, the bright ball of emerging light followed by a ming, fiery mushroom-shaped cloud wrapped its entire being at its core. The reaction was unexpectedly fierce and powerful, swaying the hundreds of mutted bodies far away. Even Aiden''s group had a hard time, the released torrentuous energy was leagues above what they could withstand, they were helplessly tumbling, rolling on the ground, desperately trying totch onto the ground. The explosion was so incredibly powerful that even though their battle was several dozen miles away from the city, the residents could feel the tremors. The walls of the buildings shook, the nearest houses had their windows shattered even. The city guard was alerted, a group of soldiers quickly reacted, formed into a battalion, already awaiting the marching orders from their captains to march out and investigate the source of the disturbance. Somewhere in the city, atop the rooftop of a building, Number 3 looked sternly towards the distance, her eyebrows furred at the sight of the growing mushroom cloud. She was gripping, tightly holding onto a small transparent crystalline object that had a ck smoke-like gaseous substance swirling inside of it. This was the strangemunication crystal that she used before and made sure that both Lily and Aiden had one at all times. Although she was worried, she did not move from her spot, she just kept looking in their direction with worry. Even though her face was safely tucked away, hidden behind her faceless mask, her trembling hands and heavy sighs easily betrayed her true feelings. However, before she lost herposure and charged towards the scene, a familiar, aged voice reached her earsing from behind. Despite knowing that the children might be in danger, Granny''s voice was calm andposed. "You don''t need to worry. They are all fine. Both Aiden and Lily and them." Chapter 361 - 361 - A Big Explosion "You don''t need to worry. They are all fine. Both Aiden and Lily and them." She gave a slight push in her tone at the end of her sentence. Added with the smug smile she was giving to her, Number 3 looked at her for a moment longer before slowly closing her eyes as she nodded whilst releasing a sigh. "So you knew?" Without averting her attention from the slowly dissipating scene in the distance, she asked with a weak tone. "When did you realize?" The olddy stepped to her right side, following her gaze. Her eyes however retained their calm, even her smug smile eased up, into a kinder, gentler one as she continued to look at the dark red field. "Ever since you gave that talisman to Lily." Granny responded as she nced at the masked mature woman at her side for a moment before returning her focus to the calming storm in the distance. "Considering you know some of my history, you shouldn''t be too surprised. Even though you humans have your secrets, you are known about your tendency to show off, after all." Number 3 didn''tment on her words any further. She merely released a soft sigh, before returning her gaze at the scenery quite a distance from the city. Still, her tightly clenched hands betrayed her feelings once more. At the upper regions of the city, at the top of the tallest tower inside the Academy Grounds a pudgy figure, wearing an ornate, golden-threaded purple robe, jumped up as the passing shockwave shook his office. The ss wall at the side vibrated as it had to withstood the passing surge of energy. A huge pile of the stacked, rolled-up sheets of the paper pyramid wasn''t as sturdy as the ss frame. The small paper mountain crumbled as the energy passed through it, rolling down from the desk, all over the floor. The huge, pudgy figure jumped up from her chair in fright as he felt a shiver pass his body. "W-what is g-going on?!" He cried out with a startled tone. Rushing towards the transparent window wall, only to gasp as he saw the emerging dark, oddly shaped cloud in the far distance. "What is that?!" He asked, albeit there was no answer. After all, he was alone in the room, nobody could listen to his words ormands. A couple of secondster however, his shock turned into annoyance, slowly transcending into a helpless, angering emotion. He was annoyed. In recent days nothing was going how he wanted to. His trusted aide, the man that he managed to nt into the highest ranks in the local Adventurer''s Guild after so much pain and effort suddenly vanished without a trace. After he was sent to grab a helpless pair of an elderly cripple and her halfling adopted granddaughter, he vanished without a word. The weirdest in the whole situation was that when he sent some guys to investigate the scene, there were no signs of struggle in the wooden hut. All the signs were pointing that the men and his trained team, that he groomed with painstaking time and effort betrayed him and escaped. This while infuriated him and hurt his ego, also caused him to be confused. Why would they run away? He treated them exceptionally well, giving them everything they needed as long as theypleted their assignments. Many of that team were already imnted in key positions, which would have been very beneficial in the uing war games. Now, all of these ns have gone to the drain, he had toe up with some new measures. That''s when he contacted one of the local leaders of the local gangs he had under his control, and have given him a task to contact that eerie group of monsters. Luckily he was just informed this morning that the assignment waspleted sessfully and that he was given an audience Still, there was a strange feeling inside his heart Something he couldn''t understand, but it kept him unsettled. It continued to keep him on edge. "Haaah A storm ising" He sighed, his eyes were fixated on the distant scenery. Somewhere unknown In a dark chamber, with only a couple of braziers hanging from sides providing only a faint light, a dark-robed humanoid-shaped figure sat atop a throne made of what looked like a grand collection of bones. Even more, the only uncovered part of the figure, its skeletal hands were resting on a pair of small skulls. The figure sat motionless as if it was a lifeless statue rather than a being that was still animated. Its chamber had no entrances, no holes, no windows. A tight, airless, underground prison, that kept this unfathomable existence locked away for all eternity. However, this tranquil serenity was put to an abrupt pause, when suddenly the shadow at the far right corner started to unnaturally twist, only for a silhouette to appear in the next moment. Matching the robed figure situated atop its throne, this figure also wore a matching dark brown-like aged gown. This one however had a huge scythe in his right, ck leather gloved hand. A pair of vermilion dots glowed eerily from under the robe, a chaotic torment, deathly cold air surged around its body continuously as it slowly shuffled in front of the resting statuesque skeletal figure. As it arrived at the designated spot, it bent his legs and knelt down in front of the leader-like figure. His hooded head was stered on the dirty ground. There were no words spoken, no voices heard for over a minute, however, it steadily kept its subservient posture. Eventually, a cold, emotionless tone of voice could be heard ringing in the small closed chamber. "Number 0, my right hand. What is it that caught your attention?" The unnatural voice asked. Its supposed owner, the situated leader had no motion, from an outside view it was impossible to tell if it was truly the one that had just released that thunderous, unnatural crackle or it had came from somewhere else. Still, the kneeling figure showed no signs of surprise, it was as if it was already ustomed to such a scene. "Yes, Master." It answered with a matching coldness. Just like the leader, this figure also had no vibrations in its tone, it was insipid, devoid of any of the emotions of the living. "It''s starting." The strange sourceless voice thundered again, his volume trailing at the end as if its owner was in deep thought. The kneeling figure didn''t respond, it waited for the voice to continue patiently. Silence ensued in the small underground chamber once again. Minutes passed before the same voice crackled again. "It''s fine. You can go but stay in the background. He is protected by the other one. Besides, if needed we still have the forsaken one close to him." "As youmand, Master." The kneeling figure responded to the (un)holymand and stood up. Before turning around, however, it remembered something and asked out once more. This time, his cold tone had a slight taint of a strange mixture of emotions under it. Still, the most dominant trait was the reverence towards this somber skeletal statue. "What should we do with the candidate? After all, he is still nning to-" "Ignore him. There is no need to contact him. His current mission is still ongoing. If he can''t finish by himself, he is worthless to us and will be discarded." "Understood, Master." The scythe-wielding figure gave a slight bow at the leader, before turning towards the same, dark corner as before, and walking towards it. As the darkness wrapped itself around its silhouette once more, the figure soundlessly vanished from the room a momentter. The situated figure remained motionless, as the figure, the Primary Executor of Its indomitable will left, the dark, underground chamber returned to its tranquil, silent state. The stench of blood permeated the silent battlefield. As the cloud slowly began to fade, and dissipate into the air, the iplete dead bodies scattered everywhere could be seen in the ominous battlefield, bathed with the color of dark red. A few secondster, amidst the mutted monster carcasses, the small movement could be made out. One by one, Drake''s group slowly sat up, coughing and spitting out the grime, blood, and gore that filled their nostrils and mouths. Slowly they stood up, pushing away the mountains of bodies off of from them. They all involuntarily shivered as their eyes scanned across the carnage that just happened. Seared, charred, and burnt bodies of the fish-men covered the field for probably several miles around them. Torn limbs, spilled intestines the smell, the stench was unbearable, almost vomit-inducing. Not just Drake, Scarlet, and Lily, but even the dogs, Sam and Biggy were trying to cover their noses. Still, as their attention turned towards the direction of where this uncanny disaster came from, their flinching, sour gazes turned into a look of worry and dread. They could see no silhouette standing, waiting in the still thick smoke Chapter 362 - 362 - Confusion "Brooother!" Shattering the ominous silence that engulfed the bloodied battlefield, the desperate, woeful cry of Lily rang through. Already standing, with Sam and Biggy at her sides, she was running towards the direction Aiden wasst seen, the still lingering albeit mostly dissipated cloud of smoke. The white, gaseous thick fog remained, lingering over the originating point of the brutal explosion. No movements of any sort, no sounds could be heard besides the scared girl''s scampering feet and her caninepanions'' limbs kicking the ground as they charged towards Aiden''sst known position. "Brooother! Where are you? Are you okay?!" She cried out again, tears already gathering and escaping through the corner of her eyes as she stepped over the charred carcasses without any care in the world. A bit further behind, the royal siblings were also back on their feet by now. Their ragged, torn, dusty clothing, disheveled hair, and dirty, grime-covered faces transformed them into simple vagabonds. Still, they didn''t care the slightest. Worry, mixed with the dread of their own dark thoughts was visible on their faces. They were also focusing on Aiden''s direction. Although they didn''t say a word, the tightly clenched fists on their sides were a telltale sign of their current mental states. They couldn''t help but think of the worst. Whatever caused that explosion was incredibly fierce. The boy being at its very center, how could he possibly survive it? What made them even more puzzled was the fact that they couldn''t even understand what happened. As they were all busy with the smaller, regr-sized sahuagins at the time, they could only steal vague, brief nces towards them. What Drake saw was that therge, mutated shark-headed fish monster was capable of manipting the water and use it as a medium to cast some spell. While this was surprising as such creatures were incredibly rare, it was not unheard of. However, how could a ball of water cause such a violent reaction? Not to mention the inferno it released! The initial shockwave itself burnt the nearest sahuagins to a degree that it was hard to even make anything out of its charred remains. Slowly looking through the field, Drake''s eyes wandered into an incredibly gruesome scene. Almost everything was burnt to crisp, most of the creatures they were fighting just moments ago, were unrecognizable. As he looked at the one closest to him, suddenly another dreadful thought entered his and at the same time, Scarlet''s mind. Their faces twitched, turning into something of utter shock and confusion, they looked at each other as they blurted out the question at the same time. "How?!" "How are we?!" Yes. Even though they rather not think too deeply into it, they still couldn''t understand how are they alive, and unharmed by the explosion? Albeit it might have felt that it took longer, all this thinking took them barely half of a minute. Their eyes wandered on the back of Lily, without wasting any more time they stepped forward themselves as well, following behind the despairing blonde half-elf girl. Just like her, they also wanted to know what was going on with their friend. - "Broother! Broootheeer!" Lily shouted for the third time. Since there was still no response, she was about to charge into the thick, milky white cloud, when suddenly her pleas were finally answered. Heavy coughing reached her and the royal siblings'' ears a step behind, as the hazy, blurred silhouette of a familiar young man finally appeared as she sat up, on the ground. "S-stop shouting, Lily!" Between the coughing fits, Aiden''s grumbling voice could be heard. "My head is already splitting, quiet down a bit" The girl, however, couldn''t hold back herself at all. Hearing the familiar voice of her beloved brother, she immediately charged into the barring white cloud, bolting towards the sitting silhouette. A momentter, a painful grunt could be heard, as the blonde rocket crashnded on its destination. Tworge-bodied canines closely following behind, surrounding their alpha, giving him a gentle, weing lick over his face. "Argh! S-stop it! Let me go A!" The boy tried to protest, albeit, without much sess, his sister had already nted her face into his back, and was sobbing desperately. She was unable to speak, her body continued to tremble as her worry was slowly being vented. Helpless, Aiden could only sigh and wait it out. As her sister was hanging over his neck from behind, his hands were free. To be honest, he himself was confused about what just happened. The only thing he felt was that his own energies fused with the magical energies of the hurled ball of liquid. He felt a momentary control, but as he was caughtpletely unprepared he couldn''t react at all and the violent reaction exploded. ''What just happened'' He muttered inwardly, looking incredulously in front of himself. To his surprise, Enya''s voice rang inside his mind in the next moment. Her tone was thoughtful, and slightly berating at the same time. She was obviously chiding him for his actions, whilst also keenly interested in the strange event. [I have already told you, mana is a dangerous, low-tiered vtile source of energy. Whilst without the system we can only make a guess. What I think, is that due to your will of handling the iing attack, the [Soul Power] that you coated your hands with reacted to the iing enemy mana and tried to pacify it. Unfortunately due to your concentration breaking up almost instantly, the attempt failed, and instead, the mana exploded. The failed reaction chained into the lingering essences in the air, enhancing and further fueling the explosion.] She paused for a brief moment as if taking a breath, before going on. [Still What I can''t understand, and I''m sure you are also wondering about this Aiden is] ''that how am I unharmed? No How are they all fine? I didn''t do anything, still, all of those that were with me were not hurt by the explosion. Why?'' Before she could do so, Aiden finished the question she herself wanted to ask. Thinking about it, he couldn''t understand. He felt exhausted, mentally drained. Going further, when he tried moving his arms, he felt incredibly sluggish tired. Even the hold Lily was keeping felt slightly more pressing, stronger than usual. Before he could cry out mentally, Enya''s thoughtful voice rang inside his mind once again. [Hmm Interesting Your power is drained, almostpletely.] Before he could ask, Enya seemed to be already aware of his worries, she continued. [You arepletely fine, just drained of your energy. You are working at your bare minimum. I guess this has something to do with the fact that your friends are still alive Anyway] Suddenly, her tone changed, into a serious, stricter one. [Aiden, you need to go and absorb the sahuagin champion. Hopefully, the remaining essence inside its body will be enough If not, you can only hope to gather enough through these charcoals you leftying all around.] ''What?!'' Aiden yelled out mentally. ''How can I possibly do that? Although Lily is probably okay with it, I can''t possibly show Drake and her sister what I am! Not to mention, in case you forgot, the system is still off. How could I absorb without the system?!'' [Aiden.] Enya responded with a sigh. [You do not need the system to do that. Your abilityes from you, not from the system. You should already be aware of what Primals are. In this case, the System only helped you to be able to feel and use your own trait. Even without it, you should be able to aplish the task.] [As for the two siblings, they shouldn''t pose a problem at all. They are already part of your group, they wouldn''t betray you, no matter if they find out the truth or not.] She continued, answering the second concern Aiden raised. Listening to her, Aiden was shocked by the realization. She was right, he was a Primal, a true born one. The ability to absorb and assimte is his own racial trait, not an ability, a skill he gained through the system. Even without it, he should be able to do it. However, as he was thinking about it, another issue came up. He couldn''t help but ask out mentally. ''There is still one problem though How will I know without the system if I have enough essences to create the new form? I can''t just endlessly absorb the dead bodies, nor do I think that most of these have any use to me.'' He asked as he nced at the field of the ck, formless remains. How could any life essence remain in them, what could he possibly gain from them? To his raised worries, Enya''s calming, soothing voice came almost instantly. [You don''t need to worry about that Aiden. For now, what you should focus on, is to assimte the body of the champion. However, before you do that, make sure you take its core and keep it. You will need it for the quest.] Although his primary concern, theck of knowledge about how he would be aware of the results was not answered, Aiden decided to trust his guide. He raised his head, looking ahead, where therge shark-headed sea creature was lying on the ground, torn into two halves. Its face contorted into an eternal fury, his unwillingness painted over its expression for all eternity. Chapter 363 - 363 - Trust As he was conversing with Enya, Lily kept hugging him from behind, her hold not easing at all. It seemed that she wasn''t ready to let him go any time soon. Meanwhile, as the cloud had almostpletely dissipated, the rest of his team, Drake and Scarlet have also joined the duo and the dogs. "Aiden" Drake sighed with a bitter smile, as he gazed at him. "You sure know how to keep things interesting." Drake had a small smile donning on his face, he seemed genuinely relieved that his friend survived this ordeal. Still, after this, questions began to arise one after another. Ever since the orc tower, he was pondering about the boy''s origins. Who could he truly be? Even though he was out ofmission for most of the time, that underground tunnel they descended into was more than enough to raise a few concerns, not to mention that those demi-human beings seemed to be so devoted to following him. Although he couldn''t confirm it yet, Drake was now fairly certain that his friend was either not a human at all, or someone with a very special, hidden bloodline. Either way, his existence was definitely special. Anyway, Drake didn''t want to ruin their budding friendship by asking such private questions. Aiden was the first person to not care about his origins, and treat him as an equal. He was the first person he could really look at without worrying about any underlying thoughts and schemes. Hearing his tone, Aiden looked up, returning his smile as he sighed. "It''s not like I was nning for that. Anyway are you all okay?" He asked, trying to stand up, only to be pushed back down by the girltched onto him from behind. He gently touched her arms, turning his head sideways so he could whisper into her ear. "Sis Why are you crying? You said you are a big girl now. Should big girls act like this?" His words seemed to do the trick, Lily slowly eased on her hold. Lifting her gaze, she looked at his brother. Her eyes are still teary from venting all her emotions, her nose still snotty. A pout formed on her lips as she responded with a slightly hurtful tone. "Stupid Brother! Bully! I will tell on you to Master and Granny!" She spoke, as she let go of her brother and instead hugged Sam and Biggy who were sitting calmly at her sides. "Come here, guys. That stupid brother of mine is being mean, we don''t need him, right?" She spoke, shifting her attention to her partners. Seeing that, Aiden sighed with a wry expression, before slowly turning his attention towards the river and the torn body of the shark-headed sahuagin champion. ''Well At least, I can do what Enya was suggesting Still, how am I gonna ''DO'' it? Eat the dead flesh? That would seriously scare them away'' Hemented inwardly, as he slowly got up from the ground. As he stood up, he just noticed that most of his clothes were ripped to shreds. His shirt was turned into a shriveled, burnt shawl, barely covering the upper half of his chest, leaving almost his entire torso barren, naked for everyone to see. His chiseled muscles, abs were disyed for the others to gawk at, causing Scarlet to freeze for a while, beforeing back to her senses, and averting her gaze hurriedly. A slight pinkish hue could be seen over her supple cheeks even though she tried her best to hide it. She didn''t speak, and took a step back, hiding behind her brother, Drake. Luckily for her, and for Aiden as well, his pants were mostly intact. Whilst it was also burnt and had huge tears in it, it still managed to retain its functionality where it actually mattered. Still, what really caught Drake''s attention was the fact that besides a bit of burnt and torn clothes, the boy waspletely unharmed. There were no blemishes, burn marks, or wounds of any kind on his body. Even his long ck hair didn''t even turn messy, it was clean, flowing behind his back like it usually used to. ''Just what happened? How is he this fine? He was the closest to the explosion'' He wondered in his mind as he checked his friend. A slight frown appeared over his face, crumbing his forehead into thin wrinkles for a brief moment, before he forced a smile once more, walked closer to him, and patted his back. "Aiden I just can''t understand you." He smiled. "What''s your n now?" "First, we should make sure weplete the quest." Aiden calmly answered, stepping forward, walking towards the dead sahuagin champion''s corpse. He crouched down at the upper half of the carcass, and in the next moment, under the shocked gazes of the siblings, he thrust his right arm, piercing through the creature''s reinforced scaly skin with ease and plunging deep into its huge body. What shocked them was a simple movement and the fact that he did this feat without using a skinning knife or any sharp object of the sort. Though surprised, they didn''t speak, but just watched Aiden work with rising interest. Meanwhile, Lily wasn''t even paying attention, she was still sulking for some hard-to-understand reason and was instead hugging Sam and Biggy whilst seemingly ignoring her brother''s shenanigans. Disgusting, eerie slouching noises reached Scarlet and Drake''s ears as Aiden tore through the flesh and organs, searching for the Monster''s Crystallized Core. A momentter, they could see as the boy''s face lit up before he abruptly pulled his arm out of the carcass. His blood-covered hand was holding onto what seemed to be a stale heart with arge dark blue diamond-shaped crystal etched to it. Just like the other cases Aiden had seen before, there was a small gaseous cloud-like substance swirling at the crystal''s core. Even without the system, he could feel some sort of energy, power radiating from it. However, unlike with the normal Sahuagin Cores he gathered before, this one was not just in a different color, but it was almost thrice the size of those. Grabbing the crystal with his left hand, he tore it off from the heart, before he threw it towards the surprised and unprepared Drake. "Here, take it. You epted the quest, so this should be with you." He spoke with his usual nonchnt tone, showing little to no interest in this precious treasure. Although he failed to react in time and was now smeared all over his face with the disgusting dark, grimy blood Drake didn''t mind it. Instead, he looked at his friend with a confused look, he couldn''t help but ask in wonder. "Aren''t you going to want to hold onto this crystal? People would kill for something like this, it is a very treasured item, after all." However, Aiden simply shrugged his shoulders before turning back towards the torn remains. "Why would I care about it? We are friends, are we not? Besides, we need to present it to the guild so they would ept the questpletion. Failing the quest would be worse to use in the long run." He responded, his eyes were on the dead organ already. ''Should I really eat it? I wonder would this one work like with the orcs and the humans and show me the beast''s memories?'' He wondered. Listening to his response, Drake couldn''t help but look at this boy once again with aplicated gaze. From his actions, his tone he was sure that he wasn''t lying at all; Aiden didn''t care about that crystal in the slightest. His actions, his way of thinking, his behavior he was so different from every other person Drake has met. He was amazed, this boy was so different, so unique Lost in his thoughts, Drake was woken a short whileter with the boy''s voice. "I still have something to do with this body. You can rest in the meantime." Before he could respond, what happened next made them speechless first before a frown began to emerge on both Drake and Scarlet''s faces. On the other hand, Lily who was still a bit further away was now looking at his brother with a bright smile over her face. She didn''t seem to be disturbed by his actions at all. No, on the contrary, she was happy. After all, she was the only one that knew of his secrets, and it seemed that finally, she wouldn''t need to hide it from their newly made friends! As to what the cause of the newfound trust was? After pondering about it for a while, Aiden had decided to just go with his gut feeling, and not care about revealing some of his secrets to royal siblings anymore. After all, he was sure that Drake was already questioning if he was really a human or maybe something else, something more. Also, Enya''s words have convinced him that it would be truly beneficial for him. He would be able to see the sibling''s true characters and also finally learn more about himself and understand his origins better. So,ing to a decision, he grabbed the heart, and with a sudden, swift move, he gulped it down. Chapter 364 - 364 - Absorb! After pondering about it for a while, Aiden had decided to just go with his gut feeling, and not care about revealing some of his secrets to royal siblings anymore. After all, he was sure that Drake was already questioning if he was really a human or maybe something else, something more. Also, Enya''s words have convinced him that it would be truly beneficial for him. He would be able to see the sibling''s true characters and also finally learn more about himself and understand his origins better. So,ing to a decision, he grabbed the heart, and with a sudden, swift move, he gulped it down. Almost instantly, as it entered Aiden''s body, the heart dissolved, releasing a huge surge of energy into his body. His body involuntarily jerked under the sudden inner explosion, the luster in his eyes red up for a brief moment before it returned to its calm state. The physical fatigue, the weariness that overwhelmed him just a moment ago, vanished in an instant, leaving only his mental tiredness behind. Even that seemed to be less obstructing than before. The revitalization of the absorption was truly wondrous, even now, without the aid and guidance of the system. The energy rapidly seeped into his stream, merging together with his own pool of [Soul Power]. Although he could feel that there was a difference in quality, almost familiar in nature, he could also feel that a silent and smooth transformation was starting. Slowly but steadily the sahuagin champions inner power was being transformed. As he felt that the transformation was steady and passively going without requiring his constant focus, Aiden couldn''t help but ponder. ''Isn''t this energy from that creature is mana? Shouldn''t that be violent and explosive? Why is it so stable then? What is different?'' Unfortunately, even though he was prepared for it this time, he felt no memories invading his subconscious. Unlike before, swelling this creature''s heart did not give him any memories of this beast. What did that mean? Did this mean that the absorbed life essence from the beast was too little to create the new form? Or perhaps, it just meant that the creature wasn''t ''intelligent enough'' for his experiences to be transferred over? Aiden was wondering about this mystery as he sat down on his knees in a ''seiza'' pose. His hands were resting over his tighs, he was deep in thought calmly observing, focusing on his inner self, making sure that the conversion of energy was running smooth. After all, he was fairly certain that what his body was converting was the same mana that proved its incredibly violent, explosive tendencies! Even if he wasn''t sure what he would be doing in case something went wrong he wanted to at least monitor the situation. "What the hell are you doing, Aiden? Why did you What did you do with that that thing?!" Suddenly, shattering the ensuing silence that Aiden''s shocking action caused, Drake eximed from behind. Following his cry, Scarlet''s coughing fit could be heard, her abrupt battle against withholding the barf that threatened her with its escape. "Don''t bother my brother. He needs to focus. He is concentrating." Answering their question, Lily spoke with a strangely cheerful tone. Strangely there was no trace of her sorrow from a moment ago, she was smiling, sitting amidst the sea of mutted corpses, ying with the two dogs that were evenrger than her situated self. "What do you mean? What is he doing now?" Drake asked with confusion. Seeing how the little girl was ying with the two dogs as if what had happened a moment ago was merely a dream. An illusion of the mind, she was ying and chuckling. Regaining some of her lostposure, Scarlet stepped closer to the blonde girl, sitting down on the ground in front of her. With a gentle, kind smile, she reached out patting the back of Sam. "How nice" She mumbled as she felt the soft, short fur of the dog whisk between her fingers under her warm caress. "Right? Try Biggy as well!" Giggling, Lily offered, still seemingly lost in her own little world. "Lily Can you exin what you meant before?" Walking to them, Drake crouched down and asked the girl, repeating his question with a wry, question-filled look on his face. Finally getting confirmation to his questions rted to Aiden and confirming that he was definitely not a human, he really wished to learn more about him. However, despite his look, he had no ill intent, he really just wanted to learn more about this friend of his. "Lily, my brother has no bad intentions He No We just really want to learn more about your brother." Scarlet added, worried that Lily would misinterpret their concern and think they were afraid of him. However, their worry was unfounded. Lily was keenly aware of their true feelings behind their questions. Trained by the master and living with her brother for all the years she had, her senses were honed, much sharper than average. Without looking away from her caninepanions, she smiled and answering their question. "He is taking the power of that big monster and making it his. He is growing stronger." "Did he do this before?" Drake asked again, turning his head and looking at the back of the meditating boy''s back with aplex look. "Yes." Lily curtly responded not bothering with the conversation any more and instead focusing on rubbing Sam''s big head and giving her a big smooch on his nose. As she leaned closer, the big dog suddenly flicked his long tongue and licked his master''s facepletely, causing her to squint her eyes and erupt into an unabated giggle. She clearly wasn''t worried about his brother at all, she was sure of that Meanwhile, a bit away from them, Aiden was deep in his own thoughts, focusing on the coursing energy inside his body. He was astounded, the surge of mana was already almostpletely transformed and integrated into his own stream without any issues, violent torrents, res whatsoever! He could also feel an increase in the quantity. Although it wasn''t too much, it was still an increase, whatever marginal the increment would turn out to be. Still, he just couldn''t exin what was happening. Why did his own body, his own [Soul Power] react differently inside than outside? What was the difference? Interrupting his pondering, Enya''s voice suddenly resounded in his mind, reminding him that he still hasn''t done what he wanted to. ''[Without the system, I cannot answer that question with certainty Aiden, I am sorry. On the other hand, you shouldn''tment on it too much either. After all, you still need to go and absorb the creature and get back to town before nightfall.]'' ''Right'' Aiden nodded, shifting his posture and stood up, alerting his team at the same time. "Aiden Are you okay?" Surprisingly, it was Scarlet who voiced the question the siblings had, looking at their friend''s back with worried, concerned gazes. On the other hand, Lily suddenly stood up and walked towards her brother with a bright smile over her face. Sam and Biggy didn''t follow but insteadid down on the ground, resting without any care. Aiden didn''t answer the question, he was already focusing on the task at hand. As he walked towards the two torn parts of the carcass, he was already trying to think back of the sensation when he absorbed a creature thest time. He usually simply relied on thought, and let the system manage everything. It was smooth and convenient. Now, however, there was no assistance, the only guidance was his spiritual aide, who herself was still shrouded in mystery. She obviously wasn''t just a construct created by the system or the god, Ioris, but a sentient being that was now tied to his existence. Was he someone he should know? As he was focused on the task in front of him, he didn''t even register as Lily took her seat next to him. She didn''t bother him, didn''t whisper a word, just kept sitting next to him with a gentle, warm smile. As for the siblings, they watched from a short distance away with apt attention and raised interest. To be honest, they felt slightly awkward, as if they have stumbled upon a family secret and that they should give the two some space. Still, they didn''t want to turn away, their curiosity wouldn''t let them. Trying to calm his racing mind and agitated nerves, Aiden sighed a couple of times whilst slowly reaching out and putting both of his hands over the two separated parts of the creature''s corpse. ''[Focus on the feeling Aiden. Try to remember what you did and how it felt before. At its core, you will find that it''s mostly the same whether you rely on the system or not. You just need to will your body, free it up from its restraints and concentrate.]'' Enya''s words, gentle guidance rang in his mind as he slowly cleared his mind of all the unnecessary thoughts. Focusing on the sensation he felt before, amand, a singr word slowly emerged from the back recesses of his mind, steadily rising, demanding his attention. As the image cleared out, suddenly a confident smile emerged at the corner of Aiden''s lips. His eyes suddenly sprung open, glowing in vibrant golden luster, his lips parting, he whispered into the air. "Absorb!" Chapter 365 - 365 - Introspection "Absorb!" As soon as he uttered these words, Aiden felt a strangely familiar warmth radiated from his connecting palms and swiftly seep into the two torn, mutted remains of the sahuagins'' shark-headed champion. In the next moment, the carcass pieces began to churn, ripples expanded, and traveled across their surfaces originating from Aiden''s palms. They started out sparse and slow, but as the seconds continued to pass they rapidly increased in their pace and intensity. Soon, both bodies were being visibly distorted and were convulsing on the ground. While this was happening, behind the boy, the royal siblings, Drake and Scarlet were watching with wide eyes and their mouths agape. Although not experts, they were still fairly strong and could more or less feel the vibrations in the air, mostly conversing around Aiden. They could feel that whatever he was currently doing wasn''t a simple matter, causing them to instinctively take a step back, and clench their fists. They were slightly worried, and couldn''t help but look at their friend with a new, fearful light. On the other hand, Lily, who now has taken her ce at her brother''s right, was looking at the wobbling, twitching bodies with the same cheerful smile that she mostly had. Her eyes were shining with a mixture of excitement and expectation, she wished for nothing but her brother growing even stronger. Meanwhile, the sahuagin champion''s remains began to violently shake as the ripples and visual distortions seemed to have crossed a threshold. The hard flesh began to liquefy, its color changed from the multi-colored bloodied mess into a dark grey amorphous gooey substance before it once again became animated as it began to flow towards the respectively connected palms of the boy and get suck into the abyss of Aiden''s body. At a frightening pace, the two halves vanished, sucked away, and merged with thest known Primal''s mass, adding to his ever-growing collection of creature data. While Drake and Scarlet couldn''t even register what was happening anymore as they stood in their ce frozen with shock and Lily was acting as calm and ted as before, Aiden was also going through newfound emotions of his own. Unlike when using the system, the process was vastly different, much more intense. What was a simple and mostly a process devoid of any feeling, sensation, or emotion, this time, it was extreme, powerful, fierce even. For the first time, he could feel like something, possibly an organ, a solid object around his heart turned active. A now-familiar sensation, the warmth of radiating energy began to flow, course inside his body with a pang of growing hunger, or more likely thirst towards the liquefied mass of extrinsic organism. The crystal hungrily began to devour all of the iing mass. In a rhythmic, repeated manner, energy was released, waves of the pulsating power restored and refilled Aiden''s used up stamina and power reserves. It was at this moment that his eyes snapped wide open, and his face revealed shock and astonishment! He could feel something new, something he didn''t know existed before. As the new mass of life essences was assimted as his own, he could now clearly and cleanly feel thetter parts of the process. Aiden could feel as this newly epted essence began to resonate, gathering together and forming into a shape of a seed. Maybe it was due to this event, or maybe he was just not paying close enough attention, but before now, Aiden could never ess inside his own core. He could never see behind the crystalline walls, heck, he didn''t even know he had one for the first ce! With great curiosity, he kept focusing, barely being able to contain his startled surprise mixed with fear and shock as he suddenly slipped past and found himself in something keenly simr to the dark world of his own soul space. A new, previously unknown, and peculiar scene, an unfamiliar world expanded before his mental cognitive eyes. At the center of this new enclosed space, arge, bright golden orb floated, shining proudly, simr to a star, a sun. Around it, several smaller balls of energy could be seen orbiting. Each donning a unique color and slightly different size and shape from the other. Baffled by what he could see, Aiden floated closer to the nearest celestial-like body, which was also the one that has just been formed. Being close to thergest, or at the very least secondrgest if the central star wasn''t taken into consideration, it had a light, pale blue hue around it. Unlike the rest, this one was still emitting quite a bit of heat, small ripples could be seen contorting its ball-like shape. Without even thinking, Aiden suddenly reached out, the tip of his fingers gently touched its surface. As soon as they made contact, information began to rapidly flow into his mind, causing him to flick his arm away in the next moment and turn wide-eyed once again. He looked at the floating orb that slowly drifted away, going back to its predestined cirction. Watching the slowly traversing orb, Aiden''s lips parted apart, the newly received information began to make its escape into this strange reality. "Sahuagin Champion form" He muttered with a wondrous, distant look in his eyes. He was confused, trying his best to process all the information his mind was being assaulted with. ''[This is your Primal Core, Aiden.]'' Suddenly a bright milky white speck of light appeared next to Aiden''s spiritual body, speaking in the familiar mature tone of voice. Not surprised by the slightest of her presence, Aiden continued to look at all the other orbs, slowly scanning his eyes over them. "Are these the forms I have, the ones I created with the system?" He muttered, asking the question with the same distant look and tone as before. ''[Yes. Each orb that is formed here means that enough life essence of the type has been collected to form a new body. Each new body that is created here is another lifeform you have created.]'' Enya answered. Her small, formless body floated forward, pointing towards the center, where thergest, a colossal golden orb, the central star radiated endless warmth and life towards all around its domain. Even from this distance, Aiden could feel it. It was an ancient, but strangely familiar power. Something he was keenly aware of and has been relying gradually on more and more. "Is that my Ancient Dragon form?" He asked, his gaze lost in its brilliant, vibrant luster. ''[Yes it is. Before you ask the obvious, it is your central, most important form, not just due to its endless, limitless potential but because it is the one that is your heritage. Your Primal self, your original being is one that has no definite appearance.]'' Listening to her exnation, a strange new feeling began to emerge in Aiden''s heart. He kept looking around these orbs, looking at each of them for a moment, before shifting his attention, growing more and more worried as he went on. A sense of dread, a fear of what he never thought of before began to creep up at Aiden''s heart. Looking at all of these... Amidst all these different, unique forms, all these alternative lives he absolved into his own existence, he realized he just doesn''t know which one is his own. All of these were gained, created, they are unique shapes, sizes, having their qualitative traits and desires in life. But amidst these growing stars and globes, which one was the first? Which one was the one that represents himself? "But Which one am I?" He meekly whispered, feeling lost. "Just who am I?" For a while, Enya kept her silence, merely floating in ce, giving a bit of time to the boy to gather his own thoughts. Eventually, however, seeing as he was falling deeper and deeper into the abyss of his own despair, she flew closer to him. Although she had no visible form any more, Aiden could still feel an invisible touch at his chest, pointing at his heart. ''[Here. This is all you. Everything here is you. Everything here was created through your work and effort.]'' He pointed to his heart. Before swiftly flying around the boy and turning towards the central star again. ''[Look at it again. Go closer, don''t just look at the surface, see behind it!]'' Confused by what she meant, Aiden looked at the central star, representing his most powerful and most important form to date, the Ancient Dragon again. It was a colossal, huge star, radiating the powerful golden hue, the same warmth, the same ancient, dominant, proudness that he was all too familiar with. However, as he kept looking at it, focusing on it, he could feel something else something more. Under the outeryers, he could feel another source of power, another small, unfamiliar seed of energy. Surprised to feel the presence of another source inside therge star, he looked shocked, turning towards Enya as he asked Chapter 366 - 366 - The City Guards Arrive ''[Look at it again. Go closer, don''t just look at the surface, see behind it!]'' Confused by what she meant, Aiden looked at the central star, representing his most powerful and most important form to date, the Ancient Dragon again. It was a colossal, huge star, radiating the powerful golden hue, the same warmth, the same ancient, dominant, proudness that he was all too familiar with. However, as he kept looking at it, focusing on it, he could feel something else something more. Under the outeryers, he could feel another source of power, another small, unfamiliar seed of energy. Surprised to feel the presence of another source inside therge star, he looked shocked, turning towards Enya as he asked. "Is Is that that" Unable toe up with words, he stuttered, eventually pointing at himself instead. "Me?" Time passed slowly, and while Aiden was still engulfed in the depths of his very own inner world, on the outside, Drake''s ears suddenly twitched. Sounds of heavy footsteps from the direction of the city reached his ears, he jumped up in the sudden realization. As he turned around, whilst he could not see anything at the moment, he was still assured that he wasn''t just hallucinating; Lily''s two dogs, the tworge war hounds were already standing at attention, growling towards the city''s direction. "What is it, brother? Is something wrong?" Seeing as how her brother was suddenly acting, she unsheathed the dagger once again, turning around, and following Drake''s gaze. As she turned around, and squinted her eyes, although he couldn''t see anything she suddenly felt multiple presences approaching, her face turned somber. "We need to go." She muttered, immediately turning around once again, and walking with fast, hurried steps to Lily. She ced her right hand over her right shoulder, gently squeezing it and grabbing her attention. "Lily, we need to leave. A group of soldiers from the city areing and it would be best if we wouldn''t be here when they arrive." "Uhm." Lily nodded, grabbing Scarlet''s hand with her own and giving it a light squeeze, before turning towards her still meditating brother. For the first time since she sat down next to him, her cheery smile was reced with a serious, slightly worried look. Reaching out with both her hands, she clutched her brother''s gently, she looked into her brother''s closed eyes before closing his own. "I hope this works" She mumbled to herself before focusing on a specific thought, something that she never tried before consciously, but did manage to do once when she felt the lowest. Her thoughts focused on that feeling, the familial love, the adoration, the devotion she felt towards him. That other, bubbling feeling that she still couldn''tpletely grasp That strange, weird, but at the same time, undoubtedly the best sensation of all. She hoped, she wished that she would be sessful, that he would be able to hear her, would feel her connecting heart, her wish With her eyes closed, she leaned against him, their foreheads gently touching, she called for her protector, her brother in her mind. Inside his own core, Aiden was still lost in the unique sight. With his memories of his previous life now regained, he couldn''t help but think that what he was seeing was vastly simr to how humanity envisioned and depicted their universe. At the center of it all, acting as the heart of everything, pumping life towards all the other orbiting celestial bodies, the sun, his own Primal Seed surrounded and protected by his Golden aura, the Ancient Draconic form radiated the warmth of life with its golden rays, empowering all the other smallers as they circted, orbited around it eternally. At the closest, the smallest but still, one of the most memorable moments of his life, the dark orb of essence, his Mushroom Bug form, floated. The other orbs growing gradually in size and varying colors went further on, eventually reaching therge body of a dark green giant, the one before his newly formed Sahuagin Champion form, the one he created through fusion, the Primal Goblin Dragonlord. What was different about it,pared to the rest, was that this orb felt hard. As if it wasn''t purely made of energy anymore but if it consisted of its own solid body. As if was truly turning into a new world, a true in itself. Amidst the dark green that covered its surfaced, small dots of vibrant red, brown, and even parts of azure deep blue could be seen every now and then, confirming his first assumptions that something peculiar was happening with this one. Aiden wanted to dive even deeper and explore it in-depth, but before he could do so, the bright white dot of his guide, Enya spoke up with a gentle, kind but at the same time serious tone. ''[Aiden, you should go back now. What we wanted to aplish we did. You sessfully assimted and formed your newest form, and you didn''t even need the system for it. You will still need to train with it, but at the very least you are not forced into it any longer. You should-]'' Suddenly she turned silent, and flew higher above, a distant voice, a whisper called out to her, or more precisely, to him. Her brightness red up, her white light reached out to the thread of the other''s call. Confused at Enya''s action at first, as soon as she gave more energy to that other one, Aiden snapped towards the distance where the familiar voice could be now clearly heard. Without saying anything, in the next instant, his spiritual self vanished from its spot. His consciousness returning to reality, his eyes snapped open a momentter, only to be met with Lily''s blue eyes up front, closer than ever. Still, he didn''t show any signs of surprise, instead, he gave her a wide, loving smile, he spoke with a tender whispering tone. "Lily Is everything okay?" Feeling his breath on her face and on her ears, Lily''s elongated ears twitched as they swiftly changed color into a deep tomato red, signaling their rapidly rising temperatures. Her cheeks also turning pinkish with shyness, she meekly stuttered. "W-we W-we n-need to g-go. S-soldiers cing" She spoke, rapidly losing herself in her brother''s golden eyes and bright smiling face. "Right." Aiden smiled, giving them another single moment before gently pushing his sister away, withstanding her emerging pouting look with a bitter smile of his own, and stood back up. Turning around, he looked towards the city, following the other''s gazes, he instantly recognized the iing potential danger. With hurried steps, he walked over to Drake and Scarlet while Lily gathered Sam and Biggy. A minuteter their figures rushed towards the south, just in time to escape the sights of the approaching battalion of city guards. As soon as they arrived at the scene, a stoic, heroic-looking, silver-bearded man stepped at the front. Riding atop the only horse in the battalion, he was clearly above in rank to the rest. His piercing gaze, slowly scanning across the bloodied battlefield. No word could be heard, neither from him nor from the couple dozen soldiers behind him. Every single member of his group stood at attention, not daring to utter a single word, waiting for this veteran''smand. Despite the gruesome sight, their eyes showed with reverence, bordering worship as they looked at the robust back of this legendary figure. As his dark green, emerald eyes sailed across the horizon, he gruffed from time to time. The sight of mutted, limbless torsos, charcoal-looking carcasses burned to crisp, the pungent smell of death lingering in the air This was all-too-familiar to this old man. He, who was now acting as a simple, single captain of the many in service of this backwater town, wasn''t like the others. He wasn''t tainted with corruption, nor was he blinded by the light of justice. He was a veteran, a retired leader. Once a proud member of the royal army, the circumstances reduced his legend, his myth, his legacy to this crumbled state. Despite this, he never wavered, he never surrendered to injustice, to corruption. He remained steadfast, a bastion of everything he stood for. Even though it wasn''t necessarily true anymore, everyone still referred to him as the ''General''. Eventually, his hardened, piercing gazended on a spot, slightly behind the sea of burnt monsters, closer to the riverside. A deep frown creased across his forehead as he looked at the particr spot. He got off the horse, throwing the reins to the men behind him, and stepped over the bodies, walking towards the spot he felt something different. As he got closer and closer, he could feel the change, the shift in the air around him. He felt an emptiness, ack of life, a void of energy. Even if he could never put his fingers on it, he could always feel it, sense it. Arriving at the spot, he crouched down. His eyes squinted, and although he was looking at the empty shallow ground in front of him, in his mind, he was assured. His frown deepened as his conjecture was now confirmed he scowled as he muttered with a disdainful tone. "A mutant" Chapter 367 - 367 - Galinas Transformation (Part 1) Without wasting more of his time, the bearded old man, the ''General'', stood back up and turned towards his soldiers still standing at their spot at attention. He walked back, stopping in front of them, his piercing gaze slowly pacing over them. Nobody dared to move, nor uttered a single word voicing their difort. The soldiers stood still, waiting for themands of the once decorated and praised legend. "Men! Spread out in the area, let me know if you find anything out of the ordinary!" He bellowed a simple order, not giving any details about his theories, assumptions of what could have happened. He was about to turn around when a weak voice of one of the soldiers called out. "General sir! May May we ask, what the General thinks happened here? What was that big cloud?" Listening to the question, the bearded general did not turn around, but halted his steps. He looked sternly towards the nearby river that looked as calm as ever and sighed. "A mutant. That''s what happened." He responded, cryptically, not bothering to exin himself any further. He walked back to his horse and mounted it. Taking his ce on the saddle, only now did he look at the man that asked the question, albeit only for a brief moment, before he spoke. Grabbing the reins, his gaze was already shifted back towards the direction of the city. "You take the lead here, soldier. Catalog everything you find. I want a report of your findings on my desk by the end of this day." His tone was cold, distant, still carrying the lingering tint of disdain even though it wasn''t directed at the soldier it was still visible. Before the soldier could respond and acknowledge the order, he kicked on the side of the horse and bolted away, leaving his battalion of men behind, to process the brutal carnage of a scene ahead of them. The soldier could only helplessly sigh, rub the back of his head and turn to his fellow city guards with a bitter, wry smile. It wasn''t the first time, something like this happened, and definitely will not be thest. The General rarely bothered with stuff like this, it was already a great shock to the team that he even showed up and showed some marginal interest. He shook his head:menting about the General''s sad, sorrowful story was a waste of time. He had a long day ahead of himself after all Maintaining a steady, cadenced lope, the General rode the road back to the city on his trusty steed''s back. Meanwhile, his eyes were distant, his mind was sailing on the sea of his memories, thinking about the shadows of his past. A minuteter, as his eyes cleared out, he frowned, his hands holding the reins were clenched so tight, they started to turn pale under the sheer pressure. He shook his head, heaving a heavy and long sigh, slowly regaining his demeanor. "Mutants again. These abominations of nature once again started showing up just at a time like this. I refuse to believe it is a coincidence. Even if they discharge me and kick me out of service, I will not stand aside." He growled as his anger rose, thinking about the mistakes of the forgotten Before. "No. Not again." His eyes wandered towards the tallest peak of the city, the tower piercing through the skies at the center of the Academy. As he checked and gazed at the top, he knew that hateful pig of a man was watching him, causing his frown to deepen even further. Still, he could do nothing. If he did not want to heed the orders of those above him, he only had one option left. He could only take that route, the path that he hated even thinking about so much. Sadly, he had no other choice. "It seems, I have to ept the invite and agree to meet with that man." He grumbled, squeezing the horse''s side, increasing his speed. A momentter, his figure was galloping towards the city. Just like the men he left behind, he himself had a lot to think about and do before the sun sets and todayes to an end After their timely departure and escape, Aiden''s group spent the remaining hours of the afternoon circling around the city, eventually getting back through the Eastern Gate and making their way back to the Guild Hall. There they managed to officially mark their assigned quest that for some unknown reason was marked as a 3-star quest only and got the rewards. One of the biggest nuisances Aiden realized with the system''s downtime was hisck of ess to the inventory. All of his belongings, including his umted coins, were stored inside, turning him into a beggar, even if just temporarily. After finishing up everything the team left therge building and were about to head to the Slums to get to the agreed dinner with the Masked Mistress and the rest when suddenly Aiden''s expression changed. From his usual calm, collected appearance, his face transformed into aplex-looking one, twisted under the mixture of shock, surprise, happiness, excitement, and a bit of worry. Lots of emotions showcased themselves over his outlook, his previous calmness vanished in an instant. Holding onto his right hand and leaning against his shoulders, Lily immediately felt the change in his brother. With a concerned tone, she asked. "Brother, is something the matter? What happened? You look I''m not sure worried, maybe?" However, his attention was already somewhere else. He absentmindedly threw back an empty response, whilst he got out of his sister''s hold. "Nothing Lily, stay with them, I need to check something" He looked at Drake as he hurriedly spoke. "You guys can go ahead and meet up with the others. I need to get back to the inn for a bit." He said, already leaving the stunned group behind, and rushed towards the inn he left just this morning. He wanted to get back as fast as possible. Just now, through their connection, Ryg informed him that Galina has stopped transforming and infusing her core with the primal energy, the [Soul Power]. He wanted to get back before she woke up and help him in whatever way she might need. After all, she was his servant no, a member of his own family, he wanted to be there as support that she could lean on, rely on. However, as he was about to turn around the corner, he saw Lily running not too far behind, keeping up the pace with him. With a wry smile, he stopped and waited for her to catch up. "Lily I said to go with Drake and Scarlet. I would be fine on my-" Before he could finish, a p on his face caused him to turn silent and look at her pouting sister with an astounded expression. "Meanie! Bad brother! How can you leave me! Am I just a burden to you still? Is this how you think about me?!" She looked hurt, genuinely offended. Her eyes were rapidly turning hazy as tears began to gather, she was doing her best withholding all of it back, lest she erupted into a childish cry and give even more fuel to her brother. "No, I" As he looked at Lily''s hurt expression, saw her eyes as she was on the verge of crying, he felt guilty. He was stupid, once again not thinking, not caring about anything but himself. He couldn''t say anything to excuse himself, nor could he just simply leave behind her. It was cruel and unfair. He already left her once, he can''t do it again. He sighed, mostly at himself, silently reaching out and pulling her surprised little sister into a tight hug. "I''m sorry sis. I was just" He whispered, shushing words into her ear. Being embraced so suddenly, Lily''sst line of defense crumbled almost instantly. Her strong, supportive front, which she forced onto herself since the fight has faded, reced by this true, honest, heartfelt sight. She was worried, even though she was smiling, supportive of whatever he was doing, she was worried. She tried pushing everything down, and just leave the positive stuff on the surface, but that wasn''t easy. After all, she was still just a lonely little girl, worried and concerned about her little brother "I''m sorry I will not do anything to hurt you again." Aiden continued muttering consoling words to the girl''s ear, gently caressing and patting her back. A few minutes passed before he could feel that her sobbing began to die down. Slowly he pulled her away, and with the brightest, warmest smile he could express, he looked into her sniffing face, deeply into her tired-looking blue eyes, and asked. "Lily. I need to get back to my room in the inn. There''s someone there, one of the new members of our family that may need my no, OUR help." Her eyes widened with surprise as she listened to her intently. A new family member? What did he mean? She didn''t need to think about the matter too much. At the same time as Aiden asked the question, she also nodded and answered simultaneously. "Would you like to" "Yes!" "e with me?" Chapter 368 - 368 - Galinas Transformation (Part 2) A short whileter, the sibling duo of Lily and Aiden made their way back to the inn. Seeing the figure of the terrifying youth appear on his doorstep yet again, the innkeeper jerked in startle, his body slightly shivering, he dared not to look in his direction. After all, just some hours ago on this very same morning, he felt the coldness of death for the first time in his life. A few secondster, as the boy and the unknown blonde-haired, hooded and cloaked girl stepped inside, he managed to calm down at least to the point of showing a stable front. Still, when the boy nced at him, and as he looked into his exotic, golden-colored eyes, the man couldn''t help but gulp once more, swallowing audibly, and averting his gaze. He nodded, and whilst he seemed to be offering some kind of a greeting, his voice was trailing so thin that neither of them could make anything out of it other than some gibberish. shing a thin smile at him, Aiden ignored the innkeeper and the rest of the sparse early afternoon crowd, instead, leading his sister and her silently shadowing caninepanions up the stairs, towards his room. Meanwhile, he was paying attention to the fluctuations of energy in the air that he could gradually feel as they got closer and closer to the building, making it very apparent that something extraordinary was happening upstairs, inside his rented room. As soon as their figures left, the old man sighed with relief, returning his attention to the hungry, but most importantly, thirsty guests, banishing his troubling thoughts. However, unbeknownst to him, another pair of eyes, still carrying the morning''s offense, were following as they got to the upper floors, before cleaning her greasy hands with a towel and rushing out from the back doors. She wasn''t done and wanted justice for the offense, and (in her mind) unjust threat they have suffered in the morning. Despite her husband''s stern words, she was adamant to get justice served. So when she saw the youngster return, she made the decision to run and ask for help. Still, she knew that the city guards would be unable to do anything, but who said they were the only force that ''protected'' the neighborhood? Arriving in front of the door, Aiden suddenly sighed, whilst shaking his head. A droll look, a wry smirk shed through his expression before returning to normal. He nced to the side, towards the direction where a certain maturedy was rushing outside ''Humans They never learn.'' He mocked her actions inwardly. While he could understand that she felt that they were the ones that suffered injustice, she conveniently forgot the fact that what happened was the result of her husband''s actions. Still, he didn''t care much, whatever she was trying to aplish ultimately had no consequence, it was doomed to fail. With that thought, he shed his usual calm, warm smile, and pushed down on the knob, and slowly opened the door. He could feel the two distinct presences inside, but without the system he was unable to tell what state they were in, hence opting for the slow, silent, careful approach. Putting his right index finger over his lips, he signaled for Lily to stay silent whileing inside. However, as the door slowly creaked open, and revealed the peculiar scene inside, Aiden''s attempt at sneaking instantly failed. Aiden froze on the spot, as he looked at the unfamiliar feminine figure sitting cross-legged at the bed. Rygintharth, in her child-like human form, was standing beside the bed, leaning against the wall with her arms folded in front of her chest. She smiled, nodding silently to greet the neers before returning her bored gaze at the still meditating girl on the bed. With wide eyes full of astonishment and confusion, Aiden slowly approached the girl sitting cross-legged on the bed, still deep in her own meditation. He couldn''t even recognize her. The small, green-skinned, ck-haired shy small girl was no more, reced by this unknown person. Still, he knew this woman was Galina, even if it was incredibly hard to believe. With a bewildered, astounded gaze, he turned to look at Ryg, his eyes asking for confirmation. Is she truly the same Galina she left just this morning? How did she transform so much? Matching her Master''s gaze, Ryg simply nodded at him, confirming the reality he just couldn''t ept. Sitting on the bed, Lily and Aiden saw a long, silky ck-haired girl. Even though her eyes were closed as she was still meditating, it was obvious at first sight how beautiful she was. Most obvious was the grand change in her skin tone. From the previous light greenish tint, it was now carrying a pinkish fair hue. Without not knowing her background and origins, from an outside look, nobody could tell she was not a human at all. Her height, whilst not changing much, her figure on the other hand underwent some slight transformations. Despite the ugly, dark brown robe she was forced to wear to hide from the onlookers, there was still a definite change in her. She looked more feminine, leaving her teen look behind, she was now a genuine young adult. Her long, dark, matte hair cascaded below her shoulders, turning tame, gentle from the previous unruly, wild, unfettered nature. Aiden had to admit, that if he weren''t aware of her origins, and saw and known her before, she would never believe that this girl, this jade-like beauty was the same shunned and hated species, a goblin a couple of weeks ago. "This this is" "Incredible, right Master? Her change, her evolution is incredible." Ryg finished her sentence. As a smirk slowly stretched across her face, she nodded at the sitting girl once again, she spoke in a yful tone. Also, try to sense her aura, her power! You will be surprised!" Focusing on his senses, a smile appeared over his face. He could feel the familiar energy coursing through her newly formed spiritual veins. Also, he could no longer sense any of the primitive, violent source of alternative power the mana inside her. It seemed that shepletely transformed her reserves, sessfully shedding her previous state. Her change in appearance is also probably rted to that. Her transformation of energy, most likely fulfilled the requirements and she evolved even further, arriving at a state and form, that was unprecedented before. What he was certain about, even without the system, that whatever she was, had nothing to do with her root, goblins anymore. She was a demi-human, a species that evolved to its peaks and arrived at a stage that not many could achieve before. His deep thoughts, however, had toe to an abrupt close as he felt a tugginging from his side followed by her sister''s light, meek, whispering inquiry. "Brother who are they? Why are they both inside your room?" Rushing through the streets, zig-zagging between thete-afternoon walkway, the mature, chubby wife of the innkeeper was running towards a particr alleyway not too far from their inn. A local gang of thugs, or how they liked to refer to themselves ''Knight Guards'' made this particr area their territory, enforcing their service on the local shops, bars, and inns. For a ''meager'' monthly fee, they would make sure to settle all disputes and disturbances. Their ims were going as far as stating that even the City Guards would not dare to cause any ruckus as long as they were allowing them toe under their hood. Just as they imed, one had to admit, that whilst what they offered was nothing more than the usual protection racket and the merchants, bar- and innkeepers were basically paying hush-money and were being extorted, they did offer a sense of safety. Thanks to this gang of self-proimed ''Knight Guards'', crime did indeed ease in their neighborhood. The violence and crime that ran rampant in other sections of the city was controlled to a degree here. What the citizens failed to notice and understand is that the main reason for their increased safety wasn''t rted to this gang of criminals but to the increased traffic of adventurers and wannabe-heroes that wereing out of, or going towards the Guild Hall Arriving in front of the shady sub street, the wife finally stopped and huffed for some air as she leaned against the nearby wall. She wasn''t an athlete, nor did she ever truly exercise, so even this rtively small distance that she ran was way more than her body could handle. Eventually, she made her way inside. With a worried look, but a determined gaze and clenched fists she was determined to get justice served for the grievance they suffered this morning. She stopped in front of a group of rough-looking men. They were all wearing matching colors, dark red with ck stripes, gathered around, guffawing boisterously, enjoying themselves. However their voice died down, their gazes carrying cruelty, viciousness, and malice were perked on the approaching, shivering woman. As she arrived in front of them, one of them snorted in a cold, disdainful gruff tone. "What do you want?" Chapter 369 - 369 - Trouble Brewing In The Inn "They are members of our family, sis." With a bright, gentle smile covering his face, Aiden answered Lily with a calm, collected look. He then turned towards the window and looked at the bored-looking long dark-red-haired small childlike girl. "She is" "Rygintarth, but just call me Ryg." Before he could finish the introduction he prepared in his mind, the girl in question interrupted, finishing the sentence. She donned a thin smile for a brief moment towards the unknown girl at her master''s side, her face not showing too much interest in getting to know her. Still, Lily didn''t mind her attitude, she stepped forward and gave a light, courteous bow as she introduced herself. "Pleased to meet you, Ryg. I am Lily, Aiden''s sister. Hope we can get along in the future." Ryg gave a small nod at the girl''s show of respect and courtesy but did not speak a word, as just now, a disturbance could be felt from Galina''s direction. A strong, invisible current suddenly washed over them, a surge of invisible energy rippled through their bodies, rming all of them. Even the silently sitting duo of Sam and Biggy perked their attention towards the unknown woman''s direction for a brief moment before rxing in the next. They recognized the type to be the very same, their alpha, Aiden used, thus they felt no need to be wary at all. Lily''s senses weren''t as honed as her brother''s, but despite that, she could also feel a momentary coldness pass through her. She shivered as the unknown sensation passed through her, instantly fixing her worried gaze towards the unknown ck-haired woman on the bed. Her muscles twitched for a moment as she jumped into a half-ready fighting stance. "Brother Who is this woman?" She asked, her tone carrying a mixture of emotions, but most dominantly vignce and cautiousness. Aiden could only feebly smile and sigh as he tried exining the situation. "Don''t be rmed, she means absolutely no harm to you. Just like Ryg, she is also one of the newest members of our growing family. She is called Galina, she is" Before he could finish, a sudden groan, simr to tired exhales of the used up air, escaped through Galina''s closed lips, putting an abrupt end to the introductions yet again and pulling all the gazes in the room on the awakening beauty, making her the center of attention once more. Her closed eyelids began to lightly tremble before they slowly began to peel away, revealing another surprise to the group. A pair of bright, golden-tinted irises were revealed, faintly simr to Aiden''s but at the same time carrying their own uniqueness as well. Unlike Aiden''s, which had the faint shadow of a dragon, a true emperor, dominator of the world in it, Galina''s were tender and gentle. Like before, its shape retained their almond shape, but at the same type, they equipped another new trait to them. They were more prominent than before, pulling those that tried to peer into her soul into its depths and trapping them forever. Her eyelids fluttered, as she slowly nced all over the room, going through a grand transformation. First, a mixture of shock and surprise was written all over as they went wide before they turned gentler and curved into tion as eventually, they rested on the simrly smiling ck-haired young boy. Her closed lips slowly parted, a light, gentle and tired voice could be heard. "Young Master I-" "Ssssh!" Putting his finger over her thin lips Aiden silenced the emotional, usually shy girl. "Don''t speak, you should rest up, the forced evolution took a lot out of you, right?" Galina''s attention was focused on the young master, everyone else was like thin air to her. Taking a moment longer to match her master''s tantalizing gaze, she weakly nodded. Remembering her thoughts in the morning as she stared at his back on the floor and what happened after, a deep sense of embarrassment came over her. Her supple cheeks now donned a pinkish-red hue, she dared not to look at him any longer and instead stered her sight towards the bed. Lily couldn''t contain herself any longer, this new girl that joined them, was so incredibly adorable, innocent, and beautiful that she couldn''t contain herself and just stand still in the background. With a light squeal, she jumped on the bed, surprising the awakened beauty and his brother as well. She climbed over, the startled little deer and pulled her into her embrace, joyfully eximing. "Aaaaaaa! I can''t sit still any longer. I''m sorry brother but she is the cutest sister eveeeer!" Galina, not understanding anything, looked at her master for help, who could only look at her with a helpless look and a wry smile. Still, he coughed in the next moment as he tried to calm her sister down. "*Khm!* Lily, don''t hurt her! She just woke up, her body is still weak and tired. Give her some time to rest then you can get to know her better, I promise." Eventually, after great effort and a lot of convincing, Aiden managed to get Lily to back down, for the time being at least. All the while, Ryg just stood beside the window, looking at them with a small grin coloring her usual bored, expressionless face. She was clearly enjoying the scene but decided not to do a thing. After some small talk, they let Galina rest who was also rather unwilling to be left behind even though she was clearly exhausted, she wanted to stay beside her Young Master. Her strange way of addressing her brother, caused Lily to crease her eyebrows, but after some thinking, she decided not to ask anything about it for the time being. Another thing that kept bothering her, was her name, Galina. She faintly remembered something simr from before, but just couldn''t ce it. She felt she had heard this name before In the end, they left the room, leaving behind Ryg to stay as a guard once more. He didn''t need to exin anything, as with the shared connection they had, the sword-girl was already aware of the potential problem with the wrathful middle-aged wife of the innkeeper. "We should head to Master''s sister''s mansion, brother! They are probably all there already and just waiting for us to show up." Leaving the room and walking through the short corridor Lily spoke, already taking her ce at his right side and clinging on his arm as she did before. "Sure, let''s go." He responded with a smile, gently patting the top of her head, earning a happy giggle as a result. As they made their way down the stairs, Aiden nced towards the back area for a moment before turning away with a newly emerging smirk appearing over his face, which did not escape her sister''s attention. "What is it, brother? Why are you smiling?" She inquired, looking at his face from below his shoulder. "Nothing much, don''t worry. We are just being given a small exercise to work down our dinner before we even had the chance to enjoy it." He answered, shaking his head lightly with a glint of disappointment shing over his eyes. "Human''s are really stupid" He muttered. "Huh? Who is doing what exercise?" Confused by his response, Lily looked at him with confusion. Looking at her, Aiden smiled again, giving another light pat on her head. "Don''t worry about it. It''s just some training with a few weaklings. We just need to teach them a lesson while also bringing an estranged woman back to her senses. She is misguided, and thinks that what I did in the morning was unjust." He exined further, turning towards the counter and signaling the innkeeper over. Although still confused about his words, Lily didn''t ask for further rification. It didn''t really matter to her anyway. If someone bothered them or tried to find a problem with her brother, she would stand behind Aiden and support him wholeheartedly, no matter who was right or wrong. He was her brother, she had already vowed to stay by his side, even if it meant going against the whole world. Seeing how the innkeeper was, once again too busy with the steadily growing nightly crowd, Aiden decided to not bother, and with a sudden motion, he jumped over the desk. Turning around he picked up Lily who was still stunned at his sudden action and calmly began to walk towards the kitchen, under the shocked stare of the innkeeper and the crowd. "Wait! What are you doing?! You can''t go th-" "Don''t worry, I have some business with your naughty wife over there. She called over a group of not-so-friendly-looking people to try to find trouble with me and my people, you see. At the very least I have to greet them, don''t you think?" He spoke, shocking the old man with his words as he slowly walked towards the back, kitchen area without stopping. The innkeeper, shocked by his words, wanted to deny his ims, but before he could do so, he spotted the shadows of several figures making their way inside through the back door, apanied by his wife. Instantly realizing that what the boy said was probably the truth, he could only grit his teeth with rising anger and clench his fists. He wasn''t mad at the boy, but his idiot of a wife. Despite being sternly ordered, she did and went against his back and brought even further trouble on themselves! Chapter 370 - 370 - Let’s Play, Shall We? Even before walking through the back swinging door, Aiden could sense several unknown life essences at the other side. He paused in front of the door, and turning to look at Lily he whispered with the same calmness as if nothing out of the ordinary was about to happen. "Sis." "Brother?" Still hanging on his right arm and resting her head over his right shoulder, Lily raised her head and looked at Aiden with an inquisitive gaze. Although he did tell that some sort of exercise was waiting for them here, truth be told, she didn''t really understand what she was referring to. Still, she could at the very least get the fact that a group of people with clearly bad intentions were waiting at the other side. Coming to this conclusion, her hazy gaze cleared out, she let go of her brother''s arm, and stood straight with her small hands balled into a pair of fists. The shift in her demeanor made Aiden don a satisfied smirk, he nodded at her. "Lily, although the people that came are here because of the actions of a woman, still, do not attack her. Let the man behind us take care of her. Our focus should be the thugs, they are the real issue here." Aiden muttered, whispering his thoughts so only Lily would be able to hear it. Seeing her nod, whilst keeping her focus on the door, or more precisely the people behind it, Aiden simply smiled and pushed on the door. A rtively small kitchen was revealed in front of them. Whilst on one side you could see all of the necessities they needed to prepare, store and even cook the meals, the other side only had a small table with two chairs. A pair of cups were stillying on it, with some leftover coffee in it. Opposite of them, just as they entered, on the other door a tall, slightly taller than Aiden himself entered. He had a rather exotic look to him, with a simrly unique attire. He was bronze-skinned, something that was rather rare in these parts, with a strange, mysterious, secretive look in his pale, hazel-colored eyes. He was clean shaven, had a crooked smile, and a huge, wide-cut that ran over his triangr face, pointed nose, and puffy lips. His ck, most likely shoulder-length hair was tied up behind his head in a bun. The small dark brown, sleeveless, small jacket barely covered anything from his upper body, proudly showing off his muscr build for everyone to see. His whole body was akin to a canvas to an eager artist for he had numerous,plex, simple, and realistic tattoos covering almost every inch of his body. Besides that he seemed to be rather down to earth, wearing no jewelry. Last but not least, he had a long, thick iron link chain was wrapped around his body, with a pair of medium-sized spiky metal heads hanging from its end at his left side. As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, he turned to look at the pair of youngsters and the two harmless-looking dogs with a cruel look over his face. Adding his crooked-looking smirk, his stare was rather ominous. Shortly after he entered, the chubby, middle-aged woman came after him. She had a weary, worried look on her face. Still, as she spotted the ck-haired boy, she steeled her resolve, and pointed at him as she eximed. "Master Balun, that''s the one! He is the boy that caused all that trouble this morning and invaded your turf!" Her tone was cold, ruthless, something that you wouldn''t expect from someone that had such a kind, and honest look just some hours ago. "Martha What are you doing?!" Just as she pointed out the culprit of their misery, her husband stepped in, looking at her wife with a shocked expression. "Why did you-" Before he could finish his words, therge bronze-skinned barbaric figure raised his right open palm in his direction, silencing him. The old man looked at him with dread, his body was trembling as he unknowingly took a step back to the doorway. The thug''s menacing, piercing gaze then focused on the calm-looking youngd in front of him. What surprised him slightly was the unshaken confidence, the nonchnt, uncaring attitude he was still radiating. Usually, when he appears at a scene, people would shake in fear, terrified even just from looking at him. However, despite that, this young man was either not scared, or, and this was what he was guessing, was ignorant, didn''t know who he was. Also, he couldn''t help but appreciate the beauty standing beside him. Luscious blonde locks, dreamy azure blue eyes, and a delicate, but bountiful body such an angel was rather hard toe by. Immediately, as his eyes shifted, and he kept gazing with his hungry, lust-filled stare at Lily, Aiden tightened his clenched fists. His calm smile instantly vanished from his face, he gazed at Master Balun threateningly. Suddenly a feeling of dread washed over Master Balun, shaking his figure and waking him up from his daze. He looked at the boy again, surprise shing through his face as he saw his cold look before he frowned and began to scrutinize his meager figure. "Brat!" He bellowed, with rising anger in hismanding tone. Where does such a youngster get the courage to stare at him like that?! He pointed at the boy, as his face contorted into a vicious coldness. "Vige boy! If you follow me obediently ande out to face your punishment, I might just keep you alive after I take your girlfriend! How dare youe into my territory and cause havoc?!" Snickering could be heard from behind him, his gang was hollering from the outside as their leader addressed the scrawny youngster. "Yeah! Stupid farm boy! He doesn''t even know who he offended!" "Did you guys hear the boss? There''s a woman with him! We will have a new ything!" "Idiot! She is for the boss, didn''t you hear that?!" Waves of chatter could be heard from the outside, mostly eager to meet this new ''babe'' this new girl the Master, the Leader has apparently taken a liking to. At the same time, hearing the thugs talk as they talked about the innocent-looking blonde girl standing beside that ck-haired, golden-eyed boy, a sense of guilt and regret began to appear and rece the ruthless, cold outlook of the woman. Thinking about the consequences of her rash actions, she couldn''t help but nce at her husband, only to meet the same coldness she has shown before. There was no warmth in his eyes as he stared at her. As he stared at her husband''s eyes, her clouded mind finally cleared out. She finally realized the grave mistake she had just made. Her eyes turned blurry as tears began to gather, she slowly turned to look at the calmly smiling little girl that she had just condemned to a fate far worse than death. Thinking about what she had done, her eyes turned foggy, she couldn''t understand what happened to her. Why did she want revenge so badly, that she would invite these bastards to cause trouble? What was she thinking? Ultimately, nothing bad happened to them, yet she wanted nothing more than to see that young boy suffer Slowly her previously strong stature broke down, she fell on her knees. "M-master Balun! Please forgive my mistake and spare them!" She erupted into a pleading cry as shetched onto the tall, bulky man''s right legs. She kept crying and begging, hoping to convince this man to not start any trouble because of her mistake. Sadly, life wasn''t fair. She couldn''t undo her mistake that easily. With a strong kick, the bronze-tinted man threw the sobbing woman away, ncing to the side and looking at her with a disdainful look. "Don''t you dare to touch me, you wench! Don''t worry, after we are done with this brat, we will be settling the debt with you and your husband as well!" He snorted, as he turned to the boy yet again. Seeing he was still not showing any signs of fear but was staring at him with the same coldness as before, the leader could barely contain his steadily rising rage. His fists were shaking, he was clenching them so tightly, that blood began to slowly drip down to the wooden floorboard. The only thought that kept him from going berserk at this point was the thought of what he would be doing to that blonde girl a few minutester He was about to speak and order the brat toe outside, but before he could do so, the brat spoke up. As he began to speak, his eyes suddenly red up, instantly turning his gaze terrifying. A sudden coldness descended on the room,ing with a strange heaviness, an invisible weight falling onto his shoulders. The boy''s voice also changed, shifting to a lower tone, and adding some extra power to it. A cruel, nasty-looking smirk contorted Aiden''s youthful features as he gazed at this leader of the local thugs, Master Balun. "Let''s y, shall we?" Chapter 371 - 371 - Kill Them All! The sudden coldness of the room, the strange pressure added with the eerie smirk stretching across that boy''s face, made the brawny leader question himself for a moment. However, a few secondster as he scrutinized the boy, he shook his head, almostughing at himself for his stupidity. How could such a weak-looking youngling, who isn''t even a man yet threaten him? Even if he were to be a talented spellcaster, which he highly doubted as they were as rare as White Diamond Snakes in this god-forsakennd What danger was he facing? What could this scrawny piece of garbage even do?! ''No.'' Master Balun shook his head, his crooked smile curving towards higher altitudes, his eyes squinted into nasty-looking slits as he gazed at Aiden once again. "Hmpf!" He snorted. "Come then, and face your punishment. We don''t want to cause trouble inside after all. It would be a hassle to deal with the city guards." Aiden nodded at the leader''smand, and with his usual nonchnt, indifferent, cool smile he walked towards the back door. A stepter, he raised his arm, waving it and motioning for Lily and the dogs to follow. "Come Sis, let''s enjoy this free training session! As Granny taught us, ''Never turn down a free gift! It''s rude and disrespectful for the other side!''" He spoke, mimicking Granny''s voice, earning a light chuckle from the girl, not bothered by the deep dark look the leader was gazing at him. "Hehe, you are right brother, we should enjoy the gift!" Lily chuckled at his brother''s words, looking strangely, eerily calm, and cheerful despite the grave situation. Luckily, Martha, the innkeeper''s wife was already knocked out and was lying unconscious on the kitchen floor, otherwise, she might have had suffered a meltdown. After all, after causing such trouble, her efforts to correct them were ultimately pointless. The old man, the innkeeper, on the other hand, couldn''t even process what was happening any more. His mind was focused on the current state of his wife, though he dared not dare to rush toward her body, afraid to offend this local tyrant. Lily skipped over to his brother''s side, with a cheery smile, looking as if they were going to gather some nts in the forest and not face arge group of ruffians. Sam and Biggy, were following behind them, with their usual bored look. They weren''t alerted by the least. Their alpha was right in front of them after all, what was there to worry about? Just as he stepped over the doorway and left the building, only to enter a dark, dimly lit back alley, Aiden''s group was met with a ratherrge crowd of rough-looking men. Just from a quick scan, Aiden counted at least two dozen with a couple more standing guard at the exits. At the same time, he heard the light voice of his contracted sword-girl, Ryg reach out through their shared connection. ''Master, I can sense several hostile intents close by. Would Master need to wield my strength? Shall I go over?'' However, before Aiden could thank her concern and deny the request, Enya already responded. ''[There is no need for that Ryg. Don''t worry. Aiden would prefer if you would watch over the girl instead. Right, Aiden?]'' ''Y-yes. No need to bother with something so small as this. They are merely here to assist us in some evening exercise.'' Aiden sent a mental note to both of them, before closing the connection and turning towards Lily. "Sis, you should use this chance to work on your teamwork with Sam and Biggy. I will step back and let you y." His cool smile made Lily blush. She nodded her head silently, stepping forward to the center of the makeshift circle the thugs lined around them. Standing at the other side, the leader, Master Balun could no longer hide the ugly, angry look on his face. He looked behind the girl, throwing a jab and taunting the boy. "Are you really this pathetic that you have to hide behind a girl? No wonder you are looking like a wuss!" He snorted, shifting his attention to the blonde beauty getting ready to face her. As he looked at her and the tworge hounds at her sides, he calmed his expression and forced yet another smile. "Littless, don''t be blinded by such a weakling. Juste over to my side, there is no need for violence! It wouldn''t do good if your heavenly beauty would be ruined by some unnecessary wounds and bruises!" Seeing that the girl did not react but was merely returning his smile with one that made it even harder to contain the growing hunger and lust hidden in his pants, he took a small step forward and reached out invitingly with his right arm towards the girl. "Come to me, my beautifuldy and be my woman! I promise to make you a mistress, the queen of my men, and soon this whole city! Be wise and leave this pathetic weakling behind!" He bolstered with big words, huge promises, his crooked smile stretched as wide and as honest-looking as it could possibly be. He was pretty confident in his words, already thinking about the mocking tone he would hit with the young ck-haired boy as soon as he got the girl. Master Balun could already see in his mind as the boy''s face turned ashen as he lost his girl and was subjected to the harsh reality. He could see as he turned scared, and meek, groveling, begging on the ground, to be spared. He was already thinking of only breaking his legs to teach him a lesson, as he would grope this tasty meat right in front of his stupid gold-colored eyes. Unfortunately, dreams rarely be anything more than delusions of the mind. Instead of the expected eptance, the little girl''s mouth twitched, turning into a contemptuous scowl. A deep frown creased some wrinkles over her milky white forehead, she spoke with a coldness. There was no trace of her previous cheery attitude as she looked at him, the leader of this area. "How dare you speak like that?!" She erupted. "My brother is the strongest there is! You call him a weakling? You, who cowered as soon as he nced at you with just a sliver of his power?" She coldlyughed, before going even further. "I would NEVER leave his side, especially not for an ugly man like you!" Before he and his thugs could process her brutally harsh words, she raised her delicate right hand and pointed at him, before eximing an order. "Let''s not waste any more time guys! Sam, Biggy, let''s beat some sense into this stupid man!" The tworge ck hounds, that were standing bored, turned into vicious, ferocious monsters in the next instant and charged at the shockedrge, bronze-skinned man with deep growls. They were like two dark blurry streaks as they crossed the small distance in a second, lounging at the man with obvious killing intent shing in their dark bead-like eyes. "You dare!" Albeit shocked, Master Balun was quite experienced, serving for countless years as a mercenary. He quickly snapped out of his daze, grabbed the strange chain-like weapon wrapped across his torso, and swung his arm horizontally. With loud metallic, clinking sounds, the chain followed his arc, trailing behind his arm. The spiky metal balls flew towards the approaching beast''s head with a threatening speed. Whilst his weapon was about to crash into the closest dog''s body, his huge left palm flew towards the other war hound, his hand was already poised into an open grip, ready to grab the beast''s neck. Meanwhile, Lily also wasn''t going to stand behind, she also bolted towards the open, left side of the man, throwing a punch at him whilst he was busy handling the canines. Aiden watched the scene with a calm smile. He could clearly see everything, as despite everything was happening at the same time, and in a single moment, to him, it was as if time had slowed down. He wasn''t worried for either of them nor about the leader''s going down with just this one round of attacks. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched with his usual calm attitude as the fight continued. "Argh You b*tch!" Using all of his focus to deal with the two frontal attacks, Master Balun couldn''t do anything but ept the girl''s ambush and grit his teeth to withstand the surprisingly heavy blunt force that hit his left side. His body involuntarily twitched, Balun was forced to take a step back, whilst throwing both dogs away. After sessfully grabbing the iing creature on the left and thwarting the charge of the one on the right as the spiked balls crashed onto the other one, he had to let go of all his effort just because he was attacked from the side as well. Grabbing the chain with both hands he swung the metal balls at his left side, swaying his eyes at his three opponents. Looking at them, he decided to not bother with being nice anymore and yelled out with a mad howl. "MEN! ATTACK THEM! LEAVE ONLY THE B*TCH ALIVE AND KILL THE REST!" Chapter 372 - 372 - A Grave Mistake Upon hismand, the spectating crowd of thugs yelled out, breaking up the circle, and began swarming towards Aiden and his group with great numbers. Short swords and daggers were the most dominant types of arms these back alley bullies were mostly used to, however, there were a few thatid back and equipped slingshots, even a light crossbow made its appearance. Aiden retained his calm, cool smile as he eyed at all of this. He sighed as he shook his head at all of this. He hoped to avoid unnecessary trouble, but it seems fate did not want to give him any ease, it still came after him with full force just like always. "Troublesome" He lightly muttered, as his eyes suddenly lit up, and once more released the shackles holding his ancient powers back. A whirlwind suddenly blew up the dust off the ground, a small swirling twister appeared rapidly engulfing the boy, leaving only a hazy, blurred silhouette for the suddenly stumped crowd. In the next moment, before the thugs could regain their senses, the swirling twister expanded, exploding with huge force, blowing everyone away, forcing them on their backs. Strangely, only Lily''s group and Master Balun were spared, like Aiden, they were safely protected inside this dusty wind barrier. The rapidly swirling air was whistling with a deafening tone, the disturbance from the outside could not prate the makeshift arena. Lily, knowing that this was his brother''s doing, wasn''t bothered by the least, unlike the bronze-skinned, brawny leader. His cruel, nasty-looking crooked smirk twitched, growing wide at the sight of this unbelievable sight. "What the heck?! What is going on?!" He eximed with a growing hysteria. "What is this this magic?! He turned to look behind the girl and the dogs, meeting the golden glowing gaze of the youth he was antagonizing. Shock and disbelief were stered on his face as he pointed his finger at him. A growing suspicion has begun to grow inside him as he remembered the cold air and the inexplicable heaviness that he felt before. "Y-you you are a monster!" He stuttered, a previously unfamiliar feeling, fear began to seep into his heart and slowly erode his soul, shocking him. A dubious thought began to take its seed in his mind. ''Did I Did I Did I make a mistake?'' The seed of regret appeared, slowly sprouting, engorging itself in the abundant amount of confidence and arrogance he garnered over the years of his life as the leader of the local group who lived his life as a tyrant, unafraid of even the city forces. Now, however, things were different. His dominance, his proudness, his power was meaningless. A single thought of this boy made his entire group turn useless, thrown away like a sack of vegetables, disarming them, or in some cases even straight up, incapacitating them. Aiden didn''t respond, his smirk was, however, stretched wide. He was clearly enjoying the show, the mixture of emotions that disyed over the arrogant leader''s face. It was a sight to see that his victorious, hungry look instantly vanished, and a lifetime of previously alien emotions, and feelings finally took hold of his body and soul, slowly turning him from the fearless leader to the same weak and faltering human that everybody else was. "Brother! You said I can have this fight! Don''t steal it away from me then!" His moment however was interrupted by Lily''s displeased voice. Seeing her pout, and hurtful, displeased stare, Aiden could only helplessly smile, and take a step back. "Sorry sis, I only wanted to make sure you are not disturbed by these bugs. I will not bother you guys any more." As he spoke, the glow in his eyes faded from one blink to another, and the strong pressure that formed the dusty force-barrier swiftly calmed down, revealing the sorry state of Master Balun''s men once more. Painful groans, bloodied and battered figures were sprawled all over the dark alleyway. Swords shattered, des plunged into the sides of their own wielders, broken, twisted arms and legs Master Balun was shocked and stunned to see the state of his own men. Did this boy do this? How? He didn''t even see him move, he merely straightened his back, and let loose some sort of unknown power or aura ''Wait'' A dangerous thought emerged in his mind as he peered through the alley. ''Was all this damage done with only his aura? What the'' He was shocked, he couldn''t understand no, he couldn''t believe that someone as strong as this boy could be in this backwater city. His body trembled as the realization slowly took root. He now understood. He made a mistake, a grave one. Because of the words of a wench, he arrogantly strutted into disaster. Not just that he arrogantly threatened this monstrous entity! His face turned pale, his legs wobbled as he tried stumbling backward. He could no longer hold his exotic weapon, the sturdy, heavy chain fell on the ground, his face now looked horrified as the boy''s glowing eyes were forever burned into the forefront of his mind. The face of terror. He couldn''t even think of revenge anymore. He only wanted to escape, survive this death trap and leave and never return! Screw this city, there are many other opportunities far away from this ce, this country! "S-s-s" He stammered, unable to phrase any words. The dogs and Lily were no longer in his sight, he could only see the boy at the back. His calm, collected look he regained so swiftly was even more fearful in his eyes. "S-s-stay away from m-me!" Eventually, he managed to force out a short sentence, before falling on his butt. Still, that didn''t halt his escape, using his legs and arms he continued pulling himself further and further away. Seeing the leader''s state, Lily could only pout and turn around to look at her brother with growing displeasure. "Look at him now, brother! You ruined this whole thingpletely!" She harrumphed, looking huffish, offended. Instead, she crouched down, pulling her canine partners into her embrace, grumping into their ears. "Stupid brother promising to not intervene, but still managed to ruin the fun He is a meanie, right Sam, Biggy?" Aiden could only bitterly smile at the scene and helplessly shrug his shoulders. How could he know a single action from him would have this much effect? He merely wanted to ensure that the group would not intervene, so Lily could fight and train to her heart''s content He took onest, cold nce at the Crabby Master Bn, before ignoring him as he finally made his way out of the alley and hurriedly scurried away, ignoring his men and leaving them behind without a second thought. With the issue finally settled, Aiden and Lily could finally leave and get to the Mistress'' mansion. Of course, only after giving enough time for Lily to vent her indignation "I have to say the sudden response to my invitation has surprised me, General." Sitting over the VIP dinner table at one of the best restaurants, Master Leon was looking at his frowning dinner partner with great interest. "If you don''t mind me asking" He continued, a thin smile emerging on his round face. "What changed your mind? I have to say, I never dreamed that someone with your past would ept my invite and throw his lot with my side" "Hmpf" The tall, broad-shouldered figure at the opposite side of the table, straightened his back, his displeased frown never leaving his face, he caressed his short silver beard. "If that''s the case, why did you invite me Young Master?" "Oh my" Faking a surprising shock, Leon leaned back on his chair, grabbing the wine ss and taking a sip from it, he revealed an elicit smile. "Well, first it was only a courtesy. Not gonna lie to you, old man, I did wish to get you to join my side and lead my army in the uing war games But after knowing you managed to find out what happened that day, I never expected for you to forgo your hatred." Taking another short sip of the delicious rosy red wine, he continued with a bit colder tone. "To be honest, I was expecting you to go head-to-head with me, use everything at your disposal to take revenge for my ''unfilial actions''. That''s what you said, right?" His smile turned cruel, as he threw a jab at this decorated, once legendary man. The old man did not respond at first but kept staring at the rounded, fat ps of the chubby young master, the sole survivor of the Leon Family. He was clear and aware of the truth behind his family''s tragic demise the ''lucky'' escape of the young master and his subsequent rise in the city''s ruling society. The group of thugs that did this heinous crime was swiftly apprehended and executed despite their pleas, nobody bothered hearing them out. Still, there were a few that questioned their motive Why would they bother annihting a noble family? For quick mary gain? Even they would have known how stupid such a thought would be. No, there was a mastermind behind them. The general''s eyes shed with coldness as he nced at the chubby, smiling man in front of him. He had no other option but to side with this vicious snake Chapter 373 - 373 - Siblings And Secrets While the decorated general and the not-so-young Master Leon had their first dinner discussion and ended up shaking hands no matter to the General''s growing inner turmoil about the topic, in the not so pleasant district of the city, in the Slums another steadily growing family was also attending their own event. Aiden, Lily, and her two four-legged guardians have managed to arrive without difficulties after taking care of the small nuisance of Master Balun and his goons. While they were not aware, their actions caused huge waves to ripple and shock the neighborhood, eventually reaching the ears of the higher echelons. Albeit oblivious to it, a certain prominent figure once again will be thrown into a setback, making him even more determined to im victory in the uing war games Going back to Aiden and his group, after arriving at the magically disguised mansion, they spent a bountiful dinner with everyone present. While they focused mostly on their ns, they ultimately agreed to settle the matter with the uing battle first before doing anything else. The city was already in an alerted state, it would be unwise and ultimately futile to try anything for the time being. Also, while Aiden was agitated and wanted to just simply use the easiest and most direct method to free up his friend, as well as Drake and Scarlet''s little brother, he was once again reassured that nothing would happen to Cole for the short term other than being forced to study enclosed somewhere deeper in the academy grounds. In the end, he agreed to go with the approach they have already agreed on previously: Go to the Annual Academy Entrance Exams at the beginning of the next year and try to gain admittance as students. During their talk, Aiden though couldn''t be certain, he felt as if his Master, Number 3''s gaze have changed since thest time they met. She had a strange,plex, heavy look in her eyes whenever she looked at him. It wasn''t hostile, but it carried a mystery Aiden couldn''t decipher at least, for the time being. After the talk and dinner, he visited the still unconscious Naybeah with Scarlet and Sara leading the way, the rest followed shortly behind. Seeing the peaceful look in her eyes, and the much better but still pretty beat-down state of her body, Aiden could finally rx. She was getting better, improving day by day. While it was still unknown when she would wake up, he could finally be sure of her eventual recovery. Eventually, the dinner came to an end. When Aiden was getting ready to leave with Drake and Scarlet back to the inn for the night, Lily suddenly came to them with Sam and Biggy in tow. "Brother, I will be also staying with you in the inn." She eximed with a bright exciting glee coloring her face. Aiden didn''t even try to argue with her, as after just a brief look at her determined gaze and bright smile, it was clearly obvious he would be fighting a losing battle. Instead, he nodded, asking about the others instead. "What about Granny and Master? Will they return?" "Only I will return home this time dearie." Coming from the corridor, the raggedy olddy suddenly appeared, turning her wrinkled, gently smiling face towards this adopted (grand) son of his. "Huh?" Surprised by what she said, Aiden looked at her with a confused gaze. "What about Master then? Is she not going with you?" "No, not this time." Granny shook her head, the smile not leaving her expression. "She still has some stuff to do, and has decided to help her twin sister a bit." She exined, walking over to the youths. "Still, don''t expect her to be with you tomorrow. She is quite a hard-headed individual and will at most follow your progress from afar" She sighed, shaking her head before slowly strutting towards the entrance. She opened the door, but before stepping out, she turned her head sideways taking one more look at her two adopted grandchildren. Although she was smiling, her eyes were telling a different story. Before they could turn blurry, she averted her gaze and sighed. Looking away, she faced the dark night, before stepping out of the building. "Stay safe children! Don''t forget about your Granny, no matter how high you soar in the future, okay?" Before Aiden and Lily could snap out of their daze and speak up, Granny''s slowly receding back vanished in the night. What was shocking was that even Aiden couldn''t tell where she went. One second he could feel her presence and in the next as if she was never there in the first ce, she vanished from sight "What the" Both of them eximed with a shocked expression, running after her but failing to find any trace of her. Leaning against the metal rails of the balcony upstairs, Number 3 followed the group as they left, steadily walking to leave the Slums and towards the inn to rest for the night. She followed their movement with her eyes even all the way as they exited this horrendous, nasty part of the city and strolled through the empty streets under the cover of the night. "That disciple of yours sure is an interesting one sister." The Masked Mistress'' impish voice came from behind as she appeared at her right side. "I wonder does he know who YOUR Master truly is? Or perhaps your past?" "He knows enough." Retaining her gaze at the back of the youngsters at the distance, she responded in a curt, cold manner. Her voice carried nothing of the usual familial gentleness she exuded. "Oh? Heh Color me surprised! How much is exactly ''enough'' in your terms, dear sister, I wonder" Pushing herself away from the railings, the Mistress walked behind Number 3, gently touching her back, her fingers gently trailing off from it as she continued with a suggestive tone. "Does he know your real identity? Your name, your old, forgotten family? Your well, let''s say, connection to those two with him?" Number 3''s gaze turned colder as soon as the two royal siblings were mentioned. A fit of deep-seated anger appeared, pushing her stoic outlook down. She gripped the railings, tightly holding onto it as she tried to keep her cool and notsh out. Obviously, her subtle actions didn''t escape the Masked Mistress'' piercing sights. Walking over she took her ce on her left this time, shifting her focus on her sister''s tight hold over the metal bar. Whilst her face, as usual, was hidden behind her mask, her tone suggested a stretching smirk behind it. "Interesting You try teaching him, but you also keep him" Realizing something, she gasped with wonder. "No You keep everyone in the dark. How brave of you, my dear sister!" "I wonder what would they say if I were to enlighten them a bit of that endless darkness that lives inside you? What would they say if they learn more about you about us?" "Stop." Number 3 muttered, seething the words through her tightly closed lips. Her look carried a strange, profound mixture of conflicting and contradicting cavalcade of emotions. "What? After so many years, you still can''t ept what we are? What we are atoning for?" The mistress asked, with sublime contempt. "Hmm How did those 4 old fogies refer to us back then" "Stop Don''t." Number 3 whispered her denial again, but this time, it was carrying less weight and power than before. Her shoulders slumped down, the previously tight grip lessened its vice as memories of the long-forgotten past flooded her mind "Do you have another room, by chance?" Aiden asked the pale-looking innkeeper. The old man felt as if he had already died and was now suffering his punishment, endless torment by the hands of these little demons. Why can''t they just let him and his wife be?! "Y-yes Young Master." After a bit of struggle, he nodded, responding with a defeated voice. "The room to the right that Young Master is currently upying is still free. If you want it, I can give it to you or the young miss." He nodded at the blonde-haired girl next to the golden-eyed demon. "Sure! We will take it!" Aiden epted the offer with a neutral smile. "How much for it? We might be needing it for a while" "Oh No- Don''t worry about it, young masters! It''s on the house!" The old man turned aghast at the question. No way in hell he wants to have anything to do anymore with these monsters. The less he knew, the safer he and his wife were! "Take it as an apology from us for the grievance our actions have undoubtedly caused! Deciding to take the shot, he took a step back and bowed deeply at the youths. "I can only hope that you both could be generous enough to forgo the actions of two insignificant wastrels such as me and my wife!" With a thin smile stretching over his face, Aiden nodded, not minding the actions of his wife by a bit. Also, he realized that there was no point in pushing all his anger on this elderly man, he was just doing what he could to protect his own family. If he were to face a simr situation, he would also do what he could to protect those that are important to him, and would not bother about everyone else. Chapter 374 - 374 - A New Day (AN.: Got some family troubles, making me barely have any time in thest 5 days to write. Quite a hectic situation...) After the eventful day, the long-awaited night, and with it, their rest could not be any more weed. From the first ray of daylight untilte into the night, this day was filled to the brim with the unexpecteding at them one after another. After finally managing to convince Lily to go rest in her newly rented room with Sam and Biggy standing like guards, Aiden heaved a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him. He looked at the peacefully resting Galina on the bed, smiled at her soft little sighs before she nodded at the still awake and bored-looking red-haired Ryg leaning against the windowsill. No words were exchanged, yet they both understood each other. Ryg nodded in acknowledgment at her master before her body turned into golden sparks of light and entered Aiden''s body. He then sat down in the center of the room in a lotus position, closed his eyes, his tired mind slowly ascended to a rxed, trance-like state as Aiden entered into his usual meditation once more. Simr to him, in the room next to his, after washing up and cleaning herself from the dust and grime of the daily chores, Lily followed her brother''s footsteps and sat down on the floor as well. She closed her eyes, slowly exhaled a long gasp of air. Her lips parting, she muttered before she as well began her nightly meditation. "Rest well, brother I will catch up to you someday!" When the first morning rays peeked through the window ss and illuminated the dark room with the bright pir of morning light, Aiden was already up and was just returning from the bathroom. Her tanned, bronze-tinted skin, toned, muscled upper torso, was glowing, the drops of water were glistening as they traversed towards the floor one after another. A short white cotton towel was hanging around his neck as he entered the room, silently, making sure not to wake the slumbering princess in the bed. Still, even before he entered he could feel movement from the bed, and a cute little yawning from deeper in the room. He smiled at this, slowly pushing on the door only to be met with the stunned, and blushed look of the long ck-haired, golden-eyed little beauty. "Good Morning, Galina. I hope you have slept well and are well rested!" Aiden greeted the girl with a bright smile as he entered the room and closed the door behind him. "Anyway" He smiled, seeing the girl''s totally still and frozen look. He almostughed seeing as her eyes silently followed his every step. He walked closer to the bad and sat down at her right side. "How are you really feeling after your sudden evolution? Besides the obvious, have you noticed anything different? Whilst her master took his time getting to her side, Galina eventually managed to snap out of her daze. Though still looking like she ran a marathon with her colored cheeks, she nodded at his question. "Yes Master" She spoke, suddenly jumping in a seating position in surprise as it dawned on her. "I I can speakmon?!" She eximed with a shocked look. Aiden who noticed this small little detailst night, simply smiled, reaching out with his right hand and gently rubbing the top of her head. "Yes. Although I can''t check it, for now, I believe that you somehow gained the ability through our Master-Servant connection. I''m not entirely sure about the details, and if you have gained anything else, but you inherited some of my skills and abilities." He exined, his warm smile suddenly turned serious as he looked at her in the eye before continuing. "This is why it is important that we understand the full length of your changes. Do you know what else has changed? For example, what are you currently? You look just like all the humans out there, but I feel something familiaring from you." Galina was listening to her master intently, she yelped in surprise when she was reminded that she now looked like the humans. She looked towards the bathroom door, wanting to check how she looked in the mirror, but in the end, remained at her ce and instead nodded at Aiden''s words. She closed her eyes, focusing on her own self, trying to analyze the changes in her body. Initially, a sense of shock and fear seeped into her gentle expression as she could no longer feel any mana coursing in her veins, before surprise and a growing smile reced it. As she scanned her own core, she felt a new source, a new type of energy, which she could now recognize simr to her Master''s course abundantly in her. Slowly her eyelids peeled open as she finished her hurried internal check-up, and exined the findings. "I see" After listening to her, Aiden looked at her thoughtfully. "We will need to wait a bit more, but I believe you are no longer a simple goblin from the woods." Thinking back to his own experience from yesterday, he asked. "Try to look deeper into your core. What do you see?" Nodding, Galina once again closed her eyes, focusing all of her attention at the core deep inside her. However, when she tried to follow her Master''s orders and pierce through its crystalline walls, her thoughts were repelled. No matter how many times she tried, or how much mental force she tried to exert, she could not nce through the dark walls. Its depths remained a mystery to her, its contents eluded her mental scans. "I" With a downtrodden look, she sighed and exined what she experienced. "I cannot look into it, Master. Some strange force keeps me out. The only thing I can say is what I felt" "I understand." Aiden nodded at her with a warm, calm smile, giving her onest head pat before standing up and leaving her side which was rewarded with a growing pout. "He smiled at her fake hurt look, as she walked towards the window and looked at the city street below them. The usual groggy-looking figures waking up, or setting up their stalls could be seen slowly filling the streets. The asional robust-looking fierce warriors wandered the streets, strolling to their preferred breakfast spots. As if nothing strange had transpired, the city slowly woke up, the events of yesterday were behind them. "Go and clean up, we will need to go out and check what else has changed Galina." Aiden said, whilst his eyes followed the traffic below them. "Also We probably need to ask my sister for some new clothing" He sighed as a thin smile appeared, stretching across his face. While Galina made her way to the bathroom and consequently gasped with shock and amazement as soon as she saw her new figure and analyzed all the drastic changes, in the neighboring room, Lily also awoke from her nightly meditation session. Her eyes slowly fluttered as they peered open, a soft sigh escaped her lips. Standing up, she stretched her limbs, as she removed the previous day''s weary clothes and threw them at her side. As she took off her blouse, she reached for the talisman hanging from her neck. Giving it a gentle rub, she watched with a smile as the small ruby in its center lit up, glowering with a vibrant scarlet luster. She nced at the pile of used clothing, focusing her mind on them, watching with intent focus as they slowly vanished from their ce, only for a new set of clean clothes to appear in their ce. As the new, clean attire appeared her fingers left the talisman''s gemstone which instantly lost its luster, returning to its normal state. She heaved a tired but satisfied smile, as she picked the new neatly ced pile in her hands and went into the bathroom to freshen up. This strange gift, this old relic she received from her Master turned out to be a surprisingly useful tool. Although it required quite a bit of concentration and mental power, it was capable of transferring items to some unknown space. She only became aware of it when her Master told her about it during one of their training sessions. As it was a good way to train her mental fortitude and with it, her powers and defenses as well, she exined its use. Since then she stored a few smaller objects such as clean clothing in it, along with her bow and a couple of sets of quivers filled to the brim with arrows, just in case she needed it. Still, ever since her training, she was instructed to use her closebat martial skills and continue developing, training them and only use her weapon when there was no other option. As she was about to step into the bathroom, she stopped at the door and sighed at herself with a dismissive look before turning around and looking at the already expectant-looking two guardians of hers. "Sorry, you two I almost forgot." She apologized with a bitter smile as tworge pieces of dried-up meat appeared in front of Sam and Biggy. As they engorged themselves in their breakfast, Lily stepped into the bathroom, only to be startled by the sudden feminine-sounding yelping from her brother''s room. Chapter 375 - 375 - One Big Family Hearing the unknown woman''s exim of fright, Lily instantly rushed back from the bathroom, and charged out of her room and swiftly into her brother''s, almost destroying his door in the process. "What, Where, Who!" She barged into the room with a fierce look, ready to throw herself on the vile ''criminal'' that dared to intrude on her dearest brother''s peaceful rest. Aiden who was still bare-chested, standing beside the window, looked at the invader with a clueless expression. "Lily? What is" "Brother, where is she?!" Lily yelled out, darting her stern gaze from left to right and right to left, searching for the source of the scream, ultimately focusing her eyes on the wooden door leading to the bathroom. Even though Aiden finally understood what the reason behind her sister''s abrupt intrusion could have been, he was a tad bit toote. Without wasting any time, Lily tore up the door revealing the stunned and frightened-looking Galina standing in only in her underwear in front of the bathroom mirror. As the girl''s gazes met, both froze in their ces, unable to react to the other''s unexpected presence. However, when Galina''s golden eyes wandered behind the girl and met her Young Master''s, who was still standing by the window, her frozen state instantly melted, and another loud scream filled not just the room, but the entire hallway. "Once again, I''m terribly sorry! Please, Galina, I have no words for what I have done!" Standing in front of the now dressed long ck-haired girl, and the stern-looking brother of hers, Lily was in the midst of apologizing for her mistake with a deep bow. "I-I Ipletely forgot about you, and fought that someone attacked brother!" She apologized again, keeping her gaze stered on the floor below. "There is no need for this Young Miss." With a warm, light musical melody Galina spoke up, gently touching her Young Master''s sister''s bowed chin and raising it up from the ground. "We couldn''t meet yesterday, I apologize for that Young Miss My name is-" "Galina." Lily finished her introduction, as a kinder-looking smile slowly eased up her worried expression. "Aiden introduced you yesterday. He told me, that you have joined our family so please, don''t call me ''Young Miss''. Big Sis or Sister would do just fine!" "Yes Young Mi- B-big S-sis" Galina responded, her lips trembling, she stuttered, as she fixed her words with an embarrassed look on her face. Being called an equal with her Young Master''s real family was not something she could process on the fly after all. Still, she couldn''t deny the happiness that rose deep in her heart at the notion and curved the edges of her small lips. Seeing their interaction and the expected shamelessness of her sister, Aiden could only helplessly sigh. After the small event, they got a new, fresh set of clothes from Lily that surprisingly fit Galina perfectly. "Anyway I''m sure Drake and Scarlet are also up by now and are probably waiting for us downstairs. Let''s grab something quick to eat then get Galina registered at the guild before we pick something to do for today." Aiden spoke up, changing the topic. Truth be told, he was quite eager to set out. If he could, he would skip over to night time as fast as he could. After all, today was thest day he had to suffer through before the system wouldplete its upgrade ande back to him. He had to ept the fact that although it was still shrouded in mystery, it was the only thing that stood beside him since his arrival in this magical, dark world. He felt empty without it He realized he was quite reliant on it, but what could he do? It had features that just went beyond his understanding. Not to mention the newly unlocked huge section of the Minions its Fusion feature that he still hasn''t experimented with too much was just beyond his knowledge. Having experienced a day without it, he wanted this day to juste to an end as fast as possible Eventually, the small group joined by thezy hounds alighted from the rooms and joined up with the royal siblings at arger table. Not-so-surprisingly, the old man was still quite afraid and wary of them and served them with absolute subservience. His wife, the culprit of the small troublest night was nowhere to be seen, in her ce another middle-ageddy served them. When asked, the innkeeper excused himself, and backed away from the conversation as fast as he could. It was quite obvious he did not want to engage in any sort of interaction with the ''Young Demon'' any more than it was absolutely necessary. He dared not to kick them out, not after what happened, but he also didn''t want to have anything to do with them. Seeing this, Aiden could only bitterly smile, turning his attention back to his sister and friends. From the looks of it, they would be better off finding a new ce to settle down. They have caused more than enough worry to the poor old man that was enough for an entire lifetime. Even if none of the troubles was their fault, ultimately, they still caused further suffering and pain to him. After gobbling up their luscious first meal of the day the group, now joined with Drake and Scarlet left the inn, and made their way through the bustling city streets towards the quite badly named Adventurer''s Street. Along the way, Lily and Aiden nced into the back alley, finding it surprisingly clean and empty. There was no trace of the group of disabled thugs that they left there. Even the broken, shattered pieces of their arms were neatly cleaned up and taken away, not to mention theck of traces of blood. Heck, not even footprints could be found imprinted in the ground. They looked at the sight with a surprised expression confused about what could have happened Who cleaned up so fast, so cleanly? Why? How? "Hey, you two- three!" Seeing their bewildered, stunned gazes, Scarlet called out. Behind them, the quiet, shy-looking hooded girl, Galina, was standing. She just couldn''t solve the enigmatic girl, but she felt that something has changed about her since yesterday. While she was still hiding behind that faceless dark mask of hers and even pulled the hood over her so nothing could be spied upon, there was a shift in her stance, her figure There was a new feel to her presence, something she just couldn''t ce for the time being. Although she knew that she was using some sort of spell or skill to change her looks matching hers, she felt that this exnation wascking There had to be something more to this strange girl For the time being, she decided not to pry further, but she also wasn''t ready to let the matter go entirely. After all, it was her face that was stolen! As they made their way towards the Adventurer''s Hall, Galina couldn''t help but look with amazement at the sight of the huge towering multi-storied wooden structure. Its size easily dwarfed over all the other buildings around it, lording over the street by its sheer size itself. However, she couldn''t help but shiver at the sigh of therge ck-painted double doors, reminding her of the not-so-pleasant experience they had in the orc''s camp. "Don''t worry, Galina. You will not suffer the same ever again. I will not let harme to you ever again." Noticing her growing fear and trepidation Aiden leaned closer to her and whispered gently into her ears causing it to twitch. Thankfully to the mask, she was still using to hide, her deep blushing expression remained hidden from the others. She meekly nodded at her Young Master''s words, clenching her small, leather glove-covered fists in the process. She knew this ce was not the same, still, her dreaded memories came back as she stood in front of these doors. Still, amidst the chaos and darkness, there was also light and hope. Soon, her bad memories were reced by the sight of her Young Master. His dashing figure appeared before her as she tore up the door to their prison and freed her, her brother, and their Teacher. Even going beyond that, he also invited them to join their family, and akin to a god he gave them incredible boons, elevating their powerless state into something they themselves couldn''t even fathom. ''Yes.'' She reminded herself as she remembered the fated moments. ''I have no reason to fear. Not anymore. I No. WE are no longer alone. We are one big family, Young Master''s family!'' Her fear slowly vanished, reced by bubbling excitement, her strive to continue following in his footsteps. The Young Master, Aiden, who saved them, not just from their predicament, but from a fate that would have been worse than death He was not just their ''Young Master'', nor just the leader of their new family. He was much much more. Her expression eased up, Galina turned to look at Aiden, matching his worried-looking gaze with a gentle one of her own. She nodded, reaching out and grabbing his hand, interlocking their fingers together. "Yes Let''s go inside!" Chapter 376 - 376 - The Patriarch (Part 1) "So Galina, right?" With her usually bright, charming smile, Mary and the team were currently in the midst of having Galina signed up as a new adventurer and, once her test was confirmed and the whole process finalized, have her added to Aiden''s team. "Y-yes. Galina, just simply G-galina." Answering the question, the masked, hooded girl, meekly answered whilst hiding behind her Young Master. "Okay. Let''s go and sit down over there. I will need you to fill in this small form with your basic details." Pointing towards an empty box, Mary stepped out of the counter, guiding the team to sit down. As they took their ces, Aiden in the center whilst her sister on her right and Galina on her left whilst the royal sibling at the side, Mary pushed the yellowish pergamen fold with the magic-machinated writing tool in front of the masked girl. With the same kind, friendly smile, she nodded exining what was expected of the shy little Galina. "Just press the crystal at the top of the device, and it will turn on. Don''t worry, it''s not dangerous." She giggled at her own joke, before coughing and continuing. "Use it to fill out the form." She instructed, however, a momentter as she saw that she was just swaying her attention between the tool and the form, a thought came to her mind. With a wry look, she asked. "Ehrm Can you perhaps No" She coughed again, rephrasing the question. "Excuse me, Galina, but would you like me to write while you give me the answers?" Galina shyly nodded, putting the tool down on the desk and pushing it back to the curly brown-haired receptionist. Aiden smiled at the scene, not saying anything but giving a gentle pat atop Galina''s head. "Right No problem Now, for the name, we will simply add Galina, and leave the rest as it is" For the next dozen or so minutes, they went over the questions, filling in all the necessary details. When asked about her specialization Galina looked at her Young Master with a pleading look, for which, Aiden smiled and answered. "Write in Support. She is mostly specialized in Light and Nature Magic, with some minor knowledge in close quartersbat." A few additional minutester, only the final sections, the Grade and Rank have been left empty. As per thetest rules, just like with Aiden, all new applicants are required to go through a test, before their registration can be finalized. Even if the applicant was with the newly crowned ''strongest'' adventurer (at least after his brutal victory over the previous champ), he or she will still need to abide by the rules. Standing up, Mary grabbed the filled-in papers and looked at the group, mostly focusing on Galina. "Thank you guys and Galina. I will bring these back to have them added to the library, and ask the examiner team if they have anyone to conduct the test at this moment. Please, give me a few minutes, I will be back as fast as I can!" "Don''t worry Mary, we can wait. No need to be in such a rush." Aiden reminded her with his disarming calm smile, which Mary couldn''t respond to, only give a goofy blushing smile, before escaping to the back area. As her figure exited the hall through the back office door, Aiden turned to Galina and spoke with the same charming look on his face. "Don''t worry about the test, okay? You will be facing one of the examiners or one of the avable older rank 2''s for a quick duel. From what they told me, you don''t even need to win, just show your skills." "But Aiden" Hearing his exnation, Lily tugged her shirt from his right, grabbing their attention. Once they turned to her she spoke. "From what you exined, Galina doesn''t seem to be a fighter, but someone who is expected to stand behind the frontline and provide ranged support. How is she expected to win or show anything if they put him against a warrior-typebatant one on one?" While the question was indeed good and would raise some concerns in normal circumstances, Aiden wasn''t worried at all. For once, while it did seem unfair to have a support archetype face against someone whose the main role was to dish out damage or just the opposite, soak it up, however, even these supporters needed a way to protect themselves. What if his or her team was engaged in arge, chaotic battle, and whilst the team was focused on their front line, one or two would sneak to their backline and directlye for the support? He or she needed a way to protect his- or herself. Also, Aiden was fairly certain that after her newest transformation Galina was anything but simple support. He could feel a kinship, a strange sense from her. Aiden had to admit that this was a perfect chance to take a deeper, closer look at the new Galina. Her skill set was just as much of a mystery to him, as it was to herself. Though strangely she was unable to ess her own core, he had a growing feeling that she might be capable of some surprises if push came to shove. Unfortunately, until the systemes back ''online'' roughly 15 hourster, they could only try methods such as these. Anyway, ultimately, this was a perfect opportunity for them to safely test her skills. Thinking about all of these, Aiden reached out with his right arm, gently patting the top of her head, enjoying the sight of the brimming girl, who squirmed closer and closer as she was rewarded by the Young Master. "Listen Galina. Try to enjoy this uing fight of yours. There is no real danger, as their goal would only be to see how ready and determined you are. After all, as an adventurer, you will be fighting most of your time with your life on the line. You will need to be able to ovee several obstacles, sometimes even without us or your brother and teacher with you." Enjoying the rubs and pats, Galina only hummed happily at her Master''s words. Seeing herck of attention, Aiden stopped with the excessive head pats and looked into the girl''s eyes. "Show it to us show it to me, that you are ready! Let me see your brilliance, okay?" Just as Galina nodded with bright brimming eyes shining behind the dark mask, the back office door was sprung open. The heaving, heavily gasping curly, brown-haired girl, Mary appeared, running towards their direction. What caught Aiden''s attention was not the fact that despite his words she still ran back and forth with all she had, but the worried, forlorn look in her eyes. "Something bad happened" He muttered, grabbing all of the attention of the others. Though before they could ask, the heavily gasping, tired Mary got back to their table, heaving loudly. "Huah Heh I I" Before she could continue, Aiden smiled at her, raised his arm, and shushed the girl. "Rx, Mary. Calm down. Get some air, and then exin it to us what the problem is. I can see something is bothering you." Amidst two heaving sighs, Mary could only helplessly nod, taking almost a minute before she could resume. "I I got to the examiners, and asked for an examiner However" A wry, bitter look appeared over her youthful expression, ruining her picturesque visage with the desperate, worried look in her eyes. "However, there''s currently a high-profile figure with the Examiner''s Leader. When I exined your situation to them and learned about you Aiden" She looked at the golden eyed boy with a bitter-looking smile. "when he heard you are connected to Galina, he instantly sprung up and wanted to conduct the testing himself." "And? Why is that a big problem? Is he perhaps from somewhere else? What is his rank and ss?" Confused about what could be so bad about this all, Aiden fired a few questions to get a better understanding. "Well his name is" Just as she was about to finish a middle-aged-looking statuesque figure appeared from the back office door. He was tall, easily towering over everyone in the hall even from a first nce. He had short silver hair and a thick, short beard. His turquoise gaze swiped over the instantly stunned, silent crowd before his face curled into a theatrical smile. He raised his right arm in the air as if celebrating histest victory causing the crowd to erupt into a loud cheer. He was wearing an borately designed set of armor. His chest te resembling a roaring lion''s head, gave even more momentum to the ted crowd''s cheer. Various murmurs, whispers could be heard amidst the exploding spectating group of adventurers. "Am I seeing things? Is that really the legendary Roaring Lion himself?" "What is he doing here? Shouldn''t he be at the capital?" "Ahahaha! I knew today was gonna be special! I felt it!" Hearing the strange whispers, Aiden looked at Mary, asking the question that was on the minds of almost everyone. "Mary, who is that man? Is he the one that will test Galina?" However, before she could answer, Drake interjected, a frown visible on his face. "That man is the Roaring Lion himself. He is probably one of the most famous, and one of the strongest knights in the entire kingdom, one of the acting generals in my father''s army, and one of the few Rank 6 adventurers still active Sir Arthur Sonovan, the patriarch of the Sonovan n." Chapter 377 - 377 - The Patriarch (Part 2) Hearing the strange whispers, Aiden looked at Mary, asking the question that was on the minds of almost everyone. "Mary, who is that man? Is he the one that will test Galina?" However, before she could answer, Drake interjected, a frown visible on his face. "That man is the Roaring Lion himself. He is probably one of the most famous, and one of the strongest knights in the entire kingdom, one of the acting generals in my father''s army, and one of the few Rank 6 adventurers still active Sir Arthur Sonovan, the patriarch of the Sonovan n." "Sonovan?" Aiden''s face twisted into a frown as he was reminded of the name of that golden-armored figure, the fly that buzzed around his sister, Sir Michael. He looked back at the proud-looking heroic figure at the front, basking in the glory and cheer. "Is he rted to-" "Yeah, he is. Although it may be hard to believe from a first nce, he is the grandfather of Sir Michael and the current acting patriarch of the Sonovans." Finishing his friend''s question, Drake answered. "You see" He continued after taking a breath. "The Sonovan isn''t just simply a noble family lording over this backwater city in the kingdom. No, they are arge n, with lots of side branches in many cities. The Sonovans'' as many simply would call them are one of the pirs. One of the Big Four, Aiden, and that man is the leading figure of them." He sighed as he continued. "He is not just strong, but also wise and clever. He has this maic pull driving the crowd to him. Behind all the might he has almost the same, if not even higher presence than my father, the king himself." "What would a man with his caliber do in this ce?" After listening to Drake''s exnation, Aiden grew even more confused. A man with such stature wouldn''t reallye for petty reasons, there had to be something behind the scenes. Mary could only shrug her shoulder at the question, she was just a small speckle, a little dust in the endless sea She was merely an employee she wouldn''t know of such things. However, there were others that should be in the know, that once again conveniently hid some of these details A frown soured Aiden''s usually calm expression the more he thought about the details. Why didn''t the Mistress say anything? Why was Sara also silent about this matter? They had to be aware, right? "Well Whatever he is here for, it isn''t just to check up on his dear ol'' grandson. Maybe" Suddenly his eyes turned wide as realization hit him. "The War Games! Michael was supposed to lead one of the forces. However, now that you dealt with him and destroyed his reputation, he might be here for that matter" "For the War Games? Why would he care who will be the leader of Higrove? What does this city even matter?" Aiden asked, still not convinced. "Well I don''t really know Still, it''s strange However, more importantly" Drake turned to look at Galina and Aiden with a stern look. "He most likely wants to dish out some payback for ruining his grandson''s reputation Aiden, what are we gonna do?" "Why? What does it matter if he conducts the test?" Still seemingly unaware of what Drake was insinuating, Aiden asked with an innocent stare. "Aiden, he is Rank 6, one of the strongest figures in the kingdom''s ranking. He is even on the Top List!" Scarlet chimed in, trying to yell some sense into this oblivious boy. However, her words caused only further confusion for Aiden. Looking at the siblings with an inquisitive stare he asked, grabbing the wrong keyword from the red-haired princess'' words. "Top List? What''s that?" "The top list is a rank board that the Guild manages and publishes. It''s a sort of hall of fame, the strongest 100 adventurers are listed on it. They are all considered legends in the Kingdom Aiden. They are the ones the people refer to as ''Heroes''." From the other side, Mary suddenly spoke up, answering Aiden''s question. "Getting to the list is whilst not thatplicated, is incredibly hard. First, there are a series of so-called ''Ranking Quests'' you have toplete alone." She continued exining seeing how she got his attention. "Second, you need to challenge and defeat one of the Ranking Heroes to qualify." "I understand But why would anyone care to be listed? What''s the purpose?" Aiden asked. Listening to the requirements he only had more questions than answers. "What do you mean what''s the purpose?!" Scarlet looked at him as if he was an idiot. "Besides the fact that you will be revered and celebrated as a hero, a literal ''god'' walking amongst the ''mortals'', you will also be a part of the elite. You-" "What my sister is trying to say here, Aiden" Drake interjected, taking the word from his sister. " is that by qualifying on the Top List, you will be counted amongst the strongest and most influential people in the Kingdom. These ''Heroes'' are the strongest forces the Kingdom can ask in times of danger. They would all receive title,nd and as you might expect, marypensation for their services." "I see. Thanks, I get it now." Aiden smiled, no longer caring about the matter. To him, this is all just a waste of time. Money? Fame amongst these humans? What''s the point? "Anyway" Changing the subject, Drake looked at the old man, who by now, turned and walked towards the arena causing another murmur to traverse amongst the crowd. "Is the Roaring Lion going to fight someone? Here?" "For the Gods! What an incredible day! Haha, I knew today was going to be special! "I''m so happy I decided toe today!" "But who is he fighting against? Oh my Could it be he came to take revenge on that boy?" "Who are you talking about?" "Quick, let''s go upstairs! I bet we can all go and watch the duel!" Soon, the idea began to spread, changing from thought to fact, increasing the excitement of the growing group of people. Soon they began to surge towards upstairs. Whoever was the legendary Roaring Lion was going to battle against, was not something that any one of them wanted to miss out on. Some even grumbled that such a grandiose event should have been scheduled and advertised more and held in the Grand Arena in the Noble''s District and not indoors. "Seeing as the crowd flooded towards upstairs whilst Sir Arthur''s figure vanished into the Guild''s Battling Hall, Drake could only shake his head and smile wryly. "Once again whenever something is rted to you Aiden, it explodes to such a degree Even a simple registration test is now akin to a city fare" Although it certainly held some truth, Aiden couldn''t help it It''s not like he was looking for trouble at every corner. Still, he wasn''t too worried, even if the new opponent was someone that was such a figure. For one, the test was about testing the qualities of the applicant and not to destroy him or her and crush his confidence. Second, he felt no ill, harmful or dark intenting from the figure. He truly had a heroic, positive presence. For Aiden''s senses, he was akin to a bright white me, illuminating in the darkness. A pir of hope and justice, the true definition of what made a knight well, a knight. Unlike his spoiled, and lusting grandson, he felt no such traits from the old man, he had a feeling that he didn''t need to worry about any harming to his girl. Also, an unbeatable challenge was just what they needed to pull out all the potential and mysteries lying dormant in Galina. The only thing he was slightly displeased about was the spectating crowd that will undoubtedly watch their fight now. If it was only the old man, he wouldn''t be too worried, but with hundreds of extra eyes ncing at every minute detail, they might not be able to utilize the opportunity to the fullest. In the end, Aiden sighed, as they left their seats and slowly walked through the flowing crowd towards the same door Sir Arthur took. Unfortunately, they did manage to grab some of the crowd''s attention, earning another round of whispers. "Hey Isn''t that boy the" "Shush! Do you want to grab his attention? You saw how vicious he is!" "Does this mean that he is the one facing the Roaring Lion?" "Oh my Hey, who is in charge of taking bets? I want to ce mine on Sir Arthur!" "Me too, I have a thousand credits to ce! What''s the odds?" Drake and the group could only shake their heads as they silently passed through the sea of people, and entered the arena. As if nothing happened yesterday, if there was nothing to be learned from their mistakes and losses, they acted as if nothing happened Once again, they only wanted to see the carnage, witness the tale of the ''supposed'' revenge, the Legendary Patriarch''s Might. Chapter 378 - 378 - The Patriarch (Part 3) By the time Aiden''s group made their way through the crowd and entered the arena, there were only quite a few people taking up spots in the upstairs balcony. Excited chatter and whispers, bets were taking ce as everyone looked forward to the Tale of Revenge, the fierce might of the Roaring Lion, Sir Arthur Sonovan. The man in question, however, as if oblivious to the crowd''s words, was standing at the center, instantly revealing a warm-looking smile as the small group finally made its appearance. His turquoise gaze scanned the group, ultimately resting on the golden-eyed, long ck-haired boy at the center. Strangely, there was nothing but warmnessing from his look, Aiden could not find anything amiss. His presence radiated a positive feel, he looked like a gentle, kind grandpa and not a general, amander of countless people, nor the arrogant leader of one of the strongest noble families in the kingdom. "Wee guys! First of all, let me thank you! I''m happy you epted me as your examiner for this test!" As the group got closer, he eximed, his mighty tone filling the room and silencing the crowd upstairs in an instant. He reached out with his trunk-like arms, gesturing for the group to step in and take their ces. "Aiden right? Please, stay with the girl ande up together. I would like to ask you to listen to this old man''s humble request!" Before the group could walk down and leave the applicant, Galina to face him, Sir Arthur spoke up, surprising the crowd with his humble, kind tone and strange request. "What is going on? Does he want to shame and humiliate both of them?" "A test? I thought this would be a duel!" "What is going on?" There was a growing displeasure and confusion spreading atop the balcony as they listened to the old legend''s words. Many were now puzzled at what they actually bet on, and what they came to look at. Wasn''t this supposed to be a big fight between the dark horse, the boy that came from nowhere and defeated his grandson? Was this only a test for a newly registered adventurer? If so, many weren''t too sure if they should be wasting their time here, yet they still did not want to leave. It''s incredibly rare to see a legend, a hero in person. Such an event was already well worth it. Aiden didn''t mind the request, nodding he walked up with the masked and hooded figure to face the towering, robust man, whilst the rest of the group joined with Mary and the silently following pair of dogs took their ces at the side. Besides the dogs and Lily, the others had a look of worry on their faces as they looked at their friend. Though they knew he was strong, he was still facing against a walking myth, a legend this time. As they lined up in front of him, Sir Arthur calmly looked at their figures, taking his time in scrutinizing both. Eventually, his gazended on the masked feminine figure. With a calm, wide smile stretching his bearded face, he asked. "Miss. Ehrm Galina, right? You are the one facing the test this time if I am correct." Instead of responding, Galina hesitated, unsure of what she should be doing. Fidgeting, she turned to look at her Young Master for guidance. Seeing her actions, Aiden sighed, smiling at her gently, before turning to look at the old man. "Yes. She is the one, though she is a bit shy. After all, this was supposed to be only a test, not a grand event to be witnessed by such a crowd." His tone was calm, however, in the end, the people could feel a threatening undertone causing many to shiver and take a step away from the railings. "I can only apologize for this." Shocking the spectators, Sir Arthur bowed his head, apologizing to the boy that tarnished their family name. "I did not want to cause such inconvenience, I merely wanted to personally witness the genius that started to make a name for himself in this hidden part of the Kingdom." "If you would like, we can reschedule this matter and have it done in private." Sir Arthur offered, the smile not leaving his face. "No, there is no need. While it is quite inconvenient, I don''t mind the flies." Aiden shook his head, responding with a matching calmness throwing a jab at the prying, bored adventurers. Whilst there were a couple of frowns spreading at their faces, none voiced their displeasure, afraid to offend that monstrous boy and earn his ire. After witnessing his debut yesterday, not many were keen on facing him and earning a simr fate as Sir Michael. Sir Arthur on the other hand, smiled and nodded approvingly at Aiden''s words. He too seemed to think simrly as him. "I see. In that case, might I offer a change in the test?" He asked again, looking at both youngsters facing him. Seeing both of them looking at him, waiting for him to go on, he continued with the same, gentle, warm smile. "I would like to have the fight against both of you. Seeing as how Miss Galina is supporting, I think that forcing her to fight one on one against an examiner or an adventurer would not be a fair way to measure her skills." He spoke, causing another wave of murmur to ripple through the crowd. Still, he ignored them and continued on. "Instead, you Aiden, would be the one to fight face to face with me, whilst your partner would be responsible for providing support. So? What do you both say?" He looked at both of them, his face showed no signs of ill intent but genuine interest. Even his presence was still the same. Unlike his grandson, he seemed much different. Aiden could not find any fault in him, the way he acted or in his words. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that he couldn''t feel any power from the man, he could not gauge the difference in their power levels. He had absolutely no idea how strong this old man was. Seeing theirck of response, the old man continued. "Obviously, I would not expect you to win, nor will I go overboard. I will match your strength, and only slowly increase the pressure, so Miss Galina here would be forced to go all out in keeping you up. Does that sound fair to you both?" Finally, after thinking about it a bit more, Aiden decided to go with the flow and nodded to ept the old man''s challenge. "Fine. It sounds okay." Taking a step forward, he turned to look at her masked partner. He did not speak out loud, but in the next moment, his voice resounded in Galina''s head. "Get ready. I''m still not sure what this man''s aim is, nor can I measure his strength. Try your best, and watch out for anything. You might need to go all out, but also keep in mind many are watching us, and we don''t want to reveal the fact that neither of us is you know, human." "Yes, Young Master. I will be careful." Galina responded mentally, nodding on the outside before both shifted their attention to the eagerly-looking old man in front of them. He had a strange smirk over his face as if he was aware of something he shouldn''t be Still, he didn''t say anything about it but looked at the young boy in front of him. "Are you ready? I have heard you prefer to fight barehanded, so if you want, I can also-" "No need for that. Pull your weapon out, Sir Arthur." Before the old man could finish, Aiden responded. In the next moment, under the gasping eyes of many, an exotic de appeared in his hands. The obsidian de, with the beautiful and unique dragon markings over its hilt could be seen. A strange ominous aura surrounded it, causing the crowd to look at it with a mixture of wonder and fright. However, what grabbed the old man''s attention and caused his smile to widen was the small vermillion-colored glowing pair of bead-like eyes at its pommel. It was lightly shing, he could feel a sentient presence in it, causing his smirk to widen. "Beautiful sword, Aiden. I am astounded, incredible craftsmanship." He spoke, his words felt honest, truly appreciative. "It seems, I need to also respond in the same manner." In the next moment, he raised his right hand in the air. A bellowing war cry, a mighty lion''s roar could be heard reverberating in the spacious hall, filling it up and causing the crowd to cower as a bright blinding light exploded from its raised palm in the next moment. The light-filled the room in an instant, covering the arena below, though only for a brief moment. A few secondster, the light faded, revealing a huge broadsword in the old man''s right hand. Despite its huge size, he was holding it one-handed, shoving his incredible strength. As the light faded and the legendary armament was once again shown to the public, the crowd turned dead silent Chapter 379 - 379 - A Mighty Clash As the light faded and the legendary armament was once again shown to the public, the crowd turned dead silent. The old man was holding a majestic-looking broadsword in his hands. Its long de was double-edged, neatly sharpened on both of its sides. The entire metal had a silvery shine, a royal hue to it, all of its almost meter-long length. From the rain guard to its sharpened tip, it was clear it was not made from any ordinary metal. The hilt was also quite extraordinary. If Rygintarth''s hilt was a dragon''s head, then Sir Arthur''s exquisite sword''s hilt was akin to his namesake, a Roaring Lion. It had a pure golden shine, it''s luscious mane served as both the cross and the handguard two in one. Another thing that whilst not many noticed, Aiden, Ryg, and surprisingly, Drake also did. As soon as the exquisite-looking de appeared, a new presence could be felt, albeit quite faintly. Unlike with Ryg''s case, this presence was very faint, more like an intent than a full-fledged spirit. It was simr to Mort, Drake''s royal de. Like an infant soul, that hadn''tpletely grown its consciousness, but was definitely sentient, and not just a coalescence of essences. Another fact to note was that these infant souls, inhabiting these artifact-level weapons, that they all had a dominant will, a ruling intent if you will. In the case of Mort, while it may not be something that was usually present in these cases, it was Empathy, but in the case of this unnamed intent, it was Pride. An aura of arrogance emanated from the de, a hollow, light-blue hue coated the weapon''s entire length. Aiden''s wide-eyed reverie was put to an end, when a loud guffaw, a peal of boisterousughter filled the arena. Suddenly the eerie, dead silence broke, surprised yelps, wondrous hoots echoed in the balcony. "Ahahaha, what is it boy, do you like Lornathiel?" The old man chuckled once more, as he slowly lowered the de in front of his body. While the name didn''t cause any reaction, the old man still continued. "As you may have guessed, it is of elven origin. Lornathiel or Lorn in short was a gift to our family quite some time ago" He reminisced with a happy smile before he lightly shook his head and returned his piercing turquoise gaze on the boy ahead. "Anyway Are you ready? Don''t worry, as I said before, I will match my strength to only be slightly above yours, so you will be constantly pressured and the little miss behind you will need to go all out to keep you stable." Shifting his eyes, Sir Arthur nced at the maskeddy a few steps behind the ck-haired youngster. "Missy Since this is your test, let''s say hmm We will go for five minutes. Your task will be to keep your partner up during that time. If he falls to the ground, goes unconscious, or for any reason would be deemed unfit to continue to battle before the time is up, your test will be considered a failure." He donned a gentle, warm smile before he asked the girl. "Are you fine with that, littledy?" Though not speaking, Galina nodded after a moment of hesitation at the old man''s words. Seeing that they havee to an agreement, Sir Arthur donned a happy smile, his focus slowly shifting to his main opponent. "Perfect! So then Aiden" His expression suddenly turned fierce, suddenly the wind around him erupted, howling ferociously. Heavy battle intent, his aura cultivated through countless hardships has unfolded, turning the air in the spacious hall increasingly colder. A strange, mysterious glint shed in his eyes as he transformed from his gentle, kind grandfather stance into the veteran warrior. Still, the growing grin on his face was speaking tales of the usual expectancy, betraying his previous disy There was something more in his visage than just wanting to test the boy''s limits. "show me your power boy!" Without wasting any more time, Sir Arthur jumped forward, instantly crossing the small distance between him and the boy, and struck down with his sword that was instantly raised above his head. A vertical strike, a silver hazy blur whistled through the air with intense momentum, aimed to instantly cut the youngster in two halves if he weren''t careful. There was no warning, no warming up, the old man instantly attacked with a shocking ferocity and viciousness. Still, whilst this surprise attack could have been dangerous, or even fatal for most of the local adventuringmunity, it was nothing too difficult for Aiden to react to. Before the old man''s de could reach him, the obsidian de of Ryg was already raised sideways, thwarting the silver lion-headed broadsword without much effort. Two majestic metals shed together in the next instant, a loud clunking sound reverberated in the arena. As Sir Arthur continued to push against the boy''s block and was grinning, he was actually quite surprised by the boy''s shocking strength. Aiden was only using one arm, his right to block his two armed struck and easily matched him. Even though Sir Arthur hasn''t used more than ten percent of his power, it was still quite a surprising fact that this scrawny-looking youngster could match it without showing any signs of effort in his face. He was still looking calm, nonchnt No, what shocked Arthur was the slight frown, the miniature sign of disappointment that shed across the young man''s face. Sir Arthur jumped back, as a peel ofughter escaped from his bearded face. "Ahaha Boy, I have to admit, I may have slightly underestimated you when Ipared you against my grandson. For that, I will honestly apologize, and will now y this game of ours properly. It wouldn''t do us good if I were to continue boring you, right?" Aiden on the other hand didn''t react too much to the old man''s words. After lowering his right arm, he returned to his calm, leisure stance as he matched the old man with his usual calm smile. Meanwhile, the crowd that filled the balcony was stunned and astounded beyond belief. After witnessing how evenly they were matched at their first sh, the people almost went crazy with astonishment and pure shock. "Did you guys see that?! That kid could actually block a hit from Sir Arthur!" "No, that is impossible! The Roaring Lion must have not used any strength on that hit He probably just wanted to measure the boy''s strength!" "Yeah that makes sense! I bet the second attack will end the fight!" "Or the third!" "Ahahaha!" Convinced that this must have been a fluke, the crowd slowly, gradually returned to their cheerful, excited mood, already looking forward to the abrupt end that the next one or two shes will result in. Apart from one person that stood at the doorway, nobody expected any other result. The figure, garbed in the examiner''s traditional robe and hiding her face and gentle, confident expression behind her hood was watching with a different thought than the rest of the generic crowd. She was certain that the sh between these two mythical figures wouldn''t result in anything so simple as a quick defeat or victory. On one side, the legendary knight, one of the top-ranked adventurers and his majestic trusted generals, wielding his just as mysterious sword as the man himself. On the other side, this young man, who came from seemingly nowhere, holding a shocking amount of power inside that thin frame of his, capable of wonders that goes beyond what was believed to be the limit of humanity. Not to mention that incredible, obsidian de in his hands that she just couldn''tprehend at all, he also had that masked girl with a simr albeit fainter aura than the boy himself "This is going to be interesting Though I should probably call those two, just in case things take a wild turn" She muttered, before turning around and leaving the arena. Soon, her figure vanished as she turned around the corner and entered another hallway "Let''s try a bit more force this time! Get ready kid!" Sir Arthur merrily shouted, before suddenly his figure burst forth, charging against the kid once more. This time, however, Aiden wasn''t waiting either. At the same time the old man charged ahead, his figure seemingly vanished, no trace of him could be found. A momentter, a loud sh filled the arena, the two des collided again, bright sparks filling the room and releasing shockwaves of blinding light one after another. The light show continued on several times, as the two blurry, hazy silhouettes kept colliding against each other repeatedly. Whilst the average onlooker had no idea what was going on, and could not possibly follow the inhumane movements of these two monstrous entities, the masked girl''s golden irises in the back were shing from left to right and right to left with mad speeds. Seemingly she wasn''t lost as she followed the movement of the explosions with apt attention. Suddenly, her eyes turned fierce, as if she spotted something, her fingers lit up as she began to draw a golden rune in the air Chapter 380 - 380 - End Of The Examination (Part 1) Whilst Aiden''s and Sir Arthur''s fight continued to be nothing more than a fantastical light explosion of dark and silver light shows, as the two figures battled with inhumane speed, the spectators noticed the strange glowing glyphs that the masked girl draw in the air. One after another, strange, unknown glyphs appeared as her slender index finger swiftly drew lines after lines. From a distance, not much could be seen apart from her inexplicable, puzzling movements. Suddenly, as shepleted the third symbol and ced the final touch, a dot above the mysterious glyph, suddenly a loud humming sound could be heard, instantly filling the room and grabbing the attention of not just the already rocked audience, but even the battling speedsters as well. They both stopped in their tracks and turned to look at the masked and hooded girl with differing states of amazement. For Sir Arthur, it was akin to a shock. For someone of his past and stature, he would never have believed that he would see the return of the mythical rune magic one day. This mysterious and long-forgotten form of ancient magic was believed to bepletely lost to the sands of time, never to return. He himself only read about it in dusty old books at the deepest, darkest sections in the Royal Library. Whilst he couldn''t be sure, the floating runes were vastly familiar to the descriptions in those dusty old tomes "What the How?!" He muttered, with an avowed expression on his face. Utter disbelief and shock reced his previously calm, warm fatherly smile. On the other hand, Aiden though equally as shocked as the old man, was, instead happy for the unbelievable revtion. How did Galina acquire the skill? He himself didn''t get it yet Though he was only a breath away frompleting the almost decade-old system analysis, it was still just a bit shy from that 100%. So, how did Galina inherit no, ACQUIRE the skill when he himself does not have it. No, that would be impossible. Also, whilst her drawing was vastly simr, there was a slightly different feel to itpared to when Granny was doing her spell casting. Listening to his troubled, confused thoughts, Enya''s voice resounded in his mind in the next moment, confirming his suspicion. ''[Just as you expect, Aiden. This is not Rune Magic, but instead abination of Light, Nature, and some basic Rune Casting. While I can''t be urate without the system backing me up, but I believe she is using a Fused,bined version of these three skills. She must have inherited most of your runic knowledge but since the skill wasn''t created, she somehow created something new. Something unique to her.]'' As the seconds passed with both figures watching with keen interest what wonder would unfold from Galina''s spell cast, the floating runes'' golden shine continued to increase its intensity. Soon, the symbols could no longer be seen, as their luster merged together before rapidly expanding. The light enveloped the entire arena, forming a huge barrier made out of the same golden-colored energy. From the outside, it was like an impervious, thick metal dome. Nothing could be seen from the inside, whilst those that were trapped in its circle could clearly see everything. As soon as the shield formed, Galina was already drawing another runic symbol in the air, this time, however, its shine was closer to tinum rather than straight-up matching the color of her eyes. With a swift motion, she drew two distinct, unique-looking symbols in quick session, and before anyone could react, shepleted yet another cast. In the next moment, the floating milky-white letters stretched out, changing into the shape of a cloak and shot towards Aiden, wrapping him in a smaller, but simr protective film of primal power. At the wondrous, amazed eyes of the two men, and the team spectating at the side, the thin coating swiftly seeped into the boy''s body, causing his stunned shock to be reced by a joyful one. His spent stamina, energy were instantly refilled, the smaller cuts and bruises covering his body began to heal at a pace visible to the naked eye. Sir Arthur watched with shock and astounded amazement as the strange, but incredibly powerful magic waspleted, and its effect restored his youthful opponent to his peak state. He didn''t seem to mind, as a satisfied-looking smile crept up at his lips and curved its edges upward. He nodded at the boy as his kind smile returned to his face, then slowly began to look around and spectate the strange, golden energy-dome covering them. "Amazing Truly amazing" He muttered, lost in the beauty of the golden threads. Lost in the miraculous spectacle, he even forgot that they were in the midst of a heated joust. He threw the huge broadsword over his right shoulder, as his interest was now clearly shifted to the masked girl''s actions. "Miss Galina" He eximed as his eyes darted around the inner arched sections of the cup. "I have to say this is truly remarkable! I can hardly find the words to describe it" His eyes suddenly turned to look at the girl, he stepped forward and began to walk towards the girl. With hurried steps, hepletely forgot the boy that he originally wanted to test out, his attention was now fixated on this enigmatic young teenage girl. However, his mistake was brought to daylight as his path was suddenly blocked by an obsidian de. The boy stepped in front of him, blocking his path, instinctively protecting his partner. Aiden didn''t say a word, but from his stern outlook and fierce-looking golden eyes that were faintly glimmering, he didn''t even need to. "Oh sorry, I didn''t mean to" Realizing his mistake, Sir Arthur was looking rather abashed. He took a step back and lowered his weapon, so the tip of the de was touching the ground. "I meant no harm, I am only interested in no, let me rephrase that" He coughed with an embarrassed smile, before continuing. "I wanted to ASK from the Young Miss if what she just used was Rune Magic or not." "Why do you ask? What does it matter if it was or not?" Aiden asked the stern look not leaving his face. "Well" Looking at the boy then at the masked girl''s golden eyes, he heaved a long sigh, fixing his posture. "Lorn, you can leave, we have learned what we wanted. They are not tainted." He muttered, causing his broadsword to respond with a faint barely audible beastly roar before it suddenly changed shape, returning to a small silvery ball of energy and flew into its master''s, the old man''s chest, vanishing from sightpletely in the next moment. Sir Arthur simply sighed at this and shook his head. "For being an ancient weapon with a soul that should be centuries-old you can be quite childish with these temper tantrums, you know" After the weapon disappeared from sight, Sir Arthur raised both of his arms in the air, surrendering himself and willingly giving up the fight. "Look, I am unarmed now. I truly mean to cause no harm. I just want to talk with the littledy. Can I?" "Did she pass the test?" Instead of answering the question, Aiden kept up his stern, offensive, cold stature, even raising Ryg against the man, warning him not to take any step closer. Truth be told, although the scene seemed rather unfair, and may even be overly aggressive from the outside, one has to know that Aiden still wasn''t sure where the old man''s limits were. From their shes, what he understood was that he was incredibly powerful, much, much stronger than anything he ever faced. Though he can''t bepletely certain, he measured his power level to be simr to that thin shadowy figure''s He couldn''t even say if Number 3 could defeat him At the very least, they would be quite closely matched As such, he couldn''t just simply rx. Without the system, there was no clear escape method if he were to decide to kidnap Galina. Looking at the boy, seeing the determination in his eyes, his adamant, obstinate stance, his desire to protect this unknown girl, Sir Arthur smiled warmly and did not try to take another step. He kept his arms raised above his head, as he looked at the boy with his warm, gentle smile. "I can see it in your eyes, boy. Rest assured, I will adhere to your request and not take any step until you say so. I also see you are all wary of me, which if I am being honest, I can understand." He spoke, slowly looking over both girls and even the other, spectating members of his team at the side. "While it may have seemed otherwise, the reason I wanted to take on this test myself was to confirm something about you, boy. However" He then slowly shifted his gaze and fixated it on the girl''s masked, cloaked and hooded figure. "after witnessing the miracle of what your partner just did I am now certain that I have finally found what I have been searching for... for decades" Chapter 381 - 381 - End Of The Examination (Part 2) "While it may have seemed otherwise, the reason I wanted to take on this test myself was to confirm something about you, boy. However" He then slowly shifted his gaze and fixated it on the girl''s masked, cloaked and hooded figure. "after witnessing the miracle of what your partner just did I am now certain that I have finally found what I have been searching for... for decades" The old man''s words caused a frown to appear and rece Aiden''s cold outlook. "What do you mean by that?" He asked, still keeping the tip of his obsidian de aimed towards the old man. "What or more importantly, who were you searching for and why?" "Well" Keeping his gaze on the girl standing behind the boy, he revealed a bitter smile. "It would be better if we were to bring this discussion to somewhere less crowded." He then looked at the boy once more as he continued with a small, knowing smirk appearing at the corners of his bearded face. "What do you say we bring this to the back? I believe you are already acquainted with the young miss *khm* leader of the examiners or am I wrong?" Thinking about it for a bit, Aiden finally lowered his sword and stepped closer to Galina. Making sure that he was covering the frightened and shy little girl, he pointed towards the door. "Fine Let''s talk. We''ll meet you there shortly. Please, go ahead, Sir Arthur Sonovan." He pushed his family name deliberately, giving the old man yet another wry look. The old man shook his head dismissively, with a wry-looking smile donning his old face, and silently stepped forward towards the door, whilst keeping his hand raised above his head all the while. Arriving at the edges of the battlefield, he stopped in front of the golden barrier that was still up and looked back at the girl and boy duo over his shoulders. "Young Miss Would you please" He nced at the barrier, waiting for the pair to remove the magical block. Feeling his gaze, Galina felt rather ufortable, despite that there was no ill intent behind it. She hid behind her young master, as she waved with her small right hand in the air. In the next moment, the barrier began to fade out, vanishing in a couple of momentspletely and returning the ability for the still lingering crowded upstairs to see what was happening below once again. However, as they looked below, they couldn''t understand what was going on. Was the fight already over? If so, who won? Both sides lookedpletely fine, healthy. Furthermore, why would Sir Arthur leave? Why are his hands raised above his head? Did he surrender? Did the boy win? Was it a draw? "Who won?! Godsdammit how will I know if I won the bet or not?!" "Yeah, this is not fair! We demand an exnation!" "Look at his stance! Did the Roaring Lion lose? Did he surrender for some reason?" "Impossible! What are you even saying?! How could the legend lose to this scrawny kid? His victory over Sir Michael was already way too suspicious!" "Yeah, I also felt that something was not right with that! Did he used some enhancement drug?" "I bet that little b*tch also did something Maybe used dark magic and cursed Sir Arthur?" "How could someone like these two be epted?!" The crowd instantly erupted, throwing not-so-kind remarks towards the youngsters, looking rather displeased at the confusing sight ahead of them. Hearing the not-so-friendly remarks, feeling the growing hostility around them, Galina shivered, hiding her slender frame behind her Young Master. She buried her mask-covered face in his back, not daring to look away. Being a girl, and from goblin origin, she naturally feared these aggressive humans, even if she were no longer the weak and frail little creature like before. Her nature, her shyness, and the fright of humans was after all, instinctively ingrained into her soul. It was not something she could undress from one moment to another. Feeling her rapid heartbeat, her fright, Aiden''s frown only deepened, he clenched his fists. He scowled, his anger steadily rising, the faint glimmer in his eyes began to throw brighter and more intense sparkles. Before the situation could get too out of hand, Sir Arthur turned around and stepped closer to them. Finally lowering his hands, he bowed before the two youngsters in a courteous manner. "Please allow me to resolve this slight mishap. After all, it was due to my actions that this situation happened at all." He offered. Then, without waiting for a response from the two, he straightened his back and turned to face the crowd above. Her gentle, warm smile instantly vanished, reced by a stern, fierce look as he gazed at the rabble upying the balcony. "SILENCE!" He bellowed suddenly. His cold tone instantly filled the spacious room, his ferocious cry caused the crowd''s chatter to freeze up on the spot. "I will ask each and every one of you, spending their time here watching a newly registered adventurer''s test rather than going out and resolving the citizen''s issues, that instead of yelling and acting like some uncivilized barbarians, but instead direct yourints to me." His short speech filled the room, bolstering in the spacious hall. Even as he finished, there were no words spoken from above, they kept listening and watching in silence. Faces filled with fright, scare, shock, and a tinge of regret could be seen all around, before slowly, but surely they began to disperse and leave one by one. With that, the old man, humphed with satisfaction, before turning back to the duo. He bowed once again, before finally shifting towards the door and slowly walking away. Before he left, he called back onest time. "I will be waiting for you all at the back. Don''t worry, I will get thedy examiner to join us." Having said that he resumed and was about to leave before he seemingly realized something. Stopping in the doorway, he turned his head to the side to look at the masked girl and the ck-haired boy once more. "Oh I almost forgot. I will also report your sessful test to the receptionist. Don''t worry, Miss Galina, from this moment forth, you are a full-fledged Rank 1 Adventurer. Congrattions!" With that, he stepped out, finally leaving the arena, and with hurried steps, he entered the back office door, not giving any chance for the slowly returning rabble to get to him. Meanwhile, as the old man left, and they were now alone, Ryg vanished, returning to Aiden''s body in a sh of light. As soon as he was unarmed, Aiden reached out and pulled Galina into his embrace, and hugged her tightly. "Are you alright, Galina?" He whispered, his words carrying a great amount of concern. The shocked, stunned little girl couldn''t say a word, her face was burning under the cover of her mask, her eyes were blurry with the sheer volume of tears that gathered. Without any choice she nted her face in her young master''s chest, lightly shaking it. "Hey, Aiden! You will suffocate the girl! What are you so worried about, she was behind you all the time!" Patting his shoulder, Drakeughed at his action from behind. From the other side, a pair of slender hands grabbed his hand and slowly peeled off from Galina''s back. He didn''t even need to look to know it was his little sister, who not wanting to be left out, forcefully squeezed himself into their moment. "Brother! Sister Galina! I am so happy that both of you are okay! That old man was scary!" "Sir Arthur Sonovan, The Roaring Lion. The stories about him don''t give him justice" Drake muttered looking at the door. "What is he anyway?" Aiden asked, turning his attention to his friend. The only thing he learned was that this old man was incredibly powerful, probably much, much stronger than himself. "Is he really just a Rank 6 Adventurer?" Drake frowned as he heard Aiden''s remark. "Just a rank 6? Are you really this clueless, Aiden?!" He eximed. "Just so you know, Rank 6 is the highest rank anybody ever achieved in the Kingdom''s Branches. From what I know, ranks below that are almost impossible to achieve and would require you to visit the guild''s headquarters to qualify. Sir Arthur''s achievement is the height of what one can aplish!" "Still" Aiden muttered, still not truly epting the fact. "There''s such arge gap between the ranks That man is the first human I couldn''t sense his limits. I cannot even fathom what his true power would be like" Hearing his friend, Drake chuckled, pping his back. "That''s for sure! Once we have some time again, remind me to tell you some of the stories! There are so many incredible tales, legends, and myths You wouldn''t believe half of them!" With a sigh, he turned towards the door, gesturing for the group to leave as he went on. "Anywaye, let''s go, we should go and join him and listen to what he has to say. There must be a reason behind his sudden appearance Could it be rted to the uing war games?" Chapter 382 - 382 - Why Would You Care? Ignoring the gazes of the people in the hall, the group hurriedly made their way through the crowd of adventurers. They arrived at the same meeting room they met yesterday. Slowly, but surely their fame has begun to grow, it was spreading, turning them from unknown figures to something like local celebrities. The long ck-haired lean boy with the exotic golden eyes that defeated the previously strongest, famous ''Golden Boy'', Sir Michael, ultimately ''Dethroning'' him and bing the new, albeit unofficial champion His partner, a mysterious, masked woman that was seemingly a powerful spell caster and managed to earn the approval of the legendary Roaring Lion No matter how hard they wanted to stay low-key, after such feats, it was bing increasingly harder to do so. If they wanted to avoid the eyes of the many, they needed toe up with something Anyway, with the assistance of Mary who also cheerfully congratted Galina on her sessful test, they quickly left the Hall, and made their way through the small maze of office hallways, entering the double doors to the same meeting room. As they opened the door and entered, the old man was already standing by the windows, whilst the purple-haired Sara was sitting at the top of the table. When Aiden and his group entered, she revealed a gentle smile, gesturing for them to find a chair and sit down. "Hey, guys! Fancy seeing you here" She greeted, her cheery smile quickly souring and turning into an embarrassed one as her eyes met with Aiden''s. Seeing the slight frown and displeasure in her gaze, he couldn''t help but be concerned. Looking at the masked girl, he forced the previous smile back on her face. "Miss Galina, I heard you have sessfully passed Sir Arthur''s test. I have to say, that''s a remarkable-" "Miss Galina was incredible, surpassing all of my expectations, Miss Sara." Pushing himself off from the windowsill, Sir Arthur approached the empty seat beside Sara, and spoke up, praising the shy girl some more. Still not feeling toofortable in such situations, Galina could only look away bashfully and try to find some sce andfort around her Young Master. Luckily for her, her face was still safely kept hidden from the prying eyes. "So Sir Arthur, you said you were searching for us. Care to tell us why? Also, what is someone of your caliber doing in a ce like this? Shouldn''t you be at the capital doing whatever you usually do?" Grabbing the lead, Aiden spoke up, looking deep into the old man''s turquoise eyes, and changed the topic away from her shy little servant. "Heh, I admire your direct approach, kid." The old man smirked at the boy. Nodding at him with appreciation before speaking up. "As you said, there are a few reasons for my presence in a town as small and seemingly insignificant as this." He began, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. He waited for a couple more seconds before continuing. His eyes slowly wandered amongst the members of the room, resting for a couple of moments on each of the royal siblings, before it ultimately returned to Aiden and with it, the masked girl sitting close to him. "Truth be told, the fact is, this city is far from being ''insignificant'' as the local news, rumors would paint it. In fact, it is now the center of events with such importance that far outweighs their original purpose." His words were grave and quite cryptic. His smile shifted, changing into a serious look as he went on and exined himself. "You see, the uing War Games that should begin about 8 days from now, would decide not just who will be the new City Leader, but more than likely the fate of this entire kingdom" Upon his words, looks of shock spread amongst Drake, Scarlet, and Sara''s faces, whilst Aiden and Lily remained indignant, uncaring about the matter. For the masked girl, Galina, Sir Arthur couldn''t judge what she could be thinking. Regardless, he exined further, only waiting for a couple of breath''s time. His next words dropped the true bomb upon the poor unsuspecting party. "We have information from credible sources that the Trachian Empire is nning to use this uing event as a cover forunching its attack." *BANG!* A loud p reverberated in the meeting room. With a deep scowling expression Drake sprung up from his seat, and pped his hands on the table, almost shattering therge wooden desk. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" He eximed with an angered tone. "What do you mean by that?! How do you know? Are you sure?!" He fired question after question, clearly distraught by the shocking revtion. The old man, Sir Arthur didn''t mind it though, he looked at the silver-haired boy and simply nodded. "We have long since been aware of the empire''s hunger for ournds. After all, ournds provide the easiest and safest route into the central section of the continent. It''s not even that hard to even realize this fact your highness." He nodded, smiling at hisst words. Obviously, a man of his stature would recognize the estranged crown prince, especially if he decides to unt his face without trying to hide Though surprised, the matter was way too grave for Drake to care about being recognized. His face retained its scowl as he asked for more. "How sure are you about this matter? What does the king n to do? If an invasion is imminent, why is it that he only sent a single general? Where''s your army, Roaring Lion?" "Calm down, Young Prince." For the first time since they sat down, Sir Arthur revealed a thin smile, kindly urging the fervent boy to take his seating, although clearly futilely. Drake was way too agitated about the sudden news to be able to just sit back. Even though he refused to stay at the Pce and act as an obedient little prince, and was on his own little journey to reunite with his siblings, he still cared for thend he was supposed to lord over in the future. He felt an obligation to protect his future citizens. "We are fairly certain about the matter. The Empire''s hunger for more and more territory is clear. It was never a secret. However, their lust would have been kept in check if not for the fact that just recently, the old emperor was killed by his own son and was reced on the throne. That bastard rekindled the people''s thirst. Even as we speak, their armies continue to gather at the foot of the Soralite Mountain Range at our eastern borders." He frowned, almost spat as he spoke. "Even so" Drake was still doubting the credibility of such news. After all, whilst the empire was much bigger than them, even if they were to reach their capital, they wouldn''t be able to roll over the kingdom''sbined armies. Why then, would they still do such a foolish endeavor. Did the Emperor perhaps have some sort of trump card at his disposal? Some secrets that gave them the confidence to push on? "Why would he risk so much? Even if he ultimatelyes out as the victor and conquers thisnd, he will have no hope to push any further, and I refuse to believe that the Holy Kingdom to the North would stand still." "I still don''t understand where wee into the picture. Me and my friend, Galina, have little to do with these matters." Suddenly, interrupting the heated discussion of the two, Aiden''s voice came from the side. Looking indignant, nonchnt he looked at the two. "What?! What do you mean you have nothing to do" "I said, little. Personally, I only care about my family and for my friends. As to what happens to thisnd, who will sit upon a throne far from us moners'', I cannot care." The already disturbed Drake looked at his friend with a look that showed that he couldn''t even process what he had just heard. Sara could only helplessly smile, already having an understanding of this mysterious boy''s nature. While Scarlet was also somewhat simr in mind to Aiden, she still shook her head with a wry look on her face. She would, without a doubt, support his brother, no matter what her deepest thoughts on the matter would be. For Lily, he was just like Aiden, wouldn''t bat an eye if this whole city would be destroyed, as long as those that she cares about would be safe. While she was good-natured, simr to Aiden in this matter, she now understood how stupid and childish she was before. She would not risk herself for such stupid reasons ever again. Sir Arthur looked at the group, studying each of their emotions silently, before finally speaking up as he looked at the golden-eyed youngster with a growing smile. "You know, Aiden, your question is actually quite good." He nodded, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room once again. Chapter 383 - 383 - Learning About The Surroundings Sir Arthur looked at the group, studying each of their emotions silently, before finally speaking up as he looked at the golden-eyed youngster with a growing smile. "You know Aiden, your question is actually quite good." He nodded, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room once again. "After all why would you possibly care about such petty and bothersome squabbles, right?" He asked as a mysterious, knowing smirk stretching across his bearded face. Immediately, the air in the room became heavy, still, rather awkward even. Aiden''s usual aloofness instantly vanished, he looked at the old man, with cold eyes and a stern outlook dominating his expression. His sister, Lily, was looking rather simr to his brother. Her usual cheerfulness vanished, reced by a serious look. Though she remained seated, it was clear she was ready and could jump into action instantly if the situation soured even further. Galina also focused her golden eyes on the white-bearded old man. Whilst her face was hidden behind her faceless thin frame of the mask she got from his Young Master, her eyes carried no trace of the previous kind and shy little girl. There was a fierce passion burning in them. Even the royal siblings, Drake and Scarlet turned serious after the old man''s strange words. Though they preferred avoiding unnecessary trouble, they couldn''t sit this one out and leave their friends in trouble if pushes to shove. "What do you mean by that, Sir Arthur?" Sara asked with a heavy, stern gaze fixed on the old man''s figure, studying his body posture and movements. If possible she wanted to de-escte the trouble. Exining a fight in the back office area alone would be rather troublesome, not to mention if the higher-ups in the headquarters would learn that one of the participants was the legendary Roaring Lion! Having been suddenly ced under such heavy scrutiny, the old man, Sir Arthur didn''t seem to mind it at all. He ignored all the others and just kept his attention on the long ck-haired boy. Still, as his lips parted he responded to Sara''s inquiry first. "Nothing much. Nothing much" He muttered, before taking a blink. In an instant, the strange look vanished, the previous gentle, warm smile recing it, he looked at the youngsters in the room, nodding his head at them. "I didn''t mean toe out as intrusive or offensive in any way. If I did so, that was not my intention and for that, I humbly apologize. Everyone has their secrets, and I can respect that." He winked at Aiden with hisst sentence, his intent was clear. His actions, his look, his words were saying: ''I know your secret, boy''. Whatever he meant by his earlier words, Sir Arthur didn''t borate further and returned his attention to the earlier topic. He turned and looked at Sara as he asked. "Miss Examiner, did you perhaps bring a map with you? If so, may I ask that you unfold it over the table?" Nodding, arge yellowish piece of rolled-up pergamen appeared in her slender little arms, which she promptly unfolded, using a couple of rocks that she also pulled out from probably from some space-rted treasure she had. As the pergamen was slowly unfolded and weighed down, the topographical map of arge piece of vaguely familiarnd appeared in front of Aiden and his group. At the southern reaches of it, the city of Higrove appeared as an irregrly shaped rectangle-like body just at the side of a light blue line that represented the nearby river they all knew. Therge forest was like a huge mass of green that epassed a huge portion of the south, southwest and even stretched up to the north, covering most of the explored, visible space of the western border, ultimately ending somewhere at the generic line where the capital Elsaid could be found. West to the capital around a thousand or so miles a huge mountain range separated the Kingdom from the huge ck mass that covered almost all of the eastern half of the exploredndmass. ''Trachian Empire'' was written withrge white letters at the center of it. Most of its space was coated with ck paint, even its geographical features were like a mystery. Finding this very puzzling, Aiden raised the question almost instantly. "Excuse me, but why is the east covered in ck? Do we no nothing of that part of thend?" To his surprise, his question was answered by Sara and not the veteran old man. "The Trachian Empire has closed borders. ''Outsiders'', as they call all those they did not conquer and enve, are not permitted to enter." She said, turning to look at the old man as if urging him to speak. "Before you say, we do have some information, after all, we have several scouts behind their borders, albeit not too deep. Still, most of this information is considered top secret, and it is not disyed on the publicly avable maps, such as these." He spoke with a smug-look smirk donning his bearded face. In the next moment, before any one of them could speak up, he pulled out another rolled-up pergamen and ced it atop the unfolded map. "However, I do have a bit more up-to-date and detailed version with me. Though I shouldn''t be doing this, to understand everything, I am willing to show this piece to you. Hope you can appreciate it." He added quickly unfolding it and cing it over Sara''s map using her weights as well. Now, instead of the ugly ck paint, many more details could be seen, although, just as Sir Arthur has said, only up to a certain point. Behind the mountain range and below it, neighboring the Kingdom of Draquilea, a humongous, bloodthirsty giant, the Trachian Empire stretched over and conquered most of what was known about the eastern half of the continent''sndmass. Yes, continent. What was the entire world for most, those at the highest standing have already known from either by the teaching and preaching by the so-called wandering Priests and Priestesses of the Holy Kingdom of Arboria to the north, and through some sea-loving explorers that what they lived on was a giant mass ofnd over an endless-looking ocean. Sadly, none who ventured further away from the shores have either been forced to return due to the constant storms and horrific sea monsters inhabiting the dark depths or were never heard from again Many small dot-like viges and some amorphously-shaped cities could be seen lining up every now and then, acting like small oases in the giant, stretching Forlorn Desert. Unfortunately beyond what seemed to be the edge of this giant sandy mass of fiery death, not much was explored besides a Fort-like city that probably served as the checkpoint. "Fort Borlstadt. What is beyond it?" Seeing that beyond that point, the same ck mass was present once more, he couldn''t help but ask with an inquisitive look. "We do not know. So far, we could not get past that point." He admitted with a sigh. He pointed at a small ce just below the Saronite Mountain Range called ''Caephra Valley''. "This ce The Caephra Valley is what we believe they have a secret base constructed and are currently gathering most of their forces." Seeing that no one reacted to his words, Sir Arthur could only sigh and exin a bit more. "This ce is rumored to be connected through a giant, underground maze-like cavern system to the nearby Saronite Mountains, and even supposedly has exits in our end." Looking at it, suddenly, an old story came to Drake''s mind. He jumped up, with a shocked expression. "Wait Isn''t that the supposed ce of some Trial Grounds? I remember the tales my fath-, khm, that I was told when I was young." "Yes." Sir Arthur nodded, taking a nce at Aiden as he answered. "It is rumored that there are deathly trial grounds there. Supposedly some ancient, long-since-vanished race lived there or created the trial. The only thing we know is that nobody could really attempt it, as the air inside is strange" Suddenly, Aiden''s expression twitched, and a strange glint of light shed through his eyes. Still, he managed to suppress his rising interest in the topic and instead asked as he focused on the Trachian side of the map. "If that is true, why are you all even worried? Can they cross to our side of the border in any way, or do they need to go through the trial for it?" He asked. "We are not sure." The old man admitted, shrugging his shoulders, with a helpless look on his face. "The cave system is vast, as I mentioned, it''s like a giant maze, abyrinth. Strong, brutal, ferocious monsters inhabit the depths, even adventurer''s like myself have to be careful if we were to go explore." Then he shook his head as he continued. "Still, if an army were to decide to clean it up" Chapter 384 - 384 - You Are Not Human Sir Arthur coughed, before exining further. "I''m not sure, but this is just one of the fronts we are expecting their invasion toe from. What is more concerning is this city, Higrove." He pointed at their current city on the map, before continuing. "As you can see, this city, albeit it''s nowhere near the size of the capital or even the other towns ruled by the others in the big four or the stronger families of the nobility, is actually one of the most important ones just by its location alone." He drew arger circle around the city with his finger before going further. "If you take a closer look, you can see why this ce is so important. From the south, it gives ess to the shore, and the connecting port city of Abell." He pointed at the small circr-shaped port just a couple dozen miles to the south of Higrove. "Then, to the east, there''s this Endless Forest that, if it were to fall to their hands, would provide the perfect natural cover to transport a massive amount of their troops without being noticed by the neighboring countries. Then to the-" "Wait, for a bit." Before he could continue, Aiden spoke up. "You have been mentioning this ''Holy Kingdom of whatever'' for a couple of times now even going as far as saying that conquering that ce is the ultimate goal for this invading Empire It may just be my ignorance speaking here but what is this ce and why is it so important?" He asked, from which the shy Galina and even Lily eagerly nodded. One being a creature shunned by the outside world, the other is a sheltered little girl brought up in the very woods they feared, they had no real knowledge of how this world of humans actually worked either. "Seeing the confused, honest looks of them, Sara could only feebly smile at the old veteran adventurer. Drake was about to speak but was silenced before he could do so by the elderly man. "The Holy Kingdom of Arboria is a sacred ce for many. Ehrm How should I go with this" He mumbled to himself, uncertain how to exin the matter. "Arboria is the seat where the High Priests, appointed by the gods and goddesses themselves took their seat. It is a sacred, hallowed ce to many. Whilst some of the gods have other shrines, like for example, Naone, who is considered to be the goddess not just for Nature and Life but subsequently to all kinds of elves and nature-loving sentient creatures as well." He coughed, changing the topic and returning his attention to Higrove on the map once again. "Anyway, as I mentioned this city would be the most obvious choice as their initial target to begin their campaign. Since the city is currently without an official leader, this uing stupid tradition the War Games, serves as the perfect opportunity to gain a foothold without raising any suspicion." He sighed with a heavy frown souring his outlook. "From our scouts and spies stationed behind the enemy lines, we have learned that one of the candidates has been in talks with them." Understanding the meaning behind his words, Sara immediately sprung up. "Sir Arthur, I can say with absolute certainty that" "No need for that, Lady Examiner." Before she could finish the old man raised his right palm, silencing her in the process. "We know that neither your mother nor his ''champion'', my grandson is in cahoots with them. For one, your mother she goes by the ''Mistress'' or ''Masked Lady'' nowadays right? Anyway She would never do something like betraying the kingdom." He exined with a gentle smile, which faded to a heavier look a momentter. "As for my wayward grandson" He sighed, with a sad look, not wanting to continue the topic further. "Anyway, your side is clean Miss. What we are worried about is the others" "We only have Master Leon and that old man, the council''s lead as opponents, right?" Sara asked. Someone in her position has to be well-informed on matters such as these. After all, knowing your opponent is half the battle." "That is correct. At the moment, only these two sides are confirmed to show up to the game with their own armies to participate. However" He looked at the map with a stern expression as he spoke his next words. "There are rumors of another participant joining in. This one is still shrouded in mystery, however. He or She as we don''t even have that information is a strange one. This figure appeared only recently,ing from seemingly nowhere, making sure to stay under the radars. No one knows where he or shees from, where the base is, or what size the army he or she will be using actually is. Actually" He looked at Sara with a forced, thin smile stretching across his face. "Actually, one of my reasonsing to you, was to ask for an audience with the Mistress. I know that there is nothing, not even a mayfly could pass by her prying eyes in her own territory. If anybody, she should know something about this mystery candidate, and if he or she would be the traitor we need to look out for." Hesitating only for a single second, Sara pushed his chair to the back and stood up. "I I will contact the Mistress, and present your request, Lord Sonovan." She gave a light, courteous bow towards the old man, before turning towards the door and swiftly alighting herself from the room. "As for you, kid" As soon as the door closed behind her, Sir Arthur looked at the golden-eyed boy once more, his smile stretched slightly further. "Originally, I just wanted to see if you are truly as skilled as the rumors have expressed." He spoke with a yful smile. "I have to say" He stepped over, leaning closer to the boy before suddenly his smile turned into a delighted one. "you are a truly amazing boy! That sword, the strength! Ah! It has been so long since I had this much fun and excitement in a duel! Ahahaha" A burst of boisterousughter, a thunderous guffaw filled the room as Sir Arthur exploded with a sudden burst of happiness. "Such speed... Power, strength You are truly one of a kind!" He cheerfully eximed, not minding the shocked, stunned gazes of the youngsters sitting at the other side of the table. "Although your martial and sword skills are stillcking, you are still just a little cub a little kinling if I remember the phrase correctly, right?" He continued, raising Aiden''s attention to the matter once again. "What do you mean, Sir Arthur?" He asked. "Ah, sorry, I didn''t mean any offense, but you are clearly not human, boy." He exined with the same ted look, seemingly unaware or not minding of the growing heaviness in the meeting room." A momentter, before anyone could ask him, he borated what he meant. "That aura you have, it is quite unique and has that ''Dragon-like'' pride to it. Also the fact of your explosive might You have to be a half-dragon, or a descendant of one, right?" Suddenly, as if the weights have been dropped from his chest, Aiden almost fell down to the ground as he slumped back with a relieved look on his face. For a moment, he feared that he saw behind the veils, and could pierce into his core directly Luckily, the old man could only feel his aura and recognize the simrities from his own experiences. Nothing more. "Hmm" He pondered about how to reply to the old man. "As Sir Arthur have correctly guessed, my friend here, Aiden is something you could call someone as a distant rtive to these mighty creatures." Seeing his friend''s helpless state, Drake suddenly spoke up, going on with the convenient lie that was just thrown at them. "Yes, my brother doesn''t know his true parents. He lived with us in the forest. Granny and Master brought us up!" Lily added, her face also revealed her ayed thoughts. "I see" Sir Arthur thoughtfully humphed at the youngster''s words, feeling convinced that his theory was correct. He smiled at them, nodding at their words, before continuing further. "Anyway I am convinced you are skilled, strong and unlike my stupid grandson, you have an untainted heart. You are still pure. Because of the fact that Miss Galina seems to be attached to you and also because of this all" Suddenly, he stepped away from the table, and gave a deep bow at the youngster, shocking the group for the umpteenth time with his words and actions in quick session today. "I would like to invite you No. I would like to ask if you could ept this old man''s guidance and teachings? Would you be willing to be my sessors?" Once more, an awkward, heavy silence descended on the room for but a few moments before suddenly they all exploded with utter shock and befuddlement. "WHAT?!" Chapter 385 - 385 - Way Of The Sword Not minding the shocked and surprised gazes of them, the old man, Sir Arthur kept his bowing posture, whilst exining his previous exmation in a bit more detail. "I know. Rest assured, I know that my request is outrageous. Why would a man of my standing be so desperate to find a worthy sessor? It is, after all, a perfectly reasonable question to ask." He slowly lifted his head, looking up from the ground and matching the befuddled, confused look of the golden-eyed duo. "If you would allow me, I will exin." Sir Arthur said, keeping his subservient posture, which as the seconds went by, were more and more embarrassing. After all, this man was a living legend, the literal hero of many children''s stories and now, he was bowing in front of two brats?! If people were to know about this, public outrage was sure to follow. Scarlet, unable to take this any more, crossed over the table and helped up the respectable elder. "Please, Sir Arthur, stand up. There is no need for this, right guys?" She looked behind with a fierce gaze, waking up Aiden from his stupor. "Y-yes, please, Sir Arthur no, Lord Sonovan, there is no need for all of this." He hurriedly answered, reaching out with both of his hands, gesturing to the old man to stand back up. Galina didn''t react too much, or at the very least, her reactions remained silent and hidden behind the ck, faceless mask of hers. "Please, Lord Sonovan" Seeing as the man, slowly acquiesced to their request, the pressure and awkwardness in the room eased slightly. Drake could heave a sigh of relief, whilst Aiden smiled at the man weakly. "Please, exin to us what you meant by your previous words." "Yes, please Sir Arthur, I am fairly certain you have many descendants and promising youths in your family. An outsider such as Aiden wouldn''t be able to inherit anything, no matter if he himself would agree. After all, he would just be an adopted son of yours, not someone that could inherit your title and wealth legally." Drake added,pletely perplexed by the baffling request of the old man." At the silver-haired boy''s words, Sir Arthur simply smiled. For a brief moment, a touch of sadness shed through his eyes before he forced the usual kind, gentle fatherly expression back. "I am aware of that, young prince. What I am asking is for the both of them to ept me as their teacher, their master in rtion to their clearlyckingbat skills." "I am aware of that young prince. I know that and normally I wouldn''t make this offer, nor would I even ept such brazen disrespect if they, or for that matter, anybody else woulde for me. I am, after all, the patriarch of the Sonovan Family, one of the big four! I would have many options to pick an heir, a sessor from within the main or the branch families Why would I bother with outsiders then?" He spoke, adding a theatrical push at the end of his speech. Giving only a moment of pause for a quick breath, he exined himself in the next moment. "You see, as you have already seen, my family is filled with wastrels. Like Michael, all the others in his age are simr both in terms of the misced pride, arrogance, and temperament of theirs." He sighed, shaking his head as his thoughts wandered back to this failure of a grandson of his. "You see, my grandson, Michael, was the only son of his father and mother, and due to that, he was pampered from birth. He was taught by the finest artists, the best masters of each craft he could learn, quickly bing the haughty young man he is today. Using the money their parents threw at him, he quickly bought his way above the ranks, eventuallynding himself in the position he is today." He gave a light cough himself, guiding the course of his own speech back to the topic. "Anyway, this doesn''t matter actually. The fact is, like what you have seen with him, all the other grandsons and descendants I have, are the same. Tainted by this ''darkness''. They are greedy, arrogant The true virtues of the legacy I have built up for over close to a century now" He steeled his heart, a stern, serious look appeared over his face as he shook his head. "They are not worthy." He then looked back at the duo in front of him, as his expression instantly eased back into a warm smile. "I am still the patriarch of the Sonovan family. I am the one that is responsible for leading it to a better future, not those brats and their arrogant, greedy father of theirs!" He smashed his fist on the table, with just enough power to not break it. "Even if I am unable to legally do so, I would at least want you both to gain my true legacy, and ept my teachings!" He bowed again, this time his fists tightly clenched and shaking with the emotion he was withholding. However, Aiden shook his head as he declined his offer. "Sir Arthur, no, Lord Sonovan I am truly honored by your request, and that you find us worthy of your teachings, however, I already have a Master. Her teachings are what shaped me into the person I am today. I-" "That is not a problem! What I would like to teach you are the Way of the Sword and a style that was created by me!" He then looked at the maskeddy. "As for you Miss Galina, I know what I am saying is outrageous, especially to someone with your unique ability. Rune Magic is something I have been researching all my life. Being not ''talented enough'' to be epted to learn the Mystic Arts, I have researched for ways, methods that I could still use. That''s how I stumbled upon this ancient art. Some of the ehrm ''older'' races of our world, the dwarves especially, are the ones that know about this peculiar knowledge." He gave a moment for the group to breathe, before continuing further. "I have since then, used all of my resources, and experience, to gather more knowledge and learn as much as I could about the topic. And while I am by far, not the best and most knowledgeable in this field" Suddenly, both of his hands lit up, emitting a faint golden light. Using only the tip of his right index finger he began to hurriedly draw a rune in the air that Aiden could recognize as a crude, simplified version of what he learned from Granny. Subconsciously his lips parted, and he muttered the spell together with Sir Arthur. "Lux" "Lux!" At their words, suddenly the small runic symbol lit up, engulfed with a bright white light before turning in a small bright orb and flew above Sir Arthur''s head, following his movement as it kept hovering in the air above him. The old man''s eyes turned wide with surprise as he just realized the boy could recognize the rune as well. Just like the boy and the others he too now looked with a matching astonishment. "You can also read and use runes? Can you perhaps draw them as well?" The old man asked Aiden with clear anticipation written all over his face. Unfortunately, Aiden could only shake his head. "No. I can''t use spells, at least not yet. I can, however, read out many of them." He admitted with a thin smile, deciding to keep quiet about the fact that the version Sir Arthur drew was faulty, and rudimentary at best. After all, even this was a great achievement for a man without any teacher or master to rely upon. "I see." The old man sighed with a sad expression, shifting his attention back to the masked girl. "So, Miss Galina I know my demonstration might be primitive, but as you can see, I might be able to offer you something that could be worthwhile to you. I will give you ess to all the tomes, the scrolls, and books I have acquired over the decades of my pursuit of knowledge" He then looked at Aiden, giving him a reassuring smile. "Even to you, Aiden. Even if you can''t draw them, you can still benefit from learning more, right?" "As for your Master I am sure she wouldn''t mind if you were to learn more. Without the proper method, your big sword will never reach its full potential. What do you both say?" Aiden wasn''t sure what to say at this point. What the old man offered was something he reallycked. So far he almost exclusively fought using his hands, or to be more precise, his ws. Unfortunately, if he wanted to stay in this world, and wanted to keep his secrets hidden, he couldn''t rely on them. At least not in the open. He needed to be better at handling weapons, which he admittedly, neglected so far. However, he already had a master on the matter. How could he ept another one then? Chapter 386 - 386 - A Familiar Request Seeing the boy''s reluctance, in the end, Sir Arthur could only sigh and let the matter go, at least for the time being. After witnessing personally what Aiden is capable of, he wasn''t just going topletely give up. For the time being, he could only take a step back, and just agree that they would talk about this with his master. As for Galina, he also couldn''t progress as the shy girl was mostly silent, and just followed after the boy. If he were to want her to ept him as her master, he would first need to win over the youngster, this masked girl would follow after. After a while, Sara returned to the room, dropping the hood back the moment she entered. Whilst she was adamant in keeping her identity a secret, for the most part, there was no point in hiding before her friends or from the legendary Roaring Lion. "Sir Arthur, I have contacted my moth-, khm the Mistress, and she has agreed to meet with you. She said that Sir Arthur is kindly asked to visit the Slums district, an escort will be waiting for your arrival to guide you back." Sir Arthur nodded at her words with the increasingly familiar warm, kind smile of his. It was actually still quite weird to see the bright contrast between Michael and his grandfather, but truth be told, this was much better. "Thank you, Lady Examiner." He nodded at her, returning his attention to the map spread out on the table. "Anyway, the reason I have told you all of this is that I know that you are all" He nced at the silver-haired prince and his fiery red-haired sister, with a sh of apologetic look on his face. "Well, almost all of you, in any case are expected to attend the event. On one hand, I wanted to warn you all, there are other hidden cards at y from not just this hidden fourth side, but even from the others. There are quite the colorful rumors, which I am sure, Lady Examiner here is aware of" Seeing the wry look on Sara, he merely smiled, shing an understanding expression, before continuing. "Anyway, the second, and more important reason was to ask you to keep your eyes peeled open. You guys can stay in the shadows, away from the prying eyes, while I will have to stay at the front, and avert everyone''s attention." He heaved a heavy sigh, before turning his attention towards the ceiling. "I just hope we can still avert this this disaster" "You know there is just one thing I don''t understand about all of this" Suddenly, Aiden spoke up, grabbing the attention in the room. He looked at the old man with a quizzical look as he asked. "Being as strong, as mighty, as powerful as these supposed stories go, you should be more than capable of handling some average soldiers. Not to mention, I doubt that Lord Sonovan is the only powerful warrior in the Kingdom''s army. Why don''t just go in when the enemy appears and just put an end to their ns? It seems kind of pointless if I''m being honest" At first, the others in the room, even Sir Arthur, looked at him with a mixture of shock, confusion, and bewilderment. After a few moments, however, Sir Arthur chuckled as he waved his hand dismissively. "Ahahaha, I love this honesty and naivet of yours, Aiden! Truly so!" He chuckled, taking a few breaths of time before going further. "Although what you say is truly the easiest approach, and it is not that we generals didn''t want to stand in the frontlines, unfortunately, the matter is not that simple." He smiled at him bitterly, not exining further, causing only further confusion. What''s so difficult about it? He couldn''t understand it, though seeing the looks of the others, he decided to not push on with the matter for now, and just ask about it atter. From their expressions, this wasn''t a simple topic at all. Eventually, the meeting came to an end, Aiden, Lily, Galina, and the royal siblings, Drake and Scarlet said their goodbyes and left the room, while Sara being the acting leader in Sir Michael''s sudden absence, still had a lot of matters that needed her attention. For Sir Arthur, he promptly left the room and the building. Riding a ck horse, his figure quickly vanished amidst the crowded streets, going towards the direction of the famed Slums district Back in the front hall, the team was currently looking at the numerous requests posted by the citizens and officials alike. They were searching for something not too time-consuming for themselves. Even though they weren''t in dire need of money, or even guild credits for that matter, Aiden still wanted to give Galina some opportunities to get to know her new body and abilities. Her test turned out to be rather unique and didn''t give much of a chance to shine. As he was busy looking at the central section of the board, Scarlet''s exmation brought over the team''s attention. "Here! These two!" She tore down two notes and presented them to the team. The first was from the nearby apothecary, asking for some help in gathering several different types of herbs for the business. Although it could turn out to be interesting and gave them more freedom than usual, Aiden wanted to wait with requests rted to any of the currently analyzed skills and professions until the system would be back up again. Reading it over, he frowned, not too keen on epting the request. However, before he could speak up, his eyes wandered on the other one, causing a grave shift in his expression almost instantly. The second request was unrated, preliminarily posted as a 2-star quest for the time being. The requester, who was not listed on the note, wanted a seasoned team to investigate the mysterious Deserted, and rumored-to-be ''Haunted'', dpidating Mansion found here in this very street. His first meeting with Cole came to his mind, making him sigh with a forlorn, sad, distant look shing across his eyes. "Everything okay brother?" Seeing the changes in his brother, Lily worriedly asked. "No, it''s nothing." He shook his head, a sad-looking smile recing his usual calm, collected outlook. He looked at Scarlet, shaking his head. "While both would have its uses, I would rather do some simple hunting or monster core collecting quest for the afternoon. I" "Don''t worry, Aiden. We got you." Patting his back, Drake spoke up, presenting a quest note of his own. This one, just like Aiden wanted, was about a quest that he was all too familiar with. After all, when he first came he did something simr. Just like then, it was about culling the constantly growing underground poption of skinks, those small, primitive, fragile-looking lizard-like humanoid creatures. It was still ranked as a 3-star group-only request, which, knowing the savage and troublesome nature of the little bastards, was quite understandable. "Skinks? Here in the city?" Reading through the details of the request, Aiden looked at his friend with a puzzled look. "What are those?" "Skinks? Eww, I hate those little sh*ts! Isn''t there anything else we could pick, brother?!" Strangely, even Galina, who usually remained stoic, shivered as the little creatures were mentioned. This, of course, did not escape Aiden''s attention, as even without looking at her directly, he could feel her disgust and unwillingness to have anything to do with whatever these monsters were. Seeing the puzzled look of Aiden and strangely, even Lily, Drake sighed and gave a short, brief description and his own experience from before. "They are not too hard, and would be simr to our fight with those sea-devils from yesterday, it''s just, we would be venturing below the city. I was thinking that if what Sir Arthur said was true, we could at the very least take a look. I couldn''t think of any other ce where these ''hidden'' forces could hide and still be close by." Turning toward her frowning sister, he could only helplessly sigh. "Still, if you guys are so against it, we could" "No. You are right, let''s go and do it!" With a determined gaze, Scarlet suddenly sprung up, taking the note from Drake''s palms." "Lily, Galina, you both are fine with this, right?" Scarlet asked the other two girls, her gaze passionate, giving them the feeling that she would not ept a no at all. In the end, whilst still squirming, Galina silently nodded, hiding behind thefort of Aiden''s back. Lily patted both of his four-legged guardians'' heads and nodded with a cheery-looking smile. "I don''t mind." "Great, then let''s-" "I agree with taking the quest, but we should prepare a bit more for it." Before Scarlet could turn around and stomp her way to the closest guild receptionist Aiden grabbed her shoulder. "For now, we should go and fix up our gear. This one could probably take quite some time, definitely not something we could ''quickly'' do in just a few hours." Chapter 387 - 387 - The Blacksmith (Part 1) Stepping out of the door and leaving the spacious hall and the building behind, the streets were somewhat calm, despite being close to the peak of the day. A colorful crowd of people could be seen haggling at the streetside; townsfolk, adventurers, armor, knightly looking guards, studded leather armored folk from the various mercenary bands that are close by. Not-so-surprisingly, as the time crept closer and closer to the date of the War Games, more and more strangers arrived at the city. Famed and, with it, feared mercenary bands, shady groups of people have made this wayward city their home for the time being. This wide and long alley being the ''Adventurer''s Street'' the main attraction, the central piece of attention was clearly therge two-story wooden structure, the Adventurer''s Guild. Sporting at least twice the size (but most likely even more than that) of the inn Aiden''s group resided in. All the surrounding buildings were clearly catering to the increased presence of these danger-braving souls, as was clearly apparent from the signs indicating the nature of all the shops lining both sides of the spacious, broad streets. Whatever your heart desired you could find it without much hassle: cksmiths, tailors, general storekeepers offering even some exotic wares, bowyers, herbalists offering herbs and flora of all kinds, alchemist''s stores specialized in the tools and exotic materials that could not be found in the other ces Whatever the hearts of these daring men and women desired, whatever amenities they felt needed for their next audacious undertaking, they could find it here. These merchants would offer them even the stars as long as they could help unburden those heavy pockets, be it gold, or, in the case of the contracted stores, credits from the city''s adventurers. As their first stop, the group stopped in front of a peculiar shop. The Guild''s log, the sword-and-board could be seen hanging next to the logo of an anvil at the top. The sound of a hammer hitting something with a metallic clinking sound, echoed from the back, reaching their ears. The smell of smelting metal and coal lingered even in front of the shop. The reason it caught Aiden''s attention was the fact thatpared to the other cksmiths filling the streets this one wasn''t as clean-looking, noble-like as the rest. The window showcase was smeared with the years of dust, oil, and the constant dark vapor of coal that filled and corrupted the usually clean air around. Unlike the rest, Aiden felt an uncanny honesty, a simple but powerful allure that resonated with him. Stopping in front of the shop, the rest of the gang turned to look at the peculiar little emporium to their right with a mixture of gazes. While a frown couldn''t be helped, as the store looked rather run-down, shabby, not to mention theck of customers, they knew that Aiden had to have a reason to pick this one as their first stop. They didn''t need to wait for long, as before they could formte a sentence and inquire about the abrupt halt on their little, afternoon shopping expenditure, Aiden turned towards the entrance and with calm, but swift steps walked towards the door and pulled it open. The sound of bells rang a light tune as the entryway was opened, and the dark, gloomy inner cubbyhole was revealed in front of them. Still, besides the obscure, dim light that battled against this shroud of gloom to give at least a sliver of illumination to the vary traveler, the more concerning the fact that there was absolutely nobody standing behind the counter, nor could any other living soul could be seen. "Ummm Aiden? Are you sure that we should" Confused by the boy''s first choice, Drake couldn''t stay silent any more. Stepping closer he took his friend''s side and ced his hand on his right shoulders. Worried that he may have just picked the ce because it looked interesting to his adventurous soul, he wanted to reason with him. "We might want to pick another sto-" However, before he could finish, Aiden shook his head and pointed towards the open doorway where a small speckle of light could be seen from behind the walls. Shadowy tendrils danced against the yellow, orange, and red-colored flickering lightsing from further down the back hallway. The faint sound of the hammer hitting metal, the same they heard from outside could be heard once again. As if they stepped through the thin veil that separated two distinct worlds; one was the outside world, where people lived their lives, and worldly matters ruled over all other, and this small slice, separated from that same malice. It was strange, also quite puzzling. Drake was absolutely certain that neither the flickering lights nor the echoing sounds could be heard just a moment ago. What happened then? Puzzled and confused, he couldn''t finish his thought. The group was mesmerized by the dancing light show seeping in from the doorway. Well, except for one person, who continued approaching the dustacious and chalky, neglected counter. Amidst the thickyer of dust, he hit the top of the small dome-shaped protrusion, which was then revealed to be a small bell, as its single high-pitched ding rang in the empty front of the store. Although it wasn''t loud, in fact barely audible, but apparently was still loud enough to catch the attention of the figure at the back. The hammering came to an abrupt stop, soon a low garbled grumbling could be heard approaching with steady steps,ing closer and closer. A few momentster, an elongated shadow of a fuzzy head-like shadow appeared on the wall, gradually clearing and reforming its hazy shape as the clearly annoyed-sounding man crossed the hall. A couple of instantster, to their great surprise, a rather unique-looking fellow appeared at the arched dome filling up only half of its height. A rather short, probably somewhere around 4''5" (AN.: 137 cm) tall burly, brawny-looking figure looked at the group with a rather displeased look. He had long, straight brown hair pulled into a single braid behind his back. His face looked darker-toned, although that could just as well because of the dim lighting or the dirt and grime of his previous work, both could be just as feasible. His edgy, nd face was showing clear displeasure in the form of a frown, as he gave a loud, and dusty p with his disproportionalrge hands, and stomped towards the dusty counter whilst continuing his previous grumbling session, ignoring the looks of the youngsters. He had a medium-sized, matching brown beard and a longer-than-usual braided mustache donning on his face. Under the heavy duress of stares of the group, the short man pulled out a white piece of cloth from under the desk as he got to the counter, and whilst continuing with his grumbling and growling, he carelessly hit the counter, kicking off a sizable cloud of dust, before finally, he turned his attention to the ''invading youngsters'' and with an annoyed tone he called out. Matching his hair, his dark brown eyes focused on the golden-eyed young man, he squinted as he spoke. "What da ya''ll want?! Make it quick, I am busy!" He snorted, tapping his thick fingers on the desk, showing his impatience, and eagerness to get back to his work which, in his mind, was way more important than serving a bunch of snotty brats. "Y-you A-are you a dwarf?" Shocked to see a member of their race, Drake stuttered, pointing at the bearded cksmith. His words clearly annoyed and slightly offended the short master, he scoffed as he responded with rudeness and displeasure. "D-d-d-d What is your problem kid, are you weak in the head or something?" This whilst earning a frown from Drake, also made the girls almost burst into a cacophony of giggles. Ignoring the silver-haired snotty human brat, the old man''s eyes scanned the rest of the group, before finally returning to the golden-eyed, long ck-haired youngster. A strange light shed through his eyes as he asked again, this time clearly focused on the boy. "So, what will it be? Make up your minds. If you are here only to annoy me, I''ll beat the crap out of you and throw you all out!" "H-How?! Shouldn''t all non-humans be barred from entering the city?" Unable to process what he was seeing, Drake babbled once again. This time, however, the dwarven cksmithpletely ignored him, retaining his attention at the exotic-looking young man and his masked attendant. Finally, a small, thin-looking smile curved Aiden''s lips. He gave a light greeting nod at the small figure, as he asked. "Honored Master, we are looking to purchase some arms. Can you please show some of your wares?" At first, there was no reaction of any kind from the master. A few secondster, his eyes squinted again as he slowly scrutinized the young man in front of him. Eventually, he looked up and matched the youngster''s calm look before he shook his head, responding and declining their request with coldness. "No. There''s nothing that would be of interest. Go and look at the other stores, I am certain they could offer you what you are seeking." Chapter 388 - 388 - The Blacksmith (Part 2) "No. There''s nothing that would be of interest. Go and look at the other stores, I am certain they could offer you what you are seeking!" Without hesitation, the grumpy old dwarf instantly denied any sort of opportunity, chance, or route for barter of any kind. He clearly did not want to have anything to do with Aiden''s team, nor with anyone else for that matter. Seeing the souring faces, the dwarf uncaringly harrumphed, before focusing his stern, cold, unfriendly gaze at the ck-haired, golden-eyed youngster. "You there, boy!" He pointed at Aiden with his surly attitude. "Yes?" "You and that masked friend of yours, yes you two. Who else I would be talking to? These pesky humans?! Or this half-blood?!" He spat, a clear show of disdain shing through his expression for a brief moment. These words finally hit their mark, even if they weren''t aimed for that. The calm, collected outlook instantly vanished from Aiden''s face. As the saying goes, (that surprisingly carries a lot of truth), every dragon has its reverse scale, the singr thing, be it whatever, a memory, an emotion, an object, or a being They have this one topic, that under no circumstances should be brought up in such a manner, never shamed, hurt, or stolen. Aiden wouldn''t have minded if the old dwarven master continued tosh out at his human friends. While they were important to him, they were nowhere as close to him as his sister, Lily. Even if his servants, or for that matter, Galina would be shamed or humiliated, while he would step in to stop the mess, he wouldn''t lose his mind instantly. Unfortunately, this was not the case when the topic was his sister. She was his reverse scale, the one thing, the only taboo that should never be cursed, at least not in front of Aiden. As his expression soured, from the calm smile into the fierce, serious look. Suddenly, inside the dusty, forgotten, mostly closed up and crumbling store a gust of wind began to blow fiercely, circling around and protecting its master transforming into a dustacious whirlwind in an instant. The wind-barrier that now covered his body, caused the mood in the room to shift instantly. The rest of the team, immediately understanding the reason for their friend losing his cool, rather than pointlessly trying to reason with him, instead took a couple of steps back. The dwarven cksmith master, on the other hand, had no idea what caused the young man to react so intensely. He was stunned, couldn''t react, and kept gazing with increasingly widening eyes at this monstrous youngster. Still, his more than century-old experienced muscles reacted without needing his directmand. His fingers already holding his decorated hammer, curled around the borately designed hilt and reinforced their grip. His legs spread, entering themselves into a stance that would allow the old man to react to any iing threat ordingly. While his mind was temporarily stumped at the sudden change of the scene, his body could still react. His muscle memory was carved in through the painful and arduous memories of way over a hundred years, after all. As the wind continued to blow fiercely, another shock came to the old cksmith. Those exotic-looking golden eyes of the boy suddenly lit up, glimmering in the gloomy room, carrying an eerie omen with them. Suddenly, as their eyes met, the old master''s body trembled. Despite the previous confidence his body carried, the strength instantly left his body like an ancient legend, a story of his childhood came to his mind. His lips quivered, his eyes wide, his legs gave in, the old man fell on his butt, releasing his grip over his beloved hammer and threw it at his side in the process. "D-d-d-d-dragon!" The old man cried out with a look of pure disbelief and overbearing shock. He slowly, shakingly lifted his stump of a right arm and pointed at the glowing-eyed, cold-looking youth. "Y-you! Y-you are a d-d-dragon!" Shockingly, in the next moment the previous fear that overwhelmed him left his body, he sprung back up on his feet. His face curved into a delighted, ted smile, he exploded into a boisterous guffaw. "AHAHAHA! Really! A dragon! A real dragon! Finally, I met one!" Hisughter continued, destroying the previous dark, cold and gloomy atmosphere in mere seconds. His strange reaction also managed to confuse Aiden. The anger vanished, the glimmer in his eyes dimmed, the barrier of air faded, the magical wind in the room returned to its calmness. With a bewildered look on his face Aiden turned to the old dwarf, he wanted to ask, but his sister was faster this time. With an upset, pouting look on her face, Lily asked the howling master. "What is so funny old man? What are youughing at my brother?!" Hearing the question, the chuckling dwarf raised his right index finger in the air. Shaking it as his body continued to tremble under his explosive cachinnation, he tried speaking amidst his breath. "N-no It''s not I''m not" Unfortunately, he needed a bit of time to calm down before he was finally able to respond in an understandable manner. "N-no I''m notughing at your brother, youngdy." His tone was now much warmer than before. His stoic grumpiness was reced by the pr opposite, he sounded friendly. "I was just happy. You see, when I was growing up I was told tales no legends of this ancient race that was now considered extinct." He looked at Aiden, his bearded face contorted into an awkward-looking smile. He sighed as he continued, shaking his head. "No matter, I guess." He smiled. His next action caused yet another shock to spread amidst the small group. He gave a deep, courteous bow towards them as he apologized in a respectful tone. "Please, allow this senile old man to apologize for his mistake from before. I have rudely thought that you folks are the same as the others. Here to cause trouble and try to drive this old man out of this city once again. I apologize, I was not aware that I am standing before such prominent figures." He then turned towards Aiden and continued with his baffling, iprehensible actions. "Your Majesty!" He knelt down, and prostrated himself on the ground in front of Aiden! "Please punish this unfaithful servant of yours! I was blind and rude, I deserve death!" This was finally too much for the group, they stepped forward, whilst Aiden also leaned towards the old dwarf. "Please stand up, respectable elder! You may confuse me with someone else I have no idea who this majesty is but that''s not me." Seeing how the old man was shaking his head and was about to argue again, Aiden raised his hand, and sighed. "Let''s start over, I believe we started this whole thing on the wrong foot. My name is Aiden, this shy, maskeddy behind me is Galina." "I''m Lily, Aiden''s sister! Although you seemed to dislike me for some reason, I''m still d to meet you!" "N-no-no! I''m sorry, youngdy, I was just" The old dwarf tried to speak up, but he couldn''t. After all, he did really diss the girl based on his kind. That was not something he should be doing. Reacting in the same manner as these racist humans. In the end, he could only sigh and look down on the ground whilst giving yet another apologetic bow. "I apologize Young Lady. It was improper of me to sink to such a level. I cannot say anything to defend myself. I guess my time here in this human settlement being shunned and outcast caused my nature to also twist. Please, if you find it in your heart, try to forgive this pathetic old man!" "Don''t worry ehrm" "This old man is called Gluri Wyvernyer, youngdy." Still keeping his head stered towards the ground, the old cksmith finally introduced himself. "Don''t worry about it, Mr. Wyvernyer" With a wry look over her face as the old man had a rather weird name, Lily nodded and reached out, gently raising the dwarven cksmith''s head. "Unfortunately, I also had a taste of how cruel humans could be." With a slightly saddened look, Lily responded. The memory of her capture and predicament was still quite fresh in her mind. Even though she wasn''t suffering too badly anymore, as with her family she managed to ovee the despair, it was still not the happiest moment of her life. "Still, these two here are our friends! Drake and Scarlet are not the same as the others, you shouldn''t lump them together with those meanies!" Shifting her mood, she smiled cheerily, turning towards the two royal siblings standing awkwardly at the back. "They are good people! Our friends!" She repeated with a cheery look. Although he was much friendlier than before, Gluri still couldn''t force out much towards the two, and just nodded before turning his attention back on Aiden. "Your Majest-" "Don''t. Please, just call me Aiden. I don''t know who this figure you are confusing me with is." Chapter 389 - 389 - Misplaced Superiority "Your Majest-" "Don''t. Please, just call me Aiden. I don''t know who this figure you are confusing me with is." Before the dwarven cksmith could finish, Aiden spoke up. With a slight frown on his face, he exined again, hoping to finally clear up this confusion. However, the dwarf, Gluri shook his head. "I cannot, your majesty. You are a dragon, perhaps thest remaining member! You may not know because of this, but we dwarves revere your kind Dragons are like gods, the natural-born leaders of our race. Legends say we were created by the Ancient Dragons of the past to be their servants!" The cksmith managed to grab Aiden''s attention with the mentioning of his exact race. Still, from the way he phrased it, it felt like he wasn''t certain about Aiden''s exact kind, but only the fact that he was ''supposed'' to be a dragon. "Created by Ancient Dragons? That''s quite a wild tale" He muttered with a wry-looking smile. He then looked at his sister who was now once again ignoring whatever was going on and was patting the heads of her dogs instead. "Anyway!" The old dwarf pped hisrge hands. His smile was a bright contrast to his surly demeanor just a few moments ago. "What can this old cksmith do for you all?" Sometimeter, the team finally left the Gluri Wyvernyer''s the funny named dwarven cksmith''s workshop. Still, puzzled by the fact that how could a dwarf be allowed to set up the shop, Drake and Scarlet were mostly silent through the whole ordeal. Drake really wanted to ask the old master about how was he here, but as he already tried twice without any luck, he managed to whole his burning curiosity back and just remain in the background. For Aiden, he didn''t really care how or what trickery this old man had used, what he focused on was to get the right armament for his team members. For Galina, he got something called a ''Runic Mace'', a one-handed war hammer inscribed with a few dwarven sigils, mostly to increase its sturdiness. For Lily, she got a quiver full of arrows made by the dwarven master and something that vaguely resembled the brass knuckles, but instead of being obvious and bluntly presented, it was made into gloves. Its material was also quite strange, as it was clearly not metal, but something simr in terms of strength. It was wyvern scales! As Drake, like him, did not want to use any other weapon than his artifact, Mort, only his sister, Scarlet got a pair of new daggers, as he was still relying on the one she ''borrowed'' from Sara. They also had to force some payment on the dwarf as he was adamant to gift everything saying that it would be his way of apologizing for his previous behavior. Still, after some back-and-forth, they paid a measly 1gold and 50 silver coins for what was probably worth hundreds if not thousands of gold. After escaping from Gluri''s workshop and promising to return when they can, the rest of their afternoon shopping spree went rtively cleanly and without any significant troubles. Although some brave (and quite idiotic) guys tried their luck with thedies (even the shy and masked Galina had to suffer through a few brazen attempts), they eventually got everything they nned to get, and as the sky began to darken, they found their way back in front of the inn. Standing in front of the wooden structure, a group of youngsters wearing brand new-looking, dark brown, reinforced, studded leather armors beneath their usual clothing could be seen. With heavy, somber looks on their faces, they looked at the entrance, hesitant, quite reluctant to step inside and embrace its warmth. The chitter-chatter that escaped through the cracks and windows, were not so inviting anymore, instead, it served as anotheryer of difort, further fueling their disinclination. They knew that they should look for a new ce, but they had no time so far today. It was clear that their rtionship with the innkeeper and his wife was chaotic at best, but still This ce was the best in terms of service, food quality, and distance. Truth be told, Aiden didn''t really want to switch. Still, with a sigh, Aiden stepped forward and pushed on the door, the team following shortly after him. As soon as their familiar silhouettes appeared on the doorway and their gazes met with the innkeeper serving some drinks to the tired adventurer''s standing at the counter, a look of worry shed through the aged host''s eyes for a brief moment before he managed to give a slight nod and return his attention to the job at hand. Aiden could only sigh at this. "Brother I think we should" "Yes, I know. We are not wee here anymore." Aiden nodded, understanding his sister''s concern. Still, they spent their day refilling their stocks, getting new equipment, potions, and new tools they were way too spent to look for a new ce to settle. They decided to spend onest night, battle the heavy stares of the crowd and look for a new ce tomorrow, before taking on the quest and venturing the unexplored underground. While the guys looked for a quieter table somewhere away from the prying eyes, Aiden forced a smile on his face and walked towards the counter. Strangely, his usual calmness was not present this time. He felt a heavier push, a pressure in his heart as he looked at the old barkeep. As he arrived at the battered counter he could feel the presence of another behind the door at the back, causing his stomach to churn and twist once again. He sighed, forcefully controlling his agitation, and looked at the busy elder who, although probably noticed his presence, was serving a loud and haughty group refilling their mugs with beers. However, maybe because of his presence, the old man''s hand shook, dropping the wooden mug on the counter and spilling its foamy, golden-brown nectar over the rough-looking short-ck-haired man. "What the" For a brief moment, the man looked with confusion and disbelief over his own self, before his face swiftly contorted into anger, and shifted his attention to the shocked and shaking elderly man behind the counter. "I-I-I am s-s-sorry, S-sir!" He stuttered, trying to apologize, albeit futilely. The short ck-haired man reached out, grabbing the aged innkeeper by his cor, and pulled him closer. "What''s the deal, you bastard?!" He bellowed. His friends or goonies were slowly spreading around him, they formed a small ring amidst the spectators. Meanwhile, the ck-haired man pulled the slim, skinny old man over the counter and threw him on the ground at the center of the newly formed ring. The old man, instead of being rightfully offended by the harsh and vicious actions of this unknown figure, instead knelt down and groveled in front of the ferociously grinning man. "I apologize for my mistake! I-" Before he could finish, a foot flew into his side, kicking him back several steps and forcing him to cough up a handful of blood. "GROVEL YOU BASTARD! BEG FOR YOUR LIFE FOR OFFENDING THIS MASTER!" The coarse-looking man bellowed with a mixture of rage and a cruel, vicious smirk stretching across his face. He clearly enjoyed humiliating this poor, helpless man. He stepped closer to the coughing barkeep trying to push himself off from the ground. Looking down at him, he slowly raised his right leg above his head, his lips contorted revealing his cruel, nasty nature. "You worthless sh*t, are you aware that I could stomp you to death and nobody would care?! Do you know how worthless, how meaningless you-" "I wouldn''t continue that if I were you." His hateful, victorious speech was abruptly interrupted. The sound, that seemed lifely, deeper-toned came from behind. "WHO DARES?!" The man, annoyed by the neer bellowed and turned around. He saw a lean, but rtively tall, young man, with long, silky ck hair and strange, unique eyes staring back at him at the front of the crowd. The youngster had a distasteful frown on his face as he eyed him. "You?! How dare you, a little weakling interrupt me?!" He roared, his anger reaching new heights. Being continuously offended, he, who should be revered, was having an increasingly hard time processing what was going on. Just arriving at this backwater, boring town because of his Lord''s orders Being forced to serve under another with his battalion for some worthless game, he was already on the edge. He signaled with the two closest of his men as he roared. "Throw him in. I will teach that brat a lesson along with this old corpse dweller!" With that he turned around, ignoring the youth, and once again shifting his attention on the innkeeper first. However, before he could continue with his speech, suddenly two familiar, but painful cries rang from behind him. Alerted, he spans around again, only to be shocked at what greeted him. Two burly men, his men, were sprawled on the ground, their faces caved in, unconscious or maybe in a worse state. Standing over them, the ''weakling'' youngster, with an eerie-looking smile stretched across his face. Chapter 390 - 390 - Sorrows "W-what did you do?!" Seeing his men sprawled out, fainted, and possibly even in worse, critical condition, the unshaven, ck-haired man was immediately alerted. Unlike most of the haughty, arrogant, and drunk local thugs, he was rather clear-headed. If someone could knock two of his officers in an instant, without anyone seeing it, is not normal and definitely not someone he should be crossing arms against. At least not over something as some spilled beer. Taking a couple of breaths, a thin smile appeared over his face as he took a step back and raised his palms in front of him. "Now, now There is no need to be hasty. It was just, after all, a mistake, which he already apologized for. I may have reacted harshly, which I apologize for." Turning around, he grabbed the old man''s shoulders and pulled him back up on his face. "Here you go, old man. I apologize for my behavior." Hurriedly, he looked over the rest of his men, giving them the signal to scatter and bring their two away with them as well. "Everything is okay, I ept your apology as well, Mr. Barkeep! It was just a stupid mistake! Ehehehe!" Seeing that the boy''s expression did not change, an awkwardugh escaped his lips. He looked at the youngster with a wry smile, patting the back of the old innkeeper who at this point was barely conscious. Seeing how he was about to faint, the ck-haired man shoved a vial of health potion down his throat. "Here, down it old man, and get better! Ehehehe! You have to exercise a bit, you can''t be this weak! How would you protect your family!" A nervous chuckle escaped his lips once again. The pressure of this youngster''s unfaltering gaze was starting to get heavier as time went on. As his mind cleared out and the cloud of madness was wafted away, he obviously realized the outrageous action he did. He almost killed an innocent man just because of some drink? What was he thinking?! "Ehehe I am truly sorry I am not sure why I reacted that violently. I was stressed out I guess" He muttered as he helped the elder sit down on a chair and backed away slowly. "I really want no trouble. I I will now excuse myself" He muttered as he slowly backed towards the door still being under the heavy, scrutinizing stare of this peculiar youngster. Still, neither side took any action. Aiden watched as the man left the building and ran away. Once he could no longer feel his presence or his men, did his stern outlook eased up. Still being under the duress of the crowd, he stepped over to the innkeeper. His face revealing a look of worry, he crouched down and gently touched the still trembling knees. "Are you okay? Are you hurting anywhere?" He asked. "STEP AWAY FROM MY HUSBAND YOU MONSTER!" A hysterical cry echoed from behind, the wife alerted by themotion finally emerged from the kitchen and rushed to her husband''s aid. When she saw the state of her beloved husband and the same youngster that kept tormenting them in thest couple of days, she almost lost it. Holding a wooden spoon, she charged forward, no longer caring about her health. Her eyes were blurry, hazy with all the tears that gathered, she threw herself between his husband and this ck-haired monster. Maybe because of the guilt of the events of yesterday, or just the pure hatred, but from her stance, her determined look, it was clear that she was ready to even offer her own life if it was necessary. She looked at Aiden with a fierce gaze, filled with desperation and hatred, her only weapon, the wooden spoon raised in a defensive position in front of her body. "LEAVE US ALONE YOU MONSTER!" She howled with desperate anger. Her tears were flying against the wind as she shook her head. Her ''fearsome'' weapon swaying madly in her trembling hands, Aiden wasn''t sure how to react. In the end, he smiled bitterly and nodded. Without saying anything, he turned around and walked towards the stairs, not even looking at his team that has already left the small box they found and almost made their way through the gathered, thick crowd. The middle-aged woman kept waving her kitchen apparatus, following the young man''s movements until his figure left her sight. Only then, did she turn and embrace her husband as sadness and sorrow overcame her. Her silent wailing was the only sound, all chatter died down, nobody said a word, nobody came to the young man''s defense, despite many witnessing what had truly transpired. This strange tranquility onlysted a couple of moments, when a feminine, light voice echoed from the side, quickly filling the surroundings and recing this heavy silence. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL?! MY BROTHER CAME TO THIS OLD MAN''S DEFENSE AND YOU CHASE HIM AWAY INSTEAD OF SAYING THANKS?!" The owner of the exmation, Lily cried out, with a face filled with anger and reddened eyes. She stepped out from the crowd and pointed at the middle-aged woman. "MY BROTHER SAVED YOUR HUSBAND, AND YOU CALL HIM THE MONSTER?! YOU, WHO CALLED THUGS ON US ALL BECAUSE OF A MISTAKE ON YOUR PART?! That''s just nice!" She yelled, her tears quickly filling up her eyes. "He helped you not once, not twice but many times, while what did you DO? HMM? You got his only friend taken away, kidnapped from THIS VERY ce, called your local thugs to bully us, and now, you have the FACE to call him the monster?!" Her words filled the room, echoing through the walls, causing murmurs, silent shushes amidst the crowd. Lily was incredibly mad, upset. Her tiny hands were balled into tightly clenched fists. Her entire body was shaking with the helpless anger she was feeling. Before things could take a wrong turn, and she would do something she might regretter, a gentle, slender hand reached out and gently grabbed her shoulder. "Come, let''s go meet the Young Master, Miss," Galina whispered into her ears from behind. Gently pulling, Galina pulled her Young Master''s upset sister away from the stunned-looking woman and shushing crowd. The two war hounds, feeling their young mistress'' sorrow, growled at the woman before turning away and following them. Drake and Scarlet didn''t say anything, but the cold look in their eyes was more than enough topletely shake the woman and cause her knees to buckle under the heavy emotional baggage. She fell down in her husband''sp, and just kept crying, sobbing desperately. Themotion soon eventually ceased, but the husband and wife remained in their ce for hours ''Young Master, if it''s not too much of a problem, I would stay with the Young Miss tonight. She got upset from what happened and is still crying.'' Whilst he was standing against the window, alone in his room, suddenly the mental channel he shared with Galina activated and her voice came to his mind. Listening to her report, Aiden clenched his fists but released them a momentter. He gave a heavy, long exhale, calming his rapidly beating heart and boiling rage to eptable levels. Like his sister, he was also upset, once again disappointed by the actions of humanity. Though he could somewhat understand the actions of this middle-aged wife, it was still way too hard of an emotional punch, to take it frontally. No matter what he did, he would always remain the same in the eyes of themon folk. With a bitter smile on his face, Aiden shook his head, responding to his little Galina''s request. ''Stay with her. Let me know if she calls for me. Until then, I will stay here.'' He was about to close the channel when Galina spoke again, this time talking about something elsepletely. ''Young Master the others should be returning tonight right?'' Aiden nodded, although there was nobody in the room. He released a small smile, the way she asked was way too cute, innocent. ''Yes. If you would like to talk to them, I can open the portal tomorrow morning and you can return to them.'' ''I would like to stay if that is possible. Could the young master call them out instead? I would like to show them my new self!'' ''Sure That works as well!'' Finally, a small chuckle escaped Aiden''s lips, lighting his previously gloomy mood just a bit. ''Keep my sister safe and let me know if anything happens. Good Night, Galina.'' ''Good Night, Master!'' As he closed down the connection, Aiden heaved one more sigh, but this time, his lips curled upward rather than downward. He shook his head as he looked out from the window, gazing at the gradually thinning crowd down the streets and thest bits of the struggling sun before itpletely ducked below the horizon to rest for the night. Aiden stood at the window, unsure of what to do. He couldn''t rest, nor could he meditate. On one hand, he was too eager, as the system shoulde back in just a bit more than 2 hours On the other hand, he was mentally spent. Weird things kept happening, people acting crazily, losing their mind over meaningless matters Something was not right A dark shadow was looming over the city... Chapter 391 - 391 - The New System (Part 1) [System Upgrade Process In Progress] [Remaining Time Until Completion: 00 Hours 03 minutes 27 seconds] Taking a gander at the system, Aiden walked away from the window and sat down in his preferred spot the center of the room. Although the bed was empty now, he actually felt better on the harder, sturdier ground rather than atop the fluffy cushions. As there were only a couple of minutes left before thisst 50 hours of emptiness would finallye to an end, he slowly closed his eyes, and heaved a couple of longer sighs to clear his head. Ever since arriving in this city, just a bit over 2 days ago, events seemed to speed up. As if something dark was looming over every citizen, people were growing more and more agitated, often reacting in strange, unexpected ways. Just like with the case of the innkeeper and his previously gentle, smiling wife, their nature seemingly shifted, turning from the kind and heartyndlords into this backstabbing, heartless, cruel, and spineless cowards. Selling information about an innocent young man, then calling local thugs on others? While the first could still be exined as being simply conscious and caring about themselves, thetter was simply inconceivable. Why would someone react in such an extreme, excessive manner? Then, the case with Sir Michael Although he was indeed a douche, a sleaze bag, his reaction was also overly exaggerated, almostical. Even if he were jealous of his rtionship with his step-sister, Lily, who would go so far as to try to humiliate the other by asking him to a duel?! If it would have been anybody else, the end result would have been either being crippled, or worse. And for what? Because he was the brother, the RELATIVE of the girl you had your eyes on?! ''Something is not right..'' Aiden sighed, shaking his head. Something strange was going on, something he could not understand or exin, at least not yet. "Did the others also notice this, or am I the only one?" He wondered, not too sure about it. After all, no one in his group reacted weirdly to any of thest two days'' events. "Huah This is too difficult" In the end, Aiden could only sigh, unsure, uncertain about what to do. Should he even bother with what happens to these humans? Sure, he might have been a human in his previous life, but even that seemed to be only an illusion, a temporary stage, an escape his real mother somehow created for him just to survive a disaster At least if what he learned from that underground shrine was the truth. Luckily, hismenting, despairing thoughts were put to an abrupt end when suddenly the long-awaited, bell-like notification sound suddenly rang inside Aiden''s mind. Along with the sound, and the appearance of apletely new image that appeared before his golden eyes, he also felt the warmth of newfound energy spread through his body, seemingly originating from his very own core. Besides refreshing his tired body and easing up the strain on his muscles, the energy also seemed to have a calming effect on his mind. The troubles he was tormented with over a second ago, suddenly felt distant, pointless. The haze of fog swiftly cleared, Aiden''s attention was on the appearing new floating images in front of his eyes. The previously nd, mostly colorless interface now had a light aqua blue background. Though the text, or more precisely the font didn''t change much, it was now thicker, had a creamy white color with a thin ck outline around it. All in all, the previously rigid, cold screen was a bit more pleasing to the eye. *Ding!* [System Upgrade Process Completed!] Only a short notification popped up not giving anything away from the changes, yet, despite its shortness, it was weed with a warm smile by Aiden as he quickly dismissed the note only to be shocked by what greeted him. The previous menu was reced by a brand new, tabr design as if all currently avable features were parts of the same ''folder'' design. Speaking of avable features, there was quite a big change around them as well. [ Status | Lab | Domain | Activities ] The first was still mostly clear, Status was most likely his own details that was before. However, from then on, none of the features were familiar to him. Standing at the second spot, instead of Fusion, now something called ''Lab'' could be read. Although it felt vaguely familiar, it also suggested a much broader scale, something much more than it was before Wandering to the third option, the word Domain glowed, ready to be explored. Like in the case of the Lab, this one suggested something of an expanded feature of the Minions tab from before Although what it was currently, had to wait as there were yet another, new, the fourth tab as well. ''Activities? What is that?'' Aiden muttered inwardly as he read out the title. Although it wasn''t aimed at her, Aiden didn''t need to wait much before he felt the familiar presence of Enya emerging from his soul''s depths and enlightening him. ''[Activities is mostly the collection of new-old background features brought forward for your convenience Aiden. Besides showing you a list of quests that you can now freely pick instead of forcing it on you, it is also the ce where the previous messages and various activities you did will be stored as a sort of log or Journal if you prefer.]'' She exined, giving him a momentary breather before continuing on. ''[Also, just so you won''t be too surprised, there are additional sub-features, an option under these 4 main tabs. There are many changes that happened in thest 50 hours, some even I am not fully aware of as I have yet to process all the new knowledge.]'' ''I see Well, let''s check it out then.'' He responded to her, as he focused on the ''Status'' tab. In the next moment, a green outline appeared over the text, and below in the previously empty, clear aqua background, a series of new options slowly appeared one after another. [ *Status* | Lab | Domain | Activities ] [Status Screen ] [ *Main* | Skills | Analysis | Inventory ] [Name: Aiden Voragon Race: Primal (Evolver) Current Form: Ancient Dragon (Human) Level: 15 Condition: 100% Resource: Soul Power (Level 2) : 1100 SP / 1100 SP System Points: 13050 EXP ****** Attributes: Might: 39 Agility: 38 Spirit: 43 ****** Note: For quicker, faster navigation please use the keywords in the following order: "Status", "Main".] Right from the start, even before going forward, there were quite a few obvious changes on the disyed screen. For starters, the progress towards level up was no longer disyed, not to mention the ranking of the currently active form. These were either removed or hidden from view After that, the wording around his Soul Power was updated, as if suggesting a very far-fetched possibility to Aiden. Also, whilst it seemed mostly unchanged, instead of experiencing his points were now under the category: ''System Points'' whatever that meant. Understanding his confusion, Enya, his trusty guide, spoke up after giving him a couple of seconds to process the details on his own. ''[Your progress is not lost, you still need to work and spend points if you wish to increase your proficiency in any of what you can see, but the system is not disying it by default anymore. Although if you focus on any of the skills, it will be avable. Don''t be afraid, try it out Aiden!]'' Under her urging, Aiden focused his attention on the ''Soul Power'', hoping that his previous progress was notpletely lost. A momentter, just as Enya exined, the text he focused on changing, growing slightlyrger and expanded revealing the previously hidden information. [ Resource: Soul Power (Level 2 - Progress: 95.03%) : 1100 SP / 1100 SP ] Interestingly, the disy now only showed progress in an easily digestible format instead of giving a slew of pointless data. To be honest, Aiden didn''t mind it, the earlier disy while providing all the specifics, was ultimately not that important. As it turns out, he did not lose any of his previous features, it was just disyed in an easier, clearer format. Going back to the disyed text he was currently focusing on, his eyes wandered back to the new category name ''Resource?'' He asked mentally. ''[It is exactly what you were thinking Aiden. As you have seen before, Energyes in many forms. Between its many stages, like those that you have already seen, Mana and Spirit Power, there are many more. Whilst the vtile Mana is one of the lowest-ranked ones, there are many alternative ones on the same level or between it and your Soul Power. Some are unique to some special life forms, some can be used if you interact with it, or assimte it into your core.]'' Giving it only a momentary breather, she continued, her next words shocking Aiden. ''[Also, just so you are aware, your Soul Power is not the ultimate, highest of all. There are many above it for you to explore and learn.]'' Chapter 392 - 392 - The New System (Part 2) ''[Also, just so you are aware, your Soul Power is not the ultimate, highest of all. There are many above it for you to explore and learn.]'' ''What do you mean? What other types of energy are there? In what way are they considered ''better''? Can I obtain them in some way? What will that mean to my Primal origin?'' After such an information bomb was dropped, Enya had to suffer the relentless barrage of questions after questions from the passionate Aiden. The thought that there was an even better, stronger more ''potent'' source of power out there, strangely excited him. He wanted to grab, to obtain, to make it his own. Even he himself was surprised by his own sudden outburst. Was he getting more and more power-hungry? He didn''t know, but he was sure that the mere thought of a more ''potent'' source was a very thrilling, tantalizing idea to him. ''Anyway There''s still a lot to check'' He sighed a momentter, shaking his head lightly, and shifting his attention back to the floating screen in front of him, where he quickly tabbed through the other three sub-options under the ''Main'' category. As expected, for Skills, he was greeted with a simplified, slick, new look at his avable skillset. Still, it did carry a couple of surprises. [Name: Aiden Voragon ****** Innates: Dragon''s Wrath (Level 2), King''s Grip (Level 1), Shapeshifter (Level 1), Mystic Martial Arts (Level 2), Dark Gaze (Level 1) ****** Skills: Primal Absorb (Level 3), Hunt (Level 4), Underwater Breathing (-), Swimming (-), Martial Arts (Level 4), Meditation (-), Axe Mastery (Level 1), Soul Absorption (-), Primal Restoration (Level 1), Dark Essence (Level 1), Language Skills: Common, Goblin, Orcish ****** Effects: Physical Resistance (Level 1), Fall Resistance (Level 1), Water Resistance (Level 1), Poison Resistance (Level 4), Mental Resistance (Level 1), Magic Resistance: Dark (Level 2) ****** Avable Forms: Mushroom Bug - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%) Cave Viper - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%) Worgen - Mutated - Tier 2 (Mastery: 100%) Mountain Orc - Clean - Tier 2 (Mastery: ?) Ancient Dragon/Human - Clean - Tier 3 (Mastery: ?), Primal Goblin Dragonlord (Tier 3) - (Mastery: ?) ] Interestingly, this page now also gave a quick list of all the avable currently avable forms he possessed, even listing their statuses, ranking, and their current Mastery levels. Also, just like previously, even though the details were hidden, once Aiden focused on any of the particr skills, the text itself would slightly increase in size and the previously seen details of the current progress towards the next level would be shown. Taking a quick look at his skills, he had to admit that he was still way too impulsive duringbat and relied mostly on his Draconic skill set rather than anything else. ''Huah I''m still too immature it seems'' Aiden sighed, selecting the third tab under the Main category, Analysis. Just as he was about to move on, he noticed two new skills that he had never seen before, whilst one of his oldest and most important abilities was now nowhere to be found. Still, instead of panicking, he reminded himself of the small fact that his [Dark Sense], probably his most important ability to date was ready to be upgraded to something new because of his suddenpletion of the acquired Dark Essence back in the underground temple. ''Oh right I wonder, is this ''Dark Gaze the new ability? I dunno It sounds different Ominous somehow.'' He muttered mentally, as he focused his attention on his newest innate ability. [Dark Gaze: The power of darkness enhances your sight, giving you the ability to see inplete and utter darkness without the use of any sources of light. As an upgraded version of [Dark Sense], it provides the same ''mapping'' features as its predecessor with the added benefit of being untraceable at the lower level energy sources than it was used with. It also has the added ability to delve deeper into the souls of the detected life forms and automatically analyze some preliminary information about their strengths and weaknesses.] As for Dark Essence, it was quite cryptic in its description, only providing a short sentence. [Dark Essence: The power of darkness courses through your very soul, making you gradually more ustomed to it] ''Woah This'' Aiden was astounded, stunned as he read the description of his newest skill. If he understood the description correctly, he gained some form of inspection-type ability. He should be able to understand more information from those that he detected and what was even better, was that it should bepletely invisible, unnoticeable to those using Mana, no matter how strong of a caster they were!'' Quickly, he focused some of his [Spirit Power], and like before, he sent out a pulse of energy, letting it pass by the wooden walls and explore the surrounding rooms. Like before, in a couple of moments, he could feel a slew of information appear in his mind, slowly building up an image of all the other rooms and what their residents were up to in his surroundings. Just as he expected, he only detected signals from two rooms. One to his left where his sister was now lying on the bed with Galina sleeping at her side. However, at the next instant, his eyes went wide as new, previously unseen information appeared over the two green dots in his minimap. The small tooltip window frames held only a bit of information but it was already quite incredible. [Source: Lily ???? Power: Light, Nature, Martial Arts Threat Level: N/A Affiliation: Friendly, Family] Looking over the other window, he was greeted with even more shocking revtions. [Source: Galina Voragon Power: Primal, Light, Nature, Martial Arts Threat Level: N/A Affiliation: Kin, Family] ''Galina Vordragon Kin and Family?! What the'' He mumbled as he read Galina''s information in his system''s minimap. ''Just what happened to her during her evolution?!'' ''[I would not want to ruin the surprise Although you already have a pretty good guess in your mind.]'' Enya''s teasing, a chuckling voice resounded in his mind, earning Aiden another headache. If his hunch is correct, Galina evolved into something unexpected something that should have been impossible. Sighing, he looked away from the room, towards the room opposite of his, where his friend Drake was already lying on his bed. Just like with Lily and Galina, as soon as his focus shifted over his signal on the map, his small card appeared in the next instant. [Source: Drake Aquina / Draco Draquilea] Power: Light, Fire, Martial Arts, Sword Master, Royal Bloodline Threat Level: Minimal Affiliation: Friendly] Just as he expected, Drake was mostly a sword fighter with some added small knowledge around fire and surprisingly in the light-based magical attacks. Also, for some reason, his royal bloodline was considered a power ''Hmm He may be hiding a couple of secrets Interesting.'' Aiden muttered, not minding that his friend wasn''tpletely honest. After all, he himself was hiding many of his own. His gaze only lingered on his friend for a second longer before it shifted to the room to its left, opposite of Lily''s. Scarlet was like his brother, already in her bed, probably sleeping, resting for the day. Her title card, however, brought quite a few surprises for Aiden. [Source: Scarlet ???? Draquilea Power: Martial Arts, Dagger Master, Assassin, Royal Bloodline, Bloodlust, ???? Threat Level: ???? Affiliation: Friendly] Scarlet''s card wasn''tplete, there were many sections, even in her name'' that held question marks instead of providing useful info. Also, it seems there were more secrets tucked away, dormant in her thin body that caused the system to be unable to correctly gauge the actual threat she meant. Who was she exactly? Wasn''t she the little sister of Drake? "Hmm These two are getting more and more interesting" He muttered, notpletely sure how to react to these new revtions at all. Luckily both were considered as friends, even by the system, and did not hold any ill intention, or malicious thoughts against him or his family. Still, until he could correctly gauge all of his secrets and could trust them more, he should be wary and aware of the two. In the end, he could only shelve these thoughts and move on. He couldn''t grow really suspicious of the two and suspect ill-y from them. After all, even the system considered them as friendlies and was disyed on the map with green color. Adding to that, both of them were always honest, -sometimes even too honest even-, only showing their trustworthy nature and desire to build a friendly rtionship. After thinking everything through, Aiden shook his head and decided to move on. He quickly navigated to the third sub-option and watched as the screen in front of his eyes had begun to change. He did not expect anything new, apart from the same information that was previously tucked into the end of his Status Screen in its separate, new section. [Name: Aiden Voragon Rune Magic - Current Progress: 97%, Alchemy (Basic) - Current Progress: 52%, Sword Mastery - Current Progress: 20%, Wind Magic - Current Progress: 10 %, Spirit Magic - Current Progress: 1% ] Just as he expected, there was nothing too surprising here. Though it was still a wee change to have this moved to its own section, making it easier to digest and keep track of. Giving it onest quick look, Aiden gave a quick check over his inventory before finally focusing on thepletely new feature of his System Screen, the ''Lab'' option Chapter 393 - 393 - Curiosity And Despair Taking a quick, hurried nce over at his own System Inventory, unfortunately, Aiden''s eyes skipped over a very important fact Orck thereof Focusing on his already burning, curious mind, Aiden selected the ''Lab'' feature, the second option from the revised System Interface. [ Status | *Lab* | Domain | Activities ] Instantly, he was greeted with a vaguely familiar, yet at the same time new screen. At the same time, it also confirmed his suspicions that this new interface was what the ''Fusion'' menu had been upgraded to. [ Fusion | The Workshop ] The list was slightly shorter than before with only two options. One being the already known feature of the system, while the other, something he had never seen before, was somethingpletely anew. Although he suspected that even Fusion might have some slight changes, having no real desire to experiment instead he swiftly selected the unknown, newly emerged feature. Interestingly, unlike anywhere else in the system, he was greeted with a notification once he selected it. This, caused Aiden''s eyebrows to crease with surprise, as such a thing was uncanny, not resembling the old system at all. Even the text seemed to carry a bit more than just the usual in, informative tone. As if, as if it was something more [ Fusion | *The Workshop* ] [Wee to the Workshop, a newly unlocked feature of the Lab! Like before with Fusion, this option will also let the host experiment, but instead of forms, the host will be able tobine skills to form new ones! A reminder: As with everything else,bining skills WILL MAKE your source skills to be lost, whilst the end result, as the host will see in a moment, is not guaranteed! For higher chances, the host is advised to work on increasing the respective source skill levels before venturing forward!] ''What the A warning? Enya, did you add this?'' He asked as he took a second look at the strangely friendly warning. Who added this? Did the system really have a conscience all this time? Or was it something else? A few seconds of silence passed before Aiden could hear Enya''s voice. Unfortunately, though, she couldn''t shed light on this new mystery at all. ''[Sorry Aiden, it wasn''t me. Also, I cannot provide you with an answer. There''s some strange resistance from the system on this subject.]'' ''Resistance? What do you mean?'' He asked, confused about her response. ''[I am not sure, to be perfectly honest As the appointed System Guide, my purpose is to serve and assist you, I should be able to ess and query the database directly Yet, regarding this topic I am hitting a wall, I cannot help I am afraid.]'' She responded to Aiden, with a tinge of frustration in her voice. Being unable to fulfill her role was not something she could easily ept. Her purpose in this ''second'' life was to assist the boy, Aiden her master, her ''Huah Alright, I guess'' Aiden heaved a sigh, shrugging his shoulders. In the end, though he kept the warning in the forefront of his mind, he still dismissed the messages and checked what this new feature could hold. After all, as long as he didn''tmit, he should be able to back out, just like in the case of Fusion right? As soon as he cleared the messages, a new, yet vaguely familiar interface greeted Aiden. Like before, a 3-step guide assisted the host to get over the probably quiteplex process and ease it down so even a novice could understand the basics. Standing at the center of the screen, atop the aqua blue background, a short white text with a dotted line appeared before Aiden''s exotic, golden eyes. [Please select the first skill or effect you wish to use. Please keep in mind that only non-unique skills/effects can be selected as an offering!] Below the text a dotted line blinked, inviting Aiden to focus on it, which, after he did, changed, and a drop-down menu appeared with the list of a variety of skills. Strangely, or probably ording to the text, only those that had levels were avable. Scrolling through the list, he wasn''t certain what to select. None of them seemed to be especially interesting, none sparked his interest, his curiosity. In the end, his eyesnded on the ''Water Resistance (Level 1)'' passive effect, that he gained way back when he first arrived at this strange, fantastical world. Like with his other resistances, he had no real sense if they were actually doing anything at all. He was in battles before, he was hurt before yet never really seen an increase in any of them. In the end, he decided that it would be perfect for experimenting with the feature. Also, he wasn''t nning to actually go through with it, so there would be no loss at all, right? Once selected, the screen shed, the text updated and changed, the process advanced to the second question. [Please select the second skill or effect you wish to use. Please keep in mind that only non-unique skills/effects can be selected as an offering!] Like before, a list, now one option shorter, appeared in front of Aiden''s eyes as he focused his attention on the dotted line. Scrolling through he was stumped on what to actually select. Selecting another effect wasn''t that interesting, even if it would probably be a wise choice. Instead, he was keenly interested in selecting one of his actively used abilities For example, what would happen if he were tobine the Resistance with [Primal Absorb]? Would he lose his defining trait as a Primal? Or would something new, and unexpected happen? The thought was enticing, yet, Aiden did not dare to take such a risky step. Instead, he nced over at the other skills he had. [Axe Mastery] while it was avable was just in stupid. He couldn''t see anything usefuling out of it. [Dark Essence], was way too cryptic, and Aiden had this feeling that he shouldn''t waste the skill. [Primal Restoration] was yet another ability he gained through his advancement as a Primal being, a defining trait of his own existence, he wasn''t willing to y with it. In the end, he was left with either picking [Martial Arts], which while it still had its purpose it was clearly overshadowed by its upgraded innate version. Still, the martial basic fighting knowledge and even experience it provided still made it a priceless treasure trove. Ultimately he was left with [Hunt]. A skill that while it held its usefulness, wasn''t something he would be too bothered about if he were to lose it. He could just regain it, it is not like the memories of his days spent in the forest or even in the pocket world would be forever lost Taking onest look at the list, he reaffirmed his decision and chose the [Hunt (Level 4)] skill. As soon as he did, just like before the skill changed once again, bringing him to thest step in thebining process. [Selected skills for fusion: A) Water Resistance (Level 1) B) Hunt (Level 4) Analyzing Options Please wait] As the screen appeared, itpletely blocked all other menu options, leaving Aiden with no other choice but to wait until the System was finished with its analyzation. Thankfully, it didn''t take too long, barely a minute, before the screen shed again and updated. [Selected skills for fusion: A) Water Resistance (Level 1) B) Hunt (Level 4) Chance for sess: 59% Possible Results: Hunt (Level 5), Water Resistance (Level 5), ????, ????. Proceeding in 15] ''Wait.. What?'' Aiden looked at the screen with shock. A short countdown emerged, effectively tying his hands and giving him no option to back out but to go along with his selection. What was this? A sense of panic started to overwhelm Aiden''s mind, with reflex, he instantly called out to the only person that he hoped could help him in this predicament. ''Enya! HELP!'' Not even a moment passed as her agitated voice resounded in his mind. ''[I am trying, but I can''t do anything! The system is forcing it on you on its own!]'' However, the countdown mercilessly continued, not giving them a chance to debate over the matter. The timer reached zero, and the screen disappeared from Aiden''s eyes in the next instant. For a single moment, everything turned silent. Aiden could not see anything, it was as if the System that was tied to his soulpletely vanished. Even his guide, Enya, Aiden could not feel her presence in his mind at all. With a growing worry, he called out. ''Enya? Are you there?'' Yet he could feel no presence, nor did he receive a response. Seconds turned to minutes as time continued to pass, increasing Aiden''s dread as he was left alone in his room,menting on his childish curiosity and the disaster he brought upon himself. Luckily, before he could fall even deeper into his own growing despair, suddenly the familiar presence emerged, a weary, tired, but still, the happy-sounding voice of his beloved guide came to his mind. Chapter 394 - 394 - Minions And Sub-world ''[Huah Aiden, try not to do something like this again. At least, not until you wait for me to check it out first Thanks to Ioris, you lucked out this time but who knows what would happen next]'' Although he was berated, the only thing that registered in Aiden''s mind was not the lecture but something else ''Lucked out?'' Aiden asked with a befuddled expression. Luck? How could whatever that transpired be considered- However, before he could finish his innerment, the system''s screen reappeared once again, giving an answer to Enya''s vague exnation. [Selected skills for fusion: A) Water Resistance (Level 1) B) Hunt (Level 4) Chance for sess: 59% Possible Results: Hunt (Level 5), Water Resistance (Level 5), ????, ????. Process Sessful! The Skills [Water Resistance (Level 1) and Hunt (Level 4) have been fused together and merged into a new one. The skill: [Aquatic Predator (Level 1) has been created!] Without wasting any time, Aiden focused his attention on the newly acquired skill, to see what it was actually about. [Aquatic Predator (Level 1): The keen senses of the fearsome hunters of the depth of seas and oceans course through your veins. The skill passively enhances your senses while underwater gives you passive resistance to the ever-increasing pressure of the dark, unexplored depths. Being a fused skill, the skill retains the knowledge of its parent traits, providing a minimal amount of resistance against water-based magical attacks and the knowledge of a fearsome predator, a natural-born hunter of the wilds.] Reading through the text, Aiden was stunned for quite a while. In the end, he had to admit that he truly lucked out with this one. Still, he now had an understanding of the Workshop, and, not too keen on ying fate any more, he quickly closed the feature and navigated back to the menu. ncing over the window and seeing as it was still the height of the night, Aiden rxed and focused on the third, and probably most important update his system has most likely received. The Domain, which was probably an updated and expanded term for the Minions feature he had previously. As he selected the feature the familiar screen of what he had seen once before had appeared for him once again. [ Status | Lab | *Domain* | Activities ] [ *Info* | Manage | World | Tasks ] The first two sub-options were the same as before however, there was now a new, third and even a third sub-feature unlocked. By default, just like before, the information tab was presented, showing the summary of his current ''army''. Still, there were significant changes to the system [ Minions: 4 / 100 Currently Active Minions 1 / 4 Other Subjects: 489 At [UNNAMED] Minion World: Minion Quality: 3 x Tier 3 (clean) 1 x Tier 2 (clean) Current Hierarchical Composition: Citizen: 436 Soldiers: 53 Officers: 4 Note: Subjects are the epted inhabitants of the [UNNAMED] Minion World, and are not under the direct control of the system and thus not counted in the Minion Count. The host will need to inject his energy into their cores and thus through transformation new members could be added. ] Surprisingly, his previous 10 limit was massively increased, now sporting 10 times its previous size, proudly standing at a whopping 100 limit. Also, to Aiden''s great surprise, there was a count of all the other ''inhabitants'', the orcs that migrated into the world through his help were also disyed on the screen. Apart from that, not much has changed. Though it was obvious that the system wanted him to name this new space, this new world that was slowly turning from a lifeless void into a real safe haven, Aiden wasn''t sure about what to use. ''Hmm I should probably ask the others. I should be able to contact them now But before that'' With great anticipation, Aiden selected the second tab under the Domain. For a while now, he was dying to learn more about her dear little Galina''s state. What has she transformed into, why was the System referring to her as his ''kin''? Could he have shred his goblin origins and has evolved to something simr to him? Could she be As the information slowly appeared in front of Aiden, and he selected Galina under the appearing list, Aiden''s eyes went wide with shock. [Minion Details: Name: Galina Voragon Status: Sleeping Race: Lesser Primal: Goblin Origin (Tier 3+) (clean) ss: Priest Level: 12 Condition: 100% Soul Power: 220 Mana: 0 Experience: 0 Might: 10 Agility: 8 Spirit: 18 Skills: Language. Common (Lvl -), Language: Orc (Lvl -), Language: Goblin (Lvl -), Martial Arts (Lvl 1), Mace Mastery (Lvl 2), Magic Proficiency (Lvl -), Light Magic (Lvl 3), Nature Magic (Lvl 2), Dragonlord''s Grace (Lvl 1), Primal Absorb: Basic (Level 1 - Restricted), Silent Casting (Level 1), Primal Spellcaster (Level 1) Effects: Touch of the Primal (Lvl -), Primal Core (Lvl 2), Magic Resistance (Level 2), Devoted Follower (Level -), Primal Kin (Level -)] The changes in her statistics were massive, to say the least. Not just her huge increase in all of her parameters, his increased proficiency in Light and even Nature Magic, but his vague, new abilities as well. Silent Spellcasting being quite self-exnatory, Aiden didn''t waste too much time on it, Primal Spellcaster on the other hand, after giving it a quick, more detailed look, was exactly what he guessed. The strange runic symbols she drew during the battle during the day wasing from this. It wasn''t only a more potent, and swifter form of casting spells, it also gave her a generic understanding of the ancient and forgotten knowledge of Runes of all kinds. Though she couldn''t read and understand all of them, she could at the very least identify its origins; were they elven, dwarven, or perhaps something else? This was already an incredibly powerful skill. So powerful in fact, that Aiden was speechless and more worriedly, clueless as to where it actually came from. Did the System grant it to her? If so, how? Or perhaps, were all of her gains something that came from inside him? Either thought carried heavy thoughts and consequences. Something, that Aiden didn''t want to dwell too much, at least not now. Looking at the end of the list, Devoted Follower was a kind of weird passive ability, giving the holder of the effect a natural all-around boost to all her abilities as long as he or she was in a 15-meter radius around him. Primal Kin, however, was once again, a very strange and cryptic passive, its effects were not clear. [Primal Kin: A newly emerged member of the once forgotten and lost ancient race] Apart from these, the newest detail, that he almost missed was the new ''Status'' parameter, that after checking it with Roas, Gob, and Glohn seemed to be a short, one-word description of the current state or activity of what all of his servants were doing. As he already confirmed, Galina was obviously resting and keepingpany to the saddened Lily. However, what was much more interesting was the others. Roas and Glohn were in a ''Meeting'', while Gob was ''Training''. As the night was still at its prime, and there was ample time to spend till morning, Aiden decided to stop what he was doing and instead do something he had not before. Heck, he wasn''t even certain that he would be able to do so! Yet, he wanted to at least give it a try. With the thought of visiting his minion''s special space lingering in his mind, Aiden called out for his guide. ''Enya, do you know if I could visit this Minion World myself? Or is that perhaps not something I can do?'' He asked mentally, hoping that his wish was feasible. Enya''s response came after a couple of seconds. ''[You can Aiden. The portal you can open from the system will also allow you to cross over. In fact, through the system, in a way, you are the owner, the sole god of that whole world. Once you enter, you will be able to use the ''Domain'' tab to customize, reshape, create or destroy whatever you like. However, keep in mind that once you reach a specific level, and convert the hidden sub-world to a real one, other entities will be able to sense it and find it.] Enya gave a very grave-sounding, ominous warning right from the go. Thinking a bit over her words, Aiden couldn''t help but ask. ''If that is the case, why would I bother with reaching this ''checkpoint''. Why would I want to put those that seek safe refuge to unknown threats? I am not that stupid'' ''[Although you have never checked, nor asked, but the subspace was not just magically created. The system only used the authority given to it by Ioris to upy an empty section of the endless void and shield it from the outside world. Slowly, using the godly divinity avable, it reshaped a basic surface and once you reached a satisfactory power level, it injected your own energy into it, converting it from the dead wastnds to the emerald meadow that you have seen thest time.] She gave only a momentary pause in her speech before continuing to shed light to even more shocking news. ''[Also]'' Chapter 395 - 395 - Haven ''[Also, just so you are aware, that makes you that ne''s sole god. In other words, your own Primal Energy birthed life into that lifeless ne and is the reason for its continued development.]'' Enya continued. ''W-What does this mean?'' Aiden asked with an utterly shocked expression. His mind was already in shambles, the gravity of the news Enya kept throwing at him was beyond what he seemed capable of processing. Still, there was a dangerous thought lingering in his mind, that he dared not to ept nor delve too much on it, lest it bes the truth. Still, Enya was merciless in this regard. Her next words confirmed it. ''[It means that you Aiden are not just the sole survivor. Your true origins go beyond a simple Primal, be it the son of the Guardian or not. Aiden, you could already feel it, just your mind couldn''t ept it, take it as the truth, even if the clues were always there. Right from the very beginning.]'' She gave a second of pause in her speech, giving her Master a moment to try toprehend the thought. She continued a bitter though. ''[Aiden, you your core is not simple. It]'' ''It of divine origin?'' Finally, finishing her sentence, Aiden sighed defeated. ''How though?'' ''[I]'' Suddenly she turned silent, her presence dimmed for a brief moment before she returned. Her tone, however, was different than before. Much calmer t. ''[Everything will be revealed as you find more of the hidden shrines and absorb the memories prepared for you.]'' The strange change in her tone and mannerism reminded Aiden of the past happenings of the same. She exined before that there are more behind the scenes than what is visible, and that there was a higher power governing the events. Was this ''power'' this True God, Ioris? Or was it someone or maybe something else? It was impossible to tell for now, but at the very least, Aiden was now certain that everything that happened was orchestrated and managed by some higher entity. The disaster of the past that made his kins, the Primals vanish, thest saving grace that made her mother sacrifice herself, her soul in exchange for his safety his father''sst stand, that vicious battle against all the other gods'' champions. Still, ultimately even that failed to stop the disaster from unfolding, to have their legacy be forgotten, his race being only a mystery, a myth shrouded by the fog of centuries. Discussing for a bit more, eventually, Aiden confirmed that he could safely travel to this other ne, and check everything out. However, what was even more surprising is that Enya confirmed that there was now a strange time dtion effect going on. The sub-dimension, this slice of the void filled with primordial, primal energies had changed, evolved in a vastly more mysterious manner than what even the system expected. What was even stranger, is that it seemed that the time dtion was not just a one-time change, but a continuously evolving effect. Based on the system''s calction, for the moment, a bit more than 2 hours, or to be precise 141 minutes seemed to equal 1 full hour in reality. This gave way to a couple of ideas, for which Aiden now really needed to visit this other world and check it out for himself. He needed to confirm that like Enya mentioned he does have full control over the world there and could alter it to his liking. He also wanted to see his servants, what was Roas, Glohn meeting about, or what was Gob doing exactly. They were his officers no, his newly joined family. Being forcefully separated due to the system''s upgrade was already heavily weighing on Aiden''s mind. So, knowing that he still had at least 2 more hours before he would need to start ''waking up'', he would be able to spend 4 full hours in the new world. More than he needed toplete his goals. With these thoughts in mind, Aiden stood up from the floor and stretched out his right palm. From his fingertips, golden threads of energy spread out, stretched around in the air in front of him, rapidly merging into one and forming a gate, an arched doorway. Like before, the portal, as it soundlessly appeared, was unlike the one''s Granny, Number 3 and the other powerful entities seemed to be used to. For example, its surface wasn''t dark, it didn''t look like a viscous fluid of eerie darkness, but like the surface of crystal clear, calm water. Like a mirror or a window to be more exact, it provided a look at the other side. In another world. Like Aiden could already see before, emerald-green, beautiful grass stretched across the in, painting the scenery for a picturesque meadow in front of his eyes. Though, there were some obvious differences from before. The previously empty scenery was now filled with life. In the distance, small yurt-like huts darted towards the sky, robust-looking green and brownish colored figures could be seen living, working, already amodated to their new, and dream-like peaceful lives. They finally had a ce that they could call home that wasn''t tainted by the greed of humanity. Yes, there might be some challenges, like them trying to calm their battle-hardened chaotic natures. Orcs, though considered violent by the outside world, even going as far as some were questioning that if they should be considered as one of the ''intelligent species'' of Eora and just refer to them as bipedal, ferocious, bloodthirsty monsters. In reality, looking from outside this magical window, they were vastly different. To the right of the stretched-out vige, a vast field was being cultivated by dozens of these bulky ''monsters''. Also, what was a surprise to Aiden, but very weed at the same time, was the change from before, the small river that crossed across the beautiful meadow, injecting even more life to the evolving ne. The orc''s vige being settled at its riverbed, a simrly sized group as the farmers on the right were working, building at its side, while some even seemed to be ''Fishing? Are there fish in the river?'' Aiden muttered as he kept watching the scenery with a growing curiosity. ''[Yes. Life is constantly evolving, at an incredibly fast pace. Once you travel to the other side, dart your gaze to the far right. You will find a forest, not too dissimr to the one you grew up in Aiden. Once you start exploring it, you mighte to some surprises.]'' Enya''s voice suddenly resounded in his mind, giving him yet another shocking revtion. Enya wasn''t just spewing empty air before. Like she exined before, life has truly been injected in this still nameless ne, this growing world, safe haven Thinking about it more, Aiden suddenly smiled. He finally found a fitting name. ''Enya Let''s call this ce Haven.'' He called out with an emerging smile curving his lips as he stepped into the portal, causing small distortions to ripple across the portal''s previously calm, clear surface. Another momentter, Aiden''s figure vanished from reality, as it traveled across another ne of existence. A safe, new world, a small slice of peace. A Haven. Chapter 396 - 396 - Lordly Greeting Shattering the tranquility of the calm, silent grassy in, suddenly a humming sound, a muffled noise could be heard. Another momentter, seemingly the air itself shattered as a distorted echo reverberated to the distance, quickly grabbing the attention of its clueless inhabitants. A tear started to emerge, golden-colored that rapidly grew, forming into what in a couple of seconds now looked like a gate. As the gate appeared, a youthful, long-ck-haired figure emerged. His exotic, golden eyes slowly scanned the horizon, taking his time to take in all the sights that, just a brief moment ago, seemed nothing more than a dream, a scene from his imagination. As his eyesnded on the approaching figures, suddenly he was reminded of a small mistake, a blunder he might have made. "Damn, I forgot that I''m not in my goblin lord form" He muttered to himself. Waving his hand, his figure transformed in a brief instant. Utilizing his [Shapeshifter] skill to its maximum effects, his figure rapidly changed. A few extra pounds of flesh appeared over his waist and on his limbs, as if a bucket of paint was thrown at him, his skin tone darkened, donning the familiar dark green palette that he had back in the forest. At the same time, he removed the imaginary shackles, and no longer restrained his aura. As if an explosion, a massive, fierce wind, akin to a sudden whirlwind, a tornado appeared around his figure, and descended on this world''s unsuspecting residents. Instantly, as they felt the familiar power, the approaching group''s faces brightened up. From the heavy, cold looks, now each donned a thin smile, their grips over their weapons eased up, as they continued thetter half of their momentous rush to wee their lord. At the same time, back in the vige, three particr figure''s faces instantly darted towards the direction of where this neer suddenly appeared. Immediately, all three of them left what they were currently doing and rushed towards his direction, surprising those that they were with. No matter what the situation was, their sole focus was now to reunite with their Young Master. Everything else was secondary to this very important matter. Taking arge gasp of the clean, energy-rich air, Aiden sighed with a delighted expression. "Woah The air is so good!" He eximed, already feeling its refreshing, restorative effects. Like in the underground altar below the tower, the air in this ce was rich in [Soul Power], the higher form of energy, the natural essence of the Primals. He was certain that meditating in this ce would bring incredible benefits, making his desire to create a secluded training space all the more clear in his mind. As he was engrossed in his own thoughts, his dreams, he didn''t notice that slowly but surely a growing group of figures approached his way. A few momentster, however, a familiar, horse, gruff voice woke him up from his daylight reverie. "[Orc] Young Master! You came!" Opening his eyes, he was greeted with the smiling giant orc chieftain, Roas''s delighted-looking face. On his right, a bulky, a simrly bulky figure, Glohn stood at attention. On Roas''s left, a much younger-looking young man andpared to the other two, quite thin-looking Gob was standing straight, his spear held firmly at his right hand, whilst he was trying to keep a straight face and forcing the emerging happy smile down. "[Goblin] We greet the Young Master!" The ex-goblins eximed loudly, greeting their one and only Master and the True Lord of all living beings in this world. Upon his words, the group of orcs, and to Aiden''s surprise, goblins knelt down on the ground, prostrating themselves down on the ground. "[Orc] Wee to the Lord!" "[Goblin] Wee to the Lord!" Their loud voices quickly reached the vige residents, causing, even more, to emerge from their huts and kneel down on the ground following the others. Soon, before Aiden could wake up from his stunned shock, a sea of bodies wereying down, greeting their leader, their lord with their passionate, ted reverence. Still, such a thing, a wee was quite ufortable to Aiden. He wasn''t sure how to react, at first. Luckily his self-proimed guard, Roas understood the meaning behind his wry look, and with a slight nod, turned towards the prostrating crowd. His face turned fierce as he bellowed, his voice filling the heavenly ins. "[Orc] RISE AND RETURN TO YOUR DUTIES!" After that, he turned towards his Young Master, he stepped closer to him before bowing and giving another greeting. "[Orc] Wee once again, Young Master. If I''m correct, this is your first time here, right? Would you allow us to give you a tour of the ce?" "[Orc] Ehrm Sure, guide me through." Aiden responded, his eyes fixating on the makeshift, hastily erected buildings behind them. "For example, how did you create all this And" He looked at the two ex-goblin servants of his. "How did you all decide to live together in one bigmunity?" "[Goblin] As for the first question, I will let Brother Roas to answer, but for the second one" Grabbing the opportunity Glohn spoke up with a happy smile. "At first, as you would expect, we, and by we I mean the goblins had quite a bit of resentment towards the already settled orcs. It took us three quite a bit of effort and discussions to slowly, but surely work out the lingering differences." "[Orc] For now, the orcs and goblins are taking up each a half of the vige, while a council made of both races make all the decisions together. Still, thankfully this ce is peaceful so the only problems we need to work out is the problems we ourselves create." Roas chuckled. "[Orc] I see." Aiden nodded listening to their exnations, before turning his attention on the stiff little goblin, Gob. "[Goblin] And what about you? Did you manage to settle in? Your sister is missing you, although I bet you wouldn''t recognize her now!" "[Goblin] Huh?" His nervousness instantly vanished as he listened to his master''s words, only to be reced by the emerging shock and astoundment, Gob couldn''t understand what his Young Master was talking about. A momentter, however, his face shed a look of worry as he gazed back at Aiden. "[Goblin] Galina? What happened to her? Is she alright? Did someone hurt her?!" In his growing agitated state, the young ex-goblin fired question after question. It took quite a while before his nervousness was finally pacified, and the group could finally leave the beautiful but mostly empty grassy ins and slowly make their way towards the new co-habited settlement. The first vige probably in history, where races shunned and termed as ''Monsters'' by the outside world could coexist and live together with peace. Two races that the world at the other side of the portal, thought of nothing more than bloodthirsty beasts, and lustful predators, the reason for the ruin, managed to carve a small slice for themselves from this happiness and make it their own. There were no traces of the aforementioned violence. There were no vile, carnal beasts here. Only a beaten and battered race of survivors trying to live their lives. Chapter 397 - 397 - Gupta "[Orc] We named this vige Gupta, which is abination of the orcish Gurth (AN: meaning New Day) and the goblin Nopta (AN: roughly trantes to: Hope). Combined I guess it roughly trantes to ''A New Day, New Hope?''" Roas exined as they passed through the vige borders. Unlike outside there were no walls erected, at least not yet, nor were any gates marking the borders of the vige''s territory. The reason? There was no need to. They were the first arrivals, the first settlers in this new ne of existence. Apart from the fishes in the nearby river and the emerging animals in the forest, there were no real threats. The threats of raiding parties of the other, greedy races, bandits, robbers, or violent aggressors of any kind werepletely non-existent. They did find traces of predators in the forest, but their habitats were not threatened, and with the sumptuous food source of the smaller mammals, they did not attack the vige during nights. "Gupta" Aiden repeated the name, instantly growing fond of it. "[Orc] I like it! Gupta is Haven''s first settlement!" He then turned to look at the other two of his servants, walking at his sides. "You guys are the first pioneers of this new dream of ours!" "[Goblin] Haven? Is that the name of this world, Young Master?" Gob asked with a curious gaze. After all, the people were indeed wondering if there was a name simr to Eora, the outside world. "[Orc] Yes, it has. Haven, as this ce, will serve as the safe ce for those exiled, shunned, or disdained. I may be idealistic, or even childish, but I want this ce to be the sturdy, imprable fortress that would stand against the taint and corruption of the outside." Aiden exined with a warm, friendly look. Although he was passionate about this dream of his, he wasn''t aplete idiot. He was aware that as more and more people will settle down in this ce, eventually the same issues as the outside world would pop up. It was inevitable after all. However, this is where the other crucial factor that Enya informed him about woulde into y. Unlike in the outside world, he indeed should have the power and authority to do something about it; he was the assigned ''administrator'', with a supposedlyplete set of tools. "[Orc] Don''t say that, Young Master! It is not a childish dream! We all want the same, and pledge to the same cause!" "[Goblin] Yes, Young Master! In fact, not just us three, but everyone that already lives here can make the same promise!" With a worried look on their faces, Roas and Glohn eximed, fervently thumping their chests in the process. Gob also nodded at their exmations, also standing behind the cause wholeheartedly. The passionate stance of his servants made Aiden give a heartfelt smile. "[Orc] Thanks guys, I really appreciate it" He then looked away, trying to find something to change the subject, lest he would actually shed a tear and embarrass himself in front of his own people! Looking at therger, central structure, a wooden, single-floor building stood out he asked whilst pointing at it. "[Orc] Anyway what is that building?" Following where their Master was pointing at, Roas exined. "[Orc] It is what we call [Vige Hall], Young Master. Since we don''t have an appointed leader, but rather a council to make the decisions, we made a neutral-looking structure at the ce where the Vige Leader''s hut would be." "[Goblin] As Brother Roas mentioned, it is designed to be neutral. It was either this, or we would have to sit down and figure out a clever way to merge goblin AND orc cultures into one." Glohn added. "[Goblin] While many would ultimately want to see thate into fruition, for now, this was the best option, Young Master. Unless, of course, you would like to make a change to it!" Gob joined in, jumping on the chance to offer the Master the option to give the final say." While the offer would have been a great idea to test out the system in this way, Aiden gently shook his head, declining the chance. This was something he shouldn''t force himself into, it would be best if the people of Gupta could handle it themselves. "[Goblin] No, I think this is fine, I like it for now. I also agree with the idea of merging the two cultures into one. After all, you guys are now living together, and whilst I can kind of guess that some small frictions are happening every now and then, you all are striving to live together from going forward." Aiden didn''t fail to notice the miniature twitch on both Roas and Glohn''s faces when he mentioned frictions. It seems that there were indeed some challenges ahead of Aiden''s first pioneers. Noticing their Young Master''s gaze and also feeling his intention through their shared connection, Roas sighed and motioned towards the Vige Hall. "[Orc] Young Master, as you may have already guessed, we are indeed facing a couple of issues that we are in the midst of looking to resolve" "[Goblin] Would it be too much of a problem, if we would ask you to listen to our woes and offer your guidance?" Stepping forward, Glohn gave a courteous bow, not daring to look at the Young Lord. In his mind, his request was presumptuous and tant disrespect to the Young Master. To ask him to lower himself to their level and give his godly guidance That was not something he should be doing. Aiden, however, wasn''t aware of Glohn''s weird thoughts, nor would he have agreed with his sentiment. He simply smiled and nodded at the request. He reached out and gently pulled the robust ex-goblin chief up from the ground. "[Goblin] I clearly remember that I have already told you not to humble yourself to me this much." Aiden chided the elder with a smile, before nodding at his request. "As for the request: Though I don''t think I can offer much, I will dly offer my thoughts on the issues you are facing. If it''s something I can help with some changes to the world, thendscape, or whatever, just let me know and I will do my best!" "[Orc] Y-young Master!" Roas looked at Aiden with a shocked face. "Y-you mean You are the g-g-g-" He tried, but couldn''t finish the sentence. The idea of his was so heavy, that even he had difficultiesprehending. Luckily, Aiden could understand his stuttering, mostly thanks to their shared connection. His thoughts were clear to read. "[Orc] Yes, I am something simr I guess, though I would ask you guys to not call me by that title, it''s way too ufortable. Besides I can only do this because" Realizing what he almost blurted out, he awkwardly coughed before rephrasing his wording. "What I meant to say is that I can make changes to the world. Not sure to what extent yet. One of the reasons I came here was to experiment a bit." Though his response wasn''t totally clear, despite that, all three of his servants'' eyes were glimmering with admiration. Roas, being the eldest, snapping out of his daze, motioned towards the building, urging the Young Master to take a look at the list of their current ''challenges''. Chapter 398 - 398 - Companionship "[Orc] I see These are quite hmm Interesting issues, I guess" With a wry look on his face, Aiden sighed as he nced over the list that Roas, Glohn, and Gob presented to him once they were inside the hut. Around him dozen-strong elders sat around arge wooden table, looking at his youthful figure with mixed gazes. Some looked with worry, some had hopeful glints shining in their dark bead-like eyes, whilst others simply frowned, unsure of how to treat this enigmatic figure. They were all aware of his strength and power either by meeting it directly during their confrontation or by simply just feeling the heavy pressure he exuded simply by being present in the room. At his sides the trio of his faithful servants stood with worried looks, not daring to utter any word, whilst their Young Master was deep in thought. After what seemed like an eternity for those present in the room, but in reality, was at most like two or three minutes, looked up, gazing at Glohn''s figure at his left then at Roas''s at his right, mostly ignoring the other elders present in the room. "[Orc] So" He spoke up, the tone of his voice sounded calm, but it seemed to be rather forced. Though, through their shared mental connection, Roas could feel confusing emotional signalsing from the Master. Emotions, such as embarrassment, shyness, even some confusion, and a tiny strand of anger could also be felt. "[Orc] So these are the most pressing matters currently?" "[Orc] Yes, Young Master. These are the challenges we are facing, what do you think about it?" Roas responded, with a worried look, and a weaker, meek tone of voice. "[Orc] Well Let me make sure I see this right. ording to the list, you have all written together" He nced over at the crowd of elders as he phrased his thoughts. "The current top-ranked issue, your most pressing problem is theck of panionship''?" "[Orc] Yes, Young Master, that is true." Roas nodded, his expression still worried, though his eyes were now carrying a hint of hope glimmering in them. "[Goblin] Just to make this perfectly clear, Young Master. That issue is the most pressing to the Orcmunity. The Goblin half of the vigers have not expressed this problem!" Glohn added with a smug-looking smile on his face, which caused a wave of ted smiles and nods to spread through the Goblin Elders'' faces, while the orcs could only frown, and avert their eyes through the embarrassing nature of their request. Not minding the smallmotion in the room, Roas turned to look at his Master and exined what they meant. "[Orc] You see, Young Master, the problem is mostly present in ours, the orc''s side of the poption. For Goblins, when they arrived with Brother Glohn and Gob, they came as a whole, functioning vige already. Theirmunity ranged generously, they had children, young adults, middle-aged, and even elders. But most importantly they had males and females!" He paused for a moment, to give more power to his words, before continuing. "[Orc] As for us, Orcs, we all came during thest sh when we left the Tower. Being a war camp, there were no females, except for the ves the leaders have brought. We uhm consist mostly of adult males, Orcs that had a role in the uing nned war." "[Orc] I think, I get it" Raising his right hand in the air Aiden nodded at Roas. As he turned silent, awaiting his Master''s response, Aiden heaved an exasperated sigh. "Huah though this just makes this problem currently quite challenging to resolve Well, at least for now." Then, turning to look at Roas and even ncing at the Orc Elders he continued. "[Orc] To resolve this, we need to bring in Orc Females, I suppose. Since most of you came from different tribes before everything went down, I suppose the rest of your people are still waiting for you somewhere. We can just go visit them and offer them toe to this world and live with you." He offered, carefully checking the reactions of the elders before asking. "[Orc] So, what do you all think? Interestingly, there was quite a mixture of facial expressions on the elders'' faces. For Roas, his look turned sour, which was shared by almost half of them. Others retained their neutral looks, whilst only two of the present Orc Elders responded with vigorous, ted looks on their faces. Turning to Roas, he asked his first guardian. "[Orc] What is it that is weighing on you, Roas? Don''t worry, you can tell me." "[Orc] Young Master" Roas looked at his youthful lord with a bitter, sorrowful look. "In our case, and I assume this is the same for several others as well We have no ''rest of the tribe'' waiting for us at all. When we were invited, there was a certain cost, for us to set out and join. We couldn''t leave behind our elderlies, our children our females. Everyone came, but the harsh climate, the long, arduous travel without any safety, the recurring shes with the locals took its toll. In the end, all that was left from my old tribe are already present." He sighed, turning away from the group, and wiped away an escaping drop of tear from his face. A heavy silence descended on the room upon his words. Just from looking over, it was clear that most of the present elders had simr issues. However, there were two that seemingly didn''t share the same sentiment. Their tribes didn''t share the same gruesome fate as it was clear from the smug, proud looks on their faces. Eventually one of them, -probably the bravest of the two- gave a light cough and spoke up, breaking the ensuing awkward silence in the room. *Khm* "[Orc] Young Lord, if I may" His voice was faint, powerless in front of this enigmatic youth. Though he looked incredibly young, his presence was dominating. He could still clearly remember how this young figure devastated their proud ranks with ease on that fateful night, before offering a new chance in life. Although his orcish nature was still quite conflicted, he wasn''t stupid, nor blinded by his orcish pride. As a warrior race, they respected power atop all else. As the saying went in their kind: "Might makes Right!" True, they turned a new leaf with this new settlement, but the change was never instant, but rather gradual. Not everyone could change like that big grey giant shaman ex-tribe-leader that stood at the young man''s side and looked like a faithful puppy. After Aiden nodded, allowing him to speak, he coughed once more to clear his throat and also his mind before speaking. "[Orc] Luckily, my" feeling a gentle poke in his waist, he coughed again, fixing his mistake. "sorry, OUR tribes were luckier and not shared the same fate. Unlike the others, we lived inside hard-to-reach areas, deep inside the Saronite Mountain. We left behind the weak with a few guards to protect them and ventured to this campaign. Those that didn''te with us should still be there unless something had happened to them." Chapter 399 - 399 - Problems In Paradise "Saronite Mountains again? Huh, interesting" Aiden muttered, after listening to the Orc Elder. The threads of fate seemed to be converging around that areately. From the supposed underground maze that may or may not house another Primal Altar, to the threat of the encroaching forces of the Empire now to even a hidden vige of mostly defenseless orcs Thinking it through, Aiden couldn''t help but slightly frown, causing the orc elder to grow worried upon noticing his reaction. ''[Orc] Did I offend him somehow?'' He wondered, looking anxious and worried at the same time. "[Orc] Uhm Honored Lord" With dread, he meekly voiced his growing concern, focusing his gaze on the wrinkles on the young man''s forehead. "[Orc] Huh?" Jolted awake from his sudden reverie, Aiden turned at the source of the voice, only to suddenly realize that he suddenly wandered off. A wry look curved his lips, he looked slightly abashed as he matched the elder''s distressed gaze. "[Orc] Ah, I apologize, it''s just" He shook his head, forcing his usual calm smile to emerge once again on his expression. "[Orc] Doesn''t matter I suppose. So, we have a group of stranded, forgotten, or just simply left behind a group of orcs, mostly wives, elderlies, and children that are still waiting for your return?" "[Orc] Yes, Honored Lord. We have left behind a single group of warriors as guards, but that''s it. While the mountains are mostly peaceful, there are some asional dangers lurking in the depths. They should probably be fine, but they won''tst by themselves forever." The second elder stepped forward, caressing his own knuckles in his nervousness, he asked. "[Orc] Young Lord, no Honored Lord, may I may we request to bring them to this ce?" Aiden shook his head, but before they could ask about his decision he exined. "[Orc] There is no need. I will have business in that region rtively soon Maybe in 2-3 weeks. Then, once I get there I will bring you guys back, to help me locate your missing people. Would that work?" The eyes of both elders instantly lit up, they nodded with fervent passion. "[Orc] Y-yes, Honored Lord! That should be perfect! Thank you for your boundless kindness!" "[Orc] It''s okay, just stop calling me that." Aiden sighed, turning his gaze once again on his still quite downtrodden servant. "Roas, this would solve the issue for the time being. I know that it''s still not the best as that''s only a small amount of females, but we can work on this issue more." "[Orc] Yes, Young Master." Roas nodded, with a bit of lingering mncholy. The memories of all those that they lost still seemed to weigh heavily on his mind, despite being exiled and shunned by the very same people before. "[Orc] Anyway that''s for the most pressing matter" Seeing that there was nothing he could do for his friend-sh-servant for the time being, he returned his attention to the list in front of him once more. "[Orc] So what''s next Conflicts between goblins and orcs Bowyers, cksmith''s needing more manpower hmm Ohh, this is interesting!" He eximed with a surprised smile emerging on his face. "Lack of Weather? What do you guys mean by that? Care to exin?" He tried to hide the expectant smile that began to showcase itself on his face. After all, this was the perfect request to test his Management Powers in this world. Would he truly be capable of altering things such as the weather? If so, how? "[Goblin] Young Master, allow me to exin." Taking the opportunity that finally they moved on from the orc''s delicate issue, Glohn took the reins and spoke up. "[Goblin] Let me start with a question. What did you see and experience when you arrived on this ne, Young Master?" "[Goblin] Hmm" Turning towards the doorway, Aiden looked out towards the distant skies. It was one giant piece of clear, light blue canvas. There were no smudges anywhere his eyes could see or scan the horizon. "[Goblin] I Clear, sunny?" He responded, after pondering on it a bit more. "[Goblin] Exactly! That''s right Young Master!" Glohn nodded agreeing with his Lord''s remark wholeheartedly before starting his exnation. "[Goblin] There is no such thing as ''weather'' in this ce, Young Master. During the daytime, it is clear, sunny, with this constant warm, summer-like temperature. At nights, it turns a couple of degrees cooler, with the asional cold breezeing from the riverside." He paused for a second, looking at his Young Master with a serious expression. "[Goblin] While this is fine for the time being, it does make farming, amongst many other thingspletely impossible. While nobody likes the dread of winters, we do need some changing weather Rains, fogs, windy, colder days, summers, winters, autumns, and even springs Not just for us but for the local wildlife as well." Aiden was silent for a while, deep in thought, pondering about what Glohn has just exined to him. Memories of his short school days back in the modern world resurfaced, he tried to think back about how a healthy ecosystem actually worked. He remained silent for several minutes. Glohn and the rest didn''t dare to bother him, as the asional twitches and changes of his expression revealed that he was most likely processing the eldest goblin''s words. Eventually, after almost ten minutes of silence, the haze cleared from his gaze, his lips parting as he spoke. "[Goblin] Okay, I think I understand what you meant. I think I can actually help with that" His words caused a wave of shock to spread in the crowd of elders. Though this was indeed a huge problem for the future, for the time being they didn''t expect any resolution to it. At best, they wanted to wait it out and keep a look at the weather and keep researching it. After a year or so, they nned to revisit the matter and if there were no other ideas, they nned to scout out the surroundingnds if there were some other, better ces out there. However, it seemed that there might be something to have this resolved. The Young Lord, the Master of this ne seemed to have more surprises under his belt. Several elders'' eyebrows creased, pondering gazes soon reced the shocked, stunning looks. Could his power be transcending what normally would be possible? Could he may be No. That is impossible! Many shook their heads, even thinking about such an outrageous thought was sphemy, many feared that a bolt of lightning would strike them from the skies! "[Goblin] Y-young Master" Amidst the stunned crowd, it was Gob who actually managed to gather the courage to speak up and ask for a bit more information on what he could have possibly meant. "Could you please could you please exin in a bit more detail what do you mean? How could you help us in this matter?" Not really bothering about the astounded crowd, Aiden simply shrugged his shoulders as he calmly exined. "[Goblin] As I have already mentioned, I do have some sort of power over this domain. After all, it was created by me." He said, adding a thought to it mentally. ''Well, by the system, but that''s not important right now." "[Goblin] You see" Chapter 400 - 400 - Divine Powers? "[Goblin] As I have already mentioned, I do have some sort of power over this domain. After all, it was created by me." Aiden exined, adding a thought to it mentally. ''Well, by the system, but that''s not important right now." "[Goblin] You see, I think I should be able to alter the terrain, and probably to even more. One of the main reasons I came to this ce was to actually experiment, I wasn''t actually aware that you are already having a problem." Seeing that most of them looked rather confused, Aiden could only smile and look at them with a helpless, wry smile stretching over his face. "[Goblin] Don''t worry about it. In short, I will try and see what I can do about the matter. As for the rest of the issues" He nced at the list onest time, before putting the piece of paper down and pushing it away. "These are problems that you guys need to handle yourselves. Internal struggles between your races are something that you will need to constantly work on, and not expect me, Roas, Glohn, the young Gob, or even Galina, who is not here at the moment, to resolve them for you." Then without bothering if there would be any other issues, he pushed back the chair and stood up, leaving the table and the meeting. Before turning away and towards the exit, Aiden slowly looked over this group of eldersing from both races, forming this council. A thin smile curved the edges of his lips taking a look at each of these brave new pioneers. This group, this council, this decision to not burden any single one of them with the pressure to lead, nor giving in to temptations such as greed and thirst for power, created this advanced, forward-thinkingmunity. This was the first attempt at democracy, at least, based on Aiden''s still quite shallow and limited worldview. But even if it wasn''t the first, it was still a remarkable achievement if we were to look at these two races that came with the idea. Aiden couldn''t help but ponder Was any of this influenced by him? Normally it shouldn''t be as he never set foot in this ne before; however, he did change the fates of everybody present and have even caused 2 of those that have a seat in the council and most likely are the true leaders of their respective races, to evolve and even shared a constant mental connection with. However, even if it was his influence, or even if not, the end result was a remarkable step towards a utopistic future. As he thought about these grand thoughts, a content, happy smile grew on Aiden''s face as he silently gazed at the crowd. A few momentster, he simply nodded at them, and turned around, and left. As the gazes followed his steps, he stopped at the doorway, turned his head over his shoulders, and nced at his servants. "[Orc] Guys, if you still have matters you can stay. I will find a quiet ce in the distance to experiment. You do not need toe with me, even I''m not sure what I will end up doing." He donned his usual calm smile before stepping out of the hall. With a leisurely, but steady pace he slowly walked towards the north. He wanted to make sure that he would be a suitable distance away from his people, lest he would cause some unwanted harm to them. Despite his words, just as he stepped out of the central building and turned his attention to the northern path, the familiar voices of his three servants reached his ears. "[Orc] Young Master, wait up, let use with you!" "[Goblin] Young Master!" "[Goblin] Young Master, we areing too!" Halting his steps, he turned around and shook his head at his disobedient attach. Still, his face had a wide grin stered over it, he couldn''t deny them. If they wanted toe, he would not forcefully turn them back. A bit of time and a couple hundred yards of traveled distanceter the group of four finally stopped beside the seemingly endless stream of river. Feeling that the distance was enough, Aiden finally turned around and spoke up. "[Orc] Okay, this should be far away, just enough to not cause any unwanted idents" He started, following up after heaving a sigh and forcing a serious, stern outlook. " I am not sure what will happen now, so guys, be vignt. Neither do I know how everything I do will affect our surroundings." "[Orc] You don''t worry about us, Young Master! We will be on the lookout!" "[Goblin] We will protect you, Young Master, so you can just focus on the task!" Roas and Glohn immediately spoke up, giving their own devoted reassurances, while Gob joined in with his mostly silent but fervent nodding. Deciding to not mind their shenanigans and not to waste any more of his precious, limited time avable, Aiden turned away from them, focusing his attention on his system. Reacting to his mentalmand, the light blue system interface popped back up, with a new window presenting itself in front of his golden eyes for the very first time. [ Status | Lab | *Domain* | Activities ] [ Info | Manage | *World* | Tasks ] [Wee Host to the World sub-option, the Terraformer feature of the System!] A strange, cryptic greeting was the only thing that first appeared in front of his eyes. The greeting lingered for a couple of seconds before it slowly faded out of existence and caused the screen to change. The light green background vanished, reced by a top-down view of arge slice of thend they were standing on. At the center, their group was represented with 4 small green dots over the in, whilst 3 square-like boxes of distance to the south of them Aiden could see the small square or circr shaped tents and houses representing the vige. To the southeast, arge dark-green patch ofnd showcased the recently appeared forest whilst a small dark blue straight line to their left was the currently unnamed crystal clear river. Directly above the map, smaller, transparent windows could be seen. A strange new number was shown at its top that kept growing at a constant, steady pace. [ Current Faith: 984 ] A couple of secondster, it changed, turning to 985. ''What is this?'' He asked mentally, knowing that Enya was always listening. A momentter, just like he hoped, her gentle, mature voice rang inside his mind. ''[It''s the new resource avable only whilst you are inside this space. Your Haven, Aiden.]'' ''Okay, I kind of got that myself, but what does it do? How does it keep growing, what is it for?'' Aiden fired a couple of questions. Over the years, he understood the system and could guess himself a few details. ''[The more of Haven''s residents believe in you, the more they be devoted to you, thankful to your actions, the more this new number, this resource will grow. It is actually the necessary resource that fuels the divine energy that will allow you to change thendscape and even enact various universalws upon your in.]'' Chapter 401 - 401 - Divinities Enya''s exnation was, once again, shocking, to say the least. Aiden was frozen, looking bbergasted as he tried to process all the information that she just revealed in a couple of short sentences. Seeing his reaction, the naughty spirit had the urge to chuckle at his master''s facial expression. Still, instead of that, he reassured the stunned boy. ''[Don''t worry about it too much for the time being, Aiden. Just remember that all the actions that you do, will eventually have an effect on your power here. The more the people believe in you, the more they turn towards you with their woes, the more power, more faith you will generate. In turn, you will be able to invest these points, this resource into changing whatever your heart''s desire.]'' ''I I get that, I truly do What I don''t understand'' After she exined it for the second time, Aiden finally broke through his reverie and gave a mental head-shake. His problem wasn''t how the points were generated, that was easy. What shocked him was thetter part of her briefing. ''was with the wholew thing'' ''What are thesews you were speaking about?'' He asked with burning curiosity. ''[Well]'' However, Enya suddenly seemed hesitant to speak, to delve into the topic. She turned silent for a while, before eventually saying. ''[Laws are rted to Divinities, the Power that makes gods well, gods. They are powers that ultimately make up the world. Not just Eora, or Haven but the entire universe, the cosmos everything.]'' Her voice dwindled down once again, turning silent for a couple of brief seconds before the sound of a sigh could be heard, causing Aiden to raise his eyebrows with confusion for a second. Could a spirit, a metaphysical entity even do such a thing? Anyway, before he could dwell and ponder on the topic, the mature-sounding spiritdy continued. ''[There are various differentws that together, build up everything you see, feel, touch and experience. You have already got in contact with many of them, but yourprehension, your understanding of the matter was shallow at the time. As you will progress, and go stronger, as you will unlock more of the mysteries of your heritage, you will eventually understand more. Before that, I]'' Her voice, which usually carried a gentle warmth, turned sour towards the end, losing its power and momentum as she continued to speak. Just like before, there seemed to be clearly defined boundaries she just couldn''t push through. Whenever she crossed a line or got to a topic that seemed to be closer to her real identity, a higher power struck down and forced her back to her allowed ''space''. Once again, she turned silent, even her presence faded for a brief moment before returning a few brief secondster. Once more, her tone turned colder, monotone, emotionless. ''[Once youplete more of the trials and unlock more of your true powers, you will be allowed to gain more knowledge. Before that, unfortunately, such information is unavable to you.]'' Feeling the change of tone and way of mannerism, Aiden could feel the pain, the worry in her heart. Still, he could only grit his teeth and nod. He was still too weak, whatever entity was behind all of this, was still too far away from his reach. Deciding that it was best to not waste any more of his precious, limited remaining time, Aiden sighed, focusing his attention on the system''s top-down representation of his surroundings. A thinyer of the white, semi-transparent dotted halo was ced over the map. Focusing on one of these white marks closest to their location to the north, his face turned into an ted smile. It turned out they were interactable, he could push, pull, twist, churn these points, causing thendscape on the map to shift ording to his design. Once he released one of these markers, his changes would remain, showing a holographic 3-dimensional image atop the map. On the bottom right corner, a new small window appeared, giving the option to ''Confirm'' or ''Cancel'' his changes, whilst also showing the approximated ''cost'' with a summary of the changes he made. "I see" He muttered. "Changing the topography is pretty easy, but how can I interact with thesews?" Meanwhile, the trio of servants, Roas, Glohn, and Gob were looking at the back of their Young Master with confused gazes. The strange information they could feeling to them from the mental channel seemed like a bunch of garbled nonsense. They could feel that Master was worried and sad at some point, but before they could ask or provide support, the emotion seemed to fade, reced by something they felt was simr to curiosity or more precisely a great thirst for knowledge. Still, besides that, a lot of strange data came their way, mostly just a string of numbers that they could not understand, process at all. In the end, the trio decided to just stay silent and just wait until their Lord asks for them. ''[Currently, as you have no knowledge about the various divinities, you cannot alter too much besides thendscape. Still, as you have regained memories from your time from your life on the other world, you should be aware that by changing the currentndscape you could have all the requested changespleted.]'' Enya exined, giving only a second to pause before going into even more detail. ''[This world is an empty canvas currently, and you are the painter, Aiden! While you have limited resources, it should still be enough for the time being. Try to remember the request the residents of Gupta have made, and what you would need to get it done. Utilize the knowledge you already have.]'' ''Hmm'' Aiden creased his brows, deep in thought. He grabbed and rubbed his chin thinking about the specifics of the request and how to properly tackle it. Also just from the small test he did, it was clear that the 991 Faith points he currently had weren''t enough for changing the entire world, but maybe, just maybe enough to alter thend around the vige. ''They need some steady supply of water, rain, and mass equally to be able to cultivate crops and herd some farm animals in the future. Oh yes! That reminds me! Enya!'' Reminded by yet another crucial matter, Aiden called out to his guide once again. ''How do I get more ''life'' to this world? Should I bring them in through the gate or is there a better way?'' As if already expecting such a question, barely a momentter Enya''s response resounded in Aiden''s mind. ''[You can always bring in anything using the portal and one of your servants acting as the gatekeeper to escort them in. For the second part of your question]'' Instead of a response, suddenly a system notification came. Its contents, however, although somewhat expected, was still quite a surprise nheless. *Ding!* [For more authority, and options please upgrade the newly added Innate Skill: [Primal Heritage: ?????] (Level 1 - Progress: 1%)] [Note: The skill is unique and locked. Progress can only be made by unlocking more of the dormant knowledge, and by utilizing the avable divinities.] ''What the'' Chapter 402 - 402 - Faith *Ding!* [For more authority, and options please upgrade the newly added Innate Skill: [Primal Heritage: ?????] (Level 1 - Progress: 1%)] [Note: The skill is unique and locked. Progress can only be made by unlocking more of the dormant knowledge, and by utilizing the avable divinities.] ''What the'' Once more, for the umpteenth time, Aiden turned speechless at the updates of the system. ''How do I already have progress in a skill that I have just gained?'' He asked inwardly. ''[Every time you actively use your divinity, the skill would gain progress. For example, if youe to Haven, and spend your umted faith, your proficiency with the skill will increase. Although the gains may be marginal, remember you will gain more and more knowledge as you continue on your quest to visit all of the Primal shrines.]'' Enya''s voice came a momentter, shedding some light on the mystery. ''I see'' He mumbled, taking a breath of the fresh Haven air, and forcefully calming himself down. A few momentster, returning to his senses, he once again focused on the Screen Map still floating in front of his eyes. His gaze first wandered to the thin stream of the river that sailed across the ins seemingly, uncertain where it was actuallying from or where it was actually flowing towards. Regardless of what the exnation was, it didn''t matter at the moment. Aiden focused his attention on the area next to the vige of Gupta, and in his mind reached for the river tiles. Slowly, but steadily, he stretched it out, reshaping it, turning it from a simple stream into arge, beautifully almond-shapedke, whilst also giving it a bit more depth than before. He also made sure to keep a constant eye on the cost, as it was absolutely vital that he retains around half of the avable 992 Faith Points for the second part of his n. In the end, he spent a bit over 300 Points reforming the small riverbed into a spacious and deepke. He even made sure to create a couple of underwater caverns, and crevices, whilst also retaining a bit of the soil for some flora to spread and grow there eventually. Once that was done, he shifted his attention focusing it on the other, eastern end of the settlement. Making sure to give another tile of free space to expand the farnds, he reached for several markers spread in a straight line running parallel with the river, and with a swift motion, he raised thendscape by pulling the markers to greater heights. Aiden spent the next couple of minutes in creating a shape of an elevated region, something simr to a not-too-steep nor-too-high mountainous hillside watching with growing sadness as his remaining points tanked at a rapid pace ultimately stopping at a whopping 53 points, making his overall estimated cost at 950 Faith. In the end, he gave a gentle curve to the straight line of what he nned the hillside should be, creating a sort of natural barrier that gently covered one side of the constantly developing vige. What he nned was a very simple knowledge about how rainwater was made. With constant steady sunshine, the evaporatingke water would turn into small puffy white clouds carrying their weight towards the ind, over the vige. When reaching the mountain range, the climb would cause it to cool and condense ultimately losing most of the vapor as rain that would, hopefully, fall down on the farnds spread around the hillside. Well, that was what Aiden could recall from his studies from his previous life He could only hope that his idea would bear some fruit, otherwise, he would not just waste all the points he created since the arrival of these brave pioneers, but would also potentially question their belief, their devotion. Although, after witnessing as thendscape shifts and suddenly reshapes itself, Aiden honestly didn''t know what the end result would be in terms of his Faith Point umtion. Before hitting the shing ''Confirm'' button at the bottom right corner of his vision, Aiden nced over his shoulders. A thin smirk crept up at the edges of his lips, as he called for his 3 servants still standing at attention behind him. "[Orc] Guys, you might want to pay attention to the area around the vige. Hopefully, everything goes as I nned it." Before the group could react, Aiden pressed on the Confirm button, finalizing his nned changes. Immediately, the small window disappeared and with that, his umted faith points began to drop at lightning-fast pace. At the same time, a golden shine began to wrap around Aiden, slowly but surely forming a cocoon-like shape made out of the blinding, golden luster. Energy began to surge out of his body, rippling across the air causing the air itself to distort and turn blurry. Following the energy release, in the next instant, the entirendscape quaked. The originally small trembles soon grew in power and consistency. The vige itself seemed to be safe, but the area around its left and right felt like, as if the end of times, the apocalypse itself have arrived. The ground below the thin riverbed cracked, suddenly creating a dark chasm whilst the underwater peninss traversed farther and farther away from each other. The riverbed grew in size, both in length, and width, slowly forming a giant almond shape, growing in size to at least 5 or maybe even 10 times the size of Gupta. At the same time, on the other side, a simr event was happening. A sudden crack separated the two parts of the previously grassy meadow, as a silvery shining metallic ridge shot towards the skies. In mere seconds, under the eyes of the frightened and trembling orcs, the apocalypse has arrived. Most of the vigers were already on their knees kowtowing towards the skies above and begging the creator, the lord, to spare them from their doom and let this disastere to an end. And to answer their prayers, the quakes slowly began to ease up, the ground stopped its nervous trembling as the newly emerged mountains took their ces on this new ne. Whilst the ground was still steaming hot, with traces of what might have been molten minerals turned tova, miraculously neither of it reached the farnds nor the territory of the vige. ck smoke shot forth towards the skies, covering the peaks in a dark ominous shroud. Due to the tectonic movements,rge waves traversed towards the newly formed sandy shores sshing them with crystal clear healthy water. The entire event took at most a dozen or so minutes, but the changes were unbelievably grand to stay the least. As the terraforming slowly came to an end, the golden energy cocoon also began to fade, its blinding glory slowly vanished, merging into the air and space around the youthful Lord of this still infantile ne of existence. As the light finally faded out, a heaving, tired figure was all that could be seen. Drenched in sweat, his body was perspiring, his chest was running up and down as he was heavily gasping for air. His legs wobbling, Aiden suddenly fell on his knees, barely holding himself up with the remaining full strength of his arms Chapter 403 - 403 - Changed Scenery "[Orc] Young Master!" Seeing Aiden falling on his knees, Roas worriedly cried out and rushed to his side. His tall and muscr frame cast a wide shadow, towering over the kneeling and heavily heaving youth. "[Orc] Young Master!" Roas eximed worriedly again as he leaned down. "Are you alright?" "[Goblin] What happened, Young Master? The world changed!" A secondter the ex-goblin chieftain, Glohn arrived at his left and leaned down. "[Orc] I I am fine, don''t worry guys." Aiden responded, the honest worry and concern he could see in his servant''s gazes warmed his heart. Slowly, as he felt the strength return to his body, he pushed himself off from the ground, and with the help of the two giant ''babies'', he stood back up. "[Orc] What happened, Young Master? The area around Gupta Look! It changed!" Roas''s words finally caused Aiden to rx and to even burst into a light-hearted chuckle, which earned a confused look from the dark-gray-toned giant. "[Orc] That''s just me experimenting with the power I mentioned to you all before. I told you that I can make changes to this world, as I am something like the assigned" He thought about how best to phrase the term ''administrator'', other than using that ''G'' word. In the end, he didn''t need to, as Roas, Glohn and even Gob nodded with understanding. "[Orc] Don''t worry Young Master, we understand!" "[Goblin] Yes, don''t forget, we all have it!" Glohn added. "[Goblin] We can feel your true thoughts through the mental link!" Gob was the one that finally made some sense, making Aiden to be reminded once again, that unless he deliberately acted on it and closed the link down, they would all share this magical or to be more exact, mysterious mental channel. "[Orc] Ah, that''s fine then." Aiden nodded with understanding, the calm, gentle smile slowly returning and recing his exasperated look as his stamina gradually returned. "Sorry about this It seems that using these ehrm, powers, takes more out of me than I expected." He exined, checking his inner energy reserves at the same time. Strangely, despite him feeling rather low on energy, his [Soul Power] haven''t changed a bit, it was at top condition. ording to the system''s status screen, he was in top condition, yet he was feeling tired, rather spent even. ''What is going on? Why am I so spent'' Noticing the state of his clothing, he frowned as he added. ''and so drenched in sweat?'' Although the question could be also remarked as a rhetorical one, Enya''s mature voice rang in his mind not even a momentter. ''[It''s because you have just awakened some of your previously dormant Primal Heritage. The divinity obviously is not something a mere mortal constitution could handle with ease, it took every fiber of your body working against it lest the divine light would destroy your body from the inside out.]'' Her words caused some worry to sh through Aiden''s mind. Would he be risking his life every time he would want to exercise and train this new skill of his? As usual, his worry was tranted to Enya who came with her reassuring words almost instantly. Also, unlike before, her tone was, once again much more life-like, carrying a variety of emotions, but most important concern and what seemed to be some sort of closeness, a warmth that made Aiden rather confused. It was simr he felt towards his family, Granny, Lily, and to even Master, Number 3: Familial Love ''[Don''t bother too much about it, Aiden. Just make sure you are ready the next time you wish to use this power. As you continuously train your body with it and bathe in the holy light, your mortal shell will also slowly transform it will evolve naturally to grow ustomed to it. Also]'' Her voice trailed off at the end, but before her presence was forcefully pulled back, she eximed. ''[Remember, your task! The shrines!]'' Her voice was strangely distant as if she was further and further away. By the end, her voice was barely audible, before her entire presence vanished once again in the depth of his own soul space. Aiden could only bitterly sigh, and calm himself down. This wasn''t anything new, he already realized that there seemed to be certain boundaries set that seemingly caged the guide to a set of rules she just cannot cross. Whenever she was about to overstep what she was allowed to say or react, she would always be pulled away, and ''fixed up''. Still, the emotions she has shown made Aiden think about his time once again. The echo of his true father''s soul the memories he has gained through the whole ordeal Could Enya be? Thinking about his father''s soul, without thinking too much about it, he subconsciously navigated through the system''s interface to his Inventory space to take a look at the egg that should also house him as well. He looked for a couple of brief moments at the golden egg seemingly frozen in time and space, before he sighed onest time and turned to look at his boys with the returning coolness. "[Orc] As you can see" He nced over at the distantke before slowly his eyes wandered over to the ck smoke-covered mountain range at the other side. "I have made some modifications to the surrounding terrain. Hopefully, these will make sure that some of the problems you listed would be resolved." "[Goblin] Young Master! You perhaps, made all of these for the farms?" Glohn being the most worldly of the three, had some vague idea of what might have been the idea. With a wondrous, contemting gaze he focused on therge body of theke. Surprised by Brother Glohn''s words, Roas attention also shifted towards theke. His eyebrows creased as he was deep in thought, trying his absolute best to think of what the reasoning behind such peculiar changes could have been. Still, he wasn''t as wisened as the elderly ex-goblin chieftain. Despite his magical knowledge, he was after all leading a hunting/warrior tribe far away from any civilization at the time. He had no hope ofing to the same conclusion as him. Surprisingly, Gob was the one that, retained his calm disposure as his eyes swiftly swayed between the two new sensations. A few momentster, he voiced his thoughts. "[Goblin] Young master, did you perhaps made these so that the farm fields would experience some rains?" An appreciative, surprised smile appeared over Aiden''s face as he turned his attention to the youngest of the three. "[Goblin] Oh? What makes you say that? Please exin to your elders here so they could also learn." Suddenly, Gob''s expression shifted from one of deep thought to an embarrassed, thin smile. He lowered his shoulders and slouched them down, before taking a hesitant step behind, trying to hide away, but couldn''t really do so. Seeing his reaction, Aiden almost burst intoughter, he could barely contain himself. ''These two Gob and Galina are so simr it''s shocking. Did I perhaps pick up a real brother and sister back then?'' He wondered, making sure that he kept his calm smile on the outside. "[Goblin] Don''t be afraid, Gob. What you said is correct, I just want you to exin how you came to this conclusion. Roas and even your elder, Glohn could also learn from it!" Chapter 404 - 404 - Title Not Found (AN: Sorry, I couldn''t help myself with that title Childish I know. :D) Real Title: Chapter 404 - End of the Visit "[Goblin] Don''t be afraid, Gob. What you said is correct, I just want you to exin how youe to this conclusion. Roas and even your elder, Glohn could also learn from it!" His Master''s words soothed the young Gob''s agitated heart. Taking a loud gulp, he swallowed his nervousness, and with a meek, faint voice he spoke up. "[Goblin] Well I was thinking of what Teacher has exined before. Under the heavy sun, clouds would form over thekes, and the seas only to carry their rain over thend." He exined, her voice trembling due to all the eyes that were fixated on him. Focusing on his young master and seeing him smile and nod appreciatively, he closed his eyelids for a single second, and swallowed hard once again, before going further under his master''s gentle nudging. "[Goblin] The clouds would then travel over the vige and ultimately reach the new mountains where it would crash against it and ehrm I don''t know exactly how... But the gathered water in the clouds would fall down?" By the end of his exnation he was almost crying under the pressure, he could only mutter the question as his gaze was now stered on the ground, wrapping his fingers trying to battle his fired-up nerves. Seeing his state, Aiden didn''t torture him any longer. He nodded at him, his expression was warm, carrying all the appreciation he felt for this young little youth. Even though they were probably rtively close in terms of body age, there was a vast chasm between their minds. One was a young goblin that just woke up and was slowly throwing away all the shackles that kept holding him back, whilst the other was turning out to be a rather ancient entity that lived not one, not two, but most likely three lives so far, albeit the first one was barely a toddler by the time he was tossed over the cracks between worlds. "[Goblin] You are right. The idea was roughly what Gob has exined. Also, with thisrge body of water, you guys could focus more on fishing and irrigation and such, giving another venue to avert the attention of those that still held some sort of resentment towards the other side." Aiden exined, shifting his attention from the embarrassed ex-goblin, over to the towering elders of Glohn and Roas. They shared simr looks, mostly understanding the reasoning, though it seemed that Glohn got more than the still slightly troubled-looking Roas. Seeing his creasing brows and wrinkled forehead, Aiden asked. "[Orc] What is troubling you Roas? Is there something wrong?" Hearing his master''s question, Roas immediately straightened his posture and shook his head vehemently. "[Orc] No, Young Master! Please excuse me for my faithless thoughts!" His response was way too weird, Aiden looked at him with confusion in his eyes. "[Orc] What ''faithless thoughts''? What do you mean? Exin yourself, please. You are not required to ept all of my decisions, you are all allowed to think freely, especially if it is for the benefit of others!" He spoke sternly at them, but his words were aimed at all three, not just his self-proimed guardian. "[Orc] No There is nothing wrong with your actions, Young Master! They were wondrous, miraculous even! Ever since you woke me up from the control of those vile creatures, I knew that you are extraordinary and that there is no one better than I would pledge my worthless existence to." He threw himself on the ground, kneeling down and bowing in front of his Master, his one true Lord. He dared not to look at him directly in the eye, as he took a short pause to catch his breath before continuing. "[Orc] I just thought that with these changes, the borders of our vige are pretty much set. If and please don''t take this wrongly my lord, but if in the future perhaps more of our kin would arrive in this ce, we would be challenged to give them space." "[Orc] Hmmm I" Looking over at the distant mountain range he had created just a few minutes ago, he could see what Roas was talking about. Although he gave a small space between the edge of the farms and the mountains, that space wasn''t too much in the end. Also by giving a curve at both ends of the stretching ridge, which he only meant to serve as an additionalyer of reassurance that the rain would fall down on the farnds, he also managed to trap the small vige inside. While they could expand both towards the north and to the south even, the yield they would receive from these farms would ultimately limit how big their poption would be allowed to grow. Seeing how the Young Master''s expression shifted from his previous smile to that of a frowning, thoughtful look, Roas became increasingly worried that his words have indeed angered him. He wanted to speak up and say that he didn''t mean any disrespect, but before he could do so, Aiden raised up his hand, silencing him before he could even say a word, and spoke with a thoughtful look on his face. "[Orc] I understand I didn''t think about that, you are right. I only wanted to make sure that the rain would surely fall on your farms, but it totally slipped my mind how would you actually sustain your growth in the future." "[Goblin] Please, don''t be so hard on yourself Young Master. The current growth rate is minimal, as only the goblin poption could increase Orcs and Goblin don''t mix together." Glohn eximed, adding a muttered thought to the end. "Well not yet, at least." "[Orc] Yes, Young Master. Since Young Master controls who and whates over from the outside world, we will pretty much always be aware of the actual poption. Also, we still have space to expand a bit, so for quite a while, we would be fine. As for the future, that probably are years if not decades away we will be probably in a state that we could safely create a new vige at that time! Please don''t be bothered too much about it, my concern was just due to my past as the tribe''s leader!" "[Orc] I guess you guys are right" Aiden sighed. After listening to his concerned servant''s words, he did feel slightly better. Still, he promised himself that once he would gain enough Faith once again, he would make sure to revise his changes to thendscape once again. He looked at the vige, his eyes could see small figures running back and forth. The chaos didn''tpletely subside inside, the majority of the people were still quite shocked, scared, and probably even deeply confused about what had just transpired. "[Orc] You guys should return to the vige and calm your people. After all, their world just shifted, they are scared and need a firm, strong hand to guide them. Also" He looked up towards the sky, he smiled. "also, I should be leaving now. I need to return, the sun is slowly but surelying up." As he spoke, the Magical Gate have already appeared out of thin air, forming the usual viscous-looking energy surface, with a still image of a small wooden room bathed in the morning''s first orange bright pirs of light. Before he could step into the portal, and be whisked away from this ne, the trio called out almost simultaneously. Chapter 405 - 405 - Unfortunate Intruders Before Aiden could step into the portal, and be whisked away from this ne, the trio of servants behind him called out for him, almost simultaneously. "[Orc] Young Master! When will youe back?" "[Goblin] Young Master! Will you visit us again?" With one leg already in the portal, Aiden stopped for a moment. Without turning his head around, he nodded to their question, giving only a curt response, before he stepped over the gate and his figure vanished from this hidden ne. In the next instant, as the trio broke out from their stun, the portal closed after their master, leaving nothing but a residue of sparkling essences behind. Even those faded out an instantter, returning the world to its serene tranquility. Still, there was a change from before. Each of the servants could feel their own connection to the Young Master, the silence and feeling of emptiness was no longer there. They looked at the ce where he left for a while longer with reverent gazes before they finally snapped out of their self-induced trances and the stern,manding outlook once again dominated their expressions. With paced, steady steps they turned towards the vige of Gupta. Their mindset shifting, each of them returned to their own roles, first focusing on calming down the masses and spreading the glory of their Master. After all, he was the one true God of this ne, the ultimate existence that each and every one of them should be thankful for! Deep orange and golden pirs of light peaked through the window frame, providing the only source of illumination in the small wooden room. Suddenly, at the center of the room, as if breaking the previously dominant silence, space seemingly teared up, as an eerie-looking crack began to spread, swiftly interacting with the surrounding particles. The air began to buzz with visible excitement, as the tear rapidly spread and transformed into an arched doorway. Haven''s Gate, the name of the system''s portal, appeared in the middle of Aiden''s rented room. The clear viscous fluid-natured energy that spread from around suddenly rippled, as a left foot, followed by the ankle shot out from its mysterious depths. A momentter the figure of Aiden, still with his drenched, wet clothes appeared in the room once again. "Argh I need to wash up and change" He muttered with discontent, feeling ufortable bathed in his own sweat and tears. The strain he felt as that strange but vaguely familiar light engulfed him, was nothing short of brutal. He could feel each of his individual muscle mass contorting and stretching to its maximum capacity under the unbearable pressure, his body working in absolute overdrive just to try to contain this supposedly godly no, this DIVINE energy. Albeit vastly unprepared for it, ultimately, in the end, he was sessful in withstanding it, containing it inside, and managed toplete the request the residents of Gupta wished to resolve. Now, he could finally sigh in relief. What he did was nothing short of incredible. He did what normally would be impossible, and changed thendscape itself! As if it was simply a game from his days from the ''Modern World'', he felt like he yed a game, raising mountains, and creating a pond. The memory caused a small smirk to spread over his lips, he chuckled at his own silly thoughts. However, before he had the chance to even process everything and settle down, the familiar bell-like sound of the system suddenly rang in his mind. Shortly after a notification window came up, not just reminding him that he had yet to check thest of the 4 Main Tabs in the interface, but also that the system was most likely not just a lifeless tool but something more. *Ding!* [Optional Quest Completed: The Young Lord of Haven: Woes of the Eternal Summer!] Seeing the title, Aiden almost burst out inughter. The title of this previously unknown quest was way too weird. Definitely not something that a machine would spit out normally. Taking a sigh to calm himself, Aiden opened the message and read its contents. [Difficulty: E Objective: -Alter thendscape while at the same time, get familiar with the basic features of the World Management feature. (1/1 - Completed!) Grade: E Reward: Increased Loyalty with the residents of Haven, increased Faith Gain, +1% Progress with [Primal Heritage: ????? (Current Progress: Level 1 - 2%)] Reading through the details of this suddenly popped-up quest, Aiden was bewildered. The rewards, except the 1% extra progress with the new, mysterious innate skill, all the other rewards were vague. What did ''increased loyalty'' meant? Or, the increased Faith Gain? By how much? 20%-30% boost? More? Maybe less? He didn''t know, nor could he find any way to get more detail. Well he could ask Enya, but she would either not be able to respond, as it seemed to be a trend recently, or she simply may just not know anything. The quests were never managed by her, some other force or power was responsible for each and every one of them. Still, truth be told, Aiden couldn''t be too distraught, after all, this was a freebie. He did nothing special in particr, one of the main reasons he even went to that ce was to check out the newly acquired features of the System. Shaking his head, he dismissed the screens, and took off his sweat-drenched linen shirt, throwing it beside the washroom door along with his pants. As they slushed over the corner, a deep frown, together with a show of disgust appeared on his face, as he walked over towards the washroom door and entered it. As his buck naked figure entered the room and the door closed behind him, a couple of momentster the sound of water flowing could be heard, dimming all the noise from the outside. As he enjoyed cleaning himself behind the closed doors and was engaged in the feeling of gradual cleanliness, he also rxed for the first time in a while. His mind finally calmed down, all the worry of the future was not weighing him down. Amidst his blissful sighs, however, unfortunately, Aiden forgot to spread his senses and did not pay attention to the two innocent little girls who just arrived in front of his door Just outside Aiden''s door, two youthful maidens, wearing new-looking sunny, bright-colored dresses, just arrived in front of a particr youngster''s door. One, with matte, silky ebon-ck shoulder-length hair and a fair, supple white skin was giggling over the words of her newly made friend, a golden-blonde, long-haired girl. Their feminine shapes are simr, from behind one could even mistake the two as sisters even. Their shapely behinds gently shook under the flowery dresses they both decided to bravely wear, mostly to surprise the unsuspecting boy. "Miss Lily" The ck-haired girl fidgeted nervously, Galina asked with a slight blush coloring her cheeks. "Are you sure that the Young Master wouldn''t mind our attires? It feels improper for someone like me" "Galina, I told you not to refer to me as Miss! Just call me Lily or Big Sis! As for Aiden, I''m sure that he has also told you to not call him Young Master!" The golden-haired maiden, Lily, berated her newest friend before her expression transformed into a cheeky, mischievous grin. "Don''t worry, I''m sure he would be surprised to see our dresses! Don''t worry, we will keep our cloaks on once we go down, but for now, let''s go and surprise brother!" With that, she unhesitantly pushed down on the doorknob, and threw it open, just the very same moment when Aiden walked out of his bathroom. Still wet with the bathwater. Completely naked. Chapter 406 - 406 - Pervert! Suddenly it was as if time itself came to a halt at the shocking sight that was abruptly being put on to a disy for Lily and Galina. Apart from the direction of their gazes that were focused on a very peculiar part of Aiden''s youthful body, no other sound was made. With Aiden''s halting abruptly his forward momentum was carried over to the rather unique-looking and generously sized shaft causing it to continue swaying in the air once before it slowly but surely returned to its original position. The sight was way above what the two maiden''s hearts and minds could possibly process, they were bbergasted, shocked beyond belief. Their previously cheery attitude was reced by a mixture of fright and confusion, as they both tried to reboot their minds, albeit futilely. Still, what seemed to be several hours, turned out to be only a few arduously long seconds, before soon time seemed to return to its normal pace. The girls'' supple, fairy cheeks began to heat up, and from the starting milky white, it first turned pinkish, ultimately ending at a bright, tomato-red disposure. As their embarrassment rapidly red up, reaching previously unknown heights, their gaze soon began to blur up, their vision clouded with the gathering of tears. Lily being the first of the two, clenched her fists as life slowly returned to her body. As if a volcano was about to erupt, her entire body trembled with the residual shockwaves of her jumbled mind and chaotically thumping heart. Another momentter, her closed mouth burst open as a loud, never-before-heard shriek escaped from her thin, feminine lips. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Her explosive outburst was so brutally violent, itpletely filled the entire inn. Several doors were pushed open, whilst the dining and bar area downstairs suddenly turned eerily silent. Lily''s warcry also returned the life to the frozen Galina, who could barely contain herself at this point. Her face was akin to a delicious apple, she turned around, and as her tears began to escape rushed away whilst woefully crying. A momentter the shutting of the neighboring room ended her plight. She rushed back to Lily''s door, hiding under the bedsheets. Although she couldn''t do anything about the shared mental connection, she did her best to blockade the connection. She dared not go near her master, not right now at least. Meanwhile, Lily''s legs were still frozen. She turned her head towards Galina as she escaped, wishing to do the same, but unfortunately feeling that she was ultimately unable to. What was worse, was the maic sight that kept pulling her gaze back. The swaying piece of manly meat, Aiden''s most precious part of his body Her eyes just couldn''t get enough of it, no matter how increasingly awkward and embarrassing her action started to be. At the same time, Aiden was just standing frozen in his spot with a baffled expression stered on his face. Why did the two girls barge into his room? Did something happen? If so, why didn''t they speak? ''No Then why would Galina run away'' Also, why does Lily keep staring at his lower region? Following her gaze, he looked down, his eyes instantly widened as he finally realized where the root of the situation seemed to be. Feeling freshened and ready, he came out to wash up his drenched clothing, not bothering to cover himself up. After all, he was alone in the room, and as it was still rather early, he wasn''t nning to go down and meet with the others just yet. However, he might have overlooked the simple fact that this wasn''t his room anymore, but he shared it with Galina, who had spent the night with his sister. To be honest, Aiden didn''t expect that the two girls'' first action in the morning would be to flutter into his room. Still, despite that, he shouldn''t run around naked, like in the modern world, here in Eora, the basics of morality still applied. As these thoughts shed through his mind, he suddenly put both of his hands in front of his lengthy, dormant snake, shing a rather wry-looking smile, he spoke. "Uhm" He muttered, trying to avert Lily''s fixated attention away from his delicates. "Lily could you please ehrm" However, adding more fuel to the already brightly burning fire, the doors to Drake and Scarlet''s room also opened up in the next moment, they rushed towards the source of the previous desperate-sounding shriek to Aiden''s room. As soon as the siblings barged in, they also turned wide-eyed at the sight of the naked youth, trying his best to cover up what seemed to be uncoverable, whilst meekly squealing to grab thepletely stunned girl''s attention. As Drake was doing his best to keep hisughter down, Scarlet, hurriedly rushed to Lily''s aid and shook her shoulders from behind. "Lily dear, snap out of it and leave your perverted brother behind!" She spoke, sneering contemptuously at the youth in the process. Her shake and words were finally sessful in bringing Lily back to reality. Instantly she turned away, her entire body was shaking as she hastily turned around. Still, she didn''t leave but crouched down on the ground, nting her face in her knees. A momentter her muffled voice could be heard, although barely. "I I am sorry. I j-just wanted to s-surprise brother" Turning away from Aiden, Scarlet tried to hide her blushing cheeks as she knelt down next to the blonde-haired girlie. "Don''t you feel sorry for something like that! You are not in the wrong, it''s this pervert''s fault for unting himself as if he was on disy!" She growled, trying to console the most likely traumatized girl while throwing jabs at the offending party. "But I" Aiden wanted to speak up, but it was at this moment that Drake stepped over, and silenced him with the palm of his hand. "Don''t bother, brother Just ept it and take the me. It''s easier." He sighed. Flicking his wrist, a set of simple-looking clothing appeared in his hands which he pushed into Aiden''s hands. "Also just do everyone a favor and dress up. You are scaring the girls" With that, he stepped over the two girls, gently reached down, and touched their shoulders. "Come girls, let''s leave poor Aiden some privacy." Then he turned his attention at his scoffing red-haired sister. Leaning closer into her ears, he whispered so that only she would hear it. "Also, don''t be too offended, it was all of us that barged into his room and not vice-versa. We invaded his privacy." "Hmpf!" Unable to retort to the obvious truth her brother just whispered, Scarlet could only harrumph. Still, she didn''t continue making a scene, and just silently helped Lilly up from the ground. A few secondster the trio alighted themselves from the room. Before shutting the door behind them, Aiden turned back looking at the still standing, quite bewildered and confused-looking friend of his. "Get ready, and let''s meet downstairs in a few! I will try to calm all the girls down in the meantime!" He winked before closing the door behind them, finally leaving Aiden alone once again in his own room. "What the hell just happened?!" Chapter 407 - 407 - Sleeping Beauty As the event came to a closure, Aiden finally snapped out of his trance However, processing thest events was another matter altogether He kept staring at the closed wooden door, trying toprehend what, how, and most importantly why had transpired. Was hebeled as a pervert in the confines of his own room? He stared at the closed, wooden door frame for a while longer before he heaved an exasperated, heavy sigh and shook his head. Deciding that it was best to put the matter at the back of his head and just focus on the current tasks at hand, he stepped away from the window. As he threw the gifted clothes atop the bed, a small frown shed through his face, before it was pushed down, leaving only his nonchnt expression only. The clothes Drake so casually threw towards him was of much, much higher quality than his ragged, dusty and grimy, yellowish attire. As he nced at besides the bathroom door, where he threw his attire into a messy pile, the difference between the two shirts was even more contrasted. Compared to his yellowish, pale piece of linen fabric, this one had a much higher quality to it. The ck long-sleeved shirt had a thin, but surprisingly sturdy, stic trait to it. As he touched the fabric, Aiden felt it was much smoother, silkierpared to his old, rough linen one. The only thing he felt was strange was the slightly deeper cut at the neck, which felt strange to him. At first, he even thought that it wasn''t meant for men, but for the feminine half of the society. Though this presumption was quickly dismissed as the cut wasn''t nearly as deep as the ones he could remember from the Modern World, it was still slightly strange. The pants, just like the ck long-sleeved smooth shirt, were also charcoal ck, with a slightly thicker, probably made with a stronger material. It also had a faint matte shine to it, which after taking a closer look at it with the help of the system, Aiden summarized to be some type of energy, imbued into the fiber itself. As he kept his attention on the pants, his dutiful system guide, Enya''s maternal voice came to his mind. ''[There is no need to look too deeply into it. It''s enchanted with mana, albeit it''s a pretty primitive one. I believe the locals would call this ''Nature Magic'', from the initial inspection of the inscription, it seems to serve two purposes. The first and primary objective is to imbue the fibers with air essence making the entire pants weigh less, to feel lighter. Also, and this is only a by-product of the first: It also provides minor protection against air-based attacks. Not much, but still much better than what you have been prancing around all this time.]'' She exined, not shying away from a little jab at the end of her speech. Before Aiden could voice hisint, she continued with an additional remark. ''[Also, the material that is made of is much more resistant to the most regr types of attacks. It should be able to withstand a couple of sword or dagger strikes from regr humans. Although if a beast were to lounge at you, don''t expect this fabric to ward off its attack. Also the same can be also said for the shirt. Though the fabric is slightly different, it is also of high quality, not something you can easily acquire in a backwater ce such as this town.]'' ''Well considering he IS the crown prince, I guess this is normal, everyday attire for him. So worthless that he could just casually throw it away, while for others, it would be akin to priceless treasure'' Agreeing with Enya''s words, Aiden grabbed the ck trouser and hurriedly dressed up. Although now, with his memories of his previous life intact, he felt a slight difort once again goingmando under the pants, there was nothing he could do. Soon, as he finished dressing up, he left the room and walked towards the end of the hallway. He halted before taking his first step up the stairs, hesitating a bit. He wasn''t sure how to face his sister, the cute Galina, or even Scarlet for that matter. Should he be angry? After all, it was them that burst into his room. Wouldn''t he also have the right to some privacy? On the other hand, they were maidens, and all that happened was just a big misunderstanding. Also, his room was also Galina''s, she had all the rights to walk in, unannounced. Also, he wasn''t supposed to walk naked, even if he just came out to quickly wash his clothes and prepare them for the day. (Which in the end he had not done, and just merely stored them in his system''s inventory.) After a while, deciding it was best to just let the matter go and not bring it up, his expression gradually calmed, his usual gentle smile once again dominated his outlook. Taking onest sigh, to exhale all the pent-up stress that he was subjected to this morning, he stepped forward, whilst scanning the crowd below in search of his group. As he spotted the group of the familiar shaped cloaked and hooded gang, he nodded in their direction and strolled towards the usual corner beside the entrance It was a beautiful sunny morning. The crystal clear, light blue sky gave no hurdle to the blustering summer sun, letting its rays light up the world below with all its glory. Just like with all others, the curious orange rays peaked through each and every window, and unless there was a piece of dark cloth stered in front of the ss frame, the bright pirs of light that pierced into the rooms would also serve as the natural wake-up call, reminding the slumbering residents that a new day has arrived. As the morning rays peaked through a series of particrlyrge windows, a beautiful, adorned, luscious bedchamber was lit up. Ornate, priceless artifacts serving as normal everyday furniture, golden embroidery decorating almost every piece of fabric and silk that could be seen in the room. Suddenly, as the light peaked through the windows and scared away the obscureness of the previous night, a tired groan, a feminine yawn escaped through the covers of the pillowy bedsheets. Slow movement could be seen from under the duvet, as its lone resident slowly began toe back to reality. The figure released a painful groan, as a feminine hand suddenly came up from under the cover and reached for a flock of a messy golden head of hair. A couple of momentster, another hand arrived following in the footsteps of its right-winged sister. A more powerful yawn escaped through the lips of the figure, her groans gradually turning more and more coherent as the seconds continued to pass. "Wha What happened" Her eyelids slowly fluttered away, giving way to surprise rather than shock. Still working with a minimal amount of stamina, she slowly looked around to take in her immediate surroundings, gradually turning her surprise into a growing sense of confusion. "Where am I?" She muttered, not really expecting an answer. Although she was unsure about her current location or her safety, as she felt an incredible luxury she was currently in, her worries slowly began to drift away Although she felt that she would be fine sleeping on the cold, hard ground, in her heart she was still a girl She couldn''t deny herself the enjoyment of suchfort Chapter 408 - 408 - Waking Up Just as she was about to descend back to thend of dreams, and let her lingering consciousness wander away, a sudden knock jolted her senses awake. Not even a momentter, the muffled voice of an older-sounding man could be heard, before the door was pushed open. "Excuse me miss, I''ming in." His words were strange, causing the woman lying in the bed to wonder for a brief instant. ''Is he aware of me waking up? Wait Who is he? Where am I Who am I?'' As the questions continued to assault her nervous mind, she suddenly realized that everything was a blur. Her current state, the strange ce, the bed the incrediblefort and luxury Was he the daughter of some rich family? Still, her questions were quickly thrown at the back of her mind, as she suddenly felt the presence of another entering the room. Even with the sudden inability to ess her own memories, she could sort of ''feel it'', as the owner of the aged, masculine voice entered her room. She felt that even if she wouldn''t have heard the door opening, she would be able to tell that there was another being in her close vicinity. This strange feeling, this sort of sixth sense, didn''t help her mind a bit. She felt even more confused by all that was happening, still, her heart and mind calmed down almost instantly. She could feel all the muscles in her body reacting to her state of mind, which strangely managed to ease her worries. She felt strong, powerful as if nothing could threaten her. Whilst the blonde tall woman was entangled with her own thoughts, the owner of the voice entered the room and lightly closed the door behind him. He didn''t step towards the bed, but stood in his current spot, with his straight back facing the door. He lightly coughed once, pulling the confused woman out of her own self-induced stupor, and as she slowly turned her gaze on the old man, he promptly bowed down. "I am delighted to see the miss finally waking up. May I ask, how does miss feel? Can I bring anything to make your stay morefortable?" He spoke, addressing the girl with his courteous, eloquent mannerism. At first, the woman had no idea what to do. Her confusion just continued to deepen further and further with each passing second. As she nced at the old man and instinctively focused her mind on the thin elder, new information assaulted her mind. She could somehow tell that this person, this ck suit and tie-wearing, an elegantly dressed thin man had no ill intent towards her. She felt that this elder was of no threat to her life, causing her body to instinctively rx, her tense muscles to ease up. Silence ensued between the two after the suited man proposed his inquiry to the blonde woman. As she just kept staring at the figure for several seconds, the man withstood her prating gaze with ease and kept his bowing posture all the while. Eventually, the silence was broken, as the woman finally managed toe to terms and process all the strange nonsense that continuously came to her mind. She wanted to respond, but suddenly she realized how dry her lips were and how parched her throat had be. She tried to speak but only senseless gibberish, gruff, guttural, hoarse, throatily groans could be heard. The man didn''t seem to be phased, nor surprised by her reaction at all. Straightening his back, he swiftly stepped closer to the girl, pointing towards the cupboard beside her. A ss pitcher filled with water with a simr ss cup was ced next to the bed. "Please, miss, quench your thirst. The fresh water was prepared for you just this morning by the Mistress'' orders." Hearing all the new information thrown at her once again, the woman creased her eyebrows. ''Mistress? Hmm'' Still, as she was truly, incredibly thirsty, once her eyesnded on the pitcher full of water, she immediately reached for it. Her instincts firing up once again, she didn''t even bother pouring it out from its container and wasting even more of her precious energy on such a useless matter, she brought the ss contained directly to her mouth. As the liquid watered up her dry lips, she was already in bliss, her eyes glimmered with delight. She couldn''t hold herself back anymore, and opened her mouth wide and began to devour the refreshing contents. For over a minute, the only sound that could be heard in the room was the loud gulps of the girl. She didn''t bother with etiquette or lookingdy-like in front of this stranger. Her instinctual responses were deeply etched into her bones, she felt that acting upon them and letting them drive her forward was the right thing to do. She devoured all the water in the pitcher, not minding the fact that she just drank several liters in one sitting. As she got to the end of it, a loud, unrestrained burp exploded from the deepest bellows of her frame. With a delighted, satisfied expression she ced the now empty pitcher back on the cupboard, and with a much calmer expression on her face, she turned and looked at the silver-mustached little penguin-dressed man. "Feeling better, Miss?" As if on cue, as soon as she felt her eyes on him, the butler spoke up. "Ah Much better, thanks, old-timer!" She sighed with joy and contentment. With the most crucial, pressing matter now put to rest, another quickly surfaced. A loud rumble came from her belly, an ufortable feeling rose in her body. She felt low on energy, she felt hungry. "I see, the miss is truly starting to get better." The old man shed a warm smile. "Would you like to have breakfast served in bed, or would you perhaps join the Mistress downstairs?" ''This again'' She remarked inwardly, not letting a frown showcase itself over her face. With a slightly forced, unnatural smile donning her visage, she asked after listening to the man. "I I would like to go downstairs" Although she wanted to directly ask her questions, in the end, she felt it would be best to go with the flow. She felt, that it would be best to face this so-called ''Mistress'' directly. From the mannerism and way of speech of this old man, she felt that he was merely under the employ of this mysterious woman. Hearing her response the butler was about to step forward to help the miss but was stopped almost immediately. The girl raised her hand as she grunted whilst slowly pushing her body to the side. "Don''t! Let me do it myself!" She seethed, feeling a surge of pain wrecking all over her frame as she forced herself towards the edge of herfy bed. Still, she gritted her teeth, and pushed on, not minding the jolting pain-causing havoc. All her muscles cried in agony, as they were once again forced into activity. Eventually, after arduous effort and almost two full minutes, she was now sitting at the edge of her bunk, her body finally leaving the confines of the nket revealing a tall, and visibly muscr, toned giantess, once again drenched in sweat. She was heaving heavily, as even this small action required great effort and even greater willpower to aplish. Still, she swallowed the pain, and looked up at the butler standing a few steps away, calmly looking at her. "Okay, old-timer Let''s go and visit this Mistress of yours." Chapter 409 - 409 - We Are Surrounded After a quick and rather ufortable breakfast, the group made their way towards the Slums. With their quest already taken, their gear upgraded and consumables restored they felt more than ready to tackle the challenges that were waiting for them. The quest requested the culling of a particr annoying bottom-dweller creature, a small but extremely vicious bipedal reptilian monster. The little annoyances were quick to spread, its poption, if left unchecked, could rapidly explode, going from a dozen to several hundred, even to the thousands in a matter of weeks. Also, as their numbers increased, so did their boldness. From their initial frightened, calcting, hiding nature, they grew into vicious, rabid beasts as their poption entered the triple digits. Once they felt strong enough, they would begin their raids, breaking into the homes of the innocents, attacking, assaulting the unsuspecting. Elders, adults, and even children were mangled, killed off, eaten and their remains were taken away for the rest of the tribe Because of that, regr, systematic cleaning was necessary wherever the "Skink-gue" has made its rotten presence known. The small group of Aiden, Drake, Scarlet, Galina, Lily, and her silent caninepanions stood in front of arge grated gate in a particr, tucked away part of Higrove''s Slums district. Unlike what was the norm, this particr section was guarded by not two, but four of the City Guards. After thetest attack where a family of 8 have vanished overnight, the citizenry finally pushed the City Guards into action. Although they wouldn''t be crazy enough to venture into the dark depths of hell, they could at the very least guard the only known exit-sh-entrance. "Halt! You can''t go any further!" As the 5-man group arrived close enough, the closest of the guards raised his free left hand in the air, blocking further advancement. His dark eyes coldly stared at the group of youngsters from behind his metal helmet''s visor. He held amon-looking pike in his right hand, this very same weapon could be seen on the other three''s hands as well. "Let us through." Drake stepped forward, showing the piece of quest paper to the guard. "We have beenmissioned by the Guild to clean up the mess." He said. ''Your mess'' He added a mental remark, though he kept a calm outlook. The guard grabbed the presented notice, his eyes skimmed over its contents. As he finished it, he shook his head, a sympathetic smile appeared on his face. His previous stiffness vanished, as he sighed with apassionate but sorrowful tone. "Eh You guys are quite unlucky. The little green devils are way beyond everyone''s expectations" Hearing that the youthful, vigorous group willingly came to this hellhole, the rest of the guards also let out a series of regretful, sad looks. "You guys and gals If I were you I would turn back while I still can! Their numbers are already endless, this task is no longer suitable for a group of adventurers I heard the captains talk about sending a request to the Academy This ce needs those fire mages to unleash their spells and burn everything to ashes." "Don''t throw away your lives little ones! Turn back and live for another day! One failed quest is not the end of the world!" "Go away! This ce is not for you youngsters!" They howled their warnings, each of them doing their best to convince this measly-looking group to not step into the dark. They were beyond doubt that once they ventured inside, they will nevere back. Although in reality, they didn''t really care for the boys or the two ferocious war hounds, it would have been quite regretful to waste this trio of angels to such a fruitless endeavor. Even through the shrouds they oh so desperately tried to hide their beauty with, some small bits and pieces still managed to shine through. Despite their warnings, the group looked calm, no matter how hard they tried to convince them to turn away, neither of them budged. In the end, they could do nothing, as their job was to stand guard, and not bother too much with themissioned adventurers. If they were hell-bent on trying their luck, they could only sigh and show the way. The front guard sighed and shook his head as he gave the piece of paper back to Drake. "Think about it, onest time youngsters. Arrogance is good, but too much of it could spell your demise. Don''t be blind to the kind words of those more experienced than you, there is no shame in running away to live for another day!" Still, as he looked over the group the guard couldn''t help but try to give onest warning to them, trying his best to bring them back to reality. Listening to his words, the boy in the center of the group, who until now, remained silent, and nonchnt, turned towards the guard, and with a friendly smile on his face, spoke. His tone was calm, and collected, showing no visible fright or nervousness. "We thank you all for the warning. I can tell, you have only spoken out of the kindness of your heart. I respect that, and I will do the same: Do not underestimate me and my friends just because of our looks. Have you never heard the phrase: Never judge a book by its cover?" The guard turned wide-eyed at the strange, exotic-eyed youngster''s words. What kind of saying was that?! ''Perhaps they are also from the academy?'' He wondered, looking at the group once again, trying to find some clues about who they could have been. "Can we pass through now? Or is there any other problem?" The strange-looking boy spoke again, his words whilst still calm, carried a mysterious underlying power, causing shivers to run through all four guards'' backs." Immediately, they all turned wary of these youngsters, not daring to thwart their way any longer. Using arge rusty, iron key, they unlocked the grated gate, slowly pulling it open. "Go in, guys. Remember, we will close the gate behind you. If you are not back before nightfall, you will not be able to leave until the next morning. May the gods be with you all!" The guard gave hisst words, before stepping aside and giving them way into the eerie darkness thatid await. The group waved their goodbyes to the surprisingly friendly and kind City Guards, -an experience quite new, to be honest- and made their first steps into the underground sewage system, the realm of monsters be it humans or any other kind The group warily and cautiously ventured forward, slowly getting deeper and deeper into the depths, and stepping into the domain of the vicious little beasts. "Be on guard now everyone." Drake suddenly muttered his order to the party, despite knowing well that they were already on high alert. The slowly dripping water, the eerie silence with the distant clicks served as a clear reminder that they were no longer in the civilized territory, but have long ventured to thend of nightmares. As they continued slowly making their way further, suddenly Aiden stopped the group. Before anybody could ask, suddenly all spotted the several dozens of pairs of yellow eyes popping up around them in the darkness. "We are surrounded" Chapter 410 - 410 - Instinct From the dark shadows, countless pairs of small, yellowish glowing beads popped up in rapid fashion, one after another. Shortly after the emergence of the numerous, ominous gems, strange clicking, cluttering sounds could be heard from all directions. "Get ready." Long since recognized the ambush they have walked into, Drake''s right hand was already resting on Mort''s hilt, ready to unleash all the hell he was capable of. At the same time, her Sister and Lilly were already in a battle-ready stance, the former holding her newly bought pair of daggers, whilst thetter was fully focused and looking at the darkness in front of them with an Initial Martial Poise. Just a step behind them, the always shy Galina was clenching the handle of her mace, her eyes gazing at the frightful scene with cold braveness. Lily''s faithful, caninepanions were also growling menacingly as they instinctively covered both sides of the girl trio. As for Aiden, he decided to train his sword-fighting skills for a change. Stretched out his right hand, the ornate ebon de, Rygintarth, suddenly appeared in his palm. Despite the numbers, and the slight concern the rest of the team seemed to share, he was full of vigor and eagerness. Even though he has worked on his mental state a lot since consuming the Worgen''s body all those years back then, he never managed topletely defeat that endless bloodthirst the creature was probably mutated with. Also, his newest gain, the orcish form, didn''t really help his state either. He just couldn''t help it The thought of the uing sh was such an addicting crazy thought. A thin smirk slowly curved up at the edges of his lips. For a moment, the scene felt as if they were all in a painting. In a shady, obscurely lit, underground sewage tunnel, a group of five youngsters and their two war hounds were once again facing an almost impossible, iprehensible challenge. Surrounding them a thick sea of small, dark-green-skinned bipedal reptilian creatures surrounded them, eying them like the newest prey that willingly walked into their domain. For that single, but at the same time eternal moment, the imaginary painter''s canvas was filled with that underlying ''oomph'', that intangible sensation, that ''energy''. Still, that moment was just like that; an instant. As the second passed away, the scenery instantly changed. A high-pitched war cry echoed in the ring of small, reptilian monsters, and like the aftermath of the biblical moment with that particr parted sea, the surrounding waves ferociously surged towards the ''drynd'', the party. For a moment the girls shivered, trembled with the passing fear. Standing against such a nightmare-inducing scene, wasn''t easy on the three maiden''s hearts. Biggy and Sam, however, didn''t waste a single second and were the first to jump at the iing wave. Each growl, each snap was a chock-full of torn skin, ripped flesh, or organs. Dark Green fluid spewed out from the torn carotid arteries. The lifeless bodies of the viciously murdered reptilian creatures fell one after another. Still, just like with the Sahuagins from yesterday, their deaths made little to no dent in their savage assaults. As one body limply fell to the ground, another instantly took its ce. Their primitive, crude, small javelins and useless little shields served little purpose. Their attacks grazed off the strong bodies and their custom-made leather vests of the two. Drake was actually the first to react as the battle began. With a lightning-fast motion, his golden de shed, slicing through the air, drawing a diagonal arc in the air. Along its swift traversal, not one, but two of the foremost little skins were sliced apart, separating their scrawny bodies into two. Like a knife through hot butter, their skeletal frames barely offered any resistance against the thirsty artifact. Not wanting to lose his momentum, Drake spins his body around, drawing a new, wide, horizontal arc, thwarting the attacks of half a dozen newly emerged feverish monsters. Beside him, a streak of scarlet jumped around, slicing away or plunging into the flesh of skins without a halt. Every once in a while, a painful cry hollered in the small, makeshift battlefield: Another golden bead was plucked, its light forever dimming as the tip of a runed dagger made its way into its gtinous membrane. At the other side of Drake and beside Biggy the newly made best friend duo, Lily and Galina were making quick work of the dozen encroachment they suddenly found themselves in. Although the monsters couldn''t get close to them, neither could they make any ground. They were in a stalemate, and there was no end in sight for them. Still, neither of them seemed weary, or tired, both girls were relentlessly hitting and striking against all those that were foolish enough to enter their attack range. At the center of it, all Aiden stood still, with strangely no opponent charging at him. He felt like those protected princesses, or haughty nobles that were useless in battle, but was still flinging their authorities with every chance they got. A look of frustration was visible on his face, at first, he couldn''tprehend what was going on. ''Why are they all avoiding me?!'' Not knowing what to do, he threw the huge de of Ryg over his left shoulder and swiped his eyes around, looking over each of his teammates, trying to decide whom he could help the most. Sending out a pulse of energy, he was surprised to notice that it seemed that whilst these creatures seemed feral, and crazed, in reality, they weren''t. Whilst there were many small, barely tangible emotions and thoughts he could make out, there was indeed one they all shared. They all feared him. They were wary, as if they knew, that he wasn''t human, but of something else. Akin perhaps? No Did he feel a fearing from them, mixed together with reverence? "What is going on" He mumbled, with a look of confusion on his face. ''[They can feel it, Aiden. Although you are trying to keep it tucked inside, these little creatures can inherently feel your [Draconic Heritage]. They can instinctively sense your lording presence.]'' Enya''s answer only caused further confusion to cloud Aiden''s already distraught mind. ''If that''s the case, why are they attacking us? This makes no sense!'' He cried out, tightening his grip on his de, and looking around his group. As he spotted the tight spot his sister and his dear little angel, Galina was in, anger quickly reced his feelings of doubt, confusion, and frustration. His eyes red up, glowering in the dark with a bright golden luster. His emotion-driven state caused his power to shake off its shackles, causing his full power to explode from his body, releasing a shock wave of energy together with the ear-shattering st. In the next moment, his figure vanished, reappearing in front of his sister. Even though he didn''t use anything rted to Space, his movement seemed like blinking rather than charging. His face contorted, revealing a hideous growl, as the ebon de of Ryg swiftly traversed the air in front of him. The sheer power, the carried momentum, and his convulsing draconic aura separated four heads from their necks. Still, his initial attack didn''t end there. The carried energy was so high, that his swipe continued surging forward, forming an intangible de made out of wind and energy traversing through the sea of skinks, and ending the lives of many more. Instantly, the monsters stopped their assault, their growls, and strange clicking noises died down. Chapter 411 - 411 - Losing Control "Huh? What''s happening." The change in the behavior of the Skinks was so sudden, so abrupt, that none of the party members knew what to do, how to react. They looked around with bewildered, confused eyes, tightly clenching to their weapons (or, to their fists in case of Lily), eying the little yellow-eyed bastards as they slowly, but surely backed away. What was even more baffling was the target of each of the little demon''s gazes: Aiden. Each and every one of the small, at most meter-long bipedal reptilian creatures, that, just a moment ago seemed like vicious, feral monsters, were gazing at the long, ck-haired youth with surprisinglyplex gazes. There was no anger, or rage in their yellow eyes any more. No, on the contrary, a look of awe, and respect. Fear and Reverence. Strange, conflicting emotions, but most importantly, intelligence that shouldn''t be normally possible. Usually, people regarded these small, tiny lizardmen as nothing more than feral mongrels, yet as the group looked over them, each showed signs of highly advanced intelligence. "What is going on? They They seemed to be wary of brother?" Following their gazes, Lily wasn''t sure what to make of all of this. A momentter, however, the realization hit her as she remembered how she actually met her beloved brother. "Oh, yes I know!" She eximed happily, the threat of the danger they were in just a moment ago vanished like a puff of smoke from her mind. As for Galina, she simply rxed her stance and lowered her mace. Her face returned to a calm, serene state, she simply closed her eyes. Her calm, and collected outlook was greatly contrasted though, in her mental state, her mental messages that she sent through the shared link with her master were full of emotions. ''Young Master! Young Master!'' She eximed through her mental messages. ''Why did they all turn so fearful all of a sudden?'' However, there was no response to her inquiries, nor did the team see any movement from Aiden ever since the first, initial swing of his sword and the following wind de he shot forth. He stood still, Ryg''s shard, ebony edge lowered to the ground, he looked at the scampering enemies with a cold look on his face. His eyes were brightly shining, filling the previously dimly lit room with a golden luster. As his emotions swirled inside him kicking off a chaotic storm, his body was visibly shaking. As the seconds passed, the rest of the gang could only see his shaking back. Growing worried that something bad might have happened, they wanted to go over and reach out. However, unsure of how the enemy would react to their sudden movements, eventually none of them made any action. Well, apart from Lily and Galina who were already close by. They both stepped forward taking either side of Aiden and tried to look at his face that apart from the dangerous cold, the bubbling anger and rage that contorted his expression and made the corner of his mouth and eyes twitch asionally, nothing more could be seen. They couldn''t calm their hearts as they saw the state he was in. As they reached for him, suddenly, something changed. The growing dread in the air suddenly came to a stop, the silent suction of the air turned to a halt. For a brief instant, the peace and silence returned to the underground tunnel, before in the next passage of a second, everything flipped over its head. Turning towards the ceiling, Aiden''s face changed, his lips parting a deep and thunderous howl erupted from him, filling the area all around, causing the ground itself to shake in fear. The tone of his war cry was deep, carrying a deep underlying thunderous power, instilling fear and dread to each of the surrounding Skinks, causing them to fall on their backs, and knees without fail. Their primitive, crude weapons fell to the grounds as they tried to slowly push themselves further and further away from this fearsome entity. However, this was not the end. Following Aiden''s ferocious roar, invisible energy exploded from his body. A heavy pressure descended on everyone around. Apart from Lily and Galina, even the royal siblings and the war hounds were forced down on the ground under Aiden''s unfolding aura. "Ghhh Lily Calm your brother" Scarlet, being the closest to them, slowly raised her head and groaned towards the standing trio before falling back down on the ground. Using up all her stamina to muster these few words, her body limpidly sprawled on the grimy floor in the next second, she fainted under the heavy pressure. "Aiden brother please calm down You are hurting everyone" Growing worried about the situation, Lily leaned closer to her brother''s ears and whispered. At the same time, Galina did her best to do the same and reach out to Aiden''s consciousness that was slowly swallowed up by the chaotic storm, his ever-increasing, uncontroble rage. ''Young Master! Please don''t lose yourself! Calm down!'' Still, Aiden didn''t seem to hear them. Ignoring all their pleas, he slowly raised Ryg pointing it towards the trembling Skinks on the ground. A look of contempt sat upon his expression as he was about to strike and slice the air a second time before suddenly his arm stopped midway in the air. His expression changed, shifted, a look of shock appeared. He frowned before a look of sadness and guilt appeared on his face. He pulled back his arm, and with it, he removed the invisible pressure, he controlled his aura, shifting it, to only press on the skinks, and not on his allies. With a flick of his hand, Ryg vanished from his hand. He looked at the little creatures stered on the ground, still trembling with an overwhelming sensation of fear, not daring to raise their heads and look at the boy. Aiden''s face transformed again, as the cold, stern look returned once more as he eyed the creatures on the ground. His mouth moving once more, a thunderous, deep tone of voice came from his throat, filling the underground hallway again as he gave a short order to the trembling little ones. "Bring me your leader." As he randomly lifted the pressure from a few of them, they immediately got up from the ground, and giving yet another shock to the slowly recovering party, they actually bowed towards Aiden before swiftly scampering away back in the darkness where they came from. Meanwhile, the rest of the ambushing army remained stered on the floor, unable to take any action. Only meek, faint whimpers could be heard as they did their best to beg for mercy from the one they dared not to approach. With the small window of time, the group began to recoup their lost energies. With Galina''s help, it only took a few minutes before even Scarlet was once again conscious and sitting beside her brother. Her eyes carried a mixture of emotions, mostly confusion about what was actually happening; they were looking at the stoically standing Aiden for some answers. Aiden, aware of his previous blunder, could only give a bittersweet smile at them. Before he could speak up and exin himself, suddenly a new strong presence emerged in the darkness. A pair of yellow eyes, simr to the skinks in shape but at least twice their size appeared in the darkness. A loud hiss echoed from its direction, gradually closing in on the party Chapter 412 - 412 - Thuk From the shadows, a unique-looking, slightly taller Skink came forward. Unlike the rest, this one had muchrger, oversized yellowish eyes, at the top of his head, a crest ofrge, beautiful deep red feathers draped down. Whilst not exactly simr, it vaguely resembled a mohawk. The creature was slightly taller than its brethren, its wrinkled skin was initially dark, which as soon as it stepped into the light, changed its color matching the dark brown, muddy gradient of its surroundings. He was holding onto a cane, that was more of a short snapped gnarled branch of a tree than a proper walking aid. Despite its height, his physique wasn''t as developed as his kin, he seemed much more fragile, much weaker than the little devils around it. As he slowly trudged forward, using his stick, he was also actively leaning against his much thicker tail which was curled up behind his back and was like a makeshift chair, or back stand to support his back. Despite his aged, frail presence, the rest of the skin horde was clearly reverent and respectful towards this elder. Although the pressure kept them stered on the ground, for the first time, they battled, fought against it, to raise their gazes and be able to steal a nce at this peculiar figure. Under the shocked and bewildered gazes of the human group, the feathered elder slowly sauntered towards the glowing-eyed dominant entity in their midst. His expression, his demeanor, his presence showed no fear and no hostility. On the contrary, as his jawline curled up, he donned a thin smile on his face, the team felt admiration and pure happiness from him. Seconds slowly turned into a full minute before the elderly lizard man finally stopped in its tracks only a meter of a distance away from Aiden. For the next few seconds, both figures gazed at each other. Without showing any fear and falter they matched each other''s gazes. The elderly lizard kept his calm,posed happy outlook whilst Aiden showed the same, simr dominant, slight arrogance on his face. The pressure of his aura, although eased up slightly, so the small creatures wouldn''t be crushed to their deaths and pressured into meatloaves, still kept them lying on the ground. At the very least they could not raise their heads and look at their elder as the silent, but the tense battle of mental fortitude continued on. Eventually, after around a minute the elderly lizard acquiesced and lowered his gaze to the ground. Soon after, to the shock of every eye present, be it humans or lizardfolk, the elder bent his knees, and whilst keeping his best to rely on his short stick so as to not fall downpletely, he knelt in front of Aiden. His jaw opening, a hissing sound came from his gargled throat, before the creature gave a light cough and to yet another round of shock to Aiden and the gang it spoke using themon tongue. "Wessss greetssh youssh oh Inheritorsssh of the Ancient Onessh!" Even though it was quite rough, it was still manageable, they could roughly understand what he was saying. Raising his eyebrow, Aiden looked at him with rising interest. This strange figure has actually grown intelligent enough to understand and even reciprocate human speech. No matter how you looked at it, this was not just simply surprising, it was a groundbreaking feat! These skinks were considered monsters by almost everyone in the world. They were known for their slightly higher intelligence that made them capable to act out specific roles whilst in a group and hunt with great sess rates, and also live in what was at most referred to as a primitive tribe, or gathering. Still, from the small interaction, Aiden and the rest had with these creatures, they were nothing like what the news had told them. In fact, Drake was the most shocked of them all, as he had been down in these sewers once, and even culled a few dozen of them before returning to the guild and cashing in his just rewards. At that time, he hadn''t given any thought, his sh with them was like what he expected: they were savage, almost feral as they lounged their frail bodies against his de without worry or hesitation. There was no sign of such deep thinking, such emotions, such reactions at that time. So what changed? Drake couldn''t understand what was going on, all that was happening was way beyond his expectations. Simr to him, Scarlet who held greater knowledge than the others was just as baffled and confused as his brother. Although she spent thetter parts of her childhood as a ve forced to fight to survive, she was still taught the basics of the world back in her ''pce years''. Unlike them, a growing smile could be witnessed on Lily''s and even Galina''s expressions as they looked at the elderly lizardman and Aiden. "Who and more importantly what exactly are you? Also, what is this Ancient One you are speaking about?" After a few brief moments of silence, Aiden finally responded to the elderly skink''s respectful greeting. Hearing their revered ancestor''s descendant respond to him, the elderly lizard''s face twisted into a hideous-looking grin. Keeping her gaze stered on the stone pathway, he hurriedly answered. "Anssswering thisssh Lord''sssh quesshtion, thisssh lowly onesssh is called Thuk. I am this tribessh leader." "I see." Aiden nodded at his response. "So, what are you? Are you some sort of variant? Also, what is this all about? Why did you attack then bow your heads?" Thuk, the leader of the skinks, visibly shuddered as Aiden fired his questions against him. At first, he couldn''t even answer as he battled the trembling of his meager body. Still, a few brief momentster, he fixed his trembling, and with a hissing sigh, he began to respond, albeit with a slightly meeker tone of voice. "I Apologissshe for the great dissshrespect we have shown you, oh great lord Pleasssshe be magnanimoussh, and find kindnessh in your heart to let my kith go. I promisshe to train them better in the future!" The elderly skink begged for forgiveness, not minding his shameful disy or loss of face. Such things meant nothing to him, the only thing that mattered was the survival of his race. Being considered nothing more than useless trash, a stain on the world fated to being hunted and killed, he desperately wished, begged the skies for a chance for a better future for their survival before it was toote. Nowadays, reduced to hiding in the slimy underground sewer systems of the human cities, they were at their breath''s end. They were forced to hide and lurk in the shadows and slowly, steadily increase their numbers whilst making sure to be aware of any potential threat that came their way. Although his kin wasn''t as bright, Thuk has survived many disasters, and great ordeals through his more than 3 decades of a lifetime to know the usual strategy of this arrogant, self-centered race. He knew that their days were numbered, as sooner orter the humans would dispatch something Thuk called the Firebringers Knowing that the time for that should be upon them soon, he was agitated, so when the scouts noticed a group of strange-looking humans and beasts enter, he made the call and sent out arger, than normal squad to ambush them. What he didn''t expect, that this action of his, would be finally the answer to his hopeless prayers and would forever change the course of their destiny Chapter 413 - 413 - The Question As Thuk was deep in thought, Aiden silently looked at the old lizard with a growing interest behind his eyes. Although the elderly figure didn''t say much, his demeanor, mannerism, and way of speech gave away more than what he probably intended. ''He is clearly worried about his people. Although they attacked first, their intention was actually justified A misunderstanding and the sour memories of the cruelty of this world were what pushed to this end. Being treated as nothing more than monsters This is the same as it was with Roas and his orcs'' Aiden couldn''t help but feel sad for the little guy and his hunted and shunned race. His cold outlook slowly melted, a warm smile slowly, gradually resurfaced. Meanwhile, the heavy pressure that pushed the Skinks on the ground faded, Aiden pulled his aura back. Sounds of clicking and hissing could be heard as the small creatures began to stand up from the ground. The noises of his kin brought Thuk back from his reverie. Keeping his kneeling posture, he gazed around, looking around at his brethren. Seeing that they were mostly fine, a thankful smile curved the edges of his jawline. Although he was already pretty much decided, thisst gesture made his decision to solidify in his mind. His fate decided, he turned his attention back on the young figure in front of him. He dared not to gaze at his face but stered on the ground. Before speaking, he hollered a strange clicking sound. Following his cry, the surrounding skins instantly fell on their knees and bowed and even kowtowed toward the ck-haired youngster. Taking arge gasp of air, their leader, Thuk spoke up. "Oh honored andssh great Lord! Pleasshe, hear our plea!" He stopped only briefly, exhaling the air from his diaphragm and calming his senses. He wanted to be cool and collected for what he was about to state next as it would most certainly spell the future of his tribe and maybe even his entire race. Taking one more sigh, he reaffirmed his decision in his mind, and with the firm resolution, he eximed. "Oh, great Lord! Assh the prophecy foretold, let us join your causshe! Please, don''t leave ussh to perissh so unjustly!" The surrounding clinks whilst kneeling on the ground and kowtowing towards the stunned Aiden, clicked their tongues in unison, agreeing to their elder words. None showed any hesitation in their action, or in their looks. They were all in the same mind as their leader. Looking at the baffling scene, Aiden wasn''t sure how to proceed. There were still a lot of questions he wanted to ask, a lot of unknowns he wanted to shed some light on, but ultimately, he wasn''t against the idea of inviting and hopefully saving this poorly fated race. He also had a good impression of this elderly lizard. He wasn''t evil, wasn''t tainted with the worldly darkness. He was merely at his wit''s end, they fought this strange gueri warfare for survival. Yes, killing the poor, innocent residents of the slums wasn''t something that Aiden could stand behind. However, the main problem was that he wasn''t sure if revealing even more of his secrets to the royal siblings would be a wise decision. A frown appeared on his face as he contemted, causing the surrounding lizardmen to grow worried. What would happen to them, if the ancestor''s prophecy would ultimately note true? What if the promised return of their true master wouldn''t ept them? What would be their future then? Even Thuk wasn''t certain what he should do. Did they made a mistake, and offended the Lord with their action? Has his agitated state made him do a mistake that spelled doom for them? Are they destined to die here, and vanish forever from the world? His body fidgeted, as he was growing increasingly worried, yet he dared not to take any action and was silently waiting for the response from the ''Inheritor of the Ancient One'' as he first eximed. Drake, Scarlet, and Lily watched with puzzled, befuddled expressions as the whole event grew weirder and more and more baffling by the minute. What originally seemed to be a simple killing quest, was now turning into something that they are failing toprehend. The royal siblings didn''t really understand what was going on anymore, they had no idea what they should do. Was there even anything they could, anyway? In the end, they just stood still, looking at their friend and the kneeling small unique-looking skink leader with aplex look on their faces. Lily, on the other hand, wasn''t that worried. Although she didn''t know what was really happening, she trusted his brother and knew about him. She could guess that whatever was going on, was ultimately rted to Aiden''s secret, his draconic origin. Galina, however, was growing excited as she looked at his Young Master. Would they receive a new member and a new race to settle down on the other world? She didn''t want to interrupt, but her excitement seeped through the mental connection she had with Aiden. Even without looking at his team members, or taking a look at them through the system, Aiden was clearly aware of each of their thoughts. He could also feel the growing excitement and happiness that Galina tried to hide inside her, she was clearly looking forward to the new brothers and sisters she would have once these skinks would join their growing ''family''. In the end, Aiden sighed and nodded, taking a step forward and reaching down to raise the small elderly leader''s head and pulling him up from the ground. "Stand up, don''t kneel down Thuk, leader of the Skinks." He spoke sternly, his tone was heavy, not giving away anything about his decision. As the elder reluctantly stood up, he nervously looked at the golden-eyed human youngster with a worried look in his eyes. He wasn''t sure what he should do, what he should say. As he was silently fidgeting, contemting what his next course of action should be, Aiden spoke once again, firing a question at him and shocking him to the core. "Before you speak, and answer my next question, make sure you properly think it through, as your response would forever seal not just your but all your brethren''s fate. Whatever waits for you from here on, will depend on your next words." Aiden spoke, his words weighed heavily on the small, frail-bodied elder''s mind. Thuk looked at the young man, with a growing worry, dreading but also looking forward to his next words. Aiden gave the little skink leader a couple of seconds to process his warning. Before continuing, he looked at his team. For what he was about to do next, would reveal some of his secrets. His action would cause a significant amount of risk, as he would have to ce his trust in these humans. Would it be worth it? Can they really be trusted? There was no answer to these questions. He could only hope that he wasn''t making a mistake with this leap of faith Heaving a sigh, he looked down onto the slightly trembling, nervous little skink leader, before finally speaking up and voicing the question. "Thuk, leader of the skinks, I have heard your plea. I understand your plight. Would you be willing to ce your trust in someone like me and join my cause?" Chapter 414 - 414 - Leap Of Faith (Part 1) Heaving a sigh, Aiden looked down onto the slightly trembling, nervous little skink leader, before finally speaking up and voicing the question. "Thuk, leader of the skinks, I have heard your plea. I understand your plight. Would you be willing to ce your trust in someone like me and join my cause?" Suddenly memories shed in Thuk''s mind. Events of the past, the image of his parents, his birth vige far away in a marsnd, where several other types of Lizardman lived together forming a realmunity. Those early days were the best days of his life. Several other types of lizardmen, tall, short, hulking monstrosities or lean, human-like figures lived together inrge settlements they called Temple-Cities. Their kind was devoted to their Ancient Ones, the proud and mighty dragons that vanished from the face of Eora many, many millennia ago. Still, their heritage, their glory continued living on with their distant descendants, the wide variety of lizardmen. In his home, each individual race had their own job, their own function that ultimately continued to make the entire society work without any real issues. As Skinks, their main responsibility was border patrol and being sent out as scouts. Being small, agile, and fast creatures together with their natural affinity to the swamnds, they were perfectly suited for the role. His father, just like him, was actually one of the rare variants, a mutation in their race, which they called Chameleon Skinks. The main difference they shared was their slightlyrger sizepared to their kin, their oversized yellow balls of eyes and their namesake, their unique racial trait to blend their skin tone with the surrounding environment, giving them a vast boost to their stealthiness. Unfortunately, their ''Golden Days'' as he often liked to remember it came to an abrupt, and disastrous end. During one night, whilst most of them were asleep, suddenly loud strange, loud noises scared the temple-city residents out of their beds and homes. Before the scouts coulde back, huge, towering metal contraptions appeared. They looked likerge metal golems, with a much leaner, human-like shape and a ss, crystalline cockpit at the center of their torsos. These machines were humongous, towering over the skies, some even reaching 10 meters in height. Their metal limbs ended in a variety of oversized weapons: Sometimes a humongous bastard sword''s de, a giant hammer-headin some cases the chained metal spiked ball spilled their kin''s blood. Thuk gulped, closed his eyes, and shook his head, dispelling the bad, nightmarish memories and slowly cleared his mind. This wasn''t the time to reminisce or think about the bad. This was his and his people''s chance to make the decision that would change their destiny. All the bad, all the death they have seen This was the moment, to take that first step towards the oh-so-sweet allure of revenge. Thuk clenched his fists, there was no more hesitation in him. He slowly opened his mouth, and firmly, curtly responded to their new lord''s call. "Yessh, my Lord. Pleasshe allow us to join! Let me and my brotherssh and sisterssh ssherve you from here on out! Pleasshe give us the chance for a better future, to take revenge on those that tormented ussh!" Aiden smiled as he listened to the little figures hissing, blurred answer. He nodded at his deration, at his plea, slowly reaching out and cing his right hand over his feathery top of the head. "Rest assured, Thuk. I promise you, just like I promised to the others before you: I will not rest until your hearts are calm. If your heart''s desire is dead set on revenge, I will give you the opportunity." Finishing his speech, Aiden''s head gradually lit up, a simr golden shine that kept glowing in his eyes now covered his palm and the back of his hand like a coat of glove made out of this intangible source of energy. Deep inside Aiden''s core began to buzz with excitement, guiding the stream of [Soul Power] towards the connecting point. As the energy kept gathering at his palm, Aiden smiled warmly. Ignoring the stunned gazes of Drake and Scarlet, or the excited looks of the surrounding skinks, Aiden calmly expressed. "Don''t resist what''sing. ept the gift I''m giving you, and be reborn as a new member of our family!" Looking at the scene, Drake wanted to call out his friend but was quickly silenced with a single re of Lily and Galina, causing him and even Scarlet to look with even more confusion of what was happening. ''Just who are you Aiden'' He muttered inwardly, aplex conflicting cavalcade of emotions raged a storm inside him. He didn''t know what was the right path to take. Was it okay to follow this strange, mysterious friend of his? Still remembering all their shared past, or the troubles, the challenges they faced ever since they rescued their sisters from that awful ce, he was always honest, straightforward with his actions. Yes, he might be a naive little boy that was sheltered through his early life, and may truly be ignorant of all the world''s darkness He was still his best chance to rescue his remaining two brothers.. So what if he were or perhaps may not be human at all? Did it matter? His face contorted into a frown, as he kept looking at his long-ck-haired, exotic-eyed friend As for his sister, Scarlet, she had her own conclusions for a while now. She was fairly certain that Aiden, Lily and as it seemed, Galina also shared a big secret. However, instead of worry and doubt, only a smile started curling up the edges of her lips. There was a growing lust in her eyes as she eyed the boy. ''He may be the one She also hides something dark and forbidden inside him'' She mentally remarked. ''Mother I may have found the one you saw'' Feeling the warmth atop his head, Thuk''s first thought was to escape. His instincts were deeply ingrained into his body, it wasn''t easy for him to go against them. Still, in the end, he managed to listen to his newly epted Lord''s advice, and whilst tightly clenching his small fists, he managed to not move but let the energy slowly seep into his body, through the top of his head. Afortable sensation quickly spread around in his body, reaching all ends of his small frame in mere moments. He could feel as the new, invading, unknown power made its way towards his dull core next to his heart and slowly prated its crystalline walls. A new unknown feeling began to rise inside him as a golden seed was quickly formed inside the protection of the crystal walls. Suddenly, his eyes went wide as his heart thumped loudly once, before setting itself into a rapid, heavy, rhythmic beat. His core, that although was already present inside him, but was still in the process of gathering his own energies to allow him to step into the first step in his evolutionary path was now glowing with the same golden luster, the color of the energy that filled it up. A powerful pulse shook his small frame, he jumped up from his kneeling position, his eyes wider than before. The shock however was only temporary. In a few seconds, as he understood what was going on, he looked up at his new master with watery eyes. He wanted to thank the master for his benevolence Chapter 415 - 415 - Leap Of Faith (Part 2) A golden electrical jolt surged through the small bipedal reptilian figure''s thin and wrinkly frame, causing Thuk''s muscles to spasm for a while. His small figure trembled and shook uncontrobly for a few seconds, as the golden bolts of lightning traversed inside and even outside on him. As the seconds passed, the coursing energy only increased in volume instead of calming down, the brewing storm inside hisckluster core overloaded, causing its thin crystal walls to no longer be able to withhold all of it. His dark, green, wrinkled skin slowly began to glow, radiating the underlying massive torrent of the golden sea, before, in a few more seconds, his entire small frame was surrounded by a thin film of energy. Theyer of protective energy took the shape of an egg, roughly the size of the elder''s height. The cocoon continued to rhythmically thump and send out a wave of its overloading energy. Time passed on with great silence as everyone was keenly focused on the glowing golden egg as it kept pulsing. Life was being reformed inside of it. Apart from Aiden, Lily, and Galina, nobody knew what was exactly going on, but for the royal siblings, their doubts and concerns were slowly wafted away. As Drake kept his gaze shifting between the ck-haired boy who held countless mysteries inside him or the strange glowing egg, he was slowly starting to ept his decision and cast away thest lingering clouds of his past doubt. Whatever happens from now on, he knew he was destined to experience it at the side of this strange, enigmatic friend of his. He was keenly aware that after witnessing these secrets he was showing to them, going their separate ways would no longer be possible. Not that it mattered as without this strange band of misfits they now proudly call a team, Drake and even Scarlet were certain, they would never be able to see their lost brothers ever. Whilst the crowd was fully focused on the grand spectacle outside, inside the thinyer or energy shell, the initial stages of the evolution were slowlying topletion. The previously battered, tired, and weary old frame of Thuk, the variant Chameleon species of the Skinks was fully melted, together with his pathetic small old core of his, leaving nothing behind but a swirling mass of fluids. The ball of viscous vibrant liquid continued to rapidly whirl and twist in its ce, at the center of the egg, before even more golden strands of energy began to fully fill the space in the cocoon. The roaring, tumultuous amount of [Soul Power] swiftly filled up the remaining space. Steadily, minuscule amounts of the almost endless sea of this higher tier of power mixed together with Thuk''s globe of life energy, causing its color to gradually change. From the original dark green-colored liquid with the golden seed at its center, it gradually began to brighten as it took an orange hue. Seconds formed minutes as the transition seemed toe to an end. Thest bits of the filling golden spiritual sea vanished into the ball of the essence, there was an obvious and clear change from its initial state. The dark green was now glowing with an orange luster, the small, golden grain-sized seedling was now the size of an almond at its core. Also, the whole ball had a solid substance, dropping its previous hazy outline to something thicker denser. As the first phase came to a conclusion, Aiden was jolted to a surprise when suddenly he heard the bell sound in his mind. Focusing his attention, he saw the so far unchecked ''Activities tab sh, grabbing his attention immediately. As he selected the tab, the new interface of logs and as it turned out, Quests sub-option revealed itself for the first time. Although the strange third tab, the ''Assignments'' was something Aiden had no idea what it could have been, he had no time to check. His newly epted family member, Thuk was still in the process ofpleting his evolution, and besides, his attention was frozen on the shocking, never-before-seen disy of messages that kept rolling down on a seemingly endless list. *Ding!* [ Status | Lab | Domain | *Activities* ] [ *Message Log* | Quests | Assignments ] [] [Minion Evolution Stage 1. Complete!] [Core has been reformed and restored to Prime State.] [Searching database for Skin''s Evolutionary Tree] [Processing results Candidate found.] [Initiating Stage 2 Evolution Target: Lesser Primal Saurling] Skimming through the messages, Aiden was stunned. Are these messages that he could now see, also an effect of thetest upgrade? Just how many areas did this whole downtime affect? Were these steps also taken when Roas, Gob, Glohn or Galina took their evolution? Was it simr to the case of Galina''s second ''awakening''? Also, it seemed (at least based on the name in the system) that whatever form Thuk was going to take, it will have little to do with his origins. ''Lesser Primal Saurling? Just what is that?'' Aiden muttered inwardly, his eyes not leaving the twitching eggshell in front of him. As the minutes continued to pass, the twitching and asional spasms kept on repeating. Just from the name alone, Aiden could guess that, like with the others, Thuk''s selected evolution also wasn''t normal. If he were to gather the necessary energy and fill up his core himself, most likely he wouldn''t be stepping on this ancient and forgotten path. The system altered its path and with it, forever changing his destiny by mixing Thuk''s life essences with the much more potent, Primal energies. Taking a peek at the calm-looking and smiling Galina, Aiden was certain that once more, his own energies created yet another miracle and brought back a race that shouldn''t be walking on today''s Eora at all. Still, this fact, this result only caused a smile to slowly creep up on his face. Dismissing the system screen from his vision, his eyes wandered back on the cocoon in front of him. From the increasing volume of the twitches and growing violence in the shell''s trembling, he and the others were looking with an even greater focus on finishing the evolution and to see what or who exactly would emerge from its depths. Back inside the egg, the ball of energy was no longer rounded but was slowly morphing its shape twisting. Four distinct tendrils shot forth from its mass, slowly gaining more and moreb, and turning into the shape and form of 2 pairs of appendages. The transformation continued on, a few secondster another tendril shot forth, this time alone, without a pair, gaining a bit more weight whilst small serrated protrusions began to form at its back, turning it into the shape of a tail. As time kept passing relentlessly, so did the shape of something unique, something that only the most precious, priceless artifact-level history books might entail. As the transformation finalized, so did Aiden''s Message Log revealed yet another update, signaling that the second stage of Thuk''s evolution has finished as that his newest member of the Voragon family was about to emerge. *Ding!* [ Status | Lab | Domain | *Activities* ] [ *Message Log* | Quests | Assignments ] [] [Minion Evolution Stage 2. Complete!] [Minion Evolution Complete Resuscitating Subject] [Initiating Emergence Protocol] Chapter 416 - 416 - The Little Dinosaur And His Family Chapter 416 - New members (AN: I just realized that I made a typo in Chapter 392. Not a big one, but, just to be clear. Aiden and Galina''s family name is Voragon and not Vordragon that I wrote. Sorry, there was a heatwave in June frying my brain in the process most likely. :D) - As the transformation finalized, so did Aiden''s Message Log revealed yet another update, signaling that the second stage of Thuk''s evolution has finished as that his newest member of the Voragon family was about to emerge. *Ding!* [ Status | Lab | Domain | *Activities* ] [ *Message Log* | Quests | Assignments ] [] [Minion Evolution Stage 2. Complete!] [Minion Evolution Complete Resuscitating Subject] [Initiating Emergence Protocol] As thest message appeared, the lights that swallowed the egg began to fade, finally revealing the dark, greenish leather-like surface that was so far, unseen. As the swallowing luster dimmed, in the next moment, the sound of a crack could be heard. Following the sound to the source, a small, spiderweb crevice could be seen at the top of the cocoon. A momentter, another cracking came from inside, as the spiderweb rapidly spread, covering the entirety of the shell in the span of a few tense seconds. Finally, onest push came from inside, as the egg violently exploded, releasing thest strands of golden energy from inside in a blinding, bright explosion of light. All spectators, besides Aiden, averted their gaze for a brief moment, but even that small span of time was enough to cause their jaws to collectively fall to the ground by the time they turned back. What emerged from the cocoon barely had any resemnce to that old, battered old skink from before. The creature that was now proudly standing in front of them was unlike anything they have ever seen. Its size more than doubled, only a head shorter than Scarlet, the entity was now at the size of a healthy human child. Bursting with muscles below the new, healthy-looking skin, Thuk''s body was now protected with thick, dark green scales with a golden ring spaced in-between every now and then. His limbs, which were frail, weak little sticks before, were now thick and strong, with a unique, exotic look to it. His arms were twice as longpared to before, reaching down the ground, giving him the illusion of a quadrupedal beast rather than what he was before. Yet, that was only that, an illusion, as his new, strong legs were more than solid enough to carry his much higher weight. His legs while at first nce seemed smaller than before, it was only because, that his new, natural resting pose was something simr to what looked to be crouching. His feet growing much longer than before, its shape now reminded Aiden of the dinosaurs from the books back from the Modern World. Lastly, there was a thick, heavy-looking meter-long tailing from his behind, with a row of sharp-looking leather-covered bony tes running all the way through his backline, reaching atop to the back of his head. Funnily though, Thuk''s previous red-feathered crest remained, crowing his new crocodile-shaped head. Besides Aiden, the rest of the gang was baffled, still trying to process the scrawny little lizard''s new form. It was so unique that Drake and Scarlet couldn''t even start guessing what it should even be. In the end, unable toe to terms with what greeted them, they turned to Aiden for some answers. "Aiden" Looking at his friend with a wry look on his face, Drake asked. "What exactly happened? What did that small skink turn into?" "Is he friendly?" Adding to it, Scarlet whispered, clenching the pair of daggers in her hands tightly. To their question, Aiden didn''t respond initially, but instead turned to the emerged and reformed Thuk. Stepping closer, he crouched down, and gently ced his right hand over his broad left shoulder, grabbing the confusedly blinking guy''s attention. "How do you feel, Thuk?" He asked with a warm tone, looking at the creature in his still oversized yellowish eyes. Listening to his newly epted Master''s question, Thuk looked at his new body, still not entirely used to it. He awkwardly lifted hisrge arms off the ground, raising it sideways, high up in the air, before finally raising it in front of his face and taking a closer look at his wed hands. Like before, he still had 3 fingers, but they were much stronger, denser than how it was when he was just a simple little skink. He slowly moved his fingers, slowly feeling each and every part of his body, gradually growing ustomed to this new, dreamlike reality. The pain that wrecked his old, used-up body before was nowhere to be seen, he felt the youthful energy that he could barely keep inside of him. He felt the eagerness inside him to jump, hop or just run around. He felt the need to strain his fresh muscture, otherwise, he was slowly growing afraid of bursting apart. After about a minute of moving his limbs and looking around, Thuk finally looked up at his Young Master in the eyes and with a concerned, but much clearer tone than before, he answered. This time, there was no hissing or slurred speech. He spoke the human''smon tongue crisply and clearly. "Young Master I am feeling fine. No. More than fine I am actually growing worried. I feel that I am so full of power and energy that if I don''t do something, I might explode!" His response caused a smile to emerge on Aiden''s lips. He nodded at histest minion. "I have the perfect solution for you and for that matter, your people." With that said, he took a step back, creating a small space between him and the newly emerged Primal Reptilian, and made a waving gesture with his right arm in the air. As his hand drew a slight slope shape of an arched dome, the space cracked open, revealing a dark fissure in between them and causing yet another shock on poor Drake and Scarlet''s face to appear. However, merely a few secondster Drake calmed down, as he saw the gate appear. Still, that calmness turned into a sour, stern look in the next moment, as a dark grey robust giant stepped forth from it and instantly knelt down before Aiden. His hoarse, guttural voice thundered across the small tunnel in anguage that none besides Galina, Aiden, and surprisingly, Thuk understood. For the rest, it sounded a harsh, violent dialect, that only caused Drake''s body to tremble with fright even more. "[Orc] Young Master, I wee you once again! Thank you for calling for me!" Listening to his greeting and the reverent, subservient posture the giant acted in front of the boy, he turned to look at Aiden with an interested gaze. "Is he perhaps" "Yes, he is." Before he could finish his question, Aiden nodded, confirming his conjecture. Giving the little Thuk a moment to process it, Aiden continued, turning his attention at Roas. "[Orc] This eager-looking energetic guy here is your newest brother, Thuk. He leads this small tribe of survivors, hiding below grounds. Take them to Haven, and give them a new space to settle down." ncing over at the scared-looking battalion of skinks surrounding them, Aiden smiled calmly once more as he added. "[Orc] They are our newest members in the new world!" Chapter 417 - 417 - The Newest Brother Listening to Aiden''s exnation, Roas nodded at him, before rising up and turning towards the prehistoric-looking creature. His face changing, a hideous-looking smirk donned Roas''s face as he tried his best to seem, look and sound friendly, brotherly. "[Orc] Thuk, right? I am called Roas, the first of the Young Master''s servants and one of the leaders of the first settlement in Haven, Gupta. Don''t worry I will exin everything and show you around once we arrive on the other side. For now, please gather your brethren and get ready for travel, okay?" He spoke quickly, waving towards the Gate, which now showed the far-away image of a spacious grassy in with a huge hillside at its one side, and arge bed of ake at the other. In between the two natural phenomena was the image of what looked to be a vige, a small, but healthy-looking settlement. As they looked at the image, Drake''s eyes went increasingly wide, as he remembered how this very same image looked just some weeks before. He tilted his head and squinted his eyes trying to make out even more from the still-looking scene. What changed? How did that empty in transform so much? Is this, perhaps a window to the other end of this magical tunnel? "Hmm This" He muttered under his breath, trying to process everything that was happening. His sister, Scarlet, was way too far behind at this point. She was still lost at the sight of the strange-looking creature that the caned elder has turned into. That vague, waning life force he emitted was gone, sprouted into something that she could best describe as being as bright as the sun itself. The innocent, powerless little creature has changed, evolved into this prehistoric beast, an entity that had the aura and presence of a carnal predator. Yet, he was smiling, hisrge ball-like eyes were brimming with reverence as he looked up to Aiden. There were no signs of hostile intent, any dark thoughts or ideas in that look of his, only pure, unadulterated faith, and passion could be seen shining in those eyes of his. Still, before she could even get over the shock of the new form of the skinks'' leader, Aiden did another miracle, and cast a spell that only the highest figures, the strongest existences were capable of: He actually created a portal, a gateway to another ce, or in this case, perhaps to an entirely new world. The appearance of the dark grey humanoid giant was just the cherry on top of everything that was ying out in rapid fashion. She felt they were way beyond what should have been normal at this point. She gave up trying toprehend today''s events and was just looking at the scene ying out without any visible care in the world. Whilst Lily didn''t seem to be too disturbed and just kept caressing and patting Biggs'' and Sammy''s heads she wasn''t too bothered or caring about anything at this point. She trusted her brother and knew that whatever he was doing would ultimately serve their best interest. Galina however, was brimming with happiness as the eldest of their quartet appeared. Without hesitation, she instantly sent her greeting with a couple of nice words through their shared mental connection, which now, with thepleted evolution and ritual, had an additional member joining to it. "Big brother Roas! Did you recognize me? I have also evolved, now looking just like Young Master!" She eximed through the mental channel with an overflow of excitement. Roas nodded with his head towards the little Galina who now looked like a beautiful, angelic beauty that descended the heavens to brighten the days of the shoddy mortals. She smiled with an appreciative look as his words came back to the minds of all those who were listening in. ''[Orc] Little Galina, you look incredible! If we didn''t have this channel, I would be hard-pressed to recognize you, you are just so different! That shy little goblin is nowhere to be seen! In her ce, this charming beauty remained!'' An ted giggle could be heard in the next instant as Galina''s expression brightened under Roas''s array ofpliments. Before she could calm down and react, Roas'' continued on, teasing the little girl a bit. ''[Orc] Your little brother, Gob will surely not believe me when I will tell him your new appearance! He will be so jealous!'' Galina''s face contorted into a cute pout as she conveyed her response through their connection. ''Meanie! Don''t bully me Big Brother Roas!'' Chuckling at their interaction their Young Master''s words came a few secondster. ''Settle down guys, you are confusing your newest brother, he is still new to all of this, give him some time to get used to everything!'' Then, he turned to look at the confused-looking Lesser Primal Saurling. In the next instant, the bewildered Thuk could hear his Young Master''s words inside his head once again. ''Don''t be afraid, all of you that epted my crest and name as your Master share this connection. Focus on my voice, and try to reach out with your mind. After a bit, this form ofmunication wille to you as easily as anything else. Even better, you''ll find this even more convenient as you can reach out to me or any of your brothers and sister wherever you are as long as you can feel our connection.'' Taking a moment so the little lizard could process at least some of the information, he continued. ''Now, don''t be worried if all that happened was too much for you. Once Roas takes you to the other side, you will have plenty of time to settle in. I wille and visit you in the near future and will also do my best to create the ideal living conditions, but for the time being, try to bear with what you have, okay? Now, go and gather your brethren, and get ready to go through the portal!'' Although he couldn''t understand most of what he was told, as everything was just way too new for him, Thuk nodded at his Young Master''s words, quickly turning his attention to the wide-eyed, frozen spectators around them. His smile fading, he looked at their trembling figures with a stern, cold look as he clicked his tongue and gave a loud, seemingly inaudible series of hissing sounds with his evolved, much stronger jaws. Still, his words seemed to be understood by the little creatures, as they all raised their small arms, raising their javelins and shields into the air, and responded with matching, hissing shouts. The little lizardfolk quickly jumped up to their feet and scurried towards their elder, creating a 4-man disciplined line in front of him. Vigorous, joyful looks could be seen on each of their faces as they alternated their little yellowish eyes between their evolved leader and his Master. In their eyes, he wasn''t a simple dragonkin, taking the shape of a human, but the promised return of their Ancient One, the mythical god-like existence The first, the primordial Dread Saurian. As Aiden looked at the scene with interest, he suddenly heard yet another ring in his head. Shortly after the System''s Message log appeared once again. *Ding!* [Language: Saurian discovered! Analyzing information 10%] [Warning: Current form is ipatible with the processing dialect, speech will not be possible unless form is altered!] Chapter 418 - 418 - The Ever-Revolving Question After a couple of minutes, as thest of the skinks crossed through the portal, only Aiden and his group remained in the nasty-smelling underground sewage system. Being the guide, Roas was actually the first to cross through, followed by his newest little brother, Thuk. When thest of the little lizardfolk vanished through the gate, Aiden flicked his right hand, causing the magic to end and the portal to close. As the surrounding space returned to its tranquil, normal state, Drake, as if just being reminded of a crucial fact, eximed with a shocked expression on his face. "Aiden! They have all left! We have nothing to prove thepletion of the quest to the guild!" Aiden however, looked at him with a questioning gaze. "What do you mean? Couldn''t they just check if the threat has been removed? If they find no skinks, shouldn''t that be enough proof of the deed? Besides" He looked around them, his eyes wandering through the more than a dozen of corpses they have in before the unexpected conclusion. "Couldn''t we just take the required trophies from theseying around? I can''t harm the rest, I have already promised them safety." He expressed with an innocuous look in his eyes. Raising his right index finger, Drake wanted to refute his im saying that the number of trophies wouldn''t match the reports, but before he could do so, a lithe, delicate hand grabbed his wrist, tugging it, pulling it down. Scarlet pulled on his brother, looking at him with a gentle, warm smile, shaking her head. "Don''t, brother. It should be enough. You also know that what he did, whatever it was, was ultimately the right thing to do. Although they did not belong here and they caused quite a stir with their ambushes and raids, ultimately, they didn''t deserve extinction." She whispered into his ears gently, leaning against his shoulders. Resting her head on his shoulder, Scarlet nces at this enigmatic friend of theirs, with a difficult,plex look. The boy held so many secrets to unravel that she didn''t even know where to start. Still, despite the shroud of mysteries that Aiden hid under, she couldn''t help but feel a rising, bubbling interest. She felt this strange, inexplicable force, pulling her closer and closer to him. She wasn''t sure if this was a good thing or not as Aiden already had an ever-growing group of enamored women around him. Still, no matter how hard she struggled, it seemed that fate kept pulling them closer and closer As there was no response, Aiden walked over to the nearest body and crouched down. However as he leaned over the creature, he wasn''t sure how to follow up, as he was fairly certain none of these had a core in them, and there was no unique visual characteristic to take as an identifier. With a confused, unsure look on his face, Aiden turned over to the still frowning Drake and asked. "What should we take off from them so the guild will recognize it towards the quest?" His words brought Drake back from his thoughts. He looked over the body Aiden was leaning crouching next to and walked over. Arriving, he walked over the head, and grabbing the fin-like leather crescent atop the dead skink''s head, he reached for the dagger in his sleeves and sliced the leather appendage off before throwing it in front of Aiden on the stone floor. "Take these. Their shape and size are unique, and whilst most lizardfolk have something simr, they are always unique and rted to them. These fins are unique to skinks, and unless we stumble upon a mutated variant like that Thuk you talked to, each of them will be the same as this." He exined with a nonchnt, almost insipid, uncaring tone. His speech finished, he stood up and walked over to the next corpse sprawled on the ground just a couple steps from them and repeated the process, slicing off another trophy. Aiden silently watched as his friend repeated the maneuver in a robotic, emotionless fashion, sighing with a bittersweet smile donning on his face. Still, a momentter, as if reminded by another goal of his, he asked him again. "Do we need the bodies for anything? If not, I will use them." The strange question threw a wrench at Drake''s actions. As he sliced off the third trophy, he halted his steps, and with a stern gaze and a slightly usatory-sounding tone he inquired. "Why? How will you use them? What for?" He fired a multitude of questions in rapid fashion. Feeling the emotional, slightly offensive undertone, Lily and Galina looked at the silver-haired youth with a colder look. However, before they could have jumped towards the adventurous prince, Aiden raised his left palm, quickly putting a stop to their action, while focusing his attention on his friend, matching Drake''s cold gaze with his usual calm-looking one. "I will store them in my storage space. Leaving them lying here would just invite some other type of creature, causing the problem to just shift instead of turning resolved." He gave a light lie, a half-truth. Although he already made the decision to ce his trust in his friend, Aiden still wasn''t ready to reveal his Primal origin. Drake stared silently at his friend for a while, his gaze looking stern as if trying to see through the veil, Aiden was cowering behind. In the end, after several seconds of tense silence, he finally spoke up, looking deep into Aiden''s eyes. "Just what are you exactly, Aiden?" - (A little extra info about it: Thuk is the typical agility-based archetype character. Very fast, very agile, with some added physical strength. Actually, most of the Skink''s are known for this very same trait. ) [Minion: Thuk has been created! Minion Details: Name: Thuk Voragon Race: Lesser Primal Saurling (Tier 2+ Clean) ss: Rogue Level: 12 Condition: 100% Soul Power: 50 Mana: 0 Experience: 0 Might: 12 Agility: 16 Spirit: 10 Skills: Language: Common (Lvl -), Language: Orc (Lvl -), Language: Goblin (Lvl -), Language: Saurian (Lvl -), Martial Arts (Lvl 3), Unarmed Combat (Lvl 2), Dagger Mastery (Lvl 2), Magic Proficiency (Lvl -), Dark Magic (Lvl 1), Shadowmeld (Lvl 1), Dragonlord''s Grace (Lvl 1), Primal Absorb: Basic (Lvl 1 - Restricted) Effects: Touch of the Primal (Lvl -), Primal Core (Lvl 1), Saurian Presence (Lvl 1) Shadowmeld - Level 1: Affinity towards the dark corners and ces of the physical ne. The shadows, be if the natural or mayhaps supernatural origin of any kind will bend to your will. Through maniption and the usage of the avable Soul Power, you can remain unseen and undetectable through normal means (as long as you stay within the cast shade). Saurian Presence - Level 1: Kin of the great Reptilian Nightmare across multiple nes, the uncrowned king of beasts, the Dread Saurian. The echo of the ancient beasts still resonates with its Lesser Variant, its legacy lives through its descendants. The very presence of a descendant of the Great Ones, induces fear to all that harbors hostile intent towards this majestic creature, causing the active opponents to struggle to keep their sanity and not run heads or tails away from the carnal predator. Chapter 419 - 419 - A Fun Challenge "Just what are you exactly, Aiden?" Echoes of Drake''s inquiry reverberated through the dark tunnels, causing the air to turn cold and tense in an instant yet again. Drake kept focusing his attention on his friend''s, trying to pry deeper into his soul through those exotic, golden eyes of his. Truth be told, he always wondered what was up with his unique, golden visual sensory organs. Such a unique look, shape, and color wasn''t something he saw or heard about before. At first, when they met, he thought that Aiden was probably from one of the faraway desert-covered regions of the continent. His tanned, bronze-like skin tone, added with his long, silky, matte ck hair, was a surefire sign of him being a traveler from some farawaynd. Still, the eyes were always the most unique, most characteristic, most defining trait of this friend of his. Those deep, golden irises, the strange gleam it exerted whenever Aiden was stressed out, or ready to tackle an obstacle Slowly, but surely it made Drake doubt his initial spections. Back in the orc camp, it grew to a point where he slowly started questioning everything he thought he knew. Was he even human? If not, what was he? If so, was he a long-lost member of some hidden family? That strange majestic presence he radiated towards the monstrous creatures that followed him made him believe that this might be the case. Now, after witnessing yet another miraculous, inexplicable trait from him, he could no longer hold back. He wanted to know, he needed to know which one was true. Aiden didn''t respond at first but kept his gaze matching his friends. The calm, rxed, collected smile never left his expression as their gazes continued their silent battle. The air around them was tense, the atmosphere at the party was rather awkward, especially for Scarlet. On one side, she would always stand behind her brother, not to mention she was also rather interested in the answer to his question. However, on the other hand, she didn''t want to fall out with their only friends. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she finally felt like she belonged somewhere. She was no longer the ve, the chained-up child diator. She was no longer alone, she had people that she genuinely cared about, and loved, cherished. "Brother please don''t" In the end, she could only weakly mutter as she looked towards his stern-looking brother. Unfortunately, her meek attempt was ultimately ignored, as Drake wasser-focused on the enigmatic youth in front of him. Still, although the atmosphere was heavy, and from the outside, it looked ready to blow up, it was actually much different for the two young boys. Even though his gaze was stern, and his disposure solemn, Drake didn''t actually carry any hostile or ill intent towards Aiden. He truly considered him as his friend, probably the only one in this world, but he just couldn''t push down and swallow his burning desire to understand Aiden. By now, he could understand most of his actions and even stand behind most of them, even if it slightly hurt his pride. Still, before he could fully ce his trust in him, and make a decision to walk the path together with him, he needed some answers, he needed some of Aiden''s secrets to be shared in their group. "Who are you, Aiden? Please answer me, don''t hide it any longer. What is your full name, which family are you from?" He asked again, breaking the ensuing silence after about a minute of their staring contest. This time, Aiden''s lips slowly curved higher. Still, he refused to speak, but rather, he stretched out his right arm. A momentter, the ebony de of Rygintarth materialized out of thin air, its sharp tip grazing the stony pathway. Whilst this action shocked and startled the rest of the group, Drake understood his intention. Slowly, his solemn look also eased up, curling into a small, expectant smirk. His right hand slowly reached for Mort''s hilt resting in its sheath at his left side. His fingers clenching its embellished, ornate design. As it was unsheathed from its holster, its beautiful silvery shine glowed matching its master''s anticipation. Raising the de in front of his chest at a 45-degree diagonal angle, Drake''s grin continued creeping higher and higher. He nodded towards Aiden, as he reaffirmed his grope over his artifact weapon. "No cheating! We fight with our desire and skill only!" He eximed, giving the rules of the duel, upon which Aiden lightly nodded. "We fight until the first wound! If I win, you will tell me everything I want to know!" He added,ying down the rules of their uing fight so that the rest of their group could judge over. Once again, Aiden nodded, not saying a single word, but only tightened his grip over Ryg''s hilt, whilst still keeping the huge de pointed towards the ground. "And what if Aiden wins? What is the bet on his side?" Scarlet asked out, looking slightly worried, unsure of how she should react. Should he stand between the boys and try to stop this seemingly pointless duel? Or perhaps, should she support his brother and stand at his side? Being worried and also confused about this whole matter, her eyes wandered over the other two girls in the group, and was baffled seeing how calm and nonchnt they both were. Like before, Lily simply kept ying with her two dogs, with Galina joined up with her. Neither of them seemed to be bothered or focused on the two men at all, instead of finding sce and seemingly more interest with the two war hounds. "Yeah, Aiden. What do you want in case you miraculouslye out as the victor of this fight?" Drake asked, throwing a light jab at his way as well. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Aiden''s lips slowly parted. He tilted his head sideways, looking at his silver-haired friend with a surprised gaze. "What do I want? I thought you already knew?" Drake''s smile only curved higher at his response, giving a non-verbal response and confirmation to Aiden''s words. In the next moment, knowing that Scarlet was still bewildered about the matter, Aiden''s gaze slowly shifted, looking at the worried, concerned redhead with his usual calm outlook. "What is it? What do you want, Aiden? Don''t be so cryptic you two!" Feeling left out, frustration quickly began to eat away at her patience, Scarlet eximed as their eyes met. "Also, Is there really a need for this farce? Why can''t you guys just talk it out? Why do you guys need to fight?!" "Don''t bother, Scarlet, just let them be. Our brothers need this, I can feel it, and I''m sure you can also." Without looking up, Lily responded from the side, causing Scarlet to avert her gaze and click her tongue in frustration. In the end, she could only sigh and walk towards the girls and just join them. "These two idiots" She muttered under her breath as she walked over. Her face contorting into a pout, she refused to look at the boys. A light chuckle escaped Aiden''s lips, he enjoyed the moment a bit more, before his eyes shifted back on his opponent. "If I win, Drake will give me his unconditional trust without question. He will stand behind me, no matter what happens in the future or where our path will take us. He will turn from a simple friend to a brother" Chapter 420 - 420 - Profound Slash After Aiden gave his response, both men stood still, staring silently at the other. The two artifact des, Mort glistened with a silvery hue, while on the other side Ryg was ck as the night. Light versus Darkness, the eternal, never-ending conflict. Neither youth made a move, their eyes matching the other''s equally piercing stare. Seconds passed in a tense, strained atmosphere. Suddenly, as the moment passed, the stillness of the two sides shattered. Drake''s lips curving to a crooked smirk, he tightened his grip on Mort''s hilt, he spoke with a delighted tone. "Can you feel it, Aiden?" The smirk in his face transforming yet again, he stared at Aiden like a hungry predator would at his helpless prey. "This All of this is honest. There are no lies, misinformation, there''s no ce for any shroud of doubt. Pour your everything into that de and answer my call!" With that, his calves stretched, like an arrow fired from a bow he charged forward, towards Aiden. His figure blurred, his sword held by his side, a silver streak could be seen dashing forward. Promised to only rely on his pure skill and determination, Aiden raised Ryg in front of his chest, holding it horizontally. His grip was firm, his muscles flexed, he squinted his eyes, focusing on the iing sh. Time once again seemed to slow to a snail''s pace as Aiden''s mind was fully focused on one single task: Processing each and every single one of Aiden''s movements. Even though the whole charge should barely take a second as the distance between the two wasn''t much, to begin with; to Aiden, it literally felt like minutes as he could clearly see behind the blurry streak of the silver-haired boy. He could clearly make out as Drake almost on instinct, raised and bent his right elbow and pushed it slightly behind, pulling the famed de into a striking pose. As soon as he crossed the halfway mark between them, Drake''s hand moved again, and Aiden''s gaze was once again fully focused on every thousandth of an inch or mil. Even the tiniest of movements was yed out and was bare in front of him. He could see as the de slowly drew a diagonal arc aimed to use all of Drake''s power, skill and strength added with his gained momentum to sh against Aiden''s de and destroy his block before ultimately giving a harsh reminder of the haughty victor of the deathly dance between them. Just like how he eximed before the fight, Drake didn''t bother with anything fancy. There was no mboyant trickery, or backhanded traps involved in his attack at all, what he relied on was his experience, learned, and trained skill. His full intent, his full body, and his mind were one; his aim was simple. End the fight the same was as the swordmasters of the legends did: With one single strike, carrying everything he could muster. A [Profound sh] as it was referred to by the scribes and masters of today. Focused on the simplistic-looking arch that the de drew as it steadily crept closer, Aiden was, for the first time probably since forever, startled. As he looked at the glimmering silver de he felt a sense of threat, a danger that normally should not be possible. Drake, though he was stronger than most of the humans he met so far in this pigsty of a city, was still far below in terms of attributes to match his own. Still, despite that, this single attack seemed to defy logic. He somehow knew that without relying on his inner power, he would not be able to contend with this strike. He couldn''t evade either, as whilst time was seemingly crawling, this was only an illusion, a trickery invented and created by his own mind, his own heightened state and high Spirit attribute made such a miracle be possible. No. There was no way out, his only option was to respond to Drake''s strike in kind. He had to, he needed to respect suchmitment, and showcase his own determination in return. He clenched his right hand, as he fully focused on Ryg''s ebony de alone. As his mind was processing everything that was happening overdrive, he felt as if some gate was unlocked and opened in himself, as new information, a new knowledge entered his mind. He faintly heard the bell-like soundsing from deeper inside, his system alerting him of something he couldn''t possibly care about now. Still, he had an idea, as he felt his hold on Ryg grew steadier, firmer than before. He could visualize the iing strike''s arc, several responses instantly filled his mind. In a single instant, he processed thousands of possibilities, potential responses before ultimately deciding on one. He could even feel that even with this, his chances of victory were almost nil, but at the very least there was the minuscule possibility of a draw. Drake''s [Profound Strike] was just that powerful, that incredibly mysterious. Coming to a conclusion, time instantly returned to its normal pacing. The stretched-out second, the singr instant that this whole fight was supposed to take came to an abrupt end. As Drake instantly shed in front of Aiden, his strike, just as he wanted to sh against the dark edge of Rygintarth. Sparks flew from their point of impact, a blinding disy of strength exploded nketing the small subsection of the underground tunnel system with the veil of milky white light. The two sides pushed against each other with an equal matching force, neither side could gain a foothold and take a single mil closer towards the coveted oue. As the light steadily faded, allowing the spectators to take a gander over the small, makeshift theater of wills, the sight that greeted them only caused confusion to appear on all faces and gazes. As if the previous sh never happened, both parties were at their original starting positions. The only difference being that both des were pointed towards the ground whilst both sides were heaving as if they just finished a marathon. Beads of sweat covering both sides, nobody could guess who was the victor. "What happened?! Who won?!" Unable to withstand such frustration Scarlet eximed with an annoyed expression. This time, however, Lily and even Galina joined her crusade in prying some response from the boys. Neither of them could guess what exactly happened, nor who could have possibly won. None of the boys responded to the agitated outcry of the red-haired girl, they kept grinning and heaving at each other. Pure bliss, happiness, satisfaction disyed on both of their faces. Eventually, after roughly a minute or so, both boys moved as if tugged by the same puppeteer. With a flick of his hand, Ryg vanished into thin air, returning inside Aiden''s body. At the same time, the silver de of Mort was tucked back into its sheath. As their duel came to a brilliant and beautiful conclusion, there was no need for the Royal Artifact any longer. "Come on, who won?! What happened?!" Getting greatly annoyed by the continued silence, Scarlet was slowly but surely testing the limits of what her tired mind could take. Her sanity being questioned, she was getting closer and closer to resolving this conflict with her own fists. She wanted to pummel both boys to the ground, which as she took a gander at her side to the other girls, was a shared sentiment by the two. Walking towards the girls, both boys smiled simrly to the agitated maidens, their response was simultaneous. "Well The truth is" Chapter 421 - 421 - A Decision To Make "Well The truth is" The boys looked at each other for a moment, before both of them suddenly erupted into a belly full ofughter. Without saying another word, they both chortled mirthfully causing yet another wave of confusion to spread amidst the rest of the team. After like a minute, they finally calmed down, looking much happier, and at ease than before. Not understanding what was going on, Scarlet was about to explode with rage, when finally his brother, Drake spoke up. "If you really want to know, we resolved our issues, we can finally both ce our trust in each other without any reservations. I know that he is honest, and what he does, he believes it is the right course to take. His mind is clear, and his soul is not tainted with corruption." Nodding, Aiden followed up. "And I know that your brother is also an honest and prideful man. He only wants to do what is best for his family, which is actually something we both share. I have already shown my trust to both of you when I shared some of my secrets. As for the rest, you will know them in time." Although what they said was pretty much the ideal resolution to the problem, Scarlet wanted to know something else, something that they seemed to deliberately skip over. "But what about the-" However, before he could finish her question and ask it for the 3rd time, she was once again interrupted. Ignoring her, Aiden turned towards Drake, the smile receded from his face reced by a serious, solid outlook. He looked into Drake''s eyes as he fired the question to him. "Are you sure you really want to know the answer to your question?" Although she wanted toin at first, as the treatment she was receiving wasn''t fair in Scarlet''s eyes, but, when he heard Aiden''s question, she decided to stay silent, and look at his brother to see his reaction. After all, this was the question that started this whole mess. Surely he would want the answer he thirsted for, right? Unfortunately for Scarlet, Drake smiled at his friend and shook his head without any hesitation. He ced his right hand over his left shoulder, giving it a few gentle pats before he replied with a frank and friendly tone. "No, you do not need to, Aiden. I trust you. I know you have your reasons, and I will not pry." He took a light cough, as his appearance shifted, taking on a more serious outlook before he continued with a much more sympathetic voice. "Just know that you can rx. Whatever your secrets are, or whoever you may truly be, it doesn''t matter, and will not change the fact: My sister and I will forever be in your debt and will always think of you as our friend." His brother''s emotional speech, caused Scarlet''s anger to abruptly subsides, only retaining her lingering awkwardness as she looked at the both of them. Taking a brief instant, she coughed as if masking her embarrassment before nodding at Drake''s words and adding a few of her own. "Y-yes, just as brother said, the fact that we are here together is by no means your achievement Aiden. So" She nodded, averting her gaze and muttering thest part of her thoughts under her breath. "thanks." With that said, she didn''t wait for any answer from the boy. She turned around and quickly scampered back to Lily and Galina''spany, leaving the annoying boys behind. Suddenly, she felt that ying with the dogs was a much better way to spend her time Eventually, as the situation was resolved and everything calmed down, the group was left by themselves in the murky, grimy underground sewer system that, if the rumors were true, was like a giant maze expanding and covering at least the same size as the territory of Higrove. Or maybe even more as there could be more than just a single level. They knew little to nothing about whaty ahead in the depth of the darkness, the only clues they learned over the weeks and months was that most of the shady groups and figures had their bases set up in this vast, expansive maze. Another clue they had was from Sir Arthur Sonovan, the Roaring Lion himself. Knowing that an invasion was upon them, the most obvious ce to slowly umte and gather their forces would be somewhere deep in these grounds. It wouldn''t need too much toe to the same conclusion: The enemy was probably somewhere deeper below. Still, Aiden wasn''t sure that it would have been wise to traverse deeper without any knowledge and brave the traps, dangers, and most importantly, the unknown blindly. Looking at the darkening, obscure stone pathway ahead of them, Aiden was deep in thought, trying to figure out the best way forward. Noticing the deep frowns, the haze-covered, dreamy gaze of his friend, Drake gave a light p at Aiden''s back, abruptly pulling him out of his trance-like state. Seeing the annoyed look on his face as he turned to look at him, Drake chuckled with the impish look on his face. "Ahahaha Oh my sorry brother, but I couldn''t help myself. What is weighing on you so heavily? Tell us!" Aiden looked at him with a hurtful re for a few more seconds, before eventually sighing and giving in to their request. He turned around, to face the rest of the group, as he spoke up, exining the potential task at hand. "It''s just I was wondering if we should return to the guild, or try to explore more into this ce." Noticing the weird looks he was given, he raised his hands, stopping any iing questions, and exining himself a bit more in detail. "Before you ask, remember the facts we have learned so far! This invasion that Sir Arthur has told us, this ''empire'' that has ns to step into this western side of the continent and use this kingdom as a sort of ''gateway'', is supposedly imminent. From what he said, the enemy forces are already here, and are just waiting for the perfect moment to strike!" He gave a momentary pause, giving a chance to the rest to catch up. True enough, Drake, understanding where he was leading towards, eximed. "If that''s true, then that means that the enemy is most likely hiding somewhere in this dungeon!" "Well I would have said maze, but yeah This sewer system is supposedly vast and expansive and what''s the most important: Mostly unused, not guarded. It is already a known fact that most of the gangs and shady criminals are using it to settle in and avoid the City Guards" "Aiden added, turning towards the girls for their input next. "What do you all think? If we were to go forward, we would be potentially walking into a trap. However, at the same time" He didn''t finish his thought but kept smiling at the girls, waiting for them to speak up. Galina, as usual, didn''t bother much and silently nodded at her Young Master, indicating that wherever he goes and whatever he chose she would follow without hesitating. For Lily, she, just like Galina, was devoted and determined to stay with her beloved brother whatever happens. He was her family, she refused to take a step away from him, no matter the danger. Surprisingly, even Scarlet didn''t waste time and gave a silent, but affirming nod to Aiden before returning her attention to ying with the luckiest dogs in Eora. Chapter 422 - 422 - Need To Come Clean After some more discussion, they finally came to a consensus. They would explore a bit more at the most until the next couple of hours. After all, if they were to return so fast, people would be suspicious of their swift victory. They would have until before the sun would begin to set to get back, which, since they started early in the morning, was still several hours away. They each had a filling meal in the morning so spending the next couple of hours and exploring further wouldn''t be an issue. With that thought in mind, they spent a couple more minutes to rest up and restore themselves. As his team sat down and consumed a few of the prepared potions, or the dried-up meat to restore their health and stamina, Aiden finally had a few minutes to himself to check the messages he received during his duel with Drake. He did feel different, halfway through, he felt as a previously unknown source of knowledge filled his mind. He could actually feel his mind swiftly processing and merging the new skillset. However, what was the strangest wasn''t the suddenly appeared knowledge about swords or fighting, but the strange vision where he could see and analyze Drake''s current and projected movements and swiftlye up with responses rted to it on the spot. What was that actually? Would it be rted to the gained knowledge, or perhaps, something else? Could it be rted to his growing divinity? Or maybe, just maybe did he unlock more of his Primal Heritage? He wasn''t entirely sure, nor was he certain if he could actually willingly enter that strange peculiar state once again. At least not willingly. With that, he eagerly willed his System interface to appear and select the Activities tab. As the messages appeared, he quickly skimmed through each of the new, unread lines. *Ding!* [ Status | Lab | Domain | *Activities* ] [ *Message Log* | Quests | Assignments ] [Sword Mastery discovered! Analyzing information Error: Prerequisite knowledge missing] [?!%_] [Error: Unable to .?!$!%] [.?!$!% Host Entering Primal ?!% State Enhancing Analytics feature ording to new parameters] [Sword Mastery discovered! Analyzing information 1%] [Sword Mastery discovered! Analyzing information 50%] [Sword Mastery discovered! Analyzing information 100%] [Analysisplete, processing information, creating skill. Remaining time: Error: N/A] [Analysisplete, Information processed. Skill: Sword Mastery (Lvl 1) created.] [Note: Requirements met! The rted skill: Sword Mastery: Profound Strike (Lvl -) has been processed. Absolving new information] The messages just kept flowing, causing an ever-increasing confusion and bewilderment to spread in Aiden''s mind. What happened during their duel exactly? Even the messages were unclear, some of them were in a weird, cryptic, unreadable state. Somehow he entered a strange, heightened mental state, which at the time, he didn''t truly realize. Could it have been that when he felt the world slowed down, was the start of it? How did it actually trigger? Was it something they did or was it due to an outside force? Whatever it happened, the two main take-aways from his short battle with Drake was his supposedly newly acquired knowledge about properly handling Ryg and not just hack and sh as he did before. What was even weirder, why did it trigger now? He had fought against a strong, much more experienced swordsman before back in the guild: Sir Arthur. Why didn''t he gain this insight then? Why did it only happen with Drake? What was different? The only thing, the only difference that came to his mind was that now, unlike with Sir Arthur, Aiden didn''t rely on any of his supernatural strength and powers but, just as Drake asked, was using only his meager knowledge to stand against him. At any rate, the knowledge he gained directly elevated his skill from someone with any proficiency to a literal master of the way of the sword. A vast pool of wisdom rted to the topic was now at his disposal. Strangely, or maybe due to the mysteries of his unique physique, he had no issues essing any of this information, it felt as if all of this knowledge was deeply ingrained into his body and soul through years of arduous effort rather than a single instant. Still, this wasn''t the end of the miracles that happened to him during that bout. Drake''s incredible attack, the ultimate sword strike that held all of his soul with it that peak of all of his life''s sweat and tears, was now also at Aiden''s disposal. The strange, unique skill, the brutal, unblockable sh, that could threaten even him despite his much higher attributes He not only could repeat it but could actually enhance it by fusing some of his own [Soul Power] into it, possibly creating something that the world may have not seen or felt before. Going through all of this information, Aiden actually felt guilty. What he gained, no. What he STOLE from his only friend was so immense, so deep. Meanwhile, what did he give back? His friendship? Bullcrap! He sighed, as a bitter smile emerged on his face. Looking over at the Drake at the side, resting with closed eyes as he leaned against the wall, he was debating what he should be doing. He clenched his fists, as he came to a bold decision. He woulde clean, and not hide into the manyyers of constant lies and secrets. Drake and Scarlet now truly ced their trust with them and with that tying their destiny to theirs, he himself needed to give something. Although he would keep the most important of them all, there was one thing he would now share and exin to them. Turning over to their group, he stepped closer to them, looking over each and every one of them. Taking a deep breath, and slowly exhaling it out his expression turned solemn as he spoke up. "Guys. Before we go further, I need toe clean." He looked at Scarlet and Drake as he continued. "As you have expected, I haven''t beenpletely honest with you about myself, my origin." "Brother..." "Young Master! Please don''t!" Worried about her brother/young master, Lily and Galina called out with a worried look, however, Aiden merely smiled at them. "It''s okay you two. They have the right to know. We are in this together. They are not just simply our friends, but our brother and sister from this moment. They gave us their heart and trust, we need to give something of equal value." "The truth is" "Aiden, brother, listen. As I said before, you do not need to do this. With or without knowing what you would be telling, it would not change our minds. I, and I am fairly certain that Scarlet is on the same page, have decided to stick with you. Together we would rescue our missing brothers and that friend of yours as well. We would fix the deep-seated, centuries-old issues with this kingdom, or even the whole god damn world if we need to!" Before Aiden could react, Drake looked at his smiling sister, nodding as he continued. "Our lives have ended on a fateful day many years ago. When I saw my brothers and sister be taken away, while the king did nothing, that life for me has ended. From then on, my sole purpose was to get my siblings back and take revenge on everyone that was responsible and ultimately to that bastard as well." Chapter 423 - 423 - The Worrisome Guard The warming light of the setting sun made itsst efforts to gleam through the dpidating wooden buildings and tattered huts when the sound of footsteps could be heard from behind the grated gate. The four guards stationed to thwart any foolish attempt from the locals to make their desperate and forlorn attempts to take revenge for the loss of their loved ones wereing to the end of their 12-hour shifts. Each but one of the quartet has long since forgotten the band of youngsters that came in front of them this very morning and brazenly stepped inside this ominous hellish hole with this gut-wrenching stench. All, but one guard remembered their folly, as they tackled the unknown. Over the span of thest several hours he tried to listen in, peak, or at the very least sense and confirm their continued existence on this living ne. Yet, after the first hour or so, their life signs faded, reaching a point where the trained and experienced veteran could no longer perceive them, adding to his helpless worry. Being a father of two simrly aged children, he was concerned about the safety of this foolish, naive little troupe. He hoped that despite the inauspicious chances mostly in favor of their untimely demise, they would pull that miracle that not just them, but even this world was in dire need of nowadays. Still, when the sun reached its highest point up in the clear, unclouded sky and continued to scorch thend beneath it, the guard had to ept the harsh reality ande to terms with what was the most obvious answer to his concerns. That band of good-hearted and talented youth most likely have perished either by under the small, wed hands of the nasty sewer-dweller skinks, or some other monstrosity lurking in those long-abandoned and forgotten halls. "What''s up with you Hephas? You have been gazing at the entrance for like the fifth time today." Seeing as their partner, Hephas was continuously ncing over the grates, Ovid, his partner could no longer hold down his curiosity and asked whilst he reached for the medium-sized leather pouch at his side and pulled out a dried piece of red smoked meat from its depth. Raising it in front of his already salivating mouth, Ovid was about to chew on the quick lunch his wife had prepared for his shift, but before his yellowish teeth could sp around its edges, his eyes ultimately ovee his primeval desire. He pulled back the meat and grabbed its opposing edges with his hands, whilst he looked in his concerned, worried-looking partner''s direction once again. His hungry gaze nted, morphing into a sighing, sympathetic look. He broke the dried meat into two with a decisive move, offering the one in his left hand to Hephas. "Here, eat something. Not sure what''s eating away at your soul all day, but you need to calm down. If you are worried about the little bastards attacking, you shouldn''t. From the reports, it was clear that they would not attempt anything foolish during daylight. Also, it''s more than likely that there are other, hidden exits that they would prefer to use rather than willingly sh with us, the guards." He offered words to ay his friend''s worries, albeit from the look on his face, unsessfully. Keeping his gaze a few seconds longer on the obscure darkness lying in wait behind them, the middle-aged guard, Hephas, sighed helplessly at his partner''s words. As the used-up air left his lungs only to be reced by the newly inhaled, but foul-smelling stale air he forcefully calmed his nerves and swallowed his fatherly worries. Why was he so agitated anyways? It''s not that those bunch of kids had anything to do with him, he had his own family, their own life to worry about. Why waste his effort on a bunch of strangers? He shook his head with a discontent look on his face. He couldn''t understand himself, his reactions were way out of the norm recently. ''Was it because of this ce?'' He pondered as he turned around and with a gentle nod epted the offered piece of lunch. As he silently bit into the cured flesh of this piece of the domesticated Sun Hug''s pork, his thoughts slowly returned to normalcy, and his strange, ungrounded fears and worries were slowly wafted away, albeit as itter turned out, temporarily. "Thanks, Ovid, I really needed that!" Hephas sighed with a visible content stretched across his face. His pride not allowing to leave this gesture of friendly sharing unreturned, he also reached for his side, where instead of a leather pouch a sk shined with its metallic luster. Hephas grabbed it, pulling it from his waist, and presented it to Ovid. He didn''t say anything, nor was there a need to, the gesture was inly obvious. Ovid did not hesitate either, with an appreciative smile, he took the water bottle from his friend, and took arge gulp from it. He wasn''t surprised when he noticed that the refreshing fluid substance was still cold as it washed down his parched throat, quenching his thirst in mere moments. As City Guards, when they were stationed out in the ins, or anywhere where they were subjected to the torturously bright sun for hours on end, they were each given these enchanted sks that could retain its cool temperature regardless of the scorching, blistering heat. Being lunchtime, they took turns taking their short lunch break and find a small shade to freshen up. Hephas and Ovid were the ones that this time had to stay at their stations, whilst the other two were a few blocks away. After a refreshing sigh and a satisfying burp, Ovid wiped his mouth with his arm. Giving the sk back to his friend he asked. "So, care to tell what''s eating at you? What''s the sour look man? Did you had a fight with your wife?" Ovid''s actions did their trick, the agitated and nervous-looking Hephas was much calmer than before. Taking a quick gander over the closed-up gate, he smiled bitterly as he began to exin and voice his worries. "Remember that group of youngsters that had the guild permit and ventured down in the morning?" Instead of straight-up answering, Hephas began his response with a question of his own. "Ehrm" Ovid shed an empty look at first, but a momentter, the image of the little band of youngsters and their two huge-bodied dogs came to his mind, he nodded. "Y-yeah, I do. What about them?" "Haven''t you noticed it yet? They still haven''t returned, nor could you hear the signs of fighting at all. In fact, no matter how hard I try, I can''t even feel their presence at all!" He eximed, adding it after a momentary pause. "In fact, after like the first hour, Ipletely lost them!" Ovid looked at his friend with a confused, bewildered expression, not really sharing the same concern as he did. "And? What do you care? They are just some naive fledgling adventurers, what do you care what bes of them? It was their decision to walk into their deaths even as we tried to warn them." He shrugged his shoulders, clearly not bothered if Aiden''s group were to die in these maze-like depths or not. He had no business with them, why would he bother? Chapter 424 - 424 - The Forgotten Ones "How can you say such a thing?!" Hearing his partner''s unconcerned, apathetic tone, Hephas snapped at his friend. "They are kids, Ovid, kids! How can you be so indifferent! They might be in grave trouble right as we are talking! Show somepassion to the young ones!" "Pfft, why would I, or for that matter, anybody care for a group of strangers strolling into their deaths?" Ovid scoffed, shrugging his shoulders with the same indifferent look as before. cing his hand over Hephas'' shoulder, he shook his head as a small sigh escaped through his lips. "The world is like this. Cruel and cold, nobody would give a crap about some group of teens that was way too naive and green behind their ears venturing into their shallow, unmarked graves despite the clear signs and even warnings they were given, Hephas!" Ovid lectured, reminding his friend that they indeed tried to warn and alert the group not to take on the quest. "Remember, we did try what we could, yet they were ignorant and way too arrogant for their age. The kind gesture they were offered, was ignored, and they walked in, fully aware of the dangers lurking beneath the surface." Ovid then nced at the silent, and eerie darkness before shrugging his shoulders yet again and taking a step back, returning to his post. "So, tell me, what reason do I have to bother with them? In fact, I could bet you that neither Mikol nor Lydo could even recall that group. They have already forgotten them, just like I did." Ovid''s words were, while quite cruel and harsh, were in fact, the in, and dark truth, the rigid, hard reality of the world and the nature of its residents. Indeed, why would anybody care about if 5 unknown people would go missing, be it adults, elders, or as it was the actual case this time, young men and women. Why would anybody give a damn if these young budding seedlings, that were about to tackle the life that was ahead of them and cultivate a better future, would vanish from the face of Eora? The answer was painfully obvious. Just taking a look at Ovid''s unmoved, apathetic expression about the matter, anybody coulde to the same conclusion: Nobody. Well, almost nobody. No matter how he looked at it, or even knowing that Ovid was ultimately right, he couldn''t just ignore this feeling inside him. Was it because he was a father of children of the same age and mindset? Maybe without him being aware, he saw his own son and daughter in those kids? He couldn''t think of an answer to these burning questions of his, nor could he quell his rapidly beating, thumping, and worried heart. He knew what he was doing was foolish, nor could he offer any meaningful help to them, yet he just couldn''t calm down. By the time the two came back from their lunch break with satisfied expressions on their faces, Hephas was back to his regr worries, and concerned checks and nces. He once more tried to pierce the dark veil that covered the grounds below with his prating gaze. His [Battle Sense] working on overdrive, he tried scanning the grounds below and around for any familiar, youthful life, sadly to no avail. However, still, there was a clue, a change that he amidst his worries skipped over before. Something that could either be a hint, or a piece of evidence; depending on the conclusion of the matter and the fate of the teens, no matter how dark and gruesome it was. The fact that he could scan absolutely no life, no matter if it was animalistic, instinct-driven, or more evolved, he could not feel anything but a vast space of emptiness. Normally, as being one of the trained and experienced soldiers surviving many skirmishes and even campaigns, he should be able to perceive the lingering intent of any life forms around quite arge distance centered around him. This sense, this ability honed through years of effort, blood, and gore, could not be blocked by regr means, there were no walls or barriers that could withstand it. Every life form in Eora, be it whatever size or shape emitted some form of presence, some ''signal'' that those with simr skills could perceive and process. Even the undead, although not animated through the strands of nature, through the dark and twisted necromantic magic could be felt by those that trained themselves. After all, their imprints of necromancy were rather unique after all. Yet, Hephas could feel absolutely nothing. The tunnels around them were absolutely empty, barren, void of any life. This initially guided him to believe that the group ventured deeper, however now, thinking a bit more about it, he couldn''t shake the feeling that there may have been something else in y. He furrowed his brows, as Hephas kept his alerted, vignt state throughout the rest of the day. As the hours went by, his worries only continued to grow. Eventually, it reached a point where he decided that after the next shiftes and relieves them so they could take their much-needed rest, he would take the matters into his own hands and look for the gang himself. At the very least for a bit. Even if they have met their cruel fates, he wanted to at least confirm this fact and report it to the captains. With his n and decision now finalized, he returned his attention to his duty, his agitated disposition shifted towards a much calmer, collected outward look. His friends seeing the change of state in their friend thought that he finally moved on from whatever was eating at him, and returned their attention to guarding the entrance. Returning to thete afternoon, or early evening of the day, as the sun slowly began to set, Hephas looked much more vibrant, bursting with energy, something that seemed rather uncanny to someone who has just survived 12 hours of duty. With a confused stare, Ovid looked at his friend, not sure of what to think. Even the other two, Mikol and Lyno felt that something wasn''t right with their partner, though they couldn''t grasp what exactly could it be. Why was he so fired up, and ready for action when they were just about to finish their day and return to their homes for the night?! Suddenly, as if realizing something, the three of them smiled at each other with that ''knowing'' look. Their eyes glimmered with the understanding of what was sure toe for the concupiscent man. As they were about to call out and have some fun with this overzealous father of two, suddenly they all trembled and froze in ce. Their attention slowly turned towards the closed grated gate, more precisely to the vast and empty darkness that blocked all vision from the outside. Each and every one of them, even Hephas who was mistakenly believed to be full of lust towards his wife, turned their full attention to the sudden change they all felting from below. Several life signs suddenly appeared, stepping into their range of detection, as they paced towards the grated entrance with a steady, but slow pace. However, their faces were cold and stern, as unlike one particr member of them, they couldn''t recognize the approaching entities All but one, whose face slowly curled into a smile. Chapter 425 - 425 - The Sixth Person As Hephas'' partners jumped to attention at the approaching party, the man smiled and visibly rxed his shoulders after only a few short moments. Unlike Ovid, Mikol, and Lyno, who have already long forgotten the group of greenhorns, he, who literally spent the whole day thinking and worrying about their safety, could vividly remember and match the particr signals. However, just a momentter, just before his friends could question his strange aloof behavior, he himself suddenly turned stiff. Shortly after the group stepped inside the range of his sensing, another life sign entered shortly after them. This one felt much more defined, having more depth, more experience to it. Although he couldn''t confirm what or who he or she was, it was obvious that a) he was in a rather disheveled, chaotic state based on the chaotic pulses, and b) the entity was much older than the others, somewhere around the decade range of himself, someone in his forties. Still, although his life signs were much more defined and stronger than the youngsters'', it also showed signs of not being at its peak. As if he went through something rather trying, challenging even. His body went stiff for a moment, several theories quickly assaulted his already spent and weary mind. He tightened his grip on his weapon, as his face went cold, he turned towards the underlying darkness beyond the grated gate. "Get ready boys. They areing." He muttered coldly, for which the rest of the group of guards reacted in a simr manner and entered their uniformed battle stance. The moments passed torturously slow for Hephas and the rest as they focused their [Battle Senses] on the slowly but steadily approaching group. As they got closer, the others also could make out the differences between the group. The group of youngsters, two animals, and then a sixth individual in a rather bedraggled state. They watched the gate while following the approaching party''s route. Their swords held tightly in their hands, their faces radiating a cold sternness, ready to react at the first, tiniest signs of aggression. Although they all had now an idea who the party probably was, the presence of the unknown sixth person, caused their wee to sour. After all, somehow that was dragged out from the spew and mucus, the dredges of the underground, couldn''t be a light-hearted, positive figure, but someone that had ties to either the horrors that imed home in that vile space or, and this was what they all feared the most, a member from the rumored neighboring empire''s invasion force. A spy, an agent, a general, an elitebatant? Whoever it was, if it turned out to be the truth, it would spell a dreary tale for the uing War Games. It would mean that the nasty gossips and drunkard tales about a possible attack during the event would turn out to be true, spelling the beginnings of a disaster that none were ready to face. Hephas and his friends could only hope that their worst fears would remain in thend of dreams and imaginations and wouldn''t step out from the corner in a few more seconds. The best they could do is to cling to this hope no matter how futile, how hopeless this may turn out to be. Soon, their party''s signals reached the corner just a bit beyond the gate where a sharp left turn shrouded the rest of the city dungeon from the prying eyes. The sounds of pitter-patter, the emerging footsteps of the party of youths have reached their ears, causing a wave of shiver to run through Hephas'' group of four and force them to stand at an extreme vignce. Even without any intercourse, any sh happening as of yet, sweats began to perspire under thest rays of the setting sun, their focus and minds were at an all-time high today. Ovid, being closest to the gate, took a step to the side, stepping out of the immediate vision of the band. Whilst keeping his right hand raised in front of his chest and ready to strike at a moment''s notice, he slowly, shakily reached for the gate with his left. Meanwhile, Hephas, Miko, and Lyno spread out, surrounding the gate in a small curved line, Hephas taking the central position and facing directly into the dim tunnel entrance. Seconds slowly kept passing as the moment of truth slowly crept closer. The group of youngsters could now be heard clearly, their steady but silent pace reaching ever-so closer to the end of the row of the tunnel. In just a second, they would reach the end and would emerge and reveal themselves and their newestpanion to Hephas and his group. The air was stiff, all of them felt uneasy. Depending on what they would see, the next few minutes could even be the beginning of the end for their city and mayhaps even for the kingdom they served for all their lives. Still, there was that tiny hope, their small spark of light, that kept the life and reason within them: The youngsters seemed and sounded mostly okay, whilst the mysterious stranger felt rather down, and as he or she got closer, rather wounded Eventually, the head of the leading members of the returning party, a pair of hooded cloaks emerged. Although hidden, their figures instantly felt familiar to Hephas. The one on the right, who seemed to be the male whilst the other donning a simr attire looked more feminine, was the same boy that originally talked to them. Shortly behind them, another two feminine shapes emerged, at their sides, tworge-bodied, strong-looking hounds followed along, their panting looked happy, calm. Soon, a few steps behind, thest of the party, the duo that the guards were mostly looking forward to and, at the same time, worried about, emerged. A tall, brawny, broad-shouldered figure, with short dark grey hair and an unshaven budding stub of a hideous-looking bearded face, appeared. His armor matte ck, without any emblems, badges, coat of arms, or even insignias painted on it. From an initial, quick nce he looked like those average no-name, unpopr mercenaries that only those with just a few extra coins to spare would hire. Yet, there was a strange feeling, a mysterious, heavier, more dominant presence to the figure betraying this initial outward feel to him. He was undoubtedly carrying just as much experience as any of the seasoned guards in the city, maybe even more. However, if that were the case, why did it seem that this man was the captive, rather than being the tormentor of the youths? Going forward, why did it seem that this rough-looking figure feared that lean, long-ck-haired youth pushing and nudging him along from behind? Just what the hell happened down below, and who could this man be? Baffled by this scene, the guards stood frozen in their ces even as the party of youngsters reached the end and were looking back at them with calm, collected looks. The two sides silently gazed at each other for several seconds, before the leading man at the right eximed in his crips, clear but slightly annoyed tone of voice. "Could you guys wake up and do your jobs? It was a long day, and I would really like a good meal and finally see my bed!" Chapter 426 - 426 - Colorful Line-Up Early evening, At the City Guard''s barracks somewhere close to the western gate in themoner''s district of Higrove Inside a room lit by a series of bronzenterns, several prominent figures of Higrove and even the kingdom could be seen sitting around arge wooden table. At one side, chained down on the ground and the steel chair he was sitting on, a mysterious stranger, his hair, which was once pure matte ck had several gray strains of hair woven in-between. This man, trotting through the middle years of life was now wearing a sack-like light grey, patched-up robe, his proud-looking set of armor, his weapon, even his coin purse was all taken into custody. His face, whilst he mostly managed to retain a calm outlook, wasn''t entirely thorough. The edges of his lips and facial muscles could be seen twitching as he tried to push back on his tumultuous anger. After all, someone of his stature was now treated as amon criminal and pushed around like trash! It was incredibly hard to swallow for a man of his position. His hands were in constant, tightly held fists, so hard in fact, that his skin long turned deathly pale due to theck of blood cirction in them. Next to him sat his capturer, the equally as puzzling long, ck-haired, exotic golden-eyed youth. As his eyes wandered to the side and he nced over at his seemingly harmless figure, the middle-aged captive just couldn''t understand it at all. This boy, this enigmatic youth had made him question everything he knew about the world. After all, how could such a thin, frail-looking frame, carry such vast, endless and destructive power?! He squinted his eyes as he gazed at the youngster''s carefree, nonchnt smile. Just from a single look, it was clear that he didn''t care for any of the gathered officials and high-ranking members of the kingdom. Following the boy''s gaze, he looked at the other side of the table, though he could only scoff in disdain as the silver beard of the famed Roaring Lion winked back at him. As soon as he heard the news of the capture of a potential officer of the Empire''s concealed troops, he immediately left everything and rushed to the Guard Barracks to spearhead the interrogation. Just like him, the rest of those in some form of power didn''t want to miss this chance to obtain some achievements and hastily made their way to this very same room. To Sir Arthur''s left a figure of simr shape and size, and for the matter: age, sat. He, nicknamed ''The General'', this man that has been put through countless ordeals, was a literal walking, living legend of an already lost era. Just like him, the General was someone that many heard several stories about, but never understood the full story and full depth of his sorrows. Now, carrying the badge of that fat snake, the sole survivor of the Leon Family Massacre, the General has eventually traded thest of his dignity for something he desperately wanted. Was it worth it? Only time will tell, Sir Arthur could only ignore his own thoughts and nce to the next person at his left. Sitting at the second seat to the left, a young-looking, handsome face could be seen. Donning expensive-looking burgundy colored chiffon clothes, he was obviously someone from the highest ranks of the local nobility. He had middle-length blonde hair,bed and carefully oiled at the back of his head, his forest green eyes were curved into vicious, greed-filled crescents as he sized up the enemy officer at the other side of the table. He loudly harrumphed with the arrogance of a noble that fit his stereotypical stature, showing that he was reaching the end of the ropes of his patience, and wanted this farce toe to an end. After all, he still had to go back and report to his father, the patriarch after this. Ignoring the conceited young master, Sir Arthur took a look to his right, trying his best to mask his surprise at the sight of the elderly butler that walked in and took the seat without saying a single word. Donned in the typical attire of the head servants of a noble household, Sir Arthur was surprised when he tried to scan this harmless-looking figure. Though he seemed weak, the power of a dormant, sleeping dragon resided in his wrinkled, aged frame. This butler that spoke nothing to anybody since his arrival, actually nodded courteously to the young Aiden Arthur himself had the chance to briefly get to know of. Do they have some sort of connection? Was he actually someone he should know? Arthur couldn''t remember, though he had to admit that the man did feel somewhat familiar Regardless, Sir Arthur shook his head and took a look at thest of the 5 that was leading this investigation, one of the few officers that were known to be just and incorruptible, the one that was equally as feared and respected by his peers and even the public, Captain John Deere, a rising star, a captain of the City Guards, the person actually in charge of this supposed interrogation. With many cases under his belt, and even more of his own peers put behind the same bars as the criminal dredges of the society, John was someone that the highest officials trusted to handle this ordeal. If anything, they could be certain that he couldn''t be bought, threatened, or ckmailed. He would shed light on the mysteries no matter the consequences. With this colorful line-up, Sir Arthur didn''t know what to think or say. Even worse, he could feel a growing crowd waiting for his chance to make a stance lining up on the outside. Prominent nobles, wealthy merchants with their bodyguards even some of the busybodies of themoners. Still, even beyond that, Sir Arthur could sense those hiding in the shadows. Hooded and robed figures, listening in with keen interest. The matter of this capture blew up to a surprising degree, even though that the matter should have been handled with care, almost every son and daughter of the city knew about it and even came in such a short time. Actually, it was quite a surprising fact, almostmendable how fast important news could spread and reach the ears of thousands in just the span of minutes. ''If nothing else, at the very least we are quite good in this aspect'' Sir Arthurmented, as he took arge gasp of air, and exhaled slowly, shifting his focus back to the figure standing at his opposite. Giving a light cough, he grabbed the attention of everyone inside the room and even those that were listening from the outside. "Wee everyone to this important and sudden event. I have to say my thanks that despite the abruptness of the situation, so many of you managed to make their way to this side of the town and offer your own inputs to this matter." He spoke, taking a meaningful nce at the blonde young noble at the side meanwhile. "I do not wish to waste too much time on introductions as there''s a lot to cover and not so much time to get to it!" Chapter 427 - 427 - A Small Reunion Turning his attention to the calm, and gently smiling youngster, Sir Arthur''s stern look slightly eased up as well. His tone, though still authoritative, carried a slight undertone of warmth. "Aiden, I No!" He gave a light cough, grabbing more of the audience''s attention deliberately. "WE all have to say thanks to you, andmend you and your friend''s efforts in apprehending such a high-profile target." He pointed towards the chained captive next to the young man, as he continued with the same theatrical disy. "Please, although we do not like to sound disrespectful, we have to ask you to go ahead and recount your steps throughout the day. To gain a better understanding of your eventual capture of this" He nced at the middle-aged man with a slight frown shing through his face, he forced the words out of his mouth making sure to keep his disposition. "this, individual. We would like to know every detail you can remember, starting from the point that we are all clear about." ncing at the door where the familiar faces of the City Guards stood guards both from the inside and outside: Hephas and Ovid inside the room, whilst Miko and Lyno outside the room, holding back the increasing mob. With another theatrical cough, Sir Arthur continued on. "From the reports of the active City Guards and then the subsequent check-up with the local branch of the Adventurer''s Guild, we already know that you guys took on the official quest to cull the growing poption of Skinks in the Sewer System beneath the city. This early morning, after getting ready and as I presume to take your sumptuous and filling morning meals, you guys made your way to the guarded entry at the edges of the Slums District. After a short discussion, you guys eventually made your way behind the grated gates and was not seen or heard from till thiste afternoon-" "Khm!" Captain John suddenly coughed, interrupting the decorated war hero''s speech. "Dusk would be more precise, Sir Sonovan." He spoke up in a in tone. Sir Arthur gave a light smile and nodded in the man''s direction, before returning his gaze at Aiden. "Yes, thank you, captain, you are indeed right So, you returned at DUSK" He gave more emphasis on the corrected word, before ending his introduction. "with this man as your captive. Please, tell us what happened during the missing hours of the day. How did you end up this way? What happened?" Finishing his speech, he leaned back on his chair and folded his arms patiently waiting for the youngster to start recounting their journey. Whilst the General at his left, the butler, and even the Captain on his right followed his stance and was looking warmly at the boy, the representative of the nobles of the city, the blonde slick-haired young master didn''t share the same sentiment. Feeling annoyed by being mostly ignored tonight, and his proud, high standing not being counted, he grew tired of this farce with this peasant-looking boy. His face contorting to something akin to anger, he pped his hands atop the desk as he jumped up. "Start speaking you dirty peasant or I will have you flogged for wasting our time!" He cried out with a disdainful look and contemptuous tone. However, before he could continue and explode on the youngster even more, suddenly a cold, heavy pressure descended on him,ing from his right. With shivers running through his back and with a trembling look he slowly looked to the side only to be met with the cold and solemn look of Sir Arthur. "I would ask the Young Master of the Davenmere Family to mind his manners and sit back down. I would also like to remind you that while the Davenmere''s might be a prominent and respected family in this part of the Kingdom, they are merely a moderately sized noble household, nothing in front of the Great Four or the Royals. Your actions and demeanor represent not just your house, but the entire nobility of Higrove. If you do not wish to fall out of grace, think deeply about each and every action you will take tonight." Sir Arthur''s not-so-hidden threat caused the young boy to tremble in his ce, his face to turn pale. He was keenly aware of the consequences of offending a figure such as the famed Roaring Lion. Immediately, he bowed towards the old man and sat back down on his seat. "P-Please excuse my manners, Lord Sonovan. I am just anxious to shed light on the matters, as it could easily spell all our futures!" He apologized with a trembling tone. However, the old man shook his head, as a nasty-looking smirk slowly crept up on his bearded face. His eyes wandered towards the calm Aiden, as he decided to give some face to his little friend. "It''s not me you need to offer your excuses Young Davenmere, but my little friend that you insulted with your thoughtless words." Instantly, the already pale face of the Young Master, contorted into a hideous grimace. He frowned as he listened to the feared legend''s words. His hands balled into fists showing his defiance, he stood silent for several seconds before he heaved a long sigh. He did not raise his eyes, he kept his look stered on the ground, as he muttered a faint: "U-understood." Turning towards this peasant, his contempt only grew higher than before. He med this nameless nobody for the shame and humiliation he was just subjected to. In his mind, he already made several ns on how he would make sure to deal with this annoying pest. No matter how heroic his deeds were, he was ultimately just one boy. He would make sure to have him captured and sent to his family underground dungeonter. His fingers bore into his palm, as he quickly made his ns in his mind, before letting out one more sigh as he whispered in a contemptuous tone towards the youngster. "P-please excuse my rudeness, brave adventurer, and tell us the tale of your heroic deeds." Having fulfilled the order of Sir Sonovan, the young master quickly slumped back on his chair, refusing to look at anyone in the room, and delve deeper into his own thoughts. All throughout this whole scene yed out topletion in front of his eyes, Aiden''s expression never changed, he smiled calmly at the colorful judges sitting opposite of him, while not bothering to spare any nce at the chained person beside him. He was actually mostly talking to his Galina who was sitting with his sister and friends back at the inn, anxiously waiting for him to return to them. Aiden made sure to describe everything that was going on, also making sure to include that Sara''s mother''s butler was there, presenting the Mistress. Not too long after that, the doors of the inn were pushed open as the girl in question stood at the doorway. She was with someone that once the group looked at them went silent from the surprise for a brief moment before several shades of joy could be seen reflecting in their gazes. Standing beside the hooded Sara, a muchrger figure could be seen. Although like Sara she was alsopletely hidden, her emblematic weapon, therge battle axe with the circr-shaped head was hanging at her back Chapter 428 - 428 - The Grandmasters Vision As he heard Galina''s report of the arrival of not just Sara''s but even the awakened Naybeah, who though still struggled to piece back together her scrambled mind and regain her memories, she could vividly remember the young man that owned her heart and soul. While still in discussion with the Mistress, the unbelievable news of Aiden''s feat in capturing an officer of the enemy hidden below grounds, reached their ears. With such an event in y, the Mistress immediately began moving several of her little pieces on the giant chessboard that was this entirend, sending her most trusted and loyal man, Sir Sebas to sit in the meeting. At the same time, she summoned her daughter and made sure that Naybeah would get back to the rest of Aiden''s group who was already escorted back to their inn and were now anxiously waiting for news. Although she couldn''t confirm it yet, the Masked Mistress was fairly certain that Aiden had some means ofmunication with his friends, or at the very least that strange new girl at his fold, and maybe with her sister as well, they would be at good hands there. Once they both left and she was left alone, the Mistress immediately went to her study and contacted several of her men. The catalyst has finally been found, she had to be ready for the events that she had already seening soon. There were several powers at y, both inside and outside thends of this kingdom Atop some building near the Central region of the city, the Marketce, a trio of peculiar figures stared at the direction of the City Guards barracks. Each of them wore dark hoods and fitting, tight garments. One of them that held a mature, womanly hourss shape spoke first. "It is starting, just as the Grandmaster has told. The Great Shift is starting and with it, it will bring great changes to thisnd. Still, will everything be like how he saw it?" She sighed, her eyes revealed aplex, emotion-filled look. Feelings of sadness, sorrow, grief were also there. Her words questioned not just her fate, but her past, present, and presumably, her future as well. The mission she was assigned years ago seemed weird at first and while she was quite reluctant at the start, grew quite fond of it after a short while. Still, knowing more about what destiny had in store for this world, she couldn''t help but worry as her gaze fixated upon a peculiar young man. Although she would never admit this, that boy over the years he grew way too close to her She no longer looked at her as just her student but as if Her reverie was broken with the masculine-looking one of the trio. Hidden under the cover of his shawl the figure scoffed. "Do you question the Grandmaster, Number 3?!" He asked, following her gaze and adding a momentter. "That boy did you perhaps forget the mission?" He teased her. Suddenly a p to the back of his head caused the rest of the words to get stuck in him. The other woman of their trio turned to him with a cold look in her bright green eyes. "Have some manners, Number 5! Many of the current issues the city is facing are because of your negligence in controlling your recruit! That unfit candidate should never have been given such authority and power. His failure is also your failure." Her words were cold and heartless, causing the man to frown, and turn his attention away, refusing to acknowledge this obvious and clear truth. "Number 3, don''t be so bothered, you also know the Grandmaster''s vision. His ultimate goal." The third woman offered some words of constion to the distraught partner of hers. Number 3 didn''t respond, she kept her gaze sternly fixated on the boy. Her thoughts wreaking havoc in a chaotic, tumultuous storm inside her mind, she wasn''t sure how to proceed. Suddenly, before they could continue their chatter, the skull-faced rings on their fingers suddenly lit up, the same ominous vibrant green light shone through the skull''s miniature gemstone eyes. A dreadful, hoarse voice echoed inside their minds in the next moments. As the voice began to speak, all of them immediately went on their knees and bowed towards the empty air in front of them. "Get ready Executors, the beginning of the end is upon us. Take your ces andplete your assignments." "Yes, Number 0!" They all spoke with a respectful tone, acknowledging their tasks. After the two other executors shed away only Number 3 remained atop the building for a bit longer. Suddenly, as she was about to jump away, the voice of the first, Number 0 reached out to her once again. "Number 3, the Grandmaster has listened to your concerns. You have received new orders. Return to the Grandmaster and receive them immediately." Number 3 froze on the spot after listening to the words of her senior, looking in front of her with clear disbelief. The Grandmaster changed his mind and gave her new orders? Could it be? Taking arge gulp, slowly she came back from her trance-like stun. Raising her finger in front of her chest, she gently rubbed the skull with her other hand, before drawing a sloped dome in front of her in the air. As the dark portal slowly appeared, she sighed once more before stepping through its eerie darkness, only to be taken to the underground chambers of that enigmatic entity Aiden didn''t react for a while but slowly scanned each of the present members sitting opposite of him before finally resting his gaze at the annoyed-looking captive at his side. His calm, collected smile slowly curved as the events of the day slowly came back to him. Taking only a few seconds, his mind quickly processed all the memories, as he turned towards Sir Arthur. Understanding the look and readiness in the young man''s eyes, Sir Arthur nodded and pulled out a small mirror-looking object from his pocket and ced it on the table. With a warm, friendly smile he pushed it towards the boy as he spoke. "Take this Memory Inhibitor in your hands and focus on your memories, deep and hard. This item will then project it to us, so we can see and relive everything you have witnessed. This way there are no mistakes and misunderstandings. You do not mind, do you?" Aiden nodded, already expecting such an artifact to be presented. On their way back to the ground Drake had already warned him that most likely this precious tool would be brought forward, and used not just on the captive but on him as well. After a brief exnation, he understood how this strange mirror-like object operated, and after a brief discussion with Enya, he was sure that by using the unique traits of his own mind and together with the system, they could make sure to alter what the others watching from the outside would be able to see. Using his own mind, the System''s processing power, and the aid of Enya and even Rygintarth, they created the alternative memories that they nned to let be shown. Chapter 429 - 429 - Reminisce (Part 1) Taking a short breath of the investigation room''s slightly stale air, Aiden slowly closed his eyes, focusing on the memories he wanted to transfer to the device. Assisting him from his soul space, the floating bright ball of a spirit guide, Enya, and the childlike girl of Rygintarth were doing their best to assist their master from behind the scenes. Soon, the small mirror lit up, its reflective surface began to change. As if a cover was ced over it, the mirror vanished, covered by what seemed to be a thinyer of pale yellow, butter-colored substance. Seeing the device''s state, Sir Arthur gently smiled, picking up arger mirror that looked identical to the smaller one, onlyrger, and with the addition of a hollow,rge crystal embedded at its back. As he ced it in front of his hands, Sir Arthur pressed on the back of the device, cing his fingers over the empty-looking crystal. His hands lit up briefly, as he injected a bit of his own energy into the crystal, causing the tool to suddenly activate. Slowly, the crystal began to fill up with the same colored energy that covered the smaller mirror, which in turn began to clear out at the same rate. A weird, mysterious connection was made between the two devices, and as Aiden continued filling the smaller one with his memories and recount of the day''s events, an image from therger one appeared, telling the story from his perspective. After the group made a unanimous decision to continue their venture to explore a bit more of the unknown that awaited them, Aiden and his group soon found themselves at a junction. The route split into two, one leading towards the south whilst the other roughly towards the north and east. Unsure what to pick, they looked in each direction, trying to make out a bit more of what could perhapsy waiting for them. Traps, may perhaps some sort of sewage dwelling monstrosity? Leading at the front, Drake and Aiden looked in both directions, focusing, honing their senses trying to make out more of the ever-present eerie darkness that dominated this world. "Hmm I can''t feel any danger from this side" Aidenmented after a brief silence focusing on the southern path. "After a bit, it curves back and leads more to the west. Beyond that, I can''t tell, we would need to get closer, but I do feel smaller routes? I guess Not sure." "Well I don''t have your hyper-sensitive hearing and sight Aiden, just my honed [Battle Sense], but even with that measly ability, I can say that this path seems to end with a dead-end not too much further in. Beyond that, I couldn''t tell" Following up his friend, Drake added his findings at the other side. With that, although the group was hopeful of finding something interesting in the dead-end Drake found, they sadly had to be disappointed. Only a wider section of the sewage system awaited them, arge circr-shaped room covered with brick walls and a couple of braziers providing the dim lighting. Not much, just enough to not walk inplete blindness. Due to the structure and design of the room, the flowing river of nasty sewage gathered to a small pond at the center of the room, where a small grated hole at its bottom drained it to somewhere further below. The disgusting, putrid smell, didn''t really favor the girls, so after a brief scan of theyout, the group quickly made their way out and towards the other, southern path instead. They didn''t even wait for Aiden to give the go-ahead, the girls and even Sammy and Biggs almost dashed away as soon as they got in. Unlike the northern route, the pathway to the south went on for quite a while without anything out of the ordinary happening. The putrid, foul smell dominated this section of the maze, the walls were covered in what seemed like some sort of moss or maybe just some thickyer of grime. The group ventured forward steadily, although they made sure to keep their vignce as they trekked the unexplored darkness. Aiden and even Drake used their own abilities to the best of their abilities, focusing on any potential changes, irregrities, or signs, lest they would be caught unawares. Eventually, after slithering all around with the snaking tunnel, they reached another crossing, however this time, instead of a simple split, four distinct seemingly parallel dark tunnels looked back at the surprised group. "Eh What now Aiden?" Looking at the identical-looking routes Drake was helpless. His ability proved to be useless this time around, he couldn''t find out anything. To him, all four paths werepletely the same. There was no response to his inquiry, however. With furrowed brows, Aiden has fully focused on his own [Dark Gaze] ability. Several, [Soul Power] enhanced energy pulses were sent out to each of the dark entrances in hopes of finding something that could give them a clue of what could await them in each of these simr options. Yet, his confusion only increased as he kept trying to investigate the forking paths. No matter how much he tried, in each case his pulses were blocked by something after a while, apart from feeling the sudden loss of connection, there was no other information that he could take out from any of the tunnels. "Hmm" He sighed, pondering what would be the best course of action. Should they just give up and return? But, if that would be the case, they would return without anything to show for their hours of effort. Also, the fact that even his abilities were blocked was a surefire sign of something extraordinary happening no matter which path they would pick. Should they split up and check out each pathway? While that would certainly increase the area they could cover, it would also cause a level of risk Aiden wasn''tfortable with subjecting his loved ones to. No The only option would be to pick one and hope for the best. They could still backtrack and select another route if they find that the current one wasn''t worth spending any time and effort. The thought of calling some of his servants back with a small group of their own and sending them to explore the tunnels first also crossed his mind. However, for the same reason that he didn''t want to risk their safety, he eventually decided against it. "Aiden? What do you think, which one should we take?" Not sure what to make of his friend''s continued silence, Drake walked over and called out his friend. "Hmm" Brought out from his thoughts, Aiden warmly smiled back at the concerned friend of his, before ncing over the girls who were also doing their best in scanning and scouting the dark tunnels. Without much extra thought, Aiden turned towards the tunnel at the right end. "Let''s go this one." He said with a confident-looking smile, causing Drake to look at him with an inquisitive gaze and ask, thinking that perhaps his friend found something interesting that way. Maybe even a treasure? "Why? What is in that way?" However, Aiden''s chuckled response caused him to sigh in frustration in the next moment Chapter 430 - 430 - Reminisce (Part 2) "Bah! This leads nowhere!" The young master of the Davenmere family eximed with frustration, sloping back on his chair. Even as they watched the scene with a faster than normal yback, so far there was nothing worthwhile in the peasant boy''s memories to be interested about. Although his much more keen and sensitive hearing and sight was an interesting trait to such a small teenager It would, at best, make him a talented scout. The rest of the group was also pretty boring. Although he found it strange that most of the faces were blurry and not clear, with even their voices sounding as if they were speaking from under the water, there was nothing of interest in the recount so far. Sir Arthur and for that matter, the rest of the present ''investigators'', were silently focusing on the screen. Unlike the bored and frustrated Young Noble, they seemed to be deep in thought, and even slightly bothered by something. Their forehead wrinkled, their faces were contorted to deep frowns as they were pondering and processing all the small clues they have picked up so far. Although the vision kept on ying, showing how the group continued exploring the tunnels, nobody was focusing on it. Eventually, after a minute of silent thinking, Sir Arthur sighed, and put the device down on the desk, and looked over at his peers sitting in. "What do you think? Is it really possible?" He asked with a helpless sigh, grabbing his temples and rubbing it as if he was trying to massage all the problems away from it. "Could be. After all, our knowledge of these matters is very limited Arthur." The General sitting at side responded, his eyes resting on the closed-eyed boy who, as if unaware of what was happening, kept transferring his prepared memories to the smaller device in his hand. "This is getting us nowhere." Captain John sighed, adding his thoughts into the ensuing debate. "However, we still need to understand the circumstances before we could move on." "Would it matter at this point? We should just move on to the captive instead and try to pry the info out of him directly. It''s clear that these visions are just a waste of time" Sir Arthur sighed, feeling the ensuing troubles if this matter would get out of the walls of this room. He nced over to the bored-looking blonde teen, whilst his gaze also swayed over at the two firmly standing guards at the door. Eventually, he could only sigh andment in silence, not sure of what would be the right thing to do. "If I may" The so-far silent elderly butler, Sebas'' aged voice interrupted the discussion. With a nonchnt, polite smile, he pointed their attention towards the screen. "Although it''s clear that some method was used to corrupt parts of the yback. It doesn''t necessarily mean that what we see is fake. Also, I highly doubt that a young man such as this gentleman could have possibly had such a method at his disposal to aplish a feat that not even the best of our country can do." Giving a light cough, he continued on. "My theory, if I may rudely throw it onto the table, is that perhaps something happened during the day that had an effect on the youngsters. If that''s the case, our foreign friend here" He nced at the chained captive, with a look that sent the stubborn, resolute-looking bearded man to look back with a shocked, wide-eyed. There was something behind the butler''s smile, his dark grey eyes that sent shivers down his spine "Yes This Sir here might be right. We shouldn''t dismiss everything based on our initial assumptions." Captain John nodded agreeing with the elderly butler''s words. "I" Sir Arthur pondered for a bit, before nodding at their words. His troubled face shifted back to a neutral outlook, he reached for the device once again. "However we don''t need to see every little, irrelevant detail. Let''s speed things up a bit." He said, cing his right thumb over the crystal at the back and injecting more of his own energy into it. His eyes shed with a mysterious light for a brief moment as focused on the disy. Suddenly, the image shifted, as the yback of tunnel exploration sped up to a lightning-fast speed. They quickly skimmed through the whole scene, only slowing down for a brief moment when the group has finally found the cause of the disruption. They eventually came face to face with a nightmarish entity, a giant eel-like monster that made a home in the depths below the city. After a long and atrocious battle, the group did manage to carve a victory for themselves, and with it, it seemed the strange mental block on their sensory skills was also finally uplifted. Although the creature seemed to be simr to the horrific legends about the Aboleths But the description didn''t truly fit what they could see. For one, Aboleths were usually over 20 feet in length, not just around the size of an average human. For two, these tubr-bodied giant worms weren''t existences that would make their home in such ces. After a bit of further thinking, Sir Arthur thought that the creature was probably some sort of Wyrm that underwent some sort of strange mutation. ncing over to the General, his scowling, frowning expression only supported this theory. After all, this old dog always had a nose to spot the mutated monsters for some reason. After that, the group seemed to take an hour-long rest, to recoup some of their spent stamina before continuing their venture even further to the depths. After that point, as if the monster was some sort of guardian, the routes finally opened up. Several subsections, turns, and junctions met the group, who kept traversing as much as they could. One thing that Sir Arthur found strange, was that although it wasn''t brazenly apparent, it was still strange how easily the group could trace their steps back, no matter how deep they were when they found the dead ends. They skimmed over most of the daily events, ignoring the many small battles they took with oversized rats, gruesome slimes, or even the strange, unknown creatures that looked to be bipedal, matching the size of the skinks but with patches of dark brown hairs and several disgusting blisters on their bodies. They also looked closer to frogs than the reptilians, therge leathery vocal sac''s under their mouths were constantly swelling as they cried. Ultimately they seemed to cross over the monstrous section of the maze and entered into a much cleaner section of the sprawling underground tunnel system. Even the sewage that was a constant denominator of where they were was nowhere to be found, showing further proof that wherever they were, was no longer part of the sewage system but some ancient, forgotten ruins As they stepped into this new, unknown part of what was beneath the city, Sir Arthur slowed down the yback to a normal pace. Even the blonde young noble''s interest was piqued as the peasant group found something that could actually turn out to be a worthy investment for his familyter on The group of investigators watched with apt silence as the group of youngsters slowly, cautiously made their way towards a particr direction where strange, faint noises could be heard Chapter 431 - 431 - Reminisce (Part 3) Sir Arthur and the rest of the interrogators once again focused on the image disyed on the mirror-like device. They watched with bated breaths as Aiden''s group on the screen slowly inched closer to the source of the noise, which as they got closer and closer sounded like grunts muffled cries? Suddenly a grave, ominous thought washed over Sir Arthur and the rest. They dared not to voice out the conjecture of the notion they all shared as that would make their fearse true. Though they were concerned about what they were about to see, and even though they were prepared for the worst, still what they saw was beyond their expectations. As Aiden''s group arrived in front of the door, even without any battle-hardened sensory skills, or Aiden''s much more sensitive traits, the group had a pretty clear idea of what was on the other side. The suppressed sound of a rough treatment slipped through the cracks of the door. Fists and legs hitting flesh followed by muted, faint cries reached the group. The asional angered-sounding emotional yells and exmation mixed in-between. The contents of the yells couldn''t be deciphered, either by the dimming of the solid surface between them or that the words that were fired didn''t sound anything like the group could understand. Aiden and even Drake had a solemn, somber look on them as they gazed at the door. "Can you feel it?" Drake asked with a heavy tone, his hands clenched into fists. "Yeah." Aiden nodded, focusing on a particrly strong presence behind the small wooden barrier. Before reaching for the handle, and stepping into this den of pain and suffering, the recent battles of the day shed through his mind. The battle with therge eel-like monster with an especially strong mental presence the small bipedal frog-like creatures Although he was still in good shape, he wasn''t sure about the rest of his party. Even though each of them disyed a strong presence, and didn''t show any signs of weariness, he was certain that they were slowly but surely reaching their limits. What would be the best course of action then? Giving it a few extra moments of thought, Aiden reaffirmed his resolve, deciding that if things turn for the worst he would rely on the many trump cards he still had at his disposal. With a strong, resolute look glimmering in his golden eyes, he slowly reached for the door handle before pushing it open The disy on the device abruptly came to an end as the door creaked open. Sir Arthur, the General, the butler, Captain John, and the young representative of Higrove''s Nobles were left in the dark. The screen however didn''t turn off, but something seemed to block the rted memorypletely. The image didn''t turn off, but instead was showing nothing but a muted, silent darkness. Still, faint emotions were still transmitted, seemingly escaping the clear signs of tampering. Emotions such as surprise with a hint of shock mixed into it, which slowly turned to anger, before everything turned into a cold resolution. Seconds passed, turning into minutes, as nothing but these vague, faint feelings were the only things, that the group could process. Still, there were no visible, or even hidden changesing from the boy in question. From what they could make out, two conjectures could be slowly made out. The first was that the memory was tempered with, parts of it were removed, others were changed to disy a version of the story. This was a feat that only very special existences should be capable of achieving. The level of power required to aplish such a thing was not something many individuals in the entire continent could reach. Second, and this is a pretty easy assumption after the first: This isn''t something that the boy is probably even aware of, as such a feat was beyond their capabilities. Also, it would make the questioning of the rest of the boy''s party be utterly pointless. It would also make their focus on the captive be much more problematic. If even the boy''s memories could be altered, who at the most had only a brief encounter with this powerful caster, what hope do they have for someone that was probably under his employ? Unfortunately, if such a being was involved in the slowly unfolding situation, it would mean that thend, the Kingdom, and even the surrounding countries would be in grave danger. Sir Arthur frowned at these thoughts. If his fear woulde to reality, he feared the future of thisnd. How could they stop such a monstrous existence? Who would be even capable of such a thing? If Aiden could hear Sir Arthur''s thoughts, he would probably know if he should beughing or crying at the whole situation. His cautiousness caused a misunderstanding that was rapidly spiraling out of control. While it wasn''t entirely impossible for powerful forces backing the Empire, causing their hunger for conquest to re up, at the very least this particr situation was caused by him, as a precaution to protect his friends and his secrets. Still, he was unaware of the elders'' troubled thoughts and misguided theories, he kept up the transfer process and recounted the events one after another. Meanwhile, the chained captive, who without anything better to do, was ncing over the disy whenever he could. He recognized the moment before the group of youngsters suddenly appeared and attacked them, but there was a lot of confusing information being transmitted. He knew what this device was, and knowing that there was no escape he was thinking of ways to end his life and protect the Empire''s ns at the very least. However, what he could see made him question his understanding of this ancient artifactpletely. The scenes didn''t match the truth at all For once, they didn''t just use the door but came from multiple directions. Second, there wasn''t any torture happening behind the closed doors, but they were actually in contact with the leaders of the operation and were in a discussion to get confirmation on theunch date for the operation. Also, strangely, there was absolutely no mention of the envoy visiting them at all He turned to look at the long, ck-haired boy with aplex, heavy look in his eyes. Why No, there was a much more pressing question before that HOW did the boy tamper with the images? Just who was this enigmatic figure? He could still remember that otherworldly, heavy aura that descended on everyone in the room once the boy turned serious. His glowing golden eyes, that explosive, unknown, iprehensible form of power When he felt the pressure weighing on him and pushing him down on the ground, almost instantly disarming him and his entire group of highly trained, specialized group of soldiers as if they were mere greenhorns He was confused, bewildered at first. However, as he kept his attention, his focus on the boy staring him down at the room, he felt something strange something else from him. He couldn''t exin it at the time, but he somehow knew that whatever was staring down at him wasn''t human at all But instead something else something much more powerful, and stronger than anything he ever seen or heard before. Something much more ancient Chapter 432 - 432 - Reminisce (Part 4) "Excuse my rashness Sirs but this is utterly pointless to waste time on anymore." The blonde teen, sighed with frustration, slumping back on his chair. For minutes now, there were no visuals, or sound at all, and without being in direct contact with the device he wouldn''t be able to perceive the emotionsing from the peasant boy. This time, however, he wasn''t the only one feeling that continuing, watching the memories would lead to anywhere. They have already pretty much confirmed that the disy was tampered with, so its contents would hardly be believable. Sharing the youth''s sentiment, Sir Arthur sighed helplessly, putting the Mirror Device away and cing it down on the table. He quickly looked over the rest of his peers, and as he saw the same expression on their faces, he couldn''t do anything. Turning his attention towards the young boy, he released a troubled-looking, wry smile and spoke out loudly. "Aiden, you can stop it now, thank you." Hearing themand, Aiden instantly halted the memory transference, and whilst making sure to keep his true emotions in check, he donned his usual, friendly, casual calm outlook on his face as he returned the elder''s gaze. "As you wish, Lord Sonovan." He nodded, putting the smaller counterpart of the device on the ground and pushing it towards therger one. "Did you learn anything? Did my memories help?" Breaking the short silence, Aiden asked with an innocent look in his eyes and tone. His inquiry instantly irked the arrogant young noble, hitting his hands loudly on the desk, he jumped up from his seat, pointing his right index finger at the pure, oblivious-looking boy. "You! How dare you! We know you did something! Come clean you you PEAS-" "ENOUGH!" Before the young master could finish his contemptuous words a powerful roar shook the walls of the small room. Instantly, the boy''s thoughts froze, his previous brazen show of clout faded into thin air. His legs wobbled under the newfound pressureing from the center of the room, he quickly sat back down on his seat, without daring to look up at all. As the situation diffused itself, Sir Arthur coughed his tone, his volume instantly shifting to a friendlier, warmer, apologetic one as he turned towards the golden-eyed youngster again. "I apologize for that. You see, just as you have seen, this new generation is still a bit hot-headed. Just like my grandson, the sons and daughters of other households are hard to control and teach how to behave. Please don''t take offense to his words. I can assure you, neither of us shares such ideologies and sentiments." Hearing his words, though he dared not to fight back and speak up, the blonde noble teen clenched his fists. His arrogance, slowly but surely transforming, his chaotic mindset tainted by the arrogance and darkness of the world was slowly elevating this peasant''s stature into something that he grew more and more assured of that was in need of termination. His ideas about prying his secrets, and learning the exact position of those previously undiscovered and hopefully treasure-filled ruins slowly, but surely started to take shape. He no longer cared about the rest of the details of the evening, his mind was filled with sinister thoughts, hungering for the revenge he felt was justified. Suddenly, once again, halting the discussion, he loudly pushed back his chair as he stood up. Then, turning towards the elders in the room, he gave a slight bow before speaking up. "I apologize for my actions to all of you, respected elders. I will, however, have to ask your forgiveness for onest time as I am going to take my leave and exin the situation and the uing threat to my family." With that said, without waiting for an answer, he turned around and walked out of the room, ignoring the guards as well. Once the door closed behind him, his figure quickly vanished in the cover of the night. Already aware of the boy''s incredible perception, and Sir Arthur''s power, he didn''t stop until he was certain he left their range before halting his steps and waiting for the rest of his attach to arrive at his location. His face was twisted into a malevolent grin, his madness quickly began to consume thest bits of his rationale For a while, the room was left in silence, as one of the investigators abruptly left. Each one of them silently followed the route the blonde slick-haired young master took waiting until he left the range of their abilities before letting out sighs of their own and shifting their attention back on Aiden and the chained-up captive. "Once again, I can only apologize, for it seems that unwillingly we have caused some troubles to you Aiden. Rest assured, I will make sure to-" "There is no need to bother with him, Sir Arthur." Interrupting the elder''s words, Aiden shook his head and with his usual calm, nonchnt smile he added. "This is hardly a nuisance. You don''t need to waste time and effort on an ant. Just focus on what truly is important." He added, giving a quick nce towards the captive man. "Right You are correct." Sir Arthur coughed, hiding his embarrassment before he continued. "Anyway Now that the disruptions have been dealt with, I would like to once again, thank you for your assistance with the matter. While it is true that there were some questions raised during your recount, it''s not something you need to bother with." A gentle, friendly smile could be seen shining through the silvery cover of his thick, short beard. "Yes, young man, we thank you for your cooperation." Nodding the general courtly added. "As a show of gratitude, you can decide to leave the room if you wish you had enough, or continue to sit in and listen as we question our foreign friend here." Captain John, although not with the highest level of power, but with the real authority in the room, added, allowing the youngster the privilege to stay. One has to know that normally, after finishing his side of the story, Aiden would have been escorted out of the room. Dealing with such a high caliber was not something amoner would be allowed to listen in to or witness at all. Aiden nodded at the elders with his usual smile, before slowly shifting his focus towards the chained and cored captive sitting beside him. The captured officer, as he saw this unknown monster''s gaze reach him, couldn''t help but tremble under his unnatural presence. To him, that calm, warm smile wasn''t friendly or rxing at all. No, on the contrary, it caused a shiver to run through his spine, the memories of that terrifying aura once again resurfaced in his mind. The captive''s change in demeanor, increased heart rate and the small beads that appeared in his forehead didn''t escape Sir Arthur''s sight. He looked puzzled, as he nced over to the youngster once again, not sure what to make of what he was seeing. Why would such a proud, strong, and seasoned officer that probably had already seen and dealt with all kinds of horrors be so terrified? What did really happen that they couldn''t see? Was there a rtion to this unknown caster and his current state perhaps? Chapter 433 - 433 - Tracking The day long had turned away and gave way to the pale crescent moon to shine like a silvery w in the clear and dark night sky. The thick crowd of interested or perhaps just meddlesome citizenry have long been mostly dispersed, making their way back to their homes with dejected, slumped shoulders. Still, there were a few that kept their vigil and were awaiting some news, any sort of information they could get their grabby hands on. They were mostly servants of either some lords, patriarchs of some households, or bosses and leaders of a variety of groups. Merchants or in some cases with shadier upations They all kept their vigil for a colorful mixture of reasons so they could report back something worthwhile and hopefully earn some rewards for their perseverance. It was unknown how much time had passed when finally the door to the barracks slowly creaked open and the first person finally walked out. Unfortunately to most of the eager crowd''s dismay, the one that left first was a young man, with a long, slightly disheveled crown of matte, ck hair. His exotic, golden eyes could barely be seen as the protective cover, his eyelids grew heavier by the minute. For the first time in quite a while, Aiden felt the exhaustion of thest couple of days piling up against his soul and weighing it down. Even though he could exchange most of his sleep time for a nightly session of meditation and increase his power even further, there were times when the woes of the mortals caught up to him as well. He wanted nothing more than to get back to the tavern and crash into his bed. Like the rotting fleshy heap of body that a freshly initiated necromancer has miraculously reanimated, he slowly sauntered forward, not even registering the outside world. He could hear garbled, muffled sounds of questions, inquiries that reached his ears, but his brain was too spent to process such junk. Ignoring everyone he slowly made his way through the ring of people and relying mostly on his own muscle memory and the system''s map, made his way towards the direction of his temporary home. Luckily for him, the crowd quickly gave up on trying to pry information out of him, as soon the door creaked open once again, and the rest of the elders, -with the exception of Captain John, who remained to handle the processing of the new political prisoner-, have emerged from the stale aired building. As the busy bees quickly swarmed around them, forming a tight ring, Aiden couldfortably slip away, mostly unnoticed. As almost everybody ignored the tired, yawning youngster, there was one shadow emerging from the corner that followed his steps, trailing after him as he turned around the corner. The figure, a master of stealth, made no sounds as he dashed after the boy, making sure to keep a reasonable distance while, at the same time, not lose track of him. His mission was only to scout and learn as much as he could and not to interfere. He couldn''t really understand what made the Young Master so crazed, so enraged that he would call for an urgent mission immediately, even before he made his way back to the Family Mansion. Regardless, as being a servant of the Davenmere Family, and most importantly under the direct care of the Young Master, he had no other choice but to acknowledge the call and after being told of the mission and been given a description of the target, would aplish it to his best knowledge. He couldn''t even imagine what could this innocent-looking lean young teen had done to irate the Young Lord to such an extent, though he didn''t care too much either. It wasn''t his job to bother with such details, anyways. As he slipped through the shadows and dark corners of the mostly empty suburban streets, the man followed after the youngster, ignoring the peculiar, strange choices he had made along the way. Unbeknownst to the man, no matter how stealthy, how careful he might have been unless he had some inner power and sensitivity of his own, he would be naked under the all-powerful scans of the [Dark Gaze] skill. Even before he had made the choice to uninvitedly tag along, Aiden was long aware of his presence, though he just chose to ignore it. His namete, along with the orange-colored dot, meaning he was a potential hostile entity was long since marked on his map. His namete appeared almost instantly as Aiden took a quick nce over it. [Source: Ranulf Power: Stealth, Ambush, Ambidextrous, Agile, Dagger Master, Poison Master Threat Level: Minimal Affiliation: Hostile, Davenmere Family] Interestingly, he either didn''t have a family name of his own, or the system just didn''t waste resources to scan it from his soul. Once Aiden saw the details, he rxed almost instantly. Although a surprise attack from a Master of Stealth, Daggers, and even Poisons could be fatal for many, to Aiden, it was nothing. Though he wasn''tpletely immune to poisons and all kinds of toxins, he was fairly certain that after a bit of effort his body could deal with most kinds, varieties. Besides that, Ranulf, the Scout would stand no chance against a single attack of his. Despite that, Aiden didn''t want to reveal his destination and potentially bring danger to his friends and family. After confirming that the man was indeed on a mission and was following after him, he slowly made his way through the streets. After crossing through the already closed up and empty marketce he chose mostly the sidestreets, and back alleys for traversal, luring the unsuspecting man deeper and deeper into his trap A strange, ufortable feeling slowly began to set in Ranulf''s mind. He couldn''t really ce it, but as he kept following the boy''s trail, he began to squirm and fidget. Though all of his senses were telling him that everything was fine, his heart was beating with a chaotic, fast-paced rhythm, pushing his guard to the maximum. The hairs on his arms were standing at attention, a foreboding warning that never failed him before. Still, he didn''t want to turn back, without anything to report. The Young Master wasn''t known for his leniency and eptance of failure. Even though he was a respected master of his arts among the ranks of Davenmere forces, he still wasn''t immune to punishment. The dungeons beneath the mansion were a ce of nightmares, and not without reason after all. The people that were led down there rarely came back to see the light of day ever again He had seen servants, unluckymoners, and even members of other families carried away, never to be found, not even their remains would be left to mourn. With these thoughts in his mind, Ranulf pushed his growing anxiety to the back of his head, and with determination, stepped into the back alley, following after the boy once again. Unfortunately for him, this choice of his, though amendable resolve, would be the veryst mistake he would ever make in his life, and before the sun would rise once again his lifetime of memories would serve a much greater cause Chapter 434 - 434 - Shifting Colors Ignoring his steadily rising anxiety and the uneasiness of his body, Ranulf slowly stepped into the darker, slimmer path, and left the safety of the main streets as he followed after the young boy. Unsuspecting of the change in their ambiguous rtionship he was now the hunted, instead of the hunter, and the prey of the innocent young man, was nothing of what he expected him to be The silence, though usually anotheryer of assurance for a man in his trade, felt eerie, ominous all of a sudden as he suddenly found himself in a closed-off back alley, surrounded by thick, stone walls from all sides. As if on instinct, he knew, he was found. Without hesitation, Ranulf wanted to turn around and quickly escape, as now he was certain that he was yed. He now regretted the fact that he went against his very own nature and ignored the foreboding signs, the warnings of his very own body. The decades of his resolve, finely tuned and crafted through experience Like a rookie, he ignored it, and even went against it and for what? Because he wanted to avoid punishment? The fear of the dungeon? He could have just escaped, and leave the city. Use any of the countless fake identities he crafted through the years and just start his life anew, away from the potential threats and dangers. Yet at the time of his need, he ignored everything he learned and nownded himself in such a precarious situation. He couldn''t understand what he was thinking just a moment ago What made him react in such a manner? It wasn''t like him at all It was as if, something was clouding his mind, a chaotic haze had changed his actions. Turning around, he could only bitterly smile at the young teen, he was supposed to track, as he was now blocking his way, his eyes glowing, providing a grim illumination in the dark veil of the night. As he gazed back at Ranulf with that chilly, calm-looking smile of his, the Master of Shadows suddenly felt he was standing in front of something much more than just a young sapling adult. "H-h-hey Mind letting me go? I h-have taken the wrong t-turn b-but you are b-blocking the way" Trying his best, Ranulf stammered a hasty response, as he hesitantly stepped forward, as if trying to slip through and escape. Unfortunately, the boy didn''t budge and Ranulf was forced to stay in his urban trap. Both sides looked at each other for a short while. As there was no response or any sort of reaction from the boy besides that chilly smile of his, Ranulf was unsure of his next action. Hemented his options in silence, trying to guess his chances in either case. For one, he could just rely on his lead in terms of years of life and pull out his weapon. Adding to his chances, the ck Stone Arachnid''s poison should still be anointed and active on both of his daggers'' des. A deadly, highly effective, fast-acting toxin, that should make quick work of even an orc, much less a thin youngster. Still, as he pondered this choice, he, once again, felt the foreboding warning of his hairs standing up at attention. This time, however, not just his arms, but all around his body, causing his entire being to slightly tremble at the thought. This was unlike anything he had felt before.. Such a strong reaction was uncanny to anything he had ever faced. Alternatively, he could try to rely on his wits and gums and yammer his way out of this predicament. Although he wasn''t a windbag, a bbermouth like most of his acquaintances that spent most of their days in one of the taverns of the city, he was still quite gifted in that regard. This though would heavily rely on the stoic youngster''s attitude, would at the very least offer him more hopes of survival. While Ranulf was deep in thought, trying toe up with a way that assures him of keeping his life intact and, at the same time, escape the situation he had fallen into, Aiden was watching, scrutinizing each of the man''s actions with great interest. He could actually see the moment when his dot on his system map, suddenly changed from orange to red, before it returned to the same orange as before. This change in intent was new to him, he had never seen it before. Usually, once someone decided to try his best and take his life, it would never change back. Yet, this time, the clear hostility turned back to this unfriendly, weary orange just a momentter, causing Aiden to hold his attacks. At least for the time being. He decided to watch how Ranulf would decide to act, before reacting ordingly. If he were to focus on the path of light and retain its non-hostile intent and try to talk his way out, Aiden decided he would let him go. However, if he were to see clear hostility in his actions or nning, he would deal with the man without mercy. After all, knowing that he was just recently employed by that blonde idiot, Aiden was certain he could attain some useful information from the man''s memories. With that, he retained his stance, and without saying a word, blocking the only way out of the alley. In the end, Ranulf decided on a n. Donning his best, friendliest-looking smile on his thin head. His two bead-like eyes turned into slits in their sockets as he tried his best to curve all of his facial muscles to a warm greeting, but sadly, that just wasn''t his forte. His expression looked twisted, clearly forced. His pointy nose just added to how displeasing he looked to the eye. Yet, Aiden didn''t show his difort but retained his calm, nonchnt outward look as he waited for the most likely carefully crafted words of the man. Still, inside he was frowning, and not just because of Ranulf''s hideous outward appearance, but the shift in his system''s disy as well Ranulf gave a light cough, and raised his hands wide in the air, giving a friendly, weing, heartwarming gesture. "Let me start again, as we may have started on the wrong foot, Young Master!" He hollered warm words, as he continued, while slowly making his way forward, closer and closer to the boy. "You see, I was on my way back home, -I have a wife and three healthy, beautiful children waiting for my return-, when as I was thinking about the day''s events, I identally took the wrong turn and ended up here!" He exined with the same warm, friendly smile stered on his face as he slowly entered into the melee range of the youngster. "Would you be so kind and" He continued, but as soon as he was in striking range, his expression instantly changed, revealing his true, sinister intention. He flicked both of his wrists, revealing two hidden daggers tucked beneath his clothing and with a sh, he struck towards the youngster. His tone instantly turned gloomier as his daggers sailed across the nominal distance. "and die for me, braaargh!" However, before his sharp response could make its way to its intended target, suddenly his body stopped. He felt a sharp, piercing pain in his chest, followed by a searing burning sensation Even without looking, he knew that made the wrong choice. Chapter 435 - 435 - Pawns On The Chessboard The sharp prating feel that sent the surge of electrical jolts throughout Ranulf''s body was quickly reced by the searing, burning after effect. Coming along with it, the subtle stinging painbined with the dim pulsing sensation, sort of the same as what you would get when you would hit your toe, knee, or hand or perhaps your head to a blunt, solid object. Having spent a considerable amount of time in his profession, Ranulf was keenly aware of the source of all these unsettling events, or the cold, dripping liquid that he could feel slowly but steadily escaping from the holds of his own body. Despite being fully aware, his eyes still went so wide that with a bit of effort his eyes could have escaped from their sockets. As he slowly, shakily lowered his gaze, what he witnessed caused him to be shocked. He was unable to process what had just happened, and sadly, his efforts of trying to process and most importantly, understand what had just transpired was a run against the time itself. As the seconds went by, even keeping his consciousness was slowly bing a chore. Still, as he stared at his own chest, where the seemingly harmless youngster''s arm was plunged almost elbow-deep in his own body he couldn''t understand. His eyes, showing an expression of disbelief after some effort, shifted back to the boy who, like before, looked at him with a now eerie, calm, nonchnt smile on his face. It was as if he himself didn''t register that his dominant limb was dipped deep into the crevices of his body. "W-w-w.." As he tried to open up his mouth and tried his best effort to speak, he couldn''t. As his lips parted, all of his efforts in vocalizing ended with more and more of his blood being coughed up and spilled. His pale white row of teeth was new crimson with all the excess bodily juice he forcibly slopped. It was at this moment that his mind registered the high-pitched clinking noise, his hands losing their grip over the hidden weapon, his de hit the ground. The blurry, chaotic haze nowpletely lifted away from his mind, his eyes were turned wide with utter confusion and bewilderment He couldn''t understand until the veryst second of his swiftly fading life why he had done something so rash, so utterly idiotic. As Ranulf heaved hisst and his eyes finally dimmed, Aiden sighed as a deep frown settled on his youthful face. As he focused his attention on the human, Ranulf, he could see on the map as his hostile red color returned to the orange at the veryst moment of his life, before his dot forever vanished from the system''s screen. If before it was just a mere theory, now it has gained solid ground. Someone, or most likely: something was altering the lives, minds, and most importantly, the emotions of people of thisnd. However, this conclusion, this answer, only birthed several new questions that desperately needed a resolution of their own. Who was behind all this, pulling the strings? The events that transpired back at the orcs camp could the two be rted? Could that thin shadowy figure be the one behind it all, or perhaps there is someone even more powerful? Then, as he remembered the visions that the guardian soul, his father had shared, another much heavier thought came to his mind: Could those gods that his father has talked about be the ones behind this all? If so, what is their goal? What benefit could they gain with sewing such chaos, and hopelessness? This veil of despair that they cast across the creatures living thesends What ''good'' coulde out of it? And more importantly, what is his role in all of this? There were many questions, with almost no answers, but as this seemed to be the standard recently, Aiden was slowly getting ustomed to it. Knowing that his only choice is to do his best to quickly settle his debt and remaining duties that tied him to this city and finally set out to search and explore this world for the legacies that were waiting just for him. The nearest seemed to be somewhere deep inside thebyrinthian tunnels of the Saronite Mountains. His hand, still inside the now limp body of the now-dead Ranulf, his fingerstched onto the vaning, now silent organ, and with a single tug, he tore it away from its socket and pulled Ranulf''s heart out from his lifeless body. Aiden calmly looked at the blood-covered fleshly heap sitting in his right hand, spending a few brief moments to admire this marvel of creation. An expectant glint shed across his golden eyes as he was already looking forward to that exciting, empowering reaction that was oh so addicting. The moment when the contained vitality, the life essence was released from those flesh walls and exploded inside his body As they merged into his own stream, his flow of energy and reserves increased even further It was unlike anything he experienced in this world, overshadowing everything by a fair margin. Even more, the small glimpses into another life, absolving the memories of another sentient entity Aiden still couldn''t fully understand how it all worked, yet he was already looking forward to it. Taking onest glimpse at the slowly decaying organ, Lucien stretched his mouth wide, swallowing the bloodied piece in one go. A few quick chews were all that it took to grind it down to an eptable size before, with arge gulp, swallowing it down as a whole. He ignored the muffled thump as the lifeless body fell down to the dust, his eyes were already closed as the euphoria almost instantly set in. Like a ticking bomb, Aiden could almost follow along to the very instant, as his body transformed the material into an intangible, nonphysical form and the newly gained life force literally exploded inside him. A surge of newfound power, not yet his own, filled up his limbs, overflowing the pathways his [Soul Power] flowed calmly along in. Aiden fell on his knees as he was submerged by the sensations of his own body, doing his best to contain everything inside, and not let it escape like every other time. His body was trembling, violently spasming as he desperately tried to shackle and control this overflowing energy. Aiden could only grit his teeth and do his absolute best, not to fail in this incredibly difficult endeavor. Still, he vastly underestimated the difficulty of the task. Ranulf, although just a ''human'', was still on a higher level than almost all of the local adventurers. It''s just that most of his skill came from his agility and dexterousness. As his eyes were closed, Aidenpletely shut off the outside world, as all of his attention was focused on the inner turmoil, the heavy pressureing from deep within his body. Because of that, he didn''t notice when suddenly the wind blew behind a gentle gust and a dark-clothed presence of a feminine silhouette emerged just a couple of steps behind him. As his body continued to shake and spasm under the brutal pressure, Aiden''s kneeling figure was slowly engulfed in a glowing golden cocoon made out of pure energy Chapter 436 - 436 - A Helping Hand Though she hasn''t made her presence known throughout the day, Number 3 closely followed her dear disciples'' adventure from a distance. Although she was still confused about what had happened with the Skunk that called itself Thuk, or the rest of his kin for that matter as they seemingly all vanished into a portal of unknown origins, she did not intervene. She kept her stance even as they thought with the dangerous mutant worm, even though there were moments when she almost failed to keep her cool. She had to let them go and explore the outside world themselves. She had to admit, that all those years ago when she walked into their lives as part of the missions rted to the Grandmaster''s Ultimate n, she didn''t know the full effect this assignment would have on her life. Number 3 never wanted to grow attached to this tainted, corrupted world ever again. When she made her decision and walked away from the tragedies, she never expected to one day return to them. Still, she couldn''t help but feel emotionally attached to this unique boy, this peculiar representative of the ancient past. As such, she was aware of the shady figure following, sneaking after his boy, and for that matter, she was also fairly certain that Aiden was aware of it too. Keeping her distance, her gaze continued witnessing as the scene yed out in a manner that albeit followed the simple script of wolf hiding in sheep''s clothing luring its unsuspecting prey, it still took an unexpected turn in the end. Number 3 could sense, feel the incredible amount of violent mixture of energy inside the boy as he suddenly swallowed the heart of a human. Though shocked, it wasn''tpletely unknown to her, that he was capable of such a feat: after all Aiden had already done something simr before. As she continued to monitor the situation, her face went pale after only a few seconds. She could feel as the reaction was chaining towards something disastrous. Not willing to relive a repeat of the past, Number 3 didn''t waste any more seconds, she leaped into the night and shed towards the youngster she already referred to as ''her boy''. In barely any time, she arrived behind the already groveling, troubled youth and immediately called out to him. "Aiden! Are you alright!" Sadly, even with her otherworldly speed, it seemed that she was still just a hair breath''s toote. The tragedy she feared was already underway, she couldn''t reach Aiden, as in the next instant the outflow of the golden luster has already surrounded his entire being. "No" She muttered, her voice cracking, tearing up behind the cover of her faceless mask. As the light slowly swallowed the boy into the shape of an oversized egg, she shook her head. Determination filled her voice, she clenched her fists with adamant refusal to ept the repeat of history. "No! I won''t allow it! I''m not losing him as well!" She cried, stepping over to Aiden''s egg. She knelt down, as she took onest deep breath, before her hands slowly plunged beneath the protective barrier, in search of the boy. As soon as her slender hands touched his shoulders, she muttered some words under her breath, releasing most of the barring holds of her body and opening a clear path for the excess energy to flow towards instead of continuing to wreak havoc inside the youngster''s body. Slowly but surely, her hands were covered with the same golden luster as the boy, as the energy traversed the bridge and were guided to the depths of her own soul instead. Suddenly a sharp stinging pain filled up Number 3''s entire body. The energy she willingly took in, was nothing she was familiar with. She was already aware that Aiden had ess to something that most likely only the Grandmaster and Number 0 did; after all, their origins were shrouded in mystery, and besides, that they came from the same origin, nothing more was known. This higher form of power was unlike anything she hade in contact with before. It had a peculiar aura of pride, not allowing anything other than itself to remain. It quickly spread around her body, driving out all Number 3''s Mana, almost instantly throwing her into the state of Mana Deprivation. As a result, her mind was quickly growing weary, she was barely conscious at this point, yet she never let go of the boy. Her mask had long since fallen from her face, tears were flowing from her eyes. Still, despite all the inhumane pain, she was suffering from, she stood her ground. An almost impossible feat, through sheer willpower, her desire to keep her disciple no. Her dear boy safe, through some miracle, kept her sanity and consciousness in check. As the overflowing light show slowly came to an end and began to fade, a weak smile emerged on Number 3''s face, an expression not like her, as she lovingly gazed at the shriveled back of Aiden. Feeling that the disaster had passed and Aiden was no longer in danger, herst bits of consciousness finally surrendered to the inviting darkness, Number 3 fainted, falling down on the ground. As she closed her eyes a faint ''Aiden'' left her lips. Completely focused on the steadily rising levels of energy, Aiden was unaware of what was happening just a measly step behind him in reality. His mind was fully focused on his own self, he was concentrating on trying to contain the seemingly inevitable disaster. He could feel his grasp slowly slipping as the energy kept on growing and rising inside him. No matter how hard he tried, he needed an outlet, or something to somehow let this storm settle and return to levels that were currently eptable to his body. Still, he couldn''t think of anything other than risking everything and releasing the excess [Soul Power]. Though some of the hiding monsters and old fogies may perhaps notice his unique source and know of his secrets, it was still the only way to have a chance at surviving the predicament he unknowingly ced himself into. Yet, at the crucial moment, he suddenly felt something reaching for his shoulders and connecting with him. Without any say in the matter, a connection was made and suddenly a resolution was offered. As if answering his pleas, he was offered a helping hand and a channel to send the overflowing resource was created for him. He couldn''t waste his chance, he focused on the transfer all the way until he felt the disaster was finally thwarted. During the short time, there were several notifications in the system, but he couldn''t check them, nor could he check on the map to look at what exactly had happened. Only when the situation was resolved, did he nce at his system, only to catch the glimpse of a familiar green dot, vanishing from behind him. In the next instant, he heard the faint thud of a body falling to the ground behind him. Instantly his heart began a fast-paced, loud rhythmic beat, his anxiety, and fear reaching new heights. As he turned around, one of his worst fears in this life was revealed in front of him. His Master wasid unconscious on the ground He could sense the excess energy deep inside her body still wreaking havoc Chapter 437 - 437 - Desperation Sprawled out on the ground next to Aiden was the lifeless body of his Master. Her face contorted into a pain-filled grimace just when she fainted. An honest disy of the sheer volume of torment and torturous pain that her entire being was under as the unfamiliar source of energy continued to restructure her entire being. Being born a human, her body was devoid of a Crystal Core, nor did her biology had the capability to produce one, making the coursing, flowing tumultuous spiritual sustenance all the more horrid to experience. Even as her consciousness was tucked at the deep recesses of her mind, her body was still fully functional as it was clear by her drenched clothing. Large beads of sweat created a thinyer of a nasty, transparentyer of mucus, making her entire outward appearance look as if she tried to cross the Great Scorching Desert that covered a sizable portion of the Empire''snds. Looking at his master''s suffering, Aiden wasn''t sure what to do. How could he help, how could he save her? Physically Number 3 was fit as a fiddle, so looking for Galina or any sort of healer wouldn''t do any good. Her problem resided in the essence she willingly took into her, either unaware or not caring about the consequences. For the first time in almost forever, Aiden felt helpless, his anxiety was rising to an all-time high. Will he be forced to watch as the one that taught him, brought him up would die a painful, miserable death? No! Aiden couldn''t ept such an oue. He would not lose her mother-figure for the third time. He would not acquiesce to this sick, twisted, cruel joke of fate. Determination, anger mixed together with blind rage, concern, worry, andst but not least, love swiveled inside Aiden, creating a chaotic, emotional storm. The powerful emotions driving his heart into overdrive, a rapid, rhythmic beat pulsed throughout his entire being. The light in his eyes flickering, the flow of [Soul Power] inside his body began to surge with a violent, feverish momentum once again. The ground itself began to shake as the primordial entity locked away at the deepest depths in his Soul Space roared. Small rocks, pebbles were lifted off the ground as the invisible pressure formed an aura of absolute domain around his kneeling figure, gaining control over gravity itself. The golden flickering light in Aiden''s tear-stained eyes gradually began to shift, the bright yellow losing its luster, growing paler, transforming into a tinum hue. Small, spacial cracks open, as if the very fabric of reality was tearing away under the impossibly strong force. Miniature, golden- and as time went on, tinum-colored sparks, bolts of lightning red up. Inside the crystal prison, the primordial entity roared once again, thin strands of the same tinum-colored substance seeped through the cracks of the walls that kept it locked away. This energy, that the system itself couldn''t analyze in its current state crossed through the spatial tears, and sept into Aiden''s Core. In the next instant, as his Golden [Soul Power] and the tinum unknown substance mixed together an incredible reaction happened. His flow of energy gaining a significant boost, an invisible shockwave of energy exploded from his core crashing into the nearby buildings almost destroying them in the process, whilst at the same time, lifting the nearby residents off the ground and flinging them away several meters, causing them to tumble and crash into whatever was the closest to them at the time. The explosion was so powerful that its aftereffects were felt all around the city, reaching the academy ground and even the Masked Mistress'' mansion as well. Immediately turning her gaze towards the source, her expression soured, albeit, as usual, it was hidden behind the demon-faced mask. Without hesitation, she drew a curved arc in the air with her right hand. As the dark gateway appeared in the next instant, she stepped into it, her figure vanishing instantly, only to reappear in the same alley a momentter. She didn''t say a single word but began to draw intricate symbols in the air, whilst she chanted in an unfamiliarnguage. Her entire focus, attention was on the sessfulpletion of the spell as she was aware that if she noticed the disturbance, the other prominent figures did as well Meanwhile, oblivious to what was happening around them, Aiden was in the midst of trying to once again gain control of the situation. As the tinum glow glimmered and illuminated the darkness of the night, Aiden felt a presence he only met once before. At that time, he lost all reasoning and control, and the next time he came to be he was alreadyying in his bed several days after the fact. No. He won''t lose to it this time! He couldn''t falter here, he has to do something, ANYTHING to save his Master! Focusing every bit of his fiber, he called out for the only person he knew could assist. ''Enya Do something! ANYTHING!'' He cried out mentally. Almost immediately, the familiar presence emerged from his Soul Space. Her tone as she responded was different strangely emotional, yet the same scene of the system''s interruption didn''t happen this time. ''[Aiden, are you sure about this? What does this human mean to you? How far are you willing to go to save her?]'' She asked. Aiden didn''t even spend a second to ponder about an answer. ''Anything! I lost my parents two times already, I''m not going to repeat history a third time! No matter what it takes I''m willing to do it! HELP ME, I BEG YOU!'' He cried. His exmation caused the little ball of light to almost visibly shake and tremble in her spot. She took a moment before an audible and enigmatic sigh could be heard from her. Her tone which held a tinge of sorrow at the start, turned gradually firmer as she described his options. ''[I I understand, Aiden. There are two choices you can take, both will carry a significant amount of risk not just to you but to those you may care about as well.]'' She gave a momentary pause before she continued on. ''[She is in this situation because her body, being a mere human, couldn''t handle the much higher quality [Soul Power]. Her lowly Mana Reserves are being absorbed by it and gradually transformed into its spiritual mass throwing her into a state of Mana Deprivation whilst also gradually destroying her channels. As she has no Core inside her, she cannot use this new source of power and evolve to be fit to this new source.]'' She exined with a hurried tone. ''What can I do then? Tell me please! Quickly!'' Hearing the exnation Aiden only grew more worried than before. ''[Well There are two ways to go about this, both are very risky and will have different results. For one, you can simply take back the stolen energy. This would cause her current suffering toe to an end, but will also leave her in this unconscious, Mana Deprived state. Additionally, the damage that was already made would be incredibly difficult to fix, most likely she will remain a crippled being.]'' Aiden frowned as he listened to the first option. Taking this route, he would effectively destroy all hopes and dreams her Master had for the future and leave her as a regr, powerless and weak person. Something he was sure she would rather die than suffer through. Shaking his head, he asked his System Guide. ''This is not feasible. What else is there to do?'' Chapter 438 - 438 - Options ----- AN: Hello dear Readers! If you are reading this somewhere other than on AllNovelFull, know that whilst it pains me, I still appreciate each and every one of you. Knowing that there are people out there that genuinely enjoy the content, the story, the world, and the characters I have dreamt of is a very unique and rewarding feeling. However, it also hurts me to know that the countless hours I have worked on this, are just stolen away. Anyway, let me know your thoughts and concerns. Share your opinion with me, ande join my growing discordmunity. I promise you I listen. :) Also while you are there, show me some love, and buy me a coffee so at least I know that my work is not wasted. :) Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele ----- ''What can I do then? Tell me please! Quickly!'' Hearing the exnation Aiden only grew more worried than before. ''[Well There are two ways to go about this, both are very risky and will have different results. For one, you can simply take back the stolen energy. This would cause her current suffering toe to an end, but will also leave her in this unconscious, Mana Deprived state. Additionally, the damage that was already made would be incredibly difficult to fix, most likely she will remain a crippled being.]'' Aiden frowned as he listened to the first option. Taking this route, he would effectively destroy all hopes and dreams her Master had for the future and leave her as a regr, powerless and weak person. Something he was sure she would rather die than suffer through. Shaking his head, he asked his System Guide. ''This is not feasible. What else is there to do?'' ''[You are correct. Choosing this option would have also made you potentially fail once again. As you have just barely contained the threat of]'' Suddenly, Enya turned silent for a moment, before shifting the discussion. ''[Anyway The second option would be even more outrageous. It would go against the nature and the rules of this very world. Doing so will be considered sphemy, the very first step you take against the reign of the Gods of this world. Know that if you go along with it, and if they take note of what you have done, it may cause you or those that you hold dear to your heart to suffer. Remember the memories of your father, that apocalyptic scene Are you ready to face such threats?]'' Instead of giving a straight response, Enya once again asked for confirmation. Just like before, Aiden didn''t hesitate in his answer. ''Yes, no matter the consequences, we need to save her! We can''t waste more time, tell me what to do! What is this second option?'' Nervous and agitated, Aiden could barely contain himself and his thoughts as he focused most of his attention on the slowly dying mother figure of his. For a few brief, but at the same time tortuous, tense seconds there was no reaction from his guide. Eventually, a sigh could be heard, as Enya spoke once again. This time, her tone was calm, carrying a type of warmth, that if Aiden wouldn''t be so strained and tired due to the criticality of the situation, would have recognized ''[It is actually very simple, Aiden. To fix the situation, you need to give her the very thing she is missing. ]'' However, Aiden didn''t understand what she was hinting at. ''What do you mean?! What does she need?'' ''[What did I say before? What is the root cause of her suffering?]'' ''Ehrm Driving his mind into overdrive, Aiden desperately tried to recount her words for the resolution. ''My Soul Power is basically ipatible with her body, and it is what is causing her to suffer and slowly wither away So Wait!'' As the realization hit him, Aiden''s eyes went wide with the shocking news. ''You can''t possibly mean'' He muttered inwardly, cautiously circling the impossible idea. ''she needs a core?'' However, Enya''s next words were calm, despite everything that was going on. ''[Yes. The only way to solve the problem is to provide her with one and fix the faulty physique all humans are born with.]'' Still, Aiden couldn''t understand how was this anything but simple. ''But How would we How would I do that? I have no idea what you want from me'' A soft sigh could be heard once again, as Enya began to slowly exin the situation in more detail. ''[Here, currently, you can''t do anything. However if you were to bring him over to your own ne, where you have absolute domain Things would be different.]'' She paused for a second giving Aiden barely any time to process the grand proposal before she went even further. ''[By using the stronger Orb in your inventory, the one you took from the Mountain Orc, you could infuse it into her body. That would, in theory, act as the catalyzer and with all the energy coursing in her body added with the Orb''s own, should be, in theory just enough to push her body over the limit and hopefully kickstart an evolution.]'' Her words were so oundish, so outrageous, that Aiden couldn''t fullyprehend it. How would this actually y out? Even if everything would work out as she described, what would the end result be? What would she evolve to? Is there even any route? ''I can''t I don''t understand this at all How could she possibly evolve? What would she be then?'' ''[I don''t know, but it''s either this, or you take back what she took from you, Aiden. Either way, you need to be quick and decide fast, as her time is rapidly running out.]'' Enya warned, before turning silent. She gave her all the options, the choice was now on his shoulders. As Aiden was busy deciding the ultimate fate of her Master and parental figure, he waspletely oblivious of thepany he shared this small alley with. After the spectacr disy of power and surge of energy that his body released and caused such havoc, several figures were closing in on his location, while one particr Masked Mistress was in thest verses of her chant. As her handspleted thest inscription, and her spell waspleted, suddenly the air around them blurred. In the next moment, their figure gradually vanished from sight and allmon forms of sensory abilities as an invisibleyer of protective energy formed a dome-shaped barrier around them. The spell wasn''t a simple energy shield either, it didn''t simply hide their presence from the nosy, inquisitive figures, but it actually created a separate subspace, a Pocket Dimension if you will. This empty, newly formed fabric of space and time as though it ran parallel with its parent, was actually different. Unless someone was capable of dimensional traversal would be unable to get to it, much less spot it. To the outside world, the trio was virtually erased from thends of Eora. Untraceable and invisible to anyone but a select few. As the spell came into effect and The Masked Mistress saw the blurry, transparent wall that showed them the outside, she heaved a sigh of relief. ''Huah'' She huffed, turning her attention to a figure that just appeared at the top of a nearby building. ''Just in time as well'' She lightly chuckled, enjoying the deep frown that emerged on the man''s face. ''Toote you fat little pig, next time you shoulde yourself, instead of sending one of your servants'' Still, in the next moment, as a set of scarlet-colored almond-shaped pair of eyes blinked from the nearby shadows, even she donned a slightly sour expression behind her ever-present mask. She had no idea who or perhaps what that creature was, as the shadow simply held no shape at all, but it was just a single pair of eerie eyes. Regardless, it only appeared for a couple of blinks of time, quickly scanning the area, before it vanished just as abruptly as it came. Once she felt they were safe, the Masked Mistress sighed once again, turning her attention back to the back of the youth and her unconscious sister Chapter 439 - 439 - The Only Choice While the many beehives that were the prominent figures of Higrove were stirred into a state of restlessness, inside the bubble Aiden finally came to a decision. He had to take this chance, he had to try and do everything in his power to save Number 3. Turning his head to the side, he willed up the system interface for the first time since all of that had just transpired. In the next moment, as his eyes quickly nced over the system''s map, he suddenly froze. To his great shock and an equal amount of surprise, once again there was an uninvited guest standing just behind him. Luckily, it was green, and though not much could be gleaned from the tooltip the system gave, based on the sensation, he already knew who came to his help. "You arete." Aiden muttered in a curt, cold, and emotionless manner, remarking the obvious statement while he quickly navigated through the system''s interface to the ''Domain'' tab. In the next instant, with a swipe of his arm, the air buzzed, as a Dimensional Gateway appeared, surprising the previously silent Masked Mistress. Truth be told, the Mistress, for the first time, since what felt like forever, didn''t exactly know what to do, or how to proceed. By pure instinct, she used her strongest, best option to assure the safety of the two. Still, the energy signature was felt by many others, and just simply hiding inside a sub-dimension could only be a temporary measure until they could think of something more permanent. Still, as she was debating how she should call out, Aiden managed to exceed his expectations and also shook her mind. "You How" She muttered with utter bewilderment as masked face scanned the strange-looking [Gateway]. "What is this portal? Where does it lead to?" Unfortunately, there were no answers to her questions. Time was indeed off the essence this time, every second, every instant spent here could be the deciding factor that could decide the fate of his master, Number 3. Ignoring the slew of questions fired in his direction, Aiden picked up the fainted body of Number 3 into a princess carry, and without wasting any time, hurriedly walked towards the portal. Before stepping through it and vanishing, he halted just for a moment to respond briefly. "I''m taking her to a safe ce. Don''t worry, once everything is resolved, I''ll go and find you and exin what is going on. For now, just trust me, that this is her only chance and that I will do everything I can." With that, Aiden crossed through the portal to Haven. His figure, carrying the unconscious Number 3 vanished from this world in an instant. The Mistress was utterly shocked and confused about what had just happened, or more precisely HOW it happened. What Aiden just did should have been impossible, well at least for someone at his level of knowledge. Unless someone was adept at thews of space or could traverse and cross through the multitude of worlds and dimensions, they couldn''t enter and at the same time, escape like Aiden just did. One has to understand that this spell is anything but simple. The dome that she formed was a special type of Portal that sent everything inside of its domain into a special sub-dimension, a tear between realities that normally only the Mistress knew the way to leave. Although her intention wasn''t to trap and ensnare Aiden and her twin sister, this was the best approach to temporarily shield them from the many eyes pointed towards their direction at the time. Still, despite everything, going against her expectations once again, Aiden did the impossible and left towards somewhere she herself couldn''t trace with ease. As she thought about it, a thin smile slowly began to curve the edges of her lips, though the ever-present mask on her face made sure it remained hidden. Looking at the empty space for a bit longer, she couldn''t help but lightly chuckle at everything. ''Very well, Aiden. I'' She hummed, giving a quick nce at the tavern''s direction where the rest of the party waited for the youngster''s return with growing concern and worry. ''WE shall eagerly await your return'' She shook her head as she silently drew a curved line in the air in front of her. As the ck door, the ''regr'' [Portal] emerged from the empty air, she stepped into it, leaving the space and returning to her mansion. Just as she left, her spell, the bubble also vanished with her, returning the back alley to its ''normal'' state and leaving only an already forgotten, lifeless body in it. Amidst the empty, grassy fields, -which now carried the faint noises of life happening in the distance-; suddenly a rift appeared in the air. The rift quickly grew and expanded, transforming into a semi-opaque door that showed the scene of a nasty, dusty, and bloodied alleyway in the middle of the night. In the next instant, the surface of the portal began to violently wobble, only to gave way to its master''s body to appear through it. As Aiden traversed to Haven once again, he was surprised to see that unlike back in Higrove, the sky was still bright and the sun was on a descending curve instead of ducking below the horizon. Still, he had no time to care about the mysterious daylight. Taking only a single step away from the Gateway, she went on his knees, slowly cing his Master down on the grassy natural bed. Focusing on the task at hand, he ignored the approaching scouts, giving his full attention to the task at hand. ''Enya, talk to me, what do I need to do?'' He cried mentally. ''[First and foremost, Aiden: You need to calm down. Your emotions, your mental state, and your full attention would all be crucial, they will have an effect on the sess of what we are about to do.]'' Almost instantly, Aiden could feel as the floating spiritual ball appeared to him. Her tone was soothing, showing a set of emotions that normally the system shouldn''t allow. Strangely though, there was no retaliation this time, sadly though this peculiarity went past Aiden, he was too nervous, too agitated to spot such. ''[Once you feel you are ready, take out the Mountain Orc''s Core you still have in your inventory, and ce it above the woman''s heart. Also..]'' She turned silent for a moment, as a tinge of embarrassment could be felt in her tone. Still, Aiden once again turned oblivious to anything that wasn''t rted to saving Number 3. Following Enya''s instructions, the orb-shaped, ck crystal object arose from thin air, resting in his hand in the next moment. As he was about to ask what to do next, Enya spoke again. Her next words finally caused him to raise his brow in confusion. ''[Now, before you do anything, you have to remove all these extrayers of clothing from around her chest area, only leaving her underwear.]'' ''What do you-'' Befuddled, Aiden wanted to make sure he heard it right. ''[Yes. You heard it right. If you really, truly want to save your Master Then Aiden, start undressing her!]'' --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 440 - 440 - “This Might Be Uncomfortable...” (R16!) (AN.: Before we get into this next chapter. I have marked it with the R16 tag, meaning that the uing scenes will have some racy/piquant scenes. If you feel mildly disturbed by the idea I apologize. Still, I hope that by now, most of you have an understanding of my writing style, and trust me not to be tasteless, or indecorous even.) - ''[Yes. You heard it right. If you really, truly want to save your Master Then Aiden, start undressing her!]'' - For a moment, Aiden hesitated, his hands hesitantly lingered above the modest mounds of Number 3. Though he regained his memories from his days of the ''modern'' Urban World, truth be told, he never looked at his Master as a member of the other sex. In the beginning, even though he epted her, he still tried keeping some healthy distance. She was after all, with a shady, murky background, and her intentions while on the surface were helpful, she never hid that she too served a mysterious master, she just referred to as the ''Grandmaster'', or the ''One with the Vision''. After some time, however, this distance, this ''wall'' slowly, but surely began to crumble, and the distance and rigid, coldness began to melt from both sides. Probably neither of them knew when, but at some point, they turned from acquaintances that yed their part, to a real living, breathing family. They cared for each other, loved each other. This love, this warmth, this emotion that at first was very mysterious, undecipherable for someone that''s only knowledge for the world was the grounds of the forest, Aiden had trouble understanding it himself. Heck, at first, even his feelings, his calm and rxed, honest childish attitude was a result of him not knowing how to understand his growing bonds with Lily and for that matter, Granny. Eventually, he managed to ovee his doubts and confusion. He could ept Granny as a sort of parental figure and Lily as his beloved BIG sister. Yet, when Number 3 joined the picture, he once again had doubts and confusion as to what to think of everything. She became this teacher, the person who spent most of her time guiding him on the path, fleshed his dominant characteristics, and groomed him to be the person, the being he is today... For a long time, she was his mentor, the Master he epted, the one that understood him the most. With the passing of time, as the days turned to weeks, to months, and eventually to years, the nature of their rtionship unbeknownst to the both of them gradually shifted, transformed. There was deep care from both sides, that since it was a gradual shift that happened over years, went unnoticed for both. Even small gestures, like the small, gentle smile that each donned as they said their good mornings, or thest goodbyes before each took them to their beds They became a family, a single, organic unit. Though the structure of it might be unconventional, as none of the members were truly rted in terms of blood, their bonds were stronger than those ''average'' families. If Number 3 still had some doubts, over the years even those began to dwindle away and fade. However, when Aiden got hurt and was unconscious for days, as she returned and asked for assistance all that still held her back wafted away. When the Grandmaster, this enigmatic entity that was void of all flesh and mortal desires did not hesitate to provide the much-needed assistance, she no longer held any questions inside her heart. From that moment on, she truly epted the role she was put into. Without any of them ever verbally confirming it, Number 3 became much more than a simple Master for Aiden, and Lily even. Like Granny, she too became a parental figure, but unlike the wrinkled kind olddy, they both looked up to her in a much different fashion. Especially Aiden, whom whilst he himself was never consciously aware of it, desperately needed this care, this love. She became the Mother they both lost and now found again. In return, they became something that broke through the timeless lock that chained her heart. The two youths became her children. - Looking at Number 3''s grimacing expression, seeing the pain that she was in the moment her consciousness drifted to the back of her mind, Aiden shook his head clearing it from any ill thoughts. This wasn''t the time, the moment for such doubts, such clouds to fog his mindset and corrupt it from the inside. No. She needed him, and he would give his all! Reaffirming his mindset, Aiden grabbed the top of her clothing with his left hand, and with a single pull, she tore it apart, revealing a fair-skinned upper torso. Instead of a traditional bra, Number 3 protected her sensitive womanly traits befit for an elegant, cultured woman: Her chest was firmly and carefully wrapped with a white linen cloth bandeau. The linen bandage, firmly covered and pushed the cheeky mounds so they wouldn''t obstruct or block her while maneuvering. Looking at it, Aiden desperately hoped that what he did was enough, even though he already expected the answer that came to his mind not a momentter. ''[You have to remove the bandage as well, Aiden. I know this might be ufortable, but remember what you are trying to do. Push these thoughts out of your mind, and show us the heights of your determination!]'' Although he was mildly surprised by the emotional speech Enya was now giving, and theck of System''s interruption, he still chose to ignore it. With every moment wasted, meant that failure and despair would sneak closer and closer, Aiden nodded to Enya''s words, reaching out with his left hand once again and grabbing the central region of the wrapped bandage. With onest sigh, he pushed back all the difort he still felt and ripped thestyer of protection apart. Immediately, as if the chains that shackled the beast were shattered, the two modest features were like fierce wolves that were finally set free. They wobbled, increasing in size, and restoring a supple, pudding frame. Their heads turning towards the sky, it was like two howling predators that were reaching for the moon and the stars. Aiden, couldn''t help but swallow at this marvel of nature, and be frozen for a brief second, before the voice of a grumbled, the disgruntled guide brought him back to reality. ''[Get your head out of the gutter, Aiden! This is the woman that you respect and look up to like your mother figure! How can you react like this!]'' Shaken by her words, the hazy cloud cleared from Aiden''s gaze, his mind cleared. Grabbing the empty core in his right palm, with a stern look, he asked mentally. ''Sorry for that What should I do now? Guide me, Enya, please!'' There was a momentary pause, a brief instant of a pause before Enya''s instructions came with a slightly calmer, more collected tone of voice. ''[Okay, Aiden. Listen carefully and follow the steps I am going to give you to the letter as any mistake would be catastrophic.]'' She did not wait for an affirmed response but continued immediately. ''[For the first step]'' Chapter 441 - 441 - Against The Odds (Part 1) ''[For the first step, ce the core around the center of her chest. Make sure it above the abdomen and somewhere around the line of the lower curvature of her breast line.]'' Aiden nodded at the instruction, following it to the letter. As the small pear-sized dark crystal was ced at its designated spot, Enya continued with the steps. ''[Okay, so far, so good. However, nowes the hard part and the reason we truly needed toe to this ce, where your, or to be more exact, the system''smands are absolute.]'' She spoke with an increasingly stern, more serious tone. She paused for a breath''s time before exining further. ''[What we need to do now will be done in two parts. Make sure you don''t hesitate and follow my words to the letter as we will not have a second shot at this!]'' Without hesitation, Aiden nodded, giving a mental confirmation to the guide. ''Yes, do not worry, I will not fail your expectations!'' However, before they could continue, Aiden just noticed the approaching weemittee. Frowning, he looked at them, raising his free, left hand in the air. His eyes instantly red up, his voice was deep and thunderous, shaking the surrounding ground itself as he roared at them. "Stop, don''te here! I need space, and silence for what I''m about to do! Tell your elders that once I''m done I will visit them!" The scouting party, consisting of a quartet of orcs and the two goblins instantly fell on their knees under the powerful thunderous bellow, pushing their heads to the ground. Their bodies violently shaking they dare not to make any move. Surprisingly, it was one of the little goblins at the front that spoke up. "Please don''t take offense in our actions, Oh Great One! My men were instructed to make sure to wee you if you happen to grace us with your benevolent presence!" He cried out in a muffled squeamish voice, as his face was pushed hard on the ground. Aiden looked curiously at the group, a small smile piqued from beneath his stern expression as he realized the nature of their group''s hierarchy. ''Heh, a goblin is now the leader of a group of orcs? That''s not something you see every day It seems they have started to leave behind the grievances of the past, and are really starting to act as a single unit.'' He remarked inwardly. Still, he kept his serious, somber outward appearance as he gazed at the 6-man party. "Do not be afraid, I would dly go with you in any other circumstances, but for what I need to do now, I need to be left alone. Go back to your leaders and tell them to not disturb me under any circumstances!" This time, each member of the party vehemently nodded at the order, hitting their heads into the ground in the process, and loudly eximed. "Yes, Great One!" "At yourmand!" "At your will, Benevolent God!" As the little disturbance was resolved, Enya''s voice finally arrived, exining the steps Aiden needed to take. ''[Okay Now that we are alone again, Aiden, for the next step, you will need to do something that you are definitely not ready yet: You need to use your Divinity, and temporarily the Laws of Nature and Laws of Causality.]'' Hearing her description, Aiden immediately grew worried. What was up with those instructions? He didn''t even understand her words, much less following them! Before his worries could grow further and blossom into despair, Enya spoke again, exining further. ''[I know you are worried because you don''t have the necessary knowledge or experience yet. Still, you need not worry, just focus your attention on the system''s screen for a bit. Remember you have a special screen for these matters. Select the crystal, and focus on the ''Merge'' option that will appear next. Focus on the body next and then allow the system to start the procedure.]'' Without thinking, Aiden quickly brought up the System''s screen. As the semi-transparent image of the top-down view of the surroundingnd appeared before his eyes, he focused on the ck, hollow crystal. As soon as he did, a new message window appeared above it. The disyed message caused him to raise an eyebrow at the screen, as the text that appeared was barely readable. [!? %)u ¡<=in?! *ith merge?] Still, as per the instruction that Enya gave, he focused his will on it, without hesitation. Once he did, the message disappeared, allowing him to continue with the instructions and focus his attention on Number 3''s lifeless body next. Once again, as Number 3''s body was selected on the screen, just like before another message popped up, floating atop the imagery. Just like previously, most of this text was also weird, just a bunch of garbled junk put together. Still, it seemed to be a question, with two options below to ''Confirm'' and ''Decline'' shing with green and red respectively. Though Aiden was slightly confused about the peculiarity of what was happening, as such behavior was quite unlike from the system at all. Still, whatever was going on, it was roughly following along the words of Enya, so while pushing the matter to the back of his head, Aiden selected the former, watching with apt attention as the screens faded away in the next instant one after another without anymand from him. Before his mind could wander off again, and question what was going on exactly, Enya''s words came to Aiden''s mind again. Her tone was strict, leaving no room for questions. ''[Next, focus on the crystal. As soon as you feel the system''s change taking effect, start pushing the crystal down against her chest, with a gradually increasing force. Also, make sure that as you do it, you start injecting your own [Soul Power] into the empty crystal. Don''t fill it uppletely, but you have to give it enough that together with all that''s inside this woman''s body, the crystal would fill up.]'' Aiden, showed a concerned, worried expression yet again, not sure what to look out for exactly. What would the "system''s changes" be like? What should he look for? Auditory or perhaps visual feedback? A sensation inside his mind, body, or even deeper, the soul? What did that even mean?! Then, even if by some miracle he would recognize the signal, how would he know how much energy he should transfer over to the crystal? How much can it even take? He never did anything simr, everything was way too convoluted, Aiden couldn''t understand anything! Amidst his silent, internal conflict suddenly he felt it. A peculiar, unmistakable feeling, deep inside his Soul World. He felt it, instantly knowing that this was it. It was unlike anything, simr to suddenly realizing or understanding something. As if a new thought emerged inside his mind, but at the same time, it was not a product of his brain, buting from somewhere else. Even though Aiden didn''t know what to look out for, as soon as it happened, he instantly understood it. Immediately, not even bothering to wait for a confirmation from Enya, the golden glow surrounded Aiden''s connecting right hand and the dark crystal at the same time. Chapter 442 - 442 - Against The Odds (Part 2) As the previously pale, lightless ck crystal began to glimmer with the same illustrious golden luster of Aiden''s [Soul Power], he slowly began to push it against Number 3''s bare chest. As expected the resistanceing from the skin, flesh, and bones of the woman, resisted the outside intrusion at first, causing Aiden to show signs of worry once more. Yet, in the next instant, as the golden shine finallypletely engulfed the crystal, the unexpected, the impossible have happened. Going against the odds, what should be possible the resistance Aiden felt slowly began to ease up and fade away. Though it was strange and went against what he expected, there was no time to ponder about it. Following Enya''s instructions, he continued pushing against her chest, increasing the pressure he exerted slowly by small margins. As the resistance vanished, the now glowing crystal core began to submerge into Number 3''s chest, seeping into it as if it wasn''t solid matter but an amorphous blob of gtin. Still, Aiden''s full focus was now on the crystal itself, or more precisely the growing seed of energy his injection has caused to appear. Aiden was fully concentrating, trying to guesstimate the amount of energy it would need. As the crystal continued to submerge into Number 3''s chest cavity, the golden seedling inside the core suddenly reacted. A thin pulse of its gathered source was released, spread around the feminine body. Like a sign of greeting, the crystal made its presence known as it continued slowly traversing towards its intended ce, the most important organ, the heart. Though there was no visible reaction to this gesture, Aiden could feel the faint buzz in the air, as if the particles, the lingering, floating essences in the air itself was keenly watching the events, following along like an eager, spectating crowd. Eventually, Aiden pushed the core fully into Number 3''s body, nothing could be seen from the crystalline object, it was fully inside and in its designated ce inside the body. Yet, once again going against Aiden''s expectations, there was no reaction at all. Growing increasingly more concerned and worried about the matter, he was unsure of what to do. His right arm was still plunged inside his Master''s body, continuing the process of filling it with his own energy, unsure of what he should do now. Should there be a reaction? Should he release the crystal and pull his hand out? Or should he, mayhaps continue transferring his own power, his own energy into her body? ''[You can let go of the core now, and pull back your arm. Give it some time, but keep monitoring the situation. Once the reactions begin, we need to make sure the crystal will be filled up.]'' After a short silence, Enya''s reassuring words resounded inside Aiden''s head, easing his worries just a bit. Following her words, Aiden released his hold on the core, slowly pulling his hand back, out from her body. When his hands were free, strangely, there were no wounds, or marks indicating that he had ever pierced his master''s skin at all. Everything was clean, her skin was fair, healthy, unblemished. A tense, strained silence ensued as he looked at the harmless, spotless body with helpless worry. There were no visible reactions, no signs of the [Soul Power] inside Number 3''s body reacting to the newly present, artificial core in her system. Shey in the emerald green grass just the same as before, lifeless, eerily silent, and calm. The concerns of the world no longer mattered to her, it was as if she was ready to cross over from thend of the living to somece else. Even the grimace in her face now returned to a serene, calm disposition. The pain was lifted, leaving behind nothing but the void of emptiness. It seemed that the eternal temptress of life was slowly, but surely were losing her grip over her, and allowed her soul to slowly traverse across the nes. Still, there was one more rock to cross, one more hurdle to ovee. One that whilst at first seemed harmless, though alien, has finally made its presence known once more. As Aiden slowly began to fall into endless despair, growing more and more concerned about her Master''s chances, suddenly his eyes went wide, his body froze in ce. *thump* A faint thud, a beat was hearding from under his connecting hands. From Number 3. His Master. His *THUMP!* Another beat, this time with much more force. It was unmistakable this time. The old fogie, death still couldn''t im this soul, she still had the fight of life inside her. As Aiden''s face eased up, and the tears of delight began to converge towards their gates of escape through his eyes, suddenly a faint golden light followed with a gentle warmth began to spread from Number 3. Like veins, aplex halo of her spiritual channels was glowing with bright golden light, initially by themselves, but in the next moment, from the heart, the familiar shape of the artificially-ced core also began to shine. Like it was finally epted into the fold, the core''s light merged together with the seams, as the cirction was once again, restarted. ''[Quickly, inject more of your own energy Aiden! Focus on her core, and fill it up, making sure not to add more than what it could contain!]'' Abruptly, breaking the silent moment, Enya''s agitated voice resounded in Aiden''s head, sending another set of instructions. Immediately, Aiden''s hand lit up once again, as he pooled his own reserves, sending a continuous thin stream of his [Soul Power] into Number 3''s body through his connecting hand. He focused on the path the energy took, following along with his sense as it traversed and, almost in an instant, was hungrily devoured by the core. An invisible whirlpool formed inside her, hungrily sucking up all the [Soul Power] that it could, along with thest strains of leftover Mana that were not yet destroyed. Meanwhile, Aiden kept up the connection, sending more and more of his power, and with it, metaphorically speaking, himself, over to the woman. For almost a full minute the process kept on going. Like a beast awakening from a long slumber, the core''s hunger seemed to be endless, as it sucked away a colossal amount of power, absorbing it into itself. Regardless, Aiden didn''t mind it at all, ignoring the disy as his reserves dropped to half, then to 40%, and kept on being drained, dropping seemingly without end. He gritted his teeth, as he felt the weariness grow, countering his tanked reserves. Seconds passed, as he grew weaker and weaker under the constant, endless drainage. Enya and even Ryg were now standing at attention inside his Soul Space, focusing not on if they should intervene or not, but rather on the when. Then, just as his reserves dropped to the critical 10%, he felt the change. The suction stopped, the core was filled. Weak and dizzy, Aiden sighed with relief, as he slowly let go of her Master''s chest, leaning back and plopping down on the ground to take a few and regain his breath. ''Wha What... happens now?'' He asked mentally, finding it hard to even form thoughts under the sudden, overwhelming weariness. Yet, before a response could be made Chapter 443 - 443 - Against The Odds (Part 3) As if the world had suddenly came to a halt, looking forward to something grand, there was an eerie silence. A strenuous calm before the storm. The new core inside Number 3 reached its capacity, but the expected reaction didn''t happen. Even the glowing veinous system, theplex halo of the carved out paths had slowly begun to fade away. A second passed and nothing happened. Then another. Then another. Then, suddenly, it finally happened. The fading glow regained its luster, the halo suddenly turned incredibly vibrant, continuing to gain its momentum with each passing second. In an instant, the body was swallowed by the all-powering golden luster, forming a long, rounded, casket-like cocoon over the body. Still, that wasn''t the end of the process. The casket wobbled, as ripples of energy traversed the surface like the ocean would under a heavy, violent storm. The shape of the cocoon slowly changed, the casket growing smaller and smaller whilst the top began to slowly protrude, reaching towards the sky. In mere seconds the usual form of a standing egg-shaped cocoon could be seen, shining in its recognizable golden brilliance, with a faint humming sounding from its depths. The asional contraction could be seen, telling that whilst they couldn''t peek inside, no matter how hard anybody would try or skills they would use, the forbidden godly taboo, an impossible evolution was taking ce. Of course, Aiden tried his best to take a peak, but regardless of what he attempted, he couldn''t pass beneath the solidified scaly golden shell. A faint life sign was all he could make out; Number 3, his Master was fine, and alive, though her state was impossible to tell. ''[Don''t worry. You did everything you could, the rest is up to her. The ritual was sessful.]'' Enya''s calming tone resounded in his mind, though even she failed to ease his worry, calm his nerves. ''When will she emerge? What will she turn into? Is what I did the right thing to do?'' Question after question emerged inside Aiden''s head, the uncertainty of the situation continued to test his mettle, he was already beginning to question his choice. Was it really okay to force something on her, change her from the core, and potentially turn her into a monstrosity against her will? Wouldn''t what he just did put him on the same level as those monstrous entities, or the rest of the gods that toyed with the mortals of this world? Still, the other option was even more dreadful. Turning the woman he looked up to and held as one of the most important people in his life bes a helpless cripple just to watch her slowly rot away in her own self misery and pity would probably be a fate worse than just to leave her to die. For that fate, death would actually truly be the salvation she would be hoping for. He could only sigh and wait for the moment when the evolution would bepleted and Number 3 would emerge before any of Aiden''s questions would receive a potential answer. ''[I don''t have an answer for any of these questions Aiden. At best I can give you a rough estimate, basing it on Galina''s case.]'' Enya''s voice pulled Aiden out of his thoughts. ''That''s fine.'' He answered with a shrug. ''Just tell, what to expect.'' He added. While waiting for her system guide''s response, Aiden turned his attention towards Gupta. A small smile emerged on his face as he saw a small subsection of muddy huts hastily put together closer to theke: The Skinks have already picked a spot to settle down. Although it was good to see that the new settlers were epted by the ''locals'', it still surprised him that everything happened so fast. It was only half a day ago when the little lizard people were sent over, yet they already created their ownmune making it already taking the shape of the outside world''s Slums district. ''I guess, I should talk to them at some point and ask what they really wish for. From the looks of it, a swamp is probably what they would feel the best at.'' He muttered with a small, thin smile stretching across his face. Before his thoughts could take him further, however, Enya''s voice pulled him away once more. ''[At the very least this phase should take a full day, just like with Galina''s case.]'' ''That go-'' Before Aiden could finish and sigh with relief, Enya continued. ''[However, it is more than likely that this process would take more, much more than that.]'' ''How much more do you think?'' The grave, serious tone, began to scare and startle Aiden. He thought that the worse was already over, but Enya''s next words almost made him fall back on the ground listlessly. ''[Again, this is just an estimation that I made with the help of the system] Enya gave a reminder once again, giving a slight pause in her response before finally revealing what Aiden was equally as hoping and dreaded to hear. ''[It could be a few more days, or weeks, months Or worse]'' Aiden was already shocked beyond belief. With a shaking gaze, he measured the calm, asionally pulsating, roughly a meter tall egg as he continued with a sigh. ''How much worse can it possibly be?! Years? Decades? Centuries? NEVER?!'' ''[Years, Aiden. Years. The system can''t give a proper estimate as there''s no data ever gathered to go by. We aren''t even sure what wille out of the shell, we can only hope that it wouldn''t be a grotesque amalgamation without any consciousness, but hopefully the woman you were hoping to save. The best you can do is to keep the egg safe and have someone to watch over it.]'' Enya responded, giving a few breaths'' time for Aiden to process her words, before adding a bit more to her words. ''[As the shell is currently in the ne that belongs solely to you, you can be at ease, knowing it is safe. Have some of these locals you took under your wing guard and watch over it, and report to those that have a connection with you.]'' Listening to everything, Aiden wasn''t sure what he should be feeling now. For a brief moment, he felt relieved knowing that the threat was resolved and Number 3 was no longer in immediate danger. Yet, the uncertainty of the situation, this evolution was something that they couldn''t prepare for, they were in the dark. For one, there was no evolutionary path to follow, to base any guesses on. What was happening was something that even the system''s seemingly limitless database of knowledge, something that Aiden was sure transcended the limits of the world of Eora and probably epassed millions of years of life crossing over countless worlds It still drew nks in terms of this specific case. That was what truly bothered Aiden, making him turn reckless. Adding to the thought that, like Enya, half-jokingly blurted, that the creature that would emerge, wouldn''t just be not human, but not even conscious sentient entity, but some mindless amalgamation Aiden could only helplessly sigh, ncing over the golden egg with a worried, distressed look, and hope that her beloved Master would be able to fight and go Against the Overwhelming Odds. Just onest time. Chapter 444 - 444 - The Little Lizards Request "[Orc] Yes, Young Master. It will be as youmand!" The tall dark grey giant, Roas feverishly nodded at the words of her Master. The trio of his minions, now with the addition of the dark green-scaled lizard with the unique-looking golden rings covering the entirety of his body, was walking towards the new addition of Gupta. Aiden had a small ufortable frown on his face, as he tasted the nickname of the region the residents have given to the mud-covered fast-transforming section of the city. "[Orc] I don''t know Calling it the ''Heap'' is really derogatory." He turned to the child-sized lizard, looking at her with a questioning gaze. "Thuk, are you really fine with calling your home like that?" The lizard, however, shook his head as his elongated reptilian face contorted into a smile. "We don''t mind, Young Master." He answered, following along with the rest of the group. The little saurling, like his supposed fully evolved, mature form, was walking on his hind legs, using his two strong, trunk-like strong arms only as support. Still, he looked somewhat simr to the modern world''s gori. His features and presence were vastly different from the increasingly refined, human-like trio of ex-goblins and orcs. Compared to them, Thuk didn''t lose his animalistic traits but instead grew into a much higher, much more dangerous form. "I can understand why the others couldn''t grow fond of themune we are creating, however, you have to understand, while we can live by almost anything, we do prefer the ces with more humidity in the air Swamps are the ideal space for us." Thuk added, looking at his Master and walking by his left. "I see." Aiden hummed, turning silent for a while, looking as if he was in deep thought. His servants thought he was debating Thuk''s words as a request, they remained silent, allowing their Master to ponder. Aiden had in actuality pulled up the System''s screen and went to look at the new type of resource he could collect through the beings living here. He was debating how he could best go on fulfilling their request. Unfortunately, when he nced over the number it was at a pitiful ''4'' which though turned him surprised, he quickly understood. Even without Enya going on and exining, he could realize that probably the system used it up when it made the weird changes to Number 3''s body and allowed it to ept the core. Whatever it was, or no matter what sort of entity, creature, -be it god or worse-, intervened and made this impossibility turn to reality, it still needed his divinity as the medium. Yet, now he could only sigh and look at his newest little follower with a regretful, bittersweet smile. "I will need more time Thuk, but I promise you, that in the near future I wille back and create the best living conditions you and your people could dream for." Hearing his master''s words, Thuk suddenly stopped in his tracks, his body stiffened. He looked at his Master with a wide-eyed, stupefied expression, unable to formte a word. He didn''t even dare to dream for such a thing to ever happen. Especially without the rest of the lizardkin toe together once again. "[Goblin] Brother Thuk, you should never question our Young Master''s capabilities!" Glohn spoke, his tone was slightly reprimanding, though his face retained a small, thin smile. [Goblin] Yes, just like teacher is saying, Young Master''s powers are limitless! He is the God of this paradise!" Gob chimed in, his tone and look were incredibly prideful. "[Orc] Little brother, take a gander over at those mountains." Roas added pointing towards the distance. The distant mountain range, now clouded with puffy, white clouds could be seen peaking at the horizon. "[Orc] They were created by the Young Master over the span of minutes!" He added, turning his attention towards the spacious, stretchingke that they ''cleverly'' named as Lake Gupta just yesterday, he added. "If that is not enough to convince you, look over Lake Gupta! That was also something he gave us just recently." "[Goblin] Everything you see here, the grass, the rivers, even the forest over there" Glohn pointed towards the distant forest line, as he eximed with the same pride as his other brothers. "Everything here, and by that I mean EVERYTHING, was created by the Young Master. This whole world, this safe space away from those ugly humans are given to us by your master. So if he says he will give you what you desire, you better be thankful rather than questioning him!" "I" Thuk was overwhelmed by the words of his peers. He wanted to speak and exin himself, but the words just didn''te. It wasn''t that he didn''t believe his Young Master, but what he just casually offered was the distant dream, a desire of his entire race for so many years The hope of rebuilding the lost civilization of not just the skinks but the entire lizardmen poption was something they all shared, no matter if you were a skink, a violent looking barbaric kroxigor, saurus, or any of the many different variations, they all shared a single dream, a hope, a desire across them: The hope to see their marvelous Temple-Cities once more. Yet, Thuk knew there would be a difference this time, instead of the customs, they would now turn their worship to a single entity, a young human-like boy that was much more simr to their beloved Great One, their ancestor, the mysterious Progenitor. When it came to this anomalous entity, not many had survived the dredges of time. The Progenitor, this being shrouded with mystery and questions, was something that only a very few races could vaguely recall. Many say he, she or perhaps it, was the first sentient creature in the world. Some say that he was the creator, a god, or perhaps something, even more, nothing could be said with certainty, after all no texts, no sightings were ever made of this being. Yet, somehow, some of those undying old ancestors somehow stubbornly refusing to leave the world of living often told these legends, myths to their young ones. The truth, however, remained a mystery, an eternal question that like the lizardkin, or the elves, dwarves and the many other races shared amongst their kin. Shaking his head, Thuk finally gathered his will, to break out of his trance. He violently punched at the ground, hisrge fist creating a small cavity in the soil. "I understand, and I No." He shook his head as he smiled at the Young Master. "WE, the skinks and lizardmen of the future alike would be grateful if you could help us restore our ancient rites, young master!" He then, like back in the sewers, knelt down and tried to prostrate himself on the ground. Unfortunately for him, that was an almost impossible task due to his new physique. He looked rather awkward and clumsy as he was doing his best to showcase a true subservient posture. "Please, young master, I beg you, help us restore the glory of the old days! Help us so that the world of this paradise can once again bask in the glory of our beautiful Temple-Cities!" Chapter 445 - 445 -Going Back The skies above Haven have long since turned dark by the time Aiden was finally done with discussing everything with his servants. He made sure to calmly and patiently listen to Thuk, as he excitedly exined their dream of restoring the Lizardkin races to their past glory. These so-called ''Temple-Cities'' were incrediblyrge, hidden wonders of the world. They were monumental metropolises made of pyramids and ziggurats, ancient, archaic structures that are mostly hidden deep in marshes, swamps, and lush jungle biomes. There were many unknowns surrounding these mysterious ces, as from Thuk''s excited retelling of the stories, they were more than just being the home of all the cold-bloods, the lizardmen. They weren''t even just simple nexus points for worship, but something much more. From what Thuk could retell, the once-great 10 ancient Temple-Cities were a single giant entity covering most of the habitablends across Eora. Each Temple-City hidden deep in a habitat that humans rarely ventured into, and even if they did, the scouts and small guards forced hidden in the outer regions made sure that they would never return to tell their tales. Another interesting tidbit Thuk revealed was that despite the aggressive outward appearance, most of the Lizardkin races were peaceful in their nature, and mostly only fought to defend their territories, people, or during hunts. Each race had its own role in their society: There were species more suited for spiritual tasks, some were excellent merchants, craftsmen. Again, others were excellent gatherers, foragers, fishermen, while there were those that excelled in hunt orbat. As for the skinks, as Thuk exined they were mostly scouts and gatherers. Their small builds added with their high agility and dexterousness made them perfect for such tasks. Adding the fact their mostmon mutation, or ''evolution'' as they liked to refer to it, was the Chameleon Skink, which was a sort of primitive form of shapeshifting: It allowed them to alter the color of their skinks to match that of their surroundings. Still, despite the clear hierarchy, each race, each ss in their society was respected and treasured. Nobody shunned or disdained the skinks just because of their small, and fragile stature, nor did they revere the mighty and fearsome Saurians, these giant, dinosaur-like predators as their gods or kings. Each and every level, every caste in their societal hierarchy was a respected and much-needed part for the whole city to function. With even one of these cogwheels missing or removed the city as a whole would cease to exist. After pacifying the over-excited Thuk, Aiden called for a meeting of all the elders of Gupta exining to everyone present there that the golden egg in the distance was not to be disturbed but safely guarded at all times. No one, no matter who it, was to get close to it. He also gave a strictmand to everyone present that they were to only observe the object and report it to either Roas, Glohn or Gob if anything out of the norm was to happen to it. After that, as the Elders rushed to their people to ry the words of their God, and decide on a n of action, he also made sure to exin everything about the egg in a bit more detail to his trusted ones through their shared mental channel. They all reassured him that as soon as there was anything to report they would reach out to him, so he can ease on his clearly felt worries and can get back to the outside world. Eventually, Aiden acquiesced their servant''s advice, but not before he took onest look at Number 3''s glowing cocoon. He smiled as he stepped closer to it, and gently caressed its hardened outer shell. He leaned close and whispered sweet nothings in a volume that only he would be able to hear. "Master, don''t worry, your disciple is safe. You pulled me back from the brink of death once again and guided me back to safety. In return, I did what I could to ensure you wouldn''t leave Lily and me alone. We both need you, so please do your best to get back to us!" Taking some more time, in the end, Aiden finally opened up the system''s [Gateway], and with onest look and heaving a worried-sounding sigh, he stepped through, leaving thends of Haven once again, going back to Higrove. Though roughly half a day had passed in Haven, back in Higrove the night was only just now nearing its end. The faint, shy first lights of the wakening sun just now began to cast its bright tinum strands of warmth over the dark, cold sky. The streets of the city were still just starting to wake from their nightly stillness, only a few merchants, shop owners, and workers could be seen yawning in the sparsely popted streets of the city. The air suddenly began to buzz in an empty, forgotten alley. The air became hazy, blurry just a second before the space itself seemed to crack in the next second. A small fissure, a spatial tear began to grow and transform in the air. In a few, quick seconds the crack took the shape of a doorway. Its t surface giving a small glimpse into another world entirely for only a brief moment beforerge ripples suddenly emerged, twisting and contorting the scene to an unrecognizable degree. In the next moment, a hand and a leg emerged from beneath its visibly viscous surface, soon followed by the body of a tired-looking weary, long ck-haired young man. His disheveled look, messed up, sweat-stained attire gave the impression of a very spent, tired traveler, adventurer, or perhaps an explorer. As the boy stepped out of the portal, it instantly closed up behind him, leaving nothing to remember behind. The boy, Aiden ignored itpletely, his attention was focused on the ground around him. He was surprised to see that the small alleyway was not in the same state he left it. The body of the human that followed him was nowhere to be found! "What the What happened? Did someone take-" Suddenly, he remembered that there was one more addition to the uninvited guests that assisted him out of her own volition when he needed to focus. "Oh." He sighed, knowing full well that the body was already gone, and he wouldn''t be able to absorb it and possibly perfect or perhaps create his unique, new human form rather than using his draconian ability. Then, as he thought about it, his tired face revealed a frown. He realized that he owed an exnation to the Mistress and that his long-awaited rest would still have to be pushed back. Yet, before going to visit the elusive Masked Madame, he wanted to at the very least group up with his friends. After all, they were probably still waiting for him back at the inn, growing increasingly more worried and concerned about his sudden disappearance. After all, the news of the investigation have surely traversed to all corners of the city, even the darkest, most forgotten dark ces should be aware of what had transpired by now, much less a frequented and favored the establishment of the local loudmouths, the adventurers of this backwater city. Chapter 446 - 446 - Shadows Several Hours before, shortly after as Aiden and Number 3 vanished through the [Gateway] to Haven Just as the dark, ck portal closed behind the Masked Mistress, a figure emerged from one of the inconspicuous corners of the surprisingly busy back alley. There were no shy effects, nor any signs or releases of magic, the figure appeared without any visible warning. It was as if the dark tendrils of the shadows themselves were protecting its figure. The entity had a thin humanoid shape, vaguely resembling a man, though none of its features were visible. Its body was covered and shrouded in a thinyer of eternally ck unnatural shadow. The entity had no presence or any aura, none of the hidden masters in the city would have been able to spot him. He watched the spot where the Masked Mistress just vanished standing still, unmoving. "Interesting" The shadowy silhouette muttered after a short while, his face seemingly turning towards the direction of the north of the city, more precisely, towards arge obelisk-looking tower, the tallest building of the Academy. "Things have finally started taking an interesting turn" Then, although the constant, unnatural darkness that seemingly either covered or maybe made this strange entity entirely, turned his head only slightly towards the west. "Still, there are some deviations from the intended course" He muttered with a slightly displeased tone. "I wonder what would those two say if I were to do a little bit of fixing? After all, it is slightly my fault that events have diverged to such a degree" The figure heaved a long sigh as he kept his attention fixated on the same direction for a while longer, before eventuallying to a decision. He shrugged his shoulders, as he muttered once again. "I guess, they wouldn''t mind it too much" He sighed, flicking his right hand casually. Upon his action the dark looking portal opened in the next moment, its destination unknown. The figure slowly, casually walked towards the gate, however, before stepping through, he spanned with his fingers, then stepped through without saying a word. As the strange creature vanished, dark, shadowy tendrils shot up from the ground around the lifeless body that was left, hungrily devouring, swallowing it up in mere seconds. As the body waspletely shrouded, the dark tendrils pulled it back beneath the ground, causing it to simply vanish, just like the strange entity, leaving absolutely no traces behind. It was as if the body of the man was never there, to begin with. Standing at the edge of a ridge, a tattered, ragged clothed figure was gazing over the distant horizon. Her wrinkled old face, which usually held a gentle warm smile, was now looking solemn, somber as she gazed towards the distance. The dried-up, parched vastnds, devoid of life stretched all where her glowing golden, exotic-looking eyes could take her. Unlike her usual demeanor, Granny''s body was trembling, filled with a vast cavalcade of emotions. Amongst the many, however, sorrow and grief were the most dominant, causing her elderly hands to twist into balls of tightly clenched fists. As her emotions were starting to overtake her, her body began to release a strange, yet familiar-looking pressure. The air sizzled under its might, creating a blurry haze around her as she continued silently gazing at the distance. Minutes passed swiftly as the elderly Granny didn''t seem to move, nor do anything other than basking in the storm of her own emotions and most likely, painful memories Eventually, she heaved a sigh as she slowly eased up on the pressure and reigned herself back to rtive normalcy. Her dominant aura gradually vanished, the glimmering gold faded from her eyes, her body stopped shaking, she let go of the nervous hold over her hands. "The cycle starts anew." She sighed again, shaking her head as she finally turned around averting her gaze and looking at the unique cave entrance behind her. High atop a mountain that only very few could cross, Granny stood in front of a beautifully designed, illustrious entrance. Even from a first nce, it was clear that there was nothing natural about it, the smooth edges, the intricate carvings, the symbolic runes that were etched all around it, was a clear, telltale sign after all. Symbolic images of what seemed like dragons and humanoid, draconic creatures were depicted all around the walls. Yet, despite the design, this was a ce that only a select few had knowledge about all across Eora. For one, it was at a high altitude, far up in the mountains. Far above what normally could be seen from the ground. For two, even if someone would have incredibly keen sight, or maybe enhanced vision, he or she would still skip over this ce as the entire ridge and its vast vicinity were covered with powerful, ancient magic, keeping this ce a hidden gem in the world. Also, even if someone were to stumble into this ce, he or she would not remember his experience, as the wards that protected this ce would make sure to alter the invaders'' minds. Even if the individual would be someone powerful, or gifted in the matters of the psyche, he or she would still have a very hard time escaping the almighty protections of this sanctified ce. These wards, these symbols weren''t something that the people of today would be able to decipher, they were remnants of a bygone era. Looking at the cave entrance, Granny couldn''t help but smile with a bittersweet, sorrowful expression. She sighed again, clearly disturbed, emotional, acting quite uncanny to her usual self. Her tired, weary eyes slowly shifted from image to image, as she took in the sight, whilst reminiscing the past. She didn''t speak, nor did she show any signs of distress, though the single tear that managed to escape from its hold through the corner of her left eye, betrayed her stature. Ignoring the escapee, she took another few seconds to bask and take in everything, before finally heaving a much heavier sigh and slowly making her way towards the entrance. All the while, as she battled to restrain the tears that were doing their best to escape The air cracked, as a dark portal emerged from seemingly nothing inside the mansion''s study room abruptly. In the next moment, just as the Masked Mistress walked out and appeared in her own study, there was a knock on the door. The calm, aged voice of the head servant Sebas could be heard from the other side as he called out for his Mdy. "Mdy." Nodding, the maskeddy called out with a gentle, warm tone. "Come in, you know you do not need to knock." Upon her words, the door was slowly opened, and the elderly butler, the same old man that just a short while ago attended the interrogation, walked in. Just like before he retained his strong, steady, and unperturbed disposure as he alighted into the room. Taking only a few steps, Sebas closed the door behind him before taking a deep, respectful bow in front of her Mistress. "Mydy, you have safely returned." The Mistress sighed as she looked at her faithful, loyal servant. She walked over to the windows, looking out from them just like she did every time. "Raise, there is no need for this y, it''s only us, Sebas. We have a lot to discuss But first, tell me what happened?" Chapter 447 - 447 - Rude And Tired "I see" The mistress muttered, her eyes wandering across the calm, nightly cityscape. "Did you have anything else to say about the matter?" She asked, her tone keeping its thoughtful traits, not showing any annoyance, or displeasure over the almost hour-long report of the elderly servant. "Nothing Mistress. The boy, just as you expected, had some sort of method to bypass the device''s magic. Unfortunately, I was unable to find out anything else." "Oh?" At the butler''s response, the Mistress revealed a genuine surprise. "Even with your specialties, you found nothing? Hmmm" The servant didn''t respond immediately but gave a deep bow once again. "I apologize, My Lady. I was unable to, that boy is rather unique Whenever I tried to use it, the effect was abruptly cut off. The only thing I can advise is not to anger him." "I know, Sebas. I know." The Mistress answered, her gaze wandering towards the famous Guild Hall. "Luckily my daughter seems to be genuinely interested in him, we needn''t do anything." "Mydy, please do not forget that your sister-" "Enough." Before he could finish, the Mistress raised her arm, stopping him and freezing the words before he could voice them. "She is" For the first time, since probably forever, her voice cracked, the Masked Mistress actually needed a moment to collect herself before she could speak up. Her calm, collected outward appearance, seemed to crumble and shatter for a moment, her usual aloof, nonchnt attitude showed genuine emotions. Clearly, even if she tried her best to not show or act otherwise, the state, and more importantly the unknowns about her sister''s condition was eating away at her. She sighed a few times before she could continue. "She is currently in good care" Her words trailed off, pondering about the scenes of just a short while ago. "Sebas." She called out as her eyed wandered towards the empty back alley. "I have an important task for you." "At your service, mydy." Sebas immediately bowed, keeping the subservient posture this time around, waiting for themands of his mistress with a calm look. "Go to that tavern and collect the rest of the kids. I will let my daughter know, she will be waiting for you by the time you arrive." "As youmand." Sebas answered, before standing back up, turning around, and swiftly leaving the room. A momentter, his presencepletely vanished from the entire mansion Before anything, Aiden made his way towards the Adventurer''s Guild. Although it was quitete in the night, he wanted to at least try reaching out to Sara, as she is his Master''s niece She was the only other rtive he had knowledge about. Although they never really talked, nor did they seem to acknowledge this seemingly simple matter, they kept their rtionship vague, ambiguous, and strictly professional. Maybe it was because there seemed to be some lingering issues between the twin sisters, shadows of their past that to this day, neither side couldpletely process. Still, family is family. At the very least, Aiden felt she had to inform her that her aunt suffered because of his mistake, and as though she was now safe, she would be missing for the foreseeable future. Regardless, as he made his way towards the guild''s huge building, lording over all other shops and stores in its vicinity, Aiden had a feeling that this journey of his wouldn''t be fruitful. Knowing that the Mistress was present and was obviously waiting for him to visit, he had a feeling that she had collected everyone already. Still, he pushed on therge double door, watching as the unique sight of the mostly deserted, empty front hall revealed itself in front of his eyes. Only a handful of figures -mostly masked, shady-looking men and women-, were the only others present along with the two unlucky Guild Attendants that were forced to do this graveyard shift. Ignoring the gazes of what his sudden presence had caused, Aiden made his way towards the front desk, towards the closest, currently free and bored-looking male Guild Attendant. Leaning against the back of his chair, the young man was currently doing his best to fight against the drowsiness that was slowly but surely oveing his vaning resistances and gaining ground. Large, long yawns showed the continued progress as he was steadily drowsing. Each blink was slowly turning longer and heavier than the one before, he was barely holding up by this point. Between two of these long blinks suddenly a peculiar, unique-looking youngster appeared in front of him, causing him to jump up on his seat with the sudden startle he felt. "Ehrm, hruhm" He grunted as he fixed his posture and sat up properly. He quickly rubbed his eyes, causing them to turn red, he took arge gasp of air and exhaled before trying again. "*Khm* Excuse me, sir. How may I help you tonight?" He asked as he forced a smile on his face, masking the slight annoyance he felt. He was just about to fall asleep after all! It was quite rude to ruin his rest!" "Hello. Do you know if Sa- *khm* if the Head Examiner is still in the office?" "Ehrm" The receptionist thought for a second, showing an expression as if he was deep in thought. Unfortunately, he wasn''t paying attention at all, and it was sure as hell he didn''t want to walk all the way back just to check it in the middle of the night "No, why would he be inside? It''s alreadyte night. Go away, ande back in the morning, stop wasting time here!" He grunted, shedding his friendly mask. He was eager to get back to his rest and not waste time here with this young man pointlessly. "He? Why would you refer to the Head Examiner as a ''he''? Do you perhaps know that figure''s identity?" Aiden asked as a smile began to emerge on his face. Normally he probably wouldn''t bother with such snide remarks, but his growing tiredness, adding to the annoyed, displeased tone of this attendant he couldn''t help but ask. "The boy''s questions caused the drowsy, annoyed-looking attendant to frown back. His annoyance was swiftly growing, transforming, he was bing disgruntled, he wanted to end this waste of his remaining sleeping time as fast as possible. "Eh Yeah, whatever kid. What more do you want?! The person you are looking for is not here, and even if HE or she were, a nobody scrub like you would never get the chance to schedule a meeting. Go back to whatever pit you crawled out from and let me re-, let me attend to other matters. You are holding up the others!" He eximed. Bewildered by his words, Aiden took a look behind him, wondering what he was actually talking about, before turning back and looking at him. For a moment, his tired face shed into a cold, chilling look. A golden glimmer shed across his eyes, as the stress of the day almost took over him and ruined his mood. For just a brief moment, the entire hall was instantly filled with a cold, killing intent. Instantly, the attendant''s face paled, he fell off his chair,nding on the ground *** AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 448 - 448 - A Wild Cat Although Aiden managed to quickly regain control over his emotions, the damage was already done. The previously yawning, annoyed and grunting attendant was down on the ground, shivering and pale as he tried his best not to show any sudden movement towards the boy. Even worse, the scared, frightful look that was clear in his wide-opened eyes, his teeth were set on the edge, he was quivering, clearly overwhelmed with fear. As Aiden looked at the young adventurer, he wasn''t sure of how to refer to him anymore. Was he even human? Or maybe something else? That dreadful, heavy pressure was not something a regr employee standing at the lowest in the hierarchy was trained to withstand after all. He, and for that matter the rest of his colleagues, were just your average, powerless, fragile mortal humans after all. As he looked up and was met with those, now oh-so terrifying-looking golden irises, he almost peed his pants, trying his best not to just scamper away to the back. "I-i-I. S-s-s-s-s" He was just unable to gather the willpower and exin himself. The words just didn''t formte, his lips were unable to function, he was heavily stuttering. Seeing his state, Aiden''s anger quickly wafted away, reced by a tint of sorrow and regret. He didn''t want to act so dominantly, he didn''t want to lose himself, but the circumstances and the stress throughout the day, the helplessness he felt for his Master was just too much to handle. In a moment of fit, he erupted, his emotions were just too strong, too much to handle, he lost sight for a brief instant. Still, even that fleeting fraction of a second was enough to scare an although annoying, but still, innocent civilian to such a state. The trauma he will now have to somehow process and ovee will be a result of his careless actions, the darker path this man would take was his fault and not some other supernatural cause. He was this man''s taint, the reason for his continued corruption. The darkness that will now take its seed and will continue to fester and rot away at his soul. This was the thought that hurt Aiden the most as he looked at the shivering, stuttering young man with a shifting, transforming outward look on his face. From his initial anger and rage, now a wryful, sorrow-filled, regretful look. In the end, he could only sigh, and massage his temples as he tried to diffuse the situation. "Listen, I''m sorry for how I reacted. It''s not your fault, I''m not mad at you The day was just too much, and I need to speak with he-," He managed to catch himself and not to expose the secret identity of Sara. If she wants to remain hidden even from his employees, who was he, to interfere? "- the Head Examiner to ry some critical information. Are you sure that there is no one in the office anymore?" He asked, trying his best to force a calm smile on his face, though it was clearly not natural, giving him a more eerie, slightly awkward expression. Unfortunately, the boy was already beyond broken, at least for the time being. He kept looking fearfully at Aiden, his bodynguage not changing, but shivering, quivering in fright under his gaze. Even worse, his speech was the same, stuttered letters, and gibberish was all he could muster. "The person you are looking for has left a while ago, Mister." Suddenly from the side, a young, clear feminine, melodious voice came. Looking in its direction, his eyes were met with the second attendant on duty, a young and slim, child-looking medium-length straight blonde-haired girl who was looking at him with a surprisingly calm expression. Considering the fact that even some of the shadier-looking adventurers still present in the hall were also fearful of him, the natural calm and soothing outward appearance surprised Aiden. Turning towards her direction, Aiden walked over whilst taking his time to scan her from top to bottom. "Are you sure, Miss?" Meanwhile, as not wanting to seem like a creep, he asked, hoping to get confirmation and a bit more information out from the attendant. The woman that seemed to be somewhat of a simr age as the rest of the girls, at most in her early twenties was of average height and build. She had medium-sized, shoulder-length straight tinum blonde hair that wasbed but not touched too much, letting it flow down in a natural, pure manner, covering her ears and neck from all sides but the front. She had bright, cobalt blue almond-shaped eyes, a small nose, and mostly average features. She was most of the small-scale, having not-so-dominant feminine traits, but still, she still had two small, shy protrusions rifying her actual sex. Adding the fact that she was garbed in the Guild''s Uniformed white blouse and dark green sleeveless waistcoat, she was still quite eye-catching. "Rita, Rita Whitestone at your service, Mister Champion!" The attendant, Rita took the boy''s gaze without any visible issue, she wasn''t fidgeting, she seemed calm and even slightly happy that she somewhat caught the boy''s interest. Taking a small bow and a curtsy, she continued. "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Champion! You have quite the fame already, I''m surprised my colleague failed to recognize you, and allow me to apologize for his actions! You see he was never the brightest of the bunch!" She chuckled at her own words, ignoring the stuttering background noisepletely. Her words continued to give surprise after surprise, shock after shock to Aiden. The fact that she could clearly ignore his aura, and retain this ted, eager-looking expression was puzzling, to say the least. "Thank you for your help, Miss Whitestone." Aiden gave a slight nod, his smile finally easing a little and looking more of his usual calm, friendly-looking one. "May I ask, if you have seen whom she has left with and when approximately?" "Hmmm" Rita looked up thoughtfully, pondering about the question for a few seconds before the previous cheery smile once again gained ground and dominated her face. She looked back at the boy, her eyes seemingly glimmering with an impish, mischievous delight. "First of all, call me Rita. Second, you still haven''t told me your name, handsome. Or would you prefer me to call you Champion?" She grinned, looking confident and alluring. The woman''s boldness and brazen, flirty demeanor was not something Aiden expected to meet sote into the night. He was caught off-guard, having a hard time retaining his cool, as he audibly gulped before speaking. "Uhm Aiden. You can call me Aiden, that''s all right with me Rita." His voice,pared to before was much weaker,cking his previous, dominating presence. Something about this woman, maybe the way she presented herself, maybe her brazen confidence there was some unique quality to her. "Ah, I see." Rita giggled, obviously catching on, and pushing for more and more ground. She leaned over the counter, closer to Aiden''s face. Her eyes, her entire expression was alluring, showing the hungry wild cat she was as she slowly, breathed the words to the boy. "Aiden such a powerful name, you stud! No wonder she is so smitten with you!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 449 - 449 - Connection Aiden sighed with visible relief as he finally managed to alight from the Guild Hall. Rita turned out to be quite a formidable foe, her unique character and skills were a dangerous weapon to go against. Aiden''s clothes were drenched in sweat as if he ran a marathon or fought an arduous battle for hours upon hours with no end in sight. He was tired, now both physically and mentally at the same time. This little devil was incredibly difficult, she openly flirted and did everything in her power to seduce him. "Who would have thought two sisters, with so different characters" He muttered, looking up at the sky, and taking a moment to collect himself. As it turned out, Rita was the sister of the incredibly shy, curly brown-haired attendant, Mary. This im was so unbelievable, that Aiden did actually question it all together. They were so different, not just in appearance, as, unlike Rita, Mary was timid, but a more generously gifted-looking young woman, with curly brown hair. She was shy, with great difficulty expressing her true feelings. Her ''sister'', Rita, however, had straight tinum blonde hair, blue eyes that didn''t match either in color or shape of Mary''s. She was also much more direct, more brazen, much wilder. The two were vastly different, both in build and in terms of character, making Aiden question the legitimacy of the girl''s im. Still, ultimately it didn''t matter even if it were true. What mattered was the fact that she revealed that Sara left some time ago, with an elderly well-dressed man. The man was dressed in a ck silk-looking suit, looking somewhat simr to the Housekeepers, the butlers of those better-off households. Aiden immediately recognized the Head Servant, the one the Masked Mistress always called as Sebas, to be the one that escorted the Young Miss, Sara, away. This also meant that all of her friends, as well as her sister, were probably already there. Aiden sighed again, looking at the air, as a bitter smirk stretched across his face. He felt that all that happened in thest couple of days were starting to pile off, making him more forgetful of some of the simpler ways. As he was talking to Rita back a while ago, he was suddenly reminded that he doesn''t actually need to get to the Inn to learn the whereabouts of the rest of his gang. He could, actually just rely on the actual connection he shared with his servants, and instead of wasting time and even more of his steadily declining stamina, he could just you know CONTACT GALINA?! He smiled at his own stupidity, before slowly turning away from therge multi-story building and taking on a casual stroll towards the exit of the famous alley. Meanwhile, he focused his remaining wit on the connection, activating it, and -once she felt the shy little girl''s presence-, called out. ''Galina, can you hear me?'' It didn''t take long for an answer to arrive. Galina, feeling his master''s presence suddenly jolted in her seat, a happy, ted smile appeared on her usually calm, mostly expressionless face. ''Yes, Young Master! How can I help? Are youing back? Where were you? Oh, also, we-'' As soon as she heard her young master''s inquiry, she fired a slew of questions towards the unprepared Aiden. Her reaction and excited fidgeting caught the attention of the others in the living room they were staying at, earning the looks of almost everybody present and causing the small discussions to die down. Still, she seemed to be ignorant and oblivious of themotion she caused, her full attention was on the return of her beloved master. Before she could fire, even more, Aiden spoke up. His light-hearted chuckle was the only one that could be heard for a few seconds before he managed to continue. ''Yes, yes, my dear I am back.'' He answered, knowing that she was referring to his short escapade in Haven and not with the Guard Barracks. ''I had to take someone there and save her.'' ''Is this the egg my brothers were discussing earlier, Young Master?'' She suddenly asked, surprising Aiden. ''You guys talked already? How did you do that without me noticing?'' Aiden asked, puzzled about such a feat. Normally, even if he weren''t an active participant, he should still be, at the very least, aware of any active channels going on. After all, he, or more precisely, the system should be the medium that shouldn''t be present in any of them. ''Ehrm, I''m not sure, Young Master. We only just recently learned about this new ability of ours.'' Galina answered with a much more timid, wary tone. ''If this is not allowed, let me say I''m-'' ''No, no, there is no problem. I don''t mind in fact, I encourage you guys to be in contact as much as you can. I was just surprised, is all. I wasn''t aware of our connection growing stronger in such a way.'' Aiden added, not allowing her to finish her sudden apology. Taking a big gasp of the nightly, cold and fresher air, he inhaled before slowly letting all of it out. ''Anyway'' He spoke once he calmed himself. ''What did your brothers tell you?'' ''Ehrm They told me that the young master went back with a woman and saved her. I'' Her tone became fidgety, once again, as if she was battling with herself if she would dare voice her deepest thoughts or rather not. Understanding her plight, Aiden nudged her. ''Don''t be afraid my dear. You know you can tell me anything, I won''t get mad. At the worst, I will not be able to answer.'' He chuckled. Galina took a moment to calm herself, still ignoring that all the eyes around her were fixated on her sudden shift. She was clearly talking to someone, through some strange method, and just by her reactions alone, this person was more than likely the young man that everyone in the room was already waiting for. Still, no one spoke up and was waiting for her to get back to reality on her own terms. Taking an extra moment to collect her thoughts, Galina eventually spoke again. ''Well I From what the others have exined, the person you arrived in Haven was a human.'' ''Yes, that is correct. This person is my and even Lily''s Master.'' Aiden calmly exined, shocking Galina in the process even further. ''B-but'' She stammered, clearly distressed, unable to process the thought. The impossibility of what she was told by the others She couldn''t understand any of it now. ''But If that''s the case, Young Master How is it possible that what the others have said to be true? Did they lie to me? But why?'' She asked, her voice turning distraught, as either way were bad in some manner. Aiden however, wasn''t surprised by any of this. He simply smiled as he crossed the empty streets, calmly and leisurely making his way towards the Slums. With his usual tone, he smiled and responded. ''Yes, Galina, what the other''s said is the truth.'' Even without waiting for her to exin further, Aiden knew what he was referring to. ''I did help my Master, a human, to evolve.'' --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 450 - 450 - No More Sleepy-sleepy! The bright, unrestrained, bright rays of the sun have long since banished the brooding, cool night. The streets of Higrove were filled with a colorful mixture of a crowd, adventurers, merchants, simplemoners paced towards their destination. All the while they werepletely oblivious of the dangers lurking beneath the surface, unaware of the grand changes that destiny has in store for thisndscape. This current peace, this ''calm before the storm'', was but a fleeting moment in the grand passage of time. Soon, these calm, smiling, and cheerful mortals will once again taste the howls of death and despair. The drums of conquest were already ying the tune, and the uing cmity is upon humanity once again. As the sun kept pestering the covers in front of arge square-shaped window, only thin strands of its all-powerful glory managed to pierce the veil of silk, keeping the room under an obscure dim light. The room wasvishly decorated, every inch of it shouted the power of might of the nobility. The walls, painted in a creamy white, had several paintings of seemingly randomly selected portraits and beautifulndscapes ced on them. Their frames, made from pure gold, each piece was a glimmering reflection of the immense wealth the owner of this residence wielded. A single bed, covered in baldachin, was ced opposite of the white, marble-like door, just beside the window frame. It was actually the possible spot, as the nearby window actually ensured that the weary, tired upant would be in a shroud of darkness, safe at the blind spot of the scorching, blistering sun''s blinding pirs. Besides the spacious bed, a singlefy leather armchair was ced oddly at the center of the room, looking straight towards the window. Behind it, at the wall opposite the window and to the left of the entrance a beautiful line of cabs wereid out, made from pale white birch wood. At its edges, the golden embroidered symbols created a luxurious etching. Suddenly, a series of loud knocks broke the seemingly eternal tranquil silence of this picturesque scene. As there was no immediate response to the verbal intrusion, the invader repeated the sonic attack, hitting the frame of the door once again, and even adding her own voice into the mix. "Brooootheeeeeeeeeeer waaaaakeeee up!" The voice of an angel, crisp and clear filled with excitement and cheeriness. Despite everything that transpired thest day, and even with the grave news of their Master being in an unknown but luckily safe state, Lily, the impatient invader waiting outside the room, seemed to be unaffected. Her voice was cheery, just like ever. Hearing no response still, despite her repeated attempt, Lily''s face soured, forming a cute little pout. "Stupid, sleepy brother!" She remarked, turning her attention to her left and right. "Come boys, let''s wake up this stupid brother of mine!" She eximed to her faithfulpanions, Sam and Biggy. Reaching for the lever, she gave onest attempt to reach out for her sleepy brother. "Brooootheeeer! I''m going in!" Without waiting for any possible response, Lily pushed down on the door lever, and with an abrupt momentum, kicked open the door with one swift motion. "Ha!" She eximed, half-expecting a repeat of yesterday already, her left arm, already raised to cover her maiden, innocent eyes. However, luckily, or maybe the opposite, the naughty mistake did not happen this time. If not for the slight movement from the mound atop the bed, and under the duvet cover, one could even make the mistake to think that the room was actually deserted, left empty. Lily''s eyes were fixated upon the rhythmic movement of the cover behind the baldachin canopy. As a living, breathing organism, the protrusion at the center of the cover was making slight movements. Contracting and expanding, following a rhythmic, steady beat. Annoyed by the fact that her beloved brother was brazenly ignoring her calls, Lily stormed into the room, entering into the charge. Her target, the unsuspecting foe, her brother that made the tant blunder of not reacting in time would soon experience the crudest of wake-up calls he had received for quite a while. Like years before, the blonde rocket sailed the moderate distance in an instant, jumping in the air just as she arrived at the side, and by using all of the gathered momentum, power, and weight she could muster, crashed into the pulsating mound. Immediately, the boy''s eyes snapped open, his lungs were kicked empty of their oxygen, were in a violent demand of recing what it had lost due to the sudden crash. Pushing the cover off from his head, a disheveled, messy haystack looked back at the grinning blonde not-so-little girl that, ignoring their weirdness of the situation, was sitting atop Aiden''s abdomen, grinning down at her victim victoriously. "Finally! You woke up, you sleepyhead! Stupid brother, how long were you nning to make us wait!" She pouted, immediatelyshing out at the poor boy. "Lily" Were the only word Aiden could muster out so far. The abrupt wake still left parts of his body in a half-sleeping state, that like an old machine was gradually joining the fray, booting up one after another. "No! You weretest night, we have a lot to do! No more sleepy-sleepy!" Not epting any argument, Lily gave her instructions, before jumping one more time atop her brother, as if dishing out proper punishment, before grinning at him once again and jumping off to the side. "Now, get up, no more sleeping in! It''s alreadyte in the day, you missed breakfast! Drake, Scarlet, Sara, and that big ugly brute have already left for the guild. They didn''t want to waste the chance to grow stronger and be left unprepared in front of this danger." "Huaaah" Aiden yawned as he slowly, begrudgingly acquiesced to her little sister''s demands and sat up. "Why are you here? Where''s Galina?" He asked, amidst two yawns and rubbing his eyes. Though still feeling the aftereffects of the rude wake-up call, the much-needed sleep did wonders, he felt the refreshed, renewed strength of his mind. The strains of his muscles were gone, there was no pain wreaking havoc inside his body anymore. Even more, he finally noticed the blinking messages in his Activity Feed in the system. The many updates he skippedst night due to the constant duress he was ced under. After absorbing the human, Aiden didn''t have the time to check anything, andter he was just growing increasingly more and more tired. "Don''t call Naybeah like that! She is an honest, and kind woman, be nice to her! She risked her life helping us!" Slowly catching up, Aiden lightly chided his sister. Lily frowned and pouted once again at her brother''s words. "No! She was too handsy with you brother! She wants to take you away from me! I will not allow that!" She rebuked, adamant at her stance on that matter. "She isn''t" Aiden wanted to exin, that it wasn''t like how Lily had seen, but, in the end, he knew he couldn''t. After finally waking up, and with the help of the Mistress being healed and patched up, she was even more aggressive in her attempts to im the heart of his chosen mate, Aiden. A small smile emerged on Aiden''s face as he recalled the events ofst night --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 451 - 451 - Together Again Aiden couldn''t help but smile as he recalled the sudden gathering that the Masked Mistress achieved in such a short call. Arriving at the Mansion grounds, Aiden was escorted into the building, to arge sort of gathering room. Mahogany wooden furniture, beige luxurious carpet draped across the floor were the dominant colors, motifs across the room. A huge, pecan brown, mahogany desk was ced at the center, with enough chairs so that even a moderately sized squad could sitfortably. At the helm, arge chair looked towards the door, to its right a huge window looked towards the northern cityscape, matching gazes with an equally as appalling tower in the distance. Like the other rooms in the mansion, this one also had several paintings of seemingly random portraits andndscapes hanging on the cream-white, painted wall. By the time Aiden arrived, the rest of the team was already there, gathered and waiting for him. Thankfully, their worries were more or less settled, they were less on edge and more on ease as Galina informed them that his Young Master was safe and sound, and was heading towards their way. However, he also exined that he has several grave news to share, amongst them one concerning his Master, Number 3, The mistress'' sister, and Sara''s aunt. With that, as the servant escorted the young man to the room, he was met with the returning blonde rocket of his sister flying onto him and throwing him down on the ground. Still, his biggest surprise was when arge, sturdy hand picked him back up from the ground only to throw his face into a barely covered bosom. A strong, powerful hug tugged his helpless body deeper and deeper into the suddenly emerged cleavage, turning Aiden''s already weary mind even mushier. Unable to restrain herself any more as her eyes finally gazed upon her chosen mate, the finally awoke and healed-up Naybeah wanted to run away with her beloved. Unfortunately for her, her n''s never coulde to fruition if the other fierce blonde tiger had anything to say about it - Sitting atop his bed, Aiden chuckled remembering the jealous interaction between the two opposing forces. On one side, her sister wasn''t letting some ''big brute'' to steal away her brother dearest and would do anything in her power to keep him ''safe'' from the ''ogre'', as she called her. On the other side, Naybeah, whose fire only burned with more and more passion ever since she got back and woke up. Even during her short time with fuzzy memories, she had one thing clear. The burning desire in her heart to meet with the boy, whose image could just not fade from her heart and mind. She may not have remembered his name for a while, but she still knew: That boy was her mate, her beloved, her chosen future husband. Sparks were flying everywhere as the two fierce tigresses shed against each other, with Aiden caught helplessly between their line of fire "Brother, stop wasting time!" Lily''s disgruntled voice brought Aiden back from his reverie and forced him to look at her. "Go on, get up already and go clean up yourself!" "Sure Go and wait for me downstairs. I''ll go in a few minutes." Knowing that resistance was indeed futile, Aiden yawned once more instead as he slowly got up and trudged towards the hallway while nudging his tormentor towards the exit as well. Eventually, what felt like hours to Lily, but in reality was at most was like a quarter of one, Aiden joined her downstairs. His attire, once again, fresh and new, provided by the Mistress herself. Unlike before this one did resemble the elegant, noble, royal feel, rather than the dirty, crude linen rags he wore most of the time. He donned a creamy, white shirt which, -although it was made out of linen, like his old rags- were of much higher quality than before. Its edges were embroidered with ckwork, it gave the impression of a young passionate noble, rather than your average viger from some backwater farnd. Above it, he had a caramel brown jerkin, currently hanging leisurely unbuttoned. The material, seemingly some sort of leather, was quite sturdy, serving almost simr to a studded leather chest without the added restriction of movement. Going down, below the waist, instead of his usual pants, now his new attire consisted of ck breeches, made of the same leather-like material as his jerkin. Like that, this was also a sturdier material, providing a nominal amount of defense against at least a few shes and strikes. At his feet, Aiden''s new set waspleted with simple-looking simrly ck leather boots. Like usual, keeping his hair flowing free and unrestrained, Aiden radiated a much nobler -royal even-, aura, that demanded respect from everyone that looked at him. There was no trace of the dirty, filthy peasant, from a first nce he was at the same level as those high-ss young masters that everybody feared and respected. As she looked at her brother, Lily was frozen at his new outlook. Though Drake''s clothes, he got yesterday also looked quite fine, his current disy was unlike anything that Lily had seen before. She was stunned, mesmerized by the handsome young master his brother had suddenly turned into. Feeling the pulsating heat emerging at her cheeks, however, a momentter, she hurriedly averted her gaze, finding morefort on the ground than towards Aiden''s direction. Although he noticed, he decided not to tease his sister about the moment of shyness, and instead coughed as he stepped closer. "What do you think? Does this look eptable?" He asked, raising his arms in the air and slowly turning around. "If I am gonna be honest, I do feel kind of awkward. These clothes are way too fancy to my taste. Though I gotta admit, they do feel just as sturdy as the leather chests!" He remarked as he moved around. "Also, I do feel I don''t know less restricted, I guess? So yeah there''s that." He added, finishing his spin, and looking at Lily with his usual, gentle, warm smile waiting for her input on the matter. "Y-yeah It looks okay" She muttered, not daring to look at him at all. Instead, she sprung up from her seat in the next instant and while turning towards the entrance, she marched away with Sam and Biggy in tow. "Anyway!" She eximed as she hurriedly puckered away. "Let''s go! We should be going!" "Why so fast? Shouldn''t we, at the very least, say hello to the Mistress? After all, we are her guests, it would be rude to leave without saying anything" He asked, causing Lily to halt in her march, and grumble with annoyance for a bit before sighing. "Y-yeah I guess. She is Master''s sister, so" However, before she could turn around and walk back, the Mistress''s voice came from behind them. "No need for that, you two." She giggled, as she emerged from the study on the ground floor and walked towards the entrance hall. "You guys just go, and follow after the rest and keep yourself entertained. Don''t worry, I will do my best in the meantime to gather as much intelligence as I can on what the officials have managed to find during the night." --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 452 - 452 - Prepping In the blink of an eye, several days have passed. Today was the 7th day of the week, freeday. Tomorrow would be the day of the grand event. On the next Starday, the grand event that would set not just the city''s fate, but most likely the entire kingdom''s would finally kick-off. From what he was told over the days, Aiden had a rough understanding of this almost month-long event that would take ce in a ce that had vast simrities to the Pocket World, where he and Lily trained during their childhood. They called that battle the Battlegrounds, as it was nothing more than a vast, endless ne of millennials of carnage and bloodshed. An entire world, connected to this reality through the assistance of the Academy, was a ce where this event was taking ce since the beginning. Countless cycles of this barbaric ughter-fest have already gone by, hundreds of thousands of souls breathed theirst in those vast nes. Littered with remnants of past battles, this apocalyptdscape should also be filled with trophies and forgotten treasures left behind by those that were sent there before. In any way This ''event'', that would eventually settle who would be the best to sit at the helm and control the vast resources and power of whates with the title of ''City Lord'' was nicked as the ''War Games''. The opposing parties would send their armies to this ne, where there would be one goal only: Survive till the end. After the month-long intercourse, the party with the most men left standing would be crowned as the victor and given the famed title and the seat for the ultimate leadership. Inside the Battleground, there were no rules. You can use whatever means you feel necessary, your only goal would be to ensure your own army''s ultimate survival, but most importantly your own. Once you were sent in, there was no way out. With the world''sw altered, making the creation of a [Gateway] or any type of Dimensional Traversal an impossible task from the ne. The only way out would be from the outside, back from Eora through the assistance of the Academy''splex rituals. One could ask: ''How are the people inside are supposed to eat and drink if the world is supposedly devoid of any life?'' The answer to that great question is actually not that simple. Whilst there should be some sparse wildlife artificially imnted, just for this very same reason, together with some vegetation, but to be honest that would hardly be enough for multiple armies, and hundreds upon hundreds of people. In reality, besides this, ''natural'' method of hunting, there is one extra lifeline, that the people stuck in that sub-world can rely on, and that is the daily supply drops. Every day around noon, a package of provisions and items donated by the people of Higrove would be sent into a randomly selected region of the map. The supplies would be sent in through a gate, opened high above the sky, making sure that each group could see it. This is done to ensure that the armies wouldn''t just converge towards the central ins constantly, but would be forced to traverse the dangers and the many different biomes that were created. Yes, dangers, plural. This world, this small world between alternate realities, dimensions is rumored to house many unique challenges. The ''participants'', the followers, and mercenaries of the opposing four leaders don''t only have to face each other, but also the entities and threats are thrown there. Horrors, Nightmarish entities, monsters, and even, if the rumors could be believed: demons lie in wait beneath the surface to prey upon the unsuspecting, unlucky sods that invade their eternal cells. Whilst it was mostly explored once in the past, there are many unknown secrets tucked away in this world - The day was closing towards early lunchtime by the time the team got back to the mansion. Looking at his friends and family from the back, Aiden couldn''t help but smile. Though their time together was still rtively short, he couldn''t help but feel how lucky he truly was. Born as a being, a member of a race that was already lost and forgotten to this world, he couldn''t help but feel lucky that he met such wonderful people. Being found and taken in by Granny and Lily, he found himself a new family when he had no one and nowhere to turn to. They have shown him the familial love that as it turned outter, was stolen from him not once, but twice already. Later on, with Number 3, his Master joining them, he even had a parental, mother-like figure in his life once again. Sadly, to his and Lily''s great dismay and growing concern, she still hasn''t emerged from the cocoon, her forbidden, taboo evolution was still going on. Her life signs are stable, and her shell being guarded in the safety of Haven, Aiden''s own, growing world, she still hasn''t shown any signs of change after all this time. Even though he was told before that this evolution could take days, weeks, even years it was still quite hard to spend day after day, not knowing what was truly going on with one of the most important people in your life. Going on, over thest couple of days, the slight misunderstandings and mishaps amongst the girls were seemingly resolved, or maybe just tucked beneath the surface. Regardless, the ''Girl Squad'' have grown quite close to each other in these past days through the many ventures, hardest, and most challenging quests they have taken on. From exploring new, unexplored regions of the underground dungeons to settling disputes, vanquishing thugs, or just hunting for specific monster and animal parts The team has bonded through blood, sweat, and tears. Galina, the once goblin, now the only servant that shed its origins has be somewhat of a sister to Lily. Though initially quite shy and wary, she has grown ustomed to her new circle of friends. Scarlet, Naybeah, and even Sara, who, although had times when she had to stay back in the Guild due to her many duties, and couldn''t join their escapades were also fully-fledged members of Aiden''s growing team. Looking over to the giant blonde amazon, Aiden still couldn''t know how to handle her feelings towards him. Though he liked the girl, it was far from being anything more than a pure friendship. Even though he now had his previous life''s memories, or maybe even because of that, he couldn''t open up his heartpletely. There was a wall, a barrier, that protected his heart from getting hurt. No matter how hard they tried, how strong they pushed, neither girl could truly ovee this obstacle. Still, regardless of the seemingly gargantuan task, neither one of the girls would give up. In fact, this shared struggle, their shared interest, desire to be with the man that has already taken their hearts, have just served as an additionalyer to pull them closer. Scarlet, and surprisingly even Galina have joined this crusade and have finally admitted if nothing else to the other girls, that they too wanted to chase after their hearts --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 453 - 453 - The Calm Before The Storm Apart from the girl''s finding a cause in trying to break through the walls protecting Aiden''s heart, the group kept up with their training, solving several of the hardest ongoing challenges posted on the Guild''s Mission Board. As such, each member of their group, Aiden included, gained several advancements in their skills and have grown considerately stronger. For Aiden, the growth was quite obvious, just from looking through his status page on the System. For the main page, the change was already quite obvious. [ *Status* | Lab | Domain | Activities ] [Status Screen ] [ *Main* | Skills | Analysis | Inventory ] [Name: Aiden Vordragon Race: Primal (Evolver) Current Form: Ancient Dragon (Human) Level: 15 Condition: 100% Resource: Soul Power (Level 2) : 1250 SP / 1250 SP System Points: 18450 EXP ****** Attributes: Might: 40 Agility: 39 Spirit: 45 ****** Note: For quicker, faster navigation please use the keywords in the following order: "Status", "Main".] He gained a boost to all 3 of his attributes, growing even stronger, faster and through the increase in his Spirit, had an even closer, more stable connection to the Spiritual Pool of the universal energy. Though the changes weren''t huge, they still earned him a substantial increase to his Soul Power reserves. Unfortunately, however, there seemed to be some unknown hurdle, thwarting him from breaking into the 3rd level, making his current progress being stuck at 99.9%. [ Resource: Soul Power (Level 2 - Progress: 99.99%) : 1250 SP / 1250 SP ] He tried, meditating for multiple nights, spending and wasting away hours upon hours making absolutely no progress. Strangely though, it seemed that neither the system nor Enya, his guide seemed to be bothered by his struggle, and did not give any hints or input on the matter. Well, at least not until the 3rd night, when finally they either felt sorry for him or maybe just some hidden restriction was finally lifted. Either way, in the middle of the 3rd night, his session was suddenly interrupted when the system''s notification sound rang inside his mind, pulling him out of his meditation. Taking a look at the newest message, Aiden was surprised to see a new quest arriving on his screen. After days and days of system-generated side quests that were just carbon copies of the missions they epted from the guild, it was a fresh sight to see something new. Not to mention, the type of the quest seemed to be something new, or at the very least something Aiden had no memory of ever seeing. Not Main Quest, Not side quest, not even Evolution or Fusion rted, but of the new category of System Quests. *Ding!* [New System Quest: Path to Divinity - Part 1: Beyond the Mortal Limits Difficulty: S+ Objective: Learn more about the Primordial Laws of the Universe, Create the skill ''Basic Divinity'' and reach a basic understanding of it (Level 1 - Progress: 25.00% required) Reward: Unlock Spirit Power Level 3, ????] There were several surprises in this update that shocked Aiden when he received it. For one, there were no failure conditions or any penalties, meaning that for the first time, he wasn''t punished nor forced to undertake the offered quest. Still, just from a quick read through it was clear that if he wanted to continue growing stronger he would best focus on this particr quest chain and work onpleting it diligently. Second, the objectives were too vague, it gave no clue or indication of what exactly was expected of him. He needed to ''learn more'', but how much more exactly? When would the system draw the line, deem that his current understanding of the topic was ''satisfactory''? Also, how is he expected to create such a strange skill? So far he has found two ways of acquiring new skills. First was through the natural, instinctual way of absorbing the life energy and mass of his defeated foes. This however was not something he could reliably count on, as there was no way, at least for now, to tell the beast or monster he was facing, what would he gain, or if even, he would be able to gather enough data to create the new form. The other was through this ''Lab'' this fusion of skills feature in his system. Yet, that was even more unpredictable than the former, as it wouldbine two or possibly even more of his currently existing skills giving him a new one with little to no way to force a more preferable oue. Although not much, when asked, Enya gave a cryptic, vague response about the matter. ''[Enlightenment Awaits in the Promised Land.]'' No matter how much Aiden tried, Enya wouldn''t provide anything other than that, or as itter he realized, she wasn''t able to. This was something along the lines of the limitations, enforced upon them by some higher driving force, she was unable to go against her directives as it was clear from examples from before. The breakthrough in this finally came justst night. Feeling helpless and increasingly frustrated about theck of progress in deciphering the text, Aiden decided to make a visit to Gupta and check on his people over there. However, as soon as he got to Haven and noticed the vast changes, the massive progress the residents have made during the time of their Master''s absence, Aiden was once again stunned. The small makeshift vige was steadily growing, slowly transforming. The small, crude wooden huts were gradually reced with sturdier, stone-made dwellings. The dirty, trodden dusty roads were also given a grand makeup, stone, and marble tiles being ced down. Still, the most obvious and eye-catching change was the creation of a central square with a depiction of him as a giant statue ced at it. Offerings of flowers, clothes, or anything that the residents that thought of any value were ced in front of it. Even more, the vigers, or better referred to as citizens now, could be seen kneeling in front of his metallic figure. His image had a bronze-like metallic shine, making Aiden even more surprised and baffled as to how the residents have achieved so much in such a short time. Though he was aware of the time dtion effect, the progress Gupta has made, transforming itself from a small, crude settlement into something that was slowly progressing towards a city, was just too unbelievable. As he was lost in the marvel of changes, Aiden noticed that as he focused his attention on the statue through the system''s top-down view, a new menu has appeared offering gradually appearing new options. Initially, only a single option was avable: By spending his gathered faith, he could invest and upgrade the statue by ''giving it a ''Divine Blessing''. This, though would spend all of his gathered reserves of the 5000 Faith, it would also transform the site into a Holy ce. It wouldn''t just provide him an increase in Faith through the offerings and prayers whispered on its grounds, it also gave him a slew of new opportunities in the system One of these was the option to ''Cogitate'' - "Aiden, you okay there, man?" The sound of his friend, Drake pulled him out of his thoughts. Donning his usual, calm and collected-looking cool smile, nodding at his inquiry. "Yeah" He responded, gazing over each and every friend of his, eventually resting his gaze at the silver-haired adventurous prince. "Let''s go in, we have much to discuss." --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 454 - 454 - The Last Meal The loud creaking noise quickly filled and echoed through the spacious hall of the Mistress'' mansion. Today, they were asked to spend some of their afternoon at the residence, so that they could go over all the information they have already covered and those that they have yet to get to. So far, though Aiden and the team agreed to work with the Mistress, it wasn''t because they wanted her, or for that matter, anybody of the 4 so-called Pirs, to stand up and be the next leader. The only reason they agreed to participate in this farce was because of the threat that the Empire has opposed on the kingdom. After arduous effort and most likely through torture rather than inquiry, the City Guards have more or less got the confirmation they suspected but dreaded: the empire would indeedunch its attack during the event. Unfortunately, they couldn''t get a more precise date, or anything more exact out of the captured enemy officer before he breathed hisst. In the end, they could only theorize and do their best to prepare, and just hope that the eventual oue will match one of the proposed scenarios Guided by servants, Aiden''s group was swiftly escorted to therge meeting room that they used before. The only differencepared to the past, however, was that the table was filled to the brim with a variety of dishes. Large bowls of soups in a variety of colors and smells were ced in between therge trays of meat and vegetable courses. Giant pitchers filled with water, wine, and probably a few other kinds of refreshments were also offered. At the helm, the Mistress, wearing only a half-mask covering only the upper half of her face and leaving her supple lips free, was already waiting for them. To her right, her faithful servant, Sebas gave a polite bow as the party of youngsters entered the room. Sara, standing next to Aiden took the lead and looked at her mother with a respectful gaze, immediately bowing in her direction. "Greetings Moth-, my Mistress." She politely greeted, being the first one to break the silence. "Ohoho, you can be at ease, my dear. No need for these rounds if we are only between ourselves." The Mistress chuckled before he turned towards her elderly servant and waved for him to lean closer. As the old man acquiesced and lent her ear to his master, the Mistress quickly whispered something into it, upon which the old man gave a respectful-looking nod before stepping away. Without saying a single word, he turned towards the door behind them and left swiftly alighted from the room. Once the door was closed, the Mistress turned her attention back to the group. She did give a slight, barely visible frown as the dogs in the rear entered as well, but did not say anything about it. "Come, take a seat guys, don''t be afraid. Everything here was prepared for you today! Get your fill, and prepare, as tomorrow at the same time, you will be stepping into that ursed realm and be trapped in there for the next 30 days!" Following her words, after some debate of who would sit closest to the aloof-looking boy, the group eventually managed to take their seats. Their eyes however weren''t on the luxurious,vish meals and dishes, but on the lightly smiling person at the helm. A short silence ensued as the group looked towards one of the Pirs that to this day, was only known to them. The rest of the city and the officials only knew about her through Sebas. After all, after the failed attempt to use the famed knight, the ''Golden Boy'' of the Adventurer''s Guild for this very same purpose, the Mistress referred to her trusty servant for all official matters. The city only knew that a supposed Master of the old man was one of thepetitors. He or she was supposedly rich, but for some mysterious and unknown reason not part of the local nobility. There was no info about the force he or she controlled, neither the city nor the other pirs could get anything substantial even though they didn''t shirk away from using scouts and spies and even followed the old man in his steps. Somehow, despite the many eyes on him, he could always slip away and escape One second he was there, then in the next, he vanished without a trace Seeing that the room''s atmosphere was still quite tense, the Mistress gave a light cough, before donning a smile that neither of them could make if it was forced or real and began to speak. "I know you are all nervous, worried about what is awaiting you tomorrow. I will not lie and say that you will be fine. You should all be aware of most of the dangers and threats this barren realm, this ''Battlefield'' they so keenly nicknamed, opposes. Apart from the heavy air, the armies of the other Pirs, there are many horrors kept in that ce, away from prying eyes." She spoke, her tone growing increasingly more and more serious as she continued. "While I do have some records about some of the possibilities that could be lying beneath the surface, they are only myths, legends. Stories told to scare the unruly children, to get them to train, to learn, to study." She sighed, her gaze shifted towards Sara for a moment before she went on. "This meal that I have prepared for you is my way of trying to say thank you from the bottom of my heart that you all decided to stand behind me." She looked at Aiden, who was already frowning at her words. She chuckled lightly at the scene. "I know that most of you didn''t join me because of my desire to wrestle the control from those tainted, corrupted ones, but are with me for your own goals. I tell you, that ispletely fine, either way, you desire the same as I. Justice. A better, brighter future, free from the grasp of this tainted, ever-present darkness." She snapped her fingers, as suddenly several maids entered the room, stepping towards each of the party members. She smiled at their startled looks, barely able to contain her gleeful giggles. "Please, be my guest and enjoy yourself to the fullest today. Whatever you desire, be it food, drink" She took a mischievous nce towards the boy and her daughter sitting and fidgeting at his right. Giving them a meaningful wink, she added with a lower, whispering, sensual tone. "or perhaps some privacy for the night" Before they could react, she shifted his attention and raised her voice back to her previous tone and volume as she finished her speech. "anything at all, just let me or any of the maids assigned to you know. I have prepared amodation for each of you! And with that, let''s eat!" She ended her speech, waving at the servants to start preparing. As the army of servants began to pour soups or prepare whatever the guests desired, the Mistress watched with keen interest as her daughter, the usually proud and respected official of the Adventurer''s Guild, finally reacted like a woman, a girl of her age should. Her fidgeting figure was a delightful sight for the usually cold and calcting mother to see --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 455 - 455 - A Feast Of Desires After the Mistress'' speech, the tense atmosphere in the room finally eased, the heavy pressuring air was gradually lifted and reced by a much livelier, healthier mood. With the foggy haze clearing, the group finally began to enjoy themselves and enjoy the prepared sumptuous meal. As if they entered a separate ne, for a few, fleeting minutes the worries of the outside world were pushed away. Everyone enjoyed themselves, filling their bellies with the grand variety of dishes. Some enjoying a full course dish with an equal amount of garnish, vegetables, and meat. Then again, others focused on one particr course. For Aiden, like always, he was calm as he sampled every type of meat, sighing and frowning most of the time as he realized that they were simr in quality to the meat he grew up with Granny, Lily, and his Master. In the end, he simply stopped once his reserves were filled and did not experiment any further. "Did you manage to find something to fulfill your heart''s desire?" As soon as he put back the utensils on his te, the Mistress called out for him, her voice carrying the tone of honest inquiry rather than anything darker. "Uhm." Aiden nodded, closing his eyes and leaning back on his chair. Not wanting to enter into any discussion, he focused his attention on his system instead. Through thest bit more than a week, his group had tackled 10 quests in total, each was marked as nigh impossible by the local standards and were hanging there for weeks. For some of them, like the Skink-cleanup one, it was actually ted to be transferred to either the Academy for further assistance from its students and professors or to be handed over to a higher branch. Then there were those that were supposed to be the duty of the City Guards, but for a variety of reasons, they asked for outside assistance. In one case, they were hired to clean up a local group of thugs that was formed from multiple smaller gangs and were tormenting one smaller district in the residential area of the town. The group turned out to be vastly simr both in how they operated and their setup to the one that shed with Aiden not too long ago. Once again, Aiden was met with the effects of the darkness, the ever-present taint that, like an invisible veil, have descended upon thisnd and continued to slowly but surely make its way inside the minds and hearts of the average people. By now, he was fairly certain that whatever was happening was anything but natural. Though he wasn''t sure of the specifics, if it was either a spell, a curse, or anything else, it was fairly clear at this point that something greater was at y. If you had any desire, anything hid at the back of your mind or pushed away deep in your soul or perhaps heart you weren''t safe. Slowly, but surely, this invisible haze will make its way into you, and change your perception of the world. Your deepest darkest desires will eventually surface, twisting and turning your outlook of the world. Still, it seemed that the effects weren''t permanent. Like with the case of the innkeeper, it seemed that either by directly facing the mistakes of your actions either by force or naturally, you would ''awaken'' from this trance. The effects of the haze would be lifted from your mind. Though it wasn''t clear as of yet if this were to be a permanent solution or perhaps just a temporary aid to this lingering problem, for the time being, Aiden had no other answers. He wanted answers, something, anything, however, unfortunately, Aiden wasn''t sure who to turn to. Would anybody even notice what was happening? Maybe to them, this was perfectly normal, it was the norm for their entire life. Maybe it was just him, after all, he was an existence that went against the veryws of the world itself. He was an entity that was forcibly removed from history and made extinct. His entire existence in this time was an impossibility, making him possibly the only creature in Eora to spot this peculiarity. Maybe this was the machination of the gods, ensuring that the beings under their rule will stay within their derived limits, and only those that they themselves deem worthy would be blessed and allowed to transcend their mortal shells and be the revered legends of times immemorial and would ascend to the Demi-God status. Still, he had hoped that either Granny, Number 3, or perhaps her sister, or the Mistress would be able to feel the chaotic energies surrounding them. With a frown pulling his lips into a displeased pout, Aiden opened his eyes and turned his attention to thedy sitting at the helm, who, like him, was resting, silently contemting on the many matters on her te. Still, he didn''t ask. Aiden did not say a word but just kept looking at this strange woman. Like her sister, his Master, she was also shrouded with mystery. There were just too many questions surrounding these siblings. Both of them, while looking human, their strength vastly surpassed what should be the limits of their race. They felt something else, something more than just the mortals walking all around His reverie was broken when the Mistress'' voice suddenly resounded in the room again, calling out as the lunch have slowlye to an end, and that it was time to move on to the main course of the day, the reason they actually gathered here. "I hope that you all have had your fill and are content. In case this is not the truth, please just let me know and allow me toplete your requests." She asked with a wide smile stretching across her uncovered lips. Her mask-covered eyes slowly paced over each and every youngster. Just as her eyes found their way towards the tallest person in the room, she haughtily guffawed, hitting the desk with her right fist. "Aight then Spooky Lady, I do have something to say!" Instantly, all the eyes in the room were turned on her, followed by a wide mixture of emotions and grimaces. Only Aiden seemed to be nonchnt, calm, not too bothered by the sudden outburst of the fiery and brazen amazon''s actions. "Yes? What can I help you with Miss Naybeah? Was any of the dishes not to your liking?" Giving a few seconds of silence, the Mistress asked the blonde girl. In response, Naybeah stood up, kicking her chair away in the process. She turned and looked at the boy sitting sandwiched between the Young Lady of the Mansion, Sara, and the blonde half-elven, the jealous little sister of his, Lily. She pointed at the boy, her face revealing a wide grin as she spoke. "I''m not gonna fancy my words, everyone knows it''s not my style" She started, her words going from cheery to cold and gradually turning weaker, meekish as she continued. At the same time, an uncharacteristic blush began to color her cheeks, her eyes slowly turning blurry with the tears as they began to gather. "Knowing that today may be ourst, as we march into the unknown tomorrow, I can''t wait anymore! Aiden!" She looked at the boy, taking a breather to gather all her willpower to push out the next words and shock everyone in the room. "I want to request that you share a room and bed with me tonight!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 456 - 456 - The Young Mistress Response Chapter 456 - G-Squad "I want to request that you share a room and bed with me tonight!" Naybeah exmation echoed in therge but suddenly-turned silent room. Her words instantly froze each and every person present, turning wide-eyed with a mixture of shock and surprise as they gazed at the brazen blonde amazon. Still, beneath the shock, there were a couple of other emotions rapidly rising. The usually cheery, calm blonde half-elven sister of Aiden, Lily''s face was twitching as she slowly turned to face the blushing amazon with a wave of rising, boiling anger. Her face contorting, it twisted, morphing into a frown then ultimately into a scowl. Her little hands were balled into tightly clenched fists, she was doing her absolute best to not explode andsh out on the towering, muscle-head girl. Surprisingly the other person present that had difficulty in epting Naybeah bold''s promation wasn''t Sara, the young lovestruck mistress, not even Galina, though she too felt slightly ufortable about the thought of his Young Master would be stolen away from him, she could still keep her cool. No, the second person, the other seething, raging young maiden, that was just a hair''s breadth away from jumping from her seat and throwing herself on the amazon with a loud battle cry was the fiery red-haired lost princess, Scarlet. She, who always presented a strong, prideful front, and was seemingly only interested in rebuilding her rtionship with her brother, has also openly admitted during one of their ''Girl Squad Evening Gatherings'' that she too, wants to pursue that dimwit dense boy. Still, the matter of fact remained, that besides proiming the deepest desire of her heart, she was yet to show or make any attempt to gain Aiden''s interest and hopefully conquer his so-far imprable heart. Despite that, it was her that just couldn''t take Naybeah''s brazen attempt at cheating the unwritten rules of the G-Squad. She was trembling, seething with rage in her seat, if looks alone could kill, Naybeah would long be frothing on the ground, struggling to breathe herst. Sadly, she had no such skill, she could only fire those theoretical daggers from her eyes as she squinted, and gritted her teeth. Her hands wandered over to the sides of her belt, grabbing the hilts of her daggers, ready to attack at any moment. A tense and awkward silence nketed the meeting after the amazon voiced her request. For over a minute nobody could utter a word, and besides Drake''s coughing fit due to him abruptly swallowing a size too big piece of meat. Eventually, the Mistress looked back at her, and as her lips slowly curved into an alluring smile, she spoke. "Could you please exin your request in a bit more detail, Miss Naybeah? Aiden here is still below the age to-" "I know!" Before the Mistress could even finish, Naybeah replied, her words gaining more and more momentum as she continued. From the trembling voice she initially spoke with, it was clear that she too was battling her own emotions and shyness, making it even more incredible that she could stand up for her own wishes, desires. "Being this potentially be ourst night, it is also thest chance for me, for us as well. I''m not sure about the others, but I am certain I do not want to regret this opportunity. Who knows what the tomorrow or the days after will hold?" Listening to her, the Mistress could only smile and nod appreciatively. This woman could stand up for her wishes and even withstand the angry, piercing stares of her friends sh opponents-in-love, unlike her own daughter, who even without looking at her was clear that she was on the same page, yet she could do nothing and just sit in her seat. The mistress could only sigh, and nod, as she began to respond to the request. "I understand. Although Aiden is still not considered an adult by themonws and traditions of the public, if he wills-" "No, mother. You can''t do that." Suddenly, the so-far quiet and calm-looking purple-haired young miss, Sara interrupted the discussion. A small, calm smile brightening her expression, she ced her utensils on the te in an elegant manner, took a napkin to cover and clear her lips as she continued whilst looking in the amazon''s direction. Still, one of the biggest surprises for the Mistress wasn''t the fact that her daughter finally stood up for herself, though it was a big moment, what froze her on the spot was the fact that for the first time since forever, she referred to her as ''Mother'' instead of ''Mistress''. As she turned silent to battle the iing threat of her waterworks breaking through their holds and drenching her mask, she turned to look at Sara, eagerly waiting for her reasoning on why such a request should be denied. "No, mother, you can''t do that." After a momentary pause, Sara repeated her words. Her calm gaze, despite being forcefully taking the center of attention so abruptly, scanned over the rest of her friends, peers. "You see, mother, we have an unwritten rule amongst ourselves, that our dear friend, Naybeah, seemingly have forgotten." She said, her gaze eventually turning to the embarrassed blonde giantess, she continued. "Naybeah dear, did you forget our pact? The vows we all made? Are you really going to break your own promise because of some risk? Didn''t we risk ourselves each and every day, when we or in most cases you set out for some of the most dangerous targets the city can offer?" Then turning her attention on Lily, she continued. "And you, Lily, are you just going to sit in silence and let this happen willingly? Where''s your conviction, your desire to uphold our words, and protect his ''interests'' as you have called it justst night? Was it all just that? Gentle blows to the wind?!" Lily was frozen, unable to properly respond. The best she could do was mutter incoherently under her nose, lowering her gaze, finding sce only on the ground below the desk. Sara sighed at the sight, shaking her head in dismissal. Slowly, she nced over the rest of the girls in the party, her gaze slowly wandering back on her mother, the famed Mistress of the mansion. "So mother, please allow me to decline this request in your name, as it would go against our friendship, the driving core of our team. If Naybeah wants to im victory, she has to do it fairly, she has to carve her path through sheer hard work, and unfaltering will." She took a quick nce at the boy, who just looked at the weird scene with an oblivious dense look in his eyes. "We can''t skip over, we all have to drill through that solid stone" She sighed, ending her speech and slumping back on her chair with a wry smile as she kept looking at the clueless boy. The Mistress was utterly astonished at her daughter''s words, she chuckled at the not-so-hidden double meaning of herst phrase. She lightly nodded, epting her reasoning, before turning her attention back on the fidgeting amazon at the other side. As their gazes met, even without saying a word, Naybeah was clear that she better sit down and forget whatever she was thinking. Though she knew it was futile, at least she tried. Still, the G-Squad won in the end. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 457 - 457 - Getting Ready To Leave After Naybeah''s request has been resolved in a satisfactory manner to all but the amazon herself, the rest of the lunch ended peacefully. Everyone has been given a spare room to settle for the rest of the day. They had no other tasks to do, the Mistress made sure so her little champions would be able to recover to their best states for the uing event the next day. As each was escorted to their room and said their goodbyes, Aiden could finally sigh with relief as the door closed behind him. He was hoping that he wouldn''t have to speak up and offend any of the girls, but he found it increasingly more and more worrisome to traverse the waters between the girls. Each one of them, -shockingly even her sister and the gentle and shy Galina also-, have joined, banded together for the single goal to go after him. He wasn''t as dense as he portrayed to them, he clearly understood their folly, their desire. Still, he wasn''t like the others. Though physically he was but a 17-year-old young healthy man, he was actually much, much older than that. He lived after all a full 21 years as a member of the modern, Urban Society, grew to adulthood, studied in an redited university, and also found the love of his life in the sister of his best friend. Sadly, that love could never truly blossom, as that life was rudely taken from him, and he was thrown back to an old-new world, which as itter turned out, was his origin ce of birth, Eora. So, despite looking like a young teen, he had the experience of two lives, and whilst he never had the chance to truly enjoy each other, he still held Kat fondly in his heart. Despite this second chance, he still couldn''t fully process that loss, and move on. Maybe it was because she could still be out there living her life, and hopefully still holding him fondly in her heart. After all, time seemed to flow differently in the two realities. What was 21 years for him in that life, it was thousands of years in the other. If going by that logic, his time here would barely be half a day there. From what Aiden knew, maybe it was just dawning the next morning after the incident and his abrupt demise. She may still be held in the hospital, just waking up and realizing that her boyfriend was taken from him forever. Because of these thoughts, he couldn''t just give up on her, he couldn''t just simply move on. If there was a chance, no matter how minuscule, Aiden would definitely take it, if it meant they could be reunited. Unless all avenues were closed, and hope was definitely lost, he wouldn''t be able to let go of this chance. Though he cared for everyone in his party, before resolving the matters of his other life, he couldn''t be truly happy. Then again, the matter wasn''t as simple as just gathering enough strength and power and traverse dimensions, universes. No, he couldn''t just turn to his friends and allies and say ''Hey, I need to visit my past world where I actually came from and reunite with my true love! Hope you understand and can help!'' No, this was a matter Aiden knew he had to resolve by himself. Shaking his head, Aiden sighed, forcefully clearing and calming his mind from these clouding thoughts. There was yet another issue that needed his immediate attention, and this day is hisst chance in peace for a while, he wanted to do everything in his power toplete the System Quest. Sitting down cross-legged at the center of the room, Aiden slowly exhaled, closed his eyes, and willed his system interface to appear in front of him. He quickly brought up histest, and most pressing quest reading it through one more time, making sure he wouldn''t miss any detail hiding between the lines. [New System Quest: Path to Divinity - Part 1: Beyond the Mortal Limits Difficulty: S+ Objective: Learn more about the Primordial Laws of the Universe, Create the skill ''Basic Divinity'' and reach a basic understanding of it (Level 1 - Progress: 25.00% required) Reward: Unlock Spirit Power Level 3, ????] The only clue he received before was that ''[Enlightenment Awaits in the Promised Land.]'' which at first didn''t seem to be helpful, but after hisst visit to Haven, he felt that he was on the right track. The changes in Gupta, the rapid advancement, that statue he upgraded through the system, and the gathered Faith, was probably the clue, the key in resolving this current problem. He wanted to use the rest of his time before tomorrow to do everything he could and trypleting this quest, so he could finally break through to the next level and strengthen his reserves further. He wasn''t exactly sure what would await him once he aplished this task, but for some reason, he felt that he needed to cross this milestone,plete this hurdle before being thrown to the Battleground. He heaved a sigh, releasing a slow and long exhale once more, gradually calming his nerves. Once he felt the cool, the rity return pushing his agitation, his impatience to the back of his head, Aiden switched over to the third, Domain tab in the system. As soon as he felt the connection growing inside him, he gently waved his right hand in front of him drawing a sloped dome in the air. Behind the arch his hand drew, the air began to buzz with an overflow of energy, before suddenly the air seemingly ripped to shreds, tearing away the very fabric of this reality. In a few short moments, a [Gateway] was opened, giving a glimpse over to the other, paradisiacal scene to the other side. Taking just a couple additional seconds, Aiden nced over to his minimap, making sure that his friends were all okay and he could leave them for the rest of the day without worry. Seeing as everyone was seemingly okay, he only smiled as he saw that the girls once again gathered at Lily''s room, despite the small disagreement from before they didn''t miss the chance to meet and discuss. Though they werepetitive, it seemed that they did grow closer and that they were good friends. He could be assured that no matter their goals, they would continue to protect each other and that they would face the threats and dangers as a unified group. He could finally rest assured that his dear sister, finally found people, true friends she could rely on. He didn''t need to worry that Galina would be left alone and isted from the rest of the party. Her secret, her origin of being a shunned creature, a mere goblin no longer mattered, as she was within like-minded, good souls. Seeing her status, Aiden smiled, as he knew she was enjoying herself. She was happy, without the worries of the past. After taking a quick look at the sole resident of the room to his left, Aiden smiled and shook his head seeing that his friend was left alone, forced to stay in his room. The girls went as far as to send Sam and Biggs to guard his door, not allowing the only other man to peek at them. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 458 - 458 - Improvements - Progress Knowing that he could rest assured about his friends, Aiden heaved a sigh, and rxed his tensed muscles, before turning his attention back on the swirling mirror-like portal, the [Gateway] to Haven, and stepping through it. In a moment, his entire figure, his presence vanished without a trace from Eora, only to reappear in another ne altogether. As soon as all traces of his life force were gone and were no longer traceable, in the ground floor''s Study Room, the Masked Mistress turned a surprised expression, standing up from her desk and looking in the direction of the now-empty room. A soft giggle escaped her lips beneath the mask as she slowly walked to her favorite spot in the room: beside therge window frame looking at the city over yonder. She didn''t say a word, but her soft giggles continued to fill the void of the study for minutes toe Back in Haven, at the center of the emerald green in, just a bit away from a peculiar ziggurat, the air cracked. Jolts of electricity sparkled, sizzling with visible excitement as a spatial tear was formed, the essences lingering in the air assisting in the creation of the now familiar-looking [Gateway]. As the arched doorway appeared, the entire realm was instantly alerted, as the signature energy of the Master has rippled through the air. Close to the source, the stationed guards in the newly erected ziggurat were jolted, springing to full alert, with a growing, excited smirk stered on their faces. Their Master no, their GOD, the undisputed Ruler of Haven hase back once more! Each was already aware of the specific procedures for such a situation were to happen, the Council of Elders have made sure to drill the instructions to each and every one of Guptan resident''s mind, heart, and soul. Though it may sound like a forced manner, in reality, none have minded the extra lessons, the arduous training. Each and every resident was clear about how their situation has onlye to this, because of HIS benevolence. His kindness was what saved them from their gruesome fate and have altered destiny, twisting it in such a manner that they could now live in peace, safely, away from the corruption of humanity. So, when the familiar signature of energy traversed across Haven and alerted each and every resident, be it Orc, Goblin, or the newest of settlers, the skinks, everyone without fail, have begun the preparation to wee their lord and master. The surface of the portal rippled as Aiden emerged from it, his bare feet stepping once again on the dewy, bright, and lush grass of this paradisend of his. Like always, his first course of action was to take arge breath of the fresh air, savoring for a bit before slowly releasing it, exhaling in a slow-paced manner whilst taking his time taking in the changes in his immediate surroundings. This time, however, his eyes stopped instantly, as he looked to his right and spotted the newly erected, mysterious structure close to his location. Though surprised by the grand architecture, he wasn''t confused at all, he knew that it was probably the decision of his servants that such an investment was made for him. He knew he could feel that in the very depths of this structure guarded by a dozen of probably the highest, strongest of what Gupta could muster, his Master''s evolutionary cocoon was lying. Aiden''s eyes gazed at the direction of where Number 3 were, lingering on them for several long seconds before he heaved a sigh, and averted his gaze with a bitter expression, focusing on the constantly growing settlement in the distance. It seemed that every time he woulde to visit, the scenery would change in such a vast and unexpected manner that would stun and freeze him. He sighed as he spotted the outer walls of what seemed like the stone, reinforced walls of cozy-looking houses. From where he stood, he couldn''t spot any of the past wood and dirt-covered tents, yurts, or bungalows. Solid stone, or some sort of mineral-made houses dotted the horizon stretching all the way from the distant mountainside, towards thekebed which remained the only area that was yet to be upgraded in a simr fashion. Still, even that area has shown signs of advancement, the skinks were quite eager to fulfill the dreams of their race, their characteristic touches have already begun to show themselves. Seeing a simr-looking pointed top peeking through the jungle of tents at the center of the muddy, swampy area the little lizards have created, Aiden''s interest was piqued. With a blink, he instantly willed the system''s top-down view of thendscape to appear in front of him, and closed in on the skink''s territory, to confirm his suspicions. Just as he expected, at the central area, surrounded and forming a protective barrier, a stone structure was erected. Though it was still small, it was of a simr design to the ziggurat where Number 3 was kept safe. "Hmmm They have started it seems. The first temple was already built." Aiden instantly knew what it was. The first temple that would be just one of the many once their dream would be realized and their revered heritage would once again appear. The ''Temple-Cities'' as they referred to them, would be the center of their new civilization, where the dwindling races of the Lizardmen would be able to live in safety and peace. A sudden wave has broken Aiden''s reverie, the shared channel he shared with their servants was brimming with activity. He smiled as he listened to their excited conversations. "[Orc] The Young Master has returned! Why are you guys are stillgging behind, he is probably already waiting for us!" Roas'' tone was full of excitement and the eagerness of a child that was about to meet with his father, painting quite aical mental sight for Aiden. He could barely hold his chuckle and keep listening in silence whilst slowly walking towards Gupta. "[Goblin] Wait up already! Not everyone is so carefree to justze around all day!" Glohn''s grumble could be heard next, grunting as he was rushing after the grey giant. "[Goblin] Yeah! Just as the teacher says, Brother Roas should be a bit more patient! I was in the middle of training our newest members!" Gob eximed. He was actually the furthest away, as a little dark green creature just charged past him. In a moment before their surprised exim coulde through the mental channel, Thuk had already overtaken Glohn and was closing in on Roas dangerously fast. His squeaking, excitement-filled tone came just as he got near the tall giant. "Weeeeee Master is baaaaack! I''m gonna be the first to reach him!" He chuckled and giggled, acting just like a small child, like Roas, who, not wanting to be left behind and be second only, have increased his pace as well. "[Orc] No! Thuk you can''t beat me!" Aiden just shook his head, smiling at the sight of the rapidly growing dots in the distance as they closed in on his location. It seemed that no matter how much they grew, their reverence would not only not falter, but grow to such dangerous levels, as they would willingly leave everything behind just to be in his presence --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 459 - 459 - Overzealousness "You guys!" Suddenly, another, fifth presence joined the discussion, sending the rest of the boys (with the exception of Thuk, who kept happily galloping), to stop in their tracks and focus on the long-missed member of their group. "You guys are so childish again! Master hasn''t been away for that long!" "[Goblin] Galina, my dear!" Glohn eximed, his voice is filled with happiness. "Today is truly a great one! Tell us, little girl, how is going for you on the other side?" He guffawed happily, slowing his pace to a leisurely walk as he continued his merry way, more focused on the voice of the girl that he had kept in his heart something like a daughter. At the same time, Gob, the one that was closest to her, and was a sort of ''brother figure, also cheerfully cried. "[Goblin] Sister! It''s so good to hear your voice! How are you? Did anybody bully you?" A light, soft, gentle chuckle resounded in the participant''s head as Galina giggled at her brethren''s words. "Everything is fine brother. It''s good to hear your voice guys, truly!" She responded, giggling between her words, clearly happy to hear the voice of those she considered as her closest family besides the Young Master. "But anyway, why are you acting like children? Master hasn''t been away from Haven for that long. It was a bit more than a day and a half since hisst visit!" "[Goblin] Oh, little Galina, you are so mistaken!" Glohn, her teacher answered, surprising the girl with his next statement. "For us, it was much more than that! Today marks the 3rd day since the Young Master''sst visit. Also, keep in mind that a day here is-" Unfortunately, his words were cut short when the excited happy squeal of the little lizard, Thuk came,pletely filling their shared mental channels with his happy cries. "Thuk was the first, Thuk won! Thuk is the first to meet the Master! Thuk has beaten the ugly giant!" Looking back at the calmly approaching Aiden, he was now on the ground with a dark green-scaled lizard happily jumping up and down on his chest. Doing his little dance, as he happily squealed, enjoying his victory over the grey orc, Roas. "Master! You are back!" Thuk eximed happily, acting like a spoiled child in front of his father. "Thuk Could you" Pressed down on the ground, on the lizard''s surprising weight, Aiden groaned, trying to push the little creature off of him, albeit without much sess. "[Orc] Little Thuk, step down from the Young Master, you are bothering him!" Breaking the celebration, the rough, gruff shout of the feared giant''s voice came from behind, causing the little creature to tremble for a moment, before quickly epting the order of the fearsome warrior. Then, as if just realizing his mistake and rude behavior, he bowed down, crying in an apologetic tone. "Please forgive my insolence, Young Master! I was just too happy to see you again! I didn''t mean to be disrespectful!" A happy chuckle was the only response to the little lizard''s heartfelt apology, causing him to raise his head looking at the now sitting Young Master questioningly. "Don''t worry about it, I don''t mind." Aiden spoke after a while, slowly pushing himself up from the ground, looking in the direction of the rest of the group that followed after Roas. He looked over at them with his usual calm, friendly smile, giving a slight nod as a greeting as they arrived one after another. In the end, only the little shydy, he left behind with the rest was missing. "Galina, my dear, why do I feel that you are disappointed and sad? Did you perhaps wished to visit your family in Gupta?" He asked through the shared mental channel breaking the ensuing silence. Though she wasn''t visible, Aiden could already imagine the pout she would disy at this moment as she spoke with a displeased tone. "Yes, Master. You always go alone, and leave me behind! When will you allow me to visit with you? I miss my brothers and my teacher also!" She eximed, feeling hurt and left behind. "I apologize if that is the case, my dear. I only left you there because I thought you enjoyed your time with the other girls. You seemed happy and content amongst them. I wasn''t aware you didn''t enjoy theirpany." Aiden spoke, being surprised by the girl''s sudden outburst. Before he left, he made sure to check up on her as well, and he didn''t feel any negative emotioning from her. She was genuinely happy and cheerful to be amongst the others. "No, Master! I love my sisters!" Galina hurriedly eximed. "It''s just I haven''t seen any of my family since they left. I want to hug my brother and teacher, and see how much progress they made! I also want to show them my new body!" "[Goblin] New body? What do you mean, Galina?" Gob''s voice suddenly came, joining the conversation. "[Goblin] What happened to you, Galina? Did you evolve again?" Glohn asked, feeling concerned about his pupil. "Master, you still haven''t told them?" Instead of answering them, Galina also fired a question of her own. Aiden could only sigh, feeling a headacheing his way at the slew of questions he was sure to be asked Taking a moment, he calmed his nerves and gathered his thoughts before responding to their queries and exining the events surrounding Galina''s evolution to hertest, marvelous state. Her new form, being a Lesser Primal, shocked everyone present, including the usually proud and stoic Roas, who immediately asked the Young Master to bring him along as well. It took Aiden almost a full hour before the emotions were back to an eptable level and he could finally move on to the main topic, the reason for his current presence. However, once he got to the topic of the statue of him, the group once again fired up and began to tell the various tales surrounding the site now considered to be holy with great enthusiasm. Stories about the fatigue being lifted from the weary body, the sickness being cured just by a single prayer filled the next several minutes, shocking Aiden more and more as he kept listening. ''How is this possible?'' He mentally remarked, not sure what to make of what he was being told. Did this somehow rte to hisst actions? In the end, he decided to visit the site he had not seen for a while, allowing him to be escorted by his overly eager, zealous servants, even going as far as allowing them to ''properly wee him'' whatever that actually meant. However, his leisurely attitude, his nonchnt response proved to be a grave mistake in the next few minutes. As the grand escort of the highest-ranked members of Gupta returned with their Lord in tow, Aiden was weed with a fully prepared grand spectacle. The people of Gupta gathered along the Central Square, cheering, dancing, and celebrating happily. Aiden felt as if he was returning from a victorious conquest and achieving something grand, causing him to smile wryly and be unsure of what to say and how to react. He was slowly escorted towards the giant statue of himself, looking down at his people with a warm, gentle smile. Still, as he neared his own bronze carving, he could feel a presence, simr to his own radiating from its depths --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 460 - 460 - Obsession (AN: Myptop died while writing this chapter, forcing me to finish the chapter on my phone. Gosh, that was brutal... Anyway, I''ll try to get something for tomorrow, but there could be a chance that unless I find a miracle, that there would be a dy. Sorry. ) --- Current Faith: 2231 Aiden was once again left speechless as he gazed at the astonishing number in his system screen. He has already noticed this strange phenomenon, that the resource continued to be umted at a hastened pace, but even knowing that the rate was just way too fast. Were the Guptans really this devoted to him? Or was there something else in y? Aiden couldn''t understand the underlying logic but had a feeling that his blessing, this holy statue, had some hand in this astonishing result. Aiden realized that he was way too ignorant about this new feature so far, he didn''t even understand how this new resource was gathered, or what were his current limits with it. In his first attempt, he actually altered thendscape around the back-then vige, creating an entire mountain ridge, and arge body of ake! With that, he made the first step in making this new world a living, breathing ne, reforming it and slowly but surely making it turn into a full-fledged realm! Yet, he was basically just ying around with his system, not really being aware of what he was doing at the time. Yes, he managed toplete what he set out to do, but he had no answers to any of the pressing questions regarding these supposed ''godly powers''. ording to Enya, his system guide, and the system as well, what he did wasn''t anything new, but the dormant powers residing inside him. These divine powers were his, he justcked the understanding of it. The system was merely the interface, acting simrly like how it did and continued to do during his absorption and evolutions: assisting his body, his cells, his mind for an optimal resolution. Thinking about the matter, Aiden suddenly gasped in realization. If this were the case then all the necessary knowledge should already be at his disposal! He just needed to understand how to ess and process them! Still, the question remained: How should he do that? What was required of him exactly? Focusing on the matters of his growing divinity, Aiden was lost in thought, standing still, seemingly lost in gazing at his own carved depiction. His servants seeing and feeling their master''s contemtive state, decided to not bother him, but instead surrounded him, shielding him from the curious and nosy, though as word got out that the Lord was in the Central Square, the almost steadily increasing numbers of the Guptans kept converging on his spot. In the span of some minutes, themotion has already grown to a state that the guards had to be called in so they could block the citizenry from approaching their Lord and Master. Meanwhile, Aiden was lost in his own Soul Space, his spiritual body floating above the endless void that was his own inner world. In the distance, he could see small inds floating, breaking the perpetual emptiness, clear marks of Rygintarts'' relentless work in trying to transform this despairing world. Still, what mostly grabbed his attention was the faint presenceing from deep down below. An ancient archaic presence, a sentient entity shackled, chained deep with him. Still its faint aura, its strange, yet vaguely familiar traces of energy intrigued him. Though he couldn''t exin, as no matter how he tried, -he couldn''t remember evering into contact with this power-, he felt that he should know what this was, who this was. Lowering his gaze, he gazed below the darkness, trying to find traces, breadcrumbs to follow. Just as he tried to focus on the entity''s direction and was hoping to make contact, suddenly he felt the pressure of his entire world descend on him, blocking, thwarting his attempts. In the next instant, the floating ball of light, Enya appeared in front of him, her concerned tone of voice echoing around their vicinity. ''[Aiden, you are still not ready, please do not try to go against the restrictions. Not yet. You are not ready. Your answers about your current problems lie with the Holy Statue! Look into it one more time, and cog-]'' Before she could finish, Aiden felt his entire self being ripped apart under a sudden pull, ejecting him from his inner world, and forcefully throwing his consciousness back to reality. With a loud gasp, as if he had juste afloat after a lengthy adventure below the depth of the sea, he greedily inhaled the healthy, unpolluted air around him. His eyes going wide, Aiden was shocked to see thergemotion gathering around the square. With a confused gaze, he nced around the thick crowd that surrounded the za. He actually felt ufortable under the reverent, devout looks of the people. Although he was aware of their devotion, he was still not allfortable being pressured under such duress. He sighed, turning away and instead focusing his attention on the statue in front of him. "[Orc] What is going on, guys? Is there something I''m not aware of? Is there a problem I need to resolve?" He asked, not realizing that the cause of themotion was actually his sudden presence. Turning away from the crowd, Roas'' cold look eased, deforming into a wry smile as he gazed down at his Young Master. "[Orc] Young Master There is nothing that would require your immediate attention." He replied, taking a moment to see Aiden''s reaction before continuing. "[Orc] If that is the case then why is everyone looking at me for? Did I do something? Are they waiting for some words? Do I need to speak up?" He asked, growing more confused as he listened to his first servant. "[Goblin] Young Master They are here-" "[Orc] because of you." Roas finished Glohn''s words, looking apprehensive, hoping that his promation would not offend or ruin his Young Master''s mood or the objective of his current arrival. To his relief, Aiden was more surprised and bewildered than anything else, pointing at himself, he asked with an incredulous look on his face. "[Orc] Because of me? Why? They saw me before, why are they reacting in such a way? I don''t understand it" To Aiden''s innocent-sounding question, the boy was unsure of how to respond. In truth, ever since his statue began to glow and emit that warmth and the miracles began to happen, Aiden''s stature was elevated, growing rapidly in the eyes of Haven''s people. From a Master, a Lord, to something that was even above the mythical gods of their races legends. He was akin to the seconding of their progenitor, the reason for their change of fate, the true light that found them in their darkest, reached for them and saved them. In the eyes of everyone in Haven, Aiden was already growing to such a title, to such a state, that just by having the chance to take a peek at his holy silhouette would be akin to years of fortune. Those that managed to im that have done the feat would be envied and respected by the others So how could they tell their Young Master, how rapidly he was growing in the eyes of the many? How could they tell him that there was a growing obsession, that he was more than just a Lord, that the Guptan residents would happily die, sacrifice themselves just for a smile of his?! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 461 - 461 - The Holy Statue Seeing his servant''s troubled expressions as they struggled to respond to his simple questions, Aiden decided to not press the matter for the time being. Though he still couldn''t understand itpletely, he could clearly see the end results. His umtion of Faith was growing at an astonishing rate, the residents of Gupta were devoted, reverent towards him, and the appearance of the Holy Statue only increased their devotion. From the many flowers, clothes, minerals ced at the foot of his statue, he could understand that the simple prayers have evolved since hisst visits, and a material offering was now probably part of the wishes. This in turn seemed to have an obvious effect on how much Faith Aiden would receive from each of their daily worship. Aiden''s expression eased, returning to his usual calm, nonchnt smile. Slowly gazing over each of his servants, he slowly closed his eyelids, heaving a long, slow sigh as his mind slowly reached its rity. The previous concerns, the questions, the confusions simply wafted away like small puffy clouds under the summer''s gentle breeze. He slowly inhaled another mouthful of the clear, fresh air, taking a couple of seconds to store it down in his diaphragm before taking his time to slowly exhale again. As he did, his mind descended even further, all unnecessary blockades, hurdles were blown away, his path towards this peculiar state was gradually cleared out. As if by instinct, whilst still keeping his eyes closed and his mind floating across the dreamlike mindscape, this transcendental state, he slowly crouched down, sitting down on the ground cross-legged. He breathed again, slowly, enjoying every ounce of the fresh, unpolluted, energy-rich Haven air, as it filled both of his lungs. Seconds passed as he kept it inside, enjoying as his cells were rapidly reinvigorated, his spirit rejuvenated under its natural effects. With each slow, stretched-out exhale, Aiden''s mind descended deeper and deeper into a new, peculiar state. With each exhale, Aiden felt the change gradually happening. Amidst the darkness in his mind, he could slowly feel it. A connection. A link. A new source, the root cause of everything that was happening to him. A shared existence, a new-old presence. It was himself, yet it wasn''t at the same time. A paradox sensation, that, while it was confusing, it was also clear as the day at the same time. With each exhale, he could feel as his mind slowly entered this new entity, this new solid object, multiplying. Dizziness, the sensation of vertigo suddenly overwhelmed his senses, causing his heart to suddenly beat in a swifter, more agitated passion. His whole body was trembling, as his mind was suddenly overwhelmed with a slew of new information. Whispers, prayers, pleas, and words of gratitude from hundreds of individuals suddenly filled his mind, quickly overwhelming his senses, causing his real body to shudder, his face to twitch and grimace under the sudden invasion. Yet, Aiden didn''t panic. Though everything was new, still, he had a basic understanding of what was happening. He took a moment, slowly inhaling arge gasp of the Haven''s air, taking his time to savor it. Once again, he began to slowly exhale, calming his senses, focusing on his mind that was now actually inside the Holy Statue, a part of his will was actually inhabiting it! Through it, he could actually hear the various pleas, prayers, or whispers that were aimed at him. All the private, intimate talks that each and every devoted resident of Gupta shared with him, was suddenly clear inside his mind. Though there were hundreds, no, COUNTLESS voices assaulting him at the same time, the system was instantly there to assist him, forcing order into the chaos, and projecting an interface for him so he could listen and process the words of the many with more ease, listening to one at a time. The bell-like sound of his system broke his silent contemtion, informing him of the appearance of a new feature, a new option that has just appeared under the ''Domain'' tab. [Host''s understanding of his Divinity has increased!] [Connection with the Divine Will has been established!] [The feature: ''Divine Will'' has been unlocked under the Domain tab!] [Note: Host can rely on this feature to listen to and even address the requests and pleas of the devoted.] However, just as he was about to close the messages and return his attention to the ''Divine Will'' that he connected to, another message suddenly appeared in his feed, shocking Aiden instantly. [The skill: Divinity: Basic (Level 1) has been created!] Thest message has surprised Aiden, almost breaking his concentration. Quickly he shook his head, clearing it from the unnecessary thoughts once again. As his mind connected with the will inside the statue once more, he focused on the various whispers. Yet, in just a few mere moments he was forced to take a step back and bring up the system instead, as the chaotic storm that the many voices simultaneous assault presented were just too much for him at the moment. Instead, he focused his attention on the newly unlocked feature in his system. Upon his mentalmand, a semi-transparent screen appeared. [ Status | Lab | *Domain* | Activities ] [ Info | Manage | World | *Divine Will* | Tasks ] [Praises: 354 Pleas: 17] The screen was pretty basic, the system categorized the various whispers into two main categories. One for the positives, the ''Praises'', which were mostly just a variety of ways and even unrted moments that the residents have wanted to be grateful for and say their thanks to their lord. They were mostly a bunch of positive notes, the main driving force behind the rapid and continued increase in his Faith Points. The other category, coined as ''Pleas'' on the other hand were all the prayers where the residents were begging, requesting for some change, anything from the Great Lord. Though the positives vastly overwhelmed the negatives, Aiden was still mostly interested in those 17 requests. After all, these were the actual problems of his people, the residents of Haven. Resolving these problems would turn their plights into boons. He wanted everyone living in this ne to be satisfied, to be happy, to be detached from the worries of the old world. Still, before diving into the individual woes, Aiden''s attention was once again shifted, he focused on his actual connection shared with this Divine Will, his Holy Statue. He wanted to understand more, the whole concept, this shared consciousness, this second ''self'' that he had was just too sudden. Was this second will, this second presence still him, or another being? Was it truly sentient at all, or perhaps just a creation of his system, a doll, something simr to aputer AI, if he were topare it to his ''old'', urban world? Before Aiden was confident in relying on it, he needed to know that this wasn''t just another ploy, another tool made by the Mighty Entities that seemed to find enjoyment in toying with him. Aiden sighed again, slowly exhaling the used-up air from his lungs as he concentrated on this new connection, this new link with the Holy Statue. As he did, a muffled hum, a faint glow could be seen emanating both from his closed eyelids and from the center of the statue at the same time. They seemed to resonate, hum, and glow synchronously --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 462 - 462 - Divinity From the outside, the statue and Aiden seemed to be resonating on the same frequency, as if they were inplete harmony. As the light flickered at one, it also did the same on the other. From the onlookers, it was as if their Holy Statue wasn''t simply a sanctified object, but an extension of their Great Lord. An extra limb, an extra part of his divine body given to them to worship and embrace. The crowd surrounding the square was watching with tense silence as the events continued to y out in the za, where the meditating, situated Aiden was deep in his own thoughts, contemting, pondering about the peculiarities of the Divine Wills mysterious appearance. Seconds passed, turning into minutes before finally, Aiden''s lips trembled, heaving a heavy sigh. At the same time, his expression shifting, he revealed a defeated look. After all, he could do nothing but give up on his suspicions, at least for the moment. Though the state of his mind was still bothering him, and he still couldn''t fully process, understand what has actually happened, the fact was obvious. A second will, a second presence has somehow manifested inside him and was now inhabiting inside the statue. His presence, this ''Divine Will'' was him, but at the same it was different, it was something entirely new. It held a knowledge, unknown to his main body and mind, which did nothing just increase his doubts. ''[Aiden, don''t try to fight against it, there is no use.]'' Understanding his plight, Enya finally decided to reach out to him and speak. ''[That is still you, the manifestation of your divinity. This knowledge was always within you, you just couldn''t ess it.]'' Aiden wanted to argue, but before he could, Enya continued. ''[The system didn''t use you, it simply split it away from you, giving you a medium, an interface where you could slowly, gradually merge it back. You can absolve this vast knowledge and understand it yourself gradually.]'' Enya spoke, her voice was like before, mostly emotionless, insipid as she continued to exin the situation, and shed light on the pressing questions Aiden kept asking himself. ''[I know you still have questions, but for now, you have to be patient. I know you want to understand the origin of this power, the reason for everything that is happening. Even your ce in this world, or perhaps in the other one. Everything will be revealed when the timees.]'' There was a momentary silence, as she finished her speech. Aiden could only frown, not finding the right words to say to his guide. ''[For now, just follow my words, Aiden. You know that my purpose is to serve you, guide you on your journey on the path that you yourself chose.]'' Enya''s words broke the sudden silence once again, confusing Aiden once more. ''I chose this?'' He repeated her words, finding it hard to believe. He wanted to ask, to refute, but once again, he couldn''t and could just silently stare and ponder the meaning behind it all. ''[Focus on the connection with the Divine Will. Try to reach out to it, let the vast library of its knowledge slowly reveal itself to you. Allow it to reach back, let its energy enter you, mix in with your own. Don''t be afraid.]'' Though Aiden wished for answers around his past more, he knew that it was futile to ask. By now, he could understand the limitations, the boundaries that kept Enya shackled to set directives. Whoever she truly was, whatever her true connection to him, or any of his past incarnations was, she was now bound by a higher power and was forced to obey and follow a mission. In a way, as Aiden understood more and more about her guide, the closer he felt, the more he felt sorry for her fate. Still, what he found even stranger, inexplicable was her brief moments of freedom. During those times, when her shackles were momentarily lifted from her spirit the only thing that was in her mind was how she could assist, help him. Aiden could never once feel the regret, the sorrow she nevermented about her misery but was alwaysser-focused on how could she help him. During those times, he could feel the overflowing love, the deep connection, the fondness of how she felt about him. Ever since he saw the memories of his family''s past, ever since hepleted the first trial and parts of his memory were returned to him, he felt that she wasn''t just an unknown spirit assigned to him, but she was someone from her past with a deep connection. His thoughts were broken as her annoyed voice filled her mind. Her grumbling quickly broke Aiden back to reality, to the task at hand. ''[Stop daydreaming, Aiden! Focus on what I have just told you! Now, focus on the connection, slowly reach out to the Divine Will and let it respond. Be patient, this process cannot be hurried, it has to bepleted at its own pace.]'' She spoke again, repeating her instructions from before. Sighing, Aiden cleared his mind once again, focusing on the instructions instead. His attention wandered back to the strange sensation of the shared senses, to the Holy Statue. Once again, he took his time, listening to the whispersing from the eternal void, reaching out to him, asking for guidance, begging for help, or just simply thanking him for his benevolence. The chaos, the storm was again beginning to overwhelm his mind, yet this time, he didn''t falter, he did not take a step back, he stood his ground. He braved the surging storm, he waited as he guarded against the endless whispers, the pleas. He waited, listened, he did his best to gradually get used to the weird sensation. Repeating the breathing technique, he eventually managed to find sce, the many whispers though not fadingpletely, were now silent, nothing more than faint breezes around him. His creased eyebrows, slowly calmed, the frown lifted away from his expression, as time kept passing. As he got used to the feeling, he also began to lower his guard, the walls and blocks guarding his mind thinned, gradually opening up the channel and turning it from a one-way path so that the other side could reach out. Minutes passed again as Aiden sat still, unmoving, as the calm once again dominated his outlook without any change happening. Then it happened, just as he was about to question everything that was transpiring. He felt it. The other side carefully reached out, information came from the other side, the energy, and with it, a new-old knowledge entering, merging with Aiden''s mind. Focusing on the stability of this inflow of information, Aiden once again submerged into a deep meditative state, both wills entangling, fusing Aiden was deeply focused in processing this gift, unaware of that his figure began to slowly glow, radiate with a golden hue, that was now flickering its color, its radiance shifting. Under the golden shine, a tinum sheen appeared for brief instants Meanwhile in the system, messages, notifications kept appearing one after another [Your understanding of the Primordial Laws is increasing] [The Divinity: Basic (Level 1) Progress: 1%] [The Divinity: Basic (Level 1) Progress: 1.01%] --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 463 - 463 - Awakening [Your understanding of the Primordial Laws is increasing] [The Divinity: Basic (Level 1) Progress: 1%] [The Divinity: Basic (Level 1) Progress: 1.01%] . . . [The Divinity: Basic (Level 1) Progress: 17.74%] As Aiden was bathed in the golden and tinum shine and as his mind slowly began to process the immense knowledge, at the same time, his progress, his experience, his proficiency with his newly acquired skill continued to grow, continued to increase. Seconds turned to minutes which then transformed into hours as Aiden remained in this state without any change in sight. The strange glimmer, the glow that surrounded him were retained, its colors continuously shifting, alternating between the bright golden luster that was now a trademark trait for Aiden, and the unknown, tinum hue. Aiden was in a deep state, the outside world haspletely vanished for him, his senses have closed, allowing him topletely immerse himself in this unknown state of being. Slowly but surely he began to grasp some grains about the grandws that built up not just this singr universe, but the EXISTENCE itself. The eternal battle between the eternal, ever-present darkness and the unkible strands of light. Despair and Hope in an eternal whirlpool, their battle never-ending. These simple truths, these metaphoric, philosophical debates were the basis of everything. The essence, which was ultimately the life force, the light that pushed away from the void. Still, despite the grand conjectures, the heavy, profound thesis, Aiden found himself growing more and more confused as he was slowly being fed this vast amount of information. What did this all mean? Yet, he had no time to stop and ponder, as the endless ocean continued to be forcefully pushed onto him. Images, visions, memories of the immensity of everything his mind was absolving kept shing through in front of his mental eyes. Though he was unaware, the process, the transformation he was undergoing, was something that no one else could have possibly aplished. Though he has already begun to pass down his legacy, and his once proud race has once again begun to show itself, he was still the veryst true primal in existence. His natural ability to absorb and fuse the life essence, and with it, the life, traits, skills, and most importantly the soul, the being of his opponent was what made this entire process possible. The ability to absorb consciousness and make it his own was what made this peculiar fusion to be a possibility. His mind was invaded with the memories of another being, which though was told was his own, in reality, was something far more Assaulted by strange visions, Aiden''s mind slowly was overtaken by strange, unknown, iprehensive memories Immersed in the process of this fusion, everything else around Aiden slowly became irrelevant. With his senses closed, allowing him to submerge into the depth of his own soul world, slowly but surely Aiden was losing everything that defined him. His experiences, as ifyers were slowly peeled off one after another, leaving nothing behind, but the in, naked truth. A shapeless, amorphous blob floated in the vastity of the void. Its thin membrane kept wobbling, its surface rippled as if an invisible current was slowly drifting him towards an unknown destination. Yet, the little creature was not still, it was processing vast amounts of information, slowly absolving it, making it his own. The creature, which was nothing more than just a lingering soul, a remnant of the past began to stir as it seemingly reached a threshold, crossed a milestone. Engulfed in tinum shine, the little, shapeless, formless creature''s center was slowly starting to show a change. An object was slowly forming, a crystal, acting as its center, his core appeared. As the crystal stirred into action, the little blob''s clear sma began to whirl, and twitch, as energy began to fill it up, causing his clear, semi-transparent nature to change, to shift. Chaos erupted in his center, giving way to more and more changes. The little blob was evolving, changing, aodating to its new directives As the weird, strange vision ended, Aiden found himself more confused than ever before. What was what he was seeing? Or maybe, a better question was Who? Shouldn''t this process just be a fusion of his own manifestation of divine will? If so, why was he assaulted with these strange, mysterious images? Time kept passing as Aiden was lost in his own world. Eventually, it seemed that the process wasing to a temporary halt, the continuous luminous cover that engulfed his body was fading, his body, still sitting cross-legged in front of his own statue, was bing visible once again. He felt the connection waning, his consciousness gradually awakening from its slumber. His eyelids fluttering, Aiden was slowly returning to reality, though still lost in a sea of questions, and doubts. He didn''t feel that he gained anything, other than confusing, iprehensible images that assaulted his mind for the past hours. Images, visions mostly about an empty, endless void, akin to what his understanding of the universe was, except that there would be no stars, nos, no asteroids no life. In the images, he was the only, singr entity, the only creature in existence, the sole convergence of that universe''s entirety of life forces. He was the only, and with that, also the ultimate existence. Still, that realization would have given him no sce, no happiness, as there was no one to share this feat with, no one to consult with. He felt lonely, sad in those visions. In those few hours of images that he was forced to relive, he experienced countless years of existence. He witnessed how the amorphous blob, which was vastly simr to his first form, slowly began to grow and change, ultimately gaining sentience in the span of a couple of million years. Though he probably witnessed at most 1% of the entity''s entire history, Aiden saw its birth, how it came to realize itself, how it grew sentience, how it began to refer to itself as he, and how it kept gaining power. Clearly, there was more to process, more to see, more to witness, but he had to take it slow. His mind, though strong, still had its limits, the journey of this entity seemed to be much more than Aiden could currently take. Graduallying back to his senses, Aiden nces over the blinking feed of messages, instantly turning shocked as he saw the progress he has made. [The Divinity: Basic (Level 1) Progress: 20.01%] Seeing the messages, Aiden sighed as his eyelids slowly parted. A look of disappointment was the first look that shed across his gaze, as he slowly came back to his senses. Though he made tremendous progress, most of itpletely unaware, it was still not enough toplete his goal. He was closer, much closer inpleting his System Quest, yet, at the same time far away from it. Though he held knowledge he didn''t know about before, it was not just iplete, it was mostlyprehensive, it made absolutely no sense. Seeing the young master returning to them, it was the eager, little lizard who broke the silence first. "Young Master! Young Master! You are awake!" Hearing the excited voice of his newest servant, a thin smile emerged on Aiden''s face. He turned to him and was about to speak when suddenly his eyes went wide with shock and surprise. Not just his either, all four of his servants froze in their spots, as suddenly a shock wave of energy shed through their bodies. A familiar life force churned, Number 3''s cocoon pulsed, she was ready to emerge from her cocoon! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 464 - 464 - Heartbeat *Thump!* Another sound wave rippled across the air, confirming the already rising suspicion, that something extraordinary was happening. Yet, it didn''t give time to residents of Haven to process what was happening, a momentter it came again. *Thump!* *Thump!* This time, it came with even more ferocity and an increased rhythm. Once again confirming that something momentous, something going against the veryws of the universe was going down. A taboo, a forbidden evolution was nearing itspletion. *Thump!* *Thump!* Once more, the rhythmic heartbeats traversed the air. As the realization hit him, Aiden could no longer stay still. His attention focused on the direction of the ziggurat in the distance, he was grinning with excitement. "Young Master Is it time?" Thuk asked his gaze following his Master''s. "[Orc] Is it time to meet our newest sister?" Roas asked as well, his voice trembling, his figure shaking with the sheer joy. Another one that his master pulls to his side, another one that would now share the secrets they all knew. Another sister, another sibling to their growing family. "Yes, it is time." Aiden nodded, his grin stretching his face wide. *Thump!* *Thump!* Just as the next round of sound waves reached them, Aiden could no longer sit still. He was about to jolt into a charge, but before that, he waved at his servants. "Come guys, let''s meet her!" He eximed, just as his figure vanished from its spot only to reappear several steps away. He was charging, rushing towards the distance, even going as far as activating his [Mystic Martial Arts] skill to further enhance his body and leaving only a blurry streak as he bolted towards his emerging Master. It didn''t take long for the group to arrive in front of the ziggurat, where the stationed guards were already standing at full attention, holding their spears in front of their bodies shakily, unsure of what they should be doing. Suddenly, a faint golden light seeped out from the small cracks of the ziggurat''s walls, as another heartbeat resonated within the air. *Thump!* *Thump!* The shockwave was even more powerful this time. Maybe because they were right at the center, or perhaps Number 3''s evolution has reached itspletion and she was now ready to break away the thickyer of protective, solidified energy-made shell, and step into the light once more. Following thetest heartbeats, a peculiar change happened. The air itself surrounding the ziggurat has changed, causing the guards to heavily cough and to be forced to take a step back, walking out of its reach, lest they would lose their consciousness. On the other hand, Aiden and his servants found the quality of the air to be much higher as if something new, something familiar was now added to the mix. Aiden only needed a single moment to realize; this air was vastly simr to that of the underground sanctum beneath the Orc Camp''s tower! "Soul Power!" He eximed with surprise as he felt the reinvigorating effects in his body. At the same time, his servants felt unlike ever before. The air felt cooler, even fresher than it already was but most importantly, they felt that their dwindling used up stamina, their reserves were slowly, gradually being refilled. The daily wear and tear, the drowsiness was slowly being washed away, restoring them to their daily peak states. *Thump!* *Thump!* Once again, the rippling sound waves pushed even more of the underlying energies towards the surface and were transforming the area into something habitable only to those that could handle the much higher quality energy filling the air. Knowing the dangers this could mean to the average citizenry, Aiden turned towards his servants. shing a serious outlook, hemanded them. "Stay outside and guard the perimeter. Do not let anybody approach, as it could be dangerous to them! Also, send the guards away, there is no need for them any longer." "[Orc] Yes, Young Master!" "[Goblin] At yourmand!" They eximed, rushing to their ces in such a manner that one could think that it was already practiced beforehand. Each one of them took one side of the structure, pushing the guards and the approaching crowd away. Their cold stature, their terrifying presence served more than enough warning to keep the curious eyes away. Giving it a moment, Aiden waited for the next round of heartbeats to arrive before taking a step forward. He didn''t need to wait long, but just a few seconds, as the beats were gradually increasing in power and in intensity as well. *Thump!* *Thump!* Inhaling the gradually thickening air and filling his lungs with the restorative energies, Aiden didn''t falter any longer, and walked towards the entrance of the ziggurat, while focusing his attention towards the direction where the egg should be ced. He had to admit, his servants did a splendid job at erecting such a building and even going as far as to create a quick underground chamber and ce the egg inside it in such a short time. Though the buildingcked any of the runic carvings or real enhancements, some faint traces of magic could be felting from its walls. As soon as he stepped inside, Aiden felt as if he stepped into another world entirely. The air was even thicker, the [Soul Power] was much more intense than just on the outside. It was as if a magical barrier, a thinyer of membrane covered the structures, a filter that forced most of the highly tense, and empowering traits to stay within the stone walls and not let it go to waste and waft away with the gentle breezes outside. Aiden felt an increasing familiarity as he took his time to get used to this peculiarity. Still, it would be a lie to say that he didn''t enjoy it, that he didn''t feelfortable. No, it just filled his mind with thoughts, desires to spend time in the future in trying to replicate these effects and create a ground, a territory for him and his growing family of evolved entities. Taking only a couple of short moments Aiden took a look around, taking in the inner design of the structure. Small carvings of a figure, that though it was a rough, crude representation, he could still guess that it was supposed to be himself filled the walls all around. Taking a few steps inside and leaving the entrance, Aiden found himself in a short and slim corridor. Immediately, he was met with a stone stairway that would have led him higher, towards the top of the structure whilst a dark entrance was looking ominously at his way from the opposite end. As if waiting for him only, as soon as his golden eyes nced towards the eerie darkness, a faint golden light glimmered from its depths, followed by the now-familiar beating from the Evolutionary Cocoon. *Thump!* *Thump!* With the growing giddiness and excitement, Aiden was barely able to contain himself, as he slowly paced towards the far end of the small hallway. His mind was filled with questions and theories about what he would be witnessing in just a few moments. What hade of Number 3? What did the artificial addition of a Monster Core made her turn out to be? There was one dreadful thought, making Aiden be slightly wary and careful as he got closer to the staircase leading down towards her chamber: Would she retain her sanity and continue to be his Master and family, or would she turn out to be an amalgamation, a monstrous entity? --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 465 - 465 - The Egg Aiden couldn''t be med for his doubts clouding his mind, weighing heavily on his heart. What they were doing here was something that went against everything, thews that made up the universe and even the wills of the very gods themselves! Humans were designed to be wed by their very nature. Their thirst for knowledge, their greed for more and more power would have otherwise made them an even worse gue than they already were. It was enough to just think back to the modern world where Aiden spent his second life and was still missing some aspects of it. Ever since the first primalkin evolved some conscience, and began to think for himself, destruction followed wherever their species set foot. Forests, jungles were burned, leaving behind nothing but charred wastnds. Entire species were hunted to extinction, their breed forever removed from the face of Earth. Again, driven by their unquenchable thirst for knowledge their experiments created new, dangerous organisms, bacterias, and viruses so deadly that, if left unchecked it could forever destroy all life as we know it. Yet, this wasn''t enough for them, their greed, their desire kept driving them forward, continuing their endless cycle of corruption. Even worse, these traits don''t just end with one world, but in every single one where humanity is present as a race. No matter where you go, which world you take a peek into, this endless cycle could always be found. Though an argument could be made, that humanity isn''t the only race sharing these traits, and while mostly you would be right (it''s enough to just think of the Dark Elves with their twisted nature and unjustified desire to enact vengeance on their surface-dweller counterparts), you would be hard-pressed to find another race that shared all of these dark traits at the same time as a racial trait. Aiden sighed, his expression showing signs of worry and a tinge of fear as he slowly descended on the stairs, keeping his senses, his full focus on the objectid carefully at the center of the underground chamber. As he descended on the hastily carved stone stairs, Aiden entered into a dimly lit small room. Four stone pirs were erected supporting the ground floor above, while a few symbols were carved on their surfaces and were glowing with a faint dark brown hue. Looking at them, Aiden though couldn''t be certain since hecked most of the necessary knowledge, could guess they were some sort of primitive enhancement-type spells that served to reinforce the columns, whilst also providing a sort of luminescence to the enclosed space. Besides them, the only other source of light was the glimmering egg itself, though that provided more than enough to bathe the otherwise gloomy ce into something that reminded Aiden of the small chamber with the altar back at the orc encampment. Unbridled power, a blinding golden light basked the small space with its glory. As if reacting to his presence, the heartbeats of the egg were speeding up, the previous long intervals of silence were gradually shortening. Loud thumps followed one after another, turning fiercer, more violent as the boy kept cautiously approaching his master''s ck cocoon. ''[Aiden, make sure you are prepared.]'' Enya''s voice suddenly resounded in his mind, warning the agitated youth not to lose his reasoning due to his overwhelming desire to be reunited with the human woman. ''I know We don''t know what will happen, there are no records about something like this ever happening I know.'' Aiden sighed, responding with a slightly annoyed, miffed tone. ''Still, I have you, I have the system''s almighty power What use does it have if I can''t even rely on it at times like this?!'' He eximed as he nced at the minimap, to see if there were any changes in the disy. With each step he took, he made sure to carefully monitor how the egg, or more precisely, the individual inside it was disyed by the system. If at any point, its bright friendly green color were ever to change, Aiden was ready to react ordingly. Well, mostly If it were to shift to deep red meaning it would be hostile, an enemy, Aiden wasn''t sure if he would be able to fight the emerging entity to the death. After all, whatever that ''thing'' would turn out to be, he would still hope that his Master would be inside it somewhere. Aiden would probably try to do everything in his power to just disable and restrain the entity and try to think of a way to try and bring her Master back. He would probably stand his ground for as long as he could. Even if it meant going against the entire world, he wouldn''t falter. Still, Aiden hoped that it wouldn''te to that and that Number 3 would be able to keep her mind, her soul, her SELF intact as she shed her protective shell and weed him once again. Aiden''s attention was fully on the now visibly contorting, twitching, pulsating egg in the center of the room,id out on the dusty, sandy ground. At this point, it was an undoubted fact that the egg was somehow reacting to his presence. As if he was thest required item in the list that wouldplete this impossible evolution. As if on instinct, or perhaps by a gentle whisper, but as Aiden got next to the egg, he raised both of his hands and ced it atop it. He closed his eyes, as he felt the cocoon resonate with him, he understood what it wanted. As he focused, his eyes slowly began to lit up, and hum, matching the same sound, the same frequency of the egg. Carefully, making sure that the process was steady, Aiden began to transfer his own energy, his own power over to the egg, quenching its unending thirst in the process. He could actually feel as it slowly got satiated, like as if it was an actual, living, breathing creature and not just a solidifiedyer of energy. In a few moments, Aiden''s eyes were already open again, yet he kept his hands on the surface of the egg, gently, lovingly caressing it. Then, suddenly he felt the sleeping presence inside it churn. A small movement was made, he felt the light push, a gentle punch. Then a kick. Aiden took a step backward, watching the bulging surface of the dark cocoon as its resident have seemingly woken up and was ready to escape her prison cell. A grand mixture of feelings, emotions swirled inside Aiden, kicking up a chaotic storm, as his eyes focused on the event unfolding in front of him. With worry, he nced over with his mental eyes to the system''s map, still, even though the presence was still green, Aiden couldn''t help but be concerned about his Master''s initial mindset. He watched with clenched fists as the surface of the shell cracked, entering a light battle stance as they rapidly spread around the entire surface in mere seconds. The punches, the strikes, the stretches kept on going, until finally, the crack at its top grew into a fissure then to a chasm. He watched tensely as a slender, human-like pearl-white hand shot forth to the sky! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 466 - 466 - Confusion The slender, delicate hand reached for the empty air, clenching and releasing as if exercising, using the muscles, and getting a feel for the new nervous system for the first time. Five delicate, long graceful fingers moved in tandem, reminiscent of a feminine stature. Still, the most interesting quality wasn''t the distinctly human shape it had, nor the fact that it seemingly retained most of the racial traits, but the fact that a faint, dim light enveloped it. A hollow, creamy white light glimmered from underneath the supple skin, giving it an even more feminine, pearl-white luster. Once the hand reached for the sky, it didn''t react immediately but kept on stretching its newly created muscles. Still, after a bit, it shot down, lounged for the now cracked surface of the shell, and reached for the edge to its left. Then, abruptly it tore into it, ripping off a sizable chunk of the solid shell expanding the size of the crevice. Shortly after a second limb, an other hand shot forth. Like siblings, the two hands intermingled as soon as they tasted the outside world, exercising, stretching their bones, joints, and knuckles. Cracking, popping sounds filled the empty air as the joints were warmed up for the first time since their creation. The two wrists were madly moving the jointed hands, as the cracks and popped continued to be the only sound amidst the silence. Aiden watched in silence, and with apt attention as two human-like appendages, slowly woke up, and reached down for the edges of the growing hole. Each hand taking a side, they began to work in tandem, tearing, and ripping away the solid surface, continuing to expand, and grow the dark hole, allowing the rest of the body to escape from its gooey prison. The fleshy walls of the cocoon were shown no mercy. Like a wild beast, both slender-looking, delicate hands lounged themselves upon their unsuspecting foe, tearing apart its surface piece by piece. In a matter of seconds, the size of the hole increased, turning it into a wide chasm. Feeling that they aplished their task, both hands reached for the side closest to them, using it as support. Suddenly, irregr movements were visible inside the egg, as its resident finally gathered enough strength to attempt an escape. Like a volcano, the insides of the cocoon suddenly erupted, thick, viscous transparent fluid shot up to the sky, quickly followed by a head, hidden under a disheveled, mess of ck, matte crown of hair, that reached way down below the neckline. A loud gasp of air suddenly filled the room, the lungs thirsty to fill themselves to the brim with air forced the mouth to greedily suck on as soon as they escaped. Number 3, as if oblivious of the eager spectator at the side, resumed her actions, and pushed herself further. Her body lifted high up in the air, glimmered with a faint hollow colorless light as it was revealed for the first time. In all of its naked glory. As her gracious mounds bounced up following the force of inertia, Aiden had to avert his gaze, lest his mind would be filled with dark, unwee thoughts. He felt that he shouldn''t harbor thoughts like that for her. After all, she wasn''t just his Master, the person that taught him almost everything he knew, but she was also somewhat of a parental figure in his life. Illicit desires for someone that''s part of his family, blood rtions or not, he felt that was not appropriate, thus turning away from the sight and giving a light, but audible cough to raise her master''s attention to the fact that she wasn''t alone. Unfortunately, Number 3 couldn''t care less of her disciple''s slight difort. She was overwhelmed with sensations that she couldn''t properly process. It was as if she was just born, her entire being, felt new, fresh Also, there was this strange feeling, this need to vent, to unleash some of the overwhelming amounts of energy that now coursed in her body. As she finally escaped from the egg-like object that she found herself trapped in, she found herself in the midst of an overwhelming amount of questions and confusion. She plopped down on the ground, ignoring the fact that she waspletely naked, taking her time to examine herself carefully. She scrutinized, squinted, scanned her features surprised by the changes visible from a first nce. She checked her arms, watched with great interest as she clenched her fists, before releasing the hold. She was confused seeing her tight, youth-looking skin, was baffled at the hollow luminescence that kept her in a perpetual creamy white coat of shield. Still, what made her gasp in shock was when she nced at her chest. Ignoring the fleshy heaps she was startled to find, to feel something entirely new, something that she couldn''t understand inside her body. Taking her time, she slowly sensed the object, growing more and more baffled and confused as her theories turned out to be true one after another. Not sure what all of this meant, she shakily raised her head, turning towards her disciple for the first time and showing signs that she indeed registered his presence. "W-w-what" She stuttered, finding difficulty in speech for a brief moment. Pausing, she took a breather to calm her overexcited nerves and phrased the question once more. "What is happening?" She asked, looking with great bewilderment and confusion at his golden-eyed disciple. "Master You are awake!" Overwhelmed with emotions, Aiden also suddenly found a surprising challenge to respond. He looked at his master with aplicated look on his face. He was battling his tears, he was feeling an overwhelming joy, but at the same time, he was still wary, and concerned about her mindset. It was clear that she was confused, but at the same time, she didn''t seempletely lost. Ignoring his response, Number 3 asked again, as she gently caressed the spot on her chest where her newly created core was residing. Her lips quivered as she felt the gentle pumping, as it circted the energy in her body. "What happened to me? Why do I have this in me?" She slowly pushed out the words asking the most important question that burned in her mind. Her shock and surprise didn''t even stop there, even as she inquired for some information. As she focused on the new crystalline organ inside her body, she also just now realized the unfamiliar source that now empowered her very being, the strange, mysterious energy that coursed inside her body. She immediately understood that it wasn''t mana, in fact, she was shocked to realize that she hadn''t got an ounce of it in her body at all, but only this mysterious new substance. She tried remembering what had happened, as there was a vague familiarity with this power, however, she couldn''t. She found that her recollection of the immediate events before her awakening was a fuzzy, blurry mess. The images, the memories in her mind were corrupted, turning them into an unusable mess of junk. The only recount she was left with was an emotion of fear and hopelessness. As she looked up at her pupil, seeing his worried, concerned gaze, Number 3 was overwhelmed with an uncanny sadness. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 467 - 467 - Mess Of Emotions (AN: Managed to push this one out at thest minute.) --- She couldn''t recall anything substantial, yet as she looked at Aiden, Number 3 felt an overwhelming sensation of grief and sorrow. The pain of loss was causing a sharp twisting pain right in her heart. Her face twitched, turning sour, she too was battling against her own tears as she looked at the youth. Just like Aiden, both of them were lost in their own emotions, unable to reach out to the other. Still, after what felt like an eternity, the young boy finally called out, still not responding directly to her inquiries, but instead fired questions of his own, whilst making sure to stay with his back facing the woman and not to peek. "Master How do you feel?" Aiden''s question fired up Number 3''s desire to explore all the uncanny and peculiar features of her new physique. Ignoring the fact that she waspletely and utterly naked, Number 3 pushed herself up from the ground, slowly taking her stand. As she did, she felt the numbing, ufortable pain stretching across her legs. The feeling of using her legs to support her modest weight was proving to be a greater challenge than she expected. Feeling that her stance wasn''t stable, she darted her eyes from left to right, searching for something to rely on in the small underground chamber. After a moment, her eyes rested on one of the nearby supporting pirs. Her right arm raised, she reached out for it, taking an uncertain first step towards its direction, hoping to at least be strong enough to wobble that couple of steps required to reach for it. However, then something peculiar happened. Her gaze focused on the goal ahead, her perception suddenly shifted. In between two blinks, she suddenly found herself, crashed into the pir that, just an instant ago, was still a couple of steps away. Pushing herself off from the column, she looked behind herself with an utterly befuddled gaze. How did she get here? What happened? Did she blink out, faint for a few seconds? She was certain that she didn''t utilize any of the techniques she knew. There was no usage of anything that she was aware of, yet she somehow blinked or shed forward. Heck, even if she wanted to, she couldn''t use any of them, as she had no mana, and she didn''t know if they would have worked with whatever source she currently had! Her gaze shifted towards the back of her disciple once again. She needed his eyes, his focus to understand what was going on. Number 3 sighed at the sight of Aiden''s embarrassing state. A small smile, a gentle curve appeared on her lips, as she unknowingly raised her left hand only for yet another shocking revtion to meet her already unstable state. Her finger was clear, there was no sight of the ring! Yet, at the same time, she could still feel its connection, she could still feel its negligible weight as the small object sped itself around her ring finger. She could still ''feel'' it, yet there was no sight of it anywhere. What was even more baffling is that even as she reached for the spot, and touched it with her other hand, she could not find anything on it. Why could she still feel it then? Inclined to test further, she focused on the connection she had with the skull-faced insignia, surprising herself for the umpteenth time in short session when she discovered that she was sessful! Though she couldn''t feel or notice the ring, somehow it seemed to be still present in her body, feeding off from her life force as it retained its connection with her. She could reach into its sub-dimension, she could sense all of her stored items without missing anything. Confused by what was going on, this only just added to the seemingly endless list of questions that she felt the need to investigate. ''One step at a time'' She sighed inwardly, taking a set of clean clothes and with a sh dressing up. Once she was sure that everything that needed to be covered was indeed done so, and that she was decent and presentable, she turned towards the young man who was by now fidgeting with nervousness, still holding his back towards her. She watched for a short moment longer, enjoying the sight of the usually calm and aloof boy acting nervous and embarrassed before she called out. "Aiden You You can turn around now." As she focused on the youngster in front of him, yet another shocking revtion greeted her. ** At the same time ** As he was waiting for her Master to get her bearings, Aiden shifted his attention towards his system and his guide, Enya. ''So'' He called for her mentally. ''Is she now considered a Minion by the system? Do we have the same mental connection, the same channel like with everyone else?'' He asked with an uncertain mental tone, not sure if that was really the case, or perhaps something was amiss. As Number 3 got out from the evolutionary egg and started to analyze her new body, Aiden took a look at the System only to be surprised to not see her name listed anywhere. There was no increase in her servants, nor were any detail about her stats avable for him to check up on. The usual connection, the usual link he could see in the system after he sessfully evolves a creature into his influence, was not present. There was absolutely no trace in the system about Number 3. In fact, even her tooltip in the system was just a mass of undecipherable symbols. It was as if she was out of the capabilities of the system to process, outside of its influence. Number 3 was an existence that the system had absolutely no grasp over. Something outside of its grand database! ''[That''s]'' Enya also found it hard to respond to Aiden''s inquiry. ''[The system has no information about her anymore There''s a barrier, a sort of spiritual block around her now, that just doesn''t allow inspection of any kind. The system cannot manage her at all, so you will find no trace of her. Whatever she is now, one thing is certain: She ispletely outside of the system.]'' She confirmed the shocking theory Aiden didn''t dare to believe, causing Aiden to tremble at the thought. However, Aiden still wasn''tpletely certain As he focused, he could somewhat feel her presence, even without using his abilities, Aiden felt (albeit not certain at all), that perhaps they were still connected in a way. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but Aiden felt that if he focused intently enough, he could feel her emotions, that chaotic confusing mess, as she was trying to make sense of everything that was going on. He could actually feel her confusion just kept rising as new and new baffling mysteries appeared. His theory was somewhat confirmed when suddenly he sensed an emotional spikeing from her direction. He could feel her fear, the dread of something unimaginable. Yet, a few secondster, before he could have the chance to speak up and ask, she felt her calming down. Then, she felt her motions calming, her mind rxing, even going as far as feeling a slight sensation of enjoyment, before suddenly he felt the connection, the channel between them activate. A momentter, her voice resounded in his mind. "Aiden You You can turn around now." --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 468 - 468 - “You Evolved” When Number 3 called out, she unknowingly used the new mental channel, the strange connection she now had with Aiden. She wasn''t really aware of it though, in her agitated state she did actually think that she called out to him in a regr way. Only when she saw the shocked, incredulous face of the boy when she turned around, did she feel that something may have been amiss. Still, even then she wasn''t aware that she was relying on her psyche, instead of her vocal cords formunication. ''Aiden'' Though she didn''t understand why he was looking and reacting in such an exaggerated manner, Number 3 pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She had more pressing matters to focus on to bother with this boy''s peculiar behavior. ''Aiden, could you please help me?'' Noticing that there was no response or any sort of reaction from the youth, she called for him again. This time she also gives a short description of what her wishes were. Yet, there was no response this time either, Aiden kept staring at her with a seemingly perpetual shocked look. Already agitated and slightly unstable, thisck of visual stimuli, however, irked Number 3 to no end. With annoyance, she sighed, revealing a frown as she called out, this time with even more power behind her tone. ''Aiden! Could YOU please Woah what the'' She asked again, with a bit of ire and a visible annoyance stered on her expression. Before she could finish the thought though, most likely due to her heightened emotional state, she added a strand of her own power in her mental voice, causing her voice to thunderously rage inside both of their heads. This also, finally caused her to notice the mysterious new form ofmunication she was instinctively utilizing. Only now, did she understand the boy''s reaction, even joining him and was staring at him with utter shock. ''What the'' She eximed mentally, still under the shock of the groundbreaking revtion. ''Master'' Finally, after so long, Aiden''s voice came, this time through the same mental channel that they had. Hearing his call, Number 3, turned to look at the boy with a scrutinizing gaze. ''How?'' Was the only word she could muster, focusing on the connection, trying to make sense of all of what was going on. Seeing her, Aiden could only sigh and reveal a wry look. Though he was still surprised at how Number 3 seemed to be natural at using her mental abilities, he assumed it was just the result of her origin and her family traits. Her sister and her niece Sara were after all, powerful in the field, feared and respected by those who were in the ''know''. Though the system, for some reason, couldn''t have any control over her, that didn''t bother Aiden in the slightest. On the contrary, her case was the first sign of true hope, a potential path towards a future without these scheming higher powers to alter fate and destiny for their own amusement. Taking a deep breath, as if to calm himself and also to give leeway in taking control of the flow of conversation, Aiden sat down cross-legged on the ground, just like how she taught him before. Without saying a word, he smiled warmly, signaling for her to follow suit as the story she was about to hear would take some time. Understanding the boy''s nudging, Number 3 followed suit, though she seemed all-too careful and deliberate in her actions as she slowly bent her knees and lowered herself down on the ground, making sure that none of her movements were sudden, or not calcted. She seemed to be afraid, caring about something, making Aiden raise a brow, but ultimately deciding against asking about it. He could guess that her strange action would be rted to the request she wanted to ask of him multiple times by now. Aiden waited calmly, patiently as Number 3 took her time to settle down, and rx slightly before opening her lips to speak. "Before we get into it, let me tell you that I am so happy to see you fine and healthy, Master." He greeted with a happy, warm smile. "I also need to ask, what is thest thing, thest moment you can recall? Try to think back, no matter how hard it is, we need to know!" Number 3 frowned at the boy''s questions. Before acquiescing to it, and causing her more of the surely awaiting headache, she asked. "I will get to that but first" She pointed to her chest as she asked with a slightly raised tone of voice. "What is exactly this thing doing in me? Why is it seemingly active? Am I actually" She gulped as she took a bit of time to gather her willpower to finish her thoughts even if it was clearly difficult for her. "dead? Am I some sort of construct?" "No. You are very much alive. That I can assure you." Shaking his head, Aiden answered promptly with a thin smile. Not wanting to hurt her any further, Aiden made sure to start with the topic that most weighed on her. "On the other hand" His expression turned stern in the next moment, causing Number 3 to startle at his sudden shift and focus on his words with even more attention. "I am not sure what you have be." He sighed, giving only a moment before continuing. "As you are aware, Master, humans are the only species as far as I know that are by birth missing any semnce of a Core in their bodies, thus making them incapable of following the natural order of the world, being the only race not to evolve as it reaches its mortal limits." Number 3 nodded at his words. "Yes, that is correct. Still, that doesn''t necessarily make humans weaker than others." She added. "We can just use this to our advantage and train our bodies, minds, and spirit to gain more and more power. We can also use our ingenuity to invent tools to extend our reach. Humanity is not the most dominant race on Eora without a reason." She finished, summarizing his thoughts on the topic in a clear, concise way. Aiden didn''t refute her ims, he simply nodded epting them instead. Giving a few breaths of time for her to collect herself, he spoke again, pointing at the center area of her chest. "What you said is true, yet it no longer applies to you. Master, in case you have not realized it yet, you are no longer human. You changed." Seeing the shock that settled on her face as a direct consequence of his words, Aiden could only sigh and go on, exining what he said further. "Before I can answer the rest of your questions, and make you understand what happened, why, and how, we need to talk about what you can actually remember. For now, let it be enough that you are now someone that''s center of power is like the rest of the world: You have a Central Core, a Crystal continuously generating and also, storing the new source inside your body. Master, you evolved." --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 469 - 469 - Sacrifice Number 3 froze at the boy''sst reveal. She couldn''t properly react no, she couldn''t process or register the meaning behind Aiden''s words. Did she evolve? H-how? What did that really mean? Number 3 slowly turned away, looking at her arms, her hands, her body once again, looking for something, anything that she could lean on. Any hint, that could serve as support and assist her already befuddled, scrambled, chaotic state of mind. Yet, no matter where she looked, how she looked, besides the crystal core humming inside her chest, pulsing and continuously, rhythmically releasing a surge of this new source of energy, nothing was amiss. Other than having an additional solid, hard-shelled organ working inside her body, fitting perfectly in ce, she seemed normal. Well, truth be told, she did notice that her youthfulness has seemingly returned, feeling like how she was in her early teenage years in terms of vitality, but she could count that as a side effect of her emergence of that ck egg-like object. Evolution? Did she really evolve? She just couldn''t ept such a thing. Something like that waspletely, utterly, biologically impossible for a human such as her to achieve. But then, what happened? Why does she feel the same, yet so different, so ''alien'' in her own body at the same time? Still, despite she really wanted to, she couldn''t refute the boy''s ims. She did feel that something was amiss, something was not right, she just couldn''t ept the reality Aiden had painted. In the end, she sighed, focusing on her own memories instead. She tried going back in time, recalling the events leading before her recent awakening. Yet, just like previously, as she focused her mind, and tried to remember, she found that there was a huge chunk that was lost to her. Like a video, these visions, images were corrupted, dark, containing no visual information, or sound. The only thing that she could sense, was some emotions that were pushed to the back of her heart, weighing heavily down on her. Feelings of sadness and sorrow, lingering despair of losing something, or someone important to her, were the most dominant, most powerful sensations that she kept away. Whenever she gleaned into this pool, this reserve, she had the urge to cry, tosh out on the world. Yet, she couldn''t understand why she was feeling anything like that. "I" Seeing that she wouldn''t get ahead by herself, Number 3 decided to speak up. Still, she felt it incredibly difficult to exin any of what she was experiencing. "I can''t recall anything, other than this overwhelming sadness, this grief I can''t really exin it, I feel a lot at the same time. I am scared? Angry? Sad? Maybe all of that at the same time" She looked at her little boy with a bitter look, feeling weird at the strange reversal of their roles. Unlike in the past, now it was her that was lost and confused and needed guidance, hoping to get it from the person in front of her. "I see" Aiden nodded thoughtfully. "And you can''t remember anything at all? What is thest thing you remember before today?" He asked after a bit of silence. Trying her hardest, Number 3 closed her eyes, focusing on her mind. She inhaled, taking in a lungful of air, before repeating the same breathing exercise that Aiden usually did: Keeping it inside for a few, brief seconds, before slowly, gradually exchanging what she used up with the fresh, new oxygen from the outside, whilst clearing her mind from all the distraction. After a few repeats, her shoulders eased up, her body rxed. The turmoils of the outside world calmed down, became irrelevant as she began her descent to the depths of her own mind. Images of the day roughly 2 weeks ago soon appeared on her mind. She slowly recalled her morning, continuing her dream-like journey flipping through the events of that day at a fast, swift pace. She could recall her meeting with the other executors, her assignment given directly by the Reaper, The Grandmaster''s Right Hand She frowned, feeling the gradual loss of her recollection just after she felt a sudden surge of an invisible current ripple through the city. Energy, a power Suddenly, the realization hit her, her eyes snapped wide open looking at the youngster in front of her. With quivering lips, the only word she managed to force out was: "You" She pointed at Aiden, taking a moment to repeat what she just said. "You!" Aiden didn''t respond, he retained his calm, collected smile as he met his Master''s gaze. Through their shared connection, he could feel the gradual shift in her mental state. He understood that she finally remembered something important. She could finally connect all the stray emotions still weighing on her with a clue. "It was you! Thest thing You were in trouble" Raising her hands, she looked at her open palms, as she exercised her fingers, trying to get a feel for the underlying, brimming power, finally feeling a vague familiarity to it. "This power" She muttered, focused on her own self as she went on. "This power is the same what I felt back then" Raising her head, she looked at Aiden, with a concerned, worried expression. This time, however, a newfound rity, understanding also glimmered in her eyes as she sized up the boy. "What happened back then? Why were you so in pain?" With her regained memories, -even if it was still fragmented and missing most of it, gave Aiden afortable starting point to begin his recount of the events. Since she did not mention anything about the interrogation at all, nor about the imminent invasion, Aiden decided to keep those bits deliberately vague, focusing more on the fact that once he was out and heading back towards the tavern to regroup with his friends, he noticed that he was being followed. He then went on and recounted the entirety of the events in detail, whilst also skipping over the exact peculiarities. At least for now, he still wanted to make sure that her allegiance would now be with him, and their family and her connection with the Grandmaster and the Organization was a thing of the past. In the end, he told the half-truth that he could gain power with a technique he can''t talk about that relied on ingesting the most precious organ of the defeated, in the case of humans, their heart, whilst in most of the other ones, their cores. He then went on to describe what followed: Him losing control of the sudden surge of newly gained power, and was on the brink of losing himself when she arrived at the scene and used her body to transfer the overflow and ultimately save his life at the cost of her own. Her sacrifice, caused Number 3 to look at the boy once more with an incredulous expression. She knew she was deeply attached to the boy, probably way more than she should have in the past, but she didn''t know that she would go as far as willingly throwing herself in front of the danger so recklessly. "Through your selfless action, through your love is why I can be in front of you today, Master. What you did, I will forever carry within my heart." --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 470 - 470 - Tent City The two of them spent several hours alone, underground whilst the four servants guarded all four sides of the ziggurat. Though they were silent, cold, and stoic from the outside, they were in deep discussion mentally, excited like children at the prospect of having a new sister joining their ranks. ''What do you guys think the newest sister would be like? Is she still human? Or maybe she evolved to something else? Will she be a monster?'' Thuk eximed, instantly firing a series of questions. Amongst Aiden''s official minions or ''Servants'', as he referred to them, he was the newest, having basically zero knowledge about Aiden''s family. Though the rest of the group also had limited interaction or knowledge, he hasn''t even met Lily, his only experience came from his brothers. Even his interaction with Galina was very limited and was mostly before he evolved, and then they were standing at two different sides. To be honest, in Thuk''s mind, Galina wasn''t a servant like them, but more like the Young Masters that apanied his Lord on his travels in the other, ugly world. He felt inferior to her and to them. A loud, boisterous guffaw filled their shared mental channel as a direct response to his questions. The rough, guttural voice of Roas echoed in all of their minds. ''[Orc] Ahahaha, Little Thuk, I always forget that you are still rather new and clueless on most matters rted to the Master.'' ''[Goblin] Brother Roas is right, even if he is rather a blunt.'' Glohn joined into the discussion, hitting a stricter tone with Roas before his tone eased, warmed up as he responded to the little lizard. ''You see, the one down there with Master is his teacher and the one he often thinks of as his ''Mother'' figure.'' ''But'' Thuk asked with the same enthusiasm and excitement in his voice as before. ''What do you guys think she looks like? How is she? Kind or Cold? Gentle or Rigid? Good or Bad?'' At first, none of the three could provide a satisfactory answer to the little lizard. Truth be told, neither of them knew the old Number 3 that much. At most, Master talked about her a few times. They hadn''t got any real experience with the woman, everything they knew was superficial and they were keenly aware of that. After some awkward silence, Roas''s voice came eventually. ''[Orc] Well To tell you the truth, we don''t know either. What we know about her is that the Master values her, treasures her just as the same as he thinks, and cares about the Young Mistress Lily. She is just as important as the half-elven girl.'' ''[Goblin] However, unlike the Young Mistress, our young master always referred to her as ''Master''. She was-'' Glohn added, but before he could finish, Gob''s voice came, interrupting his exnation. ''[Goblin] She IS, not was, Teacher!'' ''[Goblin] Yes, sorry for that little Gob.'' Glohn corrected himself with a light chuckle. ''She IS our Young Lord''s teacher, but at the same time, she is also something much, much more. She is somewhat of a parent, an elder figure to him. Just for that matter alone, neither of us knows how to handle, or treat her when she joins.'' ''[Orc] To be honest, it just doesn''t feel right to treat her as a simple sister She is the Young Master''s elder, who was forced to join because there was no other way to save her life.'' Roas added with a frowning tone. Though he liked to refer to himself as the first, the Eldest of them all, in truth they all treated each other equally, he was just the one with the most knowledge, quickly followed by Glohn in most matters. Yet, with the newest addition, he or for that matter, they all felt confused and slightly bothered even. How should they treat the newdy when shees back? Would she be the new leader, the new boss? Or rather, would she be a loner-type? Someone that would seclude herself and refused to interact with them? ''[Goblin] We are also clueless about what she would actually be. As you know, she was actually a human before the Young Master fused an empty core into her body. That feat alone was something that was never done before, not to mention that it actually turned active and directly pushed her body towards evolving! That normally should be impossible.'' ''[Orc] Yes, we have no idea what she would actually be? Would the origin of the core affect her development? Turn her into somewhat closer to the origin beast? Or would she turn into something else?'' ''[Goblin] Don''t forget the Young Master! His power could also influence his path, just like it did with all of us!'' Gob added, reminding his brothers about this almost forgotten fact. ''So She could turn out to be anything?'' Thuk asked, ending up with even more questions than before. Turning towards the direction of where his Master and the newest life force could be felt, he sighed. ''At least, she didn''t turn out to be hostile yet. Also her power is very simr to Masters'' ''[Goblin] That is true'' Glohnmented, joining and sighing as well before returning his attention to the assigned task at hand. In the vast expanse of the barren wastnds stretching all around the Empire''s perimeter, a city of tents could be seen dotting thendscape only a couple of hundred miles away from Higrove. A literal sea of dark red tents with white stripes covered argendmass. An endless mass of human soldiers could be seen guarding the perimeters, sitting around the tents, resting, and justzing around. Then again, a bit deeper as if another section of the tent city, a cordoned sub-section of much more grandiose tents could be seen. Even the guards that stood guard were much more disciplined, they seemed much more fierce, radiating the coldness that matched those of hardened through decades of killing. In the tent, that stood at the very center of this subsection of the tent city, 6 older-looking figures could be seen surrounding a small map sprawled out on a table. There was a tense silence inside the yurt, all 6 of these elderly officers,manders of this army focused on the map, trying to analyze the information they have received over the past couple of days. The map they were so focused on, was actually a detailed top-down disy of the city of Higrove! The map was incredibly detailed including crucial information about the various entrances with Guard shifts and patrol routes. The map even had several ''unofficial'' entrances marked as well, with detailed information about the potential risks, and chances of being spotted by any of the nearby patrols. "This is pointless Dorian!" One of the officers, a bald man with a light brown stub of a mustache adorning his face, spoke up with an annoyed tone, breaking the lingering silence. Him being the tallest and from a first nce, the strongest in terms of muscle mass held quite the intimidating presence amongst the rest of his peers. He pointed hisrge index finger on the closest, eastern gate as she vented. "Why are we so scared anyway? They are nothing but a bunch of weaklings, with no real army to defend them! Why are we even debating such intricate ns?! We should just go and overwhelm them with our numbers!" He shouted. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 471 - 471 -Schemes And Plans "We know it''s incredibly challenging for you and your kind, Rillon, but still" The man standing opposite of the other five, a roughly middle-aged man with a short mess of matte ck hair and a clean-shaven face smirked with a disdainful, contemptuous look at the mustached musclehead. "Try to go against the norm of your brethren and use your head for once." Instead of the leader-like figure, a grey bearded, much thinner-looking robed elder finished his words, matching the contempt in the leading warlord''s voice. His response caused a series of snorted chuckles from the others in the room. Yet, the brawny bald man only frowned at the eldest, robed figure''s words, not saying a word but only scoffing to voice his displeasure. The fact was that the thin, weak-looking elderly man was actually the leader of the most feared, strongest regiment in the Empire''s 2nd Invasion Force. He was Exarch K''hlen, the leader of the Spellcasters, a powerful, and feared Wizard, with a specialization in curses and blights. Rumors say that he was responsible for several viges in the borders of the Wastnds to suddenly turn into nothing more than mass graveyards. Reports about the air in these settlements were said to be filled with the overwhelming stench of rot and death. The bodies of the vigers were filled with hideous blights and blisters. When one of the bodies were examined it seemed that some sort of illness or gue of some kind festered inside these poor unlucky sods, killing them slowly from the insides. It was said that those that died must have suffered tremendously as their organs, flesh, and bones slowly dissolved, leaving nothing behind but a gtinous gooey substance. Though he was never connected to the mass murders, Exarch K''hlen was known to be training with his apprentices around that region during that time. Yet, due to his high standing, his title as being one of the high priests of the Empire, just under the Primate, Holy One, the Godly Emperor''s second hand, no one would have the guts to use him or his group over the demise of a few hundredmoners. Exarch K''hlen had a smug, satisfied smirk stretched across his soggy face as he looked at the tall musclehead, Leader of the fearsome group of warriors, known as the ''Makhor'' or tranted to the Westerners Common, ''The Serrated Teeth of the Godly Emperor''. The Makhor were mostly the trained meleebatant soldiers filling up almost 70% of the empire''s forces. They were the frontliners, the ones that were the first to tear into the enemy lines and rip them apart, akin to how a predator would shred its prey to pieces. The 6 leaders in the tent all represented one part of the Empire''s Army, one slice, one section of the massive machine that already conquered and dominated the Eastern Regions and were now greedily looking towards the west. Standing to Rillon, the Leader of the Makhors, was a thin, tall, andnky man with short, curly ck hair and an unshaven rough looking face. He was Syf, the captain of the empire''s probably currently most important battalion, the spies sent to scout and map out all potential points of entry into the Kingdom. Feeling the tense air in the room, he gave a light cough as he leaned forward, and began to speak with a clear and crisp tone of voice. "Lord Rillon, you see, though we do have the numbers and we could most likely seed with your approach and take this border side city, the cost would be unfavorable for our long-term ns." He exined, turning to look at the scowling brawny bald man. "Higrove is actually home for not just a local branch of the Adventurer''s Guild, but also houses the Kingdom''s official Academy as well, meaning that this small city could actually call upon a rather strong mercenary force in times of crisis." "Hmpf!" Hearing Syf''s exnation the brawny brawler-looking man only scoffed, shrugging his shoulders as he asked with an arrogant tone. "What does that matter? The Adventurer''s Guild is not bound by any borders, they can''t directly interfere in such matters!" Dorian, the man standing opposite of the other five, the acting General of the Army couldn''t stay silent anymore and listen to the nonsense his not-so-bright bald man was spewing. His booming voice suddenly put an end to the discussion as he spoke. "Enough!" He eximed, looking mostly at Rillon. "It doesn''t matter if the Adventurer''s Guild would directly interfere or not. From Syf''s reports, we learned that the local branch is actually very weak, with only 2 of its members reaching the 3rd Rank!" He smirked disdainfully at the thought, joined by the others at such a revtion. "As for the Academy" He turned towards Exarch K''hlen revealing a nasty-looking smile once again. "Let''s just say, that they won''t interfere Am I right, Exarch?" "Yes, General." The elderly warlock bowed with a matching smirk stretched across his face. "We have made contact, the current *khm* local leader was quite inclined to work with us." "Excuse me, General" Breaking the discussion of the men, a feminine voice came from just outside. Following it, a rather tall woman, dressed in the empire''s dark red armor stepped in holding a folded piece of parchment in her hands. Her long ck hair was folded into a ponytail hanging from the back of her head. "What is it, Lieutenant? Can''t you see we are busy?!" Dorian asked with a clearly disgruntled, annoyed tone, frowning at the sight of the woman. Yet, the woman stood still, not reacting to the offensive tone at all, retaining a cold outward look as she stepped closer to the war table and presented the letter they have just received. "General, Sir Syf''s spies havee back with an update on the situation." She curtly spoke. Once the general epted the parchment, she turned around and without saying any other word, promptly left the tent, ignoring the gazes of the old lechers around her. Several hours quickly passed before Aiden finished recounting everything rted to Number 3''s situation. During his long-winded speech, he kept track of the swirl of emotions that his Master disyed, or (focusing on their connection) have felt. Eventually, as he got to the end, he looked at her suddenly turning silent, waiting for her reaction. He was looking with great nervousness, wanting to glean, to learn how she would react to all of what he did. It took several minutes before Number 3 could process everything that was said, and look back at her eager pupil. Her expression finally eased, revealing a warm smile, that Aiden missed so much, causing the boy to instantly heave a sigh of relief. "Don''t worry Aiden." She spoke, her tone carrying a sort of love, attachment of a parent that was standing in front of her mischievous child caught in the act. "Though I have no idea what your sudden decision, your action have actually made me into, regardless, I am thankful for what you did. Without that, I probably wouldn''t be sitting here, and talking to you today, but would either be dead or something far worse" Aiden visibly rxed upon hearing her words and was about to stand up when suddenly, Number 3''s face revealed a peculiar grin with a matching, though uncanny expression. "However" She eximed, hitting a strange, much colder tone. "You still did something that is grounds for punishment" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 472 - 472 - Friendly Brawl (Part 1) Under the proud, bright sun a smallmotion of people could be seen forming around an otherwise open area of the emerald green in. Despite the scorching, blistering summer daze that dominated the peacefulnd, many of the realm''s sentient residents rushed to the scene, hoping to get a glimpse of what they hoped to be a grand spectacle. The crowd formed a natural ring, a makeshift arena around the participants. On one side, a feminine shape, wrapped in a strange exotic-looking attire stood with a calm, rxed posture. Her new attire, a ck sleeveless kimono that covered most of her body, leaving ample room for movement for her arms. Below that, form-fitting cotton pants (AN: Hakama for those interested), whilst just like before it kept her feet free without restricting her in maneuvering. Finally, her head was left free, the usual half-mask, and the hooded cowl was not equipped this time. The woman was, of course, Number 3 facing off against all four of her dear boy''s servants at the same time. Even then, she was brimming with excitement and an ample amount of confidence as she looked at the four peculiar figures with a bright smile. "Are you sure about this? They are not on the same level as the others in Gupta; they have been evolved and been influenced by the same energy as you." Standing at the center of the ring and acting as the judge over the uing duel, Aiden was looking at his Master with a concerned look, he warned her. "Don''t worry about me kid." Number 3 shook her head, the smile not leaving her expression as she looked at the boy. "Just make sure to watch and focus on the fight. I need your keen eyes to spot any irregrities. This energy Soul Power you called it? It is still very new It is so differentpared to mana." Aiden could only sigh and instead turn towards her servants lining up at the other side. Not wanting to reveal his instructions, he activated their shared mental channel and instructed them all. ''Make sure you are careful, not to go too overboard! The purpose of this fight is not to kill or harm the other, but to measure the power and strength of each other whilst also getting to know yourselves!'' He exined in a stern tone. ''[Orc] Yes, Young Master! Rest assured, we will control our strength!'' As usual, Roas'' voice came first, carrying a great deal of reverence. ''[Goblin] Yes, rest easy, Master, we will not do anything too excessive!'' Glohn was quick to follow after the dark grey giant, giving his reassurance as well. ''Thuk doesn''t understand. Why are we fighting if not to kill, not to hunt? Thuk is confused'' Breaking the tense atmosphere, the naive little lizard''s innocent tone and words resounded in their minds in the next moment, causing almost all of the participants to barely be able to retain their emotionless expressions and not reveal a smile. ''[Orc] Thuk, don''t ask such questions at a time like this! Just follow the Young Master''s instructions, and make sure you do not hurt the mdy! After this, I will sit down with you and exin everything you are still confused about.'' Acting as the senior brother as he actually was, Roas was actually quite gentle, and kind to his brothers (and hopefully his sisters in the future as well) when it came to teaching them about matters of the world or the Young Master. He would often go and offer his help pro-actively. Since he couldn''t stay at his side at all times, he shifted his focus in bing ''The Big Brother'' of all current and future epted servants of the Young Master. ''Okay guys, focus on the task now. Decide on what you will do while I talk to Master onest time.'' Aiden sighed, leaving the mental channel, and returning to reality instead. Turning towards Number 3, seeing the eagerness, the excitement in her gaze, Aiden knew that his words wouldn''t have any chance in convincing her. Yet, even if he himself was interested to see the new power and potential of his master, he didn''t want to see her getting hurt. He wanted to at the very least try speaking to her onest time before they shift gears and start a pointless brawl. However, just as he turned towards her and took a couple of steps, Aiden stopped in his tracks as he could feel the thickness in the air swirling with an increasing ferocity around her. A profound aura, her battle intent surrounded her, growing and expanding as her mindset shifted and entered into the battle-ready state. Her experience, her knowledge umted throughout the countless years of her life created a fearsome, thick, and cold domain around her body. What shocked Aiden, and made him stop in his tracks and instead took a few steps towards the side instead was the fact that she seemed to be unconsciously able to manipte her [Soul Power] on an entirely different level, evenpared to himself. Without thinking, she infused her energy into her domain, creating a tangible, yet transparent, blurry dome around her as she entered into her battle-ready stance. "Okay, boy. Get ready, and signal for the start once you are all ready!" She eximed, as her lips curved into a cruel, nasty-looking smirk, focusing her deep, dark eyes on the quartet a couple of dozen yards in front of her. Looking at her, Aiden sighed, giving up on the thought of trying to talk to her for the umpteenth time. Clearly, they were long past the point of walking away from this. The only thing he could do now was to try to control the situation and the after-effects With a soft smile, he nodded at his Master''s words, turning his attention towards the group on the other end instead. Their confidence seemed to take a hit after spotting the peculiar changes in their opponent. Though they were quite a distance away, them being the target of her battle lust, they were already given a waft of her might. Their rxed, calm, and cheery expressions were now a mixture of shock and fear, that eventually turned into a solemn, somber outlook. All four of them were lined up next to each other, not really bothered to think of any strategy at all. Though even if they would have, there wouldn''t be many changes in their starting stances, due to the fact that they were all mostly brawlers by trade, even if Roas and Glohn could cast some basic spells rted to their schools, they were by far more proficient in closebat. Looking in their direction, Aiden could only shake his head, and send them the question mentally. ''Are you all ready?'' Seeing them all silently nod as they focused their gaze on the human-looking woman on the other end of the field, Aiden didn''t waste any more time. Raising his hands in the air he eximed as his powers red up, covering her in a sh of golden light, his voice thundered in the open field. The cry of a dragon caused shivers to run through the surrounding crowd. "Let the fight BEGIN!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 473 - 473 - Friendly Brawl (Part 2) "Gob, Thuk, you two go ahead and test the waters with her a bit. Make sure to keep a 2-3 steps distance from her. That strange energy surrounding her is quite troubling." As soon as the Young Master signaled for the fight to begin Roas entered into his self-proimed role as the leader, giving the two youngest brothers of his to scout ahead. He felt that something was most likely amiss, but he couldn''t make out what exactly. From her looks, the obvious desire in her hungry gaze, Roas expected his opponent to charge at them at the very moment the signal was given. Yet, she didn''t make a move for over a minute by now, and just simply stood her guard, all the while the air around her turned blurry and hazier by the second. A faint crackling sound could be hearding from her, simr to jolts of energy being discharged, though there were no visuals about such phenomenon at all. What kept him quite bothered was the underlying fear, the threat, the sense of danger from the seemingly harmless-looking woman. Still, no matter how hard he focused or how much he tried, he couldn''t scan the woman, nor could he guess the level of power, the strength she wielded. The only clue he could go by was the strange aura, the swirling invisible tempest that covered her in a perpetual few yard wide dome. In the end, he decided to test the waters a bit and send the two younglings to poke at her. Since they were both much more agile than Glohn and himself, he felt that this was the optimal, safest approach. After spending some time now in Haven, finding a new ce for his kin to live in peace, Roas slowly began to mellow his usually brash nature, he no longer charged headfirst into every chance he had. After making the decision to be the Big Brother of all current and future members of Aiden''s growing family, at the same time, he also began to shift back into the leadership position he was once in. Although he didn''t show it too much, he was by no means stupid and had quite a talent for strategizing, making him a perfect tactician. Having the ability to follow their progress, and to also feel their thoughts, desires, and even see their past, Aiden was already aware of this hidden trait of his first-turned servant. So when he saw him acting as the Leader and not rush ahead like he would have done in the past, he couldn''t help but reveal a smile at the sight. Though Aiden was looking at the big aloof giant, the iing sh on the other side of the arena didn''t escape his senses. Turning his head, he looked at the sight of how Gob'' and Thuk''s charge began to draw a slight arc. Their idea to suddenly change their trajectory and to attack at both of Number 3''s sides giving her no room for setting up a proper defense revealed how great the group actually was to rely on listening and sending nigh-instantaneous messages through their shared mental connections. Looking at them, executing Roas''s maneuver made Aiden think that this ability should perhaps be trained with much more focus in the future. Such a trait would turn out to be such an incredible blessing during battles Shaking his head, Aiden cleared his mind from the disrupting thoughts, focusing his attention on the imminent sh between her Master and the Gob-Thuk duo. Dashing on all fours, Thuk lounged his body towards the still calmly standing seemingly unresponsive woman from her left as she got into that agreed 3 step range. At the same time, Gob followed suit, jumping in the air from Number 3''s right, raising his spear above his head with his right hand. Holding it in his right hand he struck down, once he entered into the range of his attack. His spear, carrying all of his inertia, his momentum, and strength, shed across the air like lightning striking towards the seemingly unprotected shoulder. From the outside, it seemed as if the woman had no time to react at all, and was about to be defeated by a single charge from the two youngsters. The crowd watched with wide eyes and intent gazes as the two sides were about to force thedy on the ground. Some were ready to avert their gazes, not wishing to see a female crying in pain with a w mark and a stab wound on her body. Yet, what happened next puzzled those present. Reaching the dreaded 1 step range, the area of Number 3''s invisible domain of power, both boys were suddenly stopped by an invisible force and before they could react, flung back in the direction they came from. A loud sonic shock wave erupted from their sh kicking off a powerful blow of wind as both youngsters were flying like a pair of broken kites in the air. Before they could register what happened and regain control of their bodies, both of them crashed onto the grassy ground and tumbled several times before their journey came to a stop through the assistance of the wall of the crowd. From beginning to end, Number 3 didn''t even nce at the two youths, her gaze was fixated on the tall gray giant. From her gaze it was clear that to her, he seemed to be the only interesting figure, he didn''t take the other 3 in her eyes at all. "Surely you can do better than that, big guy!" She eximed with a grin. Folding her arms just below her chest, she smirked at the frowning Roas at the other end. Roas, wasn''t satisfied with the oue by the slightest. Though he expected that neither Gob nor Thuk would be able to pierce her defenses, he at least hoped to gain some information from their first attempt, however, as it turned out, he was denied even that as well. The woman made no attempt to defend, or react in any way shape or form. Not even a fluctuation of her energy could be sensed. From what it seemed, that strange aura, her invisible barrier was just that powerful. "[Goblin] Hmm Brother, it seems we need to step it up" Glohn''s voice came from Roas''s right, sounding excited instead of being worried. "[Orc] It seems so" Roas nodded, taking his battle axe in one hand while keeping his left free. "Let''s show what we can do then, lest she would think the Young Master''s servants are weak!" He roared, as his left hand suddenly began to glow with a dark, eerie light. As the ck energy, like a glove,pletely engulfed his hand, he reached for the head of his axe. Upon his touch the energy began to greedily lounge towards the metallic head, swiftly engulfing it in the same dark cloud that his hand radiated. In a few seconds, he filled up his weapon with his energy, giving it a temporary enchantment. At the same time, Glohn followed along, the only difference being, that his weapon was burning like a pyre. Once both elders were ready, they gripped their weapons with both hands, as they returned their attention to the still calm and nonchnt woman at the other side. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 474 - 474 - Friendly Brawl (Part 3) Whilst Gob and Thuk were still down for the count, sprawled out on the ground, the two elders, Glohn and Roas have finished their preparations. As is working as a singr mind, they enhanced the destructive power of their weapons through their own affinities. Roas''s broad battle ax was covered with an eerie, ck thick smoke while Glohn was holding onto what seemed to be more of a burning pyre, a fervently burningrge torch than anything else. Both men grinned with an expecting delight, their eyes glimmering with the excitement of the prospects of the immediate future as they focused their attention on the woman in front. Though both were considered elders in their respective origin races, Roas was actually the one with the highest umted battlefield experience. Glohn despite having spent most of his life as only the second in his old vige and was forced to lead most of the raids and skirmishes of his brethren, wasn''t anything as broad and direct. Their race, being considered one of the weakest of all the intelligent ones in Eora, had to rely on gueri warfare most of the time. Setting up traps, ambushes or in-depth attack formations were more of his forte than this direct ''brawn-ahead-of-brains'' method. Still, he was by no means inexperienced, and with his observant eyes, he already made several conjectures that they were discussing through their mental channels for a while now. Though the first sh of the younglings and their opponent was brief, and seemingly Number 3 hadn''t even made a move, the few breadcrumbs he could pick up, were quickly being digested by the two. ''[Orc] So you think that this force field she is using has a limit? We could just overwhelm it? How did youe to this conjecture, Brother Glohn?'' Roas asked in response to Glohn''s thoughts. ''[Goblin] The rebound effect. No matter what skill, or aura she is using, to be able to return the attack with an equal force still depletes some of her reserves. If that is the case, what we need to do is to overwhelm it and force her to reach before her energy bes depleted and she would consequently have to admit defeat.'' Gob exined. ''[Orc] I guess Still, I''m doubtful that it would be as simple as that.'' Roasmented. This woman supposedly being their Young Lord''s Master, he seriously doubted that such a brute force method would be the counter to such a high-level ability. Yet with ack of any other idea, they could only try his brother''s approach first. ''[Orc] Still We would need those two as well if we were to hope to be sessful in any way Lest she could just push back against us two." Roas added after a moment of thinking. With the n settled, both men gripped the handle of their weapons tighter. They didn''t want to waste more and more of their own resources feeding it to the weapon to keep the enchantment active, they were ready tounch their second wave of attacks at their singr foe. Taking onest moment to gather themselves, both men roared fiercely and in tandem, as they bolted forward. With their weapons raised above their heads, they were akin to freedom fighters fighting for their homnd. Though they were nearly as swift as the two younglings, they still carried much more power and due to that, momentum in their charges. As they got close to the woman, they both lounged themselves up in the air, attacking from the front in a simultaneous action. The des of their axes, glimmering with darkness and deep orange, shed against the invisible force field that protected Number 3. Instantly as all the carried inertia was released, all the force violently crashed into the transparentyers of energy, the swirling cavalcade of pure [Soul Power] intermixed with the tangible form of pure hardened battle intent, the embodiment of will. As the two sides of power collided, seemingly having an equal strength, the reaction was different thanst time. The rebound effect though it came, it couldn''t immediately banish the invaders, but it merely created a standstill. Sparks in a multitude of colors flew off the collision for several seconds, as the two elders kept on using everything they could, including their own bodies to add more to their side. As for Number 3, she was no longer calm and nonchnt, she was now focused and aloof. She was now focusing her full attention on the sh, although she still hadn''t made a step towards them, merely used her mind to channel more and more of her own reserves into withstanding the attack. Unfortunately, due to that, she seemingly forgot that besides the two elders, there were two younger ones standing up against her. Because of their first, failed attempt, shepletely ignored them, reducing their presence to mere flies buzzing around a pile of turd, rather than truly bothersome opponents. Because of this negligence, this seemingly rookie mistake, she was taken by surprise when suddenly her senses suddenly tingled, warning her of an iing threat from both her left and right. Though taken aback by this weird sensation, this sixth sense, she could ill afford to split her attention, lest the two frontal attacking brutes would crush her defenses. Yet as the two spearheads whistled the air from the left and the right, she finally reacted. Her palms raised up to her sides, her expression suddenly turned fierce, catching even Aiden slightly off-guard who was so far calmly watching their sh. He too, became serious when he suddenly felt a familiar fluctuation of energy in the air. Number 3''s eyes suddenly changed, as the familiar exotic-looking golden irises appeared, glowing in full glory. Like a beast, wrestling off its shackles, her full power erupted from the constraints of her body, exploding with a feverish, blinding golden light, forming a giant ball of heat around her as it created a massive and loud shock wave. The energy shattered her force field, throwing everyone back several dozen steps as they crashed and destroyed more of the emerald grassy field in the process. The release of energy was pure, simple yet effective. It instantly blocked and thwarted all four of the iing attacks, though it also didn''t leave Number 3 without paying a cost herself. The blinding sh of light slowly fading along with the cloud of dust that it ultimately kicked off, giving insight to a sole standing feminine figure hunched forward, and seemingly heavily heaving. Besides her, only Aiden was the other sole person left standing still, all others, including the crowd of eager spectators were swept off their feet. He, however, was focused on the silhouette in the center of the slowly dissipating cloud with a serious, solemn look on his face. His worry was slowly, but surely starting to consume him. His body was shaking, trembling with the nervousness he was feeling, he was tightly clenching his fists. He wasn''t sure of what to say or think The energy she released was undoubtedly massive. She used up so much that if it were Aiden, he wasn''t even sure he would be able to stand at all He felt that he would bepletely drained empty, and would be lying unconscious on the ground, just like the rest of the Guptans! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 475 - 475 - Disciple And Master Still in his thoughts, Aiden was startled when he suddenly heard the heaving, exasperated voice of her Master talking in his mind. ''So What do you say, kid? How did I do?'' She asked, whilst her figure kept on heaving madly. Aiden couldn''t respond immediately, he was still under the effect of the tremendous amount of energy she seemingly consumed but was still left with enough to keep standing. Even worse, her mental tone still felt as if her thirst for battle wasn''tpletely quenched, as if she wanted even more. Taking a few moments to gather his thoughts, Aiden eventually responded. ''Yes, Master. Your proficiency in handling your new energy surprised me. I thought you said you don''t know how to use it? What happened then?'' He asked, trying to control his burning curiosity and sound just mildly interested. From being a wobbling, unstable mess from just a bit more than an hour ago, to be able to gather,press and release such a high volume of her reserves was an astounding leap, even for Aiden. ''Hmm'' Number 3''s voice came after a bit. She seemed to be in deep thought herself as if not entirely certain of what she did was deliberate. ''Truth be told, I''m not sure I can exin it It just feels natural duringbat Yet, now, I''m not sure if I could repeat the same'' She exined. As the dust slowly dissipated her figure was now bing visible, causing Aiden to sigh at her sight. Her clothes that she just took out from the ring that was now acting as an extension of herself and she could make material appear of disappear with just a single thought, was once again ragged and torn to shreds. The explosion burnt most of it away, leaving only a bit to cover up her delicate parts. Yet, it seemed that she didn''t seem to mind, or be bothered about it. Her interest was in something entirely different. As she looked up and her gaze matched with her disciples, the grin that stretched across her weary face was unmistakable. Aiden''s calm look instantly soured as she saw that hungry gaze, unconsciously taking a step back, and raising his hands in protest. ''No Master, you are already tired, it wouldn''t be fair'' He tried to argue, however, to no avail. Her master''s voice came almost instantly, her stern, strict,manding tone leaving no room for further discussion or arguing. ''Aiden! Do not argue with me! Stand up in front of me, and fight! I need you to push me to my limits to see where this new body''s full potential lies!'' Aiden could only sigh, and acquiesce to his elder''s order. It was clear that before Number 3 felt spent, and at the same time, satisfied, she wouldn''t allow anyone to move forward. Knowing that he had around a bit over a full day to spend in Haven before he would need to return to the Mistress'' mansion and that more than half of that time was already wasted with only just a bit of progress in regards to his original goal, he wanted to put an end to these tests finally and move on to work on his own skills finally. Yet, he also couldn''t deny that the thought of going all out and testing his new limits was a wee prospect, Aiden quickly decided to agree to her request. Also, from what he had just seen, he was sure that her power was at the very least somewhere close to his, or maybe even higher Calmly, he walked forward, taking his ce where the rest of his servants stood just barely a few minutes ago. Seeing all the wanton destruction the previous duel had caused, a thought sparked in his mind. ''Give me a moment, Master Let me fix this'' He sent a quick note to Number 3 as he quickly brought up the System''s interface, navigating to the top-down view of thendscape. In the next moment, to Number 3''s great surprise, suddenly the ground began to tremble. A light earthquake shook thend only for a brief moment, as the newly made crater, they were now standing in, was miraculously pushed up from below. In mere moments the field that was turned into a barren, scorched wastnd, shifted as if thest couple of minutes had never even happened. The ground became t, even once more, whilst the burnt, dark patches ofnd vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving behind nothing but the healthy-looking deep, vibrant brown dirt under their feet. A gust of wind blew, wafting away all the smoke and uncanny smell, giving way to the fresh, healthy Haven air to rece it in the next instant. Everything happened at a lightning-fast speed causing Number 3 to be confused and dart her eyes from left to right, trying to process everything that was happening around her. In the end, she turned to Aiden, who was now gazing at her with his usual calm, cool smile and nonchnt stature. ''What happened? What did you do?'' She asked through their mental channel, finding it increasingly more convenient to rely on it rather than using her lips. Aiden simply smiled, not responding to her question. He took his ce standing a few dozen or so yards away from his Master. Though he wasn''t looking overly serious, his arms were now hanging beside his body, his hands were in a wed position. Then suddenly, his eyes red up, glowing with all their glorious golden luster. His power unfolded, the draconic aura of his innate ability unfolded, putting an invisible pressure on the startled woman. Still, though caught off-guard for a brief second, Number 3 quickly shifted, and straightened her pose, entering into a battle-ready stance once more. Unlike before, this time she was ready to act, and wasn''t justzing around like when she faced Aiden''s group of servants. She knew that this fight wouldn''t be like anything before. Quite some time passed since thest time they trained and even then, she could feel that she couldn''t so easily contend with the boy anymore, but had to put her focus and skills into the battle, fullymitting to it. However, a lot of things have happened since then, and while she stagnated for most of it, he did nothing but continued growing more and more powerful each passing day. He grew so strong, that she even doubted that if she were in her old body, she might not be able to contest him any longer. Yet, this was exactly what she now wanted. Not knowing how far she could push this new, still unfamiliar body of hers, where the limits of her new strength lied, she needed a challenge that could actually test her. Unfortunately, the four servants, Roas, Glohn, Gob, and the little Thuk were just not enough, they -though powerful in their own right- were just not enough to even begin to force her to unleash herself. Seeing how the very air itself suddenly turned cold, and heavy, Number 3''s excitement didn''t falter. On the contrary, it merely reached new heights, as she gazed at her disciple standing like a fierce warrior of the legends in front of her. Like that, she swiftly raised her arms to form a cross in front of her, just at the very same time as Aiden''s figure suddenly vanished from his spot --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 476 - 476 - A Wonderful Dance Suddenly a loud explosive sound followed by a shock wave of released energy rang in the battle-stained field. The raised arm of Number 3 acting as an armguard blocked the abrupt ambush of Aiden, who for theck of better reasoning, seemed to simply vanish from his spot and appear in front of her in the next instant. The boy''s speed was astonishing, especially considering that he didn''t seem to prepare or use any skill whatsoever. What he showcased was just his pure bodily strength and nothing more. Adding to that, the power behind his casual-looking strike, released a massive torrent of energy, enough to crush anybody in Gupta, or Haven for that matter. Still, even such a tremendous attack was easily blocked by a casual flick of an arm. The attack, its momentum abruptly thwarted, was forced to release all its carried inertia into kickstarting arge, powerful, rupturing blow of wind. Even though the attack failed and was blocked with ease, neither party seemed to be concerned about it. Both Number 3 and Aiden kept their hands locked against each other as they stared at each other''s eyes with a matching battle-lust-filled gaze. If not for everyone stil beingl unconscious from the earlier explosive disy of power, they would be surprised to see such a crazed expression on their revered lordship. Eventually, Aiden jumped back, releasing their hold, standing at half a dozen steps a distance from his Master. His wide grin stered on his face, it couldn''t be more obvious how much fun he was having. There was no trace of the earlier concern, or worry on him, it was as if he was an entirely different person suddenly. His eyes glowering with the majestic golden luster, he spoke with a deeper, rumbling tone of voice. "Excellent! Woman, you are worthy! I propose thee, let''s enjoy ourselves in this wonderful dance! Let us sing the song of dragons once more, but leave the crescendo forter! What say thee?" In response, Number 3''s eyes began to glimmer, matching the boy''s glory. Her lips contorting, they stretched and curved to match the boy''s almost crazed, expectant grin. Taking a second to match the boy''s eyes, she eventually gave a slight nod as she responded. This time, her voice also carried a strange, unfamiliar tone. It was much deeper than her normally crispy, clear chitter, carrying the same thunderous blow in her, though with a much more feminine touch. Still, its volume was robust, thunderously raging just like the boy''s as they spoke to each other. "Nothing more would please thy self. Though, if a dance is what thou covet, you need to satisfy mine own heart first!" Strangely, as if their entire personality shifted to something else, their entire mannerism, and speech made a sudden transformation. Number 3''s words, were like a battle cry, an invite to go all out to the boy. His grin contorting, twisting even further, Aiden instinctually activated his draconic heritage, the [Dragon''s Wrath] innate''s fully. Together with his [Shapeshifter] his body rapidly began to transform. His muscle mass swoll and bulged, his body suddenly grew a couple of inches taller whilst also growing slightly bulkier in the process. His arms turning thick as logs, the golden scales began to appear one after another in quick session. The tips of his already meaty fingers grew thick, curved ebony ws in a manner of a second. The sound of fabric being ripped apart could be heard from behind the boy, as suddenly a meter and a half long reptilian tail plopped on the ground. From around the area of his shoulder des, a pair ofrge, a towering set of leathery wings could be seen, stretching high above the boy''s height. Yet this was not the end of the changes for him. His legs, his feet, his entire body, and even his face underwent a grand change, shredding his semnce of humanity and looking more like a Draconian, a bipedal dragonkin. Still, though the changes were much more robust than ever before, it was still just the beginning steps. The current Aiden was unaware of his grand disy, his majestic, glorious full might of the Ancient Dragon in the future As she watched the boy''s figure shift and change, Number 3 suddenly felt a simr desire inside her. Her heart that was already excitedly thumping inside its socket, began to palpitate with even more ferocity, pumping the blood with more and more speed. In tandem with it, her still rtively new and unfamiliar crystal core began to pulsate with a matching rhythm, filling her spiritual veins with more of the glorious golden energy, the [Soul Power]. She could feel the beating of the two organs inside her drumming in sync. Her body was heating up, she could feel a rising excitement, a growing mixture of emotions as it boiled, and slowly pushed her to higher and higher peaks. In a few moments, she could feel a strange numbness as it appeared at the center of her chest, roughly at the area, before it began to spread its domain around the entirety of her self. In mere moments, the strange numbness, the blistering heat filled her entire body, yet for some strange, mysterious reason she found no pain, no displeasure in any of what was happening to her. Almost contrary to the expectations she had, this heat, this mysterious sensation caused her to feel almost euphoric. Number 3 felt much more powerful than ever before. It was at that point, as the heat reached every recess of her body that a change happened. Reaching the point of no return, she suddenly fell on her knees as a surge of power suddenly erupted within her, causing her organs to twist and churn in pain all so suddenly. Still, she refused to cry, refused to reveal the rapid turn of events. With a grimace, she held it all in and withstood everything, merely reaching for the area where her core would be. In the next moment, her entire body began to faintly glow, radiating the recognizable golden light from underneath her skin that as the seconds passed were gaining more and more power. Ripples began to traverse the surface of her skin, congregating mostly at her back area first, but the same wobbling, the trembling effect could be seen all over her body. The numbing sensation seemed to be a protecting mechanism, swallowing most of the peculiar changes and the overwhelming, unbearable pain that would have otherwise made Number 3 faint. Still, even that nominal, minuscule amount that slipped through the cracks, was like as if someone plunged a sharp dagger, twisting and churning it inside her body. The upper area of her back, the upper part of her sacral were burning with a never-before-felt sensation, as something was happening, changing, transforming inside her body. As the pain was bing unbearable and was about to push open her tightly clenched lips, the pain suddenly began to recede, and transform into an irritable feeling. She could feel a need to exim, to make her presence, her arrival known to the world, something she could no longer hold back. Forced to acquiesce, she turned towards the clear blue skies, and whilst raising her arms that were now showing a faint hollow of thin golden outline scales appearing slowly, gradually, she released a bellowing, ferocious roar towards the sky. Her message was simple, carrying only an exmation to the world. A new dragon has arrived! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 477 - 477 - Exchanges Answering Number 3''s roar, the verynd itself trembled, whilst the sky carried the rumbling to the faraway reaches of Haven. Every resident, be it an origin Haven''s Dweller or a settler that was brought here from Eora was made aware of the presence of this new, majestic being. Her outcry seemed to hasten to changes that were still happening to her body. Each of the tip of her fingers was now sporting short, curved ebony ws, matching Aiden''s but slightly more slender, more gracious. Like Aiden, her physique also swoll, bursting slightly more mass than before, earning her a couple of inches in height, yet still retaining her sporty, slender physique. Though, unlike Aiden''s attire, she wasn''t really fitting her new body, causing it to stretch to its limits, and even reveal some of the tones and bulges in her healthy abs. Her barren arms were now covered in scales, shining with the same golden glory that of the boy''s but unlike his, hers were thinner. She also had a longer tail simr to that of a saurian, slumped down on the ground and covered with shiny golden scales all the way to its tip. A pair of bony, leathery wings could also be seen resting at her back, grown out from her shoulder des, just like how it was for Aiden. All in all, her entire look matched that of the Draconians, the bipedal breed of Dragons and once-mighty and fearsome existences across many realms. Now, though they are almost extinct, two of them have resurfaced and are currently gazing at each other with a hungry, battle-driven, crazed look in their eyes. Her transformation nowplete, all the numbing and strange sensations finally vanished, leaving nothing but the unsurmountable surge of energy that was ready to be released from the limits of her body. She stood up, as her previous grin resurfaced. Her eyes fixated on Aiden''s as she slowly cracked her joints and knuckles getting a quick feel of her newfound form. Her body radiated the same, heavy aura that matched the boy''s. Being of the same, neither could gain any ground over the other, ultimately canceling each other out as they merged, fused together, covering both of them without any effect on the other. Yet, this invisible battle, that happened ever since they transformed was left ignored by the two, as they stared silently at each other for several minutes, not making any move at all. As if time and space lost their meaning, the whole world crumbled before their minds, leaving nothing but the two of them in the otherwise empty void. Two sides, two halves of the same, that only together could make a whole. To members of a long-lost race, two entities that are impossible. One outside of the grasp of time, the other a universal taboo, a forbidden, unknown evolution that as it turned out were deeply affected by the life force of the first. Humans, Dragons, Primals Neither knew what they truly were, not that it truly mattered. They were already above such terms. Their gazes locked at each other, their minds connected, it was as if they were the same entity, two parts of the same being. One lip curving, the other already knew its whispers. Yet, they both desired more. They both needed more. They needed to dance to this new tune, this bad that only their hearts knew the beat to. Their hands slowly moving, matching, mimicking the other''s actions, entered a wing posture keeping it slightly raised but still hanging around their waists. "The song echoes in our hearts, the heart hungers for a round of dance." Aiden''s thunderous voice rumbled, breaking the long silence in the field. "In that case" Number 3 grinned, her voice rumbling with the same deep undertone. As she spoke, suddenly her body flickered, as she abruptly jolted her body forward, towards Aiden. Not even a secondter, her blurry, hazy figure appeared before him, both arms raised and striking down diagonally, forming an x as she tried to slice him to pieces. lets dance!" She finished her sentence with a wide grin. Just at the moment as her ws hit its opponent''s block. As if sturdy metal hit another solid object, a round ring recoiled, filling the air and causing yet another powerful gust of wind to explode from their newest collision. The loud bang and the strong force pushed the sprawled out bodies of all the fainted figures even farther away, further increasing the domain of the open arena. Yet even this, newfound space would not be enough, as the sh between two entities at such levels, could shake and potentially destroy the entirend around them. In terms of Eoran scale, the fight between these two monstrous existences would be categorized as nothing less than a cmity. The blocked attempt didn''t seem to dishearten Number 3, she stepped to the right, swinging her right arm, drawing a wide, horizontal arch. Her ws sailed across the air, almost tearing it apart as it inched closer and closer to Aiden''s torso at a frightening pace. At the same time, her left hand wasn''t left hanging, she struck forward, striking, aiming directly at the boy''s chest, ready to rip it open and tear his heart out. She wasn''t holding back at all, and whilst it was questionable if this would be her full strength, she really did fight with the aim to maim and if possible, kill as well. At the same time, she demanded the same from her disciple-turned-kin, her hungry, greedy gaze was a clear sign that she wouldn''t be satisfied with anything less. Aiden clearly understood that not that he couldment and ponder about limiting himself when he was already just as equally lost in the heat of their battle. Dodging the two-pronged attack, Aiden threw himself to the left almost instantly, sidestepping and evading both the frontal thrust and the right-winged strike at the same time. At the same time, he counterattacked, not giving any breathing room for the woman. He lounged his body in the air, above Number 3, his arms raised in front of his face, both hands forming a wing stance. As the instant passed, and his body grew closer he struck down with all his natural momentum, aiming both of her shoulders. In response, Number 3 instantly realizing that there was no time to raise her arms to guard, did something that Aiden never tried before. She smirked at the sight of her boy''s iing attack and actually leaned forward and faced the attack directly instead of trying to evade away from it. At the same time, she gave way for her the sharp tips of her wings toe forward, and like steadynces be aimed at the iing assant. Still notpletely used to her new appendages, the best she could do was to flex it, making it stand still and sturdy, and hope that it could withstand the full impact without anysting damage. Meanwhile, she was already ready for an uppercut, as her wed hands were standing at the ready below her waist and striking upwards as soon as the boy''s attacknded. Though a lot of actions were taken, and several rounds of attacks were made, barely any time has been spent as their sh was swift as lightning. Their fight has just begun! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 478 - 478 - Equals? In the span of time that took a person to blink 2 or at the very most 3 times Aiden and Number 3 traded several exchanges already. Each of their hits carried a tremendous amount of their pure physical strength, able to crush even the sturdiest of rocks. Still, both parties were stillpletely fine and healthy, as they continued shing against each other, blocking, evading, and returning the many strikes they each gifted to the other one. From the naked, untrained eye not much would have been visible, only two blurry hazy silhouettes as they shed around the battlefield, sometimes crossing dozens of steps seemingly in an instant. Their attacks slowly, but surely escted, as, after some time, afterimages of their shing shadows dotted thendscape for several seconds before being wafted away by the gentle summery breeze. Time kept passing, soon the small seconds adding up together and leaving several minutes behind them without any obvious victor of their countless swift rounds of shes could be made. Still, while they were engrossed in their own little world, from amidst the fainted crowd small minuscule movements could be seen. The resident Guptans were slowly returning to their senses, muffled, painful groans could be faintly heard amidst the continuous, rhythmic bangs, and battle sounds. Closest to the makeshift battle arena, the previously defeated quartet of Aiden''s servants were amongst the first wave that woke up. Roas, being the stout, and most sturdy of them all, was the pioneer amongst the many, that sat up, and began to tend to their aching temples. However, before he could look up and scan the arena, a surge of energy rippled across the air, followed by a loud burst of sound. Agitated by the violent noise, he darted towards its direction, only to turn wide-eyed with the utter shock and disbelief of what was revealed in front of his dark, bead-like eyes. At around a hundred or so yards away from them two strange-looking humanoid figures were locked in a standstill. Their bright, golden auras enveloped and shrouded most of their features, leaving only their vague outline, their hazy silhouette for the distant crowd to glean at. Their hands were interlocked with the other, they tried to push against the other, however from what it seemed, none could gain ground against the other, forcing them to this draw. Yet, both being of the same nature, after all, like mother like son as the saying goes none could ovee their stubbornness and give in to the other. Once again, time kept passing while no substantial movement could be seen from the duo, no change urred in their duel that suddenly took a weird turn. The only difference was that even more of the lying crowd returned to their senses and began to join those that enjoyed this sh of titans. From the servants they were all back on gathered up, sitting a bit of distance away from the event while engrossed in their mental discourse. ''Will Master win in the end? Could the girl be even stronger than him?'' Thuk''s excited voice resounded in their minds. ''[Goblin] What are you saying, brother Thuk?!'' Hearing the sphemous words, Gob couldn''t hold back and immediately exploded with a tone matching his devout reverence. ''How could Master possibly lose? He is the strongest, he is the Lord, not just ne, but also the most powerful being ever on the old one!'' ''[Goblin] I do agree with little Gob on this one.'' Glohn joined in, sounding thoughtful. ''The woman may be powerful, even stronger than all of usbined, but I don''t think she could contend with the Young Master for long. Remember she is still new and is just exploring her limits, while the Young Master has many more cards at his disposal.'' "But From here it looks like they are equal Look, neither of them could ovee the other!" Thuk added again, bringing their attention to the current standstill. "[Orc] They are still just testing each other." Suddenly, Roas gruff, hoarse voice filled the mental channel. "They barely used any of their energies or any abilities." He sighed, stopping for a moment, before adding one more sentence in the end. "[Orc] They are truly enjoying themselves" Just like how Roas have correctly summarized, in truth both Number 3 and Aiden were simply getting a feel for the other. From their many small skirmishes already, they had a rough understanding of the other. At some point, they slowly began to raise the stakes and utilized their [Mystic Martial Arts] talents, adding more speed, more power behind each of their punches and kicks. Yet, as if they were one of the same, their gradual increase instinctively matched the other, keeping on this dance, this mysterious duet to dominate the other. "What say thou? Ready for the next round? Or are you perhaps still tired?" Breaking the several minute-long silence, Number 3''s deep tone of voice thundered in the field, sounding sneering yet the robust volume washed away most of the carried intent and emotion. "Let me see your limits, woman!" Aiden''s tone matching in tone and power came almost instantly. He sounded excited, carrying that borderline crazy battle fever even through his words. With his words, his aura began to expand and grow in strength. The golden luster that formed a thin outline around his body began to gain some width, pooling more of the host''s power and forming an even heavier domain. In response, Number 3 did the same, her aura also exploded with a surge of newly injected power, giving her a thicker crust of energy, hiding herself behind a thickeryer of energy, matching the boy''s actions perfectly. Suddenly, seemingly as if they were simply following a script of a y both of them vanished from their spot, only to reappear a dozen or so steps away from each other in the next instant. Both of them grinned at the other, clearly enjoying how they followed the same tune. As the crowd focused on their figures, most of them were waiting for their Young Lord to do something and finally reveal his justified dominance over the female. Yet, it was Number 3 who acted first of the two. Slowly, she began to move her head in a circle on her neck, looking as if she was about to do something unexpected. Her grin stretched wider, curving higher as she began to move her shoulders as well, exercising the same movements. Realization hitting Aiden, he revealed a surprised smile, but kept his stance, not making any attempt to block her. More than anything she wanted to see if she was truly able to do something so quickly, and mayhaps force him as well to bring forth more of his own potential in the process. He watched his Master as she exercised before he began to follow and repeat the same movements as well. He couldn''t help but wonder. ''Could she really do it? I am still unable to after so long, yet she got used to her body so fast?'' Her peculiar movements slowly but surely traversed downwards, reaching her shoulder des, before, upon the shocked gazes of the crowd, the pair of resting wings showed signs of movement as well! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 479 - 479 - To The Skies! With a hopeful and also, a wondrous gaze, Aiden watched her Master performing her very first attempts to get a feel for the peculiar back appendage they both had but never tried using. Aiden could barely believe what he was witnessing! Barely a few passing minutes since she transformed, yet she was such a natural, showing such confidence in her actions! She already used her wings for defense and, for that matter, for dishing out damage as well! Knowing that the bony ends were simr to sharp spearheads, she began using it around halfway through their initial shes. Though at the time, the most she could do was to position herself, she still managed to utilize more of her bodily features than Aiden usually did. Her actions did prompt Aiden to try to copy his Master and was slowly, gradually including them into his repertoire. In this short little battle, Aiden had learned more than in the past 2 weeks back in the city. Not just that, he was happier than ever! For the first time since what felt like forever, he could finally be himself, and let go of all the constraints, the weights that kept pushing him down, holding him back. Here, in Haven, facing her Master he was free and happy. None of the matters and worries of the outside world mattered, for the moment, only Number 3 and he himself existed. Their fight though it was violent and fierce, to be honest, it wasn''t about winning or losing. The victor or the loser wouldn''t matter for either party. They simply wanted to push each other to their respective limits and maybe even further. They both wanted to know where they currently stand, how far they could go with their bodies, their inner energies, and how much they could withstand before showing signs of falter. Without knowing such basic information, they could very well be overestimating themselves in the future and willingly walk into a trap or a fight not realizing that it would only spell their demise. So they had to do whatever they could to try and ovee the other. Along the road of satiating their hunger for a glorious, fitting battle, they cared, loved the other too much to not give it their very best. As Number 3 kept focusing on the movement of her shoulders and with that, the connected appendage, she slowly but surely started to get a feel for these leathery, bony wings. Like a pair of newly acquired limbs, she could finally sense them, feel them more than just added weight that countered the normally frontal weight every female carried with themselves. Though bit clumsy, under the shocked gazes and loud gasps of the spectating crowd, therge wings that so far were kept in their resting position began to crack and slowly move on their own. At first Number 3 retained their closed, resting pose but began to move the base, the connecting base, drawing a simr circle as she did with her shoulders. As if being fully aware that her boy was sharing the same plight, as soon as she could manage the small movements, she called out with an excited tone. "Do like I do, Aiden! Focus on your back, on your shoulders! At the start, it feels weird, but only for a brief instant! Try moving them on your own!" Nodding Aiden diligently followed the instructions, repeating the exercise that Number 3 did, and began drawing circles with his shoulders. He closed his eyes to better sense, to better focus on the feel, the sensation at his shoulder des. Eventually, though arguably taking him a bit longer, he too managed to move the previously useless parts of his, turning them from cool-looking attachments to truly being a part of him. Like his Master, his golden-colored reptilian-looking wings were starting to move on their own, drawing clumsy, cubbish circles around their connected base. Gradually, both of their movements were growing, expanding. With loud cracks, the joints were used for the first time, as the wings were stretched out. As they were spread, both, but even more for Aiden, they felt a satisfaction like no other. As if a part of them, were finally being used, letting the blood, the cirction to fill it up with the vitality, the life force of their bodies. A newfound warmth spread in them, causing the both of them to heave a euphoric sigh. With her wings spread out majestically, Number 3''s attention slowly shifted up, towards the clear, light blue skies. The previous, mischievous grin returned to her face as she eximed whilst doing the first couple of testing ps with her sprawled out, majestic-looking, elegant draconic wings. "The next sonata of our song will take us to the skies! Come Aiden, follow my lead! Let''s ascend together, my dear!" She eximed, bending her knees slightly, gathering more and more of her energy into her legs before releasing it all at the same time and jumping high up in the air. Her sudden release kicked off a sizable amount of the dust as her figure flew up towards the skies. At the same time, she began to p her wings with a fast and powerful rhythm. Like before her natural talent rted to her own body showcased itself once again, her figure stabilized after a couple of attempts whilst still rocketing towards higher altitudes. Before her inertia would have been spent she already managed to get the basics down, and whilst not entirely stable, she could actually keep herself flying, floating at an altitude thrice the height of Roas. Keeping up with the rhythmic pping, Number 3 turned her attention down to the ground, looking at the warmly smiling Aiden. "Stop smiling like an idiot ande to me! Remember to p those wings, that''s what they are for! For now, do not infuse any energy into them, otherwise, you wouldn''t learn anything!" She instructed, slipping back to the mentoring mindset instantly. Aiden didn''t mind it at all, however, and focused on copying his Master''s actions. He made sure to fully focus and concentrate on her actions from before, causing the system to analyze and record her movements. He retained his full focus and heightened attention whilst he got into the correct cadence to keep his body in the air. Once she managed, he also smiled as, at the same time, the bell-like sound also rang inside his head. Even without looking, he knew what he gained, as following the note, information rted to the actions entered his mind. He briefly closed his eyes, assimting, processing the newly gained knowledge at a lightning-fast pace. When his eyelids fluttered and opened back up again, there was a clear change in his gaze. The uncertainty was gone, washed away, leaving behind nothing but sheer confidence as he looked back at the haughty draconic woman floating high above. He revealed a smirk, as he followed her previous action and bent his knee as well. His wings still stretched out and sprawled in the air, rising high above his head, only to strike down with a sudden surge of momentum, just at the same time as he kicked his legs off from the ground. Suddenly, his figure blurred once again, as he shot into the air with a much higher speed than Number 3 --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 480 - 480 - Connections (AN: My house is currently like a scene from Titanic. A drain pipe shattered, and flooded everything, causing massive damage. I''m trying my best, but it might take me a bit of time before I''m back to normal. Apologies for the inconvenience. If there are no updates over the weekend it is because I''m (and by me I mean me and my family) are currently with no inte in our temporary amodation.) --- From below, the eager Guptans watched with awe as the two figures suddenly appeared high above them. They were mesmerized by the sight of the two of them as they gently, but rhythmically pped their wings, keeping them afloat, levitating. Even the four minions were left speechless as they watched the majestic entities, their Lord and his Master shooting up to the realm they never could. They could only gaze with excitement, and a tinge of hope that, maybe, just maybe one day they could follow after them "This This is surprisingly easy. Why couldn''t I do this before?!" Aiden muttered as he checked his body whilst keeping up with the movement that the knowledge ingrained into his brain has taught him. He could only stare at the floating system screen with shock and surprise. Time after time, this strange, undecipherable magical construct, entity, or whatever it truly was that resides inside him achieved such unimaginable, borderline impossible feats. Just before, as Aiden naturally focused on Number 3''s attempt at achieving the next step with getting used to her new form, the system wasn''t sleeping either. Instantly, it began to analyze her actions, whilst working in the background to prepare and provide the necessary knowledge in achieving the same. [Draconic Flight discovered! Analyzing information 1%] It didn''t seem to take too long either as by the time Number 3 managed to stabilize herself in the air, the system came back with the results and even immediately provided him with a new skill with an interesting, new type, condition added to it, albeit it was somewhat expected. [Draconic Flight discovered! Analyzing information 100%!] [Analysisplete, processing information, creating rted skill. Remaining Time: N/A] [Analysisplete, Information processed. Skill: Draconic Form: Flight (-) created.] [Note: The skill has a dependency on the innate skill: [Draconic Wrath] full activation. It is counted as an addition to the already present form, and thus not avable without it.] The skill was like a dummy, an empty shell, as the knowledge was deeply rted to this special transformation of his. With the help of the system, he instantly learned the most important factors and techniques he needed to know to be able to efficiently utilize his majestic wings. He also got to know as to what joins, muscles to stretch, to flex to contort to move them, making him all the more puzzled as to how Number 3 achieved the same so stupendously fast. As he didn''t make a move, or take any action for over a minute now, Number 3 deciding that they had enough time already suddenly pushed her body forward, carefully altering the angle her wings were facing, making herself slowly fly forward, towards the boy. "Hey, stop dazing! We still have a dance to finish!" She eximed as she got in front of him in the air." She seemed to be quickly getting used to this new method of traversal, there were no traces of struggle or unease on her face at all. Herrge, spread out wings were moving on autopilot, giving her no real issue at all besides the slightly higher usage of her stamina. "S-sure" Coming back to his senses, Aiden nodded returning his attention on his Master. "What should we do? I''m not sure I amfortable as of yet" He added. Though that wasn''t theplete truth, it wasn''t truly a lie either. The system did provide him with the necessary knowledge, and he wasfortable in using his wings to stay afloat or even maneuver around, he was by far not used to them tobat at the same level of efficiency and power output that he would have done on the ground. "Hmm" Number 3 nodded in understanding. She too, had a different idea in mind, as her eyes wandered around, scanning the distant horizon, before ultimately settling on the mountain range in the distance. "There! Let''s race to those mountains!" She pointed in their direction. "We can get used to these wings during that time." Following where her index finger was pointing at, Aiden gazed at the peaks in the far distance with a thoughtful, contemting look. "Hmm I guess it is fine." He nodded after a bit of pondering. "Though, that will not settle the score and provide us with a victor. Does that not bother you?" He asked with a smile. In response, Number 3 also smiled, matching the boy''s warmth and calmness. "It doesn''t really matter to you, does it?" She returned the question with one of her own. Shrugging her shoulders she continued. "It doesn''t really matter, I guess. The goal was to push ourselves as far as we could. Seeing how we are above the ground and are pping wings that a few minutes ago I never had, I say we achieved that goal." She smiled, adding some more to her words. "Truth be told, I am also starting to feel the wear and tear of the duels. My reserves are burning low. I am not even sure how long I can keep myself in the air." Listening to her, Aiden''s smile shifted into a worried, concerned look. He flew closer to her, reaching for her left shoulder as he asked. Yet before he could go and voice his thoughts and feelings, Number 3 shook her head as if she could read his mind. "I still have enough in me to train a bit with these wings! Don''t worry about me boy, I can still beat you even with one of my eyes closed! You should worry about yourself, getting beaten and humiliated in front of your people will be quite the humiliation!" The twoughed and talked for a bit more as they got themselves ready for their final push. From below, not much could be heard, apart from seeing how happy and unrestrained their Young Lord looked as he talked with the woman. The happiness, the light in their eyes as they looked at each other was clearly visible, it was obvious that the two deeply cared and appreciated the other, even going as far as if they weren''t aware of the nature of their rtionship, they could even mistake it for something else ''What do you guys think they are doing?'' Thuk asked, looking clueless as he stared at the two. From where he stood, apart from seeing their Master acting all cheery and happy, he didn''t know why aren''t they battling anymore. ''[Orc] They are probably still testing their wings. After all, both of them have just used it for the first time.'' After a bit of thinking, Roas spoke up, adding his insight into the discussion between the quartet. ''But they are both so happy so excited. Maybe the Master found a suitable mate in her?'' He asked, voicing the thought that actually most of them already thought of but dared not to exim it. After all, the Master has already clearly stated that this woman was his Master, his only parental figure. Even if there was no blood rtion before between them, that didn''t matter. To the both of them, they were family, master, and disciple, mother and son. Adding to that, after the evolution it was clear that Aiden''s energy influenced the path Number 3''s new race took. Could it still be said that there was no connection between them? Their debate was put to a sudden halt, when suddenly both of them shot forward, surging across the skies with high speed, flying towards the direction of the mountains --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 481 - 481 - The Race (AN: In case you are interested about an update of my situation, check the Author''s Note section) ---?? With nearly half of the Gupta residents currently were still either out ofmission or just slowly starting to return, most of those that stayed behind were left speechless with the shock and fright they felt when suddenly two blurry silhouettes dashed across the skies above them. For what was only a brief, fleeting moment, they saw two vaguely humanoid shapes with two wings protruding at their backs as they flew, raced towards the direction of where the mountains and the farms reside. Their speed, though fast, was luckily nowhere near to the threshold of the speed of sound, making the unaware Gupta residents evade a disaster. Yet, unaware of suchws of nature even existed they were blissfully unaware of the cmity they just narrowly evaded. Whilst the people of thend were amazed, awed even of the two figures, Aiden and Number 3 were unaware of any of that. They were locked in their own little world, having the time of their lives as they soared through the clear blue sky. They were at each other''s head, neither party gaining any substantial lead that they could keep for any length of time. For every time one would increase their speed and try to put some distance between them, the other one would match his or her speed and retain their lock. Still, neither of them was truly bothered by this fact, they both enjoyed the moment, the feeling as their wings pped and pushed against the wind. The incredible sensationpletely overwhelmed their senses, they felt trulyfortable as themselves high up, leaving the ground. Seeing as thend below them grew ever so distant was a unique feeling, even with the system''s unique mapping feature, this personal view was a refreshingly new perspective. The two kept racing head-to-head at the other, neither of them, using anything but their own, pure strength and stamina. They were still getting a feel for the new appendages, gettingfortable and more skillful as they increased their speed and did some smaller maneuvers. A flip, a roll where most of what their current repertoire consisted of. The asional dive, then the ascent with the same speed and momentum were mixed in between. True, they raced, but just like their duel before, the goal wasn''t a victory, but instead the crucial, critical experience. Feeling pumped up and still, some of her strength left unused, Number 3''s wings slowly began to shine, radiating a faint golden glow. Feeling confident with herself, she activated her Mystic Martial Art skill, pooling and guiding more of her [Spirit Power] towards the wings, further enhancing the strength and speed in which they operated. In the next instant, her figure zapped forward as her speed surged, leaving behind a stunned Aiden. As the distance between the two increased at a rapid pace, Aiden''s eyes shined with the same golden glimmer. "So, you cheated in the end, huh? Sure I can y that game too." He muttered to himself, copying her actions. As his innate ability activated, he felt the increased flow, quickly guiding it in the same manner as his mentor, his master did. In the next moment, his wings also lit up, following the same unique trait as Number 3, before his speed too increased at a frightening pace. Yet, this wasn''t enough. Merely matching her speed, would not work down the suddenly created distance of thisrge chasm, but merely not let her further increase her lead. No, he needed something more, something brazen He sighed, as he decided to risk it. After all, using this strange new source, his supposed divinity was one of the main reasons he came back here in the first ce. Though a lot had happened and in the end, he couldn''t focus too much on it, he still gained a bit of insight a bit before. With the memory still rtively fresh, Aiden suddenly closed his eyes, keeping the course straight towards their destination. He heaved a heavy sigh, as he concentrated on clearing his mind from all the unnecessary noise. All the chaos, all the emotions needed to be reined in, leaving behind nothing but the calm so that he could once more tap into that mysterious source of energy. Recalling how it felt when his duality, the two minds connected, fusing into one, he dived deeper and deeper into himself. He could feel the same energy slowly entering his system, mixing together with his own [Soul Power]. Going on with pure, natural instinct he guided the flow towards his wings, whilst keeping the [Mystic Martial Arts] active. From the outside, a slow, gradual change could be witnessed if one were to look closely at the swiftly flying boy. The golden shine that surrounded his wings, were changing, transforming into a tinum glimmer. The change was notplete, creating a beautiful transition where the tip and around half of his wings were still retaining their golden luster, whilst the lower parts and the connecting joints were now bathing in their tinum hue. However, that was still more than enough. With most of the muscles put under the new enhancing source, Aiden''s speed surged once more, his body suddenly blurred, as it dashed forward with unimaginable speeds. Instantly, what they avoided before, were now crossed, his body, his speed instantly reaching the dreaded milestone, the speed of sound, a loud sound st reverberated in the air above Gupta. The increased distance was almost instantly worked down, and then as he retained his new state, the situation was flipped around. Suddenly, under the surprised gaze of Number 3, the boy''s blurry hazy streak-like figure sted forward, leaving her behind without a second thought. The distance between the two increased once again, but this time, it was she that was left in the metaphorical dust. Yet, she didn''t mind. She smiled at the receding visage of her boy, satisfied with what they achieved. She pushed her body to its limits, just as she hoped for, and on top of that, got used to this new form, this new outlook of hers. With only onest thing, onest test remaining, she retained her current speed as she followed behind the already far-gone boy without any worry or concern in her face or heart. "That was fun, Master" By the time Number 3 got to their agreed destination, Aiden was already back, lying on the ground, taking his well-earned rest, gazing at the sky above. His tone was content and satisfied, as he rxed. His body was already back to its normal, human-like default form, all the Draconian traits were gone. "Yeah Still not sure what happened to me, but I am at leastfortable with these changes" She answered after she slowlynded to his right. "There is only onest test to do Luckily I think I can manage that on my own" She muttered, gazing at her body and wed, scales-covered arms. Closing her eyes, she took arge gasp of air, using the peculiar breathing technique that was responsible for controlling and calming her senses, her agitated nerves. She repeated the technique multiple times, as she slowly began to calm down. Her hunger, her excitement slowly fading, her features began to transform along with it! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 482 - 482 - Trailing Through Memories "Are you sure about this Master? You coulde with me I''m sure Lily would be very excited to meet you again" Standing in front of the very same ziggurat, the now quasi-holy site for the Guptans, Aiden was looking rather distraught, rather lugubrious, sorrowful. Looking at the calm, resolved expression of the ck-haired woman, Number 3 in front of him, Aiden was trying his best to convince her to change her mind. Unfortunately, like him, she herself was rather stubborn, once her mind was set, and resolved on a direction, it was nigh impossible to divert it from the path. ?? Shaking his head, she gave away a gentle, warmth-filled thin smile, she reached out for the boy, pulling him into her loving embrace. The two hugged in silence for several seconds before she whispered into his ears. "You know that I need to stay here, I cannot go back to the other world, at least, not yet. Believe me when I say I really want to go with you, but if I do, He will sense me and once he does" "He will send his hound the one you called the ''Reaper''. I know, I know It''s just" Aiden sighed, his muffled voice came whilst his face was buried inside Number 3''s right shoulder. Raising his head, he separated from her, only taking a single step so they could speak, whilst holding into each other by the shoulders. "You know" He sighed, donning a wry smile as he gazed atop the sky. "It''s quite funny how that figure, the famous ''Number 0, the First of the Grandmaster''s Executors'', is named" "Well Like with the Grandmaster, his origin is also shrouded in mystery. The only thing that''s clear is that he is probably as old as the Grandmaster himself. From what I know, they both came from the same origin. Yet, he is very rarely seen, usually spokes to us in a way that''s roughly simr to this mental channel we also share now." Number 3 exined, following her boy''s gaze as he turned his exotic golden eyes towards the distant stars of the universe. Their enhanced sight easily prated the invisible dome that protected this seedling of a true world, hidden from the outside world''s threats. Their gaze swayed from one sparkling star to the next as they silently enjoyed the endless nket of the void that stretched all around them. "Do you think they are connected to me to us?" Breaking the ensuing several minute-long silence Aiden suddenly asked the question, keeping his gaze focused on the sky above. "Hmm?" Her contemtion abruptly broken, Number 3 lowered her eyes, returning it to the curious boy in front of her. "What do you mean?" She couldn''t help but ask, though she somewhat understood the question. After all, even without discussing it in length, after her awakening, some of the knowledge Aiden held dear to his heart was subconsciously shared with her. As she evolved, integrating his essence, his powers into her own core, faint images, visions of a distant past, HIS past were revealed before her very eyes. Though she has yet to reveal this strange peculiarity, this new ability, she somewhat felt that he was already aware. Images, memories of a strange settlement, a pair of a husband and wife with unknown origins a newborn baby, with a stump of ck hair and beautiful, golden bright wide eyes as he curiously looked at the world around him Then, the scenes changed, shifting into something much worse. The skies were painted with vermilion with the blood of countless in innocents used as mere pawns by the games of the greedy, few powerful lords. Nations, races uniting under the same shady cause, supported and empowered by the very gods that the masses support and worship even to this day The same family men from the previous memory now donned in full-body d armor, holding onto the dragon-shaped hilt of an ebony de, standing alone atop a hill. Below him, an endless swarm of vile demons in human skin, hungering for his flesh, thirsty for his blood. Yet he refused to give in. Each of his swipes cost dozens if not hundreds of lives shattering the very fabric of space. Even that proved to be not enough. Like all the others behind and around him, his brethren now gone forever, he was barely holding on, kneeling, supporting his body with the very same blood-drenched de. Around him, twelve humanoid figures, each radiating a power, that clearly transcended the limits their mortal bodies could carry. Each donning a vicious smile, a hideous, cruel, twisted, dark expression as each gripped their weapons tighter, closing in on the fearsome, but wounded and now faltering warrior. As they slowly inched closer to the heaving figure above them, the memory was cut off, faded. She couldn''t glean into more. Despite that, she understood most of it. She didn''t know who that man was, or that woman from before, but she recognized the boy clearly. Those facial features, those unique eyes were unmistakable. Yet, if that was true, it made no sense! It would mean that this young man, this youngster that''s still a teenager rather than a full-blown adult, was hundreds Nay, Thousands, or maybe even several millennia old! But that''s clearly not the case So if not, then what was going on? Was he somehow frozen, and was forcefully awoken just now? Did he survive that cmity that had befallen them, or maybe these are the memories of a life before the one he is living? She didn''t know Only that he held even more importance to her, she wanted to learn more about this boy that she now fully epted. She could no longer deny the feelings when he looked at her. Like the always cheery Lily, Aiden was now part of her, they were her family. "I mean" Breaking her lines of thought, Aiden''s voice came. "If the Grandmaster and his servant, his right-hand man, the so-called ''Reaper'' have some sort of shared history with me, my origin?" Averting his gaze, he matched Number 3''s surprised look with a gentle smile of his own, as he continued. "I know, don''t worry." He said, looking rxed and collected as he continued. "I am aware that you have seen some of my memories, and that you are feeling perplexed, confused even" He spoke, shocking Number 3 with his revtion. "H-how?" She asked stutteringly, disbelief with utter shock painted on her visage. Smiling, Aiden shook his head refusing to answer, instead, he pried even deeper. "What do you think? Does anything you have seen, feels familiar? You are the only one that canpare the two Can you feel the Grandmaster''s presence in any of the scenes, visions I have shared with you?" "I" Number 3 stammered at the sudden question, closing her eyes and using her breathing technique, repeating it several times to collect herself. Her shock slowly faded, reced by sheer determination as she recalled the scenes once again, focusing on the small glimmers she was gifted, the scraps of scenes she could filter through in search Though it seemed that his questions were way too much to ask, she pushed on, trying to find a familiar sight, whatever she could connect with her own experiences from her experiences Suddenly, her eyes snapped open with shock, she turned towards Aiden. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 483 - 483 - Revelations "What is it? Did you find something?" Noticing her reaction, Aiden immediately asked with a face of growing excitement. "I''m not entirely certain, as the images are very faint but one of those champions seems to have a familiar-looking scythe in his hand." She muttered her face contorting into a frown as she tried her very best to match andpare the weapons in her mind.?? In the end, she sighed and shook her head with a wry look on her face. "I don''t know It looks simr to the Reaper''s, but I can''t be certain Still, if nothing else there may really be a connection there." "Hmm What can you remember of the figure then?" Aiden asked after a moment of pondering. While asking he was already thinking of a method where he could share his memories with her with more depth. Unfortunately, besides offering his core to her, Aiden didn''t have any other approach, making his mood sour ever-so-slightly. Without any other options at his disposal, he had to ce his chances on her, and just hope that she was given a clear sight on the figure. Either that or put more focus on visiting the second shrine in the mountains. "Well" Number 3 furrowed her brows as she descended into her own mind once again. As the wrinkles began to crease her pearl white beauty, she did her best to rey the scenes in her head. Seconds passed as she focused on the images in her mind, only revealing the asional scowls, and clicks of the tongue, voicing her displeasure at yet another failed attempt. In the end, she opened her eyes, her face showing the same displeased outlook as before. As she looked up at Aiden, she shook her head with a heavier, mncholic look. "Sorry, Aiden It''s strange No matter how hard I try, I can''t recall how the figure looked. I can only remember the weapon he held in his right hand." "What did his hand look like then? Tell me what you can see, don''t force yourself, just give what you can." Changing his approach, Aiden asked again, trying to get closer to the issue from another angle. Number 3 once again closed her eyes as she focused on the particr memory she had seen. "Not much He had a slender hand, matching someone with a usual lean, svelte physique. "She exined with still closed eyes, drawing the rough outline of an arm in the air with her right index finger. "It was covered with a ck leather glove and WAIT!" She eximed as her eyes snapped open with the shocking discovery she had just made. She quickly raised her right hand to just below their eye level. She pointed at her ring finger, where a skull-shaped ring has slowly started to materialize and take an eerie shape. "This!" She pointed at the ring once again. "Although it was only for a brief fraction of a moment, but I''m fairly certain he wore the same-looking ring! He has to be HIM! Or at least someone rted to him!" She eximed with an amazed, almost crazed look in her eyes. The discovery -if it turned out to be the truth-, was groundbreaking. The first of the Grandmaster''s Executors, the famed and feared Grim Reaper was an existence that transcended time that he perhaps may have been either one of the twelve Demi God''s of that ancient era, or perhaps a direct descendant That was not something that Number 3 could easily ept. However, one that held an even higher shock, an even greater most likely earth-shattering revtion once it was uncovered was the identity of the Grandmaster. For someone of the Reaper''s statue to be so reverent, so obedient towards him, his identity was just even more mysterious "That''s interesting" Aiden hummed thoughtfully, as he looked at the exotic-looking ring in Number 3''s finger. "Still It is just a suspicion for now We have no way to confirm or deny our guess Yet it does give a bit more insight to what they could be, and also matches with what I have learned" He mumbled, recalling the discourse he had with the strange thin entity covered in perpetual darkness. He gave the impression of an entity way above the limits of mortals, or even those figures from the memories he was granted during his trial at the first site. From how he referred to him, it gave the impression of a being with matching strength. Sadly, he couldn''t merge the buffed servant''s memories because of his injury at the time, but he was certain, that those scenes, visions would have matched the conjecture they have just made. In the end, he could only sigh and show a warm smile. He embraced Number 3 once again, whispering his words into the wind. "Thank you for your help Master. I know now what I need to do." Though she was curious, Number 3 did not ask, did not try to pry further. She hummed, leaning close to her boy''s head, and giving a gentle kiss atop his forehead. "I''m d. Just make sure to stay safe, and remember If you are even in any dilemma and need someone to talk to You know where to find me." She snickered at her own words, adding one more to it. "After all it was your creation in the first ce" After talking for some more, they eventually said their farewells for now. Number 3 was to remain in Haven and take up residence in the Ziggurat that was built for her in the first ce. She would continue to meditate there whilst slowly but surely explore all of the mysteries of her new form. She had this desperate, great need to have an answer to the question ''What am I?''. With only just a brief, superficial knowledge she needed to spend time in exploring the depths, the limits of herself and slowly get used to it. The fact that she could take up on a draconian form and sail the skies itself, gave her even more food to ponder on. Also, all her martial arts, the knowledge that she gained through a lifetime of efforts now needed to be revised. With the existence of a ''Monster Core'', a central piece of ''engine'' churning and producing more and more of this higher form of energy, reinvigorating and continuously empowering her most of her old techniques, her skills were either straight up useless, or just unusable in their current forms. With only the basis of her foundation still working, the [Mystic Martial Arts] at her disposal, she was looking into a lengthy meditating, cultivating session before she would be ready to even begin her training. Before she felt powerful enough to face the fury of existence that may very well be at the level of the very gods that the thousands were devoted to, Number 3 had a lot of work to start working towards. By the time, the now-familiar gate formed from seemingly the empty air around it, and Aiden returned to his room inside the Masked Mistress'' mansion, it was far into the night, past midnight even. As he emerged from the gate and his figure appeared in the room an angered and equally as annoying familiar voice resounded in the room. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 484 - 484 - Sliver Of Light "Where have you been brother?! Little Sis and I have been looking for you for hours!" Lily eximed with an agitated and upset tone as soon as he emerged from the dimensional gate, leaving Haven behind. Immediately, not giving any chance for him to repent, the blonde girl flew herself towards him, crashing onto his chest. Burying herself in her favorite spot she began to sniff and sob as she released all the pent of emotions she was holding down.?? At the same time, Galina looked at the two, with a bittersweet smile. She was actually mostly aware of what was going on by listening to his brothers through the mental channel. Though it was slightly inconvenient as it required much more mental strength from her to focus due to the effects of the time dtion, yet she was mostly aware that Aiden was fine, and was spending most of his time with the human woman that held aplicated rtionship with the group. Yet, she wasn''t sure what she could reveal to the Young Miss, and without any guidance from Aiden, she opted for silence instead. The only thing she said was that her brother was safe and was just training. Unfortunately, such vague words did little to quell the growing worry in Lily''s heart. After going through so much ordeal, even going as far as almost losing him during a simr situation way before, Lily felt insecure without any direct means to know about his status. Word by word just didn''t cut it, even if it came from someone like Galina, who she knew would never state any lies. Spending thest hour or so in his room, waiting with an overwhelming sense of worry and concern, Lily could no longer hold herself back and keep her emotions at bay when her brother finally appeared. Her body was violently trembling as her worry, concern, and the trauma that she constantly held down and hid behind the mask of her ever-present cheerfulness suddenly erupted from the constraints of her heart. "Brooo-ther!" Her muffled sobs were the only source of sound for over a minute as she held herself on her beloved brother''s chest, ignoring everything else entirely. Looking at her disheveled, distraught state, Aiden shed a tender smile, reaching out and embracing the shivering, shaking little girl. Giving a gentle peck atop her head, Aiden whispered warmly to ease her troubled heart. "Calm down, big sis. I was fine, nothing bad happened. In fact, I have nothing but good news for you!" Looking up and freeing her face from the soothing embrace of his chest, Lily looked up at her brother with a face full of interest and rising curiosity. "What is it, brother? Tell me!" Thus, Aiden began to recount the story behind their Master''s Number 3''s tale, going back to the beginning 2 weeks before, and retelling how she fell, before going forward and exining in vague terms how he saved her, all the way to the moment of her awakening. Though he left out bits and pieces, Lily was one of the very few that was aware of her brother''s true ''face'', his Primal race and its peculiarities with their ever-evolving, transforming nature as they absorbed the deceased of other races to strengthen their own selves. He exined to Lily as like him, she was also blissfully ignorant in the basics of how the world''s power level worked, how humanity was the only race on the face of Eora that was deprived of a core in their bodies. This revtion birthed a very interesting and peculiar question that caused Aiden to be frozen for a while. "Brother If that is the case, then what about me? I''m half a human by birth, does that mean I also haven''t a core, and I cannot grow stronger to stand with you in the future? Am I destined to be a burden?" She asked, her eyes turning blurry with the barrier of tears that already began to form in her eyes. The thought of forever being destined to be weak and be only a limiting factor, a weight to hold back Aiden was terrifying. Aiden, couldn''t answer at first, but only stare in stunned silence at the little girl. Not because he didn''t know the answer to her question, but because he didn''t know how to say it, what he should offer. Yes, due to her cursed heritage, she too was an abomination, an entity devoid of a core. Though her elven traits provided her with a much more vibrant power than normal, she too, like Number 3 before her transformation, was limited in terms of growth. For now, she could walk the path alongside her brother, but that would ultimately end at some point, without any assistance she would never be able to cross a certain threshold. True, she may grow exceptionally strong in the mortal realm, she could never ascend to the stages above it. That is, or to be more precise, that was the case until recently. With the forbidden evolution, the wishful fantasy bing a reality with Number 3''s case, there was now hope, a sliver of light prating the darkness. Lily too, like their master, had an alternative path, though barely trodden, but still However, Aiden wasn''t certain that he should reveal such a fact to her. At least for the time being. What about the dangers? Even for Number 3, their Master, they still couldn''t be fully certain that there weren''t any drawbacks, some hidden mutations, risks that they may have miraculously avoided for now, but could affect them during their second try. No. He has to wait until he can be certain. He needed to grow his divinity, understand his powers, and make sure he has absolute certainty that his ''Big Sister'' wouldn''t oppose any grave threats. Only then, could he reveal this secret and offer it to the undoubtedly most important person in his life. Coming to the conclusion, Aiden steeled his heart as he resolved himself to the path he had chosen. He looked at Lily and revealed his usual calm, warm and friendly smile. "Don''t worry, Lily. Though it is true, and as you can also feel it, you do not have a core churning, pumping inside you currently, that does not mean you are weak, nor that you are forced to be caged into that mindset." He exined, reaching down and caressing her cheek. Lily looked at her in silence, still battling to keep her emotions in check, lest they would erupt once again. "There is a way I can''t speak about it yet but know that Number 3 sessfully crossed the hurdle that gued her kind. Once we can be certain that her case wasn''t just a fluke and it would be safe, rest assured I will do everything in my power to give you what you desire as well. Until then, work hard, you still have a lot of leeway for growth!" He exined, reaching for the top of her head and ruffling it, causing a soft giggle to escape her lips, instantly calming her agitated mood. With her mood gradually calming down, the trio walked over to the single bed in the room, sitting down on it, and spent thest bits of the night all the way to dawn talking and spending time together. Once, the first rays of the sun peaked through the windows, illuminating the room in the dawn''s warming light, a series of knocks on the door alerted the trio. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 485 - 485 - Just Who Was He? "Young Master and Young Misses, the breakfast will be ready in an hour, if you could please attend by then, it would be much appreciated." An aged, respectful voice came from the other side of the door. Once he said what he needed, he turned around and promptly left for the other rooms in the hallway. It was the butler, Sebas, surprising everyone inside by his keen senses. Though the rooms weren''t warded, or even soundproofed for that matter, it was still quite surprising to see the mysterious elder''s skills first hand.?? Aiden looked in his direction for a while, as a small appreciative smile emerged on his expression. ''This old man is anything but simple'' He muttered inwardly. Once again, he couldn''t sense, couldn''t feel any powering from that elderly servant, he was like a regr mortal. Yet, his demeanor, the way he carried himself, his confidence, and most importantly, his clearly battle-honed senses were telling apletely different tale. Usually, when a power of such stature would appear, Aiden could at least sense the denseness of his aura, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. In the case of a monster, the rhythmic pulsing of their Energy Core betrayed them. However, in the case of humans, it was even easier. Being devoid of a central ''engine'', their energy freely flowed inside their bodies. Like a halo, a venous, circtory system for the spiritual energies rather than their liquid vitality, their blood, it covered their entire bodies. To Aiden and his system, it was like an X-Ray vision, no human could hide before his scanning gaze. Yet, time and time again, he was shocked to see the many exclusions from these simple rules. Like that mysterious thin shadowy silhouette, this elderly man as well was aplete mystery for him. The only estimation Aiden could make was that he was probably somewhere below the Mistress, but that was only an assumption based on the fact how reverential, devoted he seemed to be toward the Lady of the Manor, and could very well bepletely, utterly wrong. As the butler knocked on the next door, Aiden''s attention returned to the two much-better-looking girls in the room. After spending some time consoling her troubled heart, Lily''s mood returned to her normal cheery, giggly self. As the noise began to quieten down at the hallway outside, Lily sprung up to her feet. She grabbed Galina''s hands, whom she already considered as her sister no matter what the other would have thought, and began to tug her towards the door. "Brother, we''ll be going back to our room, to fix up ourselves! Go wash up, and prepare! Remember, today is the first day of the War Games! Sara said that before theunch, we would also need to meet with the rest of the team, we would be forced to spend the next 30 days together!" She eximed as she tugged a stunned and shocked Galina out of the room. As they left, Lily turned around, revealed her usual delighted, cheery, wide smile, and waved her hand before closing the door. "We''ll meet downstairs!" She shouted at him as they left, leaving Aiden to himself once more. Looking at the door for a while longer, Aiden could only smile at her sister''s shenanigans and shake his head. ''[That girl is carrying much more weight in her heart than what she gets credit for. All the emotional trauma she went through is still keeping her down, to this day.]'' Enya''s voice suddenly resounded in his mind as they were once again, alone. ''[Though the friends she had made are definitely helping her to recover, she can''t bear losing another one that is close to her heart. The elderly woman, your Master, you or your servant that she now treats as the sister she never had If harm woulde to any of them or to you, I''m not sure how she would react]'' She continued, her voice turning somber by the minute. ''I know.'' Aiden sighed revealing a bitter, sorrowful expression, as he kept ncing at the door. ''I don''t know what I can do, besides doing what I am already doing. I don''t want to forcefully bind her to me as I did with Number 3'' ''[You don''t need to turn her into a minion to protect her Aiden. Haven is your realm, once she is there she would be protect-]'' Before she could finish, Aiden raised his hand and spoke up. ''No. I can''t bring her over yet. Not until we have a way to help her ovee her limitations. We first need to understand what exactly happened to Master. What is she even? Even the system couldn''t tell can you?'' There was no response from her, Enya remained silent instead, even her presence seemed to vanish as she silently descended back to the depths of his Soul Space, continuing her quest to regain some semnce of her old power and form Finally left alone, both on the outside and inside, Aiden heaved a sigh. Leaving the bed, he walked over to the windowsill and looked out. Though the outside wasn''t anything spectacr, as the Mansion being shrouded via magic and being at the heart of the Slums, the most notorious district of the city; Aiden didn''t mind. He didn''t need to actually look at anything, he was merely gazing, as his mind wandered on the many tasks that wereid out in front of him. For one, he was still a bit short in his System-assigned personal quest, his path towards understanding his divinity was still quite a way to go before this stage would be markedpleted. On the other hand, he had this War Games, where he was forced to contend with members of the other factions, ying to the whims of their masters like pieces on a giant 4-way chessboard On top of that, the looming threat of the giant Empire to the West also threatened their very existence, and more than likely he himself would be forced to take action if he wanted to guard the peace and quiet he so desperately longed for. Still, that wasn''t even that he was most wary of. The hidden dangers, the shadows lurking behind the scenes, ying with the lives of many like grand puppeteers The entity that slowly but surely twisted the minds and hearts of the people, they were the real problem Aiden was certain he would be forced to face sooner rather thanter. Even still, once all of these were settled, Aiden still needed to venture out and visit the Shrines left behind in secretive ces by his forefathers He needed to reim the inheritance of his people, the Primals, and understand the events of ages past. Learn the motives of the Great Purge, the reason the so-called Gods of this world joined together to remove one single race not just from the face of Eora but to go as far as to purge even their names from the pages of history. What was so vile, so dangerous, so shocking about his parents, and their people that had to face such a threat?! Even better, who was he that had to be saved, even at the cost of his own mother''s life? Just who was he? --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 486 - 486 - “We Must Play By The Rules” Time passed quickly as Aidenmented and eventually went to freshen himself up in the washroom. Donning his clothes from yesterday, he left the room and made his way towards the dining room to enjoy what was probably thest of the sumptuous meals for at least the next 30 or so days. Arriving asst like how a leader should, he quickly took the only empty seat left empty to the side of Masked Mistress who was seated at the helm, and to the right of Sara, who was already donning her ''official'' guild attire, only that she left therge hood pulled down for the time being.?? Not really bothered by the strange seating n, he silently nodded at the ones present before taking his seat and turning his attention to the Mistress who, for feasibility, was only using a half-mask, covering the upper half of her face and leaving her thin, fine lips free to look at. At the upper right corner of her lips, the end of the cut mark could be seen. As soon as thest person arrived and sat down, the Mistress gave a light cough, grabbing the attention of everyone present in the dining hall. With a wave of her right hand, the many maids stationed around the room bowed and quickly alighted from the room, towards the conjoined kitchen at the side. Barely a few secondster they all returned with several bottles in hand. Expensive wines, brandies, or for that matter, a couple of simple fruity juices were brought in and subsequently offered to the guests. The Mistress smiled silently, waiting until everyone had something in their sses, before standing up and raising her ss. "My dear little champions! Friends of my dear daughter" She gave a quick, shooting nce at Sara as she spoke, before wandering over to the boy next to her to nce at his reaction. Still, her eyes only lingered on them for a single moment, before it traversed over the others as she continued. "Please, allow me to host you onest time and make sure that you are filled and full of energy, for the uing arduous ordeal that you all agreed to take up in my name!" She raised her ss, whilst reaching for the spoon and then gently hitting it and letting the soft, crisp clinking sound echo in the room. "Some, or maybe even all of you think that this farce, this brutal game that I have asked to join under my banner is just a waste of time, resources, and effort." She continued once the room quietened down once again. As she spoke, she turned to look at Aiden once again, as if mostly aiming her next words at him directly. "I cannot fault you for thinking that. In fact, I too share your opinion Why waste so many precious resources, time, and most of all effort to decide something that doesn''t truly hold any substantial authority. Yes you may gain control of the City Guards, but those that arepeting already have a hold over several groups in their berks, and that would not change regardless of who would now sit at the top." "I''m sorry to interrupt" Raising his head, Aiden interjected. Turning his attention towards the maskeddy, he asked with a contemtive look on his face. "If that is the case What is the whole point? Why this whole battle? Why do you murder each other, leave everyone just that much weaker, especially with the threat of an invasion looming over our heads? I don''t get it" "Aiden" Feeling the confusion and the subtle anger over the helplessness of the situation in his tone, Sara reached out and ced her palm over the boy''s hand, gently squeezing it. She looked at her with apassionate look in her eyes, smiling warmly, trying to soothe the troubled heart of the youth. "Khm" Releasing a fake cough, the Mistress took back the attention of the room. Her eyes still on the confused-looking boy, she exined with a barely perceptible, thin smile curving the edges of her thin lips. "That is actually a very good question, Aiden Unfortunately, to understand the reasoning behind this, you would need to look back in mankind''s history over the ages." She spoke, shaking his head ever-so-slightly, taking a momentary pause before resuming. "Our society, our civilization is based upon the simple truth: "Might makes right!" She drew a line with his right hand in the air, causing an image, an illusion, to appear visible to everyone in the room. The image showed a scene from a battle, where two armies shed against each other. Whilst one side was clearly an endless stream of humans, riding on horses, donned in metal armor, holding bright, shiny swords and spears, the group on the right side of the screen caused Aiden to clench his fists with a rising heat of anger. They were orcs, goblins, and even taller, robust-looking creatures that Aiden recognized from the stories he was told as to be Ogres. Compared to the disciplined armies on the left, they were looking like a band of misfits, lining up with pitches, and forks, and axes, wearing everyday clothing. Even from a first nce, it was clear for everyone to see that they were the ones defending against the invading forces of mankind. "You see, Aiden, to understand, we would need to go back in time, all the way to the beginning where the settlers, the ''invaders'' came to the shores of Eora and began their grand conquest in thesends." She flicked her hand, causing the image to change, now showing a scene that could very well fit into a nightmare. The once greennds were painted red with the endless river of blood that was spilled over time. Mutted, dead bodies littered the in, no matter where one darted his or her eyes. In the distance, the orange-toned waves of fire, eating away the remains of what was probably a once peaceful civilizationpleted the visual torment. "From the very beginning, humanity was just like the Empire. Thirsty for the blood of the primitive natives who came with sticks and pebbles to defend their homnd against our hard steel. We fought, killed, and rampaged through thesends. Our forefathers forcefully imed thesends thousands of years ago, creating the basis of what you see and know today." The Mistress narrated with a somber tone, flicking her fingers and causing the illusion to quickly dissipate. "From the very beginning, our society was built trampling upon the blood and gore of the weak, and this sentiment, this mindset has never truly changed since then. The kingdoms and even the Empire that surrounds us are all based upon this simple, but nowadays seemingly forgotten truth." She turned towards Aiden, her lips curving upwards crookedly as she sighed and added. "You see, violence is just rooted in our society, it is built upon that!" She raised her hands, seeing how Aiden was about to voice a question again. "I know what you want to ask, and I also want the same. It is for that very reason, we need to y by these rules hopefully onest time, and push ourselves to the top. Only then, could we slowly, gradually make a change!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 487 - 487 - Barracks And A Surprise (AN: I gave an update on Discord, but as there are ppl who have missed it, I will repeat it here. After the tragedy that struck my house, I am now in the process of getting everything back in order. Some stuff will obviously take much more time to rece/repair, but hopefully, after this uing weekend, everything should be back in order. ?? Please, excuse me for my tardiness in the next few days. I will try to get everything back in order from next week. Till then, please bear with me.) --- Number 3 turned her sight on Aiden, her lips curving upwards crookedly as she sighed and added. "You see, violence is just rooted in our society, it is built upon that!" She raised her hands, seeing how Aiden was about to voice a question again. "I know what you want to ask, and I also want the same. It is for that very reason, we need to y by these rules hopefully onest time, and push ourselves to the top. Only then, could be slowly, gradually make a change!" --- Her words caused the atmosphere to turn slightly awkward around the table. To ease the mood, and guide the flow of the conversation where they diverged from it, she coughed a couple of times lightly, to grab the attention of everyone once again, before raising her still full ss and gave it a light hit with the spoon. The beautiful high-pitched sound of metal hitting crystal ss, reverberated in the room, easing up the tenseness in the air with its frivolous melody. "Anyway We have diverged from the main course, the reason for our gathering." She spoke, giving a light smile towards the still frowning boy, as she continued. "Before the event that is scheduled to begin at noon today, I would like you all to meet with the rest of the corps and get to know each other." Raising her ss to the air, she eximed. "Before any of that, however, allow me to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for everything you are doing to make this feeble dream of mine a reality! I promise you all, that I will not squander the gift you earn with your blood, sweat, and tears!" As everyone joined in with Aiden being thest to do so, they gave a toast and drank the contents of their sses before turning their attention to the veritable swarm of maids that once again entered the room through the service doors bringing trays upon trays of feasts and dishes of a wide variety of meals. Simpler-looking meals, vegetables, fruits,rge juicy steaks Everyone could find something for themselves. Taking her seat, the Mistress waved her hand across the table, eximing with a proud, ted tone of voice. "Enjoy this feast I have prepared for you all without holding anything back! I hope we have managed to bring forth something that would be pleasing to each and every one of you!" The rest of the breakfast held no more interruptions, the Mistress made sure that everyone had something that fit their tastes; a grand show of the power of her informationwork. Everyone had a dish served that had all the peculiarities that would fit his or her peculiar tastes Even a tter full of slices of various monster meat, cooked only rare, specially prepared to match Aiden. This thought caused him to raise an eyebrow, in the end, he decided to inquire about how did she actuallye to know his specific taste and choices. Thinking that maybe she probably had more contact with her sister than the two let on, he didn''t bother too much about it and filled his reserves full with the grand courses. Eventually, the meal came to its conclusion, everyone filled their bellies, and showed a range of filled contented looks in their eyes as they leaned back against the back of their chairs. Aiden, on the other hand, was still frowning, his mind was racing about the contents of the Mistress'' speech from earlier. Though it wasn''t anything new, as he mostly learned about the ills, the crimes of corruption that gued humanity from the very beginning, it was still not something he could easily take. The images, they were shown, were way too simr to the scenes he was gifted with during his trial back at the Altar. A grand massacre of an entire species, without remorse, no quarter given even for the weak, the elderly, or the children. The soldiers, akin to vile demons, ughtered everything that was put in front of them, gobbling up thend greedily in the process. Was this truly the path humanity has taken? Were they truly beyond reason, beyond hope? Can''t they be shown the light? Can they be saved? Could his people forgive their millenniums of crimes? Aiden could only sigh, and just hope that like his Master, there were others out there, that were yet held onto the sparkling, kindling light As the meal eventually came to a conclusion and no one reached for any of the continuously reced dishes anymore, the Mistress snapped her fingers abruptly breaking the ensuing silence. Upon her gesture, the door to the dining hall opened up allowing the elderly butler, Sebas to enter. Taking only a step into the room, he stopped, gave a deep, respectful bow as he greeted the youngsters once again. "Follow Sebas, and meet the rest of the team that you will be working with for the next month or so." She spoke, nodding at the elderly butler at the end. Taking the offered opportunity, Sebas turned towards the door, whilst keeping the subservient posture. "Greetings to the Young Masters and Misses! If you have already, I would hope all please be so kind as to allow me to escort you to the barracks." He spoke with eloquent mannerism, gesturing towards the door. As the group began to leave their seats and converge towards the exit, the Mistress'' raised her right hand in the air, speaking up once more and adding one final note to the youngsters. "Though they are undoubtedly a rowdy band of misfits, your teammates are good souls. Please try to bear with their antics" With that, she turned around and swiftly left the room through the service door in the back leaving the puzzled youngsters with the elderly Sebas. Leaving the dining hall, Aiden and the group were then escorted towards the back, leaving the mansion and leaving towards therge, simple-looking square-shaped white stone building situated at the back area of the Mansion Grounds. As they neared the building, they could already hear the loud chitter matching that of the nightly scenes of the pubs and taverns of the city. With a frown, Aiden raised his eyebrows as he gave a light scan of the structure, the calm that just returned to his expression vanished once again, reced by a stern, serious look as he gazed towards therge, metal, painted red door. From the outside, the building was more of a storage room, than a facility housing people. One tiny, barred window ced high on each side, there was barely any natural light that could have made its way providing lighting to those stationed inside. As they got to the door, Sebas halted the group, turned to face the group of youngsters once again as he spoke. Just like before, his tone was eloquent, respectful. "Young Misses and Masters" He began. "As my Mistress has hinted at, your teammates that you will meet shortly, are not the average band of adventurers you would find at Mistress Sara''s workce." He stepped to the side, gesturing for the group to take the initiative and step inside. This by itself was strange, as the elder made sure to follow the etiquette every time he guided them, opening the doors himself, and stepping inside as he guided them. Yet, now he merely stepped to the side, gesturing to the team only. Though this could also be exined that he merelypleted the task, or that he wasn''t allowed to step into these quarters, Aiden, sensing those behind the walls, wasn''t sure if that were to be the case. Taking the lead of the group, without hesitation he took the lead and reached for the door. However, just as he took a step inside, suddenly the metallic shine of a long, curved de shed against the morning sun, sailing from the side horizontally, aimed towards Aiden''s neck! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! I would also advise you to not be afraid and join my Discord server. It''s the EASIEST way to reach out to me. :) Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 488 - 488 - Trap Or…? *SWOOSH* A shining, curved ded metal sailed horizontally across the sudden darkness with frightening speed. Its aim was to separate the first unprepared intruder''s head from the rest of his or her body.?? From the speed, the momentum, and from the might that the sudden strikeunched from such a prepared ambush would have been enough to catch many unprepared and spell out an early demise for any of the ordinary townsfolk, be it trained or otherwise. Yet, unfortunately for those lying in wait and hatching such a sinister course of action, the boy they''ve met was anything but ordinary. Without a change in his usual, calm demeanor, Aiden''s right hand suddenly blurred,ing to oppose the cold assant. The prepared strike came to an abrupt halt as the tip of the saber-looking weapon was caught between Aiden''s right thumb, index, and middle finger instantly diminishing all the carried force within. A grunt could be heard from the right side of the door, as the trunk-like hairy hand of a man was slowly revealed as the light from outside shined on it. Ignoring the figure being caught in this awkward predicament, Aiden''s attention was focused on the dark, unlit depths of the building. His face not changing, still retaining that easy-going smile of his, he asked out in a calm but inquisitive tone. "Unless you want me to make a move right now and make you lose one of your men, I suggest you end this charade and reveal yourself old man." His words caused shocked, surprised yelps and gasps to erupt from behind him, whilst a thin smile emerged on the elderly butler''s expression. ''Just like the Mistress said This boy is unique!'' He remarked inwardly, keeping his stoic posture on the outside. He didn''t say a word, and let the two groups get to each other by their own ord. He was either aware of the ploy beforehand, or just didn''t care, as he kept standing without seemingly a care of what was happening. "Grmph Let go!" The ambushing figure hiding in the shadows to the right of the door groaned amidst his futile attempts to tug or pull his de free from the seemingly nonchnt hold of the boy. Yet, no matter how much force he exerted, how hard he tried, it was as if his de was plunged deep into a stone wall; he couldn''t break away and was stuck in this ufortable dilemma until the other party felt otherwise. Yet Aiden, though didn''t let go of the weapon, he didn''t do anything against the figure either. The reason was simple: Through his system''s mapping feature and his scanning, sensory abilities, he was aware of the prepared ''trap'' long before they marched in. Normally an attack like this would be also shrouded in a denseyer of coldness. A rigid aura, a domain that carried the merciless, vile will of its owner: Killing Intent. The intent, the wish not just to cause harm, but to straight-up kill the opponent if possible. Yet, in this case, there was no such aura lingering around the room. None of the dozen-so figures hiding in the shadows radiated anything like that. Sure, there were ufortable, not so friendly emotions radiating from most of them, none of them crossed that imaginary line and transformed into something dangerous. Also, the now-familiar feeling of corruption, the darkness was not present in any of them, they were still ahold of themselves and hasn''t been twisted by the lingering whispersing from the shadows. Though from the elevated, chaotic thumping of his heart, the assant to their right was in an agitated state, it was most likely just a rise of his arrogance due to his trampled pride. There was no desire to killing from him, the blows of the rigid cold didn''te from his direction, thus Aiden didn''t bother taking any action. It was obvious that this trap was set up so that this rough team of veterans could get some early information out from their newly addedpatriots. Suddenly, as if to answer Aiden''s question, a sense of dread, danger-filled the senses of the team of youth: from amidst the depths of the dark room, suddenly the tip of the spear appeared as it was lounged at Aiden''s head! With a displeased frown suddenly shing across Aiden''s face, he jumped into action once again. He clenched his hand, shattering the fine steel de caught by him as if it were mere ss causing a wave of yelpsing from the dark. Yet before anybody could react, his right hand blurred again, catching the impending doom whistling towards him. This time, however, his action didn''t stop by merely blocking the makeshift javelin; no, with the same swift motion, he spun the weapon at its center, then with a flick, Aiden threw it back whence it came from! The whole action was fluid, and neigh instantaneous. Most couldn''t even discern what happened, other than the weapon suddenly changing course and traversing with an even greater might from where it came from. In the next moment, a bright shine filled the dark, unlit barracks. The metallic shine of a shield was swiftly raised to block the thrown attack. The projectile arrived in an instant; the power it was returned was iparable to the flimsy attempt. *CLANK!* As it crashed into the glowing, bright surface of the hand-held silvery barrier, a loud, ear-shattering metallic nk reverberated in the room. From the sparks that were spawned from the two opposing'' forces continued collision the silhouette of a brawny, buff man was revealed. His face contorted into a snarl as he pulled all his mind, his focus into absorbing the fierce blow. The generated wind blew against his shoulder-length, white hair and braided, white beard. The outline of a deep gash -either a w mark of a fearsome beast or perhaps a sh of a sword of a bested opponent-, ran across his face, ending just above the left side of his lips, even going through his crooked, beaten nose. Though it was hidden from in sight, from his firm stance as he held the shield now with both of his hands and from his slightly bent knees as it tried to find a firmer hold of the floor beneath him, lest he would be thrown back. It was clear that he was putting all of himself into trying to absorb this surprisingly brutal blow, causing another wave of shock and surprise-filled gasps toe from around his figure. Meanwhile, on the other side, the man that was supposed tounch the ambush at the youngsters has fallen down on his butt on the ground, looking ahead at strange, lean, long dark-haired youngster with utter disbelief stered on his face. He couldn''t understand what happened. Where did his weapon go? How did the boy destroy it with such ease? Was that maybe a fluke? Was it a hidden skill? Was he fallen into a ploy, yed with, and be thrown away?! His pride, his arrogance, that he felt was well earned through the many years of experience he held under his belt. He felt that such an oue was uneptable! Anger quickly filled his body and mind, he looked at the youngster with a rising hatred, wishing nothing more than to rip him apart! Suddenly, a thought came to his mind, causing him to sneer viciously at the group from the side. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 489 - 489 - Sense Of Dread Pushing back against the seemingly casual flick of Aiden''s attack, the spark-filled shsted for several seconds, before all the force was finally blocked and wasted causing the spear to shatter due to the bacsh. Its base exploding, the shattered fragments were flung to all corners of the room, whilst the edged, sharp tip was caught by the shield-bearing veteran, causing no real damage to any of the hiding rest of the members in the dark room.?? Silence slowly descended as the second round of attacks waspleted. From one side, Aiden looked calm as ever, while his team behind him were looking around them with wariness in their eyes. Sam and Biggy instinctually took guard on Lily''s sides guarding their Mistress against any potential harm, also adding Galina into their range of protection. Scarlet, Sara, and Drake standing just a step behind Aiden, ncing towards the uncanny, unnatural darkness that dominated the room. Their hands are ced atop the hilts of their weapons, ready to unsheathe and slice, strike or thrust at the first sign of danger. Aiden, however, unlike the others, wasn''t worried at all. His face was showing a perpetual calmness, a collected, cool demeanor, as he faced the seemingly unknown without any nervousness or clear vignce. Yet whenever any of the twelve hiding figures surrounding them were about to take any action, his exotic, golden eyes instantly gazed at them, freezing them in ce and causing them to forgo their nned attacks. Seconds passed in this ensuing tense silent atmosphere before suddenly a loud deep, boisterous guffaw erupted ahead of them from the direction where the previous showy sh between shield versus spear took ce. For a while, only the deep-toned, powerfulughter was the only source of sound in the room. The owner of it, the aged-looking ruffled elder howled to his heart''s content for more than a minute before he slowly regained his bearing. "Clynt, end this stupid magic already We can''t see sh*t!" He suddenly roared. In the next moment, a timid sounding voice came from the back answering themand. It was trembling as if the owner was trembling, scared about the anger of this leader. "Y-yes D-don! As you w-wish!" As if onmand, suddenly the imposing lightless dark began to subside. As if an invisible window were opened, light began to pierce the void, faint pirs of light reced it gradually, and though it gave way only to a dim illumination, even those mostly provided by a set of candles ced mostly around the dozen bunk bed ced sparsely along the walls, it still shed light to the 12 hiding figures and their prominent shield bearing leader at the center. As the light slowly pushed the figures hiding in the dark, Aiden''s team was surprised to see that they were actually surrounded by them. 5 figures on each side, with a mostly equal mixture of men and women, looked at them with fierce, cold looks, holding short swords in their right hands. Even though they were in a battle-ready stance, ready to strike with their des in an instant, Aiden, unlike the rest of his team, still retained his calm. With the simple, calm smile on his face, he looked at the shoulder-length white, unkempt, unruly haired disfigured face of the veteran leader in front of him. His stance was casual, not radiating any fighting intent, yet, for some reason the elder felt that any wrong move from his men and the consequences will be dire. This feeling of danger, this unease that overwhelmed his senses were a refreshing, almost rejuvenating sensation to him, causing him to look with a newfound surprise at this perplexing, mysterious youngster. Something he hasn''t felt for almost a decade now, and never would have thought, imagined that such a luster of life would rekindle in him in such a ce. Still, he didn''t fully believe his senses. Yes, the boy at the front was capable, but the rest seemed just like those newbies from the guild, a bunch of glorified trash. He coughed, putting hisrge, towering shield on the ground and leaning into it as he nced with a slight look of disdain and displeasure at the group. "Boy!" He hollered at the golden-eyed youngster in front of him. "What''s your name?" Aiden''s smile only grew wider at the question. He shook his head, as he responded in a calm tone. "Before you howl like an animal and fling your questions at us, you should fix your and your friend''s stance and apologize. Only after that, can we move on to introductions." The boy''s response caused the surrounding men and women to instantly fly into a rage and some of them to re up. "What did you say, you brat?!" "Do you have any idea about the situation you kids are in?" "How dare such a greenhorn lecture us and even demand us to kneel down?" "Captain, let''s beat them up and show them their ce!" "Yeah Cap! I don''t think Boss Sebas would mind, in fact, it''s probably for the best!" "Yeah Cap!" Many cries and rage-filled yells came from the figures standing at the ready on the group''s sides. As the team trembled at their words and jumped closer together to be ready for the iing sh, their undisputed leader, Aiden retained his nonchnt look on his face. He looked at the leader without any fear or any visible fluctuation in his eyes, waiting for his response. The leader, Don, was stunned by the boy''s words and subsequent strong bravado. Even as he was ced under such pressure from his guys, he never so much as flinched, unlike the normal, expected reaction of his team. This raised his alertness. He could already feel before that this particr youngster was not your average adolescent teen. Even with his decades of experience, Don couldn''t see into him, yet he could feel that inside the vast depth that was inside that thin frame, there was something terrifying locked away. Something that he never felt or sensed before. Suddenly, he raised his right open palm in the air, causing all the snickers in the room to turn quiet. His bright, grin eased up a bit, showing a slightly more serious outlook as he nced back at the boy. "Not many would dare to speak so unbridledly in front of me, kid." He spoke with a stern, grave-sounding tone. Aiden, however still hasn''t shown any emotion, even as he was put under even more duress. He leisurely shrugged his shoulders as he responded. Yet as he spoke, suddenly his eyes red up, radiating their majestic, golden luster, adding a bit more presence to him. "If you keep on testing me old man, I''ll break your men and you as well. Don''t test my patience and mistake it for weakness. Last warning." His tone was much colder than before, even adding a slight growling undertone to it. His short threat seemed to hit its mark, the men and women previously ready tounch themselves at the youngsters looked with eyes of shock, even some slight fear and dread towards this enigmatic entity in front of them. Don suddenly felt the same sense of dread wash over him once again, warning him that his next words, his next action could make or break the situation. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 490 - 490 - Apology And Forgiveness Taking a few, arduously torturous seconds to ponder, Don eventually gave in. He waved his hand downwards, signaling his men to follow his suit and stand down, lower their guards. "At ease guys! There is no nee-" ?? "F*ck that captain! I refuse to believe that this little brat can threaten us!" Before Don, could even finish his sigh and calm the situation before it escted to a disastrous extent, the men that were pushed ashore and whose curved saber had been demolished, eximed as he jumped to his feet and charged at the boy. His face contorted into a maddened howling rage, he got at the boy''s side in an instant. His right arm was already mid-air, a heavy swing sailing the air closing at the seemingly unaware boy''s temple. "No! Krone! Stop!" Their captain tried calling, reaching out, his face revealing a horrified, scared expression instantly. Unfortunately, with his pride poked too deep, Krone, the man in question, was lost in his fit of anger. His mind ignored all the clutter,ser-focused on the target, already making up follow-up actions in case the boy wouldn''t just fall unconsciously on the ground. He was already gloating inwardly at his victory, his twisted face slowly revealing a curving grin. However, the curve came to an abrupt halt, only to recede back into itsir, leaving its owner''s face in the next moment. Just as the man''s fist was about to connect with its intended target, the same right palm appeared out of nowhere, blocking its path forward, and sping its grip on the menacing ball of a manly hand. The boy''s hold was like a vice as it bore beneath the man''s skin, causing his nervous receptors to instantly re up, sending massive jolts of pain signals to Krone''s clouded brain, clearing it from all the chaos almost instantly. In the next moment, under the wailing, pain-filled cries of their teammate a loud cracking sound could be heard followed by an even louder cry. In the next moment, before the rest of the group could even process, the tall, brawny body of Krone was flung away crashing violently into the side of the wall causing a small cave in the process. Though the events took a shocking and unnned turn, Don''s group had much more experience under their belt than most others. They instantly jumped into action and reached for their weapons, jumping back into their battle stances. Yet, before any of them could take any actions, or anymands could be shouted, suddenly the boy''s eyes red up again, glowering with a menacing, golden light. At the same time, a heavy veil of an unknown aura descended on everyone in the dimly lit room. The pressure was unbearable, even for the likes of Don, forcing the group of warriors closer and closer towards the floor. Some, like Don, managed to remain standing albeit with great difficulty, whilst most were already on their knees or even worse, forced down lying on the floor. A deep, heavy growl resounded in the dark room. Though its source was obvious, it was actually felt as if it came not from the boy in question, but from all over the room. The walls were shaking under its thunderous rage as he roared but a single word. A judgment. "Pathetic." Still, Aiden didn''t dish out theplete punishment, looking at the grief-filled, sorrowful look on the elderly man''s expression as one of his men was flung back in the air like a broken kite, Aiden decided to hold back. Just from a quick, fleeting look, Aiden could feel a deep-seated sadness, a sorrow that he was all-too-familiar with. The wrecking, torturing pain of loss. The despair that engulfed one''s heart forever twisting it in perpetual misery, never allowing it any relief. Though he himself managed to ovee the worst of it, this old man, this strong-looking warrior clearly wasn''t. Unsure what the exact depth of this man''s pain was, or if what rtion did he share with this arrogant and wild person, Aiden in the end decided to give them onest chance. "P-please" Just as he turned his cold, glowing gaze over the struggling elder, he pushed a single word out of his lips. His voice was weak, faltering, yet he kept on. "P-please no more" Feeling the honesty, the sadness, and all theplex emotions behind his tone, Lily couldn''t keep herself quiet anymore. Looking at the back of her brother she called out with a begging tone. "Brother, it''s enough. Let them go. They didn''t mean any harm and have learned from their mistakes. I''m sure they are now ready to apologize for their actions!" Though due to the heavy weight pushing them down, neither of the ambushing party could utter a word or nod, their captain managed to force a response out of himself. "Y-yes" "Fine." Aiden snorted, pulling back the aura he unleashed. As his eyes lost its otherworldly light and his voice returned to its normal, serene state, the group of mercenaries felt as if the mountains were lifted from them. Slowly, they stood back up one by one, looking at the young, ck-haired boy with eyes full of fear and dread. Neither of them had any haughty, arrogant expressions any more, their looks of disdain and contempt have been washed away. Even the man that was the reason for the unwanted esction of what merely meant to be an exercise to measure up the rest of the team and get a read on them for the uing War Games, Krone whispered some weak groans from the side. Still, his signal of consciousness only earned the ire and angered looks of his teammates, none stepped over to him to offer a helping hand. Hah, if they would have the opportunity they would even offer a kick, a hit of their own to teach this wild beast a lesson! A weak, much less powerful cough filled the empty barracks, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. The elderly man with the braided silver beard took a wary step towards the already calm and aloof boy, only to take a deep 90-degree bow. "Kid No, Young Master, please ept my honest apologies in the name of mine and my friends'' name!" His words were like a lightning bolt, shocking every one of his men and women in the room. Looks of shock settled on their faces, they were stunned for a moment before they slowly began to wake up from their stupor one after another and following along with their respected captain''s actions and bowed towards the youngsters as well. "We apologize as well! Please, forgive us!" One by one, each and every one of those that previously stood against them took a 180 after seeing their captain''s action and bowed as sought forgiveness for their behavior. Aiden''s team was confused, baffled at the shocking turn of events. From the moment they stepped into the barracks, barely ten minutes have passed, yet, so many things have happened that they were feeling overwhelmed, having troubles processing everything that was going on. In the end, they turned towards their leader, Aiden, seeing what his response would be. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 491 - 491 - Master? Seconds passed feeling like heavy weights on the hearts and minds of all in the room. Every single eye was fixated on the exotic-looking young man in the room, hoping and just as equally dreading the answer he would eventuallye to. The mercenary-looking band of people that were already stationed inside the barracks, were feeling various degrees of regret and sorrow. After all, their little y to test the newbies has backfired on such a grand scale that not just their future potential partnership came to jeopardy, but even their lives.?? Once again, thinking about that and being reminded that most of this was the fault of one wild animal whose nature was harder to control, a tinge of anger resurfaced on some of those contorted expressions, casting an annoyed, hot re at the semi-unconscious, dazed lump of meat at the side. Don, the captain of this regiment was in an even bigger predicament. On one side, he couldn''t truly regret his decision to test the waters with this ploy, even if the oue was less than favorable. On the other hand, however, the information they received was much more than they had hoped for. Though they have yet to get any information from the rest of the youngsters, at the very least they know that their leader was more than capable, he was akin to a slumbering monster than a newly started kid. ''New kid, just recently came to the scene in the town Exceptionally strong, powerful Wait for a second'' Suddenly he recalled hearing some rumors about a new prodigy, a new monster that registered at the guild and swiftly took the title of the strongest adventurer from that pompous idiot. Rumors said that it was a measly-looking young man. He had a slender, lean physique and a messy,moner-looking outward look, though that was just a y. It was said that the kid had the strength of an ogre inside him, every strike of his shook the training hall. Even the nickname he earned, the ''Ogre Child'' was a reflection of his deceptive traits. His duel with Sir Michael, the ''Golden Boy'' was said to be a short, one-sided beatdown were in the end, the fainted ''hero'' had to be taken away and was still under the care of the local priests. Recalling the various gossips and rumors he heard, Don could easily connect the dots ande to the frightening conclusion. "You You are that new adventurer that the town is talking about? The Ogre Child?" He couldn''t help but ask with a shocked look on his face. His words caused another wave of surprise and bewilderment to spread amongst his team. They all looked with a newfound look at him. Amongst the already present fear and weariness, now a tint of respect and awe have also started to seep in. "What?" "Is it true Cap? This is that famous boy?" With this new realization in their minds, they could only look at their brethren, Krone with a look of pity. He just had to once again, do something incredibly stupid and charge at the only person in the city that shouldn''t be angered. After all, the wildest rumors about him went as far as saying that the Ogre Child fought against the Roaring Lion to a draw! How wild is that! Hearing the weird name he was referred to, Aiden looked at the elderly leader with a confused stare. "Ogre Child? Me? Why?" Suddenly a series of loud chuckles exploded from behind him. Hearing the strangely fitting new nickname, Scarlet and Drakeughed so hard that they almost fell to the ground. "Ahahahaha, that is great! The Ogre Child! Oh my" Theyughed heartily, soon spreading their infectious state to the others in the team. A few momentster Sara, Lily, Naybeah and finally even Galina joined in, giggling without restraint, finally lifting the sour mood in the room up with them. The rest of Don''s team members although they dared no to openly join theughter, they too revealed thin, meek smiles on their faces as they looked at the team of youngsters. Before Don, could have any chance to react, Drake came forward from behind, cing his hand over his friend''s closest shoulder he slowly calmed himself as he responded with a wide grin still stered on his face. "You see Aiden, it''s quite fitting actually. Just think about it. Nobody would expect you to be so abnormal after all" He sighed at the end, turning his gaze towards the elderly man as he pointed his question at him. "So I think it''s time for you guys to exin yourselves. My friend here, myself, and the others behind us are really eager to learn what was all this about. Why did you attack us? Shouldn''t we be doing our best to get to know each other in these few hours we still have left?" He asked, showing clear displeasure and disappointment in his expression. Aiden, on the other hand, didn''t say anything else but was still frowning. To be perfectly honest, he was still stuck at the new alias he was coined with, not too happy at all. ''I''m not an ogre A dragon would have been much cooler'' He mumbled inwardly. "Sigh" Don heaved, letting out all his pent-up emotions, looking down at the ground rather than the boys themselves as he continued. There was a bit of sadnessing from his tone, that though he tried to mask, Aiden could still pick up. "We didn''t mean to cause any harm, but considering the dangers we are about to face, we wanted to have a clearer picture of those so-called ''youngsters'' that Master Sebas told us that would be joining today. Being forced to y like pieces on a grand chessboard, we at least wanted to know those that we are now forced to work with." "I see" Aiden suddenly spoke up, looking at the old man with a neutral gaze. "That is understandable Anyway, who are you, people? It''s clear that you are not some random bunch of people picked up from the streets." He fired a question of his own. He had his ideas already but wanted confirmation. "Yes, I suppose it''s best if we start over." The old man, catching the hint, nodded at the boy and bowed once again. "My name is Don Cherignan, the captain of the Silver Howl mercenary group." He introduced, giving only a single breath'' time before continuing. "We are not actually from this region, Master Sebas, the man who you ki-" He stopped himself, almost blurting out the term that might cause another round of displeasure, he corrected himself. "Young Masters and Misses came with is the person who basically owns us. Though we are mercenaries and usually swear allegiance to nothing but money, Master Sebas saved us in the past, and we owed him, hence our presence." He exined, keeping his posture all the way. His words and his exnation were kind of a surprise not just to Aiden but to the rest of the team as well. Master Sebas? The butler? Who was he actually, and why did it seem like they have no clue about the Masked Mistress behind the old man? Hearing no response from the young man, Don gathered all his courage to ask --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 492 - 492 - Little Game Hearing that the young master did not respond or spoke at all, Don decided to gather his courage, and ask. "Though we have no clear idea of your level, Young Master" He said, looking warily at the calm-looking boy, knowing that he was akin to a sleeping dragon currently, ready to explode if poked. He gulped at this thought but still continued. "But we have yet to see your friends in action at all. Would you-"?? "Our time is limited Captain Don, please try to get to the point." Before the man could go for a couple more rounds, Aiden urged him forward. "Y-yes, apologies Young Master." Don smiled wryly at him, bowing slightly before taking a sigh and gathering all his willpower to finally blurt out the question. "Would you guys mind if we were to do some fights in the training yard? We could get to know each other better that way and may even help each other improve. Every bit counts after all, and we need all the help we can get during this month-long expedition." He exined, turning his body to the side and gesturing towards the back side of the room where another wooden door could be seen. "Hmm" Aiden thought about the idea and turned around to face the girls and Drake. "What do you guys think about it? Are you guys up for some one-on-one fights against members of the Silver Howl? They are going to be part of our group for the time being" Although Aiden would rather not fight pointlessly and would reserve his energy forter, he also agreed with Don that it was truly the best way for the two parties to get to know each other in the shortest time. "Brother, I personally think it is a good idea. We do not need to go all out, but just to see what the other side is capable of." Lily was the first to speak up. Nodding she smiled at her brother, agreeing to the idea quickly walking closer to his brother. Galina silently nodding with a gentle, warm smile stered on her face, she didn''t linger much on the topic, and simply stepped forward, closer to his Young Master, Aiden. The two dogs, Sam and Biggy, followed after the two young missuses, without seemingly a care in the world. To them, themand of their alpha, Aiden was the utmost, they only cared about following their blond mistress''s words. "I too don''t mind, though I also don''t think we should waste too much of our energies on it. The first day of the War Games is said to be especially fierce, many lives are usually forfeit by the time the sun sets." Sara spoke up with a stern tone, taking a step towards Aiden as well and leaving only the royal siblings behind. After Scarlet and Drake too agreed to the proposed event without much of a hassle, they all, joined by the still conscious members of the Silver Howl, walked towards the back door, leaving the building and entering a spacious-looking yard behind it. The area was designed to be a training ground for the troops, it was like arge open arena. The ground kept natural, even watered to keep its healthy, muddy structure. Atop ayer of beautiful emerald des of grass created the illusion as if this was an open field, a in rather than an artificially designed area to train your mettle. To the left, at the far side, several training dummies were ced down with a great variety of armor glimmering on them. You could see the cloth, leather, and metal of various degrees of qualities equipped on these lifeless statues, holding onto swords, maces, and evennces towards the back. Some even had a hollow, faint, barely perceptible glow emitting from them, creating a thin film of a protectiveyer, amongst other most likely well-prepared enchantments to train different sets of skills. Turning their heads to the right, they could see targets ced around, some down covered mostly with the grass, whilst others were ced high up the sky, designed to train your sight and aim as well. At the same time, the center was left open, with slightly shorter, ankle-length grass only aimed to be the perfect ce for face-to-face fights, duels, or -merely based on the generous space-, even makeshift group battles. While Aiden and the team were gazing at the marvels of such a unique training grounds, the members of the Silver Howl finally overcame their trepidations and fears that they spawned when they faced that terrifying boy. With bright, almost smug smiles stered on their faces, they followed after their captain, taking their spots at the center of the grassy field. Turning to face the still awestruck, gazing youngsters, they lined up neatly behind their revered leader. "Sara your mother is really incredible" Aiden muttered as he slowly turned his attention towards the group in front of them. "So, Captain Don, please enlighten us on what you guys nned. How should these duels be done?" Upon hearing his words, the rest of the team followed his gaze and turned their attention to the 11-strong men and women standing firmly behind their elderly captain. Looking at Aiden and his group, the Captain revealed a faint smile as he nodded and spoke. "Well, if not counting you and me for that matter you guys have 6 whilst we are 10 strong, making that 16 heads lining up against each other." He looked at the boy as he continued. "Whilst we are more than double you guys'' numbers, ultimately it doesn''t matter. For the next 30 days, we are going to be one full team rather than two halves. Since our goal is to showcase our individual strengths and weaknesses, we can just do 4 fights randomly, and the other 4 would be either against those that haven''t thought or" His smile stretched wider as he proposed his sudden idea to the boy. "We could do a little game!" Taking the hook, Aiden''s interest rose, he looked at the old man. "What do you mean? What game are you nning?" "It''s nothing too dangerous, don''t worry Young Master!" Don smiled, pausing for a brief moment before he continued, revealing his idea. "I say, why don''t we join up and fight against those 6? That way, we too get to know each other, we wouldn''t bepletely left out and the rest of my team could also have a chance to introduce themselves!" "What do you think, will they be able to work together, Sebas?" Standing in her study, looking over the field the Masked Mistress spoke up to the figure that just joined her. The elderly butler gave a bow as he stopped, closing the door behind him. "I believe so, Mistress. The youngdy and his friends are a good match for the Silver Howls. Though they have a few unique personalities in their ranks, they are of a simr mindset than the young masters and mistresses." He answered almost instantly as if his response was already prepared beforehand. "Hmmm" The Masked Lady thought about the elder''s words for a bit before agreeing to it. "I guess you are right I just hope that the captain can move on from the shadows of his heart and open up once more" She muttered, watching as a familiar figure slowly walked up to the center of the room whilst the others took their ces on the side. The first duel was about to start! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 493 - 493 -Against The Witch Standing at the center of the grassy in, two beautiful women were facing off against each other. Their eyes showcasing absolutely no malice but instead, a growing curiosity mixed together with the hint of mischievousness. As the gentle wind blew gently behind her, Sara''s purple locks fluttered in the air. Taking the initiative as the Young Mistress of the Mansion, she felt that she had to uphold herself to at least a modicum of the pride her family should deserve.?? Sara was smiling, as she looked at the woman standing in front of her. The female mercenary, the first of the Silver Howls to face their group was roughly of equal height, with a slender, lithe body. Her matte ck, slightly more than shoulder-length hair wasbed and braided into a small bun at the back of her head. Looking at each other for a while, the women were the first to speak up as she gazed over Sara''s empty hands resting at her sides. "Miss, are you not going to reach for a weapon?" She asked, her tone carrying a coquettish and impish tint. Shaking her head, Sara revealed a smile. "No, this would be fine. Don''t worry, even without a piece of metal hanging from my hand, I still have a few cards up my sleeves. I will not bore you, you can trust me on that." Surprised by her words at first, the woman smiled back as she nodded at the purple-haired heiress. She reached for the twin short swords hanging at her sides before throwing them away towards her Captain. "I see. In that case, I will not handicap you, pointlessly and will join you on equal grounds." She cracked her knuckles as she slowly took up a starting fighting stance. "So what will it be then? I have quite high expectations after that statement miss, don''t fail me!" Sara chuckled at the woman''s words, still standing calmly at her ce. From how it looked it seemed that she either wasn''t a warrior or was just that green behind her ears to not even have the mindset to get ready for the uing fight. Don let her gaze linger on her for a while longer, before he heaved a sigh, and turned towards Aiden standing at his right for advice. However, when he saw how he wasn''t startled or worried at all and managed to retain his calm, collected outlook, Don decided to not bother either. In the end, they will see if the woman had any skills behind her words or she was just spewing hot air after all. He nced over to the other woman, nodding and telling her with his eyes that everything was alright. Then, he took a step forward, and whilst raising his right arm in the air, he eximed loud enough for everyone to hear. "Our first battle today will be between Miss Sara facing off against our nimble star, Crysta, the Silent Assassin!" He gave a moment of pause in his speech, before going further. "Now, remember girls, the aim is not to cause lingering harm to the other but to get to know each other! As such, all fights will go until either one side surrenders, or to a maximum of 100 exchanges! Do you both understand and ept the rules?" He looked at both girls, as he asked and waited for them to nod in understanding before giving the signal to start the fight with a downward wave of his hand. Just as the words of ''Fight!'' left his mouth and his hand sliced the air, Crysta lounged her body forward and in the air with a frontal, acrobatic flip as she bolted into a charge. In an instant, she was already in front of the smiling, purple-haired girl, and was ready to jump up in the air again and flip over to get behind her when suddenly their eyes met and she froze in her ce. As Crysta''s gaze locked into hers, suddenly Sara''s eyes lit up, glimmering with their purple glory, boring deep into her soul itself. In that instant, all motions, all senses were instantly stripped from the agile ninja, leaving her in a state of helpless stun. The crowd and Don were shocked at this scene, they couldn''t understand what had just happened. Why did their Crysta suddenly stop with her attack and stand still like a statue in front of the girl? What did those glowing eyes mean? They couldn''t understand, as with theck of any power fluctuation, they couldn''t sense anything out of the ordinary. "Hey, Crysta, what''s up with you?" "Come on, don''t just stand there girl! Don''t embarrass us in front of the kids!" Some of the mercenaries unable to hold on to their bewilderment began to shout towards their teammate, trying to shake her up and break whatever trance or spell she had suddenly fallen under. However, before they could continue to shout and yell, a calm, crisp, clear voice of the ck-haired youngster came from beside their captain. "Don''t bother, she already lost." Joining him, Don also nodded, heaving a helpless sigh. Reaching to caress his forehead, he added. "Yes. Unfortunately for her, Crysta hadpletely fallen under Miss Sara''s spell and is now helpless to resist her." His captain''s statement shocked the group of spectatorspletely. Crysta, although not the strongest in terms of muscle, was one of the most dangerous people in their mercenary corp. There were many times where she single-handedlypleted assignments that their group generous sums. Her nimbleness, her agility, her dexterousness made her a terrifying asset to the group, not even mentioning her skills with the twin des she used during direct confrontations. Born with the rare trait of being ambidextrous, both of the identical swords in her hands were just as equally deadly, turning her into an opponent that not many dared to face. Yet, all of these boons she was gifted with turned into dust in the wind in front of this simple-looking purple-haireddy. Crysta''s only weakness, that being born without any affinity towards the mystical arts, made herpletely ignorant in training her mind. Without any meaningful resistance, this girl, this nimble ninja was like an open book for Sara''s bloodline abilities. The moment their eyes met in that instant, she instantly took over the control over her body, pushing the girl''s soul to the back, effectively trapping her. Sara smiled as she looked at her stationary opponent. Being deprived of control, she could only stare with mixed emotions in her eyes. She was suddenly fearful, not understanding what was happening. On the other side, she was also mad, angry at this cheat parlor trick of her opponent, but at the same time, angry at herself for falling for something like this. Still, she could not do anything, she felt as if she had fallen into a deep, dark pit, and the only way out was through calling out, hoping for someone to save her. Her eyes darted to the side, looking at her cap, but seeing as he could only shrug and look at her with a bitter smile, she felt she lost all hope. It was at that moment, when suddenly her opponent, this purple witch called out --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 494 - 494 - Expectations And Reality "So, what will it be? Shall we continue or are you ready to concede?" Sara asked with an impish tone in her voice, grinning widely at the statuesque girl in front of her. A momentter, as if just reminding herself of the fact, she hit her forehead as she continued with a soft giggle.?? "Oh, silly me, you what am I doing, you can''t even respond! Sorry!" Then her purple glowing eyes flickered for a moment, releasing the mental hold and relieving control back to Crysta once again. "Is it better now? So what will it be?" The girl stood still only for a second, before her face slowly changed, donning a sorrowful look. Though it was convincing, Aiden -and for that matter Sara also-, felt some strange, powerful emotionsing from the girl, not matching the act she was putting on. "Well" She began, slowly closing her eyes and disying an expression as if she was about to acquiesce to her opponent''s demands. However, in the next instant, suddenly with a wide grin, she suddenly stepped to the side and jumped up in the air doing a frontal flip. Her target was to somersault behind Sara, hopefully catching her by surprise, or at the very least not fully rmed and getting herself back into the fight. Now, knowing that she could, under no circumstances let their gazes meet, felt that there was still some small sliver of a chance. Blindbat, although is not what she was best at, she could still get by, especially against a nonbatant like this mind witch. Fighting without relying on one''s sight is actually a pretty high-ranked training method, not just in the kingdom, but all across Eora. By depriving one of their most important visual senses, their other receptors will kick in. Relying on steady breathing and once one bes capable to feel and guide the flow of mana inside their bodies, they could use it to enhance their bodies and thus their smell, their hearing their touch and most importantly, their so-called [Battle Sense]. This ability, this skill that usually is learned through living through the gore and carnage that are the reality of battlefields is a sort of sixth sense for a warrior. You will be capable of sensing the very flow of mana inside others, and with time, be able to get a feel of their strength through it. The more this strange, mysterious substance could be seen in someone, the more fluid, the more vibrant, the more ''energetic'' it was, the higher in the powerdder that person was. Crysta, though was already capable of using a basic, primitive version of the skill and thus could get a rough feel of others, but it was nowhere clear enough for her to rely on it instead of sight. For one, she couldn''t differentiate between auras, the outgoing surges of energies, or the actual flow, the spiritual, nerve-like system inside a body. To her, it was all a single mass of light blue-ish colored puff of cloud in the vast void of darkness. Adding to that, that they were surrounded by a rtivelyrge group who all were powerful individuals, the scene that she was greeted with was as if she was thrown into a giant puddle of pond consisting of light blue paint exclusively. She couldn''t rely on it at all, and even with the slight enhancement to her other senses, her perception didn''t clear up at all. Yet, there were still her instincts, her own experiences to rely on. Crysta was sure that after the somersault, she should havended behind the girl, at around one, or at most two steps away from her. She also knew that she only had around a breath''s time to act, as with the surprisingly sharp reflexes of this purple-haired girl, she was probably mid-way to turning around already. She only had one chance, one strike, that was free. She had to make it count. Even if he couldn''t steal it and secure the victory, at the very least she needed to even the chances a bit and assure her friends that they could at least match up to this party of monstrous youngsters. With these thoughts shing through her mind in the span of a second only, she didn''t hesitate and struck towards the lower back area of Sara''s head with her right fist. From knowledge and experience, she could sort of create an image of the girl inside her mind and was aiming somewhere between her nape and the back of her head, to a nerve cluster that with a sufficiently strong blunt force, could hopefully cause the girl to momentarily lose consciousness and fall face-first onto the ground. Though there was a strange, ufortable tingling sensationing from her right, she ignored it, focusing onpleting the n of her attack instead. Unfortunately for her, though her effort wasmendable, it ultimately bore no fruit. The fact was that she correctly guessed hernding spot, and her n of attack and aim would have been impable, but sadly, she still underestimated Sara''s reaction time. The moment she saw her opponent sail over the air above her, Sara immediately stepped to the side and was standing ready to unleash a counter. Knowing that her opponent has willingly derived herself from her sight, it was almost child''s y to counter the girl''s movements. So as Crysta was thinking of aiming at Sara''s back of her head, she was actually unleashing her anger against the empty air. Meanwhile, Sara''s hands were glowing with a faint milky white glow as the energy was slowly building up inside her. She muttered, some iprehensible, nonsensical words to the others that when it reached its conclusionpleted a simple, not-too shy spell. Her fist struck forward, hitting seemingly nothing but the empty air. Yet, before any of the onlookers could look at her with confusion, questioning stares, a ball of transparent light shot out from the end of her cute little clenched palm and like a cannonball shot from a cannon sailed through the air at frightening speed towards the right side of the still blinded Crysta. Even though she could feel the iing danger, and reacted almost immediately, her fate was already decided the moment she closed her eyes and decided on thisst-ditch effort. Before she could throw herself back and evade, the ball of energy crashed into her side, releasing all the surging energies inside it and releasing it at the same time in a ring st of the invisible explosion, throwing Crysta''s listless body up in the air and flinging it violently towards the left. Just a few secondster her body crashed onto the ground, tumbling and rolling helplessly for a couple of rounds before finally slowing to a halt. Even though she controlled her strike as much as she could, the sudden, unexpected impact still proved to be too much for the girl. As she crashed onto the ground she had already fainted. As the echoes of the powerful attack gradually died down, a heavy silence descended on the grassy training fields. Most of the eyes from the crowd were in shock, as they looked at the sprawled out, and unconscious teammate of theirs, before taking fleeting nces at the awkwardly smiling girl left standing alone at the center. Doubts started to appear in their minds after such a violent and unexpected result. They weren''t so sure anymore that they wanted to face the rest of these little monsters --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 495 - 495 - Making A Good Impression It took a few seconds for Don toe back to his senses and cough embarrassedly as he announced the results. "Khm The first duel has been concluded, the victor is Miss Sara!" He eximed, looking mostly at the unconscious girl with a worried look instead of thedy in his speech.?? Noticing his gaze and feeling the concern behind them, Aiden sighed, and nodded towards the already brightly smiling Galina. ''Go and fix her up. We shouldn''t leave bad impressions on our team mates.'' He spoke to her through their mental connection. ''dly, Young Master!'' delighted that her young lord has given her such an important task, Galina brimmed with happiness and excitement as she happily stepped out of the spectators and walked towards the fainted Crysta whilst humming an unknown tune. Seeing the girl walking towards their defeated member, the Silver Howl mercenaries immediately turned agitated and was about to reach for the holsters of their weapons. Even though they were supposed to get to know each other, if the other side was too overbearing, they would do their utmost to at least defend the honor of their brethren. Before the situation would have a chance to escte, or if Captain Don could question the intentions of the seemingly harmless-looking girl, the leader of the youthpany, Aiden spoke up with a calm tone. "Do not worry, Galina will not harm your friend" He looked at Don for reassurance as he wasn''t overly certain about the name. "Crysta, right?" Seeing the man nod with affirmation, Aiden continued by stepping out and turning around to face the crowd. In the next moment, to the utter shock of the mercenary band, he gave a slight bow and continued. "As for the battle, let me be the first to apologize to you all." His words stunned the crowd to a freeze. Their impression of this young man was that he was a proud and rightfully arrogant Young Noble that was the descendant of some really powerful family with an incredible bloodline or was an exceptionally gifted seedling and was cultivated well. Either way, they would never expect a young lord of his supposed standing to bow his head to mere, dirtymoners and filthy mercenaries like themselves, much less actually apologizing for something that he didn''t even do. "I-it''s alright, Young Master" The first to break his reverie was once again, Captain Don. Stepping forward, he ced his hand gently over the boy''s closest, left shoulder and spoke with a bit of stutter in his tone. "T-this is a fight, such oues are to be expected. Every one of us was nurtured through hundreds of battles, losing one or two in a controlled situation like this is not the end of the world." He then turned around to look at the lying Crysta and the small, slender Galina crouched at her side. Ignoring the situation at the side, Galina heaved a sigh as she focused her mind on the task at hand. Slowly she began to mutter some strange, iprehensible words as she slowly began to draw mysterious, intricate symbols in the air. Behind where her small fingers trailed floating golden lines remained as they slowly, gradually built up runes of unknown nature. A minute passed with all eyes on the girl that was ying out this weird ritual fully focused on her task and ignoring everyone around her. As one rune waspleted, it glowed, glimmered for a couple of seconds before it floated into the lying body of Crysta and vanished entirely. By the time, the fifth rune waspleted Lily was smiling brightly Lily could barely contain herself to not jump on her sister with excitement. The symbols Galina was drawing were incredibly simr to the ones her Granny was using! Aiden on the other hand was focusing on the ritual. Her eyes followed her beloved Galina''s movements closely, analyzing each of her movements, memorizing and learning each of the steps she seemed to be naturally talented at. Meanwhile, he ignored the system''s notifications that kept ringing in his head. Though as her chant suddenly stopped and the fifth rune entered the girl''s body, he could finally take a look at what the system was trying to inform him about. [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 98%] [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information 99%] [Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information Error: Cogitation required! Please visit Haven''s Holy Site. Usage of Host''s Divinity is required forpletion of the process.] The note caught Aiden unprepared, his expression turned into a shock at first then gradually into excitement. He grinned in front of himself, confusing the rest of the onlookers unable toprehend what could have been the source of his joy. Yet, they couldn''t spend too much time on the matter as suddenly when the fifth rune vanished inside their dear Crysta''s body, she suddenly twitched. A faint golden light seeped through her skin, perplexing the mercenaries and even causing looks of worry to once again, resurface on their expression. Crysta''s body only glowed for a couple of seconds, before the scene swiftly calmed down, and returned a healthy pinkish light to the previously pale girl''s cheeks. In the next moment, a faint groan escaped through her thin lips causing shocked gasps to yet again dominate the previously silent air in the battlefield. As her fingers began to twitch and turn her hand into fists, the worried, concerned people could finally heave a sigh of relief and look at the little ck-haired angelic beauty with a newfound look in their eyes. Don on the other hand, though happy, had another thought in his mind as he witnessed this miracle. Yet, for the moment, he didn''t dare to give voice to it, as the rtionship between them and the youngsters wasn''t affirmed yet, he didn''t know where they stood for the moment. ''After this Hopefully'' He affirmed himself mentally, as he forced a smile back on his face and turned to look at the young leader next to him. "Thank you for your help, Young Master. We still have quite a few rounds to go before we could crown this event with our y. Are you guys ready to continue?" From the windows of the mansion''s study the Masked Mistress, who was watching the entire scene giggled as she saw the gasps of the surprised mercenaries. She was delighted to see that her dear daughter won so easily against such an opponent and was even happier to see how skillful she became in using the incredible abilities, traits she was born with. Her disy, her ease of usage as she easily dominated that woman''s mind and caused her to stand there helpless against her mental control! It was such a marvelous, joyous scene, she really wanted to rush out and hold her in her embrace! Still, she controlled her emotions a momentter and continued to watch as the scene unfolded. When she noticed that Aiden''s little proteg, that silent little girl, stepped forward and began her ritual she gasped in surprise. "What do we have on that girl?" She asked from her butler, Sebas still standing at the doorway of the room without turning back. The skills, the abilities that girl just revealed she recognized it. They were a very ancient method, a knowledge that should have been buried under the passage of time, yet somehow, someway this girl seemed to be so adept at it! This was too shocking! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 496 - 496 - Respect And Fear After the grand opening, the rest of the mercenaries were a bit wary to join theirrade''s fate, even if in the end her vitality was miraculously restored. They did not want to face these little monsters one by one only to humiliate and shame themselves in front of their friends. Instead, as they were already discussing amidst themselves with the constant shushes was to join together and propose a team battle idea to the two leaders. Yes, two leaders, as after seeing Captain Don''s almost subservient attitude towards that exotic-eyed boy, they already regarded him as someone of higher rank. The dreadful sensation still brightly burning in their hearts and minds, their fright also cultivated the seed of respect as well.?? When Captain Don turned towards them to ask for the next volunteer to step up, they made up their minds about the matter. A short scruffy-bearded, rough-looking guy with short buzz cut styled ck hair gave a light cough and began to speak with a firm, but at the same time, respectful tone. "Captain No, honored leaders, please hear our proposal!" He gave a slight bow, turning his gaze towards the grassy ground, looking at their feet. "Hmm? What do you propose?" Aiden asked with curiosity. Sara''s victory was so dominant, that when Crysta, the mercenaries'' ''assassin'' hit the ground unconsciously, he already noticed their change of mental states through the system. Through his enhanced hearing, he could also pick up the repressed whispers, the chatters as they all wanted to find a way out of this humiliating disy. He was also smiling inwardly, just waiting for them to gather their courage to step up and propose to their captain. "Well" Feeling the boy''s gazend on him, the man actually shivered in fright once again, reminded of the fearsome disy of power, that unbearable weight that they were subjected to just some minutes ago back in the barracks. He couldn''t help but gulp audibly and gather all of his willpower to even squeal in the presence of this horrifying creature. "W-we We w-want to" Seeing their friend stutter and visibly lose his strength, the rest of the team stepped up to support him. "We would like to fight together. We propose a team fight. Our team, led ormanded by our captain, fighting against the rest of them! Team against team!" They eximed simultaneously, shouting in unison. Don frowned listening to their proposal, well aware of the truth behind it. They did not want to bring shame to themselves or to the corp, hoping that a team disy wouldn''t be as humiliating as Crysta''s loss. Thinking about it, though he felt it was shameful, he already understood that the strange children were most likely all monsters in human skin, rather than normal adventurers. Thinking about the idea a bit, he sighed, knowing that this was indeed the best course of action. Instead of straight-up answering, however, he turned to the boy at his side and asked. "What do you say, Young Master Aiden? I do believe this would be better. In fact, our time is quite limited, and if we want to be ready and in our best conditions, we really should hurry up this game a bit." Aiden smiled lightly at their words, keenly aware of their heavily palpitating, agitated hearts. He could hear their fast-paced rhythmic thumping, he could actually smell the beads of fear, the stench of their mortal worries wafting off their bodies and he had to admit he was quite amused. This much punishment for their earlier misdeeds, even if it was done with good intentions he felt was well deserved. Still, since they do need to somehow find a way to work together, Aiden knew that he too has to give in and offer them a hand. With that, he smiled and nodded as he responded. "I agree, it would be good." "That''s good! Then-" Don heaved a sigh of relief and instantly wanted to signal his men to walk up to the fighting ring, but before he could finish his words, Aiden continued with the same smile stretching his expression. "However Since we are only 5 men and 2 war hounds only, I don''t it''s fair for my team to face up against the rest of your team." Looking through the group he gave a quick headcount and continued. I suggest you pick out 7 from your team so they would stand on equal grounds. The rest could then join together and face against us two like we originally nned. What do you say, Captain Don? Does this sound eptable to you?" ''Fair? Fair my *ss!'' Don cursed inwardly at the boy''s suggestion. ''Your monstrous friends probably each worth 2-3 average fighter each, not to mention the casters you hid and all the other tricks they may still have!'' He cursed, yet he kept all his true thoughts inside and only showed a pondering, thoughtful look outwardly. In the end, he could only nod and agree to the boy''s condition. "Yes, it should be okay." He sighed then turning his attention on his team, hemanded them. "Go, decide amongst yourselves who will stay behind and fight against us in the third round! Also" He then turned towards the youngsters standing at the other side, looking much calmer after Sara and Crysta''s duel. "Also, just a reminder for everyone: The point of these battles is to get to know each other, learn as much as you can, soter today when we are facing the real opponent, our full team can improve! Do not hold or create grudges with others, be lenient, and benevolent to others! Remind yourselves that for the next 30 days, you will be forced to stay, live and survive together! Only by learning to trust the one next to you, will you have a chance toe back from that god-forsaken realm!" Everyone nodded, agreeing to the old man''s words, not arguing with anything he said. After a momentary breather, the 7 lucky (or unlucky) volunteers stepped forward, taking their sides of the ring. From amongst them, 4 of them stood at the front holding shortswords in their hands, whilst the other 3 each grabbed a spear, hoping to utilize the increased range to their advantage. Seeing their opponents readying up, Aiden nodded at his friends to follow suit, while waving for Sara to walk to him. Since she was already done with her own fight, she naturally couldn''t join the team. As she walked up and took her ce at the front, besides Drake and Scarlet, Naybeah was almost shaking with excitement. Grabbing her adorned, huge war ax she was like a wild beast ready to be unleashed and jump at their unsuspecting prey! "Finally! Some action! I have been itching for some training since waking up!" She yelled, her face growing into an almost twisted, crazed, lustful look gazing at the startled mercenaries in front of her. She was hungry, and the only substance to ease her appetite would be a filling battle! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 497 - 497 - Second Round Looking at the blonde giantess Aiden could only smile wryly and shake his head. This girl is so free, her mind and heart don''t suffer from too much pollution. If she could fight to her heart''s content and fulfill her matriarch''s, her queen''s order, she would be satisfied. He had to admit, her easy-going, straightforwardness was a trait Aiden appreciated and liked in her very much. Adding to the fact that her nature was very close to his own, he felt a familiarity, a likeness to her that was hard for even for him to understand. Seeing now as her fingers sped around the handle of her fearsome two-hander, she couldn''t help but smile at the sight, causing Sara who was just walking over to frown. Following his gaze, she realized that he was looking at the woman, the most fearsome from all the rivals she had to fight for the boy''s attention. She suddenly felt worried, hurrying her steps she quickly scurried over to Aiden''s side. As soon as she took her ce, Don raised his right hand in the air, causing the two sides to quiet down, and focus on the opponents they were facing. Amongst them all, the two dogs taking their usual stance at their little, cheery blond mistress'' side looked the calmest of them all. Their mouths were partly open, theirrge tongues were ttering against the wind as they gave absolutely no care about what was about to go down. Still, none questioned the fact that as soon as they would notice the opponent''s battle intent they instantly shifted their demeanor and lunge at their throats! "Okay" Don spoke up, with his right arm still raised. "The fight will go until one side decides to give up and concede, or there would be no one standing. I will say it once again, do not be excessive with your actions against the other! Keep that thirst and craze for the real battlefield! Now FIGHT!" He eximed, striking down with his hand and giving the sign for the second round, the group battle tomence. As soon as his arm moved, both sides erupted, charged against the other. Naybeah, finally having the opportunity to fight against a skillful opponent roared fiercely. In the next instant, her huge war ax was already raised above her head, she jumped forward and struck down, aiming to slice the poor sod that was unlucky enough to be forced to face her might. The poor man, a rtively buffed-looking strong, bulky man donned in ck leather studded set of armor and matching hardened leather cap to protect her head from most blunt force trauma was suddenly startled at this fierce disy. He didn''t hesitate to single out the strongest-looking one amongst Aiden''s group and face this barbaric-looking woman that was also quite pleasing to the eye with those thin, furry straps of leather that barely covered her moderate mounds and delicates. Yet, though he was hoping for a joyous battle, while also hoping to show his might to this woman, hoping to gain some affection, he did not expect to meet such brute force. The woman didn''t hold back at all, from her body posture, her stance, her attack it was clear that her attack was truly aimed to kill! Even then, he had ample experience in the countless raids and missions their team had gone through, his body reacted almost from sheer instinct. Grabbing the hilt of her short sword with both hands, he raised it in front of him horizontally putting it against the vicious strike. However, as their attacks met each other, the man had to flex and contort all the muscles in his arms and in his legs to steady his stance and to be able to absorb the power of the blow and not falter. He looked at the grinning woman with a shocked gaze. He wanted to speak up, ask what was her problem, why would he fight with such force, with such a vicious, merciless intent when their goal was only to get familiar with the other''s style. Before he could do so, Naybeah grinned at her wildly, and suddenly raised her right leg, catching the man by surprise and kicking him in the chest. Caught off guard, the air was suddenly kicked out from the man''s lungs, he stumbled backward a couple of steps before shaking his head and stabilizing his state. Though it only took him at most a single second, that time, in such situations, was more than enough for his opponent tounch another attack. Feeling that sense of dread, the danger once again, the man''s body instantly reacted, jumping to the left only to feel the air blow by him, following after a brutal vertical slice of the woman''s weapon. Feeling the de just barely avoid his skin, the man could no longer keep his calm. Jumping back to create a bit of space between them, he shouted. "What''s your problem woman?! Didn''t you hear the captain?! We are only fighting to get to know each other! Why are you trying to kill me?!" Naybeah didn''t respond to him. Instead, she slowly raised the head of her weapon above her, and charged towards him once more, only to strike at him again, aiming to at the very least mutte, if not kill. For her, there was no difference between fights. Raised as an amazon, every fight she had with her instructors or the other girls was always serious. Though they wouldn''t kill each other, a couple of bruises were reminders of their own mistakes, and even if they were given the opportunity for mending it unless it was about the loss of a finger or a hand, more often than not, they chose to keep it. Against such ferocity, the man could only go into the defensive, doing his best to survive the ordeal he willingly walked into whilst also cursing his own stupidity to face such a crazy monster While Naybeah was relentlessly hacking away to her heart''s content, not too far from her the royal brother and sister duo of Drake and Scarlet were fighting hand to hand against a pair of girls. Like Crysta before, they too were more leaned towards agility and speed rather than sheer strength in their attacks. They danced around the two youngsters seemingly matching their opponents in their actions. While Drake was more of a refined swordsman with a trained, skillful base that he himself refined through his adventures and each of his attacks were aimed at the various, well-known weak spots of the human body. His sister, Scarlet was more of an unpredictable wild cat, a feline, a predator in her actions. The two twin daggers in her hands were blurry silvery streaks in the air as she shed violently at the woman who, for some reason was able to evade and block each of her strikes with rtive ease, making her go angrier by the second. Unlike the clearly one-sided beat down of Naybeah and the poor, unlucky sod, the royal siblings seemed to be in quite a predicament as they were fighting to a draw! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 498 - 498 - Struggles ‘twixt Torture While the fierce and wild amazon, Naybeah was giving a brutal lesson to the hulking mercenary and that the royal siblings were tied down in a more and more hopeless and desperate fight that they couldn''t win without going all out, the other side of the battlefield was painting a different story. The two girls, the blonde cheery Lily and Galina were calmly standing at their lonesome looking at a bit of distance away from them whilst calmly supporting their two loyal guardians, the war hounds, Sam and Biggy. Lily focused on one of thence wielders, a woman with a medium-sized light brown, chestnut-colored hair tied to a ponytail behind her back, standing behind a bald, average-built sword-and-board warrior. They were working in tandem, trying to somehow ovee this rabid predator, the growling muscle-bound war hound, Sam. At the same time, next to them a simr-looking duo was trying the same with the second hound whose jaws were sping with a frightening passion. It was clear that neither of the canines was holding back. After all, for them, the concept of ''mock'' battles, training were unknown. Their only goal was to protect their miss''s healthy smile. Contesting against two rabid, savage creatures was already testing the limits of the mercenaries, but unfortunately for them, the two calm girls in the back weren''t only there to chill and rx either. In Lily''s hands, the bow her master and her Granny gifted her was constantly stretched to its limits, whilst the quiver on her back was losing its weight at a rapid weight. Arrow after arrow was released, letting them whistle in the air, sailing the meager distance between them and the Silver Howl''s only to be parried or blocked by the tip of thence or the body of a shield. At the same time, Galina was drawing runes with a gradually growing speed,pleting spells one after another without any care of her plunging [Soul Power] reserves, and her constantly taxed stamina. Each spell cast, each runepleted shot towards one of the frontline four-legged friends of theirs only to either enhance the muscles in their bodies, to restore their stamina or their vitalities, keeping them at their maximum potential all the time. As for the mercenaries, their situation wasn''t too bright, they have all understood their desperate situation long ago. It was clear that unless they did found a way, did something unexpected, the end, the oue of their fight was long since decided. Unfortunately, their minds and bodies were fully upied by just keeping these hounds, these illusionary gatekeepers protecting the gates of despair at bay, lest they would rip their throats apart. The standstill in all the fronts kept the battlefield in a tense cloud. Whilst Don was showing a growing frown as he spectated the shes, the young man, Aiden next to him was as calm as ever, showing no signs of worry. To him, the oue of this mock battle was already decided, he already made notes of all the members of the Silver Howl mercenary group about their skills, mindset, attitude, and usefulness to their cause. On the left side, closest to them, the situation was slowly, but surelying to the long since known conclusion, as the warrior under the intense care of the blond amazon was now down on his knees trying his best to use his already numb arms to absorb blow after blow, strike after strike. His face was contorted into a perpetual ugly, strained groan, his face was full ofrge, fat beads of sweat, his breathing was chaotic, barely showing any signs of the usual control that would be expected of a fighter with his skill. Seeing the man''s rough state, Captain Don suddenly found himself in a dilemma. Should he step in, and end their fight and pull out his men? However, that would mean he would trample upon a proud warrior''s pride and forcefully concede for him. Wouldn''t that cause even more damage to him in the long run? Still, knowing the goal of setting up this grand melee, and the dangers they need to faceter once they cross the portal should he allow this to continue? He couldn''t help but look at the young master standing next to him, trying to glean some information out of him. Unfortunately, as he gazed over him, he only saw the same calm, nonchnt, easy-going attitude of his. He lookedpletely unperturbed of the situation, not worried of it escting beyond its controble limits. Not sure what to make of this, in the end, Don couldn''t help but ask with hushed whispers. "Young Master I apologize if I may sound rude, but shouldn''t you be worried? Shouldn''t we stop the fight between these two?" He asked nudging with his head towards the amazon and the poor sod''s sorry state of disy closest to them. Aiden merely smiled as he listened to the captain''s anxious tone. He could hear the concern, the worry in his tone, hear the chaotic thumps in his chest as he continued to be forced into passivity, he could understand the reasoning behind his question. He smiled, keeping his gaze on his blond wild tiger, enjoying the all-too-familiar grin that stretched across her face as she hacked down with her ax once again, responding slowly, with a collected, cool tone of voice. "Do not worry captain, no one will suffer any permanent injuries." He said, giving a momentary pause before continuing. "You need to give them all the same opportunity to grow, and not hold them back." Turning his head towards the mansion, he looked at therge window frame overlooking the city and at the same time, the training field. As if he could see through the painted ss, he smirked at the masked figure behind it, as he continued. "You shouldn''t worry. Though you are not fully aware, you should have already understood the true power of your real employer. She is not someone that would allow any mistakes toe into her carefully concocted ns. Every piece on the chessboard still has a use, so you can rest assured that nobody will be harmed as long as she doesn''t will for it." Captain Don was shocked at the boy''s words and even frightened at his uncanny, sharp insight. Although it wasn''t that overly difficult to guess that the elegantly dressed Master Sebas was only the messenger, the face of someone hiding in the shadows, still from the boy''s words, it seemed that he was aware of the identity, the true power. Don was suddenly rmed at this revtion, not sure about the meaning behind it. Could he be an agent under the employ of this person? Were he and this team of hidden monsters deliberately ced here to monitor them and make sure of their stance? However, on second thought he dismissed the idea. What would be the point? They are mercenaries, they fight for the money. Their fame is all they have, if they were to betray their employer and ruin such an illustrious contract, they knew that they would only harm themselves and ruin their future. Unlike soldiers, guards, or even adventurer groups that were oftentimes hired, Mercenary Corps were known for the unwritten rule of their loyalties to their contracts until the end. No sane corps would willingly go against their employers once they epted a job and signed the contract. Just as he was deep in his thoughts, thinking about the meanings behind the young master''s words, a gurgling, guttural cry broke him from his reverie --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 499 - 499 - Wounded Pride Startled, Don swiftly jumped up, returning his focus to reality, and looked towards the source of the dreadful anguish that came from just in front of them. What he saw, made him look shocked, his body was shivering, trembling under the anxiety, the fright that suddenly washed over him. The fierce, ferocious duel in front of them between the blond amazon, Naybeah, and the hulky brawny warrior came to its already expected conclusion. Yet, the scene that greeted Don was still beyond his expectations. Down on the ground, forced on his hands and knees, the once-proud warrior was reduced to the messy, bloody pile. He was in an utterly sorrowful state, only torn, shredded remains were left of his studded, reinforced dark leather set of armor, the leather cap was nowhere to be seen. In its ce several deep gushing, ugly wounds festered, blood slowly but constantly were escaping, dripping on the ground and painting the once beautiful emerald meadow into the ominous shade of vermilion. His face, like the top of his head, was bruised beyond reason, the mark of his shameful defeat retained its mark, ruining his otherwise handsome visage. Though he has not suffered any muttions, the dozens of wounds, marks of the path that the amazon''s humungous weapon has traversed were clearly visible. As he heaved with great difficulty, the man coughed up once again, his gurgling, hoarse voice spat out yet another mouthful of blood and saliva beneath him, further staining the ground. "I" With even more difficulty, he seemed to be wanting to speak, yet found not the required stamina toplete this selfish request with ease. Still, he forced himself, gathering the strains, the leftover energy in his depleted tanks to forcefully raise his head, contort his battered, bruised face into a thin, weak smile, as he looked at the woman standing above him and force the words one after another out of his bloodied throat. "I" Witnessing his man''s sad state, Captain Don was shivering as a tumultuous storm raged inside his heart. He was about to jump forward as the anger began to ovee his reasoning, but suddenly he felt a strong force pushing him back, forcefully keeping him in ce. Looking down, he saw the young master, the ck-haired boy, raised his pared to his trunk-like, muscle-bound physique-, lean arm stretched out and blocking the path forward. However, what was shocking is that despite how measly his action looked, Don found himself unable to push the arm away or escape through the side and rush in. For some reason he found his legs rooted on the ground, unable to take any action. Before his confusion could set it, he suddenly heard that same, terrifying, thunderous voice rumble and reverberate around him. Though the boy didn''t even turn towards him, he could feel the pressure in his words, that sleeping, monstrous entity that frightened him to the very depths of his soul before, spoke to him coldly once again. "Do not make a move. I told you to learn to control yourself. He is fine, despite how it looks. He will be restored before we depart." Forced to passivity, Don could do nothing but grit his teeth, clench his teeth and take a couple of deep breaths to try to calm down and regain his reasoning. After a moment, as he gradually regained his senses, he understood that the boy was right. There would be no point for whoever was controlling everything to lose the chess pieces before the match started. He or she would certainly make sure that each of his little soldiers would be in their best conditions when they departed toplete his or her bidding. With that thought, he took several deep breaths as he slowly regained his senses. Meanwhile, the beaten man, gradually forced the words of his submission, blurting the word "concede" after great difficulty, just before he finally sumbed to his injuries and lost consciousness. However, what happened next, brought back the already spent Captain from his thoughts once again and forced yet another shocking bewilderment to settle on his aged face. As his man lost the battle and finally conceded, before his head could hit the puddle of blood, his listless body suddenly stopped falling. As a colorless bright light engulfed his body, he was lifted into the air, as a calming, soothing warmth could be felt radiating from his body. Whilst the captain was stunned into confusion once again, Aiden only smiled, as his gaze wandered once again towards the painted window frame of the mansion''s study. Just as he expected, the Mistress, Sara''s mother, would not let her precious little pieces crumble before theypleted their assignments. As the grounds of the mansion werepletely under her domain, she was like an omniscient entity, all-seeing and all-powerful. Though this ce was her prison, it was also her bastion, her hollowed ground. She was fully in control of the mansion''s grounds, nothing could escape her knowledge. Though she wasn''t too adept at utilizing the power of light, or nature she could still fix up these superficial wounds and let the rest be done by Aiden''s little proteg, who she was now aware of being capable of using some incredibly potent restorative spells. Also witnessing her skills as one of the fabled and long-forgotten Runecasters she wanted to give more opportunities to the girl to showcase her abilities, so she merely saved the man from the brink of death. In mere moments, the warming light began to fade, slowly cing the unconscious but much better-looking man down on the ground. Though his wounds have not disappeared, they were at least closed up, leaving the man no longer being in danger. With his condition stabilized, the light faded in a few fleeting seconds. "Great job, Naybeah!" With a smile on his face, and without care given to the man lying on the ground, Aiden was the first to speak and reach out with his right hand inviting her toe to him, which the girl instantly obeyed. A wide, warm smile stered on her face, she nodded silently at the boy and epted the offered hand as she stepped to his side, enjoying the rare reward. Sara, who was standing at Aiden''s side a couple of steps from them only, frowned as she saw this. Still, she didn''t object, allowing Naybeah to enjoy her just reward, but at the same time, promising herself to not fall behind herpetition. Seeing the scene, and how nonchnt, uncaring the boy was towards the unconscious, badly beaten member of their team, Captain Don, couldn''t help but exim with slight anger in his voice. "Good? Who was that any good?! Have you forgotten the goal of all of this? Was there any need to be this brutal?!" He yelled, pointing his finger at the smiling, calm blonde woman who was currently enjoying her ''just'' rewards and hugging Aiden''s right arm as if it was her most precious treasure. "And you, amazon, did you not understand the conditions beforehand?!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 500 - 500 - Growing Madness As one song came to its well-expected conclusion, another one has just reached its zenith, its highest note. Taking up the central section of the battlefield, the heated battle between the royal siblings, Scarlet and Drake and the Silver Howl''s nimble sisters seemed all but concluded, and this victory seemed to be in favor of the swift and surprisingly ferocious nimble sisters. They were like ck whirlwinds, fearsome tornadoes covering their opponents, constantly chipping away their defense and stamina. It was clear even from a single nce that unless the siblings had something up their sleeves, it was only a question of time when they will be forced to concede their individual fights. Even though they each had their own trump cards still tucked behind their respective sleeves, they couldn''t truly utilize them if they were to honor the terms of this mock training exercise. The crazed battle lust, the Maiden''s Mayhem as Scarlet would refer to it from time to time, was an ability simr to one''s drunken rampage, knowing no friend, only for whilst the user''s mind is clouded with stupor. They would wreak havoc without hesitation, rip and tear flesh, skin, and bones without any thought of whom they would plunge the tip of their des into. As for Drake, his connection with Mort, his artifact sword could only be fully used if he were to stop holding back and care for his opponent''s survival. Like every other artifact weapon, its lingering soul would revere once it would be baptized in blood, replenishing its spent power whilst also unleashing more and more of its might with each subsequent swing and thrust. Unfortunately, they couldn''t use any of these skills even if these constantly flipping and jumping acrobats were driving both of the siblings to the edge of madness. Each of their attacks or flips was followed by a smug, taunting grin, driving their anger, pushing their rage ever so-closer to that dangerous threshold. Because of these, their fight was like a mirror to that of the amazon''s, only that this time the siblings took the ce of the poor, unlucky warrior instead of their friend. Forced to a passive, defending position all throughout the fight, both Scarlet and Drake could only grit their teeth and do their best to find a chance to reverse their respective predicaments. *Clink!* *Clink!* The sounds of metal shing against metal, steel hitting the sharper side of another steel could be heard in their surroundings, covering them as if an invisible, sonic veil, gently tucking them in and nudging them further into the depths of their misery. The de was humming in an annoyed, displeased noise, sending its mental waves tomunicate with its master. Listening to his sword''s woes, Drake could only sigh and mutter in an just as equally annoyed, frustrated tone. "I know, I know. I also hate this situation, but what can we do? We can only endure, and use this chance to temper our resolve. We will have countless opportunities for fulfilling that endless thirst of yours you glutton." Drake whispered as he raised his de once again, to thwart the approach of a frontal strike sending another clink into the air around them. Next to him, Scarlet was under simr pressure, but unlike her brother, she was growing more and more frustrated due to her helplessness. As a ve and diator, Scarlet was forced onto the golden sands of the arena only to paint it red with the blood and gut of his opponents, be it another ve, or a beast. She grew up in such environments, and like the dogs protecting Lily and Galina, she too knew nothing about the notion of ''holding back''. Each of her hits, her swings, and strikes had to be done with the full intent to not just to mutte her opponent but to kill, sniff out the very root of life as well. She didn''t have the luxury to ponder or care about the other side, they would not care about her either. Although she had been freed for a while now, she still found herself struggling to ease back into the rtive normalcy of reality. She had difficulty holding herself back, and not aim for the girl''s vitals. Every time she struck, Scarlet''s eyes honed in on her sides, she felt her gaze pulled towards her undefended organs. As yet another high-rise strike came crashing down towards her, she could already see the ''correct'' course to take. She would just step to the side, nimbly evading the attack without any effort, then whilst the girl was still in the finishing curve of herunched attack, Scarlet would just plunge both of her fangs, the daggers in her hands deep into the side of her abdomen and her lungs thus giving her a fatal counter in one swift motion. Unfortunately, she couldn''t possibly do an attack like that, at least not now and not against her own teammates. So with a frustrated-looking frown, she did the most she could and evaded the attack in thest possible second beforeunching a simple kick to throw the girl off bnce. Caught off-guard by the perfectly executed evade, Scarlet''s kick connected without issue, sending the girl to stumble several steps to the left, before she regained her stance. Unfortunately, such an attack would do little to nothing, and only served as further fuel to the mes of her ire and growing contempt. With a scowl contorting her face, the mercenary girl didn''t waste any time to once more lounge her body in the air and somersault towards Scarlet. As she crossed the meager distance in an instant, her de was already slicing the air, aiming towards this annoying redhead''s neckline. Unlike Scarlet, the mercenary twins had no issue in dishing out fatal damage and even crippling their opponents if needed. They were already way beyond their mental limits with all that happened today. The failed trap their captain set, the pummeling two of their friends have received, the shame and humiliation they were all suffering in the hands of these greenhorns, these brats They needed to enact some sort of vengeance, they needed a victory to present to their captain They needed to know that they weren''tpletely worthless. As the melee continued going on, both sides were slowly but surely falling into their own respective mental pits. Whilst Scarlet''s frustration was eating away thest bastion of her defense and was close to unleashing the unfettered beast, her opponent was just as maddened to dish out that so-desirable victory and make her captain, her team, and sister happy but most importantly, herself satisfied. With that she no longer held back, she unleashed her full killing intent as her strike sliced across the air, flying closer and closer towards Scarlet''s neck. Her eyes were lost in the lust of madness, her dreams her corruption. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 501 - 501 - Bad Omen Just as the des were about to make contact with the fair skin of the fiery, red-haired maiden, a sudden force yanked the cursed assant away, flinging her back in the air several meters before her body crashed into the ground with violent force. Her body strained, she was swiftly incapacitated through the sheer force of the mysterious power that whisked her away. Focused on her own battle and simr desire to prove to everyone -as well as to herself-, the remaining sister was lost in her feverish craze. Strike after strike, sh after sh she too was slowly losing her senses as her mind was slowly lost to the sweet whispers of corruption so did any semnce of technique or skill betrayed her assaults. Slowly, but surely, the girl''s attacks were reduced to nothing more than swaying swings of a mad man (or girl). She struck, relentlessly from both sides with no particr aim behind her shes. Due to this haze clouding her senses, the girl did not notice her most beloved sister''s sad defeat, nor that sudden appearance of the very person she too revered. Once he noticed that the situation was rapidly trailing towards an oue that none coulde back from, Captain Don could no longer hold himself back and decided to step in. Without waiting for his co-leader, Aiden''s response, the old man suddenly vanished from his spot, as he rushed to resolve the messed-up situation with the twin sisters. Surprisingly, even though he seemed to be slightly over his prime years, the old man was still quite energetic. His charge was swift, much faster than anything the rest of his team have showcased so far. Within a blink of an eye, his robust figure appeared behind the lithe little girl, his broad shadow towered over the girl, yet she didn''t seem to take note and continued with her attack. Seeing that something was probably amiss, Don didn''t hesitate even for a second, and simply grabbed the little girl, hisrge hands, like a giant vice grabbed the girl from her back and flung it away as if she were weightless. Even then, as she was coursing through the air, the girl didn''t seem to wake from her red stupor, her gaze kept following the figure of her opponent as she grimaced, scowled. Even as her back hit the ground, and the air was kicked out from her lungs the haze didn''t seem to waft away and free her senses. As she sumbed to the void, her face retained the contorted, twisted grimace, only easing once she relieved control of her facial musctures. Don didn''t stop there, thest remaining twin also seemed to be gued with something that he couldn''t exin. The light from her eyes was just as lost as her twin sister''s, her attacks were just as much were slowly losing their grip, their technique, returning to basic, drunken, effortless swings. Don could only sigh and shake his head, frowning at the scene as he stepped over, behind the girl. Even as his giant shadow covered the girl, she too, -just like her sister before-, didn''t seem to notice the sudden change. As the second sigh escaped his lips, Don struck down, pulling the girl off from his prey, and flinging him towards her fainted sister in a simr fashion. In a moment, her figure followed the trails of her sister, crashing into the ground and only stopping as she got next to her. Like that, with the intervention of the very captain they sought to impress, the second fight from three simultaneous ones has also reached a conclusion. Though they were triumphant in the end, the royal siblings, Drake and Scarlet didn''t feel that they have won at all. On the contrary, they both suffered a loss, grave yet not vain, as both have learned subjects that they could improve upon. Still, as they looked at the twin sisters lying cked out beneath the emerald grass, they could only frown with an awful distaste lingering in their mouths, souring their moods. At the same time, the third, andst of the duels were the least exciting of them all. Although it was the shiest, the presence of two ferocious war-trained hounds was already reaching the limits of what the mercenaries would be able to contend with. Each of the rabid-looking bites, the terrifying bestial growls needed the mercenaries full concentration just to keep their respective predatory opponents at bay. They couldn''t possibly spend any effort towards the back line supporter girls, even if they were the important targets. Thus, left free, Lily and Galina were free to unleash their own attacks, uncontested. A rain of arrows fell on top of the four unlucky mercenaries, whilst every attack they managed to cause was almost instantly healed up by the strange caster girl. Adding to that, every now and then, a strange, mysterious invisible arrow appeared right in front of them barely giving them any quarter to evade. From all the individual confrontations, theirs were the only one that wasn''t tainted or ruined in any way. Just as both of the twin girl''s fell to the ground by the interruption of their leader, so too did thest of the four fighters facing Sam, Biggy, Lily, and Galina have fallen on their knees only to sing the exim loudly with their hands raised: "We concede!" As the fight came to an end the rest of the team, joined together by mercenaries and the young adventurers, have gathered around the bodies of the three fainted ones. Due to theck of life-threatening wounds, this time the Mistress'' enchantment didn''t seem to activate, the girls weren''t bathed in a pir of colorless, bright, blinding light, pushing all the work and responsibility of tending to their wounds over to Aiden and his friends. The air was solemn, though the goal of their little melee was to get to know the other, the results were less than favorable in the end. Though there were no grudges born, the strange twist in the twin sisters'' actions was a grave omen. Turning his head towards the mansion''s study room once again, Aiden looked at the woman standing behind the windowsill with a solemn, serious look on his face. He didn''t speak, nor did he had to as the message was painfully clear. Knowing that his message has been received, Aiden turned his attention towards theid-down girls on the ground. Just as he looked over them, the concerned, worried, meek voice of her little girl, Galina resounded in his mind. ''Young Master Should I no Can I help them? They are friends, right?'' She asked with a bit of uncertainty. Though they acted strangely, none of them have found a fault with them. They all have noticed and even discussed the strange happenings as ofte. This invisible veil that has descended as ofte caused more and more people to lose their minds, and in some cases, their souls. The dark whispers, the gentle nudges during emotional moments have gradually reached into the hearts of almost everyone Being lost in thoughts, suddenly Galina was jolted awake by --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 502 - 502 - Mystical Power Lost in her own thoughts, Galina was jolted awake by the calm, and soothing voice of his Young Master calling for her in his mind. Through their shared mental channel Aiden called out for her, giving her the instructions she had been hoping for but dared not to act without directmand. ''Galina, dear, you can go ahead and do what you do best. Let''s get them back on their feet, alright?'' Startled by his sudden voice, Galina quickly regained her wits, responding energetically whilst nodding in his direction outwardly. ''Y-yes, Young Master! I will get to it at once!'' She eximed, rushing towards the two sprawled-out twin sisters and crouched down between them. As she leaned over to take a closer look, Don and the rest of the Silver Howl''s hurried over as well. Their gazes were filled with worry, sorrow, and a bit of confusion as they looked at the sisters. They all saw their strange, peculiar behavior right before their captain incapacitated them after all. "Captain, captain!" "What happened to Ginny and Gilly? Why did they look so weird?" "Are they fine, Cap?" Listening to their concerned, worried voices, Captain Don felt warm, so proud that their corps was more like a family than just a rag-tag bandits-for-hire. They were so much more, over the almost two decades they operated, they turned from a group of soldiers that decided to go against theirmander and tagged as deserters into such a close, tight group of people. When they were forced to escape, and leave their homnd knowing full well that most likely they will never, ever be able to set foot on their home soil again, they never dreamt that such a time woulde. Still, after 19 arduous years, full of hardships, the misery they slowly climbed out from that veritable chasm, that dark pit of despair they were pushed into. Through their own blood, sweat, and tears they gradually climbed out of the state of hopelessness, never losing sight of their ultimate goal, their dream: to be able to return to their home. Unfortunately, said goal is still more like a wishful dream, a hallucination at best. Their countrymen suffering under the oppression of the Empire, they all but probably lost their identity in these years under their might. Before they are freed from their shackles, and their mental suppression, there is no route to take, there is no hope for the Silver Howls to ease their aching hearts. This shared goal, thismon desire made the already close countrymen even closer, they were akin to brothers and sisters. Even the more willful ones, like Clynt from before or Mikhas, the bulky, giant who had thoughts about the proud amazon only to be beaten into submission Even they were loved and cared for by members of their family. Yet, the strange look in the eyes of Ginny and Gilly before the lost, almost mad, crazed gaze as they saw nothing but their opponents, even going as far as ignoring their captain''s word whom they have regarded as a father, the patriarch That was something they all felt should not be possible. It was more than strange: it was suspicious. "Cap What happened to them?" One of the girls, closest to the captain asked with a worried look on her face. The state of his dear ''sisters'' was in She couldn''t understand. Don didn''t respond to any of the chirps, the questions, and inquiries of his team. He was focused on the small, ck-haired girl''s actions, waiting for her words after finishing her preliminary inspections. Yet, his worry was clear even if he tried his best to hide it from the others. His hands were clenched tightly into fists, that turned pale over the force he exerted over them. His body was shivering as he tried to swallow all the worry, the helplessness, the anxiety he felt. He knew he had to show a strong front, lest his team would fall back to despair and depression. "Sigh" Seeing them from behind, Aiden sighed and shook his head as a thin smile began to curve his lips. From their actions, their disy, Aiden could finally see and ept that they weren''t bad like most of the humans usually were. There was something, a strong tie, a connection between them that not just kept them close over their years and pushed them through the hardships they most likely have faced, but also it provided them with a sort of protection, ayer of a barrier against this ever-encroaching darkness. Yet, it wasn''t fool-proof, as seen with the case of the two twins. Under some circumstances, maybe due to the emotional pressure, maybe the rattled state of their minds and hearts, or something else entirely, they could still fall under its corruption and lose themselves in its haze. "Everyone, step away, let the two poor girls have some fresh air. Standing around them will help nobody." Taking a few steps towards them, Aiden spoke up. His voice though calm, held some authoritative tone, some firmness as well. At first, there was no reaction from the mercenaries. It was as if they didn''t even hear the boy like they were in a separate realm entirely. It wasn''t until Don came back to his senses, and shook his head, and repeated the boy''smands did they finally wake up from their collective trance. "You heard the Young Master! Don''t suffocate the girls, back away you sorry lot!" He eximed, repeating Aiden''smand as he stood up and waved with his hands to shoo them away. Reluctantly though, but the crowd slowly began to disperse, taking several steps to back away and give some space, and -as the two leaders have proimed: air- to the two still unconscious girls. Galina was mostly oblivious to the smallmotion and events happening around her, she was focused on the two girls around her. Sending small strands of her primal energy, the [Soul Power] into their bodies to scan the state of their bodies. Suddenly, feeling a strange, mysterious power, she gasped as she jumped back, falling on her butt. As if she just came up from submerging under the water, she greedily gasped for air, heaving violently, and darting her gaze from left to right then right to left to search for her ind offort, her protector, her Young Master. Through their mental connection, Aiden instantly felt the scare, the trepidation of her heart; he instantly darted forward, appearing just behind the girl in the next moment. Crouching down, without saying a single word, Aiden reached out, hugging the poor, trembling girl from the back, pulling her closer into his warming embrace, slowly soothing, calming her agitated heart and mind. Galina''s frantic look and terrifying expression slowly began to ease as she felt the warmth of his beloved Young Master''s toned bosom. Seeing the girl''s abrupt change of state, however, Don standing behind them, couldn''t sit still, and asked with an anxious tone of voice: "W-what happened? Why is she so scared?!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 503 - 503 - Unexpected Reaction "W-what happened? Why is she so scared?!" Captain Don asked, shocked at the sudden change in the calm and so-far cheery little girl''s abrupt change of mental state. Such an intense reaction just from seemingly only ''looking'' at the two girls was beyond his understanding. Being a warrior without any talent in the arcane, mystical arts, the Captain was oblivious to what could have happened that could cause such a shock. Unlike him, however, the thin younger-looking youth in their corps, the one that shrouded the interim of the barracks previously, was frowning at the little girl''s disy. His usually meek attitude shifted, his expression souring into a stern, serious outlook, he sighed heavily, remarking amidst his breath. "Something''s not right. There''s a foreign presence inside them." "What?! What does that mean?" The captain eximed, taking long strides to rush over to the girl and Aiden. In his frantic state, he was about to reach for the girl to rouse her. Before his hands could grab hold of her, they have been pushed away by the young master Captain Don has seemingly forgotten amidst his fright. Though the nudge wasn''t hard, it still carried enough force to throw the agitated man off-bnce causing him to fall to the side and ultimately stabilize himself by kneeling down on one knee. This action did manage to rouse the captain from his daze and lose all the remaining strength inside his body, causing him to crumble down on the ground. His previously healthy look turned pale, as he gazed at the two girls, the twin sisters with dread. "A-are are they" Don gulped, unable to finish his line of thought. In truth, he didn''t need to; the look in his eyes, the loss of blood on his face did the deed for him very clearly. Seeing the swift change on the Captain, Aiden could only sigh and shift his attention at the two girls once again. Previously, he turned the system''s notifications off, as all the constant blinks, noises, or small windows were more of a nuisance than a help. With the newest addition to his arsenal, the small, automatic scans and consequent tooltips, if he didn''t turn everything off, he would go crazy in probably a day or, at most, two. Focusing his attention, Aiden turned on the visual aids and turned his gaze over the two sprawled out bodies of the girls. In the next moment, as his system-generated map appeared at the corner of his eyes, small windows began to appear one by one. Surprisingly instead of the expected two, there were more, confirming a long-brooding suspicion of Aiden''s. [Source: Ginny von Balsaven Power: Martial Arts, Wind (Basic) Threat Level: N/A Affiliation: Hostile (Under the effects of Mental Control] [Source: Gilly von Balsaven Power: Martial Arts, Wind (Basic) Threat Level: N/A Affiliation: Hostile (Under the effects of Mental Control] [Source: ???? Power: Darkness Threat Level: High Affiliation: Hostile, ????] Just as he expected, this strange veil that slowly but surely suffocated the residents of Higrove wasn''t just an illusion, it wasn''t a creation of his overactive mind, but a real, tangible threat. Shockingly, the invisible entity was actually quite powerful if angered even to Aiden himself. Ever since the upgrade of the system, the highest ssification Aiden saw was ''Minimal'' and even that was on Drake. Though he never bothered to inspect the elderly butler or the madame of the mansion, he was pretty certain, that neither of them would reach such high of a regard. He frowned at this sight, but still did not utter a word to the Captain. It wouldn''t serve any point, and would just be further fuel to his despaired state, causing him to lose thest of the control he had over his mind and risk going into a frenzy. Instead, Aiden focused his attention on their shared mental channel. ''Galina be careful as you heal them. There is something inside them still. Something that is still controlling their every action.'' Though his words were grave, the little girl didn''t hesitate in her response even if it wasn''t her usual tone but a much more serious, worried-sounding one. Though she was still scared, frightened by what she saw and felt, she steeled her resolve for her beloved Young Master. ''Y-yes Young Master! I w-will do my everything in my power!'' ''I know you are already very taxed, and tired, but still, I must ask you to try your best. Do not worry, I will protect you, and assist you with everything I can, so just focus on healing their injuries and driving out whatever that thing you saw.'' At once, Galina once again began to chant in the ancientnguage, whilst slowly she began to draw with both of her hands in the air. Her index fingers drawing the mysterious runes in the air, following the trail they drew in the empty air, glowing lines lingered. However, unlike previously, thepleted runes didn''t fade away instantly, but floated in ce, as if awaiting their brothers and sisters to join them beforeunching abined assault on the unknown foe, the strange entity still holding onto the minds of the faint. One after another several other symbols, runes werepleted by the girl''s swift actions, whilst she kept on mumbling, muttering, chanting in the unknownnguage, not bothered how her actions may have looked or if the entity would try tounch an attack of its own. She trusted her young master without question, her focus was onpleting the spell as quickly as possible. A minute has passed before thest, eighth rune appeared in the air and her rhythmic mumbling reached its conclusion. In the next instant, the runes separated into two groups, and shot forth, entering into the two young woman''s bodies without any resistance, merging into their solid mass in an instant. In the next moment, both girl''s bodies began to glow, radiating a faint glimmer of colorless luster. The glimmer wasn''t constant, as it kept increasing in intensity until finally, a change urred. Suddenly, the light flickered, as it found the unknown force, only to lose a bit of their power as the entity retaliated. Galina suddenly groaned in pain, coughing and spitting a mouthful of blood on the ground. Yet, she didn''t hesitate but immediately fought back. She raised her hands once more and resumed her chanting. This time she didn''t draw but kept her palm open, each arm lingering above one of the girls. Aiden was shocked as he felt the bacsh, the counterattack of the entity through their shared mental connection. Though he didn''t know what she had done, the spell wasn''t a simple healing chant, like previously, but somehow Galina retained a sort of connection with the runes as they submerged into the bodies and began their search for the unknown invader. Once the entity was roused and was agitated, it immediately reacted, using the very same connection to try to breach the girl''s mental defenses and take over the control. Incensed when he realized this, Aiden touched Galina''s back and began to channel his own power to reinforce and protect his girl. No matter who or what this thing was, nobody can hurt his family! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 504 - 504 - Overcoming One’s Limits The strange invisible, metaphysical fight between Galina boosted by her dear Young Master and the unknown entity rted to this whole corruption raged on. From the outside the only thing that could be seen was that the light that shined from beneath the girl''s skin continued flickering, losing and regaining its strength seemingly at random. At the same time, the girl, Galina was clearly struggling, her face was glistening with heavy beads of sweat. A faint tickle of a golden glimmer could be seen seeping into her body from the long ck-haired young man''s connected right palm, which even from a distance felt soothing, calming. Like the first rays of the summer sun, the golden energy spread itsforting warmth to every soul under its domain. Seconds soon turned into minutes as both sides struggled. Neither the dark formless entity nor the Galina and Aidenbo could gain a definite ground, a step closer to victory, slowly turning this previously hopeful quick attack into a battle of attrition. Ultimately however, Galina with her nigh limitless reserves thanks to the constant support from his Young Master managed to slowly, but surely push against the servant of the void, lifting this heavy curse from the minds of the two girls. It seemed that while the entity didn''t want to give up its stolen minions easily, it didn''t push too hard either and eventually gave up and retreated away. Perplexing as its actions may be, the group and Aiden didn''t have the luxury of time to ponder andment about it. With the veil gone, and their minds once again was freed from the haze, the twins, Ginny and Gilly finally reacted to the treatment. Two soft groans escaping both their lips allowing their constipating Captain and the rest of their ''family'' to heave a sigh of relief. Even without asking, they all knew: finally, the girls were safe. "What do you make of that? Who could that person be, Sebas?" Looking from behind therge window frame in the study of the mansion, the Masked Mistress frowned under the mask. Though her expression remained hidden, the curve in her tone betrayed her frustration. Even though just like the boy, she too was aware of the curse there wasn''t any information she could gain in thesest weeks. Other than seeing more and more signs of something sinister happening behind the scenes, there was nothing substantial. There were no leads, no clues which she could investigate. Random altercations kept happening all around the city. Families suddenly turning against each other, thugs going rampant even attacking the guards on asion. Guards growing greedier by the day, taking extra tolls, or bribes to overlook the actions of those with deeper pockets. Thievery, robbery, murders, extortion, assaults The tendrils of darkness could be seen making its presence known all around the city. It was as if slowly, but surely everyone lost themselves in their own misery. Still, no matter what happened, they never found anything. Even if they grabbed the perpetrator and examined him or her before the officials could have time to react, they never found anything. In almost every case, once the deeds were done, it was as if the hold, the control they were subjected to was suddenly gone, wafted away with the crimes or sins theymitted. For weeks there was no clue, no step forward in untangling this mystery. Until now, that is. Now, with the case of the two mercenary girls, Aiden and the girl seemed toe in contact with something. Though she was inspecting, monitoring the scene from a distance, both her and her faithful servant, Sebas could clearly see the signs of their struggle. "Mydy" Responding to her inquiry, the elderly butler spoke up from behind. "I may not be entirely correct here, but I do not think that this is rted to others." His voice was respectful and collected as she responded. "Hmm I am not entirely sure about that" Thedy hummed, focusing her gaze on the two girls that just regained their consciousness and were swiftly surrounded by their team once again despite the warning of Aiden and Galina. Seeing the scene, she smiled, swallowing the chuckle she almost released. "Though I highly doubt that pathetic old man or that lecherous pig would be capable of such actions We barely know anything about that fourth participant. Remember, the reason we wanted the boy and his team''s assistance was precisely because of him. I could deal with the other two with ease, I wouldn''t need such a wild card against them." She added as she kept her gaze on the situation outside. "Mydy Do you think that" "Yes, I believe so." Before Sebas could finish, the Maskeddy waved her hand signaling for him to stop talking. "We will see how it ys out, or what effects it will have on them. For now, we just watch as the situation unfolds." The old man bowed deeply at her Mistress''s words. "As you wish mydy Though" He couldn''t help but raise his head as the image of the Young Lady came to his aged mind. " What of the Young Lady? Are you sure it is wise to push her to such a-" "Not a word more, Sebas." Suddenly the Lady''s tone turned cold, as she red up. "She needs this experience, it will help her to shape up to the person she always wanted to be. Besides" Her eyes glimmered with a strange light under the mask as she focused on the back of Aiden below in the training field. "This will give her ample opportunities to settle the matters of her heart as well and eventually break through her limits." She sighed, taking a pause in her speech. At the same time, her tone calmed down, from the hard coldness, it suddenly turned mncholic, with a hint of sorrow. "Though the future holds many grave hurdles for her and her friends, only by oveing them can she step higher, and shed her current shackles." Then she turned towards the north, looking far into the distance as she continued, once again shifting into the cold, cruel mistress y. "As for this pathetic excuse for a kingdom It is high time that it matured and was baptized by its own sinful blood. Only by getting rid of these leeches can it finally grow and evolve into something that could withstand the test of time." Deep inside the vast expanse of the barren wastnds stretching all around the west, the city made out of tents currently were on high alert. After days of wasting away in these hellishnds, High General Dorian, the appointedmander of His Excellency has decided that the time was right and gave the order to the leaders of each battalion to get ready. The waiting was finally over, the time hase: Today they begin their march towards the Kingdom of Draquilea! Their first target: The border city of Higrove! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 505 - 505 - Final Preparations Under the clear blue sky, two straight lines of people stood in front of their leaders. Leaders, in the plural, as whilst they came from two different parts of society, for the next 30 or so days they will fight and live for the same goal. A goal that is whilst not theirs, they did share it and will strive to achieve it. A goal, so grand, so idealistic, so naive, that one couldn''t help but smile and shake his or her head when they hear it for the first time. Romanticists, revolutionaries would spout simr lofty terms either to catch the attention of others or just to quench their thirsty heart''s desire. Even their own personal reasons for lining behind such an idealistic notion were unique, differed not just between two distinct parties coordinating, but maybe, even from member to member. The two groups, a smaller team, or maybe a party of young men and women, and another, almost twice the size of them, a team of veterans. Warriors, killers, assassins. Weapons for hire, normally devoid and free of the chains of patriotism Yet, it was different now. They too shared a promise, looked towards a dream, a hope, a beacon of light. Their dream, though different from the Grand Goal they will be fighting for, was just as naive, just as much of a hopeful, wishful dream of a child. Both groups looked with a serious expression dominating their faces towards the two leaders standing in front of them. Two parties, two captains. From a first nce, they looked as if a father was instructing their proud, arrogant, and haughty son on the works of the world, but as one would take a step closer and inspect it more thoroughly then he or she would be surprised. The two leaders, one sharing the look of a war-trained elder, with a haystack of a messy, unkempt silver hair and matching stubble of a beard-seed, whilst the other one is a much younger boy, looking barely an adult, with long, matte-ck hair cascading like a waterfall to the lower regions of his back. His outfit matching the visage of a Young Noble from a powerful family. Though both parties should be of equal standing, in reality, it was clear there was a vast difference. The boy, the young master seemed to be the one that required the highest of respects, as even the old man was reverent and cautious with every small action of his. Slowly ncing over the two lines of people standing in front of them the old man, Captain Don coughed lightly, to grab the attention in the field, and began to speak in a serious, loud, stern tone of voice. "We, who are standing here today, under thiste morning sun are no longer the fierce and notorious Silver Howls. Nor are we a rag-tag band of adventurers working for coins and credit to y the heathens and the swarms of monsters Nay, from this day forth, we are of one heart, one mind, one entity! We are working toward the same goal! A goal we all pledged to serve and strive forpletion! A goal that requires us to traverse the unknown, to prove our right through might and metal!" Pausing in his speech, he looked at his partner, the young man for support. As their eyes met, they both nodded, and taking up the mantle, the youth, Aiden continued whilst scanning and matching the gazes of those in front of him. "You all have your own dreams, your own desires. Some may even be just as high and noble as the one we are all agreed to serve for the next month or so. Some may be even bigger and much darker in their tone. "He stated, looking at the royal siblings for a brief moment before changing tone and going on. "We do not want you to forget them, to dismiss them! What we ask you is to take up the mantle with us, and fight and work with us. Let''s be one team, one mind, one body for the near future and show everyone the greatest of entertainment in this giant chess board! So what, if this is all just a y for amusement?!" With a warm smile on his face, Captain Don nodded at Aiden''s words as they both raised their hands in the air. "Let''s show them how wrong they are! We will survive, we will win, we will all return!" "Yeah!" "We will show them!" "For the captains!" "To brother/young master!" The speech, though not the greatest, was heartfelt and in the end managed to reach its destination and rouse the members of theirbined teams as a single unit. Finally after their unique and memorable meeting, and little bout afterward, they finally overcame theirst remaining bits of hostility and could, for the first time since their ill-turned little wee in the barracks, could look at each other as arade. After saving the twin sisters of Ginny and Gilly, both parties agreed wholeheartedly to end the event, and instead of doing the third round and cause more harm or invite more potential disasters, just take the remaining time to mingle with each other and perhaps rest up. After an hour or so, the time slowly came closer and closer to the kick-off of the War Games, and they would soon have to depart towards the City Square. *p!* *p!* *p!* *p!* Suddenly, a series of psing from behind reached their ears, startling everyone in the field with the exception of Aiden, who already noticed their presence as they approached. Coming from the direction of the mansion, the familiar sight of the elderly butler, Sebas appeared in their vision, with another presence, a graceful-looking woman wearing a ck-painted demon-faced (AN: Oni) mask over her face. Her crisp, and ted voice came from under its cover, giggling and chuckling at the scene presented in front of her. With graceful, calm steps, the two slowly walked over to Aiden and Don. Whilst the butler took a step to the back to give way for thedy he served, the Masked Mistress took her time to slowly inspect each and every member of the ''army'' she will be wielding for the event. Her eyes lingered a bit over on Sara, and then on Galina before eventually taking her well-earned rest on the young leader, Aiden. "How do you all feel, Aiden? Are you prepared? If there is anything, ANYTHING "she put more power on thest word, emphasizing it even harder. *just let me know. I will not hesitate to get it for you." She then looked over to the elderly captain and spoke with a slightly aloof, colder tone as she addressed him. "That is of course includes you and your team Captain Don. Do not be shy, let my dear servant, Sebas, or myself know of your wants and needs. You will be taking the mantle to fight for my favor, so the least I can do is to help you in whatever way I can." Not expecting anything from them, the Mistress returned her attention to the youngsters and was about to speak again when suddenly the rough voice of a man came from the Silver Howls. "Excuse me, Miss I do have a question if I may" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 506 - 506 - Doh’vahl (Part 1) "Excuse me, Miss I do have a question if I may" A rough voice came from amidst the group of mercenaries, causing the masked woman to turn back and be surprised by the event. Truth be told, she did not expect anything from this group, she did not ce them too highly either. Unlike the youngsters that befriended her daughter, this band of mercenaries was really just a tool, a bunch of chess pieces she would use, and, -if the need arises-, even sacrifice them without question. So, though she made the statement, in reality, it was just out of courtesy, she didn''t expect anybody to be brazen enough from this band of thugs to actually grab the chance and state a request. Still, she couldn''t just turn away now that she made the offer. So with a bit of a frown carefully hid behind the shadows of her full-face mask, she asked with a neutral-sounding tone. "Yes? What would you like to know? Also, please step out, I can''t see who is asking, whom am I talking to?" Answering her call, surprisingly, the tall figure of Clynt, the man who initiated the ambush on Aiden back in the barracks and was subsequently kicked out ofmissionter stepped up. His face was still slightly bruised, and though he tried to cover it with his shirt, the bandage-wrap was still noticeable around his chest. Clynt didn''t mind the gazes he received, but stood still, turning his attention on the long ck-haired boy looking back at him with a calm, nonchnt expression. There were no emotion, no surprise, no pity, no disdain, nothing in his exotic golden eyes, causing Clynt to visibly frown. Taking a couple of moments of time to gather his thoughts, he shifted his gaze back on the demon-masked elegant noblewoman, and suddenly bowed down. "Miss, I" He hesitated for a second, though only for a second. Then, he took a deep breath, the solemn, serious look returned into his eyes. Raising his right arm, he pointed at Aiden standing beside his Captain as he eximed loudly. "I will not ept that boy as my superior!" He shouted, his eyes brimming with conviction. Clynt looked at the kid and continued. "I challenge you, Aiden to a Doh''vahl! Only if you will be the victor will I bow down to you!" His words caused a wave of shock to spread at the rest of the mercenaries. They looked with shock and disbelief at their brethren, unable to understand and process his promation. Even Captain Don furrowed his brows at his statement. Frowning, he turned to this wild-natured ''son'' of his. Shaking his head with displeasure, he asked. "Clynt, you better think this through. Not only you are utterly disrespectful to our employer, but also towards our partners. Haven''t you lost enough face today? Step ba-" "Captain! I am sorry, but I need to do this!" Before Don could finish, Clynt spoke up again. He bowed once again, his words were firm and respectful all the while. "I know how my actions may look like. Still, you know me, captain, I need this. Please" "Y-you!" The captain was overwhelmed with emotions. He clenched his fists and raised it slowly. His rising anger and shame at how a person of his family, his corps acted wanted him to beat this unruly man up. Before he could act ording to his rising feelings, a slender hand, Aiden grabbed his arm, gently pulling it down. He smiled calmly, as their gazes met, and asked without warmth in his voice. "It''s okay Captain. What is this ''Doh''vahl'' he was speaking of? Please exin." Looking at the young master, Captain Don, could only heave a heavy, helpless sigh. Lowering his arms and releasing his clenched fists, he closed his eyes as the pain and sorrow slowly settled on his aged expression. His shoulders slumped down, he responded with a defeated outward posture. "I have not spoken about it yet, but in truth, we havee from the far east. Our home was long since taken by the hungry jaws of the empire. Once long ago, we were known as the ''Makhor'', a small but fierce nation of warriors, feared and respected throughout the Great Wastes" He sighed again as he recalled these painful events of the past. Shaking his head, he cleared his throat with a forced cough and continued. "Anyway... The Doh''vahl is an old tradition of our people" He sighed again, as he nced at Clynt with a hint of anger in his eyes before continuing. "You have to understand, to us, the Makhor, strength, and power were above all else. We didn''t dabble too much into the politics of you westerners, we preferred settling our disputes directly. The Doh''vahl is basically a special call for a fair fight in front of the Goddess of Nature, Naone." "What do you mean by ''fair fight?''" Aiden asked, grabbing the key point of the old man''s exnation immediately. "Well" Captain Don looked at the boy wryly, as he raised his fists in front of his chest once again. "We believe that in front of the Goddess, all tricks, all magics, and steel are petty and thus, forbidden. In front of Naone, all metal should be stripped leaving behind nothing but your flesh." "Ehrm What does that mean exactly?" The more he listened, the more ufortable Aiden got. What does he mean exactly? How is this fight should go?!" "In a call for Doh''vahl, the fighters are forbidden to wear and use any armor or weapons. Additionally, this is a test of strength, thus the use of arcane arts, magic is also not allowed. You fight with your fists and body only." A heavy silence descended in the in field following his words. Though the mercenaries knew what their brethren''s call meant, they did not dare to speak a word, feeling rather ufortable themselves. As for the youngsters, Aiden''s team, the girls, realizing what the old man''s words meant immediately turned bright red in embarrassment, not sure how to react or what to say. Did this truly mean what they thought it did? Will Aiden really ''No, no that can''t be! Brother should never do something so dirty!'' Lily eximed inwardly clenching her little hands into tiny balls of fists. Scarlet''s and Sara''s cheeks were burning brightly, their gazes wereplex. Their shyness didn''t allow them to show it directly, unlike Naybeah who was brimming with expectation, barely able to contain herself. The two girls were trying to hide their true thoughts and desires as hard as they could. In the end, they dared not to show their face to their young team leader and hid amidst the crowd instead. Even the Masked Mistress was caught unaware of the sudden promation. She only had a vague understanding of the eastern customs before, she was only aware that it was their customary method to settle disputes in an official manner. To be honest, even the empire took over the custom in a modified manner. To them, you could prove your right before the judging eyes of the court by a fight to the death against the other party. However, unlike this Doh''vahl, they did not strip the two parties and allowed the usage of anything. After all, it was a fight to the death, and they believed that no matter the tool, it was an extension of your power, your strength. Depriving you of it wouldn''t be ''just''. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 507 - 507 - Doh’vahl (Part 2) After listening to the Captain''s exnation, Aiden turned towards Clynt once more. Focusing his gaze, he looked deeply at the man standing just a dozen or so steps away from him, looking so determined, so adamant to prove something. Matching the man''s slit-like eyes, seeing the determination shining in them, Aiden -though he felt like he still had many questions still-, decided to not waste time questioning the man''s resolve. It would be nothing short of disrespectful to the faith, to the beliefs they all had. Also, he could feel no malicious intent from Clynt, no negative or harmful auras were surrounding him. Whatever his goal was, it wasn''t spewed out of hate or anything harmful. The two men stood a bit of distance away from each other, at the center of the training field. The rest of the two teams, as well as the Masked Mistress and Sebas, were standing by the side, watching the spectacle with a variety of gazes. Some were excited, some were worried whilst most of the women were quite bashful. As per customs, both parties had to take off all of their armor, and even weapons, facing each other with only their own self-made brawn and might without any so-called ''parlor tricks''. Though he could have argued about the statement, or in reality he was not required to even bother about their old customs, Aiden agreed to it after a bit of thinking. Since they need to be working together and that can only be achieved if they could trust and rely on each other. Standing only in a in, white cotton shirt and simr khaki pants, Aiden was once again free from all the glitter, thevish, expensive shirt and pants he was gifted earlier and returned to his ''roots''. They were much morefortable to maneuver around in and could withstand his powers much better than the expensive fabric of the new ones. Looking at his opponent, his face slowly transformed, the cold rigidness eased, shifting and revealing a thin smile. He cracked his knuckles as he raised his head and asked the man facing him loudly. "So, what are the actual rules of this ''Doh''vahl''? Whilst I may have agreed to honor your request, I will not fight you to the bitter end. We have much bigger enemies upon us soon." At first, there was no response, or change in the man''s stoic, stern visage as he stared down at the much leaner youth. He, unlike the boy, was bare-chested wearing only a simple-looking gray pants that were made of a mixture of cotton and linen, giving it a more ''down-to-earth (well Eora) feel with a reasonable amount of sticity and ample resistance against everyday wear and tear. Compared to Aiden''s peasant-like clothing, this one was still of much higher quality and consequentially; sturdiness. Squinting his eyes, Clynt spoke up after some time. His face retained its cold attitude, though there were the seeds of respect glinting behind his half-crescents. "Do not worry kid, we will not push it to that extent. How about this? We will only do thirty exchanges before we call it off. Since our mission is for a month, it seems fitting to trade a blow for each day, isn''t it?" He asked, turning his head to the side. "Though I''m certain the Cap or Boss Sebas or even the respecteddy could probably judge the oue, I do not see a reason for it." He took a heavy, long breath before continuing. "You all said that the best way to get to know each other is through honest bouts. However, I have only shown a miserable, pathetic side of myself so far so" Suddenly, to the shock of his teammates and captain, he bowed his head as he asked. "Please allow this little selfishness of mine and let''s get to know each other to the truest of our customs!" "Raise your head, Clynt." The boy''s words came almost instantly, his tone was warm, not carrying any trace of hostility or anger in it. "I will acknowledge your will, and will ept your terms." Then he turned to the crowd at the side and nodded at them. "Whoeveres out on top, we are all victors. We are one team, one family from now on. Don''t forget the person to your left, and to your right. In the next 30 days, he or she can be the reason for your survival. Don''t look down on each other, regard everyone as you would your father, mother, sister, or brother." Turning his attention towards Clynt, he casually raised his arms at his side, roughly matching his chest level. With a slowly growing grin, he nodded at the man who was just as fired up and ready. Stepping up, Captain Don looked at both of the parties, his face was finally calm and collected. He nodded at both sides before his right arm slowly reached the zenith of its arc above his head, and swiped down in the next. His bellowing roar signaled the beginning of their Doh''vahl, their duel. "Begin!" He deliberately hasn''t eximed fight, feeling that it wouldn''t be appropriate. As soon as his captain bellowed the shout signaling the start of their duel, Clynt shot out, charging towards his youthful opponent, who, like him didn''t stay in ce either. Meeting at the middle, Clynt was the one to strike the opener, trying a right-winded swing towards Aiden''s temple. His fist sailing the air with frightening momentum and immense might, it took barely any time to reach the boy. Yet, for Aiden, this speed seemed like slow motion. He watched the fist, following its arc as it slowly inched closer and closer, raising his left arm casually to thwart this probing attempt and swipe it off-course. At the same time, his right hand was already in motion, matching the men''s parameters to the letter and mirroring his attack perfectly aiming at Clynt''s temple in the same manner. Clynt wasn''t surprised his attempt wasn''t sessful, he didn''tmit too much to it after all. At the same time, he also expected a counter, his left hand-copied the boy''s movement and evaded the approaching blow as well. Wanting to keep up with the momentum, Clynt swiftly pulled his right arm back, and at the same time,unched a kick towards the boy''s abdomen. Just like that, in the span of a few seconds, they have traded several blows. Their speed was fast. For the untrained eye, it would have been hard to follow what was happening, though none of the crowd were someone that could be referred with that term. Their eyes flickered as they followed the blurring arms and legs as they tried their best to ovee the opposition. Eventually, as the second minute reached itspletion, the blows and kicks abruptly came to an end. In the next moment, the young boy jumped back, creating a bit of distance, looking at his partner with a warm, appreciative smile. He nodded as he silently turned towards the crowd and began to walk away back to his friends. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 508 - 508 - Start Of The War Games "Woah, so many people!" Excitement and awe filled the blonde girl''s eyes as she looked around. From wherever her eyes could glean at, all she saw were thick crowds of people, either already standing around arge, rectangle-shaped podium. At the front, standing its central piece, a lonesome ck oakwood desk stood proudly. Atop of it, four distinct pergamen were unfolded and sprawled out, using small stones at its edges to weigh it down. The deep yellow old pieces of parchment filled up the surface of the desk, with each pergamen showing a different emblem, a symbol at its top. Each showing the signature crest of one of the ''Bastions'', one of the pirs of the uing events. Behind the table, at the far end of the podium two lines of chairs were already prepared, looking rtively in, without much of the hauteur that usually symbolized the top of the socialdder. Though it was still early, therge square was already starting to fill up, a literal sea of people was waiting with growing impatience for the grand spectacle that would then go for the next month, to start. Though the square had barely had any space left, that didn''t stop those interested to continue gathering, gradually filling up the surrounding streets as time inched closer and closer to the fabled time, noon. As the sun crept to its destined peak, reaching the zenith of its daily arc, suddenly the air at the center of the podium began to buzz. The space distorted, and began to faze and shake giving way to dark particles, spatial essences to coalesce and activate, rapidly forming arge [Gateway] from seemingly the empty air. Immediately, the noise turned silent, the people turned their eager attention towards the scene. Excitement and awe were stered on many; magic, even though not unheard of, was not amon sight to the everyday folk. Even using the services of the church was not something they could allow themselves. Even with the usual price of a couple of gold coins, most of them relied on their own folk customs and practices to heal their illnesses. After all, the price of two gold coins -though far from being considered expensive-, was enough for an average family to live by for days, or in some cases, weeks! In mere seconds a wide gate made out of energy appeared at the tform. The dark, swirling entrance looked like a window into the dark and empty void as it stared back down to the wide-eyed plebs. In the next moment, before the people could get used to the peculiar, wondrous picture, its dark surface suddenly began to wobble, sending graduallyrger ripples to all four of its edges. Soon, one by one, figures dressed invish clothing stepped out one by one. First, the current acting council draped in dark purple, silk-looking robes. Their faces radiated a matching, synchronous coldness, looking sternly at the gathered crowd. One by one as they appeared, without saying a single word or without giving a slightest of respect and greet the gathered, they turned towards the back and walked to the chairs, taking their seats and filling up the back line. Following them, more and more officials and soon after, the leaders of the most powerful families appeared surrounded by their attach. Finally,st but not least, not too surprisingly, the old butler, Sebas stepped out in his lonesome. Unlike the rest of the arrogant and proud pirs before him, he looked at the crowd, revealed a thin, polite smile, and gave a courteous bow before turning around and taking his seat at the back. Once he stepped out, the [Gateway] behind him swiftly began to lose its luster and faded in just a few moments. Before the silence couldpletely return to the square, a purple-robed elder, the only one with a golden thread, a single line embroidered over his shoulders, stood up and slowly made his way towards the table situated at the center. The man limped, shuffled towards the center of the stage, giving a few light, but loud enough coughs to grab all the attention of all around. The wrinkled, aged skin on his face contorted into a theatrical smile as he looked at therge assembly of people who came eager to witness the grand spectacle. As the folds around his lips slowly parted, he pointed his right index finger at his throat, muttering something inaudibly. At the next instant, invisible to most, a faint, colorless strand of light shot out from the tip of his pointed finger, submerging into his throat. Focusing on the scene, Aiden standing at the right side of the stand with his extended crew was surprised as he caught the action. Before he could react, however, the system already sent a bell-like sound notifying its host of a sudden update. With a thought, Aiden brought the message in front of him. [Arcane Magic discovered! Analyzing information Error: Magic Proficiency skill missing!] Furrowing his brow, Aiden scrutinized the message, frowning at its contents before his gaze returned to the seemingly harmless, pathetic-looking old councilman at the stage. He was aware that he was the Council''s Lead Representative as well as being one of the pirs, contestants going for the City Lord position. He, or more precisely, the council itself, wasn''t that weak: arge group of rough-looking band of mercenaries was standing not too far away from them. Each was garbed in strange, fur attire, vaguely simr to that of Naybeah''s. They were mostly warriors, holding towering, humongous axes, maces, and swords with a few bowmen standing at their midst. Their faces as well as their mostly barren chests were painted, with tribal-looking ritualistic markings of animal heads and other strange motifs. They were surrounded with a savage, primitive, predatory air ignoring everyone. Their gazes fixated on the elder that was most likely their benefactor for the event. As the old man began to speak, his voice was unnaturally loud, booming and reverberating across therge square. "Wee to the Higrove''s War Games!" He bellowed, raising his arms in the air as if he wanted to embrace the entire town into his bosom. "First of all: Thank you for honoring us with your attention." He continued, giving a slight bow to the audience before continuing. "As you may be aware, the War Games is a long-honored tradition in our kingdom. When electing an official of such stature, that would represent each and every one of you in front of the royal house, as well as lead us to prosperity and a stable future, he or she needs to be in holding of certain qualities." He gazed around with a calm, simple-looking smile as he spoke. "Our future leader, the City Lord, needs to be strong enough, powerful enough to be able to stand at the forefront, to trudge the unexplored and guide us through the veil of the night towards that little glimmer, that bright pir of light that would be our hopeful tomorrow. To showcase that, our forefathers have devised this event, where all the pirs, all those that had the ambition could showcase their glory and send a group of their own into the fray." He gave a light cough, changing the subject. His smile faded, as it shifted into a stern, somber look. His tone was grave as he continued. "With theirbined might, as well as with the assistance of the Academy, they opened a doorway to a vile, brutal world. This ce, this ne of reality was different from ours. In there, life was all but all snuffed out, leaving behind only but the most brutal, most vicious, most powerful entities. Deserted ins, nightmarish jungles were but only a fraction of the spectacles that awaited our first explorers. Amidst the deserted ruins of what once were lush, thriving civilizations, they found the perfect ce to quench their adventurous thirsts." Once again, his expression shifted, returning to the previous smile. His tone also eased, leaving its stern trait behind as he continued. "During their first couple of expeditions, they realized that this ce, though deserted, and almost destroyed, was a veritable treasure trove! Carefully slithering their way around the dangers and various cmities, they didn''t just find treasures and skills that would serve as the basis of many of our current day noble families and various powers, but also a ce to settle disputes." He gazed to the side looking at his men as he continued, slightly changing the tone. "Eventually, their desires changed, turning into this now grand, centuries-old tradition! I''m sure that each and every one of you are just as excited as I tell you: Once again, we will have the chance to witness the birth of a legend. Once again, we will open the gates and send our most powerful warriors to search for the glory of their masters and bring honor and victory to their pirs!" He raised his arms wide as the old man bellowed hisst sentence. "Once again, we open the gates to the Battlefield!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 509 - 509 - Tear In The Fabric Of Reality Just as the elder councilman finished his speech, the crowd erupted into a loud, excited cheer. From the chairs, two purple-robed councilmen stood up and walked up to the elder taking his left and right side respectively. The trio took a step back, taking their spots, creating a small triangle formation. They looked at each other, and as the elder with the golden threaded purple robe nodded, they began to chant, murmuring some iprehensible words. Their eyes closed, they were fully immersed into their cast, speaking in an unknown tongue, whilst pulling all of their inner energy, their mana towards their stretched-out right palms. Meanwhile, as though their mutterings were not intelligent, just some jumbled mess, to Aiden, it was another round of shocking revtion. As soon as the trio began to cast the spell that would open a specialized [Gateway] towards this deserted, barren realm, the Battlegrounds, his system began to cry with the sound of notifications inside his mind. He was wide-eyed with surprise as he opened up and read through the updates he received. [Ancient Language: Demonic Discovered! Analyzing information Error: Spirit attribute is too low to progress in this discovery.] [Note: By activating (Divinity: Basic) the host''s statistics can be boosted allowing the system to begin the analyzation process. Does the host wish to do so? Warning: The action will require a constant flow of the host''s [Soul Power], draining the reserves.] Below the message, the familiar Yes and No words were floating, the first with a neon-green light whilst thetter in a deep shade of red. Unlike before, the system could bypass theck of parameters and use Aiden''s growing divinity to start the learning process! Aiden''s eyes went wide upon this realization. He could actually start learning one of the Ancient Languages! Though he wasn''t overly learned about worldly matters, during his years under the heavy, constant ''care'' of his master, Number 3, and Granny, he did learn bits and pieces of some of these myths and legends. Adding the memories he gained from the old orcish monsters from the tower and what the soul fragment of his father had shared, he knew that these Ancient Languages carried a great, mystical power in themselves. Like the Dragons, Angels, or the Runecrafters, the Demon''snguage was also incredibly powerful. Whilst the Dragons were mostly about dominance and power, the angels were about nature and all that was holy and the dwarven rune words were mostly about creation, the Demons were the most dangerous of them all. They were about destruction, darkness, and control over death. Thinking about his options for a bit, ultimately Aiden decided against using his power for several reasons. Even if the prospect of learning one of the fabled Ancient Languages was an incredible chance, it would most likely serve as just the start of a long journey. He wouldn''t gain anything for the short term, but only waste his reserves, whilst also risking of revealing his most precious, most guarded secrets. Also, he was still not sure how or where he will go and in the other realm what traps or ambushes he would need to survive right at the beginning. For better or worse, reserving as much of his own energy as he could, was the best choice. Reaching for the red-toned ''No'' option at the right side of the screen and -though with a heavy, bleeding heart- he dismissed the notification. Just as the message disappeared, the spell, the grand spectacle of thisunch event, has seemed to just reach its conclusion as well. The 3 robed elders began a sonorous sonata as they eximed each, strange word louder and louder. Gradually their tones shifting, a strange guttural undertone appearing in the midst of their speech. The air inside the triangle they formed soon began to whizz and sizzle. Thin cords of a light-toned smoke appeared, as if a little, innocent spark of fire was lit, brimming with excitement as itid its infantile eyes to this exciting, vibrant world. Before the invisible illusionary little pyre could explore further, the magic that it was born from changed again, shifting its intone, transforming the little newborn luster, twisting it further. The spark acquiescing to its originator''s demand, changed and transformed. Its mass expanded, turning into a hungry-looking amorphous blob. With an unseething hunger, it greedily gobbled at the air, reaching further and further as it kept growing, taking more and more of the space around it. Quickly, in just a manner of seconds, the little dot-like spark has grown into the size of a plum. Its original blinding white light corrupted as it absorbed more and more of the Space Essences readily avable in the air around them, shifting into a matte ebony night gradient as it kept evolving. Time passed as the elders kept on shouting, yelling like madmen. Each word carried more and more air out of their lungs, sucking more and more of their already faltering stamina just to give a slightly higher surge of the rush as the words joined to the chord with the rest. Still, the small hole, the little tear in the fabric of reality seemed to react to each and every one of the seemingly unintelligent gibberish these crazed elders were yelling. Each time a word echoed in the filled-up square, the edges of its membrane trembled, only to light up with another wave of hunger and reach for the next bite, the next segment of the air to im as their own domain. In a minute, the little plum was the size of an average person''s head, and it showed no signs of calming down. It kept growing, expanding, and as time went on, changing. Unlike how the [Gateway] spell was cast, this one seemed to take way more time, and much more effort to make itself present. Also, though first Aiden thought that the end result would be simr to the [Haven''s Gate], the specialized [Gateway] spell his system had created to his minion''s world, it seemed to not be the case. Slowly, as the minutes passed, under the bated breath and focused gazes of the crowd, the hole was gradually taking shape. The head-sized tear kept up with its weird conquest, taking more and more of the readily avable air around it, growing and changing its shape with each newly added bite it imed. The tear''s amorphous shape was changing, as a gate, a window-like square form slowly began to appear. A window, with an insight into nothing but a dark, despairing, and empty void. Several minutes passed by the time, the window expanded into what seemed to be arge, wide arched gate that, from a first, untrained look, lead into the great nothing instead of the promised realm of battlefields. The trio of elders was out of breath and stamina by the time they finallypleted the ritual. Yet, there was a happy, ted, satisfied smile stered on their faces as they looked at therge spatial creation, the grand magic they together created. With great effort the two that came slithered back to their seats and with a huff, slumped down, leaving only the eldest of them all, the host of the event in the podium. The old man took about a minute to catch his breath before, slowly walking in front of the swirling, grand portal and turned to the side where the groups of mercenaries, adventurers, and soldiers were hired under the service of either one of the pirs were waiting. As his lips parted once again, a gruff, hoarse, tired voice reached the ears of the crowd. The old man was clearly expanded after participating in such a ritual. "You, eager-blooded youths, or age-old veterans alike! Though I''m certain you are aware of this, yet allow me, no.. LET me remind you all what is the most important goal that you need to keep in mind. No matter what objectives each of you has, what dreams you cultivate, make sure of this one simple rule. Stay alive!" He took a moment, so his words could reach everyone before continuing. "No matter what heavenly treasures, or great, all-powerful artifacts you dig up or find in the deepest caverns or chasms amidst the myriad dangers there. If, in the end, you breathe yourst andy down in the hot sands, or whatever dread wastes there are Ultimately your efforts would be for naught." He nodded with a simple smile creasing his wrinkled skin, then turned back to the audience as he continued. "After the teams set out one after another and arrive at the Battlegrounds, the honored professors of the Academy have promised us to cast their fabled [Vision] magic, to show us the scenes at the other side. For the uing month, we will watch and monitor our brave heroes'' actions. You will be able to cheer and support those you hold close and dear to your heart!" He eximed, watching with the same smile as the crowd erupted into a cheer once again. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 510 - 510 - The Opponents "Contestants!" The old man shouted, causing the crowd to once again turn silent and watch with a rising animation as the old man raised both his hands in the air. Giving it a couple of seconds to get the crowd to calm down, the old man stepped back, to the side of the twisting dark portal. Then, he looked to the side, where the 4 groups were stationed. "Get your bearings ready, calm your nerves and step up! The moment hase. You will step through this gate and begin your journey to bring glory to your Pir, and im victory in his or her name!" He eximed, shing a thin smile. His old, shifty eyes gleamed over at his own group for a brief moment, meeting with a rough-looking short, brown-haired man at the front. The man reached for his small mustache, twirling its right end, as a crooked smirk together with a meaningful glint shed across his face. He nodded, then raised his right hand above his shoulders. He didn''t utter a word, but his team seemed to understand hismand nheless and followed the man as he stepped up to the stage and walked over to the elder. As he got there, they nodded at each other once more, and without wasting any other words, the man stepped through the portal. His figure vanished, his team quickly followed suit, traversing through the dimensional barriers and arrived at a seemingly random spot in the other world. In the next moment, Aiden''s calm expression twitched, and a deep frown appeared over his face. From the back seat, where the various VIPs and the other Pirs, leaders of the War Games various factions sat, an obese, rounded figure stood up. He was wearing the uniformed attire of the Academy''s high-ranking officials, a ck silk robe with the well-known insignia, the ming, burning ball of fire with a fierce bolt of lightning shing across it. The man was obviously the not-so-young Master Leon, the current principal, leader, and one of the Pirs of the event. As he stepped forward, the two elderly figures wearing a simrly ck robe followed after him, looking at the crowd with cold, arrogant indifference. To them, this rabble was merely some filthy ants, not worth their attention at all. Master Leon walked up to the elder, both giving each other a silent nod, and switched ces. Whilst Master Leon took his ce at the portal''s side, the elder walked back to his seat at the back. Without even wasting a single breath to introduce himself to the audience or to even acknowledge their presence, he looked at the side, where at the forefront of what seemed to be a battalion of trained soldiers stood guard. At their lead, arge, hulking man wearing full te armor with a lion head helmet and holding a giantnce-like weapon, with a longer, curved de at its head, matched the young lord''s gaze. Like before him, he as well didn''t waste a single breath but stepped up to the stage. Even without him needing to give order, the group of soldiers behind him followed after him lining up and forming two columns. Their march was disciplined, their feet hitting the wooden floorboards in sync. As the soldiers lined up in front of the portal, Master Leon leaned closer to the leading man and with a normal tone, that though wasn''t loud still reached the first couple of rows of the crowd, as well as the remaining groups at the side, said coldly. "Do not fail me. You know what to do." The man did not react to the obvious threat but instead marched into the portal in the next moment. Even before his figure fully submerged into the dark, swirling void, his team followed after him, vanishing by the twos one after another. His role done, Master Leon turned around. He seemed to be either oblivious, ignorant, or just didn''t care about Aiden and Lily''s presence as he didn''t react at all when his gaze shed across them. Without saying a word the trio walked back to their seats, not bothered to give courtesy to the next pir that stood up to ''guide'' his team across. A single, tattered robed figure, wearing a matching ck faceless mask, and hood pulled high stepped forward. He was by his lonesome, and though there was no obvious energy radiating from his weak-looking body, there was an aura of cold, an ominous presence surrounding him. He slowly shuffled next to the portal and turned to look at the side. His gaze paused for a moment on the long ck-haired youngster amidst the team of adventurers before it wandered off and reached the smallest and at the same time, strangest looking party of all. 6 hulking bodies stood motionlessly since the beginning. They were garbed in simple ck studded leather armor, neither of them having any weapon on their bodies. All of them wore a leather strap, a strange sack-like helm on their heads leaving only two small holes at the front for some air to get in but leaving their vision strangely blocked. What was worse and most likely ignored by most of the people gathered, was the simr, ominous air surrounding their figures. When Aiden tried scanning them, the system could only tell that though they only saw 6 figures standing, the system actually imed there were double of that, matching up to a dozen. Each man, each body held two presences, two entities, or to be more precise two consciousness inside them, though of what they were, the system couldn''t tell. The figures werepletely motionless throughout the event, only reacting when their just as equally mysterious leader looked over at them. For a moment, Aiden could feel some vibration in the air, but before he could react or analyze, the 6 figures suddenly reacted and stepped up to the stage in calm, butrge strides. Arriving in front of the portal, they looked at their robed, hooded leader as if waiting for his nextmand. The robed figure didn''t speak, but once again, Aiden could feel the strange vibration for a brief moment. In the next moment, the 6 creatures stepped closer to their leader, surrounding him and forming a shield covering his figure from the side and from the crowd. From the outside, it looked as if they were discussing something may be rted to their strategy? Aiden could feel the same vibration once again though this time, there was something else, something that he couldn''t understand as well. Before he could ponder on it further, the figures suddenly stepped away from their leader, and swiftly crossed across the portal. As their bodies submerged into the dark portal, for a brief moment a reddish hue glinted across its dark surface. The peculiar change was very brief, barelysting a fraction of a second, probably gone and ignored by almost everyone in the crowd. Yet, thest representative at the back, Sebas furrowed his brows instantly, his face losing its calm disposure and revealing a deep frown. Something was amiss --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 511 - 511 - Passing The Gates Of... Once thest of the strange hulking eerie figures disappeared through the portal, the robed, hooded figure turned around and walked back to his seat. Only after he was gone and sat down did Sebas, the representative of thest bastion, the Masked Mistress, stood up and walked up to take his ce next to the swirling gateway. He gave a silent, but courteous bow towards the crowd, then turned and looked at thest group standing at the side Aiden and the Silver Howl mercenaries. As their gazes met, Aiden gave a calm, collected smile, and turned towards his group. "Come guys, let''s go." He said motioning for his team to step up. Unlike the others before him, he waited until everyone was up, and instead of standing at the front, he stood at the back, allowing Captain Don to act as the front of the group. After all, it looked much more eptable that a veteran was leading instead of a youngster. Stepping up to the stage, the team stopped in front of butler Sebas. The elderly man, once everyone got close, shed a polite-looking smile and bowed once again as he spoke. "Sirs and Madams" He began in his usual respectful tone. "The Mistress wishes you all good luck and wants you to stay safe no matter what. Watch out, stay together and work as a team. Only then can you survive this ordeal." He gave a momentary pause in his words before continuing. "The Mistress also wants to reassure you all that once we are able to, we will get in touch. Until then, stay close together and work to settle a base camp at a safe spot. Besides the other teams, there are many other dangers lurking in the shadows. Though they present this world as ''deserted'', that term is far from the truth. Watch out." Ending his speech, he bowed once more and took a step back giving way for the team to step up to the portal. They took a look at the swirling dark void before Captain Don, raised his hand, and gave the marching order. Following his words, the team walked through leaving only Aiden as thest to step through himself. Meanwhile, Sebas was focused on the portal, looking at it with a stern gaze, seemingly deep in thought. Just as Aiden stepped into the swirling mass of space essences and half of his body submerged in it, the dark void suddenly shed again, the strange eerie red tint red up once more. A violent torrent appeared, sucking greedily at the stunned teenage boy, causing his body to abruptly fall through the barrier and vanish from sight. Ripples traversed across the previously calm surface as his figure was forcefully pulled through the dimensional gateway. A momentter, as thest of the contestants crossed through, the surface of the gateway began to violently churn and twist. The reddish hue faded a momentter, returning it to the previously dark ebony tint just before the entire spell began to lose thest of its power and crumbled into tiny particles in the air. In a few moments, the grand disy, the mighty portal was gone, leaving no entry into, or a way to escape from the other side where several dozens of soldiers, little chess pieces for the four pirs have traversed onto. With a heavy sigh escaping his lips, Sebas looked at the strange, masked, hooded figure with a solemn gaze, as he walked back to his seat and took his ce. At the same time, he could only hope that his worries were unfounded and there was no foul y involved Beneath the dark canopy of the trees, at another ne, the usually deep silence was suddenly disturbed. The air just a couple of inches above the ground abruptly began to twist and flicker. The lingering essences in the air began to line up and form a rugged line, as a vermilion, dark red line appeared. The strange-looking spatial tear rapidly expanded, in a couple of seconds, an amorphous hole hummed with an eerie noise. Ripples spread across its surface, growing in intensity with each passing moment. Eventually, the hole spread until it reached the size of a window only for its surface to ripple with even more power and spit out something or most likely, someone from its depths. As the figure crashed onto the dewy grass, the hole began to shrink, only to disappear just as swiftly as it came. Taking a moment, the figure groaned on the ground, as he rolled over and with a bit of difficulty, sat up to look around. His eyes shed with a faint golden luster as he slowly took in his surroundings. One thing he immediately noticed, causing his frown only to deepen, was that he was alone. Unlike what was exined to them before, he arrived alone, separated from his team. Also, different from the others, his traversal was rather intensive, violent as he was thrown to somewhere deep in this supposedly vast realm. Heaving a sigh, the youth looked around, taking in the smallest of details as to make a mental map in his mind, as well as in the magical construct, the system that inhabited his soul and mind. Looking around, he saw several trees of yesteryear''s fallen and torn on the ground due to storms long forgotten. The seasons must have been rather harsh on them stripping away most of the bark and outeryers from them, leaving behind nothing but a dark, dreadful visage. They had the appearance of driftwood, twisted patterns coloring their long-dead outlines. Unlike what one would expect, the woods, this dark gray, dark green biome that Aiden was thrown into was dead silent. The leaves weren''t nestled, the sounds of life under the undergrowth could not be heard. The air wasn''t filled with the chirps, the beautiful, alluring songs, and the bads of the birds. From a first nce, this forest was dead, devoid of life, leaving behind nothing but a few half-dead trunks of trees as they desperately tried to suck in the thin rays of the sun and survive in this wastnd. Still, despite this obviousck of life, the ground was still deep green with the thick des of grass. Sparse red dots of what seemed to be unknown types of mushrooms glimmered, giving a deep contrast and controversy as this realm danced at the edges of life and death. Aiden''s eyes slowly scanned his surroundings, trying to make sense of whatever this ce actually was. Though he was thrown somewhere, probably far from his friends and team, he wasn''t nervous, he retained his calm as he pondered his strange situation. He couldn''t understand what went wrong with his travel, how did the portal suddenly shift, and as if it came to life, suddenly sucked him in. Suddenly, he recalled the strange events of that masked group before them. That eerie sensation he felt the 6 weird figures "Could they be" Before he could finish his thoughts, suddenly the snapping of some nearby twigs could be heard. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 512 - 512 - Rabbit Caught In A Trap Startled by the sudden noise, the youth, Aiden jumped from the ground, and turned towards the direction where the disturbance came from. His eyes were like the glowing moon atop the nightly sky as they radiated with a golden luster, scanning the distance, piercing through the veil of thin canopy with ease. At the same time, as if woken up from a deep slumber, his system finally reacted, and seemingly from nothing 6 red dots appeared around his spot forming a rough,rge circle around Aiden over the minimap. "Show yourselves." Aiden eximed coldly, his posture shifting, he stepped into a battle-ready stance as he spoke. His joints cracked as he flexed his hands and clenched them into two balls of fists. Following Aiden''s cold statement, suddenly a figure stepped out from behind a tree from the direction where the sound came from previously. The man was d in dark, ck leather armor, with a leather helm, looking more like a strapped on leather pouch, a sack than a fully functional helm covered his features. A single, small hole was made so that he could breathe, though it wasn''t high enough, nor wide enough to provide him with any form of vision. Looking at him, Aiden instantly recognized the being as one of the 6 warriors under the service of that hooded, masked man, the unknown fourth pir of the event. Just like before, as he checked him through his system, he spotted two presences instead of one. As if two entities, two separate consciousness existed inside the same physical frame. As Aiden was checking the man, he could also feel him doing the same despite his face as well as his eyes being hidden behind the strange strap-on. A cold, piercing gaze was as if it was trying to bore a hole into his head and reach for Aiden''s mind. As if a monstrous creature, an entity beyond the limits of mortal understanding was trying to let him know of the vast distance between them, Aiden could feel a threatening coldness waft through him, brazing his skin beneath his thinyer of clothing. Still, he merely frowned, not revealing anything. He kept his own powers and aura under control, showing the presence of a simple, weak youngster with a thirst to adventure to the eerie, ominous being. For what seemed like an eternity, even if it was merely a minute the two sides did nothing but check and scrutinize the other one. Slightly puzzled by the what and how, Aiden could feel that the man, or more like the creature sharing his body could somehow ignore the weird cover. Eventually, a muffled, animalistic snort could be heard. The man slowly raised his right hand above his head. His open palm was like a g pole, standing high, towering above both of their presences. A couple of secondster he flicked his fingers forward, giving the awaited signal. Instantly the thin leaves from all around rustled, as slowly the other 5 figures with the same, matching attire and the strapped-on leather bag stepped forward. Surrounding the lonesome youngster they circled around him, closing and blocking all possible escape routes. Though neither of them held any weapon, their calm-looking, casual postures were merely a mask. Each one was a predator of its own, ready to lounge themselves on their already imed prey. As the trap was set and just as their master demanded have caught the little ''rabbit'', a muffled snicker could be heard from beneath the ck leather covering the leader''s face. He slowly lowered his arm, which still, unnaturally hung in the air. As it reached his chest, he pointed at the youngster as it began to cackle with a strange, hound-like hoarse undertone. His body trembled as he howled with a gloating delight for quite a while before it finally calmed down. There was a slight surprise stered on his face, that luckily was kept hidden thanks to the cover he wore. This youngling, this boy, despite being well aware of the situation he was thrown into, didn''t seem to be bothered by it. His calm, collected stance, his cool, nonchnt smile was disying the statue of someone that was above the rabble. That unbothered look in the boy''s exotic, golden eyes irked, annoyed the leader greatly. He couldn''t understand what was going on in this human youngster''s head. How was he so calm? How was he so unafraid? Wasn''t anything that was happening obvious, clear enough? Standing at the center of whatever was happening, Aiden waspletely calm. He focused his attention on his system''s checking each of the closing figures, whilst asking Enya to try to scan the powers and threat levels of his opponents. Unfortunately, unless he was ready to unveil his own powers the system seemed to be unable to get any meaningful information. Yet, just by the dreadful, ominous feel, the cold auras of the 6 stout hulking masses, Aiden knew that they were anything but ordinary. He even doubted that they were human, to begin with. Just by the fact that there was another entity inside each of them, they were definitely beyond human. Suddenly, ruining the stillness of the situation and breaking the silence, an eerie, guttural howl terrified thend. The leader raised his head towards the sky and roared. His voice, his action was closer to a beast, to a monster than to anything civilized. Reacting to his wolf-like howl, the rest of his group, the other 5 also turned towards the skies and joined in, howling themselves as well. Their chorus was like a horrific sonata. If there were any critters hiding nearby, they were now either scared to death or shivering and would have been doing their best to get as far away as they could. However, what happened next, shocked Aiden even more. Following their predatory exmations, the bodies of the half a dozen mysterious figures suddenly shivered and began to swell. The studded nails holding together their armors began to stretch, slowly but surely reaching towards the maximum thresholds they could. The leather sacks on their heads also trembled and shook. The rounded, normal ball-like shapes began to transform. Instantly, seeing whatever that was going on, Aiden watched with rapt attention as the 6 creatures began to transform and reveal their monstrous, real forms. At the same time, he could feel the pressure of their auras increasing, their power levels were climbing steadily. The calm smile slowly fading from his face, Aiden turned towards the leader with a solemn, stern look. A golden glint shed through his eyes, as he slowly opened his fists, equipping a wing posture. He was ready, for whatever was happening. If they thought that he was merely the helpless prey caught in their well-sewn then they were in for a very rough wake-up call! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 513 - 513 - What Happened? At the same time atop an orange-brown teau, the air suddenly twisted, contorting unnaturally. A momentter a singr dark dot appeared in mid-air, just at about an arm''s length above the dust-covered surface. Like the newborn child that was just presented with the bountiful heavenly mammaries, the nectar of its mother''s teet, it began to greedily suck in the empty air further twisting, twirling the air around the mysterious singrity. For a while, the small hole did nothing but continue sucking in the air, and -with it-, the waning, sparsely spread out essences as well. It kept on absorbing the magical particles of this deserted ne, merging it with itself, gradually gaining more and more power as time went on. A bit of time passed like this before the little ck dot changed its strategy and began to expand. Its mysterious ebony mass began to take up more and more of the surrounding territory, growing in size with each passing second. The expanse didn''t seem to slow down even as the little dot was no longer the size of the tip of a needle but was now looking like a small window, giving a despairing view into the dark and empty void. Yet, its hungry conquest didn''t falter, its size kept on changing, the edges of its magic-filled membrane kept on growing, reaching out for new and new of the unimed space around it. The crazed expedition only began to dwindle once its imed territory reached the size of a spacious gate, reaching high up in the sky and, at the same time, iming much of the teau''s ground. Reaching its predestined size, the hole, now a literal portal to the unknown, began to calm down. Its edges no longer trembled, its desire fulfilled, its form took shape. An armed doorway, a portal, the ritual-made [Gateway] opened upon an empty teau at the southern regions of the barren world, the Battlefield, providing an entry point to a band of misfits. A big group of adventurers together with some mercenaries appeared one by one through the rippling surface of the dimensional traversal spell. Youths that looked to be at the age of barely reaching adulthood, appeared together with what seemed to be their elders. The mercenaries, unlike the youngsters that were wearing a shining, morous, andvish-looking set of armors and clothing, were wearing age-worn, and battle-hardened attire. The sparkles have all vanished from their steel tes, reced by scratch marks left there through monstrous ws and a slew of sharp edges. As they appeared, the neers stood to the side, giving space to the next member of their colorfulpany to step on thend him- or herself as well. For over a minute, men and women kept appearing one by one, even a pair of ck-furred war hounds followed a blond, long-haired half-elven girl. They greeted each other with a heartyugh, a cheer, or in some cases, a hug. The atmosphere was ted, they all seemed excited, they didn''t seem to be scared of the big weight, the pressure ced upon them. Nay, they all seemed to be looking forward to it. Though their reasons may be different, ultimately each side: the adventurers and the mercenaries as well, saw the opportunity of a lifetime in the next month of their time they all agreed to spend in this wastnd. As thest of the missing mercenaries stepped out, the situation suddenly turned for the worse. The portal, the [Gateway] abruptly lost its luster, its light dimmed, and with it began to lose its form, and shrink at a swift pace. Startled by the sudden shift, the group looked worriedly at the dimming portal, nervous, agitated, and worried about thest, and probably the most important person that had yet to cross through and step over to thisnd. Yet, even as the portal lost its shape, as it slowly but surely began to shrink back to its original tip of the needle shape, no ripples were made to the surface, neither friend nor foe crossed through. Nothing and nobody came, even as the portal returned to its original size and with a plop, vanished from their sights. "Wait What?!" Lily asked with a shocked expression. "Where''s brother?!" His tone was worried, carrying a hint of growing hysteria. "Uhm" Captain Don frowned, his brows danced to a somber tune creasing higher up on his forehead. "Something must have gone amiss. Maybe he was left behind as the portal closed for some reason?" He suggested. His suggestion was shared by the rest of his part of the group, the mercenaries nodded at his words. "Yeah, don''t worry miss! He probably is still standing there, waiting for those old fogeys to reopen the portal so he cane through!" One of the mercenaries, a woman with shoulder-length light brown hair pulled into a small ponytail said with apassionate tone. She smiled warmly at the worried-looking blond half-elven teenager. To her, and the other''s surprise, however, a clean gentle voice joined into the fray. "No, that''s not the case. Young Master is here in this world, in fact, he seems to have arrived slightly ahead of us." Standing behind Lily and currently busy attending to the canine brothers, Sam and Biggy, Galina spoke up. She kept her attention on caressing, rubbing the back of Sam who was visibly enjoying the surplus attention. Her sudden, abrupt remark caused Lily to startle and jump up. Quickly she turned around and went closer to the girl. Her look was weirdly emotional, as tears were already swelling up at the corners of her eyes. Clearly, the traumas she had suffered before have not gone without doing permanent damage to her heart. "What did you say?!" She asked as she leaned closer to the girl. "Brother is here? H-how do you know? Are you s-sure?!" She stuttered mid-way with her array of questions. "I guess she has a connection with Aiden, Lily." Before Galina could reply, Sara who was standing at the back and so far was busy inspecting the ce where the portal had just closed prematurely, decided to speak up and join the conversation. She approached the girls, taking Lily''s right side as she crouched down and gently reached for her back. "After thest few days, I have already been suspecting something was going on. They were strangely always in sync, knowing each other''s thoughts and feelings. When he was mad, or angered, she "Sara looked at Galina who was still looking unaffected by the proim. "she also reacted simrly. Her ever-present smile souring, she donned a matching, serious outlook almost instantly." Then as if remembering something, a filial smile spread across her face, she gazed at Lily''s tear-filled eyes. "In fact, I remember you have a simr connection with him. Didn''t you once been taken hostage?" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 514 - 514 - Connections "Me?" Surprised by Sara''s exim, Lily looked at her with a confused expression. "What do you mean? I never-" However, suddenly she recalled the horrid experience of being lured into a trap. The scenes of the poor old couple''s wrecked home, the single hand, nailed to the wall with that note Her subsequent capture, torture, and abuse As the memories kept surging to the forefront of her mind, her body shivered, her eyes lost their color, her face turned pale almost instantly. She was alone, beaten, and humiliated. The horrible nature of humans. There she was once more taught a lesson in life. Lily could clearly remember how she felt. Of how her first thought was her mother, and the night she had to rey during the trial in the Pocket World. Still, she could also recall that amidst the despair, the dread and hopelessness that tormented her in that rusty, stench-driven cell, a ray of hope did manage to prate the veil of darkness and bring forth a ray of hope with it. A face, her beloved brother''s gentle smile came to her amidst her time of need, easing her panicking heart. Though the events from then turned blurry and strangely began to fade as she tried to move on, Lily could vaguely recall calling out to the image of her brother, asking for her help Begging for him to save him This realization, the memory fragment made Lily go from confused to shocked in the next instant. Her eyes went wide, her lips parted wide, forming an ''O'' as she looked at the gently smiling purple-haired girl next to him. "H-how did you" She wanted to ask, desperate for some answers. Unfortunately, her mouth refused to obey, and only fragmented words made their escape amidst the heavy stutters. Still, Sara seemed to understand what she was trying to ask, she lightly shook her head as she spoke. "It doesn''t matter for now. What I wanted to say, is that if you focus, I''m certain you should be able to feel the same as Galina can. Whatever connection, or mystery they share, I''m sure you can do it too. You did reach out to him once, if you concentrate hard enough, you should be able to do so again." "Young Master is" Seeing all the worry in everyone''s gaze, Galina was feeling a slight sense of guilt. She wanted to speak and reassure the team that her young master is alive, but before she could, she was silenced by Sara''s raised hand. She turned to look at her, with a wry-looking smile and shook her head, asking for Galina to be silent for now. Though she was not sure what the strange woman was ying at, Galina still acquiesced and returned her attention to the strong hounds that were like gentle pups under her constant caress. Following Sara''s not-so-precise instructions, Lily tried her best to recall what she did back then, and how exactly she managed to reach out for her brother who was miles away still unconsciouslyying in his bed. She focused on his face, painting the image of his gentle, warm, loving smile as he looked at those he considered family. Those exotic eyes turned to bright crescents, as they entangled with her own Her heart suddenly thumped louder as soon as the mental image was constructed inside her, causing Lily to be surprised yet again and startle slightly. She sat up, straightening her back as she wreaked her brain to build up even more of his image. She recalled all the warm and loving hugs they shared, that intoxicating smell that could lull her to the best of sleep each and every time she rested her head atop her shoulders. Bright pink spots colored her cheeks as she reminded herself to all the embarrassing situations they shared. As the image of his almost fully naked, nude body was revealed to her and Galina when they wanted to barge into his room not too long ago, she almost couldn''t take the burning heat she felt any more. Still, she shook her head, clearing it from all the nasty, ill-begotten thoughts, and resumed her focus. Once his image was clear and bright in her mind, Lily decided to call out. What was only mere whispers into the void at first, turned louder and louder, gaining momentum as the seconds passed out. Lily gave it her all, to call for the most important person in her life. She desperately wanted to know where he is and if whether if he is fine - Meanwhile, back in the lush but eerie, dark forest, the usually carefree smile on Aiden''s face has long since vanished. His usual battle-hungry crazed-looking grin was also nowhere to be seen, he looked sternly, with a serious gaze at the wicked transformation of the 6 figures of unknown creatures surrounding him. He frowned as he kept on scanning the changes in his opponents. As their muscles bulged and the shape of their bodies and faces began to twist and turn to something that was clearly beyond human, he could also feel their steadily rising power levels escaping from their constraints. They were continuously rising, seemingly without a stop in sight. Though they were still manageable for now, the fact that the steady climb did not stop in pace at all, started to concern even Aiden. For one, though he was fine, he was far from being at his peak. After the roughnding and all the events that had transpired this morning, he was at best, at around 80 to 90% in terms of energy. Even more, he had no knowledge of where he actually was, where the rest of his team could have gone to, or if there were any other unknown dangers lying around. For once, he felt that he couldn''tpletely ce his trust in the mysteriousness of the System, as it had already failed to inform him about the trap he was thrown into. Even Enya, her system''s guide, couldn''t be much of a help this time around. She was just as clueless about the strange behavior of the system as he was. "Whatever I can''t risk ying around" He remarked mentally, deciding not to waste time trying to uncover the reason behind his peculiar situation or to uncover his attackers'' true identities. Slowly he raised his right hand, shifting the wing posture into a grabbing one. In the next moment, the dark, ebony de, his sword Ryg appeared in his hand. He grabbed the ebon longsword''s hilt with both of his hands in the next moment, and with a fierce look in his glowering golden eyes, he charged forward, raising the de above his head and, as he reached into range, he struck down. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 515 - 515 - The Hunt Has Just Begun The ck de, Rygintarth sliced through the air, closing in on the chest of the frontal, leader-like figure of these strange leather sack-wearing figures. This time, Aiden didn''t want to leave anything to chance, nor did he want to y around. He had a dangerously limited amount of information, and the steady, constant rise in these beings'' power levels was starting to reach heights that could give cause to concern. Still, this wasn''t the true reason for him to change his usual approach, and be serious right from the start. The second consciousness, the mysterious entities that each of these half-a-dozen creatures had lived inside them, could avoid the system''s detection for some strange reason. The best he could guess was that they were entities that were rted to the ''Darkness'', ''Corruption'' and ''Chaos'' whatever that actually meant. The sinister, eerie behavior that they disyed also raised several rms in Aiden''s mind. He wasn''t certain, but he felt that it would be unwise to wait for their transformation out. Even if he were to be victorious in the end, ultimately the cost of it wouldn''t be worth it Due to these uneasy feelings inside his heart, Aiden''s first attack was serious right from the start. Though he still tried to conserve his power and did not want to waste it before he was certain about where his opponents stood in terms of strength, his first swing carried a high amount of his bodily strength. His de fiercely traversed the air, rapidly closing in on the still howling, convulsing man''s chest. The strike, if it would connect, would most likely slice the protective studded leather chest piece apart, and may even leave a deep gushing wound. Though it would be far from being fatal, the attack should make the figure lose his concentration and stop this ritualistic process. What happened next, however, shocked Aiden yet again. As his unique, inherited sword''s de was just about to reach its intended destination, a strange unknown and invisible force appeared, blocking and absorbing his attack, sending visible ripples across the distorted space that surrounded the creature. Even worse, it rebounded the attack, throwing his arm back with an equal, matching force. Aiden was forced to take several steps back as he was caught unprepared for such a powerful force field. He couldn''t feel its signature emissions, or presence of any kind, which caused him to deepen his already existing frown over his face. The figures, reaching closer and closer to thepletion of their transformation, gave no bother to the attempted assault, focusing on thest stages instead. Their bodies were already almost twice the size in all dimensions than before. Newly gained muscles bulged from under their constraints, stretching out their armors to their limit. Their figures seemed to lose their semnce to humanity as time went on, looking more and more like walking, two-legged and limbed abominations. Their heads, also swelled in size, the leather sacks, that were loosely hanging under their straps were now stretched out, revealing a hideous silhouette that was barely recognizable anymore. Their rounded shapes were now donned with strange protrusions, mounds of varying sizes and natures dotted all around. Their arms, also reached all the way to their knees, revealing the strange light grey, unnatural festering arms. Ugly, horrific blisters dotted their pale, unnatural-looking trunk-sized arms. Sharp and ckened nails tore through their gloves, looking deadly even from a first nce. "What the hell" Aiden muttered with a deep frown as he looked at the horrifying monstrous entity in front of him. As their transformation reached their zenith, their powers, the auras they released also peaked, reaching an astonishing level. Even though Aiden did not have a clear definition of the various creatures, he was certain, that these monsters were way above the ranks of the outside world. The humans of Higrove or even the Orc Warlords at the top of the tower were far from what he could sense at this moment. Aiden''s gaze turned somber at this realization. He could no longer hold back, there was no ce to be conservative, reserved anymore. He had to put in his everything if he wanted to escape. Yes, escape. Facing all 6 of these monsters would drain him of everything he had, making him vulnerable to the slightest of dangers afterward. Without any information about this world, risking everything right from the start would be incredibly stupid. Still to gain information, he needed to return to the mindset he thought he put behind him already. He needed to once again, act true to his origins, respond to the call of his race. Aiden slowly closed his eyes as he came to this conclusion. In the next moment, as he heaved a heavy, long sigh, suddenly the wind around him began to first breeze, then turn into an angry howl. Releasing the shackles, the chains around his very own core, Aiden let loose of his constrained power. The previously calm streams inside his spiritual body red up, a giant wave of his golden energy, his [Spirit Power] surged, freely, violently flowing, coursing inside his body. Thebined aura that shared his draconic heritage, as well as his Primal Goblin Lordship, exploded with a massive torrent further distorting the very air and space around the makeshift battle arena they hurriedly made. A heavy pressure descended on the 6 creatures, pushing against them with a shocking amount of power and causing them to react to the events finally. Their howls abruptly stopped, the transformations were abruptly put to a halt as they all turned their attention towards the whirlwind of force at the center. Amidst the raging storm, a pair of golden eyes slowly appeared as the boy''s eyelids parted. He wasn''t the carefree boy that stood amidst them before. No, the presence, the creature that joined the fray was something much different. Something old incredibly ancient. As if scanning his surroundings, the pair of eyes slowly darted around. Looking at each of the battle-ready hulking abominations with an indifferent gaze. Eventually, it rested on the one that was to his right for only a couple of seconds longer, before itnded on the leader to his front once more. He did not speak, nor did the hulking atrocities, monsters either. Still, between them, and this weird standstill, lots of information was exchanged. For one side, the creatures had to ept the fact that their assigned prey, the being that their owner, their leader wanted them to take wouldn''t be as easy as they thought. The trap that the Master has created, even going as far as corrupting the portal wouldn''t be able to contain and resolve the situation after all. Still, this did not cause them to lose hope or dismay at all. On the contrary. Under the dark, leather sacks each of their hideous, monstrous visages stretched, each one of them grinned with newfound excitement. After all, the hunt has just begun. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 516 - 516 - Escape The visible stalematested for a while. The two main sides faced each other, neither of them making any move. At one end, a literal whirlwind of energy, with an ancient being standing at its center. Its golden eyes were brimming with a glorious luster, its light shining brightly under the dark shadows provided by the canopy of nearby trees. Opposite of him, a strange, mysterious creature, once humanoid, now more of a hulking abomination of grotesque masses of muscle thrown together. An oversized head that though was still trapped inside the ck leather sack, was stretched to its brim, showing its simrly hideous festering blister-covered head. An ominous, eerie presence, a dreadful power was radiating from it. It was an abominable monstrous entity, a forbidden taboo that went against the veryws of life and nature. Its mere presence in the real world would most likely earn the wrath of the heavens and would be relentlessly struck until there would be nothing but ashes remaining. Surrounding the draconic presence, 5 simrly-looking hulks were standing ready. Each looking almost exactly identical to the other, with a slightly lower level of power and energy pulsating from their monstrous, flesh heap frames. Suddenly, as the seconds passed with tense silence, the surging storm at the center of the sprung trap made its move. One moment he was standing still and fiercely gazing at the leader. A low-toned, guttural, deep, throat-filled growl was the only noise that could be heard. However, in the next instant, the boy''s figure blurred and vanished. Its vibrant, bright-colored clothing left a pale yellow and white mixture streak that swooshed towards the right side, aiming at one of the hulks standing guard. The sh was way too sudden and fast for any meaningful reaction or counter to be made. Before the second passed, the streak have already collided with the creature, and without losing its momentum passed through it. It was as if there was nothing standing in the light streak''s way at all, it phased through him with obvious, clear ease. The streak didn''t slow down, before any reaction could have been made, it was already far away. Going after it would have been a futile endeavor, which the leader and the rest of his team had clearly recognized. They could only look at the swiftly fading glimmering presence as it gradually shrunk as it got further and further away. Their shocked silence, however, onlysted for an additional few seconds. Suddenly, their brethren, that had to suffer through the surprisingly agile boy''s escape have suddenly groaned with a painful, bloodcurdling tone, and with a loud thud fell face first down on the ground. As if his body just reacted to the fatal damage, a fountain of its dark oily blood sprinkled into the air with great volumes. By the time his mates and his leader got over to his lifeless body, a sizable pool of its blood covered him. A shock-filled, muffled gasp escaped from under the leader''s leather head sack as he looked at the body of his now-deceased team member. Though the action was very fast, barely taking a fraction of an instant, he did notice that inside the whirling tornado that surrounded the boy, he did reach out with his right hand. His fingers were contorted into a grabbing posture, the tip of his golden-colored fingers ended with sharp ebony ws. Though he missed the action, now looking at the gaping hole that was left at the center of the deceased, he instantly understood what happened, which made him frown at the sight. He realized that even with all the nning they have made, all the schemes they had already prepared with their boss, they have vastly underestimated the boy''s strength. What should have been impossible just happened. The boy actually killed one of them with one swift, sudden and decisive move. Even worse, he directly tore out the heart and the artificial core the master have injected into them. This was something that he did not understand. Why would he need those? Does the boy intend to study it? The master has never mentioned any ability or skill that would be helpful in this scenario. Or maybe, he just wanted to make sure that he would kill that man? Thinking about it, the leader was more inclined to thetter of the ideas. He thought that it was probably just a sudden action made during a heated moment. A random action, that through the stroke of luck hit just at the only point that would make them instantly lose their terrifying abilities! Coming to this conclusion, the leader snarled with a mixture of annoyance and anger as he turned his head towards the west where the boy had escaped to. A faint red glow escaped through the threading of the sack as its cold, prating gaze lingered at the direction. Though the boy has won today, and has managed to escape with his life intact, their little game, this hunt is still just started. Who knows how this will end, and who will be the ultimate victor at the end? Keeping his gaze on the distance for a while longer, he roared, mumbling something that would be seemingly unintelligible to most. Surprisingly, the rest of the group seemed to understand themand and surrounded their dead brethren''s bodies in the next moment. With the leader taking the helm, they suddenly crouched down and with a feverish, disgusting hunger began to tear into the dead body to munch and gobble up its flesh, organs, and bones as well Meanwhile, somewhere southwest towards their direction, Aiden was resting under the shadow of a giant oakwood tree. Its trunk was so humongous, so towering, so wide that it could actually house a small family from the slums of the city. Its roots have gone deep into the core of this realm. Most likely through the centuries of its existence, it has sucked even the ground around it away, causing that some of its body that was underground to be unveiled. Its huge, wide roots have created a small little cover, a wooden ''cave'', a hole so to speak, that could easily house the lean frame of Aiden. His brazen escape has actually eaten away a considerable amount of his reserves. Enhanced with his Mystic Martial Arts, Aiden pooled everything he had at that moment towards his escape, enhancing his speed to newfound heights. Though this way his speed has gained an unimaginable boost for a short while, the downside was that it actually consumed way too much of his energy, making him unable to keep the pace up for more than half a minute. Still, in roughly 30 seconds, he covered arge amount of ground and created a good enough distance between him and those monstrosities. Even if he was still somewhere deep in this seemingly endless dark forest, there were now at least several miles between them. He only needed a bit of rest and some safe ce to recuperate the lost energy and also to take a look at his newly gained loot --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 517 - 517 - A Possible Mistake Several minutes passed by with silence, allowing Aiden to rest up and regain some of his used-up energies. He sat in his meditative pose, allowing the energy to freely course in his body, refreshing and reinvigorating his soul as well as his body. By the end of the short but meaningful session, the familiar sound of the bell-like sound informed him about the bountiful results. [Through thepleted session the following benefits have been umted.] [Resource: Soul Power (Level 2 - Progress: 99.99%) : 970 SP / 1250 SP Note: Cogitation required! Please visit Haven''s Holy Site. Usage of Host''s Divinity is required forpletion of the process.] [Your understanding of the Primordial Laws is increasing] [The Divinity: Basic (Level 1) Progress: 21.15%] Though both of the gains held their own surprises, Aiden wasn''t too bothered by the prompt he received with his Soul Power cultivation. After all, this very same message had appeared when after years of effort he finallypleted his Rune Magic analysis. Though he ultimately failed to gain the skill as he was still missing the needed ''Magic Proficiency'', Aiden knew that it was just a matter of time before he finally gets it. What surprised him was the update rted to his divinity! From what he knew, he would need to be closer to his seat of power, to Haven for the progress to increase. Yet, here in this barren dreadnds, somehow he gained the same -albeit much smaller- benefits than in his own world! This was an unexpected surprise and raised several new questions inside Aiden''s mind. What is this ce exactly? Does it have any connection with the system or Haven? Who actually governs this ce? Who is its master, its ''god''? There were many new questions, and Aiden could only hope that through his journey in this ne, he would find the answers he was now seeking. - Aiden realized that he spent too long amidst this world''s humans, and slowly started to get ustomed to them. One of the reasons he was looking forward to this adventure was that he would finally gain the chance to regain what he had lost and return to his roots once more. Unfortunately, even before his arrival, he was already thrown into the midst of danger. Luckily, he didn''t only manage toe out on top in the end, he also gained a hopefully incredible treasure! He flipped his hand over, watching as the slowly waning, the strange grotesque heart appeared in his palm. Attached to it a strange-looking blood-red mineral ore, vaguely resembling a crystal could be seen. Though shaped differently, Aiden recognized it to be a sort of recement of what should be the Power Core of the creatures dotting thendscape all over Eora. The organ that still held some tiny residue of the lingering vitality of its previous owner was monstrous, to say the least. Ignoring the fact that it sported at least twice the size of what should be normal for a human of that size, it had various protrusions, bundles of meat, a muscle that formed smaller blister-looking mounds all over the surface. Adding to that the strange mineral that seemed to be fused together with the backside and still retained a faint hollow dark glow, Aiden couldn''t help but frown with a rising disgust as he slowly raised his palm closer to his face. Even its stench was putrid, causing Aiden''s initial rising interest to rapidly decline with each passing second as he gazed at the hulking abomination''s most important organ. Still, he was determined. He needed some answers, he knew nothing about his sudden assants, nor about that mysterious masked master of theirs. Why did they target him? Did they have any connection? Aiden did not recognize the masked master. Even his guess that he was most likely a male, somewhat over his forties, and that he held some amount of understanding and achievement in ritualistic magic to be able to alter and corrupt it so proficiently without being seen. Who could he be? Also, what were these strange creatures? How did they transform at all? Aiden''s frown deepened into a scowl as he raised the organ closer and gave a decisive whiff over it. The horrid, putrid, rotting smell was uncanny, not resembling a recently deceased stench at all. Though he wasn''t an expert, Aiden was fairly certain that unless the corpse was dead for at least for several weeks, he should have met with something much calmer His stomach was protesting, sending stimuli to his brain to puke and not let Aiden to consume something so foul. Still, knowing this was his only way towards getting his answers, Aiden steeled his resolve. ''I can do it. I can do it. I can do it.'' He repeated his mental mantra, giving himself the confidence boost he needed. ''[You can do it? I gotta say Aiden That is just horrible]'' Enya''s queasy voice resounded in his mind, not helping his situation at all. ''Be silent, wisp! Master is trying his best!'' Ryg''s childish tone resounded inside him next, standing at his side rather than on Enya''s. She then turned her attention towards the concentrating boy, giving him a few words of appraise of her own. ''You can do it, Master! I believe in you! Even if that thing looks like that it was fished out from a long reanimated corpse and that it probably has the vilest smell that one can imagine, I am sure you can swallow it!'' She giggled, muttering a few extra words mostly to herself. ''Thank the High Heavens that I have no sense of smell or taste as a spirit!'' Unfortunately for her, Aiden and Enya caught it as well. They could only look at her with a cold, ticked-off expression. Heaving a heavy sigh, Aiden took a few extra moments to calm himself, and push his emotions and dismay down. Yes, the organ was beyond horrible, more than disgusting. Yet, it potentially held the answers he was looking for. Through the memories of that horrid-looking monster, he could hopefully gain some answers to the predicament he has fallen into. Also, the energy boost these organs usually gave, could prove to be vital There was no other way but forward No matter how hard it was ''I can do it'' He repeated his mantra onest time. Then, as if not giving himself any time to protest, he hurriedly pushed the organ and with it, the artificial crystal into his mouth. Quickly, as he felt another wave of protest forming inside his belly, he chew it into smaller chunks and gobbled them down. As the vile organ was broken into its foundation of essences, it merged together with his body even before reaching its destination. Instantly, a sharp prating pain overwhelmed Aiden, causing him to fall down on his back and twitch on the ground. His expression revealed a look of terror, his golden eyes turned ck, as a dark mist clouded it In the next moment, he felt as if his consciousness was ripped away and was tossed into a bottomless chasm. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 518 - 518 - An Elaborate Trap (AN: Let me start by saying sorry for the weird update scheduletely. I would rather not go into details for now, but believe me, when I say, I''m dealing with some things and I''m trying my best to get everything out of the way.) His body listlessly fell down as Aiden''s consciousness was suddenly and so violently ripped away. Like a small cave, the inner walls of the tree supported his unconscious self, keeping himfortably situated whilst his mind wandered somewhere else. Feeling a powerful force sucking away everything, Aiden felt as if he have fallen into a giant whirlpool in the midst of a raging storm on the sea. He was helpless, feeling more like a rag doll than anything else as his spiritual body was flung from side to side. Worse that he had no idea what was happening. Normally when he absolves the precious organ of a humanoid creature, he would go through a much gentler experience. Flicks, snippets or sometimes undecipherable memory fragments would y out in front of him as he was forced to watch through the life of the being he just absorbed. Yet whatever was happening was unlike what he had ever had the pleasure to go through. He was clueless, powerless to even do something. He was falling through a dark hole, a chasm without seemingly anynd in sight. He could feel the power of the invisible force that forcefully tugged him along this mysterious journey. Eventually, his descent was put to a stop as the dark chasm turned, forming a horizontal tunnel. Though it was still devoid of any light, the feeling of not falling deeper into the unknown was the only sensation that assisted the bewildered boy. Even though he was shocked at first, he wasn''t scared and with time he slowly collected his thoughts and calmed his nerves. Whatever this thing was, it was something that was probably put into as a sort of safety measure. ''Whoever is that Master, it knows more about me than I would have thought Just who is he?'' He muttered inwardly. If anything, the whole experience revealed a crucial detail to Aiden: That Master somehow knew important secrets that he never shared with anyone. He wasn''t sure if he was aware of his true origins, or the truth about his race, but at the very least he was aware of the memories he would gain through the consumption of these organs. Eventually, the speed, the pace of his journey began to dwindle, only toe to a slow halt once he arrived at what seemed like the same dark void, the empty darkness as before. Still, Aiden could feel it was different. The dimensions for one, were much wider, making this area, not a tunnel or a chasm but somewhat simr to a giant room, or probably closer to a hall, a sanctum. Being yanked out of his body, Aiden was only present in a mere spiritual form, an entity without any solid form. A floating blurry spirit without any clear form to look at. If looking at him from the outside, he was more like a floating bottomless torso, a hazy humanoid outline that if matched with the physical form, would vaguely match his lean shape. Thanks to his system, even without any ess to his senses, his situation wasn''t entirely hopeless. The system continuously generated a map for him, even if he was in some sort of strange sub-world, or an artificial realm created by some mad sorcerer, he at least had a primitive outline of his trek towards this space. Feeling no presence nearby, nor feeling any attempt at making contact, Aiden was left alone in the empty void. There were no memories, or visions of the deceased ying around anywhere, it was as if he was thrown into a dark pit, hoping he would lose his sanity and crumble down eventually. It was a nasty, borate trap set by someone powerful, twisting its minions into something horrific without any disregard to their life at all. Aiden frowned as he now understood that those creatures were abominations in the truest sense of the word. There was nothing normal, natural about them any more. Even if they were once humans, individuals, with their own lives at their hand, goals they wanted to fulfill and heights to surpass that were all taken away from them. They were nothing but empty shells, soulless husks, controlled by whatever dark, twisted magic was in there. Still, there was one thing that Aiden couldn''t understand till now. There were not one, but two entities living inside those husks when he checked with the system. First he thought that one is the person itself while the other was something else, but now he wasn''t sure. ''Just what are those six? Even better who is that masked master? What did he want with me?'' He asked the questions, though there was no one to answer him. Shaking himself, Aiden forcefully turned his attention back to the situation at hand. There was no time to wallow in self-pity and misery orment on the events. He needed to first understand where he was, try to find out how he got to this ce and then, make a n to return. To escape from this ce whatever it truly was. Taking a calming sigh, Aiden first collected himself, rposing his demeanor before he sent out waves surging with his energy. Traversing the distance with vast, immense speeds, the ripples reached further and further with each passing second, sending whatever information they could unveil back to the system, who diligently worked to map the area he was in. Focusing on the map, Aiden was startled when a familiar voice suddenly reached out to him. ''[What in the hell did you find yourself in now Aiden?!]'' Enya''s berating tone shocked the boy, who suddenly jumped and asked. ''Wha- Whe- How?!'' He stuttered, unable to form a normal question. Still, having shared ess to him, Enya knew what he was inquiring about. Her soft giggle echoed around their empty dark space. ''[Aiden oh Aiden]'' She sighed theatrically, pausing for a moment for further effect before resuming ''[Have you forgotten that I am forever bound to your soul? Wherever you go, even if just in your spiritual]'' She paused for a second, as she took a once-over at his hazy, blurry floating silhouette, humming with an appreciative tone. ''[form I gotta say, I wasn''t expecting you to be capable of even reaching this stage and more like you would like me in my current state. You are more and more surprising, Aiden.]'' Then, before Aiden would have had a chance to react to the sudden attack from his guide, the little ball of light appeared in front of him, as it began to swoop from left to right checking their immediate surroundings. ''[This is going to be a problem]'' --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 519 - 519 - How Deep The Rabbit Hole Goes? ''[This is going to be a problem]'' She suddenly eximed with a dismaying tone. ''What do you mean? Do you know where we are?'' Aiden asked, picking up the strange undertone in Enya''s sigh. ''[Well, this here is what is called a Mind Construct. Aiden, you are facing someone incredibly powerful]'' Enya sighed as she returned in front of the boy. Seeing the confusion in his face, she exined further. ''[Think of it like some sort of trap, a jail cell created to catch and hold consciousnesses of others.]'' Noticing the still bedazzled look on the boy''s face, Enya could only sigh in frustration once again, and try exining again. ''[Look Stop fidgeting around, and focus on yourself. You can still feel the faint connection with the outside world right? Can you feel your body?]'' She asked, with a slightly agitated tone. Taking a moment, Aiden followed his guide''s instructions, stopping the so-far fruitless attempt at researching the limits of this space, and rather focus on the vague feeling of the slight warmth inside him. A momentter, he eximed with a wondrous surprise in his tone. ''Y-yes! I can feel it Can I leave this ce and return to my body then? Why is this happening anyway?'' Feeling the outside world, sprung his excitement instantly. The sourness of his mood vanished almost instantly as the faint light of hope resurfaced. ''[Hmmm That''s good then.]'' Instead of answering, Enya hummed thoughtfully. In the next instant, her ball of light sprung into action once again, flying around the boy''s soul whilst also reaching out and checking the surroundings every now and then. Aiden could only look with a puzzled, confused look on his face, unable toprehend what was happening at all. From the moment he decided to take in the strange mutated heart, to his soul being yeeted out of his body and thrown into a strange metaphysical realm, Aiden waspletely lost at what was going on anymore. Was he in a trap, did he make a mistake or not? If he retained some sort of connection if he could feel the path towards the back, didn''t that mean that he was free to leave, by following it back and eventually reaching his body once again? Yet, there was a feeling inside him A sort of rising interest, an attraction, a curiosity to unveil the secrets of this ce. To hopefully uncover the identity of this artificial ne''s creator and the reasoning behind his actions. Also, another thought came to his mind, that he just couldn''t push down. What if, that all six of those monsters were still somewhat conscious? What if the second presence, the strange undecipherable, enigmatic entities that each six had inside them was actually their original consciousnesses? What if they were trapped in this ce as well, unable to escape and could only watch helplessly as a demonic entity was toying with their bodies? Sensing his thoughts, the little ball of light suddenly stopped in front of Aiden. Her giggles reverberated their surroundings as he erupted into a charming chuckle in the next moment. After a while, she slowly calmed herself and began to speak. ''[Yes, Aiden Your insight is incredibly sharp. You are right on point. The existence of this Construct is what you think.]'' She spoke, whooshing around excitedly once more before she halted in front of Aiden and resumed. ''[What happened to you, was probably wasn''t a deliberate trap. From what I can make out, this ce was created to trap in those other six individuals and it was never meant to contain something as powerful and unique as yours Just the fact that you can still feel the connection with your body further proves supports this conjecture.]'' She floated closer, halting just in front of Aiden''s face as she continued with a cheerful tone. ''[If you so wish so, just as you thought, focusing on this connection you can freely go back and leave this ce.]'' She then flew behind Aiden, as if looking at the route he was forced to take just a short while ago. She hummed with a thoughtful tone before continuing. ''[However, if you leave now, you would miss out on some interesting secrets For example This!]'' Her little ball suddenly erupted with even more light, causing sparkles to fly off from her surface and fall to the dark ground that so far they did not even notice. As soon as the light particles connected with the ground, the ground beneath them lit up, illuminating six distinct slithering small pathways. Each glowed with a different color and went to a distinct, unique direction, separate from the other. At the same time, an archway also lit up towards the direction behind Aiden, further confirming and solidifying the idea that he could freely return whenever he wanted. Still, he didn''t move at all, his attention was instead on the six colorful dotted lines, the routes that each led seemingly towards the darkness. From the number and the words of his guide, he could easily connect two and two together and make the obvious assumptions. ''So These paths They lead to?'' ''[Yes, each path will take you to one of the trapped souls inside this ce. If you wish to learn what happened to them, and possibly uncover the mystery behind this predicament, you should follow each of them one by one.]'' Enya then flew towards the first route, the one donning a light-toned, vibrant neon green color. It was to his direct right leading straight to the distance until it eventually merged with the ovepping domain of the void. ''[This is the path that is connected to the organ you merged with yourself. IF you wish to find out more, if you want to explore, you should start with this one.]'' Following her, Aiden flew towards the beginning of the neon green path. He looked ahead, following the direction it lead him towards. He wasn''t sure what to think anymore, everything that was happening was just way too oundish, way too weird. A ce created by someone so powerful that it could hold the souls of others and force them to stay? Still, if this were the case, his worries about the Mysterious Master knowing more about him was eased significantly. Though it was still obvious that this unknown person, this master had some beef with him and was aiming to capture him, at least he didn''t hold information that should normally not be avable to him. The words of his father lingered in his mind. He was from a race that should not be known by the residents of this era. Yet, he should keep the truth about his origins hidden, lest the gods that conspired back then would notice and then bring unthinkable problems, disaster upon him. Aiden shook his head once again as he regained his rity. He turned his attention towards the neon-green-lit path ahead, and without wasting any more time, he began to follow it. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 520 - 520 - Camping Minutes passed in silence on top of the barren teau, yet the group did not leave the ce of their arrival. Instead, they made the uniformed decision to set up their first campsite here and make this elevated ground their temporary base. Besides the strategic value of holding such grounds in a world where every step could spill yourst, it was also the ce the portal appeared. Even though they now all realized that the missing young master, Aiden was also in this ce somewhere far away, Lily and the rest of the girls did not want to leave. Hoping that perhaps the young master''s separation may have been due to a mistake on the organizers'' part, the girls clung to the hope that they would allow the boy to traverse the [Gateway] again and be reunited with them. Though the chances were minuscule at best, the girls in the adventurer''s side were desperate and pleaded for at least a few days of wait before setting out. During that time, they didn''t need to waste the dayspletely, as they were seemingly ced in the midst of a vast wastnd. Barren dreadful dark orange sand covered the ground for all directions their eyes could take them. What surprised Captain Don, the temporary leader of theirbined group was that not just the young maidens from the adventurers but even some of his own team, most of the women agreed on the notion to wait for the handsome little youngster. The bashful gazes of their mature eyes were a shocking sight for the captain, he was baffled at their reactions. Even Krone, the most indignant and wild, unfettered of them all, seemed to have made a 180 shift in his attitude. Like thedies, he too wanted to stay and wait at least a few days in hopes of their young leader to arrive to rejoin them. Thus, under such opposition, even if Captain Don would have wanted to set out and venture in some direction, he could not. In the end, he sighed, revealed a wry look on his aged face, and agreed with the groups'' proposition. Hearing his agreement, the group jolted in excitement, quickly sprung into action in the next moment. Even without the need ofmands from their Cap, the team hurriedly set up their campsite, making sure to keep the area where the portal should appear clear of any obstruction. Not even a quarter of an hourter, several tents were pitched under the stress of the powerful sun. Yet, none were resting, several three and four-manned groups were formed, ready to set up to a chosen direction and explore the grounds under this brutal daylight heat. "You guys will go towards that way!" Standing in front of a trio that had 2dies of his Silver Howl mercenaries and that brutish, blonde muscle-bound woman strapped in what seemed like some thin straps of animal fur, barely covering her delicates pointed towards the south. "Make sure to not stray too far and that you will get back before nightfall! We have no idea what dangers does this ce holds, so before anything make sure you are careful!" He instructed, his face revealing hints of concern and worry. Though he had barely had anything to do with these adventurers, he knew they were an honest, and good bunch of kids. Together with their mysterious leader, he already held a certain sense of care towards them. Though their first introduction was strained at best, he held no malice or ill-will towards these boys and girls and was already starting to think of them as part of his own group. The threedies revealed a simr-looking mischievous grin over their faces as they hummed and nodded at the captain''s fatherly tone, causing Don to stretch a strained, bittersweet smile over his face. It seems the trio had a simr mindset, and knowing the nature of those two devilish girls, Don could only hold his head and sigh in defeat. He already knew that this trio will be the cause of a lot of headaches in the uing days. "Don''t worry cap, we will not stray too far!" One of the girls, a ck-haired girl assured amidst her wide grinning expression. She looked at her two partners, and as if they already understood each other without the use of words, the other two also nodded at the elder. "Kate and you two, Ang for the love of gods, try to behave!" Don sighed, shaking his head, already knowing his words wouldn''t reach them at all. Then as if he was about to dismiss them, realizing that they now had a third partner, he added. "Also, don''t make this young Naybeah fall down with you! She is not like you two, little devils!" As if hearing their father praising them, the girls only giggled mischievously, before turning towards the appointed direction and setting out. Their chuckles could be heard for quite a while even as their figures were gradually distancing as they reached further and further towards the horizon. Looking at their receding silhouettes, Captain Don could only heave a long, heavy sigh and shake his head with aplicated smile stretched across his face. He knew that he would be up to for some stressful moments as the girls will surely im that new joiner in their ranks Eventually, almost everyone in the camp had grouped up, forming teams of three and sometimes four, and set out towards a director appointed by their captain. In the end, only Don, and Krone were left guarding the ce, all the rest were away. The duo was standing at the edge of their imed teau, looking towards the northwest where the young miss, the sister of the missing Young Master imed his current location would be. "Cap, what do you think, is that brat really okay alone?" Breaking the ensuing silence first, Krone asked with a heavy tone. "I" Don hesitated, not sure what to answer. Still, after a moment, recalling what he had seen from the boy so far, he shook his head as a thin smile slightly curved the edges of his lips. "I think he is. That girl and his friend that Galina seems to have some weird connection with him. Though we are not sure of what extent this thing stretches, I am sure that they would know if that boy would be in danger." Don sighed, as he added. "Besides, even if he was in danger, what could we do from here? We have no idea how far he actually is, or even know of how to get closer to his location." Krone furrowed his brows as he listened to his captain''s words. He wanted to refute, but as he slowly scanned the distance, he could only sigh no matter how unwilling he was inside his heart, he couldn''t do a thing. They were in an alien world, filled with dangers. Apart from the rest of the groups of the other pirs, they were told that countless threatsid hidden in the dark --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 521 - 521 - Not Giving Up As the group was busy exploring their immediate surroundings and slowly set up a n in motion whilst they were waiting for their missing leader, the person in question was in an entirely different ne currently. His body, as if sleeping wereying inside the base of the wide oakwood tree, whilst his soul that was spirited away was following a trail of neon green lit dotted path in what seemed to be a sub-world created by a powerful sorcerer. With no sense of time, Aiden wasn''t sure how much time could have passed as he did nothing but diligently follow the trail set up in front of him. What originally was an arduously long straight path, eventually took a curve towards the left leading further and further into a vast space of this overbearing emptiness that surrounded them. Even though he was merely a spirit, strangely the weariness of this strange journey began to strain his transparent body. The white ball of light, Enya who was traveling at his side, noticed his growing fatigue. Flying forward, she appeared in front of the boy speaking in her warm, gentle tone. ''[Aiden, it is okay if you are exhausted. The many events that have transpired so far today have made its mark on your weary soul.]'' Aiden, however, shook his head at her words. Even though he was failing the growing strain in his soul, he wasn''t ready to give up yet. He wanted to at least reach the end of this first path. He wanted to at least gain a bit of insight into the inner workings of this new enemy that appeared. If this being was truly capable of such feats and create a full world just to trap some souls and then subsequently use their bodies as empty husks to house some otherworldly demons inside them Aiden couldn''t afford the leisure of rest. Though he was fairly certain that if here to go all out, he would most likely gain the upper hand and could defeat these hideous abominations, he wasn''t alone. He had a family that he wanted to protect. He had friends, he had people he cared for. Worse, he dreaded the thought that what if this sorcerer would somehow find his hidden world, and somehow open a portal to Haven? What if he would forcefully subjugate and torture his people just to satisfy his cruel desires? Even if that ne, that world had a hidden powerhouse in his master, Number 3 had his own problems to deal with. Anyways, he vowed a peaceful existence, far from the ugliness of this world for his residents, he would not allow anyone, ANYONE to threaten that promise. ''No, I can''t. Not yet.'' He muttered inwardly, responding to Enya''s worried tone as he shook his head and kept slowly trailing the route. ''[Aiden]'' Enya sighed, seeing his adamant, obstinate expression. ''[If you are worried that you will not be able to return to this ne then you shouldn''t. Since you absorbed the heart, the system will be able to assist you in returning to this ce for as long as the owner wouldn''t make any changes.]'' She tried reassuring the boy, hoping that he would give up and go back to take the long-needed rest for the day and maybe try again tomorrow. Unfortunately, her words didn''t seem to reach the young man, he ignored her suggestion and followed the path set out in front of him. There was nothing that could deter him from reaching his goal. Aiden was determined to reach the end and would not return until he would find something anything. Eventually, the so-far endless-looking slithering path showed a change in the scenery. In the distance, as it reached an abrupt end, the outline of what seemed like a cave appeared in front of the peculiar duo. The outline was, unlike the dark, ebony void, had a dark greyish, outline. Its rough, natural-looking edges felt as if it was a painting stered on a wall, rather than a subsection of this empty realm. Even more mysterious, a faint, flickering hollow pale globe of light could be seen at the far right corner, hovering just slightly above the dark grey solid ground. Arriving in front of the cave entrance, Aiden could feel the air resonate in front of him. Ayer of film, a barrier thin as a hair''s breadth stood before him separating the two worlds. Though it didn''t seem anything powerful, Aiden could feel the massive current of energy that surged inside this opaque barrier. Even though his spiritual self didn''t have any visible facial muscles and was more of an outline, a glowing silhouette of what vaguely resembling his frame, in reality, he was frowning as he took his time inspecting the barrier. His reserves were dwindling, he felt the wear and tear of today''s struggles. He slowly raised his arms and reached out to gently touch the surface of this thick solidified energy raised just in front of him. As his fingers reached its surface, he could feel the solid barrier, a thick resistance against his gentle push. He was surprised as most of the time, a barrier wasn''t as solid as this, but more like a thicker, more converged gaseous-like substance that if nothing else he could slightly submerge into before he would be pushed back. Yet, now, what he felt was simr as if he was touching a solid wall, ss, or mirror. He couldn''t push in even for a bit, making his illusionary frown grow even deeper than before. He wasn''t sure that if he had enough power remaining inside him to ovee this hurdle, or even if he would be able to, he would be able to retain his form and connection or if he would be forcefully ejected back into his body. He gazed fiercely at the cave, focusing on the small formless ball at the furthest corner. Though they did not make any contact, Aiden was fairly certain, that was the trapped soul, the lingering consciousness of the person he was set to meet. Yet, now that he got here when he finally reached his destination, would he be forced to take a step back and leave without a chance? Would everything he did so far be in vain? The answer is no. Aiden wasn''t ready to give up. Not until he tried everything he could. So what if he were to fail on his first attempt? At worse, he would be forced to take a couple of days of rest. Though his body wasn''t entirely hidden, he was fairly certain that those mindless beasts wouldn''t find it. At least not for the immediate future. Aiden growled as he made his decision. His body slowly began to flicker, shifting into a golden glimmering shine as he gathered thest remaining bits of his energy --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 522 - 522 - Cornered Like a lightbulb that was at the end of its lifespan, Aiden''s ghostly visage flickered. The familiar golden glory that could be said to be one of his defining traits appeared every now and then even if for just a fleeting instant only before it died down and returned his outlook to that pale, semi-transparent dim gray outlook. ''This will not be enough'' Aiden gritted his teeth, remarking the sad truth inwardly. To maintain the connection as a way to return, the system had a constant cost of upkeep. Sadly, this made him to be almostpletely drained by the time he arrived at this spot, leaving him with no choice but to give up for the time being. Yet, Aiden was unwilling. After so much effort, going through such an ordeal, he found an opportunity, he could see the flickering remnant of a human soul trapped inside the other side of this wall, floating powerlessly just a bit above the cold cavern ground. Still, he was just too short, too weak, too drained to ovee thisst hurdle and get the answers he was so greedily thirsting for. Thus even though he knew he had far from enough power, he wasn''t ready to give up and return. With gritted teeth that would be unseen due to the hazy visage he currently was, he began to gather the veryst bits of his remaining energy. The golden light continued its flickering, first the boy''s entire body was bathed with the grand glory, but as time passed, a flow became visible. The tip of his right arm, where his hand should be became the center of this sea. Hungry for energy, it was like a whirlpool, sucking in all the substance it could take on. The golden shine soon dimmed, converging towards this new central point, Aiden''s right fist. Yet, this was far from enough. The whirlpool, or more so Aiden, continued its gathering even as the golden light was almostpletely sucked away. As the ghastly shine of Aiden''s soul began to flicker, the so far, silent ball of light, Enya stepped out and rushed in front of the boy. With a worried, concerned and agitated tone she hurriedly called out. ''[Stop! What are you doing, Aiden!]'' She eximed, adding a bit of anger and irritation as she spoke her next words. ''[Are you really this stupid, this immature? You are willing to consume your very life force for something that you could achieve after some rest? Is this how you fulfill your father''s and most importantly m- your mother''s sacrifice?!]'' She stumbled, almost spilling something she shouldn''t have. Luckily she managed to fix her speech before the system''s retribution came to reinforce the set rules. Suddenly, Aiden''s body trembled as his guide''s words reached him. Almost instantly all the gathered and umted energy in his brightly glowing golden, semi-transparent fist vanished, dissipated, gradually returning to their original states. All the previous draconic pride that contaminated his thoughts was gone. The thought of his mother and his father brought back the much-needed rity that seemed to be slipped by Aiden as he was ovee with the day''s events and sumbed to the mindset of his most powerful, most dominant inherited form. His floating figure stumbled as it took several steps back. He was speechless as his body kept shivering. As the realization of what he had almost done have seeped into his mind, he felt a surge of emotions tormenting him. Shame, Regret, Sadness Sorrow He gazed at the cave for several minutes in deep silence as his thoughts returned to the visions, memories he gained through the first trial. Eventually, he sighed and muttered a question, though his sight didn''t leave the ball of light at the other side of the barrier. ''Can we really return to this ce without wasting too much of my energy?'' ''[Yes. You just need to focus on this exact spot when the next time you will activate the Gate and you will appear in this spot.]'' Enya''s response came almost instantly, her tone was much warmer than just a short while ago. Though inside she was still agitated and worried about the state of Aiden. This exaggerated reaction shouldn''t have happened. It seems that the constant struggles, the emotional stress he was under have started to break the mental walls he had. It seems that in order not to sumb to the constant duress, he will need to speed up the pace of his training. ''I see. Okay, then, let''s go.'' Aiden nodded as he listened to his guide''s confirmation. His tone was cold as he spoke. Without waiting for anything else, his silhouette suddenly vanished from its spot. Using the connection he had retained through the help of the system, he instantly left this sub-world, returning his tired and weary soul into his body. With him, the ball of light of Enya also left the spot, submerging back into the Aiden Soul Space. As her figure appeared once again, she could only shake herself with mixed,plicated emotions swelling inside her. She knew that what was needed to be done She could feel IT''s presence, even if it was faint as soon as they entered this realm. Yet, she wasn''t sure if it was the right choice, or if Aiden would be willing to do what was needed She could only sigh, hoping that everything would ultimately be fine His consciousness, his soul returning to his empty husk in the same abrupt and violent manner just like as it was tugged away, Aiden''s eyes suddenly snapped open. His lips parted as he greedily gasped for air to fill his empty lungs. Loud, fervent coughs followed hisrge gulps, he felt as if he just emerged from being forced to stay underwater for an extended period of time. He felt weak, the first time in his life, he felt as if he was helpless, just a fragile creature, an insignificant speckle of sand in the vast and endless universe. He couldn''t utilize any of his powers, his energy was almostpletely drained What he needed was a long andforting rest before anything else. As he nced over his system''s interface to check his surroundings on the map, he couldn''t help but frown with displeasure. He could clearly see the five red, hostile dots on the map as they slowly, but surely closed in and got closer and closer to his current position. It seemed that although they didn''t know where to find him yet, it was only a matter of time and with his current state, he would be powerless to resist them The drowsiness he felt didn''t help his case either, feeling so drained, he couldn''t even force himself to think about his next course of action, but only watch helplessly as the red dots slowly got closer and closer to his position --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 523 - 523 - Exploring The Surroundings "There''s nothing that way, but more of this scorching heat! What are you hoping to find anyway?" Sara eximed with frustration. For thest hour or so, she was paired with the royal siblings, Scarlet and Drake, and was exploring the area roughly towards the southwest of their temporary base camp. She felt tired and utterly disgusted about herself. Her clothes were drenched with sweat, which to a young and delicatedy like herself was anything but eptable. Though she was sure that Scarlet shared her feelings, the brother and sister duo was acting strangely. For one, Drake seemed to be filled with determination, as if he already knew all the little corners and secrets of his surroundings were marching straight, further and further beyond what they agreed to cover. Scarlet, though tired herself as well, wasn''t like the Young Noble-blooded Examinerdy, despite her royalty, or most likely because of it, she spent most of her teenage life sleeping in filth and drudge. Though she already left that life behind, she could grit her teeth and endure for the sake of her brother. Yet, even she didn''t know what has gotten into Drake. His gaze was fixed towards the distance, like a predator who have already honed in on his prey. Everything and everyone around him was locked out, the only thing that mattered was whatever they were steadily marching towards. Roughly for thest hour, the girls no matter how much they tried to reach out to the silver-haired prince, no matter how theyined or argued, could do nothing but follow the young man. Eventually, they mostly epted the fact that unless they reach the destination Drake was honing onto, there would be no chance to snap him out of his trance. ''Well Aiden could probably think of something'' Sara sighed, thinking about their missing leader once more. ''Wonder what those two are doing. They seemed to be adamant in going towards the northeast, the direction they felt him be at currently'' Gritting her teeth with frustration, she grumbled more as she smeared some more of the sand onto her sweat-covered, glistening forehead and hasten her steps to close the growing distance between her and the siblings. Under the scorching, blistering sun, a strange group could be seen marching steadily forward, seemingly ignorant of the threats of the desert. A group of four, two angelic girls, no, Maiden Beauties, were keeping a steady constant pace as they marched towards the north, northeast direction. Closely following them, tworge-bodied dogs with short, dark furs were walking along whilst happily panting. Their clearly defined, robust muscles made it obvious they were vastly more than just decorative little breathing toys. "I don''t think, we can make contact with him, big sis." The girl on the right, with long ck hair and a milky white, supple, healthy skin suddenly stopped his steps, gazing at a particr direction in the horizon. Her mouth turned into a pouting circr shape as she remarked with her thin, furrowed, frowning eyebrows. Hearing her remark, the other girl also paused his steps. Her light blue eyes scanned towards the same direction as her ''sister''. She flicked her golden, blond long silky hair to the back as she responded with a heavier sigh. "Yeah I am aware." Then, as if recalling something, she clenched her small fists and shook his head. "Still I need to try it at least. I want to know if he is really fine." The ck-haired girl, Galina, took a step forward as she looked at the little girl. She felt her heart reach out in pain as she saw the tears swelling at the corners of her big sister''s eyes. She reached out, gently tapped, and caressed the blonde-haired, half-elven girl''s shoulder as she spoke with a familial warmth in her tone, giving a remark as well as a reassurance to the girl she now looked up to truly as an older member of their new family. "No, Lily. You are wrong. You will not try, or to be more precise, WE will not try. We WILL make contact and talk to him. If he knows what''s good for him he WILL respond to our call!" She said, pushing some of the words to give them a bit more weight. She looked at the blonde girl, donning the best smile she could under the heavy exhaustion she was feeling from withstanding the constant attacks of this zing sun. As their eyes met, she raised the edges of her lips even higher, forming small crescents with her eyes. Listening to her, Lilly gradually managed to calm the agitated storm in her heart and reign in her nervousness ever so slightly. Gently, she reached out for Galina''s caressing hand, gave a light squeeze, as she looked back at her and shed a strained smile. "Y-yes" She gave Galina a nod before she shifted her focus back on the distant horizon once more. "He better respond to our call, lest he wants a big beating from his sisters!" She harrumphed, squeezing her sister''s hand again. "Let''s go, we should at least reach a bit further to give ourselves more chance. Then we will follow what you suggested." Lilly said as she resumed her steps and slowly began to walk away. Galina didn''t speak anything more, but just smiled at her big sister, and whilst gently patting the heads of the two hounds that guarded their sides, she followed after the blonde girl. Eventually, they reached what seemed to be the edges of this strange, and empty desert. Some sparse vegetation slowly began to mix in to the yellow lifeless sand, turning it gradually darker as they trekked further and further from their temporary base. Though they had more stamina to venture further, they did not want to go against the orders of their current leader, Captain Don, right at the start. Thus, though slightly unwilling, they stopped, taking their well-earned rest next to arge cluster of rocks. They bot sat on top of arge-bodied light gray rock and took a bit of time to recoup the lost air and stamina. After a minute or so, Lilly spoke up fixating her attention on the direction they felt their brother was in. "So are you ready to do this, little sis?" She asked. Giving it onest sigh to rpose herself, Lily slowly closed her eyes and, as she was instructed, concentrated on the mysterious connection she shared with her beloved brother. Her lips parted slightly, as she muttered something under her breath. Though it wasn''t truly audible, Galina was well aware of the name she kept repeating. After all, it was a name, well carved into her heart. It was the name of her Young Lord, her Master her beloved. Without wasting any more time, she joined her sister, focusing on opening up the connection and reaching out to Aiden --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 524 - 524 - Young Master In Trouble As he slowly regained the motoric controls of his body, Aiden kept monitoring the situation around him through the System''s map. Five distinct red blips were visible on his map, slowly, but surely converging around his location from all directions. From their path, it seemed that though they had some rough idea where he could be, they weren''t certain as they weren''t following a straight line, but instead looked around at every nook and cranny along the way. Frowning, Aiden tried to move but soon found that even this small motion proved to be much harder than before. With such a strain exerted on his body and soul just a while ago, every muscle in his body was strained. His stamina and energy werepletely exhausted, he was barely conscious at this point, much less being capable of any strenuous physical activity. At most, Aiden could watch helplessly, as, for the first time in his life, he truly was the little rabbit in the hunt and was powerless against his predators. Still, he didn''t want to go down or be captured without doing everything he can. He knew he still had his divinity and its umted Faith that, -in theory-, he could use if pushes to shove. The only problem with that was, that he had no control over it. These powers, he could only control through the system and in Haven. At thest time, it showcased itself outside of that safe ne, it was only for a brief moment and he wasn''t even fully aware of it. He wasn''t sure how, but he felt that whenever he lost his control through an emotion, like anger, rage the shackles chaining down his core strength would be temporarily lifted, allowing his true essence to flow inside him freely. Was that truly they, though? Even if that was the case, it wasn''t like Aiden could artificially anger himself over the threshold! ''Fear, maybe then?'' He thought inwardly, as a secondary option, an alternative emotion to utilize. However, he quickly shook his head, he wasn''t afraid, nor could he think he would ever be capable. His draconic mindset would never let him refer to himself as anything but the top of the food chain! Aiden sighed, realizing that he was truly hopeless. He was going to be captured by these abominable puppets and brought in front of that strange masked master, whoever he or she may be. Though he had no idea what beef he had with that stranger, he could feel the overflowing hatred through these five remaining minions of his or hers. Suddenly, the breaking of twigs alerted Aiden''s attention back to the System''s map once more, making him turn wide-eyed with the sudden change that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Suddenly countless amounts of orange-colored dots appeared all over the map around him, seemingly spawning in the dozens from the southern edges, just outside the current frame he could monitor. The new army of dots seemed to be a roughly organized bunch, moving in thick groups separating in 5 directions, each group clearly aiming towards one of the abominations that were hunting for him. In the end, only 3 orange blips on the map to set out directly towards his location. Noticing this strange shift Aiden could only frown, unsure of what to make of this sudden change. Were they the ''locals''? Wasn''t this realm supposed to be deserted? If so, who were these new forces? Their numbers were way too numerous to be rted to any of the pirs. If not them, then who were they? Were they friendlies? Or a new force that they have to be wary of? Questions after questions emerged in Aiden''s mind instantly as he followed the trio steadily approach his position. He could only hope that they would be willing to shed some light to this newfound mystery. As for if they were hostile or not? Well currently he could only hope that it would be thetter In the next instant, a ferocious roar suddenly broke the eerie silence of the dead jungle. Soon, followed by the sounds of metals colliding with ws could be heard, only for the same to be repeated exactly five times around him. Startled, Aiden snapped his attention towards the west. Squinting his eyes, he could only make out a thin cloud of dust in the distance. The shroud of battle, no doubt. He then shifted his gaze, ignoring the approaching trio for the moment, and shifted his gaze over the 5 focal points where the parties now were merged together in a battle of life and death. Countless orange blips faded and vanished from the minimap whilst the five ferocious demons kept on ughtering them in a desperate bout for survival. Ultimately their resistance was futile, as the seemingly limitless supply of these enigmatic natives had gradually overwhelmed them. As they were clearly not afraid of death, it was only a matter of time when the five fierce, mutant predators will be brought down. After a brief moment, Aiden shook his head and shifted his attention back in front of him after he noticed that the iing trio just crossed the nearby tree and was about to emerge from the bushes. Unfortunately, as the danger had seemingly passed, and he knew that his assants would no longer bother with him, the adrenaline that kept him active has also slowly left his body, making the drowsiness quickly ovee him. His eyelids became heavy, his vision turned blurry and his figure swayed around. Three dark silhouettes appeared in the distance, though he couldn''t bother focusing on them anymore. His mind, his consciousness was slipping away, no matter how hard he tried to resist inwardly. He could only see the rough silhouettes as they got closer and closer before he finally fall back, and sumbed to his exhaustion. Just before he lost his futile struggle, he could feel a faint buzz inside his soul, as if a connection was just about to be made. Before he could react or answer, however, everything turned dark and Aiden''s head plopped back to the inner walls of the tree he was still sitting in. "Hmmm This is weird" Galina frowned, opening his eyes and furrowing his brows, looking troubled all so suddenly. Turning her head to the right, she looked at Lilly. "Did you feel it also?" "Yeah" Lilly muttered, her gaze looking sternly in the northeastern direction. It was as if she was actually trying to find something on the horizon, something that could somewhat resemble the person upying all his thoughts and heart currently. The reason for all her worries, and calm the raging storm of emotions in her maiden heart. "Young Master might be in trouble. Something serious must have happened for him to suddenly lose contact I can''t sense him at all" Galina muttered, clenching her fists in worry --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 525 - 525 - Worried Little Sisters "Argh What happened" A groan escaped from over the corner of a dark underground small chamber. Slowly as the resident''s consciousness returned to his body, the figure''s eyelids began to flutter and slowly peel apart, revealing a set of golden irises glowing in the lightless room. "Wh- Where am I?" The figure muttered, mostly to himself as he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position and began to look around. He wasn''t scared, he calmly began to assess his surroundings both with his senses and by sending out invisible pulses of energy. ncing over the map as it was slowly built up, he couldn''t help but frown at the image that was disyed. ''What is this? Some cave maybe?'' He pondered as the image of a long, slithering, maze-like tunnel system was slowly being drawn up. ''No This is too expansive to be inside a hill'' He looked up, squinting his eyes he nced at the ceiling above him, seeing as it was the same texture as the walls and the ground, his frown retaining on his face with the newfound thought. ''Underground?'' He grumbled with annoyance as he came to this realization. Shifting his attention up from the System''s interface, he looked towards the only exit from his current amodation. A grated, metal door barred his path. Even without testing it, he was fairly certain that it was locked. Noticing that in his immediate vicinity there were no life signs present, he sighed, recalling his sent-out energy and turning his attention towards his system interface once more. "I''m still pretty weak. Just as I feel it, my condition is at 20%, with my [Soul Power] tanked at 300 I need to rest some more, though I will meditate instead." He muttered under his breath, closing his eyes in the next moment and exhaling arge gasp of used-up air. As he inhaled in the next intake, he made sure to regte his breathing ording to the Meditation he was taught by his master, Number 3, and slowly entered into the [Enlightened State] once more. His body slowly glowed with a faint, golden luster as the center of his soul turned into a metaphorical whirlpool, greedily sucking in the essences lingering in the air around him. Though he wasn''t sure what happened, or if how much time might have passed, he wasn''t too bothered. Through the connection they shared, he could feel that his two beloved little girls were fine, albeit seemingly in an agitated state. Though he could have made contact, he first wanted to be ready before those that brought him to this ce woulde back for him After all, the system disyed them with the rarely seen orange color, meaning they weren''t enemies yet, but they weren''t entirely neutral in their stance with him either As Aiden kept meditating, he was unaware that the sword-like marking on his chest, Ryg''s icon was also glowing, slowly shing with its own light as it joined in the cultivation session with his master. *Meanwhile, some time ago back at the southern parts of the ''Battlegrounds''* "What should we do now? Should we just leave the team and go towards brother?" After a bit of silence, Lily asked, blurting out the question weighing down her sorrowful heart. Although she wanted nothing more than to do what her big sister was suggesting, Galina ultimately shook her head. "No, we shouldn''t. He wouldn''t want that. We have others that care about him just like we do, Lily. We can''t just leave them. Besides" Galina turned around, looking in the direction of their temporary camp. "we don''t know what dangers are out there. Young Master was very far away, we could be walking for days, maybe for weeks without reaching him We need the full team''s help if we want to get to his position." Lily frowned at the words of her newly epted little sister. Though she was aware that she was right, Lily couldn''t ept the thought of her beloved brother being in danger. He needed help, he needed her, them! How could she possibly stay put then?! "N-no. We need to W-we need to" Lily mumbled, wanting to argue, but realized that she couldn''t find the right words to contend with Galina. She was right, after all, the rest of their team, their friends were also worried about the state of her brother. It would be unfair leaving them in the dark and ditching them. Also, the mercenaries that they were joined with, weren''t that bad either. On the contrary, there were several girls that they have started befriending already. In the end, she sighed defeatedly, and could only nod with a bitter look on her face. Galina as she looked at her sweet big sister, couldn''t help but reveal a warm smile as she walked closer and gently hugged her. "Don''t worry big sister. I know what you are worried about, but you shouldn''t. I will tell you a secret. Though we have lost connection, I know that he is alright. Even if I can''t exin to you how I know this, but please rest assured that your brother is still alive." *Sniff* *Sniff* "mfouf mfofvefh" Little muttered with a muffled sniffing tone as her face was pushed into the bosom of her little sis. "Sorry, I didn''t catch it sis?" Galina asked peeling the blond, tinum head free from her clutches. Looking up, with a pouting look on her face, Lily took a breath as she repeated her words from before. "I said, Our brother. Not mine. We have already told you to stop calling him ''Young Master''" Hearing her words, Galina suddenly burst into a cheery giggle. Her bell-likeughter caused Lily''s agitated heart to slowly calm down as well. Though she didn''t join in, a small, barely perceptible smile slowly began to showcase itself at the edges of her lips. "Y-yes, I''m sorry big sis. It''s just a habit that I find hard to ovee." She said, amidst her chuckles. A whileter, as she finally calmed down, she turned towards the camp once again. "Anyway We have spent enough time. I think it''s time we report back to the captain and listen to the others." "Uhm." Lily nodded, her gaze still looking slightly empty as she stole nces behind them, towards the distance to the northeast. "You know, big sis" Noticing her gaze, Galina smiled warmly, as she offered. "once we get back, we should somehow think of a way to convince the team to focus on that direction instead of setting up our camp here" "Huh?" Her words, though at first went past by her, it perked her ears towards the middle. "Yes!" Lily propped up with newfound vigor as she processed Galina''s words. Immediately, she turned around and began to pull her. "Come, we need to get back and tell Captain Don that we need to go there!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 526 - 526 - Planning "So, let me get this straight" The old man sighed as he listened through thest scouting party''s tale and request. As soon as he noticed their return and the sparkle in the blond little girl''s eyes he already knew that he was in for some headache. As he listened to their report about some great ''treasure'' they found shining through the distance to the northeast, he couldn''t even think of how to respond. Don was massaging his temples as he listened to the girls. "Yes!" Lily replied enthusiastically. "We should set out as soon as possible, and march towards the northeast. After all, our goal is to collect treasures, right? We can''t waste time in this empty desert all the time!" "But it was you and your team that was adamant in staying for a few days, lest the boy, Aiden would arrivete." As Don was trying to fight the aching, his aide, the Crone eximed with a frustrated face. His arms were thrown up in the air, he couldn''t understand what made the two girls most worried about the young man change so much. Just listening to their oundish and -as well as childish- tale, it was obvious that it was just a lie they made up along their short survey of the area. Though it was a far-fetched story they imed, which he and the captain found pretty hard to ept, it was also clear there was something incredibly important towards the direction they wanted to set out. So important in fact that they were willing to leave the boy behind? ''No, there must be something else'' Crone denied that thought almost instantly. The boy was like their family, their brother. Somewhat simr to how they looked up to their Captain in the Corps. Could they leave their Captain behind if there were some treasureying in the distance? The answer was simple: No. Even if it were a godly item, a Divine Artifact even, he was certain that no one in the corps would be willing to trade it for their Captain''s safety. This notion, this connection, he was certain was the same for these youngsters as well. Still, if that was the case, there had to be something else in y here Crone was thinking, pondering hard, yet, he couldn''t find an eptable answer in the end. The only thought he had was even more oundish, so much more bizarre, in fact, that he couldn''t even voice it. "Be honest girls" Captain Don''s tired sigh broke Crone''s thought process and brought him back to reality. He turned to look at his cap, as he spoke whilst rubbing the creases on his forehead. "What are you looking to find in that area?" Don asked, taking a little pause to measure the girl''s reactions. After a moment, he continued. "It''s him, isn''t it? The boy is somewhere to the far north, northeast?" Seeing how Lily''s face twitched at his words, he smiled, finally heaving a sigh as he untangled their childish exims. "Sigh There''s no need to lie girls. I am already old, I know there are times when it''s best not to pry into other''s secrets. Are you guys certain that he is here, in this world with us and even more, somewhere in that direction? "He said pointing towards the horizon, where the girls came from. Taking a moment to process the captain''s words, eventually, the girls gathered their courage and hesitantly nodded whilst fiddling with their fingers. "Y-yes" Lily muttered, Galina, keeping silent, averting her gaze to the ground. Though she seemed shy as well, in reality, she was pretty upied at the moment, she was talking, exining to her brothers the situation through their shared mental connection. ''Are you sure you are okay, little Galina? Just let us know, and once the Young Master gets back, we will get to you!'' Gob cried in a worried voice. If he could, he would have rushed to her aid the moment they felt her worry. Unfortunately, without the Young Master, they were still unable to traverse to and fro from Haven. Only the Young Master could conjure the [Gateway] that they could traverse. Although, in theory, the other one in the ziggurat may be capable of creating the same, as she was their master''s master She was still behind closed doors and would not ept any guests. Whatever she was doing in there, they were prohibited to visit her. "Don''t worry, I am fine. Besides" Galina spoke with a soft giggle, contrary to her worried state and shy, embarrassed look on the outside. "Your ugly mug would scare the others, they would think you are some sort of monster and beat you!" "Y-you cheeky little" Gob was taken aback by her sister''s words, unable toe up with any response. "Okay, okay calm down you two" Their teacher and elder''s soothing, deep voice resounded in the channel in the next moment, calming the two firecrackers. "Galina, are you sure you and the young master are fine out there? What happened to him, do you know? Why did he suddenly fall unconscious?" He asked out, though trying to sound calm and collected, a hint of worry could still be heard in the back of his tone. "W-well" Galina sighed, hesitating on how she should begin exining everything that happened. In the end, she decided to be honest and not hold back anything. "So" Though she took a long time exining, on the outside barely a minute have passed, the two girls were still listening to the Captain about the next ns. "I understand that you are all worried about him. But from what we have seen, he is more than capable of protecting himself. No matter what sort of trouble hends in, I''m fairly certain that young master would find a way through." The old man said, with a growing,passionate smile slowly stretching across his gruff face. "Still we are not a family that would leave one of its own in the mirky swamp." Captain added after a moment enjoying the growing worry in the two girls'' expressions. "Let''s settle down for the night and rest. Before we rush forward blindly, let''s use tomorrow to explore the situation a bit more around us and then set out the next day. Does that seem okay? I know you are worried, but we still shouldn''t run headfirst into the unknown. Who knows what sort of trouble lurks around us?" He exined, turning his eyes towards the rest of the still empty camp, and added. "After all, the others still haven''t returned, we still have no idea what is actually out there." Just as he said those words, the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Turning towards the direction he was shocked by what greeted their sight. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 527 - 527 - Going Over The Limit Looking in the direction where the noise came from, Captain Don, Crone, and the girls as well looked with shock and horror at the blood-drenched woman that pushed its clearly tired, wrecked body to its limits to get back to his captain. Her attire was mangled, ripped, and shredded apart, with a mixture of different types of blood oozing from her orifices as well as her horrific gashes. Even from just a single, quick nce, it was obvious that she had suffered through some incredibly tortuous, horrific ordeal. "C-cap W-we T-they" She heaved, stumbling in front of the group gathered in front of therge tent before falling face-first onto the ground. Before she could finish whatever she was about to say, she sumbed to her strenuous injuries and fainted. Shocked by what happened, the elder Captain jumped ahead and rushed over to the unconscious body of the girl. His face showing great pain, he was also pushing himself to show the strong front that would be expected of a leader. Still, seeing one of his girls in such a dire state, the ''old clock'' was hard for him to keep calm and restrained. Worried about the girl''s health, Don frantically looked around, in search of the medic in the team, only to realize that he was still out and have yet to return. Yet before his worry could transform into hysteria, the ck-haired girl of the duo that he was just talking to akin to a father would to her mischievous children, stepped forward and leaned down at the opposite side of the girl. She stretched out her hands, palms facing down at the back of the girl, and began to mutter some iprehensible-sounding, gibberish, shreds of words. Along the line of her chanting, her palms, just like her eyes slowly began to emit a warm, milk-white shade of light. The warmth radiated downwards as rhythmic waves, submerging into the body of the poor blood-drenched woman. Looking at the marvelous sight, Captain Don was first taken aback and wanted to interrupt, but then as he felt theforting raysing from the girl, he finally recalled the scene back at the training grounds of the mansion. He remembered how the girl had this inexplicable miraculous powers that seemed to be capable of restoring even the grievest of damages in the span of what was mere minutes that for them felt like hours at the time. He pulled his hands back, cracked his knuckles nervously as he looked at the little girl who have by now, shifted into full focus, losing her senses as her chants went on. The warmth, bright white rays kept on entering the woman who was sprawled out on her back, ignoring the shredded, bloodstained attire she was still wearing. Her injuries were grave, she was barely clinging to her life. Even the fact that she somehow returned was akin to a miracle. Driven by her willpower to at least report back, she somehow pushed herself over what should have been the limit. In the end, she couldn''t escape the reality, and as soon as her heart eased by the sight of her captain, her consciousness sumbed to the continuous pain. The trio, the two men, and Lily looked at the scene with worry. For Crone and Captain Don, it was as if they were looking at their dear family member, a sister, a daughter as if she had just been pulled out from the wreckage of a gruesome disaster, a horrific ident. For Lily, she was just as equally worried, not just for the girl, Aina but also for her sister, Galina. She was aware of how hard the toll was on her every time she tried to bring someone back from such injuries. Contrary to general belief, there were no miracles or ''free food'' in this world. Everything had a cost, a trade-off. For Galina, though her powers were still as much of a mystery, she could see the strain, the exhaustion she withstood after each session. Though Lily wasn''tpletely aware of what the actual trade-off was, the growing weariness, the fatigue she kept building up, wasn''t a good sign. Unable to hold herself back, she walked over, taking the girl''s side as she crouched down at her right side. Not wanting to disrupt her focus, but also unable to just stand and do nothing, Lily reached, gently touching the back of the concentrating girl, and gently began to rub it, whilst she began circting her mana ording to the mantra for the [Meditation] she was taught by Number 3. As her reserves began to flow inside her body, Lily focused, concentrated its flow towards her hand. As her hand began to glow with a faint colorless hue, she kept massaging her sister''s back, allowing the energy to revitalize her, even if just slightly. Her action was spontaneous, she wasn''tpletely sure that what she nned would work at all. Regardless, she at least wanted to try. Even if she would only be able to help ever so slightly, and transfer only a minuscule amount, it was still eptable, she would still be ultimately helpful. Galina suddenly felt a familiar warmth enter her body and converse towards her core. Soon, as the first strands of the unknown source of power entered her core, she realized what it was. It was mana, someone else''s mana! Though she needed her full attention to keep on her chant, she could faintly feel a slender hand caress her from behind. A gentle curve colored the edges of her lips as she recognized it to be Lily''s. Even though she was aware that the conversion rate of mana to [Soul Power] wasn''t one-to-one, she didn''t mind it a bit. This blonde girl, this ''Big Sister'' as she demanded to be called was doing her absolute best to assist her, to keep this poor soul alive! How could she then give anything, but her hundred percent in return?! Knowing all of this, she pushed herself even further, activating and channeling all of her reserves into her chanting, pooling everything into healing the girl and bringing her back from the brink of death. Besides not knowing what could have happened to her, she couldn''t allow her effort to be in vain in the end. She needed to be saved! Meanwhile, as the situation was dire over at the camp as the group tried to bring the poor girl back to the living, some distance to the south of them, two figures were facing off at each other. One was a tall and brusk woman. She was heavily panting, her chest was heaving violently as she tried to stand, and not falter. She gripped the handle of her humongous war ax nervously. Blood covered, with countless gushes, wounds, and what looked like w marks covering her body, it was clear that she was on herst stand. Still, she refused to give in, she couldn''t fail again. Not just for the poor girl lying behind her, barely clinging to life, but also for the boy, her chosen mate that she has yet to find and bring back to her queen! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 528 - 528 - Natural Reaction "Aaaargh! I don''t care anymore! I will never give in to a monster!" Howling a ferocious roar towards the sky, the bloodied and battered amazon raised her battle-ax above her head onest time, and with all her remaining strength gathered, she lounged at the dark bristled creature with a borderline crazed, fearless look donning her face. The opponent that literally wrecked their group, was a strange being, something akin to an amalgamation of lesser, lower-ranked creatures. It had a thick, dark bristle, hardened needle-like fur covering most of its body. Despite that, it walked on its hind legs, like any humanoid, or evolved being would. It had two pairs of frontal limbs, arms, so-to-say, its four hands ending with five-five fingers on each hand, each looking terrifying with the thick ebony ws that protruded from the tip of its twenty fingers. It had a slightly elongated face, with its nose stretching slightly to the front, somewhat simr to a hound, or a wolf, though its small, four pairs of bead-like eyes showed simrities to a hedgehog, despite the spider-like abundance of them. Continuing with the simrities, it had a pair of sharp, long wolf-like ears on top of its head, raised and standing at attention as if they were a pair of long-range naval radars. Strangely, it had no tail of any kind, despite all of the simrities it shared with a wide variety of creatures. The strange creature snarled at the blood-drenched amazon, showing signs of a terrifying fact: it was intelligent. A sneer could be seen as it looked at its prey, scoffing audibly as it noticed the woman''s obstinate refusal to ept the cruel reality: She was nothing more than helpless prey. Under such an obvious, cruel and harsh reality how does this primitive furless weakling dare to still fight back? Could it be, that it wasn''t intelligent enough to realize what should have been obvious? Could it be that this pointless resistance was etched into their very nature? The creature couldn''tpletely understand its opponent''s pointless action, it found no logic in it. Could it be, that they were one of those fabled lesser beings that once ruled the surface centuries ago? The mythical Bareskins that their elders were telling stories about? No, it shouldn''t be the case, the Bareskins have long since vanished from the realm. Some were killed by those disgusting worm-worshippers, some eaten by those fearsome guardians, some escaped through by relying on their primitive knowledge in the arcane arts. There were no Bareskin tribes, or any stragglers walking on and below the surface for centuries, and this was a fact. Still, if that were the case, what were these beings? Where did theye from? What do they want? The creature couldn''te to any conclusion in the short amount of time it had. The glinting head of the ax was sailing through the air with a frightening speed, this insolent, stubborn bipedal female was determined to go through with this annoying ploy and try her best. Well it had to admit, that if nothing else, the female had the heart of a warrior, and that was something he shouldn''t make fun of. Even if her brain was notpletely there, he was brave and fearless. Stupid, but fearless. Itzily raised its upper right arm as the de entered its melee range, using its bare wed hand to grab the sharp edge of the ax and put a stop to its advance. The action was sudden and despite the fact that there were no visible strains on the creature''s facial expressions, meaning it didn''t even exert much of its power, the attack waspletely stopped, the head of the ax seemingly stuck in the hands of this strange, anomalous entity. Though she was rather worn and torn through the long-stretched battle, Naybeah was shocked to see how effortlessly her full-powered attack was thwarted without causing any sort of wound whatsoever. Even though she knew that this creature was way stronger than her, even if she was aware that she stood no chance in defeating it, she couldn''t give in. She needed to stand her ground, for as long as she could. For as long as that little girl, Aina would get back to the camp and ask for help Naybeah gritted her teeth in frustration, for the second time during their sh with the creature she allowed her rage to flow freely in her body. She let it ovee her senses, to take over control. Unlike thest time she used her special ability, this time, she didn''t want to retain any control or hold anymore. There was no point, the only creature standing was something she did want to see torn to pieces. She could finally let go of herself and use everything she had left in her to try her best. As the metaphorical red curtain descended and took over the blonde amazon''s senses, the look on her face, gradually turned more and more feral. Her eyes were bloodshot, the marble-colored sclera was like a vermilion sea where a lonesome dark brown ind drifted at the center. The veins all over her body swelled, as they were forced to pump her blood with more and more ferocity. Suddenly the wind blew next to the girl, transforming into a small whirlwind as an invisible, cold aura surrounded the tall woman. The aura of an Asura, a heartless, fearless machine, that knew nothing but carnage. As the [Berserker''s Wrath] were fully activated for the first time since, only she herself knew for how long, the one standing in front of the monstrous creature was no longer the Naybeah the others knew. No, this being was someone else now. SomeTHING else. The creature was actually startled as it noticed the sudden changes happening to the furless female. It was actually surprised that despite its condition and waning stamina, she still had such hidden reserves, such cards to pull out still. As it felt her power rising steadily, and the cold air stung the tip of its nose, it began to grow slightly concerned. Though it felt that it still held the upper hand, the distance between their strength was gradually decreasing Even worse, that strange aura awoke a strange, unfamiliar emotion, a feeling of dread inside its heart. It could feel as its legs slowly began to tremble and shake at the sight of its opponent. It felt as its bristles were standing at attention, hardening and turning into sharp ufortable needles, which just shocked the creature even further. After all, that was the natural reaction of its kind against predators. An instinctual response, their body''s defense mechanism It could understand itpletely, as none of this made sense. Was it actually scared, despite knowing that it should still be the stronger between themselves?! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 529 - 529 - Surprising Outcome As the weird, and pressing standstill continued, the creature found it increasingly harder to retain its calm. He had to forcefully regain control of his body, otherwise, it would shiver and tremble at the sight of this woman, which it just couldn''t ept. How could it be afraid? How could a weakling, a furless Bareskin, or whatever it actually was, induce such a natural, instinctual reaction from its body? Unless it was those monstrous, horrifying worm-worshipper''s high priests or their chieftains, none should have the audacity to provoke something like this out of its kin! They were the top of this world''s food chain, besides those old monsters living deep underground, itself and its kin were the apex predators, the top entities of this ne! Reminding itself, it turned its head to look at the still groaning female. The creature sneered as it looked at the weapon still stuck inside its wed upper-right hand. The weak tugs and pulls have long since died down. Deciding to take it a step further, it suddenly sprung to action and grabbed the top of the weapon''s handle with its lower right hand, and relying on the surprise, the unexpected nature of its attack, it exerted some of its strength and suddenly pulled on the woman''s war axe. Even though the woman''s strength was still rising, climbing, and reaching new heights, the creature thought that it still had the situation under control. Even if she were stronger and more powerful than before, this sudden action would catch her unprepared and she wouldn''t be able to reinforce her grip in time, thus losing her only weapon to the very opponent it was trying to ovee. Then, by using the female''s own armament, it would defeat her. Though it was a cruel n, the creature actually enjoyed it immensely. The irony of it all ah, it was so incredible! Unfortunately, such dreams, such ns would rarelye to turn out the way it would be expected. As it exerted some of its strength, the creature was shocked that it was unable to pry it free from the woman''s hands. No, unlike what should have happened, the weapon didn''t even budge an inch, it was as if it was stuck in some rock. Its sneer faded, turning into a frown as a terrible thought emerged in its mind, it slowly raised its head to look at the holder herself. A snicker, a simr disdainful sneer met its eyes as it looked at the Bareskin. "You trying something, mutt?" She spoke some words, that the creature could not understand, though, from the tone, it was obvious that she was taunting its previous oppressor! She actually had the audacity, she thought of herself as now having the upper hand and wanted to repay everything she suffered under its hands! The thought, the ignorance, the annoying sneer of the Bareskin irked the creature. Its frown returned, only to transform back to the previous angry, animalistic growling snarl as it grabbed the upper half of the handle with the bottom left of its hand, leaving only the upper pair of its arms free. As it was still holding against the sharpened edge of the head of the axe in its upper right hand, only its upper left was free and unattended. As it felt that despite the increase in its grip and doubling the exerted force still resulted in no gain from its side, the creature was quickly losing its temper in the bubbling, rising anger. It raised its upper left hand in the air above its head. Forming a wed motion, it didn''t hesitate much as it aimed at the female''s arms that held against the weapon and struck down, hoping to slice those pesky limbs to at least a couple, distinct pieces. Though she noticed the attack, Naybeah seemingly ignored it, and instead pooled more of her strength and began to pull the weapon towards herself. She gradually increased the might she exerted, hoping topletely and convincingly overwhelm this monster before slicing its head off. Yet, just like the creature''s previous attempt, she was also unsessful, as their strength seemed to match the other. The weapon remained stuck in the 3 arms of the bristle-furred creature, neither side could pry it out of the opponent''s arms. Knowing that because of her unsessful attempt, the creature''s ws would hit its intended mark, Naybeah did what best she could: She tensed the muscles in her arms to increase the resistance against the iing piercing blow and gritted her teeth to withstand the searing, sharp pain that would sure to hit her nerves upon impact. She closed her eyes, not wishing to bore witness to the gruesome result, and instead gradually unveil the horrifying reality: her mutted remains of what was once her arms. Just as she closed her eyes, her ears picked up a whistling noiseing from behind and swooshing by her in the next instant. The sound of a sharp object piercing into something softer could be hearding next. Suddenly the resistance on the axe vanished, just as she opened her eyes, the abrupt removal of the creature''s hold caused her to falter back and fall down on the ground. The shock and surprise caused her overwhelmed rage to quickly subside, the effects of the [Berserker''s Wrath] vanished almost instantly, leaving her in a heaving, barely conscious state. With great difficulty, she raised her head to look at the blurry, hazy but still, the familiar outline of a feminine shape that walked over to her. Before shepletely sumbed the overwhelming exhaustion that she could feel all over her body, thest thing she felt was a sudden surge of warmth that felt so soothing, allowing her mind to descend to aforting sleep as it sailed towards the dreand Arrow after arrow was fired with rapid session each hitting its mark with frightening precision. In the span that was at most 2 seconds, all four limbs of the creature were pierced, each wed hand now held an arrow. Each projectile was fired by such terrifying aim each hand losing its motion in an instant as the nervous clusters were torn to pieces by the sudden assant. The creature wailed in pain, letting go of the weapon instantly, and jumping back to open some distance between itself, and the sudden intruders. Yet before it had the chance to turn towards the neers, two dark shadows lunged at it from both sides. A predatory growl was all it heard before it was forced down on the ground. A set of sharp teeth etched into the side of its neck, ready to snap it into pieces, whilst the other were pulling its right shoulder, making the creaturepletely defenseless almost instantly. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 530 - 530 - Everyone’s Worried "Just what in the Gods'' name is this thing?!" A loud bellowing cry reverberated in the area. No matter how Crone looked at it, he couldn''t recognize what the thing that was now shackled in chains and dragged back to the camp should actually be. It was more like an abominable entity, a mixture of many others that they recognized. As he looked at it, he could see, wolf-like features here and there, then again it had an extra set of limbs and a much harsher, stronger bristles as fur. Then again, its facial structure, its ears again resembled a wolf, a warg, or maybe their evolved version, the bipedal worgen. Yet, it had this nightmare-inducing 8 bead-like dark eyes, that were uncharacteristic of anything he could think of. Also, unlike those that he thought of before, this monster had no tail at all. It wasn''t tucked away, pulled back or sliced, or even torn off at all. No, this creature hadn''t had any. Unable to name this entity in front of him, Crone turned to look at the Captain behind him, looking over as Galina attended to the still unconscious trio of Aina, her sister Eina and Naybeah. Looking at the three women still lying motionlessly on the ground, anger once again rose inside Crone. He clenched his right hand, forming a fist, then as he suddenly turned back he used all the momentum and inertia, to throw a punch at the chained captive with all his might. *Crack!* The sound of bones cracking was heard as his fist made contact with the creature''s head. Yet, it wasn''t the creature that cried out in pain, but it was Crone''s frustration and pain-filled cry that filled the camp and gathered the attention of everyone that meanwhile returned from the scouting expeditions. "Aaaaargh This godsd*mn filthy" He cursed in a fit of rage. The creature''s skull was much thicker and sturdier than what that could give in to such a measly show of force. Though the creature felt a slight numbing pain at the side of his head, it wasn''t unbearable, he sneered disdainfully at the Bareskin male in front of him. ''Pathetic weakling If not for those two'' The creature nced over with aplex gaze at the two war hounds, Sam and Biggy who were leisurely resting at the blonde archer female''s sides, before sighing andmenting further. '' If not for those two, you all would be lying in your own disgusting, red pool of blood, buried under your own intestines BASTARDS!'' The creature howled and raged in its mind, showing the same reaction as the warrior female before. It was unwilling to ept the harshness of reality. It found the fact that it was defeated so quickly, so easily it was a great blow to his ego, this result was totally uneptable. Still, it wasn''t totally consumed by resentment and by the burning mes of its emotions. It knew that it had to keep a low profile, lest those terrifying four-legged beasts would tear its body to shreds. So, although it was burning with anger and rage inside, it did its best to keep it down and not to show anything on the outside. Although, it couldn''t help itself to reveal a disdainful snicker as it heard and felt the Bareskin''s male''s hand crack. It was a victory, albeit a small but the only one that it has been awarded since its capture. Galina groaned in pain as shepleted yet another chant, and used more and more of its remaining strength to at the very least stabilize the three girls under her care. Another thin,nky man was crouched beside her, attending to the others. He was called Derick, and he was the Silver Howl mercenary group''s assigned doctor-sh-nurse-sh-medic. He was a one-man army in the team when it came to first aid. He, unlike Galina or the priests under the service of the various gods ruling over Eora, was not trained in any of the holy or arcane arts. No, he was a schr, a person with real knowledge rted to first aid, and health. He also had a deep understanding of the various herbs, their effects, and how to utilize them the best. Derick, unlike the rest of his team, wasn''t too great inbat, his physique wasn''t anything useful in close range. He was usually one of the ranged supporters of the corps, somewhat eptable at handling the crossbows and simr modernized ranged weaponry that did not require any amount of muscle mass to handle. Also, because of his knowledge rted to herbs, he was also the corps sole poison crafter and supplier. Toxins that could paralyze the nervous system, froze, and contort the opponent''s body, causing muscle spasms or just some that induce a deep slumber, caused the target to faint, or look like a deceased, to fake the officials for whatever reason? Whatever the group or the mission needed, he was always there to assist the family. Noticing the heavy beads of sweat gathering on the young girl''s forehead, Derick frowned, before returning his attention to Eina''s battered body. He reached to his side and grabbed the mortar, before pushing the pestle and ground the dark green, thick substance a bit more. Then he pulled the pestle out and ced it over a clean white cloth on the ground and raised the mortar over the girl''s body. He pushed his free, right hand into the thick herbal cream and picked up a walnut-sized amount. Without wasting any of the precious time, he smeared the stuff all over the gushing wounds visible all over the girl''s body. He made sure to cover all the visible area, before picking up the rolled-up clean linen cloth and wrapped it around the wounds. Meanwhile, beside him, Galina was doing everything she could to pour all of her remaining energy into healing up the wounded amazon. She only needed to bring the girl back from the brink of death, just like she did with Aina when she came back, or with the girl behind her, Eina. The rest of the surface wounds would then be handled by Derick, just as he was doing right now. Still, after two arduous back-to-back sessions, Galina was on herst straws. Yet, she felt she needed to do her best, she couldn''t fail now, just as she was attending to her own! Crone fell on his back as he howled and cursed in pain, holding his now-broken right arm with a terrible look on his face. His cries, however, although earned several looks from the rest of the group, didn''t really earn him any real attention. The captain and the others were all worried about the situation with the girls. One particr guy, standing a bit behind the rest, felt the worst --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 531 - 531 - We Need It Alive Drake was leaning against a pole, standing slightly behind the rest. He had a deep frown clouding his face as he looked at the unconscious amazon and Aiden''stest proteg, Galina who was trying her best to stabilize her. He felt horrible, he couldn''t help but feel responsible for everything that happened. With the absence of Aiden, he should be the one to look over and protect their people, yet not even a day had passed and one of their own was sprawled on the ground, and still in a critical state. ''How pathetic am I? How will I exin this to him?!'' He cried inwardly as he looked at the scene in front of him. ''I should have protected them, this should have never happened'' His gaze slowly wandered away from the group and rested on the chained-up creature at the side. He ignored the howling idiot on the ground beside him, his silvery gaze was fixed on the ugly head of the hideous monster. His face slowly contorted, he channeled all the anger he felt towards the creature. He was the one that caused this disaster! This hateful thing, whatever it truly was, should be held responsible! His sword-wielding right hand was already caressing the tip of his gemmed, treasured sword, he could feel the same emotioning from Mort as he kept caressing the gemstoned hilt. ''This beast no. This THING needs to die for what it has done'' His inner darkness surfaced, the only thought that lingered in front of him was to execute this creature to abolish the sins it had so brazenlymitted. Drake grabbed the hilt of his weapon, and with a slow, but steady pace, he began walking towards the chained-up creature. His face contorted into a nasty-looking grin, it wasn''t any mystery of what it was about to do. "Brother, no!" Suddenly a familiar voice entered his ears, shaking his clouded mind. Drake halted his steps for a moment, though he retained his gaze over the creature just a few steps away from him. His right hand was tightly gripping the sheathed de, ready to strike and send the creature to whatever afterlife it believed in. Yet Drake didn''t move, he felt the soft tug, the gentle pull of her sister. He could feel the concern and worry in her voice as she reached out for him. "Brother, no I understand what you feel How you feel you need to do something, how you think are responsible. Even still Don''t kill it. We need to understand what it actually is, where it came from, and most importantly, how many of them are out there." Scarlet tried to argue, bringing up a convincing argument hoping to calm his brother. Unfortunately, her words, didn''t seem to reach the boy, as though he hesitated for a brief moment, in the end, he shrugged his shoulders to pull it away from the girl and resumed his steps the next moment. In the next moment, as he reached a striking distance, Drake stopped right in front of the snarling, fearless-looking creature. Despite feeling the overflowing hatreding from the silver-haired bareskin, regardless of the thick killing intent he radiated, the creature looked at him with a disdainful sneer still dominating its ugly face. Though it couldn''t understand the strangenguage they were using, it could read and understand a lot from the bodynguage, the minuscule reactions, twitches of its captors. It understood, that they wanted to study its clearly much better body, and learn from what it actually was. From the look of the elder of this pathetic bunch of weaklings, it was clear that they wanted to make contact, it was clear that it held more value alive. Thus, it felt that there was no reason to be wary of this enraged little calf, the elders, or as it turned out, the wiser females of the group wouldn''t let it do as it wanted. Its bead-like eyes honed in on the red-haired fragile-looking being, it tried to study it with heightened scrutiny. Was it a witch, a shaman, or something of an elevated position in their hierarchy? The creature wasn''t certain, but from her actions, it seemed that she was important to the others in some manner. Still, it seemed the silver-haired calf, the male youngster was in for some punishment, as despite its superior''s order, it still didn''t give up on his idea and resumed his course of action. Regardless, the creature was still fearless in front of this mad, crazed little youngster. He looked up to him with the same disdainful, arrogant sneer that it gave to all these other primitive outsiders. The look on its face was as if it was saying ''Come one, do it if you dare!'' to the mad prince. Seeing that disgusting look, the wide taunting smirk stered all over the creature''s face, Drake was shivering with anger. Instead of a quick, lightning-fast sh, he decided to punish this sinner of a monster more and slowly unsheathed his sword. Raising it above his head, he looked down at the monster, his arm was quivering with trepidation of the imminent attack. There was a faint trace of reason, a barely audible whisper at the back of Drake''s mind, trying to reach out to him, convince him that whatever he was about to do, may not be what he should be doing. However, in the next instant, the bloody, battered body of Naybeah resurfaced and the weak voice of reason was quickly subdued. Unfazed by what was happening around him, Drake fiercely roared as he struck down with all his might. His aim wasn''t simply to behead the foul beast, but it was a diagonal-angled swipe, hoping to slice at least two of his four arms and the attached shoulder along with it. *CLINK!* Just before his attack could connect, a simple-looking de appeared in its path, blocking and absorbing the blow. The shing of two swords generated a loud sonic shock wave, sending an invisible current of air to traverse to the campsite and alert everyone present. The sudden interruption caused Drake to startle with shock, allowing the cloud of darkness, the hazy fog to release its grip and disperse in the next instant. As if awoken from an alcohol-induced dream, Drake''s look turned groggy and confused. With a visible effort, he turned his head to the side, from whence the de came abruptly and without warning. "Boy, I know you are mad, but we need this creature alive." Captain Don sighed, as he pulled his short sword back and stepped forward, in between the beast and the silver-haired youth. Noticing the snickering look on the beast, he added with a matching disdainful snort, looking directly into the creature''s eyes and freezing its victorious celebration almost instantly. "We need it alive. At least until we get what we need. Then you can have it, I promise." --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 532 - 532 - Thirst For Knowledge Captain Don''s words seemed to have finally done the trick and awoke Drake from his trance. As the haze cleared up and the fog dispersed from his mind, he looked as if he was just awoken from a deep slumber. Listening to the old man''s words, the rity gradually returned to his mind. Hesitantly he nodded at his words, with a nod, he pulled his sword down, and though he kept it unsheathed, it was now lowered, its tip facing the ground. Seeing that the anger, the rage faded from the boy''s look and that his weapon was lowered down, the old man revealed a tired smile, as he did the same and put away his short sword as well. Next to them, Crone who was still down on the ground meanwhile havepletely forgotten his earlier ordeal. The shock of the sudden turn of events made his adrenaline spike, causing him to temporarily ignore the horrible, searing, pulsating painful sensationing from his shattered, right fist. Now, however, as the situation once again calmed down, he was violently jolted back to reality with the sudden return of a surging, searing, sharp torture. With gritted teeth, he reached for his broken right fist with his left hand, gently caressing it and turning his attention back towards the front of the Medical Tent, where Derick and Galina were still busily attending the sprawled-out, unconscious girl''s. Though he wished for some attention for his poor, miserable self, he didn''t utter a single word ofint, and just kept silently enduring by himself whilstmenting his recently made poor choices. With the situation resolved, and noticing that the silver-haired boy would probably not let himself be sumbed to the anger he felt, Captain Don sheathed his sword back into its holster at his right side, as he walked closer to the boy. He put his right hand over his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, then a rub, he spoke with a warmer, friendlier tone. "I understand what you feel boy. Believe me, I do" He said, taking a quick nce towards the side where the three girlsid. He sighed at their sight, as he continued. "Just like Aina and Eina, even Naybeah just like you all are already, even the missing Young Master, are important to me, to us. Though our start earlier today may have not been the most ideal, we are all part of one big family now." Drake didn''t react to the elderly captain''s words, his gaze was fixated on their chained captive instead. He looked at him with a cold, ugly look. His sword-wielding hand was shivering with all the emotion, the dark, hidden desires he was forcefully pushing back down. Even though he wanted nothing more than to strike away and separate that ugly, horrific-looking half-insectoid, half-wolf-like head off from this monster''s body, he did not act. After some time, he finally heaved a heavier sigh, confirming the victory of his mind over his heart. The shivering, trembling of his hand gradually calmed down before Drake finally acted and sheathed his sword back into its bandage-like wrappings at his side. Though the sword was glimmering with a fierce brilliant light and was transmitting its will and intent of wrath, Drake ignored it and put Mort back to its makeshift holster. As he sighed, the Captain''s expression shifted, from the forced, tired-looking wry smile to a more natural curvature, he nodded at the boy. "Good. Remember, not just you, but believe me, that everyone else in the camp would want nothing more than to torture this beast to the cruelest, most painful death possible for what he did." He gave a gentle pat to the boy''s back as he stepped forward, closer to the creature. "Yet, we need to think rationally. If there''s one of these" He paused his speech for a moment as he scrutinized the beast from head to toe. His smiling expression vanished instantly, transforming into a serious, cold outlook as he continued. "well, whatever the hell these things actually are We can be sure there are more of its kind. Seeing how powerful just this single one was, I don''t even want to know what we would do if a full group or gods'' forbid a dozen of them would suddenly emerge from the ground below and ambush us." His face turned solemn at the thought, he leaned closer to the creature''s face, taking his time to slowly digest the horrific, nightmarish sight. The bristly, sharp fur that covered the beast looked to be hard, like small, short needles covered most of the creature''s body, even most of its head albeit much shorter. Only its front, its face was free from them, reced by a much softer, lighter-toned one. If one would not count the insectoid, 4 pairs of bead-like eyes, the creature''s head mostly resembled that of a wolfish origin. It had a pair of sharp, fur-covered ears growing from the upper half of the side of its head, though from a first look it would probably seem as if it were growing from the top of its head as it towered towards the sky. It had an elongated nose and consequently, a shape of a head, with its jaws ced directly below. A single row of razor-sharp teeth could be seen inside its mouth. From the previous encounters, it seemed that the beast was capable of unsping his jawbones and open its mouth unnaturally wide, seemingly capable of swallowing its prey fully if needed. From the look, it seemed that the creature was an omnivore, a natural-born predator. Looking below the strong, wide neck that connected its head to the rest of its body, the creature''s two pairs of arms were situated to the same shoulder socket. Though Don was not a schr, at most an experienced hunter, he could guess that probably had a mutated, much wider scap to be capable of housing, not one, but an additional arm and have it jointed on each side. From the previous encounter, it was clear that all four of the creature''s arms were fully functional, having their own set of nerves, and could be operated on without hindering the other in any way. The creature, despite its size and how one would expect, was dexterous, nimble, and incredibly agile. Adding its brutish explosive strength to the mix, it wasn''t that big of a mystery how could such a monster be a threat to that anyone. As Captain Don was staring at the creature silently, taking his time at scrutinizing it to analyze its most characteristic features, the beast was doing the same. Its 8 dark, beady gemstone eyes were focused on the older-looking bareskin in front of it. Though its taunting, disdainful smirk has long since left its expression, like its oppressors, the creature had a thirst for knowledge, it wanted to understand more of these invading otherworlders deeper. Were they a threat? Were they rted to the ones noted in the legends and myths of their tribe? If so, why did theye back? What do they want? --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 533 - 533 - Attempts A small frown began to crease his brows as Captain Don wrecked his head, trying to think of a way to talk to the beast. Apart from animalistic, predatory howls, roars, and unintelligent snickers the beast hasn''t spoken anything, despite making it clearly obvious it was highly intelligent with a full set of emotions. He was capable of hate, disdain, arrogance. Most likely it could be angered, it could feel rage, but at the same time, it had to be able to feel the opposite ends of the spectrum as well. It should be able to smile, feel happiness, and love. If it could taunt with just a look, it should also be able to smile or look longingly at its mate. Still, there were no attempts atmunication from the creature at all. At first, they thought that it was incapable, butter they dismissed that thought. If that were the case, and it wouldmunicate through a different method, either using some sort of gesture-based system or through a more abstract, psychic method it would have no use of facial expressions. This made Captain Don and the rest of the teame to the conclusion that the beast, for whatever reason, simply refused to speak. Yet without hearing itsnguage, it would be extremely hard to attempt to decipher and attempt anything proactively from their side. With no other choice, they could only try to speak to the creature and hope it could understand them. The thought made Captain Don heave yet another sigh, as he turned to look at the 4 pairs of dark dots sprawled out at the upper part of the creature''s face and speak in a cold, somber tone. "Hey." Captain Don decided on the simplest approach; he throw a curt greeting towards the creature raising his arm in the air to convey the motion just a bit more hoping the creature would understand it. Looking at the creature''s face, he waited for a bit, waiting for some sort of reaction from it before continuing. Seeing as the creature did not react in any way and just kept its creepy gaze over him, Don sighed. "This is going to be much harder than I thought" He muttered under his breath. Looking back at the creature, he pondered for a bit before beginning to slowly speak whilst making sure he articted and gestured every word, every sentence. At first, he slowly introduced themselves, exining that they were from another ne, another world, and havee to this realm with no hostile intentions. Though he made sure to not speak about the truth of the matter, Don instead exined that they were in search of their missing friend who have somehownded alone to the far north, northeast. When the old man, pointed towards the direction where Aiden, the Young Master should probably be, the beast finally had a change of expression. The so-far insipid, stoic, emotionless look changed, transformed into a slight, displeased-looking frown. Its gaze shifted towards the pointed direction for a bit, before as if nothing happened, it returned over to the captain with the previous stone-faced look from before. Still, the small movement it made was still caught by the captain. He wasn''t sure if he did fully understand what he was trying to say, or more than the direction he pointed at was familiar to it. Still, at least there was some reaction finally, which he could start working with. Don pointed back towards the far distance again. Focusing his gaze on the creature, he slowly spoke. "Do you know, what is in that direction, hmm?" He asked, focusing on the twitches, the movements of the creature''s facial muscles, prepared to catch even the slightest twitch. However, this time, there was no reaction from the creature, its eyes didn''t follow the direction the old man was pointing at, its face retained its rigidness. It was as if it either didn''t understand or just simply ignored any further attempt from Captain Don. After some time, Captain Don had to give up for the night. After that momentary slip from it, the creature had no reaction at all. Its 8, dark beady eyes were fixated on the captain, not moving in the slightest. It did not respond to any question, no matter what or how the captain tried to phrase it. In the end, he could only heave a defeated sigh and leave the creature to itself. Captain Don shook his head as he stood up and took a step back. "No matter At the very least, we can be sure you know of the ce where that young man should be Though from your expression he might not be in the safest of ces he could be" He muttered as he turned around and left. Even if he was ultimately unsessful tonight, he was certain eventually he would reach the creature. He could only hope that it would happen sooner rather thanter, as time was not something they had with abundance. Time passed, the darkness of the night eventually descended upon the group. Leaving the creature chained up at the center, apart from those that were on their nightly shift and kept guarding the premises, the rest of the team have returned to their own tents and settled down for the night. Inside thergest tent of them all, the medical tent, Aina, Eina, and Naybeah were now seemed to be in much better shape than before. After all the effort that the seemingly fragile-looking matte, ck-haired little girl, Galina has showcased, all three girls were no longer in critical states. The color of life returned to them, they were merely sleeping over all the wear and tear they suffered through the day. Those many, gushing wounds and w marks were all patched up by Derick. The herbal mixture he created covered up most of their bodies with a thick wrapping of gauze making sure they were kept in ce. Their soft, steady rhythmic breathing was like calming, soothing music to anyone that heard it. Sitting by himself at the still crackling campfire, Captain Don sighed. His eyes were lost in the sight as the orange mes licked the air, he was deep in thought, troubled by the many ordeals of the day. Their first day was nothing short of a disaster after all. One of their group member for some reason didn''te with them and was thrown to another corner of this unknown world all by his lonesome. Though thanks to the mysterious connection the young girls seemed to share with the boy, they knew the general direction the boy was at, in reality, it didn''t help his case that much. Unlike how the organizers, the ''Pirs'' have exined, this world was far from being deserted, but it seemed that it was filled with dangers, unlike anything they have experienced back on Eora. Captain Don sighed wistfully as he pondered about what the best course of action would be. Should he waste more time and energy on this creature and try reaching out? Was there any point? --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 534 - 534 - Unexpected Changes While the residents of the camp slowly sumbed to their daily struggles andid their heads down and rested, far to the northwest of them, somewhere under the ground, in a dimly lit chamber, a special holding cell, a long ck-haired boy sat in a meditative pose, cross-legged. His eyes closed his hands resting over his kneecaps, his mind clear, focusing on the mantra, the teachings of his dear master. He was focused on trying to recoup as much energy in the time he was left alone as he could. With no true understanding of what was going on, where he was, and most importantly, who were his captors, and why did they take him alive, he couldn''t allow himself even a second to rx, to feel at ease. He needed to be ready for when his captors woulde to his jail cell. Aiden didn''t know how much time had passed with such quiet, peace, and calm when suddenly his focus was abruptly put to a halt with several bell-like soundsing from his system, informing him of the arrival of new messages. Surprised by the sudden updates, Aiden''s body trembled as his concentration was utterly broken and his meditation session have ended. His mind swiftly returning to reality, he first took the moment to nce at his current [Soul Power] levels, only to sh a satisfied, contented smile as he saw that he was once again back to full. Though he was still injured, his condition only regenerating to 80% of his maximum, his Soul Power was once again glowering at the dominating 1250 points. Even without the system, just taking a moment to check himself would probably give a simr result. His previously pained-ridden and weary body was now almost back to yesterday''s vigor and on top of that, he no longer felt exhausted, his mind wasn''t like a drudging mass but was bright and brimming, ready for action. Still, unfortunately, he still didn''t earn any points towards breaking through the current level he was stuck at. His [Soul Power] was still at the second level, with a 99.99% Affinity, just 1 point shy from breaking through. Yet, just as the system warned his host back then when he earned the [Meditation] skill, to break through and surpass this current mental block, this seemingly unsurmountable wall, he needed something else, something more. He needed to reach a state ofprehension, a higher level of understanding before anything could happen. As the system said back then in the description of the skill: [Meditation: Active Skill. Gain 1 XP to [Soul Power] for every second spent meditating in the clear, perfect state. Note: Depending on theprehension of the host, reaching this state may take some time. Before that, there is no XP to be generated.] It seemed that despite his diligent work and regr sessions, he still haven''t taken a single step in the right direction. Aiden could only sigh, and made a mental note to visit his Master, now residing in Haven in her very own temple, and ask what he needed to do. That was a task for the future. Now, however, he had some other, more pressing matters to solve. Coming back to his senses, Aiden switched over to the Activity tab in the system, and brought the messages section up. His eyes went wide with shock as the feed appeared in front of his golden gaze. Since he didn''t bother taking a look at this portion of the system before and hasn''t changed or customized anything, all four types of messages were disyed. Though most would have gone silent, there were other ''higher ranked'' messages as well that have finally earned his attention. As he checked over, he could see that the messages were coded in a way that it would be easy to differentiate the most information ''Info'' type grey-colored text from the normal white system news, updates, quests, or the orange warnings and finally the incredibly rare, Critical Red updates. [Info: Your Minion, Galina Vordragon have used the skill [Primal Spellcaster] and have grown] [Info: Your Minion, Galina Vordragon have used the skill [Light Magic] and have grown] [Info: Your Minion, Galina Vordragon have gained 150 XP!] [Info: Your Minion, Galina Vordragon have used the skill [Nature Magic] and have grown] [Info: Your Minion, Galina Vordragon have gained 100 XP!] [Info: Your Minion, Galina Vordragon have used the skill [Light Magic] and have grown] [Info: Your Minion, Galina Vordragon have gained 150 XP!] [Info: Your Minion, Galina Vordragon have used the skill [Nature Magic] and have grown] [Info: Your Minion, Galina Vordragon have gained 100 XP!] . . . . [Info: Your Minion: Galina Vordragon has gained 100 XP!] [Your Minion Galina Vordragon''s understanding of the following skill: [Light Magic] skill have increased. Thus, the skill has reached a new level using up some of the umted XP as a result. The skill has reached Level 4!] [Your Minion Galina Vordragon''s understanding of the following skill: [Nature Magic] skill have increased. Thus, the skill has reached a new level using up some of the umted XP as a result. The skill has reached Level 3!] [Your Minion Galina Vordragon''s understanding of the following skill: [Primal Spellcaster] skill have increased. Thus, the skill has reached a new level using up some of the umted XP as a result. The skill has reached Level 2!] [Warning: Your Minion: Galina Vordragon has grown and umted enough knowledge to a level up. She will now enter a short evolution to assimte all the acquired gains. Expected Remaining Incubation Period: 03 hours 24 minutes 57 seconds] Reading through the long list, Aiden was beyond stunned at what he was reading. What exactly happened with his cheerful little girl to gain so much in the span of just some hours. What danger could they have fallen into? Almost instantly, he focused on their shared mental channel and activated it. As soon as the connection turned live, he reached out with his mind, trying to get a feel of her beloved little girl''s current condition. He didn''t say a word, afraid of breaking her concentration and interrupting her rest. When Aiden felt that other than incredibly exhausted, she was fine and healthy only then could he visibly rx and heave a sigh before he silently closed the channel and returned his focus on the newsfeed once again. ''What did that girl do'' He sighed, quickly navigating through the system interface and bringing up Galina''s status page in the next moment. Just as he opened, another message came that once again earned a shocked, disbelieving expression from the boy. [Minion Details: Name: Galina Vordragon Status: EIP - Evolution In Progress Race: Lesser Primal: Goblin Origin (Tier 3+) (clean) ss: Priest -> ????? Level: 12 -> 13 Condition: 100% Soul Power: 220 -> 240 Mana: 0 Experience: 0 Might: 10 Agility: 8 -> 9 Spirit: 18 -> 20 Skills: Language. Common (Lvl -), Language: Orc (Lvl -), Language: Goblin (Lvl -), Martial Arts (Lvl 1), Mace Mastery (Lvl 2), Magic Proficiency (Lvl -), Light Magic (Lvl 3 -> Lvl 4), Nature Magic (Lvl 2 -> Lvl 3), Dragonlord''s Grace (Lvl 1), Primal Absorb: Basic (Level 1 - Restricted), Silent Casting (Level 1), Primal Spellcaster (Level 1 -> Lvl 2), ????? Effects: Touch of the Primal (Lvl -), Primal Core (Lvl 2), Magic Resistance (Level 2), Devoted Follower (Level -), Primal Kin (Level -)] --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 535 - 535 - Changes And Possibilities Reading through the status update, just before he could take a closer look at the girl''s status screen, the iing message made him tremble with shock. This one, albeit rted to the minion, wasn''t colored in the informative grey, but instead, it was white, meaning it was a regr update requiring his attention. [Your Minion, Galina Vordragon''s recent choices and upgrades have allowed her to upgrade her ss. Her devotion and admiration towards her master have allowed her to evolve her ss from the current [Priest] to [Primal Priestess]. The ss change has earned the aforementioned minion the following updates: - [Soul Power] Increased by 200 Points. - [Skills] : The new skill [Beam of Essence: Light (Level 1)] has been created! Beam of Essence: Light (Level 1): Gaining temporary control over the surrounding light essences, the [Primal Priestess] shots forward a stream of energy, originating from the core of the caster''s body. The beam follows a straight line towards the targeted destination. The concentrated beam of energy, due to being built up with concentrated, active Light Essence''s will induce the effects of the [Swift Regeneration (Level 1)] skill in the target. If it already had a simr skill, it will react with that instead, with a hastened, quicker reaction time. Note: For beings consisting of mostly Dark Energy, the transmitted Light Energy will be highly destructive. -[Effects] : The passive effect [Holy Aura (Level 1) has been created! Holy Aura (Level 1): Gaining higher control and dominance over the Essence of Light, the [Primal Priestess] subconsciously envelops her surroundings with a concentrated aura of light. This energy will passively boost the healing and rejuvenating properties of those caught in its domain, restoring vitality as well as their stamina in the process. Note: It does not have any effect on the soul, thus not actively hastening any sort of spiritual or energy regeneration.] Looking at the list of changes, that looked simr to the updates to the games of his previous, modern world, Aiden didn''t know what to think. Should he be happy for the incredible boons she was rightfully earning? Should he be instead worried as to evolve in such manner must have meant that herst couple of hours was beyond anything he could imagine? What sort of troubles, dangers could she have gone through to end up in this state? Why couldn''t he be with her at the time of her need? Even worse, he had no news from the rest of his friends, his sister, or the joined-up Silver Howl mercenaries at all. Though he could guess from the calm, not disheveled state of her follower that nothing was ultimately lost, Aiden didn''t like being kept in the dark and so far apart from his little family. Thinking about all that happened to him since the start of this pointless event, Aiden felt his heart thump loudly in rage, filling his body with a growing, bubbling sense of anger in the process. He couldn''t help but clench his fists, trying to push the waking beast back down and try to regain himself in the process. The flickering golden lighting from his eyes as he battled with the waking draconic self-created a creepy, eerie sense of lumination in the dark underground cell for quite a while, before he could finally carve out a temporary victory and regain control. Luckily, he managed to keep his power in check lest it would violently unfold and possibly shatter the meager bars blocking his only route towards possible freedom. Yes, even though he was kept in some sort of custody, these meager bars wouldn''t have been able to keep him down if Aiden truly decided that enough was enough and would have decided to leave. For someone that could shred steel armor to pieces with the swipe of his ws, it wouldn''t have taken him much to escape if needed. Yet, Aiden decided to stay at his appointed ce. He wanted to learn more of what was happening, who these mysterious creatures were, and what they have done to his assants. Also, what could have been their reason for capturing him alive and taking him to this strange ce. Still all that would have not have been enough to keep Aiden from venturing out on his own terms. No. He could have then taken his time and explore these maze-like caves on his own terms, take a few of the residents he could find, and absorb them in hopes of meeting somehow intelligent or powerful enough to gain their memories in the process as well. What kept him from acting how he truly wanted was this weird sensation of tingle that he felt in the depths of his core ever since he arrived in this ce. The globe of energy that represented his most dominant, draconic traits were trembling, shaking with excitement ever since Aiden came to his senses. There was something deep down, deep inside that reacted with his Ancient Dragon self. Something either rted to these long-forgotten mythical beings or the race of Dragons in general. Something, or someone. There were some secrets that he now desperately needed to find answers to. Questions he may not be able to explore if he were to act aggressively, no matter how much his entire self was against acting the role of a helpless captive, he needed to in order to hopefully gain the trust of whatever these creatures actually were. Though he was fairly sure that even with his usual modus operandi, Aiden could ultimately pry the information he wanted, the risk of the unknown halted his hand. This strange sense of familiarity, this sensation of looking forward to... to something his mind couldn''t properly process as of yet, made him wary. There were several theories already floating in his mind. Could it be there''s an altar of his ancestors hidden in this exotic world? If so then how? Why? Or maybe, there''s an inheritance of another dragon, something he could absorb and merge together with his core and evolve his Draconic form to a higher level? Though that was just as oundish as the first theory, the possibility of it made Aiden''s body shiver with excitement almost instantly. Just imagining the possibilities? Could he take on the form of those legendary creatures and shift into a more dominating presence? Though he was giddy as a child at the thought of it, there were immediately worrisome questions created and hindering his dreams in his mind. What would happen to his current, human-like appearance then? Would he lose it, or would it change, shift to take on the more dominant traits he had? Would the newly merged enhanced form be stronger than his origin, his Primal self? What would happen in that case? Would he lose his sense of self in the process? What would he turn into? His thoughts were abruptly put to a halt when Aiden suddenly noticed the presence of three creatures approaching his chamber --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 536 - 536 - The Captors Just as Aiden was deep in thought, trying to ponder on his dear little girls, Galina''s situation and reason for growing such an astonishing way, his attention was abruptly snapped back to reality. Due to its constant use, his [Dark Gaze] abilities automatic scanning feature that came from its predecessor''s [Dark Sense] have be second nature to Aiden, he hardly even noticed it as he subconsciously scanned his environment by instinct at this point. So, when suddenly he felt the life forces of three creatures from not too far away and closing in on his current location at a steady, calm pace, he was startled by surprise. A momentter, however, a smirk shed through his face, before he collected himself and disyed his usual calm, friendly outward appearance. Deciding to greet his weingmittee in an ''appropriate'' manner, he pushed himself up from the ground and stood up. With his hands hanging by his sides, he looked casual, not too friendly, but not too stiff either. The light flickered in his draconic golden eyes, giving him a mysterious, dangerous feel to the onlooker. Lit from the braziers ced sparsely along the carved out walls of the underground hall, three elongated shadows like a trio of summits of a vast mountain range could soon be seen at the corner of the barred entrance. The hills continued to grow and reach towards the other, right side of the doorway as the figures kept approaching. Apart from the strangely familiar light pitter-patter noises, they made as the creatures walked, there was no other sound seeping into Aiden''s small chamber. The creatures either didn''t discourse at all, or their means ofmunication differed from what Aiden was used to. In any way, soon, as the three mounds reached and even gone through their destination to reach the edges of the doorway at the right side, a strange, robed, small creature appeared at the hallway, stopping in front of the bars of Aiden''s little temporary abode. The creature was holding a tall carved and illustrated wooden rod, something resembling a staff of some sort. The top of his walking aide, which actually reached slightly above its head resembled that of a roaring head of what Aiden could only call a dragon or a fierce lizard-like predator. Though the robed creature couldn''t be clearly seen, due to the bad lighting conditions provided only by the thin fires of the braziers ced alongside the walls, the tip of a long nose did manage to peak out under the cover of the pulled hood. Still, the mystery of the creature didn''t remain shrouded for long, as in the next moment the two figures, most likely bodyguards appeared, and took their ces at the robed figure''s sides. Just like the leading, central creature, the two were short, probably a bit over a meter in height, sporting a thin, scrawny-looking physique. They were wearing armor, that Aiden just couldn''t figure out from a first nce. The entire sleeveless chest piece they wore to protect the upper half of their bodies was made out of scales. Golden, or maybe bright yellow colored scales. They were, however, much, much bigger in size than the small ones that appeared all over his body whenever he unleashed the full might of his [Dragon''s Wrath] innate. Yet, as Aiden kept looking at it, he couldn''t push the thoughts out of his head. What was it made of? Why does it feel so familiar? Still, there were more pressing questions at the moment, Aiden had to shelve his inquiries forter. Ignoring the rest of the armor that covered almost all of these little skink-like creature''s bodies, his gaze wandered further. Judging from the bare arms of his captors, they were either a subrace of the skinks, simr to Thuk''s tribe or something simr. These bipedal, reptilian-looking small humanoids. Their faces, their bright yellow eyes, their razor-sharp teeth hiding behind those nasty-looking grins of theirs Or even their thick, long tails tapping the ground and kicking of dust with each passing second. Taking his time scrutinizing the armored bodyguards, Aiden returned his attention to the leading figure at the middle. His expression showing a calm, attentive outlook, he shed a warm smile at them as he gave a light, silent nod. Though he didn''t act aloof, or hostile in any manner, he wouldn''t be overly cordial either. After all, so far he didn''t know of their reasons for his capture, even if their actions be it deliberate or not, helped him. Raising his staff from the ground, the robed figure clicked his tongue a couple of times. Its tone and disposition seemed arrogant, resembling someone of high social standing amidst its kin. The phrases, the weird clicking noises it emitted as a way ofmunication did resemble Thuk and his people, making Aiden believe that these creatures were indeed somewhat rted to them. Upon the robed figure''smand, the two guards at the side hurriedly nodded and rushed to the barred gate. An iron key appeared in one of their hands and was used to unlock and open up the way into and out of Aiden''s cell. As the cell door slowly, and loudly creaked open, Aiden noticed an expectant, barely perceivable smirk appeared at the corners of the robed figure''s lips. It was as if the creature was expecting the boy to try and escape. Yet, as Aiden didn''t seem to be bothered at all, and looked back at the creature with the same nonchnt calm as before, the creature couldn''t help himself but scoff with visible displeasure. It shook its head knowing that its n of mischief didn''t y out the way it wanted it to, the robed figure decided to fulfill the duty it was forced on it, no matter how much the creature was against it. Heaving a light, short sigh, the robed figure raised its staff once again, pointing to the sides of the door, and hollered a few short clicking sounds to convey its orders to the guards. The guards, in response, nodded at themand, and took their ces at the pointed ces outside the small chamber, guarding the exit in the hallway. As the guards stepped away, the robed elder then took a few steps forward and stepped into Aiden''s cell stopping only a single step away from the golden-eyed youth. Even though the hood of the robe covered the creature''s face still, its sharp eyes zed with a simr colored luster as Aiden''s, glowing brightly amidst the darkness, matching the boy''s. In the next instant, the creature spread its arms, raising the staff from the ground once more. It seemed to tell something as it clicked its tongue a few times, and whilst Aiden couldn''t yet understand it, it did confirm Aiden''s conjecture in the next moment as he nced over the newest notification in his system. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 537 - 537 - A Need To Fight With the arrival of the new dawn, the camp''s residents woke up one by one along with the first rays of the bright sun. Although yesterday''s troubles did weigh the mood in the camp considerably lower than what should be normal, the atmosphere was still far from being depressive. The Silver Howls were after all experienced seniors, learned and wisened by the years of their past. Though they suffered some losses, luckily nosting damages were made thanks to no small amount to the mysterious little girl of the adventurers in their co-joined group. Whilst the residents of the various tents came out, some with a disheveled, groggy face, whilst others already brimming and ready for action, Captain Don made his way towards thergest tent of them all and stepped into their group''s schr''s, Derick''s domain. As he stepped inside, Don''s eyes were met with the delicate, slender back of the little ck-haired girl, who was already deep in her own work, checking up on the three sleepyheads who have juste to their senses a short while ago. She and Derick were checking thedies, making sure they were indeed back to full health. "Come on, girl You should know me by now! I''m fine! Let me go, I want to go out and have my second round against that monster!" Though even Aina and Eina weren''t known for their patience, the blonde amazon, Naybeah were the hardest to keep lying. Her blood was burning with passion, she couldn''t stand yesterday''s defeat. To her, it was a disgrace, she wanted to prove to herself that she wasn''t weak that she wouldn''t hinder her mate''s path to the obvious glory in the future. Losing to that weird creature in such a disgraceful manner, was a dark stain to her ego. She needed to at least fight it to a draw otherwise she wouldn''t be able to look into Aiden''s eyes when they reunite. "Sister, please keep still just a bit longer. Let us check you, and make sure you are really fine!" With her usual gentle smile stered across her face, Galina pushed the girl down, surprising even Naybeah as a warm current of energy forced her back down, despite the girl not using any physical might. As she woke up this morning, Galina was surprised herself as she noticed the newfound powers she gained overnight. Like before, new knowledge appeared abruptly in her mind, allowing her to familiarize herself with her newly gained powers at her own leisure. Though she was still slightly confused about the what''s and why''s behind the situation, she could feel the increase in her strength. She felt the abundant flow of her [Soul Power], that it felt like her pool suddenly doubled overnight. Yet, what was even more surprising was the newfound knowledge and deepened understanding of her Light and Nature affinities. The new skill, ording to the knowledge that appeared in her mind, was a sort of beam, an ability she could use to either provide a rapid boost to the target''s health and restore him or her back to a fighting state during a crisis, or use it to obliterate foes closely rted to the Darkness. It was a powerful ability, though she wasn''t sure if the sudden surge of concentrated energy wouldn''t cause any damage to those caught in it unexpectedly. Before trying, Galina decided to talk to her Young Master about it whenever she could reach out to him in the near future. "What is going on?" A deep holler, Captain Don''s surprised exmation suddenly resounded inside the tent. The old man stepped over and stood behind the leaned-over girl as she attended the overly-eager amazon. "How are you feeling?" He asked with a concerned, worried-looking expression looking at the amazon. "Argh! Fine! I am fine, yet I am forced to stay in bed!" Sheined as she tried to struggle and break free, yet finding it strangely unable to do so. "Don''t make me repeat myself!" Galina chided, pushing the amazon back down. "Be a good girl and stay still for a bit longer. Once we clear all of you, you and the others will be free to go, I promise!" "Grrrr!! Fine! You promised!" Naybeah pouted, giving up and throwing herself back on the bed. A look of confusion shed across her face, unable toprehend how could a little girl like Galina keep her constrained so easily. She was sure that she was stronger than her, yet she felt powerless against that invisible warm energy of hers. "Listen to the healer, she just wishes what is best for you. You can''t fight the creature yet anyways, so it''s best to stay put for now." Seeing how all three of the girls were looking alright, the captain could finally don a weak smile and rx. He smiled at the pouting amazon and turned to look at the twin sisters who, like their newest friend, were pretty difficult to keep down, causing Derick not a small amount of headache. Before Captain Don had a chance to step away, however, Naybeah fired another question. "Can''t fight it? Why?!" She eximed, her face showing utter shock and resistance. Why couldn''t she fight it out with the creature? Why can''t she settle the resentment in her heart?! "I NEED TO FIGHT IT!" She added, yelling as the anger quickly began to fill her. Captain Don sighed and shook his head at the amazon''s question. Being already experienced in exining the matter, he gave a moment getting ready to respond, when suddenly the entrance to the cloth serving as the ''door'' to the tent was pulled over and another, much smaller blonde girl stepped in apanied by twozy-looking musclebound war hounds. "Big sister, Naybeah, you have to practice patience, just like brother have told you!" Lily giggled as she stepped into the tent and walked over to the amazon''s bed. She reached out and gently grabbed her right hand. Giving it a light squeeze, she exined. "We have no idea what these creatures actually are, where are they from, and what they want. As you saw and experienced yesterday, they are not just simply strong and powerful but also deeply intelligent as well." She paused for a second as she looked at the pouting blonde amazon with apassionate look. "Besides" She continued after a breath''s time "We are in a world that we know almost nothing about. The information that those old guys gave us was faulty. This world is far from being deserted. Just as we arrived we were met with the residents" Raising her head, she turned her attention towards the northeast. She heaved a heavier sigh as she added with a lower, muttering tone of voice. "It''s not just us either. Even brother met with some danger" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 538 - 538 - Peaceful Approach [Language: Reptilian - Basic discovered! Analyzing information Error: Base Reptilian Core missing - Unable to Process!] [Host is advised to assimte with at least one of the local lifeforms in order to continue with the system process. Required vocational organs missing.] Looking at the messages, Aiden wasn''t the least bit surprised. These creatures, apparently from reptilian origins were using anguage very simr to what he heard back in the sewers from Thuk''s skink tribe. The way they created these clicking sounds were indeed pointing towards some sort of special organ unique to their race only, thus it made perfect sense that he would be unable to acquire the ability to reciprocate or even be able to distinguish between the simr-sounding clicks without the aid of something more precise. The fact was, that even though the sounds these creatures made sounded repetitive, or the same, in fact, they had differences that just simply couldn''t be picked up by the untrained ear. Either a small difference in frequency or maybe just a minuscule difference in its wavelength made an entirely different trantion that would have gone past by mostly without notice for Aiden as well unless he focused. As he focused on the robed figure''s speech, besides the changes in repetition when he was attentive, he could feel these slights between two clicks or snaps, but that was it. It was not just incredibly difficult but it was also very exhausting if he were forced to try to understand what they were saying in this way. Aiden sighed, knowing that what he needed to do, would only put him in jeopardy once again. The system clearly wanted him to act ording to his origins, and absorb these three natives, in hopes of his core managing to synthesize their form and create a new orb inside his Primal Core. As if fate herself was assisting him, this fragile-looking elder of its race was right in front of him, standing all by its lonesome. It was so confident that it had control over the captive boy that it even dismissed its guards Yet, as he looked at the robed creature as it kept clicking and clucking with its mouth, as it wildly, threateningly iled the staff in its hands Aiden hesitated tomit the deed. The looming presence of this all-powerful being made him rethink his course of action. He felt as if every action, every movement, every twitch was being monitored and carefully scrutinized. Whoever or whatever was the owner of this all-dominating presence he or she was incredibly powerful, the difference in their strength was like a vast chasm, a wide canyon so to speak. Aiden was, for the first time in his life without any n on how to proceed. Though from the outside he looked at the creature as it sneered and seemingly jeered at him, taunting or maybe celebrating their victory over an outsider, an otherworlder Yet Aiden did not react, he could not react as, besides the obvious bodynguage, he could not understand anything from the creature. Still, the robed elder either didn''t notice this fact or perhaps decided to ignore it. Eventually, it seemed that it had enough. Its tone suddenly shifted, the cheery, insulting ridicules have transformed into a more dire, somber timbre. Instead of the wild, unrestrained ilings, the dragonhead-ed tip of the staff was pointed directly at Aiden. First, the staff was pointed at Aiden''s head as the creature sneered, disying an obvious, clear threat. Though the words, once again, passed by Aiden without understanding even the slightest of it, he could understand the underlying motive behind it. Then, the creature slowly lowered the tip of the staff, wandering away from Aiden''s head, all the way down to his torso, where the creature suddenly pointed it at his heart. Although it was more likely that it was pointing at his core. Once again, the creature''s tone shifted, speaking mostly in a somber, solemn manner, whilst throwing in an asional threatening, warning tone. The figure also gestured with his free, left hand, drawing wide arcs, and various forms in the air as it erupted in a long-winded sermon. Aiden could only watch the creature, unable to restrain a helpless, thin smile creasing up the edges of his lips, slowly shifting into a wry-looking, feeble, helpless smile. His reaction, albeit honest, it also managed to further irk the robed little creature. It halted midway in its speech, its face writhe''s, distorting into what first resembled a troubled frown that quickly grow, ultimately forming a rage-filled, twisted, hideous expression. As if still in disbelief, unable to believe the foolish boldness, courage, or perhaps stupidity of this little maggot How dare he show utter disrespect, this unbelievable coarseness! Such brazen action cannot go unpunished. To hell with the instructions from the High Priest and the Council of Elders! Who knows if their God truly conveyed such a weird, oundishmand? What if the High Priest just decided for whatever reason he wants this bareskin as a trophy of some sort? At most, the creature would be subjected to some mild punishment, it refused to believe that its decision to forgo all reason and kill off this pathetic intruder would earn capital punishment! The guards it brought with it, were its own men, it could just make up some im that the captive bareskin turned violent and had to be put down. Who could say otherwise? Making up its mind, the robed creature suddenly raised the ornate, carved dragonhead staff into the air, and tapped the ground in the next instant. Suddenly the eyes of the carved dragon head lit up with a strangely familiar, golden luster, sending a visible pulse of energy all towards the room. In the next instant, the traversing energy formed a small dome, capturing both Aiden and the creature in a sort of protective-looking bubble. From the cruel, vicious sneer of what the creature has next shown under its hood, it didn''t take a genius to figure out that the bubble served as to cut off any sound from escaping at the very least. Additionally, it seemed to also block the functionalities of all sensory abilities as when next Aiden tried to send out a pulse, he suddenly hit an invisible barrier that he found unable to cross through. Surprised, Aiden looked at the creature, only to be met with the most vicious, cruel, and sadistic look as the figure slowly pushed the hood off from its head revealing its skink-like golden striped, green wrinkled, and scale-covered skin. Aiden could only sigh, seeing as how the whims of fate, did make the decision for him in the end. Even though he wanted to avoid bloodshed, it seemed that was just wishful, naive thinking on his part. ''I tried I really tried'' Hemented, looking upwards, hoping that the owner of the overbearing presence would understand and not fault him for what he was about to do --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 539 - 539 - Back To The Roots After the insightful remark, Aiden''s demeanor instantly changed, the calm, cool, and collected dispositions of his instantly vanished, wafted away, leaving behind only the remnants of the cold, terrifying beast. As he lowered his gaze back on the still sneering and viciously glowering skink elder, who had still been thinking it would be a breeze to put this disrespectful bareskin brat in his ce and then feast on its flesh, the look in Aiden''s eyes suddenly changed. Shocked and confused about the sudden change in the fragile-looking boy the robed creature looked with wide eyes as the boy''s underlying golden light suddenly lit up, like a reflector it red with a profound glory as it ominously scanned the startled little creature. Unshackling the metaphorical chains holding his power and not allowing it to be revealed unless he wanted it to, Aiden''s draconic aura unfolded with a violent, vtile momentum. With a loud, sonic explosion, the aura was released with a powerful shockwave, catching the little creaturepletely off guard and throwing him back in the air. As the creature violently crashed into the invisible walls of his own erected energy barrier, the sound of loud cracks, bones breaking could be heard. In the next moment, the creature listlessly slid down from the solid current of his own creation, its head, its body showing no signs of movement at all. When his head swayed to the left, puling the rest of its lifeless body down on the ground, Aiden was shocked. He looked confused and bewildered gazing at the suddenly deceased little aged skink''s corpse with raised eyebrows. ''Wait.. This was it? Where''s the arrogance, the expected power to back such an attitude?!'' He eximed inwardly. He couldn''t understand what happened at all. From the actions of this little beast, he was at the very least expecting some sort of challenge. When they approached he clearly sensed the brimming energy inside its core Then how could he be worth less than even the adventurers, soldiers, and guards of Higrove. How could this arrogant, haughty figure be worth even less than a bug, an ant?! Aiden clicked his tongue with visible displeasure. He was annoyed, he was fired up, ready to have a good, challenging fight, and now he had to somehow calm himself down. He frowned as he walked over the corpse of the creature, looking at it with growing disdain as he revealed his wed hand, raising it above the creature''s chest. ''At least give me something worthwhile after you failed my expectations so miserably.'' He muttered inwardly, striking down with his hand easily piercing through the striped scale-covered skin, plunging deep into its flesh instantly. Next, Aiden began his search, his conquest trudging through the insides of the deceased beast, searching for his core. A momentter, as his fingers felt the cold, solid crystal surface, he grabbed it. ''You better show me what I want to know If I have angered that being because of you and it ultimately proved to bear no fruit but further trepidations along the road, I''ll be very angry'' He groaned, forcefully tearing through the flesh and ripping the crystalline monster core out of the elderly skink''s chest along with a great deal of its blood and gore in the process. Raising his blood-covered, dripping hand Aiden took a look at the core. Noticing that instead of the ck, darkness, the eerie-looking ebony gaseous substance he could see in these monstrous or corrupted creatures, this one had a strange, golden-orange colored puff of cloud filling up the insides of the translucent object. ''What is this? Did I make a mistake?'' He frowned, pondering what such a difference could actually mean. A few momentster, however, he decided not to care about it for now. What''s done is done, there''s no turning back now. If he made a mistake, he would have to now deal with it, there''s no point in wasting time and chance. The bubble the creature erected would probably lose its strength soon and cancel itself out. He needed to clean up before that happened and go forward with his new hastily made n. Though absorbing the creature wouldn''t make sure that a new form would be synthesized inside his core, he had no other option but to pray for the best. He took onest look at the creature''s core before he flicked his hand causing the peculiar object to vanish as it was transferred into the mysterious subspace of his system''s inventory. As he looked at the bloodied hole of the creature''s chest, Aiden frowned once again, unwillingness clearly stered over his expression. ''I really do not want to do this. I really feel like the monster of those campfire stories'' He scowled, before heaving onest time and making up his mind. ''I really am growing weak as I spend more time with'' He stopped his thoughts, shaking his head, and shed a wry smile. "No. I am no longer human. Nor was I ever really one. That life was just a dream, a hazy illusion, that I need to put away for good. To be strong enough to protect those I care about, I need to return to my origins. I need to act like I am supposed to, and not be this weak-minded!'' Without giving his mind toe with yet another argument, Aiden decisively struck down again, tearing into the open, fist-sized hole at the center of the creature''s chest and grabbed the now still heart of it. In the next instant, just like before Aiden ripped it out of the creature''s flesh, and without wasting another second and before his brain could resist, he forced it into his mouth in one piece. Feeling the slimy, slick, fleshy walls of the organ, he chewed on it. Despite not tasting anything, he felt horrible. Still, he pushed through it, chomping the fleshy piece to smaller-sized bits in the process before gulping all of it down. As the bits and pieces traversed down, he could feel as they were processed by his body, turned into particles, its building blocks, and absorbed with him. A surge of power, a torrential whirlpool was released as the materials were gradually processed and the constrained, surprisingly vast life force was unleashed abruptly. Aiden''s body shuddered as he felt the overwhelming amount. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, trying his best to contain it inside him, and not to reveal his gruesome actions to those outside the already waning bubble. The storm inside him raged on, wreaking havoc as it tried to resist its new owner''s will and wanted nothing more than to break free. Ultimately, however, it couldn''t fight against its new master''s ancient power. After some arduous effort, it finally began to subside, the storm began to calm down --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 540 - 540 - Demands Before the pain couldpletely subside, Aiden sprung into action once more. He struck down, grabbing two sides of the gaping hole inside the deceased striped skink''s chest and by slowly increasing the amount of strength he exerted, Aiden began to tear the entire torso apart. The eerie sound of bones crunching and flesh being torn to pieces filled the insides of the still active, albeit waning insides of the energy bubble. If the rest of the team could see the gruesome scene they would most likely be horrified, or even worse utterly terrified of their beloved leader''s current sight. At the side close to the underground jail cell''s exit, but still inside the grounds of the creature''s closed-off energy barrier, a pile of mangled flesh, barely recognizable as the strange arrogant skink could be seen. His robe was nowhere to be seen, as Aiden made sure to take it off the figure before he lost himself in his primal urges. Although there was arge, bloodied, gaping hole at its center, it was still usable. It could still serve its newly designated purpose, thus Aiden made sure to transfer it to his inventory next to the creature''s Tier 1 ranked core. After that, he spent the next couple of minutes to engorge in a horrific feast as he took his time ripping the creature apart limb by limb. Still, though he was focused on processing all of the creatures as fast as he could, it still took him too long. The barrier was visibly thinning, barely holding on by this point. Heaving a sigh, Aiden did his best to increase the pace. Still, maybe because of his restored memories of the previous life, or perhaps due to his time spent amongst civilization, he found it difficult to strip away all the human-like instincts and disgust he felt. Though he knew it wasn''t the case, he couldn''t help thinking that absorbing the flesh of a humanoid creature was cannibalistic, something against thews of nature itself. Every piece of flesh cost him a considerable amount of willpower to wrestle through. This slowed him down by a considerable deal, not to mention that albeit he tried to hurry it, he still couldn''tpletely forgo trying to chew each piece of flesh, bone, or organ that he gobbled up. Thus he found himself losing race against time. If he wanted his n to work, if he wanted to somehow fool these lowly reptilian races, he needed to push through this very first obstacle and finish off this sudden meal without leaving any traces. ''This is pointless I will never finish before this barrier loses its power'' Aiden muttered with a frown, looking at the barely holding barrier whilst he tore another handful of meat from the mangled, mutted, headless corpse lying in front of him. ''This idea wasn''t feasible after all'' He sighed, biting into the next piece. He hastily chomped down on the mouthful of the deceased skink and with an audible gulp, he pushed it down only to feel it being turned into its building blocks and absorbed by his body in the next instant. As the piece vanished in the endless abyss of what his body truly was, he shook his head whilst reaching for yet another fist-sized piece. ''Do I really need topletely exterminate a native race for such a whimsical reason?!'' Hemented. Truth be told, he really didn''t want to result in such an action, and not just because of the threat of this looming, overbearing omnipresence he felt all the time. - No. An action like that would be way too excessive, not to mention dark. Power wouldn''t give him the right to decide the fate of the entire race, be it hostile, or not. Yes, he did seek to further his knowledge, but that was only to further understand his current situation. He had no desire to be the cause of the demise of an entire species, nor did he felt he had the right to do such a thing. He merely wanted to learn more. To get to know not just about what these creatures truly were, but also what this powerful entity was and what connection he or she had with these skinks. Also, to understand why did his core react in such a strange manner to his or her presence. Aiden shook his head, pushing the heavy thoughts down with another bite he pushed into his mouth, whilst doing his best to ignore the distracting soundsing from the system. Even without him being constantly reminded, he could feel that whilst the formation of a new ball of light had begun to form inside his Primal Core, it was far from being finished. He could tell even without the hints, that he needed to consume the entire flesh to have a chance at creating this new form. "I don''t care! You three should at least take today off to rest and recuperate! You were at the brink of death just a few hours ago!" Captain Don yelled exasperatedly at theical sight of the girls standing at attention in front of him. The trio, Aina and Eina the twin sisters, and their newest partner in crime, the blonde amazon, Naybeah were trying to woo the stonehearted elderly leader to send them out with the rest of the team. Though their sight was ratherical with all the bandages wrapped around them, the fact that they could stand still and present a strong front was undeniable. ''That girl'' The captainmented, thinking about the ck-haired little fairy, Galina. Her miraculous powers were only causing him more headache than ease at this point. ''The trio, feeling the weight of their mistake from yesterday, was adamant in proving themselves. At first, they wanted to request another go at the chained-up creature but were instantly denied, not just by the old man himself, but by the rest of the team as well. Even Drake, the one that was most agitated justst night to end the life of that hideous abominable mixture of spider, demon, and wolf have since understood ande around. He was now whistling a different tune, understanding the importance of acquiring information about this unknown world was of the utmost importance. He instantly blocked Naybeah''s demands by simply warning her that Aiden wouldn''t appreciate such an action. Although most of the arguments would simply enter one of her ear and exit at the other, the thought of displeasing her chosen mate was an instant shocker, a wake-up call for the spirited girl. With great difficulty, she eventually managed to calm her boiling blood, and take a step back and acquiesce to the silver-haired prince''s request. However, with their first request being shut down, the trio then turned towards the elderly captain and began their siege to wear down his defenses, demanding to let them go out today as well. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 541 - 541 - Strange Happenings Fully focused onpleting his horrific self-appointed objective, Aiden didn''t notice the anomaly going on around him, silently protecting and assisting him. As if time itself had lost domain inside the underground jail cell, at some point the thin barrier stopped shrinking, did not lose any power anymore but retained a state of equilibrium. Funnily though, Aiden, who has praised himself for being attentive under any circumstances failed to notice this anomalous trait inside the small dome of translucent energy, he was so immersed in the absorption of creature flesh and analyzing the state of his Primal Core continuously. Time passed by unknown to the boy who did nothing but slowly tore apart the entirety of the mass of biomass without any visible care in the world. Ignorant of the difference in the presumed time versus the harsh reality, he kept on engorging in a feast of nightmares, slowly, gradually stripping away all the mental barriers he had pushed himself onto during his short excursion in the qualms of civilization. An unknown amount of time had passed by the time he had finally grabbed thest piece, a piece of the creature''s spine with bits of mangled raw meat dangling from it. Though the piece was long since dried, the previously vibrant scarlet blood has long since turned into a dark brownyer of film, for some peculiar reason, the boy somehow failed to register this peculiarity, proving the point that there was something strange, something mysterious happening around the boy. This mystery would have gone past by the boy entirely if he were to be truly alone, but luckily, or perhaps to further prove his miserable destiny, he was far from being alone, by himself. His spirit guide, as well as Rygintarth, the living spirit of his inherited father''s legendary sword have long since noticed the strange, inexplicable events happening around their master. ''[Aiden Wake up and listen to us something is wrong!]'' Enya tried multiple times to call out, but no matter how hard she tried, how much she pressed on, she was left ignored. Frustrated, she tried everything she could think of, only to be met with failure one after another. ''Don''t bother He is under the effects of a spell'' Ryg eventually spoke up, after watching the events as they unfolded with careful scrutiny. ''[What?!]'' Enya was shocked, startled to hear the sword spirit''s im. ''[How could that be? Howe neither of us noticed it?! Howe the syst-]'' Suddenly realization struck her causing her to be frozen on the spot and look with utter dread and fright downwards, towards the deepest, darkest depths of Aiden''s Soul Space, where an entity beyondprehension was still locked away. Even a sliver of its presence when was left free was so powerful it almost caused the destruction of an entire world, be it just an artificial creation or not. ''[That can''t be]'' She vehemently denied the proposed thought in the next instant. ''[That thing it was locked away by the almighty himself. It cannot possibly escape.]'' Seeing the denial the little ball of light was in, the little girl, Ryg did not respond, but merely sighed. Her gaze, however, wandered towards the distance. Her expression was unreadable, no one could guess what she was thinking The fact that the Master was aided by that mysterious entity was clear. Yet, to see that even just a tiny sliver of power that escape, had such tremendous effects on the outside world, was shocking to witness. ''To control the very fabric of reality itself with a flick of a hand or tentacle or whatever that thing is Just what is it, and why is it locked away inside him? Was it done by the old man himself? Or there''s something else at y here?'' Sighing, Ryg looked at the vast darkness of space above her. ''Just who or what are you really Master? What is the truth? I wonder are you truly ignorant, oblivious of everything as you im?'' "Fine! I give up!" Finally, after an arduous, long assault, the old man finally gave in and eximed with frustration. "However" Before the girls could celebrate their victory, he pointed at the two figures standing behind them. "You will be apanied by those two!" He pointed at the figure of Crone and the bald man who had fought with the blonde amazon previously. The man was called Jai, ever since his utter defeat at the hands of this beautiful warrior goddess, he was smothered with love. His previously haughty attitude took a turn, he turned mostly silent, his gaze focused on the sight of the woman taking up all the space in his heart ever since that day. When he heard of his defeat and grave situation, he was one of the loudest at first to let them finish off the captured beast. It took a great deal and effort to make hime to the same realization as the rest. Knowing they could do nothing against the disgusting beast, for now, he then shifted his attention to be a silent shadow behind the girl, follow and protect her from any danger. Even if the captain wouldn''t have noticed and given him the go, Jai would have still left the camp by his lonesome, following after the girl trio and be their silent shadow all the way. "What?! Me?! But Why Captain?" Feeling wronged, Crone cried, not willing to be on escort duty all day just to satisfy the whims of these girls. "I don''t wa- Ouch! What is it? Why are you" Before he could finish hisint he felt a hit on his sides. Turning towards the source of the sudden attack, he was met with the cold, cruel, and vicious gaze of their strongest, most fearsome fighter, Jai. From the determined look in his eyes, Crone quickly came to his senses and realized the obvious. Working, fighting together living as one big family for all those years, even someone such as Crone could understand the meaning behind his big brother''s gaze. He understood his nature very well, he knew how unlike, how uncanny his actions were ever since his defeat at the hands of that brutish woman. Still, his loss only served to further fuel his desire, his growing, helpless, unrequited feelings towards the very angel of his dreams. There was no need for words between them, Crone understood his brother from a single gaze. "Oh Fine" Crone sighed, knowing that neither party, nor the captain, nor this bald lovestruck idiot could be convinced otherwise, thus he could only ept his fate and be the attach of the girls. "I We will do our best to apany the girls and make sure they won''te to harm." Crone nodded, epting themand of his captain. In the next moment, the look on his face shifted, a mischievous smirk appeared, he stepped closer to his friend, and with a sudden move, he pushed him forward, closer to the girls, and subsequently, the woman of his dreams. "Right, Jai? We will protect these beauties with everything we have?" He snickered enjoying the sight of his big brother aiding to further Jai''s plight. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 542 - 542 - Standstill Though time kept on passing, and that should be the universal, undeniable rule wherever you are in the massive and endless cosmos, for some inexplicable reason, this wasn''t the case in one particr spot in the dead realm of what wasmonly known as the ''Battlegrounds''. Inside the underground chamber of where Aiden as a ''guest'' was kept by his still mysterious skink ''hosts'', time had seemingly no effect. Albeit it should have long lost its remaining energy and should have dispersed into the pale, dusty air, the elder skinks protective spell somehow still held on. Even worse, albeit it was obvious that some foul y was involved, the boy remained ignorant and oblivious to this truth. As if his mind refused to listen to this particr topic, no matter how much Enya, the System''s appointed spirit guide tried to reach out to him, Aiden acted as if he did not hear his words, questions. As he consumed thest remaining bits of the priest, Aiden was more focused on the second phase of his body''s primal processes. Feeling the increasing heat radiating from his core, he quickly walked over to the center of his underground cell, and sat down cross-legged, in his usual meditating pose. Closing his eyes he heaved a sigh to calm his nerves and shift his mental focus on the insides of his Primal Core, from whence the increasing heat was radiating from. Though his body kept it hidden and protected, the truth was that the surge of vitality, the absorbed life essences of the striped elderly skink has begun to converge to an empty point at an unupied outer ring inside the depths of his Core. The energy kept on gathering, forming a tight-knit bond in the process. As time kept on passing with a paradoxical logic inside the closed-up slice of reality of Aiden''s guest ''room'', the gathered vitality began its process and seemingly reached the threshold to begin its transformation and reform into the baseline of what wouldter be a new form for its host and master. Yet, as Aiden kept on inspecting the situation, there seemed to be something missing. Albeit the energy threshold was reached, something else was needed. Something to kickstart the process, something crucial, critical for the process to ultimately be sessful. Aiden didn''t need to ponder too much, realization hit him in the head, he quickly flicked his right hand, turning his palm to face the ceiling. In the next instant, the dark crystal core, that he just put away a few seconds ago materialized, appeared. This time, Aiden didn''t react at all at the ominous sight of the weird object, nor did he flinch at the sight of the dark, eerie, ebony gaseous puff of cloud contained within its translucent walls. As the crystal appeared in the grip of his right palm, Aiden didn''t waste any time and decisively pushed it into his mouth. The sound of what was reminiscent of ss being shattered and then thrown all around could be heard as the boy chomped on it, grounding the object into a more easily digestible format. After some time, whilst also maintaining most of his attention at the state of his Core, Aiden gulped, swallowing the entirety of the contents of his mouth down and allowing the entirety of the inside energy to be absorbed into his being. Once again, just like with the heart, Aiden felt the sudden surge, the torrential wave ripple across his spiritual body, filling his vessel full with a vast amount of power. This time, the energy was way more abundant than the heart previously. So much so in fact, that his body was trembling, as it was lifted off from the ground as the energy raged, wreaked havoc, and caused chaos. Doing his best to contain what he could and not to be consumed by it, Aiden gritted his teeth, clenched his fists as he fought back. A faint golden light surrounded the boy as it floated just a few feet above the ground. His figure was shrouded with the expunged surplus of energy, turning his figure into a hazy, blurry glowing silhouette inside the dark underground jail cell. Yet, despite how it looked, Aiden still managed to inch out thest and probably most needed victory, and slowly began to reign in the wild, chaotic flow. As he directed it towards his core, the strange scene that mysteriously remained unnoticed by the guards stationed outside has ended just as abruptly as it appeared. With the contents of the Skink Elder''s Core absorbed, Aiden now only needed to focus on merging it, assimting everyst bit of its current into his core and direct it towards the singrity. With that, his new seed and with that, his new form should hopefully kickstart. Though as it was proved previously, this process was rather time-consuming, yet for some strange, peculiar reason the boy remained ignorant of this paradoxical situation. As for the worried duo of spirits residing inside his soul, they could only helplessly and most importantly, powerlessly watch as the situation unfolded in front of their eyes. Though the spirit guide, Enya was still in denial, deep down, she was aware that there was only one exnation of what was happening. Only one entity had such tremendous power, such control that even just a tiny sliver of its escaped energy was capable of warping the very fabric of reality around itself. However, even if that was the case, it was simply impossible for that creature to be siding with its captors. Why would it assist the boy? It just made no sense By the time the daylight fully reced the lingering shadows of the previous night and fully lifted the veil of the barren dark orange wastnds, the campsite was almost fully deserted once again. After analyzing all the reports they received, Captain Don, together with the rest of the team decided to concentrate their efforts on three areas. Three points of interest so to say, each holding importance for a different reason. Thus, they formed three groups to tackle all three objectives for the day. Thergest and also the strongest of the three parties, which consisted of ten of the most experienced of the Silver Howls, with the addition of the purple-haired girl, Sara from the adventurers and Crysta, the assassin she herself defeated during their first meeting were sent out to the southern regions, where supposedly the strange abominable creature havee from. The second group, which had most of the youngsters were sent out towards the west, towards a simr teau that they have arrived on. Though they haven''t met with any other exploration parties so far, that ce held the most danger in that regard. Their task was only to scout and report back with their findings. Although they were ordered, the colorful group of the silver-haired boy, his fiery, red-haired sister joined up with the rest of the Silver Howls, besides a few special ones were sure to be more daring than they should be --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 543 - 543 - Familial Connection As for the third, andst group, they turned out to be quite an interesting group of girls, joined up with Crone and Jai to provide the protection they surely would need. The blonde amazon, Naybeah, the mischievous sisters, Aina and Eina were still bedridden just a few hours ago. Yet, now Captain Don just couldn''t keep them rested, they were adamant in going out today as well. Even though he suggested it, and the boys were strangely receptive and epted it almost instantly, Captain Don was painfully aware that Crone and Jai alone would have absolutely no chance in trying to reign in the whirlwind of a trio that those three girls were. Luckily, at the veryst second, like an angel descending from heaven to ease the pain and suffering of the poor, tormented worldly soul, the two innocent, heavenly fairies, Galina and the missing leader boy''s sister, Lily havee to the rescue and offered to join up with them. Although it shouldn''t have been that much of a surprise. After all, the third andst Point of Interest for the group would be flying towards the far northeast, which the fairy maidens themselves have proposed just yesterday as they came back. The vast expanse of the unknown lying in that direction supposedly was also where the missing youth could be found. Though as they exined, he was very far away, way beyond the horizon, it was still the direction they should be aiming for ultimately. Still, though they were zealous and overly eager to get started and venture out to reunite with him, they also understood that they couldn''t rush ahead like headless chickens. They needed to understand the basics, the where, the what, and obviously the how. Where they actually were? The ce they were, though roughly matched the description they were given, in reality, it was far from being deserted. These hideous, amalgamations, these freaks of nature were preying in the dark. They were intelligent, highly intelligent creatures with a cruel, twisted nature. Still, were they more than just highly evolved apex predators? They were hoping to get an answer to that in the near future Then, there was the what. What was this world really? Originally it was described as a sub-dimension, a realm that was created through some highly advanced magic. An artificial pocket ne so to speak. Yet, if that were the case then the information shouldn''t be so full of mistakes and oversights. If that were the absolute truth, then they would have been informed of the dangers they have already faced and will keep facing as long as they were forced to stay. Lastly, the how. After learning all that they could, and finally drafted a map with all the threats lying around, they would then need to devise a n on how to tackle the vast, endless desert and whatever was lying after it that separated them from the young master. Only when these three questions have been fully explored and answered, could they break camp and move on. However, until then, they need to work on them, while also trying to find the treasures they also had to look for in order to score some points to their Pir, the Masked Mistress waiting outside. "Okay so, little girl, tell me" Leaving the premises of the camp, Naybeah walked next to Lily, making sure not to step on or push away the two fierce hounds leisurely following behind the two girls. "What... Or I guess, how in the gods'' name, did you guyse up with the thought that my mat- *khm* Aiden was in this direction?" She asked, making sure to not annoy the girls with the way she addressed their missing leader. Lily sighed, revealing a troubled expression as she heard the question. Truth be told, even though she herself had felt this peculiarity, this miraculous ability they shared with her beloved brother, in reality, she still wasn''t sure how to exin it. What was it actually? They weren''t blood-rted, so it wasn''t anything they were born with, yet somehow they were connected in more ways than she could possibly understand, much less exin. "Well" Taking a bit of time to collect her thoughts, Lily spoke with a hesitant tone. "I''m not entirely sure myself. I can''t really exin it, other than I just know, I guess?" She raised her shoulders and looked at blonde amazon with a look hoping for support and understanding. "Let me help exin it to Eldest Sister." Hearing how Lily was struggling, Galina decided to join in and jump to her rescue. With a warm, kind smile glowing on her beautiful face, she exined. "It is a connection they have, that allows them to roughly sense the other one. They instinctively know the general direction of where the other one is, and can also somewhat sense the state of the other." She looked at the amazon, whilst she was already thinking of how to exin the mental channel in simpler terms, thinking that amazon wouldn''t get it. After all, it was indeed very hard to grasp it, very unlike how the world has worked. Surprisingly though, Naybeah looked at them thoughtfully. She nodded and creased her brows as she spoke. "I can kinda understand that. It must be something simr in nature to what our Queen has with us." She revealed. "Still, that one is pretty one-sided, only she can reach out to us, we cannot." Her face revealed a frown as she went deeper into thought, she asked. "Still, I don''t understand it. Howe they have such a powerful ability. This connection as you called it They aren''t siblings rted by blood, right? Howe they have it then?" Her question was right on the mark, neither of the girls had an answer ready for it. Although Galina, effectively created by the direct intervention of the Young Master, ultimately turning Aiden into her and her brother''s residing in Haven''s progenitor, it was a different case entirely with the half-elven girl. He never forcefully intervened, Aiden never interfered with her path. Though they shared many moments, struggles, and adventures together, his power, his essence should never have merged with Lily''s. Yet, if that was the case, how did their connection, which was simr, but at the same time also unique,e to life? Eventually, the girl in question herself broke the ensuing awkward silence with a shrug of her slender shoulders. "I don''t know I guess we love each other so much that we created a real bond. He is my brother and I am his sister in every essence of the term!" She proudly eximed with a pair of reddening cheeks. Even though she meant the word in a familial way, Lily couldn''t help but recall his brother''s glory when they pushed the door on him at the inn --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 544 - 544 - A New Form As the second, and final storm was quelled, the bright blinding light engulfing not just the core, but Aiden as well signaled thepletion of the new seed, the new form that was now added to the boy''s growing repertoire. Yet, he couldn''t celebrate just yet, as just as he expected, the system immediately came with a new message, informing him of this already known fact. He did not waste any time with overanalyzing as he usually did, but instead focused on epting the offered option to activate the usage of his [Shapeshifting] innate together with his Primal racial traits and hastily begin the first transformation to the new race that the system referred to as [Draconic Skinks - Clean - Tier 1+]. Surprisingly, the stripes weren''t the only unique factor to these baseline little reptiles, but there was something else, a closer rtion to the mythical dragons of the tales of old. They had the blood of true dragons flowing inside their veins. Before he could ponder on these thoughts more, his mind suddenly sumbed to the system-induced drowsiness, quickly losing consciousness. Before his head could fall to the ground, suddenly the edges of his body trembled as the first transformation to the newly acquired form had begun. His body was quickly swallowed up by the abrupt appearance of the greedy ck cocoon, reducing the current, humanoid shape of its master back into the primordial fluid. Time once again passed by as the Primal Evolution was taking its ce. Whilst the shield remained active so far due to the interference of the mysterious entity, as soon as the boy was encased in the ebony, solid hard shell, its paradoxical effects were no longer sustained, its connection was also cut off. This, though retained the effect for a while longer, it eventually began to fade, allowing time to once again regain its dominance over the underground chamber and began to corrode the remaining resistance of the still lingering energy shield. Even though it was no longer frozen, time still flowed at a different, slower pace outside the barrier than on the inside. Whilst there was no clear indication of what the actual numbers of this dtion was, it was quite substantial. Standing outside the hall, the two guards seemed to have not noticed anything strange, to them, the time they have spent guarding wasn''t that arduously long as what had already transpired just the other side of the wall. To them, what was at this point at least several hours since the elderly, robed skink had stepped inside to ''y'' with their captive, was only a couple of minutes. Hours, upon which most was spent outside, exempt from the effects of time. Hours from which, the elderly lizard was no longer alive, but was already absorbed, assimted into the growing sea of consciousnesses inside the Primal Core of the boy. Still, these minutes-turned-hours have finally begun to take their toll and slowly, gradually began to wear down thest bits of energy that so far kept the outside world separate from the inside. The blurry surface of the translucent energyyer began to flicker as it waned, allowing the noises to traverse without blockage once again, and energy signatures to be sensed once more. As the energy began to disperse, the guards immediately raised their attention and turned to look at the dark entrance of the jail cell. They could only sense one signature instead of the previous two, and even that seemed slightly different from either one from before. Though it was closer to their boss, it was also slightly different. It seemed as if, it was slightly higher in terms of strength. Both of them reaffirmed their grips on the handles of their spears, and by raising them slightly off the ground and in front of their bodies they both entered a battle-ready stance. Not knowing anything that could have transpired in the few short minutes they were cut off, the guards had to be vignt. No matter how ridiculous the thought of their master defeat sounded in their heads, they were trained warriors, protectors of their people. They both watched as a shadow, -somewhat familiar-shaped- slowly grow from beyond the darkness. It stretched towards the opposite wall, climbing higher and higher as the darkness slowly began to draw out the silhouette of the approaching figure. As soon as they recognized the familiar body, their wariness instantly vanished, subsided. A smile began to stretch across their expressions, their worry was quickly reced by the glorious prospects of the future. Their master was victorious! He didn''t only dare to defy the High Priest''s direct orders, but he actually seemingly grew in terms of power. From what they could sense, it could probably match with that of the High Priest! He might even be able to defeat him, and earn the praise of their God! He could be the next to be the Chosen and be crowned as the ''One who He speaks to!'' That would also mean that their importance as the Chosen one''s guards would rise. They would be able to step to the very top of the ranks, directly below their master and above all the annoying old fogeys of the tribe! Their mind continued to wander, raising more and more outrageous ims, possibilities for the future. Visions of uniting the four Great Tribes of the Ancient One under one banner once again, finally defeating the Xarik''s and finally be the true masters of the world! They could even once again finally im the surface once they receive their God''s blessing! Their wishful thinking came to halt when the familiar robes appeared at the doorway. Their gazes, full of appreciation, however, quickly turned into one resembling shock and fright when they noticed arge gaping hole at their silently standing elder''s chest. Though there were no visible wounds, the faint traces of blood that smudged the ceremonial white garb, staining it with a gradient of scarlet, made them lose their guardpletely and hurry to the aid of their master. From the cacophony of clicking noises both of the guards emitted, even without noticing the questioning, worried, and concerned sounding tone, Aiden could have guessed what they were asking. As soon as his transformation waspleted, he could feel the fading energy barrier, he didn''t have any time to check up himself and just quickly equipped the robe he saved previously before he stood up and tried to disy an arrogant, cold demeanor of what he felt matched the previous master of these two. Still, whilst he was listening attentively to their speeches, his gaze was staring coldly seemingly at the empty wall. However, behind that cold, disdainful-looking gaze, the young Aiden was grinning like a kid inwardly as he opened thetest system notification [Language: Reptilian - Basic discovered! Analyzing information 13%] --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 545 - 545 - A Hidden World [Language: Reptilian - Basic discovered! Analyzing information 13%] . . . [Language: Reptilian - Basic discovered! Analyzing information 17%] Notifications kept on appearing, one after another as the two creatures were jabbering, gabbling. Their tone was agitated, nervous, even carrying hints of fright as they clicked and cluttered. With the previous hurdle now resolved, Aiden just needed to give the process a bit of time, and allow the analyzation to bepleted and the skill to be created. Meanwhile, he could only try to act the part and disy the arrogant, conceited master''s figure, hoping that these two wouldn''t suspect anything in the process. Thus, Aiden retained the coldness in his eyes as he slowly gazed at the guard at his right, then at the one on the left. He didn''t utter a word, not even a scoff. Slowly, he raised his right arm and pointed towards the far end of the hallway. He nodded his head whilst showing pure disdain and contempt before he ignored the raining questions of the two and began to walk towards the direction the trio came before. Meanwhile, he kept some of his attention on the system, monitoring the progress of the skill, smirking inwardly as he watched climbing at a rapid pace. Aiden wasn''t actually sure that the steep increase the progress bar showed was rted to the fact that he resolved the issue previously and was now using a clean, pure form of these creatures, or mayhaps he received some kind of a boost from the absorbed elder? Though, he doubted thetter as he was yet to merge his memories into his mind, still, he couldn''tpletely exclude the possibility. Either way, after a few steps, as he walked away from his jail cell and left the twogging behind, he watched as the progress quickly reached 20%, then swiftly surpassed 30%. By the time the two guards woke up from their trance and hurriedly rushed after their master, it was already at 45% done with thenguage system process. Aiden could only hope that the subsequent timer before the skill would be created wouldn''t be too long. From the lightning-fast progress it was making, he was hoping it wouldn''t be tooplex of a task. As the guards ran after their master, they continued clicking their tongues, calling out for him, trying to get some sort of response from him. Still, their master seemed to be ignoring their questions. Still, he seemed fine. Bit cold and more distant than usual, but based on the sudden increase in power, he might be focused on getting back as fast as he could and issue a challenge to the High Priest. As the idea appeared in their minds, they looked at each other with the realization. A hopeful, cheerful smile quickly stered over their gazes, as they now, shifted from their worried questions to throwing praises and cheerful exmations whilst keeping up the pace with their master. This change, this shift in tone was actually very weed by Aiden, as it gave yet another boost to the progress he was making in the system. In the blink of an eye, several notifications blocked Aiden''s vision. [Language: Reptilian - Basic discovered! Analyzing information 54%] [Language: Reptilian - Basic discovered! Analyzing information 65%] . . . [Language: Reptilian - Basic discovered! Analyzing information 97%] [Language: Reptilian - Basic discovered! Analyzing information Completed!] [Analysisplete, processing information, creating skill. Remaining time: 0 hours 07 minutes 29 seconds] Reading through the list, Aiden was beyond himself. The progress was incredibly fast, in what at most was a minute, the system managed toplete the analysis of this strangenguage, and was now in the process of assimting the knowledge and creating the skill for him to rely on. With that, he would no longer be in theplete dark, and could finally understand these creatures and hopefully learn more about the reason for his capture. Why was he taken captive, alive? Why did they spare him but kill his pursuers without mercy? What was their goal? Also, the presence that constantly loomed over his head Aiden needed to either meet with the owner of it or at the very least, learn more. However, as he slowly reached the end of the hallway, which was also the end of the area he had mapped out previously, Aiden was now facing yet another challenge. He didn''t want to continue scanning, not wanting to divert any resource, no matter how minuscule it would be from the creation of thenguage skill. That was of the utmost importance. Yet, he had no idea what he should be doing. Where should he be going? He needed a quiet ce, a room he could escape to and settle down for the next couple of hours in order to go through the absorbed creature''s memories. Without that, it would be a futile endeavor in trying to assume the identity of this probably high-profile creature and assimte with their society. He couldn''t even reach out to his little servant, Thuk, and ask for guidance as then he would be adamant ining over, which Aiden couldn''t risk at this time. Deep in thought, he gradually slowed his steps, allowing the two behind him to finally catch up and take his sides proudly once again, while both of them were also deep in their own hopes and dreams. Amidst their illusions, they both conveniently forgotten to check up on the fact that there was indeed only one present in the chamber, meaning that the human boy''s supposedly dead body should still be lying on the dust there for everyone to see. If their master really did murder the boy, and -judging by the sudden increase in the power he radiated-, consumed some of his flesh as well, then the remains of the gruesome scene were left there to rot and stain the already pale air. A mistake that if they would have retained the vignce they were supposed to would have shed light on a mystery that would now perhaps never be resolved and they would never realize that their Master have already left this world, and they were happily following the very boy they thought to be dead Reaching the end of the hallway, Aiden suddenly stopped, surprised to see apletely different world from what he was expecting. The empty, dimly lit, empty, and deserted hallway that led to his chamber was gone, in its ce a vibrant, new hidden world revealed itself in front of his very eyes. The steep, narrow tunnel he was just about to leave entered a grand hall of sorts. He was standing at the precipice of a new world, an unknown or maybe just forgotten civilization. What he was looking at could only be described as marvelous! Aiden was left speechless! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 546 - 546 - Unfathomable Power Aiden was stunned as he arrived at the end of the hallway he was ced in. The tunnel opened into a spacious cave, a grand artificial hall with dimensions that he had never seen. No, calling it a cave or a grand hall would only belittle the unbelievable sight, this hidden world, it wouldn''t do it justice! There were no ends to it. No matter where he looked, -left, right, front or upwards- he couldn''t see the end, there were no cavern walls in sight! Instead, a living, breathing world, a city of sorts expanded before his exotic eyes. Strange, pale block huts lined up in an organized manner next to each other. Between them, bustling streets,mp posts elevating the atmosphere with the flickering lights glowing in them. An endless sea of simr, striped-skinks wearing fur clothing. Soldiers and probably guards wearing shining metal tes, holding stone-made primitive spears, clubs, and axes patrolled, keeping up the peace and order. Aiden was astounded, he couldn''t process what he was seeing. These creatures, unlike Thuk''s people in the outside world, weren''t forced to live on the scraps and trash of others. These creatures have created an entirely new world for themselves. Though strangely, they still kept living below the ground for whatever reason, the fact was that most of them had smiles on their faces. They were content with what they had. A series of loud clicks and guttural noises broke Aiden''s reverie in the next moment. As the trance cleared from his mind and rity returned to his eyes he saw a small, but sturdy-looking figure wearing shining metal full body armor, with an illustrious dragonhead-shaped helmet as it stepped forward, stopping before him. He held a spear,rger than himself in his right hand. His tone of voice as it continued clicking and gurgling, sounded arrogant, slightly annoyed. His demeanor was cold, his stature, figure radiated slight killing intent. From the hatred that oozed from each of his words he spat, it was clear he had some issues with the elderly robed skink he was strutting around as. Still, though he felt he was throwing usations, and even some threats at him, Aiden still couldn''t understand a single word of it. Not knowing what to do, he continued his ignorant, contemptuous outward disy, matching the cold gaze of thismander-, or perhaps captain-like figure with a simr of his own. His two guards took his silence as a sort of signal for them to take a stand. They saw it as an opportunity to show their master their loyalty. Realizing this, both stepped forward almost at the same time, taking a stance between their master and this armored captain, raising their spears and entering a battle-ready stance in the next moment. The guard on the right began to shout, throwing some simr-sounding clicks towards the captain. From his tone and the way he heatedly spewed each and every phrase, as well as the increasing red tint on the contorted, angry look, Aiden could guess that there were some colorful profanities involved. Not wanting to be left behind, and to seem weaker from the two, the guard on the left quickly joined in. His tone was cheekier, yet, each and every phrase he fired, seemed to be sharp as an arrow if only judging by the twitching corner of the captain''s growling mouth. Still, despite not understanding a single word, Aiden could feel that the situation was escting in a manner that wouldn''t be beneficial for either party. He quickly nced over his system, only to sigh with a displeased look on his face. [Analysisplete, processing information, creating skill. Remaining time: 0 hours 02 minutes 47 seconds] Though more than half of the required time had passed, what remained was still much more than he could afford to remain silent and ignorant. Even worse, he was yet to assimte the memories of the absorbed elder, he had absolutely no idea what was going on. Who was this captain, what was his problem? Why was he alone, and so aggressive towards them? Did these three do something that went against him? ''Could it be that their visit to me wasn''t supposed to happen?'' He pondered. With no other hint, this was the only conjecture he coulde to. Though he wanted to spectate more in order toe up with something, seeing how the fight could erupt in every second now, Aiden knew he couldn''t hesitate any more. He stepped forward, and while an audible slithered sigh escaped his closed lips, he released some of the shackles holding his true powers and aura at bay. In the next moment, the heated argument between the three skinks froze. A heavy, cold wind blew past them. With it, it brought forward a pressure they have never felt. Their knees unable to withstand the sudden increase in the atmospheric pressure were forced to bend. All three guards, the captain, and the Aiden''s two guards were forced to release their grips on their weapons and support their bodies with their hands, lest they would fall face-first on the ground. They were scared, confused. What was going on? They never felt anything like this! Though the two guards were also put under this new domain, the fright quickly left their faces when they noticed it wasing from behind them, from their master. Instantly, their eyes revealed a look of joy, they were ted. This power, this aura! It was unlike anything they have ever experienced! Perhaps, not even the high priest could stand up against him! The prospects of their future were looking brighter by each passing second, they didn''t bother too much of the current situation any more, they obediently, knelt on the ground. With great effort, they turned their bodies around and began to reverently kowtow towards their master. They looked like devoted servants that wanted nothing more than to please their lord, their god, and master. On the other hand, the captain wasn''t looking too happy. The angry scowl on his face was reduced to a displeased, slightly worrisome frown as he tried his best to fight against this incredible unknown force that came from that arrogant bastard. He was aware of his schemes, and his moves in the dark. He knew he went and despite the direct orders of the High Priest, he visited the human boy. Yet, something must have happened for him to suddenly grow so much. Although he was a respected priest, a person of power in their society, he wasn''t nearly as strong as he is showcasing right now. Suddenly, his eyes went wide as a terrible, dark thought crossed the captain''s mind. He sneaked into the boy''s chambers and came back stronger than before. Could it have something to do could HE have done something? --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 547 - 547 -Traitor Or Demigod? The guard captain trembled with a mixture of emotions as the gravity of the potential situation settled in his mind. If he really did what he was thinking, then what he did wasn''t just simply going against the high priests'' orders. No, it was betrayal, it was going against their will of the Four Great Tribes. No, the sphemy was even greater, he denied the will of their God, going against it directly! He quickly quelled his growing unease, the captain was wizened enough to understand that before going into frenzy and rushing to report this to his superiors, he needed to confirm this conjecture first and foremost. He needed to either debunk this grave conjecture or prove it beyond doubt before any actions could be taken. Coming to this conclusion, the trembling of the captain slowly calmed down. The shock began to settle, his heart once again returned from the crazy chaotic rhythm to a rtively normal beat. He looked past the kowtowing servantile guards, only to be shocked once again when he noticed the strange, eerie, ominous eyes of this despicable priest. He couldn''t process what he was seeing, his previous thoughts, his ns instantly vanished from his mind, leaving behind nothing as he gazed into those cruel, glowing golden eyes. That was the gaze from the legends! The eyes of their god! The omniscient gaze of their mighty, all-powerful creator! He couldn''t believe what he was witnessing! All the leftover power have left the guard captain''s body in an instant, his arms losing their strength, he fell down on the ground. Still, however, his opponent wasn''t done as in the next moment, as he swallowed some air into his lungs and pushed out his chest, even more, a surge of power, an invisible torrent rippled across the air,unching into him with a violent momentum and throwing him away like speckles of dust in a windy afternoon. His body was flung up in the air and came crashing against a nearby empty house, destroying a section of its stone wall in the process. As he lost sight of the armored skink, Aiden sighed with visible relief, exhaling all the used-up air from his body in the next instant. In the next instant, the pressure of his aura vanished as he reigned in his power once again, hiding it in the depths of his body. Yet even as his aura could no longer be felt, the two guards remained down on the ground and continued their clickety chants whilst kowtowing towards their master with reverence, causing Aiden to deepen the frown on his face as he gazed at them. Still, there was over a minute before he could have a chance in giving some words of pleasing to them or having a clue understanding a word of what they were saying all the while. Left without any other options, he could only sigh and walk up to the two faithful and misguided servantile guards and ce his hands on the top of their bowed heads. For a moment the thought of either giving them a sliver of his own power and turning them to be his real, true minions crossed his mind. However, he quickly dismissed the thought. Without a better understanding of his situation, without seeing the big picture, Aiden wasn''t willing to potentially go against this ever-present entity looming over his head constantly. These were his people, his servants. They were carrying his will, doing his bidding. This was his dream, simrly to Haven, it was a sanctuary. Aiden felt that he had no right to forcefully inject himself into the equation, this wasn''t like Eora, the outside world. Though he couldn''t be certain, as he had seen nothing of this realm so far, he felt that this slumbering, looming all-powerful entity was either the sole Master of this sub-world or one of those that guarded it. So, while the thought did cross his mind, in the end, he didn''t press on the matter and simply patted their heads, signaling them that it was time to end whatever they were doing. He then took a step forward, passed by them. His gaze, which was no longer glowing like themp posts ced by both sides of the streets was gazing towards the depths of this unknown city. As he looked at it from the premises still, he couldn''t help but be reminded of Higrove once more. The first and so far only city he had seen since he got himself in this old-new world. Now, he had finally seen something else, something new. Gupta, Haven''s ''heart'' as his servants sometimes referred to it, was still at most a growing settlement, a small little vigepared to these two. This was a city, a living, breathing mass of entirely different beings. Yet it still resembled something vastly simr to his previous experience. Even from a first look, the city was probably designed with a simr logic, a simr separation of the different sses in society than how it was done in the outside world. In fact, as he recalled Thuk and his people''s ''district'' back in Gupta, he was puzzled by how vast the differences were. Without the corruptive nature of humans, the world of Haven was still innocent, still resembling that of a true paradise. In there, the people there were free of their worries, they built their residents however they liked. Thuk and his people, as they began to settle in, they quickly began to recreate what they were calling the great dream of all of their kin. Shortly after, buildings looking simr to the ziggurat that was erected for his master, Number 3 appeared one after another. In any way, those buildings, and their structure, the methodology were vastly different from what he could see now. These buildings didn''t resemble the hands of the skinks, there were no simrities to those ''Dreams'' at all. Lost in a daze, he only came back to reality when suddenly he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, shortly followed by the sound of a notificationing through the system. Taking a look, the smirk on Aiden''s face made its appearance finally once again. He closed his eyes, allowing the system to transfer the knowledge it had just finishedpiling. He focused his mind on the knowledge, quickly processing all the information about the newest of skills in his growing repertoire. [Analysisplete, processing information, creating skill. Remaining time: 00 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds] [Analysisplete, Information processed. Skill: Language: Reptilian (-) created.] [Note: Assimtion of the new knowledge will cause some slight difort to host.] Seconds quickly passed as he stood still with his eyes closed. The two guards, who had already left the ground and stood up taking their stances a step behind their Master once more, have looked at him with confusion. What was he doing? Still, afraid to bother him and earn his ire, they refrained from asking and simply stood behind him, patiently waiting for him. They didn''t need to wait for long, as only a few secondster, Aiden''s eyes slowly fluttered open. He turned around, looked at them with a friendly smile sitting on his face. His lips parting in the next instant, a series of clicks escaped from his mouth. He could finally speak! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 548 - 548 - Zeal "[Reptilian] You." Aiden pointed at the guard on the left. "You stay behind, while you." He turned to the other one, that looked at him with the same bewildered, surprised expression as his partner. "You will go in front." The two guards shuddered under their leader''s cold gaze. Their gazes met for a brief moment as if trying to urge the other to step out and ask the question that bothered both. In the end, before they coulde to a conclusion, their leader asked out with a slightly irritated tone. "[Reptilian] What is it? Out with it." "[Reptilian] M-master Please forgive this lowly servant for her presumptuous words, but" "The guard on the right finally gathered enough courage to speak up his mind. "Where are we going? What is the master''s next n? Also" "[Reptilian] D-did did the master Master Zark f-finish off the" Stepping up, the second guard also chimed in, voicing the real concern they both had. Though they were fairly certain about what happened, they still hoped to hear it from him." "[Reptilian] Master Zark?" Aiden mumbled, savoring the name that he was finally given to the previous owner he was now impersonating. Since he was yet to assimte the lingering memories of the absorbed elder, he had no idea who he actually supposed to be, nor had any real ns. He was actually quite desperate to find a secluded shelter and take the rest of the day to slowly digest the gains and formte some sort of n of action finally. *** (A.N.: ''Small'' note here just to rify a few things. Normally when a Primal absorbs a creature he only takes some amount of its life essence (vitality if you will) for himself. In most cases, a single absorption would not yield the Primal with the form of the defeated, but instead, several more would be required. In the end, when finally the new form of the umted creatures would be created, the appearance would be generalized, by assimting the dominant traits from the ''pool''. In Aiden''s case, due to some specific factors, this process was skipped this time, and he gained the form from a single attempt, thus his appearancepletely matches the elderly skinks. If he were to absorb more of the same creatures and deliberately assimte their life essences, his appearance WILL change, reaching a more perfected, ''higher'' state gradually. Anyway, sorry for the long-winded note, but I felt it was better to be proactive and exin it beforehand. :) ) *** "[Reptilian] You don''t need to bother with that any more. "Aiden waved his hand dismissively at the question. "What you need to focus on, is to get me home without any other pests bothering I am tired, I need to rest before anything." He said with a cold, fierce expression, though inwardly he was dreadful, hoping that his vague words would somehow, magically match the situation and the usual demeanor of the old man, whilst at the same time, he would also solve his current predicament. The two guards nodded and jumped to attention at their master''s words. "[Reptilian] Yes, Master! Do not worry, we will not allow any other of the Temple Forces to interrupt us! High Priest Zuruk''s men would not bother you for the rest of the day, that we both swear!" They eximed with zeal glimmering in their determined gazes. Luckily they also gave a few extra important tidbits to Aiden, that he could then focus on during his researchter. The name, ''High Priest Zuruk'' and the ''Temple Forces'' seemed to be important key notes to remember. "[Reptilian] Still How did Commander Thurag learn of Master''s n? It shouldn''t be possible, unless" The guard on the left frowned as hemented on the event that had just happened. His face contorted into an ugly, angry-looking scowl as a thought holding great implications birthed in his mind. He turned to his Master and with trembling lips, he forced the thought out in the open. "[Reptilian] C-could it be that we have a a spy in our ranks?" Aiden didn''t answer the question, nor could he in any meaningful way. He just looked thoughtfully at the guard, analyzing everything he could. ''So This elder was some sort of Priest, that I already understood even before I could understand them. He and this High Priest Zuruk, who is probably some sort of spiritual person, or the leader of this settlement has some sort of disagreement between them.'' He pondered inwardly. ''I guess this old man is WAS a rebel, and had already amassed a force secretly. On the outside, he still follows this Zuruk guy, but under the cover of the shadows, he is working to usurp the leading position from him. These ''Temple Guards'' and this ''Commander Thurag'' are probably his official force.'' He nodded, epting his own conjectures, though at the same time it seemed that he also agreed with the guard''s theory. Seeing their master nod at his conjecture, the guard was secretly ted, whilst also, at the same time angered that such a thing could happen with them. He began to beat his chest with his right fist as he eximed with newfound determination and vigor. "[Reptilian] Worry not Master! I promise to Master, that I" Before he could continue his partner, the second guard also straightened his back and began to beat his own chest and join in the exmation. "[Reptilian] No WE promise that we will get to the end of this failure, and root out the spy and execute him to send a message to those bastards!" They finished their vow together. Listening to their words, the draft of what could beter formted into a proper n began to outline in Aiden''s mind. Thinking for a bit, he shook his head in response to their words. "[Reptilian] No. Don''t kill him, but instead throw him in shackles and leave him to me. I will deal with the matter, myself." Hemanded, then changed the topic. "Anyway, that is forter. For now, bring me home, as I said, after all that happened today I need to rest and focus on our ns. We have wasted too much time here already. We do not want any other of the guards to catch wind of what happened here and pester us more." He ordered, turning his attention away from the two, and ncing at the rubble by the small shelter at the side. HE could still feel a faint life force from under the debris, meaning that themander had somehow managed to survive. Though Aiden wasn''t sure of the figure''s state, he did not want to risk getting exposed and was eager to arrive at his new temporary abode and to go through the memories of the seemingly rebellious priest. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 549 - 549 - Regret "Finally!" Aiden eximed, heaving a tired, exhausted sigh, as therge stone door was pushed back to its original position, leaving him by himself that he oh so desperately wanted. Ever since he stepped foot on this strange new realm, he barely had any time to rest. From one disaster he fell to the next, barely managing to keep up at this point. Turning his gaze towards where he could sense the vague connection is hinting towards, Aiden could only sigh and hope that the other''s situation is at the very least not like his. After their small scene with themander skink at the premises of this underground city, his two faithful guards escorted Aiden to a secluded spot outside the city limits to the western edges. There, after some extra trekking, passing through several markers and traps set by their faction, they arrived at what the guards called ''home''. It was a series of carved out entrances to the supporting cavern walls, which they then lead into what seemed more like the skinks'' true creation rather than the unique city that Aiden was fairly certain going purely by its familiar design that it was made by some other race, most likely humans of the past. Arriving at the home, Aiden saw several other striped skinks, mostly in tattered, ragged clothing each holding onto or just simply carrying stone-made spears with them. Their attire,pared to the mboyantmander from before, was quite a sad sight. Skinks ranged from a wide age demographic, with both sexes at a roughly equal presence going on about to their daily duties. Still, as they spotted the approaching trio, each and every one of them stopped in their tracks. A small smile appeared on their weary gazes as they fervently greeted the approaching Aiden, disguised as the elderly robed priest. Reverent, zealous greetings, cheers weed him as he entered what seemed more of a hastily built up base of operations than a living, breathing suburban section of the Draconian Skink''s city. He silently nodded and smiled at the crowd that formed a path towards the central,rgest cave entrance, allowing their Master to pass through with ease. The scene was shocking, to say the least. Puzzled by what was going on, Aiden could only stare in silence, and try his best not to fall out of the character he held up until now. Still, seeing all those honest, happy, and ted gazes he was receiving, he felt a touch of guilt for the first time. Could he have made a mistake? Was the priest he gobbled up wasn''t as bad as he first thought, guessed? What was actually going on with these people, who are all these people? ''I really need to process these memories Questions just keeping up and I can''t understand anything'' Hemented inwardly, forcing a stern, distant look on his face as he crossed towards thergest cave. As they approached the entrance, a skink, wearing a simr, matching robe but with a slender physique stepped out of the darkness, and walked towards their group. The skink raised her arm in a hugging motion as she increased her speed with each of her steps. A wide smile stretched over her scaled, golden-striped head as the figure threw her hands over Aiden''s neck and hugged him tightly, radiating an unmistakable familial warmth. Feeling the overflowing emotions of the happy young female Aiden''s heart was further twisted, feeling immense guilt and regret over his previous actions. "[Reptilian] Papa! You got back safe and sound!" The little girl eximed as tears began to swell at the corner of herrge, mustard yellow eyes. She hid her face in Aiden''s chest, only now noticing therge gaping hole in his chest. Her face instantly twisted into a frightened look, she sniffed at the dried-up blood before she voiced her concern. Recognizing its familial scent, she became more and more worried. "[Reptilian] Papa Is this your blood?" She asked with a concerned gaze, whispering only so that they could hear. "What happened? Are you hurt?" Aiden could barely withstand the churning, sharp pain in his heart as he kept listening to the little girl. Still, he forced a smile on his face, as he gently shook his head in response. "[Reptilian] It''s nothing serious, I got into some problem, but as you can see, I got out fine." He did not try to hide whose blood that stain actually was. From how the girl acted it was clear that she recognized the stench and could match it with her father''s. So, without any other option, he could only admit it ande with a vague response that wasn''t a lie. He actually felt that if he were toe up with some story, the girl would spot the lies. "[Reptilian] Nothing serious?!" The girl eximed with a shocked gaze, hearing her father''s dismissive answer. "How could it be ''Nothing Serious'', papa! Just look at the size of this hole!" She eximed touching the rims of the gap on his chest. "You cannot escape from this! Tell me what happened! Who hurt you!" She retorted. Her eyes were flickering with a mystical light as her anger reached new peaks at the notion of some harm that could havee to her beloved papa. Aiden was shocked when she could feel the familial sort of presence, the power that loomed over the entire underground world ever since he got here. He looked at the girl with surprise. "[Reptilian] Nothing bad happened, calm down." He said, separating from her for a bit and gently patting the top of her head. "Papa just got into some trouble, but in the end, I gained more than I had hoped." He revealed with a mischievous smile on his face. Before the girl could ask, he put his right index finger over the girl''s mouth, shushing her in the process. He added with a warm tone. "[Reptilian] I will show youter. For now, I need to return to my room and rest. I am drained after all that happened today. I promise to exin everything tomorrow, okay?" "[Reptilian] You promise?" The girl asked withrge puppy-like eyes. Seeing that Aiden nodded with a smile. "[Reptilian] Yes, I promise. Now-" "[Reptilian] Don''t forget, you promised! You know you can''t lie to me, papa!" Before Aiden could finish, the girl squinted her eyes, gazing sharply at her ''father'', she gave her warning. Not giving him a chance to respond, she then turned around, began to pull Aiden''s hand back to the cave. "[Reptilian] Come and rest then papa! You have to regain all your strength so that you can tell me what happened! I will not let those that hurt you go!" She eximed with an assured tone. The way she spoke seemed to suggest that the little girl carried many more secrets, she had some deeper connection to the owner of this looming presence --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 550 - 550 - Memories (Part 1) As the stone door closed behind him, Aiden could finally heave a sigh of relief. After everything that happened today and the day before, Aiden was in desperate need of some real rest. Still, he couldn''t help but look towards the direction of where the life signs of the girls were supposed to be. Aiden felt regret, sadness, and grief for the first time. Regret, because of his hasty actions. Because of him, a child, a small angel of a girl has lost the one person she loved the most. Sadness as well as grief for taking away a father, a ''papa'' from someone innocent of all of this. Aiden sighed, unable toe up with anything to lift his mood. ''I can only roll with it now. I" Making up his mind, Aiden nodded onest time towards the direction of the girl, before turning away and walking up to the far-right corner of the room where a stack of leaves, -probably gathered from around the forest above them-, was gathered and ced to form a cozy-looking nest. Not too bothered about the unique bedding, Aidenid down at the pile of leaves. Exhaustion quickly overcame him, Aiden was asleep just a few momentster. Light sleeping sounds, gentle wheezes escaping from his lips as he descended into a deep slumber finally. At the same time, with his mental hold released, the memories of the absorbed skink could finally be assimted into his consciousness. In his mind, the images began to y out as if they were merely snippets of another person''s dreams Opening up his eyes, Aiden found himself once again in a dusty, dimly lit small closed-off space. He wasn''t sure where exactly he was, but the faint humming noisesing from somewhere below him, suggested that this time, there were at least multiple levels to his current abode. Also, as he turned his head around slowly to scan his surroundings, he realized he wasn''t a captive at all. He was sitting on a stone chair, in front of him, some sort of altar with dozens of lit candles providing the source of lumination for the chamber. Additionally, though there were no windows looking at the outside at all, there were no doors blocking his way from escape either. A burgundy velvety carpet could be seenid on the outside, suggesting that wherever he currently was, it was meant for those higher up in the societaldder. The white marble floor that wasid underneath the expensive, luxurious ground tapestry. Just as he was gleaning at the hallway, the shadows of an approaching figure emerged from behind the walls. In the next moment, the owner of the shadow also appeared, and without as much as a word he stepped in. Just like the elderly skink and his little daughter, he too was wearing the same white robe, albeit his had golden threads embroidered at its edges as if they wanted to ''draw'' a contour, a majestic outline for the wearer of this holy garment. His face was hidden behind a thick dragon-shaped dark oakwood mask. White ritual markings were painted all over it, and a couple of long golden-colored feathers ced on top, giving the object that much more relevance. Truth be told, the little figure had the resemnce of some sort of tribal shaman, rather than that of a High Priest. Still, Aiden somehow knew who this figure was, making his expression sour into a deep distasteful frown. "[Reptilian] High Priest Zuruk, to what do I owe the pleasure? What made youe all the way to my humble abode?" Words flew out of Aiden''s mouth, catching him slightly off guard. Though at least he finally realized that this isn''t real, but instead he has somehow immersed himself into the visions of the Robed Elder. With that realization, though he was surprised by the strange, forced perspective he had this time, he wasn''t too bothered by it either. Instead, he let go of trying to take the reins and just ''sat back'' on his metaphorical seat and let himself merely be the passenger to witness the events that the system deemed important to witness, for him to relive. Though hidden, from the smirk, the disdainful tone the masked leader had hit in his greeting it wasn''t too difficult to feel the conflict between these two important individuals. "[Reptilian] Well now Why couldn''t I just take the time out of my busy schedule to visit an old friend?" Zuruk teased, chuckling at his own words at the end. "[Reptilian] Cut to the chase, Worm Worshipper." Aiden, or as he could now fully recall, Archbishop Zark snorted, the deep frown not leaving his wrinkled expression. Instantly, the High Priest turned silent and didn''t respond for a couple of seconds. His body was trembling with the unsurmountable anger and rage he was trying to push down and not let it cloud his mind and ruin all the ns he had set up with such effort. Eventually, he sighed under the mask, and with a bit of a worn-down tone, -the sign of the arduous battle he had just fought with himself-, he spoke. "[Reptilian] Old friend, old friend I will never understand how can you serve at such a post with such a heathen belief." He sighed, before continuing. "You me the Ancient One for the punishment of your crimes Yet you are still here, serving his Holy Will, following themands of his Chosen One I wonder" He caressed his dark green chin that peeked out from under the thick wooden mask, showing as if he was in deep thought. "Dunno I guess that makes you more of a spineless, miserable worm than anybody else, ain''t it?" He eximed, erupting into a boisterous guffaw at the end of his remark. Aiden could feel a deep-seated hatred, a burning rage, a wave of anger he had never felt before growing inside the body of Zark. The sorrow of his little girl''s cursed fate, her being the selected mate for the Ancient One A sealed destiny of being an offering of flesh to fulfill a carnal desire. Worst of all, the fact that there was no possible escape from it either The face of the little girl, the same Aiden met just a few moments ago emerged in Zark''s mind, causing him to lose all semnce of normalcy. He could no longer hold back, he jumped up from his seat, shivering from the overwhelming amount of rage. "You B*STARD!" He roared, pointing at the High Priest. In the next instant, faint white light with hints of golden at its root surrounded the elder as he released all of his power, allowing it to run free in his veins, filling up every fiber of his being. He focused the flow of energy towards the tip of his pointed fingers, gathering it to get ready for a decisive attack, a hopefully fatal hit --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 551 - 551 - Memories (Part 2) Soon, milky white energy materialized at the tip of Zark''s fingers. Sparks flew off as the small seedling kept on growing, gathering more and more of the elder''s inner power at the edge of his fingertips. Despite the buzzing source of the soon-to-be apple-sized ball of energy that crept closer and closer to being ready to be unleashed and fired, its intended target, the masked high priest stood in silence, with an uncanny calm in his stance. It was as if he wasn''t afraid of the iing attack at all. His leaned back stand suggested deep content, resembling an entity that stood above of all this filthy rabble. He even folded his arms in front of his chest, as if visually taunting, urging the maddened elder to finallypletely lose it and rebel just like he should have years ago. Annoyance, anger but at the same time, despair, sorrow, sadness filled up thest bits of Zark''s heart and at the same time, mind. The man standing in front of him, was the Chosen One, the direct representative of the oh so holy god''s, the Ancient One''s will. Even if he could never really stand up to an entity at that level, he could direct his resentment on the one standing in front of him. After all, he was still of mortal flesh, even if his soul have been connected into the Godly Consciousness, he could still destroy the husk, the container, and feel just that much better. "[Reptilian] Aargh Die you B*stard!" Zark roared in a face twisted with all the overflowing emotions. Tears escaping from the corner of hisrge deep yellow nted eyes, he unleashed all the power he gathered up to this point. The white apple-sized energy ball suddenly shot out, transforming into a literal beam of light as it traversed the short distance in an instant, defying thews of nature itself. Yet, the old man, the high priest still didn''t seem to be bothered by the attack at all. He kept his leaned back, casual posture, the glimmer in his eyes that could be seen from the sockets of his mask, flickered with a dangerous golden glimmer as it looked ahead. As the attack reached the critical distance, suddenly something happened, causing the Archbishop, Zark to finally wake up from the haze that was cast over his mind. Invisible currents sent ripples traversing across the seemingly empty space when the beam of energy collided into the barrier protecting the High Priest. The ripples, distorting the space formed a small globe surrounding the old masked skink from all directions, not allowing any attack, or ambush to reach its destination. Suddenly, the smirk, the posture full of contempt, and the mocking glimmers in those disgusting eyes of his all suddenly made sense. It wasn''t just mere confidence, the old man knew he couldn''t be harmed, he knew he was protected. "[Reptilian] What? H-how?!" Zark muttered, disbelief still painted on his face. Though deep inside he already realized the futility, the stupidity of his actions, of the way he simply yed into the hands of his most hated enemy He knew it was toote. As the trambling barrier slowly returned to its calm state, the High Priest clicked his tongues and shook his head, taking slow, measured steps towards the stunned archbishop. "[Reptilian] Tsk, tsk My dear friend, Zark Come on, you know that there is no point to this, do you?" He chuckled once again, clearly enjoying his dominance, all the power he was basking in. "[Reptilian] I am the chosen representative, the one He decided to ce above our people. I am the one carrying HIS will, I am the one hearing his whispers!" He stopped at the other side of the altar-like desk. "[Reptilian] Let me tell you a secret, just for old times'' sake" He put his hands over it, and leaned closer to the shivering, trembling Zark. A wide smirk could be actually felt stretching to a dangerous degree, as he slowly uttered each and every word that came next. "[Reptilian] He can''t wait for your daughter to reach the appointed age" He sneered as he leaned back and straightened his back. His words were like hot knives melting more and more of his heart and soul with each strike. "To be the one to bear the next generation, the one to carry the ''torch'' after me. Oh, the irony of it!" As the vision came to an end and slowly faded back into the void, Aiden could hear the High Priest''s taunting guffaw for quite a while. Only when the scenery changed did the bastard''s voice vanished from his mind. "[Reptilian] Do we need to really leave, Papa? Where''s mommy? Won''t she be worried if she can''t find us when shees home?" Tugging at the side of his robe, the little girl asked as the two skinks stood in front of their own house. At the innocent-sounding question, Aiden could feel a deep, sharp pain surging. Simr to the taunting jibs from the High Priest before, the question was a sharp, hot knife pushed deep into the old man''s heart. Still, he took a moment to calm and collect himself before responding with a forced cool in his voice. He had to stay focused, he couldn''t mourn his beloved, not yet. Not until they escaped to safety not until he had his vengeance. "[Reptilian] Mommy is" He gulped, trying to swallow all the emerging pain, and sorrow back down, letting it prickle at his heart instead. "She is busy, she can''te. She is at a safe ce, don''t worry. But, we are not, we need to go, or the bad guys will hurt us and take you away. Be a good girl and stay strong for mommy and daddy, okay?" Listening to his papa, the little girl silently nodded and only sniffed. She either was much more intelligent than what she was given credit for or on the contrary, she did not understand what was going on. She squeezed her father''s hand she was holding onto tightly, allowing him to take her away. Understanding her silence to be eptance, Zark didn''t linger any longer, and quickly rushed away, outward of this humongous underground ancient city, towards the caves he and the small man and women he gathered in the recent weeks, since his first sh with the High Priest. As they reached the end of the street they lived in, they both stopped for a second, taking onest look at the home they spent their lives in. Emotions swirled once again in Zark. He tried his best not to let the pain, the suffering, the torment show on his face even if it was an incredibly hard task to do. He wanted to show a strong front to his daughter, he needed to be her support. As he finally turned away and was ready to leave, she missed the flickering sparks in her little daughter''s fierce, cold gaze as she shifted her gaze. Turning her head away, it slowly wandered away from the dull-looking stone building, to the darkness in the distance --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 552 - 552 - Memories (Part 3) Once again, the scene began to fade as the vision waspleted. Following the secondrge dream-like vision, the system began to process the absorbed creature''s memories at a higher speed, absolving it into Aiden''s mind at high speeds. Images flicked in front of Aiden''s mind one after another. Scenes of how the father, the ex-archbishop Zark, and the small girl, Tolliah escaped from the cmity that had befallen them. He saw snippets of the past, gradually understanding more and more of how this world, separate from the ground above, worked. How the little girl wasn''t a normal girl, but one with special, powerful blood flowing in her veins. Her fate was incredibly dark, twisted, and cruel. She was to be offered both flesh and soul to the Ancient One as a sort of offering to ensure the continued survival of their people. How the High Priest emunicated both, but strangely, did not order for any capture. In fact, it seemed that the altercations were either silently forgiven, or perhaps someone or something intervened In reality, though they were forced out of their old homes, they weren''t actively hunted. They were even allowed to wander the city, Ugburg''s streets without too much of a worry. Still, just to be on the safe side, Tolliah was forbidden from wandering outside of the base premises and had to stay within close vicinity of the central cave they made, as that was the only one that had several sealing mechanisms built into it in case of an emergency. Zark didn''t know what caused the sudden shift in the High Priest''s tone. After all, his daughter was marked as the sacrificial mate to be presented to the Ancient One, the one that would be then granted the ''gift'' to carry the next High Priest within her once she came to age. Yet, no matter how much he tried, there was no information about the matter. In fact, the Temple Guards were actively working to get the matterpletely forgotten from the minds of the citizenry. Wanted signs were taken down, all rted material confiscated and the rabble-rousers taken into custody. Still, despite their efforts, such important matters as a rebellion couldn''t bepletely rooted no matter how hard they would try. People still remembered, whispers still carried the words, stories slowly turning to myths and legends. Reality twisting, contorting into that of the obscure fantasies of the many after each passing. Yet, it wasn''t all bad. The pressure caused several new members to be forced out of their homes and eventually find their way into one of the agents set up by Zark and be taken into their folds, slowly growing, gaining power. Months passed in this strange, heavy, tense atmosphere where the smallest of sparks could have lit the fuse for the powder keg and kickstart an explosive, brutal war between the two factions. Still, neither side wanted to end up in that state. Besides the fact that over time they were both roughly at the same size and the victor wouldn''t be clear from the start, it would also leave their city in a severely weakened state allowing the other nations to take on the opportunity and attack them. Yet, that still wasn''t the worst, and it would probably only make them dy their ns a bit and find other opportunities to take on the other side of this debate. The fall of their city would also shift the power bnce between the four great tribes of the Underworld. With the fall of the Draconic Skinks, the four great would be three, with one of them stronger than the other two. The millennial-old standoff, the equilibrium would be broken to pieces, most likely causing all the big and even the smaller tribes residing below the scorched surface would go into an all-out campaign, resulting in the loss of thousands, if not millions in the process. Even if the stories of the Bareskins that once lived atop the surface and were the masters of thend were shared and still told between the members of the tribes, all their pent-up and swallowed emotions woulde out in an explosive manner. Greed, Wrath, Vengeance, Lust Whatever they tried to keep down, would no longer be kept in the dark. This notion was understood both by the High Priest and the Archbishop as well. They both knew that if they were to go all out and fight, it would ultimately be the catalyst that would mark the end of times. Unless the Ancient One were to decide to leave its chamber and directly intervene, the world would be thrown in chaos once again. Still, they both knew that would never happen. The Ancient One, thest remaining Guardian of this world would never leave his chamber at the center of the world. Not just he didn''t want to anymore, as the wounds of the Great Cataclysm could not heal in the span of a few dozen thousand years. It would need millions and millions of years Yet, knowing all that their differences meant for the future of this world, neither party could give in. At the archbishop''s side, he was carrying a deep scar, that could not heal by a meager apology. The death of his beloved wife, the mother of their child was not something a simple ''Sorry'' could make right. Nothing will give Surina back to them. The burning fires in both father and daughter''s soul could only be quenched by offering the severed head of each and every person involved in the torture, assault, and subsequent execution with the High Priest''s head ced at the lead. Their rage, their anger was justified. For them, the world has already crumbled to pieces, they have already lost the light, the reason for pushing on. Although for Tolliah, she still had her father, herst glimmer of light amidst the vast sea of despair trying to gobble her up, and for the father, she still had the cheerful little angel by his side Still, for the sake of the people that stood behind them, they couldn''t afford to be the reason for unleashing the end of times However, they both were hanging on thest thread. Their only support before falling into chaos and insanity was the knowledge that the other one was safe and sound With a loud gasp, Aiden''s eyes suddenly snapped open, he sat up. His forehead glistening with heavy beads of sweat, he was heavily heaving. Like if he just woke from a terrible nightmare, his heart was beating in a rapid, chaotic rhythm. He frowned as he turned his gaze towards the direction where the little skink girl should be resting right now. A deep frown settled across his face, he forced out another heavy, emotional sigh. ''This is going to be a problem'' --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 553 - 553 - ‘Cruel’ Torture As the days passed on, slowly reaching its zenith, none of the sent-out parties have returned to report to Captain Don yet. Though he expected that each of the missions would take most likely the full day to eitherplete or at the very least progress in them, he was still quite worried about each and every one of them. Even for the younger generation that is still fresh in their ranks, he already thought of them as part of theirrge family, even if they haven''te from the samend like them. Although their first meeting was questionable at best, their intention wasn''t evil, or harmful in any way. For a strange and grand event like this one, Captain Don and the rest of the Silver Howls just wanted to make sure that the kids that they were told to be joining them wouldn''t be simply dead weights to carry around. For and that was barely explored as it so tantly turned out, each and every person was essential to the group. Each and every member had to be useful, had to be pushing the same ''cart'' towards the same goal, and shouldn''t just be a hindrance, lest it could cause the demise of others. Luckily their stupid idea, their mistake of a n didn''t result in anything serious and in the end, did manage to serve its ultimate purpose. The two sides merged into one, and anyst lingering doubts and concerns were washed away with the blood, sweat, and tears they shed yesterday. Thinking about it, his expression soured, he turned his cold gaze towards the chained-up creature still attached to the wooden pole at the side of the camp. These abominable, horrid monsters seemed to be more than just the fuel for the next several decades of nightmares for the group, but natives to thisnd. Creatures that thrived under these harsh climates, found shelter, substance to support their continued survival and maybe evolve even further. From this creature, these Archolves actions as some of the girls started calling them due to their close resemnce of arachnids and wolves, seemed to be intelligent, evolved to the point of being capable of feeling and showing signs of emotions. At the very least, this captive specimen has shown signs of hatred, disdain, contempt and since morning, small signs of sadness. Most likely he was starting to feel the pain of hunger, his body was slowly turning weaker and weaker as he spent almost a day without any food source. This was actually going ording to the Captain''s n. Since the creature was still treating them with silent treatment, he was denied any substance as a means of punishment. Captain Don wasn''t ignorant, he knew that creature had high intelligence and knew that he understood most of what he was told even if he didn''t know theirnguage. Still, as a means to further test Archolf''s intelligence, the team began to take turns and speak to it, even if it was mostly to vent their pent-up frustrations, they spoke to it whenever they were back at the campsite. Suddenly, the sizzling sounds of burning fat broke Don''s trance and brought him back to the now. Rotating the stick in his hand, he rotated the small piece of meat he was currently cooking, or to be more precise, barbequing over the burning pyre, giving it a bit more color and allowing the seasoning he sprinkled over it to melt into the flesh just a bit more. He watched with a sneer as the thin, white rope of smoke was picked up by the gentle breeze and carried over to the hungering captive. He wanted the creature to be able to almost taste, the juicy, tenderloin he was cooking, yet be unable to obtain the heavenly treasure. As he noticed the creature''s 8 bead-like eyes snap open as the smell entered his nostrils he almost chuckled with delight. The creature began to squirm, the urge to break off his shackles and take what his predatory mind and heart desired for himself drove him to the brink of insanity. As the meat turned into a beautiful golden brown under the heavy seasoning, giving off the impression that it was ready, Captain Don picked up a wooden te and ced the meat on it. Grabbing a fork and some knife he stood up and slowly walked over the creature, making sure that the sight of the stake would never be obstructed along his path, and that the creature could have a clear view of the flowing, escaping juices slowly gathering into a pool beneath the literal slice of heaven. "Mmmmm." He hummed with delight as he inhaled the mouthwatering fragrance. Focusing his gaze on his beautiful creation, he remarked, as if he was speaking to himself. "I am sure this will taste incredible It''s shame there''s nobody here for me to share this with It is just a bit too much for one person" He sighed, shaking his head with a displeased, regretful frown. "I guess, I should have made a smaller piece Now I will have to throw away half of it" He spoke loudly, giving ample theatrical disy to each of his words. Though he never looked at the creature as he was slowly approaching him, he could feel the heavy gazes of his four pair''s of eyes as if he was trying to pierce him to death. As they say, if a look could kill Arriving at his destination, Captain Don, took a stool and sat down, in front of the creature, just outside of the range of his shackles'' allowed movement. He ced the wooden te on hisp, pierced the closest edge of the meat with the fork, and sliced off a bite-sized piece from it. Raising it in front of his face, he blew some air on it, making another regretful-sounding remark. "Ah, this is such a waste This piece of meat should have been shared by at least someone else Too bad there''s no one to share it with" He shook his head lightly, before slowly cing the meat into his mouth. Slowly, visibly Don chewed on the piece of meat, taking his ample time to enjoy its juices and grounding it into a digestible format. By the time, he swallowed, guiding the grounded, chewed remnants down, he could long since feel the heavy gaze of the creature. He could sense the disturbance of the air around them, as the creature was slowly losing thest bits of his resistance Captain Don, although kept on with the theatrics, he was grinning inwardly. Even without looking at the salivating, sad look of the creature, he was sure that his n was working (AN: I may have been hungry as I was writing this chapter. :D) --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 554 - 554 - A New Quest [Note: Memories of the Draconic Skink Zark have been sessfully assimted with the host.] [The following skills have been granted: Staff Mastery (Level 1), Speechcraft (Level 1)] [Due to missing prerequisite, the below skill could not be added: Dark Magic (Level 1)] [The passive effect Ancient One''s Chosen Heir (Level -) has been granted.] [Ancient One''s Chosen Heir: epted as the brood and heir to the Ancient One, thest guardian of the world of . His ever-present gaze is focused on the host, every action will be judged. Only if proven worthy will the heir be granted their just boons. In case the heir fails to meet the expectations, judgment will be cast upon him.] [New Main Quest: Tipping the Scales (Part 1) Difficulty: C-A Objective: -Meet with the Ancient One -Bring the girl, Tolliah to meet with you Optional: -Make sure that Tolliah the girl bes subordinated to you through the system. Banish the Traitorous Guardian''s influence. Rewards: Ascendance, ????, Experience, Draconic Skink Free Evolution Failure Conditions: -Tolliah bing hostile -Failure to protect Tolliah from being captured by the High Priest Zuruk Penalty: ?????, Marked as the Herald of Doom, Actively hunted by all the underworld''s tribes] [200 XP has been granted, due to sessful assimtion.] [Mastery Progress: Draconic Skink - Clean - Tier 1+ - 25% - New Milestone Reached! - 50 XP has been granted!] As slowly he returned from thend of dreams, Aiden was met with a long list of notifications sent by the system. His eyes gradually turned wider and wider as he processed all the updates, he have earned so incredibly much. Though after the slightly refreshing break, the system has once again forced a Main Quest upon him, after seeing its contents he wasn''t too disturbed. He already made ns to meet with the owner of this constant overbearing presence, the true mastermind hiding behind the scenes and using these small, innocent people as tools for his continued amusement. Yet, when he understood the wretched fate this arrogant entity has cast upon that poor, innocent girl, and the grave injustice he has served for her since then, Aiden''s anger began to rise, his rage began to boil. Sadly, the fact that he still couldn''t gain any skills rted to casting spells, did not even surprise him anymore. Though he was bothered by it, he already understood that he needed the missing affinity first. Without it, he was just incapable of absorbing any rted abilities. Yet, so far he never found a way to get the [Magic Proficiency] skill, nor did the system grant him any quest rted to it. Although the message about the mastery progress was something he hadn''t seen for a long time, the note that shocked Aiden the most was the weird passive effect he had suddenly gained, the [Ancient One''s Chosen Heir]. It actually confirmed the feeling he had ever since arriving in this strange, dark world. He was being watched, and by someone truly powerful at that. Without allowing him to have a say in the matter he was thrown into the midst of all the events, Aiden was selected as this ''Chosen Heir'', giving him the chance to be the inheritor of whoever this entity truly was. Yet, from the wording of the quest, which was also most likely rted to everything so far, it seemed that the story behind how that great war Aiden learned from the absolved memories had more to it than he first thought. This Ancient One was marked as the ''Traitorous Guardian'', which was quite telling. ''Just what sort of battle has happened, that ended up with 3 out of the 4 guardians turning up dead, the entirendscape being scorched beyond redemption and the life being almostpletely wiped out?'' Aiden pondered as he sat up from the nest he used as bedding. He had no idea how much time could have passed, nor about how long he spent in the Underworld. Being underground, his usual indicator, the sunlight, and the sky was not something he could take a look at after all. Regardless, after assimting the memories of the ill-fated archbishop, Aiden was feeling refreshed. The dwindling reserves of yesterday were now almostpletely restored, he was close to his peak performance once again. ''There''s no point wasting my time cooped up in this room I should probably explore my surroundings a bit'' He thought, pushing himself up from the ground. After spending a few minutes stretching out and refreshing his limbs ordingly, Aiden reached for the stone ''door'' which was basically a big sturdy rock ced in front. With his constant scanning, he confirmed that the small girl was inside her room just opposite of his, still sleeping soundly. Guards were stationed outside of the long hall, way out of reach, thus making him alone. ''I guess it should be fine then'' He muttered, stepping forward and reaching out with his right hand. As he ced it atop the surface of the rock, Aiden simply pushed on it, causing a loud rumble to echo in the hall and the heavy rock that was usually maintained by multiple guards to be pushed to the side. Pushing away from therge, heavy barrier that would have taken at least four guards to handle normally, Aiden walked out of his chamber with a much calmer expression than yesterday. His attention turned towards the room opposite of his, where the small girl, Tolliah was still soundly asleep. From the scans of the system, her rest was undisturbed, her state of mind was serene. ''Heh'' Aiden couldn''t help himself as he watched the small tooltip of the little girl. ''She must have been worried about his father'' Thinking about the archbishop''s actions, Aiden''s expression soured. ''Still I don''t get it. Why did he want to kill me? Going far into enemy lines acting as if he was following the High Priest''s orders, just to get me, an unknown captive from the top removedpletely? What was the point?'' Aiden couldn''t understand his actions. Why was he so adamant about getting him removed? What did he want to do? Was it all just to spite the High Priest and the Ancient One behind him? ''No That''s way too petty and shallow for someone like him.'' He shook his head. Unfortunately, that part of the memories was never revealed, the light was not shed over this mystery. Thest days of archbishop Zark were not avable for some unknown reason. ''There had to be something But what?'' Hemented, not expecting an answer. Shaking his head, Aiden turned to the side, gazing towards the inner, unexplored sections of this humble sanctum of the rebel skinks. He had a feeling that some of the answers he was looking for would be found hiding behind this dark curtain. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 555 - 555 - Blasted System With his mind made up, Aiden turned towards the left, taking his time to scan as much of his surroundings as he could with the usage of his [Dark Sense] ability. As the energy waves were sent out, a long and winding cavern tunnel was slowly revealed in front of him. Smaller side rooms, caves sometimes with one or multiple life signs whilst for most with no souls in them at all were drawn up by his system map. Yet, like in some cases before, at some point the tunnels that spread out, slowly revealing the beginnings of what looked more like a maze, abyrinth than anything else, his abilities were blocked. From what seemed more like a start point that could potentially take him to a long exploration, he was forced to take it on whilst being kept in the dark. Aiden frowned at this revtion, not sure if that would be the best course of action. On the other hand, the sight was actually quite puzzling as well. Why or even better, how is it that such a cavern system, such a deathly maze wasid down just a bit further down this hall. What''s the deal about it? ''Could it be that they made their base deliberately at a ce like this and tunnel into the ''outside'', knowing that when they would be eventually attacked by the High Priest''s Temple Guardians, they would need an escape route? If so, shouldn''t he have some more knowledge about the ce beyond? Why is it that even after absorbing the archbishop his knowledge was severely limited?. ''[Aiden, you worry too much. The knowledge you absorbed was just a small part of the full memories you could attain. Still, your proficiency, your mastery over abilities are still fairly low, thus there are some losses during the process. If you want, you will need to increase your level with your skills.]'' Enya''s light voice sounded inside Aiden''s head in the next moment, catching him off guard. ''Hmm? What do you mean? Which skills, and how much? I do have some points I can use, as I recall'' Aiden asked, quickly opening up his system''s menu and bringing up his Status Screen. [ *Status* | Lab | Domain | Activities ] [Status Screen ] [ *Main* | Skills | Analysis | Inventory ] [Name: Aiden Vordragon Race: Primal (Evolver) Current Form: Draconic Skink (Clean - Tier 1+) Level: 15 Condition: 100% Resource: Soul Power (Level 2) : 1250 SP / 1250 SP System Points: 18700 EXP ****** Attributes: Might: 40 Agility: 39 Spirit: 45 ****** Note: For quicker, faster navigation please use the keywords in the following order: "Status", "Main".] Aiden liked to store away most of the experience he gained afterpleting the quests back with the guild, or what he gained during battles, or whenever he gained a reward. Situations like these were exactly the asions he had reached the quite astonishing amount of 18700 points, after adding the 250 he got fromst night. ''[You should first focus on your most important ability, the [Primal Absorb]. Currently, it is at the 3rd level. Each increase will provide you with a better grasp of how this baseline ability of yours works. Also, as it reaches higher levels, you may gain more than you would expect.]'' Enya replied with a slightly annoyed sounding tone. Still, she seemed to fix it as she spoke up next, asking the question: ''[Would you like me to invest your points to increase its level to 4? After checking its current progress, it would leave you with 16200 points after it.]'' Aiden was surprised at how much this skill would cost him. Still, he couldn''T help but ask. ''But that would still not let me regain the lost memories, right? If so is there a point to forcefully leveling it right now?'' ''[AS I SAID just before]'' Once more, Enya responded with a raised, annoyed tone, clearly irked by Aiden''sck of understanding of the matter''s importance. ''[If you focus your pool of experience and increase it to higher levels, you will fare better the next time you use the skill. Also, as you gain important insights towards understanding the secrets of your origins, the Primals, you may gain more than what you would expect.]'' She said, repeating her previous statement. From the way she spoke, it seemed that she just cannot reveal more, the constraints and limitations ced on her wouldn''t allow her to spill and reveal more than what was epted. ''Fine'' Aiden sighed, agreeing after a few seconds of thinking. He hoped that she was right. That by increasing the system''s skill level and then monitoring how it is put into action, he would learn more and would be able to keep raising his knowledge himself. After all that happened to him over the years, he wanted to be less and less reliant on this curse, this sted System. He was forced to abide by its rules, and y to the tune of its whims more than once already. Even if he couldn''t remove itpletely anytime soon, secretly, he had already made up his mind to one day he would set himself free. ''Raising it one level only, would that be enough?'' He asked. ''Or do I need to do more?'' Thinking about it for a bit, he clenched his fists, making up his mind on the matter. ''How much can I increase the skill with the number of points I have?'' ''[You can raise it all the way up to level 6, Aiden. That would leave you with 1200 points after that. Although, if you want to hear my suggestion, level it one by one, and carefully read through the updates you gain for each increase, rather than hastily dumping the years of effort in one go.]'' Almost instantly, as if already expecting the question Enya replied. Her tone was ''matter-of-factly'', speaking like a teacher, a mother to her student, her child. ''I see'' Aiden pondered at the meaning behind her words. Giving it a moment, he nodded, his expression turned stern. ''I guess I should take my time with this first. I can ask the little girl about the tunnelster'' With that, he turned around, and walked back to his room, leaving it open, and walked over to the nest at the far corner. He sat down, with his usual meditative pose, albeit he wasn''t about to do a session. Instead, as he closed his eyes, he gave the mentalmand. ''Okay let''s get to it then.'' He ordered mentally. ''Enya, please use my points and increase the [Primal Absorb] to level 4!'' ''[As you wish, Aiden.]'' Enya spoke, her voice carrying a tint of familial warmth. In the next moment, Aiden felt the rush of energy surging inside Suddenly, new, shocking images appeared inside his mind taking his consciousness to yet another, unexpected ride --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 556 - 556 - Strong Will "Aurgh" Aiden groaned, feeling a numb paining from the back of his head. Raising his hand, he reached out to grab and rub the side of his forehead, hoping to soothe the ufortable sensation just a bit. "What was that?" He muttered, slowly pushing himself off the ground. He felt numb, still woozy, and even slightly confused about what had just happened. "What happened?" He asked out again, muddled about the ckout. As he forcefully increased his [Primal Absorb] skill to level 4, suddenly he felt a sharp pain from the back of his head and he lost consciousness. He vaguely saw the hazy outline of a figure appearing at the forefront of his mind just before the darkness enveloped his mind. "What did I see? What was that figure? Why did I" He sighed, trying to calm his growing anxiety. Controlling his breathing, following the technique taught to him by Number 3, Aiden gradually began to disperse the fog clouding his mind.. "Enya did I did that scene" Aiden sighed once again, taking a bit more time to gather his thoughts before continuing. "Can I know what did I see just before I lost consciousness?" He muttered seemingly into the empty air around him. In the next instant, the maternal voice of the spiritual guide could be heard ringing inside his mind. ''[I What you have seen]'' Her voice suddenly faltered. The sudden pause onlysted for a brief few seconds, before she resumed. However, her voice was much calmer, controlled this time now. ''[It doesn''t matter right now. The system will You will see it again, once you are ready.]'' Then, before Aiden coulde up with a response to continue the topic, Enya continued. ''[Anyway, you should take a look at your notifications, Aiden. Make sure to process the notes and decide if you would like to reach level 5. Although if you would like my advice, you couldn''t go wrong with it, the decision is yours ultimately nheless.]'' Aiden grumbled at his guide''s words. He wanted to know what that scene was before him fainting, however, it seemed that Enya either didn''t want to, or just simply couldn''t linger on the topic any further. Without any other option, he would have to shelve the topic forter. "F-fine" He grumbled in the end, taking a moment to bring up the system''s screen in front of him. [You have spent 2500 EXP from your avable pool of System Points. You have 16200 EXP Points left.] [Your rank in the skill [Primal Absorb] has increased. The new rank: Level 4.] [Primal Absorb (Level 4): Absorb the life essence of the defeated enemy. Based on the lifeform, you can acquire its unique skills, and get an increase in one or more of your attributes, or obtain attribute points to spend. You can absorb lifeforms 1 Tier higher than your current skill level. Works in any form. The chance of acquiring unique skills and traits rted to the absorbed lifeform has increased significantly. Additionally your generic incubation period and forced period have also decreased.] [A mysterious, new sensation is tingling at the depths of your core,ing from your Primal Essence] [The upgrade of one of your core, [Primal Absorb] skill have strengthened your soul. You have gained +5 Spirit.] [50 Spirit reached, a new milestone achieved! The effect: [Strong Will (Level 1)] [Strong Will (Level 1) : Your mind is growing more and more powerful. It has grown more resistant to outside effects. Your mind can withstand more pressure.] Once again, the system''s peculiar ability to shock its host did its wonder. Aiden looked ahead of himself with a wondrous, shocked gaze. ''What in the'' He muttered inwardly, reading the updated description of his main skill. With the upgrade, the chance of acquiring a skill right from the start has increased, albeit the wording was pretty vague, yet the original chance had to be minuscule, as Aiden can''t recall ever seeing it happen. Maybe now, with the rank up, he could see it in action finally. Also, the decreased time required for both the first time forced stay of the new form as well as the time it took to transform was probably a great boon, even if the actual gain was not known currently. Still, if the forced 24 hours have just been turned slightly lower, even if by just a bit, it was a wee change. Still, the most perplexing note was the weird, vague message he got after that. ''A mysterious, new sensation is tingling at the depths of your core,ing from your Primal Essence What does this mean?'' Thinking about it for a bit, he asked. ''Enya, do you have anything to add to this one?'' ''[If you would like to learn more, you have to invest 5000 of your EXP points into the skill and level it up once again. What I can tell, is that the more powerful your Primal Essence bes, the closer you get to yourself. Your true self.]'' Enya replied, although her response was anything but clear. The fact that he gained a reward after reaching 50 Spirit was also another matter that surprised him. Although the new effect he got had, once again a pretty vague description that could be deciphered however one wanted, he was hopeful that it would help him not faint the next time he would be met with a vision like just now. ''Enya, tell me.'' After thinking about it for a while, Aiden phrased the question inwardly. Now that he was somewhat calm, he no longer spoke loudly to himself. ''If I spend my points and raise the skill one more time Will I see the vision once again?'' This was what Aiden wanted to know. Though he still had a lot of points to use, and that even after spending that 5000, he would still have plenty left, he wasn''t keen on being too hasty. The upgrades were undeniably incredible, yet there was no immediate, critical need to invest. Well, other than the chance to unveil more of his past ''[I can''t say for certain]'' Enya responded after a bit of silence. ''[However, based on the fact that you reached an important threshold with the increase of your Spirit attribute, the system may]'' She stopped her words before she would be punished once again, turning silent instead. ''I see.'' Aiden nodded, understanding that this was her limit on the matter. The constraints were binding her, she just couldn''t go against this almighty force. Thinking about it a bit more, Aiden clenched his fists. Determination shined in his eyes, making up his mind, he eximed once again. ''Let''s do it, Enya. Spend 5000 of my System Points and level up [Primal Absorb] once again!'' --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 557 - 557 - Behind Enemy Lines Far to the east of Higrove, as one approached closer to the Empire''s territory, the green grass gradually died down. Life turned barren, the air became dry under the scorching heat of the zing sun. A seemingly endless desert reced the green ins. Behind the cover of a fierce, baleful sand storm,rge masses of shadows appeared on the distant horizon. The roaring wind covered the heavy stomp of footsteps, giving the best natural cover to the approaching invasion army. Standing at the front, surrounded by the elite guard, Dorian, the appointedmander by the emperor himself, the leader and general of this massive force, pulled the reins of his steed and gave the signal to halt the constant march they have been on for thest 12 hours. They were still quite a distance away before the high walls of the first city would have appeared over the distant horizon. He turned towards the thin, bookworm-looking,nky guy, his aide, and strategist. "Let''s set up camp here and wait for this storm to pass. Though we covered great grounds in thisst half a day, we are not in that much of a hurry.." Hearing his Master''s statement, the thin man revealed a troubled expression. "But, Master what if the others are already-" Before he could finish, Dorian raised his arms, putting an abrupt stop to his question. "I don''t care about what my brothers are doing, or how far they have advanced." Dorian responded. "I don''t care about the emperor''s announcement, or who will bring most of the merit." He turned around his stern, dark eyes scanned over the sea of men busying themselves setting up the tents and hastily rebuilding the tent city for the remainder of the day. "I only care about the state of my men, Feran." He sighed, taking almost a full minute as he was lost in the scene. Eventually, he sighed again and gave the order whilst his gaze was still stered on the soldiers in front of him. "Send word for Captain Syfy, I want him to send out a group to scout ahead." He turned around gazing in the direction of the city they were heading for. "Make sure to send some of his best spies as well. We need to know what''s the situation in the city. We have to be sure that the time is right and we wouldn''t be walking into the bustling beehive." "At once Commander!" The thin man, Feran saluted at themand, quickly rushing towards one of the emerging tents, his figure vanishing in the midst of the soldiers in a few seconds." Dorian kept his stern, cold gaze on the distant horizon, looking at it with such intensity, one would think he was searching for something or someone. "We have to make sure Even if I don''t like it, we can only follow father''smand." He sighed, emotions he was trying to push down and keep tucked away resurfaced. "If nothing else, I want to make sure there are no unnecessary casualties That''s the best I can do, I''m sorry." The head of a massive war axe sailed across the air, bursting apart the ''head'' of a quadrupedal creature that looked to be a strange, unholy fusion of the body of an oversized, massive scorpion with the size of the average bear, but with the head reced by a strange fungus, the massive eerie red hat of a mushroom. Hundreds of small ck dots, most likely the hideous creature''s visual receptors red menacingly at the smudge-covered blonde amazon as it struck down. The powerful strike cleaved the strange fungi directly in half, sliding through the insides of the creature''s upper half of its body as if it held absolutely no resistance. A high-pitched scream was all the massive creature could release as it cried out in pain, yet a secondter its body lifelessly sprawled out on the hot golden sand dune. Its ck, thick, oily blood quickly gathered into a continuously growing pool under its carcass. Itsrge, head-sized pincers kicked off a sizable amount of the sand, turning into a cloud of dust, just like how its horrific tail as the life left the creature''s body. "God d*mn What are these things?! Everything looks absolutely horrible in this world!" Naybeah eximed, although her face was stered into a wide, satisfied smile, betraying her words. Despite the nightmarish fiends they met and consequently fought with, she was happy, satisfied. This ce was incredible, her thirst for powerful opponents was quenched in this unholy realm. There was no doubt about that. As the beast died, marking the end of their drawn-out battle, she turned her attention towards the north once again. "Do you think that He is having just as much fun as we do?" She asked from the girls standing behind her, following the line of her gaze. The ck haired, fair-skinned beauty, Galina hummed thoughtfully at her question. Closing her eyes in the next second, she tried to get a feel for his Young Master''s state through the connection they shared. "He is fine, seems to be resting, I guess? I''m notpletely sure, to be honest, but he is okay at the very least." "What do you mean, sis?" Hearing her strange response, the blonde girl, Lily standing at her right asked with a worried look on her face. "Ehrm Hard to say I can feel that he is troubled by something He seems to be sad?" She pondered, not entirely sure of what she was feeling. Though she could sense her Young Master''s state through the System''s connection, it was merely a vague sensation, a faint feel of the other''s emotions. For someone, like Galina, who wasn''t too experienced in the matter of the heart yet, it was hard to name what she was experiencing. Most of what she felt throughout her previous life as a meager goblin, considered as a monster and a trash of the world was the overwhelming despair, the vast helplessness of her own life. She was nothing more than a creature born as a sacrifice, a ve for those stronger than her and her people. Before the Young Master barged into their home uninvited and changed their destiny, they were barely above the beasts they were thought of as. Their low life expectancy, rtively high reproduction, and the ability to match with almost any race, being able to give birth to their offspring regardless of the mate, made sure that barely any female survived into adulthood. Yet, that was the past, now it was different. With the Young Master, his people have forever been changed. Thus, she was slowly introduced to the wider spectrum of life, and whilst she understood more and more of the matters of the heart, it was still pretty challenging to distinctly be able to call them out. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 558 - 558 - Ambushed It was well into theter stages of the day. The sun has already passed the peak of its arc and has long since begun its slow but steady descent, reaching somewhere around the third quarter of its journey. The sounds of a heated, but at the same time, fortunately, one-sided battle filled the vast boring emptiness of the golden desert. An army of giant, mutant abominable insectoids swarmed around a small group of fighters forming a circle around the obstinately refusing prey for thest couple hours. Around them, a growing pile of mutted carcasses dripped in their own, viscous, dark, and oily blood formed a rampart around the mix of adventurers and mercenaries. Suddenly an arrow materialized out of thin air, piercing one of the ck, miniature bead-like eyes of a giant dark brown forest bug with remarkable precision. A fountain of its disgusting juices gushed out from the fatal wound, causing the beast to shiver and cry out in pain for onest time, before joining the growing pile of corpses. "Nice shot Lilly!" Aina remarked, shing her short sword at another of the same species. "Yeah, incredible aim girl!" Her twin sister fighting a simr opponent next to her, Eina joined in.. "Let me copy that!" She eximed, thrusting her sword forward in the next instant, plunging it deep in one of the little dark beads as well. Instantly, the innards of the giant insectoid gushed out from the gaping wound, burying the girl in a thickyer of goo in almost no time. Even her sister standing just a few steps beside her got some of the juices on her. "E The hell?!" Aina yelled out, swiping her sword with increased ferocity. "Just die like the good little monster you are, and stop spewing your disgusting yuck on us!" "Yes! We are delicatedies you beasts!" Eina nodded at her sister''s im just as she struck down vertically at an antlike creature. Her strike carried such strength that it once again, slit the head of the creature apart, causing another fountain of the ck smudge to be shot at the duo. "Ahahahaha! Stop it you two, I can''t focus on fighting like this!" Standing slightly to the left of Eina, the tall blonde lewdly dressed amazon hollered with a great guffaw. The next moment, the head of her giant ax sailed the air, cleaving not one, but two of these disgusting, vile insectoid monsters in two, ending the life of a Giant Ant and a Forest Bug. Strangely though, even though the creatures were ferocious and savage, there were no visible wounds on any of the frontliners. Standing behind them, the blonde Lily, or the gentle angelic beauty Galina stood and supported their friends. They had a rtively easy time, protected from all sides by either the brutal trio, or the pair of ck war hounds, or the pair of Crone and the bald Jai who also didn''tg behind the rest. Covered in blood and smudge from head to two, both men were fighting with the desire to prove themselves to the rest of the party. Being the one wearing the least amount of protection, Naybeah sneered with an annoyed grunt when the next opponent suddenly ambushed her from below the pile of carcasses, causing a deep, horrid-looking gash at the top inner part of her left thigh. Yet in the next moment, golden light wrapped around the horrid injury. Comforting warmth reced the searing, sharp pain, removing all difort in an instant. Like a first-aid bandage but made of intangible golden luminescence, the energy quickly covered up the damage, and began to swiftly heal and regenerate the damage whilst it slowly, gradually dissipated away. "Thanks, girl!" Even without turning away from the frontline and looking at the source of the magic, it was obvious who was the one that attended to yet another of her wounds. Galina''s constant, relentless heals made sure that none of the warriors and even the dogs, that protected the frontlines had to suffer anysting injuries and only had to somehow deal with their waning, staggering stamina only. Time passed, as the team continued their battle endlessly As they reached closer and closer to the northern edges of the forest and would step through into the sparse vegetation that gradually began to rece its hot golden sands, they suddenly walked into what could only be described as an ambush, a deliberately set trap. These monsters, or to be more precise these insectoid beasts were much more organized than what should be normally possible. They fought together, in arge group, working for the same goal in mind. Their joint assault was quite a shock to the team at the start, not to mention the seemingly endless sea they suddenly found themselves in. Still, despite them slowly grinding away the enemies fight after fight, they too were suffering. Though they were kept in prime condition by the expert support of Lily and Galina, the seemingly endless numbers, the arduously drawn-out battle did begin to wear them down. Their powers began to diminish, their strikes, their swings were slowly losing their edge. What was an effortless, fatal swing an hour ago, now only made a gushing, deep wound on the opponent, if it managed to connect at all. To make it worse, Lily was also reaching thest of her arrows, even though she had a magical quiver, it can''t support her endlessly. As she reached down, Lily was surprised by what she felt. Giving it a quick nce, she frowned as she eximed loudly. "I''m at myst arrow! We need to finish whatever this is and get back to camp!" "Heh" Aina snickered, hearing Lily exim. "What an incredible suggestion! Finish the fight? Huh If you haven''t suggested, I would never have guessed that this would be possible!" She sneered, sounding more tired and annoyed rather than truly angered. The constant battles have started to wear her down. After all, just yesterday she was still lying unconsciously with deep, seemingly fatal wounds covering the entirety of her body. Her fast recuperation was already more than a miracle, not to mention her incredible stamina thatsted up to this point. ''This is getting annoying'' Naybeah muttered inwardly. Even her, being as battle-crazed as she was, started to show signs of the built-up fatigue. Her limbs slowly began to tire, each swing chipped away from her slowly draining stamina. Still, her resolve, her desire to match up to her beloved mate did not allow her to show the wear and tear on her. She couldn''t fail the expectations that she thought Aiden had for her. She had to be the partner he could rely on. Some measly bugs and ants cannot defeat her! On top of that, his sister was in her care. She needed to protect her! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 559 - 559 - Expectations Thoughts of despair, the visions of her failing her beloved mate''s expectations filled the usually nonchnt amazon, Naybeah''s mind. Her expression soured, the smiling, bright look on her face transformed. Her veins suddenly turned swollen, as a hidden, deep-seated rage boiled and rushed to the surface. "Aaaaargh!" She turned to the sky and roared like a wild ferocious beast. Responding to her primordial call, deep killing intent swirled around the amazon, exploding from her body and unfolding into the aura of a War God, an Asura. Shockwaves filled with this unknown, archaic source of energy sent ripples across the space, throwing friend and foe off their feet, down on the ground in equal measure. "What the" The group groaned as they pushed themselves back up to their feet and turned towards the amazon toin. "What are you.." As soon as their eyes gazed upon the blonde girl, the words they have already prepared and thought of had frozen in them. Their eyes went wide with the stun they felt as they gazed upon the terrifying sight of the girl that seemed to have transcended the bounds of reality. A faint, hollow scarlet glow surrounded the heaving amazon as she held the handle of her humongous war axe with both of her hands. There was an eerie, dark glimmer in her eyes, looking much colder, much more distant than how it usually was. Unlike when she thought against the wolf-like creature thest time, this Naybeah was different. The hot, heavy air swirling around her shrouded her figure, obscuring it into a blurry distorted silhouette. Ignoring the looks of the rest of the team, she turned her attention to the recovering swarm of giant insects that began to return to their original position. Yet there was a strange sense of unease, wariness in their actions. Their seemingly mindless assault has been transformed. As if they too understood that there was a qualitative change that had transpired with this human, this ''bareskin''. Still, it wasn''t enough for them to give up on their juicy prey, but instead, they needed to change their strategy. They needed to respond to the situation with a simr action. Suddenly, the enemy stopped, just outside the range of the amazon''s reach. The countless ebony, beady eyes were focused on Naybeah, yet neither of the creatures stepped forward but instead kept their distance. In the next moment, their heads turned towards the skies, their mandibles spread apart, a cacophony of high-pitched cries filled their surroundings. Though it wasn''t pleasant, it wasn''t hurting any of the party either, they turned towards Naybeah with a confused, questioning look. "What is going on?" Aina asked, stepping closer to the girl and taking up the frontline position one again at her right. "Not sure But it doesn''t sound good" Eina, her twin sister followed along, taking up Naybeah''s left. Whilst the team was confused, but at the same time, also d that there was a bit of respite amidst the endless fighting, Lily''s expression suddenly changed. Immediately she whistled, bringing her faithful guardians Sam and Biggy back to her side. She then turned towards the amazon and eximed with a worried, shocked tone. "We need to leave. Now! Something terrifying ising!" She eximed. Unfortunately, her warning came just a tad bit toote. The sea of insectoids stepped aside, opening a path to a giant shadow that emerged on the horizon. The silhouette of a pair of mandibles at the size of oak trees could be seen as they sped the air. Following that, an ear-shattering roar, matching the frequency of the smaller creatures reverberated in the vast ins. The team knew that a brutal fight, a great trial has fallen upon them" "We have been marching since this morning, and have not met or even seen any other of those strange creatures at all!" Crysta cried out in theint. She finally had enough of this pointless endeavor they had been forced to take on. Besides sweating under this zing, scorching heat they saw nothing but sand and dunes. Though they were unaware, they were quite lucky, as they have not met with any of the nightmarish monsters the others have had to suffer with. Their journey so far was boring and uneventful. "Hmm." The purple-haired girl walking next to her, Sara looked around once more. "It is strange, I admit. Could that creature have been a stray, or an exile perhaps and have wandered alone for weeks, maybe months?" "How long could those things survive without food anyway?" Listening to their conversation, one of the Silver Howl mercenaries, a young, short light-brown-haired man, Thalid asked. "We have no idea what they even are. They may be capable of surviving without food and water for an extended period of time" "What are you talking about?" Another man, a brawny brawler-type figure, f looked at his mate as if he was looking at an idiot. "That beast was clearly starving. Besides, from the way it acted, I don''t think it was a stray. We shouldn''t be that far from their tribe." Looking around, Sara sighed with a wry look on her face. "Still We have not seen any signs of them at all. ording to the girls, we should have already covered way more than the area they scouted out yesterday. Yet, there was nothing pointing to hint that there would be more of those creatures." Thinking for a bit, she muttered, mostly to herself, though the rest of the group also heard her. "Could it be that the beast is unique? Maybe an experiment that had survived whatever cmity had ended life in this world?" "Whatever it is, we should just go back and convince the Captain to kill it! There are clearly no others like that monster living on the surface! There wouldn''t even be a point, what race would be willing to live under such conditions? There''s barely any water to be found, absolutely nothing to eat and-" Crystained some more, but before she could finish she was quickly silenced when Sara suddenly sprung up to her feet. The expression on her face was hard to read, but it was clear that she had just discovered something important. "What did you just say?" She asked in a distant, dreamy tone. "Ehrm What do you mean? I just said that there is no point to us being here anym-" "Not that, what did you just say. There are clearly no others like it living on the surface! That''s it! You are a genius Crysta!" Sara eximed, her face was grinning with a newfound light. "The beast didn''te from anywhere ABOVE the ground. They are living beneath it, under us!" She eximed pointing towards the sands below them. "We need to get down there!" She eximed, turning her attention to the horizon again, this time scanning it for something else entirely. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 560 - 560 - The Trophy "What in the god''s name is that?!" Crone eximed looking at the humungous shadow that appeared in the distance. Following its bellowing cry, the fierce, savage mercenary that even didn''t hesitate to attack Aiden back then, felt fear for the first time since quite some time ago. His legs turned weak, the strength left the strong warrior. His knees gave in and buckled, throwing their owner down on the ground. Even the mere act of retaining his grip on the handle of his weapon was proving to be an increasingly difficult challenge. "H-how could this be?!" He couldn''t understand his own feelings. A single ferocious hungry battle cry from the beast was all it took to disarm him? It was ridiculous, yet it was the truth.. Even his partner in crime, Jai was shivering under the monstrous entity''s presence. Yet, unlike Crone, he managed to withstand the fear-inducing effect, albeit not without showing its wear on him. Heavy beads of sweat glistened all over the uncovered parts of his body, whilst his attire was almost instantly bing drenched. Still, Jai stood still, his stance was showing the readiness, the eagerness to fight. For you see, unlike Crone, Jai had a strong emotion helping him withstand the assault. His fierce, determined gaze focused on the back of the battle-crazed blonde amazon, his Muse, the target of his affection. "I will not I cannot!" He muttered with gritted teeth. Reaffirming his grip over the handle of his greatsword, his weapon of choice, he gathered all his strength to slowly fight back against this pressure. With a great deal of effort, Jai slowly lifted his right leg and forced it forward. He felt as if he was trying to push against a thick heavyyer of energy. The space around them was thick, borderline tangible. Slowly, his legs traversed this cursed medium, inching further away, slowly closing the distance towards the frontline where his heart was pushing him. He wanted, no he NEEDED to be beside her, he HAD to help her, PROTECT her. No way, he would fail to match the expectations he himself set as a measure of his own worthiness. "Even if just a bit, even for just blocking an attack I need to be there at her side" He muttered his own mantra, ignoring everything else he kept on pushing forward. His efforts paid off, Jai was steady, albeit incredibly slowly was snailing closer "A worthy foe!" Naybeah eximed with squinted eyes, focusing her attention on the giant insectoid creature ahead of her. "This would make a great trophy for my beloved!" She was ted, excited at the prospect of offering the severed head as a tribute to her chosen mate, as per tradition demanded. Although she have already decided on his beloved, the one with who she have shared a kiss already, in truth she was still missing the offering, the tribute that she would need to present once they got back to their home. Customs would have demanded that both warriors needed to prove their worth. An amazon would be needed to present a fitting trophy of a worthy prey to show her strength. As for the mate, he would have to go through a different trial, a challenge if you will Naybeah wasn''t worried about Aidenpleting it when the time came, after all, she was quite aware of his incredible might. No, the only thing that she missed was a fitting trophy, which as ''luck'' would have it, have just appeared in front of her. Though her stamina was dwindling, the strange unknown power that she felt revitalizing her tired limbs and sore muscles, relieving them of the painful spasms and cramps, was a wee gift. She wasn''t sure what happened, but despite being under the effects of the famous ''double-edged sword'', her inborn ability, the [Berserk] skill, she somehow retained the rity of her mind. Normally, the scarlet veil of blood would descend and cloud her mind would make her unable to differentiate between friend or foe, which was why she tried to avoid triggering it whenever she could, this time her vision was clear. Yet, despite that, she could feel the overflowing strength brimming inside her. In the end, she wasn''t going toin or waste the precious seconds debating where did this powere from. The trophy was marching towards her, and she wasn''t going to miss this chance to grab hold of the future she wanted for herself. "Let''s dance" A wide, borderline crazed grin appeared on her face. She raised her ax over her head, as she locked gaze with the towering creature that slowly, menacingly approached and whilst hollering into the sky, she pooled a great deal of her might into a frontal, vertical swing and struck against the sandy dune they fought on in the next instant. *BOOM!* A powerful explosion shook the ground, kicking off a great deal of sand into the surrounding air, and sending tremors all around the battlefield. Yet, this wasn''t all. The incredible power Naybeah had suddenly released, didn''t just cave the ground in front of them but have opened several cracks, that swiftly grew into fissures as they charged towards the swarms of creatures as well as the boss-like bug. The ground giving into the brutal assault of the amazon opened up and in the span of a few fleeting seconds, swallowed up most of the remaining insectoid monsters. As for the boss bug, it quickly reacted, and instantly charged forward, jumping up in the air and using its sudden momentum to fly over the pesky Bareskins andnd behind them, escaping the cmity. The group watched with shock as to how the battle have suddenly shifted. The previously endless-looking swarm was gone, vanished, swallowed up by the ground. Thendscape ahead of them, made a great transformation, turning the dread barren desert into a literal canyon. Though they were shocked beyond belief, the current situation didn''t afford them the luxury of debating the matter. A single strike from their fierce warrior has shifted the battle, giving them that sliver of light, that minuscule hope they were missing. Maybe, just maybe if they work together they could survive this ordeal! Quickly, as if the previous heavy pressure was never even there to begin with, the group turned around and began to fix their positions. Lily and Galina were about to take a few steps back, allowing the twin sisters, Aina and Eina as well as the awoken Crone and Jai to take the front lines when suddenly a shout came from behind them. "Stop! This one is mine, and mine alone! Do not interfere in this fight!" Following the voice a cold air closed in on them from behind, forcing them to turn and look at the eerie-looking grin of their blonde amazon once again... --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 561 - 561 - Regrets Following his exmation, messages began to swarm and block Aiden''s vision. He could feel a surge of energy filling up his insides and converging towards his Core. [You have spent 5000 EXP from your avable pool of System Points. You have 10200 EXP Points left.] [Your rank in the skill [Primal Absorb] has increased. The new rank: Level 5.] [Primal Absorb (Level 5): Absorb the life essence of the defeated enemy. Based on the lifeform, you can acquire its unique skills, and get an increase in one or more of your attributes, or obtain attribute points to spend. You can absorb lifeforms 1 Tier higher than your current skill level. Works in any form. The chance of acquiring unique skills and traits rted to the absorbed lifeform has increased significantly.. Additionally your generic incubation period and forced period have also decreased. The absorption rate has increased significantly, further increasing the chances of forming a new seed with each subsequent assimtion of Life Essence. The chance of acquiring a unique skill or trait rted to the new seedling has further increased.] [A mysterious, new sensation is tingling at the depths of your core,ing from your Primal Essence] [Your Primal Essence is gradually awakening] He could feel a slight difort, a tightening at Aiden''s chest, a numb paining from inside. Before he had a chance to react, the messages continued, giving a clear answer to his predicament. [Your Primal Core is growing The host is advised to be ready, slight difort may follow the process.] [The Primal Core is getting closer to its natural evolution. The limit of seeds it can store has increased.] [Primordial Energy is reinforcing the host''s body. Your attributes have been upgraded.] [You have gained: +5 Might, +4 Agility, +6 Spirit.] [Your body is reacting to the reinforcement!] [Your innate skill: Shapeshifter (Level 1) has ranked up! The new rank: Level 2.] ''What?! There was a limit?!'' Aiden was shocked as he read through the messages one by one. ''Did it always had a limit and I was just too slow in acquiring new skills?'' He asked inint, although he didn''t expect any answer. ''[Yes, there was, although it''s not a straight-up number, it''s more of the amount of space it can contain.]'' Enya was quick to provide a response. ''[Depending on what type of seeds you manage to form, the number of forms you can safely store would differ. In any case, you were at around 80-85% capacity before this increase.]'' ''Still What would that mean now?'' Aiden asked. Though he was kept in the dark previously, he at least wanted to be aware of his hard limits this time around. After all, before this he was always under the impression that he could store an unlimited amount of forms. Although he was ignorant about how his ability truly worked, he was still caught unaware that there was such a restriction. ''[It''s hard to say It depends on the type and quality of seeds you form.]'' Enya answered with a pondering tone. ''[Keep in mind, however, that with the increase of the skill, the quality of the seed and with that, its size will also increase. The size doesn''t only limited to the actual tier of the life form, or even if it was clean, or mutated in any way, but there are several other factors.]'' She exined, giving a few seconds of time for the boy to process the information before continuing. ''[The unique traits you form, the base of the seed are also factors that will need to be put into consideration. Was it an evolved species? Did you perhaps form it through fusion, like with your Primal Goblin Dragonlord? There are many factors to consider.]'' Her words, caused Aiden to fall into silence once again and process the information he just received. ''I am still very immature. There''s so much I don''t understand'' He sighed, turning his gaze towards the dark and empty hallway once again. ''Still There was no vision this time? Did I do something wrong perhaps?'' ''In any case'' Aiden asked, changing the topic. ''Why haven''t I seen the vision again? Did we miss something, maybe?'' He couldn''t hide his disappointment. Although he had grown exponentially stronger, whilst also gaining several powerful new or upgraded abilities and effects, he had not achieved what he set out to do. The vision that caused him to faint did not appear this time around. Even though he gained the [Strong Will] effect, which seemed to be the perfect answer for the problem, the system seemed to not surmount his growth substantially or adequately enough to qualify for another attempt. ''[I did not say that the System would surely attempt it again. I cannot influence it, I am merely a guide, Aiden. I''m sorry.]'' Enya replied, her tone was faint and apologetic. She took a moment to calm herself before continuing. ''[In any case, you should know by now that you shouldn''t sit on your points but instead actively use them to increase your power. Don''t becent just because the world around you seems weak. The real dangers are hiding in the shadows.]'' ''I understand'' Aiden sighed. Taking a quick nce at the map in the system and confirming that the little girl, Tolliah was still asleep, he closed his eyes. Heaving a couple of sighs, he gradually calmed his senses, allowing his mind to rx as he entered his meditative state. He needed rity to process everything that happened. Not just with the many upgrades he had achieved during his rest, but also to ovee the pain and regret he felt because of the memories he had seen. The revtion that his actions have caused an innocent little girl to lose hisst ray of hope, his only remaining family, was way too hard of a wake-up call for the naive youngster. Still, the immense regret, the sharp pain that was like a hot sharp knife plunged into his heart did not give him any relief. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t forget the girl, nor could he now escape from the responsibility. Time passed as Aiden kept trying to reach rity, without any sess this time around. His thoughts were dominated by the cheerful-looking little girl that in a weird way reminded him of his sister when they first met. She was just as innocent, just as naive at the time. Both of them have lost their parents way too early in their lives, their pirs, natural supports in life. Both of them were forced to face the harshness of reality, the cruelty of life itself. Even worse, this time it was his, Aiden''s direct actions that plunged the girl into such a dark fate. It was at that time that Aiden made up his mind. He clenched his fists, as he muttered. ''I will not leave you alone. I have wronged you, but I will not allow you to suffer any more. I promise you this.'' --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 562 - 562 - Layers Upon Layers Of Lies Due to the fact that they were deep below the ground, deprived of even an ounce of the nurturing daylight, Aiden had a hard time keeping track of the passage of time. On top of that, because of the system, his focus was entirely on the changes regarding his own body. As such, he had no idea how much time could have passed that he spent deep in his own thoughts whilst meditating. The sound of a familiar, cheery little girl voice pulled him out from the prison of his own mind and thrown him back into reality. ''[Reptilian] up, Papa!" The little girl, Tolliah''s vigorous exmation and subsequent shake put a stop to any attempts of continuing his session. His eyelids fluttering, Aiden slowly opened his eyes. Seeing the sight of the little skink girl''s crescent graze and wide and clearly happy smile as she hugged his ''supposed'' papa''s neck, caused yet another sharp pain to tickle at the boy''s heart. Yet, he pushed it down, forcing a slightly wry-looking, weak smile on his face. "[Reptilian] I am awake, Tolliah." He greeted the girl, reaching out and hugging the little girl back in the process. Merging most of the memories of the absorbed archbishop, Aiden knew how he should be behaving around the girl to not cause any suspicion.. Besides, he truly felt responsible for the damage he caused due to his immaturity, he gave her a loud smooch at the girl''s scaly right cheek. "[Reptilian] Good Morning, little one." He greeted the happy, giggling girl. "Did you sleep well?" "[Reptilian] Yes, Papa!" Tolliah eximed, brimming with happiness. Jumping a step back, she raised her little arms in the air above her head. "I slept really well, Papa!" In the next moment, her cheerfulness suddenly soured, her face revealing deep sadness and worry as she continued with slouched shoulders. "[Reptilian] You know, I was really worried that something bad had happened to you, Papa! You went out, saying that you have to quickly fix something But then, nobody heard from you for so long!" She eximed with a wobbling, sobbing, and usatory tone of voice. Listening to the little girl, Aiden heaved a heavy, troubled sigh, before patting the top of the girl''s head and responding. "[Reptilian] Papa is sorry, little one. I had to do something to ensure that the bad guys would not suddenly decide to cause us further misery. We have gone through enough. "He sighed again, as the scenes of the archbishop''s memories have shed through his mind. "You deserve some peace and quiet finally." He added in a hushed, muttering volume, mostly tofort the pained, guilty feeling in his heart. ''I don''t know how long I can do this'' Hemented mentally as he looked at her. ''She is pure and innocent. Deceiving her for purely my benefit feels wrong'' ''[Listen to yourself! You have to be strong, Aiden. Telling her that you are an impostor, the one who not just killed but absorbed her beloved father, her ''Papa'' would do you no good.]'' Enya''s motherly voice instantly came to soothe her master''s troubles. ''Master'' Surprisingly, even Ryg, who mostly kept silent and to herself when not needed, decided to speak up and offer her two cents. ''This time, you should really listen to her. Until the situation is resolved and this little reptilian is no longer hunted because of the purity of her bloodline, you should stay strong and be the support she desperately needs right now.'' ''I know'' Aiden sighed. He was aware that no matter how hard it was, revealing the truth wouldn''t bring anything good. It would only increase the pain, the hopelessness the little girl, Tolliah had suffered throughout her short life, pushing her deeper and deeper into the pit of despair. Worst case scenario she would be so heartbroken that would willingly give her life and freedom away to the enemy she was trying to escape from. ''No, I can''t let that happen!'' Aiden vowed once more, he was determined to protect her smile from now on. Though he didn''t know that the newest addition, the mind, the mentality of thetest creature added to his ever-growing repertoire have already begun to subtly affect his way of thinking. He truly felt responsible for this little girl, he cared for her. He truly wanted to protect that small remaining happiness that fate have not yet stolen away. Such thoughts passing through his mind, Aiden pulled the little girl into yet another round of hug, only letting her go, despite her squirming after cing yet another loud smooch atop her little head. "[Reptilian] Papa!" The little girl eximed, battling the hug with a peal of happyughter of her own. "Let go, we should go get ready! The breakfast should be ready, the aunties and uncles are waiting for us!" As she finally got away, she quickly hopped away towards the exit. As she stepped out back to the hallway and looked at the stone b pushed to the side, she was reminded to ask. "[Reptilian] By the way" She turned around, looking at her papa who meanwhile also stood up from the ground and was about to walk after her. She pointed at the stone b pushed against the wall beside the door, asking with a questioning, confused look. "how did you open the door? Did someone visit you during the night?" "[Reptilian] What do you mean, my little angel?" Aiden asked, forcing a surprised look on his face. "[Reptilian] The stone." In response, Tolliah pointed at the b resting against the wall just outside of view. "The stone was pushed aside, your room was left unguarded, Papa! You have said that it should always be closed when you return to rest for the night, or the bad guys coulde and hurt us!" "[Reptilian] Ah that I wanted to clear my head so I opened the room. I had to leave to get some air. I must have forgotten to close it, sorry about that." Aiden responded, trying to act calm and nonchnt. He hated that he was puttingyers atopyers of lies ever since he got to this new world. ''Just when will this ever stop?!'' He sighed inwardly,menting the situation he himself have created. Tolliah turned shocked as she heard her father''s exnation. "[Reptilian] You pushed it aside, to get some fresh air?! H-how?!" "[Reptilian] What do you mean?" Startled by the girl''s reaction, Aiden asked. Though before he could say any more, Tolliah stepped closer once again, looking at him with squinted, scrutinizing eyes. "[Reptilian] Since when did you be so strong, Papa?" Her gaze was deep, Aiden felt as if it prated deep into his soul. "Just Who exactly are you, Papa?!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 563 - 563 - Short Idyllic Peace "[Reptilian] Since when did you be so strong, Papa?" Her gaze was deep, Aiden felt as if it prated deep into his soul. "Just Who exactly are you, Papa?!" Aiden was honestly scared, worried as he tried to withstand the girl''s pressuring, scrutinizing gaze. He gulped and cleared his throat before he managed to gather himself enough to respond. "[Reptilian] W-w-what do you mean, h-honey?" He stutteringly asked, shing a nervous-looking smile on her Draconian Skink, scaled face. "I am who I am, nothing more nothing less. What is the problem, dear?" In response, the girl simply pointed in the direction where the stone b should be resting behind the wall. "[Reptilian] The stone, Papa, the stone!" She eximed, with a slight annoyance in her voice. "You moved the stone by yourself! How did you do that?!" "[Reptilian] What do you mean, honey? What is the problem with me opening the way, I don''t g-" ''[Aiden, the ''door'' you have opened with ease, is a several hundred-pound heavy solid object. A normal skink, no matter if it was a regr one like Thuk''s tribe back from the sewers of Higrove, or this special breed of Draconian Skinks, there is absolutely no way, they could have the strength to move these heavy rocks by themselves..]'' Enya''s sudden exnation ringing inside his mind, caused Aiden to finally understand the root of the issue the girl was having problem''s processing. He forgot that his strength was far beyond the normal, surpassing that of his current form by several folds. After all, ording to the System''s Status Screen, he had 45 points in Might, making him stronger than anything he had met so far. (AN: Just for a bit of context: An average human which would be the race that can be considered as the baseline metric would have all his three primary attributes at the single digits. Weaker, older individuals would be dwindling below the 5 Point Mark in both Might and Agility, whilst the more physically ''fit'', non-adventurer or warrior types would be closing in on 10 at most. Skinks, being the lowest forms of the Reptilianmunity are generally the weakest, but also one of the most agile creatures amongst their brethren, with their base might attribute ranging from 1-6 in most cases and at least the double in terms of Agility. The strongest breed amongst them, the Draconian Skinks, have higher than normal attributes but still ranging in at most the 10-15 or in the most extreme cases the 15-20 attribute ranges.) "[Reptilian] Ehrm You see" Reminding himself of the time that the Temple Guard Captain was shocked by his disy of power, Aiden decided to go with that path again. He sighed as if he was finally deciding toe ''clean'' and took a step back to create a bit of distance between him and the little girl. He donned a wry smile as he looked at the girl and spoke amidst a heavy sigh. "[Reptilian] I wanted to keep this a secret for now as it could cause us more trouble than good, but" Looking at the girl, he nodded, looking as if he was acquiescing to her daughter''s wrongful gaze. "But I guess, I can''t keep anything a surprise from you, little one." In the next moment, Aiden temporarily released the mental shackles holding his powers at bay, allowing the full brunt of his aura to explode from his body. Immediately, a heavy cold pressure filled the small cave-like room. Though he made sure to not go too heavy on the little girl and did his best to protect her, the unbelievable power of his [Dragon''s Wrath] innate skill, the power of his absorbed Ancient Dragon heritage was still more than what the girl could easily handle. She was forced to take several steps away, closing towards the door whilst raising her arms to protect her face from the suddenly emerging gust of winds that swirled around his Papa like an invisible protective barrier. The energy was so thick, so strong, that it actually caused the space to distort, shrouding the elderly skink in a shroud of obscure, opaque fog, further adding to the puzzling mystery. Still, despite that, Tolliah wasn''t scared, as to how Aiden was expecting. Instead, her eyes glimmered, sparks of excitement shed in her eyes as she peaked through the folds of protection of her arms. "[Reptilian] Papa! You got strong! Super-duper strong!" She giggled with excitement, doing her best to withstand the pressure, and even took a wobbling step forward, trying to get closer to her father once again. Surprised by her reaction, Aiden quickly reined in his aura, once again pushing it deep down in his body and hiding it deep in his soul. As the pressure suddenly vanished, the girl bolted towards Aiden once again, throwing herself in his embrace and hugging his neck instantly. "[Reptilian] Papa! You got strong enough to beat the bad guys! We can be safe now! We We" Suddenly, the girl began to sob, unable to finish her line of thought. She buried herself in the embrace of his chest, sobbing desperately. For minutes, Aiden and Tolliah remained like that, him acting as the father, trying his best to be the support the pir this little girl needed, allowing her to cry all the pain and suffering from her heart out. Patiently, he caressed the girl''s back, allowing her to cry for as long as she needed. Eventually, the snot-stained, sobbing girl, began to calm down. Though not leaving the warmth of his father''s embrace, Tolliah finally looked up at Aiden and smiled. "[Reptilian] Papa" She hesitantly began to give voice to her deepest, most precious wish, her desire. "Do you think Do you think now that you are you are" She tried her best to exin, however, amidst the heavy sobs and snorts, much less the painful torment of the mere thought, made the simple task an incredibly difficult endeavor. Still, Aiden remained silent, patiently waiting till the little one to gather herself enough to finish voicing her thought. Tolliah heaved a slow sigh, calming her chaotically beating, agitated heart, taking her sweet time to continue. "Do you think that maybe we could get ma-" Just as she was about to finish, suddenlymotion could be heard from outside the halls. Heavy footsteps were approaching their direction, catching both of their attention. Looking at the direction of the source, Aiden''s face soured, instantly shifting from the warmth, familial smile into the aloof, cold disposition of a killer. Pushing little Tolliah behind him as a sort of natural reaction to protect her, he turned towards the entrance, looking at the emerging figures with a stern, strict gaze. His fists clenched, Aiden was ready to unleash his anger on those foolish enough to disrupt their idyllic peace. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 564 - 564 - Digging "Argh! This is just a waste of time!" A loud, annoyed-sounding cry echoed amidst the golden sandy dunes of the desert. A small, petite girl angrily kicked at the endless sand in hopes to vent some of her frustration and regain herposure. Unfortunately, as she recalled thest couple of hours that their team have wasted under this scorching, zing heat with nothing to show for all the effort they have wasted, she was only growing angrier by the second. Hours, upon hours spent, their stamina, their energy constantly drained just trying to withstand the horrid temperature. Hours, upon hourspletely wasted away with absolutely nothing to show in return. "Aaaaargh!" The petite girl roared upwards, to the zing, blinding sun and the light blue, spotless midday sky with unbridled rage. Her twisted gaze was like a rabid wolf howling at the moon. "Curse all to hell!" She kept howling, roaring madly, kicking more and more of the endless, limitless grains of sand up into a cloud of dust around herself as she slowly wandered towards the agreed gathering point. She was clearly, obviously fed up with the task, could see no point in spending any more effort in this futile endeavor. "Stupid pointless" She cursed.. "We could have done something more productive instead of this this idiocy! Finding the entrance to get below in this horrible desert? How are we even supposed to do that?!" Angry, frustrated, and annoyed, the girl kicked at the top of the dune once again, with even greater force. She wanted nothing more than to destroy everything where her eyes could see. That would have been the just ''punishment'' for this torturousnd in her mind. Yet, as her eyes bore deeper into the top of the sandy ridge than before, she was surprised to be met with a strange, strong opposition. Some sturdy, solid object blocked her attempt, robbing her of even this small release. "What the" Although she was even more annoyed, she was just as equally surprised and shocked. Instead of making the b of rock, stone, gravel, or whatever it was that her trained feet hase in contact with loose, it was she who had suffered a sudden defeat! Numb pain dulled her senses as she clicked her tongue with displeasure and pulled her leg back. "What in the Gods'' name was that?" She cursed yet again, battling the steadily climbing frustration in her mind. Stopped in her tracks, she focused her gaze on the ground below, as she crouched down, searching for clues, starting from the top at first. Noticing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, she took a breath, giving a pep talk to herself, whilst also trying to reign in her chaotic emotional state. She was a professional after all. "Come on Crysta, what is this? Why are you acting like a greenhorn? You have more than a decade of experience under your belt! Don''t be so hot-headed girl!" She berated herself. Taking a couple of deep breaths while taking her time to do a slow, drawn-out exhale, she did manage to slowly calm herself and return to being the cool, level-headed petite beauty she actually was known for. Yes, she may have suffered a defeat from that girl, but that was only because she wasn''t prepared for such a strong mental force. She never expected her opponent to be one of those extremely rare individuals that had talent causing afflictions to the mind. She didn''t know she was one of those "It doesn''t matter, I guess. In fact, it was a blessing in disguise!" She convinced herself, allowing a small grin to give a slight curve to the edges of her lips. "She had revealed to me the one fatal weakness I have! I can''t becent like I was before. I will need to work with her to train that side of me! Yes!" She balled her fists, punching at the air as a way to express her satisfaction with her line of thinking. "Yes, girl! That''s the way to go! Work with her, instead of boiling with this helpless anger! She is a partner now maybe even a friend?" She eximed the curve of her thin smile reached higher. "Anyway" Turning her gaze down, she stopped her jubtion, shifting her attention back to the peculiar mystery once again. Carefully she bore her slender right hand into the sand once again, carefully plunging it deeper and deeper. As her palm was buried halfway into the golden grains, she began to assist with her left, digging away the resistance, gradually increasing the makeshift hole. Slowly, but steadily she reached deeper and deeper, soon reaching the destination she wanted causing her yet another round of shock and surprise. Her fingers have touched a smooth, t solid surface. Unlike the sand all around it, this was clearly not a natural phenomenon, but soon, as her fingers reached towards what felt like the very edge of the object, it was clear it was an artificial creation, the work of some master, a craftsman. Crysta eximed with shock as she realized the hidden meaning behind this discovery. For a moment she hesitated, she looked away, towards the direction of their gathering point. Should she leave this here and get the others? Or should she continue excavating, and instead, make sure that what she found would be the entrance they were looking for? What if it''s something else? ''What if'' Her eyes glimmered with a sh of greed, her smile turned into a nasty smirk at the thought. ''What if it''s some treasure? Wouldn''t that be the best? We could score some points finally!'' Convinced that her line of thinking was correct and that instead of rushing to the others without proper knowledge of what the nature of her find actually was, Crysta began to madly dig, widening the currently fist-sized hole wider and wider. Soon, the edge of the object began to take shape as the copious amounts of sand were cleaned away. As she looked at it, Crysta furrowed her brows, her expression souring. "What is this actually?" She asked with confusion. The object that she found seemed to be the top of something. It was rectangr shaped, solid, sturdy, clearly resembling that of a brick, the basic building block. She couldn''t identify the material without a doubt, as though it seemed durable and stiff, she couldn''t say it was simply some sort of stone. It wasn''t just a worthless rock, as even now, as she kept on clearing its surface, a strange smooth crystalline shine began to reveal itself. ''Hmm Is this some sort of rare Earth-type element?'' She wondered, giving a few gentle rubs, caresses, clearing more of the sand away in the process. As thest of the rubble was cleared off, it was time for Crysta to yet again turn shocked at what she saw. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 565 - 565 - The Missing Girl As thest of the rubble was cleared off, it was time for Crysta to yet again turn shocked at what she saw. The object was indeed something extraordinary, far from being some simple stone b, a meager brick! The crystalline-like touch turned out to be correct, the smooth, polished surface was not just a fluke. From the looks of it, Crysta was staring at some sort of rare mineral. From the earthly, deep, orange faint glimmer, it was probably an exceedingly rare one at that! Yet, though it lookedpletely unbelievable, even as she was staring at it, the other theory was also proven to be correct. Looking at the shape of the rare, exquisite mineral, its incredible potential was used, no, wasted on it being turned into a brick, a building block of some structure. Looking at its immediate surroundings, it was clear that she was looking at the top of some ruins buried beneath the sand. A sort of wall, maybe the top of a structure with a slightly arched, curved top.. "Hmm" Crysta looked at it, delving deeper into her thoughts. ''Maybe a temple of some sort? The ruins of a civilization that once lived here?'' He pondered. Thinking about the possibilities, Crysta was growing more and more excited about her find. She was already basking in the glory of her own achievement! Just how many points could such a find her and her entire team? Just how happy would the Captain be, when he hears of this? "Ehehehe He will be happy!" She giggled, ted by the praise she could already smelling her way from the person she was thinking of as her father figure. Still, she was hesitant to leave. She had barely scratched the surface of her find. Shouldn''t she search some more and try to find out more about what this structure or this whole ce could have been? She still wasn''tpletely certain that what he was looking at was truly the remnants of an old civilization, a holy site of some sort of god, or guardian, protector of this deserted ne or maybe just maybe, something else. ''I guess The curve It could also be a gate of some sort Maybe this is the wall, the border of an ancient city!'' She pondered, quickly convincing herself to stay and continue excavating rather than alerting the rest of the team. ''After all, I need to be sure before I go back! It wouldn''t do any good if I would alert the rest and it would turn out to be nothing worthwhile!'' She argued, trying to convince her slightly guilty psyche that what she was doing had a much better purpose rather than what it looked like on the surface. She wasn''t greedy, her actions weren''t questionable at all! With glinting eyes, Crystapletely pushed these unnecessary thoughts to the back of her head, losing herself in an attempt to dig deeper and deeper under the scorching, zing heat of the sun. Her figure was soon drenched with sweat, yet she didn''t bother with the ufortable feeling at all. In her eyes, she could only see the luster and sparkles of glory she would soon be basking in. Who cares about some stench, some sweat! "We have been waiting for a while now, yet there is just no sign of her." A middle-aged-looking brawny man, a mercenary eximed with a slightly worried face. He turned his unshaven, coarse gaze towards the horizon. Squinting, he tried to scan the distance for a sign, a silhouette of their missing member, however, no matter how hard he tried, how hard he looked, the little girl was nowhere to be seen. "D-do you think" A thin figure standing next to the man, a young short ck-haired and matching nted eyes stuttered as she voiced the restlessness in his heart. "W-what do you think, Joe D-did she d-did she met some t-trouble perhaps?" "Hey! Don''t even say something like that!" A woman, with shoulder-length, wavy light-brown hair and a mature, hourss-like figure eximed with an using, angry look in her eyes. "She is definitely fine! I bet, Crysta just found something and as usual, lost her sense of time!" She argued, with surprising precision in her theory, albeit she waspletely unaware of it at the moment. "Calm down guys." Eventually, Sara had enough of the cries, she raised her hands, silencing the agitated, nervous, and worried crowd. Looking at their distressed eyes, the deep concern in their expression, she could only sigh helplessly. She reached for the top of her head,bing several adventurous, wild flocks of her deep purple hair to the back. With a stern, heavy gaze, she turned her attention to the distance,menting on what the best course of action they should take in this situation. ''I wonder What would you do if you were here, Aiden?'' Shemented inwardly, her mind was still worried about her missing team leader and friend''s situation. ''No, I need to focus now. I can''t think about him when we have someone missing!'' Sara shook her head, clearing it from the unnecessary worries, and focusing it on the issue at hand. "We have waited for long enough." She said after a bit of thinking. "We have agreed on the return time, which would have been when the sun reached directly above us. Yet that time had already passed, and there is clearly no sign of Crysta anywhere." The team turned silent, nodding at the girl''s words. Despite their age difference, they have quickly epted her as their temporary group''s leader. They didn''t mind it at all and instead appreciated her levelheadedness and attention to detail and on-point insights. "What should we do, Miss Sara?" The middle-aged, coarse-looking warrior figure, the one they called Joe asked hesitantly. "Hmm We will form three small groups to search for her whilst I and someone else will stay here with me." Sara thought for a bit, thinking about the direction Crysta might have taken when she wandered off a couple of hours ago. "Let''s see" She looked towards the south, then slowly towards the west before eventually humming and saying and pointing towards the southwest"Unless she took a turn at some point, or have found the entrance to the tribe of those creatures, she should be somewhere in that direction." Looking at the group, she continued whilst waving her hands in an attempt to urge them to hurry up. "Quickly, form 3 groups and go search for her! If you find her, and it turns out she is in trouble, send someone back to us!" She then looked at the mature light-brown-haired woman who spoke before. "You ehrm Alda right? You should stay here with me and wait in case Crysta wanders back in some way. The rest, go and find her!" She eximed. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 566 - 566 - The Vanishing Trick While Sara and the Silver Howl mercenaries were upied in searching for the stray girl, a bit of distance away from them to the north, northwest the royal sibling has finally made it atop the second teau, the one neighboring their temporary base camp. A small party of almost a dozen strong men and women stood in a loosely fit circle, looking, scouting at all directions atop the t barren mesa. Scarlet and Drake joined by 8 Silver Howls, had the task to scout and make sure there are no looming threats and dangers hiding just next to their camp. Being caught unaware, ill-fit, and unprepared during a night wouldn''t do them any good, especially after a long and tiring day. Although their camp was only temporary, and they were nning to venture further ind,ter on, they weren''t sure when they would take that next step. Although the entire team, both themselves and the Silver Howl''s wanted to go and look for their missing young leader, they couldn''t just rush ahead without making sure that everything they need had been taken care of. They needed to make sure all threats have been identified and -if possible-, dealt with. Since they met intelligent life forms, they needed to make sure they coulde to an agreement. Additionally, they shouldn''t forget the original purpose of their expedition: They were in a contest, a weird and barbaric game, but they had to work on scoring as well. From what they were told, the scoring system is based on finding treasures, dealing with the many challenges and trials, and the so-called ''captives'' of this world, whatever that meant.. Thus, the three teams that were sent out this morning, all had different objectives. Sara and most of the Silver Howls headed southward, where Naybeah and the twin sisters shed with the strange wolf and spider abomination. Lily, Galina, two of the strongest aides of the Captain joined up with the eager amazon and her new friends headed north to scout ahead. Their main goal would be to make a path forward, whilst also search for a suitable location to transfer base to. Lastly, their medium-sized party was tasked to scout the west, where they could see a simr teau, like their own. Though from a first nce it seemed safe, Captain Don wanted to make sure, there wasn''t anything hiding between the sparse spread rocky terrain. There were no ways to tell without checking manually if another Pir''s group would havended close to them, even if they were reassured such a thing cannot happen. After all, one of their own, despite their promises, was already misced, trying his darnedest to survive, all alone. "I don''t think there''s anything here at all. This rock should be safe, brother!" Scarlet eximed, taking a moment to stretch her back and sigh up into the sky. The scorching heat, the zing, heavy rays of the brutish sun of this world made their rtively simple and easy task of climbing this t hill a much more challenging task than it should have been. For what should have been at most an hour-long journey here and at most another one back, took more than double and they have only just reached the top. She was already tired and disgusted by all the sweat and smell she and the rest of the team were drenched in. She wanted nothing more than to get back and use the allotted amount of water to freshen up, even if just a bit. "Yeah It does seem empty" Drake responded with a matching sigh of his own. A light frown creased his brows. The whispers, the intents he got from Mort, his sword''s spirit was that not everything is what it seemed to be. The weapon was feeling restless, though even itself was not entirely sure why it was feeling that way. For the Silver Howls, they too shared the sword''s sentiment to some degree. Most weren''t too happy, or excited, but instead looked worried, concerned. "Something is just not right I can feel it" A man, with short light brown hair and a thin well-groomed, pencil mustache expressed. He was nervously gripping his unsheathed shortsword in one hand, and the small reinforced, wooden round shield in his left. His gaze was nervously jumping from the far left all the way to the furthest right. Though he seemed to be acting like an absolute amateur, looking utterly scared and agitated, he was still ready to jump into action at the first sign of trouble. His closestpanions of many years, his mercenary family were just like him. Bowstrings were pulled, arrows ced at the ready. Swords, Axes, and Maces were raised with firm grips holding them in ce. The many stern and serious gazes that scanned the horizon made sure that no threat could catch them by surprise. The atmosphere was undoubtedly tense. With the exception of the once-ve but now-free Scarlet, everyone was visibly overwhelmed with a bad premonition. Everything seemed too easy, too simple, to uncannily straightforward. That was not how events would normally y out, not in their years of experience. When a task seemed too easy, too simple to be true, it was most often as they would expect; not what it seemed at a first nce. Yet, unlike normally, they just couldn''t find any traces of an ambush, a trap or anything out of the ordinary. This in, barren teau, this small, empty mesa looked just like it did from when scouted afar. Empty, and devoid of any life, be it big or small. "What are you all talking about? What is ''not right''? I see nothing!" Scarlet, getting annoyed by the reaction of the group and overly eager to return and shed this vexatious outeryer couldn''t stand wasting any more time under this unbearable heat than what was absolutely necessary. "We shouldn''t dwindle here any longer. There is nothing to see. No enemy, no monsters, no treasu-" Fuming with her own awkwardness, Scarlet was rushing around, articting using her entire body to prove that there was no point in spending more time on their task. Yet before she could finish her firstint, suddenly, as she wandered off behind a close-by collection of average-looking rocks, her figure vanished. One moment she was arguing with an annoyed, heated look on her face, and in the next "Woosh!" she was gone. "Sis? Where are you?!" Shocked by the abrupt turn of events and the instantaneous disappearance of her sister, Drake rushed towards the ce Scarlet was a moment ago. With a gradually turning, transforming distress and worry settling down on his face, Drake quickly made his way together with the stunned Silver Howls behind the rocky area. When they made their way around, a deep frown soured all of their expressions by what they have found. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 567 - 567 - Facing The Monster "Stop! This one is mine, and mine alone! Do not interfere in this fight!" Following the amazon''s shout, cold air closed in on them from behind, forcing them to turn and look at the eerie-looking grin of their blonde amazon once again... Beneath the twisted, crazed-looking piercing gaze, a wide, excited smirk stretched the blonde giantess'' face. Her arms stretched out in a weing manner with her humongous war ax held in her right hand, Naybeah painted quite a terrifying picture. With thendscape demolished beyond redemption and the swarm of insectoid creatures dealt with, the scene of the two opposing figures -both monsters in their own terms-, was not something the team would soon forget. "This oversized bug is mine to deal with! His head would be the perfect trophy for my future husband!!!" She roared with excitement shing across her crazed eyes. With each heaving sigh that escaped the curvature of her grinning lips, her muscles bulged. Large swollen veins made their appearance known as the halo of itsplex system protruded from beneath her usually fair, supple skin. Her opponent standing in front of them was a literal giant of a monster.. The fuel of nightmares for many, a literal bug with colossal, gargantuan proportions. Despite the vast terraformation of thendscape by a single earth-shattering smash from the amazon, its intent remained the same. The entire party, including Naybeah, could feel its thick, cold, and vicious murderous, killing intent. The destruction of its forces didn''t seem to phase the creature by the slightest. On the contrary, if anything, it just served as further fuel to its overwhelming rage and hunger for the massacre. "Come, face me you overgrown pest!" Breaking the tense silence, Naybeah eximed once more. Following her battle shout, she rushed forward, charging towards the monster. Arge, jumbled roar followed her path as she rapidly approached her enemy. If nothing else, she managed to garner the full attention of the creature at the very least. Itsrge, insectoid,pound eye was fixated on the attacking bareskin female. It viciously snapped itsrge, trunk-like ebony mandibles, its high-pitched cries resounded like sts of sonic waves around the demolished battlefield. Arriving at a close enough distance, Naybeah, like how she did usually, got ready for her fierce swing. She jumped up, with her ax raised high above her head and as she sailed across the air, struck down with all her gathered momentum and strength she could muster. The giant bug also wasn''t standing idly by and waiting for the iing attack to reap its life. Following the amazon''s track, it raised its head, spreading its mandibles apart. Translucent, thick gooey fluids escaped from what seemed to be its mouth that was stretched to its limits. It didn''t think too much about its n of response. Though much more intelligent than what one would normally expect from creatures of its stature, it didn''t count too much resistance from these small bareskins. Their life was feeble and short, nothing like the rest of the tribes still inhabiting the Underworld. Their skins were soft, their bones were crunchy, and could be easily ground to dust. Even though it was centuries, or maybe even thousands of years since thest of their kind to show themselves, there were rumors of some survivors living somewhere in seclusion. Still, it didn''t matter. They were weak, they stood no chance anymore. Not after what they did to their home world. As the amazon entered into attacking range and struck with her weapon, so did the giant bug creature react as well and snapped her strong mandibles shut in an attempt to crush the feeble female in one fell swoop. Yet, ns rarely turn out the way we originally intend them to be. Its simplistic n of action, its condescending manner of thinking about these outsiders, these ''Bareskins'' proved to be a grave mistake in the next instant. A sharp pain filled up the creature''s nervous system suddenly, followed by an intense searing, burning sensation. Due to the overflow of both physical and mental torment that filled every fiber of its being, the giant bug creature took an additional moment before the scene itspound eyes transmitted have registered inside its mind. The fierce, trunk-like mandibles were nowhere to be seen, only two blood-drenched shattered stumps could be seen in their ce. The two appendages were now dissected, resting in arge pool of the disgusting, vile fluids of the creature''s blood, gore and saliva. Yet, a single attack would rarely be enough to settle the matter. As the creature was still under shock due to the pain of losing its precious mouthpieces, Naybeah has already unleashed her rage and might into another, and this hopefully decisive strike. "Be a good little monster and try to not squirm too much! My future husband deserves your trophy in perfect condition. I would hate it if I couldn''t make a clean cut!" Her taunts flew in the air, but remained unanswered by the beast, as before it could react, it felt the cold steel hitting the conjoining soft tissue that connected its giant bug''s head to the rest of its body. Yet, that would still not be enough, as the creature size was much, much bigger than that of the head of Naybeah''s axe. However, as the weapon connected, deep, scarlet energy unleashed from the weapon''s metal head, spreading around like a giant guillotine, further enhancing the pure damage the amazon could unleash. Her victorious shout mixed together and gradually overshadowed the creature''s guttural, gurgling cry. Blood, gutter, and a mixture of fluids oozed from the rapidly growing cavity, as the amazon and her reaping ax traversed through the beast''s joint. Eventually, what emerged from the other end, just as the beast cried itsst, by-now powerless whisper of a cry, looked more like a demon than the happy, lovestruck musclebound woman. Her blonde flocks were drenched, looked akin to bloodied chains hanging and loudly ttering from the head of this hellspawn. Her soft, fair skin was turned into dark, with grime, remnants of guts, gore, and intestines stuck all over her body. Even her clothes, which were already barely covering her delicates, were torn to pieces, the pink double flowers were gazing towards the sky, still being under the effect of the excitement she felt of her action. Still, she didn''t mind, Naybeah wasn''t bothered by how she might have looked currently. The only thing that dominated her mind was the overwhelming sensation of her triumph. She did it! She can now proudly return with her mate once this is all over and present the trophy to her queen and then, to her chosen mate. As therge, oversized mountain-like head fell to the ground with a loud thud and kicked off some of the dust, Naybeah followed along and finally fell down as well. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 568 - 568 - They Have Arrived As all three groups have encountered some challenges along their way, back in the underground city of the Draconic Skinks, Aiden was experiencing a disaster of his own as well. Ruining their precious moment, the guards stationed outside the main cave came rushing in and appeared at Aiden''s or to be more precise Archbishop Zark''s chamber. Startled by the sudden intrusion, the little girl, Tolliah jumped up in fright and quickly rushed to hide behind to the best possible ce she could think of: his dear papa''s protective back. "[Reptilian] Yes?! Don''t just stand there, like a bunch of fools! What is it?!" Aiden roared with annoyance. He actually felt that he made some steps getting closer to the little girl, he wasn''t appreciating the interruption in the slightest. His face was contorted to an angry, displeased frown as he gazed at the guards who were, in turn, were shivering, trembling in fright. "[Reptilian] A-a-a" The guards stuttered at first, unable to phrase a proper sentence whilst being subjected to their leader''s full brunt of anger. Noticing this, Aiden was close to losing himself and vent some of his rage by killing and then absorbing all three of the guards. However, just as he was about tounch himself into action, he felt the gentle, shy tug of the ceremonial garment he was still wearinging from behind him. Knowing well who the source was, his anger instantly vanished, and a warm smile appeared on his face as he turned around and looked at the little girl.. She was looking up with wide, puppy-like watering eyes at her beloved Papa, her lips quivering as she slowly, hesitantly asked. "[Reptilian] Papa you wouldn''t hurt them do you? They shouldn''t be scared, right?" Aiden sighed at the girl''s words, taking a moment before giving it a single nod. Yes, he was only annoyed by the fact his intimate time was ruined by them, but in reality, they weren''t to me for that. Turning around, he buried his face in his palm and shook his head as he turned to face the trio of shivering guards again, and asked with amidst two sighs. "[Reptilian] Yes, Tolliah is right. You have no reason to be scared, at least not from me." Aiden raised his head turning to look at the central guard. "What is it that you came to tell us? It has to be important for all three of you to barge in so suddenly." The guards became startled once more as they were called out again. They needed a bit more time before they could calm down and collect themselves enough to finally reveal the reason for their intrusion. Yet, instantly, as their minds became focused they turned worried and frightened again. This time, however, it wasn''t because of the potential pressureing from their leader, but because of what they were about to say next. "[Reptilian] M-master! T-t-they T-t-they are cing!" Listening to the stuttering words of the guard, Aiden was confused. "[Reptilian] What? Who ising? What are you talking about?" Tolliah however managed to connect the dots almost immediately. With worry, she eximed as she tugged at his sleeves once again. "[Reptilian] Papa it''s them! The bad guys! The bad guys areing to hurt us! You have to help the uncles! You have to save the aunties, and all my friends from the meanies!" "[Reptilian] Bad Guys? What are you.." Finally, Aiden understood, recalled the memories of the absorbed old man. "Oh I see." His face soured, returning a stern, somber expression, he turned his head away, looking at the wall, the direction of where Ugburg the city should be. His gaze was cold, piercing even. For the guards and Tolliah, they didn''t know what he was actually doing. Thinking he was devising a n of action, they waited patiently for him to say the word. Though they were nervous, and even slightly scared at the prospects of a gruesome, bloody sh between the Temple Guards and themselves, they wouldn''t run away. Every single soul knew what they were fighting for, they were loyal to their just cause. At the same time, Aiden wasn''t simply pondering about what he should be doing. Instead, he was utilizing his system''s powers to the fullest, sending out empowered, invisible energy pulses to scan as much of the terrain outside the cave as he could. He watched with keen eyes as the several small green dots, representing the rebels living in this shabby, sad ce appeared one by one. From their movement, it was easy to see that they were trying to make their way inside and hide inside the many small shelters inside. Though he couldn''T see it clearly, he was certain that huge stone bs, just like the same as he had, were pushed in their ce to hide the old, the young, and the weak whilst those that could, went back to take their already practiced positions. Still, Aiden needed to know more. He pooled more of his own energy into each subsequent energy wave, pushing the ground it could cover to its limits. As the information began to pour back in a few secondster, the expected image has finally begun to take shape on his system''s map. From the distance, still, quite a distance away, red dots, marching in an orderly, militaristic fashion were slowly approaching their location. From the first images, Aiden could see that the enemy have sent at least 3 batallion of soldiers to deal with them. "[Reptilian] Hmm I see." He mumbled, continuing to send out pulses, though with a bit less resource investment as he opened his eyes and turned his attention back on the guards still standing and blocking their only exit. "What are you still standing there for? Go and take your positions! You three should each have your own teams to manage! Go and lead them. Tolliah and I will join you in a bit!" "[Reptilian] B-but M-master" The guard that spoke up before, couldn''t help but ask as they were ordered to leave. With clear concern in his eyes and a troubled expression settling on his face, he asked with a shaky voice. "What are you nning to do? Is it wise for you to fight? You and the Young Miss should escape through the back-" "[Reptilian] That''s enough!" Aiden raised his hand, silencing the guards with his cold, words. "I will not run away, while you all are risking your lives! That''s not the way we will live! That disgusting worm worshipper, the Zuruk may be like that, but we aren''t." He turned to look at the little girl, who was brimming with happiness and had sparkles in her eyes as she looked at her Papa. "[Reptilian] Is that right, my dear?" Tolliah jumped up in exmation raising her little fist in the air as she responded. "[Reptilian] Yes, Papa! We will beat up the baddies!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 569 - 569 - The Big Baddies "[Reptilian] That''s right, little one. We will give those ''big baddies'' a lesson they will not forget!" With a bright smile on his face after listening to the little girl, Aiden patted the top of her head. Meanwhile, he kept most of his attention on the system''s interface that floated in front of his eyes, visible only to him. Aiden was keeping a close watch at the approaching force, trying to gain as much information as he could from what little he could make out. He was more focused on trying to find the leader of this army first and foremost by utilizing his evolved [Dark Sense] skill to the fullest. He swiped through dozens of tooltips in rapid session. First, he checked the front, the ones leading the march, but as it turned out, those were simple guard captains, nothing important. Thus, after wasting away some of his effort in futility, he realized that whoever was themander, the general, was probably not the true Leader type and lead his men, but instead the other way around, bossing from the safety of the back. Aiden didn''t actually think that the one at the back would straight up be the High Priest or any of his direct subordinates, and instead, just some figurehead from the Temple Guard leaders. A puppet following the will of the High Priest by the name of the ''Ancient One''.. Yet, finding, locating the enemy general is of the utmost importance. He needed to know his target and make sure that he would safely absorb him to gain his or her memories and hopefully unveil more of the mystery around this sorrowful story. Due to hisck of understanding of his abilities, a lot of the important key moments, visions, and memories of the old archbishop have gone to waste. Though Aiden understood the general gist of what was going on, there were still many secrets he needed to know. For example, what happened to Tolliah''s mother, Zark''s wife? Who was she? Where has she gone to? Was she perhaps a captive of the High Priest? Or was she maybe one of his subordinates, an opponent to them? ''No I don''t think that''s true.'' He shook his head immediately at the thought. Judging by how the little girl thought of her, Aiden found it impossible for her to be a turncoat, a traitor of the family. Someone so clearly loved by her child, cannot be like that. Also, what happened between the two friends? From the few bits and pieces Aiden managed to piece together, it was clear that at some point in the distant past the two men, Zark and Zuruk were best of friends, brother''s even. What happened then? What caused such a rift, such enmity toe between their lifelong friendship? Also, just who was this ''Ancient One''? From the memories, the only thing that came was that this creature was a powerful entity, one of the four guardians of this world. Something happened, that caused them to go into an all-out war, which in the end resulted in the supposed destruction of the three of them, leaving this entity be the only one to escape. Even he suffered grave injuries and was also banished to somewhere to the core of this realm where he, she or it should still reside to this very day. Was the constant looming presence that seemed to be vastly interested in him, this supposed Ancient One, the Traitorous Guardian? Was he the supposed ''God'' of these Draconic Skinks? Lots of questions, there were still a lot of dark spots in the story behind these people. He hoped that the general, the leader of this approaching army of Temple Guards would at the very least shed light to at least some of them. "[Reptilian] Come, Tolliah, let''s go. We have to protect our people." Aiden patted the girl''s head, earning a delighted giggle as a result. "[Reptilian] Yes, Papa! Let''s go and protect all the aunties, uncles, and all of my friends! We have to stay strong so that when Mamaes back she can be proud of us!" The little girl eximed, balling her tiny fist and raising it in the air. For a moment, Aiden felt a sharp pain in his heart. Something she was surprised about, and couldn''t exin at all. Unfortunately, he had no time to ponder on the meaning of it, as the girl tugged his sleeves again, looking at him, she asked with a thoughtful look. "[Reptilian] Papa, why don''t we go and ask Auntie Dara! Her wooshie-wooshie friends should have some more information about what is going on!" "[Reptilian] Wooshie-wooshie friends? What are you-" Confused about what the little girl could have meant, Aiden was about to ask, but luckily one of the guards should have already left to take their stations have rushed back and eximed. "[Reptilian] Sir!" The armored skink heaved heavy sighs. He was running back and forth the camp, he needed a moment to regain some of his lost stamina before he could speak. "Madam Dara has asked you to speak with her urgently! The scouts she sent out have returned with the news!" "[Reptilian] Scouts? Ah.. I get it." Aiden smiled, turning to look at the little girl who was still trying to exin with her little hands how this auntie''s friends were ''wooshing'' around like the wind. He could now understand what she meant. With a bright, warm smile on his face, Aiden caressed the top of the girl''s head once again. "[Reptilian] Tolliah, my dear. You know what you should do, right?" Aiden asked, recing the smile with a strict, serious look. Though he may have not absolved all the memories, even without them, he was aware of how a loving father like the Archbishop would not have wanted his beloved, dear little daughter to see such a cruel, vicious bloodbath. He should remain as innocent and untainted for as long as she possibly can. Tolliah though didn''t want to leave his Papa''s side, didn''t argue much either. With a pout souring her so-far bright, glory of a smile, she nodded at her father''s question. "[Reptilian] Yes. Tolliah knows she needs to go back to her room and stay safe." She responded with a tone that was clear she had experienced in the matter. Still, she couldn''t hold herself back and tried to argue in the next moment. "But Papa I don''t want to stay behind I am already a big girl I can protect us!" "[Reptilian] I know that, little one. I know." Aiden patted the girl''s head in response. "I know you are a big girl now, but let Papa do this for you for a bit longer, okay? You have to stay safe so that your Mama doesn''t need to worry about you. Okay?" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Links: http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 570 - 570 - What You Are Best At Standing atop the walls overlooking the distant underground city of Ugburk, Aiden was looking sternly at the horizon. Small dotted shadows, tiny silhouettes were steadily growing as they marched closer and closer to their encampment with a steady pace. "[Reptilian] How did they even know where we are?" He muttered inwardly. From what he learned from the processed memories of Zark the archbishop, and from the reports of the other captains of the rebel forces, their base should have been a carefully hidden secret even from the High Priest himself. Everyone believed in their cause, everyone was deeply invested. Some lost family members, just like the ex-archbishop and Tolliah. Others were forced to a fate vastly simr to the little girl''s, be used as a toy, an object of pleasure or reproduction. Again, others were forced to vebor and be doomed to fight as diators, soldier''s without a will of their own. None would be stupid enough to trade their only chance for a brighter future for a few measly coins. Greed may be rampant in the eyes of humans, but for them, in this underground realm, it didn''t have that much pull. Especiallypared to the illicit dream of freedom, family, and a better future. None would betray thismunity, and go against the family they found amongst themselves for some temporary benefits.. Still, even without any potential leaks, somehow the High Priest has precise knowledge, information about their location. How did that happen then? What went wrong? ''Did they follow us when we came?'' Aiden pondered, shaking his head in dismissal just a few secondster. ''No, that would be impossible. I should have seen it. What is it then? How did they-" It suddenly dawned on him. Aiden''s eyes went wide, he turned his attention to therge underground hall''s ceiling as his bewildered gaze slowly settled into that of a deep dismaying frown. A scowl settled on his lips, he sighed at the revtion. "[Reptilian] This presence. This being, the Ancient One." He shook his head and clenched his fists in anger. "Obviously, he would convey what he can see, after all, he is spying on me non-stop." A murderous glint shed across his eyes as he shifted his attention back to the distant, approaching army. "[Reptilian] If that is what you want Sure, let''s y this game then." He muttered as a vicious, predatory grin slowly stretched across his face. If it''s a bloody battle this so-called Ancient One wishes, he will give it to him "Urgh Where Where am I?" With a painful grunt, Scarlet pushed herself off from the rocky ground she had suddenly fallen to. One moment she was standing on the teau, arguing with his brother and the team that there was no point in lingering any further and that they should return while an instantter she suddenly found herself in some dark and damp cave. "Where the hell is this ce? What happened?! BROOTHER!" Confused and unable to process the events and her surroundings Scarlet shouted. Yet, besides the resounding echoes of her desperate cry that continued to ring as it bounced from wall to wall, there was no other response at all. Though worried, she was also trained in the most unexpected of circumstances. She had to survive day by day during her life as a diator. Oftentimes she was thrown into an arena that resembled a monster spawning nest rather than anything normal. Through blood, sweat, and tears she learned the most important rule whenever she had to fight the unknown, whenever she had to try and survive Scarlet took a couple of deep breaths, she expertly began to control the rhythm of her breathing, inhaling only small pockets of air, that she then kept down in her diaphragm for a bit before slowly exhaling it, causing her heart to calm and return to a steadier pace bit by bit. When she felt that she overcame the chaotic storm in herself, only then did Scarlet stood up and step away from the moldy cavern wall she was using as support so far and take her first careful steps towards the dark and eerie looking entrance. Though she was not thrown intoplete and utter darkness, as a faint, pale light that came from somewhere deeper below the tunnel connecting into her natural rocky chamber, it only gave dim lighting at best. It still cast a shroud of obscurity to the chamber she fell into, making it an impossible task to inspect her immediate surroundings and instead suggest a slightly more dangerous objective to the lost girl. "Hmm I guess, there''s no other option" She muttered only a couple of breathster. She slowly swayed her attention towards all corners of the darkness of her room, trying to glean more out of her weird starting point, sadly without any sess. Seeing the futility in her first task, she quickly shifted her mindset and turned her full focus on the blurry trapezoid the lighting from the hallway cast onto the tunnel''s dusty floor. "Well whatever I''m sure my brother is looking for a way to get me. The best I can do for now is to investigate. I need to understand where I am, how I got here, and most importantly how to get back." She muttered to herself, making it sound more like a mantra that would drive her forward, and battle the nervousness, the scare that was trying to dominate her soul and body. She couldn''t deny that she was scared. After escaping the decade-long horrors, she no longer wanted to be left without her dear brother. She couldn''t imagine a life without Drake or the rest of her friends in it As she recalled the image of a long ck-haired boy that probably shared a simr fate with her currently, a small hint of pinkish hue spread across her cheeks. She couldn''t deny the steadily growing affection she was cultivating inside her heart, keeping it tucked away. Scarlet shook her head, pushing these thoughts to the back of her mind once again. She had to focus, she had a task, she had to find a way out of this mess she had fallen into. "Enough wasting the time. I need to find my way back to them, and for that, I need to check where in gods'' name am I." She muttered, giving a verbalmand to herself. "Get up Scarlet, move your butt, and do what you do best!" Giving it onest heavy, long exhale, she clenched the handle of her daggers tightly, shifted the lingering hesitant look in her eyes into that of a determined zeal, and gazed directly at the dimly illuminated hallway once again, and slowly took her first steps. Just when she was about to step out and check out the source of the faint light, suddenly a bright shine exploded from behind her. Strange, wobbling, magical sounds filled up the small cave. Not even a secondter, the air tore apart sending invisible torrents of energy to ripple across the space, further distorting it. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 571 - 571 - The Daughters And Their Madam Taking a few deep breaths, Aiden slowly turned around and gazed at the lined up bunch of misfits, a group of mostly untrained people that while theycked in terms of experience and skill, tried their best topensate it with their zeal and passion. Looking over them Aiden sighed, revealing a bitter-looking smile on his Skink-formed face. It didn''t take too much to see that their force whilst statistically could somehow match up with the iing forces, in reality, it barely stood a chance. A frontal confrontation would only result in massive losses and gruesome bloodshed from their side. No, they needed to do something, HE needed to think of something. He sighed again, pondering on what he should do, keeping the tense silence weighing heavily on the minds and hearts of everyone lined up as he slowly checked their information in the System. Mostly simple civilians, that grabbed a pickaxe, stole a sword, or whatever they could find that could tear away their shackles be it physical or mental, and escaped through the many agents of Madam Dara hiding inside the city. Thinking about it, his gaze slowly wandered towards the only brightly smiling, cheerful-looking mature Skink female standing at the front of a group of masked young maidens, her ''Daughter''s of the Dark'' as they liked to refer to themselves. Essentially, they were simr to Number 3, Aiden''s master in some form or fashion.. Their unique clothing, which whilst gave a minimal amount of defense, was mostly made to further enhance their already agile, swift nature. They were the special elite forces of the resistance, the only meaningful force they currently had. They were the scouts and the assassins. They were the agents that could hide in in sight, merge into masses, infiltrate the enemy ranks. They were young maidens, roughly at the same age as Aiden truly was, just barely reaching the end of their childhood, stepping over into adulthood. Young girls, that had lost their old families, giving their absolute loyalty to their mistress instead. Madam Dara, or Auntie Dara for the girls and boys in the base, was once a seamstress herself, forced tomit deeds that would forever haunt her dreams. Yet, she was a strong individual. When she met with the archbishop during his escape, she instantly saw the sparks of a better future, the faint glimmering hope. She instantly became enamored by the man, throwing herself behind the cause without hesitation. She didn''t hesitate to gather her girls, and together with the others give birth to the resistance and spark the embers of this revolution. Time passed and her faction have proven themselves to be a vital part of their feeble force''s continued survival. The information they relentlessly gathered has served key points in their ns and campaigns. In fact, and though Aiden was unaware of this-, it was Madam Dara and her daughter''s that caught wind of his own capture and even the importance the High Priest has ced on the boy It was also his sudden disappearance that has sparked his anger and put an end to the cold war that has been ongoing for years now. Aiden''s gaze met the mature woman''s crescent-shaped eyes, he withstood the teasing smile of hers and waved her to step closer. Madam Dara nodded with a cheery, ted smile, walked over, standing just below the wall side where Aiden was standing. She gave a slight bow, as she spoke with her usual arduous, alluring tone of whispering voice. "[Reptilian] How can I be of assistance, my Lord?" Ignoring the yful teasings that Aiden learned from the absorbed memories she usually fired towards him, Aiden raised his palm and spoke with a stern tone. "[Reptilian] Madam Dara, did your scouts, have learned anything from the iing forces?" "[Reptilian] A meaningful light flickered in the mature woman''s eyes as she listened to her Lord''s words. She smiled meaningfully, as she giggled in response. "[Reptilian] So feisty, so direct, I love that about you, my dear lord!" She waved her hand yfully, as she continued with a bit more seriousness. "I do have some more to share!" Without waiting for permission, Madam Dara, jumped up to the top of the wall and taking her ce at Aiden''s right side a momentter. She leaned over his shoulder and gave a seductive moaning sigh into his ear. "[Reptilian] My lord" Aiden sighed, grabbing the mature subus, and pushed her gently away. He looked into her pouting eyes with a stern, strict, meaningful gaze as she spoke. "[Reptilian] Enough of this ying around, Dara. Tell me, what do you know. You should know that every bit can be crucial to ensure none of our family would suffer. Every piece of information you decide not to share could spell the demise of someone in our family, even you and me." He took a moment and closed his eyes. Images of his missing friends, his dear sister have shed through his eyes, making his heart twist in pain for a moment before he resumed with an emotion-filled look in his eyes. "[Reptilian] Please, do not y around in times like this. I don''t want to lose anyone. Tell me what you know, I beg of you." The look in her beloved Lord''s eyes, the emotional, heavy disy, the willingness to even beg without any hesitation were like daggers plunged into her heart that was already given to this man in front of Dara. Her dark green scaled face donned a gradient of red all across her visage. She could no longer withstand those mature, piercing eyes of the men she had hopelessly fallen for long ago. She averted her gaze, turning to look at her smiling batallion of daughters lined up in an organized fashion, and gulped a few heavily before she could respond. "[Reptilian] M-my L-lord" She sighed again, reaching for her voluptuous, heaving chest to calm her chaotically thumping heart. She stuttered as she battled her raging emotions. "T-there is no n-need for t-that I w-was just p-ying my lo- *khm* my lord!" She took a few more moments before she could calm herself and talk finally. Expertly, she seemed to be able to regain control of her heart and body, showing the decades of gruesome experience in her craft. "[Reptilian] The High Priest seemed to be rather enraged by thetest turn of events." She spoke, turning her attention back on the man once again. "The loss of his precious resource, the captive bareskin seemed to hurt his ns more than we expected. He threw caution into the wind, and seemed to be adamant to put an end to our little resistance once and for all." Despite the graveness of the situation she smiled lovingly at the man, as she continued. "[Reptilian] HE has sent a massive force of more than 300 Temple Guards and even some of the Priests to purge the ''filth''" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 572 - 572 - True Power Chapter572 - 572 - True Power "[Reptilian] How poetic" Aiden smiled at the words of Madam Dara, not showing any signs of concern over the ''massive'' forces of the enemy. "[Reptilian] What do you mean, my lord?" Dara, on the other hand, was utterly confused at the uncanny reaction. Was everything alright with the lord? Maybe he got sick over the recent events? "I-is everything alright?" Still, she felt it was rather rude to directly ask about it. Making her grow more and more hesitant as she spoke. "[Reptilian] Don''t worry about it. It just reminded me of an old story" Aiden didn''t bother with her reaction and smiled at her instead. Turning to look at the people lined up in front of him, he smiled. These men and women were more of a militia, the rebellious, romanticist citizenry rather than a group of trained soldiers. Heck, he was certain, that most of them haven''t really experienced anything like what would unfold shortly. Spilling blood, ending the life of another. It carries a great psychological burden that unless you are trained for, it could carry devastating consequences. Genocide. The definition of the one that murders his own kind. This is the emotional baggage, the weight of these innocent people, wishing nothing more than freedom would be burdened shortly. The smile slowly faded, soured into a stern, somber expression as Aiden looked over the many shivering, trembling farmers,moners, or even used-to-be ves. Apart from a few elite individuals, -like Madam Dara and her trained Daughters-, he wasn''t sure that if was right to force these people to forcefully ruin the futures of everyone present. Thinking it through, Aiden eventually made up his mind. He would do whatever he needs to protect these people. Though his memories are vague, and still mostly in small fractions, small pieces he gained from the absorbed Archbishop He couldn''t help but think and care about them just like he did for those back in Haven. He slowly gazed towards the back, where a young skink girl, his supposed daughter wearing his frivolous white one-piece dress were looking at them with worry and concern. Nervously grabbing and ying with theces of her dress, she was clearly aware of the dangers, despite their attempts of trying to shelter her. She was probably also aware of her supposed fate, even if she couldn''t fullyprehend the meaning behind it. She had no future, but she didn''t despair. As long as she could be with her papa and fight with her for her missing mama, she would be fine. Aiden clenched his fists tighter as he recalled all the pain, all the suffering of the original owner of his current form, and that little innocent angel had been through. He could also feel all the emotions from the small crowd in front of him. Despite being scared, frightened no, terrified of the uing bloodbath, they were all determined down to the veryst person to fight to theirst breaths if needed. To conserve, to save this tiny little piece of happiness they carved beside the rocky walls of this underground world That was the wish of everyone. From the youngest, those little boys that could barely hold their weapons, just reaching the brink of their childhood and stepping into their adulthood through this uing baptism of blood and gore To the old, weak, and elderly. Supporting themselves with canes made out of gnarled roots from the trees still surviving on the surface of the wastnd No matter what kind but they were all adamant to fight together with their newly gained family. Nobody wanted to stay behind. Even though they tried to keep them safe, nobody remained. ''I will not allow them to suffer such a fate.'' Looking at these loving tight-knit families of people, Aiden was nowmitted. He would no longer just y the role. This wouldn''t just be about survival anymore. He felt a connection to these people. He would give them all of his support. He would not let harme to them. The sound of cracks, his joints cracking as he clenched his hands into tightly balled fists, brought him out of his thoughts. He sighed, as the sternness eased up on his expression a bit. Then it happened, catching everyone unprepared. Everyone present, including the little Tolliah at the back, was stunned by what they saw and felt in the next momenting from their leader, her dear Papa. A heavy, cold wind blew suddenly, seeminglying from nowhere. A thick, invisible pressure, a weight descended like a veil on thend space. As their leader, Archbishop Zark straightened his posture and looked down at them, the crowd could feel a newfound force, an aura that they have not felt before, but regardless were all too knowledgable about it. The aura of their royalty. The domain of a dragon, and not just any kind, but that of their guardian''s the Ancient One''s. Yet, it was still slightly different, there was an unfelt vitality, youthfulness present in it. Yet, the most astonishing scene was the brightly glowing lucent bright golden eyes of their lord as it scanned through them. Aiden decided to forgo caution and fullymit to helping these people. He removed the shackles keeping his powers at bay and unfolded the full might of his inheritance, the [Dragon''s Wrath] innate. At the same time, he did something he had never tried before. He utilized another innate, his [Shapeshiper] skill to forcefully retain his current form, only allowing the tail, the ws, and the wings to appear, whilst keeping his [Draconic Skink] form. The surging archaic power that was once again freely surging, coursing in the youth, were also present as it caused his eyes to glow like the sun above the surface and luster with all its glory. The very space distorted around Aiden''s figure as transparent ripples of his energy was continuously rippled across the air. It was already a borderline miracle that the stone wall he stood on didn''t cave in under the unbearable pressure and besides the spiderweb cracks, it managed to withstand its master stably. Every eye went wide, every jaw dropped at the unbelievable scene. Their master, their Lord they joined up with. The patriarch of this new family of theirs was strong. Unbelievably so. Such a sudden and dramatic power-up was not something they could exin themselves, causing them to be stunned in front of this mystery. Only two gazes grew different slowly as the seconds passed. Two maidens, two girls infatuated in a vastly different manner were gazing at the figure of this mighty godlike presence. One growing more and more reverent, and at the same time excited by his beloved Papa, whilst the other feeling the heat surging from the wetness of her loins the longer she gazed at her man --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying the story through Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Chapter 573 - 573 - Pledge An ancient, unknown source of power surged in the surrounding air. Without exception, all eyes were focused on this continuously growing, majestic being. This entity, that should be their sworn-up leader, the first man, the face of their just cause. This man, that was suddenly stood distant, high above not just them, but the entire world. Madam Dara could barely contain the chaotic, heavily thumping heart''s beating. She could barely contain to forgo allmon sense and lunge at this marvel of a skink with all the heat she felt. She could barely, just barely forcemon sense up on herself, and take a few stumbling steps back and stand back to the front of her Daughters. Tolliah''s shock and surprise gradually transformed into an ted, increasingly widening smile as she kept looking at her beloved Papa. She always knew that his Papa was strong. She always felt the safety when she was in his arms, or by his side. Even just to reach and touch the hem of his robe was enough to cause her to worry and dark thoughts to be scared away and feel like a happy, cheerful little girl once more.. Only his and her mother''s presence could ease her constant worries. Only by the thought that they would be once again together as a happy family could make her continue pushing forward, despite all this heavy darkness that kept on engulfing them. "[Reptilian] My papa Show them! Show everyone how strong you are!" She muttered to herself, whispering her wishes into the wind. With her small right fist, she caught the escaping drops of tears and smeared them across her little face as she slowly lost herself in the sight of his majestic father "[Reptilian] My dear friends!" Like a strike from a thunderstorm, Aiden''s boastful voice reverberated as he eximed. A deep, otherworldly undertone carried along with each of his words, further enhancing the august of his speech. His glowing golden eyes were like brightly brimming stars, providing the only source of light amidst all the looming despair and desperation. Themon rabble could only marvel, and get lost in those deep prating stars. "[Reptilian] I can feel your worries, I can smell your fear." Aiden continued, catching most of the people off-guard with the strange approach of his speech. Yet none spoke up, but listened to him intently, even ignoring the growing shadow in the distance. Suddenly even the approaching army became an irrelevant factor, and only the words of their leader were the only thing that mattered to them in their short, feeble life. "[Reptilian] It is okay to be afraid. It is natural to be scared. The enemy wants nothing more than to see your no, OUR demise. They want to see us lying down in our own pool of blood. They want nothing but to make us suffer. To die, miserably for our defiance against their order." He paused for a brief moment, giving time for his words to sink into the minds of those present before continuing. "[Reptilian] They want us to suffer for going against the words of their High Priest, and consequently, the words of the supposed Ancient One!" He raised his right fist into the air, as he continued with more ferocity in his following words. "[Reptilian] Well, I say, no more! We will not listen to the words of a corrupt, fake priest! We will not follow the guidance of someone that''s only desire is to lord over the weak. We will not follow a heartless bastard! If he really is the one chosen by the great guardian, then" Aiden stopped once more, giving even more time for the people to process his words, his vow he is just making, unbeknownst to them as of yet. After a couple of breaths time, he continued. "[Reptilian] Than I say, screw him also! We don''t need a God that doesn''t care about us! We don''t need a traitorous guardian, that isn''t only a kinyer and a destroyer of our world, but would also be so heartless! We will carve our own path, trudge through the dangers together as a family." He sighed as he went further. "[Reptilian] As I stand before you, I give this promise, this pledge to you all: I will fight for your freedom, I will protect your futures. I will not let these monsters steal away the happiness we have all created here! This is my vow to you all." Finishing what he wanted to say, Aiden shocked all those present once again with his unexpected action. He bowed. He prostrated in front of all these men and women. To his daughter, to Madam Dara. To all the aunties and uncles of Tolliah, Aiden did not hesitate to bow deeply, respectfully. He did not move, he did not say anything else but simply bowed, turning his gaze towards the dusty cavern floor instead. "[Reptilian] M-my lo *khm* my lo-ord" Madam Dara sighed, her slender hands touching her heavily heaving voluminous chest, trying to calm the storm his words caused inside her heart. She wasn''t the only one that have turned speechless either. Every eye, every person present was touched, stunned at the pledge their leader have just made to them. For a few moments, no words were spoken, the silence was heavy as people had no idea what they should be doing, how they should respond. "[Reptilian] We love you, Papa! Show those baddies that you are the BEST!" Suddenly a loud, childish cry shattered the tense air,ing from behind them. Surprisingly, only the little girl, the brightly smiling, the cheerful angel was the one that pushed through. With all the might her little lungs and heart could muster, she cried, not caring about the tears that escaped through the corners of both of her eyes. Her exmation, however, seemed to be the catalyst, the final push that everyone seemed to be missing. Following her shout, slowly, the stunned, shocked gazes turned into sparks full of zeal and determination. Hands were risen, filling the air, they all erupted with great force. "[Reptilian] LORD! LONG LIVE OUR LORD!" Joining the sobbing, but the happy girl in the back, tears of joy, and happiness soon watered the ground. People''s morale soaring to the sky, nobody was frightened or bothered by the undeniably bloody sh that would soon descend on them. Yes, some of them, -maybe even everyone present-, would die But so what? As long as they were fighting for their dreams, even if they would ultimately falter, as long as they could stand behind their Lord, and just help ease his burdens ever-so-slightly It would be all worth it. Suddenly, breaking his focus, a new message appeared in front of Aiden, blocking his vision and causing yet another round of shock to spread in his mind. [Hidden Milestone Reached! Earned the dying loyalty of an unaffiliated group of race.] [Initiating Army Management Interface] --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 574 - 574 - Army Management (Part 1) [Hidden Milestone Reached! Earned the dying loyalty of an unaffiliated group of race.] [Initiating Army Management Interface] Aiden was looking at the floating screen, barely able to contain and hide the shock he felt. ''What is this, Enya?'' A momentter, as he managed to break free from his momentary stun, he immediately fired the question mentally. ''[It is an extension of the Minion Management feature of the System. Although I was not aware of such a hidden milestone. Normally, it should be activated during the time you would first have to fight using the forces under your rule.]'' She exined. Thinking about it for a second, she continued. ''[Still, this is actually a good thing, Aiden! If they are now visible in the system and you can even manage andmand them through it, it means they are now faithful to you.. You as Aiden, and not Zark the ex-archbishop.]'' ''What do you mean? They don''t even know about me! How could they-" Aiden argued, not epting her guide''s words at all. How could he? These people have only seen the empowered archbishop. They have listened to his words, they had no idea who was under this farce, this skin at all. It hurt him greatly to have to deceive such an honest group of people, especially as he looked over at the excited, cheery little darling, Tolliah standing bravely at the cave entrance, not willing to bepletely left out, despite the warning. How could they be loyal to Aiden, the Primal then? He was merely the deceiver, a fake. Yes, his feelings and passion may be real, but he was still ultimately just ying the role he was forced to. Still, it may have been by fate that he ended up here, that he met this group, that he came in contact with the little girl. He couldn''t deny the feeling, the love he felt for all these people. He couldn''t just turn around and walk away anymore. No. From this moment on, their futures were the same. Aiden could not, and would not betray the promise he made. ''Fine. Whatever help I get, I will use it. If it serves the purpose, if it can guarantee that their future will continue on, I don''t care anymore.'' Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth with the determination and zeal burning inside his heart, Aiden focused his attention on the floating screen visible only to him. ''How do I open No, where can I find this new menu?'' He asked after taking a longer than usual sigh. As if already expecting the question, Enya''s response was near-instantaneous. ''[As I mentioned before, the new feature is a part of the Minion Management Package. You need to navigate to your ''Domain'' tab and you will see the new option listed under there.]'' She exined, in her usual motherly tone. Without question, Aiden quickly followed her guidance, first selecting the third tab, ''Domain'' from under the selection of the main features. [ Status | Lab | *Domain* | Activities ] Then he looked and selected the newly emerged feature, the aptly named Army Management tab. [ Info | Manage | *Army Management* | World | Tasks ] As he selected the newly unlocked feature, a screen he had never seen before have slowly emerged in front of his eyes. Simrly, how it looked with the strange, overworld map back in Haven, this one was also a top-down representation of his surroundings. There was a thick, unorganized bright neon green mass standing in front of the golden dot marking his own location, whilst three distinct columns of bright scarlet masses were steadily marching towards his location in an organized fashion. Focusing on the enemy columns first, Aiden was shocked to see that one by one, as his focus traversed, information was disyed over them. For the first one, the one to the left was written some basic preliminary data almost instantly. [Group: #1 Power: 275 Toughness: 91 Quality: Scanning in progress Composition: Scanning in progress Threat Level: Scanning in progress] From a first nce, the system gave two numerical data, which had little to no meaning to Aiden at all. Before he could ask, however, Enya was prepared to give her already prepared response. ''[Though the order is the other way around, let me start with Toughness. That is basically the number of life forms the system can detect in the selected group mass. For example, 91 most likely means that it has 90 Soldiers with 1 Higher ranked, probably a captain leading them.]'' She exined, giving it a moment so that the boy can process her words before going further. ''[As for the Power, that is the over strength thebined force has. Although it''s just a numerical representation, it will give you a rough idea of how your strategies will fare against the opposing forces. In our case, 275 is thebined power levels of the 90 soldiers joined with the one, slightly stronger captain leading them.]'' She spoke, giving her lecture to the still bewildered and slightly confused-looking boy. ''Isn''t this way too simr to'' He muttered,pletely shocked to see a screen vastly simr to those games from his time in the modern world. Like those games he and his friends together with Kat they used to y whenever they had the chance. Battling it out against each other, they used to love these sorts of games. Now, he was met with something simr? Why? ''[You shouldn''t be too surprised Aiden. After all, the system is nothing more than the fulfillment of the wish you have originally made when you were transferred to this world. What you see is just the form you were mostfortable with, nothing more, nothing less.]'' Enya chimed in, bringing Aiden back from his thoughts. Seeing as the boy was focusing again, she continued. ''[In any way, check the other two groups as well so the system can start its scan. After that, we need to quickly go over at least the basics, so you wouldn''t fail your pledge right before you had the chance to shine.]'' Not arguing with her words, Aiden swayed his attention, looking at the biggest, thickest column of the three, the central one, aptly named as ''Group #2'' by the System. [Group: #2 Power: 395 Toughness: 126 Quality: Scanning in progress Composition: Scanning in progress Threat Level: Scanning in progress] As for the third, and final group on the right, it seemed to be a mix between the first two in terms of numbers and strength as well. [Group: #3 Power: 305 Toughness: 101 Quality: Scanning in progress Composition: Scanning in progress Threat Level: Scanning in progress] From the looks of it, Madam Dara''s estimations whilst on the mark, they weren''t actually exact either. The enemy was over 300 men strong, with several high-ranking powerful officers leading their ranks. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 575 - 575 - Army Management (Part 2) Before Aiden could ask about the next steps he should take, his guide, Enya was already prepared to jump in to provide further instructions. ''[To see the more detailed, in-depth analysis of theposition, the quality of strength and powers as well as the rough estimation of the system''s final remark about the threatposed to you, its host, you would need to give it a bit more time. Meanwhile, you should focus on your own forces and check the options avable to you.]'' ''R-right'' Aiden nodded, following the instructions. Though he was still quite confused at all that was happening, he couldn''t waste this opportunity. Though he was ready to go and face the enemy by himself just so he could protect these poor ill-fated people, the system''s intervention forcefully changed the ns. Aiden was already keenly aware that the true force behind the System was someone, or something vastly more powerful than those so-called Gods of this world, this ''Eora''. He or She definitely had the ability to alter with even the very fabric of reality, change the fate of the world itself if he or she wanted to. From the vast, seemingly unlimited potential of this magical construct that was now deeply merged with Aiden''s soul the boy had no doubt that whatever tool it offered, it wouldn''t be wise to ignore it. Even if it was ording to the ns of this entity, Aiden was willing to owe him or her one, if it could save these men and women.. Taking a sigh, he fixed his troubled gaze back to the stern, serious outlook he had previously and shifted his attention to therge green unorganized mass on the screen. As soon as his gaze scanned the group, the same tooltip he saw before have appeared. [Group: Unnamed #1] Efficiency: 40% Power: 234 (585) Toughness: 214 Quality: Tier 1, Tier 1+ Composition: Unnamed Rank 1 (Power Level: 5) : 6; Unnamed Rank 4 (Power Level: 4) : 36; Unnamed Rank 3 (Power Level: 3) : 55; Unnamed Rank 4 (Power Level 2): 117 Threat Level: Nominal] ''Ehrm What should I make of this? What is this Unnamed Rank 1, Rank 2, and so on? What are those?'' Aiden asked, looking more and more lost instead of growing more ustomed as the system presented him with the information. Still, Enya was calm, she patiently exined the basics of information to his master. ''[As the title says, it is theposition of your forces. Thisrge group is currently an unorganized mess. Your current efficiency is at an astonishing 40%, which is mostly the result of the heartfelt speech you gave earlier. Yet, that would be far from enough to prepare for the iing sh. As it stands now, your forces do not stand a chance in a direct, frontal sh, which is clearly represented with the active power of this bunch of misfits. The number you can see in brackets next to it, would the peak state at least if we go by theposition.]'' ''So you are saying that this 234 strong defending army, has the strength that is below of even one of the iing, much smaller forces?!'' Aiden was shocked at this revtion. If that is the case, how is he supposed to lead them to victory? What would be the best approach, the most optimal strategy? Before he couldment further, Enya continued. ''[As for the Unnamed parts You have to name them to have them saved in the system. Also, these terms will also be active for the enemy, in case they have simr, matching qualities. So I would suggest to name them with a term that would be easy to useter on as you will not be able to change itter.]'' ''I see.'' Aiden nodded, still in a bit of a shock at the hopelessness of the situation, still deep in thought about what would be the best course of action to take. Still, he quickly took the time, and after a brief moment of thinking, he updated his screen, giving each group of people a fitting term. Lastly, he was looking at what name he should give to his forces when his gaze unconsciously shifted towards the fidgeting little girl in the back. A small smile, creased the edges of his lips, finalizing his interface a momentter. [Group: Tolliah''s Hope] Efficiency: 45% Power: 263 (585) Toughness: 214 Quality: Tier 1, Tier 1+ Composition: Officer (Power Level: 5) : 6; Elite (Power Level: 4) : 36; Soldier (Power Level: 3) : 55; Militia (Power Level 2): 117 Threat Level: Nominal] His forces, now named as ''Tolliah''s Hope'' by the System, looked much more digestible almost instantly. On top of it, even the Efficiency have seemed to rise slightly for some reason, and with it, brought up the Power Level ever so slightly. It was still quiteckingpared to the ruthless enemy in the not-too-far distance, but as it looked, it instantly looked better. Even without asking, Aiden understood the basics now. There was no point inmenting on the situation, but to work on devising a n as to best utilize the different, unique strengths of his people. Even still, Enya''s words echoed in his mind just a secondter, confirming his theory. ''[Just as you think, efficiency is a constantly changing, evolving attribute. It can rise or even fall depending on the circumstances and the situation. It is also a modifier to the Power Level of your forces. Still, remember it is, as with everything you see here, is just an estimation from the system, and not set in stone.]'' Taking a moment of a breather, she continued on. ''[As a piece of final advice from me and the system: Do not hesitate to separate your forces into smaller, more maneuverable teams and devise a strategy based on that. Also, utilize your natural terrain, the chokepoints, the features of the terrain. You can use everything to achieve victory.]'' Aiden nodded at her words, shifting his attention to the group of people in front of him. Looking at theposition, he pondered for only a bit before he shifted his gaze over to the still burning, heated-looking Madam Dara and another armored captain, the same person that came to warn them just before. He waved at them, urging them toe closer whilst he kept on focusing on the system''s screen and make some changes in the screen. He also kept a close eye on the red mass of terror that was steadily approaching, as he devised the first steps of his battle strategy. Just as the two Generals of his army walked over, Enya spoke again, giving a shock for the umpteenth time with her words today. ''[Also, I almost forgot. There are hidden quests and objectives with this system. The better you perform, the more rewards the system will grant you. As for the details, I cannot say, unfortunately, but I am at least authorized to inform you.]'' --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 576 - 576 - Planning And Preparation (Part 1) Closing his eyes for seemingly only a brief, fleeting passage of a moment, Aiden exhaled softly as he gave themands. Meanwhile mentally he formed two smaller-sized squads from therge mass, specific to these two waiting in front of him. Strangely though, even before as he spoke, both the captains, Madam Dara and the leader of the trained soldiers, the so-called ''Elite'' group of 36 eager warriors, had an inkling, a sudden suggestion appearing in their minds. As if they received a divine premonition, they just suddenly received the image of the order their leader Aiden used the form of Archbishop Zark have exined to them in the next instant. "[Reptilian] Listen guys. What we should do first, is to form several new groups, all with their specific tasks. You see, even though we have arge force and the advantage of the terrain, weck massively in the experience department. Most of our men are just not warriors, but instead regr people wanting nothing more than to just live their lives with peace and happiness." He began, giving a long-winded introduction to his following decisions. Although he was unaware, both of them had already learned of his orders and were ready to carry it out even if he were to not voice them. "[Reptilian] Excuse me my lord" Unable to hide this strange, mysterious knowledge she received, Madam Dara spoke up, interrupting Aiden''s speech. Though that would normally be considered rude, Aiden didn''t mind it at all, and instead turned to look at the mature skink woman and asked with a thin smile. "[Reptilian] Yes? Is there something bothering you, miss Dara?" Madam Dara shook her head in denial in response. She took arge gasp of air and exhaled to calm the chaotic beating of her heart before she managed to properly continue. "[Reptilian] N-no, my lord there''s nothing wrong. I-It''s just" She turned to look at the Elite Guard Captain, a Skink by the name of Draghar, asking for confirmation with her eyes. Seeing him nod with an understanding glint in his dark beady eyes, Dara was slightly more relieved. Taking onest sigh, she finally began to exin: "[Reptilian] I I am not sure how to exin it but, as we stood before you, we both received images visions, I guess? Visions of-" "[Reptilian] We believe yourmands have appeared in our minds in the form of a short image, my lord." Seeing how she struggled to exin what they experienced, Draghar broke his silence and finished the woman''s words. He looked sternly, seriously at his lord standing above him atop the rubble of what was an inner section of their camp wall. "[Reptilian] What do you mean? What was the image you have seen?" Aiden, asked the elite captain, with a surprised, slightly perplexed look on his face. "[Reptilian] My lord, I believe you want me tomand the 36 soldiers you have titled as ''Elite'' and had the ''Power Level: 4'' added in the text next to them. You want us to each pick a Tower Shield, and a shorter sword and stand as the first line of defense in a straight single line right there by the remains of the gate, blocking the way from the enemy to advance further." With a straight, seemingly emotionless expression Draghan, swiftly reiterated the tactic Aiden had indeed just done in the Army Management screen of his System. As a first step, he created two smaller groups, two smallpanies from therger mass of defenders. First would be the group he named ''Draghan''s Elite''. After the scanning havee back, and Aiden got a quick look at the supposed skills, he could finally start optimizing the defense strategy. The newly created group of first-line defense was looking like this in the system, after the restructuring and assigning their positions with the new optimized equipment orders. [Group: Draghan''s Elite Efficiency: 75% (+20% Pending Equipment Bonus) Power: 108 (144) -> 129.6 (172.8) Toughness: 36 -> 47.5 (36) Quality: Tier 1+ (Clean Bonus: +20% Power, +10% Toughness) Composition: [Elite (Power Level 4) : 36] Group Skills: Heavy Armor Proficiency (Level 3), Sword and Board (Level 4), Sword Mastery: Advanced (Level 2), Spear Mastery: Basic (Level 4), Mace Mastery: Basic (Level 6), Axe Mastery: Basic (Level 2), Draconic Skink Tenacity (Level -), Basic Regeneration (Level 3) Active Effects: Loyal to the Cause (Level -)] When he first saw the tooltip, Aiden was quite shocked to see such detailed information about his men. Yet, it also made assigning roles that much easier at the same time. The main difference between the normal Soldiers and the Elite warriors was the higher level of skill and the addition of the Heavy Armor Proficiency. These veterans were trained to properly wield, and fight thicker, metal garments, protecting every inch of their bodies. Something that could be easily overlooked but incredibly important nheless. Just being able to amodate the reduced vision range due to the visor blocking most of your surroundings was already a heavy detriment to most. The loss of one''s ease of movement because of the thick, strong conjoining armor tes and sections was also not something everyone could handle. Since they were already having problems with the equipment, the 40 sets of Steel Full Armor would be best used this way. Together with the huge, humongous tower shields, these elites would be the best option to block the withstand the iing first wave and give that much-needed protection to the back liners to dish out as much damage as they could. Their goal was only to withstand the barrage of assault for as long as Aiden could spot the enemy general and deal with it. After his fall, the rest of the invasive force would be like a headless monster, it would quickly break formation as it lost its morale and was ovee with fear, thus ending the battle shortly afterward. Listening to Draghar''s perfect recount of the orders he made in the system, shocked and surprised Aiden. So much so, that he could only nod at the man with wide eyes and frowning lips. "[Reptilian] Y-yeah that''s right... But h-how" Aiden stopped himself midway in his sentence, shook his head, and turned his attention to the alluring woman instead. "[Reptilian] It doesn''t matter, I guess. You are right, that was themand I was about to recount to you. What about you, Miss Dara? You are also aware of the orders I assigned to you and your girls? It is crucial that you-" "[Reptilian] Rest assured my lord, we willplete your assignment perfectly. You can count on your ''Daughters of the Dark''. I can see the route you have nned for us to take. You can count on us!" Before Aiden could finish, Madam Dara spoke up, his alluring, charming smile never leaving her face, as she nodded. She could see the special and important task they were ordered to take and he couldn''t help but smile at the surprising cunningness of his Lord. She had never seen this side of his before --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 577 - 577 - Planning And Preparation (Part 2) After the two captains, Miss Dara and Draghan received their orders they gave a respectful bow towards their leader, and swiftly took to start assigning their teams ording to it. Whilst their teams of elites began to take their positions, the rest of the captains were slowly called up by the pairs and were given their assignments one by one. With Draghan''s Elite taking the front line and the brunt of the damage from the iing attacks and the Daughters swiftly vanished from sight together with their Madam after a short while as they headed to the back caves, the rest slowly began to take their assigned positions. Behind the front line, heavily armored shield bearers that blocked the entrance stood the group named simply ''Spearmen Militia''. Thergest group of the remaining mass, the militia was separated into two groups. Since they were the group with the least amount of experience, training, or skill, it may have seemed weird, or even a mistake to assign half of the 117 lowest Power Levels to be assigned directly below the Elite. Yet, they actually had the easiest job of them all. Numbered 40, roughly matching the other group, each of the Spearmen Militia were given what their name would suggest, a simple crude-looking low quality but a readily avable bunch of stone-headed spears. They weren''t anything special, but had a handle of over two meters, making them reach far in front of the shields lined up ahead of them. With their skillset, Aiden felt this was the best choice of action to take. They would provide direct support and thin the ''herd'' as they inevitably sh into therge metal barriers in front of them. One of the captains, a brawny middle-aged, rough dark-brown scaled Skink by the name of Eori was responsible for giving their newly assigned group the quick instructions as to what they should be doing. Going on, the rest of the Militia has formed up the third battalion. Since Aiden didn''t want to waste too much time on naming each and every corp he formed, they were simply named ''Support Squad''. They were mostly women, and the elderly that still had some fight and vigor left in them. Yet, Aiden felt it wouldn''t have been proper to assign anything dangerous to them. Yet at the same time, denying their chance to give whatever help they could have been cruel, especially after seeing the resolve glinting in their eyes. So, Aiden decided to use them as help. They weren''t organized at all, with skills that whilst wouldn''t be too much help on the front lines, would still be helpful if utilized correctly. They were responsible to provide first aid to those that got hurt, rescuing those that had fallen, providing recement weapons, armors or even just a quick massage if needed. Whatever that could help the fighters keep it up for as long as it was needed. Their captain, was actually the wife of the other militia group''s leader, going by the name of Pyre. She, whilst seeming to be a simple farmer''s wife was one of the first surprises to Aiden, her scans came back with a surprising set of skills. [Source: Pyre Khatar Power: Fire (Advanced), Chaos (suppressed), Blood of the Ancient One (Minor), Light ( Advanced) Threat Level: Medium Affiliation: Loyal, Devoted] To Aiden''s great surprise, the mature-looking gentle woman had vast powers inside her. With Advanced Mastery over handling Fire and even the Light, she would already be a powerful opponent to anyone on the opposing side but with two strange additions, like the currently seemingly suppressed Chaos or the even more mysterious and vague ''Blood of the Ancient One'', she was not someone anybody should anger recklessly. Yet, with such a stormful mix, one would expect her nature, her temperament to match her main affinity, only to be shocked to see her gentle, motherly, patient attitude. They would never expect that behind such a gentle, calm, water-like affinity actually, the opposite of it was hiding. Surprisingly, even her threat level was deemed much higher than anything Aiden had seen from the system. Being marked as Medium meant that she could match her strength for quite a while, giving the boy an ample but passable challenge to ovee. In any way, Pyre would be responsible for keeping up with the rest of her group and providing whatever assistance they could to the rest of the group. Finally, the Soldiers, the ''Middle ss'' of the defender''sposition were separated into two groups of people that had roughly simr assignments. The first 30 of them, that had the required skill set was now called ''Bowmen'', and were given a set ofposite long bows with a quiver full of stone-headed arrows and were ced directly at the back, to the safest position on the battlefield. In front of them, the remaining 25 basically had the task to defend them from all sides and prevent nking as much as possible. Still, their main task as the newly formed ''Infantry, was to aid the Spearmen militia as much as possible, rece them if the need would arise. Thest two of the captains, two brawny, soldier-like Draconic Skinks called Taryz and Gek were put to lead them. After learning that Aiden didn''t need to voice his orders and just simply needed to do the setup in his system, the assignments were done quickly and smoothly. In barely just a few minutes their previously chaotic mass of people was now looking like a disciplined force all of a sudden. Looking at their respective groups in the system, it was clear that their efficiency for each and every one of them was through the roof. Shockingly there were a couple that even reached numbers that Aiden previously thought would have been impossible. The group''s details were now as follows: At the frontline, it was Draghan''s Elite, their shield''s already raised donning full-body heavy steel armor. They didn''t need to dish out any real damage, their main task was to absorb the iing attacks for as long as they could while providing some pushback when necessary. [Group: Draghan''s Elite Efficiency: 105% (+20% Equipment Bonus, +10% Morale Bonus) Power: 129.6 (172.8) -> 181.4 (172.8) Toughness: 49.8 (36) Quality: Tier 1+ (Clean Bonus: +20% Power, +10% Toughness) Composition: [Elite (Power Level 4) : 36] Group Skills: Heavy Armor Proficiency (Level 3), Sword and Board (Level 4), Sword Mastery: Advanced (Level 2), Spear Mastery: Basic (Level 4), Mace Mastery: Basic (Level 6), Axe Mastery: Basic (Level 2), Draconic Skink Tenacity (Level -), Basic Regeneration (Level 3) Active Effects: Loyal to the Cause (Level -)] Behind them stood the Spearmen Militia as assigned. [Group: Spearmen Militia Efficiency: 90% Power: 75.6 (84) Toughness: 40 Quality: Tier 1 (+5% Equipment Power Bonus) Composition: Militia (Power Level 2): 40 Group Skills: Spear Mastery: Basic (Level 2), Unarmed Combat (Level 1), Draconic Skink Tenacity (Level -), Basic Regeneration (Level 3), Active Effects: Loyal to the Cause (Level -)] --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 578 - 578 - Planning And Preparation (Part 3) Behind the Spearman, the line up wasn''t as strict anymore. Keeping a bit of space for maneuvers and to allow the Supporters to attend to those that requested or required it, the rest of the 3 groups were ced in a loose form of mass. Still at their center stood the most important group, the ranged damage dealers (the ''Bowmen'') that Aiden was cing most of his expectations on. [Group: Bowmen Efficiency: 95% ( Power: 89.7 (94.5) Toughness: 30 Quality: Tier 1 (+5% Equipment Power Bonus) Composition: Soldier (Power Level 3): 30 Group Skills: Archery (Level 5), Short Bow Mastery: Advanced (Level 2), Long Bow Mastery: Advanced (Level 3), Crossbow Mastery: Basic (Level 3), Precise Aim (Level 2), Headhunter (Level 5), Draconic Skink Tenacity (Level -), Basic Regeneration (Level 2), Active Effects: Loyal to the Cause (Level -)] Apart from the self-exnatory skills, they were gifted with a few extras that made these select 30 soldiers excellent ranged force. Besides the obvious ranged weapon mastery skills they had, there were two extra incredible ones that set them apart. Precise Aim, was one of these, that just as the skill name suggested, increased the precision while they aimed. The longer they had their eyes on the sight, the longer they kept up their aim, the better their shot became, the closer they hit the mark even if it was hundreds of yards away. This skill, which was the foundation to be a full-fledged sniper, was simply incredible. Their second unique ability, headhunter, was most likely an evolved, upgraded version of the Hunter skill-line, carrying knowledge about the vital points of most humanoid targets, allowing the soldiers to know which parts they should aim for to maximize the lethality of their shots. The whole reason Aiden had decided to ce so much hope in this small group was mostly because of thebination of these two skills. Though he had hoped that they could end the battle without too much blood being spilled, if that wouldn''t be a feasible approach anymore these bowmen would y a vital role then. Surrounding them were the rest of the 25 Soldiers, armed with mostly swords and one-handed small maces and smaller round shields. Garbed in mostly studded leather armor, they were the Infantry. [Group: Infantry Efficiency: 90% Power: 70.8 (78.75) Toughness: 25 Quality: Tier 1 (+5% Equipment Power Bonus) Composition: Soldier (Power Level: 3): 25 Group Skills: Sword and Board (Level 3), Sword Mastery: Basic (Level 9), Mace Mastery: Basic (Level 5), Axe Mastery: Basic (Level 3), Spear Mastery: Basic (Level 3), Sword and Board (Level 3), Draconic Skink Tenacity (Level -), Basic Regeneration (Level 3) Active Effects: Loyal to the Cause (Level -)] Their role and task were mainly to protect the Bowmen, with providing a recement for the Spearmen Militia if the need would arise. They had to keep the iing waves engaged and not let them reach the bowmen, theirst line of hope at all costs. Lastly, there was the so-called Support Squad, thergest mostly, nonbatant group of the bunch. Captained by Pyre, the hidden powerhouse, and the humble housewife of Captain Eori. [Group: Support Squad Efficiency: 100% Power: 154 Toughness: 77 Quality: Tier 1 Composition: Militia (Power Level 2): 77 Group Skills: First Aid (Level 2), Cooking (Level 8), Farming (Level 7), Animal Rearing: Livestock (Level 6), Tilling (Level 4), Labor: Advanced (Level 5), . . . Light Magic Proficiency (Level 1), Mana Maniption (Level 1) Light Magic: Lesser Warming Light (Level 1) Active Effects: Loyal to the Cause (Level -)] Like the rest, the group also had an incredibly long list of skills, but unlike with them, they weren''t filtered by the system, mostly due to the fact that they had no specific role set. They were just a mixture, the ''rest'', thus the System did not hide anything, showing a seemingly endless list of skills that had nothing to do with the actualbat. Yet it was because of this, that they were perfect for the supporting task. This group mostly consisting of worried wives, young adult maidens, and the healthier part of the elderly poption, were weak, despite their quite generous Power numbers. They should not be used for direct confrontation but to make sure that the rest of the defense force would be kept up, standing. Also, surprisingly, most of the elders had some affinity towards Light Magic and they could even reliably cast a spell called ''Lesser Warming Light''. This spell could envelop a set area bathing it with a bright colorless pir of light simr to the ray of Eora''s sun, providing increased regeneration of one''s vitality and stamina. Though because it would not be capable of distinguishing between a friend or foe, Aiden assigned an empty area by the side that would be used as the target of the spell. Those that would need, would be taken to that spot and be attended both by the use of First Aid, and the constant cast of the Light Magic Spell. This setup is made up of Aiden''s defense. Their goal wasn''t to beat and kill their opponent but to keep up with their assault and retain the front line for as long as possible, whilst the 6th group that was already traversing the maze-like cavern tunnels would arrive at nk the backline of officers. Their task would be to ambush theirmand and bring down as much as possible, thus wreaking havoc on the enemy morale. At the same time, Aiden himself wouldunch into action. He assigned the hardest as well as the most important task of them all. Once the enemy leader would be located and the opportunity woulde, he would jump into action and take him or her down Although he had now made his preparations, Aiden was still worried about what was toe. This battle would be his very first that he had activelymanded, he didn''t know how would he react if these poor people he have pledged and vowed to serve would end up being hurt, or worse: Dead. Whilst Aiden was busy giving outmands with the assistance of his System and setting up his defenses, at the other side of the vast underground in, Arge, bulky golden-brown thick scaled creature was sitting on a throne-like chair that was carried by 8 malnourished, ragged clothed and cored skinks. The man, who acted as if he was a king, was enjoying a te of food as he leaned back against his chair. His glowing deep honey-colored eyes were loosely gazing at the distant line of a run-down, dpidated line of walls. Despite the vast distance, his enhanced eyesight could clearly make out the lonesome figure standing on top of it, gazing below the mass of ants below him. Therge figure kept his bored gaze on the distant figure whilst he continued to enjoy the exotic bowl of fruits whilst they marched forward. In the end, he simply scoffed with boredom, not too bothered by what was toe. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 579 - 579 -Disastrous Adventures Time passed by, soon, the morning luster was reced by the brimming midday daylight, only to eventually give way to the smooth afternoon breeze. Back on top of the teau overlooking arge portion of the southern wastnds, Captain Don was starting to get restless with worry. His entertainment of torturing their chained captive has already gone pale, boring. As it turned out, although the strange bristly furred monstrous abominable creature that was a mix between wolf and spider, was quite sturdy, resistant to physical abuse. Yet, fortunately, it turned out that it couldn''t really handle even the basics of psychological warfare. Teasing with the alluring smell of a sumptuous meal has quickly brought down the previously indomitable walls that the creature surrounded itself with. Barely in an hour of its new method of punishment, the creature was singing like a little bird, going into whatever detail they wanted just to finally get something for the promise of a meal. These creatures, calling themselves P''Thorax, had a pretty horrid history. They were the result of the ''Bareskins'', as they called them, the surface dwellers of the eras past. Before the ''Grand Cataclysm'', there were many races living above thend space. A race of long-eared, slender-looking androgynous creatures; an agamous, or genderless race that seemed to somewhat resemble some subsection of a true born race of elves from Eora, have created them as a manner of protection. They were designed to be efficient killing machines, protectors, guardians of this strange technocratic civilization. Though at first, they were little more than the reanimated amalgamation of local beasts, they somehow formed their own souls over the centuries, eventually turning from tools to beings that started to desire their freedom. Though their knowledge and myths leave lots of holes to fill, eventually the inevitable war broke out between the two, which after almost 2 full centuries of bloodshed ended in a peace treaty, finally acknowledging the race of P''Thorax as their own, with their then sole City-State of Porthx being its own nation. From the creature''s telling Captain Don learned that in the uing almost 7 full decades that were before the world-changing event, the ''Great Cataclysm'' eventually brought the end of all Bareskins and made the Overworld inhabitable for generations, the P''Thorax had their Golden Age. Though they were far from being immortal existences, they were basically immune to the corrosion of time. They were ageless entities, beings created through a mixture of dark science and magic. Luckily, or maybe to the misfortune of the Captain and the team, Aiden was not with them at the time, he couldn''t tell them the strange peculiarity of these creatures. More so, he might even have missed them if he were to be with the girls at the time during their first encounter! For these creatures although undeniably alive, were closer to magical constructs than true natural living entities, they rarely had any Life Essence inside their bodies and was mostly animated through an artificial-looking core and an abundant amount of viscous tangible fluid of mana flowing through the veins in their bodies! In any way, Captain Don, finally learned that the creature was one of his tribe''s hunters, sent out to scavenge for food on the surface. However, when he was asked of the location of his tribe and that if there would be a chance for peaceful negotiations, the creature snickered as he pointed towards the west, to the nearby second teau, shocking the old man in the process. It seemed that the two teams, that were sent out, had both encountered surprises along their journeys, meeting situations they were not prepared for. Captain Don could only hope that they were still safe and not deep in some disaster Captain Don could only sigh and hope that the team of girls joined by his two strongest men, sent to the south, didn''t meet any trouble along their way Bathed in the creature''s disgusting fluids and thick, dark oozing blood, Naybeah truly looked akin to a nightmarish, terrifying monster rather than the wild-natured beauty that could captivate and capture the hearts of men. Heaving heavily after the brutal sh with the humongous insectoid, she didn''t seem to notice or at the very least bothered by the fact that her entire upper chest and with it, her bountiful melons wereid out bare, beneath the thinyer of dark viscous coating of goo. She was deep in her own little world, reveling in the feeling of her glorious victory. Of the fact that she fulfilled her promise, and that she acquired the trophy worthy of her mate. Lying beside the oversized, hill-sized head of the creature, Naybeah''s thoughts wandered far away. As his dashing, handsome figure appeared in front of her mind, a wide, goofy grin soon seemed to emerge atop her expression. "Naybeah!" The short silence was abruptly broken when a chorus of melodious but worried voices echoed in the gruesome battlefield. Two slender figures dashed towards the lying amazon, ignoring the disgusting pool of fluids that she was surrounded with. In just a few short moments the two girls, Lily and Galina were already beside her, the rest of their team not too far behind her. "Sister!" Lilly eximed with a concerned, worried tone as she looked over the bruised, battered friend of hers, addressing Galina standing at the other side. "Can you Can you help her?" She asked with a bit of hesitancy, fear in her voice. She was afraid that the antics of this friend there have finally caught up to her, and that even with the help of her sister, Naybeah would be beyond help. Galina was already focused on the task, she didn''t react to the question at all. She was looking sternly at the wounds, scanning all the damages whilst a deep frown donned on her face. After a while, she sighed and clicked her tongue. The signs of annoyance, dismissal could be seen peeking through her expression, as she sighed and slowly reached out with her arms and raised it above the amazon''s body. "Why is she always like this?" She muttered. "Why does she keep thinking that the Young Master needs such a disy from her?!" She sighed, closing her eyes as she shifted her full attention, her full focus on the task at hand. She couldn''t waste a single second, and had to use everything she had left in her tanks if she were to hope for a chance to pull her back from the brink of death! "Whe... Wh- What in the" Suddenly finding her entire environment turning upside down, and twisting beyond recognition, Drake found himself confused as he appeared in the underground damp cell. The bright, scorching sun was nowhere to be found, reced by damp, obscure darkness. Therge, endless space has turned into barely more than the cell he was invited to during his ''stay'' in the Orc''s Tower. Yet, before he could finish looking around, a familiar voice reached his ears. "B-brother?" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 580 - 580 - Better Together Than Alone "Whe.. Wh- What in the" Suddenly finding her entire environment turning upside down, and twisting beyond recognition, Drake found himself confused as he appeared in the underground damp cell. The bright, scorching sun was nowhere to be found, reced by damp, obscure darkness. Therge, endless space has turned into barely more than the cell he was invited to during his ''stay'' in the Orc''s Tower. Yet, before he could finish looking around, a familiar voice reached his ears. "B-brother?" "S-sis? Where are" Caught off guard by the sudden voiceing from behind the darkness of the tunnel outside the cave Drake found himself in, he raised his head staring into the looming void ahead. Just as his nervousness was about to reach new heights, and he could ask, a slender, yet familiar silhouette emerged from the side, taking the shape and form of his dear sister just a blink of a timeter. Scarlet rushed back into the empty and damp cave as soon as she saw the strange light showing from inside, and jumped into her brother''s embrace in the next moment. "Brother! You came!" She eximed happily. Even though it was probably just some minutes she had spent in this unknown ce so far, it already felt like forever for her. Being separated for even a single minute was too much for her to bear. Even if they were thrown into the darkest pits of hell, to the realm of demons and devils, she wouldn''t mind, she would not even bat an eye as long as her dear brother would be beside her. Well, and maybe a ck-haired boy "Sis! What No." Drake shook his head, forcing some calmness and rity back into his startled mind. "Where are we? What is this ce?" He asked instead. "I We were looking for you as you just vanished. We came to where you stood, and just as I felt I stepped on some strange device, the space around me suddenly distorted, warped. Next thing I know the burning, scorching sunlight was gone, reced by this cool, damp cave." Summarizing thest few minutes'' events, Drake analyzed their situation. While keeping their hug, as Scarlet just refused to let go, Drake slowly looked around, taking his time to scan every inch of his mysterious new environment. He also listened to the constant humsing from Mort, his treasured sword at his side. "I see" He nodded after listening to an exceptionally long-winded series of long and short hums, whispers from Mort. "So that''s it" "Hmm? What is it, brother? Did you find out something? Where are we?" Hearing her brother speak, Scarlet raised her head, momentarily leaving her brother''sforting chest, and asked. "Well We are still at the same location as we were" Drake sighed, revealing a wry smile as he slowly gazed towards the rocky terrain and stgmites looming above them. "Just we seemed to be traversed deep below the surface." "Hmm How deep? Can''t we just You know, work our way back to the others then?" Scarlet asked, looking thoughtful and somewhat skeptical. How did they get below the ground? Was that strange sensation a portal? A gateway? But if that was the case, where was the gate itself? Why didn''t they see magic in action? No, that was not right. It couldn''t be! There was no effect, no sound at all. One moment, she was cursing, grumbling atop the teau, questioning this whole excursion they were forced to take, then in the next she was suddenly in a cave. "No, we can''t." Drake shook his head at her sister''s question. "ording to Mort, we should be quite deep." "Huh? How deep?" Scarlet asked, still looking doubtful of this whole thing, even though it was indeed the only exnation they coulde up with currently. Instantaneous teleport, without the use of magic? That was still way too far-fetched, even for children''s stories! "Deep enough, that manually we couldn''t work our way back. Even if you and would go all out, it would take days to get back." Drake responded with a frown, turning his gaze slowly from them towards the dark tunnel instead. "Our best course of action now would be to explore what ce we found ourselves in, rather than standing here and waiting for a miracle." "Y-yeah. I was about to do that when y-you... When you came." Scarlet nodded, slowly, begrudgingly pushing herself away from the soothing, calming embrace of her brother. Knowing that time could indeed be of the essence, as they still had absolutely no clue where they were, she forced some rity back into her head and gripped the handles of her daggers as she slowly unsheathed both des from the sides of her waist. "We should get going and find a way back to the others" Drake sighed, walking towards the entrance. Carefully, he stepped out, whilst keeping his sword-wielding right hand over Mort''s handle, ready to strike in a fraction of a second if needed. However, thankfully or perhaps just adding more to their growing anxiety and tension, they could not sense a single soul, a single presence even as they stepped out of their natural-looking small and modest chamber and into the looming dark and endless slithering tunnel section. Squinting his eyes, Drake could make out several simr-looking dark spots, entrances to side chambers, caves ahead of them, sparsely ced along the route they seemingly needed to take. There was a faint trapezoid cast along the way,ing from a series of half-burnt candlesticks stered on both sides of the wall as they went along. It was impossible to tell, when or by whom it was ced, but it did make one thing certain: Wherever they were, it was far from being deserted. Someone or multiple creatures, -perhaps other humans-, have cared and attended to this ce. "Just what is this ce?" Drake muttered to himself, his gaze turning stern and somber by the second as he slowly understood their situation. No matter what was the truth, he couldn''t see a positive oue at all. If this ce was owned by a group from another Pir, then they were opponents, hiding and scheming just beneath their camp. If they were to stumble upon more of those monstrous, abominable creatures that they captured with such effort That may be even worse. If that creature was anything to go by, they learned that these strange species were extremely aggressive, hostile to their kind. Yet, they weren''t mindless beasts, even if they were seemingly created through some unholy fusion of them. No, they were cunning, deceptive, scheming, and exceptionally cruel. If they have happened on a one-way entrance to the rest of that monster''s kin Drake wasn''t sure what they would do --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 581 - 581 -Not Alone Anymore With slow, careful, and most important of all, silent steps, Drake and Scarlet kept on trudging forward in the dark, dimly lit underground tunnel. Whenever they reached closer to a dark hole in the wall, another cavern entrance, they slowed their pace to a halt and made sure to slink, sneak closer to the edge. Since they were in an unknown, potentially hostile territory, they both did their best to keep a calm and steady heart, and a clear, conscious mind as they slowly scouted out their new environment. There was one thing they just couldn''t get their heads around, one mystery that seemed to have no immediate answer to. Where was the rest of their team? Why were they the only two that got teleported, warped to this ce? Did the rest of the team decide that it was best not to step on the same ground as they did? Were they still up there, atop the barren and empty teau, waiting for them to return? Or did they perhaps, leave them to their demise and instead go back to the camp to report to the Captain of what had transpired here? They didn''t know, only that neither of the rest of their team was anywhere close to them. As far as they had seen, after traversing a good portion of the dark underground chambers, and journeying through the tunnel they had seen no other soul in sight. "Well" Sighing, after checking yet another empty, damp and small cave, Drake spoke up. His face donning a bittersweet-looking smile as he gazed at his sister''splicated-looking face. "look at the bright side of it sis." "Ugh What can be good about this? We have no idea where we are, how we got here, and how to leave! There''s nothing good about this!" Agitated, nervous, and slightly annoyed by his brother''s nonchnce, Scarlet huffed aint as she stormed out of the cave and returned to the slithering, seemingly endless tunnel once more. "Well We seem to be safe." Drake smiled as he returned to her sister''s side. His right hand, never left the handle of his sheathed sword ever since they began their makeshift exploration. "There are no other enemy teams around here, nor can we find more of those hideous weird creatures! That should count for something, right?" Scarlet could only sigh and shake her head at his brother''s words, she did not want toment on him. She was aware that he was just trying to lift their mood a bit, pull them back from the growing despair that was creeping up on them. She knew, of course, she knew, yet she just couldn''t bring herself to smile. She felt guilty, regretful of her actions from before. Because of her huffing, her annoyance of the task, shended themselves in such a hopeless predicament. How could she elicit a smile then? "Just sto-" Suddenly, Mort, Drake''s treasured artifact sword lit up with a bright, light blue luster. A series of long and short hums escaped from the gemstone at the tip of the sheathed hilt, tranting themselves into a warning, an urgent message inside Drake''s mind. Drake''s smile, which he had forced upon himself in an attempt to try to lift their mood, have just as abruptly vanished as the messages arrived, souring, twisting, and turning first into a shocked-looking expression, then eventually forming a somber, serious, hardened visage. As the message was conveyed and the hums quieted down, Drake gave a silent, somber nod into the air, turning his attention to the looming darkness lying ahead of them. His grip on the hilt tightened ever-so-slightly, he confidently took a couple of steps to stride ahead, pushing his startled sister behind his back. "W-what is it? What is g-going on, brother?! She asked with a nervous, increasingly agitated tone. She was tightly clenching the daggers in both of her hands, instinctively raising them higher, and entered a lounging, battle-ready stance in an instant. "We are no longer alone." Was the only thing Drake said, sneering the words out of his gritted teeth and tightly shut lips. He cracked his neck as he moved his head around its base as to massage and awake his tired joints. Scarlet, had many more questions to ask, but as she looked at his brother, she knew that the time for them has long since passed. Whatever was happening, whoever was approaching their location, they both needed to focus. Judging by her brother''s reaction, they needed to put in their everything to have a chance. Whatever the contents of the sword spirit''s message could have been, it had caused an instant shift in her brother''s mood. For him to jump ahead to protect her with his body and consequently his life on the line, their situation was beyond critical most likely. Thinking everything through in a few passing seconds, Scarlet followed her brother, raising her daggers higher, reaching her eyesight. Holding both weapons in a slicing pose, with the des facing outward of her body, both her fists were raised close to each other, just in front of the slits of her squinting eyes. She kept her focus on the looming darkness lying in front of them. Just like she did many times during her time as a diator, a damned, cursed warrior fighting for her own survival and to the amusement of the rich, she exhaled a long sigh, clearing her mind and calming her heart in the process. In the next moment, she slowly inhaled the damp, stale, and cool air, giving it an additional moment to keep it stored inside her diaphragm as she used the newfound surge of energy to heighten and focus the three most important of her senses. She sharpened her sight, as she squinted, bravely gazed into the darkness. She focused her sense of hearing, heightening it to spot the most silent of noises she could. Her nostrils trembled as she ignored her feminine disgust and tried to differentiate this mixture of nastiness to the best of her abilities. Though she was not aware of it as it wasn''t a conscious activity on her part, merely a result of the hardships she had to amodate to over the long years that overshadowed most of her childhood, Scarlet did in fact was close topletely awakening a new skill of her own. An ability, an innate ability that only a select few humans would ever have the fortune to hold as their own. Whilst Drake''s senses and reflexes were enhanced through her mystical connection with Mort, at the same time, Scarlet''s natural ability, a slumbering heritage of her bloodline was slowly starting to awaken. A faint pinkish hue, a light red tone flickered inside Scarlet''s eyes. Soon, she spotted some tiny flickers, miniature distortions in the distance --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 582 - 582 - The Darkness Takes Form From the encroaching darkness amidst the faint, hollow, flickering trapezoids that were cast by the sparsely ced half-burnt candlesticks on either side of the rocky wall, Scarlet could just barely make out what seemed to be a roughly humanoid-looking silhouette. Rough because whilst it had a bipedal, standing posture, the upper half of its body, had some strange peculiarities. From the distance, as it made ragged, jagged movements as it closed in on the brother and sister duo, Scarlet couldn''t make out the finer details as of yet. "It ising this way." Scarlet said, her voice filled with a mixture of anxiety, pity, and concern. "We are not ready." "I know." Was the only response Drake let escape her closed lips, to let something for Scarlet to bite on. His stance was firm, his eyes cold, his expression showing an emotionless, calcting determination. ''I was useless before. I failed my friends, I failed his family no, our family! I can''t repeat the same mistake again We have to survive The truth is, we don''t even know who or what we''re up against. It all feels like we''re dealing with demons, the spawns of hell, and all I can do is to run away.'' Drake took a moment, calming himself and focusing his nerves on the vibrations in the dark at the distance. As the moments mercilessly passed, slowly the faint vibrations in the darkness stepped into the faint pir of the candlelit corridor. A grey, furry, strong forelimb appeared as it entered the hollow trapezoid of light cast on the rocky cavern floor. Four dark ws protruded from the tip of each of its phnges. The creepy appendage sailed across the air as it firmlynded at the very center of the light source. Swiftly following through the joint, arge, muscr body covered in dark gray fur revealed itself, just as the second forelimb, simr to the other but mirrored in their position followed its leading partner and firmly took up its stance at the center of the illuminated area. The body, simrly to the abominable captive back in the camp at the surface, resembled mostly a worgen, a bipedal evolved version of the wolf family of beasts. Yet, just like with the other one, this one also seemed to be an unholy fusion of another creature, another insectoid, a scorpion. ck chitin armor covered his upper leg, providing a sturdy protection from most attacks all the way from above its knees towards its shoulders. Like a naturally made raincoat or a strangely made fitting suit of body armor,rge panels of ebony chitin covered all of the crucial, critical parts of the creature. From the back, towering above its wolf-like bestial head that hadrgepound bug-like eyes, arge tail, with a sharpened bulge at its tip loomed over him like the cursed scythe of the Reaper. Still, despite its armor that was attached to its body, or the floating, most likely venomous tail above its head, the creature, this unholy monster was approaching towards them calmly, silently. It didn''t seem to show any visible reaction, emotion on his face. From a first nce, one could have mistakenly thought that it did not see the invading duo ahead of it. Yet, he or she would be wrong, as the trained eye could spot the minuscule reactions, micro movements in each of its steps, in every one of its actions. Scarlet and by now, Drake also was keenly aware that there was no way out. The creature had them in its sight. They were aware that their only path would be to continue forward and try to first reason with this forsaken race. As Captain Don had said to them when they all set out this morning: ''Hope for the best, prepare for the worst!'' With a steady, constant pace the creature slowly walked closer and closer to the duo of siblings. Drake and Scarlet were standing side by side, gazing at the iing monster with a stern, serious expression donning their faces. Whilst Scarlet still had a tinge of emotions besides the fixated somber resolve that shone in his brother''s eyes, she held both daggers in her slender hands steadily. The des facing towards the creature were raised in front of her squinted, stern gaze. Despite the slightly trembling eyelids and the minuscule curvature in the edges of her leps, Scarlet was ready to unleash all her might without hesitation. If nothing else, despite knowing that the odds would be against them, her time as a diator has taught her not to falter even when facing such hopeless odds. The countless beasts are it human, orc, or whatever predator they had thrown at her, she always managed to ovee the odds in the end. "Be ready, Scar." Breaking the ensuing tense silence Drake whispered to his side. His tone was steady, clear carrying no hints of emotion at all. Slowly, but steadily their short but fruitful time together with Aiden and his family of weirdos have gradually calmed his haughty passion, recing it with the cold determination of a cold-blooded killer. Both him, and his sword spirit, Mort have learned a lot from their friend and his outlook on life. His usual calmness as he faced every situation, yet at the same time, his determination to push himself to his limits just to ensure that those that are close to his heart would not be hurt in the slightest. His willingness to go to whatever ends he needed, no matter the oue or the consequences. If his dear sister or that ck-haired priestess woulde to any harm, Drake was sure that Aiden wouldn''t hesitate an instant to tear down the entire city of Higrove if that would ease their suffering. Scarlet was caught off guard by the new nickname, making her lose her concentration and crease her brows as she nced over to her left, looking at her brother''s fierce gaze. "Scar? Where did thate from?" She whispered, fixing her gaze, turning it back on the still calmly, steadily approaching monster. As the creature left the trapezoid shape of light cast on the ground by the first candlelight and stepped into the second not too muchter, they could see the small changes in the creature''s stance. A small smirk-like expression began to don its fanged mouth residing under its elongated nose. Its long, sharp and slightly curved ebony ws were glinting ominously under the flickering faint light the small me of the candle cast from the neighboring wall. From the previous, calm and easing stance, now the creature''s hands, whilst still resting at its sides, were now fixated into a wing posture. Without a shadow of a doubt, both siblings were sure that the creature had no intention to resolve their meeting peacefully. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 583 - 583 - Bloody Battle Looking at the looming threat as it lurked closer and closer both Scarlet and Drake were clear that there was no point in even attempting tomunicate with the monstrous entity. The creature snarled viciously as the pair of dark globules, its pair ofpound eyes focused on the royal siblings just a dozen or so yards ahead of it. A few sharp snarls were heard from it only, its eerie howling was silent and low as it continued creeping closer, walking from light source to light source. Whilst it was undeniable that its tied-up captive kin above was intelligent, cunning, and scheming, they weren''t too inclined to reason with them. Their deep-seated hatred and killing intent were painfully obvious. Both siblings gripped their weapons firmly in their hands, gripping them tightly in murderous fury. Slowly, Drake unsheathed Mort from its holster and held it with its facing de downwards the ground by his side. Meanwhile Scarlet held both her daggers in her hands. They both looked at the savage, monstrous entity, standing in this sudden face-off. Time stretched too painfully, making this small few ticking seconds feel like entire lifetimes as the two sides did nothing but scrutinize the other. The two feeble humans, the ''Bareskinks'' stood in front of this creature, one of the 4 Great Tribes surviving the apocalyptic sh between the guardians of this realm. The siblings knew they had to be focused, keeping their attention on the creature''s every heartbeat, every breath it took. The unholy fusion of insect and beast as so far both creatures of this unknown species were seen, could not be underestimated. As its kin had shown before they were savage, cruel, ruthless, and worst of all, incredibly powerful. The siblings were facing the massive monster, the gigantic insect-beast that stood in front of them, head bowed slightly to the side and licking its lips as it towered over them. The bloodthirsty monster continued to show no interest in the siblings, but stood silently, waiting for either of them to make the first move. After what seemed like a forever of tense stillness, it was Scarlet that reacted first andunched herself into action thus marking the start of their battle, their fight for survival between human and monster. In the blink of an eye, Scarlet threw a fierce blow at the creature''s head, a vicious blow that connected, the bloodied head snapping as the head fell from its muscr neck to the ground. In the blink of an eye, Scarlet hands shot forward, jumping to the left side and inching closer to the tunnel''s rocky wall. As a fierce shout, the roar befitting even an amazon escaped her lips, she jumped up, using her legs as support to run up sideways at the vertical terrain as it rushed towards the creature. It ran sideways along the wall only for a brief instant, using its sturdy surface as an additional source of support to give even more explosive burst to his sudden momentum, and shot herself towards the standing, seemingly non-reactive enemy. Tightly holding onto both of her daggers in both of her balled fists, Scarlet shot across the air, the sharp edges of her daggers glinting dangerously in the flickering pirs of light. Drake wasn''t standing still, with a shout, matching that of her sister''s sudden, explosive bravery, it rushed towards the beast. All the muscles in his right arm were flexed, stretched to their limits, ready to unleash a vicious, brutal swipe in an instant. In response, the creature flipped his body around as it jumped backward, swiping with its massive, chitinous portion of its tail at both the iing, attacking siblings. The powerful strike, swiped both attempts away, blocking and parrying both the daggers and the humming sword. As the first round of attacks quickly came to an end, it marked the beginning of a blood-curdling, horrific and bloody battle for survival. Not giving any time to rest and think about its situation, Scarlet was ready to jump back into the fray. She attacked the creature''s legs and iled her des wildly. At the same time, as if already knowing his sister''s thoughts, Drake lounged himself at the creature from the right side, striking diagonally with his treasured sword. Its de that usually shined with a silvery luster, and hummed like an eager, easily-excited child was emitting a faint, pale blueish luster, that slowly, gradually increased in intensity as the fight turned more and more heated. Once again, the creature was prepared, reacting to both sides simultaneously. For the iing sharp daggers that looked like deathly scissors attempting to sever its tendons and cause the creature to lose its stance, it swung its body causing its chitinous tail to fly and thwart the attack. At the same time, as the creature turned its body to focus by instinct on the more dangerous of the two opponents, the boy, it swiped both its ws at the de and its expertly wielding hand. It wanted to not just simply block the iing attack, but also provide an instant counter and disarm the annoying buzzing fly. The creature''s reaction time and speed were inhumane. Much higher than what the siblings were used to. From their viewpoint, the so-far mostly calmly standing insectoid monster''s body flickered for a moment, before its stance abruptly changed, blocking both attacks instantly. Yet, there was one thing, one crucial problem, the beast did not seem to count with. The blueish hollow light that Mort''s de emitted wasn''t simply a show of light, but it carried a mystical source of energy. It was the materialized intent of the sword spirit residing inside the fabled royal artifact. Simr to an aura, yet it wasn''t wielded by a living creature but it came from the artifact, etching the de with a power that shouldn''t be overlooked. Suddenly a blood-curdling scream, a guttural, pain-filled shout exploded from the beast''s lungs as it was abruptly deprived of one-third of its attacking arsenal, severing its right hand from its wrist as the glimmering de sliced through the ebony blockade like if it was empty, hot air. At the same time, this caused him to instinctively lunge backward, causing the creature to fail in its attempt to dish out any counter and damage its opponent. The beast lunged backward, creating a bit of space between itself and the two humans, grabbings its mutted right wrist, sneering viciously with a murderous intent. As if giving the young siblings a proper warning, the creature unleashed a monstrous scream, a malevolent one, an ancient warning. A shriek so powerful it sent powerful soundwaves rippling across the air, causing the tunnel walls to shake in agony. The beast''s body started to vibrate responding to its own call, emitting powerful waves of pain, agony, and torment to its surroundings. As its body continued to tremble and shiver, its previously dark eyes began to glimmer, as a source of dark red appeared at its center, slowly spreading around recing the eerie, ominous dark glow. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 584 - 584 - Bloody Battle (Part 2) The primordial, ear-shattering shout released a powerful gust of force, engulfing the creature, silencing its pain, agony, and torment in a protectiveyer of the resonating aura. The lifeless darkness that so-far gloomed eerily from the creature''s void-likepound eyes, slowly began to change, equipping a gradient of scarlet from the source at its middle. Like a rapidly spreading, highly infectious gue, the new, wicked, violent, and much more vibrant new color quickly overtook the entire surface. The creature''s void, dark eyes were no more, it turned into a highly expressive, threatening, and diabolical new glowering fierce gaze. Still, the creature wasn''t finished. Following its change in its eyes, a powerful vermilion aura exploded from the beast. Falling onto the dimly lit underground caverns like a velvety nket of bloody mist. Looking at the sudden change, Drake knew he needed to act. He had to push on the opportunity given to them by the surprise of his attack before it would be toote, and the beast would finish this unholy transformation. Looking at the side from the corner of his eyes, he could see the same exact look, the same exact determination from his sister. They both knew they needed to act, and make sure to end this sh before it would be toote. Not to mention that they could feel the air gradually turning heavier, as more and more pressure was exerted on them,ing from the monstrous aura that kept on climbing higher and higher, the voluminous shout may have also alerted the rest of the creature''s kin. More of these demonic beasts could be advancing at their location. They needed to escape, they needed to look for an exit. If they could get in, there had to be a way out, back to the surface. How else did that other spider-like creature appear in front of the girls yesterday then? Coming to the same conclusion, both siblings suddenly jumped to action. While Drake once again used the most direct method he could and charged ahead, closing the faint distance the creature created with its earlier jump, he struck down with his sword raised above his head. With both hands gripping Mort''s handle, the sword, glowing and glimmering with a faint pale bluish coat of light sailed the air. The de blurred as it seemingly distorted the space around it, causing its figure to leave behind momentary afterimages as it arced towards the devilish visage of the monster. At the same time, a slender body sailed across the air above the beast, spinning, rotating around her own axis, flying like a torpedo. Using the nearby rocky wall once again, Scarlet lounged upwards, flying and flipping above the beast. Her fangs, the shining daggers turning her spinning airborne traversal akin to a deadly armament as she propelled herself forward andnded behind the beast. As shended, she didn''t hesitate, knowing the beast could just as well defend herself from behind as it could from the front using its chitinous and venomous tail as an extra viral appendage. Just as her feet touched the ground, Scarlet used all of her momentum to strike both her arms with all the additional and leftover power she could muster, lounging both des at the sides of the beastly monster''s waists, aiming just at the small slits, the joints between the lower and upper body armor tes on its body. The girl''s brazen action turned out to be fruitful in the end, as the creature seemed to be startled, confused for the first time. Sensing attacks from all possible directions, for a brief fraction of a second, it didn''t know which action it should respond to. A brief fraction of a second. Such a small, impossibly tiny window of opportunity, that on the battlefield could decide the difference between victory or death. Drake was surprised by his sister''s decision to charge at the monster from the opposite side. He knew it was reckless of her, but he also knew that this brazen action of hers would have a chance to take the beast''s attention away from him. The monster was so enraged and confused it could barelyprehend what was happening. Eventually, its instinct to protect its soft, unprotected parts proved to be victorious over its clear thinking, causing it to shift in its stance as it wanted to defend itself from the attacksing from behind. After the momentary hesitation, the creature ultimately chose to swipe tail and remaining ws backward, choosing to instinctively respond to the girl''s surprise attack. Yet, this decision left him unguarded from the front, allowing the blueish humming source of heavenly light to sh with its own bloodthirsty, vicious aura. The monster instantly tried to shift its body to the side to avoid the iing attack from its front, but it was already toote, and more importantly, too slow. Drake''s sword, Mort''s glimmering de pierced through the thin opposing aura of protection and pierced through the dark grey fur into the creature''s chest. Plunging deep below the surface, boring deep below the flesh of the howling beast. Drake pushed even further, even deeper, sloshing through the copious amounts of the gushing, oozing blood and gore. The beast could only howl in pain, swiping its remaining ws madly in the air, fighting a desperatest-ditch effort to at least not walk to the afterlife by all its lonesome. Yet as the glowing de reached closer and closer to the central section inside its chest, so did its remaining strength and power falter, escaping with the oozing dark blood from its body. Sensing the suddenly solid material blocking his de, Drake smirked madly, using even more of his strength and even bodyweight to keep on pushing through the resistance. He roared like a predator that was just about to give thatst strike against its prey that would forever snuff the soul out of its trembling body. As the dark blood kept on flowing, drenching the already dark fur bloodied, Drake finally soldiered through thest bastions of the beast''s resistance. An audible, but muffled crack escaped from the monster''s wound, filling the air amidst its gradually faltering howls, as the artifact de shattered the crystalline walls of the monster''s core. In the next second, bright blue light seeped through the crevices of the flesh. Like a bomb that activated its catalyst, the shattered inner energy in the creature''s core violently reacted to the mysterious energy, the sword''s light causing it to explode in the next instant. The st instantly swallowed the beast''s body, flinging both siblings back in the air. Both of them were at the very epicenter of the st, it was only thanks to their protective treasures that their bodies were kept intact. As Drake was flung back in the air like a broken kite, so was Scarlet''s unconscious body thrown right into the unexplored darkness of the tunnel --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 585 - 585 - Getting Ready The army of Temple Guards marched forward, Aiden''s resistance force have taken up their positions. He himself stood firmly atop the cracked remains of the wall, overlooking over yonder. His stern, gaze fixated on the steadily approaching army, the entire field was engulfed in agitation, they gazed at the distant mass of armored skinks tensely. In front of Aiden''s eye, a semi-transparent image floated, visible only to him. Through some means he himself did not understandpletely, he could see the entirendscape from a bird''s eye view. His own force of resistance soldiers -now all sporting their unique names-, were all marked in vibrant neon green columns as they stood in formation, his assigned captains following each and every one of his conveyed orders. From the edges of the visiblendscape of his system''s map, Aiden could just barely make out Madam Dara and her lethal daughters as they traversed the slithering pathways, making their way towards the back line, keeping themselves hidden to the shadows behind the cover of the massive cavern walls. Aiden''s chosen tactic for this battle, though not too elegant, or even that impressive, was the best he coulde up with given the short time frame. It did give them the best possible result, and whilst he never doubted their chances in truth, he wasn''t certain if he could save every single life. The main reason he used the best possible armor and thergest, most robust metal shields at the front was his hope to achieve this dream of theirs. It may have looked like a waste to spend the best possible fighting force nothing more than a glorified flesh heap of a wall, it did give them the best chance in terms of protection and to push the battle as long as possible. First, they had to survive the first rounds of assault, try to withstand as much of the blow as possible, whilst Madam Dara''s group of assassins would make their way through the back and ambush the back line where the pompous army officers resided. The seconds passed torturously slow as the people of the resistance nervously stood in formation, looking over the not-too-distant horizon as the ominous dark mass, the organized columns of Temple Guards have lined up. Though they were still several hundred yards away, the barrennd that stretched between them, suddenly no longer seemed as vast as just a second ago. It was just now, as the resistance, mostly consisting of the average ex-citizenry of Ugburg, the ancient underground city stretching far behind the opposing force, these High Temple Invaders. They were not trained soldiers, warriors, or even adventurers. They did not fight before heck most of them haven''t even raised their arms in offense or defense before. The spears,nces that were mostly just reconstructed from rakes, hoes, shovels, and spades weren''t anything spectacr either. Yet, even though they were visibly nervous and scared, none of them ran and cowered away. No, they would never do that. Their eyes gazed on the stout figure of the robed skink, their leader standing like a statue of the Ancient Heroes, looking over everything. They would never betray the trust, the pledge, the vow he had given them. They would not let him risk his own and with that, his daughter, the little sunshine''s life just for their sake, without not providing the same in return. No, they weren''t like these iing forces, they weren''t just a group sharing the same goals. Whilst they may have joined for that reason before, and maybe because they had no other option back then, that has long since changed. They were a family, they shared a bond, much stronger than that these mercenaries, these guard force could ever hope to understand, toprehend. Some of the gazes wandered to the back, pooling strength from the brave and determined look of the little Tolliah, standing firmly at the entrance of the cave system stretching behind them. Seeing how unafraid she looked, how proudly she stood, and how her eyes sparkled as she gazed on her father, the crowd''s unease and worry slowly, gradually began to calm down. If a young little girl, like the little angel, Tolliah could stand without shivering, cowering before the looming terror, then how could they be this weak?! Forcibly, the people puffed their chests, straightened their backs, and gripped their weapons firmly with their hands. Their trembling scared gazes changed, settling down with a newfound resolve, with cold determination. They will not falter, they will not let the enemy ruin and shatter this dream, their new happiness! Looking at the enemy steadily setting up in their positions, keeping their formation with the vast experience they had, Aiden was caught off-guard when suddenly the bell-like sound of his system rang inside his mind, signaling the arrival of new notifications. Taking a quick look on his feed, he was surprised and slightly shocked to see the unexpected changes in their army. [Your Army Group: ''Infantry'' have resolved their fears, and thus increased their efficiency due to their newfound determination. Their desire to protect their cause has now been firmly set in their hearts and minds. As a result, their efficiency has risen. New value: 100% (+10%). In regards to the new change, the Group Power Value has also been updated ordingly. New Power: 78.75 (Previous Value: 70.8)!] [Your Army Group: ''Bowmen'' have resolved their fears, and thus increased their efficiency due to their newfound determination. Their desire to protect their cause has now been firmly set in their hearts and minds. As a result, their efficiency has risen. New value: 105% (+10%). In regards to the new change, the Group Power Value has also been updated ordingly. New Power: 99.2 (Previous Value: 89.7)!] [Your Army Group: ''Spearmen Militia'' have resolved their fears, and thus increased their efficiency due to their newfound determination. Their desire to protect their cause has now been firmly set in their hearts and minds. As a result, their efficiency has risen. New value: 100% (+10%). In regards to the new change, the Group Power Value has also been updated ordingly. New Power: 84 (Previous Value: 75.6)!] [Your Army Group: ''Draghan''s Elite'' are now determined to protect the new family they have found within the Resistance. Their zeal burning even stronger in their hearts and souls, their efficiency has risen considerably. New Value: 125% (+20%) In regards to the new change, the Group Power Value has also been updated ordingly. New Power: 207.3 (Previous Value: 172.8)] Aiden looked bbergasted at the sudden string of messages. Still, though he was utterly shocked inside, he forced a calm disposition on the outside, afraid to cause unnecessary worry amongst the men and women getting ready below him. Before he could ponder more on the sudden, borderline miraculous changes, another notification rang inside his mind --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 586 - 586 -Communication [After witnessing the determination in the eyes of their peers, the host''s Army Group: ''Draghan''s Elite'' have been enlightened, and have unlocked a new passive skill!] [The passive skill: Steadfast Resolve (Level 1) have been added to ''Draghan''s Elite''s Group Skills!] [Steadfast Resolve: The burning passion has heightened your mental resolve, thus allowing you to withstand more pressure, more magical and mental pain. The holders of the skill are slightly more resilient to damages and also have a slight increase in their Toughness. Toughness has received a +5% Skill Bonus! New Value: 31.5!] The messages were astonishing, making Aiden look bewildered at their contents. Yet even then, the most shocking wasn''t even them, it was the messageing after them. [New Milestone Reached! - Raise the loyalty of one of your army groups to 100%! - Completed! Reward: The skill General''s Command (Level 1) has been added!] [General''s Command: Ability to lord andmand troops under the host''smand with more efficiency. Allows the opening of one-way mentalmunication channels with the captains assigned to the army group''s in the system, allowingmunication besides the automatic transfer of assigned orders in the System interface. Note: Higher levels will add more effects to the skill.] Reading the note, Aiden realized the skill wasn''t actually new, it was actually the mysterious ability that came with the activation of the new system, which allowed smoother and faster ry ofmand to his captains, resolving the mystery even before he had a chance to investigate it thoroughly. Also, it came with the handy ability to use a simr, albeit slightly weaker version of the Mental Channel, he shared with each of his assigned followers, minions. For one, its range wasn''t as huge, neigh limitless. Aiden could already feel his connection weakening with Madam Dara, as she traversed the maze of the back tunnels right at the moment, whilst it was the strongest with Draghan, who stood at the frontline, at the center of his troops serving as the first line of defense. Deciding to give it a try and inform the small group of captains under hismand of this new ability, lest he would startle them during the heat ofbat and cause them to lose focus, he activated all 6 of the channels, and merged them together, creating a simr ''room'' like he usually did with his followers. Suddenly, the captains felt a strange buzz, a newfound, unfamiliar sensation in their minds. A sort of bond with their leader standing stoutly above them, looking over to the distance with a stern expression. They could suddenly feel the rythmic thumping of his heart, they could feel his presence. Yet, they could also feel that unlike before, it was different, as if it wasn''t the same person as before. Still, though slightly confused at this weird peculiarity, strangely, as they could feel the genuine concerning from their master, their lord''s direction, no one decided to question it. They each turned their attention towards their Master, instinctively, as if somehow already aware what this strange sensation was, waiting for the words of their lord, the Archbishop. Even Madam Dara, who was leading his daughters through the twisting underground corridors suddenly raised her hand and gave the silentmand for the girls to stop their advance. She then, although her sight was blocked due to being deep inside the tunnels and temporarily away from the battlefield, nheless she turned her attention towards the direction of Aiden. After a moment of silence, a voice, a much younger, youthful tone rang inside their ears. Though different they all could still recognize it as their chosen leader. Still, they kept shush about this fact, turning their attention and smiling warmly at the archbishop instead. Oblivious to the fact that his cover was blown by the system''s gimmicks, Aiden spoke to their leaders. ''[Reptilian] Try not to be too rmed, you are not hallucinating, you are not delirious. You can indeed hear my voice and feel my presence through the connection I have created with each of you. I don''t have time to exin it in detail, but as you can already probably realize it by now, you canmunicate with me, by conveying your thoughts to the strange sensation, this channel.'' His tone carried a hint of care, and concern as he briefly exined the situation. He paused briefly, to give them a second to process his words, before adding a bit more to it. ''[Reptilian] I have decided to use this ability, so that we could allmunicate swiftly, more efficiently during the course of the battle. Through me, you can also sort of vaguely feel the presence of the other captains. Still, don''t waste too much on it, feel free to reach out to me, and I will give you whatever you want to know.'' He exined, shing a warm, hearty smile on his face as he looked at them. Then he looked towards the distance once again, sighing as he spoke. ''[Reptilian] Unfortunately for you, Madam Dara, the connection is pretty weak, due to the distance we share. I will try my best, but still, you have to bear with it until we can reunite again as we crush their back line once the fight breaks out!'' Listening to the youthful voice ringing in her mind, Madam Dara smiled. Though she understood that something strange was going on and that the voice was not the same raspy tune she had grown used to, strangely she didn''t seem to mind. For some reason, the doubts in her heart never came, as if she subconsciously have already submitted to the owner of the voice. She nodded, as she focused her mind to follow the instructions she was given. She tried to feel the source of the sensation, the buzzing in her mind and conveyed her thoughts into it. In the next moment, she was delighted to realize she was sessful. She could feel that her message was transferred over the channel she could now clearly sense. ''[Reptilian] As you will, Master. My girls and I are not too far away from the exit point. We need a few more minutes, try to hold on until then!'' At the other side of the battlefield, the bulky golden-brown, the thick scaled robust creature looked down with a contemptuous gaze from his throne. He was listening to the reports of his assigned 3 captains with a bored, nonchnt expression donning his face. Unlike the rest of these skinks, he was much taller, towering over them with his generous height donning at an astounding 10 feet (AN.: bit over 3 meters). He looked at the shivering, trembling primitive skinks under him, seeing nothing more than ants, bugs to squash under his feet. After all, he was not like them, with the guidance of his true master, the High Priest, he has just Evolved! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 587 - 587 - The Three Captains "[Reptilian] G-general The forces have lined up, we are ready for your orders." The central skink, garbed in the same armor as the soldiers with the addition of a single gold star insignia etched into the right part of his chest spoke up, reporting the current situation whilst keeping his gaze stered towards the ground and kneeling. His two peers -garbed simrly as their brethren, with the same one star shining in their chests even-, have kept silent with their gazes also forced down on the ground. The three shivering reptilians were actually the second inmand, the second-highest in themand chain in this army. The leaders of the three battalions were sent out to eradicate the pests, the rebels once and for all. All three were respected and fierce, cruel warriors, feared by many yet in front of this giant, robust creature, that resembled the true warriors of the Lizardmenmunity, a fearsome Saurus rather than any of these mongrels. Adding the extrayer of shiny armor covering most of his body, the velvety cape hanging down from his shoulders. Or therge trident that reached the size twice of the tallest soldier in the army, General Zokor was a rightfully feared creature, with nothing matching his stature in the entire Ugburg, or in the High Priest''s forces. If the High Priest was called the Voice of the Ancient One, he liked to refer to himself as the Fist, the Might of the Ancient One. The necessary means to deliver justice and faith, and crush the heathen, the chaotic masses. Zokor scoffed at the report, his gloweringrge yellow eyes were like eerie pairs of stars at the dark canvas of the imaginary skies. After an extra few moments of intense silence, hisrge mouth slowly parted, revealing the double rows of sharp yellow teeth lining up inside. "[Reptilian] Launch the attack. Leave no survivors except for that traitor and that wretched bastard, the chosen mate." He slowly lifted his giant right palm from the armrest of his throne, waving it dismissively. "Now go, don''t bother me any more unless it''s important." The three captains shivered at the guttural, demonic-sounding voiceing from this terrifying creature as he spoke. They all bowed and nodded as it dismissed them, not daring to show anything outside that could cause his mood to dampen further, lest he would vent his frustration on one of them. After all, it wouldn''t be the first time, he would tear apart a captain, because of his wild mood swings. Knowing his cannibalistic tendencies, nobody wanted to end up in pieces, or worse, inside his belly. "[Reptilian] At once G-General!" They all shouted firmly, hiding their fright in a fake disy of their so-called resolve, and swiftly turned around to escape from the sights of this monster. Yet, before they could even take a second step, they were scared stiff and forced to halt yet again as they felt the sudden cold and heaviness of the air around them. They were immediately alerted, and clenched their fists, readying themselves for the worst. This was the General''s aura, a power unique to the highest, strongest creatures under the service of the Great One. A domain of his terrifying killing intent was unleashed, forcing them to make a stop to their move. As they were shivering, wondering what could have happened that earned the sudden ire of their General, his rigid, aloof tone of voice thundered from behind them. "[Reptilian] Some rats are sneaking up from behind. One of you, take half of your men and go meet them. Decide who will be the one. Now." The trio, whilst shivering under the great pressure, slowly, shiveringly turned around, looking at their leader''s robust, standing figure and wide, muscled left arm as it was raised and pointing to the western side of the vast field, right at the dark dotted walls of this giant underground city-cavern. They were met with the cold, contemptuous, frowning gaze of their leader. Not wanting to meet such a scary gaze for long, they looked at the direction he was pointing at, only to grow more confused at the seemingly empty, deserted in of a scene he was pointing at. Gathering all of his courage, the figure that spoke before, mustered up his resolve and with a meek tone of voice, asked out. "[Reptilian] G-general P-please pardon my stupidity b-but, w-what should w-we be looking at?" "[Reptilian] You imbecile!" The general roared in annoyance, making the speaking skink slouch his shoulders even lower and cower in fright before the robust figure of his higher-up. "They are still in the tunnels you disgusting primitive reptile! Go, take your men, and don''te back without their heads! Did you get it?!" "[Reptilian] Y-yes, my l-lord!" The skink captain hurriedly nodded, although he still didn''t fully understand what he was supposed to see besides the empty vast ins and the cavern walls. Did the General think that there are enemies inside the walls perhaps? How could that be? From their knowledge there is nothing in that direction, there could be nobody lying in wait. Then what was he supposed to look for? Invisible opponents? The little skink wasn''t sure what was going on, or what he was ordered to do. Yet, hearing the growing anger in his master''s voice, he did not dare to raise any concerns or questions anymore, and instead resolved himself to his fate. As the trio slowly turned around once more and started to leave, the little poor, unlucky skink''s mood was down in the mud. What was he supposed to do? What enemy should he face to please this Tyrant and not end up as tonight''s dinner? Seeing his rapidly paling visage, the other two ''brethren'' of his smiled at him wryly, patting his back warmly,passionately. "[Reptilian] Don''t worry too much about it Ixorak! Look at it from the other side!" The female skink captain on his left spoke out, with a warming smile. "[Reptilian] Yeah, don''t look so down, man! In reality, you are the luckiest of us! You should be smiling instead of almost crying!" The male skink on his right joined in as well, trying to raise, to lift Ixorak''s spirits. "[Reptilian] W-what are you guys are talking about?! What enemy should I look for? What heads should I bring back?! What LUCK are you two talking about?!" Agitated, and scared about the prospects of his future, Ixorak cried out with agony in his voice. "[Reptilian] What are you so scared about! You have been given the best luck of us all, can''t you see?" The male skink on his right wasn''t phased by his friend''s sudden outburst. He smiled widely, as he leaned his hands over Ixorak''s shoulder. "You have been given a free pass of this stupid battle! You can just take your men and leave, and return safely! Whatever that oversized monster asked, just go back to the slums and get some heads. Return with them, and wham! You are safe from punishment and didn''t even have to fight!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 588 - 588 - Thump! From atop the partially demolished wall, standing by the side of his resistance force, Aiden, -though unbeknownst to him, his cover is already somewhat blown because of the mental connections he created with his captains-, were frowning as he looked at the lines of disciplined mass of oppressor forces of the Temple Guards. From the newly opened feature in the system, which was vastly simr to the managing view in Haven, Aiden had a fairly good understanding of the strength and power they were facing off against. Aiden was currently analyzing all the information of the three separate groups. From his initial short tooltip, the system had finished processing the extra detail and presented it to its host in a simr manner as to how it did for his own forces. Like it was shown before, the opposing army was separated into three groups, with two having roughly the same size and strength and the central, middle one being slightly stronger andrger. Also, even without the information showing, Aiden could clearly see the shining, sparkling steel and metal armors and weaponry each soldier was donning. From the distance they looked like shiny sparkling carts filled with precious minerals, being toiled closer and closer to them. Squinting his eyes, Aiden first looked at the first group, which he now named ''Infantry #1''. [Group: #1 -> Infantry #1 Efficiency: 105% Power: 275 -> 288.7 Toughness: 91 -> 95.5 Quality: Tier 1+ (Equipment Bonus 5%) Composition: Officer (Power Level: 5) : 1; Soldier (Power Level: 3) : 90 Threat Level: Medium Group Skills: Sword and Board (Level 3), Sword Mastery: Advanced (Level 4), Mace Mastery: Basic (Level 8), Axe Mastery: Basic (Level 7), Spear Mastery: Advanced (Level 4), Draconic Skink Tenacity (Level -), Basic Regeneration (Level 3), Martial Arts (Level 2) Active Effects: Authority of the Ancient One (Level -), Under the General''s Command (Level -)] Now that the system finished analyzing the information, there was a lot of extra information readily avable to process for Aiden. For one, the Power level was borderline frightening, with the group''s efficiency standing at a terrifying 105% percent. Second, it was clear thatpared to the same type of soldier''s, Aiden''s Infantry, these soldiers were better trained and much more disciplined. Each of their weapon proficiencies vastly overshadowed those of the resistance''s, with their sword and spear handling even reaching the middle stages of the advanced rank. Yet, none of these mattered truly. What was the most surprising were the two effects they had. Though Aiden couldn''t get detailed information of what the two effects truly meant, he was fairly certain, that they were important clues in oveing this massive trial and keeping his own men and dear Tolliah safe. The rest of the invading army, the other two groups had simr details on them, with the exact same Active Effects present in each. The main difference, besides the numerical data, was that the second group with mostly the same size had Long Bow Mastery instead of being proficient with Maces. For the central, and the now aptly named ''Core Group'', Aiden saw active abilities, skills for the first time. Also, it had terrifyingly high efficiency, something that Aiden just couldn''tprehend. [Group: #2 -> Core Group Efficiency: 150% Power: 395 -> 592.5 Toughness: 126 Quality: Tier 1+ Composition: Unnamed (Power Level 10): 1; Officer (Power Level: 5) : 5; Soldier (Power Level: 3) : 120 Group Skills: Sword and Board (Level 3), Sword Mastery: Advanced (Level 4), Mace Mastery: Basic (Level 8), Axe Mastery: Basic (Level 7), Spear Mastery: Advanced (Level 4), Draconic Skink Tenacity (Level -), Basic Regeneration (Level 3), Martial Arts (Level 2), Disciplined Charge (Level 3), Undying Will (Level 5), Berserker''s Rage (Level 4) Active Effects: Authority of the Ancient One (Level -), Under the General''s Command (Level -)] Apart from the three new skills, Disciplined Charge, Undying Will, and Berserker''s Rage, the most intriguing tidbit was undoubtedly the new, unnamed tier of a single unit with a shocking Power Level to its name. Still, from the skill list and effects, Aiden still wasn''t certain that this single individual, this monstrous entity, was actually the General he was looking for or not. From the looks of it, even this creature, currently unnamed in the system, was not free from the Mental Shackles and control either. He, she or it was actually in the same boat as the others, making Aiden wonder if it was just a special sort of creature, a so-called ''trump card'', so to speak. However, this meant that the true leader of the group and his subordinates were not part of any of the visible forces, and were somewhere else instead. If that were the case, the question remained: Where is the General? What did it look like? Why can''t he see it clearly in the system''s map? Suddenly, the sound of a horn being blown, and ring across the vast empty in, brought Aiden back to reality and put an end to his pondering. Reacting to the loud call for battle, the three distinct masses in the distance slowly but steadily began to move. The central column marched forward in a steady rhythm, the ground shook under the weight of their steel-ted boots hitting the cavern grounds. The 3rd group on the other side, which Aiden simply named ''Infantry #2'' in the system and the first Infantry moved ahead, albeit at a slightly slower speed, quickly forming up their most likely already trained and well-practiced charging formation. Though the Core Group was undoubtedly their most important force, their abilities made them the perfect front liners, the best solution to breaking through their enemy''s defenses. Also, since the group was mostly wielding, longnces together with a one-handed single iron shield, they should be more than adequate to fulfill their objectives and crush the seemingly thin, single line of tower shields blocking entry to the rest of their invasive force. *Thump!* *Thump!* Their feet hit the ground in a practiced, well-trained regimen, causing the numerous small pebbles and dust to fly behind their advance. Noticing their advance, Aiden raised his right arm in the air, giving the warning signal to the resistance forces to get ready, the dreaded time to fight for their survival was now rapidly closing in on them. There was no more ground for hesitation or retreat not that any one had any such thoughts at all. Even the little Tolliah, standing by her lonesome behind the forces in the dark Cavern entrance were looking excited, rather than pensive quite surprisingly. *Thump!* *Thump!* *Thump!* *Thump!* Soon the rhythm of how their feet hit the ground, turned faster; the steady march was slowly transforming into a gallop eventually resulting in a full-blown rush. Their Group Skill now in full effect, the [Disciplined Charge] was a terrifying sight to behold --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 589 - 589 - A Unique Task The steadily approaching army of Temple Guards gradually increased their pace as they got closer to the lined-up resistance. As they reached closer and closer, so did their march eventually turned into a full-blown charge. Their rush made them break their previous formation, the Core Group has left behind the still steadily marching two battalions of Temple-Guard swordsmen groups. In the end, when it was only a couple dozen yards left between the two sides, the Core Group had long since left behind the still steadily marching other two parts of their invasive forces. Yet they did not hesitate but continued with their rush as one massive cohesive unit. Theirnces were already held firmly in their hands and raised in front of their bodies, they were looking like a rushing giant mass of monster getting ready to skewer its opponent in the next second. Aiden was watching with a firm, stern expression as the battle was just about to erupt. Dismissing the system''s screens briefly, he was clenching his fists, trying to mask his agitated state as much as he could. Yet, he couldn''tpletely hide his worry, not from the Captain''s he was still connected to, at the very least. They could each feel their leader''s worry, their heartfelt emotions as they surged through the mysterious link they each shared, causing their hearts to be instantly filled with warmth. Even for Madam Dara, who was very close to getting in position herself, could feel the gentle care from the man, she had already decided to give her heart, body, and soul to. She couldn''t help but smile alluringly at the empty air and heave a longer sigh, causing a wave of shock and bafflement to spread through her small army of girls in the process. Yet, she didn''t bother exining herself to her Daughters, but instead silently waved at them, motioning to resume their action. Time was ticking, and they needed to be ready to reach their position swiftly, lest they want the events to y out in a much more disastrous way. As they resumed their mission and were silently getting ready to get into the ambushing, nking position, they were unaware of the fact that their location was already discovered by the very figure they were hoping to catch unawares. Still, maybe it was due to the whims of fate, and despite being told by their Monstrous Master, the Captain assigned to the task of weing their uninvited guests, Ixorak eventually conceded to the suggestions of his peers and was getting ready to lead a small group of soldiers backward towards the outer reaches of Ugburg, the slums district and get some random heads to offer up to his Lord. The thought of his lord''s words might have been the truth, did not cross his mind anymore. Instead, he was now convinced that he had received a sort of test, punishment as well as an opportunity to prove his mettle and quick wit. In the end, he took merely twenty of his most trusted, loyal warriors, watching as the main army was about to sh with the front line of giant, tower shields of the enemy, he sighed with a displeased look on his face. He was somewhat regretful as he was forced to skip out on such a battle. Even though they did not expect too much of a challenge, Ixorak''s blood was boiling at the mere thought of it. Still, he could only push these emotions down, and forcefully calm himself down before he slowly, gradually returned his mind to the present. With onest sigh, he nced at the now distant back line of his army, frowning at the sigh of the giant armored robust looking figure sitting atop his throne at the very back, carried by a group of ves as if he was some lord and not just a warmonger assigned to this conquest by the High Priest. In the end, he decided against saying a word. Even though the deep, displeased frown was more than enough of a tell of his true feelings, he decided not to voice them, lest that monster would somewhat take wind of them. Instead, Ixorak turned around after a shake of his head, facing his lined up small group of twenty-strong force, he sighed deeply before speaking up. "[Reptilian] Friends Our great lord, the glorious General Zokor has decided to exempt us from the imminent battle. Instead, the great leader with his quick thinking has blessed us with this unique task, a special mission!" He shouted, his voice resounding in the area around them. Unbeknownst to him and to his men, they weren''t the only audience for the Temple Guard Skink Captain''s speech. Not too far from his location, just hiding behind the corner of a nearby corner of the exit of the long-winded tunnel system, Madam Dara and his Daughters were lying in wait, watching them with great interest. Maybe it was an attempt to mask his own feelings, but Captain Ixorak''s speech was so loud, that even from behind the corner wall, the group of assassins could clearly hear and listen to each of his words. They decided not to act, and instead hear what this supposed captain was tasked to do. Even now, after just a brief greeting, thedies'' bodies turned stiff upon hearing the name of the dreaded warlord leading the army. General Zokor, was a terrifying figure, feared equally by all in Ugburg, and even far away from it. The brutal, bloodthirsty monster, loved to refer to himself as the Fist, the appointed might, the means to enact the Ancient One''s strength. He was unlike any of his peers. Zokor reveled in the heat of battle. The more brutal it was, the more of his enemies'' blood he could bathe in, the happier he was, the crazier he turned. ''If that crazy son of a'' Madam Dara sighed as she heard the name, wincing at the unpleasant memories of her past. Taking a sigh, she forced her mind to calm down, and raised her right palm in the air, silencing the rest of her daughters, so that they could continue listening to the skink captain as he resumed his speech. After all, they still needed to figure out why were this select small group of warriors decided to stay behind and what their purpose was. "[Reptilian] Friends!" Ixorak raised his hands in the air, as he took the attention and focus back to himself and quieted the group down. He looked at the many frowns, and even scowls appearing on his brethren''s faces, and couldn''t help but reveal an awful-looking, troubled smile. "[Reptilian] Friends!" He repeated his previous call, looking over his men once slowly. "The General had decided that simply crushing the enemy was not enough. We need to instill fear in the minds of the wretched, and make them understand once and for all, that resistance is futile!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 590 - 590 - Shared Senses Listening to the skink captain''s speech, Madam Dara and her daughters of assassins lied in wait, hiding behind the dark shadows of the twisting corridors just outside of the general line of sight. As Madam Dara was focused on the contents of this so-called Captain Ixorak''s words suddenly a thought came to her mind. The connection she felt spawn inside the very depths of her heart, -or most likely, in her soul-, could it be used to transmit the contents of this semi-rousing speech back to her beloved lord? From what she understood and felt, the connection couldn''t be forcefully activated by herself alone Yet, she could sort of send a request, notification so that the Master could activate it for her. Thinking it through, Madam Dara, decided to give it a try. Though the battle should have just started, she didn''t feel any strenuous activity, or elevated state of minding from the other side. The Lord, the Master should still be overlooking the first charge, and have not sprung to action himself. Closing her eyes, Madam Dara let a soft sigh escape her sensual lips. She focused on the strange, mysterious source of the connection she felt deep inside her being. Concentrating on the sensation, Madam Dara sent a sliver of her mana to gently poke at the area, hoping that it would resonate with it, and would alert the Ex-Archbishop, the man of her dreams and sole resident of her heart. Not a momentter, she felt the channel activate, allowing a surge of information to pool into her mind. Suddenly, as if her eyes were opened to the previously hidden universal truth, images, visions flooded Madam Dara''s mind, causing him to freeze in her ce for several seconds suddenly. Eventually, as the sudden surge of information calmed down, so did Madam Dara wake up from her abruptly induced stupor. Before she could send a message to greet her chosen Master, the same youthful voice she had heard before came ringing in his mind. "[Reptilian] What is it, Miss Dara? Why did you call for me? Are you and your girls in position?" The youthful voice of the unknown figure calmly and warmly spoke. Hearing it the second time, Madam Dara was now sure that the owner of the voice was indeed the supposedly aged, stout leader she secretly loved and worshiped. Still, just like before she decided to keep silent about the unveiled deceit. She revealed a mischievous smile, stretching her blood-red lips wide across her face. In the next moment, her alluring, seducing tone of whispers of voice flew back into the mind of her Master. "[Reptilian] My lord, I apologize for the intrusion. I hope I did not bother you too much. I know that the fight has just broken out and that-" "[Reptilian] Enough, woman. I understand, I can feel the urgency in your heart. Tell me, what is the reason you have asked for my attention?" Before Madam Dara could finish her line of thought, the Master''s voice urged her to get to the point. She smiled sweetly, not minding the slightly agitated tone. She chuckled in her mind, sending her sweet giggles through the connection as she exined her intent. "[Reptilian] My lord is so impatient! Ehehehe" She teased before getting to the point. Her tone shifting, Madam Dara suddenly spoke with a serious tone. "We are in position, behind their lines, my Lord. In fact, the army is a bit of a distance away however we have stumbled upon something that I believe would urgently require your attention. "Allow me to show you what I mean. Please, my lord. Let me lend you my mind and my senses to show you what I mean." Conveying what she wanted, Madam Dara closed her eyes and heaved a long exhale to clear her mind. She wasn''t sure that what she devised was actually possible, she just hoped. After seeing the strange visions, she understood that these were either the thoughts or the direct scenes of what her Lord at the other end could see. Thus, she hoped that something simr could be feasible from her end as well, though she had no idea how to directly use such an ability. She barely could grasp, understand the mysterious connection, much less animate it to the way of her will! For a brief moment, there was absolute silence. The Lord at the other end of the ''line'', did not respond. In fact, there was a sudden break, cut off in their connection. As if a veil, a shroud has descended, hiding the figure''s thoughts and emotions from her. This made Madam Dara grow increasingly nervous, worried. She feared that she may have offended the other party, or that something had happened causing the lord to suddenly shift his attention to the situation on the front line. Before her worry could rise higher and cause her to do something that could potentially be disastrous, suddenly she felt the connection activate once again. "[Reptilian] I see." The figure spoke curtly, the previous care and warmth were suddenly nowhere to be found, reced by a colder, aloof sounding toneing from the same vigorous unknown youth. In the next instant, before Madam Dara could even respond, suddenly a sharp acute pain spread through her body. The source was the very connection she was using. An unknown intangible sort of substance, an energy simr, but at the same time vastly different to her Mana has invaded her veins, swiftly overtaking her spiritual vessel. "[Reptilian] Don''t fight it." Before panic couldpletely set in, Madam Dara heard the youth''s voice once again. It was not as insipid as before, she could feel a faint trace of the worry and genuine care hiding behind the figure''s forced cool. "[Reptilian] I know it hurts, yet I have to ask you to try to withstand it. I will temporarily connect your senses. Please show me what you wanted me to see whilst you exin clearly what I need to know." As the voice began to speak, the acute sharp pain that wreaked havoc inside Madam Dara slowly began to subside, allowing her to sigh with relief for a moment, before she followed the instructions. Quickly, she opened her eyes once more, feeling a strange inexplicable sensation knowing that her beloved man was seeing exactly what she did. As a gentle smile began to curve the edges of her lips, Madam Dara sneakily turned her head around the corner once again, looking at the scene of Captain Ixorak and his modest but powerful team of warriors getting ready to set out and go back towards the direction of the city. As the scene was transferred to Aiden, who was standing atop the crumbling, dpidated section of the wall, Madam Dara transferred all the information she had so far heard and learned through the short speech of the little captain. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 591 - 591 - Battle Of Survival (Part 1) Looking back to the situation over at the two opposing forces at the entrance to the rebel camp, with all their gained momentum and disciplined force, the two forces have shed in a loud and violent manner. With all their strength, the iing Core Group of the Temple Guards have charged into the towering steady line of shields. Their attack carried a tremendous amount of strength, causing a loud sound emission to traverse and fill the surroundings. Yet, even though with all that strength, all their garnered momentum, the sturdy line of giant metal shields didn''t break apart, but only slightly dented, which the Elite Fighters standing behind them rewarded with muffled grunts and groans only. "[Reptilian] Don''t falter, push against them! Second line! Attack through the cracks, aim at their joints and shoulders!" Seeing as how their charge failed to provide the result they have hoped for, themanding captain standing at the back yelled out hismands after a moment of thinking. The soldiers immediately shifted ording to themands, their strongest instantly stepping to the front, acting as battering rams to push against the sturdy line of the metal blockade in an attempt to create small openings for their brethren standing behind them with their weapons firmly held in their hands, ready to strike at the moment the opportunity revealed itself. Though they were caught off guard by the failure of their initial charge, they weren''t greenhorns either. Each of them survived countless battles already, and just like their captain, they could easily shift into the proper mindset and not freeze if their first n failed to bring satisfactory results. Seconds slowly passed as the loud initial sh transformed into this sudden stalemate, this deadlock. Though the attacking force had the lead in terms of battlefield experience, the front line consisted of only pure elites, the strongest and most trained of the soldiers. Each of them could easily overpower the soldiers, the warriors in the Temple Guards forces in a one-on-one battle, with having not much difficulty in carving out a victory even if they were facing two or even three of them at once. Though they were vastly outnumbered, the elite front line of Draghan''s Elite stood firmly at the front line, holding firmly against the heavy, constant assault. Eventually, the sh of loud yells and heaving grunts filled the area all around. Suddenly, catching the Temple Guards'' forces slightly off guard, the sound of faint whistles reached their ears. Not even a momentter, a shadow birthed above them, as a nket of arrows filled the skies. A rain of carnage was unleashed from somewhere behind the resistance forces, dishing out heaven''s punishment upon the ill-prepared warriors. Still, each of them garbed in heavy steel from head to toe, leaving only their slender tails hanging out in the open, the damage this pouring projectiles made from sharpened stone and wood were minimal. Sounds of light clinks, suddenly mixed into the asional guttural and hoarse screams. Most of the arrows that have failed tond in the small connections between the metal tes on the soldier''s armors have simply grazed off, failing to do any damage. Still, with the hundredfold of the heavy nket, there were those unlucky few percentiles that grunted in pain and fell down as the asional neck, shoulder or arm have been prated. For one poor skink, the arrow managed tond behind the visor and plunge deep into its eyes, ultimately halting after prating the skink''s brain and causing instantaneous death. The warrior fell without even the chance to help himself. A look of disbelief was the only reaction that could sh through his face, as he fell down in the next instant on his back. He failed to understand how did his life hade to such an abrupt and misbegotten end even as he breathed hisst. After the first wave of surprise rain of arrows, a momentary silence, an unexpected pause loomed over the battlefield. Draghan''s Elite Warriors stood firmly at the stations, holding onto therge, giant shields just as firmly as before. Though their left, connecting arms were started to slowly grow numb under the relentless barrage, this unexpected pause of attacks have given them the breathing room they were each wishing for. Far behind the lines, guarded by a circle of the militia, the Bowmen group didn''t falter, did not pause for a second after their first unleashed round of attack. Showing an unexpected disy of discipline, each of the women and men already had their arrows armed into their bows and were once again aiming towards the distant cavern ceiling just like a moment ago. They were awaiting their captain''smand, the bow strings were stretched to their limits, as they held their weapons armed, ready to fire as soon as the magic word wasmanded once again. "[Reptilian] FIRE!" Just as their fingers were starting to hurt under the strained string, a shout came from their right -as if alsoing to end the strange, mysterious and heavy silence that engulfed the battlefield-, their captain have given them themand to fire. They all released the bow strings,unching another cloud of arrows over the enemy lines. This time, with a bit more added strength, their general direction, the target of their attacks were slightly aimed towards the back line instead of the front. As the dark shadow of dark wooden bolts traversed the air with arge, generous arc, Aiden followed their path with his golden gaze. His eyes glowing under the activated effects of his draconic innate ability, he was circting his power constantly. His heightened senses were scanning the crowd, analyzing each figure among the hundreds, searching for figures of interest. Still, though he retained his attention at his surroundings, inwardly, he was only half present. He was also connected with Madam Dara, and was unfortunately forced to shift some of his mental capacity and attention to the issues, the problems slowly growing behind the scenes. The unexpected situation that put a wrench to his ns of nking attacks has demanded him to change his stance, and analyze the change in the situation. Though he was unwilling to do it, he also knew that he couldn''t just ignore the situation and let those twenty-one strong strike force of Temple Guards go back and cause a murderous carnage in the city slums. Even if he were to choose to ignore it, from the processed memories of the absorbed ex-archbishop, Aiden was sure that Madam Dara wouldn''t be able to do the same and would instead change targets. In the end, he could only sigh inwardly, and decide to alter his ns ordingly, even if it were to cause a bit more stress on the ones stoutly standing their guards, and holding off the looming onught. "[Reptilian] Do what you can. Stop them, with whatever means necessary" After a bit of silence, Aiden sighed hismand through the mental connection. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 592 - 592 - Battle Of Survival (Part 2) ''[Reptilian] Do what you can. Stop them, with whatever means necessary'' After a bit of silence, Aiden sighed hismand through the mental connection. ''[Reptilian] It will be done by your will, my lord.'' Madam Dara revealed an ted, satisfied smile after hearing themand ringing inside her mind. She was hoping exactly for these words toe. Just as Aiden have suspected, even if he were to choose otherwise in the end, and order Madam Dara and her Daughters to stay put, she would have most likely ended up disobeying that order and set up an ambush somewhere along the way back to the city. Being a group of assassins, the girls weren''t exactly suited for face-to-facebat, even though they could handle themselves quite well and match up to the average warriors. No, despite being agile, and quite dexterous, they were trained through the art of subterfuge, assassination, and the general arts of hiding and controlling the shadows. They were each highly trained des for hire. Before their unfortunate end at being forced to escape with the Archbishop for sheltering rebels, they were a well-known organization. Feared and because of that, respected. Even the higher-ups in the Temple, several Priests, Bishops and Pastors havee themselves or sent messengers for requests. Poison their rival so they step up in the societaldder, slit the throat of a too-loud politician They have seen and dealt with all kinds of requests. Yes, due to being adamant in keeping a neutral stance at first when all this hassle have broken out, they did ept all kinds of requests. If they were asked to silence a local rebel leader, they would do so if the payment was put in first. At the same time, dozens of officials, and members of the Temple Guards have met their untimely demise under the slender hands of one of the Daughters. Madam Dara shed an alluring smile under her breath as she confirmed the mentally receivedmand, then turned towards her forty-strong daughters sticking to the cavern walls and hiding in the shadows behind her. Her fingers shed as they formed a series ofplex-looking silent signals, she quickly conveyed their lord''s message to the rest of the girls, who acknowledged it with a single silent nod. Madam Dara then pointed towards the tunnel intersection ahead of them. The maze-like tunnels that sprawled all across beneath the ground were like a massive spiderweb; it easily covered the entire realm under its domain. Thousands, no several millennials in the making, these seemingly endless caverns reached far and wide. Though they wouldn''t dare to say that they knew all of the routes and even the tiniest of paths slithering in and out of Ugburg, the girls were at least confident in saying that they knew most. They had a fairly detailedyout mapped out in their heads. Knowing from the brief speech the skink captain, Ixorak gave to his chosen men, the girls were already well aware of the most likely route they would take, and what spots were best for setting up a timely ambush to gradually thin their ranks and slowly but surely destroy both their morale and will. Swiftly, twelve girls, looking like genuine Shinobis of Ancient Japan, have shed forward. Their feet made absolutely no noise as they skittered through the shadows and rushed ahead. Even without a verbalmand, they knew the tasks their Madam wanted them to aplish. They were already en route to set up. A few momentster, another dozen girls charged out from the group and rushed through the same tunnel. Their destination was the ce where they would set up the second trap. By the time, the already thinned, rmed, and agitated herd reached their spot, they would be ready to strike from the shadows once more. Not muchter, yet another dozen left the main force and just like the two groups before, went ahead to lie in wait as well, leaving only the Madam and her four elder girls remaining. The remaining small group that would barely be adequate to call a party, didn''t rest either. Just as thest, third dozen group of girls figures have vanished amidst the dark void of the tunnel ahead, the four girls, -joined up with Madam Dara-, suddenly jumped out from behind the cover and whilst keeping as silent and close to the ground as possible, slowly began to make their way out into the ''open'' and sneak their way closer to Ixorak and his twenty elites. They were like silent predators, a small pride of lionesses as they slowly approached their unsuspecting prey Whilst the dangers were getting closer to them by each passing and wasted second, Captain Ixorak and their men remained blissfully ignorant of it entirely. Ixorak whilst showcasing a strong front, was fairly nervous, sighing with sorrow andmenting at his own misfortune. Being singled out and being given an impossible and clearly pointless task, he was pondering about what could he have done to earn the ire of that fearsome monster, his General''s wrath. He sighed, peaking at the dark cave at the distance to his right, shaking his head with a dismissive wryful bitter smile. ''[Reptilian] I don''t understand what he was thinking Enemy behind us? Already on to us? What enemy? Where? The bums, the weak, and the wretched of the slums? The outcasts? How could they pose any threat?! We are just about to end the resistance once and for all and get that brat finally What was that stupid lizard thinking'' Hemented at his own misfortune for a moment. Yet, is already considered a senior, with a great deal of battlefield experience, Ixorak quickly shifted his mood in the next minute, forcing a determined outlook on his face, whilst hiding his doubts to the very depths of his heart. He turned towards the long road ahead, squinting his gaze as he nced at the distant, hazy sight of the ancient-looking pale-white walls of the Underground City, Ugburg. He clenched his fists, clutching the handle of his weapon, hisnce tighter. Heaving onest sigh, he pushed the veryst remnants of doubts out of his body, regaining control of his limbs. Raising his right arm into the air, with a wave of his open palm. Another momentter, their small force, led by the Captain himself, giving a vast contrast of the rest of the army that was still in the heat of trying to put a crack to the defense line far behind them, have set out, going back to where they have juste from. Their goal, their destination was carrying a horrific intent, yet there was nothing they could do. They were given themand, they could not defy the words of that creature. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 593 - 593 - Battle Of Survival (Part 3) - Ambushed (AN.: Read the Author''s Comment at the end, please. Thank you!) **** As the moderately-sized twenty plus one strong group of Temple Guards led by Captain Ixorak set out to raid the outer, less fortunate district of the city, they were blissfully unaware and oblivious to the presence of Madam Dara and her four strongest Daughters following behind them, jumping from obstacle to obstacle, shadow to shadow. Like from a moment from nature, the group of lionesses was sneaking after the group, waiting for the perfect opportunity to lunch a surprise ambush. Their n was that once Ixorak lead his men to the first checkpoint, and the trap would be sprung, they too would join, and catch them by surprise by cutting off their escape route, thus forcing them to try to push them through whilst suffering the maximum amount of damage in the process. The group marched forward in a steady manner, with the shes of their rmed states showing in the quick movement in their eyes. After all, they weren''t greenhorns, newly joined regimens of the Temple Guards'' ranks, but veterans with years of active field experience. They have taken part in several skirmishes, even some campaigns to take control over the smaller tribes spread all around the Underworld. Though they had no evidence to support this conjecture, this feeling they were feeling, still all of them, including Captain Ixorak were somehow rmed. All of their senses were screaming at them, warning them of the imminent dangers, and threats they were walking towards. This ufortable, ominous sensation, this feeling of a threat made Captain Ixorak ponder, toment on the words and directmands of his General once again, as they continued marching towards Ugburg''s outer slums. ''[Reptilian] Could there really be something hiding behind those walls?'' He pondered inwardly as he gazed at the rocky cavern walls at the side. A momentter he shook his head with a wry smile dominating his expression. ''No I don''t think so. Where would they being from? The city? What force could there be that could threaten us? It must be just his paranoia. Ever since he had received the promotion from the High Priest to evolve, he had this growing paranoia. He was sure that the other generals were jealous of his power, his faith, and the respect he earned from both the High Priest and even the Ancient One. They wanted to bask in the same glory as he, even though they did not earn it themselves. At the very least, that was what he truly believed in. Since his evolution and new appearance as a genuine Saurus Warlord, Zokor have seemed to notice the shadows bending against his will. He seemed to notice unwee, hostile sparks and squints in everyone''s eyes. He trusted no soul, not even the High Priest himself. In his twisted, corrupted mind, only the Ancient One, their God itself was worthy of his trust. Ixorak shook his head, returning his attention to the small rocky intersection that they were getting closer to. As they spotted therge rocky formation that formed a sort of natural-looking arching gate in front of them have made the bad premonition, the ominous feel that he and his men have all suffered throughout this short few minutes of the journey have red up with newfound intensity all so suddenly. Feeling the ufortable sensation tingling all his small but toned, golden-brown scaled body, Ixorak raised his right hand in the air, ordering a halt to his group''s march. With squinted, stern eyes he scanned the rocky formation growing from the ground in front of them, trying to find a source of their misery, albeit founding nothing even after a full minute. The tense silence has made the atmosphere heavy, somber even. As Captain Ixorak looked at his men, his friends he saw only frowns, and sour gazes. The familiar curvatures of a smile, anything that would have shown a somewhat positive attitude was nowhere to be seen. Seeing their faces, Ixorak heaved a soft sigh and shook his head as he stepped in front of the group. Gasping arger amount of the stale underground air, Captain Ixorak puffed his chest slightly, ready to release a booming voice to speak and try to raise the morale, even if just for a bit. "[Reptilian] Men! I know what you feel, I can sense the same. I know what you all want, but do not dare to voice out. Trust me, I" Suddenly, his voice trailed off, causing the men to look perturbed at his action. Yet, before any of them could give voice to their growing confusion, suddenly they felt the air tremble behind them. Not even a momentter, they felt the coldness of a de sail across the air, ultimately find its way to their intended destination prating the joints between the metal tes of their upper back and waist armor tes and plunged deep into the flesh of one of their brethren. "Aaargh!" With a loud, deep-throated, guttural, and blood-curdling shriek, the skink warrior was caught off guard and directly fell face-first down to the ground. The dark, ebony handle of a throwing dagger glowering eerily from his back as the unfortunate first victim slowly sumbed to the surprisingly grieve damage and breathed hisst. "[Reptilian] Ambush! Everyone guard your rears!" After the momentary shock passed through him, Captain Ixorak was the quickest to regain his senses. He jumped up in alert, nervously grabbing the handle of hisnce and raised diagonally in front of his body. His eyes swayed like lightning from the left all the way to the right, scanning each crevice, nook, and cranny for shadows to betray their masters. His bellowing roar shook his men, bringing them back from their shocked stupor. They instantly turned around, throwing their back against each other. Their weapon raised, their previously loose, bored stance were now carrying much more vignce and vigor. Like an angry hedgehog, thences, like spikes were aimed in front of their bodies. Still, despite their newly raised vignce, and the sudden attack or even the fact that after the first sudden, surprise attack there seemed to be no follow-up and no other souls could be seen or sensed, Captain Ixorak was aware that they couldn''t sit still, but instead needed to set out. Since turning back, even if they were to suffer more attacks, waspletely out of the question, they could only grit their teeth and resume their journey. Even if this was all a n, and they were willingly walking into a trap, ready to be ughtered likembs, Captain Ixorak knew that it was still a better oue than to face the wrath of their monster back in the camp. He would rather try his best and die in battle than end up as the lunch or dinner of that cannibal. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 594 - 594 - Battle Of Survival (Part 4) - The Trap "[Reptilian] C-captain I The enemy" After about a minute of tense silence one of the guards could not hold himself back anymore, and with a trembling tone, he voiced the concerns of the entire group with a stuttering tone. "[Reptilian] W-where are they? W-what are they doing?" Another one joined in,pleting the question of his partner whilst keeping his eyes on their surroundings. However, their captain did not respond but kept his attention at the rocky formation closing in on them. His eyes were nervously darting at both sides of the obstacle, hoping to find some clues of the enemy hiding in the shadows. Unfortunately, their opponents were highly skilled in their art, giving their opponents no chance to spot or sprung the trap in advance. Their unique set of skills made sure that even the famed [Battle Sense] that the most gifted, Weapon Masters had used, were unable to find them. Unless they wanted their stealth skills made them basically invisible to their opponents. The twelve daughters that were already waiting as well as Madam Dara and her four elites that were following closely behind managed to keep themselves hidden. The sole dagger that Madam Dara herself threw has only served the purpose to spew some distraught, spread some unease amongst the enemy ranks, making them alerted as well as agitated, and make them slightly more vulnerable to the imminent ambush. Though the attack was lucky enough to dwindle their ranks, making them lose one even before the battle even started, the girls still kept to the silent n, following closely, but at the same time, keeping out of their vision or sensory ranges. With their vignce raised to its maximum, Captain Ixorak''s group slowly resumed their journey, slowly reaching closer to the intersection. After the first attack, there was absolutely no trace of the attackers. Even though their instincts were screaming at Captain Ixorak and his elite force of now 19 warriors that their enemy was close by, they couldn''t find any trace of them. No matter if they shouted, or yelled and eximed, they couldn''t get a response, nor could they see any movement, no matter how hard they scouted their immediate vicinity, thus slowly making the atmosphere heavier and heavier as the seconds kept passing rather mercilessly. Eventually, the group slowly shifted some of their attention to the path ahead. Each grabbed the handles of their spears,nces, and swords so tightly, that their palms long since went pale due to theck of blood cirction, causing their limbs to slowly grow numb. Large, fat beads of sweat kept perspiring and glistening on their foreheads, slithering their ways, carving a path towards the ground as their jitters, their anxiety reached its peak. Whilst his men were nervously swaying their gazes to all directions, Captain Ixorak retained his attention at the shadowy corners of the formation stretched out in front of them. He squinted his eyes, gazing at the arching dome looming above and just a couple of steps ahead of him. ''[Reptilian] Huh?'' Suddenly, something caught his eye. A small blur, a distortion that appeared at the corner of his eye. For most, it would have been ounted as simply a revenant, a creation of his mind that was slowly ground up under the heavy, unbearable weight of this nervous pressure. The knowledge of the doom they were willingly walking up to. Just as his mind began to process what he had seen, and Captain Ixorak was about to exim to warn his troops, the shadows all around the natural monument became blurry, distorted. The slender shapes of masked figures appeared in an instant, baring their daggers like fangs of predators upon their prey. Just as he opened his mouth to shout, the silvery, metallic glint of a de shined, sailing across the air, slicing with an incredible speed towards the small empty crevice connecting his shoulder tes to the upper section of his chest te. Without wasting any further time analyzing the situation. With a sudden sh, he swiped the air in front of his chest, catching the iing sharp de in the air and hitting it, blocking the otherwise dangerous attack with swift, semi-conscious action. Captain Ixorak snorted coldly as the throwing daggernded on the ground with a metallic clink. "[Reptilian] We are under attack!" He shouted with an ugly, angered expression in the next moment, shattering the tense silence in an instant. Reacting to his sudden exim, each member of his small troop jumped to action, trembling with the shock that they all have kept pushed down so far. Weapons were raised almost instantly, the gazes were focused from the sides towards the barely visible dark body shapes slowly revealing themselves in front of them. Just as their minds have managed to process the situation and send their electric signals to alert the bodies to jump into an alerted state, several blinding glints sparked amidst the darkness. A dozen whistling sounds filled their front, like sharp des of death, daggers were unleashed, thrown at their direction. Each sharp glint carried a threatening aim, swooshing the space towards the small, minuscule cracks, openings between the tes in their armors. Each projectile was aimed with a terrifying precision and aim, revealing a dangerous fact to Captain Ixorak and his team. These people, these girls were professional assassins! "[Reptilian] Madam Dara" Ixorak sneered as he realized the news. Only the famed madam, the uncrowned queen the undisputed ruler of the slums had such a force. This whilst, wasn''t public knowledge, wasn''t that much of a secret either. After all, even the Temple Guard officials requested her services from time to time. For the longest time, she retained her neutral stance towards both sides, only turning a rebel after the higher-ups wreaked havoc in one of her safehouses searching for that brat. Captain Ixorak cursed his luck under his breath upon realizing the graveness of the situation. Why did he have to suffer so much? What did he do to earn such a miserable fate?! Suddenly the thought of turning around and running back resurfaced in his mind once again. Yet, the prospects of willingly failing that monster''s orders would have resulted in an oue worse than death itself In the end, Captain Ixorak could only grit his teeth in his own helplessness, and focus his attention on the situation at hand. Though barely a few seconds have passed, a fight with an oue he couldn''t predict has already broken out. The dark shadows have materialized, a dozen cloaked and masked bringers of death, Madam Dara''s assassins lounged at them from the stone monument. des shed as lightning-fast strikes sailed across the air. Yet, that wasn''t even the worst. Just when they were about to forget about the attack from before, they suddenly felt several presences emerge from behind. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 595 - 595 - Battle Of Survival (Part 5) Whilst Captain Ixorak and his men have sprung the trap that was set for them and were now suddenly forced to face a battle from two fronts at the same time, back at the entrance to the rebels camp the situation remained the same. Whilst the assault of the Temple Guards was now being unleashed with their full might, the steadfast elites of Draghan''s still managed to hold their positions and stand their ground. The loud clinks of the robust shields withstanding the relentless assault filled their surroundings. Together with the violent and loud war cries and shouts, added together with the asional blood curdling gurgles, the front line remained the same. From behind the shields, the tips ofnces, pikes even some trident-looking sharpened farmhand tools shot out, ending the misery of whatever skink grunt they could reach. At the same time, the constant chipping of their stamina, and strength did begin to show their wear and tear. Whilst Draghan''s Elite was undoubtedly the strongest force in Aiden''s rebel forces, they too were mortals, with a finite amount of stamina at the end of the day. With the constant, relentless battering, the tireless onught of attacks, did begin to slowly wear down and numb their arms, their shoulders, and eventually their resistance. Heavy beads of sweat glistened atop their golden scales, tainting them into a deeper shade of yellow, gradually transforming it to a distant shade of an orange-tinted red. Yet, there was no pause in the enemy''s charge, they were not given any room, any time for some breath, for some clean air. Eventually, their attention slowly began to falter, their stance was continuously ground down. Some of the weaker members of the force slowly began to sway, showing the first signs of their exhaustion. "[Reptilian] Aaaargh!" The sounds of thest bloodied gurgling cry put an end to Aiden''s silent contemtion and brought him back to the abusive reality. He quickly turned his head towards the source of the sound, which whilst did mostly merge with its surroundings, at the same time, it was much clearer, closer. Turning his head towards the front line, Aiden revealed the worst displeased-looking frown over his face since all hell broke loose and this battle for survival have started. He looked at the men, one of Draghan''s elite, bathed in blood from top to bottom. His kneeling posture, his trembling, shivering body, his empty listless gaze told a not-so-wee tale. Clearly, obviously the Skink, the elite was on hisst breath, clinging to thest remnants of his escaping vitality through sheer willpower and determination. Even in his veryst moments, he refused to give leeway to the enemy, and let them push through. He knew his duty, like every single one of their frontline brethren, he was also keenly aware of the sour, hollow prospects that were their slim chances of survival. Still, despite or perhaps because of that very reason, he refused to give in. Even as thest ounce of life was escaping his very being, he pushed through with his very soul, his very existence, and held his ground for as long as he could. However, that moment was just like that, a fleeting instant, a couple of seconds of obstinacy. A metaphorical goblet of saliva, carrying all his emotions, be it pent up, or freely let loose, that he spat in Fate''s twisted face. As the second passed and the instant was wafted away by the merciless time, the man felt as the colors slowly escaped from his vision, turning everything grey and gradually darker. Still, there was only a bright smile, stretching his tired face, he watched the tip of the spear that was sailing the space towards his face without an ounce of fear. He was pleased, he held no regrets, his heart, his soul, his mind was clear and happy. He did what he could. His life, albeit unfortunate, was fulfilled, knowing he fought for a brighter, better future. The man slowly closed his eyes, not bothered by the whims of reality any longer. He weed that sharp glimmering metal, the bringer of death, the tool that would carry him towards the afterlife. Pain? Pfft! That didn''t matter. His belief, his heart, and soul shielded him from such whims that tainted mortals! He did not care even if the so-called searing, burning, electric sensation, that cold, merciless feeling would carry some sort of torture. He wouldn''t give in, he wouldy down and wait till he crosses the threshold, and sumbs to his injury with the same smile stered across his face. Another second passed, causing the smiling skink, that had just weed Death itself to his embrace to frown, and raise his eyebrows above his closed eyelids. Strangely something seemed to be amiss, he felt nothing different. Yes, he was tired, exhausted beyond anything he had felt anything before, but the cold metal didn''t seem to pierce beneath his orange-tainted scales. He did not feel his own blood ooze only to be hungrily gobbled up by the metal head of the spear. Following the confusing, confounding moment, the skink suddenly felt as if something warm, something emerged inside him. A seedling of some sort, a coalescence of some sort of unknown energy, bright and brimming appeared just before his very core. His bewilderment only grew as he suddenly felt as if he felt the tire, the wear swiftly leaving his body. He felt the soreness of his muscles rx, and no longer convulse. He felt as if the tightness in his chest calmed down. He felt his energy, his vitality return, reinvigorate his very being. Confused and baffled, his eyelids sprung open only for them to grow wider by the second at the baffling, perplexing scene ying out in front of him! His mouth turned agape and ajar, unable toprehend, to process the situation that was going on. Standing in front of him, guarding and shielding him from epting the death the skink elite have already epted the leader of their resistance, the Archbishop stood. As he held therge tower shield with his right arm, whilst he blocked the iing spearhead with his left arm was a sight the man knew he would never be able to forget for the rest of his remaining life. The figure of his leader, the archbishop was no longer something mortal. No, in his eyes, this figure, this creature was more. He was like a god, a hero, the only source of light in this vast despairing darkness. The skink warrior couldn''t react but just stare nkly and wondrously at this godly being that has somehow, miraculously saved him from the clutches of the afterlife. Though he did not turn to look at him, the man somehow knew he was smiling, almost grinning under his nose. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 596 - 596 - Battle Of Survival (Part 6) The warrior looked at the stout figure standing in front of him that was holding both his shield and blocking the iing thrust spearhead as if the being wasn''t a mere mortal but instead a personification of a God itself. At that moment, the archbishop''s figure was instantly elevated in the skink elite''s eyes and mind. It wasn''t just him either, but Tolliah, the little girl standing behind the battle at the cave entrance also had simr stars glimmering in her wide-casted wondrous gaze. She too, like the man himself, saw his papa in a newfound light. From the momentary shock, her face slowly began to reveal a proud smirk. She began to puff out her chest proudly, her figure was telling the tale ''That''s my papa! I knew that he was strong!'' "[Reptilian] Calm down brother. I will take it from here, don''t you worry a bit!" Turning his head side, Aiden nced at the stupefied elite behind him. shing a reassuring smile, he spoke in a warm tone, nodding his head towards the back line. "Go, and take a rest. Let thedies take a look at you. I got it from here." The elite, still sitting on the ground, was just simply unable to process the sudden turn of events. Like as if he was frozen in time, his eyes were wide, barely holding onto their sockets, his legs still felt like two servings of jell-o. His mind couldn''t process the vast amounts of perplexing, anomalous information that all his senses and nerves was sending to him. Added with his high emotional state, the elite was slowly descending into a delirious state of mind. He was probably being convinced that he was already out of mind, and everything he was seeing was just a fabrication of his dying synapses in his mind Noticing theck of reaction on the man, Aiden simply smiled and shook his head. He hurriedly sent a mentalmand to the leader of the support group, Captain Pyre to send someone for the man and give him some attention. Barely a secondter, he heard the mature skink woman''s acknowledgment, Aiden closed off the connection and shifted his attention once more, back to the front line. He could feel the constant battering, the hammering from the other side. As therge metal te, the towering shield shook, trembled under the heavy barrage of assault, he couldn''t help but be amazed at the rest of the Shieldbearing elites still holding their fort. Despite their right arm probably goingpletely numb by now, even to the point that even pain slowly began to fade out along with any other sensation, they still did not falter. Not even a step was taken, as each and every one of them stood firm. With gritted teeth, they ignored all the torture, holding firm, steadfast knowing full well that their most likely oue of this battle was through the eventual and inevitable meeting with the legendary Death itself. Well, not the fabled myth, the so-called legend, the Reaper, but the agent of the Afterlife. He could feel the probings of not one, but several spearheads trying to peak through the small crevices and try to find or create an opening, slowly adding to his growing annoyance, and bringing him back from his thoughts. He frowned as he felt the slight pressureing from the other side, trying to wear his resistance down, chipping away from his stamina thinking that he was the same as the rest of the forces. "[Reptilian] Okay, I had enough. This can''t go on like this any longer." He muttered to himself. In the next moment, a faint golden outline appeared around his figure, slowly but surely growing in intensity, until it was akin to a beacon of hope, a central masterpiece on the grim, dark, gray battlefield. Whilst it first only gained the attention of its immediate vicinity, in just a few seconds, the entire resistance force kept one eye at the strange, mystical phenomena ying out in their midst. Though at first, they had no idea who was doing it, and for why, they all soon realized that it was their leader who decided to do something about the brutal standstill and decided to step in himself. The proud smirk and puffed, huffing chest did not leave from Tolliah''s stature. She was standing there disying an adorable haughty outward attitude, acting like a proud little peacock. She could barely contain herself from shouting, eximing cheerfully. Feeling, sensing the flow of his energy, his vast amounts of [Soul Power] coursing in his body, even as his outward appearance was that of a generic-looking wrinkled, old Draconic Skink, Aiden utilized several of his skills and innates in quick session. His muscles in his arms instantly bulged, turning swollen as he contorted and flexed his shield holding his arm together with his currently free left one. As his [Draconic Wrath] innate activated, the ebony curved ws appeared at the tip of each of his fingers on his left hand. The tired, pale-looking scales gradually transformed, suddenly regaining a newfound vigor, each turning glowing glimmering golden one after the other. A golden shine, a thinyer of energy surrounded Aiden''s very being as his [Mystic Martial Arts] were running at its full power, pooling more and more might into his muscles, whilst keeping their flexibility as well. Suddenly the slight numbing of his right arm vanished, wafted away by the gentle wind as if it never even tried wearing him down at all. Suddenly the battering, the hammeringing from the other side, felt as if there was nothing at all, but just some small dust grinding against the sturdy mountainside. It became irrelevant. Slowly, Aiden pulled his arm, cocking it as if it was a projectile that he was about to set off against his unsuspecting foe. A cruel smirk slowly appeared atop his face, contorting his visage. As his eyes began to flicker with a mixture of golden and orange-tinted red, his expression slowly but surely began to border that of the same as that battle-crazed lunatic amazon, Naybeah. Defying thews of gravity and physics, the small pebbles and dust lifted off the ground, levitating around their master, causing another wave of shock to spread around the entirety of Aiden''s resistance forces. Feeling that his power was at its peak, Aiden licked his lips with expectation. "[Reptilian] It''s time to y." He snickered in an unfamiliar, deep tone. Suddenly, he flung his shield in the air, freeing his right arm and momentarily stunning the assaulting Temple Guards on the other side with his unexpected action. Before they had a chance to react, Aiden''s left fist struck down, striking down at the ground beneath the soldiers in a diagonal arc. As all the gathered energy together with all the carried momentum and simple force were unleashed all at once, a tremendous, violent explosion of energy shook the ground, throwing friend and foe away like broken, helpless kites alike. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 597 - 597 - Show Of Force A massive surge of energy, a giant shockwave shook the underground world. A semi-translucent, golden ripple of energy distorted the space as it continuously grew wider, traversing and affecting the entire battlefield. Skinks regardless of their belief and the faction they stood fighting for were flung away as the ring of energy passed through them. Dozens of blood-curdling, guttural cries, and roars reced the shing of metal in an instant. In the wake of the destructive, impossibly potent, violent show of force, only bloodied, battered bodies remain littered, sprawled on the ground. For some time, confusion filled the minds of many, they did not understand what had transpired, what had happened. What caused such an explosion? Was this perhaps a weapon from the other side? All so suddenly, the previously heated atmosphere was now dead silent. Though ultimately the looming shadow of the wall of shields was no longer present, giving them a free glimpse, an unrestricted view to the inner regions of the rebels camp, the Temple Guards were not in any mood to celebrate such a minor victory. Their ranks were in shambles, their force was instantly destroyed, swept away with the wind of an unknown blow like they were mere dust on the road. Whilst many were lucky enough to not suffer anysting damage, there were quite a few that weren''t like so. Broken bones, missing tails were the most minor of the injuries. Torn limbs, mutted oftentimes dead bodies littered the dusty cavern ground for wherever their reptilian eyes could see. Shattered ribcages, held together only by the molten metal chest tes that merged, fused with their scales and flesh In some cases, brutal, charred remains littered thendscape. It was total carnage, a gory, horrific scene of an instantaneous blood bath. At the epicenter of all this wreckage, a deep brown scaled creature stood kneeling on one knee on the ground. His left fist, the source of the release of all this impossibly massive destruction was still connected into the ground, faintly buried under a pile of rubble in a somewhat one-man deep crater. A faint golden shine still glimmered around his body, looking like an aura, an outline reminiscent of a being that shouldn''t be walking amongst the mortal rabble. Small pebble and dust still floated around its immediate vicinity, acting as a barrier of lint. Aiden was just as much shocked as the rest of the people around him. To say that the massive release was out of his expectations was a vast understatement. Though he did intend to hit the ground and also to somewhat do an explosive show of force, he did not expect anything at the scale of what he had just achieved. The destruction, the carnage, the oue was vastly out of the realm of what he felt possible. The violent reaction his sudden release of energy had resulted in, scared even him to bepletely honest. Deep in thought, he was suddenly brought back to reality when suddenly, rings of notifications began to ring in his mind. Messages, notifications began to ring in his mind one after another, flooding his news feed in an instant. [Creature: Draconic Skink eliminated. The host has gained 50 EXP!] [Creature: Draconic Skink eliminated. The host has gained 45 EXP!] [Creature: Draconic Skink eliminated. The host has gained 40 EXP!] [Creature: Draconic Skink eliminated. The host has gained 55 EXP!] . . . [Creature: Draconic Skink eliminated. The host has gained 50 EXP!] All in all, 21 messages came one after another, rewarding him for a gruesome deed he had just aplished. Suddenly he was awarded 955 EXP points, which shocked him more than made him satisfied. This meant that he unwittingly reaped the lives of 21 Warriors. 21 lives from both sides were abruptly reaped. These creatures have died without even knowing what had happened, without a chance to process the reason for their untimely demise. Yet, that was not the whole list of news, not even half of it. Next, news came from rted to the state of his forces. From the resulting explosion, More than half of his Elite shieldbearers, 15 Elites from Dragan''s Elite have lost either their life or their ability to stand and fight further. In the end, the original 36 fighters were now down to a measly 20, losing almost half of their original fighting prowess. Their Power has shot down by half, whilst their toughness was just the same, even with the bonus boosting from their Equipment, they were barely above 25, standing at a measly 26.4 Toughness. Whilst they suffered the most, the Spearmen Militia, being the second closest to the epicenter of the explosion also suffered a simr fate. Half of their fighting prowess and toughness were lost in the blink of an eye. Still, whilst the situation was still undoubtedly dire, there was indeed some faint pir of light as well. The massive enemy forces were now nowhere to be seen. Their incredible, unnaturally high Efficiency have taken a nosedive, barely standing at 45% instead of the previous over a hundred percent was now looking much more manageable. Not sure about the exact numbers as the System was still in the process of analyzing the changes in the battlefield, Aiden continued reading through thest section of his news feed. [The Host''s Proficiency with the Skill: Mystic Martial Arts (Level 4) have increased! Current Progress: (Level 4 - Progress: 25.00%)] [Through thebination of powers the host has made a breakthrough! A new active skill has been created: [Primal Wrath (Level 1)!] Though these all were undoubtedly incredible pieces of news, especially the synthetization of a new active ability, the same shock wave of Energy he had just aplished, just in a more ''controlled'' fashion, they still weren''t what grabbed Aiden''s attention. No, what was the most important of all, was what was below it. What was most shocking and have also somewhat confirmed the unease, the strain Aiden felt deep in his chest, with his core have also been confirmed with the next, andst line in his feed. [Through the continuous usage and strain pushed on with the Host''s current reserves, the Blockage in the Host''s Vessel is ready to break through. Evolution is imminent to consume and process all changes. Estimated Time for Completion: 02 Hours 00 Minutes 00 Seconds.] Luckily, the process, unlike before, did not start instantly, but it reacted simrly how it did with his scheduled system upgrade: It awaited acknowledgment from Aiden, the Host before jumping into it and forcing him into a vulnerable state. Being forced into a ck shell, an evolutionary cocoon in the midst of such a war, a battle would bring disastrous consequences. He would be in his most vulnerable state, and whilst he was sure that the sturdy solid outeryer could sustain a great deal of trauma, it could still easily be cracked in the span of two full hours. Not to mention, he wouldn''t be able to manage the flow of the battle and givemands to his captains at all --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 598 - 598 - Why?! *A few moments ago* Far behind the front lines, halfway between the rebel camp and the Underground City of Ugburg, another sh was reaching its Zenith. With the mousetrap sprung, the little rodents of Captain Ixorak and his team of merry misfits were having one of the worst shes of their short-lived lives. Attacked on two fronts, the already agitated, and nervous-wreck warriors were barely holding on. Madam Dara and her daughter''s main traits were their catlike agility and nimble dexterousness. Their attacks whilst not carrying anywhere near the strength of even the regr male soldiers, but instead they were fast as the wind and were always aimed at the critical joints, nerve clusters all the weak points of the body. Each strike, each attack, slicing across the air, with a speed that required the utmost focus and attention of their opponents lest they would receive fatal damage. Whilst they barely were holding on, at least for the time being, Captain Ixorak was aware that they needed to make a move sooner rather thanter. Their stamina was limited and was drained at an unimaginable pace already. Their current draw was only temporary, once these wenches inevitably tire his men out, wear them down, their demise would be swift. Even worse than these assassin maidens, their leader, Madam Dara was said to be capable of some rather disturbing source of magic Her title as being the Madame of Darkness, the Queen of Shadows wasn''t just a measly nickname after all Yet, for some reason, as Captain Ixorak blocked another of her horizontal strikes he could only frown; for Madam Dara did not utilize her full skillset She was only toying, ying with them Like a true predator, that hunted for not only to bring back substance for its kin, but she did it for the sport, for the joy of it. The thrill of the hunt, she seemed to like to y with the prey before taking the trophy As he raised his spear to block yet another light attack delivered diagonally in a backward motion, Captain Ixorak wrecked his brain trying toe up with a course of action that they should be doing. It was clear that they can''t stay at this ce, despite their initial numbers which have now dwindled to 17 men counting himself as well, they needed to either turn around and fight their way through this demonic tormentor of a woman and her four strongest daughters or, in the other hand, the full force of dozen daughters stood in front of them, each at a more favorable position. Half of them already jumped to a semi-close range, whilst the other half of them retained their elevated positions, their higher grounds and were kept on hurdling the sharpened glinting metal of doom towards them None of these paths were showing any promise On top of that, it didn''t take a genius to figure out that Madam Dara wanted them to push through back to the city Most likely there would be more than one trap set up already He couldn''t help but shiver at this realization How did she know of their n? How did Madam Dara had already have several checkpoints set when they have just decided to set out ''[Reptilian] Did the General was right after all? Could it be that they were already watching, monitoring us just as he said?'' Hemented, raising his weapon blocking yet another strikeing in a diagonal arc once again. The block, just like the attack was effortless, barely taking any effort at all. Still, it was chipping away from his limited energy with each strike, with each blow "[Reptilian] Madam Dara! Just tell me why?" Frustration reaching its peak and seeing no light at the end of each tunnel, each choice he could take, Captain Ixorak couldn''t help himself but cry out. He had a deep frown creasing his eyebrows, he was growling as he uttered the emotional words. A light, almost carefree, soft giggle filled the air in response. Taking a step back, opening up a slight distance between them, Madam Dara chuckled at the visible, audible frustration of her target. "[Reptilian] What do you mean, oh brave captain of the Temple Guard?" She asked back with an alluring, seducing tone. She did not jump back into action but instead watched the man, the dragged captain as he used every fraction of this short temporary pause to catch his breath. "[Reptilian] Why are you doing this? Why are you with the rebels? Why do you fight? What do you tend to gain from all this?" Captain Ixorak asked, turning his attention from the ground back to the mature masked mistress. "[Reptilian] Ohohoho Why indeed!" Madam Dara chuckled at the question, a broad smile donning her face. Suddenly, her soft giggle stopped, her smile vanished, her face contorted, twisted into a deep, ugly-looking angry scowl. "[Reptilian] Why wouldn''t I?! You people, torture, humiliate, and even outright murder your fellow kin, because it was the ''Will of the Ancient One''?! Youmit atrocities to our kind Not enough that we are forced to such a state, as the once lushndscape was charred and ruined beyond redemption not enough that we are forced to contend with the rest of the surviving races, the other 3 Great Tribes, and the numerous small ones just to survive yet another day We even need to live in fear amongst those that would be supposed to protect us!" Madam Dara roared with all the buried emotion. Her deep-seated hatred exploded suddenly, crashing down on the shocked, and stunned little Temple Guard Captain all at once. Captain Ixorak looked at the woman with wide casted eyes, he didn''t know what to respond with. Truth be told, he too felt the wanton injustice that was happening all around, yet he was too weak, too scared to do anything about it. He, like many others of their circle, decided to simply look the other way. They had no faith, no hope in the pointless rebellion, they instead dug their heads in the metaphorical sand. "[Reptilian] You have no response suddenly Heh, who would have guessed. Just like the rest of your disgusting peers, you only revel when you are top. Once you are pushed down, you suddenly turn silent, like a meek littlemb" Madam Dara sneered with a contemptuous look on her face, enjoying the cavalcade of emotions that the man was disying in the span of a few fleeting seconds. Getting bored of their sudden discourse at the heat of the battle, she stepped closer once again, she tightly clenched the hilt of her daggers in both of her hands. "[Reptilian] In any way Let''s just end this farce. We both know it, there is no point to continue fighting." Raising her hand, Madam Dara got ready to strike the fatal blow on the man that now showed no willingness to continue going against the storm "[Reptilian] Try better in your next li-" Before she could finish her words, suddenly an ear-shattering explosion shocked the ground from behind them --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 599 - 599 - Just A Weakling... Standing some distance behind his forces, therge Saurus, General Zokor''s previous nonchnt, overall disinterested attitude shattered to tiny pieces in a moment with the shocking release of energy that almost destroyed the entire battlefield and with it, his men. His eyes turned towards the distant crumbling walls of the rebels'' camp, revealing aplex,plicated look. For the first time, the thought of meeting someone that could actually match his strength and that his dominating, fearsome aura he cultivated for all his life would be ineffective against. For the first time, he wasn''t sure that he could force and bully his opponents into submission like he always did. For the first time since forever, he wasn''t sure about the oue of a campaign he has undertaken. Still, his arrogance birthed from his recent evolution did not allow him to wallow on such pathetic thoughts for too much. Barely a couple of seconds passed as he suddenly came back from his self-induced reverie, and scoffed with a great deal of contempt showing on his smooth, thick-skinned face. "[Reptilian] Humpf! So what if there''s someone there that could release such a surge of power? He must have used some sort of secret technique, and has to be dead tired" This line of thought lined in perfectly with his hopes and expectations, thus deciding it to be the obvious and clear truth for what had transpired. He nodded at himself, smirking with contempt as he now epted these statements in his mind. "[Reptilian] Yes, that must be the case That pathetic weakling must have used some technique he must have stolen from the High Priest! Yes" He nodded once again, at his own words, agreeing with himself. "It must have been that traitor who ran with that brat the archbishop" Coming to this conjecture, therge Saurus grinned evilly, he licked his lips as he kept on musing loudly to himself, ignoring the fact that his immediate guards were still standing around him. "[Reptilian] Wonder how a traitor''s flesh would taste? Hmm He is slightly aged, but that just makes the sinew taste better" He snickered, revealing a hideous, monstrous look on his face. A greedy look shed through hisrge, dark golden eyes, he slowly began to walk forward. "[Reptilian] I guess it''s time for me to greet the audience After all, I''m getting a bit hungry" He muttered as he steadily made his way through the carnage and heaps of mutted, charred flesh. Hisrge skink-sized tail was loudly patting the ground behind his wake, showcasing his growing, rising mood. Looking at his receding figure as therge monster slowly paced through all the gore and dredge-riddenndscape, the left behind guards of this terrifying monster heaved a collective sigh of relief, they all plopped down to the ground as thest leftover bits of strength instantly escaped from their bodies. "[Reptilian] Finally I just hope that whoever that person with that weird shy power was, could contend with this monster Maybe even defeat him." A guard, that unlike the rest was merely sitting instead of being sprawled out listlessly on the ground breathing. "[Reptilian] What are you saying, Zork! Don''t you know that he could still hear us? His senses are much sharper than ours!" Hearing his words, another guy worriedly sat up, and eximed with concern showing on his expression. "Such thoughts can and will mark you as his next target! Do you want to end up like Kupa?" Hearing his friend''s words, the sitting skink guard, Kupa-Zeluak shuddered with fear. Kupa-Zeluak''s demise was a great warning to all of them. The poor sod of a lizard made a grave, serious offense justst night as they were nning to set out to today''s march; he dared to question the legitimacy of the General''s actions. What happened next served as nightmare fuel for the rest of their night and will undoubtedly continue to haunt them for the foreseeable future. The skinned flesh of their brethren, the limbless, mutted torso with the terrified, frightened look still etched on his face as it was skewered and ced atop the bonfire The crunching, juice-filled eerie sound as the general slowly, systematically engorged himself on the delicacy of his flesh, and leftover intestines, was not something they could ever forget. Remembering the horrorsst night, Kupa shuddered in fear, worriedly casting his gaze on the distance, not daring to even breath as he watched as their general kept on marching closer and closer to the source of the recent events Still lost in his own thoughts and the updates that came from his system, Aiden was suddenly alerted by a new singr blimp''s sudden appearance on his system''s map. The deep red dot -indicating that the presence was clearly hostile, aggressive-, has appeared without a warning or any trace. What was even more perplexing was that previously there was absolutely no sign of the creature amidst the enemy ranks. He either managed to hide for some reason and escape his system''s supposedly all-powerful scans, or he had some other means to remain hidden and only reveal his presence once he felt it was right. Noticing his worry, Enya''s soothing, reassuring exnation rang inside his mind in the next moment. ''[Don''t be too confused about it, Aiden. You shouldn''t forget that if there are abilities that will help you sense others'' presence, there should be those that would work the opposite way, allowing one to hide himself and his energy signatures. Usually, these are rather rare and have constraints, limits ced on them, but they exist nheless.]'' She exined, pausing for only a few moments before continuing on. ''[The creature that is approaching seems to be someone mostly focused on strength. His core does have more energy than the others amongst the ranks of the enemy, but nothing too outstanding. Still, don''t bex, he seems to be aware of our attempts at analyzing him and is now trying the same]'' She warned. ''I see. Thanks for the warning.'' Aiden mumbled inwardly, turning to look at the approaching silhouette in the distance. Squinting his eyes, he focused on the figure, surprised to see something that was clearly not of the same kind as the rest of its group. Taking a quick look at the system''s map, he waited as the Tooltip was eventually generated. [Name: Zokor Kak-Xoq Power: Fire (Advanced), Blood of the Ancient One (Moderate), Strength (Advanced), Carnivorous Rejuvenation (Innate) Threat Level: High Affiliation: High Priest, Chaotic Corrupted Mind Note: Energy signatures indicate recent evolution. The entity''s powers may not be stable as of yet. Caution advised.] Reading through the information that came from the scans, Aiden''s eyes went wide instantly. --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 600 - 600 - Facing The General "[Reptilian] So, it was indeed the little traitor that caused this scene? How amusing" A deep, husky voice rang around the silent battlefield. The heavy dust formed a dry cloud, showing only a huge, towering monster steadily approaching. *Thud!* *Thud!* Each of the monster''s steps rang loudly, ominously in the ears of the stunned crowd standing behind their brave and powerful leader, the ex-archbishop. Each thud shaking the ground ever-so-slightly fueling their growing dread and trepidation further. As the horrifying silhouette kept on growing as it approached them, they trembled, shuddered with fear. Exchanging looks, they all seemed toe to a silent agreement and slowly began to back away, finding more sce in the sheltering cave where the little girl, Tolliah kept on spectating everything that was ying out. Unlike the rest of the rebels, she had a growing, ted smile stered on her youthful face, adorning her expression. She wasn''t bothered by therge monster, even though it looked fearsome, she had no doubt that her ''Papa'' was the strongest! "[Reptin] Little traitorous wyrm You have the cheek, to not just betray the cause and go against the will of the Ancient One, but also steal from us?!" The saurus general, Zokor sneered in the midst of the shroud as it stopped a small distance away from the stout, silent, and weirdly calm-looking ex-archbishop. Though it irked him to no end that despite his show of force, his fearsome appearance, this scrawny, wrinkled old skink dared to not show any fear and instead stood still as if he was the same as the rest of this scum. At the same time, the shadow of doubt slowly began to take its seed in the depths of his heart; was there something more this traitor was hiding that gave him this confidence? ''[Reptilian] Hmpf There''s nothing to worry about, he must be trying his best to disy a strong front to his people and hide his exhaustion the best he could. I bet he would try anything to avoid fighting and reveal his shame'' He quickly waved the cloud of doubt away and reassured himself mentally. ''Yes that must be the case!'' Listening to the filth therge oversized lizard was spewing, Aiden merely shed a calm smile. He looked just as nonchnt, carefree as before. "[Reptilian] The ''Cause'', you say? How amusing From what I see, I see nothing but disgusting filth, trash that is lost in his own delusion of conceit. From that high pedestal, you have raised for yourself and are using to look down on the rest of your kin" Aiden chuckled at his own words for a moment, before fixing it and continued. "Sorry, you USED to be before your clearly forced half-*ssed evolution. You should really try to look around a bit more and realize the errors of your ways before it''s toote." His tone that was carefree, light-toned, suddenly shifted to colder, heavy threats as he reached thest sentence. The underlying meaning was so clear, that even a blockhead like this musclehead lizard could understand. Zokor''s face twitched, forming an angered scowl, as he realized the true meaning behind his opponent''s speech. He clenched hisrge, wed hand, his broad shoulders trembled under his steadily rising rage. His eyes flickered with an ominous luster as he gazed at the scrawny elderly, robed skink in front of him. "[Reptilian] You!" He heaved with anger. "Nice I get it. You really do have a death wish" General Zokor shed a rxed, almost crazed-looking smile, looking as if he ''understood'' the reasoning behind the skink''s brave front and heavy words. It was obviously a y and he was shivering in fright underneath thisyer of verbose skin underneath. "[Reptilian] Fine, if that is your true wish, I will dly fulfill it!" Zokor sneered, as he suddenlyunched himself into a charge, rushing with an explosive momentum towards the scrawny-looking elderly skink. He didn''t seem to put the old man in his eyes. He was convinced that the strange power, the skill he used had to be a stolen scroll from their archives. If so, he was sure that he had to be swift and decisive, not to give time for the conniving, shrewd enemy to be able to gather his stamina andunch another attack. He had to end this battle swiftly, and at the same time, as violently, with as much brutal, vicious disy as he possibly could, so that the rest of this pathetic filth would no longer dare to go against them in the future. As for the little kid, he almost sneered as he thought of the special surprise he had nned for after this whole situation was settled Opening his hands, he raised his arms as he almost flew like a rocket in the air. As he looked at the stoically standing figure of his opponent, he was already smirking, celebrating inwardly. What a pathetic leader! Scared stiff, unable to even raise his arms in an attempt to defend? How could such a weakling, a wyrm no even less than that, be able to lead these people? How dare they rise up, and speak against the obvious truth? How could they be deceived by this this Suddenly, all his thoughts froze in Zokor''s mind. His eyes, which were closed into two slits snapped wide open with the sheer shock. He couldn''t believe his own eyes, his own body even though everything was clear. Just as he was about to swipe down with his ws and shred this pathetic excuse of a skink to tiny, gruesome bits, the man''s thin-looking arms suddenly blurred as they shot up, grabbing his own palm with ease. Several strange, hazy afterimages were left in its wake, drawing a straight, slight arc as the two stick-like limbs absorbed all that iing force with ease. The archbishop''s movements were simple, yet it carried something profound, something Zokor just couldn''t understand. How did those weak bones not snap under all that strength they had to absorb?! Why didn''t he flinch at all? How could he withstand all that pressure, all that pain without showing any of it? Just what was going on?! With an incredulous expression, General Zokor looked at the small robed skink. Suddenly, he could no longer see through this man there was something strange, something unique about him. Something unnatural. The moment passing, General Zokor was brought back to reality with the still gentle, calm tone of his opponent. Even if he had suffered inwardly under the attack, he hid it perfectly, it did not show at all in his tone. "[Reptilian] I have to admit, that was better than what I have expected from someone like you." Aiden gave an honestpliment, smiling warmly at therge Saurus, not bothered by his ugly, hideous grin at all. "[Reptilian] Still, it''s far from being enough Let me show you how this should be done!" --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 601 - 601 - A Casual Strike "[Reptilian] Still, it''s far from being enough Let me show you how this should be done!" Before Zokor could even have a chance to process his words, Aiden''s right open palm was suddenly jolted forward, hitting therge Saurus at the center of his chest. A shocking, terrifying amount of energy was released in a ring of translucent smoke upon impact, therge pulping muscles on his chest caved in whilst also ringing with violent tremors upon the brutal impact. Therge bipedal muscle head creature was sent flying backward for hundreds of feet in the air, tumbling for a dozen more on the ground. Eventually, his flight was stopped when his head cracked arge stone b, releasing spiderweb cracks at its side originating from the impact. The entire battlefield was dead silent following their exchange of ''ps''. People were first shocked seeing another showcase of the mysterious powering from that seemingly frail-looking body of the ex-archbishop. Nobody even dared to breathe too loudly, lest they would anger this terrifying monster! Whilst almost everyone was shocked and even scared to death from this outrageous disy of strength, there were two that had an honest, ted smile stretching their facial muscles. For one it was the enigmatic Captain Pyre, the leader of the support group. Whilst most couldn''t even follow the movement and merely the faint afterimages left behind by their leader''s causal strike, she could clearly see everything. Captain Pyre could even sense the strange energy fluctuations, as the archbishop''s hand traversed that gentle arc, following the invisible thread when all of that energy was abruptly unleashed with his connecting palm. She (Captain Pyre) smirked, as if finally understanding something, she nodded her head lightly as she watched the back of their so-called leader in continued silence. The other one that didn''t show a trace of fear, nor any surprise on her expression was of course the little Tolliah. She looked at her beloved Papa proudly, as if everything that have happened wasn''t anything special but it was the most normal obvious thing. Her expression, her puffed-out chest was a clear message. ''My papa is strong, I have told you so!'' In the midst of the heavy cloud of thick dust that his tumbling have kicked off, a loud, deep growling could be heard. Zokor slowly pushed himself away from all the rubble he was now piled under, looking as if it was a hastily erected mural site. With great effort he pushed himself up into a sitting position, feeling an almost unbearable amount of paining from the center of his torso. His breathing was ragged, each inhale resulting in a burning sensation spreading from his central region. Whilst first he found it strange, a momentter a shocking, scary, fearful thought emerged in his mind, he immediately fixed his posture, straightening his back he immediately ignored everything happening around him. Ignoring the numbing, burning pain, Zokor closed his eyes and cleared his mind as best as he could, turning his attention, his full focus to himself. A couple of momentster, his whole body trembled, shuddered once again, his eyes snapped wide open. His previous, arrogant, and contemptuous demeanor changed. As the dust gradually settled, he was looking in the direction where that seemingly frail, fragile, and scrawny old man, the ex-archbishop stood. This time, however, his expression was vastly different than even just a few minutes ago. From the previous disdain, and a great deal of contempt, now his was contorted into a horrified, frightful expression. From the quivering of his gaze, it felt as if he was looking at not just a simple spiritual skink leader of his people, but instead something else, something different. A demon in hiding, an entity far beyond theirprehension! When the old man''s golden glowing gaze slowly scanned the horizon, eventuallynding upon Zokor and their eyes met, Zokor shivered in fright once again, hurriedly reaching for the caved part and broken ribs on his chest. Despite his reputation as a fearless, cannibalistic monster, he wasn''t anything like that. Yes, he did do horrific, unforgivable crimes against his kin, and actively worked to retain and even further ''feed'' the tales and myths surrounding his figure, in truth, it was all just an act. Still, Zokor was truly a frightful, fearsome monster, he could act as haughty, as arrogant as he wanted with almost everyone but the High Priest. Beforeing here, it was he, who Zokor could not contend with, yet still, he never felt as hopeless, as pathetic as he did now. Just a casual, looking attack, a single strike sent him flying hundreds of feet! Upon facing such a terrifying foe, such a monstrous entity, he felt that even the High Priest would be no match! Much less himself! He gulped, swallowing arge globule of saliva, not daring to stare at his foe any longer, he averted his gaze, finding more sce in the ground around him instead. Slowly, with a great deal of effort, he pushed himself off from the ground and turned to face the archbishop again. Trying his best to swallow and push down all the fear he felt, and not tremble before all the warriors that were watching his actions from around, he slowly buckled and knelt down on the ground. Though he knew that his shameful disy would tarnish his reputation by a great deal after this, Zokor did not care for it at the moment. In the face of death, nothing was too outrageous, you would do whatever you could to survive. Ignoring the shocked gazes of the skinks around him, Zokor knelt down, and bowed his head, forgoing his willingness to continue the fight and instead bowed down, and prostrated in surrender! Seeing his opponents disy, Aiden couldn''t help smirking. Therge, arrogant, and proud lizard, the ''evolved'' monster that many feared, and he himself has probably thought to be close to a demigod, the elevated state was now prostrating on the ground, not daring to show any signs of hostility to him! Spreading his arms wide, a surge of power erupted from Aiden''s body. He unlocked the shackles restricting his full strength, allowing his massive, heavy aura to be unleashed upon the entire battlefield pushing skinks, no matter if they were a friend or foe, down on the ground. Everyone with the exception of a cheery little girl standing at the back, including Captain Pyre herself was forced to kneel, buckle down under the heavy invisible pressure weighing down on them. Everyone, except the cheery little Tolliah, felt this tremendous, ancient power as it loomed heavily over them. Like a sword, they could feel its might pressing on them, judging the worth of their lives! --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 602 - 602 - Indecisiveness In the passing of a single second, a seemingly fleeting instant, everyone present regardless if they were friend or foe were forced down on the ground. With the exception of Tolliah, the little girl, no one could withstand the suddenly emerged mysterious invisible pressure that weighed heavily on each and every one of them. No one could make a move, but to look at the sole standing figure, in all his majestic presence as it stood firm. As the edges of his robe fluttered against the heavy wind, his figure looked more and more dashing by each passing instant. Each skink, no matter if they were loyal Temple Guards or the rebel forces felt that there was a qualitative change with this ex-archbishop. The unknown aura, this domain they were now all being subjected to was unlike anything they have ever seen yet, their initial fear was slowly transforming, changing, and evolving Amidst the heavy, and increasingly reverential gazes of the mass, Aiden finally moved, slowly walking towards the kneelingrge lizard monstrosity, the Saurus General, Zokor. His face revealed no emotion, but only a stern, strict expression. As he looked at this elderly figure as it steadily approached, Zokor''s heightened senses were crying with rm inside his head. He felt his skin trembling, a new sensation enveloped his heart like a dark cloud of heavy smoke. A feeling of dread, a cold shiver made every fiber of his being tremble as Zokor tried to match the archbishop''s gaze. He was terrified. As he looked at this feeble, scrawny-looking elder, Zokor, therge, bulky muscle-bound giant couldn''t help but be scared, fearful of him. What was worse, that his submission felt natural as if his subconscious knew by instinct that this figure wasn''t just a simple elder of their city-strong tribe, but instead something more, something that felt vaguely familiar Zokor dared not to make a move, but slouched his shoulders further down, doing his best to assume as small of a figure as he could, hoping, wishing that despite what it looked like, this monster would decide to ignore him. Even if this was just wishful thinking a dream birthed by the futility of the situation. Approaching the giant lizard, Aiden whilst he looked stoic and determined, in reality, still wasn''t sure what he should be doing, what action should he take. On one side, to end this pointless battle and turn the tide of this ongoing war between the two sides, he needed to be cruel, vicious. He needed to show that he was ready to take those heavy decisions and go to whatever length it was necessary to ensure the safety of these people. He needed to end the life of this horrific monster, this cannibalistic predator, this, Aiden was decided about. Zokor enjoyed a standing almost the closest to the High Priest. From the absolved memories of the archbishop, Aiden was somewhat aware of how feared this brutal general was. The Ancient One''s Mighty Fist, the Hammer of Justice several titles he was known by. No, the dilemma Aiden was facing, was how and what he should do. Simply killing off such a being would be way too wasteful. This was the first Saurus, he had encountered, an evolved, higher form of the Lizardman race! By nature, almost like a hunger, he felt his core resonating, he felt an ancient hunger, a need to absorb this new essence and merge it with his own. Still, that would surely blow his current cover and reveal without a doubt that their beloved archbishop, the leader they revered and looked up to was long gone, and that he was someone else. His deceit would be ruined, even though he had good intentions, his ploy would be pushed into the light. How would the mass react? Would they fear him? Would they start to hate him? Would they lose their willingness to stand behind him? Will that action ultimately be the ruin of their noble and just desire for freedom? Would they go back and try to find sce with the High Priest instead? ''What would happen to the little girl then?'' Aiden halted his steps, just as he arrived in front of the kneeling reptilian general. He couldn''t help but turn his gaze around his shoulder and nce back at the distant, small figure of the small skink girl, his ''daughter'' Being tormented with indecision, Aiden suddenly felt the familiar tingling sensation inside his soul. Abruptly, all the connections he had created, formed with his captains, -even the one with Madam Dara-, have red up, they all wanted to reach out to him. He could feel their concern, their worry, making the guilt he was already tormented with burn with even more intensity. Not letting his emotions be shown on his face, he sighed as he opened the mental channels. In the next moment, he felt their emotions, their feelings with even more rity Aiden turned shocked and even slightly worried as he seemed to understand something. As soon as he opened up the channel, and allowed the connected captains to reach out, they all jumped in and spoke up one by one. ''[Reptilian] Lord I beg you no, we beg you, don''t be worried.'' The first presence, a feminine voice, Captain Pyre was the first to reach out. ''We all already know. We are aware and we do not mind. We all support you, stand behind you!'' Her tone was honest, worried, and emotional. There was no malice, no contempt, nor any anger that Aiden could sense, making him confused. He couldn''t help but ask. He needed to confirm his conjectures. ''[Reptilian] What do you all ''know'' exactly? What are you talking about Captain Pyre?'' ''[Reptilian] My lord, we know you are not the old man, but someone else. We know, but we do not mind. You are the leader we stand behind, the leader we support. Our loyalty is to you only.'' Draghan''s aged voice came in response, joining in the discussion. Like Pyre, his tone was simrly more worried, than anything,cking any anger at all. ''[Reptilian] Before you ask, my Master, my Lord'' The alluring, sensual voice of Madam Dara rang in the established mental channel next. ''From the first time you have connected with us in this strange, mysterious manner, we have all known. Though we still do not understand what happened, I can assure you that we all stand behind you.'' ''[Reptilian] Yes, my Lord. We can all somehow feel your emotions, your worries, your concerns. We know that you truly care about us, how you truly feel about every one of us. To us, you are the leader we stand behind. We can feel the archbishop inside you somewhere deep down.'' ''[Reptilian] My lord, do not be worried. Do what you need to do, we will stand behind you no matter what!'' --- AN: Hey there Readers! Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation! Also, feel free to reach out to me in either one of the below links, or just on WN. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 603 - 603 - Sudden Pressure ''[Reptilian] Everyone'' Aiden was conflicted after hearing all of them. Though he could feel that they were honest when they all confessed their loyalty to him, he still couldn''t bring himself to reveal his true nature to these people. To show the true monster, that he really was, and do something so horrific, so terrible Aiden couldn''t bring himself to do it. After listening to each and every one of them, Aiden just grew more affirmed in his belief that he should not, under any circumstances, fail their expectations, and reveal the cruel, brutal truth to them. Not to mention the fear of falling from the grand pedestal he was ced on in their eyes, he was most worried about the little girl standing in the back. He was supposed to be her papa, her daddy that he himself had murdered. Since he had taken the ce of the archbishop, Aiden had truly decided to take care of the little girl, and protect her going on, even from himself if necessary. Thus, finally, he hade to a decision. He would do anything and everything to protect that little girl. Although he would also do almost anything to protect these people, ultimately, the little girl was the primary driving factor behind his actions. His decision to step out of the ploy, the farce, and live up to the life of the man he had absorbed, and merged his memories with. To go and lead these people, and be the figure, the leader they all wanted him to be. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Aiden sighed before his voice finally filled the mental channel and he spoke to his captains. ''[Reptilian] Everyone, I thank you for your kind words. I promise that after all this is over, I will exin everything. I promise to do everything in my power and will continue to support you. To help you.'' He sighed again, taking a brief pause. Affirming the decision he came to, he nodded slightly, as he continued. ''[Reptilian] Once, this is all settled, I promise to guide you all to a new world, a new hope, a new chance at life. To a ce that is different from this. From everything. I will guide you to Haven, a world where you can live in peace, away from this bloodshed, this cruelty.'' As the Captains listened to the youthful voice of their leader, images of a new world with lush green ins and vibrant forests appeared before their mental eyes. A literal Garden of Eden, a dreamlike realm, with a singr moderately-sized, steadily growing vige at its center. With argekebed supporting from one side, and a seemingly endless mountain range protecting it from the other end. Creatures of different shapes and sizes lived together in harmony. The wide-stretched smiles stered on each of their faces, the rxed, cked shoulders and posture revealed the prosperity, the peace they lived their lives. Then the vision traversed towards a muddy, swamplike area, making them grow shocked when they noticed the familiar shapes of the pyramid-like structures, the ziggurats growing from seemingly the dirt and mud. A true Temple-City from the ancient scrolls were disyed in front of their mental gazes, making each captain turn shocked upon the unbelievable scene they were witnessing. ''[Reptilian] W-w-what is this? My L-lord what is'' They stuttered, daring not to ce too much hope on this dream, this strange vision they were all shown. Yet, they still couldn''t hold their curiosity back, and eventually, one of them, their eldest, Draga spoke up and asked. Aiden, smiled inwardly as he heard the question, understanding the underlying meaning behind it. ''[Reptilian] Haven. A world founded through the collective wish of those that you have seen. A world free from the taint and corruption of reality, of beings drunk in their own filth and power, thinking they are the gods and have the right to decide the fates and lives of those weaker than them A new home for you all, if you still wish to follow me.'' He took a momentary pause, giving his captains a moment to process his words before he continued on. ''[Reptilian] However, I will need to ask your patience for a bit further. Before I can open the path and guide you through to what you have seen, I still have to learn more about this world. About you all, and the history of this ne.'' He sighed again, as he ended with a firmer tone. ''[Reptilian] I will need to visit this Ancient One'' *A few minutes before* A heavy wind swept across the battlefield, forcing everyone down on the ground, bringing a momentary, temporary halt to whatever action they were doing. The sudden release of energy shook the walls of the caverns, a faint earthquake shook therge underground realm, reaching all the way to the sh between Madam Dara, her daughters, and Captain Ixorak. Their desperate struggle to somehow ovee the disastrous trap they have fallen into was now grounded to a sudden, abrupt halt as they were all thrown back by the invisible force that swept across them. The firm and strong warriors were thrown down on the ground as if they were mere dust, simr to the Daughters. Each and every one of them finding the sudden heaviness, the growing weight in the air, forcing them down on their knees. "[Reptilian] H-hey! W-what is g-going on?!" The warriors cried with the shock and surprise they felt. The daughters whilst their faces were mostly hidden, covered by the veil of cloth, and have managed to retain their professional silence, it was obvious they were all just as confused. Their slit-like eyes were now wide-open, darting from left to right with a chaotic rhythm, trying to make sense of what was happening, but finding no immediate answer. Eventually, their gazes turned towards their Madame, their ''Mother'', hoping she would know more. The warriors following the girl''s motion simrly turned to their captain for answers. Unfortunately for them, Captain Ixorak, who was forced to kneel down on the cold, solid ground like them, was just as lost, confused, and hopeless as the rest of them. In the end, he turned towards the only person, that could shed some light on this mystery, his opponent just a moment ago, Madam Dara. Captain Ixorak was surprised to see, that after the momentary familiar look of confusion shing across the mature woman''s gaze, a growing smile, cheerful happiness settled in. From the shock and fear, she was visibly more rxed and even ted, happy-looking. "[Reptilian] Madam Dara C-could you exin W-what is going on?!" He cried out, unable to suppress his emotions any longer. --- I have joined into thetest Writing Prompts Contest (WPC #236 - Strong acting weak) with a unique and (hopefully) engaging new story titled: "The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World" You can find the novel either by searching for the name, or just looking it up in my Profile. (or on discord where there''s a link there already. To give you an idea (and not to steal away the words, I will add the synopsis into the Author''s Thought''s section. Give it a read, I''m sure you will like it! Chapter 604 - 604 - Medical Remedy "Urgh" Drake growled, feeling the ache, the painful aftermath of the fierce battle they have just survived. Confused by the heavy weight that kept him pressing down in the void of darkness, he took a moment to gather himself instead. They have just survived a fierce, brutal fight, two of those simr abominable creatures they have captive back at the surface in the camp have found them. Recalling the scene where the creature literally exploded with an outburst of energying from deep inside this Monster, Drake turned his head to the side, where a faint, and currently the only source of the dim blueish tinted illumination came from. His sword, Mort, the royal artifact, and sword spirit was albeit silent, Drake could still feel his presenceing from inside the sword. As if it was in some sort of deep slumber, Mort was calm, unaware of the outside world. The blue tint, a source of energy that was not of his own, surrounded his formless intangible figure as it floated in the void of space inside the sword. As rity slowly returned to his gaze, Drake turned his attention to the weight that pressed on him. Scarlet, his sister was lying on top of him, her body listless, unmoving. Drake frowned at the sight, trying his best to recall thest moments before he too, lost his awareness, trying to recall what had happened to her. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, how much effort he had put in, he couldn''t recall anything after their individual battles erupted. Like her, Drake too was focused on his own opponent and had no time to keep an eye on his sister at the heat of the battle. He had no clue what she had to do to win, what hurdles she had met, and what did she had done to ultimately be thest one breathing. Thest he could recall was watching as her sister jumped over andnded behind the monster "Hah" He sighed, gently reaching under her sister''s body and slowly, carefully lifting her off from him, cing her beside him. Now free from the pressing, though light weight of her body, Drake could now push himself off from the ground and sat up. Yet, as soon as he made a move, he felt a sudden surge of searing, burning paining from his chest. He found his breathing to be still slightly more difficult despite theck of weight pressing down on him. The stale underground air of the unknown section of the tunnel system they were flung into slowly filled his lungs, only to elicit even more tortureing from somewhere around the frontal section of his torso. Realizing that he had probably broken, or at the very least cracked some of the bones in his ribcage, Drake frowned. With great difficulty, he moved his body towards the side, supporting himself with the uneven wall of the narrow passage, whilst he reached for the right side of his waist. He lifted a brown, seemingly average-looking leather pouch, unwrapped its top, and without hesitation reached into it. The small pouch that barely held the size of a plum somehow managed to gobble up the entirety of Drake''s right hand, yet showing no signs of strain. It was a precious, priceless treasure that not many could afford not just in Higrove but in the entire kingdom. An enchanted magical treasure with a spatial enchantment. Inside the seemingly small bag, a meter by meter cubic space was kept hidden. Though unlike with the skull-faced ring of Number 3, this pouch could not be operated through a mental connection, it was not capable of recognizing a master and was avable to everyone. Still, despite thatck of security, it was a highly sought-after item, not just by the higher-ranked adventurers of the kingdom but also by the nobility. His arms dived deeper and deeper into the space inside the enchanted leather pouch, with gritted teeth, Drake withstood the constant numbing pain and was searching for the remedy he should still have tucked away somewhere inside. Eventually, his handstched onto what felt like a bottle, he sighed with visible relief as he pulled his hands back. A golden-brown small vial was in his hands, with three small pills resting at its bottom all by their lonesome. Three small, circr-shaped, dark minted green pills, thest quick fix medical pills that he had kept safe for emergencies such as these. Still, Drake couldn''t help but frown as he looked at the bottom of the semi-transparent bottle in his hand. Three pills. That was all his fortune he had. Though they were indeed effective in treating the bones in his chest and easing up the pain he was tormented with, it would only be enough for treating one of them. Looking over his still unconscious sister lying down on the ground, Drake only needed a couple of moments toe to a decision and instead put the bottle beside him. With gritted teeth, and with one hand pressing down on the area where seemingly the source of all his torment wasing from, Drake slowly dragged himself closer to Scarlet. Though the broken ribs hurt like hell, he would dly wee this pain hundredfold if it meant his sister could be saved. With one hand, he popped open the vial, throwing the cork further down in the darkness looming ahead of them. Taking an extra second, he took arger inhale of the stale, damp air before his other hand left his chest and lifted his sister''s head slightly off from the ground. Using his thumb and index finger, Drake pushed open his sister''s lips allowing a small temporary path inside her mouth. Heaving onest sigh, he reaffirmed his decision, and lifted the cork, not hesitating any longer to pour its contents down the temporary ''hatch''. Making sure that the small seed-sized pills got down without any issue, he gently ced her head down in hisp instead of allowing it to rest on the dirt any longer. Soon, as he watched as the color slowly, gradually returned to Scarlet''s face, a small smile began to crease his lips. Suddenly, the constant pain, the pressureing from his chest no longer tormented him, but it felt increasingly irrelevant Focused on the gradual recovery of his sister, Drake has slowly lost himself The pain eventually caused him to descend into a delirious state. When suddenly he felt a faint movementing from her, he was no longer certain if he was awake at all, or perhaps was still dreaming. "W-what W-where am I?" A faint powerless whisper reached his ears suddenly, waking him up from his reverie. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 605 - 605 - The First Group Returns As the sun gradually traversed its usual arc and was in its final descent before it ducked under the horizon, leaving behind only those lush, colorful rays painting the darkening sky, the first teams have finally returned to the lonely camp where Captain Don was left alone with their only captive the strange wolf-spider variant abomination. Still, despite their linguistic barrier, his great efforts did yield some modicum of sess. With the allure of the juicy steak, Captain Don did manage to get a bit of information out from the creature, albeit mostly with some nods and shakes. He learned that their tribe, which was somewhere underground had several hundred creatures simr to him residing. Though he could not figure out a question to understand the nature of their violence and aggression, he did understand that they were nowhere as feral as they had initially thought. It''s just, it seemed that either their nature as outsiders to this world or because they were human or perhaps just because they seemed some easy prey to hunt in this gods'' forsaken realm where they were greeted with nothing but scorched desert so far. "Captain! How did your day go?" As the first group returned, Crysta rushed ahead greeting Captain Don with an uncanny enthusiasm in her tone. Her rugged figure, the disheveled mess of hair, and dust-stained face instantly rmed the experienced captain, he took a step to the side, agilely dodging the iing maiden''s hug. "What happened to you, Crysta?" He asked though he turned to look at the sighing, wry-looking purple-haired girl, Sara who was leading the rest of the team. Like Crysta, the rest of the crew looked spent, weary. Their clothes, armor were stained with an excessive amount of dirt and grime, coated with ayer of darkened blood that was clearly not their own. Even Sara, who looked the most presentable of the group looked quite exhausted. Captain Don was growing more and more confused, bewildered by their sight. He frowned, rephrasing his question, aimed at the leader of their littlepany. "What happened? You were assigned to scout towards the south. Since this strange creature came from that direction yesterday, I was hoping you would find some clues about the location of their settlement. Did you guys have any luck?" He asked, a bit hesitant at the end as he looked over them once again with a deep frown. "Well It''s a long story, Captain." Sara sighed, shaking his head with a displeased frown as she nced over to Crysta who meanwhile walked behind the Captain, and did her best to hide away from those terrifying eyes. Sara sighed once again, giving up on that mischievous adventurer in the end, and returned her gaze on the captain. "Can we sit down while I report? I no, we are all quite tired after a full day of running and rescue" Perplexed by her words, Captain Don could only nod at her suggestion and lead them towards the flickering bonfire. Going inside their storage tent, he quickly came back with arge sk of water and a couple of wooden mugs. While the party sat down around the fire and sighed with visible relief, Captain Don handed each of them a mug full of refreshment. Once each of them took a sip and sighed once again, only then did he ask again. "So, what happened to you all? Why are you all in such a state?" He asked with a worried expression. Recalling the way Sara referred to Crysta, he frowned, shifting his gaze he squinted his eyes as he scrutinized the shivering, trembling sight of the girl, and added. "What did she do this time? Did anybody get hurt?" "No Though we faced some challenges, in the end, we all walked away fine." Sara sighed, revealing the first honest smile since they got back to camp. "In the end, we did find something that potentially could earn our team some points But we will need the rest of the team for that tomorrow. Anyway let me exin" She then began to recount the events of their little expedition. She told the Captain how they spent their first half of the day, several hours searching under the scorching heat, braving the endless sea of hot golden sand in search for something, anything. As she nced over to Crysta, Sara revealed how they found absolutely nothing even after all that arduous effort and were growing ready to give up and instead, return to camp to report their failure. When the agreed time came, everyone returned to the agreed spot. Everyone except for one petite, little troublemaker. Crysta was nowhere to be found, and even after waiting for a while longer, there was absolutely no sight of her to be seen or heard of. Growing increasingly worried, they decided to go and look for her. The group then went out again, now focused on the direction Crysta was supposed to be exploring. Eventually, the team stumbled upon her trace, which then they all followed only to stumble upon the remains of what seemed to be the base of some ancient building. The sight was mostly ruined, leaving only sparse rocks of an unknown, sturdy-looking dark-blue, almost ck material. The ruins were huge, looking to be some sort of the remains of an ancient temple, or something simr, a ce of worship. At least that''s what they came to agree upon after finding an almostpletely intact altar. Still, despite what they have found, what they have found more shocking was that this was clearly unearthed, excavated recently. Yet the grounds, the ruins were way more than what Crysta, -knowing her set of skills-, would be capable of doing on her own. Yet, following her traces, it was clear she came to this ce before vanishing. From her footsteps, she seemed to have stumbled upon something, that probably ultimately caused all of this to appear, before after some pause she made her way all the way to the altar right before vanishing from sight. Sara then looked over to the still silent girl at her side and sighed as she noticed herck of will to step up and exin her recount of the story. She was looking at the ground, not daring to look at her or the Captain''s direction at all. Noticing her guilty acting, Captain Don, only grew more and more worried. Whilst keeping his worried gaze on the petite girl, he asked. "What happened after then? Where did Crysta go and did she exin what happened eventually?" "Well" Sara shed a wry smile, following the Captain''s gaze, she too looked at the guilty party as she slowly began to exin. "Eventually we found" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 606 - 606 - Where Did She Go? Raising the wooden mug to quench her parched throat, Sara took a moment to get back into telling the rest of their adventure and the story behind Crysta''s disappearance. "So" She sighed with a slight satisfaction, feeling visibly better than just a moment before. She lowered her mug down to the side of the log she was sitting on. She fidgeted for an extra couple of seconds returning to afier, morefortable position before she got back to the storyteller mode. "Eventually, we found some clues." She began, darting her squinted eyes on the guilt-ridden girl. "After looking around we only grew more and more certain she was there. Anyway, as we checked the altar" She then began recounting the rest of the day, continuing from where she stopped a moment ago. Following the petite assassin girl''s footsteps, Sara and the rest of the group found it abruptly stopped and somehow vanish before the altar. This made them confused as to what could have happened, what could she have done to vanish without a trace from seemingly one second to the next. They surrounded therge rectangr dark gray stone b from all sides. Assured that she must have done something, they each began to cast their scrutinizing gazes upon the smoothly shaped, mysterious object. Sara, as she gave a closer, more careful look at it, grew more and more shocked by each passing second. Firstly, the material the altar was made from was not something she could recognize. It was cold to the touch, and whilst it was more matte on the surface than to have any of that familiar metallic glints and shines reminding her more to y than anything else, it was still as solid, seemingly as hard as any other regr metal they used nowadays. Still, there was something different about it As Sara kept on caressing its surface, a strange idea began to take its root in her mind Which she tried casting away at first, butter on as they kept on inspecting the object andter on its immediate surroundings she decided to give it a try. With a light fake cough she garnered the attention of the rest of the party, and warning them to take a bit of a distance in case of anything unexpected happens, she gently ced both of her slender hands over the top of the altar. Taking one extra moment to collect her thoughts and heave a sigh, she then activated her pool of mana and began to circte it, inside her body. Her eyes began to glow with their violet luster as her heritage was gradually activated, she began to circte all of her energy, slowly guiding it towards both of her palms. The veins in her arms lit up, shining through the thin short sleeves of her shirt, looking like brilliant, but oddly shaped gemstone snakes, racing towards the tip of her fingers. As her mana slowly began to pour into the stone b from the connection she had made with it, at first there was no reaction at all. Still, though initially, it seemed as her attempt was a failure, Sara did not give up. She could feel that something was slowly awakening inside this solid b, hungrily engorging on the immaterial nectar that she was injecting into it. Was it a mechanism? Was it a creature? Was it a conscious entity? Sara couldn''t be sure, none of what seemed to happen in this world made any sense after all. She kept up with a steady, but the slow pace of continuously pooling, channeling her own mana into the dark altar, eager to see if anything woulde out of it. Their eager, tense waiting didn''tst long. After a couple more seconds of the violet light show from the purple-haired leader of the group, the strange altar finally reacted. A light humming sound came from its depth, a gentle heavenly tune filled the area around them. Strange lines appeared atop of it, settling into a strange, unknown formation. Like a giantbyrinth, an endless-looking violet-colored maze covered the previously seamless surface of the material. Following that, a light clicking sound came from the sides. Two handles appeared -like ears- at both far sides of the altar. After that, as if fulfilling its intended function, the altar soon lost its color, returning to its previous, colorless state. Heaving a sigh due to the slight exasperation Sara felt of the loss of a great deal of her reserved energy, she stepped away from the altar and beckoned the group to get back. Looking at the handles, the group first thought that they were supposed to lift and move the altar, which they then tried only to fail to move it. Though it was not a question that they do need to somehow move the object, as after the strange event, they could now see a bit beneath therge b, and see the seams of a hole, a tunnel leading underground. Through a series of trial and error, eventually, they found the correct sequence they needed toplete in order to unlock the strange mechanism. Therge b was finally shifted, moved to the side, revealing a dark unlit staircase that led them in a steep decline to somewhere below. Though the team was inclined to explore the unknown, they managed to control their adventurous urges and instead think with a bit more rity. Could Crysta, a single petite girl, that wasn''t known for her excessive physical might move what they had to utilize everyone to do so? Could she have even activated the mechanism by her lonesome? Whilst she wasn''tpletely ''Dry'', as some would call the talentless, magicless people, that held no mana inside their bodies, she was a far cry from moving such an amount as Sara. Then where could she have gone? Where was Sara? "And? Where did she go in the end? Where did you find her?" Captain Don asked growing impatient through the suspense Sara kept up with her expertly recounted tale. "Well While she did explore the ruins, and it was also her actions that somehow brought the structure above the ground from being buried under the sand She did not have any luck with the mechanism at the altar" Sara sighed, casting her gaze on the girl once more. Squinting her eyes, she nodded at her, which the girl seemed to finally understand and with a defeated sigh returned with a simr nod. Reaching for her inner breast pocket, she revealed a small marquise-shaped gemstone. Like the stone b, this one was of simr material, however, this one had a pale reddish hue instead of the despairing dark gray the altar back at the ruins were wearing. There was a faint light, a little spark-like seedling flickering powerlessly inside it, like a faint remnant of a soul living on itsst stretch --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 607 - 607 - Crysta, The Explorer "What is that?" Captain Don asked with surprise shing across his aged expression. His eyes gazed at the strange-looking gemstone, he frowned as he focused on the strange, mysterious light shing inside of it. Even though he was far from being a talented spellcaster, he had some meager experience, and could faintly sense the mysterious power contained inside its crystalline prison. Without a doubt, he was certain that the object Crysta revealed was dangerous. "I" Seeing the stern gaze of his captain, Crysta found herself unable to voice any word. She averted her gaze, turning to look away instead of on the captain, ultimately looking for Sara for some assistance. Sara sighed as he looked at her little nemesis. Shaking her head, she ultimately decided to step up and help her out. "We don''t know either Captain Don." She exined. "There is something trapped inside, that -at least for the time being-, is unable to escape. It was the only item ced atop the altar, which she lifted without thinking about any of the consequences." Sara sighed, looking dismissively at the guilty party once more. "I I did not How c-could I have known!" Crysta cried out with desperation tinting her voice. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes, she looked as if she wasn''t the one responsible for all the trouble she had caused. "I didn''t I could not have known it was cursed!" Her words were like a bolt of lightning striking down from a roaring chaotic storm at the midst of the sea. Captain Don turned pale with the girl''s exmation. His eyes turned wide, as he looked at the girl with an unholy mixture of shock and worry cast on his face. "Cursed? What do you mean? What happened?!" He eximed, looking more and more agitated as the time passed. The more he listened to their story, the more worried he became. He was almost wishing he didn''t even ask at all "Well, as it turned out" Sara sighed onest time before she finally got into the core of their story. "The brochure or whatever that jewel actually wasn''t buried with the entire temple without a reason Either the entity that was trapped inside or the whole item itself, had a mysterious spell cast on it, forcing it to bond with the first person that took it from atop that altar" "Yes, and what does any of that mean?! Exin it already!" Captain Don roared with a nervous, agitated tone. He had no more patience to listen to them, he needed answers and he wanted them right now! "With Crysta grabbing the gem, the spell activated whisking her away from that ce into something she exined to be an empty dark room-like space. A female voice, she could not identify spoke to her, exining that the so-called ''Eye'' have now recognized her as its Master" "I-I was also told, that I need to keep it safe, and should diligently meditate. I should be able to increase my bond with this Eye once I reach a sufficient level" Crysta finally gathered her courage and decided to chime in. Unfortunately, her words only caused further confusion to weigh down on the elderly captain. He frowned at their exnation, not sure what to do or where to put any of what they were telling. "Eh And what does any of that mean? What is the purpose of this gemstone this Eye? Why was it ced and buried under the sand for gods'' know how long only for us to steal it away? What are we supposed to do now?" "That" Crysta wasn''t sure how to respond to the questions of the captain. She turned to Sara for assistance yet again, however this time, she was met with a smirk. She could only gulp and gather herself briefly before answering. "I actually cannot remember the rest. I guess I have lost consciousness shortly after that voice spoke to me, and when I came to be, I was lying atop the altar, surrounded by the group." She smiled wryly, pausing for a moment before adding with a bit of hesitation and uncertainty twisting the tone of her response. "Thest I remember from that unknown voice was that I am supposed to ''Grow'' closer to the Eye. I will supposedly know ''more''ter" She sighed,menting the results of her hasty action from the day. Meekly she whispered her mockery under her breath, mostly to herself. "Not sure what any of that means." Unfortunately, her whispers were still caught by both Sara and the Captain as well. "It means you need to learn how to be a mage, and how to cultivate your mana." The old man exined curtly. Turning his gaze on the purple-haired adventurer, he eased on the coldness of his expression as he asked. "Miss Sara, may I ask that you look over the misunderstandings that you two have and teach this poor girl what she is now supposed to do? I would really appreciate it!" He asked, going one step further and bowing down at the end of her inquiry. His action caused both Crysta and the rest of the group that was so far silently listening to the story to be caught off-guard and exim with worry. "C-captain! You shouldn''t do that!" Even Sara was shocked to see this disy. She quickly stepped forward and reached out to gently touch the Captain''s shoulders. "Captain Don, please There is no need for any of that!" She eximed with an embarrassed look on her face. However, the old man was unmoving. Keeping up the subservient posture he asked. "Will Miss Sara help this old man and teach this ungrateful girl? You see Every one of them is like a son and daughter to me" "Of course!" Sara eximed hurriedly. She assisted the old man to stand back up and straighten his back before she continued. "Of course I will help! Even if I did not wish to, we are still forced to work together for the foreseeable future. It is in our best interest to work together!" Whilst they were speaking they spotted the second group that have finally made their return. It was the third group that ventured outst, the group with the fiery amazon, the twins, and their entourage of escorts. Like Sara''s group when they got back, they too weren''t without their fair share of adventure. Bruised and battered, torn clothes, tattered rags, and bent armor it was clear they were through some great deal of trouble during their little excursion. However, when Captain Don and the rest spotted the blood-drenched amazon grinning back at them their eyes went wide with shock --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 608 - 608 - The Curious Case Of The Severed Head As Captain Don and the first team turned to look at the tall blood-drenched amazon pulling, tugging arge monstrous severed head along whilst smiling like a spoiled little princess that was just gifted her umpteenth sweet candy, they were shocked beyond belief. Even Sara was left speechless at the weird sight. Unable toe up with any word for the scene, she could only sigh and shake her head, deciding to not be bothered with it instead. Whatever the reason was, it would only serve to exhaust her even further. Spending the day and dealing with one devil was enough, attending to another was too much. "W-what in the" Captain Don stammered, raising his arm and shakily pointing to the oversized insectoid monster''s trophy. Albeit several hours have passed, the tugged grotesque object was still drawing a now-thinner trail of gore behind. The serpentine route their small team took was clearly shown in the golden-brown sand behind them. Whilst the twins weren''t bothered by their newest friend''s strange actions, even looking somewhat cheerful and like them, Jai was like a love-struck teenager, Crone, and the angelic sister duo, Lily and Galina could only sigh and try their best to ignore everything. With a stoic, emotionless face, showing even no signs of the wearing of the day''s events, they walked towards the bonfire and after giving their greetings, joined and sat down around the campfire. Naybeah grinning happily, whistled nonchntly, as she pulled the humungous monster head all the way to the back, cing it at the small empty field that was previously used as the training ground for the morning''s exercise by everyone. Well, not anymore! The strange, uncanny scene left Captain Don and the others speechless. They could only watch with a shocked, stunned silence as the blonde warrioress carried her ''treasure'', dragging it through the camp as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "What the hell happened to you?" Unable to contain himself any longer, Captain Don turned to look at the seemingly only sane duo of the returning group, Lily and Galina. He was hoping that they could at least give some sort of satisfactory reasoning for their friend''s strange actions Lily shed a wry, slightly embarrassed crooked smile. Turning her gaze to match that of Sara''s she heaved some air as she responded in a powerless, whispering volume. "Well A lot happened." Galina nodding at her words, Lily continued. "We have gone as far as we could towards the northeast, mapping arge portion of the ground that is just ahead of us. Eventually, we have reached what is probably the edges, as the dry hot air was gradually turned more and more humid. The scorched desert began to show some sparsely spread out vegetation Not sure what they actually were, from what we saw they seemed to be some sort of mutated weed" "We wanted to take some samples of the different flower buds we found along the way, but then" Galina joined in, adding her bits to their recount. They then together began to tell the events of the day. They exined how they wanted to gather some samples from the first flora they found in this so-far dead-barren realm, only to find themselves ambushed suddenly. Strange creatures, giant, oversized, and mutated insects emerged from the ground, borrowing themselves from the cover of the sandy dunes. Large, giant pincers, strong chitin armor tes covering most of their bodies, the team suddenly found themselves in a rather precarious situation. They could still somewhat hold their ground at first, even as they were facing the savage, fierce, seemingly feral predatory monstrous insectoids. Eventually, just as their stamina was slowly, but steadily being ground away, an even bigger bug appeared, showing something that shocked the party! The seemingly feral, mindless beasts seemed to notice their leader''s presence, and reacted to its high-pitched war cry, giving way to it allowing safe passage to face their team. They then exined how Naybeah decided to face the beast, going more and more crazed as their battle evolved, all the way to the end when the fierce amazon defeated the beast with one swell swoop of her giant war ax and directly severed the head from the monster''s torso. "I see" Captain Don hummed, now matching the same wry look that the girls also shared when they returned. He could now somewhat understand their plight, deciding to join them in ignoring the situation with the head and not ask about the reason for its presence in the camp and the strange, unhealthy attachment that the amazon shared with her trophy. It wouldn''t serve him any good after all Recalling what the girls said at the beginning of their report, the captain asked with an inquiring tone. "And, did you manage to get some in the end?" He asked. Noticing the growing confusion in both girls'' faces, he quickly realized the ambiguity of his words, he rephrased himself before they even had a chance to respond. "I-I meant, did you manage to get some samples the flowers in the end? Or did you have no chance after surviving the attack and the destruction of thend around you?" "Y-yes We did" Galina nodded, an honest smile slowly settling on her face as she reached for her side pocket. From her leather pouch she pulled out a handful of flowers and weeds that resembled that of simple, everyday grass, presenting it to the elderly captain, she exined. "We couldn''t get much, only these few" "Though we aren''t experts, I have some experience in this field, thanks to my Granny!" Finding the opportunity, Lilly joined back to the conversation. "I think this reddish bud looks vastly simr to the Devil Clove from back home. Look, its shape is just like that!" Lilly eximed, pointing to a dark red rose-like bud of a flower, surrounded by a few des of grass. "It should be good for some Health Potions, or some medicinal stew!" She exined with a passionate gaze. Whiffing a smell, she added through a barely audible whisper. "As an added bonus, it has a much sweeter smell than the ones back home" "Lilly!" Galina, standing beside her sister, could obviously hear her, warned her. "Don''t be hasty! It is because of this unfamiliar smell, that we should tread carefully! It''s obviously not the same Devil Clove you remember!" She berated, then turned to look back at the Captain. "Whilst there are quite a few simrities, we can''t be certain if it will really be something we could use in the future, or if we should stay away. Neither of us has any experience in this field after all" "I see" The Captain hummed in response. "In that case" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 609 - 609 - The Prodigal Last Group "In that case, bring it to the Medical Tent. Derick and you, Galina are our brightest minds here, I''m certain that together you two can find some use for this sweet-smelling herb!" The elderly captain advised after a moment of thought. "As for you, Lilly" He then turned to the blonde-haired girl. A tired-looking smile stretched the old man''s weary expression. "You should take a rest, you all had a long day. We can discuss the details and add your findings to our map then!" He advised, giving a light head pat to the girl. Before Lilly could protest, the old man, stepped away, as once again, rugged footsteps reached his ears. Looking up from the fair maiden, the captain turned his attention towards the entrance, only to frown for the umpteenth time this evening. The third group that was sent out together with the rest to explore the neighboring teau to the west of them have finally returned. However, as the old man nced at them, he couldn''t help but grow anxious, as the originally ten-man party that was sent out, only 8 -only his own mercenaries-, havee back. The sibling adventurers, the Silver-haired boy, and his fiery red-haired sister were missing. "What happened to you guys? Where''s ehrm Drake and Scarlet?" The captain asked as he walked over to greet his guys and gals. "They" The mercenaries visibly shook, shuddered at the seemingly innocent question. They shared a simr, slightly awkward-looking expression that was an unholy mixture of guilt, sadness, and even some confusion. The man with the short light brown hair and a thin, well-groomed pencil mustache, the de-facto leader of the returning group took a step forward and whilst huffing a breath of air, gathered the courage and willpower to speak up. "Boss, they" Still, as he was about to speak he found the knot in his stomach growing into an even bigger hurdle than he expected, he chuckled before he could continue. He took an extra gasp of the hot dry air and resumed only after a long exhale. "sir, they have vanished!" "What?!" The captain roared in shock. The exhaustion of his already aged nerves was showing its results Listening through two groups'' reports that were filled with way too much adventure for a seemingly barren and scorched desert has already spent his energy for the evening. Still, he manned up as from the looks of it, thest of the three groups that were sent out, also couldn''t avoid their fair share of excitement The old man reached for his wrinkled forehead and began to rub it as if hoping he could massage all the problems away, he asked whilst heaving a sigh. "Come to the bonfire and join the rest. You can exin and report what happened there. I''m sure the youngsters would also want to hear your story." He sighed again, ignoring the troubled, almost frightened looks of the group, and started walking back and leading the way to the campfire. ''This f**king realm God''s forsaken, a real living world of nightmares Why am I punished with this'' Hemented, regretting his decision when he epted the offer. "So let me get this straight" Sara sighed, forcing a cold insipid outlook on her face, trying her best to calm her agitated, chaotically beating worrisome heart. "The 8 of you, trained EXPERIENCED veteran warriors, trained fighters with keenly honed senses have lost sight of the siblings?" She asked, the sarcasm and ridiculing tone was oozing from each of her words, despite the emotionless look. "You of all people, are saying that they were standing there in one moment, and then just how did you say" She looked at the shield-bearing warrior with the pencil mustache. "Just up and vanished from one second to another? First the girl, Scarlet by the way and then her brother, Drake got teleported away in the next second?" "Y-yes, ma''am." The man in question meekly nodded, not daring to argue back at all. With the aura of a natural leader she radiated, the team has already begun to treat her simrly to Captain Don. With the absence of this group of adventurers'' captain, the long ck-haired, exotic boy they looked at this purple-haired girl as the leader of their group. "You know There''s just one thing I don''t understand Sara" An angelic, sounding melody, Lilly''s voice rang up, joining the abrupt interrogation session. She too, had an uncanny, uncharacteristic seriousness both in her tone and in her expression as she gazed at the party of Silver Howl mercenaries, treating them as a bunch of children that should apologize and atone for their mischief. "What could it be, my dear Lilly?" Sara asked with a faked shock and surprise, casting a wondrous yful gaze at the girl standing to her right. "If what they say is true and let''s assume for the moment it is then, why are you all here? Why aren''t you all missing, being stuck at the same ce where those two supposedly were jerked away?!" "Well" The usually brave and arrogant, haughty officer gulped under the frightful gaze of these two angry lionesses. Whilst usually he and his men could withstand anything, they somehow found themselves be unable to refute or even look at the eyes of these seemingly weak little maidens. As if a mysterious force was casting a cloud of confusion on them, forcing them to not act up to their nature but instead be subservient and meek in front of these Mistresses. "W-we when we saw them both suddenly vanishing from both our eyes and even from our senses, we didn''t dare to follow them." The man hurriedly gulped a globe of saliva, gathering his courage a bit more. A bald, clean-shaven man spoke up to give hisrade a bit of relief. "In situations like t-these, it is b-best not to act rashly! W-we decided toe back and report back to the Captain. We didn''t abandon them, we just need a p-proper n you have to understand t-this!" He eximed, stuttering along the way. Looking at the cold, contempt-filled gazes of the two girls even he himself, the usually fearless wolf, known as a real womanizer by his brethren couldn''t muster up the necessary courage to fight back Low, animalistic noises, whims, and growls filled the seemingly empty, dark tunnel. A single small cave, blocked by arge, thick b of stone blocked the escape for a fearsome, terrifying monster. Not that therge blockage was that necessary, even if the door was left empty, devoid of such a hurdle, its sole resident wouldn''t have been able to use the chance and venture out. The one proud and justly feared mighty warrior, the monstrous general of the High Priest and the Ancient One was now shackled in thick chains forced to kneel on the ground at the center of his new ''room'' --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 610 - 610 - How Does It Feel? The once proud, and feared warmonger, the Saurus General, Zokor was being kept chained like an animal in some dark and damp cave somewhere deep inside the rebels'' base. The only source of light, a single bronze brazier that hung above the blocked entrance, provided a dim, obscure illumination, shrouding the broad, bulky figure, hiding his grotesque, horrid expression that was stered on his face. Though he always disyed a strong front, he projected the aura of a fearless, brutal predator, in truth he was just the same as everyone else. Some say the more powerful you became, the more strength and standing you reach, the more fearful you became of your eventual, and inevitable demise. The more you have to lose, the more worried, concerned you became. Thus it wasn''t a big surprise to see the once arrogant and haughty lizard scared, shivering like a hapless cub. He wasn''t scared of the resistance soldier''s abuse or torture, or the fact that he was captured. No, if that were the case, he would simplysh out and escape in his first opportunity. None of these weak mongrels could withstand a single attack from him anyways! No, what made him scared stiff, and unable to react was that mysterious leader. The elder, seemingly fragile, scrawny ex-archbishop, the traitor to their cause and the betrayer of the Ancient One''s indomitable will. The level of power he had unleashed during thest moments of the battle, was iprehensible for Zokor. He couldn''t believe what he felt and saw. Whilst most of these brainless skinks wouldn''t have a chance to know, he was different. He had seen, no he had FELT that Ancient One''s gaze, he bathed in its divine attention He sensed a tiny bit of its limitless power He was shocked when he felt something simring from that wrinkled, old frame. Ancient, archaic energy, that seemed to be above this world. A power that shouldn''t be present in the mortal realm Divine Power! Suddenly, some movement broke Zokor''s line of thoughts, therge stone b, that barred passage to his ''humble'' abode, slowly moved. A force, a figure he dreaded to meet has pulled the primitive door to the side, revealing the figure that whilst looking harmless on the surface, still made therge chained-up and shackled Saurus tremble, shiver with fright. Pure terror stered on his face, if he could, Zokor would have backed away to the furthest corner of the room. Unfortunately, he couldn''t even move an inch, he was firmly put down and forced to sit on his knees at the center of his cave. "[Reptilian] Greetings, General"The robed elder, the archbishop, Aiden stepped in giving a slight bow, greeting his shackled opponent with honest, civil courtesy. His tone was fruity, deep but pleasant to the ear. A genuine smile warmed the elder''s face as he slowly approached the shackled figure at the center of the room. All the while, Zokor, the elderly skink''s target was shivering almost uncontrobly. His senses were almost screaming to him to escape, acting as if he was looking at not just a feeble old man, but the Reaper, Death Incarnate himself. Obviously, Aiden noticed the Saurus General''s fidgeting, shivering. Heughed heartily, as he stopped just a few inches away, in front of the kneeling, forcefully prostrated lizard. "[Reptilian] Now, now, what is the use of this Why pray tell, would a fearsome monster like you be on the receiving end of the same sensation, that you so much reveled in all throughout your life?" He asked, though the archbishop did not wait for any response, as he continued further. He leaned closer to Zokor, almost touching the fat beads of sweat that glistened atop his wrinkled forehead. "[Reptilian] How does it feel? This feeling Do you recognize it? The slight, uncontroble twitching, shivering of your body. The chaotically beating, palpitating beats of your anxious heart." He whispered his smile whilst still looking genuine and warm gradually growing more and more ufortable to bear for the chained general. With his right index finger, Aiden reached out and gently touched one of the sweat beads, proceeding to smear across Zokor''s forehead as he resumed his speech. "[Reptilian] This What you feel is what everyone around you was forced to withstand. This dread, this cold feeling that slowly seeps into the deepest recesses of your primitive flesh Tell me, how does it feel?" Listening to the old man''s warm, hearty tone, his fruity and modted voice, Zokor wasn''t sure what to do, how to react. He felt a growing sense of dread, terror swelled in his heart. Noticing the smiling face of this unholy entity in front of him, his lips slowly parted, and his dry parched throat, began to gasp for some extra oxygen. "I-I" With a great deal of effort, he finally managed to blurt out a singr stuttered vowel. Yet before he could continue further, suddenly the gentle-looking elderly skink archbishop''s right arm blurred and shed swiping in his direction. What first felt like nothing, in the next instant was made clear. Before confusion could set in, he felt a newfound source of torment, a searing, burning sensationing from the side, his arm. Not ustomed to such a sensation, pain his eyes slowly, cautiously drifted towards his shoulder. His already fearful gaze instantly turned horrified, just before his lips burst apart as a bellowing cry exploded from the constraints of his lungs. "Aaaaaaaargh!" General Zokor hollered, wailed miserably. His once strong, trunk-like arm was no longer attached to his shoulders, only a bloodied stump remained with torn strains of his scaled skin and mangled flesh. His missing appendage, however, wasn''t lost, but instead was now held firmly in the hands of the archbishop. With a smile that didn''t match the horrific, gruesome action that had just transpired, he lifted the severed arm closer to the crying Saurus. "[Reptilian] Did it hurt? Did you feel the pain as I sliced through the bone and flesh? Hmm?" He asked with an honest-looking interest shining on his expressive face. "[Reptilian] Hmm I guess, it does" He continued, nodding at himself at the return of the same grotesque dread-filled, hollowed eyes of his opponent. "Hmm I guess you are ready. I wonder what your reaction will be" Aiden hummed mostly to himself, bringing the severed limb closer to his face. What followed next, caused thest remaining blood to escape from Zokor''s head, paling his brown scaled skin into a darker shade of gray. His eyes, sprung wide open with a variety of emotions, mostly horror, fear with some confusion and many others as he looked at the true monster in front of him. He was forced to watch as the old man, the archbishop, the rebel leader casually bit into the juicy parts of the tendons on his upper arm and bit a huge chunk out of it. The dripping blood smeared his face, twisting it into a nightmarish sight. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 611 - 611 - From Predator To Prey "[Reptilian] Hmm Not bad You know, it tastes simr to wolf meat, just a tad bit saltier" With a mangled piece of flesh dangling from his serrated jawline, Aiden hummed happily, throwing an oundish remark. The blood still notpletely escaped from the severed appendage, it oozed from his jawline, further enhancing his terrifying, monstrous image in the eyes of the once haughty Saurus General. "[Reptilian] You Just W-what in the hell are you?!" Horrified by the gruesome scene the once fierce General was squirming with the unbridled fear that enveloped his heartpletely. Watching your enemy holding a piece of your own flesh, your own arm in his hand, chewing on it like it was the most normal thing to do Zokor''s mind was close topletely shattering, breaking down. This primordial feeling, the previously unknown natural response to his body, the fear was slowly eating away thest bits of his resistance. In fact, the searing pain, the itching of his now-phantom limb was nothingpared to the surging chaos, that threatened to shatter hisst remnants of sanity. *CHOMP!* Breaking his trail of thoughts, and causing another wave of dread wash over him, the elder skink took another casual bite from the meatier, upper part of his arm, somewhere from his brachialis muscle tendons, tearing apart the biceps and triceps in equal measure. As it calmly, chomped down the next mouthful of his bodily parts, muscle, and hardened skin as well, the robed elder figure looked nonchnt. This disconnect between his gruesome, horrific action and friendly, casual-looking attitude did only served to beget further strain in the already faltering sanity of the once-fearsome general. "[Reptilian] Now" Swallowing thetest bite, smiling to himself as his body began to process the new mass and convert it to new energy whilst also extracting the minuscule amounts of essence from it and sending it to Aiden''s Primal Core, he turned to look at the shivering, trembling mutted Saurus once again. He looked amused as he watched the dangling chains, finding no support from the now missing right side of the man. If Zokor wouldn''t be so horrified, so scared that he descended into a mental stunned state, he could, -albeit with some effort-, escape from his current predicament and even have a sliver of a chance to find his way out of his most humble abode. Yet, Zokor was in no state to think such convoluted schemes, hatch such ns of escape in his current state. Brought into a delirious semi-conscious, dizzy state through the overwhelming pain of his torn right, and the psychological trauma, he was barely holding onto his sanity at this point. His forehead was grazed with the glistening beads of sweat, his eyes turned into a downward-pointing crescent shape. His nostrils stretched wide with the increase of the air intake, his lips slightly parted, saliva dripping from its corners. Looking at the miserable state of this proud figure, one of the leaders of the High Priest''s cause, Aiden couldn''t help but elicit a cruel smirk. Throwing the mangled flesh of arm to the side, he leaned closer, almost touching General Zokor''s right ear as he whispered his next words into it. "[Reptilian] What you feel now This fear, this ancient, instinctual response The horror you can barelyprehend This is what those you killed off and proceeded to consume felt. This state of mind, that you can barely even hear what I''m whispering to you" Pulling his head away just so slightly, and turning to face the sweat-ridden delirious expression of the General, Aiden leaned against his forehead. Their gazes met, almost literally as there was barely any space left between both of their cornea, the thinyer of protective membrane on their eyes, he sneered, slowly uttering his veryst words to this defeated monster. "[Reptilian] This This is the end, General Zokor." Zokor could barely even hear the words that were uttered to him. He was barely holding on at this point, long since lost himself in the chaotic storm raging inside his mind. Everything that transpired was way beyond what his feeble mind could process. Suddenly, his nerves red up once again. A pain reminiscent of the one he felt and now was terrified off emerged again. His brain immediately shrugging off the cloud of haze waking Zokor from his self-induced stupor, his eyes gained some color almost instantly and grew wide from the sudden electric shock coursing through his nervous system. Hurriedly, he lowered his gaze, growing shocked before anything else of the sight he was met with. Only just now registering his nemesis, no this Devil''s Incarnate standing before him. An ominous, eerie smile stered wide across his face, his usually gentle expression contorted something resembling nothing Zokor had ever seen. His right arm plunged deep within his very own chest, yet strangely, he felt no pain at all, -he went either numb or way too lost to even register it. Blood spurted from the corners of the edges of the cavity. There was no pain, nothing at all. Even the usual natural response of his nervous system, the rming re seemed to be growing more and more distant. The already dim colors of the world gradually lost theirst bits of luster, Zokor''s eyes turned hollow in moments. As his eyelids lost theirst bits of resistance, yet before they had fallen shut, the veryst image Zokor had seen in this world that he had ultimately failed to dominate like how he wished was the blood-drenched wed arm holding onto a still pulsating organ. Next to it, a crystalline-shaped object hummed with a sorrow-sounding tune As he felt the life leave his opponent, leaving behind nothing but an empty husk, Aiden shifted his attention to his newly acquired loot. He looked with great anticipation at both precious organs of the very first full-fledged Saurus mass he had seen. A lizardman, the first true member of the lizardmen society. A step above on the societaldder of their hierarchy all that brutish might, that untapped physical potential He was now holding all that in his very own hands. Grabbing the Saurus Monster Core with his left hand, he looked at both organs, suddenly finding himself in a weird predicament of what to do. If consuming the hearts of humans was anything to go by, Aiden wondered if a creature that was superior in almost every aspect except for hidden potential would do to his body. Thest time he tried to process the heart of a powerful entity, he almost destroyed an entire city, causing the destruction of thousands in his greed, his thirst for power, and continuous growth. On the other hand, absorbing the entire carcass of the deceased General along with his Core would most likely trigger the evolution yet again. Though his cover was already barely holding on, he didn''t want to fail the little girl, Tolliah --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 612 - 612 - Options "Captain, everything is prepared and packed up! We are all ready to move out!" Crone reported, standing at attention. The teau that served as their temporary home for thest week since their arrival to this harsh world has beenpletely packed up. A full week has passed by since their arrival. Since the first two days of trouble after trouble, Captain Don and the rest of the group have been cautious in their exploration missions. The subsequent ventures they had set up had been designed to have at least twice the number of people in them as before. Though this cut down the avable simultaneous adventures to two from the previous three, it had also made sure that there was ample force to make sure that all unforeseen issues would be neatly handled. Through the span of the week, the team had sessfully mapped out fully the area theynded in. They seemed tond in the northern, northeastern parts of some sort of desert, which for theck of a better name, they now called Death Valley. The name felt rather fitting considering the strange, mutated abominations, these unholy fusions of beasts and insects Not too far from them, to the north, thend slowly turned slightly greener, healthier. A grassy in awaited them. After the many expeditions, they finally came up with three routes, three options to pick from to continue from their current position, this teau of vast emptiness. Knowing the rough general direction of where the missing young master, Aiden should be located, they could continue towards the northeast. Though they weren''t sure of how far he was exactly, they only knew that they most likely had a long way ahead of them Alternatively, they could continue straight to the north, which would also somewhat bring them closer to Aiden''s location, whilst also allowing them to explore the strange-looking silhouettes protruding ever-so-slightly on the horizon. About 2, at most 3 days of travel would be ahead of them before they would reach the spot, forcing them to spend at the very least one full night right in the open,pletely unprotected and bare to the dangers of this unknown habitat. Last but not least, they could very well take the north-western route, which would arguably wouldn''t bring them any closer to the missing friend, however, the only source of water they had found so far was to be found in that general direction. From the distance, after some scouting, they noticed some marsnds that eventually reced the grassy fields. Thick trees with ominous-looking vines grazed the muddy swamps. Therge group of mercenaries and adventurers could be seen surrounding arge wooden table, with the three different options, paths they could take marked each with a dagger piercing the leather and wooden table. "There is no question here!" Lily huffed, looking as if she was hurt by the mere notion of such a debate having to take ce. "We obviously go to the North East, brother is still waiting for us! What is there to even talk about?!" "Sister The Young Mas-" Galina coughed, fixing the way she was about to refer to Aiden, before continuing. "Brother Aiden is fine and okay as we have discussed. He also expressed that we should take the other two options for the time being, and try to gather more treasures and points for the event." Yes, during the night following his battle, he had finally managed to sessfully reach out to Galina and talk for a couple of hours. He still couldn''t reach out to Haven and even contact the rest of the boys, at the very least, Galina was no longer kept in the dark. He exined the rough situation, though he kept silent about little Tolliah''s situation for now. He wasn''t sure what to do with the little cheery girl himself. "No! I don''t care! I want to have him back!" Lily, however, wasn''t ready to give up, throwing a temper tantrum, she didn''t want to hear any other solution than to go to her brother''s ''rescue''. "I for one, think we should go towards north." With a loud holler, Naybeah threw in her opinion into the group''s discussion, causing Lily to utter a shocked expression in her direction. "What?! How could you betray brother!" She cried out, slowly growing hysterical by the unexpected opposition. "Shouldn''t you be with me on this?! Shouldn''t you be already on your way towards brother?! What''s up with your ''Chosen Mate'' thing then?!" As if realizing something, Lily''s face grew horrified as she eximed a dreaded thought. "D-did you did you cheat on him?!" "What are you talking about?" Naybeah looked confusedly at the blonde teen. "Why would I? He is the one that I have selected and the Queen has already epted. Nobody can take his ce, he is the love of my life, the father of my future children!" She eximed as a matter-of-factly. Hearing her statement, the bald man, Jai that stood behind the tall amazon as if he was part of her shadow, flinched, her shoulders trembled. Complex emotions shed across his face, a momentary sorrow shed across his usual smile. Yet, it was only visible for a mere moment, in the next second, both his posture and his expression returned to peace. Crone, Captain Don, and the Silver Howls, that were around the table could only look at their friend with a sympathetic look on their faces. They could only pray for their friend''s lost and hopeless cause. Standing at the other side of Naybeah, the fiery-red-haired princess, Scarlet, only shook her head in silence, ultimately deciding not to express her opinion on either of the matter. In the end, she simply nodded at the amazon''s direction, silently agreeing with her on the matter. Behind them, leaning against a wooden pole, Drake didn''t even flinch and bother to speak a word. Ever since they returned a dayter from whatever ce they fell in, neither of them said a single word. From their rugged, bloody, and bruised looks it was clear that they were through a great deal of battles. Stuck in the crevices of their torn armors, patches of torn fur gave some hints, teasers into the horrors they have must have been through. Yet, no matter what they tried, neither of the royal siblings opened up, they remained silent ever since. They still did their chores and joined the expeditions, but their previous chattiness was nowhere to be found. Additionally, on the first night after their return, the camp was suddenly awoken from their slumber to a series of hoarse, guttural screams, gradually turning into bloodied whispers before they went silent a few minutester. The first thing Drake did when he returned was to slit the throat of their captive creature, showing no emotion but cold, insipid, emotionless eyes before and aftermitting the deed. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 613 - 613 - Living On While the main group was packing and were busy deciding where to continue their grand expedition further, back at the rebel''s camp outside of the underground city of Ugburg, a cheerful little reptilian girl was hopping around, giggling happily. "[Reptilian] Papa! Papa! Come on, don''t be such a slowpoke!" Tolliah giggled, her frilly white one-piece dress fluttered as she hopped around. She ran back towards a white-robed elderly skink, walking leisurely amongst a small group of men and women. Hearing the little energizer''s excitement in her call, the robed figure, Aiden turned to warmly smile at the little girl. "[Reptilian] Now, now Tolliah, be calm, what''s the hurry? We have the whole day for ourselves!" He spoke with a fatherly tone. The old-robed skink was obviously Aiden. After their victory over the High Priest''s forces took quite a dramatic turn. For him, he has grown significantly stronger after absorbing the Draconic Saurus, General Zokor. With his increased understanding of how the absorption process works, and how a new form is synthesized by the creation of the essence seed inside his Primal core, he had managed to effectively use the new mass and essence to create the new form. The new form, this Draconic Saurus, looked rather imposing when he tried it for the first time. A huge, almost 3 meters tall bipedal reptilian with thick golden-orange rows of scales covering his body like a coat of armor. Instead of the silky smooth surface, he would probably have if he were to assimte a regr Saurus, this variant was vastly different. His tail also grew both in length and terms of thickness, looking and feeling like a massive log, a fifth appendage that could be used for causing damage during fights. In terms of system benefits, it was somewhat alike to the Orcish variants Aiden hade across with. While active, the form would provide a passive 15% bonus to his Might and a 10% boost to his Stamina. A new, form-dependent skill was also added to his repertoire, an active ability, that was called [Draconic Saurus: Fiery ws], which as the name would suggest instantly heat up his ebony ws turning them to a deep shade of red, due to the molten,va-high temperature it would emit almost instantly. "[Reptilian] Tolliah dear, don''t be so impatient! You know how good girls behave, right! Be nice to your papa!" A gentle feminine voice came from the old skink''s right side; Madam Dara spoke to the cheerful little princess. "[Reptilian] But Auntie!!!" Sheined with a pout. "You guys are so slooow! I want to y with papa, and you all! We have been staying in that ugly dark cave for soo long!" She then ran back circling around the group of her elders, her father, the ex-archbishop, and his six captains that all excelled during the battlest week. Reaching out, Madam Dara pulled the little cheeky girl into her embrace and picked her up before giving a loud smooch on her right cheek. This action has been rewarded with an energetic giggle once again, little Tolliah clearly enjoyed the attention she was receiving. "[Reptilian] Auntieee!!" Sheughed cheerily, hugging the mature skink woman back hanging on her like a ko. "Carry me then!" To which Madam Dara nodded with a familial, hearty chuckle. "[Reptilian] As you wish, my dearie!" Aiden didn''t speak a word but just watched with a rxed smile stretching the facial muscles on his face. He enjoyed this calm, peaceful atmosphere, this familial bond every survivor, every rebel shared. Their desire for a better future, the many hardships and losses have ironed their bonds, chiseled them into something as sturdy as diamonds. Each and every member, be it an old, feeble granny or the younglings simr to Tolliah in age all shared this feeling. They were all one big family. After the war, there were no more altercations, no more skirmishes sent to their location. The Temple Guard forces have turnedpletely silent, almost eerily so. Even back in the most miserable sections, the outskirts of Ugburg have been rtively calm. The soldiers didn''te to raid, -nor did they bother patrolling and keeping up security, mind you-, everything was strangely quiet. Even more, as the news of their miserable defeat and the death of that fearsome monster, General Zokor has spread around the popce, a lot more people have woken up from their fear and dread and have decided that they had enough. In the span of thest week, their camp has almost doubled in size by all the new people that have decided to join their cause. In thest few days, the camp''s leaders had no time to rest, they were working day in and day out to serve the various little to medium-sized issues that kept on popping up almost constantly. Tolliah, after she saw how everyone was overworked, have ''decided'' that a little one-day pic trip would be what everyone needed. With the help of her dearest auntie, Madam Dara, they nned out this little excursion and after some effort managed to get all the captains to join them. Turning her head to the side, Tolliah looked at Aiden. "[Reptilian] Papa! Turn into that big scary monster again! I wanna ride high on your neck!" Asked the little girl with big rounded eyes. Nodding, Aiden smiled and without hesitation, closed his eyes. The surface of his body began to wobble, ripples distorting his image from one step to another. Suddenly his body swelled up, new strains of muscles formed in the blink of an eye. His body soared, reaching double of its original size. In a few blinks, Aiden''s figure shifted, his previously spacious robe now barely managed to hold his surging muscles, he transformed into his [Draconic Saurus] form. "Yey! Pick me up, pick me up!" Not frightened by the least bit of the sudden monstrous transformation, the little girl -still in Madam Dara''s embrace-, have looked at her new papa reaching his little arms in his direction asking for him to pick her up to her ''throne''. After killing and absorbing the general, he decided that he would no longer continue lying to the girl, nor to these people that have supported him. As he walked back to his chambers, he called in all the captains he had now made a connection with as well as asking for Tolliah toe as well. Once they were all gathered, he exined everything, who he truly was, how he came to this world, and what happened. Although he was scared about what she would do or say, Aiden still decided toe clean and exin that the old man, Tolliah''s real father was no longer with them and that what he had done to him. Expecting her tosh out and hate her, or cry or anything the little girl simply smiled, showing the same loving expression on her face. She shook her head as he looked at Aiden. "[Reptilian] No You are my papa! He is living through you!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 614 - 614 - Let Us See You! The little girl''s words that night caught Aiden by surprise. Even as he tried to exin it to her that he was merely ying the role, -as if trying to convince the little girl to hate him, so that he could also finally put a just closure to this chapter of his life-, the little girl remained adamant in her stance. Her exnation, her words were that her ''papa'' never left her, she could ''feel'' it within Aiden. She said that he wasn''t killed, he is living through him, and his actions, thus making Aiden responsible for her from then on. Aiden first was shocked by this exnation, but in the end, he couldn''t argue. He smiled in an acquiescing manner and helplessly nodded his head with his hands raised. Still, this wasn''t the only thing on his agenda today, he then looked at his captains, that after his triumph, didn''t seem to be the least bit phased by it. They already knew after all, ever since the connection has been made, they could hear the ''real'' Aiden, feel his true emotions, catch glimpses of his thoughts Aiden told them, that the Saurus monster, General Zokor is no more. He had done to him, the same he did to his victims. Once again, neither of them, not even Tolliah seemed to be phased by the slightest, they merely nodded at his reveal, looking the same as before. Tolliah, however, didn''t hold back and asked immediately if he could now change his ''body'', and use that big muscly uncle as well. As he had already made up his mind before not to lie or hold anything back, Aiden nodded, and in the next second, he shapeshifted under the surprised -and in the case of Tolliah, sparkling, expectant- eyes transformed into this newly gained Draconic Saurus form. Compared to the old general, who was forcefully evolved, thus not making aplete evolution, he was bigger, stronger, and unlike his predecessor, Aiden had scales covering his body, instead of the slimy, smooth skin. The meeting, his reveal, wentpletely different from his expectations. Instead of being met with shock and hatred, like he expected, Aiden received nothing butpassion, understanding, and most surprisingly for him, love. "[Reptilian] Papa! Pick me up, pick me up!" Tolliah''s voice broke Aiden''s reminiscing. Coming back to reality, he smiled back at the girl and nodded. "[Reptilian] Sure, little one. Come here!" He said, reaching out and taking her over from Madam Dara. Looking at the giggling little girl and the revolution''s leader, this mysterious man, Madam Dara herself was rather confused at her own actions. She, who was deeply infatuated, in love with the elderly archbishop couldn''t understand how couldn''t feel any anger, any negativity towards this enigmatic neer. Was it because of his speech or their pledge? Was it because they could truly connect with him, feel his true emotions, his honest desire to lead these people, to protect everyone? Or was it because they too knew that the archbishop never truly died but was living off within this boy, this Aiden''s actions? She was confused about herself, yet, at the same time, somehow, as she looked at the father-daughter duo happily ying around happy and satisfied as well. ''[Reptilian] This is good, I guess'' She muttered inwardly, heaving a soft sigh. Her heart didn''t hurt through the loss of her idol. No, it''s just that the picture, the image of this being had changed "[Reptilian] My l-lord If I may" Suddenly, the other feminine voice, Lady Pyre, the skink captain of the support battalion spoke up. From all the captains, Aiden found her the most enigmatic, the one with the most mysteries surrounding her being. She was very talented, exceptionallypared to the rest. Evenpared to the now-deceased warlord, the Saurus General, she would have been quite a hurdle to ovee, with all her unique magical affinities, skills, and experience. Yet for some reason, she kept all of that knowledge hidden, tucked away. She was hiding her abilities with such expertise, that if not for the system, even Aiden wouldn''t have seen through her ''shroud''. Hearing the call, the now-Saurus, robed elder, Aiden stopped moving and turned around to look at the woman. The little cheery girl was sitting, riding on his neck. "[Reptilian] Yes, Lady Pyre? Is there something bothering you?" Everyone looked at the woman, who gave a deep bow even before she continued. "[Reptilian] I apologize beforehand as my inquiry may very well be a grave offense. But" She took a moment and gulped audibly before continuing. Her speech, her demeanor were akin to a woman who was afraid of the repercussions of her burning curiosity. Yet, Aiden didn''t smell fear, didn''t sense anything of the like. Beneath this shroud of ploy, whatever game she was ying, the only feeling he was getting was a genuine curiosity That of one reminded Aiden to the researchers of his previous life, back in the modern world. "[Reptilian] but, I would like to ask, if you could honor us and show me and to us who are here your true form? How you really look like?" She asked with a meek tone, not daring to look up from the ground. "[Reptilian] What are you doing, Pyre!" Draghan eximed, shocked by this peer of his audacity. Turning to face his Master, his Lord, he bowed joining in the discussion with an apologetic tone. "[Reptilian] My L-lord, please excuse this woman''s actions! H-he didn''t mean any harm! I beg you, plea-" "[Reptilian] It''s okay, Draghan. It''s not that big of a deal, though I have to warn you" Aiden spoke, looking as calm and collected as usual. A warm smile was stretching across his face. Before resuming what he wanted to say, he gently reached to Tolliah and lifted her to ce her down for the time being. She didn''tin, though she pouted, she didn''t fidget orin. She took a step to ept Madam Dara''s offered hand and gave a little space to her ''papa'' to show himself for the first time. "[Reptilian] You might not like what you will see." After Tolliah stepped away, Aiden stepped forward, standing in front of his captains and daughter. He lowered his arms to rest beside his waist, as he asked with a warning look on his face. An ominous golden glimmer shed across his gaze for a brief moment. "Are you sure you want to see it?" Though she was startled by the peculiar light that she caught only a glimpse of, Lady Pyre only hesitated for a few moments, before nodding her head with determination. "[Reptilian] Yes, my lord. I and I believe everyone is on the same mind would like to see the face that we serve. We have already heard the voice, and felt his generous heart but we never looked him in the face. Please, if you will allow us this honor!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 615 - 615 - Bonding Upon the request of Lady Pyre, and the rest of the captains, Aiden acquiesced. With a gentle, warm smile stretching across his face, he nodded at them, he closed his eyes. *WOOSH!* In the next moment, as if a cage, the chained beast was let go, the chains unshackled, a powerful torrent of energy rippled across thendscape. A violent, powerful wind blew by them all, rooting everyone on the spot. Each felt a heavy pressure descending upon them. As if the world''s problems have suddenly be heavier to bear. Their sins, their grief turned just that much harder to wear. Space distorting around their leader''s humongous, towering musclebound Draconic Saurus frame. His body trembled, rapidly shifting both in shape, size, and saturation. The scales vanishing, a smooth tanned-looking olive skin reced it. Both the elongated reptilian facial structure, the thick strains of muscles, and ws all vanished along with his tail in rapid session. The towering almost 10 feet tall frame (AN: ~roughly 3 meters) reduced in size, turning much morepact, eventually shifting into somewhere just above 6 feet (AN: 1.8-1.9 meters). His physique also shifted as it lost all the bulging strains of muscle mass, transforming his mesomorph shape into a more lithe, graceful one. Finally as if to crown the grand transformation off, long, matte ck flocks of hair sprouted from the top of his head, cascading way below his shoulder line, flowing wildly in an unfettered manner. The team of captains was shocked beyond belief as they watched their leader''s body rapidly change, shift. However, what shocked them the most was that his new look was way too simr to that of the mythical creatures of old folklore. The once-dominant race upon the face of this world, dominating thends above a Bareskin! As his transformationpleted, Aiden heaved a long sigh. As the final touch to the visual treat, this technique of the rarest of legends, his eyes suddenly snapped open. A pair of exotic-looking almond-shaped eyes glimmering in majestic golden glory stared at the team of Draconic Skink Captains and a young awestruck girl. "[Reptilian] Woooaaaaaaah!" The ensuing silence thatsted for more than a minute was finally broken, Tolliah could no longer keep herself calm and silent. Letting go and freeing herself from Madam Dara she jumped forward and bolted towards his dear ''papa'', jumping into his embrace as soon as she came into ''attack range''. "[Reptilian] Papa!!! You look really cool! I I. I LOVE IT! I LOVE YOU!" "[Reptilian] Y-you do? Aren''t you afraid, horrified, or disgusted instead? I''m not of your race, you know." Caughtpletely unprepared for the sudden exmation from the little girl, and instead of expecting a vastly different, opposite reaction, Aiden wasn''t sure what to do or say at first. Yet, in the next instant, as he felt the warmth of the little girl as it tightly held onto his chest, feeling absolutely no malice whatsoever, but an even greater love Hearing the fast-paced, rhythmic thumping of her chest still, Aiden could hardly believe the obvious facts. Perplexed and confused, he hugged the girl back, Aiden decided to let go of the burning questions and just enjoy the moment. He picked up the girl, letting her hang from his neck like a little ko, he gave her a loud smooch on her right cheek. "[Reptilian] Are you sure, Tolliah? I I what I did was" Before he could finish, Tolliah ced her right index finger on his lips, effectively silencing the man. She gave an honest, genuine smile, her eyes turning happy upward curving crescents. She shook her head as she spoke in a soft, whispering tone so that only they could hear it. "[Reptilian] Um-um You are my papa, I said it already! You two have be one, none of you vanished but somehow became one!" She then buried her head in his warm embrace, muttering in a muffled tone. "I love you, papa!" Hearing her words, Aiden no longer hesitated. The questions, the doubts, the confusion wafted like a puff of smoke, freeing and clearing his mind. Casting his gaze down, he ced another kiss on the top of her head. Meanwhile, the captains were watching silently as the two bonded once again as the daughter and finally, truly, and irreversibly as the father. The two had been gradually lifted off the burdening, heavily weighing thoughts as they watched the family scene in front of them unfold. Their questions, -whatever many they had, along with the seeds of doubt that have subconsciously started to take root in their minds-, have been lifted. Even Lady Pyre herself who originally spoke up, and had more underlying means behind her seemingly honest and innocent question, couldn''t utter a word, but felt her heart stir, and radiate a warmness that was far too long since she felt it. Madam Dara''s eyes were hazy with all the tears that she tried desperately to hold back. Though she disyed a strong front most of the time, in reality, she was indeed hurt deep down when she learned of the truth. She didn''t me his new master about what happened, as if the roles were reced and she would be the one kept in the dark in a lonesome cell suddenly visited by some strange creature wanting nothing but to murder and consume her She would undoubtedly do the same, act in a simr fashion. Still, that didn''t mean that it was easy to face reality, that it didn''t hurt to know that the man you loved was no more. However, that image slowly began to change. During the battle it already started to turn blurry, clouded but now and since the past week during their interactions, it slowly shifted, changed The mysterious being that wore the look of the archbishop, their new leader''s image were gradually solidifying in her heart. Now, thest bits of dark clouds having been lifted, the image, the exact replica of the young, long ck haired Bareskin man have taken its rightful ce Her expression, her body could finally ease up again, and let go of all the sorrow she kept tucked inside. She cried, she sobbed. Yet, beneath her sorrow, the tinge of happiness could be seen. Her face wasn''t contorted into pain, but instead, it curved in a pleasing, heartwarming manner. "[Reptilian] Papa" Tolliah spoke up, breaking the ensuing silence again. She looked withrge puppy eyes, her innocence shining through. With a thoughtful look on her face, she asked a question. A question that most certainly the others also had in the back of their minds. "Papa are you a bareskin?" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 616 - 616 - Connection Being devoid of the natural, heavenly firmament above, the passage of time wasn''t easy to tell. Still, nature, as the saying also says, will always find a way. The luminescent moss and mushroom found all over this underground world glowed increasingly brighter theter the time progressed, going brightest as the day turned into the evening before it slowly began to lose its passion, its luster as the evening traversed into the night. Going truly dark by the height of midnight. Sitting in his ''room'', the spacious cave in the rebel''s base, Aiden was sitting at the center of his room, meditating, processing all that recently had been happening to him. Ever since his arrival and situationing to this ce, this strange world, Aiden was swept away by the tide, doing his best to keep his head above the surface and not to drown. Finding himself amidst this strangemunity of skinks, soon making his way into the center of their struggle even finding himself a daughter that somewhat reminded him of his dear sister, Lily. *Sigh* He sighed, all the events weighing heavily on his mind, he found it impossible to be able to meditate tonight. ''Enya Is what I am doing truly the right thing? Am I not just a monster? A heartless beast?'' Hemented, casting his gaze towards the rocky ceiling. ''[Do not wallow in doubt, Aiden.]'' The familiar mature tone of his System Guide rang in his mind in the next second. ''[They need a leader, someone that could guide them towards a better future. This person is you, they see you as their light. You have a responsibility to protect them now. Even the system acknowledges this fact, they are already visible on your Management interface.]'' Enya''s reminder only made Aiden flinch and frown even more. ''How do I even do that?! Ever since I was thrown here, I lost my ability to connect with Haven and the boys. I can''t hear them I can''t feel or sense them The only information I have is that their statistics, their character pages are still avable!'' Aiden eximed, his worry showing through. ''If I can''t even protect them, how could I do the same for these poor souls trapped here? I I feel" ''[Aiden, how can you still not notice it? Do you really not see it?]'' Interrupting his self-pity monologue, Enya suddenly chimed in. ''Master you should focus a bit more. Focus and listen.'' Ryg the so-far silent artifact de''s spirit''s girlish tone could be heard, she too decided to join in on the mental conversation. ''What do you guys mean? Hear what? Listen to what?!'' Aiden asked not understanding what they meant. ''[Aiden The fact that the system has information about them means that the connection is not broken. The system is merely an extension of your own soul. If it managed to reach out]'' ''then so can you, Master! You just need to clear your head, calm down and focus. You can already connect with that ck-haired priestess, proving that nothing is truly bad, you just need to focus and modify the route of your connection. You are in a different world, a different realm, Master.'' Spoke Ryg, finishing Enya''s words. Aiden was once again stunned by their words. Though first, he wanted to argue, as he thought about it, he slowly realized the truth in their words. He couldn''t even connect with Galina at the start, yet after some time and continued efforts from probably both sides, they were sessful in the end. They could freely reach out to one another, no matter the distance they shared between themselves. He knew what they were already through, learned of their ordeals, the challenges, the threats they faced. She even told him the grand battle Naybeah has been through just to bring a ''pleasing'' trophy, a monument for her desire to love and be loved back. He was informed about the strange but powerful and aggressive abominations that have been attacking them. These unholy fusions of insect and beast were nothing but fuel for nightmares toe. Their supernatural strength, their ferocity were not something they could easily face. Every sh, every fight took them a great deal of effort just to survive, much less to win. - After hours of discussion, the team had eventually agreed to take their course towards the north. Though the swampy marsnds to the west could also be promising, the vibes, the feeling they were getting ultimately made them decide against it. There was something ominous, something eerie in that ce. Whatever it was, it wasn''t worth the risk, they have already been through a lot, suffered heavily. Whilst the water was sparse, it wasn''t impossible to find using the techniques and tricks of their homeworld. Yet, their medical supplies were limited and had no means of how to gather more for the moment. Their first campsite was in the midst of a desert, and with nothing but hot grains of sand wherever their eyes could take them In the end, they decided to go with the golden ''middle-ground'' and picked the northern path. The vast green and yellowish ins stretching out ahead of them was undoubtedly a wee change for them all. As the night had slowly fallen on them, and the light blue sky turned into a darker shade, the group have set up camp at the base of a small hill. Though it was by far not the best, at least this way one side would still be protected, easing up on the pressure like they would be facing if they would have decided to settle right in the open. Even though they met no soul, saw no other group ever since arriving, neither of them was truly rxed, truly calm. A sense of unease kept on growing inside their hearts the more they pushed towards the central ins. The more they felt that something just wasn''t right. "Huah" A soft sigh escaped from Galina''s closed lips as she finally opened up her eyes and ended her session of meditation. Immediately before her eyes could fully open up and her vision turned from the blurry mix into something clearer, two soft hands grabbed each of her shoulders and shook her. "What did you two talk about! Come on, tell me, sis! Quick!" The worried, agitated tone of Galina''s Master, the Young Master''s sister rang in her ears. shing a soft smile, Galina sighed and grabbed the shaking hands of the worried Lily, and gently lifted them off. "Don''t worry big sis! He is fine. Like us, he also had his fair share of troubles, but as he exined to us thest couple of days, he is doing much better now. He is now leading a group of people." "And what about the little girl? What about Tolliah?!" Lily asked, her tone carrying even more of that previous worry. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 617 - 617 - Preparation "Stop! What business do you have here woman! Know your ce!" A rough, cold shout filled with arrogance and contempt reverberated in the grassy hilltop. A rather tall woman, dressed in the empire''s dark red armor was blocked entry as two lion-headednces were crossed in front of her. In her hands, she was holding a stained-yellow rolled-up parchment. The woman frowned upon being subjected to such treatment, her neatly folded long ck hair swayed as she shook her head with displeasure written all over her supple face. She clicked her tongue, giving a voice to her rising anger. "Step aside soldier! How dare you speak to your superior in that way! One more flinch on your stupid, disgusting face and I will have you court marshaled for treason against his Majesty, the Prince!" She yelled. However, the soldier didn''t seem to take the matter seriously. His face contorting, he was about to unleash and yell, when suddenly, seemingly out of thin air, a rather thin arm appeared from behind, holding the edge of a dagger against his throat. "Now, now. Even if you are assigned to guard duty as being one of the elites, you should still show respect to your superiors." The man that appeared behind him spoke in an eerie tone. This thin, tall, andnky man had short curly ck hair and an unshaven, rough-looking face. He was Syf, the captain of the empire''s probably currently most important battalion, the scouts, the spies, the force responsible for information gathering. Seeing one of the six captains appear ande to her aid, the lieutenant bowed respectfully. "Lieutenant Sievul reporting in! Captain Syf, the scouts have returned and brought back the report. I need to give it to General Dorian!" She reported in a respectful tone, her posture remaining subservient, she kept her gaze stered on the grass beneath her military boots. "I know." Syf nodded, a small smirk appearing on his face. "I have been informed already well, alright, I''ll let you take this one." He nodded, stepping to the side and relieving the scared and stunned guard of the immediate threat to his life. In response, the knees of the threatened guard gave in and buckled under the pressure. He fell down on his knees, sweating and panting heavily. He was in shock, there was no trace of his previous arrogance and pride any longer, only sheer terror could be seen in his eyes as he trembled, not daring to look back at his almost-assassin. The woman, Lieutenant Sievul ignored the menpletely, the previously cold, emotionless look returned to her face as she stepped away and withrge strides marched towards the central,manding tent. Watching the receding back of the Lieutenant, Captain Syf smiled at her. Turning his gaze away, he looked at the vast ins stretching out below them. On the horizon, the walls of a city could be seen. "The fun''s about to begin I wonder what will they do, how will those so-called leaders react Most importantly I wonder, how will SHE react" He muttered, the smirk never leaving his face. Standing in front of thergest tent of all, Lieutenant Sievul took a moment to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. Feeling her rapidly thumping heart, she needed a few extra seconds before she could cough loudly and ask for entry. "General Dorian, I apologize for the interruption!" She eximed loudly in a paced tone, giving an extra instant before continuing. "I came bearing reports from the scouts!" For a moment, there was no response to her words, she was met with tense silence. Just as she was about to speak up again, a grunt came from inside, followed by a curt response from a deep bear-like voice. "Step inside." "Y-yes, General." Lieutenant Sievul muttered, finding herself losing herposure just from a brief grunt from the leader. Following that he pushed the carpet that was hung, serving as a makeshift ''door'', and stepped into the dimly litmand center. Standing at the center of the room, behind a wooden desk, looming over a hand-drawn map of the region they were currently in, an imposing man of some age stood. He looked somewhere close to his forties, or most likely in hister thirties. He had a short mess of matte ck hair, his face was clean-shaven, only leaving a short stub of a mustache hanging above his lips, serving as a bridge between her lips and her nostrils. Without looking away from the hand-drawn map, his gruff, deep voice greeted the woman as soon as she stepped inside. "What is it, Lieutenant? As you can see, I am quite busy." "Sir!" The woman shook, looking timid in front of the mighty presence of this towering, robust man. She extended her hands holding the rolled-up parchment, presenting it to the General. "Lord Syf''s scouts have returned with thetest updates." "Uhm." The man grunted, busying himself with a ck feather quill. Dipping its sharp tip into a small bottle of ink, he began to draw on the map. Rectangles were drawn in rapid session, nned cements, strategies he was devising for the uing campaign. Noticing that the woman stood still, not reacting, the man grunted again, uttering coldly. "Speak, woman. What is in the report?" "Sir Y-yes Sir!" The woman hurriedly nodded, stuttering as she spoke. Inhaling arge gasp of air, she puffed her already generous-looking bosom, before exhaling loudly. Only by repeating it two more times, did she muster the courage to speak and calm her screaming nerves. "The enemy still seems oblivious to us,. Sir! They have not stationed any additional guards, nor could we see increased patrols. The city seems calm and silent." She reported, her tone turning frowning at the end. This change of speech didn''t escape the general''s ears. Still keeping his attention and most of his focus on the drawing of the battle map, he asked. "What are your thoughts, Lieutenant. You are free to speak." Lieutenant Sievul was surprised for a moment about the general''s request. Still, she gathered all her willpower and gulped loudly before deciding to speak. "Uhm S-sir, I find it strange, sir." "Why so, Lieutenant? Please borate." The general spoke, a small imperceptible smile curving his lips. "The city is too calm, that at this point seems rather suspicious. Although the City Guards may very well be toox to properly attend their duties, the Academy''s mages and the Adventurer''s Guild should have already noticed our presence. Theck of reaction is, just as the scouts have reported, seems rather strange." She coughed, before adding another line of thought, her conjecture of the matter. "I believe they are preparing something. We should be ready for anything, sir!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 618 - 618 - Planning "I believe they are preparing something. We should be ready for anything, sir!" The words of the lieutenant finally earned the attention of her captain. The man, stopping in his tracks, looked at the woman, genuine surprise written on his face. He ced the quill back to its holder on the side and straightened his back. "That is indeed an interesting conjecture, and you have even made correct guesses based on the little information you could listen in to hear and there" Lieutenant Sievul shook in fright at the words of the General. "I I didn''t mean to General Sir I apolo-" "There is no need for that, be at ease, Lieutenant!" Seeing her fidgeting and overall just she was a nervous wreck, General Dorian had the urge to burst out intoughter. Still, he constrained himself, keeping up his majestic outlook, and only allowed a small smile to reveal his true emotions. Sievul however, due to being already deep in the dredges of her trepidation, mistook that genuine smile as a sneer, a show of the man''s annoyance at the woman''s disrespectful actions. Thinking that she was in deep trouble, she hurriedly knelt down on the ground. Forcing her face stered on the ground she begged, barely being able to hold her tears. "I apologize, G-General! I did not mean to I just I merely wanted to h-help! Please don''t pun-" "I said" The robust man''s deep voice stifled the words into her yet again. Hisrge, hard palms reached down, grabbing the woman''s trembling shoulders, he pulled her back up. Looking into her eyes, General Dorian smiled as he spoke. "I said, be at ease, Lieutenant. You are not in any sort of trouble at all." The man sighed, letting go of the shivering, trembling woman, and took a step back to create some meager distance between the two. "If anything, I would like to hear more about what you think! Hmm You know what?" The middle-aged man pondered for a brief moment, before suddenly turning around and walking back to the map he was busy with just a moment ago. He motioned for the woman as soon as he got back. "Come here, Lieutenant! I would like to hear your thoughts regarding the matter and the proposed n of attack." Lieutenant Sievul was shocked and consequently stunned yet again after hearing her General''s tone. She could hear that there was no malice, no contempt, nor any disdain as he called for her. His eyes showed a genuine interest, a growing curiosity as he looked at her. This, however, didn''t ease her worries but instead served as further fuel to throw her mind into a state of chaos. Her heart was beating erratically, she was stunned, paralyzed. She couldn''t respond, not even a nod as she looked back at the man with a pale face and wide eyes. "Don''t worry, I only wish to hear your thoughts on the matter. There are no wrong answers here, and nobody will say anything. It is only us two." Seeing the state of the woman, the old man sighed, finally allowing a genuine hearty smile to spread on his wrinkled face. He beckoned the woman once again toe over, trying his very best to seem friendly and not whatever she was envisioning. Eventually, Lieutenant Sievul managed to break from her reverie and calm herself just enough to force out a timid head nod, before meekly walking over, taking her ce at the General''s left side. "Look at this map, Lieutenant." As the woman got to his side, General Dorian spoke up. He pointed at a cliff at the far left side of the hand-drawn map. "This is where we are. Our current camp we set up. In front of us, to the east this line here marks the border between our Empire and this so-called Kingdom." He pointed out the clear details first. Pointing towards the north of the city, he moved his index fingers beyond the map as he spoke. "My brother''s two armies will be invading to the far, far north. One of them will be crossing through the mountain ridge, while the eldest will most likely circle around it, and wille from the north. I bet they are aiming directly for the capital, fighting against each other to score higher in father''s stupid list" The man sighed, shaking his head freeing it from the frowning wrinkles as he got back to the task at hand. He pointed on the two rectangles he had drawn one straight in front of the city whilst the other, somewhat smaller drawn as to go around, and join the battle from the south. "With the information we have, the most guarded entrance is at the far side of the city, far away from us." He exined. "Separating our forces into two armies, we would send one half, roughly with 60-65% of our numbers directly assaulting them in a frontal assault. This would force most of their forces to concentrate and shift to defending from the west, allowing the second force to sneak in from the south, hopefully nking the defense." General Dorian spoke, exining the currently drawn-up segments of his battle n. Reaching the end, he coughed, he looked at the woman, and asked. "So what do you think, Lieutenant? Should it work, or is there some insight you could add?" Listening intently at the General, Sievul was fidgeting in her ce, not sure of if she should really speak up or not. After a few sighs, however, she decided to give it a chance. Pointing at the smaller, southern battalion, she looked at the map and spoke in a whispering, powerless, timid tone of voice. "Uhm, General, Sir I think I think that maybe a few extra steps could be taken to further enhance our chances and lower the possible casualties sir" She spoke, not daring to look up at the man, afraid of his reaction. Would he be offended that a woman, a subordinate spoke up, defying him? Would she be punished for her insubordination? She was like a littlemb, frightened as she was pushed into the den of a predator. Her previous pride, and haughtiness as she fearlessly faced off against the royal guards stationed outside was nowhere to be seen. "Yes? What do you propose, Lieutenant? What should be changed?" However, instead of being mad, or offended, the old man showed genuine curiosity to her. Feeling no anger in his tone, gradually Sievul began to calm down. Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she pointed to several spots of higher ground ces as well as therge surrounding forest around the city. "I believe that we should make a few smaller, specialized groups and station them here here.. Here and here in the edges of the forest as well. Going in head first against those walls would just increase the difficulty of the entire assault I think that" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 619 - 619 - The Captains Silently listening to the suggestions of the Lieutenant, General Dorian was immersed in the map, humming at the many smaller suggestions that were made. From the separation of the ranged and spreading them around the many elevated positions for a higher vantage point for greater advantage, or the clever usage of the local forage, correctly utilizing the thick forest to hide the reinforcement and the light cavalry, so that the enemy could be taken off-guard when or if they decide to strike back after the first initial rounds of assaults to their defenses. Even the clever positioning of the support, hiding some of them in the thick shrubbery of the trees, some behind the rocky terrain, whilst only just a meager small party would be close to the front. The suggestions were showing a much keener insight than most of General Dorian''s captains had shown. The signs of a great strategist, a tactical, analytic mind. His captains were mostly known for their personal powers or fame. From the barbaric, fierce beast, Rillon, the leader of the Makhor, or how they were better known, ''the Serrated Teeth of the Godly Emperor''. He was a robust, bald man, dumb as a rock, and simple as the straight arrow. He was nothing like the others, had no brain for devising schemes, or convoluted ns. He knew only one method, and that was to crush his foes head-on. His fearsome group of relentless warriors always charged at the front lines, hacking through mountains of gore, never to falter, never to fail no matter the opposition. Then there was his exact opposite. The old man, Exarch K''hlen, the dark magician, the blight of the Wastnds. A thin, hunched-back man with ropes of greasy long gray strands of hair. His outward appearance matching his soul, dark, twisted, and disgusting, he and his group of spellcasters should never be looked down upon. They were the fabled dark magicians, the necromancers in service of the Emperor, Dorian''s father. Rumors say that he was responsible for several viges in the borders of the Wastnds suddenly turning into nothing more than mass graveyards. Reports about the air in these settlements were said to be filled with the overwhelming stench of rot and death. The bodies of the vigers were filled with hideous blights and blisters. When one of the bodies were examined it seemed that some sort of illness or gue of some kind festered inside these poor unlucky sods, killing them slowly from the insides. It was said, that those that died must have suffered tremendously as their organs, flesh, and bones slowly dissolved, leaving nothing behind but a gtinous gooey substance. Though he was never connected to the mass murders, Exarch K''hlen was known to be training with his apprentices around that region during that time. Yet, due to his high standing, his title as being one of the high priests of the Empire, just under the Primate, Holy One, the Godly Emperor''s second hand, no one would have the guts to use him or his group over the demise of a few hundredmoners. In any way, besides these two pr opposites, -one a brute, one a bonafide schemer-, the rest were equally as unique as the rest. Lieutenant Sievul already met the most mysterious of them all, the figure only known by the nick Syf. This tall,nky man with short, curly ck hair and an unshaven rough-looking face always had that sinister glint in his eyes. Leader of the shadows, the spies and scouts that infiltrated each and every nook and cranny already in the whole eastern side of the continent, he was most likely the host of many dark secrets. Yet, despite all that untapped knowledge and potential, he was a faithful servant of the revered Godly Emperor, never to question, never to betray his will. Whilst he retained an aloof, somewhat distant attitude to everyone, even his peers, and the Generals as well, he was fearful and reverent of the Emperor. The rest of the 3 Captains were, like the others, were each unique in their own way. Somewhat simr, but at the same time, holding a vastly different role, the buxom mature beauty of Lorelei captained the smallest, yet one of the most feared sections of the army, the assassins. With two literal mountains weighing down on her chest, it was quite a sight to see her nimbly sneak from shadow to shadow. Yet, despite the obvious nature-given blessing-sh-handicap, she was frighteningly aplished in her profession. Using every asset, every skill she had to her fullest advantage, once she set her greedy ws on a target, it was most likely a done deal. Shemanded a verypact little group, barely reaching into the forty, but each and every one of hers was feared murderers, throatslicers. Each was a heartless, emotionless killing machine, ground to perfection through years, decades of arduous training, and live missions. People of high standing feared and respected them in an equal manner, not daring to show disdain or contempt, lest they would make it on their fabled ''list''. Like with Rillon and K''hlen, Lorelei also had her pr opposite in the ranks of captains joining her in this current campaign. The second and only other woman that reached such a high ranking, Captain Elena was nothing like the busty seductress. Elena had short, straight blonde hair, much unlike the long wavy velvety raid cascade of Lorelei. Elena was slender, slim, and too much to her sorrow and the source of her usual bratty, willful attitude t-chested. Whilst Lorelei had this natural seductive, alluring charm, the soothing, warm whisper-like tone of voice that hardly any man could resist and would instantly raise their inner beast and lust wherever she went, Elena was mostly aloof, cold, distant in the presence of the other sex. She had a strong mind, headstrong. With her deep azure blue gemstone-like eyes, Elena could just as well pierce into the core of the lust-driven beasts, the men. Still, although she was nothing like Lorelei, Elena was just as much of a beauty in the eyes of the soldiers. Like Lorelei, she too had her own fan club, not bothered by the fact that she didn''t consider them as dirt upon her leather high heels. Elena was the leader of the ranged forces, one that seemed to be getting increased attention in the uing conquest for Higrove. Last but not least, the stoic, and mostly silent, but sturdy, reliable rock, the ind in the vast sea Captain Sarid. The oldest of the captains, older than even the General. In fact, he was once his caretaker, his guardian, his protector. A silent protector, a mountain of muscle tucked into a metal can, painted dark and red matching the empire''s colors. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 620 - 620 - A Little Peace And Quiet "and if we ce an extra group of the long bow unit here, to this hill a bit to the south of the gate, I believe they wouldn''t just be in a much better position they would also be protected by this treeline from the return fire, as well as skirmishesing their way because of the light cavalry spread around them in a sort of protective ring." Lieutenant Sievul continued exining each of the changes she offered. Finishing with what she wanted, she ced the quill down and took a step back from the table. Her previous shyness instantly returned, she lost her previous passionate tone and brave bodynguage. Her shoulders slouched, once again she looked like a timid little mouse in front of the General. "I see" General Dorian hummed, rubbing his smooth, clean-shaven chin, focused on the revised strategy. Nodding and humming, his brows creased, Sievul wasn''t sure what to do or say, she was afraid that she made a grave mistake. When she was offered the chance, though at first, she was careful about the changes, as she kept on going, she soon lost herself in a never-before felt session of passion. Only when she was finished did she wake up from her self-induced trance-like state, shocked by her brazen actions herself. She dared not to say a word, afraid that even the slightest of squeals would anger the General. She felt that with her defiance, she strutted into the General''s Manly Pride, offending him gravely. She wanted to hide, or at the very least somehow survive this disaster. Her mind was a chaotic mess, the only thought she could think was to promise the heavenly firmament that if she were to survive she would never act like this ever again! Yet, what happened almost short-circuited her brain in the next second, stunting her into a broken state, unable to process the following events. Contrary to her expectations, defying all the worry and conjectures she had made inside her trepidation heart and mind, the General didn''tsh out, he didn''t look angry, mad. No, instead, a smile slowly began to curve his lips, contorting and folding the age-brought wrinkles on his face higher, more defined. A smile, sheer happiness, contentment began to slowly express itself, the more he looked at the new, revised n. "That''s it! That is indeed how we should go with this!" He exploded into a boisterous guffaw after a minute or so. "Lieutenant No, Miss Sievul why did you hide such an incredible talent?! Why haven''t youe forth if you have such an incredibly sharp mind Why are you forcing yourself to be humiliated?!" The General eximed, looking like a child who have just been presented his favorite candy. Smiling ear to ear, he opened his arms wide to pull and wee the woman in a bear-like hug. He had just found a precious treasure, a diamond in the making. No way in hell he would let her slip out from his fingers now. He would make her his right-hand woman, the second-inmand, and military advisor. Who cares what the rest of the arrogant bastards, his captains would say. This was not something that should be left rotting under the sun. "Your whole life is going to change from now on!" He hollered with unmasked excitement. Suddenly, his quest for conquering the city and its surroundingnds, ultimately making their way to the south and overtaking the harbor town as well looked just a tad bit more feasible. Instead of a hopeless assignment, now there was a shred of light, a sliver of hope "Huaaaah. Huh?" Aiden yawned, waking from the sleep he had not expected to overtake himst night. As he wanted to sit up from the ground he lost his battle against drowsinesstest night, he suddenly felt a light weight pushing against his chest. Being in his default, human form, he saw the little baggage of cuteness, Tolliah hanging on him, sleeping, drowning him with a constant flow of saliva as she happily snoozed. Though he was confused for multiple reasons, as he noticed the happily slumbering little skink girl, heid back down and instead gently hugged her instead. A gentle smile stretched across his face, as he goofily looked at the little angel in his embrace. He was lost in this angelic, idyllic scene the confusion of before, the questions have slowly left his mind. Though he didn''t know how the little one made her way into his chamber, him being unaware of it at that, nor how and when did he fell asleep He didn''t bother about it anymore. The only thing that mattered is the peace and serenity, the happiness he could carve out for this angel. He was happy that when he told Galina about her, she and his sister Lily weed the newest addition to their family with -albeit for now metaphorical- ''open'' arms. They expressed their desire to meet her as soon as possible, to meet, hug and smother the little cheerful angel with their love and kisses. To be truthful, Aiden was slightly worried that Lily, wouldn''t be as weing, although he was d that his fears were unwarranted. He also wanted so much to reach out to those that were still stuck in Haven, to talk to his Master, and to introduce the newest family member to her as well. Number 3 being like the only parental figure Aiden had when growing up, he very much wanted her to meet the little one. Unfortunately, despite the advice given by Enya, Aiden still couldn''t reach out to them. Though he now understood that their connection wasn''t lost, it wasn''t cut but instead, he needed to focus on rebuilding it once again. Somewhat like what they did with Galina, he just had to concentrate on it, and whilst using the System''s assistance, rebuild these mental links. Feeling a slight movement, Aiden came back from his thoughts in the next second and looked down to meet the bright pair of glimmering eyes of Tolliah. "[Reptilian] Nyaaah Good Morning Papa!" She yawned in her cute light tone of voice, not wanting to lift nor her head, or her hands. She wanted to enjoy the warmth she felt, the rhythmic beating of his heart just a bit longer. Smiling back at her, showing nothing but genuine affection and familial love, Aiden returned the morning greeting. "[Reptilian] Good Morning, dear. Care to tell me, how did you get herest night?" He asked. However, instead of answering, Tolliah buried her head in her embrace yet again, only letting muffled groans, and eventually, soft giggles escape. She tightened her hold not wanting to leave this moment of peace and quiet --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 621 - 621 - Protect And Help Eventually, through some extra effort and a few precious minutes, Aiden managed to pry himself away from Tolliah''s embrace. Some extra minutes and a bucket of water used for cleaningter, the father and daughter pair were outside the cave, standing at the slithering tunnel. "[Reptilian] So, Tolliah, care to tell me now?" Aiden asked, ruffling the top of the little one''s head. Though as a skink, she had no fur, nor hair on her body, the habit was just too natural. Also, it wasn''t like Tolliah didn''t enjoy the caress and attention. "[Reptilian] Hehehe" She giggled enjoying the smooth hands of Aiden''s human form rubbing on her. "I I just wanted to be with papa *sniff* It was scary to be alone, that meanie was bullying me" She exined, her giggles instantly fading out, and her expression turning sour as she was forced to remember the unpleasant experience. "Meanie? Bullying?! What are you talking about? Did someone visit you?" Aiden asked, his voice rising in volume with each passing word. He was shocked to realize that the first time he lost himself to sleep, and wasn''t aware of his surroundings something like that could have happened. However, after that, he remembered the ball of holy light, his system guide, Enya. Shouldn''t she be keeping watch even if he was not? ''Enya, can you exin why haven''t you alerted me as soon as she was in danger?'' He asked mentally, his tone instantly shifting to a graver, colder one. He was growing both more anxious and angry at the same time the more he thought about the matter. ''[Aiden Nor I, neither the system alerted you because of one simple reason.]'' Enya''s voice came in the next moment, ringing calmly, soothingly through inside the storm of Aiden''s mind. She paused for a moment so that Aiden can process her words. ''[Before you ask we didn''t warn you, simply because there was nothing to report. There was nothing, nobody in her cave beside the girl.]'' She continued. Aiden was surprised to hear that. Looking down at the sniffing little girl, seeing how she was still battling with her tears, he wanted to retort against the im but before he could do so ''Master, there was no one else in the cave with the little miss, however'' Suddenly, Ryg''s childish, light tone of voice rang out, joining in the mental conversation. ''There was a presence I sensed. The same I could feel around you when you arrived here, Master.'' ''WHAT?!'' Aiden eximed with shock hearing Ryg''s words. His body began to shake, tremble as the rage began to loosen its restraints inside him. Along with it, the strange chains shackling the ancient entity at the very depth of her soul also loosened once again, allowing the beast to stir in his millennial slumber. The ground itself began to quake in response as all that archaic energy, surpassing the worldly limits, was released into the surroundings. The walls of the tunnels shook as if they were shivering in fright themselves in front of all this. Dust and smaller pebbles gave in to the swirling invisible storm, slowly lifting off from the ground and floating in the air. Aiden''s eyes, turned into slits due to the primordial rage, were flickering with a mixture of golden and a tinge of something brighter tinum. The glimmering, flickering luster didn''tst long though, as after some effort Aiden managed to gain control of his emotions and reign the storm inside him down. Along with it, the energy he emitted dissipated, causing the small pebbles and floating dust to fall back down on the ground. He heaved a long-winded tiresome sigh, still feeling a bit lost and groggy because of the heavy inner battle he had just survived. "[Reptilian] Papa Are you alright? Are you in pain?" A soft, light and curious childish voice reached his ears, breaking him out from his own thoughts and pulling him back to reality. He slowly opened his eyes, which now weren''t radiating any sort of strange power but were their normal, lightless pair of balls. He sighed once more, clearing his head along with the exhaled air. As the thin, mostly weak, and powerless-looking smile returned to his face, he nodded at the little girl, looking up to him with a wide, worried gaze. Ruffling the top of her head yet again, he answered. "[Reptilian] Yes, sorry about that. You know, I was just worried, scared that because I didn''t pay attention for the first time, you may havee to harm. I I would not survive if.." "[Reptilian] It''s okay papa! I know you would always protect me!" Tolliah smiled. She reached out and grabbed her papa''s closest hand. Taking a step forward in the next moment, she pulled on Aiden whilst giggling once again. "[Reptilian] Come on Papa, we should be going! We can''t waste all day standing! All the other uncles and aunties are waiting for you!" She eximed, acting as if she was the adult in their rtionship and not the other way around. Well, in a way neither of them was a truly full-fledged adult Aiden smiled, as he shook his head and allowed himself to be tugged, pulled along. Though he wanted to learn more about what Tolliah and this so-called ''Ancient One'' were talking about before she bolted the room and sought sce in his embrace, he knew he had to be patient. He can slowly get her to reveal, and if there were anything important he would surely learn it. Madam Dara was in a much better mood this morning. After settling her doubts yesterday, and spending the whole day with this new-old leader, and Tolliah, thest remnants of her doubt have beenpletely lifted from her shoulders. She no longer felt anything against this new, mysterious man. She knew that he truly wanted to help them, to lead them. To guide them to a new ce. He didn''t exin it too much, but he did say that there was another world, a safe new realm. HIS WORLD! How incredible, how unbelievable is that?! Does that mean, that this boy isn''t just simply powerful but some sort of divine being? An entity above the understanding of everything? ''[Reptilian] Could he be even stronger than'' She pondered, sitting in front of her mirror, powdering her face. She sighed, shaking her head. ''[Reptilian] I It doesn''t matter I guess. For now, he said he still needs time before he could fulfill what he said. He needs us in the meantime, he needs to learn more about this world'' Suddenly her eyes snapped open, as she gazed into the mirror, staring into her own reflection. The smile vanished, only a determined look remained on her face. ''[Reptilian] He needs us, he needs me to help him!'' --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 622 - 622 - Her Right Crossing through the dimly lit, empty tunnel, Aiden and the little adorable girl, Tolliah entered arger, connecting hall. The girl, clinging to his father''s rubbed her nose at Aiden''s side. "[Reptilian] What is it, little one? Don''t be afraid, those bad dreams can''t hurt you. I''m here." Sensing her troubled, shivering state, Aiden reached down and gently caressed the top of her head. In response, Tolliah kept on rubbing her nose against his side. Her hot breath warmed his side, wetting the white linen robe as well, staining it slightly. "[Reptilian] Come on, let''s go, your uncles and aunties should already be waiting for us. There''s a lot we need to discuss, you know." Aiden sighed and reached down to pick her up. As if she was already waiting for the chance Tolliah didn''tin, nor did she resist, but allowed herself to be lifted, and seated at her throne - around Aiden''s neck, riding his nape. Instantly, her sadness seems to have been washed away, a much better-sounding, soft giggle rang behind Aiden''s ears. At the same time, she kicked with her hanging little legs against his chest gently, as if urging a horse to start galloping. "[Reptilian] Ehehehe! Go horsie, go!" She eximed, pointing at the exit at the western side of the hall. Unlike where they came from, which looked like a naturally made tunnel, the exit she was aiming for was clearly made by artificial means. Smooth edges, forming an arching dome. Braziers lit the pathway along the way, with even a simple-looking rug covering the dusty ground. Still, despite the clearly better state, there were no signs of wooden doors at all. Instead like with their caves, stone bs were ced in front of the entrances acting like one. Noticing that her ''steed'' didn''t react to hermand, Tolliah pouted and kicked against Aiden''s chest once more. "[Reptilian] Come on, horsie! Go fast, go!" Shemanded, with her little right index finger pointing at the entrance-sh-exit again. With a warm, gentle smile stered on his face, Aiden didn''t argue, and acquiesced to themand of her mighty ''rider'' and walked towards the pointed direction. Calmly, coolly, the duo made his way through the hall, and a couple more as well. Along the way, they were met with several other orange-brown scaled skinks of all ages and sexes, all greeting them with a hearty smile, cheers, and even some guffaws every now and then. A few of the elders even dared to chip the little girl''s cheeks, making it turn pinkish with all the attention it was receiving and forcing Tolliah to once again use her ''papa as her shield, much to the foray of her would-be ''assaulters''. Eventually, they made their way through the slithering maze of tunnels, caves, and halls in front ofrge, probably thergest of stone bs blocking an equally wide entrance. It was sorge that the connecting tunnel itself turned wider. At the side of the walls, two bronze braziers, carved as little drakes spewing the mes to illuminate their surroundings, were adorning the smoothly polished walls. Even the average light brownish carpet was removed, reced with a much better quality crimson velvet. The stone b that was used all around in ce for doors was seemingly custom made, to eloquently fit its supposed slot, fitting into it like a sword to its sheath. It was such a smooth fit, that it seemed to protect the room perfectly. Though Aiden could clearly see on his system''s map that the 6 familiar blimps were already present inside the room, alongside a few more, specially selected individuals not a single muffled, incohesive grunt escaped through the non-existent hair-thin cracks. Not even a strand of light could be seening through from below, illuminating the carpet''s crimson to a lighter shade. If not for the dragon-shaped braziers at the side, one could easily mistake this to be a simple dead end and would turn around. The craftsmanship was just that perfect, somewhat out-of-ce evenpared to the rest of the hillside base. Stopping in front of the door-like b, Aiden reached up for his little rider, gently picking her up and cing them down at his side. He looked at him, matching the gaze of her eyes, and whilst retaining the warm, kind-looking smile on his face he spoke in his usually calm, serene tone of voice. "[Reptilian] You ready, dear? We do this fast, then we can go have something for breakfast, okay?" The girl, looking less enthusiastic now that she lost her right-to-ride her beloved steed, nodded silently, timidly. As her papa, Aiden straightened his back and reached for the stone blocking their path, she was already hiding behind his legs, clinging to them as if they were trunks of a tree in a forest each. As if she was trying to hide from some predator, afraid to be ambushed, taken by surprise. Covering herself behind the spacious robes clinging to his calf, like a spooked little critter of the forest''s undergrowth. Seeing her state, Aiden could only sigh, and shake his head as he pushed against the b. He aimed for the hidden mechanism that unless you were trained for, or had a godly divine blessing, a supernatural System fused with your soul, you could not find and push it in. The button clicked, signaling that the mechanism activated. The b began to churn, grinding some of the powdery grains of sand and rock along the way as it slowly started to move with a loud quake. Arge noise echoed through the halls, shaking the halls. The brazier, as if frightened themselves, trembled as therge piece of ore slowly slid out of its holster, and as if it was a living entity slowly rolled away by itself, allowing entry once again. Tolliah was visibly shaken, scared at the scene, burying her face and ears deeply into the back of Aiden''s robe. Aiden once more reached down, hugging her gently, and patting her head, as he tried to soothe the shaken critter. "[Reptilian] Come, let''s go." He whispered, even his voice was kept low, not to startle the already agitated girl further. Taking an extra moment so she could calm down, and collect herself, hand-in-hand, the father and daughter walked into the meeting, to discuss the next steps they would need to take to put an end to this war, to this despotic rule once and for all. Though unbeknownst to them, at the very same time, far away from their location, at the heart of Ugburg, in the most luxurious looking temple a simr meeting was taking ce. After losing one of his most convenient tools of war, a certain white-robed majestic-looking elderly skink called for the rest of his generals, his warlords to simrly discuss the next steps they will take --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 623 - 623 - A Terrifying Entity As the seats around the long table were all taken and filled up in the dark, dimly lit chamber hall, everyone turned quiet, looking at the elderly skink standing at the helm. He was wearing a long white satin robe, with golden threaded embroidery adorning the edges. At the center of the chest, thevish threads gathered, drawing out the vague silhouette of what seemed like a dragon''s head as it was roaring at the sky itself. The skink, unlike the norm of its kind, had deep red toned wrinkled skin. The scales were smooth, fitting in like pieces of a puzzle. For the average onlooker, it could really seem as if they were truly simr to that of the bareskins and acted as unified cells of an organism. His eyes were glimmering with a stained, darker yellowish light as it gazed at the many high-profile leaders of Ugburg. "[Reptilian] Zuruk! What are we even doing here discussing? The failure of that big hunk of meat failing to do a simple task as squashing some ants?!" A big-bellied male skink couldn''t take the looming, ominous silence and the invisible pressure any longer and spoke up. His tone carried no hints of respect or reverence, unlike how it was painted towards the general popce. He sounded arrogant, disdainful even, though it was impossible to tell if his tone was aimed at the High Priest, or perhaps the missing Saurus lizard instead. Ever since the mission that the High Priest dispatched, saying it was the ''will'' of the Ancient One and was assigned to Zokor for carrying it out, they had heard nothing back from the monstrous general. Apart from learning about the crushing defeat of the Temple Guard''s army from local hearsay, they got no official reports back. Officially, the Saurus General was still counted as ''MIA'', meaning it could still be alive but missing currently. Though, knowing what kind of a monster that lizard was, they were all but certain, he was no longer amongst the living. Still, they kept silent and retained the status quo. For now. Listening to the impolite, haughty tone of one of the obese, fat, and disgusting looking man, Zuruk expression remained unflinching. His glimmering, ominous-looking glowering gaze slowly traveled over the room, eventuallynding on the frowning head of one of the major, leading powers of the city. His eyes were sharp, his gaze was like the sharp, deadly tips of spears. The room''s already heavy air, suddenly felt denser for the obese man. For a brief instant, it was as if the faint light flickered in the High Priest''s gaze. Though it may have very well been just an illusion, a product of their troubled minds. The obese figure''s eyes turned wide with shock and surprise, in the very next moment. He suddenly felt as the air was no longer breathable. He began to choke, gasp for air, he grabbed his neck. The arrogance almost immediately vanished from his face, he looked at the old skink, the High Priest with begging eyes. Seconds passed, his strength was slowly being used up. Soon, he felt his legs, his knees no longer capable of withstanding his weight, they wobbled, and buckled a momentter. He fell back down on his chair, still clutching his throat, desperate, begging, and pleading with his eyes to the heartless, emotionless looking man. Finally, just as the color was starting to pale from the man''s face and despair have begun to finally set in, the old priest''s emotionless face finally moved. The right side of his lips began to curve, transforming into a crooked, evil smirk. The same illusionary flicker shed across his gaze once again, though unless one focused on it, it would have been missed yet again. High Priest Zokor blinked once, turning his attention away from the man and focusing on the rest instead. Still, in the next moment, as if confirming it was really his actions that almost snuffed the life out of the disobedient skink, the invisible pressure suddenly eased up, allowing the obese patriarch to breathe the stale but vital air once more. With the pressure lifted, he coughed violently, greedily inhaling the air he suddenly found much more precious than even just a few minutes ago. He slumped down on his chair a momentter, heavy beads of sweat perspiring on the man flops of fat on his skin, as well as his face as he now looked terrified, fearful to be in the presence of this terrifying entity. High Priest Zokor, didn''t even speak a single word from start to finish of this scene. His face showed no emotion, no twitch could be seen with the exception of the still present crooked smirk that showed itself only at the very end. He did not respond to the queries of the man, seemingly it went ignored. His eyes traversed the matching looks of the others present, not bothered by the varying emotions visible in them. Most looked troubled, some edging towards sadness and sorrow, some towards growing anger Though there were a few excited-looking gazes, mostly from the few females present in the room, they were the minority. One shocking revtion that could be observed was that unlike how the general popce was told, there was not a single truly honest, and reverent gaze cast on the old man. Fear and terror dominated them all, they were by no means as unified as they were portraying publicly. After what felt like an eternity, but at most could have been a minute the High Priest slowly opened his mouth and began to speak in his raspy, rough-sounding voice. "[Reptilian] I wee you all. I appreciate you all responding to the call, and havee to receive the words and will of your God." He coldly spoke, making his friendly-sounding greeting just that much more out of ce. Awkward even. Giving a slight pause, he continued as his eyes slowly darted from the far right to the far left. "[Reptilian] After the recent events, I have spent all my timemuning with the Ancient One, and asking for his guidance. I begged for his overwhelming brilliance to shine again, and bathe us, feeble folk in his holy light." He carefully scrutinized each and every expression as he gave his speech, taking a note for each flinch of their facial muscles, each flicker in their eyes silently. Breathing in arge gasp of air, he slowly exhaled it before exploding into a loud roar-like exmation. "[Reptilian] I can proudly tell you all, that HE HATH RESPONDED!" He panted as if he had run several miles suddenly. A growing, almost crazed-looking smile slowly began to emerge from the corners of his mouth. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 624 - 624 - Reveal At the same time, back in the rebels'' camp, another meeting was taking ce. Like with the Ugburg''s officials these skinks were also rather high profile and well-known. They were the leaders of the resistance, the acting captains of the various groups as well as the respected elders of the families. At the helm, an elderly-looking skink sat wearing a clean white, simple robe. Though it vaguely matched that of the high priest''s, this one had novish embroidery but was pure and simplistic. Also, unlike the rigid and cold air the High Priest, Zokor has exuded having the aura of someone that couldn''t and more importantly shouldn''t be approached at any cases, this elderly skink, the ex-archbishop had the air of a true leader to him. Unlike the High Priest, however, the man had a vastly different air around him. With the cheeky little girl sitting at hisp, gigging and being the little innocent angel she truly was, the figure portrayed the image of a doting father, a much more approachable and eptable, down to the ground vibe that the masses could stand behind with their hearts fully. The room did not have the ominous, eerie air that was present in its counterpart. No, it was like a gathering of the family heads, smiles andughter filled the room, as they all waited for their leader to begin. No matter if they were elders, or from the second generation, there was no ill-will or any negativity amongst them. The harsh living conditions, their struggle for survival, and their continued battle against true freedom had formed a bond, that transcended what those haughty, arrogant, and prideful officials in Ugburg could understand. They were truly a single cohesive unit, one big family instead of many smaller clicks grinding gears against each other. No, on the contrary! These gears were working together, helping this big machine, this family to constantly march forward towards their ultimate goal. Even though it was just a wishful dream before, the recent change their leader has gone through and theirtest victory has boosted their morale and once again nted the seeds of hope into their hearts. Now they just needed to tend to it, cultivate it so it could sprout into a beautiful flower! Aiden, long since transformed back into her skink appearance kept silent watching the people, his people as they interacted with each other. His heart warmed as he saw how caring and kind they were to each other, the taints of darkness, the corruption seemed to have never taken hold of their hearts and minds at all. ''Once this is all over I will take them with me.'' He once again made up his mind to bring them over to Haven once this whole situation was finally put to an end. Taking one extra moment, he sighed and coughed lightly to grab the attention of everyone in the room. "KHM!" In the next moment, the room descended into silence, the two rows of skinks situated at both sides of the long wooden table were looking at the helm intently. Even little Tolliah sitting in his father''sp was looking up with eager eyes, staying silent like a good little girl. "[Reptilian] Let me start this meeting by weing you as well as thanking you all from the bottom of my ouch! OUR heart." He began, grabbing for his side when Tolliah punched at it with a pout and fixed his phrasing. He took a momentary pause letting the crowd offer their own words before resuming a bitter. "[Reptilian] Before anything, I wille clean to you all. Like how Little Tolliah and some of you already know, the truth about me and the sudden change you have seen is" Aiden sighed once more to reaffirm his resolution before he looked at Tolliah. Seeing the little girl nodding with a heartwarming smile and taking the initiative to hop down from hisp, Aiden couldn''t help himself but smile brightly. Taking onest second, he stood up and looked at the crowd in the room. Raising his arms high up and wide, he looked as if he wanted to hug everyone in the room. His eyes suddenly lit up, glowing with a golden luster. His voice gradually shifted transforming into a darker tone, filling the room as if a storm was in the midst of brewing. The air turned denser as an invisible aura of energy descended upon the unsuspecting rebel skink leaders. "[Reptilian] The truth is that the archbishop is no longer al-" "[Reptilian] ALONE! My Papa is no longer alone! He has be stronger now, and has many new fun faces!" Suddenly, little Tolliah eximed, freezing the words in Aiden. Still, seeing the determination in her eyes, Aiden couldn''t bring himself to correct her, so instead, he just nodded. In the next moment, under the shocked and awestruck gazes of the people in the room, his silhouette began to wobble, and resonate in an unknown frequency. Like if a bowl of jello was struck, ripples were traversing all around, slowly morphing and shifting his frame. In front of the eyes of everyone, the elderly [Draconic Skink] ex-archbishop began to change, and transform. His scales and skin turned smoother by each passing second, his body growing like if it was on some miracle-drug-induced grow spurt. Eventually reaching the size of almost twice those small mostly meter-tall skinks in the room, a young and vibrant looking young human man with a long smooth matte ck hair and slightly tanned skin stood before them. The previously spacious and baggy robe was now stretched to its limits and whilst it still fit the new frame, there wasn''t much left for the imagination either. The crowd looks at him with varying gazes, though mostly with utter shock and disbelief. It was hard to process what they had just witnessed. Was it even real, or did they just hallucinate? Most of the elders were showing signs of confusion, most likely thinking, pondering if they had gone senile suddenly. Apart from Tolliah, who was grinning, smiling proudly as he looked at his papa with starry eyes, and the six captains who have already learned of this secret and have got used to it, the room was stunned into a heavy silence. Seconds passed as Aiden remained in his stance, looking back at the crowd with a calm, warm-looking smile, not taking any action. He did not try to exin what they were seeing, nor did he try making up any excuse either. He wanted them to process it by themselves simrly to how the captains have done it before. Though he knew that this move was just as risky, he had already promised little Tolliah to not have any secrets anymore. Eventually, the silence was broken when someone managed to gather enough of himself and exim: "B-bareskin!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 625 - 625 - Silhouettes In The Distance Under the scorching heat of the daylight sun, walking under the bright orange-tinted sky, Captain Don''s group of Silver Howl mercenaries joined together with the young adventurers, Aiden''s family and friends were marching at a steady pace towards the northern direction. For almost a week now, they have been traveling these abandonednds, slowly, gradually mapping out everywhere they went. After a full 16 hours of tireless march, they have finally made their way out of the desert they have originallynded in. The golden grains of seemingly endless dunes of sand were gradually reced by a surprisingly vibrant green grasnd. Wild and unattended, full with weeds of all kinds, it was still a refreshing, reinvigorating sight to see after days of nothing but heat and death. Even the air felt much better, unlike the dryness of the desert, it felt strangely normal, mysteriously full of vitality The strangely high quality made the team question the truth about the realm being inhabitable to civilized life and being destroyed beyond repair. There''s breathable fresh air, and even flora. It is true that the only habitants so far they have met were horrid abominations, unnatural creations of some dark sorcery, and the taboo arcane arts in the end, they were still living. They still survived here, making the prior im to be false. As the team made their way through the grasnds, which, by the way, they have named ''Northern Grasnds'' for theck of a better term, they did meet more of those bug-sh-beast monsters along the way. Yet however, once they seemingly crossed deep enough their attacks suddenly ceased on the third day. This, albeit felt a refreshing change, as it has finally eased up on the constant pressure and unease the team was being put under, it did raise several new questions. Why didn''t they continue their skirmishes? Why didn''t they attack? Why the sudden stop? After some brainstorming, they havee up with three possible conclusions, each having its own merits and potential consequences. For one, -and based on their experience in this realm so far, the far less likely of them all, it could have meant that simply, they have ventured too far from their nest or vige underground. They have finally got away from their hunting ground. Though it was the least likely, and the most boring answer of them all, the team obviously wished for this the most. It would have meant that the potential consequences would be minimal, they could finally shift their attention to the main task, the reason for their arrival to this realm, and finally, start earning those gravely required points for potential cement in the end. The second conclusion was somewhat simr to the one before, only that the monsters have only ceased their attacks because they have ventured out of their territory and most likely entered into other tribes or races. If this were to be the case, then there was a frightening thought, that whatever creatures dominated these grasnds, were at least just as powerful, if not stronger than those vicious abominations. Fearsome enough to cause even those seemingly vicious, bloodthirsty spawns of hell to turn back and give up on the prospective, juicy bareskin prey. Andstly, they could have entered some forbiddennd. Some realm that either by its nature or for some reason, event of the past made thisnd be feared by even those creatures. This was, by no doubt the worst possibility of all, as it carried that unknown threat, a looming sickle of the death floating above the air. They had no idea, no clue, no hope currently to investigate the true cause, as even after a week, the most they had seen of this humongous, endless greenery were piles of rubles, and debris of some old buildings sparsely spread out in thend. The remaining moss-covered bricks of what was once a wall, patches of dead, lifelessnd met them every now and then along their journey. When the team together made up their minds to instead of going directly towards their missing Young Master, Aiden''s direction and instead tackle the north, they didn''t know what those strange silhouettes could mean. After a week, they were still not clear but had a rough idea as they ventured deeper and deeper to this realm of moderate life. These worn-down, dpidated, or even long-since crumbled down wreckage were some series of buildings, perhaps a settlement in an era before the cataclysmic event. Creatures, -judging by the size of the remains, most likely humans or human-sized and shaped beings- lived their lives. Though it was way too early to say, based on the structuredyout of what remained, the street-like pavings that survived the decades, the walls, the scorched dead patches it gave the feeling of a settlement. A vige, an outpost, a military camp? Maybe, but the size andrge ground the buildings covered with their sporadic appearances, made them question if it was truly just a small-sizedmunity like that. No, it had the feel of something bigger. A city? Or a full-fledged town? Maybe. They couldn''t be sure, they were just guessing based on what they had found so far. It was now the fourth day since thest attack, thest ambush from those disgusting vile beasts. The team was slowly starting to ease up. The constant pressure vanishing, the gloomy mood was gradually being lifted. Keeping up the pace, the adults and the young warriors were acting much more cheerful than before. Waves ofughter were going all around as they paced northward in a semi-organized form of four-man columns. At the front, walking side by side, Captain Don, Crone were leading the men and women together with the purple-haired mind-bender girl, Sara, and Crysta, the troublemaker. After their little adventure, and the several excursions together, the twodies have indeed begun to inevitably grow closer together. Close to the point of beginning acting as friends. Even though Sara still tried to retain some of her cool and distance, the iceberg slowly, gradually started to melt under the constant barrage of the cheery girlie. "Say, say Sara Do you also think this ce was a city in the past? Are creatures simr to those things living their boring lives here? Or perhaps do you have some other idea?" Giggling, Crysta leaned closer to the emotionless-looking purple beauty. "Crysta, stop pestering Miss Sara!" Captain Don hollered at the girl, reaching out with hisrge hands in the next moment and pulling her back slightly. "Aaaah B-boss! I am just curious! I just Aauu! Stop pulling my hair you big orc!" She cried as she was pried away. "Y-you cheeky, little! Who are you calling an orc!" Their scuffle went beside Sara''s ears. She was focused, looking towards the horizon with a stern gaze, where a growing dark silhouette slowly emerged one after another. What seemed like nothing but more of these remains at a first nce, were turning out to be something much, much more --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 626 - 626 - Silhouettes On the horizon, somewhere in the distance, Sara spotted humankind-looking silhouettes. Though they were far and besides the dark outline not much could be seen, Sara was certain that they weren''t simply statues or ornaments that survived the test of time but instead real living beings. She could feel their gazes, their heavy, negative emotions as they gazed at them. As a sort of instinctual response, her Heritage Trait activated. Her iris began to radiate with a deep purple glow, a faint humming, brimming noise broke the heated discussion from beside her. As she halted her steps, so did the rest of the party. They turned to look at her, only to go wide-eyed with surprise in the next instant. For most of the Silver Howls, they have yet to see the usually calm and collected purple-haired beaut in such an agitated state. The faint humming, the glowing pair of eyes as they pierced the distant horizon, where, by now strangely nothing could be seen, was beyond mysterious. An eerie air surrounded their young teammate and second leader. As for the young adventurers in their ranks, they turned serious, stern the moment they noticed the peculiar behavior of their friend. They weren''t surprised, they knew that something unexpected must have happened that triggered such a reaction from Sara. "W-what is going on? Why is she doing that?" One of the female mercenaries, with medium-length light brown hair pulled into a short ponytail at the back of her head that walked beside the red-haired Scarlet leaned closer to her and asked in a hushed, whispering tone of voice. "Not sure, but it can''t be good. We have to get ready for anything." Scarlet responded, already tightly clenching the twin daggers in both of her hands. She was already in her battle-ready stance, with both hands raised in front of her chest, holding the weapons in a way that both des were pointing outwards. Her pace of walking slowed down considerably, she had shifted her body weight towards the center of her frame, ready to lounge at the first sight of danger at a moments'' notice. Her brother walking to her right, kept her right hand on the cloth wrapping covering Mort, his artifact sword. His fingers wrapped the gemstone adorned base beneath the bandages, ready to unsheath and strike just like his sister. Whilst it wasn''t visible to the Silver Howls, nor to the rest of his friends, Mort was already flickering with the silvery shine, conveying its intention, its thirst, and readiness for a potential sh. Whilst the sisters, Lily and Galina remained mostly cheery and calm, below the surface they both were ready and alerted as well. Lily was already humming a familiar tone, the chant for Mother Nature for her blessing and guidance, whilst Galina kept a clear head ready to support her friends and family if the need arose. Lastly, at the back, Naybeah seemed just like usual, pulling arge woolen sack that held the humongous bug monster''s head. A growing, eerie smile kept on growing on her face, the prospects of yet another glorious battle were already boiling her blood with excitement. "Miss Sara" Eventually, Captain Don, couldn''t stay silent, not knowing what was going on. Turning towards the girl, he looked at her glowing purple eyes and asked with a serious outlook on his aged, wrinkled and bearded face. "Can you exin to us, what is happening?" He asked with a serious tone. Then following her gaze, he too looked at the distance ahead of them. "Did you perhaps spot something in the distance?" Crysta standing in between the two kept silent, a reaction very much unlike, uncanny to her usual behavior. She too was focused on the same, now-empty spot in the distance. Her eyes were squinting, her fists were clenched tightly, her body was slightly shaking. "We are being watched, Boss." Crysta suddenly spoke up catching not just the Captain, but every other Silver Howl by surprise. Taking only a moment of silence, she continued. Her eyes not moving from the horizon, her gaze not easing from the stern, solemn disy she said. "Humanoid figures of unknown affiliation were watching us. Not sure if they are the otherpetitors or some other inhabitants of this ne but they were watching, monitoring our movements." "They have been following us for a while now." Sara finally decided to enter the discussion, revealing a detail that made the old Captain turn stiff for a moment. He turned to look at Sara before following her gaze towards the horizon asking with a slightly raised, emotional tone. "What?! Since when? Why haven''t you informed us me?!" He eximed, darting his gaze around from the front to the left then swiftly to the right, trying to find clues to support both girls'' shocking statements. How could he have missed it, not feel it, not sense it? With all the decades of experience under his belt, he believed that he had honed his awareness as well as his [Battle Sense] to a degree of level that he would never be caught unaware of. Yet, if their ims are true then he had failed. It would mean that he was unworthy of being the leader, the one that the rest of his men, women as well as these kids could safely rely on. Noticing nothing out of the ordinary even as he darted his gaze and scrutinized every rubble, every wreckage he could see, a bitter smile slowly emerged on the old man''s face. He sighed after what felt like several minutes of tense silence and shook his head whilst heaving an exasperated, tired sigh. "I see." He muttered, slumping his shoulders as the air slowly left his lungs, not raising them even as he inhaled in the next second. "I understand" Was the only word he finally managed to blurt out before turning silent. Sara noticed the emerging mncholy on the old man, but before she could speak some words offort, she felt the unknown, mysterious presences appear yet again. Whilst there were no silhouettes in the distance this time, she could clearly feel at least a dozen if not more creatures slowly sneaking up on them from all directions. "Captain" She muttered, but by the time she voiced her concerns, the old man himself was alert as well. The sadness has instantly vanished from his eyes, reced by the same somber expression as the rest of their team. He slowly reached for the sheathed long sword hanging by his waist, whilst raising his left fist in the air. Opening his palm, he gave the non-verbal signal to stand at the ready, alerting everyone that something is happening. "We are surrounded," Sara spoke up, just as a shadowy silhouette appeared on the horizon, visible to all. --- Hello Readers! Hope you had a happy holiday season! From now on, we would settle in for a 1 Chapter / Day schedule with the following bonus features avable to you all: Powerstone Goals 100 Power Stones -> 1 Chapter, 200 Power Stones -> 2 Chapters, 300 Power Stones -> 3 Chapters, Golden Ticket Goals: 50 Golden Tickets -> 1 Chapter, 100 Golden Tickets -> 2 Chapters, 150 Golden Tickets -> 3 Chapters. Once we reach the target, I will immediately work on delivering the promised bonus as soon as possible. Also, this is by all means not mandatory, but instead an incentive in case you wish to show your support! After thesest two days of rest, I''m feeling ready and refreshed! Push me to my limits! Chapter 627 - 627 - The Stranger "We are surrounded," Sara spoke up, just as a shadowy silhouette appeared on the horizon, visible to all. *p!* *p!* *p!* Following her words, the sound of distant pping could be heard. Turning towards the source both Sara and old man Captain Don frowned seeing it wasing from the seemingly lonesome silhouette on the horizon. A faint chuckle followed in between the pping sounds, pleasant to the ear, clear and light. The figure seemed blithe and even amused as if it could clearly hear the purple-haired girl''s whispers and found a great deal of joy in it. Seconds passed as the figure slowly, calmly approached the two, pping and chuckling along the way. Eventually, just as his figure was slowly taking definite shape and the obscurity of the darkness had begun to waft away, his figure was slowly, gradually revealed to the team. A lean and tall man that was most likely in histe twenties or perhaps early thirties greeted them. He had a clean-shaven head, with short dark brown hair and matching, slightly nted, deep-set cognac-colored eyes. A wide, brilliant, and broad smile stretched across his otherwise handsome face. As he approached his eyes that were squinted into happy, upward-turning crescents due to his joyous mood were focused on the deep-purple-haired woman. Approaching a dozen or so feet of distance, the man stopped in his tracks, and whilst raising his arms to the side in a friendly, greeting manner, as if he was intending to hug a long friend of his, he spoke. Like before, his pleasant-sounding clear voice was like a little song of its own as he spoke. "My, my this young miss here is very sharp, I must say!" He greeted, his tone carrying no harmful intent, at least not visible to the group at first. Still, no onexed their alertness and was instead darting their eyes all around them. By now, everyone could sense that they were indeed surrounded, trapped in an enclosure by this unknown figure''s force. While the Silver Howls were rather tense as they darted all the dpidated structures, and shadowy corners around them, the adventurers were looking much better. They weren''t rxed but weren''t too worried either. Naybeah standing at the back with her two new twin best friends were grinning from ear to ear. Herrge sack holding the humungous monster''s head was cast aside, for the time being, she was gripping the long handle of her war ax instead. "Who are you, people?" Sara asked with a scowling look on her face, looking to the side of the man, suggesting that she knew of those hiding around them. The purple glow flickered across her eyes for a brief moment as she spoke. In the next moment, another figure appeared, standing to the right of the previously lone young man. He looked rather dull, as he stood motionlessly, the daggers clinking loudly as they fell down to the ground as they escaped from his loosening hold. A look of surprise shed across the strange young man''s face as he gazed at his mindless teammate. Yet, instead of being alert, or agitated, he showed a look of appreciation, nodding at the scene. "Hmm Not bad, not bad missy" He hummed before his gaze suddenly snapped on the young woman. An ominous glint could be seen on his handsome expression, as he slowly raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. *SNAP!* The loud noise filled up the area, echoes of its aftermath rippled for several more seconds before it eventually lost all of its power. At the same time, the mindless man have suddenly regained some of his lost colors, his eyes turned clear as the fog of Sara''s mental hold was instantly broken. "Though I appreciate the disy of talent, I like my men just the way they are" The man smiled again, his face once again not showing any hostility or ill intent. Sara however, was suddenly shocked by what had just happened. Her mental control, was peerless, besides her moth- *khm* her Mistress, no one in Higrove had the capabilities to go against it. Much less break it with such ease, with such finesse. Gritting her teeth as if trying to mask her growing anxiety and apprehensiveness, she asked again. "Who are you? What do you want?" The man gasped in surprise, just realizing something important. "Ah right! Where are my manners! How rude of me to forgo the necessary etiquette!" He apologized whilst bowing down deeply, waving his hand in an undoubtedly respectful but at the same time, clearly theatrical manner of disy. Casting his gaze down on the ground, the young man spoke in a courteous manner. "My name is Bartholomeo Diaz." He introduced himself, waiting for a moment before adding to it. "The Third." He paused again, giving a bit more time for his curt introduction to be processed and acknowledged ordingly. As if waiting for a reaction, that was just noting, he heaved a soft sigh before continuing. "My father, Lord Bartholomeo Diaz, the second is one of the" "Yes, yes I know." Before the man could finish, Sara intervened, hushing him in an annoyed tone. "I know who that perverted bastard is. I just wonder if his son has inherited his unsightly traits as well?" Sara asked, firing a teasing remark back at the man. The still bowing figure, Bart''s shoulders shuddered for a brief instant as Sara spoke, showing the first signs of a crack on his disy. Yet, he was able to reign his emotions in a single momentter and reinforce his humble, gentle-looking smile on his face once more. Keeping his stance bowed, but raising his head up from the ground, he looked at the young woman again, as he spoke. "Ah, miss is quite sharp with her words. I just hope that what would being next, you wouldn''t take it against this humble young man." His tone, whilst still retaining its warmth, felt a lot more ominous, foreboding with each passing word. He slowly raised his back, and whilst patting his chest, he snapped his fingers again. The resulting echo that rang throughout the demolished buildings revealed a hooded figure with each passing instant, soon revealing the encirclement they were trapped in. "What is the meaning of this, Mr. Diaz?" Sara asked with a stern tone as she looked at the hooded figures surrounding them. She, like the rest of her team, was long since ready for the inevitable fight. Still, she yed to the tune of the man and decided to dance a bit more, hoping to get him to reveal more information. They already knew that this was one of the groups sent in before them and that they were supporting one of the four bastions. Yet, what puzzled Sara was that she couldn''t recall this young man ever stepping inside. Did hee after them perhaps? Why was he here, and what did he want exactly? --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 628 - 628 - Aiden’s Plan As the atmosphere grew tenser by each passing in the ruins of an unknown ancient city for the team, far away from it towards the northeastern sections of the underground world, a group of figures were walking towards the outer, mostly unguarded regions of Ugburg. The group, or more precisely the convoy of what seemed like 30 figures of different shapes and sizes crossed in a steady, albeit slow pace towards the modest-looking stone huts. The light grey, patched and badly worn rags each and every person attending to the several carts they were pulling have perfectly covered their frames. They all seemed to be beggars, refugees that perhaps lost their homes. Maybe a war that broke out between two tribes. A fight that like always, made only the averagemoners suffer through greed or whatever sins that drove the respective leaders against each other''s throats. Losing their homes, or perhaps fearing for their safety and survival have seemed to have forced these poor wretched souls to tread these roads and try their luck in the nearby settlement, Ugburg. Yes, without closer and more thorough scrutiny this is exactly what everyone would most likely to think about these harmless-looking ragged travelers. Yet, this is exactly what they wanted everyone to think, to see. This illusion, this subterfuge was merely a smokescreen, hiding the truth just under the prying eyes. Though a closer inspection would easily reveal the truth, those few distant sights were the ones the group intended to deceive, to make them seem harmless and not worth the attention at all. "[Reptilian] Papa, this is really fun! I am so happy you allowed me toe to this mission!" A cheery, youthful voice could be heard mixing together with the loud, high-pitched creaks of the wooden wheels of the wagon they were pulling along. A pair of bright golden eyes sparkled in the dimly lit road as it gazed at a hunched-back elderly-looking robed figure. The man in response to the young one''s words reached out from under the robe. A hand, slim and slightly wrinkled appeared from under the long sleeves and gently caressed the top of the smaller figure''s hood. "[Reptilian] I know you are excited dear, but try to stay focused, and be silent. Don''t let others notice you, okay?" The man asked with a rough, deep voice. Though he tried to silently mutter, the power of his voice couldn''t be easily masked and was heard by everyone attending to the convoy. Hearing their master''s words, a figure with a rather alluring, mature, and feminine shape stepped over. A slender hand clearly belonging to a woman appeared from under the sleeves and like the man before, caressed the little one''s head, who was silently enjoying the treatment from both adults. Whilst keeping her gaze on the road ahead, the woman leaned closer and whispered. "[Reptilian] My Lord, are you certain, that bringing Tolliah wouldn''t make the mission just more ehrm, difficult?" Asked the woman in her usual alluring tone. The hooded maturedy, Madam Dara looked worried under the cover of her hood as she gently caressed the little child''s head. She, just like the other captains that were all present, still felt conflicted about the mission their leader had suddenlye up with at the meeting several hours before. Although he exined calmly that whilst there is a higher risk because of it, bringing Tolliah was absolutely necessary. Not just because she missed her mother Daliah so much, but also that supposedly she was one of the keys to solving the mystery behind the High Priest''s and the Ancient One''s mysterious interest in acquiring her. They all knew that their story and reasoning of ''She is the fated one to be the next mate for their God'' was just that, a fake story, a lie they havee up with to cover the truth. Even an idiot would have realized that if that were the case, they could have just found another young female virgin with a high-enough social standing and used her. They could have prepared multiple vessels to carry the Ancient One''s seed and give birth to the next heir, the next High Priest. If that would be the reason, Tolliah would have lost her value after their first escape. Investing so much effort, time, and obviously money as well to recapture her wouldn''t have made sense otherwise. Also, there was the mystery behind Daliah''s capture. First, it was rather believable that they wanted to use the mother as a means to put pressure on both the father and the child so they would bend to their will. Yet, after their escape or the recent grave battle, it didn''t make sense to still keep her alive. However gruesome and morbid the thought was, the wrinkled elder, the leader Aiden didn''t see any logic behind still keeping her alive. Yet, there was no news about her at all. She was one of the biggest mysteries to date. She was a safely guarded secret of the High Priest''s forces, no information about her since her capture have been found. Even as he absorbed the Saurus Monster, General Zokor, Aiden couldn''t find any relevant update frombing through his memories. Even him, the most respected, and feared warmonger in the Temple Guard forces, and one of the most trusted aides to the High Priest, second only to him have known almost nothing about Tolliah''s mother current status other than she was still supposedly alive and was kept inside the High Priest''s personal chambers at all times. Whatever purpose she served in there, was anyone''s guess Though it did make Aiden clench his fists hard anytime he thought about it. Even though they weren''t truly rted at all, since he wasn''t the Archbishop at all, but ever since taking on his mantle and was epted by the little girl at his side as her ''Papa'', Aiden felt that he was responsible for both of them. He had to save her, not only because the system itself have given him a side mission for that right at the meeting when he was epted by the rest of the leaders of the rebels, but also because he couldn''t bear to see the sadness in little Tolliah''s eyes. Even though she was most of the time cheerful and looking happy just by being with her papa, Aiden''s honed senses could spot the hints of sorrow and sadness every now and then Clenching his fists, Aiden didn''t respond at first to Madam Dara''s question, his gaze was fixated on the distance. He was gazing at the expanding cityscape ahead of them when suddenly he felt the light tugs on his sleeves. As he looked down, he noticed the worried look of the little girl. She asked with a trembling voice. "[Reptilian] Papa Will we see mommy again? --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 629 - 629 - Reaching The City "[Reptilian] We will, honey we will. I promise you that." Said Aiden, gently caressing, patting the top of the little one, Tolliah''s head. She, enjoying her papa''s love and care closed her eyes and hummed with delight, turning calm and consequently silent for the rest of the journey. Madam Dara did not say a word more, she merely silently watched the sight, feeling the conflicting emotions, feelings shing inside her. For one, she wanted the two to be happy, to be reunited with their missing family member, their wife, and mother. To see your loved ones happy and not wreaked in constant pain is everyone''s utmost desire after all. Yet at the same time, she felt guilty for also wishing that the Lord''s wife, Daliah would no longer be alive. She felt horrible, yet at the same time, she couldn''t quell this sinful thought, this deeply rooted desire of hers. ''[Reptilian] Maybe just maybe if that would be the case I could finally be with him'' She muttered inwardly, only realizing the gravity of her thoughts after they have been formed and mentally spoken. ''[Reptilian] What am I thinking?! Why would I No, HOW could I wish for something so vile, so evil?! What is wrong with me?!'' She was beyond shocked at herself On the outside, only the spasms of her lips, the gentle twitches could be observed, the more descriptive emotions were thankfully kept under close wraps. Eventually, Madam Dara managed to calm herself down enough to focus her attention on their surroundings. Just in time as well, since the first, few dpidated, worn-down buildings were of but a few hundred steps away from them. Raising his right arm in the air, Aiden ordered their convoy to take a halt. Following his silent orders, the caravan immediately came to a sudden stop, taking a pause on the dusty path just before crossing into Ugburg, the Ancient Underground City. As his 6 captains all slowly took themselves and approached the front, where the trio of Madam Dara, the little princess, Tolliah, and their lord, Aiden was waiting, Aiden silently gazed at the sight of archaic-looking streets and structures ahead of them. Ugburg, whilst now being lived and used by this special breed of Draconic Skinks, was clearly not of reptilian origins. Though Aiden still couldn''t say he had an overwhelming amount of knowledge piled up inside his mind, he did manage to gather some meager understanding through his several absorptions of the past. Though Zokor was the only true reptilian figure he had added to his collection, the couple dozen humans he had taken into the ''Collection'', have added up. Together with the exnations, he got from Thuk whenever he conversed with the eager little lizard, he at least understood their design philosophy and their belief-driven approach to their living amodations. Skinks, Sauruses, and every other type of Lizardmen were effectively one bigmunity. They preferred to create and live in these so-called temple cities. Vast settlements, monumental metropolises of pyramids, ziggurats, and temples, that dot the lush junglendscapes of Eora. These cities are not just unique because they are inhabited by the cold-blooded Lizardmen, but that they also function as nexus points for the so-called natural earth energies, the so-called ''Geo Lines''. These were, for theck of a better term, effectively ley lines, the literal pulses, veins of Mother Nature itself, carrying the vital blood of the realm itself in them. They epassed not just their continent, but the entire world. He did not know the true reason for the lizardmen''s obsession with focusing on these natural focal points, but he knew from Thuk''s stories that they had a real purpose beyond just simple religious beliefs. Their main, central temples were constructed at the very center of these geographical points, drawing its energy continuously. In any way, each of the temple-cities was constructed to be different in its own way, although all have been carefully positioned to rte to a specific celestial body or astral phenomena. In this manner, the structures sit atop and serve as pivotal nexus points in the Geo Lines, the source of much of the world''s power and of energy vital to the maintenance of a great ancient spell, arge magical shield that once guarded the realm of Eora from threats of the outside. Sadly, the majority of these once-great pirs, these wonders of Eora are nowid in ruins, devasted and choked, overgrown by the jungle they once lorded over although, from the myths and legends, they may not be utterly deserted Obviously, there are many different reasons why they were reduced to such decrepit states. Some were ravaged through constant struggles, strifes between the differences of the races shunned and exploited through their social hierarchy. Some were gradually worn down or destroyed by the many monsters of the world. Over the ages, other Lizardmen cities of Eora have fallen to disasters, gues, the invasions of warmbloods, shifting tectonics, and other reasons that were unknown to even Thuk. Those that remain are some of the greatest within Eora, and those that defend it will willingly die by the thousands to ensure its continued survival The fact of this all is, that temple cities were vastly different, not just in style but by design as well. Everything was meticulously nned out and crafted, such a section like this ''slums'' would have no ce in a true Temple-City. No, Ugburg even to the untrained eye looked strange, different from what you would expect. Though lived by thousands upon thousands of Skinks, it wasn''t there originally. ''Dwarves? Or was it a human city at some point? But if so, why did they build it below the ground? They wouldn''t normally do something like that'' Pondering about it for a moment, he recalled the underground structures and tunnels that were carved below Higrove as well. Immediately, a frown spread across his visage. ''still a full city for the criminal underworld?! Hmmm'' He pondered, oblivious to the fact that his captains were already gathered around him, waiting for their leader silently toe out of his reverie and address them. Somewhere in the deepest, most guarded sections of Ugburg, at only a building that was clearly not created by the original inhabitants of the Ancient City. Arge ziggurat stood proudly, reaching all the way to the ceiling of the humungous underground hall. Just below its peak where only an altar resided, made for the glory of the Ancient One, was the High Priest''s living abode. Guarded by the most elite of the elite in the Temple Guards, arge crimson double door barred entry to anyone but one wrinkled, robed old Skink only. Standing in front of it, the High Priest had a sinister smile curving the creases of his face. He donned a vile, extremely vicious, monstrous grin as he leered at the closed, and guarded door. Licking his lips as if he was about to wee the most lustrous of meals or perhaps something else he smirked to himself as he dominantly studded forward. Only a single thought, a deeply perverted one filled his mind. ''Let''s see to it if all that beating and torture have finally borne fruit and you will finally ept your new Master b*tch! You will willingly give me an heir our bloodbined is the key to our freedom! I know it!'' --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 630 - 630 - Outer Suburbs Entering the premises of Ugburg was a vastly different experience than that of Higrove or for that matter, any other city on Eora. For one, it wasn''t guarded by high, and towering stone walls, but was like a constantly spreading virus or bacteria, gobbling up more and more of the surroundingnds as its blight, the dpidated-looking worn-down and raggedy huts and buildings dotted the underground hall all around. The outer regions, consisting of four main sectors, namely the Northern, Western, Eastern, and -as one might have already guessed-, the Southern Suburbs. They were denominated as ''Suburbs'', or residential districts, although it was a gross overstatement, exaggeration to refer to them in that highly respectful manner. They were nothing more than the Slums of Higrove. Dirty, muddy mostlywless districts where the town guard only asionally made their presence known. Even then, it was mostly for show, they rarely cared for the residents of these four Outer sections of the city. These poor, wretched souls, the bottom-feeders, riff-raff, and low-lives were nothing more than the first ring of protection for the city itself. They had no value other than being used as living meat shields for those higher-ups in their twisted, corrupted society. Thus, Aiden''s ''refugee'' caravan entered Ugburg''s outer regions without any obstruction, they barely met a soul along their almost 8 hours of journey. With the day now reaching way past lunchtime, the group started to feel their stamina reaching critical levels. They felt exhausted and had a growing pang of hunger. The situation was simr to little Tolliah as well. Due to the nature of their mission, she had to settle for riding on the cart and couldn''t overtake his favorite position, her rightful throne: her Papa''s neck. Still, despite not having to walk all the way, she was growing quite tired by now, and if she weren''t growing fidgety due to the overwhelming hunger, she would probably have long since fallen to sleep. As the caravan just entered the Western Suburban district and passed by some decrepit stone huts, Aiden felt a gentle, weak pull on her sleeves. With a warm smile pushing the aged skin on his current reptilian-looking visage upwards, he reached out and patted the little girl''s hood-covered head and asked in a muttered tone of voice. "[Reptilian] What is it, Tolliah? What is bothering you?" Though he had a hunch of what troubled her, as well as the rest of the team. Just judging by the pained, troubled look on their faces, it didn''t take a genius to deduce the cause. Unlike him and his unique nature, the rest couldn''t go without substance for too long, they needed to somehow recuperate their lost energy. With wide, round eyes that glimmered with a pleading look, little Tolliah pursed her lips and pouted as she looked up at her Papa''s ignorant smile. She felt aggrieved at his reaction. "[Reptilian] Papa I''m hungry" She muttered, her voice barely audible. Her acting was perfect, she perfectly portrayed the hurt and slightly spoiled child. Fortunately, the little frowns at the tip of her cute nose due to the prating stench that was most likely the unholy mixture of dirt, grime, blood, piss, and whatever else the streets have carried over the years have only added more validity to her im. However, contrary to what she would have expected, Aiden only smiled at this reaction of hers. Nodding, he chuckled at her theatrics, saying. "[Reptilian] That is perfect then! We all should be feeling hungry, exhausted weary from the long and arduous journey escaping from our original home." Noticing the growing, emerging pout on his daughter''s face, Aiden gently tapped the tip of her cute little nose, adding a few more words to his previous statement. "[Reptilian] Remember dear, we should be refugees, escapees of a scuffle between two warring tribes. We are seeking shelter here. We should be penniless, hungry, and tired, that just adds more to the authenticity of our ims when the guards inevitably notice us ande with their questioning." "[Reptilian] B-but" Tolliah wanted toin, but before he could, Aiden''s smile turned serious for a moment and added. "[Reptilian] Remember our mission, my dear. If you want to get your Mommy back, you need to be strong and behave. Do your best, if nothing else than for her. Okay?" He said as a small slice of dried red meat appeared in his palm the next instant. He presented it to the little girl along with his previous, caring smile reappearing on his expression once again. Yet, to his surprise, Tolliah didn''t take the offered food, but closed her eyes and shook her head, pushing his hand away. "[Reptilian] N-no, Papa! I have to be strong, just like you said. I don''t want it, I''m a strong, big girl! I will save Mommy from the baddies!" She eximed, acting confident. However, the grumblinging from her tummy betrayed her brave stance in the next instant. Her cheeks turning red from embarrassment, she hurriedly turned her head away, not wanting to even look at the food, even though she was salivating already. Seeing how much she tried to act tough and brave for the cause and that no longerined, Aiden could barely hold back the chuckles. He smiled at her as he replied. "[Reptilian] It''s okay if you understand. Still, not to mention your Mommy when she hears of thister, but also your Aunties and Uncles would beat me to death if I would keep torturing. Eat it up, and if you feel generous, you can even share it with others. You need to be at your bestter tonight when we start executing the n!" Though at first, she wanted to refuse as to prove that she was not a small helpless child anymore but a big girl, in the end, she still epted the offered slice of lunch, albeit reluctantly. Looking at the small slice of dried red meat, she tore it into roughly equal halves and gave one part of it back to her Papa. Her previous, bright smile once again illuminated her face, she said. "[Reptilian] Here, take it, Papa! You need to be strong, we all need you!" Turning over to Madam Dara walking silently at their side she added. "Also, share it with Auntie as well! She also must be hungry!" Startled by her words, Madam Dara turned to the little girl riding the carriage. "[Reptilian] H-huh? What do you mean by that, dearie? Why do I look hungry in your eyes?" Her next words, caused Madam Dara to turn shocked as well as hide her face in embarrassment. "[Reptilian] You keep on looking at Papa, stealing nces every now and then! Also, your heart is beating faster ever since you took her side! You must be anxious, right?" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 631 - 631 - A Group Of Beggars Madam Dara''s cheeks turned bright red following little Tolliah''s usation. She hurriedly turned her gaze away from them, not daring to look at either of them. "[Reptilian] W-w-what are you saying, Tolliah? D-don''t be so cheeky! I-I-I merely" Madam Dara hurriedly tried to argue. However, just as she was about to get into the heat of it, her eyes spotted a strange, hooded figure standing at the corner of a nearby building. His face was shrouded in shadows, yet his presence felt strangely familiar. As if she has met this one before Her words froze in her, as she gazed at the mysterious figure. "[Reptilian] Hmm Who could that be?" She pondered, muttering to herself. While Tolliah ignored her actions as she was busy chewing on the small slice of dried meat, filling up her empty tummy, Aiden, on the other hand, was frowning as he focused his gaze back on the road ahead. Though he looked to be focusing on the remainder of their journey deeper into the Western Suburban district, in search for a suitable inn, or hopefully a tavern. Unbeknownst to the uninitiated onlooker, a semi-transparent image of the System''s screen was floating in before his eyes, showing a top-down visual depiction of his surroundings. Countless dots of varying colors filled the geometrical shapes that filled out the city from the system''s interface. Their caravan was fully bright, neon green, demarking that sworn allegiance to him, whilst most of the local townsfolk, themon skinks were demarked with yellow demarking their mostly neutral, slightly wary stance towards all outsiders. A few were even going towards the orange, which considering the roughness and cruelty of their lives in these dredges, was quite understandable. On the other hand, the few guards sporadically spread around a couple of streets were marked with bright red - the temple guards were their clear opposition, after all, the ''sword'' of the oppressing High Priest''s Church. There was one additional figure that to Aiden''s surprise was marked with yellow as well. At first, Aiden would have ignored it, as there were hundreds if not thousands of simr life signs surrounding them, but as they got closer, he - just like Madam Dara, though it was uncertain where she had met him-, have recognized the figure. It was the captain, he swatted away like a fly right when he first entered the city just as he absorbed the archbishop! At that time, he still couldn''t understand a word the creature tried to holler, just a series of clicks and ngs. Still, from the rage-rising anger that radiated from him at the time and his bodynguage, Aiden knew that the two were far from being on friendly terms. He remembered that at the time he was still battling with his recent surge of power and with the chaotic state of emotions, he flung the Guard Captain''s body away like some broken kite. He ended up crashing into the side of some building, buried under the pile of rubble. Being confused at the time about what was exactly going on, and why the two bodyguards he was with were acting so strangely, he failed to make sure about this man''s fate. Looking at the tooltip appearing next to its yellow dot, Aiden was frowning about the true meaning behind his presence. He was clearly scouting on them, but why wasn''t he hostile? Why did the system show him as neutral? Compared to the other patrolling Temple Guards, he was different. ''He shouldn''t be aware of our identities, right? If that would be the case he would be marked as an enemy, right? Also, he wouldn''t just be standing, but would already be working on trying to catch us'' Aiden pondered inwardly. ''[Not necessarily, Aiden.]'' Enya''s voice resounded in his mind suddenly in response. ''[That skink may not be an enemy at all. For now, however I suggest do not act at all, and just mark him on the map. We should follow his actions and see what he actually wants.]'' She advised, which after some brief thinking Aiden agreed to as well. ''I guess'' He sighed, no longer bothered by the presence of that figure, and returned his eyes to the dusty road ahead. Ugburg had a rather unique design, at least in terms of the sole previous example Aiden had seen. The ''City Walls'' that stretched through the borders of the Higrove wasn''t present in Ugburg as it was seen before. Instead, the slums, the wretched, dirty district that the Higher Echelons and those of off any standing in the societaldder despised formed a concentric circle of four sectors around the city premises, acting as free, meat shields in case of any danger would have risen and marched at them. This didn''t mean that there weren''t any walls at all. There was, but it was found as one ventured deeper, beyond the expansive Outer Suburbs. Separating the Inner City from the outer sectors, concentric walls protected those that the leaders deemed worthy. Twice the height of an average human, meaning it was almost four times taller than the current residents, arranged to cover the city and provide a certain level of protection against any threats, be it the numerous monsters lurking in the shadows, or other neighboring tribes. Some timeter, the carriage pulled up to a taller-looking building, an innter in the day. A somewhat middling one that was known for its price and reasonable amodations. "Wee!" The aging innkeeper greeted the group as soon as they halted their caravan with a big smile stretching his face. Flops of fat jiggled as he hurried outside to greet his first potential customers for quite a while. "What can I do for you, young adventurers?" He greeted warmly, heartily. His eyes quickly scanned over the many figures wrapped in patched, worn-out, and dirty rags. A slight frown shed across his face upon the sight, which he quickly hid. Still, it couldn''t escape Aiden''s piercing gaze, nor from his system. "We would like to rent rooms for the night. We do not need beds for all, just a ce to rest our heads after the long journey." Aiden spoke up in a calm, collected tone. He wasn''t overly friendly, nor was he too cold. The slight displease wasn''t that big of a transgression, he could understand the reaction to be perfectly honest. Who would want to serve a bunch of beggars?! Could they even pay or would they be just robbing the innkeeper of his potential money? Just as he guessed, the chubby skink innkeeper''s smile soured as he heard the request. He turned his gaze on the elderly-looking hooded skink that seemed to be the leader of this attach of refugees. His previous candor was nowhere to be found as he coldly spoke. "First, let''s see if you can actually pay for it. Do you guys have any money at all?" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 632 - 632 -The Innkeeper The robed figure standing to the left of the aged leader of this refugee group was shaking, trembling with boiling rage after the innkeeper''s contempt-filled question. Madam Dara stepped forward, her hands balled into fists. Luckily her gaze was hidden behind the drape of the hood otherwise the fiery sparks could have terrified the snobbish man. "[Reptilian] Y-you H-how dare you to speak like that to-" Before she could finish her words, and ruin the whole n by exposing their identities, Aiden raised his arm, blocking her advance and freezing the words in her. "[Reptilian] Yes, we have." He spoke calmly, revealing a brown leather pouch in his other, right hand. He threw it at the middle-aged chubby skink man who though grew slightly wary a moment ago, instantly shifted his stance at the sign of the familiar sound of coins tingling. Catching it he quickly the greedy grubber quickly unzipped the brown leather purse, shing a happy, excited smile when he spotted the numerous shining gold coins there. However, he frowned a momentter when he brought out one to check. "What is this? I don''t recognize it at all" He muttered the question, as he kept his gaze focused on the strange, unfamiliar insignia. Though he could recognize it depicting a dragon''s head, yet it was vastly different from the Ancient One. ''Is this a fake?'' The innkeeper pondered inwardly, as he scrutinized the coin in his hand, trying to spot imperfections on the surface. However, no matter how hard he tried or looked the shiny gold metal did seem genuine. Unfamiliar, but genuine gold. "[Reptilian] Does it matter where it came from? You should only care if it''s real or not." Aiden responded nonchntly, waving his hand in a carefree manner. Stepping forward, he gently pushed the still agitated-looking Madam Dara back, signaling to her with a fleeting nce to stay calm and do notsh out. The innkeeper didn''t speak for several minutes as he took his time carefully analyzing each of the gold coins in the pouch before finally snorting loudly. "[Reptilian] F-fine. You guys are good for tonight." He snorted. Turning around he pointed towards a darker alley at the side of the inn as he added. "You can park your cart there. Empty it down and it should be fine till the morning." He said, sounding cold, much unlike how he first greeted thepany. Without waiting for confirmation from them he then turned towards the door and stepped back inside. His fat flopped like gtin as he strutted deeper and deeper in the unlit dark belly of the building. As he walked away, only Aiden could make out the hushed musings of the contemptuous man as he walked inside to most likely clean up and lit some candles. ''At least the cart will be worth something, even if this strange money may not. This is just my luck, the first grouping my way after a month and they are just a group of penniless beggars! What did I do to offend the Ancient One'' He kept on grumbling under his nose, cursing his luck, fate, and towards the end even his ancestors. Aiden didn''t bother too much, smiling at the man inwardly. He was still depicted as yellow, he wasn''t hostile to them. Though he could feel his contempt and annoyance rising the more they interacted, it was somewhat understandable to be perfectly honest. He had a business he needed to support, he wasn''t a charity. Even if he weren''t so cold-hearted, he could not possibly survive on empty air. From the memories Aiden had processed up till now from Archbishop and the Saurus General, he had understood that life was hard in the outskirts of Ugburg. It was mostlywless, the Temple Guards were only here for the show, and would rarely act out any form of justice unless it was convenient for them. They were corrupt, and most likely all of them were in the pockets of the several criminal groups that controlled these sectors from the shadows. After parking their wooden carts in the dark alley behind the building their group of around twenty robed men walked back to the now, dimly lit entrance and walked inside. To be honest, the building was unlike any of the inns and taverns Aiden had seen back in Higrove. Tolliah looked up at the building with a curious gaze. After filling up her tummy, she was slowly growing sleepy, the long journey have slowly begun to take its toll on her limited stamina. Seeing her papa looking at her with an encouraging smile stered on his face, she stepped forward to take the lead. Turning her head upwards he looked at the sign hanging above the dark wood, thick door. The signboard over the inn was rotted, and years had worn whatever name it held away long ago. The windows were dark and shuttered, yet they had nowhere else to go. Slowly, hesitantly, she stumbled towards the door and pulled at the simple handle on the door. Nothing happened. After a second, she pushed and the door creaked open. Mustering her courage, the young skink girl peered into the ck room beyond. Her instincts told her it was amon room, a ce where food or drink would normally be served. However, the inn was long deserted and a thickyer of dust covered every surface. The single, lonesome soul in the entire spacious floor was the chubby, greasy middle-aged man standing behind the counter at the far end. Several candles were lit across the tables, providing faint, dim lighting for the weary travelers. "[Reptilian] Come,e Stop dawdling there like a group of morons!" The man hollered with an annoyed tone. "Though there''s not much, the coins you gave will earn you two rooms and I can even throw in some grub after you settled down." He pointed towards the wooden stairs at the side that led to the upper floors where several doors lined up both sides of the floor walls. Just like at the entrance they too looked as if a slightly more powerful sneeze could tear them down and blow them apart. The years of neglect have slowly worn them down. Just like the entire inn, it felt like everything could fall apart at any moment. Still, it was better than being forced to spend the night in the open, in some dark corner, having to stand guard all night. Even if Aiden could go by without rest or meditating for a single night, he needed his team to be at their best. Silently nodding to the man, shing a polite smile to thank him for his ''kindness'', the group walked towards the stairs. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 633 - 633 - Intention Bright and early the very next morning, the two doors of their rooms were opened up and the group came out one by one. Like yesterday they were all wearing their patched, rags, albeit free from the dust of the road yesterday. Regardless, they still looked like a rag-tag group of beggars as they walked down to the empty ground floor. The chubby skink innkeeper''s morning roar greeting them. "Good Morning you guys! Did you all sleep well?" The man asked, beckoning for them to head on over to the nearby tables. "Sit down y''all, breakfast should be ready in a few minutes! It''s nothing much though so don''t have high expectations!" Turning around with a fit of guffaw the innkeep looked much more hospitable thanst night, making everyone slightly perplexed. Aiden was confused at first, but when he noticed that his marker in the system have turned green, he was no longer too bothered by it. Though it was strange, and he couldn''t really exin it, he at the very least trusted the system''s abilities to judge people correctly. Knowing that it was capable of even managing his growing divinity and could even create marvels like an entirely new world seemingly from scratch, Aiden was assured that he could rely on the system''s judgment in these matters. Even if he couldn''t trust itpletely, the system or the intent behind its creation wasn''t harmful to him. ''[He certainly seems much calmer than yesterday.]'' As he was thinking whilst gazing at the kitchen door where the rotund middle-aged man had vanished to, Enya''s voice rang out in his mind. ''[Hmpf! He better be! If he disrespects Master any more, I will happily slice him up!]'' Ryg, the sword spirit chimed in, a slight tint of annoyance still audible in her voice. Whilst Aiden was lost in the discussion going inside both his mind and soul, the chipper, young voice of a certain little princess suddenly reached his ears, pulling him back to reality in the next instant. "[Reptilian] Papa! What are you looking at?" Tolliah asked, looking curiously at Aiden. Following the direction he was staring at, she too looked at the closed wooden door leading to the kitchen. Thinking she had understood the matter, she smiled and gently patted her father''s tighs just as she plopped down there and took her ''seat''. "[Reptilian] Don''t worry, Papa! If you are hungry, you can have some of mine! You need to be your strongest, after all, you need lots and lots of energy, hehe!" She giggled in the end, fidgeting a bit and taking her spot in hisp. Meanwhile, the captains situated around his table looked at them with a matching smile. Madam Dara, who obviously took the closest seat, right next to them reached out and gently patted the little girl''s hooded head. The little girl giggled at the attention she was receiving, clearly enjoying the moment. Aiden didn''t reply, just enjoyed the present. He looked away from the door, turning his attention back to the people sitting around them. Just as he was about to speak up, however, his words froze in him as he gleaned over his system''s map again. The familiar yellowish dot of the Guard Captain from yesterday was standing right outside the building. He was clearly waiting for something or someone.. most likely them. ''What does he want? Why is he here again?'' He wondered, a deep frown appearing on his face as he gazed at the entrance with a growing solemn outward disposition. The sudden change in their leader''s expression didn''t escape the captain''s attention either. Barely a secondter, Aiden could feel their mental probings, as they wanted him to open up the connection. epting their request, they immediately asked, almost in tandem. ''[Reptilian] What is bothering you, leader? What happened? Did the Temple Guards find us out already?'' ''[Reptilian] T-that''s impossible! We haven''t even stepped foot into the inner city yet! H-how could they have'' The voice, Pyre gasped as she thought of something. She turned around, casting her piercing gaze towards the kitchen. ''[Reptilian] Did that fat pig sell us out?'' ''[Reptilian] Impossible! How could he even know who we are?'' They began to argue instantly, pondering the possibilities of the potential trouble that their leader must have sensed but have not shared with them as of yet. After a bit, they finally heard him speak. His youthful, vigorous voice, betraying the aged sound he had in his current form filled up their shared connection. ''[Reptilian] No. There''s nothing to worry about, the innkeeper does not know who we are. Also, you don''t need to be wary of him, he is friendly well somewhat.'' Aiden spoke, taking a momentary pause before. He patted the little girl''s head as he continued a few secondster. ''[Reptilian] There''s someone waiting outside. For now, I''m not sure what he wants, or if who he is really looking for.'' Aiden''s words surprised the team, they turned silent for a few moments before eventually, a question came from Draghan, the Elite Warrior''s captain. ''[Reptilian] My Lord Do you know who he is?'' He spoke, somewhat coldly, albeit not because of disrespect. Taking a short pause, he added a secondter. ''Was it the same figure from yesterday?'' ''[Reptilian] Yes. A Guard Captain from the Temple Guards. However he is different. He doesn''t seem to be hostile at the very least.'' Aiden confirmed, nodding his head. ''[Reptilian] What should we do then, my lord? Should we go out and meet with him? Or should we escape?'' ''[Reptilian] Could it be a trap?'' Someone added. ''[Reptilian] No, it shouldn''t be.'' Aiden spoke up again. ''He is alone at the very least. Hmm'' Thinking about it for a moment, he made up his mind. ''I will meet with him, you guys stay here and protect Tolliah.'' With that, he severed the connection, not allowing his captains a chance to protest. In the next moment, as he picked up the cheerful little lizard girl, he earned a pout together with a questioning gaze all the way as he was ced in Madam Dara''s loving embrace. "[Reptilian] Papa has to meet with somebody. Stay with Auntie Dara for now, okay? I will be back soon!" Aiden said, gently rubbing her left cheek with the back of his right hand. "[Reptilian] Be safe papa, ande back quick! D-do not worry, I will keep your food safe!" Although she was reluctant to see him go, Tolliah surprisingly didn''tin. Instead, she looked serious, as if she was vowing to keep not just this breakfast but an entire kingdom safe. As if she was swearing up to a knight''s code, making Aiden smile at her and nod, before standing up and turning towards the exit. With calm, confident strides he walked towards it, all the while keeping his attention on the screen floating in front of him, watching the lonesome yellow marker as it stood still, waiting for something. Or somebody. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 634 - 634 - Lucky Accidents In just a few steps of time, Aiden arrived in front of the inn they were staying at. He casually, calmly approached the figure standing in front and matching his gaze. The Guard Captain looked at him, with a collected, unafraid, and neutral gaze. From the system, he remained yellow, meaning he was not hostile, but at the same time, he wasn''t friendly either. Still finding it quite perplexing, as to the Temple Guards, being the High Priest''s choice of arms, should be represented by a deep, vibrant shade of red. Just like how the asional patrols appeared around his system''s map. As he walked towards the skink man, Aiden tried to recall if he ever checked the color of his marker before. Unfortunately, he couldn''t remember at all, just that he spoke very arrogantly, and was full of self-righteous just. He wanted to attack the Archbishop right there as soon as he connected the dots, and realized that he must have visited the prisoner. Could it be that he never forgot the humiliation from then? Since his conjectureter turned out to be true, and that their prisoner, Aiden have indeed vanished from his cell he could havee to them to find trouble, or bring them to justice. Still, if that was the case, his color wouldn''t be the neutral yellow but would match the hostile crimson instead. In the end, Aiden could only push his thoughts to the back of his head and look at the middle-aged skink man now standing in front of him. Arriving in front of him, Aiden stopped only a few steps of distance. He did not speak at first but looked deeply at the man from under the cover of his light gray hood. The Guard Captain also kept silent initially, and just returned the gaze. The two men looked deeply into each other''s eyes for over a minute, trying to pry open the other''s secrets if possible. Eventually, Aiden was the first to speak. His voice, matching that of the Archbishop''s growled in a low tone and volume. "[Reptilian] What does a respected Guard Captain of the city guard''s would want with our humble selves?" He asked, shing a friendly smile in the process. The Guard Captain did not respond instantly but took a few seconds to gaze at the face hidden behind therge hood. In the end, he squinted his eyes, trying his hardest to see through the dark shadows. "[Reptilian] Who are you people? What are you doing here?" He asked, still looking stern, and focused. Aiden noticed the probing of the man and did his best to keep his gaze lowered, and shrouded from the piercing eyes of this man. He coughed lightly, ying the role of a weak and tired refugee of a war. "[Reptilian] Mighty sir W-we are but the dark side of a war between two big tribes from a few days of distance." Aiden exined, sounding humble and even slightly shaky in his voice. He gazed at the dirty ground, as he heaved a sigh and continued. "[Reptilian] W-we have suffered a lot L-lost our loved ones, our f-families, our homes We had no choice but to pack up what we had left and try our luck. Luckily we have found shelter with the owner of this great establishment." The Guard Captain frowned as he listened to the robed man''s words. For some reason, he couldn''t shake this feeling he had since yesterday He felt that he knew these people, that they might be rted to Him "[Reptilian] Do you have money for the services? How long are you nning to stay, and what are your ns?" He asked with a cold tone and a frown after a bit of silence. "[Reptilian] W-we had but a few coins left from our savings, that we used to pay for the generous owner. He had allowed us to stay for the night and rest up. He even offered us breakfast so that we could gather up our strength and set out to find some work to earn some coins." Aiden took a moment to catch his breath before continuing. He humbled himself even further by deepening his bow, looking respectful to this ''mighty'' being. "[Reptilian] G-good sir, mighty warrior sir, w-we are but humble merchants and farmhands, we bring no danger. We only want to find a ce where we can survive and live. Please, sir we do not want anything bad." The Guard Captain''s frown only deepened the more he listened to this ragged-robed man. The more he spoke the more confused he felt. Even though he could not hear any foul y from his tone, it was steady and felt honest, the feeling he felt yesterday never subsided. He couldn''t shake this feeling that he knew this man, this group What if his hunch was correct? What if they were indeed rted to the archbishop? What if what if they could help him get in touch? He needed to speak to him, he needed to understand He needed to find out the truth from this web of lies they were forced into. Gritting his teeth, the Guard Captain finally made up his mind and stepped forward. "[Reptilian] Stand up." He said, reaching out and grabbing the man''s shoulders. Straightening him up, he then reached for the hood wanting to push it back, to finally see the face hiding underneath. However just as he was about to grab the hood, the man suddenly stepped back, escaping from him with such ease that made the Guard Captain turn stunned for a moment. ''[Reptilian] What just happened? Was it just luck?'' He wondered, looking at the man standing just a step away. "[Reptilian] Hey you! Move back your hood and show me your face!" He ordered. Aiden however shook his head, as he remained hunched-down, keeping his gaze covered by the darkness of his hood. "[Reptilian] Apologies good sir, but I sadly cannot do that. I ask for your forgiveness for this." The guard captain obviously didn''t like this answer, he harrumphed with annoyance. "[Reptilian] What do you mean by that?! Do you not understand that the words of a Temple Guard are basicallyw to yourwless rabble? You are seeking shelter in Ugburg, but refuse toply with themands of your would-be protectors?!" He cried with anger in his tone. Taking a step forward, he wasn''t about to wait for a counterargument from the hooded merchant. The Guard Captain''s arms shot out, aiming for the cloth hanging over the figure''s head. Yet, just as he was about to reach, the man suddenly stepped away again, making the Guard Captain miss yet again. The movement once again seemed rather simple, and as if it was merely a lucky incident and nothing more. ---- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 635 - 635 - Opportunities And Shadows Surprise and a momentter, annoyance quickly began to rise in the Guard Captain''s heart. The peculiarity of the strange situation was irking him to no end. Taking only a few moments to regain his wits, he turned to face the hooded merchant and hurriedly reached out to grab the hems of his hood once again. Yet every time he was about to touch the textile, the robed man dodged and evaded. Each time, he merely stepped away, or ducked down, leaned back each and every action the strange old-looking man took was simple, yet it was just enough to escape from the Guard Captain grabbing onto him. After several minutes and dozens of failed attempts, finally, the reality of the situation began to seep in to the Guard Captain''s mind. He sighed as he took some time to rest and recuperate his lost stamina. "[Reptilian] What in the Just who are you truly?" The Guard Captain felt rather perplexed at the helplessness of his situation. Even though the robed and hunched man''s movements seemed perfectly natural and it could be said that everything that happened was just pure coincidence, he knew it was not the case. It could be contributed to pure luck once or maybe twice but that wasn''t the case anymore. They have basically fought for dozens of moves, and besides him wasting a great deal of his strength and energy, nothing else was achieved. Sighing once again, he looked at the hooded, hunched elder. "[Reptilian] Fine I give up" He raised his arms, giving in. "Can you at least tell me Why are you so adamant about keeping your identity hidden?" "[Reptilian] Apologies mighty sir!" Aiden bowed, speaking in a respectful manner. Cupping his hands, he continued. "We have shamed our ancestors by losing our homes. Because of that, we are not allowed the light of day to shine on our sinful gazes anymore." Aiden made up a believable white lie on the spot. "[Reptilian] If sir have no more questions to this humble one, then I will take my return" Aiden apologized and turned around to leave. "[Reptilian] Wait!" Before he could take even a step, however, the Guard Captain called out. Turning around, Aiden bowed down again, not just to show respect but also to make sure his facial features remained hidden from the scrutinizing gaze of the crafty skink. Seeing that even now, he was unable to catch the man unprepared, the Guard Captain frowned for a moment before speaking up. "[Reptilian] You mentioned you are all looking for some way to earn coins. Was that true?" He started with a question, whilst he took a step closer. As he did so, he also looked behind the man, looking at the dark shapes and silhouettes that could be faintly seen through the dim lighting from the inn''s first floor. "[Reptilian] That is true, mighty sir. May I ask, why are you asking about it?" "[Reptilian] Seeing how quick you are despite your age, I may have an opportunity for you It''s perfectly legal and it doesn''t require anything special but keeping a low profile. What do you say, are you interested in hearing more?" Aiden took a few seconds silently contemting what the Guard Captain had just said. At first, he wanted to deny the Guard Captain''s offer, and just try to make him go away finally. However, after a bit of thinking as well as knowing that he still wasn''t considered to be truly hostile, and was still donning his yellow, neutral colors in the system, Aiden decided to at the very least hear him out. They did truly needed to find some form of ie without raising suspicion. They needed to settle in at least for a few days whilst they worked out a way to gain entrance to the core city itself. Sure, if all things fail, and everything goes awry, he could just forcefully break-in. The problem with that would be that he would raise the rms, and alert the High Priest of his presence. This could then potentially endanger the safety of Tolliah''s mother, where ever she may be currently held inside the High Temple at the center of the city. The best would be to silently infiltrate the city and get in without anyone realizing. Standing silent and pondering on the skink Guard Captain''s words, Aiden finally made up his mind. Faking a cough, Aiden gained the man''s attention and nodded ever-so-slightly. "[Reptilian] Yes, mighty sir. We are looking for some honest means to earn a bit of coin" Turning around he waved towards the inn. "[Reptilian] Though we may not have much to offer, may I invite the sir to enjoy breakfast with us? That way we could hear the opportunity without bothering anyone else" The Guard Captain didn''t hesitate for nearly as much as Aiden did just before. He instantly nodded, walking over to Aiden and taking his left side. "[Reptilian] Yes, please lead the way!" He eximed, shing a friendly-looking smile on his face. They casually walked side-by-side, leaving the scene seemingly unaware of the prying eyes watching them from farther away Standing atop a rooftop of a two-story stone building, a tall, slim humanoid-shaped figure looked in the direction of the inn where Aiden and the Guard Captain have just gone into. The figure, looking much taller than these skinks, roughly matching Aiden''s height in his default form stood over the ledges. Watching the scene unfold, it couldn''t help but smirk, clearly enjoying the peculiar fight. When the two finally came together and left, a smile stretched across its face which mostly remained hidden due to the white, faceless mask that covered the entirety of the figure''s face. A pair of blueish dots shone through the only two small eye sockets made on the wooden cover. They flickered with a mystical light, looking as deep as the oceans. "So HE really is here Everything ording to the Grandmaster''s n." The figure muttered, before snapping its fingers. In the next instant, the small crimson gemstones in the skull-faced ring on its finger began to radiate a reddish hue, covering the figure in the next instant. "Time to work, I guess" In the next moment, the stranger figure turned blurry and hazy, before it wafted away by the wind, leaving no traces of it ever being there in the first ce. The sound of metal hitting metal rang throughout the ruins of what was once a beautiful perspiring city. In one of its long-demolished streets, surrounded by dpidated wreckage a fierce battle could be observed. The Silver Howl Mercenaries and Aiden''s friends were currently surrounded, and were in a seemingly losing fight >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! Update: First R18 chaptering soon! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 636 - 636 - Bloodcurdling Battle Burly men donning reinforced, sleeveless leather armor and metal arm guards formed a circle around Sara''s group of adventurers and Captain Don''s band of mercenaries. For thest hour or so, ever since the arrogant, but unfortunately quite talented noble boy greeted them, they have been on a downhill slope. The theatrics have quickly fallen apart, it didn''t take more than just 15 minutes before the two sides exploded and turned the ruined ancient city street into a bloody battle. The young Lord Bartholomeo Diaz, the ''Third'' as he preferred, was now hauling a long exotic de, avish-looking saber with a gemstone adorned golden hilt, swinging with terrifying precision, each strike hurling a cry, a bloodcurdling roar. The previously innocent-looking lean and tall young man that just trudged the brightest years of his life, his twenties were now looking like a demon. The more his enemy''s blood smeared his previously perfect visage, the more sinister and twisted the smile grew on his face. The upward curving crescent-shaped eyes revealed the horrific nature of the monster lurking beneath his flesh. The more she looked at this monster, the more she felt that the rumored nickname of the ''Twisted Tormentor'' wasn''t just an exaggeration made up by his enemies to tarnish his reputation, but was actually the true nature hiding behind all that facade, all that bravado. sh after sh, blood spurted in his wake like fountains, bathing him more and more, turning his appearance into that of a crimson nightmarish fiend. His milky white perfect smile only added more to his horrifying outlook. "My, my Miss Sara, may I ask for a dance?" Suddenly he spoke up, amidst two back and forth horizontal shes that were blocked by his two opponents. "What the What are you even talking about?!" Caught unprepared, Sara eximed with shock upon the oundish question. "What dancing? Are you alright in the head Young Lord?" Young Lord Bart seemed surprised by Sara''s question. He sliced diagonally at the men on the left with a raised fervor, causing the man to be unable to parry the block despite raising his sword against it. The thick de of the sabre sliced through the much lower quality short sword, riding the wave down towards the hilt tearing the Silver Howl Mercenary''s hand in the process. The man cried out with pain, as he instantly released his grip over the de, and faltered a few steps backward. However, this was a fatal mistake on his part, even though it wasn''t intentional on his part. The opening this reaction has created was more than enough for Bart to capitalize on it. A sudden thrust plunged deep in the chest cavity of the man, going through the weary chest armor without too much effort. As the tip of the de plunged deeper into the man, the bloodcurdling roar reced the previous tear-filled one, soon transforming into a more subtle version as the life and energy slowly, but gradually left him. Yet, this wasn''t enough for the twisted man, he pushed down on his weapon after digging a couple of inches, tearing apart the entire upper torso of the man. Guts and the man''s intestines were spilled as the poor warrior have breathed hisst. "This Can you hear it? The music These cries Aren''t you feeling it in your feet, Miss Sara?" Suddenly, the twisted, crimson asura spoke up, casting his gaze towards the direction of the purple-haired girl standing in the middle. His deep-set cognac eyes glimmered with the pure lust and excitement he was currently basking in. "Y-you you are a Monster" Sara muttered, her face contorted into pure disgust and an equal amount of horror upon witnessing such a gruesome scene. "A, don''t be like that, Miss" He asked, the smile not leaving his face. Twisting his body, he spun around his axis, facing the partner of the previous duo who was still standing. With a casual upper swing, he was in the heart of it once again. At the same time, as if he was just exercising he continued with his teasing. "Why bother about these ants? Who cares about them? Dead or alive they have just as much worth From all of these wretched disgusting creatures Only you and I have any real value!" He spoke, emphasizing each word with a swing of his weapon. Worthless mercenaries, warriors for hire Even the servants I hired Nothing will change be they left alive or culled like pigs!" He eximed with a wide smirk besmirching his face. The pure disdain, the condescending attitude he disyed was his true nature. The previous disy he showed was just a mask hiding the cruel, twisted dark soul that resided inside him. The blood that continued to bathe him, painting his entire figure into that of a crimson demon, he revealed a face full of euphoria. He was almost cathartic. "In any case, I guess this is the end of the road for you mongrel!" He sneered, parrying the iing short sword of the mercenary, and struck forward. The look on his face as he looked forward to ending yet another worthless, menial life was disgusting to look at. However just as the tip of his sabre was about to pierce into the studded vest of the mercenary. A huge shadow swooshed by, a humongous war axe swung by, pushing the attack to the side, causing it to graze by just by a hair''s breadth. "Hey, arsewipe! Let me join in on the fun!" Hollered a familiar-looking figure, looking simr to the crazed Young Lord. Naybeah''s fur clothes were drenched crimson with the blood of Lord Bart''s soldiers. Like the young lord, she too reveled in these situations, the more gruesome, the more brutal it turned into, the better she felt, the more she could let go of all the restraints that were holding her back. The more she could unleash her true nature and shed all this useless nature that was the chains of a civilized society. "You wanted to dance, right? Come, let me lead you then, you disgusting brat!" She sneered, picking up and swinging her axe at him without a second wasted. Although the Young Lord was caught off guard by the new joiner, he merely snorted coldly, before jumping backward and ducking down to evade. As a response, he jumped up just as the war axe passed by, lounging his body with a weapon first at the bloodied amazon. Yet, he said no words, he didn''t offer a riposte at the taunts and the sudden attacks. He wasn''t smiling, but a deep frown was set on it that slowly, but surely contorted into a hideous scowl. The sudden appearance of Naybeah seemed to have made the Young Lord wary --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 637 - 637 - A Safe Job "[Reptilian] Who is this man, Papa?" As the two figures walked over to the tables they upied, the smallest robed figure, Tolliah looked up and asked with a curious glint flickering in herrge yellow eyes. Yet as she took a closer look at the stranger, she suddenly shuddered with fright, slumping back on her seat, and hurriedly looked for Madam Dara for protection andfort. She buried her face on her side whilst shivering with pure fear, not daring to look at the ''mean'' man wearing the uniform that was now deeply etched into her mind. All the horror, the bad memories were rted to this recognizable armor. The red and white color palette, she could recognize them from anywhere. Yet she didn''t say a word but kept on shaking in silence whilst hiding her face, hoping that the bad man would just go away if she wasn''t looking. "[Reptilian] Honey, it''s okay." The little one''s action''s forced a wry, troubled smile to appear on Aiden''s face. "He is not a bad man, he is not like the rest This kind man is here to help us. To offer us some job, so he said." Although the little girl didn''t have any visible reaction to Aiden''s short exnation, Madam Dara on the other hand turned her attention to the Guard Captain. Squinting her eyes she carefully scrutinized him from top to bottom, taking her sweet time before snorting coldly and throwing out a remark. "[Reptilian] Scaring a little innocent child out of her body Nice introduction, Mr" "[Reptilian] The name is Tak, miss!" The Guard Captain, now Tak hurriedly bowed in an attempt to show that he had no ill will and introduced himself. He shed a kind-looking smile, stretching that scaled visage to its limits. Coughing lightly, he raised his gaze on the still shivering small youngling and added with a gentler, humble tone of voice. "[Reptilian] I also like to apologize to you young princess if I scared you. I did not mean anything bad, please trust me on that. I merely wanted to offer your family and friends an opportunity to earn some coins so you could continue to have a ce to rest at night and a belly full of food." He exined, retaining the smile as he looked at the back of the young one. Listening to Tak, Tolliah gradually began to turn calmer. The shivers and trembles soon ceased, and whilst she still refused to leave the warmth of Madam Dara''s embrace, she no longer looked as terrified and scared as just a few minutes ago. The rest of the robed figures situated around the main table as well as the rest of the upied tables remained silent. They did not start their meals but instead were silently gazing at Tak. Some had a neutral expression, while others showed hostility, contempt, or disdain. Yet, no one acted on their feelings but kept silent all the while. Still, the air was palpable, the hostile gazes were akin to piercing bolts of the arcane, Tak could almost feel as their gazes bore holes through his scales. He felt strangely distressed, ufortable under such heavy scrutiny. *Khm!* *Khm!* Aiden coughed after giving some time for the two sides to get situated with each other, before speaking up. "[Reptilian] So... As I mentioned before, this kind sir here, Mr. Tak has offered us an opportunity that as he said, would allow us to gain the coins we desperately need right now." He exined, before turning to face the man in question and asking with an inquisitive look on his face. "[Reptilian] So, mighty warrior sir, please take a seat, and please tell us about this ''great opportunity'' you have mentioned to me outside." He offered an empty seat to the man while picking up the little girl and cing her on hisp while he sat down. As soon as he took his seat, Tolliah instantly hugged her like a startled little ko and buried her face in his chest. However, this time, the frightened outlook seemed to have been reced by the one she held before, Tolliah was fidgeting as she was looking for the best position whilst enjoying the scent of her beloved Papa. Delighted-sounding hums and muffed, soft giggles escaped from her as she refused to let go, or even waste any of her energy looking at the Guard Captain. "[Reptilian] R-right Ehrm" Tak coughed, trying to mask his embarrassment. For a moment he was lost at the family picturesque scene ying out in front of them. He couldn''t help but recall his own family, his own daughter. He couldn''t help wondering about what they could be doing right now. Are they happy? Are they safe? Did they still think about him after all this time? After using all his pull as a guard captain and every bit of connection he made over the years of his service, he made sure that the two of them were granted entrance into the inner city and were ced into a safe ce. Whilst they weren''t officially separated, because of the nature of his work, as well as security reasons, he was not permitted to keep contact with them. He couldn''t look for them, he couldn''t visit them. Since then, he hasn''t seen them for over two long years Yet, he wasn''t ready to give up, he had to find them and make sure they are safe! Coming back to reality, determination sparked in his eyes, Tak clenched his fists as he turned to look at the robed merchant, Aiden once more. "[Reptilian] Yes, the opportunity I offer is not hard. It''s very simple actually and if you do what I am asking of you right, it contains no danger to any of you. To be honest, the task is but perfectly suited for your kind." He exined. "[Reptilian] Our ''kind''? What do you mean?!" Madam Dara frowned upon hearing such a derogatory remark. A hidden de suddenly appeared in her right hand, still hiding underneath the table. She clenched the hilt of the dagger but did not attack. Her alert however was raised, she was no longer looking as calm as before. "[Reptilian] I didn''t mean anything offensive by it, I swear!" Noticing the growing hostility on many of the eyes that were focused on him, he hurriedly raised his arms in surrender and tried to exin. "[Reptilian] I What I meant was that what you guys are. Escapees, refugees, and vagrants. You could perfectly blend in the outer districts, and scout the people hiding around oring in from the outside." Listening to the man, now even Aiden''s mood was beginning to sour. A dangerous, threatening spark flickered in his golden eyes, as he asked with a slightly colder tone. "[Reptilian] So You want us to spy for you or for the City Guards?" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 638 - 638 - Why "[Reptilian] N-no, it''s not like that" The Guard Captain, Tak nervously swayed his head and his arms as he tried to deny the usation. Though in the end, he gave a bittersweet smile as he muttered. "W-well, maybe it somewhat is, but It''s just for me, the guards, or for that matter, the church will have no knowledge about it at all! I swear to my life!" "[Reptilian] And why would we want to do that?" Thinking about his words for a few seconds that felt like several minutes for the nervous skink guard captain, Aiden looked over at the man once more unting a calctive smirk on his face. Tak gulped audibly at the sudden screening, taking a few extra moments to collect his thoughts before replying. He sighed once more, confirming his determination on revealing the crux of the matter. In the end, he reaffirmed his belief and decided to trust these figures. Something, that even he couldn''t understand was pulling him towards this man, to thispany. Tak wasn''t sure what it actually was, or if it was even real and not just some illusion ced on him by the very man himself or perhaps one of the man schemes devised by the ''Ancient One'' Still, he needed to do something, if he ever wanted to reunite with his family. "[Reptilian] I-I am l-looking for someone, to be honest... Nothing bad I promise!" He spoke, hurriedly adding as he noticed the suspicious gazes focused on him. "There''s this man probably in hister years. Once served the church and even held a very high rank, but have since then turned against the High Priest and is now the de-facto leader of the Resistance." His words raised several eyebrows from his audience, though most of it remained hidden beneath the cover of the hoods. Still, he could feel the many piercing gazes. Even little Tolliah jumped up slightly from the embrace she was enjoying at the moment, making her turn her little head to the side and nce at the guard captain with one eye as a response to his words. Madam Dara was clenching the dagger in her right hand under the table harder than before. The look on her face was cold, serious. The very next words of the man would most likely decide if the oue of their first meeting would end in a peaceful manner, or perhaps not "[Reptilian] Hmm Interesting" Aiden hummed in response. His tone did not reveal his thoughts on the matter. With his face obscured by the shadow of his long hood, it was impossible to tell what he was currently pondering about. "[Reptilian] And what do you want from this man, if I may ask? Why are you looking for him? From what I understand, you and he are on opposing sides, are you not?" Aiden asked, giving a temporary pause, so the Guard Captain could process his questions, before adding another thought a few secondster. "[Reptilian] Are you perhaps, looking to gain some extra merit by setting up a trap for the man?" Tak shook his head at the questions as soon as he was given the chance. "[Reptilian] N-no, that''s not it! I assure you!" He eximed. Taking an extra few seconds, he heaved a heavy sigh before reaching in to the inner pocket of his chest armor, pulling out a bronze locket from it. Opening it, he ced the amulet on the table and pushed it towards the hooded elderly merchant leader, Aiden. As Aiden looked at it, he was surprised at what greeted him. Inside the locket, there was a small image, reminiscent in nature to his system''s holographic UI, showing the family of three skinks. The only male skink, was most likely Tak himself a few years, or perhaps a decade younger standing beside and hugging a gorgeous skink woman on the left. The woman, who seemed to be roughly at a simr age to Tak, was holding a small baby wrapped in a nket. From the honest, bright smiles on their faces, it was clear it was taken from a much more peaceful past. Tak awaited in silence for Aiden to closely inspect the image, not saying a word. Only when Aiden raised his head did Tak speak up, in a much lower volume. His tone -unlike before-, was filled with sadness and sorrow. "[Reptilian] They are my family. My wife Ersa and my beloved princess Fireia. My little Fifi" He sighed, pushing the tears that were threatening their escape before continuing. "I We have only met a few times with this man in the past. He was an Archbishop before, someone much higher in standing than my measly rank as Guard Captain." He revealed a bitter, sad-looking smile as he continued. "[Reptilian] I have offended him in the past because of my misguided belief and we have fought. He defeated me, revealing a power that I have never seen before" He said, but a momentter he shook his head, correcting his earlier statement. "[Reptilian] No, defeat is not the right word, I guess He CRUSHED me, without even doing as much as raising his arms, I was flung away like an arrow. Crashed into a building, buried under a pile of rubble Heh, I almost died there probably would have deserved it, if I''m being honest" He reminisced, smirking at his own actions back then. "[Reptilian] That is fine, and all" Before he could continue his throwback to the not too distant past, the woman sitting right beside the hooded leader, Madam Dara suddenly raised her voice and spoke up. A pair of glimmering balls of stained yellow eyes could be seen lurking ominously from the shadow. "[Reptilian] but you still have not exined your reason for trying to find this man. What do you want from him?" She nced at the floating image in the memorabilia before pushing it back to the Guard Captain. "What does he have to do with your wife, your child your family?" "[Reptilian] What do you want from him, actually?" Another female voice came from the side, Pyre the second female captain asked the question. However, unlike her friend at the opposite side, there was no visible hostility behind her words, nor were any weapons tucked behind her sleeves. Yet, there was an ufortable aura, a palpable thickness in the air around her as she raised her question. "[Reptilian] I I" Tak stammered with how he should respond to them. Taking a moment, he breathed in arge gasp of air, took a few seconds to keep it in his diaphragm before slowly exhaling it. He clenched his fists, as he reaffirmed his mind onest time and spoke the words that shocked everyone present. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 639 - 639 - Gaining Trust Taking an extra second, Guard Captain Tak regted his breathing, to gather his thoughts. A couple of seconds of tense silenceter, he cast away thest lingering doubt from his heart and fixed his disposition. As determination gradually settled across his face, his whole body posture seemed to also rx, and slowly ease into the situation. With his fists clenched, his determination was already quite a surprise and an unexpected sudden change for the people around the tables. Yet, his next words were what caught everyone off guard and earned quite a few shocks, gasps, and even yelps. "[Reptilian] I... I would like to join him! I wish to be under his service!" He eximed, gaining more and more confidence in his own words the more he heard it himself. "If he desires it so, I could act as his spy even! Anything as long as" "[Reptilian] As long as what exactly? What is the ''price'' for your services, if I may be as bold as to ask?" Pyre inquired further, pushing on the matter with the same inquisitive tone as before. She leaned over the table, allowing his glimmering yellowish eyes to shine through the shadows of her hood. Aiden kept a neutral, almost insipid look and stance, refusing toment on the Guard Captain''s words for the time being. He was keenly listening, whilst paying rapt attention to his marker on the System''s Map. Enya, the System''s Guide was also focusing, utilizing all of the system''s resources at her disposal to analyze the behavior of the Guard Captain. Even then, no matter how both of them looked and scrutinized this figure, neither of his words was dishonest. Everything he said seemed and felt to being from the bottom of his heart. He truly wished to switch sides and assist the ex-archbishop in his cause. Question was, why? What made him do a 180-flip and stand with the enemy he should be despised so much? Feeling all the tense gazes were like as if he was standing used on a trial in front of the holy church. He felt the dozens of gazes like hot rays piercing through his scales and searing their markers deep into his flesh. Tak, the Guard Captain, felt as if he was standing as the used, trying to appease the jury. Still, he would not falter and not step down from his stance any longer. Though he couldn''t be sure, he felt that these people had more than what they revealed. Their mysterious leader couldn''t be just a simple refugee merchant. Not with that uncanny agility and nimble dexterousness. Also, no matter how much he tried before, how much he pushed and how much force he exerted, this robed man never showed any fear, he was calm. Humble all the way, but calm nheless. "[Reptilian] *Sigh* I would like to ask for his help" He sighed for a momentary pause, before continuing. "I want to ask him, to help me find a pair of skinks. A woman and her child." "[Reptilian] What?! Who do you thi-" Madam Dara stood up in anger, listening to the presumptuous request, but before she could even finish her yell, she was hushed to silence with a wave of a hand from Aiden. Aiden looked at the Guard Captain for a few seconds, before asking in a strange, chillier tone. Though he didn''t raise his voice and was still calm, there was a hidden power lying underneath each word he said. A sort of ancient presence, that whilst non could consciously presume, they could still feel its threat. Making everyone sit up in attention and look weary, even though the words were not aimed at them. "[Reptilian] Tell me, Tak, Guard Captain of the Temple Guards. Why would you think, this ''archbishop'' you are searching for could help you in your search? Why don''t you ask your superiors? Shouldn''t they have ess to resources that a group of rowdy rebels has not? Who are these two to you?" Aiden fired several questions one after another. Each with the same unnatural strange tone of voice, making Tak subconsciously began to shiver in fright; their kind instinctual response when faced with a predator, a superior existence. Tak gulped loudly several times, trying to quell the rising storm in his heart before he was actually able to blurt out the words they were waiting for. "[Reptilian] I c-can not ask them! T-they are the reason those two are in such a s-situation!" Clenching his fists ever-so tightly that droplets of blood started to pour on the wooden floor. "[Reptilian] I-I need to find them I want to be reunited with them I can''t stand it any more! Y-you have to understand" Opening his eyes he looked miserable as he continued to plead. "They They are my family! My w-wife and my dear beloved daughter" Finally letting out all that he had kept hidden in the deepest depth of his heart, he slumped back on his chair, as if he let go of arge burden. "[Reptilian] I miss them so much it hurts!" He muttered, though mostly to himself, but it did not escape Aiden''s heightened senses. Listening to him, nobody spoke a word but turned to look at their leader for his judgment on the matter. Even the two mature zealous guardians, the twodies of Madam Dara and Pyre kept silent and cast their curious gazes on the deep hood of their leader and the silent little girl sitting in hisp. Listening to the man, Tolliah was the first to react. She didn''t speak either, but from the light squirming and fidgeting, Aiden was aware of what she wanted to convey to him, making him sh a smile, albeit only inwardly. Aiden, who seemed unresponsive to all these heartfelt confessions, was actually in a deep conversation with his system''s guide. As for why was he troubled, was actually rted to the sudden notification he had received in the midst of Tak''s speech. The system seemed to have finally cast its godly judgment on the matter, or perhaps it had some sort of insight into how the threads of fate entangled for each person, and have probably seen something that forced him to formte a new Main Quest. Probably the first official, unavoidable forced one for quite some time, instantly making Aiden feel troubled and barely able to hide his displeasure and frown. For more than anything, being forced into such a situation was what he hated the most. Being forced to tackle the threat of the horde of orcs made him encounter the first existence that felt vastly superior to him. To taste his first defeat. To feel that how utterly helpless he was in the grand scheme of things, nothing more than a slightly more colorful pawn on this giant chessboard controlled by fate and destiny. With a frown, he turned to look at the shing message in front of him. [New Main Quest Received! - Save all the Maidens!] --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 640 - 640 - Just Like Us [New Main Quest Received! - Save all the Maidens! Difficulty: A-S+ Objective: - Save the archbishop''s captive wife, Daliah from the High Priest''s clutches, before - Reunite Guard Captain Tak with her missing wife and daughter! Optional: - ???? Reward: -Experience, ????? Failure Condition: - Failure to get to Daliah before the High Priest is sessful in his n. - Guard Captain Tak''s wife and daughter lose their lives. Penalty: Losing the loyalty and friendship of the Draconic Skinks, Breaking Tolliah''s heart] Aiden''s frown deepened the more he read through the System''stest notification. The quest he received was a main quest, meaning it was instrumental in the grand events of this world''s future. Yet it was only about saving two women and a girl, most likely somewhere closer to Tolliah in age if the Guard Captain''s exnations were anything to go by. How could this seemingly minor, negligible event result in how the future would be shaped to this already dying, post-apocalyptic world? Thinking about it, Aiden recalled the quest about the Horde, the orcs'' invasion, and the main reason behind it: To visit that underground grotto. He was reminded of how it ended up being parts of a series of quests, a ''Chain'' so to speak. Still, in that case, the quest title clearly indicated that they were a ''Part'' of a series of quests and not unique ones. ''What is going on Enya, do you know anything?'' Unable to find a definite answer, Aiden couldn''t help but ask. ''[I can''t say much, but just remember, that usually there''s a reason for everything the System does.]'' responded Enya, her tone of voice sounding clearly forced. She obviously fought against the restrictions ced upon her by the System to even be able to say as much. Immediately after saying that, her presence vanished as she was probably pulled away by the restrictions. ''Master, The little glowing ball of light cannot say more.]'' The girlish voice of Ryg, Aiden''s sword spirit spoke up, her voice also sounding rather distant. ''I see. Thanks.'' Aiden responded, returning his attention to the outside world and finally breaking the silence after several minutes of awkward silence. His eyes flickered with a golden light that didn''t escape Tak''s keen observation, making him almost reveal a shocked expression on his face. With great effort, he reined in his questions and continued to look at the hooded ''merchant'' for an answer. At this point, he was all but certain that despite their ims, this group had to know the archbishop and his group of rebels. They had to have a connection to him, if not be his direct subordinates. He knew that they were his only chance in finding his lost family, and getting them back together! He clenched his fists under the table, doing his best to calm his rapidly beating, chaotic heart, not wanting to spark the seeds of hope and cultivate them any further only to have them crushed. He was disappointed one too many times already. "[Reptilian] What would you offer to HIM in return? You have stated what you desire and I believe they havee from deep within your heart and soul, but you have never once stated what you offer in return? What would you offer to gain his support, his help?" Aiden asked, his tone was calm and collected with no visible emotion that could be made out underneath. Still, there was a hint of a power, a wisp of his own energy that he infused into his voice, just ever-so-subtly, just enough to make the man''s mind rise up another storm of chaos, and his heart to return to the heavy rhythm that it had before. He wanted the man to understand that his next words would carry a hidden weight, that it could very well decide not just his fate, but others as well. "[Reptilian] I-I" Just like Aiden wanted, the Guard Captain felt conflicted as he listened to the hooded merchant. His glowing, burning bright golden eyes, which resembled not that of a skink''s but someone or something else''s was already enough to send both his heart and mind back into the raging storm he was desperately trying to quell. His words, whilst it carried no visible intent, nor any emotion still made him feel ufortable. He could feel an invisible pressure, weighing down at his very soul, the core of his being, making him feel ufortable in front of the enigma of who this hooded merchant truly was. Despite all that, Tak''s determination didn''t falter, it did not wane at all. His desire to be reunited with his loved ones, as well as the growing hatred against the church for being yed and used only to be discardedter, was as strong as ever. Taking only a few short seconds he reinforced the steely gaze on his face, as Tak turned to look at the darkness of the hood and spoke firmly, phrasing each word carefully and clearly. "[Reptilian] I wish to swear my loyalty to him! For his promise, his guarantee I would do anything! My only wish is to find my wife and daughter and be with them, I no longer care about what happens after that." "[Reptilian] I believe you. I can feel the determination behind your words. Your words speak the truth." Aiden acknowledged. As he reached the top of the little hugging ko, Tolliah''s hood-covered head to caress it gently, lovingly Aiden said. "[Reptilian] Join us for breakfast, Tak, Guard Captain of the Temple-Guards. Have a meal and a drink." "[Reptilian] B-but my l-lor-" Hearing his master''s words, Madam Dara instantly raised her hand in protest, but was silenced almost immediately. "[Reptilian] It''s alright. He is just like us. Lost too much, for too little in return. We shouldn''t push away those that so desperately desire the light. There''s enough darkness in the world, even without pushing innocent souls in it." Aiden''s words although they may have sounded strange and even mysterious to some, his connected captains have understood the true meaning behind it. The others, as well as Madam Dara, turned silent upon hearing his preaching, and only acknowledged it with a gentle smile and a slight nod before turning visibly calmer by it. From a quick look at his System''s Map, Aiden saw as the Chubby Man was still busy preparing the food at the back, in the kitchen, he then shifted his attention on the little girl who remained silent all the while they conversed with the Guard Captain. He smiled, as he silently kept on patting the top of her head, giving her his loving gentle caress. For some reason, the more he interacted with her, the closer he felt. The intent of the absorbed archbishop fused together with his love and affection to his family, elevating the little Tolliah''s position higher and higher as the day''s progressed. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 641 - 641 - The Snob Spawn And The Amazon "You wanted to dance, right? Come, let me lead you then, you disgusting brat!" Naybeah sneered following it up with a roaring battle shout as she grabbed the long hilt of her circr-headed battle axe and swung it at the man, aiming at his chest. Jumping to the side, the young man, Lord Bart had to let go of the man he was just about to finish and shift most of his attention to the fierce amazon. Trading a couple of sudden fierce blows, the two sides jumped back several steps, facing each other, scanning for weaknesses on the other. Suddenly, bellowing one more thundering battle cry, Naybeah exploded into a sudden charge, rushing against her opponent, the arrogant youth, Lord Bart. Her ''clothes'', drenched with blood were barely providing any sort of cover at this point other than holding her generous curves in ce. Her blonde locks fluttered against the wind as she crossed the moderate distance between them in the blink of an eye. Raising her axe over her head, Naybeah''s face, still in the midst of bellowing her battle cry, was gradually turning wide as her grin curved higher and higher due to all the excitement and fun she was having. The growing blood lust revitalized her tired limbs and sore muscles, relieving them of the painful spasms and cramps she felt just as fresh and ready as before. Her stamina was bursting as she struck down with her weapon. Ever since herst huge battle against the huge bug monster back in the desert, her most fearsome -yet at the same time-, ''double-edged sword'' gift, her inborn ability, the [Berserk] skill have changed, mutated. Whilst before, whenever it was activated she lost all her reasoning and swung without a care if her target was a foe or it happened to be an ally, or perhaps a friend. She would pave the way through the thick of it, piling up bodies like they were merely chopped logs. Somehow during that battle, her [Berserk] skill had changed. Either her mind became stronger, her will gained the ability to negate the negative spell from her mind, or some other, unknown manner but she could now retain her reasoning whilst enjoying the full benefits of the increased, nigh-limitless stamina and overwhelming surge of physical strength. As her axe sailed the air, it took almost no quantifiable time at all before it traversed the short space and arrived above the devilish human noble youth''s head, looming over it and rapidly closing in like a guillotine. Though from a look it seemed that the strike would hit, ending the sudden duel with one decisive strike, the expected oue didn''t happen. Suddenly, the de of Lord Bart''s sabre appeared, blocking the path of the huge weapon, and sending bright sparks of energy as the two precious metals collided. "Not bad, you dumb busty bimbo!" The man grinned maliciously as he blocked the attack. Despite the risen opportunity, however, he did not counter it with a swing of his own, but instead took a step back and shifted his attention on his newest opponent, taking his time as she leered over the seductive, toned body. Licking his lips the man sneered as he fixated his piercing gaze over the barely covered, bloodied pair of melons as they heaved vertically amidst two breaths. "It would be a shame to have such a good product go to waste. Your assets are wasted on the battlefield Miss. I do have a new goal that I am sure would suit you much better!" He grinned, fixing his grip on his sabre secretly. "Oh? What does Mister ''High-and-Mighty'' wretched snob spawn of an aristocrat have in mind for little ol'' me?" Naybeah asked, sneering back in return. Though she was now able to resist the effects of her inborn skill, [Berserk] it required a great deal of constant energy to do so. Still, she decided to throw a jab back, hoping to further irk the annoying brat, so that he would lower his guard. Just as she hoped, her words, caused the slicked-back, handsome devilish visage to crack, Lord Bart''s facial muscles twitched after the address. He growled, muttering something incoherent for a bit before forcing some sort of control back on his still expression. "My such crude words!" He forced a chuckle. "Clearly what you could expect from an uncultured swine, a dumb barbarian bimbo! No matter, your future is already set. I do hope you will be more resilient than thest couple of ves I acquired!" Lord Bart eximed with a lustful look on his face, just as he abruptly charged ahead. Naybeah also didn''t stay still, she pooled a great deal of her might into a frontal, vertical swing and struck at the iing figure. *BOOM!* A powerful explosion shook the ground, kicking off a great deal of dirt into the surrounding air, and sending tremors all around the battlefield. Both figures were sent flying back once again, neither side could push through the frontal defenses of the other, seemingly they were matched - Whilst the biggest battle was undoubtedly happening between the two, not too far away from them Crone couldn''t pay too much attention to the events as they unfolded as he was busy fending off the strikes of a mace-wielding fighter. At the same time, Jai the bald giant was also struggling on his own to keep his focus on the dangers in front of him. Though this proved to be an increasingly more and more challenging task the more he heard that vile snake speak. His muscles were sore, his body was shivering under the heavy strain of constant life and death battles. "Argh! You bastard HOW DARE YOU TALK LIKE THAT!" He roared in anger. Gritting his teeth he reaffirmed his grip over the handle of his greatsword, his weapon of choice, he gathered all his strength as he swung it diagonally. His opponent, though tried his best to resist, could not hope to survive such a fierce sh. Hisrge de sliced his opponent cleanly apart. With a fountain of blood gushing from the horrific, fatal wound another one of Lord Bart''s servants was sent towards the afterlife. Without wasting any time, Jai turned his attention to the battle between his muse and the sinister-looking young lord. His rage peaking, he only rested for a couple of instants before he rushed ahead. His muscles bulging, Jai ignored the growing soreness of his muscles as he raised his heavy great sword above his head once more. "How dare you have such ideas about her! I will tear you apart B*STARD!" He roared as he jumped in front of Naybeah. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 642 - 642 - The Battle Continues The bright daylight still ring brightly, even though their master, the rotund ball of fire, had already crossed over its zenith and was slowly crossing into the descending curve of its repetitious arc, the grand battle amidst the ruins of the ancient city was still going on. Many individual battles were fought in the thick of the battlefield. Copious amounts of blood were spilled, the loud nks and shes of metal against metal was enriched by the asional blood-curdling cries of the defeated. The previously greenish carpet of weeds and grass was now bathed in a pool of crimson blood and gore. Torn limbs, guts, and mutted organs swam in the now ankle-deep sea. Still, amidst the many fights, there was one particr that dominated thendscape. *nk!* *nk!* *nk!* *nk!* "W-What the? I don''t even see him anymore!" Sara wondered as she looked at the two fighters going at it. Just a moment ago, she was still listening and frowning at the annoying speech of the arrogant Lord Bart, but then suddenly she realized that he was now gone from her vision, she could only feel the presence of something around, behind his opponent, Naybeah! Still, it seemed that despite such incredible speed and agility the man was capable of unleashing, it was still not enough. Each of his blows, each of his attacks were blocked or parried by the brawny blonde woman. "Hmm, I have to admit your reaction time is incredible. You are somehow capable of blocking and reacting to my attacks? I have never seen such a thing." Said the voice of a gentleman behind Naybeah. Lord Bart seemingly regained hisposure once more, dropping his sneers recing them with his earlier theatrical-sounding tone. "You are not that bad either Despite how contemptuous you act, you can still showcase such exceptional ability. You also have your secrets as it turns out" Said Naybeah. "Haha, you tter me. Let''s see how long you can hold out then." Said Lord Bart, just as he charged forward again, turning his entire figure blurry in the process. However, just as they were about to sh against each other again and their weapons would collide with another loud ring, arge shadow protruded into their sonata. A bulky frame, with a bald head, glistening with a mixture of sweat and droplets of his enemy''s blood intruded in between the two. "How dare you have such ideas about her! I will tear you apart B*STARD!" The bald man, like a fierce barbarian facing a ferocious beast, roared as he jumped in front of Naybeah. "Huh? Jai?" Naybeah muttered, not sure how to react or what to say. She waspletely baffled and stunned by the unexpected intrusion. Still, not even a few secondster, her surprise slowly soured, a deeper scowl returned to her face. At the same time, Lord Bart also halted his charge, stopping in his tracks as he looked at the bald mass of muscle with an incredulous look. "Who in the gods'' name are you?" Was the only thing he could blurt out as he looked over the man. Whilst it wasn''t obvious from the momentary stun he was facing, Lord Bart wasn''t sure if he should simply cut through him like some annoying de of weed, or just wait for what this worthless ant wanted to do. In the end, his curiosity turned victorious, he donned a polite smile on his face as he looked at the man with an amused expression. Yet, before he could speak and y out the scene he already envisioned, a loud p was heard and the giant was suddenly sent flying. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?! HOW DARE YOU RUIN MY FUN!" Naybeah roared, pping the man away like an annoying buzzing fly. Her eyes as she gazed at the poor sod, looked as if it could send sparks down at the poor mortal. She was akin to an angered goddess, clearly displeased that her ''fun'' was somehow ruined by this act of selflessness. "Interesting You are really not like the others I have met." Lord Bart smiled as he followed the winding arc of Jai as it crashed into the ground and even tumbled a bit. Returning his gaze as the humanoid projectile crashnded into the woman in front of him, he spoke once again. "Such fiery passion It will be so exciting to tame it!" He chuckled, returning the sinister smirk on his face. "Heh You are just a slightly more talented rodent. Fast, but still not worthy. Still, you at least can muster up some effort, to lighten my boredom! Come then! Show me what you can do, Mr. Noble!" Naybeah guffawed, the frown almost instantly vanishing from her face as she looked at her opponent. The excitement of a challenging battle boiled her blood, somewhat simr to when she faced the humongous bug monster before. Still notparable to training with her chosen mate though Lord Bart didn''t respond to the taunts any further. His figure once again blurred as he rushed ahead. *sh!* Not even a momentter, her axe shed against Lord Bart''''s powerful sword strike, the strength carried behind this sudden attack was surprisingly strong, pushing the strong amazon back a few centimeters! "Hmm! You''re strong" said Lord Bart, sounding slightly surprised for a brief second, as he sent a series of attacks to both sides in quick, rapid session. *nk!* *nk!* *nk!* *nk!* Still, despite the effort, the speed of the strikes, each one of them met therge round face of the woman''s battle axe. She blocked and parried each and every swing, with uncanny agility, matching his own. This unexpected speed and almost supernatural reaction time caught not just Lord Bart but even Sara off guard. Whilst she witnessed several of this brawny amazon''s fights and was aware of her oundish strength, she never showcased such swiftness before. "Why How" Lord Bart muttered in between the blocked attacks. "You are getting annoying, pest!" Naybeah suddenly used her powerful hands as she punched Lord Bart''s stomach, which was protected by an armor, away! BOOOOMMM!!! "Uuaaggh!" Lord Bart fell over the ground with a loud boom, several meters away! His body was fine, but the blow itself felt like someone threw a cannonball to his stomach. The prowess of this blonde amazon was incredible! Taking a moment to stand up and dust himself he suddenly smiled! He felt his blood pumping as he returned a simr maniac-looking smile to the woman''s direction. Finally, a worthy opponent! How long was it that he met someone that could challenge him in any way, and he wouldn''t be able to simply toy away with the enemy? He couldn''t even remember thest time he was challenged in such a fashion! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 643 - 643 - Equally Matched Grinning from ear to ear, Lord Bart jumped outside of the man-sized hole with a single burst of strength, Looking at the blonde amazon, Lord Bart felt a surge of emotions suddenly. The prospect of finally finding a worthy opponent, that could finally measure up to a modicum of challenge made his heart pump at a faster rhythm. His blood was boiling with excitement. As an almost childish-looking grin gradually stretched from one ear to another across his face, suddenly the air around the young man began to heat up and distort. His energy released, it formed a transparent, thinyer of energy, almost akin to an aura around his body. He jumped outside of the man-sized hole with a single burst of energy, coating himself with a thinyer of shielding as hended on his feet just a couple of steps away. He looked down at the blonde amazon, who matched his look, and looked at him with a simr excitement shing across her hungering gaze. "Come and fight!" she said. "Alright then, let''s fucking fight!" Lord Bartughed, overflowing himself with mana in his entire body. His ''aura'' overflowed from his body, coating his sabre with enormous quantities of power. *FLASH!* In a mere instant, Lord Bart reached Naybeah and unleashed an onught of powerful yet swift attacks using his sword. Each powerful blow could easily slice apart any other opponent present, but for Naybeah she blocked each and every blow, sometimes with her weapon but for a few, she took it with simply her forearms! Just what kind of monstrous physical strength does such a feat require? *CLASH!* *CLASH!* *CLASH!* *CLASH!* *CLASH!* "Ahahaha, this is IT! THIS THIS IS WHAT I NEEDED!" cackled Lord Bart, sounding sinister and like a madman as he continued to revolve his mana, concentrating its flow towards his weapon. As the precious metal alloy drank more and more of the ethereal nectar, it gradually began to heat up and change colors. From the original silver, it was now shining with a deeper blueish hue. Sensing that his preparations werepleted, Lord Bart suddenly cried out with a sudden surge of ferocity and released his special technique. A powerful vortex of slicing winds was released from the arc his sabre had traversed, looking as if he sliced the very air apart by the sudden strike! *sh!* A powerful slicing attack whistled through the battlefield, forcing even Naybeah to turn serious for a moment and jump back to evade the blow sensing that she would be unable to take it as casually as before. *sh!* *sh!* *sh!* *sh!* Yet, the attacks didn''t stop after one failed attempt. The power of the glow dimmed ever so slightly after one release of its gathered energy. Lord Bart continued with his lightning-fast barrage, sending a series of powerful attacks towards his opponent in quick session! Noticing the change on his opponent''s face and the strained reactions, he was grinning inwardly. Thinking that he was actually getting through this woman''s defenses, Lord Bart continued with his barrage. Each failed attack dimmed the de by a tiny amount, whilst each block released a small outburst of energy in a form of a shock wave. "Hmpf! Don''t celebrate too early!" Roared Naybeah. Suddenly, Lord Bart felt as if the air around them turned thicker, denser. A new aura appeared, contesting his own''s current dominance. Naybeah overcharged her body with a strange aura of energy! It looked simr to the Aura that the Amazon Queen had shown in the battle she had against the orcs both back at the forest initially or when they were escaping with the freed captives. No, it was even greater than that! Her mutated [Berserk] in-born skill enhanced this deep primordial power even further unleashing immense pressure against the young lord. For a moment, Lord Bart felt as if the sky had fallen on his shoulders as if he was pushing against an entire mountain This aura that emanated from Naybeah''s body wasn''t simply a showcase of her internal energy. It carried a strange, mysterious quality somewhat simr as if it was rted to an aspect, an element, albeit it was of a more unique nature! It had a sort of duality, an unholy fusion of two that normally shouldn''t have been possible. The amazon''s queen''s natural energy, Life mixed together with Naybeah''s unique trait, her [Berserk]''s Blood, fusing into something new Turning into an oppressive, battle-starved carnal force of nature! Lord Bart felt overwhelmed by merely facing such a force. It felt as if he was facing something incredibly powerful, something that for the first time in his blessed life he couldn''t simply pierce through! This incredible presence, this pressure radiating from the tall amazon made it so his entire body felt like its own weight had increased by several folds! "AAAARGH!" *FLASH!* Naybeah gathered her aura within her fist in a few seconds. As the streams of the aura''s energy seeped into her clenched right hand, it formed into a thinyer of brighter semi-transparent silver glove. Lord Bart braced himself for the impact as much as he could. Raising his weapon in front of his chest, he revolved more of his internal reserves, his mana into the de, reinforcing it even further. With the addition of new mana, recing the ones he had already used up, his de once again glimmered brightly, almost looking like a barrier of energy, a shield that he raised that he put up right in front of him just as *CLASH!* *BOOOM!* A massive shockwave took over the entire battlefield, shaking the ground itself, forcing all the fights to temporarily cease! "Nngh! Aaaggh!" Lord Bart gritted his teeth as he resisted the immense pressure from Naybeah''s fist. It felt as if the might of a whole realm was pressing down into his risen block! Naybeah''s own fist exploded into the form of a mass of pure and incredibly potent energy, which shaped into the form of her own fist, crashing down on the arrogant young lord and sending him flying through the air! *BOOOM!* Lord Bart fell over the floor, the massive attack left him inside a crater! "Uhh" His armor and high-quality clothes that he pompously swiveled around previously were now crumbled and deformed, lying around his body in shambles! Still despite the aching pain that pulsated across his entire body, he was smiling, even more so than before! Despite the shocking disy of power from the amazon that sent him flying like a batted fly, he felt more alive than ever! This was what he was looking for, the very stimuli that were missing from his life! "This feeling" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 644 - 644 - Equally Matched (2) Lying deep within a smaller crater in a man-sized cavity, Lord Bart''s tattered body looked quite miserable. He felt his muscles were about to be torn apart, and that his bones were just barely holding together and not shattered to tiny pieces. Still, despite the unimaginable pain, he must have been tormented with, there was a growing smile on his face, slowly, but gradually reaching crazed curves. He was like a madman, his sanity slowly but surely descending deeper as he reveled in all the stimuli his body and soul were sensing. Heaving a couple of controlled exhales, he activated a breathing technique. His body began to shine with a faint colorless hue, as it began to swiftly heal his wounds at an incredible speed. Soon, the grotesque sight of a man that looked as if it was barely hanging to his thread of life looked just as good as before the fight. Though the process was astounding, from the slightly strained look that shed across his eyes at the end, Naybeah had an idea of the one drawback the skill had. Its cost wasn''t only just an astounding amount of his already dwindling pool of mana, but also some of his vitality. The slightly paler expression was a tell-tale sign. "Huah!" Lord Bart roared as he finished healing his wounds about a minuteter and stomped at the ground with his feet and fists, causing his lying body tounch up in the air andnd at the edges of the small crater he had formed. "Heh Impressive, Mr. Pompous Prick Sir" Naybeah sneered as he looked at him. Though his body was healed, the fact that his attire as well as his probably high quality armor was shredded remained. Lord Bart''s previous aristocratic allure was nowhere to be seen. His heart was a tangled mess, only tiny shreds of his clothes hanged from his neck and shoulders whilst most of his chest were nowid out bare for everyone to gawk at. Still, he didn''t seem to mind that his image was somewhat ruined in front of these men and women. In his mind, none of them mattered besides the purple-haired beaut and this incredible find, this blonde amazon! He would deal with the rest of this rabbleter anyways who cares what they think before their death?! "It will take a bit more effort to take me down Our dance is far from being finished!" Said Lord Bart, a smile emerged on his lips as his azure eyes shone with bright light, he was filled with excitement, he could barely contain his childish glee as he was looking forward to the culmination of their battle! Naybeah''s power was spectacr, to say the least. Even at birth, she had shown amazing strength, far superior to the rest of her sisters, onlyparable to their queen. As she grew, the vast distance between her and the rest only grew further, which added by her borderline maddened craving for a challenge, a worthy foe to test her mettle against had far surpassed anyone in her tribe. She was, by all ounts, a freak of nature. Her unique power, the [Berserk] had suggested that she was blessed with a mysterious, and powerful bloodline. Being the blood-rted sister to the Amazon Queen, she too had a hint of the Amazon''s Goddess'' royal blood flowing in her veins. However, unlike with her sister''s purity, hers have fused together with something else. A gift from her unknown father no doubt. Lord Bart recovered his wounds as his entire body was enhanced greatly by his revolving mana. He looked like a wartorn hero that survived countless waves of assault already, looking firm and stout as it stood against the tide with a defiant smile on his face. A faint aura of winds swiveled wildly around his body as it began to enhance his physical capabilities even further. There was something within his entire build that made him a rather unique fighter, despite looking like an arrogant, ''pompous'' noble that only fights like a crazed bloodthirsty maniac Now an air of mystery surrounded the man. He seemed to be proficient with the Wind Element of Magic! Wind, an element that specialized in speed and swift movements, there were not many spellcasters nor powerful physical fighters such as him that possessed it. Usually, those born with the affinity for Wind were swift fighters, often being more like hunters, using light weapons and swift movements, dexterous techniques, and sharp senses to catch their prey. After the first few exchanges, Lord Bart recognized Naybeah as a formidable fighter. She seemed to not specialize in any element at all, she didn''t even rely on her blood, the rare element she seemed to be attuned the most with. No, she simply used her raw physical power! From what Lord Bart could find out, it seemed that she wasn''t using any tricks, but grew stronger the more they kept on exchanging blows. She didn''t drink elixirs, or used any spell at all! Heck, Lord Bart even doubted that the woman even had the ability to cast even the most basic body-enhancing spells at all! Still, that faint crimson hue that seemed to surround her being, was something else. It faintly reminded Lord Bart of the skills used by those battle-crazed humanoid monsters! The orcs, goblins, and the rest of those non-civilized barbaric violent creatures! Was she a half-blood? Lord Bart couldn''t help but wonder. Even though from the outside the woman looked nothing like the typical half-blood creatures, and had the seductive features of buxom beauty her nature, her strange trait seemed to hint at something else "This woman she is strong!" smiled Lord Bart as he got ready once again. - Lord Bart looked at Naybeah as he stretched his rejuvenated body. He raised his sabre above his head as his winds epassed it and also his entire body. Like a sh of wind, he quickly moved towards the amazon, confronting her once more! Lord Bart epassed his entire body with the power of his Winds, which flowed like spiraling and slicing semi-transparent colorless energy all around his body! These winds were strong and rather formidable, formidable enough to be capable of moving a toned, lean body with incredible precision and speed! His azure eyes shed with bright bluish light, as his muscles bulged, by fusing his martial arts techniques and his breathing techniques together! He merged them with his wind element and createdpletely new body-strengthening techniques that utilized the true power of the element of wind and fused it perfectly with his strength and vicious nature. "Take this, you cow!" He roared as his de struck down! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 645 - 645 - Equally Matched (Part 3) Lord Bart roared with a newfound vigor as his attack sailed across the meager distance between him and the skimpily dressed blonde amazon. The de of his sabre flew so swiftly that a bluish arc of residual energy mixed together with a series of hazy afterimages was left behind in its wake, creating the illusion of an ethereal g, or maybe even a tattered cape! Lord Bart''s sabre quickly fell over the amazon, which while being enhanced by all that Wind Essence together with the excess energy poured into it, he epassed his weapon with it and then unleashed several techniques, repeated quick strikes at the same time! *CLASH!* *CLASH!* *CLASH!* *CLASH!* Each strike was met with the same annoying result. Each time whilst carrying even more of his own strength, far surpassing anything present on the battlefield, shockingly this amazon still managed to react in time and even raise her massive weapon to block each attack. However, unlike before, her expression showed the strains of struggle. The blows weren''t fruitless, each strike unleashed all that momentum, all the carried energy in a violent explosive manner, releasing small shock waves to their surroundings. The air grew hot and blurry with all the feverish assault that was going on. Yet, despite the struggle she was clearly showing, the growing grin underneath it all did not fade even for a second. No, instead each time she felt the numbing pain course through her arms, reaching all parts and edges of her body, Naybeah felt a sensation that she could rarely experience! This was the true height of the sensation. The peak of the battle. The crescendo of this beautifully grotesque song! Naybeah was exhrated as she poured more of her own strength into her arms as she withstood the vicious barrage from her opponent. Simr to Naybeah, Lord Bart also slowly began to lose all sense of his earlier acting and was slowly descending to enjoying all the emotions, these incredible sensations that overwhelmed the decade-long numbness of his heart and soul. This feeling, this zeal this struggle they both were clearly experiencing as they continued to sh against one another only toe out with the same draw each and every time. On one side, he was internally shocked to find a seemingly randommoner, a ''filthymoner'' that for some inexplicable reason could match him in every aspect! This thought slightly aggrieved and also angered him, his pride as a noble. No, as an heir of one of the Great Noble houses, he should be standing high above on a glorified pedestal, looking down at the rest of the world. He should be privileged, it was his birthright! How could a wretched peasant, -a barbarian at that-, then dare to stand up against this belief?! Yet, at the same time, he was feeling a strange joy, an unknown source of excitement that slowly but surely, gobbled up all that negative emotion lording over her delusional heart and mind, and leave behind nothing but this primordial happiness, this joy for battle! *CLASH!* *CLASH!* *CLASH!* *CLASH!* Lord Bart kept on unleashing his attacks with no rest in sight. Swinging wildly, with a speed that made most of the slowly gathering crowd of mercenaries, adventurers, and his own surviving, but unfortunately defeated retainers, unable to follow with their eyes and could only react to the miniature sonic explosions they heard after each swing. Still, despite all that, Naybeah reacted with the same supernatural agility and dexterousness. The crimson hue, that now felt as if it was a coat of ethereal armor covering her body, enhanced her body by a tremendous amount. But Lord Bart didn''t let her go! She used her legs and her incredible strength to keep him down as she bathed him in constant blows, forming storms of winds that only made her deadly onught even deadlier! It seemed as if he had no end to his punishment against the monstrous blonde amazon, his attacks were mesmerizingly ruthless! Although it looked as if he was overwhelming her, he couldn''t cut off her pace or he would give him the chance to retaliate, something he didn''t want to! As the onught kept on going, Naybeah slowly found herself in a rather unfavorable position. She was left in a passive state as this annoying man dominated her, his de of strength wouldn''t stop at any second, and she couldn''t find any way to continue fighting, shecked enough techniques to find a way to retaliate, she was an amazon, a martial artist that relied on her overwhelming strength alone Well, and her willpower, her own selfish desires "Suddenly the image of her beloved mate, Aiden''s gentle smile appeared in her mind. That stupidly handsome face, and bewitching, charming smile that he so casually threw around. How could he not understand what a powerful weapon it truly was! She could see the joy, the happiness as it shined in his exotic, golden eyes as they gazed at her She knew she cannot falter, she cannot show a pathetic disy for her beloved! "AAAAAAARGH!!!!" Suddenly fueled by willpower alone, Naybeah rushed towards Lord Bart and pushed him down, taking all his zealous, swift attacks and simply unleashing everything she had against him! "Huh?" Lord Bart muttered these words as he looked at the woman as she suddenly stood up out of nowhere! Her fists suddenly began to be epassed by the power of his crimson aura, as they moved incredibly quickly, releasing consecutive punches against his chest! "Aaaauuuggggh!" *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* Each fist was like a massive iron hammer crushing over Lord Bart''s entire body, grinding his bones to dust. What was even worse, however, was that they were many, consecutively shing over him! Everyone else on the battlefield that was to receive this much damage would simply explode into pieces and die a most horrible death! Yet, as the crowd looked at Lord Bart, they were shocked! Somehow against everything Lord Bart had the same, matching, borderline crazed-looking smile stretching across his face! He was smiling?! "Ahahahahaha! That''s it! Unleash everything Shower me with your passion woman!" He began tough maniacally as the smile emerged on his lips, his entire body was being shrouded in enormously deathly attacks, thest remnants of his armor were twisting around and about to crack, but his muscles alone were standing up against the hits! "What is going on? Did he go crazy all of a sudden?" Someone, a Silver Wolf mercenary asked out, confused by the strange disy. Whilst most of the onlookers were shocked to witness the crazed response, and manic cackle from the previously haughty and arrogant noble young lord, their retainers knowingly smirked, as they all collectively nodded at each other and took a step back decisively whilst also raising their bound arms defensively against their bodies! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 646 - 646 - Joining The Fold (Part 1) At the same time as Naybeah''s battle was reaching its peak and their battle would conclude, far away from them towards the west, somewhere below the wasted surface, Aiden''s group have reached an agreement and epted Tak, the Draconic Skink Temple Guard Captain''s proposal. Just after they finished their humble but nevertheless filling breakfast meal, Aiden motioned for Tak to follow him to the back of the building where their cart was also being parked. His retainers, or to be more precise, Aiden''s captains although did not yet have the chance to be subjected to what he was nning to do with Tak, they somewhat knew what was about to happen. Looks of envy and jealousy sparked in their eyes as they looked at the ''lucky'' but confused middle-aged soldier as he followed after the small group of retinue. Whilst they found it mildly unfair that this neer has somehow got ahead of them in the imaginary ''queue'', they did not speak out their minds. Madam Dara couldn''t help but pout, as she walked along with his Master, Aiden. She felt that if anything she should be the first amongst her kin that should have earned this right, this blessing. She felt that she was the closest, she held him the dearest in her heart after all Aiden, though he could clearly feel the wildly swaying emotions from his group, decided to not speak up for or against it, as he slowly walked whilst carrying the little Tolliah in his arms. He merely donned his usual, characteristic smile that, in his current, elderly Skink form- looked rather grotesque. The scales were pushed up along the curve created by the wrinkled lip on his face. He gently caressed the top of the little one''s head, listening to the soothing noises of her peaceful snoozing; after overeating with the offered meal, despite the warnings of her elders, she had to rest a bit to ''recuperate''. Reaching into the dark alleyway, Tak couldn''t help but shiver, feeling he was being lured into the den of a monster. His emotions were going off the charts, as although he had proimed that he would dly sign away even his life if that would be requested of him, for the small chance of being reunited with his family. Even if for just a short time, he wanted to see them, embrace them know that they are now safe and free from the terror of that tyrant and his self-proimed god. "[Reptilian] Feeling light-footed all of a sudden Mr. Tak?" Aiden asked, stopping in his tracks and shing a yful smirk as he looked over his shoulder. Noticing the growing dread as it settled on the poor man''s face, he chuckled a momentter along with his attach. Waving his hand in a dismissive way Aiden added. "[Reptilian] You have nothing to worry about, you are safe. You are among my friends. Unlike your old masters, we do not ask anything outrageous. I only want your faith, for you to believe in me, to believe me when I say I will do EVERYTHING in my power to have your missed precious girls, your loved ones be reunited with you once again." Aiden first put the needy-little ko down on the back of the cart before turning around and looking over at Tak as well as his chosen six captains whom he has already connected with. As his face eased up revealing a much calmer, honest smile the six skinks'' eyes went wide with shock and surprise. At that moment, they instantly understood what was going on. They too would go along with their ''initiation'' ritual along with Tak and be reborn by their new lord''s gaze. Their lord, their Master did not forget them. The reason he did not do the ritual at the time was that when their pledge was epted and the ''connection'' was made, they were in the midst of a bloody battle for their own survival. Not to mention that the idea of putting all of his captains out ofmission wouldn''t have been a good idea, Aiden himself wasn''t sure at the time that his powers, his system would work the same in this realm. Besides, Madam Dara wasn''t even amongst them at the time, she was with her own group tailing the retreating forces and trying to ambush the enemy''s main forces off guard. He only just recently understood that his connection wasn''t cut with Haven and that he just needed to re-create the [Gate] to have the connection with his long-missed family of minions restored. Though he was yet to aplish this feat andplete this task, he was no longer hesitant. As the opportunity came knocking on the door with the Guard Captain Tak taking the initiative to approach them, Aiden did not wish to waste any more time and decided to ept everyone at the same time. "[Reptilian] You, my friends have already taken the leap and ced your heart and with it, your faith within me. You epted me as your leader, despite knowing the truth, and have wholeheartedly stood behind me." Aiden smiled as he looked at his captains. "[Reptilian] At the time, I could not give my blessing to you. I was cast in my own doubts and worries myself, unsure of both my purpose and even my past." He said, looking somewhat solemn. Taking a few short seconds, he allowed his captains to digest his words before hisplexion eased up once more. With his hands raised in an inviting manner, he first looked over at his captains. "[Reptilian] Now the time hase. The shadows of my own doubts and worries have been lifted. My purpose No, OUR purpose is clear." He said, ncing over at Tak and nodding at him with the same reassuring smile before slowly looking at the eagerly smiling Madam Dara. Even from under the cover of her hood, her wide grin was almost visible. "[Reptilian] Come, my dear Dara. You are amongst those that I should be the most apologetic to. My deception must have caused you the most harm, after all, you were the one that stood the closest to my vessel''s previous host." Aiden motioned with his hand, inviting the almost euphoric woman over. "Please, let me ask you onest time. Come" Tak looked confused as he listened to the hooded merchant''s words. What was he talking about? What vessel, what host? What blessings? What was going on? Why are they gathered here, what would be happening? Yet, before he could ponder any further on such thoughts, suddenly the thoughts, the words, and even his own blood froze in him as he heard the deep, yet somewhat familiar-sounding rumbling voiceing from Aiden. "KNEEL!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 647 - 647 - Joining The Fold (Part 2) Tak looked confused as he listened to the hooded merchant''s words. What was he talking about? What vessel, what host? What blessings? What was going on? Why are they gathered here, what would be happening? Yet, before he could ponder any further on such thoughts, suddenly the thoughts, the words, and even his own blood froze in him as he heard the deep, yet somewhat familiar-sounding rumbling voiceing from Aiden. "KNEEL!" With his hand raised, Aiden ced atop Madam Dara''s head ever so gently. A bright, kind smile brimming on his face, Aiden was actually quite pleased to feel their conviction. Their bond was already strong, much stronger than he would have expected it to be. With a thought, he unwrapped his own energy that subdued his new aura, and let it unfold in the dark alleyway. Although he still wasn''tpletely certain if the process would be the same as on Eora, based on what he could see from the System, he felt that everything should be fine. Just like with all other times before, Aiden''s aura unleashed as if a hungering, vicious beast''s chains were suddenly unshackled, letting it surround and engulf Aiden''s newest subjects. The group of six captains suddenly felt as the air around them changed. They all felt their lord''s, their master''s aura as it suddenly descended down on the alleyway like a thin, silky velvet wrapping around all of them in its gentle caress. Though it first startled them with the sudden increase in density and thickness, after a while it turned pleasant, soothing even. Their hearts, that were previously filled with a wild cavalcade of emotions slowly began to clear out. Their rapid, rhythmic beats turned several grades slower. As they looked at their master''s bright smile, brilliant, shining golden eyes they felt love reverence. This image of the young master began to take its residence in the very core of their heart, bing the ultimate meaning of their existence. After all the worry left their hearts and their souls only then did Aiden fully start the process he was growing more and more familiar with. cing both his hands atop the heads of the two mature female skinks, his wrinkled lips parted as a deep, majestic, and thundering voice rang out in ce of his usual tone of voice. His suddenly changed tone, adding with the same gentle expression that donned his face made him shining akin to a literal God that has descended from the heavens to bless his most faithful servants. "[Reptilian] Swear up to me, my dears, and I will grant you the power that you all desire, the strength you deserve!" The two women, Madam Dara and Pyre didn''t even need a second to immediately go on their knees and bow towards their lord and master. "[Reptilian] I, Dara Throxiak swear to follow and serve you, Aiden Voragon for the rest of my life!" "[Reptilian] I, Pyre De Zok swear to follow and serve you, Aiden Voragon for the rest of my life!" Both females yelled out in tandem and with a passionate, somewhat heated gaze. Even without Aiden asking for it, they would have dly followed the young master everywhere. Ever since learning the truth they wanted nothing more than to earn this honor. Their lives would no longer have any color, any meaning without him being in it. Aiden closed his eyes and focused on the flow of the energy revolving around inside him. He slowly guided it towards both of his palms and began to transfer it to his two newest subjects, Madam Dara and Lady Pyre. Feeling as their master began to share his own power with them, both skinks felt the same warm sensation that they felt when he released his aura and let it descend on the alleyway. It was a simr yet, at the same time, a much more intensive feeling. They felt a mystical flow entering seeping into their bodies from the top of their heads, slowly spreading towards all ends of their little bodies. At the same time, as the energy continued to gather, culminate inside them, they felt a pulsation from their Core, the very source of their existence. Whilst this was shocking, and not something they have ever felt before, they knew it was the sign that they were about to evolve, they were about to reach a new level. They both had to focus with all their willpower not to jump up and dance around the room from the joy they felt in their heart. No, they couldn''t waste the master''s efforts, they had to take it all in let the historical moment happen to them. With his eyes closed, Aiden was focusing on the flow of energy inside their bodies, he was following its route intently. He traced it as the energy was continuously gobbled up, sucked into their little [Draconic Skink] core, gathering more and more pure essence, more energy inside its crystalline walls. He could follow and feel the creation of the new seedlings made out of his own energy, [Soul Power] in its center, triggering the now, well-known evolution part of the eptance ceremony. As the seed was finally formed Madam Dara''s and Lady Pyre''s bodies suddenly began to shine. At first, it was just a faint golden light, but in mere seconds, the intensity rapidly increased, turning soon shrouding their entire bodies with a golden light barrier. Whilst Aiden could withstand the illumination, the rest of the group had to shield their eyes as the shine was too intensive for their untrained, darkness-ustomed eyes. The intense glow that created two bright, brimming golden silhouettes, began to slowly grow, gaining height at a rapid pace. Their thin arms and legs gained a bit of weight, as new muscle mass was made. Both women''s shapes began to gradually transform, growing several inches in height, reaching just half a head below Aiden''s original look, the average height of most humans. While Pyre''s silhouette remained slim and slender, looking graceful, Madam Dara''s figure retained the hourss shape and even further expanded on it, giving her already seductive outlook, even more appeal. The process was fairly fast, the transformation took at most 2 full minutes before the light that shielded their bodies slowly began to fade, gradually revealing the new features and look of the duo. Just as their silhouettes suggested, they both grew much taller, stronger and healthier. Lady Pyre grew at least two heads in height, towering over her kin with ease. Her body remained slim and slender, with gaining healthy curves that were just perfect for her body type. Nothing too outstanding, but just enough for every man to be enjoyed and appreciated. As for Madam Dara, her transition was even more shocking. Her scales have vanished entirely, reced by a supple, dark brown, almost tanned-looking skin, her transformation was unbelievable! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 648 - 648 - Joining The Fold (Part 3) Madam Dara''s previously scaled, reptilian visage now brimmed much differently, healthy vigorous, supple tanned olive skin supported the tworge gemstone-like yellow nted eyes and those rosy red, round kissable lips of hers. The tinges of matte ck straight silky strands of hair cascaded below and peeked out from beneath the hood''s protective cover she was still wearing, albeit it was no longer baggy, but looked fit, following the bountiful curves of her alluring figure. Whilst Pyre still more-or-less seemed to retain her reptilian, [Draconic Skink] origin, for Madam Dara, she no longer resembled anything of her previous self besides her hourss figure which was more emphasized now. A fiery red, vibrant crimson saturated flock of hair peaked from Pyre''s hood, just like with Madam Dara, she too now supported a head full of hair, despite still being a reptilian. Her eyes, had a darker, almost orange tint, glowing in the dark depths of her hood, looking mysterious and strangely, flickering with an unknown power. As they kept looking at themselves, trying to take in and get a feel for the changes their brethren in the back were looking wide-eyed andpletely shocked by what they just witnessed. Their two friends evolved and transformed into something new, something never seen before. They could also feel the tremendous power brimming inside the previously fragile-looking frames A smirk gradually stretched across Aiden''s elderly face as he looked at the shocked expression of his captains and his soon-to-be official minion and servant, Tak as they gazed at the two mature females'' new bodies. At the same time, he shelved the notifications that kept ringing in the corners of his eyes, he had onest task to aplish after all. Tak waspletely baffled and bbergasted as he bore witness to a scene that defied his logic and understanding. From a simple touch of this strange robed figure''s hands, both females have suddenly reached the breakthrough for their cores and evolved! Shedding their previous simple [Draconic Skink] origins, now both looked something new, unique, and exotic. Still, knowing that there were several more rounds toplete, he stepped over the rest of the figures and repeated the same process with each and every one of them. One by one, all of Aiden''s captains swore their loyalty, knelt in front of their new lords, and epted their blessings one after another. Captain Eori, Draghan''s Elite, Pyre, Madam Dara, As Aiden repeated the same process by touching the top of their heads and whilst revolving his own [Soul Power], he transferred over several wisps of it into their bodies, each of them soon was basked in the same golden light, as their cores reached the breaking point and leveled up to a higher realm, initiating the guided evolution process for their hosts. The four male captain''s bodies shined brightly, as their height grew, each turning from their previous meter-tall small frame into a hulking giant, each towering massively even above their lord and master. Muscles upon muscles stretched the woolen cloth of their robes to their limit, causing it to burst and tear apart around their arms, unable to withstand the pressure any longer. Their scales grew thicker, more defined, protecting their owners like a scaled chain mail. Along with their frames, their tails also grew, plopping down on the ground as they curled behind their bodies. They all looked somewhat simr to the sinister cannibalistic ex-general that they feared with all their soul before. From skinks, they now stepped into the realm of Sauruses, fearsome musclebound predators of the murky swamps and mires. In the end, only one person remained, now looking much timider and even somewhat afraid of what was toe. Would he also turn into one of these monsters? Would he end up different? Would he even receive the same blessing? Does he truly deserve it even? Still, Tak had already decided, he could not and most importantly, WOULD not turn back any more. Whoever this man was, and whatever his powers may be, he has already stepped on that metaphorical boat. Tak, the Guard Captain of the Temple Guards and now a faithful servant of this man known as ''Aiden Voragon'' have gone down to the ground on both knees and began to kowtow to his newest master. With ast sigh, he cast away thest of his doubts and fears. Gradually both his mind and heart cleared out, there was no hesitation anymore. Aiden gave an affirming nod, epting the skink captain''s show of respect. He ced his right hand on top of his head, and just like before, he began transferring the energy, revitalizing and hopefully, forcing an evolution for him too. He once again revolved his thinning reserves of [Soul Power], focusing on it as he guided a thin strand of it along with the continued stream and focused on the changes he could feel. He focused on its route, as it entered into the middle-aged skink man''s body, spreading all around finding each crevice, each hidden corner, whilst also making its way towards his center, the already hungry-looking Core beside his heart. He watched as the current first began to circte around the crystal, looking almost as how thes would orbit around their stars. it was an interesting sight, different from the previous few times, it looked as if it was waiting for a final order to begin its transforming process. With a thought, Aiden gave the order, focusing his mind to make sure he wouldn''t miss anything. The energy, as if reacting to the mentalmand, stopped for a moment and rejoined the current of the other energy that continuously flowed, seeped into the crystal''s depth. Just like all the previous cases, a small light slowly began to shine, as a miniature seed was formed. However, this time, thanks to Aiden''s own energy, it was growing at a much higher pace, reaching the size of a bean in a matter of seconds. From the outside, the now evolved group of exotic lookingpany of Aiden''s captains and now faithful servants were looking at their newest brethren with eager and rapt attention, watching as the small, fragile frame of the little skink was soon absorbed by the now-familiar looking golden luster, shielding and engulfing him entirely. Just like before it was a gradual process. At first, it was merely a faint light, a weak glow that surrounded his body like an opaque, magical barrier. Soon, however, the intensity of the protectiveyer of light began its rapid ascent. In just a few more blinks'' of time, the entire frame of the small reptilian was now shielded from prying eyes, nothing but a vague transforming, growing silhouette could be made out if one squinted his or her eyes and decided to dare the blindness. The silhouette gradually grew, reaching higher inch by inch, easily surpassing the two females, yet its climb did not stop there it was growing further! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 649 - 649 - Shocking Changes The silhouette continued to alter its shape, growing taller and bulkier with each passing instant! At first, its shape took on a simr rough form as the newly born Aiden''s Saurian Captains, but the changes didn''t stop there! It kept on growing, Tak soon could easily tower over his new brethren, reaching a head extra then more! Eventually reaching a massive, bulky frame, a humongous creature''s hazy silhouette was beginning to draw out! With a height that was around twice the size of its kin, the reborn Tak was like a hulking giant of the musclebound creature standing and peering over a group of small fragile weaklings. The hulking beast looked to be topping somewhere at around 5 meters, with at least a 2-meter width of brawny shoulders to support his new visage. A tail just asrge and wide slithered with visible excitement on the dusty floor. Two oversized arms, now acting more as fore legs supported the creature''s frame, as it seemed to be standing in a kneeling position on its hind legs. Elongated, long head shape, reminiscent of crocodiles or alligators held his giant golden eyes that rested deeply in their fist-sized deep sockets. As the luster of golden light gradually faded, a creature with surprisingly dark purple and dark brown gradient thick scales stood in front of Aiden and his group of captains, shocking them all in an equal manner. Just like his captains, even Aiden was shocked, or more precisely baffled at the astounding transformation, this unexpected evolution, Tak the Guard Captain has gone under. Though he wasn''t measly, he was still normal in terms of how these mostly small, gnome-sized reptilian creatures have looked! Now, he looks like an absolute giant whenpared to them, a fearsome, terrifying humungous monster that could only remain hidden in the alleyway because of the multi-story tavern covering it up, albeit barely. Yet, his shock mixed with surprise and an equal amount of confusion soon soured with a hint of reality as it transformed into worry and a growing tinge of frustration. How would Tak now return to his duties and act as if nothing happened? Looking like this massive predatory, feral-looking version of lizardkin, Aiden''s original n of subterfuge would be now doomed to fail! What should he do? He also couldn''t afford to have Tak remain with them, or go to his new home, Haven. His old peers and the church priests would take note of his sudden departure, and most likely send a team of experts to investigate! Knowing that hisst known location was in the outer slum districts, a bunch of Elite Temple Guard Soldiers would soon swarm the district, making Aiden''s quest and overall goal impossible toplete. He also couldn''t just then decide to take the initiative and charge at the front gates like a madman. Besides not knowing the overall strength of the enemy, making him basically walk in the dark, he would also endanger the captives he was supposed to rescue! Yet, what should he do now? Aiden was once again burdened with newfound worries, clueless and confused about the next steps he should take. Just as he was about to fall into his self-created pit of despair, and falter under his own newly formed problems, the soothing mature voice of his System''s Guide, Enya rang out in his mind. ''[Do not be ovee with such baseless worries, my de- -Aiden.]'' She spoke, stuttering at the end for a moment before fixing her phrasing lest the system''s wrath would be cast upon her once again. ''[Before you fall intoplete despair, and lose your hope, be sure to check each and every new minion of yours. You might be pleasantly surprised!]'' [Minion: Dara Voragon has been created! Current Minion count: 6/100 Minion Details: Name: Dara Voragon Race: Primal Draconic Skink (Demoness Strain) (Tier 2+) (Mutated) ss: Assassin Level: 12 Condition: 100% Soul Power: 100 Mana: 50 Experience: 0 Might: 10 Agility: 16 Spirit: 12 Skills: Language: Reptilian (Lvl -), Hunt (Level 4), Martial Arts (Level 5), Sword Mastery (Level 3), Dagger Mastery (Level 8), Magic Proficiency (Lvl -), Dark Magic (Lvl 1), Blood Magic (Level 1), Dragonlord''s Grace (Lvl 1), Subterfuge (Lvl 9), Sneaking (Lvl 8), Backstab (Level 8) Effects: Touch of the Primal (Lvl -), Primal Core (Lvl 1) ] Madam Dara, now reborn as a part of Aiden''s growing family, seems to have mostly retained his original race, albeit it was vastly altered. Aiden''s infusion of his own essence made her be reborn with even more entuated draconic traits. Surprisingly though, a hint of demonic strain has been added or more precisely revealed. Perhaps an old family inheritance, as even with the infusion of Aiden''s vastly superior Soul Power it couldn''t im dominance but just slightly altered her outlook to be even more seductive, alluring. Still, whilst for now, it didn''t seem to add any unexpected ability into the mix, well besides the unexpected magical awakening and the slightly grotesque schools she had an affinity towards in the end, she was just as she would have expected: An expert assassin, and maybe even a potential spy-sh-scout in the future. Next, he looked at Lady Pyre''s details, which turned into exactly what Aiden expected already. [Minion: Pyre Voragon has been created! Current Minion count: 7/100 Minion Details: Name: Pyre Voragon Race: Primal Draconic Skink (Tier 2+) (Clean) ss: Pyromancer Level: 12 Soul Power: 200 Mana: 100 Experience: 0 Might: 8 Agility: 9 Spirit: 18 Skills: Language: Reptilian (Lvl -), Language: Common (Lvl -), Spear Mastery (Lvl 3), Martial Arts (Lvl 3), Magic Proficiency (Lvl -), Fire Magic (Lvl 10), Earth Magic (Lvl 5), Dragonlord''s Grace (Lvl 1), Silent Casting (Lvl 1) Effects: Touch of the Primal (Lvl -), Primal Core (Lvl 1) ] After the infusion of Aiden''s [Soul Power], his own essence, Lady Pyre has been reborn as a terrifying spellcaster with incredibly potent and more importantly, HIGHLY destructive spells to boot. Her Mastery of Fire has reached the threshold, level 10, meaning that with a bit of training and push, she may even evolve the skill to its next stage, whatever that may be! Also, as he looked at the second minion sheet, Aiden couldn''t help but frown as he noticed that bothdies had both Soul Power and some amount of Mana as well. What did that even mean? Shouldn''t the two be ipatible with each other, having a violent reaction whening in contact with the other? Sensing his confusion, Enya swiftly came to the rescue again and spoke in his host''s mind with her usual gentleness. ''[Their remaining mana are the crystallized remnants residing in their own cores. Their evolution did notpletely transform it into its higher form. Still, it is not an issue as currently that resource is sealed, they could not use it. With proper guidance from you and a couple of sessions of meditation they could gradually convert it into Soul Power on their own, thus unlocking their full potential.]'' Heaving a sigh, he turned his gaze over to Tak, only to be shocked by what greeted him --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 650 - 650 - Shocking Changes (Part 2) Tak, the Guard Captain of the Temple Guards, the church''s de facto militaristic force that made sure their rule could be kept on going over the poor, miserable folk of Ugburg has changed drastically. The poor, wretched, miserable Draconic Skink no longer existed, in ce, apletely new and baffling hulking monstrosity a brute, fierce warrior could now be seen. As Aiden nced over his details in the system, he was absolutely shocked. His changes were the most baffling, the most outrageous out of all of his new system-epted Minions, his newest addition to the Voragon Family Household. [Minion: Tak Voragon has been created! Current Minion count: 7/100 Note: Dormant Primordial Strain found! Attempting to activate strain Partial Sess! Guided Evolution in progress Completed! Note: Primordial Strain has not been fully awakened yet. Further evolution is required forplete sess. Some skills and effects, have yet to be activated.] [Minion Details: Name: Tak Voragon Race: Primal Draconic Dread Saurian Knight (Youngling) (Tier 3) (Mutated) ss: Warrior Level: 15 Condition: 100% Soul Power 50 Mana: 0 Experience: 0 Might: 22 Agility: 12 Spirit: 4 Skills: Language: Reptilian (Lvl -), Hunt (Lvl 7), Martial Arts (Lvl 4), Predatory Senses (Lvl 8), Bestial Rush (Level 1), Unarmed Combat (lvl 8), Weapon Mastery: Basic (Lvl 8), Draconic Dread Saurian Form: ws (lvl -), Draconic Dread Saurian Form: War Cry of the Reptilian Overlord(lvl -), Aura Mastery (lvl 1), Aura of the Apex Predator (Lvl 1), Dragonlord''s Grace (Lvl 1), Draconic Dread Saurian Form: Flight (Lvl 1), Shapeshift: Draconic Skink Form (Lvl -), ???? Effects: Physical Resistance (Lvl 5), Poison Resistance (Lvl 10), Magic Resistance (Lvl 8), Touch of the Primal (Lvl -), Primal Core (Lvl 1), ???? ] As he read through the long list of notifications, Aiden was shocked beyond belief. The small, albeit just-hearted little creature, had turned into something that he would have never expected, even in his wildest dreams. The once small Draconic Skink was now a massive beast-like creature, something the system termed as [Primal Draconic Dread Saurian Knight], which to be honest was way too long of a name for essentially what reminded Aiden to the illustrations of dinosaurs from his previous life''s memories. His massive, musclebound frame easily dwarfed over the rest of his newly joined kin, the rebel force captains. With such a size, his previous armor hung loosely on his neck. It was actually quite a miracle it didn''t tear apart and somehow, miraculously survived such an ordeal. From the massive list of skills, Aiden found what his System''s Guide, Enya was hinting at earlier. Surprisingly, Tak also inherited his special ability in a very restricted, limited version; he could use [Shapeshifting] albeit only to change his form back to his [Draconic Skink] origin. Still, with the new skillset, which some probably was derived from his decades-long military service and his newly gained herculean strength, he was bound to make a couple of surprises once he returns to his assigned barracks. Also, whilst most of the skills he had listed under his name in the system were either already familiar with Aiden, or could easily be derived, there were a few he wanted to check to understand exactly what did it entail. First, he checked, [Predatory Senses], which he already had an inkling towards, but still wanted to make sure he was on the right track. [Predatory Senses: The senses of a hunter, a predator of the beast world are sharper than average. The wielders of the skill can spread out their sharpened senses around themselves, creating a 10-meter radius aura per level around themselves. Life forms that could be counted as prey could no longer remain hidden once they enter this aura of awareness. Notes: Every animal and or critter creature that is below thebined level of the Host and the skill will be automatically revealed, making the host aware of their exact location. The skill is passive thus does not require energy to remain active.] Next, Aiden wanted to understand more about the [Bestial Rush]. [Bestial Rush: Guide the rage and ferocity towards driving the host''s muscles into overdrive, causing a sudden surge in speed and momentum. Charge down your enemies, dealing massive damage upon impact! Note: Active Skill, requires energy for activation. Each invested energy invested will proportionately increase the rushing speed, thus building more and more momentum to be explosively released upon impact with target or obstacle. User is immune to the release of energy and the subsequent shock wave, but not for the resulting debris.] Whilst he more or less already expected what the skill would do, he was still pleasantly surprised by it. Though Tak had a very limited amount of resources to work any active ability with, [Bestial Rush] had no minimum energy requirement. The investment was only rted to the energy infusion to the impact, further increasing the velocity and Tak''s speed. He could still run headfirst against his enemies even without investing a single point of his 50 point pool of [Soul Power], but it would have less of an impact, the oue wouldn''t be explosive in nature. In any way, the skill was incredibly useful, Tak''s power during battles would greatly increase even if his only gain would be this single ability. Though he was already shocked and surprised multiple times by now, Aiden still had one more skill he wanted to check before closing down the system screen. He focuses his intent on the strange and unknown but quite winded-sounding [Draconic Dread Saurian Form: War Cry of the Reptilian Overlord] ability of Tak. [Draconic Dread Saurian Form: War Cry of the Reptilian Overlord: Unleash the true might and dominance of a true, born leader of all lizardkin! A dread saurian is a fearsome beast, a supreme, born king of the reptilian races. With a hint of the mighty and legendary dragon added into the mixture, the Draconid Dread Saurian is a creature that all living beings should fear. As the spiked fins of the Dread Saurian''s back brush the top of the jungle canopy as they move around, these massive beasts were once constantly searching for prey to satisfy their never-ending hunger. Tearing into the flesh of anything below their level, these beasts bellowed an ear-shattering thunderous victory cry after each meal, signaling the demise of yet another creature. This ability is an evolved form of that cry, inducing fear and dread into the hearts of anything below thebined level of the Host and the skill, stunning them for a brief period, and lowering their abilities! At the same time, all lizardkin hearing the roar of their overlord would have their moral soar to new heights, having their stats and skills greatly boosted.] ''What the This This is'' Aiden was once again stunned --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 651 - 651 - A True Demon Crowning the manic cackle the young master, Lord Bart was seemingly losing hisst strains of sanity into, at the same time a strange phenomenon could be seen. His trembling body, that first was ounted to the heavy heaves of his strained breathing, then to his weird, crazy, mad actions have not ceased but instead became weirder by each passing second. His shoulders were trembling, as he slowly, but surely raised his arms drawing a wide berth, eventually turning his frame into a devoted vagrant, preying for the blessing or perhaps the salvation to an entity residing in a higher ne. Yet, if that would be the case only, his retainers wouldn''t be smirking with a knowing grin stered on their faces, forgetting even their shameful, humiliating defeat in the process. No, at most, their leader would bebeled as a crazy madman, and then consequently chained as he should be. No, the strange event didn''t stop there, but gradually progressed further. His manic cackling never ceasing, it only gained more and more support through some mysterious, unknown means whilst also the tone gradually shifting, turning into a more sinister voice, even gaining a strange, deeper undertone in the process. A duality of some sort, as if not one, but two creatures were sounding in perfect sync, talking, speaking, andughing in unison. Lord Bart''s body kept on shivering, though at this point it seemed as if he was having a sudden seizure. His body was convulsing, though not yet dropped down on the ground, he didn''t seem that far of it either. His eyes hung up, revealing nothing but pure white sclera as he kept on cackling,ughing that no longer felt that it came from pure joy, happiness, or anything positive rted but now felt frightening terrifying even. Strange, dark, almost ck smoke was released, expunged from his pores, forming a thin, semi-translucentyer of gaseous barrier around his frame, shrouding his figure further into his dark, twisted form. Lord Bart''s handsome visage now transformed, as his facial muscles contorted into forming devilish curves reaching almost demonic proportions. His white sclera turned gradually darker as the taint of darkness soon began to seep intoing somewhere below the depths of his very being, perhaps the core of his soul. Suddenly his muscles swelled, bulging as they seemingly doubled their mass and weight in a sh of a single second. His veins, that were previously residing and hiding beneath his supple fair skin, now covered his body like an unholy chaotic grid of webs, showing themselves much to the spectating crowd''s dismay as they protruded through Lord Bart''s clothes. *RIP!* *TEAR!* Suddenly the shredding of his clothes could be hearding from Lord Bart''s back. Strange, triangr-shaped bone-like spikes emerged following the trail of his spine all the way towards below his waistline, where they seemingly vanished without a trace. They were akin to the fins of the massive mythical beasts from ancient, prehistoric times that tore through Lord''s Bart shirt and even his reinforced leather vest. His muscles gradually swelled even further, soon defeating the fabric''sst remaining bits of resistance and revealing the strange, greyish-looking new, veinous fiber, his skin tissue underneath. His nails darkening, they transformed into a sharp set of straight ws, that from the distance wasn''t too dissimr to the sharpened tips of the throwing daggers'' ebony des. As if signaling the end of the strange eerie transformation, Lord Bart''s cackling soon began to die down and fade away. Soon he turned silent, though the sinister-looking demonic sneer was retained over his face, dominating his expression as he slowly raised his head and turned to look at his opponent, the tall blonde amazon Naybeah. Despite the emerging monstrous self of this supposed human noble heir, Naybeah''s excitement didn''t falter, she wasn''t scared by any bit. If anything, after witnessing such a strange demonic transformation her excitement soared even further, reaching newer, previously never experienced heights and zeniths. Her thirst for battle never ceased, she was grinning just as madly, as she did before, she reinforced her grip over the handle of her humongous war axe as she slowly raised it diagonally in front of her body. "Nice I hope you will be provide sufficient challenge before you lose whatever this is." She sneered, rotating the handle, watching as the circr metal head of her axe spun around. Looking at her sneer, Lord Bart''s lips slowly parted, but the voice it came out was not his own, but belonged to someone or perhaps something else "Hehehe Ignorant mortal You will soon learn the consequences of forcing HIM to undo the seals and unleash me! I will feast on your flesh, and quench my thirst with your boiling blood! DIE FOR ME HUMAN!" A deep, rumbling voice reverberated over the battlefield. As he uttered hisst words, suddenly a shock wave erupted, a force of energy was released, rippling across the vast in of the ruins of the ancient city. The force was strong to the point, that it threw several unsuspecting Silver Howl mercenaries to the ground, whilst the others could only remain standing because of their familiarity with their missing young leader and his simr actions in the past. They have all made sure to nt their feet deeper into the ground, sinking it beneath the soil, allowing them to withstand the sudden pressure with some additional effort. The aura that explodeding from the demonically transformed Lord Bart however, was unlike the thick, heavy divine power this young leader, Aiden was known for by now. No, this one made the surrounding air lose several degrees in temperature, turning the air, quiveringly, bone-chilling cold. The winds that blew by felt likeing from the ice-capped arctics, whistling with the strange gloomy, eerie delight. It was a deep killing intent, honed and perfected through myriads of battles. Whoever was the owner, holder of such terrifying domain, must have murdered, ughtered, and may have even reaped not in the hundreds but most likely thousands upon thousands of souls. This entity was surely not of this world. He wasn''t Lord Bart, but something else. A creature residing in a separate ne of existence. The wretched forsaken counterpart of the heavens A devil contracted from the depths of Hell, their souls bonded through some unknown means or magical contract Lord Bart unleashed a true demon, upon his foe! - Lord Bart abruptly jumped up, his body charging forward with an explosive, violent sudden momentum. His eyes,pletely dark, looking like the empty void, he rushed towards the loosely prepared blonde amazon. His face twisted into the same sinister, cruel grin, his wed hands were raised, he had long since cast away his sabre --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 652 - 652 - Power Up Lord Bart abruptly jumped up, his body charging forward with an explosive, violent sudden momentum. His eyes,pletely dark, looking like the empty void, he rushed towards the loosely prepared blonde amazon. His face twisted into the same sinister, cruel grin, his wed hands were raised, he had long since cast away his sabre He was akin to a dark blur in reality as he crossed the meager distance between them in a sh! *SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!* His ws struck down, drawing an ''X'', a slightly angled cross shape as they sliced the air, closing in rapidly on the grinning, heaving amazon. Yet, before they could reach their designated target and tore apart the skin, flesh, and organs of the skimpily dressed woman, Naybeah leaned her body to the back, whilst she raised her weapon parrying the double strike. *CLINK!* *CLINK!* Two loud metallic sounds rang out through the battlefield, as metal came in contact with the unholy set of ws. The failed attempt at his ambush did not falter the demon-possessed Lord Bart''s determination. New attacks came in response to the first, he was unleashing wildly, with a ferocity and savageness that resembled more of a beast than that of a refined man. *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* Each attack rang loudly as it collided with the reinforced metal alloy of Naybeah''s treasured battle axe, sparks were sent flying to the surrounding with each block, parry, and strike. Everyone was left shocked! The sudden surge of power, this ufortable, shivering, cold air The fight between these two was simply at another level! Everyone around the battlefield, all the spectators just saw something they have never expected to see and were left shocked. "This" muttered Sara, a deep frown was settled onto her face dominating her expression as she continued spectating the fight. The visual transformation, those bulging muscles that seemed to grow out of nowhere, the sharp bones protruding from the back of what was just a simple obnoxious human a few moments ago She was shocked that such a fiend resided with such a well-situated noble family! It was certainly not an inherited bloodline ability, but had to be done through some sort of ritual However, besides Sara, everyone else felt even more intimidated by this unholy, abhorrent creation! The mercenaries as well as Aiden''s group of adventurers were left beyond shocked, nobody could have expected that he would do such a thing Even though they were the calmest as they have already known about their young lord''s secret, they too looked mostly worried about what would happen now that the demon was given the driving wheel, and had pushed their master''s soul to the back. Naybeah couldn''t help but end up in a highly unfavourable position of now being thrown into the receiving end of such wanton, senseless feral attacks. Raising her axe to passively take over the blows, covering her body with her arms and receiving such deadly attacks, she was slowly but gradually losing her stamina "No! I cannot show such a pathetic disy! I have to live up to his glory, I cannot be a burden to him" She muttered to herself, her rage, frustration, and anger continuously building up, her evolved [Bloodlust] skill pumping more and more of the mysterious energy restoring the stamina she kept on losing Naybeah was being attacked incessantly by the demonic Lord Bart. The deadly swordsman now possessed by an unknown, but terrifyingly powerful fiend was not letting her any way to escape nor rest! His deadly ws were breaking through the wind at an incredible speed! Despite his size, Lord Bart''s attacks moved so fast thanks to the Demonic Infusion and his constantly growing craving for battle! *sh!* *sh!* *sh!* *sh!* "Aaargh." Naybeah groaned in pain as she kept on concentrating, blocking and absorbing blow after blow her innate power was working in overdrive. She had to tap into her true power, her true might, and let it alle out. It was the only way she could triumph in this fight; this was the only way she would be able to pull through such a dangerous battle! Suddenly a massive aura of strength began to surge from her body, as everyone spectating this was left speechless by the sight. Sara opened her eyes wide open, this power surprised her as well. Whilst she saw how Klemeia, the amazon queen took over her sister''s body to provide some of her divine essence, this time this was different! "W-what kind of power is this?" She wondered, muttering to herself, shocked for the umpteenth time since they began to sh to the death with one another. Every time a side would finally seem to triumph over the other and began to dominate the battle, the other one pulled out something shocking and surprising to reach even higher, far surpassing the limits of what would have been expected of them. "Young Master has already known something special was hiding inside her. It''s no surprise he took her under his care after all!" Galina muttered, as a ''knowing'', a thoughtful smile appeared, enriching her face. "Huh? What do you mean?" Lily turned to look at her sister with a surprised look on her face. "Did brother know about this? Did he say anything to you?" She asked, a small pout pulling her cute lips together. "Ehehehe" However, instead of responding, Galina giggled instead, as a mysterious glint shed across her eyes. "You will know soon enough, big sister!" *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* "Graaaggh!" Naybeah couldn''t help but end up in another position of passiveness as she took over the blows, covering her body with both her arms and weapon, absorbing the vicious, deadly blows. Soon, hideous wounds, w marks dotted her body as cracks finally started to appear on her defense. Gritting her teeth and withstanding the searing pain and the growing numbness in her arms, Naybeah willed for more strength, for more power. She prayed for her elder sister, the amazon queen, as well as for her beloved chosen mate, Aiden. She wished nothing more than to see her stupidly handsome face, her charming, heart melting smile. To taste those supple lips of his as she pecked it and stole another of his kisses. To feel his embrace, his warmth as he hugged him, feeling protected like being the princess she never had the chance to experience. Suddenly, as Naybeah wished for more power toe, her sheer will, her determination activated something residing deep inside of her. Her [Bloodlust] activated once more, as a wave of aura of strength coated her body shining in a faint but visible crimson hue and exploding into a massive shockwave. *BOOOOOOM!!!!* --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 653 - 653 - That’s All? A huge shockwave quaked the battlefield. Lord Bart, who was still under the demonic influence of whatever entity he had made a contract with was suddenly seen flying in the air, crashing into the nearby dpidated ruins and buried deep into under the falling rubble. Like him, the spectators were also mercilessly hurled away, flinging like hopeless rocks as they crashed into the ground several meters farther away. Only Aiden''s friends could remain mostly on their feet, albeit sliding backward several steps in the soil. The sudden release of energy was so violent, so explosive that following it, only an eerie and dreadful silence reigned over the Ancient City ruins. Arge amount of dust formed into a cloud shrouding the epicenterpletely. Yet, even with the thick, gray rope of smoke that loomed over the battlefield, a glowing, crimson humanoid shape could be seen at the very core of it all. The silhouette was standing tall, with a huge two-handed circr-ded weapon hanging loosely in her left hand that rested by her side. She was heaving, as if she had just run aplete marathon, trying to recoup the suddenly lost vast amounts of her stamina. Naybeah''s entire body exuded a tremendous amount of force. This power, this energy was being retained but not absorbed, covering her toned frame like a coat of armor. "What in the" Coming back to his senses, Captain Don as he slowly pushed away the umted rubble and dust that piled over him, and slowly pushed himself off from the ground. Ever since the ambush of this another bastion''s force, he no longer felt in control of the events. Everything just spiraled out of his reach. In an instant, whilst he was struck with a mixture of shock, confusion, and several more emotions, the purple-haired mysterious girl from the young Aiden''s group stepped up and became the de facto leader. The young lord seemed to have ced only that girl in before his eyes, everyone else, -him and his mercenary corp included- was worthless in front of his haughty, arrogant, condescending eyes. Yet, whilst he felt conflicted at first, his intuition was soon answered when he saw how quickly, and quickly he shed his way through his men. How he effortlessly hacked through his trained warriors as if they were nothing but weed on a field. Just when he felt all hope was lost and that his journey woulde to an abrupt end, failing not just the Madame, and the Boss man, but also the young boy who was the co-captain, the second leader of their party, suddenly another unexpected surprise appeared, and the golden-haired amazon challenged the young sword master. Even then, Captain Don, didn''t ce much hope in their battle. Whilst she was a fierce and brutal warrior, from what he had seen, Naybeah shouldn''t have been a match to this mysterious young aristocrat heir. From his understanding, Naybeah should have been somewhere at the same level of skill and power as their own men, maybe slightly stronger but not by much. Yet, she shocked everyone time and again, as she could easily match each iing blow, each consecutive hit, and even dish out proper counters to slowly but surely chip away the man''s, Lord Bart''s resistance. "Ungh" Suddenly the sound of groaning broke the elderly Silver Howl mercenary captain out of his reverie, bringing him back to reality yet again. Debris rolled down from arger mound at the farthest corner of the battlefield. Soon it parted away revealing the buried demonized young man underneath. "Interesting I was hoping for this, I have to admit" Naybeah muttered as her eyes locked onto the figure of a battered and worn-looking Lord Bart. However, besides looking quite disheveled, the same sinister smile that stretched his facial proportions way beyond what would be considered normal was still brimming on his face. He slowly pushed off therge chunk of rocks and pushed himself off the ground. Looking at his clothes, he acted as if he had just realized how unsightly he was looking with all the monstrous visual transformation. He silently clicked his tongue with dissatisfaction and began to calmly dust his body. "Hehe" He chuckled, focusing on somewhat fixing his appearance. "You are the most surprising find in the barren world we were chucked onto. Just as I was thinking of calling it quits and returning back home YOUe and blow me away" Realizing the joke he had made, he cackled at himself, before slowly lifting his eerie, dark gaze and turning it on the amazon''s crimson-coated figure. "well, both figuratively and by the truest meaning of the word you get it, right?" He sighed again, and moved his neck, eliciting loud cracking noises. He moved his shoulders, exercising as if he wasn''t fighting to the death but was simply training for some event. Taking his time for almost a full minute of awkwardness that he seemed to be ignorant of, Lord Bart looked at the blonde amazon. His grin widened, he asked with an eerie, foreboding undertone. "So human sc- no, you have earned it: proud amazon, are you ready for ourst dance of the day? Perhaps even for eternity? Don''t worry, I will treasure you in my memory" He said pausing at the end, his voice trailed off. His hands took up a fighting, wing posture once more, his legs kicked off the ground, he entered a rushing charge abruptly. "AS I WILL FEAST UPON YOUR FRIENDS!" A deep, demonic voice rang out in the battlefield, as Lord Bart''s figure dashed with frightening speed. It didn''t take more than a single second for him to reach his target. His hands struck down in an instant, meeting the already up and ready amazonian warrior''s mighty armament, releasing a powerful shockwave into their surroundings yet again. A powerful blow, stronger than anything before rang the battlefield. The energy caused Lord Bart to lose his footing for a moment and stumble back a couple of steps before regaining his ground. He could feel his entire body ache in pain, he felt as if his insides were twisted around horrendously. He vomited a mouthful of his own blood before he could take a moment and look at his opponent, yet what he saw shocked him to his core! Unlike what he had thought would have happened, she smiled as if the attack she had absorbed into her body was nothing. She wasn''t kneeling, she wasn''t ovee with the same aching pain. She didn''t look as if her insides were twisted into a chaotic mess Slowly lowering her axe which she seemingly easily held in one hand, she smiled back at the heaving, distraught demon. "That''s all?" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 654 - 654 - One Last Dance As the cloud of smoke made out of the kicked-off dust slowly dissipated, it revealed the alluring, perspiring figure of the tall, blonde amazon. Her expression was twisted into a wide grin. Her bountiful buxom chest was swinging vertically as she heaved heavily. Yet, despite looking as if she spent a great deal of stamina, she was in a much, much better state than her opponent, Lord Bart. She looked fine and unhurt. The huge sh, with the explosive release of power, did not hurt her at all. The same crimson, translucent aura covering her silhouette made her look more like a fearsome reaper of the battlefield. Naybeah looked at Lord Bart wriggling in pain on the ground. Despite her power up through the magical contract binding a bonafide demon from whatever realm they resided in, to his very soul tethering it to his being forever, he seemed that his power had yet to fully develop and trained properly. Due to this, he couldn''t withstand the sudden shocking release of his own power. He was barely holding up at this point. Only his sheer defiant will kept him still going and even then, he vomited several mouthfuls of blood constantly. "Y-young master" muttered one of the still standing retainers while looking at their leader in horror. Seeing their young lord like this wasn''t something they had ever thought would see Their instinctive fear of the dire, grave consequences mixed together with the helplessness of his situation made his voice tremble and his body shuddered at the sight. He wasn''t alone in this thought either. The remaining, surviving members of their ambushing group were looking just as shocked and terrified as him. Their hopes foring out of this fight the way they originally nned to was rapidly fading, reced by the worry, the fear, the unknown. They had no idea what was going to happen to them now. Should they try their best to escape their current captive states? Should they start thinking about their future, leaving everything behind? No, they couldn''t just run away, without a leader they would have no chance of escaping, a [Gate] wouldn''t be opened for them when it was time to leave. Only the four Bastion''s assigned ''army'' leaders would receive them. If they would break their chains, and run away, finding shelter either in the far west where the murky swampid awaiting those unlucky enough to wander in to brave its terrifying dangers. Them going basically gueris fighting for their survival would just spell out doom for them. They would still need to eventually find their way to one of the two other camps and somehow join them. Thus, if the end result would be simr, why would they do something so pointless as to run away, only to lower themselves to a third party, humiliating and shaming thest bits of their pride as seasoned warriors further? Thinking through all of this, they slowly each realized that their best course of action would be to stay put. Stay calm, and do their best to gain the pardon of this group and hopefully, with great effort and a lot of work, be epted. Though this all hung upon their fearsome Young Master, that terrifying demon would be defeated, and they then couldn''t possibly show themselves in front of the Old Master, who was even more terrifying than his son. At the same time, whilst the defeated bodyguards were pondering their prospects amidst all the despair they were wallowing, the other side were growing increasingly more and more excited as they looked forward to the end of this battle that had already reached such epic proportions and have long since transcended what should have been normal. "Way to go, Naybee!" Scarlet''s cheering voice rang out in the gloomy silence suddenly, her right fist-pumping the air as she jumped up and down to cheer and support her friend. "Yeah, go beat him up! Show that ugly monster the consequences of his actions!" "That''s the way, girl!" "Finish it! End him!" As if a spell was lifted after she yelled out, the Silver Howls and the rest of the still absent Aiden''s group followed up, cheering and supporting the girl with their own exims, their war cries. As therger portion of the crowd cheered on, whilst the others wallowed in their misery and nning their own survivals, Naybeah watched with the ever-present battle-crazed smile on her face as Lord Bart pushed himself off the ground and slowly stood up. He was heavily breathing, focusing on the revolving of his remaining energy. His powers gathered around his body as he slowly infused them with his body enhancement technique, his breathing technique, and with his healing, regenerative spell. All of them togetherbined made up an enhancement ability of great use. His body rapidly began to regenerate back to his previous state. The great internal damages reseeded. Whilst his body was extremely tired, weary, and exhausted, they were boosted back with power, enhancing them and making them bulging and firm as steel once more. Naybeah was left shocked and surprised as she looked at the sight. Did that demon provide him with infinite power or something? He stood up again and again, no matter what happened. Even as he was soundly defeated, time and again He could always find a way toe back. Can he be even truly defeated, or was this whole fight pointless from the start? "Heh" Lord Bart sighed, as a smile slowly stretched his face. "Come proud amazon, I still have the strength for one more dance. Let''s both finally go all out, otherwise, I''m sure neither of us would have their hunger truly satiated. His voice once again returned to his normal tone, the strange, eerie mystifying undertone have vanished. "Hmm All out?" asked Naybeah, looking surprised by the words of his opponent. What hidden cards could he still have under his sleeve? She was mildly interested if that were the case. Though she too felt that her energy was rapidly fading and that she -at most- had onest hurrah in her system before everything would go dark, she still couldn''t help but be excited by the thought. "Yeah, all out. Can you honestly look at me and say that everything we did so far, wasn''t just the great build-up for the epic finale? This is the finale, and we owe it to ourselves as true warriors of the heart as well as our eager audience to give it to them! Go all out, show me, show US what you are really made of!" Lord Bart eximed, cracking the joints and knuckles in his hands and neck. "Heh Fine" Naybeah sneered in response, slowly raising her arms in the air at her side. "I will show you" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 655 - 655 - Old Meets New Whilst Naybeah was reaching the zenith, the culmination of the probably most defining battle of her life so far, Aiden was still having a hard timeing over the shock of all the shocking changes his new minions have gone under. Tak, the guard captain of the Temple Guards, has evolved in a much more drastic manner than he had expected. The small, measly little [Draconic Skink] has grown into a hulking, massive beast. The little reptilian warrior that looked more like a walking metal bucket than the fearsome veteran now shifted in a grandiose manner. A huge giant, bulging muscles ripping the fabric of his clothes and stretching the metal tes of his armor to their absolute limits. He did somewhat resemble that of a dinosaur as Aiden looked at him. The uncrowned king of the prehistoric, Jurassic era, Tak was akin to a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but instead of the flimsy useless forearms, it was proportionate to goris, reaching down to the ground as it provided further support to his massive heavy frame. Finishing sizing up himself, Tak''s glowing yellowish gaze went higher, stopping as itnded on the still hooded merchant. Though his face was still shrouded in darkness and shadows, Tak no longer doubted his identity. He could feel an equally strange, mysterious connection between them. Tak could sense his new Master at all times. If he focused and concentrated on it, he could even faintly sense vague emotions and even some blurry, hazy images appearing inside his mind. Whilst the images were not clear, it depicted a brightnd, with clear blue skies. Something he had only seen described in the myths and most guarded, treasured secrets, legends of his tribe. A time of yore, where their people weren''t forced to reside deep underground. A realm before the Scorching. Whilst it was dominated by the Bareskins, a hateful race that was known as the Heralds of the Doom, it also told tales about vast cities hidden deep in the abundant marsnds and deep murky swamps. They were feared by the outsiders these sacred settlements were called as Temple Cities. In any case, these were tales of the old, a part of the world''s past. Nowadays, all that remained were ruins and wreckage, reimed by nature growing rampant with the scarcity of conquerors to further gue it, it had grown rampant over the years, the decades the centuries. The once-proud majestic metropolises of pyramids were most likely overgrown with foliage and were probably home to monsters and beasts spreading and propagating without any opposition. Still, the blurry images reminded Tak of those old tales he had read in the church libraries. Whilst he couldn''t make out anything more, he did spot arge, colorful dot that somehow, even without knowing what it actually was, made his heart tremble with an unknown source of excitement. "[Reptilian] H-home?" Tak muttered, unbeknownst to him, a tear escaped from its confines, and made a new trail in a downward slope, spiraling towards the ground. Surprised to feel the sudden, powerful and energetic thumping of Tak''s heart smiled silently before nodding and muttering a curt "Uhm" in response, much to the other party''s increase in joy. "[Reptilian] Huh? Home?" Alerted by his word, the other, now transformed and evolved set of captains also raised their heads, instinctively focusing on the connection they all shared between themselves and their Young Master. As they focused, they each received the same blurry, hazy, but bright and colorful image, showing thend of promise, their new home. They each turned shocked one after another. Yelps and louder sighs were exchanged in the dark alleyway as they each realized and felt the same increased heartbeat. Aiden silently watched as they all reacted in a simr fashion to his shared thought. He had shown an image; a memory of Haven to their new family. Whilst they couldn''t go there yet, he still wanted to show them that the Promise of the New Paradise he vowed about was not just a lie, but it was there, waiting for them. Aiden also smiled not just because he knew that he was sessful in tempting them and that they each saw the same sight, but also because he was finally sessful in yet another incredibly important task. Suddenly, the shared mental channel between them all resonated in a new frequency, the seven new additions to their ever-growing family have felt a group of new, and previously unknown mental signatures joining. An excited, high-pitched voice squealed into the channel first. ''M-master? Is that you, Master?!'' Thuk''s excited yell rang in everyone''s ears. ''My Lord, have you finally returned? Finally, we can feel your presence once again'' Roas spoke in his excited, croaky tone, still trying to act as the most mature as the eldest of them all. Sensing numerous new signatures in the channel that he had not felt yet, he couldn''t help but ask. ''My Lord, may I ask who these new people are? Are they new members, joining the family?'' Aiden couldn''t help but smile, smile like a goofball as he could finally hear the voice of his missed friends. ''It''s good to be able to hear and feel you all once again My friends.'' Aiden''s voice rang out. ''Oh, thank you Master, you are finally back!'' Gob and Thuk''s excited yell came in unison, quickly followed up by a heartyughing from Glohn the once tribe leader of the goblins, now the elder Primal Goblin Dragonkin and one of the council members of Haven''s first and currently only settlement. Aiden waited silently and with a bright smile donning on his face as his minions eximed their excitements over their sudden reunion. After they eventually calmed down, he continued. ''I know you have lots of questions, just as I do. I''m sure that lots of things have happened whilst I was away and unable to re-establish our connection. Before you ask, Galina is still not with me, but just know she is alright As for why is she not joining let''s just say she is upied at the moment.'' Aiden said, sighing as she could feel the turmoil the poor little girl was burdened with. His heart ached to know that he couldn''t go and save them, the distance was just too great. ''Is that you, Aiden? You finally dare to contact us, after going silent for so long?'' Suddenly a familiar, mature feminine tone rang out in their connection. A huge, powerful presence appeared, silencing all chatter in an instant. Aiden, as he heard the voice, instantly went quiet. His face began to shift to reveal all the surging emotions that boiled deep inside him. The happiness first turned to shock, then to surprise before ultimately returning to a deep, and great joy. "Master!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 656 - 656 -Master And Student "Heh Fine" Naybeah sneered in response, slowly raising her arms in the air at her side. "I will show you" As if following her statement, suddenly the very nature of Naybeah''s aura had changed. A new, colder wind blew by, as her previous battle lust rapidly transformed -akin to evolving- into full-blown killing intent. A strange, mysterious bright colorless fire glimmered in her eyes. Her lush cold flocks fluttered as her new aura swirled around her like in, circling as if it was a barrier made out of the very force of nature itself. Suddenly the ground began to quake as if a new primordial force was about to be unleashed. "Oh uh This is bad" Sara sighed, already knowing what was about to happen. "W-what is happening? What is she doing?" One of the guards asked, shocked, confused, and slightly frightened of what was going on. "Is this" Drake muttered, asking though mostly from himself. "Yeah. She is doing it." "She called her sister for help The amazon queen, Klemeia ising!" Sara finished Scarlet''s words, sighing as she already felt her head aching from knowing all the trouble she will have to deal with in the resulting aftermath. Whilst borrowing the tremendous divine force of her sister, a bonafide Demi-God, the Amazon Queen, Klemeia will surely grant her the edge that could finish their battle, it would also put on a huge strain on her body, and the resulting bacsh would most likely knock her out as well, and maybe even send her into an extended,atose state. Whilst that in itself would be a huge pain to deal with, once Aiden learns about this, she had no idea what he would do Whilst everyone was focused on the battle and the ''arrival'' of Klemeia, this time invited by her sister willingly, at the back of the group, the two girls were focused on something else entirely. As soon as Galina noticed the change in the connection she shared with her Young Master, Aiden, her face blossomed into a beautiful alluring smile. Her heart beat at a much faster rate and her face turned into a brighter, healthier shade of pink. When Lily noticed this sudden change in her sister''s look, she immediately grabbed her hand and pulled her away, to the back. "What is it? Did brother contact you?" Leaning closer to her ear, Lily asked hoping, anticipating the answer. Even though she knew that he was fine, and was doing his best, she still missed him dearly. She wanted nothing more than to be reunited with him. To Lily, and Galina for that matter, this whole event of gathering ''treasures'' for Sara''s mother so that she could im the title of City Lord meant absolutely nothing. Though she liked Sara''s and to have herpany, she would rather be with her brother somewhere else entirely. She often found herself thinking and wishing to return to the old times, to their cozy little hut deep within the forest surrounding Higrove, be with their Master, Number 3, and Granny then with anything else. Galina''s smile only widened as she looked at Lily. Without saying a word, she merely nodded her head and closed her eyes. She was focusing on the connection, signaling for the Young Master to pull her in and open the channel for her also. She also missed her brothers, her elders by now. Even though it was her decision and she never once regretted it to stay, instead of going to Haven like the rest of them, she still wanted to see them once more. A momentter, the response came, and the channel was opened for her as well. The long-missed feeling of sensing, feeling the mental presence of everyone filled her mind and soothed her aching soul. Her smile blossomed even further, as she took a few moments to listen to her Young Master''s Master Her Grandmaster''s voice as she chided Aiden. ''Is that you, Aiden? You finally dare to contact us, after going silent for so long?'' Following the question, Galina could sense her Young Master''s overflowing emotions. Happiness, shock, surprise a hint of dread, and even some trace of worry could also be felt before everything fused, merging into a deep and great sense of joy that exploded from deep within his heart, filling the entire channel with in almost no time at all. ''Master!'' He eximed, speaking only a single word. Yet, this curt response carried much more than anything else he could have uttered. The trembling in his tone, as he clearly, visibly battling with his emotions On the other side, the group of the recently evolved group was listening in with bewilderment visible on each of their faces. Madam Dara, Lady Pyre, Draga, and the rest of the captains, now joined with Tak were shocked to hear and listen to so many new voices. What was even more shocking to them, that thenguage they used Though they were each fairly certain it was not their own and neither was anything reminiscent of their world''s at all, they could still understand everything that was said without issue. They were confused and even slightly lost. So many powerful, unknown presences, each seemingly much closer to their Lord than themselves with one very powerful one, that even he was speaking with such adoration, respect, and reverance. This person, this woman who seemed to be his Master from how he called out for her They were shocked. Although for a certain ex-skink, now seductive mature beauty another ugly emotion, a hint of jealousy was also sparkling in the depths of her heart ''Hmpf! You dare to call me that, my little student? After all the years of teaching and effort, you are not even filial. You vanish for so long, leaving thisdy behind whilst you go on your little journey!'' Number 3''s words filled the channel echoing powerfully as sheined. Still, no one dared to speak, they could only listen as their elder chided, berated her prodigal student. "M-master" Aiden sighed, deciding not to argue with her. She was right. Although it wasn''t entirely his fault that he has gone rogue for so long, it still wasn''t right. He could have reached out, made some effort to understand how the connection truly worked, rather than summing it up as ''It was probably broken'' and not bother with it at all. ''Don''t you ''M-master'' me mister! Where did you vanish off to? I can feel, that you are still not at Eora, but somece else What world is this?'' She asked, surprising Aiden once more at how perceptive she seemed to be. ''H-how?'' He muttered, asking the question. ''How do you know, where I am?'' --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 657 - 657 - Accepting Fate The crimson hue that covered and embraced Naybeah like a loving mother would, suddenly exploded, sending its crimson waves rippling all around the air. In no time at all, most of the battlefield was filled with the faint fog, shrouding, and along with it, mystifying what was happening in its depths from the outside spectators. As Lord Bart felt the wave waft through him, engulfing him in its cloud, suddenly he felt his connection tremble, shake and shiver violently. The creature, the demon he had bound with was actually trembling with fear?! He was astonished by this, not sure what to make of this situation. He looked shocked as he asked out loud, albeit only from the other entity residing in his body. He could feel his body returning to its ''normal'' state, losing the reinforcement, the protrusion of the bones, all the dreadful terrorizing qualities have receded one after another, eventually leaving nothing but the empty husk of a broken, tired and exhausted young man. "W-what is going on? Why is it scared?" He eximed, asking in shock. Yet, despite his inquiry, no response came. Even worse, he felt his power rapidly fade away, as the connection was losing its strength the more he was forced to stand in the eerie mist. Eventually, his knees lost their strength and buckled forcing him to fall and kneel down on the ground. Naybeah''s face contorted into a proud, contemptuous grin, as she looked at the scene in front of her. With slow, but wide strides, she walked over the young lord now forced down on the ground by the purifying effect of the crimson fog. As she towered over the man, her eyes flickered with the precious bright light, following the rhythm of her lips stretching, curving higher, she shed a victorious, satisfied smile as she looked down. "What is it, little man?! Lost something? Or perhaps someone? Your little pet is nowhere to be found suddenly?" She asked. Her voice was different from usual, catching the attention of not just the kneeling young and borderline broken young aristocratic noble lord, but everyone else watching as well. "Yeah It''s her, again Sigh, Aiden will not like this" Sara sighed, grabbing her temples and caressing them to ease the iing pain. "W-what is happening? Why is Why is her voice so weird all of a sudden And what is this cloud? This power?" Jai, the big bald mercenary asked with clear worry stered on his face. His muse, the angel he was so infatuated with ever since losing to her in a duel looked the most worried of everyone watching the fight. He could not exin what was happening anymore, only that the levels of this fight have reached have long surpassed what should have been normal. His hands were tightly held, clenched into a pair of shivering fists. He was burning with fervor and passion, he wanted to step up and rush to her aid. He wanted nothing more, but at the same time, he knew that all he would achieve if he were to do that, was to make the situation worse. He could not help, an otherworldly entity such as this demon was not something he could take on by himself. Thus, he could only grit his teeth in the anger and shame he felt for being so utterly weak, and helpless. The best he could do is to watch and pray for her safety "W-what W-w-who are y-you?!" Sensing the new presence that seemed to have been given control over the blonde amazon, Lord Bart was startled. He wanted to stand up, only to fall on his butt halfway through yet again, as the shock and fright have forced all the remaining strength to leave his legs suddenly. Thus he could only use his hands and crawl away, towards the back with all his remaining might. The sheer presence of this new being was so overwhelmingly powerful that Lord Bart could instantly feel a sense of dread. Added that his contracted demon, has suddenly vanished, without even giving as much as a word has made the situation even more confusing. How could a demon be so scared? Yet, even worse, he wasn''t contracted to any demon, but one that matched his precious, noble lineage! Just like his father, he had made contact with the same family of Archdemons, the lords of all demonkind! Yet, even this fearsome, terrifying monstrous being was forced to flee at the mere sight of this new arrival? Just who was she? "Ahahahaha I bet you wish to know, little man. Hmm" Naybeah leaned closer, squinting her eyes she met Lord Bart''s gaze. "Yes I can see it. You are desperate for some answers, am I right? Why did your little contracted pet flee like a scared little pup, with his tail between his legs? That''s the question burning in your heart, right?" Lord Bart averted his gaze, scared how easily this new being could read into his mind and perhaps even his soul. He looked to the side, only to be met with the confused gazes of his men. Not wanting to see the pity in their eyes, he once again looked away, finding the only sce in the dirt on the ground. "Ahahahaha" Naybeah chuckled once more as she looked at the young human on the ground before her. "Do not be scared, human. I have no desire to dwell further into the little secrets you keep deep within your soul. The dark, twisted deals you had made to overthrow your father and take the reigns of your family forcefully. How you have lusted for the females of your own kin for such a long time and nned to take action once this ''event'' would be over. You can rx, I have no care for them." She guffawed yet again, shocking Lord Bart even further as her deepest, darkest most guarded secrets were spilled with such ease. His entire being shivered in fright by now. He could not understand at all what was happening, but he knew that he could not face this opponent. Whilst the amazon herself was roughly at the same level as him, and he could have a filling battle to quench his craving for a good fight, this new entity was on apletely different level. Yet, he also understood that there was no point in trying to escape any further. Whateveres, wille. In the end, he sighed, finally epting his fate, his defeat. He looked up, braving the blinding gaze of the amazon''s glowing eyes, and asked amidst heaving a heavy sigh. "I see now. You have won. Do what you must, but before that Can I at least know the name of the one that defeated me?" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 658 - 658 - Quick And Painless "I see now. You have won. Do what you must, but before that Can I at least know the name of the one that defeated me?" Naybeah, or more precisely, her sister controlling her body, Klemeia, the Amazon Queen took some time to carefully scrutinize and look at the young man. He was once again on his knees, looking at the ground, humbling himself in front of her. From the quick read of his filthy mind and dark, twisted soul, Klemeia could understand how big this act actually was. For all his life, this man was treated simrly to Kings and Gods. An army of servants looked at his EVERY need, the best personal trainers groomed his skills to hone him into such a fine swordsman he was today. His every wish was fulfilled, no matter how ridiculous it sounded, the servants obeyed his everymand. They never dared to resist even as he gradually grew into the obnoxious brat. Being cared for and attended for, and only seeing the cruel, cold side of his own father, his own personality eventually also evolved, showing simr signs. Soon, his favorite pastime was to torment those around him. Seeing them squeal and squawk, beg and humiliate themselves in a variety of increasingly grotesque and twisted ways was the only source of endorphin for the growing teenager. When the time came for his Rite, for his ritual, he finally did something great and managed to contract not an average demon like his brothers, but an actual archdemon, just like his father! It was also the very first time he heard his father look genuinely proud and shake his hand. It was firm and strong, something that Lord Bart never forgot ever since, but kept as a treasured memory and strived to gain it once more in his life. The jealous looks on his brothers'' faces as they knew at that moment that their worth had fallen greatly from this point onward and that they would no longer receive the attention of their father was something Bart has cherished deeply, ever since. Many years have passed since then, as Lord Bart had quite an eventful life since then. Shortly after the ceremony, he was proimed as the new heir, the next patriarch of their family, the next one to lead the great Diaz family to reach even further sess, even greater power. His two brothers, Hank and Luis, now falling out of grace, med everything on their little sibling and have since then done everything in their power to ruin him. They schemed, sent assassins after him, only to fail time and again. They even tried to torture him through his supposed loved ones, only to fail with those attempts as well. Eventually, they both grew desperate and joined forces to attack their brother''s home directly. Combined they brought a force that would have even made the City Guards be worried. Hundreds of armed men and mercenaries surrounded Bart''s manor. As the moon gloomed eerily atop the clear midnight sky, they have givenmand andunched theirst desperate attempt, their assault in hopes to put an end to their hateful little brother''s reign. Though somewhere deep down they both knew that no matter what they did, they would never feel their father''s firm handshake, or hear the words "I am proud of you, son" ever again, they refused to ept it. Not unless they could bring their dead brother''s severed head, contorted into eternal pain, and ce it in front of him, could they calm the storm in their minds and hearts. At the blow of their horn, the hundreds of armed warriors stormed the manor, breaking apart the barred fence with ease. As if it was a castle with some treasures hiding deep inside theyid siege upon it in the middle of the noble''s district. That night was a fateful one. It was etched deep within Lord Bart''s mind as an important, defining memory of his life ever since then. Not because of the shame and humiliation that his two misguided brothers had envisioned. Not because of the terror they had thought they would inflict upon him. Not because of the despair his heart was supposed to be falling into No, it was because it was at that moment he had finally tasted the joys of battle, the first time, he could feel the irony taste of his enemy''s blood as it spilled over his face after a strike, after a blow. It was at that moment that the Diaz family gave birth to an Asura, a demon was born in flesh. Not just in essence through the Soul Contract, but through his own otherworldly skill of the de. After most of his own men were cut down in the first waves of the surprise assault, he and only the handful of his surviving guards, barely counting a dozen, had made theirst stand, their ground in the very room he was peacefully resting just a few minutes ago. In that room, that very sanctuary, his brothers had finally understood the futility of their actions. They saw as their little brother, they had despised so much, and hated probably only out of spite had painted the walls red with the copious amounts of blood he had spilled. The guts, gore, and intestines littered the floor. Like a whirlwind, the curved, thick de of his sabre has wreaked havoc, ending life with each attack. No one could face him, and even if they did manage tond a hit, the blemish, the wound healed rapidly, visible to their disbelieving eyes. Barely an hourter, the bustle had died down, and an eerie, gloomy silence reigned over the manor once more. The floors all over were littered with severed heads, mutted bodies, and torn limbs of the corpses of Lord Bart''s enemies. Only two figures remained standing, their legs shivering, quaking with fear as they gazed at their little brother. Their pride and arrogance shattered, broken in before this monster''s vicious actions. Before they could wake up and escape they were already surrounded and were swiftly brought before their sibling, only to meet the same fate as the ones they had brought along with him. Their squirms and begs were met with deaf ears as their heads were lopped off their necks without mercy. In the end, it was their heads twisted with eternal agony that was brought before his father, only for him to earn the second and seemingly, thest handshake of Lord Bart''s life. "Though your soul is tainted with darkness, you are a great fighter nevertheless. For us, amazons that is what truly matters, thus you have earned my sister''s and with it, my respect. For that, I will grant you a quick, painless death." "The same you have given to your brothers" Klemeia said, her face growing into a wide grin, watching as shock resided on top of Lord Bart''s face before the axe struck down, forever storing that expression --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 659 - 659 - Enemy At The Gates Today wasn''t as spotless and beautiful as most. Thend around the city of Higrove was shrouded with heavy, dark gray clouds. The air had a colder, somber almost ominous, and foreboding feel to it. The residents were quick to finish their tasks or clock out of their work and return to the safety of their homes. They each felt something amiss in the air. As if, for some unknown reason, something just wasn''t right. They couldn''t exin it, though those with heightened senses and awareness, had their bodies trembling with fear. The weaker ones even hastily made sure to pack their stuff and decided on an ''on the spot journey to visit their far away family members or friends. Stationed over the east gate the guards were just as antsy as the residents themselves. Just passing lunchtime, the time was calm. The usual long line of merchants and travelers'' queuing to gain entry was nowhere to be seen. Even the roads themselves were empty and deserted, adding more to the mystery seemingly surrounding their city today. "Eh I just I don''t know what is going on" One of the guards spoke up, clicking his tongue. "Something just isn''t right" "Yeah, you feel it too, Ragin?" Another one, a bald guy looked up from his sandwich. "It''s like when you can tell it''s going to rain, even though there are no clouds in the sky Like you can just tell from the shift in the temperature!" Ragin nodded, exining further. "What are you all saying? Are you both this weak? The temperature drops and a stormes and suddenly you see the End in everything? Stop being so pessimistic you two!" A huge, musclebound figure with spiky dark brown hair pped the table and snapped at the two. "Hey! No need to be so angry, you big orc!" The bald guy retorted, looking more angry than scared despite the one talking before were easily twice his size. "What did you say, Mebum?! I dare you to say it again!" The giant-like guard roared, pushing the chair away as he stood up. "Alright, guys calm down. You, Himun, calm down. Whatever drugs you take to make you look like your predecessors, you should stop using it." A fourth, older man entering the room, instantly quieted the room with his deep voice. "As for you, Mebum, you should also learn when to shut yourps, lest you would anger someone you can not afford to offend" "And before you say anything, Ragin. Stop being such a bi-" The old man began to chide and berate each of the other three. From how it looked, he must have been their superior. Perhaps the assigned captain, as each of the other three did not even offer a word ofint and simply nodded at his words. However, as he got to the third, doomsday guy who sparked all of this, Ragim suddenly shot up from his seat. Looking over at the distance. His face turned pale, thest chunk of the sandwich he was enjoying have fallen out of his hands and fell to the floor. Yet, he didn''t seem to even register this fact, as his face gradually soured, from the initial shock to the eventual sheer terror and fright. "C-c-c-c" He stuttered, pointing towards the distance. "C-c-c-captain T-t-there!" An annoyed-sounding sigh escaping through his bearded face, the old man, the captain have asked out without bothering to follow the pointed finger and look at the distance himself. "What is it, Ragin? What did you see this time? What is the newest danger we are about to f-face?" He asked, somewhat smirking. "C-c-c-captain T-t-the t-t-the enemy is here!" "What are you talking about? What enemy are y-" As his tired, exhausted-looking face turned to the side, finally following Ragin''s finger, the words he was about to speak froze in him as well. His expression following his subordinate''s also paled, his eyes went wide. "Holy mother of" He cursed, unable to believe what he was seeing. A momentter, his daze was lifted, he snapped back to action. He jumped up, turned around, and instantly rushed back towards the door. Without a single word, his figure vanished, as he rushed to alert his superiors of the unbelievable news. Even though he still couldn''t believe it himself, he had a duty and wasn''t like the spineless Ragim, who would most likely just run away as soon as he sees the opportunity. "W-what is going on? What did you s-" bbergasted, Mebum stood up and ced hisst piece of food on the table, lest it would suffer the same cruel fate as Regum''s. However, just like the other two, his expression also instantly froze as soon as he gazed at the distance. Outside, some distance away, arge ck mass appeared over the horizon. An endless-looking sea of armored figures, marching from the direction of the Empire They havee, and most likely they didn''te just to offer some pleasantries! At the same time, deep in the Slums, in a manor, a masked mature feminine figure stood beside therge window, looking into the distance. She stood silently, as she gazed into the distance. Unlike the guards, she wasn''t frozen because of the sudden unexpected appearance of the massive force. She wasn''t ovee with terror. No. Though her face was hidden beneath the faceless mask, she still radiated a calm,posed aura. As if she had already known that such an event would take ce and was already expecting it. She merely sighed, as she turned her attention away, and instead looked at the direction of the city center. "I can only hope that everything will y out as I hope" She muttered, sounding uncharacteristically mncholic. Suddenly, the doors to her study were knocked on. The voice of an aged, elderly man, his faithful head butler could be hearding from the hallway. "Madame, may I step inside?" The old man asked respectfully. "Uhm." Was the only response he received, not that he had expected anything else. Taking it as affirmation, he pushed on the door and swiftly stepped inside. Taking calm, steady strides he arrived just a few steps behind his mistress, and waited silently, respectfully. He did not show any word ofint, or show signs that he would be offended by theck of courtesy he was receiving. No, on the opposite, traces of reverence could be seen hiding behind the mask of courtesy. Almost a minuteter, the Masked Mistress finally sighed and spoke. Though she still faced the window, she at least finally acknowledged the new presence in the room. "Speak Sebas. What news do you bring?" Sebas bowed with respect, as he uttered the words the woman had already expected. "Madame, they have finally arrived." --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 660 - 660 - Plans… At first, there was no response or reaction of any sort to the old butler''s words. The Masked Mistress continued staring in the direction of the city center and looked as if she didn''t even hear the old man''s words. Yet, Sebas the old butler didn''t react either. He kept his bowed, subservient, and at the same time, reverent posture and calmly awaited the words of her madame. After some minutes, thedy finally heaved a sigh and nodded her head. "Thank you for informing Sebas." She spoke curtly. Pausing for another couple of breaths'' time before adding. "Initiate the second phase of the n. Inform all the groups we have made contracts with and assign them to their ces. Make sure they eachplete their tasks." "At yourmand, madame." Sebas responded, taking a couple more seconds to keep his bowed posture before standing back up and swiftly turning around. As he walked back to the door and was about to step out of the room, suddenly he was called for again. "Wait." The Masked Mistress called out. "Yes? How may I be of assistance, madame?" Sebas asked with his usual courtesy. The Mistress sighed heavily before she could muster the words that gued her heart. "My daughter" She began, her tone was much less powerful than before. Instead, it sounded worried? "How are they?" "They have just met with Lord Diaz'' youngest son''s group, madame." The old man promptly responded. Hearing this, the Masked Mistress clicked her tongue in annoyance and with rising anger. "Those hideous demon worshippers? How did they even enter? And more importantly when?" "It was by the order of the Academy''s currently reigning principal madame. They have enteredter, secretly from within the Academy." "Hmm What of their task? What was the purpose of adding that annoying group to the mix?" This time, the old man, Sebas took a couple of seconds to formte his response. Despite that hesitation, his tone carried no such emotion within it. "It was the boy, madame. The Principal seems to be quite interested in him." "Hmm" The Masked Mistress turned her attention back to the distance as she pondered on what she had just heard. "First, he fixes the portal''s magic, allowing that madman to alter it, and make the boy be separated Then sends those puppets after him This is already way too abrupt, it had to be noticed by that old man in the council" The Madame muttered to herself. "Yet, the old man did nothing even though everything was clear. Strange." Grabbing her chin under the mask, she caressed it as she continued muttering, processing all the information. Her mind was running at a heightened pace as it made connections between everything that had transpired. "Still, after all that, they send yet another group in but although their aim is to get to the boy, they go after the rest of the group How interesting" She continued pondering, muttering and processing all the knowledge for some time, mostly silently, only speaking an asional word every now and then, before finally after several minutes she sighed again, and for the first time since the old butler entering the study, she turned to look at him standing by the door. "It seems there''s something big going on with that boy seemingly ced at the center of it all. Question is, my dear old friend do they know about the iing guests?" She sneered as she continued. "Please, go and make a visit. It''s time to crash their little ''party''. Make sure to bring enough hands, they might turn out to be hmm, grumpy." "As you order, Madame." Sebas nodded, bowing once more at his Mistress''mand. Standing up a few secondster, he reached for the door, but before leaving, he spoke onest time. "I shall take my leave then, madame. I should be back in a few hours at most." Having said that, he promptly excused himself from the room and swiftly left the hallway. Soon the pitter-patters of his steps have faded away, he had left to aplish the task given to him by the Masked Mistress. At the back of therge dark mass that was part of the Empire''s invasion force, arge man was looking over a map spread out on a hastily erected wooden table. He was Prince Dorian, the general of this sizable army assigned to conquer the southern side of the Draquilian Kingdom. He was roughly looking to be in his middle ages, with a short mass of matte ck hair and a clean-shaven face. A small stub of a mustache stood proudly atop his lips. He looked sternly at the map, showing the nned and scouted positions of the opponents'' forces. "Hmm What are your thoughts, everyone?" He asked after a while. "There''s no need to scheme or make such deliberate ns. We have an overwhelming force, we can easily swallow this small city without wasting time on this!" Arge hand pped the table, following alongside a rough-sounding voice. Lord Rillon, a tall, brawnyrge bald man with a light brown mustache adorning his face spoke up with an annoyed tone. Him being the tallest and from a first nce, the strongest in terms of muscle mass held quite the intimidating presence amongst the rest of his peers. "I think you should use your head a bit more, barbarian." A croaking voice,ing from an old gray-haired, much thinner-looking robed elder resounded. He was Exarch K''hlen , the leader of the Spellcasters, a powerful, and feared Wizard, with a specialization in curses and blights. Rumors say that he was responsible for several viges in the borders of the Wastnds suddenly turning into nothing more than mass graveyards. He was leading one of the most feared groups across not just in the army, but the entire empire. Reports about the air in these settlements were said to be filled with the overwhelming stench of rot and death. The bodies of the vigers were filled with hideous blights and blisters. When one of the bodies were examined it seemed that some sort of illness or gue of some kind festered inside these poor unlucky sods, killing them slowly from the insides. It was said that those that died must have suffered tremendously as their organs, flesh, and bones slowly dissolved, leaving nothing behind but a gtinous gooey substance. "Though, I can''t help but wonder what does the general want with the young miss lieutenant joining the discussion? Does she have anything special to add? Exarch K''hlen asked as his face contorted into a twisted-looking, hideous smirk, gazing at the stout standing woman looking at a statue beside the general. "Or maybe, does she have some other uses?" He asked, smirking nastily. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 661 - 661 - Strategy Meeting "Though, I can''t help but wonder what does the general want with the young miss lieutenant joining the discussion? Does she have anything special to add? Exarch K''hlen asked as his face contorted into a twisted-looking, hideous smirk, gazing at the stout standing woman looking at a statue beside the general. "Or maybe, does she have some other uses?" He asked, smirking nastily. His snarkyment made the rather tall woman, the lieutenant, Sievul, who seemed to be the right hand of the General, Prince Dorian tremble ever so slightly. Though only for a brief moment as the stoic expression quickly returned and won over her emotions. Exarch K''hlen snickered at the sight of how this tall woman, dressed in the empire''s dark red armor exposed herself even if only for a bit. Still, he did not offer any furtherment on it and simply looked at the General for some answers. "Enough of your games, old man." Dorian sighed with an annoyed tone of voice. "Don''t mistake me for those others, or the rest of my siblings that just because doesn''t know what kind of monster you truly are, fear you. Remember who defeated you before, who made you kneel like a pathetic, weak mongrel on the ground and beg for its MASTER''S MERCY!" His voice increased in power the longer Dorian spoke, bellowing at the end. The snicker instantly faded from Exarch K''hlen''s wrinkled old face as he was reminded of the painful and hated memory by the very man that somehow dominated him. No matter how much he tried and tested, the royal bloodline was not something he could contend with, despite the powers he had amassed over the long years of his eventful life. He clicked his tongue in response, not offering a single word of retort. He averted his gaze instead, looking at the rest of the gathered leaders around this small round table strategic meeting. "In any way is there any more, meaningful input from any of you?" General Dorian turned to look at the remaining leaders gathered around the table. "If I may my general" Standing opposite of Rillion, a thin, andnky man with short, curly ck hair and an unshaven rough-looking face spoke up. He was Syf, the captain of the empire''s probably currently most important battalion, the spies sent to scout and map out all potential points of entry into the Kingdom. Leader of the shadows, the spies and scouts that infiltrated to each and every nook and cranny already in the whole eastern side of the continent, he was most likely the host of many dark secrets. Yet, despite all that untapped knowledge and potential, he was a faithful servant of the revered Godly Emperor, never to question, never to betray his will. Whilst he retained an aloof, somewhat distant attitude to everyone, even his peers, and the Generals as well, he was fearful and reverent of the Emperor. His long, gnarled finger pointed at the Eastern Gates. "I believe Lord Rillon actually has a point in his idea of a direct approach, general." He spoke, giving it a moment before he continued to exin. "We do have an overwhelming force. Though the reports were not conclusive, and we are not certain how much we can count in the ''Adventurer''s Guild'' to step up as despite being a neutral, international force, they do tend to meddle in internal affairs from time to time Regardless we still have the strength in numbers and can even afford some losses. This city is the only bastion in the entire Southern part of the kingdom. Once it falls, we would have a clear, unobstructed way down towards the shoreline as well." "Quite interesting to hear something like that from your mouth, Syf. Not something I would expect to hear." General Dorian smiled at the words of the snake-like man. Syf bowed respectfully upon the offered words. "Yes, I may favor the more subtle approach, sir but there are times when it is simply not needed. Our current approach perfectly suits our needs. A direct frontal attack would be crushing and decisive enough to end this fight much quicker. We would also allow the weak-minded to a route to escape, thus significantly reducing the opposition." "Not to mention, we would give the other forces some extra challenge along the way, thus giving the General some more edge against his brothers." He spoke, ending his exnation with a warm-looking smile. He bowed again, humbling himself before taking a step back and allowing them a chance to offer their thoughts. Standing silent so far, only two girls have not yet offered their words. One of them was somewhat simr, but at the same time, held a vastly different role in the empire''s army lineup. The buxom mature beauty of Lorelei captained the smallest, yet one of the most feared sections of the army, the assassins. With two literal mountains weighing down on her chest, it was quite a sight to see her nimbly sneak from shadow to shadow, defying thews of physics and probability with each of her silent steps. Yet, despite the obvious nature-given blessing-sh-handicap, she was frighteningly aplished in her profession. Using every asset, every skill she had to her fullest advantage, once she set her greedy ws on a target, it was considered a done deal. Shemanded a verypact little group, barely reaching into the forties, but each and every one of hers was feared murderers, throat-slicers. Each was a heartless, emotionless killing machine, ground to perfection through years and decades of arduous training and deadly missions. People of high standing feared and respected them in an equal manner, not daring to show disdain or contempt, lest they would make it on their fabled ''list''. The other woman was Elena. She had short, straight blonde hair, much unlike the long wavy velvety braided cascade of Lorelei. Elena was slender, slim, and too much to her sorrow and the source of her usual bratty, willful attitude t-chested. Whilst Lorelei had her natural seductive, alluring charm and the soothing, warm whisper-like tone of voice that hardly any man could resist and would instantly raise their inner beast and lust wherever she went; Elena on the other hand was mostly aloof, cold, distant in the presence of the other sex. She had a strong mind, she was headstrong. With her deep azure blue gemstone-like eyes, Elena could just as well pierce into the core of the lust-driven beasts, the men. Still, although she was nothing alike Lorelei, Elena was just as much of a beauty in the eyes of the soldiers. Like Lorelei, she too had her own fan club, not bothered by the fact that she didn''t consider them as much as the dirt upon her leather,ced high heels. Elena was the leader of the ranged forces. A group that was rapidly raising their importance in the conquest. As all eyes were cast upon them, Lorelei shed a charming smile. "I may have an idea, my General" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 662 - 662 - Dead World "M-master" Aiden sighed, deciding not to argue with her. She was right. Although it wasn''t entirely his fault that he has gone rogue for so long, it still wasn''t right. He could have reached out, made some effort to understand how the connection truly worked, rather than summing it up as ''It was probably broken'' and not bother with it at all. ''Don''t you ''M-master'' me mister! Where did you vanish off to? I can feel that you are still not at Eora, but somece else What world is this?'' She asked, surprising Aiden once more at how perceptive she seemed to be. ''H-how?'' He muttered, asking the question. ''How do you know, where I am?'' ''After I I became THIS Ever since then, we share a bond, a connection between us, Aiden. I am sure you can feel it too. We use its wondrous effect to reach out and talk to each other right now as well. Also, in addition to that, it also allows me, and I can guess everyone else present as well to feel you. If we concentrate, we can sense your emotions, we know what you think, how you feel and can also vaguely sense your surroundings.'' ''Y-yes! We can My Lord!'' Gathering her courage, Madam Dara did not want to stay silent and just watch as these new joiners the elders of this new family spoke whilst they were too startled to even offer a word. The initial shock of understanding each other has already passed, and whilst it was still way too magical for the group of ex Draconic Skinks, they could also use it tomunicate with each other mentally. ''We can feel how you feel humbled, and also overwhelmingly happy, my Lord.'' Lady Pyre joined in as well, conveying her thoughts. ''Hmmm I didn''t realize that'' Aiden muttered, sounding uncharacteristically meek embarrassed. Sensing the change in his tone and his dominant emotions, Number 3''s chuckle could be heard resonating in the channel. ''It''s alright boy!'' She eximed amidst her giggles. ''I We are also happy to finally hear from you." Taking a moment, she continued. "You should also take the chance and get back to your realm to check up on it from time to time! Whilst you were gone, 2 full months have passed and the little settlement in now-" "Wait what did you say?" Aiden suddenly interrupted, sounding shocked. "2 full months have passed? How could that be?!" Aiden''s shocked exmation reigned silence once more in the channel. Everyone focused on him. Those that knew about the already existing time dtion between Aiden''s Domain, Haven, and Eora had some general idea of what was going on, but for the group of new joiners, the information they just heard was just as shocking. Roughly 2 weeks have passed since they have met with their new lord and leader. Not even a full month, yet in that other ce, in that new ''safe world'', now they are entering their third month? What was going on? They couldn''t understand, though it''s understandable as their understanding of space and timews was basically nonexistent. Closing his eyes, Aiden focused his question outside of the mental channel. ''Is it true what they say? While I was here for only two weeks, two months of time have gone by in Haven?'' He asked the question mentally. The answer from Enya, the system''s guide, didn''t wait too long to arrive. ''[Yes, the difference between the two realms is even greater here and the time dtion is even more powerful. Also, you may not be aware as it is rather small, but the difference is not unique between Haven and this world. It also exists between Eora and this one as well. It''s just too small to notice.]'' Enya exined, causing another wave of shock for her host. ''What? What do you mean? What is the difference?'' He asked, sounding surprised. ''[It''s minuscule, just a few minutes. It is probably the result of the cataclysm this world had suffered. You may have not consciously sensed it, because your time on the surface was rather short-lived, but this world is mostly devoid of any energy. There are no natural essences, and most importantly, there is no life force, vital essenceing from the core of this world.]'' Enya said, taking a moment to let Aiden process her words before adding to it. ''[Aiden, this world. This world is dead.]'' She paused again, speaking up only when she sensed that Aiden was about to ask. ''[Before you ask, the energy you feel all around, is not of this world. It''sing from another source. Somewhere from the center of this realm]'' ''The center'' Aiden muttered, pondering about Enya''s words when suddenly he recalled the memories of the ex-archbishop. His knowledge that he had also absorbed and made it his own, has made him realize what Enya was referring to. ''You mean The Ancient One? The skinks'' worshiped god-like being? Is he the one supplying this whole underworld with essence?'' ''[Yes. Most likely. Though through what means and for what reason, that remains to be seen. I suspect the system''s original main quest for you that it gave when you came down was also because it sensed this energy and it wants to im the source.]'' Aiden frowned upon hearing this exnation from Enya. ''im the source? Wouldn''t that doom whatever was left of this world? Wouldn''t that destroy this realm and end all remaining life all the survivors? Wouldn''t I then be'' ''[Calm down Aiden.]'' Enya hurriedly spoke up, sensing the growing dread inside his host''s heart. ''[The energy is not of this world''s, to begin with. It cannot sustain life forever either. Sooner orter it will run out, and unless that creature, this ''Ancient One'' can find a way to fully transcend and transform his power''s into divinities through the supplied faith of his subjects everyone is on a countdown already.]'' Aiden was shocked to hear this from his system''s guide. The world was doomed. The life that was flourishing beneath the scorched soil of this world, was flourishing. Despite all odds, the surviving races have found a way to continue living. Tribes and cities were formed, each unique and different. These skinks, the strange abominations that Galina and her group had encountered and fought of were each survivor of this world. Despite the expected, against all odds, they found a way. However miserable it was, it was still a way to push forward and hope that eventually, everything will be better. Yet, now it seemed that everything was in vain? That all that sacrifice, all the hardship they have surely encountered was ultimately for naught? No, that cannot be. There has to be a way! As if sensing his thoughts, Enya''s words rang inside his mind once again --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 663 - 663 - New Objectives ''[Aiden, do not lose all hope. There is actually a way. A path that could save these creatures, and have them continue on living.]'' Enya said, stopping as she could sense the turbulent emotions in Aiden''s heart wreaking a storm. Taking a moment to allow her host to process her words, she continued on. ''[There is a method that could indeed save every life. However]'' Her words trailed off at the end, she hesitated in speaking about it any further. ''What is it? If there is a way, no matter what, please tell me about it. I do not wish to see all these lives end so miserably. They deserve better!'' *Ding!* Suddenly the familiar bell-like sound of a notification rang in Aiden''s head. A new message has arrived, and when Aiden brought it up to his attention, he was surprised to see it was a new optional quest. [New Optional Quest Received! - A world doomed Difficulty: A-S+ Objective: - Save the residents of this world, by contacting each of the four great tribes that reside underworld and converting them into epting host as the basis of their new faith. - Once enough Faith has been gathered, a new [Mass Gate] will be avable. Use it to transfer all residents to Haven and provide a habitable space for them to live in peace and prosperity. Note: Not all residents of this world have any salvation left. Identify those that are too far gone in their own chaos, and focus on those that could still be guided. Optional: ???? Reward: -Experience, Divinity, Faith, ???? Failure Condition: None Penalty: None] Aiden looked pleasantly surprised for the first time probably ever reading through a system prompted quest. Though this one was optional, and as such should not be forced upon the Host. It had no negatives to it, only an ''optional'' route, an extra path he could decide to tackle, and his efforts should only be rewarded and not penalized for failing to achieve it. The optional quest thus had no penalties or any sort of failure conditions. There was no time limit either but from a quick read through it was somewhat obvious that it could only be aplished whilst he stayed in this world. Once he left, either by being forcefully booted by the same magic that brought him, or by some other means. Once he left, the optional quest, along with his only path to save them, would be forever gone. ''Was this your doing?'' Reading the quest details through a couple of times before hitting on ''ept'', Aiden asked with a suspicious tone. ''[Yes, this was my doing, Aiden.]'' Enya admitted, also exining the long-winded text on the objectives. It basically gave a step by step guide on what he was supposed to be doing, also providing a warning at the end in a note. If the system itself would have generated it, the objectives wouldn''t be as descriptive and for sure Aiden wouldn''t see an extrament in it. The system wasn''t this nice and helpful after all. Still, it was quite surprising, that the way of ''saving'' these creatures would be basically subjugating them under his will. They would have to be converted into faithful followers and be turned into this new so-far exclusive to Haven, Faith generators. ''How would this even work? As far as I understood, I cannot use Faith Energy outside of Haven. How could I aplish something like that here, in another realm. This is not my domain'' Aiden asked, growing confused the more he pondered about it. ''[That is true for the time being only Aiden. Your divinity is something you possess. Faith, whilst it is currently only generated on the single realm you reside over, the one you created with the System, your power is not exclusive to it.]'' Enya exined, giving it a short pause before continuing. ''[Once you increase your understanding of your divinity, and grow more powerful, you will understand that the gift you have is much more than what you currently think. To aplish HIS will, and be the savior, the saving grace that is needed. Your gift is much more powerful than you currently understand. ''My gift? What gift are you talking about?'' Aiden asked, confused at what Enya was suddenly referring to. ''Do you mean the System?'' However, this time there was no response. Not sure if she just didn''t want to say it, or if something wasn''t allowing her to. Her presence faded, abruptly ending their conversation. Perplexed by this, Aiden focused his attention on the buzzing sensation inside him, the mental channel that whilst he was silent, the rest of his minions used as an opportunity to get to know each other as well as just reunite. He listened to it for a while, staying silent as he pondered the words of his system''s guide. He looked at the optional quest''s text time and again, to find more clues in it. He regurgitated thest statements Enya had proimed before her presence was pulled back. In the end, he sighed, heaving a breath of heavy air, the baggage of his troubled thoughts. ''It seems, my journey here will be slightly longer than expected'' He sighed to himself, before focusing his attention back on the mental channel once again. ''Alright I am d that everyone is fine, and that you are getting to know each other. I promise that soon, sooner than you expect, you will all have a chance to meet, to see each other again. For you, the newly joined, I have made a promise to bring you and everyone to Haven, and I intend to keep that promise! Once we settle everything with the High Priest and this so-called Ancient One, I will bring everyone to Haven, where you can join the others, or even create a new settlement for yourselves only.'' He then focused on the little, lone girl that was the closest but at the same time, the farthest from him. ''Galina, my dear. Please tell my sister that I am sure is staying right next to you, eagerly waiting for you to report back everything that I am fine. Also, I will not be joining you guys. I have to stay here, I have some matters to finish. Please tell her, as well as the others to not worry, I will be fine.'' He smiled, before ending the connection with onest sentence. ''Stay safe, and be well in the meantime!'' As the connection ended, the group of now seven new minions around Aiden have slowly opened their eyes. A lot has happened in such short session to each other, they were all rather overwhelmed. They barely had time to even begin understanding their new bodies, and now once again a great deal of shocking new information was unveiled before their mental eyes Their worries, their thoughts however were abruptly broken and all attention was brought back to reality when a cute, yawn reached their ears --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 664 - 664 - Orders "[Reptilian] Papa, I''m thirsty!" The cute voice of Tolliah came from behind. She has been peacefully resting while Aiden waspleting the ceremony and assisting each of his seven new family members, minions to evolve. She either didn''t register that all of her aunties and uncles have undergone a massive change, that their appearance has been drastically altered, or perhaps she just didn''t care about it. The same childish, innocent glimmer still sparked in her eyes, she looked at her dear, beloved ''papa'' just the same as before. Even the humongous hulking massive beast of muscle, Tak didn''t seem to phase her. She slowly sat up at the back of the parked cart and raised her little arms, wanting to be carried. The voice of the small girl brought Aiden back to reality and out from the confines of his deep thoughts. A smile finally emerged over his troubled, weary expression, as he turned his gaze towards the small one. "[Reptilian] Certainly, little princess." He said. Acquiescing to her demands, Aiden walked over and promptly picked her up, carrying her in his arms. As her hood was pulled down whilst she was sleeping, Aiden leaned over and gave a small peck on the top of her forehead, earning a happy, gleeful giggle as a reward. "[Reptilian] Papaaa! Stop that, others can see!" She yfully pouted as she threw her arms over his neck and once again reimed her deep hugging, ''ko'' position. Her face once again nted on the safety of his chest, she felt the safest in his hearty embrace. Only by doing this, did her thoughts stop wavering and venturing towards dangerous territories "[Reptilian] Alright, little one. Let''s go inside and get you something to drink." Aiden smiled, sensing the stable, warm breaths tickling his skin through the thin fabric with each of her gentle snoozes. She was already resting once again as if nothing has happened, and she just merely swapped ces. The group watched with a matching, simr smile adorning each of their faces as the father and daughter pair enjoyed a moment to themselves. ''As for you all'' Suddenly, as they were lost in their thought, their new Master''s, Aiden''s voice rang out in their minds. Once again, he was speaking in the strange mysticalnguage that they somehow could now understand, yet still could not wrap their heads around. ''Follow up on Tak''s request. We still need to explore the outer city and find a way inside without raising suspicion. To be able to find and save those we have originallye here for we will need a proper, working n inside.'' Whilst he was slowly walking away, carrying the little sweet extra baggage in his arms, he continued giving out the orders. ''Dara and Pyre.'' Aiden continued, now focusing on the two females. ''You two work on finding alternate routes into the inner city. Especially for you, Dara, your abilities to remain unseen in the shadows should be especially useful. Find a way inside and report back to me.'' ''At yourmand, my Lord!'' ''At your will, Lord!'' Both girls responded with a simr, reverent, respectful tone and bowed their heads, confirming that they epted the order. A secondter their figures vanished as both rushed to begin working on their assigned tasks. Regarding for you four'' He then spoke to the four male captains he originally came with. The four that each now was simr to the carnivorous war general that attacked them, four armored sauruses. ''You guys work with Tak and watch the surroundings. Work with the locals, use the coins you have each been given, establish awork that we can use. We need to see the enemy movements if we are to hope to react properly.'' ''As youmand, Lord.'' They spoke in unison. Pulling on their hoods, they covered their faces and fixed their attires to make sure nothing would be revealed. Whilst they still looked massive in size, that wouldn''t raise as much suspicion if their true race as Sauruses would not be revealed. A few momentster, their figures vanished from sight as they turned around the corner and each picked a direction. Whilst they were mostly silent so far, their tasks were just as important as the one the two girls were assigned to. Creating awork would allow them to have an ear constantly on the ground. They could keep watch on the guards'' and the church''s every move, every action they took, and formte a n in case direct intervention would be needed. ''And as for you Tak'' Aiden then spoke to the only remaining but most eye-catching creature remaining in the dark alleyway. ''Before anything, work on your transformation skill. You should be able to return to your previous appearance. Learn to use it, and then keep yourself in that form unless I tell you you can change back. Got it?'' Taking a moment, he continued before Tak could even speak. ''Whilst the others are also different, they could still walk around without raising too many eyes and turning all the heads. As for you Well, I am sure you understand.'' Finishing what he wanted to say, he turned around and looked at the lonesome Dread Saurian once more. ''Y-yes, my lord! I will work on it as youmand! I know I can''t go out like this!'' Tak hastily spoke up fiercely, vehemently nodding hisrge head in the process. Aiden watched as he immediately got into action, and closed his eyes. He raised his shoulders as he tried focusing on himself first. He shed each of his muscles one after another before eventually, he seemed to have found what he was searching for. A faint golden light appeared around him, much too vague to properly engulf his humongous frame, but enough to be visible, akin to a fog. Aiden smiled, knowing it would be quite a while before he could master the ability and learn to properly use the ability. Though it was not essentially the same, he was certain that Tak''s shapeshifting worked in a simr fashion to his own. By finding its source, its origin, Tak hadpleted the very first step only. Now he needed to learn how to properly activate it from within his core and how to channel the newfound energy, a force he had never once had in his body, revolving it around each part, nook, and cranny before he could achieve any form of sess. Turning around, Aiden together with Tolliah walked towards the front door of the Inn, and entered once again, this time alone. He looked towards the chubby skink leaning over the counter in a bored-looking expression and slowly walked over. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 665 - 665 - Betrayal As he approached the counter on the empty, dimly lit inn''s ground floor, Aiden revealed a growing frown the more he looked at the chubby middle-aged man. The wide smile, the perspiring forehead was beyond telling, he would have been quite cautious and suspicious even if he wouldn''t now be marked with a slightly orangish-looking dot instead of the previous neutral, then somewhat green from before. Something had changed, the man had done something that made the system no longer consider him a friendly signal, but instead leaning towards the hostility. Yet, despite being marked as unfriendly, the old man had a sweet smile adorning his floppy visage as he looked at the approaching hooded elder, Aiden. "[Reptilian] Ah you are back, good sir!" He greeted enthusiastically as Aiden reached the other side of the counter. He looked at the little girl hanging from his neck. Raising his hand, he slowly reached out, wanting to caress the top of the little girl''s head. "[Reptilian] And how is this little angel do- Aaaargh!" Yet, before he could make contact, suddenly his wrist was grabbed, and twisted with an unexpectedly immense force, as it was twisted to an unhealthy angle and pulled aside. The old innkeeper was by far not a fighter, his attributes were that of a normal [Draconic Skink] reptilian, leaning towards agility in turn of having poorer might and healthpared to the humans, bareskins. He could not put up any meaningful resistance in front of the sudden zing speed and vice-like grip of the hooded man, he cried in anguish. "Aw aw aw aw P-please D-don''t hurt me" He begged, looking pathetic instantly. Still, behind the pitiful appearance, there was a glint of resentment and hatred steadily growing, cultivating. Noticing that spark, Aiden was now almost certain that something was amiss. He twisted the grabbed arm more eliciting even greater cries and sobs as he asked in a deep, growling undertone, his [Draconic Heritage]''s powerful true tone of voice. "[Reptilian] What have you done, worm? Speak before I end your miserable, pathetic excuse of an existence." Hemanded. Meanwhile, little Tolliah kept silent, refusing to turn away from the warmth of her Papa''s chest. To feel the growing, increasing beating of his heart as he grew more and more heated and emotional felt better and moreforting than anything. She was not afraid of anything. As long as she could feel his embrace, his care, she knew she was safe and that nothing could hurt her. The innkeeper was now sweating profusely from the nervousness and the fear that soon engulfed his entire being and overwhelmed his rationale. The seedling of regret slowly appeared at the depths of his heart. Perhaps his actions were too hasty, and the enticing of a few silver coins shouldn''t have made him do what he had done. "[Reptilian] I I" He stammered, still hesitating to reveal what was already quite obvious at this point to both parties. Growing annoyed by the man''s actions, Aiden released the mental shackles holding his aura and powers at bay. Suddenly, his powers exploded, his ancient draconic lineage instantly engulfed the entire interior of the structure, pulling it under his domain. The old man''s knees could no longer withstand the pressure, they buckled forcing the old man to fall on the ground, kneeling in front of the man and behind the counter. He could feel that the temperature in the room instantly shifted, declining rapidly as a cold, eerie force filled the space around him. As if a heavy, invisible weight was ced upon his shoulders, he felt the gradually increasing pressure, that forced him closer and closer to the ground by each passing instant. He could only grit his teeth, and try his best to keep up. Keep himself from failing not once but twice in his heart. However, having absolutely no experience, or training at all, his resistance was meaningless, he soon buckled under the pressure once again. Almost forced to lie on the ground after just about ten seconds, he finally couldn''t stand it anymore and cried out with worry and exasperation filling his heart. "[Reptilian] A-a-alright Stop it please oh great lord Please don''t hurt me I will talk" He sobbed, now looking truly honest, miserable, and pitiful. Yet, Aiden''s heart remained cold as he kept on the pressure but did not increase it further, forcing the hopeless man stered on the ground floor. "[Reptilian] Speak. What have you done? Be honest and I might just might, END your suffering." Aiden coldly spoke, his thunderous voice reverberating in the closed-off space, almost looking as if it was powerful enough to shake this meager building''s foundation and make it crumble with a single, more powerful shout of his. "[Reptilian] I I" The middle-aged skink man stammered again, though this time not because of being hesitant, but because the pressure he was experiencing was way too great for him to even properly breathe, much less speak. He gasped for air after each word, feeling challenged even as to just stay conscious at this point. Looking at the miserable state of this spineless creature, Aiden scowled with annoyance. Focusing his breathing he reigned in his wildly raging aura, pulling some of its power back and toning it down a few degrees. Instantly, the old man could feel the change in pressure as a result. The heavy force has begun to ease up and recede. Though it was notpletely lifted, he could now slowly push himself up and look at the hooded figure with a newfound light. He no longer felt disdainful and contemptuous as he looked at this refugee leader. No, now he feared this man''s wrath. The terror of this mysterious, unnatural force he exerted with such ease, the cold air, his killing intent made him feel absolutely horrified and even somewhat reverent, respectful deep down. The previously felt hatred and resentment have begun to gradually transform and evolve, enriching the seeds of regret and cultivating it to rapidly grow inside his heart. He realized that what he had done had most likely sealed his fate. Though he could still not see Aiden''s expression and true face due to the hooded robe he had, the middle-aged innkeeper could still feel his cold, emotionless gaze as it almost bore a hole through him. He gulped, gathering all his willpower to resist the terror and quell the chaos raging in him as his lips parted and he slowly began to speak, with great effort. "[Reptilian] I I have made a mistake, oh great lord Please spare me" He begged for his life." "[Reptilian] I asked you a question before, yet you still refuse to answer? What have you done, worm?!" Aiden roared again with even more anger in his voice. However, before the man could answer, Aiden suddenly felt several hostile presences approaching in a disciplined group --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 666 - The Promise For A Better Tomorrow He gulped, gathering all his willpower to resist the terror and quell the chaos raging in him as his lips parted and he slowly began to speak, with great effort. "[Reptilian] I I have made a mistake, oh great lord Please spare me" He begged for his life." "[Reptilian] I asked you a question before, yet you still refuse to answer? What have you done, worm?!" Aiden roared again with even more anger in his voice. However, before the man could answer, Aiden suddenly felt several hostile presences approaching in a disciplined group Taking a quick look at the system''s map, Aiden noticed the several clearly hostile enemy dots converging towards his direction from the direction of the inner city. They walked in a uniformed, disciplined manner, keeping up a loose formation as a smaller contingent of them filled up the streets marching forward. Though they were still far away, they were clearly approaching this general area, clearing all doubts if this was deliberate or just a coincidence. Aiden''s expression instantly soured, the thought of them being sold out, and the little girl, Tolliah''s life being threatened quickly damped his mood. His eyes glimmered with a cold, murderous glint as he cast his golden, glowing eyes away from the system''s transparent floating screen and focused them on the shivering, trembling chubby skink man. "[Reptilian] Tell me innkeeper What was your reward?" Aiden asked coldly. "[Reptilian] I I" The innkeeper trembled, unable to formte words as he felt terrified by the unknown aura that once more pressed on him. He tried to peek under the hood, only to see darkness and two pairs of glimmering golden balls gazing back at him. He immediately shivered, he felt as if an ancient beast was lurking in that darkness and not just a peddler, a merchant. "[Reptilian] Did they offer you some coins perhaps? A few extra privileges that would make your business be more lucrative once more?" Aiden asked, his voice turning more and more hostile. He gently ced his left hand over the back of Tolliah''s head, holding it gently, but at the same time, firmly in ce so that she wouldn''t be able to see anything unsightly. Leaning over he gave a small peck on the top of her hooded head and whispered. "[Reptilian] Close your eyes and ears if you can, little one. Papa will do something that you shouldn''t see, okay? Tolliah gave a light ''Uhm'' in response and did as she was instructed. She pressed her face into the fabric of Aiden''s robe while raising her small cute hands and ced them over her ears holes, closing them down. What was even more surprising or maybe even shocking is that even though she was most likely clear in what was about to happen, she did not seem bothered by the slightest. On the contrary, she was smiling as she responded to her beloved papa, and did as she was told to, not caring or bothering about the middle aged man or his miserable fate that would soone up on him. All she cared about was with her and was watching over her. Nothing else mattered. Once he felt that Tolliah was now safe and protected from the nasty, cruel stuff, Aiden finally looked up once more. His expression instantly changed, the thin smile he had was gone, reced by the earlier coldness and murderous intent as he gazed at the skink man. "[Reptilian] You know" Giving it a few moments, enjoying as the man trembled, Aiden spoke up. "I was really trying to be positive about all of this. I really did. I truly sympathize with you lot. Being cast out by the church and shown nothing but contempt and suppression as they ruled with tyranny Life had to be hard." He spoke with a tone that did not match the speech at all. He sighed as he continued. His eyes shed with mysterious energy once again, golding like two pairs of suns piercing through the veil of the night that was his cover. "[Reptilian] Still, if you lose your own integrity, and be this wretched, disgusting spineless shell of a man What is the point?" He asked, looking at the shivering man. The simple question caused another wave of dread to wash over the already shaking chubby skink man. Still, despite having a rough understanding of the underlying meaning, he gulped and gathered all his remaining courage to force out a question, probably hisst ray of hope. "[Reptilian] W-what do d-do you m-mean, g-great lord?" He asked with a stuttering, stammering tone. In response, Aiden slowly walked to the side, circling around the counter, and approached the man with casual but steady steps, giving the man ample time to understand the situation as well as not give him any chance to escape. As he arrived in front of the man, the innkeeper could finally see a vague silhouette drawing out from under the cover of the figure''s hood. A wide smile began to creep up on the shadowy visage, contorting the facial muscles, twisting it into a sinister-looking expression. "[Reptilian] What do I mean, you ask? Hmmm Let me show you instead" He spoke before his eyes shed with a golden glimmer once more. In the next instant, his free right hand shot forward like a projectile, with zing speed and tremendous momentum. Before the chubby innkeeper could even register what was happening he suddenly felt a deep, overwhelming pain encroaching upon him,ing from somewhere around the center of his torso. His breathing turned ragged, soon the pain turned unbearable. He wanted to scream, vent out some of the chaos that wreaked havoc inside his being, yet when his lips parted with a quivering, uncertain motion, only a mouthful of blood came out, pushing his vocal cords into further dismay. He gurgled, as blood kept on spurting as if he was a fountain gargoyle. A short moment, maybe a few seconds passed as he suddenly realized that his stamina was rapidly escaping from his body. His legs suddenly felt overwhelmed under the mountain of pressure, soon giving in. The middle aged skink man fell on the floor whilst his hands subconsciously reached out for the source of the pain. Even without looking down, he could feel, he could understand what happened. In the end, before the light finally left his eyes, the despair the terror was reced by an otherworldly calm. Somewhere deep down he knew that this is what he deserved. Though his actions may have had a proper reason, and even though it may have not been driven by greed, lust, or whatever other sins most would have, he still betrayed everything he had once stood for. He betrayed the promise. The promise of a better tomorrow. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 667 - Addiction Before the innkeeper, the old chubby Draconic Skink man could react, or just register what was going on, or what the hooded peddler, Aiden''s words had truly meant, it was already toote. Aiden''s arm blurred, vanishing from its resting spot, and shot towards like a deadly projectile, piercing through the scaled skin of the creature''s upper chest without too much of a resistance. Before he could have a chance to process and understand what happened, the mysterious hooded figure had already sealed his fate. The sound of flesh and skin tearing could be heard as Aiden''s arm -now in its semi-transformed wed and golden scaled form- had plunged deep within the creature''s fragile frame. Aiden''s eyes lit up, shimmering in their usual golden luster as he looked at the shocked expression of the small figure. His smirk creasing, curving higher and higher as he felt the rapidly waning life essence converging towards his fingers. His wed hands were tightly gripping at the creature''s crystalline, small bead-like core. Like he did once before, this time he did not directly pull it out. No. Now with his increased understanding of his own abilities and what he truly was, he nned something much more direct. Much less gruesome. Much faster. The golden luster in his eyes burning with an increasingly vigorous, expectant light, Aiden''s lips slowly parted, letting out amand that once caused even the greatest powers to tremble in fright. "ABSORB." Though he was already used to it by now, as his primal form fused with the ancient draconic essence took control, his voice rang across therge and empty dark tavern ground floor, thundering boisterously, reaching into the deserted upper floors as well. In the next moment, the now-familiar scene began to y out. The body of the pierced draconic skink began to tremble as ripples began to spread out with his core being the origin. These visual distortions, mystical, otherworldly waves grew in intensity with each passing moment, soon masking shrouding the whole figure of the now-departed creature. From the core as the source, one after another his organs, blood, flesh, and skin began to liquefy and flow towards the golden scaled, ebony-wed hand seeping, merging, fusing into it at a frightening speed. The figure of the plump draconic skink distorted, as it rapidly transformed, turning into a dark ck floating viscous liquid that continued to seep and soak into the connected hand of the robed and hooded figure of Aiden. At the same time, an almost euphoric look could be observed hiding under the darkness of Aiden''s hood. He could finally, once more be enamored in this heavenly sensation, lost in the daze of having another mass of life essence merge into his very being, strengthening both his body and soul in the process. Feeling the collection of essences inside his body and seep into the very fiber of his being and his soul, Aiden once again, after so long, felt the addictive sensation of growing stronger in the most natural way to his race, the Primal''s know-how. Strangely, however, the absorption process didn''t seem to bother the little girl hanging on his chest at all. She looked happy and content as she kept hugging his beloved Papa, and felt the warmth of his chest. Her smile merely grew a few inches wider when she suddenly felt the louder, more powerful, and faster thumps of his heartbeat. Though Aiden epted her strange obsession with him and even grew ustomed to it, it was still quite strange how she was not bothered by anything, no matter how grotesque or gruesome it was as long as he was with her. As if it was the natural way of life. The strong preying on the weak. Still, he couldn''t waste time dwelling on the matter now, Aiden pushed the thought to the back of his mind and focused on the revolving new energy in his system. He felt as the energy rapidly increased in his body, his muscles bulged and contorted as they gained even more density. His eyes that were shimmering with a bright, golden luster didn''t seem to cease. At the same time, the long heard slew of notifications began to ring out one after another in his mind, informing him of the gains and changes he had gone under. [Note: The form: (Draconic Skink - Clean - Tier 1+) have gained new essence, fusing it with existing seed is required. Estimated time forpletion once process is initiated: 00 hours 20 minutes 00 seconds ] [Note: New energy gathered! Host''s current reserve of [Soul Power] has increased by +50! Current value: 1300 / 1300] Aiden''s lips curved into an expression of satisfaction, he was satisfied with the results. Just as before, directly absorbing the creature entirely had provided a significant boost to theprehension process. One thing that surprised him was that the message was somewhat unexpected. From what he understood, some changes would be made to his current form, and most likely to his appearance as well. What did that mean? What will he end up being? Would he still be wearing the appearance of the old, ex-archbishop, Tolliah''s true father or would he forever lose it and turn into something new, unknown to his people and the little girl? Will she be scared and frightened once she sees that he had once again changed? Though she seems okay now, and strangely unbothered by anything that was going on, who could tell what will happen? Still, the system gave a vague hint that the new essence would most likely also bring some extra gains, hopefully beyond the point of an altered, perfected outward appearance, and would provide him with some extra benefits as well. Notifications kept on ringing, Aiden could feel the assault of the new memories of the absorbed emerging, wanting to be processed. Though Aiden wanted nothing more than to go through the memories of the being that now he understood was called as Ba''ru. He wanted to learn more about him. Who was he? What did he actually do, why did he do it? Was there any other factor for him making such a cruel decision besides greed? He wanted to learn more, to get a better picture of what was actually happening, and to formte a n that would allow him toplete all his active quests, Aiden needed to get a better insight into the events and happenings. What was life in the slums? These and many other questions gued Aiden''s mind. Questions he still needed answers to Yet, before he could have a chance, a frown appeared over his face. With a wave of his hand, the torn and bloodied clothes of the absorbed skink vanished, entered into his system''s sealed inventory space, leaving behind absolutely no trace of what could have transpired between these walls just a couple of moments ago. The dark red dots on his map had finally arrived in front of the door. With haste they encircled the building closing off all entrances and sealing all exits --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 668 - Guards And The Peddler Just as the loitering clothes on the floor turned into particles and vanished into seemingly thin air, Aiden noticed that the red dots standing before the entrance formed into a four-man group and approached the entrance with a steady but wide-stepped pace. Giving a gentle pat on the little girl''s head who seemed to be already back to gently resting and even snoozing off, he donned his usual calm smile, pulled the hood slightly back, and hurriedly equipped the faceless ck mask he had from before. The same faceless mask that he wore many times before, and could always fit even the strangest facial changes and transformations once again appeared over his face, leaving only two small slits for his golden gaze to shine through. *CRREEAK!* The old wooden door creaked as it was pushed from the outside, slowly giving way into the outside force and allowing entry for the shining metal armored Temple Guard''s force to step inside. A slightlyrger Draconic Skink stood at the center surrounded by three other ones. His scales were of a deeper shade of orange closer to a brighter crimson than anybody else Aiden had seen before. He was slightlyrger, taller, and even bulkier than the rest, sporting the size of an average-looking dwarf, gaining at least a full head over its brethren. Arge bright yellow fin-likeb stood proudly at the top of his head, protruding through his most likely specially designed helmet as well. Though he was undoubtedly an officer, a higher rank than the rest, he was still using arge javelin-looking spear-like weapon as a walking aide, rather than the usual one-handed swords Aiden would have been expecting. At the same time, the subordinates that came along with him were each holding onto a simr-looking one albeit made from a lesser quality material without any adornments on it. The captain''s armor was also of higher quality material as instead of the usual metallic bright shine, it had a dull, darker tone, with a strange roaring dragon-head-shaped insignia etched at the center of his chest te. Even his tail, which was also slightly thicker and longer had some armored tes covering it from the top, with a few spikes adding more damaging potential during fights. "[Reptilian] HALT!" The man roared as they took a couple of steps into the room and arrived at the center of the empty first floor. He looked at the hoodedmoner-looking filthy peddler and the spawnling hanging from his neck with a disdainful, contemptuous look as he scoffed and asked arrogantly. "[Reptilian] YOU!" He pointed the tip of his weapon in his direction, his eyes shining with a cold, heartless glint. "IDENTIFY YOURSELF! Who are you and what are you doing here? Where''s the innkeeper?!" He yelled, yet as he finished he already seemed to grow irritated and eximed further. "[Reptilian] SPEAK NOW, or we would take you and your child away for questioning! I can guess you wouldn''t want that, right?!" As he finished speaking the two guards at his side stepped forward, and pointed their weapons threateningly at the unknown hooded figure. They sneered at the man, already expecting to be quite fearful and most likely trembling under the cover of the ugly-looking fabric of his hood. "[Reptilian] You there, pull that hood down and reveal yourself!" They yelled at Aiden''s figure. Poking their spears in his direction in the air just to give an even bigger threat. Though sneering inside at these creatures trying to act though, Aiden didn''t show any of that emotion on the outside. He slumped his shoulders and was leaning slightly forward hunching down, ying the role of a powerless, weak refugee. He gently caressed the top of the snoring Tolliah''s head as he nodded and bowed towards the direction of the guards. "[Reptilian] Y-yes, my g-good sirs!" He hurriedly eximed, and pulled his hoodpletely down, revealing only his masked face. A deep frown appeared over the guard captain''s face as he looked at the strange-looking dark mask that still somehow covered the face of this unknown figure. Still, he wasn''t here to waste time on some worthless filth in the Slums. He scoffed and clicked his tongue signaling his annoyance, before raising his right hand in the air silencing the already growling dogs that were his apanying guards. "[Reptilian] Count yourself lucky that I have no time to waste on the likes of you. Still, next time you are asked to show yourself, that means everything that you wear over your head, even the mask!" He scoffed again, before coughing as a means to change the subject. He turned his head to the left and then to the right as if searching for somehow he was looking around, before finally asking with a frown. "[Reptilian] You what is your name,moner?" He asked arrogantly. "[Reptilian] S-Sorak good sir My name is S-Sorak I came with a couple of others from far aw-" Aiden spoke with a humble tone, stuttering along the way to show his ''subservience'' and ''frightened'' attitude, ying his role to the best of his abilities. It seemed to be working as the captain raised his hand mid-sentence and silenced him with an exmation. "[Reptilian] Stop it, I don''t care about your sob story! Answer the question I asked before Sorak. Where is the innkeeper?!" The captain asked again with a visible tone of annoyance in his voice. Looking shocked and surprised by the question, the masked figure, Aiden swayed his head wildly as he responded swiftly with the same faked frightened stutter. "[Reptilian] I-. I d-don''t know g-good sirs! When we arrived at the city, we stopped by this inn hoping to ask for shelter for the night but there was nobody here, I swear! My daughter and I was just pondering about what to do whilst the rest went looking around for another ce to stay." Aiden spoke, bowed, and looked at the ground. Taking a few seconds to allow the guards to process his words he continued. "[Reptilian] As I am certain you are all aware, finding a ce to stay on these streets is not an easy task, especially if you have a small child to feed as well. They are still searching for a roof whilst I decided to stay hoping that the owner woulde in the meantime." Aiden sighed mncholically as he reached this point. Shaking his head as he slowly raised his gaze and looked at the arrogant-looking overly proud guard captain. "[Reptilian] Sadly, I was unsessful so far, as nobody came before you, good sirs!" Ending his speech, Aiden kept his bowed, subservient posture, whilst holding onto little Tolliah, he acted as respectfully as he could. He wanted to avoid any trouble, that would only cause furtherplications to their ns. Killing off a regiment alongside its probably well-known captain wouldn''t help them in any way --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 669 - A Sob Story Silence reigned over the first floor of the seemingly deserted Outer Slums Inn. Following the masked skink man''s words, the captain merely frowned but did not speak or respond in any matter at all. There were no fluctuations in his expression even after a minute of tense silence have passed by, but from the look in his yellowish eyes, it was clear he was in deep thought. He was probablymenting on the information he was reported by this unknown man, trying to guess the credibility based on the man''s tone, posture, and actions. Eventually, he sighed, as well as clicked his tongue in annoyance. His face once again turned cold and arrogant as his lips parted to speak. "[Reptilian] That worm must have fled. Not sure why Were you the one who called for us?" He asked after a moment of hesitation. Aiden acted as if he had no idea what the Temple Guard Captain was talking about, he hurriedly shook his head whilst keeping his gaze stered on the dusty floor. "[Reptilian] N-no my sir, I do not know what you are talking about. I have not dared to intrude upon any other rooms, as it is not my home. I was waiting patiently for the innkeeper to return so that I could ask him for some abode for the day You see, after the arduous journey on the long ro-" Once again, before he could finish, the captain raised his hand and stopped him from continuing further and entering a tangent. "[Reptilian] Save it,moner. I have already said: I do NOT care about your sad sob story. You only need to answer the questions you are given and nothing more. Remember that, or else, we would be happy to give you and your wretched spawn both a shelter ourselves. Though I guess you wouldn''t really like that" "[Reptilian] Filthy worm, how dare you speak when you are not asked?! BEHAVE!" "[Reptilian] Obey the Captain you worthless scum!" The two guards that stood in front of the hooded merchant, Aiden and were raising their spears aimed at the back of the little snoozing baggage hanging from his neck, seemed to have gained more courage as their captain reprimanded the man and have thrown their own jabs, taunts, and sneers along his way. Though he was growing more and more angered on the inside, Aiden still managed to suppress his rage and kept silent. Though a flicker of golden light escaped the confines of his face mask, nothing more was revealed of his inner turmoil. Ignoring the barking dogs, Aiden turned his attention on the man and the remaining third guard standing at the back. He did not speak a word, nor did he offer any response to hisst reprimand, but simply, silently nodded. Seeing how they were ignored, the two guards at the front were growing angrier. They poked harder only stopping as they were just an inch away from reaching the back of the little girl. They visibly sneered as they unted their meager power and tried to trample yet another scum, another refugee seeking shelter in their beloved city. "[Reptilian] Hey, how dare you ignore us, your superiors! Pay us the proper respect or an UNFORTUNATE ident might just happen to your filthy spawn!" One of them yelled out, a sinister sneer appearing over his visage. His eyes flicked downwards, looking at the dusty ground in front of them. "[Reptilian] What are you waiting for! KNEEL down and beg for mercy you disgusting vermin!" He said following it up by raising his spear and striking down aiming at the head of the little girl with the t part of his weapon. Noticing this, Aiden swiftly stepped forward and took the strike with his own body instead, allowing the guard to hit him on the head. The strike rang dully in the room, but besides that initial contact, there was no grunt or even any reaction made by the seemingly weak and feeble man, surprising the captain along with the rest of his crew. The captain frowned as he noticed this peculiarity. He could feel no strength or power of any sorting from this man. From any way he looked, the old man looked a genuine weakmoner, yet he took that strike without as much as a flinch? He was somewhat surprised. Still, he decided to keep this thought for himself for now, and once again raised his right hand in the air, signaling for the other two to cease their actions. The captain turned to look at the old man who was looking back at him all this time. "[Reptilian] What are you hesitating for? Prostrate yourself to show us how honest and truly humble you are! Otherwise, we might as well just register your filth as transgressors before tossing you out." He spoke coldly, pausing briefly to give time to process his warning. A bitter he continued, asking once again. "[Reptilian] Are you certain that there was nobody present when you came by? Did you see anyone, hear anyone from the back? Are you certain that you were the only person in the building?" Ignoring the two guards once again, as well as the spear that was still resting over his head, Aiden shook his head and spoke with the same humble, meek, and stuttering tone. This time however his voice gave a bigger contrast to his earlier actions, causing an even deeper frown to appear over the two guards'' expression. "[Reptilian] Y-yes, g-great sir! When I came in, only my little princess and I were the only ones present in the room! I I d-did not hear anything from the back or anywhere from the building though I have to admit, the long road and the exhaustion may have dulled my already aging senses. For that, I can only apologize oh great sir!" Taking a moment, Aiden coughed before he began to narrate the events that had ''yed out'' ording to him. "[Reptilian] When we arrived, we pulled our cart to the back, so that it w-wouldn''t disturb any passerby! Then we came here and seeing as there was nobody present even after calling out several times, I and my friends have decided to split up. They went to explore the outer districts, looking for a tavern or inn that we could afford, while I stayed behind. My daughter got weak and exhausted after the long road, I didn''t want to tire her any further." The captain silently listened to the report. When he finally finished, he frowned and asked the only thing that he felt didn''t add up in the story at all --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 670 - A Critical Error "[Reptilian] Interesting" The Temple Guard Captain skink muttered to himself as he listened to the recount of what happened by the old peddler. Pondering the words, he felt that something was amiss though even if at first everything looked fine, his instincts were telling him otherwise. Then he realized one crucial detail Something that was missed by the report. If it was true that there was no other soul present in the building, when this group of refugees arrived, who called in for them, the Temple Guards? The sole reason they arrived was that the messenger crystal they have given to the few select individuals, such as the chubby innkeeper, have been activated and a signal was sent. It couldn''t even be faked either, the crystals are each a unique artifact, tied to the individual''s energy signature, copying it would have required capabilities that were just not present. Only the High Priest and creatures of a simr level of power were capable of such a feat. The captain nodded at the two subordinates, giving them a silentmand. Understanding what their leader wanted to convey, they both turned around, facing the old hooded skink merchant once again. The sinister grins across their faces that showed even from under the cover of their helmets didn''t need much exnation. Their intention was clear as they both suddenly stepped forward, circling to both sides of Aiden. Their spears raised and pointed at the hooded merchant''s direction, their cold menacing intent was clear. "[Reptilian] I do thank you for your report peddler." The captain spoke up, whilst waving his right hand to the third, much calmer-looking guard at the back. The third guard grunted in annoyance in response as he acknowledged themand and took a position at the front. His spear, like the other two, raised and pointed threateningly at Aiden. "[Reptilian] It''s just there''s one teeny, tiny little thing that I just don''t understand." The captain continued, his face revealing a telling smirk. "You know, I can actually understand your mistake I really do. Unless you are a citizen and were contacted by us directly you couldn''t have possibly known" He spoke whilst slowly reaching for the hilt of his sword hanging at his waist. Grabbing it with his sword-wielding hand, he firmly gripped it whilst continuing. "[Reptilian] You see because of this, your little story has a critical error. A tiny hole so to say" Meeting the gazes of his subordinates his eyes curved into bright crescents, he nodded lightly. In the next moment, both guards at the side stepped forward, the tip of their spears almost touching the fabric of Aiden''s tunic. The frontal guard at the front also took a step and closed the distance. In a moment, all weapons were pointed towards Aiden, one single step and they would plunge their weapons deep into the merchant''s flesh. Yet, theck of reaction, theck of fright and terror made the captain frown. His curled lips quickly soured, he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "[Reptilian] Why are you" Before the captain could even finish hisint, suddenly, the words froze in him. Whilst there was no visible change in the stance or posture of the hooded merchant, suddenly a heavy gust of wind blew all of them away. As if an invisible fist have crashed into them, all three guards that surrounded the merchant were suddenly hurled away, crashing into the faraway walls with violent momentum. They each grunted as all the air was pushed out of their lungs. From the two sides two distinct, yet recognizable cracks could be heard, a rib most likely giving in to the unnatural pressure. For the third guard and the captain, though they both coughed up a mouthful of blood each, they did not suffer any simr injury like the other two. "[Reptilian] W-what in" The captain mumbled, feeling the sudden increase in difficulty forcing out each word amidst the heavy thirst for air. Yet, once again before he could finish a single thought, another grand shift happened. The air suddenly turned thicker, much, much denser all of a sudden. He felt a great weight pressing against his shoulders and his back, pushing him -and his only conscious guard as well- down to the ground. Lying in the dirt like mongrels, no matter how hard they fought against it, neither of them could fight this mysterious force. "[Reptilian] You see, ''captain'' I really, honestly wanted to avoid this. I truly did." Suddenly an unfamiliar, much deeper, and energetic voice resounded in the dimly lit tavern''s ground floor hall. As he forcefully raised his gaze with all his might, the captain saw as the hooded figure slowly turned towards the left and looked at the unconscious guard. With slow, leisurely steps he approached his body, whilst his voice thundered like a storm in the entire hall. "[Reptilian] I have tried my best to not cause furtherplications down along the line. I even told you the truth Well, a slightly altered version of it, but you have to understand it was for your own good!" The hooded figure audibly sighed just as he got to the first guard''s fainted body. In the next moment, to the great shock and growing dismay of the captain and thest conscious guard, Aiden''s wed, draconic, golden scaled hand shot out from under the darkness of his right sleeve and without mercy, tore deep into the guard''s back. Yet, though that was already horrifying enough, what happened next shocked and scared both draconic skinks to their very core. Their eyes went wide as they bulged as they just couldn''t ept what was happening as reality. Both the captain and the third guard desperately clung to that futile hope that whatever was happening was merely an illusion, a trick yed with their minds. For what they were being witnesses to was just impossible! The body of their freshly, now deceased brethren, suddenly began to tremble. At first, it seemed natural, but shortly, weird distortions rippled across the solid surface, before soon the entire flesh under the metal armor began to liquify and converge into the wed, golden-scaled, and blood-drenched hand! The guard''s body vanished in mere seconds, removed from reality, and perhaps existence as well just like that! Not even a minute have passed and their brethren''s corpse was gone! Turned into some strange, mysterious viscous fluid and was absorbed by the strange figure. "[Reptilian] Hmm." The figure under the hood hummed with audible delight in his deep, thunderous, and majestic tone. "This feeling this sensation is nothing alike" With a flick of his arm, suddenly all the remaining attire, as well as all the spilled blood, vanished in the next moment, leaving behind absolutely no trace of the victim! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 671 - Slaughter Or Mercy? Whilst Aiden was gathering more and more [Draconic Skink] essence, above the surface, at therge, vast central ins of the realm, the battle inside the ruins of the ancient city had finally reached its conclusion. With Naybeah enhanced by the Amazon Queen''s Divine Power''sst swing Lord Bartholomeo Diaz''s lifeless head rolled down on the ground, painting the nearby dusty streets into a darker shade of red. His retainers, Lord Bart''s already captured and defeated guards, sighed listlessly as they watched the headless body fall to the ground. They knew that it was over; they could not return to the Diaz Manor as the patriarch would surely skin them alive, boil them, or think of some other clever means of torture to vent his grief and anger. Once the news of the young lord, the Diaz Heir''s passing reaches the old man, the dormant monster inside him would surely erupt, and the ensuing chaos would pull many others down along with them. Still, none of that mattered to them. Their lives as servants in service for the Diaz''s have ended right along when the Young Master''s carnage has finallye to an end. Was it fate? Justice? None of them knew, nor did they care about it. Their primary goal, ever since stepping inside was always the same: to survive. Though they had protection and shelter before being under their Young Master''s grace, they now needed to find something new. Even if they could get by themselves, they couldn''t return without being recruited by one of the four assigned leaders. Thinking through their options, their heads swayed around as they looked at each other. After some time, they all seemingly reached the same consensus, their gazes shifted revealing determination, the will to survive. The will to push on. Clenching their fists as they were chained together, they turned towards the heaving, tired, exhausted group of their victors. In the next moment, as the oldest figure in their group slowly turned their attention with an inquiring gaze, they all went down on their knees collectively and prostrated themselves towards the man. "We would like to apologize for any grievance and damage our actions may have caused!" "We were forced to obey the Young Master, we had no choice!" "Please believe us, we had no intention of truly harming you, but we couldn''t go against Young Master Bart''smands!" "Please ept us!" "We are willing to serve!" "Have mercy! Let us join! Don''t let us be stranded in this gods'' forsaken ce!" "I do not want to die!" They each began to cry, and plead for mercy or begged to be epted, or be forgiven. It was clear from their words they had no loyalty to the Diaz family at all and would do anything to survive and get back to their well-known reality. Captain Don frowned as he listened to the pleas of these spineless men. Each having no regard for their faces, they easily threw themselves down into the dust and begged for mercy. They were survivors, the true cockroaches of humanity. The perfect representation of humanity as a whole on Eora. Having no real loyalty, or sense of belonging. Their only goal was to reach the next day, the next month, the next year. Live their lives maybe not to the fullest, but to the longest possible. Even if it was ultimately fruitless, they wouldn''t care. Only on their deathbed, as theymented their own past mistakes could they have a chance to recognize the true darkness that hadpletely dominated their existence. "Pfft Some servants you disgusting vermin are! At least have a spine, a backbone!" Scarlet roared with annoyance, she couldn''t listen to their words any longer. Her face was twisted into utter disgust, disdain, and contempt as she looked down on them. How could they utter such words so easily? Just an hour ago they were roaring viciously, sneering sinisterly and wholeheartedly as they wanted nothing more than to take the lives of those very men and women whom they are now begging in the very same fashion. With a matching enthusiasm How deeply, utterly horrid the souls of these filthy men had to be? What manner of sins could they already carry with them, and how many more would stain it even darker? "I don''t think that" She spoke but was interrupted when the old man, Captain Don raised his right arm in the air. He sighed and reached for his bearded chin to caress it as he pondered silently for a few seconds before turning his gaze to the prostrating group of captive ex servants. He turned his attention to the rest of his team members, both the Silver Howl mercenaries and Aiden''s young adventurer party. He didn''t speak yet the conflicted look on his face revealed that his mind was in a simr turmoil as to how the fiery red-haired girl, Scarlet was thinking. He too felt that this group of men wouldn''t be worth any effort or energy to save. They had loyalty to no one but themselves, and would not hesitate to backstab them just as they now did with Lord Bart when he was defeated. They would do everything in their power to survive, to push forward, and wouldn''t bat an eye if they had to step over their gracious hosts in the process. Yet, at the same time, on the other hand, he was ultimately a good-hearted man. Yes, he may have suffered in the past, and were forced to escape their old homes when the Empire came and took over everything still he didn''t lose his original drive. His original reason for creating their band of misfits. Still, as a leader with years of experience, he knew he had to be decisive, he had to be able, to be capable of making those hard decisions. He knew in his mind that it wouldn''t be right to put his own team into a constant sense of threat and danger just because his heart was swaying and didn''t want to be witness to merciless ughter. He did not ask anyone, yet there was no real need to. The thoughts and emotions were perfectly conveyed and carried over to everyone leering into his pained gaze. Everyone could see, could feel the same weight descending upon them. Whilst some, -like Scarlet or for that matter, his brother Drake as well- didn''t feel that any problem with dealing with these scum, others with morepassion in their hearts, like the usually cheerful Lily and surprisingly, even Galina felt that they too did deserve a second chance, despite everything. Though it may have been that they didn''t really care about them. They knew they had their brother, the Young Lord to watch over them in case of trouble Taking almost a full minute, Captain Don finally steeled his resolve and turned his gaze back on the still prostrated group when suddenly his eyes opened in shock. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 672 - The Same Mistakes Again And Again As he turned to look at the group of men prostrating on the ground, suddenly a bright metallic glint shed across in front of him, temporarily stealing his vision and blinding Captain Don. In the next second blood sttered everywhere, amidst a cacophony of woeful cries and gurgles. "Was this so hard?!" The barbaric howl of a familiar feminine voice hollered amidst, gradually overpowering the faltering deathly woes and bloodcurdling coughs. As the scarlet curtain slowly descended it revealed the figure of a tall asura, a true and terrifying reaper of the battlefields; Naybeah stood holding her humongous war axe in her right arm. Throwing it over her right shoulder she sighed as she stepped forward, crossing through the slowly growing marsh of carnage. Piles of mutted bodies, severed limbs, and heads littered the ground. The corpses of Lord Bart''s attach, their expression frozen into the perpetual grimace of pain, agony, and a twisted conniving sneer. Even in theirst moments they were scheming, nning about their very future, their path towards out of this mess they were all thrown into. Oh, the irony! "You know After all that we have been through I wouldn''t have expected you all, people to hesitate to take the right decision, old man!" Naybeah spoke as she crossed through the marsh, looking as if she was out on a mere afternoon stroll. Taking a halt as she arrived in front of the shocked, wide-eyed Captain Don, staring at him with all her blood-drenched, battered and worn down, exhausted glory. Despite the wide-berched grin stered over her face, she was clearly at her limit. Her eyes flickered as the weight of her own eyelids was a constant pressure she was slowly, but gradually losing against. The battle against the crazed demon-contracted lunatic, Lord Bartholomeo Diaz has taken her every ounce of energy she had and even some. "Naybeah! You have to rest!" Suddenly a cry rang out from the silenced crowd. Sara appeared from within the crowd, running towards the slowly faltering amazon. None knew better than her how devastating the bacsh, the cost of the Amazon Queen''s Blessing was grave. It was a miracle that she was even conscious, much less standing and calling the heavy decisions that they once again failed to do themselves. Rushing, her feet caused the pool of blood to st to both sides as she charged over without hesitation, to reach her friend. She had no idea how she was still standing maybe through her sheer willpower? Her obstinate, stubborn attitude to make HIM be proud of her? Is she still trying to impress him? Did she, Sara do anything noteworthy inparison? What makes her betterpared to Naybeah? Was she really worthy of HIS attention at all? Sara shook her head as these thoughts, these doubts began to cloud her mind. No. There was no time for any of that when her dear friend was swaying back and forth, barely standing at her feet. "Naybeah!" She cried out once again, her hands already rushing forth hoping to make contact to provide that much-needed support and to embrace her. Yet, just as she was about to reach out, just as the tip of her fingers was to touch her sweat and blood glistening body, Naybeah finally gave in to the encroaching darkness. Her eyes lost their light before both the old man, Captain Don had a chance to wake up from his stun and both her friend Sara could get there and reach her body swayed onest time before she fell to the side. *THUMP* Her body made a loud noise as she fell into the bloodied, murky pool. Her adorned, circr-headed war axe clinked loudly against the stone pavement. Still, despite everything, her face revealed a satisfied grin, thest sigh before she fainted. She was happy and proud of what she had achieved. "He can be proud of me. I have protected everyone and took a victory worthy of his majestic glory." She must have thought before her mind sailed towards the distant Land of Dreams. "I" Captain Don was shocked, unable to properly react even as the woman fell to the ground. Hisck of action, his hesitation he failed. He failed his team, his group as well as these kids once again. Just like back in the Masked Mistress'' grounds as they were waiting for this famous adventuring group to join them, so did he fail to act when the time came. "Gods'' damn it!" He cursed at himself with gritted teeth and clenched fists as he came back to his senses at the sound of the loud thump, as the blonde amazon''s towering body fell down, crumbled like a castle''s walls when they were under siege. "Naybeah" Sara muttered as her hands reached the spot where her friend stood just a moment ago. Her fingers hopelessly tried stretching, reaching towards the now-empty spot of air, her emotions are descending into turmoil yet again. "Y-you!" As if just noticing his presence and was reminded of the actions, or their actualck off, her hopeless-looking hanging arm, instantly turned into an arrow as it pointed at the still stunned and shocked looking man. Captain Don had aplicated but mostly dismaying look on his face. His mind as well as his heart was in great turmoil. He hated himself, hated himself to the core. Memories of his past resurfaced as he recognized that he is still making the same mistakes as he always did. Though he could always recognize the difficult choices, he never had the guts to actuallymit to them, to take them. He always hesitated at the veryst second, only to fail at the decisive moments. Hisck of actions has already caused an ample amount of misery, grief, and sorrow. Now, though the results wouldn''t be as instantaneous back when he was still the vige chief and was facing the threat of the looming darkness, the Empire approach, it nevertheless put the people he cared about to potential harm yet again. "Y-you!" The angered, despaired cry of the purple-haired woman resounded once again, this time with slightly more power behind its weak volume. Though still barely more than a squeal of a mouse, a whisper against the howling wind, Sara did manage to reach into the old man, Captain Don''s core with her anguished call nevertheless. "It is because of you!" She imed as she pointed at his chest. Her face slowly but surely souring, an angered scowl soon made its dominance known over her previous expressive emotions. "I I" Captain Don sighed. As he looked up, the look on his face was clear enough of what he was feeling and thinking. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 673 - Demon! "[Reptilian] M-m-monster!" The captain of the Temple Guards squealed with utter terror settled on his face, as he was forced to watch how one of his subordinates turned into a floating globe of viscous goo and seeped into the robed merchant''s body. He was utterly shocked and horrified as well deeply confused about what had just happened. What did he do How did he do what he just did But most importantly. "[Reptilian] J-just w-what are you?! What kind of creature Some sort of demon?!" The captain cried out, watching with utter horror as the robed and hooded man slowly, casually made his way over the second unconscious guard across the other end of the room. The same terrifying aura swirled around him as it consciously tried protecting its master. The pressure never eased and kept both the Draconic Skink captain and hisst remaining senior guard stered on the cold hard inn''s floor. No matter how hard they tried, how hard they tried to squirm their way around, they could not move their bodies even a single inch. The onlypromise they were seemingly given was that they could move their heads ever-so-slightly. Not much, just enough to raise their gaze and watch with a gradually growing despair as this horrific reaper has begun to cull yet another one of their own. As the Captain watched for the second time that the robed merchant''s right arm shot forward like a bolt from a crossbow and prated deep within the flesh of his subordinate, his confusion only grew, never calmed. Why didn''t the rest of his teame in already? How could they not realize that something was going on? This pressure, this power even if they had no talent at all, they HAD to realize that the situation has gone to hell and beyond Yet, none of them ever showed up. "[Reptilian] I know what you are thinking" Suddenly the cold, deep voice rang throughout the hall. Just as the second body turned to a floating ball of liquid and was subsequently absorbed by the strange creature, the merchant''s cold, cruel voice filled the room. The voice sneered. Even with the unnatural cover of his hood, from his tone, it was clear that the merchant sneered at the Temple Guard Captain. As if he could read his thoughts, he continued. "[Reptilian] Let me guess You are wondering why nobody is charging in? You have brought an entire battalion of soldiers, surrounded the building, gave themand for everyone to stand by and be on alert yet, help just doesn''te Heh How strange indeed" A deep cackle rang throughout the now eerie room. "[Reptilian] I am sure there are millions of theories revolving around inside that small, fragile head of yours Thinking that they may have already been dealt with. Killed, murdered in cold blood, and that you have been set up." The strange figure sneered again, making the Captain shudder at the thought of what was going on. Could this man read the minds of others? He was scared, terrified at the thought. The figure cackled again before resuming. At the same time, he slowly began to approach the two. The little baggage, hanging from his neck, little Tolliah was softly humming, as if nothing that had transpired so far has phased her. She hummed some song happily to herself as she kept her arms locked tight over his Beloved Papa''s neck. With his left arm, the hooded merchant, Aiden softly caressed the little girl''s back whilst he slowly, calmly approached the two remaining figures lying on the floor. Taking only a few more extra seconds to cross the meager distance, Aiden stood over the lying figure, taking a few extra moments -which was most likely incredibly tense for the Captain and the silent guard-, before he slowly crouched down. A pair of glimmering, ominous golden-yellowish orbs looked from deeper in the darkness. "[Reptilian] You do not need to worry. I am not like you, miserable filth. I do not prey on the weak, and contrary to how you may think I do not enjoy causing suffering." A sigh escaped from the dark confines, followed by a breath of warm air. "[Reptilian] I honestly hate that once again, we havee to this. I try my best, yet your corrupted, tainted filth is just adamant in turning into fodder. "[Reptilian] I am gonna be honest with you here, Mr. Captain." He continued. "Before you and overflowing contempt ruined it all, I have nned to have this all resolved peacefully. I truly did." Aiden sighed again, slowly raising his right arm. As the sleeves of his tunic rolled back, it revealed a thick, golden scaled, ebony-wed arm. Loud, bony cracks rang out as he moved his fingers and clicked his joints. "[Reptilian] Even though I haven''t expected that the man would actually do something so spineless as to contact you guys Sigh I guess it is my fault for trusting that bast-" He stopped himself from saying what he originally wanted to, and with a faked light cough he continued. "[Reptilian] *Khm!* that unsightly man In any case, he is no longer with us. He has paid the price for his actions." Aiden said, taking a short pause in his speech before he continued. "[Reptilian] Still, I guess this whole situation is also my fault as well *Sigh* For still being a child, after everything For naively thinking that we could resolve this conflict without needless bloodshed." He sighed once again, shaking his head. However, suddenly the tone shifted. The looming scythe that was his right hand suddenly struck down with blurring speed, carving, plunging deep into the Captain''s body. His scaled skin provided no protection, no resistance at all. "Urgh" The Temple Guard Captain grunted with pain, as he felt the searing burn, the electric jolt as his synapses, his nerves were suddenly torn apart, severed. His mind was rapidly descending into chaos. "[Reptilian] Though this mayplicate matters a bit So I do hope you will provide me ample information aspensation for my troubles, okay?" Thest remaining guard''s stoic expression finally cracked when he watched his Captain suffering the exact same fate as those two hotheaded youngsters before him. He watched with utter horror as the wed reaper struck down, ripping apart scales, skin, flesh, and gore without a single twitch in his eyes. The guard didn''t know what to even think at this point, no matter how hard he tried to recall the records, the oldest, mostly guarded scrolls from the central High Temple''s hidden library, he could not recall any creature or myth with anything simr. From the short glimpse, he managed to steal when the hooded merchant showed his hand, however, his eyes went wide with the shock. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 674 - Shady Alley In a dimly lit alleyway, a group ofrge bulky figures garbed in light grey linen hooded robes followed after a bright orange scaled Draconic Skink elder. The jittery old man in squalid clothing slowly teetered forward, deeper and deeper into the looming darkness. His gray hair was unkempt, he continuously clenched and unclenched his wrinkled, freckled beard. "[Reptilian] How much longer old man?!" A rough, deep grumble came from one of the hoods following behind him. "[Reptilian] Keep it to yourself Ragor!" Another one, a slightly more resonant voice, carrying much moretent power came from another hood. "[Reptilian] Shut it Draghan! For all we know, we could be walking into a trap! This ''secret resistance force'' could all just be a sham! In fact, I could even bet that we would end up walking straight into it!" The hooded guy from before, Ragor roared up in anger once again. His voice, though still mostly toned down, wasn''t a whisper any more. His rising anger has also subconsciously made him raise his volume. *SLAP!* A loud p rang out suddenly, silencing the grumbles and recing them with a muted grunt. "[Reptilian] H-hey! W-what was that for! What did I do, Krok? I refuse to believe that it''s only me that believes we are making a mistake!" Ragorined, caressing the back of his head, - thergest, bulkiest figure of the four-person party, Krok had ''manhandled'' the annoying word sower. His rough, wide hand released a resounding p at the loud one''s head. "[Reptilian] Behave you guys! We are representing our Lord, do you want to tarnish his name, and make him look bad? Is that it?" Listening to their squabble, the strange old man only weakly smiled. Slowly making his way towards the inner regions of the dark, and foreboding alleyway he eventually stopped in front of a solid-looking wall. A dead end. "[Reptilian] I knew it! It IS a trap! A blind alley!" Ragor roared with newfound vigor. He quickly cast his weapon, a tall spear aside, and spread his arms wide instead. As the long sleeves rolled back, it revealed hisrge hands. A set of 4 short but thick curved ws glinted against the dim lighting as he looked ready to unleash all the hell he contained within his newly gained hulking frame. "[Reptilian] Come at me then! Show me all those wretched vermin, let me tear them apart! I will offer your torn flesh to the Master as an offering!" He roared boisterously. A pair ofrge yellow dots sparked in the dark. "[Reptilian] Wait for a moment, Ragor. Can''t you sense it?" Captain Draga threw his right arm in front of the battle-ready hooded Saurus, causing him to flinch and nce at his teammate with a dissatisfied expression. "[Reptilian] Yeah, listen to Draga, you big oaf!" The fourth, so far silent hooded figure spoke up. Compared to the rest he had the lightest tone of voice, albeit still much deeper than any of the Draconic Skinks. Looking at their friendly squabble, the old man calmly stood in ce, tugging his beard calmly. His eyes widened as he finally looked up and rested his attention on the group of four. His dried lips slowly parted, a tired, thin, and breathy sigh came out faintly trembling in the ominous tense atmosphere. "[Reptilian] Do not be rmed, sirs" He greeted, his face revealed a gentle, humble smile. "Everything is fine, I assure you." The old man smiled, his feeble right arm raised, he pointed towards the solid surface on the wall behind him. "[Reptilian] T-this way sirs" As the team frowned and looked confused at the old man, Draga pondered about everything they had learned from this strange figure. The old man, who lived somewhat away from the city, was known as a reclusive character, a true hermit. He only came out of his little self-made stone hut asionally, usually to slowly slither into town and gather some food and water to survive the next couple of days. Not many knew him, not even the guards cared to bother the old fogie. Still, he had his own unique quirks. For one, his hair was what stood as very unusual. Unlike how their race was known, the old man had a full head of long and lush hair with some salt and peppery tint to it. His tired, weary face showed a pair of crow''s feet under his eyes. His long, unkempt beard reached well below his waistline, which he liked to rub, to tug every so often, mostly as he talked. From his feeble posture and weak, faint stance it looked as if he was already one foot in the grave. His time-chiseled and weather-beaten face only supported this presumption. At times, he looked to be a bit spiritless, as if the long and arduous life and old age were finally getting to him. As most of the residents of the outcasts of Ugburg, his clothes were ragged, patched several times, and threadbare. Despite that, he didn''t show any shame or care of how he looked, it was as if he was giving in to the passage of time. As Draga carefully looked at him, he couldn''t help but notice how his feeble right hand clenched, as if the cold wind that blew in thiste afternoon took a slightly bigger bite than what wasfortable. His long, bony fingers were knotty, trembling, shivering as he pointed towards the seemingly solid, rough surface on the wall behind him. Still, Draga didn''t feel sorry for the man. Living like how he did was his own choice. He had the option to stand up and fight for a better future. Even if he was old and weak, not every rebel was a fighter. There were children, females, and even elders amongst their group, staying behind in the safety of their dark caves even at this very moment. The old man seemed very gentle, aplete contrast to the chubby innkeeper they had the ''pleasure'' to meet with earlier. Though he looked more like a vagrant, their team pretty much looked the same. Heck, they were the same! They had lost their old homes, some even their families along with it "[Reptilian] Why are you" The old man''s smile grew thicker, slowly turning into a wondrous ''O'' shape as he looked surprised and even somewhat baffled at the team of four standing in front of him and not reacting as he had expected. Then, as if he just understood, hebed his long beard with his bony fingers as he spoke up. "[Reptilian] Ah excuse me, great sirs. I thought you knew how this city truly works. I am truly sorry" He said, bowing deeply though Draga could still catch the faint smile hiding underneath. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 675 - The Dark Alleyway "[Reptilian] Ah excuse me, great sirs. I thought you knew how this city truly works. I am truly sorry" He said, bowing deeply though Draga could still catch the faint smile hiding underneath. "[Reptilian] We aren''t locals old man. If you would be so kind and exin what you mean?" Draga asked, frowning under the cover of his hood. The old man smiled once more, as he gave a deep, polite bow. "[Reptilian] Certainly, great sirs! It''s no problem at all!" He eximed, pushing his fragile shaking palm towards the group. From the bright smile and the greedy glint shing in the corner of his eyes, it didn''t take a genius to find out what he was waiting for. Reaching for the leather pouch he got from their Master, Draga grabbed a gold coin and ced it in the old man''s eager palm. Instantly, the hand closed up into a tightly clenched fist, the old man hurriedly ced the coin in some sort of inner pocket in the depths of his raggedy, tattered rags with an eager, hungry-looking, almost predatory gaze. The next moment, he turned to the side, facing the wall, and whilst keeping his polite and now, much more genuine smile stered across his face, he reached for a particr slightly loose brick on the wall. Giving it a slight push, a muffled click sound could be heard thanks to the heightened senses of the group''s newly evolved races. A momentter, suddenly the entire wall began to violently shake, as arge frame formed from amongst the line of bricks. A mechanism activating, arge piece of the wall slowly, with a loud rumbling noise began to move. It slowly traversed inwards, revealing the surprising thickness of this seemingly inconspicuous alleyway. After therge chunk of the wall reached about the depth of a fully grown Saurus''s width, it finally stopped moving for a brief moment before it began to tremble and shake again in the next moment. It slowly slid to the right, eventually vanishing from their site and revealing a dark tunnel leading further down, even deeper below the ground. The ground looked to be a rough, spacious staircase, with each step several meters long. The tunnel was dark, with only a few candles lighting the way spread out rather sporadically. The group''s gazes went wide with shock as they gazed at the wondrous, unexpected reveal. Not far from the four hooded captains, a shifty-looking group was looking in their direction. A short, stout skink with rough worn-down scales and several scars adorning his body all over sneered sinisterly. He wore a simple brown sleeveless leather chest te above his white linen shirt, and ck leather reinforced trousers. "[Reptilian] Guys, I think I found ourselves a nice bonus for tonight''s drinks!" He eximed as the sneer grew wider by the minute. As he said that, the group looked in the direction their boss was looking and saw the strange, ragged vagrants that had just entered the dark alleyway with no other way out, they allughed, understanding the meaning of his words. "[Reptilian] Shall we go grab them, boss?" Asked one, tall and muscr bare-chested skink that stood out like a sore thumb with his oversized frame. He was at least a head taller than the rest, reaching the size of a dwarf. Though still smallpared to the once-dominant ''Bareskins'', amongst his race he was considered a literal giant. "[Reptilian] Should we take them to the guards for the reward or perhaps to the -" Before he could finish, a fist suddenly crashed into his face, forcing him down on the ground. "[Reptilian] Shut up you idiot!" Their boss roared angrily as he stood over him. "Do you really want to shout it out loud?! Is there nothing but more muscle in that tiny head of yours?!" Realizing his mistake, the big muscle headed skink didn''t dare to show anyint. He cast his gaze down whilst he stood back up and dusted himself. "[Reptilian] I-I.. I am sorry, boss! I didn''t think!" "[Reptilian] Of course you didn''t! You" The boss roared again, annoyed and angry at the stupidity of his underling. Yet, he stopped himself in the next moment and instead took arge gasp of air, to calm his nerves. "[Reptilian] B-boss What should we do now?" Another asked with a hesitant look in hisrge yellow eyes. He was clearly worried to suffer a simr fate as the other guy. Shaking his head, the short rough looking skink, their boss spoke up. "[Reptilian] Not yet. Let''s wait a bit more and see what they are up to. Then, we make a n. For now, let''s just keep an eye on them from a distance. We can''t let them escape!" Meanwhile back in the alleyway, Draga and the rest of the group was long aware of the other group''s presence. With the incredible gifts they have received from their Lord, it would have been quite an incredible feat if such a low-level group of local tyrant thugs could sessfully sneak up on them! One of the reasons why Ragor was so agitated and incited was because of this group. Ever since their evolution none of them had a chance to get a grasp, a feel for their bodies'' new limits. They were immediately assigned to carry out the mission they hade to the city for and had no chance to duel against each other. As they couldn''t just openly oppose the Temple Guards as that wouldn''t only be suicidal, but would also jeopardize the entire n, they were really thankful for this gods'' sent opportunity. They only needed to make sure that the other side would lower their guards and jump at them! Yet, to Ragor''s great frustration, for thest several minutes they have kept up their vignce and were simply watching them from afar! Draga and the rest were growing slightly confused What did they want? Why aren''t theying? However, just as the path opened up and they thought that this golden chance had slipped away from them due to the overly cautious nature of the other group, suddenly they each sensed the change. The same-looking expectant smirk slowly emerged in each of their faces as they sensed the approaching figures sneaking from the far end of the alleyway. "[Reptilian] Old man, you better go and hide somewhere safe." Draga suddenly spoke up, catching the smiling old man by surprise. "[Reptilian] W-what do you mean, oh great l-lord?" He asked with a confused and somewhat frightened look on his face. Did he make a mistake? Did he offend these moneybags? Draga however shook his head, clearing the confusion with his next words, albeit only to give leeway to a new source of dread and fear. "[Reptilian] I mean, we have unwee guests arriving to crash this party and something tells me they aren''ting to simply exchange pointers." --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 676 - Doomed To Fail "[Reptilian] Okay boys, time to earn your keep! Get them, but make sure to keep them mostly intact! We can earn more by selling them as ves, rather than grub for the beasts at the Fighting Pen!" Roared the leader of the thugs with an excited, exuberant grin stered on his face. His small, wed hand raised, he pointed towards the looming darkness of the alleyway stretching out in front of them giving the order to charge ahead. After spending several long minutesying in wait, and noticing no other soul around he had finally made up his mind to try his luck. Whilst he was known for being on the cautious end, which has also aided his gradual increase in rank amongst the local gang bangers, thugs, and street hussies, he could just not let such a juicy group of prey go. Whilst they tried to hide themselves under the severalyers of raggedy, tattered cloaks, his keen eyes could still make out the healthy bs of meat hiding underneath. Such healthy, well-fed figures were bound to quite a hefty sum of penny. Maybe, just maybe enough for them to be able to finally afford some walls around themselves and spend the night sheltered for once. And if, by some miracle, they could take down all four of these strangers and sell them he could maybe finally pay the remaining debt and finally be able to get his beloved sister from those disgusting vermin the Temple Guard''s greedy, leering ws. Thinking these thoughts, the leader figure shook his head in the next moment to clear his head. This was not the time to daydreaming. To have even the tiniest morsel sliver of a chance of realizing his inner hopes and dreams, he first would have to catch these four shifty figures. He didn''t care if his action may have been hypocritical in the eyes of others. He would dly burn the whole world to ashes if it meant that he could see his missing sister for just a few extra minutes. He would not feel guilty, wouldn''t feel remorse. Was he a bad person? A rotten, dark, and twisted soul? Perhaps. Still, he felt that to fight darkness, one needed to be able to embrace it himself as well. Taking a moment to steel his inner resolve and don the cloak and daggers of a two-bit thug leader once again, the bald, brawny draconic skink equipped a sinister sneer over his expression and hollered the already awaited and expectedmand. "[Reptilian] Go! Beat them but try not to kill them! The more we sell, the more we can earn!" With themand, the group of thugs raised their daggers, swords, and hand axes in the air and responded with a cheering war cry of their own and increased their steps to enter and be swallowed by the eerie, ominous darkness themselves. Obviously, this wasn''t the first time they did this, they already had a well-practiced, working, and tested routine. Two of the sturdiest of them stood by the entrance, blocking entry and vision at the same time. The rest spread out, sticking to the walls as they made their way deeper and deeper into the darkness. The leader, walking at the center of it all, walked with confident strides glimmering in each of his steps. However, his smile quickly shifted and soured into a deep frown when he looked ahead and gazed at the lonesome figure of only one of the robed figures as he stepped into the small alley. Only then did he notice the massive height difference between themselves. Even though he was considered a massive giant amongst his people, he was but a dwarfpared to the figure in front, facing him. Even though he was still hiding under the cover of his hooded cloak, his massive, bulky frame was clear for everyone to see. ''[Reptilian] Gods'' darn it This was a mistake.'' The leader of the thugs muttered to himself as he sized the opponent. Even worse, as he was about to look around to find the others as he was sure there were three others with this one when they entered and that they have not noticed anyone leaving, the blood curdling sound of the two guards he had left stationed outside could be heard. Hurriedly he had turned around, only to see the three missing, simrly hulking giants approaching them with calm, cool strides. Their robes were bathed in blood that didn''t need much investigation to connect to the most likely rather gruesome scene behind them. ''This isn''t good We need to leave. NOW!'' The leader quickly processed what was going on and how vastly they have miscalcted their strength and how gravely they underestimated these strangers. He wanted to leave. He needed to escape, he had to survive. Not for him, not for his men, even though they were rather close to each other No. He had to survive for HER. She was innocent in all of this. "[Reptilian] Grr. RETREAT!" Taking only a few seconds, he clenched his fists and quickly shouted, giving the order that all was thinking by now. Living their lives in constant pressure, threat, and suffering, their senses for survival were honed to a much higher level than normal. They have all realized that their n was doomed to fail from the very start. Still, even though they have also realized that their chances for survival were slim even if they were to try to talk their way out of this mess, they at least wanted to try. If nothing else, it was still better than justying down and waiting for the reaper without doing anything. As they each turned tail and were about to rush back towards the entrance, suddenly two of the three figures in front of them jumped to the side and charged out. They bolted with such immense speed and momentum that in the dimly lit alley their figures were like blurred shadows, a cold ominous wind as it blew towards the helpless critters. As the tworge, bulky shadows reached them and crossed through them, there were no glints of metal shing in the darkness. The sound of swipes and ripping, however, could still be heard as it tore through the fabric of their clothes with just as much ease as with their scaled skin and flesh in the next instant. Blood spurted like several gushing fountains, the silence reced by the cacophony of cries and gurgles as almost all of the thugs were felled in an instant. Their bodies fell down to the ground, only to bathe the soil with their dark red blood. "[Reptilian] Now then Care to tell us what we should do with you?" The sole survivor, the leader, suddenly shuddered when a deep voice came from behind --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 677 - Servitude Or Death? "[Reptilian] Now then" The hooded robust figure raised its attention to the now lonesome little draconic skink thug boss. A smirk emerged in his hidden expression as he looked at his small, fragile and shivering, trembling stature. "Care to tell us what we should do with you?" Just as the sole survivor, who somehow was granted this unexpected mercy and his blood still coursed inside his veins rather than joining the growing pond of vermilion that gradually imed more and more of the surrounding territory of its own, submerging the unholy mixture of hardened rock and dry soil. The helpless skink trembled with fright, his orange scales turned several gradients brighter as more and more of his blood umted around his rapidly pulsating heart and small crystal core. He was scared, no terrified as he was now facing not just one of these brutal, heartless and merciless killers. He knew that his life, whatever puny and unjust it may be, was in their hands. They coulde and im at a moments'' notice and there was absolutely nothing he could do to fight against it. Well actually, he did feel he had one tiny, minuscule chance. A miracle, as one could say. Taking a few extra seconds to gather his wits and willpower, the now rather small-looking draconic skink thug leader loudly gulped a couple of times as his gaze slowly wandered first to the left before traversing the horizon towards the far-right only to meet the same hooded, violent monsters looking at him on both ends. Their hands still dripping with the copious amounts of blood of his now-deceased gang painting of them quite a grotesque scenery. Though he didn''t turn around, he didn''t really need to. He could feel the piercing gaze of the fourth creature gazing at his back, nigh boring a hole at his cor with its fierceness. The firstrge figure that stood just a dozen steps in front of the draconic skink didn''t move or react despite almost a full minute having passed in silence. He, just like the rest of the other three seemed to be content allowing the little skink to gather himself and wasn''t in a hurry to end this little episode. As the bandit leader''s eyes darted all around, he suddenly spotted a unique-looking silhouette at the far corner of the alleyway. It was hunched back, but nevertheless, its frame resembled that of a skink. Confused at the sight, the first thought that came to the bandit leader''s mind was to raise his arms, wave, and call out for the shadowy silhouette for help. However, as he thought about it a bit more, he realized that there was absolutely no way these monsters hadn''t noticed him. What did that mean then? That figure was somehow rted to these fearsome, terrifying monsters, or perhaps had some sort of deal A deal, he too could perhaps make! "[Reptilian] M-Mighty sirs" Taking a gulp of the stale cold air, the draconic skink bandit leader forcefully calmed his mind and stuttered a response. "I I wholeheartedly apologize for the misunderstanding! Please if you would be generous to spare my life, I would be honored to serve you in any manner!" "[Reptilian] Interesting" Sneered the figure before the bandit leader with a deep crashing sound. "And pray tell why would we do that? What makes you think that whatever service you can offer would be worth our time?" "[Reptilian] What could you offer that could top the enjoyment of slicing you up, little one?!" The figure on the right chimed in, a sinister sneer resounding from under the hood as he spoke. The little skink shivered at the questions, his figure quivering as if it was a weak, fragile leaf under the assault of the heavy autumn wind. He took several more seconds to quell the raging storm inside his mind and force himself to respond. "[Reptilian] M-my name is Tocyl-kekko, I-I am well known around these parts of the town!" The bandit leader gulped as he hurriedly raised his right index finger into the air. "I-I used to be a well respected g-guard c-captain b-before before" There were tears in his voice from the overwhelming grief and sorrow that suddenly began to ooze out of every fiber of his being. Surprised by this reaction, as it wasn''t caused by his instinct, his fear of them, the central hooded figure, Draghan hummed thoughtfully. He looked at his brethren, whom all seemed to havee to the same realization. With a shared nod towards each other, they have all lowered their aggressive stances, and whilst still keeping their position to keep the little draconic skink from suddenly finding a path of escape and bolting away, they no longer radiated the pure killing intent they did just a moment ago. "[Reptilian] Tell us, what happened to you? What is your story? What made you venture to the path of taint, and be a criminal from one serving justice and keeping order?" However, despite the question, the little skink could not respond as the painful memories mixed together with the overwhelming fear and trepidation he was put under have cracked his mental barriers. As if a dam was broken, his tears were flowing like rivers, the man was crying miserably as all the suppressed memories resurfaced. The four hooded saurus captains shared another conflicted look with each other, suddenly feeling that the atmosphere got rather awkward, they had no idea what to do. Whilst killing the man would have certainly resolved the situation it would have left a bad taste in their mouth. They would be turning against their own beliefs their newfound lord''s teachings Not sure of what to do or how to react to the strange situation, they could only look for their eldest, Draghan for guidance. However, just like them, Draghan was also just as much clueless as them. Letting the figure go away was certainly not something they could allow. It would create a risk, exposing them and causing unwantedplications to their mission. Yet, killing him was also not a suitable and tasteful resolution to the cause. The only path in that case, was to ept his offer and force him into servitude However, that also wasn''t something they could decide themselves. Heaving a heavy sigh, Draghan shook his head. He was about to speak up when suddenly the weak and raspy tone of the elderly skink hiding behind them suddenly stepped forward and spoke up whilst tugging on his long silver beard. "[Reptilian] Apologies for the interruption B-but w-would the great sirs'' mind if I would suggest something that could help you out of this predicament?" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 678 - The Predicament "[Reptilian] Apologies for the interruption B-but w-would the great sirs'' mind if I would suggest something that could help you out of this predicament?" The jittery old man said with a feeble, tired and thin voice. Supporting his stand with the cane, he shivered as if the lightest wind could blow him over and make him fall to the ground, drowning in the gradually growing crimson murky mire that had imed more and morend as the minutes passed. Taking some few precious moments, the old man''s dry lips eventually parted again, he continued. "[Reptilian] Whilst this poor man has surely swayed from the right path and has turned towards a life of crime, there was a fine reason for it though!" He eximed, teetering forward as he spoke, his cane nking loudly against the hard solid rock surface as he did so. "[Reptilian] This man, just like many of us, are outcasts in the eyes of the Church. As they say, we are just a stain in the eyes of the Ancient One, dirty filth, the taint that is so utterly worthless that it doesn''t even worth the effort to cleanse." He spoke, his voice whilst still trembling, gaining more and more emotional support with each spoken sentence. Clearly, the emotions, the pain were deeply rooted in his heart as well. "[Reptilian] We are beyond redemption in their eyes and are thus expunged from the Inner Sanctum, the real city, Ugburg. We are outcasts without any aid, any support." "[Reptilian] Great Sirs, please try to understand our predicament as well. Each and every one of us is just trying to do the best of our abilities to live by. Many of us have loved ones that have been taken, used as flesh offerings for meager benefits for power, wealth still their fate is still better than those that are taken in as" "[Reptilian] As livestock." The draconic skink bandit leader, Tocyl-kekko spoke up, joining in the discussion." His eyes were bloodshot with all the tears he had battled with and lost against so far. His palms were stained with his own blood due to the sheer strength of his clenched fists from before. Yet, he didn''t falter any more, his gaze showed a strength he didn''t seem to have just a moment ago. Looking at the old man, he nodded before his eyes were cast on the hooded figure, Draghan in the next moment. He took a deep breath, as he waited for the question he knew would be. He didn''t need to wait for long as just in the next second, The figure to his right, Ragor eximed with a confused tone. "[Reptilian] Life.. stock? What does that even mean?! What do they" "[Reptilian] Don''t ask what you already know the answer to, Ragor It wouldn''t sound better even if it came from someone else." Dragha sighed, interrupting his voiced question with a frown. He sighed once more, reaching under the hood to caress the wrinkles as well as his temples. "[Reptilian] What is the reason behind your actions? What were you trying to aplish by luring us into this dark alley and trying to ambush us?" Amidst the repeated sighs, Dragha voiced a question which from its calmer, yet at the same time chillingly impassive tone, wasn''t clear to whom it was directed at. It could have been the old man as well, as the entire situation seemed more and more dubious, the longer they kept on looking at it. The old man''s jitters grew wilder and more chaotic as he registered the question, understanding the underlying threat that could very well be directed at him. He hurriedly reached his hands in the air, as he nervously eximed with a trembling tone. "[Reptilian] G-good sirs I-I I I have done nothing of w-what you t-think! T-there w-were no c-c-conspr-" [Reptilian] Do not hurt the old man, he has nothing to do with my actions." Before the old man could muster up the strength to push out his words of defense, Tocyl finally spoke up. His face showed no fear, his eyes didn''t flicker with a mixture of fear and hesitation as he matched Dragha''s gaze, catching the old veteran by surprise. "[Reptilian] I see. Speak." He ordered curtly, raising his right hand towards Ragor''s direction as he could already sense his growing annoyance. "[Reptilian] Sigh Yes, I have followed you four as you seemed to be prime targets for capture." Tocyl did not hesitate, he spoke with determination. Although his actions were vile and wrong, he would not show weakness any more. "[Reptilian] We have already understood that part The question is why? What drove you to do such a thing? Never mind the how, as judging by your strength or actualck thereof" He sneered, before continuing. "you couldn''t have sensed the vast difference between us. You probably just saw 4 healthy bodies that you could sell to the local ve trader and gain some hefty sum. The question is why? Why would you do all of that all of this? You surely have a reason You don''t seem the same as your ex brethren" "[Reptilian] I I have someone I want to save No. Someone dear to me that I need to save." Tocyl sighed, as he responded. He shut his eyelids tight as he could feel another trail of tears escaping from the corner of his eyes. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain. Dragha looked at the stout-looking draconic skink in silent contemtion for some time, before finally exhaling. Once again, he raised his arms in the air and looked at his team. Though no words were verbally eximed, they each seemed to understand what he wanted to ask, they all nodded in response affirming and supporting his judgment. Even the slightly hotheaded Ragor didn''t show hisint, albeit Dragha was sure he wasn''t fully sold on the idea. Gaining the support of his fellow captains, Dragha still didn''t speak any words, but instead closed his eyes and focused on the mental connection he had shared with their master. Pooling some of his mental essence into it, he sent a request, which was promptly answered as the connection was opened and everyone was pulled into it once again. ''What is it, Dragha? What did you want to ask?'' Aiden''s voice resounded in the minds of every one of his servants the next moment. ''My Lord, I apologize for reaching out so abruptly, but we have reached an impasse here and would need your guidance.'' Dragha asked in response. ''Well Not so much of a problem as we could have solved it the easy way, but Dragha here isn''t really willing'' Ragor''sint came next, followed up by Krok the third captain''s remark in the next instant. ''Not just him, Ragor You, like us as well, didn''t want to do needless bloodshed. He is a kindred spirit, we should be helping him and not be like those we fight against.'' --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 679 - The One True Existence After listening to each of the four captains'' recounting of the events, Aiden''s initial anger slowly receded giving way to hispassion. Whilst he could tell even from the distance that not every wound was opened and revealed by the bandit leader, he could tell that the scars run deep in his heart. To have such a drastic change in life, going from a protector of justice,w and order to the very far end and bing one of those that caused suffering and misery His life must have been hard. ''ept him.'' He spoke after thinking about the matter a while more. ''He is just like us, like you. One of those that were hurt, and has suffered a lot. Although his way of coping wasn''t the best, nevertheless he shouldn''t be cast out. If he is willing to change his way, and you can feel he is honest, you can ept him. Later on, I will judge him myself, but as for your current task, he could be an unexpected blessing.'' He said, taking a momentary pause before adding another thought to it. ''Besides I still feel better about him than that shifty old man. Something just does not feel right about him.'' ''By your will, my Lord.'' Draghan responded with a respectful tone, followed by the rest of the team. Before closing the channel, Aiden added one more thing after a moment of silence. ''Be patient with him. A creature like him had suffered more than what you can imagine. His heart is probably broken, lying in pieces. Healing it would require a great deal of team effort. From all of you. Do not cast judgment on him hastily and show himpassion and friendship instead of arrogance and hostility.'' After exchanging a few more words with the others, they have closed the mental channel, returning their attention back to reality. As soon as their eyes opened, they looked at the kneeling posture of the bandit lord, Tocyl, the ex Temple Guard captain turned thug leader. Dragha took a few moments to slowly scrutinize the figure from head to toe, making sure he focused his newly gained spiritual sense on the vital essence and energy signature of the little, fragile-looking being. As he could not feel any difort meaning there shouldn''t be any trace of the darkness residing inside Tocyl''s soul, he finally snorted and voiced the question his master had conveyed over. ''[Reptilian] Tocyl-kekko, once proud captain of the Temple guards, now an outcast, an exile. Do you truly wish to serve not just us, but the one true existence we all serve? Are you truly, honestly willing to?'' Tocyl shivered as he listened to the question. Though the hooded figure, Dragha''s tone was mostly insipid, neutral there was an underlying mystical power, a pressure oozing from his figure, pressing on him more and more with each voiced word. With eachpleted sentence, he felt as if the world''s weight was forcefully ced upon his shoulders. He knew that his answer would determine his faith. Yet, he could also tell that unless he was truly willing to stand behind this mysterious group, he would still suffer the same exact fate as his brethren, regardless of his choice. Knowing that there was only one path forward, he still didn''t falter and did not respond hastily. He took a deep breath, before a stern outlook appeared over his previously worried and anxious expression. He looked at the hooded figure standing over him and asked with a solid voice. "[Reptilian] Before I could answer that question I would need to understand who would I be potentially standing behind. I was already burned once, I will not suffer the same fate again." He took a moment to take a lungful of the stale air before shifting a stern, decisive look on his face and with conviction glinting in his gaze, he said. "[Reptilian] If this is too much to ask, feel free to cut me down right here and now. I would rather die with my beliefs, than serving some false god or prophet once more!" "[Reptilian] Hmm" Dragha looked at the small, but proud-looking figure standing in front of him, and couldn''t help but smile under the cover of his hood. This passion, this zeal, this inner strength if they would have met earlier, he would probably be one of them already, most likely one of the captains, and wouldn''t have suffered nearly as much. Yes, he may not be alive as they too shared a great deal of obstacles and ventures along their journey before their Lord arrived Before hell would break loose, Dragha raised his arm, instantly silencing the growing fit of storm standing at the side. Ragor was quickly reaching his boiling point, as listening to a mere skink daring to speak of their revered lord in such a manner was not something he was able to deal with. The only thing that so far kept him at bay was their lord''s words itself. ''[Reptilian] Be patient, be patient How could I calm down when this mere wyrm speaks about the master with such wanton disrespect!'' He grumbled inwardly, visibly shaking with all the anger he was battling with. Still, in the end, he managed to quell the storm, and remained in ce. Though the cold aura he emanated sent shivers down the little draconic skink''s spine ''[Reptilian] Your question is honorable, however, discussing it in such a ce would not be advisable. What I can say at the moment is that what we represent is change. The light itself. The hand that could guide you out of the dark swamp you and many others are still trapped inside. A future where you no longer need to live in dread and fear.'' Tocyl frowned the more he listened to these idealistic words of the unknown stranger. These words he have heard it many times before, many others with big hopes and even greater dreams have said it before only to fail when they faced the unsurmountable foe of the Church. What would be different this time? Dragha wasn''t surprised to see such a reaction to his words. He too listened countless times to it before. Heck, even the ex-archbishop, before he was ''reborn'' by their Master, said it as well, only to end up failing and dying to his own schemes! Knowing there was only one way to convince the figure before him, Dragha reached for his hood, ready to pull it back and reveal himself for the first time. Yet, before he could do so, suddenly a gentle, feminine voice rang out from behind. A new presence suddenly emerged, bringing with it, a considerable amount of strength in her aura. "[Reptilian] Apologies for the wait, dear sirs If I may ask for your attention for a moment" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 680 - Circle Kox Dragaur "[Reptilian] Apologies for the wait, dear sirs If I may ask for your attention for a moment" As Draga and the rest turned to look at the suddenly emerged presence, they were met with a slender feminine figure donning a deeper purple, almost wine colored satin robe; almost as if it was merely a bathrobe, yet she wore it without seemingly no problems. Amethyst embroidery runs a course at the robes seams, with a royal-looking golden etching adorning its sleeves as well as its neck. The strange female reptilian, draconic skink to be exact, brought a bright contrast to what one would expect in these parts of the city. "[Reptilian] My name is Circe Kox Dragaur, and I would like to first offer my most sincere apologies for the slight inconvenience our prolonged response has surely caused to the respected sirs." The strange, unknown woman donned a polite smile and bowed deeply. "[Reptilian] If you would allow me, let me rectify this mishap at once." She added and snapped her fingers on her right hand. *WHOOSH!* *WHOOSH!* *WHOOSH!* *WHOOSH!* In the next moment, four dark shadows blew by them, feeling nothing more than gentle summer breezes along a particrly colder morning. Yet, despite that, Draga and the other captains could clearly feel four distinct presences. Albeit they were masked and were perfectly blending in with their surroundings, their power was nowhere at the level of a Saurus rebirthed with a Primal''s unique energies. One with a growing, emerging divinity on top of that. They could clearly sense the vague presences as they each swooshed like highly trained assassins to the pile of bodies littering the alleyway. Each figure picked up a couple and vanished just as swiftly as they arrived, soon cleansing the area of the slowly decaying carcasses in the time that barely took this mysteriousdy to snap her fingers. Though she didn''tment on it verbally, the flicker of her expressions revealed that she might have been caught off guard by the surprising level of alertness of these humongous hulking giants. Still, she didn''t speak up about it and her face returned to her previous theatrics a mere secondter. Her smile traversed higher up on her supple, faint skin on her face as she spoke up again with the same honey-like tone. "[Reptilian] As for the little misfit troublemaker, please excuse us, but we need to see to it that such matters are handled with the proper care" She said, her yellow eyes glinting with a murderous intent for a moment as she gazed up at the shivering thug leader, Tocyl. Suddenly a shadow shot forward with a simr, blurring speed, charging straight in the frightened draconic skink male''s direction. The shadowy assassin already had both of his dark metal daggers honed in his hands, prepared for a decisive strike to fulfill his boss''s silentmand. The figure whilst looking dark as the shadow, was actually a highly agile skink, with dark, painted scales and a matching flexible attire as well helping him drift into the shadows and darkness with more ease. Each of these silent, hidden figures that normally could never be detected were highly trained professionals, elite troops of this mysterious organization hiding much closer to their oppressors than Aiden''s group of ''official'' rebels. Still, they had to have such expertise to be able to remain hidden even under such prying eyes. Or were they? Suddenly! As the shadow was about to pass by the frontal hulking hooded figure arge, burly hand suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere and gripped the figure at his throat, blocking the figure''s advance in a harsh, violent but undeniable effective manner. Immediately, the darkness around the hooded figure twisted as the three other assassins emerged, standing in a forward attacking stance, holding their dark weapons in their hands. Though their mouths were covered with a cloth mask, their squinted, golden eyes revealed a clearly hostile, threatening intent. With a singlemand, they were ready to throw themselves at their opponent, without any regard if they would have any chance of oveing such a vicious and powerful foe. The madam, Lady Circe''s polite, theatrical smile showed the first signs of cracks ever since she abruptly appeared. A frown shed across her expression for a few brief moments, before she forcefully readjusted herself and whilst still looking slightly more cautious and wary, asked out. "[Reptilian] Great sirs, if I may be as bold as to inquire, what is the meaning of this? I was informed that your intentions were somewhat different than what I am experiencing." Dragha sneered as he raised the helpless looking underling of hers. The skink assassin''s previously untouchable, cold murderer outlook drastically fell when he was seen hopelessly kicking in the air, trying to free himself from the vice-like grip with futility. "[Reptilian] Whilst I appreciate the sentiment" Dragha spoke, as he raised the figure higher in the air, bringing him closer to his hood. As the masked assassin saw therge monstrous pair of eyes leering back at him from the unnatural dark mist that seemed to constantly engulf the insides of their hood, his face paled, and his actions ceased. He shivered with clear terror and fright, his very core being was instinctually terrified of the unknown entity that gazed at him. He felt like the helpless, hopeless little prey that was just marked by an apex predator, leagues above him. Dragha took a few extra seconds to look deep into the fragile-looking figure''s shivering body before he dismissively threw him against his guarded brethren, making them lower their guards for a brief moment as they got ready to catch their teammates. Yet, such an action was a grave mistake in such a tense situation. That momentarypse of awareness whilst it didn''t seem to surmount to much, it was just enough for all four hulking beasts standing seemingly arge distance from each other to vanish from their positions only to reappear before their newfound mysterious opponents in the next instant. "[Reptilian] We do not appreciate such threats." Although they did not attack, the message was clear to Lady Circe. The woman could only frown and feel that the situation wasn''t going along the already prepared path, but was swiftly going off course. A potentially disastrous course that neither she, nor these figures hoped to reach. Thinking her options through and readjusting her ns, she took only a few seconds before she faked a cough to grab the attention once again. She shifted into an apologetic stance and bowed before she spoke up once more. This time, in a slightly altered tone, no longer sounding slightly condescending as before. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: Chapter 681 - A Lavish Establishment Taking a deep, respectful head bow, the mysterious draconic skink woman did not seem to care much about her face at all. She bowed deeply, her face portraying an apology that would have resonated with every man''s heart. "[Reptilian] Dear esteemed guests no, sirs!" She began, her voice trembling as she cried. "Allow me to humbly, deeply apologize for everything that had transpired today. Please believe me when I say that we did not intend to cause any harm, nor had we cultivated any ill full intent towards your group or the Master you all serve." The draconic skink woman waited for some time before taking the lead and speaking further. "[Reptilian] In the end, whilst our methods may differ, we share a simr goal. We strive for the same future. I do not believe you, nor your Master wants this unfavorable oue." She said, shing the first, thin, albeit calcting smile on her face as she slowly looked up from the ground and gazed at the darkness beneath Dragha''s hood. "[Reptilian] If you wish to keep that one for yourselves, or present it to your Master, we will acquiesce your request and pull back." Following her words, the four shadowy presences have suddenly vanished as they jumped back, only to reappear in their previous, strategically ced positions around the corners of the alley. "[Reptilian] Let us put this ugly matter behind us, and if you would allow me please let me guide you, esteemed guests and hopefully future partners in ''crime''" He said eliciting a light chuckle at thest word "to guide you through our humble abode and bring our leaders to meet with you." With that, the situation was finally resolved, at least to some degree, and Aiden''s group of Saurian Captains could finally return to their original mission and make contact with the local resistance group. Even though their ''introduction'' turned out to not be how they originally nned it for, it was a fruitful venture nevertheless. They have managed to establish some form of respect from the other side, if nothing else through their sheer force, as well as gain a new addition to their ever growing family. Though they still had to be wary of the mysterious leaders more so that they have such a colorful and -not to mention- powerful lineup as this weingmittee. Merely the unique ability for this woman, this ''Circe'' to be able to sneak up undetected even with their heightened and highly honed senses was not something they could easily forget. As for the four assassins, their abilities to meld into the shadows and be one with the ever-present darkness would surely interest their Young Lord as well! Still, if these mere servants were so powerful, then what should they expect from the leaders? Thinking about this, Dragha was starting to feel troubled. Should they really tackle this mission by themselves? Would they be able to handle it if things go out of hand? ''[Reptilian] No, I can''t be thinking like this! The Young Lord has entrusted us with such an important task! We cannot fail his expectations! He has done so much for us already!'' He shook his head as he resolved himself once again. "[Reptilian] This way, esteemed guests." The melodious, bell-like voice of their attendant, Lady Circe, brought Captain Dragha out of his thoughts and back to reality. His eyes with a golden luster for a few seconds as he forced his attention back to reality. With the dim lighting in the underground hall they were led to, he needed an extra moment for his night vision to turn active and his surroundings to slowly clear out from the looming obscurity. Once they did, he couldn''t help but be surprised, just like the rest of his team. The highly defined smooth surface of the walls, the ceiling and even the iid floor was somethingpletely out of his expectations. A hidden force deep within the outskirts of Ugburg, in the midst of all that poverty and misery such avish design was highly unexpected. The red, velvety carpet that was rolled over felt as if small feminine hands caressed their bare feet with each step they took. The bronze chandeliers and the candbras that hung from regr intervals alongside the walls, and whilst none of them were lit, it still brought a highlyvish, luxurious atmosphere to the entire ce. The four shadows were no longer present, not even their presence could be felt by Dragha, which once again caught him unawares. When did they leave? And most importantly, where? Why can''t he feel their presence no matter how hard he tries scanning the premises? Lady Circe didn''t show any visible reaction to her guest''s shock but kept her humble, respectful manner. She stood in front of the group and waited patiently for several minutes before eventually faking a theatrical cough to once again grab her guests'' attention. "[Reptilian] What you see here is our organization''s guest hall. It was designed to be weing no matter where the man, woman and hopefully future client havee from. " He exined, taking only a momentary pause before turning sideways and pointing at a wine-red door at the far end of the hall. An enormous crucifix glowed in a soft spotlight directed on it from above. "[Reptilian] Whilst I know you may have questions, I respectfully have to ask you to keep them for the time being. Let me guide you to the meeting room, and allow our leader to arrive. During your meeting, I am certain that all your questions will be answered. With that, the woman bowed once more, and without giving any opportunity for the towering hooded figures to speak up their minds, she began to slowly walk deeper into the underground hall. Though indeed, Dragha had a plethora of questions he would have liked to have some form of answers to, it seemed he would have to wait until they were granted the chance to meet with this mysterious leader of this group. Just who was he? How could he afford such luxury whilst still being sessful at keeping everything under wraps not just from the Church, the High Priest but even from the omniscient gaze of the Ancient One? Still, no matter how much he tried to wreck his brain, he could not think of anyone who could have mustered this much power and still remain anonymous by not just one force, but all forces and sides in this gruesome civil war. Shortly after, as he was once again, delved deep within his thoughts, they arrived at their destination, therge wine-red door. Stepping forward, the smiling Lady Circe pushed on the handle and opened it up whilst also stepping inside before taking to the side and motioning for the group to follow along. "[Reptilian] Please, respectable guests, take a seat while you wait. Our leader should be arriving shortly, and once She does, she will exin everything to you." The woman said before swiftly stepping out and closing the door behind them. Only now, did Dragha notice the woman''s phrasing. ''[Reptilian] She?!'' --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 682 - Infiltration Whilst the boys were slowly realizing that they were getting way over their heads in their assignment, at another part of town, two feminine figures, Madam Dara and Lady Pyre were just as busy, if not more so. Standing atop a smaller subset of buildings, a feminine, womanly figure donning the ragged, tattered light grey robe stood at the edge, looking down at the local guard post, the Temple Guards'' Outer Barracks. She had rather generous gifts, voluptuous and curvy just at the right angles, she was Madam Dara. Next to her, another woman, her direct opposite, slender and sleek, yet another city-toppling beauty in her own category, Lady Pyre. The two were looking down at the ratherrge ground, the Temple Guard buildings have covered. Arge stone fence, reaching at around 3 meters in height, toppling even the newly reborn quartet of their young lord, Aiden''s captains. Yet, even if someone would take the effort to climb it, the metal sharpened spikes that protruded towards the sky would have provided an additionalyer of challenge to the brave mountaineer. Madam Dara clicked her tongue in annoyance as she pulled back on the hood and looked at therge area they needed to cross in order toplete their self-assigned missions. "[Reptilian] This is gonna be much more troublesome than we had thought That little rat didn''t give us the right information" She frowned, her eyes flickered around the premises, darting from the several dozen guards patrolling seemingly in a structured, disciplined formation. Next to her, the cold beauty, Lady Pyre calmly sighed as she responded by shaking her head. "[Reptilian] No, he answered truthfully, we have both made sure of that." She said, her eyes squinting as she analyzed the structure of theyout and the patrol routes in the meantime. "The fault lies with us We weren''t as thorough as we wanted to." "[Reptilian] Still What should we do? Getting into the central building would prove to be a much bigger challenge than what we had nned for" Madam Darained, looking troubled as her eyes kept on analyzing every ounce of the spacious ground. Lady Pyre didn''t respond but kept on scanning the ground with her eyes. Eventually, her gaze rested on the closest corner, at a group of trees and rocks that seemed to provide just enough cover for an adhoc entry point. Closing her eyes, she channeled the newly acquired energy in her Primal Core, focusing it on several pulses that she then released to map out every little detail and register the life forms to avoid surprises and hatch a n. At the same time, whilst looking rather displeased at being ignored, Madam Dara also began working as well. Being an expert in her profession with much more experience than the little talented cold beauty spellcaster next to her, she analyzed the potential opportunities much faster. Eventually however, her eyes also fixated on the same corner as Lady Pyre''s. "[Reptilian] 2 targets,ing from north. We have to take them down silently, that would create a short window for us to slip by." Finally, after about a minute of silent pondering, Lady Pyre spoke up with a matter-of-fact voice, revealing the results of her investigation. Madam Dara, returned the statement with a muffled hum, before standing up and jumping off the ledge. Her figure, as it sailed the sky, melded with the surrounding darkness, bing one with the shadows, showcasing her true expertise. At the same time, Lady Pyre''s figure also vanished, relying more on her knowledge in the arcane mixed with her natural agility to cross the distance in a simrly lightning fast fashion. In the next instant, both of their figures appeared behind the trees, hiding in the nearby bushes at the designated corner, just some dozen steps of distance away from the slowly approaching patrol of Temple Guards. Both women sneered as they watched like hungry predators lurking between the grass, watching as their unsuspecting, helpless prey approached closer and closer to the ambush site. The two figures, poor draconic skink men, couldn''t have known that they weren''t merely approaching some dreary veer but were walking towards their own demise. Towards their own deaths. Lady Fate, was quite a cruel mistress, indeed. Even though they were like any other fallible creation under the heavenly firmament and the life was just as gued, dotted with the sins and mistakes as any other, it still couldn''t be said that this prospected future was justified. As the cold gust of wind blew by the duo as they reached the lonesome group of trees in the corner and were about to turn around, suddenly the bushes swayed and two dark shadows flickered out of it. *STAB!* *SLICE!* Before they could even register what was going on, two pairs of dark des, two pairs of metal fangs struck down and tore deep into the necks from behind, ripping apart everything in their wake and snuffing the life out of the both of them. Not even a yelp could escape as strength left their bodies and before they could even fall down, were dragged away, behind the covers of the group of rocks and trees. Only a couple powerless, muted guttural croaking groans painted the cruel scene, yet even those were quickly silenced. Without the need for words, both women seemed to be in a surprisingly perfect sync. As they dragged the bodies behind the shrouded cover, they were already looking ahead, mapping out the optimal route in their heads towards the next checkpoint, the inner walls that separated this spacious courtyard from the inner grounds, where their target, the central Barracks also stood. Spending only at most a minute, they both seemed to havee to a conclusion. With a single look at the other, they nodded before their figures flickered once more. They both dashed out from their cover, utilizing the opening they had just created to their fullest, crossing the outer courtyard in a lightning fast fashion. One, which would have shocked everyone that could have witnessed it, melded perfectly with the surrounding darkness despite the much bigger and non-optimal figure she had sported. At the same time, the other, were like the wind, silently sailing the torrent and making her way towards the second set of walls. Without encountering any issues, bothdies easily made their way through the outer exterior and arrived atop the thick branches of a tree, hiding inside its crown and looking over the building standing in front of them. They were watching with a simr frown as another pair of guards stood in front of the gate, leaning against the walls of the building, and were just simplyzing at the worst possible juncture. "[Reptilian] This is gonna be a problem" Madam Dara frowned. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 683 - Silent Adventure Looking over from the canopy of the tree, the two women, Madam Dara and Lady Pyre both had aplicated look on their faces. Whilst Madam Dara was mostly frowning, showing displeasure at the rising difficulty of their task, Lady Pyre whilst had a look far from being calm, was still very much unreadable. Her golden, yellow eyes flickered with a mysterious light, glinting with a masked expression making it impossible for even her partner to take a proper read. "[Reptilian] What should we do? If we intend to keep ourselves unnoticed we cannot just take these out as well. They are not like those two, we cannot simply hide their bodies away, not to mention that if they were to go missing, the leadership would undoubtedly notice sooner rather thanter." Madam Dara muttered, her eyes focused on the two Temple Guards stationed just below them. Silently pondering for some time, Pyre closed her eyes, scanning theyout for some more. Eventually, as she seemed to have made up her mind, she pointed towards a nearby rock on the ground, just at the other side of the small building overlooking the gate leading to the inner regions of the Barracks. Her eyes flickered briefly with the golden luster, a direct result of her revolving her modest pool of Soul Power and guiding it towards the tip of her pointed right finger. An invisible current of energy shot out from her fingertip in the next moment, not noticeably hitting the nearby rocky formation. The rocks began to quake and quiver as a result, catching the attention of the two and earning their alert gazes. "[Reptilian] W-what was that?!" "[Reptilian] Did you hear something? Who goes there?" The two men asked, as they turned towards the source of the sound, but failed to see anything. Suddenly, a cold gust of wind blew by them, bringing forth a strange sense of unease as it blew out all the nearby candle fires and pulled a veil of darkness over the surrounding area. They both became immediately alert, as whilst they had no talent in the arcane, nor did they had the necessary experience to hone their battle senses to any meaningful degree, they could still feel the strange unnatural mystery in the air. They could instinctively feel that this sudden darkness that engulfed them definitely did not arrive in a natural manner. If nothing else, it was too abrupt, too quick too sudden. Still, hearing no response, nor having the capabilities to sense presences, they could only look for each other as support and grab the hilt of their spears. Silently they looked at each other, quickly reaching a silent consensus. One of them turned towards the right side, focusing his attention on that half of the nearbynds, whilst the other kept his focus on the left, concentrating to pick up even the slightest of disturbances and react to it ordingly. They did not speak another word, nor did they had any need to. Both could understand the other''s intent from a single nce and whilst they were far from being able to qualify as veterans or even elites, they still had their training to rely on. They both understood that something was going on. Their task was to keep watch and be the first hurdle they would have to cross, making sure that THEY HAD to cross it, and could''t bypass it with silent subterfuge. As the two took a step away from each other, and walked over to both sides, for a brief moment, the darkness flickered briefly. Yet before any of them could take notice, it had vanished just as quickly as it came,sting only for a fraction of an instant. A couple of steps away from them, at the other side of the wall, not that far away from the two wary guards, the dark shadow suddenly twisted for a brief moment, taking on the shape of not one, but two feminine figures veiled in clothes fitting for those of dark professions. Wasting no time, they both took only a second to swiftly scan their surroundings and sense for nearby life signs. Only after making sure there were no unexpected surprises nearby did they take the time to heave a soft sigh. "[Reptilian] Fuah We can''t keep doing this, or we would exhaust ourselves well before reaching the target." Madam Dara sighed, taking arge gasp of air to rece the one she kept stored inside her diaphragm. Lady Pyre frowned as her gaze unwillingly followed the motion of the two swaying balloons lifting vertically in align of her partners'' breathing. Her expression remained cold and unfettered nheless as she refused to respond to thement. Instead, she once again closed her eyes and focused on revolving the remnant Mana inside her, focusing on her technique and slowly, gradually converting them to more [Soul Power], refilling the energy she used for the small parlor trick from before. As her part of the hastily erected n was meager, her reserves were still pretty much full, slightly dipping below the 90% mark. More than what she nned for. Still, just to be safe she took a short minute to catch and collect herself. On the other hand, Madam Dara was in a slightly worse shape, her [Soul Power] dipping somewhat below the 60% mark, inching closer to using up almost half of her avable energy for just that single action. Still, she had to carry not just herself, but also her partner, melding both of them into the shadows and carrying them through the small, temporary opening. Whilst the opportunity was quite lucky, it still made them lose almost a quarter of theirbined energy, and consequently a quarter of their fighting power along with it. Noticing how her partner once again ignored her, Madam Dara could only frown with a displeased look on her face before following her along and closing her eyes as well. Controlling her breathing, she however focused on another, much more drastic method to recoup some of her losses. Being reborn with a darker, demonic strain, and gaining some initial understanding of the darker, more macabre arts of the arcane, she could now utilize a much more efficient, but rather costly method. Taking a sigh, she firmed her resolve, as she suddenly took the dagger in her right hand and stabbed it into her abdomen the next instant. Yet, instead of the chilling pain that normally would follow such an action, she felt afortable warmth, following along by the tickling sensation as her own blood began to gather and slowly trickle from the stab wound. Focusing on the damage, she closed her eyes, muttering something iprehensible. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 684 - The Plan Following Madam Dara''s silent chanting, the oozing blood around the wound she inflicted upon herself began to sizzle and boil, looking almost as if it was ced upon a stove rather than escaping coldly from the confines of her mortal flesh just now. It sizzled, causing arge foamyyer to form and swiftly cover up the entire surface of the wound. It gradually epassed the entire surface, hiding the ugly remark in just a few passing seconds. In just the span of a few fleeting seconds, the self-inflicted blemish has vanished, healed magically under the pink foamyyer of her cauterized blood. Yet, this process wasn''t the reason she did such a drastic measure. No. Whilst it was certainly a wee additional effect, especially since she was a self-cautious woman who had a man iming her mature heart and she was actively trying to seduce him the main reason was happening inside Madam Dara''s body, invisible to any potentially prying eyes. The freshly spilled blood, which caused a small amount of damage, has transferred the vital energy she had taken into replenishing her diminishing [Soul Power] supply. At the ratio of every 1% of Condition tranting into 2% of her maximum [Soul Power] reserves being restored, she was doing this unholy bloody ritual, cultivating such a demonic technique she had long since known but had no talent and aptitude to actively utilize and train before. What all this meant was that by sacrificing a full 25% of her health, causing her to still be rtively fine with more than 75% remaining Madam Dara restored approximately 100 points of her used [Soul Power], causing to sit at afortable 190 points of the maximum 200. All this in the span of a couple of minutes. The same time that took Lady Pyre next to her to cultivate and recoup her lost energy, she regained vastly more, albeit with a much higher cost. With a soft sigh, Lady Pyre calmed down the rapidly revolving energies inside her body and ended her meditation session. As she slowly returned to reality and her eyelids fluttered open, she frowned as she looked at her partner in crime. Madam Dara looked slightly worse than before, and though there were no visible surface wounds on her, she was drenched in sweat, with her expression showing signs of exhaustion and fatigue. Though not fully aware of the details of Madam Dara''s unique arts, Lady Pyre could make a rough guess at what could have happened. She frowned and wanted to make ament, but before she could do so, she felt the mental connection she shared with her Young Master suddenly buzz with activity and re-up in the next moment. Both women could feel the same, as they were pulled into a conversation in the next instant. ''Are you girls all right? What happened just now?'' Aiden asked, his tone filled with concern and worry. Hearing the deep, honest care, Madam Dara''s heart could feel her heart melt under such sweet, loving affection. She sighed as she responded with a somewhat guilty tone. ''I apologize for the inconvenience, Young Master. I needed to quickly recuperate the lost energy and thus I was forced to use a more drastic measure. I used a dark art, called the [Crimson Moon''s Blood Ritual], a low level art focused on transforming one''s own vitality into energy.'' Lady Pyre frowned as she listened to Madam Dara''s exnation. Just as she guessed, she was using some taboo, forbidden ritual, inflicting self-harm in the process just for some quick gains. Still, though clearly not satisfied, she did not make ament and just kept listening intently on their Master''s words. Aiden was silent for a bit after she heard Madam Dara''s words. Though he did not like the cost, he could not deny the benefit it had brought along with it. Pondering for a bit, he eventually sighed and spoke with an even more worried tone of voice. ''While I understand the need as it had brought you back to almost peak efficiency, the cost of being a quarter of your health was not something you should actively rely on. Whilst I can understand the urgency as I can sense you are deep within enemy territory, try not to do something as drastic as this next time. Instead, rely on your partner, or even on me, okay? I promise to help, no matter the distance or the difficulty. Also, this goes for you too Pyre. I do not wish to see any of youe to harm.'' Listening to the Young Master, both women could feel the deep care, the worry that came from him. He was clearly concerned by what he could just feel, and didn''t want to see any of theme to harm. Both women felt happy, their hearts increased their rhythm in response, beating in a chaotic, much more intense volume than just an instant ago. The rush of blood made both girls'' cheeks turn a shade redder, as they both looked somewhat embarrassed and even flustered to a differing degree. For Madam Dara, the seductress, she shed an alluring smile and responded with a sensual tone. ''I understand, Young Master. Please, allow me to apologize for causing you to worry about me, about us so much!'' She spoke, taking a momentary pause before continuing. ''Just as you so keenly sensed, we are deep in the enemy grounds. Our target is in the central barracks, a local leader. We hope to take hold of him, and would have tried contacting you for your advice once we were sessful in kidnapping him.'' ''Yes, Young Master. Our target was the local branch leader, a Lieutenant of the Temple Guards by the name of Magen-quhui. We were hoping to either silence and rece him by either the Master himself or someone of your choosing or just let the Master convince him to join our cause.'' Lady Pyre added, joining in the discussion for the first time. Aiden pondered for a bit before adding his thoughts. ''Hmm Quite a risky n you both took without even telling about it to me.'' He started but didn''t wait for the girls to respond before continuing. ''Still, whilst I am not happy about it, I can not deny that the n does give us a great opportunity. Adding the fact that the others have managed toe to an agreement with the local resistance and even found a surprising, unexpected new ally in the process, I think we have our way into the inner city!'' Aiden eximed, his tone sounding more excited by the minute. He took a moment before adding. ''Continue on with your n, and grab this Lieutenant if you can. Once you are out, make sure to reach out to me, and I will guide you to a ce, our new temporary base of operation. We will be waiting for you there.'' He said, closing the channel in the next instant. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele Chapter 685 - Escort Whilst the two fair maidens were going deep into the enemy''s territory and were already nning on how to silently, and sneakily extract the local Temple Guard force leader, a lieutenant going by the name Magen-quhui, at another location, the four Saurus Captain''s Dragha and the rest have just reached an agreement with the local resistance group called ''Dark Shadow''. Some time ago Dark Shadow was somewhat simr to Madam Dara''s secret operation, but at the same time, there was a fundamental difference between the two. Whilst Madam Dara and her house of courtesans hid in in sight and carried out secretive operations under the cover of the night, the Dark Shadows remained hidden from the public. They were a group of highly professional organizations of ex-assassins that have now grown into their own little resistance cell. Whilst theirbat ability wasn''t anything too remarkable, their ability to hide in in sight for so long was truly remarkable. Adding to the fact the mysterious leader of the organization was someone that Aiden was dutifully assigned both by the promise he had made as well as the System''s assigned quest, made the whole risky operation, this endeavor the boys have decided to tackle all the more worthwhile. Thus, during their initial meeting, when Dragha briefed Aiden about the situation, he was surprised when he received the short, but all the more powerful statement. ''Halt everything. I will deal with this personally.'' He was shocked, surprised, and excited all in one. With their lord''s arrival, the discussion could take another route and they would no longer feel troubled when facing this young girl, the supposed leader of the Dark Shadow organization. Their leader, whilst at first was going with the route of secrecy and was wearing a ck, faceless oval-shaped mask with arge hood covering the rest of her features, decided after realizing who they actually were to unveil herself when the four Saurus captain''s leader would arrive. As such, when suddenly the guards came knocking exining that they spotted a strange peddlering with the young girl in his arms matching the description the four men have given, the leader''s eyes lit up, showing surprising glee and an uncanny excitement even visible from under her thick cover. After her momentary jubilee, she quickly came back to her senses and ordered the guard as well as her aide, Lady Circe to be as courteous as she possibly could and escort the father and daughter duo to the meeting. "[Reptilian] Woaaah, this looks so cool! Just like our cave back home!" Tolliah cheered excitedly as she looked around. Her little head swayed around, she showed no fear, no trepidation despite walking into an ominous, and eerie dark alleyway. A typical shifty alley with barely any lighting and a site perfect to trap the unsuspecting prey in. Still, neither the daughter nor father showed any signs of care. For Tolliah, she would fear nothing as long as she could be with her papa, and as for Aiden, his honed senses coupled together with the system''s cheats, who could have caught him unaware and ill-prepared? Aiden was calm as he still donned the mask of the old peddler, wearing his tattered, ragged robes. As for the previous scuffle with the contingent of Temple Guard forces, it was as if it hadn''t happened at all. There were no traces left of the group at all Gently touching the tip of her nose, Aidenughed as he shook his head. "[Reptilian] You are getting naughtier by each passing day, Little One! What if there are bad guys lying in wait trying to catch you?" "[Reptilian] Ehehehe, I have nothing to worry about as long as Papa is protecting me!" The little monkey, hanging from her father''s neck, giggled, looking carefree and happy. Aiden could only sigh at the little girl''s actions, giving a small peck at the top of her head before warmly whispering. "[Reptilian] Of course. Your Papa will always protect you. No baddie can hurt you ever again." Walking calmly straight ahead, he ignored the old vagrant standing beside the seemingly empty wall and stopped at the center of the alley. Holding the little girl in his arms, he showed no care, and whilst at a first nce he may have looked as vulnerable as any other, the truth couldn''t have been farther from that. Suddenly, a cold gust of wind began to blow, circting the dust around his calm figure. The air whilst first it was gentle, increased in ferocity and power with each passing second, making the old vagrant look surprised at first, and grow more and more worried as he could slowly feel the thickness, the pressure in the air increasing. Releasing the shackles from his power, Aiden allowed a bit of his powerful primal aura to descend over the vicinity. A growing pressure began to fall upon not just on the old man, but all the hidden figures lying in wait, engulfed by the shadows suddenly. The pressure gradually increased, and whilst Aiden showed no signs of being actively aware of their presence, the might of the mysterious pressure slowly forced each of the four shadowy guardians toe out of their magical hiding and fall on their knees on the ground. Gritting their teeth, they had to concentrate to the best of their abilities just to stay conscious, they couldn''t keep up circting their techniques. "[Reptilian] If you keep on hiding, I am afraid your boys'' suffering will just grow harder." Aiden suddenly spoke up, his tone was calm, yet the underlying, clear threat caused each presence to shiver in terror and fright. Giving it a grand contrast, he pecked a kiss on the little girl''s head once more before continuing with another heavy sentence. "[Reptilian] Or perhaps, you would prefer if I would extend the pressure on you too Miss, hiding behind that illusion? My patience is limited." He said, increasing the pressure once again in the next instant. The four guards, the elite assassins of the organization, were already forced down on their knees and have suffered more. Muffled grunts escaped their tightly closed lips as they tried their best but gradually felt theirst bits of resistance leaving their frames. Suddenly, a woman appeared, stepping out from behind the walls, seemingly looking as if she walked through solid material. She hurriedly bowed and spoke in a respectful manner. "[Reptilian] Please, oh great lord, forgive us for our offense! We meant no ill will!" She eximed. Although Aiden wanted to punish these figures for throwing such an uncouth test at him, even though they were clearly in the know that he wasing with good intentions, he had to give it up when he saw the small emerging pout on the little one, Tolliah''s face as she gazed up at him. Even without words, he knew what she wanted, and as such, he could only sigh in defeat and once again, pull his aura back and relieve the burden from the shadowy quartet. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 686 Chapter 686 "[Reptilian] Once again, please let me humbly apologize for the offense we have shown you. We truly did not mean any ill will, we merely needed to make sure that sire is the Lord our esteemed guests were talking about." Lady Circe took the opportunity of Aiden taking back his oppressive domain to take a deep respectful bow and apologize to him once more. Taking a moment but hearing no response, he could onlyment inwardly as she continued on. "[Reptilian] Our organization survived the numerous hardships through our constant awareness and being always on guard. We have to make sure that no one has any chance to infiltrate our premises and leave to tell the tale." Lady Circle took another short pause to gauge the reactions once more before going further. "[Reptilian] As I am sure the lord is also keenly aware, so far, we are merely a rumor, a myth to both the Church Priests'' and the Temple Guard. Whilst they are not fond of knowing that there''s another ''tumor'' growing inside the body of their territory, there''s not much they can do but to make sure their patrols are keeping an eye." She chuckled as she continued, her tone was hinting as if she was either aware or at the very least had an idea of who this fabled group could havee from. Or perhaps she was simply fishing, regardless, her change of tone surprised Aiden. "[Reptilian] Those brothers and sisters of the Resistance are already keeping them rather upied, giving us that sliver of breathing room we need to continue to exist. We truly, honestly owe them a lot. Our lives, our hope, and most importantly, our passion to follow in their brave footsteps." She sighed as she added one more thought, looking mncholic and sorrowful. Still, she did not forget to steal nces towards the father and daughter pair to gouge their reactions. "[Reptilian] Sigh Although we weren''t there when they needed help the most, we still wish to silently support them. Even if they would never forgive us for ourck of action, for our cowardice at the decisive time." Thankfully the cover of his hood was big enough to be pulled low enough topletely shroud Aiden''s expressions, lest his growing smirk would have betrayed the atmosphere. He could see that she held no hostility towards them from the moment they have arrived. In fact, both she and her group of assassins hiding at each corner were aptly visible as lighter greenish tinted dots on his System''s map. They were friendly, holding no true anger, hostility towards them. Still, he didn''t like being tested, nor threatened, especially if he was with an innocent small child, like Tolliah. Such, he decided to turn the situation around and show them a sliver of his power to let them know the vast chasm they have stood apart from each other. Heck, if they have already failed to contain the four Saurus Captains that Aiden has just evolved, how could they have any hope containing their Master, a true, bonafide Primal? Aiden smiled at the shenanigans of this shrewd, scheming Draconic Skink woman. Disying a regretful attitude whilst still fishing for tidbits of clues and information under the hood. Quite the figure, worthy of being one of the leading figures of this secretive organization. Tolliah kept silent, not giving any of her attention to the strange Lady, nor the four dark figures around them. She was content of being held by her Papa, smiling as she was already snoozing peacefully once more, despite the situation. Aiden could only smile and shake his head looking at the little girl. Looking up, her golden eyes shed with a mysterious luster once again, as he spoke in a deep, thundering, and powerful voice. Although he was talking in a paced, controlled manner, his voice still managed to fill the entire alleyway. "[Reptilian] It is fine, you do not need to falsely prostrate yourself and fake this subservient attitude. I can see through your shroud of deceit, still daring to fish for juice." He sneered, making the woman shiver and tremble in fright. She quickly lowered her gaze, daring only to look at the dusty ground, lest she would irk this mysterious figure even more. Seeing her react in such a manner, made Aiden smile once more under the cover of his hood. He took a few seconds of silence to teach the woman a lesson, before sighing and lowering the power output of his tone, returning it to his usual clean, and youthful sounding tone instead. Gently rubbing the top of the content little girl''s head, he spoke. "[Reptilian] As long as you know and no longer act so impudently." He smiled, though it went unnoticed thanks to the darkness and his secretive attire. "Now go, lead the way and bring us to your Leader. I presume we have much to discuss." "[Reptilian] At yourmand, lordship." Lady Circe bowed once more, this time, not hiding any secondary, underlying intent behind her action, and turned towards the dark tunnel behind her, leading somewhere deeper below. Inside the main Temple in the inner city, at the top second highest floor. Several figures, Draconic Skinks dressed in white silk robes, embroidered with the insignia of a roaring dragon''s head at their chest, sat around arge stone table. At the helm, sitting in a throne made out of bronze and wearing a fully golden holy garment, an elderly figure looked with a gaze full of arrogance and pride down below. He was none other than the High Priest Zuruk, the spokesperson of the Ancient One, the number one figure of the entire of Ugburg and the majority of the underworld. "[Reptilian] Report." He uttered a singlemand, his tone cold, not bothering to cast his gaze on such filth that surrounded them. He merely snorted with an expression matching the clear contempt he felt for every single creature. Still, despite the rude attitude, and the unfriendly, borderline hostile remark, none of those present in the room dared to utter a single word ofint. Despite being high standing amongst the rest, being the leaders and figureheads of the Church, Archbishops and Cardinals, they were nothing in the eyes of this borderline godly entity. One of them, sitting the closest to the High Priest''s right, gulped audibly before responding. "[Reptilian] M-my lord W-we have lost contact with a group sent out to a signal call to one of the cells. It wasing from an inn, somewhere close to our outer borders." "[Reptilian] Continue. What happened?" The High Priestmanded. "[Reptilian] W-well W-we do not know Shortly after they arrived The entire contingent simply va-vanished, oh holy one." --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 687 Chapter 687 With a loud creaking noise, therge door leading into the spacious meeting room opened up. The dim lighting in from the hallway was quickly overwhelmed by the much more intensive oneing from inside the room. The several chandeliers and candles have provided a much better atmosphere than the one from just outside the thin walls. The door slowly parted ways with the wall, giving leeway to both the figures already situated inside and the duo just arriving. Captain Dragha and the rest of his team of Saurus Captains instantly shed ted, reverent looks and expressions as they saw the duo standing just behind the mysterious second-inmand, Lady Circe of this shadowy organization, the Dark Shadow. Therge hulking monstrosities looked like gleeful children all of a sudden, barely able to contain their excitement, joy, and happiness as their lordship has finally arrived, allowing them to even the scales and reach a mutually beneficial understanding for both parties. Aiden was smiling under his hood long before arriving in the meeting room. The initial mental barrier that somehow managed to thwart his attempts to scan the premises have vanished once he took a step inside the downwards leading tunnel. Since then, he took that short little journey of their descent and ventured across the same halls and tunnels where Dragha and the team have taken to properly map out everything he could. He even took the opportunity to spend a bit of his vast [Soul Power] reserves to enhance his [Dark Sense] skill and find and investigate every detail, map out every nook and cranny and mark up every life signature regardless if he or she was trying to hide from his nigh-omniscient gaze or not. Thus, by the time they have arrived at thest door on the end of the winding hallways, Aiden was pretty much done with analyzing everything. At the same time, he was greeted with a wee and long since missed surprise. *Ding!* The familiar notification of a new system message rang in Aiden''s mind as the door pushed open and its residents were confirmed before his presence. [Note: The hidden optional quest: Int(r)o the Dark Shadow have beenpleted! In rtion to that, several other active quests and storylines have been altered. Please check details below.] [Optional Quest: Int(r)o the Dark Shadow Difficulty: C Objective: - Locate the Hidden Base for the Third Hidden Party rted to the Draconic Skink Civil War (1/1 - Completed) - Identify its Leader Reward: 1500 Experience Points, +2 Spirit] [Note: The details of host''s Main Quest: Tipping the Scales (Part 1) have been updated. Please check details below.] [Main Quest: Tipping the Scales (Part 1) Difficulty: C-A -> * B-S Objective: - Meet with the Ancient One - Bring the little girl, Tolliah alongside to the meeting -> * Have the Dark Shadow Leadere along Optional: - Make sure that Tolliah the girl bes subordinated to you through the system. - Banish the Traitorous Guardian''s Influence (* Learn more about the history through the Dark Shadows''s lone exile guardian survivor) Reward: Ascendance, ???? -> * New Divine Grade Servant, Experience, Draconic Skink Free Evolution Failure Condition: - Tolliah bing hostile, - *Dark Shadow bing hostile / being destroyed - Failure to protect Tolliah and *The Dark Shadow leader from being captured by the High Priest Zuruk Penalty: ????, Marked as the Herald of Doom, Actively hunted by all of the Underworld''s Tribes] Aiden could barely contain his shock and surprise as he quickly paced through the series of messages that suddenly popped up. From his simple decision made out of the trials of his past he had taken the chance to make sure there are no surprises lying in wait and that he would be prepared for anything that could have awaited him, he was granted such a boon, such a great blessing! An optional quest, one that seemingly was kept hidden from him by the system, has been marked aspleted, giving him a lot of rewards in the process. Whilst the experience and the extra attribute points to the most obscure, hard to understand Spirit attribute was certainly a wee gift, the fact that it updated one of his most important quests rted to this world was what truly stunned him. A lot of the fog that still veiled the details have finally been lifted. Though it has also meant that the difficulty was now categorized higher, ranging from the Average B marking all the way to the Hard S rank, from its initial C to A. At the same time, the system seemed to have sensed something important rted to the robed figure sitting patiently at the helm of the room, looking at all present creatures with the same neutral, almost friendly expression adorning her face. The system gave not just one, but actually two key hints regarding her. For one, he was given a hint to one of his optional tasks, giving her the auspicious title of ''The Lone Exile Guardian'' Survivor. A bit below, it goes even further, confirming this earlier statement at the listed rewards, from where the fog was also lifted. What was previously listed as simply a bunch of questions marks, now gave him the opportunity to directly subjugate or perhaps simply gain a new System Minion, and it would be of some remarkable ''Divine Grade'' power at that. Still, it seemed that no matter how much he wanted to avoid it, Tolliah needed to see this whole thing through, and reach up to the end alongside him. Even if he wanted her to avoid witnessing the cruelty, hear the sinister, vile thoughts and remarks of a guardian that have sewn the lingering few threads of fate that still kept this dying realm afloat the cosmos to his twisted desires, it seemed that her destiny was unavoidable. At the very least, Aiden could make sure that she would be kept safe. If nothing else works, he still had onest charge in his Blessing he received from Ioris back when he was transmigrated back to this world. Even though he could not even guess how horrendous the bacsh of such an action would turn out to be, he would not hesitate to do everything in his power and utilize everything. Ever since he has met her, and had made up his mind, Aiden knew that he would keep this little bundle of happiness and joy safe. No matter if it was the fabled ''High Priest'', the grand oppressor of his own surviving species of Draconic Skinks, the entire church behind him, this whole gods'' forsaken world, or even the supposedst guardian or custodian of the gods that have already left, Aiden would not let any threat, any harm towards his precious family be left unanswered. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 688 Chapter 688 As soon as Aiden took just a couple steps into the room following right behind his escort, Lady Circe, the other robed figure sitting at the helm nodded and gave a courteous bow as she gave her formal greeting. "[Reptilian] Greetings to the esteemed lordship to brace us with his presence. This humble one is truly honored to be able to entertain such a prestigious figure." Her tone was calm, somewhat melodious, and even somewhat frolicky as she spoke. There were no fluctuations showing any underlying negative or hidden emotions in any of her spoken words. Nor could Aiden sense any underlying meanings or intent. Still, she still sounded way too theatrical, too polite to be fully honest, making Aiden slightly frown under the hood as he epted the formal greeting. Whilst keeping his left hand over the back of the hanging little snooze bag, Aiden returned the overly formal greeting of the mysterious Dark Shadow leader with a wave of his right hand and proceeded to take the seat that was already prepared for him, at the opposite end of therge stone table, facing directly the robed and masked leader. Giving a slight nod of his head to greet his four hulking beasts of servants, Aiden turned his attention towards the mysterious and secretive figure situated at the far end. After the slew of system notifications, he suddenly had a much clearer picture of what was going on. Added that such an illustrious skillset, this mastery over the shadows and affinity towards the Darker Arts of the Arcane seemed somewhat strange, off-putting for these small mutated species of reptilians. From a first nce, Aiden was long since numb to the shock and surprise that this world seemed to have an ample resource to pool from. For one, after learning a bit about this special species of Skinks, having their origin traced back to that of the once Mighty Dragons that have lorded the multitude of realms, one would have normally expected an innate talent with mes, fires, or overall heat. One could even ept a higher than average physical fitness, or even might Heck, if some of them would have been mutated and have grown a pair of leathery and boney wings it would still be understandable. Yet, from his experience, none of these traits seemed to be present in any of these little creatures. They seemed to mostly keep their original traits, and tribal-like behaviour, even if they had to ditch their fabled Temple-Cities in turn for an ancient city. They were still somewhat reliant on their brethren, sparsely seen acting by themselves, instead preferring this horde-reliant mental attitude. Talent in the arcane seemed to be just as rare as it was in most other races even back on Eora. They were like diamonds in the rough, rarely seen appearing in the midst of the rabble. Yet, despite all of that, this organization, this Dark Shadow was the one abnormality, the one inexplicable peculiarity in everything. An organization tied close to the darkness, the corruption that seemed to be present in every world Aiden had so far visited and was slowly, but surely taking over the realms by twisting the very nature of its residents by their core. Turning the once good, the normal into twisted creatures, haunted by their own mental demons, stripping away all sense of normalcy they once had. Despite all of this, going against all reason, they have embraced this very same darkness, even gradually learning how to tame it, how to ''ride'' it, instead of fighting against it. They have managed to withstand its alluring, seductive whispers, and instead utilized the power it granted to them. They have be masters of the darkness, the weavers of shadows, the true hunters and huntresses of the night. Their ability to mask their presence to the degree of even hiding from the almost omniscient gaze of the Ancient One, thest surviving traitorous guardian of this realm was something that even Aiden couldn''t help but be appreciative towards. Taking a look at the masked figure, Aiden recalled the system messages he had just gone through before stepping foot inside the room. ''Divine Grade Servant Exile Guardian? Is she the one?'' He pondered inwardly as he spectated the calm looking figure. ''[Yes, Aiden. Although the system cannot sense any threat or substantial power from her, I would advise to still be alert. Judging from the fact that how even her second inmand was capable of masking her entire presence from the evolved sauruses, we cannot be certain. Adding to the fact that she might very well be the Divine Grade Servant that you may have a chance in contracting, her strength could very well match yours in its current state. I advise you to be cautious.]'' Suddenly Enya''s warning came, resounding in his mind and warning him to not act recklessly. If she was truly one of the guardians that were supposed to have died in the still notpletely unveiled cataclysmic event that has also ended life on this barren, scorched world, then her true power was not something he could take lightly. Still, despite all of that, Aiden couldn''t help but grow more and more interested in finding the truth out. Taking the initiative, he slowly patted the little Tolliah on her back and ced her down on the seat next to his. Then he proceeded to reach for the edges of his hood that have so far covered his face ever since he had stepped foot in the enemy territory and hadhave slowly pulled it back. Once he did, not just Lady Circle or the Dark Shadow Leader looked with apt attention, but even Captain Dragha and the rest of the Saurus Captain looked with surprise as his face was slowly revealed. They were shocked to see that once again, the leader as they have known himer, have a slightly new, rejuvenated appearance. Gone was the old, wrinkled, tired-looking skin, the baggy eyes, and the drooping nose. A vigorous youthful appearance was looking back at them. His eyes, glowing golden with a slightly different mysterious glint glimmering in it. His scales, his skin was looking vibrant, brimming with vitality, looking as if he had regained decades in just a short span of an afternoon. Aiden gave a warm, gentle smile to his trusted subordinates before his eyes slowly wandered off andnded on the masked individual sitting opposite of him. He looked at her slyly. "[Reptilian] There is no need for formalities, miss. Much less for secrets. Since our goals are aligned and I believe both parties wish to work together, I find it odd, you still try to keep your identity a secret." Aiden chuckled. "[Reptilian] I have to apologize to the Young Lord for my rudeness, but the truth about my identity is rather sensitive. It''s best if you-" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 689 Chapter 689 "[Reptilian] I have to apologize to the Young Lord for my rudeness, but the truth about my identity is rather sensitive. It''s best if you-" Before the leader could even finish, Aiden chuckled again and waved his hand in a dismissive manner before dropping the bomb. "[Reptilian] Ohe now, there is no point in hiding anymore Miss Exile Guardian." Almost instantly the air in the room turned a notch colder as well as heavier. The previously calm, respectful, and polite masked leader of the Dark Shadow organization suddenly shifted into a wary, guarded and alerted stance and asked in a much colder, almost threatening tone. "[Reptilian] What does our esteemed guest lord possibly mean by that? Please borate on how you reached that conclusion. I would really appreciate it if you would be honest." With a flick of his left hand, suddenly the sound of clicking, the door''s defensive locking mechanism activating could be heard. At the same time, Lady Circe took a step back guarding the door by herself. The shadows in the corners twisted and blurred as several dark figures emerged each with a pair of honed daggers tightly clenched in their hands. It was clear that the seemingly offhanded remark of Aiden had shifted the tone, and whilst it was phrased as a request, he would very much need to tread carefully if he were to aim to continue the discussion in a controlled and hopefully peaceful manner. However, he also did not want to show weakness of any kind. Aiden''s eyes suddenly flickered with the familiar golden luster revealing that his vast pool of [Soul Power] reserves were once again revolving inside his body, enhancing his being from its very core. The artificial shackles he used to keep the majority of his power at bay were once again temporarily removed allowing the full power of his aura, infused with the sliver of his Divine Domain to spread in the room. Like an invisible veil, it has descended upon the alerted Dark Shadow organization members forcing them to struggle to even continue standing. As for Lady Circe, her strength was vastly superior to the rest of them, she merely frowned but managed to seemingly retain her cool. Though the small beads of sweat that glistened every now and then on her forehead betrayed her forced calmness. Slowly raising his attention, Aiden cast his glowing, lustrous and exotic golden eyes on the masked figure. Though the mask provided ample cover, from the glinting colorless light that he was met with, Aiden was certain that there was a cold, borderline hostile expression on the woman''s face as she withstood his scrutiny. "[Reptilian] Whilst I do aim for a mutually beneficial cooperation" He started, his tone starting from gentle, but suddenly shifting into a cold threat at the second half as Aiden continued. "I DO NOT appreciate this continued show of meaningless force, Guardian." Infusing more of his essences, Aiden pooled more and more of his [Soul Power] energy into his aura, adding waves after waves of renewed force akin to invisible ps and punches to the entire opposing force as he continued to voice his warning, word after word. "[Reptilian] Do not think that just because of what you represent, I would not hesitate to end you and im your soul. I can pry the secrets from even the deepest, darkest corners of your soul." Giving a small relief, a gentle ease on the suffering he exerted upon the residents of the room, he said with a slightly calmer tone of voice. "[Reptilian] If you continue to threaten me, or worse, my little girl here, I will not hesitate to end the precious legacy you have thought so hard to protect. Even if it would make my end goal of finishing up that traitorter that much harder, I will NOT tolerate such an action a third time." Having said what he wanted Aiden suddenly pulled all of his aura back, relieving the people in the room in an instant. Yet, his eyes continued to glow with the mysterious golden energy, not fully rxing. If the guardian leader would continue to act in the same manner, he was prepared to make true, on his promise. Even if it meant he would waste away thest use of the blessing and cause himself a severe bacsh, he would still do so. For over a minute, the masked leader continued to stare at the peddler-looking leader. Her brows creased into a growing deeper frown the more she tried to inspect and analyze the figure. The more she wanted to know, the more she realized how much deeper she could actually go. How vast, how deep this person, this elusive truth seemed to be. In the end, she sighed, and flicked her hands once more, causing the door to click once more, signalling that the locking mechanism had been disengaged. At the same time, Lady Circle silently nodded, understanding her leader''s intent, and rxed her guard whilst also stepping to the side. The dark figures on the corners have vanished once more, melding back into the shadows and leaving the premises, once again leaving them alone to the meeting. "[Reptilian] I understand." She sighed eventually. Feeling as if she had just lost a huge battle. Aiden smiled as he looked at her expression. "[Reptilian] I do understand your worry though, and you have nothing to fear. Whilst I cannot reveal the crux of the matter, just know that I do not know the details, only that you are one of the survivors of an ancient era. One of the four supposedly dead guardians that, as the legend goes, was betrayed by the fifth the ''Ancient One''." Aiden exined with a growing warm smile resting on his face. He reached out and caressed the top of the obedient little girl''s head as he spoke. "[Reptilian] I" The leader sighed, still showing some hesitation of how she should proceed. In the end, after a bit of pondering, she decided to trust her instincts and slowly reached for the edges of her mask. She unsped the leather straps that held it firmly in ce, before slowly, carefully reaching under it, and grabbing it. Seeing all of this, Lady Circe showed the first change in her usually calm disposure. She looked shocked at first, which swiftly transitioned into fear. She hurriedly called out, wanting to rush to her mistress''s aid but not daring to. "[Reptilian] L-leader! Please, I beg you think it through! If you do that there''s no turning back!" The leader, however, didn''t seem to listen, and continued to pull the strangely fitting mask, prying it off from her face. Eventually, the mysterious energy that seemed to keep it in ce was overpowered, and another surprise smiled back at Aiden. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: 690 Chapter 690 "[Reptilian] L-leader! Please, I beg you think it through! If you do that there''s no turning back!" With thest straps of the mask unsped, the Dark Shadow organization''s leader''s veil of mystery was finally lifted. As she grabbed the edges of the unknown alloy material that made the facial cover up and pulled it away, a waft of wind suddenly blew past the room. As if an unknown source of energy was unleashed, a protectiveyer, a cover was being undone, the mystical energy blew past the room for a brief moment only to return it to the presumed normalcy a couple of secondster. The event was so abrupt, so fast, so sudden that unless one was alert he could have simply missed it entirely. Aiden''s gentle smile soured as he felt the energy blow past him. However, what happened next was what truly caught him off guard and unprepared even if he was the one that asked for all of this. Suddenly notification after notification rang inside Aiden''s mind. The system issued several warnings and update notices as the situation was rapidly changing. Even without taking a look at the literal cascade of his alerts, just by ncing over at the System''s Map and focusing on the rapidly shifting and alternating green-yellow dot sitting opposite of him in the room, Aiden was aware that something major was going down. Whilst the invisible torrent was unnoticed by many, Aiden could sense the full brunt of it. As if he was suddenly tossed into the center of a hurricane, the chaotic domain gradually gobbled up more and more of the avable free space from the room. Sensing the growing threat and perhaps an imminent danger, Rygingtarth''s marking red up, glowering with force. ''Master, take me out. The aura of this creature is growing chaotic. It seems to be going out of control. Wield me before harmes to the little miss!'' The sword spirit''s childish tone resounded in his mind. Yet, Aiden did not react, he did not take any action but simply withstood the torturous storm he was tossed into. His gaze lighting up, it glimmered with the now familiar golden hue, he focused on the unveiling allowing for both the System and his faithful guide, Enya to analyze the events as they happened. ''Was there some sort of warding that masked the true depths of her power? Was this how she managed to keep herself hidden for all these years?'' He pondered, creasing his brows. ''[That seems to be the case. It seems that whatever you did has caused her to make up her mind and decide to do something as drastic as this. However, her true motives are still unclear. Be wary, Aiden.]'' Enya warned him, her tone sounding more worried than anything else. ''Hmmm I don''t think that she had any ulterior motive, besidesing clear. Still, you guys are right. Ryg, stay on alert.'' Aiden responded, calm slowly returning to his expression after the momentary trepidation passed. ? Meanwhile, as if a sr eclipse have passed, the immaterial body had passed, blocking his vision allowing for the first time to take his gaze on the emerging surprisingly youthful face that suddenly looked back at him with a calm, motherly smile adorning her face. As if a glimmer of blinding light filled the room, it took a couple of extra seconds for the spectators to process what they were presented with. Apart from the sighing, her brows were knitted, her forehead furrowed as she looked at her leader and master with worry. As for Captain Dragha and the four Saurus Captains, they gawked as they peered at the youthful-looking maidenly woman that was revealed to them. The figure had a faint, bright skin, devoid of the usual scales making her look more like an amorphous creature, almost like a shorter, tailed version of a Bareskin than a Draconic Skink, or any reptilian they had knowledge of for that matter. A couple of vermillion feathers dotted the top of her head serving as a strange set of hair and strangely, just adding more to her otherworldly charm. She had a gentle, warm golden colored deep set eyes, once more resembling that of the once fabled surface dwellers than that of those of Draconic Origins. Still, she did have her tail, her sharpened, longer ears, and everything defining characteristic of their race. It was just strange, almost as if ''[Reptilian] I know what you all want to ask but afraid to do so, fearing that it would hurt my feelings.'' As if noticing their gaze, the leader turned her attention on the Saurus Captains, smiling at them gently, warmly as she spoke. ''[Reptilian] I am, what you could probably just call a residue of what I once was. A shell.. A remnant spirit, I guess.'' Once again, his usual smile that usually lorded his facial expressions, left Aiden''s visage, making her expression sour and equip a garment of seriousness and rity. "[Reptilian] What happened to you? What are you? You feel like a spirit, yet you definitely have a solid body" Aiden muttered, checking the figure taking in the sight with all he could see. The leader chuckled at his question, pushing back on his chair in the next moment and standing up to give them more visuals to inspect and take under careful scrutiny. "[Reptilian] It is a somewhat longer story needing time which, -now that I have undone the wardings-, sadly do not have. However, let me try to give you a shortened version as well as reintroduce myself." The leader smiled before taking another step backwards. As a soft sigh escaped her soft lips she took a courteous bow and spoke with a warm, gentle tone. "[Reptilian] Wee travelers to our humble abode. My true name is Vyndridolth, once known as the Eternal One, the Second Guardian presiding over this now, sadly dying realm. Together with Orren, Tenti, and Hykol my three other brothers, and our eldest, Kyldrath, the ''Ancient One'' as you probably know of him nowadays, were once the five champions, guardians of the Gods, tasked to protect and watch over this world." She began, her tone gradually shifting into mncholy as she reminisced. Taking a moment of respite she collected her senses and sighed once again, before continuing. "[Reptilian] For millions of years we lived in harmony, each of us presiding over a subset of the gods'' creations, watching over them from behind our mystical curtains as they continued to grow and evolve. Everything was fine, we were a happy family. Our elder brother, our leader looked over us, cared and protected us from all harm up until that fateful day" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 691 Chapter 691 As Vyndridolth, the surviving self-exiled guardian of yore reminisced and spoke, memories of a long lost past have emerged, resurfaced in her mind. Vivid images and memories of a time, when everything was still fine and they lived in blissful ignorance, unaware of their elder brother''s dealings in the darkness. They had no idea -nor could they have probably done anything even if they had learned of it-, that their leader, their beloved elder brother, the proud Ancient Dragon Kyldrath have secretly long since cast away all of his honor and for what? Some measly gains? Control over the World''s Essence, it''s Core? Still, though she knew of how the events yed out; Vyndridolth was there right in the thick of it, she could still not fully understand the seemingly senseless, pointless decision and dark path Kyldrath have taken. The day when the skies turned dark, and portals glimmering with the ominous intent of the eternal void of another ne have cast their mystical shadows was something she would never be able to forget. It was the day of the end. At the same time, it was the first day of a new beginning, the start of an apocalyptic era, where everything that one once held precious was changed. The massive wealth of those greedy gold grubbers, the nobles of the various races and societies as well as the scrupulous merchants have instantly gone to waste. The ''golden castles'' andvish manors were reduced to the exact same pile of rubble as every other building in every other city. Suddenly, one''s arrogance and pride meant nothing. In the face of the endless tide, the demonic gue that was unleashed on that fateful day the things that really mattered have shifted greatly. Those wealthy merchants suddenly became worthless. Powerless, weak with the same self-righteous attitude as before, only more agitated, frightened, and probably scared, whilst those ves, guards, warriors they had employed for their protection and amusement suddenly grew by a great deal. They became the paramount existences, the new Zenith of the reforming, chaotic societaldder. As a twist of fate, they have also be the de, the weapon for the true end. Their freedom regained, most of them took the chance not to escape but take that long pampered dream of theirs and took their vengeance upon those that once lorded,manded them. Yet, at the same time, there were those that truly held power, not just wealth. In the blink of an eye, they suddenly became overlords, iming massive territories, subjugating people and races without any limit to their actions. At first, the guardians took no action and merely watched as everything yed down from behind the mystical curtain, looking down with a mixture of sorrow, regret, and confusion as to what was happening. They tried reaching out to their most loyal followers only to find that their connection was suddenly severed. Whatever happened to the world, separated them from it at the same time. With their connection broken, these loyal followers suddenly found themselves without their divine leader, they became like a herd of hapless sheep. Prime prey for the hungry predator lurking beneath the ''bushes'' Kyldrath''s first action after unleashing the end was to kill everyst one of these loyal followers. Before his brothers and sisters could prate the blockage and force themselves down, he had already culled all of their followers, stealing them from their source of power, the Faith of their worshipers. With their source of divinity curbed, the ensuing battle was already a done deal. Its predictable oue was but a foregone conclusion. The guardians could only helplessly watch as their elder brother, the very being that they have all looked up to and relied upon have mercilessly struck down and ended each and every one of them. With tears in her eyes and confusion about the reasons, Vyndridolth watched as the massive ebony ws struck down, ending her millennial journey with an expressionless, insipid expression on Kyldrath''s elongated, draconic face. Yet, her journey somehow did not end there. Maybe it was a mistake on his brother''s newfound cruel path, or it was just simply overlooked but unlike with the rest of her brothers, Vyndridolth''s soul was not pushed into the afterlife and cast into the cycle of reincarnation. No, it was left lingering there, still attached to this very world, this nar existence, almost as if it was her just torment. Maybe there was another reason for it. After all, Kyldrath should have been aware of the peculiarities of innate powers and the very nature of her Divinity. After all, she wasn''t titled as the ''Eternal One'' for no obvious reason Vyndridolth herself wasn''t sure how much time had passed before she found herself floating in the aftermath of the massive bloodbath floating in a shapeless, formless spiritual body. She was reduced to a mere soul, a sliver of that, almostpletely devoid of her powers, leaving her at the very bottom. Still she survived, she was left behind. At first, she didn''t know what to do. Looking over the endless ocean of blood and guts that littered the realm forever her senses could take her she was struck with grief and sorrow. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she could not shed tears, she could not ease the pain she was being struck with. She could only look at the dead carcasses, mutted bodies that covered the world from end to end. The Dark Shadow Leader, Vyndridolth shed a tear as she recalled the events. She took a pause in her briefing, as the memories were still too immense, too hard to withstand all at once. Even after so many years, it seemed that the pain never lessened, but remained. A needle stuck in the wound, not allowing it to heal; her agony, her confusion never allowed these pains to lessen. To this day, no matter how much she investigated, she searched for clues, Vyndridolth could notpletely understand the truth behind that day. Why did her elder brother do what he did? Why did he attack them, his own family? What did he gain in the end? Why did he himself twist the tales and sewed the myth of him being the traitor, making himself the paramount of evil, the very creature that needed to be struck down before everything could start to finally heal? Yet, as if contradicting himself he also made sure that at least one race of his own have survived. The Draconic Skink''s survival and eventual exodus into this underground world, finding this massive, empty underground city Why do so if your goal was to end everything? To Vyndridolth, her brother''s action just did not make any sense. Even after so many years --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 692 Chapter 692 In the other part of Ugburg''s outer skirts, deep inside the Temple Guard''s local base, there was a strange, and increasingly worrisome silence looming over therge courtyard. From amidst the darkness, two tendrils of the ever-present shadows stretched out and tethered from corner to corner, obstacle to obstacle. If one had his or her senses honed beyond their mortal limits or perhaps would be gifted with an innate ability rted to [True Sight] he or she would have been able to make out two vastly differing feminine shapes rushing silently ahead. After taking their time to recoup their lost energy and had given a small update to their Young Master using their shared mental channel, Madam Dara and Lady Pyre were now once again closing in on the central building. Whilst they seemed to be covering the ground with an impossible speed and momentum, in fact, they were still rather careful, choosing a rather roundabout way so as to avoid most of the patrols and potential prying eyes. Though they could deal with them as long as their numbers were controlled, the sound would risk blowing their cover they had so preciously fought to protect so far, taking away their key element of surprise from before reaching their target, as well as making the newly updated task of taking him out with them towards the new base just that much harder. Not to mention, their time, as well as their energy, were limited, and wasting both precious resources on pointless, avoidable scuffle would be the best course of action. Still, it didn''t mean that their weapons have not tasted the oh so sweet, heavenly nectar, their enemies'' blood. No, far from it. They have already bathed their des in the guards'' back in the outer courtyard and as the situation was turning out they would soon have their chances to go drunk with the sweet allure once again "[Reptilian] Well This is a problem, sister." Madam Dara smirked, peaking through a bush they both wereying inside using as a temporary cover. Her usually cheerful, nonchnt, and carefree expression was showing a rare sight: A deeper looking, troubled frown. For just in front of them, just outside thest hurdle a party of four stood around and guarded the seemingly only entrance inside the premises of the small hut-like building where the leading officer, Magen-quhui was supposedly taking his not so well-deserved nap of thete afternoon. Obviously they have already made sure to check each nook and cranny of the structure before deciding toy low in such an ufortable thorny shelter. Sadly, apart from blowing a hole directly through one of the weaker sections of the walls, there was no other option both of them could see. For Lady Pyre, she wasn''t really that talented and apt with sneaking around silently. Her skillset, her affinity with the mes made her much better at taking the direct path and hitting their opponent with the full fury of the infernal heat. On the other hand, even Madam Dara was helpless, even with her deep experience and newly built skillset, she couldn''t possibly phase through solid material. She would need a clear path forward to slip past by. However, not to mention that the only path was closed, it was also guarded with not just two, but four of the very elite the local Temple Guard forces could muster. Unlike the rest of the soldiers, -archers and warriors-, they have slipped past by, these men were clearly of a vastly different cut. Just like back when they were attacked by theirrge force, they each held an aura honed by probably not just years but maybe even decades of built experience. They each looked firm, their eyes swept across their surroundings at a regr pace, keeping watch of even the slightest of disturbances. Their vigil was at their highest, despite being deep within their own territory neither of them seemed to be at ease, making both women frown with the newly risen trouble. Their attire, their armor was also made of much higher quality metal, shining even in the obscure, dim lighting. Each one of them held a specialized type of spear, a dragon-head-shaped halberd with a much more resilient, but at the same time, heavier, metallic shaft attached to its darker metallic head. The visors of their helmets were shut close, allowing only the ominously glowering yellowish pair of dots to scan the area. "[Reptilian] Sneaking past them is not an option. We also shouldn''t engage them directly Apart from being a much harder challenge to take them down, it would for sure alert the lieutenant as well as probably other guards in the vicinity." After just taking a short look at the situation, Lady Pyre made her conjecture. "[Reptilian] What do you suggest then? Go back and tell the Young Master we have failed?" Finding her partner''s matter-of-fact manner of speaking rather annoying Madam Dara threw out a teasing remark. Still, Lady Pyre''s expression remained the same, she did not lose herself to such a feeble attempt. With the same steady, and cold, expressionless analytic tone of voice she continued. "[Reptilian] No, of course not." She said and pointed towards a nearbyrger shade cast by a sizable stone pir that protruded from the ground. It had a wide berth, taking the size of not just one, but several pirs altogether. "[Reptilian] You can do some basic shielding, and soundproofing as far as I know. We merely need to lead them away behind that pir. There they would be out of sight and hearing of the lieutenant. With your darkness ability, we could also make sure that the captain wouldn''t even sense the danger." "[Reptilian] Your n is fine, I admit, however" Madam Dara sighed as she revealed one of her weakness to her frenemy. "I can at most keep up the barrier for a few minutes maybe 5 or 6 at most." "[Reptilian] That is fine. Should be enough to go in, grab the target, and escape. By the time the rest of the guards realize that something is wrong we should be at the worst about to leave the premises. The window is more than enough for me for us." Madam Dara could only grit her teeth and click her tongue in annoyance. Her partner, Lady Pyre''s n whilst had a couple of dark spots still, they had no other choice, without either asking for help. Yet even that wouldn''t be a suitable option as they were way too deep to be able to wait for others to arrive. Suddenly, Madam Dara felt that not taking any of her daughters along the mission may have been a mistake "[Reptilian] F-fine, let''s go with that. But you most likely have to do most of the work, as just by keeping up the barrier would pretty much drain me dry." --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 693 Chapter 693 "[Reptilian] F-fine, let''s go with that. But you most likely have to do most of the work, as just by keeping up the barrier would pretty much drain me dry." Madam Dara silently muttered, not caring if her partner has heard her remark or not. Taking onest heavier than a normal sigh, she first took her attention towards the designated area, a small rocky formation with a stone pir reaching the size of an olden oak tree''s girth and began revolving all the energy, the [Soul Power] inside her body. She focused on hastening their speed and extending their reach, swiftly reaching to all ends, nooks, and edges in her figure. As she continued focusing, she also began to reach out to her reformed core, which from its original inferior crooked reptilian one was like a shining beacon of the newfound hope, a Primal Core. Orbiting around the center star, her Primal Seed Core which was birthed through the injection of her beloved Master''s divine power, two small rice grain-sized dots orbited. One had a gloomy, matte ck color fluctuating the ominous energy, sending out eerie pulsations every couple of seconds whilst it circted the central core. Opposite of her current route, and only just slightly farther than the dark one, a dark crimson, vermillion colored rice grain-sized seed could also be seen. Like its elder brother it too orbited the same star, making up this void forming a miniature gxy of their own, deep inside the crystalline walls of the mysterious organ. They were the affinities, the recently reformed and already existing talents Madam Dara was gifted with, her Darkness, the [Dark Magic] and her original trait, given to her by the strange previously dormant Demonic Subus bloodline, the Blood Magic. Whilst she was far from being as adept at the Arcane as her makeshift partner, Madam Dara still had a great deal of experience with it. Most born through arduous, painstaking effort through the decades of struggle, whilst again, some simply appeared as her bloodline awakened thanks to her almighty young master. Madam Dara focused on the dark, gloomy seed this time around, activating her [Dark Magic] utilizing all the gathered essences inside her core and infusing it into the magical bloodstream of the now rapidly revolving [Soul Power]. As the Primal Core began to shine due to it turning active, a dark, ebony string of peculiar energy escaped the confines of the crystal walls, merging into the golden stream turning it into a beautiful, yet terrifying gradient color of Dark Gold. As if a kettle was ced on the stove and it was heated with some immensely intensive me causing the water to boil in just mere seconds, the stream whilst also running its course lightning fast, also began to burst bubbles as its temperature seemingly begun to rise. A strange reaction that whilst it wasn''t transpiring on the solid ne, still looked simr to that of basic alchemy and chemistry. Matter, albeit spiritual, reacted to one another fusing and merging together and forming a new element, a new source of power for their host to utilize andmand. If a simr activity in the realm of physics would be termed metaphysics, would this process, this reaction be called meta-chemistry? Anyway let''s digress (AN.: Apologies, the philosopher inside me took control, and the thought was just too interesting to pass.) Madam Dara focused on her inner cirction, making sure that the energy infusion with the dark essence was smooth and -most importantly- quick. Whilst this process of fusion of energy may seem excessive and even downright pointless if one knows that she could still cast her [Dark Magic] rted school of spells andplete the rituals the same the results would not be the same. No, far from it. Bypleting this fusion and making sure that her affinity, her rted essence was directly infused into her [Soul Power] stream before chanting and casting a spell, its effects would be enhanced and in some cases, -like this one-, would be downright altered. The ability to perfectly seal off an area was not something unique to the [Space Magic] school. Several other schools, just like the [Dark Magic] as well as [Light Magic] had a simr ability of their own. Even for those druids and nature fanatics, those with a high enough skill both in [Wind Magic] and [Life Magic] could cast a dome made out of torrentus, stormy wind resulting in a somewhat simr effect. Still, whilst these three alternatives could result in a simr end result, it was nowhere near as effective as those cast by those fabled [Space Magic] casters. Their cost would be far greater for one, with all requiring the constant channeling of energy to keep the effect sustained contrary to how a [Space Magician] would just simply need tomand the already present particles in the air to seal off the area and wouldn''t need any extra, excess channeling to keep it active. On the other hand, one positive to casting such an intrinsic dark ritual was that the magical dome the caster created by the result of his or her chant, would not only seal off sound and all kinds of [Sense] ss abilities, it would also shroud the area from those prying eyes. Whilst it would seem like a peculiarity in the daylight, during thete afternoon, early evening and more so in thete midnight, the sealed-off area wouldn''t even be noticeable at all, making the skill a highly effective addition to those trying to remain unseen, unnoticed. Feeling as her preparations werepleted, Madam Dara turned her attention to Lady Pyre lying next to her in the same bush, awaiting her signal. "[Reptilian] Whatever you nned to grab their attention and lead them away Do it. Once I initiate the ritual, I will need to focus my full attention on keeping the spell active and cannot help." Taking a moment, to clear her mind Madam Dara continued. "[Reptilian] As mentioned before, once we start, there''s no turning back. I cannot do this a second time, I would need to rest for several hours before that. Your window of opportunity would be 5 minutes. 6 tops, but that would already be stretching it beyond the limit. Try to be fast for once." Lady Pyre frowned at the thrown jibe, deciding not to speak up against and just simply ignoring it. She nodded to the woman before she too closed her eyes and began focusing on revolving, circting her inner energies. However, unlike the process that took almost a minute for Madam Dara, Lady Pyre was ready in just a couple of seconds. As her eyelids fluttered open, a fiery flicker sparked inside her pupils. She raised her hand, pointing towards the same area as Madam Dara was focusing on and --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World, it just got contracted! Woohoo!<<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 694 Chapter 694 With the reminder from Madam Dara that revealed her open window where she had to basicallyplete their mission wasn''t even a quarter of an hour but instead a twelfth, Lady Pyre didn''t show any negative reaction. Instead, she nodded at the remark, with a stern, controlled expression. She was already focused, her resource pool was circting madly. She already had everything nned out and whilst it may have been rather basic, she also had an alternative approach if her first reaction would have turned out to be a failure. In a couple of seconds, much less time required than it did for Madam Dara to gather herself and prepare, Lady Pyre was just waiting for her signal to unleash her infernal carnage and finally let loose for the first time since her rebirth. With the signal arriving not too long after, there was no panic in her mind. Lady Pyre was calm, allowing the energy to flow freely and reach every crevice of her slender frame without any mental obtrusion. Her eyelids fluttered as they parted, allowing the fiery, crimson sparks to flicker through her pupils, tint them from its initial honey brown to a rosy gradient. In a sh, the previously chilly afternoon stale underground air heated up, and suddenly the temperature in their surroundings began to rise. As if a rice grain-sized seedling of infernal core was thrown out in the open, the air was rapidly turning into a scorching, zing torrent. With the sudden shift in the area''s temperature, the wind also began to rise, carrying its newfound ominous intent towards the stern, statuesque party of guards standing before the entrance. As they felt the sudden shift that came from around them, as expected none of the four guards showed signs of panic. No, instead they became alert, as they began to scan their surroundings in a prepared, trained manner. Each guard only focused on a subset of the entire area, making sure that their focus was limited to a narrower field, not allowing even the slightest of details to escape their trained senses. They uttered no words and merely looked at each other for a brief moment before each signaling towards their already pre-assigned direction and focused on it. They have raised their halberds before them, fixing their somewhat calm posture into a more battle-ready stance. They weren''t like those before them, they were the true elites. The most highly trained, fearsome warriors, masters of what the Church''s Temple Guards could muster. In normal circumstances, it would have been actually quite surprising to see such a highly trained group acting as mere bodyguards for one lieutenant assigned to such a station. Outside of the city, feeling more like a punishment than that of a post of any actual significance. Yet, when one puts the things that transpired in the recent past into the mix, the whole thing suddenly makes much more sense. After their shameful, humiliating defeat at their high profile attack on the rebels'' camp the church had to change their attitude, and reinforce their iron grips on the outer regions of the city. Knowing that more than two-third of Ugburg''s total poption was situated in these so-called Slums, whilst they also supplied the true backbone of the inner city''s ve workforce, the High Priest could not allow these mongrels to awaken from their decade-long stupor and realize there would be a way without their oppression driving them forward. No, that had to be prevented, and as such, the Temple Guard barracks in all of the outer city districts have been reinforced with the addition of several groups as well as adding a couple of the feared ''Elites'' just for good measure. Yet, whilst these elites were already quite a challenge, quite the hurdle to ovee, in reality, they weren''t even the worst of the surprises that were yet toe Noticing how the guards have already reacted even before them doing anything, Lady Pyre was inwardly shocked at their keen senses. Normally these soldiers were pretty basic, with little to no ability to sense the slight changes in the air, yet these seemed to have sensed her powers right from the start. Whilst from their reaction it seemed they could not pinpoint their location, for the time being, the mere fact that they sensed something was already going awry. Still, she didn''t panic, and raised her right hand, pointing her index finger towards the small clearing behind therge stone pir that they had nned to use. The tip of her fingers sparked with energy as Lady Pyre''s inner [Soul Power] materialized in the form of a small source of faint light. It gathered for only a couple of seconds before it seemingly vanished, faded without any immediate reaction. Yet before anyone could ponder on what could have happened, the area in the distance Lady Pyre was pointing at suddenly cracked, the ground itself tore apart, throwing a fissure of heated air upwards with a loud, high-pitched whistle filling the surroundings. It was merely a small parlor trick, nothing worthy of note, barely costing any resource at all. Yet, that was its beauty. This spell did not need to be highlyplex, convoluted, its goal was only to serve as a distraction and nothing more. If it could pull even one of them, the n could be counted as a sess and could begin working down their numbers. Just like she had hoped when the elite guards saw the steaming hot air shooting high up in the air, peaking behind the stone pir, they turned to look at each other. "[Reptilian] You two stay here, 12th and I will check what the source was. It''s either nothing or a distraction created by the enemy. Be ready for anything." The guard closest to the women lying in ambush spoke up. His tone was deep, showing no fluctuation of emotions as he spoke. He was clear-headed and analyzed the situation with terrifying precision. Yet, still it reacted the way the girls had hoped, making both of them show a flicker of a smile on their faces before focusing once again. Hearing the statement, Lady Pyre was already getting ready to spring into action and unleash her infernal hell as soon as Madam Dara finished casting the dome of obscurity over them. She could not waste even a single second as after their element of surprise even with just a half of them, these guards would be especially hard to ovee. Suddenly, as if breaking the girls'' reverie and as if to ruin all of their careful nning as well as throwing them into the deepest pits of turmoil, therge stone door behind the guards loudly creaked open and a white robed figure appeared in the doorway. A bronze mask hiding his face, he wore arge hood over his head. Yet, just as he appeared, both girls suddenly frowned, as well as trembled. Whilst they didn''t know who that figure specifically was, they still could recognize that mask, that attire. He was one of the Priest'' of the Church. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 695 Chapter 695 The fragile-looking, lithe elderly draconic skink cast a wide contrast to the four musclebound warriors as he stepped out from the building. Not just by his body frame, but with his attire as well. His clean, almost sparkling, shining silk pearl white robe with the golden embroidery of a roaring dragon''s head emblem looking back from the center of his chestpared to the dark, matte ck sturdy steel ting of those full-body armors He was like a glowing beacon of light in the looming darkness. The elderly skink figure raised his right hand in the air, grabbing the attention of the four elite guards and silencing them. His bronze mask glimmered in the flickering candlelight. "[Reptilian] Halt! Hmpf! What are you, brainless cubs?" He chided with a disdainful tone, snorting to showcase his utter contempt and disdain towards these primitive barbaric beasts he now had to be amongst. His attitude wasn''t merely a reaction to the current peculiar situation but a direct response to his growing annoyance because of this seemingly pointless assignment. Ever since the High Priest''s original n failed, he had refused to take responsibility for anything and med his ''ipetent staff'' for the shameful defeat. At the same time, he had decided to reinforce the various groups in each of the outer districts, changing his original strategy vastly. Whilst this was something that each member of the priesthood supported, they didn''t expect that this restructuring was going to have an effect on them as well. After the elite forces were spread out and a small contingent was sent to each of the Temple Guard barracks, then it was their turn. As the High Priest and the Archbishops exined during that fateful meeting, due to their failure to properly ''educate'' and mand'' the army forces as well as the masses, they are in a dire need of some training, a bit of hands-on experience so to say. Thus each Priest was given a new assignment. Whilst most were sent to the various sectors to further increase the local guards'' strength and control the citizenry, a select few were even sent away to explore the nearby tribes, cities, andmunities and make contact with them. With thest utter loss, the Temple Guard forces have taken a massive hit, a brutal nosedive and thus they needed to gather new recruits. With the situation among themon rabble of Ugburg already quite delicate as it is, they needed to explore new avenues and search for fresh meat from outside the premises. ,m In any case, the old man was feeling humiliated himself. At his age and position, he felt that his time and power were wasted on this pointless, senseless assignment and was just merely punished in turn for the High Priest. Since the other party has refused to ept his mistake, they, the lower ss Priests had to take and carry this burden themselves. Thus, his rather annoyed and prickly attitude. Turning his head, the old man turned to look at the stone pir for a couple of seconds before speaking up again. Even though his expression remained hidden behind his bronze mask, his tone betrayed his feelings. "[Reptilian] What is wrong with you? You the so-called elites, highly trained warriors yet, reacting to the first, most primitive trick in the world?! Laughable!" He snorted, before raising the head of his staff he was carrying and pointed it towards the looming darkness from whence the noise came. A bright golden light lit up at the tip of his staff, forming a little brightly shining ball of light. As it materialized the priest gently touched it with the tip of his staff, giving it a gentle tuck, a push to send it forward. As if reacting to its creator''s action, the floating, rotating ball slowly moved forward, steadily sailing the air towards the source of the disturbance. Along the way, it was like a miniature sun, a star creating an aura of bright daylight amidst the gloomy darkness as it traversed along its predestined path. "[Reptilian] Change of ns." Madam Dara muttered silently as both of them were focused on the unexpected change of the situation. Now with the appearance of this surprising new element, this priest, they could no longer rely on their previous approach, nor could they hope to achieve any sess with a direct approach. Worse, they now quickly needed to react to the shifting situation, as whilst the simple magic the priest cast was aimed at the darkness, they too would be revealed once the flying sphere of arcane energy passed by them along its path towards the dark cover next to them. Not wasting any more time, she made a quick decision and quickly chanted the already prepared spell, however, the ground was shifted around them, rather than its original target area. At the same time, its range was much smaller as she hastily could only think of protecting the two of them, making the dome the size of the undergrowth they have used for cover. In a moment, an aura of darkness engulfed the two, forming a dark fog around the two of them. An ominous domain surrounded the duo of female makeshift assassins shrouding them with its unnatural, otherworldly energy just before the floating sphere would have reached their vicinity. The two watched with bated breaths, lying motionlessly but still ready to spring into action in a moment''s notice if the situation soured any further. They looked at the group not far from them, hoping that their sudden reaction would remain unnoticed, or at the very least not be investigated. "[Reptilian] Hmm?" Yet, it seemed their hope was not fated toe true this day. As the ball passed by them, the old priest frowned when he spotted the strange peculiarity. The shadow he spotted felt strange. Whilst for most it would probably be skipped by, thinking that it was just something normal, he thought different. For one, such a shadow should not appear, since it would need a solid material of a simr shape standing under the direction of the light source. Something would have been needed to be present for it to appear yet, in the surroundings there was nothing. Still, even that wouldn''t have earned the priest''s attention and made him stand alert unless he could also sense the slight disturbance through the special skill he had just cast. For this wasn''t a simple light, but actually a special low-level scouting spell with basic sensing trait infused into it. Whilst it was still considered rather primitive it could actually sense the active essences around the area it covered, and send this information back to its caster. The old priest frowned as he could clearly feel the vibrations in the air around that strange darkness. Raising his right index finger, he pointed in the direction and --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 696 Chapter 696 The old priest frowned as he could clearly feel the vibrations in the air around that strange darkness. Raising his right index finger, he pointed at the direction and gave themand. "[Reptilian] Check that area. Be careful, it could be dangerous!" The girls watched with a growing, deep frown as all of their nning turned out to be for naught, with the addition of this elderly tribal priest joining the party. This crafty schemer has ruined all of their nning with a single stroke of his hand. A mere basic spell was all it took for everything to go haywire and for thedies to suddenly find themselves in a mess that they had no idea how to get out of. Yet amidst the frown, a strange flicker of what seemed to be the curvature of an emerging smile shed across Lady Pyre''s face as she looked at the slowly, steadily approaching armored elite warriors. To be perfectly honest Pyre Voragon wasn''t that keen on this whole sneaking, this whole ndestine, stealthy mission. Even before her rebirth, back in the battle, she was forced to stay at the back and defend. Though she understood the notion and didn''t show or utter a single word ofint, she secretly hoped to be able to let loose. Her cold demeanor was merely a mask, a trained form she was trained by her family back when she was a mere child to keep that ferocious talent, those infernal mes to explode from her body and engulf everything in their wake. Her early life wasn''t as happy and carefree as her peers. She was trained from a very early age by a very strict family. Her elders as well as her parents were strict, Pyre could barely remember a smile or a hug from them, but the stern, serious gazes she was always given. Still, she never did resent them. Not even for a moment, in her darkest moments. She knew she was aware that her talent, her ''Fire'' was chaotic, it was wild, it needed her strong willpower, her resolve, her cold demeanor to contain it. To keep it under control. Yet, after her rebirth, she had realized that this backside had vanished. Her [Chaotic me] have been tamed and transformed into her currently only maxed out level 10 ability, her [Fire Magic]. She could freely call upon it at will, and with the added higher form of energy, the [Soul Power] lording over herst remaining reserve of [Mana] she already had mastered her control. Still, her cold demeanor that was literally beaten into him through the decades of her younger years was not something she could strip from and throw away. It would be a gradual process. She needed an opportunity to let loose, to shed this mask, her old selfpletely. Thus now, that this sudden, unexpected change happened. She couldn''t help but grow excited. Though this would certainly mean that their n for a silent approach was now gone, and the difficulty most certainly had spiked, she still couldn''t help but look forward to the evolution of the events. Following her growing, emerging smile crimson sparks shed across her white sclera, flickering like candlelight against the gentle morning breeze. Unconsciously to her, her aura began to leak out as her energy intermixed with her [Fire Magic], circting at an ever-increasing speed. Feeling the gradually rising temperature, Madam Dara could only sigh and decide to once more contact their master before the situation would spiralpletely out of their control. Closing her eyes, she still kept up the dome of darkness for the time being and focused on their shared connection. At the other side, Aiden was just about to close up his discussion with the Dark Shadow organization. With both of their intentionsid out bare for the other party to see, they could quicklye to an agreement and decided to join hands. Their leader, the ex-guardian Vyndridolth didn''t take much convincing to ept the cooperation. Her only request was however to bring her along when they would visit her elder brother. After so many years, she merely wanted to find that long sought closure. Her anger and rage had long since been quelled, reced by endless sorrow and sadness. She just wanted to get those long awaited answers and learn of the truth behind everything that happened. Was he truly lost, turned mad by the allure of the demonic corruption? Or perhaps there was something else, something deeper behind his actions that may have just failed in the end? Or was the final oue still something that was yet toe? Apart from gaining a new and most likely immensely powerful friend and ally, Aiden alsopleted one of his recently acquired quests after shaking hands with the Eternal One, Vyndridolth the ex guardian. [Note: The Optional Quest: Int(r)o the Dark Shadow has beenpleted! Difficulty: C Objective: - Locate the Hidden Base for the Third Hidden Party rted to the Draconic Skink Civil War (1/1 - Completed) - Identify its leader (1/1 - Completed) Reward: 1500 Experience Points, +2 Spirit] Whilst there wasn''t anything too outrageous about the rewards, the extra points were always wee, as well as the extra points to his most mysterious Spirit attribute. After confirming the gains, Aiden decided to take a look at his updated status screen. After all, it has been a while since he checked it. [ *Status* | Lab | Domain | Activities ] [Status Screen ] [ *Main* | Skills | Analysis | Inventory ] [Name: Aiden Voragon Race: Primal (Evolver) Current Form: Draconic Skink (Tier 1+, Clean) Level: 15 Condition: 100% Resource: Soul Power (Level 2) : 1250 SP / 1250 SP System Points: 11700 XP ****** Attributes: Might: 45 Agility: 43 Spirit: 58 ****** Note: For quicker, faster navigation please use the keywords in the following order: "Status", "Main".] Whilst he was immersed in his stats and was looking as if he was silently pondering about something to the outside world, suddenly he felt his shared mental connection with her two sneaky rogue agents, Madam Dara and Lady Pyre buzz with eagerness, asking for activation. Suddenly a foreboding feeling washed over him, making his previous smile suddenly vanish from his face and don a more serious, stern expression, catching the attention of her newest partner. "[Reptilian] Is there something wrong?" Vyndridolth asked as she noticed the sudden shift in her partner''s demeanor and the sudden change in his stance. From his calm, rxed pose, he now had his shoulders raised, and his feet firmly nted on the ground. It was as if he was ready to jump up and charge headfirst into action at any moment, making Vyndridolth look confused. What was going on? Why is he suddenly so alert? --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 697 Chapter 697 Seeing the enemy closing in Lady Pyre wasn''t feeling anything other than the deep-seated excitement that gradually boiled deep inside both her heart and soul. Years, nay decades of this feeling of primordial joy that she could finally let out, and let herself loose. She no longer needed to show a strong front, she no longer needed to reign in and control her own emotions. She no longer had to quell the sources of happiness from the various parts of her life. The risk of the infernal chaos exploding from within if she were to lower her mental guard for even a second was no longer present. The raging storm was quelled and with the assistance of her newly formed Primal Core, she had perfect and total control over her own powers and her abilities. Thus Lady Pyre secretly did not mind that their carefullyid out ns of subterfuge had ultimately failed. Even though it would certainly raise the difficulty of aplishing their mission by not just one but probably several levels, in truth she weed this newly risen challenge. She could finally let loose and test her limits. The nature of her powers, the fact that her current [Fire Magic] was at its limit and was about to break through, she merely needed an opportunity such as this. Only by utilizing her skillset and resources to their maximum potential could she possibly hope to break into a higher realm and shatter these imaginary chains that had kept her shackled. Only by going through such arduous life and death battle could her potential explode and rise to new heights, to reach new zeniths. Her gaze showed no fear, no dread as she gazed at the slowly, steadily approaching group of guards. Instead, she didn''t hesitate and quickly made some ad-hoc, on the fly decisions. Her fingers began to dance to an unknown tribal tune as they draw outplicated runes one after another. With still being under the protective cover of the dark shrouding dome of Madam Dara''s continued channeling, she knew she had to utilize this brief moment of temporary invisibility to its fullest. She silently muttered alongside and in ordance with the dancing of her slender fingers. In just a couple of moments, just as the guards reached a close enough melee distance, her chanting suddenly reached itspletion, from the tip of her fingers, several bolts of crimson bolts of arcane essence shot forth. Like beams fired from a futuristic spaceship the guards despite their years of training were suddenly caught surprised by their abrupt appearance. The best they could do in the heat of the moment was to raise their weapons and use their armaments to absorb the attack. They could only grit their teeth and try to withstand the pain, hoping that their proactively honed resilience would take care of the brunt of the matter. Yet, the attacks caused another round of surprise in the next moment, with their suddenly changing direction. Instead of directly hitting their targets in the sh, each curved along the path, some, roughly half of them spiraling downwards towards the ground beneath their feet while the other half curved upwards, reaching above their heads. Also, the bolts fused with one another along with their short venture, turning into one massive coil instead of several smaller blimps. Eventually, the coiling snake of energy bit on its own tail, forming a circr spiral that covered both the ground around them, as well as kept levitating right above their heads. In the next instant, before the guards could even register what was even going on, threads of tangerine-colored fiery threads appeared forming a cage, capturing the guards in a single stroke. Only then did the dome of darkness lift, allowing it to waft away with the gentle breeze and allowing both the guards and the bronze masked elderly priest to finally take sight of the two beauties of the night, their beautiful assassins to appear before them. "[Reptilian] Who? W-who are you two? What do you want?" The priest was the first to break the temporary silence that suddenly lorded over the small battlefield and blurt out the question. After a momentary pause, he added one more veiled threat to his initial questionnaire. "Do you two have any idea what are you even doing? The consequences of your actions would be unimaginable!" Hearing no response, or cheeky remarks to his initial outburst, the elderly priest, thinking that he managed to sessfully scare the two, decided to push further. He took a single step forward and pointed his hands towards the caged guards. "[Reptilian] If you both know what is good for you and want to carve a way out of this mess with at least your lives kept intact then cancel that spell. Do not make me take action as once I do, there is no turning back. Your best oue would be turned into puppets or ves." He spoke uttering his threatening words with a chilling tone. At the same time, colorless luster flickered beneath the mask, and shone through the eye slots of her mask, transforming his visage into that of someone holy, divine. Thinking that he had most likely nailed the coffin in the head and that they would now start to beg, he was shocked and confused when suddenly the bustier of the two women suddenly burst out in a peal of carefreeughter. Even the more slender beauty snorted with a light tone,ughing, jeering at the priest''s now clearly unveiled threats and warnings. The priest''s expression darkened in response to this, and albeit it was kept hidden because of his bronze cover, his tone reflected his expression. "[Reptilian] I see Good. Good. If that is the case, I do not need to pretend any more. I was already feeling bored being forced to y the role of a saint in this god-forsaken ce At least I will get two new toys to ease my boredom!" He eximed, growing more and more manic as he reached towards the end of his speech. He raised his arms sideways up in the air, his index fingers pointing out and drawing a clear line in the air. Along their path, pearl white lines remained lingering in the air. Akin to the runes Galina, or even Granny could draw up, they remained floating in the air, as if waiting for their master toplete their forms and formte the whole word for its effects to take effect. At the same time, he also began a strange, mysterious incantation, loudly shouting, yelling in the growingte afternoon gloomy darkness. The luster of light behind the mask kept on flickering as more and more energy was transferred into his spell --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 698 Chapter 698 As his inner energy revolved in his body, the elderly priest channeled more and more of his power into the formation of the floating symbols, rune words. Each time one waspleted, the rune shed with a bright colorless blinding light before it seemingly vanished into thin air. Some blurred until it disappeared from sight, some were like smoke that was wafted away by the wind then again others shot forward like arrows shot from a bow. Each rune, hummed with a strange, mysterious deep resounding sound, as it merged with reality and disappeared. Worst of all, even though it felt as if the whole process took a considerable amount of time, in reality mere seconds passed by as the runes were formed in rapid session, barely giving time to the two fair maidens to process what was going on. Still, it wasn''t as if Madam Dara or Lady Pyre would just watch the priest cast his mysterious spell without at the very least trying to interrupt it. As soon as the first rune word vanished from sight, bothdies were brought back from their reverie and sprung into action in parallel. Madam Dara, since she was forced to stop her chant as well as use it only on a much smaller area, still had a bit more than half of her [Soul Power] reserve left to use in this battle. With that, she quickly began to focus on her inner core once again. Her slender fingers danced to an unknown tune in the air, slowly turning blurry as a hazy dark fog began to envelop them. [Dark Essence] was circted alongside with [Soul Power], forming a thin blurry cape-like veil that soon covered her entire body. Madam Dara grinned viciously at the priest, and just as her eyes red up with a deep, vibrant shade of crimson, her entire figure suddenly vanished, fusing together with the dark smoke that covered her. In the very next instant, the same smoke emerged from below the ground just behind the priest, forming the buxom beauty. Immediately, not even waiting for the [Dark Warp] spell to fully finish, she red madly at the robed elder''s back and struck forward with her right hand. Her sharp nails were akin to the draconic ebony ws of her master yet at the same time were also vastly different. Whilst Aiden''s ws were best to pierce below the surface and tear through flesh and organs, Madam Dara''s were more specialized towards slicing type attacks. At the same time as Dara was in the motion of her backstabbing ambush attack, on the other side, Pyre was like an infernal maiden with how the particle essences floating in the air around her literally sizzled with all the active [Fire Magic] energy being circted by her. Her eyes were like a pair of burning gemstones, they focused on the masked priest. Her face contorted into a twisted, manic-looking grin, she felt exhrated with the sheer thought of letting loose. She raised her arms in the air and cackled with a tone that was quite uncharacteristic for her usual calm, coldness. It was emotional, excited, joyous battle-crazed just like how a tall giant blonde amazon usually sounded in the heat of carnage. "[Reptilian] You know old man, you are not the only one that feels excited at the prospect of finally letting loose. I no longer need to hold myself to my own mental shackles and can finally shed these mental barriers, these chains that my family has forced upon me throughout my life" Her scales and skin gradually shifted color, her entire visage turned akin to a smoldering, glowing charcoal in the core of a burning bonfire. As her arms were raised at her sides, they were suddenly engulfed in mes. Fire that in a mere moment imed her entire body, yet it didn''t seem to cause any pain, or difort to her. It was as if she was even happier to finally be at the center of this hellish scenery. "[Reptilian] I CAN FINALLY LET LOOSE! FEEL MY FIRE!" She eximed, shouting her emotional battle cry as she closed her arms, in front of her body. From her palms that met at the base and faced towards the priest, a sphere was formed from the burning barrier and was shot forward like a projectile towards the opponent. Though Pyre registered the presence of Dara behind the old man, she either didn''t care or perhaps somehow knew that she would be unharmed. Either way, she didn''t bat an eye when she fired her first [Fireball]. Like a miniature sun, the magical sphere rotated in the air as it traversed the not too great distance between them and rapidly approached his target. It hurled like a meteor ready to unleash its carnage on its prey upon impact. The priest, now having thrown in the middle of potentially lethal, but at the very least highly dangerous attacks from both sides, didn''t show any signs of panic. He was as calm as before, ignoring everything as he focused onpleting thest rune of his spell. He was confident as if knowing that neither attack would have a chance to cause him harm, he continued with his action. Normally, such an action would have raised several gs from his opponents. How was he so confident? How could he ignore a hurling sphere formed from pure [Fire Essence] as well as a viper-like strike of anothering towards his seemingly unprotected back? Where did this peculiar source of confidencee from? What secrets did he keep for such situations? The answers to the questions would have been easily answered if Galina or Granny would have been present. In reality, the priest wasn''t chanting a single spell, but actually cast several smaller enhancements, enchantments, and even protective wards at the same time. With each rune vanishing it meant that another bundle of this secret gift was aplished. Only the veryst rune that was drawn for the longest time carried the actual attack, the rest was just a protective measure. As to confirm this conjecture, just before Madam Dara''s nails could reach the linen fabric of the priest''s robe, suddenly an invisible barrier appeared blocking her attempt and diffused all the momentum and energy in several ripples that distorted the reality. On the other side, a simr situation yed out, as the massive rotating miniature star exploded as it hit the same barrier. All that power, that momentum was diffused the very same way as the stabbing attack from Dara, sending huge ripples distorting on the surface. "[Reptilian] Ahahaha That was a good attempt, I suppose. However." The priest sneered sinisterly, just as thest rune finally red up and activated. "now it is my turn!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 699 Chapter 699 As both attacks failed to connect and ultimately resulted in nothing more than a couple ripples distorting the veil of reality for a brief moment as they were absorbed by the invisible runic barrier, the bronze masked priest cackled with a sinister delight under his mask. "[Reptilian] Ahahaha That was a good attempt, I suppose. However." The priest sneered sinisterly, just as thest rune finally red up and activated. "now it is my turn!" Following his manic cackle, the rune burned with majestic golden light, rapidly losing itself in its own luster, turning into nothing more than a sphere of light in a manner of a few seconds. A mighty roar resounded filling up the entire area in the next instant, shocking everyone but the priest itself. Every one of the skinks who heard it felt that instinctual fear, their entire bodies shivered with terror. Those innocent civilians who heard it, felt the strength escape from their legs and their knees buckled as they knelt down on the ground. As for the elite warriors of the Temple Guards they were still trapped inside the small fiery magical cage. Whilst their expressions did reveal a deeper frown, none showed any real signs of scare or had their strength escape their bodies. They were, after all, the best of the best. If they couldn''t even ovee the trials of their own race''s limitations, they wouldn''t have reached the ''True Elite'' stage. The bronze masked priest was obviously immune to the effects of her own spell, he was long since trained to withstand these effects. He remained stout and looked eagerly at his two maidenly opponents, already expecting them to shiver and dread in terror. His sinister mind was already envisioning the delightful aftermath as he would gain two new quite satisfying toys to pass his ever-present boredom with. However, as his eyesnded on the two, his dreams were destined to be nothing but mental dust and speckles of delirium. His expectations were far off from reality, as neither of the twodies, -nor the fiery slender beauty at the front, nor the buxom one at his back have had any change in their posture or their demeanor. The Ancient Dragon''s Roar that reverberated in the area seemed to have absolutely no effect on them. Neither did they seem to falter in their stance, or showed any weakness at all. In fact, it seemed to have only made them even fiercer, angrier. "[Reptilian] You dare to taunt us with such a pathetic cry and mimic the Young Master?! HOW DARE YOU!" A raging exim reached the priest''s earsing from the back. Suddenly, several dozen invisible distortions, waves rippled across the protective barrier; the busty assassin behind him, have resumed her second round of attacks in the forms of stabs, jabs, and unarmed strikes with a renewed ferocity and vigor. "[Reptilian] Although we tend to not be on the same page On this one, I have to agree with my friend there" Yet, unfortunately the old priest couldn''t shift much of his attention towards his back as the dark orange tinted mes once again engulfed the crazed-looking slender figure before him. Her eyes were burning with even more power due to the unquenched emotions that she was filled with. She slowly lifted both her arms, whilst both her open palms faced the priest, all of her fingers danced to an unknown tune. "How. DARE. YOU!" She uttered each word, slowly, gradually adding more and more power into the cast after each word. "DIE!" With herst word serving as the catalyst, another, arger sphere of elemental me materialized between her joined palms and fired out with a shocking, sudden momentum. The magical fiery sphere rotated around itself as it hurled across the distance with a zing speed, drawing a sparkling tail of bright deep orange tail of particles and afterimages in its wake. The priest, feeling a premonition, realized that the carried power of this attack might actually be more than what his barrier could actually withstand and sessfully block if he were to count in the constant chippinging from behind. The barrier''s power whilst may have seemed limitless, it was actually supported by his own pool of [Mana] which after several decades of active cultivation using the church''s own secretive techniques wasn''t anything to scoff at. Yet, just the first round of attacks took away more than 20% of its initial reserve, and with the added onught it was forced to withstand, as well as his own usage toplete all the spells, he was left with only a bit more than half of what he originally had. However, by design, the spell could no longer work if his [Mana] would duck below the 20% mark, the healthy mark''s threshold. Those creatures whose body was reformed with the usage of either type of energy, be it the lowest grade Stamina that mostly Warriors and those without any affinity, relied on it to use physical techniques, or its vastly superior [Mana] 20% was normally considered the already exhausted, but still healthy state. Reaching below this mark would actually be detrimental in the long run and normally one would try to avoid reaching such a stage. In battles or wars obviously there were times when such limitations had to be thrown out the ''window'' and one had to use everyst wisp of his energy to just have a chance of surviving the ordeal. Yet, those were not normal circumstances and would also result in a longer resting, recuperating period afterwards. As for how all of this worked with the mysterious [Soul Power], the majority wouldn''t even have any knowledge of even the mere theory that there could be higher forms of energy than [Mana] and would at most think that those specialized, element-infused versions would be the absolute zenith one could reach. They would even probablyugh at such an outrageous, wild thought, thinking that you have gone crazy for even considering it. Only a select few individuals, not more than maybe two dozen that even knew about the theory, and there were probably even less back on Eora that could use it. Well, whilst that number was in a steady decline thanks to a certain reborn Primal, apart from Aiden himself and maybe her Master as well as a certain raggedy olddythey were still far from being true yers in the grand scheme of things. Looking at the iing magical infernalet the priest''s expression shifted to one of seriousness and has shed away the contemptuous zeal he had before. Though that was still left hidden behind his bronze mask, his change in stance was clear when he finally changed his boastful poise and jumped into a battle-ready one. His arms raised he began to actively channel his [Mana] into the strengthening of his barrier, focused only on the iing frontal attack --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 700 Chapter 700 *BOOM!* A powerful explosion shocked the surrounding area, engulfing more than a couple meters surrounding the old priest as the ming Magical Sphere that wasunched by Lady Pyre crashed against the invisible barrier the bronze masked robed servant of the Ancient One had set up. The Fiery Sphere, as it exploded, didn''t vanish all at once but reacted as if it was some sort of infernal flower. Like a bud that smelled the fresh spring breeze, it opened up, revealing its cathartic secrets. The ming petals hugged the invisible force that stood before it and its target, greedy and thirsty to gobble up more and more with each passing moment. Giant, invisible waves rippled across and distorted the air, as the protective warding tried its best to absorb all of that immense momentum, inertia, and overall energy that singr attack carried. Yet, ultimately by itself, it would have been unable to do so. The burning infernal construct, this attack was formed by the usage of a higher tiered energypared to what the old priest had ess to. It contained [Soul Power]. It was already established that [Soul Power] was simply betterpared to its lesser counterpart in almost every aspect. Be it in terms of overall effective conversion ratio it was severalyers higher. It was also much more stable, less prone to idents, or the so-called ''Wild Magic'' or ''Chaos Magic'', which heavily relied on the highly vtile, uncontroble nature of pure [Mana] found in the air. Perhaps the only aspect that [Mana] still had the opportunity to outshine [Soul Power] was its very difference in their respective natures. Whilst [Soul Power] transcended the mortal ne and was used as the universal source, acting in some way as the first stepping stone and bridge between the Divine and one''s Soul, [Mana] was closer to reality. Unlike the other one, [Mana] rarely came in its purest, natural form, but in most cases was attuned to one of the aspects of nature. Like with the old pre-rebirth Lady Pyre, he had an overabundance with [Fire-attuned Mana.] One could already see that with the already vtile nature of [Mana] by itself, adding the most dangerous and violent element, the end result would be a disaster unless there was a proper base, a sufficient technique to control such a keg of highly explosive spiritual ''powder''. Unfortunately for Lady Pyre or her family, they had no such technique nor could they acquire any through any of the official channels. Thus, they could only go the other way around, by controlling the host and making sure there weren''t any winds, or tides causing any emotional storm inside. Whilst it worked more or less for a time, her parents knew it wasn''t the optimal solution as well as it would rob their daughter of her future. Anyways, that time was in the past now, and the new, reborn Pyre was not the same as her old self. Her [Fire-attuned Mana] have been separated during his evolution, forming pure [Fire Essence] that was kept in her [Primal Core] whilst almost all of her resulting [Pure Mana] has been upgraded to [Soul Power]. Only a small bit was kept, even that was gradually chipped away and through her newly gained abilities and inherent knowledge was slowly converted as well. Compared to her, the old priest''s spell, whilst it was a rtively high level and ancient-type spell, a bona-fide Rune Word, it was still reliant on [Mana] in the end. Even if the priest had a vastly superior resource pool, he couldn''t possibly support the protective barrier against these two demonesses. He was already struggling to keep pretenses up against the buxom woman from behind and withstand his constant chipping, hoping that she would run out of her stamina sooner rather thanter. Initially his n was to keep himself protected only for as long as his attack would bepleted and would be unleashed. The resounding Draconic Cry should have rendered all [Draconic Skinks] paralyzed with their inborn fear, and unless they were trained by the church directly, they would have had no chance of resisting it. Such a thing never happened. Even the exceedingly rare, few rare genius seeds in the [Temple Guards] that have reached their natural peak in power and have evolved by the grace of their God, those Sauruses were still weakened by its effects. Unless you were specially trained by the Church or the High Priest, no one should be able to react like the way these two women had done. They simply ignored it. No, it was even worse. They seemed to be triggered by it, increasing their zeal, the ferocity, the added power behind their attacks. The flurry of blowsing from behind was one proof, as they have grown exceedingly wild, and unrestrained. Each strike, each blow could have caused fatal injury to the old skink if his barrier would be shattered. Focusing all his attention, the old priest could no longer stay calm and arrogant. His expression turned serious as he raised his arms, and began channeling his [Mana]. As it began to revolve and circte in his frail body, the old man could only grit his teeth and withstand the pain. The resulting explosion of the st caused the old man''s knees to quiver and wobble under the immense pressure he was suddenly facing. Bulky beads of sweat began to perspire under his bronze mask and slowly, gradually carve themselves a path in a downwards slope, slowly but surely reaching towards freedom, the ground beneath his feet. Still, he could not care for some slight difort, as his full power was now actively circting in his body, his old, weary bones had to once again function at peak efficiency. He could feel that with each passing second a huge amount of his reserves was used up. He was rapidly squeezed dry, causing his stout presence to swiftly transform and match his otherwise visual appearance; a feeble old man. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* As if he could ever forget, the priest was jolted awake by the repeated banging that came from behind, adding even more to the already unbearable pressure he was forced under. The flurry of blowsing from behind was like a constant drain, that now joined together with the huge ripples just increased the draining of his energy. The old priest frowned, realizing that the situation was rapidly reaching the critical point and with his failed attack, he could potentially lose in such a humiliating, shameful way. No. That could not happen. He would not be turned into aughingstock. Even if he were destined to lose here. He would at least drag some pleasurablepany along with him. Realization struck his mind and shifted his expression. A crazed look appeared behind his bronze mask, his lips curved higher and higher as suddenly he exploded into a violent, crazed cackle. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 701 Chapter 701 Reaching such a critical juncture in their short-lived battle to the death, the old man behind the bronze face mask exploded into a violent, maddened cackle. His voice seemed hoarse, croaky, sounding much more coarse than before. Even the volume of his speech was not stable, reaching a higher amplitude at mid-sentence before returning to the same crazed gravel an instantter. Adding to the fact that the reptilian tongue was especially attuned to a series of click, and throat-induced intonations, his speech was growing increasingly difficult, gradually harder and harder to understand. "[Reptilian] Since things havee to this do not me me for what is toe! You have given no leeway, I shan''t give one either!" He stopped only to explode into another peal of terrifying chortle once more. Taking a couple of seconds to gather himself, the old crafty skink added. "[Reptilian] If I am destined to face my end here, at the very least I will bring some pleasurable apaniment alongside me towards the Great One''s Embrace!" The small slits serving as his eyes on the bronze mask suddenly shone in bright golden-vermilion luster, instantly rming Pyre who in turn immediately took a defensive stance and jumped back. Noticing her partner''s reaction even Madam Dara realized that something had changed, and acted ordingly as well without hesitation. Her figure was absorbed by the dark smoke once more and vanished from her spot only to reappear beside Lady Pyre in the next moment. "[Reptilian] What is going on?" Madam Dara asked through whispered breaths. Her focus remained on the cackling priest, looking at him as if he was some sort of madman that had just lost all reason. "[Reptilian] Not sure" Lady Pyre shook her head, a growing frown souring her so-far jolly, excited expression. "But I have a bad feeling about this" Just as she said those words, the situation suddenly changed. The golden-vermilion light that the old skink priest had emitted from the eye sockets of his bronze mask gradually began to grow and expand, slowly but surely iming more and more territory for itself. In just a few seconds, the mask, nor the old man''s hooded head could be seen. Another secondter the entire wobbly figure was swallowed up, leaving behind nothing but a strange, and equally as eerie man-sized shining sphere of light. The strange globr object remained floating in the air, rotating and revolving around itself. At the same time, a beautiful scene was ying out on its surface. The two dominant colors, the golden and the brighter shade of crimson, have begun to swirl and revolve around the surface, slowly but surely iming half and half of the surface and drawing a clear straight line diagonally. Yet, the spectacle didn''t stop at only being a sight for the eyes. The self-centered rotation, the inertia of the sphere began to speed up after a few seconds, its shape gradually being affected by the steadily rising centripetal force and was growing in width whilst at the same time, losing its height with eachpleted rotation. Seconds once again passed, leaving the two girls baffled and unsure of what to do. However their confusion was shortly answered when the four guards that were still trapped in their cage made out of pure fire essence lost theirst bits of resistance. Their faces turned into that of utter shock and horror, they looked at the rotating, spinning ball of energy withplete dread stered on their faces. Finally their stout stance and proud disposition could no longer be maintained, they have turned toward their jailers. They seemed to be at least somewhat aware of what was going on, and they were terrified to their cores. These strange girls, assants being their veryst hope, no longer cared for their faces and desperately begged. "[Reptilian] F-fair maidens please be magnanimous and let us escape with you! Do not let us die a senseless death!" "[Reptilian] We are willing to serve you as ves for life, just let us go!" "[Reptilian] Please do not leave us! We do not want to die!" "[Reptilian] We were just doing our jobs, we have no say in the matter!" Each of them cried, their exmations resulting in a big cacophony of noises intermixed with tears of sorrow. Even though they might have just said those words in the heat of the moment, and their promises may have not held any stable ground as soon as they would be in rtive safety, both girls felt somewhat moved and weren''t sure what to do. At the same time, they were still confused and somewhat lost at what was happening. Though their senses were tingling with warning signs, they were uncertain of what to do If thisst action was as catastrophic as these four captured soldiers were iming it to be, wouldn''t their mission result in failure ultimately? Wouldn''t they be unable to collect the officer and bring him to their Young Master? Immersed in their thoughts, they were jolted awake when suddenly the revolving, now madly spinning sphere suddenly began to emit mana in the form of escaping waves spreading and rippling into the surroundings. The first massive wave that was almost like it exploded was like a violent, cold wind that gushed past them, jolting them awake from their reverie. Raising her arms in front of her face, on Madam Dara''s forearms a dark, onyx colored circr shield materialized, blocking and absorbing the potentially vtile energy particles that were released by each repeated round. Lady Pyre on the other hand simply focused on her still active aura of me that formed a pinkish hazy hue around her. Not too bothered by the small strands of this lesser energy, the ming barrier she had could easily block such an attack. Yet, their expressions were far from being rxed. By the sudden shift in the situation, they both realized that the fears of these four were true and that the situation was rapidly sailing towards the inevitable catastrophe. Gritting their teeth, they both turned their gaze over the now shivering quartet. Whilst they were strong and could survive just the emission of force, they weren''t as protected as the two girls and were already struggling under its effects. Eventually, they both seemed to agree and nodded at each other before Lady Pyre waved with her right hand. In the next instant, the small magical cage she had created to trap the enemy had suddenly vanished, and they had released them. "[Reptilian] If you can still stand, don''t waste more time and run! Show us the way!" Madam Dara eximed, yelling in their direction. However, the cackles of the priest in response turned even more violent as a response. His hoarse voice reverberated from all around. "[Reptilian] Looking for an escape? DREAM ON!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 702 Chapter 702 Falling into utter despair, how could the old skink priest allow his hateful opponents to escape from his vile clutches? He already made a promise to them that they would be his pleasurable apaniment towards the embrace of the Great One in the afterlife. He could not and he would not allow them to escape! As for the four elite warriors, the top notch guards of the Temple Guards? They could onlyment, and ponder on their misfortune! Who asked them to be so useless? Their fate was the result of their action or its actualck of. Being captured by the enemy in one single stroke was the utter humiliation of their title of being the best of the best. As such, they could onlyment their unlucky fate as the direct consequence of their own actions! Seeing their agitated, and even somewhat frightened reactions, the old man could finally feel a moment of glee, exploding into a hoarse, dry but maddened cackle. "[Reptilian] Looking to escape?! DREAM ON!" His ultimate attack reached its crescendo, the rotating, revolving sphere of ominous golden and crimson light that his entire figure has effectively transcended to have suddenly stopped in its tracks and before anyone could register shot forward like a cannonball. "[Reptilian] DIE WITH ME YOU FILTH!" His hoarse sound resounded as the arcane projectile shot forward in the air, sailing the meager distance in the blink of an eye. There was no escape, both girls, as well as the guards realized this. Suddenly, rity shed across their faces, all the four previously stoic and stout shields, these four elites could see through the veil that was the years, nay decades of gradual brainwashing they were subjected to. At the very end of their lives they seemed to have all realized the same truth: That the very reason, the very belief they have seemingly given the entirety of their lives for ultimately resulted to absolutely nothing. At the end of the road which was the path of their lives, they amounted to zero. They were expendable, even worse, their demise was counted as ''just'' punishment for their ''failure''! Arriving at this mental juncture, this realization they each could only smile bitterly and look forward to the hurling sphere of death with regret alongside a great deal of resentment filling their faces and dominating their expressions. If they could have known that this would be the end of all those years of service, all that sweat, blood, and tears they have shed and spilled in the name of the ''Greater Good'' and the ''Ultimate Future of their Kind'' that was promised to them, they would have long switched sides over to the resistance. Ah, but these thoughts were only that, mere thoughts, empty, dull wishes fated to never be realized. It was already toote, they had no hope for survival! Whilst they have never seen this strange attack, as elites of their group they were aware of some of the secrets and ultimate trump cards of the church''s higher figures. In the reports, there was an attack titled the ''[Last Tear of the Dragon]'' which despite the sound of its rather dull-sounding name, was a very effective method that could only be used once and as ast resort. Whilst most of its details were kept secret and could not be deciphered, the Temple Guard elites knew that it was an attack that carried immense power and supposedly would require more than just pure injection of [Mana]. Well, if the iing attack was this legendary ultimate technique, they could finally answer the questions regarding that previous hazy information. s, it was already toote! Or was it? As the attack rapidly closed on, suddenly the air before them and the girls buzzed and distorted. Reality seemed to be torn apart by an invisible w as a spacial tear filled with empty void opened up just a couple of steps in front of them. The tear continued to grow and expand, greedily iming more and more space in reality for itself, swiftly shifting its form into the shape of an arched [Gateway]. Yet, before it could reach itspletion, suddenly a blurry white streak dashed out right into the hurling projectile of the old skink priest. "[Reptilian] Wha NO!!!!" The lingering consciousness of the old priest could do nothing but cry out in confusion at first which gradually transformed into anger mixed with despair as he looked at the blurry streak of light dashing towards him. Whilst initially he was confused of what happened as everything happened way too fast, when the blurry streak suddenly halted and a golden scaled, ebony, curved wed draconic hand struck out and thwarted its path of vengeance, everything suddenly became clear. "[Reptilian] Y-you! H-how W-why?!" The old skink priest''s faltering voice resoundeding from within the floating, swirling ball. He could not understand what happened how did this strange figure suddenly emerge from thin air and ruin his already decided perfect n! Still, though his initial n did note to fruition he was still confident in dealing a fatal blow. At worst he would cull one more soul and bring it along as gifts towards his God. Coming to this conclusion, the priest no longer bothered with the answers to the questions that rapidly filled up his mind. His doubts instantly cleared, as a maddened cackle emitted from the blocked sphere of deathly energy once more. "[Reptilian] I don''t know who you are, nor do I care. If you havee, you cany down and give up your life to the ONE TRUE GOD! DIE!" He eximed, once again activating the violent powers inside the sphere once more, ready to explode it alongside himself to smithereens. Yet, as he was about to send a wisp of energy that would have been supposed to act as the lit fuse under the powder keg, he suddenly felt something strange. Something new, something he could not understand. A new source of energy invaded his supposedly imprable domain. Something that felt vastly different than anything he had ever seen. Yet at the same time, it filled his soul with an instinctual dread! AS he tried to swiftly scan it with his spiritual presence, the priest was instantly shocked as he recognized the energy even though his senses were blocked! Divine Energy! His gods, the Ancient One''s power! With dread, he once again tried to inspect the mysterious hooded stranger that appeared before them, only to realize he could not see through him! Whilst his frame looked normal, and nothing extraordinary, the entity beneath those ragged robes and baggy hood was anything but ordinary! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 703 Chapter 703 A few short seconds passed in tense silence. The hooded, ragged stranger that appeared from the dark tear that seemed to have been opened from outside the void didn''t move at all. The priest wasn''t even sure that the creature was a he, perhaps a she or mayhaps neither, an it? Was it even a creature, or an entity, a powerful presence from a higher nar existence? Was it rted to his god, the Ancient One? If so, what did he want? The old skink couldn''t feel any intent, nor any aura around the old man which would make one think that he was just a vagrant, a beggar. Yet it was a clear fact that the invading divine energy that was swiftly taking control of his attack and subsequently his fate wasing from him. It had to be, there was no other logical exnation! "[Reptilian] W-wha W-who" Stammered the priest, his voice sounding increasingly weary, bing more and more exhausted as time continued passing on. With each passing second, the ball consumed a huge amount of energy, essentially feeding on the life force he infused into it. As a consequence he was growing more and more impatient, the priest was really trying his best to wrestle back the control that he seemed to have lost so abruptly, yet he could not do so. In the end, all he could do was ept his fate no matter how much he struggled there was no hope left. Yet the strange creature, this entity that seemed to have worn a sprout, vigorous Draconic Skink appearance did not seem to speak or react in any meaningful way to any of the questions, nor the struggles he tried with. Only after a couple of seconds that have passed did the figure''s face crease up a mocking grin. Those luminous, glimmering golden scales that covered his entire being like avish protective armor danced to an unknown tune as they shifted synchronous to his facial muscles stretching. Even under the cover of hisrge hood, the light that came from his burning, bright and florid gemstone-like pair of eyes provided just enough gleam to see those well-defined contours, edges. "[Reptilian] Interesting" The figure muttered under his hood. Whilst keeping his right ebony wed hand stretched out casually but at the same time firmly holding onto the revolving, floating sphere of deathly energy, the hooded figure turned his head sideways to the left, shifting his attention to the two very eager-looking affectionate duo of maidens. "[Reptilian] I hope you are both all right and unharmed. I am sorry foring sote, but it took a bit of time to familiarize myself with the twists and mysteries of this ce." The hooded figure spoke out, his voice suddenly turning much different from the deep thunderous rumble from just a second ago. Instead of that fearsome roar-like tone, he sounded youthful, mild, and most importantly gentle and affable. "[Reptilian] N-nonsense Y-young Master!" The bustier female of the two spoke up first, raising her hands in the air and hurriedly shaking it in response to the stranger''s statement. Yet, as soon as he said those two words as if a spark was lit in the minds of the four stunted elite guards that just stood at the sight, unable to even move much less escape. Their gazes went wide alongside with their jaws turning agape with the surprise. "[Reptilian] Y-young Master???" "[Reptilian] THE MASTER you two were talking about? The one you revere so much?" "[Reptilian] N-no way!" "[Reptilian] Heih! He really is" The two girls didn''t bother responding, though there was no need to. From how their reaction changed suddenly and from the cold looks filled with murderous, killing intent the four men instantly understood. Their bodies turned stiff, both from the shock and at the same time from the fright. Whilst they had no idea what the future was holding for them, they knew that there was no longer any point in turning around and escaping. If an entity of this level arrived, opening some sort of [Gateway] or Trans Dimensional Portal to cross over who knows what distance, theirughable attempt to avoid his judgment would be futile. The second maiden, Lady Pyre sighed as she heard the master''s words. Her previously crazed grin was nowhere to be seen, reced by a bitter-looking, emotional smile as she wryly looked at the back of this revered young man. "[Reptilian] We have failed you, Young Master." After their rebirth, they both started to refer to him as Young Master, instead of Lord. Though the change was subtle, it did carry greater meaning. It meant that they have learned everything through their rebirth, and have truly be a part of the ever growing Family, standing equal to the group of Roas, Thuk, Gob, Galina and Glohn. "[Reptilian] We have failed to aplish the task. Please punish us!" Pyre eximed, suddenly throwing herself on her knees as if awaiting the sword of justice to strike down. However, instead of such harsh treatment, he only felt a sudden waft of energy as it blew past her gently caressing her already pinkish cheeks. Like a gentle hand, it caressed her, like how a parent would a child who was tormented with emotional pain. "[Reptilian] Calm down, there is no need for any of that. You couldn''t have expected to meet up with one of these little troublemakers along your way, nor were you prepared to deal with a high spellcaster of our enemy, a real Priest." They heard the gentle, warm, and soothing voice, causing both their bodies to tremble and shiver with a surge of delight. Tears of anguish crept up at the corner of both Pyre and Dara''s eyes, as all the struggle in thest couple of hours have finally made their presence known. Finally as their Lord, their Young Master has arrived, they knew that their ordeals, their trials has finallye to an end and that they could finally heave a sigh of relief. "[Reptilian] Besides you didn''t fail at all!" The hooded figure, Aiden suddenly spoke up again, his tone hinting at something. Only now did they gasp with surprise, as they could finally realize that the others were also present, they have also arrived albeit at a slightly different ce. Through their shared connection Madam Dara and Lady Pyre could sense the presence of the four Saurus Generals from inside the building! Aiden''s words also caused the Priest''s remnant soul that stubbornly defied logic and still persisted through all that struggle to realize that something wasn''t right. Through the heat of the moment, he didn''t pick it up, but now that he heard the words, he suddenly felt the disastrous change in the situation. Yet, even so, besides realizing it and turning shocked, there was nothing more he could do. His life was already a done deal, his fate was decided and sealed. Once he decided to go all out and activate this Taboo Spell, there was no turning back. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 704 Chapter 704 Noticing the sudden shift in stance with the spiritual presence, the lingering remnant soul of the old priest within the swirling orb of death, Aiden turned his attention back at it and smiled maliciously. "[Reptilian] Oh, you noticed it just now do you?" He asked as his face revealed a charming smile. It almost looked as if they weren''t even enemies but long-lost friends that have reunited with each other after several years of absence. "[Reptilian] You know, it always amuses me This level of being carefree arrogance and obstinate refusal of doing the duty you were assigned with For what? That meager and worthless pride you built up during your years of service?" Aiden asked in a mocking tone, though without waiting for a response he continued. "[Reptilian] This This ''pride'' of yours, this delusion you have built up around yourself through those long years The secr gifts you benefited from What did it ultimately surmount to?" He asked, and again without waiting for a second, Aiden continued his tangent whilst holding firmly onto the revolving sphere of energy with one hand. "[Reptilian] Didn''t you end up as nothing more than fuel for a pathetic, failed attack in the end? Reduced to nothing but this little pathetic disy of power, trying wantonly to destroy those that dared step up against you?! Truly Truly amusing." Whilst the lingering presence of the priest was shaken to his core under the harsh words, the judgment of the hooded youthful figure, Aiden''s eyes suddenly flickered with an intense golden glimmer. A majestic looking spark zapped across his fierce gaze as his face instantly shed the look of a nice-looking young man and he turned cold and serious all of a sudden. "[Reptilian] You know, you do not need to be too regretful. Your life wasn''t for nothing, you do have one small contribution to the greater good. In the end, you do have one use after all." Aiden''s words caused a terrifying premonition to dwell inside the priest. He could almost feel as the greedy ws of death were sneaking up on him. Not wanting to go down without a fight, he decided to go all out at once. He activated hisst wisps of essence that still tethered him to reality, feeding the orb and adding more energy to its ''cleansing'' through the fusion of hisst remnants of his own spirit. With himself as the fuel once again, but this time with a much higher concentration, a new surge of energy rose inside the orb, finally showing signs of resistance to the unsurmountable wed hand that blocked its path. Its temperament instantly shifting, the sphere began to violently shake and twist in the air. It began to push against Aiden, attempting to break free from its forceful submission with a newfound resistance. Yet, Aiden found thisst struggle to be quite amusing. His lips curled into a wider sneer as he looked at the orb. He could feel the gradual fading of the lingering presence. When barely a couple of wisps were left and that it was about to vanish, then did he suddenly parted his lips, saying one single -but, at the same time incredibly terrifying- word. "[Reptilian] ABSORB." Like a heavenly judgment was cast upon the mortal world, in the next instant, the ground itself began to quake, as if shaking in terror under the heavenly sentence. ? Aiden''s eyes shed with their bright golden luster as his Primal Core suddenly turned active, sending out copious amounts of [Soul Power] like invisible tendrils through the connecting palm and began to invade the resistant orb in the next moment. A great yet unknown force suddenly emerged from seemingly nowhere, swiftly invading the very depths of the revolving energy. Before thest bits of the priest''s lingering soul essence vanished, merging into the attack itself, he could just feel how his own ultimate attackpletely left his control and was taken over in a blink of an eye. A suction force rose from within the connecting wed hand, hungry for energy it engorged on the vast energies. The ball violently shook as the golden threads of the higher power rapidly wrestled for control and began its process of transforming the lesser [Mana] into a morepatible form. Despite Mana being normally highly vtile and would require great care and effort for such conversion, Aiden''s control was already incredibly high and masterful. Adding his still growing Divinity into the mix, dealing with such an attack and even benefitting from it wasn''t that difficult. With thest snap, the priest''s soul finally faded, the orb itself soon followed, vanishing from sight as it was sucked into Aiden''s body, allowing his unique physique to turn into action. As the previously deathly attack vanished, the battlefield returned to an eerie and tense silence in the next moment. Whilst the twodies looked like lovestruck maidens as they looked at their master with faintly simr expressions, the four elite warriors of the Temple Guards were left withplicated but mostly fearful expressions, and emotions. They didn''t dare to utter a single word or move even a fiber of their beings as they watched the back of the still rtively unknown stranger, the Young Master''. They didn''t know what fate ultimately awaited them they could only hope that their pleas would be listened to Aiden on the other hand was still under the effects of the newly surging energy fusing with his body. Luckily he was away from the group lest they would have seen his ted, almost delirious, addicted-looking expression whilst he focused most of his attention on fusing the energy into the [Draconic Skink] orb inside his Primal Core. *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* A series of bell-like sounds signaled the end of the rtively quick and straightforward process, a slew of notifications arose each carrying a bountiful gift for their Master. Yet before he could take a look and digest all the information, he had other, more pressing matters to deal with. He sighed, calming his excited, rapidly thumping heart, and turned his attention towards the building in front of them. The officers'' barracks they have fought so hard for, were now finally standing before them free to im. Aiden smiled as he focused on his connection with his servants, waving his hand in a sideways motion. Golden threads of energy sparked in his ebony ws wake for a brief instant before vanishing. He looked silently in a particr direction before the edges of his lips creased up into the shape of a satisfied-looking smile. In the next instant, he turned around, and with a charming expression suddenly emerging on his face he turned to look at his two beautiful servants. He didn''t say a word but slowly raised his arms, opening it up in an inviting manner. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 705 Chapter 705 Along with the ultimate taboo attack, the [Last Tear of the Dragon] failing to reach itsplete arc and explode in a satisfying but horrendous manner and instead served as extra fuel for Aiden, so did thest bits of hope of struggle vanish from the minds of the four elite guards. With their mouths agape in shock, they stared at the simply impossible sight, looking at the hooded stranger unable to process what they have just witnessed. Even if there was a seed of resistance and hope that they could get out of this predicament without acquiescing to the other side, that faint light was snuffed out as soon as their assigned leader, the priest''s sacrificial attack failed to even connect. After enjoying a bit of harmless skinship in the form of her two girls'' embrace, Aiden finally turned his attention to the four guards standing quietly at the side. He couldn''t help but look at them with an amusing smirk stered on his face as he took his time to slowly scrutinize them from top to bottom. ''How interesting Just some days ago these fierce fighters were like glorified reapers on the battlefield, fighting against those weak and feeble refugees ready to cull all life and end us. Yet, now they are here squirming, afraid for the very same life they wouldn''t have hesitated to gather'' He mused inwardly as he scanned their bodies. ''[Aiden, remember to not grow arrogant. Not every one of them wanted to march and attack these poor souls. They are soldiers, warriors with a code they need to adhere to. A hierarchical system to follow. They may be just the same as those groups that you have so far enlisted.]'' Enya reminded, her gentle, motherly tone resounding in Aiden''s mind. ''I know, I know but still, I can''t help but find the sudden reversal quite entertaining. Still, I do not n to harm them, even without the system clearly showing me their submission I know they are no longer hostiles. I know what to do, I am aware of the ''mission''.'' Aiden responded in his mind, before shifting his focus back on the four [Draconic Skink] elite warriors. Four highly trained, experienced fighters were undoubtedly a wee addition to Aiden''s forces. However, the main reason he was growing more and more excited as he kept looking at them wasn''t their undoubtedly fit bodies, or their battlefield masteries. No. What really made Aiden excited about his future ns was the fact that together with the already captured leader, they were basically the vice leaders of this local contingent of Temple Guards. With their assistance, Aiden could increase his reach and rapidly grow stronger. Mayhaps after a couple of days of re-organization even gather enough manpower to contend and take over the nearby districts and slowly gain a solid foothold. With some tricks, schemes, and clever nning, he could even keep his true identity and his arrival a secret long enough until it would be toote. From what Aiden had so far understood, these groups were pretty much left to their own, rarely were an eye cast on them. The higher-ups inside the city walls didn''t want to have anything to do with these so-called ''filth''. To them, those that were stationed outside in the Dredges, were the outcasts, exiles, and the abandoned. Even if they were enlisted guards they were heavily looked down upon. As the fight reached its rather unexpected conclusion, and the Young Master of the Resistance have had a good gander on the four bulky Draconic Skink elites, they have swiftly gone on their knees and pledged fealty to their new master. They did so not out of the purity of their hearts but through their desire to survive this ordeal and have a tomorrow to wake up to. Whilst they were not that deeply religious and fanatical about their so-called ''God'', this Ancient One, they weren''t that much against it either. They were highly trained, and honed warriors, best when given a target, a direction, and a suitable form of armament and then just let go to wreak havoc and cause carnage. These politics and whatnot were not what they were that concerned with. Though they frowned inwardly when they were forced to face unarmed citizens, their training didn''t allow them to falter either. This, whilst made them great tools, would also make them not that worthy of investment either. Re-training them would cause an arduous amount of effort and wouldn''t necessarily have anysting effect either. Nevertheless with them swearing up, Aiden gained four fearsome elite warriors to rely on. If nothing else, their experience and knowledge could be utilized through training the others. With the four guards epted into the fold, Aiden made sure to pat each of their heads, so that he could inject a wisp of his own Primal energy, a hint of [Soul Power] into their cores. With that, whilst it wouldn''t be enough for them to initiate a forced evolution like with the other cases, they would feel the incredibly potent power coursing inside them, making them feel much better in an instant. After that, they were given their first instructions: They were to go and gather the rest of the Temple Guards stationed in this local barrack and gather them in the field just outside the officer''s building. He would then go and recruit the rest of the local forces through the help of the system and make them enlisted under his forces in the ''Domain'' tab. As such, by the time the night passed and reached into the morning of the next day, whilst keeping everything under the radar, Aiden have firmly gained his footing and covertly taken control of one of the outer districts of Ugburg. One of the four great sectors was now firmly under his fingers, with all its forces, -be in Temple Guards or the local resistance hub- now listening to hismand only. As for the surviving Guardian, Vyndridolth? Whilst she wasn''t recruited as a servant yet, as the time for her ritual to bepleted would probably need not just a couple minutes to hours but most likely days to even weeks toplete, and besides, from the rewards of the Tipping the Scales main quest, Aiden had a feeling that he would gain her loyalty by then. Thus, there was no point in forcing the matter for now. She would still help and assist him even without any official ceremony. Once everything was done and settled, Aiden opened a [Gateway] once more back to the secret base of the Dark Shadows. He could then finally take a look at the many notifications that rang in his mind throughout the night, and besides He was already missing the little girl he had left behind! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 706 Chapter 706 After the eventful night and the bountiful spoils that resulted from such a road full of bumps and obstacles, as well as the first, crucial steps now in ce, the next couple of days shed by in the blink of an eye. With the end goal of toppling the current oppressive regime of the church and crushing the faith of the ''Ancient One'' together with its corrupted High Priest, Aiden''s team of rebels have started to act. With the help of his divine power mixed together with the unique traits of his Primal energies, Aiden epted several new souls into his fold, allowing many to be reborn under his guidance. Lady Circe and the rest of the Dark Shadow assassins, were reborn to a unique strain of the reptilian family, called by the mouthful of [Primal Shadow-Crested Draconic Skink] via the system. These creatures, whilst did not evolve to a higher tier rating were marked as the very peak of it, with a few interesting active and passive type skills added into their repertoire. For example, their ability [Shadowmeld] which most likely was inherited from their previous knowledge allowed them to meld with the ever-present darkness, to a point where besides the system''s connection they were virtually impossible to detect. It went beyond the capabilities of simple illusion or tricks of the mind but instead worked somewhat simr to a [Dimensional Shift] transporting their presence to an alternative, pocket dimension so to say. Alongside that, they also gained some basic knowledge in [Dark Magic] alongside its prerequisite [Magic Proficiency]. Though unlike Madam Dara, they did not gain any understanding of the cursed [Blood Magic], their mastery remained that of the subtlety in the shadows. The captured forces of the local [Temple Guards] barracks were also epted into the fold after a few days and also converted to strengthen their faiths. Not so surprisingly, whilst the majority of the captured forces (around 90% of them, were reborn as simple Saurus warriors, a small number of their elites have taken a surprising path and came out as the rarely seen [Kroxigors]. [Kroxigors] were somewhat simr to Sauruses in the meaning that they two were hulking giants however they went way further than that. These massive, bipedal, crocodile-like creatures towered over even the strongest Saurus Generals Aiden had in his forces. Standing upright they reached way over four meters in height (somewhat over 13 feet). Their bodies were almost exclusively all muscle with massive elongated, powerful jaws and a row of sharp, serrated teeth designed exclusively to tear into the flesh of whatever or whoever stood in their path. They were naturally armored with dark green and dark gray scales, which added to their thick skulls made them perfect front liners, akin to tanks to bulldoze through anything. What was even more surprising and a very wee addition to their skillset was their newly gained aquatic capabilities. With the [Underwater Breathing] skill that they had, simr to Aiden, these fearsome beasts could stay below the surface for hours on end waiting for their prey, lying in ambush. With [Swimming], once the unfortunate soul embarked on the set trap, it would have little chance of escape as these giant monsters were shockingly nimble and agile in these hard to trek environments. Although such an ability may have little to no use in this current realm, Aiden knew that in the future it coulde in handy. Even without this unique ability of theirs, just by their sheer size, otherworldly strength, and hardened body, they were incredibly precious additions to Aiden''s steadily growing forces. Alongside them, there was one more surprise hiding amongst the captured and converted Temple Guards. One simple guard, thoughcking any achievement or notable rank under his name, turned out to hold a surprising potential in the depths of his soul. After his Primal Rebirth, this creature, known as Atex-Kakun Koi, or just Atex for short, was actually one of the rarest breeds of all, a [Primal Old-Blood Saurus]. Reaching almost two heads above the rest, this massive, light gray-toned creaturecked the sturdy, thick scales of the rest of its brethren, instead sporting a slick, smooth skin akin to the bareskins of the old. With sharpened bones protruding alongside its back growing from his spine, he resembled more of a monster of folklore than that of an intelligent race. Atex was a rarely seen genius of martial arts, as such, with his short, two year tenure, he had already reached a shocking intermediate level of mastery with the [Temple Guards] official armaments: Lanes, Spears, and the fabled Halberds. Alongside his simrly skillful unarmed skill set and fearless attitude during battles, it was actually quite surprising and even baffling to Aiden how could this little diamond remained undetected by the higher-ups of the Church and the Temple Guards. After his rebirth, the system gifted him with an all around knowledge of all the other rted weapons, making him give birth to the fearsome passive skill [Weapon Mastery: Advanced] that even surpassed Aiden''s understanding by a whole level. Atex was promoted almost immediately after Aiden saw his system profile, making him stand out as one of the new leaders, Captains of his forces, much to the envy and jealousy of the rest of his peers. With the newly gained massive surge of forces, Aiden and his new second inmand, Vyndridolth, the ex-guardian and still reigning de-facto leader of the Dark Shadows, formed their forces into several, smaller battalions that could operate in a much smoother fashion and sent them to the rest of the nearby outer districts. The forces in route, Aiden and Vyndridolth kept in touch with them, often receiving reports and reacting ordingly to any unforeseen events that arose along the way. With the wealth captured from the first Temple Guard barracks as well as the huge wealth Vyndridolth had through his many decades of operation, Aiden could utilize a more subtle approach and first buy out the local shopkeepers, marketces, inns, and taverns to gather more eyes and ears as well as temporary shelters along his path of conquest. In just a few days his influence spread around, reaching all corners and crevices in each and every outer district surrounding the massive inner and ''true city'' of Ugburg. In just another few days, his men silently infiltrated and then took overmand in each of the governing local [Temple Guards], with the only hurdle being the several priests stationed as the trump cards in them. Still, with Aiden''s ability to be able to respond to his Minion''s calls through the system-operated Gateway, he could go and help deal with these issues each and every time. And surprisingly, whilst most reacted simrly to the old priest that sacrificed himself in an attempt to gain more benefits for the god he preached for, there was one singr, younger skink priest that did theplete opposite! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 707 Chapter 707 At the same time as Aiden was slowly but gradually progressing and gaining a firm foothold all around the main, inner city of Ugburg events have taken a nosedive for the worst for his friends as well as for the residents of Higrove back on Eora. After the hard fought victory against Lord Bartholomeo Diaz''s sinister ambush and fierce battle, Captain Don and the rest of the Silver Howl mercenaries as well as the young adventurers took almost a full day of rest to recover and somewhat heal off their wounds. Naybeah had it the worst. Whilst during the fierce sh she had shown an almost inexhaustible stamina and vitality, however, once the heritage effects have faded she crumbled down and fainted on the spot. For a full 24 hours after that, sheid still unconsciously, without showing any signs of waking. Even after Galina used every ability and knowledge in her arsenal she could to stabilize her condition but the fierce bacsh could not be easily healed on her soul. Jai, the big bald giant that once fought against the amazon herself and since then became her devout and smitten follower stood guard before her tent non-stop, without a wink of rest. No matter how his brethren or even Crone tried to reason with his friend, Jai refused to leave her beloved muse''s sight and leave her ''unprotected''. In the end, the group had to set up camp in the ruins for the time being and group into several smaller parties to explore and investigate their surroundings. Though the area seemed deste and due it being an almost barren ins there weren''t many ces to hide in the distance, the captain didn''t want to put anything to chance. In the end, the same three teams as before were formed, with only some meager changes this time due to the evolved situation. The first team consisted of Sara, hertest friend and once opponent, Crysta the assassin, and 8 of the previously 10 Silver Howl mercenaries that she set out with once before. As their team was thergest and presumably the strongest, they were responsible for exploring the area to the north where they originally nned to head towards anyways. The second team was the ''Royalties'', the brother and sister duo of Drake and Scarlet together with 8 Silver Howls. They were the same party as before, and have sincee to work rtively well together. They were to explore the area towards the west, all the way towards the edges of the ruins of the ancient city. In the far distance, arge marsnd stretched out, which was one of the options Captain Don and the team deliberated on but ultimately chose against in the past. For the third party, it was the one that had a couple of changes in terms of members. Since Naybeah was still out ofmission and though it did not require much attention, regardless Galina didn''t want to leave her, and with Jai refusing to leave them unguarded, they couldn''t join this time around. As such, the third team consisted of Lily with the Silver Howl twins, Aina and Eina at the center. Crone was joined by the middle-aged unshaven, coarse man, Joe, the thin, schr-like figure of Jareth, and the mature, curly brown-haired woman Alda. With her hourss-shaped figure, she exuded an aura of a seductive seamstress. p They were previously part of Sara and Crysta''s team but were shifted over so that all three teams could have a rtively simr sized force. Knowing that her beloved and well-missed brother was still somewhere towards the east and northeast, Lily was adamant to explore that area and refused to give in no matter how much the rest of the team argued. In the end, they could only sigh and acquiesce and give her the task to explore towards the eastern reaches. For the next three days, they have spent all their daytime mapping out the areas around them. Along the way they have found several surprises, with treasures along the way, adding a bit more to their score in this god-forsaken tournament. On the brink of dawn on the fifth day, after spending countless hours of tender care, Naybeah''s closed eyelids suddenly fluttered and the big blonde amazon finally showed signs of waking up. Her body was still weak and feeble as the brutal bacsh of her fierce and crazy inborn trait, she still couldn''t act alone and needed help and assistance. Not to mention walking around, even sitting up required Galina and Jai''s help, she could barely move a muscle on her own. Still, with the help of the entire team, on the sixth day, she could finally leave her bed and after some heated ''discussion'' with the worried rest of the team, they have eventually decided to break camp and set out towards the east and slowly converge towards their missing Young Master''s direction. Though they had no idea how far away he was, they were aware of the vast distance. For three days, Lily''s team spent all their daytime hours and never found the end of these seemingly endless ins. At the same time, whilst the teams were still busy exploring the dangerous realm, the situation outside in the real world has taken a turn for the worst. The Empire''s war machine now in full force their invasion forces have attacked the Kingdom of Draquilea from several fronts. Whilst arge force suddenly appeareding down from the nearby mountains that separated the Empire''s vast deserts and the Kingdom and took several small to medium sized cities in quick session, steadily marching towards the capital, another army appeared not too far away from Higrove. Led by the tall muscr, middle-aged man, Prince Dorian as the so-called ''Warlord'', his army was led by the fierce 6 Generals, his pirs of power. Lord Rillion the leader of the fierce barbaric force of Makhor, or the ''Serrated Teeth of the Godly Emperor''. Exarch K''hlen the gray haired thin-looking sinister wihzard, a bonafide grand wizard specialized in therge area of effect blights and curses. Syf the a tall andnky man, the leader of Dorian''s informationwork, the spies, scouts, sentinels. Lorelei and Elena the two female generals. The first leading the terrifying assassin force whilst thetter was the leader of the archers and artillery battalions. With his trusted right hand woman, Lieutenant Sievul standing by his side Dorian had a master strategist offering her advice. With her assistance, Dorian did not react rashly and had instead opted for a more careful approach and used his vast numbers to circle around the city and gradually start sieging it from all fronts. With its supply lines cut off, the city of Higrove was still a fierce beast to tackle and couldn''t be taken lightly. Even after a week of relentless assault, Dorian could not im that decisive victory and set foot behind those tall walls. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 708 Chapter 708 In the eastern parts of the scorched, charrednds of the Battleground Realm, deeper under the surface. Before arge towering and grand domed gate that separated the plebeian,moner ''filth'' of the real creme of the Draconic Skink society, Ugburg''s inner city, a long line of people slithered along the wide, dusty road. A smaller building, the guard''s post stood at both sides of the road just before therge closed metal that blocked the way. Several fully armed Temple Guards checked and questioned every single person that wanted to gain entrance. They were waiting to gain the approval of the guards stationed in front of the gates, and gain entry. The group waiting for entry was ratherrge, and while you could see all kinds of faces, they were probably all from the same social ss. From the extravagant silk pants to the crude, in and simple rags, you could see all kinds of people lining up. Standing along with the rest in this long, messy line of people, Aiden fixed his hoodie and with a few pats, he dusted his ragged clothes just a little bit. There were still a lot of souls, mostly wealthier-looking skinks but many other races standing before him and hispany of four beautiful girls: The ex-guardian Vyndridolth, and Lady Circe, Madam Dara and Lady Pyre. Not minding the few obnoxious stares they were receiving, they stood at the end of the line. Vyndridolth looked at Aiden, and with a gentle, calm expression, she whispered to him in a low voice. "[Reptilian] No matter what others say, this ancient city is an incredible sight to behold. We have to admit that at the very least. What do you think Aiden?" Vyndridolth sighed, smiling as she looked up at the humongous arched gate. Her gaze flickered through the stationed several dozen guards armed with crossbows looking sternly at therge crowd, ready to unleash hell at the firstmand of their superiors. Vyndridolth being the only one not under his directmand, she was the only one that could call Aiden by his name. The rest, -due to the influence of the system- would subconsciously refer to him as ''Young Master'', Lord, or even Master. Even if he wouldn''t necessarily demand such honorifics, they all would still revert to it after a while. The Master-Servant rtionship is enforced by the magical contract of the system. Once a soul is subjugated and contracted, he would inadvertently think of themselves as inferior to the ''Master''. "Hmmm" Aiden hummed, nodding along her words as his gaze followed along the mature woman''s and looked at the fierce, cold-looking guards atop the gate as well. Still, despite the clear and obvious threat their presence emitted, he merely smiled under the cover of his hood and shook his head lightly. "[Reptilian] I guess. It''s not of reptilian origin, I presume? It reminds me of the human cities." He mused, before closing his eyes and focusing his attention on the system instead. In thest couple of days, quite a few events have taken ce. Whilst using his ever expanding resource of headcount, his presence has reached to all outer sectors slowly taking over and gaining more and more ground, until eventually in just a week''s time he had effectively taken control of every sector. With so many events happening at the same time, Aiden hardly had any time to pay any proper attention to himself. Whilst he did take some increase in strength, most of his gains still came from the first day of their arrival when he absorbed several powerhouses of the enemy forces. With a thought, he brought up the system''s updated Status Screen first. [ *Status* | Lab | Domain | Activities ] [Status Screen ] [ *Main* | Skills | Analysis | Inventory ] [Name: Aiden Voragon Race: Primal (Evolver) Current Form: Draconic Skink (Tier 1+, Clean) Level: 18 Condition: 100% Resource: Soul Power (Level 2) : 1350 SP / 1350 SP System Points: 15000 XP ****** Attributes: Might: 48 Agility: 46 Spirit: 61 ****** Note: For quicker, faster navigation please use the keywords in the following order: "Status", "Main".] One of the main changes was that after absorbing so many powerful entities, as well as countless priests, his System Points, and Level have shot up all the way to level 18 from the previous 15, and his avable points to invest into his skills have increased to a massive 15 thousand. Whilst that number seems high, in reality, it is far from it. With the main skills requiring almost as much as five thousand or in some cases even ten thousand to bump up a single level, that amount wouldn''t count for much. After all, the intended method to increase the skills was still through either direct analysis or arduous practice. At the same time, the system often hinted at him to start behaving like a true Primal of old and start amassing Life Essences at a much faster pace. Yet, Aiden was still quite hesitant to recklessly do so, and would only turn to that ''barbaric'' method if there was no other choice. His mindset still wasn''tpletely mature, he still needed time. His main attributes also increased by a rtively small amount. Still, even that would be only a matter of perspective. For Aiden, for example, the increase in his might from 45 to 48 seems rather small, a meager 3 full points, not even enough to increase the fifth milestone, the fifth small stage. Yet, if wepare to the average mortal human on Eora, for example, the average guard in Higrove, he or she would have at most 6 or perhaps 7-8 points in might, and that would be considered a rather fit, strong and hulking beast amongst his or her peers. An increase of 3 full points wouldn''t only be a fifty percent increase, but could very well push him through the first boundary, allowing him to break through the first mortal limits and step into the first stages of being a supernatural existence, with an otherworldly power to crush his or her foes. A fully matured, battle-hardened Mountain Orc of his kind would sport around 15 to 18 points of strength, capable of crushing smaller trees with a full powered swing of his axe. As mentioned before, whilst these smaller increments would still be a worthwhile increment, reaching the thresholds, the ''boundaries'' of each smaller stage is what truly mattered. Whilst for the average human, that would be the ten point mark, for Aiden this would be the 50 points mark. These 2 points however would require him a huge amount of time to break through or several stronger creatures, life signatures to consume to achieve. With his 15 thousand system points, Aiden would at most be able to increase it once. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 709 Chapter 709 After taking a look at his main stats, Aiden focused his thoughts and switched over to the second tab on the floating semi-transparent system screen, and opened up his Skills page. The skills were the part where Aiden harvested the most rewards and earned the most bountiful rewards along his perilous journey through this wastnd of a realm. Through the several dozen absorbed life forces, he slowly, steadily gained more and more power, increasing his repertoire with each conquest, with each new soul energy he had fused into the ever-growing universe inside his own Primal Core. Following his mentalmand, the screen blurred for a brief second before it cleared up again, showing the now familiar new slick design of his much cleaner Skills interface. [ *Status* | Lab | Domain | Activities ] [Status Screen ] [ Main | *Skills* | Analysis | Inventory ] [Name: Aiden Vordragon ****** Innates: Dragon''s Wrath (Level 3), King''s Grip (Level 2), Shapeshifter (Level 4), Mystic Martial Arts (Level 5), Dark Gaze (Level 5) ****** Skills: Primal Absorb (Level 10), Hunt (Level 10) -> Predator of Land (Level 1), Underwater Breathing (-), Swimming (-), Martial Arts (Level 10) -> Martial Arts Master (Level 1), Meditation (-), Weapon Mastery (Level 5), Soul Absorption (-), Primal Restoration (Level 1), Dark Essence (Level 1), Aquatic Predator (Level 1), Sword Mastery: Profound Strike, Divinity: Basic (Level 3), Draconic Form: Flight (-), Speechcraft (Level 9), General''s Command (Level 9), Primal Wrath (Level 2), Draconic Skink Form: Fiery Breath (-) Language Skills: Common, Goblin, Orcish, Reptilian ****** Effects: Physical Resistance (Level 8), Fall Resistance (Level 7), Magic Resistance: Water (Level 4), Poison Resistance (Level 6), Mental Resistance (Level 8), Magic Resistance: Dark (Level 2), Magic Resistance: Fire (Level 2) ****** Avable Forms: Mushroom Bug - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%), Cave Viper - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%), Draconic Skink - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%), Worgen - Mutated - Tier 2 (Mastery: 100%), Mountain Orc - Clean - Tier 2 (Mastery: 50%), Sahuagin Champion - Clean - Tier 2 (Mastery: 10%), Ancient Dragon/Human - Clean - Tier 3 (Mastery: 25%), Primal Goblin Dragonlord - Clean - Tier 3 - (Mastery: 25%)] With so many new knowledge being assimted during the conquests and even beforehand, almost limitless experience poured into and merged with Aiden''s mind, allowing him to gain new insights into many of his already existing skills. Several of the most basic and even somewhat neglected ones have even reached their threshold and have directly evolved into their higher tiered versions. Hunt for example has directly evolved to the fearsome sounding [Predator of the Land], which further honed his already sharp senses to a frightening degree. At the same time, with all his innate, most powerful, ultimate skills have raised their ranks steadily through their continuous usage as well as the absorptions, it also boosted their connecting abilities at the same time. As [Mystic Martial Arts] reached the mid tier mark and have increased to level 5, its prerequisite ability, Martial Arts have already reached its fullpletion and have evolved into [Martial Arts Master]. Still the two skills that benefited the most were[Shapeshifter] and not-so surprisingly the [Dark Gaze] skills along his so-far 3 week long journey. Whilst the former, [Shapeshifter] have gained two full levels and was close to its milestone, the mid-way mark, [Dark Gaze] have reached it, growing an astonishing four levels in three weeks thanks to its continuous usage. Ever since Aiden realized he was watched by this so-called Ancient One, this guardian entity, he had never rxed his awareness. Even during his rest, he had circted this ability and utilized his guide as well as his system to keep vigorous watch. Not knowing the full power of his opponent, Aiden never dared to get careless and give an opportunity to this unknown opponent to take the chance and crush him once and for all. Even more so after learning a bit of this mysterious entity''s past and learning how he betrayed not just his family but the entire world itself. Though its reasons were not revealed, the fact that he failed in his role was clear to see. Yet, despite the spineless act of treachery, in the end, he became the sole victor, even if the price he had to pay was probably too high, he paid it. Whatever the case, if he was a dark, twisted, corrupted entity, or was still sane and had perfectly valid reasons to do so, it didn''t change the facts that he and Aiden stood on opposing sides and that if the Ancient One wanted to keep his power and dominance over these primitives of the surviving world, he had to remove the unknown factor from the equation and deal with Aiden at some point. Another, not so small change that appeared was the fact that his individual weapon skills that he had picked along the way had finally merged together and have evolved into the [Weapon Mastery] skill. Whilst he still retained the only active sword skill he had inspired during his match back on Highrove''s Adventurers Hall match against the swordmaster Patriarch Sir Arthur Sonovan, the Roaring Lion. During their match, Aiden gained insight to a beautiful and incredibly powerful sh, the Profound Strike. Unfortunately, during his tenure in this world, Aiden had not met a single individual where he could exercise his martial talents, and could go on a true fight. Even the priests, the most elite forces of the Temple Guards were barely more than slightly stronger ants that he could easily defeat with a flick of his fingers. Thus, he could not grow much in that regard and hoped to gain more understanding and mastery over his active attacks and hopefully master this beautiful sh with other type weapons. At the same time, Aiden''s recently gained skills, the [Speechcraft] and the [General''s Command] have basically skyrocketed, both reaching almost to their fullpletion of their current, first tier from the initial first level they were created with. Whilst both were passive abilities, their usage was still constant and their effects were visualized through the management of the many tendrils, the small forces Aiden had nted along the week of his gradual conquest and path towardsplete domination of the outer districts of Ugburg. Aiden could also feel that they were both very close to breaking through and reaching theirpletion and was eagerly looking forward to what would eventually happen to them. Whilst [General''s Command] have mainly assisted him during hismand, his leadership of the forces, Speechcraft continuously refined his mannerism, the way he articted basically everything rted to how he spoke, how he expressed himself. With the many deals he had made, and the fealties he epted as well as the new servants he had subordinated along the way, this skill gained tremendous benefits. As he was still deep in his own thoughts, he was alerted to the sound ofmotion ahead forcing him to jump back to reality and open his eyes to take a look. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 710 Chapter 710 Avish-looking luxurious carriage strode through the center of the street. At the forefront, serving as the steeds, tworge creatures, resembling that of dinosaurs of Modern Day folklore were pulling the reins. The beasts looking double the size of an average [Draconic Skink] were giants pulling an equally humongous vehicle. Handling the terrifying beasts, the driver itself had a proud and arrogant look on his face as he urged the creatures to dash through the crowd of filthymoners. It was clear that the carriage was from one of the highest reaches of the societaldder of Ugburg. Confirming the conjecture the guards themselves hurriedly bowed down once they spotted the carriage and without causing any fuss gave way and opened the gate to let the unknown noble into the city. Shifting through his absorbed and processed memories, Aiden learned that these beasts were called as Carnosaurs. Carnosaurs are enormous monstrosities with some resemnce to that of the famed Tyrannosaurs of Earth''s Olden History. They are fearsome hunters, predators of the old jungle biomes they inhabited before this world was scorched beyond redemption. They were bipedal creatures their forelimbs are somewhat stunted, but were far from being useless. At the same time, they possessed extremely muscr hind legs which are tipped with deadly dark ws. Their primary means of attack, however, despite what it looked like was their jaws. They were massively powerful, there were very few creatures that could contend with their natural defenses or could hope to withstand the bite of an enraged Carnosaur. What was even worse, that to have any hope of domesticating them to such a degree, they had to be bred and cultivated from the birth. This was because once a Carnosaur was allowed to taste blood, it would be impossible to tame and could only be hunted down. As he looked at the carriage turning around a distant corner and vanishing from sight before therge gate was closed down again, Aiden''s expression turned somber, he clenched his fists as he was reminded that no matter where he went, the rich, the wealthy would always be privileged and lord over the less fortunate. This privileged and unfair treatment earned the ire of the crowd, and the crowd that gathered started shouting at the guards. The guards, in turn, doubled down on their attitude, and most likely increased the entry fee, as the first few waiting in line shouted even louder. Themotion started to gain traction, and the sounds reached the ears of the guards stationed on the walls. Shortly after an elderly-looking skink emerged from the left station. His spotless, bright, and sparkling exquisite robe was enriched with golden embroidery, withrge golden dragon head insignia shimmering at the center of his chest. From the faint fluctuations of energy he emitted with his mere presence, Aiden could feel that he was a formidable fellow. Even stronger than the priests he had encountered before. A real Bishop! Just a step below the ex-archbishop whose form Aiden had imed for himself when he arrived at this underground world! As the figure appeared he turned towards the rest of the Temple Guards and questioned the reason for themotion. Listening to his servants, he turned towards the crowd looking at therge crowd as if they were nothing but a pile of disgusting feces at the side of the road. The crowd instantly turned silent and shuddered. Aiden was shocked as he looked at the scene! Without saying a single word, just a single cast, his mere gaze was enough to quell the crowds'' steadily rising anger and put a stop to themotion without lifting a single finger. Just his mere status was enough to cause deadly fright to these bottom dwellers of society! Taking a moment, he walked to the center and raised his arms, ready to preach. Suddenly the cold, murderous glint in his eyes vanished, reced by that of a mere humble servant of god. "I would like to ask everyone to calm down. Do not give way to the ever-present darkness in your hearts. Do not let the corruption germinate its seed and grow and fester inside you all!" He took a moment to allow his outrageous-sounding words to be processed by the rabble, before continuing. "Remember the light. The True Citizens of Ugburg, the Children of our Benevolent God are exempted from the harsh restrictions of others. This is the right of everyone; even you all once you would ept the light of Our Lord into your hearts and be True Citizens yourselves!" Reaching this point in his speech, he shed a friendly, kind-looking smile as he gazed at the crowd. "Do not allow the seeds of chaos fester and grow inside you all! Do not cause trouble and be those traitorous kins that have fallen so-deep in the pits of darkness and have openly dered war against our future. Do not be a Rebel, or we would be forced to take action against you, and those rted to you." Giving a brief pause, he looked at the crowd sternly, then with a loud sigh, he continued. "Now, please get back into the line, and wait for your turn. Any troublemakers will be immediately removed from the line and denied entry from now on." As he finished his speech he turned to the guards and said a few words to them that though was inaudible to the crowd, but from the looks of it couldn''t have been anything pleasant. The stationed guards each trembled with fright responding to the Bishop''s words, not daring to look at him but instead finding more sce in the ground below their feet. Watching from the side as the whole scene yed out, Aiden was in deep thought once again. ''Such fearsome figures Just his mere presence was enough to quell the crowd and reign them in His refined words have also had a deep effect on them, there are still a lot of lost, dreamy gazes. ''Such terrifying ability'' Aiden remarked inwardly, as he gazed at the bishop from afar. His eyes glimmering with an enigmatic light he couldn''t help but wonder that if a mere bishop had this much effect on the crowd, just what power could those remaining Archbishops and their ultimate leader, the High Priest hold in their grasp? Aiden couldn''t help but frown at the thought that if he were to want topletely overtake this race and uproot the Church as well as the Ancient One, he would have his work cut out for him. It wouldn''t be as simple as he had initially believed Even with his current forces, he may not be able to contend with the Church''s true power! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 711 Chapter 711 Eventually the line finally returned to the rtive normalcy it had before all thatmotion and the people were once more slowly entering the city, thus making the line gradually move once again. Still it took more than 3 quarters of an hour before Aiden and his small party of four beauties were finally stepped up for checkup and eventually allowed entrance. After the priest returned to the small shack-like abode, the guard post at the side, he no longer bothered with the entire process. Even his previous energy fluctuations seemed to have been either curbed orpletely vanished. Aiden could not feel any resonance, any aura in the air. Whilst the system''s map still showed the green dot that should be his representation on the minimap, Aiden couldn''t be sure as he could feel some sort of strange, mystical resistance on the unassuming little abode. Still, he did not ce too much of his attention on it. Gaining entry into the inner city, the true y field of the final phase of his n was what he needed to have his head in. A meager bishop, whilst it would certainly be a juicy piece to absorb and add to his ever growing collection of life signatures, it wouldn''t be worth the risk it would carry. Before setting up a base and opening a path to cross back and forth from the other districts under his control, Aiden couldn''t do anything that would bring attention to himself. "[Reptilian] Huah That certainly took more time than what wasfortable!" Madam Dara sighed whilst she stretched her tired limbs. The long wait, and standing made her body go numb, and now that they finally walked past the terrifying-looking grandiose gate she could finally rx. "[Reptilian] I figured you would be the first toin heh who thought I would be right. I wonder how Master could just listen to you all day and not go crazy!" Lady Circe chuckled from behind. "[Reptilian] H-hey! Y-you! Just because you were also epted, it doesn''t mean you can speak like that to your seniors! Have some respect!" Startled by the cheeky remark, Madam Dara fired back some words of her own, trying to hide her embarrassment. The girlsughed at her reactions, enjoying how the alluring seductress could be teased by just a few sharp words. Once you know her weakness her strong stature could easily be exploited, which the rest of the ''sisters'' enjoyed very much. Aiden merely smiled at this, his thoughts were on the shocking sight that expanded before him as soon as he stepped on the rocky pavement. With arge busy stone road stretching at the center, square shaped buildings of tall and short dotted thend on both sides of the road. Small figures of these mysterious, unique breeds of these small reptilians, Draconic Skinks of all ages walked along the path. Unlike the prejudice the inner city had against itself, the citizens didn''t seem to be exclusively high ss, but Aiden could see all of the social sses represented. Well, except for them, the vagrants, the penniless. Skinks wearing leather reinforced armors above their darker orange-tinted scaled bodies, mercenaries, soldiers, and perhaps the opportunistic warriors mingled along the average looking citizens. Old, grandfathers and grandmothers walked along with small cheeky, giggling children, their grandchildren, their hopeful future. Adults walking towards whatever destination they had in mind, ultimately living their everyday life, ignorant about the grand scuffle, the battle for survival that hang above their heads. As they walked along the straight path, slowly going deeper into the first inner sector, district of Ugburg, they were indeed a unique looking bunch with their raggedy, dusty linen robes The asional passerby sent a few gazes towards them, but they mostly kept to themselves. Aiden however, was using his [Dark Sense] ability to its maximum. He was focusing on keeping every little detail, every unsavory looking blip noted on his system screen. Probably it was only thanks to this, that after a while he noticed an average looking neutral, yellow looking dot remain in their tail and follow them from a moderate distance. Whilst at first it may have looked like an ident, after a couple of minutes and some deliberate turns and twists he had taken, he confirmed that they had indeed earned the attention of someone ever since stepping through the gate and was followed ever since. Apart from this little bird, this inquisitive eye that was more like a silent little fan rather than any threat to them at the present, Aiden also noticed the shades of dark among the crowd as well. As the saying goes, where there''s light, there''s always a shadow in the corner. Amongst the crowd he spotted several darker, orange tinted blips mingling with the rest of the neutral yellow-marked crowd on his system''s minimap. These people also seemed to be organized, looking like lurking predators, hiding in in sight, ready to jump at any opportune moment. They were simr to predators that somewhat reminded him of his very first nights back in the Forest, on Eora. Back then he was just a weak little creature, a critter just like the countless other figures hiding under the bushes, in the tall grass or beneath the flower beds. Predators, just like these sinister thugs were waiting for the perfect prey to walk into the trap they set. In any case, whilst they were marked borderline hostile, they weren''t a concern for Aiden and his team currently. He merely kept a note of them and their locations and moved his attention forward. For example the little tail that somehow after they closed in on arger square, suddenly stopped following and turned into a dark alleyway and swiftly vanished from Aiden''s scan''s entirely! Even as he focused his innate, his [Dark Sense] he could not find any traces of the unknown figure. Yet, what was worse he could not find anything strange in the dark alley he had magically vanished either. No traces of the arcane, no remnant sigils, or wardings were left. Under his senses and careful scrutiny nothing seemed to jump out no matter how hard he looked. This made him frown and raise his wariness by a full degree. It seemed there were enigmas and mysteries engulfing this olden city. The depth that was already quite shocking only seemed to go deeper and deeper the more he looked. Slowly, they arrived at a rather crowded square. From the looks of it, it looked simr to the marketce of Higrove, only with more exotic items ced on disy. Dozens of lines of carpets were rolled out on the ground showing a great variety of items with seemingly no system in ce whatsoever. Next to the most useless and ugly mushrooms and moths that were gathered from the cavern walls, the shiny bronze chandelier all found its ce. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 712 Chapter 712 In the back room of an unassuming looking store that could be found not that far, just past by to the west of the Marketce of Ugburg, a group of people could be seen gathering. The atmosphere was rather friendly, weing, even a big pot of tea that was freshly brewed was ced in the center of the table as well as several cups of it silently steaming in front of everyone. The room itself was rather simplistic, not that much decour and frivolous garnish were stered around. The main furniture, the centerpiece amidst the several vagrants that surrounded it as well as the elderly pair of skinks, were a big stone table that took the majority of the avable space. Arge piece of what looked like marble was cut and chiseled to perfection making this average looking piece just that much more precious, and sturdy. Whilst there were not much to look at, the walls had several bronze candleholders spread around systematically, providing not too much, but just enough lighting to the residents as well as the guests that were invited here. This was one of the most important connections he had sessfully established via chance. The store belonged to an elderly pair of skinks that in a way reminded him of a simr human couple Though this time he vowed to himself not to let any harme their way because of him At one side, upying more than half of therge round table, Aiden''s group of five stood next to each other. Sitting on Aiden''s left were Madam Dara and Lady Pyre, whilst on his right sat the ex-guardian Vyndridolth and Lady Circe. Sitting opposite of them were a wrinkled old skink, an elderlydy going by the name of Arstath. Her wrinkled, olden scales turned brighter orange to the relentless assault of time, her vibrant colors turning pale as she slowly, gradually reached towards the end of her rope, thest bits of her life. Still, despite that, and the possibly insurmountable amount of illnesses she must have been suffering from, she had a bright, kindly smile stretched across her cheeks as well as her slightly puffy cheeks. She was holding her small cup of steaming, hot tea between her small hands, her gaze warmly resting on top of Aiden''s figure. Although she was looking straight into the eyes of the leader of the resistance, she had shown no fear, no wariness neither in her actions, nor on her face. If anything, she radiated an eternal calm and gentle warmth that Aiden found so soothing, and rxing. "[Reptilian] So, what brought you to our humble abode my dears? What can this old woman help you with my dears?" Her lips finally parting, they curved into a weing smile as she asked after several minutes of silence. Yet in her gentle gaze, behind those warm, weing words, there was a depth, an unknown source of mystery that kept Aiden''s vignce at its maximum. He couldn''t grab hold of the feeling, and despite the system not showing any signs of hostility or danger, he could notpletely quell this sixth sense of his. Forcing the usual calm look on his face, despite the inner turmoil he was storming through, he first took a sip from the cup and after a satisfied sounding smile he spoke. "[Reptilian] Wise Elder Arstath, it seems that nothing can escape your senses." Aiden smiled, understanding the underlying meaning of the elders'' greeting. "We havee here, rather shamelessly I admit, to seek shelter for the night. After braving the long, arduous wait before the gate, we have wasted away the majority of the day and are looking for a friendly hole, a simple bed, maybe some broth to spend the night and dinner." Following his initial words, Aiden gave a small, respectful bow whilst keeping the familial smile stretched across his face. Hearing no response initially, he added. "[Reptilian] Obviously, we do not wish to implicate you in any way shape or form to our scuffle. What I seek is just the warm shoulders of a friend that could help out the weary, exhausted traveler in his hour of need." Flicking his right arm, a small pile of gold coins appeared beside his cup on top of the table. "[Reptilian] Obviously, we would be sure to return this favor and do our best to repay this kindness, this favor. What do you say, elder? Could you and your husband bear with us for one night?" Looking at this weary, hooded skink, the old woman couldn''t help but feel overwhelmed by his mere presence. His demeanor, his stature was so unique, so out of the norm, -not to mention those beautiful and exotic golden irises that could gaze into one''s very soul- that the old woman couldn''t help but feel awed by him. As she was silently measuring the boy, the boy kept his calm, and smiled at the elderly woman, keeping a respectful attitude despite the scrutiny. However, not everyone was as patient, despite their knowledge in etiquette as the rest. "[Reptilian] Why are you staring so hard, Elder? Are you perhaps having a problem with how to send us away? Or perhaps you are nning to report us for some easy gains?" Surprisingly it wasn''t Madam Dara that lost her cool, but the usually cold and aloof Lady Pyre burst out an aggrieved expression. Her exim however startled the elderlydy, pulling her out of the depth of her thoughts. As if just waking up from a daze, she smiled wryly, trying to mask her embarrassment and spoke out. "[Reptilian] No, far from it, my dearie. Please do not take offense in this old woman''s musings, I did not mean to be rude." She said, then looked at Aiden and whilst equipping her previous gentle look, she spoke. "[Reptilian] Respectable Master, I do not mean any harm, believe me. As my husband and I owe you for saving us from before, we will not turn our backs to you in your time of need." She said, giving a short pause before adding with shake of her head. "However, we also have to admit that our living conditions are rather humble. Despite being allottednd in the inner city, we are merely just slightly luckier filth in the eyes of the true citizens, the higher ups. What you see around you is what I can offer you with." She said, spreading her arms as she showed what she could offer. "[Reptilian] This room is what me and my husband can offer you. Even this one barely has any room for one person to sleep on the floor, much less five. I can only apologize, respected master for not being able to wee you properly." Aiden however smiled at her words and shook his head. "[Reptilian] That is not an issue, this room would be more than enough if you could allow us to stay for the night. We do not need anything else!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 713 Chapter 713 In the dark now empty room, where just a couple hours ago therge stone table stood as its centerpiece a group of five figures wereying on the ground on some simple course linen sheets. At the middle, acting as the center star of this small huddleid a young male Draconic Skink. Devoid of any clothes, the young male was like a perfect sculpture, a perfected envisioning of the male species. Lean toned muscles hiding underneath the strong, healthy golden-orange scales that covered up most of his body. His arms spread out, two simrly naked fair maidensid in his embrace on both sides. Aftering to an agreement with the olddy, Elder Arstath, Aiden, and his group of fair maidens returned to the room. Before the elder could even say a word, she was left stupefied when suddenly the young master flicked his right hand and in its path suddenly therge, humongous one piece stone round table vanished from reality. It took them half an hour as well as Aiden making the table appear and vanish a couple more times before the startled olddy finally calmed down and understood that this was one of the abilities of the Young Master. This however just made her as well as her husband, Elder Garsthan to be even more shocked andter on awed by the mysterious young lord. Whilst they had known some of his power when they met due to the whims of fate in the outer sectors, they were still caught off guard realizing how vast this young man''s strength was. Just how unfathomable he truly was? In the end, eventually the elderly husband and wife duo alighted from the room, but not before making sure that the group of youngsters promised to enjoy a breakfast together with them before leaving. Laying on the ground, and looking at the stone ceiling, Aiden was deep in thought, discussing the day''s events and his future ns with the one person that had helped him all throughout his life, Enya. ''[Are you sure about this Aiden? You have to remember that now that you have Haven, you have a responsibility to that world. You have to keep it safe and at peace. Bringing people with questionable quality may bring harm to those that you have already promised to keep safe.]'' Enya''s worried-sounding words resounded in Aiden''s mind. Hearing her harsh reminder, Aiden creased his brows as he sighed heavily. ''I know that. However, we can have Roas, Gob, Glohn, or even Tuk on the other side staying for a while now. How much time had passed? Soon a month since we departed to this world, and that would be at least double in there. Since then they have trained and trained whilst being nourished by the world itself. Even though they could not have evolved without being nourished by the system and more Primal Essence, they should be more than capable enough to handle a couple of rowdy skinks. Especially Tuk, they would probably look at this unique breed of skinks as their own and would bring them over their care.'' Thinking about the small skink minion of his, Aiden shed a smile and chuckled lightly. ''I am fairly sure that there should be no problems with these creatures joining us.'' ''[That is true, Aiden. However it''s not the majority of this race that I am warning you about, but the fact that you intend to bring over even the members of the church. Those creatures that were influenced to such a degree by this world''s Guardian and were tainted with its corrupting power would forever pose a risk to the rest. Are you certain that this is the right course of action? Is this really the path you wish to take?]'' Enya asked out once more, her voice carrying even more emotion, sounding more worried than before. Her concern was clear to see even for someone as emotionally oblivious as Aiden. ''I think they are not beyond saving. Though so far we have only seeded once, I believe we could save most of them. Maybe not all, but hopefully a good portion of them.'' Taking a moment, Aiden cast his gaze to the left, looking and smiling at the sleeping beauty, Madam Darayingnguidly in his arms. Her legs and arms were cast over the left half of his body, iming as one of his own. Turning his head to the right, he saw a simr scene, with Vyndridolth, his only not system subordinated teammate sleeping in a simr, fully nude fashion and had imed most of Aiden''s right half as her own. At the same time, she was having a silent battle for dominance with the conqueroring from the other side making Aiden cast a wry smile and instead shift his attention once more back on his thoughts. ''They have already lost too much. These small creatures deserve a better fate than being used as fuel for an old dragon''s substance. I want them to finally put this whole cruel debacle behind them and have a chance to prosper in peace, without a cruel, evil mastermind looming over them.'' ''And before you say I know that I would in some manner would be just recing this so-called ''Ancient One''. Yet, unlike him, I would not require anything of them. I merely wish for them to liv in peace.'' He added amidst heaving another sigh that was slowly turning into a yawn. ''[Still, you need their piety, their faith if you wish to cultivate your divinity and break through and enter into the Divine Realms. AS such, in that way you would be the same as this mysterious Ancient One.]'' Enya remarked, her tone sounding more like a sneer this time around. In response, Aiden merely smiled, not bothering to respond any further. As he could feel the drowsiness the daily tire finally wear down his resistances, he gradually cleared his head and embarked thend of dreams for a short while once more. Eventually, the time of night had passed and it gave way to the next morning. Even though daylight was not something that these underground world could freely experience, the shift was still noticeable. Whatever the reason, as the next morning arrived, Aiden and hispany was brought back to reality and woken up by a series of knocksing from outside their room. "[Reptilian] Young Master and Misses, the breakfast is ready. If you could, pleasee and join us." An elderly man''s voice came from the hall, calling out for them. After merely calling out once, they could hear him shift and turn around and slowly strut away towards. >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 714 Chapter 714 After enjoying the surprisingly hearty atmosphere and the sumptuous meal that the elderly pair wholeheartedly prepared for them, Aiden and hispany left the unassuming-looking family home-sh-shop and entered the already quite bustling streets. Like yesterday, the streets weren''t as dead as one were lead to believe. The supposed oppression from the higher-ups in Ugburg''s society wasn''t as prevalent as the news painted the lives of themon folk in the outer districts made them believe. Though on the other hand, it also couldn''t be said that everything was happy and dandy. Most citizens had a somber, stern, and most often serious expression on their faces as they went on their way. In a way, as Aiden looked at this scene, he was reminded of his previous life back in the Modern World. Though at the time, he didn''t know that he was merely there on borrowed time, sheltered through the time. In any case, this look that was devoid of the light, the smiles, the cheer, and that where everyone looked more like a drone, a soulless ve tethered to the smallest confines of his own cruel and twisted reality. This current scene, and that one, despite that they were unimaginably far away from each other were incredibly simr nheless. Aiden couldn''t help but smirk and shake his head under the cover of his hood before pulling its edges and turning his attention on her attach of girls. He looked over them slowly, and upon seeing the determined, firm gazes on each of them, he nodded with satisfaction. "[Reptilian] Everyone. I know that the task before us is huge. The path is not without danger, and we could have embarked on the easiest, straight path and annihte everything in our wake. Yet, I believe, firmly believe that this is the path we need to take. We need to be able to look past the present and set our gazes on the future. The hopeful future that you all wish for. Desire for." He spoke, looking over each of them. "[Reptilian] Do not worry young master. We understand, and we wholeheartedly support you! We believe in you!" Madam Dara eximed looking at his Young Lord with starry eyes. "[Reptilian] Yes, Master. We all understand your wish. Even though I am a sinful and selfish person and wish nothing more than to see my lifelong dream of vengeance be fulfilled, I admire your vision. It is the reason I can pledge myself to your cause without a worry in my heart." Vyndridolth added with a smile. "[Reptilian] Yes, my Lord. We all believe in you and in the n. We swear we will aplish the tasks you have assigned to us with perfection!" Eximed Lady Circe and Lady Pyre almost in sync. Listening to their exmations and hearing that unwavering support and loyalty Aiden was honestly touched. He smiled and nodded as a means to ept their reinforced pledges. Even Vyndridolth, who wasn''t forced to obey hismands by the System''s Contract, still fully stood behind him and supported his cause, which made him feel truly d. Taking a longer, heavier inhale, Aiden heaved a sigh to calm his heart and mind before asking with a lighter tone. "[Reptilian] In that case We all have our tasks. Go and make those that are waiting for us at home proud!" He eximed, watching with pride as the girls responded with a cheer. After another round of hushed cheers, the girls each turned towards a direction and walked away with steady,rge strides. Not even a couple of secondster, neither of them, besides the ex-guardian that stood firmly by his newly epted master''s side could be seen anymore. Once the three girls have each gone their own way to fulfill their tasks of making contact and establishing their own groups of forces inside the city widening Aiden''s control, he turned his attention on this ex-guardian turned guide and asked with a mischievous smile stretching across his face. "[Reptilian] So, miss guardian, shall we?" He waved towards the bustling streets before them, motioning for the mature woman to step forward. "[Reptilian] We shall, Master." Smiling and nodding at the enigmatic young master before him, Vyndridolth epted the offered hand and stepped forward. Soon their figures, just like the three maidens before them, have vanished amidst the busy crowd. After some time, as they were making their way through the city, venturing deeper and deeper towards the center, Aiden''s expression suddenly shifted and abruptly halted his stance. His smile first turned into that of more gravity and seriousness before only after a couple of seconds it rxed once more. Even though he was no longer smiling he didn''t look as alert as before. Before Vyndridolth could ask what had alerted him, she too sensed some disturbance in the distance. Fluctuations of powering from several individuals wafted towards their direction. "[Reptilian] Interesting" Aiden muttered, keeping his attention on the system''s map. Ever since stepping foot into this realm, way before walking into the city, Aiden has already gotten used to the constant and ever-present usage of his [Dark Sense] ability. Getting caught off guard once by this looming threat, this ''Ancient One'' before, he did not wish to feel that helplessness ever again. Since then, no matter what he was doing, he always kept some of his attention on his system''s map and was paying attention to the slightest fluctuations of power inside the covering range of his innate ability. Not even the smallest dispersion of energy or essence of any kind could escape his awareness. Not that far away from them, in arger square, he had long noticed arger gathering of people. Whilst from before, he could not make out what they were actually doing, once he reached in range, he could feel the wilder fluctuations in the air, he immediately understood. They were fighting. Battling each other, and from the sporadic, seemingly random flickers of the neutral yellow dots that sometimes even vanished for good, he also understood that they weren''t simple, friendly spars but real, bloody skirmishes. Still, he knew they weren''t his people that were facing these somewhat powerful figures, but warriors and spellcasters of the same camp. Why were they fighting then? Yet before he could formte the question in his mind, and ask it out loud, it was as if his partner standing next to him could read his mind. Vyndridolth suddenly shed a knowing smirk, and whilst her eyes turned into upward facing crescents he exined. "[Reptilian] Hehe" She giggled for a bit, enjoying the moment before going further. "You are not mistaken, they are indeed fighting each other Come, let''s go take a look, I''m certain you will find it interesting!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 715 Chapter 715 As they hurriedly approached, towards the source of the disturbance of energy, the already spacious street slowly merged into arge square with hundreds if not thousands of skinks gathering around. Amidst therge crowd, a center stage could be seen in the distance, where two distant silhouettes could be seen facing each other. Squinting his gaze to look at themotion, Aiden frowned after a while. "[Reptilian] Are they fighting?" He asked, his gaze focused on the two blurry, vague silhouettes. He found it strange that despite his keen, supernatural sight that far surpassed what could be considered normal, he could not make out the two currently duking it out on the stage. Even worse, he could only feel the same faint fluctuations, even though he should be much closer to the center, he did not feel it at all. It was then, that he realized. Thus the frowning, displeased expression. Vyndridolth noticed her Young Master''s shift in demeanor. She didn''t seem to mind it, but instead smiled knowingly and nodded lightly. "[Reptilian] It is as Master thinks. There''s an invisible barrier erected around the stage. It serves mostly to shield the area and keep most of the diffused energy and power inside. Though small wisps still manage to escape, it is not harmful even to themon citizenry. It is also that spell that is responsible for the strange visual phenomenon. As we would get closer to the stage, it would gradually start to clear out, turning unnoticeable if we walk right up to it." She exined motioning for her Master, Aiden to follow along. After Aiden''s silent nod, the duo made their way closer to the stage the event finally turned clearer, and the previously muted stage finally fully revealed itself. Upon the stage, two figures were facing up against each other. From their body, their muscr builds, and the sturdy, shining mail armor they both wore they both seemed to be simr to the elite fighters, warriors of the Temple Guards. To the left side of the stage, heaving heavily and battered, wounded with countless wounds, a unique-looking Draconic Skink looked at his opponent with a stern, somber expression. His deep, stained yellow gaze glimmered with an ominous glint as he tried to calm his senses and recuperate amidst the temporary ceasefire they had been granted. His deep red, scarlet colored thick scales was what caught Aiden''s attention the most. Whilst normal skinks usually sported a green and brownish saturation, these mutated species, the Draconic Skinks were closer to a golden, yellowish, or in most cases orange-looking scales. The brighter they were, the closer it got to their Ancestor God''s, The Ancient One rumored golden color, the more prestigious the individual was revered to be. Such a deep, dark tone, this darker shade of red this skink had whilst it was most likely a very rare breed of his species, but most likely made his early life much more challenging. Still, despite that, to be able to crawl up to such a high position in their society and be an elite, a true Temple Guard, Aiden couldn''t help but look at the figure with an appreciative light. Yet, his situation seemed to be rather severe. His body was littered with deep gashes, grave wounds that seemed to be more like brutish, predatory w marks rather than a result of a fierce but refined skillful battle techniques. He held two bronze short swords in his wed hands which looked more like daggers than real swords at all, both painted deep red with all the dried up blood it had already spilled, revealing a clue that his past opponents before this seemingly insurmountable mountain of a challenger was numerous. His breathing was ragged, his half a dozen feathers that seemed to grow out from the top of his head were ruffled, barely recognizable. The figure grunted as he finally looked up and focused on his vast opponent who looked to be in a much better shape. Standing before him, at the other end of the erected stage, a brutish looking fierce figure could be seen. From the untrained eye, one could even question if he were even a skink or something in-between a Saurus, a half-step of the evolutionarydder. He looked to a literal giant in scale of the residents, with a robust body bursting with muscles. His elongated face that vaguely resembled that of an aligator sneered sinisterly at his opponent. His bright golden-yellow eyes flickered with a mocking intent at his opponent. Unlike the red skink, he seemed to be almost in perfect condition besides the perspiring, sweat-drenched body, he seemed to bepletely unhurt. He was obivously the victor of their previous scuffle. "[Reptilian] So what now Tixar? You still want to continue or are you finally convinced and ready to admit defeat?" His lips parted, he asked through his wide, mocking sneer stered on his face. The red skink, Tixar looked at his much bigger opponent, only grunting coldly in response. "[Reptilian] Hmm As you wish. Your only a filthy red-scale, a disgusting stench on the pride of our species. I don''t think the captains would be that much disturbed if they were to learn about your death. Let me be the cleanser, and cull the weed from our glorious species!" Therge skink-like brute roared, he raised his arms before his body once more. His eyes flickered with a sinister, vicious glint just as he yelled out. "[Reptilian] DIE YOU WORTHLESS MONGREL!" He roared bolting into a charge all of a sudden. His figure blurred as he almost blinked with an incredible speed, ferociously charging at his battered opponent. Yet, Tixar was unyielding. He did not cave in even under such a threat, but resolved himself to fight until his veryst breath. He did not care about what others thought, he was ready toy down his life if that was required. He would never back down, he would never give up. Tixar raised his swords forming a cross before his figure. He nted his feet as firmly as he could into the stage, his face contorted into a vicious snarl as he pulled all thest remnants of power from his body, guiding it, focusing it into his block. Looking at the short scene ying out before him, Aiden''s figure suddenly blurred, surprising even Vyndridolth as he suddenly vanished from sight, only to reappear on the stage before the two figures. A gentle, warm smile appeared on his face that shined through the cover of his hood as he reached out with his right hand, and looked at the chargign beast without a fear in his glowing golden eyes. "[Reptilian] Stop." --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 716 Chapter 716 Though noticing the sudden blockade, the charging brute didn''t put too much attention on the scrawny vagrant-looking figure that somehow found his way atop the stage and did not slow down his charge. This was ultimately a grave mistake, as if he were even used a sliver of rity and tried to process the sudden enigma he would have realized the several peculiarities of the strange situation. For one, and probably most importantly: How did this seemingly unassuming, worthless scrawny vagrant find his way up the stage without anyone stopping him? How did he even get into the city, pass by the gates, and never stopped or pushed down by any of the guards or nobles? And most importantly, the simple, calm attitude, the friendly, charming smile that seemed to shine under the luster of his GLOWING GOLDEN EYES! Yet, despite the several, clearly visible warning signs, his senses were somehow dulled, and his attention wasn''t up to par with her speed and ferocity, he continued to viciously snarl, mostly ignoring the blockade and once he had entered a close enough, melee range, he had already had his huge, strong arms raised and his hands ready in a wing posture. "[Reptilian] DIE! DIE FOR ME! BOTH OF YOU!" He sneered showing a manic, borderline crazed expression, andshed out, throwing his body forward and lunging ahead with all his strength, power, and momentum. The brawny monstrous beast, this humongous Draconic Skink barbaric warrior struck out, not putting, not bothering about the hooded figure by the least. It was as if he didn''t truly register him as anything more than just a buzzing fly that would swarm around a fresh pile of dung at the side of the road. His dark, midnight matte curved set of ws sliced across the meager distance at a speed barely visible to the naked, untrained eye, carrying such power that could easily shred through the remnant mail armor of his opponent and even rip his flesh to pieces. Yet, just as he was about to tear through the vagrant''s small figure, suddenly the unexpected happened. *THUD!* From the almost endless sea of wrinkled linen rags, a hand suddenly shot out at an almost impossible speed. Several afterimages were left in its wake, drawing a simplistic yet surprisingly efficient path as it emerged just behind the ws and pushed onto the snarling, ferocious warrior''s bursting chest. A gentle palm, that is what it looked, not showing any aggression, or intent to dealsting damage. Yet, when that weak, barely noticeable arm appeared out of seemingly nowhere, a huge invisible shockwave spread across the arena. An invisible torrent of unknown energy exploded from that sudden contact, absorbing all that force the fierce-looking hulking beast of a skink built up and carried with him and almost instantly converted it back to a simr but opposite power. This blunt, harmless looking strike not only caused the man to cancel his charge and abruptly halt in his tracks, but all that sudden, explosive energy caused him to wobble backward several steps and barely able to keep his stand and not humiliate himself by falling on his derriere. "[Reptilian] Huh?" He muttered as he reached for his chest, feeling the sudden thirst for fresh air, and began to gasp uncontrobly. The crimson reptilian, Tixar looked almost the same as his fierce, brutish opponent: wide eyed and shocked, unable toprehend what had just transpired. Where did this figuree from? Why did hee before them, and most importantly: Why did he save him? He wasn''t as naive and idiotic as the other one, he clearly understood, even before the shocking disy of strength that he was far from being your average homeless resident of the outer sectors of the city. He also wasn''t prejudiced against them, as like them, he too suffered the treatment reserved for all the less fortunate and ultimately ''inferior species'' of their kind. Still, he wanted to prove it by himself, with his own strength that he has the skill, that his life wasn''t worthless and that the color of his scales shouldn''t have forced him to any path but he would be in control of his fate. Yet, before he could fulfill his dreams, he had made a mistake. He was yed against and because of being one of the crimson-scaled ones, his superiors didn''t protect him from the bullying of his peers. He had to endure. Even now, being forced into this life or death fight, nobody bothered to step up. Nobody would have willingly wanted to break the ''sacredws'' and cause harm for himself. Yet, despite all that, this unknown, mysterious figure did what nobody else would have. In the face of his inevitable death, he stepped before the arcing wind of the reaper''s scythe and not just simply blocked him, but disyed a force even greater! Still, there is no free lunch in this world. This, Tixar had to learn through copious amounts of blood, sweat, and most importantly, tears. His initial shock turned to suspicion not muchter, as he eyed with judgemental gaze the back of this strange figure that stood before him. "[Reptilian] W-who are you?" He asked after a couple of breaths'' time. His tone was unfriendly, despite the help he was clearly given. "What do you want to achieve by doing this?" The hooded figure though could clearly hear his words, did not respond to that in any way. Instead, he first lowered his still raised right arm, and with calm, collected steps, he slowly began walking over to the still stunned-looking beast. His face showing the same friendly smile all throughout, the heavily heaving fierce elite warrior of the Temple Guards frowned first and tried to peak under the shadow. Seeing a familiar figure after a bit, his initial shock and dread slowly transformed. "[Reptilian] Hey Aren''t you that wise guy we have been told about? That annoying pest that kept stirring up trouble with the filth?" He asked,ughing coldly. "It seems your luck really blows, huh Who knew that you would be stupid enough that after all that nning you would willingly stumble upon here and offer yourself before me!" Aiden however merely kept his smile as he looked him in the eye, his expression not changing at all despite the clear threats. In the next second, his figure could be seen no longer! Just as therge warrior was in the middle ofpleting his sentence, he had no chance to finish his closing remarks as his words transformed into a cold gasp! Originally, the two of them would''ve spent some time trading stirring banter, then leading to a precipitous build up! The entire square had heard him say thest bit of his final deration! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 717 Chapter 717 The warrior was shocked with this sudden change, this unexpected turn of events! His opponent was fast! His opponent was incredibly, unimaginably fast! Aiden had no intention of wasting words this time around. Sensing that the crimson skink fighter Tixar was stable, besides being quite pale and dry in terms of energy, he had left with a swoosh. The only thing remaining where he originally stood was a cloud of dust that gradually settled in his wake. His silhouette was akin to a fierce predator shattering the steel rails of its cage and he darted towards the previously haughty brawny humongous skink like a jolt of arcing electricity! "[Reptilian] What in the" "[Reptilian] Such speed! Who is he?" Amidst the gathered audience, cries of rm rang out, as the people were left shocked and perplexed by such strong disy of force. An older looking dry old man, standing in the sea of endless faces grabbed his dragonhead shaped cane firmly as hisplexion shifted from the previous calm and revealed an utter shock and disbelief. His hands nervously sped the adorned,vish head of his walking aide, his dry lips quivered as they hesitantly parted and hanged widely. Looking at the scene in the arena stage he was shocked. "[Reptilian] This speed" No one had expected that the seemingly normal match, this duel to settle the feud and bury the grudges between two elite warriors of the City Forces would take such an unexpected turn. Initially, everyone had believed that the two first probe each other, test the others strength and limits. Dance the tune of the usual sophisticated music of duels! They envisioned a somewhat simr ending, meaning that the brawny, musclehead would ultimately triumph over the other, weaker one, once again proiming that the purity of one''s genes would indeed be superior to that of the lesser, mutated variants. They would no way could have expected that just shortly after the duel would break out, so many sudden changes would happen one after another! No one spoke a word, everyone was watching the stage in shock. Perhaps there were some that still had the desire to gamble and maybe ce some bets some seconds ago, but now, after observing this this simply impossible speed of the stranger, they acted as if they were pricked and suddenly drawn up. Amidst the shocked gazes of the sea of crowd, there was only one person, one mature skink woman that could retain the sparkle in her eyes. Garbed in simr, patched rags just like his Master, the warm smile on Vyndridolth''s face only grew wider and smeared more curvaceous the more she gazed upon the Godly Scene before her. ''[Reptilian] What speed What incredible power! Is this the true strength of the one that even He feared? Is he the one?'' Back on the stage, the look on the fierce skink warrior''s face changed drastically. If one could have said that he was taunting before, now his entire face had already be smeared with caution and extreme wariness. ''[Reptilian] What in the hell is this What is he?!'' All he could really capture with his eyes was an indistinct, blurry silhouette! Was this still the power of a man between realm of possiblities? Was this hooded stranger going to attack from the left? Or maybe from the right? His chest or perhaps aim straight at his stomach? In his sudden shock, a vast array of ideas, theories frantically coursed through his brain. In a sh, his eyes saucered to the extreme! A fraction of a second, maybe a half of it. It took just that much but the sweat on his face, on his forehead cascaded down like a torrential downpour of rain! His opponent this impossible entity wasing in hot like a maddened, blood-crazed Carnosaur! A full frontall, head on collision was inevitable. No matter what he did, how he wrecked his brain at the speed of light, he could not see a way out of this sh. "[Reptilian] F*cking hell" He suddenly snarled and cross both his arms his body turned into a half squat form and he bellowed fiercely. "COME AT ME!" His muscles stretched and swelled at hismand, whilst his inner energy began to frantically course further strengthening his resistance. A glossy, milky white faint shine enveloped his frame. A gentle wind blew past from the surrounding, flooding in to his crossed arms. In the next second, a semi-transparent shell formed in front of him, looking like an illusion. Inside the church and the Temple Guard forces, there weren''t many talented skinks that could actually learn such techniques. Besides the fact that the paltry amount of essence that these creatures possessed, only a select few, incredibly talented Martial Art Geniuses could have a chance to study and learn the secret techniques to any form of initial sess. This transparent shield, called the [Holy Turtle Shield] was one such technique that was an incredibly powerful defensive ability. However, its fault was that it required the caster to remain stationary and could only guard against frontal assaults. Aiden charged forward at top speed, murderous will filling the expanse of his heart. Though he by no means wanted to cause a mass murder spree, a genocide on this species, but that didn''t mean that he would stand idly by with such wanton show of corruption! In just a moment, Aiden''s speed exploded to an impossible degree, reaching his utmost limit. Besides his ears, he could even hear the wind''s relentless roars! The reason the brawny skink hadn''t chosen to attack was because he sensed that the hooded man''s, Aiden''s speed surpassed his wildest imagination. Thus, his most primal instinct to survive had surfaced, he had withdrawn his entire body in defense. A cold sneer yed at the crook of Aiden''s mouth, as he ruthlessly clenched his teeth. With a tremendous charging force, he condensed a majority of his power into his right arm, which was soon followed by an ear-piercing swishing sound that thundered throughout the entire square! His right hand was followed by a gale as he struck forward! Heavy silence loomed over the entire square. Nobody uttered a word as they focused on the majestic looking fight between the unknown, mysterious stranger and the previously haughty, arrogant warrior. At this moment, the old man frostily gazed at the two people on the stage. Whilst no one knew what he was thinking or even who he was, wisps of his murderous intent seeped into the crowd. Sensing the cold aura around her, Vyndridolth body jolted and turned around to snap her gaze from where he sensed the strange vibes. However before, he couldpletely focus his attention, suddenly a terrifying explosion boomed from the stage! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 718 Chapter 718 Flickering lights of a multitude of colors were unleashed as the two forces violently collided. The ethereal protective technique, the [Holy Turtle Shield], despite its supposed invincible quality, couldn''t withstand a single punch, a mere strike from Aiden and it shattered amidst a spectacr light show. It was a simple strike, a mere punch, a thrust of the clenched hand without the least bit of sophistication, a sh of power absent of the slightest style. Yet, behind that simplistic maneuver, there was something profound, something majestic, something that neither his opponent nor the onlookers could process. *BOOM!* A seemingly heart-shaking sound echoed through the entire square. The wind came to a halt and the crowd froze. Causing hearts to soon take a turbulent flight, the wind''s whistling moment ago ceased to a scream. Aiden''s right hand had made a full impact against the brawny elite Temple Guard''s energy shield. Time seemed toe to a screeching halt in an instant. For an instant, a simr single thought crossed through almost everyone''s mind: Just what would be the result? Who woulde out victorious? Suddenly, a blood-curdling wail like the muffled sound of striking leather hollered out shattering the ominous momentous silence. In the next second, the brawny giant skink''s battered body was sent flying back in a straight line. "[Reptilian] AAAAAARGH!!!" A mournful shriek came from his mouth as he sailed across the air, flying back. It was a result of being hit with such power and sent soaring away at head-spinning speeds, which led to his broken screaming in the wind. He seemed to have been turned into a shooting star. With a tremendous, ring bang his body was mmed into the front facing stone wall of nearby building. A full ten meters of what looked like limestone appeared to have been struck by a modern day artillery shell. The heart of the impact hadpletely caved in. In a sh spider web like cracks covered a full ten meter expanse. A barely audible muffled grunt could be heard from the disastrous site. Under the heavy pile of rubble, the previously haughty and arrogant warrior''s face was covered in shock. Yet before he could even finish calming his nerves, he couldn''t restrain the mouthful of blood to splurt out from between his lips. With onest mouthful of blood being pushed out into the open, his limbs rxed, as he lost consciousness. It was unknown if he was still alive, or perhaps he had breathed his veryst. Without bothering to confirm the results, as his system''s map had already shown the creature''s life sign vanish meaning that he was most likely thetter or atst on the verge of it, Aiden turned around and with a calm, unbothered expression on his face slowly approached the second, crimson-colored Draconic Skink warrior, the secondbatant he hade up to save. The entire square was grimly muted, still dreadfully quiet. Vyndridolth''s gaze had just bit lit ame, but now it took a sudden turn for extreme solemnity. She was shocked, utterly shocked. Despite already having an inkling of his strength, this single strike made even her, a powerful former guardian of this dying ne, shiver and tremble instinctually in fright upon witnessing such ferocity. It wasn''t even only her that reacted in this manner. There were quite a few people who were wordlessly standing, their bodies uncontrobly shivering with their mouths hanging ajar. The old man standing in the midst and was seemingly supporting himself with thevishly adorned dragonhead shaped cane was focused on the gigantic limestone rubble as if he had seen a ghost. The previously nurtured confidence and pride he had were wafted away by the wind, his sharp gaze focused on the motionless, most-likely deceased carcass who was now lying in his own pool of blood. What Just what in the Ancient One''s name happened? A punch? A mere, simple, primitive punch?! The opponent was a highly trained elite, a hardened battle veteran, a survivor of numerous battlefields! He was the top of his ss, one of the very best their entire race can offer! Yet, the result had been delivered with just a simple primitive brutish attack? One without any spectacr, or obvious technique behind it?! The supposed duel between two elites of the Temple Guards, a fight symbolizing purity versus the gradual mixture of bloodlines had ended with such an unexpected oue. It wasn''t about one side battering down on the other, but an unknown, third party, a filthy vagrant appearing on the stage and shocking everyone to their cores. The result? In the end, the supposed hero of the story, the warrior symbolizing the purity of their blood was beaten and defeated with a mere strike? Even with a high grade defensive technique had been utilized, it had still been defeated by one attack? "[Reptilian] What in the gods'' name" A middle-aged draconic skink, a pure blooded citizen shakily grabbed onto his own pulse. "Was that what ten seconds at most, right?" "[Reptilian] N-no It couldn''t have been more than five! Or perhaps three?! It felt like an instant" Another one muttered, pure disbelief stered across his face. "[Reptilian] H-how?! How is this possible? How could Protector Kurg be defeated like that?! He was an elite!" "[Reptilian] That attack the power of that strike was actually so strong!" On the other side, a profusely sweating middle-aged skink woman looked at the destroyed building in astonishment. In her mind, she pondered countless times, yet she discovered that despite her training, she couldn''t even take a sliver of that force herself. ''What is going on who is that man?'' This was a question that she herself dared not ask. Furthermore, she dared not answer it. At the center of all this scrupulous gaze, Aiden looked ignorant or perhaps oblivious to all that scrutiny. He calmly, casually walked up to the crimson scaled creature, the gentle, carefree smile never leaving his visage. Yet, surprisingly, despite knowing the insurmountable chasm that stood between the two in terms of power level, the crimson scaled skink, Tirax didn''t flinch but retained his stern, somber expression. Still sitting on the ground, he didn''t even bother standing up as he looked at the approaching enigma that this mysterious stranger was and asked with a cold, steady tone. "[Reptilian] Who are you? What do you want?" The hooded, vagrant-looking stranger, Aiden, did not respond to the question but merely widened the warm, gentle smile on his face and halted his steps once he was a mere step away from Tirax. His right arm, the same arm that caused unimaginable suffering to his opponent, this so-called ''Protector Kurg'' just a moment ago, was once again moving in the air, albeit with a much slower pace than before. The hooded vagrant reached out and bent his knee, looking as if he wanted to help Tirax instead of attacking him. All his moves were shockingly honest and slow, allowing the still tired, exhausted creature to properly process and analyze each of his actions. With his hand stretched out, Aiden smiled and asked in a simple, calm tone. "[Reptilian] You alright?" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 719 Chapter 719 *SLAP!* Suddenly a loud p rang throughout the square garnering the attention and iming surprised yelps from the audience once again. On the stage, Aiden was also caught off guard and looked surprised for a moment, looking in the direction of his pped hand. The sitting Draconic Skink with the crimson colored scales pped away the offered helpful hand, rejecting the motion with such a crude and sudden reaction. p Tirax looked at the hooded figure with a dismaying frown stered on his tired, perspiring face and snorted coldly. "[Reptilian] I do not, and for that matter DID NOT need your help. It was not requested, nor would be it appreciated." He responded coldly then used his small recuperated strength to push himself up from the ground and with a wobbly uncertain stance stand up against the stranger. Tirax snorted once more as he imed. "[Reptilian] Even more, you have just brought unimaginable trouble upon yourself. It would be best if you would not lump me in with you. I have enough troubles of my own." Aiden''s smile changed for the first as he furrowed his brows slightly. [Reptilian] What do you mean, friend?" At the same time, a feminine voice came from the audience, though the source could not be found immediately, it was Vyndridolth speaking up. "[Reptilian] What trouble could there be besides the injustice of this world? What could be better than to stand up against these vile thugs?" In her mind, those wretched, corrupted creatures under his brother''s influence are exactly like that carcass lying under the pile of rubble not too far away from them. They should be in and put down, beyond any means of redemption. In this regard, she stood firm and even didn''t fully ept Aiden''s notion of even reaching out to help these ones as well. Hearing the questions, Tirax shook his head. "[Reptilian] There''s no such thing as right or wrong in this world. At the end of the day no matter which side you stand on, you want the same thing: to survive." Then he sighed he pointed at the rubble himself. "[Reptilian] Now however, since you have killed an elite, neither the church nor the Temple Guards will let this matter rest." He looked at the hooded stranger once more. A look of pity shed across his gaze as he shook his head. "[Reptilian] Stranger, I do not know how or why you havee to my aid But since I owe you my life, I will give you this advice in return. Go, turn back. Run away as fast as you can. Do not loiter around or linger in the streets. The church has their means, as long as you remain in the territory, you cannot escape their omniscient scrutiny. You cannot hide." He sighed once more as he added with a somber tone. "[Reptilian] You will be found and hunted down in revenge." [Reptilian] Thank you friend for your advice, but" Aiden merely smiled at the friendly words of this crimson mutated skink warrior. Shaking his head slightly, he continued. "but there is nothing to fear about. I am-" Ta! Ta! Ta! Suddenly, before he could finish words, the ground began to shake uncharacteristically as the sound of galloping rumbled like thunder from far away. It was headed in their direction at an extremely fast speed! "[Reptilian] Oh noes! They are here!" "[Reptilian] The Guards! The Elites have arrived!" "[Reptilian] Ah!" The crowd was in a mess as shrieks could be heard. Some of the onlookers who could not dodge in time were trampled into meat sludge without a corpse left. "[Reptilian] Their leader seems to be Kurg''s elder brother, Korgoth!" [Reptilian] It''s him! It''s really him! Korgoth the bloodthirsty! He really came personally! So fast!" Not far away, a dust cloud billowed with the piercing stench of blood. A muscr Draconic Skink man, with simr height as his supposed deceased younger brother with ck feathery hair that draped over his shoulders, led the pack with a fierce and violent gaze. Beneath the man was a massive and ferocious Carnosaur. It had sharp ws and its body was covered in luxuriant scales that had a ming pattern. Shimmering in the darkness, its eyes shone with a cold gleam. It was an exotic mutated subspecies of the Carnosaurs, a me-Billowing Carnosaur! "[Reptilian] What happened? How could they arrive so swiftly?" "[Reptilian] They must have been nearby and have probably heard themotion. Judging from the look on their faces, they seem to be aware of the gruesome result!" "[Reptilian] That stranger who intervened and killed Kurg was way too arrogant! He is now in deep trouble!" "[Reptilian] Trouble? Heh He is dead for sure!" There were some bystanders pointing at the arena. Amotion of this size instantly attracted the attention of many onlookers. Even though it was a busy afternoon, the number of bystanders gathered gradually increased. In a two-story building not far away, a handsome young skink man in a white silk robe sat by the window. Behind him was an elderly man, standing with his hands down. The handsome young man held a golden feathered folding fan and his features were like a painting. With smooth and delicate skin, he had an indescribable bearing of elegance. At that moment, seeing that it was alreadyte, the white-robed man had just stood up and was about to leave when he caught sight of what was happening. Out of curiosity, he could not help but ask, "Uncle, what''s happening over there?" The elderly man behind the white-robed man replied, "I believe, the Guards havee to respond to the death of one of their own, Young Master." "Oh?" The white robed man turned to look at the rubble in the far distance. "That brute had truly died then? From one single punch?" Before the old man behind him could even nod, much less respond the white robed man scoffed coldly. "Good! Finally! It was about time that someone woulde to step up to this arrogant bastards!" Even though his tone was cold, the white-robed man''s voice was exceptionally soothing. "Young master, let''s go. There''s nothing for us to see here. Unfortunately that hooded figure is bound to be dead now that the elder brother, Korgoth, has arrived. That figure is truly unlucky!" The elderly man bowed. "It''s alright." Waving it off, the white-robed man said, "Let''s take a look first." With that, he opened his folding fan and sat down once more. Turning slightly, he revealed his slender and fair neck as his bright gaze was fixed on a delicate face in the distant square. A slight smile emerged from beneath the cover of his exquisite cooling aid >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 720 Chapter 720 Arge team consisting of several dozens of armored figures riding on simrly menacing looking Carnosaurs rode over in the descending dark with menacing expressions and ferocious auras. The cold gleam of high material weapons shone like a threatening omen. At this moment, the crimson scaled skink, Tirax had barely rested and regained only a sliver of his stamina. His body was still aching all over, but nevertheless, he did not back away from the stage. He looked sternly at the charging herd, without him even realizing it, his hands were balled into tightly clenched fists at the sight of this horrid group of people. "[Reptilian] You should not have intervened, stranger" He muttered after a while, taking a nce over at the hooded figure. Aiden was standing beside him now, his face showing no signs of any fluctuations or any flickering emotion besides serenity and calmness. The gentle, calm unbothered smile on his face never changed, looking still the very same when he struck out and brutally murdered Kurg just a few minutes ago. Back in the crowd of onlookers, hispanions, Vyndridolth had a worried expression. She wanted to rush up and step in, but before he could make a move, he heard the Young Master''s calm and soothing voice rang out inside his mind. ''No. Do not move, it is not necessary. Preserve your strength, you will need itter on.'' Surprised by the statement, she decided in the end to heed his words and did not jump out. Still, the worry on her face did not fade, her gaze darted between the Young Master and the approaching army constantly. The moment Korgoth stepped onto therge arena, a golden flicker shot across Aiden''s gaze, though he retained the calm-looking stance as he observed the approaching human-sized skulk. From looking at therge army of Temple Guards, Korgoth led more than a hundred warriors for the attack. Theirbined aura was so terrifying that the surrounding spectators felt chills running through their spines. However, as if responding to the silent taunt, another monstrous aura exploded the moment Aiden''s smile changed and a stern expression settled down on his face. It was as though a tempest had been set off, the wind was howling and gushing furiously. A heavy weight seemed to have gradually push down on everyone present, it was as if the air itself turned thicker, almost palpable. Aiden stood firmly, motionlessly on the spot and his body looked frail, malnourishedpared to the hulking beast of Korgoth. However, his aura was no weaker than Korgoth''s group, and with each passing second, it grew heavier and denser! It was continuously growing. The aura of Korgoth''s group resembled that of a bloody storm. However, what stood behind Aiden resembled that of the very wrath of nature itself. The hoarse, feral cry of the world''s will! "[Reptilian] Huh?" Not far away, on the second floor, the elderly man apanying the white robed man eximed slightly when he saw that. The white-robed man''s eyes lit up with interest as well. Two massive and different auras collided invisibly in the voids, causing the weeds in the square to disintegrate into powder; the air seemed to have gone stale. A war was about to break out! Tirax watched the scene with sweaty palms, feeling as though his heart was about to stop beating. The people before them were vastly different from the various figures at the borders of this forlorn remnant world. These were all warriors, highly trained guards of the Church. They were stronger, more violent, and fearless! Each of their attacks carried a feral, murderous intent, honed through countless battles and arduous training through the years! No one could imagine the amount of pressure this raggedy clothed stranger was silently enduring against such ferocity. However, nobody, including the many hidden eyes residing all around could find any traces of fear, dread, or trepidation in Aiden''s eyes. He was calm and seemingly nonchnt, seemingly indifferent about everything that was happening. "To think that he could remain so expressionless under such pressure! That person has an incredibly strong resolve!" "So what? This isn''t going to change the obvious oue. He is going to die soon, no matter what he does. There is no more escape since Senior Korgoth has arrived. "Wonder what will happen in the end? How will he die?" Korgoth arrived, stopping just before the grey robed mysterious figure. As he looked down at Aiden, the glint in his eyes intensified. Pak! Pak! Pak! Suddenly, Korgoth pped his hands, and nodded repeatedly with a wide glee stretching his face. "Great! You are great!" Pak! Pak! Pak! Everyone was confused, not understanding what he meant by that. Did he go crazy with the loss of his younger brother? Will he go berserk, feral? A momentter, then confusion was soon cleared up when Korgoth continued. "[Reptilian] You, mysterious stranger that looks to being from the outer dredges and has somehow slipped through the cracks like a cockroach! Did you kill my brother?" "[Reptilian] Depends on who are you referring to." The hooded figure asked back in response with a calm, borderline curious tone. "[Reptilian] Ahahahahaha!" Korgoth bellowed, exploding into a hearty guffaw at this fearless reply. Shaking atop his fierce beast, he pped his tighs for almost a minute before he could calm himself and pointed towards the distant rubble of the destroyed building. "[Reptilian] That miserable pile of sh*t, over there." Korgoth spoke, the sneer not leaving his face. Did you kill him?" "[Reptilian] Yes, I did." Aiden admitted to it without hesitation with a calm tone. "[Reptilian] Ahahahahaha!" Once again, Korgoth exploded into a boisterious peal ofughter and said leisurely. "[Reptilian] Originally, my motive rushing here was indeed to capture you alive and then torture you slowly as to tone for your sins of killing my good-for-nothing sibling. I have countless methods to make a man suffer a fate FAR worse than death, believe me. However, after taking a good look at you" With a slight pause, Korgoth changed the topic. "I have changed my mind suddenly!" Everyone was stunned. Tirax were shocked as well, not understanding what Korgoth could have meant. A bit of distance away at the second floor balcony, the white robed man frowned in deep thought. Aiden''s expression was indifferent as he looked at Korgoth quietly without replying. He was waiting for thetter to exin his intention further. A look of admiration shed through Korgoth''s eyes. "Originally, I thought you were just some filthy rebel or a disgusting mutant like him." He said, nodding at Tirax beside Aiden. "Now, however, I can''t help but admit that you are quite the character. My brother didn''t die in vain." "I will give you a chance. Come with me, and I will be magnanimous and let bygones be bygones!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 721 Chapter 721 "[Reptilian] I will give you a chance. Come with me, and I will be magnanimous and let bygones be bygones!" When the crowd heard these words, at first there was a pin-drop, dead silence. A mere momentter, amotion broke out. "[Reptilian] What in the How could someone be so lucky?!" "[Reptilian] Isn''t that too cruel? His brother just died and instead of taking revenge, he is offering that man an olive branch?" "[Reptilian] What impossible luck! That person''s life is truly tough for such a miracle to appear!" "[Reptilian] He must have been a saint in hisst life to be this fortuitous this time around!" "[Reptilian] Seems like Captain Korgoth truly holds this man in high regards! Otherwise, he wouldn''t have made this decision! Sadly though, it seems that his brother has died for nothing!" This was a turn that none of the gathered crowd could have expected. It was truly beyond anything they have thought. Initially, all of them thought that the hooded stranger was dead for sure. None of them expected Korgoth to not only not punish him but instead take a liking to Aiden and wanted to take thetter as an underling. [Reptilian] "Heh You have changed your mind?" Suddenly, breaking his silence so far, the hooded figure, Aiden asked. Stunned momentarily, Korgoth nodded right after. "[Reptilian] Yes, that''s right! Since you are new to the city and have just crawled out of the dredges, let me enlighten you. I am one of the Elite Captains of the Temple Guards. The topmost power in the ci-" Before Korgoth could finish his sales pitch, Aiden interrupted him. Raising his right palm he shook his head and smiled. "[Reptilian] Unfortunately, I have NOT changed my mind." "[Reptilian] Huh? What?" Korgoth narrowed his gaze on Aiden, squinting as he focused all his attention on him. The pressure was almost palpable. "What do you mean, kiddo?" Raising his head slightly, Aiden looked at Korgoth with his usual, friendly, carefree looking smile and said in a calm, cool tone. "[Reptilian] Earlier on, I was prepared to kill anyone that would step up against my new friend and myself. That has not changed. As such, please die." The moment he said those outrageous words, an uproar broke out! "[Reptilian] What!!!" "[Reptilian] Is that man crazy?" "[Reptilian] He is really asking to die?!" "[Reptilian] What audacity! He was offered heaven''s gift and he refused!" No matter what the crowd said and roared, Aiden acted as if he couldn''t hear them. Tirax however, remained silent and took another look at this unknown, mysterious stranger once again. He didn''t know what to think anymore. Whilst he didn''t want to admit it openly, it was a fact that he was saved from that beast before. Even if the response was way too brutal and wasn''t well thought out, this hooded figure was the only one that stepped up and decided toe to his defense. Even if Tirax was absolutely certain that he had to have some ulterior motive for doing so, the facts were clear and undeniable. He owed him his life. Yet now, when he was given such a heaven defying gods'' given opportunity he declined it without hesitation?! He couldn''t help but frown and try to look at this figure yet only to realize he could not see through him, nor his intentions. Vyndridolth who was still hiding amongst the crowd and was just waiting for an opportunity to sprung to action had a charming, happy, ted smile stretching his fair face. The more she followed this young man, the more interested she became. He was such an enigma, and whilst his actions seemed strange, she could vaguely guess the true intent behind everything he was doing. Even though the Temple Guard were far from being the righteous warriors they advertised, marketed themselves to be, they were undeniable a powerful group with a lot of pull in the city. Despite not agreeing in their hearts, not many would have had the same stance as that mysterious stranger. Most of the crowd would have probably jumped at the chance. However, he couldn''t be moved by such an offer. He possessed a fearless spirit! Not too far away, on the second floor, the white-robed man''s eyes shone brightly as he looked at the green-robed cultivator below, wanting to see through thetter. After hearing the words, Korgoth was stunned for almost a full minute before his expression eventually rxed and he burst intoughter that grew louder and louder with each passing second. "[Reptilian] Ahahsahahaha, oh my!" Even though Captain Korgoth wasughing, the killing intent in his eyes was intensifying and was almost corporeal! As one of the Elite Captains, the highest, most respectable leaders of the Temple Guards, he was almost unstoppable in the inner, true city of Ugburg and no one dared to provoke him before. However, there was now a stranger, a lonesome stranger who popped out of nowhere and were boasting of killing him! "[Reptilian] Indeed, my intuition was right about you, kiddo!" Korgoth''s gaze was cold as he leaped down from his mutant Carnosaur and strode slowly towards Aiden. A cold gust of wind blew around his figure acting as the materialization of his murderous intent! "[Reptilian] Stay put. Nobody interfere!" Korgoth eximed before smirking menacingly at the hooded figure before him. "[Reptilian] You have earned yourself the greatest merit kiddo I will kill you personally!" Before he was done speaking, suddenly two shadows shot out in opposite directions from beside his figure. Arge, humongous object appeared seemingly out of nowhere. A huge sword, uncharacteristic to what Aiden had seen before was unsheathed somehow from Korgoth''s sleeves. It looked extremely sharp and shone with a silvery hue. It was undoubtedly a high grade, exquisite, and bloodthirsty weapon. Such treasures were incredibly rare in this ce. Only those standing at the highest echelons of their race could have a chance to obtain such power! sh! Grabbing the hilt with both hands, Korgoth stabbed towards Aiden''s throat at an extremely fast speed! Not looking surprised by the sudden cheap shot, Aiden did not reach out head-on with his bare hands. Instead, he slid his feet for a sidestep to dodge the iing de. Although he was fairly certain he could easily take on the man, and crush him directly, Aiden didn''t want to show too much power for the time being and wanted to disy a somewhat simr strength. He needed to show some struggle, as if he was one of them, fighting for them! As such, unless he had no other choice, Aiden wasn''t nning on revealing his true power yet, and keep as low as it could be possible given the circumstances. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 722 Chapter 722 Aiden''s sidestep evaded Korgoth''s supposed killing first move with ease, allowing the sharp tip of the ferocious, bloodthirsty de to miss his mark just ever so slightly. At the same time, his body was already moving, leaving behind a series of blurry afterimages as Aiden responded to the ''kind'' gesture with an attack of his own at an even faster speed. His palm carried immense might. It was like a speeding truck, ready to crush the unlucky man to smudge on the arena stone floor. Infused with the power and innate technique of Aiden''s [Mystic Martial Arts] the simple strike, whilst it didn''t look anything shy or outstanding, it made Korgoth''s eyelids twitch in shock. Noticing the shocking speed of this grey robed stranger, and sensing the power behind his palm strike, Korgoth had to shift his previous attitude and seriously focus on the fight. This guy was way too fast and powerful! Instantly, Korgoth realized that if he weren''t an Elite Captain, and be able to have such a pull to be able to obtain his quasi-artifact weapon, he would be absolutely not a match to this stranger in terms of strength! In a sh, Korgothposed himself as he eximed with a cold, sinister gaze. "[Reptilian] Good strike, kiddo!" Raising his sword, Korgoth stabbed forward once more, ready to slice apart his opponent''s chest and directly carve out his heart as well as his core. The sudden attack was extremely swift, and merciless. From the outside, it seemed that whilst the hooded figure merely wanted to push Captain Korgoth away, thetter was ready to brutally murder in broad daylight. It also seemingly created a perfect check for the hooded figure. From the outside, it seemed that if Aiden were to advance even half a step more, it would be equivalent to sending his chest directly onto the tip of Korgoth''s rapidly advancing de! If it would have been anyone else, dodging Korgoth''s counterattack in time would already be considered an incredible achievement. However, unfortunately for Korgoth, his opponent wasn''t anybody. Aiden was not someone a mortal, even as trained and skilled as he could hope to properly contend with. Such an attack was merely child''s y to him. The surrounding crowd held their breaths and looked at the two figures shing and fluttering on the arena floor without batting an eyelid. The two of them fought with swiftness and their shadows intersected at a dizzying rate - even trying to keep up with the swiftly changing tides were a great challenge to most. Unless the person held greater skills and hid some meaningful power under his or her belt, most of the shes were barely more than a series of blurry, hazy images with a few momentary stills mixed in between. The Temple Guards were all battle-hardened, tempered warriors and specialized in meleebat. Amongst them, the elites, such as Korgoth, were specialized with an unholy mixture of ferocity and swiftness. Each of his attacks were fast like lightning and could shatter boulders much less than most of his opponents. Most one on one fights would usually end before the referee could even have time to lower his arms, and would usually end with an especially gory, horrific oue. Countless figures had died under his bloodthirsty de. Back on the arena floor, the two figures were shing at each other without giving the other any time. Just as his chest was about to m on top of Korgoth''s de, Aiden''s eyes lit up and his body suddenly changed moves. His figure suddenly blurred as if it turned incorporeal. The de phased through seemingly unable to hurt or even make contact with his body at all. Suddenly *BOOM!* Before Korgoth could even process what was happening suddenly his senses tingled, warning him of an iing threating from behind. In an instant, without any hesitation, he jerked his body and threw himself towards the left allowing a massive boulder to fly past him with a terrifying momentum! As he turned over to look at the source, his shock only deepened. The hooded, mysterious stranger was now standing almost a dozen steps behind him. His feet were firmly nted, his fist like a meteor crashed into the ground, forming a massive chasm and splitting the arena floor clean open. Dust clouds flew into the air and the entire ce quaked under his might. What was even more shocking was that despite his show of force, the stranger still smiled calmly, not bothered or even showing any signs of fatigue on his face at all. His forehead wasn''t glistening with the sweat his overused muscles should have produced, he looked as if he was still resting and wasn''t in a battle to the death. Caught off guard by all of this, Korgoth''s knee buckled and he lost his bnce as his pupils constricted. Aiden however, did not n to give his opponent any respite. Once again, as a golden light flickered through his sharp gaze, his body blurred once more, disappearing from his ce and reappearing before Korgoth in the next instant. He didn''t use any special technique, or any shy move once again, but merely raised his right arm and reached out in a grabbing motion. Korgoth, however, whilst he was stunned, still retained his veteran instincts. His arms, even without his direct order moved, and with extreme precision raised his humongous reaper de before the iing outstretched palm. A diagonal sweeping strike sliced the air apart as it hurled towards the unprotected flesh. However, before he could even process what a great counterattack he subconsciously made, the unexpected struck again! "[Reptilian] Ah!!!" Korgoth shrieked as both of his wrists suddenly cracked. Blood dripped from his hands, as his grip lessened on the hilt and his huge sword was sent flying away. Everyone was shocked when they saw that. How strong was that stranger to be able to disarm the mighty Elite Captain Korgoth in a single, decisive strike! Even worse, with his bare hands! "[Reptilian] F*ck Not good!" Korgoth was rmed and thought to himself. However, his reaction was extremely fast as he retreated immediately. He murmured a few iprehensible words under his nose, and focused his inner energy to circte, to revolve madly. Suddenly a transparent thinyer of energy surrounded his frame, allowing him to pry himself away from the rapidly approaching hold and give him just enough time to jump back and turn to flee! At this point, Korgoth no longer cared about his face, about taking revenge or even trying to suppress this stranger. He merely wanted to get as far away as possible! "[Reptilian] We have just met each other, why would this Mister run away so suddenly?" A calm voice came from behind. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 723 Chapter 723 Aiden''s cool -but for Korgoth, rather ominous- sounding voice came from behind. He harrumphed at the sight of the turntail elite captain and a sinister, killing intent surged in his eyes. Although his voice was firm and it gave no leeway to doubt, in truth the situation was ratherplicated. Aiden knew that he should not and can not allow such a figure as this Korgoth, this elite captain escape as it would only be the cause of further troubles in the future. As a proudful person, being shamed and humiliated, as well as his family name tarnished, there''s no doubt in Aiden''s mind that this person, if allowed, will continue to germinate his hatred and will potentially grow into a problem in the future. Yet, there was the fact that he should, at most have another week or so left before he should be allowed to leave thisnd. He has only that rtively short time frame to resolve this racial war between the Draconic Skinks, defeat their false god, this traitorous guardian and bring them under his wings, and let them settle down in Haven. A week. That should not be enough time for any meaningful problem to arise from this hateful seed. Yet, it could be the cause of unforeseenplications over in Haven. Could he truly gain any worship or loyalty from such a figure? Wouldn''t he just be the first corrupt seed that could sprout and contaminate the rest? On the other hand, whilst killing him seems the obvious choice, it would not paint a positive picture to the masses. A vicious, murderous beast is not something that people would wholeheartedly stand behind and support but at most would remain silent because of utter dread, terror, and fear. Pondering for a bit, Aiden finally affirmed his resolve. Hesitation vanished from his expression leaving only a stern, cold gaze. His body suddenly flickered as Aiden''s stomped firmly on the caved-in ground before suddenly bursting forth. He covered the meager distance of what seemed like around twelve feet within a single instant and caught up with Korgoth within just a couple steps,unching out his arm like a missile towards thetter''s back. Several blurry afterimages were left in the path his arm drew, defying reality as it sailed across the short distance and distorted space itself. "ROAR!" Korgoth''s mount, the vicious looking Carnosaur was the first to react to the desperate situation. The moment it sensed its owner, its master''s crisis it roared in anger and rage as its fur stood on end. Amidst a vicious snarl, it bared its fangs, and without hesitation and any care of who were stronger than the other it lunged towards Aiden ferociously. The strength of such a beast was not something anybody can just easily take. Aiden also felt a strange sense of threat from the huge creature. If he was struck even Aiden would suffer some injuries and whilst he felt that it would not be life threatening, it would seriously dampen his attack power. It may even be the cause of further mishaps! Still, despite that fact, Aiden''s expression remained unchanged, unwavering. Suddenly the sound of fabric being torn could be heard, soon followed by a huge dark shadow emerging from the side. Whilst he retained most of his attention in punching towards Korgoth''s core from the back. At the same time, just as the Carnosaur''s ws were about to reach Aiden and tear into his flesh, a muscr dark green shadow rammed violently over at a zing speed! *Boom!* A series of bangs could be hearding from several sources at the same time! The carnosaur was sent flying by that blurry dark green shadow, which as the dust clouds gradually billowed were revealed to be a muscr, reptilian tail. Aiden''s tail! The carnosaur let out a sad muffled cry as it crashed down on the ground and rolled several steps backwards. A deep nasty hole was punctured at the beast''s chest and its dark red blood was gushing out, swiftly painting the surrounding area! The carnosaur struggled hard and wanted to stand up. Yet its stance was wobbly at best, his strength was rapidly draining. Still, it wasn''t a simple beast, it would not give up from one single defeat! It''s eyes suddenly turned bloodshot as it snarled viciously once again. Seemingly reinvigorated by some invisible force, it suddenly sprung up once more with a newfound strength and was about to charge forward once more. However, before it could do so, its nemesis, Aiden''s massive, muscr tail shot out once again, darting by in the next instant! Like a dark green spear, Aiden''s tail stabbed through the Carnosaur''s head in the next instant, entering through its open mouth and making a brash exit through the back of its head! Just like that, a fearsome, terrifying monster, a mutated carnosaur, at the brink of its evolution was dead, killed in an instant. At the same time on the other side Aiden''s fist, carrying profound mysteries within, have arrived unobstructed. Its massive power violently unleashed as if judgment from the heavens has descended upon the unlucky captain. *Shine!* Vibrant, golden light shone from Korgoth''s back suddenly revealing his shimmering scales! A set of runes emerged, acting as a sort ofst defense, an inner armor and reinforced the strength of Korgoth''s scales. Although the power of Aiden''s punch was great, the strange protection made more than half of it vanish in an instant, whilst the rest could not break through the powerful scales, ultimately failing to breach beneath Korgoth''s skin and cause him any harm! Korgoth did not hesitate and seized this opportunity, this magical moment, and continued fleeing forward. "[Reptilian] Hahaha!" Hisughter hollered as his figure was receding. "Kiddo, you are still far from being able to kill me! Just you wait I will return one day and-" He did not hear any response from the hooded stranger no matter how hard he taunted. Instead, the surge of killing intent behind him intensified, as if a terrifying ferocious and ancient beast was chasing him! Instinctively, Korgoth turned and nced behind. A single re that he spotted scared him out of his wits. The stranger, that was like an average looking youthful and vigorous skink before had apletely different, terrifying visage. Although he could not identify what that look resembled, it made his whole body shudder under its terror. Watching as the young man charged at him with shocking momentum, leaving behind a series of afterimages as it crossed the distance with a rapid pace. "[Reptilian] Go! Defend the captain! Kill the outsider!" The guards that Korgoth have brought with him finally realized what was happening as they hurriedly reached for their weapons and charged stabbed towards Aiden! "DIE!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 724 Chapter 724 All of a sudden the surrounding air turned tense once again. Countless trained warriors, Temple Guards flung themselves towards the gray robed stranger''s direction, ready to unleash hell if needed just to save their leader. Standing at the center of all the countless sharp, cold murderous auras Aiden''s expression did not change, his charge did not falter. A golden flicker traversed through the white sclera in his eyes. His [Soul Power] frantically revolved in his body. The proverbial mental shackles holding the brunt of his power were loosened once again, allowing a sliver of his true power to escape from its confines and reach towards the surface from the depth of his soul. As if an ancient, primordial beast have awakened and unleashed a ferocious, mighty roar towards the very firmament of heavens, suddenly the whole area began to tremble. The ground shook, rubble and small pebbles were thrown all around. A heavy invisible pressure pressed down on everyone standing atop the arena floors, forcing them to cease their violent advances and refocus themselves and stabilize their stances. The many guards that were leering like madmen and were rushing to kill this enigmatic robed man have suddenly halted in their advance. They looked startled by the sudden ufortable sensation. Their calves, the muscles on their legs bulged as they nted their legs firmly onto the ground, and defied the suddenly descended divine retribution with all their might. The crazed looks on their faces first transformed into shock and startled expressions before they eventually somewhat turned to a fake calm that hid their emerging wariness. They all gritted their teeth as they pushed their own strengths to their maximum potential to withstand this unknown pressure and fight their inborn shameful trait, their own submissive souls. After unleashing a sliver of the true power of his dominant aura, carefully controlling it to not allow his own divinity to slip through and reveal his identity before it was needed, Aiden continued in his advance leaving behind the suddenly startled group in the next moment. When he stretched out his right arm, his body almost looked as if it grew several inches all of a sudden. His arm was like arge javelin that crossed the meager distance and shot directly towards its fleshy target, ready to plunge deep and explore the unknown. On the second floor, the white-robed man closed his eyes subconsciously. Bright sparks sizzled at the tip of the scales when his dark, ebony wed hand made contact with the Elite Captain''s back. Two opposing energies fought a violent battle, dancing around each other looking who would give in first. Who would be the victor and who would have to turn back in defeat? The white-robed man took a deep breath and looked down again. "[Reptilian] It''s over." *CRACK!* Suddenly, amidst the blinding lightshow, the familiar, yet just as horrific sound of bones being crunched to dust could be noticed. Mixed with the sounds of something being juiced and meat being stered, the wailing cries of the desperate created a soul shaking effect for the gathered audience. As the blinding light began to subside, it revealed the unmistakable silhouette of the captain, who had his body jerked in an unnatural way. A spear-like object attached to another firm body, -the gray robed mysterious stranger''s hand no doubt-, was attached to the former, creating a new grotesque, amorphous shape. Not willing to miss the advantage of the temporary bright shroud of light that they have created, Aiden''s eyes shed with bright golden shine once more as he uttered a single word, casting the final judgment on the poor wretched figure that dared to oppose him. "ABSORB." His words rumbled in a deep tone, speaking anguage that whilst it was not familiar to the struggling captain Korgoth, nevertheless he understood the underlying intent. His body quivered as he struggled with all his rapidly fading might, trying to break free from the clutches of this unknown entity, this primordial ferocious beast, yet to no avail. Before he could muster up any meaningful resistance, he suddenly felt a strange forceing from somewhere deep inside his chest. A mysterious whirlpool emerged from within his flesh, starting from the strange alien object, the offender''s wed hand that continued to churn and tear apart anything before its wake. To his shock, Korgoth found that he could do nothing against this power, he couldn''t even struggle as he felt his energy, blood his own essence vanish seemingly into the void. He had no idea what was going on, what was happening with him. All he knew was that his fate was sealed and that there would be no hope for him anymore. His eyes were bloodshot and bulged as his tongue stretched out, looking as if he was still trying his best to force some words out of his mouth. His face turned into a terrifying shade of purple. From the depths of his throat, he croaked onest time before eternal silence took over. At the moment, the nearby guards, closest to themotion were looking just as shocked as the rest of the onlookers. They were frozen on the spot, unable to muster up the strength to even take a single step forward or even try to escape. Aiden''s [Soul Power] red up, suddenly the suctioning force behind his absorption have increased by several levels. The now-deceased elite captain''s fresh carcass cracked as its body lost its solid shape and liquified and vanished in just a few blinks of an eye. By the time the dust and the blinding glimmerpletely cleared out, only the gray robed mysterious stranger remained standing. The proud and arrogant elite captain of the Temple Guards, the fearsome and bloodthirsty warmonger, Korgoth has vanished, he was nowhere to be found. Not even a trace of his aura could be felt anymore At that moment, a shocking realization emerged in the minds of all that gathered. No matter if it was young or old,moner or a servant of the Ancient One, or the church They looked at the calmly smiling young man with a simr new, light. At that moment, they understood. The fearsome bully, the tormentor of all those that stood against the church''s oppression, one of the standing pirs of the Temple Guard''s militaristic forces, Korgoth the Bloodthirsty has died. What was even worse was that he died in such a gruesome manner. Not even a trace of his existence was left, it was as if he never even existed in the first ce. Whilst not many could understand what was going on, they all clearly saw, how his silhouette took on a strange amorphic shape and merged, fused with the body of this strange figure. It was this enigma, this mystery that scared everyone present to the core of their souls --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 725 Chapter 725 By now, there were at least several thousand Ugburg citizens, noble ormoner, wealthy or poor, influential or socially invisible present at the square or around its vicinity watching as the events unfolded in such a drastic and unexpected manner. However, at the moment, it was entirely silent inside and outside the arena, as if everyone was strangled by the same force and could not breathe, much less speak up. The oue was just way too tragic. Way too unexpected. Way too drastic. The Temple Guards were the de-facto ruling force, the strong right hand of the Church. Even more so than their normal ranks, the Elites were the top of the top, the cherry on top of the humongous pile of creme. They were highly trained, skilled powerful figures one by one. They should have been practically invincible amongst their kind and ranked at the very top in the powerhouse ranking of the entire scorched realm. They should have been revered akin to gods by themon rabble. Their captains, originally almost a dozen, but now, reduced to a mere seven, or now, six were the most powerful figures in the entire ''tribe''. The church had spent countless effort and wealth to nurture them to the ranks they have reached. They were insiders to many secrets, as well as the practitioners of the most sacred, ultimate techniques their racial inheritance had allowed them to grasp. They were the true dragons amongst their kind in a way. Yet, now one after another, they had met their demise. If they hadn''t seen it, witness it personally, most likely nobody would have believed the rumors that Korgoth, the Bloodthirsty would have been killed and reduced to a cloud of vapor in the air, merged together with the afternoon mist by a single stranger. A nobody wrapped with ragged, filthy grey robe and hiding behind arge hood. Even more, nobody would believe that there was actually someone who would dare to kill Korgoth right inside Ugburg! This was big! In fact, the death of Korgoth wasn''t what was the real deal, the true crux of the matter here. Whilst it was undoubtedly huge and cause for concern that there were contenders to the ''throne'', the issue was that many innocent souls might be implicated in theing vengeful response from the church and its remaining six Golden Heads, the Six Elite Captains and its forces. On the second floor, the white-robed man shed a satisfied smile and suddenly asked with sparkling eyes, "After seeing everything go down Uncle, what do you think of this person?" "He''s very strong in meleebat, ruthless and decisive in killing." The old man replied in a low, cautious tone of voice. "However, keep in mind young master that this kid is brash and does not seem to know his ce, nor his limits. He did not hold back at all. Although being honest and straightforward is normally a merit, it have also caused him to break all possibilities of a peaceful resolution between him and the Temple Guards. Even if the Priests would see something in him that they could use, the Golden Heads of the Temple Guards will not allow such a potential threat to their dominance to continue to exist. He is bound to die sooner orter." "Hmm That may be so" The white robed man smiled, humming with a mysterious smile. "I am actually rather interested in him myself" Frowning at this response, the old man asked. "Do you intend to recruit him, young master?" "I do, Uncle I do." The white robed man nodded. Not wanting to give up convincing the youngster, the old man continued with a somewhat more serious tone. "Recruiting him would be equivalent to offending the ruling forces of Ugburg and revealing our true intentions abruptly. That would be irrational. Young Master, do not forget our true goal. Before we reach that ce, we need to be cautious. It would be highly inconvenient for us to reveal ourselves before that and make such strong enemies in the process for no tangible benefit." Pausing for a moment, the old man added. "Right now, besides us the other tribes are also closing in on Ugburg City. Many of their forces have already infiltrated the inner city and are just awaiting for an opportunity. They all want to grab the same chance to enter the Inheritance Grounds once that dragon finally opens it up. We are alreadycking in terms of top experts and are at a disadvantage. We have to be careful, young master." "Heh Top Experts, you say?" The white-robed man smiled and turned his beautiful eyes, looking at the grey robed vagrant standing at the center of the arena. "Isn''t one standing right there, Uncle?" "Huh? Him?" The old manughed. "Although I am old, my eyes are still sharp and should not be failing me as of yet. While that man has an astounding physical strength, I don''t think he''s quite at the level of a top expert, right?" The white-robed man smiled without replying. Back in the arena. After killing and absorbing the elite captain Korgoth, Aiden had forcefully suppressed the surging memories and the system notifications to keep his attention at the present. He was still drenched in blood, painting a rather unsettling sight with his monstrous, horrifying visage and obvious dissonance between his vagrant outlook and brutal actions. Exuding a murderous aura, his gaze was razor-sharp and carried a lethal killing intent! "[Reptilian] KILL HIM!" "[Reptilian] AVENGE THE CAPTAIN!" "[Reptilian] DIE YOU BEAST!" Instead of retreating after their beloved captain''s untimely and gruesome death, the remaining Temple Guards cried out in rage and charged towards Aiden wielding their spears,nces and weapons. This was their nature. Unlike themon soldiers and warriors, they were each elites, highly trained warmongers, fearless of even death, true to their feelings to theirst breath. The fierce beasts, the Carnosaurs they rode were all simr in mind to their riders. Each of them were much stronger than the average warrior. With bloodshot eyes and a terrifying strength, several bystanders were bound to be torn apart if they were rammed by these ferocious beasts. Dust billowed as the several dozen strong force of Elite Guards charged with a menacing intent. If it was anyone else present, they would dodge right away when faced with such an army, afraid that they would be crushed to sludge. However, Aiden did not retreat nor dodge; his eyes lit up as his [Soul Power] churned with the furious sound of tsunamis mixed with rumbling thunder. His strength increased massively with eachpleted cirction of his frantically revolving energy! He stood firm in sight of the small but powerful force that rushed at him without fear! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 726 Chapter 726 If it would be anyone else standing before such a tide of burly reptilian warriors, they would frantically try to dodge or maybe even turn around and escape with all their might. They would do anything in order to get out of the way of this surefire billowing cloud of death sentence. They would be afraid they would be crushed to a sludge under their opponents'' feet. However, the mysterious gray robed stranger, the outsider that was like a grand puzzle that just kept on giving, revealing more and more peculiarities as the time progressed has once again shocked the masses and went againstmon conception: He did not retreat, nor did he try to dodge. His expression held no traces of any lingering fear, dread, or terror. Instead, he looked excited, ted, and even somewhat joyous as he looked forward. His eyes lit up with a feverish, golden luster, his [Soul Power] surged akin to a furious sound of tsunami mixed with rumbling summery thunderstorm. His aura suddenly exploded, revealing a strength, a power that was severalyers above what he exerted previously! Aiden, the gray robed stranger''s strength has suddenly exploded without an answer in the eyes of the spectating crowd! "I guess it''s time to end this before more of you show up. Also" He mused to himself, in themon tongue, making the Tirax, the scarlet scaled draconic skink standing beside looked confused as he heard the strange jibberish. Though he was curious, he decided against speaking up and instead took a hesitant step backward. The iing tide was just as fearsome, if not more terrifying than Korgoth''s previous charge. Noticing his actions, Aiden smiled and shook his head. Shifting his attention he now fully concentrated on the approaching first wave of enemies. Golden strings of ethereal energy emerged like a thinyer, covering his arms in the next moment. Aiden''s [Soul Power] revolved around his thin physique frantically, churning and pushing his body''s limits beyond its mortal capabilities. "[Reptilian] STOP!" Exhaling, Aiden extended his arms. Two pairs of fearsome palms emerged and pushed against the direction of the two frontal carnosaurs that were charging over. Instantly, his raggedy sleeves exploded with a violent momentum, revealing two ripped arms where his muscles were knotted together inch by inch, golden scale by golden scale. Like the freshly trained molten steel, they exuded the feeling of immense, insurmountable strength. The momentum of charging, galloping beasts was intense. Trained Warriors aside, even in the prime of the realm''s lifetime, few creatures would dare to stand against the might of these fearsome predators head-on. However, the two carnosaurs that were pressed on the spot by Aiden''s palms and could not advance a single inch! Aiden''s feet sank deep into the arena''s floor as he stood like an ancient god with a deep and unwavering gaze! Caught off guard, the two Temple Guards riding the carnosaurs were sent flying in the next moment. Realizing that the situation was not as desperate and despairing as he first thought it to be, Tirax made a firm decision and stepped forward once more. His weapons though long been lost, his will did not falter as he removed his gloves and wanted to use his ws as his choice of armament next. However, before he could do so, suddenly arge spear appeared in between his palms. It was as if it literally materialized out of the thin air! "[Reptilian] Use that!" He heard the call of the robed stranger from before him before he could ask anything. Though still confused and bewildered by the matter, the situation did not give him the opportunity the linger on the topic for the time being. As such, together with his firm will and resolve that he would not continue to stand as a bystander in the battle that would most likely decide his fate going forward and instead fight alongside with his patron, Tirax did not hesitrate to seize the opportunity next. He swung his weapon, instantly ending the life of the two startled and stumped guards that were sent flying into the air in a momentary daze. The two tamed carnosaurs, now ownerless, quickly made a bowline towards the sides, deciding not to entangle with this rabble anymore and scurried away next. With the frontline so decisively crushed the riders behind the first two could not stop their advance in time and all of them fell to the ground one after another in the resulting mess. On his side, a Guard charged towards Aiden''s chest. "[Reptilian] How foolish" Sneering, Aiden strode forward to intercept the assant and raised his right knee, ramming over with massive force as well. *BANG!* The burly draconic skink Temple Guard were sent flying by a much smaller-looking robed figure crashing into the ground far in the distance. His helpless figure rolled and tumbled on the round several rounds before finally came to stop by the same pile of rubble their brethren were buried under. In the blink of an eye, the battlefield was in chaos. The surrounding crowd was shocked as their impressions changed several times over the course of the entire event. Although they were merely spectators, enjoyers of the show that was put up for them, they felt as sense of dread, a swelling senation of fear the more they witnessed the impossible feats of this unknown stranger. The weaker willed ones could barely hold themselves in the back, and not turn around to escape and flee in panic. "[Reptilian] This has gone for long enough It''s time to stop." Aiden muttered once again, the same thought he had before. In the next instant, his body suddenly flickered and vanished from sight. *Buzz!* "[Reptilian] Ah!" "[Reptilian] Argh!" Shrieks and bloody, death gurgles exploded from within the band of Temple Guards in the next instant. A blurry, grayish-green trail zapped between their lines, causing endless carnage and damage in its wake. Wherever the strange phenomenon zapped by, throats were crushed, torn and ripped apart Only death were left in its wake. Cries of shock and surprise came from the crowd. On the second floor, the white-robed man and the old man eximed softly at the same time. The old man frowned tightly with an odd expression as he shook his head. "Something doesn''t feel right. These are not abilities anybody can possess. To aplish these feats, one would require a massive pool of resource. He should have cultivated his [Mana] to at least the stage of being a Master. Yet, there''s no trace of even the slightest sliver of [Mana] in anything he does" "Yet, you can not deny what is painfully obvious, Uncle." Suddenly, the white-robed man said. "He is far from being weak as you had expected. On the contrary he seems to be stronger than anything we had witnessed before." --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 727 Chapter 727 Feeling perturbed by the enigma that this strange gray robed stranger''s entire being presented, the Old Man standing beside the white robed schr on the balcony squinted his eyes and focused on the scene with even more scrutiny. At first, he could not exin what was going on, what was happening exactly. The young looking man''s actions were refined, elegant, and delicate, yet they carried a tremendous amount of force. Each of his strikes, swings, and kicks left behind countless afterimages in the air, drawing a beautiful and mesmerizing scenery as he retaliated. Yet, each hit, each strike, each attack the young man initiated hit its mark with extreme precision. Each blow shattered a spine, a rib, a bone, or in the most gruesome cases, a head, ending another life, culling yet another soul. On the second floor, the old man took a deep breath. As he seemed to realize something, his expression changed slightly as he whispered. "[Reptilian] Could it be But how" "[Reptilian] Oh? Do you recognize something Uncle?" The white robed man asked. After a long while the old man shook his head. His expression looked ratherplicated, it was difficult to guess what he was thinking. "[Reptilian] Not really, Young Master. I have never seen it myself before However" "[Reptilian] However?" The white robed skink man frowned, looking at the old one next to him with a questioning gaze. The old man sighed as he saw his Young Master''s reaction. Shaking his head as he revealed a wry expression he exined amidst heaving a troubled sigh. "[Reptilian] Huah It''s merely a myth a legend, from the church nheless. It was said that the only beings that were capable of unleashing such power without any trace of mana in their bodies were the Guardians themselves The gods and protectors of this world" "[Reptilian] What do you mean Uncle? Are you saying he is a descendant of the old five?" The white robed man asked, this time his expression turning into an even deeper shaded frown than before. "How could that be possible?!" The old man shook his head again. "[Reptilian] It''s just as Young Master thinks. His power whilst shocking, doesn''t match any of the historical records. His presence doesn''t seem rted to anything either" "[Reptilian] Hmm Let''s head down and take a closer look." The white robed skink man rose from his seat and led the way. The old man tried persuading him along the way. "[Reptilian] Young Master, you have to be careful. That man''s fate is most likely sealed now that he has directly offended the Guards as well as the Church itself. Even if he has great potential, we all know what happens if someone stands up so decisively. He will be dead the moment the Bishops'' sprung into action. It is truly not a wise choice to recruit him right now. We could implicate everything we had aplished!" "[Reptilian] Hmm Not necessarily." The white-robed skink man smiled meaningfully. Back on the arena stage, themotion have already died down and a deathly stale silence reigned over. All the guards that have charged at Aiden were now lying lifelessly on the floor. Mutted bodies and torn carcasses filled the destroyed stage, mixing their dark crimson blood with the rubble and dust all around. These Guards, Korgoth''s Hounds as they called them were once almost just as terrifying as their crazy, bloodthirsty leader at some point. Where ever they appeared fear, dread and terror wereid in their wake. But now, their legacy was reduced to a gruesome scenery, a mere diforting memory for the future. Their fate that once shined over many others were reduced to such a miserable ending. The dpidated square was dyed with copious amounts of their blood. Torn flesh aside even their superior armaments and armor wereid on the ground shattered to many pieces. The air was filled with the thick stench of blood. By now, the few surviving guards could not take it any longer. Their will crumbling as they saw their brethren fall one after another. They scattered and fled in all directions, disregarding any face, any honor they had left. In the blink of an eye, the courtyard was left with nothing but corpses that were still warm. The surrounding crowd were shocked and terrified. To them, the once grey, now red-stained robed figure standing at the center of the pool of blood resembled that of a terrifying god of death, a reaper that has walked out from the depths of hell! "[Reptilian] Now that the Captain and his men are dead, that man is definitely doomed when the church sends out his bishops!" "[Reptilian] Not necessarily. I guess that he and that other one would take this small breathing room and flee the city somewhere far away. Once the other tribes learn of his deeds they would surely seek favor from him! That way, they might just be able to escape this cmity." "Hehe" Listening to the crowd''s squabble, the silent Vyndridolth sneered to herself under the cover of her hood as her gaze was fixated on the figure standing firmly at the square The person who spoke again sneered at the remark. "[Reptilian] What do you know?! Do you think these so-called elites are the strongest amongst the High Priest''s forces? The true strength lies within their own. Their priests can fight against a dozen of elites on their own! Not to mention them, the Bishops and Archbishops are even more terrifying!" "[Reptilian] Shut it you idiot! Do you want those old monsters to hear you? Those beings are not ones people like us can freely mention! Nobody can hide from them!" Another one chimed it, reprimanding the other two. Meanwhile, Aiden have lowered his guard just, watching calmly as thest guard''s figure have vanished in the distance. In the end, he decided not to chase after them. There really was no point. Even if he were to kill them all, his actions were witnessed by many, he could not hide anymore. The root cause of everything that have transpired, Tirax the crimson scaled draconic skink finally sighed with relief as the fierce battle have finally ended. His body relieving all the tension it directly slumped and plopped down on the ground once more. Not that all that adrenaline have dispersed from his system, a great exhaustion overcame his entire being. He could not move a single muscle even if he wanted to. At the same time, seeing that everything hase to an end, the crowd have also begun to clear out and have gradually dispersed. Just as he was about to turn to look at hispanion he had left behind, Aiden have suddenly sensed someone approaching. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 728 Chapter 728 Turning to the direction of the sudden disturbance Aiden had sensed, he saw two refined looking figures, an old man and a white robed youthful skink man walking over. The white robed figure looked young and vibrant as well as extremely handsome. His appearance could only be described as ''perfect''. His figure was taller than the rest of his kin, towering over the rest of the passerby like a heroic statue. Even in Aiden''sparison to Eora''s humans he had met, this noble looking skink could have beenpared to those prideful teens, at least in terms of size. As for hispanion, the old man seemed well advanced in his years. His scales were pale, weatherbeaten. His face had many wrinkles, one for each decade he had survived through his service. Yet, Aiden was secretly rmed, he could feel that he was extremely dangerous. Much more so than the elite captain and his brother, or the group of Temple Guards Aiden had dealt with before. His senses were rmed and even his system could only draw a series of ???? Marks in regarding his abilities and traits. For his danger level, he was ssified as ''Highly Dangerous''. Even before entering this world, and much more so after spending so much time here, Aiden had been through countless ordeals and battles. He had met many powerful foes along the way, yet he only felt this way once before. It was the time during his first and so far only true defeat, at the hands of that strange thin man back in the orc''s tower. His mere presence radiated ample pressure, making Aiden be vignt and look somber as they calmly approached. Aiden gazed deeply at the elderly skink man before focusing his attention on the white-robed figure again. Arriving just before them, the two stepped onto the stage unceremoniously and halted just a couple steps of distance away. The young man shed a warm smile and cupped his fists as he took a bow in greeting. "[Reptilian] Greetings friend. My name is Tai-Liu. How do I address you?" Aiden''s gaze calmly scanned over the man''s figure before he replied expressionlessly. "Aiden." From the eloquent demeanor, the expensive fabric of his clothes, this young man radiated a sense of power, a heritage of noble birth. Whilst he was unfamiliar with the inner structure of this race, he was fairly sure that this figure was not an absolute nobody and have held considerable power. Was he the leader of a group? A faction standing beside or perhaps against the High Priest? Or was he a mere puppet of his? Aiden couldn''t be certain. His only clue so far was that his marker on the System''s mini map was designated as the neutral yellow instead of any of the hostile markers. At the very least, he had no ill intentions when approaching, thus Aiden decided to give him the chance. At the same time, he sent a message over to Vyndridolth to stand ready but not to act for now. Noticing his gaze and his wariness, the white robed skink, Tai-Liu smiled and pulled out a folding fan from the depth of his sleeves. With a flick of his slender wrist, he unfolded it and waved it gently, hiding a strangely alluring smile behind it. "[Reptilian] There is no need to be so guarded, friend Aiden. From the looks, I am fairly certain you have just arrived to Ugburg, at least to the true city and I think you might not have aplete understanding of the situation. You may not be aware of whom you have just fought and what danger you have created but I do." "[Reptilian] I am willing to listen to it in detail in that case." Aiden nodded, returning a charming smile of his own. "The people you have fought with were the one known as Krog and his more talented and fearsome brother, Korgoth, or as he is known around here by most, the ''Bloodthirsty''. The two brothers were known as quite the tyrants in this district by many. Whilst his younger brother was already quite a nuisance, his death wouldn''t shake the waters too much." The white robed man exined. "[Reptilian] It is his elder brother, Korgoth''s death is what you should be worried about. After all, he was an Elite, and a Captain to boot." "[Reptilian] Now that he is dead, you have sowed a deep, irreconcble feud with the Temple Guards. Since you have killed one of their highest ranking figures, there is no room for any negotiation. Once they learn about the situation -and believe me when I say they will-, they wille down with all their might. They will not stop until either you or they arepletely, utterly dead." Tai-Liu spoke confidently whilst Aiden remained silent, looking at him quietly. After a moment, Aiden asked. The usual, confident and calm smile still shining on his face. "[Reptilian] What exactly are you trying to say?" "Hehe." Tai-Liu chuckled as he looked intently at Aiden''s golden exotic eyes. His eyes were shaped to upward facing crescents as he stated confidently. "[Reptilian] I can help you." "[Reptilian] Oh? What do you mean?" Aiden raised a brow as he asked back. When he was facing Korgoth andter on his group of hyena-like guards, nobody had stepped up. Well besides Tirax, who was the original target of this public bullying, of course. Even then, he too was conflicted about acting out. The deep rooted fear and helplessness was clearly visible to Aiden. After this Aiden had honestly not expected that anybody would willingly offer any help to him. At least not until he could showcase a real shining beacon of light, real, tangible hope for the masses. Even then, his prospects would be rather pitiful. Tai-Liu added after a moment of silence. "[Reptilian] Of course, by help I do not mean to shield you and willingly step up against the tide that ising your way. Whilst the Temple Guards itself would be rather troublesome, they are not the true problem, the real crux of the matter." "[Reptilian] The church" Aiden muttered, shining light on the real issue. "[Reptilian] That''s right. The High Priest''s forces." Tai-Liu nodded. "Standing up against him would not only be utterly foolish, it wouldn''t benefit me at all." Giving a momentary pause in her exnation, Tai-Liu shed a smile as he continued. "[Reptilian] However, I believe we cane to a mutually beneficial, fruitful agreement." "[Reptilian] What do you mean?" Aiden asked, raising his brow slightly with interest. Tai-Liu smiled mysteriously and did not speak immediately. Instead his gaze shed to the crimson scaled figure behind him before scanning across the thinning herd below them. In the end it rested on the hooded figure of Vyndridolth. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 729 Chapter 729 Gazing at the unassuming looking figure of Vyndridolth below, the white robed man, Tai-Liu shed a charming smile and asked out. "[Reptilian] That beautiful little angel hiding behind that ugly and dusty fabric is with you, right?" Her words caught Aiden off guard. Whilst it was true that the two have arrived together, they have paid attention not to stand out to anyone, nor show any special connection. Aiden was also fairly certain that nobody was focusing on them at the time. Yet, he was still seen through? What did he do wrong? Noticing his troubled reaction, Tai-Liu chuckled with an amused expression. "[Reptilian] Wouldn''t you want your belovedpanion to be safe? To be protected? Whilst I cannot directly support you, I can at least take her under my wing." Aiden did not reply immediately and was expressionless, waiting for the man to continue and borate further. "[Reptilian] If I''m not wrong, that girl has no any special strength. Unlike you, she wouldn''t be of much help during the battle with the church'' forces. She seems to be a powerless mortal, and as such she would be crushed even by just the smallest residue of the sh. She would be a burden to you. However, I can ensure her safety. I can protect her for you." Hearing his words, Aiden could barely contain his sneer. Powerless? Mortal? Weak? These are a rather interesting choice of words to describe an ex-guardian, a quasi-god of their very realm. Heck, her full power was probably somewhat on par with Aiden''s, probably capable of crushing this entire city and turning it into dust if she were to unleash a full powered attack. How could anyone refer to her as ''weak'' or ''powerless''?! Still, Aiden didn''t show his amusement and kept it deep down in his heart. Instead he looked at the white robed figure with raised brows and asked with faked interest. "[Reptilian] What do you mean? Who exactly are you?" The white robed man turned proud, as if he was waiting for this question ever since he arrived. With a broad smile on his spotless face, he dered. "[Reptilian] We are one of the Ancient Heritage Groups, the ''Azure Myst Sect''. Azure Myst Sect. When Vyndridolth heard this proim, her figure involuntarily shuddered. Her usually calm expression shifted, revealing a mixture of shock, fright and a great deal of sorrow Yet, there was one more thing hiding in the corner of thoserge eyes of hers. It was something more powerful, a feverish emotion mayhaps anger? It was hard to guess, without a proper system connection Aiden couldn''t be sure. Yet, he was certain that this name, this group have carried great significance, unleashed some powerful emotions and memory within hispanion''s heart. Though she tried to hide it, Vyndridolth''s sudden change of emotions was noticed by the sharp white robed Tai-Liu. Looking surprised, she asked with a smile. "[Reptilian] Oh? This miss seems to know about us. Rather surprising if we consider you both havee from the outside." Then as he turned to look at the hooded figure, Aiden before them, and noticed his stoic gaze, he was even more surprised. "[Reptilian] However, you seem to be theplete opposite? How surprising." He hummed, smiling mysteriously. Thoughts shing past his mind, he did not reveal any of them, instead he decided to return to the main topic at hand. "[Reptilian] As your friend seems to be aware of our name, I''m sure you both understand that we can at the very least offer some protection to her. Then he turned to look at the silent crimson-scaled figure at the side and smiled with a nod. "And your newest brother here that you have decided to save from the show You do not need to bother with them." Keeping silent for only a single moment, he was seemingly pondering something. A momentter he continued with an even brighter smile. "[Reptilian] If and I mean if you are able to survive this ordeal ande out as the final victor against the attacks of the powerful extermination force, I hereby promise you that Azure Myst Sect will firmly stand behind you and whatever agenda you have for infiltrating the city." "[Reptilian] Y-young Master!" The old man frowned and could not help but remind. To him there were simply not enough reason to endanger their millennial old heritage and the survival of their entire sect and step forth to stand with this unknown figure. Even if he seemed powerful and seemed to have a good character which was a rare trait nowadays, they knew nothing of his true character, nor about his goals. It was rather naive to think that everything this unknown young stranger did was out of the pureness of his heart. Yeah sure, he might have reacted a bit too hastily, but the old man just refused to believe in such wild fairy tales. This world wasn''t as kind, nobody would survive if he or she were to y the ''hero''. Everyone had their own ns, and schemes they were trying to aplish. As such, giving out such a promise so abruptly, without investigating the background of these two thoroughly wasn''t wise in his mind. The moment they did so, it would mean they were no longer hiding and woulde out to the light. If they didn''t handle this transition well it could result in a grand catastrophe for them. "[Reptilian] This is too risky! Even though this man has great potential, he''s not worth it. The old man leaned over and whispered into the white robed man''s ears. Tai-Liu shook his head with a resolute expression as he continued gazing at Aiden, awaiting thetter''s response. "[Reptilian] You should listen to your guard. Helping a stranger doesn''t seem to be a decision fitting for a figure at your stature. Why are you helping me?" Aiden looked at Tai-Liu and asked calmly. Admiration and surprise flickered through the Old Man''s eyes when he saw the hooded figure''s reaction. Although he did not rmend Tai-Liu helping him, the old man couldn''t deny the fact that this mysterious stranger was indeed a rare talent. If it was anybody else, they would have agreed to such a sweet free deal immediately. However, this man was still rational and did not agree to it readily! Everything else, his calmness alone was far superior to the other youngster of his generation. Tai-Liu smiled, not bothered by the reaction. "[Reptilian] Not bad, not bad. To be honest, there''s two main reasons I wish to help you. I will be honest. First it is because of your disy just now. You stood up for your beliefs and dared to not just talk back but even attack those arrogant, conceited bastards." Aiden smiled at this response, notmenting on it. He gestured for the man to continue. "[Reptilian] As for the second reason --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 730 Chapter 730 "[Reptilian] Not bad, not bad. To be honest, there''re two main reasons I wish to help you. I will be honest. First, it is because of your disy just now. You stood up for your beliefs and dared to not just talk back but even attack those arrogant, conceited bastards." Tau-Liu exined, focusing his gaze on the hooded man before him. Aiden smiled at this response, notmenting on it. He gestured for the man to continue. "[Reptilian] As for the second reason Well, it is sort of connected to the first. I admit it is a pretty selfish one but at the same time it''s the most honest one I can give." He continued, forcing the smile on his face. "[Reptilian] It is pretty simple really." Tai-Liu continued after a moment of silence. "You have great value. You have great potential. You can be a good pawn for my ns in the future." Aiden looked surprised at the statements, but in the next moment, he finally heaved a soft sigh of relief and rxed his guard ever so slightly. He was much less guarded now that he saw how brutally honest this white robed Young Master, this Tai-Liu was. Nodding, he gestured for thetter to continue. "[Reptilian] Now, I am sure you might have some concern after hearing my reasons just now and I can understand them. However, I also believe that by not hiding away anything we can stand at a firm foundation and build up a fruitful rtionship together." "[Reptilian] Do not think too much into it either. There''s nothing too impressive about anything I have just said just now. I merely do not like how the church and its figurehead are acting as of recently. Whilst their cause may have been just at the start, their ideals, goals, and methods have been twisted beyond recognition over the decades." He frowned, showing a disgusted look as he gazed towards the distance. Even that expression looked strangely alluring, much more beautiful and seductive than what would be normal for any male of any species. "[Reptilian] The church of before and this wretched den of demons of today are far from each other They need to be cleansed and their vile, sinister souls purged." "[Reptilian] Anyway, that''s not the point." Tai-Liu waved his folding fan and pointed to the crowd gradually fading away. "[Reptilian] I can assure you that most of the citizens living even in the Inner City of Ugburg do not sympathize with the Church, nor with the Temple Guard forces in their hearts. Yet at the same time, they know they are not strong. Their resolve fades as well as they eventually bow down in the face of the cruel reality. In fact, they might even turn into the type of people that they have once looked down on." "[Reptilian] You, on the other hand, are different." Tai-Liu''s gazended on Aiden eventually as he said with a brighter tone. "[Reptilian] You still managed to retain your values. I can see your resolve, your firm conviction. There are not many people who can stay true to their hearts and push forth courageously in this harsh, brutal world. You are as they say a ''diamond in the rough''." Tirax standing at the side was listening with rapt attention to the two''s discussion all the while. Upon hearing that remark from this young noble looking figure he was bbergasted at those words. A momentter, as his thoughts were finally calming down and could process through the events he felt very emotional and was battling hard against not showing such an obvious weakness. Still, his figure was silently trembling at the side. A small smile creept up on the edges of Aiden''s face as he spoke up with a seemingly self-deprecating manner. "[Reptilian] I believe we both know that people like me do not live long enough to matter in the long run." As if he had just heard the keyword he was waiting for, Tai-Liu chuckled at these words. "[Reptilian] And this is exactly why I am here." He smiled. Aiden was slightly dazed when he met with the sparkle in Tai-Liu''s eyes as he felt a strange sensation surging in his heart. A sensation that he only felt when he was together with Naybeah or Sarah Hurriedly, he changed the topic and asked. "[Reptilian] You said that you value my potential. Is there something you would want me to do?" "[Reptilian] Hehe, you are sharp just as I thought." Tai-Liu nodded whilst chuckling at the question. "You are right, I do have something in mind." "[Reptilian] There''s a lot of powerful figures gathering within and around Ugburg, all for the sake of exploring a rather ancient, burial site. When the timees and it would be revealed, I do hope that you will be standing beside me and helping our sect then." ? It was Aiden''s turn to finally lose his cool. An Ancient Burial Site! Even Tirax and from what he could see from the corner of his eyes, Vyndridolth could also barely contain her excitement upon hearing this news. The secrets, the opportunities the treasures that would beying in wait in such a ce, in these ruins were much more than what he could imagine. Furthermore, from Tai-Liu''s tone it seemed that most of the powerful figures of this world were gathering to get their chance at exploring this ce, meaning that despite the oppressive nature of the High Priest''s Church, he could not fully im ownership by himself! There was a chance for everyone to take a bite out of this delicious cake! Suddenly, the old man standing beside Tai-Liu spoke up with a stern expression on his face. "[Reptilian] This is for the future. We will have a chance to talk about this in detail if you actually manage to survive the approaching cmity." Aiden smiled mysteriously in response, not bothered by the old man''s attitude in the slightest. He merely shook his head and said before turning away. "[Reptilian] I will give an answer tomorrow morning." "[Reptilian] Uhm. Alright. I will be waiting." Tai-Liu nodded. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard the gray robed figure, Aiden speak as he was walking towards hispanion. "[Reptilian] I have to say, although your male disguise is outstanding, there are still some ws. You ought to watch out for those with keen senses miss." "[Reptilian] Huh?" Male disguise? Tirax was confused at this remark as he turned to look at Tai-Liu once again. What male disguise? Could he be? No, that''s impossible! Although the young noble was extremely good-looking, he didn''t have any of the weaker sexes'' more refined traits. He was clearly a man. However, the shock and the next words of the young noble man, Tai-Liu seemed to tell a different tale. "[Reptilian] W-what ws?" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 731 Chapter 731 "[Reptilian] You are sharp, I have to admit." Vyndridolth remarked amidst a gleeful chuckle. As the dust had finally settled, at least for the time being, the two had no more reason to hide within the already thinning herd of spectators. With their goal set, and have agreed to meet with the strange white-robed man or in truth, woman tomorrow, they have parted ways with them and were walking the streets back to the little shelter, the store of the old couple once more. Vyndridolth couldn''t help but be surprised. Even for her heightened and keen senses, he did not spot the difference. Only after Aiden have made that remark did everything suddenly, magically click in her mind. That faint fragrance! The way she held her posture, whenever she shifted the weight on her legs. That too perfect, almost choreographed mannerism Slight, barely perceptible signals that by themselves wouldn''t be enough to spread any waves, but when put all together, the mask of a perfect deception was slowly revealed! Her reaction to the question was the final nail in the coffin and made everything clear. Even though she was disguised as a male, Tai-Liu was a woman after all and was easily embarrassed. There was no way she could handle the yful gazes that everyone was casting her as she raised her head and turned to leave in a huff. "Heh" Aiden merely smiled, not bothered by the other party''s reaction at all. Their figures soon vanished amidst the busy street as they left the central square as if nothing out of the ordinary had just transpired. The next morning, Tai-Liu did not appear again on the square. Instead, a draconic skink young man wearing a light blue robe, most likely a disciple of the Azure Myst Sect came forward and asked Aiden about their decision. "[Reptilian] I agree to the conditions he has set." Aiden said before turning to look at Vyndridolth. "Mypanion here will return with you. As per our agreement, I hope that Young Master Tai-Liu can honor her his words and take good care of her." The disciple of Azure Myst Sect smiled gently. "Our Young Master has already expected this, so he told me in advance to inform you not to worry and that he will definitely protect the Miss well." "The Young Master also hopes that you will bring more surprises to us and that we can talk more about the future cooperation." "One final thing: these are some healing salves courtesy of the Young Master. We hope that they will be of great use to youter." Before leaving, the Azure Myst Sect disciple handed Aiden a small leather pouch containing many crystal vials of various elixirs. Aiden took only a quick nce at it before turning his attention back on the young man before him. He shed a charming, cool smile as he silently nodded, epting the gift. Flicking his hand, the bag along with its items vanished from sight the next moment. This made the young disciple raise a brow in surprise, but managed to collect himself in the next moment. Though she was still against their n of not showing any of her powers and keeping them hidden for as long as they could, Vyndridolth still felt ufortable about leaving his supposed Young Master alone to handle the iing problem. As for the rest of the team, they were also informedst night but were told to not act and keep to their individual tasks. They needed to make a firm foothold, and this ''small'' problem is not something they should be worried about. As there was still quite some time, and he could not sense anybody powerful approaching, Aiden sat down and began to meditate to pass the time. ,m Under such a pressing situation, his energy began to madly swirl and revolve in his body. A violent torrent of [Soul Power] was activated, gradually reinforcing his bones, his flesh his body. Each passage, eachpleted cirction reinvigorated and reinforced his vessel, enhancing his current form by a minuscule degree. His golden scales were glimmering as if they were freshly made. His muscles turned swollen, they slightly bulged as the powerful energy rejuvenated it step by step, piece by piece. Whilst there was no clear numerical change in his system, Aiden could feel that he was reaching his prime, peak state. After some time, his eyes suddenly snapped open. Bright golden sparks flickered in his gaze as he turned towards a particr direction. A small hint of a smirk slowly crept up at the edges of his lips. "[Reptilian] Showtime." He muttered. Part of the reason why Aiden decided to go through with this seemingly pointless farce and y this little scheme was already resolved with the unexpected appearance of the Azure Myst Sect''s Young Master. No matter how powerful a regime may be, no matter how hard they tried to suppress their people, there would always be those that would refuse to give in. Although they may not show it openly, they would still try their best to make some moves in the shadows. This wasn''t unique to one race, it was the bane, or blessing of the individual mind. As such, one of Aiden''s goals, when he decided to step up wasn''t merely just to protect a poor and innocent soul from that wanton, and pointless aggression. No. He wanted to bring those that felt the same to the light. He wanted to reveal himself and send a message. A message that said ''The time to step up hase! If you wish to do something against the despair that is your current life, you need to act.'' Luckily his message was well received and he even managed to find the much-needed support. Also, one of the unexpected potential gains of yesterday was the information about the Ancient Burial Grounds and their unique identity. Whilst it seems to be somewhat rted to the Draconic Skink race as a whole, it was not something the High Priest and his forces could monopolize. He still had not the strength to do it and would have to acquiesce and give in to the other tribes'' and races'' demands. This prime opportunity, this unexpected gift was exactly what Aiden needed. With all the clues he have gained through the tidbits of the recounts and from the System''s Updates, Aiden was fairly positive that something incredible wasid buried in that site. Something huge, something that was not dead but most likely In any case, the prerequisite of exploring the ruin was that he had to establish a firm standing and reputation within Ugburg! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 732 Chapter 732 For the next few days, Aiden and Vyndridolth spent most of their time within the room of the old husband and wife''s shop. Vyndridolth, despite being offered to by her Young Master did not budge, and whilst the other spent most of his time entrenched in his own system as well as meditating, she kept on guarding and protecting him. At the same time, she also spent a great deal of her time coordinating the efforts of the others that came with them. Being her second inmand for many years, Lady Circe had no problems listening to her orders, but for Lady Pyre and Madam Dara, she did hit some slight opposition. Only when they felt some emotion of displeasureing towards their way from the Young Lord did they temporarily agree to a truce and agree to her words of advice. In the span of the next couple of days, the team -thanks to the great management efforts of Vyndridolth- has managed to nt several additional threads of opportunity. Several small groups, cells, and shops were discovered that were just looking for a chance to showcase their resolve. Despite how it looked at first, there were many of those that just had no venue to disy their anger, their hatred, and their wrathtowards all the injustice they themselves or in most cases some of their family members or loved ones have suffered. It was natural that the purity of one''s bloodline would change, alter and mutate every now and again. Slightly altered colored scales were not that rare. For one, the pride of their bloodline the ''Draconic'' inheritance that they were gifted from the Ancient One wasn''t a great amount to begin with. If it would have, they weren''t just mere skinks, the bottom-rangers of the reptilian hierarchy but would have been much closer to the Draconoids, the humanoid dragonkins. Still, this small hint of the bloodline was the source of their pride. And as such, anyone with a slightly altered, or modified genome was doomed as filth, a contaminated waste of their precious lineage, and was not worthy of being groomed. These ''disgusting mutants'' as they were mostmonlybeled were then subjected to no ends of great suffering. To add to their despair even their family members, their mothers, their fathers, or their brothers and sisters were forced to keep their distance and not help them at all. They were deemed as social outcasts, and in most cases were exiled from the Inner City directly. Only some unique cases, -such as the Scarlet-Scaled Tirax, who showed some unexpectedly great promise and dedication could earn their way back and live together with the rest. In any ways, whilst the most that suffered weren''t only these outcasts, these ''mutants'' but also their families. They too were forced into a corner and could note to their loved one''s aid. No, they could only watch helplessly as they drowned in their own despair and misery. As such, many families had kept the seed of hatred inside their hearts. Whilst by themselves they were nowhere near strong enough to stand up, many have jumped at the first chance when Aiden''s Minions, his Captains havee knocking on their doors and hideouts. Especially after learning of the news that there was a mysterious new stranger in town that was surprisingly stronger than even a whole group of Elites together with one of the most feared local tyrant, Korgoth. Once they learned that these strangers that looked for them were indeed the agents, the recruiters of this unknown man, many finally saw that long-awaited ray of hope, that glimmer of light shining at them. Still, there were many that still did not dare to stand out, and was more afraid of a potential retribution than to stand firm on their beliefs. Even though they learned that there were many others that took this chance, there were those that remained lying in wait and would just hope that others would do the ''deed'' for them. Aiden did not mind them,, and did not do anything to them. They were not to be despised for theirck of backbone. Their resolve may have been ground to dust over the long years nay, in most cases, decades of oppression. They have long since epted the sad truth, they were too tired, too exhausted, or too weak now to be of any meaningful help. For those, Aiden only asked them to provide food and shelter. Even if just as much as a warm wee, a bright smile that they were able to provide them with, Aiden, or Vyndridolth as his spokesperson was happy to ept. During the days, Aiden was mostly focused on enhancing his attributes and skills to the best of his abilities. For this long excursion, his escapade with this realm''s underworld has already given him countless benefits, as well as a lot of unspent system points. As such, knowing that there would be arge battle, arge sh inevitablying his way, he decided to do everything in his power to get ready. Even though he had defeated some of the priests that were sent out to the outer districts before, he had not fought a full-on ''Extermination'' group before. He wasn''t sure how strong these Bishops or the archbishops could be He also didn''t just need to simply win. A mere close victory, even though it would be well fought would not be received as positively. He needed to showcase his dominance. He needed to send a message to both the church, to the High Priest, to the Ancient One watching everything in his eternal prison but most importantly, he needed to send a positive message to the people of Ugburg. To the oppressed as well as those riding the waves and make them wake up to the harsh reality. To have a chance fulfilling his System-assigned missions and finally put an end to his long tenure in this realm and get back to Eora, he needed to willingly pull all these poor misguided souls to him and away from that dark shadow, that mostly fear-induced faith they had kept inside their small frames and hearts. Aiden''s main attributes disyed on the Status Page, before he began to actively cultivate them as well as invest his current pool of 15000 XP looked the following. [ *Status* | Lab | Domain | Activities ] [Status Screen ] [ *Main* | Skills | Analysis | Inventory ] [Name: Aiden Vordragon Race: Primal (Evolver) Current Form: Draconic Skink (Clean) Level: 18 Condition: 100% Resource: Soul Power (Level 2) : 1350 SP / 1350 SP System Points: 15000 EXP] However, what still haunted Aiden, and he could just not ovee this current barrier was his progress he still was stuck at with Soul Power. To this day, he could not find that chance to break through his current block and reach Level 3. For some reason, the increments and level-ups in the main attributes and his resources were much harder, carrying much more weight than anything else. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 733 Chapter 733 Aiden''s first goal was to improve his foundation first and foremost before he would focus on any of his skills and would try to level them up as much as possible. From what he had learned any skill -upon reaching level 10- would either evolve itself and turn into a more powerful version of itself, or would give birth to a new, much stronger, but at the same time heavily specialized version of it. This made him ponder, would there be a simr treatment to his attributes? The 10 points mark for sure did not apply to them, but there was this deeper feel, this intuition inside him, telling, whispering to him that the first smaller milestone, the first checkpoint he would need to reach would be the 50 point marker. This theory however was somewhat debunked before. When his Spirit crossed this theoretical milestone and soared all the way to 61 points, he felt nothing special. Yes, his control over his own [Soul Power] grew stronger, but he could not break through his current hurdle, and reach into the 3rd stage at all. Still, whilst nothing was told him, Aiden did feel that the power of each of his punches, strikes, and kicks whenever he utilized his [Mystic Martial Arts] innate skill carried much more depth, way more strength. Though he wasn''t sure of it, Aiden decided to focus on the attributes, more precisely his Might and Agility nevertheless, and boost them all the way to the 50 marker. Even if there weren''t any obvious checkmarks, or notifications going along with this achievement, Aiden was hopeful that the improvements were simr to his Spirit. If he could gain a considerable boost to his physical strength, his resilience, his sturdiness and speed would be a wee change. Though by meditating he could -in theory- make up the necessary system points in 5 full, undisturbed hours of active session. Still, that would merely be just to make up the required points; assigning them and focusing on the changes in his body, his physique and spirit would be another matter altogether. He would also need to not be interrupted during this process. The infusion of energy into his muscles, his attributes was a delicate process, requiring his full attention. He could not afford to be disturbed at all. Thinking everything through, Aiden finally made up his mind and sent a message to Vyndridolth protecting him on the outside to make sure that unless he contacts her, no one is toe inside or contact him. He briefly exined the reason, and once thetter understood and epted the order Aiden resumed his attention on the system onest time before beginning the process. [ *Status* | Lab | Domain | Activities ] [Status Screen ] [ *Main* | Skills | Analysis | Inventory ] [Name: Aiden Vordragon Race: Primal (Evolver) Current Form: Ancient Dragon (Human) Level: 18 Condition: 100% Resource: Soul Power (Level 2) : 1350 SP / 1350 SP System Points: 15000 EXP ****** Attributes: Might: 48 Agility: 48 Spirit: 61 ****** Note: For quicker, faster navigation please use the keywords in the following order: "Status", "Main".] Not wasting any more time, he directly began investing his points to his Might first. He watched as 3000 points were drained at an incredible speed, dropping his remaining pool to 12000 points. At the same time, he could feel his muscles suddenly tense and contort before suddenly bulging and turning swollen. He could feel his entire body shaking under the sudden duress. Time passed, as he was in this tense, sort of strained, flexed state. His muscle mass continuously contorted, bulging and straining as his [Soul Power] kept on rejuvenating it, keeping it fresh. Yet the pain was not quelled, making Aiden be helpless and unable to do anything but grit his teeth, clench his fists, and bore through with it. Almost an hour passed before his body began to calm down and the pain began to subside. His clothes were long before shed, Aiden was sitting in his meditating posture in his all bare nakedness alreadypletely drenched with sweat. His current figure, that of the golden scaled perfected version of a Draconic Skink had his long feathery crown of ''hair'' drooping down below his shoulders. His body was glistening, shining as if it was just waxed. His eyes were glowing with bright golden luster and a faint, barely perceptible aura was covering his silhouette. "That was hard" He muttered to himself with a wry smile under his breath. Just this one point took him one hour and an increased effortpared to before. Just to get it improved one full point took him more energy, more effort than what it felt taking his skills from 30, all the way to 40! He took a few minutes to catch his breath, and calm his body before sighing once more and returning his attention to the system''s still floating screen. After taking a look and confirming that his Might was now at 49 and it only needed onest hurrah, onest push to reach the desired milestone, he took a couple of breaths before focusing on it to bring up the details. In the next instant just as he made up his mind and gave the mentalmand, he could feel his hard earned points being drained rapidly once more. The remaining pool of points drained at a lightning pace from 12000 all the way to 8000 taking a thousand more than before. As the points reached the threshold they did not immediately vanish and turn into a level up like before. For a moment, everything turned to a standstill. As if the whole world came to a sudden and temporary halt. As if time suddenly took an exemption and paused in his never-ending tracks to take a look at this grand event. *Rumble!* A low grumble came from somewhere deep below. The whole ground slightly began to shake, almost as if it quivered, turned frightened by this unexpected, previously impossible thought feat. Aiden''s body followed suit merely a momentter and began to tremble in rhythm, in sync with the whole world. His silhouette turned hazy. Large ripples distorted his visage as they spread to all corners of his body originating from seemingly the center of his chest. From his Primal Core. His muscles spasmed, harder than ever before. They turned swollen, bulging hard, stretching Aiden''s golden scales along with it. His figure suddenly felt as if gained at least a couple of inches both in height as well as in width as his figure gradually turned from his usually lean-looking physique to something a caricature of itself. At the same, a new message has emerged in front of Aiden''s mental sight, blocking all his senses, and vision, carrying a single, yet much more meaningful sentence. [New Milestone Reached - Might First Breakthrough!] *** Chapter Title: Breaking The Limits --- --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 734 Chapter 734 [New Milestone Reached - Might First Breakthrough!] [Might Attribute reached the first milestone - umted 50 points] [New Bloodline [Herculean Heritage] created! The passive skill [Herculean Physique - Level 1] Gained!] [Herculean Physique: The blood of past heroes courses within you, enhancing the purity of your body. With the power of past demigods enriching the host, his physical power gains an explosive boost, whilst his bodily resilience gains a tremendous increase at the same time. Host''s skin bes innately resistant against attacks of any weapons crafted purely from metal ore considered not infused with any essence. Note: Bloodline skills cannot be normally increased and can only be improved through specific, unique techniques. For further details please follow the appropriate Bloodline Quest.] Just as Aiden was still in a daze trying to wrap his head around the sudden surge of notifications, another popped up right after the long winded previous one. This was the so-called new type of system guide quest, the one rted to his newly awakened [Herculean Heritage] bloodline. [New Bloodline Quest Received! - Herculean Heritage Improvement] [Difficulty: N/A Objective: -With the knowledge granted to the System Guide, follow its instructions during the next meditation session and improve [Herculean Heritage] to the next level. Reward: 9000 XP, [Meditation] Evolution (Leven Up)] ''Bloodline Quest? What is this?'' Aiden muttered looking stumped as he read through the long series of updates. Compared to other quests the system usually gave him, this one was vastly different. Whilst it had some simrities in its format, there were a lot of unique differences that set it aside. For one, it had no difficulty setting and as such there were only fixed rewards without any question marks or ambiguous statements shrouding it. Once youpleted the assignment given you will be granted a fixed, set amount of System Points as well as a direct improvement to his [Meditation] skill. The skill that had no way to improve before finally could be directly evolved to something different! This was great news! At the same time, it was the first time, that the system did not use its preferred ''carrot and stick'' method and only offered boons instead of punishments. Yet despite it being not a forced undertaking, Aiden still made it its highest priority right away. The rewards were incredible, making the spent effort more than worth the invested time and effort. For one, 12000 experience was more than the amount Aiden had spent for boosting his Might. That return would already make the investment worth the pain for the gain. However, that reward also was a hint, a hidden tell that Aiden also took notice of. For such a reward it meant that this session would most likely require him next 4 to 5 hours, or possibly even more. With his time severely limited for the time being, and him still in the process of improving his second physical rted attribute his Agility, as well as look into his most important skills, he needed to be careful and think it through. However, the allure of the potential rewards was just too much for him. He had wondered for quite a while as of what he could do with his non-regr skills, and how could he improve them if he could not use his Points gained on their improvement. Was it through some special rewards through acquiring specific forms? Was it gained through the system''s fusion ability? Or was there something else? Now, he had gained an answer to them. Whilst this may not be true for all of them, at least he now could safely confirm that indeed these skills were not necessarily the end of the road but there could be something new, something unique waiting above them and that he just needed to find the method specific to that skill to unlock its new potential, its new realm. Still, after some silent debate, and with the inkling that Agility might as well receive a simr treatment, Aiden had made up his mind. Though he only had 8000 points remaining which meant he needed to make up the remaining 5000 points first through a session of [Meditation] first. Making up his mind, Aiden heaved a heavy gasp of air. Taking his time, he inhaled the stale underground cavern air slowly but steadily filling up both his lungs. As his chest grew in width, he took a couple of seconds storing it in his diaphragm and used this short moment to clear his head from all the distracting thoughts. After that, with a long, controlled steady exhale he expurged all of these, gradually clearing his mind. With each repeated cycle, his mindset turned more and more tranquil, until he could finally feel reaching the peculiar state, and with thest exhale he activated the ability. As his eyelids fell down and closed up, so did his mind dive deeper into his subconscious. Aiden [Soul Power] began to course at a steady pace in his fleshly frame. Its steady pace was neither hurried nortoo drawn out. It revolved at a regted speed. Time passed steadily, seconds turning to minutes, and minutes to hours. With eachpleted cycle Aiden could feel his energy being refilled, the exhaustion brought forth by the earlier strengthening was washed out and his body was once again rejuvenated. At the same time, small wisps of newly formted energy were infused into his soul with each cycle, freshening it as well, keeping their host at his peak performance and recing several hours of good sleep along the process. Keeping his consciousness on the system''s screen, Aiden kept note of his gradual increase in his umtion of System Points. Whilst he had no real sense of time, by knowing the controlled pace of his points increasing, he could guess that roughly two hours have gone by before his points finally reached and even surpassed his guesstimated 13000 mark and reached its previous height of 15000 once more. As soon as he felt ready, Aiden stopped cultivating his [Soul Power] and pulled back into reality once again. After a quick check in with his captains and learning that everything was still going as nned, Aiden once again dived deeper into his floating transparent clouds of System screens and concentrated his attention on his Agility attribute this time around. In the next second, he could feel as his newly earned points were draining rapidly once more. In barely any time, a sizable portion of his hard earned currency vanished, transferred over to his Agility, rapidly raising it to itspleted, perfected state, and directly brought forth another breakthrough. *Rumble!* Like before another low tremble came somewhere deeper within in the next instant. As his Agility counter suddenly changed, growing from the previous 46 all the way to 47, Aiden could feel another small, yet meaningful change happening inside his body. --- p >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 735 Chapter 735 Just like before, when he upgraded his Might Attribute towards the peak before reaching the first milestone, so did he feel the same with each attribute point Aiden increased in his Agility. Like then, he could feel his muscles spasming, tensing, and stretching with each point, making his whole body be under a constraint strain as his body was gradually rebuilt. Yet, unlike before he did not gain any visible mass this time around, his body didn''t look slightly more swollen at all. No, on the contrary, his previous, newly gained mass were no longer as protruding as before, fusing with his current slender and small reptilian physique even better. Each point pushed his current form just ever so slightly closer to that perfection, that perfected state. Each time his Agility increased by one point, he had to take his time. Just as it was with his Might, his body needed several minutes to process the changes at all. Also, his grand pool of points tanked massively, his 15000 first were dived straight to 12000 then 9000 until it reached its newest low of 6000 when his Agility reached the fabled 49 points. Aiden could feel the tenseness of his own body, his reflexes being refined and honed to perfection with each passing round. Each time his body slowly rebuilt itself, adjusted to his new attributes'' spread Aiden could feel the changes himself. Taking a deep breath, Aiden prepared himself for another shock. If his previous experience were anything to go by as well as this inkling feeling, this intuition, this restlessness his whole body was under constantly as if it was already expecting this grand achievement, he was in for another bumpy ride. Feeling agitated, Aiden inhaled arge gasp to fill his lungs with the stale and cool cavern air to calm his rapidly thumping little drum inside his chest. Keeping it stored for only a couple of heartbeats, he slowly exhaled all that lungful before repeating the cycle for several minutes. With each exhale he felt his chaotically beating heart turn slightly more controlled, calmer. With each passage he felt more rxed, rity soon returning to his senses after a while. Once he felt ready both in body and mind, he once again focused his intent and began to pool from his remaining ever-dripping System Pool into his Agility. He watched as his pool almostpletely dried out in a manner of a couple of seconds, reaching an all time low of 2000, before suddenly everything turned quiet once more. Like before, for a brief instant, everything turned silent. Even time seemed to take interest in the events as it felt that it paused down briefly to take a gander over. Then, it suddenly changed. With a loud snap, the silence was broken, shattered to pieces. Aiden''s whole figure trembled as it sat in his meditative pose. Countless small ripples spread across his silhouette traversing all around as countless invisible jolts of energy zapped across his frame. His frame gradually turned hazy, blurry to the outsider''s eyes as his frame once again was adjusted, shapeshifted to match not just a small change, but something else, something unexpected entirely. Finally, after several minutes of difort and agitated wait, the familiar bell like sound rang inside Aiden''s ears, soon followed by the emergence of the torrent of System Notifications. [New Milestone Reached - Agility First Breakthrough!] [Agility Attribute reached the first milestone - umted 50 points] [New Bloodline [Golden Thunder Lizard] created! The passive skill [Golden Thunder - Level 1] Gained!] [Golden Thunder: The blood of mythical beasts courses within you, further empowering the host both body and mind. Being a descendant of the Golden Thunder Lizard, the host''s reaction, speed, and dexterousness undergo a gradual qualitative change. With each new rank, each new stage all rted traits will go under a tremendous improvement. At the same time, each milestone will unlock the bloodline even more. Note: Bloodline skills cannot be normally increased and can only be improved through specific, unique techniques. For further details please follow the appropriate Bloodline Quest.] Just like before, before Aiden could even wake up from his daze and process all the new information the system bells rang once again as further messages flew in one after another. First, it was the already expected new bloodline quest from the system assisting in the evolution and further unlocking of his second bloodline. [New Bloodline Quest Received! - Golden Thunder Lizard Improvement] [Difficulty: N/A Objective: -With the knowledge granted to the System Guide, follow its instructions during the next meditation session and improve [Golden Thunder Lizard] to the next level. Reward: [Dragon''s Wrath] Level Up, [Dragon''s Wrath] Innate Evolution Option] ''Wait what?!'' Reading through the text, Aiden''s mental gaze went wide open when he noticed thest part of the quest rewards. An Evolution to his most powerful and defining innate? Was that even possible? Also, he was not offered any experience this time around, but direct level ups? What did this all even mean? Why would improving the Agility rted bloodline physique bring such a strange change to him? Still, once more, Aiden was given no chance to process the monumental, ground breaking news he had just received, as before the metaphorical dust could settle down, the messages once again began to emerge one after another. [New Hidden Milestone Reached - Complete the First Stage of Primal Evolution] ,m [Conditions: -Reach 50 points in both Might, Agility, and 60 points in Spirit] [New System Quest Received! - Primal Maturity Evolution] [Difficulty: A-S Objective: -Reach Level 10 with both the [Herculean Heritage] and the [Golden Thunder Lizard] bloodlines -Initiate System Fusion and fuse the two Bloodlines. Reward: ????] Once again, Aiden could hardly believe the messages that were presented before him. Hidden Milestone? This has once happened to him before, though at that time, the reward wasn''t another task, a quest, but a direct upgrade of some small measure. Though strangely, the Spirit was also included in the requirements despite that skill have not reached any form of sess or visible milestone of any kind, it still mattered in the count. However this quest, this System Quest was a first of its kind. Unlike the others before him, this one had several differences. For first and foremost, there were no penalties added to it, meaning that it was not forced just like the bloodline quests before. Still, though technically optional, it was something that only carried benefits, even though those ''rewards'' were once again not disyed at the time. Aiden was certain that despite not knowing, whatever the fusion of the two bloodlines would bring forth would be the actual reward or some sort of temporary or mayhaps even permanent enhancement, boon to it would be what was currently listed as mystery. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 736 Chapter 736 The main reason for Aiden to focus on improving himself so much wasn''t just to deal with the annoying pests that would suree bother him. Sure, he wanted to be in his best condition to face a literal army of highly skilled spellcasters and devout followers of some evil guardian of the world Yet, he most likely would be able to handle that heat with just his current abilities. After all, if he would forego his current lesser reptilian form and utilize his Ancient Dragon and true Primal self to its peak, he would probably be able to handle not just a bunch of priests, bishops, and archbishops, but maybe even the High Priest himself! Heck, he might even be able to level this entire city to the ground if he put in his all to a massive attack! No. His main reason for putting in so much effort was to send a message, cast a ray of light into all this despair, and make the masses, these poor misguided Draconic Skink souls that this is not the only way to exist, this is not what life is about. They had to understand that it would be okay to smile, it would be okay to hope it would be okay to dream. He needed to first nt this seed into their minds as well as their hearts. Only then could he possibly cultivate it into beautiful blossoming trees and make them stand behind him firmly. Only then could he honestly gain their piety, their reverence.. Their faith. To turn them into worshippers, devout believers of his, and bring them over to the ever growing paradise of his, Haven, he would need to first and foremost make them not fear their oppressors any longer before he could do anything else. He knew that the battle against the church would be inevitable. He knew it right at the moment he decided to step onto the stage and stand against that brute andter on his brother. Against these viinous and violent people, there was no way Aiden was going to swallow things and go against his heart just because of their formidable strength. If he had any unhappiness, he would just go for sweet, direct vengeance furiously to quell that displeasure! The worst-case scenario would be for his true origins and fake persona to be exposed. At the most, he would just raise hell at that time! For the next couple of days, Aiden sat inside the center of his dark room, motionlessly. With an empty mind, he meditated, he was immersed in the system that only he could see. After reaching his first goal and upgrading all of his main attributes to their first milestones he fell into a dilemma. On one hand, he was interested in seeing what possible benefits, improving his newly gained bloodlines could gift him. New forms? New skills? Or something else entirely? However, thinking about it from another angle, and looking at the rewards, they would probably take up the remainder of his allotted time and make him unable to focus on any of his other skills, much less familiarize himself with any new potential gains he could get. At the same time, he would be treading into the unknown as whilst he could guess with a certain degree of assurance that whatever gains he would receive by the system would be worthwhile, he did not know what they were and how helpful they were in showcasing his dominance in the uing battle. In the end, after some careful thinking andmenting Aiden made up his mind and turned his attention to his skills. In the end he focused on a specific group of skills as well as active effects that would make sure his disy of power, his dominance would be even more astounding, more reassuring for the masses. Knowing he would be fighting against spellcasters that utilized mostly spells from the Darker school of the arcane, Aiden''s first focus was to improve his resistance on that regard. He focused all his effort to cultivate System Points and then pool them all into his [Magic Resistance: Dark] effect. He wanted to boost it from its current second level of rank all the way towards its peak and get it evolved into its upgraded version, whatever it may be. By the end of the second day, just as the afternoon was about to give way to the second evening, he finally reached his goal and with great satisfaction and a wide smile spanning across his reptilian face he checked his newest system messages that have just rang inside his mind. [Congrattions! Your active effect: Magic Resistance: Dark (Level 2) has ranked up! The new rank: Level 3!] [Congrattions! Your active effect: Magic Resistance: Dark (Level 3) has ranked up! The new rank: Level 4!] [Congrattions! Your active effect: Magic Resistance: Dark (Level 4) has ranked up! The new rank: Level 5!] . .. [Congrattions! Your active effect: Magic Resistance: Dark (Level 9) has ranked up! The new rank: Level 10!] [Congrattions! Your active effect: Magic Resistance: Dark (Level 10) has ranked up! It has reached its perfected state, and have been upgraded: The new effect [Lesser Magic Immunity: Dark (Level 1)] has been created and reced it!] Not so surprisingly the upgraded version of his Dark Magic Resistance have turned into a lesser form ofplete immunity. Though strangely, it still had ranks, however from what Aiden could make out from the system as well as Enya''s guidance the ranks wouldn''t give any meaningful benefit and was more of a measure of his affinity, his culminated knowledge and experience on the matter. Once he reached a certain level of understanding, the system would mark it with an increase in level. As such, though it had levels, the system did not allow any more System Points to be invested into it. ,m The only way to increase it would be its gradual increase in understanding. Together with his improved physique and natural resilienceing from his Primal blood, Aiden was more than ready to handle a group of overzealous mob now. As long as his massive pool of [Soul Power] resource allowed it, he was certain he could handle anything thrown at him. After handling the matter of defence, Aiden gradually shifted his attention on increasing his offensive capabilities. For this, he had to consider two routes, two different paths to take, each with their own potential benefits as well as consequences. Out of the two, the first had the biggest potential gain by far, but at the same time, the consequences would be also just as dire. Once found out, he would be judged by the masses and it could even jeopardize everything he had done for this race so far. Besides those few that have already sworn allegiance to him, the rest could turn away from and cast him out Especially if his inkling about the Ancient One was true, then this could potentially ruin everything --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 737 Chapter 737 In the end, Aiden made up his mind and focused all his efforts as well as remaining time on improving his offensive capabilities. As he ended his longest meditation session for quite some time he sighed with relief. He couldn''t help but feel proud and satisfied as he nced over at his System''s Status Screen. His gains were quite substantial this time around, with him gaining multiple great benefits. His details looked as follows: [ *Status* | Lab | Domain | Activities ] [Status Screen ] [ *Main* | Skills | Analysis | Inventory ] [Name: Aiden Vordragon Race: Primal (Evolver) Current Form: Ancient Dragon (Human) Level: 18 Condition: 100% Resource: Soul Power (Level 2) : 1350 SP / 1350 SP System Points: 15000 EXP ****** Attributes: Might: 50 Agility: 50 Spirit: 61 ****** Bloodlines: Herculean Heritage (Level 1) - Current Progression: Herculean Physique, Golden Thunder Lizard (Level 1) - Current Progression: Golden Thunder Note: For quicker, faster navigation please use the keywords in the following order: "Status", "Main".] Interestingly, the bloodlines he had awakened while reaching the first major milestone, the first checkpoint in his two physical-oriented attributes were showcased on the main page rather than on the skills section. Though this is somewhat understandable, it still came as a rather wee surprise to Aiden. After acknowledging the first screen, he shifted his attention to the changes of his second page, to the skills tab. [ *Status* | Lab | Domain | Activities ] [Status Screen ] [ Main | *Skills* | Analysis | Inventory ] [Name: Aiden Vordragon ****** Innates: Dragon''s Wrath (Level 3), King''s Grip (Level 2), Shapeshifter (Level 4), *Mystic Martial Arts (Level 4->9), Dark Gaze (Level 5) Skills: Primal Absorb (Level 10), Predator of Land (Level 1), Underwater Breathing (-), Swimming (-), Martial Arts Master (Level 1), Meditation (-), Weapon Mastery (Level 5), Soul Absorption (-), Primal Restoration (Level 1), Dark Essence (Level 1), Aquatic Predator (Level 1), Sword Mastery: Profound Strike, Divinity: Basic (Level 3), Draconic Form: Flight (-), Speechcraft (Level 9), General''s Command (Level 9), Primal Wrath (Level 2), Draconic Skink Form: Fiery Breath (-) Language Skills: Common, Goblin, Orcish, Reptilian ****** Effects: Physical Resistance (Level 8), Fall Resistance (Level 7), Magic Resistane: Water (Level 4), Poison Resistance (Level 6), Mental Resistance (Level 8), Magic Resistance: Dark (Level 10)-> Lesser Magic Immunity: Dark (Level 1), Magic Resistance: Fire (Level 2) ****** Avable Forms: Mushroom Bug - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%), Cave Viper - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%), Draconic Skink - Clean - Tier 1 (Mastery: 100%), Worgen - Mutated - Tier 2 (Mastery: 100%), Mountain Orc - Clean - Tier 2 (Mastery: 50%), Sahuagin Champion - Clean - Tier 2 (Mastery: 10%), Ancient Dragon/Human - Clean - Tier 3 (Mastery: 25%), Primal Goblin Dragonlord - Clean - Tier 3 - (Mastery: 25%)] Though he ultimately failed to reach the perfected state with his innate [Mystic Martial Arts] skill despite focusing all of his attention in thest one and a half day and night of focused cultivation, Aiden was still satisfied with the results. Though it was shown as level 9, the skill was just before its breakthrough. He only needed just a bit more push, more focus on it and it would have reached into its perfected,pleted state and be ready for a potential skill evolution. He also gained a lot of new insight into the intricacies and deeper meaning of how the technique worked at its core. His ability to infuse his resource, his [Soul Power] into each of his strikes, his swings, kicks, and thrusts have reached an entirely different realm. What before, took him some conscious effort and energy, would now almost be a passive ability. With Soul Power constantly coursing inside his body, enriching his physique with eachpleted cycle, Aiden no longer needed to deliberately focus his will to empower his attacks. Every attack, every offensive and even defensive reaction Aiden would now take would automatically use his ever-growing resource pool of [Soul Power], elevating hisbat power to the top of what would be normally capable of not just this normally rather fragile species, but most likely any other. With his strength and speed already at the peak of what most mortals would normally ept, Aiden''sbat power now reached a truly terrifying level. Aiden also felt that whilst he failed to reach the breakthrough, with a bit more hands-on experience, his [Mystic Martial Arts] could actually reach the perfected state without him spending any more points on it. In any case, his newly upgraded innate skillbined together with his newly evolved Lesser Magic Immunity to the Dark school of magic which would most likely be the main repertoire of the church''s priesthood as well as his gargantuan attribute points were nothing to scoff at. Even before processing all these gains and starting his three day closed door meditation session, Aiden had a ratherrge chance of oveing the uing storm. Now, however, Aiden felt that even if the entire army of priests, bishops, and archbishops led by none other than the High Priest woulde knocking at his door, he could send them packing with rtive ease. Though he could not be sure of exactly what power the fabled High Priest held, or what secret cards he kept for the worst-case scenarios, Aiden still felt rather confident. Worst case scenario he still had a trump card of his own, that whilst would cause him a severe bacsh and would be rather kept for his inevitable sh with the Ancient One,ter on, he could still use thest charge of the [Blessing of Ioris] he had been gifted upon his transmigration. He still hasn''t used thest charge as after knowing what the skill was truly capable of, he didn''t want to squander it and felt that it was his best trump card in the most dire of situations. After processing all his gains, Aiden was ready to leave. Just as he was about to close down the system''s screen and stand up, Enya''s voice came ringing inside his mind in the next moment. ''[Aiden, before you return to reality and leave the room, you might want to check one more section. You may be pleasantly surprised]'' She teased with a mischievous tone. ''Hmm?'' Not sure what she could have possibly meant, Aiden clicked on the third tab under the Status section, only to turn silent with shock the next moment. [ *Status* | Lab | Domain | Activities ] [Status Screen ] [ Main | Skills | *Analysis* | Inventory ] [Name: Aiden Vordragon Rune Magic - Current Progress: 97%, Alchemy (Basic) - Current Progress: 62% -> 75%, Sword Mastery - Current Progress: 20% -> 50% , Wind Magic - Current Progress: 10% -> 25%, Spirit Magic - Current Progress: 1% -> 9%, *Ancient Language - Demonic : Current Progress: 1%] ''Huh?! Demonic Language? When did I'' Aiden was shocked to see the veryst row suddenly pop up seemingly out of absolutely nowhere. Though its progress was nearly non-existent with that 1%, what it represented was incredible. Aiden was confused and couldn''t remember as to where exactly did he exactlye in contact with that ancientnguage before? --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! ? nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 738 Chapter 738 On the dawn of the fourth day, Vyndridolth was suddenly jolted awake from her slumber when suddenly the stone door that was closed for thest couple of days was suddenly moved. As therge, roughly carved stone b was pushed away, she gasped in surprise as her gazended on the firm, handsome young-looking draconic skink man standing in the door frame. If he wouldn''t have been wearing the same patched light-grey robed tunic with therge hood that was currently pushed down to the back, she would have probably grown confused at who this stranger could possibly be. Whilst Aiden already had a rather pleasant-looking handsome face and perfect figure, the figure before her wasn''t evenparable. His facial features were even more refined, chiseled to perfection almost. Whilst his exotic,rge golden eyes were still the same however everything seemed to be brand new. The young man seemed to be almost an entire inch taller than before these four days of closed-door session. Whilst his body was hard to make out, thanks to therge, ugly robe he was wearing, from the much wider and sturdier shoulder the young man had, as well as the thick, strong tail that gently rested on the ground behind his figure, Vyndridolth was certain that the man gained quite a bit of weight in terms of muscles. Also, the young man had a very strong presence, as if an invisible aura, an embrace of an unknown domain that''s sole purpose was to protect its newfound host, newly epted master. Whilst it seemed that the young man wasn''t doing it consciously, it was all the more shocking. Vyndridolth could feel that his Young Master didn''t just simply got stronger, but he had reached a realm, a stage that even she felt a strange, yet instinctual reaction towards: she felt fear. A primordial sense, that all the bottom dwellers of the reptilian society inherited. It was their inborn trait, an ''innate skill'' so to say. Every skink had a strong dormant [Survival Instict] skill that rmed them whenever they faced a danger that could potentially cause great and even fatal harm. A skill that Vyndridolth haven''t felt for so long, that she even forgot about it. Not even when she and her siblings were betrayed by their traitorous elder brother. Even then, her senses weren''t sending such strong danger signals. Looking at the mature ex-guardian skinkdy standing before him, looking at all startled, shocked and even confused, Aiden couldn''t help but sh a satisfied looking smile. This reaction was exactly what he expected. As the time passed, the tension in Ugburg City got heavier and heavier, turning almost palpable by the end of the fourth day. Imaginary auspicious, dark clouds shrouded the city, the winds of a strong storm could be felt all around. Some could even feel that instead of the dark, solid cavern wall residing above them, they were instead looking at the skies that were painted ink ck with the constantly changing, evolving and shifting rapidly and rumbling arrogantly. The air was filled with a damp scent indicating the arrival of a thunderstorm! A perfectly retained residence stood at the east side of Ugburg. At the entrance, a handsome, slick and tall reptilian man in luxurious robes stood with hands behind his back, looking at the distance with a slightly raised chin. His eyes were clear, resembling ss. A guard wearing dark metallic armor hurriedly sped over from the distance. He seemed agitated, and rmed, rushing directly towards the handsome man. "[Reptilian] Greetings, Captain Pian." The guard arrived before the luxuriously-robed man and bowed slightly, greeting with politeness and reverence. "[Reptilian] We have received news from the High Temple! The Extermination Force have been called together and are preparing as we speak!" "[Reptilian] Hmm. Alright. Go on." The luxuriously-robed man replied indifferently, still gazing at the distance. The guard continued. "[Reptilian] We have also heard that the representatives of the Azure Myst Sect were on the move and were most likely up to something. Their leader, the Young Master Tai-Liu was seen conversing with the mysterious stranger before. Later they were seen together with that filthy mutant crimson-scale. They were escorted to their mansion, but we do not know any specifics." "[Reptilian] Hmm" Extending his palm, the luxuriously-robed man looked at his long, slender fingers with a mocking expression as he said indifferently. "The church, now that their power was publicly questioned and their representative force, the Temple Guards were humiliated before everyone, it was not even a question that they would act like crazed beasts and would retaliate with overwhelming force. Anyone who offends them at a time like this is only asking for it." "[Reptilian] Our aim is the Ancient Ruins below the church''s High Temple. There''s no need for us to waste our strength here. That stranger whatever his name is is nothing more than an overly confident ant that is vastly overestimating his own strength." At the same time, a simr event was ying out on the West side of Ugburg. In a dark room, a ck-robed man sat at the center with a huge golden saber in his hands. A sharp spear made out of ivory, faintly glowing bones wereid across his knees horizontally. Although his eyes were shut, there was a vicious, murderous aura around him. "[Reptilian] Dark Lord, the church is preparing for war. They are getting ready to send out their Extermination Force!" "[Reptilian] Got it." The ck-robed cultivator replied casually without opening his eyes. Almost at the same time, all around the city, and even in the outskirts of it, the many gathered forces, the numerous factions that came with the very same goal in mind caught wind of the news. Their countless gazes watched the long empty streets restlessly. Before long, a storm poured and lightning shed in the skies, interweaving like a web that threatened to engulf the ancient city! The storm was heavy and fierce. In the blink of an eye, the light grey robe that Aiden was wearing was drenched. Even so, he continued sitting where he was, upright with his eyes closed. He had a calm expression, as though he was indifferent towards everything. Not far away, Tai-Liu looked at the mysterious, enigmatic figure with a dazed expression. A momentter, she snapped out of her stupor and nced askance. "Uncle, do you think he can survive this ordeal?" "Hard to tell." The elderly uncle shook his head. "Putting the Archbishops aside just the dozens of Priest they have with them are enough to tear that young man apart. It would be a miracle if he could survive" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: 739 Chapter 739 Back on the long, empty main streets of Ugburg. The strange rain that suddenly emerged as if answering the dreary, damp atmosphere of its residents was growing heavier and the wind gusted with even more intensity as time passed on. In that storm, the sounds of hooves could be heard from far away, intensifying in volume and rity! Gradually the hooves sounded like thunder. Even the storm could not cover up the surging killing intenting from the far end of the long street! In the distance, the blurry silhouette of three figures appeared amidst the misty rain approaching from far afar. They were the 3 remaining archbishops after the betrayal of their fourth brethren. The one that Aiden was still ''wearing''. The mighty, ferocious beasts that all three of them rode on let out heavy panting sounds. With bloodshot eyes, they gave off a feral aura as they red at the street corner keenly. Behind the three of them was arge army of mounted riders,ing with ferocity! At a nce, it looked as if there was no end to their swarm! As if instead of some dozens, they were already in the thousands! A thousand fierce, and ferocious zealots and war priests This was a force not to be underestimated, even in the entire underground realm of this barren world, let alone in Ugburg City! In reality, the other top factions were just as powerful if not even stronger than this present force. Though their current expeditionary force may not be able to contend with the size of such an army, their main forces were much stronger than them. However, despite that none would have wanted to bring such trouble upon itself. Not when the Ancient Burial Grounds would soon be opened. They needed their force prime and rested, ready to face the dangers as well as each other. As such, whilst none of them really epted the rule of the High Priest and the church, no one was willing to provoke them either, lest their strength was weakened for the contention of the uing inevitable battle royaleter on. At the street corner, Aiden was long drenched. His grey hood provided him with an even more miserable outward appearance since he looked absolutely wretched. He watched silently, with a neutral expression on his face that the tide of darkness slowly, steadily marched closer to him. The three archbishops riding at the helm were closing in and Aiden could even sense the stenching forth from the mouths of their three especially fearsome-looking Carnosaurs. Yet, Aiden did not move an inch, he remained standing impassively in the middle of the road, being the lone obstruction to their path. Suddenly, when the three Archbishops entered the vicinity of around a hundred feet, Aiden opened his eyes and a gigantic, dark de suddenly appeared in his hands out of nowhere. A fearsome ebony de, that radiated a power and pressure that none had ever experienced before! Aiden bent his knees slightly and grabbed the dragonhead-shaped hilt of the de with both of his hands. In the next instant, he suddenly bolted, his figure blurred and vanished from sight only to draw a greyish-ck trail as it charged forth with reckless abandon. A faint, colorless light lit up around Aiden''s hand as he lifted the de raising it ever so slightly sideways to his head, getting ready for an attack. As the mysterious stranger they have been hearing about suddenly vanished, Elder Lian suddenly felt a sense of uneasiness. The next moment, a cold sh appeared before him, almost closing in! The speed of the dark de was too fast for any ordinary warrior. Even the elites of the Temple Guards would find themselves hard to resist before such a sudden ambush! However, Elder Lian was nowhere near ''average'', or just an elite. He was one of the strongest powers present within their race. He was an archbishop. His reaction was much faster than ordinary Temple Guards thanks to the many blessings, and boons he was gifted during his long years of service. In a sh, he nted his head sideways. In the next instant, a cold, dark beam brushed by his cheek, cutting a blood wound C it was a close shave! He had done it! He had managed to dodge it! However, before Elder Lian could rx, his eyelids suddenly twitched as he saw something impossible in the corner of his eyes - the dark beam suddenly altered its course and changed trajectory! It aimed at his be! This second, sudden shifted attack was now too close for him to even properly register, he had no chance to react at all! Strike! Elder Lian''s senses were screaming at him at that moment. He felt his life ying out before his eyes. He was extremely lucky to be able to dodge the first attack. However, there was nothing he could do to evade the second one. ng! The second elder, Elder Zhorl who was riding beside Elder Lian was the first to react. In an instant, a long saber appeared in his hand, whilst his arm was already midway in his arch. Dark blue energy, his mana surged swirling around in a visible manner around his arm as it came to the rescue at rapid speeds! With a holler and furious killing intent, Elder Zhorl swung a reverse sh onto the iing attack. The two des rang loudly, and the cold light dissipated in the next instant, thwarting the power behind the sudden second attack. Aiden''s expression finally changed for the first time, showing a slight frown under the weather-beaten hood. Whilst his attack seemed simplistic, and rather easy for the untrained eye to follow, in reality, there were countless mysteries etched within. It was extremely difficult if one wanted to block it. It was not just a test of one''s eyesight and reaction speed, but also their uracy as well as the timing of striking with the saber. It required such precision, such skills that normally shouldn''t be possible to anybody. It should have been beyond what creatures devoid of any divine essence should be capable of. Given Aiden''s current powers, his strength, and the fact that he was wielding his iconic de, Rygintarth, that strike was extremely powerful and even the elite captains of the Temple Guards would not be able to deal with it! However, for this Elder Zhorl, a supposed archbishop of the church was able to take it on with ease ande out of the attackpletely fine, unscathed! At that point, Aiden understood the reason why the church was truly considered a terrifying force, why with all the discord, and dissonance he had experienced, none dared to stand up against them. They were simply monsters --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 740 Chapter 740 Be it in terms of reaction, speed, or even strength, these creatures were beyond the limits of what should be normal not just for their race, but probably above the entire reptilian hierarchy as well. Besides a few giant-, apex predators, not many in the wider family of simr and familiar races could possibly contend with them. Their bodies, from the outside, weren''t as overly refined, as even the Temple Guards. They were priests, donning wide and expensive-looking satin robes. Yet, they had abundant mana in their bodies. Combined with the boons they were provided with, in exchange for their piety and service from their patron god, -or in our case, Guardian-, no ordinary of even Elite Temple Guard could possibly match up with them. This was the true reason they were a terrifying force and stood above all other groups and factions amongst the other lizardkin. Still, in reality, Elder Zhorl, the de facto leader of the current army was the one feeling shocked at the previous exchange. Even though he had defended against the attacks, his palm felt like it was about to split and his wrist was a little numb! What did that mean? It meant that the power behind that strike was enough to threaten him! Suddenly, Elder Zhorl realized that it was no wonder why Captain Korgoth had died together with his team and brother. Before he was finished with his thought, the third attack arrived right after the second! Yet, that wasn''t the end of it, even as Elder Zhorl blocked one, blows, strikes came at a rapid flurry, one flying right after one another! In just the span of a few seconds twelve fierce, equally monstrous attacks enveloped the three archbishops,s leading the retribution force. The storm poured, and a rain of darkness was iing! Elder Loran and Elder Zhorl''s expressions changed starkly and they no longer bothered to save Elder Lian as they scurried to protect themselves. Thanks to Elder Zhorl''s defense of the previous strike, Elder Lian managed to catch some breathing space. He whipped out a saber with his left hand and crushed a dark crystal with his right. In the next moment, as the protective barrier was formed, the cold beam arrived. *Strike!* Cracks spread out on the surface of the protection barrier C it was almost broken apart by a single strike! "[Reptilian] Eh?!" Elder Lian''s expression changed. The killing power of that single attack was so terrifying! The dark crystal was one of the top-tier protection artifacts of the church, a treasured and incredibly precious treasure and usually could defend against a full-powered attack of any archbishop-level attack and could still not break! Yet, it was destroyed by a single attacking from this fierce, mysterious stranger! Before Elder Lian could calm down another sh of dark beam shot through the misty rain and approached. By now, Elder Liam had nowhere to dodge with his protection artifact all used up. The only thing he could do was to grip his saber with both hands and sh forward with all his might. Only by doing this, he could hope to have a sliver of a chance to escape from certain death. *ng!* When the saber collided with the ebony de, sparks flew everywhere and the archbishop''s saber was actually repelled! The cold dark light paused for a moment before it pierced straight through Elder Lian''s chest, causing a bloodied tip to exit out from the back. Elder Lian fell from his carnosaur mount and his eyes gradually dimmed as his vital essence rapidly escaped, and left his body. The entire process of Aiden opening his eyes, withdrawing Rygintarth and loading it happened almost at the same time. He had not attacked, nor did he show any aggressive intent until the church force have arrived within a suitable distance. He wanted to fully utilize that short time frame of the element of surprise. If he were to attack from too far, the enemy could potentially react in time and bring up countermeasures, and as such the impact of his sudden strikes would be greatly diminished. He hoped to cull one of the heads of this massive hydra and bring a big enough shock not just to the church, as well as the Temple Guards, but also to the citizens and various factions residing currently in Ugburg. He wanted to let them know the situation was no longer hopeless. He wanted to let them know, that the light of hope, a possible new future have finally arrived. All the residents hiding behind the shadows, inside the buildings, and all around who saw the sudden exchange of blows were secretly shocked. No matter who looked at it, they all held a simr thought: If they were in the ce of the demised Elder Lian, it would be just as difficult if not impossible for them to defend against one or two such powerful strikes, much less more than a dozen of them! Not far away, Tang Liu''s elderly guardian, her Uncle nodded. "I''ve got to say that this person''s trump cards are very strong and can even threaten the strongest warriors that the Guards can muster. However, his ws are obvious too." The attacks were simplistic, from the outside they looked like nothing more than the temper tantrum of a powerful creature. Theyck that refined look of a highly graded skill or any meaningful technique. Even though this was just a false conjecture made from a distance, it was something that many others have reached. They believed that if they removed the element of surprise from the mysterious stranger''s attacks it wouldn''t be impossible to defend against it. Even more so, those skilled with the art of swords believed that if he were the one facing these attacks without being caught off guard, he would be able to evene up with a proper counterattack for it also! After the momentary silence caused by the shocking, fatal result of the sudden ambush, the time that seemed to have paused ever so briefly, has suddenly began to run at its usual speed again. "[Reptilian] HOW DARE YOU?! DIE YOU MONGREL!" Elder Loran was the first to arrive as he wielded a massive copper spear with a face on its tip and shone with a bright colorless light in his hands. It looked a sacred, holy weapon, used to purge hordes of demonic taint and not just a single individual. With a hideous, angry look on his face, the old man swung his huge weapon towards Aiden! The copper spear was so powerful that rain could not even fall through its arc of attack! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 741 Chapter 741 "[Reptilian] HOW DARE YOU?! DIE YOU MONGREL!" Elder Loran was the first to arrive as he wielded a massive copper spear with a face on its tip and shone with a bright colorless light in his hands. It looked like a sacred, holy weapon, used to purge hordes of demonic taint and not just a single individual. With a hideous, angry look on his face, the old man swung his huge weapon towards Aiden! The copper spear was so powerful that rain could not even fall through its arc of attack! Faint, colorless light shone on the surface of Elder Loran''s body, engulfing his robes, and his entire being after a few short seconds. He looked like a divine being, a figure that has transcended its mortal coils and has be an entity of pure mana. The elderly uncle sighed as he looked at this scene. "[Reptilian] That boy sure is unlucky. Those Archbishops are in an entirely different ss altogether. I didn''t know that Elder Loran have advanced his power to such a degree He is probably closer to the High Priest than we have thought." Standing behind Tai Liu was a younger looking skink with a haughty, arrogant expression. He crossed his arms and sneered disdainfully. "[Reptilian] You are both cing that nobody to a high pedestal. He is nobodypared to the Archbishop! I bet he can''t evenst 10 breaths, much less carve out a victory!" "I wouldn''t be so sure of it." Tai Liu frowned. He sighed ignoring the ignorant fool standing along with them and turned his attention back on the situation at the long street. *ng!* The very moment Elder Loran struck, Aiden nted his feet firmly on the ground and raised his dark, ebony saber before himself. The copper spear wasn''t your average weapon, it was considered a special artifact of the church. While it wasn''t as mobile, and easy to handle as most others, its advantage was in its indomitable might. Furthermore, the features on its face were extremely life-like, resembling an enraged predator, a Wild Carnosaur with formidable might that rattled one''s heart. During a fight, warriors will tend to meet one another''s gaze every now and then. As long as they were slightly distracted and lost focus in their strength, they would practically be smashed to a pulp, without even a corpse left! Aiden was focused, his expression stern, he was churning his inner energy, his [Soul Power] using his full might, keeping his senses at their peak ever since he struck the first time. He didn''t need to only survive this ordeal. No. He needed to WIN, he needed to dominate and possibly destroy this group of powerhouses to send a firm message not just to the High Priest, but to everyone present. But right now, Elder Lorann had rushed over. This was the time when Aiden had just exhausted his strength and had yet to recover C all he could do was raise Rygintarth, the dark de to defend it in front of himself passively. *ng!* An ear-piercing sound of metal shing echoed when the copper spear collided against Aiden''s de. Aiden''s body trembled and he staggered several steps back. Whilst his expression remained impassive, he was inwardly shocked at such a disy of powering from this elderly draconic skink! Was this his own power, or the effects of being under the control of that so-called ''Ancient One''? Right after, Elder Zhorl did not give Aiden any breathing room and charged over on the wild beast that he was riding on. He shed his saber horizontally, aimed at the mysterious stranger''s throat. If possible he wouldn''t have minded if he could separate that annoying, disrespectful head from his useless body in one fell swoop. *ng!* Yet again the sound of metal hitting metal rang throughout the strange thunderstorm. Once again, Aiden''s body shook as though he was struck by an irresistible force. His body retreated and his feet dug through the ground, opening up two ravines that were filled with rainwater instantly. "The difference in strength is too great. He''s not a match for them at all." "That''s right. That person is going to die instantly under the might of the High Priest''s execution force!" "He is already at his limit just facing the two of them, much less the entire army!" "I reckon that his internal organs are probably already ruptured after receiving those huge blows from the two archbishops! He is probably standing on hisst legs, and just putting on a strong front for all the spectators!" Both sides had only exchanged a few blows but it was enough to give many hints about the situation. From the outside, the situation didn''t look too favorable for the strange, mysterious stranger. Some may have felt glee to see him finally struggle for once, whilst others, whom he had already touched with his actions, have felt bad for the man. They perhaps even wished to step up and help him, only to struggle to actually act on it. Instead, they kept in their seats and hoped for a miracle to happen. For their newfound hero, unknown and unnamed he may be to somehow find a way to survive, to show them that there truly was another path forward. No matter how hard it may be, they just needed a pioneer to show the way. Still, there was one thing that all of those watching failed to understand. Whilst it may have seemed that Aiden was at a huge disadvantage and his defeat was already a done deal the situation was vastly different if one would have looked a bit deeper below the surface. In reality, it was only because his energy had run out due to the consecutive dozen strikes he was looking so disheveled. His enemies had merely seized the opportunity while he was weak to strike, creating that false appearance of an advantage. In fact, the moment he received the second attack from Elder Zhorl, Aiden''s primordial killing intent had already surged. He did not want to unleash hell right away, but he could barely hold back any longer. He almost could not contain all the shackled divine powers in his body and wanted to retaliate by bursting forth with his full power to crush these ants to dust! Yet, he did not do so. He did not want to reveal any of these secrets, and wanted to purely focus on his Draconic Skink form as he kept battling on. Only this way could he truly prove his point and affect the masses. Only this way could he fight against the decades-long oppression and pierce through this thick canopy of clouds that weighed over this poor, misbegotten and maltreated race. Only this way could he truly free their enved minds. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 742 Chapter 742 "[Reptilian] Kill him! Charge!" Elder Zhorl rode on the vicious carnosaur beast with a venomous gaze that shone with a cruel glint. Waving his arms, he flew into the air and lunged toward Aiden. "Roar!" "Growl!" On the ground, the three feral tamed mounts, the fearsome carnosaur trio opened their mouths and let out deafening roars! All three of them were ancient remnant beasts who survived the apocalypse and emanated boundless life essence. With massive bodies and sharp ws, they had already grown beyond their species'' normal limits. They were all vicious, ferocious, and powerful beasts. Splitting into three directions, the three ancient remnant beasts charged toward the mysterious hooded stranger, Aiden. It was especially so for the now-dead Elder Lian''s carnosaur mount. After witnessing its owner struck to death by this gray-robed stranger, the only thing it wanted to do right now was to rip this man''s throat into pieces! In midair, Elder Zhorl wielded his saber and descended from the skies along with Elder Loran and his copper spear. The hundreds-strong force of the church had already charged forward, surrounding the cepletely, and leaving Aiden with no room to escape! "[Reptilian] Kill him! Avenge the Archbishop!" The priests and zealots chanted furiously and attacked. Some of them held short swords or maces, some of them released their magical arts and others wielded sabers and axes When they saw that, the spectators shook their heads and sighed to themselves. Even legacy disciples of the strongest of factions such as Azure Myst Sect or the Malevolent Fiend Cult would not be able to escape an attack such as this,pletely unscathed, let alone a singr, unknown, raggedy robed stranger such as Aiden. Tai Liu''s gaze was burning and fixed on Aiden the entire time. To her surprise, she could not spot the slightest bit of panic or fear on Aiden''s face. In fact, there was a vague trace of excitement in those bright eyes of his! Aiden''s lips were curled slightly, showing a faint smirk. He was smiling! ''[Reptilian] Just who is that man? What are his secrets? What is his goal? Why did hee?'' Tai Liu frowned slightly. She truly could not understand how that peculiar figure, Aiden could smile in such a deadly situation! "[Reptilian] Ahhahaha! Oh my!" Suddenly, Aidenughed into the skies, enunciating three resounding sybles. After hisugh, the rain around him seemed to be repelled by an invisible force as the droplets spilled outwards. The surrounding zealots and priests were shocked C the voice seemed to be rattling their minds, causing their visions to blur! Everyone''s hands trembled. At that moment, Aiden''s eyes lit up and his figure shed. Before elder Zhorl and Elder Loran could have the chance to descend, he charged toward the three ancient remnant beasts. In that pouring rain, Aiden left behind a series of afterimages that lingered for a brief moment before vanishing in the raindrops. "Even three primitive beasts have the guts and are thinking of taking my life?" Roaring intoughter like a crazed madman, Aiden did not hold back the disdain in his eyes as his [Soul Power] frantically churned, letting out the sound of the tsunami, thunder, and dragons that caused everyone to shiver! Against the three iing ancient remnant beasts, Aiden shed in reverse. The gigantic saber''s blood beam expanded, engulfing the two other wild beasts within it. Right after, Aiden strode forward and mmed down, using his left fist as a seal and punching onto the third one, the ex-Elder Lian''s mount''s head. The dark-skinned carnosaur''s eyes shone with violence and it did not retreat nor dodge. Instead, it reached out at Aiden''s throat with its sharp ws! In truth, the dark-skinned carnosaur was much bigger than Aiden in size. It looked much more ferocious and felt stronger to the untrained eye. Under normal circumstances, before Aiden could even punch the dark-skinned carnosaur, thetter''s ws would have already ripped his throat apart. The dark-skinned carnosaur''s eyes shone with excitement. It could visualize the human before it, being shredded by its ws. All of a sudden! A change urred on the battlefield! The instant the dark skinned carnosaur lunged forward, Aiden''s bones and tendons sounded together. His tendons expanded and contracted like a bowstring and echoed with loud vibrating sounds. *Pang!* *Pang!* *Pang!* *Pang!* Aiden''s arm expanded rapidly as he struck first, his fist transforming into a green-ck seal thatnded heavily onto the head of the dark skinned carnosaur. The sound of bones cracking could be heard. These ancient beasts, nurtured in the wild, and survived through the many ordeals and dangers that these dying world had constantly thrown at them, were known of their frontal charges, their direct assaults and onughts. In other words, the head of a wolf was the toughest part of its body! But right now, the head of the dark skinned carnosaur, an ancient remnant beast, was crushed by a single punch from the gray robed mysterious stranger. Its brain juice sttered as it gave a final tragic shriek before dying on the spot! If the dark skinned carnosaur was said to have a skull made of bronze and iron bones, Aiden''s fist would be equivalent to a diamond that was indestructible and almighty! After killing the wild beast with a single, powerful shocking punch, Aiden did not waste too much time on its corpse. He flung his arm and turned to face the remaining two ancient beasts whilst the dark carcass rapidly liquified and fused with the grey robed figure''s silhouette visible to everyone watching. "[Reptilian] W-what is he doing? What did he do to that beast?!" "[Reptilian] I-is that normal?!" Aiden ignored thements, he turned his attention to the snarling pair of survivor beasts ahead of him. His ebony de glimmered ominously under the heavy downpour of mystical rain. At this moment, the attacks of the other opponents have arrived. The two archbishops that post the greatest threat to Aiden, Elder Zhorl and Elder Loran, were charging forth once again with their respective weapons. A bloody battle had eruptedpletely! *ng!* *ng!* Aiden sneered as he faced the attack at all his lonesome. He wasn''t showing any fear, and was ready to shred everyone around him to pieces! Even though he was constrained by the limitations he have set for this showcase, he wasn''t worried at all. He was ready to face these annoying pests and show the church, as well as the factions and all the innocent residents that a new era was upon them and that they had to finally make that choice and take a side. The time to keep to themselves and stand by the sidelines has passed! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 743 Chapter 743 Aiden''s figure shed across the battlefield as he weaved between the concentrated attacks, dodging the strikes of the two remaining archbishops, Elder Zhorl and Elder Loran. A streak of greyish smear barged right into the thick crowd of the attacking zealots. He wielded the dark ebony de of Rygintarth and cleaved around him without mercy. *Swoosh!* *sh!* Aiden''s attacks were simplistic to the outside view. Each attack was a single long sh, a wide arched strike, its path clearly defined. Yet, despite his attacks'' primordial, wild, and unfettered nature they carried deep profound mysteries within them. His strength was unparalleled, he had a deep understanding of his own de. Coupled with the incredible sharpness and the heavy weight of the ebony de, he overwhelmed every single location he was at! The bodies of those priests and zealots could not withstand the blood beam of hisrge sword C anyone that the thirsty Rygintarth touched was sliced in two halves with fresh blood pouring everywhere. Even if there were those lucky few who could barely, withstand the might of the dark de thanks to their own armaments, they were sent flying by the tremendous force transmitted by the sharp de and their organs were ruptured before they evennded! *ng!* *ng!* Swinging his fierce de, Aiden shed against the two archbishops, Elder Zhorl and Elder Loran head-on once more. This time around, Aiden did not budge a single step. Faint golden threads of energy coated his entire being as he howled and dashed forward, shing twice in rapid session. *ng!* *ng!* Elder Zhorl and Elder Loran both activated their inner reserves at the same time. Their mana churned rapidly inside their bodies, formting a faint blueish-azureyer of light around their silhouettes as they resisted Aiden''s attacks. Their expressions did not change and the killing intent in their eyes merely intensified. Swoosh! An evil gust of wind blew. Thest standing beast, the ck-skinned Carnosaur that has just lost its master took advantage of the short window of opportunity, the moment when the raggedy robed stranger was busy fighting the two elder archbishops and lunged forward. His sharp ck ws ripping across the air aimed at Aiden''s back, ready to silently tear into that hateful flesh of his. If the attack connected, Aiden''s heart could be ripped out! Without even turning back, Aiden whipped backward. His arm which was hard as a rock earlier on suddenly turned limp and flexible, like an elephant''s trunk. With a swoosh, it struck the dark-skinned carnosaur on the head. Crack! Crack! Crack! In front of everyone, the dark-skinned carnosaur''s head spun a few rounds around its neck beforeing to a stop C its neck was snappedpletely and it died on the spot! Seizing the opportunity, the second beast has arrived and without giving a chance of respite, bit towards Aiden''s seemingly unprotected neck. Aiden seemed like he had nowhere to run when all of a sudden, a gigantic pair of golden scaled bat-like wings extended behind his back, tearing through the fabric of his robe, shining with a bedazzling ethereal light. A pair ofrge, majestic golden draconic wings pped behind Aiden''s back. He rose into the air without anything beneath his feet in the next moment. At that moment just as the second beast was about to carve into his flesh, he had finally shed all pretenses, he could no longer hold back, lest he would suffer a crushing defeat. Yet, he was still a step too slow. He could rise up quick enough topletely evade the fierce attack. Aiden''s leg was scratched by the wild beast''s ws and a few cuts appeared on his tattered robes with traces of blood vaguely shown beneath. He was injured! Less than a few minutes of time had passed and Aiden was already injured. Furthermore, Aiden''s situation would only turn more dangerous the longer things dragged on! Yet, despite his injury, the onlookers were shocked beyond belief once more. Though the gashing would look nasty, and the crimson drops of blood were nothing to scoff at, if anyone else would have been in the strange figure''s ce not just a single scratch, but their entire legs would have been ripped off from their sockets entirely! However, the stranger was anything but normal. The moment his majestic wings emerged from his back, his figure seemed to have grown tremendously. The previously baggy,rge, oversized robe have been filled up, their figure almost doubled in all aspects of his size, be it height, width or even depth. At that singr moment, Aiden had shed his Draconic Skink form, and activated his [Draconic Heritage] innate ability, transforming into his humanoid dragon battle form in an instant. At the same time his physique were boosted by a huge degree, gaining a tremendous defensive capabilities. At the moment the maddened carnosaur''s ws dug in, it was met with great resistance and it merely left behind a couple of wounds that were neither negligible nor fatal. The muscles on Aiden''s legs shifted and patched both sides of the wounds, stopping the blood flow immediately! The strength of his true battle form was not merely in terms of raw power; his regeneration capabilities that even ancient remnant beasts would covet was what made Aiden so strong in sustained fights! Smacking his lips, Aiden''s eyes had no trace of fear and were instead shining with fervor! The draconic wings pped and Aiden''s speed was at a maximum. Turning into a streak of light, he shot into the crowd and waved his dark de, Rygintarth, causing blood to spray all over the ce! *ng!* *ng!* In a single instant, countless weapons were shattered into pieces. Many figures fell onto the long street one after another, coughing out mouthful of blood with not much longer to live. Swoosh! Elder Loran wielded his copper spear and descended from the skies, crushing towards Aiden''s head with an evil gust of wind. Shadows of swords were still around, flickering coldly C Aiden had not much room to dodge at all. He could only rely on his heightened reflexes and mastery over his artifact de to guard his surroundings. Taking a deep breath of air, Aiden turned around sharply and shed upwards! ng! The sound of metal nging echoed deafeningly. Even the many zealots in the surroundings felt their ears hurt from the sound, let alone Aiden who was in the center of everything. Aiden''s body shuddered and the stone b beneath his feet shattered. Both his legs sank into the ground and he seemed much shorter all of a sudden. This time round, it was clear that Aiden was severely disadvantaged. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 744 Chapter 744 In reality, if it was a one-on-one battle, with Aiden''s strength he wouldn''t be in such a position even if he were facing more opponents of simr or even stronger power levels. By unleashing his full power and fully activating his [Draconic Heritage] as well as fully utilizing his growing divine powers Aiden could crush these opponents with ease. However, apart from the annoying Elder Loran, Aiden was also surrounded by a literal army of temple zealous war priests, an ancient fierce beast, and another powerful elder archbishop as well! Also, at the same time, knowing that there were many eyes cast on them, he did not want to reveal all of his trump cards either. Under such circumstances, it was already extremely fortunate that Aiden was able to hold out. Right now, without shedding all pretenses and unleashing his full strength, Aiden''s strength was only enough to match Elder Loran and possibly, Elder Zhorl. However, he was definitely disadvantaged by the addition of so many little flies attacking him continuously. *Swash!* A cold sh of light shot over. Aiden merely felt his vision blur and he could not identify where Elder Zhorl''s de was. He struck with an extremely advanced de technique. If he were to actively utilize his divine source, Aiden would be able to see the peculiarities of the majestic attack, he would be able to see the countless afterimages, and theyer of illusion hiding the truth about where the crafty Elder''s de truly was at. But right now, Aiden knew nothing about these techniques and he could only retreat in the face of that attack. That single retreat caused many openings in Aiden''s original defense to be exposed. At this moment when he was surrounded by so many opponents and his abilities were severely limited each mistake could be hisst. The pouring rain resembled the myriad of attacks C even if Aiden could sense them, he could not avoid everything. The small street was so crowded and intense that it was asphyxiating! Although he managed to dodge Elder Loran''s fatal attack, a few more wounds appeared on Aiden''s body in the blink of an eye as his blood was washed away by the rain. "[Reptilian] Hmmm he won''t be able to hold on for much longer if this goes on." "[Reptilian] Judging by his actions so far, that stranger is most likely a seasoned martial expert. He must have trained his body, and built up his strength as well as his speed to such impossible degree. A man like him will definitely turn weaker as he loses more blood. His situation''s only going to get worse." "[Reptilian] What a pity. That man truly does have the strength to go against the elite force of the High Priest''s forces, sigh." Tai-Liu was motionless in the face of the remarks of the crowd, merely looking slightly worried. Although she hid it well, the elderly figure, the faithful protector uncle standing by her side could see through the thin veil she cast upon her face. He could feel all her worry as she gazed at the growing pile of corpsesid around the strange raggedy robed stranger Aiden''s feet. Despite the fact that he was being held up by two of the most powerful forces the church could muster up, two full fledged archbishops and a literal bombardment of what probably more than a hundred strong warpriests, Aiden still managed to kill off more and more of their numbers with his terrifying meleebat strength! His dark gray robes were almostpletely stained to a deep shade of crimson by this point. "[Reptilian] Outsider! Be wise, and surrender now and I might just let you die with your corpse intact!" Elder''s voice sinister voice resounded. "[Reptilian] Oh really? AHAHAHAHA!" Aiden burst intoughter hearing that sneering remark. "Old man let me tell you. Even if you surrender now, I won''t leave you with a full corpse! I''m definitely going to chop your head off and drink your blood tonight!" "[Reptilian] You ignorant peasant! I''m going to mince you as revenge for my brother!" Elder Loran roared with rage. "[Reptilian] Kill him!" "[Reptilian] Kill him!" "[Reptilian] Tear him to shreds! Offer his flesh to the High Priest!" The zealots'' eyes were bloodshot as they continued to swarm in. As time passed, the number of injuries on Aiden''s body increased; some of them had split open once more after healing up. The long street was dyed red with blood. Even the pouring rain could not wash away all the blood on the stone bs. To everyone, Aiden was already sluggish right now. He was no longer as agile as he was earlier and his swings were gradually losing more and more power as the fight continued on. He was clearly exhausted. "[Aiden, if this continues, you will lose yourst chance! You have to stop this pretense and stop holding back! You have to let the girl, as well as your full strength, be unleashed if you wish toe out of this alive!]" Even Enya was growing worried forced to watch this losing, desperate battle going on. In fact, Aiden''s aura had already mostly vanished due to the immense expenditure of his energy. It looked as if he was at the end of his road. The elderly uncle shook his head with a sad-looking frown further wrinkling his face. "[Reptilian] Miss, I am sorry to say but thatd''s bound to die within 50 breaths." Tai-Liu didn''t say a word and merely frowned. She nced in askance at the group of warriors behind her. She could still order the Sect to join the battle right now. However, they were bound to suffer immense losses if they were to enter at this moment. That would reduce their chances of exploring the burial site ruins contention even further. In truth, she really wanted to rush to Aiden''s aide. However, she was the leader of Azure Myst Sect''s expedition this time around. Every single decision she made had to be for the sect''s interests and she could not take part in the battle right now. Tai-Liu''s eyes dimmed as she sighed internally. The omnipresent pain struck Aiden''s nerves repeatedly and his mind was iparably clear. ''Sigh You are right. I really wanted to avoid revealing my cards. I guess I was still naive. I can''t hold back any longer. I was still forced to this point in the end.'' He sighed internally before he shifted his focus to his inner shackles once more. Suddenly, a faint golden glow emerged around his figure. His wounds began to rapidly heal and a pair of glowing golden glimmering orbs emerged from beneath the torn hood of the robe. "[Reptilian] Time to y seriously." --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 745 Chapter 745 "[Reptilian] Time to y seriously. I guess I shouldn''t act so constrained. I should act more on impulse!" Just as Aiden eximed and was about to spring into action, another voice came from another direction. "[Reptilian] Master, it''s not fair that you leave us out from all this fun!" Immediately after that, another cold female voice resounded. "[Reptuilian] Just in time too I was growing restless It''s time to vent my frustrations a bit!" Upon hearing the familiar voices of his trusted aides, Aiden''s eyes shone brightly under the dark cover of his hood. "[Reptilian] Huh? It''s Who are they?" Tai-Liu was slightly shocked. From the distance, she saw a group of unfamiliar figures approaching at a calm, steady pace. Despite the overwhelming numbers that they were witnessing, none of them showed any signs of fear. No, on the contrary, Tai-Liu could even see the growing excitement and eagerness on the small party''s faces as they got closer. Looking back at the crimson scaled skink that Aiden had saved before, as well as the other woman she was now protecting, Tai-Liu thought that Aiden had no other helpers left in the city. Even if he came with others, she thought it was a wise move for them to leave the inner city of Ugburg. Given the fact that neither of them was a known figure in the city, she could guess where their strength was roughly at, it was only a matter of time before they would have been killed by the massive force of temple zealots if they would have remained in the Inner City. However, Tai-Liu diud not expect that they would not only not leave as she had expected, but would actuallye and willingly face the sure death by their own will! The haughty man standing behind Tai-Liu sneered in contempt. "[Reptilian] They have returned to the city despite knowing that they would surely die. How utterly stupid." Even though most of the cultivators present harbored the same thoughts, hearing it aloud was extremely unpleasant. "[Reptilian] Enough. Shut it!" Tai Liu frowned and turned back to chide softly. Although the haughty young man was a disciple of the Azure Myst Sect as well, he belonged to a different hall entirely. He was a student of the Battle Hall within the sect, one of their most precious disciples, the leading forces and a member of the core forces of the expeditionary force they sent out to explore the Ancient Burial Site. Thus, Tai-Liu, despite being the leader could not afford to scold at him too harshly. The young man only harrumphed at the remark and said nothing more. Suddenly, a voice sounded from the sound, gentle yet resolute. "[Reptilian] That''s not stupidity, but loyalty!" Being shunned for being different than the rest, Tirax was mostly silent, almost meek in nature and would usually just swallow his own indignances even if he felt he was wronged. He had learned over time that there was no point in speaking up, nobody would care about a ''filthy mutant'' anyways. This time however, he couldn''t hold back. It had to take an immense amount of courage for him to rebut as such. For some reason, he could not let things go at the moment. A sense of frustration surged through his heart as he gripped his fists ever so tightly and red angrily at the haughty looking handsome skink young man. "[Reptilian] Someone like you would never understand what that word even means." "[Reptilian] Heh Loyalty? What do you even know about that, you trash? Does that mean heading to death together? The young man snorted and looked at the crimson scaled skink mockingly. He smirked and continued coldly, "[Reptilian] Since you know what loyalty is, how about you join them to die too, huh? What are you even doing here then?" The young man was a strong, powerful warrior after all. He knew how much blood his hands were stained with for him to reach such a point in his life. To be selected as a member of their expeditionary forces, he couldn''t possibly remain clean. Tirax felt her heart sink when he met with the young man''s cold gaze and stumbled back half a step subconsciously. Suddenly, the temperature around them dipped straight down! All the Azure Myst Sect disciples present, including the elderly uncle as well, felt a chilling, cold murderous intent that sent shivers down their spines. It was as though they were targeted by some ancient and violent entity that could rip their flesh apart and burn their souls at any moment. The uncle''s heart skipped a beat. He felt fear for the first time in what? Decades maybe? The arrogant young man who was initially haughty and fiery felt his hair stand on end. An unprecedented shadow of death enveloped him, making him feel cold. They did not know where this presence came from but could feel the vast, overwhelming power, that have suddenly befallen on them. Merely a few secondster, that probably felt like hours for those present the pressure and the surrounding chill vanished without a trace. It was as though everything everyone had felt earlier was merely an illusion. Most of those subjected to the strange pressure just now were left confused and exchanged nces with lingering fear Nobody seemed to understand where this strange phenomenon havee from. Well besides a few exceptionally keen figures. The elderly Uncle sent a deep meaningful nce at the calm-looking hooded young woman that came together with the mysterious youngster that was fighting below them. The haughty young man shuddered and looked around, only heaving a sigh of relief and looked more rxed after discovering nothing. Back on the long street. As the figures approached, Aiden''s eyes zed with surprise. ''They dide in the end, even though I deliberately did not tell them anything.'' He sighed inwardly. However, despite the clear fact that they have gone against his wishes, Aiden wasn''t angry or mad at all. On the contrary, he was about to risk everything and let go of his self-imposed constraints and reveal himself not just to the city, but to the High Priest as well as to the real threat watching them from above, the Ancient One. He was about to let loose and reveal his full power, as well as activate his divinity, even knowing that this action of his would most likely only be the cause of further problems down on the road. Even though that would ruin the primary purpose of all that Aiden was hoping to achieve, he had to admit that he severely underestimated the High Priest''s forces and have suffered greatly for it. Yet, just as he was about to do so, like a shining beacon of light, his servants have suddenlye back to his aid! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 746 Chapter 746 "Hahahaha!" Looking at the approaching figures from the other end of the street, Aiden burst into a hearty guffaw. Hisughter rang throughout the drenched street, bringing just a bit of shine and luster into the gloomy atmosphere. He couldn''t be happier and feel more warmth inside his heart as he looked at his faithful servants. Even though, they were notmanded to do so, each of them, when heard that their master was facing the enemy all alone, decided to act on their own and left their current assignments and groups toe to the Young Master''s aid. Even if that would have ruined all that work in the recent days, none of them hesitated at all and rushed over. Looking at them, Aiden understood it all without the need for words. The moment he saw their return, he understood everything. However, even though he was emotional and his lips were quivering at this moment, he could not say a single word. "[Reptilian] Do not worry, Young Master I am here too!" Suddenly, a tall silhouette of a burly figure appeared on the battlefield. With a loud roar, he swung his massive hunk of a tail and repelled two priests! "[Reptilian] Tak ? You came too?" Thetest addition to their ranks, the humongous, musclebound evolved lizardman''s heart skipped a beat when he heard the voice of his Young Master as he turned towards him in disbelief. Together with him, all of Aiden''s captains that were sent out to all parts of the city have returned to their Young Master in his time of need! A warm feeling surged through Aiden''s heart when he saw that C his injuries no longer felt as painful. There was no need for words or thanks. Understanding the fact that the four of them had never left and returned to fight shoulder to shoulder with him during the most critical juncture was more than enough. "Hahahaha!" Finally, Aiden once again burst out intoughter. This time however he wasn''t the only oneughing. All of his servants, Madam Dara, Lady Pyre as well as the four Saurus Captains and the huge troll-like Tak have joined in their symphony. Amidst the shing swords and entrapment, the seven of them looked drenched and wretched. Yet, they wereughing wantonly in happiness from the bottom of their hearts. Someone teared but in the blink of an eye, it was mixed with the rain and rolled down their cheek. "[Reptilian] Little One Why were you sote to show up? Didn''t we agree toe as fast as we can?" As Tak got closer, one of the captains asked. Therge hunk of giant shed an embarassed smile and scratched the back of his head as he hesitantly answered. "[Reptilian] I I got lost." "[Reptilian] Young Master, we apologize for going against your order, but we could not, and will not stay behind when you are facing the enemy all on your lonesome! Our ce is by yours side!" Madam Dara turned towards the Young Master''s direction and whilst ignoring the encirclement, bowed in respect. "You can punish uster, but we could not sit still whilst you were facing them all alone." By now, all of them have finally gathered on the battlefield and were already surrounded. Even if they wanted to retreat, there was no way for them to do so unless they wiped the church''s massive force out. Even though, Madam Dara and Lady Pyre were considered an exceptionally strong individuals, on the precipice of breaking through their mortal limits, there were dozens of zealots of simr strength around them. It was especially so for the Saurus Captains and Tak who had just advanced to their current ranks. Their roots were not stable yet and they could notpare to the others in terms of strength. The twodies were vastly superior to them in terms of strength. The moment the seven of them entered the battlefield, they were surrounded. Thankfully, Madam Dara could maneuver the battlefield with ease due to peculiar abilities and affinity with the darkness. Through her skillful mastery of shadowy arts, she helped the rest of them resolve multiple crises. Eventually the group of eight, now joined up by their Young Master gradually gathered at the center of all themotion. There were a few times when Madam Dara wanted to break out of the entrapment to assist the Young Master. However, Lady Pyre and the others would be in immediate danger the moment she was slightly distracted. Nobody would be able to imagine the terror of being attacked by hundreds of fanatic zealots unless they experienced it personally! From all directions, the attacks fell like torrential rain relentlessly. "[Reptilian] That woman seems rather adept" "[Reptilian] Still, her power is far from even the bishops, much less the archbishops! She doesn''t stand a chance. She is still weaker than their opponents, after all." "[Reptilian] That''s right even ants can kill an elephant in numbers. The appearance of those seven strangers isn''t going to affect the situation much. They are merely dying their deaths." Many of the onlookers discussed from the distance. ? Even though Madam Dara and the others had returned to the battlefield and changed the situation, no one thought highly of them. After all, the numbers were still stacked against the hooded stranger, Aiden''s group! However, everyone''s impression towards the seductive Madam Dara and the others changed with time. Huddled together, Madam Dara, Lady Pyre, the four captains and Tak formed a strict formation. As the strongest one, Madam Dara took one corner. Not too far away from her, and of almost equal strength, if notcking only in willpower to resist the maddening innate power of hers, Lady Pyre stood firmly at the other corner. The rest each took up a position of their own, forming a peculiar geometrical shape as they stood strong relying on each other. Their formation was extremely stable and unyielding. With no obvious openings and constant changes, their chemistry was wless and they managed to withstand the rushes of hundreds of zealots! On the contrary, there were priests getting injured and dying all around the seven of them. Aiden had led them to this ce from the borders of the massive underground cave all the way to this city and they had been through way too many battles and dangerous situations. Their journey had been arduous and filled with killing. This was a formation they were all too familiar with! "[Reptilian] What are you idiots doing?! Head over there and kill the four of them!" Elder Loran roared in anger andmanded swiftly. Before long, once more, he and Elder Zhorl were the only ones left in front of Aiden. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 747 Chapter 747 Before long, once more, Elder Loran and Elder Zhorl were the only ones left in front of Aiden. The appearance of Madam Dara and Aiden''s captains had sessfully lifted Aiden''s burden by attracting the remaining members of the Church Subjugation Force! At this point, a change had finally happened in the situation where the church forces were firmly supposed to win. The oue of this battle was starting to turn obscure, uncertain, undecided. Or rather, even if the temple forces would have won, it would be an utterly tragic and humiliating victory and they would lose the strength to contend for the Ancient Burial Site exploration with the other simrly powerful factions of the other tribes! Elder Zhorl stood on the long street and looked at Aiden who was filled with blood with a deep hint of shock in his aged eyes. He truly could not imagine how this person was able to hold out to now with so many visible injuries. If he was in that situation, he might have died long ago. No, it wouldn''t be a question, he could not hold out for so long, much less keep the ferocity of his attacks! "[Reptilian] Young Man! I don''t know who you are, but you are at the end of the road now. You have countless wounds on your body and you''ll die just by bleeding alone! Stop this pointless struggling!" Elder Loran''s voice reverberated through the street. His voice was cold as he red at the hooded stranger, Aiden with keen eyes. As soon as Aiden revealed an opening, he would strike andnd a fatal blow! He would then end this farce, and finally, close this shameful and humiliating chapter of their church. Still, even now, he knew that regardless of the oue, he would be forced to ept punishment from the High Priest However, contrary to his wishes and expectations he was bound to be disappointed. Aiden''s expression was calm as usual and there were no signs of fatigue on that elegant face of his. It was merely slightly paler than before. The fighting intent in his eyes intensified and burned, even shimmering with a glint of excitement! Elder Loran felt a little nervous instead. "[Reptilian] The church''s reign of oppression and terror over the innocent, the weak, and those that are dered as ''filthy'' by their bogus standards shall be stripped of their title as the lords of Ugburg from today!" Aiden smiled with fervent killing intent. *ng!* *ng!* Aiden''s ebony de, Rygintarth rang loudly as the sounds of metal shing echoed all over the ce. The fearsome artifact weapon sailed across the gloomy afternoon without stopping in its trail. Roaring into the skies, Aiden strode forward and swung the massive sword, enveloping Elder Zhorl and Elder Loran in his arc. With a torrential aura, there was no way he resembled someone that was injured! *ng!* *ng!* Rygintarth collided with the copper spear and Elder Loran''s saber as sparks flew while a deafening screech resounded. It was clear despite the rumbling thunder. Both elders shuddered and stumbled back half a step. This was the first time the two of them were forced back since the start of the battle! "[Reptilian] Again!" Aiden burst intoughter and strode forward. With a bang, a gigantic ravine formed on the ground as the stone bs on both sides were knocked up. Each of his attacks was carrying more and more power, going against allmon understanding. The hooded figure seemed more and more energized and ready for battle as time passed instead of growing tired! Making an arc in midair, the dark beam of Rygintarth intensified and descended upon the two of their heads. With nowhere to run, Elder Zhorl and Elder Loran could only face it head-on again! *Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!* p The two of them retreated once more with pale expressions. Finally, ayer of fear emerged and shrouded Elder Zhorl and Elder Loran''s already dark hearts. Themotion caused by the battle was too great. The number of spectators gathered increased and the major factions of the city of Ugburg were alerted as well. Sessors of all the major factions have arrived, watching the tragic battlefield on the long street with slight expressions. On the east side of Ugburg. A luxuriously-robed man stood in front of a mansion. Hands behind his back, he looked into the skies with a narrowed gaze C his eyes were clear, resembling ss. "[Reptilian] Elder Brother! Senior Brother!" A young man sped over in the rain. Arriving in front of the luxuriously-robed man, he greeted him with cupped fists and bowed down respectfully. "[Reptilian] Elder Brother! The Church''s Extermination Force has arrived and there is a massive battle on the long street however, shockingly the victory is undecided for now!" The luxuriously-robed man was distracted and his eyes were dazed, as though he had heard nothing. "[Reptilian] Hmm? What did you say?" A momentter, his expression changed as he turned slowly, frowning toward the bowed young man. "[Reptilian] Did you say undecided?" "[Reptilian] Yes." The young man nodded. "[Reptilian] One of the archbishops has already died. He was hacked to death by that hooded young man right away. That person has a strange, unique weapon in his possession and is extremely strong in meleebat. "[Reptilian] Later on four people arrived and helped that man on the battlefield. Until now, the oue is unclear. The hooded figure is currently in a battle with the two remaining archbishops, Elder Loran and Elder Zhorl. It is hard to tell who is stronger, they seem equal in power." "[Reptilian] Five of them managed to survive the mass attacks of thousand-odd highly trained elite fighters up till now?" "[Reptilian] Adding to it all, one man, one young stranger is holding his ground against not one, but two of the church''s fiercest weapons two archbishops? How interesting!" The luxuriously-robed man lowered his head and gazed at his long, slender fingers while murmuring. A momentter, his eyes shimmered as though he made up his mind about something, saying suddenly. "[Reptilian] Gather some men and apany me to take a look." "[Reptilian] Understood!" At the same time, in avish-looking mansion on the west side of the city. A dark-robed, fierce-looking man strode over briskly and knelt down in front of a dark-robed cultivator, reporting with a lowered head. "[Reptilian] Dark Lord the church forces have suffered massive casualties in the battle on the long street. That unknown man have not died as of yet and the battle is still raging on with the oue currently unknown!" "[Reptilian] Hmm?" Suddenly, the ck-robed cultivator opened his eyes with a momentary malevolent aura bursting from him as he asked with a narrowed gaze. "[Reptilian] He managed to hold out till now?" After pondering for a moment, he stood up and gripped the bone spear in front of him before remarking coldly. "[Reptilian] Gather up, we are taking a look." --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 748 Chapter 748 (AN: 3 more chaptersing tonight... well in my timezone at least. I was nning for a mass release whilst on a short week-long vacation with my family, only to realize that its thest day of the month. Apologies, but its 40 degrees celsius here for like the 3rd day in a row, its like hell on Earth!) ---- The ensuing battle between the church''s so called executioner force and the unknown group of strangers on the long street have rmed all the hidden and public forces of Ugburg City! Dark clouds interweaved with asional shes of lightning, streaking through the heavy, tense air like electric pythons. The world flickered intermittently with bright shes of light and darkness. Shadows, like warning omens, filled the long street. The battle continued relentlessly and tragically. All the warriors of both sides and factions were seemingly already at the limits of their strength. Lady Dara and the rest of Aiden''s captains and servants were filled with injuries. While their hastily made battle formation was still surviving, it was not going tost for much longer. On the other side of the battlefield, Aiden grew fiercer the longer the fight dragged on. He had managed to hold out till now thanks to his robust draconic bloodline and terrifying physique, suppressing both Elder Loran and Elder Zhorl instead. The situation was still undecided. Whichever side of the battlefield came out victorious first would affect the oue of the entire situation! Truth be told, for Aiden, it wouldn''t have been that hard to win his battle if he were willing to risk everything. He could always shed his pretenses and reveal his true self and put an end to this farce. Yet, he did not want to do that. It would be better to use as ast resort, ast ditch, ultimate final trump card. If he did that, he would not only be the mass target and face immense difficulties advancingter on in the ancient burial site. Not only would it risk everything he had meticulously nned out, but it would also cause him to fail his system assigned main quests as well. Such an action would bring forth serious consequences. Unless he had no other choice, Aiden did not want to take that option. As the leader of the most prominent, and fearsome force of the church, Elder Loran also recognized the circumstances and dered loudly. "[Reptilian] Factions residing in Ugburg listen up! All of you who are watching currently listen to my voice! As long as you are willing toe and help us kill these group of vile heathens we swear to give you privileged status in the uing ruins contention. A group of bishops and us the archbishops swear to apany you and serve you for the duration of the event wholeheartedly!" "[Reptilian] Just as my brother said, we will protect you, and fight your enemies together as long as youe to our aid now and clean the streets of this ugly scum!" Elder Zhorl quickly understood the situation and joined in as well shouting his promises alongside Elder Loran''s. "[Reptilian] We will be immensely grateful for the honorable brothers and sisters that decide toe to our aid! To the side of justice! In addition, if anyone manages to kill this this masked invader, I personally offer an Energy Crystal from my personal collection as my honest gratitude!" The moment he said that, an uproar broke out! Initially, the factions and gathered town men were merely here to watch the show. But now, some of them were starting to be tempted. Squinted gazes and shifty eyes were darting left and right looking forpatriots, newfound brethren willing to join alongside them to the scuffle. "[Reptilian] Look, there! Pei Longtail and his sect of Crystal Pce Sect have arrived with his men!" "[Reptilian] Look there! The Dark Lord himself from the Malefic Demon n have decided to show up as well!" The sudden arrival and gathering of multiple top factions on the long street of Ugburg City added an additionalyer ofplexity to the situation. Even Aiden''s eyes shone murderously when he sensed the suddenmotion gathering around him. He realized he had to end this battle as quickly as possible! Otherwise, there was a high chance that their little group of them would end up as sacrificial offerings for the contention between the top factions! However, other than shedding his Draconic Skink form and fully activating his Ancient Dragon innate, the [Draconic Heritage] skill what other possible solutions, what other methods did he have at his disposal that could y these two annoying raggedy old skink archbishops as soon and as efficiently as possible? Aiden thought fervently whilst kept up dodging and contesting against the two elders. *THUNDER!* However, all of a sudden, a thick thunderbolt striked across the skies andnded on the long street, opening up a huge charred pit that flickered with lingering remnant electricity. This was the might of the world that no one could possibly go against. Even if it was a so-called dying world, it''s rage, it''s wrath was still not something mere mortals could hope to possibly withstand, much less contend against. The rumbling of thunder was only heard a momentter at the edge of the horizon. Suddenly, a thought shed through Aiden''s mind. Without hesitation, he strode forward and the stone b beneath his feet exploded, shooting gravel all over the ce. The immense rebound caused him to soar into the air. Wielding the dark de of Rygintarth up high with both arms, he channeled his inner energy frantically. His [Soul Power] madly revolved inside his body and his blood churned with the rumbling of power, forming a harmony with the thunder in the skies. *BANG!* *THUNDER!* *BOOM!* The sound of thunder intensified and arrived from the edge of the horizon in a terrifying manner, as though thousands of carriages were riding across the firmaments. *Crackle!* In the skies above Ugburg City, endless lightning shes and interweaved. In the blink of an eye, it resembled a sea of lightning that shone with a divine light. In the face of that sea of lightning, Aiden''s leap attracted everyone''s gazes. At that moment, he was in the midst of the sea of lightning with a torrential aura, resembling the only true god in the universe that was unparalleled! *THUNDER!* A thick golden colored lightningbolt descended and struck down straight into the tip of the raised Rygintarth. Lightning coiled all around that curved ebony dark de like countless small snakes climbing in a frightening manner! "[Reptilian] Let''s end it here! TAKE MY SLASH!" Aiden''s holler was like a thunder that boomed everywhere in the city. Basked in lightning, Aiden swung his majestic dark de that was shining brightly with lightning and descended from the skies, epassing Elder Loran and Elder Zhorl. That single sh possessed the might of the universe and the power of thunder alongside with his own [Soul Power]. That attack was horrifying. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 749 Chapter 749 "[Reptilian] Let''s end it here! TAKE MY SLASH!" Aiden''s holler was like thunder that boomed everywhere in the city. Basked in lightning, Aiden swung his majestic dark de that was shining brightly with lightning and descended from the skies, epassing Elder Loran and Elder Zhorl. That single sh possessed the might of the universe and the power of thunder alongside with his own [Soul Power]. That attack was horrifying. Before Aiden''s sh could even arrive, the two elders, both Elder Loran and Elder Zhorl were scared out of their wits. They could feel a dreadful amount of power descending at them, ready to cull their miserable lives and end their pathetic existences. ''[Reptilian] How could a single person defend against this attack?'' ''[Reptilian] This is beyond the limits of what should be achievable! This is the realm of the gods!'' "[Reptilian] Waaaaaargh!" With nowhere to turn and run to, Elder Loran could only yell. He bit the tip of his tongue gently and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva straight at the shining metallic head of his copper spear. The de began to radiate and it shone with a faint scarlet hue around its elongated body with an unholy, yet sacramental radiance. Gritting his teeth, Elder Loran raised his beaming copper spear and with a stern expression on his face weed the iing ebony de, Rygintarth. *BOOM!* The two weapons collided resoundingly as though the entire world shook for that brief moment. Elder Loran seemed to have turned shorter as a gigantic crack appeared beneath his feet. After a moment, his body shuddered and he was wrapped with the power of majestic force of nature. Spitting out a mouthful of blood with dimmed eyes, he was sent flying. The copper spear was also repelled by Rygintarth and was smashed against Elder Loran''s chest heavily. The sound of bones cracking could be heard. In that instant, a shocking event transpired. A grand elder, a real archbishop, the top force of the church was actually injured! Not only that, but Rygintarth''s momentum carried on and continued to sh against Elder Zhorl''s saber. Pushing against his heels, Elder Zhorl retreated backwards a hundred feet away. His face was pale and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. Out of the two most fearsome powers the Church could muster, the two archbishops, one was severely injured down on the ground and the other was forced to retreat in defeat! Aiden''s sh was just that mighty, that incredibly powerful and terrifying! Senior Brother Pei from the Crystal Pce Sect as well as the current young Dark Lord from the Malefic Demons arrived just in time to witness that and their pupils contracted with a hint of shock. If they were the recipients of that sh, they might not be able to escape unscathed either. Everyone present was dumbfounded at this impossible sight and gasped in shock. Elder Zhorl no longer dared to stay any longer. His life would be in serious jeopardy if he were to contend against this monster any longer. If Elder Loran had not defended against this strike just now, he realized that his organs would have been ruptured from that single sh. Without turning back, he immediately made his choice and turned towards the dark streets and fled with all his power. His eyes shone with boundless, eternal hatred as he yelled back. "[Reptilian] Just you wait you miserable little punk! One day Someday I will definitely make you pay for the humiliation I have suffered today! I will pay you back tenfold!" He yelled, looking absolutely confident he would be able to make it out of the danger and escape without fail. At most, he would be punished by the High Priestter on, but his life and position would be more crucial. Why should he sacrifice himself alongside the others? Even better, with the suddenck of contention, his position would only rise amongst the ranks of the rest Even bing the next prophet, the next High Priest wouldn''t be out of the question Thanks to that hooded figure''s sh just now, the distance between them was increased tremendously, giving Elder Zhorl the necessary opening. There was absolutely no way that Elder Zhorl''s opponent would be able to catch up to him since they were practically at two ends of the same road "[Reptilian] Hahahaha how amusing!" Suddenly, a sinister cackle rang from behind. The darkness covered figure hollered with a carefree holler. Hearing the remark, a dreadful premonition surged inside the fleeing Elder Zhorl''s heart. He couldn''t help but halt in his tracks and turned back instinctively only to face against a cold, blinding light that approached him at an extremely fast speed! In that light, he caught sight of a figure standing far away with that dreadful ebony de dugging into the mud beside him. In the next instant, he suddenly plunged the de forward, causing a massive golden shockwave to explode from the short path the plunged weapon carved into the ground. Aiden''s voice resounded alongside the shocking, majestic attack. "[Reptilian] Someday? What are you talking about? The reign of terror of you miserable creatures will end today! None can spare you from my wrath!" "So please go ahead and DIE!" He roared just as the massive shock wave of energy shot out, grinding up thend as if it were mere water instead of solid ground. It took no time for it to arrive and crash into its intended target causing yet another blinding explosion of light to cover the area for a couple of brief moments. When the light gradually dispersed, returnign the gloom and doom to the wet, and rain drenched long street, only a lifeless, badly burnt and heaviuly mutted carcass remained down on the ground. It took merely a single moment, one mistake, one small slight causing for the once fearsome elder to lower his guard for the reaper to finally arrive and im his long overdue life. Whilst everyone was shocked beyond belief, the cause of it all, Aiden calmly pulled his artifact weapon from the ground and turned his attention back on thest survivor of the archbishop trio. Within a single blink, Aiden''s figure blurred and he appeared beside Elder Loran with his Rygintarth. Laying in the mud, Elder Loran was still coughing blood that was washed away by the rainwater; his gaze was scattered. Looking down, Aiden''s eyes were cold, there was no mercy hiding in his expression. There was no sce, no redemption avable. There was no point in begging for mercy as there were none to be given. In the next moment just as their eyes met, the ebony de of beam shed. A massive head rolled on the ground. His gaze was firm, showing nothing but resentment even in his veryst moments. The three archbishops of the church were now dead, buried on the streets of their own domain of terror --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 750 Chapter 750 The oue of this grandiose battle had absolutely surpassed everyone''s expectations. In barely half an hour of back and forth battle, the fiercest, most dreadful force of the Ancient One and the High Priest''s church were utterly decimated. The Extermination Force they had sent out to deal with the rowdy outsiders was now headless with its three leaders, the three elder archbishops now lying dead and in some cases -headless- on the ground. Their blood painted the cold dark pavement to a darker shade of crimson red. They were archbishops, entities that were believed to be at the very top of the food chain. Three of the most fearsome powers in existence in Ugburg. Aiden''s mighty, [Soul Power] infused final sh was an eyeopener for many onlookers as they felt an iparable shock both visually and mentally. Countless gazes were fixed on that figure on the long street, wielding that now fearsome ebony de and stained with blood. Their expressions wereplex; some were shocked, some were fearful, and then again, some were in awe and some gazed at him in scrutiny. One thing was certain only. Instantly, everyone realized that from this day forth, there would definitely be a ce for this man in Ugburg''s inner circle! His might, his power could not be questioned. This hooded stranger, Aiden was now famous after a single sh, a single fight. This! This was something that Tai-Liu of the Azure Myst Sect had not expected. In truth, Tai-Liu was originally waiting for the perfect opportunity, the most opportune timing to charge in with her already prepared group of fighters under her charge and rescue Aiden and his neer group. He would gain immesnse favor and a loyalty bathed in blood, unquestionable and unshakable not just for this small excursion happening in just a short few days but for a long time toe! Yet, now her careful nning was gone! Nobody expected the situation to turn entirely in the blink of an eye! All three archbishops were dead! Killed by a single figure. "[Reptilian] This" Despite his experience and calmness, the elderly man standing behind Tai-Liu and acting as his guardian was stunned. A mere youth, that whilst looked firm and strong should have still been way beyond his ears if he were to face even one of these dreadful archbishops! He or she should have been killed on the spot! Much less facing a full trio of them at the same time as well as dozens, if not hundreds of zealots all together! This was talent. This wasn''t the first time that the old man hade across such a fearsome talent as such. However, people like this young man, this ''Aiden'' were extremely rare and usually belonged to the top factions of this world. Just what could be the background of this young man, this Aiden? He was not even carrying an identifier badge so he definitely wasn''t a legacy disciple of the so called top ns or sects. Furthermore none of his attacks, or actions seemed reminiscent of any of the legacy techniques of the top forces of this world, be it hidden or public. For these so called top forces they each had their own special techniques and secret skills that their disciples were bound to use in life and death bouts. As such, they were easily recognizable. However, looking back at Aiden''s showcased capabilities The old man could only furrow his brows. The old man, despite his decades of knowledge and hard earned experience, he found himself clueless, without an answer for the first time. Truth be told, he was beginning to doubt that this young man was even a resident of their world, and perhaps was a ''Beyonder'', one of the so-called mythical travelers. However, just as this thought entered his mind, he shook it away almost instantly. Such an idea was beyond outrageous; it was impossible! If he were to be such a creature, such an entity, why in the hell would he travel to this dying wastnd? What knowledge, what secrets were there worth to be uncovered still? No, if that young man would have been from another realm, he would have traversed to a much richer world, something that had much better prospected gains than this one. Only an idiot, someone that had gone crazy would bother to waste his time and risk his life in such a biome Still How could a mere skink, even if it was a Draconic Skink house such incredible power in that small frame of his? How could a creature of his stature be so powerful? For the first time, the elderly uncle felt that he could not make out Aiden anymore. Right then, a decisive look shed through Tai-Liu''s eyes as she waved and said in a deep voice. "[Reptilian] Disciples of the Azure Myst Sect, heed mymand! Follow me and kill the survivors of the temple''s despicable forces. Leave no one alive! Help our friends!" Before she even finished speaking, Tai-Liu was the first to jump down over the railing and charge into the battlefield. The elderly man did not have time to continue hisment, to think and quickly followed not too far behind his Young Master or Mistress. The roughly hundred strong Azure Myst Sect force didn''t linger behind leaderless either and charged forward, swarming after Tai-Liu as well. They quickly singled out the remaining zealots on the long street. Although they were trained to be fearless, after witnessing not one, but three of their worshipped existences fall down one after another, their faith as well as moral have taken arge blow. They were shaken mentally. Coupled with the intense battle that they had just been through, they were thoroughly exhausted. The assault of the vigorous fighters of the Azure Myst Sect engulfed them entirely. Some of the surviving temple forces broke down and shrieked while running out of the city. However, they barely took a couple of steps when they were killed on the spot. One side was severely injured and worn out while the other side was filled with life and vigor C it was obvious who was stronger! The oue of the battle was already decided. With the death of the leaders, the Azure Myst Sect no longer had any problems dealing with the aftermath. On the long street, Madam Dara, Lady Pyre and the rest of Aiden''s captains copsed sitting on the ground, utterly exhausted andughing out loud. Theirughter tugged at the wounds on their bodies and they all gasped in pain. However, they continuedughing non-stop. Looking at the firm back of their master, there was a rare, honest smile on Madam Dara''s face that looked extremely captivating. "[Reptilian] We We survived?" The usually aloof and cold Lady Pyre were also smiling before herself, looking to still be in disbelief by the mere fact that she was still standing. Well sitting. "[Reptilian] We did. We survived." She muttered. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 751 Chapter 751 Madam Dara let out a long breath and with a satisfied smile shemented. "[Reptilian] We sure did Against all odds, I might add." When they heard the news of their Master, the seven of them immediately cast aside all thoughts. They were ready to give their lives for their lord without hesitation or a modicum of doubt. Now that they were celebrating the joy of surviving the cmity, every single breath felt iparably blessed. After this battle, the friendship between their group changed, transformed considerably. This was a friendship forged through life and death and was baptized in a literal sea of blood. There was nothing topare it to. It was priceless. Looking at this scene, Aiden smiled faintly and a warm feeling surged into his heart, remaining for a long time. At the same time, seemingly going unnoticed, the heavy raid had also came to an end, and had stopped. The storm came and went quickly. The dark clouds, that shouldn''t even have been possible given the ce and circumstances have dispersed in a blink of an eye giving way to the natural heavy ceiling of the grandiose cavern wall to give way to the residents down below once again. Still, that faint light given by the luminescent foliage as well as the torches andnterns hanging all around cast a warmer light recing all that doom and gloom from before. It wasn''t only Aiden, the now nicked ''Mysterious Stranger''. From this day forth, the rest of his crew of colorful misfits were going to be famous throughout the inner and outer city of Ugburg as well! As Azure Myst Sect took action, the other factions did not want tog behind either and joined hurriedly as well. The variousrge and popr groups of this world each and all havee out of the shadows and decided to take actions. Not just Tai-Liu, or the tworgest and second strongest Crystal Pce Sect and the Malefic Demon n but all the otherrge parties have each made their appearance finally. The Heavenly Gate Sect, the Fire Bird Sect and some other, smaller sized factions all wanted a piece of this delicious pie. Suddenly, a ck-robed figure emerged from the crowd and walked over slowly. Wielding an ominous bone spear that had faint, dried blood traces all over its tip, he was extremely terrifying! He arrived before Aiden and stood still. The actions of the ck-robed man attracted countless gazes. "[Reptilian] It''s him! It really is him!" "[Reptilian] That That''s the Dark Lord himself! What does he want?" "[Reptilian] Who knows? One thing for sure He doesn''t seem friendly." Madam Dara and the others were no longer smiling, instead now sporting a grim, solemn expression. They could sense a strong and dangerous auraing from the ck-robed figure. This man was extremely strong! In fact, a thought crossed their minds; even if they were at peak condition and joined forces, they might not be a match for this person! The ck-robed man red at Aiden for several arduously long seconds without saying anything. His gaze was cold, ruthless and fierce as he scanned over the enigmatic youth before him. All the while, Aiden withstood the ufortable attention without as much as a frown. He looked at the man with a calm, carefree smile under the cover of his hood. "[Reptilian] Good. Very good." Aftering to a conclusion, the ck-robed man nodded and dered proudly. "[Reptilian] I am the Dard Lord, the current heir to the Malefic Demon n. You fought bravely, and are decent looking. Rejoice! You are given the opportunity, the chance to join us and be a member of my personal guard." Madam Dara and the group sitting on the floor behind Aiden were stunned at such an exmation. During their time here assigned to their respective missions they have learned a bit about the top factions present in this world. Thus they had a much better understanding of the current politicalndscape than their Young Master. They knew that the Malefic Demon n was a fearsome group of monstrously powerful individuals. Though they were considered as one of the evil forces it was undeniable that each member was feared and at the same time, well respected. Furthermore, this young heir, this ''Dark Lord'' of the Malefic Demons were exceptionally arrogant and had a verymanding tone of voice. He even had a condescending attitude that was truly unpleasant. Madam Dara and the others looked at their Young Master nervously. They knew what his answer would be to such a question or to such a derogatory tone. Even if he were to offend such a powerful force, he would not hesitate if they were to step on his ideals. However, given the fiend heir''s temperament and methods, he would definitely turn murderous and attack the Young Master once he was rejected! After that intense battle, Aiden was now at his weakest. How could he be a match for the fiend heir of Malefic Demon n? Was he going to meet with another cmity after surviving a life and death battle? And just as they had expected, the response came not long after. Aiden smirked at the fierce looking man before him before throwing a disdain-filled scoff right back at him. "[Reptilian] Opportunity? Heh What opportunity? What chance? What Malefic Demon n? I have no idea who you or the band of thugs behind you are. Also The ''Dark Lord'' of the Malefic Demon n? Please Was that the best you coulde up with? Laughable." Everyone present were shocked when they heard that! Many of the spectators looked at Aiden as though they were looking at a dead man. In reality, Aiden could hardly contain hisughter. When he heard the peculiar name of the young man, acting truly like a viin out of some dark fantasy story, he could barely hold a solid face. Could you be edgier by any chance? Please Could you just stop? Sure enough, The dark-robed man''s expression darkened instantly upon hearing the response. His gaze narrowed and the bone spear in his hands quivered like it was alive, giving off a malevolent aura that rattled one''s heart! Yet, not even a few secondster, a chuckle came not far away, breaking the tense atmosphere immediately. "[Reptilian] Ahahaha Finally, someone said it!" A luxuriously-robed man strode over. He had beautiful features and the ck-feathered crown of hair was bundled up without any loose ends. Bearing crystal clear eyes, he was wless from head to toe. The dark-robed young man''s expression was unchanged when he saw that man, but there was a hint of caution deep in his eyes. "[Reptilian] Crystal Pce Sect" He frowned. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 752 Chapter 752 "[Reptilian] I-Is that?" "[Reptilian] Yeah that''s the senior disciple assigned as the leader of their local group. Brother Pei Syriac of the Crystal Pce Sect." "[Reptilian] Yeah, that is him alright. It''s said that he''s at the peak of his power, crossing, just slightly below the elders in terms of power, and is a step away from breaking through to the second stage! It was said that the main reason their sect havee to this burial site was for the sole reason of obtaining an elixir to help him push through. It was rumored after all that there''s a Demigod Thunder Power Elixir in these ruins." The crowd discussed. Arriving beside Aiden, Pei Syriac gestured towards the former with a nod and a friendly smile before turning to the dark robed figure. "Brother Pon or sorry, ''Dark Lord'' now that you have been promoted" He smiled shing an innocent smile. "..You will be going against my Crystal Pce if you make things difficult for our newest friend and ally here! Think carefully, are you sure you want to take that risk?" "Hehehe" The ck-robed man cackled coldly and asked out. "[Reptilian] Interesting Since when did this unknown stranger be your newest friend or even ally? When did the Crystal Pce even meet with him before? If you were such good friends, why did you and your benevolent Crystal Pce let him and hispanions suffer in the hands of the Extermination Force just now?" "[Reptilian] Humpf! No matter what vile atrocities you blurt out, the fact remains. You and your fiendish n of demon worshippers are wasting your time trying to loop in such a righteous and honest man such my little friend! I will not let him suffer under the hands of such a disgusting group as your family." In the blink of an eye, these two top factions of Ugburg City were in an argument because of Aiden and his previous actions. "[Reptilian] After bing famous through that battle, these two factions are now trying to rope in him. Even if they clearly have no idea who he is" "[Reptilian] "That''s right. This man''s potential is not to be underestimated as he''s able to kill three elders of the church. Three Archbishops, with two at the same time! Whoever manages to take him in will definitely have use for him in the future. Especially with the burial site opening in just a few short days." "[Reptilian] Hmm Given this man''s endowment, I say that there''s a high chance for him to leave the ancient battlefield with Senior Brother Pei and join his Crystal Pce. It is the safest bet after all." Many cultivators looked at Aiden with envy. However, contrary to expectations, Aiden had a different idea. With an indifferent expression, he suddenly spoke out. "[Reptilian] While I am truly thankful for the attention, I have to ask that the both of you leave now. There''s no need to waste your breath here, I won''t join either side." The moment he said that, the atmosphere turned freezing. The initially noisy chatter faded as well. Everyone''s gazesnded on the still hooded stranger. Some in shock, some in surprise, some with great confusion in his or her eyes. This was an extremely rare opportunity that anyone else would agree to readily. However, this man had rejected the invitation of two top factions right in front of everyone! Futhermore, though his words seemed polite, his tone was telling of a different tale. People even felt that he was somewhat irritated, and disdainful towards these two. As if two flies were buzzing around him. "[Reptilian] What in the Isn''t he a tad bit too arrogant?!" "[Reptilian] Who in the hell does he think he is to decline such an opportunity? He thinks hat he can reign supreme in the city just because he got victorious once?" "[Reptilian] What an idiot!" "[Reptilian] This guy clearly has a death wish. I want to see what happens to him now that he''s offended two top factions!" In reality, among the crowd, Madam Dara and the others were probably the only ones who could understand their young master''s mind. First of all, he already hade a deal made with Tai-Liu and her Azure Myst Sect before. Also, both of these so called top forces merely wanted to have him stand with them, without actually giving anything in return. They may have worded it differently but the meaning was the same. You either stand with us, or be against us. There were no trade between the two parties. At this moment, the disciples of the Azure Myst Sect were still trying their best to wipe out the survivors of the temple''s Extermination Force. However, these two factions wanted to rope in Aiden without losing any resources at all. They haven''t made a single move against the enemy and just merely wanted him to stand with them! There were no sincerity from either side. They were arrogant, contemptuous. Both sides felt full of himself, thinking that this stranger was nothing but a mere soldier, a pawn for them to use. Although Pei Syriac sounded polite, there was a condescending arrogance in his tone. He clearly looked down on Aiden, thinking he was not realyl worth his time, but wanted his strength as a sort of assurance. In a sense, this edgy Dark Lord were at the very least honest with what he thought. He didn''t sugarcoat it behind sweet sounding words and smiles and acted true to his heart. Still, there were no real value in either side, Aiden could clearly sense their attitude and stance. Even without the system warning him with the same neutral, and even slightly hostile orange colored dot on the mini map, Aiden would have still refused their offer without question or hesitation. "Ahahahaha Really now?" Suddenly, the dark robed man burst intoughter and looked at the golden robed Crystal Pce senior disciple mockingly, saying in a casual, mocking tone. "[Reptilian] As it turns out, this friendship was rather one-sided from your end Brother Pei. How amusing!" Now it was Brother Pei''s turn to look horrible. A dark look shed through his eyes. Aiden''s reply just now was akin to disrespecting him in front of everyone! What was his status and position given the fact that he was as the eldest disciple of Crystal Pce? Coupled with the dark robed man''s taunting, Brother Pei''s killing intent immediately surged. Still he maintained his smile as he asked again with a calm-sounding tone. "[Reptilian] Little friend, I have to apologize but I couldn''t hear you clear just now. Could you please repeat what you just said?" Although he looked to be smiling and his tone sounded friendly, there was a clear threat and warningced in between his words as he phrased the question. A surge of cold, killing intent sent chills run down most of the onlookers spines. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 753 Chapter 753 Thevish, golden robed young Draconic Skink''s question was phrased rather eloquently and from a first nce it may have shown great care and even affection to the average onlooker, but those with even the slightest bit of attention, and somewhat sharper than average senses could sense the cold, murderous intent radiating from Brother Pei''s words. Each of his words wereced with an obvious and clear threat that, like sharp daggers, were aimed at Aiden''s throat word after word. It was a clear threat, a warning so to say. In other words, what he meant was that he was going to give Aiden another chance to change his mind and avoid making a ''fatal mistake''. The meaning behind was obvious: If he, Aiden did not appreciate this chance, Senior Brother Pei was going to kill him! This man had both the rights and the strength to do it. Madam Dara and the others could also feel the tense atmosphere and were worried and could merely hope that their Young Master would hold back temporarily instead of offending two top factions out of indignance. Though they believed wholeheartedly in their Young Master''s power, they felt that at most he could fight with this terrifying man to a draw at most. Adding the fact that there would be another just as fearsome individual, this so called ''Dark Lord'' joining that second round of fight. They felt that the Young Master might not be a match for the both of them even if he was at his peak condition, let alone now when he was at his weakest after going through an immense battle and filled with injuries! As one of the few select Core Disciples of the Crystal Pce Sect, Pei Syriac wasn''t someone that should and could be taken lightly. Madam Dara and the others looked at their Young Master nervously. All of a sudden, Aiden smiled and looked at the handsome young man. "[Reptilian] You didn''t hear me? Let me simplify things and repeat it once more" After a slight pause, Aiden opened his mouth and spat out two words that shocked the world! "[Reptilian] "Get lost!" The moment he said that, the surroundings fellpletely silent. The entire street turned silent with shock and looked at that bloodied, robed figure with agape mouths and shocked expressions as a single word filled their minds C lunatic. Yet, for a vastly different reason, Madam Dara and the rest felt relieved instead. This was the true nature of their Young Master. They could feel his surging emotions through their close proximity through their shared connection. He wasn''t someone that would submit to injustice! Still, he still reigned in his growing anger. They could actually sense a matching murderous intent for a brief moment that the Young Master quelled just before it could escape. Pei Syriac''s triggered killing intent naturally could not hide from Aiden''s perception. He was keenly aware of the true meaning behind his question from the start. Since that was the case, there was no point in acting friendly with a man like him. There was no way Aiden would be nice to this guy. The only reason why Aiden was acting so calm despite knowing, feeling, and even seeing everything in his system''s map was that he could also tell that unless he gets serious and risks revealing himself he wold not be able to handle neither of these two fearsome figures. Not unless he sheds his current ''mask'' and reveals the honest truth, which unless he had any other choice Aiden was not gonna use until there was absolutely no other choice. Otherwise, Aiden would have struck first the moment Pei Syriac''s killing intent was triggered instead of wasting time saying so much to thetter! Pei Syriac was stunned for a moment. Clearly, he hadn''t expected such a reaction from this hooded young man, from Aiden. "Ahahahaha" Heughed deeply. There was a metallic sound in his voice that was extremely piercing. A momentter, he put away his smile and his palm that was originally behind his back slumped downwards. It was shrouded with a jade-like radiance that was sparkling and crystalline. "[Reptilian] To be honest, I admire your immense potential. However" His eyes turned cold as he changed the topic. "Since you can''t be used by me, I''ll have to destroy you!" "[Reptilian] How dare you! This person is under my protection! Just as everyone thought that Aiden''s death was certain, a voice rang out from his side in an unquestionable tone. Not far away, a beam of light was surging over. Inside that beam, the shape of a rather handsome man began to take shape as it sped closer. It had eyes that resembled a painting C it was Tai-Liu from Azure Myst Sect who for some reason liked to dress up as a man. When everyone''s attention was focused on Tai-Liu, an obscure glint shed across Pei Syriac''s eyes as he gripped his fist suddenly and struck. The punch was aimed at Aiden''s chest at an extremely fast speed! Bright white light shone on the surface of his fist and it burst forth like a zing sun that had a blinding radiance! It radiated with immense heat and power as it tore across space. Pei Syriac was wearing a mythical treasure, an artifact glove on his hand that was as thin as a cicada''s wings and almostpletely transparent. If not for the fact that he had channeled his energy into it, the glove would have been extremely difficult to detect! He immediately started with a killing blow, showing absolutely no mercy at all. "[Reptilian] W-watch out!" Tai-Liu''s expression changed as she yelled. Pei Syriac and Aiden were so close that they could reach one another just by extending their hands. Tai-Liu could almost imagine the scene of a gory hole being punched out of Aiden''s chest! The punch waspletely without warning, like a sneak attack, and it was swift as lightning. No one was able to react to it well, apart from the target himself. There was no wonder why Pei Syriac was a core disciple of the Crystal Pce and a top-tier talent, most likely one of their most treasured disciple. His timing to strike was practically perfect. Tai-Liu''s appearance had diverted even Aiden''s attention. That brief moment of distraction was all the time it took for Pei Syriac to strike. And he would have most likely seeded if it was anyone else but Aiden. Without his alertness and keen perception, as well as shocking speed he would also have died from that punch! However, despite his spirit perception, Aiden was still a step slower and could not whip out Rygintarth to defend. Instead, he could only take the attack head-on with his bare fists. 754 Chapter 754 Noticing that his proteg could not unsheathe his sword in time and use it to defend against an artifact enhanced ambushing strike, Tai-Liu''s eyes dimmed in despair and exasperation. Although Aiden still managed to react, the oue wouldn''t be changed by much. To begin with, Pei Syriac''s strength was probably around the same as Aiden''s full unhidden strength. Furthermore, Crystal Pce was renowned for its fearsome physique cultivation. Each disciple, each member had an incredibly sturdy, and powerful body with a physical strength far surpassing what normally should be their own race''s limits. Even their weakest disciples could match the strength of an adult male carnosaur, then how powerful could a core disciple such as Senior Brother Pei could be? In fact, it wouldn''t be too surprising if he would be even stronger than his hooded opponent, Aiden as well More importantly, Pei Syriac''s glove was a perfect artifact weapon while Aiden was using his bare hands. Even if their strength would be a match against the other, the added enhancement could make the difference. ? To Tai-Liu, it was almost certain that Aiden would be punched to death in this exchange. Even if he was lucky and managed to survive, his arm would be crippled and that would diminish hisbat strength, ending his adventure as well as his usefulnes at this point. *BANG!* The two fists collided with a dull thud, resounding in the entire street. The brilliance of a master grade artifact weapon vanished with this one strike. Pei Syriac didn''t move from his spot. At the same time, Aiden''s body shuddered and he staggered back three steps beforeing to a stop. Instinctively, he was in a battle ready state for every single step and shifted his center of gravity, etching three deep footprints on the ground, shaking the earth! Aiden''s fist was badly mutted, revealing the pale white bones within. "[Reptilian] Huh?" Everyone watched with agape mouths as their eyeballs nearly popped out in disbelief. ''[Reptilian] How is he not dead?'' ''[Reptilian] What is going on? How did his arm not get blown off?'' ''[Reptilian] How is this possible?'' ''[Reptilian] Did he only suffer some minor injury on his fist and that''s all?!'' Even a normal, superior artifact weapon wold be smashed to pieces against such a punch and yet, how was it possible that Aiden''s bare body could defend against such a blow? All the onlookers werepletely stunned. If they had not witnessed it personally, none of them would believe what just happened! The Dark Lord of the Malefic Demon n was just as equally surprised, he frowned slightly as he looked at Aiden''s right hand thoughtfully. Pei Syriac''s pupils constricted as he retracted his hand without a trace and ced it behind his back. "[Reptilian] Ahahaha!!!" Suddenly, Aiden burst intoughter as he looked at the hand that Pei Syriac had hurriedly retracted. Besides him, no one else knew what exactly happened at that exact moment of the sh. Only he knew what had transpired, who was the victor and who were really the defeated, the humiliated. Although his physique was strong, there was definitely no way Aiden could withstand the might of a perfect spirit weapon bare handed. At that moment, even if he took on his draconic form, Aiden''s strength would only be raised by a level and he wouldn''t be able to defend against the perfect spirit weapon still. It was like when a child turned into an adult and had his strength increased by a few folds. However, his body wouldn''t be able to withstand the sharpness of a honed de still. Still, that didn''t mean he would be left defenseless against an opponent of this caliber. No, he had a hidden card, his ultimate secret He could utilize a higher grade of concentrated energy, the [Soul Power]! It was exactly that energy he had used to reinforce his right hand just now. His right hand was covered with a firm coating of transparent [Soul Power] energy on the surface. Whilst it looked normal and from a brief quick nce it couldn''t have been noticed, his hand was rendered almost indestructible in that exchange. Even the sharp ebony de, Rygintarth wouldn''t be able to slice it apart! During that exchange, Pei Syriac''s strength gained the upper hand and he managed to knock Aiden three steps backwards. From a first nce it seemed that he was the one that suffered during that exchange, even if his damage was superficial at most. However, in reality, Aiden did not receive too much damage and merely suffered flesh wounds. As for Pei Syriac on the other hand he suffered a secret loss and was in unbearable pain. Nobody noticed that his retracted hand was trembling under the cover of his robes. The feeling of punching a steel board wasn''t one that was pleasant. In that short while, Tai-Liu had already arrived and descended between the two of them with the elderly uncle close behind. "[Reptilian] Are you... Are you alright?" Tai-Liu was befuddled and looked at Aiden behind her. She could not help but ask in a hesitant tone. "[Reptilian] Don''t worry, it is fine." Aiden nodded, shing a warm smile. "[Reptilian] Are you truly fine?" Tai-Liu withdrew a small hourss shaped vial from her storage bag and whispered, "It''s alright, you do not need to force yourself. Are you injured internally? Take this elixir and stabilize your wounds first." Aiden smiled calmly and shook his head to reject. "[Reptilian] Pei Syriac, what is the meaning of this?" Tai-Liu spun around and questioned with a sharp gaze, "[Reptilian] I have already said that he''s under the protection of Azure Myst Sect and yet you dare to attack him?" "[Reptilian] Heh" Pei Syriac scoffed lightly and replied in an indifferent tone. "[Reptilian] I was merely curious seeing how this brave friend has a strong physique and extraordinary meleebat strength. It was just a mere spar. Why are you so anxious, ''Brother'' Tai-Liu?" He deliberately pushed on thest words, as if suggesting to something "[Reptilian] A spar?!" Tai-Liu sneered in response. That punch just now was clearly out to take Aiden''s life! Just now, he was chided and shamed by Aiden publicly. Now that he had taken another secret loss, there was no way that the conceited and extremely arrogant Pei Syriac would give up. He would still look for more opportunities to kill Aiden here. The person before him, Tai-Liu, was nothing to be fearful of. However, a hint of caution appeared in Pei Syriac''s eyes when he caught sight of the elderly man behind Tai-Liu. Taking a deep breath of air, Pei Syriac sighed internally. Now that the Azure Myst Sect was involved, it was unlikely that he would be able to kill Aiden today. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 755 Chapter 755 Taking a deep breath of air, Pei Syriac sighed internally. Now that the Azure Myst Sect was involved, it was unlikely that he would be able to kill Aiden today. Furthermore, the young heir, the ''Dark Lord'' of Malefic Demon n was watching coldly from the sidelines. This was not the right time to engage in a conflict with Azure Myst Sect. Otherwise, Malefic Demon n might stand to gain from their disagreement. At that thought, Pei Syriac cupped his fists towards Tai-Liu and eyed the hooded Aiden deeply before saying with a theatrical, fake smile. "[Reptilian] My dear friends, there''s still a long way to go. There will definitely be another chance for us to ''spar'' in the future!" He ced an added emphasis on the word spar in his response. However, already angered, Aiden didn''t bother to give him a modicum of face. "[Reptilian] Sure, I will dly take your life the next time you spar. Let this one little bout be a reminder of your arrogance!" "Ahahaha!" Pei Syriac threw back his head and guffawed heartily. "[Reptilian] Sure! I will be looking forward to it!" With that, he flicked his robes and turned to leave along with the other Cystal Pce disciples. On the other side, the Dark Lord and his attach followed suit and left the street not long after. In the blink of an eye, two top factions in Ugburg City disappearedpletely, as if they never appeared. Madam Dara and the rest of Aiden''s captains sighed in relief as this looked at the scene. Finally it seemed the disaster have passed and they could get some much needed rest! On the long street, the long windedmotion have finally calmed down. The remaining survivors of the Church''s Extermination force were no longer a threat. Having lost their heads they were likembs prime for ughter. It was also fortunate that Tai-Liu had returned. Otherwise, another bloody battle would definitely break out if Aiden took on his true draconic form and the consequences would be unimaginable after everything spiraled out of control! Tai-Liu took out some elixirs from her leather waist pouch and handed them to Madam Dara and the others. They eagerly epted the gifts and thanked her in return. Even though they also had some vials with them, their effects were definitely notparable to those from such a prime sect as the Azure Myst assigned leader''s. When it was Aiden''s turn for the gifts, he merely took a nce and shook his head gently, choosing not to take them. "[Reptilian] What''s wrong? Is something the matter?" Tai-Liu asked with confusion on her face. "Your injuries are deep and definietly nothing to scoff at or ''tought it out''! These elixirs will help you speed up your recovery and get back to your peak state in no time! If you are worried about the cost, you shouldn''t I have plenty, you do not need to be concerned at all!" What Tai-Liu said though not wrong, she also failed to understand the potential of her simple handouts. The vials she took out one after another were all decent quality, superior grade potions that would fetch a sky high price back on Eora. You could probably shoot straight up to the upper echelons of Higrove''s society with just a handful of these! Still, for Aiden these were not needed. His own vitality and regenerative capabilities were much better. With the added extra essence he had gained every now and then secretly from the long winded bout, he had more than enough to regenerate back to full health once he would finally be left alone. He only needed a session of meditation to get back to his prime state as well as gain some potential benefits along the way as well. While Aiden seemed like he was severely injured in the battle with more than 30 wounds and blood covering him from head to toe, in reality, his foundation was unharmed. His organs were perfectly fine as were his tendons and bones. He also had just enough energy left in his tank. In just a short while, Aiden''s wounds were already starting to heal and had stopped bleeding long ago. Given his terrifying regeneration capabilities, he could recover in probably overnight! Nowadays the inner city of Ugburg could be said to be divided into four equal parts, four dominant districts. One side, generally known as the ''East Sector'' were where the Crystal Pce lorded over. Ever since they came nobody, not even the church bothered to offend them. Opposite of them, holding over the west, or the ''Dark Sector'' were the domain of the recently arrived Malefic Demon n''s territory. They were true fiends, ruling thier sector with just as much of an iron hand as did the church. Only differnce was, that whilst the Church, who ruled mostly the north with some small influence to the south, were hiding behind the mask of righteousness and the ''will of the Ancient One'', whilst the disciples of the Malefic Demon n were at the very least honest to themselves and their desires. As said before, whilst the North was the true base and main domain of the church and the High Priest, they also controlled over the south as well, though their grip wasn''t as strong in there as they hoped. Especially recently, with how their two main forces, after the demise and dwindling numbers of their Elite Captains, the local smaller forces as well as the ever-present pestilence of the resistance slowly but steadily imed more and more streets to themselves. Originally when the extermination force was still present in everyone''s minds, the Church still had the most control, and had a sway over even the east and west governmental matters as well. However, now that their most fearsome and terrifying force were now painting the pavement to a more healthier color of crimson red, it was certain that their words were carrying less and less weight. The south, that once still belonged to them, were now unofficially thend for the Azure Myst Sect as well as the growing seeds of resistance. Before the bloody battle on the long street, Tai-Liu valued Aiden highly and even went as far asing to an agreement with him to actually step in to deal with the Extermination Force if necessary. At that point in time, her thoughts as well as this outrageous agreement were seen as nothing but fanatic and irrational. Her judgement was called into question not just by her peers but even by her uncle as well! Yet, how everything changed now! Now, everyone realized her keen insight at the time, and praised her quick thinking that benefitted the Azure Myst Sect immensely! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story (on the brink of destruction!), with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: ? https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 756 Chapter 756 The Azure Myst Sect finally managed to recruit somebody like Aiden who was both strong and possessed terrifying potential without losing much of its precious rare resources. Furthermore, the Church Extermination Force was destroyed! It was truly like killing two birds with one stone! After themotion and all the events have been settled, a couple of days have passed by in a sh. There was only a week left from the original 30 day allotted time Aiden, his original team of friends, as well as the other forces of Higrove''s Pirs were given for the duration of the original contest. Seven days before they were scheduled to return, seven more days to go and try to settle everything for Aiden In the southern part of Ugburg''s Inner City inside arge meeting hall owned by the Azure Myst Sect. By now, Madam Dara and the others were almost healed up whilst Aiden had long sincepletely recovered a couple of days ago. Aiden''s group, Tai-Liu, her elderly uncle and guardian, and one of the core disciples of Azure Myst Sect''s local force, a youngster by the name of Disciple Juno Hian, were gathered. "[Reptilian] Everyone, the reason why I asked you all and gathered here was to discuss our n of action for the opening of the Ancient Burial Site." Tai-Liu stood up and opened the meeting with a deep, serious tone of voice. "[Reptilian] Since I''ve requested for your help, I''ll divulge everything I know without holding back any secrets." Aiden and his group nodded. They could sense Tai-Liu was sincere with her intentions this time and that he truly wasn''t nning on holding anything back. During this period of time, Azure Myst Sect provided a considerable number of high quality elixirs to help his team of captains and the others with their recovery. "[Reptilian] In truth, this ruin is rted to a one of the major powers back in the olden era before the cataclysm. It goes back to this city''s true origins." It was clear that there was more to the matter, and that what he would say would be important. Indeed, Tai-Liu continued. "[Reptilian] This city, whilst its name was lost in time, was once ruled by bareskins in the past It was an extremely famous location back in the ancient era and was the foremost hub for traders in the surface at one point! Though we do not know what caused the city to sink beneath the ground and be deserted while it remained in such good condition historical records revealed many interesting bits and pieces! At one point, this location was once most known for its incredible talents in alchemy and elixir refinement! In fact, our Azure Myst Sect''s founder learned his craft from this very ce!" Aiden''s group felt their hearts skip a beat when they heard that. If an Elixir Refinement Master of the ''olden days'' could create a sect, Azure Myst Sect, that turned out to be one of this world''s most powerful unorthodox groups, one could only imagine how strong this city was back in the days! "[Reptilian] These ancient ruins are truly extraordinary." Tai-Liu said with a grim expression. "Not only will there be arge amount of elixirs within, there will also be many elixir recipes as well and powerful artifacts that have been lost!" Aiden nodded at that thought silently. Many things have been lost through the times from the ancient era till now. One could only imagine the oue of finding one of these long lost recipes of the old Elixir Masters! One could be famous overnight! "[Reptilian] Of course, apart from elixir recipes, in the ruins of such as these, there''s also a chance of obtaining the hidden inheritances if one is extremely lucky. These inheritances are much more precious than elixir recipes or even mere artifacts. They are the legacies the buried knowledges of these old masters! However, the probability of that happening is extremely low it would be extremely hard to gain the recognition of these grand masters" Tai-Liu chuckled bitterly. "[Reptilian] Yet, there''s no point in thinking about these matters. If we could obtain some elixirs or perhaps find some recipes we should be content!" Aiden smiled to himself as he listened to Tai-Liu''s exnation silently. In truth, he was already tempted the moment he heard about the Ancient Burial Site opening back when he arrived in the city. His interest didn''t spawn from Tai-Liu''s nudging or even from their agreement, he had already had an idea to explore these ruins regardless. It was the burial grounds, a ruin rted to the guardians of this ne! Perhaps even rted to the Ancient One, the one surviving traitor! After hearing Tao-Liu''s introduction of the burial grounds, Aiden was even more certain that they would most likely find the answers of their questions deep inside these ruins and that even find the ce and locations of the HIS resting ce. Tai-Liu said. "[Reptilian] Of course, for a city asrge as Ugburg City, there will definitely be many other treasures hidden in this Ancient Burial Ground. In fact, we might even find gems like artifact weapons. Aiden pondered for a moment. "[Reptilian] As agreed I will do my best to help your Azure Myst Sect get in the ruins safely. I also do not wish for anything more that if we find an inheritence, I would be the first one to enter." "[Reptilian] Ahahahha!" The young man who was silent so far, suddenly burst into loudughter as he looked at Aiden with a mocking, condescending gaze. "[Reptilian] First spot for an Inheritence? What a daring demand! Who do you think you are, you wretch?!" "[Reptilian] I''m sorry, I haven''t even noticed you so far. Who are you, boy?" Aiden asked with a calm, but at the same time, cold looking smile. However, the young man, Juno Hian didn''t seem to realize theced threat inside Aiden''s question and puffed his chest proudly as he dered loudly. "[Reptilian] I am Juno Hian, core disciple of Azure Myst Sect! My master is the Master of the Golden Myst Battle Hall!" He also didn''t stop that, and carried on with his sudden gained momentum. "[Reptilian] Do not think that because you are allowed to sit with us, you have the right to negotiate any terms with the Azure Myst Sect! Just because you killed three archbishops do not think you can do whatever you want! Without us, you wouldn''t be able to step a foot inside the Burial Grounds, do not forget that!" "[Reptilian] Juno Hian!" Tai-Liu red at him and said sternly. Harrumphing, Juno Hian did not continue, merely crossing his arms and scoffing coldly. >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 757 Chapter 757 Tai-Liu turned to Aiden apologetically. "[Reptilian] I am sorry Aiden it''s not that we do not want to agree to the terms you want, but" "[Reptilian] But?" Aiden smiled calmly and asked. Tai-Liu sighed as she grabbed the temples of her head, already feeling the surging headache of all the problems she was facing. "[Reptilian] The Azure Myst Sect is not the only faction that has arrived in Ugburg City for the Ancient Burial Ground ruins. There are also otherrge forces such as the two that you have already met, the Crystal Pce and Malefic Demon n. As for the supposed inheritance, it''s better if we don''t find such a cursed treasure like that if I am honest. If we do, these so-called top figures of the other factions are bound toe and contest us for it! It would only spill endless trouble for our small group!" In other words, Tai-Liu meant that they would have to face many extremely strong foes if Aiden really wanted to contest for the chance to gain the so-called inheritance! After pondering for a slight moment, Tai-Liu added, "[Reptilian] I will not lie and be blunt here, I''m talking about people like Pei Syriac of the Crystal Pce and the so called Dark Lord of Malefic Demon n. For these people, other than the true treasures such as mythical artifact weapons, other treasures and secret skills aren''t worth bothering about." "In fact, I am almost certain that they are here solely for the same inheritance you are also aiming for." It wasn''t that big of a secret that the Ancient Burial Grounds were somehow connected to the Ancient One, or more precisely to the so-called Guardians of this world after all. The secrets of its dpidating walls and maze-like tunnels held within were unimaginable! Pei Syriac and the Malefic Demon n''s current young lord were already at the top of the current mortal limits of this world. The best chance for them to step into a higher realm and grow stronger would be most likely within ruins such as this Ancient Burial Grounds! This was an opportunity they simply cannot and would not miss. At the thought of the arrogant dark robed man and the super arrogant andcent Pei Syriac, Aiden frowned. He had exchanged blows with Pei Syriac before. Although it was only a single blow, he could still sense how terrifying his opponent was. To be fair if he wouldn''t have been alert and guarded like he was, there was a high chance that his arm would have been crippled by Pei Syriac back then! Tai-Liu said, "[Reptilian] Even though you killed three of the strongest known powers of the church, three Archbishops, you have to understand that there''s a distinction in strength between what is shown to the public and what is kept under wraps as well. Take me for example, I am at a simr power level as those elders as well, but unlike those maniacs I am mostly an alchemist, an elixir master. Even five of me won''t be a match for people like those elders that have decades of battlefield experience." Then as she sighed her expression turned somber as she continued. "[Reptilian] Yet, even ten of me, or perhaps a dozen more wouldn''t be able to stand up to the likes of those two monsters Pei Syriac though arrogant and condescending, truly has the strength to support it. As for the ''Dark Lord'', his title also isn''t just for show. Only one in each generation has the right to wield it." She then looked at Aiden and said. "[Reptilian] This is the difference I and all of us are talking about." Aiden remained silent as he listened to these words. He knew that Tai-Liu was not wrong. He understood it, the moment they shed that his chances of winning against the two of them without using his ultimate cards was nowhere great. The elderly uncle chimed in and remarked as well. "[Reptilian] These two factions have a heritage going back countless years and they have too many battle techniques and secret skills, each of which are extremely strong and can suppress everything." "You have your advantage in meleebat. Unfortunately, the sessor of Crystal Pce is also skilled in meleebat and has a physique so strong that only a few of the other sects'' sessors can match him!" Tai-Liu added "[Reptilian] You took advantage of the situation by making use of the storm to kill the two elders, Elder Zhorl and Elder Loran. There was an element of luck, surprise involved in those eventual hard-earned victories. However, can you guarantee that the weather will be simr once again when you go to face off against Pei Syriac and the Dark Lord of the Malefic Demons?" "[Reptilian] In other words, even if you manage to repeat that incredible attack, that mighty sh infused with that strange power, those two might be able to deal with it given their strength." Sensing the situation was going his way, Juno Hian could not help but blurt it out. "[Reptilian] Elder Sister, you are overestimating him! He''s not even a match for the core disciples of the smaller sects, let alone the paragons like Pei Syriac and Dark Lord Yang. Pfft! Those outsiders aside, even I can smash him to a pulp with ease!" To Juno Hian, the reason why Aiden was able to kill the elder archbishops all those days ago was purely due to an opportunistic moment. He refused to believe and ept the impossible fact that this scrawny kid would be anything strong and powerful! He could not sense any energy fluctuationsing from him! In all aspects, he felt like a powerless, helpless mortal and not a powerful disciple of an unknown master. If the skies were sunny, he would be able to kill Aiden for sure! He was absolutely certain of it. Aiden merely smirked, and refused toment or be bothered by an idiot, like Juno Hian''s sarcastic remarks. Instead he nced at the sight of the so-far silent figure in the room. Their gazes met as he gazed at Vyndridolth''s smiling expression. Though they have not said a single word, it seemed they understood each other perfectly. In reality, both of them knew that inhe could easily squash these bugs like Pei Syriac or this rather cryptically titled ''Dark Lord'' of the Malefic Demon n. Heck, he just needed to let go of his self-imposed constraints and be willing to unleash his full potential! Yet, that would spell endless trouble and would also make his main quests be that much harder, if not impossible toplete! His only choice was to face them using nothing but his current capabilities. He should not rely on his divinity too much. At least not for the time being. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 758 Chapter 758 Right as he was deep in his own thoughts, the elderly uncle that always stood beside Tai-Liu as a silent protector and dauntless guardian seemed to have recalled something. He looked at Aiden and suddenly said. "[Reptilian] Actually, there''s a ce in the ancient battlefield that''s rather suitable for you. If you manage to seed, you might be able to stand a chance against both top masters, Pei Syriac and Dark Lord Yang. Tai-Liu''s heart skipped a beat as she looked at the smiling elder and asked. "[Reptilian] Uncle Liu, are you referring to to THAT ce?" She pushed on the word as if giving it even more weight. "[Reptilian] Yes, young master." However the elder smiled calmly and nodded right away. "Hmm Forget it. There is no chance of sess at all. I was thinking too much." Tai-Liu nodded as well. "If we''re talking about that ce, the chances are indeed rather slim. There''s no need for that." Aiden looked at them, not sure what to make of this theatrical disy. Though there were no suspicious fluctuations of emotions in the air, it still looked and felt as if their disy was rather fake. Still, he couldn''t deny that his curiosity was piqued over how ambiguous the two of them were and could not help but ask. "[Reptilian] Elder Liu, Young Master Tai-Liu, may I ask what is the ce you are referring to?" Tai-Liu did not intend to hide anything and asked instead. "[Reptilian] Ehrm Have you heard of the Metal Tree Groove? "[Reptilian] The what? Metal Tree Groove?" Aiden frowned, shaking his head to the question. He turned to look at his servants only to be met with simr questioning and perplexed gazes. Only Vyndridolth seemed to be knowing something as she just smiled mysteriously refusing toment any further. Madam Dara and the rest on the other hand were just as confused as their lord. It was obvious that they knew nothing about a ce with such a name. Even though they should have been residents, that name seemed to have eluded them so far. "[Reptilian] Heh Just as expected!" Juno Hian sneered. "Truly a bunch of idiots. To think that they have never even heard of the Metal Tree Groove, how utterlyughable!" To this young man''s constant attitude towards him, Aiden did not really care. How could he be bothered by the constant noise of a fly, after all? Normally you would just p it down and be done with it. However, this young man was actually a respected member of the Azure Myst Sect, and of on a somewhat equal stand with Tai-Liu. For the time being, he could only turn silent and endure the matter instead. Unless he would cross the point of no return and look for his bottom line, Aiden would not act up against him. Tai-Liu frowned gently and shot Juno Hian a stern look before saying slowly. "[Reptilian] The reason why the Metal Tree Groove is so famous is because of an old legend rted to it." Through her tone, it was obvious that the legend was far from simple. Aiden''s group looked serious as they sat upright and listened intently. Tai-Liu said slowly with a serious look on her face. "[Reptilian] The story is about thest empire of the bareskins and theirst emperor!" "[Reptilian] Thest emperor? You mean human emperor? But shouldn''t they have been lost hundreds of years ago ever since the world" The moment Tai-Liu uttered those words, it was as if the world have suddenly been disturbed and was abruptly shaken up. As if an ancient, primordial beast have listened in on them and from such dark underground crevasse sent out a chilling, bone shaking wind! The mere mention of those words brought forth an indescribable pressure. It was ancient, as though it had crossed through the archaic times with an indestructible intent that was shocking! Instantly, a deep and unrestrained killing intent filled the hall. Everyone felt as if it had be much more difficult to breathe. It took several seconds before the strange, unnatural sensation dispersed and the situation calmed down somewhat. Tai-Liu didn''t look surprised, but instead as if she expected such a strange phenomenon to y out as she slowly spoke and exined. "[Reptilian] Thest emperor represents invincibility, superiority and uniqueness. He was and to this day, is invincible in his ways, the utmost powerhouse of the mortal world with no one that can surpass him! He was known as the Invincible Emperor!" "[Reptilian] Still, in the end, he couldn''t escape the cmity himself, could he? His title couldn''t save him in the end" Aiden remarked silently as he kept listening. "[Reptilian] While it is true that in the end he too met his end in the cmity, up to his death, he was never defeated. No mortal could ever face him and survive his attacks. He was known as the God of the de, the one and only emperor in the way of the des!" Aiden understood what she meant. In any given era there could be many rules, kings and whatnot. However, no matter what you called yourself, what you enforced, to history there could always be one emperor, one ultimate leader of your kind. That was the definition of emperor C invincible, supreme and unique! "[Reptilian] I believe all of you know that in the current world, magic, and our powers, given through faith is what reigns supreme. Weapons of steel and metal could not match the ferocity of a ming hot ball of fire however back in the ancient era, there were a hundred weapon sses that fought for supremacy. Apart from swords that were preferred by the bareskins, there were sabers, spears, halberds, axes, bows and many other types of weapons. The sword had its own way and so did the saber. There was a master, an ''emperor'' for every type of weapon. "[Reptilian] However in the ancient era, the ruling race, the bareskins was blessed with immense luck and gave birth to countless paragons in their time, making them to be the ultimate rulers of the world of the surface. They had given rise to many emperors throughout time. That was a golden era for their race and they waged a historic war against the other races known as the ancient war. This warsted for a long time and countless experts and ancient mighty figures fell because of it. These masters were all tainted with blood and it was extremely tragic. "[Reptilian] Although the bareskins stood victorious after the war, most of the hundreds of weapon techniques were lost in the ancient battlefield with no future left in sight. The only remaining lineages were what we have today Mostly rted to spears." --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 759 Chapter 759 Madam Dara and the rest were shocked when they heard that. They had never heard of these ancient tales and legends. Right now, they were greatly intrigued. Even Aiden was looking intently at Tai-Liu and was waiting for her to continue with an eager gaze. Even though it was only a few short descriptions, everyone could almost envision that magnificent era before their eyes. In fact, Aiden could even vividly envision the time when this world wasn''t such a war torn wastnd Tai-Liu continued. "[Reptilian] The reason why these ancient knowledge, these heritages could be passed down from the ancient war was naturally attributed to these legendary masters. Namely, the Tombs of the Emperors of the past, namely two we have called the Spear Emperor and the Sword Emperor. There are way too many legends regarding these two mighty figures. Some described them as mortal enemies, some described them as bosom buddies and there were even some who said that they were neither friends nor foes, merely appreciative of the others'' talents" p "[Reptilian] No matter what, the final oue of the legends was that the Sword Emperor went far away and left the mortal world. Thereafter, there were no emperors for all the other weapons and only the way of the arcane reigned supreme, leading to the current state of our slowly dying world." Madam Dara''s group let out a long breath, unable to calm down for a long time. It was only now that they understood why most of the powerhouses in the world preferred to rely on faith and false gods rather than their own belief and strength. So, this was the reason. Tai-Liu said: "[Reptilian] The legacy that the two emperors left behind back then is the current top tier sects, the likes of the Crystal Pce and the Malefic Demon n as well as the other Martial Powerhouses!" Even Aiden could not help but be secretly impressed. Originally, he thought that strong factions, these ''super'' sects such as the Crystal Pce or Azure Myst Sect, or these demonic worshipers and whatever else this world still had in store, they only earned their title as the strongest factions of the world due to their ancient lineage and strong foundations. But judging from the situation now, all of those sects had such shocking backgrounds! For example, even the mighty church of the Ancient One, that ruled over this small race of Draconic Skinks, had such an incredible powerhouse going even further back in the world''s history. Like them, the Crystal Pce also probably had a powerhouse, an emperor of equal if not even more outstanding of a standing within its long history! In fact, he was certain that this mighty being was someone that influenced the future of the world such that their secret body techniques became supreme in the current martial world. Pondering for a while Aiden couldn''t help but ask after a moment of silence, "[Reptilian] And do you know perhaps, where did the Sword Emperor go in the end?" Tai-Liu smiled faintly. "He traveled far overseas and found a lone ind in the ocean, leaving his legacy there." "[Reptilian] Ocean? You couldn''t possibly mean" He looked shocked as a possibility slowly emerged in his mind. "[Reptilian] Hmm.. Yes, that''s right." Tai-Liu''s eyes flickered with a hint of admiration as she nodded. "The legacy left behind by the Sword Emperor is rumored to be rted to be somewhere around that mysterious grove. It is rumored that a group of bareskins actually survived the cmity and have lived in seclusion ever since. Though no one ever found a trace of them, the legends say that theirst remaining vige can be found somewhere within the thick canopy of the Metal Trees!" Aidenmented as he listened to her story. From this perspective, the Spear Emperor did not lose back then. The so called legacy left behind by the Sword Emperor is probably rted to one of the mighty sects of this world and the legacy left behind by the other one, the Sword Emperor is probably with this tribe of humans that somehow survived In terms of reputation, status or strength, the grove didn''t seem to be weaker than any of this world''s powerhouses. "[Reptilian] What does the Metal Tree Groove have to do with the Sword Emperor then? Tai-Liu exined, "It''s said that when the Sword Emperor left the mortal world, he left behind a legacy! This legacy IS the Metal Tree Groove, that should be found to the south." "[Reptilian] While the Metal Tree Groove truly exists, there has never been any one man or woman who has obtained its inheritance for all the hundreds of years. Countless paragons have been produced in this long period of time but all of them ended in failure. Gradually, the Metal Tree Groove became nothing more than a legend that no one believed in, until" With a slight pause, Tai-Liu continued, "Around a hundred years ago, a mysterious figure appeared from seemingly out of thin air. Although he was not from one of the super sects, he had frighteningbat strength and couldpete against all the legacy disciples of the various major sects!" "[Reptilian] It was said that this mysterious figure somehow found the Sword Emperor''s hidden legacy and imed it for himself!" However, Aiden wasn''t convinced. He frowned slightly and asked, "If that is true, then howe the Metal Tree Groove still exists after that person obtained the Sword Emperor''s inheritance? Shouldn''t the groove itself vanish from the world if that were the case?" "[Reptilian] I don''t know the exact reasons why, but it indeed still exists." Tai-Liu shook her head. "I do not know the reason myself. In fact, nobody does." She nodded as she continued. "[Reptilian] "You''re considered as a sword master yourself as well and the Metal Tree Groove is suitable for you and can help your strength grow rapidly. Naturally, there''s a prerequisite and that is for you to obtain the inheritance of the Sword Emperor." Upon hearing that, Aiden had already made up his mind that he wanted to make a trip to the Metal Tree Groove. Even though Aiden had made use of his artifact sword, Rygintarth up till this point of his journey, he knew nothing about real sword techniques; he merely relied on the power of his system as well as his physique''s strength to sh widely and fiercely. Even though it worked it was not a long term solution. Just as he was busy with his own thoughts, suddenly as if following his thought process, the familiar sound of system''s long since not heard notification rang inside Aiden''s mind. Strangely though, it wasn''t just him, but also his captains that suddenly had a change of expression as they turned their attention towards their Young Lord --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 760 Chapter 760 *Ding!* "[New Main Quest received! - Explore the Metal Tree Grove and find the hidden altar!] Difficulty: ???? Objective: - Explore the Metal Tree Grove, find the Sword Emperor''s hidden inheritance - Find the Hidden Primal Altar! Reward: ???? Failure Condition: - ???? Penalty: ????]" The sudden emergence of yet another main quest caught Aiden off guard. Though from the scarce information the notification provided it might as well could have remained hidden. Besides giving him a note of his task of exploring the ruins and confirming the theory he had already been pondering about, it gave nothing worthwhile. Just like before, his system''s guide, who has remained silent for a while, has suddenly spoke up in her usual, motherly, caring and worried, apologetic tone. ''[Before you ask for it Aiden, I can''t give you more details. I myself have no clue of what this quest actually is, and how can it pop up out of nowhere. Can''t even confirm what its trigger was, I am afraid. Though, one thing is certain, that this ce may contain more clues about the real history of this world as well as clues topleting your remaining tasks and iming this dying piece of charrednd, and saving its residents yourself. For what I can tell you, is just go with the flow and make sure to explore this ce]'' Enya expressed inside his mind. Upon listening to everything that Tai-Liu told, Aiden was clear of his next objectives. He had made up his mind that he wanted to make a trip to this so called Metal Tree Groove and explore its secrets thoroughly before the Ancient Burial Grounds would open up a couple of dayster. Even though he had been handling his de, Rygintarth with some sess up till this point of his adventure, he knew nothing about real sword techniques; he merely relied on the power of his inner source of energy, his [Soul Power] as well as his physique''s strength to sh away to victory, mostly just iling widely. Thankfully, he already had a moderate understanding thanks to the gained Weapon Mastery as well as his general, self-gained active skill the [Sword Mastery: Profound Strike], making him channel power in a rough form to unleash an empowered sh against his opponent. Coupled with the assistance of his naturally high aptitude and inner perception, he could evade danger without even seeing it and thus, it was quite rare for him to be disadvantaged. However, ever since he got to this world, Aiden knew very well that if he were to meet a top-notch expert, his opponent would be able to easily find the openings of his battle technique and take him down, even if thetter''s strength could not match his! Therefore, even if there was only a one in a million chance, Aiden wanted to head over and give it a shot. When he saw that Aiden was moved, Juno Hian sneered at the side, "[Reptilian] There have been countless sect disciples and renowned sword masters who have been to the Metal Tree Groove before. Many of them were known to be the paragons that were far beyond their contemporaries. However, there has only been a single person who has managed to seed through thest hundreds of years. How could you, a nameless nobody, amon filth such as yourself who have never even heard of the Metal Tree Groove think that you are befitting of receiving the Sword Emperor''s inheritance?" Tai-Liu was already displeased at how Juno Hian was targeting Aiden, their hardly earned new friend repeatedly. It was only after she noticed that Aiden was calm and had no reaction that she became slightly relieved. "[Reptilian] Oh yeah Also, there''s one more thing I have to remind you about!" Tai-Liu said deeply, "[Reptilian] I don''t know much about the Metal Tree Groove either. After all, there has already been someone who was rumored to have received the Sword Emperor''s inheritance about a hundred years ago. As such, you might end up making a wasted trip." "[Reptilian] That''spletely all right." Aiden shook his head and smiled calmly. "The many legends that you''ve told me about now are truly fascinating. In this so-called ancient era, where wars tore thendscape apart, dragons and mythical creatures rose together with these bareskin emperors in that golden era. The only regret I have is that I wasn''t born back then to stand shoulder to shoulder with those mighty warriors, leaving my name through history!" The moment he said that, the hall went silent. Everyone watched with shock and slightly agape mouths. Such arrogant, high and mighty words! Such a promation! The fact that such a statement was said by a nameless nobody like him was truly ridiculous and arrogant. For some unknown reason, Aiden was not filled with passion or unparalleled pride when he said those words, merely looking extremely natural. Instead, the more he listened to these stories the more familiarity, kinship he felt! It felt as though only he himself that stood before these people was truly qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with those legendary emperors! Even Juno Hian who seemingly had a grudge against Aiden and was going full force with his vendetta could not spout out a single sarcastic remark at this moment. For sure, he wouldn''t have dared to repeat Aiden''s statement personally, he would be worried that bad luck might befall him from the unknowns. Even for the emperors that have fallen for countless years, their dignities could not be sullied! They were akin to the closest behings to real life gods of this world! Even the elderly uncle couldn''t help but look at the mysterious young man, this Aiden deeply. He had to admit that initially, he had vastly underestimated this young man. From all the time he had continued to defy his expectations and prove time and again of his incredible power and talent he had gained respect in his aged eyes. However, at that moment, the elderly uncle''s previous impression of Aiden had disappeared entirely! Aiden however either deliberately or just because he was oblivious, did not notice the strange expressions of everyone around him. He was merely immersed in his own emotions. Shaking his head gently, hemented, "[Reptilian] Time is merciless through history. Be it the Sword Emperor or this ''Spear Emperor'', both have already passed on along with those eras, leaving only their legends." "Since there''s no longer a chance to witness the majesty of the Sword Emperor with my own eyes, I might as well head out to the Metal Tree Groove. Even if I can''t obtain his lost inheritance, I can, at the very least spend some time there and relive the glory of the past in the ruins to make up for the regrets in my heart." Tai-Liu nodded at his words. "[Reptilian] Since you have already decided, I won''t stop you. However, I have to ask you to return to Ugburg City within the next seven days so that you could fulfill the promise you have made to us to help us contend for the Ancient Burial Ground ruins." "[Reptilian] Hmm. I know." Aiden nodded, smiling faintly. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 761 Chapter 761 For the first time in what felt like forever, the mysterious stranger that caught the attention of nearly everyone, regardless of their social standing in Ugburg and its near vicinity, has shown himself once again. As expected, his sudden appearance has attracted countless stares all around him. Some were in awe, some were in shock, whilst others were curious and even some felt envy, jealousy towards the sudden rise of this still enigmatic figure. "[Reptilian] There! Did you all see that?! That robed figure! He has to be him!" "[Reptilian] Him? You mean HIM? The guy who fought" "[Reptilian] Yes, who else you froghead? That''s the guy that ehrm, what was his name again? Argh" There were still many bypassers, adventurers, mercenaries, and even various sect disciples in Ugburg who hadn''t seen the grand spectacle of Aiden''s fight before. However, there were exceptionally few who at the very least haven''t heard the already mythical grade tale of his exceptional fight that shifted the power bnce in the city! Walking on the long street, Aiden could hear discussionsing from a few streets away with a mere twitch of his ears. He merely smiled, he was not bothered about such stuff. However, before he walked far and could even reach the gates, his heart skipped a beat. He sensed a fleeting killing intent from somewhere those strange gazes! ''[Reptilian] What is it this time Who is it?'' He muttered inwardly as he slowly turned his gaze around. He could not understand who was it this time that wanted to find trouble with him once again. After he settled the matter with the church''s extermination force, he figured that he would have some breathing time at least until the Ancient Burial Ground opens up. Yet reality seemed to be different from his expectations once again! To think that someone would be harboring designs on him even after that bloody battle on the long street! Aiden maintained hisposure and sneered in his heart, walking towards the northern gate of Ugburg that separates the inner city from the outer ''suburbs''. At the same time he kept notice of the crowd in the distance, focusing his system''s scanning on the mob. As he expected, the killing intent followed him the entire time. Not long after he exited the inner city, Aiden even sensed another killing intent on top of the first! He was neither fast nor slow in his speed. About two hourster, as he left the outer city as well, Aiden was already far from Ugburg City and his surroundings were empty with no one around. Right then, the sound of clothes pping could be heard from behind. With a sneer inside his heart, Aiden stopped in his tracks and turned around. In the distant horizon, two figures were flying through the air at an extremely fast speed with a murderous aura. Narrowing his gaze, he focused his [Soul Power] to scan the figures and around their waists saw the expected insignias. Seeing this, Aiden sneered under the cover of his hood and scoffed coldly while muttering softly, this time in themon tongue. "It''s indeed them!" In the bloody battle on the long street, Aiden had killed not one, not two, but three elders or ''Archbishops'' of the Church forces. Although it was because he took advantage of the circumstances, ordinary warriors wouldn''t dare to provoke him either. Furthermore, he had the backing of Azure Myst Sect. He was not someone the average citizen or adventurer would dare to offend. However, there were two powerful forces still in Ugburg City who had sufficient strength and now, the reason to cause trouble for him. The Crystal Pce Sect and the Malefic Demons n! He had rejected Pei Syriac and that Dark Lord, who was named Yang if Aiden remembered and embarrassed them in front of everyone the other day. Given their status, there was no way they were going to let things go just like that. Naturally, both the Crystal Pce and the Malefic Demons n could not strike when Aiden was with the Azure Myst Sect''s base in the city. There he was protected. However, disciples of these two powerful factions chased after him the moment he left the protection and was out of the city! Both Crystal Pce and Malefic Demons n had only sent a single person each. This was clear proof of how strong these two were. In reality, if Tai-Liu was here, she would have been able to recognize the two of them. The disciples from Crystal Pce was called Lion Whron and the one from Malefic Demons n was known by his title The Dark Lord''s Left Hand. Both possessed a terrifying strength, not just on par with the archbishops from before but with the many secret techniques could bevery well be more terrifying! In the blink of an eye, Lion Whron and The Dark Lord''s Left Hand had already arrived in front of him. They stood in midair, floating steadily and were looking down at Aiden from left and right. "[Reptilian] He he he!" Lion Whron chuckled lightly with a mocking gaze. "Look who we have caught in our! Littlemb, aren''t you gonna continue running?" "[Reptilian] If you surrender too fast, where''s the fun in the chase then? Are you prepared to surrender since you know there''s no way you can run?" The demonic disciple of the Malefic Demons n looked with a gaze that was ice cold. Aiden smiled silently in response. He looked at the two figures as if they wereplete and utter idiots. If he were to activate his powers and wouldn''t care about the aftermath not to mention running away with ease, he could even crush these two fools with ease! The two of them descended slowly from midair, maintaining a fixed distance and were cautious of one another. Lion Whron was the first to speak as he pointed to Aiden and said to the other Draconic Skink "[Reptilian] Let''s not go round in circles here, let''s put it bluntly. The moment this man is dead, we will split the treasures we can find on him and split it evenly." "[Reptilian] Heh, that is fine. No problem from me." The Dark Lord''s Left Hand nodded. Rolling his eyes, Lion Whron continued adding one more thought. "[Reptilian] Just to be clear, I want the long dark sword he used before and is somewhere still in his possession." "[Reptilian] That''s fine in that case, I''ll take his rings." The Dark Lord''s Left Hand replied. Neither of them took Aiden seriously and were already discussing how they should split his belongings. Aiden''s eyes shed with mockery as he shook his head slightly. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 762 Chapter 762 Aiden''s eyes shed with mockery as he shook his head slightly. The disciples of theserge powerful factions were truly different from the rest. They were not like the others. "[Reptilian] What are you guys doing?" Aiden suddenly spoke up and asked indifferently. "[Reptilian] Heh I almost forgot about you. Senior Brother Pei has a message for you that he wished for me to deliver." Turning around, Lion Whron let out a creepy smile and said slowly. "[Reptilian] Worm! Anyone I wish to kill will definitely die!" At the same time, the other dark robed figure''s gaze was cold also and he spewed his threat maliciously. "[Reptilian] Allowing you, a worthless piece of Carnosaur Turd a chance to be the Dark Lord''s guard was an honor for you. Since you don''t want it, prepare to die. "[Reptilian] Ahahaha How amusing!" Aidenughed and asked. "[Reptilian] Why didn''t Pei Syriac and your idiotic young mastere here themselves if they wanted my life? Why send you two for the job?" "[Reptilian] There''s no need to use a sledgehammer just to crack a nut!" The Dark Lord''s Left Hand expression was filled with disdain. Lion Whron sneered, "[Reptilian] Why does Senior Brother Pei have to deal with a nobody like you personally?" "[Reptilian] HAHAHA!" Aidenughed into the skies upon hearing these remarks. Hisughter was deafening, shaking the void like a great bell. Lion Whron and ''Mr. Left Hand'' felt a slight stinging pain in their ears! Abruptly in one second, just as he started it, Aiden had stoppedughing. His eyes were bright and filled with deep killing intent as he shouted. "[Reptilian] Worthless Wretches, disgusting vermin! The likes of you two actually think that you can have my life?" "You! You''re too arrogant! You think that you are fit to challenge me just because you''ve killed people like Elder Zhorl and Elder Loran?" As a disciple of the Crystal Pce, Lion Whron was fearless as he took a deep breath and channeled his inner energy. Instantly, his deep mana reserves revolved madly and a faint light blueish hue shone beneath his robes and rumbled furiously with a steadily rising, mighty aura. "[Reptilian] There''s no need to say anything else. Die!" Immediately Aiden strode forward and whipped out Rygintarth with a back hand. The fearsome dark beam expanded and enveloped Lion Whron and ''Mr. Left Hand''. He channeled his [Soul Power] and his bones and tendons sounded together, rumbling with the sound of a mighty tsunami alongside thunderous cracking! An ominous deep golden light shone on Rygintarth''s ebony de and burst forth into a blinding radiance, akin to a zing sun. It shot through the void with a sharp edge! The power of that sh was extremely strong and it was fast. Any other ordinary warrior, even if they were simr to the Archbishops or the top notch sect disciples, would have been shocked. However, Lion Whron and Left Hand were unimpressed and they even had mocking expressions. ? "[Reptilian] Is this all you can do? How pathetic." Loran Whron stood on the spot and chanted the mantra. Each time he said a single word, his body''s aura would change slightly. Until the end, Loran Whron''s muscles seemed like they were veiled with a mysterious luster, brightly shining and without ws and any impurities! At the same time, Loran Whron''s arms shone with a faint milky white light. The energy took the shape as a pair of bracers! It was a supreme artifact weapon, simr to what Brother Pei used! Cystal Pce specialized in one''s body''s temperament and if one cultivated the sect''s secret manual to its max, their body, eyes and heart would be firm like stone. One could stay, as strong and resilient as a crystal! They would be indestructible, wless, undying, immensely strong and could fight against ferocious beasts with their bare hands! Therefore, disciples of Crystal Pce mostly used weapons such as gloves or bracers. Although bracers were rarely seen nowadays, they were not to be underestimated. Bracers were extremely flexible and when equipped on one''s arms, could be used both defensively and offensively, allowing one to use their arms like their fingers. Swiftly, Loran Whron neither retreated nor dodged. He buckled his knees slightly, shifting his center of gravity downwards as he propped up his arms to receive the iing strike from Rygintarth. *ng!* The sound of metal shing rang through out. Loran Whron''s figure turned shorter as his feet sank deep into the ground. However, he was not pushed backwards nor did his expression change. As for Rygintarth, she rebounded highly against the tremendous force. Aiden narrowed his eyes and his heart skipped a beat. On the surface, this was an even exchange. But in reality, he took the initiative and his de was of a higher grade than Loran Whron''s bracers! Yet, he did not gain any advantage despite such circumstances. "[Reptilian] This will not be as simple as I expected" Aiden realized then and there that he might not be able to defeat this person quickly and could not help but shift his gaze towards the other, dark robed guy who was not far away. After that sh, Aiden used the remaining momentum of Rygintarth as it was repelled to redirect towards the Left Hand of the Malefic Demon n at the side. The ebony beam was blinding with a nauseating smell! Aiden wanted to make use of a ferocious burst attack to kill this one first before dealing wholeheartedly with Loran Whronter on. "[Reptilian] Hehehe!" As though he had sensed Aiden''s killing intent long ago, Left Hand let out an odd chuckle and activated his mana emitting the same blueish light to shine on his body. The aetheric energy surged as he opened his mouth, spitting out a ck smoke that gushed in an illusory and malefic manner! Even though Aiden''s vision was considered supreme against all other mortal beings, and he could continously evolve it through absorbing new life essence, he found himself shocked! He felt his vision go ck against the ck fog. In that moment of daze, he lost track of his opponent. Master and de seemed to have entered a quagmire in this mass of malefic energy and Rygintarth could barely be moved. The malefic energy enveloped and rapidly corroded the de, causing its inner light to dim while the ebony beam on the de showed signs of weakening. "[Reptilian] Hmmm It wouldn''t be that easy." Aiden harrumphed and held de horizontally across his chest. Channeling more of his [Soul Power], a ball of zing golden energy appeared in his palm and he swiped it across Rygintarth. The power of the energy ball was the most majestic and could purge off evil C it was the most effective against such malefic energy. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 763 Chapter 763 With a series of crackling sounds, the ominous demonic energy around Aiden and Rygintarth waspletely purged by the ball of pure [Soul Power] in Aiden''s palm. Bright golden light shone through the veil of darkness as the fearsome de slowly regained its luster. "[Reptilian] What in the" The Left Hand''s eyes shed with caution. In reality, whilst it may have looked otherwise, the smoke that he had spat out was far from simple C it was one of Malefic Demon n''s secret skills, Veil of Demonic Darkness! The Veil of Demonic Darkness was extremely strong and was used to corrode and destroy artifact weapons. Any spirit enhanced weapon that was tainted by the Veil of Demonic Darkness would have its internal energy sucked away. Left unpurged for long, even its infused soul patterns would be erased, rendering the artifact weapons almost useless. *Swosh!* Loran Whron charged over from the side with his inner energy rumbling like lead mercury. A fierce wind blew behind him as he swung his arms and smashed down. Aiden took a side step and twisted his body to sh in reverse. *ng!* Sparks flew everywhere. In a sh, Aiden''s body swayed as he made use of the energy from that blow''s rebound and crossed his legs, taking a moment to charge at the dark robed figure who was not far away with a furious killing intent! The Left Hand was different from Loran Whron. He wasn''t a body practicioner, his physique was average and he was not strong in meleebat. Aiden would be able to kill him as long as he could get close. Seemingly seeing through his opponent''s intentions, the Left Hand smirked coldly. "[Reptilian] You think it would be that simple? Dream on!" Suddenly, he threw out the bone spear in his arms and it hovered in midair. A pitch-ck smoke surged out from his fingertip, entering the spear. The ten-jointed bone spear shone brightly with blueish light eminating a fierce and cold aura. The Left Hand''s fingers shifted continuously as his hands draw a strange, runic seal. "[Reptilian] Attack!" The moment he said that, the ten-jointed bone spear broke apart and turned into ten small but sharp bone spikes. Each of them were shrouded with dark demonic energy as they shot towards Aiden at breakneck speed. Aiden, who was just in the midst of his rush, suddenly felt a warning in his mind, his senses tingling with immediate danger. In an instant, he followed his instincts and weed the ten bone spikes. The spikes shone coldly and were extremely sharp. These were not weaker than normal sharp weapons and holes would definitely appear on one''s body if they found their mark. The scariest thing was that the ten bone spikes were extremely precise and sealed off all of Aiden''s escape routes! First, eight of the ten bone spikes upied eight different directions, whilst the remaining two spikes sealed the upwards and downwards directions. All ten directions werepletely sealed. Right then, Aiden looked to bepletely entrapped, even if he used his incredible speed that he was known for, it would be impossible for him to escape. "[Reptilian] Interesting That''s a first" Aiden mutterd to himself, looking surprised more than shocked. This battle technique, or unique spear technique was an attack that was above anything he had seen before. It was also one of the first true weapon techniques that he was so hungry to learn, that he so sorelycked. He had no techniques, had no patterns, Aiden usually just relied on his strength and overbearing power to crush all his opponents. Such refined methods was something he had wished to learn for quite a while now In that sh, Aiden did not have time to think as he swung Rygintarth while channeling his [Soul Power], revolving it frantically. He roared loudly, shing against an iing bone spike by making use of his immense burst power. *BOOM!* The bone spike was sent flying and a gap appeared. Aiden''s eyes lit up, before him not too far away, the dark robed men were floating in the air. Just as he was about to charge through the gap, the air behind, above, below and on his sides vibrated immensely! The other nine bone spikes descended, leaving him no chance at all! Even though the Left Hand was not far away, Aiden had no choice but to deal with the nine bone spikes. No matter how fast he was, he could not match the speed of the bone spikes. *ng!* *Swoosh!* *BOOM!* Aiden swung Rygintarth and repelled and crushed three bone spikes consecutively. Right after, he made use of his enhanced sensing skill, [Dark Sense] and passed through the gap of two bone spikes extremely closely! He soared into the air and evaded the remaining four bone spikes in the next instant with uncanny agility and dexterousness. The entire process seemed very slow upon narration but in fact, it urred in the split of a moment. Any slight dy would have riddled Aiden''s body with holes! He was internally shocked by how he had to unleash multiple trump cards just to barely evade the wave of attacks from the Left Hand''s bone spear. Taking a deep breath, Aiden was about to charge forward and shorten the distance between him and the Left Hand when a cold light shed by his eyes followed by an iing wave of demonic energy. The bone spike that he had first repelled was now approaching him once more! The sequence was perfect and Aiden did not have any breathing room at all! However, he did not panic. A slight smile emerged at the edges of his lips as he focuses his mind once again. A series of piercing sounds could be heard. The previous nine bone spikes had returned and sealed his path once more. Out of exasperation, Aiden could only swing Rygintarth and fight head-on! He had just soared into the skies but was forced to descend onto the ground after the consecutive furious attacks of the bone spikes. It was only now that Aiden recalled why Tai-Liu and the others had always thought that he was not a match for Pei Syriac and that Dark Lord. Even after he disyed unparalleled strength in that bloody battle on the long street, or killed three highly revered and at the same time, feared archbishops singlehandedly, no one thought highly of him. The two men before him had already given him an answer. This was the strength of the disciples that belonged to the top factions! The true powerhouses of this world! Suddenly, his thoughts were broken by yet another eximing from the side. "[Reptilian] Die!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 764 Chapter 764 "[Reptilian] Die!" Loran Whron''s voice sounded from the side. Mana fluctuated and revolved wildly from the left side of Aiden suddenly. His opponent that tried to utilize his ''supposed'' blind side gathered massive amounts of his internal force and began to circte it madly into one fierce attack. The changes in the space alone would have been enough to tell of how incredibly powerful and frightening the next attack would be. Not too far away at the side, Loran Whron''s right hand was clenched into a hardened fist; a bright milky-whiteyer of energy gradually formed around it. With all the gathered energy reaching the absolute maximum Loran Whron was able to handle, he heaved a yell and punched toward Aiden shattering the void of space. A fist that was conjured from pure mana materialized and was crystal clear. It shot out, punching towards the spot where Aidennded. *Boom!* Aiden had justnded on the ground when he heard an explosion. Without looking, he could already feel a gigantic fisting towards his body with a terrifying might as it caused the surrounding air to explode! Loran Whron had arrived with a fierce momentum. After his attack reached itspletion, his body shed and he charged forward. Swinging his arms, his fist shone brightly and smashed towards Aiden''s head. There was no wonder why Loran Whron was a highly respected and revered disciple of an important, powerful sect like the Crystal Pce; His timing was impable, absolutely perfect! Right as his opponent descended, he arrived while unleashing his killing move! Immediately, Aiden''s senses felt incredible danger. The current situation was much more dangerous than all those days ago on that long street! Aiden was already having too much trouble dealing with the ten bone spikes before him and now, Loran Whron, who was also terrifyingly strong in meleebat, was striking from the back C a single misstep, and Aiden was sure that he would suffer greatly on the spot! He might even suffer severe damage! Loran Whron and the Left Hand''s eyes shone excitedly. To them, Aiden was already a dead man with nowhere to run! Even Pei Syriac and the Dark Lord himself might not be able to escapepletely unscathed against such an attack. Yet something was not right. What puzzled the two of them was that they couldn''t spot a single trace of panic on Aiden''s face. Those eyes were calm as water with slight ripples of killing intent. He was smiling with his usual cool demeanor with a trace of aloofness now mixed into it. Yet, there was no trace of panic, fear, or worry in the slightest! At that moment! Aiden did something that neither Loran Whron nor the Left Hand could understand at all. He suddenly vanished from their sight! They could not feel his presence, nor could trace his source of life essence at all! It was as if he never was there, to begin with! However, before they could ponder more on the matter, suddenly the robed, hooded figure of the young man appeared behind Loran Whron, seemingly materializing out of thin, empty air. His left hand flickered, as it shot forward. Though his strike seemed simple and from first nce, rather slow even, it was merely an illusion, a trick of the mortal mind. The several afterimages left behind lingering in the air for brief fractions of the second, as well as the strange distorted whistle of the space around them as he struck down were anything but simple, and carried a myriad of profundities alongside them. *BOOM!* Bright golden light epassed seemingly falling down from the sky in a blinding manner. As if tearing through the massive underground world, this giant cavern''s walls, strange symbols, patterns, appeared around the realm of golden light. They were clearly visible as they mmed towards where Loran Whron stood with an apocalyptic might! As it crashed against the ground, it created a deafening bang in mid air. The wild spiritual energy in the void turned chaotic instantly. A massive wave of energy shot out from the collision as a core, spreading towards the surroundings in a golden light as the violent, explosive energy gradually dissipated. Inside the light, Aiden''s arms were already starting to feel numb after shing with the Left Hand repeatedly earlier on. The bone spikes were relentless and sturdy beyond his initial imagination. If not for his powerful physique and his [Soul Power] that surged like a tidal wave, he would not be able to lift his arms now, let alone have the strength to retaliate! Right then, Loran Whron''s fist flew over. Aiden could only narrow his gaze and punch back in response. One side was an umted attack while the other side was a forced counterattack. Despite knowing that he most likely had the disadvantage in strength, Aiden could only ensure that his right hand would not be crippled by the other party''s punch! The fist shed against the arm. Loran Whron''s mystical n artifact bracers struck against Aiden''s pure fist. However, instead of bones cracking, a dull sound of defeat was heard. Aiden''s right hand was bloodied but there was no real deep damage, merely suffering some superficial injury only. Loran Whron''s pupils constricted at this sight. He was shocked beyond belief. ''[Reptilian] He merely suffered some light wounds on his hand after taking an attack against my weapon head-on? Using nothing but his body at that too What in the hell?!'' However, before Aiden could heave a sigh of relief and rest for a moment, his body that was rebound from the sh just now stumbled backwards, right towards the then iing bone spikes! "[Reptilian] In the end, this kill is mine to take!" The Left Hand sneered with contempt. He was already sure of his victory, seeing his sneak attack just now worked. However, he stopped before he could finish. Under the watchful gazes of the duo, Aiden who was about to be pierced by the ten bone spikes suddenly exploded with newfound power. Tworge dragon-like wings emerged from his back, whilst his small, Draconic Skink tail suddenly grew several sizes thicker andrger. Both opponents, both Loran Whron and The Left Hand were shocked. The two of them gasped. Loran Whron was even more shocked at this than his partner in crime. Such a transformation, such power was unheard of after all. Even Pei Syriac, their senior brother, had no such trump cards under his sleeve Such skill felt like beyond the capabilities of the mortal realm. Yet, despite all that this figure before them, this ''Aiden'' just did it. Just who, or what was he? --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 765 Chapter 765 After his semi, hastened transformation, a few bone spikes that should have normally pierced Aiden''s back were blocked by the shining golden scales and bounced back. ,m Despite that miraculous change, Aiden could not avoid all the bone spikes after all. His body was not fully covered in scales, and though his [Shapeshifting] innate trait had several ranks to it, it still needed a couple of seconds to fully cover Aiden''s back, there were still some ''holes'' in his defense. His newly frame that increased in size all of a sudden twisted in mid air and contorted into an unimaginable arc, evading several more bone spikes as his frame shifted to one side. Yet, in the next moment, sshes of blood exploded. Thest of the bone spikes brushed by Aiden''s body, grazing his body and leaving a superficial wound on his left shoulder. Even though he did not manage topletely avoid the sudden ambush attack of the bone spikes, Aiden managed to escape from a potentially fatal situation with his unparalleled agility and quick reaction time. As the threat passed, suddenly Aiden''s body crackled once again, and the hastily erected draconic appendages as well as the golden scales that covered most of his body vanished seemingly in an instant, turning to his original body once more. The Left Hand''s gaze was exceptionally dark as he red at the wound on Aiden''s shoulder. Although that wound wasn''t deep, the weapons of Malefic Demon n were all basked and tempered in vile demonic energy. The moment they injure anyone, malefic energy would surge into the smallest of wounds. Those that were lightly affected would not be able to channel their inner energy efficiently and theirbat strength would weaken. If they did not purge it in time, it might even destroy their foundation and cripple their chances at recovery in the future. Those that were severely affected would have their hearts enveloped by the malefic energy, causing fatal injury that in most cases lead directly to their deaths in just a few minutes. Right in front of the Left Hand, the wound on Aiden''s shoulder shed with streaks of golden energy, purging the demonic contaminated energy entirely. Aiden stood where he was and red at Loran Whron and the dark robed figure coldly. The killing intent in his eyes intensified and his aura was changing as well. "[Reptilian] Heh" Not sensing the sudden change in the air, the Left Hand sneered and cackled with malice. "I give you onest chance to surrender, filth! Though that transformation was shy and it saved you the first time next time I will be prepared and you''ll be shredded to pieces without mercy!" "[Reptilian] This is yourst chance, kid." Suddenly, Loran Whron''s eyes shone and he said. "As long as you willingly hand over the secret technique you used just now, as well as your dark de, I promise to let you off. Furthermore, I will stand by your side and kill this scum demonic practitioner alongside with you! How does that sound?" "[Reptilian] Ahahaha!" Aiden burst into a gleefulughter in response for several seconds before suddenly his gaze shifted and his eyes shone with a golden, but at the same time, especially sinister and cold glint. "[Reptilian] A bunch of worms you really think you have won?" The moment he spoke, his voice also changed, revealing a much deeper, thunderous tone. A sinister wind also gusted without warning. The ground began to quake, as a massive power suddenly descended and enveloped thend all around. An uncanny, primordial power, that neither disciple of these great factions have ever felt before. Looking at the young man before them, and noticing his sinister expression not far away, Loran Whron and the Left Hand felt an unprecedented sense of fear! ''[Reptilian] What is going on?'' The two of them exchanged nces with grim expressions. "[Reptilian] You pathetic worms you wish to learn MY secrets? Are you truly, that interested?" Aiden licked his lips with a ferocious glint in his eyes. Grinning, he shouted. "[Reptilian]Then let me give you a taste!" A muffled sound rang out from within Aiden''s body, as though some seals had been released and an ancient divine creature had been unleashed from within. It was terrifying! Although they had been fighting for a short time, Aiden had already realized that he wouldn''t be able to defeat the two of them if he continued fighting with his current strength. Though there were still some risks with it, since there was nobody else at this ce, he could kill them in his true form without anybody knowing! Aiden''s power began to skyrocket following along as his frame began to twist and rapidly grew, gaining inch after inch in both height and muscle mass. His body rapidly expanded, as well as his Draconic Skink features rapidly transformed revealing his peak form of an Ancient Dragon in his semi-transformed humanoid form. Invisible currents of strange, otherworldly energy revolved around his body, distorting his visage and making him turn something akin to a God descending before mortals to enact his divine judgment. "[Reptilian] W-w-w" "[Reptilian] T-this is impossible!" Loran Whron and the Left Hand were shocked. How could this be possible? What is going on? The moment they saw that dense unknown aura, the two of them thought that Aiden was not like what he seemed. They felt as if a divine being appeared before them. However, they were puzzled on second thought. There was no way Divine Beings could take on such a form before and appear on this realm At least that''s what they were taught all their lives. Everything before them waspletely unexinable. What was happening was simply impossible, it wentpletely beyond the possibilities of their understanding. How could that scrawny little skink suddenly change forms, and be such an unexinable entity? In Loran Whron and the Left Hand''s moment of daze, Aiden shifted and arrived before Loran Whron in the blink of an eye. A series of afterimages appeared behind Aiden,sting for a long time. "[Reptilian] Aaaaah what in the!" Loran Whron''s expression changed and his heart nearly exploded. Aiden was too imposing and terrifying! Lunging over with that asphyxiating aura, he was even more feral than the ferocious beasts of the ancient era with his surging divine aura and ruthless, cold killing intent! Loran Whron did not have time to contemte and activated his inner energy, churning all the remaining mana inside his body furiously as his bracers shone with a bedazzling spirit light. He knew he only had one chance. "[Reptilian] I don''t care what sort of a monster or whatever it is you are, just die!" --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 766 Chapter 766 "[Reptilian] I don''t care what sort of a monster or whatever it is you are, just die!" Loran Whron roared and channeled his mana to the max. The veins on his neck popped out from the sheer concentration as he swung his arms, smashing violently down on Aiden''s head! With the secret body tempering skills of the Crystal Pce, Loran Whron''s arm was no longer something that could be considered anything but a brutal, sturdy weapon of mass destruction. His brighter than yellowish-green normal scale-less arm shone brilliantly with ayer of luster. With the support of the artifact-grade bracer on top of it, that was a steel whip as thick as an arm! Aiden however, did not dodge nor retreat. His eyes shone brightly with a violent glint as he extended his arm and weed the strike. With a thunk, Aiden''s arm swung out, resembling an elephant''s trunk that was limp and weak. From a nce its power was nowhere near the incredible luster of Loran Whron''s attack. ? Yet, at the moment the two arms made contact with one another, Aiden''s arm coiled and trembled. However, it had not suffered any damage from the initial looks of it. Loran Whron''s on the other end The mysterious, bright luster on Loran Whron''s hand dissipated instantly. *CRACK!* Even with the protection of his bracers, Loran Whron''s arm was contorted with the bones inside shattered. All the bone fragments pierced out from his flesh in a bloodied, horrific manner. "[Reptilian] Aaaaaargh!" Loran Whron shrieked tragically as color drained from his face. After taking on his true form, Aiden''s strength had not only increased from the burst of his unrestricted power, he radiated the aura of the shroud and domain of a ruler, an entity beyond the understanding of these feeble mortals. *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* A gust of wind blew behind Aiden''s head, producing a vague stinging pain. He did not have to see to know that the enemy behind him, The Left Hand must have attacked! "[Reptilian] Rat''s squirming before the tide How amusing." With a sneer, Aiden rushed up without stopping at all after brutally crippling Loran Whron''s arm. Loran Whron gritted his teeth and cold sweat poured from his head. As long as he could block Aiden for only a single moment, Left Hand''s remaining bone spikes would descend before long and trap this annoying b*stard within! At that time, he would be able to escape. Deciding to take this as a final gambit, Loran Whron punched out once again. Aiden''s strength was not the only thing that increased after he took on his ''true'' form C his speed increased tremendously as well! Instead of slowing down, Aiden hastened and his body curled into a spiral ball. His knee seemed to be in a kneeling position and it barely dodged Loran Whron''s punch. As though he was propping with his hands, Aiden arrived in front of Loran Whron in an instant and suddenly pushed both of his open palms upwards against his opponent''s chin! *CRACK!* *SNAP!* Instantly, Loran Whron''s head was tossed back, his jaw smashed and his throat snapped on the spot C he was no longer breathing! The other party, the dark robed Left Hand gasped when he saw that. Nobody could have imagined that one of the top and undoubtedly one of the strongest core disciples from Crystal Pce that was known for their immense physiques would die in a single round of meleebat! A cold light tore through the air as ten bone spikes chased relentlessly. Initially, they should havended on Aiden''s back. However, Aiden''s body fell t to the ground before his figure blurred and dashed forward, towards the Left Hand with zing speed. This time round, as his full concentration was on his opponent, Aiden evaded all the chasing bone spikespletely! As a result, all but one of the bone spikes pierced Loran Whron''s freshly deceased body instead! The remaining bone spike was about to strike Aiden''s head when thetter stretched out his right hand and allowed it to pierce his palm instead! Or it just wanted to! As soon as it came in contact with Aiden, shining golden scaled back of his hand, it rebounded! It could not pierce through! A superior grade, powerful weapon''s spike could not pierce through Aiden''s right hand! In the Left Hand''s moment of daze, his vision blurred and a tall figure''s ominous shadowy silhouette stood up from the ground, obstructing his view. No! Everything was happening way too fast! Anyone within ten feet would die instantly! The Left Hand''s felt his heart sink in the very depths of despair! The next moment, the shadow struck down, engulfing the shivering, trembling skink demonic practitioner within its zing storm! A momentter, the energy dissipated leaving behind two figures. Left Hand''s eyes were widened with fright as a huge bloodied hole appeared at the top of his head, streaming with blood. He was already dead. With a shrug, Aiden''s tendons and bones sounded and that gigantic, transformed body of his reverted to normal instantly. He regained his spotless, youthful [Draconic Skink] swiftly. Looking at his shredded, torn and bloodied attire, Aiden sighed and grabbed a new set of clothes he had prepared long beforehand from his system''s inventory. Then he walked forward and leaned down against the dead body of the Left Hand and ced his hand over the carcass. "Absorb." He spoke coldly. With no witnesses around, he could finally act freely and absorb these two precious bodies of vital essence before him. Adding just that bit to his recuperation as well as removing all the clues of what had transpired here. Following hismand, unknown source of energy rippled from the connecting palm, spreading across the dead corpse in the next instant. The dark robed body of the previously haughty and arrogant ''Left Hand'' lost its shape in mere seconds and vanished as it was transformed into ethereal sustenance and fused with the primal''s body. Without wasting any time, he did the same with Loran Whron''s body before he grabbed the weapons lying around the ground and ced them in the backs of his inventory next. The Metal Tree Groove was about a day and a half of distance away from Ugburg City on foot. Along the way, Aiden checked out Loran Whron and Left Hand''s storage pouches. At first, he had the idea of learning the technique scrolls of the skills the two used and add it to his repertoire. Maybe use the system''s fusion feature as well and create apletely new skill that used these skills as basis! How awesome and helpfull would that be? To his disappointment, he found nothing worthwhile in their storage bags. Though it was rather sad, it was not that Aiden did not understand the logic behind it. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 767 Chapter 767 That unique weapon technique the dark robed disciple, the ''Left Hand'' of the Malefic Demons n used was definitely one of their secret skills. There was no way it would be put in his storage bag so casually. It would be guarded and heavily protected. How could any disciple just take it out and go out for a ''walk'' with it? This wasn''t anything new either. Any sect, or n or any group for that matter would do their best to protect the very source that makes them unique, special. They wouldn''t allow their secret skills to be taken along with their members or disciples so easily. The world was much harsher than that. Even though he managed to kill disciples of these ''super'' factions, the Malefic Demons n and Crystal Pce, in this battle, Aiden had been self-reflecting. While he had been through countless battles ever since he started his adventure, he had rarely fought with disciples of these super sects or anyone simrly powerful as these two just now. Thinking back on it, thest time he had this much excitement was probably when his Master, Number 3 were identally evolved and upgraded from being a human to that of another half-breed of the Primal race. It was at that time, that Aiden was forced to go all out and even then, barely be able to withstand the opponents pressure. Besides that, all of the battles he had thought with the exception on that enigmatic thin man back in the tower at the Orc''s camp, he had always had an easy time. He could defeat all of his adversaries with mostly just a flick of his finger creating this false impression for him about his true power. Furthermore, in recent years, Aiden never had the taste of failure within his same level and had even managed to kill opponents above his level. Even after he was tricked and forcefully separated from his sister and his group of friends when he originally came to this world, he didn''t bother too much about it. He felt that with his current strength as well as the aide of the heaven-defying system, there were no adversary, no foe that could pose any meaningful threat to him. Though the looming gaze of this so-called ''Ancient One'' this all passing entity that for some, still mostly unknown reason subjugated an entire race of skinks, going as far as infusing them with a strand of his own essence and mutating them into this new breed, the [Draconic Skinks], Aiden never really feared him. He just needed to amass some standing within this tribe if he were nning to free them. Even then, if the system wouldn''t force his hands to get more and more involved, Aiden would probably would have just escaped from his cell and got reunited with his family long ago. Still, events went on another route, he was forced to get deeply involved with the fate and the future of this race. Aiden felt invincible, unbeatable recently. In his battle knowledge, he felt that he could make use of his movement techniques to shorten the distance between his opponents and kill them even if they were at the peak of the mortal realm, or maybe even slightly above it. ? However, thisst battle awakened Aiden and humbled him. Truly powerful opponents could restrict his movements and actions just by making use of brilliant weapon techniques. In fact, they can force him to have nowhere to hide, let alone get close! The Left Hand''s ten bone spikes were swift, strong and had sharp angles. Their attacks were fluid as water with no dys between them. Aiden could barely deal with it, let alone get close to kill his opponents. It was a terrifying and powerful aspect that Aiden had never encountered before. Most sect disciples were indeed weak in physique and would die if wild beasts closed in on them. That was merely a fact, not an exaggeration. However, they could make use of various spells and spiritual techniques as well as weapons to restrict a beast''s movements! Those that deeply involved with the tempering of one''s body and those focused on ther inner energy each had their own advantages and ws. The stronger of the two would depend on which side had the stronger advantage. Take the battle earlier for example, Aiden could not deal with the attacks of the ten bone spikes merely by trying to keep his ploy and keeping up his restrictions. He was clearly weaker than his opponents. However, after he took on his true form and returned to his human-like Ancient Dragon look, his true inner power burst forth with his [Soul Power], his strength and speed was raised by several levels, magnifying his advantage to an unexpected degree and allowing him to close in and kill his opponent! The Left Hand and Loran Whron were enough to cause trouble for Aiden. If he was dealing with Pei Syriac and that Dark Lord guy, things would be even more difficult. Furthermore, Crystal Pce and the Malefic Demons n were only a part of the ruling, dominant sects. From the knowledge he was shared with in thest weeks, there were a total of fifteen ruling factions. All of those ancient forces had firm foundations and countless secret skills. What sort of methods would their legacy disciples possess and how terrifying would they be? Despite knowing that, Aiden''s eyes had no trace of worry. Instead, they shone with a fervent gleam. On the surface, he had ventured deep into this for a perfect Meridian Unlocking Elixir. Whilst he had agreed to go to the Ancient Burial Grounds to find the hidden inheritence and im its secret as its own so that it could help him aplish his lingering main quests so that he could finally leave this dying world However, deep in his heart, Aiden now wanted to witness the disciples of these other factions! He wanted to battle, he yearned forbat! He could no longer deny this clearly obvious fact. He thirsted for those moments when he was between life and death situations. Those moments that would make ones blood boil It was something that he could just not let go. No matter how much he tried to hide the fact, deep in his bones, there was a pride that did not allow him to be weaker than others! Thanks to his strong stamina and physique, Aiden traveled the whole rest of the day without resting. Even in the night, he didn''t have any scruples. By emitting his immense domain while traveling, there were barely any beast stupid and brave enough to approach him. Eventually Aiden slowed down gradually and looked at the distant horizon with deep shock in his eyes. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 768 Chapter 768 He had never seen anything alike the scenery that have appeared ever before! The legendary Metal Tree Grove was nothing alike he had ever had the chance to gaze his eyes on. However, the moment he arrived at this ce, he already knew that the mountain and sea before him was the exact location. Even though the stories depicted a kind of groove, or a clearing amidst the sea of some probably strange-looking trees, what appeared before him was something entirely different. Yet for some reason, he could sense it, he could feel it that this was the ce that he was told toe to. This strange shoreline with the vague mountain range at the far end, was the very ce he was destined to arrive at. Even though it should have not made any sense considering the realm he was at, the reality was different. As if he was in a strange illusion, Aiden felt as if he stepped into an entirely different world. Before he even arrived, Aiden could hear the rumbling of the sea gushing and invigorating one''s mind. The damp, heavy air blew by at his face. Yet, it was not just mere stale air that wafted over from the mysterious ocean liquid, it carried traces of world energy, [Mana], within itself. It felt rich, pure and strangely untainted, uncontaminated by the wrathful destruction of this dying, barren and scorched world. "What is this ce? Could this sea before me generate such pure energy?" Aiden could not help but feel shocked when that thought crossed his mind. Right then, the sound of clothes pping through the air rang. A few figures arrived and their conversation attracted Aiden. From a first nce they spoke the samenguage of the reptilian race that was themonnguage of Ugburg and its surroundings. However, on a more careful hearing, Aiden realized that it just, resembled the reptilian dialect but it was different. His conjecture was swiftly proven when suddenly the system notification bell rang inside his mind and a series of messages appeared in his subconscious. [Note: New Language: Reptilian: ric have been discovered! Analyzing information1%] [Simrities found, merging results] [Formting Language tree] At the same time, more and more voices reached Aiden''s ears. Figures seemed to be in heavy discourse over something, as they slowly approached the shoreline. They seemed to either not know who he was and have ignored his existence or something else was going on. They simply passed by Aiden''s raggedy figure without as much as a nce and was casually approaching the shore whilst talking about something Thinking that he would be unable to understand their discourse, Aiden frowend under the cover of his hood and was about to resume his walk, when surprisingly the system messages resumed, creating yet another shock to the young master. [Analysisplete! Information processed. Skill: Language: Reptilian (ric) have been created.] Suddenly, their strange clickety discourse turned into meaningful, understandable words inside Aiden''s minds from the previous strange gibberish. "[ric] This ce is the sacred grounds for disciples of the de, like us. Even if we can''t obtain the inheritance of the Sword Emperor even if it was already taken, we have to pay it a visit in our lifetime!" "[ric] It''s said that in the ancient times, before the Sword Emperor left the world, he used his demigod powers and absorbed the world''s essence and minerals within thousands of kilometers of radius, forming this very mountain and the surrounding sea. It was because he did not want the way of the sword to be lost in the future that he created this mysterious ruins" "[ric] It was said that the namees from the fact that he used massive swords to cover and seal this ce for hundreds of years!" "[ric] Woah! That''s amazing!" Someone eximed in the group. Aiden was also shocked to hear that as well. The stories they told went much further than Tai-Liu and the others could tell him before. It was alsopletely unbelievable. How could someone amass such massive amounts of energy, this low tier [Mana] and actually create a sub dimension, a separate world within the world? How would that be possible without any divinity at hand? How incredibly strong these Emperors of the past had to be? Such a feat was simply unbelievable, only possible in children stories! Yet, it seemed to be the reality. The most frightening thing was that this mystical sea was created countless years ago back in the ancient era. It was formed from pure, natural worldly essence, [Mana]. It was not simple sea water at all! The sands of time erased countless major sects and countries of the ancient era, leaving no trace behind. However, this ruin was still intact without any signs of drying up! If the legend was true, the Sword Emperor might have already surpassed the level of what Aiden believed to be possible and have stepped into a realm that was infinitely close to the realm of Gods. Even more, he did it through his own efforts, without the aid of any other mysterious power or system. Aiden was shocked at this revtion, unable toe back to his senses for a long time. Now that he was here, the ''Metal Tree Grove'' brought a greater impact for Aiden than anything before. There were countless dark reefs near the shore. For some reason, the reefs were covered with marks of sharp weapons, etched in a shocking manner. The tides roared furiously with a majestic aura, crashing onto the shores and creating snow-like bubbling waves. On the horizon of the sea was a silvery, shining, glimmering mountain that towered far above their imaginations. The shape of that mountain almost seemed to resemble a long saber that was stabbed into the sea. With a slender and majestic de, its handle was actually hidden in the distant skies, prating this sub world, barely visible. The mighty sword-shaped mountain reigned supreme and there were extremely few pure sword masters, much less in this world. Although the ruin was left behind by the Sword Emperor, there were not many Masters gathered here; merely a few dozen people seemed to have gathered along the coastline. The strange thing was that most of them even stood far away from the shore, seemingly afraid of the sea as they pointed in hushed discussions. Because he had limited knowledge of the this ce, Aiden came beside the group of people that spoke before and listened intently. He wanted to learn more about this ce and understand more of its secrets before doing anything that might backfire on himter on. Even more, he was certain that whatever that sea was, it should be avoided. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 769 Chapter 769 (AN.: I was away during the weekend (well long weekend), so I couldn''t finish up a chapter and my fingers are way too "manly" to type on a phone. :D Anyway, apologies!) "[ric] The methods of the legendary Sword Emperor are extraordinary to be able to condense such a marvelous sea of pure mana! I am sure the benefits of cultivating in this essence sea must be immense." In the crowd, a skinny looking robed man, presumably a disciple of one of the major sects murmured deeply with bright eyes. "[ric] Hahahaha!" "[ric] How utterly ridiculous! How ignorant!" The moment he said that, the crowd started mocking him. The person who first spoke blushed and craned his neck, refuting, "[ric] What did I say wrongly?" "[ric] The energy within this sea is extremely rich and pure. However, exactly because of that, it also possesses it is also extremely ferocious and wild, untamed. Submerging would also mean you have to be strong enough both mentally and physically to receive such a blessing!" "[ric] Hmpf! With your tiny frame, you will most likely explode a few steps into the mystic sea!" "[ric] Hehe, there have been countless elites who have been buried in the waves of the mystic sea throughout the annals of history. You can try entering if you''re not afraid of a fate even worse than death." Listening to the sneers and remarks, Aiden was enlightened. This was the reason why there were marks of sharp weapons on the reefs. It was because the spirit sea contained endless amounts of a mysterious source of pure untamed energy, this world''s purest form of mana and disciples, warriors, adventurers cultivators of this world with weaker physiques just could not handle it at all! If they stood too close to the shore, one might not be able to escape if a huge wave crashed and engulfed them within. A figure said in a deep voice, "This is a test left behind by the Sword Emperor. Legends say that one will have to cross the mystic sea and ascend the sword mountain if they want to obtain the Sword Emperor''s inheritance!" Aiden looked into the distance C the mighty, majestic mountain stood erect at the end of the mystic sea, truly far away and unreachable. "[ric] Hmm That''s all? That doesn''t seem to hard" He muttered. The skinny-looking reptilian man pointed to the saber mountain and dered proudly, "[ric] We can just ride our flying artifacts. Even though the Sword Emperor''s mountain is far away, there''s no way we wouldn''t be able to reach it before nightfall!" "[ric] You hear this idiot?! Hahahaha! The crowdughed once more. Someone shook his head and exined. "[ric] If the test left behind by the Sword Emperor was so simple, there wouldn''t only have been a single person who received part of his inheritance from the ancient era till now, right?" Before he finished, another figuzre arrived from far away, looking excited. Summoning a vibrant, dark blue tinted sword from his storage bag attached to the right side of his belt, that person leaped into the air and channeled his inner energy before shouting softly, "Go!" At themand of his word, the strange sword suddenly transformed, taking the shape of a flying board made. Strange, mysteriously shaped lines lit up at the bottom of the artifact before the figure and its peculiar vehicle turned into a streak of light and with zing speed began crossing the mystic sea, flying straight towards the sword mountain. Most of the figure in the gathered crowd had mocking expressions and smirked coldly, as if waiting to see a joke. Even Aiden, after listening to the back and forth of these unknown figures, figured that the situation was nowhere near as simple that a mere flying ornament could solve it. If so, this ce wouldn''t have remained such a legend and shrouded with mystery even after a century of endless trials. Just as Aiden was pondering what would happen and before he couldplete his thought, the person froze in midair above the mystic sea and paused for a moment before falling in. No matter how that person struggled and tried to frantically channel his inner energy in midair, it was useless. He was swallowed by the raging waves before he even fell into the mystic sea. "Aaaaargh!!!" He floated on the mystic sea and let out an asional scream before vanishing after a brief moment. The surface of the water was stained with blood that was gradually washed away by the surging waves. The skinny reptilian man who first dered that he wanted to ride his flying artifact across the mystic sea turned pale as sweat poured down from his forehead while he breathed hurriedly. Aiden was secretly shocked as well at the scene that yed out before him. Such vicious, and cruel sight! This ''mysterious'' sea was truly out to kill. It was as if it was a ruthless, cold predator, just lying in wait for their prey to walk into its trap! That exins why nobody has tried to cross it so far despite therge crowd of colorful people standing here. A robed figure, presumably a disciple of some sect at the side exined, "[ric] Flying is forbidden in the skies above the spirit sea. Even if you manage to enter it, you will still fall into the water." "[ric] You''re only asking for trouble trying toe up with tricks in the face of an emperor!" Someone else sneered. The skinny reptilian manposed himself and asked again after a brief moment, "[ric] In that case, only disciples of martial sects that honed the body such as Crystal Pce and the like can cross the mystic sea?" "[ric] No that is not right." Another, elderly looking robed man exined. "For the sea and for that matter to the Sword Emperor, it doesn''t matter what sect you are from. For him we are all simr Only those that have an affinity, or mastery towards the way of the sword are qualified to cross the mystic sea. Any other cultivator will be minced to death by the wild, raging mana if they try to cross it forcefully!" "[ric] That''s right. I heard that in the past, a paragon from some of the top sects tried to cross the mystic sea to challenge the Sword Emperor''s authority. Before he was even 100 meters in, he was sliced apart by the wild raging energy and buried within the mystic sea." Listening to everything Aiden now understood. He had a rough understanding towards this strange and mysterious ce. This was most likely a pocket world, a seperate dimension with its own uniquews. First, one could not fly over. Second, one had to be at least adept at the ''Way of the Sword''. This world seemed to have a way to find out. Perhaps some ancient method to scan one''s body, spirit, or talents? Third, only those with a physique strong enough to withstand the baptism of the wild mana can cross the mystic sea and pass the Sword Emperor''s test. p In that case, he might truly be able to give it a shot. Right then, Aiden''s gaze shifted towards a dark ck reef by the shore. A man in blood-colored robes sat there with a long straight de ced horizontally across his knees. His eyes were shut and his drenched ck hair swayed casually, dancing to the tunes of the blowing wind, covering his face. Of the dozens or perhaps hundreds of figures gathered in this ce, this man was the only one who dared to sit on a reef by the shore regardless of the waves. Even though his clothes were long drenched, he seemed oblivious to the fact. There were more than ten corpses behind this person, some of them had clearly just died not long ago. When he looked at the person''s back view, Aiden felt like he had seen this man somewhere before but could not recall where. After pondering for a moment, he looked at a cultivator beside him and asked softly, "[ric] Excuse me but Who''s the blood-robed person there?" "[ric] Hmm? Who? That? Oh That''s a savage character." The man whispered warily. "[ric] Do you see those corpses behind him? Those were like us, people who wanted to cross the mystic sea. However, they chose to start too close to him and were killed by him!" "[ric] Huh?" Aiden looked dumbfounded. "Just because of that?!" He furrowed his brows slightly. If that was the only reason why this man went on a massacre, he was definitely not just savage. As if understanding his thoughts, the man pursed his lips and said. "[ric] He is supposedly from the heir of the Ruthless Sword Sect. That group does not need a reason to kill." The more he listened the more Aiden furrowed his brows and frowned. The man at the side continued. "[ric] There''s a high chance he''s going to cross the mystic sea and obtain the inheritance. I heard that the legendary figure who managed to obtain the Sword Emperor''s inheritance in the past was from Ruthless Sword Sect as well." All of a sudden, the blood-robed figure who was seated on the reef with his eyes shut stood up and turned around slowly, looking straight at Aiden''s direction. For some unknown reason, Aiden could sense some hostilitying from that gaze --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 770 Chapter 770 Looking at the lonesome small [Draconic Skink] that hid underneath the veil of cloth hood that covered his exquisite face, the blood-robed figure cackled loud and stared straight down under the darkness as if he could see through all that smoke and mirror and gaze directly into Aiden''s golden exotic gemstone-like eyes. The madman''s eyes were bright and burned with a feverish excitement and passion as he slowly uttered the words that shocked Aiden As it wasn''t spoken in any of this world''s dialects but instead were uttered in Eora''smon, that should only be known to any one of the arrived ''groups''! "You! I have been waiting for you for a long, long time!" The moment he said that the unique de hovering in front of the strange figure buzzed loudly, emitting an extremely intense killing intent that sent shivers down one''s spine. The lingering crowd who were originally standing beside Aiden dispersed in shock. Though they could not understand what the madman have just said, from the tone, and the undoubtedly strong killing intent that his de radiated it was clear the two weren''t the best of friends and that a showdown is imminent. Having already witnessed the might and cruel methods utilized by that crazy man, no one wanted to be caught in the crossfire of these two. The blood-robed madman was called as Bair Yohren. Though the mystery of how he could talk in anguage not known to this world was a mystery. "I have been waiting for you Warrior of that other world. Invader of our riches." Bair Yohren''s gaze was burning as he stuck out his grisly red tongue, revealing a set of pearly whites and a matching sinister smile. "Our meeting was long predetermined by the seers of our sect! I have been training for this very day all my life!" Aiden did not move and asked with a calm expression. "You knew that I wasing?" "Hehehe!" Bair Yohren replied delightedly. "Given your potential and methods, there''s no doubt you will enter thest city of those small zealous reptiles. Furthermore, since you used the sword, you are a sword master and will definitelye to the Metal Tree Groove once you hear its legends." Thepetition for the position to be the heir was extremely intense in the martial sects. Almost all the current heirs got to their positions by trampling on countless corpses C none of them weremon folks. This was especially true for the Ruthless Sword Sect. For a sect that established its roots through killing, thepetition between fellow disciples was even more cruel! As the current heir of Ruthless Sword Sect, there was no way Bai Yohren could allow such a dangerous prophecy remain, and instill doubt in the hearts of the masses. ''A young otherworlder wille and shape the world''s future by himself! Only by standing behind his rule can this world have a hope of survival!'' Hmpf! "[ric] Seems like the two of them have a deep feud?" "[ric] What is the background of that man? How is he still alive and well despite having a feud with the young heir of Ruthless Sword Sect?" Far away, the cultivators discussed in groups. Bair Yohren''s gaze darted past Aiden''s waist and he could not help but scoff coldly when he did not catch sight of any sect''s identifying badge hanging anywhere. "I don''t care what your background is, today, I''m going to take your life to establish my own future! I will not let an outsider like you steal what''s mine!" "I''m afraid you''re going to be disappointed." Aiden shook his head and responded with an indifferent tone. "Though I have no idea what animosity we have established and when did I earn such deep hatred. I will not let anybody stand in my way!" The moment he said that, the crowd fell into an uproar. Though they still could not understand a word they said, from the back and forth and the tone, it was clear there was some history between the two. And judging by the frown on the madman''s face, this hooded young man had to be of either some great background, or with some substantial power to himself to make that crazy killer be wary of him. "[ric] Did that man perhaps managed to defeat the heir of Ruthless Sword Sect before? Is that why they hate each other so much?" "[ric] What''s his background?" "[ric] Pffft! Do you even need to ask? Isn''t it obvious already?! He''s definitely a paragon from one of the top sects!" Without wasting a second word, Aiden stretched out his right hand and suddenly his dark, ebony curved de, Rygintarth appeared in it. His internal energy churned wildly and the de shone with an ominous dark light sending shivers to the weaker ones watching from the distance. The fearsome strength, the overbearing power emitted by the mysterious de in Aiden''s hand was extremely simr to Bair Yohren''s chilling, murderous aura! "Hahaha! Good! Good sword you got there!" Bair Yohren''s eyes lit up and he burst intoughter. "That de was practically custom-made for me! It will be my partner as I reach the top!" "Heh You really think a worthless mongrel like you is worthy of it?" Aiden scoffed, responding indifferently. Rygintarth was his partner. She was more than just a de, it was basically the only surviving piece of a distant history. A past where he was but a mere toddler, a child and still had his parents, his father and mother with him! Rygintarth was like a sister no, more like an aunt, his father''s sister that were now watching over him! They shared the same blood! Apart from him, there was no one in this world, or any other for that matter that was worthy of wielding it! With a wide sneer, Aiden''s figure suddenly blurred as he lunged forward with a terrifying speed before stomping down as he reached in range. Hended on a reef in front of Bair Yohren and stopped. *BOOOM!* A terrifying force was unleashed causing the entire reef to explode at his wake. The dark de, Rygintarth descended from the sky and its dark beam exploded, engulfing Bair Yohren within it. "[ric] Huh? What in the world happened just now?" "[ric] Just how powerful he is to be able to actually challenge that vicious madmen of the Ruthless Sword Sect?!" A wave of shock and astonishment could be heard from the crowd. *ng!* Bair Yohren did not retreat nor dodge. He propped up his supreme-grade sword with both arms and retaliated with a backhand sh! The sound of metal shing overwhelmed the crowd''s exmations while silencing all their previous doubts. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< p It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 771 Chapter 771 *ng!* Bair Yohren did not retreat nor dodge. He propped up his supreme-grade sword with both arms and retaliated with a backhand sh! The sound of metal shing overwhelmed the crowd''s exmations while silencing all their previous doubts. Bright bluish-white energy shone beneath Bair Yohren''s blood-colored robes as his inner energy gushed forth, emanating a thick bloody stench and almost materializing his killing intent. However, Bair Yohren did not have any advantage against Aiden''s sh! "[ric] Such terrifying meleebat strength!" "[ric] That person''s power I seem to be hearing the sound of a mighty storm in it." "[ric] No! You must have heard wrongly. That must be the sound of the mystic sea raging behind them." "Impossible! How could someone so young have this much strength? How did he reach such a stage at that age?" Bair Yohren''s eyes shed with a cold killing intent. Loosening his grip, Bair Yohren''s sword left his hand and revolved around Rygintarth''s ebony de, aiming straight for Aiden''s face still hiding behind the cover of hisrge hood! That attack was extremely strange and had surpassed Aiden''s current understanding, knowledge and expectation. Shocked, Aiden retreated hurriedly. *Swoosh!* Although he managed to dodge it in time, a cut was still made on his robes in front of his chest. His chest felt a chill and a slight sting! Bair Yohren scoffed coldly and did not bother to fight head-on with Aiden. Striding forward, he gripped his sword once more and his figure shed. The next moment, he shed down at Aiden''s ribs with his sword''s de pointing up! Aiden frowned at this. Bair Yohren''s sword technique was extremely lethal. Each of his moves were aimed to cull his life. Ruthless! However, the angles in which the de came from were way too sharp and difficult to deal with. Aiden was forced to retreat once more. In the past, Aiden merely had to make use of his terrifying [Soul Power] as well as his perfect partner weapon, Rygintarth, to cleave down in simple moves and that was enough to take down his opponents. However, in the past few days, he realized his weakness after exchanging blows with the disciples of this world''s top factions. He did not know any real fighting techniques at all and his stances were full of openings. The moment he attacked, his opponents would locate his openings and deal him a fatal strike! Bair Yohren did not have to fight head-on and could force Aiden to retreat just by relying on his superior sword technique. Aiden did not even dare to retaliate with his de. If he did, it would be a mistake. His openings would only be magnified and his situation would be much more dangerous! Bair Yohren''s attacks were relentless and came in a flurry. Every single sh was a killing move with a murderous intent, causing bloody stench to surge everywhere! At that point, Aiden understood. If he was careless, he could really die on the spot. With the help of his naturally high perception, Aiden managed to avoid a number of dangerous situations. He was able to fight against the Ancient One''s follower''s executioner force all by himself and fight to standstill. But right now it was totally different. The young heir of Ruthless Sword Sect could fight at his maximum strength and suppress Aidenpletely with the help of his precise and sinister sword techniques. Even so, there was still no trace of panic in Aiden''s eyes. It was simple for him if he wanted to break free of the current predicament. All he needed to do was to let go of the self-imposed shackles in his soul and let his true power flow free! At that time, Aiden''s strength and speed would be raised to another level and he could fight at melee range no matter the type of deadly sword technique he had to face. However, there were many people around. If he were to take on his true form, he would most likely be an outcast in this illusionary sub dimension and wastnd of a realm from now on. His only other option was lying next to him. He had to cross the mystic sea! As he thought about it, Aiden already had a n in mind. With a long howl, he retreated and dashed towards the surface of the mystic sea. "[ric] What?!" "[ric] What is he doing!" "[ric] "That man wants to cross the mystic sea?" "[ric] Is he that eager to die?" "[ric] Does he have a death wish?" Now that he was worked up, there was no way Bair Yohren was going to let Aiden off as he hollered madly. "There''s nowhere for you to run!" One after another, the two of them appeared above the spirit sea in an instant. Aiden took a deep breath of air and skipped on the waves with light treads. Sprinting towards the sword mountain, he was 5 kilometers away in the blink of an eye! Bair Yohren bit his long saber with his mouth and sprawled like a water strider that was floating on the water. Gliding with his limbs, his speed was not slower than Aiden''s! The mystic sea was definitely not a blessed ce in the eyes of everyone. This was a ce where countless elites and paragons have been consumed. Right now, there were few people who dared to attempt it. Aiden and Bair Yohren''s rush into the mystic sea one after another caused amotion. Initially, the water surface merely surged with waves. However, after the two of them entered, the mystic sea seemed to have been agitated and turned tumultuous! Gigantic waves over a dozens of meters tall were formed, crashing down with tremendous might. Aiden and Bair Yohren froze at the same time, looking at the towering wave before them with stunned expressions. This was the power of heaven and earth and was impossible for mere mortals to resist! In the face of the raging wave, Aiden and as well as Bair Yohren appeared tiny and insignificant. *BANG!* *BOOM!* *CRASH!* The massive wave crashed and absorbed the two of them into the sea! Even paragons, the top of the world would find it hard to resist such power. Before he was sucked in Aiden took a deep breath of air and held it in. In the blink of an eye, the two of them were devoured. Now that he truly entered the mystic sea, Aiden experienced the wild, raging essence that all those disciples warriors were talking about. Every single drop of seawater possessed an infinitely sharp intent, slicing at his body from all directions like a real de. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 772 Chapter 772 Swallowed by the mighty waves of the mystical water that was formed from the sheer will of the legendary Sword Emperor and pure, wild untainted essence of the very world itself, both Aiden and Bair Yohren were in a serious predicament. Even with his powerful body, Aiden could feel slight waves of pain! He was secretly shocked. If any ordinary martial artist or warrior were absorbed by the mystic sea, they would most likely be torn into pieces within a couple of seconds. They would have absolutely no chance to survive Suddenly, Aiden''s mind shed with a warning as the water current behind him fluctuated unusually. It was as though an extremely sharp object was cutting through the waves towards him. Even without looking back, or checking it at the system''s map, Aiden knew what it was. It was Bair Yohren. Even after entering the mystic sea, Bair Yohren did not give up on hunting down Aiden. Aiden exerted all his force and leaped forth with great power, resurfacing above the water. He tread on the surface of the water and continued sprinting towards the distant mountain range. But he was not alone. Bair Yohren was hot on his heels,gging only just a dozen or so steps behind and keeping up with his pace. In front of them, the waves rumbled louder and louder. The ocean spray was like a white line between the sky and the sea, resembling a massive army charging at them with ferocious momentum! In the blink of an eye, Aiden and Bair Yohren were swallowed by the wave once more. They resurfaced time and again only to be eaten up by the waves repeatedly. Under the constant baptism of the pure, wild mana of the mystical sea, even Aiden felt the pressure weighing on him. Even worse, the deeper they got into the mystic sea, the more terrifying the power of the waves became. The sea howled relentlessly and the waves surged, as if they could not calm down unless they ate both offenders, Aiden and Bair Yohren! The two of them slowed down. The distance between the two of them increased as well. In terms of physique, Bair Yohren obviously could not match Aiden''s after all. After there was a huge, unsurmountable gap between them. By now, Bair Yohren was already feeling a little exhausted and dizzy. The longer they were in the spirit sea, the more of the wild energy they would umte within their body. Once the limit it could endure was reached, the body would be shredded up by the endlessly flowing pure essence, causing the flesh, tendons, bones and organs to be torn up. Bair Yohren could already sense the wild energy of the mystic sea invading his organs! With a leap, he appeared on the surface of the sea and took a deep breath of air. There was a faint taste of salt at the bottom of his throat. His face contorted, revealing an ugly expression. He could not chase anymore no matter how hard he tried. Any more and he would seriously risk his own survival. His heart skipped a beat at this thought. He would still have a chance if he were to return to shore right now. If he truly entered the depths of the mystic sea, it would be toote even if he wanted to retreat at that time! His eyes were filled with hatred as he looked at the robed and hooded figure before him who was still floating in the mystic sea. He was indignant that he could not get to kill Aiden personally. However, to him, Aiden would definitely die if thetter continued to advance. That was because the waves of the deep sea would only turn more ferocious and the wild energy would be even stronger, more and more ferocious! At that thought, Bair Yohren scoffed coldly and turned for the shore. As for Aiden, he was getting further and further from it Aiden did not bother about what Bair Yohren did. In the mystic sea, given Bair Yuohrens physique, there was no way thetter could catch up to him! Aiden''s attention was entirely focused on how he should deal with the waves crashing from all directions, on how he should pass the test to reach the so-called sword mountain. After arriving on the shore, Aiden could finally have a sigh and calm down the raging fire inside his body. He sat down on the ground in a meditative pose and began to concentrate on the mantra he had developed. With eachpleted passage, his mind was calmer and calmer as his mind and eventually, his body cleared up. Some timeter The neigh hundred-strong figures standing by the shoreline of the mystic sea watched the now small, tiny dark dot, the unassuming young man''s figure in the distance. All of them were shocked with their mouth agape. Watching the tiny figure really pass the mystic sea and arrive at the foot of the mythical sword mountain, they were struggling toe to their senses. This was an oue that none of them had expected. At this moment, even though Aiden''s figure appeared tiny, none of them viewed him as a pathetic being. His unyielding will moved everyone. They were all disciples and nsmen of the top sects and ns of the world. They could understand the meaning behind such a powerful, unyielding will. They were moved because of it. In their philosophy, it was the same for the path of cultivation as well. If one did not have a will and determination as such, how could they reach the very end? How could they realize their goals and step into the realm of the truly powerful? "[ric] Could he truly be able to obtain the Sword Emperor''s inheritance?" "[ric] I don''t'' think so. Throughout history, only one person has seeded. This person can''t do it! That''s impossible!" "[ric] What do you know?! He is the first to reach the other side since a hundred years ago!" "[ric] By the looks of it, I don''t think he can hold out for much longer." Many of the crowd discussed softly. Suddenly, Bair Yohren opened his eyes and let out a long breath, adding a tinge of redness back to his face. After almost two full hours since his return to the shore, he had finally expelled all the raging wild energy from his body. However, during this period of time, Aiden was still advancing against the tide, fighting against the surging waves and the ferocious wild mana. ''I refuse to believe that you will be able to reach the mountains!'' He red ahead coldly, muttering inwardly with gritted teeth. Right then, another torrential wave surfaced on the sea far away, crashing heavily onto the figure. p --- IMPORTANT! READ THIS BELOW! --- Hello! As you can see, I am doing my best to give more attention and my very limited time to this novel again. Whilst I can''t make promises as there''s a lot going on in the background with my life nowadays, I am trying my absolute best to provide you at least 1500+ words of content (or 2 chapters if I can achieve it) each and every day. There may be bumps on the road but just bear with me. :) Also, I have added coins to the Novel which should make any one of you eligible for the ''treasures'' or rewards (whatever they are) if you are gifting to the book through the mobile app. Let me know if it works or if there are any issues! --- 773 Chapter 773 Time passed on The people around the shore were already certain that after hisst attempt, Aiden was long since dead, just another victim to the relentless, wild, raging mystic sea. They were all but certain that he too failed the trial Even Bair Yohren was of a simr thought. He refused to believe that man would be able to defy all odds ande out on top. He refused to ept the prophecy those seers have foretold. No! This was his fate, his destiny, he would not let anybody im it! However contrary to their beliefs, the reality was vastly different. That young man they all believed to be dead was fine and was still traversing through the raging mystic sea, utilizing all of his abilities, both his physical traits as well as [Underwater Breathing] and [Swimming] skills to their fullest. He could also have changed form and take on the [Sahuagin Champion] as that race was predominantly lived beneath the surface of the water, and only came tond to hunt, he decided against it in the end. This whole sub world had its own special set of rules and governingws shaping it for hundreds of years, he wasn''t sure how it would react to such an action. Would it be considered an act of defiance? Would he be then rejected and thrown out, expelled by this ce? Would the raging essence turn even more chaotic, and try its best to murder him, the aggressor? Aiden wasn''t sure, but nevertheless, he wasn''t about to find out, thus he instead decided to use his abilities instead and keep his current form, and keep swimming towards the mountain range in the distance. Time passed. From the hastily made start more than two full hours have already been gone. It was getting increasingly difficult to travel on the surface of the sea. The power of the waves was too strong and Aiden''s body was already breaking apart from the relentless impacts C his organs were already shaking violently! He would definitely die if he continued that way. As such, Aiden could only take a deep breath of air and sink to the bottom of the sea. As he submerged he saw that the clear sandy bottom was filled with countless white bones. Those were the so called ''elites'' the past paragons that have died in the mystic sea over countless years of failed trials. Stepping on their bones, Aiden pushed himself up and began swimming, advancing ever so slowly. Strangely, the bottom of the sea was much calmerpared to the surface without any shocking or turbulent waves. However, there was the undercurrent! Deep in the sea, Aiden had to endure even more pressure with the endless pure essence alongside going against the current. There were countless times when he was pushed back by the undercurrent. However, each time, he got back up and continued advancing. Still, slowly but sure as the time kept on passing, Aiden kept on advancing ever to the point of feeling his body reaching its limit. Wounds appeared on his flesh, blood vessels, tendons, bones and organs as the wild, pure mana surged madly. Aiden''s skin had already split open and blood was oozing out. His vitality was draining, Aiden grunted and stopped in his tracks. If this continued, his life force would bepletely destroyed by the mystic sea! Understanding his current predicament, Aiden halted his advance and instead did something that nobody would have expected. He sat down on the ground, at the bottom of the sea and restarted his meditative session. His reserves full of [Soul Power] burst forth like a ferocious torrent! At that moment he unlocked his self-imposed shackles and allowed his full power to flow freely, revitalizing his body, restoring his lost, spent stamina as well as refilling his body with energy. He was not worried about exposing his secret now that he was at the bottom of the sea. Far beyond the gazes of anyone watching. The sound of tsunami, rumbling thunder, raging ancient beasts as well as an odd sound that was rather familiar emanated out from his body in a terrifying manner! It was the familiar roar of the Ancient Dragon! A thought shed through Aiden''s mind. Surrounded with boundless, wild and pure worldly essence an incredibly arrogant thought emerged in his mind! He would use this chance to hone his body and test his limits once again! Making up his mind, Aiden closed his eyes as he heaved an empty sigh to clear his mind of all distracting thoughts. He focused on the cirction of his flowing internal energy, cycling it ording to the chants and mantras of his meditation technique that the system had taught him and he improved upon. With eachpleted cycle, the silhouette of majestic dragon appeared behind Aiden''s sitting figure. Plowing through the heavens, its mere presence was extremely terrifying, its mere gaze were like his mighty roar, threatening to tear the firmaments apart! As the silhouette of the dragon looked up at the sky and roared a sharp golden-colored bolt of lightning coiled around Aiden''s body blindingly. In that sea of lightning, the majestic dragon shaped silhouette kept howling into the skies with endless might as they fought against the mystic sea''s wild energy within Aiden''s body. In front of everyone, the surface of the sea that had returned to normalcy suddenly started surging once more with torrential waves without any warning at all! It was as though a terrifying life form of the ancient era was awakening at the bottom of the sea! "[ric] W-what is going on?!" "[ric] Could that man be still alive?!" "[ric] I-It can''t be, right?" The crowd were filled with doubt and shock. Bair Yohren''s eyes shed with suspicion. It couldn''t be right?! Deep in the sea, wild currents raged rampantly, leaving wounds both inside and outside on the lonesome invader, Aiden''s body. His power rumbled and the wounds were healed to normal the moment they oozed with traces of blood. No matter the damages, his body kept on healing and repairing itself keeping up the pace with the raging storm. Destruction and repair It was a vicious cycle that kept on revolving. Intense pain stimted Aiden''s nerves. However, his gaze was only burning brighter! Aiden''s blood, flesh, tendons, bones, and organs underwent a transformation once more under the vicious cycle. Gradually his body was reforming itself, restructuring, reinforcing with each passage of this seemingly endless cycle of torture. At this point, whether or not he obtained the Sword Emperor''s legendary inheritance, this was not a trip in vain. There was no way, he could have achieved so much without the assistance of this strange, yet incredibly powerful mystical sea. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 774 Chapter 774 Some timeter, the process reached its end and Aiden''s body shuddered. His eyes snapped open, he opened his mouth and let out a majestic roar! Given the terrifying pressure of his surroundings, seawater would gush in the moment he opened his mouth, normally, doing something like this would be utterly foolish and would simply be courting death. However, as Aiden roared, the majestic Ancient Dragon''s spirit that loomed over him roared alongside with him. As a result, a tremendous sound wave was released, causing endless ripples and forced back the seawater around him. He formed an empty clear space at the depths of the mystic sea! It was like a promation of his sheer strength that defied the very heavens andws of this sub dimension! It was as if he was openly going against the might of the Sword Emperor! After roaring, the seawater drowned Aiden in an even more turbulent manner, crashing repeatedly. As though it was provoked, the ferocious untamed mana turned even wilder! The silhouette of the majestic ancient dragon dispersed. The next moment, an even more terrifying aura appeared. Behind Aiden, another shocking scene appeared! The vague silhouette of another beast, shaped like a giant circr, or perhaps amorphous figure appeared. The silhouette was just that, a shadowy appearance only. It had no clear features, just a mere vague outline. Yet, even then, it radiated an uncanny power divine power! Instantly, the seawater calmed down, frozen solid as though it was shocked by the aura! The strange blob-shaped silhouette opened its eyes, revealing two giant golden-colored stars at its center. They felt more like two stars at the center of a gxy, rather than anything else! With a mere nce from the primordial beast, all the raging, surging wild mana within Aiden''s body was instantly suppressed, going silent instantly. With that, the primordial beast''s silhouette disappeared, as though it had never appeared to begin with. Yet somewhere deep within Aiden''s soul, shackled and chained behind, the being cackled with delight. His deep thunderous voice echoed throughout the seemingly endless dark space for a long time Now that the wild energy was no longer as aggressive as before, all that remained within Aiden''s body was the purest form of essence! It was as vast as the sea! The [Soul Power] reserve within Aiden''s body was increasing at a rapid pace. A long timeter, there was a loud boom! His previous and long time hurdle of being blocked at the precipice of breaking through the second level and into the third was finally broken through, instantly giving him a massive raise. His previous reserve of 1350 soared past 3000, stopping at 3500 eventually A multiplying increase of more than two and a half times of its previous maximum! Just to put it into perspective, with his previous maximum of 1350 points, Aiden could at most use his fully transformed Ancient Draconic form for at most two minutes before he would lose all his energy now, that gave a rise to more than six full minutes! This was also if he fully transformed, if he were to use only his ws, tail or just some partial features this limit would exponentially increase! Such an increase would give him a tremendous increase in hisbat effectiveness. Even more, this wasn''t just a simple increase in the quantity, but with the increase in level it have also given rise to a qualitative change. Even if Aiden wasn''t currently aware of all the changes as the process was a gradual transition rather than immediate, Aiden could already feel a refreshing feel spreading through every orifice, every part of his body. Before long, the mystic sea changed once more. As though an invisible pair of hands had reached into the mystic sea to stir it forcefully, a gigantic vortex was formed, affecting the entire sea! Aiden was forcefully sucked into it and merely felt the world spin; his entire body was contorted by the power of the vortex and felt like it was about to explode! His tendons and bones sounded at the same time as his organs shifted positions. Hurriedly, Aiden released his inner [Soul Power] to contain the injuries within his body. His [Primal Restoration] skill that was the ability that normally would channel the absorbed life essence to restore the vitality of its host has revealed another ability of his: Utilized its host''s own [Soul Power] reserves instead! Aiden''s eyes burned with a fervent golden luster as his own power was churning frantically, keeping up the healing with the pace of destruction once again. Still, normally this still wouldn''t have been enough. If he had not broken through earlier on, Aiden would have been shredded after being sucked in by the vortex! The change in the spirit sea attracted countless stares once more. The vortex was way too terrifying, resembling a ck hole that threatened to devour the entire world. "[ric] H-how could this be?!" "[ric] I heard from my master that a hundred years ago, a simr phenomenon appeared after the legendary figure who obtained the Sword Emperor''s inheritance entered the mystic sea." "[ric] What?!" "[ric] A-are you saying" "[ric] Look!" A man pointed at the center of the vortex. "There seems to be someone inside the vortex!" On the reef, Bair Yohren''s expression turned extremely terrible. His self-proimed nemesis, the unassuming young man and the so-called prophecised leader, the ''stealer of his righteously owned fate" have once again achieved the impossible! - Initially, Aiden was already experiencing pressure from the water resistance at the bottom of the sea. After he was sucked into the vortex, Aiden experienced even greater pressure and with no other choice, he could only activate his [Primal Restoration] ability and hope for the best. Under the stimtion of the vortex, his [Soul Power] surged endlessly and rushed towards all parts of his body, protecting him from faltering against this final hurdle. After what felt like a long time, Aiden, who was trapped uncontrobly within the vortex, opened his eyes suddenly and two divine golden-colored lights burst forth, illuminating the entire dark sea! Although the vortex was still present, Aiden was rooted to the spot. He did not budge no matter how the seawater washed, spun and twisted around him! Now that he had broken through his previous limits, and that his divine powers were slowly washing, clearing his orifices as well as his blood vessels, slowly but surely mixing together with his [Soul Power], the feeling of dizziness vanished instantly. In a moment of emotion, Aiden could not help but roar again into the skies. His roar was so deep like a cracking thunderstorm that shook the very heavens itself. In fact, it overwhelmed the surging sound of the sea! --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 775 Chapter 775 The spectators who were standing at the shore could not help but shiver with shocked expressions when they heard the howl C they no longer had any doubts. "[ric] Impossible!" "[ric] That man is still alive!" "[ric] Could it be?!" "[ric] Is he going to be the second person to obtain the Sword Emperor''s inheritance? Are we standing before a future legend?" The young heir of the Ruthless Sword Sect, Bai Yohren, said nothing but sat on the reef, looking grim in silence. "[ric] Look!" Suddenly, someone yelled and pointed to the depths of the mystic sea. Everyone looked over and saw that the vortex that resembled a ck hole was moving slowly towards the sword mountain, as if it was being pushed by some unknown force! "[ric] What is that?!" "[ric] What''s going on?" Everyone was confused and could not understand what was happening. If any martial artist could fly above the mystic sea and look down at that moment, they would be greeted with a shocking sight! In the middle of the vortex, a raggedy, gray figure was striding casually at the bottom of the sea. His hood was pulled down behind, revealing his unique looking dark flocked head of hair that looked incredibly rare at this world. His hands were behind his back, his eyes were shining brightly and he was surrounded by a distorted space around him. Each step he took pushed the vortex forward a little bit! He wasn''t merely passing through the mystic sea! No, instead the entire mystic sea was being moved by him! Time passed on slowly once again. The seconds turned into minutes, then they eventually culminated into several hours. By now, the vortex had arrived at the foot of the sword mountain and in front of everyone, a ck dot-like figure walked out from the mystic sea towards the mountain. He had done the impossible! The feat that was not achieved since more than a century was once again aplished! After more than a hundred years, there was another mighty figure who passed the Sword Emperor''s test and was about to obtain thetter''s inheritance! At the shore, many martial warriors were dumbstruck and their eyes shed with a hint of jealousy. Bair Yohren narrowed his eyes and his gaze shimmered. Nobody knew that the shock in his heart was even greater right now! It was because he had heard the legends from his own elders and sect master as well that over a hundred years ago that legendary figure was a senior from the Ruthless Sword Sect who obtained the Sword Emperor''s inheritance! Once he set foot on the other side, at the feet of the mountain, he was so utterly exhausted that he had to rest for seven days to recover his energy before ascending the mountain. But right now, this man before him actually had the energy to ascend the mountain right after crossing the mystic sea! ''No! This can''t go on! He needs to die! HE HAS TO DIE!'' Closing his eyes, Bair Yohren thought to himself. He knew slightly more about the Sword Emperor''s inheritance than the other martial artists, disciples, warriors or adventurers. It was said that the Sword Emperor actually left two secret arts at the top of the mountain. One of them was a secret mental technique and was already obtained by the senior from their Ruthless Sword Sect. As for the other one It was said that the other one was a sword technique with several stances. In other words, the inheritance that Aiden was about to acquire was a battle techniqueing straight from the Sword Emperor himself! A being that was as close to being called a god and defy the heaven''s eternal tranquility that not many before him! The more profound a sword technique was, the harder it would be to grasp it. Furthermore, there were different levels of mastery to the sword technique as well. Bair Yohren believed that even if Aiden managed to learn the battle technique in the short term, he would not be able to master the essence of it. He still had time! ''He was rather weak in terms of pure power and he didn''t seem too familiar with any sword techniques yet. Now is the best chance to kill him!'' He muttered inwardly. Taking a deep breath of air, Bair Yohren assumed a cross-legged sitting position. He nned on waiting by the shore to kill Aiden the moment thetter returned with the inheritance! He can not and WILL NOT escape from him the second time! At the mountain peak. The scenery was calm and empty, deste. Only a single stone tablet could be seen. The stone tablet was etched with a vivid painting. The painting depicted a strong, burly man sitting half naked, bare chested by his lonesome at a simr looking seaside. A dark de, not too dissimr to Aiden''s artifact weapon, Rygintarth, wasid down horizontally across his knees. The man held a jar of wine in his left hand and watched the sea wistfully with a hint of worry shing across his lightly bearded face. Although he had never seen the Sword Emperor in person, Aiden knew the moment he saw the painting that the bearded, burly man was the mythical figure, the Sword Emperor! Walking forward, Aiden stroked the stone tablet gently with his palm. The coarse surface of the stone tablet rted to him the signs of time passing by. Suddenly, Aiden froze on the spot. An unknown, deep, rough voice surged in his mind out of nowhere. "Somebody else has finally arrived here after so many years, sigh." That sigh was one of gratification and emotion, but mostly of relief. The voice spoke not in any of this world''s nativenguages but with the Eora''smon that Aiden understood. Though this time, it might have been because of the strange spell that was ying and not of any other mystery. "The ancient war destroyed the world, leaving the spear to reign supreme. I am about to cross far beyond the fabric of reality and I don''t wish for the way of the sword to be lost in this world. As such, I have left behind my inheritance. There are two manuals here that await those that are fated." Aiden knew that this was only a remnant thought left behind by the Sword Emperor. "The first manual, the Eternal Peace, is a secret mental technique that has already been imparted to that person a hundred years ago." The man sighed before he continued. "You are not fated for that technique. It was already imed by its rightful owner long ago. As for the second manual" Suddenly, the voice vanished and an image appeared before Aiden''s eyes. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 776 Chapter 776 "The second manual, thest half of my inheritance, is the Void Splitting Manual! The bulky man jumped directly into the mystical sea from the sword mountain while calmly holding the ck de in his hand. As he rushed against the current and cut ahead, his eyes gleamed brightly and the mncholy in them was gone, reced by a keen glitter. *Swoosh!* The seawater was split to the side, creating an empty void in its wake. With a single sh, the mighty wild mana itself was turned into the void, nk space! At the same time, the Sword Emperor''s voice resounded in Aiden''s head. "This is the first strike of the Void Splitting Manual, Creation. Do well to learn it, I will not repeat anything." After Creation, the Sword Emperor circled his de around his body whilst he was waving it around. Immediately, the mystical sea mixed up enormous waves that sttered everywhere! "This is the second strike of the Void Splitting Manual, Formation." Immediately after, the Sword Emperor retracted his sword and shed forward once more. The angle of this sh was slightly nted, rather unique, as if it was striking thin air as it twisted and spun. As the attacknded, the mystic sea started spinning, forming a gigantic vortex as though it was pulled by something! "And the third strike of the Void Splitting Manual the Vortex." Upon seeing this, Aiden suddenly had an epiphany. He had experienced those stances personally in the process of crossing the spirit sea. This meant that crossing the mystic sea was not just a simple test, but also the inheritance on its own! However, there was no time to rest, as the burly figure, the Sword Emperor continued onward. Striking and revolving his de around, dancing to the tune of battle itself, each strike more and more majestic than the one before it. In the end, he struck five times, each with its own unique style thatplimented the one before it. Each strike, was actually a part of his journey itself. "The fourth strike of the Void Splitting Manual, Ripple." "The fifth and final strike of the Void Splitting Manual, Eternal Calm." In the blink of an eye, all five stances were performed. The Sword Emperor''s voice continued ringing, "Although there are only five parts, five strikes to the Void Splitting Manual, my life''s knowledge has been infused into them. It is the epitome of the Sword Mastery created by simplifying everything and returning it to the basics. If you are able toprehend the first four strikes, that will be enough for you to roam freely in this mortal world." The Sword Emperor smiled mysteriously as he paused for a moment and added one more sentence. "If you canprehend the final strike even the very heavens will shake under your might! "For the Way of the Sword, towards the path to the peak there are three distinct levels of mastery one needs toprehend. They are the Form, the Force andstly the Intent." The Sword Emperor''s voice continued sounding. "By Form, it means the stance of the sword techniques. This is the most superficial of the mastery levels and as long as a sword fighter is willing to practice diligently, they will be able to attain proficiency and utilize it naturally over time. One might take longer than others but reaching this realm is a given. "The second level and most abstract to understand of the three realms is the Force. It''s not something that everyone can do and might be interpreted as the force of the de, the aura, or the sound. Some people go through their entire life withoutprehending the true meaning behind the concept of force. Still, upon reaching the realm of force, the might of your de''s technique will be even mightier, reaching a whole new tier of mastery." ,m The Sword Emperor took a moment before continuing. "The third level is Intent. Simr to any other weapon intent, the sword has sword intent as well. Simply put, this is the realm of one''s intent and it''s formless and ethereal. A single sh can contain the might of the world! The obscurity of the intent realm can only be understood after one''s Inner Energy reaches the peak of Mortality, at the edge of breaking into the higher realms." Aiden couldn''t help but furrow his brows at this information. So far, his understanding of the various stages of power was rather shallow. Him being who he is, he never came into contact with them. Back on Eora, he mostly followed the Adventurer''s Ranks and associated it with the person''s True Power Level Whilst it was crude andcked a proper knowledge, it did work so far in his life. With no meaning to properlymunicate with this residue, which is more like a past recording than anything else, Aiden made a mental note to properly educate himself on the topic in the near future. Whilst this world''s definition of Power Stages may not be an exact match to Eora, it would still be a proper baseline in the future. Still, by following the Sword Emperor''s words, one had to have reached this so called ''Peak of Mortality'' realm at the very least if they wanted to achieve the third level of Sword Mastery. Was Aiden already at this level perhaps? He honestly didn''t know. For now, he did not have to think about that at all. Right now, all he had to do was master the first two levels of properly learning and cultivating sword techniques. Whipping out Rygintarth, Aiden recalled the five strikes performed by the Sword Emperor and began practicing on the mountain peak. As the Sword Emperor had said, even though there were only five simple stances, executing a perfect version of even one of them was extremely difficult! At the same time, Aiden finally understood why the Sword Emperor had toy down a test as such. The Void Splitting Manual''s requirement on one''s physique was way too high! Although Creation was just the starting move, a person''s arm would simply explode if their physique was not strong enough! Even with his pure physical might, Aiden could only use it while channeling his Inner Force alongside with it and reinforced his body. That single sh required every single muscle on his body to move! Of course, that was not the only difficulty to executing a perfect version of the stance. There must not be any deviations to the degree of his motions, the timing and angle of his sh as well as the strength used. Any single mistake and the saber technique would not be able to be executed. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 777 Chapter 777 Aiden practiced repeatedly for a long time. To his fortune, he had experienced Creation, the Formation, Vortex, and Ripple personally while crossing the spirit sea and they wereparatively simpler to understand. After an unknown amount of time of not resting and sleeping, Aiden could finally manage to perform the first four strikes. Although he was not entirely familiar with the first four moves, a little inexperienced in fact, he had still seeded. At the end of one day, he finally heard the long awaited notification resounding in his mind. *Ding!* [After the host arduous effort for studying the Sword Emperor''s of Realm (Designation ID: ?#!$), a new Innate Skill has been unlocked.] [Through the hard earned efforts of the Host, a New Innate Skill [Void Splitting Manual (Level 1)] has been created. Note: [Void Splitting Manual is a special weapon technique and new skills and abilities may be created through furtherprehension. Host is advised to keep focusing on increasing its level in the system. Warning: Due to its origin not rted to the system, increasing its level can only be done through manualprehension. The System''s Guided Assistance (SGA), is not avable.] [The Innate Skill [Void Splitting Manual (Level 1)] has reached its limit and its level have been increased! New Level: 2] [A new active battle skill have beenprehended through the Innate Skill: [Void Splitting Manual] level increase! The New Active Battle Skill: [Void Splitting Manual: Creation (Level -)] have been created! Note: As the skill is derived from an Innate Skill, it is considered a special skill and it''s level cannot be increased by normal means. Host needs to manuallyprehend its mysteries and cultivate it properly. Also, by further study of the [Void Splitting Manual] all its derived skills, abilities and traits will naturally grow stronger as well.] [The Innate Skill [Void Splitting Manual (Level 2)] has reached its limit and its level have been increased! New Level: 3] [A new active battle skill have beenprehended through the Innate Skill: [Void Splitting Manual] level increase! The New Active Battle Skill: [Void Splitting Manual: Formation (Level -)] have been created! Note: As the skill is derived from an Innate Skill] A long slew of notifications emerged in Aiden''s subconscious one after another. They have not appeared all at once but through the gradual training and studying of the Sword Emperor''s inheritance technique, the Void Splitting Manual. In the end, the System added the manual as an innate skill and leveled it up all the way to Level 5, whilst it also created four active battle skills, which were the four strikes. Creation, Formation, Vortex and Ripple as well received its own skill in the system. At the same time, another skill notification rang at the end of all the messages catching Aiden slightly off guard of its unexpected appearance. [The skill: [Weapon Mastery (Level 5) has ranked up! The new rank: Level 6!] Following the notification, new knowledge emerged in Aiden''s mind, all rted to the Way of the Sword, further increasing his familiarity, honing his strength slightly further. Whilst it baffled Aiden that who or what was the source of these newfound memories, he could only put the matter to rest. At least for the time being. Still, no matter how much he attempted, tried during this period of time, no matter how Aiden adjusted, recalled and practiced, he could not perform the final stance, Eternal Calm. Although in theory it was but a simple sh, Aiden could not do it no matter what. He was not discouraged. ording to the Sword Emperor, Eternal Calm was the true essence of the Void Splitting Manual and the heavens themselves would be at his mercy if he couldprehend it! Just what kind of ability was that? It was most likely beyond everything that Aiden knew. In thisst couple of hours, or perhaps a day at most, apart from Aiden, there was also a bulky, bearded man on the peak, watching Aiden practice silently without saying a single word. After all this time, when he saw that Aiden was able to perform the first four stances of the sword techniquepletely, a look offort finally shed through the bearded man''s eyes. "Good. You, young man, are very good." The bearded man, the Sword Emperor nodded and his voice gradually dimmed. At the same time, his figure faded rapidly and disappeared from the world. Retracting his saber, Aiden bowed deeply in the direction where the figure of the Sword Emperor disappeared. The next moment, the sword mountain copsed and the mystic sea evaporated. Standing on thin air, Aiden felt a sense of sadness fill him. After imparting both of his legacies, the final traces of that supreme paragon of the ancient era had disappeared from the world as well. The sub world, this small trial realm, has fulfilled its purpose and was gradually fading away, fusing with the void surrounding it. On the shore, many figures looked at the scene unfold with shock and remained silent for a long time. The mystical realm of the Metal Tree Groove disappeared before their very eyes at a visible speed! The sword mountain crumbled into rubble and the mystical sea dried up, with the wild, unfettered pure mana returning to nature. From this day forth, the ce of many legends and stories, the Metal Tree Grove no longer existed in the world! All that was present could be considered extremely lucky to be able to witness such a miracle in their lives! Descending on the ground, Aiden fell into deep thought, pondering about the second level of mastery stated by the Sword Emperor, the Force. Under normal circumstances, there was no need for Aiden to try andprehend the second level since he was still very amateurish with the first four stances and had yet to achieve the first level. He didn''t even had any special skill, or passive in his System at all. Still, from its description, Aiden felt a strange sense of familiarity. As if a suppressed memory inside his mind wanted to break its chains and emerge Yet he was still just a bit short on unlocking it. Mayhaps it was a memory not of this world, maybe not of this lifetime either, but for some reason, Aiden felt that this strange sensation came from his short tenure in that other, so called ''Modern World'', the realm devoid of any spiritual energy and were fully focused on technology instead. In that world, he was a schr, a ''student'' and have studied countless theories and concepts as he embarked on its institutions. The concept of force was not one that Aiden was foreign with. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 778 Chapter 778 All the sudden knowledge, all that training seemed to have sparked something deep inside him. Closing his eyes, Aiden entered an indescribable state of bliss. This was an extremely rare state of enlightenment. He would definitely gain something the moment he awakened! After the Sword Emperor''s sub world, the ''Metal Tree Groove'' had gradually vanished, Aiden had already attracted everyone''s attention. When he entered the enlightenment state, everyone was in an uproar. It was more so of a curse than that of a blessing in his current state. He was now left unguarded and undefended. Vulnerable. There was no one around Aiden to protect him and any external stimtion could disrupt his enlightenment process, putting his efforts to vain! Yet, that would be the least of his worries. With all his servants, minions and party members far away from him and with no chance to protect himself, anyone coulde up and take his life. He would be unable to defend himself. To make matters worse, was that someone was out to take his life! Bair Yohren smiled sinisterly and in a sh, pulled out a cold gleaming saber from his storage bag, speeding towards his unguarded prey, Aiden. ''Since Fate herself want you to die, you can''t me me!'' He sneered inwardly as he sped at a high speed. When he approached, Bair Yohren shed horizontally. That sh was not fast nor was it strong. Furthermore, it did not have any killing intent at all. Bair Yohren was worried of rming Aiden who was in his enlightenment state, changing the current situation. He didn''t want to fail, he wanted to kill in stealth! Aiden''s eyes were still tightly shut, as if he had not realized that danger was knocking right on his door! At the sight of that, many of the spectators shook their heads and sighed. After all, initially, Aiden was the envy of many after obtaining the Sword Emperor''sst piece of inheritance. His future was supposed to be bright and majestic! However, who would have thought that he would die in the blink of an eye C at the end of the day, Fate was truly a cruel mistress and had yed a trick on him. Bair Yohren smirked in glee when he saw that the de was about to slice Aiden''s throat. ''Hmpf! Destiny''s favored child for sure! Look at all that prophecy, seers! He is still going to die by MY hands even if he have obtained the Sword Emperor''s inheritance! No matter what you foretold, and how right you were, you all still failed in the end!'' Bair Yohren sneered. Victory was just before him! Just then! Just as the de was about to cut Aiden''s throat, thetter''s figure suddenly retreated without warning and narrowly avoided that fatal strike! "Huh?" Narrowing his gaze, Bair Yohren''s expression changed. He could clearly see that the de had already cut off the hair on Aiden''s skin. A slight inch forward was all that was required to slice thetter''s throat. Yet, in the end, his surefire sneak attack had still missed its mark. By a hair''s breath he missed it! ,m The strangest thing was that his pesky opponent had not opened his eyes throughout the entire process. It was as though he had dodged the attack subconsciously! With a lowered head, Aiden resembled a meditating old monk from the children''s stories, immersed in his own world and totally oblivious to his surroundings. "How dare you?!" Bair Yohren sneered and no longer concealed the killing intent in his heart. Channeling his bloodline, his eerie de buzzed and trembled, cutting towards Aiden with full force as it shimmered brightly with the infused internal energy! The attack was extremely fast and was almost instant! *sh!* Aiden''s expression was unchanged and his body fluttered like an agile wild cat, evading that murderous attack from Bair Yohren with his eyes still closed! "Huh?" Bair Yohren frowned. He truly could notprehend Aiden''s current state. Aiden''s eyes were closed and could not see the trajectory of the sword. Even if he was making use of his hearing to judge the wind, there was no way he would be able to dodge the attack as such. However, for some reason, he avoided it again. If the first time was a coincidence, the consecutive two attacks "Dodged it? Let''s see how much more you can do so!" Bair Yohren strode forward and his sword trembled, giving off the faint stench of blood and enveloping Aiden within it. *sh!* Bair Yohren struck consecutively, unleashing his ultimate skill, Ruthless de, his sect''s secret skill. The shes were relentless, fatal and came at sinister angles! Yet, despite the circumstances, Aiden did not open his eyes and continued retreating. However, as time passed by, the avable space for Aiden to dodge continuously diminished and he was gradually shrouded by Bair Yohren''s sword technique with nowhere to run! All the spectators in the crowd at the once-present but nowpletely vanished ''shore'' watching were puzzled by the fight. To be exact, it wasn''t a fight. After all, one party was dodging right from the start without attacking at all. "[ric] That person sure has guts. To think that he''s still trying to get enlightened at a time like this! He really has a death wish! "[ric] Is he truly though? How can someone still be in the state of enlightenment under such circumstances! He is clearly conscious!" "[ric] His eyes are clearly closed, but it seems as though he can sense danger. It''s as though he''s got some sixth sense!" "[ric] How did he do it?" To everyone, it seemed as if Aiden had keen senses that allowed him to dodge with ease. However, in reality, Aiden was truly not conscious of his actions. He was in a deep state of sleep, undergoing this extremely rare process. He was not in control of his actions. The moment Bair Yohren attacked, Aiden''s system had already picked up the hostile threat and had activated its defensive protocols. It allowed the System''s assigned Guide, Enya to take control and aid the Host surviving this encounter. The enlightenment was an extremely rare opportunity. Knowing that the Host was just a little bit away from understanding the secret of Force, it could not allow any interruptions to break its host''s concentration. Thus, it activated its defensive measures and allowed its guide to take action. Though it could not attack by itself, it could at the very least utilize the motoric skills of the host''s current form to its maximum peak efficiency and avoid the iing threat each and every time. Still, this was an extremely dangerous decision and one that looked incredibly mad from the outside. Any single mistake and Aiden would be dead on the spot. By then, whether or not he was enlightened would no longer have any meaning. Still, whilst he could so far survive by Enya''s and the System''s masterful assistance, he was bound to fall if this carried on. Bair Yohren''s saber techniques turned increasingly lethal as the blood stench of his de increased. Aiden''s avable space to retreat continued to shrink repeatedly and he was now only moving around an extremely limited radius. It was a highly dangerous situation. However, he had yet toprehend the secret behind Force. He was just a shy away from unlocking its mysteries "Huh?" Suddenly Aiden sensed the danger surrounding him. "What is" He muttered before his [Soul Power]-enhanced [Dark Sense] spread out and draw a map of his current situation. "I see" He muttered as he looked at the scene from the inside of his mind. All of a sudden! A thought shed through Aiden''s mind. Bair Yohren''s attacks resembled the undercurrent at the bottom of the sea, surging forward wave after wave relentlessly. Aiden recalled the difficulty he had advancing at the bottom of the sea against the undercurrent and suddenly, thoughts of realization entered his mind. From that moment on, Aiden no longer retreated. He took over the control from Enya of his own body silently. His eyes were still closed by he now sat still, unphased, and not moving. When he saw that, thinking that he have resigned to his fate, Bair Yohren''s eyes shone with a frenzied glint as heughed menacingly. "Nowhere left to run now huh? Miserably pest, THIS is your end! Now, DIE!" *SLASH!* The sword in Bair Yohren''s hands shed forward with multiple afterimages and an eerie energy spread, filling the skies with the stench of blood! However, suddenly, Aiden''s eyes snapped open in an instant. A bright golden luster shone brilliantly from the two beautiful gemstones, deep as the mystic sea before shrouding a great deal of mystery at the same time! Most importantly, there was no trace of fear nor panic in them. When he saw those eyes, a sense of uneasiness shed through Bair Yohren''s heart. Unknowingly, perhaps when Aiden opened his eyes, an ebony-colored de had appeared in his hands. Its de was majestic and had a faint golden hue surrounding it. "Creation!" Aiden said calmly and waved casually. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 779 Chapter 779 Following the wake of his words, as Rygintarth moved there was a mysterious sound, a faint rumble following along the invisible path. Almost as if a massive tide was rumbling somewhere behind the curtain of reality surging in a reverse currenting from its de. Initially, Bair Yohren had the advantage with his domineering momentum. However, the situation between them was instantly reversed with Aiden''s single sh! A torrential force crushed forward like a surging tide alongside Rygintarth''s matte ebony de! All the afterimages from Bair Yohren''s sword strikes disappeared instantly. The blood stench emitted from his sword was washed awaypletely by the invisible tide as well. Against that massive force, Bair Yohren''s sword technique appeared simple and weak! "[ric] What in the" Bair Yohren''s eyes widened in shock. In his fright, he even subconsciously switched back to his mother tongue and muttered in his more familiar reptilian ric dialect. He could not understand how such a show of force was actually possible. He joined the Ruthless Sword Sect when he was but only five years of age and had been practicing hard and earnestly with the same de since then. It could be said his technique was honed throughout his lifetime of hard earned effort and arduous work. After being immersed in the way of the sword for dozens of years, he had merely reached the peak of the first level of mastery of the sword and had not managed to reach the secrets of force yet. He merely had knowledge of it, he knew it existed, but could never touch it. However, the person before him hadprehended the meaning of saber force after cultivating for a mere ten days! In the face of the pure sword force, all other techniques were merely in form no matter how precise they were. Just then, the two des shed against one another. *ng!* Bair Yohren''s body shuddered and his face turned iparably pale. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he flew away limply and his gaze dimmed. All the onlookers watching from afar were dumbstruck! It was a single sh! One strike only what it needed and Bair Yohren''s initial advantage was gone after Aiden opened his eyes and within a single sh, he was the one that was sent flying and severely injured! The difference between them was simply too great. Initially, Bair Yohren''s only advantage was in his sword technique. But now, after Aidenprehended a genuine Sword Force power, the ''Creation'' force, Bair Yohren''s advantage was simply non-existent. Furthermore, Aiden''s strength had increased significantly after attaining reaching a minor breakthrough just before and had his body almostpletely rebuilt. Right now, he was crushing Bair Yohrenpletely in every aspect. Neither in de technique nor in terms of physical prowess, Bair Yohren could not carve out any advantage for himself. Even though it was just a single sh, he had already injured Bair Yohren severely! His earlier calm and almost friendly expression was nowhere to be seen now. With a cold gaze, Aiden shed forward and raised his dark sword, chasing after Bair Yohren. Bair Yohren''s face was ghastly pale with fear. Looking at Aiden who was charging over, his eyes shed with determination as he bit his tongue gently, spitting out a stream of his blood essence. As a result, Bair Yohren''s chest heaved up and his heart pounded furiously. With every single pound of his most precious organ, new blood would course through his limbs. On the surface of the blood burned a thinyer of mes that possessed endless energy. From the burning fervor, Aiden already had an idea of what his opponent was trying to achieve. Well either of the two: Either using some taboo technique to temporarily raise his strength to strike back or judging from the non-fading fright and fear lingering on Bair Yohren''s expression, to try to escape through some strange and mysterious method. Since it was much more likely to be thetter in this case, Aiden narrowed his eyes. Whilst he was not sure of what was going on, his theory was soon proven when a newly emerged stream of messages popped up in his subconscious. [Blood Magic: Blood Escape discovered! Analyzing information 1%] [Blood Magic: Blood Escape discovered! Analyzing information 5%] [Blood Magic: Blood Escape discovered! Analyzing information 10%] . .. [Blood Magic: Blood Escape discovered! Analyzing information 75%] The system was working at an astonishing pace and in just mere moments arge portion of the process waspleted when the bell-like sounds calmed down and stopped. Whilst Aiden was baffled what was happening on the inside, he retained a neutral, cold look on the outside as he focused his burning, golden gaze on his opponent. Though he had the opportunity to strike, the stream of messages made him hesitate giving Bair Yohren the precious timeframe toplete this forbidden taboo spell. Suddenly the situation changed. Bair Yohren turned into a streak of crimson blood and sped off into the distance. In the blink of an eye, he had already fled a thousands of meters away! The spell was simply too fast! Before Aiden could react, suddenly the bell-like sounds in his mind continued, and the stream of messages continued at a rapid pace. [Blood Magic: Blood Escape discovered! Analyzing information 85%] [Blood Magic: Blood Escape discovered! Analyzing information 90%] [Blood Magic: Blood Escape discovered! Analyzing information 95%] [Blood Magic: Blood Escape discovered! Analyzing information 99%] [Warning: The analysis of the skill [Blood Magic: Blood Escape] has deemed that the aforementioned ability is a dangerous technique with a great-deal of harming to the host as cost of using it. As such, the System marked it as ''Forbidden'' banning it from use and interaction as a security measure.] [Note: The system will stillplete the processing and will spend extra time to work on fixing its faults. As a result processing will take an extra amount of time. Please be advised.] [Analysisplete, processing information, creating skill. Remaining time: 20 hours 07 minutes 50 seconds] Aiden was shocked and stunned as he read through the messages. Whilst he still hadn''t a clear picture of what exactly was going on with this strange skill, this ''Blood Escape'' Bair Yohren just used to run away and escape, he could at least understand that there was a huge price he would have to pay as a direct consequence of using it. It was the first time Aiden had seen such a message, such a warninging from the system. Also it was the very first time in his life that the system actually straight up banned a skill from usage as it was marked way too harmful towards the host with offering too little in exchange. Was it worth it? Would his power now be forever limited as a result? Did he ruin his potential, for a small chance of survival? --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 780 Chapter 780 Right now, Aiden had two options if he wanted to chase Bair Yohren. First, and probably the best in terms of efficiency would be to turn into his true form and use his full power to catch up with this little bugger. The second option would be to spend his remaining [Soul Power] energy reserve to overdrive his body limits and zap after him. After considering it carefully, he found neither option to be feasible. The first option would bring him too much trouble since there were thousands of bystanders around. At the same time, the second option was just not worth it. After a slight dy, Aiden gave up on hunting Bair Yohren and put away his matte dark de, Rygintarth. Instead, he focused his gaze and marked the escaping blimp on his system''s map to tag the pesky opponent. Even though letting such a nuisance go could spell troubleter on, Aiden was fairly certain that no matter what trouble he would causeter on it would be far toote as he as well as his chosen people would be long gone from this realm. He and his sect of vile killers would be left to fend for themselves by then. Why spend the effort then? For some small chance to gain some more knowledge and experience? Looking at Bair Yohren''s sorry state escaping figure, Aidenughed into the skies, guffawing loudly so that everyone could hear his words. He had switched to using ric so that everyone could understand as well. "[ric] Alright Since you managed to escape at such a grave cost I will be benevolent and spare your pathetic life today, worm! After all, it''s all thanks to your help that I''m able toprehend the Creation force. So take this as my way of saying thank you!" What Aiden uttered as a mere taunt was actually true if we look into it more closely. If it wasn''t for Bair Yohren''s relentless attacks that forced Aiden to have nowhere to retreat, he might not have been able to gain the sudden enlightenment on the force that could counter that desperate situation. Bair Yohren paused slightly and turned to look at the hooded figure of Aiden with a hateful gaze. Sensing Bair Yohren''s gaze, Aiden smiled faintly. "[ric] You had better hide you pathetic little spineless cretin in this dying realm from now on. Do not let me see you again under any circumstances or you won''t even get the chance to release Blood Escape the next time we meet!" Gritting his teeth hatefully, Bair Yohren roared madly and turned forward to continue sprinting. That speck of blood in the air disappeared from everyone''s sight before long. In reality, Bair Yohren was most likely doomed even without Aiden chasing him. The system wasn''t being ''too protective'' when it had given such a stern and serious warning. The consequences of using such a skill were much more terrifying than one could imagine. No matter the user, if it was mortal or demigod, or even stepped into the full godhood already, burning up a third of their own bloodlines would cause anyone to turn extremely weak for an extended period of time. Being so pathetic and miserable in such a world as this realm Dangers lurked everywhere and not just in the shadows. Unless Bair Yohren manages to find an absolutely safe ce before Blood Escape ends, he would be dead without a doubt! Taking onest look towards the horizon where Bair Yohren has disappeared to, Aiden left leisurely in front of everyone''s shocked gazes. He had received immense gains from this short trip. Right now, the only things left to do was to familiarize himself with the five strikes of the technique andprehend the force of the other four stances. Every stance corresponded to a different force. Naturally, the intents were different as well. Each needed its ownprehension, its own dedicated time to cultivate it to a reasonable state before it could be used with such prowess as Creation. Taking a deep breath of air, Aiden turned around and sped back towards Ugburg City. Though not much time have passed, as the situation was still rather tense and hated, anything could happen. He could vaguely sense the anxiousness of his servants from the connection already. Aiden could only hope that nothing overly serious have happened in the short few days he was away. In his wake he didn''t even notice the faint sound of bell-like sound that have emerged A new notification of the system, marking something important thepletion of a quest. Inside the Inner City of Ugburg, at the Azure Myst Sect''s base, somewhere in a back hall. It was a hubbub of noise, with disciples berating asionally in a seemingly furious tone. There were even the roars of wild, magical beasts mixed in and it was shocking. In a corner of the back hall, a woman was leaning to the side. She had a buxom frame, her face was pale, her lips were purple and her eyes were tightly shut. It was unknown if she was alive. If Aiden would be here he would be shocked to see this person It was Madam Dara, one of his most powerful captains, his trusted assassin. In front of Madam Dara, a more petite-looking female stood guard. She had a straight posture and her face was contorted into a stern, cold disposition. Deep, crimson-colored mes dances around at each of her fingertips, and she radiated a cold, murderous, ruthless aura. She was Lady Pyre obviously. Lady Pyre stood in front of Madam Dara and its stance swayed gently with traces of blood shimmering at its usually spotless robe. Not far in front of the duo, several corpsesid on the floor with Azure Myst Sect''s insignia hanging on their waist. Their faces were frozen in an exposition of eternal, and endless pain, each of them had undergone a cruel and vicious torture before their untimely demise. Even without the burnmarks all over their bodies, it was clear that they were just killed by Lady Pyre not long ago. Juno Hian stood opposite Lady Pyre along with a group of Azure Myst Sect disciples, all of them looking furious and agitated. "[Reptilian] Ugly wench! Meat ve! You truly don''t know what''s good for you, just like your arrogant master!" Juno Hian scolded coldly. A disciple behind him shouted, "[Reptilian] B*tch, how dare you kill the disciples of the Azure Myst Sect! You''ll pay for his life with yours!" The other disciples pointed at Lady Pyre and scolded her as well. Although each of them wielded their own spears, none of them dared attack recklessly. --- >>>Check out mytest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<< It''s an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated (''Banished'') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova! nned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at someter point) --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! ,m Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 781 Chapter 781 Everyone had witnessed the way their fellow disciple from earlier had died. This strange woman merely flicked her hands and a straight shot of spear materialized from pure fire essence passed through the pure man and burned his very soul out of him in a mere instant. It was the most gruesome of deaths imaginable! This woman was especially vicious! Sensing the clear and open unmasked hostility from everyone present, Lady Pyre''s gaze was cold as her lips curved higher, revealing a sinister sneer pursing the lower portion of her spotless face. Given Lady Pyre''s peculiar character, normally she would be engaged in a massacre right now instead of enduring the scoldings and humiliation of these pathetic disciples. There were multiple times when Lady Pyre had to focus herself and not attack in a state of frenzy. Though her body was shaking from anger, she swallowed everything back inside! It turned back and nced at her partner, her friend, Madam Dara from time to time, worried about her safety. In fact, there was a trace of worry and guilt in her eyes. She felt responsible for everything that had happened. Lady Pyre guarded her friend''s body tirelessly. From that angle, it could block against any iing threats! Right then, an Azure Myst Sect disciple came beside Juno Hian and said deeply with a cold expression. "[Reptilian] Senior Brother, I think we should just go and ignore that arrogant youngsterpletely! What can he do? We should just join hands to kill this vile harpy! No matter how strong she really is, there''s no way it can defend against so many of us, right?" "[Reptilian] Yeah, that''s right!" Another cultivator nodded. "[Reptilian] We can''t let our brother die just like that! Everyone, let''s work together to kill this woman as revenge for our fallen junior brother!" With a darkened expression, Juno Hian pondered for a moment. Suddenly, he raised his palm and said coldly. "[Reptilian] Everyone! Prepare to at-" "[Reptilian] Hold on!" A figure strode in swiftly from outside the door. Although she wore mens'' clothes, her eyes resembled a painting and her features were delicate. This person was none other than themander of Azure Myst Sect, Tai Liu. Sweeping her gaze, she frowned when she saw the dead Azure Myst Sect disciple on the floor. When she finally caught sight of the buxom womanying at the back, her expression changed starkly as she eximed with a shocked expression. "[Reptilian] She has been poisoned This should be! No! How could that be? Violet Haze Flower Poison?!" The elderly man standing beside her nodded with a grim expression. "[Reptilian] Her face is pale and her lips are discolored. That''s right, it should be one of the Corpse Poison Sect''s signature toxic, the Violet Haze Flower Poison!" Tai Liu was initially in seclusion cultivation but only found out that something big had happened after she was summoned urgently. She heard from her fellow disciples that one of Aiden''s followers, the one called Miss Dara or Madam Dara was met with an attack on the long street at the city''s southern side. Although the attacker was killed by her partner the one called Pyre on the spot, Madam Dara was still sadly already inflicted by the poison. "[Reptilian] To think that it''s the Corpse Poison Sect!" Tai Liu''s face darkened with a terrible expression. Right now, the southern side of Xuantian City was watched over by Azure Myst Sect and the countless other smaller forces. As such, Tai Liu was initially puzzled as to who would attack so brazenly in this side of the city. It was way too brazen andcked foresight. She did not expect that it would be one of the five demonic doctrines, Corpse Poison Sect! Although the Corpse Poison Sect disciples were not strong in face to face, head-onbat, many factions and cultivators were unwilling to be enemies with them. The reasoning was rather simple, they had incredibly dangerous, lethal toxins, poisons. Every single one of these so called ''Major Toxins'' were extremely fatal and even the strongest warriors or mages with abundant spiritual energy would die on the spot! Furthermore, Corpse Poison Sect disciples were extremely cunning and ruthless. They specialized in hidden weapons and were very stealthy. It was way too simple if the Corpse Poison Sect disciples wanted to kill anyone. A casual contact while eating, drinking or even breathing would be enough Everymon action could cause one their lives! Even the strong experienced Elders of these factions, could die if they were careless enough. They could be poisoned unexpectedly and die without understanding what happened. These were not even umon examples, there were dozens of such assassinations in the past. Most people would run far away if they caught sight of a Corpse Poison Sect disciple since they did not want to be enemies or befriend thetter. It was best to just get out of the way entirely. Tai Liu did not understand why Madam Dara would be targeted by disciples of Corpse Poison Sect. Any disciple or martial practitioner that could release the Violet Haze Flower Poison definitely held a high status in the Corpse Poison Sect! Why would Corpse Poison Sect send such a disciple to kill an Azure Myst Sect''s guest? What was their motive? Right then, the old man beside Tai Liu eximed softly. "[Reptilian] That''s strange. Given the toxic nature of the Violet Haze Flower Poison, this woman should have already turned into a puddle of blood. Why is her corpse still intact without any signs of corroding? How can she withstand such a vile power?" Anyone who was inflicted by the Violet Haze Flower Poison would die within mere minutes. Their bodies would continue to corrode endlessly, turning them into a puddle of blood and even Grandmasters would have difficulty saving them. Furthermore, the blood would also contain a rich amount of the Violet Haze Flower Poison and anyoneing in contact with it would be tainted by it would die as well! Tai Liu looked at the buxom woman for a while, deep in thought. Could she still be alive? How? It might have been an illusion, but the paleness of Madam Dara''s face and her deep purple lips seemed to have faded a little as they were looking at her. Still was that truly possible? Was there a chance for her? Tai Liu had some understanding of the Violet Haze Flower Poison. Even peak Master ranked powerhouses would most likely die if they were tainted by the poison, let alone a mere warrior like this woman! This was exactly one of the most terrifying aspects of the Corpse Poison Sect! They could kill so efficiently! "[Reptilian] What is going on here?" Pointing at the burnt corpse on the floor, the old man turned around and asked. A disciple stood forth and pointed at Lady Pyre who was standing not far away, dering hatefully. "[Reptilian] Our junior brother wanted to check on the woman''s condition out of pure goodwill upon seeing that thetter was poisoned. However, this this ungrateful wench killed him straight away!" Tai Liu frowned upon hearing this. She looked at the other party, trying to guess her thoughts on the matter. Though her fellow disciple words painted a clear picture, she felt that the situation was not as it was said. She felt that something was definitely amiss. With a stern expression, Juno Hian shouted, not giving the opportunity to the other party to counter. "[Reptilian] Elder, Junior Sister, Azure Myst Sect is one of the top factions of the world! How can we let our disciples be killed wantonly, especially by an outsider? Since it killed a fellow disciple of ours, it''ll have to pay with its life in return!" Pausing for a moment, Juno Hian continued, "[Reptilian] They are all that young brat''s people. Since his own people got into trouble, he can''t escape responsibility after returning as well!" "[Reptilian] That''s right, we''ve got to take revenge for junior brother!" "[Reptilian] Kill them all!" "[Reptilian] Avenge our fallen brethren!" "[Reptilian] Justice for our fallen brother!" Everyone from Azure Myst Sect chanted agitatedly. The development of the events have gone far beyond Tai Liu''s control. She wanted to calm everyone and ask the other party but from how the situation was unfolding the scene might even escte before she could pass on her words. The elderly uncle turned towards the other party, and asked with a much colder expression. "[Reptilian] Speak truthfully! What happened here?" the old man asked the fierce looking Lady Pyre. In return, Lady Pyre merely scoffed and didn''t say a word. Her eyes were flickering with a mysterious light, she was standing in a battle-ready stance, ready to unleash infernal torture to anyone taking a step further. This only made the situation that much worse for Tai Liu. No matter what, Aiden''s group were still outsiders to them. They were not their people. If Tai-Liu sided with them, she wouldn''t be able to convince the masses and quell their bloodthirst. Instead, it might lead to internal bloodshed within the entire sect! 782 Chapter 782 Biting her lip gently, Tai Liu frowned and felt flustered. For a moment, she did not know how she should handle this. The elderly uncle sighed internally as he saw her young mistress'' struggle. She was in deep trouble, yet she couldn''t offer any meaningful help. On one hand, they should clearly side with their own, regardless of the truth. Yet, they also couldn''t act recklessly, they did need that young man''s talents in the near future. What to do? Even the elder didn''t know the clear answer to that. Tai Liu was a talent of Azure Myst Sect''s younger generation. Brilliant and smart, there were few things that could be hidden from her. However, shecked decisiveness and dominance. There was no way for her to control the situation without those things! "[Reptilian] Sigh That man truly is" The old man could not continue his line of thought. It was difficult for him to give an urate evaluation of that person. Although he looked like a meek and demure schr on the surface, he exuded an air of dominance deep from his spine! With sharp methods, he was decisive to kill! Everything else aside, that particr trait alone would rank him as the top ten of the younger generation! Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from outside the building. "[Reptilian] May I ask, who do you n to kill?" The voice was calm, neither loud nor soft. However, it suppressed the chaos in the Main Hall. Tai Liu shuddered and turned around with a flicker of joy in her eyes. A raggedy, gray-robed young looking man strode in. The moment he entered the back hall, he swept a look with his golden cold gaze and the ce went quiet instantly. He radiated a fierce, ruthless aura. It was a mighty aura. Although it was indescribable, it could suppress everything! The young man, the answer to many questions that gued the minds of many currently has finally returned! The moment they saw him, everyone recalled the sight from the bloody battle on the long street and their courage weakened unconsciously. Everyone''s gaze was on Aiden''s nonchnt, smiling figure. They could only shudder as beneath that friendly calm illusion, a ruthless, cold-blooded murderer was hiding. The old man could make out a hint of fear and awe in the eyes of the disciples. Though he already knew that there were some problems when he sensed the waning, faint life signaling from one of his captains, when he saw Madam Dara''s weak state as sheid on the bed, the friendly look on Aiden''s eyes suddenly vanished. His eyes shed coldly and killing intent surged! Before he could ask, Tai Liu hurriedly leaned over and whispered. "[Reptilian] Aiden, I have to apologize to you. I was careless and did not send any sect disciples to watch over your friends. I truly had not expected that they would be attacked by someone from the Corpse Poison Sect. Much less in our territory" Aiden shook his head in silence with a dark expression. This matter was not Tai Liu''s fault. If Madam Dara, who has great affinity with the Darkness could be caught off guard and poisoned even with Lady Pyre standing beside her, nothing would have changed even if these weak lizards ying with meager powers were assigned to apany them. There would just be more casualties. Although Tai Liu could not ascertain if Madam Dara was alive, Aiden had already cleared his seven orifices and could clearly hear a faint heartbeating from Xiaoning''s chest. Although Tai Liu could not ascertain if Madam Dara was alive, Aiden was clear that though she was in grave condition, she was at least stable now. The shared channel between him and all his captains were more than just for meremunication and sensing each other''s rough locations. Aiden could use it to actively channel his own [Soul Power] energy through it, and allow his System''s minion to benefit from it. Besides aiding in their cultivation and assisting in growing their strengths, it could also be used to enhance their recuperation, as well as heal their soul''s lighter injuries. On his way here, Aiden had spent almost a quarter of his own reserves to actively channel his [Soul Power] energy through their connection, stabilizing her state. Even her faint, barely noticeable heartbeat was gradually getting healthier, growing increasingly stronger. In other words, Madam Dara''s condition was turning for the better with each passing second. Without saying a word, Aiden turned and calmly walked over to Lady Pyre and Madam Dara''s side. Yet, he had barely taken a few steps when Juno Hian blocked his path in a sh, sneering provocatively. "[Reptilian] Filthymoner, you had better stop with that attitude!" Juno Hian shouted, "It''s true that your little b*tch of a servant is dead, but that was done by the Corpse Poison Sect! It has nothing to do with us! However, all of us witnessed your other ve killing our fellow disciple. Regarding that, you have to be ountable to Azure Myst Sect!" "[Reptilian] Oh, is that so?" Aiden smiled, as he nodded. "Nicely done, great and efficient, Pyre!" "[Reptilian] What did you just say? Juno Hian''s eyes widened. "[Reptilian] Get lost, wyrm!" "[Reptilian] Y-you! H-how da-" Suddenly Aiden''s tone changed, from the previous calm and gentle, to a deep and thunderous roar. His eyes red up with two hot burning golden gemstones. Before Juno Hian could evenplete his sentence, Aiden right hand blurred and he pped Juno Hian with the back of his hand. The sheer force of the casual strike forced Juno Hian to be sent flying and crash against the far corner of the room, fainting instantly. His state of being was unknown. The ce fell into an uproar! "[Reptilian] W-what is the meaning of this?!" "[Reptilian] H-how dare you?!" "[Reptilian] H-how arrogant!" Many Azure Myst Sect disciples shouted emotionally. No matter what, Juno Hian was a disciple of their sect and his master was one of the elders. Tai Liu was the only one who was above him in status. He was not somebody that an outsider like Aiden couldpare to in their eyes. Tai Liu could clearly see that although Juno Hian''s cheeks were swollen, he had merely fainted and did not sustain any severe injuries. Given Aiden''s strength, if he truly wanted to kill in that distance, Juno Hian''s head would have been smashed by that single p! What this meant was simple. Aiden had already shown mercy and given her face in this matter. Understanding this, Tai Liu took a deep breath of air and dered in a solemn tone of voice. "[Reptilian] Silence!" "[Reptilian] B-but Young Master, he''s only an outsider! How can he act so brazenly in our territory!" "[Reptilian] That''s right! He would have been killed by Crystal Pce and Malefic Demons n long ago if not for the protection of Our Azure Myst Sect!" "[Reptilian] Not just those two! It seems all the other big shots are standing up against this arrogant youngster! The High Priest and his church of crazies and now, even the Corpse Poison Sect seems to be on the move!" In the crowd, voices of dissent against the young outsider continued sounding incessantly. Despite their Young Master''smand, the young disciples were restless and aggrieved. "[Reptilian] SILENCE! THE YOUNG MASTER HAS SPOKEN!" With a dark gaze, the old man suddenly shouted. Although he was old with wrinkled, pale scaled skin, his eyes were still bright and exuded a sense of authority. The chaotic ce quietened gradually. All the Azure Myst Sect disciples knew very well about the background of the old man before them. It was possible that they might protest against Tai Liu''s decisions. However, even if the masses disagreed with the old man, the most they would do would be to grumble a little internally. Tai Liu said deeply. "[Reptilian] This matter will definitely be ounted for in a bit. Everyone, please quieten down." After a brief pause, Tai Liu called back Aiden and frowned, "Your friend is afflicted with the famed and feared Violet Haze Flower Poison, one of the most dangerous toxins of the Corpse Poison Sect. Be careful, the poison is extremely toxic and it''s easy for you to get tainted if you are careless." Aiden nodded in response and walked to Madam Dara''s side. "[Reptilian] M-master I" Lady Pyre lowered her head as she muttered, feeling a little guilty. Aiden smield at her and patted Lady Pyre on the head while shaking his own. "[Reptilian] Not to worry, this is not your fault." If it was an ordinary assassination attempt, there was no way it would have gotten past Madam Dara, much less Lady Pyre. However, the Corpse Poison Sect disciples were way too scheming and there was no way to guard against them. In that short while, Madam Dara''s expression had gotten much better. In fact, her cheeks were now redder and her heartbeat was getting stronger. Her condition was improving. ,m --- Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying it on Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods! Be a bro/gal and throw a bone in my direction, so I can at least see that my work is appreciated. It would go a long way. :) Links: https://discord.link/Shaele Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi/shaele 783 Chapter 783 Seeing Madam Dara''s body suddenly twitch ever so slightly, did not escape the elderly man''s keen senses. The old uncle was amazed when he saw that. The Corpse Poison Sect''s most lethal poisons could not be cured by anybody outside the sect! This was a known fact throughout the ages! This was what made that vile evil sect so horrific, so terrifying! Furthermore, by the looks of it, the Violet Haze Flower Poison seemed to be disappearing bit by bit from within the buxom woman''s body! The purple color on Madam Dara''s lips was fading and there were merely a few drops of blood left on it. Her state was getting better by the second. At the same time, her pale body, which looked to be devoid of life, was gradually returning its healthier colors. Inside her body, outside of everyone''s gaze, a powerful force of golden ethereal substance was coursing and revitalizing Madam Dara''s deteriorated vessel. Whilst others, as well as the Elderly man standing behind Tai Liu was puzzled by the shocking turn of events, Aiden merely smiled as he looked at his servant with a gentle gaze. Though he should be worried, there was nothing but calmness in his expression. He did not look worried at all. However this should note as that great of a surprise. After all, he knew exactly what was going on. The reason why the Violet Haze Flower Poison was being purged from Madam Dara''s body should be because the unique and heaven defying ability of his system. Sharing his own resources with his system assigned minions was something that went against everything in the world! Still, without his special unique trait that he had tried basically on a whim, the [Primal Restoration] and his heaven defying miraculous healing ability. Otherwise how could Madam Dara survive against such an extremely toxic and ruthlessly lethal poison made from the Violet Haze Flower? Although his transfused essence are powerful could it purge the poison from Madam Dara''s body? It required a rtively longer time, how else could she manage to survive in between that period? Seeing the color slowly but surely returning to her made Aiden to finally heave a long breath and calm himself down somewhat. Turning around, he red at the corpse on the ground. The badly burnt carcass was clear evidence what Lady Pyre have done. "[Reptilian] Hmm So you want an exnation? Sure, I will give YOU an exnation." Surveying his surroundings, Aiden said indifferently. "[Reptilian] My people no my family will not harm anyone for no reason. If that ''disciple'' of yours is dead it must be because he did something that he or she" He said, releasing a light chuckle at his own little tease. "he or she must have crossed our bottom line." "[Reptilian] W-what?!" "[Reptilian] How dare you?!" An Azure Myst Sect disciple with a long face hollered madly. "[Reptilian] Junior Brother was trying to head forward and check out of goodwill. However, your bi- *khm* your friend killed him without any reason at all! We saw it for ourselves and you''re still trying to deny it?!" Aiden smiled and red at that guy sharply with a cold gaze, replying with a deep intent. "[Reptilian] It was true that he came forward to check things out. However, we don''t know whether it was out of goodwill." A hint of panic shed through that person''s eyes. "[Reptilian] What do you mean by that!" "[Reptilian] nder!" Aiden turned towards Tai Liu and asked with a calm but rather chilly smile. "[Reptilian] Young Master, you mentioned that the Violet Haze Flower Poison is extremely toxic and contagious, right?" "[Reptilian] That''s right." Tai Liu nodded and her eyes shed, as if she had thought of something. "[Reptilian] Even you would be afraid of going forward casually, am I right?" Aiden continued asking with his previous smile, leading the conversation further. "[Reptilian] Yes." Tai Liu admitted with a nod. Indeed, she did not dare to get close after realizing that Madam Dara was inflicted with the Violet Haze Flower Poison. It was not because she was cold blooded, it was merely logic. Suddenly, Tai Liu''s heart jolted and she realized what was wrong. She could help but murmur softly with a pondering tone. "[Reptilian] Why did Junior Brother be the first to head up and check something that even I wouldn''t dare to?" The elderly man nodded in silence. A knowing smile was stered on his face. ''[Reptilian] What a quick witted, cunning young man! His mind is just as sharp as his de!'' Not knowing what her Elder was thinking, Tai Liu continued voicing out his growing concerns. Most importantly, there''s no antidote avable for the Violet Haze Flower Poison. There''s no reason for our Junior Brother to head forward at all. It would have been pure stupidity" Many Azure Myst Sect disciples came to their senses when they heard that. It was right! She was right! They wouldn''t have gone forward if it was them in that position. Furthermore, what was the point of risking their lives to head forward and check when they wouldn''t be able to do anything about the poison either? Tai Liu''s gaze turned cold as she red at the corpse on the floor without saying anything more. Aiden''s gaze shed like lightning towards the long-faced cultivator and said slowly. "[Reptilian] I''m guessing that the reason why the person went forward to check wasn''t because Madam Dara was poisoned. It was because she didn''t die from the poison!" The long-faced cultivator''s expression changed slightly as his eyes flickered; he did not dare to meet with Aiden''s gaze. Squinting his eyes, Aiden said word by word. "[Reptilian] How utterly horrid a person must be to collude with the enemy and betray their own brethren? How could such a miserable, disgusting worm be even ced at a such high pedestal and be defended by you all?" Yet he didn''t stop there and continued whilst his calm smile gradually transformed into a ruthless sneer. "[Reptilian] That person''s killing intent appeared after finding out that Madam Dara wasn''t dead and that was why he was killed by Lady Pyre! "[Reptilian] Or could it be that I am wrong? What do you all say?" Aiden asked coldly. The long-faced disciple forced augh. "[Reptilian] H-How would I know?" Walking slowly towards the long-faced young [Draconic Skink] reptilian, Aiden asked with a sinisterly dark gaze. "[Reptilian] What are you afraid of?" "[Reptilian] N-no! W-what are you saying I I''m not" "[Reptilian] In this short period of time, your heart has been racing and your breathing turned hurried. You''re clearly panicking. Also I sensed your killing intent towards me a moment ago!" By the time he was finished speaking, Aiden had already arrived in front of the long-faced cultivator. The person''s face was frightfully pale as he stumbled backwards instinctively. Even the other disciple could tell that he was looking guilty. The long-faced disciple had not expected that Aiden would possess such a keen perception and had extremely keen senses towards something such as killing intent that was immaterial. It was logical that the other disciples would feel hostile towards Aiden. However it was just that. However, the long-faced disciple felt a killing intent! The old man could only sigh with a disappointed look on his face and say. "[Reptilian] Young Man, Qr Yochti you bettere clean and you might have a chance to live. Otherwise" The long-faced disicple named Qr Yochti was thoroughly panicked. He realized that his fellow sect mates that were standing beside him a moment ago had backed off, looking at him warily. Gulping, Qr Yochti looked towards Aiden instinctively. Aiden''s gaze was sharp as a knife, emitting a piercing glint with asional shes of golden lightning. It was unusually sharp and instantly prated thest line of defense in Qr Yochti''s heart. This was the invisible power of his gaze, another form of his primordial aura. In the world, some battle hardened killers would often let out savage gazes such that ordinary people would feel fear upon meeting with their eyes. The eyes were interlinked with one''s guts. Therefore, in a fight between two people, one might lose his courage if he was intimidated by thetter''s gaze, revealing openings. In the mortal realms, among two Martial Fighters, there was a saying that one had to hone their eyes before training their guts and that technique was known as the gaze technique. Not wishing to waste any more time on such a wastrel, Aiden took a step forward. As he did so, his eyes were sparkling like lightning as hemanded with a single shout. "[Reptilian] Speak." He infused a tiny bit of his [Draconic Heritage] into his shout, making his exmation feel like a genuine thunderbolt striking from the skies far above. His word were like a heavenly order cast down to this pugilistic, mortal world. Qr Yochti was already extremely rattled by Aiden''s gaze. Now that he was shouted at, he almost broke down as he knelt on the ground with a thud and a frightfully pale face. "[Reptilian] I beg you, spare me! I was wrong! I know I was wrong!" 784 Chapter 784 "[Reptilian] I beg you, spare me! I was wrong! I know I was wrong!" With a quivering voice, Qr Yochti spoke. "It was M-Master Kai from the Corpse Poison Sect who used the Heart Piercer Poison Gas on me and Junior Brother Gu! You have to understand, he''s the only one with the antidote! We had no choice either!" Tai Liu frowned slightly and exined to Aiden. "Master Kai, or Dorah Kai is the current leader of the Corpse Poison Sect''s local expeditionary force. He is a top notch Rank 4 Martial Master realm powerhouse with a deep mastery in poisons Also he is a savage person." Aiden was expressionless and nodded. Though the power stages of this world''s energy system was still somewhat new to him, he more or less understood the rough basics after absorbing and processing the knowledge of the ''willful donators'' in the past. Whilst they were each considered to be in the Mortal Realm, there were several major stages that each and every disciple or cultivator of said energy ''[Mana]'' could reach. There were four major stages, ranging from Martial Apprentice, the Martial Warrior, to Martial Master and to the peak and extremely rare old fogies at the Martial Grandmaster stage. Inside each stage there are several ranks, or so called levels they could reach, each going from Rank 1 to Rank 9. As such, Master Kai from the Corpse Poison Sect with his cultivation of Rank 4 Martial Master was considered an incredibly talented and strong powerhouse. Listening to Tai Liu exining, Aiden calmly nodded with his usual carefree, and somewhat aloof-looking smile stered on his face. He did not seem affected by the news at all. When he saw that everyone ignored him, Qr Yochti turned even more fearful and said hurriedly. "[Reptilian] Furthermore, I haven''t done anything that betrayed the sect or harmed our fellow disciples! M-Master Kai was merely targeting this outsiders group and said that he''ll give us the antidote as long as we can kill one of them." By that point, most of the doubts that everyone had were answered. The Azure Myst Sect disciple that was killed by Lady Pyre earlier was also inflicted by the ''Heart Piercer'' Poison Gas of the Corpse Poison Sect. That exined his illogical actions earlier. The old manughed coldly. "[Reptilian] You have already betrayed the sect by waiting until now to tell us everything! I''m afraid that you probably won''t hesitate either if Dorah Kai asked you to kill your fellow sect mates in exchange for the antidote." Many Azure Myst Sect disciples felt their hearts skip a beat and lingering fear. "[Reptilian] N-no! No, I would never!" Qr Yochti was frantic and shook his head repeatedly. Tai Liu said with regret in her face. "[Reptilian] Sigh fellow disciple Qr, you know that the Heart Piercer Poison Gas is not even one of Poison Sect''s most fatal toxins. Although we don''t have the antidote, we can ensure you won''t lose your life until we return to the sect. Given the capabilities of our sect''s elders, they will be able to help you remove the Heart Piercer Poison Gas with ease. Unfortunately for you" "[Reptilian] No! Please give me another chance! I was wrong! I know that now!" Qr Yochti begged continuously. Tai Liu frowned in reluctance when she saw his wretched state. The Old Man could only sigh and shake his head. He could see it. Tai Liu stillcked the determination to kill at the end of the day. No sect or n would spare someone like Qr Yochti easily! Just as the old man was about to step forward and make the decision to kill the traitor Qr Yochti on the spot for Tai Liu''s sake, Aiden''s voice sounded darkly. "[Reptilian] Since you''re so afraid of death" Suddenly, his right hand blurred, as it shot forward. Before anyone could react it tore through the shocked long-faced man''s chest and grabbed both his heart and his crystal core at the center of his chest before it continued on its destructive path all the way until it tore through the scaled back and presented its gory, blood covered loot to everyone. "[Reptilian] You can die then." Qr Yochti spurted out several mouthfuls of blood. He wanted to scream as an unimaginable amount of pain burned deeply in his mind yet, he found unable to do so. "Absorb." Before the situation could calm down, another strange word was uttered that made no sense to these reptilians. It was uttered in an unknownnguage, something that none of these [Draconic Skink]''s could understand. Yet, to their horror, in the next instant, suddenly, Qr Yochti''s lifeless body began to quiver and with a loud snap, lost its form. Before his face was crushed by some unknown force, utter horror and pure terror was frozen on the just deceased man''s face before it lost all shape and in a mere blink returned to an amorphous ck gooey blob that swiftly seeped into the grey robed young man''s body and vanished from this world in a mere instant. Everyone present was shocked and some even scared stiff at the horrific disy of force. They did not know what just happened or what they should do Yet, none dared to step forward or even utter a word. They merely stared at the strange man with a newfound light At the same time, Aiden''s eyelids were trembling as information was rapidly processed before his mental eyes. He flicked through the young [Draconic Skink]''s memories whilst his body converted the newly gained excess life essence into restoring all the used up [Soul Power]. Tai Liu opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something. However, in the end, she merely sighed without saying anything. "[Reptilian] Urgh W-what" Right then, in the corner, Madam Dara, who was initially sleeping, let out a drowsy sound. In that same instant, Aiden''s eyelids snapped open and he hurried over and squatted down before the buxom woman. He ced his palm against Madam Dara''s forehead before asking gently. "[Reptilian] How are you feeling?" "[Reptilian] M-master?" Madam Dara opened her eyes slightly and could not see what was before her clearly yet, merely replying instinctively due to the familiarity of the voice. "[Reptilian] Yes, it''s me." Aiden smiled and grabbed Madam Dara''s hand. A familiar warmth surged into her heart and instantly, Madam Dara felt much more awake. She tried her best to open her eyes and her lips twitched as she smiled. "[Reptilian] Master, you''re back? I''m fine, don''t worry." She was still too tired and drowsy to be acting out her usual shenanigans. Aiden found himself smiling uncontrobly when he saw her warm, weak smile. Gently caressing her forehead endearingly, he asked with a slightly reproachful sounding tone. "[Reptilian] Tell me, why were you so careless?" In response, Madam Dara''s face turned bright red, and she stuck out her tongue. Coming towards them, Tai Liu took out a crystalline bottle. "[Reptilian] This is a Lesser Healing Elixir. Let your friend, Dara consume it. Her body has just only purged away the poison and is still weak." "[Reptilian] Thank you so much." Aiden nodded and received the crystalline bottle before pouring out an elixir the size of a fingernail and feeding it to Madam Dara. There were still many things on Tai Liu''s mind as she could not help but ask one them, what gued her the most. "[Reptilian] I have to ask and I hope you are not offended but did you guys have any feuds with the Corpse Poison Sect before?" Standing up, Aiden frowned at the question as he tried to recall all the events that have transpired since he arrived to this world a little less than a month ago. In the end, he could not recall anything and shook his head. "[Reptilian] I don''t think so. I only heard of their name now from you guys." "[Reptilian] Hmm Strange." Tai-Liu muttered, deep in thought. "[Reptilian] Normally, the Corpse Poison Sect disciples are sinister and vengeful. Any cultivator that''s able to use the Violet Haze Flower Poison must have a very high position within the sect. That person has most likely arrived at the city to poison all of you to death. This was definitely not a random act, but nned well ahead" In truth, Tai Liu''s guess was rather close. The Corpse Poison Sect cultivator''s name was Das Nes and he was at the Rank 8 Martial Warrior realm. He was sent here to poison Aiden''s group to death but he ended uping across a fiery tempered monstrous woman. The Violet Haze Flower Poison proved to bepletely useless when used on Lady Pyre! Her ever burning internal mespletely annihted the poison in her body. In the end, Das Nes, the assassin could not even survive a single round before he was killed by Lady Pyre on the spot! His body was burned to crisps and turned to ashes before the Azure Myst Sect disciples could find them. 785 Chapter 785 Looking at the burnt corpse of the dead [Draconic Skink] Azure Myst Sect Disciple, Aiden asked after a few moments. "[Reptilian] Why haven''t I seen anyone from the Corpse Poison Sect previously? Aren''t they a big and fearful power like the others? Why didn''t they show upst time?" "[Reptilian] The Corpse Poison Sect only entered Ugburg City a few days ago. I reckon it should be for the Ancient Burial Ground ruins as well." Tai Liu looked at Aiden and said. "[Reptilian] Although they only have slightly over a hundred people for this event, all Corpse Corpse Poison Sect cultivators are filled with various lethal poisons and they specialize in killing opponents above their own levels. Even big sects such as Crystal Pce and Malefic Demons n don''t want to provoke them needlessly." In reality, Tai Liu''s statement was a subtle reminder for Aiden to not offend Corpse Poison Sect lest he attract trouble and get himself killed. Aiden smiled but did not say anything. Upon seeing that Aiden did not seem to have taken anything in, Tai Liu did not give up and instead continued. "[Reptilian] Actually, the Corpse Poison Sect was the one who suffered an immense loss this time round. Not only did they lose a strong disciple of the sect, your friend is alsopletely fine. I am sure that they must be feeling cautious after that failure. In theing period, as long as we strengthen our defenses, Corpse Poison Sect will not dare to attack us rashly again." After a slight pause, Tai Liu added. "[Reptilian] Furthermore, even if you go and kill a few Corpse Poison Sect disciples and return safely, so what?" "[Reptilian] It''s only for a moment of pleasure. Instead, you will inevitably form a deep grudge with them that cannot be resolved anymore. Then after, you will have to live a life fearing that they might take revenge at any moment. It''s just not worth it Aiden." "[Reptilian] Hmm Yes, you are right." Aiden nodded after pondering for a moment. "[Reptilian] You arepletely right." Tai Liu finally heaved a sigh of relief after Aiden replied. She rxed and revealed a bright smile. However in the next moment, a mysterious glint shed across Aiden''s eyes as he asked. "[Reptilian] What are the most lethal poisons of the Corpse Poison Sect?" "[Reptilian] Corpse Poison Sect''s most dangerous toxins aremonly referred to as the Seven Lethals, they are the most powerful hidden weapons and poisons of the Corpse Poison Sect. For Martial Apprentices and even early stage Martial Warriors of the Corpse Poison Sect, they can only make use of two of the Seven Lethals, the Soul Tearing Spike and the Violet Haze Flower Poison." "[Reptilian] The Violet Haze Flower Poison is a purplish-green powder and anyone who touches it will most likely di" ncing at Madam Dara at the side, Tai Liu suddenly stopped speaking. Yes, how could he forget already! There was someone in front of them that managed to survive against the Violet Haze Flower Poison! Tai Liu knew that Madam Dara must have some sort of a secret on her body. However, she was smart and chose not to ask about it. "[Reptilian] Soul Tearing Spike?" Aiden asked reminiscently,. Suddenly he heard a faint sounding from deeper down her soul. Interestingly it was Rygintarth, his ebony de''s spirit that asked him the question, that he repeated with a slightly confused expression and a frown. "[Reptilian] Is it a light bluish colored small spike that is as thin as a needle?" "[Reptilian] That''s right!" Tai Liu nodded confirming his words, and making Aiden be surprised even more. Yet, he could not ask his weapon spirit this time, but kept the matter shelved for now as he continued to listen to the young master-sh-mistress continuing her recount. "[Reptilian] The terrifying part of the Soul Tearing Spike is not the poison coated on the needle, but the spike itself." "[Reptilian] The spike itself? What do you mean by that?" Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. ? Tai Liu exined immediately. "[Reptilian] The Soul Tearing Spike is thin as a you have said, like a small almost transparent needle. After entering one''s body, it would enter the bloodstream and flow along until it ruptures the target''s heart! It''s useless even if one purges away the poison on the needle, the Heart Seeking Spike will still find its target and kill it. Once shot, it''s impossible to escape from it it will tear away your life, and sniff out your soul. Hence the rather grotesque name." Aiden nodded with a grave expression as he listened to her. It was really an incredibly vicious weapon prime for assassins and those that want to remain in the shadows, obscured by darkness hidden away in in sight. Such a small barely noticeable object that was so vile, so lethal, so dangerous! In that short while, Madam Dara had fallen asleep. With a flushed face and steadied breathing, she was looking much better. "[Reptilian] Young Master Tai Liu, please help me take care of my friend Dara for the time being. I will go out for a walk. I need to process things." "[Reptilian] Alright." Tai Liu nodded and did not think much about it, merely reminding Aiden to not wander far and be careful. It was noon when Aiden left the Azure Myst Sect''s grounds. Standing at a street corner at the city''s southern section, Aiden raised his head and looked at the busy streets expressionlessly. His eyes revealed a glint of coldness in them. "[Reptilian] Corpse Poison Sect." Aiden spat out the three words. He walked towards the west along the long streets of Ugburg City. The west of the city was originally guarded by two mostly roughly equally sized factions. They were considered at roughly the same size and power forming this equilibrium and somewhat harmonious state in this section of the city. However, a few days ago, the Corpse Poison Sect entered Ugburg City and forcefully took over a part of the city''s western territory. Originally, this ce had some surviving foliage and even had a bit of greenery to it, with green moss growing around, giving a bit more color and life to the usually dead looking urbanndscape. However, within a few short days after the Corpse Poison Sect settled down, the nts had all withered away and died. The entire ce turned sinister and deste and even smaller insects and ants disappeared, as if there were no signs of life apart from those of the Corpse Poison Sect''s presence. This noon, a gray robed cultivator arrived before their sinister looking abode. He looked ragged and inconspicuous, walking with calm, steady strides. "[Reptilian] Hmm? That guy seems a little familiar" "[Reptilian] I think he''s the one from the bloody battle on the long street You know that guy with therge ck sword!" "[Reptilian] Oh yeah, that''s right! It is him!" "[Reptilian] What could he be doing at the Corpse Poison Sect''s territory?" Far away, some citizens have noticed Aiden''s ragged figure. After all, he was the only person in the territory of Corpse Poison Sect and he was strikingly obvious with hisrge gray robes and deep hood that did not match the attire of Corpse Poison Sect. Before long, in front of everyone''s watchful eyes, Aiden arrived before the residence of Corpse Poison Sect. Two Corpse Poison Sect disciples whose faces looked pale and yellowish stood on each side of the door. They stared at the stranger who was approaching with obvious disdain in their eyes. To them, Aiden looked extremely weak and did not seem like a threat. Also he was not wearing any identifying badge around his waist. In other words, this was not somebody from any of the powerful factions. "[Reptilian] Hmpf! What do you want?" The Corpse Poison Sect disciple on the left asked with a raised brow. Smiling gently, Aiden pointed to the residence and asked instead ignoring the question. "[Reptilian] This is the Corpse Poison Sect, right?" "[Reptilian] So what if it is?" The other disciple sneered. Without replying once again, Aiden asked with the same calm smile. "[Reptilian] Is Master Dorah Kai here?" "[Reptilian]Insolent!" "[Reptilian] How dare you speak his name!" The Corpse Poison Sect disciples were enraged immediately and shouted. The disciple on the left hollered coldly, "[Reptilian] The name of Master Kai isn''t something the likes of you filth can just casually call for!" The other disciple added with a dark, sinister gaze, "[Reptilian] Filthymoner, you had better give me a reason not to kill you right now! Otherwise, I''ll let you meet your maker in a moment!" "Hmm? My maker?" Aiden smiled at the threat. "[Reptilian] Why wait a moment? I''ll send you guys to meet him right away!" Taking a step forward, Aiden suddenly extended his fist and swung it in reverse. With a thud, his arm blurred and shot forward with ferocious power and smashed heavily against the head of the man on the right! The person''s head burst apart and his brain juices sttered! He died on the spot without uttering a single word! The disciple on the left was bbergasted at this sudden turn of events. He had not expected that this weak-looking man would to try and kill them in Corpse Poison Sect''s territory. "[Reptilian] Y-You " He had just stuttered out a single word when Aiden had already closed in. Without saying anything, Aiden pushed his fist down on the person''s head and exerted shocking strength once again. *Poof!* The person''s head was shoved down, inside his own chest with his neck snapped. He was dead before his body even copsed onto the ground. Indifferent even after killing two people and retaining his smile, Aiden entered Corpse Poison Sect''s residence with a calm expression. 786 Chapter 786 The disciples that were watching from afar had agape mouths C they had yet to react to what just happened. After a brief moment, there was an uproar! Something is happening! Those three words were the only things left in the minds of those cultivators. They did not know what grudge that mysterious gray robed stranger that had just recently arrived had with Corpse Poison Sect. However, they knew that something shocking was about to happen in Ugburg City once more! Exchanging nces, the onlookers took nces at each other and hurriedly scattered everywhere. Before long, the entire Ugburg City was about to find out about this! Meanwhile, back at the local headquarters of the Azure Myst Sect at the southern section of Inner Ugburg City. After settling the matter with Madam Dara down, Tai Liu sent order for the rest of the Azure Myst Sect sect members to be on their guards and watch out for anyone suspicious. She knew the true threat behind the Corpse Poison Sect, she couldn''t just sit still and allow Aiden to kill himself in a fit of rage. At the same time, she also had to look out for her own people. After all, it was hard to guarantee that the Corpse Poison Sect wouldn''t do anything extreme for revenge after losing a core disciple who could release the Violet Haze Flower Poison. As a Young Master and future leader, it was never wrong to n ahead. Also, after what happened, Tai Liu had an uneasy feeling. In fact, it was like a premonition that something big was about to happen. Something so shocking that it would forever change the ying field, even before the Ancient Burial Ground finally opens. Something she just couldn''t ignore. The atmosphere within Azure Myst Sect became tense after Tai Liu''s series of orders. Almost all the disciples were activated. Ten people formed a small team while another dozen or so people formed arge team as they took turns to patrol Azure Myst Sect''s area. Right then a group of five people came together. They were all strong burly lookingrge reptilians walking in matching ragged grey robes. Yet, despite their vagrant outward disposition, they each radiated a powerful aura, providing them with this mysterious, and terrifying feel. Well, except for one. In the arms of one of the biggest, and bulkiest figure, that had a bright green thick tail asionally pping the ground and kicking off all the gathered dust, there was a small shapely figure wrapped with a roll of linen fabric. The little creature seemed to be of a child, somewhere around the age of six or perhaps eight. He or more than likely, she was the sixth member of the approaching party, though it was doubtful it would truly be able to contribute to any action. They were all Aiden''s captains and the small child was none other than little Tolliah who they had to bring along with them. Though she was kept safe for all this time, she had missed his beloved Papa for quite a few days now and could no longer sit still. Eventually, after several rounds of begging and constant nagging, the Captains relented after obviously taking this up with Aiden through their shared mental channel. Still, they couldn''te immediately, as they each had their own assignments to aplish and garner more and more support and power for their cause. However, once they heard that one of them had suffered such a grave injury and was poisoned, not to mention at the brink of life and death they each decided toe and show their support. They each gathered up, donned their attires and hurriedly came forth to find out more about the details. When Tai Liu saw the group of them approach, she greeted and nodded. "[Reptilian] Fellow Masters, you are just in time. I was about to warn you guys to watch out. Your group has been targeted by the Corpse Poison Sect." She was aware of their identities of course though not what they were actually doing in the city. If not for her wanting to be truly good friends with Aiden and knowing his honest nature free of any conniving and schemes, she would have long since investigated them. "[Reptilian] How is our friend, Dara? I heard she was poisoned." The frontal figure, a towering giant of a man that was at least double the size and volume of Tai Liu asked. "[Reptilian] She is fine now. Not in any danger." Tai Liu smiled. "She is currently asleep. I reckon she will recover after resting for a couple of days." "[Reptilian] What about the Young Master?" Therge man asked again. This time the previous coldness in his voice wasced with worry and care, something quite uncanny from such a bulging tower of muscles. Understanding their worry, Tai Liu replied and shook her head. "[Reptilian] He is not here at the moment. He said that he is going out for a walk. I guess he will be back soon. Do you guys want to wait here for a while?" When the group heard that, they each trembled in response, taking nces at each other. There was a palpable tension in the air, none of them knew what they should do. They looked worried almost instantly. Only the small, gentle and controlled breathing of the snoozing bundle of joy in Tak''s arms were still calm and resting peacefully, looking oblivious of the situation. "[Reptilian] What''s wrong?" Sensing something amiss through their gazes, Tai Liu could not help but ask. Therge man standing at the front sighed and shook his head as he responded with a solemn expression. "[Reptilian] Master have most likely gone straight to the Corpse Poison Sect''s base to cause trouble." "[Reptilian] Huh?" Tai Liu was stunned for a brief moment before replying hesitantly. "T-that That can''t be, right?" Sighing once again, therge captain shook his head. "[Reptilian] You have only just got to know the Young Master so it''s understandable you do not know his character too well yet. Although he looks calm and gentle, he has a sharp edge in his bones. If it would be any other case, he might have been reasonable, but not now. They have touched someone they shouldn''t have." "[Reptilian] Humpf!" Another figure snorted beside therge captain with a simr, matching stature. "Those idiots really dared to hurt Dara, one of the closest to Master." Listening to them, Tai Liu recaleld Aiden''s attitude and look on his face before he left. Realizing that they are right and that she has missed such a crucial detail she was confused. "[Reptilian] No, that can''t be right He he seemed like he was rather calm and did not have any strong killing intent." "[Reptilian] Hmm That''s not right." The group frowned and shook their heads at this reveal. Knowing their master''s attitude and the boundless rage they could still feeling, no.. Oozing through their connection , there was no way he would let things go especially after something happened to Madam Dara. The frontal captain couldn''t help but ask. "[Reptilian] What did Master say to you exactly before stepping away and leaving?" "[Reptilian] Nothing much. I urged him to calm down and told him that he would only be seeking a moment of satisfaction even if he killed a few Corpse Poison Sect disciples in revenge. Not only would it not help him, but he would even incur Corpse Poison Sect''s maniacal revenge." After thinking, Tai Liu continued. "[Reptilian] Also, he even agreed to my viewpoint at that time and said that I was right!" However in response and contrary to what she believed to be right, the group''s expression didn''t calm, but instead turned even worse. Therge captain heaved a breath of heavy air and spoke up with a solemn, grave tone. "[Reptilian] There is no mistake. Master has went straight to the Corpse Poison Sect." "[Reptilian] Huh? What do you Why? How?" Tai Liu was confused. "[Reptilian] Master has only said what you needed to hear. He also understood the concept of what you said and will not just simply punish one person and take a petty revenge. That is not his style." "[Reptilian] I don''t understand What is he doing there then?" Tai Liu asked subconsciously. "[Reptilian] What his words meant was basically this: ''You are right, so I''ll go and kill everyone from Poison Sect!''" *Gasp!* ''Everyone!'' Tai Liu''s expression changed starkly and her eyes were filled with shock. "T-This! But he is alone! Wouldn''t he most likely die by going there? There''s bound to be countless hidden weapons and traps at Corpse Poison Sect''s residence! He" Tai Liu was panicked and murmured. "[Reptilian] Your Young Master, this Aiden is way too reckless! Even though he''s indeed strong, Corpse Poison Sect cultivators are extremely sinister in their methods! He hasn''t even heard of all the Corpse Poison Sect''s Lethals! There''s no doubt he''ll be disadvantaged!" "[Reptilian] Heh I do not know whether Master will be disadvantaged But what I do know is that once Master decides to do something, he would definitely aplish it. Also, you better not underestimate his strength. What you have seen of him was nowhere near his true power! If he would show you, none of you, not even this whole world could stand against him!" The tall captain sneered and exined. "[Reptilian] The problem is, that he cannot use his full powers and is limited at the moment He would need our help!" Without wasting time, the group turned to leave. Tai Liuposed herself and said in a deep voice. "[Reptilian] I''ll gather forces right now and try to head to his location as soon as possible. I just hope I''m not toote." 787 Chapter 787 Meanwhile, at the western part of Ugburg City at the recently erected Corpse Poison Sect''s local base. In a spacious hall, the doors were tightly shut. Although it was noon and the sun was scorching outside, there was not much light within the hall and it seemed dark and creepy. In the darkness deep within the hall, a voice sounded from the center. "[ric] How long has Uyl Lian been gone for?" Surprisingly thenguage they used inside was not themonly used reptilian dialect but instead the more distant rtive of it, the ric. The voice that spoke just now was sharp and insipid with a hint of coldness that made one shudder. "[ric] Senior Brother Kai, it''s been almost four full hours." A disciple appeared and cupped his hands. "[ric] That''s long" The dark and cold voice sounded again, seemingly impatient. "[ric] From what I know, there are three people in the city''s south. Apart from the one we managed to mark, there''s also several others associated with that man. It will probably take him some time to poison all three of them to death." The person who spoke was a young looking reptilian with a fair, almost orange-tinted scaleless skin, a Rank 6 Martial Warrior disciple of the Corpse Poison Sect. He was called as Weith Yl. The person hidden in the darkness was themander of Corpse Poison Sect''s expedition, Rank 2 Martial Master realm, Master Dorah Kai. "[ric] Hmpf! Those are just some small fries, not worth our full attention. What I want is the head of their leader, the one they called Aiden." Dorah Kai''s voice was filled with endless killing intent as he uttered. "[ric] Our Sect Master''s brother was killed by that vile, wretched man. Anyone ANYONE who dares to touch anybody from Corpse Poison Sect will have to enjoy the taste of our methods!" A short momentter, Dorah Kai asked again. "[ric] Where did that Aiden go to? Why isn''t he arrived back to the city yet? Why haven''t our spies give any report?!" "[ric] Don''t worry, Master Kai. We have already marked and poisoned one of his people, so he''ll definitely be back! What we learned from his nature, he would never leave his own people behind!" Weith Yl replied with certainty. Right then, amotion could vaguely be heard outside. Though it was strange, Dorah Kai only frowned and did not take it to heart. This was the territory of the Corpse Poison Sect. Even the big factions such as Crystal Pce and Malefic Demon n wouldn''t dare to tread so carelessly and lightly. Whatever the noise was would surely die down in a couple of seconds However, themotion only grew closer and before long, there were screams and cries of pain mixed in it. "[ric] Hmm?" ''[ric] What is going on?'' Dorah Kai narrowed his eyes and said coldly. "[ric] Weith Yl, go and see what''s happening outside." "[ric] Understood Master." As soon as the yougn man, Weith Yl stood up, there was a loud bang and the ground shook. The entire hall was on the verge of copse as dust rustled down. Suddenly, the door exploded and countless gravel flew in all directions. Bright light spilled in from the outside, restoring some light in the usually dimly lit hall. At the entrance of the hall, under the sunlight, stood a figure garbed in a gray, ugly robe that although wasn''t too tall, was filled with a sharp killing intent and a torrential aura! "[ric] Which one of you is called Dorah Kai?" The person''s gaze was burning golden and was even brighter than the scorching sun outside. He spoke in fluent ric, already learning that they used this rather obscure dialect between themselves, further confirming that they wereing from somewhere farther away. In the hall, Weith Yl dodged multiple iing rocks and looked extremely wretched as he turned his gaze towards the door. When he saw the intruder, he eximed in shock, his arrogance instantly reced by shock. "[ric] I-it''s him! He is the target, the one called Aiden!" Dorah Kai was initially extremelyposed deep in the hall. When he heard that name, his eyes narrowed to a slit and shone with a cold glint as he smirked cruelly. Yet, before he could speak a word or begin his monologue, Aiden''s eyes shifted onto the young man, Weith Yl''s face and shone brightly with a sharp killing intent. In a sh, he appeared before thetter. Both reptilians were shocked at this. He was simply too fast! Weith Yl merely felt his vision blur and his throat mp up. He was lifted entirely from the ground with Aiden choking his throat with his right hand. "[ric] Strange You feel familiar for some reason. Have you seen me before?" Aiden asked with the same cold expression. His usual calmness and collected outlook was nowhere to be seen. The Corpse Poison Sect had only entered Ugburg City a couple of days ago and during that time, Aiden was not in the city. He was far away, on the then still existing Metal Tree Groove. It was normal for the Corpse Poison Sect to have heard of his name. However, it was strange if someone knew his identity at first nce. With Aiden choking him, Weith Yl could barely breathe and looked extremely terrible. His eyes turned bloodshot and bulged out from their sockets as his tongue stuck out. "[ric] I I saw you before back on the street!" Weith Yl stuttered with fear in his eyes. He knew extremely well that the person before him was ruthless and was going to snap his throat if he hesitated even slightly! "[ric] Oh? I was told you guys have arrived recently Strange." "[ric] You killed You killed Grand Uncle Loran!" Weith Yl stuttered with difficulty. "[ric] Loran? That church elder? What does he have to do with anything?" He asked with confusion. However even before he could finish his thought, he realized from the hateful look of the other one, that that seemingly worthless Elder Archbishop must have had some connection with these people. Something strong, that made them risk everything and evene to this ce And judging by the honorary title he was given, he had to have some familial ties to someone higher up the chain Probably a rtive to someone in power? Maybe the Sect Master or one of the Elders controlling the Corpse Poison Sect. "[ric] Very well. You have fulfilled your purpose, I understand everything. You can die now." Exerting strength in his palm, Aiden crushed Weith Yl''s throat and tossed the corpse aside. Right from the beginning, Dorah Kai sat deep in the hall without moving, watching everything curiously with a mocking gaze. Outside the hall, the Corpse Poison Sect cultivators from all over the ce were starting to gather. "[ric] Tsk Tsk That is quite the achievemnt for someone so young! You, Aiden, I have to give it to you. You have got some balls. To think that you would dare barge into the territory of the Corpse Poison Sect! Hehehe!" Dorah Kaiughed sinisterly, like a violent ghost in the dark. "[ric] Hmm Corpse Poison Sect? Aiden looked surprised first, before revealing a sneer. "I didn''t even notice I coulde and go as I please. There were nothing really worthwhile in this pigsty, just some worthless rats, quivering in the dark" "[ric] Hahaha! How brazen!" Dorah Kai cackled with visible anger. "Do you really think that you can kill our disciples just like that? Do you believe that no one can stop you?" Dorah Kai burst intoughter and stood up, dering coldly. "[ric] Corpse Poison Sect cultivators are filled with poison from head to toe. You must have a death wish for killing our brethren with your bare hands! Why don''t you take a look at your palm and see if it''s starting to turn ck? I urge you" Aiden sneered as he slowly raised his palm and showed it to Dorah Kai in the next moment causing her voice to stop in its tracks instantly. His palm was clear, still healthy looking without any trace of blisters forming. He had no traces of poison inside his body! Instantly, Dorah Kai''s face darkened. He could guess that for some reason, this unassuming looking young man had some sort of miraculous ability to resist toxins But to what degree? Although the poison coated on Weith Yl''s body was not one of their most lethals, it was more than enough to kill more than ten magical beasts. In fact, even pure-blooded ferocious beasts, like Wild Carnosaurs might be half-dead against this poison! Yet this Aiden was somehowpletely unharmed and fine. How was hepletely unaffected? Dorah Kai had seen everything clearly. There was no glove or protective equipment on Aiden''s palm. He was barehanded when he lifted Weith Yl before. He came in contact with his skin directly. Even if he racked his brains, he would not have imagined that Aiden possessed such an incredible heaven defying thing as the System and had already acquired neighplete Poison Immunity... 788 Chapter 788 The toxic poison that could eliminate ancient remnant beasts waspletely absorbed by Aiden''s immensely terrifying ability right after entering his body. This was the most shocking truth. Everyone else viewed the Corpse Poison Sect as a great threat but they were nothing much to Aiden. He had already guessed after checking Madam Dara''s state that he wouldn''t have to worry too much. Even such a poison that was feared by everyone like the Violet Haze Flower Poison was nothing for his absurdly high resistances. In fact, he guessed that from the most lethal toxins on this list of ''Lethals'' of the Corpse Poison Sect''s list, maybe the topmost two or three could pose any meaningful threat to him. "[ric] Dorah Kai, was it? You don''t have to wait for that Corpse Poison Sect disciple to return anymore. He has already died on the long street in the city''s south!" Striding widely, Aiden advanced towards Dorah Kai. "[ric] Additionally, my subordinate no, my FRIEND''s life is in no danger, whatsoever. I have already healed him. Sorry to disappoint you!" Dorah Kai''s gaze turned cold and suddenly, he stomped his feet just as Aiden was closing in. Instantly, a warning shed through Aidenn''s mind as his legs stumbled; the floor had suddenly sunk in! Instantly, the raggedy robe was torn through once again as two gigantic draconic wings extended from Aiden''s back! Although there was nothing beneath his feet, he could soar through the air. *Pshew!* *Pshew!* *Pshew!* Swift sounds shot through the air continuously and were extremely soft. Though most people would have probably missed, it was different for Aiden and his extremely sharp senses. The moment the floor b beneath his feet sank in, a poisoned needle as thin as one''s hair shot up from the darkness below. It was the Soul Tearing Spike, one of the Corpse Poison Sect''s list of top Lethals! With his system''s timely warning, Aiden had instantly activated his draconic wings, just a moment earlier and charged towards Drake who was in the depths of the hall. A thin, barely visible Soul Tearing Spike brushed by Aiden, missing him by a bare inch. At the entrance of the hall, many Corpse Poison Sect disciples swarmed in, with rather exotic looking weapons already armed in their hands. From the usual ives and spears, they were mostly using short hollow narrow tubes. They were blow pipes, one of the few ranged weapons that survived to this era from the ancient times and were mostly used to fire small projectiles like the Soul Tearing Spike, or needles and darts of simr nature. Unlike disciples of other sects, most of the Corpse Poison Sect disciples were using weapons that were extremely cunning. The only thing they had inmon was that they were all coated with poison, reflecting in rainbow colors against the sunlight. Smirking, as if already expecting such a sight, Aiden smiled before he puffed his chest and roared ferociously towards the cavern''s ceiling. His eyes glimmered with vibrant golden luster as the self imposed shackles in his soul spaces were once again unlocked. His full power burst through in the next moment, causing a violent hurricane of wind to shriek with impossible power. A heavy, invisible veil, an ancient aura, has seemed to have fallen down on the residents on the ram shackled Corpse Poison Sect''s main hall, forcing everyone present to kneel down under its mountain-like pressure. The huge pressure forced each and every disciple regardless of their standing and supposed might first to kneel then to go all the way andy down on the ground helplessly. "[ric] Miserable worms, how dare you raise your pathetic weapons against me?!" A deep, ancient voice thundered in the hall, causing the Corpse Poison Sect disciples to tremble in terror. Aiden did not show any mercy at all. He increased the pressure even further by pumping more and more of his rapidly decreasing [Soul Power] into his unfolded Aura. Whilst he looked like he didn''t care, in reality he knew that what he was doing was reckless and also, to be honest rather stupid. He wasn''t sure how much time he could have, before the Ancient One would pinpoint his location, if he have not done so already as such, he wanted to deal with this matter as swiftly as he could. "[ric] Die, worms." Aiden pointed forward and hollered softly. Right after, the world shook again under the impossible might of his aura. *Plop!* *Plop!* *Plop!* The moment they were forced to face the increased pressure, a gruesome scene emerged before Aiden''s cold, ruthless gaze. The stronger of the Corpse Poison Sect''s disciples were merely at theter ranks of the Martial Warrior realm. None of them could withstand such a divine power that Aiden was currently constantly emitting. Soon, a bloody mist formed with broken limbs flying everywhere. The only surviving Corpse Poison Sect disciples had their lives hanging on a thread and could not spare any attention to deal with Aiden anymore. At the same time as he was dealing with this rabble, Aiden summoned his ebony de, Rygintarth from his soul space. The sword-shaped marking on his chest glowed with a simrly golden lustrous light for a moment before the fearsome de, the culler of many lives already once again emerged in this mortal world. The de quivered, buzzing with a murderous metallic sound. In that instant, Aiden had already lunged in front of Dorah Kai. Swinging Ryginarth, he descended from the skies with a loud roar. "[ric] Die!" Dorah Kai was calm in the face of Aiden''s ferocious sh. With a flicker in his eyes, he retreated while flicking his sleeves, spreading a purplish-green powder towards the direction that his young opponent was arriving in. It was one of the Corpse Poison Sect''s Seven Lethals, the Violet Haze Flower Poison! Throughout history, there had been countless geniuses that were much stronger than the Corpse Poison Sect disciples of the same level. However, many of them died against the Violet Haze Flower Poison as well. It was one of the most fearsome toxins that this world still held within its dying embrace. Each of the Corpse Poison Sect''s Lethals was made by crushing countless corpses and bones and was extremely notorious. Yet, when facing such a threat, Aiden didn''t show any fear or hesitation. He recalled the sword stance he had learned back in the Metal Tree Grove and retracted his saber before shing out again! *Swoosh!* The sound of a surging tide gushed forth from Rygintarth''s de. A massive tsunami and a Creation force burst forth, as if a massive wave was about to crush down in a terrifying manner! "[ric] Huh?! H-how?! Just How is that possible?!" Finally, Dorah Kai''s arrogant expression changed as he eximed with shock. While he did not recognize the origin of that sword technique, he could tell that his opponent''s attack had already surpassed the first mastery level in the way of the sword and was at the level of force! This was a level that most Sword Masters could not reach even if they spent their entire lives. Even if they couldprehend the force, almost all of them werete stage Martial Masters or even Martial Grandmasters. The peak powers of this world! On the one hand, it was because one would achieve indescribable wonders upon reaching such a legendary realm. That was a state of returning to nature and simplifying everything. On the other hand, it was also because once reaching the limits of this world, it was equivalent to breaking free of the shackles of Heaven and Earth for the first time, allowing a cultivator to gain a tremendous increase in his mortal lifespan. A sufficiently long lifespan also meant that the Sword Master would have more time and energy to spend onprehending the Way of Sword, thus gaining enlightenment on the state of force. Of course, throughout history, there would always be mythical figures, young heroes in every generation who could manage to gain enlightenment of that level even at a much lower realm. However, those prodigies were extremely rare and each of them were the top paragons of their respective sects and ns. This young man, this Aiden that was before Dorah Kai was a nobody, a mere vagrant sword user who had arrived from a remote, unknown ce in this world, and yet he managed to grow to that state? Impossible! Against the Creation force, the Violet Haze Flower Poison powder was blown awaypletely and there was not a speck to be found on Aiden''s body. Dorah Kai avoided that sh and a look of fear shed through his eyes. This annoying young man, this Aiden was far scarier than he had imagined! Dorah Kai found himself stuck in a situation where he was alone without reinforcements. After realizing the terror of his opponent''s strength, Dorah Kai wielded daggers in each hand that shone with a faint green light. Instead of fighting Aiden head-on, he was dodging repeatedly and sending out hidden weapons from time to time just to drag things out. 789 Chapter 789 On the surface, Aiden was the one that was suppressing Dorah Kai and had the advantage. However, in reality, their fight was extremely treacherous and shuddering! Dorah Kai had hidden weapons everywhere on his body and he could throw out one of them that was coated with highly dangerous, lethal poison with every move. Every single portion of Dorah Kai''s body contained the possibility of a hidden weapon flying. In fact, even his robes could send forth Soul Tearing Spikes with a single fling so it was almost impossible to defend against everything. Everyone else under the Martial Grandmaster realm would have died multiple times during this period of time. However, for Aiden, who had the assistance of a heaven-defying, universe toppling ability like the System fused with his very soul, he was still able to suppress Dorah Kai by relying on both his abilities to resist and in some cases even absorb the dangerous toxins and various poisons, as well as his highly potent [Soul Power] and keen perception to avoid danger time and again. At the same time, Aiden had something else in mind. Even though he had already memorized the five strikes, the five main stances of the [Void Splitting Manual], he was not too familiarized with the moves. Even Creation which he had managed to gainprehension of its force wasn''t at a point where he could release it wlessly. Since it was extremely rare for him to meet with such a perfect opponent, Aiden had nothing else on his mind and was thoroughly immersed in practicing his sword technique. Although the [Void Splitting Manual] seemed like it merely consisted of five stances, each of those attacks, those ''stages'' possessed an endless secret to it and one could even dissect it to a hundred or a thousand different forms and attacks even! Apart from the final stance that he was still unable to produce, Aiden practiced the first four stances one after another, bing increasingly familiar with the sword technique, increasingly sharper and increasingly natural! Yes, in reality, whilst his opponent was surely dangerous, Dorah Kai was now being used as Aiden''s whetstone, his bona fide training dummy. In that period of time, the hundred or so Corpse Poison Sect Martial Artists were mostly done in by Aiden''s initial release of Draconic Might and Dominant Aura and the few remaining disciples didn''t linger around and have already escaped hurriedly. They hid outside the hall, watching from the darks. If the Master, Dorah Kai won, they would enter at the appropriate moment. As such, they wouldn''t be considered as deserters and wouldn''t receive punishment. Well, maybe not that harsh Still, on the other hand, if the unlikely scenario of their opponent, this hooded figure, Aiden would be the final victor Then, they would use this chance to escape with all their might and hope for the best to survive! They knew what their fate would be if any of the forces or even if this man would capture them Death would be the least of their worries! As time passed by, Aiden''s sword technique became increasingly refined, flowing like fluid without any dys C he was no longer as amateurish as before. With that, it became increasingly difficult for Dorah Kai to defend. Even more so, what was the difference between Aiden and Dorah Kai''s physiques? For one, Aiden was like a roaring, wild dragon, a true emperor of the world''s wildlife The more the battle dragged on, the more he was filled with passion and energy. Instead of being drained and growing tired he grow more and more ferocious in his attacks. His power churned frantically in his body, surging faster and faster as the faint sounds of a massive body of water coupled with surging tides of his sword technique harmonized one with another. On the other hand, with a pale face, sweat was pouring down from Dorah Kai''s forehead and he was panting. ''[ric] What is wrong with this mad man?! How is he growing stronger and stronger with each passing minute?!'' Dorah Kai cursed internally. There was no way he knew that Aiden was merely using him as a whetstone to refine his saber techniques on. He thought that Aiden was doing it on purpose to torment him endlessly, trying to wear him down by attrition! ''[ric] How dare he?! How dare he act so arrogant, socent So so fr*ckin'' evil!'' Gritting his teeth with frustration and anger, Dorah Kai''s eyes turned cold and his expression was malicious. The look in his eyes was turning more hysterical by the moment! "[ric] Damn it all to hell, I will fight you with everything I got! Today only one of us leaves this ce alive!" Dorah Kai roared crazily. He heaved a deep breath of air and suddenly lunged towards Aiden, raising both poison coated daggers he wielded towards thetter''s throat! Spinning horizontally with his saber, Aiden shed against the two daggers and used the third strike, the third stance of the [Void Splitting Manual], Vortex instinctively. A spiraling energy burst forth instantly and Dorah Kai''s daggers were sent flying as his palms split apart with fresh dark green blood oozing out. After Vortex, Aiden shed in reverse like a ripple on the surface of the ocean. It swiped towards Dorah Kai''s chest in a seemingly gentle motion. This was the fourth stance of the [Void Splitting Manual], Ripple! If Creation represented might, Ripple represented tenderness. Seemingly gentle, it permeated every single pore as the saber force pushed on relentlessly. It was almost impossible for anyone involved in it to escape and it would eventually kill them! Dorah Kai could not and did not want to avoid that sh. He was nowpletely maniacal as he rushed forward withplete disregard towards Aiden''s fierce ebony de, Rygintarth. His eyes shone with craze and wrath as he yelled. "[ric] DIE!" Suddenly, a sense of danger rang in Aiden''s mind. At that moment, he snapped out of his mechanical practice mode instantly. Dorah Kai''s hidden weapon was hidden in his mouth! The moment he opened his mouth, a chain of thin light bluish needles with a nauseating aura shot forth, almost suffocating Aiden. This was Dorah Kai''sst, final ultimate attack, his surefire killing blow. That was also Dorah Kai''s killing move that was made in exchange with his own life! Although he had the warning from his keen senses, Aiden was immersed in his sword technique practice. By the time he snapped out of it, he was still a bit toote. The moment Dorah Kai opened his mouth, several Soul Tearing Spikes as thin as a hair had already arrived before Aiden in a cluster. The distance between them was too close! By then, it was already toote for Aiden to dodge, let alone use his de to defend. *SLASH!* Dorah Kai''s chest was shed at first. The massive wound almost split his body into two as fresh blood gushed! However, as if he couldn''t feel any pain, Dorah Kai''s eyes were fervent as heughed menacingly. "[ric] Even if I have to die, I WILL drag you down with me! You will not-" "SILENCE!" Suddenly, Dorah Kai''s sentence was interrupted by a loud shout and he could no longer continue. A loud boom sounded in his mind as his ears rang repeatedly, as though he was struck by lightning. The stinging pain was unbearable and his mind went momentarily nk! If there was a mirror that Dorah Kai could see himself in at this moment, he would find his ears gushing with fresh blood and his eyes straight up ruptured! To everyone, there were no words they could register inside that mightly, booming and thunderous roar. It was a release of primordial power and rage. It was the battle cry of an ancient dragon, a mighty god-like entity that stood over the myriad races of countless worlds. A true ruler, and apex being. Knowing he could do nothing else to survive the straight up sh with this suicidal maniac, Aiden reacted in instict. His draconic blood surged, and shook the vicinity. Whilst normally it would merely shake one''s soul, and shake their foundation, with all the pent up anger and helplessness induced a shocking amount of power and fused it into his sonic attack. Added that his opponent, Dorah Kai was too close to him, Dorah Kai''s all seven orifices bled profusely as a result of Aiden''s shocking attack. Yet, that was not all. The true terror of his attack was still awaiting! A neigh impossible scene yed out before them! Aiden''s ferocious draconic cry wasn''t only for show, it carried an immense power within it. The moment he opened his mouth, there was a massive air current. The Soul Tearing Spikes that were about to strike Aiden paused in their tracks and reversed at an even faster speed! Dorah Kai''s pupils constricted as he was blinded by a bright blue light. *Poof!* *Poof!* *Poof!* The sounds of sharp objects piercing into flesh echoed as the chain of Soul Tearing Spikes buried themselves into Dorah Kai''s face, disappearing in an instant without any blood at all. 790 Chapter 790 As the cluster of thin needles plunged deep within Dorah Kai''s stiffened body, he staggered in retreat. Yet, he had barely taken a few steps when his face turned ink-ck with blood oozing from the side of his lips. Copsing stiffly, he died on the spot. Since he was young, Dorah Kai had been ying with poison and there were countless Martial Artists, disciples of sects big and small as well as countless geniuses who had died against that move of his. However, he had never expected himself to die in the hands of his own ultimate move! Seeing Dorah Kai copse on the ground finally, Aiden''s figure descended as well as he heaved a sigh of relief. In truth, what happened earlier had given him a shock as well. His earlier rage and release of power just before was not nned. Yet, if not for that Draconic Shout, he would have been the one lying on the floor right now! Turning around, Aiden smiled coldly at the Corpse Poison Sect disciples that were watching from outside the hall. In a sh, he charged into the crowd with Rygintarth raised in his hand. There were no more room for discussion. The Corpse Poison Sect have long since crassed Aiden''s bottom line when they decided to attack one if his closest members. He would never let them off after hurting his Dara. The moment he stepped into this ce, he had no intention of letting anyone off. In the end, his captain''s words that he said to Tai Liu before was spot on; Aiden''s true motive was to exterminate them from the roots! Aiden had to remove every single trace of danger from his beloved''s side. None would be left alive. The massacre continued. Although Aiden was alone, the remaining Corpse Poison Sect disciples had already given up all thoughts of retaliating and scurried hurriedly. . At the western districts of Inner Ugburg, at an extremelyvish building seemingly made out of pure milky white crystals. "[Reptilian] Senior Brother! Reporting for" A Crystal Pce disciple sprinted the entire way and arrived at a mansion. Greeting the handsome man before him with cupped fists, he said hurriedly between breaths. ,m "[Reptilian] Senior Brother! Senior Brother Pei! A massive battle has broken out at the city''s east in the Corpse Poison Sect''s territory. Somebody witnessed a gray robed, hooded figure, presumably that Aiden returning to the city earlier this morning. Not long after, he arrived at the city''s eastern district and barged into the Corpse Poison Sect territory!" "[Reptilian] Hmm? What happened?" Pei Syriac raised his brow with a slightly curious expression. "[Reptilian] Barging into the territory of the Corpse Poison Sect? How many people did he take along with him? A hundred? Maybe more?" The young man reporting revealed a troubled smile as he shook his head and responded with an awkward tone. "[Reptilian] No, Senior Brother. He brought no one, he barged in by himself only." "[Reptilian] What?! He was alone?" Frowning, Pei Syriac pondered for a moment. He couldn''t help but shake his head in lightughter as he remarked in a leisurely manner not believing the report at all. "[Reptilian] The Corpse Poison Sect is filled with traps and there are more than a hundred highly dangerous disciples trained in the art of assassination standing guard. There''s even that snake, Dorah Kai, the ''Poison Man'', around. A mere vagrant like that Aiden definitely has a death wish for barging into Corpse Poison Sect alone. "[Reptilian] Heh If I had known that this b*stard would be so reckless and dumb, I wouldn''t have needed to waste my efforts on him!" Pei Syriac could not help but feel a tinge of regret as he thought about Loran Whron, his trusted aide, who had yet to return from the hunt of Aiden. It had been several days already and Loran Whron''s deep silence probably meant he had met some great trouble and was no longer in this world. The thought of Loran Whron failing and being killed by Aiden instead had crossed Pei Syriac''s mind too. However, he felt that Loran Whron, who was at the peak of the Martrial Knight realm at Rank 9 and was ready to step into the Master realm after all. In terms of strength, he was the only one above Loran Whron. Given the strength that Aiden disyed in that battle on the long street, there was no way that person could be a threat to some as talented as Loran Whron. Pei Syriac shook his head and said, "[Reptilian] Well, since we''ve got nothing on, let''s go and watch the show. It''s bound to be interesting!" At the same time at another location, amidst some dark rocky formations, an extermely sinister looking building were standing tall. In this dark and sinister pce, a Malefic Demons n member knelt on the ground before a dark robed man. Heaving a heavy, somber sigh, he reported in a deep voice. "[Reptilian] My lord, that Aiden whom you wanted to be informed about have returned to the city today. Not long after, he barged straight into the Corpse Poison Sect''s base alone and created a massacre. The current state of the battle is unknown." "[Reptilian] Hmm?" The young Dark Lord of the Malefic Demons n Master Yang Zahn, opened his eyes with a flicker of mockery. "[Reptilian] Even the gods above can''t save somebody that''s looking to die. Barging into the Corpse Poison Sect alone? How interesting" Standing up, Dark Lord Yang Zahn remarked with a sinister sneer. "[Reptilian] Alright then, let''s go and help him collect his corpse! We will show everyone what happens to those that offends us!" On the long streets of Ugburg''s eastern and southern sections arge battalion of more than a thousand figures marched towards the south, each armed from head to toe and ready for not just a battle but probably an entire war campaign as well. This massive force was the joint efforts of not just the Azure Myst Sect''s entire line up but also several smaller and medium sized forces that were pulled into action by either the Young Master Tai Liu, his elder protector, or one of Aiden''s captains themselves. The dense group attracted countless gazes. This army was massive, capable of contending with any of the mayor factions residing in the city! At the helm, leading this massive force was none other than Tai Liu and his elderly uncle. Aiden''s captains followed behind the two of them with grim expressions silently. Even little Tolliah was there, looking at the distance with a worried expression. Though she tusted her ''papa'' the utmost, she still wanted to see her fine and safe. To be perfectly honest, leading such a massive force was a new experience for Tai Liu. She looked flustered and there was sweat on her forehead. She dered as she marched forward with a beautiful ive in her right hand. "[Reptilian] Friends, my brethren! Make sure to not act recklessly and to follow my orderster on. Our priority is to rescue our friend, Aiden! Let''s try our best to avoid fighting the Corpse Poison Sect discipels head-on!" "[Reptilian] That''s right." One of therge Saurian captains of Aiden nodded and added. "This is a rescue mission, not a battle." Seeing the worried look on the young master''s expression he ced his firm hand over Tai Liu''s shoudler and whispered with a gentle tone. "[Reptilian] Do not be worried, miss. Our Young Master is extraordinarily strong and the heavens will bless him. We are sure that nothing bad can happen to him!" "[Reptilian] Mmm. Thank you." Tai Liu forced a smile and expressed her thanks. In a split second, all the major factions in Ugburg City were alerted and moved towards the Corpse Poison Sect at the city''s east one after another! Sitting on arge throne, carried by a group of golden robed men, a handsome man in luxurious robe sat with a calm expression on his face. With eyes that were crystalline like ss, he exuded a unique aura that attracted everyone''s attention. He was none other than the leader for Crystal Pce''s local forces, Pei Syriac. Their reaction were the fastest as the Crystal Pce''s group was about to arrive at Corpse Poison Sect at the city''s east. At the same time, another group of sinister looking figures appeared from the direction opposite of Crystal Pce. Wearing ck robes, they were none other than Malefic Demons n''s force. The two major yers were not far from one another and could even see the other. Right then, a Crystal Pce disciple sped over with a frantic expression. His eyes could barely contain his shock as he gulped before struggling to say. "[Reptilian] Senior Brother! Senior Brother grave news! The Corpse Poison sect is no more!" "[Reptilian] Yeah yeah, understood. Let me know if anythi-" Pei Syriac replied with an aloof expresson at first, not bothered by the report. After a slight pause, he frowned and returned to his senses. Gazing at his underling''s face, he asked slowly with an increasingly sharp expression. "[Reptilian] What did you just say? Repeat it once again, clearly!" 791 Chapter 791 Besides Senior Brother Pei, the other Crystal Pce Sect disciples also looked at that person confusedly, thinking that they had heard wrongly. It was impossible for that man, no matter how talented and fierce he is to deal with that terrifying den of horrors! The reporting young man chuckled bitterly and shook his head. "[Reptilian] The Corpse Poison Sect''s faction in the city ispletely gone. Almost all the Corpse Poison Sect disciples were brutally massacred by that gray robed man." The Crystal Pce group was shocked upon hearing this. "[Reptilian] How is that possible?!" Almost at the same time, both Pei Syriac and the Dark Lord felt their hearts skip a beat as they eximed. They exchanged nces through the void. There was a Malefic Demons n member standing in front of Yang Zahn as well, rying the same message. Realizing that they had lost theirposure, both of them took a deep breath and forcefully calmed themselves down. Pei Syriac gripped his fists tightly and narrowed his eyes, asking with gritted teeth, his raging temper seeped through his forcefully pushed out words. "[Reptilian] What about Dorah Kai of the Corpse Poison Sect? He was supposedly unbeatable before the Grandmaster Realm with the countless poisons and hidden weapons on his body. Also, what about all of their traps? What about the dangerous Lethals? The hundred odd disciples of the Corpse Poison Sect?!" "[Reptilian] Ehrm" The Crystal Pce Sect cultivator paused for a moment before sighing. "They''re all gone, Senior Brother. Everyone is dead, with most of the bodies missing supposedly vanished under all the destruction." Listening to the report everyone was shocked. These few words revealed a hint of exasperation, shock, fear, and endless emotions. The fearsome group of assassins, the Corpse Poison Sect, one of the top forces of the Underworld ''Evil'' factions! A faction that even Crystal Pce Sect wasn''t willing to provoke personally was destroyed by that person alone. Everyone present stood dumbfounded with agape mouths. The words of the young disciples reporting to both parties lingered in their minds and they couldn''t snap out of it. All the Crystal Pce and Malefic Demons n Martial Artists quietened down. In the western part of the Inner City of Ugburg, the atmosphere was strangely tense. A bit of timeter, a Crystal Pce Sect disciple could not help but ask warily. "[Reptilian] Senior Brother Pei, are we still going to watch the show?" Initially, they were apanying Pei Syriac to watch how tragically that annoying pest, Aiden would die. However, now everyone gave up on that thought upon receiving the grave and shocking news. Pei Syriac''s gaze flickered and his expression was indeterminate. Pondering briefly, Pei Syriac''s eyes shone with immense killing intent as he remarked darkly. "[Reptilian] Go! All the more we have to go check things out because of this!" At the same time, the fiend heir of Malefic Demon''s Sect, Yang Zahn, made a simr decision on the other side. Both of them thought about the same thing. The Corpse Poison Sect was one of the most powerful forces of the underworld after all and had more than a hundred disciples with peak level Martial Knight and even some Martial Master stage powerhouses among them. Even if Aiden managed to exterminate the entire Corpse Poison Sect, it must have been an arduous battle. He had to be exhausted. Even if he wasn''t severely injured right now, he was most likely at his weakest and might even be riddled with poisons from head to toe. This was simply the best time to kill that man and remove such a nuisance once and for all! Crystal Pce Sect and Malefic Demons n were highly powerful, ancient sects (and n) respectively. Throughout history, they have always been on opposing ends and would never join forces in the open. However, at that moment, Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn exchanged nces and had a tacit understanding. "[Reptilian] Let''s go!" Pei Syriac ordered and sped forth with the Crystal Pce Sect disciples towards the Corpse Poison Sect at the city''s western side. At the same time, back at the southern and western intersection of the city. Speeding with therge group of cultivators, Tai Liu and Aiden''s group of Captains leading therge forces, they have arrived in the vicinity of the Corpse Poison Sect before long. There was arge crowd of bystanders before them, packed densely and watching keenly. It was unknown what these people saw but their eyes were filled with shock. When Tai Liu''s group arrived, a passage was immediately squeezed out for them. Confused about what was going on, Tai Liu couldn''t help but mutter softly. "[Reptilian] What is going on? What is all thismotion? What happened? How''s everything inside?" He fired question after question, not expecting an answer at all. However, at this time, a feminine figure donned in gray robe, matching that of his master, Aiden''s appeared through the crowd and greeted the other party with a smile. "[Reptilian] Young Master Tai Liu, you guys were a tad bit toote to arrive. All the excitement has already passed and you have missed everything! Hehe! Tragic! It''s truly tragic!" When she heard that, Tai Liu''s eyes dimmed as she mumbled to herself as if she had lost her soul. Thinking that he was really toote to save that young man, she slumped her shoulders with a dispirited, aggrieved look on her face. "[Reptilian] We were still toote? It''s my fault. I should have guessed it. I could have stopped you" Tai Liu was flustered and did not notice the robed mature woman''s expression and tone, thuspletely missing the mark. Looking at her reaction, the woman, Vyndridolth was stunned. Did she not understand what she had just said? At the same time the more he looked at theirrge group that looked more like an army than a band of worried friends, he couldn''t help but ask. "[Reptilian] I apologize if I am too brunt or forward, but why did you guys bring so many people along to watch the show? Anyone who didn''t know better might think that you guys are out for a fight!" "[Reptilian] W-wait.. Young Master is fine?" The front captain, Dragha seemed to have finally realized the mistake he have done and focused his attention on their mental connection. Only now did he realize that not only wasn''t the signals weakening but instead have grown stronger over time! Their young master, not only did not suffer any injury but even got stronger as a result! "[Reptilian] Of course. He is alive and fine." Vyndridolth replied with a warm smile. "[Reptilian] Huh?" Bouncing up from his misery, Tai Liu blinked a couple of times in shock and asked without wiping the tears from her eyes. "[Reptilian] But h-how? You just said that the sight was tragic. Truly tragic" "[Reptilian] Oh, I meant that for the Corpse Poison Sect, not for the Young Master." Vyndridolth smiled, waving her hand dismissively. Everyone was dumbfounded and froze on the spot, unable to take the facts in for a moment. Right then, a Corpse Poison Sect disciple stained with blood ran in their directions, staggering with a frightful, horrified face. He looked utterly devastated, and his soul was shaken, he was frantically trying to escape from something or someone. However, he couldn''t get too far when a cold light shed behind him. An ebony wed hand pierced his back with a swoosh, protruding out from his chest with blood everywhere! The person''s eyes dimmed and took a couple more steps forward before copsing to his death. As his corpse copsed on the ground, they instinctively looked at the shadowy figure gradually appearing behind it. Amidst the small cloud of dust and vapor, a gray-robed figure strode over with a calm expression and a bright gaze. In fact, there weren''t even any traces of blood on him as he flicked his wed hand with a disturbingly calm expression. At the same time, the Crystal Pce Sect and Malefic Demons n groups arrived to witness that gory scene. Arriving at themotion, Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn came just in time to witness the Corpse Poison Sect in a wretched state with corpses strewn all over the floor. Warm blood flowed everywhere C it was a living hell before them! The reports were really true! The Corpse Poison Sect was truly destroyed! "[Reptilian] Impossible!" "[Reptilian] How could this be?" The same doubt shed through both of their minds. In that bloody battle on the long street, the strength that Aidenn had disyed was far from enough to destroy the fearsome Corpse Poison Sect. How did he do it then? Could that man have broken through once more and increased his strength significantly in thest couple of days? Or possibly Did he perhaps hide his real power all this time? If so, was this to the true limit, the true capabilities of this gray robed lone figure? Or maybe.. Just maybe, there were more hiding in that thin, lithe frame of his? 792 Chapter 792 A look of caution flickered through both faction leaders'' eyes as these thoughts began to take root in their hearts. Of course, the most shocking thing for them was Aiden''s current condition. He had steady breathing and a calm expression. He did not seem like he had just been through a massive battle. This was going against everything they knew. This should have been a battle that was tougher and more dangerous than the bloody battle on the long street! However, neither of them could spot any signs of fatigue on Aiden''s face nor wounds on his body. It was as if instead of an arduous, long, and hard-fought battle, surviving against countless traps and deadly toxins all around, he merely took a casual stroll in the afternoon air. Was it all just a farce? Was he merely putting up a strong front, hiding the real and bitter truth that he was actually at the end of his road? Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn red intently at Aiden, wanting to expose his true weakened self. However, a momentter, the two of them gave up. They couldn''t read him at all! That man looked to be a frail schr when he was calm. His astounding strength and power could not be felt, no matter how hard they tried. One could only experience the terrifying strength emitted from his usually frail looking body after he made a move and it was even fiercer than the most ferocious beasts! A stampede of wild carnosaurs was nothingpared to him! Pei Syriac took a deep breath of air and turned his gaze towards Tai Liu''s group. When he saw their size, he gave up on his idea. No matter what Aiden''s current condition was, it would be difficult for him to attempt to make a move against Aiden at this very moment. Still, this did not mean that the Crystal Pce Sect was actually afraid they were just moderately wary of the Azure Myst Sect. In a head-on battle, the strength of the top factions such as them, wouldn''t be anything that a mere Azure Myst Sect, that''s main focus was in alchemy, could realistically contend with. Right now, the Ancient Burial Grounds'' ruins had yet to open up and they hadn''t seen any real treasures yet. There was no need for the Crystal Pce Sect and Pei Syriac to fight anyone to the death since outsiders could seize the opportunity to take advantage of them while they were weak. Taking onest look at the scene and the main figure of them all, Pei Syriac turned around and left with his group from the Crystal Pce Sect decisively. On the other side, the Dark Lord of Malevolent Earth Sect, Yang Zahn, made the same decision at the same time. He expressionlessly turned around and returned to whence he and his group of demonic cultivators came from. Whilst Pei Syriac and as well as Yang Zahn thought that most likely their hated opponent, Aiden was merely putting up a strong front and was just hiding the truth. In reality, Aiden''s appearance was truly not faked. He was really not tired, nor did he felt anything at all after such a long series of battles. All the spent energy was more or less recovered through the countless life essence donors, the past disciples of the Corpse Poison Sect, as well as the greatest of them all, Dorah Kai who was like a huge bag of gifts that kept on giving. After he and his group of pests were dealt with, Aiden unleashed his true nature that he kept hidden and contained for so long and absorbed more than a dozen of dead disciples in one go. Whilst most did not give anything meaningful other than restoring some of his spent energy, and rejuvenating his tired, slightly sore muscles; Dorah Kai was of a different story. His body was filled to the brim was countless poisons. That man, or more precisely that skink was actually a rare mutated specimen, one that the system called Venomous Draconic Skink. Though he did not gain any new form to use, Aiden received a great boost to several of his skills as well as stats. For one, after all the absorptions and processing, his System Skill points have directly grown to an all time high of 25 thousand points, almost doubling their previous maximum size. For his main attributes, after all the new life essences were processed they looked like the following: [Attributes: Might: 48 Agility: 48 (+2) Spirit: 66 (+5!)] A direct boost of +5 to his spirit was a massive increase. After processing it, Aiden could immediately feel it. His connection to the ether was stronger than ever before, he could sense the ever present invisible particles in the air clearer than before. At the same time, he could feel his movements bing just a bit more defined. His smaller increase of Agility that now matched his Might allowed him to be a bit more dexterous as well as swifter than ever before even without relying on his Soul Power. On the other hand, he had received a boost to a couple of skills as well. For one, his Primal Absorb main and most defying skill had received some increase in its mastery, growing closer and closer to breaking through its current limit of Level 10 and evolve. Whilst the obvious increase in Poison Resistance passive effect that has directly broken through its previous Level 6 rank all the way to Level 9, just a bit shy away from the peak Level 10, he had also gained the most unexpected gain. His [Divinity: Basic] skill, that he had just started to cultivate has grown slightly stronger. Whilst it was not enough to break through Level 3 and tap into the next level, the next stage, Aiden did feel the growth nevertheless. Still, maybe the most important gain of them all was the appearance of the new skill that he had also gained: [Poison Mastery]. Most likely derived from the life experiences and massive knowledge rted to all kinds of toxins -be it lethal or not- of Dorah Kai, Aiden now shared a simr recollection and could not only identify them in an instant, he felt that by relying on his Divine Energy, but he could also directly create them by transforming the wild life essence of any living being. Even his own. Whilst this was not an ability that Aiden himself would probably want to use, the skills'' passive effect of learning all he could of this world''s darker side was nevertheless an incredible gift. In the end, the gains far outweighed all the energy, stamina, and effort Aiden had spent. Not to mention, after dealing with the greatest threat, Dorah Kai himself, the rest of the battle had turned into a one-sided massacre. Making use of his far superior physique, strength, as well as speed, Aiden killed brashly and no one could hold out a single round against him! For some of the cultivators that escaped further, he hunted them down like a hungry predator, tearing them apart flesh by flesh. In this battle, more than a hundred of the Corpse Poison Sect disciples werepletely annihted with no survivors! Whilst his Captains as well as the little snoring sleuth took it rtively well, Tai Liu and the Azure Myst Sect disciples werepletely stunned as they froze on the spot. Earlier on, Tai Liu was reminding them repeatedly that after entering the battlefield, their priority was rescue instead of fighting. However, their ns could not catch up to the changes. By the time they arrived, they didn''t even have the chance even if they wanted to fight the Corpse Poison Sect disciples. Although Tai Liu had very high regards for Aiden''s strength, she could not believe that he could overwhelm the entire Corpse Poison Sect, one of the most terrifying forces of evil, singlehandedly! Aiden strode over leisurely and arrived before Tai Liu and the others, smiling gently. "[Reptiliang I have caused you guys worries. Please rx as I am fine." In that short period of time, Tai Liu went through a roller coaster of emotions. Initially, she was only worried about Aiden. After seeing that he was fine, she felt like a load was lifted off her shoulders. Right after, she felt indignant as she looked at him in a huff, revealing a hint of a maiden''s attitude that was extremely charming. Tai Liu merely felt that the person before her was extremely horrible to create empty worries for her, causing her to lose herposure time and again. Her emotions were in a chaotic frenzy. "[Reptilian] Y-y-you! Didn''t you say that you were merely going out for a walk?!" Initially, Tai Liu wanted to give Aiden a good, harsh lecture. However, when she saw thetter''s smile, her words sounded like the grumble of a cute couple at odds. Captain Dragha, and the rest of Aiden''s captains looked at the Young Master strangely. 793 Chapter 793 Though they hadn''t known this Young Master of the Azure Myst Sect for that long, but they never thought they would hear such a flustered, maiden-like tone of voiceing from her anytime soon. She always felt like this cool and collected leader than anything else. Aiden smiled as he responded to her question. "[Reptilian] I did walk around the city but I ended up here somehow. The more I thought about your words, the more I felt that they made sense so I went ahead and destroyed the Corpse Poison Sect. They have made both you and Dara sad after all." Everyone looked at Tai Liu in surprise and could not contain their shock. Aiden''s honest-sounding reply made everyone assume subconsciously that the Corpse Poison Sect was destroyed because of what Tai Liu said! It was as if the fate of thisrge organization was decided by her alone. With a stunned expression, Tai Liu asked, "[Replian] Huh? What did I say?" "[Reptilian] You told me that killing a few Corpse Poison Sect disciples was useless and would even make me a target for them to take revenge on." Aiden responded with a calm smile. "[Reptilian] So, you decided to destroy the entire Corpse Poison Sect instead?" Tai Liu asked with an incredulous look. Did this guy really go to such extremes for a single sentence? "[Reptilian] Yeah." Aiden shrugged his shoulders, responding matter of factly. Hearing that, Tai Liu frowned tightly and nearly exploded on the spot. Is this guy for real? ''What I meant was for you to not provoke the Corpse Poison Sect! Yet, you went ahead and destroyed them instead!'' she screamed inwardly, not daring to reveal it to the outside world. Taking a deep breath of air, Tai Liuposed herself. She had lost herposure multiple times in less than two hours. She must not continuemunicating with that person before her in the same manner. Taking arge lungful of breath, she turned around and looked at her group she gathered and said apologetically. "[Reptilian] My friends, my fellow disciples. I apologize. I have caused you to make a wasted trip." "[Reptilian] Y-young master! Please don''t! I-It''s fine! Really!" The disciples hurriedly came forward and replied trying to calm the distraught young master. They have never seen him in such a chaotic state and weren''t ready to handle such a matter. On the other hand, the elderly uncle just stood silent by the side and smiled meaningfully. By now, Tai Liu had alreadyposed herself as she smiled in return. "[Reptilian] Alright. Let''s head back to the city''s south. We have earned ourselves a rest." They have made their journey back to the city''s southern districts in rtive silence. Whilst the team was mostly exhausted, they also didn''t know how to handle this grey robed figure. For one, he seemed like a casual, easy to talk to, and down to the ground type of guy. Yet, in the next moment, whenever his temper red up, he was a terrifying, unstoppable monster that culled the lives of dozens like it was nothing at all. As they walked in an awkward silence, Tai Liu suddenly recalled something and turned to ask. "[Reptilian] Right, I didn''t have time to ask before with all that was going on. Did you manage to gain anything from your trip to the Metal Tree Grove? Have you learned more of its legend?" Upon hearing this question, not just Tai Liu but even Captain Dragha and the rest of the captains turned towards their Young Master, Aiden in hopes for some detailed exnation. So far, they have also haven''t learned a thing as their master was silent even in their mental channel. He merely informed them that everything was fine and that their n was still to go. "[Reptilian] Hmm.. Yes I did." Aiden smiled and nodded after a moment of silent pondering, not exining it any further. Hearing Aiden''s ambiguous reply, Tai Liu seemed to ''understand'' that he didn''t manage to obtain the Sword Emperor''s inheritance. Furthermore, nobody thought that anybody could obtain the Sword Emperor''s inheritance since there was already the impression of someone else doing so. If it was any other time, Tai Liu wouldn''t have continued pressing on as it would have made Aiden look bad. However, after all that happened recently, she wanted to see him embarrassed today. She needed this to recoup some of her ''losses'' he suffered today at the hands of this man. With a teasing nce, she continued asking. "[Reptilian] So, what did you manage to gain? Could you have perhaps gotten the Sword Emperor''s inheritance?" Her way of asking was extremely obvious to anybody. Her teasing tone made it sure that her true intentions weren''t hidden. "[Reptilian] Hmm. Yes, that is right." Aiden however, as if he had not seen or heard the remark, continued smiling and replied naturally, as though it was real. Some of the disciples have begun to frown upon hearing his response. "[Reptilian] Although this man is capable, he''s dishonest and wants to put on appearances." They muttered to themselves. Tai Liu pursed her lips and smiled before shaking her head without asking anything more. When everyone was about to arrive at the city''s south, a martial artist carrying arge two handed sword on his back sped over from outside the city gates, yelling the moment he entered the city with a frantic, excited look on his face. "[Reptilian] Big news! After hundreds of years, somebody managed to obtain the Sword Emperor''s inheritance again! The Sword Mountain copsed and the spirit sea dried up! The Metal Tree Groove has vanished from the worldpletely! It is no more!" Suddenly, Tai Liu''s group slowed down and turned quiet. That piece of news was enough to stir up the entire city once again. In fact, it would cause a stir in the entire world as well, not just this small underground cave. Its waves would spread far and wide, etching themselves into the canals of history forever. Normally, everyone should start to discuss and wonder about who obtained the Sword Emperor''s inheritance thereafter. However, at that moment, everyone went silent. That was because someone among them had just admitted to obtaining the Sword Emperor''s inheritance! If both events had happened separately with some time in between, no one would have connected the dots. But now that someone had just admitted to it, the news spread to the city! Everyone looked towards Aiden instinctively with strange expressions. Was it for real? Did he speak the truth just now? Wasn''t he only pretending to keep his cool image and not lose too much face? It was a fleeting thought as everyone denied it internally right after. The Metal Tree Groove was formed in the ancient era. Since then, countless geniuses had attempted and yet, only a single person had managed to pass the test and obtain the inheritance. It was obvious how difficult a task this was. It was not ridiculous to call the figure so many years ago a peerless paragon of the era! A one of a kind genius! Could a peerless paragon exist among their midst as well? It was a mysterious and surreal feeling. "[Reptilian] Everyone, I will go ahead and check on Dara. I hope she is now okay and does not suffer from any aftereffects." Right then, Aiden spoke and bid farewell with a gentle smile before his figure suddenly vanished, not even dust was left behind. Only after Aiden was far away, did a disciple dare to speak up. "[Reptilian] Y-young Master Is it true? D-do you think that he was speaking the truth?" "[Reptilian] Sigh I have no idea as well." Tai Liu chuckled bitterly and shook her head. She didn''t know what to think or feel anymore For the next period of time, the shocking news of the Corpse Poison Sect being destroyed was taken overpletely by the simrly inconceivable feat of news of the Metal Tree Groove vanishing. Nearly everyone worth anything in Ugburg City was discussing who the mysterious unknown Sword Master who obtained the fabled Sword Emperor''s inheritance was. While everyone had different sayings and guesses, none of them had an urate answer. Among them, there were people who said that a strange, gray-robed cultivator obtained the inheritance. Unfortunately, that saying did not mean anything much to outsiders. There were hundreds, if not thousands of Martial Artists with simr clothes. However, Tai Liu and the others thought of Aiden instantly the moment they heard that. Unfortunately, Aiden had been in seclusion during this period of time and Tai Liu did not have the chance to verify these rumored facts. As time passed by, the atmosphere in Ugburg City became more tense. Recently, many foreign faces appeared in the city and they possessed extraordinary strength. It was clear that the grand event of the Ancient Burial Ground''s opening was drawing near. All kinds of factions, faces or even lone wolves started appearing one after another, hoping to take a slice of this delicious cake and hope to change their fates! 794 Chapter 794 For a while, the situation between the major factions dominating the city was mostly fine. Tense, but no actions were taken on any of the sides. However, once the giant crypt''s secrets would be finally dispelled and its treasures revealed themselves, it would definitely bring about an apocalyptic and bloody battle royale to everyone present. On this day, a fair young Draconic Skink Azure Myst Sect female disciple came before Aiden''s abode and knocked on his door, requesting for him to gather at the Main Hall. Aiden sat in a meditative or in a ''lotus'' position in the center of the room with the dark de, Rygintarth ced horizontally before him. Letting out a deep breath, he opened his eyes which shone clear as water with a calm, tranquil expression. He knew that Tai Liu would not send someone to disturb him unless it was absolutely necessary. Now that they were knocking on his door, it was most likely because something big was happening. Most likely the long awaited grand event, the Ancient Burial Ground would open up! Exhaling a lungful of air, Aiden slowly pushed himself off from the ground and without any more words nodded at the young maiden Azure Myst Sect disciple and followed her. The two soon arrived at the Main Hall. The Main Hall was already filled with countless people by now. At a single nce, there were close to a thousand people! It was a massive force by Aiden''s standards. He finally understood what was meant by a major sect. Before entering this ancient battlefield for the stupid event in Higrove, they have sent in four teams in total with a total amount of people not reaching half of the size that have just gathered in this room. At then, they were told that this was the absolute limit they could have sent and that it was already enough as this world was mostly deserted and barren. Devoid of life. Yet, now, in this supposed dead wastnd of a realm, where his original ''assigned'' task was to unearth heavenly treasures for the Masked Mistress so that she could im the governing position and be that worthless city''s main leader, he looked at a force at least twice the amount of theirs. And this was just one faction out of the gods'' know how many! The difference between them was like Heaven and Earth. Tai Liu nodded in greeting when she saw Aiden enter. Unlike his ordinary self, the Elderly Uncle who was always standing behind Tai Liu acting as her sole guardian, surprisingly took the initiative to smile at Aiden as well. Not just them, but even Aiden''s captains were present as well. Suddenly, Aiden felt a hostile, borderline murderous intenting his way and could not help but frown. Turning around, he red over without being subtle. He was surprised to look at an unexpected party staring at him with hateful eyes. It was Juno Hian. Several days ago, Juno Hian fainted after taking one hit from Aiden. Though at the time, he looked to be severely injured, luckily that was not the case. In reality, Juno Hian was not severely injured because Aiden showed him mercy. Thanks to the miraculous elixirs of Azure Myst Sect, Juno Hian recovered within a couple of days, just in time for the grand opening event. When he saw Aiden looking in his direction, Juno Hian turned away hurriedly and avoided the former''s gaze, looking somewhat shifty and fearful. *Khm!* "[Reptilian] Everyone!" Right then, Tai Liu''s voice sounded and the chatter in the crowd softened gradually to silence. As she gradually received the full attention of everyone present, Tai Liu said in a deep voice. "[Reptilian] In at most two days, the seal of Ancient Burial Grounds will be dispelled entirely. At that time, a cruel battle will await everyone. Please be prepared." "[Reptilian] Though it may have seemed otherwise how the High Priest ims it his property, the Ancient Burial Grounds is actually located a couple of miles to the north of Ugburg City, just outside of its outer sectors, in a valley. Due to its terrain, the valley is covered in eternal fog that cannot be dispersed throughout the year and visibility is extremely low. That is also the reason why the Ancient Burial Ground ruins haven''t been fully discovered until now." These were extremely valuable news and everyone listened attentively. "[Reptilian] The dispelling of the Ancient Burial Ground ruins'' seal does not mean that we can have a smooth journey and arrive safely. ording to the scouting of a few junior brothers, the valley is home to many pure-blooded wild beasts, mostly surviving from the past era and should-be-extinct ancient lifeforms with terrifying strength!" "[Reptlian] "The lifespan of these demonic beasts is much longer than that of ours. These pure-blooded wild beasts have not been able to follow the rules of this world and be true Magic Beasts, forming their Inner Cores due to the rules of that ce. However, their strengths are at least at the peak of the Martial Knight realm and they are extremely terrifying!" Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. Through those simple statements, he could tell how dangerous it was and that the situation was not to be underestimated! First, although they had the advantage in numbers with close to a thousand or so disciples. They could notpare with the pure-blooded, wild ferocious beasts and those mysterious ancient lifeforms that have resided and reproduced in the ancient battlefield for countless years! That ce was like its own, unique world on its own. Second, this ce was deep in this underground realm. Pure-blooded ferocious beasts aside, even the most ordinary ancient lifeforms possessed terrifying strength! And third, the environment itself. The environment was extremely unfavorable for them. After countless years of untainted existence, Aiden was sure that the intelligence of those pure-blooded ferocious beasts was not inferior to any of these Draconic Skinks or lizardfolk for that matter. The reason why they rarely attacked the city was because they knew that these people had the terrain advantage and they couldn''t win. However, the situation was reversed this time round. Now, these people would being to their territory, epting the disadvantage. The demon beasts had the terrain advantage this time around! All the factions had limited knowledge about the valley and did not know much about the terrain within. However, these fearsome, ancient beasts that had lived inside for countless years knew everything. Apart from that, there was an even scarier reality. the night! Tai Liu said. "[Reptilian] With the fog surrounding the valley, our vision is reduced and it''s hard for us to fight at maximum strength. When night arrives, our vision of sight will be further reduced. At that time, if we''re surrounded by pure-blooded wild beasts" Tai Liu did not go on but everyone felt a chill run down their spines. After a brief pause, Tai Liu continued. "[Reptilian] That is why we have to enter the territory of the Ancient Burial Ground ruins before the first night! Once night falls that would be our death sentence. We will sleep in the valley forever without being able to see the light of the second day!" The final test, the culmination of all of Aiden''s journey in this world was finally about to arrive. Others that havee to this world, would probably roam the surface and face the fake face of this world. They would tread through the scorched earth, whilst battling with the massive heat. Devoid of Life their main enemy would be theck of sustenance and the scarcity of resources during the month-long stay they were forced to undertake. Their journey would be vastly different. Maybe they would encounter some great luck, or find themselves in a massive cmity, a major disaster, potentially spelling their doom. Aiden didn''t know how the others fared. He only knew that his sister and his team he was separated from was forcefully pulled back and teleported away. Through the magical, heaven-defying system''s ability, he could still feel Galina''s state and that he was mostly healthy, though a bit distressed nowadays Because he was busy solidifying his strength and preparing for the Ancient Burial Ground''s opening, Aiden did not know what was happening back on Eora, nor did he cared too much. As long as those he cared about were safe it was okay. He had several major system quests toplete, as well as save this strange race from the clutches of the Ancient One, the treacherous world guardian before he could leave this world. "[Reptilian] Everyone, all the major factions of Ugburg City will be gathered this time around, including sects and major ns like Crystal Pce Sect and the Malefic Demons n. There will definitely be a bloody battle when the timees." Tai Liu said solemnly with a stern expression. "[Reptilian] Our Azure Myst Sect can give up on the other treasures if the situation seems bad. However, we must fight and get our hands on the Ancient Burial Ground''s Elixir Recipes and Alchemy Inheritance!" 795 Chapter 795 "[Reptilian] Our Azure Myst Sect can give up on the other treasures if the situation seems bad. However, we must fight and get our hands on the Ancient Burial Ground''s Elixir Recipes and Alchemy Inheritance!" Most of those recipes may have already been lost through the times. With them, together with the apanying inheritance, once they appeared, their Azure Myst Sect would definitely cause a huge stir within the world and their status would naturally rise. "[Reptilian] Everyone, go back and wait. Get ready and prepare to set off at any moment!" After Tai Liu finished speaking, many disciples gradually dispersed and returned to their rooms. As the groups of people slowly left the Main Hall, Tai Liu''s gaze was fixed on one particr, gray-robed individual that was following the mass at the very end, looking silent but at the same time, emotions shed across his youthful and stupidly handsome face every now and then. Though she did not know what she was doing, or that he could actually converse with his captains through the system''s provided Mental Channel, he knew that his changing emotional state was rted to his own little group. Tai Liu had the thought of calling out for him and warning him of some of the moretent dangers of this uing journey but in the end, she could not do so. They were the greatest secrets of his sect as well as probably for the others and whilst nobody knew of the others, these secretive methods were something anybody in the top factions have known about. Still, he could not openly divulge it to anyone, as it would be akin to betraying her ancestors In the end, she merely sighed and watched helplessly as Aiden walked away, not knowing just what dangers he would be facing On the very next day, around in theter afternoon. A bit of distance away to the north from Ugburg City, a violent quake happened as beams of light shot straight into the rocky ''skies'' of the underground world before disappearing. The seals shrouding the Ancient Burial Grounds have finally dispersed after so many years! Many fearsome Martial Artists and powerhouses came out of seclusion immediately in Ugburg City and countless figures soared straight into the skies, heading towards the valley 5 kilometers to the north using their various techniques. The many powerful, top factions have also got active. Crystal Pce Sect, Malefic Demons n, The Ancient Guardian Stars, Beast Summoners and various other sects made their moves and in the blink of an eye, the entire Ugburg City was in an uproar! Because Aiden and the others were prepared, they assembled at the Main Hall of the Azure Myst Sect swiftly the moment they saw the phenomenon. Tai Liu gazed up at the skies with a dark expression and worry in her eyes. Aiden knew what was on her mind. He smiled at the thought. Right now, it was evening and there were only 2 hours left till night. It was rtively dangerous for them to barge into the valley right now. If they did not manage to pass the defenses of the wild, ancient beasts and arrive at the Ancient Burial Ground ruins before nightfall, all of them might end up dying in the valley. However on the other hand, if they were to stay here and another sect broke through the ferocious beasts and arrived first, all the treasures inside Ancient Burial Grounds were bound to be wiped clean. "[Reptilian] Young Master Tai, let''s go. The Crystal Pce Sect and the other factions have already set off. We''ll be toote if we don''t move." Juno Hian urged from the side, looking restless. Pondering for a bit more, Tai Liu made up her mind. Sighing internally, she waved her hand. "[Reptilian] Let''s go!" Upon hermand their group marched out from the building and hurriedly rushed towards the north. Among the crowd, Juno Hian nced at Aiden with a killing intent flickering briefly past his eyes. ''Hmmm? How interesting'' Aiden sensed it the moment it appeared. Although he did not turn back, his expression was cold as he slowed down and came to Juno Hian''s side. Without even looking at him, Aiden remarked indifferently with a cold, ruthless tone of voice. "[Reptilian] A word of advice, little worm. It''s best if you don''t harbor any designs on me." At that moment, Juno Hian felt as though his heart was being grabbed by someone and had stopped beating. How did he realize it?! His expression was frightfully pale as sweat poured down his forehead. He could not understand how he was found out when he had merely nced at Aiden once with a fleeting killing intent! His legs were trembling slightly at this thought. He tried to control them but he could not do so. Taking a deep breath of air, he pretended to be calm as he faked augh at Aiden. "[Reptilian] Hehe F-friend, who are you talking to?" "[Reptilian] I merely knocked you out with that p from before out of respect for your Young Master, but the next time, your head will explode." After a slight pause, Aiden continued. "[Reptilian] You can rest assured, this is not a threat. I am warning you." Without looking at him still, Aiden sped up after that statement and returned to the front of the group. In that short dozens of seconds, Juno Hian felt as though he had been through dozens of years. It was as if he had passed through Hell''s gates and was now drenched with sweat, shivering when the wind blew at him. Burying his head deeply in between his robe, Juno Hian no longer dared to look at Aiden. Yet he did not give up on his thoughts of revenge. At that moment, his expression was menacing and his eyes were hysterical. From the bottom of his heart, he howled internally, "[Reptilian] Little worm huh? Alright, you filthymoner! You embarrassed me thoroughly in front of everyone back then! Today, you''re even threatening me! I''ll make sure the Fog Valley will be your burial ground!" The group continued to march forward without any pause and soon they could see the massive fog shrouding the valley from afar. Gray and hazy, it rolled in an illusory manner. Surrounding the valley, the fog was like a wild beast in a hazy night, opening its bloody mouth and waiting to enjoy a feast! Given their speed, they covered the distance from the city rtively quickly. They did notg behind the rest of the major yers either. Crystal Pce Sect, Malefic Demons n and many other sects were at the valley''s entrance, arriving not long ago as well. Outside the crowd, there were some itinerant Martial Artists waiting for an opportunity, wanting to mix in with therger crowd after the major ns and sects entered and lured away the attention of the ferocious beasts. "[Reptilian] Liu! So you have arrived!" Suddenly a young feminine, fair, lighter skinned Draconic Skink garbed in exquisite golden robe walked over and greeted with a friendly-looking nod. He, or more likely, she was just like Tai Liu, a young master of a rtivelyrger sized, but not so battle-oriented group, the Majestic Swan Sisterhood. As the name implied the Majestic Swan Sisterhood was actually a fully female sect of martial artists that were mostly focused on cultivating herbs, flowers, and all kinds of flora. They were closest to the Azure Myst Sect, some could even say that the two would often be seen as one big faction instead of two slightly smaller ones. Looking at the stiff looking smile hiding behind her graceful mask, Aiden could clearly tell that this young woman was not rxed either. The two of them discussed for a while and Tai Liu stood out. She cupped her fists in the direction of Crystal Pce and asked loudly. "[Reptilian] Fellow Master Pei, it''s alreadyte and night will arrive in less than 2 hours. It''s way too dangerous for us to enter the valley now. Why don''t we return to the city to rest and set out tomorrow morning to enter the valley, what do you think?" In reality, her words struck amon chord with many of the gathered. The valley was extremely huge and nobody knew the exact location of Ancient Burial Grounds. If they did not manage to find the ruins before nightfall, many lives would be certainly lost! However, everyone had already arrived here and was worried that someone else might seize the opportunity before them if they were to leave. Raising his chin slightly, Pei Syriac replied. "[Reptilian] I don''t have many objections towards your suggestion, fellow Young Master. However" Pei Syriac did not continue but he looked towards Malefic Demons n. As if on queue, the dark lord of Malefic Demons n, Yang Zahn, sneered contemptuously. "[Reptilian] Don''te to the valley if you''re afraid of death. Return to Ugburg City obediently and you''re guaranteed to be snug and safe like a true weakling!" 796 Chapter 796 "[Reptilian] Rubbish!" "[Reptilian] Trash!" "[Reptilian] Weaklings!" "[Reptilian] How can a small valley stop the great ambitions of the Crystal Pce!" Many Crystal Pce disciples shouted. Smirking coldly, the Dark Lord waved his hand and dered. "[Reptilian] Follow me into the valley!" Before his sentence waspleted, Dark Lord Yang Zahn took the first step and led the Malefic Demons n group forward and disappeared into the fog. There''s naturally no way Crystal Pce would want to fall behind as Pei Syriac ordered. "[Reptilian] Everyone! Onwards, into the valley!" The actions of the two sects affected all the factions that were hesitating outside the valley. Various sects took action at the same time and gushed inside. Greed often causes one to lose their rationality. At that moment, all the disciples and the other Martial Artists rushing into the valley were fervent with burning gazes. The only thing left in their eyes were the treasures of Ancient Burial Grounds. They had instinctively forgotten about thetent dangers in the valley! None of them wanted to be left behind. Only one group remained. Only the Azure Myst Sect did not make a move still. Standing at the front, Tai Liu frowned with a hesitant expression. Her decision affected the lives of more than a hundred disciples behind her. She could not be as reckless and careless as all the others. Night will descend entirely in less than 2 hours. At that time, under the foggy night, each of them would experience weakened senses. However, the ancient lifeforms, remnant beasts and ferocious wild beasts wouldn''t be affected much by the environment! "[Reptilian] Young Master, let''s hurry and enter the valley! Stop hesitating!" "[Reptilian] If they find the Ancient Burial Ground ruins first, the treasures are going to be wiped clean! By then, we''ll have to return empty-handed!" "[Reptilian] That''s right! Crystal Pce and Malefic Demons n have already entered! All of us cultivators add up to thousands in total, do you think that we''ll lose to the animals?" When he heard that, Aiden scoffed internally and shook his head. Even if they had hundreds of thousands of warriors of the same strength, they wouldn''t be able topete against the endless number of demon beasts that lived and reproduced here for more than a century, let alone this small army of them. Be it in terms of timing or environment, they had no advantage whatsoever. After a moment, Tai Liu finally relented against the chatter of the restless disciples behind her. With exasperation in her heart, she waved her hand. "[Reptilian] Let''s go! Into the valley!" With that, the Azure Myst Sect too entered the valley, albeit as thest to do so. Only thing that Aiden found strange was that from beginning to end, he had not seen a trace of the High Priest nor any forceing from the Church at all. This was not logical how would they enter then? Would they willingly let go of the ruins they have used as one of the basis of their faith? No. That would be impossible. However, in that case, how did they n to get there? What are they nning? Aiden suddenly had a bad feeling about everything The High Priest as well as the surviving Ancient One, would be far more craftier than this Something was not right. Still, he could do nothing but follow the prepared route for the time being and just be on guard all the time. However, just to be safe, before he ventured into the fog and demonic beasts infested valley, ha sent out a short message to Vyndridolth who was purposefully left behind to care for and guard little Tolliah back at the now-empty Azure Myst Sect''s local headquarters. With that, he too looked forward and followed after the group ready to face the dangers. ording to the original n, the small army of Azure Myst Sect disciples were supposed to form a cone-shaped formation. Those with the weakestbat strength like those that main focus was not battle and some other Elixir Refinement Masters would be in the middle of the formation. The outer perimeter of the formation would be formed with the Azure Myst Sect''s warriors, the battle focused disciples. The topmost and sharpest end of the cone formation would be formed with none other than Aiden, his four strongest-looking saurian captain, Captain Dragha, as well as Juno Hian himself. Aiden was in the middle and Dragha and Juno Hian were slightly behind him, supporting from both sides. The moment they entered the valley, Aiden gradually began to unleash his strength, his attention constantly on his surroundings, ready to strike at any moment. "[Reptilian] The visibility is so low. I can hardly see!" "[Reptilian] That''s right. I can only see a couple dozen feet or so... at most!" Many disciples started discussing in hushed whispers after entering. Captain Dragha was at the peak of the Martial Warrior realm. Gazing around, he nodded. ''Young Master, I can barely see around a hundred or so feet around me. What about you?'' He conveyed the message through their shared mental channel. At the same time, a simr question came from the other side,ing from Juno Hian. "[Reptlian] Can you two see anything at all? This fog is way too dense! I can barely see around a hundred or so feet around me!" He cursed with frustration. "[Reptlian] Hmm Around the same. Roughly." Aiden responded ambiguously. At the same time, he sent another message mentally as well, though containing a much different content. ''This is not a normal fog, but something induced by magical means. Still, I can see for quite a bit, don''t worry, just watch for my signals.'' In reality, with Aiden''s heightened senses and superior bloodlines he had gathered, his vision was extremely powerful. Even in the fog, he could see things thousands of feet away. If the fog before him had a very small effect on demonic beasts, it was equivalent to not affecting Aiden at all! Affected by the tense situation, the group of disciples slowly proceeded forward. Not long after, the roars of ferocious beasts echoed in the valley, mixed with heartbreaking cries. The sounds were frightening and unsettling. "[Reptilian] W-w-what was t-that?!" "[Reptilian] Has someone already encountered a wild beast already?" "[Reptilian] Probably" Some disciples discussed softly among the crowd. With the obstruction to their vision and the continuous howls of beasts in the valley, everyone''s excitement gradually died down and they started feeling restless. Suddenly, Aiden''s voice sounded breaking the silent atmosphere. "[Reptilian] Everyone get ready! An enormous group ofrge flying insect-like creatures areing!" Everyone was shocked at his exim. The color drained from everyone''s faces as the mention of somerge insectoid monstersing their way. From their memories their could only be a couple of potential creatures matching such a description and each one of them were terrifying, frightening monsters of their own! If they encountered any of them, even escaping with half the crew alive would already be the best case scenario! However, everyone could not help but feel doubt when they did not see signs of the supposed horde appearing even after a while. "[Reptilian] What did you say?" "[Reptilian] Where are the supposed monsters?" "[Reptilian] Bloody hell! It was just a false rm!" "[Reptilian] What''s up with this man? You can''t joke casually about such things!" The disciples could not help but grumble. At the side, Juno Hian crossed his arms and watched the show gloatingly. Tai Liu frowned slightly on the other hand. She knew that Aiden would not joke around. Especially not with something like this. However, when she saw that there was still nothing around them after a while, she could not help but head forward and ask hesitantly. "[Reptilian] Aiden, are there truly beastsing this way?" "[Reptilian] Hmm. Of course." Aiden nodded instantly. His gaze fixed before them on the milky white creamy fog wall. As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of wings pping could be heard clearly! *Bzzzt!* *Bzzzt!* *Bzzzt!* Everyone''s expressions changed drastically in an instant! This time round, none of them doubted Aiden''s words. However, none of them could understand how he managed to discover the enemy so early. How did he spot them from so far away? Tai Liu squinted her eyes and her gaze flickered as her thoughts raced. She looked at the approaching enemy, which looked like giant flies, or more like mosquitoes with long, spear-like proboscises at the front of their heads acting as their mouthpiece. They were called Demonic Flies. They were one of the mostmon spirit beasts outside the valley. They were around the size of a fist and loved sucking the blood of other living beings, Draconic Skinks included. Yet, while Demonic Flies were weak, Ancient Demonic Flies were much more terrifying! Ancient Demonic Flies were lifeforms of the ancient era and were long extinct in the rest of the world. Massive in size, they wererger than even the top three Saurian captains at the front and their wings would buzz loudly when they pped. 797 Chapter 797 Ancient Demonic Flies were lifeforms of the ancient era and were long extinct in the rest of the world. Massive in size, they wererger than even the top three Saurian captains at the front and their wings would buzz loudly when they pped. While their bodies were rtively fragile, the mouthpart that they used to suck the blood of other living beings was their killing weapon and was extremely frightening! Long, thin, sharp, and indestructible, their mouth parts could prate the flesh of other living beings with ease and they could suck an ordinary living being dry within 10 seconds! What was even more terrifying was that Ancient Demonic Flies lived in swarms! When Ancient Demonic Flies hunted for food, they would swarm over, with the skies covered. Even ancient remnant beasts wouldn''t be able to escape them and would turn into dried corpses in the blink of an eye. Tai Liu squinted her eyes and her gaze flickered as her thoughts raced. The Ancient Demonic Flies had flown at least an impossiblyrge distance from the time Aiden gave his warning until now. It was at least several hundred yards. ''How could he see them? Could it be that Aiden had spotted the Ancient Demonic Flies from more than a few thousand feet away?'' The thought of that possibility gave Tai Liu a shock. Unfortunately, there was no time to think as a swarm of Ancient Demonic Flies appeared before them. In fact, Tai Liu could make out the bloodshot eyes and the thin long mouth parts that were already stained with a fresh coating of dark green colored blood of the Ancient Demonic Flies! The agitated disciples could not hold it any longer and hurriedly grabbed their weapons, and circted their battle techniques, attacking the dense swarm of Ancient Demonic Flies. In the blink of an eye, a brilliant spirit light shone in the fog and gradually filled the ce! *ng!* *ng!* *ng!* Swords and ives of the many disciples pierced through the air. The Ancient Demonic Flies lightly shook their mouth parts and collided with the air-sailing weapons, causing the sound of metal shing to ring out! Most of the shing des were repelled, returning empty-handed! The distance between them shortened once more. Shockingly, the attacks of the fierce swords and ives could not break the defenses of the Ancient Demonic Flies! The battle-trained disciples of the Azure Myst Sect were flustered as they hurriedly reached for their sect''s magic-inscribed insignias and released their secret arts and raised life-saving magical shields, temporarily stopping the Ancient Demonic Flies in their tracks. However, they had a limited number of uses out of their identity tokens and they could not release these secret arts continuously either as they required a huge consumption of their spirit energy. After withstanding the first wave of attacks from the Ancient Demonic Flies, they still had to use everything they got just to defend. *Swoosh!* Right then, just as the two parties would have shed in an utterly sad and bloody manner, in the void at the most front several Ancient Demonic Flies were sliced apart by an ominous ebony thick and slightly curved demonic de and fell to the ground one after another. Tai Liu looked over and found Aiden controlling his fearsome weapon, Rygintarth. Without even condensing a sword formation or relying on any shy technique, he was causing massive damage to the Ancient Demonic Flies swarm! Suddenly, Aiden''s voice sounded, breaking Tai Liu from his sudden reverie. "[Reptilian] Don''t let the Ancient Demonic Flies get close to you! Their mouth pieces are extremely lethal, indestructible and can go against your swords and spears. Everyone, there''s no need to fight them head-on. Use the agility of your weapons to wrap around or behind them and you can kill them with ease!" Upon hearing those words, everyone was invigorated and attacked as per his advice. Indeed, it was a huge sess and countless Ancient Demonic Flies fell, staining the skies red with blood. There were too many Ancient Demonic Flies as they filled the skies and swarmed over like locusts. Even though they knew the weakness of the Ancient Demonic Flies, it was inevitable for them to have openings in their defense, allowing the Ancient Demonic Flies to close in! Those bloodstained, thin and long mouth parts were extremely sharp. Once a warrior was pierced by them, bloody holes would be formed and they would be sucked dry in the blink of an eye, leaving behind nothing but a dried-up skeleton! Initially, several disciples died as the group continued ahead, causing gaps in the formation. Under Tai Liu''s lead, the group gathered even more closely and tightly, covering the gaps so that the formation wouldn''t be destroyed and torn apart. Although they were simrly at strength and most of them were at thete to peak stages of the Martial Warrior realm, Aiden''s inner Soul Power energy was much richer than the Azure Myst Sect Disciples Spirit Power Mana. Coupled with his supreme, magical artifact sword spirit and his newly learned battle techniques, Aiden himself alone created an immense amount of damage ahead and was virtually unbeatable! No Ancient Demonic Flies could reach him as bloody mists appeared continuously ahead along with the tragic cries of the former. With Aiden taking over most of the attacks, the pressure on Captain Dragha and Juno Hian lessened significantly and the group continued pushing forward. Even without turning back to look, Aiden could clearly see in his system''s generated map as the green dots signifying the Azure Myst Sect''s disciples falling to the ground repeatedly, unable to get up. Each time a green blip shed and blinked before turning gray and vanishing forever afterwards In that Fog Valley, one was as good as dead if they suffered serious injuries. Since those martial artists chose to enter the valley in pursuit of Ancient Burial Ground''s treasures, they had to ept the dangers they were currently facing! Aiden, whilst wanted to help them was by no means a saint and did not have the energy or chance to save everyone. All he could do was ensure that the front of the formation was preserved as much as possible and lead the group through the obstacles ahead. Almost a full hourter, the group of them broke out from the encirclement of the Ancient Demonic Flies. The surrounding Ancient Demonic Flies were gradually minced by the many swords and spears and fell. "[Reptilian] Everyone, take a rest and treat your wounds. Use the potions and elixirs to recover your energy as quickly as possible!" Tai Liu dered with a heave of relief after breaking out from the Ancient Demonic Flies. Aiden nodded without any emotion visible on his face when he heard her decision. Now that there was a moment of respite he quickly pulled up the system''s screen as before he had to ask Enya to silence the system as notifications kept on popping up and distracting him with their constant ringings. Now that he had some time he wanted to see what was happening, however as he took a look, he was pleasantly surprised. [Creature: Ancient Demonic Fly eliminated. The host gained 250 EXP!] [Creature: Ancient Demonic Fly eliminated. The host gained 240 EXP!] [Creature: Ancient Demonic Fly eliminated. The host gained 260 EXP!] [Creature: Ancient Demonic Fly eliminated. The host gained 300 EXP!] . . . [Creature: Ancient Demonic Fly eliminated. The host gained 250 EXP!] [The Host''s Proficiency with the Skill: Mystic Martial Arts (Level 5) has increased! Current Progress: (Level 5 - Progress: 20.00%)] [The Host''s proficiency with the Innate Skill: Void Splitting Manual (Level 3) has increased! Current Progress: ?????] From the hard fought battle, Aiden''s System Points reserves skyrocketed once again, gaining a massive boost of almost 8000 EXP in total, boosting his new stack of EXP up to 32500 points. Even better, his knowledge in both his Mystic Martial Arts as well as with the mysterious Void Splitting Manual increased once again. Although he could not check the current progress on thetter, he was one fifth into reaching the next rank with the former. p Although he could have also used the heat of battle and absorb a couple of these flying insects and possibly gain a new form as well as some new skills, Aiden vehemently denied the prospect. These things were beyond disgusting revolting. He did not want to do anything with them. Not now, not in the future. Never. The disciples stopped in their tracks and started bandaging their wounds while consuming elixirs, panting heavily with pale faces. Everyone looked towards the gray robed figure of Aiden at the front withplicated expressions. Previously, none of them could understand why their Young Master was willing to offend all the top factions gathered just to recruit this unknown risk factor, this Aiden. But now, all of them realized how terrifying Aiden really was! After that battle, he was calm andposed as usual. Compared to them, he was worlds apart. People like Tai Liu and the elderly uncle understood everything even better. If Aiden had not paved the bloody path in front of them, they would have lost at least half of their group! 798 Chapter 798 Giving a couple of minutes of respite, Aiden looked at the group still licking their wounds, consuming healing salves, and treating their injuries, he came before Tai Liu and said in a quiet, hushed whisper. "[Reptilian] We need to leave. This is not a good ce to linger Or spend any amount of time." There was less than an hour before nightfall. Time was extremely pressing for the group from Azure Myst Sect. The longer they lingered in the valley, the more danger they would face! Furthermore, what they faced earlier was just a group of Ancient Demonic Flies. There were many other, far more fearsome ancient and variant beasts that had yet to appear. Aiden had a feeling that pure-blooded ferocious beasts would definitely appear once night fell! At that time, the valley would be the literal nightmare for all these sects, ns, and all the other Martial Artists! Tai Liu nodded at Aiden''s suggestion. However, just as she was about to speak, Juno Hian sneered with a contemptuous look on his face. "[Reptilian] Heh It''s fine if you have such a strong, and supernatural physique and could continue on the journey for even longer. However, for us poor ''normal'' beings oh please my great lord. you''ve got to consider the feelings of others!" His voice was very loud as if he was intentionally speaking to others. Many cultivators looked towards Aiden with displeasure upon hearing that. Tai Liu hesitated when she caught sight of their expressions. Noticing his scheme was working, he continued. Loudly, Juno Hian dered. "[Reptilian] Everyone, there''s no need to be anxious! Resting a little more won''t make a difference!" Aiden smiled and did not say anything more. Instead, he turned towards their captains, sending out a quick message through their mental channels. Simrly, they did not show any visible reactions, however each of them seemed to be alert and ready to move at a moment''s notice. "[Reptilian] Hmm?" Suddenly, as if he sensed something, a cold glint shed through Aiden''s golden eyes. Spinning around, he looked towards the back of the formation. "[Reptilian] W-what? What''s wrong?" Tai Liu asked hurriedly when she saw Aiden''s strange expression. Before she even finished speaking, the ground at the back of the cone-shaped formation began to tremble. Gradually, it turned soft and weak, showing signs of sinking in! It was as if some terrifying creature was about to break out of the soil! "[Reptilian] Make the call. We need to leave. Now." Aiden eximed, turning his attention towards his captains, and nodded. Instantly, all of them sprung up with their weapons raised and looked towards their Master for the order. They didn''t seem to care about this group of disciples at all, ready to leave them at any moment. Tai Liu also sensed that something was amiss and yelled. "[Reptilian] Everyone, follow Aiden! Let''s leave this ce quickly!" *Boom!* *Boom!* The ground at the back copsed suddenly and dark bright crimson-colored slime-covered tentacles as thick as a water bucket shot up from beneath the surface, yanking the nearby disciples underneath! "[Reptilian] T-this! This is impossible!" The elderly uncle eximed with shock upon seeing the scene. "[Reptilian] W-what is it uncle? What are those?" Tai Liu asked with agitation in her voice. "[Reptilian] Ancient Drill Wyrms!" Ancient Drill Wyrms were not dragons despite their name and usually lived way below the underground. Although they were shaped like giant, oversized worms, they had no scales and their bodies were filled with spiral patterns instead. They were dark red in color with no eyes and were extremely sensitive to light and the slightest trembles on the ground. There was a huge circr mouth on their heads with rims of sharp fangs within and they could grind any living beings into mincemeat with every squirm. The most terrifying thing was that Ancient Drill Wyrms had an exceptional regeneration capability! They were truly fearsome, horrible opponents to encounter. A true disaster followed their wake every time Even if they were cut into several pieces, they could recover to their original states as long as they dug back underground and rested! Any living being that was dragged underground by an Ancient Drill Wyrm was most likely doomed and even other simrly terrifying ancient beasts were no exception! Not many could escape their drill-like jaws. Although Aiden had warned them, most disciples at the back took it lightly and werepletely defenseless; some of them even assumed a meditative position on the ground. The moment the ground caved in, those disciples were dragged underground by the Ancient Drill Wyrms with only time for a single tragic cry for help. Some cultivators soared into the air hurriedly but they were still devoured by the Ancient Drill Wyrms in a single mouthful they could react, causing blood to spray everywhere in a miserable manner! Some other, braver disciples hurriedly reached for their swords or spears doing their best to cut the Ancient Drill Wyrms into two. However, the Ancient Drill Wyrms did not die and still possessed extremely powerful killing power even with half their bodies left! The ground was quickly covered with the thick stench of spilled reptilian blood. "[Reptilian] Hurry, run!" "[Reptilian] We have to get out of here quickly!" A series of shouts sounded within the chaos. The cone-shaped formation was created once more, albeit somewhat scattered, and they rushed towards the valley under the grey robed man, Aiden''s lead. The disciples only managed to shake off the Ancient Drill Wyrms after a full 15 minutes of escaping and slowed down. Most of the survivors were drenched in sweat with a mixture of fear and unease. This escape had too much of a toll on everyone''s mental state and energy; even the usually calm Captain Dragha''s forehead was covered with ayer of sweat. Only one man looked normal, seemingly unaffected by the previous chaos. Aiden''s eyes were bright, his breathing was steady and his physique seemed unlimited like the vast skies and bottomless seas. It seemed like everything that happened was insignificant to him! Tai Liu looked down at the remaining Azure Myst Sect disciples with a sorrowful expression. Azure Myst Sect only lost slightly more than a couple dozen people after breaking free from the Ancient Demonic Fly''s swarm earlier. However, they had only lingered for a moment longer at that ce and half of their surviving force of martial warriors were now dead! Recalling Aiden''s suggestion, Tai Liu felt even more guilty. She bore at least half the responsibility for the deaths of over all the lost sect''s brethrens! If only she had been more decisive, perhaps perhaps all of this could have been avoided. Many cultivators red at Juno Hian begrudgingly. If not for his actions, all of their lost brethren or half of their sect mates might not have died! Knowing it was mainly his fault, Juno Hian didn''t dare to refute them either. Feeling guilty, he coughed softly. "[Reptilian] I-I didn''t mean it either, I just wanted to let everyone get more rest." Some disgruntled disciples could not help butugh coldly. "[Reptilian] Hah! So easy for you to say! More than half of our fellow disciples died here because of that remark of yours!" "[Reptilian] T-That''s because they weren''t strong enough. Why did they follow us into the valley if they were afraid of death!" "[Reptilian] Can you hear yourself now? ''Senior Brother''" The disciple said with a mocking, cold tone. "we''re all from the same sect! How can you say something like that!" "[Reptilian] That''s enough!" Sensing that the tension was strong and that they were only going to argue more intensely, the elderly uncle hollered and stopped themotion. Feeling frustrated, Tai Liu raised her brows slightly and waved her hand. "[Reptilian] Everyone, quieten down. It was my fault just now. I made the wrong decision earlier on." She took a deep breath of air and came to Aiden''s side, asking softly. "[Reptilian] What should we do next? Can you advise?" "[Reptilian] We can only continue our journey and try to locate the center of the valley towards the Ancient Burial Ground ruins as soon as possible. That''s the only way for us to avoid the threat of all these ancient beasts in the valley." Aiden exined. "[Reptilian] Alright." . Tai Liumanded, for everyone to continue. They didn''t advance far when the fog in front of them surged. Several hundred feet away, a beautiful, azure feathered eagle was pping its wings, speeding towards them at an extremely fast speed with deep killing intent in its eyes! An ancient remnant beast! After rushing for nearly two full hours in the valley, an ancient remnant beast had finally appeared once more! Using the guise of the fog, the other cultivators did not notice any signs of the Azure Feathered Eagle at all. However, Aiden''s eyes were extremely sharp and he sensed it long ago. Before panic could set in once again in the group, suddenly a loud yell reverberated from the front of the group. "[Reptilian] Stop!" A brilliant, dark beam of shadow shot through the air, scattering the surrounding milky fog for a brief moment. Aiden had made a move! 799 Chapter 799 [Creature: Ancient Azure Feathered Eagle eliminated. The host gained 500 EXP!] [Resource: 33000 EXP] It was extremely difficult to kill an ancient remnant beast surviving from an olden era. They were extremely powerful and had lived a carefree life with an abundance of resources to cultivate their strength. In order to save some time, as well as his team''s spiritual energy, Aiden did not hesitate and struck down with his sword in the crudest, yet most effective manner. His own resource, Soul Power could be restored much easier by relying on all this delicious life essence, but the rest of the group would need several hours to achieve somewhat simr. Most of the group could not understand why Aiden suddenly attacked. However, it did not take long before a bird''s tragic cry could be heard from the fog ahead. The dark beam that managed to even scatter the heavy fog vanished without a trace, returning to its resting ce at the sword marking on Aiden''s chest and his expression was unchanged as if nothing has happened at all. As the group ventured deeper into the valley, there were no longerrge swarms of ancient lifeforms. Instead, ancient remnant beasts started appearing. Most of the time, it was their leader, the gray robed Aiden that had attacked preemptively and killed the ancient remnant beasts before thetter could reach them. In the meantime, his points kept on steadily increasing Passing the 35000 mark, then the 40000 and it did not show any signs of stopping by the looks of the situation Although they merely had close encounters as they ventured deeper, everyone''s expressions turned grimmer. The one thing they feared the most has happened. The skies had gradually darkened, the night has descended upon this Fog-covered Valley. Everyone''s vision was reduced once more. In the dark and empty valley, smelling the thick scent of blood in the air, everyone''s heartfelt iparably depressed and uneasy. They had yet to find the Ancient Burial Ground ruins. This meant that the group would have to continue in the night! Before long, night finally fell and their surroundings were pitch-ck. Initially, everyone could still see a distance of a hundred feet in front of them. But now, that range had shrunk to at around a lousy thirty feet! Before they knew it, their surroundings had gone silent. There were no longer birds crying or beasts roaring in the distance. In fact, there weren''t even screams of other martial artists reaching their ears anymore. It was as if all the wild beasts hid themselves in an instant and vanished without a trace. For sure, most could understand what was going on. It was like the calm before a storm. The silence was so eerie, sinister and frightening! Under Aiden''s lead, everyone proceeded forward and could even hear their own hearts pounding. The rustling of the withered leaves they stepped on sounded particrly piercing. "[Reptilian] W-what was that?!" "[Reptilian] W-What''s going on?" "[Reptilian] Why aren''t there any wild beasts left? What happened?" Finally, someone could not bear the pressure and asked with a quivering voice, panting slightly. Even Tai Liu was a little afraid as well. She could even sense the aura of death in that darkness. Right now, the only thing that could calm her down was that back view in front of her that was sturdy even if it was not broad. It was as if their hope would not be extinguished as long as that figure did not fall. The darkness before them was filled with unknown dangers. However, Aiden''s footsteps did not stop at all as he continued advancing. Suddenly, he came to a stop and his deep voice sounded. Although it sounded calm, its content was shocking! "[Reptilian] Weapons at the ready! Prepare for a difficult battle! A beast tide ising our way!" "[Reptilian] A w-what?!" A beast tide! The sound of those few words caused everyone''s hearts to skip a beat. Narrowing his golden gaze focusing to something at the distance with squinted eyes, Aiden looked over and a cold glint shed through his eyes as he said slowly. "[Reptilian] Also, not just any beast tide it''s a beast tide made up of ancient remnant beasts only!" "[Reptilian] Huh?!" "[Reptilian] W-what!" The crowd was in an uproar. A single ancient remnant beast was more than enough to give them all headaches. In this ancient battlefield, in this mysterious valley, who could survive if an ancient remnant beast tide swarmed over them? Well, not just them either. Which sect, which n or which top faction could live to see the next day against such an opponent? "[Reptilian] I-If we w-were to retreat now, c-can we escape?" Finally, a disciple could not endure the pressure and whimpered with a shaky tone. Faint tremors wereing from the ground, as if a massive army was charging over. Although they could not see it, everyone could sense the violent aura that wasing from in front of them! Escape?! Huh! It was toote. Far toote. Even the person that asked already knew the answer without Aiden replying. The most worrying situation had arrived. Furthermore, it was much scarier than they had imagined it to be! The tremors on the ground were intensifying. Even though the disciples clearly knew that there were countless remnant beasts that were charging towards them, the most frightening thing was that they couldn''t see anything against the cover of the fog. Unable to withstand it, some of the weaker willed disciples sat wasted on the cold hard rocks as their knees buckled against the tremors of the ground. They were mentally crushed as they cried helplessly. In the face of certain death, even these trained martial artists were no different from the average mortals they used to look down upon. They were equally insignificant and helpless without a single shred of dignity. "[Reptilian] What should we do?" Tai Liu looked at Aiden and asked instinctively. Aiden replied without any hint of emotion in his voice. His gaze still fixed in the distance, yet his eyes were glowing with a powerful golden luster already. "[Reptilian] What else? Of course we wee them." Those simple few words contained fearless courage that overlooked everything! Everyone, Tai Liu included, was thinking about how they should escape and survive. However, Aiden and by the looks of it, his own group''s thoughts were opposite of theirs! Each of Aiden''s captains were grabbing onto their weapons firmly, with their expression showing nothing but determination and zeal. There was no fear or hesitation as if their master''smand was obvious. Tai Liu was invigorated as she turned to look at Aiden''s side profile. Although it was in the night and Aiden''s face was a little blurry, his eyes were still bright as always, resembling two shimmering stars that illuminated the darkness. Sensing something, Aiden turned slightly and smiled calmly, asking. "[Reptilian] Or, do we have any other way out?" Hearing that, Tai Liu was stunned. That''s it! He was right what other way out did they have? By the time the ancient remnant beast tide, this deadly stampede was charging over, they no longer had a way out. Even if they were to turn and escape right now, they wouldn''t be able to shake off the pursuit of those countless ancient remnant beasts! "[Reptilian] Everyone, I know that you''re desperate right now. However, this is a test of life and death! Those that are fearful, weak and cowardly, will only be faced with a single oue death." Aiden''s voice sounded, resolute with conviction. "Reptilian] Since we have no other way out, we can only continue forward with our weapons in our hands" "[Reptilian] We will kill our way out." *Bang!* *Boom!* *Boom!* The rumbling sound ahead of them was deafening, resembling thousands of horses prancing! Most of the disciples could not see it clearly yet, but Aiden could see the many ancient remnant beasts charging towards them amidst the billowing dust with endless killing intent in their eyes! Countless fearsome looking and majestic beasts were rushing together. There was the beautiful white furred Frost Leopard that emitted a chilling aura and had ayer of frost on its fur. Or the fiery red furred Scarlet ming Bull with a robust physique and a pair of crimson-colored horns that were covered in mes. There was also the Armored Crusher Rat that despite its name was asrge as a wild boar. Every single wild beast in that tide was an ancient remnant beast! *ROAR!* The continuous howls of many wild beasts shook the world, causing everyone to shudder. "[Reptilian] Those that can''t keep up, good luck to you!" Aiden eximed. With that said, he once again withdrew the ebony-colored thick curved saber from his body marking. With a tremble, the saber buzzed and gave off an eerie howl. Standing right at the front of the formation, Aiden was about to endure the first wave of attacks from the beast tide head-on! He did not shirk on his duty, he did not fear anything. He stood firmly like a lone hero against the forces of evil. At that moment, he was the singr ray of hope in the eyes of these shaking, quivering group of martial artists 800 Chapter 800 Standing right at the front of the group, Aiden was about to endure the first wave of attacks from the ancient beast''s stampede head-on! That was also the wave with the strongest aura and impact! Before the beast stampede arrived, many disciples were already frightfully pale. "[Reptilian] Haaaah!" Suddenly, Aiden wielded Rygintarth and strode forward in huge steps, roaring into the skies. That mighty roar was deep and thunderous, carrying an archaic, primordial power within, causing metal to break and rocks to shatter and be crushed under its might. It was deep, bellowing, and dragged out, even drowning the howls of many remnant beasts! At the front, the darkness was shifting and finally, monstrously tall figures appeared one after another. They were finally about to meet! In the face of those tall ancient remnant beasts, Tai Liu''s or perhaps more urately, Aiden''s group appeared exceptionally insignificant like ants. However, there was a torrential aura emanating from Aiden that was on par with the aura of the beast stampede! Aiden waved Rygintarth fiercely. Instantly, the bright pale light on the de shone in a bright bedazzling manner, like the vibrant moon under the spotless night that radiated with a boundless blinding beam. *Swoosh!* There was also the sound of tides surginging from the mighty ebony de, rumbling like thunder with a majestic aura! Initially, some of the disciples had already closed their eyes and had given up on resisting. They felt that their demise was just about the corner. However, at that moment, an image of the boundless sea or mysterious energy seemed to appear in their minds. It created towering massive ethereal waves but instantly, it was cleaved into two by a peerless light beam! This was Creation of Aiden''s Void Splitting Manual! When the elderly uncle caught sight of that, his expression changed and he eximed with shock. "[Reptilian] T-this! T-this is Sword Force!" As one of the fewte stage Martial Masters, he had an immense amount of knowledge. He focused his gaze and could not help but mutter to himself apprehensively. "[Reptilian] That sword technique Could the rumors really be true?" *BOOM!* In the next instant, before the old man could ponder more on these thoughts, the beast tide shed violently against the leading grey-robed man at the front of the group, Aiden. Right at the front was the Scarlet ming Bull with its coarse, crimson skin and sharp horns. Before it even arrived, it was cut into two by the sharp beam emitted by Rygintarth! [Creature: Ancient Scarlet ming Bull eliminated. The host gained 850 EXP!] The iing beast tide that seemed like it could tten everything had a bloodied path cut out by Aiden''s First Strike, the Creation. That sh was way too terrifying! Not only could it sh head-on with the ancient beast''s stampede, it could even split it apart! Carrying Rygintarth, Aiden continued advancing. His aura had already started expanding, his inner force was circting frantically in his body and his eyes were shining brightly. An aura that was even more ferocious than the ancient remnant beasts was exuded like a massive tyrannical tide! Seeing his heroic, brave, and fearless stance the disciples followed after him hurriedly. Taking a deep breath of air, Tai Liu dered loudly. "[Reptilian] Everyone, please try your best to protect yourselves. Don''t let the ancient remnant beasts break our formation and don''t stop in your tracks!" Other than Aiden, his group of captains that were following closely behind him, already unleashing hell just like their Young Master, the other more senior disciples in the group did not have secret skills as their trump cards and they were barely a threat to the ancient remnant beasts of the valley to begin with. At the front, Aiden had been killing the ancient remnant beasts to create a path that was filled with blood and corpses. As long as everyone could stay alive against the attacks of the ancient remnant beasts and followed behind him, they had a chance of surviving! However, it was extremely difficult to defend against the attacks of the ancient remnant beasts even if the disciples defended with all their might. In the fog of the night, everyone''s vision was reduced to a range of around ten feet. Against ancient remnant beasts, ten feet was an almost instant distance. The moment everyone caught sight of the ancient remnant beasts, thetter would have already lunged at them and it was toote to strike with their weapons or cast any of their spiritual techniques and arts. By then, many of them could only rely on the secret defense technique of their sect''s ques to survive the attacks before defending again. However, most of them would be dragged away by the ancient remnant beasts, shredded and devoured in an instant. With Aiden killing at the front, the pressure on Captain Dragha, the rest of the captains, and Juno Hian wasn''t too great. From time to time, Juno Hian''s gaze wouldnd on Aiden''s back with an asional cold glint. Murderous thoughts emerged in his scheming mind. All of a sudden! A Frost Leopard pounced towards him from the side. Before it closed in, Juno Hian felt a chilling intent and his limbs going cold. Death itself was lunging at him at that moment. ,m He was at a peak Martial Warrior realm disciple after all and waspletely able to defend himself with his sword. However, a thought came to his mind as he suddenly crouched down, as if his legs had gone soft. Although he nearly fell down, he managed to dodge the attack of the Frost Leopard! Initially, the right of Aiden''s back was covered by Juno Hian''s position. Yet, with that sudden dodge from Juno Hian, Aiden''s grey robed back was now exposed to the Frost Leopard! This was akin to Juno Hian letting an ancient remnant beast into the formation! He was willingly allowing a beast to break their stance and allowing their strongest bastion to fall just for something as petty and pointless as his self satisfaction and revenge. After missing, the closest target to the ancient remnant beast was Aiden. Without thinking, the beast extended its paws towards Aiden''s shoulders, releasing ws that were as sharp as a set of daggers! The Frost Leopard opened its bloodied mouth and chomped down at Aiden''s neck with a cold, murderous aura! From the moment Juno Hian dodged till the Frost Leopard chomping towards Aiden''s neck, everything happened in the blink of an eye. It was already toote by the time cultivators in the formation noticed what happened. "[Reptilian] Ah! No!" Tai Liu''s expression changed as she yelled with terror. All the disciples were fighting to survive in this intense battle and there was no one who had the energy to help others. Furthermore, no one could save Aiden at all given that proximity! Aiden seemed like he was oblivious to the Frost Leopard behind him as he continued to sh ahead. However, that wasn''t the case in reality. Just as the ancient beast, the Frost Leopard''s bloodied mouth was about tond on Aiden''s seemingly unprotected neck, thetter''s head spun around! With a ng, it smashed against the Frost Leopard''s teeth shattering them in the incredibly vicious impact. shes of blood appeared. The Frost Leopard''s teeth were broken and the previously ferocious creature was sent flying! Right after, Aiden''s body retreated a half-step back. Gathering his entire body''s strength towards his back, he leaned backwards in a furious motion! *BANG!* The massive Frost Leopard was sent flying, turning into a mist of blood in midair! Everyone was dumbfounded when they saw that. An ancient remnant beast was smashed into sludge by a mere Martial Warrior! That was impossible! Who would have believed it if they had not seen it themselves? With widened eyes and an agape mouth, Juno Hian was shocked in disbelief. What happened waspletely different from what he had expected it to be! ''[Reptilian] N-no! This is impossible! How could this be? This doesn''t make any sense!'' Juno Hian''s mind was in a state of chaotic mess. Before he could resolve his doubts, Aiden suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around. Instantly, Juno Hian felt his heart clench as shivers ran down his body. "[Reptilian] W-What are you doing?" Juno Hian was flustered and his voice was quivering. He forced himself to calm down and exin. "[Reptilian] I-I didn''t do it on purpose. I just lost my footing and nearly fell down! That was how that beast managed to sneak in!" Tai Liu and the others merely witnessed the Frost Leopard pouncing towards Aiden but they did not know the reason why. When they heard that, everyone frowned. There was nothing wrong with Juno Hian''s exnation, but if Aiden had reacted slightly slower earlier, his neck would have been bitten by the Frost Leopard! Aiden did not reply and merely looked calm with a hint of mockery in his eyes. His glowing golden eyes were like to stars that could judge the entire mortal realm beneath them. They were like the rulers of the heavenly firmament; no weak lies such as these could escape them! 801 Chapter 801 Suddenly, Juno Hian felt like he had nowhere to hide; he felt as if this hateful gray robed arch nemesis of his was reading his thoughtspletely! "[Reptilian] N-no! Y-You can''t kill me! I''m one of the only peak Martial Warrior realm fighters in our local force! Aiden, don''t be too impulsive!" Juno Hian''s eyes darted around and he panted slightly, getting more nervous by the moment. Two ancient remnant beasts crept over stealthily, inching closer and closer ready to strike at the two piles of flesh at any moment As if he had eyes behind his back, Aiden shed with Rygintarth in reverse, shooting forth a dark beam that yed the two ancient remnant beasts on the spot! ring at Juno Hian, Aiden suddenly remarked with a vicious and ominous-looking sneer. "[Reptilian] Do you remember what I told you before?" "[Reptilian] Huh?" "[Reptilian] I warned you not to harbor any designs on me or the next time your head will explode!" Right after saying that, Aiden''s eyes lit up and his figure shed, creating a series of surreal afterimages in his wake. Juno Hian felt his eyes blur and by the time he wanted to retreat, Aiden had already arrived before him with a razor-sharp gaze that was filled with endless killing intent! After meeting Aiden''s gaze, Juno Hian felt his eyes sting and tears flowed out, causing him to close his eyes instinctively. It was thest time he closed them up. From there on, he never opened his eyes again. In front of everyone, Aiden pped his backhand tightly against Juno Hian''s cheek. *CRACK!* Juno Hian''s cheek sank in deeply and his skull directly shattered, distorting his facial featurespletely as everything else turned into meat sludge. He died on the spot. His corpse was sent flying and a group of ancient remnant beasts fought to devour it before it even reached the ground. Even though Juno Hian was an Azure Myst Sect disciple, even though he was ate stage Martial Warrior realm warrior of their ranks, even though Aiden was only an outsider, no one from Azure Myst Sect objected to Aiden''s actions. That was because all of them knew that they would have long been swallowed up by the ancient remnant beast tide if not for Aiden! "[Reptilian] Let''s carry on! Everyone, don''t stop!" After killing Juno Hian, Aiden turned around and led the cone-shaped formation forward once more. Although his gray robes were stained with the fresh blood of countless ancient remnant beasts, the increasingly mysterious man seemed as if he had infinite stamina. At that moment, he resembled a genuine rakshasa or perhaps an asura, a god of the battlefields baptized in the fresh blood of his in enemies. His eyes shone brighter by the moment as he pushed forward, shing the ebony de, Rygintarth widely with valiance and ferociousness! Even so, there were Azure Myst Sect disciples that died continuously along the way, dragged into the beast tide without a chance to escape. The cone-shaped formation shrank endlessly. Each fallen brethren, disciple or n members caused their formation to grow slightly weaker, more and more vulnerable. cing more and more pressure on the frontal leading valiant group of fearsome warriors Almost all the Azure Myst Sect battle-oriented disciples at the outer rim were injured and the formation might have long broken apart if not for the Aiden''s group, as well as the constant supply of potions from the Azure Myst Sect. The path ahead was pitch-ck and nobody knew when the beast tide was going to end nor where the Ancient Burial Ground ruins were at. All they could do was follow Aiden instinctively and venture deeper into the valley. Everyone was trying their best to hold out. It was as Aiden had said before, with no way out, their only option left was to continue forward Alongside Aiden, the only figures that still stood firm and healthy were his own captains. Dragha, the rest of the evolved Saurians, Madam Dara and Lady Pyre who had their brief episode before, and Tak who had joined their ranks thest, the barrack captain of the Temple Forces Aiden had freed up and directly evolved to this giant hulking heap of muscles that were now tearing these ancient remnant beasts apart with his bare hands. Each of them fought tirelessly as they followed after their Young Master and keeping the formation alive by themselves. If not for them, most likely the group''s losses would have been tremendous already, and most -if not all- of the Azure Myst Sect disciples would have met their ends by now already. All of a sudden! In a mountain range far ahead, a series of rainbow lights shot out in session, illuminating the skies and conjuring the scenery of a beautiful pce that was majestic and stunning! Instinctively, everyone paused in their tracks and looked over with agape mouths. Although nobody had seen what the Ancient Burial Ground ruins looked like, everyone realized the instant they saw that fairytale-like pce that it was the ce they were painstakingly searching for. Though they could not know from where, they instinctively knew it was their ultimate destination. Initially, nobody had any direction nor did they know where the Ancient Burial Ground ruin was located. But at that moment, the lights in the distance became a beacon for all the martial artists, sects and ns in the valley! "[Reptilian] There!" "[Reptilian] Kill with your might! The Ancient Burial Ground ruin is right ahead!" Although there was the guise of the night as well as the thick milky fog and nobody from Azure Myst Sect could see what was going on far away, they could hear faint shoutsing from their sides. They were not the only ones; Crystal Pce Sect, Malefic Demons n and the other martial artists of all the other factions that entered the valley were being attacked by the beast tide. Still, there was one lingering thought that kept Aiden from rxing and instead kept him in a constant state of unease: There were still absolutely no signs of the High Priest''s group anywhere! Seemingly oblivious of this same thought, Tai Liu dered with a joyful expression. "[Reptilian] Everyone, hang on tight! The Ancient Burial Ground ruins are right ahead! As long as we can reach it, we''ll be safe!" All the ancient sect ruins possessed immense defensive power and remnant beasts did not dare to enter at all. Right now, there were only four to five dozen people left in Azure Myst Sect and they were all exhausted. Less than half of their original force has survived to this point! However, they were invigorated upon hearing Tai Liu''s words and their stamina seemed to have magically recovered. Only Aiden''s expression was still heavy and did not feel much joy at all. Something was amiss. The beast tide before them was formed with ancient remnant beasts. There must be traces of pure-blooded ancient beasts behind them! How else would such an orderly ancient remnant beast stampede be formed without the intimidation of pure-blooded ancient beasts at the back? "ROAAAAR!" As if answering his line of thinking, suddenly at the base of the Elixir Pool Sect ruins mountain range, a shuddering roar resounded, causing the entire beast tide to pause for a moment! A gigantic demonic-looking beast appeared at the back of the beast stampede. Filled with pitch-ck fur, it resembled a demon hound from the abyss. With the mighty ground shaking roar it opened its mouth and spat out mes for hundreds of yards before itself, incinerating everything in its path and burning countless martial artists into ashes! Everyone was shocked. "[Reptilian] W-what is that?!" "[Reptilian] It must be the king of this valley!" The group remarked with fearful expression as they gazed at the humongous giant in the distance. p Aiden narrowed his gaze and remarked slowly. Even the elderly uncle nodded and revealed a heavy, exceptionally grim expression. "[Reptilian] It is a peak stage Martial Grandmaster Rank Ancient Beast. Just at the brink of breaking into the Quasi-Demi Rank. Quasi-Demi Rank. It was a state of power that signified that the entity, be it beast or not, have finally reached a state of being that was above the state of what mortals were supposed to achieve. Yet, he was not baptized with any divine power, nor did he germinate a divine seed inside his core, and as such could not evolve to be a heavenly beast, or start its cultivation journey in the Divine Realm. Still, it was not an existence that any other being could question, or stand up to in the mortal worlds. A pure-blooded ferocious beast had appeared! "[Reptilian] Hmmpf! So what if it''s a pure-blooded ferocious beast? It''s just one! If we join forces, we''ll definitely be able to kill it!" Far away in the fog, the voice of Dark Lord Yang Zahn from the Malefic Demons n sounded, filled with killing intent. "[Reptilian] Oh? Could it be that the Mighty Dark Lord himself, is asking for help? From us filthy peasants?" Another voice came from the distance. Pei Syriac, couldn''t miss this chance to throw in a jab. Even at a moment like this. 802 Chapter 802 Putting an end to the sudden quarrel of the two top factions'' leaders, a high pitched shrill shook the valley originating from the foot of the mountain. ''Hmm? This sounded not like a beast but instead'' Aiden''s expression changed as he frowned. "[Reptilian] Could it be" *Waaaah!* The next moment, the high-pitched strangely human-sounding voice turned shrill once more and piercing. Many of the weaker martial artists could not handle it and groaned as they clutched their ears, bending over. The figure of a terrifying-looking beast appeared under the illumination near the Ancient Burial Ground ruins. It had nine heads, it resembled a hydra as it opened its mouths and cried like infants. "T-that That''s a Nine-Headed Hydra! That''s That''s impossible, they are long since gone extinct!" The Elderly Uncle of the Azure Myst Sect eximed with a shocked expression. *Pssst!* *Hiss!* Before the cries of the disturbingly human-like shrill cry could subside, a series of strange sounds came from the other side, resembling the hissings of a snake. However, the sound was really loud. Looking over subconsciously, everyone was shocked and took a deep breath of cold air! There was truly a snake beneath the mountain range! It wasn''t an average, run-of-the-mills snake either. It was humongous! The gigantic snake coiled up from the ground and stretched its upper body, revealing a height over a thousand feet tall and scales the size of a basin! The snake''s head could almost reach the top of the sky as it looked down at everyone with cold and vicious eyes, twisting the clouds with every breath! *Swoosh!* An evil gust of wind blew by and the gigantic snake swayed its forked tail that looked like a pair of hooks. They glistened coldly and emitted a foul smell C it was obvious that they were highly poisonous, coated in lethal toxins. The long tail swept across the ground and the hooks at its tip pierced the bodies of nearly a hundred figures, causing blood to flood. Many of those martial artists reacted quickly and managed to activate their respective defensive artifacts first. Some relied on their sects and ns'' insignias whilst others used strange talismans that they kept on their bodies, -around their necks or hanging in their ears-, at all times. However, the magical protection these undoubtedly high priced and precious artifacts were able to provide were like thin paper against the hooks of the gigantic snake and could not even withstand a single casual blow! Many of the caught up figures hung on the hooks with blood dripping down in a ghastly sight. They struggled and yelled as they were slowly sent into the mouth of the gigantic snake. With a squirm of its throat, the gigantic snake swallowed almost a hundred powerful figures in one big gulp! "[Reptilian] That''s another pure-blooded peak Martial Grandmaster-stage ancient beast The Thick Scale Serpent!" Now, even Aiden''s expression was turning slightly grim. The current situation was obvious. If they wanted to get to the Ancient Burial Ground ruins, they would not only have to fight a way out from the beast stampede, but get through the defenses of the pair of pure-blooded ferocious beasts as well! Furthermore, all of the pure-blooded ferocious beasts they were gazing at were clearly at peak Martial Grandmaster realm with only just an opportunity away from breaking through to the Quasi-Demi rank and had terrifying strength; this was far beyond what Aiden had expected. It would be difficult if he wanted to kill all of the pure-blooded ferocious beasts given his current strength. Well, that is, if he wanted to retain his current form. If he were to shed it away and assume his Ancient Draconic default appearance allowing his [Draconic Heritage] to run full course for once, Aiden would be an extremely powerful existence that was even more terrifying than the pure-blooded ferocious beasts! *Screech!* All of a sudden! A high-pitched cry pierced through from far above at the horizon. A massive bird soared through the skies with its golden body that was extremely piercing in the night. It was like the bright sun that many of these underworld dwellers have never even seen. The creature had two horns on its head and spread its hundred feet wide wings, looking down with a sharp gaze. With a swoop, the bird opened its sharp ws and tore two martial master stage fighters apart, sttering their meat and blood everywhere! All the martial artists who entered the fog infested valley werepletely defenseless against the pure-blooded ferocious beasts! After killing dozens of martial artists, the horned golden-feathered bird screeched again, looking excited with its cruel gaze. "[Reptilian] Oh my what is that?!" "[Reptilian] C-Could that be another pure-blooded ferocious beast?" A pair of Azure Myst Sect cultivators asked with a trembling voice. The Elderly Uncle standing beside Tai Liu nodded and gulped. "That should be the legendary Devil Bird, one of the ancient pure-blooded ferocious beasts. It''s said that its golden feathers are a feature of the oldest known bloodline of this world The Golden Roc! It is said that it''s blood flows within it!" Tai Liu took a deep breath topose herself and said slowly with a somber tone. "[Reptilian] That''s the third pure-blooded ferocious beast." The Elderly Uncle whispered into her ears. "[Reptilian] Young Master, please retreat! Even if I have to give up my life, I''ll make sure you get to escape!" Previously, the old man did not waver even against the beast tide formed by the ancient remnant beasts. However, upon seeing the three pure-blooded ferocious beasts, he finally had the intention to retreat. Nobody in their group was a match for the pure-blooded ferocious beasts. Even if they could break free from the obstructions of the pure-blooded ferocious beasts, it would be a miracle if even a fraction of their current surviving numbers could survive! Tai Liu looked hesitant and turned towards Aiden instinctively. Sighing, the old manmented internally at this. "[Reptilian] Although thatd''s methods are sharp and powerful, he isn''t a match for the pure-blooded ferocious beasts still. At least not for that many at the same time." At that thought, he urged again. "[Reptilian] Young Master, we have a chance to escape now that the pure-blooded ferocious beasts haven''t turned their attention towards us yet. If" *Dong!* *Dong!* *Dong!* Before he could finish, the old man was interrupted by a series of dull sounds. It was mighty and strong, as if someone was beating the heavenly drums! The next moment, a gigantic silver-furred ape leaped out from behind the mountain range. Over a hundred feet tall, its massive red feet stomped heavily on the ground, giving off deafening bangs and shaking the ground itself. The ground was torn asunder and revealed a series of dark ravines! Rearing its head and roaring, the gigantic ape drummed against its chest with its fists, giving off the dull sounds. Right after, its gaze turned straight towards the group from Azure Myst Sect, baring its fangs in a bloodthirsty manner! "[Reptilian] Oh no" The elderly uncle was rmed. It was probably toote even if they wanted to retreat now. They had already been targeted by a pure-blooded ferocious beast! This was the fourth pure-blooded ferocious beast that appeared one after another! "Roar!" The gigantic silver-furred zing crimson-foot gori roared in the direction of Azure Myst Sect and suddenly extended a massive palm, smashing the mountain range near it. Instantly, the mountains copsed and the earth cracked! Everyone was dumbstruck. That was the power of a pure-blooded ferocious beast! It could crush mountains and split the earth, swallowing rivers with its mighty strength! Hugging a gigantic mountain top with both arms, the gigantic silver-furred zing crimson-foot gori flung it towards the area where Azure Myst Sect was! Although the mountain top did not seem huge against the massive figure of the gigantic ape, it seemed to cover the skies as it was thrown over. That was no mountain top it was an entire mountain! Everyone merely felt their vision turn dark as the gigantic mountain crashed down towards them with a mighty aura, filling the skies with debris! Even ancient remnant beasts would turn into sludge if they were crushed by that mountain. "[Reptilian] Hurry and run! Run for your life!" Unable to withstand the pressure, someone shrieked and turned to run, wanting to get out of the radius of the mountain before itnded. Tai Liu wanted to retreat but she realized that Aiden was rooted on the spot, looking at the descending mountain with a raised head as though he was scared stiff. "[Reptilian] Hurry up! Let''s go Aiden!" Feeling her heart clench, Tai Liu hurriedly advanced and grabbed Aiden by the arm, wanting to drag thetter away. Suddenly! *RAAAAAWR!" Aiden let out a loud, bestial roar and the sound of a thunderstrike roared from within his body. Tai Liu froze in her tracks and her expression changed slightly. Channeling his [Soul Power], Aiden stomped on the ground heavily before leaping up, weing the descending mountain with both arms! 803 Chapter 803 *RAAAAAWR!* Aiden let out a loud, bestial roar and the sound of a thunderstrike roared from within his body. Tai Liu froze in her tracks and her expression changed slightly. Channeling his [Soul Power], Aiden stomped on the ground heavily before leaping up, weing the descending mountain with both arms! *BOOM!* When Aiden''s hands met the bottom of the mountain, gravel flew everywhere with a deafening sound. His robes were immediately torn, revealing a pair of muscr arms with swelling muscles that intertwined like liquid steel! A fierce wind blew by and around him, forming a visible whirlwind acting as a sort of supernatural aura. His muscles turned swollen and his tendons were like a bowstring! This was the limit of Aiden''s strength without assuming his true, ancient draconic form! The mountain was still descending. Against the descending mountain, Aiden seemed iparably small. In fact, he wasn''t even asrge as the spilling gravel and lookedughable, like an ant trying to shake an ancient tree! However, the mountain was stopped just as it was about tond on the ground! An upright figure stood between the mountain and the ground, straight as a pencil with unbuckling knees and a fervent, golden glowing gaze, holding up an entire mountain with his supreme god strength! Notwithstanding the many Azure Myst Sect disciples, even the gigantic silver-furred gori who was watching from afar was dumbfounded, as if it could not understand what was happening. "[Reptilian] Haaaah!" Taking a deep breath of air, Aiden channeled strength into his arms and lifted the mountain above his head, flinging it back in the opposite direction! Along its way, the mountain sttered many ancient remnant beasts and an empty path appeared in front of them! The momentum of the mountain did not stop as it continued charging towards the silver-furred ape. The gigantic silver furred ape had a violent temperament and was easily enraged. *Roar!* Upon seeing that, it was furious as it stared with its bloodshot eyes. Panting out streams of steam, it pounded dully against its chest repeatedly. The ant before it had not only stopped its attack but was even retaliating. That was aplete provocation of its dignity! Gripping its humongous fists tightly, the primordial ferocious beast punched violently towards the iing mountain, as if it was trying to quell the anger in its heart. *Boom!* A deafening boom reverberated through every corner of the valley. The mountain was smashed into pieces by the silver-furred zing crimson-foot gori''s fists, turning into huge rocks that fell from the sky as dust billowed. Everyone was scared out of their wits as they opened their mouths with shocked expressions. That power had exceeded everything they ever knew! It was far above what mortals should be able to achieve! The only people capable of fighting against the pure-blooded ferocious beasts like these that were at the peak of the world were probably only the simr peak stage Martial Grandmaster realm powerhouses! The mountain exploded and gravel flew everywhere. The dust was too thick and coupled with the cover of the night fog, nobody saw that the gigantic silver-furred ape had to stagger backwards a few steps even though it managed to crush the mountain! The flesh on its gigantic fists had split open with fresh blood flowing! It was injured! The scarlet blood triggered the beast ferocity entirely! *RAAAWRGH!* Roaring into the skies, the silver-furred ape charged in the direction of the gray robed ant where the Azure Myst Sect was located before the dust and smoke had even cleared. Deep pits were formed as it stomped on the ground with its massive feet, creating spiderweb-like cracks in its wake. The ground shook and the mountains trembled as it charged towards its hateful opponent. Naturally, there was no way that Aiden thought a mountain was enough to injure such a fearsome, ancient ferocious beast severely. "[Reptilian] If you guys find an opportunityter, rush forward with all you''ve got and don''t turn back no matter what!" Without turning around, he instructed Tai Liu before taking a deep breath and charging forward with his Rygintarth, ready for a massive battle against the iing titanic beast. He did not expect to kill the ancient ferocious beast, but at the very least, he wanted to divert the silver furred ape''s attention to allow the rest of the Azure Myst Sect disciples as well as his captains to run through its obstruction. Right then, Aiden suddenly felt something arching his arm gently. He turned over and was slightly stunned. Before he knew it, despite his warning, his captains had run to his side, each standing firm with a resolute gaze as they stared at the certain death rushing at fervent speed and blood crazed eyes. At that moment, Captain Dragha had hisrge hand over his shoulder as it gently tapped it in a brotherly, reassuring manner. It blinked its ck eyes with a flicker of anticipation. Looking around, all the rest of his team were giving him a simr nod; they were ready to give their lives for their masters and would not take no for an answer. Suddenly, Aiden''s heart skipped a beat as he recalled how much these band of misfits have changed and grown since their first time meeting. From the initial distrust to growing into brothers and sisters siblings in arms. They were truly a family! "[Reptlian] You''re thinking of" Pointing at the gigantic silver furred ape that was rushing over from afar, Aiden raised his brow slightly and did not continue. "[Reptilian] Hmm. One family. One fate." The saurian captain nodded and smiled. Hearing this, Aiden was secretly shocked. He could hardly believe this group, that roughly a month ago didn''t even know about his existence were now willing to give their lives up for this newfound family! "[Reptilian] Be careful guys" He sighed in the end, not sure what to say for the first time. At that moment, there were still ancient remnant beasts charging at them and tearing at their formation. The group from Azure Myst Sect huddled together, defending with all their might. In front of them, the mighty silver furred ape was already far from the Ancient Burial Ground ruins and had entered the night fog, disappearing from everyone''s vision. The only thing they saw was a pair of bloodshot eyes that resemblednterns floating in the dark approaching rapidly! The heavy footsteps were getting closer as well. Each time it sounded, everyone felt their hearts skip along with it! Tai Liu tried her best to open her eyes and look forward. She could seemingly make out a musky and mighty silhouette in the hazy night. It was the pure-blooded ferocious beast, the silver-furred gori! Taking a deep breath of air, a resolute glint flickered through the elderly uncle''s eyes as he whipped out an ornate golden sword from his storage bag, ready to strike. Aiden''s expression was calm and his gaze was like water without any ripples at all. All of a sudden! Mustering all the power in his fiber, as well as his internal spiritual energy as well further fueled by the overflowing love he felting his way from his family, his captains the chains shackling his soul was once again temporarily loosened. The primordial, mysterious entity residing deep inside, the endless depths of his soul space opened its massive golden eyes and smiled. "Finally" It''s guttural, grating voice echoed in the endless void as it gazed towards the distance Aiden''s figure began to glow as a strange, unexpected golden hue began to cover his entire being. He, either not aware of what was happening, or was unconsciously utilizing this unexpected power up to its fullest, suddenly bent his knees and in the next moment stomped on the ground. The ground caved under the unexpected pressure forming a massive pit as well as a series of spiderweb cracks on the rocky terrain whilst the young, half-naked figure of Aiden exploded and skyrocketed towards the humongous palm that wasing his way. Rygintarth glimmered with its unholy, eerie ebony glow, distorting the space whilst it draw a beautiful upwards arc, meeting the pure-blooded ancient ferocious beast''s attack. A gigantic shockwave exploded from their sh, covering the skies for thousands of yards around them. "GRAWR!" The silver furred ape seemed to have been the one to have suffered from their initial sh as it shrieked heartbreakingly while itsntern bloodshot eyes shook repeatedly in midair. All of a sudden, a booming voice reverberated amongst the Azure Myst Sect''s group of disciples. "[Reptilian] Charge!"Aiden hollered still in mid-air. "[Reptilian] Now?" Confused, Tai Liu was stunned. "[Reptilian] Yes! Move it! NOW!" Captain Dragha, sensing the situation from the shared connection, reacted first and rushed back to the young miss and grabbed her hands whilst eximing. Wielding Rygintarth, Aiden sliced up two ancient remnant beasts in the meantime that pounced at them, while the saurian captain pulled Tai Liu with his left hand. Whilst he could not know how strong his Young Master actually was, he felt that at this point and whether it could really kill the silver furred ape. With that, he could finally achieve a massive power up! 804 Chapter 804 As if it had gone mad, the silver furred ape howled insanely and had clearly descended into a frenzied state. A dark, vermilion fountain gushed from a deep gashing wound at the center of its gigantic left hand. The ce where Aiden''s ebony de, Rygintarth have struck it! In the night fog, nobody from Azure Myst Sect could see what was happening to the silver furred ape. They could only make out the vague silhouette of the giant and the tiny ant-like man when they shed against one another. After that, the flowing waterfall of blood gave a vague, but at the same time, unbelievable thought to the small Draconic Skinks. The ebony de shined with a cold shimmer in the night. *sh!* There was a crisp sound. After emitting a stream of blood, one of the bloodshot eyes turned dark. *Plop!* The onlooking disciples and various martial artists gasped in shock. Though they were not sure, from the sudden sh that they could only vaguely sense and the subsequent slushing sound, they were horrified about their vague guess of what could have happened. In the next moment however their dreadful thought was confirmed. "AAAAARGH! AW! AW! AAAARGH!" Yelping in immense pain, the gigantic silver furred ape screamed as it barged forward crazily. Some ancient remnant beasts that could not dodge in time were rammed to death on the spot while some others were trampled into meat sludge tragically without any corpse left behind! With one of the leaders of the ancient beast tide severely wounded, the ancient beasts were dispersing! Although everyone else could not see clearly against the night fog, Aiden, as well as his captains could. In that short while, the silver furred ape had already gained dozens more wounds on its body that were so deep its bones could be seen. Its flesh was torn and its shining silvery fur was already stained with fresh blood. The pure blooded ancient beast grabbed for its vile tormentor that was now floating in mid-air before him, ready to smash him to the ground! However before it could reach for him, the gray robed man''s figure blurred and faded once more, escaping from the gigantic clutches once again. A couple dozen yards away just behind his opponent, Aiden emerged once more. *SLASH!* He struck down once more, shing down with Rygintarth diagonally drawing a clear line of scarlet at therge back of the beast. "GRAWR!" The gigantic silver furred ape had never suffered such injuries before and roared furiously as it grabbed for Aiden ready to smash him to the ground once again! This time, fueled by its unquenched, endless rage, the beast''s speed suddenly skyrocketed! Even Aiden, could only see a blurry silhouette as it reached for him! If that smash was realized, Aiden would definitely suffer even with his physique! Suddenly two pairs of golden gemstones shined brightly. A trace of red began to seep into its center slowly from its edges. *STAB!* In mid-air, a ck shadow darted by. It was Rygintarth, Aiden''s artifact sword and partner in crime, piercing through the silver furred gori''s arm. In that instant, blood gushed out in a stream and one of the silver furred gori''s arm was crippled on the spot! It fell limply to the side and the gigantic ancient beast''s strength decreased. After evading to the right, Aiden fixed his stance in mid-air and red at the silver furred ape coldly while licking its lips. Seeing this, Aiden''s captains heaved a sigh of relief. In that short while, the silver furred ape, that was supposed to be impossible to beat had already an arm and there were dozens of wounds on its body that bled non-stop. It panted heavily. Whilst it initially blood would have been the trigger that fueled his increasing ferocity, but now, it was clear that the pure-blooded ferocious ancient beast was showing an unexpected emotion: The silver furred ape was afraid! It was way too severely injured! Ever since it was born, it had never experienced such serious injuries. It was supposed to be the ruler of this world he could already taste the next realm of existence! What was happening to it, was simply too much for the ancient beast to process. The silver furred ape sensed a hint of death. Looking at that gray robed figure that was countless times weaker than it close in, the silver furred ape felt an inexplicable sense of fear well in its heart while shattering his guts! That fear seemed to originate from the depths of its bloodline, from deep in the memories of its lineage. As if recalling something, the silver furred ape shuddered. Itsrge eyes was filled with fear as it turned around and decisively fled without hesitation. Aiden shook his head secretly upon seeing that, frowning at this scene. He wasn''t happy about his victory at all. He couldn''t deal a decisive blow, and merely caused the beast to escape to a direction it would not be wise to follow. The silver furred beast was escaping towards the rest of the other leaders of its kind whom were still in their own battles against the rest of the martial artist sects and ns. He could only watch and give up his thoughts of iming such an incredible walking mountain of ancient vital essence! It was too regrettable! With a sigh, he turned around and led the Azure Myst Sect group ahead, sprinting in the direction of the Ancient Burial Ground ruins. The beast tide had dispersed, leaving only a couple of scattered ancient remnant beasts that no longer posed much of a threat. As their leader, the silver furred ape fled, the path ahead was clear. On the other side, there were three other pure-blooded ferocious beasts that were keeping the Crystal Pce Sect, Malefic Demons n and all the other rted parties outside. The Azure Myst Sect was the first to arrive at the Ancient Burial Ground ruins! Apart from Aiden who could still stand, Tai Liu and the rest were slumped on the ground, drenched in sweat. Their faces were pale as they panted heavily. Everyone felt deeply exhausted after the journey! The exhaustion came not only from the body, but also from the spirit. The pressure of advancing at the boundaries of death where death was imminent was enough to make everyone feel exhausted! Thankfully, they survived. Even if they lost many of their brethren, at that moment they were d to be alive themselves. They rushed out of the encirclement of the Ancient Demonic Flies, broke free of the Ancient Drill Wyrms pursuit, paved out a path from the beast tide and arrived at the Ancient Burial Ground ruins against the obstruction of the terrifyingly powerful pure-blooded ferocious beasts. Everyone felt surreal. Theyughed to ease their tense hearts. It was an indescribable joy that came from surviving a cmity. Everyone revealed a hint of gratitude and reverence in their eyes as they gazed at the only figure that could remain standing among the crowd. If not for that mysterious young man, they would have died a long time ago. Even the elderly uncle could not deny that he had underestimated this young man, Aiden still. When he saw the ancient remnant beast tide, the old man had expected that the best oue was if 10% of their original force of disciples managed to survive. Later, when he saw the pure-blooded ferocious beasts blocking the way, he already had the intention to retreat. He truly hadn''t expected that more than two-fifths of their Azure Myst Sect martial artists would have managed to arrive at the Ancient Burial Ground ruins alive under Aiden''s lead! Tai Liu raised her head slightly and looked at Aiden''s back view with a dazed expression. She could not understand just who this young man was Where did hee from to be this impossibly strong and powerful? Suddenly, she was filled with immense curiosity towards this mysterious young man. Like her, many others were confused by the recent events. They could not understand what had happened. Some of the Azure Myst Sect disciples discussed softly as they consumed elixirs to recover their strength. After resting for a short while, Tai Liu stood up and pped, dering. "[Reptilian] Everyone, now is not the time to rest. Let''s check out what treasures the Ancient Burial Ground has!" "[Reptilian] Alright!" Everyone replied. The disciples supported one another and stood up, entering Azure Myst Sect under Tai Liu''s lead. Despite the passage of time, many of Ancient Burial Ground were incredibly astounding and nothing what a normal burial ce should be like. It was like a gigantic city, hidden away from prying eyes in this valley. Several pces and buildings remained intact to this day surviving the erosion of time. Taking a deep breath, suddenly Aiden felt a familiar sensation he had not felt for the longest time He felt the air was filled with rich [Soul Power] energy and not just simple Mana! This ce This ce was actually an inheritance ground for his people, the Primals? 805 Chapter 805 Looking around the Ancient Burial Ground that resembled more of a deserted city ruins than that of a spiritual site to honor the heroes of the olden eras, as well as to pay your respects to one''s ancestors, thergest structure was arge ziggurat not too far from the group''s current location. Therge ziggurat was covered with dust and moss at its sizes, but besides that, the structure seemed mostly intact and without any obvious wear and tear of the dredges of time. Surprisingly it seemed to withstood all that corrosion throughout those countless years and possibly, several centuries even. After a short rest the group made their way towards thergest building and in no time, they stood right before it, its beauty especially striking in the ruins with its majesty and height of over a hundred feet. Surprisingly, even from afar, everyone could still smell a faint medicinal fragrance, making the group of cultivators go beyond excited in a second! Every single treasure in this ziggurat seemed to be exactly the list of items that the Azure Myst Sect desperately needed! If the olden'' ancient recipes like the Mortal Breakthrough Elixir was preserved, it could only be in a single ce thergest, most precious hall of them all, the one that was right before them! With excitement shining in the many disciples'' eyes they were speeding towards therge ziggurat, everyone arrived at its entrance before long. Tai Liu raised her brow slightly as she gazed at the pce before her. It was shrouded with a mysterious light that contained faint blurry glowing, glimmering words; a seal was still existent! Reaching out, Tai Liu touched the door of the hall gently. The moment her palm reached the surface, it was repelled by the power of the seal. She was not allowed to enter! This was a little tricky. Frowning, she started thinking of a strategy. A disciple came forth and said. "[Reptilian] Young Master, can''t we join forces to dispel the seal on the surface of this hall?" "[Reptilian] This seal has existed for countless years without being destroyed. How could it be dispelled so easily?" Pondering for a moment, the elderly uncle guardian said slowly. "[Reptilian] Legend has it that there was the Golden Refinement Hall once in the Ancient Burial Ground''s ce which was the most important inheritance ground. Other than the god''s selected champions, our world''s heroes, nobody can enter easily! By the looks of it, that legend should be true." "But that was back in the ancient era. Since then countless years have passed and the gods have long since left us. How could there be any heroes be left or born in this world?" A disciple shook his head growing anxious at the story. Right then, Madam Dara walked out slowly from the crowd with dazed expression, as if she was lost in thought, and walked slowly towards the glowing seal before the building. Her chest shone with a mysterious brilliance. As she approached the hall, the brilliance intensified and turned dazzling, almost enveloping Madam Dara''s figure entirely! "[Reptilian] This is" The group of disciples were dumbfounded at this. What was going on? Sensing something through their connection, Aiden did not speak a word, nor did he try to stop her closest aide''s advance and instead stood at the side watching the scene with a gentle smile on his face. Back in Ugburg City, he had already noticed that she was acting somewhat strange, restless. As if she was feeling something, some call from deeper inside her soul from time to time. After entering the Fog Infested Valley, his conjecture was further verified. Upon arriving here, Aiden couldpletely confirm that she had a strange, unknown connection to this Ancient Burial Ground ruins! Though he could sense some of his race, the Primal''s traces in the ruins, Aiden still wasn''t sure if this ce was really one of the hidden sites left behind by his father. For one, though he could sense the vague traces of [Soul Power] in the air, it was so thin, so weak that besides making the group of Draconic Skinks slightly nauseous, it did not cause any other ill effect on them. Completely different from how it was back in the Tower back at the Orc Camp. Second, the system did not give him any alerts, nor did any popup for a new quest or an updatee up until now. If anything, it might have been that the ancient people of this world were perhaps somewhat simr to his people, either by terms of strength, power or bloodline Or there could be several other possibilities besides the supposedly peaceful Primals secretly being a race dominating an entire other world in the ancient times. Right in front of everyone, Madam Dara slowly walked towards the hall step by step, reaching out with her jade-like hand to touch the seal of the hall gently. To everyone''s surprise, she was not repelled by the seal! On the contrary, the mysterious emblems that revolved on the surface gathered towards Madam Dara continuously, as if they were attracted by something. Noticing that, it was the elderly uncle that realized what was going on first. "[Reptilian] T-this! The inheritance! She is being baptized and is receiving the Inheritance of this ce!" The old man eximed with a shocked face. All the Azure Myst Sect disciples present let out envious expressions when they heard that. In the world, elixirs and treasures were not the most precious things one could stumble upon and find. The true opportunities came from obtaining the inheritance of ancient mighty figures and sects from the old times! In truth, the Metal Tree Groove was one such ce as well. In certain top sects and ns, the true secret skills were not preserved in the form of cloth, stone slips or manuals, just in case they were leaked to outsiders. There was a possibility that the Golden Refinement Hall before them contained many elixir recipes of the ancient era. However, the true secrets of Ancient Burial Ground must definitely be within that Mysterious Inheritance before them! In other words, Madam Dara, one of Aiden''s captains, was the only one that obtained the true secrets of Ancient Burial Ground! "[Reptilian] Why is it her?" Someone could not help but ask. Tai Liu replied, "Miss Dara must be rted to the people of this ce. Maybe she has traces of their blood and bloodline in her body. The Golden Refinement Hall Master that this ce belonged to must have been an old hero of this world selected by the Gods themselves!" Stroking his long beard, the elderly uncle said with great gratification. "[Reptilian] There''s a chance for our sect to restore the former glory of the Azure Myst Sect after this girl obtains its inheritance and joins our sect!" Hearing this, instead of being offended, Aiden felt truly relieved as well. Initially, the reason why these people took in his people and protected them was only because they wanted to rope him in for his strength. They had no intention of taking in any of their members as one of their own. They were merely guests and acquaintances. He was worried that once their deal waspleted, they would no longer protect his people, nor could he rope them in and gain their loyaltyter on. But now, that worry waspletely unfounded. After obtaining Ancient Burial Ground''s inheritance, if Madam Dara were to cultivate diligently after joining Azure Myst Sect coupled with the help of the mysterious Inheritance''s knowledge and techniques, she would definitely turn out to be a top-tier powerful martial artist with unlimited potential in the future! Tai Liu came to Aiden''s side and whispered. "[Reptilian] Don''t worry Aiden, after returning to the sect, I''ll definitely take Miss Dara to the sect master along with the elderly uncle to report about this matter. Our sect master is a peak Martial Grandmaster, with high standards. Even until now, she has only epted one personal disciple." "[Reptilian] I''mpletely sure she will definitely take a liking to Miss Dara and take her under her wing." Aiden nodded at this. A peak Martial Grandmaster! Although it was still within the mortal realm, a peak Martial Grandmaster had boundless experience to share! She could only benefit from such a connection. Even more by gaining these people''s loyalty, they would only strengthen Haven, his world''s power further and allow the rest of the Lizardmen already present there to grow stronger as well. Aiden could even grant them a separate, new city, a Temple City for their kind so that they could finally return to their long lost roots! The sound of clothes tearing through the air sounded behind them. More and more disciples had broken through the blockade of the pure-blooded ferocious beast guardians and were speeding towards the Ancient Burial Ground ruins. "[Reptilian] Everyone, stand in formation and protect Dara!" Tai Liu ordered decisively. She did not hesitate even a second as she gave the firmmand this time around. 806 Chapter 806 "[Reptilian] Everyone, stand in formation and protect Dara!" Tai Liu ordered decisively. She did not hesitate even a second as she gave the firmmand this time around. The most important thing for them right now was to ensure that Dara, their prospective newest disciple obtained the Ancient Burial Ground''s inheritance without being interrupted. Regardless of whether those arriving were friends or foe, Azure Myst Sect would not allow a single mistake to happen in the inheritance process! This was of the utmost importance to them and each and every disciple understood this. Besides, they were not like thete Juno Hian. They had no ill intentions. Before long, around twenty figures rushed over, looking wretched and filled with wounds. They were from a sect they had a friendly rtions with, the Majestic Swan Sisterhood, the all female sect. Shocked, Aiden hurriedly patrolled the crowd. He only let out a sigh of relief after seeing that the masked figure -probably the leader they have met before the Corpse Poison Sect''s base ruins-, was fine as he walked over with Tai Liu. "[Reptilian]Sister Zhn, are you alright?" Tai Liu withdrew a few bottles of elixirs and handed them over. The female leader martial artist that hid her face behind a swan-figured mask, Fey Zhn looked listless and was covered with countless wounds. She thanked Tai Liu for the elixirs and hurriedly consumed them. Although she had elixirs as well, the effects of hers could notpare to those of Azure Myst Sect''s, who were masters of the Alchemy and Elixir Refinement. On the other side, the rest of her small sized group was also badly injured and their members looked even more pale. However, their expression was cold as ever and a slight warmth only flickered through her eyes upon seeing the gray robed young Draconic Skink man. Aiden also had some elixirs given to him by Tai Liu stored in his system''s inventory. Because of his special circumstances, he would never really use them, nor would he need them for his captains either. As such, he took them all out with a flick of his right hand and ced them all before the worn-down group of female martial artists. The young women smiled thankfully at this gracious offer. They did not stand on ceremony, knowing the severity of their wounds and epted the gifts. Fey Zhn consumed the elixirs offered and rested for a couple of moments before she noticed the group from Azure Myst Sect standing in front of therge, ceremonious ziggurat. Shocked, she eximed. "[Reptilian] Huh? There''s so many of you?!" "[Reptilian] What?" Tai Liu froze. Sighing, Fey Zhn chuckled bitterly. "[Reptilian] It''s already a blessing that we''re able to survive against the pure-blooded ferocious beasts outside guarding the entrance. There are only twenty-odd of our originally thousand strong group that are left. To think that you guys have so many of your disciples survive all those trials and tribtions outside! That''s incredible!" Tai Liu looked at Aiden without saying anything. If he hadn''t fought at the front for the entire journey, Azure Myst Sect would have been annihted long ago! Even she herself wouldn''t have been certain to escape! "[Reptilian] Ah thatwell, we got lucky" Fey Zhn sighed and said. "[Reptilian] Initially, the pure-blooded ferocious beast, that fearsome bird, blocked us and we couldn''t get away. Later on, it seemed like it was attacked by another group and couldn''t handle it. We only managed to get here by seizing that opportunity. Even then, there''s only these few of us left." Tai Liu smiled and with a troubled, wry look on her face nodded. "[Reptilian] Y-yeah Something simr happened to us as well. We saw the opportunity and we took it That was how we managed to get over here sessfully!" Taking a couple of minutes of rest, to recuperate their wounds and get some of their spent stamina back, the group of female martial artists slowly got up from the grounds. With a graceful smile on her face that though remained hidden behind her exquisitely shaped mask, Fey Zhn cupped her fists and bowed before Tai Liu and her group. "[Reptilian] Sister Liu, the Majestic Swan Sisterhood will not beying a hand on anything in this Golden Refinement Hall. We''ll head in and check out if there are any ancient artifacts or manuals that have been preserved to this day." "[Reptilian] Yes." Tai Liu nodded. The young girls of the Majestic Swan Sisterhood bid farewell to Aiden and the others. Soon, their group vanished in the distance and Tai Liu and her group was left alone once more. However, not for long Just as Fey Zhn''s group of female martial artists left, a few more figures sped over from the direction of the valley, each of them panting with lingering shock. There were familiar figures and uniforms amongst them. The Crystal Pce Sect and Malefic Demons n were among the approaching survivors. However, those two major factions had it even worse. Apart from Pei Syriac, the Crystal Pce Sect only had about eight people left and each of them were filled with injuries and had pale expressions. It was the same for Malevolent Earth Sect. Yet despite their ragged numbers, there were some unique figures amongst their group, that -like the elderly uncle that always stood beside Tai Liu, two elderly figures could be seen in their ranks. An elderly man in golden robes stood behind Pei Syriac. Although his hair was gray, his gaze was burning with dominance and his skin possessed a sparkling luster simr to a baby. On the side of Malefic Demons n, a skinny old man in ck robes followed closely behind Yang Zahn with a dark gaze resembling that of an undead, a ghoul. Even if they tried to hide it, Aiden could sense a superior power oozing from them. They were probably the ultimate,st resort trump cards of both powers, simr to the elderly uncle for the Azure Myst Sect. Pei Syriac and the others arrived at the vicinity of the Golden Refinement Hall and revealed shocked expressions when they swept their gazes across. So many of the Azure Myst Sect disciples had survived and made it all the way here! Although Crystal Pce Sect and Malefic Demons n coveted the treasures within the Golden Refinement Hall as well, they did not dare to force things given the number of people that Azure Myst Sect had. After a slight dy, the Crystal Pce Sect, the Malefic Demons n and some other itinerant martial artists that still lived on headed into the depths of the ruins. They have not said a word to each other and merely scoffed as they turned away. Aiden gazed at the cultivators of the sects leaving thoughtfully. A momentter, he patted Captain Dragha''s broad shoulder on the head and whispered to him. "[Reptilian] Stay here and guard your sister. I will go ahead and check out the depths of these ruins." "[Reptilian] Are you really going to fight with those for whatever lies at the end?" Tai Liu frowned when she noticed Aiden''s intention of heading into the ruins. "Miss Dara is still receiving the inheritance here and in order to prevent any idents, we can''t leave. If you head in alone, you don''t stand a chance against all the elites of those major sects." "[Reptilian] Regardless of that, there is something I need to do inside." Aiden replied with conviction and a resolute gaze. Initially, he wanted to head into the depths of the ruins with everyone after Dara received the inheritance. However, by the looks of things now, Dara wouldn''t be able toplete the inheritance process within a short period of time. Yet, Crystal Pce Sect, Malefic Demons n and other sects have already ventured into the depths of the ruins not to mention the still missing High Priest and his army of zealots and priests Aiden could not wait any longer. "[Reptilian] You have to be careful. Those old men with them... They are dangerous. Don''t force yourself if the situation doesn''t look good." Tai Liu said, "I reckon that Miss Dara will definitely inherit some great ancient, long lost recipes from this mysterious inheritance. There is no need for rushing things... You will get your chance to get your hands on whatever your heart desires." "[Reptilian] Uhm. Protect her, please." Aiden smiled as he nodded at her words, before his figure suddenly turned into a hazy blur and vanished from his spot. His blurry grayish streak sped into the depths of the ruins in the next instant. Aiden had no idea whatid beyond the distance, the air didn''t grow heavier, nor could he sense anything, his attempts were blocked by the glyphs and runes still active in this whole ce. Yet, he had this vague inkling that he needed to go towards a direction, towards where the rest of those that arrived had gone. As he sped through the spacious hallways and empty, destroyed streets his ears twitched intently to pick up news from the surroundings. 807 Chapter 807 "[Reptilian] Here, everyone! To the east! There''s a locked storage here!" "[Reptilian] Ah, let''s hurry over!" "[Reptilian] We might find some treasures! Maybe even some spirit artifacts!" Vaguely, Aiden caught wind of some intermittent conversations. Speeding through the Ancient Burial Ground''s sacred paths, streets and roads he could even see a series of spirit lights shooting into the air from a certain area with many figures heading over. "Hmm... There''s no mistake Something is calling for us Or maybe someone" He muttered to himself. If someone would hear him, he would be shocked to hear him speaking the surface dwellers, the ''Bareskins'' long forgottennguage! In a sh, Aiden vanished from where he was. At the far eastern parts of the Ancient Burial Grounds, at the foot of the valley''s mountain range. From far away, several dark holes, cave entrances could be seen dotting the steep walls of the valley. The sharp, threatening ridges had countless smaller sized holes drilled into them. Small cave entrances each leading somewhere deep below the surface, hidden even from the underworld''s dwellers. Large majestic multicolored runes shone brightly before the foot of the mountain, barring passage to anyone even vaguely interested. Yet, this ''small'' little caveat didn''t seem to hold back the masses'' interest as more and more martial artists came looking for ways to get passed and be granted entry to what seemed to be one of - if not the - most important section of the entire Ancient Burial Grounds. However, contrary to what it seemed, the seals, the runes didn''t block all entries. Contrary to what people thought at first, it wasn''t one gigantic seal but countless smaller ones ced together acting as one cohesive and dynamic system of seals. In reality, the cave entrances were marked differently, ording to the importance and the potential treasures ced inside. For whatever reason, they were like the secure drawers inside the banks. Each drawer had its own lock, own ''seal''. From this, they could be categorized to grades based on the difficulty of their seals and -after a while of trials and errors and hours of searches and findingster- their contents somewhat reliably presumed. There were a few difficulties, a couple grades defined already. Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, and Grade 4. It was very obvious. The Grade 1 cave abodes were all not that difficult to unseal and they would usually contain the least interesting stuff, mostly lower-grade elixirs, potions and some medicinal pills in most cases. Grade 2 were somewhat harder, but still could be solved by the most talented and most powerful martial artists, usually by the core, senior disciples of the bigger sects as well as the direct descendants of the elders in the various present ns. These cave abodes mostly contained peak lower grade to middle grade elixirs, potions and pills. In addition to that, asionally some scrolls could be found lying around, containing either a piece of someone''s journal, an epitaph or perhaps a will. Nothing too interesting there sadly, or at least no techniques were found as of yet. As for Grade 3 cave abodes and above, for the 3 existing Grade 4 ones Nobody knew as even the couple senior elders hiding amongst the ranks of the most powerful factions and acting as bodyguards for those young masters could not remove the seals either. As for the three adorned and illustrious golden etched caves standing at the dead center of all the other ones, it wasn''t even a question. They had the most powerful seals! The sect disciples, leaders and n members, or the strong itinerant martial artists couldn''t even get close to them, much less attempt to do anything with their seals! Still, based on the previous two unlocked grades, the people present could somewhat guess the prospective contents of the Grade 3 ones, if they happened to finally find a way to get inside. Though there were merely around eight caves with such powerful seals ced on their entrances, they were probably the ones holding the most important, most precious items of them all! High grade pills, precious, peak mortal stage elixirs, potions and healing salves. Memoirs of the most powerful people could be found inside, maybe some even left behind their legacies, their most treasured skills, techniques or perhaps even full on inheritances for the prospective treasure hunter, the one fated to find the key to get inside! As such, what sort of Martial Artists, disciples and n members were these cave abodes meant for? Who were the one that were fated to gain entrance and be rich, impossibly so? No one knew, yet no one present was willing to give up the chance! Of course, despite knowing that they were repelled already, the many powerhouses that were gathered outside the cave abodes couldn''t watch helplessly. These seals were just too powerful for them. Even after countless years, the seals were still perfectly preserved. None of the martial artists present before the foot of the mountain could dispel the seal of the Grade 3 treasure cave abodes, let alone the Grade 4 treasure caves. At that moment, everyone''s gazes were fixed on one of the recently unsealed Grade 2 treasure cave abode. That was because it contained so far the only perfect state, medium grade elixirs to be found in any of the cave abodes to date. Not only that it was a vial of the mythical, legendary breakthrough elixir! A potion that no matter what stage, or what major realm you are at, could help you directly jump all the way to the next major realm! If you are a Martial Warrior, no matter if you have just broke into it and are just Rank 1, or perhaps closer to the peak and are standing proudly at Rank 9, by popping that cork open, and downing one such legendary honey-sweet bluish colored syrup-y nectar, your body would be filled with otherworldly, energy boosting you all the way up to the ranks of the respectable Martial Masters! Simrly, if you are a Martial Master, the contents of this one bottle could grand you the chance to stand proudly as this world''s strongest, and be a Martial Grandmaster and even gain the opportunity to directly form your own n or sect, create your own legacy for the future generations! As for Martial Grandmasters, this vial was still incredibly important as its clear, pure mana that was contained inside of it, could improve your chances and bring you just that much closer to that fabled Quasi-Divine Realm! What was even more unbelievable was that this boost didn''te with any caveat at all. There were no bacshes, negative effects at all! Well apart from being a one time only deal The potion did what it was meant to do, give you a one-time boost, best used if you have reached the very end of your potential and was just about to reach into a higher realm and with that gain some extra boost in your life span. As such, it wasn''t that hard to guess that the sudden appearance of one such godly elixir would make everyone''s interest be piqued! "[Realm] Everyone, no matter what, we have to first dispel the seal of the entrance." After a moment, Pei Syriac stood out and dered loudly. "[Reptilian] The sooner we dispel the seal, the sooner we can enter the cave abode and obtain the elixirs that we need. If we waste too much time here, more and more troublesome figures will arrive and we''ll all get less elixirs." "[Reptilian] Yeah, Brother Pei is right, let''s join forces to dispel the seal first!" "[Reptilian] I agree as well. As for the elixirs inside, everyone can fight for it after we enter the cave abode." All the people gathered have agreed. *BANG!* *BOOM!* *BANG!* Under Pei Syriac''smand, many martial artists summoned their weapons at the same time, striking repeatedly at the entrance of this one particr Grade 2 treasure cave abode. A series of lights appeared and shimmered continuously at the entrance, radiating brightly. As time passed by, the light gradually dimmed. "[Reptilian] The seal''s about to be dispelled! Everyone, let''s work harder!" The martial artists seeing that yelled excitedly. The present elders from both the Crystal Pce Sect and from the Malefic Demons n did not do anything, merely watching coldly from the sidelines. Though they were all the most powerful figures present, they were already old and their bodies were failing. As such, they would not do anything casually. At their age, each time they did something, it would be equivalent to shaving off thest bits of their precious remaining life''s essence. It was simr to old mortals in their nies. If they took care of their bodies, they could still live a couple years more. However, if they did anything overly vigorous, they would die before long. *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* Yet another series of explosions urred and cracking sounds echoed from the entrance. A momentter, the light barrier shattered! The seal was finally broken, the Grade 2 cave entrance was ready to be looted! 808 Chapter 808 As the seal fueling the barrier shattered and revealed the entrance to the Rank 2 treasure cave abode, the eyes of all the gathered martial artists lit up as they rushed forward at the same time, swarming towards the entrance. Although the cave abode was sealed for countless years, there was no rotten smell within it. Instead, it was filled with an invigorating medicinal scent! The masses charged forward and before long, their vision opened up in the depths of the cave. A gigantic bright bluish tinted pool resided at the end of the cave abode. Many crystalline bottles were floating on it, looking dense andpacted. Each of those precious bottles contained elixirs of varying kind. The reason why the elixirs were not rotten after thousands of years was because they were nourished by the strange liquid in the cave abode. The reason was simple: That liquid wasn''t an ordinary one It was a true Mana Pool! Clear words were etched on the surfaces of the crystal bottles. Countless elixirs of every kind for these martial artists were present: The Elusive Instant Spirit Restoration potion, that unlike the normal grade versions wouldn''t provide an instant boost to those battle-tanked Mana Reserves upon gulping it down The elusive Lesser Body Enhancement Salve that, as it name suggests would provide a slight improvement to one''s physique once it would be mixed into one''s bathwater. Or even the incredibly rare and hard to find Spirit Sensing Elixir that would -for a limited time- would provide a boost to one''s aptitude in sensing and absorbing the freely avable spirit particles in the air, thus providing a temporary boost to one''s cultivation session. The elixirs that everyone were familiar with were all avable. Some of the elixirs that had been lost to the world and would mostly only be found in the historical scrolls were also floating and preserved in the Mana Pool. In fact, there were even some elixirs that nobody heard of! However, none of this was important. Well, they were but not for the time being. Everyone''s eyes were fixed on the Mana Pool, searching for a particr elixir C the legendary Breakthrough Elixir! "[Reptilian] There! Over there!" Someone with a keen eye caught sight of a Breakthrough Elixir''s simplistic looking bottle and eximed excitedly. *SWASH!* *SWOSH!* *SWASH!* A series of figures bolted over, reaching out for the Breakthrough Elixir in the Mana Pool. "[Reptilian] Scram you pathetic filth!" Pei Syriac shouted and channeled his mana. In the next moment, crystal-like rays of light covered his skin! Punching in reverse, he ruptured the head of an itinerant martial artist beside him! Completely helpless to resist, a headless corpse fell from midair before the person could make a single sound. At the side, someone withdrew a bronze short sword and pierced towards Pei Syriac''s head without hesitation. His expression revealed prime murderous intent. Without dodging or retreating, Pei Syriac extended his palm and caught the bronze short sword in the middle of it! Shocking those present, his palm waspletely unharmed! Pei Syriac''s artifact weapon was a pair of gloves which unlike those that were present- was of a higher grade; he did not have to fear his opponent''s measly bronze short sword at all. "[Reptilian] Hmph, someone the likes of you with such weak strength had the audacity to wish to fight with me for the Breakthrough Elixir?! How presumptuous!" Laughing coldly, Pei Syriac exerted force with his palm and snapped the bronze short sword into two, pushing in reverse. It was a well known fact that the Crystal Pce sect martial artists possessed immense bodily strength and the snapped sword turned into a beam of light, piercing the other martial artist''s chest, spurting a stream of fresh blood. In the span of a few seconds, now another person was dead. Disying his might, Pei Syriac''s fists were like a pair of huge hammers and no one could stand in his way! Although some of the itinerant martial artists were at the peak Martial Warrior realm, or even crossed into the Martial Master realm as well, they were still no match for someone as talented as Pei Syriac. A single punch from him was enough to snap their tendons and bones, causing their bodies to explode! In the blink of an eye, Pei Syriac had killed almost all the opposing martial artists around him. He wasn''t the only asura in this makeshift, small and confined battlefield either. On the other side, Yang Zahn wielded a fearsome looking bone spear that was covered with blood. His expression was grim and he did not hold back at all, killing dozens of martial artists consecutively and staining the Mana Pool in a darker shade of green; the color of dozens of Draconic Skink''s freshly spilled blood. The two sessors of the two major sects, Malefic Demons n and the Crystal Pce Sect, stood right at the front of the Mana Pool and were on killing sprees C nobody dared to advance at all! The two of them exchanged nces and leaped at almost the same time, extending their arms to reach for the small crystal bottle containing the legendary vial, the Breakthrough Elixir. "[Reptilian] How dare you?!" "[Reptilian] "You have a death wish!" Pei Syriac''s eyes were filled with killing intent as his hands changed trajectory, grabbing towards Yang Zahn''s wrist. Although the Dark Lord Yang Zahn was the young demonic heir of the Malefic Demons n, he could notpare to Pei Syriac in terms of physique. If he was grabbed by Pei Syriac, that hand of his would be crippled for good! Left with no other choice, Yang Zahn retreated. His eyes shed with malice as he remarked coldly. "[Reptilian] If I can''t get my hands on it, you don''t have to dream about doing so either!" As he retreated, a mysterious spear tip popped out from Yang Zahn''s ribs. Filled with a thick malevolent aura, it shone brightly with spirit light and stabbed towards Pei Syriac''s open, greedy palm. Although Yang Zahn''s bone spear was not a too high grade artifact weapon, it was basked in malevolent aura day and night for dozens of years and its might could not be underestimated as well. The collision of the two mighty weapons, coupled with the strength of the both of them, caused a golden and ck burst of light to spread from the surface of the Mana Pool! *PIAK!* *PIAK!* *PIAK!* There was no way the delicate crystal bottles floating on the surface of the Mana Pool could withstand that amount of force as they shattered, spilling out countless elixirs that choked everyone with a rich medicinal aroma! Among the countless elixirs, there was a handful of Breakthrough Elixirs that were of excellent quality C almost all of them had four patterns and were at supreme-grade! "[Reptilian] Huh?" Almost at the same time, both of their gazesnded on one of the surviving vials still floating in the Mana Pool. Although that particr Breakthrough Elixir was obviously smaller than the others, it had an intricite, unique pattern made of silver ethereal thread on its surface! They immediately understood it. It wasn''t a normal Breakthrough Elixir but one of much rarer! Much more mythical, much more fabled and shrouded within history It was a perfect grade Breakthrough Elixir! Both of their gazes turned fiery and their breathings intensified. Given their potentials, such an elixir could boost them not just a single realm and grant them entry to the Grandmaster realm like they hoped No, it could even boost them even further, granting them ess to at least the mid stage -if not thete stage even- in one fell swoop! However, even better, if they were to be sessfull in quelling their desires and hold off on drinking it until they naturally stepped into the Grandmaster realm which, considering their talent and potential was just a matter of time, they could have a serious chance to push through that thick barrier of this world and be Quasi-Divine entities! Right now, apart from Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn, no one dared to close in to the vicinity of the Mana Pool. Pei Syriac had a serious expression as he said slowly. "[Reptilian] Yang Zahn, there''s only one of that vial present here. You had better not fight me for it!" "[Reptilian] Hehe." Yang Zahn revealed a strange smile. "[Reptilian] You want me to back off with just a few words of yours? Everything is dependent on our own capabilities. I''ll see for myself just how strong your fabled Crystal Pce Sect''s secret techniques are!" "[Reptilian] Alright, I''ll let you have a taste then!" Before his words were finished, Pei Syriac strode forward and sped towards Yang Zahn. Pei Syriac had a strong physique and specialized in meleebat, Yang Zahn would definitely lose if the former closed in! Naturally, Yang Zahn understood that as well as he flicked his wrist and channeled spirit energy furiously into the bone spear. In the blink of an eye, the bone spear broke into 11 pieces! The weapon was simr to the strange weapon Aiden had faced before outside Ugburg City when he was ambushed! 809 Chapter 809 Back then, outside the city limits, when he was ambushed by Loran Whron of the Crystal Pce Sect and the so-called assassin they sent from the Malefic Demons n, the one that called himself by the rather strange title ''The Left Hand'', Aiden had already seen this type of strange, but incredibly dangerous weapon. Made entirely of bones, the whole weapon had a sinister aura that, through some sort of strange art, could separate to small intricate parts and act separate from each other. However, there was a small, but at the same time, significant difference between the two weapons! It was that Yang Zahn''s bone spear had an additional piece! "[Reptilian] Go! Kill him!" Using Malefic Demons n''s defensive weapon technique, Yang Zahn controlled the eleven pieces of the bone spear that were shrouded with a ck sinister aura, surrounding Pei Syriac and blocking thetter''s path forward! Although Pei Syriac was strong, he only had a pair of fists. When he saw the 11 pieces piercing over, Pei Syriac quickly sent a sliver of his energy into his storage ring and withdrew a transparent, crystalline shield that rapidly expanded and blocked the space in front of him. *BANG!* A loud bang sounded when the 11 pieces struck his clearly artifact-level crystalline shield! Both of them had used their full strength. Pei Syriac staggered backwards and Yang Zahn''s 11 bone spear pieces were reflected. Instantly, a nk area appeared between them. *SWOOSH!* In that moment that the both of them fought head-on and retreated, a grayish blur, a figure sped over with lightning speed, leaving a series of illusory afterimages in midair. In a sh, that figure had already arrived above the Mana Pool, scooping the perfect Breakthrough Elixir into his palms with ease. The crowd was in an uproar. It was too fast! Even the spectating Martial Masters could not react in time, let alone Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn. Also, the timing of the person''s appearance was way too precise. It was during the exact moment of Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn''s sh where both parties were still recovering from their momentums. Just like that, the both of them watched as the perfect Breakthrough Elixir they desperately wished for was stolen by someone else! "[Reptilian] How dare you!" "[Reptilian] You must have a death wish!" Enraged, Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn''s eyes shone with killing intent that was about to spew out. The martial artists, be it sect- and n members or even the itinerary, lone wanderers watching were also curious as to who it was that dared to snatch food from two such fierce tigers'' mouths. Who could be that brazen, that arrogant, that brave? That action was equivalent to offending the two top powerful factions of the world, the Crystal Pce Sect and the Malefic Demons n! The strange hooded figure that arrivedter to steal the perfect Breakthrough Elixir paused momentarily and stood in the air without anything beneath his feet. Wearing raggedy gray robes, his expression was calm as he gazed at the vial in his hands with a contented smile under the shadow of his cover. A pair golden, glimmering, exotic eyes glowed under the darkness. "[Reptilian] That It''s him!" "[Reptilian] That bastard back from the battle on the streets a few weeks ago! The one that fought the church forces alone!" "[Reptilian] It''s him! It''s that Aiden!" A wave of shock and astonishment could be heard from the crowd. Pei Syriac''s expression darkened instantly as he put away his crystalline shield. A murderous aura gathered between his brows and he said slowly. "You little Khm, Aiden! I tried to be nice, I tried to be subtle But nothing seemed to get into your thick little skull! I couldn''t be bothered with you back in Ugburg City. Now! Now on the other hand since you wish to die today, you can''t me me!" "[Reptilian] Tsk, tsk, tsk! That''s not fair!" Yang Zahn''s gaze was ice-cold as he chuckled sinisterly. "[Reptilian] Hell has no gates to begin with, but you''re the one who chose to barge in! Even your shielding little b*tch, that Young Mistress that tries so hard to hide his true nature from the Azure Myst Sect won''t be able to save someone that''s hunted by both the Crystal Pce Sect and the Malefic Demons n! Aiden You will die today!" "[Reptilian] Huh?" Standing in the air, Aiden''s gaze was sharp as a knife as it lingered for a moment on Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn''s faces. A cold, ruthless golden glint glimmered from under the cover as he slowly threw back his head and removed the hood that for ever since shrouded the truth. As his youthful face was revealed to everyone present he suddenly burst outughing with absolute arrogance coloring his usually calm tone giving it a somewhat maniacal cackle. "[Reptilian] You two?! You two actually think you can injure me no, KILL ME with your level? You two, miserable little ants, really have the audacity to think that with those pathetic little squirming you have so far showcased, have any chance at all if I go serious for just once?" The various martial masters and hiding grandmasters in the cave abode were dumbfounded in shock. Back in the world, outside of the Fog Infested Valley as well as the Ancient Burial Ground ruins, the Crystal Pce sect and the Malefic Demons n were recognized by the masses as super factions and were renowned for their powerfulbat strengths. Their status and power was no joke, they were hailed as akin to gods, immortals walking on mortal soil! They were never to be offended! Aiden made a name for himself after the bloody battle on the long street. Later on he furthered his growing myth when he destroyed the Corpse Poison Sect faction in Ugburg City making his reputation skyrocketed even further. However, everyone still felt that this gray robed stranger, this Aiden was far inferiorpared to the true disciples groomed by super factions with impressive foundations such as the Crystal Pce Sect and the Malefic Demons n. Right after, Aiden''s next sentence caused an uproar! "Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn! The two of you worms have tried to kill me countless times already. Don''t think of leaving today, die!" Putting away the perfect Breakthrough Elixir, Aiden withdrew the ebony de, Rygintarth from his mark on his body with a simple thought. Flicking his wrist, the brilliant, dark sword appeared in the next instant and shone brightly with sinister, ominous dark light and buzzed. "[Reptilian] That guy This Aiden really doesn''t know what''s good for him." "[Reptilian] That''s right. One of them is the sessor of the Crystal Pce Sect and the other''s the dark lord of the Malefic Demons n. What does an unknown martial artist have to challenge those two strong powerhouses?" "[Reptilian] Pfft! He''s a frog in the well at the end of the day. He doesn''t even know about the elders of those two!" Many martial artists shook their heads and looked at Aiden like they were looking at a fool. To be honest, from a certain standpoint they were indeed right. Aiden did look like a fool to openly challenge these two heirs and offend them so easily, so carelessly. He seemed to be oblivious to the openly shared, and mostly well known ''secret'' of them: They had their sects and ns elders, who were Martial Grandmaster level beings hiding in their ranks protecting their young masters secretly. True, normally these elders wouldn''t simply attack. They were already old and in most cases only had ''fuel'' for onest ''hurrah'' before they would lose their lives. However, they would naturallye forth if the sessors of their sects were in danger. It was their sole responsibility, the very thing they have sworn up! That was the reason why even Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn did not dare to im that they could kill one another. If they were pushed to their limits and the old man hiding next to them were forced to act, both sides would suffer immense losses and neither would benefit. But now, with the elders watching, Aiden''s deration of killing Pei Syriac as well as Yang Zahn merely attracted mockingughs. The elder from the Crystal Pce Sect was a golden-robed old man. "[Reptilian] How interesting" The golden-robed old man''s eyes flickered with mockery and disdain. At the same time, the elder from the Malefic Demons n, a skinny old man, smirked in ridicule. "[Reptilian] Ahaha haha!" As though he had heard the greatest joke in the universe, Pei Syriacughed repeatedly. "[Reptilian] Aiden, oh Aiden, you can''t recognize the situation even now! Today, I will let you know just how strong the true sects are!" "[Reptilian] Hehehe!" Yang Zahnughed sinisterly. "[Reptilian] Aiden, it''s your honor to die in the hands of the sessors of our two factions, the strongest n and sect of the world!" "[Reptilian] The strongest n and sect you say? All of you weak worms can''t even fight against my sword!" 810 Chapter 810 "[Reptilian] The strongest n and sect you say? All of you weak worms can''t even fight against my sword!" Aiden roared in response, his eyes glimmered with bright golden luster beneath his hood, he was channeling his inner [Spirit Power] energy with increasing fervor. With a sh, he lunged towards the Dark Lord, Yang Zahn at an extremely fast speed. Even under such circumstances, Aiden still dared to attack first with a torrential aura! "[Reptilian] How utterly arrogant! You must have a death wish!" Although Malefic Demons n also had a technique aimed to train and harden one''s physique, it was significantly weakerpared to top body tempering sects such as Crystal Pce Sect and the rest. If Pei Syriac was the one that charged over, Yang Zahn would definitely retreat and keep his distance. He wouldn''t dare to risk his health! However, when he saw that it was Aiden, Yang Zahn did not retreat or avoid knowing that he had a higher martial realm. Gripping his bone spear tightly, the spiritual energy, the pure mana essence within his body that was tainted with a malevolent aura shot forth, piercing towards Aiden in midair! *HISS!* The bone spear in Yang Zahn''s hands coiled in strange circr arcs, resembling that of a toxic snake or perhaps a viper. It made a strange sound when it pierced through the air. Many martial artists were secretly shocked when they saw his spear technique. Not counting the incredible power of Yang Zahn''s pierce, that spear technique alone was enough to awe! Everyone felt that they were in a difficult situation and could only retreat. *SWOSH!* At the same time the third party in this bout, Pei Syriac also moved. Fast as lightning, his eyes shone with a shimmering luster and killing intent as he leaped forward and pounced on Aiden''s back! Unlike his scheming peer, Pei Syriac''s n was very clear. If Yang Zahn''s spear killed Aiden, the Dark Lord would be in a state where he was recovering from his momentum and would definitely reveal openings. Pei Syriac would be able to seize that moment of weakness to injure his arch enemy, Yang Zahn severely! On the other hand, even if Yang Zahn did not manage to kill Aiden, he could make use of that opportunity to kill thetter while stealing away his storage bag. No matter the oue, he, Pei Syriac would be the biggest winner! From both oues, he would be in a winning situation! Though his n seemed wless at a first nce, life rarely went ording to one''s ns. At that moment, he did not realize that he missed out on a small, but rather crucial possibility On the battlefield. Afterimages of the spear were everywhere along with a malevolent aura and it was difficult to identify between reality and illusion. Aiden was in midair when suddenly, his body shifted, and in an instant tworge draconic, scaled wings sprouted from his back! Everyone was shocked when they saw that. They couldn''t understand, or process what had just happened. Not understanding the gray robed man''s powers, they all thought that he was somewhere at the peak Martial Knight stage and as such his speed shouldn''t be at this impossible stage. They believed that no matter what he did, or how he tried to dodge, it would be futile and they would all be able to easily follow his path. This sudden turn of events came as a surprise to everyone present. Even so, he might not be able to escape from Pei Syriac''s pursuit entirely. But now that one of Aiden''s secret techniques were revealed and his wings were visible, it meant that he had no way of escaping through a moment of surprise and had to fight both of them head-on! Although it was only a slight movement, the atmosphere in the battlefield changed miraculously. Descending from the skies, Aiden gripped his pitch ck sword like a fearless martial god and suppressed Yang Zahnpletely in terms of aura! "[Reptilian] Hmm?" When they saw that, the expressions of the two protector elders have changed. Without waiting for them to think further, Aiden shouted forward. "DIE!" Upon his word, as if onmand in the next instant, the image of a huge de descended from the sky above them. *SPLASH!* The bloody scarlet light expanded and the sound of a sea tide surged. It was the first strike of the [Void Splitting Manual], Creation! Recognizing this force, the two Martial Grandmaster elders eximed with shocked expressions. "[Reptilian] Sword Force!" "[Reptilian] No" The golden-robed old man''s expression shifted and he murmured as if he had just thought of something. A memory, older than himself emerged in his mind in the next moment, turning his already wrinkled face even paler. "[Reptilian] That sword technique it''s familiar, it somehow resembles" "[Reptilian] The Sword Emperor''s technique!" Instantly, a piece of news that they had heard more than ten days ago shed through the minds of all the Martial Artists. The sudden disappearance of the Metal Tree Grove. The rumor of another mysterious man who had obtained the Sword Emperor''s inheritance after so many years. Could it be? Could there be a truth to those stories? So, it was him! It was no wonder why Aiden disappeared for a period of time after the bloody battle on the long street and was able to uproot the Corpse Poison Sect with unparalleled dominance upon his equally so sudden return! Everything made perfect sense all of a sudden. Everyone''s doubts vanished as the puzzle''s so far missing pieces have finally, bit by bit fit to their ce. Against Creation, Yang Zahn''s spear technique seemed extremely crude and weak. It was as if a child was trying to stand against the massive raging tide of the ocean. All the spear shadows dissipated instantly, revealing the true spear! *CLANG!* Rygintarth''s pitch ck de collided heavily against the bone spear and countless of arcs of lightning surged within the blood beam, drowning and cleansing the malevolent aura on the bone spear! Suppression! It was aplete suppression in terms of aura, technique, bloodline, and power! Complete dominance! Yang Zahn yelled out in pain as his palms split open with fresh green blood flowing out. Instantly, the bone spear flew from his hands and was repelled. Turning into a cold streak of light, it pierced deeply into the wall behind him and the end of the spear trembled endlessly. *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* Against the impact of that terrifying sh, Yang Zahn''s protection artifacts were shattered one after another instantly as he copsed, spitting out a mouthful of blood! He was severely injured after a sh! In reality, if not for those protection artifacts he carried secretly, Yang Zahn would have already been killed by Aiden''s single sh! Even then, Yang Zahn was heavily injured and was sent flying after his life saving artifacts were shattered against the sh. The martial artists in the cave abode were shocked when they saw that! Out of the several possibilities, that was an oue that none of them expected! Nobody imagined that the fearsome Dark Lord, the young heir of Malefic Demons n''s throne would not be able to withstand a single sh against the gray robed mysterious Aiden! Although part of it was because Yang Zahn had severely underestimated his opponent, the strength that Aiden disyed once again refreshed everyone''s impression of him. Who could have imagined that he was the one to obtain the Sword Emperor''s inheritance. Furthermore, he had even managed to train to the level of Force in such amount of time. Hisprehension was out of this world! "[Reptilian] Hmm?" The skinny old man that was initially idle by the side strode a half-step forward with a changed expression, wanting to interfere. But right after, when he saw the shadow behind Aiden''s back, he was relieved and stood back. The reason was simple. Pei Syriac was now at Aiden''s back! Given their proximity, no Martial Artist would be able to fight head-on against a Crystal Pce Sect disciple of the same martial realm without being disadvantaged. Furthermore, Aiden had just released Creation and his power was at its weakest right now. His energy, his stamina should be spent. The power of Force took an immense toll on Martial Knight realm warriors and Aiden could not use it repeatedly as well. Therefore, both Elders knew that Aiden would either be severely injured or might even turn out dead given Pei Syriac''s precise timing of attack! Pei Syriac''s eyes shimmered like two ominous gemstones as he chanted his n''s secret mantra, further enhancing his body''s strength in one explosive, hopefully, lethal strike. With every single word chanted, his aura would change. In the end, there was a mysterious luster covering his muscles, wless like crystal, that raised his aura to a maximum point! "[Reptilian] Die!" Pei Syriac''s golden robe fluttered without any wind. Arriving behind Aiden, he shouted as he whirled his gigantic fists and smashed down viciously at Aiden''s head! His face was sinister and cold, his strike ruthless! 811 Chapter 811 "[Reptilian] Die!" Pei Syriac''s golden robe fluttered without any wind. Arriving behind Aiden, he shouted as he whirled his gigantic fists and smashed down viciously at Aiden''s head! His face was sinister and cold, his strike ruthless! The gloves that he was wearing were a pair of high grade artifact weapons. Fierce, blinding lights shone with a bedazzling glow and illuminated the entire cave abode. Pei Syriac''s palm was like a zing sun that shone brilliantly, charging at Aiden with a furious killing intent. With a dark gaze, Aiden red at Yang Zahn who was sent flying, seemingly indifferent towards Pei Syriac who was behind him. *BANG!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* All of a sudden! The terrifying sound of tsunamis gushed from within Aiden''s body. Apanied with the sound of rumbling thunder, it sent shivers down one''s spine. The young small reptilian body hiding under the raggedy, gray robes suddenly swelled up, filling up the fabric in an instant, making it stretch across the newfound domain of primordial flesh. The small, weakling of the Draconic Skink hiding underneath suddenly grew almost double its size, and whilst mostly retaining its unique features, it resembles something else, something new Golden scales emerged from under the fabric, protecting its owner who suddenly gave birth to countless strains of muscle mass all across its body. It''s face rapidly changed, its elongated shape gained a healthier looking rotund shape, end a cute little nose emerged at its center, peaking just underneath those tworge, golden gemstones that their owner called eyes. Lush, pitch ck, matte gloss strands of hair appeared at the same time, giving an even greater shock to those Martial Artists watching the epic showdown. At the same time, his visual change was apanied with the sound of rumbling thunder, it sent shivers down one''s spine. *PANG!* *PANG!* *PANG!* Without even turning back, Aiden channeled his pure ancient draconic bloodline and his tendons shifted. He shed in reverse against Pei Syriac''s fist with a surging ebony beam. *CLANG!* The sword and fist collided into a deafening roar, causing sparks to fly. Indeed, Aiden could not release his newly gained sword force continuously. However, what these pure wretched Draconic Skinks did not know about was that unlike them, his foundation was not of this world, and could even withstand much greater powers than some mortal''s might. His Primal origin body was strengthened to such an astounding degree that some meager Crystal Pce Sect disciple, be it core or not- could not hope to contend against. Grunting dully, Pei Syriac''s expression changed starkly as he retreated repeatedly. His feet dug into the ground with every step, creating a deep footprint. The usual confidence and arrogance in Pei Syriac''s eyes was gradually reced by terror. He truly hadn''t imagined that this mysterious man, this Aiden would have the energy remaining to force him to retreat even after inflicting a severe injury on Yang Zahn! Although he was not injured and his palm was merely trembling slightly with a vague pain, that was enough to have him shocked. This meant that he was definitely not Aiden''s match if they were to exchange blows when thetter was in his peak condition! He wouldn''t have a much better ouepared to Yang Zahn''s current condition! In that instant, countless thoughts shed through Pei Syriac''s mind. But at that moment, Aiden made use of the momentum created by shing against Pei Syriac to rebound himself, speeding faster and vanished from where he was. His figure howled forward like a sprinting, raging and bloodthirsty wolf. He was so fast that the void was buzzing wherever he passed! In the blink of an eye, Aiden arrived in front of Yang Zahn! The tides had turned entirely. Even the two elders did not manage to react, let alone the young Martial Knights and Martial Masters that were watching. After he was sent flying by Aiden, Yang Zahn wanted to retreat with the opening created by Pei Syriac''s attack. He wanted to consume a few elixirs to regain his lost health and stamina before joining hands with Pei Syriac to kill Aiden. However, that thought had just shed across his mind when he heard the sound of Aiden and Pei Syriac shing. The next moment, before he could process what had just happened, his vision blurred and Aiden had already closed in on him! It was too fast! Everything happened way too fast! "[Reptilian] N-no! H-how?! How could this be?" Yang Zahn was horrified out of his wits. Even if he was in his peak condition, he was not Aiden''s match given this distance, let alone the fact that he was now injured! "[Reptilian] Y-you" He merely said a single word when Aiden''s massive palm covered his vision. Without his bone spear by his side, it would have been toote even if he had other secrets or artifacts hiding inside his storage ring. Yang Zahn could only prop up his arms instinctively to try and block against Aiden while seizing the opportunity to escape. *SNAP!* *CRACK!* Aiden however, did not show any mercy as he crushed Yang Zahn''s arms immediately upon contact. Thetter''s bones protruded from his flesh with blood and flesh in a terrifying sight! "[Reptilian] AAAAAARGH!" Yang Zahn cried out tragically. The next moment, Yang Zahn''s voice stopped abruptly. Aiden descended upon Yang Zahn and gripped his throat, lifting thetter up to defend in front of him! *WOOSH!* *WOOSH!* *WOOSH!* At the same time, a few bone spears not too dissimr to the one before shot over. A few bone spears that were shooting over stopped in their tracks immediately upon seeing that Yang Zahn was in Aiden''s hands. Not far away, the skinny old man had already attacked and wanted to kill Aiden with his bone spear to rescue Yang Zahn. However, he was still a tad toote. At that moment, Yang Zahn was in Aiden''s hands and the skinny old man did not dare to be reckless, wary of the consequences. If anything were to happen to their n''s chosen heir, the consequences would be dire! The situation was now in a deadlock. Since the start of the battle, everyone had subconsciously held their breaths in concentration and had already forgotten to breathe. It was only now that they heaved out long breaths. The way everyone looked at the gray robed stranger, Aiden had changed drastically. Yang Zahn was not an ordinary martial artist, he wasn''t just an average n member of the Malefic Demons n, but their chosen heir, the next Dark Lord! A dignified young heir was gripped by Aiden by the throat just like that, eyes bulging and tongue sticking out slightly with a purplish expression without being able to say anything. Yang Zahn''s arms dangled lifelessly by the side with his bones crushed, clearly already crippled. With his arms crippled, Yang Zahn would most likely not amount to much in the future even if he managed to survive. "[Reptilian] Young man! I advise you to let him go and we can put aside the feud between you and Malefic Demons n temporarily! I can also spare your life!" The skinny old man said slowly with a grim expression. "[Reptilian] Oh?" Raising his brow, Aidenughed. The skinny old man continued. "[Reptilian] You don''t have to worry. As a Martial Grandmaster, my word''s are firm! I will definitely stick to my words." "[Reptilian] And if I don''t let him go? What will you promise then?" Aiden''s tone was indifferent as he asked with a fake smile. The skinny old man''s tone was frosty. "[Reptilian] If you don''t let him go, you WILL definitely die today! Mark my words!" "[Reptilian] Heh Is that so?" Retracting his smile, Aiden replied coldly. "The thing I hate the most is when others, mostly pathetic worms like you dare to threaten me!" *SNAP!* *CRACK!* There was a crisp sound before the cave abode fall to a deathly silence once again. Aiden crushed Yang Zahn''s throat and flung the corpse on the ground casually, as though he had just done something extremely insignificant. Instantly, the cave abode went so silent that a pin drop could be heard. Many martial artists looked at the corpse thatid on the ground like a dead dog in absolute disbelief, unable to say anything. It was too ruthless! The dark lord, the young chosen heir of the terrifying force, the Malefic Demons n was ughtered just like that! Even though the top factions, the most powerful sects and ns have had been irreconcble since ancient times even Pei Syriac would not dare to show no mercy in the presence of a Martial Grandmaster Elder! The Elder was bound to make a move if the young heir dies! His life would be forfeit either way. Everyone looked at Aiden as though they were looking at a dead man. These elders were all powerful figures that have long since reached thest flickers of their long lives. These journey''s were theirst tasks, to keep beside their Young Master and ensure their safety as they matured. Nobody would dare to be disrespectful to them! 812 Chapter 812 Even Peak Stage Martial Masters that were on the brink of their breakthrough into the legendary realm and be Martial Grandmasters themselves were no match for the power of these protector elders! After all, the two stages were onpletely different levels. One was at best have just stepped into the legendary realm whilst the other was a peak stage Martial Grandmaster with decades of experience under his belt. In terms of strength, it was aplete suppression! The wrath of a peak Martial Grandmaster was not something that a mere Martial Master could deal with! Many martial artists present at the cave abode who were watching the epic showdown started to back off slowly, trying to get as far away from the gray robed stranger as possible lest they were implicated. Pei Syriac and the golden-robed old man of Crystal Pce Sect exchanged nces when they saw this; both could see the utter joy in the other''s eyes. This was the best case scenario for them! This way, their Crystal Pce Sect could just sit this one out and reap the spoilster. No matter which side stood victorious, the Crystal Pce Sect would be the biggest winner in the end of it all! "[Reptilian] Good Very good." The skinny old man from Malefic Demons n''s expression darkenedpletely as he red at Aiden with unmasked malice. The aura that he emanated turned increasingly terrifying and sent shudders down one''s spine! Narrowing his gaze, Aiden held Rygintarth in one hand and faced off against the skinny old man without losing out in terms of aura. He had fought with a real Martial Grandmaster before. Not even one, but three at the same time and still managed toe out victorious! Even more, at that time, he still had constraints on his true power and was still trying to conform to this world''sws, lest he would be exposed before the hiding Ancient One and the High Priest. However now, the situation was different. Even though he had yet to see anyone from the High Priest''s forces, Aiden was certain they were here somewhere And that their fated encounter and meeting would happen either before or when he ultimately reaches his end goal the chamber at the belly of this sealed mountain. In fact, this whole farce, wasn''t nned. In reality, if not for the strange power emanating from the elixir and his system guide''s Enya''s words before, Aiden would have ignored these clowns. Whilst they annoyed him to no end, they have yet to cross the point of no return. Yet, Destiny seemed to had a different idea, and marked this specific moment in time as their fated encounter. From the looks of it, Aiden was certain that there was no other choice anymore, he needed to resolve this matter. Yet, he still wanted to keep at least some of his power a secret forter. He still had no idea of the true power of this High Priest at all. He may very well be one of those select few figures that, -with the help of the Ancient One- managed to find a way through the world''s mortal barrier and be a Quasi-Divine Realm Martial Artist. That, if that conjecture would turned out to be the truth, would be the hardest challenge Aiden would have had to face so far and every surprise, every edge he could have for himself could very well be crucial towards his hopeful victory in the end. As such, unless it was absolutely necessary, Aiden wanted to keep some secrets to himself, whilst still slowly unshackling the spiritual chains holding him back. However, that also meant that in terms of actual strength, he was definitely no match for a peak Martial Grandmaster. Still, now he had a chance of winning. These old fogies were already at the end of their lives. They could not simply unleash their power They maybe had one or two shots in them before they would be imed by the void! As long as Aiden could survive that attack, these elders would be the ones to die. "[Reptilian] DIE!" The skinny old man raised his foot and lightlynded. In that instant, the earth and mountains shook! Under countless gazes, a huge crack appeared on the ground and extended continuously, arriving beneath Aiden''s feet in an instant. *SWOOSH!* A pair of spirit wings appeared and Aiden soared into the skies while the glimmer in his eyes sparkled with bright golden luster once again. In the next moment, the chains inside his soul loosened just a bit more once again, allowing more of his true power, the terror that once shook a whole world to be allowed to seep out one more. The crack on the ground was deep and dark, shooting forth with an ink-like ck malevolent aura. Rumbling, a gigantic palm was formed and it grabbed towards Aiden who was in midair! The malevolent aura surged and ck fog filled the air, causing the wind and clouds to change! The pitch-ck palm resembled a demonic fiend''s w that extended from the Abyss with the power to forcibly pull all living beings into the pits of hell! Even the martial artists who had retreated far away felt chills when they caught sight of that palm, let alone Aiden who was standing in the epicenter of the battlefield. That was the power of a peak Martial Grandmaster to be able to suppress everything! *BOOM!* At the same time, a loud sound came from above the cave abode. A gigantic golden ball appeared and pushed every living being down with its impressive aura and blinding golden radiance. The imprints inside the energy carried a strange, archaic sensation, as if the source was something incredibly ancient primordial even. It''s aura was so terrifying it seemed like it wanted to purge all mortal under its domain! This was none other than Aiden''s true power as it slowly was being unleashed. Because of his opponent he could not y his usual games and had to be serious right from the start. Still, his energy was nowhere near his peak performance. By itself, his aura alone was not enough to fight against the spiritual art released by a peak Martial Grandmaster. *BOOM!* The two opposing powers collided and produced a deafening sound! Lights of two different colors, gold and ck, intertwined and collided. A terrifying halo of power spread out, causing the entire cave abode to shake on the verge of copsing. Right in front of everyone, the golden surge paused for a moment before dissipating. As for the ck palm shrouded with malevolent aura, it had clearly weakened! Many onlookers could not help but feel shocked when they saw that. If the both of them were at simr martial realms, the mighty power within the golden energy would have been able to suppress the skinny old man''s dark spirit art! *CLANG!* *CLANG!* After the two palms collided, a sharp sound of swords humming sounded. A dark ebony de however in mid air before the gray robed Aiden, shining brightly with terrifying spiritual light. It levitated in midair, pulsating streak of bright colorless beams of light. The beams slowly condensed into a sharp sword formation that emitted endless sword energy. "[Reptilian] ATTACK!" A huge sword-shaped disk was formed and charged towards the gigantic ck palm, buzzing and trembling! The ck palm opened up, as if it wanted to blot out the sky, and grabbed the gigantic ebony sword beam directly. *POOF!* *POOF!* *POOF!* Initially, the sword-shaped disk was still spinning continuously. However, it came to a stop after being grabbed by the ck palm and let out a sorrowful sound. *BOOM!* The sword formation dispersed in the end, leaving behind nothing but the single ebony sword, Rygintarth only as it flew back beside its owner in the next instant defeated. However it wasn''t apletely pointless attempt from it. No, far from, in fact as a result of its action the malevolent aura surrounding the ck palm faded even more. Although the ebony sword beam had dissipated, its power was so terrifying that it riddled the ck palm with holes! The two attacks, Aiden''s initial surge of aura and the ebony sword beam of Rygintarth consumed a huge amount of spirit energy and they were also one of Aiden''s strongest trump cards. Even after Aiden''s two trump cards, the remaining power of the elder''s spirit art was still terrifying enough to destroy everyone! *SWOOSH!* The ck palm descended and enveloped Aiden before closing its grip tightly! Aiden''s figure was held in the center of the ck palm and he was instantly engulfed by the spreading malevolent aura. Although it was blocked by the two attacks, Aiden''s initial surge of aura and the ebony sword beam of Rygintarth, this was still the power of a peak Martial Grandmaster after all. Even if Aiden''s physique could withstand the grip of the ck palm, he would be killed the moment the malevolent aura of a peak Martial Grandmaster seeped into his body and corroded it! It was over. Everyone thought he would surely be dead by such an attack 813 Chapter 813 On the other side, it was clear that the skinny old man gave his everything in thisst attack. It carried hisst wisps of energy he had gained and cultivated with decades if not centuries of effort in thatst decisive attack. As soon as his attack finished his body shriveled and swayed. The previously terrifying aura he had was nowhere to be felt now, and the old man looked nothing more than just that; a weak old man at the end of his rope. This was his will, his resolve. He was the assigned guardian of the now-deceased young master, the ex young heir of the Malefic Demons n, Yang Zahn. The skinny old man did not have the chance to strike a second time. In just seconds, life wafted away from his rapidly aging and weakening body. In just a couple of seconds of time, thest wisps of life essence escaped from his flesh and his dried up corpse fell down on the ground, giving out only a meager, dull thud on the dust covered floor of the cave abode. Many people hadplicated expressions upon seeing this. "[Reptilian] If he wasn''t targeted by a Martial Grandmaster guardian elder, a true warrior like him would have been able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the young elites of the various major factions." "[Reptilian] Hmpf! He asked for it by being so arrogant and insolent!" "[Reptilian] It''s true that he''s a rare genius to be able to obtain the Sword Emperor''s inheritance. What a pity" "[Reptilian] There''s nothing to be pitied. A fallen genius isn''t a genius and will definitely be forgotten by others in the end." "[Reptilian] Still, it was quite an honorable death for him to exchange his life with a Martial Grandmaster''s. Such a feat was not heard of before" Some of the onlooking martial artists looked regretful, some gloated while others shook their heads and sighed. Pei Syriac had a smile on his face and was already prepared to make a move. He was going to grab Aiden''s storage ring the moment the ck palm dissipated. This was his n from before. He wanted to be the sole victor of their three-way bout without shedding any effort. He felt extremely cunning that his n had been realized so perfectly! But right then, as he was gloating gleefully inwardly, a rumbling sound surged out from the ck palm that was in midair, roaring with a terrifying aura! *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* A thin crack appeared on the surface of the ck palm, growing bigger and clearer! *SWOOSH!* Through the pitch-ck malevolent aura, a bright golden light that flickered with lightning burst out from within. It was eye-catching and split the ck palm into two as a figure leaped out. Everyone shuddered and their eyeballs constricted with disbelief when they caught sight of that figure. He was disheveled and his already raggedy garment was torn on several ces, but "[Reptilian] IMPOSSIBLE! How?! H-How is that possible?!" Pei Syriac lost hisposure and eximed. The disheveled figure that had its attire torn, but otherwise looked healthy and fine wasn''t anybody else, but Aiden himself whom everyone had thought to be dead! No not just thought but was absolutely, beyond a doubt certain he was dead for sure! His raggedy gray robes werepletely corroded by the malevolent aura. He looked wretched, staggering in his footsteps. However, his eyes were bright and clear as ever and there was a fighting intent that was rising in his gaze. Exuding an arrogant aura, he possessed a dominance that looked down on everyone! He was still alive! Against the full strength of a Martial Grandmaster and the suppressive power of a decades of gathered mana, Aiden miraculously managed to survive! Well, it was just a miracle, but he still managed to keep his strength a secret. At the decisive moment he increased his body''s strength for a mere moment and withstood the attack. Apart from the two attacks from before, the golden aura and Rygintarth''s Sword Formation beam, the moment he was engulfed by the ck palm, Aiden even circted his ancient draconic bloodline and channeled his power to its peak! Although that sh managed to split the ck palm into two, allowing him to escape, he was still injured nevertheless. Furthermore, he couldn''t even use the old man''s body and essence for his restoration, or absorption as by the time he had managed all of that, thest bits of the precious life essence have long since vanished from this realm and sucked up by the greedy, hungry void! This meant that the Martial Grandmaster skinny elder had died for nothing! With that, the Malefic Demons n''s previously mighty and dominant presence in the Ancient Burial Grounds, as well as in Ugburg city was almostpletely destroyed. Their heir, their secret force have been uprooted without a chance foreback! *BLEURGH!* Aiden spat out a mouthful of blood and his face turned paler. While he managed to survive, he did not feel good either. His body had just received a strong impact after all and he was suffering from internal injuries with his internal organs shaken. He needed to recover, to recoup some of his lost energy and health He also realized his mistake, albeit a bit toote: He would have been doomed if the two Martial Grandmaster elders had joined forces. It was a pity that the Crystal Pce Sect Guardian Elder did not see the need or reason to sacrifice himself and thus did not attack Aiden when it mattered. Gripping the handle of the ebony de, Rygintarth tightly, Aiden panted slightly. Pei Syriac narrowed his eyes and awaited for an opportunity. There were still a few Malefic Demons n n members left in the cave abode. Shifting slowly, they moved to surround Aiden with hateful eyes. Aiden closed his eyes slowly to regte his breathing, as though he was unaware of everything around him. No one could tell that Aiden''s real injuries the internal damages were healing at a visible speed. Not only was his physique powerful, his regeneration capabilities were even more terrifying. After all, he was not just a simple Draconic Skink, or a reptilian for that matter but a true Primal, thest of his kind after all. Even without any vital essence he could regte his superior [Soul Power] energy to recover in critical situation. "[Reptilian] Tsk, Tsk Tsk! Aiden, oh Aiden you don''t even have the energy to attack anymore?" "[Reptilian] Hehe, if I were you and I managed to survive against a Martial Grandmaster, I would have left this ce right away! However, there''s only a single reason why you''re still here you don''t even have the strength to run away anymore!" Pei Syriac was wary and did not dare to strike directly, merely testing the waters with a fakedposure and smile on his face. Aiden however was expressionless and did not even open his eyes, as if he had heard nothing at all. "[Reptilian] Hmm Seems like I was right" Pei Syriac retracted his smile and shouted coldly. "[Reptilian] Kill him!" The moment he said that, the surrounding Crystal Pce Sect and remaining Malefic Demons n disciples roared and attacked one after another. In a sh, the cave abode lit up once more! All of a sudden! Two neigh divine beams of majestic, golden light flickered in the void and was even more dazzling than the magical sparks of mana on the various techniques and arts fired up. Those two beams originated from none other than Aiden''s golden, exotic eyes! They were shiny and sharp as knives! Suddenly a thin smile emerged on his face and before anyone could react, his body disappeared from where he was and a sword light shed, swiping gently against a disciple''s neck, causing blood to spew out! The young man died on the spot. Immediately after, he shed in reverse and struck the bracer of another Crystal Pce Sect disciple. *SNAP!* Even with the bracer, that person''s arm could not be saved. Against the massive force, the person was sent flying and mmed heavily against the wall of the cave abode, sliding down slowly as his eyes dimmed. Barging left and right, Aiden channeled his full power and deployed the techniques he learned from the [Void Splitting Manual]! No one could stop his rampage! "[Reptilian] Little, pathetic worm." Bursting through all the obstacles, Aiden arrived before Pei Syriac and roared inughter. "[Reptilian] You seem to be still in a slight misunderstanding here The reason why I stayed here isn''t because I have no strength left to run. It''s because I''m here to take your life!" *SLASH!* Rygintarth''s dark de descended from above in a terrifying manner! Even though Aiden could no longer deploy Force given his current state, the power of his physique and bloodline was enough to destroy everything in his path! *CLANG!* Ryginatrth collided against Pei Syriac''s fists. For that sh, Aiden deployed [Vortex] from the [Void Splitting Manual]. Although it looked ordinary, there was an incredible power of contortion spiraling within the sword technique! 814 Chapter 814 "[Reptilian] Aaaaargh!" Pei Syriac retreated continuously as he cried out in pain; ayer of sweat appeared on his forehead instantly. Even with the protection of his perfect-grade gloves, the power of the spiraling contortion was transmitted to Pei Syriac''s arms and his sleeves exploded! *Poof!* *Crack!* *Burst!* Right in front of everyone, the muscles on Pei Syriac''s arms tore apart and burst into blood! That was only a tear of his muscles. If Aiden was in his peak condition, that sh could have crushed the bones on both of Pei Syriac''s armspletely! "[Reptilian] Let''s go!" Right then, the golden-robed old man took a step forward and jerked Pei Syriac back, shouting as he threw thetter towards the entrance of the cave abode. Right now, even these ''almighty'' guardian elders had the intention to retreat! "[Reptilian] This kid This ''Aiden'' is too strong!" The golden robed old man grimaced. "He is truly an unsurpassed genius! With such heavenly defying fortune, he managed to obtain the Sword Emperor''s inheritance and has already umted the Sword Force. No one is his match other than the most exceptional paragons of the world!" "[Reptilian] We''ll leave this ce as far as we can! Right after, we''ll hide in a corner of the Ancient Burial Grounds and use the rich resources till the deadline is up before leaving!" The golden-robed old man followed behind Pei Syriac and instructed as they dashed towards the exit. He did not want to make use of his power as a peak Martial Grandmaster until thest moment. Furthermore, he would definitely be dead if he unleashed his full power. After witnessing all that had transpired he felt it would be a waste After all, even with that, there was no guarantee that Aiden would die "[Reptilian] Heh How amusing" Sneering, Aiden picked up the blood drenched ebony de, Rygintarth, and shed forward, chasing after the two of them. "[Reptilian] Trying to flee already?" Pei Syriac swallowed a handful of elixirs to suppress his body''s injuries for the time being. By now, he was no longer smiling as he sped ahead with a panicked expression, not daring to rest at all. He was thoroughly shaken after that fight! At that moment, the only thoughts in Pei Syriac''s minds were of Yang Zahn and the skinny old man''s deaths, causing his limbs to go cold. "[Reptilian] This is a ruthless person who has no fear! You must not fall into his hands!" Pei Syriac grit his teeth and screamed internally. The crowd was astounded. If they hadn''t witnessed it personally, nobody would have imagined the scene ying out before them: the seemingly weak, and miserable ck horse, the gray robed figure of Aiden chasing down the sessor of the Mighty Crystal Pce Sect, and a peak Martial Grandmaster stage guardian elder in the Ancient Burial Grounds! "[Reptilian] That man is truly audacious." "[Reptilian] The elder merely doesn''t want to trade lives right now. If he''s really forced into a corner and retaliates, he can kill that man instantly! It would be like swatting an annoying fly away!" "[Reptilian] Eh Maybe That''s not for sure. The Sealer of Malefic Demons n died for nothing previously." Many martial artists discussed as they started to fight for the Grade 2 elixirs of Ancient Burial Grounds before dashing out of the cave abode C all of them wanted to witness the oue. Whilst at the same time, back at the central ziggurat of the Ancient Burial Grounds. Madam Dara''s eyes were still closed as she received the mysterious elder of this long forgotten sect''s inheritance. The long duration of the inheritance implied that there were many things left behind by Ancient Burial Grounds. It was beneficial be it for Madam Dara or the Azure Myst Sect. Dozens of Azure Myst Sect disciples protected Dara in the middle like stars surrounding the moon,yer byyer. They were so tight that even wind could not blow in as they were afraid that the inheritance process would be disrupted. Tai Liu started to furrow her brows as she looked towards the depths of the ruins from time to time with a worried expression. Smiling gently, the ever present elderly uncle asked. "[Reptilian] You''re worried about him, right?" "[Reptilian] I''m praying right now that there''s nothing in the depths of this ursed ce that would make him meet with the rest of those Young Masters in the Ancient Burial Grounds." Sighing, Tai Liu continued. "[Reptilian] Given his personality, since he said that he definitely has something waiting for him inside, he will definitely fight to the end once they meet! Against the sessors of the Crystal Pce Sect and the Malefic Demons n at the same time, he Even I don''t dare to think that he does stand a chance of winning." "[Reptilian] Young Miss, you don''t need to worry." The elderly uncle pondered and said. "[Reptilian] Now that I think about it, thed''s sword technique should be the legendary sword technique, the Sword Emperor''s Void Splitting Manual''s five known strikes. In other words, the rumor was real and he truly obtained the Sword Emperor''s inheritance." Although Tai Liu had guessed it vaguely previously, she was still shocked when she heard his old uncle say it. The Metal Tree Grove was formed in the ancient era and countless geniuses have been buried in it throughout history. Now, an unknown figure, an outsider, managed to get his hands on it. Furthermore, that person had not even heard of the Metal Tree Grove''s existence beforehand. Everything seemed ridiculously absurd and yet, there was an indescribable mysteriousness to it, as if everything was predetermined. The elderly uncle continued. "[Reptilian] Given thed''s currentbat strength, he can definitely hold his ground against Pei Syriac and Yang Zahn. Even if he can''t win them, he''ll be able to escape unscathed. You don''t have to worry." "[Reptilian] Uhm I understand." Tai Liu nodded and her worries lessened. He was about to rx and turn around when Suddenly, the sound of robes slicing the air could be heard and it was extremely fast. The person''s breathing was heavy, clearly exhausted. Everyone from Azure Myst Sect looked over and when they saw the person''s face, they were stunned and dumbfounded. It was none other than Pei Syriac of the Crystal Pce Sect! The assigned local leader and representative of one of the strongest forces! He lookedpletely wretched and his arms were filled with blood, his flesh still torn and bleeding. With a pale expression, his eyes were now bloodshot, no longer clear as before. He nced towards the side of Azure Myst Sect without stopping and continued dashing towards the Fog Infested Valley outside. Before long, he disappeared from everyone''s line of sight. Even Tai Liu who was extremely intelligent was stunned at the moment, unable to understand what had just happened, let alone everyone else. How could that be? Didn''t Crystal Pce Sect head into the depths of the ruins in search of some high grade manuals and elixirs? Why was Pei Syriac the only one left C what about his Guardian Elder? In other words, which faction managed to force Crystal Pce Sect to such a state? The old uncle''s eyes flickered as he spected. "[Reptilian] The appearance of a mighty, legendary artifact must have caused Crystal Pce Sect and the Malefic Demons n to get into a big fight, causing the situation to go out of control. The Elders must have fought one another with both of them now ending up dead. After losing to Yang Zahn, Pei Syriac has no other choice but to escape right now." The cultivators of Azure Myst Sect nodded silently. They found this exnation usible. Only Only Tai Liu frowned. Although the old man''s conjecture sounded logical, she felt that something was amiss. When Pei Syriac was escaping just now, his expression was horrified, as though he had encountered something that truly frightened him to his very core. Scared him to his very being. Did Yang Zahn possess such strength? Even if he was the ''Dark Lord'', the Malefic Demons n, supposedly terrifying new selected heir, was he truly that impressive? Or could something unimaginable have happened in the depths of the ruins? Right then, the sound of a sh echoed from the air in the distance. It was a loud boom and the battle had clearly reached its climax. Everyone from Azure Myst Sect looked over and their expressions froze with agape mouths. In the distance, two figures were engaged in an intense battle. Majestic magical light shone brightly and a dark pitch ck beam covered the skies. *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* Each time the two of them shed, an extremely terrifying energy fluctuation would ripple out, causing everyone to shudder. One of them was obvious even from a distance. He was none other than the golden-robed old man, the Crystal Pce Sect''s Guardian Elder. The other person was in tattered gray robes and wielded an ebony-colored sword. It was none other than Aiden who had entered the depths of the ruins! 815 Chapter 815 "[Reptilian] T-this How is this possible" The elderly uncle of the Azure Myst Sect waspletely dumbfounded. Tai Liu opened her mouth slightly and looked at the gray robed figure far away without blinking. All the confusion in her heart seemed to have been resolved. The person that Pei Syriac feared was not Yang Zahn, the so called Dark Lord of the Malefic Demons n, but Aiden instead! The situation on the Ancient Burial Ground ruins was extremely tense. Although the Guardian Elder from the Crystal Pce Sect, the golden-robed old man, did not unleash his full power just now as a peak Martial Grandmaster, all of his attacks were extremely forceful, carrying the might of a peak Martial Master warrior. On the other hand, Aiden was even more ferocious, slicing sharply with a fervent gaze. With the weight of Rygintarth as well as the Void Splitting Manual, Aiden was not disadvantaged against the golden-robed old man! As time passed by,Aiden''s blood surged and his power kept on rising instead of slowly being used up, evidently intensifying as the battle raged on. As for the golden-robed old man, he was no longer as nimble as before and the inner energy he produced gradually started to fade away. This battle had exhausted him greatly. In just a few dozens of breaths'' time, the golden-robed old man''s skin had lost its luster, withering with wrinkles appearing. Tai Liu said in a deep voice. "[Reptilian] Crystal Pce Sect''s elder is already at the end of his life and his stamina is weak along with his remaining energy. He''ll definitely lose if he continues battling." "[Reptilian] No Young Miss, I am afraid he will not." The elderly uncle said with a grim expression. "[Reptilian] The person who should be worried right now should be Aiden. The power of a Guardian Elder lies in his killing move with the power of a peak Martial Grandmaster!" "[Reptlian] In reality, if that young man stops now, he might be able to survive. If he forces the Guardian Elder to the point of no return, he''s bound to die!" No one dared to interfere given the circumstances. Nobody could predict when the golden robed old man would disregard his life and unleash his power as a peak Martial Grandmaster. Aiden was drenched in sweat and steam emitted from his body like smoke. The power of his current [Soul Power] was being channeled at his limits! The battle was getting more intense! This also meant that the oue of this battle would be decided soon! Ever since they entered the Fog Infested Valley, Aiden had been battling the entire time. Earlier on, he killed countless ancient ferocious beasts and even took down that scrawny old man from the Malefic Demons n without resting once. Unfortunately he could rarely use any of his conquests to absorb and replenish his spent energy making him gradually more and more exhausted. Coupled with the fact that he was injured, Aiden was already pushing his body to its limits to be able to fight the golden robed old man till now. Of course, this was because he was still relying only his current body''s limits and refused to unleash his full potential before reaching the truth, the crux of this whole matter. After all, even till now, he did not see anyone from the church appear at all. No one, not even a representative from the High Priest and the Ancient One was present. Even worse, Aiden could not sense anything beyond thatrge mountain making him increasingly more and more anxious as the time went on. Something strange was going on in the background, he was sure of it. In the eyes of the golden-robed old man, Aiden''s stamina, physique and body had already surpassed a pure-blooded ferocious beast! Of course, although this young man''s body was at its limits, the golden-robed old man was in an even worse condition. Everyone could tell that he was getting significantly older with every breath in an irreversible manner! Each time the golden-robed old man attacked, he was using up the remainder of his lifespan. Aiden narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly, a tremendous change urred in his sword technique. Earlier on, it was tough and ferocious. In the blink of an eye, it was as gentle as the ripples on the surface of a water, spreading continuously. This was the second strike of the Void Splitting Manual, Formation. The First strike, Creation represented the base while Formation represented foundation, the softness. Softness was different from weakness where thetter referred to powerless. The softness of water could grind away the edge of stones! The softness of water could prate a rock! The softness of water could engulf everything! Softness countered hardness. When Aiden used Formation, he did not fight the golden-robed old man head-on. Instead, everything was a tap-and-go. The ebony de in his hand changed angles swiftly and a series of ripples formed in the air each time it struck! Every single attack looked weak and powerless, but they were fatal. The sudden change caught the golden-robed old man off guard. In a moment of carelessness, two wounds appeared on his arm and blood gushed out as he retreated continuously. "[Reptlian] Interesting Is this the limit of the mighty peak powerhouses?" Aiden smiled contemptuously. Against Aiden''s mockery, the golden-robed old man calmed down quickly and his eyes were cloudy and expressionless. Nobody could read his thoughts. He was looking for an opportunity. He wanted a perfect opportunity to unleash his power as a peak Martial Grandmaster and kill this annoying pest, this ''Aiden'' in exchange for his life! There were no fear in his eyes, in his heart, or in his mind. This was his fate, his destiny he had swerved up on. At the moment, the golden-robed old man was expressionless. However, his heart had a surge of sadness and he could only sigh internally. At the end of the day, he had reached this inevitable step. Part of the reason why he did not unleash his power as a peak Martial Grandmaster immediately was to hold back Aiden for as long as he could, allowing his young master, Pei Syriac sufficient time to escape. At the same time, in the depths of his heart, he still feared death. He was different from the skinny old man from before. If the skinny old man were to return to the Malefic Demons n alive with the young chosen heir dead, he would receive extremely cruel punishment which was worse than death! That was why the skinny old man could unleash his power as a peak Martial Grandmaster so easily as he did not have any psychological burdens. The moment their Dark Lord was dead, he was already a dead man as well. However, for Crystal Pce Sect, Pei Syriac was still alive. The golden-robed old man still harbored hope that he would be able to force Aiden back without unleashing his power as a peak Martial Grandmaster. However, it was a pity that his hope was about to be crushed mercilessly. Aiden''s gaze was fervent. As though he could read the golden-robed old man''s mind, he spoke again without stopping in his attacks. "[Reptlian] Actually to be perfectly honest, you never had the chance to defeat me, much less kill me. Those thoughts you still harbor deep in your mind, and your heart is pathetic and miserable. You really think that what you had seen was my limit?" The golden-robed old man was unmoved and continued defending against the ebony de, Rygintarth''s fervent strikes expressionlessly. He knew that Aiden was attacking his mental state! In a fight, top experts would often provoke their opponents to reveal openings so as to seize the advantage. Smiling gently, Aiden continued. "[Reptilian] Your only chance was to work together with that old man from the Malefic Demons n. If the two of you were to unleash your full powers as peak Martial Grandmasters from the get go and fight me with all your might You might be thinking that I would have died right?" The golden-robed old man''s eyes flickered and an imperceptible ripple appeared in his mind! Although he knew that Aiden was attacking him mentally so that he would reveal an opening, the golden-robed old man felt a strong sense of frustration and indignance! Those words struck a chord in his heart! A gleeful expression shed through Aiden''s eyes as he noticed the old man''s flinches. "[Reptilian] It''s just a pity that you were too afraid of death. Even now, you harbor this futile hope of surviving. But actually, you know it. Deep down, in your heart you already know that you''ll definitely die here today! You know that your pathetic, worm-like, worthless existence has reached its end!" "[Reptilian] Y-you!" The golden-robed old man''s expression changed and was about to say something when his hand slowed down, revealing a major opening. Aiden''s eyes lit up as he strode forward, shing in reverse towards the golden-robed old man''s throat with a chilling killing intent! All of a sudden! A terrifying aura burst forth from the golden-robed old man. "[Reptilian] Ahahaha. You little creep! You have been tricked!" 816 Chapter 816 A terrifying aura burst forth from the golden-robed old man. "[Reptilian] Ahahaha. You little creep! You have been tricked!" Ignoring the iing dark de, the golden-robed old man suddenly unleashed his full power as a real powerhouse at the peak Martial Grandmaster realm, engulfing Aiden with a gigantic golden palm. "[Reptilian] Even if I have to die, I''ll take you with me, you little b*stard!" "[Reptilian] Oh no Not good!" The elderly uncle beside Tai Liu suddenly trembled, his heart skipped a beat and he turned pale with fright when he saw that. Others might not read the situation clearly, but he understood it well given his experience. At first, the young man, Aiden saw that he could not take down the golden-robed old man and began attacking thetter mentally to break the stalemate. Initially the n did not seem to work as the golden-robed old man was unmoved. However the golden robed old man still underestimated that little fe and his craftiness. After just a few sentences, the golden-robed old man was enraged and revealed an opening. There was naturally no way Aiden would let the opportunity go as he took advantage of the situation and charged forward. But in reality, that opening was revealed by the golden-robed old man intentionally! That was the reason why he said that Aiden was tricked. The golden-robed old man was waiting for Aiden to rush forward with no room to retreat before killing thetter by unleashing his power as a peak Martial Grandmaster! Though this attack would be the veryst he would unleash in this world and life, he still ultimately decided to go along with it and hope to bring this hateful little reptilian along with him to the afterlife. "[Reptilian] This Haih, too bad." The elderly uncle sighed and shook his head. "He is still too inexperienced after all" Yet, before he could even finish his sigh, a softugh came from the battlefield. "[Reptilian] Hahahaha! Old worm, the one that was tricked was not me, but you!" It was Aiden''s gleeful cackle that resounded. Although he was initially at the battlefield, by the time his sentence waspleted, Aiden had already appeared far away from where he was. *BOOM!* The golden-robed old man''s palm mmed onto the ground, creating a clear palm print. He missed! His ultimate attack ultimately missed its mark! What happened stunned all the bystanding martial artists once more. Standing from afar, Aiden looked at the golden-robed old man with a mocking gaze and a fake smile. At that instant, just as his attack waspleted, the golden-robed old man aged considerably. In just mere moments his face seemed to have shrivelled up, as if countless decades have finally put their toll, their destined burden under its host. Before the golden robed old man could offer a jest or retort, his body was imed by the merciless Time and his lifeless husk of body fell to the ground with a loud dull thud. After pondering for a while, the elderly uncle came to a realization. p Initially, he thought that Aiden was tricked by the golden-robed old man''s intentional opening. However, the truth waspletely different! In reality, Aiden had also read the golden-robed old man''s intentions and pretended to charge forward before escaping far away after thetter unleashed his power as a peak Martial Grandmaster. It was a bloodless battle of psychological warfare. A single mistake and he would have lost everything and died on the spot! Both parties schemed and fought several times but in the end, the seemingly unassuming tattered gray robed youngster, Aiden came out on top and baited the terrifying Guardian Elder to his very own death! The old man''s expression wasplicated at that time. Although the golden-robed old man did not die in the hands of his hated enemy, Aiden, he was still the reason why the former had to utilize hisst residues of power and no longer resist his destiny. The fact that a Guardian Elder was not able to kill a seemingly average Martial Knight or at most an early stage Martial Master despite sacrificing his own life was rather sorrowful. In reality, Aiden had also taken an extremely huge risk in that battle! The moment the Guardian Elder unleashed his power as a peak Martial Grandmaster, Aiden was not a match for him at all in his current state and form. Not unless he would risk everything! In the Grade 2 elixir cave abode, he only managed to defend against the skinny old man by using all his trump cards. Even then, he was still injured. Given Aiden''s current condition, there was absolutely no way he could have withstood another attack of a peak Martial Grandmaster level. That was the reason why he was fighting the golden-robed old man for so long. Eventually, he made use of his spirit perception and spotted the golden-robed old man''s killing intent a moment earlier, allowing him to retreat and bait thetter to his death! Aiden was almostpletely exhausted and he would not have been able to hold on if not for his extremely strong regeneration capabilities. Taxing his already depleting reserves to also keep his health in check was like burning a rope from two ends! After baiting the golden robed old man to his death, Aiden finally heaved a sigh of relief. After a slight pause, his eyes shed with a cold glint. He came before the central ziggurat where the Azure Myst Sect was still stationed together with his captains and asked softly. "[Reptilian] Has anyone seen Pei Syriac just a few moments ago?" "[Reptilian] Y-yeah! He escaped into the valley." A disciple nodded. If Pei Syriac did not die today, he would ultimately be an uncertain source of trouble for Aiden in the future! Not to mention that before this, none of the previous battles against the two Guardian Elders brought Aiden any benefits. At the very least, he wanted to use that arrogant bastard of a Draconic Skink to gain some benefits and recoup his losses. Tai Liu was nervous and stepped forward quickly, persuading. "[Reptilian] Please, Aiden, listen to me! You are so weak right now, don''t take the risk. Also, even if you give chase now, you might not be able to catch up with him. He escaped with all his power he could be far away already!" However, Aiden shook his head and in a sh, darted into the Fog Infested Valley without exining anything. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared before everyone. Madam Dara was still receiving her mysterious inheritance. The disciples of Azure Myst Sect discussed the battle from earlier with soft voices and excited expressions. Although the Guardian Elder was at the end of his life and only had a single chance to strike, he was still a peak Martial Grandmaster no matter what! That was a battle between a Martial Knight stage warrior and a peak Martial Grandmaster powerhouse! A tale for the legends! This kind of talk was enough for the Azure Myst Sect disciples to brag about it for many years after returning to the sect. At this moment, a group of disciples were passing not too far away and were discussing animatedly. Their excited voices could be clearly heard even from several streets away. "[Reptilian] What''s the background of that gray robed man? He''s way too ruthless!" "[Reptilian] That''s right! I saw with my very own eyes how he squashed the chosen sessor of the Malefic Demons n to death like an ant!" "What use is the their so called ''Dark Lord''? Even his assigned Guardian Elder of the Malefic Demons n died for nothing!" The Azure Myst Sect disciples were stunned when they heard that. Following Tai Liu turned towards the group and asked. "[Reptilian] Fellow warriors, may I bother you with my question for a moment? Could you tell me what is going on with the Malefic Demons n?" Taking a moment to wait till the group stopped and turned in her direction she asked again. "[Reptilian] I couldn''t help but overhear your discussion What has all that got to do with Aiden?" "[Reptilian] Huh? You don''t know about it yet?" The girl who was talking before looked at her with an odd look. Tai Liu and the others had remained around Madam Dara the entire time and did not know about everything that happened in the Grade 2 elixir cave abode. The girl then exined. "[Reptilian] A perfect Breakthrough Elixir appeared in a cave abode in the depths of the ruins and this grey robed man the one you called Aiden suddenly appeared and stole it while killing Yang Zahn on the spot!" "[Reptilian] Hah!" A wave of shock and astonishment could be heard from the crowd. The girl continued. "[Reptilian] After that, the Malefic Demons n''s guardian elder stepped up and attacked! Still, against all odds that mysterious hero took on everything! The Malefic Demons n is nowpletely destroyed." This time round, it waspletely silent. Nobody uttered a word 817 Chapter 817 If what the woman said was to be believed, then that would have meant that the two mighty and fearsome guardian elders have died for absolutely nothing. Their proteg''s they have sworn to protect have still died and they couldn''t even take revenge at the cost of their lives. Their murderer, was still free, was still alive whilst they were already on their way towards their hopefully next lives. Processing all this, Tai Liu had a stunned expression and her mouth was agape for the longest time. In the Fog Infested Valley, a grayish-dark blur of a humanoid shaped blurry streak could be seen. It or most likely He was speeding forward at lightning speed. This streak was none other than Aiden, who was on the hunt for hisst prey, thest survivor of the two arrogant Young Heir''s of the two most powerful factions of this gods'' forsaken world, Pei Syriac. Charging towards the entrance of the valley, he was already at the limits of his speed. He did not fight the golden-robed old man for long. Pei Syriac was already injured and did not have much strength left; it was unrealistic for him to escape the Fog Infested Valley in this period of time. After all, there were still countless beasts and birds roaming in the valley. Throughout the way, Aiden made use of his strong hearing, eyesight and senses to track down traces of Pei Syriac. Right now, the night was extremely dark and the fog was everywhere. It would be almost impossible for the other martial artists to search for someone since their vision range would be thirty feet at most. However, it was different for Aiden. Unlike these mortal little Draconic Skinks, he had much better refined senses. His sight, his hearing, his sense of smell was extremely sharp and he had arge search radius. He could notice any bit of activity! The pure-blooded ferocious beasts in the valley were already dead and Aiden advanced fearlessly. None of these demonic beasts and ancient remnant beasts in the fog dared to approach him and they all hid far away. Before long, Aiden rushed out of the Fog Infested Valley and stood at the entrance, frowning. He did not see Pei Syriac at all. The guy had vanishedpletely! Aiden''s eyes flickered and he frowned in deep thought. In this case, there could only be two possibilities. The first was that Pei Syriac have already escaped the valley and was long gone. However, thinking about it for a bit more, Aiden felt that the probability of that wasn''t great. In that case, the second, and more likely scenario was that Pei Syriac was still hiding somewhere inside the valley! It wasn''t a simple task if one wanted to hide inside the Fog Infested Valley. Birds filled the skies and beasts roamed the ground. There was no way a simple Martial Arists -be it at the Martial Master realm or not-, would be able to hide in peace as they would definitely encounter battles and create amotion. However, along the way, Aiden did not notice any signs nor did he hear any activity. "Hmm Strange" Aiden muttered to himself. Now that he was alone, he could finally drop the reptilian dialect and mutter to himself in his own,mon one. He murmured softly, pondering about the possibilities. "Could he truly have escaped? Where to and how?" On second thought, Aiden felt that it wouldn''t be surprising for a disciple of the mighty Crystal Pce Sect, one of the most powerful factions of this world, to possess some secret life preservation methods. At that moment, Pei Syriac might have already escaped a thousand miles away from that ce. After loitering around for a long time, Aiden couldn''t do anything else and have returned from where he came from and disappeared into the fog. A long timeter, the valley regained its tranquility. In the blink of an eye, the long night had passed. The sun rose, casting away the night from the valley. From a recluse cave at the side of a rather inconspicuous hill, arge beast, a white furred tiger, had walked out slowly. Its eyes were dull, the beast looked dispritied and terrible. It looked sick It had devoured a small humanoid creature the previous night! However, for some reason, it did not manage to digest the human even after the night and it felt bloated and ufortable. The white furred tiger ancient beast did not walk far when it cried out and copsed weakly to the ground with a throbbing pain in its stomach. *SHING!* shes of blood appeared. The abdomen of the white furred tiger was suddenly ripped open from the inside as countless organs spilled out of a gigantic hole along with a bloodied figure. The bloodied figure bent over and started retching miserably. A whileter, he reached out and wiped away the blood on his face, revealing a disfigured face that was horrifying like a ghost! "[Reptilian] That b*stard Aiden! This is all his fault! I swear that I will definitely make you pay a hundred times for the humiliation I suffered today!" The bloodied figure''s gaze was venomous as he said with grit teeth. He was Pei Syriac who have indeed survived thest night! The previous night, Pei Syriac predicted that it would be hard for him to escape from Aiden in his current state. Thus, he took the initiative to look for an ancient remnant beast and allowed it to devour him. That was an extremely dangerous move! The stomachs of these ancient remnant beasts churned extremely strongly and ordinary martial artists wouldn''t be able to handle it. Anyone else, below the Martial Grandmaster realm would have been crushed into sludge. Also, the digestive fluids of an ancient remnant beast was extremely corrosive and could even melt rocks and ores. If not for the fact that the Crystal Pce Sect''s body refining technique the Crystal Body Technique tempered his body so powerfully, Pei Syriac wouldn''t have survived the night. Even so, his flesh was corroded into a bloody mess and he waspletely disfigured, almost shedding an entireyer of skin. Turning to re at the white furred tiger and its dying eyes, Pei Syriac staggered towards the entrance of the valley and escaped with a cold expression. He couldn''t rest. He had a revenge to fulfill. With the end of the battle of the ruins, the biggest winner of them all was the Azure Myst Sect. Entering the Ancient Burial Ground ruins with an average sized force of disciples, they had more than half of their numbers still remaining! If nothing went wrong, these several dozen or so people would be able to return home to Azure Myst Sect safely with countless rewards to boot! In the end, Madam Dara received the inheritance sessfully and opened up the Central Ziggurat, obtaining countless ancient elixir manuals. Azure Myst Sect''s reputation and status was bound to soar after the ancient elixir manuals were brought back to the sect. The next day, Azure Myst Sect, and all the other sects and factions that were still alive were ready to pack up and leave the ce to return to Ugburg City. Their goalspleted they had no reason to stay. However, before they could something strange, and unexpected happened. As the daylight reced the gloomy darkness, the the skies suddenly shed with lightning and rumbled with thunder. A terrifying pressure instantly descended upon the Ancient Burial Ground ruins! Everything went silent! Time seemed to have frozen. p All the living beings in the Ancient Burial Grounds, as well as in the Fog Infested Valley, be it ancient remnant beasts or pure-blooded ferocious beasts, sprawled onto the ground obediently and their eyes revealed endless fear. This was a fear that stemmed from the ancient era, something deep-rooted and indestructible. It wasn''t just this particr slice of the world that felt this unprecedented pressure descending upon them, but upon every segment of the world. Every nook and cranny was subjected to the same divine power. In every corner of this dead world, the sessors of the various super sects and ns came forward and looked up in the air in shock. Countless powerhouses were forcefully woken up from their decades long slumbers and seclusions and came out one after another. It didn''t matter if it was Azure Myst Sect, or any other sisterhood or smaller factions that was either in the Ancient Burial Grounds, or in Ugburg City. At this moment, every single soul sensed something and arrived on the long street, roofs and midair, gazing into the distance. The martial artists were dumbfounded in shock. Even the elderly uncle, who was also simr to the two before him, a Guardian Elder and secretly a peak Martial Grandmaster powerhouse, opened his mouth with a look of disbelief. The clouds were shifting rapidly in the center of the sky! Dark clouds covered the ce and they churned, rotating slowly to form a gigantic ck vortex that was extremely shocking. In that sea of clouds, numerous lightning snakes were packed densely together, forming a dazzling sea of lightning within the sea of clouds. The closer it was to the core of the vortex, the more concentrated the lightning became! Thunder rumbled and lightning crackled. It was as though a giant creature was about to descend from the vortex! 818 Chapter 818 The closer it was to the core of the vortex, the more concentrated the lightning became! Thunder rumbled and lightning crackled. It was as though a giant creature was about to descend from the vortex! "Hmm So it finally started" Standing in mid-air, Aiden gazed at the distant-looking horizon with a bright golden light shining in his eyes. The aura that emanated from the center of the cloud vortex was way too terrifying! Against its suppression, even Aiden felt extremely insignificant and almost wanted to kneel down in worship! Some of the martial artists couldn''t handle it and were already kneeling on the ground in fright. Gradually, a huge square-shaped granite stone b appeared in the middle of the vortex, covering the entire ce. As it descended, it seemed as if it could crush everything in this ancient world into emptiness! This was only the tip of the iceberg for this unknown terrifying existence. The stone b continued descending and gradually revealed its full appearance. It wasn''t a mere gigantic slice of granite b, but instead something entirely different. From the dark, swirling, and ominous vortex an extremely old-looking Temple-Pce, the famed legendary central ce of worship for all lizardmen appeared. It was an extremely old pce with a round top and a square base. Possessing an ancient and boundless aura, it seemed like it had arrived against the flow of time from the ancient era. It had a boundless, majestic aura, a power that far surpassed anything this world have ever seen. "[Reptilian] T-this! This is him! The High Priest''s temple!" The elderly old man gasped and eximed with a shocked expression. At the same time, the sessors of the various super sects in and around the surface and below world recognized the origin of this ancient pce one after another. The Ancient One''s Pce. Those words seemed to possess a special power, causing Aiden''s blood to boil in secret! To be honest, Aiden had not heard of the Ancient One''s Pce before. However, judging from the looks of everyone else, he knew that the origin of this pce definitely surpassed the might of the mythical Metal Tree Grove''s mountains! Countless martial artists knelt on the ground and gazed at that ancient pce beneath the skies with endless awe and passion. The Ancient One''s Pce. stood tall in the sky, floating in the sea of lightning like a supreme god, peering down at the world with immense might. A heavenly shocking appearance through stone, the arrival of the Ancient One''s Pce! Taking a deep breath of air, the elderly uncle muttered to himself. "[Reptilian] The appearance of the Ancient One''s Pce means that chaos is about to arise in the world once more, bringing forth a new age! Be it the end, or the start of something new only time will tell" "[Reptilian] Seems like, the High Priest will be granted the chance to step into the ranks of divine and be a Supreme Emperor! A new Emperor will definitely be born in this era!" "[Reptilian] Perhaps we''re about to wee a prosperous era with multiple emperors arising, restoring the glory of the ancient times!" "[Reptilian] To be fortunate enough to witness everything in my lifetime, I can now die without any regrets." Somewhere in the southern regions, quite a bit of distance away from all themotion. Arge buff reptilian figure, looking like to be oversized even for a Saurus stood with his upper body bare. Every single inch of his muscles shone with a bronze-orange luster, giving off the feeling of explosive might. Breaking out of seclusion, a gigantic spear rested on this person''s shoulder and he gave off an extremely savage aura. Raising his head to look at the ancient pce, he roared inughter. "[ric] Hahaha! The arrival of that old bastard''s so-called pce! Seems like finally my time hase! I am fated to be an Emperor in this era!" Before hisughter ended, the strange feral looking reptilian strode towards the center of themotion in huge strides. At the same time, at the opposite, distant northern reaches. A pair of resentful eyes could vaguely be seen throughyers of vines that concealed the entrance of a hidden cave abode. "You ignorantmoner filth! Aiden, if not for you, I, Pei Syriac, would definitely have a chance to obtain the Ancient One''s Pce''s inheritance!" Ever since his breakthrough to the ranks of the Martial Masters more than a year ago, he had not made any improvements. As such, he did not have the strength to fight the others for the Human Emperor''s Pce''s inheritance at all. In order to survive, he could only continue to hide here. At least for the time being In the west. A milky white robed monk who was originally sitting quietly in the middle of a dark and empty cave suddenly stood up. Gazing at the ancient looking pce floating in the air far above him, he mumbled to himself. "[ric] The Last Guardian''s Pce does tempt me. I need to check it out." In the east. A purple cloud soared into the sky before transforming into a figure and descending slowly. The purple-robed figure had a stern expression and did not smile at all. Possessing a dignified expression, he was surrounded by endless ominous purple mana and had an extraordinary aura. After pondering for a moment, the purple-robed figure moved and disappeared from the spot. Somewhere else, closer to the center of all themotion, a bit of distance to the north of the Ancient Burial Ground ruins and the Fog Infested Valley as well. In front of a waterfall, a man sat quietly on a rock. Although he was drenched from the sshing water, he was indifferent to it. A sheathed long swordid horizontally across his knees and his long, narrow eyes revealed a sharp glint in them. "[Reptilian] The time hase." With slender fingers as translucent as jade, he gripped the hilt of his sword slowly. *BUZZ!* A sword light shed for a moment. The sword had already returned to its sheath, as if it had never appeared. However, in the next moment! p The waterfall that was originally pouring down suddenly paused with a nk gap in the middle, as if someone had cut it in half! "[Reptilian] The foretold inheritence has appeared. The prophecized time hase." Rising, the tall man mounted the sword on his waist casually and murmured. "[Reptilian] This is a rare opportunity for my thirsty de to test the methods of all the other sessors of the various factions!" Almost at the same time. The sessors of all the various major factions be it ns, tribes or sects for that matter rose one after another, heading towards the center, towards the direction of the Ancient Burial Grounds. Back in the Ancient Burial Grounds. Aiden arrived beside Tai Liu and asked softly. "[Reptilian] What''s the background of the Ancient One''s Pce?" Gazing at her elderly uncle, Tai Liu said. "[Reptilian] I think it''s better to let my uncle exin it to you. He knows more about these ancient secrets and mythical fairytale stories than me." "[Reptilian] It''s just a pity that I''m reaching the end of my life and I won''t be able to witness the arrival of this glorious era, sigh." The old man sighed gently with a wistful expression, revealing endless indignance in his eyes. After a momentary pause, he said slowly. "[Reptilian] You already know a bit about the ancient legends of the world. The stories of a time when Emperors ruled over thendscape and there were gods and their guardians protecting all life to their best." "[Reptilian] You already know about the legend of the first guardian, that -for some unknown reason- turned against his brothers and sisters and betrayed everything that he stood for. He became corrupted with power, and brought forth what we now call as the Ancient One''s Apocalypse that ultimately scorched thend above us and forced us to flee underground." The moment those words were said, it seemed to possess a divine might that caused the entire ancient realm to tremble. Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. It was easy to deduce that this person, this guardian was a godly being just by the title alone. However, even when Tai Liu mentioned the Sword and Spear Emperors previously, she did not reveal an expression as such. It was an innate reverence and respect. This was no longer a mere title, but an eternal energy that ran through the ages! As though he could understand Aiden''s confusion, the old man exined. "[Reptilian] Throughout history, there would always be an emperor for every era. The Sword Emperor that left behind the Metal Tree Grove was merely the Sword Emperor of that particr era. Later on, there was someone else who seeded said emperor as well." "[Reptilian] In other words, be it the Sword, Spear, and various martial Emperors, they were not the only ones and every single era would have paragons attaining the title of emperor!" 819 Chapter 819 "[Reptilian] In other words, be it the Sword, Spear, and various martial Emperors, they were not the only ones and every single era would have paragons attaining the title of emperor!" At that moment, the elderly uncle and secretly the guardian for the Azure Myst Sect paused for a moment before saying deeply. "[Reptilian] However, throughout history, no matter how heaven-defying they were, all of them are ants before the true lord, the one that stands atop all of them! The Ancient One, the first and thest Guardian of the Gods that once watched this world He is without a peer throughout history." Hearing this, Aiden was shocked. At that point, he gradually understood the significance of everything he had learned so far. Even the Emperors that came out of these so called super sects, ns, tribes, and whatnot could not take on the Ancient One''s truly fearsome title. These mighty beings were merely different aspects of the Martial Arts World. However, the Ancient One was the true leader of all living beings and was above the so called Sword, Spear, and whatever Martial Emperors! What sort of a peerless genius was befitting of such a title? What could have happened to him that made him so corrupted, so evil? The old man reminisced and said slowly. "[Reptilian] Throughout history, the Ancient One was the strongest and most powerful creature with no equal. He was known as the one that tore through the fabric that gued all entities and turned from a mortal creature into an immortal entity. By his own power and will! In the face of the Ancient One, all the other emperors could only be considered as subjects!" "The Ancient One experienced no failures throughout his life and reigned across history, arriving at the peak. Sweeping through the world and dominating everything below the heavens, nobody dared to challenge his glory as he looked down on the world and is revered and feared till now!" Truth be told, after listening to the old man''s musing, even Aiden found himself to be barely able to contain his emotions. A life without failure? Unchallenged below the heavens? Shred away his mortal body and became a true immortal existence? Someone who singlehandedly reigned across history! There was no one like him before him and no one dared to im themselves as one after him! Letting out a breath of air gently, the old man continued. "[Reptilian] Of course, the reason why the Ancient One received his title was not only due to his peerless power and indomitablebat strength, but also because of his peerless achievements. Yes, one may say they were evil and scheming but in the Martial Arts World didn''t the end results always triumphed over the path one took to reach them? It''s no exaggeration to say that it''s the Ancient One''s credit that the history of this world is the greatest through all times. For better or worse, he is a peerless legend and will remain as such." "[Reptilian] Do you really believe that what the Ancient One did back then, was evil and a grand betrayal of the trust he shared with his siblings?" Suddenly, the old man paused and changed the topic, asking. "[Reptilian] Hard to say I don''t know." Aiden frowned, shaking his head at the question. In reality, he had pondered over this question before as well. From the stories and the recounts he had learned, the Ancient One wasn''t the type to be so scheming as he was described. In fact, he was theplete opposite, he seemed to be a good elder brother and valiant protector of both his family and towards his gods'' assigned duty, this world. Yet, at some point, he suddenly seemed to change. His personality took a sharp twist and turned against everything he believed in, seemingly out of the blue. He went as far as to kill everything that mattered to him, and became the ''sole'' survivor of that brutal sh, that fateful date. The day when the world was burnt. The Apocalypse. Aiden felt that some major piece or perhaps even pieces were missing, making him curious to learn more. He could vaguely sense that a shocking ancient secret was about to be revealed to him. The old man sighed as he said. "[Reptilian] It was said that back in the primordial era, there were thousands of different races. Among them, the nine fiercest races reigned supreme andter generations referred to them as the Primordial Nine Races." Taking a moment to catch his breath, he continued before the young man, Aiden before him could phrase his doubts and concerns. From the growing frown upon his face, the old man was sure that he had some doubts he wanted to clear out. "In the primordial era, we skinks were extremely weak and were enved by the thousands of races without any shred of dignity. We were nothing but bottom dwellers, bullied by everyone else it was a life worse than death. That was a tragic era of the our reptilian race that is unbearable to think of." There was a hint of sadness in the old man''s tone. It felt like as if he wasn''t just telling a story but was truly reminiscing which was clearly impossible and inconceivable! "[Reptilian] Not just us skinks, but all kins and brethren of our reptilian race were enved and reared by the thousands of races and were the most popr type of food for them. From time to time, they would devour our flesh and drink our blood for enjoyment. That situation continued for a long time until the end of the primordial era where a sudden and historical change happened!" "[Reptilian] For some unknown reason, a massive war broke out between the thousands of races and corpses and blood filled the entire world! It was an apocalyptic battle thatsted for many years. Tragic and terrible, blood filled the air and countless races were exterminated." "[Reptilian] After the war of the thousands of races ended, there were only about a hundred or so races left and the primordial era ended." All the nearby martial artists were immersed in the old man''s story and was listening with keen interest. "[Reptilian] The primordial era was a chaotic time, only to be followed by a simr one, that whilst held no name in the annals of history, was just as violent, just as barbaric." The old man sighed with emotion before continuing. "[Reptilian] Because of the war thatsted for countless years, the thousands of races could barely fend for themselves and finally, our race got its much needed respite, seizing the opportunity for an uprising." "[Reptilian] Born weak, we lizardfolk relied onprehending our wits, and agility to create many secret skills to modify our bodies. We could innately sense and absorb this invisible, etheral energy, this mana in the air and grow our body! With our natural born traits, our fangs, our ws and tails grow thicker, stronger, sturdier with each aplished cycle our pioneers aplished, turning our race from a mere failure into what we are today." "[Reptilian] We established the baselines of what is now our civilization and born rise to a new series of Emperors. In order to break free from our fates of being ves for the others, under the lead of multiple emperors, we lizardfolk finally started resisting! We fought against the hundred races that were led by the Primordial Nine Races for our future and finally, a glorious era that belonged to no one but us have arrived!" At that point, many listeners were streaming with warm tears, as if they had traveled back in time to this ancient era and were living in it, witnessing the rise of their proud race themselves! Gripping his fists tightly even Aiden felt emotional, despite the fact that down to his core he wasn''t one of them. The many absorbed essences, the souls he imed as his own during his journey have deeply affected him. He truly felt as one of them, he shared their pain, their worry as well as their hope for a better future. The old man sighed once more and coughed continuing after a bit. "[Reptilian] A historic war was invoked between the reptilian races and the hundred races,sting for a long time and countless experts and mighty figures of the ancient era fell. The emperors were soaked in blood and it was extremely tragic" "[Reptilian] That was the ancient war which all of you have heard of." Hearing that, Aiden nodded. Yet at the same time, he felt the story to be resonating in a familiar tune, reminding him of the faint images of the visions he was shared with back in the primal altar at the Orc''s Tower on Eora. That time, a simr event have transpired but there the story ended with a different tune. It wasn''t the oppressed that came out victorious but the hundred races and the Primals have fallen, lost in time With him being thest survivor. Still, why were there such simrities? Why were there simr energies, simr vibes shared across multiple words? What was the truth behind all this? Just what happened back then? 820 Chapter 820 After giving a brief moment to process his words, the elderly uncle standing beside Tai Liu continued on and said. "[Reptilian] This ancient warsted for a long time and almost spanned across the entire ancient era. Among that, countless prodigies and powerhouses risked their lives to save the living races from the uing disaster, only to be turned intosting notes in that sorrowful sonata." "[Reptilian] Back then, the Primordial Ancient Races were way too strong and had already reigned over both the surface and the underworld ever since the primordial era where there were thousands of races! Under the lead of the Primordial Nine Races, the hundred races joined forces and pushed our rebelling forces back. Slowly, the territories upied by us, lizard folk decreased and they were about to be engulfed by the hundred races that were led by the Primordial Nine Races at any moment" "[Reptilian] Our race that had just been reborn with hope was on the brink of extinction!" Although everyone already knew that the oue of the ancient war was that their Draconic Skink race stood victorious, everyone could not help but get nervous at that point. The elderly old man took a deep breath of air and said deeply. "[Reptilian] In that chaos, the Ancient One''s chosen first High Priest appeared domineeringly and overturned the situation! He, with the aid of his dazzling divine powers conquered the four regions and three seas almost singlehandedly, killing multiple emperors among the hundred races and severing the light of providence on the Primordial Nine Races! Sweeping across the entire world, everyone had to bow down everywhere he passed!" "[Reptilian] Even the mighty arrogant Dragon Emperor of the dragon race and the Elven Emperor of the High Elven race? Pfft! Against the High Priest, all of them had to die! Later on, descendants even referred to the emergence of the Ancient One''s High Priest as the subduing of all hundred races as his subjects!" The martial artists opened their mouths in shock and it took a long time for them to calm their hearts. "[Reptilian] The result of the ancient war was that the hundred races lost massively and were almost brought to utter extinction. Even the Primordial Nine Races were severely injured and had to each hide in a corner of the world, living ignoble existences and rarely showing their faces. The nine areas are known today as the nine forbidden grounds." Aiden shuddered when he heard that. As if an ancient, repressed memory have been suddenly unlocked in his mind, he felt vague, blurry images, fragments of a long lost memory surge back into the back of his mind. It was only now that some of the doubts in Aiden''s hearts were resolved. The origins of the nine forbidden grounds came from the Primordial Nine Races that once ruled over world! He had heard about this before From way back Yet he couldn''t ce the fragment anywhere it felt out of ce, strange but at the same time, he knew it was his, from way before What the elderly uncle meant was that if the Ancient One''s High Priest hadn''t appeared in the ancient era, the lizardfolk wouldn''t have been a match for the Primordial Nine Races. Although this legend was from way before and these mythical existences were already long gone, the Primordial Nine Races survived. Suddenly, a thought struck Aiden. If the Primordial Nine Races were to show themselves again ande out from the nine forbidden grounds one after another in this era, who could stop them now that the reptilian race no longer had the same Emperors? The current High Priest that instead of the valiant hero this story depicted seemed to be schemeful, conniving rat, hiding in the dark, fearful of showing his face to the public? It wasn''t apletely unfounded worry. So far, Aiden hadn''t felt a powerhouse even vaguely simr to his own Besides this mythical existence, this ''Ancient One'', everyone was still trudging the limits of his or her own mortal coil, unable to surpass his race''s limitations. The best they could offer was old fogies at the brink of their death, hiding their powers only acting arrogant without any real power to back their ims. Shaking his head, Aiden stopped letting his imagination run wild. He merely heard the elderly uncle continuing. "[Reptilian] From then on, our draconic skink race has prospered and the ancient era came to an end, bringing us to the current, golden era. Right now, no one even knows of the truth about the Ancient One and his sudden crusade. However, because he reigned through history and conquered all regions, the world''s races refer to him as the emperor and we descendants call him thest guardian of our world, despite the somber truth." "[Reptilian] Furthermore, it''s because of his prophet''s sudden appearance that the hundred races are destroyed and the Primordial Nine Races have to live an ignoble existence, bringing a close to an era. For better or worse, we have truly profited from such a dark past. The ancient era was also known as the Ancient One''s era." The elderly old man continued, seemingly musing to himself and forgetting he was exining to an entire audience by now. "[Reptilian] Ever since the ancient era, time has passed and the world has changed. Generation after generation, emperors have appeared, but none of them would be even close to the mythical figures of the olden times. They are but a mere shadow of their past glory!" Aiden finally heaved out a sigh of relief when he heard that as a phrase filled his mind. Tai Liu said. "[Reptilian] The Ancient One''s Pce was the bedroom of the Ancient One and the first High Priest and contains his true inheritance. Ever since the Ancient Times, the pce have rarely showed itself, and it is said to be the true ce where the Ancient One and the High Priest would reside!" "[Reptilian] It was said that whoever gains entrance would be a future powerhouse of our generation! Among those that stepped in throughout history, three of them became emperors. The other four cultivators became the strongest paragons of their respective generations. It was just a pity that they died midway and could not make it to the end." No one could ensure that the path of martial arts would be smooth. Even the martial artists with the most heavenly-defying potentials would meet with countless cmities and no one could guarantee that they could make it through everything safely. Tai Liu remarked. "[Reptilian] From the point of view of theter generations, if the remaining four of the seven martial artists who entered the Ancient One''s Pce hadn''t died, they would have definitely be emperors with their achievements as well!" "[Reptilian] What''s exactly inside the pce then?" Aiden Zimo could not help but ask. Tai Liu chuckled bitterly and shook her head. "[Reptilian] I''m afraid other than those in the past who entered the Ancient One''s Pce, no one else knows." The old man said deeply. "[Reptilian] It''s said that each of the seven chosen have received different inheritances. For example, the three of them who became emperors were the Spear, Fire and Sabre respectively." Tai Liu looked at Aiden and suddenly asked. "[Reptilian] Aiden let me ask are you interested in the Ancient One''s Pce''s inheritance?" Aiden remained silent to the question and did not reply. Though he had other motives, and a defined goal he felt that these goals were somewhere aligned in a way. Tai Liu continue. "[Reptilian] In that case, let me tell you: Only a single person is allowed into the Ancient One''s Pce. If you wish to obtain the inheritance, you will naturally meet with the strongest powwerhouses the world can offer." "[Reptilian] Also, all of them are bound to be at leastte Martial Master realm, if not already at the peak. Right now, you''re only" She did not continue. In her opinion, Aiden was indeed truly, freakishly strong and could in fact challenge for a right to enter the fabled pce in the sky. However, it was unrealistic to think that he could suppress multiple geniuses and enter the Ancient One''s Pce. After all, he was only at most a Martial Master realm warrior with a pristine draconic bloodline no matter what. Whilst that was impressive, it should be nowhere near enough to truly contend for ultimate victory. The difference even between Martial Masters was way too great! Furthermore, there were other hidden guardian elders of super sects watching from the sidelines. Not all these old fogies could be baited to their deaths by Aiden. He might be able to survive against the attacks of one such Martial Grandmaster. But, what if there were two or three? "[Reptilian] Hmm does the Azure Myst Sect intending to go?" Aiden asked, breaking the silence. "[Reptilian] We are not." Tai Liu shook her head decisively. "[Reptilian] I can almost predict that the area beneath the Ancient One''s Pce will be filled with copius amounts of blood and countless corpses. There might even be many innocent sects that might get implicated just because they want to watch the show." "[Reptilian] One cannot be too greedy. We have already gained a lot during this excursion. We have to know our limits, and it would be pointless to take such a high risk." Nodding, Aiden replied. "[Reptilian] Hmmm, I understand your point However, I cannot miss it, this was the sole reason I havee here for" 821 Chapter 821 Eventually, as the situation stabilized, the people still lingering in the Ancient Burial Grounds, have once again begun to leave back into the Fog Infested Valley and travel back to Ugburg City. Though reluctant at first, after their Young Master''s firm orders, even Aiden''s captains have left together with Tai Liu''s group of Azure Myst Sect disciples. Though they wanted nothing more than to be beside their lord, they knew they wouldn''t be of much help and would only be a burden in the uing challenges, shes. Begruntled, they left acting as protectors of the group of mortal draconic skinks soon after, leaving only their Young Master behind only. The case was especially important for Dara and Pyre. They were incredibly important after the former received the inheritance from the site, and would be valued greatly by the old man, Tai Liu, and their sect of elixir masters. Even still, Aiden wouldn''t be calm if she were to be left by herself. He wanted to have at least Pyre stay with her, and act as friend and shield to lean on. He would only feel more relieved after knowing that her partner, Lady Pyre was with her. Ever since they returned from Ancient Burial Grounds, Madam Dara had been unusually happy. Though he wasn''t sure of the reason, Aiden was sure it was rted to the sudden increase in power he went through. After all, whilst she was still processing, absorbing the inheritance, and the main effects and changes were still to be reflected, her profile had tremendous changes already. [Name: Dara Voragon Status: Processing Race: Primal Draconic Skink (Demoness Strain) (Tier 2+, Mutated) ss: Assassin -> Shadow Huntress Level: 12 -> 18 Condition: 100% Soul Power: 100 -> 280 + 280 +100 (Primal Core) -> 660 Realm: Martial Knight Rank 8/10 Mana: 50 Experience: 0 Might: 10 -> 15 Agility: 16 -> 28 Spirit: 12 -> 30 Skills: Language: Reptilian (Lvl -), Language: (Common) (Lvl -)*, Hunt (Lvl 4 -> Lvl 5), Martial Arts (Lvl 5 -> Lvl 9), Sword Mastery (Lvl 3 -> Lvl 4), Dagger Mastery (Lvl 8 -> Lvl 10) -> Dagger Mastery: Advanced (Lvl 1), Magic Proficiency (Lvl -), Dark Magic (Lvl 1 -> Lvl 5), Blood Magic (Lvl 1 -> Lvl 5), Dragonlord''s Grace (Lvl 1), Subterfuge (Lvl 9), Sneaking (Lvl 8), Backstab (Lvl 8 -> Lvl 9), ???? Effects: Touch of the Primal (Lvl -), Primal Core (Lvl 1- > Lvl 2), ????] There were countless changes on her profile since thest time Aiden actively nced at her system''s page. Apart from receiving a substantial increase in her levels that drove some of her attribute changes, there was a tremendous increase both in her Soul Power reserves, as well as her Spirit attribute. At the same time, it seemed that the inheritance she received had directly boosted it as well, all in all giving her a rise from her preliminary 100 Soul Power to a quite decent new high of 660 points. Besides that, whilst the changes were being processed, marked by the unknown question marks at both at the end of the skills section as well as the effects, a lot of her skills have gained massive boosts over the course of thest couple of weeks. For one, she was no longer the weak former self, with her most powerful weapon being her curvaceous alluring body, but she was now a formidable foe, that judging by the system was probably matched at the 8th rank of the Martial Knight stage. Somewhere in the same level of power as those arrogant young heirs of the powerful sects and ns of this world. Such gains, with only just a bit more than two weeks of effort! This was beyond incredible! Before leaving, she smiled and said to Aiden. "[Reptilian] Don''t worry young master, I will definitely work hard and grow strong enough so that you could be proud!" The only reason why Madam Dara would even bother with going together with the Azure Myst Sect and be a titled master of theirs was so that she could help her young master on his quest and be a useful asset like the others before them. Like Roas, Gob, Galina, and those that she had yet to meet but have already talked to through their shared connection. Recalling Dara''s honest, and genuine smile, Aiden was in a great mood and could not help but grin as well. He did not choose to travel with anyone else. That was because from the moment he decided to fight for the Ancient One''s Pce''s entry, he had already made up his mind to change his appearance and hide everything about his background! With the descent of the Ancient One''s Pce, Aiden would have to face almost all the remaining super powers of this world, as well as stand face to face with the High Priest''s forces. If a massive battle were to break out, it would be difficult to resolve the situation. Furthermore, there was a burning desire within Aiden. He wanted to fight to his heart''s content without having to conceal the truth about his nature and bring harm to those that he treasured; to have a hearty battle with many paragons without having to hide anything! Since there was a chance that he had to take on his true Ancient Draconic form, Aiden had to change his appearance. Even if all the super factions wanted to take revenge,ter on, they would not be able to seek him out. To ensure that nothing went wrong, Aiden would not use any means or weapons that would expose his identity. This also meant that his trademark weapon, Rygintarth would have to stay hidden for the time being and he would mostly have to rely on his own body. Speeding along the way, a series of crackling sounds came from within his body as his tendons and bones rang while his muscles expanded and his body turned taller. Even his facial features were changing! In the blink of an eye, the original handsome Draconic Skink appearance of his disappeared entirely. In his ce was a two meter tall robust, scaleless nondescript reptilian. With rough facial features, an elongated head shape that resembled more of an alligator than of a humanoid being,rge golden eyes and a wide nose and mouth, there was nothing delicate about his appearance anymore. Taking a moment, to check his reflection in a nearby pool of water, he grinned with satisfaction. Only thing that stood out were his tattered, raggedy gray robes that no longer matched his appearance, and were stretched to their limit. Rumbling through his storage bag, Aiden dug out a simple looking coarse linen shirt and draped it casually over his body, exposing his chest. He looked carefree and unreserved. Though those freakish old powerhouses, that stepped beyond the Martial Grandmaster realm and have be Quasi-Divine entities could still sense his vital essence and could see through his newfound form. Other than that, no one could find any loopholes on Aiden''s new appearance with their naked eyes! This was an ancient world, and there were only Martial Grandmasters at most. In other words, the probability of Aiden being exposed was almost zero! Under the heavens, the Ancient One''s Pce was still descending slowly, exuding boundless might. The closer it was to the Ancient One''s Pce, the more evident the feeling became. Those that wanted to contend for the Ancient One''s Pce''s inheritance would have to enter the area enveloped by it; this was also where the final fight would take ce. Though it seemed close, in reality, Aiden still had to spend several hours speeding through the gigantic valley to get close. Around early next morning, his ears buzzed, and caught wind of the sounds of fightinging from the southwest. There were some angry shouts mixed with the sounds. Fights were extremelymon in this ce after all. People could get into fights even if they met by chance, let alone if they had disagreements. Because it was way toomon, at first, Aiden did not intend to bother about it at all. However, he did not advance far when his expression changed. Raising his brow, he came to a stop and listened intently with raised ears. He seemed to hear a familiar voice in that fight. After some hesitation, Aiden changed his direction and dashed towards the southwest. *Poof!* Arge head was chopped off with blood flowing like a fountain. Filled with spirit energy, a peak Martial Knight realm figure was using a long ded saber and was fighting against four other robed figures in an intense fight. Several corpsesid on the ground with warm blood still flowing C it was clear that they hadn''t died long ago. On the side of the battlefield, a beautiful young girl stood. She wore arge, baggy white robe and had a veil as well as arge hood covering her face and head. She was pping as she smiled brightly. "You are so amazing! Another bad guy is dead thanks to you!" "Miss, don''t worry. I will definitely protect you!" The peak Martial Knight realm man who was fighting against four people turned and said to the girl in white. 822 Chapter 822 Arge head was chopped off with blood flowing like a fountain. Filled with spirit energy, a peak Martial Knight realm figure was using a long ded saber and was fighting against four other robed figures in an intense fight. Several corpsesid on the ground with warm blood still flowing C it was clear that they hadn''t died long ago. On the side of the battlefield, a beautiful young girl stood. She wore arge, baggy white robe and had a veil as well as arge hood covering over her face and head. She was pping as she smiled brightly. "You are so amazing! Another bad guy is dead thanks to you!" "Miss, don''t worry. I will definitely protect you!" The peak Martial Knight realm man who was fighting against four people turned and said to the girl in white. "Dhan Hoyier, have you gonepletely mad?!" Opposite him, a man shouted. "The person behind you is pure evil, a bonafide demoness! Don''t be bewitched by her and lose yourself!" "Senior Brother Dahn, why are we fighting amongst ourselves? It''s not toote if we capture this evil witch first before taking a taste ourselves of herter!" Another martial warrior defended against Dhan Hoyier''s saber and remarked while panting. "There''s no need to say more. He''s already bewitched by the demoness and has lost his mindpletely. Don''t hesitate and just kill him!" An older, more respectful looking Martial Artist among the four said in a deep voice. Upon hearing that, the four of them were extremely decisive and used their killing moves one after another, killing Dhan Hoyier on the spot! The older figure turned around and walked towards the girl in white without concealing the wanton lust in his eyes. In an instant, his previous stout and heroic posture crumbled revealing the truth hiding within. "Miss Demoness, do not worry. I can promise you that I will definitely take good care of you once you''re in my hands! Hahaha!" The girl in white did not retreat, nor did she cower before that hideous taunt and stood there pitifully. Sweeping her gentle gaze across the four of them, she said tearfully. ? "But, there''s only one of me and there are four of you guys" "Hmm Is that so?" Suddenly, the older martial artist''s gaze turned cold as he remarked icily. "In that case, I will kill them all! None can stand before our-" *Blurt!* Just as he was about to turn around, a long sword protruded from his chest and fresh blood dripped. In an instant, blood faded from the lusty old man''s face and his eyes regained their rity. However, it was already all toote. "Senior Brother Lonn, you want to enjoy her all for yourself!" Behind the older martial artist that had its life rapidly draining from his body stood a young man with his long silver sword extended. His eyes were maniacal as he shouted with a frenzied, crazed expression. "You can''t have her! She is mine! Don''t fight with me for her!" "Madness!" "Crazy! All of you have gone crazy!" Another martial artist dered coldly with widened eyes. "How dare you forget about our rtionship as sect mates just for a measly woman! Since that''s the case, I will punish you on behalf of the sect!" *CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!* The remaining three younger martial artists fought amongst one another,pletely losing themselves. Neither of them seemed to realize during their bloody brawl that they have all long since fallen under the control of this mysterious white robed woman. They never realized that her pitiful, sorrowful sobbing disy was nothing but a mere show before, and that her real self was truly just as they feared. Before long, two of them were lying in a pool of blood. They only regained stupor right before dying, but it was all toote. Thest person of the group that originally had five brave men had stood alone as his mind had fallen to the deepest pits of despair. In that veryst moment realization dawned upon him but it was all toote. Unable to handle the sudden sorrow and pain ofmitting such an atrocious act, he was distraught andmitted suicide on the spot. In the blink of an eye, the remaining four cultivators were all dead! As for the girl in white, she did not move at all and was watching coldly from the sidelines right from the beginning with a faint hint of mockery in her eyes. That was a true effortless victory! She yed these mortal men like fools with such ease! Right at that moment a voice came from behind. "Greetings, miss!" Not far away, a polite promation sounded. The tone was gentle, carrying no malice in its short journey towards the mysterious woman. Yet his next words stunned the woman. "Young miss, I have to tell you that throughout my long journey you are one of the most terrifying monsters of them all. With such a vicious heart I am certain that you will never reach redemption and will suffer at the deepest pits of the Abyss. Still, as being an honest and religious man before I send you on yourst journey, I will give you the opportunity toe clean and repent so that there might be a sliver of hope left for you in the afterlife or in the next one!" When she heard that voice, the girl in white frowned and turned towards it. Not far away, a huge demonic beast a few dozen feet tall strode over slowly. It had a tiger''s body, the face of what seemed to be a bareskin, a human face, short sharp ws and fangs as well a thick furred tail. Possessing a violent gaze, it exuded a feral aura! "Huh?" The girl in the white''s expression changed slightly beneath her hood and veil as she pursed her cherry lips and remarked silently. "It''s one of them Those abominations" The so-called abominations were actually an artificial race created through forsaken experiments a long time ago. Their masters, long since purged from this realm, have gained their freedom, yet retained their extremely vicious, cruel natures. The strange, horrendous creature was a pure-blooded ferocious beast that resembled a bipedal tiger in shape. With a violent nature and immense strength, it was extremely powerful. Corpses soaked in blood dangled on the vicious creature''s waist in a terrifying manner as the stench of blood filled the ce. Although some of them had died a long time ago and were dried up, they still exuded a pungent smell. Those that were not dried up flowed with fresh blood that dripped on the ground. There were around a dozen or so corpses hanging from the creature''s waist; it was clear that they were from different factions judging from their varied attire. The tiger-like creature swayed its strong tail and along with it, the dozens of corpses swayed in midair, giving off a nauseating stench of rotting corpses! The girl in white''s eyes were filled with a momentary sh of disgust. Even though there were many pure-blooded ferocious beasts in this ancient world, none of them could form their own Inner Cores and as such, they naturally could not speak or articte themselves in any of the world''snguages, much less themon. Still, there was someone else who spoke earlier! A bald figure that was barefooted sat on the tiger monster''s head. Draped in goldenvish robes, the person''s eyes were bright and his face shone brilliantly. The dozens of corpses around his ride''s waist formed a sea of blood and corpses as the strange figure seemed like a mighty Emperor with divine strength, untainted in the midst of everything! This was someone with the power to tame pure-blooded ferocious beasts! The girl squinted his eyes as she measured the stranger for a brief moment. "Are you a priest from the Pce?" The girl in white gazed at the sect badge on the monk''s waist and recognized his background. Blinking her beautiful eyes, she had already stealthily released her flirtatious bewitchment secret skill of her sect, the Pure Maidens Sect. The girl in white was none other than the chosen heir, the Young Mistress of the Pure Maidens Sect. Smiling brightly, she asked. "How may I address you, respectable one?" "You can call me Jor Har." The golden robed priest was expressionless and unmoved. The young mistress''s bewitchment seemed to have absolutely no effect on him at all! "Reverend Jor Har." Pitifully, the girl in white asked. "As someone standing with all the holy of the world, the Ancient One''s pure blooded servant, why do you not have anypassion at all? How could you spout such venomous words of cursing me to the deepest pits of the Abyss?" The girl in white''s eyes had a trace of bewitchment that could stir one''s heart. That was the result of pushing Pure Maidens Sect''s secret skill to its limits! A secret, ultimate technique, the [Bewitching Eye]! It was a skill that could bewitch and was said to be able to seduce any living creature below the Martial Grandmaster realm! 823 Chapter 823 "Huh?" The expression on the golden robed priest, Reverend Jor Har''s face changed slightly as his thick brows were suddenly raised. Widening his eyes, his eyeballs bulged gently in a mighty and terrifying manner! Two rays of golden light burst from Reverend Jor Har''s bulged eyes and shed with girl in white robe''s [Bewitching Eye] technique! In the martial world, there were extremely few secret skills that required the focused training of the eye. Of the secret skills, those that were extremely strong were even rarer. The reason was simple: the eyes were simply way too fragile. If one cultivated them wrongly, it would be easy for them to injure their own eyes. The [Enraged Heavenly Tiger Gaze] that the strange priest was using and the [Bewitching Eye] of Pure Maidens Sect were considered top-tier eye secret skills. They were both coveted and mythical treasures of the world! Ordinary martial artists would lose their guts instantly upon meeting with the [Enraged Heavenly Tiger Gaze]. In fact, some of them might even be scared out of their wits right away! As for the [Bewitching Eye], it could affect almost any mortal''s mind, causing him to lose himself and his rationality. After all, a person''s heart is connected to their eyes. That was the reason why top-tier eye secret skills could affect a martial artist''s mind! "Haaa!" Opening his mouth, Reverend Jor Har roared madly. His voice was like a bell, rumbling like thunder and filled with a righteous and holy aura. "How dare you, evil demon! Although you''re at death''s door, you''re so insolent to release such an evil skill to try and disrupt my mind? You deserve to die for your crimes!" The woman in white, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s heart palpitated as she grunted and her face turned paler. Even though there were no swords, spears and sabers involved in their exchange, it was even more dangerous than anything else! While casting the Bewitching Eye, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was also attacking Reverend Jor Har''s mind verbally. If the golden robed priest''s mind stirred even for the fraction of a second and revealed an opening, it would have been easy for Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva to gain control of him! However, it was a pity that the fearsome and usually clever Holy Maiden encountered such a hurdle as this pure priest free of the mortal''s most grievous sin, lust! The Priests, Monks, and these simr dedicated religious zealotscked the mortal desires in their heart, spending their days in holy rituals and paying their respects to their gods. Finding tranquility in their six senses, they were the most stable mentally. Whilst not all of them were like that, there was a special group of highly trained and attuned stoic, statuesque valiant zealots, specially referred to as ''Reverends''. Furthermore, amongst many of their secrets, they were highly specialized, and uniquely trained powerhouses, each having their own unique, special ability. For example, Jor Har actually learned the Mutant Beastfolk''s most secret skill, the [Enraged Heavenly Tiger Gaze]. Whilst it wasn''t the strongest and most fearsome ability in their group, in terms of power, it was the greatest nemesis of the Bewitching Eye. Of all the possible reverends in the church''s forces, the Holy Maiden was truly unlucky to have encountered the one man, the one crazy figure who was the most effective in countering her. After a single exchange, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was clearly disadvantaged. "This man" Realizing that her secret skill was useless and countered immediately, Sylvie Deva could not help but feel enraged and hollered. "What are you shouting for! The reason why you can gloat is because of my luck! Or actualck there of!" "Evil Demon, today I''m not only going to break my vow of anger, I''m even going to break my vow of killing!" Reverend Jor Har''s expression was calm as he stood up slowly from the top of the Tiger Monster''s grotesquely human-shaped head. Gritting her teeth angrily, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva remarked coldly. "Damned hypocrite, you so called priests are particrly preaching about one thing and do the exact opposite! Where''s the logic in you attacking me for no reason?" "Logic? What more you would need? Subduing evil and fiends like you, that''s the logic!" "The reason why I attacked was clearly because those guys had lust and desire towards me!" The Holy Maiden clenched her teeth in anger. "Damned Priest, you''re not even asking me to find out the truth first!" "Enough with your pathetic excuses, evil demon. Die!" Reverend Jor Har leaped down from the tiger monster''s head whilst he began to circte his full power of peak Martial Knight strength to its full potential. A bright colorless light shone beneath his exquisite golden robes as ethereal energy churned like a raging tsunami. *BOOM!* Extending his palm, Reverend Jor Har''s body shimmered brightly as though he was covered in ayer of gold foil. It gave off a holy aura and was unavoidably blinding. A gigantic spiritual palm conjured from mana descended from above, covering the entire skies as it slowly engulfed the Holy Maiden within its grasp. Most of Sylvie Deva''s techniques were focused on bewitchment. There was no way she was a match for a warrior priest like Reverend Jor Har in terms ofbat strength. Seeing how domineering the palm''s aura was, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva tapped her feet on the ground and retreated, wanting to escape from Reverend Jor Har''s attack range. Evil Demon just ept your fate! There''s nowhere for you to run!" Instantly, Reverend Jor Har realized Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s intentions and shouted, taking eight consecutive steps to arrive before her instantly! In the blink of an eye, the both of them were less than ten feet apart! In their group of Reverend Zealots, he, Jor Har was the strongest in body tempering and meleebat. At that distance, even the demonic, fiendish n members of the Malefic Demons n or the Soul Snapping de n and Otherworldly Demon Worshipping Cult would be doomed, let alone a lone girl, the Holy Maiden of the Pure Maidens Sect. In these so called evil sects, only the fiendish heir of Overlord Sect couldpete against the Ancient One''s most powerful Reverend Force in meleebat! Reverend Jor Har unleashed his killing moves one after another and after three moves, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva had nowhere to run; the veil covering her face had long disappeared. Her expression was distraught, her hair was disheveled under the hood that strangely still stuck to its ce. Her life was hanging on a thread! "This is the end! Die!" Reverend Jor Har released yet another roar that shocked one''s mind as a golden luster shone on the gigantic fist as it closed it to Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva. The golden light was blinding and the wind from the fist was like a sharp knife, causing the Holy Maiden''s cheeks to ache. Her heart sank. ''I never thought I, as the Holy Maiden of the Pure Maidens Sect, would end up dying in such a resolute ce like this'' *WOOSH!* Before she could finish her thoughts, the situation on the battlefield suddenly changed! A tall and mighty figure had unknowingly appeared behind Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva. Reaching out, that person grabbed the frail girl''s arm and yanked her backwards before throwing his left fist out to meet the bedazzling golden fist of Reverend Jor Har in a heavy sh! That punch, that seemed to be so casual, so carefree and effortless, was actually domineering and seemed as though it was going to carve a hole in the heavens to shoot down the sun! There were not many people who could go head-on against a reverend member of the Ancient One Church''s special forces barehanded in meleebat. Apart from the sessors of the most powerful body tempering factions like the Crystal Pce Sect or the fiend heir of Overlord Sect had the capability as well. Any other martial artists from the other factions would have to avoid him! From her side eye, the Holy Maiden saw that the person did not have any sect badge on his waist. Furthermore, he was wearing a rough coarse linen shirt and was clearly not a disciple or elder from the Crystal Pce Sect or the Overlord Sect. If that was the case, that person was definitely bound to suffer immensely if he chose to take on Reverend Jor Har''s fist head-on! "No Don''t do it!" realizing this, she tried to warn him but it was toote. She had a pained expression, as though she could already envision the tragic scene of the arm of the burly man snapped into a bloody mess. "Hmpf! You''re asking for trouble." Reverend Jor Har revealed a mocking expression. *BANG!* Their fists collided with a dull thud of defeat! The mocking expression on Reverend Jor Har''s face disappeared as quickly as it appeared as his eyes narrowed into a thin line! At the same time, even the Holy Maiden of the Pure Maidens Sect was dumbfounded with pure shock! 824 Chapter 824 *BANG!* Their fists collided with a dull thud of defeat! The mocking expression on Reverend Jor Har''s face disappeared as quickly as it appeared as his eyes narrowed into a thin line! At the same time, even the Holy Maiden of the Pure Maidens Sect was dumbfounded with pure shock! The golden lustrous light that contained boundless power and energy on Reverend Jor Har''s fist was dispersed by the strange burly, scaleless man''s fist, scattering everywhere like sparks! As the fists collided, a visible air fluctuation spread out along with a heatwave that possessed an astonishing aftershock! The burly man did not even take a half-step back and his fist waspletely undamaged! On the contrary, Reverend Jor Har staggered three steps back and his expression gradually darkened. The burly man pulled the Holy Maiden by the arm and brought her behind him. With a calm expression and a sharp gaze, he red at Reverend Jor Har. The situation came to a momentary calm with the appearance of the burly man. Both the crazed looking Reverend and the woman in white robes, Sylvie Deva were trying to size up this unknown, mysterious neer, this weird burly man, wanting to make out something from him. He had rough facial features, thick eyebrows,rge eyes, that also carried a strange source of power in them, shining with a dull golden hue all the time, and a wide nose and mouth. Bulky, he was at least a two meters tall giant and his palms and arms were thick as were his fingers. His gripped fists resembled a pair of terrifying maces! Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s brow raised slightly; she could not see anything familiar about the burly man. She was certain that prior to this, she had never seen this man before, much less know him. Yet, for some unknown reason, this stranger came to her aid without hesitation, without a question. Though it was quite lucky for her however, -for some unknown reason-, she felt that something was amiss. She tilted her head, deep in thought. After looking at the burly man from head to toe a couple of times without any conclusion, the old man Reverend Jor Har could not help but ask with a deep and wary voice. "Friend, what sect or faction are you from?" "Hmm Who knows, what''s it to you?" The burly man replied indifferently. "I may or may not being from a faction at all." Thinking that the burly man just revealed the truth, the Reverend sneered. Giving a slight bow, Reverend Jor Har''s gaze gradually turned cold as he said icily. "Since you''re an itinerant adventurer, I would like to advise you not to get involved in this lest you attract trouble for yourself!" "Hmm How interesting." The burly man smiled and replied aggressively, not minding the threatening tone at all. "That''s quite interesting! Do tell, if I insist on interfering, what can you do?" "You do know that the girl behind you is the Holy Maiden of one of the most evil demonic sects of the world! She is someone that kills without batting an eyelid and her hands are deeply soaked in blood!" Reverend Jor Har''s voice turned increasingly louder as he eximed his self-proimed judgement. "And? Me and in fact you as well, despite being a priest and preaching for the greater good your hands are drenched in the blood of countless innocents hypocrite." "W-what?! H-how dare you! S-nder! I''m a member of the Ancient One''s servants and she is just an evil demoness! A witch!" "Yeah and?" The two of them spoke in a tit-for-tat manner and instantly, the atmosphere on the battlefield turned tense, filled with killing intent. However, at that moment, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva felt an unprecedented calmness in her heart! It was as though the mighty back view of the figure in front of her could defend her from any danger! Though she did not know who this man was, or why was he doing what he was doing as she was certain he was not under her influence at all in the end, he still came to her rescue! Even if she was someone from the fiend sects, he did not hesitate! "Well, well, well All right!" Reverend Jor Har nodded repeatedly. When he opened his eyes once again, two golden beams of light shot out and his aura surged. It was the secret, unique skill he learned, the one he used to crush the Holy Maiden a bit before, the [Enraged Heavenly Tiger Gaze]! Ocr Techniques or better known, eye secret skills could not only affect the minds of martial artists but they were also released instantly, making it difficult for opponents to defend against. "Be careful, watch out!" Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva had already sensed that something was amiss the moment she saw Reverend Jor Har''s gaze shine. However, just as her warning came forth, her voice was drowned by Reverend Jor Har''s loud, cackling voice that roared like thunder! There was no trace of holiness in his tone anymore, it sounded just as evil, and conniving as any other. "Since you choose to protect that girl, you''re choosing to be enemies with the Ancient One! It is my sacred duty to remove the world of your filth! DIE!" Reverend Jor Har berated and every single word of his struck at one''s mind like a heavy bell. That wasn''t a simple outcry but instead carried traces of mana in them It was another secret technique of their fearsome group, which earned their ce as one of the most terrifying forces, this world ever carried: it was a nameless sonic technique they used to overpower masses. These two skills were what Reverend Jor Har used earlier to injure Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva instantly and seize the advantage. Under normal circumstances, ordinary martial artists would suffer blinding pain in their eyes and buzzing in their ears against these two instantaneous techniques. In a moment of panic, they would definitely reveal openings. However contrary to what should have been expected, the burly man''s expression was unchanged and even a strange, otherworldly glint shone in his eyes. The two iing streaks of gold light disappeared in midair. Taking a deep breath of air, the burly man''s chest puffed up and his body swelled a little as if he was a balloon. The next moment, he opened his mouth and interrupted Reverend Jor Har with an immensely powerful shout. "KNEEL!" *BOOM!* The moment he eximed, it seemed the entire realm, together with the heavenly firmament above shook in terror! An explosion like thunder crushed over heavily as if a massive army was trampling through everything. An impossible, archaic energy emerged and pressed on the world itself in the next moment! Before Reverend Jor Har could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the burly man and the air in his chest was blocked. It was extremely unbearable as his face turned pale, impacting his aura. He could barely resist the boundless energy pushing him down and remaining standing with all his resistance he could muster. The two of them were extremely close and with a single huge stride, the burly man arrived before Reverend Jor Har almost in the blink of an eye. *BOOM!* He stomped his feet heavily on the ground and the earth and mountains shook. In fact, two gigantic ravines appeared in the ground behind him as the mud was overturned! Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was shocked and her alluring lips spread open slightly as she watched everything in disbelief. Though she could vaguely sense the strange energy, for some reason it avoided her and did not cause any harm for her. Just who was this person? Even pure-blooded ferocious beasts wouldn''t cause such an impact if they crossed rampantly! The pure-blooded ferocious beast below the arrogant reverend was initially watching coldly from the sidelines. However, it was shocked when it sensed the aura of the burly man and its fur stood on end, causing its entire body to expand greatly! This was the natural reaction of a demon beast when it sensed extreme danger. At that moment, in terms of aura, the burly man had already crushed Reverend Jor Harpletely! *SWOOSH!* The burly man reached out with his palm and descended from above, pping towards Reverend Jor Har with an aura that threatened to engulf the vastnds. His fingers spread open and his massive palm seemed like it was about to consume the heavens and suppress the eight destes! Now that he lost the initiative, Reverend Jor Har was shocked. He did not have time to equip any of his treasure artifacts from his storage bag and could only prop up his arms in defense against the colossal force with his mana alone. *BOOM!* The burly man''s palm crushed heavily against Reverend Jor Har''s arms. Instantly, Reverend Jor Har seemed like he had turned shorter as his feet sank deep into the ground beyond his knees! At that moment, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva felt like she was witnessing a great demonic god that stood tall in the sky, looking down at the vast world as he crushed an ant, this powerless mortal with his gigantic palm! 825 Chapter 825 At this moment, the previously haughty and arrogant warrior priest, subject of the Ancient One, Reverend Jor Har had lost all his aura and was akin to an ant squashed in the mud! *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* Both sides were still in a deadlock. However, the sound of bones shifting could be heard from within Reverend Jor Har''s body, as if his bones were about to fall apart, grinding endlessly in a jarring manner. Reverend Jor Har was like a wooden block that was being hammered into the mud by the colossal palm of the burly man. Without any way of escaping, his bones creaked wildly. Meleebat fights were the most dangerous and victory was often determined within a few exchanges of moves. By underestimating his enemy, Reverend Jor Har''s [Enraged Heavenly Tiger Gaze] and nameless sonic attack, two of the powerful fatal techniques, were countered consecutively and in a moment of daze, the burly man seized the initiative. His single mistake had led him to this state. Right now, Reverend Jor Har was motionlessly pushed against the ground by the palm! Even if Reverend Jor Har had a thousand more techniques, he couldn''t use any of them at this moment nor could he summon the Buddhist spirit weapons in his possession. This was a fight basedpletely on strength! As long as Reverend Jor Har was distracted and lost focus of his strength, he would be crushed into sludge by the burly man''s palm without even a corpse left! Even the Holy Maiden, Sylvie Deva was dumbfounded by all of this. She was baffled by this enigmatic, mysterious burly scaleless but strangely still reptilian-looking man. To think that he could pin the mighty warrior priest of the Ancient One''s secretive order motionlessly on the spot! Suddenly, the burly man nodded with a flicker of admiration in his eyes. "The fact that you''re able to withstand this is quite something. Indeed, your fabled old wyrm''s order is truly impressive." Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was now tongue-tied. What was this man doing? Wasn''t his tone way too arrogant? Didn''t he fear the repercussions? In the entire world, which martial artist, be it itinerary or from any of the factions, had the rights to speak to the warrior priests of the Ancient One in that manner? Even more disturbingly so, the strangest thing was that the burly man seemed to have meant what he said from the bottom of his heart. Of course, what was even more shocking was that Reverend Jor Har was totally focused and tense in this intense standoff of strength; he did not even dare to rx or breathe heavily. However, the burly man could still speak! In other words, he still had additional strength to spare! What they didn''t know was that this burly man, this enigmatic stranger was none other than Aiden in his newly donned form. The one he shaped on the spot a while back to avoid being recognized too easily during the uing shes. Knowing him, it was only natural that he would speak up against such oppressive force as the Ancient One''s Order and that he would bat no eye for someone as fabled as the Reverend. He killed bishops without hesitation, why would he care about an unknown reverend then? He dared to kill the selected heirs of such strong and powerful factions as Pei Syriac from the Crystal Pce Sect or Yang Zahn from the Malefic Demons n! Aiden had abilities far surpassing the Martial Master realm, going hand to hand with the top powerhouses in the legendary Martial Grandmaster level! That was the peak of the mortal state, the veritable barrier that one needed to somehow surpass to shed his or her mortal coil and be someone or something more! Reverend Jor Har''s [Enraged Heavenly Tiger Gaze] and pathetic sonic attackbined attack could not affect his mind at all! A look of embarrassment shed past Reverend Jor Har''s eyes. He had never endured such humiliation and suppression as one of the strongest warrior priests, reverends of the Ancient One! This burly man''s condescending attitude had ignited Reverend Jor Har''s deep seated angerpletely. "Do you really think that you can win against me just like this?!" Grinding his teeth noisily, Reverend Jor Har''s eyes gradually shone with a silvery flicker as he uttered slowly. "Empower the mortal mind! Shed one''s limitations!" *CLANG!* The moment he said those seemingly inconspicuous words, a loud bang sounded from Reverend Jor Har''s chest, possessing a resolute metallic intent! It was as if an indestructible power that could prate rocks was about to pierce through and gush out from Reverend Jor Har''s chest. Aiden could clearly sense that the metallic sound earlier on was Reverend Jor Har''s heartbeat! After it sounded, Reverend Jor Har''s bloodline churned and the strength in his arms increased significantly, steadying his wavering body instantly. "Huh?" Nodding at the scene, Aiden''s eyes lit up with excitement instead of fear or dread. He muttered. "How interesting" Hearing his remark, the white-robed Holy Maiden hurriedly remarked, her tone filled with worry. "Watch out! That''s the profound ultimate technique of their Secret Order! A secret manual, the Diamond Body! By developing a mind that abides in nowhere, one is able to cultivate a diamond heart!" *CLANG!* A heartbeat sounded once more, cutting through Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s voice. This time round, the metallic sound was even clearer and more ear-piercing, as if it could destroy everything and prate all beings! The blood in Reverend Jor Har''s body circted slowly, giving off the sound of flowing lead metal, something akin to mercury. That was almost the limit of the power of bloodline. It was incredibly powerful, not many things coulde close to its power! Reverend jor Har''s arm strength increased significantly and he propped up the burly man, Aiden''s palm. As his aura climbed, his eyes shone with frenzy. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva continued in a low voice. "Each time the diamond heart thumps, it would swap blood with the marrow and refine his tendons and bones! At the limit of its level, one''s body bes indestructible and can even fight against pure-blooded ferocious beasts with ease!" *CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!* As though he was trying to prove how scary the diamond heart was, the heartbeating from Reverend Jor Har pounded even faster as his blood raced within his body. *SWOOSH!* The sound of the flowing metal was endless. Terrifying! "I am not sure who you are or where you are from but you are way too naive to think that you can kill me with a single palm strike!" Slowly, Reverend Jor Har spoke with a metallic undertone in his voice that was forceful and resolute. His body was covered with ayer of shiny grayish-silver luster. The power of bloodline that was triggered by the diamond heart had already cruised through his limbs to every single part of his body! "Heh How amusing! Such show from an ant" Aiden smiled gently suddenly. *BANG!* Suddenly, an explosion roared without warning, as though a godly being was beating the heavenly drums fervently, giving off shuddering, forceful thuds. That sound was so close that it suppressed the sound of Reverend Jor Har''s heartbeats! Reverend Jor Har''s expression changed starkly. Since he was opposite Aiden, he could naturally tell that the sound wasing from the other party''s chest! Suddenly, he felt a sense of uneasiness. There was no time for the old man to think as he propped his arms up forcefully. Churning his power of bloodline to its limits, he exerted strength in both legs and tried leaping up to break free from Aiden''s overwhelming suppression. Angrily, Monk Jue Chen roared. "BREAK!" *BANG!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* Suddenly, a thunderous bang sounded from within Aiden''s body. It was forceful and massive, simr to how waves crashed onto shores. Standing in front of the burly man, Reverend Jor Har felt like he was hallucinating. HE felt as if he was pulled into a strange illusion! It felt as though he was a small boat in a raging sea that could capsize at any moment, washing him away without a corpse left! He was horrified all of a sudden! This wasn''t the power of a mortal man! This was something surpassing the limits of what was deemed possible! That was the might of the universe! The Holy Maiden''s ears twitched when she heard that sound as she eximed in shock. Throughout history, it was known that the limit of bloodline Power was at the mythical level. It was said that it could create illusions and its sound would induce terror by itself! There were extremely few martial artists in history who had managed to aplish it. Even with her illustrious background and ample experience she had never met one such person. Though she has heard some rumors that a strange man emerged in the nearby capital of the Draconic Skink race, in Ugburg and has caused a massive upheaval! Although it was nothing but a baseless rumor that she had put no weight to it before now it felt that maybe, just maybe those weird stories could have some truth to them! Yet, no matter how hard she tried, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva could notpare this not so friendly-looking burly man to the strange small reptilian from the stories They felt worlds apart! 826 Chapter 826 "Get the hell back!" The burly man, Aiden''s expression was calm, and so was his tone. However, his blood surged like a raging ocean tide in a terrifying manner. His muscr palm was filled with blood and green veins popped out as it expanded significantly once more, blocking Reverend Jor Har''s line of sight and any path of escape before crushing down savagely on him! Urgh!" Grunting dully, Reverend Jor Har made use of the burst power from his diamond heart and leaped up. Before he could break free from Aiden''s palm, he was pushed down once more. The silvery luster on Reverend Jor Har''s arms dimmed. His energy was draining rapidly. His end was there there was no escape. *SPLURT!* In the next moment, his flesh exploded into a bloody mist, causing incredible pain and torment to its host. Reverend Jor Har''s entire body shuddered, bending his spine while his knees were almost on the ground! He felt as if there was a towering mountain above him as if the heavens had copsed and wanted to destroy him! If this carried on, Reverend Jor Har would be dead within three breaths! "ROAR!" Suddenly, a ferocious beast roared deafeningly. A dark shadow darted over and covered the skies, carrying forth a tragic aura that was suffocating. The mutant tiger-like beast that was dozens of feet tall lunged over with a stench of blood. Its eyes were vicious as it bared its sharp fangs and ws with a menacing expression. Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. Pure-blooded ferocious beasts were extremely strong and even higher-level artifact weapons were not superior against their fangs and ws. In fact, there were even some special weapons that were crafted from the bones, fangs, and ws of pure-blooded ferocious beasts. "Interesting, interesting indeed" Aiden''s expression was unchanged as he continued suppressing Reverend Jor Har with one hand. His other hand was clenched, turning into a fist and hisrge tendons pulsated with his surging [Soul Power] energy. Expanding swiftly, his fist was akin to a golden, brightly glowing seal with a torrential ancient power! He stood on the spot like a towering ancient god as he smashed that golden, brightly glowing seal of a fist heavily towards the mutant monster''s head! The aura of that punch was terrifying and in an instant, even the air ruptured with a deafening bang. As a pure-blooded ferocious beast, the tiger sh bareskin-headed beast naturally knew how powerful that punch was. Although its bones were tough, it did not dare to fight head-on against Aiden''s fist as it hurriedly received the blow with its ws. *BANG!* There was a deafening sound the next moment. The mutant shuddered in pain as it fell from midair. Aiden on the other hand, stood where he was without budging at all as his tendons and bones sounded loudly. His eyes were brightly glowing with its usual luster, filled with a torrential fighting intent. Watching all this, the Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa felt her heart skip a beat. This strange burly man was truly astonishingly ruthless! Whilst a reptilian from birth, Draconic Skinks were considered to be the lower end of the primordialdder. Their fangs and ws were nothingpared to the ferocious beasts. Yet the fact that they could still grow to such a degree and be able to contend with such entities were simply too rare! What was even scarier was that the burly man was actually fighting against two beings at the same time. Suppressing Reverend Jor Har with one hand, he fought against the pure-blooded ferocious beast with the other. Despite that, the shocking thing was that hisbat strength was not diminished and he was not disadvantaged even though his strength was divided. Just where did this strange, mysterious man hade from? Why is he here? Which faction did this undeniable powerhouse belong to? The thing that confused Sylvie the most was that she could not detect traces of secret skills or techniques from any sect from this burly man. "Roar!" Although the mutant beast fell from midair, it was not injured and leaped up once more with a jerk. It shook its body and in the next moment, countless corpses that were previously hung around his body suddenly turned into bloody mists and exploded with a violent momentum! Blood spewed everywhere, forming a mountain of corpses and blood. *SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!* The tiger-like, bipedal mutant beast tread on that mountain of corpses and blood and charged over with its nine tails swaying like whips. The wind howled as it engulfed its opponent, Aiden. The reason why pure-blooded ferocious beasts were so strong was not purely because of the purity of their bloodline and their terrifying strength. It was because they possessed killing moves that other, regr beasts did not have! Like those giant guardians back at the Fog Infested Valley. Therge snake could utilize lethal poison and coat his own tail and use it as a deadly weapon if needed! The sharp end of its tail was nigh indestructible and sharp. Even peak Martial Masters would not be able to defend against it with its body! It was the same for the mutant beast before them. Swaying behind, its thick tail formed a sealed space and they could attack from various directions. It was like dealing with not one, but multiple sharp steel whips that were extremely difficult and troublesome to defend against. Reaching out, Aiden scooped in midair and grabbed the mutant beast''s thick tail in the next second. Yet, before he could reach it, he had to retreat and defend against the strange illusionary space formed by it. Even with his sturdy, highly refined physique, his organs would suffer from the impact of those strange blurry tails smashing on his body! Left with no other choice, Aiden released his palm that was holding Reverend Jor Har down. Instantly, Reverend Jor Har seized the moment of opportunity and his diamond heart pounded, surging his body with his unique bloodline. Leaping from the ground, he didn''t hesitate even a second and decisively ran off into the distance without turning back at all. He wouldn''t have been able to hold on if itsted any longer! Drenched from head to toe in cold sweat, he felt as though he had just passed through the Abyss''s gates. *BOOM!* Annoyed by this, Aiden stomped on the ground and retreated rapidly. He gripped the real tail with both hands and exerted strength in his arms just as he was retreating! The tremendous force was transferred to the creature through its tail. It shuddered immensely and its body nearly broke apart. Instantly, the other illusionary tails lost their strength and directions. They vanished without a trace in the next moment. Aiden took a deep breath of air and yanked that thick tail, lifting the massive body of the mutant creature into the air before swinging it to m onto the ground! *BANG!* It was a deafening crash. Dust clouds rose everywhere. Even the girl in white, Sylvie Dewa was dumbfounded. Everything happening before her hadpletely exceeded her expectations. How terrifyingly strong must one be to be able to do this? A short momentter, the dust dissipated and there was a huge crater on the ground with cracks all around it. Lying in the middle, the mutant beast''s eyes were dim and it groaned weakly. Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa''s throat moved as she subconsciously gulped. The mutant creature''s bones were most likely crushed with that! In that short period of time, Reverend Jor Har had already escaped to the horizon in the distance. Gazing back, his face had a faint silver shade and a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. He had to admit his defeat. This time around, he had suffered a huge setback. The burly man''s first attack wasn''t that bad; after all, Reverend Jor Har managed to defend against it. However, with the second attack, the burly man''s aura began to rose! Coupled with the fact that he was pinned on the ground, Reverend Jor Har''s body could not take it at all and the flesh on his arms was ripped while his organs had shifted positions! It was truly an aggrieving battle for Reverend Jor Har. While the burly man''s strength was shocking, he felt that if it came to a life-and-death battle, he might not necessarily lose to the former. As soon as they shed, he was pinned to the spot by the burly man and he couldn''t use any of his skills at all. He could not even manage to bring out his secret treasures and artifact weapons which were the bare basics. If he had his trump cards equipped from his storage bag, the Diamond Staff, and the Diamond Bell, his fighting strength would have been doubled at the very least and he would have definitely killed the burly man here! Although those were his thoughts, Reverend Jor Har no longer dared to fight Aiden given his current condition. "Mysterious stranger I underestimated you today. If I meet you again, I''ll definitely take you down!" Reverend Jor Har''s voice sounded from the distance, filled with endless indigence. 827 Chapter 827 "Mysterious stranger I underestimated you today. If I meet you again, I''ll definitely take you down!" Reverend Jor Har''s voice sounded from the distance, filled with endless indigence. "Ahaha" Aiden threw his head back andughed, dering loudly, "Ignorant Priest, if we meet again and you dare go against me, you won''t be able to run again!" Reverend Jor Har thought that he did not disy his true strength. However, little did he know that it was the same for the burly man before him! After all, Aiden merely used his physical strength to contend and almost kill him just back then. If he were to shed his mask and utilize his true form and turn into a full-fledged Ancient Dragonoid figure and burst forth with his full usage of his [Soul Power], he would have taken Reverend Jor Har''s life with the first palm strike! In his opinion, even though Reverend Jor Har was a priest, this was no kind soul. There were a thousand corpses hanging around the gigantic tiger-like creature behind him. In other words, it meant that there were even more martial artists, young masters, and prodigies who had died in his hands before meeting them! That was the reason why Aiden made the remark about how the reverend had plenty of blood on his hands too. Furthermore, there was no way that Aiden could sit by idly and watch Reverend Jor Har attempt to kill an innocent-looking woman, this Holy Maiden without understanding the situation at all. Whilst he was sure that the woman in white was no real saint either and had done many questionable things in the past, Aiden trusted the judgement of his System. When she was demarked with the friendly green color on his minimap, Aiden was sure that she would be an ally rather than an enemy or a neutral passerby. Still, he had no idea who she was and how would she be friendly. Also, considering her unique abilities that were already scanned and revealed by the system, Aiden was just that much more baffled. Even then, he wouldn''t have bothered to intervene in their duel if the System wouldn''t have thrown him an emergency quest just as he looked over! He had toe down and protect the young miss otherwise the system would penalize him which would then cause him to fail his main quests Aiden had no other choice but toe to the aid of this unknown young woman, even if he deep down was still slightly against it. Even worse, the gains were merely a new acquaintance and nothing substantial by the system! Not even some free System Points! Watching from the sidelines the entire time, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva even forgot to step out and assist the burly man. On the one hand, it was because the burly man''s methods had stunned her. On the other hand, there was a doubt she had in her mind. With a cool gaze, she looked at the burly man before her intently, as though she was trying to decipher something. Since he wanted to change his appearance and hide his identity, there was no way she could find anything vaguely familiar in the strange man. Aiden turned to leave soon after forcing Reverend Jor Har to back off. Although he could not kill him and gain his precious vital essences as well as all that cultivated energy for himself, he did what was requested by him from the system. All of a sudden! A sweet fragrance wafted over. A beautiful figure stood in front of him and blocked his path. Closing in, a smiling face looked at Aiden with deep interest without blinking. Under the Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s stare, although Aiden looked calm on the surface, he felt a little weak internally. He was worried that he might have revealed any mistakes, exposing his disguise before this stranger of a woman even before the main event had started. He did not want to reveal any of his secrets before the time was right. Especially being so close to the enemy, such a mistake may be critical! Frowning slightly, he was about to avoid the Holy Maiden and walk to the side when a thought struck him. ''If I leave just like this, she''ll definitely suspect me and might even deduce something from my real identity. After everything that happened, not many could achieve such a feat'' At that thought, he turned to Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva and red at her expressionlessly, asking coldly, "What''s the matter? What do you want?" "Who are you?" Ignoring the cold tone, Sylvie asked in a sweet voice and a seductive smile. "You can simply call me Void de." Aiden had already thought up a name for himself before. "Do we know one another?" She asked again. "No." He responded curtly. "Since we don''t, why did you save me?" She asked the main question finally. "Save you?" Momentarily stunned, a mocking look flickered through Aiden''s eyes as he sneered. "You''re overthinking it, miss. I merely wanted to fight that priest. A warrior priest from their order was of a great opportunity! Saving you was just a matter of convenience." "You''re lying!" Suddenly, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s eyes shone brightly as she dered. Aiden raised his brow in response. Harrumphing coldly, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva continued. "When you first appeared, you saved me immediately and protected me behind you. It was an extremely natural reaction without hesitation. Do you still dare to im that you don''t know me?" "Heh So self-conceited! You were blocking my line of sight and affected my performance. It''s only natural that I had to drag you to the side." Aiden sneered in reply. "Hmmm, alright." Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva nodded and took a step forward aggressively. "By standing in front of me, you revealed your back entirely to me. I''m someone from the evil sects and yet you were totally unguarded and trusting towards me. Despite that, you im that you don''t know me?" It was undeniable that the chosen mistress of the Pure Maidens Sect was truly too smart. Aiden thought that he had not made any mistakes after changing his appearance, everything he did was carefully thought out To think that he had revealed such a w! Just as the Holy Maiden had said, how could one of two people who had just met trust the other party so easily as to reveal their backs exposed entirely? After a moment of silence, Aiden replied indifferently. "Heh! Even if I expose my back to you, do you think that you can injure me?!" Although it was a brazen statement, in reality, it avoided Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s question. She dered again, "Also, now that I''m not wearing my veil, there''s no way anyone who''s seeing my face for the first time can be as calm as you! You should be enthralled by my sight!" Though it sounded extremely arrogant and conceited, in reality, the Holy Maiden was truly qualified to say something like that. The Pure Maiden Sect of the demonic sects was different from the other evil heirs. There were countless demonic heirs, simr to the ex-Dark Lord of the Malefic Demons n. ,m Yang Zahn of the Malefic Demons n was the number one amongst all his peers in the same realm in the n and hence, he was chosen as their future young heir. However, in truth, he wasn''t the only one. For all major realms, there was one heir chosen and ready to take the helms. One for the lower realms, but there was actually one from the old Martial Grandmasters and Masters as well! Upon firmly stepping into the next stage, Yang Zahn would have lost his title as the Dark Lord and Young Heir and would have to contend once again to be one in his next power level. He would had to challenge the current heir and defeat him in a life-or-death battle! The chosen heirs could not deny the challenge requests, it was one of the main rules in their n! The fight to be a chosen heir of the demonic factions was extremely cruel and every single chosen heir was truly, undeniably exceptional. They stood above countless corpses of their fellow sect mates and their hands were tainted with the same blood. Suchpetition was encouraged among these factions. However, it was vastly different for the Pure Maidens Sect. From the very beginning of their journey, all the way toward the height of the world in the Martial Grandmaster realm or even higher, there was only a single disciple of Pure Maidens Sect that could obtain the true inheritance of the sect. Unless the current generation''s Holy Maiden dies or loses her qualifications, the Pure Maidens Sect would not select a new sessor. Pure Maidens Sect had extremely high expectations for their Holy Maidens and it was not an exaggeration to say that the candidate is one in a billion. Every generation''s Holy Maiden was born with a natural charm that could topple worlds with every wink, smile, and action of theirs. Once they were truly grown up, they would definitely be peerless demonesses who could bewitch the masses. 828 Chapter 828 In the battle earlier, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was totally countered because she was dealing with the elite warrior priest of the Ancient One''s Elites. If it was the sessor of any other sect, they would have to consider if they could handle the bewitchment of the Holy Maiden of the demonic sects. Countless years ago, there was a generation''s Holy Maiden who even managed to bewitch a legacy disciple of all the top factions, even one of the Warrior Priests, the Reverends! Thetter was totally subdued and joined the demonic sects, shocking the entire cultivation world! That generation, the reverend forces turned into aughing stock of the martial world. It was a dark stain in their holy history! That was the reason why the Warrior Priests and Pure Maidens Sect had a longstanding feud that spanned beyond their different beliefs. Ever since Aiden appeared, he was tooposed despite seeing Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s face; there was no ripple in his eyes. It was only natural that Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva became suspicious. Turning around, Aiden''s gaze shifted slowly on Sylvie. Finally, his bold gazended on the Holy Maiden''s wless and almost breathtaking face, grinning. "Woman, you''re quite interesting. Are you hinting to me that you want to be my partner for the next hour or so?" Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva furrowed her brows slightly. She was extremely familiar with the look that the burly man was giving off. It was a kind of gaze that made her disgusted. Seeing that, Aiden finally heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Holy Maiden avoiding him. Internally, he felt a tinge of guilt. He had no other choice in order to hide his identity. He had to continue with his ploy. "Why? You''re unwilling?" Aiden''s expression darkened. Since he was acting, he had to go all the way. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was stunned for a moment when she saw that the burly man was displeased. Instantly, she smiled with a charm that struck at one''s soul and replied tenderly, "Please don''t be angry, benefactor. There''s been a misunderstanding and I mistook you for someone else." "Let me express my apologies." With that, she bowed over with an apologetic look. Aiden harrumphed coldly and did not say anything more. With a flicker in her eyes, Sylvie asked again suddenly. "Are you not going to ask me who I mistook you for, benefactor?" "No, I''m not interested." Aiden waved it off and walked into the distance at an extremely fast speed while saying from far away, "I''m only interested in the Ancient One''s Pce!" "Ah what a coincidence! I want to head to the Ancient One''s Pce too! Shall we go together?" Sylvie Deva yelled from behind. There was naturally no way Aiden would reply as he went silent, pretending to have heard nothing. They had only met and he was nearly exposed by her. If they were to travel together, she might truly see through his disguise! Knowing how dangerous she would have been, he made up his mind, and without stopping he continued moving ahead, disappearing from Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s line of sight in the blink of an eye. When she saw that, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva frowned slightly and murmured in deep thought. "Seems like it''s not him. Too bad." Aiden only slowed down after he was far away and heaved a sigh of relief. "That woman is way too sharp" Muttering softly, Aiden shook his head and flew towards the Ancient One''s Pce that was at the center of the ancient battlefield. Several hourster. The Ancient One''s Pce descended slowly. As it got closer to the ground, the aura that it exuded also turned increasingly terrifying. For hundreds of miles around the range of the ancient pce, all the ancient living beings and remnant beasts have shifted away, not daring to linger near it. Although countless years have passed, the remnant might of the Ancient One was massive and could still suppress the eight destes while instilling fear in the demons! "So, that''s the Ancient One''s Pce. It''s truly impressive." "The pressure is way too immense. Even though I''m at thete stage of Martial Knight realm, I don''t even dare to head forth. It''s hard to imagine the type of pressure that one has to endure if they start fighting within the perimeter of the Ancient One''s Pce''s shrouded area." "Hurry, look! Is that a divine dragon that''s etched on that stone pir? It looks so realistic that it seems like it''s alive!" The appearance of the Ancient One''s Pce attracted martial artists from all over the ancient battlefield. Oneyer after another, everyone in that dense crowd looked up at the ancient pce that was in the middle of an electric ocean and a vortex of dark clouds with shocked expressions. Not everyone was as logical as Tai Liu to be able to repress their curiosity to avoid being implicated in the bloodshed. "Hmpf! I will give you guys three breaths worth of time to leave. Anyone who is still here after that will die!" Right then, an icy voice sounded from outside the perimeter, carrying a sharp edge that could slice through everything! Everyone turned over. Behind them, a long-robed figure strode over with a sheathed long sword hanging casually from his waist. Twirling his long, slender fingers casually, he had a cold expression. "How do we leave this ce within three breaths?" Many martial artists frowned. Yet the reply was unexpected and cold. "One." Expressionlessly, the long-robed figure lowered his head and dered. "Who is that? He sure is arrogant!" Someone could not help but sneer. "Two." The long-robed figure remarked once more. A sharp-eyed martial artist caught sight of the sect badge hanging from the person''s waist and yelled with a shocked expression. "Sword Sect! He''s probably the sessor of Sword Sect, Hart Juo!" A massivemotion broke out from the crowd the moment they heard the words ''sessor of Sword Sect''. Right then, Hart Juo''s voice sounded once more. "Three." Unknowingly, his slender fingers were already on the hilt of the sword on his waist. Gazing coldly at the crowd in front of him, he said, "You''ve already missed your final opportunity." *BUZZ!* A peerless white sh shone. Nobody could describe the speed and power of that sh. The Startling Sword was bound to startle upon making its appearance! In that instant, all the martial artists facing Hart Juo were blinded by that bedazzling sword beam and could not open their eyes. The next moment, they felt their throats turn cold as a warm, sticky liquid started spewing outside with a nauseating stench! It was fresh blood. Dozens of martial artists that stood in front of Hart Juo fell at the same time. Copsing to the ground, their throats were slit by the sword and they died, unable to rest in peace. Almost everyone who came to the vicinity of the Ancient One''s Pce were at thete stages of the Martial Knight realm and were rather capable. However, those dozens of them died on the spot without even having the chance to take out their artifact weapons. That was how terrifying the might of his single sh was! The martial artist behind him were horrified as they took out protection treasures from their storage bags and crushed them instantly. Right after, they summoned their own weapons and defensive treasures such as shields and heart protecting mirrors before calming down. *SWOSH!* By the time they were prepared and looked ahead, Hart Juo had already vanished. A gentle breeze blew across. Hart Juo had already charged into the crowd with his Startling Sword! A sword beam rose followed by a bloody sh. Some of the martial artists were cut in half with fresh blood spewing and countless nauseating internal organs flowing out. Protection treasures were nothing but paper against Hart Juo''s sword. *CLANG!* Just then, a martial artist defended the Startling Sword with his shield, and a crisp sound echoed upon the collision. The joy in his eyes appeared for a brief moment before freezing on his face. With a dimmed gaze, his head tilted to the side as his life was cut away from him! A white scar appeared on that person''s shield and it broke into two by the time it fell to the ground. A superior-grade defensive treasure artifact could not even withstand a single sh from the Startling Sword! Many martial artists were terrified and fled into the distance, not daring to linger. That was the terror of a sword master! Although the spear reigned supreme in the world, not all martial artists who could use powerful artifact weapons were considered weapon masters. For Hart Juo, a true sword master, their swords never left their hands and vice versa. Sword masters were particr about the sword techniques, force, intent and focused on cultivating the Force of the sword so as to be one with the sword, to be one with the world and in fact, to be one together with the sword and world together! Furthermore, among the many factions of the world, the Sword Masters of the Sword Sect, one of the most powerful sects, were the most famous. The founder of Sword Sect was the number one Sword Emperor of the ancient era. 829 Chapter 829 Wielding his sword, Hart You charged into the crowd. Everywhere he passed through, hell broke loose as fresh blood spilled along with broken limbs in a tragic scene. The battlefield was in chaos. Shrieks, screams, yells, and the sound of killing were mixed together. *Pitter! Patter!* *Tap!* *Tap!* From the south, a series of heavy footsteps arrived. Each time it sounded, the ground would tremble a little, as if a massive being with terrifying might was sprinting over! Many martial artists looked towards the voice. A buzz-cut martial artist headed over with huge strides. With a bare upper body, his exposed muscles shone with a bronze luster and his muscles bulged out one by one, giving off an explosive feeling of power! He was a saurian, a unique, scaleless one at that! The person carried a gigantic iron spear on his shoulder that was pitch-ck and heavy. Exuding a violent aura from head to toe, his eyes burned as heughed with a domineering aura. "A bunch of reckless idiots. How dare you guys try to taint the Ancient One''s Pce!" "Hurry, run! It''s someone from the demonic sects!" "That''s the fiend heir of Overlord Sect, Shadow Raven! Run!" Shadow Raven pped the spear on his shoulder and it bounced into the air as he shouted. "You all had your chance However, it is all toote to run now!" *SWOOSH!* The iron spear tore through the air, turning into a dark ray of light as the wind howled. Following the spear, Shadow Raven charged into the crowd. The martial artists that stood at the front were torn into pieces by the ck spear. With a flick, the spear shattered all spirit weapons that collided with it. "Kill!" Shadow Raven roared as he gripped the ck spear singlehandedly. He swept in reverse and sliced dozens of martial artists in the crowd into pieces with the strength of a massive army! The mighty Overlord Sect was the strongest body-tempering sect among the so-called ''demonic'' sects. In the entire world, they could be ranked as one of the top threes, alongside Crystal Pce and of course, the mighty elite force of Reverends. As the current chosen heir of Overlord Sect, it was easy to imagine how strong this fearsome saurian man with the strange title ''Shadow Raven'' was in meleebat. This was a killing feast! A pale white light shone around the edges of Shadow Raven''s body and ethereal energy, mana surged while his bloodline roared. Everywhere his spear passed, people were bound to die as no one could withstand its sharpness. On the other side of the makeshift battlefield, a deep purple aura arrived. It produced an unrestrained pressure as though an emperor has arrived. "Oh no! Everyone, hurry and run for your lives! That''s none other than, the chosen heir of the legendary Purple Firmament Sect, Seehto''ch Ku''gar!" The crowd in the east was also in a mess as martial artists scattered in all directions. A purple-robed martial artist stood in midair with a solemn expression. His entire body was shrouded by a billion streams of purple energy that shone with a brilliant myriad of colors. He possessed a dignified aura that looked down on the masses. "Go!" Waving his sleeves, Seehto''ch Ku''gar chided softly. At hismand, countless streams of purple energy that were initially surrounding him formed purple-colored swords in midair that shone brightly as they tore the crowd into pieces like a group of purple clouds. The purple clouds swept across the skies and many martial artists fell from midair to their deaths. It was as Tai Liu had predicted; an unprecedented massacre was bound to happen on the ancient battlefield with the appearance of the Ancient One''s Pce. The vicinity around the Ancient One''s Pce turned into a ughterhouse. It wasn''t just Sword Sect and Purple Firmament Sect. Sessors of the other nine immortal sects appeared one after another and joined the battlefield. There was an icy cold looking maiden with white robes fluttering, a martial artist with lightning gaze and sped like the wind, another martial artist with a unique looking crown on his head and a horsetail whisk From the side of the demonic, ''evil'' sects, apart from Shadow Raven of the mighty Overlord Sect, Shaori An of the Acid Rain Sect and the chosen heir of Mirage Fiend n have appeared as well. The fiend heir of Zenith Sect, Bair Yohren, charged into the battlefield with his Zenith Saber and killed ecstatically. Previously, Bair Yohren escaped from the Metal Tree Groove using the secret technique of his sect, the Blood Escape after losing shamefully to Aiden. Now that he reappeared, he seemed to have found some of his luck again, as he was now proudly radiating his Martial Master state power! To be fair, if he hadn''t reached this stage, he would have already met his demise like all the martial artists here if he hade forth to take a look, let alone covet for the Ancient One''s Pce. All the sessors of the righteous and evil sects had a tacit understanding and avoided one another temporarily while killing the other, weaker martial artists. Under such circumstances, the only ones who had a chance of escaping were those at the peak of the Martial Knight realm! Suddenly, a burly man in linen, vagrant clothes with thick brows and a rough, battle-carved face stood at the boundaries of the chaotic battlefield, watching everything coldly. Aiden had already arrived! *DING!* *DONG!* Suddenly, a long and distant bell sounded from the west, seemingly able to cleanse one''s soul and was extremely sacred. As the bell rang, a bald martial artist strode over. He was barefooted and dressed in monk robes. Wielding a golden bell, his eyes shone with a tinge of golden glow it was the travelling battle priest, Reverend Jor Har! "Hmm." Reverend Jor Har held one palm vertically and let out a soft hum as a form of greeting. Although only barely a day could have passed, Reverend Jor Har''s expression was normal and his aura was stable; it was clear that his injuries had already healed. He must have used some extremely precious medicines and salves to get back to top shape. Aiden nodded silently. As the selected elite force under the Ancient One and the High Priest, the Reverend''s resources had to be truly capable. Previously, Reverend Jor Har''s was heavily suppressed by Aiden and his flesh had exploded while his organs were dislocated. In merely a day of time, he had already recovered to his original state. That was proof that the priest''s physique was truly extraordinary. He was unlike his other peers in service, he wasn''t only strong in his techniques but also in bodily might. *DING!* Expressionlessly, Reverend Jor Har flicked his wrist gently and the bell sounded once more. A group of martial artists that were fleeing in midair on their flying swords shuddered. Their faces turned pale as they swayed unsteadily. *DING!* The bell sounded once more. *THUD!* *THUD!* One after another, the martial artists fell from midair. By the time they reached the ground, their gazes were dim and blood flowed from all seven orifices; they were already dead! Three more priests and even a female priestess strode slowly forward behind Reverend Jor Har. Although the three priests and the priestess were all Reverends as well, their attires were different as were the identifying insignias on their waists. From the High Priest''s elite group, five Reverends have appeared! It was truly a gathering of the world''s elites! In this battle, some martial artists from other sects or itinerant martial artists who thought that they were strong finally understood the terror of the world''s factions, righteous and evil sects, ns, as well as the true power of the High Priest, the current retainer of the Ancient One''s Pce!. Although they were also at the peak of Martial Knight ream, as well as some in the Martial Master stage, they were no match for the sessors of those sects! The number of martial artists around the Ancient One''s Pce decreased but the number of corpses increased as blood flowed like a river. Finally, someone caught sight of Aiden who was standing at the boundaries. It was Bair Yohren, the chosen heir of Zenith Sect! Naturally, he did not know that this was Aiden who had changed his appearance. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have advanced alone without any reservations. Bair Yohren''s expression was cold as he held the bloody Zenith Saber in his hands. He red at Aiden without any shred of emotion. Although Aiden was expressionless, a flicker of mockery shed through his eyes. "Die!" Bair Yohren swung his Zenith Saber and created a bloodied arc in midair before it descended upon Aiden''s head. Aiden''s eyes shone brightly. Just as he was about to take action, a tender shout sounded from behind him. "Stop!" A fragrance wafted over. A pink ribbon tore through the air. Although it looked weak, it managed to fend off Bair Yohren''s attack! Right after, as if it was alive, the pink ribbon coiled itself along the body of the saber. Frowning, Bair Yohren retracted his de hurriedly. "Holy Maiden of the Pure Maidens Sect, what do you think you are doing?!" He red at the girl in pink that darted out from behind the burly man, asking in an unfriendly manner. "Hehe." By now, Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa had already covered herself with her veil again. Smiling gently, she nced at the burly man and said softly. "This is a friend I invited. He''s on the side of our sect." 830 Chapter 830 When he heard that, Aiden frowned. Just as he was about to retort, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva tiptoed beside his ear and whispered. "The Ancient One''s Pce has just descended and everyone''s aiming for the throne. The sessors of the immortal, fiend and Buddhist sects will tacitly eliminate the other martial artists first." "If you''re alone, you''ll definitely be targeted. How abouting with us for now? It will only benefit you." In reality, Aiden had two reasons foring here. On the one hand, it was for the Ancient One''s Pce. On the other hand, he wanted to test out the elites and paragons of the so called top factions and most fearsome sects and ns! He had no fear of being targeted at all! After all, if he was capable of surviving the assault of not one, not two but three bishops at the same time, and also ovee two Guardian Elders, he believed that there wasn''t many opponents left in the Mortal realms that could truly hurt him. Perhaps those few Quasi-Divine entities but those were few and far between and unless there were a valid reason, none of those creatures would risk their lives for mortal squabbles. As such, he should be safe. However, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was leaning towards his ear flirtatiously. Her tender voice and scent of a maiden stirred Aiden''s heart and he did not reject her, as if possessed. Right after, Aiden snapped out of his daze in a shock andmented internally. "Impressive! Truly impressive miss!" Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s charm was everywhere and it was impossible to guard against her. As the Holy Maiden of the Pure Maidens Sect, one of the most controversial ''demonic sects'' outs there, there was no need for her to cast a bewitchment technique specifically. Her presence alone was a form of bewitchment. The higher the power stage of the Holy Maiden, the more terrifying their power of bewitchment would be. In the end, a single smile, wink and emotion would be enough to intoxicate anyone to a point of no return. In the martial world, there were some charming techniques that relied on wearing half-covered clothes, using flirtatious gazes,nguage and daring actions to seduce men. However,pared to their own sects secret techniques and skills, those charming techniques that were avable for the general public were wildly inferior. By the end of everyday, the Holy Maiden of the Pure Maidens Sect was a peerless beauty that could overthrow the entire world. She had no equal. Pure, clean, awe-inspiring and invible, a single subtle flirtatious look from her eyes would be enough for an ancient mighty figure to submit to her whims. "Humph!" Sizing Aiden from head to toe, Bair Yohren sneered. "It''s just a lover that you''ve found. What rights does he have to bepared to us the chosen heirs?" "Hehe." Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva chuckled. "How arrogant! I wonder who were the ones who were beaten to the brink of death just recently by a sudden neer and lost the inheritence for the Sword Emperor hmm? Care to tell me the name of that promising young man that humiliated you so easily?" Upon hearing that, Bair Yohren''s expression darkened and a few other young paragons looked alerted as well. That event wasn''t just the shame for Bair Yohren, but was a humiliation for them that no one was willing to speak of. Shadow Raven swung his ck iron spear and turned around after killing thest few martial artists, striding over in huge steps. The tip of the spear fell naturally to the ground and sparks flew everywhere as it trawled the ground. "Where''s that mysterious man then? If you are talking so promising about him, where did he go then?" Arriving in front of Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva, he asked loudly with a fiery battle intent in his eyes. The mysterious man that Shadow Raven was referring to was naturally Aiden. Pouting her lips, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva rolled her eyes. "How should I know?! I know just as much about him as you." Suddenly, Bair Yohren said. "He should be close by too. I could feel him before." "Oh? Really?" When the few young heirs heard that, their expressions changed and killing intent shed through their eyes. Pausing for a moment, Bair Yohren shook his head again. "However, I don''t think he''s here or at least not anymore. I didn''t spot any signs of him." Bair Yohren was thoroughly humiliated after retreating with a loss after the battle at Metal Tree Groove and there was naturally no way he would take the initiative to mention that. The Illusion Fiend Cult heir harrumphed coldly. "At the very least that guy has got some brains." "If he dares show himself, I''ll definitely create a bloody hole in his body using my iron spear!" Shadow Raven''s expression was haughty as he mmed the iron spear in his hand onto the ground heavily. Instantly, a series of cracks appeared and his murderous aura was daunting. Aiden''s expression was calm and there were no ripples in his eyes even as they were talking about him. Shifting his gaze, Shadow Raven sized up Aiden and nodded while smiling. "Not bad, you''ve got some guts. I''ll forcibly acknowledge you of being qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with us fiend heirs." Shaori An of Cloud Rain Sect remarked casually, "Since the Dark Lord of Malefic Demons n isn''t here yet, we''ll let this person rece him for now as a helper." Waving his folding fan lightly, Shaori An looked cool and suave. Despite the fact that he had just killed more than a hundred martial artists, his clothes and hair were still neat. "Hey, what''s your name?" Shadow Raven looked at Aiden with a slightly raised head. "You can just call me Void de." Aiden replied with a calm expression. "Void de, haha! What a powerful name!" Shadow Ravenughed. "You''re quite arrogant. I wonder what and how your weapon techniques are like!" Bair Yohren remarked coldly, "In the martial world, most people with such loud, condescending titles are only so-so in terms of capabilities." "You can try me if you are not afraid of being humiliated once again." Aiden said indifferently. "Mmm? Do you have a death wish?!" Bair Yohren''s expression changed as killing intent rose in his heart. "You''re wild. Interesting." Sweeping his iron spear, Shadow Raven blocked Bair Yohren and shook his head with a stern expression. "Don''t fight first. Something isn''t right." Everyone followed Shadow Raven''s gaze. The battlefield was mostly cleaned up and the only people left under the cover of the Ancient One''s Pce were the sessors of the most powerful sects. Among them, sessors from seven of the nine immortal sects were present, including Hart You of Sword Sect and Seehto''ch Ku''gar of Purple Firmament Sect. From the High Priest''s representatives, five of the legendary reverends were present. One woman and four men, each with their unique and most likely terrifying abilities and skills. Of the seven fiend sects,Yang Zahn of Malefic Demons n was already dead and there were no signs of the Shadow Assassin from Hidden Death Assassination Sect. Apart from Aiden, the other four demonic heirs and the demoness were present. These nearly twenty martial artists could be considered as the top paragons of the mortal realms under the Grandmaster realm in the entire world. Apart from Aiden, the rest of the martial artists were at peak Martial Knight realm, with a few secretly ready to advance to the Martial Master stage! The reason why something felt amiss was that the seven paragons of the immortal sects led by Hart You of Sword Sect and Seehto''ch Ku''gar of Purple Firmament Sect as well as the four priests and one priestess seemed to be joining forces as they surrounded the demonic heirs! Two clear sides were already being drawn and the schemes were already secretly in y and the true event hasn''t even started yet! "Hart You, Seehto''ch Ku''gar, Jue Chen. What''s the meaning of this?" Narrowing his gaze, Shadow Raven asked slowly. "Nothing much." Hart You''s lips curled up and he swayed his slender fingers. "After destroying the demonic sects, we''ll naturally choose someone from our side of righteous sects to take on the Ancient One''s Pce''s inheritance." The demonic heirs frowned. Including Aiden, there were only six of them facing against everyone. However, there were a total of twelve people when the paragons of the righteous side and the High Priest''s forces were added together! In other words, each of them had to face at least two paragons! Shadow Raven of the Overlord Pce was publicly acknowledged as the strongest among the demonic heirs. However, he would not dare to im victory against Hart You, Seehto''ch Ku''gar and all the other battle masters, let alone if he had to deal with two people at one go. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva raised her voice. "The situation is clear right now with three distinct lineages and a total of 18 martial artists. We can just fight in pairs to decide the final victor to obtain the Ancient One''s Pce''s inheritance. That will be considered as fairness There''s no need for the so called ''righteous forces'' to scheme in such an evil manner right?" 831 Chapter 831 Reverend Jor Har''s gaze swept past the burly man that Aiden was masking as and paused for a brief moment beforending on Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s face as he sneered. "The situation will be even clearer after destroying the demonic sects." "Fair?" Seehto''ch Ku''gar shook his head. "There''s no fairness to speak of in front of the Ancient One''s Pce. Furthermore, fiends are evil beings that should be punished!" "Little friend, if you see that the situation is not right, don''t be stubborn and leave this ce quickly!" Suddenly, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva extended her finger and poked Aiden''s waist, whispering to him. "Huh? How does she know? Was I exposed somehow? Why was she calling me like that?" Although Aiden was expressionless on the surface, he was internally shocked. "Don''t deny it! It''s definitely you!" "Do not even try to deny it! I can feel that this is not your real appearance! I''m sure you are that strange fellow from the stories! That Aiden!" Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva inched over and whispered. "You can''t hide it from me. My instincts have always been keen." "Miss, I don''t know what you''re talking about." Aiden replied indifferently before shifting his gaze towards the dozen or so figures standing at the outer perimeter of the Ancient One''s Pce. All of those martial artists were white-haired and old. Although their eyes were turbid and they seemed like they were at the end of their lives, there were still terrifying auras being exuded from them. They were all simr to the old man before! Martial Grandmasters lying in wait, each assigned to protect his or her young master with the cost of his or her life if needed! Holy Maiden Sylvie Devamented as she noticed his gaze. "Don''t worry, those old b*stards won''t dare to strike given the circumstances. With this sudden stalemate, as long as one of the factions strike and make use of their peak Martial Grandmaster stage powers, the other old men from the other two factions would also be implicated. By then, all parties would suffer great losses and perish! None of them would want such an oue." The twelve martial artists of the righteous sects walked over slowly in two rows, keeping their eyes on the six people on the side of the demonic sects, Aiden included. Hart You of Sword Sect targeted Shadow Raven of the Overlord Sect right away. Seehto''ch Ku''gar of the Purple Firmament Sect targeted the heir of Illusion Fiend Cult as well. It was a battle between the strong, the powerful! The sessor of Icewind Mountain was a cold-looking woman in white robes. She controlled a thin silvery needle with a frosty aura and specialized in prating through protective shields and armors. She radiated rich mana. The lone priestess of the group, the only female Reverend, wielded a long sword that shimmered coldly. The two female martial artists of the righteous side both set their sights on Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva right away! "Seems like I will have to take care of that unknown person then." The sessor of the Majestic Sky Sect smiled faintly. With a wave of his sleeves, a wide, thick sword that shimmered with bright colorless lights tore through the air and headed straight for Aiden''s head! Sweeping his head, Aiden nodded to himself. It was as expected of the top factions of this world. With powerful foundations, most of their paragons were in possession of powerful artifact weapons and treasures! Aiden was not flustered at all when he flicked his hand and from the brightly glowing marking on his chest, an average looking broadsword appeared in his palms. *CLANG!* His thick de trembled violently as it shed against its opponent. Though it looked average, it was a supreme tiered, high quality sword that he had found in the Ancient Burial Ground ruins. Since he wanted to hide his identity, there was naturally no way Aiden would take out a weapon as signature as his ebony de, Rygintarth. Otherwise, he would be exposed by Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva and Bair Yohren immediately. Although he could not make use of Rygintarth, Aiden had no intention of concealing the secrets of the recently acquired sword technique, the Void Splitting Manual. The reason for that was because he knew that apart from him, there was another sessor who knew of those five stances in the martial world *SHING!* The thick sword tore through the air and shone brightly with the coated mana it was enforced with. Like a zing sun that was filled with boundless energy, it had an intimidating aura and arrived in an instant. Aiden''s expression did not change as the spirit energy in his body surged wildly, causing a pale golden luster to shine underneath his gray robes. "Ha, so you are a piece of trash! Nothing worth watching!" When Bair Yohren swept his gaze and caught sight of that, he could not help but sneer. The other chosen heirs let out disappointed expressions as well. On the other hand, the paragons of the righteous side looked more rxed. The burly man''s energy he just released was only at thete stages of the Martial Knight realm. Whilst such martial artists were considered as rare geniuses in the martial world and normally it would be an astounding feat. However, for the many paragons present,te stage of the Martial Knight realm martial artists were equivalent to trash that wouldn''t be able tost for more than a couple of breaths in a massive head on fight as such! Even for martial artists of other sects that were also at peak of the Martial Knight realm, they were far weaker than the sessors of these top powers, let alone merete stage Martial Knight realm warriors. The demonic heirs were already frustrated given the fact that they were in dire straits. When they saw this, they were even more upset. Shaori An of Cloud Rain Sect opened his folding fan and defended against two iing thrown daggers while sneering with clear contempt. "Miss Holy Maiden, your judgment is truly getting worse!" Among the paragons present, only two of them did not show any contempt. One of them was the woman in question and the other was Reverend Jor Har who had suffered a loss in the hands of Aiden previously! *CLANG!* An ear-piercing sound of metal shing echoed in the void. Sparks flew by as Aiden swung his mighty broad sword against the iing thick de. Instantly, the internal energy coated on the sword was shattered by an immense force and dissipated on the spot! *BUZZ!* The sword quivered unsteadily, showing signs of falling. "Huh?" The expressions of a few paragons changed when they saw this. "This" "Something isn''t right!" "Such burst of power watch out! That man is a body tempered warrior!" *SWOOSH!* The burly man, Aiden had already vanished from the spot and within a couple of steps, he arrived in front of the sessor of Infinite Sky Sect. His eyes shone brightly with a surging killing intent as he mmed down with his broadsword! The mighty de cut through the air at an extremely fast speed and it was so forceful that heat was emitting from the saber! "So fast!" The sessor of Majestic Sky Sect realized that the situation was bad and his hair stood on ends as his pupils constricted. He was too careless! With that moment of carelessness, he had lost the initiative and was now the disadvantaged party who was in danger! *SWOOSH!* pping his storage bag on his waist, he swiftly pulled out a dark gold-colored circr shield and injected his internal energy into it, lifting it above his head as it swiftly expanded. *CLANG!* Another loud boom sounded when the thick broadsword shed against the shield. "Ugh!" The light on the shield dimmed, as if the connection with its master was severed by Aiden''s de. With a dull grunt, the sessor of the Majestic Sky Sect almost knelt onto the ground as his knees wobbled under the insurmountable pressure. As he lifted his shield with one arm, the sessor gripped his other hand into a fist that was surrounded by translucent energy. He threw a punch at Aiden''s chest like a long spear! This was the sessor of one of the top powerhouses of the world, the Majestic Sky Sect, no matter what. That was why he was still able to retaliate despite his current, rather dire circumstances. "Don''t do it! Watch out!" Suddenly, Reverend Jor Har''s voice sounded. However, it was toote. Aiden''s eyes flickered with mockery when he saw the sessor of the Majestic Sky Sect throw out a punch as he did the same and received the iing punch with a punch of his own! *BOOM!* The two fists, like opposing asteroids in space, collided. The unleashed force ruptured and the tides surged. Instantly, color drained from the sessor of the Majestic Sky Sect heir''s face as bead-like sweat droplets started flowing down from his head. *CRACK!* A jarring sound of bones cracking echoed out. A few paragons turned towards the sound instinctively and their expressions changed. The sessor of the Majestic Sky Sect''s palm had already disappeared, turning into meat sludge that hung off pathetically on his wrist. 832 Chapter 832 The Majestic Sky Sect''s young paragon''s entire arm was contorted into a weird shape with his bones protruding out of his flesh as it hung limply. With the meat hanging on his bones, it was a terrifying sight! "Ah!" The sessor of Majestic Sky Sect howled in pain as he copsed to the ground, shivering with a fearful expression. With two shes and a punch, the sessor of Majestic Sky Sect was crippled! The paragons present were not the only ones shocked; even the Sealers that were watching were slightly agitated. "In a fight between fierce lions, one has to use their full strength. Since he grossly underestimated his opponent, he has no one but himself to me fornding in such a precarious state." "Hmmm I wonder Was it truly just because he underestimated his opponent?" Instantly, the tides on the battlefield had changed. Nobody expected that the sessor of Majestic Sky Sect wouldnd in a tragic state with a crippled arm after a single exchange of blows. This meant that a paragon had already lost the rights to fight for the Human Emperor''s inheritance and had to withdraw. The paragons present looked at the sessor of Infinite Sky Sect with a pitiable expression. Up till this point, the paragons had not realized that a nightmare that would continue to haunt them for many years toe had just begun Compared to some of the others present, the fate of Majestic Sky Sect''s sessor was considered to be rather lucky "What''s this crazed madman''s background? He''s got some skills at the very least..." Shadow Raven roared inughter as he swept his spear horizontally, forcing Hart Yuo, who wasing at him, to retreat with a thrust. Compared to Malefic Demons n''s spear techniques, Shadow Raven''s spear thrusts and shes was much lessplex. It was just a simple thrust from the middle level. However, its momentum was oppressive and the spear''s ferociousness was shot forthpletely; he was not disadvantaged even against two opponents! The Sword Sect''s paragon-chosen heir''s Hart Yuo''s sword technique was not weak at all and his internal Force was extremely sharp, possessing both offense and defense. Colliding continuously against Shadow Raven''s gigantic spear, the sound of metal nging rang repeatedly as sparks flew endlessly. On the side of the demonic sects, apart from Shadow Raven who could hold his ground in a one versus two, the other fiend heirs werepletely disadvantaged. For Shaori An of the Cloud Rain Sect and for the Holy Maiden of the Pure Maidens Sect who were weaker inbat strength, to begin with, they were in a perilous situation and werepletely suppressed, forced to retreat continuously. On the other side of the battlefield. The fiend heir of the Mirage Fiend n might not necessarily win Seehto''ch Ku''gar of the Purple Firmament Sect in a one-on-one fight either. One of the High Priest''s elite forces, one of the male Reverends was assisting Seehto''ch Ku''gar, the fiend heir of Mirage Fiend n was at a loss and the situation was not looking good for him. If this battle continued, the already disadvantaged demonic heirs were bound to lose! On the battlefield, the only variable was the strange madman, the unknown burly man in ragged, linen clothes with an unknown background, known to everyone as Void de. *DING!* *DONG!* After crippling another young sessor with two shes and a following punch to the center of his ribcage shattering it in the process, Aiden heard a piercing ring of a bell beside him. The loud bell rang for a long time and was never-ending, like a sharp thorn that pierced his head repeatedly! With a golden bell in hand, Reverend Jor Har had already arrived behind Aiden. That was a powerful artifact weapon, one of the top treasures of their order, the Golden Bell. Its body was a bell made of pure gold ore and its mouth was circr with rounded edges; exquisite patterns were engraved all over its body. The Golden Bell in Reverend Jor Har''s hand was nourished by the High Priest''s holy light before. It received the holy baptism, granting it incredible power in the process! It had the strongest impact on those who had opposing, ''evil'' thoughts and stood against the Ancient One''smands. Those martial artists that were weaker would die on the spot, bleeding from all their orifices at the same time! When Reverend Jor Har arrived here, he killed dozens ofte stage Martial Knight warriors with just the ringing sound of the Golden Bell alone. That was clear proof of how terrifying its might was! However, it was a pity that although the bell was powerful, its impact was almost negligible for Aiden who had cleared all seven orifices. *SWOOSH!* A cold gust of wind blew behind him. Wielding his Diamond Staff, Reverend Jor Har stabbed at Aiden''s head with astounding strength. *CLANG!* Aiden did not even turn back and made a backhand sh, as though he had eyes behind his back. shing heavily against the reverend''s battle staff, a loud sound was heard as sparks flew everywhere! One side was a reactionary counter-attack while the other side was a preemptive strike. However, Aiden did not yield. Yet, Reverend Jor Har was forced to retreat half a step back! "Incredible! How strong!" "That person''s physique is actuallyparable to the Reverend''s secret technique?" "How could that be possible?!" The young paragons were astounded upon seeing this. Initially, when Aiden crippled Majestic Sky Sect''s young sessor, everyone thought that it was merely because thetter underestimated his opponent and was caught unaware. But now that Aiden was not disadvantaged after a head-on sh with the Reverend Jor Har, the crazed battle priest that was known for his supernatural strength and defense, the paragons of the righteous sects frowned and their expressions gradually turned grim. They did not know that at the moment, Reverend Jor Har was even more shocked. His Diamond Staff, his most treasuredpanion and artifact weapon he had received way back when he joined and grown stronger alongside him in his countless decades of ventures, was far stronger than the Golden Bell. It was the Diamond Staff, also known as the Demon Vanquishing Staff, was one of the most unique and legendary weapons known to the world. It symbolized unbeatable might and unyielding dominance that was capable of suppressing all evil! Initially, Reverend Jor Har thought that he could suppress Aiden confidently by relying on those two artifact weapons. However, even with those two artifact weapons, he did not gain any advantage. Instead, he was the one disadvantaged right now! "Hahaha!" Turning around, Aiden grinned and said, "Stupid priest, you never learn, do you? After I gave you a chance and spared your sad life the previous time, how dare you provoke me once again? Do you believe that your false guardian would protect you forever?" *BOOM!* Aiden stomped his feet and the ground and mountains shook. With a bang, he burst forward and appeared in front of Reverend Jor Har in the blink of an eye. Circting his surging [Soul Power], he swung his arms and cut down with his broad sword, as if he wanted to rip the void apart! "AAAArgh! Protect!" Reverend Jor Har roared madly as his full power burst forth in the next moment. Instantly, his figure expanded along with his aura! "Roar!" From the depths of Reverend Jor Har''s mouth came a furious roar that sounded like a mythical lion and was able to shock one''s mind. Two bedazzling golden beams shot out from his eyes like a descending God with a terrifying might! It was as though Reverend Jor Har''s body had disappeared and in his ce stood a mighty lion with golden fur that roared into the sky fearlessly! Even Shaori An and the others who were watching from the perimeter of the battlefield were shocked, let alone Aiden who was facing the impact directly. It was a majestic sight. The true depths of the High Priest''s forces were truly astounding. Its centuries-lost secrets could shock the martial world again and again Revealing powers that were beyond the mortals of this world. However, it was a pity that Reverend Jor Har was facing Aiden. Aiden was not of this world, nor was he any mortal. He had the strength of countless creatures inside his body, strengthened by his primordial soul He was not a mortal, he was somewhere beyond that. He was a Primal! The true origin race of all creation! After meeting with Aiden''s golden gaze, the fearless lion developed an innate sense of fear and its aura weakened momentarily. *CLANG!* The ethereal de energy unleashed by him collided against the Diamond Staff and a jarring sound of metal shing rang throughout the battlefield. Reverend Jor Har retreated once more. *SLASH!* Before he could catch his breath, a second strike had already descended. Aiden''s stamina and physique were terrifying and far beyond what Reverend Jor Har couldpare with. 833 Chapter 833 *BANG!* Reverend Jor Har could only raise his Diamond Staff once more to defend against the second strike. By now, his arms had gone numb and he no longer had any feeling as he was forced to retreat once more with a pale expression. When the nearby other reverend saw that, he was infuriated and charged toward Aiden, leaving his partner to fight alone with Shaori An of Cloud Rain Sect. *SWOOSH!* The arriving reverend wielded a simple looking, but most like a rather profound steel rod which he mmed down with a ferocious force as he leaped upwards. The wind howled with a buzzing sound as though the mountains were about to be crushed into dust! "Argh!" Right then, a shriek sounded from the other side of the battlefield. Under the attacks of the two sessors of Snowdrift Valley and Clear Heart Nunnery, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva finally failed to hold out. A small gash appeared on her arm and vibrant green-colored blood gushed out C it was clear that she was already injured. The wound seemed like it was small and did not injure her bones. However, the floating daggers of the Snowdrift Valley''s chosen maiden possessed pure, unrestrained frost mana that could freeze one''s blood and even his or her own spiritual energy. At that moment, the raging mana was infiltrating the Holy Maiden''s body repeatedly through her wound, cruising through her limbs. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s movements became more sluggish and there was even ayer of frost covering her eyes and lips! Looking at her, Aiden narrowed his gaze, his expression turning colder than before. At that moment, everyone from the fiend sects, even Shadow Raven of the Overlord Sect, could not take care of themselves. Nobody was avable to rescue the poor Holy Maiden. Reverend Jor Har wielded his Diamond Staff once more and the other warrior priest hisrge steel rod. The two fearsome warriors of the High Priest''s forces were lunging toward the burly man, Aiden at the same time! Aiden''s eyes lit up and he let out a long deep holler. He did not dodge nor retreat against thebined attacks of two paragons from the church. Suddenly, a series of crackling sounds came from within his body like beans being fried as his tendons and bones rang together. *SLASH!* Aiden shed down in the next instant. The echo of raging tides sounded in the distance. Aiden''s sword was apanied by a mighty force that could tear through towering waves, going against the current in a domineering manner as if it could cut through everything and sever all living beings! That massive force that threatened to tear through the voids attracted countless gazes. "This is" "Impossible! This is Sword Force!" Some paragons eximed in shock and a mixture of terror. The sound of the force in the distance was all too clear and its force was way too terrifying such that all the paragons present could recognize it. That sh was already at the second level of sword techniques, the pure essence of mastery, the Sword Force itself. However, not all the paragons could identify the origin of that sh. Only Hart You of Sword Sect and Bair Yohren of Zenith Sect narrowed their gazes before remarking slowly, "That''s The Sword Emperor''s long lost technique!" The moment those words were said, a huge wave of shock swept through the battlefield. While not everyone was able to recognize the origin of that sword technique from the burly man, all of them have heard of the Sword Emperor''s legendary techniques the Void Splitting Manual''s five stances! It was the ultimate technique used by the first Sword Emperor to sweep across the world in the ancient times! Right now, in the martial world, there was only a single sessor of a ce that knew of that sword technique. It was a holynd, one of the only remaining surface inds in the vast barren, and scorchedndscape. "Holy Fire Ind!" "That man He is from the Holy Fire Ind! No wonder he doesn''t bother to reveal his sect badge!" The major power yers of the remaining martial world were actuallying from the few, around a dozen or so top factions, demonic and righteous sects, ns, and hidden tribes the High Priest and the Ancient One''s doctrines as well as from the survivingrge aristocratic families as well as two surfacends with survivors. Among them, the two surfacends were established somewhere in the vast sea and rarely bothered to dwell on worldly matters. Without much news, they were the most mysterious. Holy Fire Ind was one of the two holynds, the surviving surfacends. It was considered almost a holy site by the underworld dwellers. Due to the rtionship between the two respective emperors in the ancient era, the feud between the two super sects, Holy Fire Ind and Sword Sect, had also existed for a long time. Each time a sessor of Holy Fire Ind stepped foot onto the world, it would naturally cause a hugemotion in the underworld, and bloodshed ensued as well. "He''s the sessor of Holy Fire Ind?" "Thest time a sessor of Holy Fire Ind appeared was more than a thousand years ago." In the distance, the Guardian Elders muttered and frowned slightly. Everyone had heard the news of the Metal Tree Grove disappearing and someone obtaining the inheritance of the Sword Emperor. However, it was impossible for someone to reach the level of ''Sword Force'' within such a short period of time. The only possibility was if it was the sessor of Holy Fire Ind who had cultivated the Sword Emperor''s true legacy since he was young and immersed himself in the Void Splitting Manual for many, many years. On the battlefield, almost all the paragons believed that this burly man in linen clothes came from the Holy Fire Ind. However, Bair Yohren of Zenith Sect had a grim expression and a dark gaze that lingered for a long time on Aiden. He did not know whether the sessor of Holy Fire Ind entered the ancient battlefield. However, he witnessed another martial artist, a young Sword Master obtaining the Sword Emperor''s inheritance and releasing such power in the same way personally! Be it in terms of appearance, attire, figure, or even weapon used, the burly man before him was way too different from that gray-robed sword master. However, the two of them had quite a few simrities as well! They were both strong, almost impossibly so in physique, and trained in the mythical long-lost technique. Furthermore, based on the gray-robed martial artist''s power realm back then, it would make sense for him to be at around thete stages of the Martial Knight realm right now. Most importantly, the burly man and green-robed martial artist were both rted to the Holy Maiden of the Pure Maidens Sect! Before Bair Yohren could finish his line of thought, a sudden change happened on the battlefield. Reverend Jor Har and other warrior priests endured the greatest pressure faced with Aiden''s attack and they were extremely shocked! By now, it was toote for the both of them to stop. *CLANG!* *CLANG!* There were two loud bangs that happened at the same time! Before the other warrior priests could fall down from midair, he was knocked flying by a massive force and thrown far away. Hisrge steel rod was sent flying as well and he spat out a mouthful of blood as he fell heavily onto the ground. Eyes tightly shut with a pale expression, he had already fainted. He was severely injured after a single attack! Yet another paragon had lost the right to fight. Reverend Jor Har gripped his Diamond Staff firmly with both hands and used all his strength, channeling the internal energy in his body to its limits. Opening his eyes widely, his full power surged and his body was covered with a toughyer as he roared. "Dark Impervious Scales!" *THUD!* *THUD!* *THUD!* Even so, he could not stop the massive force and retreated continuously. With each step, a deep footprint would appear imprinted on the ground. After retreating several steps, Reverend Jor Har was still unable to steady himself as he fell on his butt with green thick liquid, his own blood oozing from the side of his lips in a pathetic manner. Compared to the other reverend just before, he was only mildly injured and could still fight. Aiden did not stop after forcing back two paragons with a single sh. In a sh, he appeared on another side of the battlefield in the blink of an eye. Right now, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was in a perilous situation. She had just defended against Snowdrift Valley''s sessor''s floating daggers and the warrior priestess was just arriving to seal the deal. The angle of that attack was extremely tricky. It stabbed from the bottom of her waist and curved upwards! Sylvie Deva''s eyes and lips had ayer of frost on them and her movements were sluggish. Just as the sword was about to strike her, a sword beam shed through the battlefield. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a thick, broad back emerged before her, blocking all threats. 834 Chapter 834 *SLASH!* Without a word, as soon as he appeared seemingly out of thin air, Aiden cut right into the battlefield and raised his de once more. Unlike his previous strike, this attack was extremely soft, as if ripples were forming on the surface of ake as a shimmering light coiled the female warrior priestess'' weapon inside instantly. *CLING!* *CLING!* There were a series of collisions. With each collision, the female warrior priestess'' face would turn paler. The powerful torrenting from Aiden''s casual strike, which was the second strike from the [Void Splitting Manual], Ripple was as smooth as water, and once released, it would attack relentlessly until Suddenly, another de shed from the void. The sword in the hands of the warrior priestess was repelled and her exposed bountiful chest was met with a merciless sh. In the next moment, shes of blood appeared. "Aaaargh!" Eximing, the warrior priestess staggered in retreat as a bloodied wound appeared on her chest with blood flowing out. It was lucky that she had activated her insignia''s secret technique earlier on or that sh would have cut her straight into two! Another paragon was forced out of the fight. *ZING!* The sound of a sharp de tearing through the air was chilling. shing in reverse, Aiden struck the iing fierce sword and ayer of frost appeared on his saber. At the same time, the voice of Snowdrift Valley''s chosen sessor sounded. "Frost Seal!" A cold wind that seeped into one''s bones struck Aiden and he felt as though someone had poured a basin of cold water from above. Under the watchful gazes of many, a thickyer of ice could be seen forming on Aiden''s body at a visible speed. Starting from his head, it spread gradually and covered his entire body. In the blink of an eye, before anyone could react, the mysterious burly man was motionless as he maintained his previous battle stance with a frozen expression C he had turned into a life-like ice sculpture. At the sight of that, some paragons heaved a sigh of relief. After all, the strength that unknown factor, this burly man -Aiden- had disyed was way too terrifying. Adding more fuel to the fire, he was so overwhelming that three paragons had fallen in his hands. Of the many paragons present, no one had absolute confidence in suppressing him. "Good move there miss! It''s no wonder why you''re the sessor of Snowdrift Valley." "Amazing, to think that you froze the sessor of Holy Fire Ind instantly with a single Frost Seal!" Some paragons praised one after another. On the other side, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s expression sank as he gazed at the motionless figure, the ice sculpture of the man that had protected him multiple times by now was standing absolutely lifeless. "Heh, it is toote now!" The young female, fair-skinned girl, that mostly looked like a regr human from the surface, but with a pinkish, small and thin tail waggling with excitementing from her bottom half, Sieanna Caliphe, the sessor of Snowdrift Valley, descended from the skies with her white robes fluttering. She dered coldly with a haughty expression. "That''s Snowdrift Valley''s secret skill. Anyone that''s struck by it will have their bloodlines and spirit energy frozen and they''ll die within a couple heartbeats! Nothing and no one can save that man now!" "Oh Is that so miss?" Suddenly a strange, deep, thunderous voice sounded from the battlefield. It felt as if it wasing from somewhere underground, deep below the surface blocked by severalyers of minerals in the process. Yet, when following the voice to the source, everyone could clearly tell that the voice came from within the ice sculpture! *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* Along with cracking sounds, a series of cracks appeared on the ice sculpture, extending and growing until they covered the entire body. Snowdrift Valley''s ieanna Caliphe''s expression changed as disbelief filled her eyes. *BOOM!* There was a deafening sound. Right in front of everyone''s shocked and floored gazes, the ice sculpture exploded, revealing a tall and burly figure. A deep growl could be heard from the figure''s body, as if a primordial beast was disturbed from its millennial slumber. "Impossible!" Someone eximed softly. This sudden and unexpected change caused many paragons that were fighting to stop temporarily and turn their gazes over. Zenith Sect''s Bair Yohren''s gaze shimmered and his expression was grim. The burly man before him had yet another simrity with the strange youth from martial artist at the Metal Tree Grove. Both of them had this very same mysterious energy source! Of course, it was quite an absurd guess and it was mostly due to Bair Yohren''s intuition. While it was possible for a cultivator to change his appearance by making use of some concealment technique or mask-type artifact weapon, it was impossible for them to change so drastically in terms of figure. That was something that could not be exined. Such a body transformation technique or skill was unheard of. Sensing Bair Yohren''s gaze, Aiden was expressionless as killing intent rose in his heart! Aiden''s body was filled with raging, violent energy that cruised through his limbs and organs, purging away the remnant frost mana within him. The frost between his thick brows and wild hair was gone and steam rose from his head. Surrounded by the mist, Aiden was like a supreme demon that have just emerged from the pits of the abyss and could not be ignored. "Hahahaha!" Casting an arrogant sidelong nce at Snowdrift Valley''s sessor not far away, Aiden could not help but burst intoughter. "What bullsh*t Frost Seal is that, miss? That''s all there is to it? Is this all the so-called chosen heiress of the Snowdrift Valley is capable of? How utterly pathetic!" Sienna Caliphe''s face was deathly pale and her arms were trembling in anger. There had never been anyone who looked down on Snowdrift Valley''s secret skill like this. In other words, if Holy Fire Ind''s sessor had not managed to train such an astounding source of power, there was no way he would have been able to break free from the power of Frost Seal! Aiden retreated a couple of steps and nced at Holy Maiden Slyvie Deva who was shivering from head to toe. Frowning slightly, he reached out and held her palm, circting his internal energy, causing it to surge into her body! In the next instant, warm energy surged within Holy Maiden Slyvie Deva''s body, purging the oppressive frost mana from her slowly. Perhaps it was because she had recovered some of her lost blood, or perhaps it was some other reason, but Holy Maiden Slyvie Deva''s pale face blushed with a darker shade of red. She lowered her head slightly in a shy and charming manner, causing everyone''s hearts to flutter. The paragons present had different expressions upon seeing this. Everyone could tell that Holy Fire Ind''s sessor had a very different attitude towards the Holy Maiden of the Pure Maidens Sect. It didn''t seem like he was bewitched by her. It was impossible that the both of them had a casual rtionship. Holy Fire Ind''s sessor was clearly concerned and maybe even worried about the Holy Maiden, worried that she might get injured. "Humph!" Flicking his wrist, Shaori An of Cloud Rain Sect opened his folding fan and said in a salty tone. "Miss Deva, don''t you have any ethics at all? You even hooked up with the sessor of Holy Fire Ind." Despite the clear jest, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva ignored everyone''s strange gazes. She focused her gaze on the mysterious stranger soon a thought began to grow its seed in her mind. Could the mysterious gray-robed figure from the Draconic Skink''s capital city of Ugburg have caused quite an upheaval recently, and this burly maning from the same origin? Could there be some connection? Before she could ponder on the idea more, a faint voice reached her ears. "Stop dawdling and heal your injuries for now." Sylvie Deva smiled at this. Warmth flowed through her heart. "Holy Fire Ind''s sessor!" Sword Sect''s Hart Yu narrowed his eyes and the aura that he was emitting turned sharper and sharper. His entire figure resembled an unsheathed sword and he said slowly, coldly. "Good, good! Since you dare to enter the ancient battlefield, don''t dream about leaving it alive! Now that you are here, I will make sure this ce will be your burial ground!" Holy Fire Ind and Sword Sect had a longstanding feud. Each time a sessor of Holy Fire Ind stepped foot onto the real world, they would naturally end up in a big fight with the sessor of Sword Sect. "This is a feud between us only. All of you, people from both sides and all the top factions in the world there''s no need for you guys to get involved." Cupping his fists towards Shadow Raven and the others, Hart Yu said in a low voice. Everyone gave a slight nod, confirming his request. This was his fight. His victory to etch into the threads of history! 835 Chapter 835 "Heh!" Shadow Raven retrieved his ck iron spear and slung it over his shoulder,ughing. "Well said, well said!" The fiend sects chose to sit this one out and reap the spoilster. Since there was nothing but benefits for them, this waspletely aligned with the thoughts of the demonicheirs. "Watch out, Hart You''s sword is extremely fast. There''s a high possibility that he still has tricks up his sleeves" The Holy Maiden reminded Aiden softly. Laughing, Aiden waspletely unaffected. Raising his sword, he had no intention of wasting his breath on the young Sword Sect''s sessor as he strode over in huge steps. "Sword Sect''s sessor? That''s great. I''ll sever your head as a tribute for my de!" Dressed in linen clothes with a bared chest and spouting crude statements made Aiden seem like an unruly and wild person. Even Bair Yohrenmented to himself that the aura of this person before him was much less dignifiedpared to that green-robed schr from before. *SWOOSH!* Closing in, Aiden''s eyes lit up. The moment he struck, he started with the known well-experienced first strike from the still rather mysterious [Void Splitting Manual], Creation and his sword beam expanded, engulfing Hart You entirely. "Heh." Sneering coldly, Hart You''s fingers slid down his sword before flicking the de. *BUZZ!* The sword quivered and let out a clear buzzing sound. All of a sudden! Hart You attacked; his wrist trembled and the de was already nowhere to be seen. Instead, a cold sh arrived and spread out, causing the air to be filled with dense spots of sword lights like raindrops that shot out in all directions. The ce sounded like it was raining. It was a heavy and intense sound! "What?! T-that''s S-sword force!" The eyes of the paragons lit up. "That''s the secret skill of Sword Sect, the Sword Rain! Hart You was indeed keeping aces up his sleeves" Shadow Raven nodded his head but was not surprised. On the one hand, it was the attack from the legendary Sword Emperor''s [Void Splitting Manual]. On the other hand, it was the Sword Rain force. *CLING!* *CLING!* After a series of collisions, the saber and sword forces dissipated, and both their figures resurfaced once more. The two of them were in an even standoff! Although the Creation''s Force was extremely tough, the raindrops produced by the Sword Rain force struck the de repeatedly, causing the power that was produced to dissipate away. By the time the de cut through, almost all of its power was gone. However, Aiden had always had a nagging feeling. Although he managed to grow and train to the realm of ''Force'', he felt that something wascking in it. Something was missing. Notwithstanding the fact that Aiden was still unable to produce the final strike of [Void Splitting Manual], he had a feeling that something wascking while he practiced his first four strikes. He felt that there was a sense of sluggishness when he tried connecting the first four strikes. If he could make up for that tiny w, even Hart You''s Sword Rain force wouldn''t be able to deal with his Creation! The many paragons frowned. Although it seemed like the sh between the two des was even, in reality, Hart You had lost ever so slightly. Hart You''s Startling Sword was a perfect artifact weapon. Furthermore, to begin with, Hart You was at the peak stage of the Martial Knight realm while the sessor of Holy Fire Ind was only at theter stages. It was clear who was better. "You dare toe here and contend only to stir up trouble with just those meager capabilities?" Scoffing coldly, Hart You red at the burly man with a provocative gaze as the sword in his hand shimmered faintly in the void. "Heh, this is all I need to suppress you!" Roaring inughter, Aiden''s internal power churned and the sound of roaring thunder rumbled from his body. With a single stride, the figure shed and he appeared before Hart You and made a sudden sh! There were no fancy tricks as he simplified everything with a single sh. Coupled with the terrifying power he contained within his soul, his sword beam expanded in a frightening manner as it tore through the void. Hart You channeled his bloodline and his peak stage Martial Knight realm internal energy burst forth; he was like an unsheathed de that fused with his Startling Sword as one. "DIE!" Without retreating or dodging, Hart You wanted to rely on his advantage in terms of martial realm to fight the burly man head-on. In the martial world, Sword Masters were acknowledged to be the strongest in terms of offense. The two opposing swords collided in midair. Sparks flew everywhere as the sword forces tried to devour one another mutually. The energy between the two of them instantly entered a berserk state, torn into pieces by the two fierce sword beams. Hart You''s sword was edged and extremely sharp. On the other hand, Aiden''s de was resolute and majestic! *CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!* The des shed relentlessly in midair. Aiden''s sword light was cold whilst the Sword Rain''s sword shadows fluttered everywhere in a dizzying manner. This was a battle of strength without much technique involved! Aiden''s eyes turned brighter as he fought fiercer whileughing into the skies. "Well done, well done! You''re quite capable to be able to withstand ten shes of mine! Again!" As though fatigue meant nothing to him, Aiden''s strength was increasing instead of decreasing despite that intense sh! *TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!* With every single step he took, the ground would quake once and his aura would climb a step further, causing his sword force to turn stronger. Every single sh felt like a towering wave that was crashing from above, covering the skies! Hart You was no longer taunting his opponent and looked extremely grim. His arms were feeling numb and his vision was blurring against the attacks. Those were signs of fatigue! ''This guy''s stamina is like a bottomless pit. Why doesn''t he have any limits?'' Hart You was secretly shocked. If this continued, he would show signs of losing within the next ten shes! ''I''ve got to change tactics! I need to do something!'' At that thought, a resolute look flickered through Hart You''s eyes as he flicked his wrist. Instantly, his sword quivered and burst forth brightly with a sword light in midair. Spots of lights shot over, shining in a bedazzling manner. That was a move from the Sword Sect''s Sword Rain Manual which was used to affect the opponent''s vision using sword light. In fact, it could even blind them momentarily, causing them to reveal fatal openings. However, it was a pity as a mysterious glint flickered through Aiden''s eyes. Golden light burst forth from the sockets, they were like two bright stars in a dark night,pletely unaffected as they shimmered deeply. A single sh cut through, tearing through the light and colliding against the Startling Sword. *CLANG!* Hart You shuddered and his Startling Sword nearly flew from his hands. Upon seeing that, Reverend Jor Har who was on the sidelines frowned slightly. "This man the Void de''s vision and hearing are both extremely strong and his mental state is calm as a rock. I couldn''t even affect him despite using my Enraged Heavenly Tiger Gaze and Roar together." The paragons felt their hearts skip a beat! Everyone thought about how difficult it would be for them if they had to be faced with the Enraged Heavenly Tiger Gaze and the sonic technique together. Yet, the sessor of Holy Fire Ind waspletely unaffected? "Something is amiss" Seehto''ch Ku''gar of Purple Firmament Sect had extremely strong vision and he could see the situation clearly. With a grim expression, he remarked suddenly. "Hart You''s going to lose." On the battlefield. Hart You''s expression was dark as he retreated endlessly. He could retaliate no longer. On the contrary, Aiden''s sword beam was intensifying as he advanced, shrouding Hart You within it. In less than ten moves, a victor would be decided if the battle continued as such! *PSHEW!* Suddenly, a shuddering sound tore through the void. A purple spiritual energy flew over. Seven purple lights tore through the air andbined in the void, forming a gigantic purple long sword with a might so brazen that it was stifling! Seehto''ch Ku''gar of Purple Firmament Sect had struck! After all, Holy Fire Ind was alone overseas and rarely appeared. Their impact on the martial world was far inferiorpared to Sword Sect. Furthermore, Sword Sect was one of the righteous super sects at the end of the day and enjoyed a good rtionship with many other sects. Purple Firmament Sect was one of them. The purple sword advanced with a torrential power, as though an emperor had descended with a sharp aura. Aiden had no choice but to pause in his tracks. If he continued hunting down Hart You, he would definitely be struck by the purple sword and he would be severely injured even if he managed to survive! Aiden''s expression was indifferent, as though he had already predicted this. Retracting his saber, the direction of his de steered and released the Vortex strike of the [Void Splitting Manual]. A contorting force burst forth from the saber and collided heavily against the purple sword. 836 Chapter 836 Quivering, the purple sword was almost sent flying. Aiden''s figure trembled but he maneuvered himself gently with his movement technique and descended on the ground. With the breathing room, Hart You managed to escape and he was drenched in sweat as he panted slightly. Standing beside Seehto''ch Ku''gar, they formed a triangr arc to stand-off against Aiden. "This fight is between Holy Fire Ind and Sword Sect. As one of the nine immortal sects, Purple Firmament Sect isn''t going to respect thews of the pugilistic world and intends to bully with numbers?" Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was originally recovering from her injuries on the sidelines. However, she could not help but frown when she saw this and questioned loudly. "Right now, we''re fighting for the Ancient One''s Pce. There are nows of the pugilistic world to speak of!" Seehto''ch Ku''gar was expressionless as he beckoned to retrieve the purple sword in midair. "Since the sessor of Holy Fire Ind dares to step foot into this contest, he should be prepared to receive a challenge from the sessors of all the major sects!" "Cut the crap. Since you want to fight, I''ll include you as well!" Laughing loudly, Aiden raised his sword and strode forward. Instantly, his sword beam expanded and engulfed Seehto''ch Ku''gar and Hart Youpletely! He was taking the initiative even in a one against two situation! The paragons felt their hearts skip a beat! "Such guts! Such boundless arrogance!" Overlord Sect''s Shadow Raven''s eyes shone brightly as he said in a slow manner. "He has the guts, but we don''t know whether he can survive this" Shaori An of Cloud Rain Sect sneered. Zenith Sect''s Bair Yohren had a grim expression as he kept his gaze on Aiden the entire time in deep thought. On the battlefield, the sound of tsunamiing forth from Aiden''s body rumbled louder and louder, as though thunder was crackling from within. His power of bloodline was shocking and his stamina was enduring. Even after battling for more than ten rounds, Aiden was able to get an advantage in a one versus two situation, suppressing Seehto''ch Ku''gar and Hart Youpletely! The two of them were looking grimmer by the moment. "Fellow Daoists, do not worry! Here Ie!" Reverend Jor Har who was initially standing by the sidelines watching, saw that the situation was not going too well. Wielding his Golden Bell in his left hand and his Diamond Staff in his right, he hollered and joined the battlefield fiercely! The three of them could practically be considered the three strongest paragons among the immortal and Buddhist sects! The three great paragons of the immortal and Buddhist sects were ganging up on a single person! If word of this spread to the cultivation world, it would definitely cause an uproar. "Hah!" Aiden took a deep breath of air and his chest puffed massively. Letting out a long roar, his internal power expanded and he shed thrice in session almost at the same time! Each sh carried forth a shuddering power shockwave. *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* The first sh struck the Startling Sword, forcing Hart You back. The second sh struck the purple sword. The purple qi surrounding Seehto''ch Ku''gar was linked to it and as such, it shook violently and most of it dissipated. The third and final sh struck the Diamond Staff, causing Reverend Jor Har to grunt dully. His expression changed starkly as he staggered in retreat repeatedly! Aiden was fearless against thebined attacks of the three great paragons. Instead, the power he emitted was even more terrifying and his aura was fiercer, as though it could suppress everything! The three of them were not the only ones shocked; even all the paragons watching were stunned. How did Holy Fire Ind create someone like that? If he was already in possession of such tremendous strength at ate stage of the Martial Knight realm, who could stop him if they were all at the same peak stage? There was no wonder why Holy Fire Ind dared to allow this man into the ancient battlefield. A sessor as such was already showing signs of being unstoppable. If nothing went wrong, there was an extremely high chance that he would definitely receive the title of emperor in the future! Before many paragons could finish that thought, Aiden''s next statement caused a huge stir in everyone''s hearts! After forcing the three great paragons back with three consecutive shes, his aura was torrential and he swept his gaze across the paragons like lightning. Everyone who was here at the Ancient One''s Pce was all the elites of the super sects and had great pride and ego. Even though Aiden was extremely strong and had ferocious methods, none of them would want to admit defeat against him before they fought with him. All the paragons were raring to give it a shot. "Well, well, well!" Nodding his head, Aiden''s bloodline surged. His bones and tendons rang together as he dered loudly. "Let''s save the trouble! All of you still waiting! You cane at me together. I''ll deal with all of you at the same time!" ''Deal with all of you at the same time deal with all of you at the same time'' Aiden''s voice was like a gigantic bell that rang through the universe, reverberating in everyone''s minds for the longest time! The moment he said that everyone present was shocked! What did that imply? It meant that he wanted to face all the paragons of the righteous sects singlehandedly! His pride and guts were extremely rare across history and wereparable to that of an emperor''s! Overlord Sect''s Shadow Raven said slowly. "He is not a sessor of the Holy Fire Ind for nothing He is incredibly arrogant!" Even Shadow Raven could not help but acknowledge his inferiority at that moment. No matter the oue of this battle, he wouldn''t have dared to make that bold statement personally. He was not the only one. All of the paragons, Hart You and Seehto''ch Ku''gar included, would not dare make a im as such! It wasplete arrogance that looked down on the righteous factions! "Steel is easily snapped if it''s too rigid. Does this guy really think of himself as an emperor?" Cloud Rain Sect''s Shaori An sneered. "Don''t forget that you''re just a mere Martial Knight! I don''t believe that Void de will be able to suppress all the paragons of the righteous sects singlehandedly!" "That''s right." The young heir of Illusion Fiend Cult nodded in agreement. "Hart You and the others definitely have trump cards up their sleeves still. If they fight till the end and piss off all the paragons, causing them to fight with all their might, that man is bound to die!" Back on the battlefield. Snowdrift Valley''s Sieanna Caliphe was the first to step forward as she dered coldly with a frosty expression. "Since you looked down on Snowdrift Valley''s secret skill earlier on, I''lle and take you on!" "If that''s the case the sessor of the Chaos Essence Sect, Xioran Lily wants to have a taste of Holy Fire Ind''s ultimate moves as well!" Another paragon stood forth together with Hart You and the others. Right after, another paragon leaped forward onto the battlefield, saying in a low voice, "I''m from Chaotic Thunder Sect" "Stop talking already. I do not care who you are, and why you want to feed my de with your blood. Just step up silently." Aiden raised his hand and interrupted impatiently before continuing indifferently, "If you want to fight, fight. I''m not interested in knowing more." "You " Chaotic Thunder Sect''s sessor''s face was ck after being cut as he grit his teeth angrily. In the blink of an eye, Hart You''s group of three, Snowdrift Valley''s Sieanna Caliphe, Chaos Essence Sect''s Xioran Lily, Chaotic Thunder Sect''s sessor, as well as the remaining Reverends arrived on the battlefield. The nine paragons looked unfriendly as they moved slowly, surrounding Aiden in the middle! Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was instantly panicked when she saw that. Looking at the fiend heirs around her, she asked with a frown, "Are you guys just going to stand by and watch? If Void de loses, the sessors of the righteous sects are going to turn their attention to us and we of the fiend sects are still going to be disadvantaged!" "Hahaha, he asked for this!" Cloud Rain Sect''s Shaori Anughed. "Furthermore, who knows? Perhaps this fellow champion of the Holy Fire Ind might be able to take down all nine paragons single-handedly, gaining fame after this single battle!" Shadow Raven and the others were calm. Clearly, they had no intention of stepping in. There was naturally no way they would make a move before determining if the situation was in their favor. Zenith Sect''s Bair Yohren had a sinister expression. Suddenly, he said in an ambiguous manner, "If I step in, there''s no guarantee whose side I''ll be on!" Because the battle had already started, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva did not pay attention to the deeper meaning behind Bair Yohren''s words. "Since there''s so much hype, count me in!" Chuckling lightly with a fakedposure, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva chose to join the battlefield. Given her strength, the most she could do was hold off a single paragon to take some of the pressure off Aiden''s shoulders. 837 Chapter 837 Even with the newly joined Holy Maiden''s assistance, Aiden still had to face eight top-notch powerhouses, eight of this martial world''s best paragons all by himself. Snowdrift Valley''s Sieanna Caliphe furrowed her brows and broke out of the battle to hold off Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva. The two beauties brought their battle to a corner, fighting in a graceful and stunning manner. Although this was the first time they joined forces, the eight paragons had chemistry in their coordination. Sword Sect''s Hart You and Reverend Jor Har joined hands to fight Aiden in meleebat. The other six paragons kept their distance from Aiden, making use of their sects'' and ns'' top treasure weapons and techniques to summon a flurry of attacks as spiritual light streaked through and filled the skies. *BANG!* BANG!* In the next moment, Aiden shed twice in session, colliding heavily against the Startling Sword and the Diamond Staff. Hart You and Reverend Jor Har shuddered, retreating half a step back. However, Aiden made use of that rebound power to stomp on the ground before leaping backwards. His body was almost stuck to the ground as he evaded many artifact weapons and arts by a shave. Seehto''ch Ku''gar was calm when he saw Aiden approaching him. Riding on thin air, he retreated swiftly to keep his distance. Chaos Essence Sect''s Xioran Lily''s eyes flickered brightly. "This man he is way too strong! Everyone, there''s no need to fight him head-on. As long as we keep our distance, we can definitely wear him out!" The paragons present were long prepared and they supported one another. Coupled with the fact that there were eight of them, there was naturally no way they would allow Aiden to close in. The moment the burly man charged towards one of them, the other seven would attack to block his path forward. Hart You and Reverend Jor Har were like cockroaches, chasing forward to embroil Aiden in battle. The spirit mana on the battlefield was already boiling since long ago! The eight paragonsbined forces and their figures intertwined and shifted repeatedly, restricting Aiden to his position. Even so, the waves of attacks that were produced by the eight of them were still unable to break through Aiden''s defense. He was blocking everything with his de! As time passed by, the eight paragons felt increasingly rmed and their killing intents intensified! All eight of them professed internally that if they were in Aiden''s position, they would notst more than ten breaths against such attacks! Even if they could defend against all the attacks, it would take too much of a toll on them. Even Martial Masters might not be able to endure through it. However, 15 minutes had already passed by now. Not only was the sessor of Holy Fire Ind feeling no fatigue, but also the battle intent in his eyes was intensifying and his gaze shone brighter C his entire aura was on a continuous rise! If this continued on, the oue would be unpredictable! It was a shocking battle. On the battlefield, spirit light filled the skies, and the raging energy of all the attacks intertwined with the sword beam as spirit energy surged. With each collision, a blinding light would shoot forth and fill the nine heavens with a deafening boom! There were still some martial artists who were more gutsy and remained to watch the battle beneath the Ancient One''s Pce from afar. Because they were too far away, all of them could not make out the appearances of the paragons. However, they could still make out a mighty figure streaking through the battlefield against all odds. Although he was surrounded by eight paragons, he was not nervous in the slightest bit! It did not matter how famous or bedazzling Sword Sect''s Hart You and Purple Firmament Sect''s Seehto''ch Ku''gar were prior to this. At this moment, in the face of Holy Fire Ind''s sessor, they seemed sockluster. That was a true paragon! *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* shing sounds echoed repeatedly from the battlefield. Despite the fact that he was fighting one against eight, Aiden was getting fiercer and he was even showing signs of turning the tides as he shrouded all eight paragons! With his unique source of energying from a higheryer, the Soul Power, he had a strong physique and terrifying stamina to the residents of this world. He was confident that he could overwhelm any strong foes at the realm of Martial Knights. He used his full strength with every strength, swinging widely like a supreme emperor that could sweep through the nine heavens with an invincible might, looking down on everything! Even the old fogeys that were watching from outside the Ancient One''s Pce were stunned, let alone the many martial artists who were watching from afar. He was way too strong! Apart from Aiden''s terrifying strength, his stamina was limitless like a bottomless pit! It was extremely frightening! To think that Holy Fire Ind would have produced such an amazing monster with unparalleled potential! The Grandmasters were expressionless as they exchanged nces; all of them could make out fleeting killing intents in the other''s eyes. If this person was already producing such an invincible aura at such a young age, who could stop him in the future? They had to murder this talent as soon as possible! At that moment, all the old Grandmaster Guardians had the same thought. However, they were Grandmasters after all and the moment they attacked would be the moment they died. Unless they had no other choice, they wouldn''t attack recklessly. On the battlefield, the eight paragons were no longer as nimble as before. Reverend Jor Har had minor injuries, to begin with. After shing head-on with Aiden, he triggered his internal injuries once more and he looked terrible; there was even a faint blood stench when he panted! His internal organs were already shaken! Aiden was equally lively with a raging fighting intent. If the battle carried on as such, the reverend''s organs would be ruptured and he would die before Aiden was even exhausted! The other paragons were starting to look pale and panted as well. Suddenly, Sword Sect''s Hart You shouted towards the others at the side. "Think for a second heirs of the demonic factions! Only one of us can obtain the Ancient One''s Pce''s inheritance! Look at how strong this guy is! If you guys don''t start attacking, by the time we fall, all of you from the evil sects are going to be suppressed too!" The martial artists who were watching from afar were stunned and shocked when they heard that. If the demonic heirs were to take part in the fight, it would mean that the paragons of both sides would be ganging up on a single martial artist of the same realm! Even ancient emperors would not have been treated the same way! The few fiend heirs had conflicting expressions. However, in their opinions, Hart You''s words made sense as well. Once the paragons of the righteous sects fall, the few of them won''t be a match for that person. There was a high chance that he would be the one to obtain the Ancient One''s Pce''s inheritance! Overlord Sect''s Shadow Raven loved to fight to begin with. Upon encountering someone as strong as Aiden, he was naturally raring to fight and wanted to join the battlefield. At that thought, the few young heirs were tempted but they were still hesitant. Among them, there was only a single person who made his decision. It was Bair Yohren, the fiend heir of Zenith Sect! He had a feeling that the sessor of Holy Fire Ind definitely had something to do with that annoying gray-robed martial artist from before! Suddenly, a roar sounded from the battlefield. "Raging Tides!" His words were apanied by a deafening boom, as if a massive tide had crashed onto the shore in a terrifying manner! In the center of the battlefield, Aiden wielded his sword and spun a circle in midair. Massive tides seemed to form everywhere his de sliced, surging towards the eight paragons in a ferocious manner! Sword Force! Against thebined attacks of eight paragons from the immortal and Buddhist sects, the unprecedented pressure had finally allowed Aiden toprehend the Raging Tides stance of the [Void Splitting Manual]! [Creation] was the toughest saber technique to target a single martial artist with. However, [Raging Tides] was suited for dealing with opponents in all directions! With that sh, raging tides were formed, roaring and threatening to drown everything, destroying the eight destes! At this point of the battle, Aiden burst forth with a massive counterattack and the raging tides rumbled, engulfing the eight paragons into the series of saber forces! Instantly, all eight paragons were on the brink of danger! "That''s enough!" Suddenly, Hart You''s cold voice that was filled with killing intent could be heard from the flurry of saber forces. "Break!" Hollering, he pped his storage bag on his waist and a silver circlet flew out, hovering in midair before bursting with a blinding radiance! 838 Chapter 838 It shone brilliantly with a bedazzling silver light! A top-notch artifact! The fact that such a powerful artifact weapon was given to a mere Martial Knight realm martial artist was evident of how much Hart You was valued in Sword Sect! This was his final trump card. Initially, he had intended to keep it until the final fight for the Ancient One''s Pce''s inheritance to suppress everyone. But given the current circumstances, he had no choice but to use it in advance! "Purple Firmament sh!" Against Raging Tides, Seehto''ch Ku''gar could not hide any longer as well as he conjured a hand seal, releasing a secret skill of the Purple Firmament Sect. Shrouded by purple mana, an extremely sharp purple sword was condensed in midair before slicing the iing Raging Tides fiercely! "Indestructible Diamond!" Reverend Jor Har''s hands were shifting continuously as he conjured a mysterious hand seal. Almost instantly, his body seemed as though it was covered by ayer of golden saintly glow that illuminated brightly! Against the raging tides, Reverend Jor Har was calm like a bonafide godly being that loomed over the mortal world. His eyes were closed and he was unmoved even as the wave washed over him. The three of them were not the only ones; the other five paragons released their final trump cards one after another as well. Some of them brought out perfect-grade defensive spirit weapons, some of them crushed protection talismans with resplendent patterns and others released ultimate secret skills of their sects C they were all proving their capabilities! Almost at the same time, Zenith Sect''s Bair Yohren''s figure shed as he wielded a spirit saber and charged towards Aiden''s back with torrential killing intent. "Bair Yohren, you" Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva eximed when she saw that, wanting to strike and force back Bair Yohren. However, Snowdrift Valley''s Sieanna Caliphe''s flying sword was moving swifter and swifter, restricting Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva to the spot such that she was unable to break free. The situation on the battlefield was shifting rapidly and Aiden''s Raging Tides expanded widely, looking as though it was about to defeat the eight paragons soon. Yet, all eight of them released their trump cards unexpectedly and withstood Raging Tides head-on! Furthermore, Hart You and Seehto''ch Ku''gar managed to counter-attack and a top-tier artifact weapon was even brought out! Between the many sword shes, an imperceptible figure appeared without warning like a ghost, creeping towards Aiden There was a faint killing intent that appeared! "It''s you?! Zenith Sect''s Bair Yohren?" When he saw Bair Yohren charging over from the sides, Aiden already realized that his identity was being suspected! After all, he was the only person in thisrge group of illustrious figures that actually had some sort of history with. At that thought, Aiden''s killing intent rose massively as well! However, all of a sudden an unprecedented sense of danger surged into his heart. Aiden''s hair stood on end and his scalp prickled. The feeling of danger did note from Hart You, Seehto''ch Ku''gar, any of the eight paragons, or Zenith Sect''s Bair Yohren who was charging towards him from behind C it was someone else! It was someone that Aiden could not see with his eyes. There were some unknown source of energy forming a blurry shroud of mystical fog that covered its being. However, his keen and hightened perception gained from the system and his existence as being a Primal informed him that an extremely scary martial artist was hidden in a corner, waiting to deal him a fatal blow! The attacker''s angle could be considered as perfect as it was in Aiden''s blind spot. The timing of the attack was also perfect without any ws at all! At that moment, Aiden had just released Raging Tides and was in the weakest state as he was recovering from the momentum of his action. Furthermore, the eight paragons had just released their trump cards and Hart You and Seehto''ch Ku''gar were counterattacking; a top grade artifact weapon was even brought out. Coupled with the fact that Bair Yohren was arriving from the back, Aiden was already cornered by enemies on all fronts! Given those circumstances, the unknown martial artist''s sneak attack was aplete deadlock for Aiden such that it would be difficult even for deities to save him! Suddenly, a vague, blurry figure shed through Aiden''s mind. It wasn''t because his memory was bad. Instead, nobody had seen that person''s appearance before. However now he had recognized this figure. Or more precisely, he had recalled the stories he was told during his stay with Tai Liu''s Azure Myst Sect base in Ugburg City. It was the Faceless Assassin of Hidden Lotus Sect! Prior to this, that killer from the fiend sects had not made his appearance. Now that he attacked, he was aiming for Aiden''s life! "It''s him!" A few Grandmaster Guardians close to the Ancient One''s Pce narrowed their gazes and eximed. One of the elders shook his head. "It''s over. Thatd''s a dead man now." Everyone nodded in agreement. To them, there was no way Aiden would be able to reverse this deadly situation given his abilities! "What a pity. Even a paragon as such has to die at the Ancient One''s Pce." "There''s nothing to be pitied about. Throughout history, there have been countless paragons who suffered early deaths. He''s merely one of them." Suddenly, the tides changed on the battlefield! The eight paragons released their skills respectively and six of them defended against [Raging Tides] while Hart You and Seehto''ch Ku''gar counterattacked! A purple beam tore through theyers of tides and shed towards Aiden. With a calm expression, Aiden spun his saber and shed forward, intending to make use of his power of bloodline to fight Purple Firmament Sect''s secret skill head-on. *BUZZ!* *BUZZ!* Suddenly, a silver circlet tore through the air and buzzed while quivering. Six blinding ethereal lights shone like the bright fully lit midnight moon, emitting a terrifying and chilling aura. *CLANG!* The silver circlet collided against the sword de. Aiden shuddered. With a creak, cracks started appearing on the de and it exploded! It was destroyed! A high grade artifact weapon was destroyed just like that! That was how terrifying top grade artifact weapons were! After circling in midair, the silver circlet reversed and charged towards Aiden again! At the same time, Seehto''ch Ku''gar''s Purple Firmament sh descended. Arriving at the back, Bair Yohren''s Zenith Saber shed out at a sinister angle with a nauseating bloodied stench; the sounds of ghosts howling could be heard vaguely. Sword Force, once again! After losing to Aiden the previous time round, Bair Yohren managed a breakthrough as well andprehended a saber force of the Zenith de! Three ultimate killing moves descended at the same time! At the exact moment, an imperceptible figure appeared, wielding a long, slender sword that was as thin as cicada wings. The person''s appearance was ordinary and his eyes were listless like a dead fish. The killing intent that he possessed waspletely innate but his sword was aimed at the back of Aiden''s head and was almost instantaneous! The destruction of the spirit sword made the situation even worse. Aiden was barehanded and had nowhere to retreat now! Upon seeing that, Snowdrift Valley''s Sieanna Caliphe and Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva stopped in their tracks instinctively. "Ah!" Blood drained from Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s face as she eximed. A deafening sound rang in her mind and it went nk, as if someone had gripped her heart and stopped it from beating. All of a sudden! "DIE!" A holler that sounded like thunder booming tore through metal and stone while quaking one''s mind! Even the martial artists, be it young or old, who were watching from afar were so shocked that they shuddered in fear. They could not imagine how the four paragons closest to Aiden in the center of the battlefield were going to endure that terrifying blow! The four of them winced in pain at the same time. Be it the Purple Firmament sh, Hart You''s top grade artifact weapon, Bair Yohren''s Zenith de or the Faceless Assassin''s slender sword, everything paused for a brief moment. That momentary pause was Aiden''s chance! *CRACKLE!* Leaping upwards, his flesh and bones sounded at the same time and his entire body crumpled into a ball. The burly man that was initially two meters tall turned into a meatball the size of an young small boy right in front of everyone! While his methods may seem ordinary if they were performed by an ancient mighty figure or patriarch, the fact that a Martial Knight realm martial artist was doing it was unbelievable! His move, coupled with the burst of thunderous roar, caused the attacks of the four paragons to miss! Not only that, Hart You''s top grade artifact weapon was even repelled towards Bair Yohren. Seehto''ch Ku''gar''s Purple Firmament shnded in front of the Faceless Assassin. *CLANG!* Bair Yohren shuddered and blood oozed from the corner of his lips. The power of a top grade artifact weapon was not something that everyone could withstand. The Faceless Assassin managed to retract his sword in time and made a decisive move to retreat swiftly after blocking the Purple Firmament sh by making use of its momentum. After missing his attack, he fled a thousand miles away in a heartbeat. *SWOOSH!* A shuddering aura suddenly burst forth from within Aiden''s body! It was as though the ancient seal was once again undone in the depths of his soul, releasing a frightening primordial power! "Roar!" 839 Chapter 839 A series of strange sounds echoed from within Aiden''s body. A mighty roaring from a dragon resounded all around the battlefield. Bright golden luster burst forth and covered all towards the mighty firmament above! The small child-like figure of what was previously the burly man disappeared and in its ce was a mighty figure that could faintly be seen as it was shrouded with an unknown source of power. A pair of golden exotic eyes shone forth with a frightening shimmer. It was cold, sinister, and filled with endless killing intent! *PZZT!* The paragons as well as the grandmaster guardians standing aside and the various martial artists watching from afar were shocked and gasped! Hart You and the other three shuddered. In that instant, they had an illusion that the ''human'' before them who was surrounded by this strange otherworldly energy seemed like he was about to devour them alive! "You guys really think that you can kill me with your pathetic skills?!" In that endless golden lustrous light, Aiden''s deep voice sounded, sending chills down everyone''s spine as though he came from the primordial era where thousands of races stood mightily amidst torrential divine force. Invoking his draconic origin, Aiden took on his true Ancient Draconic form, causing his strength and speed to explode! "How amusing! You''re still trying to escape?!" Suddenly, Aiden''s voice sounded in the Faceless Assassin''s ears. It was sinister and right beside him! As if a figure was shifting in front of him, the Faceless Assassin paused in his tracks hurriedly. Unknowingly, Aiden had already arrived before him with an imposing aura, blocking his escape path! It was too fast! Even with the Faceless Assassin''s calm personality, at that moment, he felt a series of chills. His expression changed slightly and his dead fish eyes flickered with a hint of panic. A mighty and tall figure stood up slowly from the ground, surrounded by rumbling demonic energy. The illusion of an ancient creature was formed, baring its sharp teeth and ws in a menacing, life-like manner! Its form resembled vaguely that of a bareskin humanoid, but with deep, thick scales acting as a naturalyer of armor around its body. It was as though countless stars were revolving around a moon, shrouding the gigantic ancient demon in the center C Aiden''s eyes were deep and pitch-ck as he looked down at the Faceless Assassin. It was a cold, taunting gaze. It was the same way an emperor was looking at an ant that was struggling to escape! *PZZT!* Instantly, the Faceless Assassin''s heart skipped a beat and he felt chills run down his spine. The next moment, Aiden suddenly reached out with his gigantic palm that covered the skies, grabbing at the Faceless Assassin''s head with a torrential aura. The Faceless Assassin was extremely swift to react and he raised his sword while crushing a protection artifact at the same time. The de of his sword quivered like a snake, emitting a sinister and chilling aura. To him, no matter what, Aiden was fighting barehanded after all. There was no way a person''s body could defend against the sharpness of an artifact weapon! All of a sudden! The Faceless Assassin''s pupils constricted. From the massive ethereal golden palm that was shrouded over his head, dagger-like fingernails suddenly shot out from its fingers, shimmering coldly like swords and sabers! Those fingernails looked like the ws of an ancient demon that were indestructible! In the blink of an eye, five fingernails struck the Faceless Assassin''s thin sword. *BUZZ!* As though it was coiled by a venomous viper, the Faceless Assassin''s sword struggled repeatedly but it could not break free and could only buzz and tremble. With a loud snap, the sword shattered! There was amotion. A supreme-grade artifact weapon was crushed by Aiden''s bare hands, turning into dim shards that scattered onto the ground near the Faceless Assassin''s feet. The next moment, the Faceless Assassin''s vision swiftly darkened and he lost consciousness in mere seconds. His protection artifact was as fragile as hot butter against Aiden''s gigantic hand. The five fingernails pierced the barrier produced by the protection artifact instantly andnded on the Faceless Assassin''s head with a dull sound. By the time Aiden retracted his hand, there were five bloodied holes on the Faceless Assassin''s head, oozing out with a white, gooey liquid. The Faceless Assassin''s dead fish eyes no longer lit up as he copsed while standing upright, his life snapped away. Just like that, the feared and respected demonic heir, and well-known assassin of the Hidden Lotus Sect was killed right beneath the Ancient One''s Pce! Everything went silent. A paragon had just died. It did not matter how strong or how glorious the Faceless Assassin was prior to this. At this moment, he was no different from one of the lifeless corpses under the Ancient One''s Pce. Talents that fall are eventually forgotten by the masses. To be fair, not every sect among the major factions have sent in elder Guardians. Corpse Poison Sect, the so-called ''evil'' sects'' Pure Maidens Sect as well as the Hidden Lotus Sect did not send in Guardians. To the Hidden Lotus Sect, the Faceless Assassin would definitely be able to roam freely and undefeated across the underworld. Even if he failed in his assassinations, he could flee far away. Throughout history, there had been demonic heirs of Hidden Lotus Sect who have failed, but there was never one that was killed. Right now, there was no Guardian Elder from Hidden Lotus Sect to take revenge for the death of the Faceless Assassin. Aiden did not stop after killing the Faceless Assassin. Taking huge strides, he arrived before Zenith Sect''s Bair Yohren in the blink of an eye and smiled sinisterly with a cruel glint. ''This is bad. He wants to silence me!'' Bair Yohren was scared out of his wits as his blood flowed so quickly that his heart almost exploded! When Aiden shrank into a meatball earlier to avoid the four killing moves, Bair Yohren''s questions were all answered. If one could shrink to that state, wouldn''t it be extremely easy for this person to change his figure and alter his appearance? Despite the fact that he was faced with eight other paragons, this person ignored them and rushed right in front of him. Bair Yohren was even more certain now that this was the gray-robed martial artist! As the demonic heir of Zenith Sect, Bair Yohren was able topose himself instantly and swung his Zenith Saber, shing towards the iing Aiden while yelling. "Y-You! Y-You are" "Die!" Before Bair Yohren couldplete his sentence, the burly man roared. The distance between them was too little. Bair Yohren shuddered violently and he swallowed his words back from the shock. He lost his hearing and blood oozed out from his ears C the pain was so bad that his features were all contorted! Using his palm like a butcher''s cleaver, Aiden chopped down on the wrist that Bair Yohren was wielding his saber with. *SNAP!* The sound of bones cracking rang out and his wrist was snapped. Sneering sinisterly, Aiden closed in and reached out, grabbing Bair Yohren by the throat and lifting thetter up. Wringing his arm, he gripped Bair Yohren''s throat violently and shook. *CRACKLE!* Apanied by a crisp sound, Bair Yohren''s skeleton was shaken out of position by Aiden. Even if he had immense strength, he wouldn''t be able to use a single bit at this moment. Bair Yohren''s entire body was ying limply as Aiden lifted him up. Because he was choked by the throat, his entire face was bloated and purplish such that he couldn''t speak at all. "WAIT! How dare you!" "Stop!" "Don''t do it!" The first statement came from a blood-robed old man who was watching from afar C he was Zenith Sect''s Guardian Elder. The second statement came from the few demonic heirs. The third statement came from Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva. "Zenith Sect''s Guardian Elder is already rushing over. If you kill him, the Guardian Elder will definitely attack you using his strength as a Martial Grandmaster. D-Don''t be reckless! Please!" Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva tried persuading anxiously. Aiden said nothing and merely shook his head. Notwithstanding the fact that Bair Yohren attacked him multiple times, the fact that Bair Yohren knew his identity meant that Aiden could not let this guy survive! Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s heart sank in dread. "Junior, if you dare kill him, I''ll make sure you are buried with him!" Not far away, the blood-robed old man sped over while yelling. His killing intent was surging, as though a hurricane of blood was forming! Aiden was unmoved despite hearing that as he merely looked at the old man coldly. On the other side, Overlord Sect''s Shadow Raven shouted grimly. "Void de, I advise you to let him go! Otherwise, you will be going against all of the demonic sects and will be forcing us all to attack!" 840 Chapter 840 "Hahahaha!" When he heard that, Aiden looked up into the skies and roared inughter. Looking at everyone in a condescending manner, he hollered. "You ''demonic'' sects are allowed to attack me but I''m not allowed to kill in return? Do you really think that makes sense?" The demonic heirs went silent. "To begin with, you guys wanted to join forces with the righteous sects. But now, you''re just forcefully looking for an excuse!" Aiden sneered with contempt. "How hypocritical!" Shadow Raven''s eyes flickered; clearly, Aiden was spot on. If not for the fact that it was the Ancient One''s Pce that was before them, given the pride of the fiend sects, they would definitely not join forces with the righteous sects. However, that was the inheritance of the legendary Ancient One, the mythical guardian of the world! A divine entity! How could anyone in the world not be tempted?! Thebat strength that Aiden disyed was way too terrifying and they had no other choice but to join forces to take him down! At that moment, Aiden''s cold voice sounded as he said everything word by word. "Since that''s the case, I will give you guys a reason to attack." *SNAP!* Exerting force in his palm, Aiden crushed Bair Yohren''s throat instantly. The young, chosen heir of Zenith Sect was dead! Bair Yohren''s death caused the vicinity of the Ancient One''s Pce to descend into a grim silence. The martial artists who were watching afar were shocked as they looked at everything in disbelief. This burly man, this mysterious contender He was way too savage! That man did not even care about the threat of a Guardian Elder. Even though he had already offended the righteous sects, the sessor of Holy Fire Ind was still brazen and decisive in his kills, taking down two chosen heirs with utter dominance! When he said that he was going to give them a reason to attack, it meant that he did not fear thebined attacks of all the paragons from all the top sects! Be it one of the so-called righteous ones, or from the ''evil'' side, this Void de did not care! Emperors were the strongest existences in the world and had extraordinary bearings. Every single martial artist that was present right now, including the Guardians, did not have the chance toe across a real, living emperor before. However, at this moment, the same thought shed through everyone''s minds. Back when the emperors were at Martial Knight realm, this should be how they were like. ''It''s over! He did it!'' The Holy Maiden''s heart sank. With Bair Yohren''s death, there was now no way back and Aiden was about to face an enraged Guardian Elder! Although he was close to the end of his life, he was still a true Martial Grandmaster after all! The many paragons of the top sects looked at Aiden as though they were looking at a dead man. Their gazes were filled with mockery and pity. There was no longer a need for them to make a move. Zenith Sect''s Guardian Elder who had just entered the battlefield was more than enough to kill Aiden! Aiden''s expression was unchanged as he looked at the iing blood-robed old man. The golden luster energy that was surrounding him did not diminish and his eyes shone fiercely. "I don''t care what you are" The blood-robed old man red at Aiden with a heavy killing intent as his aura climbed. "but for what you have just done, I am going to kill you right now!" Before he was finished with his statement, a saber appeared in the blood-robed old man''s hand. *SLASH!* Although it was only a supreme-grade artifact weapon, coupled with the strength of a Martial Grandmaster, a torrential saber beam filled with violent energy arrived before Aiden instantly. "Howl" The sounds of ghosts wailing could be heard. It was as though a chilling mountain of corpses and a sea of blood had appeared right in front of Aiden! The next moment, to everyone''s shock, Aiden actually took a step forward! Gripping his right fist, he punched fiercely towards the iing saber! "He truly doesn''t know his limits." "There''s no choice. There''s no time for him to retreat anyways. He might as well meet the attack and die a slightly more dignified death." The paragons sneered. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva turned her head away, as though she could not bear to continue watching. *BOOM!* The fist and saber collided, letting out a resounding bang. Everyone was rooted on the spot as they looked at what happened in absolute disbelief. The bloody scene that everyone imagined did not y out. Aiden''s right fist was not cut into two after meeting with the sh! After a short pause, Aiden let out a dull grunt and spat out a mouthful of blood. He was sent flying andnded on the ground far away, standing motionlessly some of his previous bright golden luster around his dissipated gradually. At the same time, the previous ferocity of the blood-robed old man vanished. As if time itself have just caught up with its escape, the old man''s body began to rapidly shiver and was turning into a shriveled corpse in just a matter of seconds. That was the fate of every Guardian Elder. They merely had onest strike before their fate would be sealed. Still, he had no regrets since he was able to kill the burly man, the champion from the Holy Fire Ind. Although Aiden managed to defend against the sharpness of the spirit saber, the blood-robed old man believed that there was no way a mere Martial Knight martial artist could withstand the strength of a Martial Grandmaster! The blood-robed old man barely had any life essence in his body anymore. In a second his life would be sucked away by the cruel fate he was destined to. All of a sudden! The gray-robed burly man, Aiden, who was initially sprawled on the ground suddenly moved, coughed, and rose up! "Mmm?" He was not dead? The blood-robed old man was agitated and his eyes were filled with indignance. His mouth was open, as though he wanted to say something. The next moment, with a bang, he vanished entirely, turning into a mist of blood with no corpse left! "Holy Fire Ind''s Void de is truly frightening! Even the full attack of a Guardian Elder couldn''t kill him!" "I think he''s not far from death anyways. I reckon that his organs should be ruptured and he shouldn''t have long to live." "How did he manage to defend against that attack barehanded?" "I''m not sure." If Aiden was using any defensive artifact weapon, his palm would have shone with the light of its spirit patterns. However, when both parties shed, everyone saw that Aiden was barehanded. What they didn''t know is that his true power far surpassed that of a shriveled old walking corpse. Still, although he could defend against the sharpness of the artifact weapon, it could not block out the power of a Martial Grandmasterpletely. That sort of power was annihting for a Martial Knight martial artist. However, Aiden''s physique was way too strong and his regeneration capabilities were shocking! He had a body that was even more terrifying than pure-blooded ferocious beasts! Although his organs were shaken and he spat out a mouthful of blood, Aiden''s injuries were already mostly recovered within a couple of breaths. If he could survive against a strike of divine entities and that shadowy thin man back in the orc''s tower, a mere Martial Grandmaster a mere mortal could not possibly deal any lethal strike against him! The sound of footsteps rustled as multiple figures grouped up around Aiden once more. This time round, other than the eight paragons of the righteous sects, even the remaining three demonic heirs of the evil sects had closed in. All of them red at Aiden coldly, whipping out their weapons with killing intents on their faces. Apart from Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva, all the paragons were prepared to join forces to kill Aiden! They wanted to take his life while he was at his weakest! However, all the paragons were wrong about one thing. Aiden was not as severely injured as they had imagined. That minor injury was almost negligible for him. Also, the attack of the Guardian Elder coupled with the alliance of the paragons just before had only managed to thoroughly invoke Aiden''s anger! There was no such thing as fairness in the martial world. The paragons of the major sects had formed an alliance and many of them had their own Guardians of their sects backing them. However, Aiden was alone without any help or Guardian Elder to protect him. Yet, the more that was the case, the more he wanted to fight! He believed that what the Sword Emperor had imparted him was not inferior to the secret skills of these top factions! He believed that even if the paragons joined forces, they wouldn''t be able to take him down! He believed that even without the backing of a major sect, he could break through everything and reach the peak! 841 Chapter 841 "HAHAHA!" Aidenughed and surveyed his surroundings with torrential battle intent. His eyes were filled with a sinister, vicious glint as he said slowly. "Well, well, well! Since you guys want to join forces, I''ll have to suppress all of you!" "Rubbish!" Sword Sect''s Hart You sneered, "Void de, there''s no need for you to put on a front! I don''t believe you still have the strength to fight after receiving the full attack of a Guardian Elder!" Cloud Rain Sect''s Shaori An opened his folding fan and said sinisterly. "Void de, you''re a demon! Even if we all join hands, we''re working together to take down a variant race and exact justice for the heavens!" "That''s right!" Seehto''ch Ku''gar said grimly, "Since we''re not of the same race, you definitely harbor evil intents. A beast like you is something that''s ought to be killed!" "Hehe, how amusing! You say that I''m a beast and you want to kill me?!" Aiden''s internal energy gathered and exploded, causing golden luster to surge into the air. He red coldly at Seehto''ch Ku''gar before smirking and barking icily. "Little conniving lizard, I will kill you first then!" Variant race? Exacting justice for the heavens? Those were nothing but excuses. Even if Aiden did not take on his true form, the paragons of the top factions would have still formed an alliance still and killed him! Who wouldn''t be tempted by the inheritance of the Ancient One right before them? There was no such thing as fairness and justice in the martial world; it was way toomon to see people killing others to steal their treasures. This was a cruel world that abides by thews of the jungle. The hands of every martial artist were tainted with endless blood. The higher one''s own realm was, the more corpses would be stacked beneath their feats! *BOOM!* Aiden stomped on the ground and let out a deafening bang. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the spot and sprinted towards Seehto''ch Ku''gar. It was too fast! A series of afterimages were formed in the void. Seehto''ch Ku''gar''s expression changed starkly. Before he could react, a violent aura that was suffocating had already reached him! A mighty figure arrived before him, shrouded with a shroud of mystical, unknown energy. Those eyes were blindingly bright and shone with a vicious glint filled with killing intent! The purple energy that surrounded Seehto''ch Ku''gar was corroded by the strange unknown energy, melting swiftly like the way snow reacted to the scorching sun. "Condense!" Realizing that it was toote to dodge, Seehto''ch Ku''gar roared and activated his protection artifact while conjuring a hand seal, causing the dense mana in the air to boil! Mana and his purple energy intertwined, condensing into the form of a long sword with surging purple energy in front of Seehto''ch Ku''gar. It revealed its sharp edge and shot towards Aiden. "PATHETIC!" Closing in, Aiden yelled and swung his arm. His fist was filled with green veins and his flesh flooded with blood, expanding swiftly as it descended like a gigantic seal! *BOOM!* The gigantic seal collided against the purple sword and let out a resounding bang that was deafening. The purple sword was shattered by a single punch from Aiden! Seehto''ch Ku''gar shuddered and spat out a mouthful of blood, staggering backwards. Before he could catch his breath, his vision turned ck and that fist-turned-seal crushed down once more with endless ferocity! The second punch had arrived! *SNAP!* The protection artifact was like paper against Aiden''s demon form, shattering instantly against the punch. *POOF!* Immediately after, the punch descended and pummeled down on Seehto''ch Ku''gar''s head, smashing it. The paragon of Purple Firmament Sect was dead! The Guardians that were watching from the outer perimeter of the Ancient One''s Pce were stunned, let alone the martial artists watching from afar. That was a peak stage Martial Knight martial artist! He could notst three moves against the sessor of Holy Fire Ind and was killed in two punches! Furthermore, prior to that, that person was just dealt a full blow by a Guardian Elder and was severely injured; how did he manage to produce such terrifying strength still? *SNAP!* A thunderbolt descended onto Aiden''s head. The eyes of the heir from the Heavenly Lightning Sect''s sessor lit up as he roared inughter. "Haha, you won''tst long now that you''re struck by Heavenly Lightning Sect''s secret skill!" Normally speaking, the power of thunder was the most effective in countering demons and evil beings. It was just a pity that Aiden''s unique origin possessed a vastly superior source of power as well. When Heavenly Lightning Sect''s secret skill surged into Aiden''s body, it was devoured by his bloodline and his Soul Power even rose because of that! *SWASH!* Before Heavenly Lightning Sect''s sessor could finishughing, Aiden''s figure shed and he arrived before the former almost instantly! That person was scared out of his wits and was frightfully pale. Even if one wasn''t severely injured after being struck by Heavenly Lightning Sect''s secret skill, they should be paralyzed by the effect of thunder. He had nevere across someone like Aiden who was still so vigorous after being struck by thunder. He waspletely unaffected! "Don''t just stand there everyone,e and save me!" That person shrieked and swiftly withdrew a small circr mirror from his storage bag. Injecting his own energy into it, it expanded instantly and he held the mirror that was surging and crackling with lightning in front of him. *BOOM!* Aiden punched the mirror. *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* Instantly, the lightning dissipated as cracks formed on the mirror. The person''s arms werepletely snapped and he was sent flying by a tremendous force, crashing around the perimeter of the Ancient One''s Pce. Blood flowed out continuously from his mouth and he had already fainted! Just as Aiden was about to close in and kill that person, the other paragons arrived. Snowdrift Valley''s secret skill, Chaos Essence Sect''s flying sword, Reverend Jor Har''s Diamond Staff, Hart You''s Startling Sword Spirit arts filled the skies, sword force streaked everywhere and resplendent battle items that were bedazzling all flew towards Aiden like a flurry of raindrops, almost engulfing him! Given the circumstances, Aiden was stillposed and his eyes shone with a deep glint. Relying on his incredible spirit perception, Aiden maneuvered the flurry of intense attacks swiftly with nimble movement techniques. In order to evade attacks, Aiden''s body would contort to weird degrees from time to time; it was far beyond what the paragons knew! In a sh, Aiden charged in front of one of the male reverend and punched through thetter''s chest. Just like that without being able to react in any manner, another mighty paragon, a fearsome force from the Reverend''s has died! The moment these paragons were closed in by Aiden, they could not withstand a single blow! After taking on his battle form, the burst of speed and power from Aiden was way too terrifying and he was able to sweep through any strong foes of the Martial Knight realm! "Secret skill, Illusory Fiend!" Illusion Fiend Sect''s heir shouted softly and extended his palm, shifting his fingers in front of Aiden''s eyes. They moved mysteriously in a rhythm, ying out images that seemed illusory. The secret skill of Illusion Fiend Sect could bring out the evil thoughts within a martial artist''s mind, causing them to form mental fiends that they cannot escape from before eventually turning into fiends themselves. However, it was a pity that Aiden''s gaze was like a knife and his mind was resolute. He couldn''t be tempted at all. In his eyes, the methods of the Illusion Fiend Sect''s heir were akin to child''s y that were worthless! "What nonsense secret skill is that? What an embarrassment!" Buckling his knees, Aiden broke through all the illusions and smashed right into the Illusion Fiend Sect''s heir''s chest! The Illusion Fiend Sect''s heir''s body exploded into different parts in midair, dropping down as bloodied flesh and filling the air with a blood scent! "Die!" Shadow Raven wielded his iron spear and burst forth with his power of bloodline. Spirit energy surged in his eight spirit meridians and his power was at its limits as he pierced towards Aiden''s head! "Get lost, you miserable scum!" Hollering loudly, Aiden suddenly spun around and retaliated with a punch! His right hand which contained a massive surge of Soul Power collided against the ck iron spear like an indestructible force. Shadow Raven could sense a massive amount of power surging over through his spear that was impossible to defend against! There was a momentary pause. Instantly, blood drained from Shadow Raven''s face as he yelled in pain. His palm split open with blood gushing out and his ck iron spear was sent flying with Aiden''s punch! The spear then tore through the air and shot toward Cloud Rain Sect''s Shaori An who was charging over. There was hardly any time to resist 842 Chapter 842 Shaori An opened his folding fan and his expression changed the moment it made contact with the spear. Instantly, he twisted his body, trying to avoid the iing spear. Although the spear was merely flying due to Aiden''s punch, the power that it possessed was still something that Shaori An could not withstand! *POOF!* Although he managed to avoid fatal damage, his shoulder was still pierced by the spear, revealing a hole the size of a fist with the bones surrounding that area smashed into bits! Shadow Raven''s arms were shaking uncontrobly and fell limply to both sides. With his aurapletely gone, he fled while muttering in a quivering voice. "Invincible! He''s invincible!" Even the most battle-hungry and untamed wildest heir of Overlord Sect had to bow down in the face of Aiden! - Invincible! All the martial artists watching from afar had disbelief in their eyes and their mouths were agape for the longest time. With an invincible might, this man was singlehandedly suppressing the paragons of all the top factions! His grandeur was probablyparable to the ancient emperors! The Old Fogies, the guardians were enraged as they moved one after another. Closing in towards the Ancient One''s Pce, their expressions were livid and their auras rose endlessly. Everyone had grossly miscalcted the situation. None of them had expected that he could still produce such terrifyingbat strength despite being struck by a full-powered attack from Zenith Sect''s Guardian Elder! Although the battle against the paragons of all the top sects sounded slow upon narration, everything happened within just a couple of seconds. By the time they reacted, some paragons had already died on the spot, and a good half of them were severely injured. The losses were massive and it was toote for regrets. On the battlefield. A sword struck in a startling manner, emitting a chilling killing intent at an extremely fast speed that was almost instantaneous! Aiden had just punched Shadow Raven with his right hand and was unable to retract it in time. As such, he could only grab the iing sword with his left hand. Hart You had long noticed that there was something odd about Aiden''s unique physique. It felt indestructible and could even defend against perfect artifact weapons and the full-powered attack of a Guardian Elder. Earlier on, when Aiden used his bare hands to repel Shadow Raven''s massive spear, it was further confirmation of Hart You''s theory! That was the reason why he waited till this moment to strike from the left side. He wanted to strike when his opponent was least aware! The Startling Sword was a perfect-grade artifact weapon. Hart You refused to believe that the body of a Martial Knight martial artist could defend against the edge of a perfect artifact weapon! Even the body of a pure-blooded ferocious beast could not reach such a level. However, there was no way he could have known that even pure-blooded ferocious beasts had to shy away from Aiden in his original form! When he saw Aiden reaching out with his left hand, Hart You''s eyes shed with a maniacal glint as he dered coldly. "Got you! Your life is mine!" "Heh!" Aiden sneered. He gripped the Startling Sword with his left palm directly and the sword let out a sinisterly cold aura. Instantly, sword force burst forth and five spirit patterns shone endlessly! *BUZZ!* *BUZZ!* Sword force streaked all around and shes of blood appeared. A series of cuts appeared on Aiden''s left hand. However, with the surge of his internal energy and the assistance of his Primal healing ability, the cuts showed signs of recovery the moment they appeared! "Huh?" Upon seeing that, Hart You''s pupils constricted. What strong regeneration capabilities! The next moment, he discovered something even more frightening. After his Startling Sword was gripped by Aiden''s hand, not only did it fail to slice his hand apart, it was even being restricted with its speed slowing down! Finally, it came to aplete halt an inch away from Aiden''s head! Hart You channeled his own bloodline and his eyes were bloodshot as he circted spirit energy fanatically. In fact, his core inside his body was already throbbing in slight pain and his arms were trembling. He was clearly at the limits of his power. As long as he could move an inch more, he could pierce Aiden''s head. However, the Startling Sword refused to budge in Aiden''s palm! Hart You could clearly see that his Startling Sword had managed to cut Aiden''s palm and blood was flowing everywhere. In fact, he could even sense the sluggish motion caused by the de of the sword digging into Aiden''s flesh and bone. However, all his effort was wasted because of that inch of difference. As the golden lustrous energy surged, the sword force around the de was no longer as intense and sharp as before as it was slowly restricted and swallowed up. Aiden''s blood spilled onto the Startling Sword. The spirit light on the sword gradually dimmed, as though it was being corroded by some sort of power! *PZZT!* Hart You''s eyes were filled with fright when he saw the blood on his Startling Sword! Nobody could understand the fear he felt at that moment. What sort of heritage did this man possess such that he was even able to suppress the ethereal light of an artifact weapon? What did everything before him imply? It meant that if a perfect artifact weapon was soaked in the man''s blood, it would be destroyed before long! There were countless legends in the martial world. In the ancient manuals of Sword Sect, there was a statement recorded that a single drop of blood from an immortal was more than enough to crush mountains, tunnel through the voids, and kill ancient mighty figures! Naturally, Hart You thought nothing of those legends. Even if they were legends, could their bloodline possess such terrifying and exaggerated power? At this very moment, Hart You realized that a person''s bloodline could truly be trained to that level! The person before him was merely at Martial Knight realm and yet, his bloodline was already this powerful. If he were to truly be a mighty figure, patriarch, or the immortals of the legends, a single drop of his blood would truly be enough to destroy a group of living beings! Right now, the Startling Sword was not even in Hart You''s control, let alone capable of crippling that man''s palm. After it was tainted by Aiden''s blood, Hart You could clearly sense that the connection between him and the Startling Sword was getting fainter and was at the threat of severing at any moment! Just before the situation could turn truly fatal, Reverend Jor Har wielded his Diamond Staff and shone with a golden luster. His eyes burned like a torch and he had already arrived, exuding an invible might. "Vile Demon! I''m here to purify you!" "Hahaha! You? You''re not qualified!" Aiden''s expression was unchanged as his right hand that was now free turned into a fist once more and weed the iing Diamond Staff fiercely! *BANG!* Shaking violently, Reverend Jor Har''s palm was split open and his Diamond Staff was sent flying. Gripping the Startling Sword with his left hand, Aiden took a huge stride with his right leg and leaned in. Before Reverend Jor Har could react, a figure mmed over towards his chest, leaning in to him! "Ugh!" Reverend Jor Har''s eyes widened. A terrifying power surged into his body through the other party and instantly, Reverend Jor Har''s mind went nk and he was knocked flying! *BANG!* Landing heavily on the ground, he spat out a mouthful of blood and his gaze dimmed. His protection treasure and the golden barrier that he created through the Diamond Sutra were all shattered as well. A series of cuts appeared densely on his face in a frightening manner! His flesh was ruptured! "Huh? You didn''t die?" Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. After he took on his current form and his strength increased exponentially, that lean in should have been enough to kill Reverend Jor Har multiple times already! Shifting his gaze, Aiden caught sight of the adorned cloth belt worn by Reverend Jor Har that radiated a strange energy and he understood instantly. That strange cloth belt must have been an extremely strong defensive artifact weapon! Otherwise, even his indestructible Diamond body would have been smashed into a blood mist! Struggling to stand up, there was no aura left around Reverend Jor Har as he staggered to escape like a pathetic dog. "Hahahaha!" Aiden roared inughter and eyed the wretched back view of Reverend Jor Har escaping while yelling. "You want to purify me with those skills? Go back and train for another ten years first!" When he heard that, Reverend Jor Har''s legs buckled and he nearly fell over. As the most talented powerhouse of the reverends and a peerless paragon, he had never endured such humiliation before. 843 Chapter 843 Filled with indignation and utterly humiliated, Reverend Jor Har was so pent up and upset that he spat out yet another mouthful of blood. "Ugh!" His chest was much relieved after he spat out that mouthful of blood and hemented deeply. "That man is probably invincible among the Martial Knight realm." At that moment, everyone realized that after this battle, as long as the sessor of Holy Fire Ind survives, he would be the number one beneath the Martial Grandmaster realm! The battle was not over yet. While Aiden sent Reverend Jor Har flying, he was still gripping the Startling Sword with his left hand and contending against Hart You. The remaining four paragons attacked at the same time! Snowdrift Valley''s Sienna Caliphe burst forth with her secret skill. Chaos Essence Sect''s Xiaoran Lily sent his flying sword forward from a distance, not daring to close in. Another Reverend tapped his feet on the ground and closed in, conjuring a series of afterimages with both hands as he released an ultimate secret skill of his own. The powerful palm strike possessed the power to strike an object through a medium. If itnded on one''s body, although no injuries would appear on the surface, the person''s organs would be ruptured. It was extremely powerful! Even Reverend Jor Har who trained the Diamond Body did not dare to take on that attack from his peer head-on. Flinging around like a chopper, the palm''s shadows were chaotic and it was difficult to identity the real one. "Go!" At the same time the female priestess of the Reverends took out a copper disc from her storage bag and injected her internal energy into it. It shone with a bedazzling golden light that was saintly and wless. The copper disc tilted down and a bright milky white light flowed down towards Aiden''s head powerfully. The four paragons attacked at the same time but Aiden only had his right hand avable! Chaos Essence Sect''s Xiaoran Lily''s flying sword was the first to arrive and Aiden grabbed it with his right hand without hesitating! "Frost Seal!" The voice was icy cold as the surrounding temperature dipped. Aiden started freezing up from head to toe; even the scarlet demonic energy that was surrounding him was freezing with ayer of frost. The frost sealed both spiritual energy and mana as well! At the same time, the copper disc arrived above Aiden''s head and descended slowly with a terrifying might, as though it wanted to restrain him within it! The male reverend priest closed in, releasing a series of afterimages from his palm. Aiden was gripping the Startling Sword with his left hand while holding off Xiaoran Lily''s flying sword with his right C he had no hands left to spare. Coupled with Snowdrift Valley''s secret skill and the descent of Formless Monastery''s copper disc, thebined burst power of multiple sources restricted him to his position, unable to move at all. *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* Ten consecutive palm strikesnded on Aiden''s body! With each palm strike, Aiden''s body would shudder once as blood oozed from the corner of his lips. All the paragons were shocked upon seeing that. Holy Fire Ind''s sessor was finally injured at this point in the battle! Immediately after, Hart You and the others discovered that even so, the person remained upright and refused to go down. Instead, the coldness in his eyes was intensifying! "That isn''t even enough to kill him? We merely brazed him?!" The male reverend priest finally experienced the same fear that Reverend Jor Har and the others felt. That person endured more than ten ultimate palm strikes just like that! If it was anybody else, their organs would have exploded long ago with the palm strikes. However, this man seemed like he was fine and his gaze was fierce as ever! Among body tempering techniques, even the strongest ones out there, one could only swap blood through their marrow at the very most; it was difficult for them to reinforce the organs. However, what they didn''t know that Aiden''s body held secrets far surpassing their imaginations. Aiden''s organs were even stronger than most pure-blooded ferocious beasts. Otherwise, there was no way he would possess such frightening stamina to battle till now! After enduring more than ten of the reverends palm strikes, Aiden''s organs were merely shaken, but his foundation was uninjured. "Go down!" The female priestess hollered and shifted her hand and fingers rapidly, conjuring a spirit art that shot beams of spirit lights into the copper disc. The copper disc expanded rapidly and descended. Hart You had no other choice but to relent his grip and abandon his Startling Sword. In the blink of an eye, the copper disc that shone with a bedazzling radiance crashed down on Aiden and locked him to the ground! Was it finally over? Upon seeing that, the Guardians that were rushing over gradually slowed down. The female priestess sighed with relief as she felt that the deed was finally done and walked towards the copper disc that was now as tall as any of them, saying in a deep voice. "Everyone, don''t worry. All it takes is the time for just a couple of seconds to maybe a minute for anyone that enters my copper disc, even pure-blooded ferocious beasts, to melt into a puddle of water and die!" The paragons heaved a sigh of relief and their expressions rxed significantly. Arriving before the copper disc, the female priestess lowered her head with a dignified expression, causing the light around the strange disc to shine brighter and brighter. Suddenly, a change happened! *BOOM!* A gigantic bang sounded from below the copper disc. Hart You and the others were shocked. When they looked towards the copper disc, their pupils constricted! Arge dent the size of a fist appeared on the walls of the copper disc! What sort of terrifying strength did he possess to be able to create a fist-sized dent on such a unique high-grade artifact weapon? The golden light around the copper disc dimmed significantly. *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* Before everyone could reach, a series of sounds exploded like raindrops as fist-sized dents appeared all around the copper disc one after another. There was a momentary pause. An extremely dangerous aura was being emitted from below the copper disc! "Hurry, retreat!" Realizing what was going on, the female priestess called out immediately. *BOOM!* There was a deafening noise that shook the mountains and earth! The gigantic copper disc before them exploded into shards that flew in all directions with a massive shockwave. A tall and mighty figure appeared before everyone''s eyes once more. Shrouded with golden light, his exotic eyes shone with a cold glint and he possessed a torrential aura! The first person to suffer was the female priestess who was the closest to the copper disc. Sent flying by the impact, she was pierced by the shards of her own weapon and died on the spot! Aiden threw the Startling Sword that was in his hands at an extremely fast speed and instantly, it arrived before Snowdrift Valley''s Sienna Caliphe. "ACTIVATE!" Sienna Caliphe was shocked and conjured a frost spirit mirror before her that was filled with chilling intent. *BOOM!* The Startling Sword collided heavily against the frost spirit mirror. After a momentary pause, a series of cracks appeared on the spirit mirror. In the blink of an eye, it spread everywhere and shattered. Sienna Caliphe fell to the side, coughing fresh blood endlessly. Although it was just a simple attack, it possessed the terrifying power that Aiden produced after taking on his demon form, causing Sienna Caliphe to be severely injured. *BANG!* With a backhanded p, Aiden released a killing move upon his opponent and collided intensely against the ultimate palm strikes of the male reverend sessor. The sessor''s eyes widened in shock. He felt an extremely terrifying ripping force that surged over, threatening to create a ravine through the ground! *SHING!* A bloodied mist spewed out. The flesh on the holy man''s arm was ripped off and his bones werepletely broken as he flew off. In the blink of an eye, a paragon died and two more had to leave the battle. Aiden''s gaze shifted towards Chaos Essence Sect''s Xiaoran Lily, throwing the flying sword in his hands towards thetter. The sword streaked through the air and arrived instantly. There was no way Xiaoran Lily would dare receive the attack as he shifted her footsteps, wanting to dodge to the side. Unexpectedly, Xiaoran Lily''s vision blurred and a tall figure had already arrived in front of him, exuding a terrifying might and endless killing intent! He had arrived almost at the same time as the sword! "He is too fast!" Xiaoran Lily''s eyelids twitched crazily. *BOOM!* Arriving before Xiaoran Lily, Aiden clenched his fist previously and smashed heavily on the ground. Instantly, Xiaoran Lily''s legs buckled and she slowed down. The sword pierced through her body. Xiaoran Lily''s eyes went dim as a stream of blood spurted out from her chest, severing her life! Another one of the paragons, the sessor of the Chaos Essence Sect, was dead too! 844 Chapter 844 A resolute intent flickered through Hart You''s eyes as he turned to flee! Heh!" Aiden sneered coldly and caught up to Hart You with a few huge strides. He extended his right hand and punched heavily towards thetter''s back! *BOOM!* A gigantic fist that resembled arge golden meteor hurled down from the skies. Instantly, ethereal energy exploded with a resounding bang in a terrifying manner! Hart You caught sight of it from the side of his eyes and was terrified. If he was struck by that, he wouldn''t survive even if he had ten lives! "ESCAPE!" Keeping his cool in the situation, Hart You shouted softly as his mana within him surged out rampantly. Like an unsheathed sword, he shed and turned into a streak of bedazzling colorless light, fleeing into the distance. His speed had already crossed the limits! This was a secret escape skill of the Sword Sect that was simr to the [Blood Escape] used by Bair Yohren back in the Metal Tree Groove butsted for a shorter time. Naturally, the side effects were much less as well. The gigantic ethereal fist above was about to descend. However, Hart You''s sudden speed burst made it such that the seal was about to miss! Hart You was delighted. He could already see the Guardian Elders charging over. As long as he could withstand another few breaths of time, the situation would change entirely! At that moment, the sound of a bowstring being pulled sounded in Hart You''s ears. *PANG!* *PANG!* *PANG!* He turned slightly and looked towards his back. However, the sight of what wasing scared him out of his wits! The terrifying monster, this strange burly man from the Holy Fire Ind; Aiden was right behind him, shifting like a shadow as his eyes shone with a sinister, almost demonic glint to it. With a surging killing intent, the former''s muscles resounded and his arm expanded multiple inches under the intense stretching! Just what kind of monster was this burly man, Hart You cried out inwardly. It looked nothing like an arm, but instead the trunk of an ancient tree or perhaps the massive forelimb of something primordial! Tearing through the firmament, it seemed like it could smash the stars and destroy the void as it caught up to Hart You and mmed down heavily! There was nowhere to escape! In the blink of an eye, Hart You dug out another shiny silver circlet from his storage bag and twisted his body, pushing it fiercely towards the iing fist. *BOOM!* A deafening bang that shook the heavens and earth sounded! As though he was struck by lightning, the sounds of bones cracking could be hearding from Hart You''s entire arm. *POOF!* He spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying, his entire face palely yellow. Although he managed to hang onto his life with the use of a high grade artifact weapon, he fainted on the spot andid motionlessly on the ground in bad condition. By now, the paragons of the world''s top factions were either dead, injured, or have escaped. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was the only one standing not far away watching everything in utter astonishment. She finally understood why that burly man showed absolutely no fear, nor hesitation when everyone turned against him. She understood how he didn''t mind that his secret, his homnd has been found out. After this battle, there was a high chance that he would offend the entire martial world. Disregarding those that were severely injured and crippled, there were seven paragons who already died in his hands! At that moment, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva did not know that with Malefic Demons n''s Yang Zahn who died in the Fog Valley outside Ugburg City, there were actually total of not seven, not eight but nine paragons who died in Aiden''s hands! Once his identity was exposed, there was a high chance he would be hunted by the experts of all the strongest, most powerful sects! Although the world was huge, there wasn''t a ce where he was absolutely safe. Of course, right now, the most important thing for Aiden to consider was how he was going to survive! Meanwhile, the Guardian Elders had already arrived beneath the Ancient One''s Pce. Among them, Sword Sect and Snowdrift Sect''s Guardian Elders took their respective sessors and left the battlefield first to try and heal them. However, five Guardian Elders filled with hatred and murderous, killing intents and exuded terrifying auras had already surrounded Aiden! They were from Purple Firmament Sect, Clear Wind Temple, Illusion Fiend Cult, Chaos Essence Sect and Formless Monastery. Since their paragons were already dead, they had no other choice but to make a move and kill Aiden! "Hahaha! Your embarrassment, your utter shame has turned into anger?" Aidenughed and surveyed his surroundings with mocking eyes. "Since they were no match for me one on one, they came at me together. After they were defeated, even their Guardian Elders are the same weak pathetic mongrels and are joining forces. Ahahaha that''s all there is to the three so-called great factions!" "Y-You! Little b*stard of Holy Fire Ind, your provocations mean nothing to us. You are still going to die." Purple Firmament Sect''s Guardian Elder shook in rage initially but quickly controlled himself and retained his calm and unmoved look. "Heh!" Aiden sneered, "Old a*shole, you think way too highly of yourself! I merely wanted to see how shameless the martial artists of the Purple Firmament Sect were!" "B*stard, since you''re not from our race, and are nothing but an evil fiend, you are ourmon enemy!" Clear Wind Temple''s Guardian Elder waved the horsetail whip in his hands and hollered. Another gray-robed Guardian Elder said grimly. "Young man, you have no one but your stubbornness to me for your plight today. As the saying goes: a tall tree attracts strong winds, that has always been the case throughout history." "Hehehe!" Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elderughed sinisterly. "You guys from the righteous sects are truly hypocritical, always finding all sorts of excuses for your evil actions! I will let you understand today that the reason why we''re joining hands is to murder you because you are talented!" "Huh? Murder me? You?" Aiden took a deep breath of air and his full powered aura exploded. Despite the fact that he was facing five Guardian Elders, his aura climbed once more as he eximed. "Let''s see if you guys have what it takes!" He was looking down on these five world-shaking powerhouses at the Martial Grandmaster realm as a ''mere'' Martial Knight realm martial artist! Regardless of the oue of the battle, his words alone were enough to set the martial artists watching from afar in shock with racing hearts! At that moment, all the paragons seemed absolutely inferior! *BANG!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* Right then, a sudden sound came from within the Ancient One''s Pce that caused everyone''s hearts to skip a beat. Everyone subconsciously looked up. A gigantic rift appeared at the center of the Ancient One''s Pce. It was pitch-ck, mysteriously dark and let out waves of terrifying might! The entrance to the Ancient One''s Pce had appeared! This meant that the Ancient One''s Pce has already silently acknowledged someone as a sessor! "Attack!" The five Guardian Elders shouted and attacked together with a tacit understanding. None of them could sit by and watch Aiden enter the Ancient One''s Pce to receive the inheritance. They had to kill him right here! If the sessor of the Holy Fire Ind were to die, the Ancient One''s Pce would either disappear or pick a new sessor. There was no way the Ancient One''s Pce would leave its inheritance to a corpse. "Die!" Purple Firmament Sect''s Guardian Elder roared and waved his sleeves, causing the endless purple energy that surrounded him to condense into a gigantic sword that shot towards Aiden. The purple sword tore through the air and created a gigantic ravine on the ground, causing the earth to toss over and dust to fly everywhere! Aiden had already reached some minor sess and mastery in his body techniques and with all the absorbed life essences throughout his life constantly empowered and reinforced the strength as well as the sturdiness of his physique. He was also at thete stage Martial Knight rank realm. Be it the righteous or the so called ''evil'', demonic techniques, he had not reached their potential limits and there was still room for improvements on all fronts. Unless he would let go of all inhibitions and release all the shackles in his soul, he still might have a shot at victory against a single old fogey. However, there was no way he could win if all five of them attacked at the same time! He had to endure through it. At this life and death moment, Aiden''s powers were already channeled to their limits and his bloodline surged while his muscles and bones rang together. Vicious, terrifying cold wind blew around him as his energy soared to its peak, creating a translucent, but still barely noticeable shroud of energy around his figure. The vague silhouette of an unknown ancient beast emerged behind him rapidly growing like a gigantic shadow above the heavenly firmament, looking down at the mortal world. "Roar!" Taking a deep breath of air, Aiden puffed his chest and paused for a moment before letting out an earthshaking roar in the direction of Purple Firmament Sect''s Guardian Elder! The ancient creature surrounding him roared at the same time. The voids shook, contorting the entire space itself! Aiden was like a fierce creature, a hungry predator lunging at his prey! In the blink of an eye, the world changed! 845 Chapter 845 Even the five Guardian Elders felt a chill upon sensing the malefic aura let out by Aiden! Thisd must not survive! He was already able to suppress the paragons of the strongest sects at thete stage of the Martial Knight rank. If he were to obtain the Ancient One''s inheritance It was hard to imagine and they did not dare to either! The stronger the strength and potential disyed by Aiden, the more resolved the five Guardian Elders were to kill him! The scarlet-colored, vicious wild energy rumbled and the life-like ancient creature charged while howling, biting, and mming towards the iing purple sword. *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* The sword tore through the air with endless might and a terrifying sharp edge, defeating the ancient creature''s illusionary silhouette that was formed with vicious energy one after another. The purple energy and vicious energy, two different powers, collided and corroded one another endlessly. With the dissipation of the creature''s image, the scarlet vicious energy surrounding Aiden would dim slightly. The purple sword''s power was also clearly not as intense as it was initially as its light dimmed. *BOOM!* It was yet another deafening sound. The purple sword collided against thest remnant of the creature''s shattered visage. The ancient, unknown, and unidentifiable creature''s silhouette''s vicious energy had dispersed and the purple sword turned into streams of purple energy that returned to the world as well. Aiden managed to defend against the full-powered attack of a Guardian Elder! Furthermore, he defended against it without taking any damage! Aiden panted heavily. This time around, he had expended a great deal of his strength. Ever since he arrived, he had been fighting. If not for the fact that he possessed shocking stamina and -by this world''s standards: an impossible physique-, he would have been exhausted long ago. Right now, after defending the sword of Purple Firmament Sect''s Guardian Elder, Aiden felt weakness surge into his head and his arms and feet were powerless C he was thoroughly exhausted. If not for the fact that he was constantly surrounded by strong foes, he would have copsed long ago. After invoking the power of a Martial Grandmaster, there was only a single oue for any Guardian Elders. They would be able to unleash onest attack before being mercilessly devoured by a ruthless time! A series of rips appeared behind Purple Firmament Sect''s Guardian Elder as a sinister wind howled in a mysterious manner. Looking over, Aiden sneered with mockery in his eyes. Purple Firmament Sect''s Guardian Elder grit his teeth in indignance. "Little b*stard, you don''t have to be smug. It won''t be long before you''ll be joining me! Hahaha argh!" It was a tragic cry. His body was shredded into pieces by the void, turning into a blood mist as he was devoured cleanly without a corpse left. A momentter, the space stabilized and the tear repaired itself. *SWASH!* A silver beam descended from the skies in a frightening manner. A gray-robed old and long-bearded Guardian Elder struck with his horsetail whip and a myriad of silver threads extended countlessly, turning into a massive silver rod that mmed down at Aiden''s head violently! Aiden took a deep breath of air and reached out with his right hand, grabbing the iing silver rod. *BANG!* There was a dull sound of defeat when the rod and hand collided. A shocking scene revealed itself in the next instant. The seemingly all-powerful strike was single- and barehandedly blocked by a single palm, gripping the majestic silver rod tightly. The skin on the holding hand felt different for some reason as if it was different than before. *POOF!* Aiden''s gaze dimmed and he spat out a mouthful of blood. The attack was truly powerful, even he couldn''t block it without suffering some of it in the process. "Heh soi naive. So ignorant!" Suddenly, the gray-robed old, bearded Guardian Elder chuckled with a look of ridicule. "Huh?" Aiden''s expression changed. Suddenly, the silver rod spread open from his palm and the three thousand threads whipped him on the back viciously! *PIAK!* shes of blood appeared, apanied by the sounds of bones cracking. Aiden''s face turned pale as his knees buckled, almost kneeling on the ground. The change was extremely sudden; the horsetail whip seemed like it was alive and sentient and shifted between flexibility and toughness instantly. Aiden''s back was whipped into a mess of flesh and blood, as though countless knives were gliding across. The fabric of his torn clothes stuck onto the surface in a frightening manner. His corbone was broken and hung out in an exposed manner, looking extremely shocking! Looking at the scene, the old guardian elders were shocked beyond belief This little bugger''s vitality was shocking! If it was any other martial artist or any living being, they would have long died after their organs were ruptured and they suffered such severe impacts. However, at this moment, Aiden could still stand upright! He could sense his injuries healing slightly with every single breath, except that it was at an extremely slow speed due to his serious injuries. "You''re still not dead?" The gray-robed old and long-bearded Guardian Elder''s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Aiden who stood upright slowly. His attack was more than enough to split the body of any Martial Knight realm martial artist! However, he did not expect Aiden to stand up once more! "What a pity, I just needed a little more!" The Guardian Elder sighed indignantly. However, he no longer had a chance. A dimensional tear appeared behind him in the next moment and devoured him straight; even his horsetail whip was shred into pieces! *BUZZ!* Almost at the same time, the sound of a sword buzzing rang out. "Go!" Chaos Essence Sect''s Guardian Elder had attacked, pointing his flying sword towards Aiden. A streak of light appeared instantly! It was the simplest as well as the most effective killing move of martial artists. The moment Chaos Essence Sect''s Guardian Elder struck, Aiden sensed a warning in his mind. Without hesitating, in a sh, Aiden grit his teeth and dodged to the side. *POOF!* A stream of blood spurted out. He was still a step too slow. The sword pierced his left chest and shot out of his body. Although it missed his heart, a pration through his lung was enough to be fatal! Instantly, Aiden had difficulty breathing. He coughed endlessly, as though there was a fire burning in his throat, and his body convulsed for a split moment. This time around, the injury was way too severe. This was the first time he had experienced such a serious injury throughout his martial journey! Although his regeneration capabilities were strong, there had to be a limit to them; it was unknown if he could recover from an injury as such. Furthermore, this was on the ancient battlefield and nobody would ord him the chance to do so! *BUZZ!* In midair, the soaring sword turned and retraced its path right after prating Aiden''s chest; it was a clear sign of how advanced the Guardian Elder of Chaos Essence Sect was in his sword handling skills. An unprecedented feeling of death arrived. Even without his spirit perception, Aiden knew that he was extremely close to death and would definitely die if he could not dodge that sword! *BANG!* Stomping on the ground, he exerted his final bit of strength and leaped forcefully to the side. *SHING!* A sh of blood appeared and a throbbing pain that struck his marrow surged from his abdomen. The blood drained from Aiden''s face as his knees buckled, almost copsing onto the ground. By now, he waspletely exhausted and severely injured. It was extremely lucky that he was able to avoid fatal damage. That sword sliced a bloody hole through his abdomen. Aiden clutched it with his hands immediately to stop his intestines from spilling out. Fresh blood gushed out, seeping through his fingers and flowing down, slowly soaking his clothes with a heavy stench. In the blink of an eye, he was already filled with blood. His head was spinning and he swayed while he felt his vitality leaving his body in an irreversible manner! "Am I about to die? Do I really have no other options left?!" Aiden murmured softly. Suddenly, his vision blurred, as if a bloody figure appeared with an unparalleled might. Even after many years, that figure remained etched in his memories. There was no way for him to erase that scene and it felt clear as though it was yesterday "Nobody thought that Holy Fire Ind would have produced a paragon as such. Yet, it''s a pity that he has to die beneath the Ancient One''s Pce." "He died a worthwhile death trading the lives of seven other paragons and a couple of Guardian Elders." The martial artists watching that blood-stained and swaying figure from afar hadplicated expressions as they discussed in hushed whispers with looks of pity. That lone figure looked pitiable and tragic. 846 Chapter 846 "Nobody thought that Holy Fire Ind would have produced a paragon as such. Yet, it''s a pity that he has to die beneath the Ancient One''s Pce." "He died a worthwhile death trading the lives of seven other paragons and a couple of Guardian Elders." The martial artists watching that blood-stained and swaying figure from afar hadplicated expressions as they discussed in hushed whispers with looks of pity. That lone figure looked pitiable and tragic. The martial artists knew that Holy Fire Ind''s sessor was about to die and no one could save him! Aiden was indeed in a disastrous situation. His left chest was punctured with blood gushing out, his corbone was smashed and broken while his abdomen had a frightening wound that was so bad his intestines would have spilled out if he wasn''t clutching it with his hands. Aiden could feel his vitality draining from him! Fresh blood was still flowing. His injuries were not showing any signs of healing or recovery. This meant that his injuries had already exceeded the limits of his regeneration capabilities! The two remaining elders, who both looked like monks had yet to make their moves. Even if they were to stand by the sidelines and watch idly, before long, he would still run out of blood and die all the same. Aiden''s head was giddy and his vision blurred as if a familiar curvaceous figure shed before him. "Ma.. -a-ster" Instinctively, he called out softly. There was no response. The figure in front turned slightly and raised her brows, ncing at him with endless worry and pity. A faint fragrance wafted over and Aiden was momentarily invigorated as he struggled to open his eyes and look over. After a moment of daze, he opened his mouth but failed to say anything. His head slumped down with evident disappointment. It was not the master he inwardly longed to see. The mother figure that brought him up together with his little sister and Granny. It was Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva. He had lost too much blood and his vision was blurry. Coupled with the fact that he had been yearning about her at this moment, Aiden mistook Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s pink-colored dress as a blood-red color. She has already left long ago and won''t being back. I still couldn''t catch up to her in the end. There''s no more chance left. "Hah" Aiden sighed deeply and his body swayed. His eyelids were heavy and gradually, his consciousness was gone as he fell into the endless abyss. Suddenly, a voice sounded in his ears, jolting Aiden''s mind and pulling him back from the abyss of death! "Seniors, please let him off." It was Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s voice and she was right in front of him. "Holy Maiden, get lost!" One of the elderly monk-like Guardian Elder walked over slowly and hollered with a terrifying aura. "Even if you guys don''t attack, he won''t be able to survive. What''s so bad about leaving him with aplete corpse?" Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva did not leave and her voice sounded once more. "You righteous sects advocate kindness, so why are you so bent on killing him?" "Young miss, this is not about good or bad. The only way to ensure that nothing goes wrong is to kill him personally." The elderly monk Guardian Elder was unmoved and he said with a shimmering gaze. "Holy Maiden, if you don''t get lost, I''ll kill you together with him!" A momentter, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s voice sounded once more. Although it was calm and firm, it was shocking! "Forgive my inability toply." Those words revealed a determination. It was an unwavering conviction to not back off despite knowing that it would result in death! Aiden''s expression changed. She was facing a Guardian Elder. This was a Guardian Elder, a Martial Grandmaster who waspletely enraged and could kill her with a single move! Aiden did not expect that given the circumstances, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva would stand forth and defend him with reckless abandon unyieldingly. "What a foolish woman" His lips shifted and his voice was as soft and inaudible as a mosquito. "Very well then" The elderly monk Guardian Elder nodded expressionlessly as killing intent surged in his eyes. "Since you wish to die, I''ll fulfill your wishes!" *BOOM!* He channeled his inner Martial Grandmaster realm strength and burst forth with his full power. It was an instant attack with a massive rise in aura! "Formless Finger!" Reaching out with his finger, he tapped in Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s direction. Instantly, heaven and earth shook! How was that a finger? It was clearly a heavenly-piercing pir that streaked through the void with unbridled might, charging over as though it wanted to crush Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva into smithereens! Aiden clenched his teeth and wanted to block the move for Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva. However, he was too severely injured and he had no strength left to budge. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva blinked her eyes and a ripple appeared in her beautiful eyes, sending forth a bewitching beam that entered the eyes of Formless Monastery''s Guardian Elder. Removing her veil, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva revealed a wless face and smiled charmingly. It was a charm that could topple the world! Even the martial artists who were watching from afar were stunned and drooled with agape mouths, let alone the old monk Guardian Elder who was right before her. She did not merely use the [Bewitching Eye]. That was the limit of the Pure Maiden Sect Holy Maiden''s powers! "Hmm?" Although the elderly monk Guardian Elder was a Martial Grandmaster, he had not trained the secret skills of his sect and was unable to counter the Pure Maiden Sect''s ultimate technique perfectly. His heart wavered for a moment and the power of Formless Finger weakened. "Go!" At the same time, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva sent forth a ribbon that shone with a bright spirit light, colliding against the iing Formless Finger. *BANG!* There was a deafening sound. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s expression changed starkly as her petite figure shuddered, stumbling in retreat repeatedly. With every single step back, she would spit out a mouthful of blood that was extremely striking! Not everyone could endure the full-powered attack of Guardian Elders like Aiden. If not for the fact that the elderly monk Guardian Elder was distracted and the power of Formless Finger was diminished, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva would have been torn apart and died! Even so, by the time she staggered backwards to Aiden''s side, she was already severely injured and on the brink of death. A series of sinister tears appeared behind the elderly monk Guardian Elder. "Humph!" With a grim expression, he sneered. "I''ll give you guys arge gift before my death so that you two lovebirds can go down to the Abyss together!" Before his sentence was finished, a stream of fire burst forth from the elderly monk Guardian Elder''s finger and arrived before the two of them. His mes were fiery red and there was even a shade of gold mixed within, letting off a terrifying aura. It was True Draconic Fire! True Draconic Fires were extremely rare and not something one could just simply learn and train in. It required a certain talent, and an aptitude to even have the slightest chance of it! Only true Martial Grandmasters, who possessed a certain inborn talent could have the slightest chance of learning True Draconic Fire that could incinerate all Martial Knight realm martial artists and even burn pure-blooded ferocious beasts at Martial Knight realm to ashes in a mere instant! Aiden''s eyes twitched furiously. He was a Weapon Refinement Master as well and had mastery over mes; naturally, he knew how powerful true fires were. Unlike these fake little reptilians and lesser creatures, he had a true draconic bloodline circling in his body. Whilst he could not breathe fire like he would wanted to, he believed it was just a matter of time. Previously, none of the Guardian Elders produced true fires because they were not martial artists with fire spirit roots. Heaving a deep breath of air, Aiden used all his might to push away Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva who was in front of him while bellowing deeply. "Get away!" *SWOOSH!* The mesnded on Aiden and surged, burning his entire body! In the blink of an eye, he was a man engulfed in mes. "Arr arr arr!" Aiden hunched over with his eyes tightly shut. He was in immeasurable pain as his throat let out a hoarse cry. The true fire burned furiously and his body convulsed. Even his flesh sizzled with crackling sounds as his flesh was burnt ck in a terrifying sight. In the fire, Aiden''s face was faintly visible and he was in such deep pain that his features were contorted to an unrecognizable degree. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s heart ached when she saw the state he was in and her eyes misted. 847 Chapter 847 Aiden hunched over with his eyes tightly shut. He was in immeasurable pain as his throat let out a hoarse cry. The true fire burned furiously and his body convulsed. Even his flesh sizzled with crackling sounds as his flesh was burnt ck in a terrifying sight. In the fire, Aiden''s face was faintly visible and he was in such deep pain that his features were contorted to an unrecognizable degree. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s heart ached when she saw the state he was in and her eyes misted. "Cough!" Her internal injuries acted up and she coughed out another two mouthfuls of ck blood; there were even pieces of her ruptured organs and it looked terrifying. "To think that I would still end up dying here!" Sylvie Deva''s eyes dimmed and she sounded wistful. Her organs were severely damaged after receiving the full blow of a Guardian Elder and her vitality was rapidly draining. Unless she was in possession of some supreme methods, she would be dead for sure. However, in the grand wide world, Martial Grandmasters were already the mightiest figures in existence. How could anyone possibly save her? "How could that be?" Suddenly, a soft exmation filled with disbelief sounded not far away. It was the voice of Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder. Instinctively, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva followed the Guardian Elder''s gaze and looked towards Aiden once more. At that moment, the true fire burning him had grown much smaller than before and was even showing signs of extinguishing! Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s mouth was slightly agape and her eyes were filled with shock. Although Aiden was almost charcoal ck by now and was billowing with smoke, the mes surrounding him were indeed getting weaker. Or rather, much more shockingly they were reversing! The ancient mes trembled slightly as if they were directed towards a certain spot, the center of Aiden''s chest by some mysterious force, entering his body seemingly out of nowhere! Apart from Aiden, no one else knew or could exin what was happening to him. Initially, his injuries were way too severe that they exceeded his regeneration capabilities. As such, he could not recover and was bleeding the entire time. If not for the true draconic fire, he would have died of blood loss. However, the mes of the draconic fire had cauterized his wounds and stopped the bleeding temporarily, saving his life! At the same time, a mysterious change was happening inside his Primal Core under the burn of the true draconic fire. It was as though a seal had been undone, summoning a hidden power within Aiden that was devouring the true fire on him and turning it into a pure stream of energy without any care! Before the true draconic fire could threaten Aiden''s life, his Primal Core had already consumed arge portion of it! It could be said that through some freak turn of events, the true draconic fire had instead saved Aiden''s life. A terrifying aura was growing, shrouding around the blood-bone palm. *Tap!* *Tap!* *Tap!* The sound of footsteps filled with killing intent surged over in a suffocating manner! Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s heart sank. The elderly, bearded monk Guardian Elder was already dead, vanished by the mystical tear in the void, and the Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder was the only one left. The mes on Aiden''s body had yet to extinguish and he stood on the spot like burnt charcoal; his eyes were shut and his aura was weak. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva grit her teeth and pushed herself up with her trembling arms. After multiple failures, she finally struggled to stand up before staggering in front of Aiden. Although it was a simple motion, she had expended the final bit of her strength. Her body swayed unsteadily as if a single gust of wind could knock her over. However, when she raised her head and looked towards Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder who was striding over murderously, her eyes were filled with unprecedented resolve! She knew that her injuries were already beyond the point of no return, but it was not the case for Aiden. The Ancient One''s Pce! That might be the burly man''s only chance! Multiple signs had already indicated that Aiden was this generation''s sessor for the Ancient One''s Pce. As long as he entered it, he might be able to survive. Of course, that was only a possibility. Nobody knew what was inside the Ancient One''s Pce. The footsteps vanished. Arriving in front of Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva, Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder paused with a cold expression. "The way you''re protecting him don''t tell me that this b*stard is really your mate?" Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder asked slowly; the way he looked at Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was filled with mockery and ridicule. "So what if he is?" Her face turned darker and grimmer and the vitality exuding from her body was almost negligible. If not for her thread of determination that was keeping her going, she would have copsed long ago. "Hahahaha!" It was as though the Guardian Elder of Illusion Fiend Cult had just heard the greatest joke in the world. Even the Guardian Elders of Overlord Sect and Cloud Rain Sect frowned, looking at Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva in disbelief. "Foolish, how utterly foolish!" Afterughing, he shook his head regrettably. "To think that this generation''s Holy Maiden of the Pure Maiden Sect would be such a lovelorn fool, picking an ugly martial artist as her partner. Howughable." Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva pursed her lips and her eyelids were getting heavier. She could no longer hear the Guardian Elder clearly; it merely felt as though her ears were buzzing with noises close and far as her consciousness faded. "The reason why you''re fighting with your life is to buy time for this little b*stard to enter the Ancient One''s Pce." Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder sneered. "However, it''s a pity that both of you will have to die! Today, I''ll kill you so that you don''t bring about disgrace for Pure Maidens Sect as well as the rest of our sects!" The moment he said that the Guardian Elder''s eyes shone with killing intent and he whipped out a shimmering flexible sword from his waist. *SWOOSH!* With a fling, the sword turned straight! Even against two helpless Martial Knight realm martial artists who were on the brink of death, the Guardian Elder had no intention of showing mercy as he burst forth with his power as a peak stage Martial Grandmaster and thrust forward. That attack was enough to skewer both of their heads together! The sword force was extremely cold and possessed wild might. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva could hold on no longer as she copsed to the side. Suddenly, an arm reached out and held up her body. The next moment, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva caught sight of a figure through her blurred vision. Although he was burnt charcoal ck and was disfigured, she could recognize him. Those eyes burned with a bloodshot gleam as though they wanted to devour someone! Suddenly, the charcoal-like figure, Aiden reached out with his right arm. Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder''s eyes constricted in shock. There was still no flesh on his palm and it was just a golden bone that was burning with the very same draconic mes, emitting a terrifying aura that seemed as though it could incinerate the heavens and oceans, annihting all living beings! It was as though it was the hand of a divine spirit that let out a shuddering aura. Even the Guardian Elders who were watching from nearby as well as the itinerary martial artists watching from afar felt chills run down their spines, let alone Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder. Some of the martial artists could not endure that might and fell to the ground on the spot, shivering in fear. A feeling of inferiority grew in the hearts of many martial artists. The golden bone palm reached out for the flexible sword. *Pitter-patter!* *Pitter-patter!* Before it could reach the golden bone palm, the sword was melted into liquid steel and dripped onto the ground. A perfect-grade artifact weapon was instantly destroyed just like that! The Guardian Elder had nowhere to run with the space-time tear appearing behind his back. In his eyes, he could only see a burning golden palm arriving with a me that grew more and more intense Right in front of everyone, that burning blood bone palm prated the Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder''s body with ease. It did not pause at all, simr to how a zing steel sword would pierce a thin veil. In the blink of an eye, Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder was devoured by the mes. The next moment, he turned into ashes! A peak stage Martial Grandmaster realm powerhouse of this world was incinerated to ashes by that terrifying me in less than a second without any corpse left! 848 Chapter 848 Right in front of everyone, that burning golden bone palm prated the Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder''s body with ease. It did not pause at all, simr to how a zing steel sword would pierce a thin veil. In the blink of an eye, Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder was devoured by the mes. The next moment, he turned into ashes! A Martial Grandmaster was incinerated to ashes by that terrifying me in less than a second without any corpse left! Complete silence ensued within a thousand meters from the Ancient One''s Pce. All the martial artists felt an inexplicable sense of repression as their chests stuffed up, making breathing difficult. "Look!" Someone from the crowd eximed. Without the need for any reminders, everyone''s gazesnded on that golden bone palm. At that moment, the void around the golden bone palm began to distort after being burned by the intense mes. A series of tears appeared, gusting with sinister winds! The space-time tear began its assault on the burly man himself as well! Everyone gasped. This meant that the mes on that palm had already reached the level of a Martial Grandmaster''s power! A sinister aura gushed out from the dimensional tear. The mes on the golden bone palm flickered against the sinister wind,sting for a moment before finally extinguishing. Right after, all the martial artists watched with rmed gazes. The dimensional tears that appeared around the golden bone palm devoured it but spat it back out! It was spat out intact! The ripping power of the dimensional tear was iparably strong, to begin with and could tear the bodies of Martial Grandmasters or even stronger beings, Quasi-Divine entities apart. The moment one was dragged away by the dimensional tear, they would endure an incredibly horrific wild current of the void. Even Quasi-Divine beings or perhaps early-stage Divines would have their Essence Spirits destroyed without any corpses remaining! Legend has it that only mighty patriarchs could endure the wild currents of the void and travel through it freely. Yet, the dimensional tear could not devour that golden bone palm! After it was taken in and washed by the wild currents, it was still intact! What exactly was that? That was not the bone of a mortal being! That burly man couldn''t be a mortal! Holy Fire Ind''s sessor, golden bone palm mes all the clues seemed to lead towards a certain truth. "Could the legend be for real?" Sword Sect''s Guardian Elder shuddered uneasily, as though he had just recalled something frightening. "What legend?!" The other Guardian Elders looked towards him one after another. "Do you guys know of the origins of Holy Fire Ind?" Sword Sect''s Guardian Elder asked instead. Another Guardian Elder replied with a frown. "Initially, Holy Fire Ind was just a lone ind on the surface, overseas. Legend has it that in an unknown era long ago, the skies rained with heavenly fire and the firmaments copsed. Among that one, such pir burst down scorching the entire ind in one go. Yet for some reason instead of being annihted like it should have been, the entire ind was given a strange rebirth and has reemerged anew from the divine judgment." "Thereafter, the ind was named as the Holy Fire Ind." At that point, the Guardian Elder suddenly paused. As though he recalled something as well, he was shocked and asked slowly. "You mean to say" "That legend was too long ago and has always been spread through the mortal world. It was created by storytellers, there''s no way it can be true, right?" Another Guardian Elder refused to believe it. Could it be that the Holy Fire Ind''s sessors were not mere mortal beings anymore but something more? In the martial world, there had never been urate records about the existence of such people in the world. Nobody had seen anyone from Holy Fire Ind for so long and the only things left were figments of the legends. Prior to this, if anyone said that there was a pure-blooded living being in the world that possessed a mightparable to a True Divine God, nobody would believe it. But now, the Guardian Elders present went silent. Suddenly, Overlord Sect''s Guardian Elder said. "In the ancient manuals of our sects, there''s a legend about the divine race. It''s said that the divine race is a mighty race that''s evenparable in strength to the guardians. They wield the strongest and most frightening mes in the universe and can incinerate all living beings!" "Male divines are called Bulls while female phoenixes are called Does. Pure-blooded divines, also known as True Divines, are reborn through the Holy Fire each time they incinerate themselves and be even stronger!" "Therefore, in the entire world, be it in the martial or mortal world, it is said that they are the true Gods of this world. Born pure and powerful, destined to soar high in the heavens!" Another Guardian Elder asked. "What''s the difference between the two?" Overlord Sect''s Guardian Elder replied. "The ancient manuals recorded not that much about this mysterious race. It is said that the Divnes would always leave something behind during each rebirth. When the male bull is bathed in mes, he leaves behind a drop of its divine essence blood. When the undying female doe is bathed in mes, she leaves behind a piece of its divine soul!" At that point, everyone felt their hearts skip a beat. They made the connection between this person from the Holy Fire Ind and his golden bone palm with the terrifying me that was burning on it C they were close to the truth! "You mean to say that this brat is actually A true divine himself and is currently undergoing" A Guardian Elder eximed unable to finish his line of thought. If that were the case, it would exin most of the strangely powerful, indomitable body of the youngd, as well as his incredible prowess. In that case, it would naturally exin why the dimensional tear was unable to devour that bone and why the wild currents in the void could not destroy it! It would make sense for the divine bone palm to be a true divine object! Even a mighty patriarch would be tempted to get his hands on it! *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* The Guardian Elders had a tacit understanding and set their sights on Aiden''s right hand; they could not conceal the greed in their eyes. All of them were Martial Grandmasters reaching the end of their lifespans. Now that they were sent into this horrible battlefield with the sessors of their respective sects, it was partly due to the threat that they would be able to provide. On the other hand, all of them harbored thoughts of seeking out opportunities or treasures to increase their lifespans so that they could continue training and cultivating and hope to break through to the mythical Quasi-Divine realm! Since the divine phoenix bone was an object left behind by the undying Huang''s rebirth through nirvana, it would definitely possess unimaginable divine power and if they could get their hands on it, they might be able to extend their lives! Although Aiden was able to kill Illusion Fiend Cult''s Guardian Elder with the golden bone palm, his internal injuries had yet to heal up and his vitality was still draining, almostpletely depleted. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was in a simr condition. To everyone, Aiden and Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva were two dead people. All they had to consider was how they were going to get their hands on the divine bones in the ensuing fight after severing Aiden''s hand from his body! However, before they could even decide what to do Suddenly, a beam of light shot out from the Ancient One''s Pce''s entrance, descending upon Aiden. A massive power sucked Aiden, causing him to rise slowly. "Go on. If you manage to survive, I hope you can still remember me" Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva tilted her head and leaned in Aiden''s embrace like a weak girl. Although her eyes were filled with sadness and reluctance, she faked a smile nevertheless. Aiden did not say anything but he did not let go. Throughout history, there would only be a single sessor chosen for the Ancient One''s Pce''s appearance. Right now, as long as Aiden let go of Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva, he would be able to enter the Ancient One''s Pce rightfully. However, he knew that if he were to let go, she would definitely have no chance of surviving! Aiden did not care about the rtionship between Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva and himself or ponder about what it meant to be her chosen mate. The only thing he knew was that if Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva had not sacrificed herself to buy time for him earlier on, he would have been killed by the Guardian Elders of Formless Monastery and Illusion Fiend Cult and would not havested till now! He held onto Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva obstinately and refused to let go. 849 Chapter 849 To the many martial artists, this was a choice that seemed foolish, even stupid. It was precisely because of this reason that the both of them stopped in midair during the rise, unable to head up or down. It was an undeniable rule that the Ancient One''s Pce would only select a single sessor. Right now, Aiden''s choice was challenging the rule of the Ancient One''s Pce, challenging the might of the Ancient One himself! The Guardian Elders were delighted upon seeing that. If Aiden were to enter the Ancient One''s Pce sessfully, they would miss their chance of seizing the golden divine bone palm! "How foolish! He doesn''t know what''s good for him!" A martial artist sneered. Another martial artist shook his head and sighed. "To think that Void de would be such a sentimental man." "Isn''t that right? Not many people would have the courage to make such a choice." If he entered the Ancient One''s Pce, not only would he be able to survive, but he would also be able to obtain the Ancient One''s inheritance C who could resist such a temptation? Icewind Mountain''s Sieanna Caliphe bit her lips and looked on with a conflicted expression. What did his choice represent? It meant that at this moment, this man was willing to abandon his life and the Ancient One''s inheritance in order to save Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva! Even if there was only a sliver of hope! As a woman, she felt a tinge of envy towards Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva from the bottom of her heart. "Let go!" Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva frowned deeply; her eyelids were so heavy that she could not make out Aiden''s face clearly and her frail voice carried a hint of anxiousness. "Don''t feel guilty. The reason I saved you is because you saved me before as well. If not for you, I would have been killed by that damned reverend long ago. I''m just repaying you right now" There was still no response. "Let me go." She sighed with difficulty. It was still silent. However, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva could sense him hugging her even closer. The both of them hovered in midair in a stalemate with the Ancient One''s Pce. The remaining few Guardian Elders were already on their way! The two of them were already at the end of the road with no strength to fight back. Even without releasing their powers as Martial Grandmasters, the Guardian Elders could kill the two of them with just power at the level of Martial Knight realm. "Die!" The first Guardian Elder to arrive was from Sword Sect. "Buzz!" The sound of a sword buzzing rang out and an unparalleled sword beam shed. Instead of aiming for Aiden''s vitals, it tried to sever his wrist! Aiden looked at that sword without moving. Given his current condition, not just Martial Knight or Martial Master even a mere Martial Disciple would be able to kill him, let alone the Guardian Elder of Sword Sect. *Swash!* The sword beam struck the column of light from the Ancient One''s Pce and created a ripple before vanishing instantly. Aiden was unharmed! "Huh?" The Guardian Elders were rmed when they saw that. All of a sudden! As though it was agitated, that column of light shone brightly in a bedazzling manner! Countless beams of light shot forth and instantly prated the body of Sword Sect''s Guardian Elder. *Poof!* *Poof!* *Poof!* shes of blood gushed out continuously! The Guardian Elder''s body was punctured by the illusionary beams of light and the next moment, he exploded into a blood mist without a corpse left! Upon seeing that, the remaining few Guardian Elders were shocked and terrified. Among them, Majestic Sky Sect''s Guardian Elder had already released his secret skill which struck the column of light. The column of light shook and shot forth countless beams once more, engulfing the Guardian Elder of Majestic Sky Sect. That person was rather impressive as a glint of determination flickered through his eyes. Roaring, he released his power as a Martial Grandmaster, wanting to fight against the light beams before him. *Bang!* He turned into a mist of blood and died on the spot. Although it was only a column of light beneath the Ancient One''s Pce, its might could not be challenged and it was enough to suppress everything, killing with a single touch! The others hurriedly stopped in their tracks and escaped, not daring to linger. They only came to a stop outside the boundaries of the Ancient One''s Pce before turning back to look with fear in their hearts. The man and woman were still hovering in midair within that gigantic column of light, hugging together without separating. The Guardian Elders looked grim with indignant expressions. There was no way they could get their hands on the golden divine bone palm given the current situation. "Let''s wait a little more, there might still be a chance" After a moment, another Guardian Elderposed himself and said slowly with a shimmering gaze. "That''s right. Not everything is lost yet." Overlord Sect''s Guardian Elder said in a dark tone. "He''s only a mere Martial Knight realm martial artist and yet he dares to challenge the Ancient One''s Pce? He''s bound to fail! If this carries on, the both of them will definitely die!" The few Guardian Elders nodded in agreement. If the two of them were dead, the Ancient One''s Pce would either disappear or select a new sessor. No matter the oue, the sessor of Holy Fire Ind would lose the protection of the Ancient One''s Pce. At that time, they would have the chance to sever his wrist and fight for the golden divine bone palm! Right now, all the Guardian Elders had to do was wait. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva leaned in Aiden''s embrace motionlessly and it was unable to tell if she was dead. Aiden''s aura was also getting increasingly weaker. Raising his head, he looked at the mysterious entrance of the Ancient One''s Pce and narrowed his gaze with a resolute expression. It was as though he would never relent norpromise! A long, long timeter Just as Aiden was gradually losing consciousness, a change happened in midair! The two of them started rising slowly, as though they were pulled by something . In the blink of an eye, both of them entered the Ancient One''s Pce and disappeared! There was a deathly silence. Upon seeing that, everyone was dumbfounded and even forgot to breathe. "How is that possible?" A long timeter, the old Guardian Elder that spoke first murmured to himself with widened eyes and a lost expression. "The Ancient One''s Pce actually came to apromise? Did HEe to apromise?" Overlord Sect''s Guardian Elder chuckled bitterly. Since the Ancient One''s Pce was sentient, it naturally possessed the intent of the Ancient One. Throughout history, the Ancient One had been the strongest entity in existence and was unparalleled. Since the Ancient One''s Pce represented him, how could it bow down and relent? Furthermore, how could it do so for the sake of a mere Martial Knight realm martial artist? If everyone had not seen it for themselves, none of them would have believed it. Was it pity or was there some other reason? Nobody knew. The entrance of the Ancient One''s Pce closed. *Bang!* *Boom!* *Boom!* The ancient pce shook and dust fell endlessly as it rose into the air slowly, disappearing beyond the horizons of the heavens. The clouds dissipated and the thunderstorm subsided, spilling warm sunlight everywhere. The skies were clear once again. Yet, there was a murky fog in the hearts of all the Guardian Elders. The Ancient One''s Pce had long disappeared. However, the paragons who managed to survive and the Guardian Elders of the super sects looked in its direction for the longest time with conflicted expressions in silence. They felt an inexplicable sense of repression. "That man should be dead, right?" A long timeter, Majestic Sky Sect''s paragon asked hesitantly. Overlord Sect''s Shadow Raven nodded. "He should be." After a moment, as though he was trying to convince himself, Shadow Raven repeated with conviction, "He must be!" "That''s right, he''s definitely dead." "He''s already so badly injured! Unless there''s some divine method to resurrect the dead and regrow flesh, he''s definitely dead for sure!" "That''s right. The Ancient One''s Pce only contains its inheritance, how could there be anything to save his life?" Almost at the same time, the remaining paragons heaved a sigh of relief, as if a burden was lifted off their shoulders. All of them looked at ease and smiled gently. The Guardian Elders present were expressionless as they exchanged nces. All of them could tell of the worry in the others'' eyes. To old people like themselves who had lived for hundreds of years, the reactions and deductions of their juniors felt more like lies to make themselves feel better. Even they were unsure if the sessor of Holy Fire Ind was still alive. That was because nobody knew what was inside the Ancient One''s Pce! 850 Chapter 850 The Ancient One''s Pce had long disappeared. However, the paragons who managed to survive and the Guardian Elders of the super sects looked in its direction for the longest time with conflicted expressions in silence. They felt an inexplicable sense of repression. "That man should be dead, right?" A long timeter, Majestic Sky Sect''s paragon asked hesitantly. Overlord Sect''s Shadow Raven nodded. "He should be." After a moment, as though he was trying to convince himself, Shadow Raven repeated with conviction, "He must be!" "That''s right, he''s definitely dead." "He''s already so badly injured! Unless there''s some divine method to resurrect the dead and regrow flesh, he''s definitely dead for sure!" "That''s right. The Ancient One''s Pce only contains its inheritance, how could there be anything to save his life?" Almost at the same time, the remaining paragons heaved a sigh of relief, as if a burden was lifted off their shoulders. All of them looked at ease and smiled gently. The Guardian Elders present were expressionless as they exchanged nces. All of them could tell of the worry in the others'' eyes. To old people like themselves who had lived for hundreds of years, the reactions and deductions of their juniors felt more like lies to make themselves feel better. Even they were unsure if the sessor of Holy Fire Ind was still alive. That was because nobody knew what was inside the Ancient One''s Pce! To old people like themselves who had lived for hundreds of years, the reactions and deductions of their juniors felt more like lies to make themselves feel better. Even they were unsure if the sessor of Holy Fire Ind was still alive. That was because nobody knew what was inside the Ancient One''s Pce! It would be fine if the Holy Fire Ind''s sessor died in the Ancient One''s Pce. If he survived and was reborn Everything else aside, none of the paragons who had entered the ancient battlefield this time round, Hart You, Shadow Raven, Monk Jue Chen, and the others included, would be a match for that man. That was because all of those paragons would be fearful. Subconsciously, all of them were hoping that the sessor of Holy Fire Ind would die instead of wishing for his survival so that they could fight him once more! In this battle, the paragons of the most powerful sects were defeated so badly that their confidence was destroyed. Clear Heart Nunnery''s Guardian Elder murmured. "The fact that they''re able to produce such a paragon is a clear sign that the light of providence is shining on them. Could this generation be the rise of Holy Fire Ind once more?" "It''s probably unsuitable to refer to him as a paragon anymore." "That''s right. Given his potential, bearing, guts, and methods, he can be called a monster incarnate!" "Not just that, he''s a rare monster incarnate throughout history!" The few Guardian Elders were clear about how much of a stir it would cause once news of this spread to the rest of the world. The entire martial world might be moved because of this! "It''s alright." One of the so far surviving Martial Grandmaster old fogeys, the Hollow Monastery''s Guardian Elder said calmly. "No matter how strong thatd is, he''s only at Martial Knight realm. His future is still unknown. Given the firm foundations of our sects, we have rare monster incarnates as well!" "That''s true. If he meets against the legacy disciples of our sects, he shouldn''t have much of a chance of winning." Everyone conversed for a little more before separating. The battlefield was left with nothing but a pile of corpses, as though telling a tale of how tragic that battle was An entire month had passed in the brink of an eye. The state of the rest of the invaders that havee from the same world as Aiden have either died or should have long left. Ugburg City. The arrival of a piece of news caused a huge uproar! "A monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind and this generation''s Holy Maiden of the fiend sects entered the Ancient One''s Pce and their fates are unknown!" "Where did you get that news from? It''s fake, right? Throughout history, the Ancient One''s Pce has only allowed a single person in. How can both of them enter together?" "It''s absolutely true! A senior brother of mine witnessed it personally! It''s said that the corpses beneath the Ancient One''s Pce can form a mountain and there are rivers of blood. More than half of the paragons from the most powerful sects are dead and some were crippled on the spot!" "How can that be? Aren''t there Guardian Elders?" "The Guardian Elders died as well!" "I heard that at the end of it all, a few Guardian Elders tried joining hands to fight the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind and were even killed in return!" "Wow! What''s the name of that person?" "Void de." In a small little mansion with two stories within the Elixir Yang Sect, Tai Liu stood in front of a window. Her hands were behind her back and she frowned slightly in deep thought. The news of the Ancient One''s Pce was truly shocking indeed. However, what she was more worried about was Aiden''s situation. The strangest thing was that although she tried scouting for news from multiple sources, nothing returned, as though Aiden had vanished into thin air as nobody caught sight of him at all. At the side, the elderly uncle could read Tai Liu''s mind and said with a smile, "Young Master, you don''t have to worry. Given Aiden''s methods, even if he can''t win, he can definitely escape alive." "Yes." Tai Liu nodded. "I''m not worried about him, but I''m confused. Given his personality, since he chose to fight for the Ancient One''s Pce''s inheritance, howe there is no news at all?" For certain people, their mors can never be contained. Ever since he entered Ugburg City, Aiden caused an earthshaking change to the state of the entire ce! The High Priest''s Extermination force was the first to be removed, followed by Corpse Poison Sect. Even powerful super sects with formidable foundations such as Crystal Pce Sect and Malefic Demons n were swept away by him! How could there be no news of a martial artist that was so aggressive and domineering? "Uncle, when I heard that the name of monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind was called Void de, I even suspected that he''s Aiden." Tai Liu said coldly. "Both of them make use of swords and have knowledge of the Void Splitting Manual. Furthermore, they both have incredibly strong and sturdy body and are atte stage of the Martial Knight realm" "That''s impossible, young miss." The elderly man shook his head, "Although both of them use swords, Aiden has his perfect-grade ck de, Rygintarth while this monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind merely used a supreme-grade unnamed artifact de. Moreover, it''s said that this person is extremely tall and bulky and is a burly man with a rough appearance. The two of them differ too much in terms of appearances." Tai Liu nodded. There was truly no way to exin it; although they had their simrities, their differences were even more. Uncle Liang continued, "Also, although Aiden is strong, he isn''t at the state where he''s able to take down the paragons of the most powerful sects, let alone a couple of Guardian Elders as well." Back then, in the Ancient Burial Grounds ruins, Aiden had to take a long time before baiting the Guardian Elder of Crystal Pce Sect to death. In terms of actualbat strength, Aiden was clearly far inferior. However, the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind fought against a couple of Guardian Elders and even killed them in return C the difference between them was too great. Tai Liu nodded. "No matter what, I hope that Fellow Daoist Su can return safely." At the entrance of the mansion, Madam Dara hugged her knees and sat on a stone step with a worried expression. There was another female, light scaleless slender reptilian woman kneeling before her. A cold glint shimmered between its half-opened eyes. She was Lady Pyre, who was currently acting as a guard and the only friend to the frightened and confused Madam Dara. Interestingly, it was Madam Dara, the always confident and scious, supposedly more mature woman that was more affected by the recent news and not the younger, much more unstable fiery tempered Lady Pyre. "Hais." Sighing gently, Dara murmured. "All the martial artists in the city are discussing that monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind and Void de, but there''s still no news of young master. I don''t even know how he''s doing right now." "Hah you stupid woman. He is fine and you should also know that." Lady Pyre opened its eyes and yawned listlessly. Dara frowned and asked. "You''re saying that he is fine? How do you know that, even? You''ve been with me the entire time and you haven''t received any news either." Sitting up, Lady Pyre extended its hand and gestured in a human-like manner while crying out repeatedly. "How how Are you so confused that you even forgot the basics?! Just listen to your heart and follow its trail towards the source" She gave a hint amidst another sigh. Dara''s eyes widened. While others may not have understood that strange sentence, Dara did. As an official member of the Young Master''s family and a sworn servant, they shared a mental connection that traversed through both time and space - even dimensions - and could not be broken. Her heart skipped a beat as she eximed. "You are right! But does that mean that Void de is" Lady Pyre gestured with a shushing hand sign. Understanding, Dara clutched her cherry lips immediately. Instantly, the worry on her face disappeared and she grinned, causing her eyes to look like crescent moons in a painting. 851 Chapter 851 Hugging the unconscious Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva into the Ancient One''s Pce, Aiden could no longer hold on either and was fainting. He was too badly injured and had lost too much blood. His flesh and skin were burnt to a crisp and his organs were failing C he had already gone beyond his body''s regeneration capabilities. If he hadn''t possessed such shocking vitality and unique origin, he would have long been dead. In his daze, Aiden suddenly felt his hands get lighter. A long timeter, he finally snapped out of his stupor. Enduring the immense pain, he turned to his side with extreme difficulty. To his shock, the young girl he got transported with, the Holy Maiden who was initially lying in his embrace had disappeared! *Bang!* Before he had time to think, his body shuddered and he copsed onto the cold, hard ground with a throbbing headache! Aiden struggled to sit up, wanting to look for Sylvie Deva. However, he caught sight of a hazy fog that was approaching him from not far away. The fog billowed and surged over. Just as it was about to arrive before him, the gray fog condensed into a hazy, humanoid figure. Although the person''s face was old, he was energetic and his eyes had a wise, deep look as if he had seen through everything in the world. Aiden was stunned on the spot. He had not imagined that there would be a living being within this ancient pce! The Ancient One''s Pce was a relic of the ancient era and had been through countless years in the sands of time where endless supreme and mighty figures have been buried. Time was the scariest thing that even emperors could not defend against. Who was that old man? Was he a character from the ancient era or was he a martial artist who had entered the Ancient One''s Pceter on but was trapped here? Or perhaps, was this old man somehow rted to that legendary, mythical traitor?! However, how could that be? How could he have a human appearance? Aiden did not have the energy to contemte those questions and neither could he hang on any longer as he copsed. Gazing at the ceiling, he found his vision blurring. The old man approached him and suddenly reached out. Between his fingers was a small vial with a strange dark liquid inside of it; it gave off a faint smell of blood. For some reason, the aura the elixir gave off felt extremely familiar to Aiden. The old man peeled open Aiden''s mouth and put the elixir inside. Aiden had no strength to resist and the elixir melted in his mouth, sending a spicy warmth down his throat. Upon entering his stomach, it lingered for a moment before suddenly letting out a terrifying burst of energy! The energy felt like a tidal wave as it surged and cruised through his limbs. An intense blood qi shot forth, wrapping Aiden in it as an extremely rich aura of vitality spewed out. One after another, beams of rainbow lights shot out in a divine manner, nourishing every single bit of his flesh. His body which was initially defeated was reignited with vitality! His injuries healed internally and externally as his charcoal-ck flesh peeled away. Pieces of flesh started regenerating on his bones with endless vitality. It was a regrowth of his flesh! This was a miracle almost akin to resurrection. A numbing sensation prickled through Aiden''s nerves, almost causing him to go insane. "Ah!" Aiden could not help but let out a long bellow. The power within the elixir nourished his broken body like the way dew healed barrennd. His dried flesh regrew and the tears on his organs closed, returning to normal. Aiden''s vitality was regenerating continuously. With the help of that energy, his physique''s strong regeneration capabilities were awakened once more as his blood qi ran rampant within his body. Flesh could be seen growing at a visible speed near the wound on his abdomen, forming in pieces beforebining together, merely leaving a faint scar. It was the same for the injury on his left chest. Although his corbone was snapped earlier on, it was now piecing back together rapidly! Some timeter, cracks appeared on Aiden''s charred skin and his scabs fell one after another, revealing jade-smooth skin beneath. In the blink of an eye, all of his scabs had fallen off without any scars left behind as he emitted a massive wave of vitality. All his injuries were healed! That was not all the changes brought about by the elixir. Not only did the elixir possess a massive vitality essence, but it also contained terrifying pure energy and pure spirit energy! Initially, after such an arduous and long-drawn battle, almost all of Aiden''s internal energy, his [Soul Power] has been used up, and his core was dry as a desert. However, right now, pure wild energy was gushing in endlessly, forming a sea with massive waves that was even fiercer than before! Along with it, Aiden''s strength was also steadily rising and in no time at all, he was at thete stage of the Martial Knight realm before long. He did not even need to guide it. The newly formed ''spiritual'' sea surged and a series of pure, rich spirit energy pushed against his body, pushing him through a breakthrough! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* There were a series of loud bangs and almost no time was wasted as the momentum brought him through. From thete stage, he was directly boosted to the peak state, ready to burst forth and just a shy away from breaking into another realm altogether. Even after unlocking the breakthrough, his raging spirit sea inside his Primal Core did not calm down and was still roaring furiously! His martial realm was still climbing! A long timeter, it finally came to a stop when he was at the very zenith, the peak of the Martial Knight ream, just a nudge away from breaking through to the Master realm! At that moment, Aiden was finally certain. Feeling his newfound strength of his Spiritual Energy, Aiden was excited. Whilst with his draconic heritage and constant absorptions, his physical body was incredibly strong and sturdy, his mental and spiritual power alwaysgged behind. Only now could he feel that slowly, but surely he was finally catching up! At the same time. The terrifying energy in the elixir restructured Aiden''s body as well. *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* A series of crackling sounds echoed from within his body as his tendons and bones rang together. His [Soul Poer] climbed and he was surrounded by a thick draconic energy, causing multiple the visage of the earlier phantom to emerge once more! A mysterious golden glow burst forth and shone from his seven orifices, turning brighter and brighter! A momentter. Aiden''s body shuddered and his seven orifices shone brightly. His [Soul Power] exploded and his skin, flesh, tendons, bones, marrow, organs, and orifices synergized with one another, forming a perfect heavenly cycle. All of a sudden! His eyes jolted wide open and a beam of light that tore through the night shot forth in a bedazzling manner. Rising upright, Aiden felt his [Soul Power] rumble like a tsunami as a golden light shone from his organs. His major tendons were firm, his bones were lively and his flesh was wless. Upon closer inspection, he could even see a mysterious luster cruising through them! It was as though he had attained a perfect body! Aiden could clearly sense that his body was different and his five senses were even more keen. Without even opening his eyes, he could hear the sounds of fishes ying in a pond nearby as the image was visualized in his mind. Meek as a virgin with the burst power of a rabbit, his body was even more coordinated with the fusion of toughness and flexibility. With every single motion of his arm, he could produce limitless power with a rampant might! "At this point of your growth, you would have perfected your technique and cultivated universal sight and hearing. With the help of the spiritual perception, you will be able to avoid danger without seeing or smelling it. Be it whether you''re moving, sitting, or lying down, your heart will be able to sense and you will be able to defeat your enemies within ten feet with your bare hands!" Suddenly an aged, yet somehow familiar voice rang throughout Aiden''s surroundings Looking at his brand new body, Aidenmented to himself as he experienced the power surging within him, "The Ancient One''s Pce is truly an ancient mythical object. To think that a single elixir from it would possess such wondrous effects!" At that moment, Aiden''s appearance had already returned to normal after being washed by the energy of the elixir. With his elegant features, he wore a set of green robes once more. There was no one else around other than that mysterious old man who had disappeared. Since his disguise methods were most probably child''s y that would be seen through instantly in the eyes of the old man, Aiden had no intention of continuing with it. He looked around and saw that the ce was extremely spacious and boundless. Rather than a pce, it seemed like they were in another world. 852 Chapter 852 Looking at his brand new body, Aidenmented to himself as he experienced the power surging within him, "The Ancient One''s Pce is truly an ancient mythical object. To think that a single elixir from it would possess such wondrous effects!" At that moment, Aiden''s appearance had already returned to normal after being washed by the energy of the elixir. With his elegant features, he wore a set of green robes once more. There was no one else around other than that mysterious old man who had disappeared. Since his disguise methods were most probably child''s y that would be seen through instantly in the eyes of the old man, Aiden had no intention of continuing with it. He looked around and saw that the ce was extremely spacious and boundless. Rather than a pce, it seemed like they were in another world. The air was refreshing and the spirit qi was richer C the environment was even better than the ancient battlefield! Concerned about Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s safety, he sped forward with great haste. Life was vibrant in that spaciousnd and it was filled with greenery. Far away, at the side of a giganticke, a white deer was drinking water. It had a pair of wings on its back and its eyes darted around with spirit. Raising its head, the white deer was not afraid in the slightest bit when it caught sight of Aiden. Its ears twitched slightly as if it was curious. Aiden sped across the surface of theke. *Thud!* *Thud!* Gigantic scarlet fishes leaped out of theke as if they were startled. Each of them was around eight feet long and was shaped like a carp with a pair of tiny horns on its head. Each of them looked like it weighed a few kilograms. When they twitched and fell back into theke, ripples were formed. "What are" Suddenly, Aiden''s heart stirred when he caught sight of those gigantic scarlet fishes as he eximed, recalling one of the stories he had read back in Ugburg City. "Scarlet Dragon Carp fishes!" Scarlet Dragon Carp fishes had sulent flesh and were extremely shiny. Containing extremely few bones, they possessed a massive amount of energy and it was a great tonic to strengthen one''s tendons and bones when consumed. That was definitely a pure-blooded living being of the primordial era and had long gone extinct on the world. "Screech!" In the skies far away, a clear cry could be heard. A gigantic bird streaked through the skies; the left half of its body was green and the right half of its body was red. Focusing his gaze, Aiden was shocked and nearly fell from midair. That wasn''t a gigantic bird, it was a pair of birds! The ancient manuals back in the Azure Myst Sect''s base had a few short sentences describing a bird of the primordial era. The Unity Bird only had a single eye and wing and the males were green while the females were red. Together, the couple must fly in tandem. Back when he saw that description, Aiden even shook his head andughed to himself thinking that it was impossible. How could there be a type of bird in the world that could fly with only a single eye and wing? Now that he was seeing it for himself, Aiden truly experienced how incredible the universe was. At the same time, a thought shed through his mind as he spun around and looked at the white deer with wings beside theke. Leaping, the white deer spread its wings and flew into the skies. It came to Aiden''s side and lowered its head, brushing against his arm intimately before flying off. Serene Deer! That was an auspicious mythological beast of the primordial era, Serene Deer! Legend has it that the Serene Deer was snow-white with wings and could speak in human tongue. It understood the emotions of all living beings and could distinguish between all the beings in the world, be it ghosts, gods, or any other living beings C this was an auspicious beast that could change one''s luck for the better. "All those stories The legends were real" Aiden muttered softly. Taking a deep breath of air, he soared into the skies and looked around before shuddering uncontrobly. He stood rooted to the spot as shock filled his eyes! Countless mythical and different beasts roamed this vastnd! There was a three-legged brutish beast with mes on its leg, a violet-colored chicken with eyes under its wings, a rat that was a hundred kilograms and filled with raging mes, a three-legged golden toad with scales The beasts were so incredible that Aiden had never heard of them before C he couldn''t even name them! In fact, he even suspected that he had reversed through time and returned to the primordial era. All of a sudden! His heart skipped a beat and his gaze froze. Not far away, an old man stood with his hands behind his back C that was the mysterious old man who fed him the unknown elixir. Without thinking twice, Aiden arrived before the mysterious old man in a sh. Bowing deeply, he said with sincerity. "Thank you for rescuing me, senior. I''m truly immensely grateful." The mysterious old man merely nodded and stared at Aiden with scrutinizing eyes. At that moment, Aiden had countless questions on his mind. Who was the old man before him? What was that elixir? Was this the Ancient One''s Pce? Why were there so many incredible beasts However, those questions merely fluttered through his mind as he asked. "Senior, may I ask where the girl who entered the Ancient One''s Pce together with me is?" Expressionlessly, the mysterious old man replied, "She''s not here." "Not here?" Aiden''s heart clenched up as he asked hurriedly. "Where is she? We entered the Ancient One''s Pce together! How can she not be here?" "What are you getting anxious about?" The mysterious old man rolled his eyes and harrumphed gently "I was merely saying that thess is not in the same stone chamber as you." "Huh? Stone chamber?" Aiden was confused. Pointing at his feet, the mysterious old man remarked casually. "The world we are in right now is merely a single stone chamber in the Ancient One''s Pce." Gradually, Aiden''s mouth fell open; he was dumbfounded and shock filled his eyes. This world with skies and stars, possessing boundlessnd with mountains, lush greenery, and countless incredible beasts was actually just a stone chamber within the Ancient One''s Pce! What sort of powers were these? The mysterious old man''s next sentence gave Aiden an even bigger shock such that he could not snap out of it for a long time. "There are billions of such stone chambers in the Ancient One''s Pce," The mysterious old man said casually with a calm expression. Aiden: " " A long timeter, still worried about the holy maiden, he asked. "How is that girl in pink?" "Don''t worry, she won''t die. She''ll follow her own destiny in this pce. Just like you." The mysterious old man replied. Aiden only heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing that. "Heh!" Suddenly, the mysterious old man sneered. "Young man, you''re truly brazen to challenge the rules set by my master! If it wasn''t because my mistress was kind enough to speak up for you seeing how pitiful that girl is, she would have died long ago!" Master, mistress Aiden blinked and asked in a testing manner, "Senior, the master you''re referring to is" "Can you get any dumber?" Frowning, the mysterious old man red at Aiden and said in a deep tone, "Since this is the Ancient One''s Pce, my master is definitely the one and only, the Ancient One, the misunderstood Guardian!" Aiden was shocked. Needless to say, the mistress should be the Ancient One''spanion! The mysterious old man nced at Aiden from the side of his eyes and sized up thetter while muttering. "This young man seems dumb. Could master have made a wrong judgment?" Actually, Aiden was not entirely to me. Everything that he had seen and experienced after entering the Ancient One''s Pce was way beyond his imagination. There were things that he could not dare to believe even if he had guessed it. Furthermore, even now, he wasn''t clear about the identity of the old man before him. The mysterious old man''s statement revealed another important message. The Ancient One was alive! He was an emperor of the ancient era after all. Through the endless years, countless emperors have already died. To think that the emperor who wasuded as the strongest and most domineering throughout history was still alive! Could it be that after endless martial and breakthroughs, living beings are truly able to extend their lifespans and age with the universe or even reach the realm of eternal indestructibility? Since the Ancient One was still alive, what martial realm was he at right now? "Senior the Ancient One, he''s still alive in the world?" 853 Chapter 853 A momentter, Aidenposed himself before asking. "Of course not" The mysterious old man waved it off. "Master isn''t here either. You don''t have to dream about getting to meet him either, you''re not qualified to meet them yet." Aiden was not ashamed upon hearing that and merely took it in his stride and smiled. Just what did that mean exactly? Who was this ''them'' that the old man was referring to? Could that perhaps mean Suddenly, Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. Could it really be a possibility? No that''s impossible. No matter from which angle would one take a gander, THEY could not possibly be still alive somewhere But what if Could there be a hidden, secret realm Was that the same world as the Ancient One? Since there had never been any signs of Primals found on Eora, or any mention of them on this world at all, did it mean that after achieving perfection in his base form, could he perhaps find a gateway to pass through the void and travel to another world? Could that world be filled with countless mythical creatures like his own and the Ancient One? What sort of a vast and vibrant ce was that? Instantly, countless thoughts filled Aiden''s mind and he developed a longing interest towards that foreign world. "Before you, a total of seven people entered the Ancient One''s Pce and each of them received a different inheritance. The inheritance you''re about to receive is different from theirs. It can be considered as the true legacy of the Ancient One." At that point, the mysterious old man looked deeply at Aiden before waving his sleeves gently, causing two objects to float in midair. It was a piece of paper and a gigantic seal. The paper was written with endless tiny words C Aiden merely swept his eyes across and felt them prickle slightly. The gigantic seal was circr in shape and golden throughout. On it, the image of a majestic-looking dragon was etched, coiling around it in an almost life-like manner. The gigantic golden seal hovered in midair, emanating waves of powerful might, as though it could crush the stars and suppress the entire world! The mysterious old man remarked. "This is the Coiling Dragon Seal. It''s a natural, peak-grade quasi-divine artifact, keep it well." A natural, peak-grade quasi-divine artifact! Aiden was shocked. Prior to this, Aiden had never seen nor heard of any artifact of a simr grade! Not even in the hands of those old fogeys still lurking outside the Ancient One''s Pce! The shimmering silver circlet that Hart You brought out shattered his supreme-grade artifact weapon instantly. That was also the reason why Hart You managed to survive with a sliver of health after receiving Aiden''s punch! Furthermore, Martial Knight realm martial artists were unable to unleash the full might of high grade artifact weapons. The terrifying burst power of a high grade artifact weapons could only be released in the hands ofte stage Martial Masters and above! "Thank you, senior!" Aiden did not reject and took over the Coiling Dragon Seal, injecting his own spiritual energy into it. *Whoosh!* A bright light shone on the Coiling Dragon Seal and Aiden seemed like he was holding a zing sun with an intimidating might! "Hmm?" Suddenly, Aiden''s expression changed and he shuddered as his wrist sank. It was unbelievably heavy! After it was injected with spirit energy, the Coiling Dragon Seal almost caused Aiden to embarrass himself as it weighed down on him. Now that Aiden had been basicly reborn with a perfected lower reptilian form, his physique had the strength to suppress all otherte or peak stage Martial Knight realm martial artists without even taking on his draconic form! However, despite that, his body experienced a never-before felt pressure from the Coiling Dragon Seal. The mysterious old man nodded to himself. He thought that Aiden would definitely embarrass himself since he was unprepared and would be squashed by the Coiling Dragon Seal. The fact that the young man could remain standing without moving had exceeded his expectations. Clearing away his internal energy, Aiden put the Coiling Dragon Seal away in his system''s storage space a couple of momentster. That was a great treasure! Delighted, Aiden''s gaze shifted towards the floating page at the side expectantly. The mysterious old man pointed to the page and remarked indifferently. "This is a secret skill created by my master in the past. If you manage to master it, you could already fight against Martial Grandmasters while still at the Martial Knight realm." "In fact you can even challenge Martial Grandmaster Ultimate Skills!" *Psst!* Aiden''s expression changed slightly. The difference between martial realms were divided into minor and major realms. For example, in Martial Knight realm, early-stage, mid-stage,te-stage, peak and the elusive perfected were minor realms or ''stages'' whereas it was a major realm between Martial Knight realm and Martial Master realm. There was an insurmountable gap between major realms. It symbolized one breaking free of the restrictions of the universe and extending their lifespans; the difference in strength was even worlds apart. But right now, the Ancient One''s secret skill could allow Aiden to challenge the strength not just one but two major realms above his own! The mysterious old man''s final statement was even more shocking. "In fact you can even challenge Martial Grandmaster Ultimate Skills!" Every single martial artist knew that Martial Grandmaster Ultimate Skills were the extremes of spiritual arts and there were extremely few people who could actually learn and train them. The reason why many Martial Knight realm paragons wanted to enter the ancient battlefield so that they could progress in their Martial Knight realm was because they wanted to be able to learn the strongest Ultimate Skills when they eventually broke through! Without further description, the mysterious old man''s simple statement had already revealed how terrifying that secret skill was! Sighing gently, the mysterious old man continued. "The conditions required to cultivate this skill are extremely stringent and after my master created it, nobody else managed to learn it. I hope that you''ll be able to seed." Even though he said that, it was clear that the mysterious old man did not bear much hope through his tone. Aiden received the page of sutra and focused his attention. There were three tiny golden words in the middle of the first row C Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual! Those four simple words caused a terrifying pressure that was shuddering. For some reason, Aiden felt his body heating up; it was as though an inexplicable power was surging within him! The mysterious old man''s voice sounded once more, "Although you won''t be able to transform into a true dragon after attaining greater mastery of the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual, you''ll be able to conjure the phantom of an ancient dragon that possesses the true might of the dragons!" "This world''s mortals are weak and have ordinary bloodlines; they can''t bepared against the dragons who are extremely powerful from birth. If you want to cultivate the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual, you will have to bathe in the true blood essence of the dragon race!" "The elixir you consumed earlier was a Blood Flesh Elixir made from the flesh of a fledgling true dragon." Instantly, Aiden had a look of realization. That was the reason why he had a sense of familiarity towards the aura given off by the elixir. Aiden''s eyes flickered and he frowned in deep thought. ording to the mysterious old man''s words, one could only seed in training the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual after consuming the blood qi of the dragon race. He was in a rather unique situation. He already had the pure essence of a true ancient dragon. Whilst it was just a small essence, at the moment, it have already granted him incredible boons! Although it was not formed yet, that was the egg of an ancient dragon after all! "Hehe." The mysterious old man chuckled coldly. "Don''t look down on the fact that it''s a young dragon. You were able to receive such immense benefits just by consuming an elixir made from the flesh of a young dragon. If it was an adult true dragon, the power of a single drop of its blood would be enough to destroy you, let alone its flesh!" Aiden did not doubt that statement at all. Back then, after he absorbed that dragon egg, his body almost gorged to the point of explosion and it took him a long time to process itpletely! "The conditions required to cultivate the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual are extremely stringent and obtaining the blood essence of the dragon race is merely the beginning. Among the seven people who entered the Ancient One''s Pce before you, there were also some of them with potentialsparable to you. However, they were merely slightly inferior." The mysterious old man said with a trace of pity, "Tsk, tsk. That Draka kid was rather decent as well. However, it was a pity that he couldn''t unlock his perfected realm, causing him to miss this great opportunity to get the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual." Chapter 854 854 - Still Not Enough At that point, Aiden''s heart skipped a beat as he recalled the elderly uncle''s words. Legend has it that the secret to the Ultimate Martial Knight realm is hidden within the Ancient One''s Pce! He asked hurriedly. "Senior, may I ask, how does one unlock the secret and break into the Extreme Martial Knight realm?" Martial Knight realm was an extremely important step in one''s path of martial and how stable their roots were would decide their future aplishments! Before one would start to break their own mortal shackles it was best to maximize their gains! The mysterious old man replied. "The peak represents the extreme and if one wants to unlock thest stage, their internal energy would have to be extremely pure without the slightest bit of impurity! I''ve checked through your spirit energy. It''s very pure and that''s quite seldom." Pondering for a moment, Aiden remarked. "Senior, up to this point of my journey, I''ve rarely consumed any elixirs and even for those that I consume, they were at perfect-grade. I think it should have something to do with that." Apart from perfect-grade elixirs that were mostly lost to time, every other grade of elixir possessed impurities. Long term consumption would result in consolidation of those impurities. Although they would not have a significant impact on a martial artist''sbat strength, it would impede the possibility of them unlocking their ninth spirit meridian. "Elixirs are only part of the equation." The mysterious old man shook his head. "In the world, there are many sects and factions with rich heritages and immense foundations. It''s not rare for them to provide perfect-grade elixirs for the paragons in their sects with the most potential. However, even while meditating and absorbing the spiritual energy, there''s no way to avoid the existence of impurities." "While meditating?" Aiden frowned slightly. The mysterious old man exined. "The mortals consume food which would turn into feces upon digestion, creating impure energy as well as filth in the process. Therefore, at a certain point of their journey, they lose some essence of their purity, their essence gradually bes tainted." Aiden nodded at this. This was normal, nobody could avoid such a matter. Every living being needs some form of nourishment from time to time. It was said that after shedding one''s mortal coil and entering the ranks of the true divine realm stepping through the hurdle of a quasi-divine entity, martial artists could live without consuming food and merely take in dew and the essence of the universe to survive, soaring through the skies and riding the clouds. In fact, they could even scour the world and explore the four oceans and eight destes with a single thought. The mysterious old man continued. "Simr to mortal food, spiritual energy would inevitably contain impurities upon absorption to one''s core. That is unless the person was in possession of an utmost treasure that could help them purify the spiritual energy!" At that point, he gave a meaningful look at Aiden''s right hand. Suddenly, Aiden gave off a gradual look of realization as he recalled how the world''s energy entered his body while he was meditating inside his room at the inn in Ugburg back then. Back then, spiritual energy slowly, gradually seeped into his body and slowly flowed towards the Primal Core inside his body. Before entering the Ancient One''s Pce, the few Guardian Elders also seemed to be highly interested in his body after witnessing some of its secrets. If that was true, it would exin many things. After entering into his Primal Core, the tainted spiritual energy would then be purified by its mysterious origins, incinerating all impurities and allowing him to only take in the purest spiritual energy. Back then, he had just mastered this world''s energy system and was just able to reach the initial stages in his martial journey. Of course, from the beginning till now, Aiden had never released the true powers of his real origins. He wasn''t even sure what would happen if the Ancient One would recognize the scent and energy signature then. At the battle beneath the Ancient One''s Pce, the terror of his heritage had only revealed itself for a brief moment after absorbing the Martial Grandmaster''s true essence before returning to normal. The mysterious old man said with a hint ofment. "Though I am not certain, your body holds secrets that go beyond the understanding of this world. That uncanny strength and indomitable spirit as well as your seemingly limitless stamina are the utmost rare treasure of the world. Whoever or whatever encounter you had that changed your fate must have exerted a lot of effort." At this point, Aiden was finally certain that his race was not known to the residents of this world Which was somewhat surprising to be honest. "Young man, if you are smart, you should have realized that you must not reveal the truth about your body again after leaving this ce. Otherwise, you are definitely bound to die!" The mysterious old man said with a stern expression, "Even the mighty figures and patriarchs of the mortal races would be tempted to make a move for that body of yours!" Aiden nodded. Thankfully, he changed his appearance and hid his identity beneath the Ancient One''s Pce. Otherwise, he would definitely be hunted upon being discovered! A man''s talent would often arouse the greed of others. "There is also an extremely strict requirement for one''s core essence if they want to reach the Extreme Martial Knight realm. Regarding that, you have no issue I presume." After a brief pause, the mysterious old man looked at Aiden deeply once more, "There are only that few types of utmost, so called Ultimate Treasures in the world. Someone has really spared no expenses in trying to pave your path forward by leaving you with such a secret! Even more that you were gifted not one, but two treasures as it seems!" "Ah!" Aiden was shocked. Before he arrived in this world, the Masked Mistress had also hinted at something. Though at the time he didn''t know what it was, nor did he ce too much attention to it, being reminded again raised his awareness to the matter. What could they be both talking about? What could be thest secret that he didn''t know about himself? Through the mysterious old man''s words, it seemed like the second utmost treasure had something to do with his own internal power as well. Something that was assisting during his power ups? Or perhaps a someone? Aiden could not help but ask. "What''s the second ultimate treasure?" "Even if I exin it to you, it''s no use for you because your martial realm isn''t there yet. Perhaps one day in the future, you might be able to see it for yourself." The mysterious old man shook his head. Aiden did not press on, feeling slightly disappointed. The mysterious old man continued. "The Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual expends a lot of one''s spirit energy and it can only be released with an Extreme Martial Knight realm. Not only that, the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual requires a lot from the physique of a martial artist!" "Although you''re only conjuring the phantom of a divine dragon, it still possesses the true might of a dragon. Extremely terrifying, it overrides all living beings. An ordinary body wouldn''t be able to withstand the might of the dragon and even ancient remnant beasts would explode into a blood mist!" "Since you''re someone who does go against the norms of this mortal world, your physique is rming and is enough to withstand the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual!" Aiden was not surprised that the mysterious old man could read his background like a book. However, what surprised Aiden was the mysterious old man''s attitude towards the matter. If the various major sects of this scorched realm were to know what he was doing and what his secrets were, they would definitely regard him as a despicable outcast and kill him. However, the mysterious old man was indifferent towards the issue. Waving it off with his hand, the mysterious old man said. "There''s less than half a year left. Stay here and cultivate for now. You don''t have to force yourself even if you don''t seed. Do not worry, time flows here differently than on the outside." "Alright." Aiden nodded and strode to thekeside without hesitation, sitting down to nce through the page of the manual he had just acquired. Every single word in the manual possessed a mysterious might. Even with Aiden''s powerful eyes, he had to take a rest every now and then. He could only continue reading after closing his eyes for a short break. When he was thirsty, Aiden would drink from theke. When he was hungry, he would catch a fish for food. Other than that, the rest of his time was spent on cultivating the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual. Just like that, five months passed in the blink of an eye. ? This day, as it was close to the end of the year in the ancient battlefield, the mysterious old man appeared and was about to inform Aiden who was at thekeside. All of a sudden! A change happened to Aiden''s aura! A terrifying might descended at thekeside, shocking the masses! Chapter 855 855 - Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual "Hmm?" Sensing something, the mysterious old man looked towards Aiden. Beside theke, Aiden assumed a lotus position with an upright back. His eyes were closed as his ck hair swayed without any wind; a terrifying aura wasing forth from deep within his body, climbing rapidly! It was as though an ancient power was being awakened! An extremely long living being appeared in midair, coiling several rounds around Aiden upwards. Finally, it stopped in midair and its gigantic head stared in the direction of the mysterious old man. Dragon race! Compared to adult dragons which can be thousands of feet long, this could only be considered as a young dragon. Although it was only a phantom of a young dragon, the aura that it produced was shuddering, as if it could conquer all living beings! Gradually, yellowish-golden scales appeared on the young dragon''s body one after another, shimmering with a cold glint. The bone spikes on its back and its sharp ws were bared while its horns stood gloriously. The phantom of the yellowish-golden dragon was actually turning corporeal. Even the scales, bones and ws were condensed with flesh, life-like and no different from a true dragon! "Psst!" The mysterious old man gasped and his expression changed. Disbelief filled his eyes as he eximed. "H-How is that possible?!" The Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual was meant to conjure the phantom of a divine dragon by using the pure essence of the dragon race; the shape of a divine dragon could only be made out faintly. That alone was heavenly-defying. However, Aiden had conjured an actual true dragon! Even the Ancient One who created this secret skill was unable to reach this point. How did this young Martial Knight realm martial artist manage it? Could this young man have achieved a newprehension of the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual within a mere six months? All of a sudden! Aiden''s eyes burst wide open with a lightning gaze. At the same time, the coiling dragon above him opened its eyes as well. Cold and mighty, it could not be ignored! The man and dragon opened their eyes at the same time! The moment the dragon opened its eyes, it was as though it had awakened and possessed actual life as it surveyed its surroundings with an overwhelming might. Given the mysterious old man''s martial realm, he wasposed and felt nothing much as the dragon''s eyes swept past him. However, the incredible beasts in the surroundings sprawled onto the ground motionlessly. The fishes in theke went silent, not daring to swim, and the birds in the skies fell one after another fearfully. Against the dragon''s might, all the living beings felt a sense that came from the depths of their souls! The dragons were one of the strongest living beings back in the primordial era where the thousands of races reigned. It had once ruled over the world above all the thousands of races! Although Aiden was merely a Martial Knight realm martial artist, with the protection of the dragon, he exuded a dominance that looked down on the world; it was peerless, as though he had control over all divine beings in the universe! *Bang!* Aiden swayed a little and the dragon coiling around him dissipated before disappearing gradually. The immense pressure gradually vanished. Once again, the incredible beasts went back to y and everything returned to its rtive normalcy. Heaving a sigh of relief, the mysterious old man came before Aiden and said, "Since you forcibly released the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual without your martial realm being high enough, you won''t be able to sustain it for long. Once you''re at the Extreme Martial Knight realm, you''ll be able to release the secret skill and use it against your foes." Aiden nodded. He had summoned that small dragon for a couple of seconds but the Spirit Power energy, that was supposed to be much higher in terms of quality than regr Mana within his body was thoroughly expended and his spirit sea was almost dry! Right now, he was at the peak of level eight Martial Knight realm. The fact that he was still unable to release the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual given his immense spirit energy was proof of how terrifying that secret skill was! The mysterious old man''s gaze lingered around Aiden, sizing him continuously. It was only until Aiden''s hairs stood on end that the mysterious old man asked. "How did you manage to conjure an actual true dragon?" Hesitating for a moment, Aiden shook his head. "I don''t know either." He had a guess in his heart but he wasn''t certain. The fact that he was able to conjure a true dragon might have a lot to do with his absorption of that dragon egg back then! The elixir that the mysterious old man fed him was merely a Blood Flesh Elixir made from the flesh of a dragon. However, he had devoured an actual dragon hatchling a couple of years ago! After entering his stomach, the essence and vitality of the dragon race filled every single part of his body. Processing and training the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual caused that power within his body to awaken, causing yet another unounted change! "Master truly has good judgment." The mysterious old man did not press on and merelymented. A momentter, he said, "The allotted time is almost up and thess that entered together with you has left first. It''s about time for you to do so as well." Aiden was relieved when he heard that Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva was fine. Bowing deeply to the mysterious old man, he said. "Thank you for your life saving grace and the guidance for the past half year, senior." He had truly benefited way too much this time round. In terms of martial ranking, he was already at the peak of the Martial Knight realm. As long as he consumed the elixir he found before and continued meditating, he would have a chance of unlocking thest, ultimate stage as well. He would be able to cultivate to the legendary Extreme Martial Knight realm! At that point, even without taking on his ancient dragon form, he would be able to fight against Martial Grandmasters with the might of the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual! The mysterious old man waved it off. "You don''t have to thank me. If you''re truly able to reach my master''s level one day, thank him personally face to face." "Where do you want to descend? I can send you there." After pondering for a moment, Aiden said, "Ugburg City." Upon reentering the ancient battlefield, Aiden could clearly sense that the ce seemed to have gotten more and more unstable. It meant that the original amount of time he was supposed to spend here was long since used up! He had probably missed the chance to get back through the original means. Even his connection to Galina and his sister was faint. They were no longer in this world. At the same time, all the events from the world have died down. Ugburg City was a little empty and quiet without the bustle from before. Most of the martial artists have already left and only a few remained. They traveled through the city with hurried expressions C it was clear that they were also preparing to leave. There was already no one at the territory of Azure Myst Sect. Aiden went straight to Madam Dara''s room and caught sight of her handwriting etched on a stone table after looking around. "Young Master! The Azure Myst Sect is actually a branch and its origin goes to another world! Because their teleportation spot is extremely far from Ugburg City, I''ll have to make a move with Sister Tai Liu first. Once I reach a sufficient realm and be worthy of standing by your side, I''ll return! Both of us, Lady Pyre and I are fine, don''t miss us too much!" "Regards, Dara." The writing was scribbled a little hurriedly C it was obvious that Dara truly had no time at the end and had to leave. Smiling to himself, Aiden reached out and gave a simple swipe. Even though it was a casual move, an entireyer of the stone table''s surface was wiped off and the words disappearedpletely. Before leaving Ugburg City, Aiden had already instructed Lady Pyre to stay by Dara''s side and head to Azure Myst Sect with her. She had to return to the Great Zhou Dynasty and was unable to stay by Dara''s side. As such, the only way he would feel relieved was if Lady Pyre was with her. Now that he knew that Dara was fine, Aiden was at ease and did not linger further in the city; he headed straight for the cave abode where the little runt, his newfound daughter and the rest of his captains were training in. Previously, he promised her that he would return for her. Suddenly, Aiden could not help but frown when he recalled a person from back in his stay in Ugburg. Jun Hao! Previously, he suspected that there was something wrong with that person but he had no proof. Before leaving, he even reminded Ji Yaoxue to keep something up her sleeve to guard against that guy. "I hope they are fine." Aiden''s eyes shed with a cold glint and a massive gust of wind blew by behind him and lifted him into the air. Spiritual energy burst forth and he sped forward at full speed C his speed was already at its limits! Chapter 856 856 - Suspicious Behaviors A steep mountain stood at an unknown, far away deserted edge of the world. Halfway on the mountain, a humanoid figure stood in front of the cave abode with his hands behind his back. He was handsome and had a noble aura, but his expression was grim and his eyes shed with coldness asionally. He was Azure Myst Sect''s Jun Hao, a well known figure that Aiden had the misfortune to get to know in his almost month long tenure in this world and its surviving residents. Jun Hao was the young heir, a bonafide prince of the supposed ''royal bloodline'' of the Draconic Skink''s Ancient Dynasty. The only reason Aiden had known about him was that at some point when his captains have left to tend to their respective tasks when they arrived to Inner Ugburg, this young, arrogant figure took a liking to the fiery, hot tempered Lady Pyre and was relentlessly courting her. Though he did lusted after her, the main reason for his relentless courtship was her unique source of power that was rumored to be of another ancient bloodline! Jun Hao had the thought that if the two of them could develop further, he could make use of the opportunity and her identity to understand the background of the ancient dynasties! However, it was a pity that Lady Pyre maintained a neutral attitude towards him all the while, simr to how she would treat all the other senior and junior brothers and sisters. Although Jun Hao was a little frustrated, he was extremely scheming and was in no hurry. The path towards immortality and divinity was long and there were many chances for them to interact since they were in the same sect. However, it was a pity that a monstrous martial artist appeared recently and shook the world with his impossible feats, giving him a sense of threat! When Lady Pyre wore that long pale yellow dress and circled around that man, smiling with a bedazzling wink, that scene stabbed Jun Hao''s heart like a thorn! Even from such a distance, his bedazzling eyes saw everything! "[Reptilian] This man!" He gripped his fists slowly and narrowed his gaze. Lady Pyre''s attitude towards that man was clearly different from others; even the way she looked at him was enough to make Jun Hao jealous! After entering the ancient battlefield, his ns were further destroyed when Aiden unleashed terrifying methods and suppressed all enemies domineeringly. Almost all the martial artists that entered thepetition back in the Ancient Burial Grounds were killed! The scariest thing was that Aiden had already begun suspecting him! In that period of time, Jun Hao lived his days on thin ice, hiding carefully, afraid to let out a single mistake. During normal times, that man looked like a schr with a friendly appearance and calm gaze. However, Jun Hao knew in his heart that this was a man who was decisive to kill! As long as he revealed a single mistake, that man would definitely kill him without giving him a chance to exin! Finally, that day, Aiden left. It was only then that Jun Hao heaved a sigh of relief and felt rxed. However, it did not take long for him to be frustrated once more. In fact, he was even seething with hatred! There were five stone chambers in the cave abode. Before leaving, Aiden had actually set up a formation outside the fifth stone chamber! Ever since that day, Lady Pyre had not stepped out from that stone chamber at all! No matter how Jun Hao tried to invite her, she would always have excuses to push him away. At the same time, she did not allow anyone in, instead chosing to stay alone all the time. "[Reptilian] Pyre Pyre, Pyre, have you started suspecting me as well?" Jun Hao''s gaze flickered. Slowly his expression turned cold as he murmured. "[Reptilian] Since that''s the case, don''t me me for falling out with you!" He withdrew a white crane from his storage bag and wrote a few words on it. After injecting a sliver of his energy to it, it spread its wings and flew, disappearing into the void instantly. Turning around, Jun Hao entered the cave abode and walked towards the fifth stone chamber. He did not walk far when Shin Tao of Rainbow Clouds Sect approached him. Thetter greeted with a smile. "[Reptilian] Brother Jun Hao, the time is almost up. When are we leaving?" After consuming one of the rewards from the Ancient Burial Grounds, the Realm Enhancement Elixir, Shin Tao cultivated to the six''s level of the Martial Knight realm, just a bit shy from being considered ate stage Martial Knight warrior. Jun Hao was a full level above him, just being considered ate stage Martial Knight realm warrior right now. With a fake smile, Jun Hao replied. "[Reptilian] I''m about to look for Miss Pyre to discuss this. Come along." "[Reptilian] Alright." Shin Tao agreed readily without suspicion. After passing the long tunnel, they arrived before the fifth stone chamber where the remaining two guards stood on each side. Both of them were also at the peak of sixth level of the Martial Knight realm. Most of the martial artists at the center of the ancient battlefield were at level seven or in other words,te stage Martial Knight realm warriors and the paragons of super sects were even at level eight that was still considered as thete stage of the Martial Knight realm. Only when reaching level nine would one be at the peak of the realm and start focusing on breaking through. Level ten, was only a theoretical stage that none of the Martial Knight realm martial artists ever reached. However, in reality, most of the martial artists in the ancient battlefield were only at level six Martial Knight realm. "[Reptilian] Greetings, fellow warriors." The two guards greeted with cupped fists. Since there were only five of them here, all of them were long familiar with one another. Jun Hao''s gaze was fixated on the stone door as he said loudly with a smile. "[Reptilian] Junior Sister, the time is almost up. Let''s move today and return to the teleportation spot." A momentter, an unhurried voice sounded from within the stone chamber. "[Reptilian] Master Jun, there''s no need to hurry. My Young Mas-, khm, my friend have promised me that he will return. There''s no difference waiting for a couple more days!" Jun Hao''s expression froze when he heard that. Lowering his head slightly, his gaze was ghastly and his face was frighteningly dark! "[Reptilian] Wait for him?" Shin Tao sneered. "[Reptilian] That person didn''t know what''s good for him and ventured deep into that battlefield. Since there''s been no news of him for so long, he''s definitely dead!" Lady Pyre replied indifferently. "I believe that he won''t die and will definitely return. You can trust me on this." "Heh" Shin Tao stifled a chuckle and shook his head. He was absolutely sure that gray robed bastard, that ''Aiden'' was dead after venturing into the depths of the ancient battlefield! Jun Hao took a deep breath of air. By the time he looked up, he had a smile once more. "[Reptilian] Junior Sister, there''s only ten odd days left. If that man wanted to return, he would have done so long ago." "[Reptilian] We only need two days to reach the teleportation spot from here. We can still make it even if we move a couple of dayster," Lady Pyre replied firmly. "[Reptilian] Brother Jun Hao, since she won''t leave, let''s leave!" Shin Tao sneered once more. "[Reptilian] We can definitely return to the teleportation spot safely given our current martial realms." The smile on Jun Hao''s face had vanished as he said slowly with a cold expression. "[Reptilian] Pyre, I''ve already given you yourst chance. Since you didn''t cherish it, don''t me me for not showing mercy to you anymore." The moment he said that, the atmosphere turned strange. The two guards frowned and looked at Jun Hao in confusion. Shin Tao was stumped as well. Things were fine earlier on C why did he suddenly have a change in attitude? What did it mean byst chance and not showing mercy? With a cold gaze, Jun Hao red at the stone door, as though he could see the woman inside, and said word by word. "[Reptilian] Pyre, you''ll be leaving today whether you want to or not. The choice isn''t yours!" "Jun Hao, what do you mean by that!" Sensing Jun Hao''s hostility, one of the guards hollered warily. Inside the stone chamber, Lady Pyre sighed. "[Reptilian] You still couldn''t hide it after all." "[Reptilian] Since you''ve already begun to suspect me, there''s no need for me to pretend any longer." Jun Hao admitted readily. "[Reptilian] I was initially skeptical when Dara reminded me at the start." Lady Pyre shook her head. "[Reptilian] However, you''ve been too anxious for the past month, trying to find excuses to either enter or to get me out. At that time, I knew that Dara''s guess was right." "[Reptilian] Indeed, that ugly b*tch and that hooded master of yours was the one who spoiled my ns!" Jun Hao cursed and pointed at the stone chamber, sneering. "[Reptilian] Pyre, do you think that a fewyers of formationsid down by a dead man would be able to protect you?" "[Reptilian] Hehe, be my guest to try! Even a level eight Martial Knight realm martial artist would have to take a few days to dispel this formation." Lady Pyre replied. "[Reptilian] However, it''s a pity that you''re merely at the seventh level of the Martial Knight realm. Given your strength, there''s no way you''ll be able to dispel this formation. Jun Hao, give it up. Even if it''s not something that Master have left behind, you won''t be able to deal with it either!" Jun Hao was furious upon hearing Yaoxue''s words and lost control of his emotions. He snarled as an ugly expression showed on his face and green veins popped from his neck, "[Reptilian] You b*tch! Once I break through this stone chamber, I''ll let you enjoy for a long time beneath my crotch!" A series of dull, heavy footsteps sounded, approaching from afar in the tunnel. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* The entire cave abode was shaking as dust fell endlessly. Instantly, an aura of death gushed over with a suffocating stench! Chapter 857 857 - Stalemate Although she was behind a formation in the stone chamber, Pyre could still sense the repressive pressure that was arriving! It was as though a supreme monster was rapidly approaching! Jun Hao''s expression was dark and his gaze was cold. "[Reptilian] I can''t deal with something that Aiden left behind? Pyre, do you really think that he''s the only one with an ace up his sleeve?" Following Jun Hao''s fallout, both parties were on the brink of fighting. The two burly guards looked serious and withdrew their weapons one after another, ready to fight. Shin Tao''s eyes were filled with shock. He retreated slowly upon realizing that something was amiss with the situation, wanting to stay out of things and find a chance to escape. On the one hand, it was the rumored mistress of that monstrous man he did not dare to offend her. On the other hand, although it seemed like the other party was a martial artist of Azure Myst Sect, his background did not seem simple. More importantly, Jun Hao was at level seven Martial Knight realm C Shin Tao did not dare offend him. How unlucky! He cursed internally. Jun Hao''s gaze shifted towards Shin Tao as he asked murderously with a cold glint in his eyes. "[Reptilian] Shin Tao, whose side are you on?" He was straightforward, leaving Shin Tao with no out at all! If Shin Tao chose to be on Jun Hao''s side, once this matter was exposed, he would definitely be hunted down in the future and would be in dire straits! However, if he chose to be on Lady Pyre''s side, he would be faced with a fierce battle right away! Although they had the advantage in numbers, they were all at level six Martial Knight realm C they had little chance of winning against Jun Hao who was at level seven Martial Knight realm. Right then, a martial artist walked over from the tunnel; his feet did not touch the ground and he was like a ghost! Shin Tao was scared out of his wits. Wearing white robes, that person''s face was frightfully pale and his skin was pale. Reeking of death, those listless eyes that resembled dead fishes bulged out in a bloodshot manner, looking extremely terrifying! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* Heavy footsteps approached. A tall and mighty figure followed right after and arrived. A full ten feet tall, he was silent and wore ck robes with a hood that covered his body tightly C this was like a guardian of the abyss. The expressions of the two guards changed slightly as they subconsciously gulped, trying hard topose themselves. Against the ck-robed martial artist, the two of them seemed like children. Both of them turned their attention over. Most of the ck-robed martial artist''s face was covered by the hood, revealing only his chin such that it was hard to catch his appearance. Initially, Shin Tao was still hesitant. However, he made up his mind after the ck-robed martial artist appeared and suddenly said. "[Reptilian] Senior Brother Jun, I''m definitely on your side." Jun Hao''s eyes flickered with a mocking expression as he nodded. "Very good, at least you can read the situation." Shin Tao heaved a sigh of relief. The reason for his decision was because he could sense danger exuding from the ck-robed martial artist! By standing on Jun Hao''s side, he was exposing himself to the danger of being hunted by these monsters. However, he would have to die right away if he chose to stand on Lady Pyre''s side! Jun Hao had alreadyposed himself. Arriving before the white-robed martial artist, he bowed deeply and respectfully. "[Reptilian] Thank you for rushing over, Senior Brother Li. I''m afraid I''ll have to depend on you to dispel this formation." "[Reptilian] Yes." The white-robed martial artist raised his head slightly. Shin Tao''s gaze shimmered and he frowned to himself. He noticed something odd. Jun Hao merely greeted the white-robed martial artist and was oblivious to the tall ck-robed martial artist at the back. However, Shin Tao could clearly feel that the ck-robed martial artist was scarier! How could that be? Turning around, Jun Hao could not conceal the killing intent in his eyes as he red at the two Great Zhou guards and said coldly. "[Reptilian] Shin Tao, it''s time for you to shine." "[Reptilian] Alright." With no other way out, Shin Tao could only abide by Jun Hao. "[Reptilian] Go!" pping the storage bag on his waist, Shin Tao hollered softly and summoned a lustrous sword into his hand. A resplendent glow filled the sword in a bedazzling manner. The two burly guards retaliated as well, churning their spirit energies with all their might. Six spirit meridians appeared as they summoned their own swords to fight against Shin Tao. *Cling!* *ng!* The three of their swords collided repeatedly in midair, causing sparks to fly. Since the three of them were at level six Martial Knight realm, Shin Tao did not have any advantage against the two guards and was instead losing slowly. "[Reptilian] Humph!" Waving his robes, Jun Hao sent forth a green azure streak of energy that condensed into a gigantic palm in midair. The temperature on the battlefield dipped instantly! The two guards were shocked. Both of them could not deal with the full might of a spirit art released by a level seven Martial Knight realm martial artist! "Azure Frost Palm?" Right then, a coldugh sounded from within the stone chamber. The stone door opened and Lady Pyre strode out. Waving her robes in the same manner, she conjured hand seals and let out an azure frost qi, creating a massive palm. The two palms collided in midair! *Boom!* The spiritual energy dissipated evenly! "[Reptilian] Hmms, level seven Martial Knight realm?" Jun Hao''s eyes lit up and he could not help but p his hands inughter. "[Reptilian] Well, well! To think that you''ve also reached the seventh level, Pyre! It''s no wonder why you''re so alluring!" Lady Pyre was wearing a long pale yellow dress. Although she was merely standing there, she exuded an air of nobility that was filled with dominance. "[Reptilian] Young Miss, hurry back! It''s dangerous here!" One of the guards urged after seeing Lady Pyre leave the stone chamber. "[Reptilian] Pyre, you''re finally willing toe out" Jun Hao whipped out a short sword from his storage bag and shook his head. "[Reptilian] However, since you walked out of that stone chamber, you don''t have to return anymore!" "[Reptilian] Go!" The sword tore through the air, turning into a streak of light that arrived instantly. Lady Pyre did not panic at all as she circted the spirit sea in her core with her full might. Her stable, inner energy, which -unlike Jun Hao''s mana- was fully evolved into the much higher quality Spirit Power already- surged wildly as she simrly brought out a short sword and fought against Jun Hao. Since they were both at level seven Martial Knight realms and had trained together before, they were rather familiar with one another''s moves. In a short period of time, neither could overpower the other. On the other hand, although the two guards had the advantage against Shin Tao, they could not kill thetter right away either. The fight between the five of them carried on in that stalemate. Spiritual energy surged furiously on the battlefield and sword force was merciless, but no victor could be decided. Jun Hao became increasingly frustrated. Distracted momentarily, his arm was cut by Lady Pyre''s short sword and blood flowed out. "[Reptilian] A bunch of trash!" The white-robed martial artist that was initially standing at the side was finally getting impatient. Waving his hand gently, he said in a cold manner. "[Reptilian] Go and kill those two level six Martial Knight realm martial artists and capture that woman alive!" The ck-robed martial artist that was originally standing motionlessly behind him walked forward. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* With each step taken, the cave abode would quake violently in a terrifying manner! "Roar!" Charging in the direction of the battlefield, the ck-robed martial artist suddenly let out a deafening roar! *Shing!* His ck robes were ripped apart, turning into countless pieces of cloth that danced in the air. The ck-robed martial artist revealed his true appearance. Apart from the white-robed martial artist, everyone else present was shocked and their pupils constricted C their scalps prickled as they felt their hairs stand on ends! "[Reptilian] W-W-What''s that monster?!" One of the guards asked with a trembling voice; his limbs had gone cold. Even though Jun Hao knew what the ck-robed martial artist was right from the start, he was still shocked when he caught sight of his true appearance and nearly lost control of his short sword. That was no martial artist. To be precise, that wasn''t a living being. The monster reeked of a rotting stench and his skin was ck. Muscles bulged from his body in distinct pieces, looking as though they were washed with steel liquid. Long fingernails as sharp as knives shone with a ghastly green color C they were clearly carrying poison! Chapter 858 858 - Monster That was no martial artist. To be precise, that wasn''t a living being. The monster reeked of a rotting stench and his skin was ck. Muscles bulged from his body in distinct pieces, looking as though they were washed with steel liquid. Long fingernails as sharp as knives shone with a ghastly green color C they were clearly carrying poison! There were no pupils in his eyes and they werepletely white, looking extremely frightening. When the monster roared, green veins popped up on its necks and face, akin to small little snakes that were crawling on the surface of its skin. It bared a pair of bloodied fangs and its face was shuddering and menacing! This was a living corpse! None of them present had witnessed such methods before. Not only was the corpse resurrected, it was controlled by someone and let out such a terrifying aura! Even though she was the servant of the great, young master and a knower of many secrets due to that, Lady Pyre was also greatly shocked and her face was pale. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* The corpse strode in huge steps towards the battlefield. Sensing that the situation was bad, Jun Hao and Shin Tao had already withdrawn themselves from the battle long ago, afraid that they would be implicated. "Go!" One of the guards summoned his short sword while the other conjured hand seals, producing zing fireballs that shot at the corpse! As though it did not see them, the corpse did not slow down at all. The two guards were slightly relieved when they saw that, thinking to themselves, "[Reptilian] At the end of the day, it''s just a walking corpse with no brains that doesn''t know how to dodge at all." *ng!* Before they could finish their thoughts, the short sword had already pierced the corpse''s chest. However, the sound of metal shing echoed! The short sword was repelled! The fireballnded on the corpse andsted for two breaths before extinguishing. In the billowing smoke, not only was the corpse fine, it turned even more violent! The two of them were dumbfounded and their eyes widened. At the same time. Lady Pyre''s short sword descended. Shining with four bedazzling spirit patterns, its sword force was cold and it pierced the corpse''s head with its sharpness. *ng!* Another crisp sound rang out apanied by a chain of sparks; the short sword was repelled as well! A faint white scar merely appeared on the corpse''s be; its skin was not even scratched! Lady Pyre was gravely shocked. She was at level seven of the Martial Knight realm and she also possessed a highly graded short sword. Also, her inborn powers of elemental fire have given her an explosive power and yet, she could not even scratch the skin of the corpse with her full power! How was she going to fight this corpse that weapons could not pierce and fire and water could not damage? Before she could finish her thoughts, the corpse arrived in front of the two guards within a few strides. Reaching out, it crushed both of their heads instantly! The two guards did not get a second chance to attack at all. Swash! Lady Pyre summoned her short sword once more and this time round, they were aimed for the corpse''s eyes! She believed that everything had their weaknesses no matter how strong they were. Suddenly, the corpse red at the iing sword and reached out. He grabbed it and ced it in front of his mouth before spitting a ball of oily green smoke at it. The moment the smoke touched the de, the spirit light of the supreme-grade short sword dimmed! Lady Pyre''s expression changed as she lost her connection to the supreme-grade short sword! Not good! She thought to herself. Turning around to retreat back to the stone chamber, a ck shadow had already arrived before her. Swoosh! An evil gust of wind burst forth, suffocating her. Lady Pyre merely felt her chest turn stuffy and her head spin. The corpse was filled with poison from head to toe and gave off a rotting stench C any martial artist that breathed in that rotting stench without any precautions would definitely be affected! The corpse reached out with its massive hands, aiming at Lady Pyre''s shoulders to capture her alive. All of a sudden! The pale yellow dress that she was wearing shone with four bright intrinsic patterns. With the obstruction, the corpse failed to grab Lady Pyre''s shoulder right away. She jolted to her senses and hurriedly retreated a couple of steps back, entering the stone chamber in a sh before shutting its stone doors. "Roar!" The corpse was enraged and roared, mming violently at the stone doors. *Boom!* While the stone doors shook violently, they did not open. *Buzz!* At the same time, as though it sensed something, a series of formation lights appeared on the ground of the entrance of the stone chamber. Another formation was activated at the entrance of the stone chamber, engulfing the corpse within! The sword force, the violent energy buzzed incessantly. Sharp sword force shot forth from within the formation and stabbed the corpse repeatedly from all directions in a resplendent dazzle. Trapped in the formation, the corpse flung its arms and collided against the sword force from all around, roaring in endless rage. Not long after, the skin of the ck corpse was already torn against the relentless attacks of the sword force and it was injured all over, leaking with gooey, sticky blood that was extremely pungent! "[Reptilian] What a terrifying killing formation!" Jun Hao felt a sense of fear and broke out in cold sweat upon seeing that. That was clearly a trump card left behind by the annoying hooded man! That b*stard, Aiden! Apart from the defense formation, there was a killing formation around the stone chamber! Previously, if Jun Hao had attacked forcibly, he would have been caught in the killing formation and would most likely have died after being pierced by the countless swords! "Aiden, you''re savage!" Jun Hao grit her teeth and endless hatred flooded his eyes. Although the white-robed martial artist felt a little pained looking at the corpse''s skin getting damaged by the sword force, he did not appear to be worried. While the might of the killing formation was terrifying and might even be able to kill an eight meridian Martial Knight realm martial artist, it did not manage to hurt the corpse fundamentally and those were merely superficial wounds. As the filthy blood of the corpse flowed onto the ground, the formation patterns were gradually tainted. The might of the killing formation was diminishing! The formation light was also dimming gradually Before long, the killing formation was dispelled entirely and the corpse broke free. By now, it had descended into aplete frenzy as it charged at the stone chamber! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* The light of the defensive formation shone repeatedly, withstanding the attacks of the corpse one after another. With nowhere else to retreat to within the stone chamber, Lady Pyre found herself calming down instead. In her heart, she knew that the power produced by the corpse was not weaker than ate stage, level eight Martial Knight realm warrior. Coupled with its corrosive aura, poison and blood, the formation would not be able to hold out for much longer. If the formation was dispelled, she wouldmit suicide right here! She would definitely not allow herself to be humiliated by others! After all, her soul and body would already belong to her young master As though it did not know the meaning of fatigue, the corpse fought for hours upon hours, soon reaching an entire day and night without stopping! The light of the formation had dimmed considerably. The defensive formation could be broken through at any moment! The situation was determined and Lady Pyre was on the brink of cmity with nowhere to escape! Shin Tao walked to Jun Hao''s side and let out a fawning smile. Sweeping his gaze past the white-robed martial artist, he asked. "[Reptilian] Senior Brother Jun, what''s the name of that fellow Daoist?" "[Reptilian] You''re not qualified to know." Jun Hao replied. "[Reptilian] All you have to know is that he hails from one of the top, super sects and is the strongest paragon of the Martial Knight realm!" "[Reptilian] Y-Y-Yes!" Shin Tao nodded repeatedly with a fearful expression. "[Reptilian] The man''sbat strength is unparalleled and he''s practically invincible amongst all Martial Knight realm martial artists! He can suppress all enemies and even if the ancient emperors were at Martial Knight realm, they might not be a match for our mighty friend here!" Jun Hao spilled out songs of praises without any shame or embarrassment. Although he could tell that Jun Hao was sucking up to him, the white-robed martial artist enjoyed it nevertheless. After a momentary pause, the white-robed martial artist said. "[Reptilian] That''s not for sure. The Ancient One''s Pce appeared sometime back and the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind appeared. That man is not to be underestimated." Jun Hao hurriedly remarked. "Y[Reptilian] Heh, you don''t have to be humble, Senior Brother. I still believe nobody in the Martial Knight realm is your match in a one on one battle." "[Reptilian] Yes." Nodding, the white-robed martial artist dered with pride. "[Reptilian] I don''t even have to do it myself if it''s a one on one battle. This steel corpse that I refined is more than enough to kill that monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind!" "[Reptilian] Wow so amazing?" Suddenly, a voice sounded in everyone''s ears, carrying a hint of sarcasm and mockery. Chapter 859 859 - Surprise! "Hmm?" Both Jun Hao and Shin Tao frowned in confusion. Although that voice sounded rather familiar, the two of them were not certain. Rather, that person should have been dead. Could he have ventured into the depths of the ancient battlefield and yet returned alive? "[Reptilian] Who''s going there?! Identify yourself!" The white-robed martial artist''s slightly bulged eyes shifted and his expression turned grim with killing intent. Right after, his eyes shed with confusion as well. That voice did note from the cave abode. From the sound of it, it seemed like it came from far, far away. Possibly from outside the city limits! That was the confusing portion. If he was miles away, how could he have heard their conversation in the cave abode? Was his hearing that powerful? Could omnipresent hearing truly exist in the world? All of a sudden! The sound of clothes fluttering sounded, approaching from afar at an extremely fast speed C it was as though it arrived at the cave abode''s entrance in the blink of an eye, tearing through the fabric of space itself! "What a swift movement technique!" The white-robed martial artist''s heart skipped a beat as he turned to re at the tunnel. It was the same for Jun Hao and Shin Tao C both of them wanted to know if it was that man who had arrived! Before long, a green figure appeared in the tunnel, striding over with steady footsteps. Although he looked calm, there was an indescribable aura around him! The intruder had elegant features, looking like a schr C it was Aiden who had rushed over from Ugburg City. Jun Hao''s eyes narrowed with cold killing intent as he dered hatefully. "[Reptilian] It''s truly you!" "[Reptilian] Huh? You''re not dead?" Shin Tao''s mouth was slightly agape as he uttered in disbelief. Aiden''s expression was calm as he swept his gaze past the two of them without pausing. Right after, he looked at the mighty corpse that was ramming against the stone chamber and his eyes shed. Raising his brow, he seemed to have recalled something. He paused for a brief moment before fixing his gaze on the white-robed martial artist. After entering the cave abode, Aiden did not say anything and merely surveyed his surroundings. However, for some unknown reason, that simple act of his caused the white-robed martial artist to feel an unprecedented sense of pressure! Aiden''s eyes were bright and deep. His gaze was nonchnt and it seemed like he could control everything with a single look! Even without saying anything, he was exuding a dominance that surpassed everything! It was an aura that could not be faked. This was something that was created through the corpses and blood of countless paragons and was revealed subconsciously! The white-robed martial artist was expressionless but he felt uneasy. Suddenly, he retreated a couple of steps back and shouted softly. "Come back!" The corpse came to a sudden halt and paused for a moment before taking huge strides towards the white-robed martial artist. It stood beside thetter and red at Aiden murderously. By now, the wounds inflicted by the killing formation had already formed scabs and were no longer bleeding. "[Reptilian] Senior Brother, this man is who I have talked about, the one they call ''Aiden''!" Jun Haomented hurriedly. "[Reptilian] He''s the one who injured your battle corpse! The killing formation outside the stone chamber was also set up by him!" The white-robed martial artist did not say anything and merely red at Aiden with a grim expression. Indifferently, Aiden said. "[Reptilian] One of the five fiendish powers of this forlorn world. Necromancers I presume What are you called here oh yes, the ''Corpse Refinement Cult''." After his long stay with the Azure Myst Sect, he gained a good understanding of the various factions on this world thanks to Tai Liu and the others. As such, he recognized the white-robed martial artist''s background instantly. Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists were extremely recognizable as they would always bring along a battle corpse that they refined using their sect''s secret skills to fight for them. Looking at the white-robed martial artist, Aiden asked with a fake smile. "Since you were bragging about how strong you were earlier on, why didn''t you go take on the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind beneath the Ancient One''s Pce?" The white-robed martial artist''s expression turned terrible. Naturally, he wanted to fight for the Ancient One''s inheritance when the Ancient One''s Pce appeared as well. His battle corpse was invincible against weapons and could not be damaged by water or fire. In terms of strength, it was no weaker than level eight Martial Knight realm martial artists. However, Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists had a fatal weakness. Compared to their mighty battle corpses, they were not strong. If they lost the protection of their battle corpse, they would most definitely die against level eight Martial Knight realm warrior! Paragons from all over the ce were gathered beneath the Ancient One''s Pce. Needless to think, it would definitely be an unprecedented battle royale. There was no way his battle corpse would be able to protect him entirely in that sort of battle royale and it would be hard for him to survive! After hesitating for a long time, the white-robed martial artist decided to give up on the Ancient One''s Pce. Later on, it was proven that his decision was the right one as well. It was said that almost half the paragons who fought in that bloodied battle beneath the Ancient One''s Pce were dead and most of them were crippled! It was extremely tragic! The white-robed martial artist harrumphed coldly. "[Reptilian] It was a battle royale beneath the Ancient One''s Pce. If it was a one-on-one battle, the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind might not be my match!" "[Reptilian] Oh?" Aiden raised his brow. "[Reptilian] Who are you? What sect are you from?" The white-robed martial artist asked instead. Jun Hao exined hurriedly. "[Reptilian] Don''t worry, Senior Brother Li, this man has no big power or sect behind him. He is merely a vagrant and he has no backing! He was merely at the level four of the Martial Knight realm half a year ago." Compared to factions such as super sects and the five heretical doctrines, Ethereal Peak could truly only be considered as a small sect. The white-robed martial artist frowned slightly when he heard Jun Hao''s words. If this guy was at the level four of the Martial Knight realm half a year ago, even if he had heavenly-defying talent and made use of the legendary Breakthrough Elixir he supposedly found in the Ancient Burial Grounds, he would only be at level seven Martial Knight realm at best. In the worst-case scenario, even if he was at level eight Martial Knight realm, so what? This was someone from a small sect without any backing. The foundations of small sects were not strong and they had limited secret skills C how strong could this guy be? Could he have judged wrongly? Gradually, the white-robed martial artist''s expression turned cold as he waved his hand. "[Reptilian] Go, check out the skills of this fellow Daoist!" The corpse acknowledged by roaring with a torrential aura before charging over in huge strides. Compared to the tall and mighty corpse, Aiden could be considered as a thin weakling. It seemed as though he wouldn''t even be able to withstand a single push of the corpse''s finger! However, Aiden''s expression was unchanged and he merely smiled against the iing corpse. *ng!* Unknowingly, an ebony-colored long and thick de had already appeared in his hands. The saber trembled with a torrential wild energy! "[Reptilian] Test my skills, you say?" With a razor-sharp gaze, Aiden said coolly. "[Reptilian] Heh Test it with your life you old b*stard!" *Boom!* Before his words were finished, Aiden had already made a huge strike! The moment his strikended, a series of dense cracks appeared on the ground beneath him. In a split second, the entire ce shook and the cave abode quaked violently. Dust filled the ce continuously and it seemed like the cave could topple at any moment! Everyone present felt their hearts skip a beat. Aiden channeled his internal spirit power energy and instantly, the raging tide of essence in his core surged and created terrifying waves! One after another, spirit meridians shone brightly beneath his green robes as spirit energy surged rampantly. "[Reptilian] This! This is level eight of the Martial Knight realm!" Jun Hao and Shin Tao were astonished as they eximed. *Swoosh!* Aiden shed out and a blood beam expanded,nding on the head of the corpse like a zing blood sun! The corpse could not dodge in time and could only tilt its head slightly. "Pfft!" Rygintarth sliced down along the corpse''s shoulder and cut downwards heavily! Its de let out a jarring sound as it sliced through the muscles and bones, as though it was cutting a metallic object. Gooey, filthy blood gushed out. That sh almost cut the corpse into two halves! Rygintarth only slowed down in its tracks after cutting into the corpse''s chest. After it was blocked by Rygintarth, the corpse could barely advance. Although Aiden seemed frail and skinny, a casual sh from him was enough to send forth a shuddering power that even the corpse that was invulnerable against weapons, water, and fire could not withstand! The white-robed martial artist''s expression turned paler as his figure swayed for a moment. Chapter 860 860 - Shattering The Impossible In the world, be it the righteous sects, ns, tribes, or the so-called ''evil'' faction members, there were extremely few powers that managed to pass on their legacies and remain standing from the ancient era till now. Among them, countless top factions were drowned in the sands of time, leaving behind nothing but ruins and legends. The Corpse Refinement Cult was one of the rare few super sects that managed to survive from the ancient era till now. Legend goes in the martial world even has it that the roots of Corpse Refinement Cult can be traced back to the very beginning of intelligent life, back to the primordial era. The brutish period of time where the thousands of races reigned and humans were weak and enved! There were countless secret skills in Corpse Refinement Cult and within them, there was even an ancient necromantic technique called the Corpse Refining Technique. The Corpse Refining Technique contained many secret skills; even the descriptions for the method of cultivating a battle corpse alone were plenty. Battle corpses were also graded by levels: Mortal Corpse, Copper Corpse, Iron Corpse, Bronze Corpse, Silver Corpse, Golden Corpse, and so on Martial Knight realm warriors and even Masters or Grandmasters of the Corpse Refinement Cult, they could only refine at most Iron Corpses. Bronze Corpses required Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists to be of the peak Martial Grandmaster realm and to cultivate the unique Death Essence before they could be refined. For each battle corpses, the deeper the color, the more power they possessed and the stronger they were. The power of the white-robed martial artist''s battle corpse was enough to fight against level eight Martial Knight realm martial artists! Furthermore, the battle corpse was not only invulnerable to weapons, water, and fire, it even possessed poison! Even level eight Martial Knight realm martial artists won''t be able to injure the core of the battle corpse. There was no way the white-robed martial artist would have expected a seemingly delicate martial artist to nearly slice his battle corpse into half with a single casual sh! How terrifying was that strength? A trace of panic flickered through the white-robed martial artist''s slightly bulged eyes. Immediately, as though he made some sort of a resolve, the white-robed martial artist conjured some primitive hand seals and channeled a secret skill of his sect as he utilized his churning internal energy, his mana. Biting his tongue gently, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood that spilled onto the battle corpse''s wounds. "[Reptilian] No! Heal up!" The white-robed martial artist shouted softly. Instantly, the frightening injury on the battle corpse started healing at a visible speed as greenish-ck meat grew and intertwined together. The battle corpse roared with immense ferocity! At the same time, the aura of the white-robed martial artist turned extremely weak and his gaze dimmed. Swaying to one side, he seemed like he could copse at any moment. He pped his storage bag and took out a murky elixir before swiftly swallowing it. It was only then that he recovered some vitality. It was clearly a secret skill simr to Blood Escape, which Aiden had seen before. By sacrificing his body''s vitality, he repaired the battle corpse''s wounds and triggered it to produce even greaterbat strength. The battle corpse reached out with its hands and grabbed Rygintarthr''s de. Rygintarth was drowned by the endless filthy blood as it was stuck in the battle corpse''s body. Gradually, the light on its de dimmed. Harrumphing coldly, Aiden withdrew his saber with strength! The battle corpse chose to let the de slice its palms thenn to relinquish its grip. Furthermore, it even lunged forward with the momentum, spitting out a ball of oily green smoke that was extremely nauseating. "[Reptilian] Young Master! Watch out!" Lady Pyre warned from within the stone chamber. Earlier on, the corpse''s smoke had already destroyed her high-grade short sword! Not only that, the corpse even opened its mouth and bared its bloody fangs, biting towards Aiden''s neck like a wild beast! Aiden frowned and released his Rygintarth before retreating. It wasn''t because he was afraid of the smoke and those fangs. The corpse was truly way too disgusting that Aiden did not wish to touch it with his hands. Aiden''s retreat revealed an opening in the tunnel momentarily. The eyes of the white-robed martial artist lit up. In truth, he had already thought of retreating the moment Aiden attacked with the sh earlier on. While it was meant for the corpse, he knew that he wouldn''t be able to survive that attack even if he had ten lives! When he saw Aiden dodge to the side, the white-robed martial artist moved in a sh and sped towards the tunnel since he was unwilling to battle. Aiden''s eyes shed with mockery when he saw that. Swiping his storage bag, a huge squarish golden seal appeared in his palms. It was the newly acquired artifact treasure, the Coiling Dragon Seal! It was extremely easy for Aiden to kill this Corpse Refinement Cult martial artist. As long as he channeled his Soul Power and made use of his newly learned technique together with it, he would be able to wrap around the battle corpse and strike that person to death! However, earlier on, Aiden had a thought and recalled this treasure he had just obtained. He was also curious as to how powerful the legendary artifact treasures were, let alone one that was given to him by that old man back in the Pce. "Go!" Tossing the Coiling Dragon Seal upwards, he pointed and a stream of spirit energy was injected into it from his finger. The Coiling Dragon Seal expanded rapidly and shone with a golden radiance. Hovering in midair like a zing sun, it was bedazzling and let out a shuddering aura, exuding endless might! The feral battle corpse suddenly seemed as pathetic as an ant against the Coiling Dragon Seal. The Coiling Dragon Seal descended rapidly! *Boom!* A loud bang sounded when it rammed against the battle corpse''s head. *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* Right after, the sound of bones cracking could be heard. The Coiling Dragon Seal merely paused for a brief moment before continuing down! With a thud, the battle corpse that was a full ten feet tall was crushed into a pile of foul-smelling meat sludge by the Coiling Dragon Seal, spreading all over the ground without any body left! The white-robed martial artist was about to rush into the tunnel when a blindingly bright seal crashed down, blocking the exit. He spun around hurriedly and a pile of meat sludge sttered onto his pale face. The white-robed martial artist''s eyes were widened and his mind went nk, almost shocked silly. In the martial world, anyone who wanted to defeat Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists had to try their best to avoid the battle corpse while attacking the actual martial artist. That was because the battle corpses were the indestructible weapons of Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists! Nobody within the same martial realm could defeat their battle corpses. If anyone was embroiled in a battle against their battle corpses and could not get out, they would either end up being killed or exhausted to their deaths. That was because battle corpses did not know fatigue. Even if they werepletely injured, their strength would not diminish. However, it was different for martial artists. Mortals as well as martial artists had a limit to their stamina. The white-robed martial artist had cultivated for dozens of years and had been through endless battles against various paragons. However, he had nevere across anyone that fought as fiercely as Aiden. Notwithstanding the fact that Aiden was fighting the corpse itself, he even almost managed to slice it into two with the first attack. Right after, he even turned the battle corpse into a pile of meat sludge with the second attack! Things had ended just like that. The white-robed martial artist was stunned at the moment. A deathly silence filled the air. Initially, Jun Hao and Shin Tao wanted to attack Aiden together with the battle corpse. But now, they were rooted silly to the spot, the corners of their eyes twitching and their bodies trembling slightly. That was a legendary artifact treasure! The two of them could clearly see that the huge golden seal that Aiden summoned at the end shone with six spirit patterns C it was obvious that it was a connate artifact weapon! The deadly poisonous energy within the battle corpse''s flesh was filthy and could destroy weapons and all kinds of treasures. Even Lady Pyre''s high-grade short sword could not escape the fate of being destroyed. But now, the light on the golden seal did not diminish at all even when it was tainted by the battle corpse''s blood and flesh. In fact, it shone more intensely, exuding the dominance of an emperor that looked down on the world! A deep look of envy filled Jun Hao''s eyes. ''I can be as domineering as that one if I get my hands on that treasure!'' Chapter 861 861 - Empty Begging Aiden''s expression changed slightly. The might of the Coiling Dragon Seal had exceeded his expectations! The power that was released was enough to threaten an early-stage Martial Master! More importantly, a Martial Knight warrior''s core still at most resembled the form of a spirit sea and had yet topletely fill up. Only Martial Masters could release the true might of artifact treasures! Aiden was looking forward to how amazing the Coiling Dragon Seal would be at that time. There was a squeaking sound. The stone doors opened and Lady Pyre came forth. Their eyes met. Aiden smiled and nodded, reassuring her. Instantly, Lady Pyre blushed and pursed a smile in return. Aiden beckoned gently and the Coiling Dragon Seal shrank into a small, intricate seal before turning into a streak of light that returned to his storage bag. Walking slowly to the exit of the tunnel, he pushed down with his ankle and his Rygintarth returned to his palm. Throughout the entire process, the white-robed cultivator, Jun Hao, and Shin Tao did not dare to move at all and kept quiet out of fear! Every single action and gaze of Aiden caused the three of them to feel immense pressure. Their hearts raced fiercely as if they could die at any moment. This was an almost invincible aura! Their gazes flickered and their minds were bothered by the same thought. How should they escape! The Coiling Dragon Seal did not merely suppress a battle corpse, but also the final bit of determination in the three of them to want to retaliate. The white-robed cultivator was the first to speak. A rare smile was squeezed out of his dreadfully glum face as he cupped his fists. "[Reptilian] Fellow Master, you are truly strong. I''m very impressed." "[Reptilian] I''m nothingpared to you. You''re someone who can even suppress the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind." Aiden looked at the white-robed cultivator with a fake smile. Bearing an awkward expression, the white-robed cultivator forced a chuckle. "[Reptilian] You''re joking, fellow Master. You''re the one who''s able to suppress the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind with your skills. I''m far inferior." Aiden did not reply and waved his sword. Instantly, Rygintarth shot forth with a murderous void-like ebony beam once more! Rygintarth was a perfect spirit weapon that was infused with Aiden''s blood after all. Although it was tainted by the battle corpse''s filthy blood, its sharpness could not be hidden. Sensing Aiden''s killing intent, the white-robed cultivator''s heart skipped a beat as he remarked hurriedly. "[Reptilian] You! Y-You can''t kill me!" "Oh?" Aiden uttered without raising his head. Composing himself, the white-robed cultivator said in a deep voice. "[Reptilian] You should know the status of Corpse Refinement Cult in the world! If you kill me, you''ll be hunted down by the entire sect! There would be no chance for you!" "[Reptilian] Hmm... That''s interesting Say, even if I kill you who would know?" Aiden smiled gently. The white-robed cultivator was speechless. On the other hand, Jun Hao and Shin Tao felt a chilling intent! In other words, what Aiden meant was that he was going to kill them all! After killing the three of them, news of this would never ever be spread! There was something else that Aiden kept to himself. ''Who cares about your Corpse Refinement Cult, huh? I''ve even killed quite a few paragons from all the top factions! You''re just one of them! Even if they would find out, what could they possibly do once I leave this gods'' forsaken realm?!'' Aiden sneered inwardly. *ng!* The de shuddered and a startling blood beam shed. When Aiden attacked once more, the gigantic de seemed extremely agile in his hands; his sh forward caused ripples in the void. The white-robed cultivator''s expression changed starkly. While that sh did not seem fast, there was an inescapable feeling to it. For Corpse Refinement Cult cultivators, losing their battle corpses was as good as losing half of theirbat strength. He could not deal with the terrifying saber technique of the Saber Emperor''s Void Splitting Manual. A single moment of distraction and he felt his throat go cold followed by a ripping pain! A red scar appeared on his throat, turning bigger and more defined! The next moment. A bloodied, scarlet mist spewed out. "Ee.. " A strange sound came from the depths of the white-robed cultivator''s throat as he let out an indignant expression. Copsing stiffly forward, the light in his eyes dimmed without any life. His throat was slit with a single sh! After killing the Corpse Refinement Cult cultivator, Aiden turned around and walked towards Jun Hao and Shin Tao without hesitation. "[Reptilian] It was the idea of Jun Hao and the others! I-I had no choice as well! That''s why I chose the wrong path!" When he saw that the situation was amiss, Shin Tao knelt on the ground with a thud. His hand was ced seemingly casually on his storage bag as he bawled without a single shred of dignity as a cultivator. Wiping his snot, Shin Tao said with a quivering voice. "[Reptilian] Young Master, p-please give me a chance" However, Aiden did not have any bit of pity at all towards a fence sitter like Shin Tao. Today, this man could kneel down and cry before him in order to survive. Tomorrow, this man could stab him in the back instead! Arriving before Shin Tao, Aiden looked down and replied indifferently. "[Reptilian] At times, once you choose the wrong path, there''s no way back." Shin Tao''s final hope was dashed after hearing Aiden''s reply. His hand was still on his storage bag. But now, a dagger with a cold glint had suddenly appeared in his palms. Shin Tao''s sobs came to a stop as his expression darkened. With a venomous gaze, he said coldly. "[Reptilian] Since you won''t allow me to live, I''ll kill you first!" Grabbing his dagger, Shin Tao stabbed towards Aiden''s chest! This was aplete ambush! However, his thoughts could not escape from Aiden''s spirit perception. The moment Shin Tao stood up, Aiden''s palm descended from above andnded heavily on the former''s head. *St!* As though it was hot butter, Shin Tao''s head was sttered and he died on the spot without a single word. The moment Shin Tao attacked, Jun Hao made up his mind and channeled his spirit energy with all his might as well. In a sh, his rank seven Martial Knight power lit up as he charged towards Lady Pyre who was at the entrance of the stone chamber. Right now, she was his only shot at living! As long as he could hold her hostage, he could talk terms with Aiden! As Jun Hao charged, he realized that Lady Pyre was motionless and merely looked at him quietly. There was a trace of mockery and pity in her eyes., which he just couldn''t understand All of a sudden! From the side of his eyes, Jun Hao caught sight of a dark beam of light shooting towards him at lightning speed! It crackled and was shuddering. The moment Shin Tao attacked, Aiden flung out his trusted aide, the ebony de, Rygintarth. Jun Hao did not have time to react and merely caught sight of the scarlet sh. Right after, an immense pain came from beneath his ribs as he was sent flying by a powerful impact! *ng!* Aiden''s Rygintarth cut through Jun Hao and pinned thetter tightly against the stone walls! The impact was immensely strong and the de was still shaking after embedding itself in the stone walls! Jun Hao''s eyes and mouth widened as fresh blood gushed out uncontrobly. The saber had not only prated his body but also destroyed his organs and cut off his chance at life! "[Reptilian] You " Raising his arm with much struggle, Jun Hao pointed at Aiden, as if he wanted to say something. After a momentary pause, his head tilted to the side and he died with opened eyes. As they lost their luster, they were filled with unwillingness! In less than 10 minutes, all three of them were dead! "[Reptilian] Young Master, you''ve saved me once more." Lady Pyre beamed brightly and quipped. "[Reptilian] I won''t be able to clear my debt to you in this lifetime." Aiden smiled as well. "[Reptilian] There''s no need to speak of such things between us." "[Reptilian] Hmm Level eight Martial Knight... Seems like you''ve gotten quite a bit stronger whilst I was away." "[Reptilian] Indeed, I was lucky, Young Master." It had to be said that Aiden had truly benefited way too much in this ancient battlefield expedition. Not mentioning the inheritances and treasures, his power realm gained through this short while, was already enough to make up for dozens of years of hard-fought training in the world! Suddenly, Lady Pyre''s expression changed as she asked, "Xiaoning and the others" Aiden''s group had a bit more than half a dozen people when he left. Now that he was the only one who returned, Lady Pyre had a bad feeling about things. Chapter 862 862 - Now What? "[Reptilian] You do not need to worry." Aiden waved his hand. "All of them received their own opportunities and joined some older and more powerful sects. In fact, some of them might have already left to some better opportunities" Madam Dara''s Azure Myst Sect was located far away in the Middle Continent, after all. Whilst it was barren and thought to be devoid of life, in reality, this world was boundless and vast. If a Martial Knight martial artist wanted to travel from the Northern Regions to the Middle Continent, they would have to be on the road day and night for almost a full lifetime of a mortal even without resting. That was also without taking into ount the possible dangers they might encounter along the way. In reality, it was something that was difficult even for Martial Masters too. Only Martial Grandmasters could protect themselves well enough to attempt to travel out from the North Region and roam everywhere. It was likely impossible for them to meet one another in the near future after this separation. As for the rest of the group, they were probably already worlds apart as well. It was unknown if he would still have the chance to meet them any time soon. Still, regardless of their current circumstances, the omnipresent, heaven-defying system was there to bridge this seemingly unsurmountable gap; they could utilize their mental connection anytime. At that thought, Aiden could not help but feel slightly emotional and wistful. "[Reptlian] Young Master, you''re still worried about Blood Crow Pce taking revenge, right?" Lady Pyre was extremely smart and after slight contemtion, she understood why everyone went their separate ways. Aiden had killed this young man, one of the Draconic Skink''s elite families descendant just now, ignoring the very likely repercussions, the wrath, and revenge of an elite family. The feud between him and them was already irreconcble. While it might be a huge cmity for Aiden personally, in reality it wasn''t something that the Young Master would truly bother about. He was not like them, he was not a mortal of this world, but something else! He was a Primal! Everyone else of his assigned servants could leave to Haven if they wished to and hide away, but not him. To turn his back and leave after creating such a mess, leaving not just them, but little Tolliah and failing the promise of saving his mother as well as the rest of the captives still being held by the High Priest, in the territory of the Ancient One''s Order without any care That was something that Aiden''s heart would not allow. "[Reptilian] Young Master, don''t worry. I will not let you down. I will go ask the city lord for his assistance!" Worried that Aiden might not take her words for real, Lady Pyre continued. "[Reptilian] If they truly dare to do anything outrageous, the city lord will definitely not sit by idly and watch!" "[Reptilian] It is not a problem at all, do not bother your pretty little head with it." Aiden smiled and shook his head. In reality, he knew and could read the situation clearer than anyone. The attitude of the Emperor of Great Zhou towards the Blood Crow King at the sectpetition had already made many things clear. Even the City Lord was wary of the Ancient One''s Order, and more importantly, he was merely a tool appointed by the High Priest himself! He was nothing but a substitute for his will! It was almost hopeless to think that the city lord would interfere in the matter. "[Reptilian] Pyre, prepare yourself. We''ll soon leave this ce! I will bring you back home!" "[Reptilian] A-Alright." With the allotted time in this ancient battlefielding to end, many martial artists were returning to Eora, to the ce where they entered. After all, whilst to Aiden this event was organized for a mere City Lord selection in a singr human city on one continent of Eora in reality, it was a worldwide event with many participants from all overAlso, whilst it was merely a little more than a month ago to him it felt as if an eternity have passed. More importantly Some were ecstatic while some were worried. Some martial artists even had a surreal feeling of escaping a great cmity. They could only heal the trauma in their hearts gradually after returning to their factions'' home turf in Eora! Right after, heavy news started spreading through the super sects of the martial world, akin to gigantic boulders tossed into the middle ofkes and creating massive waves! "[Reptilian] After a thousand years, the Sword Emperor''s inheritance was obtained by a martial artist and the Metal Tree Groove has vanishedpletely." "[Reptilian] Right, more than a hundred martial artists of Corpse Poison Sect were all killed by a single person and even Malefic Demons n and Crystal Pce Sect were implicated!" "[Reptilian] How savage! Who is he? What sect or faction is he from?" "[Reptilian] I''ve got no idea. He didn''t wear a sect badge. Some say that he''s a meek schr while others say that he looks menacing." Crystal Pce Sect and Malefic Demons n received the news almost instantly and their sect masters were enraged. Both sects sent out multiple martial artists to scout out news of that martial artist''s background and location. Before the various sects managed to digest that news, an even more shocking piece of news was spread, causing a shock for the super sects and sending a wave across the entire martial world! "[Reptilian] The Ancient One''s Pce has appeared!" "[Reptilian] The sessor of Holy Fire Ind appeared at the Ancient One''s Pce and fought against all the top paragons of all the sects together!" "[Reptilian] The paragons of the the world''s top factions worked together? Hehe, Holy Fire Ind''s sessor sure is unlucky. He must have died without even a corpse left. Who managed to obtain the Human Emperor''s inheritance in the end?" "[Reptilian] That''s where you''re wrong! He suppressed all the paragons singlehandedly and it was an extremely tragic and shocking battle!" "[Reptilian] What? What did you say?!" "[Reptilian] The paragons of righteous and demonic ns, the evil fiendish sects, and even the fearsome Reverend''s group are all dead! While the paragons of the other sects managed to survive and escape, some of them had their arms and roots crippled and it would be tough for them to shine in the future." The elders of the various sects received the news at almost the same time and were in shock and disbelief. "[Reptilian] What about the Guardian Elders?" "[Reptilian] There were more than ten Guardian Elders together! They were all Martial Artist Powerhouses! Are they all trashes?! As Martial Grandmasters, can''t any of them kill a single Martial Knight brat?" "[Reptilian] Even when five Guardian Elders joined forces, they failed and died with regrets!" "[Reptilian] Pfft! Even Guardian Elders failed despite working together?" "[Reptilian] It was said that the sessor of the Holy Fire Ind has a divine constitution and a godlike might!" "[Reptilian] He was severely injured together with the Holy Maiden of the Pure Maidens Sect and they entered the Ancient One''s Pce at the same time. Their fates are currently unknown." The elders went silent when they heard that. A long timeter, someone sighed deeply. "[Reptilian] It''s a monster incarnate!" "I don''t think it''s exaggerated to im that he''s the number one monster incarnate ever since the ancient times." At the same time. In an unknown location in the Middle Continent, an ancient-looking pce stood erected. A rosy-cheeked old reptilian figure devoid of any scales on his body and with a white crown and long robes stood in front of the pce entrance with one hand behind his back. His other hand was in front of him and his fingers were twitching; there was a gray fog that veiled his eyes, making him seem extremely mysterious. "[Reptilian] Old man, have you divined anything?" Behind the old man was a gray-robed figure who was slightly plump and had a pale, beardless face. Holding a folding fan, he asked anxiously. A long timeter, the haze disappeared from the old man''s eyes as he frowned while shaking his head. "[Reptilian] It''s true that the Ancient One''s Pce appeared. However, I didn''t manage to divine any news of that mysterious young man strange." "[Reptilian] Does Holy Fire Ind truly have such a monster incarnate?" The two of them exchanged nces, feeling that there was something odd about this. Sucking his lips, the old man replied. "[Reptilian] No matter what, the appearance of the Ancient One''s Pce proves that this is going to be an incredibly dangerous, but possibly golden era with countless paragons and monster incarnates created. It''s very likely that we''ll have a situation simr to the ancient era with multiple emperors arising." "[Reptilian] Of course, with that, there will also be unimaginable trouble! Heh, let''s just wait and see." The old man sighed as he muttered to himself whilst gazing into the distance "[Reptilian] Yet I can''t see anything for us in the future Wonder what it means" Chapter 863 863 - Tides Of War Deep in the night, back in somewhere in the world, deep in the berks of an ''unknown'' Empire With a bang, a bedazzling column of light lit up in the depths of the pce. Bursting into the skies, it filled the night skies with a resplendent luminescence, attracting countless res. "[Reptilian] The geniuses who entered the ancient battlefield below the Ancient One''s Pce havee back." "[Reptilian] That''s right. I wonder how many of the original group have managed to survive." "[Reptilian] There should be a third of them at the very least. The geniuses selected by the five major sects aren''t weak." Zorun Kai and Link Soren from Nether Peak Sect, Rainbow Clouds Sect''s Mighty Cain Khoren, and many other strong Masters filled with powerful, surging Mana stood around the column of light expectantly, preparing to await their returning disciples. If nothing went wrong, these martial artists that returned alive from the ancient battlefield would end up being the supports of their sects in the future. The Emperor of Great Zhou stood right at the front with a grim expression; a flicker of worry would appear in the depths of his eyes from time to time. Gradually, two figures appeared in the middle of the column of light. Two unknown figures materialized from thin air. One were a young golden-scaled boy with lush, wild untamed matte ck head of hair and the other was a pale bipedal reptiloid woman. They were not of this ce, one of them not even from this world As time passed by, the two figures became increasingly clear C it was Aiden and Lady Pyre who had crossed over! Seeing them, even though neither of them was overly familiar with the two strangers, they still heaved a sigh. Finally, someone has returned! After all, who else could cross over their portal? From what they knew, every other country, has long since had their adventurers returned. Only they were still left in the dark uncertainty. As such, although they seemed unknown the watching Masters still looked rxed. They were relieved that not every one of their original champion''s force have been vanquished. But immediately after, they frowned and thought to themselves. "There''s only the two of them?" Although the ancient battlefield was a dangerous ce, at least seven people or so managed to return in previous worst-case scenarios. Now that only two of them returned, it was not hard to guess that something big must have happened in the ancient battlefield! Zorun Kai and Link Soren did not have smiles on their faces when they saw that Aiden was fine. On the one hand, it was because they were worried about the safety of their young personal disciples and the others. On the other hand, while it was a good thing that someone was alive, it may also raise some potentially harmful matters to them. Where did the rest of the group vanish? What was their fate? Why did these two return and the others not? Apart from Nether Peak Sect, the Martial Masters of the other sects looked extremely grim as they strode forward with huge frowns. Martial Master John Sharl of Southern Mountains Sect cupped his fists slightly. "Mr. Ehrm, my disciple, Shin Jian, is a little foolish and isn''t the sharpest tool in the shed. Did he meet with any idents?" "[Reptilian] Hmmm, little pudgy, short brown hair right? I think he was selected by one of the groups there I think it was the Puppet Sect and left together with them." Aiden shook his head. "[Reptilian] Ah, it''s good that he''s alright! It''s his opportunity to be selected by one of the super sects. How rare, how rare!" Martial Master John Sharl nodded his head in gratification. For these people, these so-called super sects were insurmountable mountains that they could not go against but only look up to in their whole lives! If a disciple of their sect managed to join them, it would be an enormous feat and those sects could not be any happier. For example, with their connection to Shin Jian, Southern Mountains Sect would most likely have the massive backing of Puppet Sect in the future! "[Reptilian] What happened in there?" "[Reptilian] Why are you two the only ones who have returned? Where are the others?" "[Reptilian] Lian Mo is my personal disciple and he was the number two of the Sect''s Disciple ranking. His strength is decent and he has a careful nature, there''s no way he could have died!" "[Reptilian] Young man, did my disciple manage to obtain any opportunities?" Many Martial Masters red at Aiden, asking repeatedly with threatening gazes. Aiden frowned with a look of impatience. "[Reptilian] Everyone, please be silent." Lady Pyre stood forward and gestured for silence with both hands. Although she was not of this world, her aura was incredibly fierce and dense. Her mere gesture already possessed the dignity of the royal family! The crowd instantly went silent. In an unhurried manner, Lady Pyre recounted the events in the ancient battlefield, including everything that have transpired from start to finish. Everyone was startled and speechless. Nobody expected that this ancient battlefield expedition would have met with such immense dangers! Mighty Cain Khoren''s expression was grim as he narrowed his gaze and sneered. "This is only your side of the story. Who knows if you had conspired with that man to kill my disciple, Shin Tao!" "[Reptilian] You better watch your mouth Cain Khoren, are you suspecting these brave heroes?!" The city lord turned slightly and red at Mighty Cain Khoren expressionlessly. "[Reptilian] Hah! I wouldn''t dare to!" Chuckling, Mighty Cain Khoren looked at Aiden deeply and said in a cold voice. "Youngd, don''t think that you''ve got the rights to stand shoulder to shoulder with me just because you know how to refine weapons. The grudges between us will have to be settled sooner orter, wait and see!" With that, Mighty Cain Khorenughed sinisterly and left the hall. The other martial artists left gradually as well after seeing that they wouldn''t be able to obtain any news from the two of them. After everything has settled down, the two of them have taken direction towards the south and have begun their long venture back towards Ugburg, towards their supposed home Ever since that disastrous arrival in that other world, Aiden had no news about the events back at home. Now that he was returning once more, he felt deeply emotional. Seeing his master''s reaction, Lady Pyre was curious and surveyed the ce intently. The two of them stopped instinctively as they arrived at the tall peak in front of the mountain. Aiden''s frown gradually increased as he could feel the turbulence in the air As if some bloody battle was going on in the far distance just outside his range and senses Northwest corner of the continent, in a dark and foreboding-looking mountain. Deep in the forest, in a sinisterly dark area, a bloodstained pce was erected. This day, a piece of news arrived. "Master! That boy, that Aiden has returned from the ancient battlefield and are getting closer to us! He should be crossing through the northern borders of this destroyed kingdom soon!" "Alright!" A blood-robed middle-aged man opened his eyes. They shone with a sinister faint green hue as he said coldly, "I want nothing in the radius of 50 kilometers around Nether Peak Sect to remain alive!" His voice was extremely chilling and spread to every single corner of the dark mountain, the ck Crow Mountain. Countless blood crows flew out from ck Crow Mountain, shrieking as they swarmed the skies with their sheer numbers and flew towards a particr direction. At another ce, towards the west. In another bustling city not too far away from Ugburg with remarkably ancient looking buildings An order was sent forth that mobilized the sect. Prepare for battle! Throughout the years, all the sects in the continent had harbored coveting thoughts towards Ancient One''s grandiose, their sect included. Everyone knew that the arrival of the order meant that the sect leaders was absolutely confident! It was extremely likely that for this battle, a peak powerhouse, a Quasi-Divine being, their sects illustrious Founder Master, would appear! Mighty Cain Khoren could not help but roar inughter. "Young Man, oh, young man... Even if you managed to cultivate and join the Azure Myst Sect, so what? At the end of the day, you still can''t escape death!" Almost at the same time News spread within True Fire Sect that the sect master was leading an army to wage war against a singr person! True Fire Sect''s elder clenched his fists tightly. Heughed endlessly in a cold manner and sneered, "I''ve finally waited for this day. That bastard, that ''Aiden''! You killed my disciple and shamed me before at the Ancient One''s Pcepetition. I''m going to turn you into ashes personally!" Not long after, many martial artists of Southern Mountains Sect were mobilized. Suddenly, all of the top powerhouses of the world were seemingly mobilized! A grand battle seemed to be on the verge of breaking out once again! Chapter 864 864 - Crisis Hundreds of Martial Masters stood in a deep blue-colored, beautiful ziggurat that seemed to be made out of some sort of azure crystals. This was the main location for the Azure Myst Sect, and most of their top brass as well as the powerful martial artists were discussing in hushed whispers with grim expressions the situation happening around their world. A mature-looking buxom woman that looked shockingly human- or -in the term coined in this scorched realm: Bareskin- like appearance. She had fair, pale looking spotless and scaleless skin, humanoid facial features, as well a long matte ck head of hair that spread around straight on her shoulders all the way towards her incredibly generous buxom chest, giving it even more saintess-like allure. She was the Sect Master of the Azure Myst sect, Lian Liu, who not so surprisingly was Tai Liu''s mother. She was sitting in the middle of everyone C her eyes were closed and she was expressionless. "Reporting in, sect master!" A Martial Master strode hastily into the hall and said deeply, "Some blood-eyed demonic crows have suddenly appeared in the forest outside the sect and more are gathering!" "I understand." Sect Master Lian Liu replied indifferently; she did not open her eyes still. The hearts of many Martial Masters skipped a beat as they thought to themselves, "It''sing!" At the end of the day, they could not avoid this crisis still. Initially, this crisis would take another dozen of years to arrive at the very least. However, nobody expected that something would change in this period of time. By some freak ident, a mysterious gray-robed stranger have thrown every n and prophecy astray and was embroiled in an irreconcble feud with not one, not two but almost all the top factions'' Lords and Leaders and that resulted in the situation today. "It''s all of that brat Aiden''s fault! If it wasn''t for him, we wouldn''t have made enemies with a sect as strong as this Demon Crow n!" Finally, a Martial Master could not help but bark with a grim expression. "That''s right." Someone else dered, "Sect master, let''s just hand over Aiden. Perhaps it might help to quell the anger of Demon Crow n." "That''s correct! Why should our sect suffer and die together because of Aiden''s feud?!" The voices of dissent were growing louder in the hall and many Martial Masters were moved. "Bullsh*t!" The disheveled old man could not help but curse as he blew at his beard with widened eyes. Pointing at the Martial Masters who spoke, he shouted angrily. "How dare you have the cheek to speak of such words!" "Do you think that we wouldn''t have a feud with Demon Crow n if Aiden wasn''t here?" "Who was the one who killed so many martial artists of our sect in the battle just a few years ago in a seemingly innocent regional disciple tournament?" "Who was the one who killed our alchemy Peak Master Darioth?" The disheveled old man''s question caused everyone to go silent. The few Martial Masters who spoke at the start were quiet as well. Loudly, the disheveled old man hollered. "Everything else aside, if not for Aiden, all our disciples would have long since been assassinated in Ugburg City!" "Instead, you guys are talking about his great deeds like it was a mistake. Have your consciences been eaten up by dogs?" The disheveled old man''s angry scolding reverberated in the hall deafeningly. Zorun Kai stood up and said grimly, "Additionally, back at the Ancient Burial Grounds, if Aiden hadn''t held the fort, Azure Myst Sect would have been thoroughly shamed and turned into a joke of the martial world!" "Countless people would be disheartened if we hand over a disciple as such!" "That''s enough!" Opening his eyes, Sect Master Lian Liu said calmly. Even if her own daughter was in the midst of all this trouble, she did not show any emotion on her angelic face. "Even if Young Master Aiden did not contribute as he did and was merely an ordinary itinerary disciple, there''s no way we will cast him out! Azure Myst Sect wouldn''t have survived till this day if we sacrificed our disciples for the sake of survival. At the same time, I''m not able to do something like that either!" "Everyone has their ambitions and those who want to leave the sect, do it now. I won''t stop you." Sect Master Lian Liu swept her gaze across the crowd. Some martial artists cupped their fists and left one after another, but even more chose to stay. Among the crowd, an outstanding girl with withered, yellow hair stood. She smiled gently upon seeing everything unfold and her eyes were bright and moving. Her beautiful smile contained countless mysteries that seemed to defy her seemingly young age. There were more blood crows gathered in the forest outside, circling above Azure Myst Sect in an orderly manner. They formed a gigantic ck vortex that covered the skies, like thunderclouds that flickered with scarlet glints. It was extremely pressuring! Darkness fell on Azure Myst Sect and it has been three days since they saw sunlight. This day, dust billowed from far away followed by a torrential killing intent C the army of martial artists from Demon Crow n had arrived! For the past few years, Demon Crow n''s influence had been expanding and they took over all the sects in the vicinity and grew at a rapid pace. By now, they were as good as a sixth major sect! Coupled with the cruel methods of Demon Crow n''s Lord and his heavenly-defyingbat strength, many itinerant martial artists submitted to him one after another. Demon Crow n''s current strength had already surpassed the five major sects! Leaping into the skies, Azure Myst Sect''s master, Lian Liu, gazed over with a grim expression. The army from Demon Crow n was densely packed and there were tens of thousands of martial artists. Among them, there were a hundred Martial Grandmasters alone and many of them were notorious itinerant martial artists in the martial world. There were more than a thousand Martial Masters! The rest of them were Martial Knight martial artists and there were no Martial Disciple Warriors. Martial Disciple Warriors were almost useless in a sh of this level; any single flying skill, spiritual art, or even the shockwave of the ensuing fight was more than enough to kill a Martial Disciple Warrior. A blood-robed middle-aged man stood at the front of Demon Crow n''s massive army, looking cold with a faint green hue in his eyes C it was Demon Crow n''s Lord. The n Master waved his hand and dered icily. "Kill everyone and spare no one!" At the same time, Azure Myst Sect''s master, Lian Liu, waved her arm and yelled, "The sect is on the brink of its extinction! People, fight with all your strength and protect the final sanctuary of our sect!" Everyone from Azure Myst Sect knew that there was no other way out for them. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* In the back mountain, stone doors were pushed apart by tremendous forces one after another as dozens of terrifying auras appeared. Azure Myst Sect''s Martial Grandmasters who were in seclusion had appeared one after another as well. Under the lead of Sect Master Lian Liu, a hundred Martial Grandmasters and nearly a thousand Martial Masters were mobilized. In terms of numbers, they wereparable to Demon Crow n C their formidable foundation was thoroughly shown! However, due to the stringent requirement process of Azure Myst Sect, there were not many Martial Knight realm martial artists and they amounted to slightly more than two thousand. Once the great battle was invoked, their Martial Knight martial artists would definitely be disadvantaged. Of course, the final oue of the battle was not decided from the Martial Knight battlefield, nor was it decided from the Martial Master and Martial Grandmaster battlefields. The ultimate challenge was between those legendary, Quasi-Divine realm experts! "Caw, caw!" The countless blood crows let out ear-piercing cries, charging towards the Azure Myst Sect martial artists like a swarm of locusts. It was startling! All of a sudden! A mighty aura burst forth from within Azure Myst Sect followed by a deafening cry! A figure broke out of seclusion, bearing a head of red hair and exuding a terrifying demonic aura. Although she had an insane might and a sharp gaze, this creature was an incredible beauty. "Our Guardian Senior!" "Senior Swan has finallye forth from her seclusion!" A series of cheers sounded from Azure Myst Sect and the masses were overjoyed. The old angelic beauty, the swan looked at the countless iing blood crows and her eyes shone brightly. A mysterious shockwave spread out from her be as she suddenly opened her mouth and shot out a fiery stream of mes! *Swoosh!* The stream of mes spread out and was hundreds of feet tall, incinerating half the skies. Countless blood crows were turned into ashes without being able to make a single sound. "Humph!" Demon Crow n''s Lord harrumphed coldly and soared into the air. With a single thought, a blood-colored bone staff appeared in his hands with a skull at its tip, emanating a sinister aura. Chapter 865 865 - Fighting For Survival "Writhe in damnation you mongrels! Scarlet w Curse!" Waving his blood bone staff, the old n Lord chanted an unidentifiable incantation and the void surged with a terrifying energy feedback! Two streams of blood light shot forth from the sockets of the skull. As though it was alive, the skull opened its mouth and shot out a green streak of light. The blood and green light fused into a drop of fresh blood! When the drop of blood arrived above the old quasi-divine demonic beast, Senior Swan''s head, it suddenly exploded and spread into a series of mysterious patterns. Descending slowly, it engulfed the old quasi-immortal swan. *Buzz!* *Buzz!* The blood patterns formed a blood-colored circle of light that caused smoke to form each time it made contact with the old quasi-immortal swan''s body. Eventually, it corroded the old quasi-immortal swan''s shirt and a series of burn marks appeared on its fair skin beneath. *Caw!* The old quasi-immortal swan cried and its blood qi burst forth. Instantly, its body and flesh expanded while its bones changed structures as it transformed. Right in front of everyone, it turned into a massive ferocious bird that was dozens of feet in width, ready to fly with its wings at any moment! Resembling a divine beast, the majestic swan, the ferocious bird had a smudge of red on its head and its body was green. A thin, denseyer of me burned on its body, emitting a scorching heat and its beak was red and a full ten feet long! "Hmm?" The Demon Crow n''s Lord''s expression changed as he murmured softly, "So, your true form is actually a pure-blooded ferocious bird!" The old quasi-immortal swan soared into the skies and the mes on its body burned brightly, purging away the power of the blood curse. Rising into the clouds with its gigantic body, it looked down at the Sect Master on the ground with a murderous intent. "Hahaha, you might have been a threat to me at your peak. But now, you''re nothing but a beast at the end of your lifespan and is nothing to be feared!" The n Lord sneered and leaped up. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared above the nine heavens into the clouds. That was a height that even Martial Grandmasters could not reach! Although Martial Masters could soar into the skies without the use of any external objects, the truth was that there was a limit to the height they could reach and it was merely about a hundred feet. There was an incredibly strong wild power between the firmament and earth that restricted martial artists and all living beings immensely! The higher martial artists flew, the greater the pressure they would have to endure. With their Essence Spirits, Martial Grandmasters could greatly resist the restrictions on their bodies set by heaven and earth and could soar to heights a couple thousand feet high. More than that, one would be in the clouds and their vision and hearing would suffer. At that ce where even Martial Grandmasters could not reach, only Martial Grandmasters could fight there! The great battle was invoked beneath Azure Myst Sect. Demon Crow n''s Lord and the old quasi-immortal swan shed as well, producing shuddering power shock waves that attracted the attention of a few Martial Grandmasters nearby. Those Martial Grandmasters came from Iridescent Clouds Pce, True Fire Sect, Southern Mountains Sect and Azure Frost Sect. The armies of the four major sects were speeding towards Azure Myst Sect under the lead of their Martial Grandmaster experts. "Hmm?" "That old beast has sure hidden herself well. To think that she''s a ferocious beast of the ancient era! It''s a Divine Swan!" She was a pure-blooded ferocious beast that did not need to consume food and specialized in the Dao of fire. Legend has it that the Divine Swan carried the traces of the primordial bloodline of the phoenix race and was extremely ferocious! While the Divine Swan looked extremely simr to Demonic Beast''s of a simr nature, their difference was that their head was a full feet wide! "It''s lucky that the Demon Crow n''s Lord is around. Otherwise, the four of us might have been destroyed by that old beast instead!" "Yes, the Divine Swan is old now. Furthermore, I heard that the Demon Crow n''s Lord belongs to one of the nine primordial races. Even if the Divine Swan was at its peak, it might not be a match for this guy." "Let''s go! Let''s head over there first to help the Demon Crow n''s Lord kill that old beast as soon as possible!" After conversing, the four Martial Grandmasters soared into the skies and vanished in the blink of an eye. It wouldn''t be long before the armies of the other four major sects arrived at Azure Myst Sect! With the fight between the Martial Grandmasters taking ce, Martial Grandmasters from both factions soared into the skies one after another to a height of a few thousand feet tall before breaking out into a battle. At that height, the fight between the Martial Grandmasters would not affect the Martial Masters and Martial Knight martial artists. Every single attack of a Nascent Soul possessed the might of heaven and earth and it was something that Martial Masters couldn''t defend against! As for Martial Masters, they left the ground and flew a hundred feet into the skies before they started fighting. Countless spirit arts and flying swords streaked and there were even Golden Core phenomenons! On the ground, Martial Knight martial artists collided intensely like two massive torrents! Demon Crow n did not have the advantage in numbers when it came to Martial Grandmasters and Martial Masters. However, they had multiple times the number of Martial Knight martial artists of Azure Myst Sect! The moment the fight began, Azure Myst Sect showed signs of defeat on the Martial Knight battlefield. In recent years, most of Azure Myst Sect''s paragons of the Martial Knight realm died in the battles, ambushes and schemes. The rest, like the old Sect Master, the High Elders and many others, obtained their own opportunities and left this world already. The remaining Martial Knight martial artists in the sect had no leader and the strongest among them was only at five meridian Martial Knight with a few others at four. As for the nine thousand odd Martial Knight martial artists on Demon Crow n''s side, there were two of them at six meridian Martial Knight and dozens at five! In the underworld of this scorched world, especially at the core regions where battles were plenty, six meridian Martial Knight martial artists weremon sight and only seven meridian Martial Knight martial artists could protect themselves. However, in the surface regions, the environment was not as favorable as the underworld and it was almost the limit for any martial artist to unlock six spirit meridians! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* The moment the battle began, Azure Myst Sect Martial Knight martial artists were already showing signs of defeat. There was nothing topensate for the difference in numbers and strength! The most eye-catching martial artist on the side of Azure Myst Sect was an outstanding young girl. This outstanding young girl was not old and her features were intricate with a straight nose bridge. Her eyes shimmered like diamonds but her hair was withered, yellowish-pale and messy without any luster. This young girl was none other than the same mysterious girl that was beside the sect master during the meeting! She was called Nora Zell. After training for less than two years, she was already at the peak of Martial Knight realm and had already unlocked her most treasured secret, an ancient bloodline! It was also because of Nora Zell''s presence that the Azure Myst Sect Martial Knight martial artists were not instantly overwhelmed and defeated. Controlling her sword with one hand, she wielded a saber in the other and charged into the Demon Crow n crowd, cleaving everything she could left and right. Initially, back when Nora Zell did not have any spirit qi in her body, she was already able to lift the Golden-Colored Silk Armor, which weighed a ton. It could be said that she had an innate godly strength. Now that she had entered the path of the martial world, her strength had grown even more and she was like a tiger who had obtained wings! Although she was only at the ranks of the Martial Knight realm, she could kill almost any Martial Knight realm warriors and even face-off against early stage Martial Masters! Swinging her saber widely, Nora Zell waspletely following Aiden''s previous style without anyplicated movements. She was overwhelming everything with brute force! "Pfft!" Unable to defend against her, a four meridian Martial Knight martial artist was cut into two. Gradually, the level five Martial Knight martial artists of the Demon Crow n surrounding Nora Zell increased and even two level six Martial Knight opponents had targeted her! "Let''s join forces and kill that girl first!" A level six Martial Knight martial artist yelled. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* At least 10 five meridian Martial Knight martial artists attacked Nora Zell at the same time. Two level six Martial Knight martial artists released their spirit arts and flying swords as well, unleashing a flurry of attacks at Nora Zell. Instantly, Nora Zell descended into danger! She had already charged into the depths of the Demon Crow n faction a long time ago and was far away from the Azure Myst Sect faction. Right now, she was like a helpless leaf floating in a raging sea. Chapter 866 866 - Resolve Nora Zell did not wish to die. She still had a lot to look forward to. She wanted to continue staying in Azure Myst Sect and meet the mysterious new girl her young mistress, Tai-Liu had just invited. She was said to be rted to that mysterious gray-robed man that caused the world to turn upside down that Aiden! However, she knew that in such a situation where everyone could barely fend for themselves, no one could save her. The only way she could survive was if she fought for herself! Against the attacks that came from all directions, Nora Zell shivered and channeled her inner mana with all her might. Gradually, her eyes turned into a mysterious shade of blue, akin to the color of the deep ocean! A terrifying aura exuded from within her. It was as though an ancient power had been awakened. "Ah!" Roaring into the skies, Nora Zell let out an ear-piercing shriek! Her initially wrinkly hair turned silky smooth, swaying on its own and giving off a bright luster. Although she had nothing beneath her feet, she rose slowly into the air and stood upright! It was like a godly being of the universe with a pair of azure blue eyes and golden dancing hair C her magnificence was outstanding and blinding! That scene did not cause much of a stir among the Martial Masters and Martial Grandmasters. No matter what, Nora Zell was just a Martial Knight martial artist. While the aura that she suddenly gave off was terrifying and even shuddering, it was not strong enough to threaten the Martial Masters. However, thousands of feet above the clouds, the expression of Demon Crow n''s Lord who was embroiled in a battle currently changed. "Hmm?" His gaze prated the voids andnded on Nora Zell. "Could it be" The n Lord''s eyes shimmered as if he had recalled something. On the battlefield, just as Nora Zell was about to be drowned by the countless spirit arts and weapons, a burst of energy shot forth from within her. Buzz! The spirit weapons that were arriving from all directions froze in midair. Even the spirit arts shook violently before dissipating. All the Martial Knight martial artists present were shocked when they saw that! A level three Martial Knight had managed to defend against the full-powered attacks of 10 level five Martial Knight martial artists and two level six Martial Knight martial artists! That scene had already surpassed everyone''s knowledge! It was a three-level gap right there! After a momentary pause, all the artifact weapons flew back in reverse and Nora Zell''s gaze gradually dimmed. She turned extremely weak and fell from midair, as though she had lost all her strength. "Caw, caw!" The sound of a younger-sounding bird echoed out as a green streak of light shot by, carrying Nora Zell before retreating at an even faster speed. The one that saved Nora Zell was none other than a swan, albeit much younger, and smaller than the one that had just emerged. "Hahahaha!" Right then, a series ofughter broke out from the horizons far away. "I''m Perfected Being Jorel Mort of Iridescent Clouds Pce. Greetings, Demon Crow n''s Lord!" "I''m Perfected Being Loa Jun of True Fire Sect, here to assist the mighty n Lord!" "I''m Perfected Being Lie John of Southern Mountains Sect came here to help the n Lord!" "I''m Perfected Being Hart Mors of Azure Frost Sect, here to help the n Lord kill that vicious old beast!" Four terrifying auras surged over and climbed thousands of feet into the clouds instantly, surrounding the old quasi-immortal swan. The Azure Myst Sect martial artists felt their hearts sink. The immortal crane was old and it did not have a clear advantage against Demon Crow n''s Lord. But now, there were four more Martial Grandmaster experts! Magical Artifacts shaped something like flying ships sped over from the horizon with murderous intent. Not long after, martial artists of the other four sects arrived! There were a full two hundred Martial Grandmasters and two thousand Martial Mastersbined from the other four sects! Together, there were more than ten thousand Martial Knight martial artists! The insertion of such a massive amount of power into the battlefield was almost a fatal blow for Azure Myst Sect! Initially, Azure Myst Sect was holding its ground on the Nascent Soul and Golden Core battlefields. But now, all four battlefields of Azure Myst Sect had fallen into an encirclement and could copse at any moment to be entirely annihted! Almost at the same time, a deafening bang sounded from a cave abode within Azure Myst Sect. A figure had broken out of seclusion! With the addition of the other four major sects, the situation of the battle changed. The old quasi-immortal swan was fighting one against five and spread its wings, causing gusts of wind to howl and the clouds to shift endlessly. Divine energy filled the skies as it roared in anger, fighting with its fullest strength. Although the old quasi-immortal swan was aged, it still had the remaining dominance as a pure-blooded ferocious bird. *Pshew!* *Pshew!* *Pshew!* It released a shocking demonic skill and tens of thousands of feathered wings shot forth from its body. Burning with scarlet mes, each feathered wing was like an apocalyptic spear. Shooting forward fiercely, they tore through the voids and left countless holes! "Let a Blood Curse Mirror be formed with my blood!" The Demon Crow n''s Lord bit his fingertip and flicked out a drop of fresh blood. Waving his bone staff, he guided that drop of blood and drew an obscure arc in midair. Chanting an incantation, he created a mirror of bloodied, scarlet water to swiftly form before him! The flurry of red feathered wings shot over and created blood waves as they collided against the surface of the mirror before their mes were extinguished. The other four Martial Grandmasters did not dare to be careless and defended with all their might. Instantly, divine powers surged and runes appeared, shaking the world as endless light burst forth. The void was illuminated and it seemed as though the firmaments were copsing. That demonic technique had expended almost all of the old quasi-immortal swan''s remaining life essence. Its gaze dimmed slightly, no longer as sharp as before. Not far away from Azure Myst Sect, an army of martial artists d in armor appeared in the void. All of them stood upright in midair wielding long spears, looking stoic. It was an army of Martial Masters! A carriage was escorted in the middle of the army. In front of the carriage stood two people, a man, and a woman. The middle-aged man wore yellow robes and frowned deeply. Looking at the great battle above the clouds, he shook his head and sighed. "Young Mistress, as you wish, I''ve brought you here. You can see for yourself now that it''s going to be tough for Azure Myst Sect and your mother to avoid this cmity." The man and woman were the old man from Ugburg City and her Young Mistress, Tai Liu. Tai Liu could not help but ask. "Uncle, why do you refuse to lend them a hand? Why are we hiding in the back when we clearly have more than one Martial Grandmaster to back us up!" The old man shook his head in silence. Tai Liu continued. "Furthermore, we also just recruited that girl that came with Aiden! ording to what we know, she also has some rather special powers and could even turn the tides of this war!" Those that are in the Martial Grandmaster realm gain the title of Perfected Being while those in the Quasy-Divine realm gain the title of Godly Beings. After a moment of silence, the emperor said softly, "Young Mistress, actually, your mother was the one who made the decision to not interfere." "Why?!" Tai Liu was in disbelief as she questioned. "What is she so scared of? Isn''t she also a Quasy-Divine being capable of fighting everyone?" "Hah" The old man gave a deep sigh. "If the Sect Masteres forth, he can naturally suppress the Demon Crow n''s Lord. However, the thing is that this guy''s background is extremely touchy. Once shees forward, it might bring those old bastards still hiding in the shadows to step into the light" "So what if theye forward? Weren''t they defeated by the ancient emperors of the primordial era all the same?" Tai Liu could not understand. As though he recalled something, a hint of fear flickered through the depths of the old man''s eyes as he shook his head. "The might of those mythical figures is far beyond what you can imagine!" "If we really anger those monsters, nothing can save us, even the entire North Region would experience a catastrophe!" "Back then, your mother''s master, the old ancestor witnessed and had been through a simr catastrophe personally" Pausing for a moment, the emperor did not continue on that topic. "Let''s hope that Aiden has already left Azure Myst Sect." Chapter 867 867 - Arrival On the other side, two outstanding women with voluptuous figures stood within the ancient forest. One of them was older but there were no signs of aging on her face. Instead, she gave off a mature and charming aura from head to toe. The other was dressed in a long pink dress and wore a veil, looking like she was a young girl. "Mother dearest, since that man hasn''t shown himself yet, I suppose he must have already left and is no longer or perhaps never was at the Azure Myst Sect," The girl in pink said with joy. The two of them were the previous and current Holy Maidens of the Pure Maidens Sect, the mother of the current one, Sia Dewa, and the Pure Maiden of the fiend sects, Sylvie Dewa. "That had better be the case. Given the circumstances, he would die for sure if he appeared!" Sia Dewa''s expression was unchanged. "The Demon Crow n''s Lord is someone who has surpassed the limits of mortality and became a quasi-divine being and is one of the strongest creatures on this world!" Let alone the patriarch of our sect, even those of the top, most powerful sects would be cautious and not want to provoke any of these monstrous beings." Sylvie Dewa shook her head. "That''s not for sure. I know of someone who definitely fears nothing." Pausing for a moment, Sylvie Dewa tugged at her mother''s sleeves and asked, "Mother Dearest, haven''t you sent the message yet? What did that senior say?" "What can he say?" Sylvie Dewa pouted her lips. "He is cold and merciless. When he heard my message, he didn''t even have any reaction mentally. Don''t pin your hopes on him." At Azure Myst Sect, the battle was intensifying. On the Martial Grandmaster battlefield, Sect Master Lian Liu was already at perfected Martial Grandmaster realm and was a step away from stepping through the limits of the mortal world. With her terrifyingbat strength, she fought at the front and held on bitterly. It was aplete defeat for the Martial Master and Martial Knight battlefields! Nora Zell was exhausted and frightfully pale. Lying on little bird, it was difficult for her to recover in a short period of time. The Martial Knight martial artists of the Demon Crow n and the other four major sects charged over like a relentless torrent, rushing at the Azure Myst Sect Martial Knight faction repeatedly. During this period of time, some of the smaller sects and itinerant martial artists of the surrounding areas seized the opportunity to take part in the battlefield, ready to take advantage of the situation as well. Without Nora Zell, the Azure Myst Sect Martial Knight martial artists were retreating repeatedly, leaving behind a trail of corpses. Blood flowed like a river and it was extremely tragic! The situation on the Martial Master battlefield was even more pressing! The Martial Masters of Azure Myst Sect were dying repeatedly. True Fire Sect''s Sezud Nida controlled four ming flying swords that streaked through the crowd endlessly, leaving streams of scorching sword force. "Where''s that little b*stard, Aiden? Are you still going to continue hiding?" Now that the oue was set, Sezud Nida roared inughter gleefully. Martial Master John Sharl controlled his flying sword and his long, narrow eyes shone with a cold glint. "The entire Azure Myst Sect will have to die together just for the sake of a Martial Knight martial artist, Aiden!" His remark caused the Azure Myst Sect faction which was already getting defeated steadily to turn even messier. "To hell with you!" The disheveled old man had a fiery temper and cursed. However, immediately after, his slight distraction caused him to suffer a gash on the wound from Martial Master John Sharl and blood flowed like a stream. "Fufu, open your eyes properly and take a look, old man!" Martial Master John Sharl pointed at the Martial Knight battlefield beneath their feet and sneered contemptuously. "Azure Myst Sect''s Martial Knight martial artists are almostpletely dead!" Following his gaze, the disheveled old man''s heart skipped a beat. On the ground, Nora Zell''s group of Martial Knights retreated step after step and were already at the base of the mountain. Of the initial two thousand Martial Knight martial artists, there were only a few hundred left battling bitterly right now. All of the disciples carried heavy injuries and panted heavily. It was clear that they were almost at their limits. *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* Right then, ten streaks of dark light shot forward from the back of the mountain, sending forth a shuddering impact. As the ten dark lights streaked through, a terrifying air current surged and smashed the tiles on the ground. The mud was overturned and ten long ravines were formed! Fast as lightning, a certain gray-robed martial artist surged over with murderous intent. Large, scaled and sharp boney-leathery draconic wings spread out from his back, hisrge, thick ebony ws reflected the vague afternoon light and exuded a torrential aura! The ten dark lights of aetheric energy arrived instantly and shot into the crowd viciously. *Poof!* *Poof!* *Poof!* shes of blood appeared. The ten dark beams of light were so strong that their momentums were still ferocious even after prating the bodies of more than ten martial artists. They seemed to be utterly unstoppable! The terrifying power of the dark lights even surged through some of the martial artists after passing through them, causing them to explode with their limbs flying everywhere! All the Azure Myst Sect martial artists witnessed the massive torrent formed by more than 20,000 Martial Knight martial artists stop just because of ten dark lights that were streaking through! Within the torrent, there were ten lines filled with countless corpses and endless blood! The martial artists of Demon Crow n, the other four major sects, and multiple small sects had swarmed over. Coupled with itinerant martial artists from all over the ce, they were way too densely packed. The ten dark lights were extremely lethal. There were at least a few hundred Martial Knight martial artists who died on the spot! With more than several tens of thousands of martial artists on the Demon Crow n''s faction, the few hundred dead Martial Knight martial artists could not be considered as a great amount of damage. However, it created a trauma within everyone''s hearts. "It''s him! It''s Aiden!" Someone with a keen eye eximed upon recognizing the identity of the gray-robed martial artist. "No wonder the dark lights were so terrifyingly lethal. Hurry, look! The bow in his hand is a perfect spirit weapon!" "Indeed!" Many Martial Knight martial artists were jealous and were raring to give it a shot. They had heard long ago that Aiden was the one who received the inheritance of the Sword Emperor as well as gained incredible benefits and opportunities from the Ancient One''s Pce! One couldn''t help but think about the storage bag hanging on his side and think that the lousiest weapons inside it had to be at least supreme-grade artifact weapons. In fact, he must even have possessed perfect artifact treasures! The rumors had to be true! "Hmm?" Many Martial Masters turned to look from the Martial Master battlefield. Only just a few short weeks of time, Aiden had made a name for himself and how could anyone not know or have not heard of the title of the number one powerhouse amongst the younger generation of the world? The best and strongest amongst the world''s paragons! True Fire Sect''s Sezud Nida''s eyes lit up as he roared inughter. Their sect was primarily focused on forging and enhancing artifact weapons. "Good, good! Aiden, you''ve got guts to appear! I''ll have you tell me all your secrets!" Martial Master John Sharl''s long, narrow eyes were locked on Aiden. Looking down from above, he sneered, "Aiden, so what if you managed to join the Azure Myst Sect? You still can''t escape death!" Aiden''s gaze was indifferent as he stood in midair and surveyed the surroundings. His gaze seemed to contain an enormous might that could overwhelm and overpower everything! The taunting words and jibes from those two old bastards have not even managed to elicit a flicker of emotions from him. To him, they were mere ants, scraping at the tiger''s paws in desperation. The Martial Knight martial artists on the side of Demon Crow n felt their hearts clench when they met with Aiden''s eyes. That person gave off a frightening aura. That was an aura that was built from endless bloodshed and countless corpses! In the ancient battlefield, even many paragons of the immortal, Buddhist, and fiend cultivation sects died in his hands. Since the strongest martial artists here were only at level six of the Martial Knight realm at best, none of them could withstand Aiden''s aura! When he saw the corpses of Azure Myst Sect disciples on the ground, Aiden''s killing intent spewed out of his eyes. His golden luster swiftly became fused with an eerily tinted scarlet. "Die!" Suddenly severalrge thick-ded weapons appeared around him floating and swirling around his figure after his emotional exmation. However, all of them disappeared in the blink of an eye, forming ripples in the void, as though fishes were gliding through water. "Not good!" "That''s one of the legendary skills of the Sword Emperor!" "Everyone, watch out! Argh!" Someone screamed tragically. Sword light shed and a few five meridian Martial Knight martial artists died on the spot without any chance to fight back at all! "Condense!" A level six Martial Knight martial artist crushed multiple protection talismans and released his sect''s secret skill. Right after, he took out a supreme-grade defensive shield and used it to block in front of him. Chapter 868 868 - The Roar Of The Dragon Returns! *ng!* *ng!* *ng!* The mighty sword sailed across the air with wild momentum and did not pause at all upon colliding with his supreme-graded artifact shield, causing thetter to explode immediately! *Poof!* *Poof!* *Poof!* Against Aiden''s sudden attack, the poor man''s secret skills and protection talismans were akin to paper and were disintegrated instantly. A sh of blood appeared and a gigantic head fell down neatly. A level six Martial Knight martial artist was dead! Just like that! The Demon Crow n faction was in utter chaos and the expressions of many martial artists changed. How could that be? They were both supreme-grade artifact weapons but why did the other party''s single sword strike destroy the shield immediately? Unless Many martial artists turned over instinctively. *Psst!* In mid-air, underneath Aiden''s gray robes, an unprecedented power began to surge. Wild energy fluctuated and swirled around their master, protecting it from harm, wrapping around his body like invisible metal chains. That energy gave off a unique energy It wasn''t of a Martial Knight anymore Yet it wasn''t simr to any other realm they had ever felt It gave off a unique never before seen dread! Was it a hallucination? Was he really beyond anything measurable by the world''s standards? Or was he just adept at masking it? Many martial artists rubbed their eyes and looked again before gasping. *Psst!* Still, they felt it to be of somewhat close to peak stage Martial Knights! Even rank eight Martial Knight martial artists would be able to barbarically suppress the entire Martial Knight battlefield, let alone a level nine Martial Knight martial artist! As Aiden stood in midair, his inner energy, his Soul Power churned rapidly and rich spiritual energy surged through his body. He was like a god of this world with a mighty aura! Many martial artists were aghast. The Martial Knight martial artists were not the only ones; even the Martial Masters and Martial Grandmasters were shocked when they saw what was going on. In the current martial world, it has been a hundred years since there was even a level eight Martial Knight martial artist. As for level nine Martial Knight Ever since the ancient era, there had never been a second person to reach that realm! Usually, people wouldn''t even dare attempt it and would straight up work on breaking through the major realms instead! "H-how?! How is this possible? What is this energy?!" A wary look shed through Martial Master John Sharl''s eyes followed by a feeling of trepidation. It was lucky that Azure Myst Sect was on the brink of annihtion and Aiden wouldn''t be able to escape death. Otherwise, if thatd were to grow further, who in the current martial world would be able to stop him? Together with that burly man from Holy Fire Ind, they are the top paragons and powerhouses of the younger generation already and now, he''s even at an unexpected, stage, the legendary level nine of the Martial Knight realm. His strength was already equal to that of Martial Masters before but now Once he fills up his inner core, he would definitely develop into a divine phenomenon as well! Sect Master Lian Liu sighed internally. Such was the cruelty of fate. They could only me the sect for being unlucky. If they had not met with such a cmity, talents like her daughter, Tai-Liu, Dara the newly joined disciple, and now, this gray-robed youngster, this Aiden would be able to proudly stand at the top of the world and pull their little sect along with them! For Aiden, his aplishments would even be more limitless. In fact, he might even be able to lead Azure Myst Sect to be one of the top factions of the world! s The Demon Crow n''s Lord narrowed his eyes and his killing intent deepened. His personal feud with this small sect aside, the fact that thisd was at such an extreme stage of the Martial Knight meant that he had to be killed! A seconding of the Sword Emperor must not be allowed to appear on the world! The countless supreme-grade swords that flew around the air and was controlled by Aiden suddenly streaked through the crowd and none of the Martial Knight martial artists could defend at all. It was aplete massacre! The massive flood formed by more than 20,000 Martial Knight martial artists was punctured and pushed back by Aiden singlehandedly! Everyone from Azure Myst Sect was reinvigorated. At that moment, Aiden pped his draconic wings and rose into the air. He was actually arriving at the Martial Master battlefield a hundred feet high! "Aiden, hurry back down!" The disheveled old man shouted hurriedly when he saw that. The fight between Martial Knight martial artists would only take ce on the ground and no one would soar into the skies a hundred feet high. Given the chaotic battlefield, the flying swords and mythical arts of Martial Masters carried an absolutely destructive power against Martial Knight martial artists! To everyone, Aiden''s move wasplete suicide. "Hahahaha!" Composing himself, Sezud Nida roared intoughter. "Even if you''re at such a unique stage as a Martial Knight, you''re still just a little Martial Knight warrior! Everything is futile before you fill your core and you''ll never ever be able to experience the power of being at Martial Master realm!" "It''s been a long time since I''ve experienced the feeling of murdering a talent" Martial Master John Sharl smiled gently and said coldly, "Aiden, thank you for granting me that feeling today!" *Swoosh!* Many Martial Knight martial artists and Martial Masters unleashed their attacks towards Aiden who was standing in midair. Instantly, hundreds and thousands of artifact weapons and arts swarmed forward; the void quaked and the entire world dimmed instantly! The Martial Masters of Azure Myst Sect were disadvantaged in numbers after all. By this point of the battle, the core disciples and the others were thoroughly exhausted and he could not even conjure a sword formation. Embroiled in battle with hundreds of Martial Masters the others could not pull themselves out to assist Aiden at all. Furthermore, even if they could, all of them would most likely die against such intense and terrifying attacks! All of a sudden! Aiden''s ck hair swayed without any wind and his eyes shone with a deep glint. Suddenly, a shuddering aura burst forth from within his body! It was an ancient and vicissitude aura that was awakened. When the artifact weapons and arts arrived in Aiden''s vicinity, they slowed down as though they had entered a murky swamp until finally, they could not advance at all! Stopped! All of them stopped! Just like that! The flurry of artifact weapons that shone resplendently as well as the shimmering spirit arts hovered in midair motionlessly. "Hmm?" Many martial artists were shocked. How could that be? The next moment, an even more shocking scene appeared that caused chills to run down everyone''s hearts! An extremely long illusory figure of a living creature appeared around Aiden, hovering in midair. Gradually, it materialized as flesh started forming! The living being was filled with golden scales that shimmered coldly. One after another, sharp spikes protruded from its back and its fangs and ws were extremely sharp while its horns stood proudly. Its eyes were extremely cold and domineering! "W-W-What''s going on?" "I-Is that a T-True Dragon?!" Against the gaze of an Ancient Dragon, everyone felt like they were as insignificant as ants! The Martial Knight martial artists on the ground broke out in a sweat and suffocated. Unable to withstand that sort of might, they shuddered and almost knelt on the ground to kowtow. Even the Martial Masters in midair were stricken and frightfully pale. "What is that?!" The six Martial Grandmasters above the clouds were shocked. The Ancient Dragonification Manual was a secret skill unknown to the world after all. Ever since the ancient era, Aiden was the second person to learn and train it sessfully and by now, almost no one recognized that secret skill. Even the gaze of Demon Crow n''s Lord was a little lost. That Ancient Dragon looked familiar but it was much smaller, like a young dragon. Even so, the n Master felt a sense of trepidation as he recalled that terrifying encounter back in the primordial ruins and a hint of fear shed past his eyes. *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* A series of ear-piercing shrieks rang. Against the immense pressure, cracks started appearing on the countless artifact weapons that were initially hovering in midair. Suddenly, they shattered, scattering onto the ground like scrap metal! Only superior and supreme-grade artifact weapons were able to remain intact! Countless spirit arts dissipated as well. The crowd was in an uproar. How terrifying did his power have to be, such that artifact weapons couldn''t endure it and shattered on the spot?! The Ancient Dragon was life-like with intact flesh and coiled around Aiden''s body, spiraling upwards like a variant beast that was guarding him. As Aiden surveyed his surroundings, the gaze of the Ancient Dragon above him shifted as well; the man and dragon moved in tandem! Nobody dared to meet with their gazes at all! Aiden''s golden eyes were like lightning and he suddenly took a deep breath, puffing his chest. The Ancient Dragon coiling around him following his actions and took a deep breath as well and its body expanded extensively. Raising its chest, a tremendous air current surged and formed a series of cyclones in midair. There was a slight pause. Both of them opened their mouths and let out a deafening roar that could break metal and rocks! "Roar!" Aiden was also letting off a dragon roar! In that instant, the entire world shook and the weather changed! *Poof!* *Poof!* *Poof!* The Martial Knight martial artists closest to Aiden were unable to defend and their bodies ruptured, turning into blood mists without corpses! He was roared to death! The Martial Knight martial artists that were slightly further also bled from all seven orifices. Their gazes dimmed and they copsed on the ground, dead. Chapter 869 869 - Dark Thoughts Right away, thousands of Martial Knight martial artists died! After releasing the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual his mere roar caused such an outburst of power that he instantly created an iparably lethal impact! There was no way Martial Knight martial artists could endure it as they were shocked to death on the spot! After the dragon roar, silence ensued. Corpses were strewn all over the Martial Knight battlefield as their blood formed rivers; it was like a scene from Hell. That single dragon roar crushed the hearts of many Martial Knight martial artists present! The martial artists that wanted to take advantage of the situation initially fled far away, not daring to turn back. Although there were still more than thousands upon thousands of Martial Knight realm martial artists from the Demon Crow n as well as the other major sects that havee in hopes of gaining some benefits, none of them dared to advance and retreated instinctively. Everyone was trying their best to keep their distance from Aiden and they shivered with fear in their eyes! He killed thousands of Martial Knight martial artists with a single roar! Even the Martial Masters and Martial Grandmasters present had never witnessed such methods, let alone the Martial Knight martial artists present. The dragon''s roar even caused some of the Martial Masters that were facing Aiden directly to clutch their ears in pain. Their bodies swayed and they nearly fell from midair! With a murderous intent, Aiden red at Martial Master John Sharl and said coldly. "You guys actually think you can kill me with your standards?" "Go!" Aiden pointed forward. The Ancient Dragon''s figure coiling around him soared into the air and let out a torrential aura. Baring its fangs and ws, it rammed three Martial Masters that stood at the front instantly, crushing their bodies entirely! The Three Martial Masters were dead just like that! Furthermore, they died in the hands of a Martial Knight martial artist! In the martial world, it was still rathermon for martial artists to kill enemies that were minor realms above their levels. However, it was almost impossible for them to do that to enemies who were major realms above their levels. But right now, everyone witnessed it with their very eyes. At his unique power stage of the so calledst stage of the Martial Knight realm together with the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual, Aiden now possessed the capabilities to easily kill off Martial Masters! He didn''t even need to unleash his chained down potential in the depths of his soul for it and risk his life anymore! Another few Martial Masters attacked and released powerful spirit arts, conjuring pairs of heavenly-epassing palms that wanted to grab the young Ancient Dragon. "Roar!" The Ancient Dragon''s body shone brightly and it roared. Charging before the few of them, it opened its gigantic mouth and devoured them. It took a couple of chomps and blood streamed down from the side of its mouth! "Evil dragon, how dare you act so brazenly!" Dozens of Martial Masters attacked at the same time. Their terrifying spirit energies created a series of chains that restricted the Ancient Dragon. The Ancient Dragon struggled and its body let out shocking strength, crushing the spirit energy chains of the Martial Masters. When it soared into the skies once more, it charged in front of Martial Master John Sharl. "Bang!" Martial Master John Sharl was expressionless and the sky spread out behind him. Filled with resplendent light, it was bedazzling and shot forth countless spirit lights with an rming aura! It was a unique skill, his personal trump card he had painstakingly trained for countless years and even decades! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* The Ancient Dragon charged at Martial Master John Sharl''s Martial Master phenomenon repeatedly, letting out shuddering echoes. A momentter, the Ancient Dragon dissipated alongside Martial Master John Sharl''s Martial Master phenomenon! The crowd was shocked. A secret skill released by a Martial Knight martial artist was able to go against a Martial Master phenomenon! If Aiden was at Martial Master realm, that Ancient Dragon would be even more terrifying and could very likely devour Martial Master John Sharl in a single mouthful! Martial Master John Sharl broke out in cold sweat. He was at theter stage of the Martial Master realm and yet, even after releasing his full power, he merely matched a single secret skill released by Aiden! The difference between the two of them should have been vast! It should be almost an entire major realm! One should be at theter stages of the Martial Master ranks, whilst the other would just be a little greenhorn that has just dipped his toes into the ranks of the Martial Knight boys! And yet, the reality was different! In the past, Martial Master John Sharl trained to level six of the Martial Knight realm before he began the process of filling up his Power Core and pushing into the Martial Masters. He managed to seed after a couple of years of arduous effort. At that point, he felt that his potential was not inferior to others, and at the very least, he was among one of the top few Martial Masters within his own sect, if not of the entire continent! But right now, in front of Aiden, all his achievements dimmed inparison. He started to regret his hasty decision from back then and that he failed to recognize the potential of pushing one''s limits even further beyond! Right now, the only way out for him was to use everything he had to try and kill Aiden! "He must not be allowed to continue to grow!" That was the only thought remaining in Martial Master John Sharl''s mind. Suddenly, True Fire Sect''s Sezud Nida raised his voice. "This young brat has just released his secret skill and it must have taken a toll on his internal energy. He won''t be able to release it a second time." Another old, bearded Martial Master yelled. "That''s right. Everyone, don''t panic. There''s nothing to fear about thisd!" Before that person couldplete his sentence, his vision turned dark, as though an enormous mountain was shrouding over his head, covering the skies. With a frightening aura, it suddenly copsed! More than ten Martial Masters stood beneath the mountain and they attacked one after another, wanting to destroy that mountain peak. *ng!* *ng!* *ng!* One after another, the artifact weapons were repelled. Countless spirit arts shed against the mountain peak and let out ringing sounds. Yet, they were still unable to slow the speed of its crash! The Martial Masters were frightfully pale as they tried to flee hurriedly. However, it was a pity that it was toote by then. *Boom!* A deafening noise echoed. The void shook endlessly. On the spot, more than ten Martial Masters were crushed and turned into meat sludge, seeping into the mud beneath, and could not be differentiated. "That is" "A supreme artifact treasure!" "He actually has a supreme artifact treasure!" A series of exmations sounded and everyone''s gazesnded on that shining golden seal. That gigantic seal was squarish and golden with a divine dragon etched onto it in a life-like manner C that was the Coiling Dragon Seal that Aiden obtained in the Ancient One''s Pce! Aiden beckoned gently and the Coiling Dragon Seal shrank, returning to his palm. Martial Master John Sharl, Sezud Nida, and all the other Martial Masters were red with envy. They red at the small golden seal in Sezud Nida''s palm and their breathings got heavier. After entering Martial Grandmaster realm, martial artists would be able to make use of these unique treasures transcending the mortal ne. In other words, for Martial Masters, supreme artifact treasures were the best weapons they could make use of! Theirbat strength would double at the very least if they had a supreme artifact treasure and it would be extremely easy for them to kill enemies above their levels! However, supreme artifact treasures were way too rare and nobody ever sold those in the free market. In the territory of Great Zhou, treasures such as supreme artifact treasures had not appeared for hundreds of years! "Seems like you''ve benefited plenty in that pce, brat!" Martial Master John Sharl said coldly, "That''s good as well. I''ll wait to get my hands on your treasures and secret skills after killing you!" "The treasures are right in my hands. We''ll just have to see if you''ve got the life to use them!" Aiden sneered and propped up the Coiling Dragon Seal with his left hand. It shone with a bright golden-yellowish light in a bedazzling manner, as though he was carrying a zing sun! He swiped his storage bag with his right hand and a gigantic blood-colored saber appeared in his palm. Its de quivered and five blood patterns shone. A blood beam expanded followed by the spreading of a nauseating stench of blood C it was the perfect spirit weapon, Blood Quencher! "Old bastard, prepare to die!" Chapter 870 870 - Dead Bodies, Flying Heads Aiden''s gaze burned like a torch and he yelled. Propping the seal with his left hand while wielding his saber with his right, he strode widely towards Martial Master John Sharl with a murderous aura. In the face of hundreds of Martial Masters, Aiden was advancing instead of retreating! Zorun Kai and the others exchanged nces as they charged forward together with invigorated expressions, trying to relieve as much of Aiden''s burden as possible. "You must have a death wish!" A Southern Mountains Sect martial artist wielded a long rod and burst forth with his internal energy, aiming for Aiden''s head. *Ssh!* Aiden channeled his bloodline and the sound of a gushing tide echoed. **Swoosh!** He did not even look at the iing rod and shed in reverse, meeting the attack with another attack as he released his iparable Countercurrent stance! The pupils of the Southern Mountains Sect martial artist constricted and his heart skipped a beat in shock. His motions slowed down for a moment due to the effect on his mental state by the saber force. "Pfft!" shes of blood appeared. That man was cut into two from the middle and his organs and intestines spilled out, giving off a nauseating stench. *Pshew!* A streak of light burst through the void and arrived instantly. Without turning to look, Aiden raised his gigantic seal and repelled the iing flying sword. At the same time, he shuddered and slowed down. Although Zorun Kai and the others held back a portion of the Martial Masters, there were still more than a hundred Martial Masters who attacked Aiden at the same time, causing swords, spirit arts and talismans to fill the skies with resplendent lights! *ng!* *ng!* *ng!* Spinning the gigantic seal with his left hand, Aiden released the Void Splitting Manual with his hands and took on the iing swords and spirit arts. *Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!* He retreated repeatedly and his organs were immensely shaken, almost shifted out of position even! "Pfft!" Aiden spat out a huge mouthful of blood. Sezud Nida roared inughter. "Aiden, you''re nothing without that secret skill from earlier!" "Hahaha!" Martial Master John Sharl sneered, "Even if you can kill early or mid-stage Martial Masters with your supreme artifact treasure, you are still a Martial Knight martial artist after all. There''s no way you can withstand the might ofte-stage or perfected Martial Masters!" "You really think you can kill me with those pathetic skills of yours?" Martial Master John Sharl continuedughing coldly. Aiden was unmoved. Martial Master John Sharl was not wrong. Even if he was at such an astounding stage at the Martial Knight realm and had the support of the Coiling Dragon Seal, in terms of strength, he could only match against mid-stage Martial Masters at best and he wouldn''t be able to deal with those atte-stage. In that previous attack, a few perfected Martial Masters had attacked and Aiden was injured on the spot, unable to endure it. However, Aiden was far from ordinary. His true power didn''t rely on merely being a Martial Artist, but instead, on his unique heritage and origin. Even without taking on his true draconic form, Aiden''s physique and bloodline was still enough to crush all other martial artists of the same realm! Even perfected Martial Masters would not be able to escape death if Aiden closed in on them. He was invincible in meleebat! If anyone else had received the injuries he took, it would definitely affect theirbat strength. However, Aiden''s physique was way too strong and his regeneration capabilities were shocking. After consuming that old mixture made of dragon flesh in the Ancient One''s Pce, he attained greater mastery of his inherent ancient draconic form and was only a step away from condensing in from a dragonkin into that of a true dragon. Within a couple of breaths, Aiden''s injuries were already mostly recovered. "AHAHAHAHA!" Smiling, he stood up and his tendons and bones sounded at the same time. Not only did his aura not drop after getting injured, it was even getting stronger and the glint in his eyes intensified C he was like an ancient creature that wanted to devour people! The battle on the Martial Knight battlefield had already stopped. The Martial Knight martial artists of Blood Crow Pce and the other four major sects were scared out of their wits by Aiden''s methods and did not dare to advance. *ng!* *ng!* Aiden beckoned gently and the dozens of floating, swirling des that were streaking around the Martial Knight battlefield returned to him, hovering above his head and buzzing loudly. "Ancient Dragons Annihting formation! Unleash!" Right after, the 18 flying swords gathered together with their tips pointing outwards in unison, forming a gigantic sword-shaped circr disk. 18 rays of sword qi were released like a zing sun and was extremely dazzling! "Kill!" Propping the seal with his left hand, Aiden held his saber with his right and pped his spirit wings, charging forward with the Ancient Dragons Annihting formation above him. *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* *Swoosh!* Flying swords tore through the air one after another, sharp and dense as raindrops. Mystical arts exploded, covering the skies as they arrived. Aiden was calm and seemedposed. His speed, as well as his agility was enhanced far beyond the mortal realm already. His speed was unprecedented and unpredictable. At times, he would be light as a feather and at others, he would be swift as lightning C no one could read him at all. Shifting nimbly in the air, his tendons and bones constricted and expanded, allowing him to shock everyone by producing motions that were far from ordinary! Like anacondas, snakes, apes and horses, Aiden keeps closing in on the distance between him and the Martial Masters. "You " Thete-stage Martial Master looked at Aiden who was charging at him and his eyes were widened in disbelief. Was that even a human? He could not imagine how a human could contort their bodies to that extent and dodge such an intense flurry of attacks while rushing over without any injury! He no longer had the chance to think about it anymore. *Swoosh!* Aiden raised his saber instantly! An azure stream of energy burst forth. Upon his single swing, Aiden''s Soul Power energy grew much richer and he could not release sword forces in session. That Martial Master was shocked and found himself having difficulty breathing, as though a surging wave was rushing at him. Thunder sounded inside his ears and the tide arrived almost instantly. "Go!" This man was ate-stage Martial Master after all andposed himself swiftly. Maneuvering his flying sword above his head, he circted his Martial Master and spirit energy gushed out! No matter what, the strength of ate-stage Martial Master was not something a Martial Knight martial artist could handle! As long as he could withstand a move or two till the attacks of the others arrived, his enemy would naturally be trapped. Aiden smiled faintly with a hint of ridicule in his eyes. To him, the way the Martial Master changed tactics was full of ws. Aiden''s seemingly unstoppable saber suddenly stopped and was only an inch away from the man''s flying sword. *Swash!* Swinging his wrist, the angle of his sh changed. Suddenly, the massive de of Rygintarth turned extremely flexible, like ripples on the surface of water. It wrapped around the flying sword and sliced the person''s throat gently. Right after that insane toughness, it turned extremely flexible. There was no sluggishness at all and the process was smooth as water! That person''s eyes dimmed and a gash appeared on his throat. The next moment, his head was lopped into the air as blood gushed out in a terrifying manner like a fountain! Meleebat was the most dangerous and one would be dead with a single misstep! Aiden had been through countless battles in his cultivation journey and he was extremely experienced. While the strength ofte-stage and perfected Martial Masters was strong and could even injure or threaten his life, even the physique of a perfected Martial Master could not match up to him! That was an advatage he had that could make up for his inferior strength. As long as he closed the distance between them, even perfected Martial Masters could not escape death! That was the logic in that statement. After killing someone, Aiden did not have to pause at all as he used the Ancient Dragons Annihiliating formation and Coiling Dragon Seal to smash against some iing flying swords and spirit arts from early and mid-stage Martial Masters. At the same time, he dodged the attacks ofte-stage and perfected Martial Masters, fleeing away to kill at the other side. A Martial Master could not react in time and was closed in by Aiden who raised his Coiling Dragon Seal to smash down on the former''s head violently! "Pfft!" The person''s head was smashed and his entire body ripped into pieces with fresh blood flowing everywhere. He died on the spot. Chapter 871 871 - Someone Unexpected Swerving within the crowd, Aiden did not bother to fight againstte-stage and perfected Martial Masters forcibly at all. The moment he missed an attack, he would retreat instantly without lingering. Even when dozens of Martial Masters attacked at the same time, they could not keep Aiden in a single spot. A momentter, Aiden was only filled with a couple more superficial wounds that healed within the blink of an eye. However, more than ten Martial Masters on the side of Blood Crow Pce had already died! Everyone was getting more fearful. This man, this boy with his mysterious origin was way too frightening! He already possessed the capability to kill Martial Masters without even filling up his own core and stepping into the same realm himself. Furthermore, he was battling dozens of Martial Masters, and yet, instead of being disadvantaged, he was slowly controlling the situation! This man looked to be in his twenties C how did he possess such terrifyingbat talent? "Kill!" Seizing an opportunity, Aiden took a few strides forward and arrived before Sezud Nida. Lifting his Coiling Dragon Seal, he smashed it down at thetter''s head! The Coiling Dragon Seal shone with a bright golden light and let out a thunderous bang as itnded. *Boom!* The sealnded with a frightening aura! Suddenly, a vicious glint shone in Sezud Nida''s eyes as he said icily. "I''ve been waiting for you for a long time!" *Swoosh!* Sezud Nida circted his Martial Master realm power to its limits ready to unleash his killing move. Searing mes burned more than a hundred feet tall, letting out a scorching heat. Swiftly, he engulfed Aiden with a zing momentum! It was his own secret skill! The reason why Sezud Nida endured till this point was because he wanted to kill Aiden thoroughly with this one chance, this one final attack! However, Aiden did not avoid nor dodge as his bloodline raced. He pushed down his blinding Coiling Dragon Seal violently like it was a zing sun! "You must have a death wish!" Sezud Nida roared and the strength behind his attack intensified. *Boom!* The Coiling Dragon Seal collided against the power of the killing move and a deafening bang was produced as their powers ran rampant! The instant of the collision, the momentum of the mes was actually repressed by the Coiling Dragon Seal! Since he was extremely close to the sea of mes, Aiden could only grit his teeth and endure the iing ze. He channeled his bloodline and spirit energy to fight against it repeatedly. Both sides exerted their strength! The Coiling Dragon Seal was less than an inch away from Sezud Nida''s head but it could not go down further due to the obstruction of the Martial Master phenomenon. A momentter, a gigantic me burned over, engulfing Aiden''s armpletely. The fire sizzled, scorching everything in its wake. In an instant, Aiden''s arm was charred and his flesh ripped apart in a terrifying manner! Sighing internally, Aiden withdrew himself and retreated. It was no wonder why true Martial Masters were feared and even Martial Grandmasters would not easily engage inbat with them despite the difference in realms. Even with his supreme artifact treasures as well as his own life essence, Aiden could not manage to break through the defenses of the brutal, hellish attack. Swiftly, Aiden avoided the attacks of many Martial Masters and escaped. His arm was still burning with fire and his flesh was already in a bloodied mess! There was no way to purge this hellish fire, this infernal me except for extreme means! "Haha!" Sezud Nidaughed loudly. "Little bastard, your arm is already crippled for good!" "Huh? Oh not necessarily" Aiden harrumphed coldly and took a deep breath of air. The Soul Power in his Primal Core roared and his bloodline surged, cruising through his limbs towards his injured arm. *ck!* The mes extinguished and smoke billowed. "Hmm?" The martial artists watched with widened eyes. The next moment, something even more frightening happened! The charred ck flesh on Aiden''s arm fell off gradually and fresh, tender meat started growing with a shiny luster! "There''s no chance left" The hooded mature woman shook her head in the distance. "Since that burly man didn''te, it''s over for Nether Peak Sect." "Aunt, what other way is there to save hi them?" Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa frowned deeply. "I''m atte-stage Martial Master realm and even if I step in, the most I can do is help stabilize the Martial Master battlefield. However, the old beast of Nether Peak Sect up above the clouds can no longer hold on," The elderly woman replied regrettably, "It''s a pity that as the second person in history to reach such an astounding power level whilst still in the Martial Knight realm, that young man is about to die without the chance to grow further." Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa''s eyes dimmed. The mature woman sighed seeing her little girl''s reaction. "The impression left on the martial world by that catastrophe 10,000 years ago is way too deep. No martial artist or sect is willing to make an enemy as strong as the primordial races just for the sake of Nether Peak Sect!" Beneath Nether Peak Sect, blood flowed in rivers and the corpses were stacked like mountains. On the Martial Master battlefield, Aiden made use of his strong physique and terrifying movement techniques to sustain in the fights continuously, ensuring that they did not lose. However, Nether Peak Sect was alreadypletely defeated on the Martial Grandmaster battlefield! There were more than a hundred Martial Grandmasters but more than half of them had already died. The remaining Martial Grandmasters were wounded and could only struggle to defend while being steadily defeated. It was only a matter of time before Nether Peak Sect was annihted! The situation of the old divine swan above the clouds was even worse! To begin with, the old divine swan did not have long to live. Unless she progressed in her martial realm and broke her chains of mortality, she would have only held on for a few dozen more years even without this cmity. Although her true form was of a divine beast, a pure-blooded ferocious bird, she was already old and herbat strength was not even half of when she was at her peak. Of the five Quasi-Divine powerhouses that were fighting in the battle, one of them was even from the primordial races. By this point of the battle, the old divine swan was already at the end of her road. Wounded all over, her gaze was dimmed and her feathers shed endlessly; even the mes on her body were starting to extinguish. Blood Crow Pce''s Lord waved his bone staff and shot forth an extremely evil blood arrow. "Pfft!" The old divine swan was unable to dodge in time and an additional bloodied hole the size of an arm appeared on her wings. A sizzling sound was produced from the wound and it ate at her flesh nearby. Oozing with thick blood, the smell was pungent as the old divine swan grunted. Immediately after, the attacks of the remaining four Void Reversionsnded on the old divine swan. *Poof!* *Poof!* Two more wounds appeared on her body and blood gushed like a stream. The old divine swan''s body almost exploded and one of her legs was snapped. It was a tragic sight as she swayed, about to fall. The old divine swan had protected Nether Peak Sect for thousands of years ever since the Founder Master passed away. She had truly given it her all and fought to the veryst moment without backing off! Everyone from Nether Peak Sect was heartbroken when they saw that. "Senior swan!" Sect Master Ling Yun eximed miserably. The oue was decided. The moment the old divine swan falls, all the other Nether Peak Sect martial artists would be akin to fish on a chopping board, helpless to being ughtered. "Fufufufu!" Blood Crow Pce''s Lord sneered. "Old beast, I''ve already told you. Today, I''m going to massacre Nether Peak Sect from top down, leaving no one alive!" "Leaving no one alive?" Suddenly, another voice could be heard from above the clouds. It was deep and a little hoarse. Although it wasn''t loud, it reverberated through everyone''s ears! Who would dare appear at a moment as such? All the martial artists looked over instinctively. From the horizon, a man in ck robes strode over in an unhurried manner. Initially, it was just a blurry figure. However, he arrived in the blink of an eye! Everyone on the battlefield was surprised. That person walked extremely slowly as though he was taking a leisure stroll. However, by arriving instantly, he created a strong visual impact! Now that he was so close, everyone could finally see clearly. He had long shoulder-length ck hair that fell freely like a waterfall. His face was extremely sharp and angled and he possessed a frosty expression, emitting an aura that was equally cold. For some reason, after the ck-robed man appeared, everyone on the ck-robed man, including the five Void Reversions above the clouds, felt a sense of trepidation! Chapter 872 872 - Little One For some reason, after the ck-robed man appeared, everyone upon seeing the ck-robed man, including the five Quasi Divines above the clouds, felt a sense of trepidation! There was no reason behind it. They merely felt an instinctual fear, dread, and trepidation upon seeing that man! Be it the Martial Master, Martial Grandmaster, or the Quasi-Divine battlefield, all the martial artists stopped what they were doing and looked over instinctively. "So in the end You came" The old divine swan had a conflicted expression and sighed gently when she saw who it was. It was clear from the old divine swan''s tone that she knew the person. Everyone from Azure Myst Sect, Sect Master Ling Yun included, were in a daze. "It''s him!" Suddenly, among the dozens of Azure Myst Sect Martial Grandmasters left, an old man who was clearly at the end of his life eximed, ring at the ck-robed man with his cloudy eyes. "H-He''s back!" The Martial Grandmaster old man shivered emotionally. "Little One, you''ve still got three years left of your lifespan" Shifting his gaze, the ck-robed man looked at the Martial Grandmaster old man and said calmly. Little One? Aiden and the other martial artists of the younger generation were confused. However, Sect Master Ling Yun, Zorun Kai, and the others shuddered. The name of that Martial Grandmaster was Ning Yi and apart from the old divine swan, he was the oldest Grand Elder of Azure Myst Sect with a lifespan of over 1,000 years! Martial Masters had lifespans of 500 years. Martial Grandmasters had lifespans of 1,000 years. Quasi Divines had lifespans of 5,000 years. Almost all the martial artists in the generation of that Martial Grandmaster old man had died of old age, leaving him. If the ck-robed man before them addressed the Grand Elder, the divine swan as ''Little One'', didn''t that mean that he was even older than thetter?! The ck-robed man should have been someone from more than 1,000 years ago and that was why the generations from Ling Yun onwards did not recognize him. Ling Yun''s heart skipped a beat when he saw the reaction of the old divine swan and Grand Elder Nian Liu, as though he recalled something. "Could it be him?" Zorun Kai and the other Martial Masters gasped, exchanging nces. They had already guessed it. Outside Azure Myst Sect. In the distance, the hooded girl, Tai Liu looked at the neer with a confused expression and turned to ask. "Uncle, who is that? He seems to have some sort of a rtionship with Azure Myst Sect and is rather formidable." "I don''t recognize him," The old man shook his head. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat as he thought of someone. Someone that he had never seen before but had heard of from the legends! The emperor murmured. "Perhaps he should be the only one who would care nothing about the primordial races." On the other side. Holy Maiden Slyvie Dewa and her aunt heaved sighs of relief when they saw the ck-robed man appear. pping, Holy Maiden Slyvie Dewaughed. "Hehe, this senior still chose to appear!" The mature woman said, "With him, there''s nothing to worry about for the Quasi Divine battlefield. If I step in to stabilize the Martial Grandmaster battlefield, they should be able to tide through this cmity." "I won''t be heading over since they are watching from the other side." Holy Maiden Slyvie Dewa blinked and nodded towards the far end of the battlefield. The mysterious auntie also nodded and took out a mask from her storage bag. Wearing it on her face, she turned into another person and headed to the battlefield. "Hmm?" Far in the depths of the Draconic Skink city of Ugburg, an old man sensed something and suddenly opened his eyes. A bright light shone from his be and a small ball of light the size of his palm flew out, glowing with radiance. A mysterious energy fluctuation spread forth from the radiant little man. His spirit consciousness was spreading. A momentter, the radiant little globe returned to the old man''s be and vanished without a trace. Letting out a long breath, the old man murmured softly to himself in the darkness. "To think that he would have returned at a time like this. There''s no wonder why he was the number one paragon of the world back then. After not seeing him for over a hundred years, he has already cultivated to that point. He really is qualified to be the next one." The skies above Azure Myst Sect. The ck-robed man surveyed the surroundings. When he saw the corpses strewn all over, his expression did not change and he merelymented indifferently, "It''s truly been a long time since it was so crowded at Azure Myst Sect." When they heard that, Zorun Kai and the others were even more certain about this man''s identity. Aiden frowned. No matter how he looked at it, the ck-robed man seemed like he had a deep connection with Azure Myst Sect, as though he was a martial artist from the past! However, Aiden could not sense any bit of emotionsing from that man. He had no reaction even after seeing Azure Myst Sect martial artists dead all over the ce with their corpses forming mountains. Indifferent, cold-blooded, and heartless. That was the first impression the ck-robed man gave Aiden. Many, many years ago. Suddenly, a thought shed through his mind as he recalled a person. The first time he heard about that person was through the disheveled old man. Thereafter, he heard his benefactor, Tai Liu mention a little about him back in Ugburg City''s base. This was the owner of the Mystic Gold Silk Armor! Someone who was invincible across the Martial Knight and Martial Master realms in the North Region of Tianhuang Maind in the past! When this person joined Azure Myst Sect, his method of dispelling the Eight Distresses Formation was by killing everyone! Because he was cold, heartless, and extreme in his ways, the moment he showed signs of turning into a fiend, he was locked in Thunderp Valley to reflect in seclusion. This was also the same person who found the Void Thunder Manual in the ancient battlefield and ced it inside the Mystic Gold Silk Armor to await someone with affinity! Later on, this man descended into the Dao of the fiend and betrayed the sect! He was the terrifying expert from 1,000 years ago! Now, he has returned! The five Quasi Divine experts above the clouds, Blood Crow Pce''s Lord included, had grim expressions and were sizing up the ck-robed man the entire time. Each of them felt danger exuding from that man. A momentter, Sect Master Jing Ming of Rainbow Clouds Sect narrowed his gaze and asked with cupped fists. "Mysterious friend, may I know what is your name and what sect you are from? Also, why are you interfering in this matter?" The ck-robed man shifted his gaze towards the old man before saying slowly. "Do you think someone like you is worthy to know my name?" Before his words were finished, the ck-robed man''s be shone brightly and a blood beam shot forward! A terrifying aura burst forth. Blood Crow Pce''s Lord and everyone else were shocked as they scurried to retreat. *Poof!* Immediately after, right in front of everyone, Sect Master Jing Ming''s head exploded as though it was a watermelon. He died on the spot and his Life Essence didn''t even get the chance to escape! He was dead! A Quasi Divine expert, a being standing at the top of the world died just like that! A dead silence crept through the air above and beneath Azure Myst Sect. This was a truly savage man who was decisive to kill! The ck-robed man was emotionless after killing a Quasi Divine as he turned towards the other four expressionlessly with a gaze cold as ice. The death of Sect Master Jing Ming frightened the other four Quasi Divines and their hairs stood on end. The expression of Blood Crow Pce''s Lord turned extremely terrible as he red at the ck-robed man. His gaze was dark with a faint green light. It was extremely difficult for one to die once they were at Quasi Divine realm. Although Martial Grandmasters could already train, end consciously harden thier Life Essences, their Life Essences, or ''Essence Souls'' had impurities and were in turbid states, causing them to be extremely fragile. Without any protection, upon leaving their physical bodies, their Essence Souls would be akin to babies situated in forests and could die at any moment! A strong gust of wind, an exposure to the zing sun or even any slight activity could injure the Essence Soul. If they met with any misfortunes, their Essence Souls would be destroyed instantly! The death of one''s Essence Soul was the true meaning of death whereby it would be useless even if their physical bodies remained intact. However, it was different at Quasi Divine realm. Byprehending the heaven and earth and making use of the divine methods to visualize the Essence Soul, Martial Grandmasters could cultivate their Essence Souls continuously to remove the impurities within it. Eventually, after obtaining some minor sess in realizing a Purer Spirit, they would -in theory- be able to enter the Quasi Divine realm! That was the meaning of the saying ''Cultivating one''s spirit to return to the void'' in the cultivation world. At Quasi Divine realm, one''s Essence Soul would resemble the physical body of the martial artist. wless without impurities, they do not fear the scorching sun, heavy rains or misfortunes. They would truly be able to break out of the restraints of one''s body and roam the world, traveling everywhere! Chapter 873 873 - A World Beyond This One At Quasi Divine realm, one''s Essence Soul would resemble the physical body of the martial artist. wless without impurities, they do not fear the scorching sun, heavy rains, or misfortunes. They would truly be able to break out of the restraints of one''s body and roam the world, traveling everywhere! At that point of the Essence Soul''s cultivation, it would be akin to a second, non-physical body outside of the martial artist. There was another saying in the cultivation world of one''s spirit leaving them and taking form. By leaving them, it referred to the Essence Souls exiting their bodies and taking form referred to the corporeal bodies outside of their physical self. In the ancient era, the Quasi Divine realm was also known as the Corporeal Spirit realm. For Quasi Divine realm beings, even if their bodies were destroyed, if they reacted fast enough and sent their Essence Souls out of their bodies, they would be able to survive! Although their bodies were destroyed, the presence of their Essence Soul was equivalent to their survival. The ck-robed man killed a Quasi Divine with a single thought and thetter vanished on the spot without a chance to let his Essence Soul escape. That single move caused the hearts of Blood Crow Pce''s Lord and the other three to skip a beat! They were inevitably feeling fearful! Turning slightly to the side, the ck-robed man looked at the utterly wretched and wounded old divine swan who was swaying unsteadily nearby. He swiped his hand on his storage bag. Instantly, an elixir bottle around the size of his thumb appeared and there were a few patterns on its surface, emitting a rich medicinal fragrance. "That is" An old man narrowed his eyes with an rmed expression. "It''s the Vitality Reprisal Elixir!" Blood Crow Pce''s Lord said it word by word. The moment those words were uttered, although the others did not have much of a reaction, all the Martial Grandmasters and Quasi Divines present were shaken. The old man Liu Ghu''an red at the elixir in the hands of the ck-robed man with an extremely scorching gaze, wanting nothing more than to devour thetter''s hand right now! A Grade 5 Elixir, the Vitality Reprisal Elixir was created by the famed Elixir Emperor of the ancient era and it illustrated the meaning of lucidity for one''s final moments. No matter how badly injured a Quasi Divine being was, as long as they weren''t dead and consumed a Vitality Reprisal Elixir, they would definitely instantly invoke a tremendous amount of vitality and their injuries would bepletely healed. The Vitality Reprisal Elixir had long been lost on the martial world. It was akin to a second life of a martial artist! The ck-robed man sent the Vitality Reprisal Elixir before the old divine swan through a single thought. The old man, Liu Ghu''an, and the others were green with envy. A precious elixir as such was given out just like that! The few of them revealed jealous expressions and their eyes shone with vicious glints; they even had thoughts of snatching it over for themselves! The old divine swan had a conflicted expression and did not take it over immediately. Blood Crow Pce''s Lord sneered. "That old beast is at the end of her lifespan and is on the brink of death. She won''t be able to live for much longer even if her injuries are fully recovered!" While the Vitality Reprisal Elixir could heal one''s injuries almost immediately, it could not add on to one''s lifespan. It was also the same reason why the old divine swan did not take the elixir immediately. The Vitality Reprisal Elixir was way too precious and it was a waste for her to use it. "I won''t take back anything I give out." The ck-robed man said indifferently, "You don''t have to have any considerations as well. With this, you have a second chance at life. With this, I have done what I have promised." "But" The old divine swan sighed gently. "The Vitality Reprisal Elixir is too precious and rare. As a Quasi Divine being, you need it as well." "Do not worry, little one. I don''t need it, because not one of these ants can injure me!" The ck-robed man''s tone was calm without any fluctuations, as though he was talking about something that was only logical. Instantly, the entire ce went silent. Almost everyone was stunned by the casual majesty revealed by the ck-robed man through his words. Looking at the old divine swan, the ck-robed man continued. "You still have a sliver of hope." The old divine swan understood what the ck-robed man meant. Her sliver of hope was to recover her wounds by consuming the Vitality Reprisal Elixir and make use of this great battle to advance in her cultivation realm! As long as she made a single step of advancement, her lifespan would increase exponentially and she would be averted from the imminent crisis of her expiring lifespan. As for Azure Myst Sect, it would be blessed with the rise of a Quasi Divine realm pure-blooded ferocious bird! Little crane cried softly with a concerned expression, urging repeatedly. Sect Master Ling Yun, Aiden, and everyone else looked at the old divine swan, hoping that she could make use of this opportunity to gain rebirth through nirvana! The old divine swan took a deep breath before nodding and reaching out for the Vitality Reprisal Elixir, swallowing it. The moment it entered her mouth, a tremendous amount of vitality burst forth like a tornado, surging through all her limbs to every single part of her body! The wounds on the old divine swan were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Aiden and the others were ted when they saw that. If the old divine swan could advance a step further, it would be a blessing in disguise! Although Azure Myst Sect suffered great losses due to this cmity, if the sect had a Quasi Divine pure-blooded ferocious bird as its support, it would definitely be the strongest among the five major sects and it would only be a matter of time before its rise! The ck-robed man shifted his gaze towards Blood Crow Pce''s Lord and the others. "Ah! I know who you are!" The Pce Lord harrumphed coldly. "There aren''t many martial artists at the Quasi Divine realm with strength like yours. You should be the head disciple of the famous Asura Sect, this generation''s chosen Asura!" The ck-robed man was expressionless. "To think that the Asura notorious for killing would have crossed through the North Region to be a busybody here, hahaha!" The Pce Lord sneered. The ck-robed man was still silent and his expression did not change. The Pce Lord gripped his fists and repressed the killing intent in his heart, saying darkly, "Asura, since you insist on interfering with this matter, I can take a step back. However, that person must leave with me!" He pointed towards Aiden who was beneath Azure Myst Sect. Instantly, everyone from Azure Myst Sect felt their hearts sink in despair. It was already unexpected that the ck-robed man was able to protect Azure Myst Sect. However, he had no rtionship with Aiden, so how could he possibly offend someone of the witch race just for the sake of a Martial Knight martial artist? The ck-robed man shifted his gaze towards Aiden. For some unknown reason, Aiden felt a mysterious feeling inside his heart. The gaze of the ck-robed man was as though he was looking at his sessor of the younger generation and was extremely odd. After pausing for a moment, the ck-robed man finally spoke with a single word. "No!" Everyone was shocked. Nobody expected that he would choose to offend someone of the witch race just for a Martial Knight martial artist! Furthermore, he was so decisive in his rejection! "Asura, you should know of my background. Let''s each take a step back," The Pce Lord said with a dark gaze, "All I want to do is take away that Martial Knightd. That has nothing to do with you. If you continue pushing your luck" Before the Pce Lord could finish, the ck-robed man let out an impatient expression and interrupted. "I want to push my luck. What can you do about it?" Everyone was in an uproar! He was way too savage! He did not leave the other party a single way out at all! "His reputation truly precedes him. It''s no wonder why he was invincible across the Martial Knight and Martial Master realms on the surface world back then. He''s truly way too savage!" Someonemented. The disheveled old man sighed. "He is fearless even when the Great Zhou royalty does not dare to interfere. He''s truly incredible." "It''s just a pity that he has turned into such an evil fiend, otherwise" He did not continue but his meaning was clear. At this point of his journey, Aiden was no longer as resistant and negative towards the fiend sects. Now that Azure Myst Sect was in trouble, those mighty, so-called ''righteous'' sects chose to take advantage of the opportunity and kick it while it was down and out. How were their actions different from the ''fiends''? The ck-robed man was someone of Asura Sect, a fiend sect. Yet, upon knowing that Azure Myst Sect was in danger, he rushed over here from thousands of miles away across the entire world! Who were the true gods and who were the true fiends? Chapter 874 874 -The Fight Goes On Aiden found himself agreeing more and more with Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa''s words. At that moment, the disheveled old man asked. "The sect has severed connections with that man a long time ago. Who was the one who informed him?" "T-That''s right" Zorun Kai eximed softly, "I heard that Asura Sect is situated in the far north and is most likely millions of miles away from Azure Myst Sect. Even for a Quasi Divine being rushing at full speed, they would need close to a year to arrive. How did he manage to get here in time?" Sect Master Ling Yun''s heart was filled with the same doubt. Didn''t that mean that someone had managed to locate the ck-robed man a year ago and told him the news of the possible cmity that was about to befall Azure Myst Sect? Ling Yun was certain that nobody in Azure Myst Sect, including the old immortal crane, had contacted the ck-robed man. Who was it then that managed to spread the news over to him? Aiden was curious as well when he heard the discussions of the peak masters. At that moment, a gaze lingered on him for a brief moment. Sensing it, Aiden looked up into the air. In midair, a woman in a gauze top had appeared unknowingly. She was not a cultivator of Azure Myst Sect and had extremely ordinary looks. However, her figure was voluptuous and curvy; a single look was enough to seduce anyone. Aiden had never seen that woman before. However, for some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity. He went deep in thought. Above the clouds, the ck-robed man was overbearing, and instantly, the n Lord''s expression turned extremely terrible. Right now, he was in a difficult position. The n Lord dered coldly, "Asura, although you''re the current sessor of the Asura Sect, all of us are at the Quasi Divine realm and I''m even someone of the ancient races. We''re not going to be afraid of you!" "That''s right!" The old man from one of the other ''vulture'' sects said deeply, "There''s four of us Quasi Divines here, don''t go overboard, fellow practitioner!" Southern Mountains Sect''s Sect Master and True Firee Sect''s old sect master looked at the ck-robed man with cold gazes; they were tense and ready to strike at any moment. "You''re still not leaving?" The ck-robed man''s eyes were initially closed. However, they suddenly opened up and he spoke. That sentence was uncalled for and sounded ridiculous. Yet, the n Lord and the other three of them felt chills run down their spines as their pupils constricted. Raising his head, the ck-robed man had an indifferent gaze. "Very well, don''t leave then. All of you can stay here!" Before he finished his sentence, his be shone and he sent forth another killing move! Asuras don''t open their eyes but if they do, they kill! Instantly, the world changed. The ck-robed man did not do anything and his be merely shone with a blood-colored light, but a sea of blood instantly appeared in the void, emitting a nauseating stench as it surged towards the Pce Lord and everyone else! Those methods had already surpassed the knowledge of Aiden and the other Martial Masters. This was a fight between the Quasi Divine Beings! People far surpassed the mortal limits and are just a step away from bing immortal, godly entities! A faint green light shone from the Pce Lord''s be and a gigantic, menacing skull was formed in midair. It opened its bloodied mouth and swallowed the sea of blood in huge mouthfuls, the same way a whale swallowed water as though it wanted to devour the entire sea! At the same time. The bes of three of the Quasi-Divine Sect Masters shone brightly as their soul consciousnesses were released, conjuring multiple phenomenons. *Swoosh!* A massive fireball that was like a zing sun surged towards the blood sea. *Boom!* A mountain materialized and descended, attempting to suppress the raging tides of the blood sea. *Swash!* Snow filled the entire ce and froze everything! Layers of frost appeared on the surface of the blood sea. It was an attack of the spirit consciousnesses! These were killing moves that could only be used after entering the Quasi Divine realm! By conjuring phenomenons with their spirit consciousnesses, these were corporeal illusions that attacked the other party''s Essence Soul directly! The defending cultivator could only block them with their own spirit consciousnesses. A fight between Essence Souls was extremely dangerous and a single misstep would lead to death! Previously, the old sect master of the Iridescent Clouds Sect was attacked by the ck-robed man''s spirit consciousness, and instantly, his head exploded and his Essence Soul was destroyed, resulting in his death! "DIE!" Right now, the ck-robed man was fearless despite facing four opponents. Shouting, his eyes shone ferociously and he exuded a shuddering killing intent! In midair, the gigantic skull was swallowing the blood sea at a much slower speed and was shivering. *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* A series of cracks appeared on the surface of the skull. The n Lord''s expression changed. At the same time, a sinister roar echoed from the depths of the blood sea! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* The ice on the surface of the sea suddenly cracked as one after another, corpses with terrifying auras whirled their fists and destroyed the frost. Leaping out of the sea, they roared from the depths of their throats and floated in the blood sea. It was a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood! No matter which faction they were from, all the cultivators in the vicinity of Azure Myst Sect felt chills upon seeing that. Those methods were truly shocking and struck fear through everyone! The blood sea surged and created massive waves, threatening to devour the entire world as it howled! Shing! The fireball in midair was drowned by the blood sea and its mes were extinguished. One of the Quasi Divine''s, a short-bearded middle-aged looking slender, and tall reptilian man Liu Ghuan shuddered and blood drained from his face. In the spirit consciousness of Sect Master Liu Ghuan''s be, an Essence Soul with his exact appearance burned with dense mes. Gradually, it dimmed and the mes on its body were extinguished. Sect Master Liu Ghuan''s vital essence was severed as he fell from midair. He was dead! Even though he was fighting against four people, the ck-robed man managed to kill a Quasi Divine in reverse! *Boom!* A thunderous bang sounded from the unyielding mountain in the middle of the blood sea as it was attacked by the corpses repeatedly. Before long, the mountain crumbled and was devoured by the blood sea. At the same time, Sect Master Lao Yang''s Essence Soul exploded in his spirit consciousness! He was devoured by the blood sea and turned into one of its corpses. Another Quasi Divine being had fallen! The moment the five Quasi Divine beings above the clouds started fighting, the Martial Grandmaster battlefield continued on as well. Both factions were in the heat of the battle. "You guys, go and kill Aiden! The faster, the better! We need that nuisance dealt with as soon as possible!" Realizing that something was amiss with the situation, the Blood Crow n''s Lord did not dare to be careless and ordered 10 Martial Grandmasters immediately for that task! In terms of numbers and strength of Martial Grandmasters, Blood Crow n possessed an absolute advantage. From the side of Azure Myst Sect, the remaining dozens of Martial Grandmasters that were led by Sect Master Ling Yun were filled with injuries and exhausted They were almost unable to continue fighting anymore. The Blood Crow n''s n Lord transformed into his true form, which was a pitch-ck gigantic crow with bloodshot eyes, and led the remaining Martial Grandmasters in a fiery battle against Ling Yun and the others. Unable to withdraw themselves from the situation, Ling Yun and the others could only watch as the 10 Martial Grandmasters charged towards Aiden. Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. No matter how strong he was and how many trump cards he had, he could not withstand the might of Martial Grandmasters. At the Martial Grandmaster realm, one could cultivate an Essence Spirit and could make use of the Heaven and Earth powers to release divine arts! Even the simplest Divine art was more than enough to kill Aiden who was at Foundation Establishment realm with ease! As the 10 Martial Grandmasters charged towards him, Aiden conjured hand seals in midair. A terrifying energy fluctuation spread through the void. Not daring to be careless, Aiden released his draconic wings and cleared his mind to be ready C he was already prepared to unleash one of the secret skill he had learned only recently, the Blood Escape, to flee far away! He was not an idiot and he could read the situation clearly. The ck-robed man had terrifying strength and was extremely domineering; as long as he could survive a little longer and wait till the Quasi Divine battlefield to settle down, Blood Crow n was bound to lose! All of a sudden! A slender figure appeared in front of Aiden. "Hmm? It''s her?" Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. The person before him was the seductive woman with the gauze top. "You must have a death wish!" "You''re asking for death!" The 10 Martial Grandmasters that were charging over shouted and had already released the Divine arts from their hands. Chapter 875 875 - An Endless Hell There were razor-sharp long swords with rainbow ripples, crystalline fingers as thick as stone pirs, horrifying fists as heavy as mountains The Divine arts filled the skies and surged over, almost engulfing the gauze-top woman and Aiden entirely! The gauze-top woman''s expression was unchanged and her eyes flickered with ridicule. Suddenly! She smiled brilliantly and a bedazzling and seductive glint shone from her eyes. Although the gauze-top woman had ordinary looks, her smile caused all the stars and moon to dim in color. Her eyes shimmered like the surface of water, causing everyone''s hearts to skip a beat. In the blink of an eye, all the Divine arts vanished! All the martial artists were shocked by the methods of the gauze-top woman when they saw that. As for Aiden, he had a vague guess about the gauze-top woman''s identity after a moment of contemtion! Only a martial artist, a real disciple of the Pure Maidens Sect could bewitch all living beings with a single action and smile. Although this woman wasn''t Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa, she definitely had a deep rtionship with thetter. By adding those information together with this person''s martial realm, her identity was revealed almost instantly. Though Aiden couldn''t be sure, judging by her facial features, her simrities to her, she had to be rted to that girl from before. Probably Sylvie''s aunt, or master from the sect. Aiden was almost spot on, the mature, angelic beauty was none other than Sia Dewa! With the secret skill of Pure Maidens Sect, Sia Dewa removed all the Divine arts and seized the opportunity while the 10 Martial Grandmasters were distracted to raise her palm. Instantly, 10 cold shes of light shot into the bes of the 10 Martial Grandmasters! After a brief pause, the eyes of the 10 charging Martial Grandmasters dimmed and they fell from midair one after another lifelessly. For Martial Grandmasters, they won''t die even if their hearts were crushed. The true weakness of a Martial Grandmaster was their Essence Spirit! Sia Dewa''s counterattack did not show any mercy and she crushed all 10 of their Essence Spirits instantly, causing them to die on the spot! Aiden nodded silently. From this disy, it was now no wonder, no mystery why, despite their pure looks, why the members of the Pure Maidens Sect were considered evil, so called ''Fiendish'' sects. Their real power was fierce and brutal. All the itinerant martial artists of Blood Crow n and the Martial Grandmasters of small sects could not deal with the secret skill of Pure Maiden Sect at all! Back in the ancient battlefield, Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa was restrained by the paragons of the righteous sects and she even suffered a loss against the sessor of the High Priest''s Reverends. However, if she were to face these Martial Knight martial artists here, a simple smile and wink from her could charm them into losing their minds. The Blood Crow n Lord and the others were extremely grim when they saw the 10 Martial Grandmasters die. "I don''t believe that we won''t be able to kill a mere Martial Knightd despite our numbers!" The Blood Crow n Lord had a vicious gaze as he grit his teeth, prepared to attack personally. The gauze-top woman spoke up; her voice was charming but her tone was indifferent. "Everyone, you don''t have to waste your energy with me around. None of you will get past me." Mighty Cain Khoren and the others had indignant expressions. What sort of merits and capabilities did Aiden, a mere Martial Knight martial artist, have such that two experts showed up in session to defend him?! *Boom!* Suddenly, a bang sounded from above the clouds. All the Martial Grandmasters stopped subconsciously and turned to look. They saw True Fire Sect''s Sect Master that greedy old man and the Southern ck Fire Sect''s Sect Master fall down one after another. Suddenly, the tides changed on the battlefield! Sensing that something was amiss, some people made an instant decision to retreat with the chaos and flee into the distance! Although the n Lord were able to defend against the impact of the ck-robed man''s asura technique the Blood Sea, he was swaying and their expressions were pale as they grunted. With the other old bastard, another Sect Master was thoroughly subdued by the methods of the ck-robed man and kowtowed, dering with a trembling voice. "Please be appeased, great master. I know now that I''m in the wrong and I''ll leave right now, never taking another step onto Azure Myst Sect for the rest of my life!" When they heard that, everyone from Azure Myst Sect were emotional and almost wanted to roar into the skies as pent up frustration was released from their hearts! The feeling of a Quasi Divine forced to the state of acknowledging his mistake while swearing never to step foot onto Azure Myst Sect again for the rest of his life was ecstatic! Right then, the ck-robed man''s voice sounded above the clouds once more. "It''s already toote for you to leave now!" It was dead silent above and beneath Azure Myst Sect! Everyone was astounded by the ck-robed man''s aura! Acknowledging his mistake? Swearing?! None of that mattered now! Even if he wanted to leave now, he couldn''t! The old bastard Sect Master seemed to have been scared as well as he trembled. "W-What do you mean by t-that? I-I''ve already apologized." He was stuttering by now. "It''s no use speaking now. Die." The ck-robed man pointed at his be. Instantly, it shone brightly and formed a blood sea vortex! Reaching out, the ck-robed man actually withdrew a sword from the blood sea vortex. It was initially extremely small but by the time it was outpletely, it had expanded with a torrential killing intent! There were a series of blood patterns on its de. The ck-robed man flicked his wrist and his saber shook. Instantly, all the blood patterns rose, as though they were veins on the de, and the stench of blood filled the air! "He uses a sword?" Aiden froze momentarily when he saw the ck-robed man withdraw a saber and a thought shed through his mind. Before he could think about it properly, his attention was drawn by the terrifying methods of the ck-robed man. The ck-robed man took a step forward and shed in reverse. It arrived instantly and engulfed the old man Sect Master, sealing his escape path! "Don''t go overboard!" The old sect master shrieked and tapped his own be, withdrawing a shimmering flying sword. At the same time, he withdrew a shield from his storage bag and injected Divine power into it, causing it to expand and hover over his head! *ng!* The sword sliced the flying sword into two the moment they shed. The old sect master grunted and spat out a mouthful of blood. The flying sword was his own Quasi-Divine Artifact Weapon and was connected to his Essence Spirit. With his Quasi-Divine Artifact Weapon crippled, the old sect master''s Essence Spirit received an immense impact and was severely injured! The ck-robed man''s sword technique was still sharp and his momentum did not pause, cutting down heavily onto the shield in midair and letting out a deafening sound of metal screeching! *Boom!* The shield exploded into pieces. A terrifying power surged into the old sect master''s body and his organs, bloodline, and bones were disintegrated into pieces due to the sharpness of the de! *Poof!* *Poof!* *Poof!* A series of blood mists spewed out from the old sect master. A single sh was all it took to sever the old sect master''s vitality entirely! A glowing little translucent humanoid figure scurried out of the top of the old sect master''s head frantically. His Essence Spirit was exiting and escaping into the distance! However, it was a pity that the two of them were extremely close. the old sect master''s Essence Spirit did not manage to escape far before the ck-robed man caught up to it, grabbing it and crushing it with his palm! After losing the protection of his body, the Essence Spirit was too weak and could not withstand a single attack. In the blink of an eye, the Quasi Divines of the four major sects had already died in the hands of the ck-robed man, leaving Blood Crow n''s Lord. The n Lord had just conjured his own divine technique when the old sect master had already died. Gritting his teeth, the n Lord waved his bone staff and uttered an indecipherable incantation. The skull on top of the bone staff gradually filled with blood and two scarlet blood beams shone from its eye sockets, as though it was alive. "Blood Bat, form!" The n Lord roared in rage and pointed his bone staff at the ck-robed man. *Buzz!* *Buzz!* The skull opened its mouth and blood-colored bats flew out one after another continuously. Like a swarm of locusts, they charged towards the ck-robed man in a dense pack. This was a secret skill of one of the ancient races. All of those were bloodsucking bats and if a martial artist was trapped in their encirclement, their blood would be sucked dry within a single second! "How dare the light of a firefly try topete against the shine of the moon for glory!" The ck-robed man sneered. He did not retreat or dodge the looming swarm of bats and instead, took a step forward and shed again! The weather changed. That single sh seemed as though it had unleashed endless Hell! Chapter 876 876 - A Cruel World The sky and earth copsed. Endless firestorms descended from the skies and the ground ripped apart, causing scarletva to gush out; the vastnd was filled with ugly scars, and corpses were strewn everywhere! The blood bats cried endlessly upon entering that endless Hell and they disappeared before they could even get close. A look of panic shed through the n Lord''s eyes. *Swoosh!* In a sh, the ck-robed man had already arrived before the n Lord. He shed in a reverse fashion at an extremely fast speed and the sound of spirits, ghosts` wailing could be heard as his sword seemed to have sliced through the void. The n Lord felt his heart skip a beat. With no time to think, he could only receive the attack with his bone staff. *Scree!* A jarring sound was let out as the saber glided across the bone staff. A faint imprint was left on the bone staff! The n Lord shuddered and a mouthful of dark blood rushed up his throat before he swallowed it back forcefully. Although, he was of one of the primordial races, a bonafide living myth, an immortal, his species, that held no name anymore did not have strong physiques, and neither did they specialize in meleebat. They were more of a ranged, caster type. A dealer from the shadows. The n Lord was already severely injured from that single sh. With each breath he took, he could taste the damp stench of blood and feel a ripping pain in his lungs! It was proof that his organs were already injured! If the battle continued, it may very likely result in irrecoverable wounds for him. The n Lord burst in retreat and waved his bone staff, setting up faint greenyers of barriers before him. As if oblivious to them, the ck-robed man charged at them readily. *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* The faint green barriers shattered repeatedly and could not stop the ck-robed man at all. The ck-robed man''s gaze was icy cold and his killing intent was chilling as he moved like a phantom! Sensing the killing intent of the ck-robed man, the n Lord was finally nervous and shouted with widened eyes. " You vile Asura, I''m not someone your filthy hands can touch and defile! If you dare take my life, you will bring about destruction for Asura Sect!" Aiden was secretly rmed when he heard that. The tone of the n Lord was extremely tough and firm, as if he truly meant it. Could there truly have been super sects that were destroyed by the Primordial Ancient Races on this gods'' forsaken world? "Hmpf! Do you think that a remnant of old times like yourself is enough to threaten me?" The ck-robed man took a stride forward with a frosty re and shed at the n Lord once more. *ng!* Although the n Lord managed to defend against it, he could not endure it anymore and spat out a huge mouthful of blood. His organs had shifted positions and were almost ruptured! The words ''remnant of the witch race'' caused amotion in the crowd. In the martial world, ferocious beasts that had impure bloodlines were called remnant beasts. In other words, the n Lord was notpletely considered as someone of the legendary ancient races and could only be considered as a half being! A remnant creature, a filth so to say. Suddenly, Aiden recalled that back then at the primordial ruins, the divine dragon said something simr, berating that the n Lord had an impure bloodline and was merely a bastard child. The n Lord''s expression turned extremely harrowing after the ck-robed man exposed his background. The ck-robed man sneered. "Notwithstanding the fact that you''re a remnant of the old races and thus an enemy of all those living today, even if someone who was truly of those filthy races came forth, I would dare to kill him as well! There''s no one in this world that I, Ward Atrez, wouldn''t dare to kill!" It was only at this moment that Aiden knew that the name of the terrifying expert from a thousand years ago was Ward Atrez. The n Lord did not dare to linger and bit his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of essence blood to release his secret skill. He turned into a streak of light and fled into the distance at an extremely fast speed! "Where can you run to?" Ward Atrez''s eyes lit up with a dark glint. He shed forward and it seemed to cross the voids,nding heavily on the n Lord. There was nowhere to escape! "Pfft!" A stream of blood gushed out. The n Lord''s body was split into two instantly! His Essence Spirit left his body and hovered in midair C it was a little man that shone with a dim blood light and looked exactly the same as his physical body. "Blood Tribute!" The n Lord''s Essence Spirit escaped and let out a spirit consciousness fluctuation. The Essence Spirit traveled through viges where there were countless innocent mortals. There were farmers who were plowing the fields, muscr men who were chopping firewood, mothers preparing to cook, and children who were ying merrily All of those living beings suddenly froze, as though they were engulfed by some mysterious power! In the blink of an eye, their bodies withered at a visible speed, turning into streaks of blood light as their life forces surged into the Essence Spirit that was escaping in midair! The eyes of the n Lord''s Essence Spirit shone brightly as it recovered rapidly. Everyone from Azure Myst Sect was heartbroken at the sight of that! Hundreds of thousands of innocent mortals were met with the cmity, turning into dried corpses, and died in miserable manners. It was a truly miserable, and tragic scene that was ying out. Ward Atrez chased in pursuit with his sword and took huge strides, crossing through the voids. Unfortunately, the distance between them increased further and further. When Quasi Divines lose their bodies and were left with their Essence Spirits, although theirbat strength were weaker, their speeds were at least doubled without the restrictions of their flesh! Furthermore, the n Lord released the evil Blood Tribute technique and replenished a massive amount of energy, allowing him to escape from Ward Atrez''s pursuit before long. "Mark my words Asura! One day one day, I will definitely make you pay for destroying my physical body today! Hahaha!" The blood light disappeared into the horizon, leaving nothing but sinisterughter. Blood Crow n''s Lord fled more than a thousand meters away. The remaining martial artists were dumbfounded. This was supposed to be a cmity for Azure Myst Sect and yet, the tides turned immediately after the appearance of a martial artist! The advantage of Blood Crow n and the other four major sects had disappeared entirely. Aiden''s gaze burned bright like a torch and he swept past the crowd. He could not find Mighty Being Cain Khoren and sneered internally. "You sure are quick to run." Many martial artists yelled and fled everywhere. The Blood Crow n Lord gazed above the clouds at that terrifying figure standing in midair. He had a venomous look that lingered for a brief moment before he turned to escape. All of a sudden! "Hmm?" Ward Atrez turned around and his gaze was extremely sharp,nding on the Blood Crow n Lord instantly! "You still dare to harbor killing intents towards me?" Instantly, the Blood Crow n Lord felt chills run down his spine and his limbs went cold C the blood within his body seemed to have stopped flowing! "You sure are bold!" A massive shout echoed through the clouds, reverberating through the ears of many martial artists in a deafening manner! Immediately after, a gigantic saber beam descended from the skies and swept through the void, as though it wanted to slice the world apart! *Boom!* The ground shook and the mountains trembled! The sword beam burst into the crowd that was escaping and blood mist spewed everywhere. The Blood Crow n Lord had just transformed to his true self and was about to fly into the skies when he was cut down by Ward Atrez''s sh without a corpse left! Long blood-colored ravines were left at the foot of Azure Myst Sect as a torrential killing intent surged into the skies. They were filled by countless corpses and looked terrifying, like blood scars on the ground that everyone was forbidden to enter! More than 10 Martial Grandmasters died at the very least because of that sh. There were even more Golden Cores and Martial Knight martial artists that were beside the blood ravines and died, unable to withstand the killing qi that was sent forth from the de! Finally, Azure Myst Sect''s cmity came to an end after Ward Atrez''s sh. The martial artists of Azure Myst Sect that survived felt a sense of relief after a major cmity. However, immediately after, when they saw the corpses that were strewn at the foot of the mountain, they felt a tragic sadness. All of those were their sect mates! They had grown up together in Azure Myst Sect, training and ying evil while protecting the masses for many, dozens, and even hundreds of years But now, many of them were dead because of a massive battle and they could never hear from them ever again. This was the martial world which was iparably cruel. Chapter 877 877 - Hopes, Dreams For the first time, Aiden felt that this world, this ''martial world'' was much more savage and had more bloodshed than anything he had seen so far! After consuming the ancient elixir back in the Ancient One''s Temple that enhanced his draconic form, most of the old heavenly swan''s injuries had already recovered and it had gotten a new life. However, a look of weariness could still be seen in the eyes of the old heavenly swan. This battle had expended most of her life''s essence and vitality. If she could not advance a step further, she would have to pass away here! Maintaining its ferocious bird form, the old heavenly swan stood at the peak of Azure Myst Sect on one leg and closed its eyes to train. A power was rumbling within its body, raring to spew out! Old skin started shedding from its body and its green feathers were incinerated. However, right in front of everyone, new skin regrew alongside green feathers that shone with a shiny luster! The mes that were originally extinguished from her body had appeared once more. Although the mes were small, they emitted a scorching temperature and were growing steadily; the void around the mes were already starting to contort due to the heat! The old heavenly swan''s condition was gradually turning better. The little crane cried softly and jumped in joy. Sect Master Ling Yun swallowed a mouthful of elixirs and started managing the situation, dragging his injured body while focusing his spirit. First, he ordered the martial artists on the battlefield to return to the sect and treat their injuries. Next, he requested for the Martial Apprentice Stage Warriors who did not take part in the battle toe forth and clean up the battlefield. Although he was severely injured after experiencing such a cmity, Ling Yun did not panic and disyed strong leadership in controlling the situation. The sect started moving in an orderly manner after his instructions were pumped out. "Friend, for a moment please wait" At that moment, when Ling Yun saw the gauze-top woman turn to leave, she called after her immediately and bowed deeply, saying in a sincere manner, "Thank you for your assistance, madam. Please stay a couple of days in Azure Myst Sect so that we can host you properly." "There''s no need." The gauze-top woman waved it off with an indifferent expression. Sensing the firmness in the gauze-top woman''s attitude, Ling Yun did not force things and cupped his fists. "May I know what''s your name and what sect you are from? I''m unable to leave now because our sect has just been through a huge cmity. However, I''ll definitely pay a visit personally to your sect in the future to express my thanks." "There''s no need for thanks either," The gauze-top woman shook her head and turned to Aiden. "The reason I stood forth this time round was because I was bequeathed to repay a favor." Upon hearing that, Aiden was certain of his earlier conjecture and no longer had any doubts. Thee gauze-top woman was definitely rted to that woman! The person who bequeathed her should be Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa. Instinctively, he turned to look around but did not catch sight of Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa. Ling Yun followed the gauze-top woman''s gaze and froze momentarily. "Young man?" The elders of Azure Myst Sect revealed odd expressions when they heard that as well. A Martial Grandmaster as powerful as such came forth just to repay a favor for a Martial Knight martial artist? The gauze-top woman continued, "If you want to express your thanks, do it to him." With that, the gauze-top woman did not linger and flew away. Ling Yun and the others looked at Aiden with endless admiration in their eyes, as though they had just discovered the most precious treasure in this world! Even without the gauze-top woman''s remark, Aiden had done great merits in this battle. Furthermore, he was at the so called, unique ''Extreme Martial Knight'' realm! This was the second person after the Human Emperor in history to have achieved that. If he was already able to kill Martial Masters and possessed such terrifying potential andbat strength at Martial Knight realm, his future aplishments would definitely not be inferior to that person above the clouds! Of course, the Asura of the fiend sects was still the key to them turning the tides and securing victory. Prior to this, everyone in Azure Myst Sect harbored immense hatred towards those of the fiend sects. As people of the immortal sects and the path of righteousness, they viewed the extermination of fiends and demons as a personal duty and would definitely not want to be associated with anyone of the fiend sects. But now, after this incident, everyone hadplicated feelings towards those of the fiend sects, or at least, towards Ward Atrez. It did not matter whether he betrayed the sect or he was an evil fiend. What was undeniable was that Azure Myst Sect owed him a lifesaving debt. Ling Yun wanted to head forth and express his thanks. However, when Ward Atrez remained thousands of feet up above the clouds, Ling Yun couldn''t reach that height given his martial realm. Ward Atrez''s hands were behind his back and he had a cold expression, giving off an aura that forbade people from approaching him. A Grand Elder shook his head and said, "Forget it. Even if you head up, given that person''s cold and aloof nature, he wouldn''t pay any attention to you." "That''s right. After all, we are all considered to be of the younger generationspared to him. Senior swan is probably the only person in the sect who is qualified to speak to him," Another Grand Elder added. Ling Yun nodded. Right then, Ward Atrez who was initially up above the clouds suddenly descended. Instantly, he arrived before everyone else and looked at Aiden, saying indifferently. "Aiden, follow me." With that said, he turned and headed in the direction of Azure Myst Sect''s Thunderp Valley. Everyone from Azure Myst Sect was shocked. The Grand Elders who spoke earlier on almost bit their tongue as their eyes widened! Did the two of them know one another? Everyone from Azure Myst Sect exchanged nces speechlessly. When they recalled how firm Ward Atrez was in rejecting the Blood Crow n''s Lord''s request in taking Aiden away, their minds starting reeling. The attitude of the fiend sects'' Asura towards Aiden was rather strange. It did not seem as though he merely cherished the fact that Aiden was at Extreme Martial Knight. "Is he thinking of taking Aiden with him to the Asura Sect? Will that be okay?" A Grand Elder frowned in deep worry. "Let''s not think too much about it. Even if that''s what he wants, there''s nothing we can do and there''s no one who can stop him either. He was not one of us anyway and was just here to repay his debts" "That''s right." Aiden followed Ward Atrez into a not too far away remote area called the ''Thunderp Valley''. Waving his arm, Ward Atrez set up a barrier that isted the sounds of rumbling thunder outside. Thereafter, he turned to look at Aiden quietly with a scrutinizing gaze. "You were the one that obtained the secret skill inside the Ancient Bastard''s Temple?" Suddenly, Ward Atrez asked. Aiden nodded, not surprised by his attitude towards that almighty existence. "Thank you, senior." Ward Atrez pouted his lips. "This is a secret skill that''s said to be the Thunder Emperor''sption of his life''s work before his ascension back then. Unfortunately, I only managed to obtain a page of it in the ancient battlefield. It is called the Void Thunder Manual." The Thunder Emperor! It was no wonder why the demonic qi in Aiden''s bloodline could be purged just through the mantra of a single page. It was because the Void Thunder Manual had such a powerful origin! A momentter, Ward Atrez asked, "You were the one who obtained the Sword Emperor''s inheritance in the Metal Tree Grove?" "I was." Aiden admitted to it. The Void Splitting Manual had been lost for many years and it was normal that the martial artists of the world could not recognize it. However, Asura Sect was one of the super sects of Tianhuang Maind and Ward Atrez who was before him was an expert at the Quasi Divine realm. It was only natural that Aiden''s sword technique was recognized by thetter. All of a sudden! Aiden''s heart skipped a beat and he recalled the thought that he did notplete earlier on. Around a hundred or so years ago, the Saber Mountain Spirit Sea, Asura Sect, paragon who used a sword as his de All the clues that wereid out before him pointed out to an incident in the past clearly. "Senior, you were the Asura Sect paragon who obtained the Sword Emperor''s inheritance from the ancient battlefield a thousand years ago?" Aiden blurted out. Ward Atrez nodded. Realizing all of this, suddenly, Aiden was enlightened. It was no wonder why Ward Atrez stared at him earlier on with such an odd expression as though he was looking at a sessor of the younger generation. Chapter 878 878 - Victory? It was not only because he was a honorary disciple (...sort of) of Azure Myst Sect and had obtained the Void Thunder Manual. It was because one after another, they obtained the inheritance of the Sword Emperor as well! "Go on, attack. Let me see how much of the Sword Emperor''s inheritance you managed toprehend!" Ward Atrez raised his palm lightly and endless spirit qi gathered towards his palm. In the blink of an eye, it condensed into a sinister de. No longer speaking, Ward Atrez attacked immediately after. Aiden''s reaction was extremely fast and he whipped out his Blood Quencher. Attacking upwards, he released the Void Splitting Manual''s Creation strike right away. *ng!* The two swords collided and let out a crisp sound, causing sparks to fly everywhere. The power of the attack was not heavy. Aiden could clearly feel that Ward Atrez had repressed his power countless times in order to test his de! Ward Atrez''s attack had already reached the level of force. After that attack, Ward Atrez was expressionless and flicked his wrist; the next attack had already arrived stealthily. His sword technique was blurry and unpredictable, yet, its killing aura was instantaneous and shuddering! "Not good!" Aiden''s heart almost exploded. Against that killing intent, Aiden truly thought that Ward Atrez was about to kill him! Instinctively, he unleashed his spirit wings and was about to retreat backwards. However, the moment his spirit wings were summoned, they dissipated and turned into specks of light that scattered in the void. Needless to think, that must have been done by Ward Atrez! Aiden buckled his knees and channeled his bloodline, wanting to dodge backwards. Immediately after, to his horror, he realized that there seemed to be three walls erected on his left, right, and back C he could not move and could only stand motionlessly on the spot. "Use your de boy!" Ward Atrez''s voice sounded coldly. "Or die!" Nobody could question the killing intent of the fiend sects'' Asura. He had said previously that there was nobody he couldn''t and wouldn''t dare to kill in the world! An Asura did not require a reason to kill. Ward Atrez''s attack was one of the stances from Asura sword. Asura Sect''s fiend heir, Bair Yohren, had used it before in the Metal Tree Groove as well and it was the exact same move. However, although they were exact, the might that was produced from Ward Atrez was worlds apart! That attack was ethereal and was imperceivable. Although Aiden felt so terrible he wanted to throw up, he had nowhere to retreat! Taking a deep breath, Aidenposed himself and closed his eyes instead, choosing to follow his heart. Suddenly, he shed out at the void before him! It was the Ripple stance of Void Splitting Manual. The entire void seemed to drawn in by that sh and spirit qi swirled, as though it was creating a massive vortex. Under Ward Atrez''s pressure, the Vortex stance had also reached the level of force! Although the sword was only shing at an empty spot, it possessed a centrifugal power of attraction that instantly broke through Ward Atrez''s Asura Sword''s intent state. The initially imperceivable sword was now appearing. *ng!* The two swords collided once more and retraced upon a single contact. A subtle hint of admiration could be seen flickering through Ward Atrez''s eyes. "Carry on!" His voice was still cold as ever without any emotions. The Void Splitting Manual was a sword techniqueprehended by the Sword Emperor at the seaside. Be it in terms of toughness or flexibility, it was majestic and overbearing, unlike Asura sword. Asura sword was a technique that was purely created for killing and every single move was sinister and lethal! The two different techniques, one righteous and one evil were supreme secret skills in the Dao of the sword. Ward Atrez continued attacking in session and the angles of his attacks were tricky; they withdrew, lifted, or were hidden Every single attack was filled with boundless imagination that left one speechless! Against such a sword technique, Aiden could only deal with them using the Ripple stance of the Void Splitting Manual, fighting gentleness with gentleness. Aiden''s Ripple stance turned increasingly mature against that immense pressure and a sword force that was akin to ripples on the surface of water started to appear gradually A momentter, Ward Atrez retracted his sword and stood upright. Aiden heaved a sigh of relief and he could barely contain the joy in his eyes. Apart from the final stance of the Void Splitting Manual which he was still unable to produce, he managed toprehend the force levels of the other four stancespletely! It was all because of the pressure that Ward Atrez gave him that he was able toprehend them so quickly. Otherwise, even if he practiced against air for dozens of years, he might not be able to reach this step unless he had another opportunity. If martial artists wanted to grow, they would have to grind against the brink of life and death continuously! Of course, what truly brought joy to Aiden was not only because he managed toprehend the realm of force. More than that, under the pretext that they were both on the same power level, he was not weaker than this number one paragon of Tianhuang Maind North Region in the past in terms of his sword technique! Although Ward Atrez had been immersed in the Dao of the sword for countless years, Aiden was not disadvantaged. "Amazing!" Aiden was drenched in sweat and was invigorated. Ward Atrez''s expression was cold and his gaze was calm, as though he could read Aiden''s mind. "Do you think that you''re incredible because you''re able to defend against my attacks?" Ward Atrez asked indifferently. Aiden remained silent. During their previous exchange of blows, although Ward Atrez was repressing him the entire time, Aiden did not reveal any openings and in fact, he managed to defend all of the former''s various attacks! However, Aiden was embarrassed to admit to something like that after Ward Atrez read his mind. Yet, Ward Atrez''s next remark caused Aiden''s heart to sink as chills filled his body! "Take a look at your body boy." Ward Atrez''s eyes was shimmering with a hint of disdain. Furrowing his brows slightly, Aiden lowered his head and froze up, his pupils constricting violently. Before he knew it, a series of cuts had already been made on the gray robes in front of his chest. They intertwined near to his heart and formed a gigantic character for the word ''death''! "This" Aiden felt his limbs go cold. This meant that if this was an actual life and death battle, he would have died more than six times in that short exchange earlier on! The most frightening thing was that he did not notice it at all up till now! The more Aiden thought about it, the more rmed he was. The pride and exhration he disyed earlier had vanished entirely. If there were no restrictions and he could rely on his movement techniques he had partly because of his Primal heritage, as well as the -now enhanced- ancient draconic blood flowing in his veins. His speed and his terrifying physique, Aiden might not lose. However, at the very least, he waspletely defeated in terms of sword technique. Ward Atrez swiped his storage bag and two more ancient manuals appeared in his hands. He handed them to Aiden. Focusing his gaze, Aiden could not help but exim. "What is that!" The Sword Emperor left two inheritances in the ancient battlefield, one of which was the Void Splitting Manual which Aiden had obtained. The other one was the Dark de Manual which was taken away by Ward Atrez a thousand years ago. Ward Atrez said, "The Dark de Manual is not a sword technique, but a secret skill with nine levels to it. It was created by the Sword Emperor in the past while he was at the seaside, observing the ebb and flow of the tides. Hebined that as a skill together with the Dao of the sword and it possesses the obscurities of the universe." "The Dark de Manual and Void Splitting Manualplement andplete one another. After cultivating the Dark de Manual, you''ll be able to utilize the might of the tide. At Level 1, each time you make an attack, there will be an additionalyer of power to it and that''s the Tidal Might." Aiden seemed to have an understanding. Ward Atrez continued, "At Level 1 of the Dark de Manual, you''ll experience a 10% increase in strength. At Level 2, 20%. Don''t look down on the percentages because, in actualbat, the difference will be significant!" Aiden was secretly shocked. If he managed to train it to Level 9, it would be equivalent to an additional 90% and that would be akin to twice of his strength C it was enough for him to overwhelm anyone else of the same martial realm! "Of course, the most important use of the Tidal Might is to make up for the ws of the Void Splitting Manual." Chapter 879 879 - Courage To Learn Ward Atrez exined, "You are already extremely proficient in your first four stances. However, there is still some sluggishness in your transition between gentleness and toughness while changing stances." "While ordinary martial artists are almost blind to these openings, you will be in danger of dying if you meet with people who are truly impressive!" Suddenly, Aiden was enlightened. Indeed, he had experienced slight sluggishness while he was practicing his sword techniques earlier on. However, when he battled on the ancient battlefield against the paragons of all the worldly sects, nobody noticed those openings. As such, Aiden did not pay much attention to it. He had not expected that his openings would be so fatal when they were exposed to true experts! Aiden was immensely grateful. He had not thought that Ward Atrez would impart to him the Dark de Manual so easily without hesitation. "Senior, I''ll demonstrate the Void Splitting Manual''s strikes once and describe to you the details of it," Aiden''s thought process was simple C he wanted to impart the Void Splitting Manual to Ward Atrez as well as a form of exchange. "There''s no need." Ward Atrez waved it off indifferently. "I''ve already begun to formte my own unique technique. In my eyes, the Void Splitting Manual is no big deal!" There was a hint of arrogance in Ward Atrez''s tone. He was firmly convinced that he would definitely be an emperor in the future with aplishments above the Sword Emperor! Aiden did not press on further and took the Dark de Manual. When he saw the second ancient manual, he could not help but frown. "Asura sword?" The other secret skill was Asura Sect''s secret skill, Asura sword! "This" Aiden was confused. By doing this, did it mean that Ward Atrez wanted him to join Asura Sect? Aiden hesitated for a moment before returning Asura sword. "I haven''t thought about leaving Azure Myst Sect before. Senior, please take the Asura sword back." Ward Atrez red at him but did not take it back. "Even if you don''t join Asura Sect, you can take this sword manual to grow." "Is this appropriate?" Aiden frowned. Usually, one would be severely punished and might even be killed if they imparted the secret skills of a sect! "You''re telling me that even though I dare to impart it to you, you don''t dare to learn it?" Ward Atrez sneered. Aiden was silent. In this forsaken world, he had truly created quite a bit of trouble and there was nothing he wouldn''t dare to learn. Furthermore, it wasn''t as though Aiden hadn''t trained techniques that were considered evil before. To him, only its user could have evil intentions, a technique by itself is just a form to utilize power. At that thought, Aiden epted both the ancient manuals. After pondering silently for a moment, he recalled something and asked, "Asura Sect is located in the Middle Continent. Senior, were you able to arrive in time because Senior Sia Dewa sent you a message?" Ward Atrez and looked at Aiden with a strange stare. "To think that this generation''s Holy Maiden of the demonic sects would have chosen you as her mate." This was the second time that Aiden had heard of the term. The first time was under the Ancient One''s Pce when Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa confessed to it after being questioned by the Sealer of the Illusion Fiend Cult. "What''s the meaning of being the mate of the Pure Maiden Sect?" Aiden could not help but ask. Ward Atrez did not reply. He remained silent for a while as if pondering on something When Aiden saw that, he suppressed the curiosity in his heart for now. He thought for a moment and asked again, "Why are all the sects, martial artists and even mortals seem to be afraid of any survivors from the ancient races?" "That cautiousness stems from a catastrophe that happened 10,000 years ago," Ward Atrez replied indifferently. "10,000 years ago, there was an overlord in the North Region of Tianhuang Maind and that was the Draxian Holy Empire. Its territories were vast and it was extremely powerful. Unfortunately, the center of the Draxian Holy Empire, its glorious capital, was turned into ruins overnight!" Ward Atrez continued, "Not only that, the two sects that resided in the territory of the Draxian Holy Empire and supported it were annihted! 10,000 years ago, there were twelve on the list of the powerful sects ranking, not the current ten." "Ah!" Aiden was shocked and eximed softly. There were eight Buddhist monasteries 10,000 years ago! A single catastrophe had not only turned an empire into ruins, it even destroyed two super sects of Tianhuang Maind! He could not help but ask, "What sort of a catastrophe was it? Did it have something to do with the ancient races?" "Well" Ward Atrez shook his head. "The cause of it was indeed one of the Primordial Ancient Races, the dragon race!" Aiden''s mouth opened gradually in a slight daze. The dragon race! He had quite a bit of a feud with the dragon race as well. Whilst not being one of them originally he gained their blood and essence from multiple sources now. Something he was certain would mark him as a mortal enemy of them. Ward Atrez continued, "There were many rumors to why the catastrophe happened. However, the conclusion was that a certain elder dragon amongst them was utterly enraged." "A dragon elder?" Aiden frowned slightly and he thought about the endless white bones he saw back in the ancient-looking ruins. There was also a long sea of bones and a towering dragon carcass. "Their home was called The Dragon Bone Valley. It is one of the nine forbidden grounds of world." Ward Atrez exined. "Indeed!" Aiden felt a sense of trepidation as he recalled his encounter with those white bones back then. Suddenly, he recalled something that Ward Atrez said earlier and could not help but question in shock and disbelief, "It was all because of a dragon?" A single dragon was enough to bring the Draxian Holy Empire and two super sects to ruins, changing the state of this world''s North Region entirely? Even more it all happened during one night?!" "That''s right." Ward Atrez nodded. "An ancestral level divine dragon." As though he could tell that Aiden did not understand the concept of an ancestral level divine dragon, Ward Atrez added, "Hisbat strength can match the Ancient One!" Aiden was stunned. A momentter, Aidenposed himself and continued asking, "How many Ancestral Dragons are there in the dragon race?" "No one knows," Ward Atrez replied, "However, the Ancestral Dragons are not the strongest of the dragon race. The dragon race also has a Dragon Emperor whose power is far beyond the Ancestral Dragons!" Suddenly, Aiden felt like he was being suffocated and was in immense pressure. If an Ancestral Dragon could fight against the Ancient One, who in the world could stop a Dragon Emperor if it was born? Ward Atrez continued, "The Primordial Ancient Races are innately strong from birth and can wipe out almost everyone else at the same power realm! Throughout history, there has been countless emperors but among them, there are less than ten emperors of the modern races who can go against the emperors of the Primordial Ancient Races!" Aiden remained silent. That was the difference between them. A vast one. These people were born weak and fragile and that was a fact that couldn''t be changed. The experts of the Primordial Ancient Races are already able to fight against emperors of their race when they were at the ancestral level; they did not even have to be emperors themselves! After a brief pause, Ward Atrez said, "The reason why we were able to win the ancient war was because of the emergence of the Ancient One. He was a supreme being who shocked history and could look down on all other emperors!" At the mention of the Ancient One, even someone as prideful as Ward Atrez revealed a tinge of admiration in his tone. At that point, Aiden gradually understood. What the most powerful factions of this world were fearful about was not the Blood Crow Pce''s Lord, but the true experts of the ancient races! "Blood Crow Pce''s Lord is merely a remnant of the so called crow race with an impure bloodline. Otherwise, hisbat strength wouldn''t have been so pathetic. Now that his physical body was destroyed by me, he won''t be able to recover in a short period of time and Azure Myst Sect is in no danger for now. However" Ward Atrez paused for a moment before changing the topic. "You''ve been extravagant in your ways in the ancient battlefield, killing the young heir of Malefic Demons n and destroying the Corpse Poison Sect while defeating Crystal Pce Sect as well. You''ll have to watch out from now on." "Crystal Pce Sect and Malefic Demons n are both located at the North Region of the world!" Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. Although no one else in Ugburg City apart from Tai Li and the others knew of his background, given the strength of Crystal Pce Sect and the Malefic Demons n, if they truly wanted to hunt him down, it would just be a matter of time. Chapter 880 880 - Unimaginable Heights The only way for him was to hide in seclusion withouting forth. However, what worried Aiden even more, was that Crystal Pce Sect''s Pei Syriac was severely injured and escaped into the Fog Infested Valley with his fate unknown C there was a chance that he would have survived and made it back to his sect already! That man was atent danger. For the first time, Aiden felt that there were way too manytent dangers around him. Crystal Pce Sect, Malefic Demons n, Corpse Poison Sect, Blood Crow Pce''s n Lord The moment all of thosetent dangers erupted, the oue would be unimaginable! He had to get stronger as quickly as possible! With thosetent dangers ticking down, the only shot he had at survival was to get stronger as soon as possible. Ward Atrez turned around to leave but paused for a moment before remarking indifferently, "You''re at the Extreme Martial Knight realm and is the second person in history to do so apart from the Ancient One. However, you have to understand that before you fill up your core, everything is merely a dreamscape." "In the super sects of the world, Martial Knight martial artists are only outer sect disciples and they will only be inner sect disciples after they have filled up their cores." That was the difference between super sects and Azure Myst Sect. In the Azure Myst Sect, Martial Masters could be elders. However, in those super sects, they were only inner sect disciples. Ward Atrez added, "I heard that Holy Fire Ind produced a monster incarnate. Although you''re at Extreme Martial Knight, you''re probably only on par with him." Aiden did not reply to thisment. He could not possibly divulge the identity of Holy Fire Ind''s monster incarnate. Everyone in the martial world knew right now that the Holy Fire Ind''s monster incarnate was a descendant of the Ancient Races, a dragonkin. If the mighty figures and patriarchs of various factions were toe fight for his body, no one could protect him at all! "Additionally, although phenomenons are the strongest techniques avable for Martial Masters, there''s a difference in strength between the phenomenons," Ward Atrez said, "The Martial Master phenomenons you experienced earlier were the low-end ones with limited power. If you meet Martial Masters with ancient phenomena, even an early-stage Martial Master would be able to kill you!" "Are all ancient phenomenons definitely strong?" Aiden asked with a frown. "The phenomenons that are cultivated by ancient emperors, mighty figures, and patriarchs have gone through the sands of time and are still not destroyed. Their legacy crosses time and it''s only natural that their powers are incredible!" Aiden asked again, "Are all Martial Master phenomenons cultivated by theter generations weaker than the ancient phenomenons?" Ward Atrez shook his head. "It''s very difficult. All the martial techniques you''re using right now have been passed down from history. As such, it''s only natural that the phenomenons you train can''t break out of the shadows of the past ancient phenomenons that easily." "If you can really create a mighty phenomenon that''s able topare against the ancient phenomenons, you''ll definitely be recorded into the books of history and be nominated into the Universal Phenomenon Ranking!" "Universal Phenomenon Ranking?" Aiden was slightly stunned. Ward Atrez replied, "You should know that the underground world was formed from dimensional shards and is differentiated into different levels based on its stability." "Yes." Aiden nodded C Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa had told him about that as they were traveling together some time ago. Ward Atrez continued, "Martial Knight rank martial artists can be sent into Ugburg City andpete every hundred years for a chance at an opportunity in the Ancient Burial Ground opening. The intermediate is more stable and can allow Martial Masters to train within, opening up once per 100 years." "In the intermediate ancient battlefield, there''s an extremely famous divine ranking that has been passed down from history known as the Universal Phenomenon Ranking! The ranking list has a total of 108 positions and millions of Martial Masters fight for a spot!" "Only those that have their names listed on the Universal Phenomenon Ranking are befitting of the word, paragon!" Ward Atrez said, "I''m sure I don''t need to borate more about the benefits of this all. Both you and I are beneficiaries of them." Aiden nodded. If he hadn''t entered this world, there was no way he would have grown to his current martial realm within a short period of time. Be it the path of immortals or demons, Aiden was already half a step through to creating a core! Furthermore, he wouldn''t have been able to unlock the secret method and reach the legendary Extreme Martial Knight realm! He wouldn''t have had a chance to obtain the secret skill, Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual, and the connate spirit weapon, the Coiling Dragon Seal either. Aiden had truly benefited way too much from this month-long journey, this grand adventure so far. "The intermediate ancient battlefield only opens up once every 100 years and the Universal Phenomenon Ranking refreshes once per 100 years as well." Ward Atrez continued, "Apart from fame throughout the entire world, the higher one''s name was on the ranking list, the more benefits they would obtain. There''s a very high chance for one to obtain a massive opportunity and skyrocket from that point!" Aiden''s heart skipped a beat and he suddenly asked, "Senior, what was your ranking on the Universal Phenomenon Ranking in the past?" "Number one." Ward Atrez replied calmly, as though he was recounting something that couldn''t be any more normal. All of a sudden! Both Aiden and Ward Atrez sensed something and turned around, gazing into the distance. On a mountain peak, the old heavenly swan stood with bedazzling green feathers that burned with fiery mes; its body seemed to have gotten muchrger than before. The red crown on its head seemed like it was a massive fireball! It had broken through! The old heavenly swan was already a Quasi-Divine ranked pure-blooded ferocious bird to begin with. Now that it advanced a step further andpletely broke its mortal coils, it was akin to a Low ranked Divine Creature of the mortal races and had broken through the restraints of heaven and earth, breaking free from its imminent crisis of an expiring lifespan! Beasts had an extremely different growing method from skinks and mortals and they did not have early, mid, andte-stages to their major martial realms. Therefore, beasts would usually be stuck in a major realm for a long time and could not break through for hundreds or thousands of years. The good thing was that beasts were innately strong from birth and they had a much longer lifespan to begin with than others on the same martial realm. For example, the old heavenly swan had been stuck in the Martial Grandmaster realm for more than a thousand years! However, once a beast achieves a breakthrough and breaks free of the shackles of heaven and earth, it would mean that they have advanced a major martial realm and their increase in strength would be utterly frightening! Prior to this, the old heavenly swan had no chance of winning against Blood Crow Pce''s n Lord. But now that the old heavenly swan had advanced and was equivalent to a Lesser Divine Creature, she herself could kill the n Lord with ease! Suddenly. The old heavenly swan opened its eyes and reared its head into the skies, crying. It was a piercing screech that reverberated through the world! An extremely terrifying aura burst forth from the peak of Azure Myst Sect and started spreading out! All five peaks were shaken! The ancient forest shook and all the living beings within the radius of 500 kilometers sprawled on the ground, silent with fear! Instantly, the entire world went silent. Even the air around Azure Myst Sect went still and the clouds stopped floating. Ward Atrez''s pupils constricted slightly. Even he was feeling some slight palpitations through that power! "Innate divine powers!" Ward Atrez took a deep breath of air and murmured, "Is that what divine powers are like? It''s truly strong!" "What are divine powers?" Aiden could not help but ask. Up till this point of his journey, he had only heard of arcane arts and spiritual arts that were above the former. However, he had never learned of true divine powers. "Divine powers are even more terrifying than spirit and spiritual arts!" "Simply put, divine powers go beyond one''s imagination and are the type of methods you only hear of in legends!" Aiden was shocked to hear this. It was even more terrifying than spirit and spiritual arts! Ward Atrez said slowly, "Lifting mountains and chasing the moon, that''s a divine power. Plucking the stars from the heavens, that''s a divine power. Incinerating the heavens and burning the seas, that''s a divine power. Summoning wind and rain, scattering beans to form troops those are all divine powers!" Aiden''s mouth opened slightly and he could not contain the shock in his eyes. One could pluck the stars in the skies, one could boil the oceans and even burn the heavens Everything was truly beyond Aiden''s imagination. A brand new martial technique that was vast and incredible started forming in his mind; it was something that invigorated him and made him look forward to! Suddenly, Aiden realized Chapter 881 881 - Ulterior Motives Although he had already started cultivating a long time ago, he had only just begun on the long path of cultivation. "How do you learn and more importantly, train divine powers?" Aiden asked excitedly. Shaking his head gently, Ward Atrez replied, "You are too far from being able to do anything with divine powers and even I''m unable to train them. Martial Grandmasters are merely specks of dust in the grand picture of things. Thereafteres an entirely different world, the world that transcends mortality where they are known as Divine Beings, or in some cultures Gods. The first step in that journey, once one breaks through entirely and not that fake Quasi-Divine rank, would be the Lesser God Realm. Even after that is the True God realm where one will be known as a true Divine Figure. Lastly, they will reach the Medium God realm and be the true leaders, known as Patriarchs!" "One is only qualified to cultivate the art of divine powers when they are at the Medium God realm." Aiden was a little disappointed. He was only at Martial Knight realm right now and even the Martial Grandmaster realm was far from his reach, let alone the Medium God realm. However, on second thought, he eximed softly and asked with a frown, "However, that elderly beast, that swan has just broken through and is only equivalent to a Lesser God. How is she able toprehend divine powers?" "That''s because she''s a demonic beast." Ward Atrez replied, "After Martial Grandmaster realm, demonic beasts wouldprehend a divine power with every step they advance thereafter. The purer their bloodline, the more frightening the divine powers theyprehend would be!" Suddenly, Aiden''s eyes shimmered when he heard this as he was enlightened about something. Thinking about these things, he asked again after a while. Aiden asked again. "Beasts are already able toprehend innate divine powers at the Lesser God realm. Since divine powers are so strong, how do normal martial artists deal with them?" Ward Atrez replied, "Once a human enters the Lesser God realm, they would naturally undergo transformations as well and be able to sense heaven and earth while summoning supreme spiritual powers. At that point, the heaven and earth essence of the Lesser Gods, that they conjure would be able to fight against the innate divine powers of the demonic beasts race!" Aiden seemed to have an understanding. It was the same as when in Eora, the creatures formed their first Inner Cores. At that point, the strength and speed would increase exponentially and their physiques would reach a terrifying level of toughness that weak humans or the other races that had no cores couldn''t fight against. However, after the elites of the human race formed their Martial Masters, they would be able to produce Martial Master phenomenons. The immensely powerful phenomenons, these mysterious arts could enable them to fight against demons! From the point where they were enved in the primordial era to their rise in the ancient era, the training methods of the various ideologies of the mortal, modern races had matured for a long time. The rise of the human race was definitely not due to luck! "With this act, I have already severed my karma, it''s time for me to leave." Ward Atrez left a single remark and did not linger further, soaring into the skies before speeding into the distance. "Young Master Atrez!" The old heavenly swan called out hurriedly when she noticed that. In the eyes of the younger generation, Ward Atrez was a cold and indifferent old monster. However, more than a thousand years ago when he joined Azure Myst Sect, he was still a child. The old heavenly swan had seen him grow up and advance step by step. Ward Atrez''s figure staggered for a brief moment but did not turn back. He continued heading forward and disappeared into the horizons before long. When he saw that, Aiden came to a sudden realization. The reason why Azure Myst Sect lingered so long in Azure Myst Sect after the battle was not merely because of him. Ward Atrez was worried about the old heavenly swan''s safety and was actually defending her in silence here! Given Ward Atrez''s character, he would definitely not admit to something like this. The old heavenly swan had a conflicted expression and sighed gently. Aiden could vaguely sense that there was something more as to why Ward Atrez betrayed Azure Myst Sect and joined the fiend sect, Asura Sect, more than a thousand years ago. The old heavenly swan turned and transformed into a middle-aged redheaded beauty. She had blushed fair skin and looked to be in her early thirties. Waving her arm casually, her robes extended thousands of feet away and brought Aiden before her instantly. "Congrattions, senior!" Aiden was truly ted when he saw that the old heavenly swan was able to break free from the shackles of heaven and earth and extend her lifespan. With the addition of a new Lesser God expert, itinerant martial artists in the territory of would definitely want to join Azure Myst Sect in the future and the rise of the sect was certain. "No. In reality, I should be the one thanking you." The old heavenly swan smiled and looked towards a spot in the forest outside of Azure Myst Sect. "Just from the fact that you showed up, as well as he did Someone special must have sent a message for Young Master Atrez to arrive in time. I suppose that has something to do with you?" Aiden remained silent. "I don''t have any biases towards the ''evil'' sects. Head over there and take a look, someone has been waiting for you for a long time," The old heavenly swan pointed to a deep portion of the forest and said with a smile. "Alright." Aiden smiled and activated his internal energies vanishing from where he stood and turning into a blur, speeding towards the forest in the next moment. In the depths of the forest, a pink figure stood upright with ck hair that fell like a waterfall. Her long dress entuated her curvy figure to its best. The veil on the girl''s face had already been removed and she was smiling towards his direction with a peerlessly wless face. "Thank you for that." Aiden was silent for a long time after arriving before finally speaking. "Pfft!" Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa could not help but stifle augh. Blinking her eyes, she skipped around gently and closed in to Aiden yfully. A fragrance wafted over. Their cheeks were extremely close together and Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa asked with a sweet breath. "How are you going to thank me?" With that said, she bit her cherry lips in a seemingly dissatisfied manner and looked at Aiden expectantly. He lowered his gaze with the calmness of an old monk. Not daring to meet with her gaze, he took a step back instead. After not seeing her for half a year, Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa''s charm techniques had gotten even more terrifying. Aidenmented to himself, "Seems like she has gotten quite a few opportunities in the Ancient One''s Pce back then as well." "Alright, I won''t tease you anymore." Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa returned to normal and chuckled before remarking with a rxed tone, "You don''t have to thank me since you''ve saved me before as well." Aiden heaved out a sigh of relief. After a brief silence, Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa whispered, "You offended so many people in the Ancient One''s Temple''s battlefield before, why didn''t you join the fiend sects together with Senior Asura? Although he is cold, indifferent and doesn''t care about rtionships, I can tell that he seems to treat you rather specially." Aiden shook his head. Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa continued, "There''s another 20 years to go before the intermediate ancient battlefield opens up. Azure Myst Sect doesn''t have the strength and isn''t able to break through the barriers to enter the intermediate ancient battlefield as well. At that time, remember toe look for me. I''ll bring you in." "We''ll discuss it again. In any case, there''s 20 more years to go. There''s no hurry." "I''ll make a move first?" "Yes." Seeing that Aiden had no intention of asking her to stay, Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa was secretly frustrated and harrumphed gently in a begrudging manner. She had just turned around when his voice sounded, somewhat hesitantly. "What''s the meaning of the Pure Maiden Sect''s mate?" Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa''s back was facing Aiden and a hint of shyness flickered through her eyes. Hiding it swiftly, she turned around with a fake smile. "What do you think it means?" There was a saying in the martial world that mates were members of the opposite sex captured and used by evil martial artists to increase their power realms. They would use these vessels, these hosts to do a secret technique by using the captured internal energy during an intercourse to replenish their own or vice versa. These mates were akin to ves and most of them ended up in miserable states, dying from aplete exhaustion of their own essences. Chapter 882 882 - Growing Naturally, Aiden had heard of that saying before. However, he did not believe that the Pure Maiden Sect''s tripod was the same thing. "I don''t know" He shook his head. Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa smiled. "Hehe they are naturally used for growing stronger!" When he saw that Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa clearly did not wish to borate, Aiden did not question further. "I''m going!" She waved to Aiden with her back facing him. "I''ll tease you again next time." Gazing at Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa''s departing back view, Aiden took a deep breath of air and turned to leave as well, heading towards Azure Myst Sect. This time round, he intended to enter seclusion to try and form his core upon returning! Aiden wanted to form his cores for both his immortality and demonic cultivations! Nighttime. Azure Myst Sect, a cave abode. Aiden assumed a sitting, meditative position and his eyes were shut. He had already sat there for several hours without budging like a statue. Although it seemed like he did not make any progress, Aiden was making preparations to ensure that nothing went wrong. He was getting ready for the push. There were only 12 words in the first sentence of the Core Formation section. One had to stay calm, his or her mind serene, and free of the worldly obtrusions. That was the first and most important step to core formation. An active mind was like a monkey, unable to keep still. The fluctuations of emotions was like overactive stamina, running wildly. One had to conquer the monkey mind and overactive stamina with unparalleled determination and even subdue dragons or tigers if necessary! All things were connected. In the top sects, one would achieve a pure mind by adhering to the extremities of silence. In the religious factions, one would chant their holy scripture promations and refrain from speaking. In reality, all of those were guiding one towards calming the storming mind and the overactive stamina of one''s intents! For young people, they were inexperienced and emotional. As such, it was the most difficult for them to calm the ''monkey'' mind while meditating. Older martial artists have been through endless events and are jaded towards the world. As such, it besparatively easy for them instead. Although Aiden was not old and he had meditated for less than 30 years by now, he had been through endless ups and downs in life and wandered around the boundaries of death as well. His mind was resolute and could not be moved. Often, he treated things with humbleness and took care of the overall picture, paying keen attention to things. He took things in his stride and did not overly meddle. Subconsciously, he was already suppressing his monkey mind and the overactive stamina while subduing dragons and tigers with supreme determination! After entering meditation, the first few sections of the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual revolved through his mind in an unhurried motion thoroughly. It went from the beginning, Body Tempering, to Tendons Transformation, Bones Strengthening, Marrow Cleansing, Organs Refinement, then to the Orifice Cleansing section There was a remark in the Core Formation section: "Focus your energy to the five organs and consume the seven lights!" The seven lights referred to the seven orifices. As time flowed, countless nights passed by in the blink of an eye. Within the cave abode, the wild, untainted essence that was surrounding Aiden intensified and his seven orifices shone with a bright, almost divine radiance. His skin, flesh, tendons, bones, marrow, organs and seven orifices formed a perfect Major Heavenly Cycle, circting endlessly. Gradually, the wild, untainted essence outside his body started converging towards the center of his chest. After Martial Practitioner and Martial Knight, martial artists would enter the so-called Core Formation semi-stage, and eventually, a new small Crystal Core would be created an inch beneath their naval, officially marking their entrance into the realm of the true powerhouses of the world, the Master Masters and above. But now, the location of Aiden''s vital essence for his Primal Core was clearly different! It was at the center of his chest, extremely close to his heart. One could say it was an extension of it. The golden-colored, wild raging essence was limitless and boundless, converging towards his chest repeatedly while swirling, as if a massive vortex was about to materialize! Be it for beasts, demons, or any other mortal race, core formation was always the most critical step of their martial path! This was a sort of finale towards their earlier path of the martial way. After forming a core, it would be the first time they truly broke free of the shackles of heaven and earth, increasing their lifespans. If they failed, everything woulde to an end! Aiden was motionless and his ck hair swayed without any wind. A series of ancient figures, silhouettes were conjured around him, baring their ws and fangs with a menacing ferocity as their eyes shimmered with a red gleam. All of those ancient apparitions paused for a brief moment before being sucked into Aiden''s chest by that golden vortex! Aiden''s aura was turning increasingly terrifying! Under the shroud of the scarlet vortex, his body underwent another baptism and transformed once more. His flesh started expanding and his bones and veins shook and buzzed, as though metal was shing. Twitching violently, his major tendons gave off snapping sounds like thunder and it was shuddering! "Hmm?" At the back mountain from Ethereal''s main peak, the old heavenly swan felt something and jolted awake from her meditation session. A bit more than a few days ago, Azure Myst Sect experienced a cmity and suffered immense losses. Up till now, many martial artists were still healing and had not recoveredpletely. Even though the old heavenly swan was in a closed door session to consolidate her newfound realm, she was paying attention to any activity within the sect''s territory with keen eyes. Right now, she was in the Lesser God realm and her strength had grown immensely. Her Essence Spirit''s cultivation had also deepened as well. When released, her spirit consciousness could travel thousands of kilometers away and every single slight activity would be noticed by her! She sensed the strange situation on Aiden''s side a long time ago. "What a strong aura. He''s about to break through!" Although the old heavenly swan was at the back mountain, her spirit consciousness engulfed Aiden''s cave abode, and saw everything clearly. As time passed by, the shock in the old heavenly swan''s eyes deepened. "Even a pure-blooded ferocious beast doesn''t have such a strong ferocious technique within its lineage memories!" She murmured to herself sternly. "Thisd truly has too many secrets on him." Even with her experience, she could not see through all the secrets. They were things that she could notprehend even at her martial realm! How could a mortal cultivate a technique meant for demonic beasts? In the primordial era where the thousands of races reigned, an apocalyptic battle broke out and countless races were destroyed, going extinct. The races that remained formed a massive group that became known as the demons to theter generations. Therefore, there were many different types of demonic beasts and birds, beasts, flora, fishes, and even insects were considered as part of it. A massive bear that was as big as a mountain could be considered as a demonic beast. However, the same could be said for an ant as tiny as a speck of dust or even a de of grass in the forest! There were many legends in the martial world of grasses and wood obtaining spirits and gaining the opportunity to reach higher realms of existence. The myriad of varieties meant that every single demonic beast had a different body structure and it was even more different whenpared to the other races. For example, floral demonic beasts did not have skin, flesh, tendons, bones, or organs. Bulls had four hooves and two horns while snake demons had no legs nor horns The old heavenly swan truly could not imagine how there would be a demonic beast technique that any mortal person could train in this world, let alone one that was so terrifying! Unless, there was a single possibility. It was a technique that retained all the essence of various martial techniques. By sieving out the portions that were suitable for a mortal to cultivate, one couldbine all of those together! However, that was a massive project and would require unimaginable effort and focus! Even the ancient emperors wouldn''t be able to do it. Who was it who could have created such a martial technique? What was the point of this martial technique''s existence? Could this terrifying being have spent endless effort and hard work just to create this demon martial technique to impart to Aiden? The old heavenly swan fell into deep thoughts. It was pitch-ck within the cave abode. Suddenly. Aiden opened his eyes and it was extremely sinister, like two shes of lightning streaking through the dark night! *Swoosh!* He stood up and his flesh expanded. His bones shifted with a series of cracking sounds and his entire body grew, as though he was about to break through the clouds! It was akin to the rise of a massive ancient demon in the darkness! *Bang!* *Boom!* *Boom!* Aiden''s body continued growing endlessly and his head was almost bursting through the ceiling of the cave abode. The entire ce shook as though it was about to copse at any moment. Chapter 883 883 - A New Realm Broken rocks fell on Aiden''s head continuously but he was perfectly fine! For someone such as Aiden, theyout of this cave abode he was given aspensation for his assistance was already simr to that of a Martial Master. It was spacious and had a high ceiling. Without the use of external objects, Martial Masters could soar through the air and reach a hundred feet in height. Naturally, the height of the cave abode had to be more than a hundred feet! What was a hundred feet akin to? It was simr to a building with ten levels! Now that Aiden was breaking through the roof of the cave abode, it meant that his body had already grown to the height of a hundred feet! Energy surged into his body endlessly and gathered around his chest. His body expanded rapidly and caused his flesh to tear open, creating bloody mists. His bones were cracking non-stop and even his major tendons were being extended to their limits! Aiden was covered in his own blood. His immensely strong regeneration abilities were healing his injuries repeatedly. Healing after being destroyed, healing after being destroyed The cycle continued. The aura that was given off by his body was turning increasingly terrifying! The process of his flesh tearing and regenerating was extremely unendurable C Aiden was undergoing unimaginable torment! A long timeter, finally unable to hold it in, he slouched his spine and opened his mouth, revealing veins that burst forth from his neck as he let out a thunderous roar from the depths of his throat! "Roar!" It sounded like a dragon and another demonic beast, mayhaps a tiger spreading through the entire ce and shocking the world! Night was the time for birds and beasts to roam and hunt for food and their roars and cries could be heard everywhere. However, after Aiden''s roar, all the mountains nearby fell intoplete silence! The old heavenly swan jolted awake from her thoughts and her heart skipped a beat. The be of the old heavenly swan shone and she released her spirit consciousness swiftly, forming a pitch-ck light barrier that isted Aiden''s cave abode from the outside world; no one could check on him using their eyes or spirit consciousness. Aiden''s current level of power must not be revealed yet. Martial artists bore a deep-rooted grudge towards those not following the set and guided path and that was a fact that was difficult to change. If they knew that Aiden was undergoing such a vicious unknown transformation, the other martial artists of the sect would not be able to ept it. Themotion it would cause would be too great. Many Martial Grandmasters and Martial Masters were rmed. Thinking that a strong foe had arrived, they came forth from their cave abodes one after another despite the fact that their wounds were not fully healed. Gazing over, everyone caught sight of a light barrier and could not see what was going on inside. "Leave first and continue healing up. There''s nothing important happening here." The old heavenly swan''s voice rang in everyone''s mind. All the Azure Myst Sect martial artists heaved a sigh of relief and returned, albeit with slightly confused gazes. Everyone had heard that roar loud and clear. Even the Martial Grandmasters of the sect felt their hearts skip a beat! "What sort of demonic beast was that? It sounds terrifying." "I don''t know, but its background shouldn''t be simple." "It should have been taken down by senior crane." Many martial artists of the sect discussed in hushed whispers as they went their separate ways. They could not see that the cave abode that was within the pitch-ck light barrier had already copsed. In the rumbling dust, a towering figure more than a hundred feet tall stood. Unknowingly, Aiden''s clothes had already been torn apart, revealing defined bronze muscles that shone with a metallic luster. Blood vessels surfaced on his body one after another as the golden veins lined the entire ce in a terrifying sight, as though snakes made out of pure essence were crawling everywhere! This was a body that could be described as perfect! A round ball of blood was swiveling inside Aiden''s chest, beside his heart, and emitting a rich, wild and pure essence C A new core, smaller than his previous, a small crystal emerged inside him! A new core, an Inner Core was formed! Inner Core formation, sess! Sensing the incredible amount of wild power that was revolving around him, Aiden felt incredible! A blood-red Inner Core swiveled slowly within his chest. Aiden could barely contain the joy in his eyes and merely gripped his fists gently. With every single action he took, he could sense the massive powering from each part of his body that seemed to be able to crush mountains! It was a leap in quality! Aiden withdrew a supreme-grade longsword from his storage space and injected a sliver of his own energy into it. The sword shone brightly with a cold intent. Aiden flicked the de with his finger gently. *Buzz!* The de quivered. The sh of his flesh and a supreme-grade de of the longsword had actually caused the sound of metal shing to be emitted! Circting his internal energy fully, the essence sea in Aiden''s original Primal Core surged and unleashed his full power. He took a deep breath of air and with a zing gaze, struck the supreme-grade long sword heavily against his arm! *ng!* The flying sword was repelled. His arm waspletely fine. Although Aiden had not managed to cultivate to the Martial Master realm in his training yet, he was at the legendary Extreme Martial Knight realm. At his current state of power, his strength wasparable to an early-stage Martial Master. Right now, the sword did not even leave a single mark on his arm! Even the old heavenly swan was shocked when she saw that. The most resilient parts of a demon''s body were mostly their fangs and ws. If a supreme-grade long sword couldn''t even prate Aiden''s flesh, a perfect artifact weapon might not be able to hurt his bones as well! If that was the case, it was even less likely that his organs could be injured. The old heavenly swan was certain that Aiden''s body was even stronger than pure-blooded ferocious beasts at Martial Master realm! That was because she was a pure-blooded ferocious bird herself. Aiden had just formed his Inner Core and yet, he was already in possession of such a terrifying physique. If he were to continue increasing his power and arrive at the limits of core formation The old heavenly swan did not dare to imagine. *Piak!* Right then, a crisp sound rang out from Aiden''s cave abode! The old heavenly swan''s pupils constricted and her heart skipped a beat. Aiden was holding onto the dim shards of a broken sword with both palms. The supreme-grade long sword from earlier on was snapped by his bare hands! "This" The old heavenly swan was a little stunned and her eyes widened while her mouth opened. As she looked at the enigma that this boy''s entire being was, she could not help butment, "Thisd''s physique is probablyparable to those legendary beings by now." "He is truly a monster!" The old heavenly swan could not help but add another remark mentally. Compared to Aiden and Night Spirit, her bloodline as a pure-blooded ferocious bird was akin to the bloodline of a domestic fowl In the cave abode. Looking at the broken sword in his palms, Aiden thought about that fateful night when he was sent into this world. Whilst it was just a few months ago, to him, it felt like an entire eternity had passed. He had no idea how his loved ones, his family, and friends were doing. Besides sensing that they were okay through their shared connection, he had no information about them whatsoever. Still, he hade a long way. His original goal has now been aplished, and he has gained a newfound source of strength. A new path that he could embark on, and grow more powerful whilst he continued to search for his people''s, the Primal''s traces. "Aiden." Suddenly, the voice of the old heavenly swan sounded within the cave abode. "Don''t get distracted. You have just formed your inner core and you have to continue to stabilize your new realm!" Aiden jolted awake. It was only at that moment that he realized how much of a mess his breakthrough had created. His cave abode had already copsed and dust was rumbling everywhere as debrisid on the ground. The reason why the other martial artists were not rmed was due to the pitch-ck light barrier in his surroundings. Aiden bowed hurriedly. "Thank you, senior." He shocked himself with hisment. His voice had changedpletely! It was loud as a bell and robust, enough to shake one''s mind! The old heavenly swan said gently. "You have to control the power of your Inner Core to a point where it''s natural. Otherwise, how are you going to be able to face other people? Even your voice will be enough to scare them." Chapter 884 884 - Preparation Aiden nodded and did not dy it any further. Shrugging his massive body, he assumed a meditative position once again and continued with his session. After forming a core, stabilizing his martial realm and controlling the power of his Inner Core was rtively simpler and did not carry any risk. All he had to do was spend time to feel the Inner Core and familiarize himself with it while getting ustomed to the many changes to his body. At that time, his martial power realm would stabilize gradually as well. As time passed by, the phantoms of the seven demon kings surrounding Aiden gradually faded. His body was shrinking as well. The wild energy surrounding him gushed into his chest continuously. In the blink of an eye, another day had passed. Morning, daybreak. A ray of sunlight broke through the mist andnded on a clear and elegant face. His ck hair fell casually like a waterfall and swayed gently by itself. The man''s eyes were closed and the sunlight moved slowly around his body until he was shining from head to toe. Against the shroud of the sunlight, his body shone with sparkles and was as shiny and wless as jade. The man resembled a deity that had just entered the mortal realm and was in a pure silence. That was a true transformation! All of a sudden! The man opened his eyes and two divine lights shone in a dazzling manner that was even more intense than the sunlight! However, the divine lights faded swiftly as well. Calmness returned to his eyes. Lowering his head, the man looked at his body that had returned to normal, and nodded in satisfaction. Retrieving a new, clean set of gray robes from his storage space, he wore them was more. The man was Aiden who had just formed his core. Right now, he was already able to master the power of his Inner Corepletely! As long as he did not make use of the power of his Inner Core, even if he channeled his bloodline, Aiden''s body would not change in an obvious manner. Before he knew it, the isting pitch-ck light barrier set by the old heavenly swan had already disappeared. Aiden rose and took a deep breath of air, relishing the freshness of the mountains. His entire body was rxed and every single one of his pores seemed to have opened up. His cave abode had already turned into ruins and he couldn''t stay in it any longer. Rising slowly, Aiden flew past the ruins and headed outside without a sound. "Hmm?" Suddenly, Aiden''s gaze shifted and he eximed softly, pausing in his tracks subconsciously. Outside the ruins, a young girl sat on the ground hugging her knees. Her features were exquisite and she had golden hair, but it was messy and had many curls. She had not rested for a long time and the girl looked extremely fatigued. Leaning on a cold b of rock beside the entrance of the ruins, the girl was snoozing. Aiden pondered and understood what happened. He had created such a hugemotion with his core formation that it must have rmed many people. Because of everything that happened, Lady Pyre was worried, she guarded the entrance and was unwilling to leave. She was dirty all over and her petite face was filled with specks of dust. However, they could not conceal her moving and peerless features. Perhaps the sunlight was blinding, or perhaps she sensed something after Aiden red at her for a long time, Lady Pyre''s eyelids twitched and she opened her eyes, stirring awake. "Ah!" She eximed and blushed slightly when she saw Aiden looking at her from nearby with a smile on his face. Lady Pyre stood up hurriedly and patted away the dust on her body. Not daring to look at Aiden directly, she remarked in a shy manner. "Uh, I fell asleep by ident." "How long have you been here?" Aiden realized that his voice had already returned to normal and was gentle and warm. "Uhm For the entire time, Young Master" Lady Pyre replied in a meek tone. That warmed Aiden''s heart. It was now more than a full day ago when he had just formed his Inner Core and his cave abode had copsed. Because of his unique situation, and origin, a mere day without rest was nothing much to him and he was still energized. However, it was much more unendurable for a youngdy like Lady Pyre. Aiden said tenderly. "Go back and rest, I''m fine." "Oh." Lady Pyre nodded and continued. "Uhm Master said that your cave abode is destroyed and asked you to relocate to another one." "Huh? Master?" Aiden froze for a moment. Lady Pyre replied merrily. "Elder Swan has epted to take me in as her disciple!" "That''s great." Aiden was delighted and nodded, quipping at her. "With her as your pir of support, there''s no limit of what you can reach!" The old heavenly swan was the most senior and the strongest within this ce, within this sect C Lady Pyre''s future aplishments would be limitless learning from the old heavenly swan directly! "Don''t worry, young master, my cave abode is right beside yours." Lady Pyre exined hurriedly, "You can call for me if you require anything from now on. With a word, I will be ready to help you!" Aiden smiled. "From now on, we''re sect mates. There''s no need for us to get along like before. We are equals!" "That won''t do. If you hadn''t taken me in back then, I wouldn''t be here today. Besides my life is yours! My strength is your strength forever Young Master!" Lady Pyre shook her head and replied solemnly, "Young Master, no matter what martial power realm or status I reach in the future, I''ll always be the same servant by your side." "You''re speaking nonsense again." Aiden chuckled and did not take it to heart. What he did not know was that the nonsense to him was a resolute oath in Lady Pyre''s heart. Aiden remarked. "Let''s go, take me to the cave abode." "Yes." Lady Pyre nodded. The two of them traveled on their flying swords one after another. Along the way, Aiden pondered for a moment and asked in a seemingly casual manner, "Did anything big happen during this period of time?" "Nothing much." Lady Pyre thought for awhile. "There''s just many itinerant martial artists that want to join the sect after all that transpired." Now that Azure Myst Sect had a Lesser God realm expert in their midst and had undergone rebirth through nirvana after the mes of war, their rise was only a matter of time. Those changes were naturally within Aiden''s guess as well. This ce would now be akin to holy grounds in the eyes of this world. Going silent for a moment, he narrowed his gaze and asked. "Iridescent Clouds Pce and True Fire Sect sent people as well?" "That''s right." Lady Pyre nodded. After a brief pause, she continued, "Don''t worry, young master. The other major sects lost their Martial Grandmasters and many of their Quasi-Divine powerhouses, Martial Masters, and Martial Knight martial artists were injured and dead after this battle at Azure Myst Sect. Given the immense losses, they wouldn''t be able to recover within the next thousand years and even then, they won''t be a threat to us." Aiden remained silent. He did not believe that there would no more issues and that these arrogant top factions would remain submissive for too long. The humiliation they suffered were too great after all. Still, Aiden was at Extreme Martial Knight realm. These matters did not matter to him in the end. He was an outsider, that''s tenure was only temporary. Albeit longer than expected, he was still not of this world. Before long, the two of them arrived at two cave abodes. Lady Pyre chuckled. "We''re here. Mine is the right one and yours is on the left, young master." "Alright, go and have a rest." "Alright, call for me if you need anything, young master." Lady Pyre did not reject him because she was truly too tired and left that remark before heading into her cave abode. "Right." As he was left alone, Aiden couldn''t help but ponder on the events that have just happened. The old heavenly swan must have spotted something as well and that was why she chose to take in Lady Pyre as her disciple. Of course, it wasn''t because Aiden suspected Lady Pyre''s intents. Although Lady Pyre hid her background intentionally, she was a simple and energetic skink girl and harbored no evil intentions towards him or Azure Myst Sect. Who didn''t have their own secrets? Aiden had his own as well. He would definitely not tell anybody about his demonic cultivation casually! Taking a deep breath of air, Aiden set the matter aside temporarily. He took a walk around and rxed himself before returning to his new cave abode. He was prepared to continue to formte his power and get ready to ascend to a higher realm! With his Inner Core formed, he was ready to be a true Martial Master! Although he had already formed an Inner Core and his strength had increased exponentially, he did not dare to activate the power of the Inner Core and kill his enemies in his current form recklessly. He could only be considered as a true Martial Master if he entered the Martial Master realm through his closed door meditation! Furthermore, Aiden was excited to see the type of Martial Master phenomenon he would create! Chapter 885 885 - Another Storm’s Brewing Rainbow Clouds Sect, Ash Heap Mountain. An old man in scarlet robes flew through the air without relying on any external objects, descending slowly in front of a cave abode on the middle of a mountain. The sect badge on his waist indicated that he was from True Fire Sect. This was Sezud Nida, a Martial Master of True Fire Sect. A towering ancient tree stood in front of the cave abode with a stone table beneath it. A man in azure blue robes sat solemnly on a stone stool, his long, narrow eyes shimmering coldly. "Brother Cain, why have you called for me so urgently?" Sezud Nida asked the moment hended. The azure-robed man was Mighty Cain Khoren of Rainbow Clouds Sect! Mighty Cain Khoren had a calm expression and took a sip of tea unhurriedly, only speaking after he put down the teacup, "Young Master Sezud, you don''t even know that you''re at death''s door?!" "Ah? Sezud Nida was startled. However, heposed himself in the blink of an eye and shook his head,ughing. "Cain Khoren, what kind of joke is this?" "That Aiden is at Extreme Martial Knight. Given his vengeful nature, do you think he''s going to let us off once he enters Martial Master realm?" Mighty Cain Khoren snorted coldly. Sezud Nida''s expression darkened and he kept quiet for a brief moment. "To be honest, I did think about this after the fight at Azure Myst Sect. However, our sect has already sent people to reconcile with Azure Myst Sect, so there''s nothing I can do about it either." "I can''t possibly head over to Azure Myst Sect singlehandedly, right? What''s the difference betweenmitting suicide if I did that?" After pausing for a moment, Sezud Nida continued, "Furthermore, he is a real Extreme Martial Knight. From the legends! Whoeverys a hand on him will have to suffer the wrath of Azure Myst Sect!" "Others might have their considerations but you and I? We''re different." Mighty Cain Khoren said with a deep voice, "The situation is extremely clear right now. It''s either that wretched boy, that Aiden, or the both of us who dies! We only have a shot at this and we have to be quick about it! Otherwise, there will be a lot more things to ount for once thatd makes a breakthrough to Martial Master realm." Sezud Nida''s gaze shimmered and he took in a deep breath of air after a moment. "Brother Cain Khoren, what do you think we should do then?" "There''s no hurry. I''ve already invited three helpers and they should be arriving soon." Mighty Cain Khoren gestured for Sezud Nida to take a seat and calm down. Not long after, three Martial Masters arrived through the air. In the middle was a skinny middle-aged man with thin lips and a cold expression. On the left was a Martial Master holding a long cloth. His face was plump and he was all smiles. The one on the right was dressed in a martial arts outfit and looked sturdy with muscles bulging like rocks. There was a ferocious auraing from him. Mighty Cain Khoren weed them. Pointing to the Martial Master with a long cloth on the left, Mighty Cain Khoren introduced, "This is the most famous warrior of the Northern Region, Mighty Tom Horl." "This is Master Gao Hu, he''s atte-stage Martial Master and specializes in body tempering." The martial arts man nodded towards Sezud Nida. Finally, Mighty Cain Khoren looked towards the skinny man in the middle and smiled. "This is the renowned Master Assassin Lian Hen alsoing form the Northern Region. At peak Martial Master, he entered the universal phenomenon ranking more than 80 years ago and contested top hundreth spot!" Sezud Nida''s heart skipped a beat. Within this parts of the realm, there were no sects or factions that had the capabilities to break through the barrier of the universal ranking list and send some martial artists in on it. Sezud Nida and the others did not have a chance to witness the Universal Phenomenon Ranking, let alonepete for a spot on it with other martial artists. Lian Hen waved it off and pretended to be humble. "It''s nothing much. After all, I did not manage to obtain a spot on it." "The Universal Phenomenon Ranking isn''t something that can bepared with us. The fact that you''re even qualified topete for a spot on it proves your strength, respected Masters." Sezud Nida praised hurriedly. Mighty Cain Khoren said with a smile as well, "Master Lian Hen missed leaving his name on the Universal Phenomenon Ranking by just a little 80 years ago. For the next Universal Phenomenon Ranking, you''ll definitely be able to rank within the top ten!" "Yes." Lian Hen nodded, pleased with their ttery. He did not have much ties with Mighty Cain Khoren. The reason he came this time round was mainly because he heard that Aiden had a peak artifact weapon! If he could obtain that peak artifact weapon, he would definitely be able to obtain a spot on the Universal Phenomenon Ranking the next time he entered the ancient battlefield! Of course, it was a fool''s dream to want to obtain a top ten spot. The top ten of the Universal Phenomenon Ranking were even more terrifying than the other! Sezud Nida asked, "Right now, Aiden should be in seclusion within Azure Myst Sect and would most likely not appear before he formed a core. Do we have any way of luring him out?" "Yes. I''ve got a young girl, that he cares about, currently being tended to by some mortals. She is young child called Tolliah that he cares about immensely. At most he has one guardian we can take care of." Mighty Cain Khoren dered confidently with narrowed eyes, "If he hears that her life is in danger, he''ll definitelye forth!" Sezud Nida''s eyes lit up and he nodded in agreement. Hearing these information Tom Horl pondered for a moment before saying with a smile. "I''ve got three questions. First, you said that they are easy targets. This seems way too simple. Would he reallye forth just for someone that''s about to die?" "Definitely!" Mighty Cain Khoren''s tone was confident. "Alright, second question." Tom Horl continued. "We can''t set the location at Rainbow Clouds Sect. Otherwise, thatd might not take the bait." "Of course, I''ve already taken that into ount and nned things," Mighty Cain Khoren asserted. Tom Horl nodded before adding. "The third question is that even if he takes the bait, how do we kill him down? The fight at Azure Myst Sect, he, had quite an impact in the martial world. I heard that this Aiden boy is at Extreme Martial Knight realm and has the capabilities to kill Martial Masters beyond his level." "With the five of us Martial Masters attacking together, do we have to fear a single Martial Knight martial artist?" Gao Hu asked darkly. Tom Horl remarked, "It''s not about fear, I''m worried about idents. If he manages to escape, we won''t get a second chance." "His death is certain with me around!" Lian Hen dered coldly. "Everyone, please listen to me." Mighty Cain Khoren said with a dark tone, "This kid is at Extreme Martial Knight realm and has many trump cards up his sleeves. He possesses a strange physique and even has an extremely terrifying secret skill that can go against my Martial Master phenomenon!" Lian Hen, Gao Hu, and Tom Horl''s expressions changed slightly upon hearing that. The rumors were real. A secret skill released by a Martial Knight martial artist could truly go against a Martial Master phenomenon! Even though Mighty Cain Khoren''s Martial Master phenomenon was not considered to be strong, it was still a shocking fact. "Even a lion uses its full might to chase down a rabbit. Since I chose to make a move, I won''t underestimate my opponent, even if the kid is only a Martial Knight martial artist!" Mighty Cain Khoren said darkly, "Fellow Daoist Tom Horl, you have to set up your trapping formations before hand to ensure that thisd doesn''t escape!" "No problem." Tom Horl replied with a smile, "With me setting up the formations personally, even Martial Masters won''t be able to escape!" Mighty Cain Khoren narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Everyone, take a look at what I''ve truly prepared for this kid!" With that said, he withdrew a crystal bottle from his storage bag. There was a scarlet flower that resembled an orchid in the middle of it, giving off a faint fragrance. The other few Martial Masters swept their gazes across and their expressions changed as they retreated one after another. "Blood Cloud Flower!" Lian Hen frowned and asked, "This fiend flower has already gone extinct in the ancient era. How did you get your hands on it?" The Blood Cloud Flower would not cause any direct harm to a martial artist. However, its fragrance had a fiendish power that could lock a martial artist''s spirit energy; even Martial Masters could not defend against it! The Blood Cloud Flower was one of the most famous fiend flowers of the ancient era! Chapter 886 886 - An Opportunity Cain Khoren gave a smirk and replied darkly, "I got my hands on this Blood Cloud Flower from thest auction in Ugburg! I''ve only managed to snatch it after spending a hefty sum, as well as paying tribute to that old bastard!" At the mention of the ''High Priest'' or the ''Old Bastard'', the expressions of the other four Martial Masters changed and they took deep breaths in silence with wary looks in their eyes. A long timeter. Gao Hu said, "Dear friend Cain, why don''t you ask us along the next time you go look for such treasures or when you n to attend another auction in the future. That way, we can look after one another as well." "Heh! It might be quite a while before I will have the chance! This one flower cost me most of my savings as well as some trickery for the old bastard! If I return there I would probably meet a rather grizzly end!" Mighty Cain Khoren remarked with a sense of trepidation, "That bastard is probably still raging at the thought of being fooled. I''d rather not poke that snakes'' den anytime soon!" Tom Horl replied with a bright smile. "It seems like you take this Aiden guy rather seriously don''t you, Fellow Master Cain Khoren? To think that you would be willing to make use of an extinct ancient fiend flower, the Blood Cloud Flower just to deal with him." "Isn''t it excessive to use the Blood Cloud Flower against a Martial Knight martial artist? He is barely more than a snot nosed brat! That devilish flower is best used against Martial Grandmasters after all" Gao Hu asked moodily. The Blood Cloud Flower restricted one''s usage of internal energy absolutely. Putting away the Blood Cloud Flower, Mighty Cain Khoren said coldly. "I''ve already said that even a lion uses its full might to chase down a rabbit! I won''t allow any mishaps to happen for this attack! That kid cannot survive!" Tom Horl nodded. "With the Blood Cloud Flower, the kid''s greatest trump card, his secret skill which allows him to conjure a divine dragon, is now useless." "Furthermore, even if he enters the Martial Master realm, it''s useless! With his spirit energy locked, he won''t be able to use any techniques as a Martial Master and with the formation set up outside, he won''t be able to escape even if he has that strange wings on his body!" True Fire Sect''s Sezud Nida''s eyes lit up and he got increasingly excited as he spoke. "Wings? What wings?" Mighty Cain Khoren sneered, "Don''t forget, he won''t even be able to use his mysterious transformation technique, and spread those big wings at his back with his internal energy locked! He can only stand on the ground and look up to us!" Gao Hu grinned. "In that case, all we have to do is stand in midair and that kid won''t be able to hurt us no matter how many tricks he has up his sleeves or how strong his body is. On the other hand, all of us can just attack him as we want to!" "That''s right." "That''s great!" The five of them exchanged nces andughed with rxed expressions. "Let''s discuss how we want to distribute his treasures after killing him first, lest we get into needless argumentster on," Lian Hen remarked indifferently. "Don''t worry, we''ll go with our initial agreement." Mighty Cain Khoren said with a deep voice, "We''ll give that kid''s dragon summoning mysterious secret skill and peak artifact weapon to Lian Hen as we agreed. His body tempering technique, whatever its name is will be for Gao Hu. His sword techniques he got from the Sword Emperor''s Metal Tree Groove will be for Tom Horl. As for the core in him, they will be for Brother Sezud Nida. My reward would be the despairing look in his face as he dies." "Lastly, we''ll divide the remaining gold, elixirs and artifact weapons he may still have equally among the five of us!" "That''s good!" Lian Hen and the other four nodded delightfully. Gao Hu was a body tempered warrior to begin with and the thing that attracted him the most was Aiden''s body tempering technique. Everyone got what they wanted. Just as everyone was about to leave, Sezud Nida frowned and asked, "I have heard that he has a brother that is the supposed monster sessor of the Holy Fire Ind. Do you have anything for how to tackle the wrath of that beast of a man?" "Yeah that monster has humiliated and killed the top disciples of the strongest sects and ns without remorse. I don''t think he would let the matter go." Tom Horl was calm. "Humph!" Mighty Cain Khoren harrumphed coldly with a glum expression, "You do not need to worry about him. I have everything nned, if he does he would only meet his death!" Sezud Nida and the others felt their hearts skip a beat. From the murderous and cold look on Mighty Cain Khoren''s face, it seemed like he was already prepared for such a matter and was adamant in order to kill Aiden! "That traitor of our kind will be hunted by everyone as soon as he shows his ugly face! We merely need to make sure he can''te unnoticed!" Mighty Cain Khoren narrowed his thin eyes and dered frostily, "I would actually hope for his presence! In that case we could deal with both problems at the same time!" Azure Myst Sect''s grounds, a couple of dayster. Aiden was in a meditative position in his cave abode. His palms rested on both his knees and faced up while his eyes were in a seemingly closed state as he breathed steadily. From head to toe, he exuded an extremely serene intent, akin to an immortal. A long timeter, Aiden opened his eyes and took a long breath, waking up from his meditation. "I still can''t do it I need an opportunity" Aiden shook his head. For the past couple of days, he had been relentlessly meditating, and trying to push his Soul Power whileprehending the Dark de Manual and Asura Saber at the same time as a conclusion to the many secret skills he had obtained after stepping onto this strange journey of his. Although he had to form cores for his unique martial path, they were starkly different. His technique required him to subdue his raging mind and soothe his soul while condensing Soul Power repeatedly. At that point, things woulde together naturally and he could form his Inner Core. However that process required moreprehension and understanding. If he tried forming a core forcefully, it would not only lead to problems easily, the Martial Master phenomenon that he created might not be up to his expectations as well. Therefore, Aiden did not dare to be careless. Half a month ago, he had already reached the limits for his spirit energy and his spirit sea could not expand further. In other words, he was already at the peak of Extreme Martial Knight realm! Given those circumstances, he attempted to form his Martial Master. His martial path up till this point had been overlyplex and apart from all the other techniques, he could only rely on himself, his experiences, and gathered knowledge. However, the differences between his ideas and what were the norm were way too vast. Immortality, the path to divinity ced emphasis on nature and being one with the heavens. However, on the other hand, the dark, so-called ''evil'' path was obsessed about the extremities of things. By nature, the spiritual energy that Aiden cultivated was of the fire attribute. However, many of the martial techniques he had seen and read such as the Void Splitting Manual, Dark de Manual, and the Azure Myst Sect''s Secret Technique were all rted to water. Like in legends, devils, and angels, were irreconcble as was fire and water. After so much time and effort, Aiden still did not manage to cross that gap. If he tried forming a core forcibly, there would definitely be arge problem! "The timing isn''t right. I just can''t do it now." He went deep in thought. On the path towards godhood, if one wanted to break through a major realm, they would often have to require the synergy of multiple factors, such as the environment,prehension of the heaven and earth, fate, and their mental states. Some people gain enlightenment at thekeside. Some people gain epiphany after traveling through mountains and valleys. Some people form their cores in the spur of the moment while they are listening to the wind and looking at rain fall. But of course, there were even more people who died of old age with regrets without even getting to form a core! Rising, Aiden got off his bed gently and murmured to himself with a clear and deep gaze. "Seems like it''s time for me to head out and take a walk." Right then, a soft knock came from his door. Aiden waved his sleeves and the door opened correspondingly. Nora Zell stood at the entrance, gazing in left and right. "What''s wrong?" Arriving beside her, Aiden looked at the gray crystal in her hands and asked softly. The gray crystal was one of the mostmonly seen messaging tool in the martial world and it was a type of talisman, readily avable to martial masters. Nora Zell handed him the gray crystal. "This is for you, young master. It states that it''s from an old friend of yours" Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. There was probably only a single person who knew about his current location and could have messaged him. Still, it was weird that he used such a method and not the one What could have happened? Aiden did a quick check and indeed felt some disturbance in their connection, making his heart skip a beat Receiving the crystal, Aiden slowly poured some of his internal energy into it. In the next moment, a short message appeared in his mind. A familiar woman spoke to him in a troubled manner Chapter 887 887 - Schemes The message was spoken in a faint, sickly voice. Yet, its owner was recognizable to Aiden immediately, making his expression and mood immediately sour and his eyes turn colder by the second. Vast killing intent boiled within him that was ready to explode at a moment''s notice. "Y-young M-master, I''ve failed in assigned task, and have failed to protect little Tolliah and stay safe in the end. During myst session, something unexpected happened that CA-used my power to go wild, *KHO-* and now I am injured. The injuries I am sorry to report but are extremely severe and I am not sure how long I can hold on. I know you are busy with important matters, and I regret to ask you of this but could you pleasee here I do not know how long I can hold on" The voice, in the end trailed off, growing weaker and weaker, as though she couldn''t muster her strength. Aiden''s expression returned to a calmer one after he finished listening to the message and there wasn''t a single bit of emotion in his eyes. In fact this outlook of his was even scarier than before. Out of curiosity, Nora Zell could not help but inch forward to take a look. "''What is it? Did you receive bad news?" She asked, catching sight of the initial sudden outburst and than thisck of responseter on. She did not know what the message entailed but to make this Young Man, this young master to react so intensely and then focus on reigning all that anger back down was a telltale sign that something dire happened. As their savior, Nora Zell wanted nothing more than to be able to help him, to be able to repay at least some of that blessing Aiden has given them during their time of need. Nora Zell hence said, sensing something between the lines with her keen intuition. "Young Master, could this message be forged? It might be a trap!" "No. The voice was definitely hers." Aiden said before sneering. "However, there''s definitely a trap there." It was stupidly obvious. For Dana to rely on such an old fashioned method instead of the mental connection, was a warning in of itself. Someone had to be ordering her to do this, clearly unaware of the fact that they could just use a much more convenient and faster method. The fact her voice was so faint have already made Aiden be wary and angered, but the fact that his little Tolliah, that innocent little angel be in such grave danger, made him be barely be able to contain his rationality and not just burst out all his secrets and destroy everything. Yet he knew that the perpetrator, that was also cleverly hidden in that message, Cain Khoren, that old vicious man during the battle, would became more and more afraid. Therefore, Aiden predicted that Mighty Cain Khoren would definitely make his move! However, there was no chance for Mighty Cain Khoren to do anything if Aiden remained in Azure Myst Sect. Therefore, no matter what kind of message it was, whether it was at Ping Yang Town or anywhere else, Mighty Cain Khoren only had a single motive. to lure him away from Azure Myst Sect! When Nora Zell saw that Aiden was calm and did not lose his cool, she felt relieved. However, immediately after, Aiden''s next sentence rmed Nora Zell. "I''m going to leave the sect for a while." "Ah? Nora Zell frowned and asked, "Young Master, you''re going to continue despite knowing that it''s a trap?" "That''s right." Aiden smiled and gazed into the distance. A breeze blew over and his ck hair swayed gently. As if he was reminiscing, Aiden looked a little emotional and murmured, "It''s just nice that they''re all around. It''s time to make a clean break and settle all the grievances in one go." "However, the other party is prepared and must have set up an imprable trap for you, young master!" Nora Zell had a worried expression as she analyzed calmly, "You''re not at the Martial Master realm yet, young master. There''s truly no need for you to take the risk." "Don''t worry. If the situation doesn''t seem right, I''ll retreat first." Aiden smiled slightly. "Furthermore, I haven''t been getting much progress recently in my attempts in core formation. Continuing that way isn''t going to be helpful and I''ve been meaning to head out as well." Before Nora Zell could persuade him further, Aiden had already vanished in a golden blur and turned into a streak of light, tearing through the void. A couple of dayster In a distant ce. At the dead of the night. It was dead quiet on the streets without anyone around. Within a room in a mansion not far away from the Vige Head''s, everything was pitch-ck. All of a sudden! In the darkness, a pair of eyes lit up and a skinny figure appeared faintly. The person''s ears twitched before whispering, "Someone''s here!" Immediately after, a hushed voice sounded from the side, "Brother Lian Hen, you''re indeed impressively strong. We didn''t even detect anyone at all." As he spoke, another few pairs of eyes lit up in the room as a couple more figures appeared one after another C it was Mighty Cain Khoren''s group of five. Before long, the sound of clothes fluttering through the air arrived at an extremely fast speed. The sound of it definitely indicated that the person was headed for this small vige! The five of them exchanged nces and their killing intents surfaced. Mighty Cain Khoren went to a window and peered outside through a slit. Before long, a gray-robed figure arrived above the residence. His robes were fluttering as he stepped on thin air, standing upright in the air with a calm expression. Mighty Cain Khoren could not help but smirk when he saw that. "He took the bait!" Turning around, he nodded to Lian Hen and the other three. "Are we going to make a move now?" Gao Hu rubbed his palms with a murderous look. He was raring to go. "Let''s wait a little more, there''s no hurry." Mighty Cain Khoren was extremely calm and whispered, "Let''s observe further to see if the kid has any expert on his heels. Otherwise, we might be the ones falling into a trap!" "That''s right." Sezud Nida nodded. "Expert? What expert?" Lian Hen sneered, "If they are Martial Masters, it doesn''t matter how many of theme because I''ll be able to take them down singlehandedly! As for Martial Grandmasters" "Ha, do you guys think that any Martial Grandmasters would be so free as to apany thisd for such a long distance just so he could meet his little girls?" Gao Hu nodded in agreement. "Still There''s nothing wrong with being a little more careful." Mighty Cain Khoren added with a slight frown. Although Aiden had already fallen into the trap and everything was proceeding as nned, for some reason, he felt uneasy as though something was amiss. "Isn''t everything going too smoothly?" A momentter, Mighty Cain Khoren suddenly asked. "Fu!" Lian Hen could not help but stifle a chuckle and shake his head. "Cain Khoren, you''re truly overly suspicious. We''ve nned this for so long with so many backups, what are you still worried about?" "I have no idea as well." Mighty Cain Khoren shook his head. He could not help but have this sense of dreadful feeling, this sensation deep inside that did not let his mind be at ease As if something was strange As he thought about it, he thought about how Aiden yed him like a fiddle in front of everyone back at the battle How his elder brother destroyed his disciples below the Ancient One''s Temple, he couldn''t help but be nervous. "This kid is so difficult to deal with. How is he falling for this so easily?" Mighty Cain Khoren was still worried. With a cold expression, Tom Horl asked with a hushed voice, "When you saw him earlier on, what was his martial realm?" "He should be at the peak Martial Knight realm." Mighty Cain Khoren was the first to freeze after replying. The other four could not help butugh as well. "Perhaps I''m overthinking it." Mighty Cain Khoren chuckled. "Since he''s at the Martial Knight realm only, there''s truly nothing to worry about." "Even without everything we''ve prepared, if the five of us rush up, it''ll be nothing much for us to take down a Martial Knight martial artist!" Gao Hu grinned. The sky above the lonesome looking mansion. Aiden stood upright in the air with ridicule in his eyes. If Aiden wanted to, with his heightened senses he could even listen to the sounds of ants crawling underground and mosquitoes buzzing within a thousand feet loud and clear, let alone the whispers of Mighty Cain Khoren and the others. Initially, Aiden had the intention of rushing over to kill Mighty Cain Khoren and the other four instantly. Chapter 888 888 - Certain Death? However, Aiden''s gaze soon shifted towards the courtyard currently just beneath him and his eyes turned slightly cloudy. It was cold and quiet in the entire mansion and of all the smaller houses as well as the big one around the courtyard, only two of them seemed to be slightly upied. The person in the room to the south had a racing heartbeat, panting in a seemingly nervous manner C from his vital essence it radiated, it was a younger girl who had never fought or trained before. His essence was pure and faint. If he was not wrong, that should be Tolliah. In the room to the west, there was an intense twilight aura and the person within it had weak and faint breathing. This person''s aura was faint, and his essence was slowly, but surely escaping her. If this continued, she would not have very long left to live. Twitching his nose, Aiden caught a whiff of medicinal fragrance. The person in the room was severely injured and was beyond cure! Well, at least by normal means As his servant, Aiden had other means to get her back to a stable state. "How could this be?" Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. To him, since the voice on the gray message crystal was authentic, it meant that Madam Dara was either in cahoots with Mighty Cain Khoren which he refused to believe, and everything that was written was all a ruse just to lure him here... or there was something more sinister at y here. If the former was the case, why was Madam Dara truly on the brink of death and in such a dire situation that was beyond any saving from this world? Even the holiest of the light''s attendants would not be able to cure her now. Only by using the heaven-defying system and the magical connection would Aiden be able to directly infuse his own Primal energies, his [Soul Power] into her body and secure her. Nothing else would work. Besides him, Aiden was fairly certain that even The Ancient One, the strongest entity in this dying realm, would be utterly helpless. The only issue was that once he did that, he would have to remove all the shackles he had proposed on himself and ruin everything that he had worked for so far In that instant, two possibilities shed through Aiden''s mind. First was the most unlikely one, was that Madam Dara wanted to trick him here despite her impending death and everything they did together so that she could drag him down with her. That was highly unlikely, considering her nature. Second, whatever happened, was beyond her control and she was either ambushed,or tricked, causing her inner core to go wild and wreak havoc in her body. Aiden had a conflicted expression and sighed gently internally. At that moment, he already had an answer in mind. Taking a deep breath to calm his mind, Aiden slowly descended slowly and silently into the courtyard. He headed forward and pushed the door open. Instantly, he was weed with a suffocating medicinal smell. Within it was a hint of a woman''s fragrance and a faint flowery scent. Frowning, Aiden strode inside. A womanid down on the bed silently with her eyes shut. Her face and lips were pale and she was covered in arge nket, breathing weakly. Arriving before the bed, Aiden looked at the woman quietly without any joy nor sadness internally. The woman was reeking with the aura of death. Her pulse was weak and her organs were starting to fail. She was truly beyond any means of saving. Her fate should be decided already Aiden could only sigh and ponder what to do. Obviously, he could not let her die when he had the means. Yet, by doing so, he would ruin everything he did so far. Ideas and possible work around solutions shed through his mind as he pondered on the best course of action Probably sensing something, Madam Dara''s eyelids twitched and she opened her eyes slowly. The pair of brilliant and moving eyes from Aiden''s memories were now empty and lifeless with a cloudy shade. Her gaze was seemingly dazed, as though she could not adapt to the environment. Arriving at Aiden''s face, her stare lingered for a long time before her eyes gradually widened, shimmering with a glint of light. Madam Dara looked slightly more spirited as well. "You''vee, Young Master" Her lips twitched as she revealed a smile. However, she did not have much strength left and even her voice was as soft as a mosquito. "What happened?" After remaining silent for a long time, Aiden finally asked with a calm tone. "I I wanted to catch up with you, Young Master. I was in too much of a hurry to try and form my core. Sigh, there''s no way it would be so easy to form a core" Madam Dara chuckled bitterly. "My foundation wasn''t stable and I lost control of my internal energy, causing my spiritual vessel to sever. Hence, I failed in my core formation, nearly losing my life. In the end, a strange, old man came and h-helped me." At the mention of the ''kind old man'', Madam Dara nced at Aiden. When she saw that thetter was expressionless and wasn''t bothered by it, she continued. "Since I knew that I didn''t have much time left, I wanted to at least inform you as FAST as possible." She added, giving an extra push to the words at the end, hoping that her hints would go through. Aiden remained silent whilst she was exining, but a hint of coldness shed across his gaze. His anger, his rage, which he kept under wraps for now, was slowly growing more and more heated, threatening to escape his body at any moment. Madam Dara murmured, "I know that I owe you too much, Young Master. T-The fact that you''re willing toe see me and listen to me is enough for me to leave without regrets." Aiden surveyed the room and finally, his gaze lingered on a scarlet flower that was on the wooden table beside the bed, frowning. "This flower" He narrowed his eyes, seemingly pondering about something. All of a sudden! A cold voice sounded from the void outside the door. "Activate!" The moment the voice ended, a bedazzling light shone outside, bright as day. It was the light of formation patterns! Aiden though not that well-wersed, knew a thing or to about the subject, thanks to her time with the Azure Myst Sect. Even without heading out to take a look, he could sense the aura of a massive formation being activated. Madam Dara had a stunned expression, not understanding what was going on. The next moment, the entire room was ripped apart by a tremendous power, causing dust and gravel to fly everywhere. "Hahahaha!" An arrogantughter rang in the courtyard, reverberating endlessly. When she heard thatughter, Madam Dara asked in disbelief with a shocked expression. "Y-you?" Aiden turned around,pletely unaffected. After the dust settled, five Martial Masters could be seen in a line in the skies above the courtyard, bearing sharp gazes and murderous intent. Rainbow Clouds Sect''s Mighty Cain Khoren was among them! "Y-you guys" Madam Dara''s lips quivered and the shock in her eyes vanished gradually; she did not continue speaking. Instead in the next moment, as if a switch was yed, his expression shifted into that of deep sneer and mockery. "You have made the greatest mistake of your lives!" Surprised by the sudden shift, Mighty Cain Khoren red at the ''dying'' woman and remarked coldly. "You stupid hag! If I didn''t need you to act as a lure for this bastard, you and that little brat of yours would be dead a long time ago!" "It was all thanks to you, that we finally got our wish! Now you can die in peace!" Madam Dara, just looked at the old man in silence, the sneer not leaving her face despite her growing weaker by the second. By now, Madam Dara could no longer feel the paining from her body. Yet, despite that, she did not lose consciousness strangely From deep within her soul, through their shared connection, a minuscule amount of warmth, that incredible energy, her master''s precious vitality kept on slipping in, undetected by these Martial Masters at all. Unaware of what was going on, and sure of himself and his ns, Mighty Cain Khoren looked at Aiden and asked with a slight frown. "Arrogant brat, even now you don''t seem to be surprised?" Sezud Nida stroked his beard andughed smugly. "You don''t have to fake yourposure. I''m sure you must be frightened to death by now, right?" "Hahaha! Do you think that the five of you along with this lousy array formation is enough to scare me?" Aiden smiled as well. Below the Ancient One''s Pce as well as in the Ancient Burial Grounds, he was in a much deadlier situation going against the paragons of the topmost factions alongside their Guardians! "LIES!" "He truly doesn''t know his limits!" Lian Hen, Gao Hu, and the others yelled, exuding their might as Martial Masters to suppress Aiden endlessly. "Aiden, I''m even using an ancient fiend flower just to set this trap and kill you!" Mighty Cain Khoren said coldly, "I''m sure you''ve already realized by now that your spiritual energy has been locked. Your death today is certain!" Chapter 889 889 - Revelations Actually, not long after he entered Madam Dara''s temporary room, Aiden had already realized that his spiritual energy was being restricted and he could not circte it. However, it was already toote for him to leave by then. The power of the Blood Cloud Flower was domineering indeed! At the Extreme Martial Knight realm, Aiden''s internal energy was rich and the structure of this energy, this wild essence was far superiorpared to other Martial Knight martial artists as well. With a single thought, the seas would howl and there would even be massive waves created within his newly formed Inner Core! But now, there was a mysterious fog shrouding his very spiritual sea. The waters were dead without any movement. Mighty Cain Khoren sneered, "With your spirit energy locked, all your trump cards such as that dragon conjuring secret skill and all the rest are useless!" Sezud Nida was smug and burst intoughter. "I heard that you''ve got a strong physique and bloodline? But, what''s the use of that? You can only run on the ground without being able to touch our clothes even! Hahaha!" "I''m Tan Hao, a Formation Master." Waving the long cloth he was holding, Tan Haomented with a smile, "This is merely a trap formation and is extremelymon. It can trap Martial Masters for up to five days with ease. As for Martial Knight martial artists hehe, I don''t know. Maybe a year? Ten years? Or perhaps, thirty?" Gao Hu beamed and revealed a menacing smile, dering loudly, "Kid, don''t be afraid! I heard that you''re strong in meleebat! I''ll head over soon and y along with you!" Thud! Unknowingly, Madam Dara had struggled to get out of her bed and she fell down, and knelt in the direction of Mighty Cain Khoren, begging miserably. "Old, Mighty Master, I''m someone that''s about to die. The only wish I have is for you to let him off, please" Madam Dara''s expression was dismal as she knelt to Mighty Cain Khoren. As her jade-white forehead smashed against the ice-cold ground time and again, it was stained red before long. The five Martial Masters were indifferent and unmoved. "Let him off, you say?" As though he had heard something iparably amusing, Mighty Cain Khoren said with a cold stare. "The greatest regret of my life is not killing this little b*stard personally in that battle, and leaving with such humiliation!" Madam Dara''s body swayed and her head spun, as though she could faint at any moment without waking up again. All of a sudden! A firm palm held her by the arm, pulling her up from the muddy ground. Aiden''s gentle voice reverberated in her ears, calm yet firmly. "There''s no need to beg them or kneel down. You do not need to ask those soon-to-be-dead anything. Just rest, my dear." "B-but Young Master, I really didn''t know. I truly didn''t I-I was the one who brought this to you" Turning around, Madam Dara looked at Aiden beside her and sobbed with swollen eyes. Aiden did not look at her as he lowered his head and said, "Although our rtionship has ended, there''s something else I can do for you." Aiden looked at her as he lowered his head and with the same gentle tone he said, "Do not worry my dear. Though your injuries are grave, you will not meet your end today. It might take a while, but you will be back to your old self. After all who will bicker with Pyre?" "What?" Madam Dara asked instinctively. With a soft voice, he replied, "She was missing you, you know. Now she is a disciple, learning more about her own powers and working her best to get stronger so that she could stand proudly with me and with you." Before he finished his sentence, Madam Dara''s eyes were already flowing with tears. In that instant, she seemed to have returned to her memories from the not-so-distant past. Back to that carefree world without any scheming and power struggles. Madam Dara''s vision blurred. The figure before her fused together slowly with that image from her memories. "Young Master" Madam Dara addressed him instinctively and her eyes shone with a glint. She seemed to have recovered quite a bit of energy in her body as well. These were the signs of a final respite before losing consciousness and fainting. It was akin to the final glow of the sunset before dawn broke. In midair, Mighty Cain Khoren and the other four had varied expressions as their gazes shimmered. Lian Hen, Gao Hu, and Sezud Nida did not seem to realize anything. However, Mighty Cain Khoren and Tan Hao felt something vaguely amiss the moment they caught sight of Aiden and were feeling uneasy. Right from the beginning, Aiden was way tooposed! He didn''t look like someone that had fallen into a trap! There were no signs of panic, terror, or dismay in his tone, or demeanor at all! Mighty Cain Khoren recalled every single detail of the n and did not notice anything amiss. He truly could notprehend where Aiden got his confidence from. Raising his head slightly, Aiden looked at Mighty Cain Khoren and said indifferently, "Indeed, your n is perfect without a w. Unfortunately, you didn''t take something into ount" "What?" Mighty Cain Khoren''s heart sank as he asked with a narrowed gaze. "It''s useless even if you lock my spiritual energy, all of you will have to die today!" Before his sentence was finished, Aiden''s eyes shone golden as the sun itself and his lush matte ck hair swayed naturally without any wind. The Inner Core in his chest circted slowly whilst her Primal Core was churning madly, emitting a terrifying ancient and archaic primordial aura. "Hmm?" "Psst!" Cain Khoren and the other four were shocked. "T-this This is impossible! Draconic Essence!" "Not good, he''s not a mortal! He was a dragon all along!" *Crackle!* *Pang!* *Pang!* *Pang!* Aiden''s tendons and bones sounded at the same time as his flesh expanded. Right in front of the five of them, that body that was initially around six foot tall expanded instantly, growing to a height of more than a dozen feet, and kept on growing. He was like a towering ancient draconoid king an ancient humanoid-shaped draconic entity with a torrential killing intent! That terrifying body was filled with golden veins that surfaced densely and it shone with an indestructible metallic luster. Revolving around him were ferocious life-like ancient demons; a wild bovine, a rock bear, an anaconda, a sanguine ape His aura was absolute, as though it could rip everything apart and devour all life! The five Martial Masters were stunned and their minds went nk. Even with his current martial realm and his experience in the intermediate ancient battlefield challenging people on the Universal Ranking, Lian Hen was startled momentarily. Initially, the five of them stood a hundred feet above the air and looked down at that ant-like martial artist. But the next moment, a pair of bronze eyes appeared before the five of them, ring coldly with a menacing aura. Every single breath caused a hurricane to howl! What kind of monster was this? That was the only thought in the five of their minds. Before they could react, that monster before them grinned and revealed two rows of sinisterly sparkling teeth. Without a second word, Aiden reached out with his massive palm and engulfed Tan Hao over the head, as though he was about to cover the entire skies. He grabbed downwards! Tan Hao sped away but he was a step toote at the end of the day and could not manage to get out of Aiden''s reach. "Pfft!" Flesh and blood sttered everywhere! Tan Hao did not even manage to make a single sound before he was minced into a fog of blood without any corpse left! "Run!" Gao Hu was scared out of his wits and turned to flee. "Roar!" Aiden was right behind Gao Hu and took a deep breath, puffing his chest. Immediately after, he opened his mouth and let out a deafening roar! The ancient dragon silhouette that surrounded Aiden opened their mouth as well, roaring into the skies with a terrifying might that threatened to shake the mountains and quake the earth! "Ah!" Caught within it, Gao Hu yelled tragically and his figure swayed. Fresh blood started flowing down from his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. His face was covered with bloodied lines and his features contorted, causing his eyeballs to bulge out as he fell from the air, no longer breathing. He was roared to death! A Martial Master was roared to death just like that! That single roar contained the terrifying power of the Primal Core. Furthermore, Aiden was not the only one roaring. With the help of the seven demon kings, his roar rippled through the heavens and engulfed everything within thousands of miles! Although the Blood Cloud Flower restricted the spirit energy in Aiden''s Inner Core, it could not contain the power of the Primal Core in his chest! Chapter 890 890 - The Trap… Although the Blood Cloud Flower restricted the spirit energy in Aiden''s Inner Core, it could not contain the power of the Primal Core in his chest! The Inner Cores that was a necessity to pass through the Master stages had nothing to do with the pure and wild Primal energy, the Soul Power. Their cores were formed after Martial Artists meditated and trained their bodies, refined their bones and tendons, swapped their blood in their marrow, tempered their organs, and cleared their orifices. In the blink of an eye, two Martial Masters were dead! Against Aiden in his real, true form, the two of them were defenseless and could not even survive through a single breath! Mighty Cain Khoren and the other two panicked as they turned to flee. However, their expressions changed when they arrived at the borders of the formation. Suddenly, the three of them realized something. Now that Tan Hao was dead, the three of them could not dispel his formation within a short period of time! The reason why Aiden killed the Formation Master, Tan Hao, first was most likely because he had anticipated this. This trap formation was originally prepared for Aiden! Who would have thought that it would end up turning into their graves! They were now doomed by their own trap. Before Sezud Nida could turn around, Aiden''s engulfing palm had already arrived. *Bang!* *Boom!* *Boom!* Rumbling thunder resembling the galloping of horses sounded as the massive aura caused the void to tremble! "Go!" With nowhere to retreat, Sezud Nida withdrew tworge swords from his storage bag and injected his power as a Martial Master into them. Instantly, the swords shone brightly and turned into two streaks of light, shooting towards the iing palm over his head. "True Fire Heaven Incineration!" At the same time, Sezud Nida conjured hand seals and released a secret skill of True Fire Sect. A scorching me burned in his palms. Biting his tongue, Sezud Nida spat out a mouthful of essence blood thatnded in the mes. Immediately, the re shot into the heavens! "Go!" Fiercely, he threw the mes in his hand toward Aiden''s face. "I don''t care what kind of a monster you are, burn! Burn by heaven''s fire!" Sezud Nida yelled with his might as if doing so would suppress the fear in his heart. Aiden''s expression was as cold as ever. Against his dragonic form body, Sezud Nida''s superior-grade artifact swords posed no threat at all! *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* Raising his arm, Aiden grabbed both iing artifact swords and gripped his fist tightly before letting go. The two superior-grade artifact swords shattered and fell to the ground as useless shards. Sezud Nida and the other two were horrified when they saw that. What sort of a body was that? Even a superior-grade artifact weapon couldn''t hurt him! Aiden did not dodge nor avoid when he saw the mes approaching. Opening his mouth, he blew out a massive air current. *Swoosh!* Apanied by a howling wind, his scarlet demonic qi was mystifying and surged over. The mes extinguished immediately. A secret skill from True Fire Sect was extinguished by a single breath of demonic qi from Aiden! "Die!" Roaring, Aiden''s voice was deafening like a bell. Bang! A single palmnded and Sezud Nida''s body was torn into pieces. He died on the spot! "Don''t panic!" Seeing that he had nowhere to run, Lian Hen calmed down rapidly and said in a dark voice. "Cain Khoren, this mess was created by you! Right now, the both of us only have a single way out and that is to kill this b*stard!" "Let''s join forces!" Mighty Cain Khoren gritted his teeth and gulped. "If you''ve got any trump cards up your sleeves, now isn''t the time to continue hiding them. Give it your all!" A look of conviction shed through Lian Hen''s eyes as he swiped his storage bag and withdrew a shiny silver metal chain. "Go!" Hollering, Lian Hen threw the silver metal chain at Aiden''s head. Circling down, it restricted Aiden''s body and tightened repeatedly! From a nce, his golden, draconic energy seemed to be suppressed by the bindings of the silver metal chain and faded gradually. The phantom of the ancient dragon king surrounding Aiden flickered for a moment as well, showing signs of dissipating! Mighty Cain Khoren was delighted upon seeing that and could not help but praise, "Amazing methods, Brother Lian Hen!" Lian Hen heaved a sigh of relief and dered proudly as well, "This was a treasure I obtained in the intermediate ancient battlefield 80 years ago. Although it''s just a supreme-grade spirit weapon, it''s an imitation of the ancient emperor weapon, the Evil Binding Lock, and is especially effective against this monster of a brat!" "Even a pure-blooded ferocious beast will have to bow down and submit obediently if it was trapped by this!" Aiden exerted his strength to try and break free from the silver metal chain. However, as though it was agitated, the silver metal chain bound him even more tightly and even dug into his flesh! "Hmm?" Aiden''s expression changed. "Hehe!" Lian Hen sneered. "Little b*stard, even though this is an imitation of the Evil Binding Lock, it inherited thetter''s powers as well! The more you struggle, the tighter the lock will contract. I''ll advise you not to make things difficult for yourself!" "Brother Lian Hen, don''t waste time talking to him! Let''s kill him now lest he creates trouble for us in the future!" "Alright!" Lian Hen whipped out a cold, shimmering sword a" he was actually a sword martial artist! Mighty Cain Khoren summoned the supreme-grade artifact sword in his hands as well, prepared to control it to slice down at Aiden''s head. "Hahahaha!" Suddenly, Aiden reared his head andughed with a feral gaze. "Do you think that a lousy imitation chain is able to trap me?" *Ssh!* The Primal Soul Energy within Aiden surged wildly and his Primal Core churned fanatically, causing endless power to be released. The phantom of the ancient dragon king stabilized again and its eyes lit up, as though they were just awakened with spirit! "Break it!" Roaring into the skies, Aiden''s flesh expanded once more and his power of Primal Core and Soul Power reached their limits. Instantly, the silver metal chain started buzzing. Lian Hen''s expression changed starkly. Before he could react, there was a loud bang. The silver metal chain broke into dark pieces against Aiden''s supreme demonic strength and turned into a pile of scrap metal. "Die!" With a maddened roar, Aiden took huge strides and arrived before Lian Hen within a couple of steps. He reached out with his massive palm and engulfed thetter. It was heavenly-epassing! After witnessing the terror of Aiden''s physique, there was no way Lian Hen dared to be careless as he gritted his teeth tightly. Channeling the Martial Master in his body, he roared, "Martial Master phenomenon, Heavenly Essence Swords!" *ng!* *ng!* The sound of swords streaking rang through the world and reverberated within the formation. Behind Lian Hen, a massive cyclone made up of iparably sharp swords howled over, connecting heaven and earth like a divine dragon sucking water. Before the Heavenly Essence Swords arrived, Aiden already felt his skin being torn slightly. Martial Master phenomenons were the strongest methods avable for Martial Masters. When martial artists form their cores and their Martial Masters were of a certain quality, they would start harmonizing with the spiritual energy in their surroundings and form phenomenons. The greater the quality of one''s Martial Master, the deeper their understanding of the secret technique of the core, and the more Vital Essence they had, the stronger the Martial Master phenomenon created! Humans were innately weak and at Martial Practitioner and at the Martial Knight realm, apart from some of the strong-body-tempered martial artists, most other martial artists would be dead if they were closed in by demon beasts. However, after they formed their cores, martial artists would have a chance of training Martial Master phenomenons and that would make up for their disadvantage. If they were able to release their Martial Master phenomenons in time during a fight, it would be difficult for demons to go against the might of the phenomenons! Not only that, if the Martial Master phenomenons were strong enough, they could easily take down ancient remnant beasts or even pure-blooded ferocious beasts! For Martial Masters such as the top ten of the Phenomenon Ranking, even pure-blooded ferocious beasts would have to avoid crossing their paths. Lian Hen''s Martial Master phenomenon, Heavenly Essence Swords, was clearly much stronger than any other Martial Master phenomenon that Aiden had encountered. If this was before he had formed his Inner Core, even if he used all his trump cards such as the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual and other secret skills, Aiden might not be able to handle a Martial Master phenomenon with such ease. But now that his Inner Core was formed and was supporting his main Primal Core, Aiden had nothing to fear! Chapter 891 891 - Shameful Defeat There was no one else who understood the true might of the once great Primal''s true power, real terror better than him. Already beforeing to this world, by his own strength alone, he was already able to suppress most other martial artists of the same martial realm. Later on, reaching such new heights, he was almost invincible in the ancient battlefield! Right now, he had formed his Inner Core, the central basis of his martial power. Aiden believed that although he had only just created his Inner Core, given the truth behind his Primal origin, as well as his Ancient Dragonic Heritage he gained from absorbing that mysterious egg back when he woke up, he was certain that he could kill most of the Martial Masters! *ng!* *ng!* *ng!* The cyclone created by the Heavenly Essence Swords was already hurtling towards Aiden''s direction. The demonic glint in Aiden''s eyes pierced into the cyclone like two streaks of lightning. *Boom!* Without avoiding or retreating, he roared from the depths of his throat and extended both hands, receiving the iing sword cyclone with his bare hands! *Poof!* *Poof!* *Poof!* Wounds appeared on Aiden''s palms and arms as the sword cyclone injured him, causing fresh blood to flow. However, after he bled, Aiden turned more excited instead as he grabbed the sword cyclone before him with both arms, as though he wanted to grab this long ''divine dragon'' and suppress it! "You must have a death wish!" Lian Henughed sinisterly and controlled with his will. The Heavenly Essence Swords intensified and the cyclone expanded, engulfing Aiden entirely! "Shred him to minces!" Lian Hen grit his teeth with an excited expression. "I''m going to tear you into pieces!" Normally speaking, any living being that was dragged into the Heavenly Essence Swords cyclone would be cut into pieces. However, it was a pity that Aiden was his opponent. This was someone that was even more terrifying than pure-blooded ferocious beasts! If one could focus their gaze and look into the heavy sword cyclone, they would discover that although there were many wounds on Aiden, none of them were deep. Some of them were merely faint marks. More importantly, even those injuries that were bleeding were recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was as though the wounds were recovering the moment he was injured! Lian Hen''s Martial Master phenomenon did not manage to hurt Aiden at his core! On the contrary, against the Primal Essence, the Heavenly Essence Swords cyclone''s spin rate was turning slower. Every single sword had their strength reduced after they were tainted by the evil fiendish energy. Before long, Lian Hen''s smile gradually froze, as though he was realizing something. *Boom!* There was a deafening sound. The Heavenly Essence Swords scattered. Aiden broke free. Initially, he was still covered with wounds. However, all it took was a few dozens of breaths and those wounds healedpletely without a scar! "This" Lian Hen and Mighty Cain Khoren felt their hairs stand on end as their pupils constricted. "This is imp-" "Is that all you''ve got?" Aiden sneered and strode forward, cutting the shocked man short. Swinging his arm, his massive fist pummeled down from the heavens like a gigantic mountain. A shadow enveloped the ce. Although Martial Master phenomenons were powerful, there was no way someone could activate them twice within a short period of time. Lian Hen did not have time to hesitate as he saw Aiden''s iing fist. Hurriedly, he withdrew a gigantic shield from his storage bag and it floated above his head. Thereafter, he crushed a few protection artifact trinkets immediately. *Bang!* Right after he did that, Lian Hen heard a deafening sound. His shield was repelled! *Creak!* *Creak!* *Creak!* Against Aiden''s fist, his protection talismans were akin to paper and shattered. It''s over, this is where I die! Lian Hen closed his eyes and thought to himself. The next moment, he felt an immense pain surge through his entire body as his tendons and bones were torn apart. With his organs smashed, he fell to the ground, already dead. In the blink of an eye all of hispanions died and Mighty Cain Khoren was all alone. He knew that Aiden had intentionally left him forst! Mighty Cain Khoren continued to soar into the skies, trying to get out of Aiden''s attack range. Aiden''s eyes were filled with mockery. Although he had yet to form his Martial Master, he had formed an Inner Core and could also soar into the skies without the use of external objects! *Boom!* Stomping on the ground, Aiden leaped into the air. By the time he was in midair, Aiden''s body had already returned to normal. As such, his speed increased significantly and he arrived behind Mighty Cain Khoren in the blink of an eye. "Myriad Sunlight!" Sensing the wind behind him, Mighty Cain Khoren released his Martial Master phenomenon without even turning back. The blue skies were suddenly filled with immensely breathtaking sunlight that spread everything in a blinding manner! Unfortunately, Aiden was unaffected because of his immensely powerful vision. Sneering, he threw out a punch. Compared to Lian Hen''s Martial Master phenomenon, Mighty Cain Khoren''s Myriad Sunlight was significantly weaker. *Boom!* With his body and terrifying demonic strength alone, Aiden took the Martial Master phenomenon head-on and shattered the Myriad Sunlight. He was overwhelming everything with brute force! *Poof!* Mighty Cain Khoren''s figure staggered and he spat out arge mouthful of blood. That punch did not merely shatter his Martial Master phenomenon. The aftershock of the punch even followed through with the sunlight and struck him, causing his organs to shift position right away! Knowing that escape was almost impossible, Mighty Cain Khoren turned around suddenly. He did not give up against the iing Aiden and channeled a long sword, piercing it towards Aiden''s direction. *Pshew!* The soaring de streaked through the air and arrived instantly. Without even blinking, Aiden extended his bare hands and grabbed the iing flying weapon directly. Gripping both ends of the flying sword, he snapped it with force! *Piak!* The long sword shattered. Aiden continued advancing. Tossing the flying sword in his hands to the ground casually, he arrived before Mighty Cain Khoren in the blink of an eye. The two of them were in a face-off. Aiden''s expression was indifferent and his gaze was calm. However, Mighty Cain Khoren''s hair was in a mess and he looked wretched with a frightfully pale expression. "Who would have thought that the hunter would be the hunted, and just because of your arrogance and meaningless pride, you will face your miserable end today!" Before he finished his sentence, Aiden reached out for Mighty Cain Khoren''s throat. Mighty Cain Khoren''s expression changed starkly as he raised his hands instinctively before him to defend. Aiden''s gaze turned cold. The moment he touched Mighty Cain Khoren''s arms, he exerted strength forward! *Snap!* Mighty Cain Khoren''s arms were snapped on the spot. Flesh hung from his broken bones that were revealed as blood flowed everywhere in a grisly manner! "Argh!" Shrieking tragically, Mighty Cain Khoren almost fainted. Instantly, cold sweat started pouring from his forehead. Striding forward, Aiden yanked Mighty Cain Khoren''s hair and descended instantly. He dragged Mighty Cain Khoren towards the weak girl, Madam Dara''s gasping figure. With his lifeless arms, Mighty Cain Khoren could do nothing as Aiden dragged him across the mud. The entire battlested for less than a hundred breaths. Standing where she was, Madam Dara looked at everything in a daze and her mouth was slightly agape, unable to close for the longest time. Even knowing so, he still couldn''t believe his Young Master''s truebat prowess! The young man who Mighty Cain Khoren regarded as nothing more than an annoying pest, a little brat, was unexpectedly such an incredible legendary figure! Eight years ago, that young man''s dignity was trampled by Mighty Cain Khoren and he was bullied, even nearly killed by thetter. When he arrived, nobody thought much of him. He infiltrated their kind, his motives were unknown back then. Yet, during their most dire times, when they needed him the most, and be the light in the encroaching darkness, he did so. Willingly, without asking anything but their loyalty and trust in return! During that time, they stood against a force that should have crushed them, turned them into dead meat, or worse ves to their depraved High Priest. Madam Dara could clearly remember chasing after the young man that day, thinking nothing more than to tease that tasty, handsome little skink to y with! Yet, before she realized she was hopelessly mesmerized and became his servant. No. Part of his family. Now that same unyielding young man yanked Mighty Cain Khoren down from the clouds and trampled thetter into the mud of the mortal world! Arriving before Madam Dara, Aiden relented his grip and tossed Mighty Cain Khoren onto the ground. There was yet another yell as thetter convulsed with a pale expression. "Little Bastard, w-what are you trying to do?" Mighty Cain Khoren''s eyes were filled with fright. With a calm expression, Aiden looked at Shen Mengqi and said, "Since he ruthlessly schemed against you and ruined your breakthrough. I''ll help you cripple his core, and turn him back to the worthless mortal he should be!" "N-no! Don''t!" When he heard that, Mighty Cain Khoren''s hairs stood on end and he shrieked. Chapter 892 892 - A Loose-End Finished "Pfft!" Aiden stomped down fiercely on Mighty Cain Khoren''s abdomen. How terrifying was Aiden''s physique? He had the strength to snap a supreme-grade artifact weapon directly! That single stomp was already something that Mighty Cain Khoren''s body definitely could not endure. Not even if he would be in his peak state and not in this miserable mess he was right now. His abdomen was torn right through as grisly fresh blood gushed forth from that mess of flesh. However, that was only the wound on his physical body. Mighty Cain Khoren was a true, peak state, Martial Master. A mere wound on it would not be critical. However, this was not all. It was not that initial damage that caused him to be in such pain No, it was the fact that Aiden''s singr stomp, that seemed simplistic, and pure, was much more than what it initially seemed. Besides the physical wound on the mortal flesh, it also wreaked havoc in Cain Khoren''s soul as well. In just an instant, his Martial Master power was also smashed and more than two hundred years of painful training was lost in a single moment! Mighty Cain Khoren coughed huge mouthfuls of blood with an ashen expression. With his Martial Master power smashed away, his soul was crippled and that was a feeling even more terrible than death! His appearance was turning old rapidly. Right now, Mighty Cain Khoren was more than two hundred years ago. The reason why he looked like a middle-aged man was because he had formed his Martial Master power and his lifespan was extended. However, with the destruction of his Martial Master, his powers were gone as well and he could no longer withstand the power of time. Mighty Cain Khoren''s hair started turning white and his skin lost its luster. This was the same for beasts, demons, and all kinds of life. After beasts, fiends, and demons form their Inner Cores, their lifetime''s martial powers would be stored within their Inner Cores. With the Inner Cores, demons could take on human form and even speak in human tongues. However, if their Inner Cores were removed, they would lose their martial powers and those that took on humanoid-like form would revert to their original state while losing the ability to speak inmon tongues. Aiden was no longer looking at the groaning and dying Cain Khoren on the ground. He walked straight to the edge of the courtyard and squatted down to observe. Not longter, he stood up and continued walking around the perimeter of the formation. From time to time, he would stop and step down gently. When he left, there would be a footprint at where he stood, surrounded by web-like cracks. At the center of the footprints, there was a spirit stone that was dim without light, crushed by Aiden. Madam Dara understood what was happening. Aiden was dispelling the formation. With every single footstep, he was crushing a formation eye! The light surrounding the formation began to dim gradually. The formation that Tan Hao imed to be able to trap Martial Masters for up to five days was destroyed in less than 15 minutes by Aiden! This was the second Extreme Martial Knight martial artist in history. Gazing quietly at that figure not far away, Madam Dara''s eyes were fixed the entire time. She couldn''t help but smile at this incredible young figure''s back. Before long, the formation lights dissipated into the night, and the formation was dispelled, revealing the skies to them once more. The night was hazy and the moon was bright with few stars. Although a massive battle had just broken out at the manor, it was quiet in the surrounding town. Most of the mortals in the town were already awake due to the shock. However, how would any of them dare to show their faces in a fight between mighty figures! To them, they were demi-gods and mythical beings immortals! Everyone hid under their beds and clutched their nkets tightly, praying that they wouldn''t be implicated. Turning around, Aiden whisked up the groveling Mighty Cain Khoren and turned to leave the Aiden, heading for his own residence. Madam Dara''s body swayed as she looked at Aiden''s leaving back view, almost stumbling. The door at the side opened with a creak and a middle-aged man ran over frightfully with a look of trepidation. Supporting Madam Dara, he asked dearly, "Madam Madam! A-are you alright?" The man was Adam Fran, a mortal who was working as the sole servant in the manor assisting Madam Dara and Tolliah. He was hiding in Tolliah''s room and was making sure she did not have to see the bloodbath that had just happened. He was a local that helped them during their stay in this small town. "I-it''s alright. I will be fine Just weak. With Young Master, I am safe finally." Madam Dara''s condition was getting worse and her consciousness was fluttering as she murmured to herself. Despite that, she was smiling. "I was the one who caused myself to be in this state today. There''s no one else to me It is my greed for power, to be able to stand tall at his side that put me in this state" "Yet now, without himing to my rescue, I would probably be dead by now" rmed and afraid, Butler Adam grew anxious and called out with an agitated tone. "M-madam, what''s happening to you? Don''t scare this old man! Everything is in the past and it isn''t your fault" Before he could finish, Madam Dara turned and looked at him with a dazed expression, tears pouring down her face. "Adam Oh, Adam, I regret my greed..." The family''s courtyard that was actually Adam''s family was in a state of chaos. It was a great mess. Standing where she was, Madam Dara''s expression turned increasingly terrible. Though she received help, she was still extremely weak and tired. Her energy was rapidly running out and an aura of extreme exhaustion was shrouding her as her consciousness faded in and out. She could copse at any moment. Butler Adam was supporting her carefully by the side, watching everything unfold helplessly. Initially, he hoped that he and his family n would be able to flourish instantly by relying on the fact that a mighty existence, a true martial artist master was indebted to them! However, all of his hopes were dashed right now. Yet, there was no disappointment in Butler Adam''s heart. Though everything started with the benefits looming before his greedy eyes, over time, he got to know this beautiful pair of girls. The Madam and the young princess, the ever-cheerful Tolliah. At this very moment, the only thing he wished was for this young woman to survive. Even if he had to return to his ordinary lives in the past, it would be better than the helplessness he was feeling right now. Butler Adam asked softly, with a hint of anxiety seeping through his voice. Despite his best attempts to hide it, some of his worries still got through his mask. "Madam Do you want to lie down and rest?" Madam Dara shook her head gently and stood where she was obstinately. She struggled to open her eyes and watch the entrance, as though she was waiting for something. She knew that if she were to lie down now, there was a chance she wouldn''t get up again. The night darkened gradually. Finally, a familiar figure appeared at the entrance. Gray, tattered robes, ck hair, and a set of elegant features. That person this seemingly weak, slender young man that was her entire world. Now, he had returned finally. Madam Dara said softly, a weak, faint smile emerged on her tired face. "You came back." Returning the same, gentle smile with a longer silence, Aiden replied. "I did." Some timeter Aiden walked along the long streets before the now silent and calm mansion and looked at the simple surroundings. Suddenly, a surge of emotions gushed through his heart. He couldn''t help but smile This was the exact lifestyle, this calm and wanting for peace that he desired. He searched and hoped to reach with his own Haven. A ce where all those there shunned, hunted, and humiliated over their years the innocent that suffered could live a simr, simple and peaceful life. A ce where they could flourish. They could thrive and would not need to always have one eye looking around for dangers Because of an immortal fate, Aiden, Madam Dara, and Mighty Cain Khoren''s fates were changed. Though everything was sudden, and it did take him a lot of effort, now Madam Dara''s state was stabilized. Her failure or in reality, the trap she had fallen into and caused her breakthrough to fail, was now resolved. She would now pull through, and in time, she could attempt her breakthrough again. This time, in a much safer environment, with her family, Aiden and the rest of the servants would be close by. To protect her, to help her. All the grievances of the past couple of weeks had been stuck in Aiden''s mind like a rock and pulling him back was there. Now, everything was finally gonepletely, crushed into dust. In a single night, he resolved such a dangerous loose end, and regained this calm and serenity he had always fought for. Suddenly, the spiritual sea within his Inner Core surged and formed massive waves. Aiden could sense that the opportunity for him to enter the Martial Master realm had arrived! Chapter 893 893 - An Opportunity Aiden put away the storage bags of Lian Hen and the others. Although Cain Khoren and the others were Martial Masters before their death, they were now dead and their bodies were weak. Conjuring a demon fire from his fingertip, Aiden burned all five corpses into ashes in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace behind. After settling that, Aiden returned to the now quiet and calm manor. He wanted to make his breakthrough in this courtyard. Opportunities were required for breakthroughs of major martial realms. It was a mysterious feeling in one''s mental state, simr to adrenaline rush. At that moment, if Aiden were to take a long journey back to Azure Myst Sect, he could very likely lose out on the timing of that precious opportunity. Furthermore, he truly could not think of a more meaningful ce than here to conduct his breakthrough. Forming a core was no small feat and one must not be disturbed at all. Not daring to be careless, Aiden started setting up a formation. Without resting at all, he set up multiple formations around his residence; not only were there support formations, there were even illusion, trap, and killing formations! One after another, the formations were interlinked. Three hourster, the formations were fully set up. "Activate!" Aiden shouted softly and a bedazzling luminescence lit up around the vicinity of the residence as countless mysterious formation patterns surfaced. An illusion formation was set up at the outermost perimeter. It created an illusory residence that seemed no different from before on the outside and would not attract any attention. However, in reality, there were runes concentrated within the illusion formation that shone bright as day within! Arriving beneath the most iconic piece of scenery, the lonesome peach blossom tree, Aiden assumed a meditative position and closed his eyes to rest. He had worked tirelessly for the past day not just to travel, to fight, to save Madam Dara but to also to set up such a huge formation and had expended a lot of energy as well. Aiden had to adjust himself to his best condition. A long timeter, he gradually stabilized himself and gradually regained the piece of rity and tranquil serenity of his mind. Thanks to the inheritance of him being thest surviving Primal, and the knowledge he had learned so far, as well as his Ancient Dragon bloodline he had infused with already, his body was like arge vessel, a sponge that soaked in energy. *Boom!* Massive waves surged within his inner core''s spiritual sea. Golden light shone everywhere as his spirit energy surged into the air. Endless spirit energy entered Aiden''s body continuously, thanks to his unique physique. Bright golden luminescence appeared and flickered around his body, akin like as if the Gods themselves blessed him at this very moment and surged relentlessly before converging into his inner core''s spirit sea. The spirit sea was akin to a bottomless pit, sucking the iing spirit energy relentlessly and forming a gigantic vortex with a terrifying might that spun and shrank non-stop! Core formation was the most important divergent point in one''s martial path. Be it the so-called ''righteous'' or the fiendish martial art, they had to cross this gap! From Martial Practitioner to Martial Knight and finally to Martial Master, martial artists undergo the process of training their energy, liquefying it, and eventually condensing it into a core. From gas to liquid and finally solid, every single transformation was a leap in quality. From that, it could be seen that the foundation of the Martial Master was still spirit energy. However, it was merely built from a continuous and gradual transformation. Almost all the martial artists understood what the process was like. It was a never-ending process of extraction, condensation, andpression. Along with time, one could turn the initial spirit energy into a solid Martial Master andplete the transformation. However, throughout history, there were many martial artists and yet, less than one in ten thousand are able to form a core. What was the reason for that? Why were there still people failing despite the ease and rity of the entire process? It was a simple logic to understand C the rise in quality of spirit energy along with one''s martial would naturally lead to an increase in strength. However, why was one''s lifespan extended for hundreds of years after a core was formed? In reality, the reason for that was the true secret behind core formation C to understand life! If one wanted to form a core, they had to understand the true meaning behind the Dao of a core. That was the only way for them to break free from the constraints of heaven and earth and extend their lifespans! The reason for the extension in lifespan was because of a new level of deep understanding. The wisdom that elders of the Martial Path often speak of refers to theprehension of one''s own enlightenment, allowing one to transcend life and death, turning into a saintly, semi-divine being. It was a sort ofprehension at a new level and referred to supreme wisdom. What was the truth behind the Martial Master? There were two sides to everything. It was the same for life. A still rock wasn''t alive and neither was a running river. The most primal and natural state of life was only manifested through abination of stillness and movement. The existence of life was activity. Motions are a way of representing life while stillness was a method for nourishing life. In truth, the formation of a Martial Master was a process born out of nothing by instilling stillness into motion. To begin with, spiritual energy did not exist within one''s body. However, after years of training for a strain of spirit energy to appear, it could then gradually grow stronger and turn into a liquid form which could course through the eight meridians with firm strength. Eventually, it would flow into the sea and return to the inner core, forming a silent and still Martial Master. Things would happen naturally and logically. At that moment, life would undergo an unprecedented change in quality. By interweaving motion and stillness to condense a Martial Master and nourish life, one''s lifespan could be extended. To begin with, life was something that was produced out of nothing. Eventually, it would enter an eternal slumber after its vibrancy. Producing something out of nothing, entering stillness after motion C that was an interpretation of life. In truth, the formation of a core was the understanding of one of life''s obscurities and as such, gaining an extension in lifespan. That was the true meaning of core formation! Once one creates his core and bes a true Martial Master, one''s lifespan will not be decided by nature! That was the most famous fact of core formation and also hinted at its true essence. For Martial Knight martial artists, the chances of them condensing an Inner Core was more than 80% as long as they managed to reach theter stages of their realm. Even so, there were still people who failed. They did not fail in core formation, but in theprehension of the true meaning behind core formation. Throughout history, generations and generations of seniors and predecessors passed down their personal experiences of breaking through to the Martial Master realm. However, this was something that was highly personal and unique to everyone. It couldn''t be exined clearly C even if one knew what was going on, it was useless. The only way for them to transcend mortality and break out of their mold was through personalprehension! As time passed by, Aiden''s aura turned increasingly terrifying as his ck hair swayed gently without any wind. His lifespan was extending endlessly! Two hundred years Three hundred years Five hundred years! Aiden''s understanding of core formation had not only affected himself; subconsciously, another life in the courtyard was affected! Behind him, the peach blossom tree was shrouded by an invisible power and it grew. Its trunk grew thicker and its branches extended. One after another, pink buds blossomed in the blink of an eye. The petals scattered around Aiden''s vicinity. Instantly, the petals that scattered grew into new flowers and the entire process was mysterious, akin to a dream. The peach blossom tree swayed gently. If Aiden were to open his eyes right now, he would be able to sense that the peach blossom tree was exuding an emotion of joy! It had gained sentience! Waves raged fiercely within the spirit sea of the inner core, shining with a divine radiance. The two starkly different techniques he had known so far were in constant conflict within the inner core. Like fire and water, two starkly different energies were shing within the inner core as well. The situation that Aiden was in right now was rather unique. He managed the first step of understanding the true essence of core formation and extended his lifespan. However, due to the fact that there were two starkly different energies shing, his Martial Master was yet to be formed! A situation as such was rarely seen throughout history and one would have to undergo immense danger. If anything untoward happened during the sh of the two different energies, his inner core would rupture on the spot and his foundation would be entirely destroyed. Right now, fire and water was interweaving constantly within his body. Chapter 894 894 - Progress Through Pain These two forces were irreconcble! With every sh, there would be a violent jerk in the inner core, letting out a jarring sound. At the same time, an extremely terrifying force would surge through all his limbs and organs. For normal martial artists, the impact of those forces were destructive. If they were in this position, their bones and tendons would have snapped while their organs would have exploded along with their bodies into bloody mists! However, of all things, Aiden was someone who wasn''t a normal martial artist, but someone with a very unique origin. Furthermore, his recently gained draconic martial technique was a supreme martial technique that could change the world and creation, forging a body that was terrifying beyond anything else! His body was akin to a relentless utensil that could undergo all setbacks. He was unyielding as the forces of fire and water shed against him! As time passed by, spiritual energy entered his body endlessly. Coupled with the fact that he was at the legendary Extreme Martial Knight realm, the two different energies climbed relentlessly. At the same time, the sh between the two energies was getting more intense as well! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* Loud bangs were even echoing from within Aiden''s body. Later on, with every single sh, Aiden''s body would jerk and he would frown with a look of pain. At that moment, the most rational thing to do for him was to stop his core formation attempt. However, Aiden''s expression was resolute and he wasn''t swayed at all! He believed in his determination. If he could calm the monkey mind, control the prancing horse and subdue dragons and tigers, why wouldn''t he be able to subdue the Dao of fire and water as well? He also believed in the old man''s words, and the gift he had granted him. The Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual was an incredible and mysterious gift. He was convinced that his body would be able to endure the impacts! *Boom!* *Boom!* Time slowly passed. The frequency of the sh between the two energies subsided. However, each sh was now scarier with umted force and the impact was even more terrifying! *Poof!* One after another, terrifying bloodied scars appeared on Aiden''s body and face. His flesh was split open and there was a mist of blood around him. It was painful! Extremely so. Every single inch of meat was in tremendous pain and struck at his nerves. The impact was something that came from within. First, it collided within the inner core itself. Next, it burst forth and rippled through his organs, both of his cores, tendons, bones, and flesh! Almost instantly, Aiden broke out in cold sweat. As if it could sense his pain, the peach blossom tree behind him swayed gently and a pink glow wafted down, akin to moonlight falling in a gentle manner. The light fell and dissipated into spots, dancing in the air like spirits before surging into Aiden''s injuries with vibrant vital essence. To be honest, the power of those light spots was not strong. However, that was the only thing the peach blossom tree could do. When the two energies within his inner core rested for a moment, the terror of Aiden''s body was disyed once more! With a boom, his blood energy surged and roared like tsunamis, washing across his wounds. His Inner Core churned maniacally and demonic energy spread. A tremendous self-regeneration power repaired his organs and connected his tendons and of course, his bones! After they were torn, they regenerated and turned the energy in his organs purer, made his tendons more flexible and his bones even stronger like weapons! His body was undergoing yet another baptism! Aiden''s newly formed Inner Core was expanding as well. Initially, the spiritual energy in his Inner Core could only bepared to the current flow of a stream. However, his expanded Inner Core became broader and his spirit energy gushed even fiercer,parative to massive rivers surging into the sea! *Boom!* Just as his internal injuries were recovering, the two different energies shed once more and produced a resounding bang. Aiden''s body shuddered. It was a type of pain that struck his bones and almost caused him to faint! Aiden knew that there was no way out for him. If he were to retreat at this moment, he would suffer even greater difficulties and pain in the future for his next attempt at core formation! No one could break Aiden''s determination! His spirit sea condensed continuously, shrinking, transforming, and ascending! An illusory phantom of the Ancient Dragon appeared faintly behind his frame. Endless spirit energy surged towards that illusory mythical beast, allowing it to turn corporeal and firmer. His Inner Core was condensed in Aiden''s chest. On the other hand, his Primal Core swiveled an inch beneath his naval in his inner core, shining with a golden glow in its spherical shape. Against that bedazzling golden shade, Aiden''s organs, blood, flesh, bones, and marrow shone with an illuminating transparency. Aiden sat beneath the peach blossom tree with a transparent and wless body, emanating the aura of a golden, glowing divine being. He was like a peerless divine, godly king that had descended, looking down on the world and shocking the masses! By stepping into the Martial Master realm, breaking free of the restraints of heaven and earth, and extending one''s lifespan, there would also be a change in one''s demeanor as they gradually transcend mortality! Aiden now truly possessed an air of immortality. Even if it was faint, it was already there. His expression calmed down gradually. At this point of his breakthrough, he had already crossed over the most dangerous and arduous stage. What was left was for him to materialize the Martial Master realm before stabilizing it! The peach blossom tree swayed and petals fell with a hint of joy as well. An unknown period of time passed. Aiden shuddered and a newfound energy was formed in his inner core. It was indestructible and pure, radiating with an immense luster! An extremely terrifying aura emanated from within Aiden''s body, as though a gigantic ancient True Dragon was awakening! All of a sudden! Aiden''s eyes were initially shut. However, he suddenly felt his vision blur and witnessed a shocking scene. Dark clouds were overcast and lightning shed as thunder rumbled. The skies copsed and formed a series of tears! An apocalyptic firestorm rained down and all living beings were crying miserably. In the face of this energy that could destroy all life, Aiden''s expression was pale and he felt that he was pathetically insignificant. Even Martial Grandmasters and Quasi-Divine Beings would be met with death, let alone Martial Masters. *Bang!* *Boom!* *Boom!* All of a sudden! Heaven and earth rumbled. An iparably massive ancient creature descended with a terrifying aura and four legs that were akin to heavenly-piercing pirs. Standing in the middle of a dark, deep sea, it did not move and suppressed the raging tides. Its tough armor carried the broken firmament and nketed the world, blocking the massive void currents while protecting all living beings! It was simr to the Ancient Dragon''s visage, seemingly just an illusion but also, at the same time, something much more as well. A great beast, simr to the Ancient Dragon in power yet, something new and unknown at the same time. Aiden had never seen such a gargantuan beast. Filled with a vicissitude aura, it seemed like it had crossed through the sands of time from the ancient eras and appeared in the world! Mysterious patterns were etched on its shell, forming obscure runes that seemed as though they could understand the world and the secrets behind the origin of the universe. Focusing his gaze, Aiden realized that his eyes stung with an iparably sharp pain and instantly, two streams of tears flowed down his cheeks and he spun in dizziness! Startled, Aiden shut his eyes hurriedly. Against the shing lightning and roaring thunder, the gigantic beast that mostly resembled a strange unholy fusion between an eastern-styled dragon and that of a snapping dragon turtle carried the broken heavens and calmed the raging tides with all four legs, protecting all living beings. Raising its head, it roared into the skies and divine light burst forth from its eyes in an unstoppable momentum! At that moment, the divine turtle was the only godly being in the entire world! Although Aiden''s eyes were shut, that scene was etched deeply into his mind unforgettably. "This is my Martial Master phenomenon." Secretly delighted, Aiden closed his eyes and recalled the phenomenon he had witnessed in his mind. He did not know the origin of his Martial Master phenomenon or what its name was. Perhaps, it might even be an unprecedented Martial Master phenomenon. However, Aiden knew that the Martial Master phenomenon was extremely powerful! At the very least, he had nevere across another Martial Master phenomenon as dazzling as such! Prior to this, in the battle at the manor, a Martial Master released his Heavenly Essence Swords and it was already strong enough to be able to wound Aiden''s body. However,pared to the Martial Master phenomenon Aiden had justprehended, that was far inferior! Chapter 895 895 - Phenomenons In his estimations, even ten Heavenly Essence Swords wouldn''t be able to deal with his Martial Master phenomenon! As Aiden wasprehending his Martial Master phenomenon, his eyes blurred once more and the divine turtle from earlier on disappeared. The next moment, Aiden was stunned. It was as though he had traveled back in time and instantly, the environment changed! Previously, the heavens were shattered. This time round, the earth had caved in and blood flowed everywhere! Heavens copsing and the ground sinking in were catastrophes of the legends. When they surfaced in Aiden''s vision, it shook his mind and felt extremely realistic as though he was right in the midst of it. The ground caved continuously, opening up bottomless ravines one after another. A baleful aura surged forth. The mountains were tumbling and the ground was disintegrating! Lava surged forth endlessly with a scorching heat, flowing rampantly on the vastnds and burning everything in sight C countless living beings were turned into ashes! Experiencing the apocalyptic tragedy brought forth by the terrifying power of this catastrophe, Aiden felt his mind shake and he could not steady himself! What is this? What was happening? Aiden was dumbfounded. Logically speaking, he had already trained a Martial Master phenomenon C why was another phenomenon, one even more terrifying appearing before him? Furthermore, it wasparable to the previous phenomenon in terms of power! The miserable cries of the living beings seemed to have woken some sort of a powerful existence. All of a sudden! A massive living being crawled out from the depths of the ground with a terrifying aura. It had the head of a snake and the body of an anaconda. Red in color, it was lined with scales that stacked against one another like ming red steel tes! That is Aiden''s mouth opened slightly. *Boom!* Before he could react, the living being soared into the air and a massive pair of ming wings appeared on its gigantic back! What sort of a monster was that? The head of a snake, the body of something resembling that of an anaconda, the thick scales of a dragon, possibly not even a regr one, no horns on its head nor legs beneath its feet, it was like an ancient wyrm with wings! However, the aura of the wyrm was not inferiorpared to True Dragons! Ascending above the very heavens, the scarlet eyes of the wyrm scanned the ce. When it looked at the endless corpses of the countless living beings buried in the sea of mes, it could not help but bellow. *Swoosh!* Opening its massive mouth, the wyrm sucked furiously! All the scorchingva on the ground flowed in reverse into the wyrm''s mouth like rivers entering a sea. It swallowed theva withrge, angry mouthfuls. The scales on the wyrm turned brighter and redder and the mes on its wings intensified! Countless living beings were saved by the wyrm singlehandedly! Aiden took a long time before he could calm down after seeing the scene. Double phenomenons? Could a single person possibly possess two different phenomenons? Taking a deep breath of air, Aiden recalled and experienced the two different phenomenons,prehending them deeply. An unknown period of time passed as he was deep in thought. All of a sudden! He opened his eyes with a lightning gaze. Behind him, a phenomenon with a majestic aura rose. The heavens shattered and void currents flowed everywhere as meteors fell. The divine turtle-dragon stood between the world and stabilized the void currents with its limbs while holding up the heavens with its back as it roared into the skies! Immediately after, on the other side, another phenomenon surfaced. The ground caved in and volcanoes erupted, causingva to surge with countless living beings implicated. A wyrm surged forth from the ground and descended upon the mortal realm. The two phenomenons appeared together behind Aiden and emitted a terrifying aura as though they could contain everything! The peach blossom tree was motionless, seemingly scared stiff by the two phenomenons. A long timeter, Aiden let out a deep breath and the divine light in his eyes vanished. Gradually, his aura retracted and gathered within his inner core. The two Martial Master phenomenons dissipated slowly. Sess! Aiden was delighted that he had managed to cultivate two Martial Master phenomenons that were so strong and frightening. However, he had many questions. What were the origins of his phenomenons and what were their names? Or rather, why was he able to conjure two phenomenons? Recalling carefully, Aiden thought about information he had read about many ancient remnant beasts and pure-blooded ferocious beasts in the ancient books he read also back in the Azure Myst Sect''s Ugburg''s temporary base as well as in the Ancient One''s Pce. However, none of them matched the two demon beasts. Could they be living beings from the primordial era that are now extinct? Could they be from the era where his parents his people were still alive? Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. If they were extinct living beings from the primordial era, there would be almost no records of them in the ancient books now. Only some ancient super sects might have retained remnants of information regarding them. Aiden did not know much about Martial Master phenomenons. "Perhaps I might only get a better understanding after returning to Eora... Or perhaps back to Haven." After all, either her Master, Number 3 or the Mistress back on Higrove would probably know more and would be able to help him with the answers. They were bothing from a past that gave them unsurmountable knowledge about the true happenings of the world. Their power was also beyond what was normal, they were both from an era where a massacre between geniuses and the shing of top-tier Martial Master phenomenons were probably normal. That was a feast that only belonged to the paragons! All of a sudden! Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. Among the four Martial Masters that apanied Mighty Cain Khoren here, apart from Sezud Nida, judging from their sect badges, they both seemed toe from faraway ces. Maybe even not from this world He might be able to seek out some useful information from the Martial Master who cultivated the Heavenly Essence Swords. Aiden took out the person''s storage bag and injected spirit energy into it. After a brief check, he withdrew an ancient book from it. There were four words written on it C Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking! Throughout history, there have been countless Martial Masters who left their names on the Phenomenon Ranking and it was refreshed constantly. However, there were not many changes to the top hundred Martial Master phenomenons. All in all, only those slightly more than hundred Martial Master phenomenons could be considered as the strong ones! Aiden opened the ancient looking book. There were many words scribbled on it C it was clear that someone had recorded them. The words on the first row were thergest and the most striking! Phenomenon Ranking No. 1. Number 0, The Reaper, Chaos Ocean! The front portion was his name while the back was the Martial Master phenomenon he cultivated. There was even a line of small words after his Martial Master phenomenon describing the origins of it. When Aiden caught sight of the first sentence, he was shocked! Chaos Ocean, ancient phenomenon, created by the Ancient One! Aiden continued reading. ''The Chaos Ocean was created by the Ancient One using everything he learned after he entered the Extreme Martial Knight realm and observed the secrets of heaven and earth while pursuing the origins of the universe. It''s the top among thousands of phenomenons and is the number one across history!" Top among thousands of phenomenons and number one across history! What an incredible evaluation! Aiden was secretly shocked. Although he had also cultivated to the Extreme Martial Knight realm, the Martial Master phenomenon he cultivated did not depend on the number of Inner Core he had unlocked, but his experiences and hisprehension of his martial. There was a high chance that this Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking was from a hundred years ago. Aiden did not know what sect or background this so called Number 0 or ''The Reaper'' was from to be able toprehend a Martial Master phenomenon created by the Ancient One. Any martial artist that could upy the top spot of the Phenomenon Ranking was definitely not someone to be messed with. It was clear judging from Ward Atrez''s methods. Aiden continued reading. Phenomenon Ranking No. 2. Heartless Jean, Corpse Mountain Blood Sea. When he saw Corpse Mountain Blood Sea, Aiden knew that the martial artist was the sessor of Asura Sect. In that battle at Azure Myst Sect, the same phenomenon appeared behind the Asura Ward Atrez and it had a tremendous might. With a single strike, it killed two Quasi-Divines! Aiden continued reading. Corpse Mountain Blood Sea, created by the first Asura of the ancient era. Initially two different Martial Master phenomenons, Corpse Mountain and Blood Sea. Although there have been many heirs in the Asura Sect, only a few of them could fuse the two together. Once fused, it possesses terrifying might and can be ranked in the top ten of the Phenomenon Ranking! Chapter 896 896 -A Need For Understanding Aiden nodded silently. ording to Ward Atrez''s words, he should have be number one of the Phenomenon Ranking a thousand years ago by relying on this Corpse Mountain Blood Sea! Although Chaos Ocean was the number one phenomenon throughout history, the ranking on the Phenomenon Ranking wasn''t determined solely on one''s phenomenon, but the strength of the martial artist as well. Even for the same Martial Master phenomenon, the strength disyed by two martial artists releasing it would be worlds apart if they had different levels ofprehension towards it. Phenomenon Ranking No. 3. Reverend Jiu, Green Lantern Ancient Scripture. The appearance of the ancient scripture apanied by a greenntern booms loudly in the world across all directions, incinerating all living beings and suppressing all demons, ghosts, and beasts. Executed to its peak, it can be considered a top ten skill on the Phenomenon Ranking! There were a bunch of other Martial Master phenomenons behind the Phenomenon Ranking and they were dizzying. Aiden was extremely curious as he hadn''t heard of them before. Eternal Kingdom, Meandering River Sunset, Crystal Divine Light, Underworld, Thousand Swords United, Amplifying Fog, Limitless Hell, Endless River Mountains, Eastern Purple energy, Seven Floor Pagoda, Holy Radiance, Incinerating Embers Every single Martial Master phenomenon had a detailed introduction. Aiden continued browsing and could roughly deduce the sects or factions the phenomenons belonged to judging from their names and descriptions. For example, Crystal Divine Light should be a Martial Master phenomenon of Crystal Pce Sect. The description disyed high regards for Crystal Divine Light and if it was released at its peak, it could be considered as a top ten on the Phenomenon Ranking! Underworld and Limitless Hell should be Martial Master phenomenons of the dark sects. As for Seven Floor Pagoda and Holy Radiance, those should be phenomenons of the Buddhist monasteries. Gradually, Aiden realized that the Phenomenon Ranking was mostly upied by the super sects of the righteous and demonic sects as well as the various powerful factions of this world. Of the top hundred or so spots on the Phenomenon Rankings, there were only around 60 Martial Master phenomenons. ? Most of them were repeated,ing from different martial artists of the same sect. After reading through the Phenomenon Ranking, Aiden did not discover any Martial Master phenomenon simr to his. Frowning slightly, he felt somewhat dejected. "Eh?" Suddenly, his expression changed. At the end of the Phenomenon Ranking was another page. When Aiden flipped over, he saw that there were also some Martial Master phenomenons listed on thest page. Those were phenomenons that had appeared once without reappearing or had gone extinct. First row. World Cleansing Green Lotus. Originally a phenomenon of South Wind Monastery, the eternal green lotus glowed brightly and had a terrifying strength that could cleanse all evil in the world. This was something that could be considered as a top ten on the Phenomenon Ranking! However, 10,000 years ago, the Northern Region met with a catastrophe and one of thergest empires in history was destroyed along with South Wind Monastery, leading to the loss of the World Cleansing Green Lotus secret technique. At that point, Aiden was enlightened. "So, one of the monasteries that were destroyed in this catastrophe so many years ago was South Wind Monastery. They were also the only ones with this strange and seemingly incredible technique." Aiden shook his head, a little stunned. Now that thousands of years have passed, how many people could still remember that flourishing empire and monastery? If that was the case for a destroyed super sect, a fallen paragon would probably be lost in the sands of time and be forgotten by everyone after a hundred years. As Aiden continued reading, he could not help but shudder as his eyes lit up. Primordial Divine Turtle. An amphibious divine being that is lost. Primordial Soaring Serpent. A fire divine being that is lost. Legend has it that in the primordial era, the thousands of races fought one another and all life was in turmoil. Blood was shed everywhere as corpses lined the ground. That massive battle caused the skies to topple and the ground to copse. Void currents surged everywhere; meteors crashed; the ground caved in whileva spurted everywhere, killing countless lives. Aiden was in deep thought at this point. The battle royale of the primordial era was something that he had also heard of briefly from the elderly old man that protected Tai-Liu of the Azure Myst Sect mentioned before. However, he did not know the reason for it, nor could he provide any meaningful detail. Still, Aiden knew that this was something that could very well be connected to the tragic past of his own people Despite of them being in different worlds, he could instinctively feel a connection between the two events. What he knew was that the battle was the reason why only a hundred races were left with thousands of races going extinct. Because of that, his people and the Primals have been wiped out Aiden continued reading. Finally, that battle rmed two divine beasts of the primordial era, the turtle and serpent to descend at the same time! The divine turtle managed to carry the heavens with its shell and suppress the void currents with its limbs. The soaring serpent rose from beneath the ground. With a snake''s head, anaconda''s body, dragon scales, phoenix wings, no horns nor legs, and strengthparable to a True Dragon, it devoured all theva and suppressed the volcanoes everywhere. The appearance of the turtle and snake saved all lives! Experts of the mortal races who witnessed that were moved and created the two phenomenons byprehending them. Throughout history, there would asionally be martial artists who managed toprehend the two Martial Master phenomenons of the primordial era. However, none of them could disy the same might of the past. There were rumors that when the Phenomenon Ranking was just created, the two Martial Master phenomenons were listed among the top ten. Upon seeing this, Aiden suddenly had an epiphany. He finally understood the meaning behind the two phenomenons. When he was forming his core, his inner core contained the energies of fire and water which were starkly different. Both of them shed repeatedly with neither side willing to relent. As such, the two energies intensified continuously while contesting against one another! Finally, with the risk of Aiden''s body exploding, the two different energies finally stabilized and reached a bnce. At that moment, the energies of fire and water were already at their limits. That was also the reason why Aiden managed to witness the two shocking scenes of the primordial era! The divine turtle represented water while the soaring serpent represented fire. The reason why the Primordial Divine Turtle and Primordial Soaring Serpent were not in the previous iteration of the Phenomenon Ranking wasn''t because they weren''t strong enough, but because both of them had gone extinct for many years. Smiling gently, Aiden felt a sense of pride. No matter the past of the two Martial Master phenomenons, now that the both of them were in his hands in this generation, he was certain that he would definitely be able to release them to an unparalleled degree! Aiden sorted out the storage bags of Cain Khoren and the other four once more. There weren''t many noteworthy treasures, only some basic elixirs, some meager form of currency, and some artifact weapons C none of them interested Aiden. Right now, what he wanted the most were secret skill manuals regarding the true secrets of the Inner Core. The Martial Practitioner realm had the Martial Practitioner manual. The Martial Knight realm had the Martial Knight manual. There should be a martial technique for the Martial Master realm as well. Martial techniques were extremely important to a martial artist''s martial speed and rise in strength. For example, as long as one were to train one of Azure Myst Sect''s three secret skills diligently andprehend it, they would be able to unlock even deeper parts of their Cores and grow even stronger as a result! That was something rather impressive before reaching higher realms. With a high end martial technique, a martial artist could halve his effort on his Martial Master realm martial. However, Azure Myst Sect did not contain any top-tier martial techniques for the Dao of the core. After the massive battle at Azure Myst Sect mentioned this to Aiden. The circumstances of Aiden''s core formation were rather special as well. The two different energies of fire and water shed within his inner core. Although he managed to suppress fire and water while subduing the turtle and serpent thanks to his strong determination and terrifying physique, it was still atent danger. Without the help of a powerful martial technique for the Dao of the core, Aiden was worried that he would run into trouble in the future. The fact that there weren''t any secret martial techniques within the storage bags of the nowte Cain Khoren and the others was something Aiden expected as well. Storage bags mostly contained consumables such as elixirs and spirit stones or spirit weapons used for killing. Most people would not put their secret martial techniques in storage bags. However, from Lian Hen''s storage bag, apart from the Phenomenon Ranking, Aiden discovered a messaging crystal as well. The content within stirred his interest. It indicated that there was a dangerous ground known as the Great Forbidden Ruins. 10,000 years ago, the capital of that great empire was destroyed overnight and was reduced to ruins with countless living beings implicated in the tragedy. Alongside the capital there were two great monasteries of the time, South Wind Monastery and Daring Monastery. Many treasures were buried within the ruins. Apart from miraculous elixirs and spirit weapons, there were also lost martial techniques. It was said that the number one secret skill of the core, Mystic Golden Lotus Technique, was buried along with South Wind Monastery in the ruins. However, no one managed to find it. Chapter 897 897 - A Sinister Laughter Of course, the ruins were not a friendly ce and were filled with treacherous dangers! Over the years, there have always been martial artists who took the risk to explore it but failed to return alive. There were even rumors that although the capital of Great Forbidden Ruins was destroyed and reduced to ruins, the mysterious magical fire that burned it down had not been extinguished and was still burning. After pondering for a moment, Aiden decided to check out the Great Forbidden Ruins. Firstly, there was the obvious lure of the treasures that were buried along with the majestic capital of Great Forbidden Ruins and the two ancient now dead, but once proud sects in the ruins. Secondly, if he could find the Mystic Golden Lotus Technique, it would definitely be a great boon for his strength. It was different from his usual prowess, it could supplement it. Although from the old servant back in the Ancient One''s Temple he had gained an incredible technique, there were corresponding martial techniques that could support and supplement its strengths whilst also covering for weaknesses. Unfortunately, no matter how much he searched and looked, Azure Myst Sect did not have any top-tier martial techniques that could fit his needs. While Aiden established his firm foundation in Azure Myst Sect, his truly powerful techniques were not learned from Azure Myst Sect. He learned the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual from the Ancient One''s Pce. It was the same for his Void Splitting Manual, Tidal Manual, and all the other treasures he had found since his arrival to this world Therefore, Aiden decided to take a spin around the Great Forbidden Ruins and see if he could gain any rewards. Thirdly, it was the rumor regarding the spirit fire. If he could meet with supreme spirit fire, Aiden could attempt to absorb it so that he could gain its powers and possibly even evolve his most powerful innate skill, the Ancient Draconic Heritage! Whilst it was merely a chance, an opportunity for now it was still worth the trouble. If he could gain the spirit fire and im it as his own, his power would surge by leaps and bounds! Right now, Aiden was in possession of many martial techniques. If he were to merely rely rigidly on going to seclusion and meditating by himself, it would be hard for him to meet with any progress. The way for him to meet with rapid growth was to be triggered by threats and chances the opportunities of the adventurous life. Take the Asura de for example. If one didn''t kill and turn into an Asura, that terrifying cold-blooded killer like Ward Atrez, they won''t be able toprehend the secret of the Asura de! Tidying his attire, Aiden rose and dispelled the formation surrounding his residence with a wave before pushing the door and exiting. Standing at the entrance, he paused for a moment and turned back. His gaze was cloudy as he watched the petals falling from the peach blossom tree in the courtyard. An unknown amount of time had seemed to pass although for Aiden, this didn''t even feel like a blink at all. Now that this waspleted, he would most likely not return in the near future. A long whileter, Aiden took a deep breath of air and closed the door before turning to leave. In mid-air, Aiden sped towards the direction of the Great Forbidden Ruins with nothing beneath his feet, experiencing the power and changes brought forth by the Martial Master realm. Apart from his extended tenure in this realm, Aiden had never left the territory of the Draconic Skinks up till this point of his adventure. On the one hand, he did not have much time. Merely just a few weeks have passed ever since he joined Azure Myst Sect. For him to reach Martial Master realm from a mere Martial Practitioner within this short time was a rather terrifying martial speed! On the other hand, Aiden''s martial realm was still way too low. Martial Knight realm martial artists could barely protect themselves within the territory of Ugburg City and its surroundings. If they were to leave the safety of this ce, it would be difficult for them to return alive . The Great Forbidden Ruins was not located within this part of the world. Now that Aiden had formed an Inner Core for martial power, he was much more confident and ready to explore the Great Forbidden Ruins. He traveled for several days without sleeping and resting before finally arriving at his destination. On the horizon far away, a rubbled wall emanating an ancient aura came into view. Sweeping his gaze across, the ruins were vast and boundless! One could imagine the territory in the reign of this massive, glorious empire in its heydays. At the very least, it was more than ten times the current Draconic Skink''s Ugburg City-State! When he got closer, Aiden focused his gaze. In the middle of the ruins was a frighteningly massive ravine that split the ce into two, extending into the horizon far away! Looking down, it seemed as though a gargantuan beast was opening its massive mouth, ready to devour all life! The ravine was deep and dark, giving off a chilling wind. Even with the power of his vision, Aiden could not see what was within. Furthermore, he could sense extreme dangering from the ruins! However, for some unknown reason, Aiden felt a familiar auraing from the depths of the ruins, as though a voice or some sort of a power was calling out to him! Uncanny! Hemented while shaking his head. ? At the same time. The sound of chains rattling, dull and heavy, could be heard from the depths of the dark, ghastly ravine. A pair of eyes opened up with a ferocious glint. It flickered within that space. In that moment, it seemed as though day and light had just swapped over while Yin and Yang intersected. In that momentary sh of illumination, an extremely old and withered face could be seen faintly; it was extremely horrifying! The ''face'' grinned and let out a burst of ear-piercingughter. "Hehehe. The fated person has arrived!" Knowing that the Great Forbidden Ruins was not a friendly ce, Aiden did not dare to be careless and descended slowly at the boundaries. He only headed in after checking out the surroundings. Even a capital as majestic as such was now reduced to rubbles and broken walls, turning into a ruin. As he walked across the mud and debris, Aiden was emotional. Be it any of the two pr opposite paths, the reason why most martial artists trained restlessly was because of the word longevity. However, who could withstand the power of time? In the ancient era, there were multiple emperors and countless mighty figures and patriarchs. But now, all of them were gone, leaving nothing but legends. Aiden did not know much about the Great Forbidden Ruins and neither did he dare to advance too quickly. His ears twitched and his gaze intensified as he channeled the technique of universal sight and hearing to sense for activity around him. Along the way, he came across a few martial artists and there were also Martial Knight martial artists. All of those martial artists were extremely cautious and wary. When they caught sight of Aiden, they had cautious expressions and hid far away, detouring around him. In these ruins, apart from the danger present here, it was also extremelymon for others to kill for treasures! In the blink of an eye, two hours passed. Aiden did not receive any rewards from the ruins. He merely found some broken shards of artifact weapons in the debris which he tossed away casually. Naturally, he did not encounter any danger as well. It waste at night right now and the moonlight was pure. The entire ce was eerily quiet. "Strange" Aiden frowned. "Ah!" Suddenly, a tragic shriek sounded nearby! Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. After pondering for a moment, he decided to check it out. If he knew the source of the danger, he could prepare himself for it as well. In a sh, he sped towards the origin of the sound. Not long after, he caught sight of a strange warrior standing on the spot. His back was facing Aiden and although there was a clear life forceing from him, he did not move at all. A few martial artists stood and watched from far away, not daring to close in with fear in their eyes. Coughing gently, Aiden asked with a raised voice, "Hello?" When the other warriors heard Aiden''s voice, his body moved and he turned around slowly. Aiden was petrified when he caught sight of that person''s appearance. The person''s forehead was dark and his lips were purple. Against the moonlight, his pale face seemed extraordinarily frightening as he let out a sinister smile. When he saw that smile, Aiden''s hair stood on end. "Hehehehehe!" A creepyughter sounded from the person as he grinned before lunging towards Aiden with open arms. Chapter 898 898 - Untouchable Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. After pondering for a moment, he decided to check it out. If he knew the source of the danger, he could prepare himself for it as well. In a sh, he sped towards the origin of the sound. Not long after, he caught sight of a strange warrior standing on the spot. His back was facing Aiden and although there was a clear life forceing from him, he did not move at all. A few martial artists stood and watched from far away, not daring to close in with fear in their eyes. Coughing gently, Aiden asked with a raised voice, "Hello?" When the other warriors heard Aiden''s voice, his body moved and he turned around slowly. Aiden was petrified when he caught sight of that person''s appearance. The person''s forehead was dark and his lips were purple. Against the moonlight, his pale face seemed extraordinarily frightening as he let out a sinister smile. When he saw that smile, Aiden''s hair stood on end. "Hehehehehe!" A creepyughter sounded from the person as he grinned before lunging towards Aiden with open arms. Aiden calmed down before long. He might have been stunned if he had encountered something as such back when he had just stepped foot into the martial world. But now, he was already a Martial Master, and even if he hadn''t encountered something as such before, he could roughly guess what was going on! Aiden did not dodge or avoid the attacking warriors. Reaching out, he pped the person''s forehead gently without exerting any force and shouted softly. "How dare you harm someone, you fiend! Get out!" "Ah!" A shriek came from within the warrior''s body. A ghost flew out from the top of his head C it was difficult to see as it was illusory and transparent. When it sensed Aiden''s aura, the ghost was horrified and fled into the distance right away. The unlucky warrior''s body shuddered and his lips and face regained some color. However, that person was frail and weak, falling down limply as he panted heavily. "Thank you, Honorable Master!" The man, this unlucky warrior panted while doing his best in expressing his thanks. After all, his life was just saved by this unknown man This stranger ''risked'' his life without any apparent reason. "Take a while to recover and leave this ce as soon as possible. If you linger here any longer, you might die!" Aiden remarked darkly. "A-Alright." The shaken warrior nodded hurriedly. The thing that possessed the poor still heaving warrior was a little ghost that did not have much of its unholy powers. At the most, it could only attach itself to the bodies of mortals and low-level martial artists. This was the possession by ghosts that is widely known in the mortal world. While little ghosts were troublesome, they did not dare to provoke three types of people. The first type was martial artists with strong martial powers. Most Martial Knight martial artists would already have no need to fear such little ghosts. The second type was people with a strong, powerful blood energy. Be it martial artists or mortals, as long as they were fit, strong, and had a robust blood energy, they could defend against most demons, fiends, and even most illnesses. Now that Aiden was at the Martial Master realm and a Primal as well, his blood energy was akin to a zing sun even without him channeling it. There was no way a little ghost would dare approach a burning furnace! That was the reason why little ghosts all wanted to avoid Aiden along the way, let alone close in on him. The third type was people who were filled with righteousness and just. Those who were educated and possessed righteousness. Righteous people couldpose themselves in the face of temptations and threats. The reason why some people would never fall ill with their mortal bodies despite being jailed and having to endure those terrible environments was because they possessed righteousness! The power of the just, the strength of Faith, the Holy! Predecessors always mentioned that one must not be corrupted by wealth, bend their integrity due to poverty, or bow down against power. In reality, that was the realm of righteousness! Mortals often mention that one would not fear ghosts if they hadn''t done anything guilty C this was also the same logic. As long as one did notmit acts of guilt, their hearts wouldn''t weaken out of fear; those that were righteous were always fearless! Back in his earlier days in Ugburg, Aiden had even heard about some legends when he was studying. For great schrs with immense wisdom and righteousness, in their twilight years, even with their weak mortal bodies, a single shout was enough for them to keep evil at bay C their shouts could shock the ghosts into dust! Thousands of years ago, millions of lives were killed in this ce overnight. As such, the aura of vengefulness was strong and there were many wandering ghosts left around with their grievances. Given therge number of little ghosts, there were bound to be malicious ghosts born from them! Little ghosts were troublesome but they would not harm one''s life. Malicious, ferocious, and evil ghosts were those that killed! Even for Martial Knight martial artists and Martial Masters, a slight misstep could cause them their lives! Aiden continued advancing and as the night got darker, he entered deeper into the ruins as well. Not long after. A tragicughter sounded in all directions; it was unpredictable and caused one''s hairs to stand on end! Smirking coldly, Aiden did not stop and continued forward. *Swoosh!* An evil gust of wind weed him. Aiden''s ck hair swayed gently and his expression was calm C there wasn''t a single trace of panic in his eyes. "If you continue forward, I''ll take your life!" The shrill voice of a woman could be heard from the evil wind. Aiden was unmoved. He had just walked a dozen meters ahead when a hazy phantom appeared behind him, dressed in blood-colored robes with long ck hair touching the floor. A menacing face could be seen faintly from between the ck hair. The malicious ghost reached out with both hands, lunging towards Aiden silently with its purplish-ck fingernails. Aiden seemed oblivious to it. The moment the hands of the malicious ghost touched Aiden''s body, its expression changed and it shrieked. Aiden''s golden draconic blood surged and shone with streaks bedazzling luster! The power of thunder was the most righteous energy in the world and was the greatest counter to evil entities. The malevolent ghost would not have expected that Aiden''s bloodline would possess the power of thunder. Instantly, it was struck by the thunder and dissipated into ashes, disappearing. Right from the beginning, Aiden''s footsteps had not stopped at all. Initially, there were other malevolent ghosts surrounding him. When they witnessed that, all of them scattered in unison. Chapter 899 899 - Malevolent Energies In the night, Aiden continued advancing and was getting nearer to the center of the Great Forbidden Ruins. Although he came across some spirit stones and weapons along the way, they were not valuable and weremonly seen in the markets. The Great Forbidden Ruins existed for countless years and countless people have been here during that period of time. The rtively safe areas at the outer perimeter were most likely ransacked thoroughly long ago. If one wanted benefits, the greatest possibility would be at the depths of the ruins right in the center! Aiden guessed that the outer perimeter of the Great Forbidden Ruins was mostly filled with little ghosts that did not have much power. As he ventured deeper, he came across malevolent and evil ghosts. If he were to continue advancing deeper into the center of the ruins, there was a high chance that he would meet with danger that could threaten Martial Masters! As he looked down at the gigantic ravine that ran through the ruins from midair, Aiden felt a sense of trepidation. Before long, he gradually stopped and gazed across, murmuring softly with a look of shock, "Was this the pce back then?" At the front, a series of towering pitch-ck walls stood piercing into the clouds majestically. Although it looked obvious that they were old, it also disyed the dominance of this pce back in the past! Even the sight of the debris alone was enough to shock Aiden! Against the pce walls, any martial artists would seem like an insignificant ant. If the fearsome warrior asura, Ward Atrez had not told Aiden about it, he would not have been able to imagine that an empire, a city as huge as this was destroyed overnight! What a pity for such an empire. Aidenmented internally and entered slowly. The moment he entered the vicinity of the pce, his expression changed and he frowned. He felt a cold chill piercing his body! Given Aiden''s immensely strong energy that could repel evil, the fact that he was able to sense chills meant that this pce was far from simple! What a malevolent energy! Aiden thought as he checked out his surroundings. A prolonged stay in this pce would result in malevolent energy entering one''s body. Over time, it would result in massive issues within one''s body and could even reduce their lifespans. Even with Aiden''s formidable internal energy, he did not dare to linger too long in this ce. "Seems like not only did many people die in this pce, their cultivation realms were not low either! Otherwise, such a terrifying malevolent energy wouldn''t have been formed!" Just as he was about to move forward, his ears suddenly twitched. "Hmm?" Aiden''s eyes lit up and he shuffled his footsteps, stealthily dodging to the side and hiding behind a fake mountain without touching the ground with his heels. *Ta!* *Ta!* *Ta!* Before long, a series of dull footsteps sounded, marching in unison. Gazing over, Aiden saw that there was a squadron of more than a thousand soldiers strolling over from a small path nearby. All of those soldiers were armed and wore ancient armor that was filled with rust. Each of them wore helmets and were expressionless, emanating a frosty aura as though they came straight from the depths of the abyss! Otherworldly soldiers crossing! Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. Otherworldly soldiers crossing was formed from thesting misfortune, vengeance, grievance, and malevolence of soldiers that died on the battlefield or troops that met with untimely demise. When the malevolent energy was too strong, it would even materialize into the images of otherworldly troops of the past. In reality, all of these soldiers were already dead. However, their consciousness was stuck in the moment that they were dead as they continued with their missions in an orderly manner. For example, the thousand-odd soldiers here were tasked to patrol the pce before their death. Even years, mayhaps millenias after their deaths, the otherworldly warriors that were conjured maintained their vignt stance and continued patrolling the pce against enemies! All of a sudden! The otherworldly squad that had initially passed the fake mountain paused and their leader turned around slowly, gazing towards Aiden''s hiding spot. The leader of the otherworldly squad was not weak and the aura he gave off was simr to an early-stage Martial Master at least! Furthermore, he had extremely keen senses! Aiden had just recognized the otherworldly soldiers crossing and his pores emitted a faint Soul Power energy. Instantly, the leader of the squad noticed this peculiar, unfamiliar scent. Given the icy environment, the slight heat of blood energy could be sensed instantly by the strong otherworldly soldiers! Aiden was extremely quick to react as he locked his pores, stopped his heart, and sealed both of his cores, the Primal Core and the Inner Core in the blink of an eye. At the same time, he closed his eyes. That way, he would not be noticed by the otherworldly squad leader not far away from the glint in his eyes. Those otherworldly soldiers were not alive after all and did not possess the five senses C they merely existed relying on their familiarity with the ce as well as their remnant consciousness. The eyes of the otherworldly squad leader shone with a demonic red glint and lingered for a long time at Aiden''s area. When he didn''t notice anything unusual, he turned back and led his squad to continue patrolling. After the otherworldly soldiers left, Aiden heaved a sigh of relief and darted out from behind the fake mountain. Given his current strength, he did not have to fear those otherworldly soldiers. However, if he were to engage in a battle with them, otherworldly soldiers from other parts of the pce would definitely be attracted by themotion! A mere patrolling squad had more than a thousand troops. In that case, an army of this pce would definitely range in the millions! That was a massive number! If those otherworldly soldiers were to charge over endlessly, Aiden would be embroiled in a tough battle. If there was any unstoppable existence within the otherworldly soldiers, he would definitely be in danger! However, with his Inner Core condensed as well as his unique origin, Aiden possessed greatly enhanced senses and would dodge any patrolling otherworldly soldiers. For anyone else, this pce was a treacherous ce with dangers lurking everywhere. However, it wasn''t anything much for Aiden. Gradually, he entered the depths of the pce. With so many otherworldly soldiers gathered in this pce preventing ordinary Martial Masters from entering the depths, there was a high chance that great treasures could be hidden within. As he continued advancing, Aiden gradually noticed something amiss. Something seemed to have happened within the pce. There were otherworldly troops converging towards the North endlessly! *Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!* The sound of galloping was like thunder as the ground quaked. In Aiden''s vision, there were even thousands of mounted riders charging towards the North with a furious killing intent and a dark aura. There are other intruders that alerted the otherworldly soldiers! Aiden deduced almost instantly. The sound of killing, shouts, and horses galloping were mixed over that side. The murderous echoes shook the heavens! Unless they had extraordinary means, they would have to pray to survive against the encirclement of so many otherworldly soldiers. Aiden did not have the energy to go save anyone he did not know about. Just as he was about to change directions and head the other way, he eximed softly with a startled expression. "Not good!" His ears twitched for a little and he was rmed, rushing towards the North without hesitation. In the night, within the Great Forbidden Ruins, the sounds of killing shook the heavens. The surrounding otherworldly aura was immense and torrential, almost engulfing the entire skies! "Come on, let''s go! We can''t hold out anymore!" The person who spoke was a beautiful middle-ageddy drenched in sweet sweat. Ancient and mysterious runes shone in her hands as she tossed them out, scattering like butterflies, as though she had an endless supply. The beautiful middle-ageddy was the peak master of Azure Myst Sect''s Runic Masters, Peak Martial Master, Krisia Hall! Beside Krisia Hall, two other Martial Masters released their spiritual arts and treasured weapons, fighting against the tide of surrounding otherworldly soldiers. The two of them had a few wounds each and looked pale, seemingly unable to hold out any longer. One of them was the sects Array master, Slyff Nae. The other person was wearing a set of white robes soaked in blood. Wielding a three feet long green sword, he revealed an edged frosty sword energy and was a sword martial artist. The three of them took a spot each in a triangr formation and their feet shuffled continuously, looking out for one another. However, there were simply way too many otherworldly soldiers that charged from all directions, as though they were endless. Wave after wave, they lunged forward and attacked Slyff Nae and the other two repeatedly. The three of them were on the verge of dying! Gritting his teeth with an indignant expression, Slyff Nae could only remark darkly, "Retreat!" "It''s probably not going to be easy for us to retreat now!" The white-robed sword martial artist said softly with a terrible expression. Chapter 900 900 - Just In Time The three of them caused quite amotion and otherworldly soldiers rushed over from other parts of the pce continuously. The otherworldly soldiers that came,ter on, were extremely strong! Initially, the patrolling otherworldly soldiers were only at the strength level of early and mid-stage Martial Masters. But now, there werete-stage Martial Master otherworldly soldiers joining the fray. The situation was turning deadlier! The three of them retreated endlessly but were trapped by endless otherworldly soldiers. As though they were stuck in a swamp and had difficulty moving, their speeds became slower and slower. The longer things dragged on, the worse the situation would be for them! All three of them were injured. Although they were consuming elixirs repeatedly, given the fact that they were in an environment filled with malevolent energy, their injuries could not heal up and bled continuously. Furthermore, the malevolent energy entered their bodies through their wounds, and over time, the damage to their meridians, dantian, and bloodline would intensify and turn progressively worse! In the end, even if the three of them were not killed by the charging otherworldly soldiers, they would have their strength and Inner Cores frozen by the malevolent energy and die as a direct consequence of it. Moreover, among the three of them, Krisia Hall was already in a terrible condition! Her lips were purplish and her footsteps were sluggish. Her spiritual energy was thoroughly expended and her Martial Master prowess was shrouded by this evil, malevolent energy! She was about to fall at any moment with difficulty... Although their triangr formation was great, it wouldn''t be able to function if one of them was down. At that time, the circumstances would be even worse for the three of them! "Pfft!" shes of blood appeared. Krisia Hall grunted and a nasty gash appeared on her abdomen as blood flowed endlessly. Slyff Nae''s expression changed starkly and he took a step forward, supporting Krisia Hall who was about to fall. Waving his robes, he let out a tremendous amount of spirit energy that knocked back the iing otherworldly soldiers, pushing them back like dominoes. "W-we have to Y-you have to b-break out of the encirclement with all your might! I-I''ll cover the back!" When he saw the wound on Krisia Hall, Slyff Nae frowned and a hint of frenzy could be seen in his eyes. pping his storage bag, Slyff Nae took out a couple of elixirs and devoured them in a single mouthful. At the same time, he summoned 12 supreme-grade artifact swords. They all seemed like sentient creatures as they were controlled by his martial powers and floated around his figure. *ng!* *ng!* The swords quivered and buzzed endlessly. "Hexagonal Sword Formation!" Slyff Nae''s Martial Master channeled to its limits and was already throbbing in pain. Controlling the 12 flying artifact swords, he summoned Azure Myst Sect''s Hexagonal Sword Formations and blocked the otherworldly soldiers that wereing from behind him. Two Hexagonal Sword Formation appeared in midair and shone brightly with a bedazzling radiance! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* More than ten otherworldly soldiers lunged over. When they struck the Hexagonal Sword Formations, they turned into ashes and dissipated in the air. Slyff Nae did not have a Martial Master phenomenon. However, he was a Sword Formation Master. A unique and incredibly difficult, but rather powerful form of martial path to strive for those talented in it. With her Hexagonal Sword Formation, she was strong enough to fight against some Martial Master phenomenons! Up ahead, the white-robed sword martial artist took a deep breath of air and swallowed a few Mana Regeneration Elixirs. Letting out a long roar, the sword in his hands quivered as he shouted, "Martial Master phenomenon, Ethereal Sword Rain!" *Pitter-patter!* *Pitter-patter!* Raindrops fell endlessly. A rain descended behind the white-robed sword martial artist and it poured heavier and denser, shining with an endless gleam of sharpness. *Poof!* *Poof!* *Poof!* Many of the otherworldly soldiers at the front fell to the ground one after another after being pierced by the sword rain, turning into malevolent energy before dissipating. At the very least, a few hundred otherworldly soldiers vanished with the release of the Martial Master phenomenon! Up ahead, a vast empty space came into sight. "Let''s go!" The white-robed martial artist bellowed and charged first with his sword, paving the way forward. Slyff Nae carried Krisia Hall with his arms and followed close behind. They did not get far when the sound of galloping could be heard behind, rumbling like thunder. Even the ground started quaking uncontrobly, as though thousands of troops were charging over! "Watch out!" The white-robed martial artist''s expression changed. The otherworldly soldiers at the front seemed to have received some sort of an order as they scattered in unison. Arge number of troops wielding spears and riding otherworldly horses formed an awl-shaped formation, charging over murderously to sh against the white-robed martial artist''s Martial Master phenomenon. *Boom!* There was a deafening sound. A few riders at the front fell off their mounts. However, the Ethereal Sword Rain phenomenon also showed signs of falling! Another sh would be sufficient to dispel the white-robed sword martial artist''s Martial Master phenomenon! "Slyff and you young miss, just leave. Don''t bother about me" Krisia Hall''s expression was grim and her meridians, bloodline, and body were freezing up after being sealed by the malevolent energy. She was extremely weak and no longer had the strength to fight. "What nonsense are you talking about?!" Slyff Nae had been on the path for more than three hundred years and had a warm personality, rarely getting emotional. But now, he was agitated and his eyes were reddened as he shouted. "Sigh, I''ll only be a burden to you guys if you take me along. At that time, none of us will survive." Lying in Slyff Nae''s embrace, a tender look shed through Krisia Hall''s eyes as she whispered, "Slyff Nae, I know what you are thinking. I''m afraid we won''t have that affinity in this lifetime." When he heard that, Slyff Nae turned calm instead. "Krisia Hall, since you know how I feel, you should know that I definitely won''t leave you!" Slyff Nae''s gaze was resolute as he held Krisia Hall''s ice-cold hands, not willing to let go as heughed. "I''ve been a coward towards rtionships for my entire life. Today, I''m finally brave." Turning around, Slyff Nae nodded to the white-robed sword martial artist and said calmly, "Go leave first. I''ll apany her." By apanying her, it meant that he was going to die with her! "B-but you guys" The white-robed martial artist looked anxious and did not continue speaking. Slyff Nae smiled gently. "The path towards the absolute is limitless without any end in sight. Even if we truly attain longevity and end up dying old in loneliness, what''s the point of that?" "This is fine. Krisia Hall and I will take this opportunity to head down and apany our old bro, Little Vhen, lest he gets bored below! Haha!" Slyff Naeughed once more as he hugged the woman in his embrace tightly. At that moment, it seemed as though the two of them were the only ones left in the world. It wasn''t everyone who could embrace death with such an open mind. *Boom!* At that moment, another bang sounded. The white-robed sword martial artist''s Martial Master phenomenon was shattered by the otherworldly soldiers! Without any protection, the three of them werepletely exposed against the dense otherworldly troops! "Die, you evil spirits!" Suddenly, a voice sounded. It wasn''t exactly clear given themotion of the battlefield. However, right after, the tides of the battlefield shifted! *Snap!* An iparably dazzling thunderbolt tore through the dark clouds and descended among the otherworldly troops! Electric snakes slithered around in a blinding manner, turning the entire ce into a sea of lightning. *Crackle!* There was a deafening and crisp sound. At least a thousand otherworldly soldiers were devoured by the sea of lightning and turned into dust! The sheer number of strong otherworldly troops at this part of the pce was not the only reason why it was so dangerous. More than that, it was because the troops were created from malevolent energy. Even if the martial artists were beaten down, they would only turn into malevolent energy again. All it took was a period of time for the defeated otherworldly troops to spawn again. Their numbers would not diminish and could even be said to be endless! However, malevolent energy feared thunder. The thunder earlier smited thousands of otherworldly soldiers into dust and their malevolent energy was purged as well C they could not respawn anymore. "An expert came for us?" The eyes of the white-robed sword martial artist lit up as he turned around and urged, "Slyff Nae, an expert is here! Take Krisia Hall with you and we''ll try again to kill our way out of this!" "That noise from earlier?" Slyff Nae furrowed his brows with a confused expression. "W-who? W-who could it be here of all ces?" Krisia Hall muttered weakly in faint, feeble voice. Before her sentence waspleted, the sound of clothes fluttering arrived. It came at an extremely fast speed and arrived before them almost instantly! A gray robed figure stood in midair with long swaying matte ck hair. His golden eyes were deep and sparkled like stars as he gave off a terrifying aura. Chapter 901 901 - Silent World "Is it Could it be him?!" Slyff Nae eximed with shock referring to the strange figure from the recently emerged stories. A figure in gray tattered robes shook not just the Draconic Skink race as a whole, but the whole world as well. The person who arrived was Aiden who had barged into the pce as well! *Pshew!* *Pshew!* *Pshew!* Not far away, rows of archers knelt on the ground and shot out long arrows lined with malevolent energy. A flurry of them arrived instantly, like a swarm of locusts! "Watch out!" Slyff Nae eximed. He was clear about the strength of those otherworldly soldiers. In this pce, the otherworldly soldiers that were spawned were almost representative of the massive, unstoppable army that guarded the pce in the Great Forgotten Capital of the past! There were many different types of soldiers and they were powerful. Apart from patrolling troops, there were archers as well as light and heavy-armored mounted riders! Furthermore, all of them were Martial Masters! If armies of Martial Masters could range in the millions, it would mean that Martial Masters were everywhere and Martial Grandmasters were plenty as well. The might of the Great Forgotten Empire could be seen from that fact alone. Although at some point it probably had a proper name, to the people of today that was the only name they remembered it. The malevolent arrows that were fired were extremely swift but Aiden was faster. He did not bother to deal with the malevolent arrows at all as he descended quickly. All of the malevolent arrows missed! It was a deafening crush. Aiden was like a human-sized ferocious beast, causing the ground to shudder as he descended before Slyff Nae and the other two. "Follow me!" The situation was dire and the otherworldly soldiers were charging once more. Whipping out Rygintarth from his storage bag, Aiden did not waste time on needless words as he led the way and paved a path. "Aiden, watch out! Those otherworldly soldiers are not easy to deal with!" Slyff Nae reminded hurriedly. Naturally, he could tell that Aiden had already formed a core. However, the strength of those otherworldly soldiers were increasingly powerful and could even destroy the Martial Master phenomenon of the white-robed sword martial artist. Even atte-stage Martial Master realm, the three of them ended in such a helpless situation. Aiden had just reached to early-stage Martial Master realm. Despite his amazing potential and strong trump cards, if he was encircled by the otherworldly soldiers, he might have to escape here and leave these people behind! *ng!* Rygintarth quivered and let out a scarlet colored, bloody beam. Circting his Soul Power, Aiden shed out and the blood beam expanded with golden-colored primordial energy crackling on it in a terrifying manner! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* The light-armored mounted riders that charged over from the front were swept over by Aiden domineeringly and dissipated instantly! They werepletely helpless. The otherworldly soldiers that could destroy the white-robed martial artist''s Martial Master phenomenon could not withstand the sharpness of Aiden''s de! What a strong blood energy! Impressive! The white-robed sword martial artist was secretly in awe. "Please follow closely behind me!" Aiden continued advancing with Rygintarth and his speed wasn''t affected at all. He disyed an extremely terrifying sword technique with his hands. Phantoms appeared everywhere as blood energy spread out. The killing intent of the sword technique was immense and every single strike was fatal, aiming for one''s life. Coupled with Rygintarth, everywhere the blood beam touched, people and mounts would fall C no one could stop Aiden for a moment! That sword technique was none other than Asura Saber, imparted to him by the Asura, Ward Atrez. Although Aiden practiced it in private after the battle at Azure Myst Sect, it was against thin air and he could not feel the excitement of a massacre and a massive battle. At the same time, he could not trulyprehend the intent of Asura de. But now, with the help of the surrounding otherworldly soldiers, Aiden was practicing his technique while breaking free from the encirclement! Ghosts howling, blood flow, Hell, white bones, phantom, corpse Every single attack felt increasingly familiar. Aiden carefully experienced the intent of his attacks and felt the changes of the sword technique. "Young Hero, the direction isn''t right!" A short whileter, the white-robed sword martial artist frowned and said deeply, "We''re now headed towards the depths of the pce. We''re getting further away from the outer perimeter!" Aiden replied. "Themotion caused here was too great and there are at least millions of troops waiting outside. It''s not too realistic if we want to kill our way out." In reality, given his strength, it wasn''t considered difficult if he wanted to kill his way out. If Aiden could kill his way in, he could naturally do the same in reverse. But now that he was with the group of three and Krisia Hall was severely injured, that made things difficult. With a calm expression, Aiden analyzed, "If those otherworldly soldiers retained their memories from 10,000 years ago, there must exist ces within the pce that they''re not permitted to enter casually!" "Once we enter, we''ll find those ces and that will ensure our safety temporarily!" Slyff Nae nodded and hugged Krisia Hall while summoning sword formations, defending against the iing otherworldly soldiers. "Let''s listen to the brave hero!" "Just call me Aiden" Aiden threw it back, as being called such presumptious names and titles made him shiver and cringe. *Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!* Before long, a deafening sound of horses galloping sounded in a shuddering manner. Instantly, the debris and rocks in the ruins started bouncing. The sound came from the front and back! Slyff Nae and the others narrowed their gazes and looked. The otherworldly soldiers that chased them from behind dispersed and a dark cloud shrouded over with a terrifying malevolent aura. It was dull, heavy, and suffocating! That dark cloud gradually condensed into a series of mounted riders. Wielding long spears, the mounted riders had short spears hanging from their backs and they wore a tight, ancient armor all over. The only things that were exposed were a pair of grisly bloodshot eyes! "Heavy-armored mounted riders!" The white-robed sword martial artist''s expression turned terrible. Earlier on, the light-armored mounted riders condensed by the malevolent energy could already shatter his Martial Master phenomenon with ease. If these heavy-armored mounted riders were to charge over, their iron hooves would be able to drown them in an instant, killing them without a corpse remaining! It was the same in front of them! Millions of heavy-armored mounted riders rushed over with a torrential momentum! "Don''t be afraid, I''ll settle them!" Aiden''s voice sounded once more, calm andposed without any emotions. For some reason, when he heard that voice, the uneasy heart of the white-robed sword martial artist calmed down instantly. "Kill!" A leader of the mounted soldiers raised his long spear and growled from the depths of his throat with a bloody glint in his eyes. "Kill! Kill! Kill!" The remaining millions of heavy-armored mounted riders chanted with a mighty aura while withdrawing the short spears on their backs at the same time, throwing them towards Aiden and the other three with their full strength in unison! *Buzz!* *Buzz!* Millions of short spears that gleamed coldly tore through the air and let out an ear-piercing sound. This was equivalent to millions of Martial Masters attacking at the same time and the force of it was much stronger than the arrows. Dense and clumped, they covered the skies and almost drowned Aiden and the other three! The white-robed sword martial artist had cultivated for more than a hundred years and had been through countless life-and-death experiences. Yet, he still felt his heart palpitate at this scene and could not contain himself properly. ''I guess only Martial Grandmasters can survive against such an attack?'' He was shocked at the possibility, the terrifying power of the attack. A thought shed through the white-robed sword martial artist''s mind. *Ring!* *Ring!* *Ring!* At the same time, a clear sword buzzing sound reverberated through the world, tearing through metal and rock with an endless sharpness! The white-robed sword martial artist was extremely familiar with such a sharpness. To begin with, he was someone that trained his whole life on the way of the sword. Instinctively, the white-robed sword martial artist turned towards the sound. As Aiden waved his sleeves, several supreme-grade artifact quality des hovered in midair. The swords quivered and spirit light shone brightly. As though they were alive, the 18 flying swords moved unusually and interweaved in midair, leaving behind streams of sharp, cold sword energy. As they interweaved, the sword energy sliced the void into pieces and formed an extremely mysterious formation. "Attack!" Aiden hollered softly. The flying, floating, and rotating swords gathered at the same time with their tips pointing out, resembling a zing sun radiating with a supreme sword energy. It formed in front of the white-robed sword martial artist and the other two, defending them with a gigantic disk made of swords that spun wildly! *Boom!* Thousands of short spears struck the Azure Sword Formation and let out a deafening bang! The entire void seemed to have quivered. Right after, the world went silent! The white-robed sword martial artist''s eyelids twitched rapidly C this scene had caused his heart to leap into his throat. Chapter 902 902 - Brothers The Azure Sword Formation paused for a moment. Quivering slightly, it let out a creaking sound as though it could disperse at any moment! Slyff Nae''s expression turned a little pale. If that sword formation could not hold out, they would be engulfed within a world of spears instantly and die without any corpse left! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* After a momentary pause, the Azure Sword Formation began spinning wildly once more, destroying all the iing short spears as they turned into malevolent energy and dispersed in the air. The white-robed sword martial artist was tongue-tied and stunned. That sword formation managed to defend against the attack of millions of heavy-armored mounted riders! The battle of Azure Myst Sect spread within the entire region and he too had heard about the monster incarnate of Azure Myst Sect that was at Extreme Martial Knight realm and could kill beyond his level. However, he truly did not dare to believe that Aiden would possess such terrifying might with a single attack! The Azure Sword Formation had nine levels, or so to say ''ranks'' to it. Rank or Level 1 required 9 long ded swords to activate, Rank 2 required 18 while at Rank 3 it needed 27! Aiden had alreadyprehended the Azure Sword Formation to Level 3. However, he had just formed his core and did not manage to refine new flying swords yet. One of the reasons for his trip to the Great Forbidden Ruins was so that he could seek out the legendary connate spirit fire and refine a new set of 27 floating, swirling swords! Every additional flying sword increased the power of his attacks. The power increase of nine additional swords together with the force of the sword formation was indescribable and its might would be terrifying! While the white-robed sword martial artist was shocked out of his mind, Aiden was not pleased. The Level 2 Azure Sword Formation could only be used for defense passively and was nearly smashed apart. If he could create a Level 3 Azure Sword Formation, it could even charge forward and mince the millions of heavy-armored mounted riders into ashes, let alone the malevolent spears. With the Azure Sword Formation blocking behind, the heavy-armored mounted riders could not approach them for the time being. Up ahead, before the heavy-armored mounted riders arrived, Aiden took the initiative and activated his Inner Core to churn his Internal Soul Power Energy madly as his eyes began to glow with intense golden luster and he eximed whilst punching the ground before his feet. Ancient, Primordial energy filled the air, causing the ground itself to shake, quake in fear, and strange vibrant power to spread out from the impact! The ink-ck malevolent energy in the skies started dispersing, as though they sensed something. *Boom!* There was a deafening sound. A golden wed hand descended from above, radiating with a golden brilliance that tore the heavens apart. Repressive void currents started surging toward the heavy-armored mounted riders in a frightening manner! The golden light spread and malevolent energy started dissolving, akin to snow meeting with a scorching sun. As they say, the light was the best counter for darkness. It was a unique skill Aiden could now use as he reached his current level of power. The Ancient Draconic Seal! At Martial Knight realm, Aiden could not unleash the true might of the Ancient Draconic Seal. But now that he had formed a core, the power of his Ancient Draconic Seal had increased significantly! Yet, Aiden frowned after attacking. Something was still not right! Although the might of the Ancient Draconic Seal was incredibly powerful after he arrived at Martial Master realm, Aiden could still sense that he had yet to unleash the true potential of the Ancient Draconic Seal. Compared to the Ancient Draconic Seal that was disyed by that old man of the Ancient One''s Pce when he was training there, his Ancient Draconic Seal was still inferior be it in terms of power, force or intent. Before he could contemte further, the Ancient Draconic Seal had already descended! *Boom!* The gigantic palm smashed heavily on the ground and countless otherworldly soldiers were crushed into dust as their malevolent energy were purified by the Ancient Draconic Seal. Up ahead, an empty area the size of a palm formed. All the otherworldly soldiers stopped for a moment in their tracks, not daring to advance as though they were stunned by the power of the Ancient Draconic Seal! Aiden continued going forward in the hazy night and with his powerful vision, he vaguely caught sight of a dpidated structure up ahead. Quite a number of otherworldly soldiers revolved around the structure but none of them entered. There were many forbidden grounds within the pce that even the troops guarding the pce could not step foot in casually! "Let''s go there!" Aiden pointed forward and strode over in huge steps. The white-robed sword martial artist and Slyff Nae who was carrying Krisia Hall followed closely behind. As though they could sense that Aiden''s group wanted to enter the structure, more otherworldly soldiers swarmed towards them and attacked wildly. Aiden changed his sword force, turning from a sinister sword technique with torrential blood energy into a majestic aura with tides rumbling! A single sh caused a strong resonance. Coupled with the sound of tsunamis, the might was horrifying! Even the attack formed by the heavy-armored mounted riders could not stop Aiden''s footsteps. At the back, the Azure Sword Formation defended them. At the front, Aiden swung Rygintarth in huge, wide motions. Creation, Ripple... and all the other first four strikes of the Void Splitting Manual. Aiden fought in all directions and broke through theyers of obstacles, eventually bringing Slyff Nae and the other two with him into the structure! The endless otherworldly soldiers behind them surged over. However, all of them stopped in the tracks when they arrived before the structure. None of the otherworldly soldiers dared to take a single step in! When they saw that, the white-robed sword martial artist and Slyff Nae heaved a sigh of relief, finally calming down. Now that he was fully rxed, the white-robed martial artist finally experienced aches all over his body. His spirit energy was nearly entirely exhausted and his robes were sticking to his body, long drenched in sweat. That escape had pushed his stamina to its limits! Instinctively, he turned to look at Aiden. However, that look gave him a shock. Normally, given the fact that Aiden was right at the front and took on most of the attacks while summoning the Azure Sword Formation and conjuring a spiritual art with such a terrifying might, he should be the most exhausted. But now, he was standing on the spot looking calm and breathing steadily. It seemed as though he still had energy left and he did not break a sweat at all! What sort of a stamina was that? Was he a monster? The white-robed martial artist took out a couple of elixirs and consumed them. After taking a breather, he cupped his fists towards Aiden and said sincerely, "Thank you for rendering your assistance, Young Master Aiden. My name is Lian Juhe, a martial artist of the Azure Myst Sect. I was originally exploring outside and had only returned recently." Aiden nodded and shifted his gaze, looking at Lian Juhe''s sleeve. There was an emblem of a flying sword etched on it. That was the emblem of Sword Peak''s master! Slyff Nae remarked, "Lian is one of the few martial artists in the sect who managed toprehend a Martial Master phenomenon and he''s also a sword martial artist. As such, he can be considered as the number one of the Martial Master realm in the sect and has returned this time round to take over the position of Sword Peak''s master." "I''m ashamed..." Lian Juhe shook his head hurriedly and said with a bitter smile, "I''m not worthy of being the number one of Martial Master realm. Young Master Aiden''s strength is above mine. Your reputation truly precedes you, impressive." In the cultivation world, martial artists lived for hundreds and thousands of years and strength reigned supreme. Although Aiden was only a young man in his twenties right now, he had already formed his core and was in the same realm as Lian Juhe. Technically, in terms of power, they were brothers, there were no reason to force any hierarchy between themselves. This was also themon norm. If Lian Juhe started speaking to Aiden with an arrogant attitude and the tone of an elder just because he had lived for more than a hundred years, that would be unwise of him. Perhaps it might be eptable within the same sect. However, if it was outside, there was a huge possibility that arge fight would breakout and one could even get themselves killed! "Peak Master Slyff Nae, why did the three of you enter this ce?" Aiden changed the topic and asked confusedly. What happened for three peak masters of Azure Myst Sect to leave the sect together? Slyff Nae sighed and replied, "The Sect Master was hurt during the battle at Azure Myst Sect and he requires a special elixir to have any hope of recovering. Otherwise, there''s a great chance that he''s going to fail in his attempt to break through to the Martial Grandmaster realm and thus would perish as a result." Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. He knew that the sect master was injured but he did not expect the impact to be this great! Chapter 903 903 - A Single Drop Of Blood What happened to these peak masters, these elders of the Azure Myst Sect to leave the sect together? Slyff Nae sighed and replied: "The Sect Master was hurt during the battle at Azure Myst Sect and he requires a special elixir to have any hope of recovering. Otherwise, there''s a great chance that he''s going to fail in his attempt to break through to the Martial Grandmaster realm and thus would perish as a result." Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. He knew that the sect master was injured but he did not expect the impact to be this great! "This Ancient ''Elixir'' is a unique, high-grade Elixir and there are a few medicinal herbs within that are too rare to be found. We couldn''t find them in several marketces. However, some of the legends state that those spirit herbs might be able to be found within the Great Forbidden Ruins and that''s why we''re here," Slyff Nae continued, "We did not find those spirit herbs in the outer perimeter of the ruins and I didn''t heed Lian''s advice and ventured deep into the center of this ce. Sigh, I nearly caused all of us to lose our lives here." "Cough!" Right then, Krisia Hall who was lying in Slyff Nae''s embrace coughed a couple of times. Her mouth opened slightly as she spat out a mouthful of ck blood that carried a dark malevolent energy. Aiden turned to his side and took a nce with a calm expression. However, Lian Juhe''s gaze narrowed as hemented, "The malevolent energy has entered her blood!" "Krisia Hall, how are you?!" Slyff Nae''s expression changed starkly as he took out a few jade bottles hurriedly. Opening the bottles in a flustered manner, he fed all the elixirs in them to Krisia Hall. "It''s useless" Krisia Hall sighed gently. After it enters the body, malevolent energy can be purged by elixirs and the immense spirit energy of one''s Martial Master if it did not enter deep into the bloodline. However, she was too severely injured! The malevolent energy had already infiltrated her bloodline and was circting along with it, eating into her heart. It won''t be long before her heart stopped beating. "D-Don''t" Slyff Nae was extremely anxious and his voice was quivering. He could naturally sense that Krisia Hall''s condition was getting worse; her body was turning colder and her heart was beating fainter! However, he was helpless towards such a situation. If he had the fresh blood of a pure-blooded ferocious beast that he could feed Krisia Hall, that might be able to contain the malevolent energy within her body. However, they were in a ruin with countless otherworldly soldiers patrolling around them C there was no way for them to get out. They were surrounded by silence. Apart from the few of them, there were no other living beings, let alone pure-blooded ferocious beasts. Right then, Aiden suddenly came before Krisia Hall and squatted down. A wound appeared on his wrist area, clearly inflicted recently. He extended his wrist and ced his wound beside Krisia Hall''s lips. The moment a drop of blood dripped out, her injuries started healing! Slyff Nae''s mind was in a state of chaos and he was only watching everything subconsciously. That drop of blood shimmered with a divine, bright golden light and emanated a pure and terrifying aura. The moment that drop of blood entered Krisia Hall''s mouth, a massive surge of energy burst forth, rippling through her body like a hurricane and entering all her limbs! The malevolent energy within Krisia Hall''s body could not defend against it and was purged before long. Her heart was pounding with sturdy strength! Rather than a drop of blood It was akin to her devouring a zing sun! The entire process happened within a couple of breaths. By the time Slyff Nae returned to his senses, a flush of scarlet had already returned to Krisia Hall''s face and her body was gradually turning warm. Even the massive gash on her abdomen was starting to heal! "This?!" Both Slyff Nae and Lian Juhe were stunned. Although there were the myths about mythical beings and their theorized blood being of highly sought-after divine elixir, the power of blood for martial artists that specialized in spirit energy and martial arts were way too far from those. Most martial artists did not have direct knowledge towards the power of bloodline. But now, Lian Juhe and Slyff Nae C whosebined ages amounted to almost 500 years C finally witnessed what the power of blood was like! Lian Juhe sized up Aiden as though he was looking at a monster, remarking internally, "A single drop of blood from him already contains such immense power. There''s no wonder why his stamina is so strong." Another whileter. Krisia Hall''s condition recovered immensely and she could already manage to walk with Slyff Nae''s support. "Thank you, Y-young Mas- *khm* Thank you Aiden!" Slyff Nae was delighted and turned to thank immensely. Looking at the otherworldly soldiers gathering outside, Aiden frowned and said darkly, "Peak Master Krisia Hall is fine now. Let''s continue inside and leave the line of sight of these otherworldly soldiers first." Although they could not enter, the fact that all those otherworldly soldiers were gathered here was not good either. "Alright!" Slyff Nae supported Krisia Hall and the three of them followed behind Aiden into the depths of the forbidden grounds. Along the way, Aiden would stop asionally and survey their surroundings. Judging from the signs left behind, he deduced that there was a high chance this was a woman''s chamber in the past. From therge surface area and intricate design of the structures, this woman must have had a significant position in the pce back then! Aiden brought the three of them and maneuvered in this ce, vanishing from the line of sight of the otherworldly soldiers before long. The otherworldly soldiers outside did not have a mind of their own at the end of the day. After patrolling for a short while, they began to disperse. Outside the pce. More than 20 figures flew through the air, growing clearer against the hazy night. When they arrived, it could be seen that they were all traveling without any external objects beneath their feet C all of them were Martial Masters. The Martial Masters were dressed in the same attire and had a bright moon with many stars embroidered on their clothes. A sect badge hung from their waists etched with a moon and sun. Their leader had the most immense aura and his ck hair swayed. With a fairplexion, his eyes resembled bright stars that shimmered in the night. "Senior Brother Mo, why did you stop?" A Martial Master behind him asked softly with a respectful expression. The leader curled his lips and looked in a seemingly casual manner towards a dark ce nearby. Before long, he retracted his gaze as his eyes shed with a look of mockery. "It''s nothing much. Something seems to have changed in the pce." "Are we still going to enter it?" The Martial Master behind him asked. "Of course!" The leader smiled. "All the otherworldly soldiers of the pce are gathered towards a single direction. Let''s take a look and check out what happened." With that said, the Martial Masters rushed towards the depths of the pce and disappeared in the night before long. After that group of martial artists vanished, eight figures appeared from a dark ce nearby, emitting sinister auras simr to ghosts in the night! "Senior Brother Mo, there are quite a few people from Ster Luna Sect!" A Martial Master whispered warily. One of the eight figures had a dark expression and was scrawnier. Faintly visible against the night, he harrumphed coldly. "What''s to be feared about the Ster Luna Sect? Shadowless Sect isn''t weak either!" "Their leader seems to be a paragon of Ster Luna Sect, Mo Xir!" "I heard that Mo Xir inherited the ancient phenomenon of Ster Luna Sect, the 92nd rank of the Phenomenon Ranking, Sr Luna Ster Lumen." Another person frowned and remarked darkly, "Earlier on Mo Xir seemed to have noticed us." "It''s alright." The scrawny man said coldly, "If ites to a death bout I am not scared of him! Let''s enter the pce to check things out as well!" The scrawny man, called Norl Fer waved and brought his seven sect mates with him into the pce. Before long, another group of martial artists descended. There were more than ten of them in this group, wearing scarlet robes and seemingly covered by zing mes. Judging from their attire and sect badges, it was obvious that they came from one of the top super sects of the Tianhuang North Region, ze Columbus Valley! Although ze Columbus Valley was not within one of the nine immortal sects, their strength was not to be underestimated. Their leader was a tall man with a fiery gaze. He was none other than the genius of the ze Columbus Valley inner sect disciples, G''ang Nan. "Oh my! What a crowdhehehe" G''ang Nan roared inughter. "To think that martial artists of Ster Luna Sect and Shadowless Sect would be here too. This is good, I''ll see for myself how much Mo Xir and Norl Fer have grown in the past few years!" Before hisughter ended, G''ang Nan led the way into the pce. Chapter 904 904 - A Tragedy From The Past At the depths of the pce. Aiden led Slyff Nae and the other two and continued exploring and advancing in the forbidden grounds. The malevolent energy in their surroundings was getting heavier and Slyff Nae and the other two were not in great condition. The three of them had injuries that could not healpletely given the environment. As such, their bloodline was flowing slower and their bodies were turning colder. Noticing their condition, Aiden frowned to himself. If they were to continue in that heavy malevolent energy, in less than a day, even without the threat of the otherworldly soldiers, the three of them would be in grave condition! Unlike Aiden, they did not have the necessary strength or spiritual energy to be safe. The malevolent energy could not get close to him at all. Stopping in his tracks, Aiden said deeply, "Let''s take a rest first. Once those otherworldly soldiers disperse entirely, I''ll take the three of you to leave this ce as soon as possible!" He possessed universal sight and hearing and could notice the movements of the otherworldly soldiers beforehand, giving them a chance to hide in advance. Slyff Nae and the other two nodded. Aiden asked, "What other spirit herbs are needed for this so called ''Ancient Elixir''? I will look for it after sending you guys out." "Rain Frost Flower, Purple Cloud Mushroom, Thousand Year Blood Ginseng, and Spiritual Essence Grass." Slyff Nae replied. Aiden had dabbled in elixir refinement before and was familiar with spirit herbs. The moment he heard their names, he could not help but knit his brows. Those four types of spirit herbs were way too rare! They were rarely seen in recent years. For example, Blood Ginseng could only be cultivated with the fresh blood of a living being and nurtured painstakingly, let alone a Thousand Year Blood Ginseng! Pondering for a moment, a scene shed through Aiden''s mind and he could not help but remark, "When I came to the ruins, I saw that there was a gigantic ravine in the middle of the ruins. Those spirit herbs might be found inside." "Psst!" Lian Juhe was rmed and gasped, shaking his head as he said with a frightful expression, "D-Don''t go in there!" "Why?" Aiden asked instinctively. Gulping, Lian Juhe asked instead, "Do you know how that gigantic ravine was formed?" Aiden shook his head. Lian Juhe replied softly, "It''s said that the ravine was created by that catastrophe 10,000 years ago! An ancestral level great dragon fought an earthshaking war with the top experts of two great monasteries and the Great Forgotten Empire!" "It was an extremely tragic battle and the capital was destroyed overnight. Countless experts, mighty figures, and patriarchs of the two monasteries were killed as well." Aiden had heard the Asura, Ward Atrez, mention about the catastrophe before but he did not know the details. He could not help but look stunned when Lian Juhe mentioned it. A single divine dragon caused a catastrophe that killed countless living beings, toppling heaven and earth while causing countless stars to plummet. Aiden felt a sense of trepidation when he thought about it carefully. Such an event happened back then If for some reason history would repeat itself, could he be safe? Could he keep his loved ones, his family safe? After a moment of silence, Aiden asked, "What happened after?" Lian Juhe sighed gently andmented, "Everyone knows about the aftermath. The capital of Great Forgotten was destroyed and that gigantic empire broke apart while the two great sects disappeared from the surface of the world." "Is that divine dragon still alive?" Aiden asked again. Lian Juhe shook his head. "It''s said that other super sects of the world were rmed by that battle and more than one emperor came forth! Eventually, with thebined forces of a couple of emperors, with the painful price of a few emperors dying, the great dragon was killed here and buried in that ravine!" A blood stench filled the air as the event was being recounted. The atmosphere was turning extremely repressive! Lian Juhe whispered, "The ravine''s name is called the Dragon Burial Valley and the great dragon was buried 10,000 years ago with the blood of old emperors and the death of patriarchs. It''s an extremely unlucky ce." "Rumor has it that even Quasi Divine Beings and Lesser Divine Realm Powerhouses could not make it out alive!" When he said that, a sinister gust of wind blew past. Instantly, Lian Juhe''s face turned frightfully pale as he shuddered, not daring to say anything more as though he was afraid something unlucky might happen. Aiden went silent. At the mention of Dragon Burial Valley, even he felt a chill, let alone Lian Juhe. It was as though a pair of eyes was watching them from the darkness, causing their hairs to stand on end! Aiden shrugged his head topose himself. The blood of emperors and the death of patriarchs buried the great dragon. There must be countless dangers lurking in that unlucky ce. If it was somewhere a Lesser Divine Being could not make it out alive from, he would naturally not take the risk as a Martial Master." However, the Rain Frost Flower, Purple Cloud Mushroom, Thousand Year Blood Ginseng, and Spiritual Essence Grass were extremely rare spirit herbs C where should he look for them? This Ancient Elixir was way too crucial for the Azure Myst Sect''s Sect Master. Without that elixir, the poor man would have to endure a tremendous risk to attempt at a breakthrough. Otherwise, he could only wait till his lifespan was eaten up and die of a weakened blood energy. Aiden strode in deep thoughts. Before long, he felt a dull pain as though he stepped on something. He did not think much about it and continued walking. After a while, he started wondering. Even without circting his Inner Core or invoking his spiritual energy, his body was tough enough to defend against weapons. What could it be that could cause him to feel pain? A treasure? Many, many years ago, a capital was destroyed overnight alongside two great monasteries. Countless treasures were buried in the ruins. However, Aiden did not find anything along the way. The forbidden grounds in the pce that he was in was extremely unusual and there was quite a high chance that a great treasure might be buried within! Turning back, Aiden took more than ten steps before he came to a stop, ring at the ground beneath his feet with a deep gaze. Under the stone bs and dust, a piece of metal protruded with a dull green gleam. Frowning slightly, Aiden waved his sleeves and cleared the bs in the surroundings. More of the metal was revealed, looking like the handle of an object. Grabbing the handle, Aiden pulled it outside. "Hmm?" Aiden''s expression changed slightly. That unknown object that was buried in the ruins merely budged slightly! Freeing both hands, Aiden''s eyes lit up as he grabbed the piece of metal. His Spirit Power surged and he exerted his entire body''s strength, yanking upwards with a deep grunt! *Bang!* *Boom!* *Boom!* The ground shook violently and almost sank in! Coming forth from the ground, a gigantic object gradually came into view. It was a bronze tripod. Tripods were the most mysterious objects in the world. In the martial world, there were a specific category of weapons, the so called unique or origin weapons. They were the tripods, the cauldrons, pagodas andst but not least the bells they were the most difficult weapons to control and they were not sharp C any martial artist that could use those four types of weapons were not to be trifled. All four types of weapons had amon feature. All of them had empty space within. They could restrain and lock up living beings or other weapons. The four types of weapons possessed different powers. To begin with, each of them had different mysterious powers that were frightening! For example, the bell possessed the power of sound. Each time the gigantic bells rang, the sounds of the unleashed energy would reverberate and fiends, beasts, ghosts and all kinds of monsters would not dare to approach. As for cauldrons, they possessed the power of incineration right after they were refined. Among them, the tripods were symbols of dignity and power. Tripods were pirs of the top factions. A single suppression from them could stabilize the four seas and thendscape! They possessed supreme powers and had an absolute position! In the martial world, most of the tripods referred to three-legged round tripods. Three legs, two handles, and one base. Innately, they fit the cosmic rules and the obscurities of the universe. The tripod before him was a four-legged square tripod. Unlike the three-legged round tripod that symbolized harmony with its roundness, the four-legged square tripod was defined and did not fit in with the world as it stood upright. However, the defined shape of the tripod gave it a domineering look and a mighty aura! If the heavens do not tolerate me, I''ll break the heavens! If the earth does not tolerate me, I''ll trample on it! If the world does not tolerate me, I''ll create my own world! Chapter 905 905 - Useless! Or… The four-legged square tripod was extremely simr to Aiden''s character. The bronze square tripod was a meter tall. ced upright before Aiden, it gave off an ancient, archaic aura. A single look was enough to tell that this was no ordinary object but something extremely unique. Unfortunately, the bronze square tripod was filled with cracks all over and was dim without luster. It seemed to have gone through something that caused it to be destroyed. "What a pity." Slyff Nae shook his head and sighed. "I''m sure this bronze tripod must have been an incredible weapon back then. Even if it''s an ancient artifact weapon, it''s now useless in this state." There were a couple of damaged artifact weapons of all kinds in Aiden''s storage space. The bronze square tripod before them, the tripod itself was almostpletely destroyed and there was no chance of repairing it. Even a slight knock would be able to break this bronze square tripod before them into useless metal shards. Aiden gave a self-deprecating smile andmented, "I must have thought too much. Now that thousands of years have passed, even if there were any great treasures, others must have taken them away. How could there be anything left for me?" Just as he was about to turn away, he frowned and looked at the bronze square tripod before him. His gaze shimmered, seemingly in deep thought. A momentter, he narrowed his eyes that suddenly shot out two lights of energy beams. Taking a deep breath, he channeled his bloodline and punched the bronze square tripod heavily! *ng!* The fist and tripod collided. There wasn''t the dull sound of flesh being struck. Instead, a metallic sound reverberated non-stop! The bronze square tripod did not budge at all. Aiden did not hold back with that attack at all. Even if it was a perfect superior-grade artifact weapon, it would have been broken into pieces! Expressionlessly, Aiden pped his storage bag and took out his Coiling Dragon Seal. His intent was clear. He was going to test out the bronze square tripod! Furthermore, he was testing it with a top-grade artifact weapon! In any case, the bronze square tripod was already extremely battered and useless. There was nothing to feel sad about even if it was destroyed by the Coiling Dragon Seal. However, if the Coiling Dragon Seal could not destroy it Tossing the Coiling Dragon Seal out, Aiden channeled his Martial Master and shot out a stream of spirit energy from his fingertip that entered the Coiling Dragon Seal. The Coiling Dragon Seal shone brightly! Six spirit patterns shimmered repeatedly before letting out a dazzling golden burst of light that resembled a zing sun! At Foundation Establishment realm, Aiden could not release the full might of the top-grade artifact weapon. But now, a change happened when his power of Martial Master was injected into the Coiling Dragon Seal! The divine dragon etched on the surface came to life in that endless golden light, roaring wildly into the skies! It happened at almost the same time. The Ster Luna Sect, Shadowless Sect, and ze Depth Valley martial artists who had just entered the pce felt the shockwave of spiritual energy bursting forth from the depths of the pce. Looking over, they caught sight of a golden light shining vaguely in the night! Mo Xir soared into the air and gazed in the direction of the golden light deeply. His eyes lit up as he chuckled. "Indeed, a great treasure has appeared. I''ll definitely be able to get into the top hundred of the Phenomenon Ranking in the ancient battlefield 20 yearster!" "It''s a top-grade artifact weapon!" In the darkness, Norl Fer of Shadowless Sect came to a halt and his gaze burned. ze Columbus Valley''s G''ang Nan reared his head and roared intoughter. No longer hiding himself, he rose into the air and red in the direction of Ster Luna Sect and Shadowless Sect in an unbridled manner, shouting, "I''m going to get my hands on that top-grade artifact weapon!" "Only the strongest can get their hands on that great treasure!" Mo Xir sneered and sped towards the depths of the pce in a sh. The many martial artists of Shadowless Sect and ze Depth Valley made their move as well. *Boom!* A golden divine dragon coiled around the Coiling Dragon Seal and descended with a terrifying might. The air currents exploded with a resounding bang! ng! The Coiling Dragon Seal mmed heavily against the bronze square tripod, causing sparks to fly. In the end, Slyff Nae and the other three were shocked! The connate artifact weapon, the Coiling Dragon Seal, was repelled! The golden divine dragon in midair let out a tragic cry, as though it was scared by something, and turned into a streak of golden light before retreating into the gigantic seal once more to hide. The light of the Coiling Dragon Seal dimmed gradually. Waving his sleeves, Aiden put away the Coiling Dragon Seal into his storage bag once more. The bronze square tripod stood in its original spot, embedded deeply into the mud but without much changes to it. Even after a full mighty smash of the Coiling Dragon Seal, the tripod looked the same, filled with cracks but it did not copse entirely nor did it turn into a pile of scrap metal. Even a supreme-grade artifact weapon would have shattered against the smash of the Coiling Dragon Seal! Furthermore, given the Coiling Dragon Seal''s reaction, it seemed as though it suffered slightly in that sh. "It''s so tough?" Lian Juhe was secretly stunned. Pondering for a moment, Aiden walked forward and ced his palm on the bronze square tripod, injecting a stream of his internal energy into it. The bronze square tripod had no reaction at all. No matter what sort of a treasure this was in the past, the fact that it was destroyed to such an extent means that it could probably only be used to toss at people in the future. Whisking up the bronze square tripod, Aiden ced it in his storage space. After pulling the bronze square tripod up from the mud, the ground sank in once more. Aiden''s nose twitched and he remarked softly. "What''s wrong?" Slyff Nae could not help but ask when he caught sight of Aiden''s expression. "Underground" Frowning slightly, Aiden murmured. Slyff Nae and the others could not smell it but his senses were extremely frighteningpared to the others. He was even sharper than pure-blooded ferocious beasts. Aiden caught sight of a whiff of medicinal fragrance from underground. "Strange, why is there the smell of spirit herbs underground?" Narrowing his eyes, Aiden thought to himself. "Could there be another world beneath this forbidden grounds?" After a moment of contemtion, he made up his mind and stomped heavily on the ground! It was a deafening crush. The ground shook and countless mud bs and dust copsed. Aiden dodged to the side and a gigantic crack opened where he stood, spanning more than a hundred feet! Rows of stone steps appeared one after another, leading downwards. "This" Slyff Nae and the other two were dumbfounded with widened eyes. As the crack surfaced, the medicinal scent from within was even more evident! Aiden tilted his head and listened in. After a moment, he turned to Slyff Nae and the other two. "Go, let''s head down and take a look." "Be careful, we don''t know what''s below," Lian Juhe revealed a worried expression. "Don''t worry." Aiden shook his head. Despite the massivemotion aboveground, it was still silent without any activity underneath C there should be no danger within. The four of them walked down the stone steps and a long timeter, they arrived at the bottom, surveying the ce. Before them was a gigantic underground pce! Towering pirs stood one after another, filled with an ancient aura. Lining up in a mysterious order, they formed a massive underground pce! The pce was extremely spacious and was hundreds of feet beneath the ground C even Martial Masters wouldn''t be affected if they soared into the air. Furthermore, the air underground was refreshing and filled with a faint medicinal fragrance without any impurities C it was clear that there was another way for air to enter. Compared to the sinister atmosphere in the ruins outside with little ghosts and otherworldly soldiers roaming everywhere, this ce seemed like a paradise. To think that despite the catastrophe thousands of years ago that turned the capital into ruins, this underground pce was perfectly preserved. In fact, it was even isting the malevolent energy outside! Without malevolent energy shrouding them, Slyff Nae and the other two looked evidently better and color was returning to their faces. The four of them continued advancing. The medicinal fragrance in the air was getting more intense and even Slyff Nae and the other two smelled it! "It''s so fragrant!" "By the looks of it, there haven''t been any intruders in this ce. Perhaps there might be some spirit herbs preserved! We might be able to save Sect Mater after all!" Chapter 906 906 - Searching For Secrets Slyff Nae and the others were invigorated and continued forward hastily. Before long, the four of them slowed down and stopped in their tracks. Their mouths opened slightly and endless shock filled their eyes! Before them was a magnificent medicinal field that was separated into blocks with different spirit herbs. All of them grew in a splendid manner with a dazzling radiance, emanating robust spirit energy. All of those spirit herbs swayed and let out a fragrant medicinal scent. Even without any knowledge of elixir refinement, one could tell that those spirit herbs were already mature and were at least thousands of years old! The Rain Frost Flower, Purple Cloud Mushroom, Blood Ginseng, and Spirit Essence Grass that the Sect Master''s saving grace, the Ancient Elixir required were all present! Furthermore, the Blood Ginsengs in this medicinal field were not just a thousand years old, but ten thousand years old! The Blood Ginseng''s shape was already humanoid with its feet and arms vaguely forming. With another ten thousand years, the Blood Ginsengs would have turned into spirits! Apart from the four types of spirit herbs, there were plenty of other rare materials such as the Scarlet me Rose, Blood Moon Flower, and Demon Essence Fruit. Aiden and the others were delighted. The value of this medicinal field was unimaginable! When they got closer, the spirit energy was thicker and the medicinal fragrance almost materialized. With a slight whiff, Slyff Nae and the other two felt their injuries recovering. Although they were in an underground pce, bright moonlight spilled down from above the medicinal field in a hazy and mysterious manner. Raising his head slightly, Aiden caught sight of a series of magnificent crystals and gems at the top of the pce that could reflect the light from outside nicely onto the field. From the outside, the underground pce could not be seen and it was merely in ruins. However, through the crystals, everything outside could be seen from this pce! It was truly an impressive design that was out of this world. This was also the exact reason why this medicinal field was buried underground for thousands of years without withering or being discovered by exploring martial artists. Aiden took a walk around the medicinal field and was drawn to a particr spirit field in the middle. Although it had arge surface area, there was only a single stalk of spirit herb in it. It was scarlet all over and looked resplendent. Swaying gently, there was a green and red fruit at the top that was the size of an infant''s fist. "What is this?" Lian Juhe also took notice of the spirit fruit and asked instinctively. "I think this is a Holy Holy Vermilion Fruit." Aiden replied with a smile and joyful eyes. At the mention of Holy Vermilion Fruit, Slyff Nae and the other two widened their eyes. The Holy Vermilion Fruit was one of the most famous spirit items in the world because it only bloomed once every 5,000 years before taking another 5,000 years to bear fruit. It was also known as the Ten Thousand Year Holy Holy Vermilion Fruit. After consuming it, Martial Masters would experience a burst in their spirit energies and could rise a single minor realm! For someone like Aiden, although he had just formed his core, if he were to consume the Holy Holy Vermilion Fruit, he could advance to mid-stage Martial Master right away! That was not all. The Holy Holy Vermilion Fruit was a great tonic for Martial Masters with immense benefits. It could change their physiques to a great degree and burn away all impurities in their bodies, extending their lifespans! Of course, that was for Martial Masters. If ordinary mortals or Martial Knight martial artists were to consume the Holy Vermilion Fruit, they would be burned to ashes in the blink of an eye! "I heard that the Holy Vermilion Fruit is dark red all over and resplendent. Why is the fruit green?" Lian Juhe asked curiously. "It isn''t fully ripe yet." Aiden replied. "But by the looks of it, it should ripen within a month or so." Before it was ripe, the Holy Vermilion Fruit was not a great tonic and even possessed immense poison! If ordinary living beings were to approach it, they would be affected by the aura released by the Holy Vermilion Fruit and would lose their minds, falling into a deep hallucination. Most of these spirit items of the universe possessed the capability to protect themselves. This ce was unusually secretive and did not have much intruders usually. Otherwise, there would be countless corpses around the vicinity of the spirit items! The Holy Vermilion Fruit could only be plucked after it was ripe. Furthermore, once the fruit ripens, if it wasn''t plucked within a single day, it would fall off on its own. Once the Holy Vermilion Fruit makes contact with mud, all the energy contained in the fruit would flow back into the mud and return to the earth C it would bepletely wasted. Aiden remarked, "Let''s dig up all the spirit herbs in the outer perimeter of the Holy Vermilion Fruit and give up on those inside. Don''t get close to the Holy Vermilion Fruit by all means!" "There''s no hurry. The spirit energy here is robust and the medicinal fragrance is rich. We can use the chance to meditate here for a while and our injuries should be healed before long," Lian Juhe remarked deeply. Slyff Nae and Krisia Hall nodded. Aiden furrowed his brows slightly and did not speak further. The most logical decision after discovering such a treasure ground in the Great Forbidden Ruins was to dig up the spirit herbs and leave as soon as possible! The Great Forbidden Ruins was not a kind ce. Dangers did note from the ruins alone, but also other martial artists! If any intruders were to enter and catch sight of this medicinal field, needless to think, a bloodied battle would be invoked! When he saw that Slyff Nae and the other two had already assumed the meditative positions to heal up, Aiden did not interrupt them. At that moment, he had two other doubts in mind! Firstly, there should be ferocious beasts in the vicinity of this universal artifact treasure item, guarding it! Aiden believed that any ferocious beasts hiding here wouldn''t be able to avoid his detection. But up till this point, he did not notice any trace or aura of any ferocious beasts. That was way too strange! Secondly, apart from the Holy Vermilion Fruit, there was also the Scarlet me Rose, Blood Moon Flower, and Demon Essence Fruit. It was probably not a coincidence that so many spirit herbs with the power of mes was born in this ce! There was an extremely high chance that the rumors about the connate spirit fire in the Great Forbidden Ruins were true! A clear spirit spring surrounded the medicinal field, emitting a rich spirit energy that nourished the spirit fields constantly. Aiden meandered along the spirit spring and continued deep into the pce. A thousand feet away, he arrived at the mouth of the spirit spring. The mouth of the spirit spring was a gigantic pool that was gurgling with spring water, flowing continuously for tens of thousands of years. This pool seemed like it was created for baths to be taken. Made with white jade, it was more than five meters long and had a depth of two meters. Exquisite drawings of fishes, dragons, flowers, and birds were etched around the walls of the pool. Against the reflection of the jade, the clear spring water shimmered brightly and the fishes, dragons, flowers, and birds on the walls seemed alive! A flowering crabapple blossomed in the middle of the pool. The spring water gushed and a misty fog spread. In the haziness, an alluring body seemed to form above the flowering crabapple with a pleasant elegance. Beautiful as white jade with a rouge tinge, it was extremely charming and reached into one''s soul! Aiden felt his heart skip a beat and shut his eyes hurriedly. A momentter, he opened them again and looked over. There was nothing on the flowering crabapple except for the fog around it that changed endlessly. The owner of the pool and medicinal field should have been a woman and her status in the Great Forbidden Ruins should have been rather imminent! Reaching out, Aiden sshed gently in the pond and his eyes lit up. True enough! The spirit spring was warm! There had to be a powerful source of fire deep beneath this ce! He did not know what status this woman held in the past or how powerful she was to be able to create such a majestic pce underground in the capital. Not only that, she made use of the powerful fire source underground to nurture a medicinal field and turn the spirit spring into a hot spring. Circling around the hot spring, Aiden surveyed the ground with a keen gaze, seemingly looking for something. In theory, there should be an entrance leading underground in the vicinity of this hot spring! However, after circling a few times, Aiden discovered nothing. Chapter 907 907 -Enemy Or…? A momentter, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and fixed his gaze on the outline of a long ancient dragon etched on the wall of the pool. There was nothing wrong with that divine dragon. It was life-like and its ws, scales, horns, and whiskers were realistic. However, one of its eyes was missing! Was it an error in the etching? Or could it have been washed away by time after thousands of years? Aiden shook his head. The possibility of both guesses were extremely low! ''Dot the eyes when you''re drawing a dragon'' Those words came to Aiden''s mind as he murmured, "Dot the eyes, dot the eyes" Heading forward, he reached out and pressed gently on the spot where the dragon''s eye was missing. That push caused the walls of the pool to sink in slightly. Sensing the motion beneath him, Aiden soared into the air hurriedly. The two stone bs that he was standing on slid to both sides rapidly and revealed stone steps leading underground. Aiden praised internally. The structure could be considered as a piece of godly work. Even after 10,000 years, the mechanisms did not age and functioned as per normal. Taking a whiff at the entrance, a cold glint shone in Aiden''s eyes. He could sense a vague hint of dark, sinister energy in the warm air current that was surging out! In that case, the ferocious beast guarding this ce should be hiding in the depths of this ce! With the possibility of a spiritual fire existing beneath, Aiden would not give up despite knowing the possible dangers lurking. Entering the tunnel slowly, he gradually disappeared into the darkness. The two stone bs above his head closed silently, leaving no gaps. As Aiden ventured deeper along the descending stone steps, the surrounding temperature increased. A long timeter, he came to the end of the stone steps and was clearly at the bottom of the ce. Before him, there was a dark tunnel that had an unknown destination. Not daring to be careless, Aiden withdrew Rygintarth from his storage bag and headed into the depths of the tunnel with narrowed eyes. The temperature was getting higher! His green robes were already so dry that a single spark could ignite them. If not for the fact that he possessed tsunami blood and a shocking physique, no ordinary Martial Master would be able to endure this scorching heat! If I''m not wrong, a spiritual fire must definitely be hidden in the depths of this ce! Aiden was increasingly convinced. The strange spirit fire was more important to him than the ancient thousand year old Holy Vermilion Fruit! With the spirit fire, which seemed to carry some draconic origins, he could fuse it into his current power causing his current strength to skyrocket and would increase significantly. Furthermore, he could attempt to repair his Mystic Gold Silk Armor and the ck Gold Arrows he found on the ancient battlefield. If he could repair the Mystic Gold Silk Armor, it would mean that he would be in possession of a top-grade defensive artifact weapon. Coupled with his physique, the power of ordinary Martial Masters wouldn''t be able to hurt him! He might even be able to withstand the attack of an ordinary Martial Grandmaster! As Aiden contemted, a series of red lights shed vaguely from the darkness ahead. The deeper he ventured, the brighter and clearer they became! Before long, his vision cleared up. This was a gigantic underground cave and everywhere in sight was a fiery red. The fog evaporated as the heat wave spread over. Steamingva flowed within the cave like a scarlet gooey river. From time to time, a bubble would pop up from the surface, causing sparks to fly. If one were to focus their attention, they could see that there were translucent mes flowing on the surface of theva, fluid with an extremely high temperature. Top-Grade Spiritual Fire! Licking his chapped lips, Aiden gulped. He expected top-grade spiritual fire underground but he did not expect so much of it! Furthermore, the sight before him was simply way too shocking! Burning redva was everywhere with no end in sight and there was little ground for anyone to actually step on. There were only a few protruding rocks which were also scarlet from the heat. This was a sea ofva and a world of mes! It was too hot. Even Aiden''s body felt a bit of burden given the heat and ayer of thin sweat appeared on his forehead. He crushed a protection talisman. A spirit light appeared around him, forming a faint light barrier that repelled the heatwave of theva. Now that he had cooled down slightly, Aiden meandered around the borders of theva and headed in, sticking close to the walls. There should be a demon beast hidden within! He had to get rid of thattent danger or his weapon refinement would fail if he was interrupted by the demon beast during the process. In fact, his life might be in danger! It was hard to predict the strength of a demonic beast that could survive in such circumstances. There was a high chance that it could even be stronger than him! Up ahead was a turn. After the turn was still arge ocean ofva. However, there was a sizable piece ofnd in the middle of theva, resembling a lone ind in an ocean. A demon beast that was the size of a small mountain sprawled on thend with its eyes closed. Its body was filled with scarlet fur that had no luster and it had a big, furry tail. It was a Scarlet me Fox! In the fox race, once they cultivate to be spirits, they can take on humanoid-like, bipedal form and all of them were beauties. They could be considered as seductresses and were charming. In the strange tales that were spread in the mortal realm, they were described as fox spirits that mostly seduced schrs and had an extremely bad reputation. However, after entering the cultivation world, Aiden knew that the fox race was considered as a friendlier race among the demon races. Despite that, he did not dare to be careless. He red at the scarlet me fox for a moment. It did not budge nor did it open its eyes. In fact, Aiden could not even sense any bit of life from the fox! It was already dead. The fur on its body did not fall off and its flesh did not rot C it should have died less than a hundred years ago. However, immediately after, Aiden had another doubt. By the looks of it, that fox was clearly not at the end of its lifespan. If so, how did it die? He could not see any bit of injury on the fox at all. What caused its death? Since the fox was already dead, its demonic powers should have dissipated and disappeared a long time ago. Yet, where did the trace of demonic energy that he sensed when the entrance was opened up came from? There''s other demon beasts hiding here! The moment that thought struck him, he felt the sensation of being peeped at. Shifting his gaze, Aiden caught sight of a ck basket beside the fox''s corpse. The ck basket looked like a pot that was flipped on the ground with mysterious patterns etched on it, revealing a couple of holes. The other holes shone with light. However, a pair of them were pitch-ck, seemingly blocked by two ck balls. "Hmm?" Aiden muttered softly. Right then, the ck ball in the metal basket twitched with an unusual movement! Those were no ck balls C they were a pair ofrge eyes! A living being was hiding under that iron basket and peering at Aiden through the holes on it! The next moment, the iron basket was raised slowly and a little red thing popped its head out warily, revealing its true appearance. Its ming red long fur had a warm luster, like a nket that one could not resist touching. The little thing was dark red from head to toe except for its chest which had white fur. Thebination of red and white caused it to look even more beautiful and charming. Its ears stood and twitched gently while itsrge eyes blinked as it tilted its head slightly, looking at Aiden curiously. This little thing should be the descendant of the dead me fox and looked to be an adorable cub. The eyes of the little fox shifted rapidly, filled with curiosity and doubt, simr to a child. Standing on its hind legs, it reached out with a pair of tiny paws and raised the big ck pot When he saw that, Aiden broke out intoughter. In part, he wasughing at himself for being overly cautious. The little fox that was still a cub posed no threat to him at all. At the same time, the posture of the little thing was simply way too cute. When it saw Aiden''s smile, the little fox lowered its head embarrassedly and shyly smiled under her paws! However, immediately after, as if it recalled something, the little fox raised its head and cried out anxiously. Chapter 908 908 - Lurking Danger The little me fox with its tiny paws tried its best to gesture, seemingly anxious, desperately wanting to say something. However, it forgot that it was still raising the iron basket. There was a loud thud on the ground. The little fox was covered by the basket once more. Initially, this should have been a cute scene, making anyone to elicit a smile. But this time round, Aiden did notugh. That was because he could notugh! There was danger! If it was anybody else, they would not have understood the little fox''s cries and gestures. However, Aiden was different from others. Being an entity that has absorbed countless vital essences, a myriad of creatures during his adventure, he most likely understood these beasts better than anyone. Although he could not understand thenguage of the fiends and demons of the abyss, he could make a rough guess. Little fox''s meaning however was not that difficult to decipher. No, it was clear C it was informing him that there was danger around! This time around, his spirit perception did not give him any warning. However, Aiden was certain that there was a terrifying existence hiding in this ce! That existence could even hide from his spirit perception! Aiden''s conviction did note from little fox''s warning alone. It was because there was something else he finally understood. There was only one possibility why the older me fox died here before its lifespan was up. Another powerful existence killed it! Apart from the little fox, there was another living being in this cave! Instantly, Aiden''s hair stood on end and chills ran down his spine. He knew that he was now in grave danger and could die at any moment! At the same time. A mild vibration came from above the cave. Anybody else wouldn''t have noticed those vibrations. However, Aiden''s senses were way too strong! He knew that intruders had arrived at the pce above. Furthermore, there were quite a number of them! This is bad, Peak Master Slyff Nae is in danger! Aiden was rmed. In his moment of distraction, theva flowing beside him sshed and a tall figure with a terrifying aura burst forth, lunging towards him. It happened at almost the same time. Slyff Nae and the other two in the pce above and Aiden in the cave all met with danger! Aiden would have never guessed that the unknown living being would burst forth from theva. The temperature of theva was extremely high such that he didn''t dare to touch it even with his body, let alone stay inside it. That unknown living being was scarier than he had imagined! Aiden''s reaction was swift and without any hesitance, he burst forth with his Soul Power energy while circting his Primal Core and Inner Core at the same time, invoking his full martial strength. *Swoosh!* Straight away, he activated his draconic form and shed in reverse with Rygintarth towards the iing figure without even turning to look! Without dodging or retreating, the person reached out and punched with a thunderous might! *ng!* When Rygintarth collided against the person''s fist, metallic sounds actually rang as sparks flew. An irresistibly terrifying force rippled through the de of the saber. Aiden''s palm split open and blood streamed out. Unable to maintain his grip on Rygintarth, it flew from his hand. "Pfft!" Nearly three feet of the de was embedded in the wall behind him! The power released by that fist was so horrific! It was so strong! Aiden had a great shock. That sh earlier was considered as his full power. Although Aiden released his immortality and demonic strength at the same time, his opponent received it barehanded and sent his Rygintarth flying instead. The difference was great! Probably too great! Before Aiden could react, a second punch flew over from the living being, mming like a massive pir with an endless ferocity. Aiden did not even have the chance to summon the Coiling Dragon Seal and could only raise both arms to defend himself. Up till this point of his cultivation, he had been through countless battles but there were few moments where he was forced to defend passively. It was especially so for meleebat of brute force. But now, the opponent''s attacks were so ferocious and powerful that Aiden could not retaliate at all. *Bang!* The other party''s fistnded on Aiden''s arms and a dull sound of defeat echoed. Instantly, his protection talisman he received from the Azure Myst Sect have shattered. With a dull grunt, Aiden shuddered and staggered in retreat. There was a loud thud on the ground. mming against the wall behind him, Aiden''s expression was pale and his arms fell limply to the side, trembling slightly C he had already lost feeling in them. The other party was way too powerful. Given the attacks, it would take less than three punches for Aiden to die here! His opponent was overwhelming everything with brute force! Even if Aiden had a myriad of methods, he couldn''t use any of them. On the parcel ofnd in theva ocean, the little fox ced the iron basket above its head aside and stood up with a worried expression. Its little paws were propped up before its chest, looking like it was praying for Aiden. "Hmm?" The unknown living being eximed softly C it seemed to be shocked that it didn''t manage to kill Aiden with a single punch. Leaning against the wall, it was only at this moment that Aiden could make out the other party''s appearance. That unknown entity had long, greasy dark red hair and a muscr, humanoid or ''bareskin'' shaped body. At two meters tall, its face and legs had thick, coarse skin-like crust and scarlet scales lined its face one after another tightly. That was a body that could be described as perfect and invulnerable against fire, water and weapons! Having just exited theva, the person''s body was still dripping with steamingva. It had a torrential dominance and looked at Aiden mockingly with its triangr eyes. Although the other party seemed like it was a human, Aiden was almost certain that it was a fiend demon. A terrifying creature straight from the Abyss! In the demon race, those at Martial Knight and Martial Master realm could be called spirit demons. The moment they entered Quasi-Divine realm, they could be called fiend demons. Low-level fiend demons were equivalent to Quasi-Divine Peak Stage Beings. Mid-level fiend demons were equivalent to Lesser Low Stage Gods or Divine Creatures. High-Level fiend demons were equivalent to True Gods, or High Divine Beings. Above that, they could be considered as Grand Demons and were equivalent to High Stage God-like beings. Without divinity, you would stand no chance against such tyrannical monsters! They were true destroyers of worlds! Aiden believed that on the same martial realm, there might be some unique, rare creatures with inherited ancient bloodlines who could be stronger than him. However, the difference between them wouldn''t be this great. This was aplete suppression! The other party was a low-level fiend demon at the very least and might even be at mid-level! "What should we do?" Panting slightly, Aiden circted his internal energy and regained sensation in his arms while contemting. He had to get out of this ce alive! The medicine field in the pce above was enough to tempt any martial artist. In the Great Forbidden Ruins, it wasmon to see people killing others for treasures! That was the most straightforward and effective method! If Aiden were to be stuck here, Slyff Nae and the other two wouldn''t be able to make it out of the Great Forbidden Ruins alive! "Quite the unique scent there mortal. A Martial Master strength and strange, unique Beastial Core in your body that I have never sensed hmms, you seem to have quite a few secrets" The Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon smirked and looked at Aiden like a piece of sulent meat, remarking coolly, "I''m truly hesitant to kill you since you already have such a strong body after just forming a core. But" After a slight pause, it changed the topic and its gaze turned cold. "You''ve still got to die! Anyone who trespasses into my territory must die! After I kill you, I''ll ughter all the ants above that are coveting the Vermilion Fruit as well!" "At that time, you''ll havepanions in Hell!" "Heh!" Aiden sneered. Sensing the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon''s killing intent, he had nothing to fear as he shouted, "Old monster, you''re truly brazen with your words!" "I''m sure that this was the demon fox''s territory initially. That fact that you''re an intruder as well aside, the fact that you''re spouting such big words just makes you shameless!" Those words were cathartic for the little fox but it triggered the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon entirely. "GRAWR!" Roaring in anger, it bared its sharp teeth and seethed, "Mortal ant, you have a death wish!" Chapter 909 909 - Is This… It? *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* The Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon took three steps forward and arrived before Aiden in the blink of an eye. It gave off a scorching aura and grabbed the top of Aiden''s head with its massive palm! If that attack struck, Aiden''s head would definitely turn into sludge. "I''ve got to give it my all!" Aiden''s eyes shone fiercely as he roared with his Martial Master churning frantically. "Martial Master phenomenon, Primordial Soaring Serpent!" *Boom!* A primordial phenomenon that shocked the world appeared behind Aiden. The ground caved in, creating a series of ravines as mountains copsed and volcanoes spewed with smoke billowing everywhere. Endlessva flowed freely on the vastnds, incinerating everything in sight as countless living beings were turned into ashes C it was the scene of an apocalypse! Theva ocean of the phenomenon seemed to be fused with theva ocean in the cave. A massive living being crawled out from the depths of the ground with a terrifying aura. It had the head of a snake and the body of an anaconda. Red in color, it was lined with scales that stacked against one another like ming red steel tes! It was the arrival of the Primordial Soaring Serpent! When it saw the Primordial Soaring Serpent, the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon froze for a moment and it broke into an uncontroble shudder with a sh of fear in its eyes. That was an ancient fear that was embedded in the depths of its bloodline and soul. The Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon was a fire attribute demon beast since it was able to survive in theva. However, the soaring serpent race was one of the most ancient fire divine spirits! For the fiends of the Abyss, the hierarchy of their demonic kind was strict. When it saw the soaring serpent, although it was only the power of the phenomenon, the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon instinctively wanted to kneel on the ground and kowtow. To begin with, the Soaring Serpent phenomenon was created from Aiden''s power of fire attribute being strained to its limits. The power of the Soaring Serpent phenomenon exploded even further given the fiery surroundings! Snake head, anaconda body, dragon scales and phoenix wings, the Primordial Soaring Serpent pped its ming wings and opened its bloodied mouth, taking a deep breath! The steamingva on the ground gushed into the soaring serpent''s mouth relentlessly. The mes on the body of the soaring serpent shone brighter with a resplendent radiance that could almost torch the void! Looking down from above, the Primordial Soaring Serpent shifted its gaze onto the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon coldly, as if it was looking at an ant. Even though it was just a Martial Master phenomenon, it carried the dignity and nobility of the soaring serpent race! "Go!" Aiden pointed forward. *Swoosh!* Both wings pped and a fiery light surged into the air as the Primordial Soaring Serpent lunged at the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon with a terrifying aura. "How dare you get arrogant with a single Martial Master phenomenon!" The Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon shouted with a menacing expression. Suppressing the fear in its heart, it reached out with its massive palm and grabbed the Primordial Soaring Serpent at its vital point. *Psst!* Suddenly, the Primordial Soaring Serpent opened its mouth and shot out a column ofva at the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon! Prepared for it, the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon had already reached out its palm and blocked the front of theva column. The fiery redva spewed in all directions, rolling down from the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon''s head with billowing steam. However, the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon was not injured at all. The difference in their martial realms was too great. Even with the increase in strength in Aiden''s Martial Master phenomenon with the help of the cave''sva ocean, it could not pose a real threat to the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon. Although it was expressionless on the surface, the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon was nearly scared out of its wits. If the human ant before it managed to train to its realm, the power of that single phenomenon would be enough to kill him! "Thankfully" The Scarlet Armored Fiend Demonmented. Aiden''s expression was indifferent, as though he had already predicted this. Patting his storage bag gently, he pulled out a gigantic golden seal and injected spirit energy into it. The Coiling Dragon Seal shone brightly! "Roar!" A dragon roar shook the world and reverberated within the cave. Aiden''s eyes lit up brightly as he took a step forward instead of retreating. *Boom!* His Inner Core that was the foundation of his Martial Master realm churned at the same time and his inner energy rose. Aiden''s body expanded and his sleeves ripped apart, revealing an arm with popping green veins! Raising the Coiling Dragon Seal in his left hand, Aiden smashed down heavily on the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon''s head! At the same time, he freed his right hand with the divine phoenix bone and used it as a knife. *ng!* *ng!* His fingernails shot out, sharp as daggers, shimmering coldly as they thrusted into the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon''s chest! Aiden did not hesitate at all for this counterattack and went all in with his trump cards, killing decisively! First, the Primordial Soaring Serpent in his Martial Master primordial attracted the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon''s attention. Thereafter, he closed in for the kill! That was Aiden''s only chance! His killing move was not the Martial Master phenomenon, but his Coiling Dragon Seal and the divine phoenix bone in his right hand! *Poof!* The Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon exerted strength in his arm, causing the soaring serpent to explode and the power of the phenomenon to dissipate. At the same time. A gigantic golden seal crushed down on his head, covering the skies! *Bang!* When the Coiling Dragon Seal mmed heavily on the head of the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon, it smacked his head to the side and his outer shell was broken, causing fresh blood to flow. It was not dead? The release of Aiden''s power of his Martial Master, Inner Core, and his own Soul Power energy alongside a top grade artifact weapon only managed to break the outeryer of the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon''s head! "Howl!" The Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon yelled in pain. In his eyes, Aiden was nothing but an insignificant ant. He truly hadn''t expected that the ant would be able to hurt him! Swoosh! The body of the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon expanded massively and that head of his which was initially in humanoid form swiftly transformed, turning menacing with bared teeth in the blink of an eye. That injury had enraged the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon entirely! That transformation was clear that it was about to turn into its true form! Demons were only at their strongest when they were in their true forms. *Pang!* *Pang!* *Pang!* At the same time, Aiden''s fingernails shattered when his right hand struck the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon''s body. It didn''t manage to thrust in! Aiden''s expression changed, realizing that the situation wasn''t looking good. Ever since he possessed the divine phoenix bone, Aiden did not take the initiative to use it and merely defended with it passively. The terrifying strength the divine phoenix bone possessed could only be triggered under intense conditions. But now that Aiden wanted to make use of the divine phoenix bone to break through the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon''s defense, he ended in failure. Both his killing moves failed at the same time. Aiden''s heart sank deeply to the bottom. *Bang!* He did not have any chance left as a tremendous force smacked against him, causing him to fly! "Ugh " Aiden felt an iparable pain surging through his body as he coughed out blood endlessly. After turning into his true form, the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon was a gigantic crocodile with a scarlet armor. Standing in the air, he wagged his thick tail and his eyes shone fiercely with blood on its head. That tail of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile nearly crushed Aiden''s organs! Aiden glided through the air without any strength, as though he was falling apart. He was defeated! He waspletely defenseless. "I''ve been through countless tough battles up till this point of my journey and have dominated multiple strong foes of the same level. It''s tough for me toe across a true opponent, but am I going to be buried by a crocodile today?" Aiden was in such pain that his features were contorted and his mind was in chaos. Fuzzily, he fell towards theva ocean beneath him. Before he actually fell in, the top grade spirit fire that burned on the surface of theva had already burned Aiden''s green robes into ashes. Initially, the little fox had a worried expression and kept its gaze on Aiden, worrying for his safety. Unexpectedly, Aiden''s green robes were suddenly burned away and he turned nude instantly, revealing everything that shouldn''t be revealed. "Ah!" Shrieking, the little fox blushed and extended its pair of tiny paws, covering its eyes. However, immediately after, a gap opened up in its paws and its gemlike ck eyes could vaguely be seen through it. It did not want to peep on Aiden. However, it was truly worried. Yet, it did not dare to watch on brazenly so it could only resort to such a method. The scorching sensation from theva triggered Aiden''s nerves repeatedly. Gritting his teeth, he focused his attention, and rity returned to his eyes. He must not give up! Until the veryst moment, he must not give up hope! Circting his inner strength, Aiden controlled his figure hurriedly and grabbed his storage bag lest it fell into theva. At the same time, he swept his gaze and caught sight of a hint of mockery and ridicule in the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s eyes. "It''s over!" The voice of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile sounded. The next moment, Aiden''s vision blurred. A massive shadow lunged over with a bloody stench. Chapter 910 910 - A Tricky Situation A grisly red tongue that was burning with mes closed in with a blood stench. The surrounding teeth were sharp and the top and bottom row seemed to form a cage! It was too fast! There was no time to react at all. Within a split second, Aiden was already in the mouth of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile! "Not good!" Aiden''s heart skipped a beat and he was rmed. The Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile wanted to devour him alive! Given the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s cultivation realm, the terrifying strength of its bite was definitely able to turn him into sludge! At that moment, it was already toote for Aiden to retreat. Instead of panicking in that moment of life and death, Aiden calmed down! The worse the situation was, the more he mustn''t panic. Otherwise, a single distraction would cause him to lose his life! Narrowing his gaze, Aiden''s mind reeled as he contemted how to get out of the situation; time seemed to have slowed down. Maybe rely on his recently learned and mastered Martial Techniques, formations? It won''t work! Even his strongest Sword Formation Technique from Azure Myst Sect might not be able to break the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s defense, let alone his lower level techniques. The Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual? It won''t work! If his Golden Core phenomenon was dispelled by the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile, nothing would change even if he conjured a True Dragon. What other trump cards could help him hold out? All of a sudden! Aiden''s eyes shed with a glint. Without hesitation, he pped his storage bag and withdrew a bronze square tripod that was around a meter tall! That bronze square tripod let out an ancient aura C it was the one he had picked up in the forbidden grounds of the Great Forbidden Ruins. The tripod was lined with cracks and extremely battered but was unusually sturdy. Aiden did not know if the bronze square tripod could withstand the bite of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile. However, that might be his only shot at survival! In a sh, his tendons and bones crackled at the same time, contorting into a lump as he squeezed himself into the bronze square tripod! Although it sounded slow upon narration, everything happened instantaneously. The moment Aiden entered the tripod, the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile bit down fiercely! His vision turned dark. *ng!* There was a crisp sound. The bronze square tripod shuddered but it was perfectly fine! Aiden was ted. Although the bronze square tripod was already so battered, its sturdiness definitely made it a priceless treasure! In reality, it was also a freak coincidence. The bronze square tripod had been in the Great Forbidden Ruins for 10,000 years. Although it was in the depths of the pce and was slightly secluded, there were other martial artists that noticed this tripod in the past. However, when they saw how battered it was, none of them bothered about it, thinking that it was just a damaged spirit weapon. Who would care about something as such when the Great Forbidden Ruins were filled with damaged spirit weapons? If the bronze square tripod hadn''t hurt Aiden''s feet, he wouldn''t have pulled it out from the mud intentionally either. Above the moltenva. Although the bronze square tripod was tough, it did not cause much harm to the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile. To the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile, the feeling was akin to biting a piece of rock while consuming food. Without another word, the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile did not care at all as it shrugged its head before coiling its tongue and devouring the bronze square tripod along with Aiden into his stomach! There might be things that demon beasts could not bite through. However, the powerful contractions of their stomachs and frightening acid within would be enough to turn even metal and rocks into liquid! On the lone ind in theva ocean, the little fox looked at everything helplessly. The light in its eyes dimmed as it sighed gently. After devouring Aiden, the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile turned towards the little fox nonchntly with a cold gaze. Frightened, the little fox hurriedly moved the iron basket to its side and hid underneath. It was as though it would feel safer doing so. As a low-level fiend demon, the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon was equivalent to a Martial Grandmaster martial artist. Although it could take down Aiden with ease, it was nothing much in the wilderness outside, particrly so among the demon races. There were plenty of fiend demons among the demon races and he was merely one of the lowest leveled ones. Among the eight demon races, only grand and old demons would have the chance to get their hands on the charming fox race. Given the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s status with his strength, he won''t have a chance toy his finger on them in his lifetime! However, by chance, he sensed the scorching aura and with it, discovered this secret of the pce and found his way underground. At that time, the little fox was just born not long ago. Initially, the demon fox was a mid-level fiend demon. However, after giving birth, it was at its weakest since it had lost a lot of blood energy C the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon seized the opportunity when its strength was greatly diminished. A massive battle broke out! The Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile was injured as well. However, the Scarlet me Fox was even more severely injured. Both parties maintained the standoff for a couple of years and finally, the poor me fox lost out and died. As for the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile, its Essence Spirit was severely injured and hadn''t fully recovered till now. Although the little fox saw everything, it was helpless. When it was injured, the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile was furious and wanted to kill the little fox right away. However, a stray thought entered his mind when he saw the pitiful expression of the little fox. After this little fox grew up and formed an Inner Core and was able to take on a humanoid form, wouldn''t it be at his disposal? "Soon, soon! I''ll just have to wait a little more!" The Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile could not contain its excitement as it witnessed the little fox growing with each passing day. *Ssh!* After being devoured by the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile, the bronze square tripod flowed along with its gooey, smelly saliva and fell into a gigantic sealed space. Escaping death momentarily, Aiden heaved a sigh of relief and extended his head warily, scanning his surroundings with a bright gaze. This should be the stomach of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile! The grisly red walls of the stomach contracted endlessly and let out a nasty stench. Lined with blood vessels that resembled little snakes slithering, the ce looked horrifying. The stomach walls were lined with ayer of thick, green liquid that increased as time passed by, letting out a piercing stench. Was that the digestive fluids of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile? Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. Withdrawing a supreme-grade flying sword from his storage bag, he used it to tap the thick green liquid gently. *Shing!* Smoke rose. Aiden''s expression changed and he released his grip right away. In the blink of an eye, the supreme-grade flying sword was corroded and turned into pus water. Aiden was shocked. If he reacted slower earlier on, his palm would have corroded away! What a strong corrosive power! Aiden estimated that the digestive fluids of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile could turn him into liquid within ten breaths! It did not matter how strong his regeneration powers were. Digestive fluids started flowing down along the walls of the stomach and Aiden hid inside the bronze square tripod hurriedly C he did not dare to be in contact with the digestive fluids. Gradually, the thick, green digestive fluids started umting within the stomach. Although the bronze square tripod was surrounded by digestive fluids, it was not corroded. In fact, even the green rust on its surface did not vanish either! Standing within the bronze square tripod, Aiden had a grim expression. He was not out of danger yet! The bronze square tripod was only slightly taller than a meter and yet, the digestive fluids were umting. Once it drowns the tripod, he would have nowhere to hide. Furthermore, the space within the stomach was limited. With the digestive fluids increasing in volume continuously, there was no way he would be able to avoid themter on! *Bang!* *Boom!* *Boom!* The stomach grumbled like rumbling thunder. The muscles of the stomach had started contracting. Taken by surprise, Aiden nearly flew out of the bronze square tripod. Steadying himself hurriedly, his face turned paler. He had to think up a way to get out of this situation as soon as possible! If this carried on, he would definitely die! In the darkness, Aiden''s expression was dark as he red at the stomach walls lined with gooey digestive fluids. His gaze was resolved and he made his decision. Standing in the bronze square tripod and avoiding the dripping digestive fluids, Aiden approached the stomach walls of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile. This was his only chance. Extending his right hand, Aiden paused for a moment before taking a deep breath of air. With a savage gaze, he used his palm like a knife and stabbed deep into the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s flesh walls! Chapter 911 911 - One Chance The flesh on his palm was the first to make contact with the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s digestive fluids. *Shing!* The frightening corrosive power of the digestive fluids was shown once more as the flesh on Aiden''s right hand waspletely melted, revealing a scarlet bone palm within. Though the mighty beast''s stomach acid was sure to be an incredibly potent corrosive force, Aiden''s superior physique and Primal origin''s mixed with his Ancient Draconic bloodline showed its superiority as soon as the two opposing forces made contact. Shiny, golden scales appeared over Aiden''s hand almost instantly, withstanding the brutal force of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s digestive fluids. That was Aiden''s n. Though he could not, or to be more precise, should not invoke the full power of his true origins, the absolute defense of his bloodlines were more than enough tobat the beast! Still, the digestive fluids tried its best to gobble up Aiden''s wrist as well as trying to melt the flesh on his palm, unsessfully. However, as though it was triggered, Aiden Primal Core let out a terrifying aura and a thinyer of mes burned on his hand. Cracks appeared in the surrounding void after being burned by those mes! Although the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s digestive fluids were strong, they were burned away by the mes of the divine phoenix bone! "It worked!" Aiden''s eyes lit up brightly as he thrust the bloody palm fiercely into the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s flesh. The divine phoenix mes surged into the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s body! Meanwhile, above the surface of the moltenva. Hovering in midair, the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile was dreaming about its beautiful future when suddenly, a sharp pain surged from its stomach and it almost fainted! "Roar!" The Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile let out a tragic howl. Initially, the little fox was fearful hidden beneath the iron basket. When it heard the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile yell, it could not help but jump. Hurriedly, it peered through the gap on the top of the iron basket and looked outside. A bloodied hole could be seen from the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s abdomen. Furthermore, the hole was expanding at a terrifying speed and would engulf his entire body before long. There was no blood dripping from the hole C all of it was burned into blood energy and dissipated in the air. The massive body of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile twisted in midair as it howled endlessly. However, it could not stop the spread of the fire. Those were the mes of the divine phoenix and were absolutely destructive, spreading from within his body! The little fox was horrified. Instinctively, it reached out and grabbed the sides of the iron basket with its tiny paws. Once again, it lifted the basket and watched everything unfold with confusion. Where did the firee from? Why did it suddenly burn? All of a sudden! A bronze square tripod flew through theyers of mes. From it, a nude man jumped out. His hair was charred and he was pitch-ck in a wretched state as though he was just struck by a thunderbolt. *ng!* Shocked and dumbfounded, the little fox''s tiny paws released their grip and the iron basket fell to its side. Isn''t that the mysterious friendly figure from just now? He isn''t dead? That''s great! The little fox beamed brightly and was truly happy for Aiden from the bottom of its heart. However, immediately after, the little fox eximed and covered its eyes in a sheepish manner,menting to itself, "But this strange man, really why does he love to expose himself so much? Was he a pervert?" In mid-air, the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile had not given up on trying to survive yet. He had trained an Essence Spirit as well. As long as his Essence Spirit survived, he would not be dead in an absolute sense. However, he was only a low-level fiend demon and his Essence Spirit was extremely fragile, simr to an infant without protection. Given the treacherous environment withva all around, it could die at any moment. However, the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile could not care that much anymore. The power of the mes was too terrifying and was almost reaching his head! At that time, he would be dead for sure without the chance to even send his Essence Spirit away! *Swoosh!* A streak of light shot out from the head of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile. Focusing his gaze, Aiden saw that it was a translucent little crocodile. An Essence Spirit! It was truly a fiendish demon from the Abyss! Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. He saw that the Essence Spirit of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile was extremely fragile, unlike abat Essence Spirit that did not fear daylight or ominous winds. In mid-air, the Essence Spirit of the gigantic crocodile shuddered against the heatwave of theva and its aura turned even weaker! Low-level fiend demons were equivalent to Martial Grandmaster Perfected Lord martial artists. Although their Essence Spirits could exit their bodies, they were easily damaged and could not linger outside for too long. The Essence Spirit of the gigantic crocodile sped with its might towards the exit of the cave. Aiden opened his mouth widely and bellowed. "DIE!" A gigantic explosion simr to rumbling thunder broke out from beside the gigantic crocodile''s Essence Spirit! Shuddering violently, the Essence Spirit of the gigantic crocodile turned even dimmer and cracks started appearing on its surface. To begin with, his Essence Spirit was injured and had not recovered entirely. Now that it received such serious injuries consecutively, his Essence Spirit was on the brink of destruction! Right then, a dark light streaked through the air. A dark iron basket descended from the skies, trapping the Essence Spirit of the gigantic crocodile within. The little fox extended its tiny paws with a resolute gaze, seemingly gesturing at something. Instantly, it eximed softly and spat out a stream of demonic energy that entered the iron basket. *Swoosh!* A ball of mes burned furiously. Instantly, the iron basket turned red from the heat and shone brightly with a spreading heatwave! Several golden lights appeared and shone forth from the holes of the iron basket repeatedly C they emitted a terrifying might with an unusual movement. The light of the mes surged within the iron basket! mming left and right, the Essence Spirit of the gigantic crocodile shrieked tragically but it could not escape. It took less than three breaths. The gigantic crocodile''s Essence Spirit was incinerated into ashes, dying on the spot! Even up till its death, the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile did not know what happened. It would not have imagined that in the end, it would be killed by a demon weapon released by a little fox that couldn''t even take on human form yet! Narrowing his gaze slightly, Aiden nced at that scarlet basket in midair which shone with nine golden beams of light, and was secretly stunned. He had not imagined that the unassuming basket would possess such a terrifying might! The little fox beckoned with its paws and the nine golden beams of light in midair returned to the iron basket before disappearing. The red light on the basket faded gradually and once again, it reverted to its ck iron pot shape and flew back to the little fox. The little fox should be ted with the death of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile after getting its revenge. However, at that moment, it turned back to look at its mother''s cold and lifeless body, slightly dazed and lost. Aiden sighed gently. Originally, he had another doubt in his heart. Since the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon was a low-level fiend demon and had already trained an Essence Spirit, it could make use of Master powers as well as Demonic Techniques. However, right from the beginning, the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile engaged him in meleebat. Even at itsst moment, the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile had not released a single bit of divine powers. It was until this moment after Aiden escaped death that he came to a gradual realization. The Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile''s Essence Spirit must have been severely injured by the demon fox and had yet to recover C that was the reason for everything! If the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile was able to use its divine powers and release demonic arts, the oue would have been worlds apart. Even with the bronze square tripod and the help of the divine phoenix bone, Aiden might not have had the chance to injure the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile severely. To a certain extent, this was probably the work of fate and the result of the beast''s arrogance. The little fox made a small bow towards Aiden and cried softly, expressing its gratitude. She was extremely smart. Although the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile died in her hands, she would not have had the chance to take revenge if not for Aiden. Withdrawing a set of gray robes, Aiden got dressed and descended to the ground once more. Although the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile was dead, Aiden was not in the best condition. After receiving two consecutive punches from the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile and a heavy whip from its tail, Aiden''s body was aching from top to toe and felt like it was breaking apart. Gritting his teeth, Aiden took a deep breath of air and moved, staggering towards the exit of the cave without time to recuperate. Slyff Nae and the other two were still in the pce above. If the martial artists that arrived truly had ill intentions, Slyff Nae and the other two would be in mortal danger! Chapter 912 912 - Greedy Hands At the same time, in the underground pce. Ster Moon Sect was the first to arrive and more than twenty Martial Masters barged into the underground pce. Without concealing their tracks, they charged right in and saw the medicinal field in front before long. "What a rich medicinal fragrance!" "There are so many spirit herbs that are over thousands of years old in this massive medicinal field. Our trip wasn''t wasted at all!" "Look! It''s a ten thousand years old Vermilion Fruit!" The eyes of everyone from Ster Moon Sect lit up with a fervent gaze. "It''s about to ripen! We''re just in time!" A Ster Moon Sect martial artist remarked in a fawning manner, "In my opinion, only Senior Brother Gie is the only one in the Northern Region that is qualified to get his hands on this ten thousand years old Vermilion Fruit." Mo Xir''s hands were behind his back and he had a rxed attitude. Although he was greatly pleased upon hearing that, he merely smiled without saying anything. "Hehe!" Suddenly, a cold sneer sounded from the darkness. A series of specter-like figures walked out. Although there were only eight of them, each of them let out an aura of extreme danger that sent chills down one''s spine! "Shadow Sect!" "Senior Brother Gie, their leader is the paragon of Shadow Sect, Norl Fer!" Mo Xir replied calmly, as though he had already expected this. Smirking coldly, Norl Fer said with a scoff, "Mo Xir is the only one in the Tianhuang North Region qualified to get his hands on the ten thousand years old Vermilion Fruit? What brazen words! Aren''t you afraid of biting your tongue?" "Oh?" Mo Xir smiled faintly and rebutted, "What do you have in mind, Brother Norl?" "Nothing much." Norl Fer replied coldly, "I''m merely giving a kind reminder that you''re not qualified to be regarded as the best of the younger generation in the Northern Region!" "Insolent!" "How dare youpare yourself with our Senior Brother Gie?!" "Hmph, the Martial Master phenomenon that Senior Brother Gie trained is ranked 92 on the Phenomenon Ranking. What are you?" Many Ster Moon Sect martial artists shouted. Snickering, Norl Fer replied. "If ites to a death bout, we don''t know who will stand out just yet." The moment he said that, the atmosphere between Shadow Sect and Ster Moon Sect turned extremely tense, as though a massive battle could break out at any moment! "Hahaha!" Right then, a longughter sounded, brazen and unbridled. "How can I miss out on such a happening situation?" When he heard that, Norl Fer''s expression changed. Mo Xir who was initially calm frowned with a wary look in his eyes as well. More than ten Martial Masters with ming red robes entered the underground pce. Their leader was a tall and dignified man who strode over in huge steps. Emitting a scorching hot aura, he was none other than the G''ang Nan, the prime disciple of zing Phoenix Valley! Mo Xir''s Martial Master phenomenon, Sr Luna Ster Lumen, and G''ang Nan''s Raging City ze were both in the top ranks of their region! Furthermore, Raging City ze was ranked 89, slightly higher than Sr Luna Ster Lumen. "Very good, very good!" Sweeping his fervent gaze across the crowd, G''ang Nan nodded with a raring battle intent. "Since everyone''s here, I''ll dere that the medicinal field and ten thousand years old Vermilion Fruit are both mine! Anyone who disagrees will be suppressed by me!" "Humph!" Norl Fer harrumphed coldly. "Aren''t you afraid of dying from your greed?" "G''ang Nan, there''s an order to things!" Mo Xir shook his head gently and remarked indifferently, "Ster Moon Sect was the first to discover the medicinal field and Vermilion Fruit." "Hahahaha!" G''ang Nan burst intoughter and pointed to three people beside the medicinal field. "Mo Xir, stop pretending to be righteous. If you want to talk about order, the three of them are the first to discover this ce. What has it got to do with you?" Slyff Nae and the other two had been at the side of the medicinal field the entire time. However, after the Martial Masters of Ster Moon Sect, Shadow Sect, and zing Phoenix Valley entered the ce, they were arguing about how they should split the medicinal field and werepletely oblivious to the three of them. It was at this moment that everyone''s attention gradually focused onto Slyff Nae and the other two. Slyff Nae and the other two exchanged nces andmented internally. The auras of the Martial Masters from those three sects were extremely strong C a single person from the other parties could easily go against the three of them. The paragons leading them looked even more formidable! Slyff Nae and the other two had explored outside before and naturally, knew that they were in a dangerous situation. As such, they did not dare to act recklessly. When everyone''s gazes turned towards them, Lian Juhe coughed gently and greeted the three sects with cupped fists, smiling gently with full politeness. "Greetings, fellow Martial Artists, I''m a martial artist of Azure Myst Sect, Lian Juhe." The Martial Masters of the three sects were expressionless after Lian Juhe''s greeting. A look of mockery even shed through the eyes of some of the martial artists, as though they were looking at an idiot, a dead man walking. Ignored! He waspletely ignored! Lian Juhe''s smile froze on his face. Frowning slightly, Slyff Nae clenched his teeth and said with cupped fists, "Earlier on, this fellow Martial Artist mentioned about the order of things. Indeed, we were the ones who first discovered this medicinal field." "However, the three of us only need the Rain Frost Flower, Purple Cloud Mushroom, Blood Ginseng, and Essence Grass to save a senior in our sect. We won''t take anything else. We''ll be immensely grateful if you guys can grant us our wish" "Are you even in a position to speak?" Mo Xir interrupted Slyff Nae coldly, "Who are you guys? What rights do you have to talk to me about the order of things?" Shadow Sect''s Norl Fer had a frosty expression and his eyes were filled with killing intent. Word by word, he remarked, "None of you shally your hands on a single strand of spirit herb here!" G''ang Nan''s eyes were filled with mockery as he threw his head back inughter. "Interesting! You still want the spirit herbs even at death''s door! Hahaha! The ignorant are truly fearless!" To be fair, it would already be fortuitous for the three of them to escape such a situation unscathed. If not for that fact that he wanted to save the disheveled old man, Slyff Nae would not have taken the risk to mention that he wanted the four spirit herbs. What should he do? Slyff Nae was extremely flustered. Right now, even if the three of them wanted to leave empty-handed, the opposing martial artists did not seem like they would agree to it. Furthermore, although they did not know where Aiden was, he was most likely still in the underground pce. What would happen to him if the three of them left? Given his character, he would definitely not bow down in such a situation! However, Slyff Nae and the other two could tell that none of the dozens of martial artists present were easy to deal with! The three paragon leaders were even more terrifying! Aiden had just formed his core and nobody knew what Martial Master phenomenon he had trained C how could he be a match for those Martial Masters? "Guys, no matter who this medicinal field will belong to, there''s no need for the three of our sects to get into a fight. Let''s settle the other stuff first." Mo Xir remarked indifferently. "Agreed!" Shadow Sect''s Norl Fer looked at Slyff Nae and the other two and sneered. G''ang Nan nodded in agreement as well. "No problem." Slyff Nae and the other two felt their hearts sink. Mo Xir''s expression was indifferent and a dark gold gleam shone from his eyes as he asked icily, "The three of you, hand over the Top Grade artifact weapon. There are things that you guys shouldn''t take!" "Top Grade artifact weapon?" Slyff Nae and the other two froze momentarily with stunned expressions. "Hehe!" Norl Fer sneered, "Go on, continue feigning ignorance! Even at the brink of death, you guys refuse to be honest!" When they heard that, Slyff Nae''s heart skipped a beat and a look of realization shed through his eyes. The Top Grade artifact weapon that Mo Xir referred to must have been Aiden''s Coiling Dragon Seal! Previously, Aiden made use of the Coiling Dragon Seal to test the toughness of the bronze square tripod. In the darkness of the night, the radiance illuminated was truly too blinding. When G''ang Nan noticed the change in Slyff Nae''s expression, he could not help but grin. "Why? You''ve finally remembered?" Gulping, Lian Juhe forced a smile. "Fellow Martial Artists, I''m sure there must be some misunderstanding. The three of us are truly not in possession of any Top Grade artifact weapons." Norl Fer said coldly with a furious killing intent, "That''s not decided with your words alone. Hand over your storage bags or die!" Chapter 913 913 - Bullying And Greed Slyff Nae and the other two looked terrible. The more they endured, the more they were taken advantage of. If they handed over their storage bags, it would be equivalent to handing over half of their lives. Notwithstanding the fact that they did not have any Top Grade artifact weapons, even if they did, they wouldn''t let it up just like that! Gripping his fist to repress the rage in his heart, Slyff Nae said in a dark voice, "Fellow warriors, we''re all Martial Masters. Don''t go overboard with your bullying!" "Haha!" "Oh my, he''s angry?" "Hehe, interesting, interesting." Slyff Nae''s reaction attracted a series ofughter. The martial artists of the three sectsughed mockingly with rxed expressions. Noticing that the situation did not seem right, Lian Juhe remarked hurriedly, "Fellow Martial Artists, the three of us can swear that we''re not in possession of any Top Grade artifact weapons. If we are, we''ll be punished by the heavens!" "Three dead men aren''t qualified to make terms with us!" Norl Fer sneered again and remarked with a sinisterly cold expression, "Since you refuse to hand them over, I''ll take them personally!" *Swash!* Slyff Nae and the other two felt their visions blur and Norl Fer had already vanished from where he was. "So fast!" Their hearts skipped a beat. They were not in the best condition and it was less than 4 hours since they were previously injured C the wound on Krisia Hall''s abdomen had not even healedpletely. Slyff Nae stood in front of Krisia Hall to defend her and waved his sleeves, summoning 12 supreme-grade flying swords at the same time. He conjured two Hexagonal Sword Formations without holding back at all! Gritting his teeth, Lian Juhe circted his Inner Force wildly and hollered. "Azure Myst Sword Rain!" The both of them used their full strength the moment they attacked! *Pitter-patter!* *Pitter-patter!* A downpour rained down from the skies, sharp as swords and des, emanating an endless edge. When he saw that, Mo Xir curled his lips and remarked casually, "Interesting. To think that you''ve managed to train a Martial Master phenomenon as well. It''s just that your phenomenon is way too weak!" Norl Fer reappeared by Slyff Nae and the other two''s side with a sinister gaze. If Lian Juhe had released his Martial Master phenomenon slightly slower, Norl Fer would have definitely ambushed them silently. The three of them might have already been corpses by now! At this moment, they were protected by the Azure Myst Sword Rain. If Norl Fer wanted to attack them, he would have to go through the Martial Master phenomenon! "How dare you embarrass yourself with such an inferior Martial Master phenomenon!" Circting his Martial Master, Norl Fer''s eyes illuminated two dark streaks of light as he hollered, "Martial Master phenomenon, Shadow''s Twin Darts!" Two dark gold darts appeared behind Norl Fer, resembling two shorts spears with a sharp aura. "How dare the light of a firefly tries topete against the shine of the moon for glory! Break it!" Norl Fer pointed forward. **Pshew!** **Pshew!** The long darts disappeared and two dark streaks of light appeared in midair, shooting forth with a terrifying shockwave that smashed against the screen of rain! Bang! Bang! There were two resounding bangs. Lian Juhe grunted dully. A series of cracks began to appear on the wavering rain screen. Countless raindrops seemed to have stopped in midair. The two streaks of dark light were about to prate the rain screen and break through the air! *ng!* *ng!* Two Hexagonal Sword Formations blocked the dark streaks of lights. *ng!* *ng!* There were two crisp sounds. Suddenly, the dark lights began swiveling and released a tremendous cyclical force that struck the Hexagonal Sword Formations. *Pang!* *Pang!* *Pang!* The 12 supreme-grade flying swords were sent flying! The sword formation fell apart in a split second! Lian Juhe''s Martial Master phenomenon and Slyff Nae''s Hexagonal Sword Formations crumbled at almost the same time! The two of them shuddered and blood drained from their faces. *Pshew!* *Pshew!* The two dark streaks of light appeared before them in the blink of an eye. Hurriedly, Krisia Hall withdrew two protection talismans from her storage bag and crushed them, sending forth a bedazzling light barrier that blocked the two of them. *Snap!* The light barrier shattered the moment the dark lights made contact with them! The three of them were sent flying by that tremendous force,nding dozens of meters away. The wound on Krisia Hall''s abdomen split open once more, staining her robes red. Slyff Nae and Lian Juhe spat out a mouthful of blood each. Their auras were weak and the spirit energy in their bodies was in chaos as they felt throbbing painsing from their meridians. Although the Shadow''s Twin Darts was not listed on the Phenomenon Ranking, it possessed a terrifying killing power nevertheless! Norl Fer leaped into the air and two streaks of dark lights circled him continuously; his power of phenomenon churned in a domineering manner. Looking at the three of them fallen on the ground, Norl Fer had a cold expression. "Why? You guys are still unwilling to take out the Top Grade artifact weapon even at the brink of death?" Lian Juhe grit his teeth. "We don''t have any Top Grade artifact weapon at all!" "You''re still being stubborn?" Norl Fer scoffed. "Since that''s the case, you won''t have any more chances!" "The Top Grade artifact weapon is with me! Come over here if you want to get it!" Suddenly, a cold voice sounded from the depths of the pce with a chilling killing intent! Instinctively, everyone turned towards the voice. A figure gradually came into view. He was tall and had long ck hair wildly fluttering against the wind. He was wearing simple, gray robes with elegant features. For some unknown reason, that seemingly frail schr was emitting a shuddering aura of danger! As the schr strode over, everyone felt as though a bloodthirsty ferocious beast was approaching as the air was filled with the stench of blood! The martial artists present frowned. "Hmm?" G''ang Nan and Mo Xir, the two paragons, were slightly surprised and their gazes shimmered. They hadn''t expected that there would be another martial artist in the depths of this underground pce! Furthermore, nobody realized when he appeared, not even them! Before long, the green-robed martial artist had already arrived before them. "Ha, here I was wondering how powerful this person is. So, he''s only an early-stage Martial Master." "Another person who wants to die." The Martial Masters present heaved a sigh of relief after checking out the intruder''s cultivation realm using their Spirit Peering Arts. No matter how strong he was, an early-stage Martial Master wouldn''t be able to cause much trouble! "Finally, you are back." When he saw Aiden appear, Slyff Nae sighed internally, knowing that today''s matters would definitely not end peacefully. Arriving beside the three of them, Aiden squatted down and checked their conditions. His expression only rxed after seeing that they were in no danger of death. With a grim expression, Krisia Hall whispered, "Aiden, these guys are not easy to deal with. How about throwing out the Top Grade artifact weapon for them to fight among themselves first while we seize the chaos to escape. It''s fine if we are bullied, what''s important is that we get out alive." "That''s right." Lian Juhe added softly, "There''s too many of them and there are three martial artists with terrifying strength. You won''t be a match for them alone, don''t be reckless." "Hais." Slyff Nae sighed softly. "If things don''t look good, get out alone, Aiden. Don''t be impulsive." "It''s alright, I''ll settle this." Aiden had a calm expression and gestured for the three of them to feel assured. G''ang Nan and Mo Xir red at Aiden for a little while before rxing. Although that schr gave off an extremely dangerous aura, he was in a bad condition and his expression was somewhat pale. In fact, there was a hint of blood in his breath! That person was severely injured and seemed to have just gone through an intense battle! "What a false rm. He''s of no threat." Mo Xir grinned and those words shed through his mind. "Brat, hand over the Top Grade artifact weapon and I can let you die with a whole corpse!" Norl Fer red down from above in a domineering manner. Rising slowly, Aiden did not look at Norl Fer, merely scanning his surroundings. His gaze swept by Mo Xir and G''ang Nan as he asked instead, "Who else wants to get their hands on my Top Grade artifact weapon?" Everyone was stunned. Was that young man a fool C wasn''t he aware of the situation he was in? Ignored by Aiden, Norl Fer was thoroughly embarrassed as he snarled with killing intent spewing from his eyes, "You Brat, I''m talking to you!" Aiden did not look over at Norl Fer still, as though he did not know that thetter existed. "Isn''t anyone going to reply?" Raising his brow, Aiden smiled and said with deep intent, "I''ll be direct then. If you guys leave now, you''ll get a chance to live. Don''t regret if the fight truly breaks out." Chapter 914 914 - Misunderstanding "Ah? "Haha!" The crowd first went silent. Right after, it burst withughter; some people clutched their stomachs while others bent over, as though they had heard the greatest joke in the world. Everyone looked at Aiden like they were looking at an idiot. Aiden smiled as well. In mid-air, Norl Fer''s expression was menacing as he gripped his fists tightly. The two dark gold long darts around him were shuttling so quickly that they were even buzzing. Aiden''s continued obliviousness towards him was driving him nuts! "You. Are. Courting. Death!" The veins on Norl Fer''s neck popped out and blood surged through him as he snarled word by word. Finally. Raising his head slightly, Aiden looked at Norl Fer and replied indifferently, "You''re the one with a death wish." "Die you little bastard!" No longer able to tolerate, Norl Fer hollered and the power of his phenomenon burst forth immediately C two long darts turned into streaks of light that arrived instantly! Expressionless, Aiden was not flustered and swiped his storage bag gently. A gigantic golden seal appeared in his palms with a domineering aura, as though it could suppress all things! When they saw that gigantic golden seal, G''ang Nan, and Mo Xir''s gazes turned iparably fervent. Any single bit of hesitance they had disappeared as well. Everything else aside, that Top Grade artifact weapon made everything worthwhile! Aiden''s power of his Martial Master was circting wildly inside him. The Coiling Dragon Seal in his palm expanded swiftly with an immense brightness akin to a zing sun. Flying away from him, it blocked in front of Aiden. *ng!* *ng!* The two streaks of dark light could not dodge in time and struck the Coiling Dragon Seal. However, they were repelled instantly! The Coiling Dragon Seal did not budge at all. Norl Fer shuddered and a look of fear shed through his eyes. That collision nearly shattered his Martial Master phenomenon! "You want to see a Top Grade artifact weapon?" Aiden''s gaze lit up as he smiled sinisterly. "I''ll let you see all you want!" *Boom!* Descending from the skies, the Coiling Dragon Seal turned into a gigantic golden mountain with tremendous force. "Roar!" The dragon roar reverberated through the world and coiled around the mountain peak, causing it to descend at a faster speed with a fiercer power and more intense aura! Under the shroud of the Coiling Dragon Seal, many Martial Masters felt their hearts skip a beat and retreated right away. *Snap!* mming against Norl Fer''s Shadow''s Twin Darts, the Coiling Dragon Seal shattered the former''s Martial Master phenomenon instantly! "Pfft!" Norl Fer shuddered and spat out a huge mouthful of blood with a battered expression. A dark shadow engulfed Norl Fer and he could not escape at all. Utterly scared out of his wits, he crushed a protection talisman hurriedly while yelling, "Fellow Martial Artist, please show mer" "Pfft!" Before he could finish, a sludge of blood appeared beneath the golden mountain peak. The paragon of Shadow Sect was killed by the Coiling Dragon Seal without a corpse left! Silence ensued in the underground pce instantly. The Martial artists of Ster Moon Sect, Shadow Sect, and zing Phoenix Valley looked at everything with widened eyes in disbelief. Prior to this, no one would have imagined that a single attack from a seemingly frail schr would kill the paragon of Shadow Sect instantly! Against the suppression of the Top Grade artifact weapon, the Shadow''s Twin Darts that destroyed the Azure Myst Sword Rain, Hexagonal Sword Formations, and protection talismans were akin to a piece of paper, unable to withstand a single blow. Decisive to kill! Three words shed across everyone''s mind. It was too ruthless! In such circumstances, unless they were paragons of the immortal, Buddhist, and fiend super sects, any other Martial Master wouldn''t dare to be reckless. With the death of Norl Fer, there was now no way of reconciliation for both parties! Although everyone was shocked, their gazes remained cold. To them, Slyff Nae and the other two were severely injured and theirbat strength could be ignored whereas Aiden was alone C no matter how strong he was, he could not defend against thebined attacks of so many Martial Masters! Furthermore, Aiden was only an early-stage Martial Master. The remaining seven martial artists of Shadow Sect left slowly, delving into the darkness without a trace, as though they had disappeared. Mo Xir and G''ang Nan red at the gigantic golden seal with fervent gazes. The fact that an early-stage Martial Master could produce such terrifying killing power proves that the gigantic seal was extraordinary! If either of them got their hands on it, theirbat strength would double at the very least! With the seal, they could definitely dominate everyone when they enter the intermediate ancient battlefield 20 yearster and gain fame! "Alright!" G''ang Nan roared intoughter. "Good moves, fellow brave warrior. I''m rather impressed. Hand the Top Grade artifact weapon to me first and I can make the decision to let you join zing Phoenix Valley so that you can follow me from now on!" Aiden smiled with a sh of mockery in his eyes. G''ang Nan was not frustrated despite seeing and shouted with a smile on his face, "The wise recognize their circumstances. The situation right now is clear, you''re in an irreconcble situation with Shadow Sect. At the same time, the martial artists of Ster Moon Sect want to kill you for your treasure" After a slight pause, G''ang Nan dered haughtily, "Right now, I''m the only one that can save you!" G''ang Nan was making his intentions clear. As long as Aiden were to submit to him and hand over the Top Grade artifact weapon, he could ensure Aiden''s survival and would even fight against Shadow Sect and Ster Moon Sect! There were more than twenty Martial Masters on the side of Ster Moon Sect and seven left on Shadow Sect. Although zing Phoenix Valley only had more than ten Martial Masters, G''ang Nan was confident that his Martial Master phenomenon was superior to Mo Xir''s! "You don''t have to worry. Senior Brother G''ang Nan is a man of his words and will definitely not renege." "What are you thinking about? You''re still hesitating although Senior Brother ''Gang Nan recruited you personally and spared your life?" A few zing Phoenix Valley martial artists behind G''ang Nan were displeased when they saw that Aiden was keeping his silence. In their opinion, if Aiden was tactful, he should hand over his Top Grade artifact weapon right away and kowtow in reverence! "I think you guys are misunderstanding something" A brief momentter, Aiden spoke slowly, "Right now, it''s not about who can save me. It''s about who can save you guys!" When G''ang Nan heard that, the smile on his face disappeared gradually and his expression darkened. "HAHAHAHA!" Mo Xirughed at the right time and shook his head gently, rubbing his palms together. "Interesting, interesting. ''Gang Nan, he doesn''t need you to save him nor does he think highly of zing Phoenix Valley." Everyone from zing Phoenix Valley was enraged, to begin with. Mo Xir''s words were akin to adding oil to fire! "Damn it! He really doesn''t know what''s good for him!" "Senior Brother Wang, you don''t have to do it personally. I''ll retrieve his head for you!" zing Phoenix Valley was riled up. G''ang Nan did not disagree, merely nodding his head. The Martial Master that requested to attack turned towards Aiden, muttering, "I''ll let you die in peace today! For your offence and arrogant words, you have to face the conseuqnces of offending the person who you shouldn''t have! Die! "It''s him!" "He''s also a genius of zing Phoenix Valley and is definitely ranked top five among their Martial Masters in terms of strength." The crowd from Ster Moon Sect broke into hushed discussions. The young man did not circte internal energy nor did he summon any spirit weapons, merely walking over barehanded. Aiden''s expression did not change at all as he nced at the young man and understood. All of a sudden! When he was around ten feet away from Aiden, the young man increased his speed! There was a boom. Extending his feet, the proud and fearsome young man stomped on the ground and his blood energy burst forth. Like a sharp arrow, he arrived before Aiden instantly and his killing intent was so sharp that it almost materialized! Aiden did not move at all, as though he could not react in time. Although the young man was atte-stage Martial Master, he did not underestimate his opponent. He knew that Aiden was in possession of a Top Grade artifact weapon and was tough to deal with, enough to pose a threat to him. That was the reason why he feigned weakness and only struck when he was close enough! "Prepare to die!" With a menacing expression, the Young slung his fists onto Aiden''s head! Sneering coldly, Aiden did not dodge nor avoid and instead, punched in return against the iing attack. Chapter 915 915 -They Dont Give Up *Snap!* The sound of bones cracking could be heard. The bones in the young man''s palms were shattered and his wrist snapped, revealing white bones! Instantly, cold sweat rolled down. The young man''s face was already distorted! As for Aiden, he did not stop at all and his punch continued with its momentum after crushing the young man''s hand. His palm opened up like it wanted to engulf the entire world! A patch of darkness shrouded over the young man''s head. Aiden''s palmnded on the top of the young man''s head and pushed down forcefully! *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* The young man''s massive head was pushed right into his chest and the tendons and bones on his neck snapped C he died on the spot, turning into a mist of blood! The young man would have never imagined that his foundation and pretense was exposed with a single nce from Aiden. More than that, he would not have expected that Aiden was almost invincible within ten feet! To Aiden, his actions, calctions, and attacks were akin to a joke. In less than a single round of exchange, zing Phoenix Valley''s member, the young man''s corpse wasid on the ground! Almost at the same time, a cold glint appeared behind Aiden at his blind spot. Immediately after, a vague shadow appeared on the ground. The martial artists of Shadow Sect made their move! It was an extremely precise timing but the only miscalction was that the young man died too quickly. With the warning from his heightened senses, Aiden pped in reverse without even turning back. His arm swept through the void, thick as the trunk of a primordial divine elephant. A crisp sound exploded in the air and met the iing long sword. *ng!* An ear-piercing sound rang and the sword quivered violently. Right in front of countless gazes, the superior-grade sword that carried the power of a Martial Master was shattered into shards by Aiden''s seemingly limp arm, scattering on the ground! **Poof!** Pointing forward, Aiden tapped the be of the Shadow Sect martial artist. A bloodied hole formed. Grisly fresh blood began to flow. Aiden''s body was way too strong! He could snap a spirit weapon with his palm and that finger prated the bones of that martial artist with ease! In the blink of an eye, two more Martial Masters were dead. As for the massacre, it had only just begun! "How dare you!" G''ang Nan hollered, wanting to stop things but it was toote. The young man died too quickly without evensting a single round! When he witnessed the young man''s death, G''ang Nan was enraged; his eyes seemed like they were burning with fire. "Kill him!" Mo Xir waved his hand indifferently. Many Martial Masters behind the two paragons swarmed forward with furious killing intents, attacking in session. The martial artists that apanied G''ang Nan and Mo Xir to the Great Forbidden Ruins were not weaklings in their sects and there were extremely few early-stage Martial Masters. Most of them were at mid orte-stage. Instantly, sword energy streaked through the air and resplendent light filled the skies. Many flying swords and spirit weapons howled like the wind. Countless spirit arts released terrifying energy shockwaves, causing the spirit energy in the void to fluctuate in chaos! The attacks were everywhere! Aiden was situated in the center of the battlefield all alone, simr to a sampan in a raging ocean that could sink at any moment! However, his expression was still calm andposed, as though he could not sense that he was in danger. His ck hair swayed gently and two beams of divine lights shone from his eyes as he took a deep breath before opening his mouth. "Kill!" His voice was like thunder, shaking the nine heavens! After reaching and giving ''birth'' his second Inner Core, Aiden''s skin, flesh, tendons, bones, marrow and organs underwent yet another transformation. That single howl was akin to an ancient demon''s howl. Arriving suddenly, the underground pce trembled as dust fell endlessly. The Shadow Sect martial artists that were initially hiding in the darkness with the help of blind spots in the environment shuddered, revealing themselves. The martial artist closest to Aiden had a pained expression and his features were contorted. Bending over, he clutched both ears and blood seeped through the gaps in his fingers! Aiden''s howl ruptured that person''s eardrums right away! All the flying swords, spirit weapons, and even spirit arts that were directed towards Aiden paused for a split second. That single second might not have amounted to much for anyone else. However, in this battlefield, it was the difference between life and death for some martial artists! In a sh, Aiden lunged towards the Shadow Sect martial artist closest to him. Seizing the opportunity while that person was stunned and had yet to react, he leaped up and tapped the front of his feet on that person''s head gently. *Snap!* That person''s head split into pieces and he died on the spot! Using that person''s head as a support, Aiden changed directions rapidly and arrived before another Shadow Sect martial artist. That martial artist was shocked and could not react in time at all. He had just raised his arms when Aiden''s punch had alreadynded on his chest! *Poof!* That person''s chest caved in and protruded out from his back! His body was prated by a single punch from Aiden and he fell forward stiffly. Blood gushed out from the gaping hole and his gaze dimmed C it was clear that he could not survive. "Rise!" At the same time, Aiden''s eyes lit up and he waved his sleeves. Not far away, the Coiling Dragon Seal rose from the ground and illuminated with a blinding golden light. With a resounding bang, it looked like a gigantic mountain with a gigantic dragon coiling around it hovering in midair. *Swoosh!* Aiden controlled the Coiling Dragon Seal and directed it to smash towards some Ster Moon Sect martial artists on the opposite end. *Poof!* *Poof!* *Poof!* The three Martial Masters would not withstand the smash of the Coiling Dragon Seal at all and were crushed C the superior-grade spirit weapons in their hands broke into shards as well! Many martial artists were shocked. Although that frail schr was only an early-stage Martial Master, his physique was terrifyingly strong as was his meleebat skills! Decisive with clean actions, every single move from him was lethal without any hesitance! It would almost be impossible for one to escape death the moment he closed in. In the blink of an eye, more than ten Martial Masters died at the hands of Aiden. "Humph!" Mo Xir''s expression turned terrible when he saw the consecutive deaths of his sect mates. In his opinion, it was extremely easy to deal with an early-stage Martial Master like Aiden, even if thetter had a Top Grade artifact weapon in his possession. After all, even if Aiden had three heads and six arms, he wouldn''t be able to defend against more than ten Martial Masters attacking him at the same time. However, as time passed by, be it Mo Xir or G''ang Nan, both of them felt things getting troublesome. This Aiden was much more frightening than they had imagined! He was extremely strong in meleebat and had unusual movement techniques. Shuttling through the crowd with a pair of spirit wings, no one could injure him at all! A whileter, it was the three sects that was suffering immense losses with Martial Masters falling one after another instead. If this continued, all their fellow sect mates would be massacred by Aiden before the two of them had their chance to attack! In reality, the reason why both Mo Xir and G''ang Nan did not strike immediately was because they were wary of one another. Both of them expected an immense battle to break out between Ster Moon Sect and zing Phoenix Valley after Aiden''s death. They were not only fighting for the medicinal field here, but the Top Grade artifact weapon as well! Both of them were guarding against the other. But now, the way the situation unfolded has gone beyond their expectations! Narrowing his gaze, Mo Xir suddenly said, "Brother Wang, there''s no need for us to continue wearing each other down as such." "Oh? What do you mean?" G''ang Nan asked instead. "Let''s join hands and kill this person first. As for the Top Grade artifact weapon and medicinal field, we''ll make a decision for itter!" Mo Xir replied in a deep voice. "Alright!" The moment he replied, the two of them attacked together with a tacit understanding. "Meteor Fall!" Mo Xir shifted his fingers and pointed forward, shouting softly while channeling his spirit perception. Spirit energy gathered towards Mo Xir''s fingertip continuously. *Boom!* In the blink of an eye, a gigantic meteor hovered before Mo Xir and crashed down towards Aiden''s head! The meteor descended at a terrifying speed and was even zing with mes on its surface, letting out a frightening might that threatened to pierce the vastnds! Chapter 916 916 - Conflict Aiden was expressionless and pped his storage bag. Instantly, dozens of top-grade artifact des, mostly swords as well as some sabers appeared before him. With his control, they streaked horizontally, leaving streams of sword energy and a piercing frost. *ng!* *ng!* The more than a dozen strong force of flying des buzzed and quivered, swiftly forming a sword formation that resembled a zing sun. It spun continuously and surged towards the iing meteor! *Boom!* The meteor collided against the sword formation with a loud bang. The collision of the two opposing powers caused a massive energy light wave to spread out in all directions! The aftershock of that power was extremely terrifying, surging towards the medicinal field in the distance. The several thousands of years old Vermilion Fruit that was in the center swayed, letting out an invisible energy that caused the aftershock to dissipate. *ng!* *ng!* *ng!* The sword formation engulfed the meteor and shed it repeatedly, leaving countless scars behind. After a brief pause, the meteor exploded! No longer able to sustain, the Candlelight Sword Formation fell apart as well. Mo Xir''s expression was grim when he saw that. That spirit art could be considered as Ster Luna Sect''s killing move! Its true power did not lie in the moment the meteornded, but the terrifying power that was released during its final explosion. Any martial artist that did not notice would definitely be severely injured by the explosion of the meteor! Unfortunately, that spirit art was blocked by this mysterious Sword Formation and the meteor fragments could not get close at all, let alone injure Aiden. G''ang Nan''s fingertips danced the moment Mo Xir attacked, conjuring a spirit art that heated up the surroundings instantly. "me Spear!" He shouted and a long spear condensed in the void before him, zing with raging mes. The spear was red from the heat and burned with a crystalline luster. "Go!" Surging forward, the ming spear emitted a heatwave that caused the air to sizzle. Aiden channeled his bloodline while controlling his Candlelight Sword Formation to defend against Mo Xir''s Meteor Fall. The power of thunder that was hidden in Aiden''s bloodline sizzled in his palms, forming an electric spear that was blinding! *Boom!* The two different powers of thunder and fire collided and let out a resounding bang. Although Aiden was two martial art realms below G''ang Nan, he achieved the legendary Extreme Martial Knight realm. Even at early-stage Martial Master, he was not inferior tote-stage Martial Masters in terms of strength. Furthermore, that thunder spear was created from the Void Splitting Manual. The Void Splitting Manual was a mental secret skill that waspiled from the Thunder Emperor''s lifelong learning. Although there was only a single remnant page, the power it contained was unimaginable! The ming and thunder spear shed. Lightning shed everywhere and sparks flew! In that collision, G''ang Nan did not gain any advantages and was instead being pushed back! While defending against the attacks of the two paragons, G''ang Nan and Mo Xir, Aiden channeled his Coiling Dragon Seal and smashed it towards the crowd! Tragic shrieks sounded as a blood mist spread through the pce. When he was at Extreme Martial Knight realm, Aiden could already kill early and mid-stage Martial Masters with his Coiling Dragon Seal. Now that he had formed his core and was able to release the full power of the Coiling Dragon Seal, coupled with the terrifying power of the Martial Master realm itself, no ordinary Martial Master could withstand the might of the Coiling Dragon Seal! Even if there were any Martial Masters that could conjure Martial Master phenomenons, they could only survive by a bare margin. Against the repeated collision and suppression of the Coiling Dragon Seal, the Martial Master phenomenons of the Martial Masters could not hold out at all and broke apart! Not only did G''ang Nan and Mo Xir fail to control Aiden after attacking, martial artists of the three sects were falling apart instead! "Brother Wang, let''s not hold back anymore at a moment like this!" Mo Xir''s gaze was grim as he said with grit teeth. G''ang Nan''s expression was solemn and his gaze shed fiercely. In reality, although both of them attacked, they had yet to use their full strength and were still wary of the other. For Martial Masters, Martial Master phenomenons were their greatest killing moves. However, they could not release their Martial Master phenomenons repeatedly within a short period of time. Between G''ang Nan and Mo Xir, if either of them were to release their Martial Master phenomenons first, the power of their phenomenons would weaken after Aiden was dead and that was equivalent to them losing an ace up their sleeves! At that time, they would definitely be disadvantaged in the fight for the connate artifact weapon and medicinal field. Therefore, although the two of them joined the fray on the surface, they were still mindful of one another and hiding tricks up their sleeves. But now that the martial artists of their sects were dead and gravely injured, they would most likely be the only two remaining if this continued Both of them could not hold out for much longer. "Alright!" G''ang Nan''s eyes shed with a look of resolve as he said deeply, "Let''s join hands and release our Martial Master phenomenons to kill thisd first!" "Completely agreed!" Mo Xir nodded. The two of them exchanged nces and circted the power of their Martial Masters tacitly, releasing their Martial Master phenomenons! It was rare for two paragons of different sects to have such chemistry at this moment. Although neither of them said it, both of them knew in their hearts that they were already feeling pressure against the frighteningbat strength disyed by Aiden! "Martial Master phenomenon, Sr Eclipse Ster Lumen!" Mo Xir''s eyes shed like the dazzling stars of the night. A sky seemed to appear above him with a gigantic moon and stars dotted everywhere, spilling endless starlight. Although it looked mysterious, it possessed a shocking killing intent and let out a shuddering energy shockwave! Aiden narrowed his eyes. The Sr Eclipse Ster Lumen was ranked 92 on the previous Phenomenon Ranking. It was created by harmonizing with the moon and countless stars while forming a core. Byprehending the sun, moon andmunicating with the ster powers, the phenomenon was formed. While it was not created by an ancient mighty figure, its might was still extraordinary. Up till this point of his martial art, this was the first time that Aiden was witnessing a truly strong Martial Master phenomenon. Although it was ranked near the end of the Phenomenon Ranking, the might of the Sr Eclipse Ster Lumen was already enough for him to feel threatened! "Martial Master, Raging City ze!" An ancient city appeared behind G''ang Nan, majestic and grand, shocking as though it had arrived after reversing through time! Immediately after, raging mes zed through the ancient city. The city walls were burned red and countess living beings struggled, wailed, and cried in the mes The entire city had transformed into a burning hell! Raging City ze was ranked 89 on the previous Phenomenon Ranking and was created by an ancient mighty figure. In his youth, the man encountered a catastrophe where a city was caught in a major battle between martial artists and burned with True Fire, causing millions of living beings to be turned into ashes. That ancient mighty figure managed to scrape through death and as fate would have it, he was saved by a martial artist who was passing by the ruins. The mes engulfed him and left him in wrenching pain worse than death. Later on, that man trained with great determination, and when he finally formed his core, he recalled that scene from his younger days. Instantly, a raging me surged through his heart and a phenomenon was formed alongside his sessful core formation! Even Mo Xir''s Sr Eclipse Ster Lumen dimmed inparison when Raging City ze arrived! Raging City ze did not only contain the might of the mes, but also an eternal vengeance and hatred from this ancient mighty figure of the past! When he saw the two Martial Master phenomenons, Lian Juhe''s expression turned pale. Martial Master phenomenons varied in strength. Within the continent, his Nether Sword Rain was also considered as a famous Martial Master phenomenon. However, it waspletely worthless against those two Martial Master phenomenons! Even if he could release it right now, it would most likely break apart instantly. The arrival of the two Martial Master phenomenons caused the entire underground pce to quake. Standing in midair, Mo Xir strode between the Sr Eclipse Ster Lumen towards Aiden with a cold expression, saying slowly, "It''s time to end things!" Scoffing coldly, Aiden waved his sleeves and swept up the Coiling Dragon Seal, smashing it fiercely towards Mo Xir! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* The Coiling Dragon Seal was struck by endless starlight in midair, unable to close in. G''ang Nan strode forward. The ancient city behind him that raged with mes smashed towards the gigantic seal with a swiveling divine dragon in midair. Chapter 917 917 - Unbelievable! *Boom!* The Martial Master phenomenon of the Raging City ze merely shuddered for a brief moment against the iing Coiling Dragon Seal and its strength did not diminish at all! Aiden summoned the Coiling Dragon Seal back expressionlessly. When he saw that, G''ang Nan reared his head inughter. "Lad, although a connate artifact weapon is good, it''s still an external object at the end of the day! Martial Master phenomenons are the true core methods for Martial Masters!" "Prepare to die!" The remaining more than ten martial artists soared into the air one after another, summoning their artifact weapons and arts before charging in once more. The arrival of the two great Martial Master phenomenons, Sr Eclipse Ster Lumen and Raging City ze, coupled with the full-strength attack of more than ten Martial Masters, released a shuddering energy shockwave! Slyff Nae''s expression changed starkly as he shouted, "Young Master, just run! Don''t care about us!" "That''s right! Hurry and leave or it''ll be toote!" Lian Juhe yelled as well. In Slyff Nae''s opinion, Aiden had just formed his core. Even if he managed to train a Martial Master phenomenon, he would definitely not be able to defend against the charge of two great phenomenons. However, Slyff Nae believed that with Aiden''s strength, there was a high chance that he could get out alive if he used his full strength to escape! "Martial Master phenomenon?" Aiden smiled coldly with a proud demeanor. When he was fighting with the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile beneath the underground pce earlier on, he released the Primordial Soaring Serpent phenomenon and was unable to release it again yet. However, he had another Martial Master phenomenon! Aiden was unmoved against the suppression of two great phenomenons and his green robes swayed while his eyes lit up with a bedazzling glint! *Boom!* The skies that were initially filled with a gigantic moon and countless stars transformed in the blink of an eye, filled with dark clouds and the rumbling of thunder! "Hmm?" Mo Xir''s expression changed. G''ang Nan frowned as well with a grim expression, murmuring in confusion, "A Martial Master phenomenon?" Before it was fully released, that Martial Master phenomenon had already affected Mo Xir''s Sr Eclipse Ster Lumen! What sort of a Martial Master phenomenon would possess such terrifying might? *Bang!* *Boom!* *Boom!* Suddenly, the skies copsed and destructive torrents surged down. Countless meteors descended and the ground quaked while living beings cried endlessly C it was the scene of an apocalypse! Instantly, the starlight dimmed. Mo Xir''s Sr Eclipse Ster Lumen was showing signs of dispersing! With a pale expression, Mo Xir circted his Martial Master''s power furiously to sustain the Martial Master phenomenon and control the situation. The torrents that were spilling from the skies spewed towards the ancient city raging with mes. *Shing!* A piercing sound rang and smoke billowed. More than half of the raging mes were extinguished! Fire and water intertwined and the ancient city was about to be destroyed, drowned by the torrents! "That''s impossible!" G''ang Nan''s eyes widened with a raging re as he growled deeply, "What sort of a Martial Master phenomenon is that? I''ve never even heard of it before. There''s no way it can take down my Raging City ze!" In reality, the reason why he could not identify the origin of Aiden''s Martial Master phenomenon was because the true form and might of the phenomenon had yet to present itself! Although it was only the tip of the iceberg, the two Martial Master phenomenons listed on the Phenomenon Ranking, Sr Eclipse Ster Lumen and Raging City ze, were already unable to hold out! Countless artifact weapons turned into streaks of light that tore through the air with a chilling killing intent. Before they could get close to Aiden, the speed of the artifact weapons slowed down and they showed themselves, trembling endlessly while buzzing. The artifact weapons were suppressed by the power of the mighty phenomenon and could not close in! *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* Meteors fell in swift session. The artifact weapons were crushed into dust! Surging torrents drowned figures one after another C no one could escape the terrifying strength of the apocalypse no matter how they struggled! It was a shocking scene. Slyff Nae and the other two were rooted to the ground, dumbfounded. They expected that Aiden would probably train a mighty Martial Master phenomenon but none of them thought that it would be this terrifying! At that moment, nobody realized that the true terror was still awaiting! On the battlefield. Almost at the same time, G''ang Nan and Mo Xir swiped their storage bags and grabbed a bunch of elixirs, stuffing it into their mouths. Both of them were experienced and could tell that Aiden was in a bad condition with weak blood energy and depleting spirit energy. As long as they persevered, they would definitely be able to kill Aiden! "Humph!" Sneering coldly, Aiden''s Martial Master moved slowly. Between the world, an iparably huge ancient demon came into view, emanating a terrifying aura. Its limbs were akin to heavenly-piercing pirs and it stood amidst the raging currents, suppressing the raging tides. Its resolute shell held up the shattered heavens and defended the eight destes against the raining meteors. "That is" Blood drained from the faces of G''ang Nan and Mo Xir as fear filled their eyes. "Could that be" "It''s a Primordial Divine Turtle!" Both of them gasped and eximed. That Martial Master phenomenon was not listed on the previous Phenomenon Ranking. However, that did not mean that the Primordial Divine Turtle was not powerful enough! The Phenomenon Ranking had clear records that when it was established, the Martial Master phenomenons of the divine turtle and soaring serpent were listed among the top ten of the ranking. But they were lost by now. To think that an ancient and mighty Martial Master phenomenon as such would be reborn once more. Furthermore, it was already demonstrating an iparable might the moment it was released! The gray-robed figure stood on the divine turtle''s shell with his hands behind his back. Despite the raging currents beneath and raining meteors above, his expression remained calm as ever, as though he was a divine being that was looking down on all life! His ck hair danced and his robes fluttered. A bright glint shone from his pupils and his aura was so formidable that it could suppress everything in the world! How could someone as such be defeated? Merely by standing quietly, G''ang Nan and Mo Xir already felt a sense of defeat against that man C there was no way they could surpass his unstoppable aura! The divine turtle roared into the heavens and its eyes shone with a domineering divine light! *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* Both G''ang Nan and Mo Xir''s Martial Master phenomenons dispersed at almost the same time! Their figures fell and they spat out a mouthful of blood each. There were some Martial Masters from the three sects that managed to avoid the raging currents and raining meteors. However, at that moment, it seemed as though they were restrained by some mysterious power. With a bang, all of them turned into blood mists, dying with no corpse remaining! Up till this point of the battle, the remaining more than ten Martial Masters of the three sects fell as well, leaving only G''ang Nan and Mo Xir. Turning around, G''ang Nan crushed a protection talisman that turned into ayer of translucent light barrier. *Snap!* *Snap!* Against the impact of the divine turtle phenomenon, the light barrier broke apart and sounds of cracking echoed. Using that momentary respite, G''ang Nan conjured a hand seal and bit his tongue gently, spraying a stream of essence blood into the air. Instantly, G''ang Nan''s aura turned extremely weak after that mouthful of essence blood was spat out! *Swoosh!* His essence blood zed with mes. With a leap, G''ang Nan jumped into the mes and he turned into a scarlet streak of light that shot towards the exit of the underground pce at an astonishing speed! That was zing Phoenix Valley''s me Escape technique. It consumed a mouthful of the martial artist''s essence blood and hurt their cores C this was something that they would never use unless they had no other choice. And right now, G''ang Nan could not care about anything anymore. On the other end, Mo Xir withdrew a protection talisman and crushed it as well. Immediately after, he withdrew an elixir that was the size of a longan from his storage bag and clenched his teeth, biting into it. The elixir melted instantly and Mo Xir''s initially dried-up spirit energy surged once more. His injuries were temporarily suppressed and he was invigorated! That elixir was extremely precious and was considered as one of the rarest Grade 3 Elixirs C Berserk Elixir. After consumption, martial artists are extremely invigorated and can temporarily ignore their injuries while receiving a massive boost in theirbat strength! After consuming the Berserk Elixir, the first thing on Mo Xir''s mind was not to continue fighting against Aiden, but to turn around and escape! He did not care for the top-grade artifact weapon or medicinal field anymore C what''s most important was for him to survive! Chapter 918 918 - Unwanted Attention In the Tianhuang North Region, the strength of Ster Luna Sect and zing Phoenix Valley was above Ethereal Peak. As the paragons of those two sects, G''ang Nan and Mo Xir had survival methods and were difficult to kill in the first ce. Furthermore, Aiden was severely injured by the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile in the underground cave and was now battling with heavy injuries. Mo Xir and G''ang Nan escaped frantically and Aiden''s Martial Master phenomenon was already unable to hold out, fading gradually while his Martial Master throbbed in pain. That was a sign that his spirit energy was being pushed to its limits! Aiden was filled with killing intent and a fierce gaze. He must not let the two of them escape! If they got out, the location of the medicinal field would definitely be leaked out. The thousands of years old Vermillion Fruit would only ripen in another month and that would add too many variables as to who would get their hands on it eventually. The killing intent in Aiden''s heart rose. Devouring a Spirit Regeneration Elixir, he leaped into the air and pursued Mo Xir and G''ang Nan who were scurrying to escape. Although he was severely injured and his spirit energy was depleted, with the burst of his bloodline and the help of his Ethereal Wings, Aiden''s speed was still frighteningly fast! Mo Xir and G''ang Nan did not leave Aiden''s line of sight the entire time. Using me Escape, G''ang Nan was the first to rush out of the underground pce. He was followed by Mo Xir and Aiden was right behind. By now, Aiden was already close to catching up to Mo Xir! Sensing an evil gust of wind behind him, Mo Xir turned back and was scared out of his wits. The both of them were less than ten feet apart! With a pale expression, Mo Xirmented with a dark gaze, "Fellow warrior, I''ve already given up on trying to fight for the medicinal field. There''s no need for you to hunt me down ruthlessly, right? How about letting me live?" "Hunt you down ruthlessly?" Aiden sneered and asked instead, "Have you considered letting me live earlier on?" "You!" Mo Xir was speechless. Snarling, Aiden continued, "It''s toote to beg for mercy now!" Mo Xir was injured by the Divine Turtle phenomenon after all and his condition was getting worse as he sprinted; a trickle of blood was dripping from the corners of his mouth. "Don''t force me!" Mo Xir''s eyes shed with lunacy as he shouted while panting, "It won''t be good for you either if we really fall out!" "How dare you threaten me still?!" Aiden''s killing intent was sharp as he remarked frostily, "I''ll kill you first!" In his life, Aiden hated to be threatened. Mo Xir''s words sealed the nail on his coffin! When he sensed Aiden''s killing intent, Mo Xir knew that he was doomed and yelled from the depths of his throat, "There''s a ten thousand-year-old medicinal field here and a highly precious several thousand Year old Vermilion Fruit that''s about to ripen!" Mo Xir used almost all of his strength with that shout. All the martial artists in the vicinity of the Great Forbidden Ruins moved with his voice. In reality, even without Mo Xir''s shout, there were already some martial artists that noticed the activity in the depths of the pce and were rushing over. Some of their movements were already heard by Aiden. There were also martial artists appearing in his line of sight. He could not let things drag on anymore! With a cold gaze, Aiden pped his storage bag and withdrew the dark thick ebony de, Rygintarth. Pausing in his tracks, he slowly gripped the handle as he began to fuel more and more of his Soul Power towards the ferocious weapon soul inside the de. At the same time, the de began to emit a hollow, barely noticeable glow as it sailed across the empty air in the next instant. *Whoosh!* Five spirit patterns shone on the moon-white gigantic bow brightly. A transparent, slice of energy that coated the de swiveled for the briefest of moments among its wake. If anyone focused their attention, they would vaguely see that there was an almost invisible slice of energy left behind in the air that shot forward like a projectile! Such an attack was not something a regr artifact weapon, no matter its grade, should be capable of. It was only possible if the artifact weapon has transcended what was possible in the mortal realm, and has a conscious soul inside it! Channeling his Soul Power, Aiden shed with his bow with a shocking divine power as though he was hugging a full moon. *Pshew!* A sharp projectile made out of energy tore through the air at an extremely fast speed, arriving instantly like a sh of lightning. Mo Xir felt the killing intent behind him as well. Without even turning back, he crushed a protection talisman right away and dodged to the side with all his might. "Pfft!" A sh of blood appeared. Even so, Mo Xir was still a step slower and his right chest was prated by the arcane projectile, causing blood to spurt out! There was no way of withstanding the might of the ebony de unless he was using a top-tier protection talisman! That arrow did not pierce Mo Xir''s heart. However, his lung was pierced and the tremendous force ripped his lung apart, almost rupturing his other organs as well! "Ee Ee" Mo Xir let out a weird sound as though his throat was a windpipe that was leaking air. "Even if you kill me you won''t be able to survive! Ee ee!" Fresh blood was being coughed out of Mo Xir''s mouth as his eyes turned bloodshot. Although he could struggle to stand in midair, he could not survive for much longer. *Pshew!* *Pshew!* *Pshew!* There was a loud sound of energy arrows piercing through the air. A series of dark lights shot into Mo Xir''s body. The chase had already led the two of them away from the forbidden grounds of the pce and they were now outside. Not far away, a pair of archers patrolling the pce fired more than ten malevolent arrows, almost riddling Mo Xir''s entire body with holes. *Bang!* Mo Xir''s body exploded and he turned into a blood mist that spread out in midair. The Martial Master paragon of Ster Luna Sect was buried in the Great Forbidden Ruins! G''ang Nan had already fled far away using me Escape and was almost out of Aiden''s line of sight. There were ways for Aiden to kill G''ang Nan as well. If he were to release Blood Escape, he would definitely be able to catch up to G''ang Nan. Otherwise, if Aiden were to circte his Primal Core and burst forth with his Soul Power energy, he could receive a boost in speed and hunt down G''ang Nan with his true form. In that case, G''ang Nan would almost definitely be dead as well. But now, there were already more and more martial artists rushing over to where he was. Those two methods were both inappropriate. Furthermore, if Aiden were to continue chasing, it would mean leaving Slyff Nae and the other two alone in the underground pce. Given their severe injuries, they could meet with danger at any moment! More than ten archers in the pce turned their sights towards Aiden and started drawing their bows in unison, prepared to attack once more. After a moment of contemtion, Aiden decided to retreat to the forbidden grounds of the pce and turned around, speeding in the direction of the underground pce. Before he arrived at the entrance, he already caught sight of multiple martial artists swarming towards the underground pce! The remark that Mo Xir shouted prior to his death had still attracted quite a bit of trouble. "All of you, get lost!" Before he arrived, Aiden sprinted over and shouted like a God of War, his ck hair swaying while his gaze burned. Slyff Nae and the other two were severely injured in the underground pce C Aiden would definitely not allow the three of them to be met with danger! "Hmph, the treasures of the world belong to the strong. Who are you to stop us?" Someone swept his gaze at Aiden and sneered after seeing that thetter was only at early-stage Martial Master realm. Without saying anything more, Aiden raised the ebony de in his hands and shed in the empty air. *Pshew!* *Poof!!* A dark light streaked by and that person''s throat was pierced, dying on the spot without making a sound. "Hmm?" "A Divine artifact weapon? No, there seems to be a weapon spirit residing in that de that''s almost finished forming! That''s a quasi-divine artifact weapon!" "Insolent!" When someone saw the ebony de in Aiden''s hands, greed filled his eyes as he hollered, "Unknown demon, how dare you act so insolently here!" Aiden scoffed coldly and gripped the weapon''s handle tightly before shing with it again. *Pshew!* *Poof!!* A sh of blood appeared. Yet another Martial Master fell from midair. Two consecutive shes murdered two Martial Masters one after another. Aiden''s torrential ferocity was absolute and stunned almost all the martial artists present instantly! "Who is this man? How is he so domineering?" "I don''t know, but I think I saw him shoot the paragon of Ster Luna Sect, Mo Xir, to death earlier on!" "What!" Many martial artists were shocked. Chapter 919 919 - Running Low Mo Xir had trained Sr Eclipse Ster Lumen, the 92nd rank of the previous Phenomenon Ranking and was a famous paragon of the Northern Region C to think that he would be in in the Great Forbidden Ruins. "He''s only at early-stage Martial Master realm with a sword. Even if the de is a quasi-divine artifact weapon, can he defend against so many of us?" Someone hollered with a cold expression. The meaning of that Martial Master was clear. He wanted to turn Aiden into everyone''s target! "Heh!" Smirking, Aiden turned towards that person and said coldly, "Of course, I can''t defend against everyone with a single strike. But it''s more than enough to kill you!" Raising his ebony de, Aiden shed fearlessly yet again. *Ssh!* His energy surged with a torrential might, akin to raging tsunamis. Many martial artists were shocked. "T-this!" Some martial artists eximed, stuttering with overwhelming fear. The ebony de was not heavy by itself, but one would not be able to draw its full strength unless they possessed shocking divine might! That was also the reason why the killing power of the ebony de was so terrifying. A single arrow that was shot out did not only possess the might of the quasi-divine ebony de itself, but also the burst of the bloodline that was used to form the arcane projectiles! Another bolt of translucent energy tore through the air with a tremendous might at lightning speed. The moon shone brightly up in the night skies. As though it was sucked in by some mysterious power, moonlight streamed into Aiden''s embrace continuously, letting out a shuddering energy shockwave. Aiden looked like he was hugging a full moon! The martial artist that spoke and was now targeted by the ebony de felt his hairs stand on end and gasped. In fact, he saw a hallucination from the depths of his heart. There was no way for him to avoid that projectile, that attack at all! Instantly, cold sweat poured down from his forehead. The sweat trickled into that man''s eyes but he did not dare to blink at all. He was afraid that he would never open his eyes again after blinking! His line of sight was turning blurry after being covered by sweat. Aiden''s figure seemed like it had already vanished, leaving only a full moon in midair with a chilling killing intent! *Buzz!* Aiden released his fingertip and the de quivered violently. A divine light burst forth and delved into the voids. The pupils of that Martial Master constricted fiercely. Just as he withdrew a defensive artifact weapon from his storage bag, his chest was pierced by an arrow with blood gushing out! That person fell from midair and died on the spot. Fast. It was too fast! Although he was mentally prepared, he could not dodge it at all! "This man is so ruthless and evil in his ways. He''s definitely someone of the fiend sects. Martiall artists, let''s work together and kill an evildoer like him!" Another martial artist yelled. There was no distinction between right and wrong and immortals or fiends in the Great Forbidden Ruins. The reason why the martial artists harbored killing intents towards Aiden was because of the medicinal field, the several thousand Years old Vermilion Fruit, and the ebony de in his hands! "You just want to kill me for my treasures, why do you have to look for some self-righteous excuse?" Aiden was clear about the situation and did not waste time exchanging nonsense with the martial artists. With a sneer, he drew his de once more. Another divine light shed. *Bang!* The Martial Master that yelled exploded in midair, turning into a mist of blood after being prated by what seemed to be a bolt of energy. He did not have time to react and was dead without a corpse! *Pshew!* The fifth attack! A Martial Master that was charging over held an intricate mountain peak in his palm and he summoned it instantly. "Go!" The mountain peak expanded rapidly and shone with a bright light, blocking in front of that person with a majestic aura! *Boom!* A deafening noise echoed! That mountain peak was pierced by the ebony de''s arrow and exploded on the spot. The Martial Master that was hiding behind it was struck by countless debris and his tendons and bones were broken. Coughing huge mouthfuls of blood, his gaze dimmed and he fell from midair. That superior-grade defensive artifact weapon was destroyed by a single arcane bolt from the ebony de! *Pshew!* The sixth attack! It tore through the air and emitted an endless killing intent! "Martial Master phenomenon, Sand Pagoda!" A Martial Master hollered with a sharp gaze. The power of phenomenon surged and an endless sandstorm raged before that person, transforming into a towering pagoda in the blink of an eye. *Poof!!* The attack was extremely sharp and pierced the Sand Pagoda with unparalleled power. A bowl-sized hole appeared on the pagoda with cracks spreading out like a turtle''s shell! Even so, the arrow used up all its power and fell weakly, buried in the sandstorm. The Martial Master was so scared that he broke out in cold sweat. Finally, he took a deep breath of relief and could not help but rear his head inughter. As long as his towering Sand Pagoda could defend against Aiden''s ebony de, it meant that Aiden would not be able to break his Martial Master phenomenon! After all, the Sand Pagoda possessed regeneration capabilities. As long as his spirit energy was not depleted, the endless sandstorm would surge in and repair the damage on the Sand Pagoda, closing that massive arrow hole on its body. *Buzz!* There was another sound of the ebony de slicing against the seemingly empty air. That person''sugh came to an end. The seventh attack was released. It pierced through the bowl-sized small fist-sized hole that had yet to close fully, turning into a dark streak of light and entering that person''s mouth. The person''s head was prated and he fell stiffly, causing the entire Sand Pagoda to copse! Seven consecutive shes. Seven consecutive attacks from a single artifact weapon. Six Martial Masters died one after another as blood stained the skies! Among them, there was even a martial artist with a Martial Master phenomenon that was killed with two attacks! A group of martial artists that were initially charging over were stunned. Although they were swarming forward together and could kill that young figure d in gray robes, who could defend against his attacks in that period of time? None of them wanted to be the next dead person against the ebony de. *Poof!!* The eighth bolt of energy flew. A stream of blood spurted and the Martial Master right at the front was dead! The massacre was continuing! Aiden did not hesitate at all and was decisive to kill. With a resolute gaze and a cold expression, he repeated the same actions continuously. Arching the de, gathering his power, and aiming to kill! In reality, he was in an extremely bad condition. He did not have time to rest at all after being severely injured by the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile in the underground cave and fought the martial artists of the three sects immediately after. After that intense battle, Aiden''s spiritual energy was already dried up. Even if his spirit energy was full right now, he had just released the divine turtle and soaring serpent phenomenons earlier on and could not release another Martial Master phenomenon in a short interval. Therefore, Aiden had to maintain an aggressive stance to suppress and kill everything so that he could shock everyone! The shimmer of the ebony de shone repeatedly and the de hummed, letting off a haunting sound. With every single sound, there was bound to be a dead Martial Master! Aiden stood in midair with his ck hair dancing and a sharp gaze. Emitting a cold killing intent, he was like a murderous arch demon that gave off a shuddering aura! In the blink of an eye, there were already more than 20 corpses on the ground. Gradually, martial artists at the back started dispersing. An atmosphere of fear infected the crowd rapidly. More and more martial artists at the back retreated. Nobody was willing to rush in front and be murdered by that merciless green-robed fiend celestial! Many martial artists retreated one after another at the back and had already created a distance with Aiden in the blink of an eye. Everyone watched from afar, not daring to advance. Even so, none of them left. The entrance of the underground pce that was buried for 10,000 years was exposed and everyone wanted to explore it. Sneering internally, Aiden put away the ebony de and entered the underground pce once more in a sh. Sprinting the entire time, he arrived at the medicinal field before long. "Y-young M-master A-Aiden, are you alright?" Slyff Nae and the other two hurried over when they saw Aiden return. All of them were severely injured and did not have the chance to do anything for the previous battle. Now that they had rested for a while and consumed a few elixirs, Slyff Nae and the others recovered some stamina and their injuries were stable for the moment too. Chapter 920 920 -Escape Seeing that they were in eptable conditions, Aiden said darkly, "We can''t stay here for too long. Let''s take away the spirit herbs in this medicinal field and leave the Great Forbidden Ruins as soon as possible!" G''ang Nan had already escaped. There were many more martial artists surrounding outside and even more were gathering towards them. This underground pce could not remain hidden! There was another month to go before the thousands of years old Vermillion Fruit ripened. A storm was bound to break out in the North Region within this month and many more Martial Masters would be attracted towards the Great Forbidden Ruins, making the situation even moreplicated! Any single misstep could cause them to die here. Even Aiden could not dare to guarantee that he could escape unscathed, let alone Slyff Nae and the other two. Slyff Nae and the other two agreed. The four of them split up and took away the spirit herbs in the medicinal field, keeping as much as possible in their storage bags. During this period of time, Aiden consumed a stalk of Blood-Colored Ginseng and a Scarlet me Fruit directly, leaving Slyff Nae and the other two dumbfounded. There were many spirit herbs that could not be consumed directly. That was because their medicinal powers and energies were too intense and often required other spirit herbs to moderate their effects. It was the first time that the three of them were witnessing someone consume the Blood Ginseng and Scarlet me Fruit directly. "Aiden, i-is your body going to be fine consuming them as such?" Slyff Nae could not help but ask. "Ugh " Burping, Aiden released a heatwave with a blood stench from his mouth. "It''s fine, they taste rather alright." He sucked his lips with a rxed expression. Ordinary Martial Masters would truly not be able to withstand the Blood Ginseng and Scarlet me Fruit. However, Aiden trained both as an immortal and demon and had formed a core for both Daos. His blood energy and physique were terrifyingly strong and could absorb the energy of both spirit herbspletely! Right now, he was severely injured and his spirit energy was depleted while his blood energy was weak C the most direct method for him would be to consume the spirit herbs directly. After devouring the Blood Ginseng and Scarlet me Fruit, Aiden''s bloodline circted violently and absorbed the energies of the two different spirit herbs continuously. Coupled with his body''s strong regeneration capabilities, his condition was getting increasingly better! When he saw that it was working, Aiden continued consuming spirit herbs as he collected them. It did not matter how they tasted, how tough they were, or whether they had shells C he munched on them and ate everything. Lian Juhe broke out in sweat looking at Aiden. He had a hallucination. Aiden did not seem like he was a mortal man. Instead, he was like an ancient creature that was extremely hungry, grabbing food greedily! Although he sensed the strange gazes of Slyff Nae and the other two, Aiden did not stop. They were surrounded by strong foes outside C this was the only way for him to recover in the fastest possible time! Before long, Aiden and the other three collected most of the spirit herbs in the medicinal field other than those that were nearby the Vermilion Fruit. Prior to this, Aiden had instructed Slyff Nae and the other two to not get close to the Vermilion Fruit no matter what. At that moment, Lian Juhe was a little reluctant to let those spirit herbs go to waste and could not help but inch forward, wanting to collect them. However, he was held back by Aiden. "Don''t go!" Aiden had a grim expression and frowned slightly, saying with a soft voice, "The Vermilion Fruit has already started absorbing!" Instead of a great tonic, an unripened Vermilion Fruit possessed immense poison. Before it was ripe, the Vermilion Fruit would absorb all the life essence of nearby living beings, whether they were humans or demons! A surging heatwave started spreading. The first to be implicated were the many spirit herbs in the vicinity of the Vermilion Fruit. Under the shroud of that aura, the spirit herbs withered at a speed visible to the naked eye. In less than ten breaths, many spirit herbs turned into ashes! When he saw that, Lian Juhe gulped and felt a sense of trepidation. If Aiden had not held him back earlier on, he would be engulfed by that heatwave when he charged forward and would most likely be doomed! "Let''s leave this ce first." After consuming many spirit herbs, Aiden was clearly in a much better condition, looking refreshed with rosy cheeks. After leaving the underground pce, Aiden ignored all the other martial artists and headed in the direction to exit the ruins along with Slyff Nae and the other two. Slyff Nae and the other two were still carrying injuries that had yet to heal and it was not convenient for them to battle. Aiden did not barge through the pce. Instead, he made use of his powerful vision, hearing, and spirit perception to avoid the patrol of the otherworldly soldiers, leading the other three to leave the pce stealthily. Outside the pce, countless malevolent ghosts swarmed over when they sensed the stench of blood from Slyff Nae and the other two. A sinister wind gusted and specters surrounded them. However, before long, the malevolent ghosts were scared out of their wits and dispersed when they caught sight of the green-robed martial artist at the front, never appearing again. Aiden only stopped when he led Slyff Nae and the other two outside the Great Forbidden Ruins. At that moment, daybreak was slowly arriving on the horizon. A resplendent ray of light spilled onto the ruins, making it seem deste and mysterious. Aiden turned back and surveyed the ruins for a short moment before nodding. "No one''s following us anymore. Peak Master Slyff Nae, the three of you can leave from here. Head straight back to the Azure Myst Sect and don''t stop!" Along the way, Aiden made use of his ebony de and killed many martial artists that were following them. Gradually, the martial artists realized that they could not hide their tracks from Aiden''s senses and wisely chose to give up. "Aiden, you''re noting back with us?" Slyff Nae frowned tightly with a worried expression. He had lived for hundreds of years and could naturally sense that a blood storm would break out at the Great Forbidden Ruins a monthter when the thousands of years old Vermillion Fruit ripens! Once news of the thousands of years old Vermillion Fruit was spread, all the Martial Master paragons of the North Region would definitely gather here! In fact, there might even be people from the immortal and fiend sectsing forth! At that time, there would definitely not be any one-on-one bouts. Although Aiden was strong inbat, he had only just formed his core C how could he deal with so many peerless foes from powerful factions? "Aiden, we''ve benefited immensely from this trip. It''s time for us to stop." Krisia Hall said meaningfully, "In the martial art world, most martial artists die because of their greed." "You have an Extreme Martial Knight realm strength and have trained such a powerful Martial Master phenomenon. There''s a long way ahead for you. There''s no need for you to risk your life over a Vermilion Fruit." Those words came from the bottom of her heart and was also the most logical and safe decision. Slyff Nae added, "There are many factions that are stronger than us in the North Region. Furthermore, we are too far from the sect. Even if you meet with danger, the sect won''t be able toe to your rescue. Aiden, you must be careful!" Aiden smiled and nodded. "Don''t worry, peak masters. If the situation doesn''t seem right, I''ll give up on the Vermilion Fruit." Slyff Nae was only relieved when he heard Aiden''s remark. After pondering for a moment, Aiden said again, "However, I''ve got to return because I''ve still got something on. Peak masters, please return to the sect first. Don''t wait for me." Aiden had to get his hands on the thousands of years old Vermillion Fruit. However, what was even more important to him was the connate spirit fire that was hidden in the depths of the underground pce! Utmost treasures of the universe as such were often sentient, rare, and way too difficult to create. Since he came across it, there was no way Aiden would miss it. He was not only going to reforge a new set of 27 supreme-grade flying des, he even wanted to make use of the connate spirit fire in the cave to try and repair the Mystic Gold Silk Armor and five ck Gold Arrows in his storage bag. If he managed to seed, he would be in possession of a connate defensive artifact weapon. Chapter 921 921 - The Vermilion Fruit Even just at the early-stage Martial Master realm, Aiden was confident that he would not be defeated! As for the top-grade weapon artifact, coupled with his ebony de, the killing power released by Rygintarth would be even more terrifying! If someone of a simrbat strength as himself was using the ebony de and unleashed such series of attacks, Aiden would not dare guarantee that he could escape unscathed. "Aiden, you" Slyff Nae frowned slightly but did not continue. He knew that Aiden had a decisive character C it was hard for outsiders to change a decision made by him. After a moment of hesitation, Slyff Nae instructed, "Be careful. Don''t push beyond your limits." "Alright!" Aiden nodded. Slyff Nae and the other two had many spirit herbs tucked in their storage bags and they were injured. Fearful that circumstances might change the longer they dyed, they did not dare to linger on. Summoning a spirit vessel, the three of them leaped on it and waved farewell to Aiden before turning into a streak of light that gradually vanished by the horizon. Taking a deep breath of air, Aiden turned and headed towards the pce. He was not worried that someone else might have gotten their hands on or destroyed the Vermilion Fruit during this period of time. Now that the Vermilion Fruit was about to ripen, this was the most dangerous period of time! Any living being that approached the Vermilion Fruit would have their life essences drained. Along the way, Aiden noticed that there were many martial artists speeding away from the ruins. To be precise, they seemed like they were scared out of their wits and were scurrying off! "This is bad! It''s bad!" A martial artist panted in a pathetic manner. "Everyone, run! The Vermilion Fruit''s eating people!" Some martial artists had disheveled hair and were only left with one arm C the flesh on their other arm had disintegrated, leaving a hanging white bone as they fled for their lives. Aiden sneered internally. There were still ignorant and greedy martial artists that tried to pluck the Vermilion Fruit, resulting in their life essences drained and their fleshes taken in as a nutrient for the Vermilion Fruit! Before long, Aiden reentered the underground pce. After walking for a while, he paused in his tracks and looked at the medicinal field. After Aiden and the other three collected the spirit herbs, it became bare and barren, leaving a single stalk of Vermilion Fruit that was extremely striking. And now, fresh white bones were scattered in the vicinity of the Vermilion Fruit! Every single set of skeleton on the ground had a hand that was reaching forward, as though it was trying to pluck the Vermilion Fruit. A rough calction showed that there were around a hundred corpses around the Vermilion Fruit! The Vermilion Fruit seemed to have gotten even more vibrant. Sparkling, translucent, and bright red, it emitted an intoxicating fragrance that attracted nearby living beings! All living beings possessed spirit. Humans had the innate capability to kill other living beings; demon beasts had the innate capability of hunting and certain spirit herbs had the innate capability to lure and kill other living beings too! The life essence draining radius of the Vermilion Fruit was expanding rapidly! Initially, it was only around the vicinity of the medicinal field. But now, it was extending outwards wildly! The Vermilion Fruit swayed and a scarlet mist spread, shrouding in all directions. Ten, twenty, a hundred feet There were only a few people left in the underground pce. The few martial artists had wary expressions and were hidden far away, shifting their gazes between the thousands of years old Vermillion Fruit and Aiden, only retreating after ensuring that no one could pluck the Vermilion Fruit in advance. Before long, Aiden was the only one left in the underground pce. Of course, that was only for the time being. He was certain that the Great Forbidden Ruins would definitely not be peaceful in theing month! The closer it was to the ripening of the Vermilion Fruit, the more martial artists would be gathered in the underground pce and the atmosphere would turn even tenser and chaotic! The draining radius of the Vermilion Fruit expanded continuously and its mist surged, sealing any exit paths. If Aiden wanted to reenter the underground cave, he would have to pass through the mist! Although he was confident in the strength of his body and regeneration capabilities, he did not dare to take the risk to fight against this universal spirit fruit. Looking at the advancing mist, Aiden pondered for a moment and suddenly extended his left fingertip. Slowly, he touched the edge of the mist carefully. *Psst!* The moment his fingertip made contact with the mist, Aiden''s expression changed starkly. The flesh on his finger was disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye, devoured by the scarlet mist! What a domineering Vermilion Fruit! The veins of the fingers were connected to one''s heart. A wrenching sharp pain almost caused Aiden to yell. Shuddering, he retracted his palm and looked at his left hand with a sense of trepidation. That momentary contact already caused the flesh on his finger to vanish, revealing stark-white bones beneath. Aiden''s gaze shimmered and extended his right hand, touching the fog in an experimenting manner. It was perfectly fine! He could clearly sense a mysterious energy trying to drain the life essence of his right hand, but retreated in shock as though it was met with something fearful! Although the Vermilion Fruit was strong and its mist was domineering, it could not do any real harm to Aiden''s true power, his real form lying underneath these shapeshifted appearances. Unfortunately, it would still not be a wise choice to shred his reptilian style form and be his human-like or ''bareskinned'' form. He needed to battle through this like this. He could not make it through the scarlet mist still. Aiden frowned. If he was stuck at the corner, unable to enter the cave, he would have to wait an entire month for the Vermilion Fruit to ripen and the fog to dissipate before he could refine his flying des and repair the top grade artifact weapons. However, there would be many additional factors by then! No, I''ve got to think of a way. Aiden paced around the underground pce and contemted deeply. After a moment of silence, he paused in his tracks and pped his storage bag, withdrawing a battered bronze square tripod that was filled with cracks. Since this bronze square tripod was able to withstand the corrosion of the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile, it should have no issues dealing with the mist. Aiden ced the bronze square tripod into the mist. True enough! The scarlet mist shrouded around the bronze square tripod but was unable to prate it. Sess! Smiling gently, Aiden leaped into the bronze square tripod and became one with it, traveling through the scarlet mist until he arrived beside the spirit spring. After exiting the bronze square tripod, Aiden turned to look at the mist that was turning thicker and thought to himself, ''Actually, it''s not a bad thing that the mist is around. At the very least, it would ensure that no one would cross it for a month and discover the secret of the cave!'' Surveying his surroundings for a while and twitching his ears to ensure that no one was hidden here, Aiden pressed the switch on the wall of the pool. The stone b beneath his feet slid to both sides silently, revealing a pitch-ck passageway. Leaping down, Aiden''s figure disappeared. The underground pce went silent once more. In the underground cave. The redva was flowing slowly, giving off a scorching heatwave. On a parcel ofnd in the middle of theva ocean, the little fox stood on both hind legs and ced its tiny paws before its chest. Gazing at the corpse of the demon fox in front of it, a lost, hazy look could be seen in its big, bright eyes. She had been living in fear for the past dozens of years. The Fire Blocking Basket that looked like a ck pot beside her was the final treasure left for her by her mother. The little fox hid in the Fire Blocking Basket everyday as if that little space was the only ce that could make her feel safer. However, in reality, the little fox also knew that it was extremely easy for that gigantic crocodile to kill her! She had never thought about escaping from the ws of that crocodile one day, or even taking revenge for her mother. Everything was all thanks to that mysterious figure. The first time she caught sight of his handsome figure, the little fox had a hunch that he wasn''t a bad person. That was the reason why she reminded him to watch out previously. When the calm heroic man was devoured by the crocodile, the little fox was despaired, thinking that he was dead for sure and that she would be trapped here for all eternity. However, she waspletely shocked by what happenedter on! An extremely terrifying me lit up within the gigantic crocodile and burned its body toplete ashes. As for that handsome man, he escaped unscathed! Chapter 922 922 - Unimaginable Heat Left with no other choice, the crocodile escaped with its Essence Spirit that was nearly destroyed with a single howl from the man. The little fox hurriedly covered the Fire Blocking Basket and burned the gigantic crocodile''s Essence Spirit to ashes! But now that she had gotten her revenge, the little fox felt hollow within. Just like that, she stood there in a daze for a long time. Suddenly, the furry ears of the little fox twitched and caught wind of some footsteps. There were peopleing over! Extremely alert, the little fox locked the Fire Blocking Basket and hid within immediately, peering through the hole of the basket with its shiny, ck eyes. Before long, a gray figure appeared from the corner C it was the handsome man who had left in a rush earlier on! Lifting the Fire Blocking Basket, the little fox tilted its head and blinked its eyes, looking at the handsome man. At the same time, the handsome man caught sight of the little fox the moment he turned the corner. Just like that, the man and beast exchanged looks without moving. It was more like a test of trust. After dozens of years of captivity, the little fox turned distrusting and wary towards strangers. Even though the handsome man helped her kill her enemy, she was also worried that this was the arrival of an even scarier and crueler being after the death of the crocodile! The little fox had witnessed the capabilities of the handsome man. She was definitely not a match for him. If he were to charge at her with evil intents, she truly did not know what she should do. Right as the little fox was lost in her imagination, the handsome man smiled and nodded towards her. Instantly, the little fox was relieved and much less guarded upon seeing the handsome man''s smile. Looking at the terrified little fe not far away, Aiden''s eyes shed with a look of pity and he sighed internally. After being held in captivity here for dozens of years without freedom or daylight and having to live with its enemy everyday, the little fe must have suffered a tremendous trauma after such an experience. To begin with, Aiden cultivated for both immortality and demonity and had lived together with monkey the Night Spirit and other spirit beasts C he could vaguely sense the fear, uncertainty and worry in the little fox''s mind. This was a little fe with a pitiful background. Aiden did not try to console or approach her. At that moment, any abnormal action from him could cause the little fox to worry and hostility. Meandering around the border of the cave, Aiden headed deeper inside. Prior to this, he suffered a sneak attack from the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile and returned to the underground pce for an intense battle thereafter C he did not have the chance to explore this cave at all. If he wanted to refine weapons here, he must not be disturbed. The Vermilion Fruit outside was still emitting the scarlet mist and nobody would discover this ce. What remained was for him to explore the cave and ensure that there was nothing dangerous within. The cave was extremely deep with twists and turns leading to unknown ces. As he advanced, Aiden sent forth his spirit perception and did not sense any danger. On the contrary, the little fox carried its Fire Blocking Basket that covered more than half of its body and tiptoed, following far behind Aiden like an iron pot that was moving on its own. Aiden had a yful thought and suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning back to look at the little fe with a burning gaze. The little fox was rattled and its eyes shed with panic. Instinctively, it let go of its little paws. *ng!* The Fire Blocking Basket fell to the ground without moving and the little fox hid within with a terrified expression. Aiden broke out into a chuckle and continued forward. Inside the Fire Blocking Basket, the little fox gripped its tiny paws in indignance and waved it towards Aiden''s back view, harrumphing softly. In the blink of an eye, when it saw that Aiden was going far away, the little fox lifted the Fire Blocking Basket hurriedly and chased after him in tiptoes. Aiden had been curious the entire time as to how theva ocean was formed within the cave. He had been trying to look for the origin of theva the entire time but noticed that the temperature in his surroundings was climbing to a point where he could not endure for much longer! Not far away, theva flowed slowly, emitting a scorching heatwave. "Hmm?" Suddenly, Aiden''s eyes lit up as he eximed softly. There was a thinyer of mes burning on the surface of theva. However, those mes had a faint yellow color to them! Aiden closed in slightly before retreating hurriedly. The temperature of that yellow me was even higher than the top grade spirit fire! How could this be? Narrowing his gaze, he peered ahead of theva stream. He had a hunch that the origin of theva was right ahead! "Growl" Suddenly, Aiden heard a hurried sounding from behind him. Turning back, he saw the little fox cing the Fire Blocking Basket at the side and panting heavily against the heat. Its fiery red fur was already drenched with sweat, looking like it had just climbed out of water. The little fox who had been living in a world ofva could not withstand the temperature here anymore! It shook its head repeatedly, gesturing for Aiden to not venture deeper. Hesitating for a moment, Aiden spoke, "Your current strength is too low little one, don''t follow me. I''ll go in and take a look. If I can''t withstand it, I''ll definitely retreat." It was only when he spoke that Aiden realized his voice had gone hoarse. Taking a deep breath of air, he felt his throat prickling with heat. Wiping the sweat on his forehead, he crushed a few protection talismans before continuing forward. After taking another turn, he stopped in his tracks instinctively and shuddered. Before him was a massive volcano! Theva was spewed from that volcano! At the mouth of the volcano, theva was golden! Each time the golden magma was spurted, a few drops would flow down along the volcano and melt the rocks along the way. When it flowed down, it turned into the magnificentva ocean that was seen in the cave! Aiden was already drenched in sweat by the time he arrived before the volcano. The temperature of this ce had already surpassed the limits of ordinary martial artists; even his body that had undergone both immortality and demonic cultivation was feeling a burning pain. pping his storage bag, Aiden withdrew a superior-grade artifact weapon. The moment he withdrew the superior-grade artifact weapon, the spirit patterns on it dimmed slightly. After ten breaths, cracks appeared on the superior-grade artifact weapon C it was already showing signs of melting! "That''s amazing!" Aiden''s pupils constricted slightly and he was secretly shocked. If ordinary Martial Masters were cast here, they would burn to death without even touching the sparks of the mes! If the temperature in the air was already so high, it was even more terrifying in theva gushing at the side! Aiden was certain that a top grade artifact weapon would melt into molten liquid if it was thrown inside without even creating a bubble. The closer it was to the mouth of the volcano, the higher the temperature. Aiden truly could not stand it and his Inner Core and Martial Master was churning slowly, causing his blood energy to rise and ancient demons to appear around him one after another. Feeling slightly better, he rose into the air and gazed at the mouth of the volcano not far away. A goldenva was floating in the mouth of the volcano, letting off a shuddering aura and a scorching heat! In fact, Aiden suspected that even a Martial Grandmaster would be melted by the goldenva, leaving no corpse and a destroyed Essence Spirit! "This is way too scary!" With a shocked expression, Aidenmented internally, "This goldenva is good stuff and it''s even more terrifying than a top grade spiritual fire! If I can store away some of this stuff, it''ll definitely be of great use in the future!" Thereafter, Aiden smiled. His lips cracked, trickling with a trace of blood that evaporated instantly. That single thought was naturally just a casual one. The goldenva could even melt a top grade artifact weapon C what could store it? Just as Aiden was about to turn and leave, a thought struck him. There was truly an item in his storage bag that he could make an attempt with! The bronze square tripod. Although it was only a battered weapon, it could withstand the corrosion of the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon''s digestive fluids and was extremely tough C could it be able to withstand the melting power of the goldenva? Chapter 923 923 - Purgatory And Paradise Aiden hesitated for a long time before deciding to give it a shot. He would first ce a leg of the bronze square tripod into the goldenva and see if it would melt. Even if it was melted and lost a leg, that would not affect a bronze square tripod that was already abandoned, to begin with. At that thought, Aiden withdrew the bronze square tripod and flew toward the mouth of the volcano. When he arrived at the vicinity of the mouth of the volcano, the heat of the me became even more terrifying and Aiden felt his head spin as though he could faint at any moment! The longer he stayed at this ce, the more danger he would be in. Gazing at the moving goldenva beneath him, Aiden did not dare to hesitate as he directed the bronze square tripod slowly into the mouth of the volcano. A leg of the bronze square tripod was about to make contact with the goldenva. Suddenly, the surface of theva bubbled, as though something was trying toe forth from beneath it. Shocked, Aiden hurriedly controlled the bronze square tripod to rise into the air. Even so, some goldenva sshed onto the walls of the tripod before sliding down. "Hmm?" Aiden focused his gaze. It was perfectly fine! There was no mark on the spot where the bronze square tripod was sshed by the goldenva! Sess! Aiden was ted. The bubbling goldenva calmed down once more, as though that was only an ordinary reaction. Aiden controlled the descent of the bronze square tripod, only turning to leave after it was filled with the goldenva. While the goldenva was terrifying and berserk, as if it could incinerate and destroy everything, it was calm when stored inside the bronze square tripod, as though it was isted from the world. Aiden did not sense any heat when he carried the bronze square tripod. The body of the tripod was cold as always C the heat of the goldenva was trapped withinpletely! Leaving the mouth of the volcano, Aiden ced the bronze square tripod carefully into a separate storage bag and hung it on the side of his waist. Not long after he left, the goldenva in the mouth of the volcano began rumbling and spewing once more. There was something that floated on the surface of theva. Faintly visible, it seemed like it was a coffin! The coffin was transparent and made of some unknown material such that there were no signs of burns even as it was immersed in the goldenva. Floating on the surface of theva, it could be vaguely seen that a womany within the coffin! Her palms were closed together and rested before her chest, revealing two smooth, jade-like arms that resembled the texture of an elephant''s tusks. The woman had an exquisite figure and exuded azy, charming aura as shey there, seemingly asleep. As the coffin swirled slowly along with theva, a peerless face appeared and was frighteningly seductive! The peerless woman''s eyes were initially closed. All of a sudden! Her longshes twitched slightly and her beautiful eyes showed signs of opening! A shuddering aura began to emanate. The peerless woman could awaken at any moment! There was a slight pause. Going silent again, the peerless woman seemed like she returned to sleep once more. The transparent coffin sank gradually, entering the goldenva and disappearing within. Silence returned to the mouth of the volcano, as though nothing had happened. Aiden knew nothing about the changes in the deepest part of the cave within the mouth of the volcano. Initially, he did not feelfortable with the temperature inside the cave. But now that he was returning from the volcano along his original path, he felt cool and could not help butment internally, "The mouth of that volcano is truly purgatory hell. This ce is paradisepared to that!" The little fox waited at its original position and heaved a slight breath of relief upon seeing Aiden return safely. After all, he was her benefactor. Even though she was guarded against him, the little fox did not wish for him to meet with misfortunes. Furthermore, she had witnessed the scene of Aiden in his draconic form. In her heart, he was also someone of the beastly races. He wasn''t the same as this greedy mortal races. Aiden only paused in his tracks upon returning to the vicinity of the cave''s entrance. Assuming a lotus position, he began to heal up and recuperate his stamina. He did not have the chance to rest at all the entire night. From the fight against the otherworldly soldiers up till daybreak, he had not rested for the entire night and even nearly lost his life in between fighting against a fiend demon. Be it physically or mentally, Aiden was at his limits. Prior to this, he consumed many spirit herbs directly in the underground pce. Not much of the tremendous amount of energy contained within those spirit herbs was absorbed by Aiden and they umted within his body. Now that he was healing his injuries, all of those energies surged forth and entered every single fiber of his. Aiden''s injuries and stamina were rapidly recovering! In the blink of an eye, an entire day had passed. With a bright gaze and rosy cheeks, Aiden rose with vigor and roared into the skies! "Ah!" The roar was loud, clear, and robust and no injuries or signs of fatigue could be seen on his body anymore. Feeling the condition of his body, Aiden could not help but break out into a faint smile. Those spirit herbs carried fire attribute spirit energy and coupled with the environment of this ce, he discovered that his power had advanced by quite a bit! Of course, Aiden was still quite a distance away from mid-stage Martial Master although his strength had advanced. He had just only formed his core. Disregarding the journey taken to reach the Great Forbidden Ruins, only two days had passed. If he hadn''t experienced the intense battles in the Great Forbidden Ruins and was merely training in seclusion, he would need years to reach his current point of training! The best way to grow was to grind between the borders of life and death, battling through blood. Furthermore, he was in such a favorable environment and had the help of spirit herbs that were more than 10,000 years old. This was also the reason why many martial artists would choose to explore outside after they reached a bottleneck in their growth. While explorations were filled with danger, there were also apanying opportunities! Calming himself, Aiden was ready to attempt to fix his top-grade artifact weapons. Not far away, the little fox sat on the Fire Blocking Basket quietly, gazing over with ck, bright gem-like eyes. It had been watching Aiden for the entire day. Although it did not get close, Aiden could sense that the little fox was much less guarded towards him. If it was previously, given the distrusting nature of that little fe, it would definitely be lifting its Fire Blocking Basket with both paws, ready to hide inside at any moment rather than be as rxed as it was now. Smiling, Aiden said, "Little fe, I''m preparing to refine artifact weapons. You must not disturb me during this period of time." When she heard Aiden refer to her as ''little fe'', a look of indignance shed through the little fox''s eyes. However, immediately after, the little fox was touched internally upon thinking deeper. That statement revealed a form of trust. The handsome man was extremely terrifying inbat and could easily restrain her in captivity. That way, she would not be able to interrupt his weapon refinement process at all. But now, the other party chose to give her his trust instead. Could that person have ulterior motives? The little fox blinked and was still a little worried. After being locked here for dozens of years by the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile, the little fox was fragile mentally and was easily suspicious. Other than her deceased mother, she was constantly guarded against others. She was truly way too terrified. Just as she was imagining things, the handsome man on the other end had already withdrawn a thick, ebony de from his storage bag and began with refinement. During his tenure in Ugburg City, as well aster on in the territory of the Azure Myst Sect, Aiden obtained a rather high quality, top-grade artifact weapon forging technique to fix one of his major ws in the current day. He would gradually wear down all his weapons, making them lower quality and dull. He needed a method to fix them back into tip-top shape, especially if it was someone like Rygintarth who he already thought of as more than just a weapon, but as a part of his ever-growing family. The so-called damage did not refer to the artifact weapon itself, but the breaking of the sixth spirit pattern. There were no impurities within a damaged top-grade artifact weapon. In other words, by using a top-grade Spirit Fire to forge a top-grade artifact weapon, one could ignore the initial steps of weapon refinementpletely and head straight to spirit gathering once the artifact weapon was heated to a scarlet red state. Chapter 924 924 - Refinement A single failure in the process would result in the top-grade artifact weapon being destroyed. Throughout history, even the top Weapon Refinement Masters could not guarantee that they could gather six spirit patterns in a single attempt. In other words, this weapon-forging technique was an impossible task in the eyes of other Weapon Refinement Masters. However, in the hands of Aiden, there was a chance of repairing the top-grade artifact weapon! With the use of his spiritual perception, he could ensure a 100% sess rate of spirit gathering! Back in the Ancient Burial Ground ruins, Aiden discovered five damaged ck Gold Throwing Daggers. There was only one of the Mystic Gold Silk Armor and it was an extremely precious defensive top-grade artifact weapon. Aiden nned on testing things out with the ck Gold Throwing Daggers first. He controlled a ck Gold Throwing Dagger and ced it above the top-grade spirit fire, receiving the continuous heat. As time passed by, the arrow was heated to a red state and shone transparently from inside out like a fiery ruby. Aiden began spirit gathering. One spirit pattern. Two spirit patterns. Three spirit patterns! Three spirit patterns were formed in a single attempt without any pauses. Given his talent in weapon refinement, there was a high chance that he could condense the first three spirit patterns even without his spirit perception. This would be the sign of a high end medium grade artifact weapon. Aiden did not rest at all and started condensing the fourth spirit pattern. His spirit perception sounded. Give up! Another attempt. Not good, give up! Just like that, the fourth spirit pattern was only condensed after the 17th attempt of back and forth. Taking a breath of relief, Aiden began condensing the fifth spirit pattern. His luck and condition were both decent and his fifth spirit pattern was condensed on the third attempt! That ck Gold Throwing Dagger was a top-grade artifact weapon, to begin with and contained no impurities even though it was damaged. That was the reason why Aiden was able to condense the fifth artifact weapon with such ease. If he had to choose his own materials, smelt, forge and temper personally, he would definitely not have been able to refine such a wless arrow. Therefore, the reason why he was able to create the perfect-grade Rygintarth the other time was due to the confluence of multiple factors and a little bit of luck. Right now, the ck Gold Throwing Dagger was already a perfect artifact weapon. However, Aiden was not pleased yet. The final step was the most critical. While perfect artifact weapons were rare and possessed extraordinary strength, there was a massive difference between them and top grade artifact weapons. It was a leap in quality! Top grade spirit fires were innately sentient. Aiden attempted to condense a spirit pattern on the foundation of the broken sixth spirit pattern on the ck Gold Throwing Dagger, repairing it slowly. The process was arduous and repetitive. In fact, he did not even know if he could seed. However, Aiden had never thought about giving up and he continued trying relentlessly with a resolute gaze. An entire day passed. Far away, the little fox was tired of watching and dozed off with heavy eyelids, sleeping a few times. Each time she reopened her eyes, Aiden was sitting there in the same position and repeated the same motions over and over again. Not only did Aiden not take a break throughout the entire day, but he also maintained the same focus and it was a great test of his stamina and determination. Of course, all of his efforts were worth it. Aiden could clearly see that the sixth spirit pattern on the ck Gold Throwing Dagger C its originally broken top-grade spirit pattern C was showing signs of reparation and was turning brighter! The spirit energy fluctuation on the ck Gold Throwing Dagger was also getting more obvious. Two hourster. The drowsy little fox was awakened suddenly by a brilliant glow and instinctively opened its eyes to look over. In front of Aiden, the initially dim ck Gold Throwing Dagger was shining with six resplendent glows at the moment, emitting a terrifyingly sharp intent that could pierce anything! The little fox knew that Aiden seeded. For some unknown reason, she felt ted as well and smiled, making her eyes seem like crescent moons. Aiden put away the ck Gold Throwing Dagger and was delighted when he looked at the spirit patterns. Sess! With the ck Gold Throwing Dagger, coupled with the Moon Concealment Bow, his killing power would rise to another level! If he could repair the ck Gold Throwing Dagger, he could naturally repair the Mystic Gold Silk Armor. This meant that apart from the Coiling Dragon Seal, Aiden was now in possession of other top grade artifact weapons, the Mystic Gold Silk Armor and ck Gold Throwing Daggers! At the same time, he also had the quasi-divine grade Rygintarth! Even legacy disciples of Tianhuang Maind''s super sects, ancient aristocratic families or top factions might not be as wealthy as him. When the news of the 10,000 Year Vermilion Fruit spread, countless gazes were attracted. Various other news, real and fake, apanied it. There was talk of an underground pce hidden beneath the Great Forbidden Ruins. There was talk of a medicinal field with countless treasures in the underground pce. There was talk of a martial artist obtaining an extremely powerful top grade artifact weapon in the ruins The entire North Region was shaken! The interest towards the Great Forbidden Ruins from the cultivation world of the North Region had gradually died down in the past 10,000 years. But now, with the massive spread of news one after another, it proved that there were possibly undiscovered secrets in the Great Forbidden Ruins! Furthermore, the allure of the 10,000 Year Vermilion Fruit was way too great for Martial Masters. Nobody could resist such a temptation. Martial artists from the four dynasties of the North Region started moving. The sessors of multiple major sects and factions came out of seclusion, iming boldly that they wanted to fight for the Vermilion Fruit. Even some of the reclusive cultivation gentry ns dered that they were sending their respective Martial Master paragons towards the Great Forbidden Ruins. Right away, the world was moving! In less than half a month, a storm gathered in the vicinity of the Great Forbidden Ruins with countless heroes. Instantly, the atmosphere turned tense and murderous! There was only one Vermilion Fruit. Who in the North Region could obtain it? Several dayster. Two martial artists arrived in the vicinity of the Great Forbidden Ruins, a man and a woman. The man had a face full of beard and rough facial appearances, striding widely while wearing heavy armor. The woman had extraordinary features and carried a long sword on her waist. Her ck hair fell like a waterfall and her robes were white as snow, extremely graceful. They were Muron D''ohr and M Deisho, leaders of the Azure Falcon and White Hawk ns respectively. Both of them had already trained to the perfected Martial Master realm and were here on the orders of the their n Masters. The n Masters saw through the situation clearly and knew that the Great Forbidden Ruins would definitely be filled with paragonspeting C their meager ns did not stand a chance at all. That was the reason why the Great Zhou did not send any army of martial artists but instead, only Muron D''ohr and M Deisho. They were not here for the Vermilion Fruit, merely to check out the secrets of the Great Forbidden Ruins and see if they coulde across any opportunities. There were many sects and factions bearing the same thoughts. There were also a number of itinerant martial artists that headed over, wanting to take advantage of the chaos. All of those itinerant martial artists were not strong and would not have dared to venture into the Great Forbidden Ruins alone. Now that there were many paragons of various major sects and gentry families opening the path, the malevolent ghosts and otherworldly soldiers were not a threat at all! Those itinerant martial artists could also seize the chance to explore the Great Forbidden Ruins. Muron D''ohr and M Deisho looked at the deste, mysterious ruins ahead with hesitant expressions. Normally speaking, the two of them should enter and explore it first. But now, the situation at the Great Forbidden Ruins was overly chaotic and they had already witnessed much fighting along the way here. The closer they got to the Great Forbidden Ruins, the more tense the situation became! All of a sudden! Muron D''ohr''s expression changed and he pulled M Deisho down to squat as the both of them hid in the wild grass around them that was taller than a man''s height. "Someone''s here!" Muron D''ohr whispered. Not long after he spoke, a series of figures appeared in the distant horizon. A single nce showed that there were more than a thousand of them and they were all floating on thin air C all of them were Martial Masters! Chapter 925 925 - Desire Each of the Martial Masters wore heavy armor and bore cold expressions. They were in an orderly formation and were clearly disciplined. M Deisho frowned slightly and whispered, "That seems to be the army of the Drothak Dynasty." "Yes." Muron D''ohr nodded. "Someone leaked the news that the other three dynasties made their move as well. To think that the Drothak Dynasty would send this many people." "Their leader seems to be the Martial Master genius of the Drothak Dynasty, Dohur Vankhot." "It''s him!" Muron D''ohr had a stern expression. "By the looks of it, the Drothak Dynasty seems to want to fight badly for the Vermilion Fruit." Arriving before the Great Forbidden Ruins, Dohur Vankhot paused for a moment and waved his arm, leading the Martial Masters behind him to charge into the ruins. *Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!* All of a sudden! A shuddering sound could be heard from the distant horizons, rumbling like thunder as though a massive army was arriving. Before long, dozens of ancient war chariots appeared, pulled by divine steeds prancing in the air. The chariots charged over with an endless killing intent! War gs flew everywhere, fluttering loudly. There were around three people on each chariot, all wearing battle armor and emitting a steely aura with sharp gazes. The arrival of the dozens of ancient chariots was majestic and instantly attracted countless gazes. The martial artists nearby the ruins could vaguely feel their hearts thumping. Two gigantic words were written on the war gs C Tabann! "They''re from the Tabann n!" Muron D''ohr''s heart skipped a beat. Apart from the four dynasties, there were four gentry ns in the North Region C the Murong, Cadmus, Dugu, and Taban ns. These four gentry ns existed at the establishment of the Great Forbidden Ruins and had a long lineage. When the capital was destroyed overnight 10,000 years ago, leading to the split of the Great Forbidden Ruins, the four gentry ns left the control of the Great Forbidden Ruins one after another as well. The four gentry ns were cultivation ns with immense strength and deep foundations that even surpassed Great Zhou and the other three dynasties! "To think that even Martial Masters of the Taban would be here!" "I heard that paragons of the four gentry ns have arrived, wanting to im the Vermilion Fruit and reign over the North Region!" "Their leader seems to be the peerless genius of the Taban n, Taban Feng. With a nasty temper and a cruel character, he loves to fight!" There were other martial artists hiding nearby Muron D''ohr and M Deisho, discussing in hushed whispers. Among the dozens of chariots, only one of them led by the front. Pulled by five extremely long divine steeds, the sounds of their neighs were shuddering. A single person stood on the chariot with a mighty figure and a haughty aura, letting off a feeling of savageness! When Dohur Vankhot of the Drothak Dynasty caught sight of that person, his expression changed and he took a breath of air before revealing a faint smile, cupping his fists. "It''s you, Brother Taban. I''ve long heard of your great name." This was amon pleasantry between martial artists but it attracted stifledughter from the Taban nsmen. Taban Feng swept his gaze over and hollered, "Where did this ante from? How dare you call me on equal terms!" His words showed no respect for Dohur Vankhot at all. Dohur Vankhot was also a top-tier expert of the Martial Master realm and had never endured such ridicule before. Instantly, his expression darkened. Upon seeing that, Taban Feng sneered, "Good, good! How dare you give me such an attitude! Don''t leave then! All of you shall stay here!" "Kill!" pping his storage bag, Taban Feng retrieved an extremely domineering halberd. Waving his arm with a holler, he whipped the ropes and his chariot charged over! The Taban nsmen behind him followed his orders and dozens of chariots moved at the same time. The war drums echoed deafeningly. The aura was so immense that it seemed like it could crush everything! "Prepare for battle!" Dohur Vankhot''s expression changed. He had not expected that a single statement from him would cause a huge battle to break out! *Boom!* The dozens of chariots charged into the Great You army murderously, tearing apart the Martial Master army that had more than a thousand people. That single charge caused nearly a hundred Martial Masters to be trampled into meat sludge by the chariots! At the front, Taban Feng was even more terrifying, standing at the front of the chariot waving his halberd with frightening strength C none of the Martial Masters could survive a single round against him. Everywhere the chariots passed, a trail of blood would appear! One after another, figures fell from the skies helplessly. It was too tragic! In the ruins, the lives of Martial Masters were akin to grass. In less than 15 minutes, that orderly Martial Master army of the Drothak Dynasty was trampled by the dozens of chariots from the Taban n and more than half were injured or dead! Corpses were strewn everywhere and tragic cries howled. The Great You army had broken apartpletely and the remaining martial artists fled far away without turning back. The Martial Master genius of the Drothak Dynasty, Dohur Vankhot, was defeated by Taban Feng within three blows. Slicing Dohur Vankhot''s head off with his halberd, Taban Feng held the head in his hand. With a torrential aura, he stomped on Dohur Vankhot''s corpse and smacked his lips, sneering, "What dogsh*t genius is this? There are nock of geniuses in this generation!" Muron D''ohr and M Deisho were horrified when they witnessed the scene and shivered uncontrobly. The two of them witnessed Dohur Vankhot releasing his Martial Master phenomenon to try and flee. However, it was destroyed with a single sh of Taban Feng''s halberd and his head was severed! Without even using his Martial Master phenomenon, Taban Feng killed Dohur Vankhot while destroying the Great You army. He tossed the bloodied head of Dohur Vankhot casually on the ground and scoffed coldly. "You''re not even fit to ride on my chariot with your strength!" Narrowing his gaze, Muron D''ohr could vaguely see dozens of heads scattered on Taban Feng''s chariots. Most of them were dried and only a few were stained with fresh blood. "I heard that Taban Feng loves to murder geniuses. Each time he murders a genius, he would sever thetter''s head and ce it on his chariot." "I''ve heard that he imed brazenly he was going to ughter all paragons of Tianhuang Maind and fill his chariot." A hushed whisper sounded from the grass nearby. Muron D''ohr and M Deisho exchanged nces C both of them could see the shock in the other''s eyes. There were dozens of chariots from the Taban n arriving for this expedition. At the most, they had less than a hundred people. However, they were able to destroy an army with more than a thousand Martial Masters. The strength of the Taban n was clear. *Thud!* *Thud!* *Thud!* Not far away, another group of ancient chariots charged over with war gs raised, etched with the word "Cadmus". Another of the gentry ns, the Cadmus n, had arrived! "Humph!" The leader of the Cadmus n was scrawnier like a bamboo pole and sneered, "Taban, those are merely ants with mediocre strength. What''s there to unt about?" "Cadmus Wujia!" Taban Feng turned the chariot and whipped his rope with a raring battle intent in his eyes, hollering, "You''vee at the right time! Killing those ants wasn''t enjoyable at all! I''ve still kept a spot on my chariot for your head!" Without a second word, Taban Feng led his chariot and charged towards Cadmus Wujia. "Do you think I''ll be afraid of you?" Cadmus Wujia was clearly unafraid and retrieved a golden three-pronged spear from his storage bag. It looked extremely heavy and unbefitting with his scrawny size. "Kill!" The two of them soared into the air at the same time and bellowed. The halberd and golden three-pronged spear collided fiercely, releasing a shuddering shock wave in midair. A burst of light shot forth, zing like the sun with a blinding radiance! There were more martial artists gathering in the vicinity and rmed yells could be heard from the crowd. Muron D''ohr was a body-tempered martial artist with immense strength. He wielded a gigantic hammer and was unstoppable. However,pared to the two paragons before him, Muron D''ohr felt that he was way too weak! "This is a true paragon!" Muron D''ohr could not help but shake his head andment, "Either of them could kill me in less than three moves!" Deafening sounds could be heard as the paragons of the two gentry ns, Taban Feng and Cadmus Wujia, fought in midair and it was hard to determine the victor. The voids would quake with every single sh! As the attacks continued, Taban Feng got increasingly serious and the ferocity in his eyes shimmered. Circting his Martial Master furiously, a terrifying aura spread out from around him! It was a Martial Master phenomenon! Cadmus Wujia''s pupils constricted rapidly and he withdrew right away, hollering, "Taban Feng, you''re insane! How dare you try and use a Martial Master phenomenon!" Chapter 926 926 - Conflict Martial Master phenomenons were the strongest means avable to Martial Masters and they wouldn''t be able to reuse it within a short period of time upon release. In other words, if someone activated their Martial Master phenomenon during an intense battle, it meant that they were determined to go for the kill! While Cadmus Wujia was displeased with Tada Feng, he retained his sanity. The Vermilion Fruit had not ripened yet. If both of them were to reveal all their trump cards and release their Martial Master phenomenons here, it would only result in an internecine oue and allow outsiders to gain the advantage. Taban Feng''s Martial Master phenomenon had not formed fully and in reality, he was hesitant internally as well. But when he sensed the gazes from the surroundings, Taban Feng was pumped and dered coldly, "F*ck that! I''ll kill you today!" "The both of you, cut it out!" Suddenly, a cold and charming voice sounded. *Bang!* *Boom!* *Boom!* A series of ancient chariots arrived with a formidable aura, causing the clouds to disperse and the firmaments to quake! These ancient chariots were only avable for the gentry aristocratic families. It was the arrival of yet another major martial n! The war g on the chariots disyed a striking word C Murong. A woman stood on the chariot at the front, wearing blue pce robes with a tall, slim, and voluptuous figure. Although she did not have makeup on, she possessed wless fairy-like features with an arrogance that was unique to the gentry ns. The person who spoke earlier on was this woman. When he saw the woman, Cadmus Wujia yelled hurriedly, "Murong Wolt, you''vee at the right time! Help me control this madman!" "Hmph, none of you shall control my actions today!" Although that was what Taban Feng said, it was clear that his tone had softened. "Our four gentry ns are rted through history. We can spar, but there''s no need to get into a life-and-death bout" Murong Woltmented indifferently, "Besides, the Vermilion Fruit isn''t ripe yet. What''s the point of you guys fighting? To let outsidersugh at us?" Sweeping his gaze towards the martial artists watching from the surroundings, Tada Feng hollered with cold killing intent in his eyes, "Who would dare tough at me? All of you, scram further!" The many martial artists were shocked and retreated hurriedly. Muron D''ohr and M Deisho seized the chaotic moment to escape outside as well. The ruins were way too scary. This battle was merely a scene that was replicating simr battles in other parts of the Great Forbidden Ruins! Before they even caught sight of the Vermilion Fruit, people were fighting till rivers of blood were formed! Once the Vermilion Fruit truly appeared, what sort of a blood storm would that be? The group retreated, leaving a single person walking forward silently in a striking manner. Instantly, everyone''s gazes focused on that person. That person wore ck robes and had ck hair. Expressionless and stiff, there were no emotions in his eyes as he walked towards the depths of the Great Forbidden Ruins holding a long sword in his pale left hand. "Who is that? How dare he ignore the threat of Taban Feng?" "I think his brains must be dead. It''s easy to tell that he''s an idiot with a paralyzed face." "He truly doesn''t know what''s good for him. How dare he challenge the three gentry ns alone!" Many martial artists nearby discussed in hushed voices with mocking expressions. The person did not move quickly. To be precise,pared to the speed of martial artists, he was extremely slow. The ck-robed sword martial artist walked slowly towards the depths of the ruins like a mortal, ignoring the many chariots of the three gentry ns in the air and the strong martial artists. One step after another The martial artists of the three gentry ns seemed to have frozen in midair andplete silence ensued as none of them moved. After the arrival of the ck-robed swordsman, even the unbearable Taban Feng with his torrential ferocity earlier on quietened down; a hint of wariness could be seen from the depths of his eyes. The scene that everyone expected did not happen. On the contrary, the ck-robed swordsman continued walking beneath the three gentry ns in an unhurried manner, step by step just like that under countless gazes. That was not a distance that was considered far for martial artists. Be it with movement techniques or riding on their swords, it would merely take slightly more than a hundred breaths. However, that ck-robed swordsman walked for a whole 15 minutes! The stranger thing was that nobody stopped him or even spoke throughout the entire time. It was as though everyone''s throats were choked! Murong Wolt frowned slightly and there was an odd look in the way she watched the ck-robed swordsman. It seemed like pity, admiration, and even worry C it was conflicted andplicated. The ck-robed swordsman seemed indifferent towards everyone''s fiery gazes. His gaze was a little lost, seemingly unable to find a focal point. Walking forward step by step unhurriedly, he maintained his speed and slowly disappeared from everyone''s line of sight. "Who was that man?" The martial artists watching were no fools and gradually returned to their senses. "There''s still one more gentry n. There''s a high chance that he is the paragon of the Dughur n!" "Now that you mention it, I seem to recall that there''s a frightening Martial Master sword martial artist of the Dughur n known as Dughur Jian. He lives for the de." "I''ve also heard about him before. It''s said that he keeps to himself and has no kin or friends. For the past dozens of years, he is only apanied by his ck sword and has truly reached the realm of requiring nothing but his sword." When she heard the discussions nearby, M Deisho whispered, "Muron, seems like the Dughur n has given up on the fight for the Vermilion Fruit. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have sent him here alone." "Not necessarily," Muron D''ohr shook his head. "Apart from people like us that have given up on fighting for the Vermilion Fruit and are just here to take advantage of the chaos, there''s another possibility why some of them are here alone or in pairs." "Why?" M Deisho asked. "That man is so scary that he doesn''t even need the help of others!" In mid-air, Taban Feng had already retracted his Martial Master phenomenon when the ck-robed swordsman appeared. After the ck-robed swordsman was gone, he heaved a sigh of relief andughed. "Here I was thinking why there was no one from the Dughur n with our three ns here. So, they sent that man with the paralyzed face." The ck-robed swordsman was expressionless the entire time and Taban Feng was naturally only mocking him with the ''paralyzed face'' term. Not far away, a martial artist could not help but chuckle. "Paralyzed face. Hehe, how befitting." "Hmm?" Murong Wolt''s expression darkened and she turned slightly. Without a single word, she waved her sleeves and a streak of light appeared instantly, shooting into that martial artist''s be before vanishing. There was a thud. That person''s head exploded and he fell to the ground, dead with his blood and brain juices sttering everywhere! The crowd fell into an uproar. The martial artists nearby were frightfully pale and retreated instinctively, looking up into the skies with a sense of trepidation at that murderous peerless woman on the ancient chariot. With a cold face, Murong Wolt said slowly, "Do you think the likes of you can make fun of anyone from the four gentry ns?" No one replied. Taban Feng, Cadmus Wujia, and Murong Wolt stood in midair with a bedazzling aura, resembling gods that were looking down at puny mortals with judgmental gazes! Who would dare reply under such pressure? Turning around, Murong Wolt red at Taban Feng and remarked coldly, "Taban Feng, don''t say that I didn''t warn you, but you had better watch your mouth. Trouble stems from the mouth!" "Ha!" Taban Feng regained his arrogance after the departure of the ck-robed swordsman and roared intoughter. "It''s none of your business! I can say whatever I like!" "Alright!" With a frosty stare, Murong Wolt said, "Since you''re so daring, go chase after Dughur and repeat your words!" Taban Feng''s expression darkened and he harrumphed without retorting. Heaving a deep breath, Murong Woltposed herself and said indifferently, "Don''t me me for not reminding you guys, but there''s news that the legacy disciples of the Ten Upper Sects of the North Region areing." When they heard that, Taban Feng and Cadmus Wujia knitted their brows. "It''s not going to be so simple to pluck the Vermilion Fruit and im dominance over the Martial Master realm in the North Region! Even sessors of the ancient aristocratic families of the North Region might appear!" With that said, Murong Wolt waved her hand and led the dozens of chariots behind her to speed into the Great Forbidden Ruins. Taban Feng and Cadmus Wujia calmed down as well and left respectively, giving up on their fight with a tacit understanding. In the blink of an eye, peace returned to the skies at the boundaries of the ruins. "Heh! With so many talents aiming for the same goal, even the paragons of the four gentry ns may not be able to get the Vermilion Fruit." "That''s right. Haven''t you heard that the legacy disciples of the Ten Upper Sects are rushing over too? There''s definitely going to be a great war between the paragons at that time!" "Seems like that Vermilion Fruit is not only a universal treasure, there''s an even deeper meaning to it. Whoever gains the Vermilion Fruit is sure to be the number one Martial Master of the North Region!" Chapter 927 927 - The Agreement "The intermediate ancient battlefield will open up in another 20 years. A victor must be decided with this gathering of the paragons of major factions and sects of the North Region." Muron D''ohr and M Deisho exchanged grim nces as they heard the discussions. The situation at the Great Forbidden Ruins was even more chaotic and frightening than they had imagined! "What are the Ten Upper Sects?" M Deisho asked. Muron D''ohr reminisced and replied, "I heard the Martial Grandmasters in the pce mention it unintentionally in the past. It''s said that there are 108 Upper ''hidden'' ns that are ranked beneath the worldly, ''public'' sects. Most of them are congregated within the Middle Continent and some of them are scattered in the North, South, East, and West Regions. There are ten of them in the North Region." "What sort of sects can be regarded as Upper Sects?" "I''m not sure." Muron D''ohr shook his head. "It''s said that the strength of an Upper Sect requires the support of a Lesser Divine Powerhouse!" A Lesser Divine Powerhouse! The mention of those words caused M Deisho''s heart to skip a beat. There were several major realms of martial C The Mortal who have just stepped on his or her journey, the Martial Practitioner, Martial Master, Martial Grandmaster, Quasi-Divine Being, Lesser Divine, Divine Being, and then and only then could someone be considered a bonafide Godly entity. The reason why the Draconic Skinks could establish their rule over Ugburg and withstand close to a thousand years was that there was a Peak Martial Grandmaster realm High Priest backing them. How terrifying would it be if Upper Sects had the backing of a Lesser Divine Powerhouse? How many Quasi-Divine Being would they have under them? What sort of strength would their paragons possess as well? One would truly only understand that there''s always someone better than them upon leaving the underworld and experience the true terror of the martial world. At the Middle Continent, the origin of martial powers where the culture was the most glorious with the most super sects and factions gathered, how majestic would things be over there? All of a sudden! A shuddering aura surged from the edge of the horizon. The weather had changed! "Ow" A long horn sound rang through the world. Many martial artists looked over and their expressions changed. At the edge of the skies, gigantic spirit vessel warships a few thousand feet long with mysterious patterns etched on them hovered and shone brightly! Tearing through the air, the spirit vessels had a domineering aura and a rampant might. One after another, figures with powerfully shuddering auras stood at their bows. pd-?ͨ.㨮 The sessors of the Upper Sects have arrived at the ruins! "That''s the spirit vessel of one of the Ten Upper Sects, Heaven Motion Sect." "Their leader should be the paragon of Heaven Motion Sect, John Lohn." The spirit vessels passed over the martial artists one after another, forming gigantic shadows that covered the skies! Not long after Heaven Motion Sect passed, many more spirit vessels tore through the clouds. The vessels were pitch-ck and eerie, resembling Hell Boats floating in the seas of Hell. "One of the Ten Upper Sects, Dark Ghost Sect!" "Be careful not to be targeted by anyone from Dark Ghost Sect or you''ll definitely live an existence worse than death!" "There are countless malevolent ghosts and otherworldly soldiers in the Great Forbidden Ruins. That''s aplete terrain advantage for Dark Ghost Sect." The spirit vessels of Dark Ghost Sect steered into the Great Forbidden Ruins. Not long after, more battleships arrived. The first ancestors of the gentry ns were martial warriors that conquered deserts. Therefore, their nsmen would travel with ancient chariots. The Upper ns were different from the North Region gentry ns. Most of them traveled using spirit vessels. "That''s the warship of one of the Ten Upper Sects, ze Depth Valley!" Raring mes zed on the newly arrived warships and the clouds in the air were burned scarlet, disying a dismal beauty. "I heard that the paragon of ze Depth Valley, G''ang Nan, came here previously and was nearly killed!" "Who could be so strong?" "I''m not sure. It''s probably the legacy disciple of another Upper Sect. I heard that the paragon of Ster Moon Sect died. There''s no way Ster Moon Sect is going to let this go." "There''s already three of the Ten Upper Sects here now and I garner the other seven should be arriving soon. Seems like the rumors are for real." Needless to think, a great battle would definitely break out in the Great Forbidden Ruins once the Vermilion Fruit was ripe 15 dayster! At that time, paragons would be drenched in blood and no one knew who would survive the massive storm. This could be considered a test. Only paragons that survive bloodbaths could truly be considered peerless paragons and leave an unshakable name in the intermediate ancient battlefield 20 yearster! With a stern expression, Muron D''ohr contemted for a long time before saying slowly, "The situation is getting way tooplicated in the Great Forbidden Ruins." "Why do you say that?" M Deisho could tell that he had more to his mind. Muron D''ohr frowned. "Have you noticed that despite the grandmotion at the Great Forbidden Ruins, a single Martial Grandmaster has yet to appear?" M Deisho nodded C she had noticed this long ago too. "The Vermilion Fruit doesn''t have much effect on Martial Grandmasters and they''re probably not attracted by it," M Deisho deduced. "While that is true, it''s impossible that none of them appeared at all! That doesn''t make sense!" "What do you have in mind?" Muron D''ohr mulled deeply. "I''m guessing that some of the Martial Grandmasters have already arrived!" "What do you mean by that?" M Deisho''s eyes widened. Muron D''ohr replied, "There are too many factions involved in this fight for the Vermilion Fruit. If Martial Grandmasters interfered, they would definitely destroy the bnce. As you''ve mentioned, it''s truly not worth it for Martial Grandmasters to fight for a single Vermilion Fruit." "Therefore, I garner that there''s most probably a silent agreement between the Martial Grandmasters of the various major factions to not interfere so that the younger generation can take a truly decisive battle to see who could reign supreme among the Martial Master realm!" "It''s very likely that all the Martial Grandmasters are hidden and watching to see the oue of this battle." M Deisho frowned and fell into deep thought upon hearing his guess. In the underground cave. A resplendent light shone above the scarletva and a faint yellow inner armor hovered in midair beautifully. On the shore, a demure gray-robed martial artist wiped away the sweat on his forehead and heaved a sigh of relief, finally letting off a faint smile. The gray-robed martial artist was none other than Aiden. After entering the underground cave, he merely spent five days repairing the five ck Gold Daggers. However, it took him 10 days to repair the Mystic Gold Silk Armor! For the past 15 days, Aiden did not rest for a single moment and was tense C he was already at his limits physically and mentally by doing spirit gathering continuously. However, it was all worth it. The five ck Gold Arrows and the Mystic Gold Silk Armor were all top-grade artifact weapons C Aiden''sbat strength had just climbed yet another level! Aiden stretched and removed his gray robes, preparing to don the Mystic Gold Silk Armor. However, his actions caused the furry, red ball beside his feet to wake up. The little fox yawned and pushed against Aiden''s thigh with its head and groggy eyes, expressing its displeasure. Aiden smiled. Over the past 15 days, the little fox had let down its guard towards him entirely. Initially, this little thing hid and watched him from afar. When it was tired, it slept and continued watching after it woke up. After a few days, when the little fox saw that Aiden ignored her, she advanced and closed in. When she realized that she was still not in danger after another day, she closed the distance again. A few dayster, the little foxid down beside Aiden''s feet directly. She used his thighs as her pillow and felt extremelyfortable C she had never had a sleep as good as this for dozens of years. After waking up, the little fox rubbed her eyes and the first thing she saw was Aiden changing his clothes. Instantly, she blushed and grumbled internally, "Everything about this man is good except the fact that he loves to be nude" Aiden was indifferent and wore the Mystic Gold Silk Armor; it felt cooling on his skin and extremelyfortable. The Mystic Gold Silk Armor was thin as the wings of cicadas but it was unyielding and could adjust to the figure of any martial artist C it was truly a rare Utmost treasure! After sessfully repairing the top-grade artifact weapon, Aiden was in great spirits and wore his gray robes once more. Looking at the little fox beside him, he could not help but reach out and touch her furry body. Chapter 928 928 - Naivety Initially, the little fox wanted to dodge by instinct. However, she blinked and stayed where she was, allowing Aiden to rub her body gently. "Little fox," Grinning, Aiden said with a yful look in his eyes, "Do you know that when you sleep you snore really loudly?!" "Damned brute! How can you say something like that aloud!" The little fox froze up with an embarrassed expression and turned to Aiden''s palm before biting down viciously! Yelp! The little fox eximed. Aiden''s palm was fine but her teeth nearly cracked as she gasped coldly. When he saw that, Aiden could not help but burst out intoughter. Pursing her lips and blinking, the little fox''s alluring eyes misted up and bean-sized teardrops rolled around, looking pitiful as if she had suffered great grievances. Aiden put away his smile hurriedly and fondled her forehead, saying with a fake sternness, "But to be honest, your snoring is unlike ordinary snoring. Yes it''s nicer." The little fox bawled and broke out into tears. The little fox bawled and lifted the Fire Blocking Basket with her tiny paws, running away in a huff. Smiling, Aiden sat down andy backwards, using his arms as a pillow for his head. Closing his eyes, a faint demonic glint flickered as he fell into thought. After crying for a little while, the little fox hid in a corner and drew circles on the ground, grinding her brain juices to insult Aiden. "Stupid man, y-you really suck!" "Stupid brute, you''re a bad person!" "You''re even badder than that stupid dead crocodile!" The little fox spent her entire life in this underground cave and had never seen the outside world ore into contact with anyone. Although she was wary by nature, she was also innocent and naive like a virgin. The most vicious words she coulde up with were topare Aiden as being worse than the crocodile. Even though she had lived for dozens of years, it was a negligible amount of timepared to the long lifespans of demons and her mind was simr to a small child''s. Before long, she was bored. Turning around, the little fox looked at Aiden instinctively. His eyes were closed and he was motionless except for his ears which were twitching. "What is he doing?" The little fox was curious and tiptoed over,pletely forgetting that he made fun of her earlier on. Because her martial realm was not high enough, she could not hear the soundsing from the pce above the cave. However, Aiden possessed universal hearing. Even thousands of feet underground, he could vaguely hear the sounds above in the pce. The pce had not been peaceful for the past half a month. Furthermore, themotion was clearly getting bigger! All the Martial Master paragons of the North Region might have gathered here with the birth of the Vermilion Fruit! Although Aiden managed to defend against strong foes of the top righteous and demonic sects singlehandedly when the Ancient One''s Pce descended in the ancient battlefield, the current situation was not looking good for him. At that time, he was a simple Martial Knight realm martial artist and had attained greater mastery of body tempering technique for his draconic physique. He was almost at the peak and was a single step away from forming a core. At that time, he wasparable to the paragons of the immortal, Buddhist, and fiend sect paragons in terms of martial realm. But now, he was at early-stage Martial Master and had yet to attain lesser mastery of his Inner Core. The weakest of the paragons that gathered were atte-stage Martial Master and there might even be perfected Martial Masters! There was a difference of up to three minor realms. Of course, those three minor realms did not mean much to Aiden who had both the ''regr'' and draconian martial powers. He was still confident that he could suppress everyone in a one-on-one battle. However, there''s a high chance he might make enemies with all the paragons of the North Region by fighting for the Vermilion Fruit! At that time, it would be hard to stand victorious against thebined attacks of countless paragons. He managed to train twin phenomenons and both of them were lost primordial phenomenons. However, at the end of the day, he only had two. At that time, there would be hundreds or thousands of Martial Master phenomenons by paragons and that was a destructive power that was unimaginable. He might not be able to handle everything with his spirit energy as an early-stage Martial Master Furthermore, there were Martial Master phenomenons stronger than the Soaring Serpent and Divine Turtle as well. ss Pce of the nine immortal sects and Malevolent Earth Sect of the seven fiend sects were located in the North Region. If the paragons of those two super sects were to head over, it would definitely be a threat to Aiden! Of course, there was something else he was wary about. Would any Martial Grandmasters appear for the appearance of this Vermilion Fruit? How would things end if Martial Grandmasters interfered? Aiden''s wild thoughts made his eyelids heavy. He was truly way too tired and right now, the only thing he wanted was to have a good night''s rest. Hisprehension on weapon refinement had advanced again as he repaired the top-grade artifact weapons. "There''s another 15 days left. That''s enough for me to refine a set of 27 supreme-grade flying swords." With that thought, Aiden drifted into sleep. The little fox had just arrived beside Aiden when she saw that he had fallen asleep. Furthermore, there was a strange sounding from his nose. It sounded like tigers, leopards, and thunder. "Humph!" Pouting, she thought to herself, "How dare this stupid bruteugh at me when he snores so loudly!" Even though those were her thoughts, she did not disturb Aiden. She could tell that he was tuckered out. The breathing and expiration method of the Ancient Primordial Draconification Manual was already infused in Aiden''s marrow and would activate instinctively even if he was asleep. Body Tempering, Tendons Transformation, Bones Strengthening, Marrow Cleansing, Organs Refinement, Orifice Clearing, Core Formation The seven stages reverberated within his body, forming a cycle. His rich Soul Power energy rose and started spreading. "Eh?" The little fox watched everything with widened eyes in disbelief. "Is this schr a human or demon?" She could not figure it out at all. To her shock, she realized that her exposure to the strange energy that was released from Aiden''s body moved her martial strength that had been stagnant for a long time! "Hehe!" Delighted, the little fox inched forward again and stuck closely to Aiden''s arm before starting to train. There was a big pavilion five kilometers away from Great Forbidden Ruins. Unlike the deste ruins, this ce was lush with greenery and willow trees stood in rows, filled with life. There were four stone tables in the pavilion. Beside each table sat three to four martial artists in weird attires. Some of them wore robes, some of them wore armor and others wore tight exercise attire More than ten people sat by sipping tea idly with rxed expressions, discussing with soft voices. Outside the pavilion, there were more than a hundred martial artists waiting. Standing outside, all of their expressions were much worse as they looked at the people inside the pavilion with deep fear and wariness. If Muron D''ohr were to see this, he would definitely be shocked. Be it the ten-odd people inside the pavilion or the hundred-odd outside, all of them were Martial Grandmasters! As he had expected, the Martial Grandmasters made their moves for the Vermilion Fruit! In the pavilion, three people sat around one of the stone tables with badges on their waists that stated Murong, Cadmus, and Taba! They were from the four gentry ns! There were emblems on the waists of the Martial Grandmasters sitting around the other three stone tables. Ster Moon Sect, ze Depth Valley, Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect, Heaven Motion Sect, Seven Kills Sect, Blood Mist Sect, Mystic Firmament Divine Cult, Dragon Tiger Sect, and Shadowless Sect Those were nine of the Ten Upper Sects other than Dark Ghost Sect! The Martial Grandmasters in the pavilion were either from the Ten Upper Sects or the four gentry ns. As for the Martial Grandmasters that stood obediently outside the pavilion, they were from ordinary sects and factions as well as some unknown itinerant martial artists. Among them, the Martial Grandmasters of the Great Shang and Great Xia Dynasties stood outside as well, not daring to have any opinions. Earlier on when the Martial Master army of the Drothak Dynasty was murdered by the Taba n, the Martial Grandmaster of Great You was enraged and wanted to head for the Great Forbidden Ruins. However, a Martial Grandmaster of the Taba n attacked and killed him in three moves! Up till now, the blood of the Great You Martial Grandmaster''s corpse had yet to dry. Laying in front of the pavilion, his body was still warm from his indignant death. That was not the only corpse around the pavilion. In the North Region, thebined force of the Ten Upper Sects and four gentry ns was almost absolute! Chapter 929 929 - Shaken World "Seems like Dughur of the four gentry ns is not going to send forth any Perfected Lords." The Perfected Lord of Ster Moon Sect sipped his tea and said idly. "Dughur Jian has an introverted nature and was born from a servant. He doesn''t even carry the bloodline of the Dughur n in him, it''s only normal that there''s no Perfected Lording for him," The Perfected Lord of the Murong n said. "Born from a servant and yet, he managed to climb his way through a gentry n such as the Dughurs to reach where he is now, defeating every other Perfected Being of the same realm. That''s not an easy feat," The Perfected Lord of the Cadmus nmented. "Humph!" Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s Perfected Lord scoffed with an unfriendly expression, "Thatd is cold and heartless. He killed a few of my sect''s geniuses! If thatd manages to get lucky and survive this Vermilion Fruit fight hehe!" The Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect Perfected Lord revealed killing intent through his words. The entire North Region was shaken by the appearance of the Vermilion Fruit. The Ten Upper Sects and four gentry ns had a silent agreement and sent forth news that Martial Grandmasters were not allowed to get involved in the fight for the Vermilion Fruit so that the younger generation could fight for it and determine victory themselves! The reason why the Martial Grandmasters of the Ten Upper Sects and four gentry ns were here was to prevent idents and stop other Martial Grandmasters from entering the Great Forbidden Ruins. The fight for the Vermilion Fruit this time around had an extraordinary meaning to it. Whoever got their hands on the Vermilion Fruit would be the number one Peak Stage powerhouse of the North Region! The Ten Upper Sects and four gentry ns joined forces to prevent any Martial Grandmasters from interfering and breaking that bnce. Therefore, even if Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect wanted to kill Dughur Jian, they would have to wait till the fight for the Vermilion Fruit was over. The hundreds of Martial Grandmasters standing outside the pavilion were stopped by the Martial Grandmasters of the Ten Upper Sects and four gentry sects C anyone that resisted ended up as a corpse on the ground. For the Vermilion Fruit fight this time round, the Perfected Beings of the younger generation would have to depend on themselves. It was a massive storm and paragons would be drenched in blood to see who wouldst till the very end! Suddenly, the sound of robes slicing the air could be heard. The person that arrived wore blue robes and was extremely fast! Another Martial Grandmaster had arrived! While Martial Grandmasters may not be tempted by the Vermilion Fruit, the appearance of the underground pce might lead to treasures within. Built in the middle, the pavilion with hundreds of Martial Grandmasters gathered around was way too striking. ncing over, the blue-robed Perfected Lord''s expression changed and he swerved to the side, wanting to take a detour around the pavilion. Buzz! The sound of swords swooshing filled the heavens! A white streak of sword light shed from the pavilion like a white divine chain, almost slicing the void into half as it blocked the blue-robed Perfected Lord''s path forward. "Where are you going, fellow adventurer?" The voice of the Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s Perfected Lord was sinister and shuddering. "Come over here. No Martial Grandmasters are allowed into the Great Forbidden Ruins!" Ster Moon Sect''s Perfected Lord remarked coldly. The blue-robed Perfected Lord was rather calm as well and cupped his fists towards everyone with a smile. "I truly did not know of that rule. I''ll leave right now and not disturb you guys." "You want to leave aftering here?" Suddenly, a phantom shrouded by a ck mist appeared behind the blue-robed Perfected Lord and devoured him instantly. "Ah!" A tragic shriek rang through the air. After ten breaths, a white skeleton wearing blue robes fell from midair. The ck mist cleared and a scrawny old man revealed his true appearance. With a ghastly aura and a cold gaze, he descended into the pavilion clutching a walking stick. The Perfected Lord of Dark Ghost Sect had arrived. As of now, the Perfected Lords of the Ten Upper Sects were represented and there were also Perfected Lords from three of the four gentry ns. The crowd was no longer surprised at the death of the blue-robed Perfected Lord. Things quickly returned to normal outside the pavilion and discussions ensued. "I heard that an Extreme Martial Knight martial artist was born in the North Region?" "Yes, but there wasn''t any news of him thereafter. He must have been murdered." "This is truly a chaotic generation with way too many paragons and monster incarnates. Even the Ancient One''s Pce appeared! It''s pretty simr to the golden times of the ancient era when multiple emperors rose!" "Great cmities are bound to apany great eras. Although we are all Perfected Lords, the road of a martial warrior is one that is long. Who knows if we can tide through all the cmities." In the firmaments, thousands of kilometers above the pavilion, a sparkling spirit vessel that looked like a precious gem flew over at a rapid speed. At the bow, a man in a lotus position faced the wind with his ck hair swaying gently, revealing an iparably handsome face. His skin even sparkled slightly and was astonishing. Sitting at the bow, there was an inexplicable dignity to him. While he was only at Martial Master realm, there was a confidence in his eyes that could suppress everything! An old man stood behind the handsome man. "Young master, there''s no need for you to be this serious. Even if all the paragons of the North Region stick together, none of them is a match for you," While the old man was at Martial Grandmaster realm, his hands were ced by his side as he said respectfully. "Yes." The handsome man smiled gently. "My opponents will be in the intermediate ancient battlefield 20 years from now. However, the gathering of the North Region''s paragons due to the birth of the Vermilion Fruit makes me want toe forth and explore to see how strong the paragons of this generation are." "You''re the number one Perfected Being of the North Region, young master. How could any of those paragons be a match for you?" The old man dered with pride. "There''s naturally nothing to worry about in a solo fight," The handsome man replied idly, "I just want to see if those so-called paragons can stop me from getting my hands on the Vermilion Fruit if they work together! Hehe, that gets my hands itchy." There were two other people sitting in the cabin of the spirit vessel. One of them wore luxurious robes and had a mask on, covering every single bit of exposed skin on his body and merely revealing a pair of vengeful eyes. In front of that person sat a middle-aged man with pale yellow skin that looked like gold. "Dearie, how about staying by my side. Don''t go and fight for that Vermilion Fruit," The middle-aged man said slowly. "Don''t worry, grandpa. Senior Brother is the number one powerhouse of the North Region. I won''t be in any danger following him." The voice of the masked-man was hoarse and he sounded terrible, as though he had been through a burn. "Yes." The middle-aged man nodded. "It''s also good for you to go explore and train with him. Take care of your safety. Keep this jade pendant with you, it''s enough to defend against the full-powered attack of a Martial Master!" The masked man received it and hung it on his waist. After a moment of silence, the masked man raised his head and snarled, "Grandpa, you''ve got to take revenge for me! I wouldn''t be in this shameful state if not for that bastard Aiden!" "Rest assured, he won''t be able to hide for much longer! Crystal Pce is the overlord of the North Region. As long as this Aiden remains in the North Region, I''ll be able to seek him out even if I have to overturn the earth!" "I''ll make him pay a hundred times more for everything he''s done to you!" With that said, the middle-aged man''s eyes shone coldly and he released a shuddering, terrifying aura. Even the old Martial Grandmaster that stood at the bow was frightened and jerked briefly. That was the power of a Quasi-Divine Being C that was an entire major realm above him! The middle-aged man continued, "I won''t appear after sending you guys to the Great Forbidden Ruins. There''s a something important I need nearby here. At that time, I''ll head over to the nearby city and ask if they''ve got any news of thatd." The birth of the Vermilion Fruit shook the entire North Region and paragons were gathered. As the deadline approached, the legacy disciples of the Ten Upper Sects had all arrived in the Great Forbidden Ruins. Those of the four gentry ns had waited for a long time as well. In the outer perimeter, geniuses of other factions and sects were biding their time alongside itinerant martial artists, creating a force not to be reckoned with. Chapter 930 930 - Its About To Begin This day. Suddenly, a heatwave shot forth from the pce. In the blink of an eye, the skies were filled with a scarlet glow, as if a zing sun was slowly descending into the depths of the pce as it stained half the firmaments. "Hahahaha!" Taban Feng''s eyes lit up and heughed with raring battle intent. "The Vermilion Fruit''s about to ripen. Everyone, follow me and kill our way into the underground pce to get our hands on it!" "Let''s go!" Cadmus Wujia waved his hand. Thud! Thud! Thud! "Whoo-hoo-hoo!" The ancient chariots of the gentry ns tore through the voids with a rumbling sound as their war gs fluttered in a terrifying manner. The spirit vessels of Ten Upper Sects streaked through the air and their horns sounded with a shuddering aura! Taban Feng, Cadmus Wujia, and Murong Wolt stood on their chariots and looked down at the world. On the spirit vessels, legacy disciples of the Ten Upper Sects stood with their hands behind their backs fearlessly, revealing fervent and excited gazes in the depths of their eyes! After the three gentry ns and Ten Upper Sects, the remaining paragons from all over the ce surged forward like a tsunami wave. On the ground, a ck-robed swordsman walked forward step by step expressionlessly with lost eyes that could not seem to focus. The strange thing was that there was no one around him at all! Although the crowd was dense, a path opened up instinctively when it encountered the ck-robed swordsman. After it wrapped him, the crowd converged once more. Within the pce. A sinister wind gusted and specters surrounded them. Millions of otherworldly soldiers were gathered at this ce, forming an indestructible dark cloud that nketed the skies above the pce! Although the otherworldly soldiers in the pce were not alive, they maintained their habits from their previous life. Now that the pce was met with external foes, all the otherworldly soldiers were gathered here to guard it! "Kill! Kill! Kill!" The millions of otherworldly soldiers chanted angrily in a dense, ck crowd. It was deafening and formed a torrential aura that surged over! *Boom!* The two opposing forces collided and the world shook, causing the partially destroyed walls left behind in the pce to copse. One side was the paragons of the North Region. The other side was the guards of the once number-one empire of the North Region that had spanned through history. Meat and blood spewed as the collision happened and a few Martial Masters died on the spot while countless otherworldly soldiers dispersed, turning into malevolent energy that dissipated into the void. The otherworldly soldiers that amounted to the millions were scary. However, almost all the paragons of the North Region were gathered here C this was a shuddering force that could destroy everything! The paragons of the four gentry ns and the legacy disciples of the Ten Upper Sects killed their way through with various means, pushing into the depths of the pce in an unyielding manner and destroying endless otherworldly soldiers! Muron D''ohr and M Deisho followed the crowd and exchanged nces C both could read the shock in the other''s eyes. The paragons were way too scary! If the two of them had barged into the pce and encountered these otherworldly soldiers, they would definitely be dead. Yet, before them, even as the most frightening heavy-armored mounted riders of the pce rushed over, they could not stop the ancient chariots of the gentry ns and the spirit vessels of the Ten Upper Sects. The heavy-armored mounted riders could not defend against the charge of the chariots and warships and were crushed into dust! Taban Feng wielded his halberd and Cadmus Wujia wielded his golden three-pronged spear, rushing forward with immense strength to kill at meleebat C they were unstoppable on their chariots! G''ang Nan of ze Depth Valley hollered and his sleeves fluttered, sending forth scarlet mes that turned the otherworldly soldiers before him into ashes. "Kill! Kill! Kill!" With every word chanted by the paragon of Seven Kills Sect, his aura would increase by a fold, and everywhere he passed by would end up in destruction! There was a blood mist that shrouded the paragon of Blood Mist Sect the entire time and no one could see his true appearance. However, when otherworldly soldiers approached, they would be devoured by the blood mist and vanish entirely. The Dark Ghost Sect''s paragon was even more frightening. He advanced while conjuring hand seals expressionlessly. Yet, when the otherworldly soldiers charged over, they seemed to be affected by some mysterious power. The red glows in the eyes of the otherworldly soldiers gradually fainted and they surrounded the Dark Ghost Sect''s paragon, listening to his orders and protecting him! Before long, the number of otherworldly soldiers gathered around that person increased constantly and became a massive army that pushed into the depths of the pce instead. The methods of the various paragons were powerful and stunning. It did not take long for the paragons to arrive at the entrance to the underground pce. Taban Feng did not pause at all and charged right in with his chariot. Cadmus Wujia, Murong Wolt, and the paragons of the Ten Upper Sects were naturally unwilling to fall behind and swarmed into the underground pce as well. Thankfully, the pce was huge enough such that it did not seem crowded even as the paragons swarmed the ce with their chariots. The terrifying scarlet mist in the underground pce that could devour living beings gradually faded. This meant that the Vermilion Fruit was about to ripen! There was no longer any green tinge on the body of the scarlet fruit and it had shone brightly with a dark red color. Even looking at it from far away, one could sense the tremendous amount of essence energy contained within the fruit! Some of the martial artists wrapped over from the side and scrutinized the martial artists in the surroundings constantly, worried that they would get themselves murdered by ident. The number of martial artists gathered in the underground pce increased with the Vermilion Fruit in the center. All of them maintained their distance with one another with guarded gazes. Right at the front, there were more than a hundred martial artists closest to the Vermilion Fruit. Apart from the paragons of the four gentry ns and the legacy disciples of the Ten Upper Sects, there were also paragons from everywhere else. Naturally, no one was willing to disy weakness when they saw the Vermilion Fruit! Muron D''ohr and M Deisho stood at the outermost perimeter C it was clear that they wanted to stay out of trouble. The two of them were curious as well to see who could obtain the Vermilion Fruit given this star-studded crowd and be the number one Perfected Being of the North Region, exerting dominance over everyone else! Although things were considered to be peaceful in the underground pce right now, it was filled with a murderous aura. Both of them felt shudders even though they were far from the center. The reason why everyone had not attacked was because the Vermilion Fruit was not fully ripe yet. Once the scarlet mist surrounding the Vermilion Fruit dispersedpletely and it was fully ripe, an unprecedented battle between the paragons of the North Region would break out! At that time, countless paragons would be bathed in blood. No one knew how many of them would be buried in this ruin. At the same time. A thousand feet deep beneath the pce, a schrly gray-robed martial artist stirred awake from his silent slumber, opening his brilliant eyes slowly. "It''s finally about to begin?" Murmuring softly, the green-robed martial artist had a calm expression with a faint hint of killing intent in his eyes! When Aiden rose, he rmed the little fox who was leaning on him by ident. She sat up and rubbed her drowsy eyes, looking at him instinctively. That single look was enough to jolt her awake fully. With a whimper, the little fox lowered her head shyly and covered her eyes with her tiny paws, grumbling internally, "Stupid brute, you''re stripping again!" Aiden removed his gray robes and revealed his almost wless body. Going silent for a moment, a series of cracks suddenly sounded from his body as his tendons and bones echoed together. His height increased and his flesh expanded C even his features were changing! In the blink of an eye, Aiden transformed into a burly man with rough features at two meters tall. With thick brows and big eyes, he no longer looked demure. The little fox stole a nce and was instantly stunned and dumbfounded. "Why did he turn into someone else in the blink of an eye?" "I must be too tired from sleeping" The little fox could not believe what she saw and rubbed her eyes before looking again. The result was the same. She was initially flustered upon seeing a stranger. However, she calmed down in the blink of an eye and tilted her head, looking at Aiden curiously. Although Aiden''s appearance changed, the unique aura he possessed did not change. The little fox spent this period of timezing beside him and was extremely familiar with that aura. Chapter 931 931 - Little Fox’s Decision Retrieving a rough linen shirt from his storage bag, Aiden donned it. This time around, he was prepared to fight for the Vermilion Fruit using the identity of the Holy Fire Ind''s sessor! Back in the ancient burial ground ruins, Aiden killed countless Crystal Pce Sect and Malefic Demons n warriors, and thugs. Both of those super sects were located in the North Region! Aiden was unsure if the sessors of those two super sects would move for the Vermilion Fruit. However, he was certain that there would definitely be a vicious battle! If he did not conceal his identity, even if he got his hands on the Vermilion Fruit, he would bring about endless wrath and it would be impossible for him to remain in the North Region. The safest way was to fight for the Vermilion Fruit as the already famed Holy Fire Ind''s sessor. After getting his hands on the Vermilion Fruit and escaping far away, he would then revert to his appearance and no one would be able to trace it to him! Furthermore, the identity of Holy Fire Ind''s sessor had already offended many top factions and it did not matter if more foes were gained. Of course, with this, he could not use many methods that could expose him. The Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual, Void Splitting Manual, Rygintarth, and even the Coiling Dragon Seal could not be used at all. During this period of time, he had already refined his 27 top-grade flying swords. However, the Candlelight Sword Formation was way too striking and he could not release it easily. On the surface, it seemed like Aiden''sbat strength was greatly decreased without those methods. However, in reality, with the Mystic Gold Silk Armor and both his immortality and demonic martial, Aiden was even more frightening using the identity as the sessor of Holy Fire Ind! He was the monster incarnate that shook the entire Tianhuang Maind. The demonic existence that countless paragons could not forget was about to descend upon the North Region! At the side, the little fox seemed to sense something when she saw the murderous aura Aiden was exuding. He turned around and looked at the obedient little fox beside him. Although slightly reluctant, he still said softly, "I''m about to leave." Most likely, it would be difficult for him to return after this departure. He would definitely flee from the Great Forbidden Ruins the moment he got his hands on the Vermilion Fruit and would not return casually. The pitch-ck gem-like eyes of the little fox dimmed gradually as she lowered her head; her disappointment could barely be concealed. Initially, she thought that Aiden could stay here and live with her forever. While this ce was cramped and smallpared to the outside world, it was carefree and peaceful. She did not feel lonely as well with apanion. But now that Aiden was about to leave, she would be the only one left. After pondering for a moment, Aiden asked, "Do you want to leave with me?" The little fox had a lost expression and was silent. She was already used to this ce after living here for dozens of years. Her presence was felt in every single rock and corner. Although her mother was already deceased and still, each time she looked at her mother, the little fox would calm down. pd ?ͨ|,㨰 This was her home. She had never thought about leaving here before. Even when she was locked in captivity by the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile, she merely thought about chasing it away one day rather than leaving herself. However, that was before But now The little fox was at a loss for what to do and could only look at Aiden squarely. Aiden sighed internally. He could roughly read the little fox''s mind. This was something that could not be forced. The man and fox looked at one another without saying anything. After a while, Aiden smiled, "It''s alright. Even though the outside world is interesting, it''s also filled with danger. It might not be a good idea for you to leave this ce either." The little fox had not left the cave before and knew nothing about the outside world. If she were to head out as such, she would be akin to an ignorant and naive young girl that was cast into the wilderness C there were too many people who could harm her! Aiden did not want to force this naive little girl, who had lived her entire life in this endless solitude. In the end, there was no news of the both of them for a long time after they left and even now, he did not know if they were alive. Aiden was worried that he might not be able to take good care of her after taking her away. If that were the case, it would be better for her to remain here and lead a peaceful life away from the outside world. The little fox did not say anything and merely looked at Aiden nkly without blinking. Gradually, a mist fogged her eyes in a pitiable manner. Aiden was silent. A long timeter, he took a tough stance and repressed the reluctance in his heart before turning around, striding away in huge steps while waving goodbye to the little fox from the back. The little fox gazed at Aiden''s leaving back view and the mist in her eyes condensed, turning into two bead-sized tears that rolled down silently. A long timeter, the little fox sniffed and reached out with her tiny paws to try and wipe away her tears. She had a resolute gaze, as though she had decided on something. Running back to the parcel ofnd from which she was born, she gazed at the corpse of the demonic fox. "Mummy, I''m about to leave." "Although that man has a bad habit of stripping and would make fun of me from time to time, he''s a good person and tells me stories." The little fox did not know why her mother came here. She did not know why her mother refused to leave this ce no matter what. She was truly way too young during the first few years of her birth. The little fox merely had a vague feeling that her mother seemed to be guarding something within this cave. It was definitely not the Vermilion Fruit in the pce above the cave. For the past month, she and the human were the only ones in the cave. During his breaks while forging his flying swords, Aiden would asionally recount weird legends of the mortal realm and various knowledge of the marrtial world to the little fox. She had once heard him say that in his hometown, people were buried after their deaths. She intended to bury the demon fox here as well. After taking a final look at her mother, the little fox bit her lip and tugged the massive body of the demon fox, dragging it into the scorchingva and letting it sink gradually until it disappeared. Once she was done with that, she took a deep breath of air and raised her Fire Blocking Basket, running towards the direction Aiden left in. In the underground pce, countless gazes were fixed on that bright, shiny scarlet fruit and they grew increasingly fervent. Nobody noticed that a massive figure was silently approaching from the depths of the pce. The mist around the Vermilion Fruit had almost dispersed entirely. The Vermilion Fruit waspletely ripe! Suddenly, the air was still. There was tension and pressure! Many martial artists were motionless except for their roving eyes that darted all around; they did not even notice the sweat pouring down their faces. Given the current situation, any slight movement could cause a massive fight to break out between the paragons! The ten top powerful factions of the northern region C Dark Ghost Sect, Ster Luna Sect, zing Phoenix Valley, Shadowless Sect, Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect, Heaven Motion Sect, Seven Kills Sect, Blood Mist Sect, Mystic Firmament Divine Cult, Dragon Tiger Sect. The four elite ns as well C Taban, Murong, Cadmus and Gudu. Those powerful factions hadsted through history and managed to endure through the destruction of the Great energy an Empire in the past with their formidable foundations. But now, all the paragons of the ten Upper Sects and four gentry ns were wary and none of them dared to be the first to attack. Although the Vermilion Fruit was already ripe, it was right in front of everyone and the person who made the first move would definitely be at a loss and would probably be drowned in the attacks of everyone! "Hehe!" Suddenly, Taban Feng''sugh broke the silence. "The Vermilion Fruit is right here. Since no one dares to take it, I won''t stand on courtesy!" Surveying his surroundings with a raring battle intent, Taban Feng took a huge stride forward with a golden halberd in his right hand, sprinting towards the Vermilion Fruit with a condescending aura. Everyone present was all paragons of the North Region; the strongest of the younger generation. Even those that were not from the ten Upper Sects or four gentry ns did not feel that they were inferior to Taban Feng and naturally felt no fear. Chapter 932 932 - Blood Bath (Part 1) "Humph!" Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon harrumphed coldly. "Taban Feng, you think that you''re qualified to take the Vermilion Fruit and reign supreme over the North Region?" Wielding two truncheons, Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon had a domineering aura when he stood forth! Boom! The golden halberd collided against the twin truncheons and let out a deafening bang with sparks! It was an even split! Both sides were pushed back in that head-on collision. Among the ten Upper Sects, Dragon Tiger Sect was the only one that focused only on body tempering. The Founder Master that established it was a remarkable figure in Tianhuang Maind and left behind the Dragon Tiger Sutra. It''s said that at the peak of its martial power, one can subdue dragons and suppress tigers; there was nothing one couldn''t do! The twin truncheons were also known as the Dragon Tiger Truncheons. The truncheon on his left hand was etched with an intricate pattern that looked like a dragon''s scales. The truncheon on his right hand had ck yellow flower patterns that resembled those on a tiger''s skin. The weapons that both of them used were perfect-grade artifact weapons! Initially, at the sectpetition of Great Zhou, the birth of a perfect artifact weapon was enough to stir the capital and tempt countless Martial Masters. But now, two perfect artifact weapons were disyed the moment two paragons fought! Buzz! All of a sudden! The clear sound of a sword buzzing rang through the void. A sword light shed. It was zing white and tore the void into two. The paragon of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect had attacked and his sh sliced through the void. There was initially nothing there. However, the sword beam illuminated a figure in the air who retreated hurriedly with a flustered expression, dodging the killing move by a hair''s breadth! That was the paragon of Shadowless Sect who was trying to get close to the Vermilion Fruit by hiding himself. However, Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon saw through him and forced him out with a single sh! The paragon of Dark Ghost Sect tapped his feet off the ground and charged towards the Vermilion Fruit like a phantom but he was blocked away by a streak of fire. "Y-You!" Dark Ghost Sect''s paragon''s expression was grim. The one who attacked was G''ang Nan of zing Phoenix Valley. A month ago, he escaped from this ce and with the help of seniors in his sect, healed his injuriespletely and even advanced in his martial power. He was not only back for the Vermilion Fruit, but also for revenge! The moment Blood Mist Sect''s paragon made a move, a gigantic star appeared before him. The paragon of Ster Luna Sect had attacked. The paragons of Heaven Motion Sect, Seven Kills Sect, Cadmus Wujia, Murong Wolt, and everyone else attacked either in pairs or in three-way fights. The situation was inplete chaos. All the other paragons of the North Region seized the opportunity to strike! A long-faced martial artist relied on the speed of his movement technique and avoided a few fatal attacks in session, charging towards the Vermilion Fruit. Before he could reach it, a blood mist appeared before him and devoured himpletely, leaving no corpse behind! Some other geniuses that tried to close in were cleaved down by Taban Feng''s halberd as well! The brutal battle royale between the paragons of the Ten Upper Sects and the four gentry ns was terrifying as Hell and any martial artists that approached were instantly minced! The many paragons that were present were extremely conservative and did not give it their all yet. If any paragon were to start using a Martial Master phenomenon and cause a threat to others, it would definitely cause a chain reaction and that battle royale would turn even more bloody and cruel! Muran Dorn and Maran Des stood at the outermost perimeter and looked at the intense battle of the paragons with pale expressions. This was a perfect representation of how savage and cruel the martial power world was! The two of them witnessed the person known as the number one Martial Master of Great Shang charge in only to be beaten down by the Dragon Tiger Truncheons of Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon repeatedly. That person had only managed to release his Martial Master phenomenon halfway when he was killed by Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon and died on the spot! Geniuses of the martial power world were absolutely worthless at this moment. Only those that could survive the baptism of blood could be considered as the true paragons of the North Region! "This is way too scary!" Maran Des remarked softly, "The paragons of the Ten Upper Sects and four gentry ns are fighting around the Vermilion Fruit. Anyone that wants to get their hands on the Vermilion Fruit will have to pass by them and will definitely fail." Muran Dorn nodded. "That''s right, theirbat strength is truly way too terrifying."please visit At that moment, a tall and burly figure rushed into the crowd. The burly man wore rough linen clothes that exposed his thick, muscr arms. His expression was steely and everywhere he passed, everything was overturned as he charged right into the center of the battlefield. "Another person who wants to die." Maran Des shook her head and sighed gently. In this short period of time, hundreds of Martial Masters have already perished on the battlefield. Any paragon that wanted to approach the Vermilion Fruit would definitely be ughtered by the paragons of the Ten Upper Sects and four gentry ns mercilessly! In the blink of an eye, the burly man had already closed in and was fighting against the paragon of Blood Mist Sect. There were already dozens of Martial Masters that had died in the hands of Blood Mist Sect''s paragon by now! Controlling his blood mist, the paragon devoured everything and there was nothing he couldn''t corrode and eat up! In fact, Muran Dorn and Maran Des saw some Martial Masters release phenomenons that were devoured by his blood mistpletely! "You must have a death wish!" When he saw that the burly man had no intention of slowing down, Blood Mist Sect''s paragon sneered and released his blood mist to engulf the former. "Scram worm!" His voice was thunderous and shuddering! Not only did the burly man not dodge or avoid, his gaze was like lightning and when he spoke, there was a mighty aura that burst forth from his body like a surging tsunami! Suddenly, the area trembled! The pupils of Blood Mist Sect''s paragon constricted and his expression changed starkly. With a torrential massive energy, the burly man forced back the iing blood mist instantly! The unstoppable blood mist could not get close to him at all! The burly man did not stop there and extended his massive palm, pping the blood mist directly. Poof! A huge head was lopped into the air with widened eyes. A single charge by the burly man dispersed the blood mist. Instantly, Blood Mist Sect''s paragon died on the spot in regrets without the chance to even release his Martial Master phenomenon. "Hmm?" The initially chaotic battlefield was met with a momentary pause with the death of Blood Mist Sect''s paragon. It was too fast! Nobody expected the paragon of Blood Mist Sect to die. Less than that, nobody expected him to die against a single move from this burly man who had appeared out of nowhere. His head was sent flying with a single p! In fact, many of the martial artists present did not even manage to catch the appearance of the burly man clearly yet. Amotion broke out within the crowd. A variable had urred! "How dare you!" Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s paragon hollered in rage when he saw that the burly man was already close to reaching the Vermilion Fruit. Boom! A massive divine cauldron descended from the heavens with a blinding radiance and a terrifying aura that could suppress all living beings! The burly man''s expression did not change and he did not stop at all. His internal energy burst forth alongside two divine golden lights from his eyes as the veins on his arms were exposed while his muscles knotted together like liquid steel. He threw a punch against the air! Bang! A loud bang sounded in the air. "Is he crazy? He''s trying to fight against a top grade artifact weapon with his bare hands!" "He truly doesn''t know what''s good for him to underestimate the paragons of the North Region as such." Remarks could be heard from the crowd. "Your arm is mine!" The eyes of Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s paragon shone cruelly as he controlled his divine cauldron to smash down fiercely against the burly man! The burly man did not avoid or dodge and the flesh on his fist expanded rapidly, resembling a gigantic seal that emanated a heavy blood stench! Boom! The fist and the divine cauldron collided with a huge bang. After a momentary pause, a series of cracking sounds echoed from the divine cauldron. It was extremely tragic and thin lines could be seen forming on the surface of the cauldron! Chapter 933 933 - Blood Bath (Part 2) Psst! All the martial artists present gasped in shock. The next moment, the divine cauldron was repelled more than a hundred feet away and its radiance dimmed. The martial artists that witnessed that were dumbfounded and their eyes were filled with astonishment. Nobody expected that the unknown burly man would be able to take on a top-grade artifact weapon barehanded and even send it flying! What sort of a body was that? Could that person be wearing some sort of a perfect or top-grade glove artifact weapon? Otherwise, what could exin what just happened? The shock was even greater for Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s paragon who was directly in the fight. Blood drained from his face and his mind went nk momentarily. It was way too domineering! A single punch from the burly man nearly shattered his divine cauldron! "You " The moment Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s paragon spoke with a single word, the burly man had already arrived before him in a sh with a suffocating ferocity! Breathing became difficult for him and he had to swallow whatever he wanted to say back. Instantly, things changed on the battlefield. Although Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s paragon was dazed, the burly man did not hesitate and was decisive to kill, shing a cold saber in his hand forward. Blood energy spread. "Not good!" The paragon of Mystic Firmament Divine Cult snapped back to his senses and realized that his life was hanging on a thread. He did not have time to think at all and released his Martial Master phenomenon right away. "Ow" Suddenly! The tragic sound of ghosts wailing could be heard as the burly man''s saber sliced through the air, distracting one''s mind instantly. Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s paragon could not support his Martial Master phenomenon fully and it dissipated in his moment of distraction. "It''s over, this is where I die!" Instantly, his heart sank. Poof! A sword beam shed before his eyes. A thin red line appeared on the throat of Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s paragon, expanding slowly before turning into a blood mist that stained the void. Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s paragon was sliced in the throat and died on the spot! From the moment he appeared, the burly man had attacked a total of three times and two paragons died! "What in the world is that person''s martial power realm? He seems to only be at early-stage Martial Master?" "What!" The many martial artists that were watching were shocked and used their Spirit Peering Art on the burly man. "He''s truly at early-stage Martial Master!" The voices of the crowd grew louder. However, the situation on the battlefield had turned more ridiculous with the inclusion of the burly man. After killing two people in session, the burly man now had a rather empty path between him and the Vermilion Fruit without any obstructions. At that moment, the only ones closest to the burly man with the potential to stop him were on his sides C the paragon of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect and a ck-robed swordsman. The ck-robed swordsman''s sword had been in his pitch-ck sheath the entire time. Up till this point of the battle, he had not withdrawn it at all. Each time he attacked, the ck-robed swordsman was barehanded and used his finger as a recement for his sword, killing his enemies with streams of sword energy. At that moment, the initially dazed eyes of the ck-robed swordsman that could not find a focal point were starting to converge upon seeing the might of the burly man. The lights of his pupils converged like two extremely sharp swords that gave off a chilling feeling! Slowly, the ck-robed swordsman''s right hand descended on his sword''s handle. He could attack at any moment! When they noticed that, Taban Feng, Cadmus Wujia, and the others scoffed coldly internally. In their eyes, the burly man was already a dead man! "Hmm?" Sensing something, the burly man turned his gaze towards the ck-robed swordsman. The ck-robed swordsman gave him an extreme sense of danger! That was a really frightening person! It was acknowledged in the martial power world that sword martial artists had the strongest killing power! In the entire continent, the strongest sect for sword martial artists was Sword Sect of the nine righteous sects. The burly man had exchanged blows with Sword Sect''s paragon before. However, the feeling that the ck-robed swordsman gave off was even more dangerous than Sword Sect''s paragon! Despite that, the burly man did not stop in his tracks.please visit If he wanted to get his hands on the Vermilion Fruit, he would have to overwhelm everything with a thunderous might without any hesitation to allow anyone to react to him! "How dare this unknown b*stard try to get his hands on the ten thousand-year-old Vermilion Fruit!" Before the ck-robed swordsman attacked, the paragon of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect on the other side lost his cool and shouted. Moving along with his sword, he appeared before the burly man in a sh. The ck-robed swordsman frowned slightly when he saw Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon attack. His right hand that was initially on his sword handle moved away slowly once more. Buzz! A de quivered with a blinding radiance. Five spirit patterns shone and the sword released a killing aura that seemed as though it could prate everything in the world! A perfect artifact weapon! The burly man narrowed his gaze as he looked at the iing sword. His only consideration was the ck-robed swordsman on the other side. However, at this moment, the ck-robed swordsman had taken two steps back C it was clear that he did not want to join forces with Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon. Feeling relieved, the burly man swung his saber towards the iing sword. "Ow" The sword glided through the void and released the tragic sound of ghosts wailing once more, as though specters surrounded them. "Puny tricks!" Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon sneered and flicked his wrist, causing his sword to buzz. ng! ng! As the sword buzzed, it released an infinite sharpness that suppressed the tragic wails instantly while slicing the specters into dust. The two opposing des collided. Cling! ng! A metallic sound rang through the battlefield and sparks flew. Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect was the only sword martial power sect among the Ten Upper Sects of the North Region. Their signature sword ssic, the Heaven Piercing 13 Swords, was renowned throughout the martial power world and its sword stance were peerless. Most of the time, opponents would be interrupted by the Heaven Piercing 13 Swords the moment they started attacking and would wince in unbearable pain. The moment the Heaven Piercing 13 Swords was released, opposing martial artists would not be able to release their skills fully. After multiple shes, they would be disadvantaged and it would be difficult for them to turn the situation around. However, the burly man was unmoved and had a calm expression. In his hands, his sword seemed like it was sentient and his saber technique was extremely precise C it was not inferior to the Heaven Piercing 13 Swords and he was even gaining a slight advantage! "That sword technique!" Maran Des frowned deeply. Rather than precise, she saw the burly man''s saber techniques as sinister! Every single sh from the saber came at a tricky angle and its trajectory was untraceable. More than that, every single sh was fatal! As Maran Des gazed at the burly man''s saber technique, a blurry, terrifying scene seemed to unfold before her eyes. There were plenty of phantoms! There were rivers of blood! There were white bones all around! There were walking corpses! The burly man seemed like he was surrounded by an endless Hell with countless malevolent ghosts and skeletons struggling and howling within. With a terrible expression, Maran Des''s petite figure started trembling. Bang! She sensed a heavy push on her shoulder and woke up in a jolt. Unknowingly, she had already broken out in cold sweat. "That sword technique is extremely terrifying and doesn''t seem like it''s orthodox. Don''t stare at it, it can affect your mind!" Muran Dorn''s voice sounded. Maran Des nodded with a sense of trepidation. Seeing that she was already feeling that way despite not being directly involved in the battle, she truly could not imagine how Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon felt at the moment. ng! The two opposing des collided. The burly man released his grip and the sword left his hand, wrapping around the other party''s sword and slicing at the throat of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon! That sh seemed impossible and came without warning. rmed, Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon retreated hurriedly. Shing! The front of his shirt was sliced open with blood seeping through. While the wound was not deep, Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon was drenched in a cold sweat C he would have been killed by that sh if he hadn''t managed to retreat in time! Before he could react, his vision turned blurry and the burly man had already brushed by him and arrived at the Vermilion Fruit. With a swipe, thetter got his hands on that delectable red fruit. Chapter 934 934 - Blood Bath (Part 3) "He got his hands on it!" Maran Des eximed, "Where is that man from? He''s amazing!" Muran Dorn shook his head. "The Vermilion Fruit had been there since the start of the battle and none of those paragons had the chance to pluck it. However, everyone knew that whoever gets their hands on the Vermilion Fruit would be the target of all." "You mean to say" "That man is not far from his death now that he plucked the Vermilion Fruit." Back on the battlefield. Simultaneously, all the paragons stopped what they were doing and everyone''s gazesnded on the burly man. "It''s him!" Finally, a martial artist from the crowd recognized the burly man and eximed frightfully with a trembling voice. "H-He''s the one from the news! The monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind!" The burly man was Aiden who had exited the cave. "Hmm?" Taban Feng and the others frowned. Most of the Martial Masters present were atte-stage or perfected Martial Master and had naturally not seen Aiden in the elementary ancient battlefield. However, a few of the martial artists in the crowd had once witnessed that unforgettable scene beneath the Ancient One''s Pce from a distance! The appearance of the burly man was etched deep in the memories of those few people. He was a nightmarish existence! "Holy Fire Ind''s monster incarnate?" Although the many paragons present were wary, none of them were fearful. All of them were murderous and wanted nothing more than to rip Aiden apart! "To think that even the sessor of Holy Fire Ind woulde for the Vermilion Fruit. Interesting," Cadmus Wujia said with a fake smile. "Humph!" Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon had an unfriendly expression and hollered, "Since when did the sessor of Holy Fire Ind join the demonic sects? That sword technique earlier on was clearly the demonic sects'' Asura Saber!" He was not the only one C most of the people present recognized Aiden''s saber technique. Aiden''s expression was calm C he had expected to be recognized as the sessor of Holy Fire Ind. He ced the Vermilion Fruit in his storage bag as now was not the time for him to consume it. The Vermilion Fruit had a tremendous amount of energy and he could only digest and absorb it in seclusion martial power. Consuming the Vermilion Fruit in a battlefield as such was akin tomitting suicide. Now that he had managed to pluck the Vermilion Fruit sessfully, as long as he could escape and flee from everyones'' pursuit, he would be free! "I heard that you''re the number one monster incarnate throughout history. It''s time for me to test and see if you live up to that reputation!" Taban Feng had a raring battle intent and mmed his golden halberd heavily on the ground. The earth split and revealed a series of cracks while gravel and sand flew everywhere C Taban Feng''s aura was torrential! To be fair, most of the martial artists present had heard of the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind but there were few that truly feared him. Furthermore, most of them were atte-stage or perfected Martial Master while Aiden was only at early-stage. Murong Woltmented indifferently, "I heard that you once entered the Ancient One''s Pce. I''m sure you must have benefited immensely from it." Those words caused a huge stir in the crowd. Some martial artists who initially nned on not getting involved were now tempted. Who wouldn''t be tempted to get the Ancient One''s Pce''s inheritance? "Hand over the Vermilion Fruit and the inheritance of the Ancient One''s Pce and we can leave you with a full corpse!" Seven Kills Sect''s paragon wielded two daggers and his eyes zed with furious killing intent that was almost corporeal. "Hahahaha!" Aiden reared his head in wildughter and pointed his saber at the group of paragons blocking his path, nodding. "Good, good! How overbearing! You want to kill me even if I hand over the Vermilion Fruit? Let''s see how many of you paragons manage to survive me today!" "Demon!" Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon wielded his truncheons and hollered with a divine might, "This is not the ancient pce battlefield. It''s not a ce for you to be brazen!" "What can you do to me if I want to be brazen?" Aiden sneered and closed in to the Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon with huge strides. Frostily, he remarked with an icy gaze. "Anyone foolish that stands in my way shall be killed without mercy!" His ck hair danced wildly and his gaze was electric. With an intimidating aura, the figure that was over two meters tall seemed like it was a mighty ancient entity that could murder gods and even immortals who were dashing over! "Kill him!" The paragons roared in unison and attacked simultaneously. Instantly, the void shone with a bright spirit light. Ten paragons flew into the air, bedazzling like ten zing suns. Taban Feng, Cadmus Wujia, and Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon C the three martial artists who were the most apt in meleebat C had closed in. A halberd, golden three-pronged spear, and the Dragon Tiger Truncheons flew through the air! Flying swords, daggers, spears, and other artifact weapons turned into streaks of light that arrived instantly with a chilling intent as well. In the same martial power realm, who could defend against thebined attack of those ten paragons? The artifact weapons and flying swords came from all directions. Those who attacked could be considered as peerless paragons of the North Region. Although they had never worked together before, the moment they attacked, Aiden''s escape paths were fully sealed! There was no room for him to dodge and he could only face everything head-on! The reputation of Holy Fire Ind''s monster incarnate had grown too much after that battle under the Ancient One''s Pce. Even if some portions were exaggerated and the paragons were indignant, they did not dare to be careless. Taban Feng and the other two who were well versed in meleebat were slower by a step as they wielded heavy weapons such as the golden halberd, golden three-pronged spear and Dragon Tiger Truncheons. The countless flying swords, and artifact weapons arrived first as they tore through the air. Wielding his sword in one hand, Aiden''s Soul Power Energy soared, and his body emitted a faint trace of steam. With a gaze deep as the sea, he sliced viciously towards the void in front of him. That sh struck nothing and did not collide against a single artifact weapon or flying sword. On the surface, it looked like it made no sense. However, after that sh was made, the void in Aiden''s surroundings seemed like they were drawn in by some mysterious power. Spirit energy swiveled and contorted endlessly, almost turning into a corporeal and massive spirit sea vortex! Void Splitting Manual, Ripple stance! Just as the artifact weapons and flying swords were about to strike Aiden, they were drawn in by the vortex''s power and their trajectories changed. Pshew! Pshew! Pshew! The flying swords brushed by him. Although it was extremely close, Aiden was not injured at all! "Die!" Right after Aiden attacked, Taban Feng, Cadmus Wujia, and Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon attacked together as they bellowed fiercely with lit-up eyes! Their attacks were extremely precise. It came while Aiden was still recovering from his momentum and during thepse of his saber technique! If one were to analyze carefully, there would be apse between the connection of every single sword strike. Thatpse was the greatest w of the saber technique. If this was earlier on, Aiden might not have been able to handle their attacks and might even be flustered. However, after the Asura, Ward Atrez''s teachings, and the martial power of the Dark de Manual, Aiden had already made up for the ws of the Void Splitting Manual as much as possible. Without any pause, after Vortex was released, the tide in his body churned and produced new strength once more. Swoosh! His de swerved and Aiden retaliated with three consecutive shes! Instantly, massive waves seemed to have surged from his de. The glimmering light of the de engulfed the three of them like a massive wave crashing onto the shore! Void Splitting Manual, Raging Tides stance! Raging Tides came after Vortex. Everything moved fluidly as liquid with an unparalleled might without any dys! ng! ng! ng! There were three loud bangs! Aiden was like an ancient God of War and did not budge at all. However, Taban Feng, Cadmus Wujia, and Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon who had just rushed forward were shocked and retreated a step back respectively. The crowd was in an uproar! "He''s too strong!" "There''s no wonder he''s the number one monster incarnate of history. Holy Fire Ind''s ultimate techniques are truly impressive." "Hehe, it''s toote to make a conclusion now. While he is strong, these top ten paragons of the North Region are not pushovers either and they all have trump cards up their sleeves. If they''re really pushed to their limits, even the strongest monster incarnate in history will have to die!" Chapter 935 935 - Duel Taban Feng and the other two had grim expressions. Although it was merely a single head-on exchange, all three of them experienced the terrifying power of the tide that surged through their weapons into their bodies and almost caused them to suffer internal injuries! "Indeed, he does have some skills." Taban Feng widened his eyes in rage. Instead of turning fearful, his battle intent intensified. Swash! Aiden released his Plow Heaven Stride and arrived before the three of them in a single step, stomping heavily on the ground! Boom! The ground shook and the mountains trembled! All three of them were astonished. That extremely terrifying stance was created with just a single step of Aiden without any additional motions! It seemed like the entire firmament could be trampled by his step! With a domineering aura, Aiden was indifferent to the flying swords that came behind his back and took the first attack against the encirclement of the ten paragons. Swoosh! The sound of a tsunami surged from his saber majestically. A torrential aura crushed down and could sink gxies and the earth! The pupils of Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon constricted immediately. Without thinking twice, he crossed his fingers and palms like a pair of gigantic scissors before thrusting upwards! "You''re dead!" Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon''s eyes were filled with madness. If this was a one-on-one fight, he would have already released his Martial Master phenomenon by now. The power of Aiden''s attack was way too terrifying and even if he could withstand it, he would definitely be injured. But right now, the situation was advantageous for him and there was no need to release his phenomenon! Behind Aiden, the flying swords and artifact weapons of G''ang Nan, Murong Wolt and everyone else were already shooting over. Taban Feng and Cadmus Wujia had already attacked too. If Aiden did not stop, he would definitely be dead! The two of them were extremely close. The moment he was done with his thought, Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon saw a look of mockery in Aiden''s eyes. It was as though he could not hide his thoughts from this monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind! All of a sudden! Taking a deep breath of air, Aiden opened his mouth and bellowed. "DIE!" Boom! That single roar was like a thunderbolt that struck down. The world seemingly shook under the man''s booming voice! A tremendous air current surged forth! Aiden practiced the unique duality of traditional and demonic martial methods. After he formed his cores for both paths, the power of his attack had increased significantly as well and had reached a terrifying state! Murong Wolt, G''ang Nan, and everyone else who were standing far away shuddered and the cirction of their spirit energies paused for a brief moment. In turn, the flying swords that they were controlling paused for that split second as well. A figure appeared more than a meter behind Aiden C it was Shadowless Sect''s paragon! Initially, he wanted to rely on his sect''s secret skill and approach Aiden before killing thetter. However, he did not expect that when he approached, before he could attack, a deafening roar sounded and forced him out. The eyeballs of Shadowless Sect''s paragons bulged out and blood seeped out from his ears, nose, and mouth. Shadowless Sect specialized in stealth. In terms of head-on strength, they were far inferior to the other sects. Furthermore, he was way too close to Aiden! That roar almost killed him! Taban Feng, Cadmus Wujia, and Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon specialized in body tempering and had strong physiques and rich bloodlines. Naturally, their endurances were much stronger than Shadowless Sect''s paragon as well. Even so, the three of them were facing Aiden directly and they were way too close C it was difficult to imagine the impact they received! The three of them shuddered and their minds buzzed loudly, turning nk momentarily. All three of them were dazed. In a fight of this level and especially given the treacherous nature of meleebat, a moment of distraction as such C even if it was a brief moment C was enough to decide many things! Boom! The sword collided against the twin truncheons heavily. Normally speaking, Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon would definitely have been able to defend against that sh. However, at that moment of daze, his power became extremely weak. That single sh and its almostpletely oppressive nature broke through the Dragon Tiger Truncheons and cut down savagely! The dended on his head and cleaved it into two directly! Ssh! His organs sttered everywhere with a nasty blood stench. Yet another paragon had fallen! Because of that sudden shout, the flying swords and artifact weapons that were initially supposed to pierce Aiden met with a momentary pause. However, Aiden''s massacre did not stop at all! After killing Dragon Tiger Sect''s paragon with a single sh, Aiden did not pause at all and swerved his de. After Countercurrent came to Ripple! The extreme toughness of his saber stance turned into extreme gentleness without any sluggishness. His saber beam shimmered like water. A ripple appeared in the void and looked amazing. However, it was filled with killing intent as it crept towards Cadmus Wujia''s throat! Poof! Cadmus Wujia''s ears were ringing due to Aiden''s roar and his mind was nk. Before he could react, his throat was swiped by the saber! A blood mist spewed out. With a horrified expression, Cadmus Wujia reached out and clutched his throat hurriedly, but he could not stop the blood flow. "Ee.. " Opening his mouth, he let out a series of strange cries that sounded like wheezes. As he staggered backwards, the color on Cadmus Wujia''s face drained and the light in his eyes dimmed. His legs buckled and he knelt on the ground, dying on the spot! The de swerved once more. Ripple extended, wanting to engulf Taban Feng as well. At that moment, Taban Feng snapped to his senses and his eyes widened. Circting his Martial Master fanatically, his internal energy burst forth and he shed fiercely with his golden halberd. "Kill him!" Taban Feng roared as well with a menacing expression. ng! After killing two people in session, Aiden''s strength had already diminished. The saber was repelled right away when it collided with the golden halberd. At the same time, Murong Wolt, G''ang Nan, and everyone else returned to their senses and flying swords and other artifact weapons nketed down towards Aiden. Aiden''s expression did not change at all and his gaze was frightening and unusually calm. Making use of the rebound momentum, Aiden retreated. At the same time, his tendons and bones rang with a cracking sound, as though beans were being fried. In the blink of an eye, that seemingly burly and mighty body made an impossible contortion. Some of those actions werepletely unimaginable and his body was twisted to its limits, looking like it could snap at any moment! However, because of that, Aiden managed to shuttle through the many flying swords and artifact weapons by a hair''s breadth! Some of the flying swords ripped his green robes but thanks to the defense of the Mystic Gold Silk Armor, he did not suffer any injuries at all. Shadowless Sect''s paragon''s orifices were bleeding due to Aiden''s Thunderp Kill and his mind was in chaos, almost turning into sludge. Finally, he recovered. The moment he stirred awake, he saw Aiden charging at him and was scared out of his wits! Aiden shed in reverse and released Vortex, defending against the attacks of many flying swords. At the same time, he reached out and grabbed at the Shadowless Sect''s paragon''s head! "Martial Master, Shadowless Twin Darts!" Shadowless Sect''s paragon retreated right away and wanted to release his Martial Master phenomenon. Unexpectedly, Aiden''s arm expanded by three inches and caught up to him, grabbing his head with five fingers! "Pfft!" Five finger-holes appeared. The Martial Master phenomenon of Shadowless Sect''s paragon had just taken shape when it dissipated instantly. To think that the encirclement of the top ten paragons would lead to three of them dying within a couple of rounds C it was extremely tragic! The rest of them who remained were now flustered. Taban Feng yelled out. "What are you guys waiting for? Kill him!" Murong Wolt surveyed her surroundings coldly. "Everyone, if you continue watching idly by the sidelines, once we lose, you guys won''t be his match even if you join forcester on!" At that moment, martial artists of Blood Mist Sect and Mystic Firmament Divine Cult were already at their limits even without Murong Wolt''s reminder after witnessing their paragons killed by Aiden. "Kill! Kill! Kill!" Everyone chanted angrily. Their voices rumbled and almost drowned Aiden! Thud! Thud! Thud! The ancient chariots of the four gentry ns moved with a thunderous sound as they shone brightly and charged towards Aiden! Apart from martial artists such as Muran Dorn and Maran Des who were already intending to stay out of the affair right from the get go, most of the martial artists in the underground pce were embroiled in the situation! Chapter 936 936 - Majestic Battle "Humph!" Aiden was fearless and his eyes shone savagely. Looking at the iing chariots, he strode forward and received them with his bare body without using any spirit arts! Boom! The blood and flesh of the divine steeds pulling the chariots sttered everywhere. The chariots were smashed apart by Aiden. Wielding his simple-looking sword, Aiden''s bloodline surged and he cleaved left and right C no one could withstand his edge! There was no one who could stand in Aiden''s path at all! Boom! The voids rumbled. A golden halberd with a blinding radiance tore through the heavens and descended into the underground pce with a frightening aura! The power of a phenomenon! When he saw that the situation wasn''t looking good, Taban Feng did not hesitate and released his Martial Master phenomenon right away! All of a sudden! Night fell and stars appeared with a bright moon in the middle. Countless stars fell with a tragic beauty, possessing a shocking killing intent! A city zing with fiery mes descended in a mighty manner. It was so hot that the surrounding energy had already evaporated and it seemed like it could incinerate all living beings! "Seven Kills Blood Letter!" Seven Kills Sect''s paragon roared and seven blood-colored characters for the word ''kill'' appeared behind him, hovering in the air with a grisly scarlet shade! One after another, Martial Master phenomenons descended. There were many ancient phenomenons among them that were once ranked in the Phenomenon Rankings! Instantly, Aiden was surrounded by endless Martial Master phenomenons. Martial Master phenomenons were the strongest methods avable for Martial Masters. Unless they were forced to the edge, Martial Masters wouldn''t use them easily. Part of the reason why the paragons did not release their Martial Master phenomenons before this was that Aiden was only at early-stage Martial Master. However, they did not expect that hisbat strength would be this frightening and they were caught by surprise. At the same time, they were worried about other variables. The oriole stalks the mantis as it stalks the grasshopper C they were afraid that they would be the mantis! But now, Taban Feng, G''ang Nan, and the others truly had no other choice but to release their Martial Master phenomenons. Otherwise, none of them would be able to stop Aiden! Aiden sneered. He circted his Soul Power. Boom! Suddenly, a frightening scene that shocked everyone appeared behind him! The mountains copsed and the earth split. Volcanoes spewed with dust clouds falling. Scarletva flowed on the ground and devoured all living beings, incinerating all life! A gargantuan living being crawled from beneath the ground and soared into the air. It had a snake''s head, an anaconda''s body, dragon''s scales, phoenix''s wings, and bloodshot eyes that surveyed the surroundings. The formidable power of this phenomenon was spreading! Crack! Crack! Crack! Some attacking swords and artifact weapons could not withstand it at all and cracked. Their lights dimmed and they fell to the ground, shattered into pieces. "Pfft!" When eyed by that massive living being, a martial artist''s expression changed and spat out a mouthful of blood. mes started igniting within his body and engulfed him rapidly! In the blink of an eye, the person was burned to ashes! When that Martial Master phenomenon was released, all the martial artists in the pce were stunned! "What sort of a monster is this?" Maran Des who was hiding far away could not help but ask with a pale face. "I''m not sure." Muran Dorn shook his head. He merely felt that the massive living being gave off an ancient aura, akin to a divine being that looked down on the masses! "That is" "The Primordial Soaring Serpent!" Murong Wolt and the others were shocked. The Primordial Soaring Serpent had been lost for a long time and none of them present had witnessed it personally before. However, the Martial Master phenomenon before them was exactly the same as what was described! G''ang Nanmented internally with astonishment, "The Primordial Divine Turtle appeared a month ago. To think that the Primordial Soaring Serpent would appear today as well! I wonder where that gray-robed martial artist is. The two of them will definitely be able to fight with these opposing phenomenons." The arrival of the Primordial Soaring Serpent shocked the world! Gulp! Gulp! The Primordial Soaring Serpent opened its mouth widely and devoured huge mouthfuls ofva. The burningva soared into the air, forming a red river stream that entered the mouth of the Primordial Soaring Serpent continuously. As the Primordial Soaring Serpent drank theva, its aura turned even more terrifying. The scales on the serpent became brighter and shone with a blinding shade of scarlet that resembled metal tes that were heated red! "Kill him!" Taban Feng hollered in rage. With a grim expression, G''ang Nan said darkly, "He is only at the early-stage Martial Master realm at the end of the day. If we join forces, he won''t be able to deal with us!" "Everyone, don''t hold anything back anymore at this point!" Murong Wolt dered loudly, "That person once entered the Ancient One''s Pce and is the sessor of Holy Fire Ind. He definitely has tons of treasures in his possession. We''ll only stand a chance after killing him!" Thousands of paragons released their Martial Master phenomenons and rushed over. A single Martial Master phenomenon may not be able to pose a threat to the Primordial Soaring Serpent. However, thebined release of thousands of Martial Master phenomenons was enough to destroy any expert of the Martial Master realm, even if only a rare few of them were ancient phenomenons or had spots on the Phenomenon Ranking! Bang! Bang! Bang! There were constant collisions between the phenomenons! Instantly, the Martial Master phenomenon behind Aiden swayed and even revealed illusions! The surrounding Martial Master phenomenons continued shing like a flood that did not know of fatigue. Psst! Psst! The Primordial Soaring Serpent in the void was enraged and raised its head, letting out a slithering sound as it inhaled and exhaled. This was only a phenomenon and wasn''t material. However, the Primordial Soaring Serpent retained its memories and dignity from the primordial era. It was a god of the mes! Gods were dignified and could not endure the provocations of such puny ants! Swoosh! The Primordial Soaring Serpent fanned the mes with its wings and its eyes spewed fire. Opening its blood-red mouth, it spat out a stream of scorchingva at a group of paragons! Crack! Crack! Crack! Apanied by loud sounds, countless Martial Master phenomenons shattered and many Martial Masters were devoured directly by the steamingva, turning into ashes without corpses. "Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!" A series of tragic, shuddering wails sounded. Sensing that something was wrong with the situation, some of the martial artists retreated instantly. However, most of them were sucked in by theva pool the moment their Martial Master phenomenons shattered. The more they struggled, the deeper they sank and eventually, they were drowned. The paragons of the Ten Upper Sects and the four gentry ns were the only ones who could defend against the full-powered attack of the Primordial Soaring Serpent. Even so, for something like G''ang Nan''s Raging City ze, its ancient city walls were already filled with cracks and were on the brink of copse. In the Martial Master phenomenon summoned by Ster Luna Sect''s paragon, most of the night had already faded and countless stars fell. Of Seven Kills Sect''s Seven Kills Blood Letters, only a single character remained and it was struggling to hang on. Of course, after that burst, the Primordial Soaring Serpent''s radiance faded as well. Aiden shifted his gaze and sped out of the pce''s outer perimeter with the saber in his hands. This was not a ce where he should linger! The longer he stayed here, the more danger he would feel in his heart. "Go!" Aiden pointed forward. The Primordial Soaring Serpent behind him soared up with its body covered in mes, lunging towards G''ang Nan who was in its path ahead with a murderous aura! Boom! G''ang Nan grit his teeth and controlled the ancient city, smashing it heavily against the Primordial Soaring Serpent''s head. Opening its mouth widely, the Primordial Soaring Serpent devoured the entire zing city whole! "Pfft!" G''ang Nan''s expression changed countless times before finally turning pale as a sheet and spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood. A month ago, his Martial Master phenomenon was suppressed by the Primordial Divine Turtle. A monthter, it was destroyed by the Primordial Soaring Serpent. Ranked in the top hundred on the Phenomenon Ranking, Raging City zes was considered as a top-tier Martial Master phenomenon in the North Region. However, G''ang Nan received blows consecutively. He endured the pain in his body and shifted his steps, dodging to the side. Although he knew that Aiden''s Primordial Soaring Serpent could not hold out for much longer, he also knew that he truly had no way of defending against it and could only allow Aiden to leave! "That''s just him struggling at the end of the road!" Chapter 937 937 - Is It Over? The Seven Kills Sect''s paragon arrived before Aiden in a sh and the bloody word character behind him turned more grisly and brighter! The Primordial Soaring Serpent swayed its massive tail and whipped through the air, mming against the bloody word character like a thick steel whip. Piak! The blood word character was destroyed and turned into a blood mist. As though he was struck by lightning, Seven Kills Sect''s paragon no longer dared to block and dodged to the side at an extremely fast speed! Aiden sneered and his eyes shed with a cold glint. Swash! Swinging his arm in reverse, Aiden tossed out his de and it turned into a streak of light, stabbing into the Seven Kills Sect''s paragon''s chest! "Pfft!" The sword de prated his body and pierced into a stone pir in the underground pce. Its de quivered and blood dripped from it endlessly C Seven Kills Sect''s paragon was already thoroughly dead! Aiden had a few other simr sabers of that grade in his storage bag so he did not care about it at all. Apart from Dughur Jian who was watching coldly from the sidelines, the other 13 of the paragons from the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns were already mostly killed by Aiden. They were either dead or injured. After killing Seven Kills Sect''s paragon, nobody dared to stand in Aiden''s way. Finally, his vision cleared up. "Hahahaha!" Aiden reared his head andughed into the air while speeding out of the pce. It was dead silent all around the pce. The paragons that managed to survive such as G''ang Nan and Murong Wolt had grim expressions on their faces. Even the cocky Taban Feng was silent. Although his Martial Master phenomenon was still gathering behind him, it no longer had any fierceness to it and was dark and dull. Just like that, the paragons of the North Region gathered and watched helplessly as the Vermilion Fruit was snatched before their very eyes by the sessor of Holy Fire Ind. If word of this were to get out, all the factions of the North Region would turn into theughingstock of the entire martial power world! "It''s over just like that?" Maran Des murmured to herself as she looked at everything squarely. Muran Dorn sighed gently. Both of them had witnessed everything. The initial fervor when the paragons of the North Region gathered with their raring battle intents up till their current dejectedness after being overwhelmed by the sessor of Holy Fire Ind singlehandedly! In the end, there was an oue to the fight for the Vermilion Fruit. Muran Dorn mumbled, "Perhaps the only way for this man to be suppressed is if the paragons of the nine immortal sects, seven fiend sects, and six Buddhist monasteries are present." "However, I heard that this monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind once defeated the paragons of the immortal, Buddhist, and fiend sects beneath the Ancient One''s Pce," Maran Des frowned and replied. "Things are different now," Muran Dorn shook his head. "Don''t forget that the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind is only at early-stage Martial Master realm right now!" Just as Aiden was about to rush out of the pce''s exit, a deafening roar of a demon beast sounded, threatening to devour the entire world! "Roar!" A humongous ferocious beast barged in. It had the head of a wyrm, body of a tiger, tail of a snake, and extremely sharp teeth with saliva drooling from its mouth. Its fangs shone sinisterly and it was extremely shuddering! Tiger wyrm! It was one of the fiercest types of ancient remnant beasts with the bloodline of a wyrm. After martial power, it can revert to its ancestry and transform into an actual wyrm before growing into a ferocious beast! As for wyrms, they had the chance of transforming into dragons! What was even more terrifying was that a man was riding on that tiger wyrm! When they saw the badge on the man''s waist, the expressions of Murong Wolt and the others changed and they eximed, "The ancient aristocratic family, Lockster!" A big pavilion five kilometers away from the Great Forbidden Ruins. Naturally, the ripening of the Vermilion Fruit could not be hidden from the Martial Grandmasters. This meant that a trial exclusive to the paragons had officially begun! Outside the pavilion, there were Martial Grandmasters from various sects and factions of the Martial Grandmaster. Although they maintained theirposures, each of them revealed nervousness deep in their eyes. None of those Martial Grandmastersmunicated much between one another. On the contrary, the Quasi-Divines in the pavilion were much more rxedparatively. All of those Martial Grandmasters were from the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns and had strong confidence towards the paragons of their factions. Even if they could not defeat their enemies, they could definitely escape unscathed. With casual attitudes, those Martial Grandmasters sipped their teas and chatted leisurely. "Everyone, how about making a guess as to who would be the number one Quasi-Divine Realm Master of the North Region by getting their hands on the Vermilion Fruit?" The Quasi-Divine Master of the Murong n fanned himself in a carefree manner and asked leisurely. He was born extremely handsome and carried a gentle aura. Ster Luna Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master replied indifferently, "Actually, I''m sure everyone knows who the number one Quasi-Divine Realm Master of the North Region is. Even without this fight for the Vermilion Fruit, it would definitely be the newest Master of the Crystal Pce Sect." At the mention of him, all the Martial Grandmasters present went silent immediately. He was indeed the peerless paragon of the Martial Master realm from Crystal Pce Sect! This was someone who had never tasted defeat and dominated the North Region for many years! It was said that the Young Mater, Jorl Wuya had the chance to advance to the Martial Grandmaster realm. However, he did not take that step because he wanted to enter the ancient battlefield and meet with the talents of the world. The scariest thing was that he was less than a hundred years old! He was way too young. As long as Jorl Wuya wanted, he could be a Martial Grandmaster at less than a hundred years old! Furthermore, all the Martial Grandmasters present knew one thing. They knew that once Jorl Wuya advanced to the Martial Grandmaster realm, there was a high chance he would be able to kill them even if he was at early-stage. It was normal for the legacy disciples of the nine immortal sects and seven fiend sects to kill beyond their levels. The Quasi-Divine Master of the Taban n was calm. "It''s needless to talk about that. At least, there isn''t much activity from Crystal Pce Sect. I presume that Jorl Wuya wouldn''t be interested in the Vermilion Fruit either." "Without Jorl Wuya, it''s hard to determine who would be the victor in the end." As Taban n''s Quasi-Divine Master and the others were discussing, amotion broke out from outside the pavilion. There were Martial Grandmasters who withdrew talismans from their storage bags, some of which were already shattered into pieces. The arms of those Martial Grandmasters were trembling slightly and they were shaking their heads, sighing with dark expressions. Upon seeing that, the Quasi-Divine Masters of the Upper Sects and four gentry ns in the pavilion smirked with a hint of mockery in their eyes. In the martial world, there was such a thing as the Destiny Symbol. Upon entering Martial Grandmaster realm and cultivating an Essence Spirit, a martial artist can separate a trace of their spirit consciousness and inject it into a mystic jade to create a unique jade scroll known as the Destiny Symbol. The Destiny Symbol was corrted to the martial artist. Even if they were millions of miles apart, if the martial artist was dead and their Essence Spirit was destroyed, the Destiny Symbol would sense it and its spirit consciousness would disperse, resulting in the destruction of the Destiny Symbol. Therefore, in some major sects, they would have chambers to store Destiny Symbols with martial artists guarding them specifically. The moment a Destiny Symbol was destroyed, even if the martial artist rted to it wasn''t around, the sect would know that the person had already perished. A Mighty Figure from one of the four unorthodox groups of the world, Thousand Crane Sect, created a Destiny Talisman specifically for Martial Masters based on the concept of the Destiny Symbols and it was widespread in the martial world. However, Destiny Talismans had clear range restrictions. The closer they were to their martial artists, the sooner they would receive the transmitted messages and the more urate it would be. If the Destiny Talismans were 50 kilometers away from their martial artists, even if thetter died, nothing would happen to the Destiny Talismans. Right now, the Martial Grandmasters outside the pavilion were holding onto the Destiny Talismans of their Martial Masters! Chapter 938 938 - Shatters Those Destiny Talismans were already shattered. This meant that their disciples or sessors have already perished within the ruins! The Quasi-Divine Master of Mystic Firmament Divine Cult raised his chin slightly with a cold, haughty expression. "Coveting the Vermilion Fruit with such mediocre capabilities? Howughable!" "Tsk, tsk, tsk!" The Quasi-Divine Master of Dark Ghost Sect bared his yellow, rotting teeth and cackled sinisterly like the cries of crows. "I garner that thoseds didn''t even manage to get through the otherworldly soldiers!" The Martial Grandmasters inside the pavilionughed with rxed expressions. Raising a cup of tea, the Quasi-Divine Master of Blood Mist Sect drank heartily and remarked indifferently, "Just a bunch of useless things that didn''t know what''s good for them." The moment he said that his expression changed and he swiftly swiped across his storage bag, retrieving a Destiny Talisman. That Destiny Talisman was already shattered! "Wh at?!" Blood Mist Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master narrowed his gaze and looked at it in disbelief. A momentter, he pped the table and rose with a boundless killing intent surging within him. The teacup on the table flew into the air and exploded! The paragon of Blood Mist Sect that fought for the Vermilion Fruit was his favorite legacy disciple. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have arrived personally and even crafted a Destiny Talisman for the paragon. However, he truly hadn''t expected his legacy disciple to fall the moment the fight for the Vermilion Fruit had just begun! Earlier on, he was still mocking the Martial Grandmasters outside the pavilion, and yet, in the blink of an eye, his own disciple was already dead C this was truly a ridiculous insult. Blood Mist Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master was so pissed that his arm was trembling and anger surged within him. Right now, he wanted to charge into the Great Forbidden Ruins to see who murdered his disciple. However, there was no way the other Martial Grandmasters would let him do that! The reason why they were seated here was to prevent other Martial Grandmasters from interfering. Blood Mist Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master grits his teeth and screened the other Quasi-Divine Masters in the pavilion, trying to make out something from their expressions. Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s Quasi-Divine Master extended his finger and rapped on the table a few times casually. "Dear Friend, please rx. It''s normal to have casualties in fights between martial artists. Don''t get worked up. Sit down and have some tea." Blood Mist Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master was about to explode internally! How would he still have the mood to continue sipping tea? He red at Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s Quasi-Divine Master and snarled coldly, "Your disciple must have murdered my sessor!" "Perhaps," Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s Quasi-Divine Master sneered. "Once this is over, I guess it''s time for me to test out your skills!" "Do you think I''ll be afraid of you?" Neither of them was willing to disy weakness. Suddenly, Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s Quasi-Divine Master''s expression changed and a Destiny Talisman appeared in his hands. The Destiny Talisman was already shattered. "Hahahaha!" Blood Mist Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master burst intoughter and mocked. "Your disciple doesn''t seem to be doing that well either!" Mystic Firmament Divine Cult''s Quasi-Divine Master was enraged and red at the Destiny Talisman with a dark, grim expression. While the other Martial Grandmasters in the pavilion appeared calm on the surface, all of them were gloating internally. Dragon Tiger Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master said darkly, "The two of you, do sit down. There''s no way of turning back now that things havee to this state. There''s no need for you guys to get worked up." "That''s right." Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master said, "The fact that two paragons have perished in such quick session shows the cruelty of this Vermilion Fruit fight. I" Before he could finish, Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master sensed something and his face froze up as he withdrew a Destiny Talisman from his storage bag. Although the radiance of the Destiny Talisman was much dimmer, it was still intact. Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master heaved a gentle sigh of relief. This meant that his sessor was severely injured. However, at the very least, he was still alive. Before long, Dragon Tiger Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master''s expression changed slightly and he withdrew a Destiny Talisman from his storage bag. His eyes filled with killing intent as he looked at the dense cracks on it. Immediately after, the Quasi-Divine Masters of the Cadmus n and Shadowless Sect sensed something. By the time the both of them withdrew their Destiny Talismans, it was already shattered! This time round, it wasn''t just the Martial Grandmasters outside the pavilion C even those that were inside could barely sit still. Apart from the Martial Grandmaster of the Dughur n, there were 13 Quasi-Divine Masters from the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns in the pavilion. But now, through their Destiny Talismans, it showed that five paragons were already dead and one was severely injured! Naturally, those five Quasi-Divine Masters had terrible expressions and grim gazes, emanating with shuddering killing intents. The other Martial Grandmasters had equally morbid expressions. This was an abnormal situation. The five paragons that died came from the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns C how did these disciples and sessors that were highly regarded in their respective sects die so easily? Furthermore, the five of them died too quickly! How long had it been since the fight for the Vermilion Fruit began? If the five of them released their Martial Master phenomenons, they would be able to hold out for 15 minutes at least. However, the signs felt as though the five paragons were suppressed overwhelmingly without any chance to fight back at all! Before long, amotion broke out from the crowd outside the pavilion. Many Martial Grandmasters withdrew shattered Destiny Talismans one after another with shards scattering to the ground. The number of dead Martial Masters was rapidly rising! Those from the major sects and ns such as zing Phoenix Valley, Dark Ghost Sect, and the Murong n withdrew their Destiny Talismans as well. All of those initially radiant Destiny Talismans shuddered at the same time. This meant that their disciples were experiencing immense impacts at the moment! Within a few dozens of breaths, the Destiny Talismans of those paragons dimmed significantly. Although G''ang Nan of zing Phoenix Valley''s Destiny Talisman wasn''t destroyed, it turned ash dark C it was obvious that he was severely injured! Snap! The Destiny Talisman in the hands of Seven Kills Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master shattered! Many other Quasi-Divine Masters were shocked. There were already six fallen paragons in the pavilion among the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns! Outside the pavilion, the shattered Destiny Talismans were uncountable! What happened in the Great Forbidden Ruins? Rather than a fight between the paragons, this seemed like a major cmity for the paragons of the North Region! The Quasi-Divine Masters of the Taban n, Murong n, Heaven Motion Sect, and other sects looked at the dull Destiny Talismans in their hands with uncertain expressions. It wasn''t just the Quasi-Divine Masters of Blood Mist Sect and Dragon Tiger Sect et cetera C even they were finding it difficult to sit by idly! The Martial Grandmasters had a weird feeling that something far beyond their control seemed to have happened! "Everyone, we should check out the ruins." Suddenly, Blood Mist Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master said with a dark expression. The reason why they were gathered here was initially to prevent other Martial Grandmasters from interfering so that the younger generation could fight for dominance. But now that their sessors were dying one after another, the few of them could not take it anymore. Although Taban Feng''s Destiny Talisman was intact, it had dimmed significantly as well. The Quasi-Divine Master of the Taban n hesitated for a moment before nodding. "I agree. Let''s head over to the Great Forbidden Ruins to check things out. If nothing is amiss, we''ll let those disciples continue with their massacre." The other Quasi-Divine Masters exchanged nces and agreed to it in silence. "Let''s go!" Everyone eximed and left the ce. Suddenly, a formidable spirit consciousness overwhelmed them. Two figures flew over from the horizon not far away, a man and a woman, bedazzling and graceful as gods! When they saw the two of them, the Quasi-Divine Masters of the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns were surprised and a hint of cautiousness could be seen from the depths of their eyes. "Dear Friends, the fight for the Vermilion Fruit is a showdown between Martial Masters. Where are you guys going?" Although the man''s voice was calm, there was a persecuting tone to it. The Quasi-Divine Masters of the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns knew of the origins of this couple and remained silent. When the other Martial Grandmasters noticed the expressions of those from the Taban n and others, they came to a realization and chose to keep quiet as well. However, not everyone noticed it. The Martial Grandmasters outside the pavilion came from all over the North Region; some of them were from minor sects while others were itinerant martial artists. Chapter 939 939 - How Long Can You Hold Out? Initially, everyone was already pissed off for being trapped here. When they saw that couple with the ancient attire, some Quasi-Divine Masters could not help but sneer, "Old fogies, tell us your names! Where did you guys spout from?" "Fufu." The man smiled calmly and replied gently, "Lockster!" "Lockster?" The Martial Grandmaster who spoke was stunned and could not react in time. However, gasps could be heard from the crowd. "Martial Grandmasters of the Lockster aristocratic family have arrived!" "If the Lockster aristocratic family is here, the person behind him must be from the other aristocratic family, Norel." The Martial Grandmaster who spoke earlier on had an ashen expression and trembled in fear. In the world, there were factions with ancient lineages that kept a low profile and lived in reclusion. Among them, there were some aristocratic families. Although many martial artists have not heard of the names of those aristocratic families before, it was undeniable that each of them had massive foundations and immeasurable strength! Among the ancient aristocratic families, the strongest three were the renowned Eastern, Southern Pce, and Western Gate aristocratic families of the martial world. The nine immortal sects, eight demon races, seven fiend sects, six Buddhist monasteries, five heretical doctrines, four unorthodox groups these were the strongest factions of the world, followed by the three aristocratic families! In the North Region, there were two ancient aristocratic families, namely the Lockster and Norel families. Although these two ancient aristocratic families could notpare to the three great aristocratic families in terms of strength and reputation, they were definitely superior to the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns! However, because they were high and above in reclusion for many years, martial artists at the bottom tier could not approach them and there were few people who knew about them. It was the same for Azure Myst Sect. Although it was one of the five major sects of the Great Zhou Dynasty, few people in the sect knew about the Lockster and Norel aristocratic families. In fact, they may nevere into contact throughout their entire lives. To think that the two great aristocratic families would make a move for the appearance of the Vermilion Fruit! Suddenly, Lockster n''s Quasi-Divine Master extended his hand and circted his Dharmic powers. Instantly, a massive palm was conjured in midair, squeezing the Martial Grandmaster who spoke out of line earlier on! Poof! Before that person could make a single sound, he was smashed into a blood mist and his Essence Spirit was destroyed! "Does anyone else have any opinions?" Lockster n''s Quasi-Divine Master surveyed the surroundings and asked with a smile. It was dead silent outside the pavilion. That was the might of an ancient aristocratic family C they could kill with a smile and render groups of talents silent as crickets! The Quasi-Divine Masters of the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns revealed displeasure on their faces. Although they did not dare to say anything, they were cursing internally. At the same time, their doubts were finally unraveled. It was no wonder why so many paragons died the moment the fight for the Vermilion Fruit started; even the paragons of the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns were dead or injured. It was because the two ancient aristocratic families of the North Region had arrived! It was clear how terrifying the sessors of the two ancient aristocratic families were judging by their Quasi-Divine Masters alone. After residing in reclusion for many years, now that the two ancient aristocratic families have arrived, they were definitely bent on getting their hands on the Vermilion Fruit! Entrance to the underground cave. A young man rode on a massive and menacing tiger wyrm, blocking Aiden''s path forward. The man was extremely handsome and although he exuded a dignified appearance, it was extremely ancient C he seemed like someone from the past rather than this generation. Maintaining his Soaring Serpent phenomenon, Aiden continued speeding forward and could vaguely hear exmationsing from the crowd behind him. Ancient aristocratic family, Lockster? Aiden knew nothing about ancient aristocratic families. However, judging from the reactions of the sessors of the North Region''s Upper Sects and gentry ns, he could tell that the ancient aristocratic families had strong backgrounds! Aiden was expressionless. No matter who it was, he had to get out of this ce as soon as possible! "Humph!" When the handsome man saw that Aiden ignored him and was still charging for the exit, he could not help but sneered in displeasure, "You''re still thinking of escaping now that I, Lockster Kang, have arrived?" With that said, the handsome man known as Lockster Kang patted the demon beast he was riding on. "Roar!" The tiger wyrm understood his intentions and released a deafening roar, whipping its tail viciously towards Aiden! Bang! The scales on the tiger wyrm''s tail were extremely tough. After it was attacked by thousands of Martial Master phenomenons, Aiden''s Martial Master phenomenon was already nearing its limit. Now that it received such an intense attack, the Soaring Serpent swayed and its radiance dimmed C it was on the verge of dissipating at any moment! Aiden halted in his tracks. Right then, the touching cry of a phoenix sounded from another side of the pce''s entrance. In the blink of an eye, a green-colored divine bird flew in with a mysterious glimmer on its body. It was captivating and emanated a terrifying aura that was even superior to the tiger wyrm! The tiger wyrm had to cultivate before it could turn into a ferocious beast. However, the Green Luan was a pure-blooded ferocious beast, to begin with! A peerlessly beautiful woman sat on the Green Luan. She was iparably dignified and had an ice-cold expression that was haughty C she was in disregard of all the paragons present. The pure-blooded ferocious beast alone already had the many paragons present feeling troubled, let alone the woman riding on it! "That should be another ancient aristocratic family, the Norel family." "Those two are the only ancient aristocratic families in the North Region. It''s said that the Lockster and Norel families have a close rtionship. There should be no mistake." When he heard the discussions behind him, Aiden roughly knew what was going on . Lockster Kang turned slightly with a smile. "te, why are you here personally? I''ve told you that I''ll definitely obtain the Vermilion Fruit and take it back for you." "There''s no need." Norel te replied calmly, totally unappreciative. Lockster Kang continued, "te, as long as it''s anything you fancy, even if they are the stars up in the heavens, I''ll try my best to pluck them for you, let alone a single Vermilion Fruit!" Norel te knitted her brows tightly. She knew Lockster Kang way too well. He had repeated those words to at least a hundred other female martial artists! "Young master, that seems to be the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind!" At that moment, a martial artist following behind Lockster Kang advanced and reported with a grim expression. "Monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind? What monster incarnate?" Lockster Kang was stunned for a moment. "The one who suppressed the experts of the immortal, Buddhist, and fiend sects beneath the Ancient One''s Pce!" "That''s him?" Lockster Kang was momentarily frozen before breaking out into a smile while nodding. "It''s no wonder." A hint of surprise flickered through Norel te''s eyes when she heard the term ''monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind'' as well. Thereafter, she turned and looked at Aiden fixedly with a curious expression. Sweeping his gaze across the battlefield, Lockster Kang eventually looked at Aiden and chuckled. "The Primordial Soaring Serpent has been lost for a long time and I was wondering who it was who could cultivate a primordial of this level. So, you do have some background to you." "Cut the crap, make way." Although Aiden''s tone was calm, it exuded coldness. Even against the sessors of two ancient aristocratic families, none of the paragons could notice any emotional fluctuation from Aiden. He was trying his best to recover his blood energy and spirit energy. "Me? Make way?" Lockster Kang was stunned for a moment before rearing his head inughter, as though he heard the greatest joke in the world. "Hahahaha! Interesting! You''re wild enough!" As heughed, his expression gradually turned grim as he remarked coldly, "The Primordial Soaring Serpent has been lost for a long time and nobody knows how strong it can get right now. However, my Martial Master primordial was ranked 34th in the previous Phenomenon Ranking!" The paragons present were startled. There were only 108 positions avable on the Phenomenon Ranking C the further front one was, the stronger their phenomenon! All the Martial Master phenomenons that could get into the top 36 spots were terrifying phenomenons with ancient lineages! Lockster Kang continued frostily, "Don''t forget, you''re only at early-stage Martial Master realm. How long can you hold out with the spiritual energy in your core? Let me see how many strikes your lousy phenomenon can take from me!" Chapter 940 940 - A True Monster Incarnate "Martial Master phenomenon, Flora Myriad Weapons!" When Lockster Kang circted his Martial Master, all the wild grass surrounding the pce seemed to have gained sentience and transformed into a myriad of weapons! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! The myriad of weapons attacked with a mighty force! In reality, Lockster Kang''s Martial Master phenomenon would have an even more terrifying might if it was released in a ce with lush greenery! Tens of thousands of weapons appeared and nketed the skies endlessly! The Great Forbidden Ruins was barren and deste outside. However, thanks to the medicinal field in the pce, there were some weeds born. While those weeds were not strong, they still formed hundreds of weapons that tore through the skies! Aiden gripped his fist gently. If he was in peak condition, even at early-stage Martial Master, he was highly confident that he could take down the other party''s Flora Myriad Weapons with his Primordial Soaring Serpent. However, he had expended too much. The Primordial Soaring Serpent was now at its limits after receiving the impact of countless phenomenons and would definitely not be able to withstand the sh of Flora Myriad Weapons. At that thought, Aiden was decided. Snap! There was a deafening sound. The firmament above Aiden''s head cracked as meteors and rampant currents rained down endlessly in an apocalyptic scene. "What is that?!" All the paragons were lost. How could another phenomenon appear when the Primordial Soaring Serpent behind Aiden had yet to dissipate? Could it be "It can''t be!" After all, Lockster Kang was the sessor of an ancient aristocratic family and sensed it immediately as he murmured in disbelief, "Double phenomenon?" Boom! Hundreds of weapons collided against the Martial Master phenomenon behind Aiden. Aiden''s phenomenon swayed but the hundreds of weapons were repelled in the opposite direction! Sensing that something was amiss, Lockster Kang remarked hurriedly, "te, let''s join forces!" Before Lockster Kang spoke, Norel te already noticed something and circted her Martial Master, eximing softly, "Martial Master phenomenon, Hurricane Frost Saber Sword!" A cold aura emanated. Suddenly, the temperature in the underground pce dipped. Wild gusts of wind howled furiously akin to sabers and swords. In fact, frost started appearing on the rampant currents behind Aiden C the initially rampant void currents were starting to freeze up! The paragons of Heaven Motion Sect and Dark Ghost Sect et cetera seized the opportunity to charge forward in an attempt to ughter Aidenpletely with their remaining Martial Master phenomenons! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! There was a deafening bang! A gargantuan creature suddenly descended on the vastnds, carrying the broken firmament with its shell. Like heavenly-piercing pirs, it stomped down with all limbs and shattered the frost on the surface of the rampant currents. The Divine Turtle had arrived and reared its head, roaring into the skies! Instantly, it was filled with torrential rage! Poof! Poof! Poof! Some of the Martial Masters who rushed up wanting to seize advantage of the situation were locked by the terrifying power of the phenomenon the moment they closed in. Instantly, their bodies were ripped apart and they died on the spot! Nearby, figures exploded one after another, turning into blood mists like tragic fireworks in a grisly scene. Far away, figures fell from midair one after another with lifeless gazes like raindrops. Their life forces were extinguished as they descended from the skies into their deaths. It was an extremely shocking sight! Muran Dorn, M Deisho, and all the other martial artists that chose to stay out of the affair were all stunned. Their bodies trembled uncontrobly as fear filled their eyes. None of them had the capacity to wonder why two phenomenons would appear behind Aiden. They were stunned right away by the terrifying might released by the two phenomenons! It was way too scary! Although they were Martial Masters simrly, the power released by that person was so strong that it was unstoppable! Standing in midair, the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind had a Divine Turtle appear behind him with a domineering aura. His gaze was electric, like an iparable divine being zing with mes all over his body. Against him, all the paragons of the North Region seemed insignificant. They were like moths lunging towards the divine being only to be turned Into ashes in midair. Initially, the paragon of Heaven Motion Sect had a remnant Martial Master phenomenon around him. However, when the Divine Turtle descended and roared into the skies, his phenomenon shattered with a bang! The next moment, a formidable power of phenomenon surged into his body and destroyed his life force! "Pfft!" Heaven Motion Sect''s paragon spat out a huge mouthful of blood that was ck in color! His organs were punctured by the power of phenomenon and had turned into sludge. Lifeforce drained from within him rapidly in an irreversible manner as his gaze dimmed. Another paragon had fallen! The Martial Master phenomenon of Dark Ghost Sect''s paragon was still existent with otherworldly soldiers charging from the back. They had bloodshot eyes and their long spears shimmered coldly, as though they could destroy everything before them. However, after the Divine Turtle descended All the troops went silent! Lightning shed and thunder crackled in the skies above as thunderbolts struck the Divine Turtle''s shell one after another, causing sparks to fly everywhere. However, it could not prate the shell of the Divine Turtle and instead made it seem even more godly. On the other hand, those godly thunderbolts were destructive when they descended on the paragon of Dark Ghost Sect! The power of thunder was the most righteous and suppressive towards evil and ghosts! Malevolent ghosts would turn into ash when they were struck by the thunderbolts no matter how fierce they were! Snap! Lightning shed. Dark Ghost Sect''s paragon cried tragically and fell from midair billowing with ck smoke C he was clearly dead after being struck by the thunderbolt. There were initially dazzling stars remaining above the head of Ster Luna Sect''s paragon with cold, murderous starlight. The Divine Turtle roared. Countless stars crashed! The paragon of Ster Luna Sect was dead! In the blink of an eye, only Taban Feng, zing Phoenix Valley''s G''ang Nan, Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon, Murong Wolt, and Dughur Jian who had not made his move since the beginning were left alive out of the paragons from the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns. There were even more talents that had perished in the pce. The deaths and injuries were tragic. This fight between the paragons was much more devastating than what everyone had initially imagined it to be! "It''s a Primordial Divine Turtle!" "Heavens! Another primordial phenomenon shows itself!" "Double phenomenon with both the turtle and serpent. How did this guy manage it? Furthermore, both Martial Master phenomenons are so mighty and terrifying!" The Raging City ze behind zing Phoenix Valley''s G''ang Nan had already shattered by now. Thankfully, he noticed something amiss with the situation and backed off a step earlier. When he saw the firmaments crack, lightning sh, raging currents surge and meteors raining, he realized something. That same scene had tormented him repeatedly in his nightmares for the past month! Most martial artists were not as fortunate as him. The Primordial Divine Turtle had been lost for a long time and many paragons of the Martial Master realm could not recognize it before the Divine Turtle appeared. They were not the only ones C even Martial Grandmasters from all over the ce might not be able to recognize the origin of that phenomenon. Everyone swarmed up, wanting to encircle and kill Aiden while seizing the opportunity to steal his treasures. Unfortunately, the descent of the Divine Turtle along with the Primordial Soaring Serpent, the might of a double phenomenon, was not something that they could defend against! In the face of the double phenomenon, Lockster Kang and Norel te, the two sessors of the ancient aristocratic families, were the only ones who could hold out. "Double phenomenon! You''re truly a monster incarnate!" Lockster Kang''s handsome face had clearly turned somewhat menacing by now as he snarled, "It''s a pity that you''ll have to be buried in these ruins today!" It was true that the double phenomenon was strong. However, Aiden could not support it for long as the double phenomenon took an extreme toll on his spirit energy. At that moment, Aiden''s disadvantage in martial realm was finally showing itself. Throughout the entire fight, he had not been disadvantaged inbat and had instead suppressed everything domineeringly. However, his spirit energy capacity could notpare against those atte-stage or perfected Martial Master realm. Furthermore, spirit energy was drained at a terrifying speed in order to support two primordial phenomenons! Right now, the spirit energy in Aiden''s core was almost depleted. Even his Martial Master was releasing a series of throbbing pains and was circting slower. As the sessor of an ancient aristocratic family, Lockster Kang was sharp and could clearly look through Aiden''s facade. Channeling his Martial Master furiously, his power of phenomenon surged towards thetter. Chapter 941 941 - Demon Countless weapons created by grass and wood hovered in front of Aiden, trembling slightly. On the other side. The Hurricane Frost Saber Sword released by Norel te struck the turtle serpent phenomenons repeatedly. To begin with, the Primordial Soaring Serpent was at its limits and could not hold on for much longer. Now that it was met with such impact, it swayed and was on the verge of falling. A series of cracks appeared on the Soaring Serpent, threatening to dissipate it at any moment. As for the Primordial Divine Turtle, although it was still a godly presence, the radiance on its body was gradually dimming due to the depletion of Aiden''s spirit energy. "He can''t hold on for much longer!" Far away, Muran Dorn noticed how the situation was changing and remarked darkly, "The moment that person''s Martial Master phenomenons disperse, he would be prated instantly by the countless weapons and Hurricane Frost Saber Sword!" M Deisho nodded with a conflicted expression. "Rather than the two sessors of the ancient aristocratic families, it could be said that the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind was defeated by the joined forces of all the paragons in the North Region." "That''s right, if those paragons hadn''t worn him down, these two sessors of the ancient aristocratic families wouldn''t be able to take him down." Pausing for a moment, Muran Dorn sighed andmented, "It''s a pity. If that man manages to cultivate tote-stage or perfected Martial Master, all the paragons of the North Region wouldn''t be able to take him down even if they worked together!" "That''s why tall trees are often the first to be knocked down by the wind," A martial artist at the side sneered, "That person is way too shy and overbearing. It''s only normal that he would end up in such a state." Suddenly, a mysterious change happened on the battlefield. "Paragon? Monster incarnate? I don''t care, die!" Lockster Kang hollered and circted his Martial Master to its limits. Countless weapons tore through the phenomenons and were getting closer to Aiden''s physical body! "AHAHAHA!" In mid-air, Aiden suddenlyughed. "The two of you really think that you can kill me with your skills?" Aiden''s eyes shone fiercely as he remarked, "The both of you are way too naive!" The resurgence of two primordial phenomenons with the turtle and serpent together was an extremely rare sight. Unfortunately, Aiden was at early-stage Martial Master and his spirit energy had already depleted after fighting the paragons of the North Region continuously and upholding two strong phenomenons. Even so, he wasn''t fearful at all! Under countless gazes, those two primordial divine beings that had already dimmed down in midair suddenly shed against one another furiously, as though they were drawn in by some power! Boom! A shuddering shockwave rippled forth! Everything went silent. It wasn''t a true silence. Rather, the deafening sound engulfed everything, as though an apocalypse was arriving. The countless weapons and Hurricane Frost Saber Sword that were about to reach Aiden were crushed into dust! Lockster Kang and Norel te were shocked and shuddered as if they were struck by lightning. Each of them spat out a mouthful of blood and fell from midair. Both their Martial Master phenomenons were destroyed entirely! The Divine Turtle was a godly being of the water. The Soaring Serpent was a godly being of the mes. Water and fire were irreconcble. The collision of the two phenomenons was a massive battle between the two godly beings and was equivalent to a terrifying amount of killing power released instantly! That was no longer merely the power of phenomenon. More than that, it contained the essence of a conflict in their natures. Aiden''s process of core formation was not smooth and he had endured endless hardship due to the repeated shes between the powers of fire and water within his core. Time and again, his flesh was torn apart and healed up C he even nearly died from an implosion! In the end, the two different powers of fire and water came to a temporary reconciliation and the turtle and serpent coexisted. However, he could clearly feel that a terrifying might would definitely be released once the two powers shed again. At that moment, a realization struck him and with that stroke of inspiration, the sh of the turtle and serpent today was created. This single sh caused the two primordial phenomenons of the Divine Turtle and Soaring Serpent to dissipate. However, Lockster Kang and Norel te suffered worse! The two great phenomenons, Flora Myriad Weapons, and Hurricane Frost Saber Sword, dispersed right away and the two of them received an immense impact. Their spirit energies in their core went into chaos and they almost lost theirbat strength entirely! "Heh!" Aiden smirked and strode forward, hollering, "Die!" Ta! Ta! Ta! Although he had only taken a few steps, Aiden had already caught up to Lockster Kang who was retreating. Reaching out, the flesh on his gigantic palm expanded and green veins popped as he crushed down savagely! "Go!" Lockster Kang had a panicked expression and tried his best topose himself, summoning a flying artifact right away. The sword shone brightly like a wyrm and surged into the air, piercing the iing palm. ng! ng! Aiden''s expression did not change and he did not avoid or dodge either. Suddenly, five fingernails extended from his palm, shimmering coldly like daggers as they grabbed Lockster Kang''s flying sword! Even a wyrm wouldn''t be able to break free from Aiden''s palm! Suddenly, Aiden''s palm went limp and coiled, trembled around the sword like a flexible cow''s tongue. Snap! With his palm, he broke the flying sword into shards that scattered onto the ground. "Is that all there is to the sessor of an ancient aristocratic family?" Aiden sneered and strode forward, arriving before Lockster Kang instantly. Lockster Kang''s expression was pale but he did not give up. Disregarding the throbbing pain in his core, he channeled his spirit energy fanatically while shrieking, "I''ll let you have a taste of the Lockster aristocratic family''s secret skill!" "Flora Entanglement!" Lockster Kang pointed forward. Spirit energy surged out from his fingertips and suddenly, nts that were thin and long with sharp edges coiled around Aiden like flexible long swords. Although they were nts, their edges were not weaker than weapons. Even ancient remnant beasts would be doomed if they were entangled. If any ordinary demon beast were to be restrained by them, they would be turned into minced meat right away! The nts grew wildly and wrapped Aiden instantly. "Roar!" At the same time, the tiger wyrm roared and lunged towards Aiden with its menacing ws and fangs! "Die!" Lockster Kang''s face was contorted as he controlled his nts maniacally, trying to bind Aiden. However, to his shock, he realized that the nts did not wound Aiden at all C there wasn''t even a single scar! Even supreme-grade spirit weapons wouldn''t be able to tear through Aiden''s flesh, let alone nts that were conjured by spirit arts. "How dare you embarrass yourself with such a trash secret skill!" Channeling his bloodline, Aiden''s body echoed with the sound of tsunami and his flesh expanded C his figure expanded fully! Pang! Pang! Pang! With a series of bangs, the nts snapped and Aiden broke free. At the same time, the tiger wyrm arrived with its mouth wide open, threatening to devour his head with a nauseating stench! Aiden''s gaze turned cold and he reached out with both hands, grabbing the upper and lower jaws of the tiger wyrm! Both sides exerted power. Shing! After a short struggle and a tragic sound, blood filled the air! Aiden ripped the tiger wyrm into two from its jaws and it sttered onto the ground disgustingly with its fresh blood and organs. The crowd was shocked. How strong did one have to be to rip a tiger wyrm into two?! Lockster Kang waspletely frightened by now. Aiden walked over with huge strides, drenched in blood like a demon from hell who had escaped from hell. In the blink of an eye, he arrived with a murderous aura! Lockster Kang was scared out of his wits and crushed a protection talisman without thinking twice. A light barrier formed around him and he turned to flee. At this moment, he was like a beaten dog without any bit of dignity at all, looking absolutely wretched. Boom! Aiden caught up to Lockster Kang and smashed down on thetter''s head fiercely with his fist that had transformed into a massive seal. The light barrier from the protection talisman shimmered and it dimmed considerably. Boom! Yet another punch descended. The light barrier swayed and defended against that punch once more. However, against that tremendous impact, Lockster Kang lost his bnce and staggered, almost falling head-first to the ground. Aiden caught up swiftly and raised his fist, raining down punches like raindrops onto Lockster Kang! Bang! Bang! Bang! There were a series of collisions. The light barrier shook violently and finally, gave off a crisp sound. Snap! A crack appeared on the light barrier. The light of the talisman dimmed entirely. Chapter 942 942 - Golden Boy Shattered! His lifesaver, the protection talisman given to him by his sect that could defend against the power of most Martial Masters, was shattered! Lockster Kang''s face was ashen. Boom! Yet another punch descended. Lockster Kang''s body split into pieces and he died on the spot! Taban Feng and the others felt their blood run cold. It was too ruthless! The paragon of an ancient aristocratic family was overwhelmed and brutally beaten to death by a flurry of punches! On the other side. Noticing that something was amiss with the situation, Norel te had already fled far away riding on her Green Bird. Aiden''s gaze shifted. Just as he was about to give chase, he caught sight of someone else. A handsome man wearing faint-gold robes floated in. His face was clear as jade and sparkled while his gaze was deep, resembling ss. Five kilometers away from the Great Forbidden Ruins, in the pavilion. The Quasi-Divine Masters of the Lockster and Norel ns sat inside with rxed expressions, sipping tea leisurely. Although the Martial Grandmasters outside the pavilion looked indignant, they did not dare to leave without permission. In this short period of time, there had already been more than ten Martial Grandmasters who wanted to challenge the Lockster and Norel ancient aristocratic families but were killed helplessly! The number of shattered Destiny Talismans was still increasing rapidly. Gradually, fear, doubt, shock, and frustration spread through the crowd. They were not the only ones; even the Martial Grandmasters of Heaven Motion Sect, Ster Luna Sect, and Dark Ghost Sect from the Great Upper Sects could only watch helplessly as the Destiny Talismans in their hands shattered. The three of them looked extremely furious! Too many paragons had fallen by this point of the Vermilion Fruit fight. Even among the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns, there were few paragons remaining. The remaining few Destiny Talismans were also dark at this moment, proving that even those paragons who managed to survive were not doing well. Finally, the Quasi-Divine Master of the Cadmus n could not hold it in any longer and snarled, "Lockster n has truly produced a wonderful sessor!" "Isn''t the sessor of the Lockster n being too ruthless just to fight for a single Vermilion Fruit?!" The expression of Blood Mist Sect''s Quasi-Divine Master was terrible. "Haha." The Quasi-Divine Master of Lockster n chuckled and shook his head. "This is a fight between the paragons, to begin with and is extremely fair for everyone. Why are you holding the Lockster n ountable for the death of your disciples?" The many Martial Grandmasters were silent. No matter what, it was indeed a fair fight between the paragons. If their disciples had the chance to kill Lockster n''s paragon with ease, no mercy would be shown either. The Quasi-Divine Master of Lockster n said coldly, "Don''t try to fight for the Vermilion Fruit if you don''t have the capabilities! If you dare toe for the challenge and die because of it, there''s no one else to me!" "You " Although the words of Lockster n''s Quasi-Divine Master were nasty, everyone was rendered speechless. All of a sudden! Sensing something, Lockster n''s Quasi-Divine Master frowned and pped his storage bag, retrieving a Destiny Talisman. The initial radiance of the Destiny Talisman was rapidly dimming. "Hmm?" Lockster n''s Quasi-Divine Master was stunned! At the same time, Norel n''s Quasi-Divine Master withdrew a Destiny Talisman as well. Its radiance was also diminishing rapidly. Something was wrong with the situation! The Lockster and Norel ancient aristocratic families had a close rtionship. Although Lockster Kang and Norel te could not be considered as childhood sweethearts, they would definitely not fight one another given their rtionship. In other words, a strong foe had managed to threaten the both of them! Although the Martial Grandmasters outside the pavilion were silent, all of them were gloating in secret. "They seem to be in trouble," The Quasi-Divine Master of the Norel n had a grim expression. Lockster n''s Quasi-Divine Master frowned deeply. Naturally, he could sense that there was an issue through the feedback of the Destiny Talisman. However, what he could not understand was who could threaten Lockster Kang in the Great Forbidden Ruins given thetter''s strength! Furthermore, Lockster Kang was apanied by Norel te and two powerful demon beasts as mounts! Shing! Right then, a noise sounded from the Destiny Talisman in the Lockster n''s Quasi-Divine Master''s hands. Although it was not loud, it felt like thunder booming in his ears! Instinctively, he looked down. A series of cracks appeared on the Destiny Talisman that represented Lockster Kang! This meant that Lockster Kang was already dead! The Quasi-Divine Master of the Lockster n froze up. He did not even realize when the broken Destiny Talisman fell through his fingers. Although most of the Martial Grandmasters outside the pavilion were gloating at his misfortune, they had conflicted expressions. They were also curious as to what was happening in the depths of the ruins! Who was it that had the capabilities and guts to murder the paragon of an ancient aristocratic family?! After a moment of hesitation, Lockster n''s Quasi-Divine Master pped the table and stood up, remarking darkly, "Something strange is happening in the ruins, I must head there and check things out! While there might be paragons in the North Region who can defeat my Kang, I don''t believe that any of them can kill him!" "Hehe!" A Martial Grandmaster from the crowd could not hold it in and snickered, "Who was the one who said earlier on that no Martial Grandmasters are allowed to interfere and enter the Great Forbidden Ruins to ensure that this was a fair fight?" "That''s right! Reneging on your own words right away? How shameless can you get?" "You guys have a death wish!" Triggered, Lockster n''s Quasi-Divine Master was enraged and his be shone, sending forth his spirit consciousness. Vines started growing endlessly beneath the feet of the two Martial Grandmasters who spoke and wrapped around them! Almost instantly, the two of them were cut mercilessly by the vines with fresh blood dripping. "Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!" Both of them let out miserable wails. No matter how they struggled, they could not break free from the vines. Instead, the vines wrapped around them even tighter instead. The vines were already digging into their flesh! Poof! Their bodies could not take it and were sliced into meat lumps by the vines, falling onto the ground with a nauseating stench. "Anyone else disagreeable?" Lockster n''s Quasi-Divine Master surveyed his surroundings with a murderous aura and asked frostily. "Haha " Suddenly, a mocking chuckle sounded in the air. An old man with a sloven face and scrawny body had appeared unknowingly. With an ancient stare that seemed to be able to peer through everything, he remarked nonchntly, "How imposing." "You are" The Quasi-Divine Master of the Lockster n froze for a moment. Immediately after, his stare shifted onto the old man''s waist. When he caught sight of the sect badge, Lockster n''s Quasi-Divine Master shuddered with a look of disbelief in his eyes, eximing, "Crystal Pce Sect!" Those words seemed to be magical. Instantly, silence ensued outside the pavilion. Almost all martial artists who could cultivate to be Martial Grandmasters have heard of the nine immortal sects before. The Martial Grandmasters of the North Region who knew about the nine immortal sects would definitely know about Crystal Pce Sect! That was a true super sect of the North Region and was a titan! "Dear Friend, may I ask who you are from Crystal Pce Sect?" The Quasi-Divine Master of Lockster n asked with difficulty, vaguely sensing something. "I don''t have a title. I''m merely an old servant of the young master." The Crystal Pce Sect old man''s tone was still calm. "Y-Young master has he arrived?" The Quasi-Divine Master of Lockster n murmured softly with a bitter tone. He finally understood how Lockster Kang died. If that man from Crystal Pce Sect arrived in the Great Forbidden Ruins, even 10 Lockster Kangs won''t be a match for him! That was the number one Quasi-Divine Realm Master of the North Region 30 years ago! That man could have entered Martial Grandmaster realm 10 years earlier. However, the reason why he did not take the step forward was that he wanted to enter the ancient battlefield 20 yearster. Jorl Wuya of Crystal Pce Sect! He reigned supreme across the Martial Master realm in the North Region 30 years ago! When the Quasi-Divine Masters of the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns heard the name Jorl Wuya, all of them went silent. The Quasi-Divine Master of Norel n murmured softly, "If we knew that Jorl Wuya woulde, why would we bother sending our disciples to fight for the Vermilion Fruit? That''s just seeking trouble for ourselves." The handsome man in faint gold robes strode over unhurriedly. His eyes resembled stars and he possessed indescribable confidence. Norel te rode on her Green Bird and was speeding with all her might to escape from the Great Forbidden Ruins. When she caught sight of that person, she was stunned for a moment. Chapter 943 943 - Fearsome Powerhouse Immediately, she shuddered and her eyes shone with disbelief. "Young Mistress... Norel, how have you been?" The handsome man smiled gently without retreating or evading. When he saw that mythical beast speeding over, he weed it instead! Under countless watchful stares, the handsome man extended his jade-white palm and raised it, pressing down gently on the void before him. The mythical beast was moving at such a fast speed that it looked like a streak of light. However, it came to a stop immediately! Aiden could clearly notice the mythical beast shivering slightly. That pure-blooded ferocious beast was in fear! Demon beasts had extremely sharp senses towards danger. The reason why the mythical beast reacted as such was because it sensed an immense threating from the handsome man! Against the handsome man, the mythical beast lowered its head motionlessly, as though it did not dare to look the handsome man in the eyes. All the martial artists were shocked when they saw that. Who was that man who was able to subdue a pure-blooded ferocious beast merely by extending his palm without the use of any weapons? Some martial artists shifted their gazes towards the sect badge on the handsome man''s waist. Those who recognized the background of the handsome man could not help but shudder in fear. Taban Feng had a thoughtful expression. Even with his arrogant and overbearing personality, he shook his head at the moment and sighed gently. "To think that even he would make a move for the Vermilion Fruit." "The number one Quasi-Divine Realm Master of the North Region 30 years ago, Jorl Wuya!" Murong Wolt narrowed her gaze and uttered word by word. Enduring her internal injuries, Norel te stood up and greeted with cupped fists. "Greetings, Young Master Jorl." "Anyone from the North Region who would try and kill beauty Norel is truly someone who doesn''t know how to cherish women," Jorl Wuya said with a smile. Norel te turned around and red at Aiden spitefully. It was only until that moment that Jorl Wuya''s gaze shifted to Aiden. Aiden was expressionless and his gaze was deep, staring at Jorl Wuya who was not far away peacefully without the slightest hint of fear in his eyes! Smiling, Jorl Wuya walked over slowly. At that moment, everyone noticed that there was a strange martial artist who was following Jorl Wuya indifferently. That person was only at early-stage Martial Master and wore luxurious robes with a mask. Any part of his skin that was exposed was covered, revealing only his eyes. For some reason, when Aiden swept his gaze across the masked martial artist, he had a strange, indescribable feeling. In the blink of an eye, Jorl Wuya had already closed in. Aiden felt his hairs stand on end! He finally understood how the mythical beast felt. Jorl Wuya gave off a terrifying aura that was absolutely chilling! Scanning his surroundings, Jorl Wuya asked nonchntly, "Who plucked the Vermilion Fruit?" Nobody answered him. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! However, everyone fixed their gaze on Aiden. "It''s me." Aiden naturally knew that he wouldn''t be able to hide the affair C nor did he want to C so he admitted to it readily. "Alright." Jorl Wuya nodded. "Hand over the Vermilion Fruit andmit suicide now. At least, that will ensure you die with a full corpse." "Oh really hahaha!" Aiden first chuckled before breaking out into a roaringughter. Taban Feng suddenly remarked, "Be careful, Young Master Jorl, this is the outrageous monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind who has gotten so much fametely! Back at the Ancient One''s Pce, he defeated all the paragons there! Most of the paragons who died today died in his hands as well." The monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind! At the mention of that title, Jorl Wuyaughed. A look of pity and mockery could be seen in his eyes. "What a pity" Jorl Wuya looked at Aiden and sighed gently. "You''re about to die today." "By the likes of you?" "By the likes of me." Both of them exchanged gazes with raring battle intent C neither of them backed off. Hushed discussions broke out in the crowd as well. "What a pity for the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind. There''s no way he could be a match for Jorl Wuya now that his spirit energy is expended." "That''s right. Perhaps there might be a fight if he was in his peak condition. But now" "Nonsense, even if he is in his peak condition, the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind is definitely not a match for Jorl Wuya!" Before the discussions disappeared, the fight broke out! Jorl Wuya did not move at all but two divine beams of light burst forth from his shining eyes. Everywhere they passed, the void would tremble! Some of the martial artists who were hiding far away and caught unaware yelped and covered their eyes. They were nearly blinded just by watching the fight! Standing opposite Jorl Wuya, Aiden did not move at all and a demonic glint shone in his eyes. After training the mystical techniques granted to him by that mysterious old man in the Ancient One''s Pce, Aiden''s eye power was frightening. Jorl Wuya''s visual secret skill could not injure Aiden or affect his mental state at all! "Interesting." Stepping on the ground with one feet, Jorl Wuya leaped into the air and hurled out a punch towards Aiden who was in midair! His gripped fist looked like a ss with rainbow colors and shone in a bedazzling manner! Rather than a punch, it was more like a zing sun! Aiden strode forward fearlessly as well and extended his arm which was filled with green veins. Gripping his fist like a seal, he shed against the iing punch! Boom! There was a deafening bang and the ground shook while the mountains quaked. Endless resplendent light exploded and shone down from midair like fireworks. In the fireworks, two figures that were fighting with one another attracted everyone''s gazes. Both of them were body tempered martial artists and were fighting in meleebat with their iparably strong bodies! With every sh, the underground pce would quake once. The power produced by the both of them was way too great. Even just by shing their bodies and bloodlines, it was enough to send fear in the many martial artists who were watching! "That monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind is so frightening." "That''s right. Even after killing countless people in a sh against all the paragons of the North Region while killing most of the paragons of the Great Upper Sects and four gentry ns, he still has the strength remaining to fight against Jorl Wuya!" "Jorl Wuya hasn''t used his trump card yet nor has he released his full strength. The moment he does that, this monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind is dead for sure!" In reality, the toll on Aiden was great indeed. The spirit energy in his core had already dried up after fighting all the paragons and releasing two great phenomenons. Even without his spirit energy, Aiden was still extremely frightening! The burst of his body alone was something that most Martial Masters wouldn''t be able to withstand! At that moment, Aiden was fighting fiercer and fiercer. Up till this point of his martial, it was rare for him to encounter a martial artist who couldpare with him in terms of body tempering. However, at that moment, Jorl Wuya had conflicted feelings in his heart. Crystal Pce Sect was the sect that was best versed in body tempering in the entire the world. At its ultimate level, Crystal Pce Sect''s secret skill could even kill ancient remnant beasts and subdue pure-blooded ferocious beasts! Up till this point of his martial, Jorl Wuya had never encountered anyone who could match him in meleebat. But now, he was extremely troubled after meeting Aiden. He was strange! This sessor of Holy Fire Ind had actually managed to train his power to such a frightening degree of perfection! What was even more terrifying was that the meleebat techniques released by the sessor of Holy Fire Ind were extremely tricky. Tough and gentle at the same time, they resembled a hungry anaconda coiling a massive mountain towards its unsuspecting prey; as well as a cheeky little monkey scaling a cliff! In fact, there were a couple of times when he felt that his life was threatened! 50 years ago, Jorl Wuya came out from seclusion. The moment he appeared, he overwhelmed with dominance and killed countless paragons. With a zero-loss record, he reigned supreme over the North Region and wasuded as the youngest paragon of the Martial Master realm with unlimited potential! 30 years ago, Jorl Wuya attacked and killed the renowned peerless paragon of Malefic Demons n who had been famous for a long time, shocking the entire North Region! Thereafter, Malefic Demons n sent disciples to try and assassinate Jorl Wuya countless times. However, all their attempts ended in failure and they even suffered immense losses! Ever since then, although nobody gave him the title, most of the martial artists in the North Region silently acknowledged Jorl Wuya as the number one Perfected of the North Region. 30 years had passed and Jorl Wuya had rarely shown himself. Chapter 944 944 - Battle However, each time he did, he would attract endless attention! All the martial artists targeted by him could not escape death! 10 years ago, when Jorl Wuya appeared once again, he crossed a major realm and killed a Martial Grandmaster from an Upper Sect of the Martial Grandmaster ranks! It was an extremely tragic battle that shocked the entire martial art world! Martial Masters and Martial Grandmasters were onpletely different levels. That kill across a major realm made Jorl Wuya even more famous! Although he was only a Martial Master, most martial artists regarded him as someone of a Martial Grandmaster level. Nobody expected that this monster incarnate of the North Region would make a move for the Vermilion Fruit''s birth. After all, Jorl Wuya had not shown himself or fought for the past 10 years. This fight for the Vermilion Fruit was a rare gathering of the North Region''s paragons. However, if Jorl Wuya were to arrive, the paragons of the ten upper sects, four gentry ns, and even two ancient aristocratic families could only be seen as mere childrenpared to him. More than that, most of the martial artists could not imagine that there could be a Martial Master who could fight on par with Jorl Wuya! "That monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind is truly terrifying! To think that he would still have the strength to fight against Jorl Wuya after battling countless paragons." "Crystal Pce Sect is one of the strongest body tempering sects in the northern maind. How did that monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind train such that he''s able to stand against Jorl Wuya?" "It''s useless. Jorl Wuya hasn''t shown his true strength yet and that monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind is already exhausted." "That''s right. If Jorl Wuya were to release his Martial Master phenomenon, that man is dead for sure!" As everyone discussed, a change happened on the battlefield. Jorl Wuya asked in a rxed manner, "Is that all you''ve got?" It was a frightening sight and all the martial artists felt their hearts skip a beat! In an intense fight as such, one would have to maintain their full focus and wouldn''t dare to be distracted and speak. Furthermore, they were in a meleebat and it was even more dangerous C a single mistake and they could die on the spot. But now, Jorl Wuya seemed like he was extremely rxed! "If that''s all you''ve got, I''m sorry, you''re going to die!" Jorl Wuya remarked coldly, "That''s because I''m only at 50% of my strength." The crowd was in shock. His strength was already this terrifying at 50%. Which Martial Master could defend against his 100% in that case? Boom! The both of them shed once more. Suddenly, Aidenughed coldly and spoke with an unchanged expression, "What? I''m only at 30% here." He was concerned about revealing his identity and as such, there were many moves that he could not release due to his considerations C he was not bragging with nonsense. However, those who were watching were none the wiser and would naturally not believe him. Everyone thought that Aiden had already released his trump cards entirely after fighting against the paragons, releasing two primordial phenomenons that were destroyed and eventually using the turtle serpent collision at the end to kill Lockster Kang. Furthermore, everyone could tell that Aiden had exhausted his spirit energy. There was almost no spirit energy fluctuationing from him up till this point of the battle and he waspletely relying on his unparalleled bloodline and physique to fight in melee range! "Hehe." Jorl Wuya chuckled gently. "You''ve got a glib tongue. That''s all there is to the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind!" Before his sentence waspleted, Jorl Wuya had already pped his storage bag to withdraw a long, slender jade ruler. It was sparkling and shone with a mysterious glimmer, unlike anything else in the world! Up till this point, both of them had fought barehanded. But now, Jorl Wuya has finally brought out a weapon! "You should be proud that you''re able to make me use a weapon to kill you!" Jorl Wuya dered proudly. Swoosh! The jade ruler swept through the air like a sword, causing the wind to howl with a terrifying might. Aiden narrowed his eyes. That jade ruler was far from simple! His spirit perception sounded! Without hesitating, Aiden retreated. The jade ruler glided past his face and a burning sensation spread across his cheeks! Quivering gently, bedazzling lights lit up one after another on the jade ruler. Six spirit patterns, a top-grade artifact weapon! The crowd gasped. Top-grade artifact weapons were way too rare. Even the sessors of the ten upper sects, four gentry ns, and two ancient aristocratic families did not have them. Although that jade ruler looked fragile, it was an indestructible top-grade artifact weapon! It was fortunate that Aiden had managed to dodge in time. If he had continued fighting barehanded like before, his arm would have been shredded into pieces by that jade ruler! By withdrawing his top-grade artifact weapon, Jorl Wuya gained the advantage instantly and strode forward, closing in domineeringly. Waving his jade ruler, he shed. A rainbow streak of light extended from the jade ruler, arriving above Aiden''s head instantaneously as though it could prate all things in the universe. Aiden had experienced the formidable might of top-grade artifact weapons before and did not dare to receive the attack barehanded. He withdrew a long sword from his storage bag. "Buzz!" The de trembled slightly and shone with four spirit patterns C it was a supreme-grade artifact weapon! Aiden shed in reverse against the rainbow light sent by the jade ruler. Swoosh! The sound of tides surged. Countercurrent stance! ng! The jade ruler and sword collided, filling the air with a resplendent glow as mist spread. "Shatter!" Jorl Wuya harrumphed coldly and the rainbow light on his jade ruler shone brightly as he pushed his blood energy. Snap! There was a crisp sound. Instantly, a series of cracks rippled through the de. Destroyed! A supreme-grade artifact weapon was shattered by Jorl Wuya''s jade ruler directly! Aiden retreated once more. Pshew! Pshew! Pshew! Against that powerful sh, Aiden''s sword broke into shards before transforming into light spots that shot towards him. Aiden''s pupils constricted instantly. The two of them were way too close! The shards of the sword surged towards him almost immediately after the sword and jade ruler collided C there was no time to dodge at all. Suddenly, a series of crackling sounds echoed from Aiden''s body. Under countless watchful gazes, his tall, burly body actually shrank into a meatball the size of an infant, spinning smoothly in midair. Cling! ng! Instead of piercing him, the sword shards let off metallic sounds when they struck Aiden! Aiden took a deep breath of air and his tendons and bones sounded together. In the blink of an eye, he returned to his form of the burly man. Tears could be seen on his gray robes but there was no sign of blood. A faint golden glow could be seen through his gray robes. Jorl Wuya''s eyes lit up as he came to a realization. "Not bad. So, you were wearing a defensive inner armor!" He had sharp eyes and could vaguely tell that Aiden''s inner armor was of a rtively high grade C there was a chance that it was a perfect-grade artifact weapon! "The stars are truly aligned. Coincidentally, I''ve been looking for a defensive artifact weapon and here you are, bringing it for me." Jorl Wuya could not help butugh. "I''ve got to see just how long you can hold out!" The moment he said that Jorl Wuya''s blood energy exploded and his figure flickered. Waving his jade ruler, endless rainbow light dispersed downwards onto Aiden''s head, shing down once more! Jorl Wuya had suppressed Aiden perfectly with his top-grade artifact weapon! Aiden did not dare to receive the jade ruler''s attack head-on and could only dodge backwards. The jade ruler was a top-grade artifact weapon. Given Jorl Wuya''s strength, even a supreme-grade artifact weapon would be smashed into pieces by his ruler! The only way was for Aiden to use his Blood Quencher or Coiling Dragon Seal. However, he would not be able to conceal his identity if he summoned those two weapons. The jade ruler shone with a resplendent rainbow light in Jorl Wuya''s hands. Even with his immensely strong physique, Aiden would not be able to endure an attack from the jade ruler and would definitely be severely injured! He made use of the nimbleness of his movement techniques and his physique which epassed both toughness and gentleness to dodge repeatedly. The two of them were already moving at their maximum speeds! For now, Aiden was still unhurt. However, he would definitely lose if he had to continue defending and his space avable to dodge was decreasing by the moment! He had to make a decision! At that thought, Aiden''s eyes shed viciously with a demonic glint. ring at the iing jade ruler, he reached out and grabbed it. "You must have a death wish!" Jorl Wuya harrumphed coldly. Chapter 945 945 - Monster Incarnate Aiden opened his mouth widely and bellowed. "Come at me!" His voice was like thunder, rupturing beside Jorl Wuya''s ear! If it was anyone else that was roared by Aiden at this distance, they would definitely die on the spot, bleeding from all orifices, if they were weak. Even the strong paragons would be momentarily stunned. However, Jorl Wuya merely frowned as his blood energy surged, repressing the difort he felt instantly. At the same time, Aiden''s palm made contact with the jade ruler. A coil and a tremble! A weird power of contortion was released on the jade ruler. Jorl Wuya''s expression changed starkly. He could clearly sense a ripping sensationing from his palm and he was about to lose his grip on the jade ruler C his entire arm was even twisting with unbearable pain! Unable to endure that sort of power, his sleeves exploded right away into pieces. Bam! His jade ruler flew from his hand, turning into a streak of light that stabbed into the wall nearby! Aiden did not stop in his tracks and continued closing in domineeringly. Swinging his right arm, the veins on his fist popped out and his flesh expanded like a gigantic seal that descended from the skies with a nauseating blood stench! "Let the body be like ss, transparent inside out and cleansed of impurities, turning indestructible!" The mantra of the Crystal Mental Sutra was read out in Jorl Wuya''s mind swiftly. A tremendous amount of power burst forth! A mysterious luster veiled Jorl Wuya''s body, simr to ss, wless and unyielding! "Thousand Ton Finger!" Jorl Wuya extended his finger. Spirit energy gushed forth from his fingertip, condensing into jade that possessed an extremely terrifying amount of power before dotting the iing gigantic seal. Boom! The finger and gigantic seal collided with a huge bang. Aiden let out a dull grunt. An extremely sharp power surged through and almost pierced his palm! Jorl Wuya was not having a good time either. The gigantic seal created by Aiden''s fist almost snapped his finger. Although both of them fought head-on, neither of them retreated and sent forth another punch! Bang! Bang! Two punches crossed at almost the same time and struck the other''s chest! Six spirit lights shone around Aiden. The power of the Mystic Gold Silk Armor was released entirely! Even so, he could sense the terrifying energy surge into his body fanatically through the Mystic Gold Silk Armor such that his organs were shaken. While the Mystic Gold Silk Armor was a top-grade defensive artifact weapon, it was not invincible. The inner armor could only try its best to deflect damage. However, if the other party was sufficiently strong or terrifying, he could destroy the Mystic Gold Silk Armor entirely! Initially, when he first came across the Mystic Gold Silk Armor, it was in a damaged state with its spirit patterns broken C even its top-grade spirit pattern was broken into a few parts. "Pfft!" Aiden spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered backwards. On the other side, Jorl Wuya was motionless and his expression was extremely ugly! Even with his Crystal Mental Sutra and the supreme-grade defensive inner armor that he was wearing, he was unable to defend against Aiden''s punchpletely. A trace of flesh blood trickled from the corner of Jorl Wuya''s lips. Both of them were injured together! The crowd was in an uproar! Everyone had expected Aiden to be injured. However, none of them thought that Jorl Wuya would be injured as well! "It''s truly a pity for the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind." Far away, Muron D''ohr suddenly remarked. "Why?" M Deisho could not understand. Muron D''ohr replied, "Given his potential if he were to train to perfect Martial Master and fight Jorl Wuya in his peak condition, it might be hard to determine who would be victorious." "But now that the sessor of Holy Fire Ind has already used up all his trump cards, spirit energy, and stamina, he''s definitely doomed once Jorl Wuya releases his Martial Master phenomenon." On the battlefield. Jorl Wuya had a dark expression and his eyes shone with cold killing intent as he said, almost snarling, "It''s been a long time since anyone managed to injure me. Good, very good!" He strode slowly towards Aiden and the aura he emanated turned increasingly frightening! "I''ll let you have a taste of my Martial Master phenomenon Crystal Divine Light!" The moment Jorl Wuya said that, a brilliant and colorful radiance shrouded him in a bedazzling manner. Crystal Divine Light, the 13th spot on the previous Phenomenon Ranking! This was truly a strong phenomenon passed down from history that managed to get into the top 20 for every single Phenomenon Ranking! "You should feel proud that you can die to Crystal Divine Light." Jorl Wuya stood in the air and looked down at Aiden with a gaze that seemed like he was looking at an ant. "Haha." Aiden smiled. Many martial artists were stunned, thinking that Aiden had gone mad. If they were in his position, none of them would be able to smile. "How do you think I managed to suppress the paragons of all the top sects beneath the Ancient One''s Pce?" Aiden said in a rxed manner as a scarlet red Inner Core spun slowly in his chest. His eyes lit up and his ck hair swayed without any wind while a terrifying aura spread from him! "Hmm?" Many martial artists were shocked. "Demonic energy?" "Not good, he''s a demon!" "The rumors were real!" There were too many rumors regarding the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind, some of them overly ridiculous, such that many martial artists who had not witnessed it personally would not dare to believe. It was only at that moment that everyone realized why he was called a monster incarnate. Crackle! Pang! Pang! Pang! Aiden''s tendons and bones sounded at the same time as his flesh expanded. Right in front of everyone, he released his blood energy and his body expanded. In the blink of an eye, he grew more than a hundred feet tall, akin to a mighty divine entity with torrential ferocity! The green veins on his body popped and extended like snakes as every single inch of his muscles protruded and knotted together, shimmering with an unyielding, metallic luster. One after another, menacing silhouettes of ancient creatures of unknown origin spawned around his terrifying body and surrounded him. An unknown species of what seemed like a being of draconic origins, a raging bull, a gigantic bear-like behemoth, an anaconda, a sanguine ape All of those creatures had bloodshot eyes and murderous auras. "Roar!" When the ancient demons bellowed together, the world shook! All the martial artists shuddered and went dead silent. Standing in the middle of seven ancient demon kings, Aiden was like a godly being with a bright gaze. His aura was domineering and was not inferior in the face of Jorl Wuya''s Martial Master phenomenon! "Heavens, what''s that?!" A wave of shock and astonishment could be heard from the crowd. The paragons of the North Region were shocked C none of them had witnessed such a situation up till this point of their martial art! That figure that was more than a hundred feet tall stood in the middle of the battlefield like a towering godly being, exuding its might in all directions with a torrential aura! Against this godly being, Jorl Wuya was like an insignificant ant. If not for his ancient phenomenon, Jorl Wuya''s aura would have been overwhelmed by the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Indpletely! "So, you''re just a beast!" Jorl Wuya circted his Martial Master with all his might and the power of his phenomenon surged C the Crystal Divine Light glowed brilliantly! Although that ancient phenomenon merely released a rainbow-colored light and did not seem like it had any monumental aura, its might was extremely frightening! Any martial artist that was touched by that rainbow light would have their flesh and blood crystallized, turning into ice-cold figures without any life. A single touch could cause them to shatter into pieces! Most artifact weapons would shatter on the spot if they were engulfed by the rainbow-colored light. Even supreme-grade artifact weapons would not be able to escape that fate! The fact that it was called a divine light was proof of the might of this ancient phenomenon! Its godly authority could purge all ghosts and deities! Normally speaking, even pure-blooded ferocious beasts wouldn''t be able to withstand the killing power of Crystal Divine Light! However, Aiden had trained the mysterious technique that was granted to him by that weird old man in the pce. That was the foundation left for him by someone powerful to establish ground in the martial art world as well as his stepping stone to enter the martial art world! That mysterious technique was the exact reason why Aiden was able to overwhelm so many paragons and fend off the Guardians beneath the Ancient One''s Pce before eventually entering it. The seven ancient divine creatures'' silhouettes surrounded him and he was shrouded by a scarlet demonic energy that was extremely thick. Chapter 946 946 - Will And Courage Ominous, sinister energy made contact and shed repeatedly against the Crystal Divine Light. Buzz! Buzz! A jarring sound echoed from the center of the battlefield. Two entirely different powers were corroding one another mutually without relenting! A terrifying shockwave started spreading through the void. Taban Feng, Murong Wolt, and everyone else was shocked, retreating hurriedly. Some of the martial artists who could not dodge in time and were implicated by the energy shockwave produced by the sh of the two powers exploded and died on the spot! The center of the battlefield had turned into a forbidden area because of the fight between two monster incarnates! "Roar!" The terrifying silhouettes of the ancient primordial entities that looked to be beast kings roared deafeningly at the same time. Some of the martial artists who were closer were stunned by the noise, fainting on the spot. Sinister energy rumbled with torrential ferocity as the seven ancient beings opened their gigantic mouths. Their teeth were filled with sticky saliva and they bit towards Jorl Wuya! Poof! Poof! Poof! A rainbow light shot forth. Jorl Wuya had a ss-like body that was wless and transparent. Surrounded by the rainbow light, he was like a zing sun! One after another, rainbow lights streaked forward like swords with extremely sharp edges. Countless swords tore through the thick demonic energy and cut the seven ancient dark beings, wounding them all over! The demonic energy shrouding Aiden had thinned considerably. In the end, Jorl Wuya still gained the upper hand in this fight between two monster incarnates! No matter what, he was at perfected Martial Master realm. However, Aiden was only at early-stage Inner Core. As the number one chosen son of destiny of the North Region, Jorl Wuya noticed the minute change in the tides and would naturally not let such an opportunity slip. "Kill!" He hollered and his aura grew fiercer. The Crystal Divine Light in his hands converged gradually before forming a sparkling sword! "y!" Swash! Apanied by Jorl Wuya''s roar, the ss sword tore through the demonic energy surging around Aiden and sliced off the head of the Bovine Demon King! With that, the demonic energy thinned by a portion. "Again!" Jorl Wuya bellowed with an overwhelming aura. "Pfft!" The Stone Bear Demon King''s body was cut into two and dissipated. Once again, the demonic energy thinned. "y! y! y! y! y!" Jorl Wuya released five consecutive shes and the remaining five ancient dark beings were cut down by the ss sword in an extremely miserable manner with their limbs sying. In the blink of an eye, the seven ancient dark beings surrounding Aiden had been dispersed by the Crystal Divine Light! The demonic energy was now extremely thin! With the loss of his demonic energy''s protection, no matter how unparalleled Aiden''s body was, he would definitely not be able to withstand the might of the Crystal Divine Light. The situation was extremely clear right now. "Sigh, he''s still slightly inferior at the end of the day" Muron D''ohr sighed. "Indeed, it''s true that the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind does not stand much chance of victory against the number one Young Master of the North Region after fighting with so many paragons and depleting his spirit energy." "Furthermore, the two of them are a few levels apart in terms of martial art realm." M Deisho nodded. "If he''s at perfected Martial Master realm, it might be hard to determine the victor of this fight." "Double phenomenons! Not only that, those were lost primordial phenomenons! To think that he would die just like this." "Someone from Holy Fire Ind who wants toe onto the world and fight for the Vermilion Fruit is bound to be targeted by everyone!" "That''s right. This man is a demon, it''s nothing even if he dies!" Aiden had killed too many paragons of the North Region and had already sown deep feuds with the major sects and factions of the North Region. Nobody was hoping for him to be victorious. "Hahahaha!" When he saw that the situation was set, Jorl Wuya reared his head inughter and dered loudly, "A beast is a beast at the end of the day. Do you really think that you''re my match just because you suppressed many paragons beneath the Ancient One''s Pce?" Jorl Wuya took a step forward and shed with his sword. Aiden grit his teeth tightly and his Inner Core circted fanatically. The remaining demonic energy shrouding him condensed into a shield. "Bang!" The shield exploded! Aiden let out a dull grunt. The power of the phenomenon ate into him and that massive body of his exploded on the surface, creating a series of cuts that looked terrifying as fresh blood gushed out! "You can''t hold on anymore?" Jorl Wuya had an excited expression and a cruel glint shone in his eyes as he lunged forward once more. Aiden raised his right hand that had already started forming, shining golden scales around it, and punched forward to defend. "ng!" The sound of metal shing echoed. Although the Crystal Divine Light was not shattered by the ancient draconic scales, the rainbow light spilled everywhere. When Aiden''s bare arm was exposed to it, it turned into pieces of crystallized flesh! The color on Aiden''s face drained as he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. While the ancient draconic scales were unyielding, it was not omnipotent. He could not control the ancient draconic scales. He could not release its true strength as well. "Die!" Jorl Wuya hollered once more domineeringly. The ss sword descended from the skies, looking as though it was about to cut through the void and sever all life before it! "Am I going to be defeated just like this?" Against the suppression of that formidable power, Aiden''s features looked somewhat contorted as he howled from the depths of his heart, "I''m not willing!" On the surface, this was a sh between two paragons. However, in reality, this was more like a face-off between inheritors of ancient legacies! A battle between light and darkness! It was more like a fight between the legacy of the old man from the Ancient One''s pce and the ancient super sects! There were some things that Die Yue would definitely not say to Aiden given her personality. However, she had already expressed her intentions through her actions. Since fate did not allow you to attain immortality martial art, I''ll alter fate for you! Since Iridescent Clouds Pce doesn''t want you, I''ll impart to you my skills and allow you to be stronger than all the sessors of the super sects in this world! This was the old man''s pride. It was now also Aiden''s pride. A few months ago, Aiden found himself in this world alone, due to the schemes of those back in his ''old'' world. Far from his family, far from his friends. However, Aiden had never felt lonely during this period of time. Perhaps, Destiny had been keeping watch of him from some other world. Furthermore, Aiden was convinced that his future would not lie in this world. There woulde a day when he would finally break through this void before him and would be able to travel not just back to his homnd but to other nes as well. Maybe even that modern society that now looked more and more distant with each passing day. Yet, he wanted to go. He wanted to travel the universe as well. He wanted to find out the cause of his arrival, his ''rebirth'', the fate that he was burdened with. The reason behind it. It did not matter if the path ahead was filled with obstacles; it did not matter if it was an endless Hell before him; it did not matter if countless strong foes wanted to stand in his way C nothing could waver Aiden''s determination! At the thought of Die Yue, Aiden was filled with a sense of courage. When he thought about her, he could not help but recall her domineering and imposing methods. How could the Ancient Primordial Dragonification Manual lose? How could the old man''s legacy lose? How could I lose? I''m Not Willing! "Ah!" Aiden reared his head and roared into the air. With the cirction of his Inner Core, his internal energy rose, his tendons and bones echoed together, his blood marrow gushed and his organs trembled. Body Tempering, Tendons Transformation, Bones Strengthening, Marrow Cleansing, Organs Refinement, Orifice Clearing, Core Formation All seven stages of the Body Tempering Stages flowed through his mind. A series of strange sounds came from that body that was a hundred feet tall. It seemed as though someone was chanting those techniques relentlessly! With the support of that sound, the turtle-like cracks on Aiden''s body healed at a speed visible to the naked eyes! The gradual gathering of the sound seemed to have triggered something and released a shuddering energy. Aiden''s eyes lit up as he weed the iing ss sword. The demonic energy in his body surged and he charged forward instead of dodging or retreating! "You''re asking for death!" Jorl Wuya''s gaze was vicious as he shed forward savagely, gripping his ss sword with both hands. Boom! Aiden threw out a punch. At the same time, a gigantic demonic beast could faintly be seen from the rumbling demonic energy behind him. It looked like a blood-colored small insect-like creature that was vaguely discernible. There were two bright, round moons etched on the wings of what looked like a butterfly, resembling a pair of indifferent eyes. Chapter 947 947 - Fierce Battle Aiden punched forward. The blood-colored butterfly did not move at all and those moon-like eyes on its wings shed. An iparably strong power cruised through Aiden''s body, bursting instantly along with his fist! Boom! The sword collided with Aiden''s fist with a resounding bang. Jorl Wuya''s expression changed once again and from the depths of his eyes, a hint of panic and fear could be seen! Right in front of everyone, the ss sword in Jorl Wuya''s suddenly exploded! The rainbow light dispersed. Jorl Wuya''s Martial Master phenomenon had shattered entirely! "Pfft!" Shuddering, Jorl Wuya choked and could not help but cough out a mouthful of blood, as though he was struck by thunder. All the paragons of the North Region eximed. Everyone witnessed the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind fall into a desperate situation where he could die at any moment. Yet, for some unknown reason, he suddenly gave off a burst and destroyed Jorl Wuya''s Martial Master phenomenon instead! In the blink of an eye, the tides had reversed! The faint blood-colored butterfly behind Aiden had disappeared by now. However, without the protection of his Martial Master phenomenon, Jorl Wuya was definitely not a match for Aiden in his demon form! Boom! Aiden strode forward and extended his massive palm, crushing down in an epassing manner. Jorl Wuya did not have time to dodge and could only raise his arm to defend reluctantly. Bang! A dull sound of defeat echoed as the two of them shed. Jorl Wuya merely felt a sharp pain run through his arm and instantly, he was drenched in cold sweat. Aiden did not give him a chance to catch his breath at all. Both of them were rare prodigies in terms of meleebat and would naturally not give up on such an opportunity. He threw yet another punch down. It seemed like a supreme gigantic seal that was smashing down from the heavens, about to quake the mountains and ground! Boom! Jorl Wuya could only prop up both arms to receive the blow. Shuddering, he retreated once more. "Pfft!" Yet again, he coughed out a mouthful of blood that was now already ckish! His organs were shaken! Otherwise, his blood would have definitely been red. At that moment, Jorl Wuya could no longer feel pain in both arms C they were numb by now. Aiden was extremely precise in his timing such that Jorl Wuya did not even have the time to withdraw weapons, talismans, or elixirs. If this continued, both of Jorl Wuya''s arms would be snapped by Aiden within a few rounds! The two of them were extremely close. Jorl Wuya could clearly sense that Aiden''s breath also carried a hint of blood stench. This meant that Aiden was already significantly injured through this battle! Right now, both of them were at their limits. If he were to fight to the end, he might still be able to win. However, Aiden''s aura was way too overwhelming and sharp at the moment! After enduring a few hits repeatedly, Jorl Wuya had already given up on the thought of fighting Aiden to the endpletely. He could not die. He was less than a hundred years old. He was the number one Yong Master of the North Region. The chosen one, the son of destiny! At such a young age, his future had unlimited potential. As long as Jorl Wuya wanted to, he could even transcend to the Martial Grandmaster realm! Of course, there was no way he could do his breakthrough in such an intense battle. The ascension from the Martial Master to the Martial Grandmaster realm was a leap in quality. Even if he was the peerless monster incarnate of paragons, he could not guarantee a 100% sess rate. Breaking through on the battlefield was equivalent tomitting suicide! Even without outsiders interfering, a single distraction was enough for them to perish! Suddenly, Jorl Wuya hollered, "What are you guys waiting for? This beast''s blood energy is drained and he''s only putting on a strong front. A simple attack from everyone together is enough to kill him here!" That single statement proved that Jorl Wuya had lost. The reputation that he gained over many years was instantly destroyed at this moment. However,pared to his life, Jorl Wuya could not care any longer. As long as he stayed alive, he could get his hands on the Vermilion Fruit and everything that Aiden possessed. Hisbat strength would definitely be raised to yet another level! At that time, he would even have a high chance of entering the top ten of the Phenomenon Ranking once he enters the intermediate ancient battlefield! Perhaps, he might even be able topete against Di Yin, number one of the previous Phenomenon Ranking! He was going to personally retrieve the reputation and dignity that he lost today! Nobody made a move. Even the masked man who apanied Jorl Wuya did not move, watching everything with a cold gaze. He had his own selfish reasons as well. Initially, there was no chance for him to make a name for himself with Jorl Wuya riding over him. He could never get more resources in the sectpared to Jorl Wuya. But now, if Jorl Wuya were to die with the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind severely injured, there would be a high chance he could be thest standing victor and get his hands on all the treasures! There were only two reasons why everyone else did not move either. On the one hand, the paragons of the North Region still had a trepidating fear after being beaten by Aiden. On the other hand, they were still observing from the side. In a fight between two tigers, one was bound to get hurt. The wisest decision was for everyone to observe the battle from afar! Right now, it was not the best opportunity to strike yet. Taban Feng, Murong Wolt, and the others were expressionless but they gloated internally. The fight for the Vermilion Fruit had been tumultuous up till this point and now, yet another change had happened in the situation. Initially, it was already extremely fortuitous if they could survive and there was no chance for them to get their hands on the Vermilion Fruit. But now, the tides had reversed. Any of them could end up as a big winner! The old man from Crystal Pce Sect stood in the pavilion expressionlessly with his hands behind his back, gazing in the direction of the Great Forbidden Ruins with an indifferent stare. Although he looked scrawny, as though a gust could blow him over, none of the Martial Grandmasters present inside and outside the pavilion dared to move! There was no longer any meaning to the Vermilion Fruit fight with Jorl Wuya''s appearance. In everyone''s opinion, the lives of the paragons of the North Region were now decided by fate. The astute and sharp martial artists who chose to leave and give up on the Vermilion Fruit fight would be considered logical. If anyone wanted to challenge Jorl Wuya because of the Vermilion Fruit, they would bemitting suicide! The Martial Grandmaster of Lockster n had a grim expression. Lockster Kang was the Martial Master with the greatest potential in the Lockster n in 500 years, overwhelming all over martial artists of the same realm! To think that he would be killed by Jorl Wuya. Suddenly, the entire fight for the Vermilion Fruit seemed meaningless after knowing that Jorl Wuya had arrived. That was because everyone knew the oue of the fight. It was no wonder why the paragons of the North Region would suffer such an immense defeat. It was no wonder why even paragons of the ten upper sects and four gentry ns fell one after another. It was no wonder why the situation could not be contained even with the appearance of the sessors of the two ancient aristocratic families Right now, everything was clear. It was all because of Jorl Wuya! The many Martial Grandmasters remained silently, awaiting the final oue. All of a sudden! The old man from Crystal Pce Sect who was initially standing with his hands behind his back frowned. Swiping his shriveled hand across his storage bag, he withdrew a Destiny Talisman and gazed at it. The radiance on the Destiny Talisman shimmered, as though it had received an immense blow! The old man from Crystal Pce Sect narrowed his gaze and a cold glint could be seen in his hazy eyes. "The young master seems to have met with some trouble. Could there actually be a paragon in the North Region who could challenge the young master?" The moment that thought crossed his mind, the Destiny Talisman in his hands shed repeatedly. After a momentary pause, the radiance on the Destiny Talisman dimmed gradually. "Hmm?" The old man from Crystal Pce Sect was stunned. This was no longer any ordinary trouble. It seemed like Jorl Wuya was undergoing some unprecedented danger and could fall at any moment! The abnormal reaction from the Destiny Talisman attracted the stares of other Martial Grandmasters as well. Suddenly, a stir broke out from the crowd. Chapter 948 948 - Cruelty? "What''s going on? That Destiny Talisman belongs to Jorl Wuya?" "It should be. The old man seems like he''s really concerned." "Who in the North Region could pose a threat to Jorl Wuya?" "I''m not sure." The old man from Crystal Pce Sect clutched the Destiny Talisman with an unpredictable expression. After a moment of hesitation, his eyes shed with conviction as he dered coldly, "A Martial Grandmaster must have infiltrated the Great Forbidden Ruins. Otherwise, given Wuya''s strength, even if all the paragons of the North Region joined forces, none of them would be a match for him!" Indeed, that was possible from Jorl Wuya. However, it was not exactly possible for a Martial Grandmaster to infiltrate the Great Forbidden Ruins. All of the Martial Grandmasters were gathered here and their spiritual consciousnesses surveyed the surroundings C there was no way a Martial Grandmaster could have sneaked past them, avoiding detection. It was obvious what the old man from Crystal Pce Sect meant by saying that. "I''ve got to see who would dare interfere in the fight for the Vermilion Fruit!" The old man from Great Forbidden Ruins soared into the air, turning into a streak of light that burst towards the Great Forbidden Ruins. The other Martial Grandmasters were already impatient, to begin with, and wanted to check out what was going on in the Great Forbidden Ruins! Countless Martial Grandmasters could vaguely sense that the situation was not as simple as they had imagined! Countless figures soared into the air. In the center of the ruins. The fight between the two monster incarnates was still ongoing. Jorl Wuya was drenched in sweat and retreated continuously, panting in a wretched state. Aiden was not in a great state either. Many paragons could clearly sense that Aiden''s movement was getting more sluggish and his blood energy was drained. From the initial height of a hundred feet tall, he was now only two meters tall C he was at the limits of his stamina! Even so, he did not have any intention of stopping. Aiden''s eyes shone viciously; even with his inadequate stamina, he was still suppressing Jorl Wuya with his aura! Every single punchnded with his full strength. Jorl Wuya had a menacing stare as he snarled. "Vile Beast, can''t you tell that everyone is watching with coveting eyes, trying to reap the rewards from our fight? Even if you kill me, you''ll be killed mercilessly!" "Heh!" Aiden sneered, revealing a set of pearly whites as he replied coldly, "For calling me a beast, I''ll ughter you first before thinking about anything else!" "You''re a lunatic!" Jorl Wuya cursed. His hair was disheveled right now and he no longer carried the air as the number one chosen son of destiny of the North Region. Snap! Aiden threw yet another punch. Instinctively, Jorl Wuya raised his arm to defend and the sound of a snapped bone could be heard. Psst! Jorl Wuya gasped from the pain and his expression changed starkly. He had trained the Crystal Mental Defense technique constantly and his body was not weaker than weapons a long time ago. He might not even be hurt if he was struck by a supreme-grade artifact weapon. But now, his arm was broken by this monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind! The snap of his arm shocked him greatly and he almost fainted from the pain. Naturally, his movements turned more sluggish as well. Aiden''s eyes lit up. There was no way he would give up on an opportunity as such! Closing in domineeringly, he arrived before Jorl Wuya in a sh. "Ah!" Jorl Wuya howled and exerted thest of his strength, thrusting the only elbow that was left fiercely towards Aiden like a gigantic spear! Jorl Wuya could sense the aura of death. This was his final gamble before his death! Throughout history, there had been countless martial artists who gained the advantage the entire time only to be murdered in retaliation at a critical moment! Even with his stamina exhausted, that single elbow thrust was definitely enough to create a gigantic hole in Aiden''s body! At that time, both of them would stand an equal chance at victory. Unfortunately, Aiden seemed to have predicted it. The moment he arrived before Jorl Wuya, with a distance of less than a feet, Aiden''s body suddenly turned flexible. Like an anaconda, he wrapped himself around Jorl Wuya''s body! That move was extremely unexpected. Right from the beginning, Aiden''s attacks had always been tough and unyielding. But now, with that sudden change, Jorl Wuya''s final gamble missed. At that moment, Aiden took a deep breath with his body wrapped around Jorl Wuya. To the many paragons, it seemed like there was truly an anaconda that was coiling itself around Jorl Wuya''s body. It breathed in and its body expanded as it reared its head and hissed, as though it wanted to devour the sun and moon! Anaconda Coil! That was a killing move from the Mystic ssic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness. It was a move that exemplified the limits of the flexibility of one''s tendons. Pang! Pang! Pang! Aiden''s body sounded as though an ancient god of war was strumming a bow. Unable to move at all, Jorl Wuya opened his mouth and a weird ''Ee, ee'' sound echoed from the depths of his throat, as though he was trying to breathe. One of the reasons why Anaconda Coil was a killing move was because it could suffocate someone! Jorl Wuya''s eyeballs were bloodshot and bulged out as his face turned a frightening shade of purple due to the prolonged asphyxiation! Crack! Crack! Crack! The sound of bones cracking echoed! Jorl Wuya''s tendons and bones were snapped by Aiden''s Anaconda Coil! That body which could be described as perfect was now contorted in an indescribable state, looking absolutely miserable withpletely smashed tendons and bones without any trace of life. Jorl Wuya''s gaze dimmed and his head tilted to the side, dying on the spot! Jorl Wuya, the once number one Perfected Being of the North Region who dominated the martial art world overwhelmingly and waspletely unmatched across the same realm! For the past 30 years, although he rarely made an appearance, he was still an invincible existence of the Martial Master realm in the hearts of many major factions and sects of the North Region. Nobody had expected this. Nobody thought that Jorl Wuya would make a move for the Vermilion Fruit fight. Less than that The paragons had not expected that Jorl Wuya would be murdered savagely with his tendons and bones snapped by someone else in the Great Forbidden Ruins! Gazing at that mighty, burly figure on the battlefield, a surreal feeling surged through the minds of the paragons and they were overwhelmed by sadness. This was the cruelty of the martial art world. Even if one trained to Jorl Wuya''s level and possessed that frighteningbat strength, they could still be killed mercilessly. No matter how glorious of a past they had, paragons that died would be buried in the sands of time and be forgotten eventually. This Vermilion Fruit fight had far surpassed the initial expectations of the paragons. There were way too many paragons that died. The ground was sprawled with corpses and blood formed rivers. It was too tragic! Furthermore, up till this point, it was still uncertain who would end up as the eventual victor with the Vermilion Fruit! There was only one thing that everyone was certain about. From this day forth, there was a new number-one young master of the North Region! At the same time, that neer would die soon as well! Everyone could see Aiden''s frailness at the moment. Right now, any random Martial Master could probably take his life! Although the remaining paragons were mostly injured, they looked at Aiden with fervent gazes, wanting to tear him apart! Finally, a martial artist who could not hold it back anymore stood forward. A centipede dies but never fallspletely. Although he could tell that Aiden was already exhausted, that person did not dare to advance and merely hid far away, hollering softly and conjuring a spirit art. Spirit energy surged and condensed into a palm in midair, pping towards Aiden fiercely. Boom! The spirit energy palm received no resistance andnded viciously on Aiden''s body. Aiden grunted dully and his legs wobbled, almost falling to the ground. At the sight of that, the paragons were finally relieved. "Hehe, so that''s all there is to the legendary number one monster incarnate. There''s also a time when he''s exhausted!" "He''s nothing but a beast." "Hmph! How dare a beast try to snatch the Vermilion Fruit from all of us humans! How impudent!" Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon wielded his sword and advanced towards Aiden slowly, smirking coldly with a murderous intent. Previously, his chest was pierced by Aiden''s sword. Although the wound wasn''t deep, he was scheming and seized the opportunity to retreat due to the circumstances. He chose to observe coldly from the sidelines while retaining his strength. Chapter 949 949 - Mysterious Savior During this period of time, with the help of elixirs such as the Blood Curing Pill, the wound before his chest had mostly recovered. At this moment, all the paragons were wounded and could not release their Martial Master phenomenons in a short period of time. The only one truly of threat to him was the masked man from Crystal Pce Sect. However, Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon could tell clearly that the masked man was at early-stage Martial Master. He would definitely have the advantage if the two of them were to fight! The reason why he chose to stand out now was naturally to control the situation and suppress everything so that he could take advantage of the situation! "Vile Beast, why aren''t you cocky anymore?" ng! Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon withdrew the sword hanging on his waist and shed forward. A milky-white sword beam shed by. Instantly, a gash appeared on Aiden''s thigh. Although it wasn''t very deep, fresh blood seeped out right away. The reason why Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon did not aim to kill with that attack was clearly because he wanted to humiliate Aiden and trample on his dignity! Aiden did not move at all, as if he did not even have the strength to dodge. Although his face was pale, his eyes burned brightly in a terrifying manner! He was truly drained after killing Jorl Wuya. Furthermore, Jorl Wuya was a perfected Martial Master, the number one perfected being of the North Region. He was truly someone with frightening strength and had an extremely terrifying physique after training the Crystal Mental Defense technique. After the repeated head-on shes, Aiden suffered rather serious injuries. Thin tears were appearing on his organs! If Jorl Wuya could endure for a little more, he might not have been the one who died. At that moment, Aiden did not retaliate and was merely silently healing up and recovering his stamina. He had the Mystic Gold Silk Armor; be it the spirit art of the first martial artist or the sh from Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon, both were external injuries that did not manage to hurt him at the core! Aiden had trump cards left as well. If he were to release them, the entire world would be overturned! When Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon saw that Aiden did not retaliate, he turned even more ferocious and continued forward. The sword in his hand trembled and created a flurry of swipes. Poof! Blood sprayed from Aiden''s shoulders once again. "Heh." Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon chuckled, his eyes filled with mockery as he sneered, "Why? You don''t even have the strength to fight back now?" Aiden merely smirked without replying. "Sigh, to think that such a peerless monster incarnate would end up in such a state." Muron D''ohr shook his head and sighed gently,menting. M Deisho remarked softly as well, "Even tigers and dragons have to suffer if they are trapped. This should be a tribtion in his life as well. If not for Jorl Wuya, he would have gotten out of this ce long ago instead of being humiliated by these small fries now." "He had no help at all. If anyone had stepped forth to offload some pressure from him, he wouldn''t havended in such a miserable state," Muron D''ohr sighed once more. M Deisho nodded. "That''s right. Who would have the guts to stand beside him now and go against the entire North Region?" "What kind of a monster incarnate is this? Just die!" Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon felt uneasy and did not want to drag things out further. Finally, he made up his mind and shed forward. His sword was aimed at Aiden''s be! If that sh struck, Aiden''s head would be pierced entirely. Aiden narrowed his gaze. Right as he was about to move, he suddenly frowned with a look of confusion. Buzz! The sound of a sword buzzing rang out. An iparably brilliant sword beam appeared all of a sudden! That sword beam was magnificent and attracted everyone''s attention. However, its speed was way too fast. It happened instantly. Nobody could see where the sh came from. Nobody could identify the trajectory of the sh. Nobody could identify the direction of the sh. However, everyone felt the killing intent from that sh! The sword beam dissipated. Suddenly, the battlefield went silent. The atmosphere turned extremely strange. Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon froze in his steps. His gaze turned dull. After a momentary pause, the long sword in his hand fell and a thin gash appeared on his throat, turning wider and clearer! Poof! A blood mist spewed out. Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon fell stiffly forward, dead! The crowd was in an uproar! Countless martial artists looked all around, trying to seek out the person who attacked. There were not many sword martial artists in the North Region. There were even fewer sword martial artists who could master such a terrifying sword technique to be able to threaten the paragon of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect. Taban Feng and Murong Wolt red at a ck-robed man in the middle of the crowd with conflicted expressions. They were shocked and surprised, but more than that, they were puzzled. The ck-robed man held a pitch-ck sheathed sword in his left hand. Slowly, he strode out from the crowd one step at a time. Surveying his surroundings with a hollow gaze that could not focus, he spoke slowly, "Anyone who wishes to kill him will first have to pass through my sword!" Aiden did not recognize the ck-robed swordsman. He could not understand why this person wanted to help him. However, he once felt an extreme sense of danger stemming from the ck-robed swordsman! From that sh earlier on, his gut feeling was verified. That sh happened way too quickly. Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s paragon did not even get the chance to release his Martial Master phenomenon before dying on the spot! "Where did this lunatice from?!" "Hmph! If he''s the helper of this beast from Holy Fire Ind, he might be a beast as well! Everyone should target him!" Some sharp martial artists who noticed that the ck-robed swordsman did not have any identity badge on his waist assumed that he was an oblivious itinerant martial artist from out of nowhere and started ranting at him. With Aiden facing imminent death, there might be many treasures up for grabs. Naturally, all the paragons were coveting that and none of them wanted to let up. "Everyone, let''s attack together! It''s not as though this guy could cause a storm!" A martial artist beckoned and attacked first. With the first came the second. More martial artists were standing out one after another. Instantly, spirit energy surged and sword beams streaked through the void one after another in a bedazzling manner, shooting towards the ck-robed swordsman on the ck-robed swordsman like an arrow rain! The ck-robed swordsman''s right hand moved in a seemingly slow manner towards the pitch-ck hilt of the sword on his left hand. The moment his right hand made contact with the hilt, the ck-robed swordsman''s aura changed all of a sudden! His initially lost gaze suddenly gained focus, resembling two extremely sharp swords. When the martial artists who attacked met with his eyes, they shuddered. Some of them shrieked and closed their eyes hurriedly. Unfortunately, it was toote. Two streams of blood flowed down from their eyes in an extremely chilling manner! A single look blinded those people! "What powerful sight he possesses!" Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. After training the old man''s unique techniques, he had already unlocked all his body enhancement stages and even his eyesight was much sharper with extremely powerful sight. Even the Enraged Diamond Gaze of the Buddhist''s Diamond Monastery and the Bewitching Eye of the demonic sects'' Pure Maiden''s Sect could not affect his mind. However, Aiden''s demonic eyes had yet to reach the level of releasing such a terrifying killing power with just a single look. Hemented internally, "I wonder how that person managed to train such a frightening pair of sword eyes." The ck-robed swordsman''s gaze had always been lost and unfocused, looking listless. Yet, the moment he held his sword, nobody could ignore his killing intent and the edge in his gaze! Buzz! A buzz reverberated through the world. The unparalleled sword beam from earlier on reappeared with a bedazzling radiance. Cling! ng! A metallic sound could be heard. The many flying swords darting over from midair were all shattered. The sword beam shed for a moment. All the martial artists who attacked fell from midair in session without a single survivor! The moment they fell to the ground, they were already corpses! Although they were prepared for it, not many paragons of the North Region present managed to see the ck-robed swordsman attack. By the time the paragons realized what happened, the sword had already returned to its sheath. The ck-robed swordsman''s right hand returned to his side, slumping naturally as though he had never attacked at all. Chapter 950 950 - Opportunity Right from the beginning, the ck-robed swordsman had been expressionless. It was as though the death of more than ten Martial Masters could not create any emotion in him, not even a single bit. A deathly silence filled the air. Nobody expected that after the appearance of the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind and Jorl Wuya in the paragon fight, there was still another martial artist that was this frightening that had not attacked the entire time! Who could defend against such a terrifying existence? "Dughur Jian, you''ve gone mad!" Taban Feng red with widened eyes and hollered. Dughur Jian! At the mention of that name, Aiden came to a realization. There were truly not many martial artists with that surname in the North Region. Among them, the most famous was the Dughur n of the four gentry ns. However, the martial artist named Dughur Jian before him was way too unlike Taban Feng and the others! Notwithstanding the fact that he did not have an identity badge on his waist, he was not apanied by a single nsman at all! From Dughur Jian, Aiden sensed a sort of loneliness and destion, a feeling that he could not fit in with this world at all. It seemed as though Dughur Jian had nothing else in his world apart from that sword. He required nothing but his sword! That mental fortitude was the only thing capable of training such a pair of sharp sword eyes and a sword technique that was this terrifying and lethal! "Dughur Jian, that monster incarnate of the Holy Fire Ind is a ruthless beast and isn''t one of us. Are you going to represent the Dughur n and stand on his side?" Norel te of the ancient aristocratic family asked coldly. "I am me. What does it have to do with the Dughur n?" Dughur Jian''s voice was calm as he turned around to look at Norel te. He was still expressionless as ever. However, there seemed to be a hint of mockery in that hollow gaze of his. He was mocking Norel te''s inability to understand such a simple concept. ''I am me. What does it have to do with others?'' Instantly, Norel te was speechless. Murong Wolt frowned slightly. Looking at Dughur Jian not far away, she could not help but ask, "Why?" "Just can''t stand it." Dughur Jian replied indifferently. Most of the paragons of the North Region were confused. What couldn''t he stand? Who provoked him? Murong Wolt was the only one who sighed gently internally with a conflicted expression. She knew the type of hardships Dughur Jian had experienced as well as the pride in this man''s heart. Aiden''s current predicament must have struck a chord in that man''s heart. He was once abandoned by this world as well. Mocked by countless, attacked by countless, bullied by countless, and scolded by countless! At that time, nobody helped nor stood by him. This man had reached where he was relying entirely on the sword in his hand, one step at a time! The reason why he was reclusive was not because he hated the world. It was because this world had once abandoned him. The only thing that stayed by his side the entire time and had not abandoned him was that ck sheathed sword in his hands! That was the reason why he couldn''t stand it and attacked. He would be equally fearless if he had to make enemies with the entire world, let alone the paragons of the North Region! Aiden did not move a single inch. This was an extremely rare opportunity. He had to seize the chance to recover his stamina so that he could escape from this ce. There was already nobody in the Great Forbidden Ruins who could threaten him with the death of Jorl Wuya. However, Aiden could still clearly sense that danger was approaching! He did not have time to waste! The masked man from Crystal Pce Sect seemed to have read Aiden''s intentions and strode slowly forward. "Since when are those from the Dughur n allowed to be this cocky?" The masked man had a nasty hoarse voice, as though he had suffered an immense impact that damaged his windpipe. "Scram or die!" The masked man red coldly at Dughur Jian and spat venomously. Dughur Jian was expressionless and silently, merely shifting his gaze slightly. His right hand moved slowly towards the hilt of the ck sword on his left hand. "Hmm?" Narrowing his gaze, the masked man''s hair stood on end instantly! Buzz! A sword beam shed! Dughur Jian did not say anything and merely replied with the sword in his hand! The masked man bolted away at an extremely fast speed! He had already vanished from his original position almost at the same time as the arrival of the sword beam. It was entirely silent. Crack! Crack! Crack! The sound of metal ringing was extremely piercing in the silent battlefield! All the paragons witnessed clearly as a crack appeared on the metallic mask of the man, splitting the mask into two! ng! The mask fell to the ground, revealing that person''s true appearance. Psst! Many people gasped. Some female martial artists even eximed. Filled with grisly wounds, that face was extremely horrifying. It looked nefarious like a malevolent ghost, as though it was eaten away by something. For some unknown reason, Aiden felt an indescribably strange feeling when he saw that face. Sensing the weird stares all around, the masked man had a venomous expression as he howled deeply with an endless hatred surging in his eyes. "I''m going to kill you!" The masked man strode forward with a torrential aura. Boom! One after another, streaks of rainbow-colored lights appeared behind the masked man with a frightening energy fluctuation that threatened to destroy everything in the world! Ancient phenomenon, Crystal Divine Light! Although the masked man''s Crystal Divine Light was clearly not as terrifying as Jorl Wuya''s, it was nothing to scoff at as well. After all, that was Crystal Pce Sect''s legacy phenomenon. "Heavenly Epassing Swords!" ng! ng! The sound of swords buzzing reverberated relentlessly through the world. A series of sword energies appeared behind Dughur Jian once after another, epassing the entire firmament as they streaked over with a daunting might! Crystal Divine Light was ranked 13 on the previous Phenomenon Ranking. Heavenly Epassing Swords was ranked 40 on the previous Phenomenon Ranking. But now that the two phenomenons shed, they were on even ground! On the one hand, the masked man''s martial art realm was only at early-stage Martial Master. On the other hand, the might of Heavenly Epassing Swords was truly pushed to its limits in the hands of Dughur Jian! In the hands of different people, the same Martial Master phenomenon would also release a different level of might. "Fellow Daoists, if we don''t strike now, all of you guys are going to be hunted once that beast recovers!" Norel te surveyed the surroundings and dered coldly. She had already noticed that Aiden was recovering his stamina and channeling energy to heal himself. The paragons present looked hesitant. However, after exchanging nces, most of them were decided! If they did not give it their all now, it would be hard for a simr opportunity to present itself in the future! "Kill!" Someone strode forward and growled deeply. "Kill! Kill! Kill!" Many martial artists roared in unison with a mighty aura, as though they were bolstering their own courage as well. Flying swords and spirit arts filled the air. There was only a single target C Aiden who was in the center of the battlefield! Aiden''s eyes gradually narrowed with a vicious glint. ng! ng! Before Aiden made a move, Dughur Jian waved his palm and directed a portion of the Heavenly Epassing Sword energy in the air to form a barrier that wrapped around Aiden! Bang! Bang! Bang! The flying swords that struck the barrier of sword energy were repelled instantly. Spirit arts that rammed onto it dissipated right away. In terms ofbat strength, the only one who could match Dughur Jian right now was the masked man from Crystal Pce Sect. Buzz! A sword beam shed. Dughur Jian had attacked once more. That sh seemed to transcend the void and arrived before Norel te instantly. The mythical beast was the first to sense the killing intent and burst in retreat with Norel te on it instantly. Poof! The sword beam shot into the mythical beast. It let out a tragic howl. Although it was a pure-blooded ferocious beast, it could not withstand Dughur Jian''s sh. While that wound was not deep, when the sword energy entered its body, it destroyed all life within it almost instantly! The mythical beast was dead. Norel te''s face was pale as a sheet as she barked hatefully with vengeful eyes, "How dare you hurt my spirit beast, Dughur Jian!" Dughur Jian did not reply. Another sword beam shed! Poof! A scarlet streak appeared across Norel te''s chest and her gaze dimmed gradually. Initially, she was a blessed woman from the heavens. Born with fairy-like looks and in an ancient aristocratic family, any martial artist that saw her would naturally feel a sense of inferiority. Chapter 951 951 - Revelations There were few martial artists who could bear to attack her. Unfortunately, her opponent was Dughur Jian. In his eyes, Norel te was nothing more than an ordinary martial artist. There was no great deal about killing her. The blessed woman of an ancient aristocratic family fell from midair, already dead by the time her body reached the ground. Boom! At the end of the day, Dughur Jian still used up quite a bit of his focus to divert part of his phenomenon''s power to protect Aiden while killing Norel te. The masked man seized the opportunity to strike. Boom! An arm wless as jade tore through the air with a fist that resembled a steel hammer, bursting forth with an extremely rming might instantly. Dughur Jian''s expression did not change. Unable to raise his sword in time, he could only punch in retaliation! Bang! The two fists collided. Snap! The sound of bones cracking could be heard. Dughur Jian''s wrist was snapped by the masked man, twisting to an unbelievable degree! Crystal Pce Sect was the best-versed in body tempering in the martial art world. Crystal Pce Sect disciples, even if they were not Jorl Wuya, had extremely strong physiques and frightening meleebat strength that ordinary martial artists could not imagine. However, what everyone truly felt terrified about was Dughur Jian. Even with his snapped wrist, Dughur Jian was still emotionless as ever, as though that was not his hand and he did not feel any pain at all. He was way too calm. Dughur Jian was so calm that nobody could sense any trace of panicing from him. Despite his snapped wrist, Dughur Jian did not stop at all and instead, raised his sword in reverse without giving the masked man a chance to follow up at all. The masked man retreated slightly slower and instantly, a bloody gash appeared on his chest! Poof! Once again, the masked man''s expression changed as he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. He could clearly sense an endlessly sharp sword energy surging into his body, trying to cut up his flesh, bones, tendons, and organs. Hurriedly, he channeled his blood energy to suppress it. After spitting out a mouthful of blood, he managed to contain the wound and purge out the sword energy. Although it seemed like he gained the advantage in that exchange of blows, in reality, they were on even ground. The only difference for Dughur Jian with his snapped left wrist was that he wouldn''t be able to hold onto his sword sheath with his left hand. However, Dughur Jian''s sword technique waspletely unaffected and turned even more intimidating instead! A paragon was bound to die with every single attack of his! Both sides continued in the stalemate. All of a sudden! The sound of clothes fluttering through the air could be heard from the distant horizon. A series of iparably strong auras surged forward, tearing through the air. The auras were wildly berserk, seemingly filled with rage, as they sped over. Before they even arrived, an unnerving dominance had already engulfed everyone present! "This aura" "Martial Grandmasters!" "Even Martial Grandmasters are rmed and there''s so many of them!" Instantly, the crowd went wild. Everyone knew that they would definitely fade into the background the moment Martial Grandmasters interfered. It was unknown who the Vermilion Fruit would end up with eventually C that would still depend on the capabilities of the Martial Grandmasters. However, there was only one thing everyone was certain of somebody was about to die! That person had in way too many paragons of the North Region and had offended almost all the factions of the North Region C he was definitely doomed to die today! The might of the gathered Martial Grandmasters was horrifying and all of the martial artists fightings stopped, not daring to act recklessly. The old man from Crystal Pce Sect was the first to arrive and his expression was terribly dark! Although he had already rushed over with all his might after noticing that something was amiss, it was still toote. Jorl Wuya''s Destiny Talisman was already shattered on his way here! Who was the person who could kill Jorl Wuya? There was definitely no Martial Master in the North Region who could be a match for Jorl Wuya. Even if a Martial Grandmaster managed to avoid them and infiltrate the Great Forbidden Ruins, wasn''t there a chance for Jorl Wuya to escape if he could not defeat his foe? That was impossible! In the blink of an eye, the various Martial Grandmasters have already arrived. Their eyes were filled with endless shock as they looked at the corpses sprawled on the ground! They had expected this Vermilion Fruit fight to be a cruel test for the paragons of the North Region. However, none of them expected it to be this tragic! Jorl Wuya''s bodyid limply on the ground with its tendons and bones snapped C it was already a meat sludge. His eyes widened, as if even till the moment of his death, he could not believe that he would be buried in these ruins! Lockster Kang''s body was torn into pieces and his original appearance could not even be seen any longer. Norel te''s corpse had a gash on her chest that was evidently created by an expert in the way of the sword. There were way too many paragons that could no longer speak at this point either as theyid on the ground as ice-cold corpses. The old man from Crystal Pce Sect''s gaze turned extremely sharp as he surveyed his surroundings, scanning everyone present. When he came across Aiden, he paused slightly. Aiden was extremely calm and there was no trace of fear in his eyes even as he faced this many Martial Grandmasters! When he sensed the stare from the old man of Crystal Pce Sect, Aiden smirked and red back in return with the same intensity. "What happened here!" The Perfected Lord of Taban n could not help but holler loudly, asking. Taban Feng pointed at Aiden and shouted, "It''s all because of him! He''s the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind from the ancient battlefield!" "That''s right! He was the one who killed most of the fallen Fellow Daoists of the Martial Master realm!" "Hmm?" The expressions of the Martial Grandmasters changed slightly. The monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind! To think that the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind would actually arrive in the North Region after leaving the ancient battlefield! It was no wonder! It was no wonder why the paragons of the North Region met with such a great cmity! This monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind was truly scary. Even just at early-stage Martial Master realm, he was able to kill the number one Perfected Being of the North Region, Jorl Wuya! Who else could be a match for him? The many Martial Grandmasters stared at Aiden with somewhat weird gazes. Apart from hatred, there seemed to be something else. It was more like greed! Their gazes resembled the way the Martial Masters looked at the Vermilion Fruit. Many of the Martial Grandmasters instinctively looked towards Aiden''s right hand. There was a rumor in the martial art world that the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind''s right hand contained a supreme treasure C the ancient draconic scales! That was the scales of a divine being! Even Void Reversions and Dharma Characteristics would be tempted to get their hands on a treasure as such, let alone Martial Grandmasters! The gaze of the old man from Crystal Pce Sect shed. In his eyes, there was far more than the ancient draconic scales to Aiden. This man possessed way too many secrets in his body. There was everything concerning Holy Fire Ind. The legacy of the sword Emperor. The secrets within the Ancient One''s Pce. Also was this monster incarnate a mortal or a dragon? How could immortals and demons coexist? The only way to find out about those unknowns was by capturing this monster incarnate! "Monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind. Great, great!" The old man from Crystal Pce Sect had a cold tone. Withdrawing an antiquated mirror from his storage bag, he said, "Let''s see what the true form of this monster incarnate is!" When he heard that, Aiden''s heart sank. Before he could react, the old man from Crystal Pce Sect flung the mirror in his hands in the air. Instantly, a resplendent radiance burst forth in a bedazzling manner. The endless radiance converged into a light column that descended on Aiden. There was an extremely mysterious power in the light column that did not contain much killing power. However, Aiden shuddered and his bones and tendons rang at the same time as his body shrank uncontrobly. His face and features started changing! Under countless gazes, an elegant face was revealed. The burly man with rough features earlier on had vanished entirely! "Who is this? Is he the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind?" "So, the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind is such a young man. He looks rather refined, like a schr." "To think that such a frail and refined schr would be so domineering. I truly couldn''t tell at all." Aiden''s heart sank as he heard the discussions. He knew that he could not hide everything anymore! Chapter 952 952 - He Needs To Die Even when he saw so many Martial Grandmasters arrive, Aiden could still maintain hisposure. However, he truly had not expected that his true appearance would be exposed by a mirror! In the martial art world, there was a Divine weapon to deal with demons known as the Demon Revealing Mirror. Although the Demon Revealing Mirror did not have much killing power, it could expose the true appearance of demons and expose all their disguises! Despite his endless precautions, Aiden had missed this out. With this mistake, all his efforts had gone to naught! Aiden merely felt his limbs go cold. In fact, he even felt devastated! Even if he could escape from this ce, he wouldn''t be able to survive for long. He could not return to Azure Myst Sect. Otherwise, Azure Myst Sect would be destroyed because of him! It was even more so for the Yan Country. Those innocent and kind souls that had helped him along his way would be affected because of this one mistake! While the North Region was huge, there was nowhere he could hide! It was even less possible for him to escape from the North Region. At Martial Master realm, even if he were to sprint day and night without eating or drinking, it would take him hundreds of years. Furthermore, he would have to deal with the hunt from various major factions and sects! As long as the matter of his immortality and demonic double martial art was revealed, nobody in this world could protect him! From this day forth, Aiden would have to take on the world as his enemy singlehandedly! Most of the martial artists present had not seen Aiden personally before. However, in the vast crowd, there were some martial artists who shuddered with looks of disbelief C they were so shocked that they nearly eximed! "It''s him! To think that it''s him!" Muron D''ohr was astounded and could not help but murmur to himself. M Deisho clutched her cherry lips with a disbelieving expression, unable to speak at all. At that moment, both of them finally understood something. It was no wonder why Aiden was able to train to the legendary Extreme Martial Knight realm; the second person after the Ancient One to do so. That was because he was the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind and had entered the Ancient One''s Pce! "So, it''s you!" zing Phoenix Valley''s G''ang Nan''s eyes lit up as he recognized Aiden immediately. A month ago, this was the refined schr that wiped out most of the martial artists from zing Phoenix Valley, Ster Luna Sect, and Shadowless Sect, causing them to suffer a massive defeat. It was no wonder why this person also had the Divine Turtle phenomenon. It was because he was the same person from a month ago! Since this person had a double phenomenon, it meant that he did not fight with his full strength a month ago! Today''s battle was the example of this man''s full strength without holding back. "Wait, something isn''t right!" Suddenly, G''ang Nan''s expression changed. This man did not fight without holding back today either! A month ago, he had a gigantic seal that was a top-grade artifact weapon. However, that weapon did not show itself today. A month ago, he also had a quasi-top-grade artifact weapon that he used to shoot Mo Xir of Ster Luna Sect to death C that wasn''t shown today either. "Just how many more secrets are there to this man? What else does he have up his sleeves?" That thought sent shivers down G''ang Nan''s spine. After the masked man from Crystal Pce Sect caught sight of Aiden''s true appearance, his first reaction was to freeze up. Thereafter, an endless hatred filled his eyes as he burst intoughter menacingly. "Fufufu HAHAHAHAHA!" His hoarse voice was deep like a baleful ghost from Hell! "So, it''s you!" The masked man had a venomous expression as he snarled with grit teeth, "Do you recognize me, Aiden?!" "Aiden?" "I seem to have heard that name before somewhere. It''s a little familiar." Amotion broke out among the crowd. "I heard that a disciple from a major sect within the territories of Great Zhou trained to the Extreme Foundation Establishment realm and is called the seconding of the Ancient One. His name is Aiden." "Oh, that''s him. I''ve heard of him before." "I heard that this man was outrageous back in the battlefield and obtained the Sword Emperor''s legacy. He wiped out the Corpse Poison Sect singlehandedly before killing martial artists of Crystal Pce Sect and Malefic Demons n!" "At that time, the sudden appearance of Divine Phoenix Ind''s monster incarnate drowned his reputation in the ancient battlefield. To think that they''re both the same person!" Now that things hade to this, Aiden calmed down instead. With a cool gaze, he looked at the masked man slowly, as though he was trying to discover something. "Why? You can''t recognize me?" The masked manughed; his initially ugly face turned even more frightening! "Pei Syriac?" Aiden raised his brow. Any Crystal Pce Sect martial artist that could recognize him had already perished in the ancient battlefield. There was only a single person whose whereabouts and life and death was unknown C Pei Syriac! "That''s right, it''s me!" Pei Syriac ground his teeth and spat hatefully, "It''s all because of you that I''m in this state right now. Luckily, the Heavens took pity on me and I finally found you!" Every single word from Pei Syriac was filled with an endless hatred, as though he wanted to tear Aiden apart! Back in the fog valley of the ancient battlefield, he managed to survive after taking a huge risk and hiding inside the abdomen of a Cloud Seeking Leopard. At the same time, he was corroded by the strong digestive fluids of the Cloud Seeking Leopard which distorted his features. During this period of time, there were countless times when he jolted awake from his dreams because of that elegant face, shivering in fear and drenched in sweat! That face and figure had already turned into his nightmare. He could not erase it! "Aiden, you were domineering and invincible across the same level in the ancient burial grounds. I''m sure you''ve never imagined that this day woulde, have you?" Pei Syriac barked coldly, "I''ve sworn countless times to return everything I''ve suffered a hundred times more to you! I''m going to let you suffer a fate worse than death, tormenting you day and night without allowing you to die or rest!" The many paragons felt chills run down their spines when they heard that. Those words could have only been spoken with immense hatred. Aiden did not say anything, merely healing up in silence as he recovered his stamina. When he heard Pei Syriac''s words, Aiden''s lips curled with a mocking expression. He looked at Pei Syriac like a pitiful insect. That gaze triggered Pei Syriac once again! "Aiden!" Pei Syriac bellowed with a menacing expression, gripping his fists so tightly that they cracked, "Don''t get cocky! I''m not only going to torment you, but I''ll also capture your kin and torture them viciously right before you!" "I''ll let you witness and experience that pain personally!" The paragons were secretly shocked. Pei Syriac had gone insane. The only way to purge his mental demon was if he could kill Aiden. Otherwise, he would definitely die from his own demons before long! When he heard that, Aiden''s expression suddenly turned cold. Though it was merely an act of provocation, the instant he heard these threats his heart began to tremble violently. Be it the old Granny, his master or his beloved sister, or even any of his Minions, they were his Achilles'' Heel and neither could be touched! Expressionlessly, Aiden said slowly, "Pei Syriac, you were lucky to have escaped thest time. You will definitely die today!" "Hahahaha!" Pei Syriac reared his head inughter, as though he heard the greatest joke in the world. "Because of what? You? Notwithstanding the fact that your stamina is depleted, your spirit energy is drained and you''re at your limits, even if you are in peak condition, so what?" Pei Syriac pointed to the many Martial Grandmasters nearby and shouted, "There are so many Martial Grandmaster seniors around! There''s no room for you to be brazen!" "Monster incarnate? In the eyes of Martial Grandmasters, you''re nothing but an ant that can be squashed at any moment!" Aiden smiled as well. Lowering his head, he twirled his fingers and said leisurely, "Do you think that I won''t be able to kill you with these Martial Grandmasters around?" "Insolent!" The old man from Crystal Pce Sect suddenly roared. It was a rich sound that boomed like thunder. Many Martial Masters shuddered with frozen gazes and fell limply. Aiden''s expression did not change and his body merely swayed slightly. With his double immortality and demonic martial art, he had a strong physique and he had even trained a powerful vocal secret skill before. Although the sound released by the old man from Crystal Pce Sect was powerful, it was not enough to affect Aiden''s mind! More than half the paragons of the North Region died in Aiden''s hands in this Vermilion Fruit fight. At this moment, there were countless Martial Grandmasters staring at Aiden. It was truly ridiculous if he wanted to kill Pei Syriac right under everyone''s eyes. However, Pei Syriac had to die no matter what! Chapter 953 953 - No Chance Aiden was extremely clear about that. He knew that if he allowed Pei Syriac to survive, it would bring about unimaginable trouble for him, and for all members of his growing family. For other people, this short period of rest would not amount to much difference. However, for Aiden, this was enough for him to stabilize his wounds and recover some stamina! "Pei Syriac, let me tell you onest thing." Aiden had a cold, murderous gaze as he said coolly, "Even Martial Grandmasters won''t be able to protect anyone that I want to kill!" Swiping his palm across his storage bag, a gigantic, shiny golden seal appeared in his palm! The top-grade artifact weapon, Coiling Dragon Seal! In just this short period of time, Aiden had already recovered some spirit energy. His core circted and spirit energy surged into the Coiling Dragon Seal. "Go!" Aiden flung his arm and the six bedazzling spirit patterns on the Coiling Dragon Seal shone as it descended fiercely onto Pei Syriac! It was frightening, like a zing sun! Pei Syriac''s expression changed starkly. He had not expected Aiden to be this decisive and attack him even under the watchful gazes of Martial Grandmasters! More than that, he thought that Aiden was clearly exhausted earlier on! And yet, Aiden had already recovered to this extent in this short period of time! How strong were his regeneration capabilities? The gigantic seal crushed down, engulfing Pei Syriac and almost sealing every possible escape path for him. "How dare you!" The old man from Crystal Pce Sect roared and waved his sleeves. "Swoosh!" Instantly, the sleeves stretched dozens of feet along with the wind, nketing the heavens as it wrapped around the descending zing sun in midair! Although the zing sun was scorching, it could not burn through the sleeves of the old man from Crystal Pce Sect. No matter what, Aiden was only an early-stage Martial Master at the end of the day C he was definitely not a match for a Martial Grandmaster in a direct sh! Pei Syriac raised his head and only felt relieved when he caught sight of the zing sun wrapped in the sleeves. If not for his sect''s senior, he might have truly been killed by that gigantic seal earlier on! At that moment, Pei Syriac experienced another sense of trepidation. "Something isn''t right!" Pei Syriac''s heart sank. Given Aiden''s determination to kill him, how could his attack be this simple? Could Aiden truly be naive enough to think that he could kill him with just a top-grade gigantic seal under the watch of so many Martial Grandmasters? That was impossible! Aiden must still have tricks up his sleeves! Instinctively, Pei Syriac turned his gaze towards Aiden. His pupils could not help but constrict violently right away! Unknowingly, a milky white gigantic bow had already appeared in Aiden''s hands. The bowstring was already drawn. Five spirit patterns shone on the gigantic bow. If one were to pay attention, they might even vaguely catch sight of a sixth spirit pattern that although illusory, was extremely blinding! To Pei Syriac, it seemed like Aiden was hugging a round moon in his embrace at that moment. That round moon was pierced by an ice-cold bolt of energy. Dark ck in color, the bolt of energy shimmered with a faint golden glow. Behind that ck-gold bolt of energy, Pei Syriac caught sight of a firm wrist and a pair of brilliant eyes. Those eyes seemed like they were looking at a dead man! The next moment, Pei Syriac truly sensed the feeling of death! The ck Gold bolt of energy-like bolt of energy was getting closer and closer to him. Pei Syriac could clearly see the chilling glow on the short beam''s tip. By now, the elegant face behind the bolt of energy had already turned blurry. The ck Gold bolt of energy arrived in the blink of an eye! Although Pei Syriac had clearly seen it, he realized that he was rooted to the spot, unable to budge at all! "S-Save me!" His eyes were filled with fright as he howled from the depths of his throat. It was too fast! The bolt of energy was fired almost the same time as when the old man from Crystal Pce Sect wrapped his sleeves around the Coiling Dragon Seal. "Such guts!" The old man from Crystal Pce Sect bellowed in rage. He had not expected Aiden to still have such a terrifying move left after releasing a top-grade artifact weapon! Initially, the ck Gold bolt of energy only shone with a single gold streak. However, the moment it left the bow, six spirit patterns appeared on its body. The light was blinding! Psst! The paragons in the crowd gasped. An early-stage Martial Master had actually summoned two top-grade artifact weapons! Jorl Wuya only had one. Even the Martial Grandmasters of the North Region was shocked. A top-grade artifact weapon! That was a true killing weapon! The burst killing power from a top-grade-grade bolt of energy fired from a quasi-top-grade gigantic bow was more than enough to kill most of the Martial Masters present instantaneously! Even a martial artist of Jorl Wuya''s level might not be able to escape unscathed. Furthermore, Pei Syriac was only an early-stage Martial Master. He was more than a single realm weaker than Jorl Wuya in terms of strength. Everywhere the ck Gold bolt of energy passed, the surrounding spirit energy would be drawn into the bolt of energy, leaving a streak of forbidden area made of spirit energy that propagated the ck Gold bolt of energy to an even faster speed! The old man of Crystal Pce Sect wanted to step in and stop things but he was already toote! Turning into a cold streak of light, the ck Gold bolt of energy arrived instantly. All of a sudden! The jade pendant on Pei Syriac''s waist seemed to sense something and shone brightly, releasing a mysterious power. An almost transparent barrier was formed around Pei Syriac. Boom! When the ck Gold bolt of energy struck this barrier, a deafening bang reverberated through the entire ce! Crack! Crack! Crack! Instantly, a series of cracks rippled through the jade pendant. The jade pendant was an expendable defensive artifact weapon and was extremely rare. This was given to Pei Syriac by his grandfather on the way here and could defend against the full-powered attack of a peak Martial Master! Even Jorl Wuya wouldn''t be able to shatter the barrier formed by the jade pendant in a single blow. However, that bolt of energy pierced the jade pendant right away! The ck Gold bolt of energy was repelled. Pei Syriac let out a breath and his eyes were filled with relief. He was saved after that bolt of energy was blocked. That was because, with a Martial Grandmaster of Crystal Pce Sect present, Aiden would definitely not get a second chance to strike again! Suddenly, a ck gold glint streaked past the corner of Pei Syriac''s eyes. It looked familiar. Poof! In his moment of distraction, Pei Syriac felt a sharp pain in his chest. Instinctively, he looked down. His chest was already punctured with a grisly wound and blood spurting out like a fountain! Bam! The sound of a bowstring quivering only reached Pei Syriac''s ears by then. That strike was way too fast! Before the sound of the bowstring arrived, he was already shot by the ck Gold bolt of energy! When he heard the trembling sound of the bowstring, Pei Syriac instinctively thought of something. Earlier on, Aiden did not shoot a ck Gold bolt of energy. He shot two! The two ck Gold bolts stuck close to one another, front and back. Because the sma bolt was so fast that they transformed into a chilling streak of light, everyone mistook that it was only a single ck Gold bolt of energy. The first bolt of energy tore through Pei Syriac''s barrier. The second bolt of energy was to take his life! Thebination of the quasi-top-grade gigantic bow and top-grade ck Gold bolt of energy rendered Pei Syriac''s supreme-grade defensive artifact weapon to paper. That single bolt of energy swept away every trace of life within Pei Syriac''s body! Aiden lowered his arm and put away the ck solidrge de into his storage bag with a calm expression without any emotions in his eyes. That was a disy of extreme confidence! If I want to kill you, you will definitely die! It was dead silent on the battlefield such that a pin drop could be heard. It wasn''t just the Martial Master paragons of the North Region even the Martial Grandmasters had not expected an early-stage Martial Master to kill a martial artist of Crystal Pce Sect right before their very eyes! The process seemed simple and instantaneous. However, the read of the situation, attention to detail, and precision of timing were all perfect! Any single dy and this monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind wouldn''t have gotten the chance. The end result was the death of Pei Syriac! It was exactly as the monster incarnate had said, "Even Martial Grandmasters won''t be able to protect anyone that I want to kill!" Taban Feng, Murong Wolt, and everyone else was even more shocked. It was only at that moment that they realized that there was nothing exaggerated about how Aiden singlehandedly defeated the paragons of the world''s top and foremost sects and ns beneath the Ancient One''s Pce nor was it due to luck. Chapter 954 954 - Escape? This man had way too many tricks up his sleeves! They seemed to be endless. Suddenly, a ridiculous thought shed through the minds of some people. Could this monster incarnate manage to escape alive? Impossible! Those martial artists denied the thought. There were so many Martial Grandmasters here that have long sealed every single escape path of Aiden. No matter if he wanted to fly up above or burrow down beneath, there was no way that man would be able to escape alive! More than five kilometers away from the Great Forbidden Ruins, a middle-aged man stood in the air. The man''splexion was a faint golden color and his hands were behind his back, exuding a shuddering aura. Gazing in the direction of a particr direction, his eyes shimmered, seemingly in deep thought. All of a sudden! The middle-aged man''s expression changed as he pped his storage bag and withdrew a Destiny Talisman before looking at it intently. The Destiny Talisman was already shattered. Like dust, the fragments slipped through his fingers and dispersed. "Wh at?!" The middle-aged man hollered with widened eyes spewing with killing intent. "Whoever killed my grandson, I''ll make sure you are torn into pieces and burned into ashes!" Spinning around, the middle-aged man sped towards the direction of the Great Forbidden Ruins in a sh, vanishing at the edge of the horizon before long. On the battlefield. The old man from Crystal Pce Sect had an extremely terrible expression! For this trip, Crystal Pce Sect sent two Martial Masters. Notwithstanding Jorl Wuya''s death, even Pei Syriac was murdered and it happened right in front of him! Although Jorl Wuya was a Martial Master, his status in the sect and in the hearts of the elders was much more important than ordinary Martial Grandmasters! The sect had raised Jorl Wuya as a titr disciple. Naturally, he would be punished when he returned to the sect with news of Jorl Wuya''s death! Right now, the only thing he could do was to try and make up for it by bringing Aiden back to the sect. That way, he might have a sliver of a chance of avoiding punishment. "Little beast, let''s see how much longer you can maintain your cockiness!" The old man from Crystal Pce Sect hollered and strode forward, extending his arm to capture Aiden alive. "Hehe!" Suddenly, the Mighty Lord of Dark Ghost Sect sneered sinisterly, "This little beast slewed my disciple. I''m going to take his arm aspensation!" Swash! Dark Ghost Sect''s Mighty Lord''s spirit consciousness shifted and turned into a sinister sword that cut towards Aiden''s right arm. His intent to sever the right arm was merely an excuse to gain some of his flesh and blood in hopes of gaining some of his unique bloodline for themselves. Of the Martial Grandmasters present, the old man from Crystal Pce Sect was not the only one targeting Aiden C all the other Martial Grandmasters of decent capabilities wanted to fight for the ancient draconic heritage! There was no reason for them to give up an opportunity as such! "How dare you!" The old man from Crystal Pce Sect shouted with rage. "Hehe!" Suddenly, Lockster n''s Mighty Lordughed. "This little beast is ruthless and murdered my Young Master. I''m going to kill him and take his corpse back so that I can ount to my nsmen!" "Our Norel aristocratic family is not going to let that little beast off either!" Norel n''s Mighty Lord remarked coldly. "Bullsh*t!" Taban n''s Mighty Lord cursed, "That weakling from your n was clearly killed by a sword rather than thisd! What rights do you have?!" "In that case, you''ve got even fewer rights since your Taban Feng is still alive and well!" All the Martial Grandmasters moved one after another C all of them wanted to take their share of the loot by getting Aiden''s right hand! Bang! Bang! Bang! The power of Martial Grandmasters collided with a rampant might, filling the skies with resplendent light in a terrifying manner! The frightening power extended and all the Martial Masters in the vicinity retreated hurriedly in shock, afraid that they might be embroiled in the fight. Aiden stood firmly in the center of the battlefield, looking at everything with a faint mockery in his eyes. "Everyone, listen to me, there''s no need for us to fight for our lives here!" Murong n''s Mighty Lord suddenly said, "How about splitting thatd''s body into pieces and dividing it evenly!" "That''s good!" "I agree!" Some Martial Grandmasters agreed readily. "No!" The old man from Crystal Pce Sect stroked his beard fiercely and an intimidating power exuded from his seemingly scrawny body. With every single move of his, a rainbow light would glow blindingly. Even Divine weapons wouldn''t be able to get close to him! He remarked coldly, "I''ll see who dares to try and challenge Crystal Pce Sect for a treasure today!" At that moment, a series of cool sighs could be hearding from the center of the battlefield. Many Martial Grandmasters stopped instinctively and turned their gazes over. Scanning his surroundings, Aiden said slowly with a calm expression, "I''ve expected all of you toe and I''ve prepared a great gift. Please kindly ept it!" "Humph!" Ster Luna Sect''s Mighty Lord sneered, "Little beast, you won''t be able to escape today even if you''ve got wings. Let''s see what tricks you have up your sleeves!" "Escape?" Aiden smirked with a hint of incredulity in his eyes. "Everyone, you may have mistaken something." The many Martial Grandmasters frowned slightly. All the paragons of the North Region hiding far away froze momentarily as well, confused by Aiden''s words. Aiden continued, "I''m not the one who has to escape. It''s you guys!" The hearts of many Martial Grandmasters skipped a beat. Before his words were finished, Aiden pped the storage bag on his waist and whisked out a bronze square tripod that was more than a meter tall! The tripod was dull and lifeless, filled with cracks. However, its edges were defined as it stood in the world, as though it wanted to pierce the firmaments and tear the ground asunder! "Hahahaha!" Seven Kills Sect''s Mighty Lord froze for a moment before rearing his head inughter. He pointed at the bronze square tripod in Seven Kills Sect''s hands and asked loudly, "You''re truly a beast without any brains! Do you really think that you can threaten us with that broken piece of metal?" The other Martial Grandmasters were relieved at the sight of that bronze square tripod as well, their expressions rxed and their eyes shining with mockery. No matter what the grade of this bronze square tripod was in the past, even if it was a treasure even beyond Divine weapons, it was already useless right now. If it could not release Divine powers, what was the difference between this tripod and scrap metal? "Hehe." Aiden smiled as well. Indeed, that bronze square tripod was of no threat to Martial Grandmasters. However, that might not be the case for the goldenva inside! After it was contained in the bronze square tripod, the goldenva seemed like it was sealed by some power and was calm as water without emitting any heat. Gripping the hind legs of the bronze square tripod with both hands, Aiden raised it and spun, swinging it at the Martial Grandmasters all around him! Swoosh! The goldenva gushed out, nketing the skies. When theva sshed through the void, it burst forth with a shuddering heat that was enough to annihte everything and incinerate all living beings! At this moment, the Martial Grandmasters who coveted the ancient draconic bloodline were all in the vicinity and none of them could escape from the radius of the goldenva! Contact with the goldenva C even if it was only a single drop C would immediately ignite a shiny golden me. It burned in the void relentlessly! Given the bodies of Martial Grandmasters, they would be burned into ashes within dozens of breaths in the golden mes! If they were drenched by the goldenva, they would be engulfed immediately with no corpse left! The scariest thing was that once the Martial Grandmasters were touched by the golden mes, they would not be able to extinguish it no matter how they struggled! "Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!" Tragic cries reverberated through the world. In mid-air, countless figures engulfed in mes streaked through the air. They did not manage to fly far before they fell as a pile of ashes. The battlefield had instantly transformed into a burning Hell! None of the Martial Grandmasters could avoid this cmity. Even the old man from Crystal Pce Sect who was well-versed in body tempering only managed to hang on for dozens of breaths before falling to the ground without any trace of life. Only the Martial Masters who hid far away managed to survive. The golden mes burned furiously. All the stone pirs in the underground pce were incinerated. The underground pce copsed with countless rocks crashing down and dust billowing. Chapter 955 955 - Escape! (Part 2) ? Everywhere the goldenva reached, a massive pit would be burned in its ce! The mes surged into the air, illuminating the dark night-like day! Against the scarlet golden res, the monster incarnate''s figure was faintly visible, looking like a divine being scrutinizing everything from the mes! It was over! Everything was over! The mes burned through the entire sky! Even the clouds shone tragically beautiful with a scarlet golden shade. The world has changed! From this day forth, the martial art world of the North Region was going to be overturned! A lost expression shed through Aiden''s eyes as he gazed at the endless mes around him as well. Although he managed to get his hands on the Vermilion Fruit, his identity was revealed. It was hard to conclude his gains and losses at the exact moment. Almost all the sects and factions of the North Region were implicated in this fire! From this day forth, Aiden would be faced with an endless hunt and no ce would be safe for him in the North Region! How difficult would it be if he wanted to escape from the North Region? The North Region was way too big! Aiden was only at an early-stage Martial Master. Even with his double immortality and demonic martial art, he would have to take hundreds of years of traveling even in the best circumstances. He would most likely be killed within that period of time! With the conclusion of this battle, Aiden had not only offended the Crystal Pce Sect, but the entire martial art world of the North Region! "No matter what, I''ve got to get out of this ce first!" Before long, he calmed down and made a decision. Picking up the Coiling Dragon Seal on the ground, he put it away in his storage bag before donning on new green robes. Hiding in the bronze square tripod, he broke through theyers of mes and escaped into the distance. All of a sudden! Another streak of golden light surged through the mes. Sweeping his gaze across that golden light, Aiden could not help but freeze momentarily. It was a ck basket that glowed with a golden light, resembling an iron pot with a few holes on top of it. Behind the holes were a pair of ck gemlike eyes that darted around rapidly. Little scarlet me fox! That sharp little thing still made a decision in the end. She chose to leave that ''home'' in which she had lived for dozens of years. She chose to leave her mother and enter the outside world. Although Aiden was reluctant when he left the underground cave as well, he could only let the little fox make the decision for herself. That basket that looked like an iron pot seemed unassuming but in reality, it could protect her from the surrounding golden mes! Earlier on, even when many Martial Grandmasters tried to use their Divine weapons, they were incinerated into ashes by the golden mes. "Come over! I''ll take you away from here!" Aiden shouted softly. He was the reason why the little fox was willing to leave the underground cave. There was no way he could possibly abandon her in this ce. Given her ignorance to the outside world, she wouldn''t survive for more than a month living alone! The little fox was extremely obedient and with a leap, she whisked her Fire Blocking Basket and slithered through Aiden''s robes, climbing to his shoulders with a few steps. Swoosh! A pair of leathery wings appeared behind Aiden. Swoosh! pping his draconic wings, Aiden channeled internal energy and sprinted with his full might into the distance. He had not gone far when suddenly, the skies darkened! A sinister voice echoed through the entire Great Forbidden Ruins! "Without my permission, nobody is allowed to leave this ce today!" The next moment, a terrifying might descended and the countless otherworldly soldiers in the pce instantly dispersed into malevolent energy. The Martial Masters who were initially watching from afar were shocked and shivered uncontrobly, nearly kneeling on the ground. The pressure was way too immense! Against this intimidation, many Martial Masters felt insignificant as ants that could be squashed at any moment. That aura was way stronger than that of Martial Grandmasters! Even the golden mes that were initially zing diminished significantly, as though they were suppressed by someone. "How scary. Who is it?" "What''s the martial art realm of this person? Could it be" "Quasi-Divine! A Quasi-Divine expert must have arrived!" "There''s no way a Quasi-Divine would be interested in a 10,000 Year Vermilion Fruit! There must be another reason for it!" Many Martial Masters exchanged nces as their minds filled with questions. Aiden''s expression changed starkly as well with the descent of that might. He felt his footsteps getting more and more sluggish, as though he was trudging through a swamp. However, he had no intention of stopping. The person who arrived was extremely strong! Among the martial artists Aiden had interacted with before, this person''s aura was the most simr to the Asura, Ward Atrez! It was a Quasi-Divine Being! Aiden did not know why any Quasi-Divine would be here. However, he knew that this was hisst chance and he had to get out of this ce as soon as possible! A middle-aged man in luxurious robes descended from the sky with a grim gaze, scanning his surroundings. A wary look shed through his eyes when he caught sight of the zing golden mes in midair. When his gaze came across Pei Syriac''s corpse, the hesitation in the middle-aged man''s eyes vanished, leaving nothing but an endless, murderous killing intent! Some martial artists could not endure the pressure and recounted the earlier events vaguely. "Hmm?" Shifting his gaze, the middle-aged man caught sight of Aiden who was escaping and could not help but bark coldly with a dark expression, "Little beast, how dare you to try to escape in front of me, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr?" Boom! Tao Johr''s spirit consciousness moved. A horrifying might descended immediately! With a bang, Aiden''s body crashed and mmed onto the ground harshly. The tremendous shock caused the flesh on the surface of his body to rip apart, spurting with blood and adding injuries on top of his original injuries. In the blink of an eye, Aiden transformed into a bloodied person. He could not help but grunt dully and his knees wobbled, almost falling. The difference was too great! This was not merely a difference in terms of strength. It was the difference between two different levels and it was worlds apart. Tao Johr did not have to make a move at all C Aiden could not even withstand his pressure as a Quasi-Divine alone! The little fox was horrified. Earlier on, she was protected in Aiden''s embrace. Aiden had defended her from all damage using his body! With his back against Tao Johr, Aiden continued to escape, panting with a hint of blood in his breath and blood frothing from his mouth. However, his gaze was unusually resolute and immensely fierce! With his hands behind his back, Tao Johr traveled through the air and looked down at Aiden who was escaping down on the ground. Those eyes were filled with mockery and cruelty, as though he was looking at an ant that was struggling to survive. "Mr. Johr, he" When he saw that, Muran Dorn wanted to say something but hesitated. Nobody expected that the number one Weapon Refinement Master the Northern Region would possess such an identity and frighteningbat strength! "What a pity, sigh," After a long silence, Muran Dorn gave a long sigh of sadness. No matter what, Aiden had once helped him. Muran Dorn felt pained when he saw the state Aiden had ended up in. M Deisho seemed to have recalled something and whispered with a conflicted expression, "If the third princess hears the news about Young Master Su''s death she is going to be extremely sad." Muran Dornmented, "At the end of the day, humans can''t fight against fate with their own strength. Even a Quasi-Divine has shown himself at this point. This should be a fated tribtion in his life such that he can''t avoid death." In midair. Tao Johr seemed to have lost his patience and interest in toying around. Harrumphing coldly, he suddenly descended and blocked Aiden''s path forward. Right then, something weird happened! Aiden did not stop in his tracks and a humongous, dark and ominous-looking thick, yet familiar de suddenly appeared in his palm. The metal of the ze buzzed with an unworldly excitement as the ck Gold beam of energy was ready to be released. Chapter 956 956 - Disadvantaged ? The weapon was like a full moon. The ck, ominous dark de and ck Gold beam! That was the strongest attack that Aiden could make, given his current state! So what if it was a Quasi-Divine? Aiden was not going to give up just like that! It was impossible for him to escape under the watch of a Quasi-Divine Being. The only way was if he could kill the Quasi-Divine! The light on the ck, ominous dark de shone brightly and an endless spirit energy surged into Aiden''s embrace, as though he was hugging a full moon. The ck Gold beam of energy shimmered with a cold, chilling intent, almost fusing into one as the full moon in his embrace. Bam! The dark ominous energy beam was shot forward. The two of them were way too close. The ck Gold beam arrived instantly and even if Aiden and Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr were in a different spot, this would have been an extremely difficult beam to dodge! Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr did not move at all, his eyes filled with mockery as though he waspletely unaffected by the cold sh before his eyes. "Is that all you''ve got?" He raised his palm in a seemingly slow motion but it tunneled through the void, arriving right in front of the ck Gold beam! His palm was sparkling like jade and shone with a mysterious luster; his fingernails were long and slender, as wless as ss. Curving his finger, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr flicked gently! ng! The sound of metal shing echoed! Under countless gazes, that beam that was enough to kill Pei Syriac instantaneously was flicked away by Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s finger! There were no injuries on his finger at all. He did it extremely casually! Aiden''s pupils constricted starkly and his heart sank. It was way too scary! The power of a Quasi-Divine had far exceeded his imagination! The difference between them was way too great, akin to heaven and earth. A savage glint shed in Aiden''s eyes as he suddenly extended his right arm without stopping in his tracks. The right hand that was in possession of the Golden Dragon Scales gripped into a fist without any fancy moves, smashing down onto Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s head fiercely! The ck Gold beam was the first move that Aiden prepared C it was meant to confuse Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr and numb him, causing him to lower his guard. His true killing move was the Golden Dragon Scales at the back! Given Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s martial power realm, he would definitely take the attack of a Martial Master head-on without avoiding it. In that case, there would be a chance to trigger the power of the Golden Dragon Scales! Aiden believed that once the power of the Golden Dragon Scales was triggered, it would be enough to injure Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr even if it was unable to kill him. However, that might be his only shot at survival! Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s eyes shone with a deeper mockery. "The futile struggle of a trapped beast!" Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr sneered. As Aiden expected, he reached out with his fist and met Aiden''s right hand directly. Aiden''s eyes shone viciously! His Inner Core and Martial Master realm power circted wildly and his blood energy surged. All his tendons and bones were ringing with the sound of rumbling thunder as his organs shook while his orifices shone with a demonic glint. There were even streaks of bloodshot lights forming around the top of his head! Aiden was converging all the power within his body towards his right hand! This single move would determine his victory or defeat! Right as their fists were about to collide, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr smirked and suddenly converted his fist to a palm, choosing not to engage Aiden head-on. Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s palm glided upwards gently and avoided the iing fist, arriving at Aiden''s right wrist area before gripping suddenly! Aiden froze in his tracks. A tremendous repulsion force surged into his body and he felt like his bones were all going to shatter. "Ugh!" Aiden''s expression changed as he grunted. Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s palm gripped his wrist tightly like an iron hoop. The immense power almost crushed his right wrist! It was way too painful! Aiden shuddered from head to toe and clenched his teeth; bead-sized sweat droplets rolled down from his cheeks instantly. With a cold expression, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr raised his chin slightly and looked down at Aiden, sneering, "Trying to kill me with only this much strength? Relying on your half-assed transformation only?" "Heh How childish." Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr chuckled gently and shook his head. "You''re way too naive!" The difference between the two of them was not merely limited to their martial power realms and strength. In terms of experience and psychology, Aiden was even more disadvantaged! Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr had already guessed Aiden''s intentions and did not choose to take the initiative and attack head-on, gripping thetter''s wrist instead! Aiden''s right hand had the indestructible Golden Dragon Scales. However, his wrist was iparably fragile against the power of a Quasi-Divine! Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s change in movement had severed Aiden''s final hope! Enduring the immense pain on his wrist, Aiden red at Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr indignantly with clenched teeth. "Golden Dragon Scales," Chaos Divine Being Tao Johrmented, "An ant like you isn''t befitting of possessing such a divinely object!" "From this day forth, the Golden Dragon Scales and its heritage belongs to me." Before he finished his sentence, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr exerted slight strength into his palm. Snap! The jarring sound of bones snapping echoed. Aiden''s wrist was snapped directly by Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr! His right hand hung limply, only connected by skin and flesh. Many martial artists winced at the sight of that. As though he could not feel any pain, Aiden did not let out any sound at all; his body merely trembled slightly while his features were distorted! Aiden''s eyes were bloodshot and his expression was extremely cold! Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr ignored the hatred in Aiden''s eyes and merely remarked indifferently, "Little beast, Pei Syriac is my grandson. Since you took his life, I''ll let you suffer in pain and torment for all eternity!" "Your snapped wrist is just the beginning." Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s voice was like a malevolent ghost from hell and was extremely chilling! Bang! Suddenly, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr extended his feet and tapped Aiden in the core gently! His kick was way too fast. Even if Aiden was at his peak condition, he wouldn''t be able to dodge it, let alone the fact that he was now severely injured with his spirit energy drained and blood energy exhausted. Furthermore, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s palm was locked on Aiden''s injured right wrist the entire time. Aiden could not escape at all! Although that kick seemed like it was slow and gentle, it let out a frightening amount of power on Aiden''s core. It was like a gigantic spear that thrust into Aiden''s core! "Pfft!" Aiden shuddered and felt a sharp pain pierce through his abdomen, almost fainting from it. A bloodied hole appeared on his core, muddied by flesh and blood. Destroyed! Aiden could clearly feel that his Martial Master was shattered by that single kick from Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr! His spirit energy drained rapidly. In the blink of an eye, his core turned into an empty spot without any spirit energy at all. Aiden''s body convulsed slightly and he almost could not stand straight. His face was pale, his eyes went dim and his breathing turned faint. His martial power was crippled! The core of a Martial Master was their source of strength, their center of power C it could not be recovered once it was destroyed! Dozens of years of tough martial power was destroyed overnight! For martial artists, there was nothing more cruel than having their Martial Masters destroyed and their martial powers crippled. It was dead silent all around. The Martial Masters had various expressions C some of them gloated, some sighed to themselves while others revealed pained looks. Muron D''ohr and M Deisho had some ties with Aiden in the past. At this moment, none of them could bear to continue watching. Dughur Jian lowered his sword eyes and shook his head gently with a look of pity on his face. No matter how much of a monster incarnate Aiden was, how amazing, or even if he had once trained to the legendary Extreme Martial Knight realm with double phenomenons all of that had now vanished with the destruction of his Martial Master. His chance for survival was growing fainter by each passing second. His chances of returning home even dimmer He did not stop in his tracks and arge and thick ebony, yet familiar looking and terrifying de suddenly appeared in his palm. Chapter 957 957 - Shattered ? Aiden was long drenched and his head was slumped with his ck hair raining down C the only thing that could faintly be seen was a pair of frightening eyes! Even with his Martial Master strength destroyed and his martial power crippled, Aiden did not despair. He would definitely take revenge for this as long as he could walk out alive today. He had his Inner Core despite his shattered Martial Master. For the past time of his long tenure here in this world, Aiden had been training the old man''s mysterious Ancient Primordial Dragonification Technique day and night religiously. The Inner Core that he refined was the essence of the first seven sections of the mystic ssic! He could still trample on everyone across the same level by relying on his Ancient Primordial Dragonification Technique! Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr tightened his grip on Aiden''s snapped wrist with a cold gaze. As he looked down at the silently slumped Aiden, he suddenly remarked, "Oh, right. I nearly forgot. You''re half a beast as well and you''ve also trained an Inner Core!" The existence of the Inner Core could not be hidden from Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s spirit consciousness. "Is that what you''re relying on?" Chaos Divine Being Tao Johrughed, somewhat menacing, before saying slowly, "Even though you''re a Martial Master, I''m not going to leave you any chances! I will let you experience the true meaning of despair!" The moment he said that Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr extended his right fist. Bang! Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr punched his right fist savagely through Aiden''s chest! When the tremendous power surged wildly into Aiden''s body, the first to receive the impact was the Mystic Gold Silk Armor. Unable to withstand the burst power of Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr, a hole appeared through the top-grade artifact weapon and all six spirit patterns dissipated! After breaking through the defensive top-grade artifact weapon, the remaining power cruised through into Aiden''s body. Crack! Crack! Crack! The sound of bones cracking could be heard. Blood drained from Aiden''s face as he was lifted up before crashing down heavily once more. A series of tears appeared on his Inner Core. Aiden could no longer feel the existence of his original power within him. He had lostplete control of his Inner Core as well! Once again, Aiden''s expression turned paler. Even if his Inner Core was notpletely crippled after receiving such an immense blow, the chances of it recovering in the future were extremely slim! In reality, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr had intended to shatter Aidenpletely with that punch. However, the Mystic Gold Silk Armor blocked arge part of the power. Furthermore, Aiden''s tendons, bones, blood, and flesh were extremely frightening, to begin with and he possessed a shocking defense C that was the only reason why the Inner Core was not pierced entirely with that single punch! Prior to this, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr maintained his grip on Aiden''s right wrist the entire time. It was only at this moment when he sensed that the situation was deadlocked that he felt relieved enough to release his grip. Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr had been training for thousands of years up till now and he was no fool. He would definitely not make a mistake nor would he leave Aiden with any chances! The little fox was nearly scared out of her wits throughout the entire process. She had never witnessed such cruelty and remained hidden behind Aiden the entire time. It was up till this moment that the little fox realized something and shrieked. No matter how timid she was, she could not bear to see Aiden bullied by someone like this! Pshew! She tossed the Fire Blocking Basket in her paws away. The Fire Blocking Basket expanded rapidly in midair with nine golden streaks of light. Surging with endless killing intent, it shone with a fiery ze down onto Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr. "Eh?" A hint of surprise shed through Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s eyes. Against the iing Fire Blocking Basket filled with endless mes, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr did not dodge nor avoid. Suddenly, he reached out with both hands and scooped in midair. Those terrifying mes did not even manage to burn off Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s hair or skin! Reaching through the mes, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s arms werepletely fine as he pulled the Fire Blocking Basket towards him for a closer inspection! The glint in his eyes intensified as he nodded to himself. A momentter, he ced the Fire Blocking Basket in his storage bag. "This is a great treasure. It''s a pity that you are too weak to be able to unleash the full might of the Fire Blocking Basket. From this day forth, it belongs to me!" "Heeya! Heeya!" The little fox was agitated. That was her mother''s parting gift to her and she could not lose it! "Don''t go!" Aiden''s voice was hoarse and extremely weak. Unfortunately, the little fox was flustered over her Fire Blocking Basket and it was toote even if she heard Aiden''s call. The little fox dashed forward. Initially, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr wanted to p her to death. However, a thought crossed his mind. "Fox race?" A hint of lust could be seen shing through Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s eyes as he changed his mind and swept his hand. Bang! The little fox was repelled and fell into the mud, spitting out a huge mouthful of blood with a stricken expression! She had not formed a core and could not even change her appearance yet. Naturally, she was not a match for Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr. "Little thing, it will be extremely easy for me to kill you. It will take nothing more than a single thought," Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr remarked coldly, "From this day forth, you are my ve. If you dare to go against me, I''ll make sure you suffer!" The fox race gave birth to natural seductresses. If he could capture someone from the fox race as a ve to do whatever he wanted with her, he would definitely live his days in bliss like an immortal! The little fox was seriously injured, to begin with and was uneasy internally. With Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s words right now, she knew of her impending fate and was so agitated that she fainted. Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr did not care at all. He had loads of time in the future to train up this fox. Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s gaze shifted towards the bloodstained martial artist not far away. Their gazes met. Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr frowned slightly. He had to acknowledge that there was still no sign of defeat in Aiden''s eyes despite the circumstances! There were way too many powers in the world that could defeat Aiden. However, there was nothing that could make him bow down! Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr frowned slightly. Aiden''s gaze made him feel ufortable. It felt as if something was not within his control! "That''s impossible!" Chaos Divine Being Tao Johrmented, "That kid''s Martial Master is crippled and his Inner Core is shattered. By now, he''s aplete cripple and there shouldn''t be any idents." "Little beast, why aren''t you escaping anymore, hmm?" Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr sneered. Aiden remained silent. With an unpredictable tone, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr continued slowly, "Don''t worry, I won''t let you die that easily." "I''m going to imprison you and slowly torment you while interrogating you about the secrets of your Golden Dragon Scales and double martial techniques and dark martial power! There are way too many secrets that you are keeping!" Aiden smiled as well. "I''m afraid you won''t get the chance to discover the secrets I''m hiding!" A series of sinister sutras flowed through Aiden''s mind. Poof! His heart nearly ripped apart and his bloodline surged, zing in mes! In the blink of an eye, almost a third of his bloodline was burned up! That was the Blood Escape technique of the evil demonic sects! Even with his Martial Master crippled, Inner Core destroyed, spirit energy drained and demonic power exhausted, Aiden had another type of power within his body C the power of his bloodline! Within a short period of time, Aiden''s speed would increase exponentially upon the release of Blood Escape. Even so, it was still utterly ridiculous to think that he could escape alive from the grasp of a Quasi-Divine. Otherwise, Aiden would have released Blood Escape long ago and escaped from this ce rather than wait till this irrevocable state. Right now, he only had a single aim for releasing Blood Escape C to escape to the Dragon Burial Valley! After releasing Blood Escape, Aiden turned to flee without hesitation. When he passed by the little fox who fainted, he scooped her up into his embrace and continued sprinting with all his might! Chapter 958 958 - Leap Into The Abyss ? Aiden did not dare to imagine what would happen to the little me fox if he abandoned her here. That would be a fate worse than death! His figure transformed into a streak of bloodied scarlet light and sped outside. All the paragons were stunned. They saw that Aiden was a cripple on hisst breath, someone who could not even stand steadily. In the blink of an eye, that cripple released such a terrifying speed! Even Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr froze momentarily, let alone the Martial Masters who were watching. Although he was a Quasi-Divine, a full two major realms above Aiden, he was extremely cautious. He only relented his grip on Aiden''s wrist after crushing thetter''s Martial Master and Inner Core. However, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr truly had not expected Aiden to still have energy left to escape! "Blood Escape?" His eyes shed as he recognized the origin of that secret skill immediately. Blood Escape was a secret skill from the Asura Sect of the evil demonic sects and was extremely famous in the martial power world. It provided a frightening burst of power that was far beyond the other escape techniques of the five elements. "Trying to escape in front of me? You''re truly way too naive!" Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr sneered, "Let''s see how long more you''re intending to run for!" Before his sentence was finished, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr gave chase C his speed was even slightly faster than Aiden who was bursting with Blood Escape! Aiden might have truly been able to escape alive with Blood Escape if he was hunted by Martial Grandmasters. Unfortunately, he was facing a Quasi-Divine. Furthermore, it was a supreme expert of the Quasi-Divine realm, a martial artist of Crystal Pce Sect! Right now, in Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s eyes, Aiden''s escape was nothing more than an ant struggling on the brink of death. The distance between the two of them was decreasing rapidly! If not for the fact that Aiden had made a move first, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr would have caught up to him within a few dozen of breaths! Many Martial Masters followed hurriedly. However, their speeds were far inferiorpared to Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr and Aiden who was in Blood Escape. Thankfully, there were not many obstructions before them and the path was clear. The paragons chased while gazing the entire time. "By the looks of it, Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr will be able to catch up to Aiden in less than a hundred breaths." "That''s right. Even with Blood Escape, that man is only grasping at straws. His death is inevitable." "I guess he''s just trying to stay alive for every single second possible for now." Muron D''ohr and M Deisho had conflicted expressions when they heard the discussions. No matter what, Aiden was a martial artist of Great Zhou. They even had ties with him previously. In the end, neither of them was as rxed as everyone else when they saw the state he was in. After a slight chase, Muron D''ohr suddenly eximed softly and frowned, murmuring to himself, "This direction doesn''t seem right. It seems to be" "Could it be" "No He wouldn''t dare" "He is heading towards" "The Dragon Burial Valley!" Some martial artists in the crowd noticed something strange and eximed. The Dragon Burial Valley was an extremely unlucky ce. In the catastrophe ten thousand years ago, the blood of emperors was spilled, patriarchs were killed and a divine dragon was buried there! In the past ten thousand years, countless experts have made their way into the Dragon Burial Valley to check things out. Eventually, there was no news of any of them, and neither did they return. It was said that even Dharma Characteristics and Conjoint Bodies wouldn''t be able to make it out alive! Among them, there was some renowned and famous monster incarnates and supreme experts. In fact, there were even people who regarded the Dragon Burial Valley as the tenth forbidden ground apart from the Nine Forbidden Grounds of the world! Suddenly, all the paragons read Aiden''s mind. Since he knew he was going to die, he might as well leap into the Dragon Burial Valley so that Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr gets nothing at all! Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s expression was grim in midair C clearly, he had read Aiden''s mind as well. His blood energy surged and his Divine powers gushed. By now, his speed was already at its limits and there was even a buzzing sounding from the voids! The Vermilion Fruit was born in the depths of the Great Forbidden Ruins and was extremely close to the Dragon Burial Valley. Now that Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr was pursuing Aiden and his Blood Escape with full speed, the two of them arrived at the location of the Dragon Burial Valley before long! Not far ahead, a gigantic ravine split the entire Great Forbidden Ruins into two. The ravine was dark and chilling, exuding a shuddering aura! From midair, it looked like it was a titanic creature with its mouth open, ready to devour any food that presents itself! "Little beast, how dare you!" Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr was flustered and could not help but shout sternly. He would suffer great losses if Aiden were to truly leap into the Dragon Burial Valley! The Golden Dragon Scales and secrets behind the double techniques would definitely be buried in the Dragon Burial Valley forever alongside Aiden''s leap! Arriving at the edge of the Dragon Burial Valley, Aiden looked down and felt his head spin. His injuries were way too severe. Be it physically or mentally, he was at his limits after his Martial Master was destroyed, Inner Core shattered, and the release of Blood Escape after a drawn-out battle. A conflicted look shed through Aiden''s eyes. He was indignant at the end of the day to die just like this. However, if he were to end up in Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s hands and endure endless torment, he''d rather jump down here and end things once and for all! "Forget it." Aiden sighed internally. "Little beast Aiden!" Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr changed his manner of address hurriedly. Standing at the edge of the Dragon Burial Valley, Aiden swayed as though a slight wind could knock him over C Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr did not dare to close in at all. "Aiden, there''s no need for you to do this," Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr said with a deep voice, "We can make a trade. As long as you hand the Golden Dragon Scales to me, I can forget about the grudges between us!" Aiden looked at Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr mockingly with his back facing the Dragon Burial Valley. Although Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr was smiling on the surface, he cursed internally, "Don''t worry, I''m a man of my word. As long as you''re willing to hand over the Golden Dragon Scales, I''ll leave immediately without hurting you at all!" "You want my Golden Dragon Scales? My heritage?! HehSure!" Aiden smiled and jumped behind, remarking indifferently as he fell into the Dragon Burial Valley and flipped his middle fingers to the shocked man, "Come down and take it!" "You " Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr was enraged and disappeared from the spot in a sh. In the blink of an eye, he had already arrived at the edge of the Dragon Burial Valley and stopped hurriedly. He wanted to extend his robes to pull Aiden up but it was already toote. He could only watch as Aiden fell into the darkness, vanishing entirely. Ten thousand years ago, a few emperors of the human race joined forces and fought a legendary war against the divine dragon, forming this gigantic ravine. The ravine was not only the tomb of the divine dragon, there were even more frightening powers mixed within it. Even a Divine weapon would turn into dust if it fell inside, let alone the body of a martial artist. Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr did not dare to head down and could only watch as the Golden Dragon Scales disappeared from his sight. "Little beast, do you think that this is over? Since you killed my grandson, I''m going to exterminate everyone rted to you as well as the Azure Myst Sect! No one will be spared! YOU HEAR ME?! NO ONE WILL BE SPARED!" Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr had a menacing expression that was beyond horrifying! Aiden leaped down. His body disappearedpletely into the Dragon Burial Valley. That was what the paragons saw when they rushed to the edge of the Dragon Burial Valley. They could barely contain their shock and all of them had conflicted expressions. That leap meant that the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind was now a thing of the past. All geniuses that fall would eventually be forgotten. That was the case even if that man was the cream of geniuses. That man possessed way too many secrets. In fact, he even broke through the restrictions between humans and demons and managed to cultivate both at the same time! This man had once singlehandedly killed Guardians and paragons of all the top factions and sects from all sides in the elementary ancient battlefield and entered the Ancient One''s Pce! Chapter 959 959 - Is It Over? ? This man was the second after the Ancient One to reach such a legendary, perfected state to reach the Extreme Martial Knight realm! This man trained the extremely rare double phenomenon and they were even primordial phenomenons that were lost! This man managed to obtain the Vermilion Fruit in the Great Forbidden Ruins domineeringly against the barrage of all the paragons of the North Region, even killing many of them along with the number one chosen son of destiny of the North Region, Jorl Wuya! This man incinerated hundreds of Martial Grandmasters and stained the skies with their blood! This man managed to escape a Quasi-Divine''s hunt to leap into the Dragon Burial Valley even with his Martial Master destroyed and his Inner Core shattered, leaving nothing but legends that almost seemed impossible Aiden, the number one monster incarnate throughout history, had died in the Dragon Burial Valley just like that. Everything was over. Nobody expected that the fight between the paragons for the Vermilion Fruit would end in such a manner. "The Dragon Burial Valley is an unlucky ce. Could it be the reason for that man''s death as well?" "It''s not just him! There were way too many paragons of the North Region who died in this battle! It should be because of how unlucky the Dragon Burial Valley is!" "I guess we''ve escaped a cmity and survived." The paragons discussed in hushed whispers with trepidation C none of them dared to get close to the Dragon Burial Valley. Muron D''ohr and M Deisho left the crowd silently. "We''ve got to inform the third princess as quickly as possible about everything here." Muron D''ohr said with a dark tone. M Deisho frowned. "You can see the rtionship between the third princess and Aiden as well. If she finds out about this, she''s going to be heartbroken. Sigh, I can''t bear to do it." "It''s not a matter of whether you bear to or not," Muron D''ohr said with a calm expression, "There''s no way to hide this matter at all. She will find out about it sooner orter!" "I know," M Deisho nodded and sighed gently. Muron D''ohr retrieved a messenger crystal from his storage bag and recounted the entire incident as clearly as he could before doing anything else. A few dayster. Somewhere in one of the few bustling cities of the surface world, at the Weather Watchers Pavilion. A spring shower had just poured down and a few shimmering droplets hung on the lotuses in the pond and the bamboo on the short, sparkling with a bright luster. Two women stood beside the window looking at the picturesque scenery outside. They spoke softly with chuckles, sounding extremely charming. Both of them were extremely beautiful, akin to fairies from heaven. One of them was elegant and ssy. Wearing a faint yellow dress, she exuded a hint of nobility through her brows. The other was cute and charming, wearing a pink dress. Every smile of hers turned her eyes into crescent moons. "Sister, congrattions. Father is going to pass down the seat of the throne to you," The girl in pink said as she tilted her head with a bright, yful smile. The dignified woman shook her head. "There''s nothing to be congratted about. I''m a woman after all. There are bound to be people objecting to me inheriting the throne." "What are you afraid of? Father is in support of you!" The girl in pink raised her fist. The elegant woman did not reply and merely gazed into the distance in deep thought. A long timeter, she finally spoke, "Hmmm actually, it''s all because of one person that father is going to pass the throne to me." "I know! Young Master, please!" The girl in pink blinked and said with a chuckle. "Yes." The elegant woman nodded. "Aiden is at Extreme Martial Knight, the second after the Ancient One. Both father and the seniors of the family have high regards for his potential. It''s because I''ve got some ties with Aiden, therefore" The girl in pink could not help but tease her, "Sister, things between you and the Young Master are far from simple ties! In my opinion, you are already a couple hehe!" "Stupidss, you don''t know anything!" The elegant woman nced at the girl in pink in a charming manner. The two peerless women in the Rain Admiration Pavilion were the sisters, Sia Deva and Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva. Right then, a streak of spirit light shed and curved in midair, flying towards Sia Deva. "Eh?" Sia Deva frowned slightly and murmured, "It''s a messenger crystal. What happened?" Reaching out with her smooth jade-like hand, she received the message from a messenger crystal. When she opened it, she froze on the spot and blood drained from her face! A long timeter, Sia Deva''s figure swayed and she nearly fell down. Gripping onto the window aisle of the Rain Admiration Pavilion, she used so much strength that her fingernails dug deep into the wood! Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva hurried forward to support Sia Deva. "I am fine," Sia Deva shook her head gently. Although she could still stand, an unresolvable sadness shed through the depths of her eyes. "Sister, don''t get worked up." Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva inched forward to take a look out of curiosity. "What!" She could not help but exim when she read what was on the messenger crystal. Every single piece of news on the messenger crystal was one more explosive than the other! The final statement clearly stated that Aiden''s martial power was ruined entirely and he leaped into the Dragon Burial Valley Also, a Quasi-Divine from Crystal Pce Sect dered that he was going to destroy everyone and everything rted to Aiden and spare no one! There was no difference between leaping down the Dragon Burial Valley and death! Instantly, Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva''s eyes fogged up with ayer of mist. In the martial power world, she was Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva who charmed the entire world. However, there were many times when she was still just a young maiden at heart. Sia Deva closed her eyes expressionlessly. A long timeter, she opened her eyes with a resolute gaze. She pulled out a messenger crystal and wrote a few lines on it. "Swiftly protect the mortal adventurers, and escort them out of the Draconic Skinks territory! If anyone refuses to ept it, an adequate force can be used on him or her at this critical juncture! Handle this personally and do not let anyone else know about it! This mission must remain confidential, otherwise, his life might be in danger!" Sia Deva released the messenger crystal immediately after penning her words without hesitation. The messenger crystal pped and shone with a bright spirit light before disappearing into the horizon. Sia Deva was already exuding the aura of an emperor withplete dominance. Holy Maiden Sylvie Deva did not have the mood to linger in the pce, turning to run outside as she wiped away her tears in secret. She wanted to confirm with her aunt whether the news was real! A few dayster. One after another, news arrived from the Great Forbidden Ruins. The fight for the Vermilion Fruit, the battle between the paragons, the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind, Aiden the entire North Region was shaken! The martial power world of Tianhuang Maind was in quite a stir! Instantly, almost all the martial artists were discussing the battle at the Great Forbidden Ruins, about the number one monster incarnate of history who was now dead and had turned into a thing of the past. Azure Myst Sect. The sect went silent after news of Aiden''s death in the Dragon Burial Valley. Zorun Kai and the other two had parted ways with Aiden for slightly more than a month. eaglesnov?1,o None of them expected that it would be an eternal parting! It did not matter how external martial artists viewed Aiden, how they said that he was a demon with an innately feral personality, that he was a fiend who loved to kill. In the hearts of Zorun Kai and the others, Aiden would always be an honorary disciple of Azure Myst Sect! In order to protect his sect mates, he sacrificed himself as bait in the battle at Ancient Burial Grounds and lured away everyone from the danger while undertaking the immense risk of dying. In the sectpetition, he was outstanding and ascended beyond everyone with a domineering aura, shutting the mouths of all sects and martial artists that mocked Azure Myst Sect forever! In the Great Forbidden Ruins, he single handedly forced back three strong sects and protected the safeties of Zorun Kai and the other two, allowing them to return with rewards while curing the disheveled old man''s injuries at the same time. He was at Extreme Martial Knight, the second after the Ancient One! He had unlimited potential such that even the Emperor of Great Zhou had high regards for him! He was the pride of Azure Myst Sect, but All of that had now disappeared along with Aiden''s leap. Link Soren sighed gently. "Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr dered that he wanted to annihte his family as well. Given his martial power realm as a Quasi-Divine Being and the background of Crystal Pce Sect, it''s probably over for Aiden''s family." Chapter 960 960 - Irony And Cruelty ? "Mortals should not be implicated in grudges between martial artists. To think that even a so-called ''righteous'' sect like the Crystal Pce Sect would resort to something so despicable, so vile! On the side of ''Justice''? They''re nothing but shameless!" The disheveled old man cursed hatefully. Slyff Nae remarked deeply, "I''m guessing that Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr is not going to take action personally against a mortal in light of his status." Although that was the case, no sect or faction in the North Region dared to protect Aiden''s friends or family. It was not only because of Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr or Crystal Pce Sect. Rather, Aiden''s identity was way too sensitive. He even killed too many paragons of the North Region for the Vermilion Fruit fight while incinerating hundreds of Martial Grandmasters C he had offended almost all the major sects and factions of the North Region! Anyone that dared protect Aiden''s friends or family would be pitting themselves against the entire North Region! None of the greater powers of the North dared to do it. Azure Myst Sect did not dare to either. A failure would instantly result in a cmity befalling them! To be fair, against the current circumstances, Azure Myst Sect was already enduring immense pressure for not severing their ties with Aiden. Sect Master Lian Liu released his spirit consciousness and surveyed his surroundings before whispering, "Our High Elder has already left the sect to head for some business. I hope that she''ll be able to make it in time. This is an extremely serious matter that must not be leaked or the sect will be met with impending annihtion!" Slyff Nae and the others nodded hurriedly. At that moment, a powerful and familiar aura sped over from not far away. The old High Elder, the quasi-divine realm ascended beast was back! Everyone from Azure Myst Sect was alerted! Pushing through the door, the old divine swan could not conceal her fatigue and surveyed her surroundings before sighing. "I was toote." Upon hearing that, everyone from Azure Myst Sect felt their hearts skip a beat. The old divine swan continued, "Tao Johr did not appear personally due to his status. He sent dozens of Crystal Pce Sect disciples in a group and had them burn everything all the way to the ground. Everything was in ruins. Weirdly though no bodies could be found around the pce. Nor any real signs of battle." Everyone from Azure Myst Sect heaved a sigh of relief but they were confused. If the residents'' whereabouts were unknown, they should be safe for the time being as long as they were not in the hands of Crystal Pce Sect C why would the old divine swan then say that she waste? Why was there a hint of sadness in her tone as well? The old divine swan continued, "The group from Crystal Pce Sect was furious due to their fruitless trip andid down the order to ughter all the nearby cities in order to force the missing leaders to show themselves!" Everyone''s mouths dropped agape as they looked on with disbelieving expressions. For the longest time, they could not recover from their misery. ughter the cities those words were short but they sounded extremely grim. Almost everyone from that region were mortals! Against the powerful might of martial artists, those mortals had no way of defending and their lives were simr to ants! Although they did not witness it personally, everyone from Azure Myst Sect could imagine the desperation and helplessness those mortals felt against the martial artists. Everyone seemed to be able to hear the tragic cries. Everyone seemed to be able to envision endless arms ying, seeking help. The old divine swan closed her eyes, as though she could not bear to recall, and sighed. "By the time I arrived, the capital city was filled with rivers of blood and mountains of corpses. It was devastating and looked like it was hell!" The disheveled old man clenched his teeth and snarled, "B*stards!" "Creating such massacres against mortals because of the grudges of martial artists. Are they truly not afraid of divine retribution?!" Krisia Hall''s voice was quivering. "There''s no such thing as divine retribution in this world," Slyff Nae mocked bitterly. The old divine swan continued, "More than halfway through the massacre, martial artists of the fiend sects arrived, led by their Holy Maiden. They fought against the Crystal Pce Sect martial artists and forced thetter back." "In that case, there''s an extremely high chance that those people were rescued by Pure Maidens Sect." "That should be the case." "It was lucky that the fiend sects arrived. Otherwise, all the mortals would now be" Everyone from Azure Myst Sect suddenly went quiet as they discussed. Silence overwhelmed them. Those that killed were from the immortal sects while those that rescued were from the fiend sects. It had to be said that this was truly a great irony. Who were the true immortals and who were the true fiends? Right from the beginning, Azure Myst Sect was established for the sake of protecting the masses while exterminating fiends and demons. But now, when they said the words, ''It was lucky that the fiend sects arrived'', everyone felt their values copsing within them. Did it mean that they had to kill Aiden for his dark arts and techniques? Were they still going to continue hunting down the fiend sects despite the fact that thetter saved the masses? An ex-disciple of Azure Myst Sect, Ward Atrez, was now a fiend as well. Furthermore, he was a great fiend among them, an Asura! However, Ward Atrez had once said that although he had killed plenty of people in his lifetime, he had neverid his hands on mortals. Asuras killed divine beings but they did not massacre for fun. Wasn''t a fiend such as him much holier whenpared to the masses from Crystal Pce Sect? After a moment of silence, just as everyone thought that everything was over, the old divine swan pursed her lips and took a deep breath before continuing, "After the group from Crystal Pce Sect left, they were still indignant and went on to massacre 13 other cities on their way back to vent their frustrations" "What!" Everyone from Azure Myst Sect was shocked. "Within a single day, countless people in the territory of the North lost everything with their families broken apart. The death toll alone has already crossed countless millions!" No natural catastrophe would be this scary! The true catastrophes were often made by men. Gripping his fists, Slyff Nae said coldly, "Although Crystal Pce Sect is a powerful martial sect, aren''t they afraid of incurring the wrath of the entire martial world by massacring innocents like this?!" "They''ve got the reason to back it up," The old divine swan shook her head with a look of irony in her eyes. "Crystal Pce Sect stated that because Pure Maidens Sect of the fiend sects appeared in the North publicly, it meant that the mortals were in cahoots with the ''evil'' sects. In that case, because the mortals of the north have long fallen into the path of the fiends and were ''beyond salvation'', Crystal Pce Sect was upholding justice by ying fiends and demons." Everyone from Azure Myst Sect felt a sense of helplessness and their hearts felt stuffy. That reasoning sounded absurd and hrious. Everyone knew that Crystal Pce Sect merely massacred the mortals just to vent their frustrations. However, nobody could refute it. That was the way the world was C strength reigned supreme. Everyone from Azure Myst Sect who knew the entire events of things knew that the mortals of the North were innocent. eaglesnov?1,o However, how many people could tell the real truth? In other vassal states, in other corners of the world, there were still countless mortals who did not know of the truth apuding the immortals for exterminating evil while upholding righteousness The mortals at the lowest rungs were the easiest to be hoodwinked and deceived. Chapter 961 961 - Fate ? Several days had passed since the battle of the paragons at the Great Forbidden Ruins. The news spread throughout the Northern regions and almost the entire world knew about it! Middle Continent, somewhere deep in a valley. In a majestic cave abode, a man and two women stood. The man had decent features with a grim expression C this was the ex-disciple of Azure Myst Sect, Jor Heng. Among the women, one of them wore a white, pure blouse and had extremely beautiful features. However, she exuded a faint coldness. The other woman was extremely beautiful and her features looked like a painting. However, she was dressed like a flirtatious young man. One of them was Leng Rou who had already joined Thousand Crane Sect and the other was Tai Liu of the Azure Myst Sect. The three of them stood facing one another silently. The atmosphere within the cave abode was somewhat tense. "Hais." A long whileter, Jor Heng sighed gently and spoke, "Has the news been confirmed? Has Young Master Aiden truly jumped into the Dragon Burial Valley?" "Yes." Tai Liu nodded. "Many people witnessed it personally. The news can''t be fake." Leng Rou did not speak the entire time, her gaze turning colder by the moment. Jor Heng shook his head,menting while sighing, "This matter has been blown out of proportion." Tai Liu pursed her lips with a conflicted expression, gazing into the distance and murmuring, "So, you''re the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind. It''s no wonder" When news of the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind reached her on the ancient battlefield, Tai Liu had a brief moment of suspicion. After all, Aiden had some simrities with the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind. However,ter on, she rejected her suspicion. Their differences were way too obvious as well. As she recalled everything that happened on the ancient battlefield, Tai Liu felt sadness. While the two of them had not spent a long time together, she was secretly awaiting their next encounter internally. But now, her hopes had turned into emptiness. "Does she know about this?" Suddenly, Jor Heng asked. "She does," Tai Liu replied, "She locked herself up and refused to eat or drink. It''s been an entire day. Thankfully, the other girl is watching over her so she isn''t in any danger." In another cave abode. The woman in question, Lady Pyre leaned against the wall, huddled against her knees. Her eyes were red and swollen as she sobbed softly. The other, more mature-looking curvaceousdy, Madam Dara watched over her silently; a humane look of worry could actually be seen in his eyes. Thereafter, as if he thought of something, the killing intent in his eyes surged! West Region. In a desert. A bulky strong-scaled skink sat squarely beside a tomb, muttering to himself, "Master, why why are you gone just like that?" The brawny figure sat beside the tomb and bawled like a child. North Region, Great Forbidden Ruins. This day, two unexpected guests arrived at the ruins, looking fatigued. One of them was extremely tall at more than two meters and had long hands and legs. His arms were slumped naturally and were longer than his knees. The tall man carried a long rod and his eyes shone fiercely with a scarlet glint. The other man was barehanded. Although he was slightly shorter, his body looked even more muscr and mighty. Both of them had a lot of hair and although they were in humanoid form, they could not conceal the dark, demonic energy they emitted at all! They were demons! One of them, a younger and leaner-looking brown-haired figure entered the depths of the ruins and broke through the encirclement of the otherworldly soldiers with the long rod in his hands, charging right for the Dragon Burial Valley. The other one, that seemed to be a descendant of some sort of white-furred tiger followed behind him and took care of the otherworldly soldiers at the back. After more than a year, the two figures the lean man and the white tiger figure had both formed their Inner Cores. They had not only grown in terms of martial realm, theirbat strength was rather frightening too! It was especially the case for monkey C no otherworldly soldier could withstand the touch of his rod. A single m and they would dissipate to dust! Before long, monkey and the white tiger figure arrived at the edge of the Dragon Burial Valley. Gazing down the cliff beneath him, the white tiger figure felt his head spin and could not help but gasp, retreating a few steps back instinctively. Monkey narrowed his gaze as well. They could sense an extremely terrifying aura and energy fluctuationing from the Dragon Burial Valley and it was shuddering! "Boss, we should head back first. After all, this is the territory of the those weird ones. I''ve got an uneasy feeling," The white tiger figure looked nervous. After training an Inner Core, demons could speak in themon tongue as well! He was also very befuddled over the strange events that have rocked the world recently. However, at the end of the day, unlike the other one, he would not make the trip thousands of miles tirelessly just to take a look at the ce of Aiden''s death. "Boss, there''s no point standing here and looking. He''s already jumped." The white tiger figure persuaded again, "We should head back and just take over a few mountains. Our days will be so enjoyable at that time." The brown haired man, whom vaguely resembled a monkey did not reply and merely gazed at the Dragon Burial Valley quietly. The scarlet glint in his eyes intensified and his killing intent was almost corporeal at this point! A long timeter, monkey finally turned around slowly. The scarlet glint in his eyes faded gradually as he nodded to the white tiger figure. "Let''s go." Monkey and the white tiger figure soared through the air and disappeared at the horizon in the blink of an eye. Not longter, a gigantic tear opened up in the void above the Dragon Burial Valley without any warning, surging with chilling winds. Two figures leaped out from within. The old man at the front was still ratherposed. However, the same could not be said for the other person as he fell out staggering with a pale expression. His legs were wobbly and he could barely stand! The old man wore a bronze crown and long tattered robes. His cheeks were rosy and his tall beard swayed gently with the wind. If a desk appeared and he held a wooden block with his left hand and a folding fan with his right, the old man wouldpletely resemble a storyteller that made his way around the world! The man that came outter on was slightly rotund with a pale expression without any beard. This man whose name had history long forgotten was called simply Shen Ton, the man who had once entered the Dragon Burial Valley, one of the Great Forbidden Grounds, and havee back to tell the tale! Arriving at the edge of the Dragon Burial Valley, the old man looked down in silence. Shen Ton let out a slow breath and could not help but ask, "Old man, what''s down there in the Dragon Burial Valley?" "What do you think?" The old man turned to look at Shen Ton, asking in reverse. "Nothing more than a pile of corpses" As Shen Ton spoke, he caught sight of the strange expression on the old man''s face and a thought shed through his mind and he was frightened by that possibility! "Old man, there can''t be people alive down there, right?" "Heh!" The old man chuckled oddly as a silent acknowledgment. Rubbing his chin, Shen Ton said deeply, "In that case, there''s a chance thatd is still alive!" He revealed a joyful expression andughed. "Like I said, his fate is extremely unyielding. How can someone who can be so energetic after eating a dragon egg in the Dragon Bone Valley die so easily?" The old man shook his head with an indifferent expression. "You''re missing the main point." "Huh?" Shen Ton was confused. The old man continued, "The main point is that even if Aiden isn''t dead, he''s no different from being dead." Shen Ton seemed to be in deep thought However, he heard the old man continue once more, "Don''t forget, his Martial Master rank was destroyed and his Inner Core was crushed. That''s equivalent to a loss of his life energy! Even if he''s alive, he''s no different from a dead man." Shen Ton was enlightened. The old man was right C Aiden would no longer be the number one monster incarnate in history with his crushed Martial Master and shattered Inner Core! What did it matter even if he was alive? He would never get the chance to take revenge for that massive feud. The old manmented and sighed gently, "Back then, thatd''s fate was changed after much effort from an expert. Unfortunately he still couldn''t win against fate at the end of the day!" Chapter 962 962 - Unexpected ? A long timeter, Aiden stirred awake. Gradually, his five senses started recovering. The first thing Aiden smelled was the faint, yet familiar scent of books and ink. It was old, emitted from ancient books that had been kept for a long time, but it smelled good. Thereafter, his vision gradually cleared up. His surroundings were dark and countless dust specks floated before him. Struggling to sit up, Aiden found that two wooden bs were attached to his right wrist, stabilizing his wounds. His muscles were still sore and painful. "Am I not dead?" Aiden looked around. A series of wooden bookshelves stood all around and each of them was filled with many ancient books. Most of them were filled with dust and should not have been used for a long time. On the surface, this looked like an old study that was extremely spacious C there were at least a few thousand ancient books here! Aiden could only feel his head spinning and his consciousness was still fuzzy. He remembered leaping into the Dragon Burial Valley after being pursued by Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr. However, he couldn''t remember anything thereafter. Shaking his head, Aiden looked around and identally caught sight of a bronze square tripod at the side, gradually recalling some things. The moment he leaped into the Dragon Burial Valley, he initially thought that his death was certain. However, when he caught sight of the fainted little fox in his embrace, he felt his heart wrench. That little thing''s fate had been way too tragic. She lost her mother when she was young and was imprisoned by the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile for dozens of years. After finally gaining freedom to follow him into the outside world, she was met with such a cruel fate. Was the little fox going to die just like that without getting a chance to experience the beautiful world outside? Unable to bear the thought of that, Aiden opened his storage bag and withdrew the bronze square tripod with all his might, hiding inside it with the little fox. The Dragon Burial Valley was known as an unlucky ce. Countless top experts and supreme powerful beings were buried there. Nobody knew of the dangers within it C the bronze square tripod might be their only shot at survival! Although he was inside the bronze square tripod, Aiden could still sense clearly that he was falling rapidly! The sound of winds wheezing filled his ears. An extremely terrifying aura surged outside the bronze square tripod! An endless amount of power collided against the walls of the tripod repeatedly. It intensified in a frightening manner! Bang! Bang! Bang! With each collision, a deafening bang could be heard C the sound was so ferocious that it seemed like the bronze square tripod was about to break into shards! Aiden coiled up his body and protected the little fox in his embrace as best as he could. However, against the tremendous impact, he mmed against the walls of the bronze square tripod left and right. His tendons and bones broke and coupled with the injuries he had already sustained, it felt like his skeleton was about to fall apart! The terrifying bangs sounded like they could drown everything! Aiden merely felt his ears buzz and his orifices were oozing with blood! The external power from the Dragon Burial Valley was way too scary! If not for the protection of the bronze square tripod, Aiden and the little fox would have turned into dust instantly without any corpse remaining. A whileter, they were met with an even fiercer impact. mming heavily against the walls of the tripod, finally, Aiden could not hold on any longer and fainted entirely. When he woke up once again, he was already in this spacious study. "Could there be someone still alive in the depths of this Dragon Burial Valley?" Aiden thought to himself. Suddenly, he felt as though something was rubbing against his leg. Aiden looked over. A furry little thing looked at him withrge, watery eyes that were equal parts filled with concern and joy. The little thing was filled with fur that was scarlet-like mes and seemed like a nket. Its eyes were bright and shiny like ck gemstones C it was the little fox who had fallen into the Dragon Burial Valley with him. Previously, the little fox was injured by Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr. But now, she looked like she had already recovered. Aiden felt slightly consoled. "I am fine," Aiden smiled when he sensed the worrying from the little fox. "Although my injuries are more serious this time round, I''ll be fine after recuperating for a while." As he said that, he tried to stand up. He grabbed the bronze square tripod with one hand, wanting to put it away in his storage bag. "Hmm?" Aiden''s expression changed slightly. The bronze square tripod did not budge at all! Although the bronze square tripod was extremely heavy, Aiden was able to lift it effortlessly prior to this! And yet Suddenly, he realized something. His previous strength, his internal energy that have reached the ranks of the Martial Masters of this world was already destroyed and his Inner Core was already shattered! His cores were directly broken by someone! Instinctively, Aiden tried circting his Inner Core, and a sharp pain shot through his chest! "Ugh!" He grunted deeply and his body wavered as ayer of sweat appeared on his forehead. His Inner Core was dark and dull, covered by a web of frightening tears! Aiden sensed everything carefully and his expression turned even more terrible. There was already no way to salvage his Inner Core. The situation was even worse for his internal power! The core around his abdomen was empty, like a hollow ck hole, without any trace of spirit energy. Aiden took a deep breath and slowly condensed the spirit energy in his surroundings. He could still sense the existence of spirit energy and was able to absorb it. However, after the spirit energy entered his core, it vanished and could not be retained inside! Right now, his core was like a leaky airbag. eaglesnov?1,o Although water could enter, it could not be retained. In other words, even if Aiden wanted to train once more step by step from the lowest realm, it would be impossible! That was also the reason why the cruelest punishment for a martial artist was to cripple their inner cores. That was because they wouldn''t even get the chance to grow anew! Aiden clenched his teeth and an unyielding look shed through his eyes as he channeled his bloodline to move the bronze square tripod with all his might. At the same time, he absorbed spirit energy and made use of the brief moment when it circted within his body to open his storage bag to put the bronze square tripod away. That was an extremely simple move. However, Aiden expended an immense amount of effort as he panted heavily, drenched in sweat with a pale expression. Aiden chuckled bitterly. Up till this point of his martial journey, he had overwhelmed all other martial artists of the same level in an indomitable manner and had even crossed major realms to kill his opponents! He was known as the number one monster incarnate of history to the major factions! To think that he would end up in such a state one day. Although Aiden still possessed a tremendous power of bloodline, it was no longer possible if he wanted to fight against true paragons of the Martial Master realm. There wouldn''te the day when he would be able to take revenge on Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr. Is this going to be my fate?! Aiden gripped his fists so fiercely that even his knuckles were turning white! I''m not willing to ept it! I refuse to ept it! I''m indignant! I''m going to fight against my fate even if it takes me everything I''ve got! Even when his sharp fingernails dug into his palm and blood oozed out, Aiden did not realize it C there was even a faint dark bloody, crimson glint shining from the depths of his eyes! The little fox squatted beside Aiden''s legs and looked up at him worriedly. Although she could not speak, she could feel the pain and relentlessness in Aiden''s heart at the moment. There was nothing more despairing than the loss of hope. Suddenly, a chant sounded from outside the door. "Thus I have heard, to train one''s body withpassion and imbue kindness into God''s wisdom to gain forgiveness. Arriving here, known as the infinite immeasurable world, empowering billions of living beings" The voice was pure and wless, reverberating endlessly and cleansing one''s mind. Someone was chanting something strange outside. Chapter 963 963 - The Strange Monk ? "Hmm?" The voice interrupted Aiden''s thoughts. Someone was truly alive at the depths of the Dragon Burial Valley! Aiden pushed the wooden door open and walked out to see a young figure in robes assuming a meditative position on a praying mat. The young figure, that looked like a monk had his palms ced together before his chest as he chanted softly. Aiden was momentarily stunned. He thought that anyone who lived at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley would definitely be an incredible person. However, he had not expected it to be such a young monk. The young monk before him should only be at the early stages of the Martial Master realm at most. Although Aiden''s cultivation was gone, his eyes were still sharp. Sensing something, the little monk stopped chanting and turned around. His eyes were clear as water, as though they contained pure sincerity! The little monk smiled gently and stood up, greeting with sped palms, "Guest, you''re awake." Aiden walked forward and bowed. "I am Aiden. Thank you for your lifesaving grace, blessed reverend." "You don''t have to do that, guest," The little monk smiled. "I''ve only brought you here because my master sensed you." "Master?" Aiden''s tone wasdled with surprise. It seemed like this little monk was not the only one at the bottom of Dragon Burial Valley! Nodding, the little monk looked towards a gigantic hall not far away. "However, my master is currently in seclusion and will not see anyone for the time being." The doors were shut on a majestic hall not far away. Aiden nodded and asked, "How long was I unconscious for?" "A month or so." Aiden pursed his lips in silence, feeling a hint of bitterness in his mouth. Because his martial power was destroyed, his body''s healing capabilities had also decreased massively C he had not recovered entirely even after all this time! After a short moment, Aiden asked again, "May I ask when your master wille forth from his seclusion?" "I don''t know," The little monk shook his head. "It can be tomorrow, it can be a yearter, or even a hundred yearster." "A hundred years" Aiden chuckled bitterly. Sensing Aiden''s disappointment, the little monk consoled him sincerely, "Guest, there''s no need to hurry. Time is fleeting and hundred years will pass by in the blink of an eye, like a divine steed crossing terrains." The little monk looked like he was younger than twenty. Those words truly did not sound like they should be said by him and seemed odd. The little monk continued, "If you find yourself getting bored, you can casually look through the prayers in the Saint Chamber. Those holy scriptures contain a lot of knowledge and the secrets of the universe. Even a wise old person might not be able toprehend the wisdom within fully." "Those scriptures contain endless joy and time will pass by unknowingly once you''re immersed in them. A hundred years will pass by quickly." It was easy for the little monk to say that but Aiden truly could not gather his interest. Embarrassed to decline the goodwill of the little monk, Aiden nodded with a smile and started surveying his surroundings. The courtyard did not have many structures, only two. One of them was the Saint Chamber and the other was the majestic hall C there wasn''t even a meditation room. This was an extremely simple and old temple. Ancient and aged! The only two structures looked like they were from a long time ago and had endured through the seasonal changes and the sands of time. Two vegetable gardens were nted before the big hall, giving them some green food. The main entrance of the old temple was extremely battered and creaked with the gust of the wind, as though it could fall over at any moment. "Why is there such a strange old temple at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley?" Aiden had a lost expression. For a moment, a thought seemed to have shed through his mind. However, Aiden''s mind was way too chaotic at that time and most of his attention was spent thinking of how to recover his martial power. As such, he did not think much about that thought. After a moment of standing still, Aiden turned around towards the entrance of the old temple. There was truly nothing to be seen around the old temple. Aiden wanted to head outside and check out what was at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley! The little monk had a worried expression and could not help but remark, "Guest, you have yet to recover from your serious injuries. Don''t head too far out, it''s dangerous out there." "Thank you for your kind reminder, fellow guest. I''ll be careful." Aiden expressed his thanks with cupped fists before turning to head out. The moment he stepped out of the old temple, he felt a chilling gust of wind breeze by and could not help but shudder. Before him was a meandering valley with countless crushed rocks on the ground. The cliffs on both sides were filled with strange rocks. It was dead silent throughout the entire valley! Aiden frowned slightly and hesitated for a moment before continuing ahead. Although the little fox had a frightened expression, she still chose to tag along behind Aiden. Aiden reared his head and looked up. A fog surged above the valley. ten thousand years ago, when countless experts fought against one another, the remnant of their energies formed a region of chaos and interweaved above. Any living being that was drawn into it would be shredded into a mist of blood! Now that Aiden''s martial power was crippled and he had lost every single method of ascending into the skies, it was easy for him to jump down from above, but impossible for him to return up. Aiden realized that if he could not recover his cultivation, he would most likely grow old and exhaust his remaining lifespan at the bottom of this valley. Yet, how could he recover his martial power? His inner core which already had the strength and power of a Martial Master was already shattered into pieces and had dispersed entirely. His other core was now a leaking existence that could not be used to gather spirit energy. There was no way for him to recover his Martial Master. The only thing that he could recover was his Inner Core. Although his Inner Core was lined with tears, it was still intact at the very least. However, how could he recover it? Aiden had not martial power to the realm of being able to absorb the essence of the world. If he wanted to continue with his other, draconic training, he would have to use up arge amount of his lifeforce! It coulde from fresh meat, rare treasures, or elixirs However, apart from him, the little fox, the little monk, and his master, and two ordinary vegetable patches, there was nothing else at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley! Without replenishment, it would be difficult to circte the Ancient Dragonification Manual, let alone recover his Inner Core. Although Aiden sank into his thoughts, his footsteps did not stop as he continued walking forward instinctively. After they passed a bend, the little fox suddenly stopped in her tracks and bit Aiden''s trunks, holding him back fervently. rmed, Aiden snapped out of his thoughts. Corpses were sprawled on the ground one after another before him. Some of themid horizontally, some of them sat on the ground while others were torn and distorted C they came in various shapes and positions. The corpses strewn on the ground extended all the way to the edge of the valley with no end in sight. Aiden realized that these corpses should have been buried here in the valley during that catastrophe ten thousand years ago. Although ten thousand years had passed, those corpses were pristine and did not show any signs of decay! In fact, Aiden caught sight of a perfect body among the corpses! How frightening was that expert when he was alive? These were people whose bodies have not decayed after ten thousand years! Suddenly, Aiden sensed a scarlet glint shining from the corner of his eye and turned over to look instinctively. "Hmm?" His pupils constricted rapidly and his hairs stood on end! A few drops of fresh blood were sttered on the walls around him. Aiden merely took a single nce and felt a piercing pain surge through his eyes C his eyeballs felt like they were about to explode! Which expert did that blood belong to for it to be this terrifying! Even after ten thousand years, the sttered blood almost killed Aiden! Right then, he felt an immense sense of danger jolt into his mind. A sinister wind gusted without any warning! Ten feet away, phantoms appeared one after another, producing menacing faces that faded away as rapidly as they appeared! Aiden felt his heart skip a beat as he suddenly recalled something. The otherworldly soldiers formed in the Great Forbidden Ruins were merely troops of the Imperial Army buried in the past. Yet, what sort of people were buried in the Dragon Burial Valley? Chapter 964 964 - A Little Prayer ? These were people whose bodies have not decayed after tens of thousands of years! These were people whose sttered blood on the walls possessed immense might! Those otherworldly soldiers formed by the Imperial Army were enough to fight against Martial Masters. If so, how terrifying would the haunting vengeful spirits of the fallen experts here be? "Hurry, let''s go!" Aiden shouted softly and hugged the little scarlet fox, turning back the way he came from. Thankfully, they were not far from the old temple. He could return to it within tens of breaths with a full burst of his body. There was a bend up ahead. Although Aiden had been distracted along the way, he could vaguely recall that this was the only bend he had turned. In other words, he would be able to see the old temple once he turned around this bend. However, after heading over, Aiden stopped in his tracks instinctively. There wasn''t any old temple before him! Instead, there were corpses that were mounted like a mountain! Not far away, a gooey river of blood flowed, blocking the path forward with a nauseating stench of blood. Frightening faces floated on the surface of the river with sinister smiles. Aiden narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze. The sight before him did not vanish still! On the contrary, those corpses came alive one after another. They struggled and stood up with rotting flesh hanging from their bodies. Slowly, swaying, they staggered towards Aiden with a disgusting stench! Pairs of arms protruded one after another from the river of blood up ahead as well! Many people drenched in blood crawled up the shores and grinned brightly with bloodshot eyes! Aiden felt chills run down his spine and cold sweat poured down his forehead. The little fox was even more rattled and burrowed herself into Aiden''s embrace, chattering. She covered her eyes with her tiny paws and did not dare to stick her head out. There were only two possibilities to what was before them. First, it meant that the Saint Chamber and little monk that he had seen earlier were all illusions and that there wasn''t any old temple at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley at all! Second, he had not left where he was initially. By right, he would have seen the unknown old temple once he turned around the bend. But now, Aiden had been sprinting the entire way and hadn''t rested at all. He clearly felt that he had turned the bend and yet, instead of any trace of the old temple, he was met with this mountain of corpses and river of blood that had a torrential malevolent aura! Both possibilities did not seem optimistic for him. The first possibility meant that there was an extremely terrifying existence here that could bewitch his five senses and conjure illusions before him! The Saint Chamber, the old temple, and the little monk were all fake! The Dragon Burial Valley was formed ten thousand years ago, how could there be an old temple at the bottom of it? The only thing that Aiden believed in were the eyes of the little monk which were clear as water. Those eyes could not be fake at all! The second possibility was that Aiden encountered what was known in the mortal realm as a ghost wall. He felt that he had been sprinting forward endlessly without any rest at all. In reality, he had not left the ce at all. There were malevolent ghosts that blinded his five senses with the use of supreme divine powers, causing him to run in circles after losing his sense of direction. All of a sudden! Aiden felt that something breathed down the back of his neck! Psst! Instantly, his hair stood on end! Without even thinking, his eyes shone fiercely as he pped in reverse! Piak! His fist flew through the air with a crisp sound. There was nobody behind him. Aiden took a deep breath of air. Just as he was about to turn around, he discovered that there was a woman with disheveled hair standing not far away, wearing a white blouse with bloodstains on it. The woman''s back was facing him and her face could not be seen as she stood there motionlessly. Any existence at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley was definitely way more terrifying than those in the Great Forbidden Ruins! The otherworldly soldiers in the ruins were incorporeal. Aiden did not know how frightening this woman was in her past life or how much vengeance she held, but her malevolent energy had materialized into actual flesh! Even if Aiden was at his peak condition, it would be hard for him to escape death if he encountered these existences, let alone the fact that his cultivation was crippled now! He did not dare to act recklessly and red at the white-bloused woman with a tense expression. All of a sudden! The white-bloused woman moved. Everything beneath her head did not move at all. However, her head twisted to the back sinisterly and faced Aiden directly! Her mouth, nose, and ears were filled with blood and she had no eyeballs, merely a pair of bloody, empty sockets. The woman smiled creepily and her grisly red long tongue extended like a serpent! The little fox had just poked its head out to look through the gaps in her paws when she caught sight of that. "Ah!" She eximed and fainted from the shock. It wasn''t surprising C even Aiden who had tons of experience of the world felt chills run down his spine and his limbs turn wobbly! The white-bloused woman moved and with a sinister gust of wind, lunged forward. Aiden extended his right hand hurriedly to defend. There was no way he could threaten the white-bloused woman with his power. Only his true form, his ancient draconic heritage might be the only thing that could work! Swoosh! Suddenly, the white-bloused woman stopped in her tracks and looked down somewhat warily at Aiden''s right hand with her empty, bloody sockets. "Tsk, tsk, tsk!" She snickered sinisterly and in a sh, vanished right before Aiden''s eyes! Aiden was rmed and checked his surroundings hurriedly. There were no traces of the white-bloused woman around him at all, as though everything that happened earlier on was his hallucination! Aiden knew that the difference between them was way too great! Although that white-bloused woman was created from malevolent energy, her strength was most likely not weaker than Quasi Divines with boundless divine powers. In fact, she might even beparable to Lesser Divine Gods! Up ahead, the bloody corpses with rotten flesh crawled out from the blood river one after another and closed in rapidly. A bloodied figure suddenly lunged over with a menacing face, opening its mouth to try and bite Aiden''s neck! Aiden twisted his right hand and used it like a dagger, thrusting it into the bloodied figure! Shing! A ze surged! Without making a single sound, the bloodied figure was engulfed in a set of bright mes! The other corpses and bloodied figures hurriedly stopped in their tracks. They were malevolent entities and the things they feared most were lightning and mes. Naturally, they could sense the terrifying power that was hidden in the divine phoenix bone! Even so, the corpses and bloodied figures refused to leave, merely standing not far away to watch Aiden with stoned gazes and stick saliva dripping slowly from their mouths. At that moment, a white figure appeared silently behind Aiden and gradually materialized. It was the white-bloused woman who had gone missing earlier on! The white-bloused woman licked her lips and a scarlet glint appeared in her hollow sockets. She extended her skeleton palm that shone coldly on its fingertips slowly towards the top of Aiden''s head All of a sudden! The sound of prayer reverberated through the valley, possessing a mysterious noble might that was shuddering! "Om Ma Ni Pa Mi Mon!" Every single prayer word that was spoken caused a tremendous vibration to reverberate through the voids. The corpses and bloodied figures that were initially in front of Aiden vanished entirely. There was no mountain or corpses nor was there any river of blood. Everything was just an illusion! The only thing that was real was the creepy white skeleton palm hovering above Aiden''s head! Not far away, a little monk strode over slowly. Although he was at a young age, he was dignified in his divine ways as he stared behind Aiden with two divine lights beaming from his eyes! He held a string of prayer beads in his right hand and chanted prayer endlessly. There was a lotus seat on his left palm that emanated with a mysterious glow. As the little monk walked over, the illusions that were initially in Aiden''s line dispersed, and the meandering ravine reappeared. Chapter 965 965 - Altering Fate ? He was standing at the bend in the valley and the battered old temple was not far away! When the white-bloused woman caught sight of the little monk, her expression suddenly turned uneasy. The bloody sockets on her face stared at the lotus seat on the little monk''s hand hesitantly, seemingly cautious. "Vile evil being, what are you waiting for?! Leave!" The little monk hollered lightly with a stern expression. He raised his left hand and pushed the lotus seat gently in the direction of the white-bloused woman. The lotus seat floated over through the air. One after another, pure white lotus petals opened up from inside out,yer byyer. As the lotus blossomed, the lotus seat let out an extremely terrifying aura! "Ah!" The white-bloused woman shrieked and turned into smoke, escaping far away and vanishing in the blink of an eye. The little monk hurried forward and put away the lotus seat before tugging Aiden''s sleeves, whispering, "Dear guest, hurry, let''s go!" As he said that, the little monk turned and sprinted back towards the old temple. Aiden''s heart skipped a beat and followed him. Thankfully, they were not too far away from the old temple and both of them returned to it within tens of breaths. The little monk only heaved a sigh of relief after turning around to close the main doors. "Thank you for your lifesaving grace, fellow guest," Aiden bowed and expressed his thanks. The little monk waved it off, smiling. "No matter, Guest. It''s only right of me." "What is your name, fellow guest?" Aiden asked. The little monk replied, "I''m Morwyn ckstone." "Morwyn ckstone, Morwyn ckstone" Aiden muttered twice softly. Purity, honesty, and sincerity. Those were the impressions that the little monk gave Aiden. Everything was truly embodied by the character in his name. "The evil entities outside are extremely vicious and possess supreme divine powers. I''m not their match either," Morwyn ckstone exined, "The malevolent ghost earlier only turned to flee because she was wary about this lotus seat, thinking that my master had appeared. If we had waited for her to realize what was happening, we would have been doomed." Feeling somewhat guilty, Aiden said, "I was careless just now and nearly implicated you." Eight years worth of martial power was destroyed overnight and he had turned into a mortal from the number one monster incarnate of history. Anyone else would also have a hard time epting such a defeat and downfall. Earlier on, when he left the old temple, part of it was out of curiosity to check out what was outside. Another part of it was truly because he was brooding internally. He had truly suffered immensely mentally! Morwyn ckstone seemed to be able to sense the troubles Aiden was facing. "Actually, there won''t be any danger as long as you don''t head out of this ce. Although this courtyard is notrge, you can move around freely within it, Guest. The techniques in the technique Chamber are also free for you to read." "At that time, we might be able to share our understanding and explore the depths of Buddhism together." Pausing for a moment, as though he recalled something, Morwyn ckstone reminded hurriedly, "Right, also, don''t ever head to the backyard of the grand hall!" After saying that, Morwyn ckstone shirked his neck with a frightened expression, as though he had just thought of something terrifying. Aiden was greatly curious. Against that menacing malevolent ghost with torrential divine powers earlier on, Morwyn ckstone was stern without any fear. Yet, why was he revealing such an expression at the mention of the backyard? Just what was in the backyard that caused Morwyn ckstone such cautiousness? Furthermore, Aiden noticed something. Earlier on when he wanted to head out, Morwyn ckstone merely reminded him that it was dangerous outside and he should not head far away. But now, Morwyn ckstone was warning Aiden with extreme conviction not to head to the backyard of the grand hall! Aiden nodded. He truly did not wish to give Morwyn ckstone any troubles. After Morwyn ckstone gave the reminder, he returned to his praying mat and took out the thick ancient book from before, flipping it open carefully to continue reading. The little fox gradually stirred awake during this period of time. However, due to the shock that she received, she insisted on staying in Aiden''s embrace and refused to go anywhere. After taking a look, Morwyn ckstone seemed to recall something and handed Aiden the ancient book in his hands with sincerity. "Guest, if you don''t know what technique to start with, how about this? You will definitely benefit immensely." "This technique possesses the secrets of the universe and you will gain a different realization with every new reading of it. It''s truly amazing." Aidenughed bitterly internally. Right now, he did not have any mood at all. Even if his martial power was still present, he wouldn''t be able to endure sitting through toprehend these difficult techniques. Aiden declined. "My injuries have not healed yet so I can''t exhaust myself mentally. You can read them first." Morwyn ckstone did not believe it entirely and asked somewhat confusedly, "Reading techniques, prostrating yourself to God, andprehending the teaching is the most enjoyable thing in the world. How would it be exhausting mentally?" Shaking his head, Morwyn ckstone did not seem to understand Aiden''s words. When he saw Morwyn ckstone''s passion, Aiden felt embarrassed and asked, "What''s the name of that ancient book? I''ll go take a look at it after you''re done reading it." Of course, he had only mentioned that casually and wasn''t truly curious about it. "Mystic divine Lotus technique" "Oh," Aiden replied distractedly. The moment he turned around, his expression changed! "Mystic divine Lotus technique?" He looked at Morwyn ckstone with disbelief and asked again. "That''s right." Morwyn ckstone nodded in a natural manner. Aiden''s mouth dropped agape and he froze for a moment before revealing a bitter smile. The Mystic divine Lotus technique was known as the number one secret skill for the Martial Master. In that rming catastrophe 10,000 years ago, South Wind Monastery was destroyed and the Mystic divine Lotus technique was lost at that time. After all this time, nobody discovered any trace of the Mystic divine Lotus technique. Therefore, a saying began to spread through the martial power world. Everyone imed that the Mystic divine Lotus technique was buried within the Great Forbidden Ruins. Aiden''s trip towards the Great Forbidden Ruins this time round was not entirely due to the Vermilion Fruit. A great part of the reason was that he wanted to find the Mystic divine Lotus technique! Unfortunately, fate loved to tease. Now that he was truly able to see the Mystic divine Lotus technique, he was already unable to train. The legends were right C the Mystic divine Lotus technique was truly buried within the Great Forbidden Ruins. However, who would have thought that this was buried at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley! Aiden finally realized why there was such an old, ancient, and battered temple at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley. There was a high probability that this temple was built by a surviving monk of either Fahua or Daming Monastery in the past! However, what was the purpose of building a temple as such at the bottom of the valley? The Mystic divine Lotus technique, something that could create endless waves of bloodshed in the martial power world, was now in the hands of an unknown little monk. There was no fighting or bloodshed here. In fact, the little monk even chose to share it of his own ord. This was honestly quite an irony. What was even more ironic was that now that Aiden had finally caught sight of the Mystic divine Lotus technique, he had already lost his ability to train. Although the Mystic divine Lotus technique was a supreme secret ssic of the Buddhist sects, it could not help someone with a shattered core and lost martial power retrain again. Teaching to be Tai Johr was way too ruthless! He had severed all of Aiden''s hopes with a single punch and kick! Gripping his fists tightly, Aiden reared his head slightly with an unyielding look in his eyes. Nobody can make me stop in my tracks! Nobody can stop my path forward! Even with such a blow, Aiden had no intention of giving up. He was not going to bow down to fate! Someone had once altered his fate for him painstakingly. If he admitted defeat at this moment, it would be equivalent to letting that person down! Aiden assumed a lotus position and started feeling for spirit energy around him, gathering them bit by bit towards his core. After entering his body and core, spirit energy dispersed immediately without lingering. Right now, his core was like a bottomless ck hole, devouring everything. Aiden did not give up at all. Chapter 966 966 - Time ? He continued gathering and condensing energy while watching it dissipate right before his very eyes. Thus, the cycle continued. Time began to pass. Soon, several days have gone by. A full month has passed. In the blink of an eye, two months passed. Aiden''s injuries had long healedpletely. However, his body''s condition had not taken a turn for the better. Isted from the outside world, there was no flesh with life force or universal treasures here. If they were hungry, these two men and one fox would get some vegetables and fruits from the ntation. If they were thirsty, they would drink water from deep underground with a well. For martial artists, this was nothing much. Martial artists trained by absorbing spirit energy around them to raise their martial power realms. However, demonic power required arge amount of life force! For the past, Aiden''s Ancient Primordial Dragonic Manual''s technique seemed to have stagnated and his Inner Core was still webbed with tears without any signs of recovering. In terms of the martial power, the energy that he had condensed for the past two and a half months had not triggered any reaction from his core. His core was still empty and hollow. Of course, Aiden''s two and a half months had not gone to waste entirely either. There were many secret ssics of the Buddhist sects littered across the technique Chamber. To his surprise, he realized that he could actually understand these initially dry and iprehensible techniques! It was as though he had been enlightened. Time was fleeting and in the blink of an eye, another two and a half months have passed. Aiden had already been at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley for almost half a year now. His Inner Core had not shown any signs of recovery in these five full months. The core in his abdomen was also like a swamp of still water, dead without any fluctuations to it. Aiden''s gaze was no longer as resolute and unshakable as before. Was he going to continue to train like this foolishly? When would a miracle finally happen? After mulling in the courtyard, Aiden made a decision and opened up his storage, retrieving the ten thousand-year-old Vermilion Fruit from it. The Vermilion Fruit was bright red and shiny, emitting a burning energy. The ten thousand-year-old Vermilion Fruit had absorbed way too much blood from too many people! It wasn''t just the younger generation of the North Region C there were even hundreds of Martial Grandmasters that died! Taking a deep breath of air, Aiden devoured the Vermilion Fruit in a single mouthful and assumed a meditative position, experiencing the changes in his body. The Vermilion Fruit contained a tremendous amount of life force. The life force turned into a violent cyclone that rippled through his entire body, cruising through his bloodline, flesh, bones, tendons, and organs! Aidenposed himself, directing the rampant cyclone towards his core. Normally speaking, the power of a Vermilion Fruit was enough to help a Martial Master advance a single minor realm! In other words, if it was ate-stage Martial Master that devoured the Vermilion Fruit, he would be able to get to perfected Martial Master realm right away and would only be a half-step away from the Martial Grandmaster realm! Aiden did not dream that he would be able to recover his martial power. He merely hoped that he could retain some spirit energy in his core, even if he had to start from the very bottom once more. Unfortunately, after that rampant cyclone of energy entered his core, it did not create much impact and was wiped away cleanly by the ck hole core without any trace at all! Aiden opened his eyes, looking a little lost and deste. For the past year, he had experienced countless defeats but the thought of giving up had never crossed his mind. And yet, right now, his determination sank and his conviction wavered. Sensing Aiden''s disappointment, the little fox had a worried expression and rubbed her cheeks against Aiden''s arm to console him. "Little thing, I''m sorry. I''ve implicated you," Aiden stroked the little fox''s spine and smiled in irony. "Initially, I wanted to take you away and leave that deste underground cave. To think that we would end up in another cave of sorts." "Heeya! Heeya!" Although the little fox could not speak in human tongue, she waved her pair of paws and breathed in before gesturing above her head. Aiden understood. The little fox was saying that it was great here C the skies were vast and she could breathe fresh air daily. Thereafter, the little fox pointed to herself before pointing to Aiden. Her watery huge eyes blinked and she flushed in an extremely charming manner. Aiden''s head was lowered and he did not catch sight of it, merely smiling in a dazed manner. He had suddenly realized that there was a high chance he would be trapped at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley for his entire life, aging and waiting for his lifespan to wear out. There was no need to think about revenge. Less than that, there was no need to think about pursuing his sister, his granny, his master his family. At that moment, the holy voice reverberated through the old temple. "Everything is divine and illusory; like lightning, life is merely fleeting." The prayer sounded like heavenly flutes, reaching the depths of one''s soul. Compared to the little monk''s prays, it was even more moving and possessed a divine power of tranquility! Instantly, Aiden''s worries lessened considerably. He turned towards the voice. Within the old temple, the wooden doors of the grand hall creaked open. The light inside was dim and a vague figure of a monk could be seen from the haziness. His beard was white and he was extremely skinny, sitting on the floor. The little monk''s master had finally exited his seclusion! Taking a deep breath of air, Aiden bowed deeply and said in a deep voice, "Greetings, reverend." "Guest, you are troubled in your mind?" The old monk had a warm andpassionate voice. Pursing his lips, Aiden asked, "Reverend, may I ask if there''s any hope of recovery with my destroyed core and ruined Martial Master?" "I don''t know." There was a long silence in the grand hall before those three words were uttered. The old monk''s voice continued, "Throughout history, there had never been anyone who could continue cultivating with a destroyed core." When he heard that, Aiden smiled bitterly. Was he still going to lose to fate at the end of the day? Suddenly, the old monk steered the conversation in another direction. "However, nothing is absolute. You might be able to tide through this tribtion, guest." "Hmm?" Aiden''s expression changed C the old monk seemed to be implying something. The old monk said, "If you enter the grand hall, you might be able to find some answers, Guest." Aiden raised his brow. Although he was puzzled, he still stepped foot into the grand hall. Candles lit up one after another on both sides of the grand hall. Aiden peered over the old monk and his gazended on the walls on the opposite end of the grand hall. Shuddering, his eyes lit up with a sparkle that was brighter than stars! There was a saying on the wall. "To be one of the greatest, you have to work on the foundation and be willing to take hardship and serve others!" The sentence was etched clearly into the walls, curved with a majestic aura! One could instantly feel the arrival of an impressive and superior aura just by ncing at those words, sending shivers down their spines! Aiden smiled. Instantly, it seemed as though a peerlessly beautiful woman with an indifferent expression had appeared before him. Dressed in a blood-red long dress, she stood there looking at him silently. The sight of those words was akin to looking at her. There was only a single person who could have written those bold words! Aiden remembered every single word that his Master, Number 13 said to him eight years ago before she left. "If you want to continue with the original and the demonic martial powers, you will experience a lot of unimaginable sufferings. But you must bear in mind that these sufferings will only make you stronger." "There is a saying in the past, with the Dragonification technique of the Ancient One that I would like to give you as parting words, ''to be one of the greatest, you have to work on the foundation and be willing to take hardship and serve others!" Right now, that statement was etched right before Aiden''s eyes! The moment he saw those words, he felt an irresistible sense of nostalgia surging within him. Unknowingly, so much time has passed. Back in Higrove, Number 13 subjected him to endless training and there were even times when his life was hanging on a thread. However, Number 13 had never let him go through any grievances! When Joyful Sect martial artists hunted him relentlessly with their advantage in numbers and martial power realm, Number 13 annihted Joyful Sect! Given Number 13''s character, if she knew that ss Pce sent a Quasi Divine Beings to kill Aiden, it would be normal for her to hunt down ss Pce singlehandedly! The little fox tilted her head at the sight with a lost expression. Chapter 967 967 - Predicted? ? For the past year, this was the first time that she had seen such a smile on Aiden''s face. He was as joyful as a child. The old monk''s expression did not change, but there was a sliver of light in those hazy eyes of his. Before Aiden entered the grand hall, he was initially despondent and without any hope for the future. However, the moment he caught sight of those words, his listlessness vanished and he was reinvigorated with a charged aura! It was as though he wanted to trample the entire world beneath his feet! The old monk was secretly impressed. Normally speaking, if it was any other martial artist, they wouldn''t be able to endure the blow of having their martial power realmpletely destroyed and the great fall from grace. Furthermore, the future was bleak without any hope in sight. Initially, cracks had already appeared on Aiden true heart with signs of deterioration. To think that those words would be able to secure his conviction once more! The old monk had lived for a long time and could naturally tell that given this turmoil, there would be nothing that could shake Aiden''s teaching Heart in the future! Cling! ng! Suddenly, the dull sound of chains rattling could be heard in the backyard of the grand hall! The ground shook, as though a malevolent ghost was trying to break free; even the grand hall was starting to shroud with a faint malevolent energy! Morwyn ckstone was standing outside the grand hall. When he heard the chains rattling, he could not help but shudder and nce at the backyard with a sense of trepidation. The little fox winced and sniffed with an uneasy expression. She caught a whiff of an extremely terrifying aura in the air! It was as though the owner of the aura could rip her into pieces at any moment! It was a deep, indescribable fear that came from the depths of her soul and bloodline. The old monk was the only one who was expressionless, as though he hadn''t heard the chains at all. After the chains rattled for a while, it went silent once more. Gradually, Aiden stirred awake from his memories as well. It was less than eight minutes since he stepped foot into the grand hall. However, his heart experienced a rebirth and he had transformed right from the core! Although there was no effect on his martial power, Aiden believed that nothing and nobody in this world could block his path forward! Chaos Divine Being Tai Johr crushed his cores. He would then create a new path for himself! After gazing at the words on the wall for a long time, Aiden said softly, "She was here." "Yes." The old monk nodded. Even though he did not rify who she was, Aiden believed that the old monk definitely knew. That was because anyone who had seen her even once would never forget her ever again! The old monk looked a little conflicted as he sighed. "some couple years ago, this female guest came over and retrieved something." "Before she left, she left that saying from the old holy technique of the religious sects." "I did not understand what she was doing and could not help but asked. She merely replied asking me to wait for a fated person to appear before flying away without appearing ever again." Aiden smiled at that. He could already imagine the cold and aloof expression of Number 13 with just a simple description from the old monk. That was indeed Number 13. Though he did not know how was she able toe here, nor how she already predicted such a predicament. But to be honest, for the current Aiden, it did not matter. That woman, his mentor did not care for further exnations at all. The old monk continued, "For the past several years, I did not know who the fated person would be. It was until the moment when I saw you that I understood." "Me?" Aiden was momentarily stunned. Naturally, he knew that the sentence was left for him by Number 13. However, how did the old monk tell that he was rted to Number 13 prior to this? As though he could sense Aiden''s doubts, the old monk smiled gently and exined, "That''s because, you hold within your body what the female guest took away from this ce." "Therefore, you are the fated person, Guest." It was only at that moment that Aiden realized he had neglected something. The old monk said that Number 13 had taken away something from this ce. What was it that could have made Number 13 make the long trip over to the Dragon Burial Valley personally just to put it within his body? A thought shed through Aiden''s mind. Back in the ancient battlefield, when the mysterious old man in the Ancient One''s Pce mentioned the spiritual root, he mentioned that there were only a few utmost treasures in the world and Aiden had two of them in his body! One of them was confirmed to be his draconic heritage. Could the other utmost treasure be what Number 13 took away from this ce? If that was truly the case, the old monk''s remark might have been euphemistic. Rather than take away that utmost treasure, Number 13 must have snatched it away by force! "That female Guest''s methods are divine. I do admit that I can''t bepared to her." The old monk''s statement reaffirmed Aiden''s guess. He could almost imagine the way Number 13 arrived in the Dragon Burial Valley eight years ago to take away the utmost treasure without a single word after overwhelming the old monk. Thereafter, she even left that statement on the wall before turning to leave That was indeed Number 13''s style. Overwhelming and domineering without the need to exin anything! Somewhat guiltily, Aiden nced at the old monk. In the past, Number 13 suppressed him and snatched away the utmost treasure. Now that Aiden was in this state, notwithstanding the fact of whether or not the old monk would take revenge At the very least, he would want to take back the utmost treasure! "Don''t worry, Guest," The old monk smiled gently. "Since that thing is now in your body, it means that you have an affinity with it. I''m not going to take it away." Aiden heaved out a sigh of relief. At the same time, curiosity filled him. This old monk seemed to be able to read his thoughts! Right from the beginning, he had barely spoken and yet, the old monk was able to reply to every single one of his thoughts! Those means were truly incredible! Suddenly, Aiden recalled that a couple of months ago, he read an ancient book in the skink''s underground city. Within it was the record of a mystical ability known as Heart Peering! It was said that anyone who manages to train Heart Peering would be able to sense the thoughts of people nearby without the need formunication or interaction C it was extremely mysterious. At its peak, a single thought would be enough to read the minds of all beings in the universe and it was extremely frightening! The old monk''s martial power was unfathomable and Aiden guessed that he was at least at the divine realms, surpassing the limits of mortality. Perhaps he was even more frightening than that! After pondering for a moment, Aiden asked, "Reverend, what is the utmost treasure? Earlier on, you said that it is in my body. Yet, why can''t I sense it?" The old monk''s gaze was wise as he said slowly, "Dear guest, there are three great sacred trees in the history of the world. The three world trees. These three sacred trees are not found in this current world. Rather, they grow in the Pure Land." "Pure Land?" Aiden was confused. The old monk did not exin and merely smiled before continuing. "The Ashoka tree bears the Saraca Flower. In the ancient era, a Saraca Flower fell onto the main world and was obtained by the Founder Master of South Wind Monastery, taken in as a sacred object of the religious sects. It was passed down from that time all the way till the female guest took it away." The old monk indirectly revealed another piece of information through his words C this old temple was rted to South Wind Monastery from ten thousand years ago!" "Saraca Flower?" Aiden recalled deeply but could not find any connection to a flower-rted object given to him by Number 13. The old monk said, "Guest, you are someone without a spirit root." "Yes." Aiden nodded frankly. It was true that he was born without a spirit root and had only stepped foot onto the path of martial power after meeting Number 13. Before she left, while he was unconscious, she even helped him nt a spirit root that was not weaker than a heaven spirit root! As though he could read Aiden''s mind, the old monk shook his head. "The spirit root is an illusory object that someone is born with. If you have it, you have it. If you don''t, you don''t. There''s no saying of a nted spirit root." Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. He did not understand what the old monk meant by that. Since it wasn''t possible for one to nt spirit roots, what about his spirit root? How did he manage to go through with the regr, immortality-aligned martial power without a spirit root? Chapter 968 968 - Gifts ? Suddenly A few scenes shed through Aiden''s mind vaguely. It was true that his ''spirit root'' was unlike those around him! It was most obvious from his martial power speed! His Energy Gathering speed had even surpassed martial artists with heaven spirit roots! Furthermore, the quality of his spirit energy was extremely pure and was even stronger than martial artists of the same level with heaven spirit roots! Aiden was indignant and pushed through the barrier of the stone gate with brute force. Thereafter, the spirit testing gate was shattered! Could it be A frightening thought shed through Aiden''s mind. The old monk nodded. "Guest, actually, right from the beginning, you''ve never had a spirit root!" Aiden was shocked. The old monk continued, "The female guest took away the Saraca Flower and sealed this utmost treasure of the religious sects in your original core, recing the function of a spirit root." Aiden''s mouth opened slightly. It felt as though there was suddenly an exnation for some of the doubts he had previously. It was no wonder why Number 13 had a slightly odd expression when she said that she had nted the ''roots of future'' for him. Furthermore, based on what she said at that time, it now looked like she was implying something. Number 13 said that she imnted a spirit root that wouldn''t be inferior to a heaven spirit root for him instead of saying directly that she imnted a heaven spirit root for him. The old monk remarked, "The reason why you''re able to sense spirit energy and gather them to train isn''t that you''ve got a spirit root. It''s because there''s an utmost treasure of the religious sects thates from the Pure Land in your core!" The information truly had an enormous impact on Aiden. He was a little confused and asked with a frown, "Why does the spirit energy I gather carry the fire attribute?" "That''s because the Saraca Flower is also known as the ming Flower. When it blooms, it resembles a me and is extremely sensitive towards the spirit energy of fire attribute in the surroundings!" Everything that did not make sense made sense at the moment. With the two utmost treasures of the divine phoenix bone and the Saraca Flower, coupled with his sensitivity towards mes, it was only logical that Aiden would have a frightening martial power speed. Spirit energy would also be naturally purer after the refinement of two utmost treasures. Although the spirit testing gate had been around for several thousand years, there was no way it could withstand the might of two utmost treasures! The old monk smiled. "Guest, have you not discovered that in the past year, you are already able to understand some of the ancient techniques of the religious sects as well asprehend them?" Aiden nodded. He had tried his hands on religious techniques before while he was studying in the skink''s underground city. At that time, the religious techniques were like scriptures of the heavens that he could not understand. In fact, he could not even take in a single word and merely felt his head spin. In less than an hour, he had already cast all the techniques aside. The baffling thing was that many yearster when Aiden picked up the religious techniques once more at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley, he was now able to understand most of them! The old monk''s voice sounded once more, "Without a root of wisdom, one will never be able to understand the secrets of the religious techniques, let alone train and understand the teaching. In fact, they wouldn''t even be able to continue reading. However, it''s different for you" Gradually, a realization entered Aiden''s mind. The Saraca Flower was a sacred item of the religious sects. It existed within Aiden''s core and had not only reced the purpose of the spirit root but also granted him wisdom that wasparable to the root of wisdom. That was the gift left behind for him by Number 13! It was far from a simple spirit root. Finally, Aiden understood the earnest intentions of Number 13. Be it the Saraca Flower or divine phoenix bone, they were both utmost treasures of Tianhuang Maind! Before she left, Number 13 said that she left three gifts for him. Right now, Aiden already knew two of them but he did not know what thest one was. Aiden asked, "Where is that flower now?" "It''s still within your core. However, you have not trained to the realm of introspection and as such, you aren''t able to see it yet," The old monk replied. After pausing for a moment, he continued, "Earlier on, I said that there had never been anyone in history who could train after their martial power is crippled. That is indeed true. I don''t know how I should resolve your plight as well." "However, that female guest had gone through the painstaking effort of sealing the Saraca Flower in your core while leaving that statement here. I''m guessing that there must be a deeper meaning to it." Aiden nodded. Actually, when he caught sight of the statement left behind by Number 13, Aiden had already decided that he was going to train peacefully at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley from here on. "To be one of the greatest, you have to work on the foundation and be willing to take hardship and serve others!" That was his tribtion. He had to endure it! There would definitelye a day when he would be the greatest and break through the horizons to the nine heavens, reappearing in the mortal realm to shock all living beings! The old monk pointed to the side and said, "In the technique Chamber, there are ssics left behind from South Wind and North Wind Monasteries. Look at them more and you might be able to gain something from them." Aiden nodded. Both South Wind and North Wind Monastery were top factions that wereparable to the current super sects such as all the top sects and all the fiend sects C it was obvious how deep their foundations ran. Unfortunately, this derelict old temple that was isted from the rest of the world was the only thing left of the two super sects after the catastrophe ten thousand years ago. The entire martial power world did not even know about the existence of this old temple at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley. Although the old monk merely mentioned it casually, Aiden knew clearly in his heart that there were many secret skills of South Wind and North Wind Monastery in these ancient books! For example, the Mystic divine Lotus technique was thought by the outside world to be lost. Who would have guessed that this technique known as the number one secret skill for Martial Masters would be found at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley? Who would have thought that it would be in the hands of a young monk and it could be read at any time? It was not hard to imagine that the impact caused by the appearance of the Mystic divine Lotus technique would be much more terrifying than the Vermilion Fruit! At that time, there would be a blood storm. The paragons of the North Region wouldn''t be the only ones involved. Even all the paragons of the entire world would be moved and driven crazy for it! Furthermore, the Mystic divine Lotus technique was not the only one C there were many other techniques simr to it in the library! That seemingly battered library was in fact a gigantic treasure trove! It was equivalent to the legacy of two super sects ced right before Aiden''s eyes! The only pity was that his martial power was crippled and he had no way of gathering energy. If he could condense energy, there would now be the legacy of the religious sects in his body as well, on top of the legacy of the righteous and fiendish teachings! As Aiden pondered, the old monk seemed to have thought of something and his expression turned rueful. He sighed, saying, "After the catastrophe back then, South Wind Monastery and North Wind Monastery are no longer around and have been washed away by the sands of time. Everyone from the past is already gone and now I''m the only one left." The old monk''s words carried a heart-wrenching loneliness in it. Aiden could not help but ask, "Senior, are you and Fellow guest Morwyn ckstone the only ones in this old temple?" After a moment of silence, the old monk nodded. "The two of us are the only ones here." Chapter 969 969 - Lost Treasures ? Cling! ng! The moment he said that the sound of chains rattling sounded from the backyard once more. It was dull and forceful, as though something was struggling repeatedly! Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. The little fox was rattled and scurried along Aiden''s arm into his embrace to hide within. The old monk''s expression was unchanged and there were no emotions in his weathered eyes, as though he could not hear the sound of chains in the backyard. Aiden was gradually relieved when he saw howposed the old monk was. However, he was truly curious as to what was behind the sound of chainsing from the backyard. Why would Morwyn ckstone want to avoid it so fearfully? The old monk interrupted Aiden''s thoughts and suddenly asked, "I can sense an aura of the religious sects circling around you that isn''t from the Saraca Flower. Have you trained a technique of the religious sects before?" "Technique of the religious sects? Could it be" Aiden froze momentarily before his eyes shed with a glint of realization. He gathered energy slowly and made use of the present spirit energy that entered his body to open up his storage bag, retrieving a small bead the size of a pea. The small bead, that he had looted at some point back when he raided one of the enemy hideouts back in the skink city was extremely old and although it was made of wood, there were no signs of corrosion. The patterns that were etched on it were still extremely clear! Aiden said with a deep voice, "I''ve managed to train an extremely strong spirit art known as the Fiend Suppression Seal. Now I understand, it was thanks to this little guy!" The Fiend Suppression Seal was the only thing he had trained that was from the religious sects. The moment he took out the small bead, Aiden finally understood something. He understood why he was able toprehend such a powerful Fiend Suppression Seal with just a single small bead. It wasn''t because he had a frightening potential C it was because the existence of the Saraca Flower, the sacred item of the religious sects, allowed him to possess a pure root of wisdom! "Hais." The moment he caught sight of the small bead, the old monk sighed gently and he got slightly emotional. It was clear that the old monk recognized the origin of the small bead. He said, "Actually the Fiend Suppression Seal is not a spirit art. It''s a divine art of Daring Monastery!" Divine Art! Aiden knew that divine arts could only be released by Martial Grandmasters who are able to make use of divine powers after training their Essence Spirits. Since the Fiend Suppression Seal was a divine art, how was he able to release it as a spirit art with the use of spirit energy? "It''s no wonder why the Saraca Flower is a sacred item of the religious sects." That statement from the old monk enlightened Aiden. The Saraca Flower should be the only reason why he possessed such a mystifying might! Aiden thought about what he experienced at that time and said, "This small bead was found in a stone coffin. In it, there was a skeleton that could resurrect and was extremely frightening. I only managed to escape by luck," Pondering for a moment, Aiden continued, "That skeleton seemed to be from the fiend sects." "There''s no mistake," The old monk replied, "The owner of that small bead is Monk Daring, the titr disciple of Daring Monastery and a supreme expert that was renowned back in the days!" "Titr disciple?" This was the second time Aiden had heard of that term. The first titr disciple he knew was the Asura, Ward Atrez. The second was this, Monk Daring. The old monk exined, "There would always be titr disciples in the various super sects of the world. Furthermore, there''s only one of them! All the titr disciples are the ones with the greatest potential among the paragons of the sect; the ones with the most ster track records and the ones with the most frighteningbat strength!" "Titr disciples are not fixed by their martial power realms but all of them possess countless trump cards and the most fundamental ability for them is to kill above their levels. Typically speaking, one only earns the right to be a titr disciple after advancing to the Quasi Divine realm." At that point, Aiden understood. In other words, the titr disciples were the strongest among the paragons of the super sects! The old monk continued, "Titr disciples are bestowed the teaching Titles unique to their sects by the Sect Masters. For example, the titr disciple of South Wind Monastery would gain the teaching Title of South Wind whereas the titr disciple of Daring Monastery would gain the teaching Title of Daring. That helps with identification." "There is quite a gap between you and titr disciples. Remember, if you encounter the titr disciples of super sects from here on, you must always be careful not to engage them recklessly." Aiden nodded. The old monk thought for a moment before saying, "Back then, the Asura Sect produced a monster that created a Blood Refinement Fiend technique. Murder was his second nature and everywhere he passed, he would devour the fresh blood of all living beings cleanly!" When he heard that, Aiden realized that there was a high chance the skeleton was the monster of Asura Sect in the past! The old monk continued, "Monk Daring could not bear to see the masses in distress and headed out to suppress that fiend. The two of them fought three consecutive battles and although the monster of Asura Sect was disadvantaged, it was hard to tell who woulde forth victorious." "At the fourth battle, victory was finally decided. It was said that the battle was so tremendous that the skies changed and the earth copsed. Both parties fought with their full strengths!" "What happenedter on?" Aiden asked instinctively. The old monk shook his head. "Later on, there were various sayings and rumors. Some said that Monk Daring was severely injured after killing the monster of Asura Sect and died soon after as well; some said that both parties suffered immense losses and fought to the end, dying together" "All in all, the eventual oue was that both of them went missing. Nobody knew if they were alive or dead but they had never appeared ever since." There was a hint of sadness in the old monk''s tone. After receiving the small bead from Aiden, he rubbed it gently between his fingers. "Hmm?" A momentter, the old monk eximed softly, as though he discovered something. "What''s wrong?" Aiden asked hurriedly. "Nothing much," The old monk shook his head. "Actually, this was a top-grade divine weapon from Daring Monastery in the past, known as the Nigal Prayer Beads, andprises of a set of six small beads." "The Nigal Prayer Beads are made from immortal wood from the world and refined using the inner trunk of the Soul Nourishing Tree. There are six divine seals of Daring Monastery etched on it. The small bead that you''ve obtained is one of them." "The Nigal Prayer Beads were originally carried by Nigal Prayer Beads. However, that battle back then was way too intense that the Nigal Prayer Beads broke apart and all six of its small beads were scattered everywhere" At that point, the old monk extended his wrinkled finger and poked gently at his be. His be shone with a spot of light. Immediately after, the old monk''s be opened up, and three small beads the size of longans shot out C they were identical to the one Aiden had! However, upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the patterns etched on each small bead were different. The old monk said, "After that battle, the monks of Daring Monastery searched for a long time and only managed to retrieve three small beads. Including the one you have, there are still two more that are lost in the world." "Daring Monastery has a supreme divine technique known as the Daring True technique that is used to uphold the sect. The true technique has two volumes. The first volume, the Daring Mantra, also known as the Six Worded Daring Mantra, is a sound divine technique." When he heard that, Aiden could not help but recall the six strange-sounding sybles that Morwyn ckstone chanted outside the old temple earlier on. Those six sybles contained a mysterious might that was unfathomable! The old monk''s voice sounded again. "The second volume is the Daring divine Seal and there are six types, all of which are imprinted on the Nigal Prayer Beads. The Fiend Suppression Seal that you''ve learned is one of them." "The divine seals in the three small beads in my hands are the Demon Subduing Seal, Immortal Trap Seal, and Immovable Foundation Seal." Aiden nodded silently. Since the Fiend Suppression Seal was already so strong, needless to think, the power of the Demon Subduing Seal, Immovable Foundation Seal, and Immortal Trap Seal would definitely not be inferior! The old monk could not help butugh when he read Aiden''s mind. "Actually, these four are the weakest among the six seals." Chapter 970 970 - Clear Mind ? "Ah? Aiden was stunned. These were the weakest ones?! The old monk nodded. "There''s no need to discuss the Immovable Foundation Seal, it''s a defensive divine seal. From the names of the Fiend Suppression, Demon Subduing and Immortal Trap Seals, you can already tell that they are not lethal." The words suppress, subdue and trap did not have any intention to kill! Right from their creation, those three divine seals contained thepassion of the religious sects. The old monk said, "Of the six divine seals, the ones with the strongest might and can even be called killing divine seals are thest two that are lost, the Great Godly Wheel Seal and Great Mount Meru Seal!" The moment the names of those two divine seals were mentioned, there was a shuddering pressure! "There are six sybles to the Daring Mantra and they correspond to the six divine seals. By using the Daring Mantra while training, you can gain a deeperprehension of the seals and unleash their greatest potential!" "The method to train the Daring Mantra is in the technique Chamber. You can take a look at it." Aiden suddenly saw the light. So, he had yet to unleash the true might of the Fiend Suppression Seal. If he were to release it along with the Daring Mantra, it would have an even more terrifying might! The two of them conversed side by side and unknowingly, the skies outside had already turned dark. In between, the sound of chains rattling echoed from the backyard as well. It went silent after it was ignored. Right from the beginning, the old monk did not exin about it, as though he was already used to it. The skies gradually turned darker. Aiden''s robes shifted slightly and the little fox who had been asleep for the entire day rubbed her drowsy eyes before popping her head out. Her gaze was still a little dazed, not fully awake yet. cing her tiny paws against Aiden''s chest, she stared at the old monk before her squarely, blinking in a charming manner. The old monk smiled. The little fox gradually returned to her senses and hurriedly lowered her head, feeling embarrassed. Looking at Aiden deeply, the old monk said, "That little fox take good care of her. Don''t let her suffer" "That''s for sure." Aiden replied. Immediately after, he sensed that something was amiss. The old monk seemed as though he wanted to continue speaking but stopped. Just as Aiden was about to ask about it, the old monk changed the topic and asked, "Guest, are you willing to join our religious sects?" Aiden froze for a moment. The old monk''s question came extremely suddenly and he had not considered the option before. The old monk continued, "Don''t worry, Guest, you won''t be subjected to too many restrictions if you join the religious sects. If you wish to leave, you can do so at any moment and I''ll definitely not stop you either." Although he had not trained Heart Peering before, Aiden suddenly understood what was on the old monk''s mind after looking at thetter''s hopeful gaze. The old monk had been guarding this old temple at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley for a long time, protecting the ten thousand year old legacy of South Wind and Daring Monasteries C he was hoping to continue the lineage of the two great sects! The old monk must have only made that request after sensing that his time was almost up. "Alright!" Aiden nodded and agreed readily. The old monk nodded appreciatively. He held a shaving knife in his fingers and swiped it gently above Aiden''s head. It was apanied by a cooling feeling. ck hair fell to the ground. The voice of the old monk sounded in Aiden''s ears, "From this day forth, your name in the religious sects will be Mind Jin." In reality, Aiden could have continued reading the ancient techniques in the technique Chamber freely even if he hadn''t agreed. However, he did not feel good about that. Furthermore, he had now fallen to the depths of the Dragon Burial Valley with his martial power crippled and he wanted to start afresh. The shaving of his ck hair symbolized a cut from his past C for the time being, he was going to forsake his identity as Aiden, forget about his glory in the past. From this day forth, he was going to train at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley wholeheartedly until he could rise once more! The old monk retrieved an almost transparent thread from his storage bag and threaded the four small beads in his hands together into a set of prayer beads. "Although two small beads are missing from these divine Prayer Beads, they are still of use and can help you avoid detection from the Essence Spirits of Martial Grandmasters and Quasi Divines. Take it as a wee gift of your eptance of me as your master." Aiden ced his palms together and bowed deeply. This gift was way too precious! Although there were two small beads missing, it was still a top grade divine weapon of the past! Notwithstanding the power of the divine Prayer Beads alone, even the four divine seals were more than enough to drive countless martial artists crazy for them! Furthermore, the fact that it was able to block away Essence Spirits meant that the secrets within Aiden''s body would not be discovered. The previous situation of his true self being exposed by the Demon Revealing Mirror would never happen again! For Aiden, this was an irreceable gift! The night was hazy. It was silent in the courtyard of the old temple. Moonlight shimmered and a round moon was reflected on the water surface in the old well. Not longter, the reflection of a monk appeared. He was not old C in his twenties C and had elegant features with eyes that were even clearer than the water surface. Aiden gazed at his reflection in the water and smiled. "Mind Jin huh? How interesting does he want me to see my own heart clearly and identify my true nature?" Aiden muttered softly. At that moment, he did not know where the old monk had gone whereas Morwyn ckstone had already gone to sleep. His ears were filled with the sounds of frogs croaking and crickets chirping. The little fox sprawled beside the well in a deep sleep and suddenly, Aiden noticed that his mind was in an iparable state of tranquility. His mind had received an unprecedented baptism in the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley that was isted from the rest of the world. He had been fighting for the past eight years. And now, he has finallye to a stop. It was like a consolidation, a reversion to his natural state. Gazing at the round moon above his head, Aiden could not help but recall that night eight years ago. Number 13 wore a crimson long dress and stood under the falling cherry blossom petals. Basked in the moonlight, she asked softly, "Do you want to train?" For the past eight years, Aiden had been training in the mysterious technique of the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual every night. Now that his Inner Core was shattered and he did not have sufficient energy to provide it, his Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual martial power had to stop for the time being. Aiden was truly not used to it. He felt hollow internally. Suddenly, he heard a mocking voice echo within his ears. "Kid! Are you thinking of how to repair your Inner Core? Hehehe!" Aiden was rmed. The voice came without any warning and was extremely foreign C it did not belong to the old monk or Morwyn ckstone! Instinctively, Aiden looked towards the little fox at the side. She was still deep in her sleep C clearly, she had not heard that voice! He was the only one who heard that sudden voice! With a grim expression, Aiden looked around, prepared to warn the old and little monk at any moment. "Hehehe, don''t bother looking for me, kid! You can''t see me!" The voice sounded once more erratically such that its direction could not be determined C it was as though it was hiding in a cornerughing at Aiden. This time round, Aiden calmed down instead and sneered internally. This person was ying games hiding in the dark C as long as he ignored it, the other party would definitely lose his patience. "Kid, I''ve got a way to help you repair your Inner Core. If you want to know about it,e to the backyard behind the grand hall!" Indeed, the owner of the voice revealed his intentions. "The backyard behind the grand hall?" Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. Prior to this, there would often be sounds of heavy chains rattling asionally from the backyard, as though something was trapped there and was extremely frustrated. "Strange," A skeptical look shed through Aiden''s eyes as thought to himself, "Master said that he and Master were the only ones in this old temple. Then, this person in the backyard" Chapter 971 971 - Temptation ? Suddenly, Aiden''s expression changed and he thought of a possibility. The existence in the backyard might not be human, but a malevolent ghost! It would be simr to the white-bloused woman that he had encountered outside the old temple. That was the reason why the old monk said that he and Morwyn ckstone were the only people in the old temple. It was because the existence in the backyard was not human! The little monk was so frightened and the old monk was so cautious that he wouldn''t mention anything about this it seemed like the malevolent ghost wasn''t weak! "Do you want to repair your Inner Core or not! What are you dilly-dallying for? Hurry ande look for me in the backyard!" The voice of the malevolent ghost echoed again, seemingly impatient. Aiden naturally wanted to repair his Inner Core. However, he truly could not bring himself to trust a malevolent ghost. Furthermore, Morwyn ckstone had instructed him previously not to head to the backyard behind the grand hall. "Kid, you''re really timid as a mouse. Do I look like I can harm you?" "Goodness, you''re patheticpared to me at that age! Back then, I feared nothing in the world and nobody could stop me wherever I went!" "Kid, are youing or not!" The malevolent ghost''s voice was growing weaker. Aiden closed his eyes and rested; he did not make a move the entire time. After a moment of silence, the malevolent ghost suddenly said, "Don''t you want to know what that crimson-robed woman did when she came here several years ago? I witnessed everything personally, heh heh!" Aiden was moved and opened his eyes. The crimson-robed woman that the malevolent ghost was referring to was obviously Number 13. As though he sensed the change in Aiden''s emotions, the malevolent ghost remarked gleefully, "If you want to know,e to the backyard of the grand hall. I''ll be waiting there for you, hehehe!" Aiden gripped his fists and took a deep breath. Eventually, he could not control himself and stood up, heading towards the back of the grand hall. He did not want to miss out on any information regarding Number 13. Be it whether it was real or fake. Turning around the old and majestic hall, Aiden arrived at the backyard and stopped in his tracks. Instinctively, he looked over. His mouth could not help but fall agape as he revealed a deep look of shock in his eyes. The backyard of the grand hall was an extremely massive cemetery that had no boundaries! One after another, tall tombstones stood erected with clear carvings etched on them. "Tomb of South Wind Monastery''s teaching Lord Tiel Nian." "Tomb of Daring Monastery''s teaching Lord Furon An." "Tomb of South Wind Monastery''s Mighty Figure Yuwel Zewal." "Tomb of Daring Monastery''s Mighty Figure Zuhl An." "Tomb of Supreme Commander of the Empire, Mighty Figure Han Fei!" " " The tombstones were dense and packed above their respective graves. There was a majestic mncholy to the cemetery. Those that were buried here were Lesser Divine realm Lords at the very least C Aiden had even witnessed quite a number of higher realm Gods! "Hmm?" Aiden focused his gaze onto another tombstone. "Tomb of Daring Monastery''s Patriarch Hong Guang!" It was the tomb of a God realm Patriarch! God Realm Patriarchs were almost like the peak experts of the world. To think that he would be buried in this cemetery as well. As Aidenmented, his gaze instinctively fell towards the center of the cemetery. There was an unassuming grave in the center. If one did not pay attention, that would merely seem like a little bump in the mud. However, that little mud bump seemed like it was looking down on the entire cemetery! There were no other tombstones a hundred meters around the little mud bump! Above the grave was a wooden tablet that was bent out of shape. There were only two words written on that wooden tablet. Divine Emperor! Those two words seemed like they possessed a mysterious power. Aiden''s expression changed starkly and he felt his chest go stuffy. In fact, he even retreated a couple of steps uncontrobly! That was the tomb of an emperor! A single phrase reverberated endlessly and intensified within Aiden''s mind. "The ravine''s name is called the Dragon Burial Valley and the divine dragon was buried ten thousand years ago with the blood of old emperors and the death of patriarchs. It''s an extremely unlucky ce." Everything was real! The catastrophe ten thousand years ago was so intense that emperors died here! Cling! ng! The dull sound of chains rattling echoed once more. Behind the countless tombstones and graves, under the hazy moonlight, a mighty and tall figure stood from the ground slowly. He had a torrential aura and seemed like his head was about to pierce a hole in the firmaments above! It was a burly man with disheveled hair and clothes. His hair was red, akin to zing mes, and his features were coarse. He stared at Aiden with a bright gaze before smirking into a sinister smile. The burly man''s arms, legs, body, and neck were bound by coils of rusty, thick metal chains! When the burly man stood up, the chains rattled endlessly! The scariest thing was that two of those chains pierced right through the burly man''s corbones! The moonlight was frighteningly pale. The ground wasid with graves and tombstones all around. The fact that there was a burly man with such a malevolent energy standing in this cemetery further proved Aiden''s initial guess! This was an extremely frightening malevolent ghost! The burly man sized up Aiden a couple of times with his gaze and the glint in his eyes intensified, as though he had discovered something interesting. Finally, the burly man even walked forward while sniffing with a pleased expression before bursting intoughter eventually. "Kekekekeke!" Theughter reverberated through the cemetery in an unsettling and shuddering manner! Aiden could clearly see that the chains on the burly man were all nailed to the depths of the ground, trapping him in the center of the cemetery! As long as the burly man moved, the chains on his body would tighten! Aiden was relieved. Although that malevolent ghost was scary, as long as it could not get close to him, it could not do anything. "Kid, you''re honestly timid. What are you hiding so far away for!" The burly man grinned. "Don''t worry ande over! I''m not going to eat you up!" Aiden scoffed coldly. He had roamed the martial world for eight years and had some experience in the world C the burly man''s clumsy provocations were truly way too obvious. Aiden would truly be left with no choice if he walked over. "Red-headed ghost, you can say what you want from over there. I can hear you." Aiden had a calm tone and a normal expression. "Red-headed ghost?" The burly man widened his eyes and his pitch changed. Instantly, he looked murderous! "Kid, you''re calling me a red-headed ghost?" The burly man red sternly. Aiden pouted fearlessly and sneered, "Stop acting tough over there. You can''t even move. Who are you trying to scare?" "Hehehehe!" The burly man ground his teeth and snickered evilly. Aiden asked, "Red-headed ghost, I don''t have the time to waste with you here. What do you know about that crimson-robed woman that has visited this site years ago?" At the mention of the crimson-robed woman, the burly man''s expression changed slightly and a hint of fear shed through the depths of his eyes. Immediately after, he revealed a gloating expression. "Kekekeke!" The burly man smirked andughed. "That woman was incredible back then! A single meet-up with her destroyed the silent and immovable meditations that I had painstakingly trained! Hahaha! I''mughing to death!" For the past time he spent here so far, Aiden had been reading prayers in the meditation hall and had some understanding towards silent and immovable meditations. In the religious sects, some monks would train various meditation techniques that were equivalent to secret skills to raise their martial realms. The more stringent the requirement of the meditation technique, the greater the advancement in their powers! For example, the silent meditation technique of the religious sects was also known as keeping quiet or forbidden from talking. Simply put, one must not speak. The priests and monks deem that the reincarnation cycles of the masses are due to the karma umted by their bodies, mouths, and intents. The silent meditation technique was meant for them to reduce their karmas gained from speaking and improve their martial skills from that point on. The immovable meditation technique did not refer to their physical movements, but their intents! They must not have wild thoughts so as to reduce their intent karmas. Both of those meditation techniques were extremely difficult to train. Aiden had not expected this old monk of the old temple would choose to train both meditation techniques at the same time. Less than that, he did not expect Number 13 to break both meditation techniques of the old monk directly. Chapter 972 972 - Regrets ? The burly man continued. "When that woman arrived here back then, she barged into the majestic grand hall without a single word and took the sacred Saraca Flower of the religious sects that was ced on disy above before turning to leave." "Heh, that old monk naturally refused to allow her to do so and tried to stop her. But in the end, he was sent flying with a single p from the woman! Hah!" At that point, the burly man seemed to recall the events of that day and could not help but roar inughter, causing the chains on his body to rattle endlessly. If not for the shackle of the chains, that burly man could even leap in joy. Aiden was sweating just from hearing it. Number 13 was truly way too savage He went on for more. "That old man was struck silly by the p and forgot about his seclusion training for silent meditation. When he saw the woman about to leave, he crawled up from the ground and said, "Female guest, please hold on HAHAHA!" Aiden looked somewhat embarrassed. He wanted tough as well. However, he was now part of the religious sects, and the old monk was considered as his master. He could notugh. Therefore, he could only stand on the spot and hold himself back with tightly pursed lips. He clearly had a hard time holding back as his face flushed a shade of tomato red. The burly man was truly unstoppable when he spoke about everything that happened all those years ago, rambling on continuously. Aiden listened quietly at the side. It was as though he could see everything that was described happening right before his eyes. As he spoke, the burly man suddenlymented and sighed. "It''s all thanks to that woman, otherwise, I" Suddenly, he stopped speaking entirely. Aiden frowned. The burly man was clearly hiding something instead of continuing. Just as Aiden was going to ask about it, the burly man changed the topic and spoke about how majestic and powerful he was in the past, overwhelming everything in his way! The burly man took a full hour just to talk about his first battle after stepping foot into the outside world. He was so excited that his saliva flew everywhere and what''s more he wasn''t even finished! "To think that this red-headed ghost would be so talkative." Aiden got increasingly impatient as he listened. Apart from everything about Number 13, he was no longer interested in everything that the burly man saidter on. Aiden could not help but interrupt, "Red-headed ghost, you mentioned previously that you have a way of helping me to repair my Inner Core?" "That''s right." The burly man nodded before ring at Aiden. "Don''t interrupt me! Wait for me to be done talking! What''s the hurry!" "I''m not interested." Aiden scoffed coldly before turning to leave. Cling! ng! Suddenly, the sound of chains rattling echoed behind him. This time around, they sounded somewhat strange. Aiden turned around instinctively. That single look almost scared the wits out of him! The ce where the burly man was initially chained at was now empty! There were only a series of chains lying still on the ground! "This" Aiden waspletely stumped. Suddenly, he felt a shadow sh above his head, and the muscles on the back of his neck tightened C he was lifted up by a powerful and massive arm! However, the scary thing was that he could not move at all! Thereafter, the voice of the burly man sounded once more. "Let me tell you, those chains are just for show. Do you really think that I can be restrained by a few rusty, metal chains?" "Who do you think I was back in the past?" "I''ve waited for so long at the bottom of this valley. Now that someone is finally here to talk to me, where are you trying to go?" "Initially, there was a little monk who was quite nice and came to apany me often. Later on, I don''t know what happened but he never appeared again" Aiden felt like his head was about to explode with countless ants crawling all over it. He finally understood why little Morwyn was so frightened and instructed him not toe to the backyard of the grand hall. At the same time, in the praying chamber, little Morwyn ced his palms together with a sympathetic expression and sighed. "Junior Brother Mind Jin, good luck" Lifted by the burly man, Aiden was like a weak duckling and waspletely helpless! Although his martial was crippled, the power of his physique and bloodline was still present. Yet, he waspletely immobile after being grabbed at the back of his neck by the forceful fingers of the burly man and could only watch helplessly as he was brought to the depths of the cemetery! "How could this be?" "Those chains could not lock down this red-headed ghost at all?" "Since the chains can''t hold him down, why is he still residing in this cemetery foolishly?" "Does master know about this?" "What''s his rtionship with this red-headed ghost?" Instantly, questions flooded Aiden''s mind and he was in a state of chaos. Coupled with the incessant ramblings of the red-headed ghost about useless stuff, Aiden truly felt like his brains were going to explode! Bang! Aiden was tossed to the ground. Just as he was about to rise, the sound of chains ratting echoed and he found himself restrained by a thick chain. Boom! He circted the power of his bloodline and struggled with all his might! Nothing happened! Although the chain looked rusted, it was extremely resolute and impossible to break free from. His power of bloodline was like a rock sinking into the ocean C it had no effect on the chain at all! Aiden''s eyes shed with a cold glint and his body crackled. His bones and tendons sounded together and his entire body shrank! Tendons Transformation! Since he could not win with brute force head-on, Aiden changed his mentality and intended to escape by shrinking his body. God knows what the burly man wanted to do capturing him here. Even if the burly man had no evil intentions, Aiden wouldn''t be able to endure his incessant ramblings. The moment Aiden''s body shrank, the chains binding him shrank unexpectedly as well, locking his body firmly without any chance of escape! "Hahahaha!" The burly man sat on the ground with a mocking expression and sneered, "Although that lousy thing can''t hold me in, you are nothing to it! You should save your energy." Aiden tried again and when he discovered that he truly couldn''t break free, he gave up and frowned at the burly man. Now that they were so close, Aiden realized that the burly man did not have much flesh and was almost all skin and bones by now. However, he had a huge frame and his bones were extremely strong, making him seem tall and mighty C every single action of his seemed to be filled with an explosive burst! The burly man gave off an unfathomable aura, as though he was extremely dangerous and hade from the depths of the ancient destes. Unknowingly, Aiden would feel asional shudders! He did not know what the background of this red-headed ghost was. The only thing he knew was that this red-headed ghost was extremely talkative C he must have endured for a long time such that he wasn''t even exhausted right now after rambling endlessly! "Kid, you don''t know how rough I''m having it." "This valley is isted from the rest of the world and apart from me, there''s only that old monk. Yet, in the end, that a*shole chose to train a silent meditation!" "No matter what I said to him, there was no response from him at all! Look at how much I''ve endured after so many years!" At that point, the burly man was agitated and ground his teeth, thumping his massive fists on the ground. The entire cemetery shook and trembled! Aiden could not help but ask, "Why do you say that there''s only the two of you? There''s also a little monk." Aiden regretted it as soon as he finished his words. Indeed, when the burly man saw a reaction from Aiden, he was even more excited and his eyes zed as he ran over and sat beside Aiden. "Speaking of that little monk, that makes me even more mad!" "That little monk fell from above six years ago. Initially, he was obedient and honest,ing here daily to feed me with food and chat with me." "But in less than half a year, he stoppeding! Darn it!" The burly man grumbled in displeasure. Aidenmented internally, "Senior Brother little Morwyn is truly someone with resolve to be able to endure this for half a year!" "Little monk, you can''t learn from those two other monks!" "You''ll definitely benefit chatting with me!" Aiden merely felt his head spin at the moment and could not be bothered about getting any benefits. If not for the restriction of the chains, he would have fled long ago and never step foot into the backyard ever again! Chapter 973 973 - Is This The End? ? A horizontal line gradually appeared on the East. Just like that, the entire night passed by with the incessant ramblings of the burly man. The burly manmented reluctantly, "Time really passes extremely fast. I''ve only just started talking for a little." Turning around, he looked at Aiden and was momentarily startled as he asked in shock. "Eh, little monk! Why do you have such dark eye circles?" "Why are your eyes bloodshot?" "You don''t look good! Yourplexion is a tad greenish. Are you poisoned by the corpses?" "Man, your muscles are twitching! Are you having a cramp?" Aiden was agitated and rolled his eyes, almost fainting. Piak! The burly man pped his own forehead in realization. "I''ve got it! Little monk, did you not manage to rest wellst night?" "Re st?" Aiden repressed the urge to punch the burly man and ground his teeth for a long time before snarling the word out. He would rather engage the paragons of the North Region in a battle for three full days without resting than to listen to another word of this burly man. This red-headed ghost was a devil-like existence! "Look at that, look at that! Little monk, why are you so worked up with those widened eyes!" "What''s keeping you troubled? Let''s talk things out! Don''t keep it within yourself!" The burly man patted Aiden on the shoulders and said earnestly. Aiden panted heavily and lowered his head, feeling his entire head spin. His limbs felt weak and he did not have the strength to even talk anymore. A dark glint shed through the eyes of the burly man. He beckoned his hand and a broken bowl filled with dew flew over from a grass patch not far away. The fingernail on the burly man''s index finger protruded slightly with a cold shimmer and he cut it gently across his thumb. A thin cut appeared on his thumb with a trickle of blood. The trickle of blood was so small that it wasn''t even 1 of 10,000th of a normal drop of blood. It fell into the bowl of dew and fused swiftly with it. The dew was still clear and there was nothing unusual about it. His actions were extremely subtle and swift. The moment the burly man received the broken bowl, his index finger made instant contact with his thumb, and the cut on the thumb disappeared as quickly as it appeared. With his head slumped, Aiden did not notice anything at all. The burly man brought the broken bowl over to Aiden and passed it to him with a fake smile. Suddenly, his voice turned eerie and suspicious. "Little monk, the night has been tiring on you. Have some water." Although Aiden did not say much throughout the entire night, he was truly exhausted. When he saw the refreshing water before his eyes, he felt his mouth going dry. Coupled with his drowsy state, he did not think much about it and took over the broken bowl before raising his head to drink itpletely with a single mouthful. The moment the cool water reached his stomach, Aiden felt much more refreshed. Cling! ng! The rattling of the chains sounded. Suddenly, Aiden felt his body turn light C the thick chains that restrained him initially were taken away by the burly man! "What''s the red-headed ghost trying to do? He''s going to let me off this easily?" Aiden frowned and looked at the burly man skeptically. The burly man squatted on the ground and yed with the rusty chains in his hands, grinning at Aiden with a demonic glint in his eyes. "Hmm?" Suddenly, Aiden''s expression changed as he felt his stomach rumble. Instantly, an extremely tremendous and rich life force surged through his entire body rapidly! Poof! Poof! Poof! Aiden''s skin split apart and tore through his entire body like a spiderweb in a frightening manner! There was way too much lifeforce essence! Every single inch of Aiden''s flesh was being torn apart! In the blink of an eye, he was filled with blood and a misty, scarlet fog surrounded him. His bloodline surged and emanated a rich dark, sinister, demonic energy! "Ah!" Aiden roared into the skies with bloodshot eyes as green veins popped up on his neck, slithering like serpents. His body expanded uncontrobly; his flesh was expanding, his tendons were moving, his bones were sounding and his organs were shaking! It was way too painful! The terrifying burst of lifeforce essence within his body was almost causing him to implode! Pain cruised through Aiden''s body endlessly as he bent over, quivering and almost going into a spasm. His vision shed with darkness and he could faint at any moment! Unknowingly, the old monk had appeared at the back of the backyard with a deep look of worry in his eyes. The burly man was equally nervous, no longer grinning as joyfully as before. "Roar!" A coarse roar sounded from the depths of Aiden''s throat, as though he was an injured wild beast that was struggling on the brink of death! The amount of life force essence was truly way too massive and frightening. It had practically turned into a destructive cyclone within Aiden''s body, pushing through everything with an overwhelming force! Aiden''s consciousness gradually faded. He could no longer feel everything around him. He could only pant heavily and struggle to hold on with the remaining bit of grit he had left! A shadow shed. The old monk arrived beside Aiden and red at the burly man with a hint of anger in his eyes. Thereafter, he turned to look at Aiden intently. He chanted a religious promation repeatedly. Even though he lookedposed, the speed he was counting his prayer beads increased as time passed by C it was clear that he was tense internally. The burly man grabbed his hair and a thinyer of sweat could be seen on his forehead. A whileter, when Aiden could not hold on any longer, he fell to the ground with a thud, covered in mud, and fainted. Piak! The old monk''s expression changed and with the shift in his emotions, the prayer beads in his hands shattered! The burly man was horrified and walked forward, pping Aiden on the cheeks while shouting, "Wake up, little monk! Don''t scare me!" Aiden had no reaction at all. His eyes were tightly shut and his pulse turned increasingly weak. The burly man yelled a few more times with an anxious expression. There was still no response from Aiden and his breathing was extremely faint. A whileter, Aiden''s heart stopped beating entirely and no breath came from under his nose. His blood flowed slowly until it becamepletely still. Aiden''s body slowly turned cold, lying motionlessly in the mud. "It''s over, it''s over!" The burly man sat down with a frightfully pale expression,pletely stunned. "He had such a great potential to inherit my abilities perfectly! Just like that" The burly man''s expression stagnated as he murmured to himself. Frowning, the old monk had an extremely terrible expression as he red at the burly man and asked, "How much of your blood did you feed him?" "Just a trickle. It''s less than a ten-thousandth of a drop of blood," The burly man replied softly and did not dare to make contact with the old monk''s gaze. The old monk had practiced Buddhism for a long period of time and had seen through worldly affairs a long time ago C nothing much could trigger a reaction from him. However, when he heard that, he was truly enraged and questioned in a huff, "Have you gone mad? The amount of energy in that trickle of blood is enough to kill any Martial Grandmaster ten times over! You fed that to him entirely?!" The burly man pouted his mouth despondently. "That little monk called me a red-headed ghost so I wanted to let him suffer a little. Who would have thought" "You!" The old monk was so angry that he was speechless. "I-I merely wanted to help his Inner Core recover faster." The burly man was even stuttering out of guilt. When the old monk saw the regretful expression on the burly man''s face, he could not bring himself to reproach thetter any further. There was already no way of turning back now that things hade to this. "Haih." The old monk sighed deeply andmented, "This tribtion should be part of thisd''s life. To think that fate would still catch up to him even after he came here." "I caused this to him." The burly man slumped his head with a dejected expression. After a moment of silence, the old monk said softly, "Let''s bury him here. Everyone who is buried in this cemetery were peerless experts thousands of years ago. It will be befitting of him." Even though he said that the old monk knew that a dead person was like a me that was extinguished. Extreme Martial Knight, strongest monster incarnate in history all of those meant nothing and would eventually be forgotten in the future with the passing of his life, drowned in the sands of time. The old monk sighed internally and waved his sleeves, coiling up Aiden''s body to walk deep into the cemetery. Chapter 974 974 - Unexpected Help ? All of a sudden! His expression changed and he eximed softly. "He''s not dead?" The old monk ced Aiden down once again and his be shed, spreading his spirit consciousness through thetter''s body. Aiden''s condition was extremely unique. His heart had already stopped beating but his Inner Core which was initially cracked was now swiveling slowly. However, it swiveled so slowly that the old monk and burly man did not notice it at the start given their heightened emotions. The burly man closed in and noticed the abnormality within Aiden''s body as well. "What a terrifying martial technique!" The burly man gasped and was secretly rmed. "Even though his life is gone, this martial technique is still moving on its own. It''s trying to pull the kid back from hell''s gate!" The old monk had a grim expression. "Although this kid has no heartbeat and isn''t breathing right now, he''s only in a state of pseudo-death. There''s still hope for him!" There was a long silence Dong! All of a sudden! A quivering sound echoed from Aiden''s chest. Although the sound was feeble, both the old monk and the burly man heard it clearly! It was a heartbeat! He had revived! The both of them were invigorated and their eyes lit up. Slowly The heartbeat became faster and stronger! Swoosh! His blood began to flow again with a faint hint of tsunami tides, bolstering his aura! Swoosh! Aiden''s nose started exhaling an endless amount of sinister energy that was scarlet as blood. It rumbled furiously before condensing into menacing ancient dark deities, the demonic beast kings that appeared one after another in the void! Wild Bovine, Stone Bear, Anaconda, Sanguine Ape, Divine Steed, Hellish Scarlet ming Tiger, and Wind Leopard! The seven ancient demon kings were life-like with sharp fangs and ws. ring with widened bloodshot eyes and a murderous aura, they were extremely feral. Given their martial realms, both the old monk and burly man were barely affected! The next moment, the demonic energy above the seven demon kings rumbled and a blood-red butterfly faintly appeared. The round moons on both of its wings resembled a pair of cold eyes that were extremely chilling! When the old monk caught sight of that butterfly, his expression changed starkly and he staggered a step in retreat, as though he recalled something. The burly man was even more petrified and knelt on the ground with a thud. Kowtowing with snot and tears streaming down his face, he cried, "Missus, I was wrong! It was an ident!" "I didn''t mean for this to happen! I did it out of goodwill!" "See, isn''t that little monk fine now?" "There''s no need for you toe personally for a small matter as such, right?" "Your martial techniques are truly incredible, able to twist heaven and earth and reverse life and death eh?" As the burly man cried, he noticed that something was amiss. The blood-colored butterfly in midair did not move at all. There was no life force within it as well. After ring at the blood-colored butterfly for a while, the burly man realized that it was an illusion conjured from Aiden''s exhtion and did not possess any killing power at all! The burly man''s expression darkened and he wanted to p himself. He had lived for countless years and even if he met with the top existence of the world, he wouldn''t show any bit of fear, let alone lose hisposure as such. However, that woman who appeared eight years ago was way too domineering that she left a trauma in his heart. The moment the blood-colored butterfly appeared earlier on, he thought for a moment that the woman had returned. The burly man felt guilty, to begin with after nearly causing Aiden''s death. His first reaction when he saw the blood-colored butterfly was that she was here to make him pay for it. Instantly, he was scared out of his wits and lost strength in his knees, kneeling onto the ground with a thud The old monk was much calmer. The burly man stood up embarrassedly and coughed gently to hide his awkwardness. Thankfully, that little monk was unconscious and did not witness everything. Otherwise, he would have to hide his head in a hole. A mocking look shed through the old monk''s hazy eyes as he said idly, "To think that the great" "Old monk!" The burly man interrupted the old monk in a huff before that sentence could bepleted. He pointed at the old monk and nearly thrust his finger on thetter''s face, snarling with widened eyes, "Shut up!" The old monk smirked coldly. He looked at Aiden and wasforted by the fact that thetter was already out of danger and his breathing had stabilized. With that, he turned to leave. Halfway through, the old monk suddenly stopped in his tracks and murmured expressionlessly, "Red-headed ghost? Hmms that''s a good name." The burly man froze for a moment before returning to his senses. By then, the old monk was already gone from the backyard of the grand hall. He gripped his fists so tightly that they cracked as he snarled through gritted teeth, "Damn it, stupid old monk! Making fun of me instead of spending your time practicing your stupid prayers" A long timeter, Aiden stirred awake. His eyes were dazed as he struggled to sit up. Rubbing his head, he sat for a long while before slowly remembering what happened before he fainted. The massive face of the red-headed ghost shed through Aiden''s mind repeatedly and his ears seemed to buzz. Shuddering, Aiden leaped up and sprinted towards the grand hall with all his might, almost without thinking at all. "Hmm?" After running for a while, Aiden''s expression changed and he gradually noticed something unusual. His body seemed to be stronger than before! Some luster had also returned to his Inner Core and one of the tears was already repaired! "This" Suddenly, Aiden recalled that bowl of water hest consumed. The only thing that had a problem was that bowl of water! "Little monk, from today onwards,e over here and drink a bowl of water once every month." Right then, a familiar voice sounded. This was the voice that had tormented Aiden and nearly turned him insane! Repressing the urge to run away with all his might, Aiden turned around. In the depths of the cemetery, a burly man who was locked up with chainsy down on the floor with his hands behind his head. He did not look at Aiden at all and seemed like he was resting with his eyes closed. Aiden could not help but ask, "Red-headed ghost, what''s in that water?" At the mention of ''red-headed ghost'', the burly man''s mouth cramped up and he remarked impatiently, "Just drink if I ask you to drink! What''s with all that nonsense!" Although Aiden was snubbed, he was not angry. He could vaguely sense that the attitude of the burly man towards him had changed slightly after he woke up. He could not pinpoint the exact reason. Something must have happened while he was unconscious! That bowl of water was far from simple as well! Previously, when Aiden consumed the ten thousand Year Vermilion Fruit and his body received that immense boost from the tremendous amount of life force, his Inner Core did not show any signs of recovery at all. Yet, after drinking that bowl of water, his body turned stronger and one of the tears on his Inner Core had even recovered! That was not all. Aiden could clearly feel that there was still a tremendous amount of life force essence remaining in his body. Even if he trained the every single night, that amount of energy could suffice him for an entire month! The amazing regeneration capability and the tremendous amount of life force essence just what was in the water for it to possess such mysterious power? Aiden recounted through the ancient books he had seen before but he could notpare any universal treasure to that spirit water. However, there was one thing he was clear about. With enough of the spirit water, his Inner Core should be able to recover to its original state within a few years! If he continued training, he could even attain greater mastery or a perfected Inner Core! This was a martial speed that he wouldn''t be able to get outside of the Dragon Burial Valley even if he had sufficient flesh to consume! With thetent danger of his Inner Core resolved, Aiden was delighted. Even if he was oblivious, he could tell at this moment that the burly man was helping him. At that thought, Aiden turned towards the burly man and bowed deeply, saying with sincerity, "Thank you very much, red-headed ghost. There are good and bad ghosts as well and it seems like you''re definitely one of the kind ones except that you''re way too talkative." "Get lost!" The burly man hollered. Aiden ran away. Gazing at Aiden''s back view, the burly man revealed a set of sharp pearly whites and ground them till they cracked, saying spitefully with a hateful expression, "You''re the ghost! Your whole family are ghosts!" Chapter 975 975 - Never Forgotten ? By the time Aiden arrived at the courtyard in front of the grand hall, it was already noon. Little Morwyn was chanting scriptures in the courtyard. When he saw Aiden returnpletely fine, his eyes widened and he headed over, asking confusedly, "Junior Brother Mind Jin, are you alright?" The little bald monk understood the terror of the burly man in the backyard. If he was the one that was tormented for the entire night, he would have been exhausted and dispirited, unlike Aiden who was invigorated and chirpy. "I''m fine," Aiden patted little Morwyn on the shoulders with a rxed expression, saying with a fake smile, "I''m going to return there a monthter. Do you want to join me?" "N-No!" Little Morwyn shook his head left and right like a drum and replied firmly. Aiden smiled. Right then, the old monk opened his doors and came forth, saying in a casual manner, "A woman arrived at the top of the Dragon Burial Valley this morning and has been crying for ten minutes sigh, in the blink of an eye, a year has already passed." "Woman? Crying?" Aiden froze for a moment. Immediately after, as though he recalled something, he turned and headed out of the old temple. Little Morwyn turned around with a worried expression. "Master, lend me your divine weapon again. I''ll go protect Mind Jin." "There''s no need." The old monk shook his head. "Let him go alone. He has the Nigal Prayer Beads with him, those evil ghosts out there won''t be able to get close to him." Aiden pushed the doors open and walked out. For a moment, he forgot that he was outside the old temple and there were malevolent spirits and ghosts. At that moment, the only thing on his mind was the woman who was crying at the top of the Dragon Burial Valley so many months after Who was crying? Who was she crying for? Aiden had a vague guess in his mind. The person outside thought that he was already dead. Theoretically speaking, today was his death anniversary! After leaving the old temple, Aiden meandered around the borders of the valley and headed forward slowly. Not long after, he heard intermittent sobbing sounds. He walked for a little more beforeing to a stop. Even though his Inner Core had not recoveredpletely yet, his hearing power was still around. The woman sobbing was right above him. One of them was at the top of the valley and the other at the bottom. They were thousands of feet apart. Aiden raised his head and it was dark above him with nothing to be seen. However, he already knew the identity of the person up there. A tear fell silently from above, through the gap thousands of feet deep, andnded on Aiden''s face with a semnce of warmth. Aiden was silent. A long timeter, the sobbing turned softer and came to a stop. "Aiden, today is your death anniversary. I''m here to visit you," The woman''s voice sounded. For some reason, when he heard that statement, Aiden felt as though something pounded his heart and his vision turned blurry with a misty fog. This was the Dragon Burial Valley! How many people would choose to avoid itpletely? How many powerful living beings have been buried here for tens of thousands of years? Just a year ago, countless paragons of the North Region died here! Notwithstanding the fact that this was an unlucky ce, how much danger did one have to risk to pass through the Great Forbidden Ruins and the obstruction of endless otherworldly soldiers just to get here? "So much has happened since you left us... Now, unlike in the past, in front of others, I don''t dare to and neither can I cry." "This is the only ce where I can cry without holding myself back. Aiden, you must notugh at me." "Aiden, don''t worry. I''ve already have all those important to you be hidden safely. Unless I die, nobody will be able to find them. It''s just that" At that point, the woman paused, "It''s just that the martial artists of Crystal Pce Sect vented their frustrations on the masses of the Northern Countries, and many innocents were killed, sigh. Thankfully, the Pure Maiden Sect of the fiend sects arrived and saved many of them." At that point, Aiden gripped his fists tightly and his eyes shone with a murderous glint! Although his friends were safe, he loved the mortals as though they were his own children. Upon hearing that the masses of the north were massacred, he must have been tormented immensely internally! That feeling was most likely worse than death for someone important to him. "Crystal Pce Sect!" Aiden''s gaze darkened with a killing intent that was almost materialized! After starting his martial, what he was most afraid of was implicating his family. To think that it was something that couldn''t be avoided at the end of the day. Although his family was fine, those innocents that were murdered were actually implicated because of him. "It''s truly thanks to the arrival of Pure Maiden Sect that diverted the attention of all the sects and factions of the North Region. Almost everyone believed that Pure Maiden Sect was the one that saved everyone." "Ah, let''s not talk about such stuff anymore," The woman''s voice seemed to turn much more rxed. "Let''s talk about happier stuff now that we haven''t met in a year!" "All in all, everyone is fine so you don''t have to worry about that, Aiden. Azure Myst Sect is fine as well and I''ve also formed my Inner Core and stepped into the Martial Master realm." The woman spoke to herself at the top of Dragon Burial Valley about everything that happened in the past year. Aiden listened quietly and silently, feeling the ice-cold wall in front of him with his palm. It was as though the hundred thousand feet distance between him and the woman could be gapped through the wall. It was as though the both of them were inches apart. It was as though he was standing beside the woman, listening to her softments. Aiden''s Inner Core was already crippled and the tears on it had not recovered fully yet. He could not fly in the sky. He could not soar through this height and meet the woman at the top of the Dragon Burial Valley. Aiden lowered his head slightly and his eyes dimmed. Even if he could soar through the air, he might not want to choose to meet the woman. That was because he was Aiden. He was the man who had offended Crystal Pce Sect and the entire North Region! He was a demon that was not epted in the entire martial world! The moment he showed himself in the North Region, he would definitely be met with a relentless pursuit! Anyone rted to him would be implicated! It was the case for Su Hong and it was also the case for the citizens of the Northern Countries. If he chose to leave the Dragon Burial Valley and meet with that woman or return to Azure Myst Sect He would bring about an apocalyptic catastrophe for both her and Azure Myst Sect! The moment he stepped out of the Dragon Burial Valley would be the moment he left the North Region. The sun rose and set. Unknowingly, the skies darkened and it was already dusk. Aiden could clearly sense that the malevolent qi in the surrounding had grown denser; the Nigal Prayer Beads on his left wrist glowed with a mysterious luster. Many ghosts and spirits wandered nearby but none of them dared to advance. If that was the case at the bottom of the valley, it was naturally the same above! A deep look of worry could be seen in Aiden''s eyes. Right now, he was hoping for the woman to leave the ce as quickly as possible! A whileter, the skies darkened further, and bright stars dotted the firmaments. Finally, the woman said softly, "Aiden, I have to leave now." Aiden heaved out a sigh of relief. A momentter, when he saw that there was no more activity up above and wanted to return to the old temple, the woman''s voice sounded once more with a hint of sniffing, "Aiden, I miss you." Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. The sob grew distant C the woman had already left. Aiden stood there motionlessly for a long time in silence. After the night passed and day broke out again, he heaved a deep breath and walked back to the old temple. When Morwyn saw Aiden enter through the doors with a dejected expression and lost gaze, he was confused but was too awkward to head up and ask about it. He was only in his teens and had spent his life at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley isted from the outside world C how would he understand something as such? Winter came and summer passed. Spring came and autumn passed. On this day every year, a woman would appear above the Dragon Burial Valley,menting softly about everything that happened in the past year without stopping. Chapter 976 976 - A Little Trick ? On this day every year, the woman would seem like she had an endless amount of things to talk about. On this day every year, Aiden would leave the old temple. He would spend an entire day and night outside. One was at the bottom while the other was at the top of the valley. They were separated thousands of meters apart and could not see each other. On this day every year, when Aiden returned from outside, Morwyn ckstone could see an indescribable sadness in the depths of Aiden''s eyes. Finally, one day, after watching Aiden return to the old temple and enter the Praying Hall, Morwyn ckstone could not help but run to the old monk. "Master, what''s wrong with junior brother?" "Is there a woman waiting above the Dragon Burial Valley for him?" "Junior Brother''s Inner Core is already mostly recovered and he can now fly through the air. Why doesn''t he want to go and meet her?" Morwyn ckstone was filled with curiosity and asked everything in one go. There was a long silence. The old monk did not speak at all. Right as Morwyn ckstone was about to leave in disappointment, the old monk opened his eyes and sighed gently. "The love is deep but the affinity falls short." Time flew. In the blink of an eye, it was already five years after the appearance of the Vermilion Fruit in the Great Forbidden Ruins and the great battle between the paragons. The impact of that battle had not subsided due to time. On the contrary, it grew even more intense! The North Region was fueled with war! Endless shes broke out between vassal states along with invasions. With every year, a few dynasties disappeared! The frequent wars caused countless lives to fall into distress, destitute and homeless with their families broken apart. As for the bigger countries and various dynasties of the other region, they were coveting greedily at the sidelines because the northern countries had no time left to spare. Now that this woman, whom he had known ever since stepping foot in this world and in the skink''s big underground city of Ugburg, had ascended the ''proverbial throne'' and was a woman, the first in history, the imperial court was in a mess with troublemakers snaking out everywhere. How did she do it, was probably another story on its own Somehow the once mighty High Priest has shifted attention, or left Chaos was starting to break out everywhere! It was thankful that the Great North, as how the damaged countries were slowly starting to be calling themselves as they merged and fused together one after another forming a bigger empire from the ashes of the destruction and massacres they had been built for ten thousand years and had a solid foundation, allowing it to control the situation for now. However, throughout the capital, any sharp person could tell that if the situation continued to develop with its current trend, they would meet with a cmity in less than a hundred years! A single misstep might cause its ten thousand year old foundation to be destroyed overnight! If any changes happened, that cmity might even be brought forward and could break out at any moment! The Great North Dynasty was in a precarious situation both internally and externally! This was a great trial for the current leader of their, Seetho Khouge. No matter how much the North Region was riled up, there was a hidden ce in the depths of the Great Forbidden Ruins that was isted from the external world and its chaos. Bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley. For the past five years Three monks, two young and one old, spent their days chanting prayers and paying their respects to Buddha in this unassuming old temple. A little fox stood guard by the side peacefully. The backyard of the grand hall was the only ce that had asional sounds of chains rattling. This morning, an elegant-looking monk walked forth from the Praying Hall. He tidied his attire before opening the gates of the old temple to head out. For the past five years He did the same on this day of every year. The little monk within the old temple was already used to it, merely ncing up once before continuing to read his teachings. Backyard of the grand hall. The old monk had just paid his respects to a friend of the past before turning to look at the burly man who was lying downzily in the cemetery, looking up at the sun. Suddenly, he said, "Red-headed ghost, thatd''s Inner Core has already recovered so he doesn''t have toe back here anymore. He can now focus on chanting his prayers and paying his respects wholeheartedly to find a method to recover his Inner Core." "Ah? The burly man was flustered when he heard that and jolted upright. He could not even be bothered about the old monk calling him a red-headed ghost as he yelled, "That won''t do! I''m not even taking up his daytime! He can follow you to study all the religious stuff in the daytime but he has toe here and train at night!" "Furthermore, he has beenprehending prayers for the past five years without any reaction to his core. It might not work even if he spends another five years! If it was up to me, I''d say that learning from you guys of the Buddhist sects is just a waste of time!" The old monk asked indifferently, "Is it not a waste of time for him to drink your blood?" "Of course!" The burly man dered proudly, "Apart from the fact that his Inner Core has recovered entirely after drinking my blood for five years, his physique now is even more frightening than it was five years ago! He can wallop all the Martial Masters out there!" The old monk sneered coldly. The burly man grumbled, "I don''t care, he just has toe over to my side to train every night. It''s unknown whether or not his Martial Master recovers and even you have no idea about it. You can''t waste all his time on that." The old monk frowned and red at the burly man deeply, asking, "You''ve got some other motives for being so concerned, right?" "What other motives can I have?" The burly man patted his chest and dered righteously, "That woman was my benefactor back then! I''m not an ingrate who doesn''t pay back for what I''ve received!" Pausing for a moment, the burly man rolled his eyes, as though he recalled something, before rubbing his chin with an odd expression. "However, thatd has something in his body that I didn''t expect. Now that his Inner Core has already recovered, I can impart to him something special from tonight onwards, heh!" "What?" The old monk asked. The burly man chuckled. "Just a little trick that''s insignificant." The old monk smiled and turned to leave. He knew the burly man way too well. The more the burly man emphasized it being a little trick, the more it was far from simple. Bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley. A young monk stood there dressed in gray monk robes. He had elegant features and pushed his palm against the ice-cold wall in front of him, twitching his ears as though he was listening for something. "Aiden, I''m back." "Sigh, My father hasn''t been in great shape these few years and his hair has turned white. In part, it''s because of your death. At the same time, it''s also because of the citizens of Northern Countries." "I''ve learned a lot from him. He''s a truly wise ruler, unfortunately" The woman recounted everything that happened in the past year without any hurry, as though she was chatting with someone. The young monk listened quietly. Every single update on his health would bring about a look of worry on his face. Every interesting thing would bring forth a smile for him. One was at the bottom and the other was at the top. Although the two of them could not meet, it seemed like there was an invisible thread that connected every bit of joy, sadness, worry, and happiness between them. Unknowingly, it was already noon. All of a sudden! A series of gleefulughs came from above the Dragon Burial Valley. "Hahahaha!" A man''s voice sounded. "Indeed, it''s the Empress of the Great North! What a coincidence! I''m Si Junyu of the Great South Dynasty! I''ve wanted to befriend you for the longest time, Fellow Martial Warrior Khouge!" "Oh, right. John Hao who died in your hands in the ancient battlefield was my elder brother." Si Junyuughed. "I''ve got to thank you. Otherwise, with that brother of mine around, I wouldn''t have the chance to shine!" "My liege, leave first!" The strong, firm voice of a man sounded. The young monk frowned slightly at the familiarity of that voice C it seemed to be the guard of the empress of the newly formed Great North, Mighty Martial Grand Master Lord Mor Hall. The young monk was slightly relieved. Nothing should happen with a Martial Grandmaster protecting the woman. "Hmph! Run?" Si Junyu sneered, "You guys won''t be able to escape today even if you''ve got wings!" Lord Mor Hall, it''s been a long time." "Mor Hall, you will die today!" Immediately, two other voices sounded murderously. Although he was not seeing it personally, the young monk had already guessed vaguely that Si Junyu seemed to have arrived with reinforcements. In fact, he prepared two Martial Grandmasters to deal with Mor Hall! Chapter 977 977 - Predicament… Entrapped ? True enough. Si Junyu sneered coldly, "Young ''Princess'' Khouge, you are truly careful to only bring one person with you so as to not attract attention. However" "Don''t forget, this is the Great Forbidden Ruins, a messy ce that isn''t part of the territory of the Great North. It''s impossible for you to hide from avoiding attentionpletely!" "Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Si Junyuughed. "Interesting. To think that the great empress of Great North would take such a huge risk toe here on this day every single year. Seems like you''ve got an uncanny rtionship with that monster incarnate who died five years ago?" "I heard that the monster incarnate''s elder brother went missing. He can''t be hidden away by you right? Hahahaha!" "What do you want?" The woman spoke and interrupted Si Junyu''sughter. Si Junyu retracted his smile and barked coldly. "Of course, I want to solidify my ascension to the throne by retrieving your head!" Bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley. The young monk''s gaze turned cold. Dragon Burial Valley. Seetho Khouge and Mighty Martial Grandmaster Lord Mor Hall stood at the edge and had nowhere to retreat. Mighty Lord Mor Hall had a grim expression. The two Martial Grandmasters that stood in midair had frightening auras and sharp gazes C they were martial artists of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect. The man on the left with a long face was Guan Sui and he specialized in using dual swords. The skinny old man on the right was Mighty Lord Troy Sar. He trained a supreme sword technique that even dust couldn''t prate once it was released! Both of them were experts of the North Region who were way more famous than he was. If it was a one-on-one fight, Mighty Lord Mor Hall was confident that he could maneuver his way through. However, if the two of them struck at the same time, he would definitely be defeated! Behind Si Junyu, there were another 20 Martial Masters. Apart from the top guards of the Great South Dynasty, there were 10 Martial Master sword martial artists from Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect who were all atte-stage or perfected Martial Master realm! Any few people from the 20 were enough to suppress Seetho Khouge! It was clear that the other party had nned this for a long time and came prepared, not intending to give them any chance. Mighty Lord Mor Hall frowned tightly and was anxious internally. Given the circumstances, it was already difficult for him to protect himself, let alone escort Seetho Khouge out of this ce. In the martial world, sword martial artists had the greatest killing power! Nobody could guarantee that they would be able to escape unscathed against the attacks of two great sword martial artists. Seetho Khouge had a calm expression and red at Si Junyu coldly C there were no signs of weakness or fear in her eyes! Piak! Piak! Piak! Si Junyu pped and raised his chin, smiling. "It''s no wonder why you''re the empress of a dynasty. To think that you can still maintain yourposure even at this moment. I hope that you can remain as calm when you end up in my handster on." "Fufu, I can''t wait to get my hands all over you!" ng! ng! The sound of swords unsheathing echoed. Beside Si Junyu, five guards and five martial artists of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect moved at the same time and charged towards Seetho Khouge. The other 10 people guarded Si Junyu. Seetho Khouge had a cold gaze and circted her Martial Master, pping her storage bag. Swash! Two flying swords hovered at the front before bursting through the air! "My!" Si Junyu yelled in fake surprise, "Two top-grade artifact weapons! Impressive, impressive!" "Hurgh!" The five Great South guards were d in armor and strode forward with cold expressions. They struck at the same time in unison with a ferocious momentum! ng! Five thick swords collided heavily against the iing flying sword. Sparks flew everywhere! The five des were only top grade artifact weapons. However, the five men had higher martial realms than Seetho Khouge and furthermore, they were trained in theirbo attacks! The shes of those five des caused one of the supreme-grade flying swords to be repelled instantly! A look of mockery shed through one of the Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s martial artists. He struck immediately and twisted his sword, causing sword energy to surge forward and repelled the other flying sword. The difference was too great! In a single round, she had already lost control of both her supreme-grade flying swords! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! The other four sword energies streaked past Seetho Khouge. Buzz! The robe she was wearing glowed brightly with four spirit patterns in a bedazzling manner, withstanding the killing power of the sword energy. It was the robe that Aiden had crafted for her personally back then. Although it could withstand the sharpness of the swords, it could not block out their powerpletely. Seetho Khouge grunted dully and her face turned paler. To be fair, if not for the fact that Si Junyu wanted to capture her alive, it would have been too easy for those sword martial artists to kill her. Si Junyu remarked leisurely, "Seetho Khouge, I''d advise you to surrender obediently and spare yourself the pain." Seetho Khouge clenched her teeth unyieldingly and circted her Martial Master wildly as she conjured a hand seal and released a secret skill of the Great North Dynasty! "Emperor Defensive energy!" Seetho Khouge''s spirit energy surged fanatically and gathered at her fingers through specific meridians. Pointing forward gently, spirit energy surged out and formed an arrow rain of sword energy in midair that shot towards the 10 iing Martial Masters. The Emperor Defensive energy was a secret skill of the Great Forbidden ce''s lost empire. The Great North Dynasty only managed to secure an iplete section of it. Even so, the might of that secret skill was not to be underestimated and it consumed an immense amount of spirit energy. Seetho Khouge had just advanced to Martial Master realm and the burst of that spirit art depleted her spirit energy almost entirely C her Martial Master was already throbbing in pain! ng! ng! ng! ng! Be it the Great South guards or the sword martial artists of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect, none of them were afraid. Their des and swords danced and weed the iing sword energy, dispersing them entirely. Even Emperor Defensive energy could not stop the advancement of 10 Martial Masters! Seetho Khouge grit her teeth with a resolute gaze. The Dragon Burial Valley was right behind her! As the Empress of Great North, she''d rather die than endure humiliation at the hands of Si Junyu! At the most, she would just be crushed! In mid-air. The oue of the fight between Mighty Lord Mor Hall and the two sword martial artists was about to be shown. To be precise, it was the death of one party! Mighty Lord Mor Hall had already used all his strength and released all his trump cards. Even then, he could not withstand the edge of the two sword martial artists and was wounded from head to toe as blood stained his robes. "Ugh!" Mighty Lord Mor Hall''s gaze dimmed as he sighed internally. "It''s over, it''s over! Even after cultivating for hundreds of years, I can''tplete this path. Such is the martial world." "Seems like the Dragon Burial Valley is truly an unlucky ce." Mighty Lord Mor Hall smiled in self-mockery. Below him, Seetho Khouge already had nowhere to retreat. Turning around to look at the dark and mysterious Dragon Burial Valley behind her, she had no fear nor sadness in her eyes. Instead, there was relief and ease. "Aiden, did you jump from here five years ago?" "I''ming to join you now five yearster!" Seetho Khouge smiled and leaped down into the Dragon Burial Valley! All of a sudden! A white light shed at an extremely fast speed and coiled around Seetho Khouge''s waist like a python. Seetho Khouge was about to fall when she was coiled by an extremely nimble spirit rope and yanked up from the cliff directly! A Great South guard was on the other end of the spirit rope. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! The spirit rope continued coiling and instantly restrained Seetho Khouge''s limbs C she had no way of breaking free! Si Junyu reared his head in wildughter and remarked gleefully, "Young Princess Khouge, I''ve already expected that move from you and prepared for it! There''s no way you''re going to have such an easy death!" Seetho Khouge''s face turned pale. She was not afraid of death. Rather, she was afraid of the humiliation she would face from Si Junyu. At that time, the entire Great North Dynasty would be a joke! "Bring that woman over here," Si Junyuughed with a sharp glint in his eyes. "I want to see how the Empress of Great North is going to perform when she''s kneeling in front of me! Hahaha!" "Understood!" A guard strode forward and reached out to whisk Seetho Khouge up. All of a sudden! Chapter 978 978 - The Intruder ? A change happened! On the other end of the battlefield, a gray figure charged over at an extremely fast speed. He arrived before them instantly with torrential killing intent! Nobody saw where that man came from. It was as though he appeared from thin air. "You " One of the Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect martial artists was rmed and was about to speak. However, he was knocked flying before he could even lift his sword. Exploding in midair, the person turned into a mist of blood and died on the spot! A sword martial artist was rammed to death just like that! The speed of the intruder was way too fast! Everyone merely felt their visions blur before that person charged into the crowd and rammed a sword martial artist to death before arriving before Seetho Khouge. In fact, nobody could even tell the gender of the intruder, let alone make out his appearance. "Who''s there?!" The Great South guard beside Seetho Khouge hollered and circted his Martial Master. Releasing his spirit energy, he shed in reverse toward the intruder''s head. Bang! The intruder did not avoid or dodge at all. At an extremely fast speed, before the de even reached his head, he struck first and punched the Great South guard in the chest. The Great South Guard''s body was smashed into pieces! Another Martial Master was dead! Psst! Everyone was shocked and gasped, retreating a step back instinctively. The intruder killed two people in session and stopped right beside Seetho Khouge. He lowered his body and reached out to tug at the spirit rope that was binding thetter. Pang! Pang! Pang! The spirit rope snapped into pieces! By now, the cold and steely Great South Empire''s guards could no longer stay calm as well. Although that spirit rope looked unassuming, even perfected Martial Masters would struggle to break free from it once they were entangled, let alone snap it. What sort of strength was that?! Finally, everyone caught a clear view of the intruder''s appearance. A monk?! The intruder was a middle-aged monk wearing gray robes that were pale from washing. He looked muscr and had steely features. The strangest thing was that there was no spirit energy fluctuation emanating from the person. Even the Martial Grandmasters could not see through the person with their spirit consciousnesses, let alone the guards. It was as though the middle-aged monk was shrouded by an invisible barrier that could avoid detection from spirit consciousnesses! Initially, Mighty Lord Mor Hall was delighted when he saw someone step in to help. After taking a clear look at that person, disappointment filled his eyes. Although he could not see through the middle-aged monk, he could sense that there was no divine power from that person. In other words, this middle-aged monk was a Martial Master at most. Given the current circumstances, even if the person who arrived was the number one Martial Master, it would not change anything. That was because there were still two sword martial artists of Martial Grandmaster realm. That was the most frightening power that could not be ignored! Guan Sui and the other one, Troy Sar had clearly also deduced the martial realm of the middle-aged monk relying on their experience. Mighty Lord Troy Sar sneered, "Hmph, a puny Martial Master who doesn''t know what''s good for him!" When he heard that, Si Junyu heaved a sigh of relief and calmed down. As long as the person who arrived was only at Martial Master, there wouldn''t be any idents! Everyone''s gaze turned toward the middle-aged monk. It was the same for Seetho Khouge. She looked at that foreign face with a lost expression. She did not know this person at all. Yet, why would he risk his life to save her? "My gratitude, benevolent benefactor," Despite her confusion, Seetho Khouge expressed her thanks. The middle-aged monk nodded expressionlessly. Seetho Khouge frowned with an odd feeling in her heart. It was indescribable. "Where did this wild monk spout out from? How dare you interfere in the affairs of the Great South Dynasty!" Si Junyu hollered and interrupted Seetho Khouge''s train of thought. The middle-aged monk turned around and swept his gaze across the three Martial Grandmasters that were fighting in midair dully. When he looked at Si Junyu who was not far away, his eyes turned murderous and he stomped forward! Boom! The ground quaked. All the Martial Masters present felt their hearts skip a beat. The middle-aged monk had already disappeared from where he was! Like an ancient ferocious beast, he charged forward with a terrifying might! Everywhere he passed, the ground overturned and mud flew, creating a massive ravine! He was way too savage! His ferocity was suffocating. A Great South Empire''s guard reacted slower and by the time he raised the de on his back, the middle-aged monk''s palm had already descended. Poof! That person''s head was shoved right into his chest and his neck snapped C he died on the spot! Another Great South guard''s de descended. The monk did not even bother to look at all and punched against the de with his bare fist! "Die!" The Great South guard hollered with a cruel expression. Snap! There wasn''t the sound of a de cutting into flesh that he expected to hear. There wasn''t a sh of blood that he expected to see either. Everyone could clearly tell that the top-grade de that was crafted from Pure Gold Crystal was shattered by the middle-aged monk''s bare hands! Poof! Countless shards scattered and riddled the Great South guard''s body with holes that flowed with blood. That person fell stiffly with widened eyes. "Where did this demonic monke from?" From the side, a Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect martial artist circted his internal energy, and his sword quivered and buzzed. It emitted five spirit lights that were extremely domineering and chilling! It was a top-grade artifact weapon! Swash! The person''s sword trembled. Instantly, 13 sword phantoms appeared in midair! The phantoms danced wildly and it was difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion! The middle-aged monk''s gaze shimmered and he reached out, identifying the true body of the sword instantly! Not only that, his fingers seemed like they were metal and forceful, dodging the sharpness of the de nimbly as they pinned the sword on its de! All the sword phantoms dispersed. Nothing remained. "Hmm?" The sword martial artist''s expression changed and he wanted to withdraw his sword by instinct. However, after it was pinned by the middle-aged monk''s fingers, the perfect-grade sword seemed like it was pinned under a mountain and could not budge at all! "Not good!" The person sensed danger and realized that something was amiss. He wanted to retreat but it was toote. The middle-aged monk shifted agilely and pushed the de that he was holding gently forward. The entire process was fluid as water without any pauses at all. The de swiped past the person''s throat. It was extremely simple but it was enough to take the person''s life! Shing! A bloody mist spewed out! The sword martial artist clutched at the wound on his throat frantically but he could not stop the blood flow as his gaze dimmed swiftly. Another three Martial Masters were dead! The entire process seemed very slow upon narration but in fact, it urred in the split of a moment. The middle-aged monk did not pause at all and in the blink of an eye, he had already arrived before Si Junyu, leaving five Martial Masters in his wake. Si Junyu was panicked. He had never seen such methods before C his guards, and even the sword martial artists of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect, could not even withstand a single move against the middle-aged monk, as though they were pieces of paper in his path. The middle-aged monk was ruthless and every single attack from him was a killing blow C he gave no chances at all! "K-Kill him for me!" Si Junyu howled. There were five more Great South guards and five sword martial artists from Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect in front of him. To Si Junyu, as long as the 10 Martial Masters could hold back the middle-aged monk, thetter would definitely die once the two Martial Grandmasters in the air killed Mighty Lord Mor Hall and returned. "Kill!" The five Great South guards roared and struck at the same time! Boom! The eyes of one of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s sword martial artists lit up and he produced an extremely frightening aura. Without even testing the waters, he released his Martial Master phenomenon! Chapter 979 979 - Turnaround ? "Heavenly Piercing Seven Swords!" The man hollered and the sword energy within his body rumbled. His Martial Master realm power circted wildly as his internal energy howled. Seven gigantic swords appeared hovering in the air behind him, so sharp that they threatened to rip the heavens into pieces! Heavenly Piercing Seven Swords. Rank 78 of the previous Phenomenon Ranking. This sword martial artist had clearly gained the true legacy of the Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect. Furthermore, he must have had an extremely deep level ofprehension to be able to train this Martial Master phenomenon of the sect. Martial Master phenomenons were the most terrifying attacks of Martial Masters. The Martial Master phenomenons of sword martial artists were even more lethal! The middle-aged monk had just advanced when the five Great South guards released abo technique in unison with a tacit understanding. Their five des seemed to fuse together into a sturdy and massive de that descended from the skies with an apocalyptic aura! Additionally, four swords that shimmered with a chilling light shot over from four different angles. Before they arrived, the swords were already letting off an unsettling aura! The most terrifying attack was the Martial Master phenomenon that was just released C Heavenly Piercing Seven Swords! "Kill him! Kill him!" Si Junyu howled with a maniacal look. The middle-aged monk was expressionless against the iing attacks. His eyes lit up as he opened his mouth, releasing a deafening sound! "Mm!" That strange syble was extremely odd and was definitely not a normal word from any of the recognizednguages of this world. It possessed a noble might when it was spoken by the middle-aged monk! Even though there was no spirit energy fluctuation from the body of the middle-aged monk, the short verb reverberated through the world continuously as though it could tunnel through any obstacles straight into one''s heart! That verb was a burst that relied merely on the power of his organs, throat, and tongue! "Hmm?" "Sound Secret Skill?" The three Martial Grandmasters in midair were slightly surprised. Sound secret skills were the rarest secret techniques in the martial world and were extremely difficult to train C only certain super sects and top factions have them. That Daming Mantra was a renowned secret skill of the Daming Monastery that had been lost for ten thousand years. The lifespans of Martial Grandmasters were merely a few thousand years old C naturally, none of the three Martial Grandmasters knew of the origin of that secret skill. On the battlefield, the 10 Martial Masters that were fighting were caught unprepared and shuddered. The five des of the Great South guards and four swords of the sword martial artists paused briefly as well. For ordinary martial artists, that dy might not have seemed like anything much. However, in the eyes of the middle-aged monk, it was a massive opening! A single dy meant that there was a break in their strength! The middle-aged monk did not dodge or avoid. Instead, he took the first move and swung his arm like a thick iron whip against the five des. Crack! Crack! Crack! All the des shattered. The five Great South guards were shocked. Right as they were about to retreat, they discovered that the middle-aged monk did not continue to chase them C he had turned towards the four sword martial artists from Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect. Before the five of them could react, another sound of prayer boomed in their ears. It was truly an explosion. It was as though thunder had just sounded in their ears! "Mm!" All five of them widened their eyes which instantly turned bloodshot as they froze on the spot. It was as though a gigantic hammer had thumped them at the back of the head, causing them to lose consciousness for a moment. The four sword martial artists of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect had initially recovered and were about to continue attacking when they heard the second word. All four of them revealed pained expressions and winced badly. They could not even maintain their grip on the swords in their hands, let alone continue to attack. The middle-aged monk charged into the four of them with a cold gaze. Instantly, he threw out four punches in session and ruptured all of their heads! In the end, the remaining sword martial artist could not manage to attack as well. It wasn''t because he didn''t want to, it was because he couldn''t! The two power words caused him to freeze up and the seven swords behind him swayed before they even materialized fully, showing signs of dispersing! How could that person attack to deal with the middle-aged monk when he could not even defend himself? Within a split second, four of his fellow sect mates were dead. And at that very moment, the middle-aged monk had already arrived before him! The next moment, his pupils constricted violently! He could see the middle-aged monk opening his mouth once more! "Um!" The third power word had descended! The first people affected were the five Great South guards that were rooted on the spot. Grisly fresh blood was already streaming down their eyes, ears, mouth, and nose due to the blow from the three consecutive powerful sounds! They were bleeding from all orifices! It seemed like the five of them did not have any injuries on their bodies. However, their brains were already smashed from the vibrations! All five of them fell stiffly with dim gazes. The middle-aged monk had notid his hands on them up till the very end C they were shocked to death by the three powerful sounds! As for the remaining sword martial artist, his face was pale as a sheet and his eyes were filled with fear. His Martial Master phenomenon was already trembling against the impact of the three power sounds and could disperse at any moment. He had trained for more than 200 years, been through endless battles, and could also be considered as a genius of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect. However, he had never seen anyone fight in such a manner. There was no spirit energy in the other person''s body. Yet, his power of phenomenon was shaken just by the other person''s voice! In other words, if not for the protection of his Martial Master phenomenon, he would have been seriously injured against the impact of the three Sanskrit sounds even if he wasn''t dead! The next moment, the middle-aged monk closed in and opened his mouth once again! "Pa!" The fourth poweful sound! The instant the fourth powerful praying sound descended, the middle-aged monk suddenly struck as well and punched the Martial Master phenomenon directly! Snap! All seven swords werepletely snapped! The remaining Martial Masters felt grimaced at the sight of that in shock. None of them had ever witnessed such power before! Martial Master phenomenons were the strongest methods avable for Martial Masters. Even top-tier spirit arts might not be able to go against them. But now, everyone was witnessing someone go against a Martial Master phenomenon head-on with his body alone! The scariest thing was that Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect''s Heavenly Piercing Seven Swords could not even withstand a single blow from the person''s powerful sounds and punch! Poof! The Martial Master phenomenon shattered and thest sword martial artist shuddered, coughing up a huge mouthful of blood. The middle-aged monk did not give him any chance at all and strode forward, tapping him on the throat gently with a finger. Snap! The person''s throat snapped and he died on the spot! Si Junyu waspletely scared out of his wits. He had truly not expected that 10 Martial Masters C including an expert who trained a Martial Master phenomenon C could not stop the middle-aged monk for a single second! The entire process sounded long upon narration but in fact, it only took three breaths. Before Si Junyu could react, the middle-aged monk had already arrived before him! At that moment, it was toote even if the two Martial Grandmasters, Guan Sui and Troy Sar, wanted to step in and help. "How dare you!" Mighty Lord Troy Sar could not help but holler loudly when he saw that. "Monk, if you dare to kill him, you will definitely die today!" Guan Sui said coldly. Chapter 980 980 - Naive ? Instantly, Si Junyu was scared out of his wits! "Ah!" Si Junyu withdrew a cold, shimmering sword from his storage bag and his spirit energy surged wildly as he stabbed at the middle-aged monk''s head! At the same time, Si Junyu crushed a protection talisman in his left hand. Whoosh! A golden burst of light glowed around Si Junyu and formed an imprable barrier. The middle-aged monk did not dodge or avoid the iing sword and flicked his finger casually. His fingertip met the sword''s de. ng! Si Junyu''s sword was snapped by the middle-aged monk''s finger in a single strike! With a ripped palm, Si Junyu could no longer hold on to his sword and let go. Thereafter, his vision blurred, and the middle-aged monk was already gone from his sights. For everyone else, they saw the middle-aged monk take a step after snapping Si Junyu''s de to wrap behind thetter. The middle-aged monk''s movements were way too fluid. It was like water C there was no dy between his movements ever since he first attacked. The middle-aged monk''s entire body coiled around Si Junyu''s golden barrier like an anaconda and exerted strength massively! Crack! Crack! Crack! A series of cracks appeared on the golden barrier. After a brief pause, the golden barrier shattered entirely! The middle-aged monk reached out and grabbed Si Junyu''s neck, exerting strength in his fingers. Si Junyu merely felt his body and limbs go limp C he could not move at all and could only let the middle-aged monk lift him up! "Everyone, stop!" The middle-aged monk turned around and said coldly. The two Great South guards and the three Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect sword martial artists that were chasing after him stopped hurriedly with a deep look of fear in their eyes. This middle-aged monk was way too brutal! Ever since he started attacking, any Martial Master who stood in his path died C nobody was spared! Rather than a benevolent monk, he was more like a demon with a murderous nature! In the blink of an eye, Si Junyu wound up in the hands of the middle-aged monk, and Guan Sui and Mighty Lord Troy Sar could not help but stop their attacks on Mighty Lord Ming Ze. With a relieved expression, Mighty Lord Ming Ze fell from midair in exhaustion. Fortunately, Seetho Khouge rushed forward and supported him. Instantly, the situation became special. On the side of the Great South Dynasty, there were five Martial Masters and two Martial Grandmasters with frightening strength remaining. On the side of the Great North Dynasty, Seetho Khouge''s internal energy was already drained after releasing Emperor Defensive energy, and did not have muchbat strength left. As for Mighty Lord Ming Ze, he was filled with injuries all over and could not fight any longer. On the surface, it seemed like the Great North Dynasty waspletely disadvantaged. However, the issue now was that Si Junyu had fallen into the hands of the middle-aged monk! Suddenly, Mighty Lord Ming Ze and everyone else understood the middle-aged monk''s intentions. In a head-on confrontation, he was definitely not a match for the two Martial Grandmaster sword martial artists. The only way to break out of the situation and survive was to use all his might to capture Si Junyu alive, thereby gaining the upper hand! "What an impressive monk!" Mighty Lord Ming Ze thought to himself. The fact that this middle-aged monk was able to discover the method of breaking out of the situation within such a short period of time was proof of his understanding of the circumstances and the sharpness of his mind! In reality, even at that moment, Mighty Lord Ming Ze had yet to realize the middle-aged monk''s true intentions. By the time he realized, what he felt was not just shock it was fear! It was an act that required an extreme amount of guts! Seetho Khouge supported Mighty Lord Ming Ze and gazed at the middle-aged monk not far away with a slightly raised brow. For some reason, she felt that there was something odd about this. If that middle-aged monk was only at Martial Master realm and they did not know one another, why would he want to undertake such a huge risk just to save her? Saving her was one thing, but the way he murdered them so decisively seemed like he was doing it out of rage. She was the target of Si Junyu and the others. If so, where did the rage of the middle-aged monk stem from? Could there be a deep feud between this man and the Great South Dynasty and he merely attacked after bumping into them by coincidence? Seetho Khouge could not figure it out. Guan Sui and Mighty Lord Troy Sar red at the middle-aged monk coldly from midair, as though they wanted to make out something from the middle-aged monk''s face. He was expressionless without any fear in his eyes. Guan Sui narrowed his eyes and said coolly, "The religious sects believe that their creator, their god ispassionate for all living beings. Monk, you are way too murderous for someone of the religious sects!" "The religious sects also believe that the God''s rage is required to subdue evil!" The middle-aged monk''s gaze zed and he was truly like a descended divine entity that was unavoidable! "Humph!" Mighty Lord Troy Sar scoffed with a chilling killing intent. "Monk, if you darey harm on him, I''ll tear you into pieces and burn your bones into ashes!" The middle-aged monk was unmoved by the Martial Grandmaster''s threat and even exerted more strength in his fingers. Si Junyu''s expression turned purplish but he could not say a single word at all. Suddenly, Guan Sui''s gaze shed and he asked, "Nothing wille out of this stalemate anyways. How about we strike a deal?" "Oh?" The middle-aged monk raised his brow slightly. Guan Sui said darkly, "If you let him off, we''ll leave right away!" The middle-aged monk pondered for a moment before asking, "How do I know you won''t renege on your words." Mighty Lord Troy Sar and Guan Sui exchanged nces and their eyes shed with a sly intent as they gained a tacit understanding. "Both of us are Martial Grandmasters and we value our reputation. There''s no way we will go back on anything we say!" When he heard that, Mighty Lord Ming Ze''s heart skipped a beat. In the cruel martial world, nobody''s promise could be taken at face value unless they were frompletely trusted people. Furthermore, even if the two of them reneged on their words and killed them, word of this would never spread and there would naturally be no impact on their reputations as well. Initially, Mighty Lord Ming Ze thought that the middle-aged monk would be able to see through the dangers given his intellect. However, he did not expect the middle-aged monk to be moved. "For real?" The middle-aged monk raised his brow slightly before asking the two Martial Grandmasters once more. "Our word is gold!" Guan Sui repressed the joy in his heart and replied with conviction without letting anything slip! In his opinion, even though this middle-aged monk may be strong and sharp, he might have way too little experience in the martial world after chanting prayers in seclusion for the most part of his life. As long as they saved Si Junyu, this middle-aged monk would definitely be dead! "Don''t" Mighty Lord Ming Ze was flustered. Right as he was about to speak, the middle-aged monk nodded. "Alright, I''ll trust you guys." With that said, he lifted Si Junyu and walked towards the two Martial Grandmasters. Instantly, Mighty Lord Ming Ze was devastated. He had already noticed that Guan Sui and Mighty Lord Troy Sar could barely contain their delight and killing intents in the depths of their eyes. Their gazes were burning, as though their bloodied mouths were already wide open, waiting for this gullible and ignorant monk to deliver himself to them. Suddenly, a thought struck Seetho Khouge and she whispered, "If he wants to release the hostage, why does he have to walk towards the two Martial Grandmasters?" Mighty Lord Ming Ze was stunned. ''Hmmm Oh, That''s right.'' ''He could just release the hostage instantly, why walk over towards the two Martial Grandmasters?'' "What is he trying to do?" Mighty Lord Ming Ze''s eyes shed with confusion. "Could it be" Chapter 981 981 - The Moment Of Life And Death ? The middle-aged monk lifted Si Junyu and advanced closer toward Guan Sui and Mighty Lord Troy Sar. In the blink of an eye, they were less than ten feet away. Compared to the joyful gazes of Guan Sui and Mighty Lord Troy Sar, the middle-aged monk seemed calm and his eyes were deep and emotionless. When he arrived, the middle-aged monk tossed Si Junyu toward Mighty Lord Troy Sar in a seemingly casual manner. Mighty Lord Troy Sar''s eyes lit up as he reached out to receive. On the other side, Guan Sui burst out inughter. "Haha!" All of a sudden! Guan Sui''sughter came to a stop! From the corner of his eyes, he spotted a figure dart over from behind Si Junyu to charge over! His eyes shone with a ferocious glint like an ancient demon that was about to devour the tasty mortals! Psst! Guan Sui gasped. That middle-aged monk actually harbored killing intentions toward a Martial Grandmaster! How could he? How could a Martial Master darey his hands on a Martial Grandmaster?! "Die!" The middle-aged monk roared with a thunder-like voice and let off an asphyxiating killing intent. He reached out with his muscr palm that nketed the skies and stirred the clouds. Guan Sui merely felt his vision darken with a massive shadow above his head, as though dark clouds were covering him! "You have a death wish!" Gripping his sword in reverse, Guan Sui shed across fiercely! The two of them were way too close. Before the sword technique was fully released, Aiden had already gripped Guan Sui first with his left hand! At this point, it did not matter any longer how amazing the sword technique was. At this distance, meleebat strength and the power of one''s body was what mattered! Guan Sui''s expression changed starkly and there was finally a hint of panic in his eyes. His wrist was locked by the middle-aged monk and he could not break free at all. At that moment, he had finally realized how frightening the physique of the middle-aged monk was. The middle-aged monk''s meleebat strength was enough to threaten his life! Guan Sui was a Martial Grandmaster. In a normal exchange, he could utilize divine power with his spirit consciousness and would not allow the middle-aged monk a chance to get close. Now that he was closed in by the middle-aged monk, it was akin to him being closed in by a pure-blooded ferocious beast C any single misstep would cause him to die on the spot! Most martial artists were weak physically and could notpare to demons at all. That was the reason why martial artists would always make use of means such as spirit arts, divine arts, and artifact weapons to keep their distance and not allow demon beasts to close it. They would be in danger once they were closed in by the demon beasts! Mighty Lord Troy Sar had just caught Si Junyu who was tossed over and could not help at all. At that moment, Guan Sui could only rely on himself! The precision of the middle-aged monk''s attacks was way too perfect. This was a situation that could not have happened if he was faster or slower by a single second. Snap! The middle-aged monk did not give Guan Sui any time to react and snapped his wrist instantly! "Ah!" Guan Sui howled in pain and was drenched in cold sweat. Swoosh! At the same time, the middle-aged monk''s heaven epassing palm descended with an intimidating aura. Guan Sui''s wrist was snapped and he was momentarily stunned. By the time he returned to his senses, the middle-aged monk''s palm was already descending from above his head. In his hurry, he could only raise his arms to block. Crack! Crack! Crack! That short collision caused Guan Sui''s arm to be snapped instantly against the pressure of the middle-aged monk''s palm! The palm continued descending andnded fiercely on top of Guan Sui''s head! Bang! Brain juice was sttered! Guan Sui''s eyes widened and his face was torn apart like a spiderweb. His head was ruptured by a single p from the middle-aged monk! This Essence Spirit dispersed and he could not have been more dead! A Martial Grandmaster was dead! Even Guan Sui who was right smack in the battle could not react to it, let alone everyone else who was watching in shock. Be it Seetho Khouge or Si Junyu''s faction, neither side expected such a change in the battlefield where a Martial Grandmaster was dead in less than a second! The most frightening thing was that the massacre was not over! "Demon monk, how dare you!" Mighty Lord Troy Sar had just ced Si Junyu down when he caught sight of that. Instantly, he was triggered and enraged! "Why wouldn''t I dare to?!" The middle-aged monk did not pause in his movements at all after killing Guan Sui. With a single stride, he had already arrived before Mighty Lord Troy Sar, yelling, "You''re the one that''s going to die!" Mighty Lord Ming Ze shuddered at that statement! In other words, what the middle-aged monk meant was that he had already nned on killing the two Martial Grandmasters right from the beginning! The reason why the monk held Si Junyu hostage was not because he needed a chip in negotiation. He had already nned for this moment when he captured Si Junyu alive! Right from the beginning, he had not intended to let the two Martial Grandmasters off at all! This man truly had tremendous guts! On the battlefield. Mighty Lord Troy Sar twisted his sword and aimed it at the middle-aged monk''s heart, thrusting fiercely as he barked, "You don''t know your limits!" The sword beam was cold and sharp as if it could destroy everything! That was a divine weapon of Martial Grandmasters. Although the middle-aged monk had a strong body and could repel a top-grade artifact weapon with his finger, he could not defend against the edge of a divine weapon. Against the sharpness of the sword martial artist, he could only retreat. However, if he retreated and increased the distance between him and the Martial Grandmaster, there was no way he would be able to kill thetter. "Hum!" A look of conviction shed through the middle-aged monk''s eyes as he uttered a prayer. The voids trembled. Instantly, Mighty Lord Troy Sar''s sword paused for a brief moment. However, it was a moment so brief and undetectable that it seemed as though there was no impact at all. The middle-aged monk did not decrease his speed and merely nted sideways while continuing to lunge toward Mighty Lord Troy Sar. "Pfft!" Although the sword that was initially aimed at the middle-aged monk''s heart shifted slightly, it still pierced right into his chest! shes of blood appeared. The middle-aged monk was indifferent and allowed the sword to pass through him as he continued charging with a ferocious glint! Mighty Lord Ming Ze and everyone else could clearly see a bloodied sword burst forth from the back of the middle-aged monk. That sword did not manage to puncture the middle-aged monk''s heart. However, the sharpness of the sword was less than an inch away from the heart! As long as Mighty Lord Troy Sar twisted his sword, he would be able to slice the middle-aged monk''s heart with his de''s sharpness! Right then, the middle-aged monk arrived before Mighty Lord Troy Sar with the sword piercing through him and swung his arm right away! Although that arm looked like it was flexible and limp on the surface, like the trunk of an ancient divine elephant, it let out a crisp sound in midair and pped Mighty Lord Troy Sar''s head with a violent might! Crack! Crack! Crack! Mighty Lord Troy Sar''s head spun a few circles around his neck beforeing to a stop with bulged eyes C he had stopped breathing a long time ago. Victory was decided. Death have imed the Mighty Lord. Mighty Lord Troy Sar''s neck had snapped long ago against that power. His brains had already been shaken into sludge and his Essence Spirit was destroyed. Up till his death, he gripped his sword''s handle tightly. However, he was still that bit slower and did not manage to cut the middle-aged monk''s heart. That was meleebat! A singleg, even if it was only for a brief instant, would mean life and death! That was the moment whenwhere life and death was decided! Mighty Lord Ming Ze could not imagine how the middle-aged monk who was right smack in the battle felt earlier on. He had already broken out in cold sweat just be watching from the sidelines! That was truly gambling with one''s life! As long as Mighty Lord Troy Sar was a step faster, the oneying dead on the ground would have been the middle-aged monk. However, at that thought, that choice and decisiveness was probably the only thing that could have killed Mighty Lord Troy Sar! What a scary monk. Just who in the world is he? More than shock, what Mighty Lord Ming Ze felt when he looked at the middle-aged monk''s back view was fear! Chapter 982 982 - Revelations ? Obviously, the middle-aged monk was not an outsider C he was Aiden after changing his appearance. At that moment, he could not appear with his true self. If anyone knew that he was not dead and had even stepped in to save the young empress of Great Northern United Empire, the Great North Dynasty would definitely be in grave peril! The old temple at the bottom of Dragon Burial Valley would not be hidden for much longer either. Furthermore, in the depths of Aiden''s heart, he did not dare to face Seetho Khouge. That feeling had turned increasingly so after five years. It was an indescribable feeling that was conflicted. In the past five years, Aiden was isted from the outside world in the old temple at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley. Away from secr affairs, there was no killing or fighting as he spent his days chanting sutras and praying in rtive seclusion with a peaceful heart. However, he felt nervous the moment he heard Seetho Khouge in danger. His peace for the past five years was broken instantly and he found himself surging with an uncontroble killing intent! Therefore, right from the moment he appeared, he had no intention of letting anyone off alive and had a decisive killing intent C even Mighty Lord Ming Ze felt fear because of him! The entire process of him killing two great Martial Grandmasters took less than three breaths. Although it seemed like it was momentary and simple, he was the only one who knew best about the dangers involved. He was truly fighting for his life! A single mistake would cause him to die on the spot. In terms of actual strength, Aiden was definitely not a match for the Martial Grandmasters. The only thing he had stronger than Guan Sui and Troy Sar was his own body! The Old monk once said that demonic martial artists have the easiest time killing opponents above their levels. As long as he could engage in meleebat, he had a shot at victory! The reason why he agreed to let Si Junyu off was so that he could numb Guan Sui and Troy Sar, lowering their guards. The reason why the two Martial Grandmasters were unguarded wasn''t that theycked experience C they truly hadn''t expected that a Martial Master would attempt to kill Martial Grandmasters! That was equivalent to a mortal plotting to kill an immortal! Aiden gripped the sword''s handle and pulled the de out slowly from his chest. The sharp de ground against his bones and flesh with a jarring noise. Aiden was expressionless. A stream of blood spewed out! As though he had no sense of pain, Aiden did not even bother to look as he flung his arm behind him! Poof! A sword martial artist of Heavenly Piercing Sword Sect was stabbed through the heart and died on the spot. The remaining four people finally broke out of their stupor and were scared out of their wits. They eximed and scurried into the distance without turning back. Clutching his chest with his left hand, Aiden had a cold gaze and stomped on his feet. The ground quaked and he bolted forward like an arrow. It was too fast! Bang! A Great South guard had barely run a few steps before Aiden caught up to him. He was pped to death with a single palm strike without any way of retaliating. The remaining three Martial Masters did not manage to escape far either before they were murdered by Aiden one after another! Si Junyu stood on the spot motionlessly. He could tell clearly that given his strength, he wouldn''t be able to escape from the middle-aged monk''s pursuit even if he wanted to! Before long, after the other four were killed, the middle-aged monk returned and walked straight towards Si Junyu. Si Junyu''s face was pale as a sheet but he pretended to be calm and said with cupped fists, "Great monk, I''m the prince of the Great South Dynasty. As long as you let me off, I''ll be immensely grateful and I''m willing to agree to any terms of exchange." "Once I ascend the throne, I can even help you with the power of my entire dynasty!" Aiden walked before Si Junyu and reached out with an indifferent expression, grabbing thetter towards him by the throat! "Ee Ee!" Si Junyu rolled his eyes as his feet left the ground and kicked furiously. He could not speak at all and could only let out odd sounds. Aiden leaned in and whispered into Si Junyu''s ears, "The power of your entire dynasty means nothing to a fraction of her. Since you dared toy your hands on her, I''m going to kill you!" "Y-You!" Si Junyu''s face was turning purplish and he seemed like he wanted to ask something. Aiden continued, "I''ll also let you die with aplete understanding of things today. I am called Aiden, and your brother, Jun Hao, was killed by me!" Si Junyu''s eyes widened with disbelief. Aiden that was a name that nobody had mentioned for five years. He was still alive! "You can join your brother in the depths of Hell." Aiden said calmly before exerting strength in his fingers, breaking Si Junyu''s throat with a snap. Si Junyu died on the spot. In less than 15 minutes, two Martial Grandmasters, 20 Martial Masters, and a prince of Great South were all killed at this ce C none of them were spared! Seetho Khouge had a pensive expression with raised brows as she looked at Aiden with a somewhat strange gaze. Mighty Lord Ming Ze took a deep breath of air before heading forward to greet Aiden with a deep bow. "I am Mighty Lord Ming Ze of the Great North Dynasty. Many thanks for your help earlier on, great monk." As a Martial Grandmaster, it was truly rare for him to extend such politeness to a Martial Master. "No worries," Aiden waved it off and said indifferently, "This treacherous ce is filled with dangers and the Dragon Burial Valley is an unlucky ce. You guys should note here anymore in the future." "Alright, thank you for the advice, great monk," Mighty Lord Ming Ze nodded. Right then, Seetho Khouge walked over as well, ring at Aiden. "May I know your name and sect or faction, great monk?" It was a somewhat illogical question. Her attitude and tone was more like someone that was interrogating another person. Mighty Lord Ming Ze nced at Seetho Khouge and frowned slightly. He could sense that there was something mysterious about the middle-aged monk''s background and the way he conducted himself. Up till now, thetter had not mentioned why he helped them or why he killed everyone from the Great South Dynasty. However, Seetho Khouge was behaving even more strangely. Aiden lowered his head and pulled down the prayer beads on his left hand which only had four Prayer Beads before saying calmly, "I am Mind Jin and I don''t belong to any sect or faction." "Mind Jin," Seetho Khouge murmured softly before looking deeply at Aiden. "Mighty Lord Ming Ze and I are injured and we can''t fight anymore. Since you said that this ce is treacherous, can you escort us out?" It was an even ruder request. Mighty Lord Ming Ze was about to speak when the middle-aged monk nodded after a moment of silence. "Alright." Mighty Lord Ming Ze was stunned. However, he saw Seetho Khouge smile brightly. "Thank you, great monk!" For the past five years, Mighty Lord Ming Ze had been by Seetho Khouge''s side, ensuring her safety. Ever since the death of the strongest monster incarnate in history five years ago, he had not seen such a smile appear on Seetho Khouge''s face. It was dazzling, like the rainbow after a downpour. It was as though every single bit of sadness that this woman kept in her heart for the past five years had vanished at this moment. As Aiden looked at Seetho Khouge''s smile, a phrase appeared in his mind. A smile that resembles a flower''s blossom. However, there was no flower in this world that couldpare to the smile of the woman before him. Avoiding his gaze, Aiden counted his prayer beads at an even faster speed. He lowered his head and took the front, saying softly, "Let''s go." Mighty Lord Ming Ze was confused and followed instinctively. Seetho Khouge pursed her lips with a slight hint of dejection in her eyes. However, she smiled again soon after. No matter what, today was a day worth being happy about. Chapter 983 983 - Recognized ? Three odd-looking people appeared in the Great Forbidden Ruins. The leader was a middle-aged monk with prayer beads in his hands. He had a calm expression and without any martial, was no different from a mortal. Behind him was a man and woman, both who were severely injured. There was a high chance that these three would meet with an attack in the Great Forbidden Ruins! It was way toomon for people to kill others and steal their treasures in this ce. However, along the way, many martial artists who caught sight of them stayed far away and did not dare to provoke them. That was because everyone could clearly see that there were initially countless otherworldly soldiers in the pce. However, all of the otherworldly soldiers gave way to these three people wherever they passed! The three of them walked through the pce without any otherworldly soldiers obstructing their way! Mighty Lord Ming Ze was secretly impressed. He was definitely not the reason for the otherworldly soldiers'' wariness. When he arrived, even though he was a Martial Grandmaster, those otherworldly soldiers charged at them fearlessly. To think that all of them would choose to stay away from the middle-aged monk! There seemed to be a fog shrouding the middle-aged monk such that nobody could make out his secrets. The strangest thing was this man''s identity. He could not be considered a martial artist since there was no spirit energy fluctuation from within his body. He could not be considered a mortal as well since he could kill Martial Grandmasters. This man was well-versed in a sound secret skill. Anyone that inherited a sound secret skill would be from a super sect or top faction. However, none of the six religious monasteries were located in the North Region. So, where did this mane from? Along the way, Mighty Lord Ming Ze was filled with questions that he could not understand. Seetho Khouge tagged along at the back, watching the back view of the middle-aged monk with a conflicted expression. There were countless times when she wanted to speak but chose not to eventually. Just like that, the three of them passed through the pce and the ruins in silence. After sending Seetho Khouge and Mighty Lord Ming Ze outside the ruins, Aiden stopped in his tracks and turned around, saying softly with a lowered head, "Dear Guests, do take your leave as soon as possible. I''ll be bidding farewell here." Seetho Khouge bit her red lip gently in silence. "Thank you for your lifesaving grace, great monk. I''ll definitely remember today''s gratitude to you," Mighty Lord Ming Ze greeted with cupped fists. Aiden nodded and returned with a single-handed bow before turning to leave. Up till the end, he did not dare to meet Seetho Khouge''s eyes. He did not dare to look at her directly. After hesitating for a long time, Seetho Khouge chose to speak eventually, "Reverend, d-do you have anything you wish to say?" "This is a dangerous ce. Please don''te here again from now on, guest." Aiden''s back was facing Seetho Khouge and he did not turn back as he continued forward while saying calmly. "When will I be able to meet you again, reverend?" Seetho Khouge asked once more. Aiden paused in his tracks and only replied after pondering for a long time, "We will naturally meet again if there''s affinity." Mighty Lord Ming Ze frowned tightly and looked back and forth at the middle-aged monk and Seetho Khouge in confusion. Seetho Khouge only let out a deep breath of air after the middle-aged monk''s figure disappeared fully at the edge of the ruins. "Uncle Ming, let''s go." Mighty Lord Ming Ze could not help but ask, "Do you know him, empress?" "Mind Jin?" Seetho Khouge smiled and shook her head. "I don''t." Mighty Lord Ming Ze was even more puzzled. Because this was not part of the Great North Dynasty''s territory and both of them were injured, they did not dare to linger and left in the air riding on their flying artifacts. Aiden felt conflicted on his return. Eventually, he did not choose to acknowledge his rtionship with Seetho Khouge. He did not know what he should say. He did not know how to face Seetho Khouge. He could not deny that she was extremely important to him. However, he was going to leave the North Region and even the world at the end of the day. As for Seetho Khouge, she was the Empress of Great Zhou and carried the hopes of the dynasty''s flourish. Both of them were on different paths. Right then, Aiden paused in his tracks and frowned. He was distracted in deep thoughts the entire time and had not noticed that someone was following him! Of course, it seemed like the person did not harbor any evil intentions towards him. Otherwise, he would have been able to sense it with his spirit perception even if he was distracted! "Who are you? Come on out." Aiden nced sideways andmented indifferently. "Great monk, do you recognize me?" A tender voice sounded, somewhat coquettish and spiteful. Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. Instantly, he recited the Sanskrit of the Daming Mantra mentally to calm himself down. It was Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa! Her bewitchment powers had turned even more frightening after five years. If not for the fact that Aiden had chanted sutras andprehended Buddhism for the past five years, he would have definitely exposed himself with just that single remark! It seemed like Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa had also benefited immensely from the Ancient One''s Pce and had advanced her powers significantly. Aiden turned around and looked at Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa who was not far away. After five years, Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa seemed to have gotten skinnier. However, there was no way to hide that peerless face that could bewitch the masses and that body that could charm the entire world. Her beautiful brows curved slightly in a pitiable manner. Her eyes shimmered like the surface of the water. The young woman bit her alluring cherry lips in a grumbling manner. Aiden nced at her expressionlessly before turning back and shaking his head. "I don''t." "Great monk, you may not recognize me, but I recognize you." A fragrance wafted over as Seetho Khouge shifted towards Aiden with light steps C it seemed like she was about to cast herself into his embrace by the looks of it. Aiden was secretly troubled. The person he was most frightened of in this lifetime was this demoness before him. In a sh, Aiden dodged to the side. "Female guest, please respect yourself," Aiden sped his palms together and said deeply. "Sure," Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa harrumphed and grumbled coyly, "Great monk, now you''re asking me to respect myself. Back in that stone coffin, you took quite a bit of advantage of me!" Aiden''s mouth twitched. In the past, the two of them were squeezed into a stone coffin and had to escape for their lives from the bottom of the river. The stone coffin was extremely cramped and it was unavoidable for them to have physical contact. By mentioning this, it was clear that Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa had recognized him. Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa pursued the topic relentlessly. "Great, now you''re going to avoid taking responsibility for it after shaving your head and holding a set of prayer beads?" Initially, Aiden was still contemting whether or not he should admit to it. After all, there was nothing she could do even if he refused to admit it. However, Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa''s words turned increasingly nasty, as though there was truly something between them. Aiden could not take it anymore and coughed gently to interrupt. "Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa, what do you want?" "Humph!" She raised her head and pouted her lips, asking, "Great monk, didn''t you say that you don''t know me?" After a moment of silence, Aiden said, "Thank you for the help rescuing the citizens of the Yan Country along with Pure Maiden Sect five years ago." When she heard that, Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa''s eyes welled up with ayer of mist as she said, "Aiden, you''re truly cruel. Why don''t you show yourself when you''re clearly alive!" "My Martial Master has already been crippled and I''ve offended the entire North Region with everyone taking me as a demon. Nothing good wille out of anyone that associates themselves with me" Aiden shook his head and replied, "Furthermore, I''m being hunted. Although the North Region is huge, there''s nowhere that can amodate me." Chapter 984 984 - Farewell ? When Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa saw the dejected look on Aiden''s face, she was suddenly reminded of his situation and could not bear to me him. His kin and friends were all in the North Region. If he had any other choice, he wouldn''t have chosen to reside in seclusion. Furthermore, his Inner Core, the foundation of his supposed power was crippled. His past was resplendent Extreme Martial Knight realm strength, second after the Ancient One; suppressed the paragons of the righteous, religious, and fiend sects beneath the Ancient One''s Pce; overwhelming everyone from the North Region; incinerating Martial Grandmasters anduded as the number one monster incarnate in history! But now, he had fallen from grace and was left with nothing. In fact, he did not even have a ce that could amodate him! Who could endure and ept such a blow? Initially, Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa was filled with grievance. However, after hearing Aiden''s statement, she felt her heart wrench. She said softly, "Aiden, you cane over to Pure Maiden Sect. We will protect you." "Protect a demon?" Aidenughed in a self-deprecating manner. Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa opened her mouth and seemed like she wanted to reply but eventually, nothing came forth. While she could ignore everything, she could not guarantee that it would be the same for her sect. Although Pure Maiden Sect was a fiend sect, they were humans. Humans had a longstanding feud with demons and there was no way for one party to amodate the other unless there was a blood oath signed. Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa said, "Aiden, you can exin that you are not a demon. The Ancient One''s Pce will definitely not let any demons within!" Aidenughed coldly, shaking his head. Given his personality and pride, there was no way he would exin something like that personally. In other words, even if he was willing to exin, who would believe him? The most basic reasoning was that no demon would be able to enter the Ancient One''s Pce C who wouldn''t be able to understand that? However, some people merely chose to ignore the fact. The truth was no longer of importance. What was important was that the entire North Region wanted Aiden dead. It did not matter even if he exined, they could term him as a demon or fiend as long as they wanted to! "What ns do you have from now on? Are you going to just hide forever?" Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa asked. "I''m waiting for an opportunity!" Aiden replied gradually, "When I reappear, it will also be the time for me to leave the North Region" ''And this world'' He added inwardly. "Leave the North Region?" Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa frowned slightly. The North Region was way too huge with dangers lurking everywhere! Even if Aiden was in perfect condition, it was unrealistic for him to get through the North Region unharmed, let alone now that his Martial Master was crippled. Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa''s heart skipped a beat as she blurted at the thought of a possibility, "The ancient battlefield!" "That''s right." Aiden nodded. The intermediate ancient battlefield would open up 15 yearster. As long as he could enter the intermediate ancient battlefield, just like his friends and the others, he would be able to head to the other regions or even the Middle Continent of the world through the teleportation points. This time round, Aiden intended to take his little sister, Lilly, with him. "Have you really made up your mind to leave?" Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa could not conceal her disappointment and murmured softly with a dim gaze, "What about me- I mean my sister" Aiden was silent. "She knows you so well. If even I can recognize you, she must have recognized you long ago." Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa sighed gently. "It''s just that she understands you and knows that you''ve got your difficulties. That''s the reason why she did not force or expose you." "It''s good that she recognized me. At least she knows that I''m alive and doesn''t have to worry," Aiden replied. After a moment of silence, he continued, "After you return, pay more attention to those around her. Now that she''s the empress, her movements should be kept secret. I suspect that the ambush she met here meant that there''s someone that doesn''t want her to return alive!" "Don''t worry, I''ll do my best to help my sister." Silence ensued between the both of them. Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa did not say anything and merely looked at Aiden quietly. A long timeter, he said softly, "Go on back." "Take care then." Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa was dejected and her eyes were swollen and red. A momentter, she sniffed and forced a smile before faking a smile. "Let''s have a final hug as a farewell." Aiden hesitated for a moment before nodding. Heading forward, he hugged Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa in a gentlemanly manner. A crafty look shed through Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa''s eyes as she tilted her head and pecked Aiden on the cheek with her red lips gently. He was stunned. Her hair brushed by his face and he was overwhelmed by a fragrance C she had already turned and fled. "Hehehe!" Sheughed and her eyes turned into a pair of crescent moons. She was ted without any bit of dejection at all. "Damned demoness!" Aiden grit his teeth. "You''re so stupid!" Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa made a funny face at Aiden with disdain in her eyes, pouting her lips. "If you want to leave, go ahead! I can''t care less!" "You took advantage of me previously, there''s no way I''m going to let you off! Hmph! I merely just collected a little bit of interest!" Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa waved her fist. Aiden did not say anything and turned to leave. With his back facing Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa, he did not see the sadness and reluctance in the depths of her eyes. Even after he vanished at the edge of the ruins, a girl in pink stood alone gazing in his direction for the longest time. Aiden returned to the old temple and pushed the doors through. The little monk, Ming Zhen, was reciting sutras in the courtyard. When he saw Aiden, he eximed softly with surprise. "Junior Brother, you''re injured?" Ming Zhen asked. "I''m fine." In this short period of time, the wound on his chest that was pierced by the sword had already recovered. With a grim expression, Ming Zhen advanced and red at Aiden''s cheek, even sniffing it. "This is bad! You''ve got two red marks on your cheeks that have a fragrance! Junior Brother, you''re poisoned!" That was the imprint of Holy Maiden Sylvie Dewa''s lips that Aiden forgot to wipe. At the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley, Ming Zhen had not even seen a woman before, let alone know what it was. Aiden''s expression darkened as he pushed Ming Zhen''s bald head away, saying in a huff, "Bullsh*t!" He wiped away the imprint on his cheek as he dashed into the Prayer Chamber. Ming Zhen looked at his master who had just appeared from the doors in confusion and asked with an earnest expression, "Master, why is junior brother angry?" "Erm " The old monk replied, "He might be poisoned." "See, I was right! He didn''t believe me!" Ming Zhen pouted his lips. Nighttime. Aiden tidied his attire and left the Prayer Chamber for the backyard. On this day every month, he would head over to where the red-headed ghost was for a bowl of mysterious spirit water. The old temple looked extremely creepy under the shroud of the night skies. The red-headed ghost sat on the ground and leaned against a tombstone with a bowl of spirit water before him C he had been waiting for a long time. Aiden was already used to everything and drank the spirit water right away when he arrived before the red-headed ghost. Suddenly, the red-headed ghost said, "You''ve got your de with you, right?" "Take it out and ce it there." The red-headed ghost pointed to a tombstone not far away. Although Aiden did not understand why, he still obeyed and took out his ebony de Rygintarth, cing it on the tombstone . The full moon had just risen and the cold moonlight spilled down, forming a column of light that focused on the ebony de on the tombstone. The bow shone with an intense spirit light! Even without the infusion of spirit energy, the spirit patterns on the bow also had a bedazzling luster! Chapter 985 985 - Learning ? The red-headed ghost said, "This is a quasi-top grade artifact weapon and its sixth spirit pattern had already taken shape. As long as it continues to receive the essence of the moon here, it can definitely grow to be a top grade artifact weapon!" "Really? Rygintarth can be still" Aiden froze for a moment. Rygintarth was a perfect-grade artifact weapon he crafted personally and wasn''t a quasi-top grade artifact weapon. Could it be Although he was confused, Aiden handed Rygintarth over still. The red-headed ghost received Rygintarth and touched across its de gently before nodding. "This de was refined decently. When it was formed, it was synthesized with a frightening bloodline that gave it its bloodthirsty nature!" Back when he refined Rygintarth, Aiden nearly failed and only managed to forge itpletely after using his bloodline to temper the mes. Although the red-headed ghost did not witness it personally, the fact that his guess was not far off the mark was proof that his insights were sharp. The red-headed ghost rose and arrived at an empty space nearby. Exerting strength in his arm, he stabbed Rygintarth into the ground, leaving only its handle exposed. "Red-headed ghost, what are you doing?" Aiden asked curiously. "The people buried here were experts 10,000 years ago and the bloodline that runs underground is iparably strong, indestructible and possesses a tremendous amount of might! There''s a chance that this de can grow into a top grade artifact weapon if it''s soaked here!" Aiden''s eyes lit up. With that, he would have a truly powerful aide with him, the ebony de, the reaper of the wicked, Rygintarth, apart from the Coiling Dragon Seal! Unfortunately, the Mystic Gold Silk Armor was smashed right after it was repaired. "There are way too many experts buried in this cemetery! Dead patriarchs, the blood of emperors this is an extremely unlucky ce! There''s nothing to lose if nothing happens to the de. However, if it can absorb their blood and grow into a top grade artifact weapon, it will definitely be iparably ferocious!" The red-headed ghost red at Rygintarth coolly and snickered. "Trouble will befall any weakling thatys their hands on this weapon. You should be careful too!" In that period of time, the tremendous amount of energy in the spirit water had already spread through Aiden''s body. He assumed a lotus position and began training with the prayers of the temple revolving through his mind. As he breathed, a thick ancient energy spewed out from his mouth. There was no tear on his blood-red Inner Core and it had recovered to how it was before! The Inner Core revolved slowly with a ferocious demonic energy, creating ancient demons around him one after another. Centered among them, Aiden''s eyes were tightly shut and his body was faintly visible. With a frightening aura, he was akin to the king of demons that looked down at everyone from above! He had relied on that mysterious spirit water for the past five years to help his Inner Core recover. Not only that, his body had turned even more frightening! Even though it was just a bowl of spirit water, the amount of energy it contained was enough tost Aiden for an entire month! If he continued training this way, he would definitely attain greater mastery of his Inner Core in the next 15 years and even have a chance of training to the perfected realm! What''s in that spirit water for it to possess such power? In the five years, Aiden had read many ancient manuals in the Prayer Hall but he could not find anything that fit the description. This was a question that he had asked the red-headed ghost more than once during this period of time. However, each time, the red-headed ghost would look at him oddly with a beguiling smirk without borating further. Thereafter, Aiden no longer questioned. The night was dark and the round moon hung high above. As the red-headed ghost looked at Aiden, a deep hint of envy shed through the depths of his eyes. This training technique is truly terrifying! The red-headed ghostmented internally. It was an undeniable fact that humans were born innately weak. However, that demonic training technique could allow a mortal to train his body to such a frightening degree! He could see every single muscle on Aiden''s body twitch imperceptibly with every single breath he exhaled. His tendons quivered, his bones shook, his blood marrow gushed and his orifices shone with a divine light that was brighter than stars! With every single breath, he was refining his blood, flesh, tendons, bones, skin, organs and orifices! The red-headed ghost turned his gaze towards Aiden''s exposed skin. As Aiden''s training deepened, the surface of his skin turned coarser. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the surface of his skin was intertwined with intersecting rhombus scars over and over again! However, the scars were so subtle that even Aiden did not notice them. When he saw those scars, the red-headed ghost was delighted and could barely conceal his joy. Before long, the night passed. The moment a sliver of daybreak broke out from the horizon, Aiden took a deep breath of air and absorbed the demonic energy in his surroundings back into his body. Everything vanishedpletely in the blink of an eye. Aiden opened his eyes with a demonic glint shing through. The red-headed ghost asked in a seemingly pleased manner, "You were originally not You have oncesumed something from the dragon race right?" Aiden was shocked. The first thing that came to mind was that massive dragon egg. Aiden said darkly, "Yes back in the Ancient One''s Pce, I''ve consumed a Blood Flesh Elixir made from the dragon race in order to train a technique left behind by the Ancient One." "Just an elixir?" The red-headed ghost raised his brow. After thinking through and deciding that there was nothing to hide, Aiden continued, "Before that, I consumed a dragon egg long ago." A spark flickered through the red-headed ghost''s eyes briefly. "Heh, you''ve got quite a bit of guts." The red-headed ghost said with a fake smile and teasing tone. Sensing something amiss, Aiden frowned and asked, "What''s wrong?" "Nothing much, I was just asking casually." The red-headed ghost waved it off with an indifferent expression. When Aiden could not make out anything from the red-headed ghost''s expression, he patted himself and got ready to leave. "Hold on, hold on!" Right then, the red-headed ghost gestured for Aiden to sit down and said with a bright grin, "Today, I''m going to teach you something." Although the red-headed ghost was very knowledgeable, he had not taken the initiative to impart anything to Aiden during their five years of interaction. His sudden mention had Aiden intrigued. Right from the beginning, the red-headed ghost had not mentioned anything about his background. As such, Aiden was curious to see what the red-headed ghost could do. Aiden coughed gently. "Let me say first that I''m not going to learn any puny tricks that you ghosts use." At the mention of ghost, the red-headed ghost''s mouth cramped up and he seemed like he was about to get angry. However, on second thought, he chuckled gloatingly. At that moment, the sun had just risen. A sliver of light spilled onto the cemetery and purged away the darkness and spookiness. The red-headed ghost squinted at the rising sun from the corner of his eyes and a mysterious white glow shed in his right eye. As time passed by, that light intensified and sunlight gushed into it endlessly, turning his right eyepletely white with a bright glow! It was as though the red-headed ghost''s right eye had achieved harmony with the zing sun and fused together with it! Aiden nced casually and was blinded with two streams of tears rolling down his face instantly. rmed, he closed his eyes immediately and did not dare to look anymore. How scary! His eyes were extremely strong after he trained the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual and cleared both orifices. Back in the ancient battlefield, even when the paragon of Diamond Monastery released his sect''s secret skill, Enraged Diamond Gaze, Aiden was not affected mentally. But now, his eyes were already dealt with such a blow from a side nce! If he had looked on directly, his eyes would have most likely gone blind! The most frightening thing was that even with his eyes closed, Aiden could still sense the power that was given off by the red-headed ghost''s right eye! Chapter 986 986 - The Most Dangerous Techniques ? It was extremely tough and radiant. His right eye seemed to have turned into a zing sun! Beside the red-headed ghost, Aiden felt like he could melt and dissipate at any moment! How could this be? A question popped into his mind. An intense scorching fiery energy as such was the most effective at countering ghosts and they would want nothing more than to avoid it C how could the red-headed ghost possess such a method? Could it be that he was not a ghost? Suddenly, Aiden felt a sharp pain in his right eye! It was as though something was going to fall from his socket. He could not stop it even with his eyes closed! "Ah!" Aiden yelped in pain as his right eye swelled uncontrobly as though it was about to explode! His body shuddered and finally, he opened his eyes, unable to hold on any longer. His right eye had turned a sinister shade of white as well. It waspletely white! It was as though something was floating within and was fused with his right eye. The glow in the red-headed ghost''s right eye dissipated as he red at Aiden''s right eye intently while nodding. "Indeed!" The red-headed ghost curled his finger. A jade-white cobblestone that sparkled and glowed fell out from Aiden''s right eye and hovered in midair. The swelling sensation vanishedpletely. As though a weight was lifted off his shoulders, Aiden fell to the ground and sat limply while panting heavily. "This stone" ording to his memories, this white stone was retrieved from an old ruin but it could not be stored in a storage bag and he did not know what purpose it served either. When Aiden picked it up, the stone vanished bizarrely! Immediately after, he felt a sharp pain in his mind and almost fainted. Thereafter, a secret skill appeared in his mind C the Illumination Sword Formation. At that time, he had a hunch. It seemed like that stone had burrowed into his body! To think that it would fall out from his right eye now! The red-headed ghost held the white stone with his fingertips and rubbed it gently with a forlorn look, as though he had picked up a treasure. "What''s that?" Aiden could not help but ask. "Legend has it that in the depths of the universe''s void currents before life was born, everything was chaos. As time passed by, chaotic, opposing energies were created from the chaos." "At their extremities, the powers of Extreme Dark and Extreme Light gathered endlessly, forming two terrifying existences known as the Extreme Dark Illumination and Extreme Light Nether Glow!" The red-headed ghost''s voice sounded, as though he had passed through time and was describing obscure secrets. "The powers of the Illumination and Nether Glow were so frightening that they shrouded the universe and extended through the trichiliocosm. The sun and moon of the world are created from a trickle of power from the Illumination and Nether Glow." "A trickle of power?" Aiden was shocked. Be it the sun or the moon, the power they contained was something that Aiden would never be able to reach given his current training realm. The only way he could train with the essence of the sun and moon was after he trained an Essence Spirit and turned into a fiend demon. The power of the sun and moon was extremely massive and endless. But now, the red-headed ghost was actually saying that the sun and moon above them was merely created by a trickle of power from two frightening entities! The red-headed ghostughed. "The universe void currents are so great that you can''t possibly imagine them. There are a trillion other entities like the world. In other words, there''s also a trillion more of the sun and moon that you''re seeing right now!" Aiden was dumbfounded. Everything that the red-headed ghost said hadpletely unearthed all his knowledge. After pondering, the red-headed ghost continued, "Of course, those are only mystical legends that no one can verify. Or rather, those that can verify them are not in the world and have already ascended to the upper world." After pausing for a moment, the red-headed ghost looked at Aiden deeply. "That red-robed woman definitely knows about these things." Aiden remained silent. After looking at Aiden for a long time, the red-headed ghost closed in. His eyes zed with the mes of gossip as he asked curiously, "Little monk, what''s your rtionship with the woman? Why did she help you so much?" After holding it in for five years, the red-headed ghost finally popped the question. Aiden was stunned. Master and disciple? On the surface, both of them were like master and disciple. However, Aiden had never been taken in as her disciple officially. In the depths of his heart, he did not want to acknowledge them as master and disciple either. Friends? They couldn''t be considered as that. Benefactor? Sort of. That question stumped Aiden for a moment. "Hurry and tell me! You''re killing me!" The red-headed ghost scratched his ears and cheeks impatiently. After pondering for a long time, Aiden said slowly, "She she is an important friend." The red-headed ghost shuddered with an agape mouth and his eyes widened massively. Swoosh! The jade-white stone in his hands dropped to the ground at the same time as his jaws. A momentter, he gulped and the way he looked at Aiden gradually changed as he praised, "Little monk, you''ve really got guts" Aiden pointed at the jade-white stone on the ground and asked, "What does that stone has to do with the Illumination and Nether Glow that you mentioned?" After pondering for a moment, Aiden said again, "I once obtained a secret skill from that stone, the Illumination Sword Formation." "There''s no mistake," The red-headed ghost nodded. "This should be the legendary Illumination Stone." "Illumination Stone?" Aiden frowned. The red-headed ghost replied, "There''s different sayings as to where the Illumination Stone came from and how it was formed. Some people theorize that it was formed from the Extreme Dark energy of a world while others think that it''s a speck of dust from Illumination." "However, it''s undeniable that the Illumination Stone is rted to the Illumination. The Illumination Sword Formation that youprehended should be a secret skill that someoneprehended using the Illumination Stone." Aiden went deep into thought. Indeed, when he released the Illumination Sword Formation, it was like a zing sun and the sword energys resembled the rays of the sun as well. The red-headed ghost continued, "The secret skill that I''m about to impart you is rted to the Illumination Stone as well. In the past, the person who created this secret skill alsoprehended it through the Illumination Stone this visual technique!" Visual technique! Aiden''s eyes lit up. Visual techniques were also secret techniques used to train one''s eyes. It did not matter if they were immortals, Buddhas or fiends nor did it matter if they were humans or demons divine formtions to train one''s eyes were the rarest types of legacies! That was because for every race, their eyes were the weakest parts of their bodies! For tempering of flesh and blood or refinement of tendons and bones, if any issues cropped up during training, be it whether they were severely injured or their bones and tendons were snapped, everything could be recuperated to aplete recovery as long as it was adjusted in time. However, a mistake in the training of one''s eyes would lead to a huge problem C blindness! The eyes were simply way too fragile. For mortals, a single breeze was enough to cause them to close their eyes instinctively. Their eyes would feel difort even with a grain of sand inside, let alone endure training. The reason why visual techniques were so rare and precious were because few people would dare to risk their eyes to try and create a secret skill. If any mishaps happened, they would go blind before their secret skills were even created. Although the Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual was powerful, there was no legacy of a divine formtion for eye training. The visual techniques spread in the training world had varying strengths and their directions were different as well. The more famous ones were those such as the Bewitching Eye, Enraged Diamond Gaze and ming Golden Eyes. Warriors versed in visual techniques were definitely stronger than anyone else of the same training realm in terms ofbat strength! That was because visual techniques were instantaneous and were the most difficult to defend against. Chapter 987 987 - Is He Still A Mortal? ? Although it was a good thing to be able to train a visual technique, there was no joy in Aiden''s eyes. "Red-headed ghost, my Inner Core is already crippled and I can''t store any internal energy in my body. How do I train a visual technique?" Aiden asked with a frown. The red-headed ghost waved it off casually. "It''s fine, you don''t need internal energy to train this visual technique." There was no need for internal energy? Aiden froze for a moment. At Martial Grandmaster realm, martial artists trained their Essence Spirits and could make use of divine powers to train. However, before that, they had to make use of internal energy for any spirit art and secret skill C that was where their foundation was. How could there be a secret skill that did not require internal energy to train? Unless it wasn''t a secret skill for mortals. For his draconic training, Aiden did not require internal energy as a foundation. Frowning, he asked, "What is required to train if not internal energy?" No matter the type of training, energy would not appear out of thin air. Draconic training required the consumption of flesh. Regr training required the absorption of internal energy into one''s body. The visual technique would definitely have to make use of something to refine both eyes. The red-headed ghost stared at the rising, heating sun not far away and said coolly, "Using that!" Aiden''s heart skipped a beat and a look of shock spread across his face. Train his eyes by using the zing sun? Ordinary martial artists are not able to stare at the zing sun for prolonged periods of time. Although Aiden could re at the sun after clearing his seven orifices, it would still be akin to setting himself on fire if he wanted to make use of the energy of the zing sun to train his eyes! "Initially, I did not intend on imparting this visual technique to you because the training process is indeed extremely dangerous. A single mistake would cause one of your eyes to go blind!" The red-headed ghost picked up the Illumination Stone and handed it back to Aiden. "However, I discovered this within you." "You have the Illumination Stone with you. As such, the sess rate of training this visual technique will be extremely high and your efforts will be halved!" When he heard that, Aiden gradually came to a realization. The visual technique wasprehended by an expert of the past using the Illumination Stone. Now that the Illumination Stone was in his possession, it would be much easier to train the visual technique with a significant decrease in risk. Aiden received the Illumination Stone. Simr to before, the white cobblestone vanished in his hands once more. Immediately after, he felt a sharp pain in his mind and his right eye turned milky white and sinister. A momentter, it returned to normal. "The zing sun above us was formed from a trickle of energy from Illumination. By making use of the zing sun, you can nurture Extreme Dark energy in your eyes!" The red-headed ghost said darkly, "Once released, that energy will be able to incinerate all living beings and destroy everything!" In truth, Aiden could already imagine the might of the visual technique without the red-headed ghost''s boration. Normally, demons would have to advance to the Martial Grandmaster realm and train their Essence Spirits before they could absorb the essence of the sun and moon for training purposes. But now, he had only just formed his Inner Core. In other words, it meant that his Inner Core realm would already be tapping into a higher level of energy! "When trained to its peak, this visual technique is hehe!" The red-headed ghost chuckled oddly. "One of your eyes will turn into a sun!" Psst! Aiden gasped. There was a zing sun hidden in his socket. The moment his eye was opened, a zing sun would appear! Once released, that might be a power that even emperors wouldn''t be able to withstand? Immediately after, Aiden remembered the doubt he had initially. Since it did not require internal energy and made use of the sun to train, rather than a mortal training technique, it seemed more like a divine formtion of the fiend demons. Suddenly, Aiden asked, "Red-headed ghost, this visual technique is not a secret skill of mortals, right?" "What do you care for? Are you not going to train it if it''s a secret skill of the demons?" The red-headed ghost rolled his eyes and scoffed coldly. "Hmph, you''re about to train into a true fiend demon yourself anyway, so what are you bothered about?" Aiden replied indifferently, "Although I conduct demonic training, I''m not a demon." "Hehe!" The red-headed ghost sneered, "Your mortal Inner Core is already crippled and you''ve only got a demon''s Inner Core left in your body. Who would believe you if you said that you were a mortal?" Aiden remained silent. A momentter, he asked in a seemingly casual manner, "What''s the name of this visual technique?" Raising his brow, the red-headed ghost looked at Aiden in deep thought. As though he read thetter''s intentions, he chuckled. "Let''s call it Illumination Eye!" Wily fox! Aiden cursed internally. He had already sensed vaguely that the red-headed ghost had a strange identity. In reality, he was also trying to deduce something by asking about the name of the visual technique. To think that the red-headed ghost did not let anything slip. Illumination Eye was clearly a name he had just made up. After the red-headed ghost imparted the prayer of the visual technique secret skill to Aiden, he instructed, "Although you have the Illumination Stone, you have to be careful when you train!" "The best timings to train are at dawn and dusk. If you train in the afternoon when the power of the sun is at its peak, your eyes won''t be able to take it and it will hinder your progress." Aiden remembered everything to heart. This was something that he had to be careful about or it would be toote for regrets if he went blind. A whileter, after Aiden ensured that he left nothing out, he got up and headed to the front yard. The little fox stood nearby with a dazed gaze and snoozing. "Go on." Aiden fondled the little fox''s forehead and smiled. The little fox was a demon and on this day of each month, she woulde to the backyard for a bowl of spirit water from the red-headed ghost as well. Initially, she was extremely reluctant and was always scared out of her wits, shivering all over. Aiden had to carry her over personally before she gradually adapted. After many many months, there was something that felt strange to Aiden C even though the little fox had already formed her core, she was unable to take on a mortal form or speak. Aiden merely thought that it was a unique trait of the fox race and did not think too much about it. When she saw Aiden return to the front yard, the little fox ran over to the red-headed ghost and propped up her tiny paws. She kowtowed earnestly to the red-headed ghost and actually spoke in mortal tongue, "Greetings, senior." The little fox''s voice was extremely gentle and charming C any male living being that heard it would definitely be filled with wild thoughts and their hearts would pound. However, the red-headed ghost was very calm and nodded. "Why don''t you want to take on your mortal form?" The red-headed ghost asked with a fake smile. The little fox lowered her head and blushed. When the red-headed ghost saw that, he could not help but burst intoughter and teased, "You''re afraid that you''re going to turn lustful huh?" The little fox turned even more embarrassed and shook her head repeatedly like a tiny drum. Afterughing for a little, the red-headed ghost retracted his smile. "You''re thinking that the only way to stay by his side is if you continue taking on this form?" The little fox lowered her head without replying C it was a silent acknowledgment. Of course, that was only part of the reason. The other part was that the little fox was clear that if she took on her mortal form, she would most likely not be as intimate with Aiden. Mortals were particr about chastity and there would always be a barrier between them. Right now, she could burrow into his embrace and do whatever she wanted, be it snoozing or being bashful with him. The red-headed ghost pouted his lips and grumbled, "Even after thatd joined the religious sect and shaved to be a monk, he''s still enjoying such a flourishing love life. I didn''t even get to enjoy such treatment in the past." Chapter 988 988 - New Guests ? After returning to the courtyard, Aiden sat down and gazed at the gradually rising sun far away. At that moment, the sun had just risen and wasn''t too blinding C he had to make use of this time to train. He took a deep breath of air and recited the prayer of Illumination Eye in his mind while gazing at the sun with his right eye. As time passed by, it seemed like a trickle of light was entering his right eye. His right eye gradually turned white. The white pupil looked sinister and emitted a faint glow as it absorbed the sunlight continuously to refine. The temperature of his right eye was steadily climbing! Although it was a little painful, it was still endurable. Aiden could clearly feel his right eye fusing into one with the Illumination Stone. As sunlight entered the Illumination Stone, the extremely tough energy softened significantly. The damage to his right eye was also reduced to a minimum! From this day forth, apart from his Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual training at night, Aiden would also train this visual technique every dawn and dusk. There was still no activity in his core. However, Aiden did not give up and spent most of his daytime in the Prayer Hall, browsing through the ancient books left behind by the two great ancient religious monasteries. There were way too many ancient and precious books in the Prayer Hall! How frightening was the foundation of two super sects? There were not only secret skills but also weapon, elixir, talisman, and formation techniques as well as many other things that were long lost. For example, in an ancient formation secret technique, there was something known as the Spirit Lock Ancient Formation. It was said that when set up, even the Essence Spirits of Martial Grandmasters would be restricted and they wouldn''t be able to use their divine powers! There were many other secret skills simr to it. However, Aiden was unable toprehend them because his training realm was not high enough. Days passed by one after another. In the blink of an eye, another five years passed. Aiden had already spent 10 years at the bottom of Dragon Burial Valley. Evening. He sat on the ground and gazed at the direction of the sunset with the Nigal Prayer Beads in his hands. An evening glow shrouded his body and his aura was dignified, like a magnificent divine being. His right eye shone with a brilliance that could not be ignored! After so many months of effort, Aiden''s core was still empty like a ck hole without a trickle of internal energy. However, there was no sign of disappointment on his eyes and face. After chanting prayers and paying respect to Buddha for 10 years, Aiden gained a tranquil aura. He was neither happy nor sad; unaffected by affection and humiliation and was almost in a Zen state. This was a sign of someone that was deep in the wisdom of gods! The Saraca Flower was akin to a wisdom root. Aiden''s attainment in Buddhism deepened by the day. Backyard of the old temple. The old monk sat on a stone step and faced the red-headed ghost in the cemetery. "Old monk, there''s still no activity in thatd''s core. I think that there''s probably no more hope for him to restart with his immortality training," The red-headed ghost said. "How difficult is it for someone to rebuild their foundation after it''s destroyed with their core crushed? Throughout history, there had been countless paragons and monster incarnates but none of them seeded." The old monk sighed gently. "However, thed''sprehension of faith is deepening. If he''s able to restart his training, he will be able to attain the true legacy of the religious sects." "What nonsense legacy!" The red-headed ghost pouted his lips in disdain. "Without internal energy, he won''t be able to release the methods of the religious sects even if he knows them. What''s the use!" "If it was up to me, I''d ask him to forget all about recovering his Martial Master and focus wholeheartedly on his demonic training! Can''t you see that even without his Martial Master, his actual strength now is only stronger than he was 10 years ago?!" The old monk shook his head. "If he gives up on recovering his Martial Master and continues on his demonic training, the moment he advances to Martial Grandmaster realm would be the moment he turns into a fiend demonpletely!" "Isn''t that good?" The red-headed ghost mumbled. Right then, a spirit light descended outside the old temple. The old monk nted his head and beckoned, causing a spirit crane tond on his palm. Frowning, he opened the spirit crane and took a look. With a conflicted expression, he sighed gently. "The descendant of our old friend is here." "I hate the aura on this spirit crane!" The red-headed ghost squinted at the spirit crane and barked coldly, "Is it him? His descendant?" The old monk nodded. The red-headed ghost bolted upright and the chains on his body rattled. Instantly, he turned murderous! The old monk looked at the red-headed ghost. "Calm down. No matter what, Daring and South Wind Monasteries are indebted to him." "Furthermore, it''s just a junior that has arrived. What are you getting worked up for?" Upon hearing that, the red-headed ghost calmed down temporarily and sat down once more with a terrible expression. It waste at night. The red-headed ghost asked with a frown, "What''s his descendant here for?" "To borrow and browse through the Mystic divine Lotus prayer," The old monk replied. Sneering, the red-headed ghost said, "So, he''s got his eyes on this number one secret skill of the Martial Masters. It''s no wonder why he made the long journey here." The old monk continued, "It''s just a prayer. If his descendant wants to take a look, he''s free to go through all the prayers in the prayer Chamber." "Aren''t you generous?" The red-headed ghost pouted and grumbled. Right then, Aiden arrived in the backyard, ready to obtain a bowl of spirit water from the red-headed ghost. The old monk put away the spirit crane and turned to leave expressionlessly. The red-headed ghost ced the spirit water in front of him. Thereafter, heid down with his back facing Aiden in silence and brooded. Aiden was confused and did not know what tantrum the red-headed ghost was throwing. He did not ask or think more about it. After many many months, he had some understanding of the red-headed ghost. There were things that the red-headed ghost would take the initiative to say even if he did not ask. There were also things that the red-headed ghost would not say anything about no matter how he pressed on. Aiden reared his head and drank the spirit water before taking a seat to cultivate. Not long after the old monk left the old temple, he returned. There were two more people around him. To be precise, one of them was a mortal and the other was a demon! The martial artist at the front looked young and was at Martial Master realm. He wore purple robes with sharp brows and a defined set of features. With an indifferent expression, he gave off an aura that ruled over everything around him and suppressed all things! The purple-robed martial artist''s eyes flickered and everything he passed by turned still, even the air! His mere presence was enough for someone to want to give up entirely! Behind the purple-robed martial artist was a burly man that was more than two meters tall and filled with hair from head to toe. His chest was bare, his bones were huge and his eyes gleamed with a scarlet glow. Anyone with a sharp eye would be able to tell that although the burly man had taken on human form, he was still a demon beast! The demonic energy shrouding the burly man was extremely thick and his eyes shimmered constantly C he was definitely not a kind soul! The old monk said, "There are not many rules to this old temple. Other than the backyard where you must not step foot in, you are free to explore the other parts. You can retrieve any prayer that you wish to read as well." The purple-robed martial artist nodded and turned his gaze toward Morwyn ckstone. At that moment, Morwyn ckstone had just closed the prayer in his hands and was rising. Just as he was about to bow and greet the purple-robed martial artist, the cold voice of thetter sounded. "Hand over that prayer in your hands. Because I want to read." Morwyn ckstone froze momentarily. It was rare that there was someone else in the old temple. Even if this person did not say it, Morwyn ckstone would pass it to him automatically. But now, the tone of the purple-robed martial artist was truly detestable. It was more like an order. He stood on no courtesy at all! Chapter 989 989 - Im Sorry… ? Morwyn ckstone could clearly feel that to the purple-robed martial artist, he was just ordering a servant about. Instinctively, Morwyn ckstone turned towards the old monk. The old monk sighed internally. After all, this was something between the younger generation. Although the purple-robed martial artist''s attitude was unpleasant, it was not his ce to lecture the former. The old monk did not wish to interfere as long as both parties were not at one another''s necks. The old monk returned to the majestic grand hall and closed his doors after leading the purple-robed martial artist into the old temple. "Monk, are you deaf?! My master wants to read that prayer in your hands. What are you waiting for?!" The hairy burly man behind the purple-robed martial artist hollered. Morwyn ckstone frowned. After a moment of hesitation, he handed the Mystic Divine Lotus prayer in his hands over. The purple-robed martial artist received it with an indifferent expression without even ncing at Morwyn ckstone. It was as though everything was only right. Morwyn ckstone was not bothered by it and merely smiled before turning to pick up another prayer to read. Right then, the doors of the Prayer Chamber were pushed open with a loud creak. A furry little thing walked out with fiery red fur that made it look like a ball of mes C it was the little fox who had just woken up. She yawned repeatedly and raised her tiny paws to rub her sleepy eyes. With a charmingly naive look, she nearly stumbled over the step of the Prayer Chamber entrance. Morwyn ckstone smiled. The purple-robed martial artist seemed oblivious to it as his attention was focused entirely on the Mystic Divine Lotus prayer in his hands. The more he read, the brighter his eyes lit up. When the hairy burly man behind him caught sight of the little fox, his eyes widened! The little fox shuddered and woke up. Grinning, the hairy burly man said, "Master, there''s a fox chick here! I''m going to take her with me!" "Yes." The purple-robed martial artist replied. "Hahahaha!" The hairy burly man''s eyes lit up with a vile glint as he closed in on the little fox while smirking. "Little thing, where are you trying to hide?" He got even more excited when he looked at the little fox who was retreating continuously with a frightful expression. Swash! Suddenly, the hairy burly man felt his vision blur and another person appeared. Morwyn ckstone''s palms were sped together as he said with a deep voice, "Guest, please stop!" The hairy burly man was overwhelmed by lust when his path forward was obstructed. Instantly, his expression turned extremely nasty and his eyes were filled with anger. "This fox chick is your little lover or some sort?" "No," Morwyn ckstone shook his head. "She''s your spirit beast?" The hairy burly man asked again. "No," Morwyn ckstone shook his head. The hairy burly man straightened himself like a rod and red down at Morwyn ckstone with a domineering aura, sneering, "Then why aren''t you getting lost?" "No." This time round, Morwyn ckstone did not step back and his tone was resolute and unquestionable! "Monk, how strong are you to want to stand in my way?" The hairy burly man extended his palm and his fingernails shone with a cold gleam as he reached for Morwyn ckstone''s head! If his attacknded, five bloody holes would appear on Morwyn ckstone''s head immediately. "Om!" Without retreating or dodging, Morwyn ckstone chanted a prayer. "Roar!" The moment Morwyn ckstone recited his prayer, the hairy burly man roared as well! In that instant, the entire world shook and the weather changed! That single roar disrupted Morwyn ckstone''s Daring Mantra right away. The hairy burly man was frighteningly strong! With nowhere to retreat against the hairy burly man''s descending palm, spirit energy surged out from Morwyn ckstone''s fingernails and formed a lotus to receive the attack. Boom! The hairy burly man''s palm collided against the lotus flower. There was a momentary pause. Instantly, the lotus flower shattered! Morwyn ckstone grunted dully and staggered three steps in retreat. Boom! Before he could react, the hairy burly man''s fist descended once more like a gigantic hammer, pummeling so violently that the void exploded! A hesitant look shed through Morwyn ckstone''s eyes. Right now, the most effective method would be to release a Martial Master phenomenon. However, the release of a Martial Master phenomenon was also a message to fight to the death! At the end of the day, these two people were brought to the monastery by his master personally C was he really going to fight them to the death with a Martial Master phenomenon? In that dy, the fist of the hairy burly man had already arrived before him. Morwyn ckstone could only channel his bloodline and prop up both arms to defend hastily as his Martial Master circted with its full might! Bang! Sent flying by the hairy burly man''s fist, Morwyn ckstone rolled a couple of times on the ground in a wretched manner. "Hehe!" The hairy burly man charged forward with a ferocious glint in his eyes, barking coldly, "How dare you stand in my way with such puny strength!" "Don''t go overboard," Suddenly, another voice sounded from the courtyard. It was calm and tranquil, as though it had a mysterious magic that could make anyoney down their weapons! Even when the hairy burly man engaged in a conflict with Morwyn ckstone, the purple-robed martial artist did not raise his head once. He had a calm expression and stayed out of thingspletely. It was as though everything was not important to him. In the eyes of the purple-robed martial artist, there was only the Mystic divine Lotus prayer in his hands. However, the instant the voice rang, he frowned. This was the first time he had expressed emotions ever since he entered the old temple. After a moment of dy, the purple-robed martial artist raised his head slowly towards the voice. Unknowingly, another monk had appeared in the courtyard. Dressed in gray monk robes, he had refined features and a calm expression. His eyes shone with a clear glow, as though he could peer through all the wisdom in the universe. The moment the purple-robed martial artist caught sight of the gray-robed monk, he frowned again. His pupils constricted sinisterly. The gray-robed monk looked at him as well. Both their gazes met in midair. The purple-robed martial artist''s lips curled with a yful look in his eyes. With an unchanged expression, the gray-robed monk walked to Morwyn ckstone and helped thetter up, patting away the dust on his body gently. Morwyn ckstone wiped away fresh blood from the corner of his lips and whispered, "Be careful, junior brother. This demon beast is extremely strong!" The gray-robed monk was none other than Aiden, who had arrived from the backyard. The instant he stepped foot into the courtyard, he saw the purple-robed martial artist. Or rather, this purple-robed martial artist would have been the first person he saw even if there were 10,000 people around! Nobody could ignore him at all. Aiden sensed an extreme sense of danger from the purple-robed martial artist! The instant he caught sight of this man, he felt his hairs stand on end! The only reason why he did not reveal any openings was because he had trained the religious techniques and prayers for many many months and had a firm mental state. Although they had not fought, Aiden was certain that this was the strongest Martial Master he ever encountered! This man was much scarierpared to the old man whom he met all those years ago! In fact, Aiden had a feeling that he would have definitely been defeated if he met this person 10 years ago! He would not be a match for this man even if he used all his trump cards and turned into his demon form! The purple-robed martial artist merely nced once indifferently at Aiden before lowering his head to continue browsing the Mystic divine Lotus prayer. That single nce was a clear warning! The hairy burly man beside him shrugged. The voice of the gray-robed monk before him seemed to have a mysterious energy that could purge away the hate in his heart, allowing him to calm down subconsciously. ''Uncanny!'' The hairy burly man roared from the depths of his throat. "Monk, you want to interfere as well?" The hairy burly man red at Aiden fiercely and twisted his muscr neck with crackling sounds. Aiden did not even look at him. His gaze was still locked on the purple-robed martial artist as he smiled and asked, "Guest, your pet spirit beast is hurting others and throwing a tantrum here. Aren''t you going to discipline it?" The purple-robed martial artist continued reading the prayer in his hands obliviously without even looking up. "Hahahaha!" The hairy burly man roared in wildughter. "Stinky monk, you''re trying to provoke my master? You really don''t know what''s good for you!" When Aiden saw the purple-robed martial artist''s nonchnce, he stopped smiling and said calmly, "Guest, since you choose to remain silent, I''m sorry" Chapter 990 990 - Revelation ? Instantly, the old temple went silent. It was as though air had gone stale! "I will discipline it for you!" By the time the first word, ''I will'', was said, Aiden had already vanished from the spot. At the second word, discipline, Aiden had already arrived in front of the hairy burly man and stomped furiously on the ground, causing the world to quake with a boom! Even Morwyn ckstone who was not directly involved felt his legs wobble and shuddered for a brief moment uncontrobly, let alone the hairy burly man who was facing it directly. It was even worse for the little fox whose fragile and weak body bounced from the ground instantly. The hairy burly man''s expression changed! This was way too ferocious! Earlier on, he faced a calm, smiling monk. In the blink of an eye, it was like an ancient demon that was about to devour others! An overwhelming aura shrouded him. The hairy burly man felt his chest go stuffy and was unable to breathe. Although the monk looked shorter than him, he felt like he was trampled by the monk in terms of aura! At the third word, it Aiden extended his massive palm and his flesh expanded, nketing the skies as it descended. There was a terrifying aura as though all living beings were about to be suppressed by his palm! Although there was no spirit energy, that hand seal was the first form of the Demon Subduing Seal! It was an innate counter to demon beasts! "Ah!" The hairy burly man roared in rage and the blood energy in his body rumbled. Baring his menacing fangs, he crossed his muscr arms and propped it upwards in defense! Boom! There was a deafening sound. The aura between the two of them was chaotic. The moment they made contact, the expression of the hairy burly man changed and he felt a terrible pain in his arms, as though they were about to snap! Although Aiden was only using one hand, the hairy burly man felt an apocalyptic power surging through like the crush of a tidal wave C it was unstoppable! "For!" At that moment, Aiden had just said the fourth word! The hairy burly man''s Inner Core circted wildly and his demonic energy burst forth. All his tendons and bones rang and his fur and flesh expanded rapidly. His body was transforming swiftly as he revealed a menacing expression. Unable to withstand it, the hairy burly man''s reaction was extremely fast and he revealed his true form immediately. Although demon beasts could take on human form after they formed a core, they could only release their true strength upon returning to their true form. The rise inbat strength would be at least 30%! "It''s a Daemon Wolf!" Morwyn ckstone could not help but exim softly in surprise when he saw the hairy burly man''s true form. The Daemon Wolf was one of the primordial ferocious beasts. There were many types of demon beasts and their strength was mostly determined by their bloodlines. Among them, pure-blooded ferocious beasts were the strongest! However, even among pure-blooded ferocious beasts, there were stronger and weaker ones. The Daemon Wolf was among the strongest and most terrifying of the pure-blooded ferocious beasts with immense strength. In the primordial era, they reigned domineeringly in the world and were extremely violent! At this phase, the true form of a Daemon Wolf was at least a hundred feet tall. But now, against Aiden''s nketing palm, the Daemon Wolf''s body looked like it was suppressed by a gigantic mountain and could not grow more than ten feet! Finally, the Daemon Wolf panicked. It realized that the difference in strength between the two of them was too great! Even with his true form, he could not fight this monk before him head-on! You! Aiden''s final word was spoken. Snap! Against the suppression of the terrifying strength, the Daemon Wolf''s arms were crushed by Aiden''s palm! Aiden''s palm descended upon the Daemon Wolf''s head and pushed down fiercely! Boom! Aiden pushed against the Daemon Wolf''s head and thrust it into the ground. Instantly, a big hole caved into the ground with fresh blood sttering everywhere! The Daemon Wolf''s face was messed up with flesh and blood. "I will discipline it for you!" Although the entire process seemed slow right from the moment Aiden moved till the Daemon Wolf''s head was buried, in reality, all it took was a single sentence! By the time Aiden''s final word was spoken, the Daemon Wolf was already unconscious. So many years of dormancy. Aiden had focused wholeheartedly on religion and his violent streak had diminished significantly while his mental state had turned much calmer. That was the reason why he did not strike directly even after witnessing the Daemon Wolf bully the little fox and injure Morwyn ckstone. However, he was Aiden after all. Decisive to kill! Since he was going to attack, he was definitely not going to hesitate. He suppressed with a thunderous might that could not be resisted! He was an unparalleled de with extreme edge! The moment he was unsheathed, a hole would be punctured through the firmaments! "Hmm? He''s not dead yet?" Aiden frowned when he sensed life from within the Daemon Wolf''s body after thrusting thetter''s head into the ground. This ferocious beast was truly frightening. Notwithstanding its tremendous strength, even its body was extremely tough. Despite the impact where even its face was contorted, it was still not dead. Aiden remained silent and exerted strength in his fingers with the intention of crushing the Daemon Wolf''s head. All of a sudden! A sense of danger rang in Aiden''s mind. He felt an extremely dangerous aura! Aiden turned around instinctively. Not far away, the purple-robed martial artist had already raised his head and was ring at him intently. The purple-robed martial artist''s expression was cold and there was an icy intent in his gaze. The purple-robed martial artist had not moved at all. With one hand behind his back, he held up the Mystic divine Lotus prayer with his other hand and did not seem like he intended to attack. However, Aiden felt chills run down his spine! The purple-robed martial artist''s pupils were constricting! Initially, the constriction of one''s pupils was a natural instinct. No matter the race, when one was agitated, terrified or hostile, their pupils would constrict. However, a normal constriction would cause the round pupil to shrink until it became a hole the size of a needle. Yet, the purple-robed martial artist''s pupils seemed like they were round moons being devoured C the entire process resembled an eclipse. Eventually, two crescent moons were sinisterly reflected in the purple-robed martial artist''s eyes! When he saw those pupils, Morwyn ckstone''s expression changed starkly. Two words shed through Aiden''s mind C Eclipse Eye! Eclipse Eye was one of the most notorious visual techniques of the cultivation world and had roots that traced back to the primordial era. Although this visual technique was extremely strong, its cultivation process was also extremely dangerous! Throughout history, only a rare few, less than one in 10,000 people, managed to cultivate it sessfully C most of the others trained themselves into blindness! Now, even if any martial artists came across the cultivation technique of Eclipse Eye by ident, they wouldn''t dare to cultivate it either. To think that this purple-robed martial artist would have trained that visual technique! To begin with, there were few people who could cultivate visual techniques. There were even fewer that could cultivate Eclipse Eye. Not only must they be peerless paragons, they must even possess immense confidence in themselves! When he noticed the changes in the purple-robed martial artist''s pupils, Aiden realized that this was definitely not a weakling in the world! Two cold beams of light streaked through the purple-robed martial artist''s eyes. The next moment, his pupils returned to normal. However, those two beams of light arrived before Aiden swiftly and silently, like two extremely sharp crescent des. To Morwyn ckstone and the little fox It looked like the void between Aiden and the purple-robed martial artist was a silk cloth that was sliced by the two cold beams of light! The temperature of the entire courtyard dipped massively! "Watch out!" Morwyn ckstone only had enough time to exim. All of a sudden! A change happened! A bedazzling radiance burst forth in that eerie courtyard that was shrouded by the night skies. It was as though a zing sun had descended here with a blinding shine! Illumination Eye! Aiden''s right eye was white as jade without any impurities. The light that was released from his right eye illuminated the old temple like daylight! Suddenly, a burning column of light burst forth from Aiden''s right eye and collided fiercely against the two cold iing beams of light! Although the two vastly different energies collided, it was silent. The spirit energy between the both of them evaporated into thin airpletely! In Morwyn ckstone and the little fox''s eyes, it was as though the void between Aiden and the purple-robed martial artist had distorted and was copsing! The might released by two top-tier visual techniques caused everyone''s visions to be impacted severely! Chapter 991 991 - Surprises ? (AN: I slept in and failed to push publish in time. Sorry.) Thud! Thud! Thud! Aiden staggered three steps in retreat and the light in his right eye dissipated. Eventually, he was at the losing end of this visual technique fight. Even so, he was not injured. When a cold wave prated his right eye, it was diffused by the Illumination Stone right away. Aiden was rather calm. However, the purple-robed martial artist was shocked! He did not know what visual technique this monk had trained such that it could go against his Eclipse Eye! He had trained Eclipse Eye for more than a hundred years! Yet, how old was this gray-robed monk before him? He looked to be younger than 40. Even if this person had trained the visual technique when he was in his mother''s womb, it would only be less than 50 years at most. However, with the 40 years old visual technique, the other party merely stumbled back three steps after a head-on collision with his Eclipse Eye that he had trained for more than a hundred years! There was something even more bizarre. He could not sense any spirit energy within the gray-robed monk''s body! What was the background of that gray-robed monk? The gleam in the purple-robed martial artist''s eyes intensified with a joy that resembled the way a predator watched its prey. In a sh, the purple-robed martial artist had already arrived before Aiden. It was too fast! His speed burst had already surpassed the limits of Aiden''s visual capabilities! How strong! With no time to think, Aiden took a deep breath of air and chanted a prayer. "Om!" The void trembled and the sound reverberated through the world! The purple-robed martial artist''s figure paused for a moment as his ears twitched and closed in towards his face creepily! It was equivalent to muting the outside world. He had decreased the impact of the Daring Mantra to its lowest! Upon noticing that, Aiden squinted with a grim expression. This purple-robed martial artist was much scarier than he had imagined! Even though it was just a simple act, Aiden knew clearly in his heart that it was extremely difficult to do it! It was a sign that he hadplete mastery over every single fiber of muscle on his body! Ssh! The purple-robed martial artist''s bloodline surged with the sound of a tsunami. Demonic energy! This purple-robed martial artist had also trained in the realm of demonic energy! At that moment, Aiden turned calm instead. When he saw that the purple-robed martial artist could shut his ears at will, he had already guessed that this man may have trained in the demonic energy realm. The purple-robed martial artist had a domineering aura and swung his arms like a steel whip, crushing down onto Aiden''s head viciously! An evil gust of wind howled! A tragic aura shrouded the air! Ssh! Aiden''s body echoed with the same sound of a raging tide. In the eyes of Morwyn ckstone and the little fox, the fight between these two was like a collision between two oceans where each threatened to devour the other! Their bloodlines were way too terrifying! Aiden''s body bent over and one of his knees seemed to buckle as he propped up both hands; it looked like he was bowing down in submission to the purple-robed martial artist and delivering an immortal fruit. Compared to the descent of the purple-robed martial artist''s steel whip, Aiden''s stance looked ordinary without any aura. However, the purple-robed martial artist''s expression changed starkly C he had sensed an immense killing intent! Bang! His right arm collided against Aiden''s palms. The collision of their flesh did not have any shockwave. Instead, it was dull and solid. Prior to this, any martial artist that met with this attack would be severely injured with their bones and tendons snapped even if they did not die! But now, not only has the purple-robed martial artist failed to suppress Aiden with that m, he even felt his arm being repelled with a massive opening revealed at his chest area! For most martial artists, that was an almost instantaneous opening that was difficult for them to capitalize on. However, the purple-robed martial artist''s opponent was Aiden! With a killing move from the Ancient Primordial Dragon Technique, he flung away the purple-robed martial artist''s arm. Aiden''s motion did not stop at all and that initially bent over body of his, spread open all of a sudden! Crackle! His tendons moved and his bones shook. Boom! His foot stomped heavily on the ground, causing the earth to quake! With the repulsion force, Aiden reached out with a pair of defined arms with muscles that were knotted together with a metallic luster. His fingers opened up and he reached out for the purple-robed martial artist''s shoulders! At the same time, Aiden buckled his knees and thrust! His entire body was like a divine steed that was galloping over with a ferocious momentum! After Sanguine Ape Fruit Offering, he made use of the rebound strength of his body as well as the flexibility of his tendons to release Plow Heaven Stride and shift the momentum to his side to follow up with Divine Steed Dismemberment! The entire process was fluid as water without any sluggishness. Instantly, an extremely tragic aura was released with that charge. Even if a pure-blooded ferocious beast stood in his way, Aiden would be able to ram it into pieces! Divine Steed Dismemberment was the most brutal stance of the Ancient Primordial Dragon Technique. Apart from that ram, Aiden''s arms were also executing another killing move. If he managed to lock onto the purple-robed martial artist''s shoulders, they would be ripped off immediately! Initially, the purple-robed martial artist had the advantage. However, after Aiden''s Sanguine Ape Fruit Offering was defended, he revealed an opening that caused the tables to turn! The purple-robed martial artist''s expression changed slightly at the sight of Aiden charging over. He gripped his fists and the joint of his middle finger protruded slightly as he thrust towards Aiden''s palms. At the same time, the purple-robed martial artist leaned back and raised his feet to defend against Aiden''s knee. Piak! Piak! Their fists and palms met and they shuddered. Bang! Immediately after, Aiden''s knee rammed against the purple-robed martial artist''s foot viciously. The purple-robed martial artist fell backwards with the momentum with a light motion as though he was floating, gliding slowly to the back. The toughness of Divine Steed Dismemberment was countered by the purple-robed martial artist''s gentleness! Up till this point of his training, Aiden had been in countless battles. However, he had never encountered anyone who could match him in meleebat. The purple-robed martial artist before him was the first! The purple-robed martial artist floated in midair and after a slight pause, he lunged forward once more with a killing intent in his eyes. Boom! The purple-robed martial artist threw a punch. A resounding bang echoed in the air! The purple-robed martial artist''s ck hair spread apart and his eyes shone brightly, as though he was about to fuse with the environment C that punch possessed the force of the universe and was invincible! Ssh! Aiden did not avoid or retreat and allowed his bloodline to rumble within his body C his momentum had already climbed to its peak! Meleebat was the most dangerous. A single mistake could lead to death on the spot! Even against that seemingly invincible punch of the purple-robed martial artist, Aiden did not choose to retreat and the fierceness in his eyes shed with a soaring battle intent. "Ha!" Aiden started with a roar and strode forward against the tremendous pressure. As he swung his arm, the green veins on it pulsated and his fist expanded to twice its size! His fist was like a gigantic green-ck seal that was descending from the skies! Both their gazes were resolute and unshakable! Boom! Their fists collided against one another! The entire void went still! Morwyn ckstone and the little fox heard a jarring sound in their ears. Both men had fractures in their fists! Both parties suffered losses! The purple-robed martial artist narrowed his eyes with the mes of rage burning in them. In all these years, there had never been another martial artist of the same realm who could injure him! He hadn''t expected himself to get injured in this dpidated and unassuming old temple! Aiden was expressionless. He had not expected to suppress the purple-robed martial artist with that punch to begin with. After the punch, Aiden''s palm went soft as though it had no strength andnded on the purple-robed martial artist''s arm like a flexible bull''s tongue. "Hmm?" The purple-robed martial artist was rmed and felt his scalp prickle. Boom! Without thinking twice, the spirit energy within his body surged and converged into his arm! Aiden''s palm coiled, trembled and yanked! Shing! The purple-robed martial artist''s robes were torn entirely, turning into pieces of cloth that floated in midair. Both of them repelled instantly upon contact! Although the purple-robed martial artist''s arm was perfectly fine, it trembled slightly as though it had endured a massive impact. Fortunately, he had reacted fast enough and channeled both his bloodline and spirit energy. Otherwise, his arm would have very likely been snapped with that attack! Chapter 992 992 - Help ? "You. Are. Courting. Death!" The purple-robed martial artist''s expression darkened instantly as he red at Aiden, saying slowly. His entire aura changed all of a sudden and a shuddering energy shockwave surrounded him! It was a Martial Master phenomenon! Although Aiden had no spirit energy, he was extremely sharp towards the power of phenomenons. It was clear that the purple-robed martial artist no longer wanted to waste time with Aiden after suffering a slight loss C he was prepared to use his Martial Master phenomenon to kill thetter! Aiden had a calm expression. If the purple-robed martial artist released his Martial Master phenomenon It would mean that there was no way to return and the two of them were going to fight to their deaths! At that time, he would not require any reservations and would circte his Inner Core to fight with his demon form! Aiden''sbat strength would increase in his demon form! However, even then, he was not confident that he would be able to suppress this purple-robed martial artist. This person''s Martial Master phenomenon was frightening and could very well exceed his imagination! "Junior Brother, don''t fret! I''ll help you!" Right then, Morwyn ckstone braved the mighty forcefield between the two of them and arrived beside Aiden. His eyes were clear and a terrifying energy fluctuation shrouded him as well! Morwyn ckstone knew about Aiden''s core and knew that thetter couldn''t conjure a Martial Master phenomenon because he had no spirit energy. As such, he rushed over, intending to help Aiden defend against the Martial Master phenomenon of the purple-robed martial artist. "Eh?" The purple-robed martial artist''s gaze shone brightly as he focused his attention on Morwyn ckstone. Aiden nced slightly sideways as well. A pristine jade flower bud appeared behind Morwyn ckstone, pure, wless, and dotted with dew. The flower bud swayed gently with a mysterious glow that purged away the darkness as though it could cleanse every single bit of evil in this world! The green flower bud was going to blossom at any moment! World Cleansing Green Lotus! The legendary and lost World Cleansing Green Lotus was actually at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley and was nowing from this unassuming little monk! Before the World Cleansing Green Lotus was lost, it was ranked rtively high on the Phenomenon Ranking. The ancient green lotus swayed with a bright glow and could cleanse all the sins in the world C this was a top-ten ranking phenomenon! In reality, be it in terms of martial arts realm, mastery of spirit arts, and secret skills or strength, Morwyn ckstone was not weak. In fact, he was much stronger than most of the paragons that Aiden had seen before! However, what Morwyn ckstonecked was the experience of engaging a powerful foe in a deadly bout. He spent his days cultivating at the bottom of the valley isted from the rest of the world and did not have the chance to fight with others, let alone experience the brink of death. Thebat strength that wasmonly referred to was in reality not the actual strength of the martial artist, but the amount of strength they could produce! If someone could only unleash 30% of his actual strength, hisbat strength would also merely just be 30%. In reality, Morwyn ckstone''s strength was enough to suppress the Daemon Wolf. However, he was the one injured in the fight against the Daemon Wolf. This was the reason behind it. ''Wee!" The doors of the grand hall were pushed open apanied by a Buddhist promation as an old monk with long brows that fell from both sides of his face walked forth. He had hazy eyes and said gently, "Little Morwyn, these are guests from afar. Remove your phenomenon." Morwyn ckstone nodded. The ferociousness in Aiden''s eyes faded as well. Since the old monk had shown himself, both of them were not going to fight anymore. The old monk turned his sights toward the purple-robed martial artist. "Guest, although you are our guest, you''ve got to be orderly. You are free to browse through the prayers here. However, if you insist on fighting, I''ll have to ask you to leave." The implications of his sentence were heavy. In other words, he was warning the purple-robed martial artist to behave himself. Given the seniority of the old monk, there was naturally no way he wouldy his hands on the purple-robed martial artist. However, if the purple-robed martial artist went overboard, the old monk would not hesitate to have him leave as well! The purple-robed martial artist sneered, "Reverend, it''s fine if you want to protect these two disciples of yours. However, I''ve got something to ask you. Can you protect them for the rest of their lives?!" "This man injured my spirit beast," The purple-robed martial artist pointed to Aiden who was not far away with a cold expression and said coolly, "You can protect him today. However, I''d advise you to keep him in the valley. He had better spend his entire life hiding at the bottom of this Dragon Burial Valley!" "If Ie across him outside, I''ll have him hand over his head!" The fact that the purple-robed martial artist made this remark in the face of the old monk was proof of his confidence. The old monk remained silent. Morwyn ckstone could not hold it in and refuted, "Your spirit beast was the one that provoked us first and wanted to take the little fox away. How can you be so self-righteous when you were the one in the wrong? Aren''t you unreasonable?!" "You want to talk about the reason?" The purple-robed martial artist sneered once more, "Little monk, your naive attitude is sure interesting. This is a world where the strongest survive! If you aren''t strong enough, you deserve to be killed! That''s the simplest reason ever!" Although Morwyn ckstone could not understand those words, Aiden could. Strictly speaking, that was indeed the cruelty of the martial arts world. Given Morwyn ckstone''s current state, even with his capabilities, he won''t be able to survive long upon leaving the Dragon Burial Valley. "Oh, right," As though he suddenly recalled something, the purple-robed martial artist looked at Aiden and smiled faintly. "The intermediate ancient battlefield is going to open up in 10 years'' time. Don''t ever head there, or you''re going to die inside!" Aiden''s expression was indifferent. He did not care about the purple-robed martial artist''s threat at all. At this moment, he was not confident of suppressing the purple-robed martial artist even if he was in his demon form. However, Aiden firmly believed that he would be even scarier 10 yearster! He would have been dormant for 20 years by then. He was convinced that nobody would be able to stop him the moment he stepped out of the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley! Not even this purple-robed martial artist before him could stop him! Due to the appearance of the old monk, even though there was still hostility between the purple-robed martial artist and Aiden, there were no longer any shes. The purple-robed martial artist had a lot of elixirs with him. Within a couple of days, he saved the Daemon Wolf whose life was hanging on a thread. After the Daemon Wolf woke up, the way it looked at Aiden changed C there was a hint of avoidance and fear in its eyes. For the following month The purple-robed martial artist did not leave. He merely browsed through the Mystic divine Lotus prayer day and night. After a month, he rose and brought the Daemon Wolf along with him to leave the old temple. At the same time, the old monk approached Aiden. He was direct and got straight to the point. "Are you intending to enter the ancient battlefield 10 yearster?" "Yes." Aiden nodded and did not lie. Given his martial arts realm, and under the circumstances where he wanted to take his friends, with him to leave the North Region, that was the best solution. The old monk continued, "Alright, I''ll make a move personally to open up a teleportation spot to the ancient battlefield 10 yearster to send you and Morwyn ckstone in." It required thebined strength of five Void Reversions to open up a teleportation spot to the elementary ancient battlefield. The temporal space in the intermediate ancient battlefield was much stabler. To open up a connection point, the required strength would be greater and one had to be at least a Lesser God! "Senior Brother Morwyn ckstone" Aiden frowned and hesitated to speak. Although Morwyn ckstone was not weak, he had way too little experience inbat techniques. The ancient battlefield was filled with bloodshed and massacres and was even crueler than the martial arts world! There was a high chance that Morwyn ckstone might die if he entered the ancient battlefield. The old monk could tell of Aiden''s worries. "Therefore, I want you to help him. There are still 10 more years. Try and think of a way to help him grow as quickly as possible." Suddenly, Aiden recalled how Die Yue cast him into the Cang Lang Mountain Range and could not help but smile. "It''s simple," Chapter 993 993 - Harmony ? Aiden said, "We''ll cast him into the depths of the pce and fight to his limits with the otherworldly soldiers under the pretext that he must not use his Martial Master phenomenon." A true growth will only be achieved through a life-and-death experience! The both of them chatted for a little more and the old monk instructed, "If you encounter that purple-robed martial artist in the ancient battlefield, you must be careful and try your best to avoid him!" Aiden frowned and could not help but ask, "Just who is he exactly?" "He''s the number one paragon of the Chaos Essence Sect and is undefeated across the same realm!" The old monk said, "It''s said that he was already invincible through the Martial Master realm when he was in his thirties. If things go smoothly, he will definitely be a titr disciple once he reaches Martial Grandmaster realm!" "What''s his name?" Aiden asked again. "Dol J''ol," The old monk replied. "Hmm?" Aiden raised his brow. It was a strange name that he seemed to have heard before. After pondering for a moment, Aiden''s eyes shed as he said word by word, "The number one chosen martial artist of the world who trained the Chaos Ocean Dol J''ol!" "That''s right." The old monk nodded. "A hundred years ago, thatd relied on Chaos Ocean to overwhelm all his foes in the ancient battlefield and arrive at the top of the Phenomenon Ranking." It was no wonder! Aiden heaved a long sigh of relief. That was the reason why this person could fight him to such an extent in meleebat. It was because he was the number one Perfected Being of the world who had managed to train the Martial Master phenomenon of the Ancient One''s legacy, Chaos Ocean! Curiously, Aiden asked again, "Since he''s already at the top of the Phenomenon Ranking, why is he still going to enter the ancient battlefield 10 yearster?" A rough calction would put Dol J''ol''s age at around 130 years old. The old monk exined, "Against the 500 years lifespan of Martial Masters, he''s considered young in his hundreds. As long as his lifespan allows and the timing is right, he can enter the ancient battlefield." "After all, there are way too many treasures and opportunities inside which have all been passed down from the ancient era." After pondering for a moment, Aiden asked again, "He was already the number one in the Phenomenon Ranking a hundred years ago. Why does he still choose to remain in the Martial Master realm?" "That''s the frightening aspect of thisd!" The old monk said, "There''s nothing much to continuous breakthroughs. If one can pause in their tracks at a certain juncture to consolidate their past, they will be able to truly solidify their foundation and reach the true realm of harmony by bing one with the universe." "He was already the number one Perfected Being of the world a hundred years ago. I''m sure nobody is going to be his match a hundred yearster. If you encounter him once more, you must be extremely cautious!" The bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley was isted from the outside world. Day in and out, the old temple sat there silently, distant and dpidated C it seemed like there was nothing different about it than before. The only difference was that there was now another young monk with refined features. There was also another quirky little fox. Each morning, the young monk would gaze at the rising sun. At dusk, he would gaze at the setting sun. It was the same everyday without any breaks in between. The eyes of the young monk turned increasingly brighter. Of course, for the most part of the day, the young monk would choose to browse through prayers andprehend Zen and the Dao in the Prayer Hall. Against a greenntern and ancient statue, he sat on a praying mat with a prayer gently propped on his hand with a calm expression and in a tranquil state. Beside him, a red little fox squatted quietly without moving. At night, the young monk would head to the backyard of the old temple. In the eerie cemetery, the sounds of dragons, tigers, and endless beasts roaring would sound till daybreak before subsiding. Day after day, year after year. In the blink of an eye, 20 years passed. Time did not seem to leave any scars on the monk''s face. However, his dantian was still empty without a trickle of spirit energy. After all these years, the young monk no longer tried to train intentionally. Instead, he recited prayers and strolled everyday in a leisurely manner. As time passed by, he gained a unique aura around him. It was indescribable. It was as though the young monk had reached the realm of fusing with nature. He looked like an extremely ordinary monk at a single nce. However, upon closer inspection, he was like an unsolvable mystery. Yet another night passed. Cemetery in the backyard of the old temple. At dawn, the young monk opened his eyes slowly and tidied his attire. Bowing to a red-headed burly man not far before him, he said, "Thank you for your care for more than 20 years!" Naturally, the young monk was Aiden. In all these years, this was the first time Aiden had spoken to the red-headed ghost in such a proper manner as well as thanked thetter with such courtesy. Sensing something, the red-headed ghost raised his brow and asked, "You''re going to leave?" "Yes." Aiden nodded. "Yes." The red-headed ghost replied distractedly. When Aiden''s figure was about to vanish from the backyard, the voice of the red-headed ghost sounded once more. "Be careful out there." Touched, Aiden nodded his head. It was still early. Morwyn was still asleep. The doors of the grand hall were tightly shut and the old monk was not out. Aiden intended to wait a little more outside. Suddenly, his ears twitched and he heard intermittent calls. "Great!" "Great monk!" The voice came from outside the old temple above the Dragon Burial Valley. The only person who would call him that was Sylvie Deva! For some reason, Aiden felt his heart palpitate, as though he could sense that something big was about to happen! In his past years of studying this religion, he had never experienced such emotional fluctuation. Aiden pushed the doors open and meandered forward with the valley. Before long, Sylvie Deva''s voice sounded once more. "Great monk, where are you? Hurry ande out! If not, someone is not going to make it!" Aiden''s footsteps came to a gradual stop. He froze on the spot with a lost gaze as his mouth dropped agape slightly. There was only a single sentence repeating itself in his mind C Someone is not going to make it!" ''Some Who? It couldn''t b-" Aiden murmured . His first reaction was disbelief! How was that possible? Even after so many years, that man was only now in his sixties C how was this possible? However, the next moment, Aiden realized that even though Sylvie Deva loved to joke, there was no way she would lie about something like this. His friend was truly not going to make it! In the past, Madam Dara had already mentioned that he was not in a good condition. That was the reason why Aiden decided that he was going to take him with him to leave the North Region after the intermediate ancient battlefield opened up. To think that After so many years of studying the teachings and prayers, Aiden had initially thought that he had already let go of many things including life and death. To think that the instant he heard this piece of news, his heart felt a piercing pain! It was extremely, extremely painful. At the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley, Aiden leaned against the ice-cold wall of the cliff and slid down weakly to the ground. There was an indescribable misery flooding in the depths of his eyes. In a sh Aiden recalled many things. He recalled the rivers of blood and mountains of corpses on that night countless years ago back in the strange ancient burial grounds. A young man less than 20 years old fought with blood, tooth, and nails and wrought havoc to that ce with all his might relying only on his guts. Although there was a savage sh on his face that nearly cut his head into two, the young man did not care at all! After dozens of years, he had already grown up. As for that young man of the past, he gradually turned old instead. He had already gained a lot of white hair by the time he was in his thirties. That initially upright body of his had curved significantly as well. With his firm shoulders, that young man carried the burden of everything and protected the two young children, allowing them to enjoy a peaceful and beautiful life. It was the same way he had charged out of the capital with them under his lead more than 10 years ago. He feared nothing! Chapter 994 994 - Anchors ? Aiden''s sight gradually turned blurry. However, all those scenes shed through his mind clear as day. "Haih." A tragic sigh sounded from above the Dragon Burial Valley. "20 years ago, Those bastards massacred countless cities of the north just to vent their frustrations. The blow of that was way too great for the mortal world." "For the past 20 years, although he has been in the capital, His mind has always been worrying about the citizens of northern countries. That man he''s truly a great ruler." His worries had turned into illness. Even martial artists would suffer a reduced lifespan and enter energy deviation if they spent dozens of years worrying, let alone ordinary mortals. "Great monk, I don''t know if you''re listening." Sylvie Deva''s voice sounded once more. "For the past few years, my sister and I have searched for many spirit herbs in the martial art world but none of them worked. Your captain''s your friend''s health continued declining." "For the past few months, He would always talk in his sleep and call out for you and the other captains. When I hear them, I truly, truly feel" Sylvie Deva choked and could not continue. Aiden covered his head with his arms and curled up. He could no longer control himself and broke out into a miserable cry. Unknowingly, Morwyn ckstone and the little fox had arrived by his side. The little fox felt her heart wrench at the sight of Aiden and closed in, rubbing her head gently against his ankle and whimpering to console him. Morwyn ckstone lowered his head in silence as well, reciting Buddhist promations in his heart. Backyard of the old temple. The old monk and red-headed ghost gazed into the distance, as though their gazes could pass through the voids and look at the young monk who was bawling his heart out. The both of them exchanged nces. "Hais." The old monk sighed. The red-headed ghost remarked sorrowfully, "This was a day that he was going to have to face sooner orter. It''s for the best." "Who is the judge as to whether or not it''s for the best," The old monk shook his head. "Old monk, what do you mean?" The red-headed ghost could tell that the old monk was implying something. The old monk replied, "Thisd is sentimental and for him, those past memories were an anchor. This was the anchor that caused him to shave to be a monk, to clear his mind, and to stay here quietly at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley for so many years." The red-headed ghost nodded. The old monk was not wrong. Given Aiden''s character, there was no way he was going to endure things even if he had offended Crystal Pce Sect and the factions of the entire North Region. Did he really not have any other method of leaving the North Region? If Aiden wasn''t waiting for an opportunity to leave the North Region with his family, his captains, given his character, he would have killed his way out more than 10 years ago the moment his Inner Core had recovered! The old monk sighed. "Now that the anchor is gone, there''s a chance that the nightmare of the paragons of the immortal, Buddhist and fiend sects, that strongest monster incarnate of history that struck endless fear in the hearts of countless martial artists is about to return!" The red-headed ghost squinted and asked, "Have you noticed something?" "I don''t know." The old monk shook his head. The red-headed ghost asked again, "So many years have passed and there''s still no feedback from his Martial Master core. Is there any chance of recovery at all?" "I don''t know." The old monk shook his head still. After pausing briefly, he said slowly, "Perhaps he''s already found a method of recovering his Martial Master, perhaps not. I don''t know. I can no longer read him." The red-headed ghost''s expression changed. Even the old monk could not read Aiden any longer! After so many years of studying Buddhism and Zen, Aiden had indeed gained an additional unique aura. He was almost like a divine entity! The red-headed ghost''s expression changed as he suddenly said, "He''s back. I guess he''s here to bid you farewell." "Also, you''re his master at the end of the day. Give him a few items that can help him protect himself. Don''t keep everything to yourself! Do you want to take them with you into the grave?!" The red-headed ghost mumbled but the old monk had already turned to leave. He disappeared from the cemetery in the blink of an eye and had already returned to the grand hall. Not long after. Aiden pushed the doors open and walked in. He seemedposed on the surface but he could not conceal the sorrow deep in his eyes. Aiden walked straight into the grand hall and knelt down in the direction of the old monk. He kowtowed three times before saying softly, "Master, I''m going to leave." "Go on," The old monk did not ask him to stay. He knew that it would be a futile attempt. Reaching out, the old monk handed over two battered talismans in his palms. "These are two Transference Talismans. One of them is the Minor Transference Talisman and the other, the Major Transference Talisman." "I won''t borate more on the Minor Transference Talisman, it''s a random teleportation." "As for the Major Transference Talisman, it was a treasure that was crafted on the behest of the Emperor of the Great Forbidden Empire in the past! It can even cross a major region at its furthest and the teleportation can be targeted!" Targeted teleportation! Those words carried way too much weight. The Minor Transference Talisman was already precious enough. And yet, the Major Transference Talisman even had targeted teleportation?! It was equivalent to an additional life for Aiden! Aiden received it with both hands and ced it into his storage bag. Right as he was about to turn and leave, the old monk called him back. The old monk gazed at Aiden''s empty core and his eyes shed with worry and curiosity. After a moment of hesitation, he still decided on asking, "Your Martial Master realm" Aiden remained silent. A momentter, he said softly, "Actually, the secret to recovering the Martial Master realm lies in the Saraca Flower." "Saraca Flower?" The old monk was briefly stunned. Although the Saraca Flower was an item of the old temple, it was snatched over by the red-robed woman many years ago and was now in Aiden''s core. Aiden said, "In an ancient prayer in the Prayer Hall, there''s a legend saying that the Ashoka tree is one of the three sacred trees of the gods. The Gods that are the basis of our belief were also born right under the Ashoka tree ording to legends!" "I''ve heard of that legend before" Suddenly, the old monk''s voice paused A thought shed through his mind. He finally understood the corrtion between the Saraca Flower and the recovery of Aiden''s Martial Master. ording to the legend, the Saraca Flower possessed another sort of energy apart from fire. The energy of life! It was the birth of life! The creation of something from emptiness. The Saraca Flower had witnessed the scene of the Gods'' birth. Aiden''s core was shattered and his Martial Master was destroyed. However, the power of his Martial Master realm power did not vanish C it was merely absorbed by the Saraca Flower in the depths of his core. For the past 20 years Aiden spent his days studying the religion andprehending the teachings so that he could umte and consolidate the power to trigger that ''life'' within the Saraca Flower consistently! Aiden was already walking out of the old temple. In a sh ck hair grew from Aiden''s bald head, turning longer by the moment. Within his body, in that originally dark and hollow core, a flower bloomed. On the flower There was a fruit that grew at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was golden, round and shone with a bedazzling aura! That fruit was Aiden''s brand new Martial Master! Spirit energy reverberated through his core, turning richer and fiercer by the moment. It was as though a cyclone was forming in his body! Aiden''s aura was turning stronger by the moment! With every step he took, the spirit energy in his core would increase by a fraction. It was turning increasingly stronger! Boom! In the blink of an eye, the spirit energy in his core had already broken through the limits of early-stage Martial Master realm power and arrived at mid-stage Martial Master realm power. Not long after. Boom! There was another bang. Late-stage Martial Master realm power! The energy that Aiden once gained from consuming the 10,000 Year Vermilion Fruit had not gone to waste C everything was absorbed by the Saraca Flower and was being produced right now! With every step that he took, Aiden''s aura would change by a fraction! The only things that did not change were his eyes. Chapter 995 995 - Return ? They were neither sad nor joyful and had no fluctuations. By the time Aiden arrived at the entrance of the old temple, his aura was close to stabilizing and his ck hair danced wildly with a frightening aura that resembled a divine being! Peak ofte-stage Martial Master! He had persevered through it! He had been dormant for so many years at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley studying religion. However, instead of decreasing, his martial art realm had advanced to the peak ofte-stage Martial Master! Of course, that was not the only change in Aiden. There was something that no one could describe. Standing at the entrance of the old temple, Aiden turned around slowly and gazed at the sentence etched on the wall of the grand hall with a lost look in his clear eyes. Those were the words that Number 13 had left him. Suddenly, Aiden extended his finger! A stream of spirit energy burst forth from his forefinger like a sharp sword that sliced the wall of the grand hall. Aiden waved his arm. He left another statement right after the statement on the wall. It was a sharp statement that looked down on the entire world! Instinctively, Morwyn ckstone recited it, "Once the fog fades, the radiance shall illuminate through the entire world!" "Psst!" "His confidence" There was a hint of shock deep in the eyes of the old monk. The sound of chains rattling echoed suddenly from the backyard that was initially silent! "To be one of the greatest, you have to work on the foundation and be willing to take hardship and serve others!" "Once the fog fades, the radiance shall illuminate through the entire world!" The first statement was left behind by Number 13. The second statement was Aiden''s reply. Swash! A white streak of light tore through the backyard of the old temple. It descended in the courtyard, wless and magnificent as the full moon up in the skies. It was a beautifully carved ebony-colored long bow that reflected the beautiful stars above the skies. Aiden received it and brushed his hand on it gently. It was a beautiful top-grade artifact weapon that was not fully formed previously and was now clearer than ever! A top-grade artifact weapon! After consuming the essence of the sun and moon for 15 years at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley, this unique bow had evolved into a top-grade artifact weapon! Aiden put the beautiful bow away in his storage bag with a calm expression. "Iing swords!" A voice sounded in Aiden''s mind. Before that statement waspleted, the sound of metal shing echoed from the backyard and reverberated through the entire world. It buzzed and emanated a murderous aura that caused the temperature of the entire old temple to dip! Rygintarth had appeared! A blood beam surged into the skies and hovered in midair, shining with the glow of six artifact patterns. The most beguiling thing was that the sixth artifact pattern was in the color of blood! The top-grade artifact pattern had dyed the glow surrounding Rygintarth scarlet. The de emitted a strong blood stench that was shuddering! As the red-headed ghost had expected, Rygintarth had indeed gone through a shocking transformation after it was buried in the cemetery and soaked in the blood of peerless experts from 10,000 years ago! Aside from the innate sharpness of a top-grade artifact weapon, Rygintarth''s ferocity was torrential! The blood beam and stench released from its de could even affect martial artists mentally! Because the little fox''s martial art realm was inadequate, she felt chills run down her spine just ncing at it C it was as though a grisly Hell sprawled with corpses and soaked with blood had appeared before her! Shuddering, she closed her eyes hurriedly. Mind Jin''s expression changed slightly as well as he chanted Buddhist promations softly topose himself. Oo! Oo! Suddenly, Rygintarth bolted towards Aiden with a murderous aura at an extremely fast speed C it vibrated in a chilling manner in midair! More than 10 years ago, the red-headed ghost had said it. Once Rygintarth evolved to be a top-grade artifact weapon, it would definitely turn iparably ferocious! Most ferocious weapons slewed their own masters. The stronger something was, the harder it would be to subdue it! Aiden did not move at all with his hands behind his back. His gaze was deep as he looked at Rygintarth that was streaking towards him with a calm expression. It was as though he had no intention of striking. For some unknown reason, Rygintarth got slower the closer it approached Aiden, as though it had fallen into a swamp! The eyes of Morwyn ckstone and the little fox widened. The de was less than an inch away from Aiden''s be! Its sharpness seemed to have made contact with Aiden''s skin. However, Aiden was motionless! There were no emotions in his eyes at all! Suddenly, Morwyn ckstone felt a deep sense of fear when he looked at those deep and emotionless eyes! Afterying dormant at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley for 20 years, Aiden was like a dormant volcano. The moment news of his sick kin arrived, the dormant volcano had already awoken. Although it was calm right now, anyone that provoked this volcano would definitely send forth a destructive stream ofva that would drown all living beings and incinerate everything! "Hmm?" Morwyn ckstone eximed softly. Rygintarth was quivering. It was as though that ferocious item had sensed something too. It was feeling fearful! By nature, it was bloodthirsty and loved to kill. If it could kill its master and devour his blood, it could turn even stronger! But now, it could vaguely sense that if it actually made contact, the seemingly refined man before him would definitely destroy it personally! It did not dare to move. There was a momentary silence. Gradually, Rygintarth lowered its tip and lowered itself horizontally before Aiden. Its sharpness faced outwards and its handle pointed to Aiden and was within reach. It had submitted! The ferocious item had just been born and yet, it was shocked into submission immediately! Right from the beginning, Aiden had not moved at all C he did not even bat his eyelids! Aiden received Rygintarth and put it away in his storage bag. When the little fox saw that Aiden was about to leave, she moved and wanted to follow him. "Wait here for me." Aiden nced at the little fox and said calmly. Before his sentence was evenplete, he had already pushed the doors open and left. The little fox''s eyes dimmed with a disappointed look. Morwyn ckstone said softly, "Don''t worry, little fox. Since junior brother said that, he''ll definitely return!" The little fox nodded but there was still a deep hint of worry in her eyes. In the grand hall. The old monk gazed at the sentences on the wall for a long time in silence. "It''s rare, truly rare," A long whileter, he finally heaved out a deep breath andmented, "To begin with, that red-robed woman was an existence who could look down on the entire world. It''s only logical that she would leave such daring and bold words." "What''s even rarer than that is that although thed is only at Martial Master realm, his continuation sentence is not weaker in terms of boldness!" The red-headed ghost praised as well, "Once the fog fades, the radiance shall illuminate through the entire world. His words can truly devour the mountains and rivers and look down on the rest of the world! If this broken temple of yours is still around many yearster, those words are bound to be a legend." The old monk nodded with slight sadness. "The both of us are fortunate to be witnesses of this." Suddenly, the red-headed ghost gave an odd chuckle. "This is good. The ancient battlefield is about to open up soon. That descendant of Chaos Essence Sect that was known to be invincible throughout the Martial Master realm more than 10 years ago is about to meet a match!" "It''s hard to tell," The old monk shook his head. "Do you think that Dol J''ol left this ce without obtaining anything?" "In addition, he was already the number one of the Phenomenon Ranking a hundred years ago. Nobody knows how much he has grown since then. The Chaos Ocean of the Human Emperor is not to be underestimated. He is a scary person!" The old monk had an extremely high evaluation of Dol J''ol! The red-headed ghost said, "No matter what, both of them are born in the same era and are bound to be mortal foes. The only other way out is for one to die or submit." Chapter 996 996 - Is that you? ? "That''s for the future. We''ve still got to wait for the ancient battlefield to open up," The old monk said. After a while, the red-headed ghost suddenlyughed in a gloating manner. "Thatd has been dormant at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley for 20 years. Now that he''s going to reappear after news of his kin in illness, he must definitely be holding in a belly full of rage!" "Any dumb fool that provokes him hehe." The old monk chanted a holy promation and said softly, "I''m still hoping that everything goes smoothly and that he will return here after severing his mortal ties to reduce his karma of killing." "Hmph, a tree may wish for stillness but the wind never stops blowing!" The red-headed ghost stood up and the chains on his body rattled loudly. "He''s not going to take the initiative to provoke anybody, but I''m sure 20 years is more than enough to make many things fade into the background. I''m sure many martial artists of the North Region have already forgotten about him!" The red-headed ghost reared his head in loudughter. "That''s for the best! Shiver, martial artists of the North Region! That strongest monster incarnate of history whom you guys had ganged up on and bullied back in the past and was cast into the depths of the Dragon Burial Valley has now returned! Hahaha!" Dragon Burial Valley. Sylvie Deva had been standing at the edge of the cliff for a long time with furrowed brows. The cold wind had crumpled the hem of her dress and she frowned with troubles. Just as she was about to give up and leave, a figure appeared not far away. It was getting closer and closer. The green robes were ever so familiar. She heaved a sigh of relief. After 20 years, nothing seemed to have changed about Aiden apart from a unique aura he had gained that was indescribable. Sylvie Deva''s heart skipped a beat and she checked out Aiden''s core with her Spirit Peering Art. Immediately after, a look of pity shed through her eyes. "Sigh, how can a destroyed core recover? I was thinking too much." She sighed internally. Through her detection, Aiden''s core was like a swamp of still water without any spirit energy. In reality, Aiden''s core was indeed different from the past after the tribtion. His Martial Master was shattered and formed a ck hole-like existence. The Saraca Flower was hidden right in the ck hole! As long as Aiden did not use his spirit energy, martial artists wouldn''t be able to detect anything and would instead find an empty core. If they knew nothing about his past, any outsider would take him as an extremely ordinary mortal. "Aiden, how have you been after all these years?" It was rare that Sylvie Deva was not joking. Instead, her eyes were pained with a hint of pity and her expression was emotional. This man before her was bedazzling 20 years ago! Even outside of the North Region, some martial artists of the world knew about him. But now, most of the people in the North Region had already forgotten about him, let alone those in the world. Aiden replied calmly, "I''m fine." "I know where he is. I''ll take you there." Aiden''s captain did not have much time left and it was better if they met sooner. Sylvie Deva knew what was on Aiden''s mind right now and led the way without hesitating. Aiden followed closely behind. The two of them sped and crossed the Great Forbidden Ruins. Arriving at the depths of the pce, Aiden paused briefly when he looked at the bloodstained ruins beneath him. 20 years ago, the paragons of the North Region had gathered for the birth of the Vermilion Fruit. Countless paragons were buried there in that battle. A fire had incinerated half the skies! The temperature of the goldenva was extremely high and riddled the ground with holes. The underground pce had already caved in a long time ago and the cave was buried. The mysterious golden volcano was also buried deep underground. No matter what secrets there were inside, nobody would probably find out anymore. After a slight pause, Aiden caught up to Sylvie Deva and suddenly asked, "Is Khouge in danger?" If Seetho Khouge knew about Aiden''s Captain''s condition, she would definitely be the one to inform him. The only possibility for her not doing so would be if she was in danger and could not get away! "Yes." Sylvie Deva nodded. "In recent years, the North Region has been filled with wars with the rise of multiple vassal states. The other three dynasties are coveting from the sidelines while it''s messy within the imperial court of the Great Dynasties with troubles both internal and external." "Two years ago, the three great dynasties joined forces and formed an allied army to infiltrate the borders of the Great West, hoping to annihte the enemy entirely and split ournd among themselves." Aiden asked in a seemingly casual manner, "What are the martial art realms of those that are fighting in the battles between the dynasties?" "The armies are mostly formed by Foundation Establishment and Martial Masters. Of course, there are also some Nascent Souls. Martial Grandmasters won''t appear on the front lines for now. They will onlye forth for a final battle if the allied army reaches the capital!" Sylvie Deva replied. "I see," Aiden said. Sylvie Deva continued, "My sister led the army to deal with it personally and keep the enemies at bay. She has been outside for almost two years now without returning and does not know about the problems at all." Aiden frowned. Sylvie Deva added hurriedly, "Don''t worry, she''spletely fine. Mighty Lord Mor Hall has been by her the entire time." Aiden remained silent. He had already vaguely guessed through Sylvie Deva''s words that Seetho Khouge was in a terrible state! Even if her life was not in danger, she was entangled with troubles. Now that the three dynasties had formed an alliance, it meant that they were bent on getting their hands on the Great West''s territories! With the Great West''s foundations, even if they had the terrain advantage, it would be difficult for them to defend against the conquest of the allied army! The fact that Seetho Khouge had not returned for two years was a clear sign of how bad the situation was! Furthermore, changes happen rapidly on the battlefield and anything could happen. There was no guarantee of Seetho Khouge''s safety even if Mighty Lord Mor Hall was by her side. The two of them traveled day and night without resting. A few dayster, they arrived in the capital of Great West. In order to avoid attention and unnecessary trouble, Aiden traveled in Sylvie Deva''s carriage. Along the way in the pce, they made many twists and turns to head for a secret ground in the pce! Not long after, Sylvie Deva brought Aiden to a house and said softly, "I''ll stay outside and not enter. Call for me at any time if you require anything." Aiden nodded. Standing quietly outside the door, Aiden did not dare to open the doors. In fact, he had already extended his palm and made contact with the doors, but he just did not dare to push them! Aiden knew that one of his family members, one of his captains, was inside. He could already sense the twilight aura emanating from the room! The more it was the case, the more he did not dare to open the doors! "Aiden, is that you?" Suddenly, a voice sounded from within. It was weak and hoarse. Instantly, countless images shed through Aiden''s mind. "Aiden, go back and study! You''re not allowed to learn martial arts!" "This horse is called Dark Lightning and it''s slightly sentient. Since it has an affinity with you, it''s yours from today onwards." "Aiden, as long as you can pass the college examination, I''ll reward you with a mansion" This voice was no longer as robust and firm as in the past. However, it awakened countless memories in Aiden. Instantly, he felt his nose stuff up as he pushed the doors and entered. "Brother, it''s me!" Although he was already mentally prepared, Aiden''s heart skipped a beat when he caught sight of him. He had grown old. Age was like a merciless de that sliced and left scars on his face! If he had not seen it himself, it would have been difficult for Aiden to imagine this frail old person before him wielding an iron spear to lead heavily armored troops through the battlefield and dominate the world! How awesome was he back then?! Dozens of years had passed. In his sixties, he looked like someone in his hundreds. He was filled with white hair and had a pair of hazy eyes. However, the way he looked at Aiden was still asforting and benevolent as ever. Aiden strode quickly forward and knelt before him, holding thetter''s wrists gently. Chapter 997 997 - Take Me Back ? Aiden''s hands trembled! He could clearly feel the poor fellow''s life diminishing bit by bit from his body C his organs had already begun to deteriorate! At the end of his lifespan, the once proud massive oversized Skink captain did not have much time left and even deities won''t be able to save him at this point! "I''mte," Aiden slumped his head and said with a quivering tone. "Young Master It''s notte, it''s not." The captain patted Aiden gently on the palm and consoled thetter, "I don''t have any regrets now that I''m able to see you fine and well before my passing." "Haih." Immediately after, he sighed. "It''s just a pity I can''t get to see the others in the end. I wonder how they are. I wonder if they suffered outside." "You know that the girls especially have a weaker personality. What is she going to do if she gets bullied without us around?" Aiden said, "The girls joined a major sect in order to grow stronger as well as so that they can increase their lifespan. They won''t suffer. They even said that you''ll be the first one to take the elixir once she seeds in refining it." "Thosesses," The sick figure smiled. Aiden''s heart clenched at the sight of his captain''s smile. ?m There was still slightly more than a month to go before the opening of the ancient battlefield. He knew very well that given his brother''s current condition, there was no way thetter could hold out until then! This meant that this poor dying brother of his would never ever be able to meet the others again. A momentter, he patted the back of Aiden''s palm and said softly, "Send me back." Aiden understood where he meant by ''back''. It was most likely something that the captain was thinking about incessantly for the past several years! A fox dies in its hole and a leafnds at its roots. More than longing, he felt a pang of deep guilt towards that piece ofnd and its inhabitants. He had to return! "Alright!" Aiden nodded and carried the weak frail captain in his arms before walking to the entrance. Sylvie Deva was waiting not far away and she hurried over, asking softly, "Where are you headed for?" Aiden replied, "Let''s leave the capital first." There were many people in the capital of Great West and it would be easy for him to be exposed carrying the captain with him. If anyone discovered their presence in the capital of Great West, the Great West Dynasty would be annihted even before the allied army of the three dynasties struck! Aiden supported him into Sylvie Deva''s carriage. The carriage was adorned with jewels and jade majestically and glowed with a bright spirit light. It rose slowly into the air and headed out of the capital. The journey within the capital was mostly smooth when people saw that it was a carriage of the princess. Before long, the three of them had already left the capital. Aiden checked his surroundings and upon seeing that nobody was around, he said, "Thank you for your help, Sylvie Deva. I''ll take my brother away from here. You can head on back." "I don''t have anything on. I''ll send you guys wherever you want to go," Sylvie Deva said hurriedly. Just as Aiden was about to decline, he frowned and his ears twitched. "Someone''s approaching!" Aiden''s expression turned cold. The person chased after them at an extremely fast speed C it was clear that the intruder was not friendly! Soon. The sound of clothes fluttering could be heard in the air. 10 figures descended and surrounded Sylvie Deva''s carriage. The leader was a bald man d in armor. His eyes were sharp as a vulture''s C this was themander of the Great West Dynasty''s Scarlet Vulture guards, Bald Vulture! The other nine wore scarlet robes with sect badges on their waists. They had mighty auras and did not look friendly. All nine of them were Martial Masters of True Fire Sect! Sylvie Deva pushed down Aiden''s arm and shook her head, gesturing for him to calm down and not be reckless. If he was exposed, he would definitely attract an endless pursuit! The entire North Region would be shaken! Aiden was expressionless and did not move. Through the curtain, Sylvie Deva asked with a deep voice, "Bald Vulture, don''t you know who I am? The guts of you to try and halt my carriage!" "Hehe!" Bald Vulture chuckled. "Where are you heading to, little princess?" "It''s none of your business! Get lost!" Sylvie Deva''s voice wasced with anger as she hollered. "Humph!" Bald Vulture retraced his smile and said darkly, "Little princess, I''m sure you''re trying to pass a message to your sister after hearing some news, right?" "What are you talking about?" Sylvie Deva frowned C she did not understand what Bald Vulture meant by that. When he heard that, Aiden already realized that Seetho Khouge was in a worse state than he had imagined! The fact that the capital guards dared to obstruct a carriage of the princess of Great West was a clear sign of how messy things had be in the Great West Dynasty. Furthermore, it was clear that Bald Vulture was implying something from his words! Bald Vulture sneered, "Little princess, you don''t have to act dumb in front of me. Even if you know nothing, please return to the capital!" Sylvie Deva''s killing intent rose! She was no kind soul. Her alter ego was the Pure Maiden of the fiend sects! Right then, Sylvie Deva suddenly felt her vision blur C Aiden had already left the carriage. "Bald Vulture, do you remember me?" An indifferent voice sounded outside the carriage. Bald Vulture gazed at the gray robed martial artist and was momentarily stunned. Immediately after, his eyes widened and his pupils constricted as he yelped, "It''s you!" "H-How are you not dead?!" Bald Vulture was flustered at the sight of Aiden. A man''s name grows like the shadow of a tree. Aiden was notorious throughout the North Region after that battle in the Great Forbidden Ruins! It was nothing if he had died just like that. However, no Martial Master of the North Region would be able topose themselves at the sight of Aiden alive before them! "Who is that person?" The True Fire Sect martial artists at the side used their Spirit Peering Art and noticed that the gray robed martial artist''s core was empty. Upon realizing that he was only a mortal, their eyes filled with contempt. "H-H-He is" "I am Aiden." There was a momentary silence. The martial artists of True Fire Sect exchanged nces and burst intoughter. "Everyone knows that Aiden died at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley! You''re saying that you''re Aiden?" "Hahaha! Interesting! He''s trying to impersonate a dead man!" Everyone from True Fire Sectughed. However, Bald Vulture wanted to cry as his body turned stiff while cold sweat poured down. He had noticed something. The moment the gray robed martial artist dered that he was Aiden, it meant that all of them were going to die! "Is it funny?" For a martial artist of True Fire Sect, before hisughter stopped, his vision blurred and a cold voice rang in his ears. "So fast!" That was thest thought that crossed the person''s mind. The next moment. Right in front of everyone, Aiden reached out and tapped the person on the throat gently with his finger. Crack! Crack! Crack! His throat snapped and a Martial Master died on the spot. "Audacious!" "B*stard, how dare you!" The other Martial Masters of True Fire Sect were enraged and hollered. ng! ng! Eight Martial Masters summoned their flying swords one after another. The swords quivered and shone with bright spirit lights. Eight of them rapidly formed an encirclement with Aiden in the center, summoning their flying swords with one hand while conjuring hand seals with the other to release True Fire Sect''s spirit arts! The attacks surged forth instantly! Aiden''s expression did not change as he opened his mouth. "Om!" He chanted in a prayer. It was the first of six words of Daring prayer! Instantly, it reverberated endlessly like thunder! The void was filled with a shuddering power! The flying swords that were aimed at Aiden froze in midair. The spirit arts of the eight Mighty Lords from True Fire Sect dissipated in midair before they could even form. All eight of them stood stiffly on the spot with bulged eyeballs that were bloodshot! Bald Vulture could see it clearly. Blood was already oozing from the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth of the eight people! They were bleeding from all orifices! "Ma!" Aiden spoke once more. The second a prayer had arrived! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Right in front of Bald Vulture, the bodies of the eight Mighty Lords from True Fire Sect exploded into blood mists without any corpse remaining! Sylvie Deva was about to exit the carriage when she saw that. Chapter 998 998 - Fortune ? Eight Martial Masters exploded to death just from the shock of two sybles from Aiden! Suddenly, Sylvie Deva realized. After 20 years, instead of diminishing, Aiden''sbat strength had grown to a frightening level that even she could not read any longer! Turning around, Aiden looked at Bald Vulture who was not far away, and said indifferently, "Go on, tell us everything you know." "I-I don''t know what you''re talking about, fellow Martial Artist!" Bald Vulture chuckled dryly. "Die if you refuse to speak!" Aiden closed in step by step towards Bald Vulture in midair. Although he was neither fast nor slow, there was a tremendous pressure that surged forward instantaneously! That was a true suppression! In fact, Bald Vulture felt like he was choking! His arms trembled slightly and a look of fear shed through his eyes before turning into madness. With a menacing expression, Bald Vulture snarled, "I can tell you everything but you must promise to let me live!" "You''re not qualified to talk about terms with me!" Aiden had an ice-cold expression as he arrived before Bald Vulture. He gripped thetter''s throat and just as he was about to exert strength, a fragrance wafted over. "Leave it to me, Aiden." Sylvie Deva''s silky smooth hand touched Aiden''s wrist. Aiden relented his grip on it. Arriving before Bald Vulture, Sylvie Deva smiled charmingly with a ripple in her eyes as she asked gently, "Why did you stand in my way, greatmander?" Bald Vulture waspletely stupefied and had a lost gaze, as though he had lost his soul. "The second and fourth princes are prepared to write a letter together to get rid of the third princess and rmend the first prince to ascend the throne! The first prince is the eldest and should inherit the throne in theory. The third princess is unjustified to take the throne and furthermore, she''s a woman." "What''s wrong with her being a woman?" Sylvie Deva raised her brow and asked coldly, "Can''t women ascend the throne? My sister is out there fighting against our enemies and yet, you despicable scum are scheming in the dark here!" "I think all of you are looking to die!" Before she finished her sentence, Sylvie Deva had already grazed her finger gently across Bald Vulture''s throat. A thin red line appeared. Bald Vulture''s eyes widened and he gradually woke from his stupor. He clutched his throat with both arms and his legs iled but he could not stop the fresh blood from spewing! Ssh! Ssh! Finally, Bald Vulture''s gaze dimmed and he fell, dead on the spot. "I need you toe forth for the affairs of the capital," Aiden said darkly, "Given your identity and means, you''ll be able to suppress this matter." "Yes, don''t worry," Sylvie Deva nodded. Aiden returned to the carriage and helped Su Hong out before nodding towards Sylvie Deva. "I''ll be leaving now." Before his words were finished, Aiden had already sped into the distance at an extremely terrifying speed. In the blink of an eye, he was already on the horizon. "Where are you going?" Sylvie Deva yelled from behind. There was no reply for a long time. Although Sylvie Deva wanted to chase after him, she knew that at this moment, the capital of Great West needed her more. A gigantic bird flew above the skies of Great Western Country. The bird was lined with scales and burned with a thin me on its body. Its eyes were sharp as it surveyed its surroundings with wings that were hundreds of feet wide spread apart! It was an ancient remnant beast, the Purple me Bird! The most shocking thing was that the Purple me Bird seemed like it was pulling an ordinary-looking carriage. Side by side, two people sat within the carriage; one was a refined schr and the other was a frail old man filled with white hair. The two of them were Aiden and the sickly old captain who were rushing back to Western Countryside, to an old but familiar city onest time. Aiden captured an ancient remnant beast along the way and used it to pull the carriage temporarily, saving them quite a bit of trouble. The two of them crossed the many cities of the Western Country that were massacred by ss Pce Sect. Even until now, the corpses left behind back then could be seen piled into mountains! The bloodstains on the walls had already turned ck after enduring the weather over the years. With every city they passed, the captain would stop to kneel in front of the cities, paying his respect to the withered corpses. The final city. This was the central city, the capital of the Western Country in the past. After the years, the mor of the past had long disappeared. All their acquaintances of the past had already grown old as well. Most of them had returned to the earth. "I should have been here with you guys all those years ago."I think you should take a look at "My brothers, I have returned!" As he stood on that familiar piece ofnd, the captain''s tears streamed down his face as he could not ovee his sadness. Aiden seemed to be able to visualize the scene of the massacre that happened when ss Pce Sect descended. Against martial artists, mortals were helpless and their lives were as cheap as des of grass! Lowering his head, Aiden had a stoned expression. During the past few days of their travels, he had witnessed way too many corpses along the way. Massacre, violence, hunger, destitute, snatching, killing, cannibalism Every single bit of structure was destroyed. Human life was even cheaper than that of ants! The sight before him was no different from what Hell was described as in the holy teachings! As the mes of wars raged, the most helpless and pathetic ones were the mortals of the world who had no spirit roots and could not train. Through those mortals, Aiden caught glimpses of himself. He was originally one of the most ordinary people. If not for Number 13, he might have been one of the corpses they had encountered along the way! If Aiden had intervened, he might have been able to save one, two, or even a hundred people, but he wouldn''t have been able to save everybody. In fact, he could not even save his own kin! He could only watch as the sickly man approached the end of his lifespan. Along the way, Aiden had been contemting a single question. Even if he was able toe out 10 years ago, what difference would it have made? Would he have been able to save Su Hong? After all, the captain was just a mortal whose lifespan would be exhausted 20, 30, or even 40 yearster C the two of them were going to have to face an eternal farewell no matter what. Even if he had not offended ss Pce Sect, would the masses have escaped from a cmity as such? The mortals were still the first to suffer from the mes of war. Against martial artists, mortals had no control over their own fates! Martial artists could trample on the dignity of mortals as they pleased. No matter how the mortals struggled, nothing would change. If not for Granny and his Master, Aiden might have already died in some cmity of the past. He was a fortunate person. His loving family had altered his fate for him. However, who could change this poor man''s fate? Who could change the fate of all the living beings in the world? Were mortals that had no spirit roots and were unable to train condemned to be sacrifices of war? Were they meant to be the food of demon beasts and corpses to be trampled on by martial artists? Aiden was not a saint. He had never thought of bringing salvation for the living beings of the world singlehandedly. He merely wanted to help his kin survive. All he wanted, or perhaps, all mortals in the world should have a chance of fighting against their fates! "I want to establish my own power!" All of a sudden! Aiden raised his head and gripped his fists. An unprecedented light shone in his eyes as he said slowly with an unyielding and resolute tone! "I want to break free the shackles of fate that bind every single living being in the world!" "So what if one has no chance to be a martial artist because of weak and sickly core and root?" "I''m going to change the fate of all living beings!" "I''m going to allow all lives in this world the ability to train and be martial artists!" His voice reverberated through the heavens and echoed with a deafening vibration! Boom! Right after he spoke The initially clear skies boomed with thunder. A shuddering aura nketed downwards with an unstoppable divine might, as though he had offended the deities above! At the same time. All the patriarchs that were in seclusion in various secret grounds across the world jolted awake, looking at the firmaments with shock on their faces. In a strange, Golden Pce An old man wearing an old crown sensed something and divined with his fingers. He was startled and remarked, "Someone has justid down a great vow that has shocked even the firmaments!" Chapter 999 999 - A Peach Tree ? How difficult would it be for someone to dere such an outrageous im? Throughout history, there have been countless storms and yet, the only ones that were passed down in the world were the so-called righteous, evil, or demonic, and the religious teachings. How difficult would it be for someone to alter the fate of all living beings? Even with Number 13''s means, she could only change the fate of Aiden alone with the help of a sacred item like the Saraca Flower. Anyone else wouldn''t even dare to dream of something as such! Prior to this, the greatest goal in Aiden''s martial art was to head to another world and follow in Number 13''s footsteps. And yet The twilight and the hellish scene of the Northern Countries had given him a tremendous trigger. It was a sort of helplessness that brought forth indignance in Aiden''s heart! Was that this world''s mortal''s fate? Were those the fates of the living beings? Why? "I want to establish my own course!" Aiden hadid down a great vow! His vow was eternal and had an immortal legacy. There were many legends about it in theter generations. However, it was rare for them to imagine that the fates of all living beings would start to change right from this dpidated ancient city with a single old man in his twilight years as witness! It was nearing the end of autumn right now and the weather had turned frosty. The old captain stood in the chilling gust and his frail body swayed slightly. However, he had no intention of leaving. Finally, he turned around when night fell. "Let''s go." The moment the old man turned around, Aiden discovered that his dear friend of his seemed to have aged considerably overnight. Those hazy eyes no longer had any fluctuation within them. They were still as an ancient well. For the past many years, the old man had been waiting every single moment for this day to arrive. Right now, he no longer had any regrets. Aiden supported the old man to the carriage and they continued ahead. Although the two of them remained in the carriage, they caught wind of quite a bit of news throughout the way. In the past two years The Empress of Great North led the army personally to defend the borders. She devised strategies and managed to defend against the attacks of the allied army of the three dynasties countless times with the terrain advantage. However, as time passed by, the situation turned increasingly difficult for her. A month ago, the Empress of Great North was injured and nearly died. More than 500 kilometers around the borders fell in defeat! The might of the allied army was unstoppable and they infiltrated forcefully up North. Just like that, they overtook quite a number of vassal states within the territories of Great North. The Great North army of martial artists escaped while protecting the Empress of Great North the entire way. They were forced back to the North of the Iron Mountain Range and to the nearby city, almost forced to give up the whole countryside as well. The situation of Great North was extremely treacherous right now! Somewhere else near a small town. Upon arriving, Aiden released the Purple me Bird. He put away the carriage and supported the old captain to the ground. The leaves of autumn fell and the ce was in chaos. The streets of the small town were deste. Although it was daytime, there were not many people on the streets, and doors on either side were tightly shut as well. Before long, the allied army of the three dynasties would cross the Iron Mountain Range and invade this ce. There were not many people remaining in this small town by now; they were mostly old, weak, women, children, or people who were extremely sentimental about the ce. Aiden supported the old man back to his mansion. Pushing the door open to enter, the peach blossom tree was still present. Everything was the same as before. The captain said, "Let''s stay outside, looking at the skies and the world to the end." "Alright." Aiden returned to the living room and moved a bench outside. He helped the old man to lean on it before taking some nkets over to cover thetter. He headed to the backyard and got some bricks and mud. Before long, he set up two small furnaces in the courtyard beside the old man and lit some firewood in mes. Even after many years, his skills in doing so were not rusty. Aiden sat at the side and gazed at the burning mes of the furnace in a daze. A long timeter, the old man suddenly said, "Aiden, I''m already someone that''s about to die. Don''t stay here to apany me, go on." Aiden lowered his head and did not speak.I think you should take a look at Still, the old man said, "The young miss is injured and I know you''re worried. She''s definitely not in a good state right now. Go take a look and help her out." "She''ll be fine," Aiden replied, "As the empress, news would definitely spread a long time ago if anything happened to her." The old man shook his head and sighed internally. He could tell that despite Aiden''s remark, thetter could not conceal the worry deep in his eyes. "Brother, don''t worry. We don''t have to worry about such stuff," Aiden pinched the end of the old man''s nket and said softly. The old man nodded with heavy eyelids. The journey from the capital of Great North to this small town was long and even someone who was fit would feel fatigued, let alone an old man at the end of his road. Unknowingly, the old man fell asleep. Aiden sat in the courtyard and gazed at the South of Iron Mountain Range. He had a cold gaze and icy expression, remaining silent. Late at night The old man was already deep asleep. Finally, Aiden rose slowly and sped in the direction of Iron Mountain Range! Under the shroud of the night, Iron Mountain Range seemed extremely sinister and spooky. The shadows of trees swayed and the roars of ferocious beasts caused the mountains and earth to quake. From time to time, ferocious birds would glide through the air. All of a sudden! A gray-robed figure arrived in the skies above Iron Mountain Range! Under the cold moonlight, demonic energy shrouded that person and conjured a series of menacing ancient demons one after another! Aiden stood in the air with his mighty figure. His ck hair danced and his eyes were bloodshot, resembling a peerless demon king! Instantly! All the demonic beasts in Iron Mountain Range caught sight of that figure. "Roar!" Aiden opened his mouth and let out a deafening roar into the valley beneath him! The weather changed! From Aiden, all the demon beasts sensed a trepidating aura. It was a fear that stemmed from deep in their bloodline! A new ''king'' was born in Iron Mountain Range! All the spirit beasts and most of the spirit demons knelt on the ground in dead silence. However, there were still some demon beasts that red menacingly with malevolent auras. "Howl!" The overlord of Iron Mountain Range, the alpha gray wolf, reared its head into the skies and howled. The wolves got up one after another and responded in kind! Their howls spread through the entire ce! Aiden flew through the air silently and arrived before the alpha. Reaching out, he pushed down against the head of the alpha with his massive palm! The alpha opened its blood-filled mouth and chomped down savagely on Aiden''s wrist! The flesh on Aiden''s arm expanded and his tendons pulsated! His entire arm seemed to be made of steel! The alpha not only failed to bitepletely, he nearly broke his own fangs! Bang! A single round. The alpha was murdered by Aiden in a single round and its body split into pieces! At the same time, a Martial Master realm Silvermoon Lion lunged over from behind. With the cover of the moonlight, the Silvermoon Lion''s body was almost invisible! As though he had eyes behind his back, Aiden threw a punch in reverse without even turning back! Boom! The Silvermoon Lion was killed by Aiden with a punch as well! Fresh blood sttered. Two ancient remnant beasts could not even withstand a single punch from Aiden! "Roar!" Drenched in blood, Aiden looked down at the entire valley and howled once more. No other demon beast dared to make a sound. Complete silence nketed the mountain ranges and swamps! Chapter 1000 1000 - Threat In The Distance ? For the next period of time Aiden behaved like a mortal, apanying the old man daily, spending his days chopping firewood for fire, cooking, and chatting. He was going to apany the old man to the end of the road. Aiden recounted his experiences in the years. He started from all those years ago, starting from the moment he arrived into this world, this strange, yet surprisingly living realm. He recounted every single bit in detail without hiding anything. The old man had never heard of anything as such and everything was extremely fresh for him. When he was excited, his energy level would rise as well. Of course, as time passed by and the weather turned colder, the old man''s health declined and the time he spent awake diminished as well. Instead, he slept for increased periods of time. In fact, he even told Aiden in a seemingly joking manner, "Who knows if I might just fall asleep as such one day and never wake up again." Aiden did not reply as his heart soured in pain. When the old man was awake, Aiden could not bear to leave. He knew that every single minute spent between them was a minute less left. Every single sentence he said was a sentence less for them remaining. He would only leave after the old man was asleep. After leaving the mansion, Aiden would move around the small town in an indeterminate direction, pausing asionally to mull for a prolonged period of time. He walked extremely slowly, as though he was strolling casually. However, if any sharp martial artist were to pass by, they would be able to notice that there was a trickle of spirit energy leaking from Aiden''s fingertip. It was like a sharp dagger that was carving something on the ground. Mysterious scars would appear on the ground behind him one after another, looking like runic patterns. A single breeze from the cold wind was all it took to cover the scars with dust. When he sensed that the old man was awake, Aiden would return to the mansion to continue chatting with his brother. Only when the old man was asleep, he would leave again. Day after day, he repeated the cycle. Nothing seemed to have changed. However, Aiden could clearly sense the old man''s deteriorating health. His lifespan was ending and he was already nearing its limits! This day, after the old man entered slumber once more, Aiden left the mansion and pulled out a series of old gs from his storage bag C there were a total of 49. The gpoles were made of wood but there were no signs of corrosion. The gs were made from unknown beast skins and had mysterious,plicated patterns on them. A single nce was enough to confuse anyone, as though their souls were drawn in! Aiden flew through the air. Everywhere he passed, he would examine for a long time before tossing down a g. The gpole would slide right into the ground before vanishing after a mysterious glow. One after another By the time he cast all 49 gs into the ground, he had already gone one round around the small town and was visibly fatigued with sweat on his forehead. His act of tossing the gs looked simple but it took a huge toll on him mentally! Suddenly, Aiden''s heart skipped a beat and he returned to the mansion immediately. The old man had already awoken by now. Today, he looked to be in a much better condition. However, Aiden''s heart ached. He was clear that this was a sign of the final respite of lucidity before the end. The old man smiled gently. "Young Master, help me heat up a bottle of wine to warm my body." "Alright." Aiden came beside the old man and lit the furnace to boil water. There was a bottle of wine in the boiling water. The old man said, "Young Master, the things you''ve told me about your adventures, your martial art in this period of time are truly mysterious, magnificent, and inspiring. It''s good that you want to establish such a bright future and help everyone be the best they can be. However, I can also tell that something such as this promise you made is even more difficult than ascending the heavens." "That''s right." Aiden nodded. To establish something like that was unlike that of the other, more established paths such that the masses without spirit roots could grow stronger that was something that even the primordial emperors could not achieve, let alone a mere Martial Master like Aiden! The path was endless and the future was unknown. Nobody could help him. The moment he decided on establishing such a future, Aiden was destined to be alone! But of course, groups were only meant for sheeps C all ferocious beasts walk alone! The old man dered loudly, "What sort of boldness is required to want to change the fates of all living beings in the world? Aiden, whether or not you seed, I will definitely be proud of you!"I think you should take a look at Immediately after, the old man looked somewhat dejected and sighed gently. "It''s just a pity that I won''t be able to witness that moment. Also, when I''m not around, young master you must live on well, and look after the others too. Do not leave them behind, please." "I won''t" Aiden felt his nose stuffing up as he choked and was unable to speak. The old man waved it off and pointed to the little furnace at the side. "Pour me a bowl of wine." A faint fragrance wafted from the bottle of wine that was in the boiling water. The wine was already warmed. Aiden repressed the sadness in his heart and poured a bowl of piping wine for the old man. After he received it, the old man gazed at the fragrant wine in the bowl with a dazed look. In a sh, a suave young man in splendid attire seemed to be reflected on the water''s surface. He raised his spear and led heavily armored cavalry into a war, dominating the battlefield! One after another, the scenes shed through the water''s surface. A long, long timeter A glimmering snowkended on the wine and dispersed, breaking apart the water surface that resembled a mirror. It was snowing. This was the first snow of winter. The end of autumn and the arrival of winter seemed to imply something. The scenes from earlier had already vanished. The only thing left on the water''s surface was an old face. The old man smiled suavely and raised his bowl of wine, downing it in a single mouthful! It was as though he had consumed his entire life with that mouthful of wine! "Good wine!" With a loudugh, the old man passed on. Aiden copsed and knelt with a thud. He gazed at the old man before him and could not hold back any longer as tears streamed like a fountain. This day had eventually arrived. Although he was prepared for it, Aiden still felt a heartbreaking sadness at the actual departure of the old man. The deeper one was invested in secr affairs, the harder it was for them to sever them. The deeper one was invested, the more painful it would be! The skies gradually darkened. The snow was getting heavier. Aiden knelt before the old man motionlessly with a dazed expression. He was a martial artist. He was the strongest monster incarnate in history. He was the second person throughout history who managed to cultivate to the Extreme Martial Knight realm. Even so, he could not save his closest kin! The snow fell heavily. The temperature turned colder. However, Aiden''s heart seemed to be burning with a relentless ze! A long timeter, the sound of people and horses could vaguely be heard from the South of Iron Mountain Range; the sound turned clearer as time passed by. The hooves of the horses were getting closer! Although ordinary people may not be able to sense it, Aiden could hear it clearly! Pshew! Pshew! Pshew! There were even sounds of spirit vessels speeding through the air in the mor. Far away, dust and earth was overturned! With a cold expression, Aiden rose and his eyes surged with torrential killing intent. Soaring into the air, he sped towards Iron Mountain Range! Dust billowed, the earth shook and the light of armors shone. Far away, a ck army was approaching slowly with a steely killing intent. A single look at the dense crowd would reveal that there were millions of people! What was even more frightening was that the army was made up of a few million martial artists! Those marching on the ground were fierce warriors. Those riding on mounts were Martial Knight martial artists. Above the army, there were even spirit vessels traveling through the air. A few martial artists stood on the deck and looked down at the masses against the winds. Those that could board the spirit vessels were all Martial Masters! This was the allied army of the three dynasties. Led by the princes of the three dynasties, this was an army that consisted fully of martial artists! Chapter 1001 1001 - Overconfidence ? No vassal state they passed could defend against them! Moreover, there were even a number of Martial Grandmasters that held the fort within the allied army; it was just that they rarely showed themselves. Right at the very end of the allied army, a dpidated city that was bloodstained and billowed with smoke could be vaguely seen. Rising Sun City of Great North Country was already reduced to ruins. Corpses were strewn all over the city and there were rivers of blood! The City Lord of Rising Sun City did not surrender and stood to fight. As such, when the city was breached, the prince of the invading Great West Dynasty ordered to ughter every singlest person in the city with no survivors! The cities would be ughtered if they did not surrender! Along the way, the allied army trampled over countless cities, leaving nothing but mountains of corpses and rivers of blood. This was an apocalyptic disaster for the citizens and living beings of the world! Even if there were mortals that were indignant and struggled or grumbled, nothing changed. Some of them chose to escape. However, how difficult was it to escape? How could mortals escape the pursuit of martial artists with their fragile bodies. Even if they were lucky enough to escape the hunt of the martial artists, how long could those mortals survive in this chaotic era where there were bandits and hoodlums all around? If they hid in the forests, even beasts that were not sentient would most likely be able to kill them, let alone spirit beasts and demons. Their fates were sealed. The allied army crossed Iron Mountain Range that was not far away and soon, the same fate would befall the small countryside town. The princes of the Great East, West, and South Dynasties were gathered on thergest and most majestic spirit vessel, surrounded by Martial Master guards. The defense was tight! The three of them were in a leisure chat with their wine sses raised merrily. The prince of Great West was fat and when he smiled, his eyes narrowed into a thin slit. They shone with a gold glint as he said lustfully, "I heard from a secret report that the Young North Miss is in San Lorn City right now. As long as we cross that valley in front and another few small towns, we''ll arrive at San Lorn City!" "Fufu, you''re moved, Brother Shi?" The prince of Great West was a refined man who asked with a fake smile. "Heh!" The prince of Great Eastughed. "The young miss can be considered as a peerless beauty and it won''t be too much to say that she''s the number one beauty of our four dynasties of the North Region. Who wouldn''t want a taste of that?" "What''s even rarer is that she''s the Empress of Great North. If I can make her submit, the feeling would be" The prince of Great South''s body was robust and he sneered and smacked his lips. The prince of Great East smiled gently. "I''m not going to fight with you two. However, I heard that the princess has a younger sister who is also a beauty. She does interest me instead." "Hahahaha!" The three of them exchanged nces andughed merrily. "Although, the young empress might not stay in San Lorn City. If she continues retreating, we''ll still have to chase her for quite a bit." The prince of Great East said darkly. "No," The prince of Great West said calmly, "She is stubborn by nature. If not for the fact that she was injured previously and chose to retreat because the eldest prince of Great North took control temporarily, there is no way the Great North Dynasty would choose to give up on so much of their territory." "But now, I heard that she''s already awake. Given her character, she will definitely stand by San Lorn City and defend it steadfastly!" "That''s for the best!" The prince of Great South pped andughed. The prince of Great North remarked with a smile, "In my opinion, the imperial court of Great North is already in a mess. Even if she is awake, the eldest prince of Great North will not want to relinquish his position so easily!" "Hehe, there''s no guarantee that they won''t end up in internal strife. At that time, we''ll be able to reap the rewards without even interfering! We''ll capture the Empress of Great North alive and continue heading North to charge right into their nest!" "Awesome!" "Let''s drink!" The three princes sat on the deck under the starry night and chatted with vigor. Suddenly, the troops at the front slowed down. "Hmm?" The prince of Great South frowned gently. Not long after, a Martial Master streaked through the air. The moment he descended on the deck, he knelt on one knee. "Princes, we have already arrived at Iron Mountain Range! It''ste at night now and beasts wander the valley dangerously. Should we proceed and cross it or make a detour?" The prince of Great South rose and shouted, "Of course we cross it! Our allied army is mighty and invincible! How can a mere Iron Mountain Range stand in our way!" "Go on," The prince of Great East waved his arm. "This mountain range isn''t some ancient forest. At the most, there are only some Martial Master spirit demons. There aren''t even any fiend demons. What are you afraid of?"I think you should take a look at The prince of Great West chuckled as well. "General Sun, you are indeed a little too cautious." "If we cross a mountain range as such alone in the night, there''s a chance we might get ambushed by the demons. However, given our mighty force, the demon beasts will want nothing more than to hide far away. What threat can there be?" "Understood," General Sun nodded and turned to leave. He floated in midair and bellowed, "Continue forward!" Bang! Boom! Boom! The army moved together with a terrifying might! Although the allied army had a few million troops, it was also nothingpared to the Iron Mountain Range which spanned hundreds of kilometers. Not far behind the three princes, a skinny old man opened his eyes and gazed at the dark forest before them. It was as though there was an ancient ferocious beastying in ambush with its mouth wide open awaiting the group of them to send themselves to him! The feeling arrived and disappeared almost instantaneously, like an impulse. The skinny old man frowned slightly and shrugged it off. He then closed his eyes and returned to meditation. The valley meandered around with ancient trees. Due to the low visibility, the army proceeded at a slow speed. However, the allied army did not encounter any danger along the way! The surroundings were quiet. Everything went silent! Not long after, the allied army had already crossed more than half of the Iron Mountain Range. All the troops let down their guard. The prince of Great South burst intoughter. "Indeed, it''s as you had expected! All the beasts in this mountain range are too afraid to even appear! Hahaha!" "Something isn''t right!" Suddenly, a voice sounded not far away. The skinny old man had a grim expression and his be shed, spreading his spirit consciousness slowly. "It''s way too quiet! It''s so quiet that it''s sinister!" Even if the demon beasts of the Iron Mountain Range were frightened into hiding, there was no way they wouldn''t have encountered a single demon beast the entire way! It was as though all the creatures had hidden themselves a long time ago! The surrounding air suddenly turned stale. There was a deep killing intent shrouding the dark, sinister forest! Pshew! All of a sudden! The sound of a sharp de tearing through the air echoed. Immediately, there was a boom! The bow of the spirit vessel seemed to have been struck by something and exploded right in front of everyone! The massive spirit vessel broke into parts and among the dozens of Martial Masters, some of them died on the spot! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Cold lights shed. Sharp arrows burst forth from the dark forest before them one after another, arriving instantly and striking the spirit vessels in midair. Bang! Bang! Bang! The spirit vessels exploded one after another! Splintered limbs flew all over and the skies were stained red. Some of the Martial Masters on the spirit vessels had not even managed to react before they were turned into blood mists by a tremendous power! Debris of the vessels flew everywhere and when theynded in the crowd, some of the energy Condensation and Martial Knight martial artists who were not prepared were crushed to death. The arrows were extremely fast and some of the martial artists present had already let their guard down a long time ago and could not react to it. The allied army fell into chaos. Although the remaining spirit vessels were not struck by the arrows, many Martial Masters were already frightened and abandoned the vessels to soar into the skies. "Roar!" "Howl!" "Screech!" All of a sudden! Chapter 1002 1002 - Ferocious Beast King ? A series of shuddering cries of beasts sounded from the depths of the forest. An evil gust of wind blew over and the ancient trees swayed! The leaves rustled. In the skies far away, many beasts tore through the air in a dense flock. It was as though all the beasts and birds of Iron Mountain Range had appeared all of a sudden, forming a beast stampede that charged with an engulfing might! The spirit vessel of the three princes was located right in the middle of the allied army and did not receive too much of an impact. At that moment, all three princes rose and gazed over. They could see things even clearer from up in the air! The entire Iron Mountain Range was moving! Countless demons were going berserk! The trees and grass shook as thousands of demon beasts scurried forth from all directions, forming a massive beast stampede with a terrifying might that was shocking! All three princes looked terrible. The prince of Great East narrowed his eyes and asked darkly, "What''s going on?" Compared to the true massive forests, major regions of demons, or even the realms of the eight demon races in the world, Iron Mountain Range was nothing much. After all, there had never been any demon born in the valley after all these years. But now, it was definitely unusual for a beast stampede to burst forth from the mountain range to attack the allied army. The skinny old man was a Martial Grandmaster and was the personal guard of the prince of Great East. At that moment, he knitted his brows and gazed at the dark forest before them in silence. Not far away, the personal guards of the princes of the Great West and You dynasties, two other Martial Grandmasters, rose as well. One of them was a bald burly man in heavy armor. He strode over in huge steps and said darkly, "A new demon king must have been born in this mountain range." "That''s right, the demon beasts of the mountain range will only gather under themand of a demon king to form a beast stampede of such a scale!" The other Martial Grandmaster was a white-bloused woman. "Princes, don''t worry. We have a hundred Martial Grandmasters apanying this army. Even if this demon king is a pure-blooded ferocious beast, it will have to die!" The bald burly man said. The prince of Great West had an uneasy expression and suddenly asked, "Where''s the beast king?" "This" The bald burly man and the white-bloused woman exchanged nces C neither of them was certain. Searching for a single demon beast in a beast stampede was equivalent to searching for a pin in a haystack C it was indeed difficult. The skinny old man gazed ahead and suddenly said, "The beast stampede came from all directions except for one!" Right ahead! The group around the princes on the spirit vessel was not the only people to sense something, the Martial Masters at the front did as well C everyone gazed at the sinisterly dark forest before them with grim expressions. The arrows came from that direction! Light was blurry in the forest. The Martial Masters could vaguely see a blurry shadow in the forest up ahead, resembling a tiny mountain peak. "Who is there?" Someone shouted. The moment he said that the ''mountain peak'' moved! It grew endlessly. The ancient trees around them shook! In the blink of an eye, that ''mountain peak'' had already exceeded the height of the ancient trees and was more than a hundred feet tall! Everyone in the allied army turned their heads over instinctively. A gigantic shadow covered them from above the skies That was no mountain peak It was clearly a humanoid ferocious beast that had just risen! Standing at the front with its majestic body, it was like an unshakable tower! Instantly, the entire Iron Mountain Range seemed like it was part of the backdrop! The massive ferocious beast''s ck hair danced wildly and it was surrounded by demonic energy, resembling an arch demon. A pair of bloodshot eyes looked down at the allied army as it breathed out air currents through its nose! It was as though those bloodshot eyes could spew mes! Psst! Many martial artists were scared out of their wits and gasped. Countless horses neighed in fright and fell to the ground, peeing and shitting themselves helplessly! Even beasts had to bow down to this humanoid ferocious beast, let alone mere horses! Countless Martial Knight martial artists fell from their mounts and the army was in chaos. Even the Martial Grandmasters who were present were shocked at the sight of this, let alone the low-leveled martial artists! This was way too ferocious! They could sense an immense killing intent from the humanoid ferocious beast, an apocalyptic malevolent energy that threatened to devour everything in its path! Up till this point of their martial art, they hade across many pure-blooded ferocious beasts.I think you should take a look at However, even the fiercest pure-blooded ferocious beasts looked like kittenspared to this ferocious beast before them. The person blocking their way was none other than Aiden who had just experienced the pain of losing kin in his demon form! "Roar!" Aiden took a deep breath of air and his chest puffed. Opening his mouth, he took on the stance of attack and released a deafening howl! The weather changed! Boom! It was as though thunder had struck! Against the mighty howl, the beasts cried and the birds screeched; the sound of the beasts trampling endlessly seemed to have vanished. Countless ancient trees were uprooted! The minds of the Martial Masters right at the front went nk as they stood motionlessly in midair with frozen looks on their faces. There was a brief pause. Poof! Poof! Poof! Blood mists appeared one after another. It was like a tragic burst of fireworks. Against the horrifying soundwave, dozens of Martial Masters exploded from the shock, turning into blood mists without corpses! The Martial Masters slightly further away also had stoned gazes. They bled from all seven orifices and their lives were severed. One after another, figures fell from midair. The situation on the ground was even worse for the allied army. There were countless energy Condensation and Martial Knight martial artists that were ruptured to death! The beast stampede had already closed in together with the howl, charging into the allied army with a wild massacre! Spirit lights filled the skies and spirit energy surged. Fresh blood sttered all over the forest. martial artists were weak physically and the greatest taboo for them in a fight against demon beasts was being closed in. And now, demon beasts were charging into the crowd endlessly, gnawing and swiping their ws at everything before them C this was something that energy Condensation and Martial Knight martial artists could not defend against at all. Furthermore, there were tens of millions of demon beasts in Iron Mountain Range, a few times more than the number of troops in the allied army! Up in the skies, down on the ground, deep underground Demon beasts were everywhere! The gathering of countless demon beasts formed a massive force! Even Martial Masters would most likely die if they were closed in by spirit demons of Martial Master realm! Only a few Perfected Beings with Martial Master phenomenons managed to hold out in midair. However, the true terror had only just begun. The moment Aiden returned from the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley and decided to attack, it was already decided that Iron Mountain Range would turn into an endless Hell for the allied army! Aiden moved his mighty body and took a step forward like a towering archdemon! Bang! Boom! Boom! A massive blood-colored ravine was carved out on the ground! Many energy Condensation and Martial Knight martial artists could not dodge in time and were trampled into meat sludge by Aiden''s gigantic feet, mixing into the ground! A single step from him caused the entire mountain range to quake! "How dare you behave so insolently, beast!" "Kill him!" Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Spirit lights shed. Flying swords streaked everywhere. Many Martial Masters attacked and released their flying swords, sending forth a series of white beams towards Aiden''s body like a heavy downpour! Although there were many Martial Masters in the allied army, their strength were far too weakpared to the paragons of the North Region many years ago. The flying swords they used were also top-grade flying swords. Even supreme-grade spirit weapons were rare, let alone perfect or connate spirit weapons. Aiden did not dodge or avoid. In fact, he did not even blink as he allowed those white beams to pierce his body! ng! ng! ng! The sound of metal shing echoed. Countless flying swords were repelled C they could not pierce Aiden''s body at all! Bang! Bang! Bang! Aiden took three consecutive strides forward and rammed domineeringly. Countless ancient trees were uprooted and snapped on the stop and many martial artists were trampled to death! Chapter 1003 1003 - Exceeding Everything ? Each time his gigantic feet stomped down on the crowd and left, a red, bloody region would appear. There were initially millions of martial artists in the allied army. But now, they were mostly defeated and split up by Aiden to fight in small groups. With the swarm of the beast stampede, although they had only fought for a brief moment, the allied army received a tremendous blow and suffered heavy losses! This was the core of Iron Mountain Range. Even if they wanted to retreat, there was nowhere out for them! Demon beasts were cruel and bloodthirsty by nature. Now that there was a massive massacre, the demons were even more excited and their eyes were bloodshot! On the spirit vessel. The princes of the three dynasties frowned. The bald burly man said darkly, "Don''t worry, princes. That''s only a Martial Master realm spirit demon. Although it''s slightlyrger in size, there''s nothing to worry about." "That''s right." The white-bloused woman nodded in agreement. "We just need a few top-tier Martial Masters on the battlefield to release their Martial Master phenomenons and it would be enough to kill that demon!" Before her sentence wasplete, a few Martial Masters that killed a few demon beasts in session had already released their movement techniques to charge toward Aiden. "Beast, catch my River Crossing Chains!" The person hollered and a gigantic river surged behind him, crashing on the shores. An extremely thick chain crossed the river and whipped Aiden ruthlessly! Bang! Bang! Another few Martial Masters charged forward and released their phenomenons that surged with a burst power as well. "Scram!" Aiden hollered and waved his gigantic fist against the few Martial Master phenomenons with such vigor it seemed like he could devour rivers and mountains with his roar alone! "You''re asking for death!" "At the end of the day, he''s nothing but a beast. To think that he would try to take on Martial Master phenomenons head-on with his body!" Ssh! Aiden''s fierce blood, tendons, and bones sounded together. That single punch from him instantly released a tragic aura of blood stench! Boom! There was a deafening sound. The void seemed to be frozen. Immediately after, the Martial Master phenomenons in midair shattered entirely! A few Martial Masters were severely impacted and they fell from midair with pale faces while puking blood C they were most likely doomed! "Hmm?" The expressions of everyone on the spirit vessel changed. The strength of that demon beast had exceeded their expectations! A metallic strong body that was invulnerable against weapons, fire, and water. Even thebined attack of a few Martial Masters with their phenomenons could not injure him at all. Instead, they were killed by a single punch by him! What sort of terrifying power did that body of his possess? "Something isn''t right!" The prince of Great West frowned with a grim expression. "If this continues, our allied army is going to be destroyed by this beast! Perfected Lords, please make a move." "Don''t worry, prince. I''ll head over right now and retrieve the head of that beast!" The bald burly man red at Aiden who was not far away with a murderous aura and smacked his lips. "I''ll go too," The white-bloused woman took the initiative to obey the order. "Please hold on, the both of you!" The skinny old man frowned slightly. "The three of us have a mission to protect the safety of our princes. We should let our fellow Martial Grandmasters deal with this beast." There were another hundred Martial Grandmasters that apanied the allied army. At that moment, themotion of Iron Mountain Range had already alerted the other Martial Grandmasters. One after another, figures soared into the air from the back of the army with terrifying auras that were much more frightening than Martial Masters. They sped to the front with sharp gazes. The skinny old man said deeply with a glint in his eyes, "There''s something weird about this. It''s better for us to be careful." "Hehe." The bald burly man''s eyes shed with mockery as he chuckled. "Fellow Daoist, aren''t you being overly cautious? Surely a Martial Master spirit demon can''t cause any huge troubles?" "There''s no need to argue," The prince of Great West said calmly, "Thebined attack of a hundred Martial Grandmasters will fill the entire ce with Divine powers. There''s no need to fear these beasts, all we have to do is sit back and wait." "Where''s the beast?" The white-bloused woman eximed softly and suddenly asked. "What beast?" Everyone froze for a moment.I think you should take a look at Thereafter, they came to a gradual realization. Just as they conversed, the towering humanoid ancient beast had vanished! Everyone looked down in a hurry. The battlefield was intense and chaotic but there were no traces of the humanoid beast! How was that possible? It was extremely difficult for that massive body to remain hidden C how could it have vanished? The three princes had uncertain expressions. The bald burly man frowned. "Don''t worry, princes. I''ll check it out with my spirit consciousness." His be shone as he spread out his spirit consciousness that extended continuously. Sight was one of the five senses and was limited in use. The moment one''s eyes were covered, they wouldn''t be able to see anything. Their vision would also be obstructed by any objects blocking their view ahead. This was the logic behind the saying of how one wouldn''t recognize something great in front of them if their eyes were covered even by a piece of leaf. However, spirit consciousness was an energy fluctuation released by the Essence Spirit, a sensory tool that extended outwards. Even with closed eyes, if the spirit consciousness met with any obstructions, it would just wrap around them like water. It could permeate every single pore and it was omnipresent, reflecting images in the mind clear as day! There were no secrets that could be hidden! It was simple if a demon beast wanted to hide in this forest. However, it would be more difficult than ascending the mountains if it wanted to avoid detection from spirit consciousness. The bald burly man retracted his spirit consciousness a whileter with a terrible expression. There was nothing! The search radius of his spirit consciousness extended for a full five kilometers. However, there was no trace of the humanoid ferocious beast at all! The bald burly man was a little confused. It was practically impossible to escape more than five kilometers within such a short period of time! Even Martial Grandmasters and Void Reversions wouldn''t be able to do it, let alone a spirit demon at Martial Master realm! It was as though the humanoid ferocious beast had disappeared into thin air! In reality, the bald burly man was not the only one. The hundred Martial Grandmasters in midair, as well as the white-bloused woman and skinny old man, had released their spirit consciousnesses instantly to track down Aiden. However, none of them sensed anything. All of a sudden! A change urred on the battlefield! The hundred Martial Grandmasters in midair were descending onto the battlefield, releasing their spirit consciousnesses to check. A Martial Grandmaster had just passed by an ancient tree when unexpectedly, a thick arm reached out from the darkness! The arm was thick like an anaconda and wrapped itself around the Martial Grandmaster, pulling him behind the ancient tree! "Ah!" The person only managed to let out a brief, tragic cry before silence ensued. Bang! A disfigured body was tossed out from behind the ancient tree C its head was smashed to a pulp! Although its appearance waspletely destroyed, it could be seen from the corpse''s attire that this was the Martial Grandmaster who was attacked earlier on! "Who''s there?!" "Kill!" A group of Martial Grandmasters roared and released their Divine arts that surged towards the ancient tree like a tidal wave. Boom! The ancient tree exploded into dust! In the darkness, a figure could be seen sliding off the ancient tree long ago. With nimble moves, it tunneled into the forest in a sh and disappeared! "It''s him!" "That''s the humanoid beast!" Although they could not catch sight of the figure''s face, everyone could clearly tell that the aura it emanated was exactly the same as the humanoid beast! "Where can you run to?" Many Martial Grandmasters hollered and gave chase. However, limited vision was already an issue to begin with in the forest. Coupled with the dark night skies, the group of them lost sight of the humanoid ferocious beast once again after a short chase! "What is that demon beast?" "I''ve got no idea. I tried using my spirit consciousness to check it out earlier but I couldn''t see its true form, as though something was blocking me!" "How could this be?" A few Martial Grandmasters frowned and discussed in hushed voices. If a demon took on mortal form, its true form could be revealed easily with the use of spirit consciousness as long as the difference between their martial art realms wasn''t too great. Chapter 1004 - Crafty little thing Chapter 1004 - Crafty little thing A few Martial Grandmasters frowned and discussed in hushed voices. If a demon took on mortal form, its true form could be revealed easily with the use of spiritual consciousness as long as the difference between their martial art realms wasn''t too great. For example, if an anaconda took on mortal form, the image that appeared in the martial artist''s mind after a check with spirit consciousness would be an anaconda! The effect was even more obvious with the use of the Demon Revealing Mirror. After forming a core, demons could take on mortal form and speak inmon tongue. If they advanced further and trained an Essence Spirit, they could even hide their demonic energy and at that point, even martial artists would be hard-pressed to differentiate them! Because of that, in the ancient era, an emperor created a weapon targeted at demons called the Demon Revealing Mirror. Later on, it becamemon and widespread in the martial art world. High-grade Demon Revealing Mirrors could even revert the demon beasts to their true forms with the release of Divine powers! Even if they couldn''t, the mirrors would reflect the demon beasts'' true forms so that everyone could see. "How strange!" A ck-robed Martial Grandmaster mumbled. Suddenly, a purple-winged eagle flew toward them with a vicious gaze. It reached out with its pair of sharp talons and grabbed the ck-robed martial artist. "You have a death wish, beast!" The ck-robed martial artist harrumphed coldly and tapped his be to pull out a flying sword. Divine powers surged as he waved his robes, sending the flying sword forward! Poof! The speed of that sword was way too fast! The purple-winged eagle tried its best to dodge but it still failed and was pierced by the sword, dying on the spot. The carcass of the purple-winged eagle fell from midair and passed by the ck-robed martial artist. The ck-robed martial artist did not pay any attention after ying a Martial Master realm spirit demon. During his absence of mind, he felt a figure sh past the corner of his eyes! A chilling killing intent surfaced! Instantly, the ck-robed martial artist felt as though he had fallen into a pit of ice water. It was the humanoid ferocious beast! The ferocious beast had been hiding on the purple-winged eagle and only struck after the carcass of the eagle passed by the martial artist! The ck-robed martial artist''s flying sword was not by his side and he panicked. In his fluster, he conjured hand seals to release Divine arts to repel the intruder. However, they were too close together and the figure had already leaped towards him in the blink of an eye! The intruder reached out with both arms and clutched the ck-robed martial artist''s shoulder des, exerting strength in his fingers. "Pfft!" Fingernails that were as sharp as daggers pierced the bones and flesh of the ck-robed martial artist instantly! "Ah!" The ck-robed martial artist howled in pain and cold sweat ran down his face immediately. Before he could react, the intruder''s knees were already rammed forward like a sprinting stallion. Bang! The ck-robed martial artist''s chest caved him and his eyes bulged. With a ripping sound, his arms were torn right off him! A blood mist spewed out! Another Martial Grandmaster was dead! "How dare you, beast!" The other Martial Grandmasters realized what happened and were enraged, summoning their Divine weapons hurriedly to turn around and give chase. Under the guise of the night, the figure did not pause at all after killing the ck-robed martial artist, turning into a streak of light before bolting into another part of the forest. After turns and twists, it rushed into the beast stampede and disappeared before long again! All the Martial Grandmasters had grim expressions on their faces after chasing all the way without gaining anything in return. In their wrath, the Martial Grandmasters attacked one after another, summoning their Divine weapons and releasing Divine arts, almost ttening the entire forest! Countless demon beasts in the vicinity died! On the spirit vessel, the prince of Great East could not help but ask uneasily, "Where has that beast gone to? We can''t let him escape just like this!" The white-bloused woman raised her brow and remarked in confusion, "For some unknown reason, my spirit consciousness can''t lock onto that person. The moment my spirit consciousness spreads out, it''s blocked." "I get the same feeling as well." The bald burly man nodded. Everyone turned towards the skinny old man by instinct. Among the three of them, the skinny old man was the most experienced with the highest martial art realm. "There are only two possibilities," The skinny old man said, "First, the demon beast trained some sort of a demonic secret skill that can block away spirit consciousnesses. Second, it''s carrying some sort of a treasure that can block out spirit consciousnesses!" The white-bloused woman and bald burly man nodded with pensive expressions. The gaze of the skinny old man shone coldly. "This demon beast''s martial art realm isn''t high so it''s unrealistic for it to train such a demonic martial art. I''m guessing that it should be in possession of a treasure!" The hearts of the white-bloused woman and bald burly man skipped a beat as their eyes shed with a brief hint of greed. A treasure as such was also valuable to them! The skinny old man was not wrong. The humanoid ferocious beast that killed two Martial Grandmasters in session was Aiden. The treasure that the skinny old man was referring to were the Nigal Prayer Beads. Although Aiden underwent both types of martial art techniques and trained and learned from both sides of the coin he was not an ultimate expert in any of them. His true strength was definitely not a match for Martial Grandmasters. Furthermore, he was up against a hundred Martial Grandmasters! A head-on fight would be courting death. His advantage was in meleebat! Aiden only managed to kill the two Martial Grandmasters after making use of theplex environment of Iron Mountain Range, the dark night, and the Nigal Prayer Beads alongside a change of his body and appearance. Although the processes were simple, the difference between life and death was merely a single breath. However, Aiden was the only one who knew how dangerous it was. If he was slower by a single step ormitted a single mistake, he would be locked down by the hundred Martial Grandmasters and killed on the spot! Furthermore, after killing two Martial Grandmasters in session, the remaining martial artists were now extremely guarded. Any activity at this point would lead to a thunderous retaliation. The dark night had already passed. The skies were turning brighter. It was no longer possible for a sneak attack. Aiden hid in the depths of the forest as one with his surroundings and red at thergest spirit vessel in midair with a cold, silent expression. After the deaths of two Martial Grandmasters in session, the remaining Martial Grandmasters had grim expressions as they stood tensely in midair. Any hint of danger or activity would alert everyone to attack preemptively! No matter the demon beast, anything that tried getting close would be in mercilessly! "Where''s that beast?" The prince of Great East asked loudly. It had been quite some time after the two Martial Grandmasters were killed and Aiden never appeared again, as though he had already left the ce. "This beast is extremely crafty," The bald burly man harrumphed coldly. "If he dares to appear right now, he''ll definitely be locked down and killed!" The white-bloused woman said, "Demon beasts are much sharper towards danger than mortals. I''m guessing that it has already escaped." After the both of them spoke, they turned and looked at the skinny old man automatically. The skinny old man shook his head. "I don''t know. I''m just curious as to why that demon beast would gather a beast stampede to stand in the way of our allied army." Right then, a Martial Master sped toward them, drenched in blood. The armor on his body was almost torn apartpletely by the demon beasts. The person descended on the deck of the spirit vessel and walked towards the three princes, saying hoarsely, "Princes, the beast stampede is way too ferocious and we can''t defend against it. Please release the order for us to retreat, princes!" "Bullshit!" The prince of Great East pped the table and stood up, berating, "We''ve got a hundred Martial Grandmasters apanying our allied army. If they attack, we can suppress the beast stampede at any time!" "Humph!" The prince of Great South narrowed his gaze and said coldly, "Although you''re a general of the army, the way you''re dropping our morale is punishable by death!" "That''s enough," The prince of Great West waved it off. "General Sun, head on down first and kill the enemies as best as you can. Victory is already decided with the Martial Grandmaster seniors around." General Sun was someone from the Great West Dynasty after all and could not be killed for such a reason. The prince of Great West had to protect him no matter what. Furthermore, the situation on the battlefield was indeed as he had described. Many Martial Grandmasters had already attacked and released Divine arts to suppress the beast stampede! Chapter 1005 - Surprise attacks Chapter 1005 - Surprise attacks Although the beast stampede was ferocious, they were inferior in terms of martial arts realm at the end of the day and could not withstand the killing might of Martial Grandmasters. The force of the beast stampede was already showing signs of weakness! In that short period of time, General Sun did not stop in his tracks on the spirit vessel and approached the three princes. When the battle broke out, the skinny old man and the other two Martial Grandmasters had already closed into the three princes to prevent idents from happening. The first to notice something unusual was the bald burly man. Looking at General Sun who was walking over, the bald burly man frowned and barked, "Don''t you know the rules? How dare you not kneel down in front of the princes!" At the same time, the skinny old man frowned and released his spirit consciousness across General Sun. "Hmm?" The skinny old man''s expression changed. His spirit consciousness was blocked by a mysterious energy! It was a familiar feeling, as though Not good! The skinny old man gasped and his heart nearly stopped! At the same time, a voice sounded coldly, "I''m not kneeling because I''m here to send you to your graves!" At that moment, General Sun had already arrived before the three Martial Grandmasters. Right in front of everyone, General Sun''s facial muscles twitched sinisterly and he transformed into another person in the blink of an eye! It was a refined-looking schr whose eyes were cold and murderous! The intruder was not General Sun, but a transformed Aiden! Almost everyone was focused on what was happening outside. Nobody thought that Aiden would dare to approach them personally! "This" The white-bloused woman was stunned. That singlepse was the difference between life and death! In Aiden''s eyes, an opening as such was death in meleebat! Reaching out, Aiden pped the white-bloused woman on the head. There was a loud thud on the ground. The white-bloused woman''s head exploded with brain juices sttering everywhere C even her Essence Spirit was destroyed on the spot! The skinny old man and bald burly man reacted right away. The bald burly man was a body-tempered warrior and he was delighted to see Aiden close in. His bloodline surged. instantly! The bald burly man punched at Aiden''s head fiercely! His fist was like a meteor that arrived with an unparalleled force instantly! However, the skinny old man was more experienced and retreated immediately. He would gain the advantage as long as he could increase the distance between them! At the same time, he conjured hand seals to release a Divine art. Divine power churned. A thick finger that resembled a heavenly-piercing pir was conjured rapidly and thrust at Aiden''s chest viciously with a frightening might! "Om!" Aiden spoke at the same time. Daring Mantra was released! Holy energy reverberated through the air endlessly, forming a noble might! The first to be implicated was the Imperial Army that was nearby the deck. Cling! ng! Many Imperial Army soldiers revealed pained looks as their weapons fell to the ground one after another with loud ngs. Piak! Piak! Piak! A series of cracks appeared on the protection talismans of the three princes C they were shaken by that single holy word! As for the skinny old man, he shuddered and frowned with a hint of pain deep in his eyes. Although he was a Martial Grandmaster, he was not a body tempered warrior and was not exactly strong enough to withstand the power of the holy sound. The Divine power finger that was conjured in midair dissipated slightly and its power was reduced. The bald burly man was the least impacted by the holy sound. There was almost no pause in his punch! "Ma!" Aiden''s expression was unchanged as he spoke once more. The second holy word had arrived! Bang! Bang! Bang! Most of the Imperial Army soldiers on the deck copsed stiffly with blood oozing from all orifices. They suffered miserable deaths and their brains were mostly rattled into sludge. The three princes slumped to the ground with terrible expressions on their faces as well. The Divine power finger arriving from midair trembled and its strength was greatly diminished. The skinny old man staggered as well. However, he was fearless. He had already increased the distance between them. Moreover, Aiden had to deal with his Divine art and the bald burly man''s meleebat C there was no chance for him to get close to the skinny old man. All of a sudden! The skinny old man caught a glimpse of light from the corner of his eyes. Instinctively, he turned over. Not far away, Aiden''s right eye released a dazzling brilliance that resembled a zing sun, illuminating the entire world like daylight! Illumination Eye! Boom! A blinding light column surged forth through the void and delved right into the skinny old man''s face! Instantly, the world went still. A radiance illuminated. The next moment, the light beam dispersed. Night returned. On the spirit vessel, the skinny old man''s body convulsed helplessly. A hollow hole appeared on his face; his features were gone and everywhere around the hole was burned. His head was prated by that white column of light! His Essence Spirit was annihted before it even had the chance to escape! In the blink of an eye, two Martial Grandmasters on the spirit vessel were dead! Although the skinny old man was dead, Aiden was attacking in session and did not manage to avoid the Divine power finger conjured by the former after all. Bang! Aiden shuddered and his organs shook! A stream of blood surged upwards and choked at his throat. Since he wanted to kill Martial Grandmasters as a Martial Master, he had to undertake an immense risk! Thankfully, Aiden had released the Daring Mantra in session that reduced the impact of the skinny old man''s Divine art. Otherwise, he would have been severely injured with that attack! Divine power was the energy of the universe and contained its might as well C it was not something that ordinary people could defend against! Although Aiden''s organs were shaken now, he had a strong physique and frightening regeneration capabilities C this was an injury that he could still withstand. At the same time. The bald burly man''s eyes shone viciously and his fist had already arrived! In his opinion, Aiden would be killed by a single punch from him even if thetter was in peak condition, let alone now that he was injured! After all, he was a Martial Grandmaster realm body tempered warrior! Aiden''s eyes lit up and shone viciously. His blood qi surged with the howls of dragons and roars of tigers, his tendons pulsated and his bones echoed with metallic sounds! Without retreating or avoiding, Aiden returned a punch as well. Bang! The two fists collided. A jarring and dull sound echoed with the collision of flesh and bones! The bald burly man''s expression changed starkly. He could sense an unstoppable power surging through the other party''s fist toward him; it was like a tsunami that threatened to devour him! "This is bad, this person''s physique is really strong!" The bald burly man was rmed. Although Aiden was not at Martial Grandmaster realm, his body was extremely frightening. The power of his blood and meleebat capabilities had far surpassed ordinary Martial Grandmasters. If a Martial Grandmaster from ss Pce that was renowned for body tempering was here, the fight between him and Aiden might be indeterminate. However, this bald burly man was only an ordinary body-tempered warrior! In other words, this bald burly man wouldn''t even have the advantage against others like Jorl Wuya who died in Aiden''s hands in meleebat, let alone Aiden himself! If Aiden hadn''t been struck by the skinny old man''s Divine art previously, victory would have been decided by that single punch! With that single exchange, the bald burly man had already sensed something amiss. The bald burly man retreated with the momentum from Aiden''s punch, intending to increase their distance so that he could release a Divine art to kill thetter. When Aiden noticed the bald burly man''s actions, his gaze shed and he frowned slightly. Although he had killed two Martial Grandmasters in session, the situation was extremely disadvantageous for him. Furthermore, things would only get more dangerous the longer the situation dragged on! The surrounding Martial Grandmasters were already starting to notice what was going on here. He had to kill this bald burly man with a definitive might! But now that the bald burly man had retreated with the momentum of their sh, Aiden was already a little too slow C it was toote for him to give chase by now. Suddenly, Aiden was struck by inspiration and opened his mouth. "Pfft!" With the help of his powerful organs, tongue, and mouth, Aiden spat the blood in his throat towards the bald burly man''s face like an arrow! The Daring Mantra''s impact on the bald burly man was minimal. However, that blood arrow could not be ignored! Chapter 1006 1006 - Impossible! Chapter1006 1006 - Impossible! Aiden could shock Martial Masters to death with just the power of his voice. It was obvious how strong the corporeal blood arrow would be! The bald burly man''s eyelids twitched rapidly. Unable to dodge, he could only extend his arms to block instinctively. Bang! A piercing pain surged through him when the blood arrow struck his palm! Although it did not injure his core, the bald burly man was still shocked. If he had ignored that blood arrow and took it head-on, his face would have been destroyed in a mess of flesh and blood! The bald burly man felt uneasy. However, before he could snap out of his stupor, he caught sight of a vague shadow from the corner of his eye. The bald burly man''s heart sank. The next moment, he sensed an immense killing intent surging over, causing his scalp to prickle and his hairs to stand on end! "That blood arrow was merely a bait!" The bald burly man had goosebumps all over. Like an ancient arch devil, the figure had already arrived before him and pushed down on his head with a massive engulfing palm! "Die!" Aiden''s ferocity was torrential as he hollered with a lightning gaze. The bald burly man did not have time to gather his Divine powers and could only cross and prop up his arms while channeling his bloodline to defend against Aiden''s epassing palm! Bang! Both parties collided. The bald burly man''s expression changed starkly and a piercing pain surged through his arms! Immediately after, he lost all feeling in both arms! The bald burly man merely felt a torrential power crushing down boundlessly C it was invincible like the copse of the heavens! The might of a heaven''s copse was not something that human strength could defend against! Thump! The bald burly man knelt on the ground and his ankles were almost smashed! By then, most of the surrounding martial artists had already noticed what was happening over here. Everyone was shocked when they saw that. A Martial Grandmaster was forced to kneel on the ground! In everyone''s eyes, the bald burly man who was trembling beneath Aiden''s palm was like an insignificant ant struggling to survive. However, Aiden stood firmly and his ck hair danced. His eyes were bright and lively, like an enraged divine being with a torrential might! He had suppressed a Martial Grandmaster with a single palm strike as a Martial Master! Who in history could achieve this? With a cold gaze, Aiden extended his foot and tapped the bald burly man gently on the chest. The bald burly man''s body was already enduring an unimaginable burden propping up Aiden''s palm. His bones creaked as though they could copse at any moment. He could only watch as Aiden''s foot arrived without any way of dodging. Snap! The bald burly man''s chest caved in right away. The bones in his chest shattered and the snapped bones pierced his heart, ending his life! The bald burly man''s blood energy deteriorated rapidly as blood gurgled in his agape mouth. His eyes were listless and filled with the aura of death. His be shone. A glow appeared. The bald burly man''s Essence Spirit left his body and was trying to escape. "Ma!" He chanted in holy. The Daring Mantra descended once more. The bald burly man''s Essence Spirit shuddered and its glow dimmed. The Essence Spirits of Martial Grandmasters were filled with impurities and extremely weak. After leaving their physical bodies, the Essence Spirits couldn''t even withstand the heat of the sun or the coldness of rain C at the very least, the Essence Spirits would already be severely injured, if not dead! Essence Spirits were only free to leave at will without fear of the zing suns and roam the world once one trains to the Lesser Divine realm. Although the bald burly man''s body could withstand the might of the Daring Mantra, his Essence Spirit could not. That single holy sound annihted his Essence Spirit! Aiden continued pushing down with his palm. Boom! The bald burly man''s body was squashed onto the deck of the spirit vessel, turning into a meat sludge with its tendons and bones crushedpletely along with a destroyed Essence Spirit! A clear blood-colored imprint appeared on the deck, etched deeply! The spirit vessel was made of superior-grade metal and was even tougher than superior-grade spirit weapons. But now, a mark was etched onto it by Aiden''s palm! "Roar!" Aiden stood up, his palm still stained with the blood of the Martial Grandmaster as he let out a shuddering aura. With a frightening gaze, he surveyed the surroundings before releasing a reverberating roar. "Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar!" Immediately after, the beasts howled in unison and all demons went wild! Instantly, demonic energy filled the air and the color of the mountains and rivers changed! Initially, the beast stampede was already showing signs of defeat after the onught of the Martial Grandmasters. But now, after Aiden''s appearance to murder three Martial Grandmasters on the spirit vessel with a thunderous might, blood stained the skies. The torrential ferocity brought forth a massive boost to the morale of the demons! Countless demons howled within the endless valley. The nearly defeated beast stampede gathered once again into a series of currents that charged towards the allied army! Fresh blood and massacres filled the entire ce! The reason why the demon beasts of Iron Mountain Range were so united wasn''t merely out of fear towards Aiden''s strength. More than that, it was because the flesh of martial artists was a great tonic for them! There were millions of martial artists in the allied army. By now, corpses were strewn all over the ce and there were rivers of blood. With that massive amount of lifeforce essence, there was bound to be a biological change. There was a high chance that a fiend demon could be born in Iron Mountain Range after this battle! Demon beasts were also sentient and all of them wanted to be fiend demons! Prior to this, the hundred Martial Grandmasters traveled far away from the spirit vessel as they expanded their search radius for Aiden. Although they noticed what was happening on the spirit vessel, it was already toote for them to return. The three Martial Grandmasters had died way too quickly. The entire process took less than five breaths! "Y-Y-You are!" The prince of Great South seemed to have recognized something as he pointed at Aiden, shivering with fear in his eyes. "You look like" "Aiden! You are Aiden!" The prince of Great South shrieked and the fat on his face shook. Back then, the three dynasties sent their armies to the Great Forbidden Ruins and the prince of Great South was one of those lucky enough to witness that earthshaking battle. Although that strongest monster incarnate in history leaped down into the Dragon Burial Valley and died, the memory of his face was evesting like a nightmare. Aiden. The moment that name was spoken, there was an uproar! "How is that possible?" "Didn''t he leap down Dragon Burial Valley right in front of everyone? Wasn''t his Martial Master destroyed and his Inner Core torn? Hasn''t he already died?" "It really looks like him! Back then, I saw him from afar as well!" "That monster incarnate is not dead?" The hundred Martial Grandmasters revealed uneasy looks of shock. Martial Masters were not the only ones who died in the paragon battle many years ago. At that time, even Martial Grandmasters that appeared were annihted, burned to death without any corpses remaining by a ze of mes; even their Essence Spirits were destroyed! It was a tragic battle that was rare in history. Nobody expected that this man who was thought to be dead would stand before them alive and well! All the Martial Grandmasters looked at Aiden and none of them could sense any spirit energy fluctuation. Someone said coldly with an icy re, "Well, well! It seems like you''ve turned into a demonpletely! Since you''re not a mortal, you''re ourmon enemy!" Against the threat of the Martial Grandmaster, Aiden was fearless as he turned to look at the three princes shivering on the deck. The three princes shuddered. The prince of Great South was in an even more pathetic state as his pants were wet with a stench C his pee and shit had already flowed uncontrobly. "Aiden, you will definitely die today if you dare to hurt the princes!" A Martial Grandmaster hollered. The Martial Grandmasters sped over in an encirclement. However, the three princes were on the spirit vessel and nobody dared to attack recklessly. The prince of Great East was no longer as intimidating as before. He was extremely frightened as he asked with a quivering voice, "Aiden, we''ve got no grudge with you. W-Why are you doing this?" "No grudge?" Aidenughed and pointed to thend beneath him, asking, "Do you know where this is?" "T-This is the Iron Mountain Range," The prince of Great South replied hurriedly, afraid that he would die if he took his time. "Wrong," Aiden shook his head. "This is the North Country. The allied army of the three dynasties sent forth millions of troops to invade the territory of the North Country while massacring countless of our citizens. Yet, you say that you have no grudge with me?" Chapter 1007 1007 - Game Chapter1007 1007 - Game "If you spare us, we''ll withdraw our troops right away!" The prince of Great West was the only one who could maintain hisposure right now among the three princes as he said with a dark voice. "Withdraw? Ha!" Aidenughed. "Nothing in the world is that easy." The prince of Great West snarled, "What do you want?" Aiden gazed at a small city below him that was still billowing with smoke in the distance and said, "How many people in thesends have died to the merciless iron hooves of your army? How many people have died in this chaotic era of war?" He retracted his gaze and turned to the three princes, asking coldly, "Who is going to atone for their lives?" Aiden''s tone was extremely calm. However, the more that was the case, the more afraid the three princes felt! Beneath that refined exterior was a fiend demon that could devour anyone at any moment! "Young man, you''re a martial artist." The prince of Great West was smart and did not point out Aiden''s identity as a demon right now, afraid of triggering thetter. Gulping topose himself, he continued, "Since you''re a martial artist, you''ve already let go of your mortal self and severed your ties with mortality. Why does the lives of the living beings in the world matter to you, young man?" "In other words, how many people can survive from the mes of war in the North Region? Are you going to interfere in everything, young man? Are you going to save everyone?" "You''re not wrong," Aiden nodded. When he heard that, the prince of Great West felt relieved. The princes of Great South and Great East were so emotional that they nearly cried. "However" Suddenly, Aiden changed the topic and remarked indifferently, "I''m very sad and angry because my brother is dead therefore, I want to kill! I want you to be buried along with him!" The moment he said that, the three princes felt chills run down their spines as though they had just fallen into a cesspool of cold water. That was a reason that seemed simple and absurd. Yet, no one could refute it. "Aiden!" The prince of Great West felt an immense threat and could not help but shout, "There are a hundred Martial Grandmasters here and your presence has already been exposed! If you hurt us, you won''t be able to escape as well!" Although the prince of Great West was calm, and tried to use both hard and soft tactics, he had not realized that he was dealing with someone so terrifying! This was a person that was decisive to kill without reservations! This was a person whose guts would shock Martial Grandmasters! "Is that so?" Aiden smirked. "I''m going to give that a shot!" Boom! With a ferocious gaze, he stomped his feet fiercely on the deck, letting off a reverberating boom! The spirit vessel shook violently! On the deck, a crack could be seen clearly extending endlessly from where Aiden stood C it was extremely fast and dense! Boom! It was yet another deafening sound. Aiden stomped once more. The spirit vessel exploded into different parts! The massive spirit vessel was stomped apart by Aiden''s foot! Aiden fell rapidly and waved his sleeves, causing countless debris before him to shoot towards the three princes in a flurry. Poof! Poof! Poof! Blood mists spewed from the three princes, riddling them with holes and ending their lives C they were already dead when theynded on the ground. "The princes of the three dynasties are dead and this ce shall be your resting ground!" Aiden''s voice spread through the entire forest in a chilling manner! "Bastard, you''re courting death!" Many Martial Grandmasters shouted at the same time and attacked one after another. Divine power filled the skies as multiple Divine arts collided to create a deafening bang! Divine weapons descended. The might of the universe enveloped Iron Mountain Range and the entire valley quaked violently. Mountain peaks copsed, gravel rolled, ancient trees fell over, and dust billowed C it was like an apocalypse! The Martial Grandmasters present were truly enraged. Aiden had murdered the three princes right in front of them. That was equivalent to aplete disregard for them! Furthermore, with the three princes dead and a heavy loss for the allied army, they could only retreat even if they survived. This conquest could only be considered as a failure. After killing the three princes, Aiden did not linger at all and escaped right away. His Inner Core churned fanatically and his blood energy surged. Descending rapidly, he stuck close to the ground like an anaconda and slithered towards the depths of the forest with extremely nimble movement techniques! His frightening spirit perception was released. He was escaping with all his might! Bang! Bang! Bang! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The sound of Divine arts bombarded his ears constantly. Divine weapons tore through the air with cold gleams. Against the hunt of a hundred Martial Grandmasters, a single mistake would result in instant death! A Divine art descended. Aiden''s tendons and bones rang at the same time and his body contorted to a degree beyond the limits of an ordinary person. By a hair''s breadth, he evaded the Divine art again! Bang! The Divine art ruptured a mountain rock that smashed down heavily on Aiden''s back. He coughed out a mouthful of blood but he did not stop at all! At that moment, a single moment of sluggishness in his movement would result in instant death! "Pfft!" A flying sword streaked by. A bloody gash appeared on Aiden''s thighs. However, there was no fluctuation in his eyes, as though he could feel no pain at all! As Aiden escaped, he coordinated his muscles to allow the flesh on both sides of the wound to close and stop the blood flow momentarily. He continued sprinting and his speed had already reached its limits! To be fair, this was also because it was dark in Iron Mountain Range at the moment and he had the advantage of theplicated terrain. Mountain peaks, forests, trees and holes there were way too many ces for him to hide. Aiden had trained the Mystic ssic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness and had spent a year living in Iron Mountain Range many years ago. As such, he knew this ce like the back of his hand. That was the reason why he was able to maneuver his way around for such a long time against the pursuit of a hundred Martial Grandmasters. In fact, there were a few times when he nearly shrugged them off his tail! However, as time passed by, Aiden''s situation became increasingly dangerous. He was injured. The frantic escape took a huge toll on him and he had no time to recuperate at all. His speed was bound to drop after an extended period of time. Furthermore, it was no longerte at night. As the day turned brighter, the vision range of the Martial Grandmasters would increase as well. Once they formed an encirclement, it would be difficult for him to escape even if he had wings! "Beast, you''re bound to die today!" The hundred Martial Grandmasters had trained for several hundred years and with their experience, they could naturally read the current situation. "I think we should capture this beast alive." "That''s right. I''m sure that there are countless factions and sects in the North Region who are interested in thisd." The hundred Martial Grandmasters were confident of their victory and began discussions. After all, there were way too many secrets on Aiden. He had entered the Ancient One''s Pce and was the second person in history after the Ancient One to train to the Extreme Martial Knight realm. He was the only one who knew the secrets behind the Extreme Martial Knight realm! The eyes of the hundred Martial Grandmasters shone with excitement. In reality, at their martial arts realm, they were no longer really attracted towards the strife of dynasties. Although this conquest was a failure, if they could capture Aiden alive and obtain the secret to his incredible strength, the trip would definitely not be wasted! "I''m extremely curious how someone in this world can fuse the martial arts techniques of both sides!" A Martial Grandmaster mulled deeply. The other Perfected Lords looked on keenly in silence. In reality, everyone had the same idea. Although Aiden had many treasures and secrets on him, what was truly valuable was that unknown demonic martial arts technique! Everyone witnessed how Aiden was able to kill five Martial Grandmasters above his level after mastering the technique! Although they were sneak attacks that preyed on one''s carelessness, it was still frightening! Furthermore, Aiden''s movement speed was not weaker than Martial Grandmasters. The strength of his body and intensity of his blood energy was shocking as well! Both sides continued with the chase and escape. Chapter 1008 1008 - Trapped ? A group of Martial Grandmasters discovered to their shock that the forest before them was gradually thinning. Everyone gazed into the distance. The path ahead was clear! "Haha! Thatd chose a wrong path in his panic and escaped out of the mountain range!" The Perfected Lords roared inughter and chased endlessly. If they left the forest, it would mean that Aiden''s final hope at escaping would be gone. The Perfected Lords witnessed Aiden sprint furiously into a small town closest to Iron Mountain Range before entering a room in a mansion and never appearing again. "Everyone, hold on. Let''s not get careless. There might be some reason why thatd escaped here," Someone stopped the group with a doubtful expression. "Brother Li, you''re giving too much credit to thisd," Someone at the side chuckled softly. "Take a look at what''s in that mansion." "A corpse?" Someone came to a realization. "I''ve got it! That must be his brother''s corpse!" "That''s right. After knowing that he has nowhere to run, thed has most likely returned to this ce so that he can die with his brother." A Martial Grandmaster dered confidently, "This is what it means by returning to one''s roots. If I''m not mistaken, this small town should be where thed was born!" "It''s highly possible." "Let''s go!" The Martial Grandmasters emanated with sharp auras as they barged into the small town. With the hugemotion, the citizens that chose to remain in the town were long awakened. Everyone had frightful expressions, hiding in their houses not daring to make any sound. "Granny, what are you afraid of?" In a dpidated house, a naive sound of a child echoed. Although the voice was weak, the Martial Grandmasters in midair heard everything loud and clear. "Shh!" The olddy raised her finger and whispered in a hushed tone, "Child, don''t speak! You will die if the immortals are offended!" "Why?" The child asked with widened eyes of curiosity, "Why would the immortals be offended? What did I do?" "Sigh, there''s no need for any reason for immortals to be offended." The olddy sighed. "Dozens of years ago, there was a schr in this town who was nearly burned to death in mes because he did not kneel down to the immortals!" "Ah!" The child eximed, seemingly scared. The olddy clutched the child''s mouth hurriedly and broke out in cold sweat. When she released her hand slowly a whileter, the child had a pensive look before whispering, "Granny, there are also good and bad immortals! The immortals who kill without reason are bad immortals!" There was a boom. The roof above the both of them was torn away all of a sudden! A hundred mighty figures stood in midair and looked down at the both of them coldly. The olddy hugged the child tightly with frightful eyes and shivered. A Martial Grandmaster barked coldly with a menacing gaze, "Talking bad about immortals behind our backs is a crime punishable by death!" Suddenly, there was a creak, and a door opened in a mansion not far away. A refined-looking schr strode out with long green robes. The schr who arrived with a fresh set of gray robes was Aiden who had escaped here. The attention of the hundred Martial Grandmasters were drawn over immediately. The olddy could not see what was going on outside and merely hugged the child tightly in her embrace. "You''re finally willing to show yourself, little beast?" Many Martial Grandmasters stood in midair and looked down at the mansion not far away, sneering in mockery. Aiden had an indifferent expression and walked down the stone steps into the courtyard. He gazed silently at the old man beneath the peach blossom tree with deep sorrow in his eyes. The old man''s eyes were closed and he had a peaceful expression, as though he was in a deep sleep. The furnace made of red y burned and flickered. There was a bowl of wine remaining above that was still warm. Aiden was oblivious to the encirclement of the hundred Martial Grandmasters and walked towards the furnace. He lifted the remaining bowl of wine and finished it in a gulp! "This wine is truly fragrant," Aiden muttered softly. Those were the old captain''sst words. Every living being lives for worldly desires to chase profits and gains. Even martial artists could not escape from secr desires and sought power or immortality. How many people could be like Su Hong and leave with eptance and grace? "Beast!"I think you should take a look at A Martial Grandmaster hollered, "If you surrender and hand over the divine phoenix bone along with your demonic martial arts technique now, we can leave you with a full corpse!" "Otherwise, I''m going to burn your brother''s corpse into ashes!" Aiden remained silent as he looked at the hundred Martial Grandmasters in midair with a hint of mockery. Another Martial Grandmasterughed sinisterly. "Also, after today, nobody here shall be spared!" His voice spread through the entire small little town. Exmations sounded one after another in the houses. In fact, the faint sound of women and children sobbing and yelling could be heard in some of the mansions as fear slowly grew in the hearts of everyone in the small town. In the dpidated house, the olddy rubbed the child''s back and consoled him in a hushed voice. However, there were two streams of warm tears running down her face. In the face of martial artists, the lives of mortals were like grass and they werepletely helpless! This was their lives. They could do nothing. An old man clutched his walking stick and wobbled out of his room. He kowtowed towards the mighty figures in midair and said in a tragic voice. "Exalted Immortals, please take pity on us. I''m an old man who doesn''t have long to live. I can die without regrets no matter how you want to punish me. However, there are more than 3,000 women and children in the small town. Please take pity on us and give them a chance to live!" The old man had a heart-wrenching expression as he sobbed in misery. However, the hundred Martial Grandmasters in midair had cold expressions. Some of them ignored him, some of them looked at him with mockery and there were even some thatughed coldly. "How irritating!" A Martial Grandmaster hollered loudly with a look of impatience. The old man heard a boom in his ears and felt dizzy, falling head-first to the ground. "Hahaha!" The Martial Grandmaster roared inughter. "You guys can only me this town for giving birth to a monster incarnate, a beast! He''s the one that implicated all of you!" "Hais." Right then, a cold sigh sounded from the courtyard. "Since you''re all here, don''t leave." Aiden said indifferently, "Activate!" Buzz! Whoosh! Thud! Thud! Thud! Instantly, heaven and earth shook! An evil gust of wind surged above the firmaments and lightning shed. The shine of the moon and stars was bedazzling as a frightening and sinister energy descended all of a sudden to envelop the small town. "Ah!" To the horror of the hundred Martial Grandmasters in midair, they discovered that they could not use their Essence Spirits! An extremely beguiling energy had restricted their Essence Spirits firmly! The reason why Martial Grandmasters were strong was that they could manipte the energy of the universe after cultivating their Essence Spirits. In other words, that was the legendary Divine power. The crux to using Divine weapons and arts was their Essence Spirit! Once their Essence Spirits were locked, the Martial Grandmasters had practically lost their strongest means! "It''s a formation! A formation!" A Martial Grandmaster eximed loudly in a flustered manner. "Shut up!" Someone else berated, "Everyone can tell that it''s a formation! But what formation is it exactly?" Given their experience, all of them naturally knew that they had fallen into an ambush given the situation. A Martial Grandmaster took a deep breath and tried his best topose himself. "I''ve dabbled a little into formation techniques before. If I''m not wrong, this should be the Ancient Essence Lock Formation of the ancient era. However, this ancient formation has been lost for a long time, how is it" All of a sudden! A mist shrouded the surroundings of the small town. Those that were standing inside the city streets could no longer see what was going on outside! The small town had been istedpletely! "Another formation?" "This should be a trap formation to prevent us from escaping!" "What! The gall of him! What is he trying to do?" "Even with our Essence Spirits locked, we can still make use of spirit energy. Ourbined force isn''t something he can deal with singlehandedly!" Before his words were finished, a bedazzling glow burst forth from the small town and a series of light barriers shone with mysterious emblems etched on them. "Ah!" "A third formation!" Chapter 1009 1009 - Without Grace ? "This is bad! Even my spirit energy has been locked!" "It''s the Ancient Spirit Lock Formation!" The expressions of the Martial Grandmasters changed and they could no longer control their bodies as they fell from midair one after another. This time around, everyone truly panicked. There was an Ancient Spirit Lock Formation and an Ancient Essence Lock Formation. They were almost entirely crippled! Coupled with a trap formation, the small little town was now a cage! Among the three formations, the trap formation and ancient spirit lock formation wereid down by Aiden during his free time while apanying the nowte old cap. Given his martial arts realm, he could notprehend the Ancient Essence Lock Formation nor could he set it up yet. The reason why he could activate the ancient formation was because of the 49 formation gs that he had obtained from the old temple at the bottom of the Ancient Forbidden Grounds. The set of formation gs was from the old destroyed empire''s pce and waster kept in the old temple after the empire was destroyed. On the surface, they seemed like unassuming gs. However, in reality, a lot of work was put into the production of each g. The gpoles were made from the bones of fiend demons and the g banners were made from the skin of fiend demons with additional reinforcement. The hair of the fiend demons was used as the thread to secure and tie the gpole and the banner. The blood of fiend demons was used as ink to draw the patterns on the g using a brush made of Divine power! With the 49 gpoles, all Aiden had to do was draft out the radius of the Ancient Essence Lock Formation and calcte where to ce the formation eyes. Thereafter, he could activate the formation after plotting the formation gs. Formations had many requirements, took a long time to set up, and were passive. Coupled with the fact that many ancient formations had gone missing, the Dao of formation had been on the decline. However, there was naturally a reason why the formations were still passed down from history as one of the four unorthodox groups. The ancient era when the formations flourished the most was also the period of time when mortals established their foundations! Mortals were innately weak and relied on countless ancient formations, in the beginning, to defend against the thousands of races. Because formations required a fixed location and a prenned setup, it was extremely difficult to use them C the stronger the formation, the longer it required to set them up. There was no way any party would wait for the other to set up a formation before fighting to the death. That was the reason why an emperor invented formation gs to make up for the weakness of the formations! The emperor was known as the Formation Emperor and he was one of the ancient emperors who was ranked alongside the Weapon Emperor who created the Demon Revealing Mirror! The bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley did not only contain the legacies of the Daming and Fahua Monasteries C there were also old massive items of the North Region from the past as well as the legacy of the old ex-Great Empire. Aiden was dormant at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley for 20 years isted from the world. As such, his strength had already grown to a terrifying degree! His growth was not merely in terms of hisprehension of faith. His understanding of formations deepened as time went by as well. The three formations were interlinked and it would be difficult to achieve the current effect if even one of them was missing. To the many mortals, something seemed to have happened to the high and mighty immortals up in the skies as they fell one after another. "How could this be?" "Could the heavens be serving justice?" In the midst of the mortals'' confusion, a figure rose slowly into the skies! The person wore a set of gray robes and had refined features. His expression was cold and there was a deep murderous look in his eyes as he wielded a ebony-colored long thick de! "He looks familiar." "He looks like" The olddy''s mouth opened slightly as she stared at the figure in the skies with disbelief, muttering continuously, "It''s him, it''s him!" "Granny, who is that?" The child in her embrace also saw the figure in midair and asked out of curiosity. "He is the Young Master that came to town a couple of times! The master of old Han!" The olddy said with a trembling voice. The olddy was stunned. It was a familiar act and she felt like she had returned to the past in the blink of an eye. The child''s eyes widened without blinking.I think you should take a look at This was an immortal as well. However, the child did not feel any fear or pressure from Aiden. The initially pounding heart of the child calmed down. Wielding Rygintarth the ebony de, Aiden stood in midair and looked down at the Martial Grandmasters who were scurrying to escape in small little town with a mocking look in his eyes. "You''re still trying to escape?" Aiden descended from the air with his arms raised and Rygintarth buzzed loudly, as though it was extremely excited. He shed down at the crowd! A blood beam burst forth! Boom! The crowd split into two and a ravine tore the ground asunder! Seven Martial Grandmasters were cleaved into two by the blood beam and their organs sttered onto the ground with a nauseating blood stench! This was the first time Rygintarth consumed blood after its rebirth. The de shone with a bright malevolent aura! Aiden moved and burst into the crowd in a sh. Rygintarth swept horizontally. Buzz! A blood-colored ripple spread out across the air across the crowd! Poof! Poof! Poof! Enveloped by the blood-colored ripple, more than 10 Martial Grandmasters had their heads sliced off with blood spewing, as though a sharp de had cut them off! Their Essence Spirits were locked and perished on the spot without a chance to even escape! "Fellow Mighty Lords, let''s stop running! If we continue escaping, we''ll definitely be killed by this beast one after another!" "Mighty Lord John San, hurry and dispel the formation while we fight against him to buy time for you!" "That''s right! Let''s join forces!" Everyone shouted and regrouped together, sending forth a burst of blood energy towards Aiden. The Mighty Lords at the front were body tempered warriors who released their blood energy and charged forward with dancing halberds and swords. Ssh! Aiden''s blood energy surged with the sound of tsunamis as he shed in reverse with a shocking momentum. His de stances resembled waves crashing onto shores! ng! ng! ng! Rygintarth collided heavily against the weapons of the Martial Grandmasters and released a tremendous force that resembled an unstoppable tidal wave! "Pfft!" Someone could not withstand it and spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot. His palm was split and his weapon was repelled as he fell over. With their Essence Spirits and spirit energy-restricted, the Mighty Lords were only left with their physiques and blood energy. However, none of them couldpete against Aiden in terms of physique and blood energy! They wielded Divine weapons but they could not channel their Divine powers with their Essence Spirits restricted. As such, they could not unleash the true power of the Divine weapons and could not defend against the edge of Rygintarth! "Pfft!" "Pfft!" Blood light shed intermittently and the remaining Martial Grandmasters could not defend against Aiden''s ughter even when they grouped together! After obtaining the legacy of the de Emperor and this generation''s Asura, Aiden''s understanding of the de had already reached a rtively frightening degree! There was the Creation, Raging Tides, Vortex, and Ripple of the Void Splitting Manual. There was the Ghost Howl, Blood Flow, Hell, White Bones, Phantom, and Corpse of the Asura de. At times, it was tough and resolute; at times, it was fluid as water; at times, it was majestic and mighty; at times, it was sinister and eerie Rygintarth drank an endless amount of fresh blood in the hands of Aiden! The blood gleam on the de intensified as though Rygintarth was getting excited! In the town, some mortals who were slightly more daring could not hold back their curiosity and opened a small gap in their doors to peek outside. Because of that, they caught sight of a scene that they would not forget for their entire lives. The immortal that was initially high and mighty and dered that he was going to leave no survivors in small little town was now scurrying to escape in a pathetic manner without the grace of an immortal at all. Chapter 1010 1010 - Protection ? A gray robed man wielded an ebony-colored de and strolled slowly along the long street, leaving corpses in his wake. Everywhere he passed, rivers of blood would be formed! It was aplete massacre. Immortals were killed! Against Aiden, the Martial Grandmasters with their Essence Spirits and spirit energies restricted were like fishes on a chopping block! The skies were turning brighter. At the borders of small little town, Mighty Lord Yun Du focused wholeheartedly on dispelling the formation with sweat pouring down his forehead. The Ancient Spirit and Essence Lock Formations were extremelyplicated and even with his capabilities, it was difficult to dispel them in a short period of time. Thankfully, the trap formation that caused the fog was not too difficult. When he heard the tragic shrieks behind him, Mighty Lord Yun Du was even more panicked. However, he did not turn back to look. He could not afford to get distracted! Their only shot at survival was if he could dispel the trap formation as quickly as possible! Time slowly passed. A long timeter, the fog dispersed. Yun Du heaved a sigh of relief and fell on his buttocks to the ground. His back was already drenched in sweat. A sliver of sunlight shone from the horizons and filled the small town, making it seem tranquil and peaceful. Suddenly, Mighty Lord Yun Du sensed something amiss. It was way too quiet! Unknowingly, the cries, shrieks and pleads for mercy behind him had vanished. Pitter, patter. Footsteps sounded. It was as though the person approaching was stepping on stone bs covered in a sticky liquid. The footsteps came to a stop behind him. He felt a chill run down his spine! Mighty Lord Yun Du did not dare to turn back. A ebony-colored de slowly made its way beneath his throat with a thick blood stench C the edge of the de was extremely chilling! "You''re thest one." A voice sounded faintly and indifferently without any emotions in his ears. "Pfft!" A sh of blood appeared. The mighty Lord''s head rolled off with fresh blood sttering. His head rolled a couple of times on the ground before facing small little town. His eyes were widened. Gray robes; a bloodied path. Two distinctly different colors triggered his final senses. His consciousness gradually faded into oblivion. Doors on both sides of the streets opened gradually with gaps. Many mortals looked out bravely but were shocked. The stone bs were strewn with corpses. At the end of the road, a gray robed man stood in the blood with a sinister de beside him, resembling a arch devil from Hell! The man had a calm expression, gazing at the slowly rising sun in the East with a slightly lost expression. Sunlight spilled onto the man''s face and radiated with life, giving him a saintly and tranquil look as though he was covered in ayer of gold foil. For some unknown reason, everyone suddenly calmed down from their initial panic. Engulfed in a Buddha light, the man seemed like he was a Bodhisattva from Hell who had arrived to purify the masses. Although the man had twopletely different auras around him, there was no conflict at all. Turning around, the man waved his sleeves and wrapped up the corpses on both sides of the road before returning to his mansion and vanishing within it. "Granny, who is that gray robed young master?" In the dpidated house, a naive child asked with curiosity. "That young man, he is" The olddy murmured with a dazed expression, as though she was immersed in her memories. Everyone else in small little town had conflicted emotions when they heard that name as well.I think you should take a look at In the mansion. Aiden took away the storage bags of the hundred Martial Grandmasters and cast their corpses casually at a corner. He headed to the backyard and chopped a few trees to build a wooden coffin before returning to the peach blossom tree. Gazing at the old man who seemed like he was asleep beneath the tree, Aiden''s eyes were filled with emotions and reluctance. A long timeter, he took a deep breath and headed forward, carrying the old man gently. After cing thetter inside the wooden coffin, he buried the coffin beneath the tree and covered it with mud. Aiden gazed at the newly built tomb in silence, feeling a stuffy emotion in his chest that was ufortable. All of a sudden! The peach blossom tree beside him swayed and sprouts grew from the initially barren trunk. In the blink of an eye, they bloomed into flowers one after another! A hint of green life was actually born in the courtyard in the start of winter. Petals descended gently and covered the tomb. The peach blossom tree swayed gently, letting out an emotion as though it wasforting Aiden. "It''s turned sentient," Aiden fondled the tree''s trunk and smiled. "I''m fine." Upon hearing that, the peach blossom tree was delighted and its branches curved slightly and brushed Aiden gently on the cheek. It was no coincidence that the peach blossom tree turned sentient. All lives in the universe were spiritual. Even a rock without any life could turn sentient, let alone a peach blossom tree! Legend has it that in the past, a Mighty Figure with powerful Divine powers trained constantly on a rock. Many yearster, a life was born from that rock. Apart from Aiden who gained the true knowledge of the martial world, the peach blossom tree benefited as well and became sentient. Later on, Aiden formed his core beneath this tree andprehended two Martial Master phenomenons. As such, the peach blossom tree''s sentience was fully gained and it began its martial art path as well. "It''s good that you''re now sentient," Aiden said, "With you in this town from now on, the citizens can be protected." All the branches on the tree shook, as though it was nodding its head in agreement. When the blood of those Martial Grandmasters seeped underground, they would be the energy source of the peach blossom tree''s life force! Above the ground, the peach blossom tree was beautiful and emitted an alluring fragrance. However, Aiden could clearly sense that there were extremely thick roots underground that were extending everywhere! The roots were strong and frightening, extending furiously to devour all the lifeforce essence underground and absorbing the fresh blood that seeped beneath! No one in small little town could vie against it. Although the peach blossom tree was not huge and looked unassuming, its roots were extremely thick underground and had covered the entire small little town! If its roots could even extend to the Iron Mountain Range After pondering for a moment, Aiden said, "There''s still an Ancient Essence Lock Formation in small little town made up of 49 gs. I''m going to leave it here." The martial path of the sentient peach blossom tree was a type of demonic technique. Although the presence of the Ancient Spirit and Essence Lock Formations reduced the strength of martial artists significantly, the impact towards demons was not great. With that, it would be much easier for the peach blossom tree to protect the small little town. The massacre of Iron Mountain Range hade to an end. A thick blood stench filled the skies of the mountain valley. From afar, the long valley was dyed red with blood and looked extremely shocking! The three dynasties had beenpletely defeated this time round! Without the help of the Martial Grandmasters, the allied army could not defend against the swarm of the beast stampede! It was already fortunate if a fraction of the army with several million troops could escape alive. With that, the external troubles of the Great South Dynasty were most likely resolved. The prince of Great West questioned Aiden why he wanted to attack. Aiden replied that he wanted to kill people and have everyone buried together with his kin who died. However, in reality, his true aim was to protect everyone from the small little town and resolve the external troubles of the Great South Dynasty. "It''s time for me to go," After standing in silence for a long time, Aiden murmured. The peach blossom tree swayed and let out a hint of reluctance. "I don''t know when I''ll evere back after leaving this time round. Live well." Aiden made up his mind and headed outside without lingering. Not long after, Aiden suddenly paused in his tracks and looked down at a small valley at the bottom that resembled paradise on Earth. Chapter 1011 1011 - Sinister Plans ? Iron City. There were hundreds of thousands of Great North martial artists gathered! For the past two years, the Empress of Great North led the army to defend the borders and did not retreat. However, a month ago, she was injured and fainted, losing them territory in a radius of five kilometers! The eldest prince took over control of the army of martial artists and retreated the entire way, letting go of arge part of their territory. They retreated the entire way North of Iron Mountain Range where Iron City was their temporary foothold. City Lord''s mansion. The generals,manders and many Martial Grandmasters of the Great North army gathered within the main hall of the mansion where the Empress of Great North sat high and above with a frosty expression. Although she was a woman, she had a steely aura that was unyielding! Seetho Khouge''s face was a little pale C her wounds had not recovered fully. At the front of the Martial Grandmasters, a purple-robed man stood with one hand behind his back. His ck hair fell like a waterfall and his eyes were deep, emanating an extraordinary bearing. Although the purple-robed man stood below, he was not weaker than Seetho Khouge in terms of aura! The atmosphere was extremely tense in the main hall. "We can''t retreat!" Seetho Khouge said word by word with a resolute expression, "It''s not about losing our territory when we retreat, it''s the fact that countless citizens of Great North are going to be ughtered by the three dynasties! As long as things are under my rule, I''ll not permit something like that to happen!" "Khouge, you''re injured. Don''t waste your energy on something like this. Leave everything to me," The purple-robed man below smiled indifferently. Although he spoke as though he was concerned, there were no emotions in his eyes and he was unusually calm. The purple-robed man was none other than the eldest prince who had apanied the army! Seetho Khouge was unmoved and said deeply, "I can hand things over to you, but you must promise me that you will guard over Iron City and not withdraw the troops!" "Guard over Iron City?" The eldest princeughed and asked, "There are millions of troops in the allied army of the three dynasties, a few times more than ours. Their force is mighty and ferocious. How should we guard against them?" "Khouge, you are still overconfident at times." The eldest prince stood on no courtesy in his words against Seetho Khouge! Mighty Lord Mor Hall stood behind Seetho Khouge and frowned when he looked at the martial artists and generals in the main hall. "The situation doesn''t seem right. You must be careful, empress." Mighty Lord Mor Hall transmitted his voice stealthily. "That''s right. We can''t defend!" "I heard from a secret report that the allied army has already arrived at the Iron Mountain Range. Once the night passes, they will surely cross the mountain range and push into Iron City. We won''t get another chance if we don''t retreat now." A few generals under the lead of the eldest prince discussed in hushed tones. When she heard the discussions in the main hall, Seetho Khouge red at the eldest prince coldly. She had an icy expression and said slowly, "Since you''re unable to guard Iron City, retreat! I''ll guard over it personally!" "Hehe." The eldest princeughedzily and asked, "Khouge, are you truly going to be this stubborn?" "That''s right!" Seetho Khouge''s tone was resolute and unyielding. Retracting his smile, the eldest prince said coldly, "Don''t me me then." "Hmm?" Seetho Khouge narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?" "Nothing," The eldest prince sneered and a killing intent shed through his eyes. "Since you insist on doing things your way stubbornly, I have no choice but to rece you!" The moment he said that, the main hall went silent! Seetho Khouge''s expression changed as she bolted upright. However, her body swayed and she nearly fell over. Mighty Lord Mor Hall supported her hurriedly before turning to the eldest prince to question with a sharp gaze, "Eldest prince, you''re forcing the empress to abdicate?" "Abdicate?" The eldest prince reared his head inughter and shouted with a menacing gaze, "That throne wasn''t hers to begin with! I''m the eldest son and the throne should have been mine to begin with!"I think you should take a look at Seetho Khouge was worked up and her old wounds were agitated, causing her to cough out a mouthful of blood; her face turned even paler. Clutching her chest, she smiled bitterly. "You''ve finally said those words." "Hmph, a woman really thinks she''s befitting to ascend the throne? There has never been such a thing throughout history!" The eldest prince sneered once more. A look of pride shed through Seetho Khouge''s eyes. She pushed away Mighty Lord Mor Hall and stood by herself. "Brother, I''ve never had the intention to fight with you. But since you look down on women, I''ll insist on fighting!" "How many people are going to be on your side if you force me to abdicate?" Seetho Khouge hollered with the wrath of an empress. She surveyed her surroundings with bright eyes and many generals andmanders lowered their heads one after another, not daring to make eye contact. The Martial Grandmasters in the main hall were naturally fearless against the wrath of the empress and looked on calmly with focused gazes. Seetho Khouge''s heart skipped a beat at the reaction in the main hall. Things in the army have changed in the month she was unconscious! "Hehehe!" The eldest princeughed with a mocking look in his eyes. "Seetho Khouge, for the past many years, ever since you ascended the throne, there has never been peace in the Great North! How many people do you think will still stand by your side?" "Oh, right, I''ve got to remind you as well. If nothing goes wrong, our second and forth brother should have already sent a n in motion to get rid of you!'' A mor broke out in the main hall. "What do you want?" Seetho Khouge asked coldly. "The Great North Dynasty can''t fight the allied force of the three dynasties head-on. Of course, we''ll look to negotiate for peace. As for the condition" The eldest prince paused for a moment before looking at Seetho Khouge with a fake smile. "Sister, we''ll have to trouble you to visit the three dynasties as a guest." "How dare you!" Mighty Lord Mor Hall was enraged and hollered, "You''re thinking of sacrificing the empress, incorrigible! Furthermore, she''s your younger sister! Don''t you have any heart?!" "There''s no kinship to speak of in politics," The eldest prince said coldly with an icy expression, "I believe that as long as the allied army retreats, even father won''t me me for sacrificing you." Seetho Khouge remained silent. More than anger, she felt sadness in her heart. She hadn''t expected such words to be said from her closest kin! "Traitor, how dare you!" Mighty Lord Mor Hall waved his sleeves and sent forth a flying sword that shot towards the be of the eldest prince. The eldest prince was unmoved and expressionless. ng! Another flying sword flew through the air and struck away Mighty Lord Mor Hall''s flying sword. Two Martial Grandmasters stood out in front of the eldest prince and red at Mighty Lord Mor Hall coldly. "Tioh Tahl, Jin Sahn! The both of you!" Mighty Lord Mor Hall stared at the two of them in disbelief. "Mor Hall, a wise person makes a discerning choice. Handing over Seetho Khouge might be the only way to hold back the allied army," Mighty Lord Tioh Tahl said. "Ridiculous!" Mighty Lord Mor Hall snarled, "That is a method that will bring shame upon the Great North Dynasty! There''s no way the allied army is going to retreat with their forceful march. You guys!" Mighty Lord Jin Sahn interrupted him, "The wise recognize their circumstances. Mor Hall, we don''t wish to fight against you, you won''t stand a chance. Step back." "Are you guys going to stand by idly when the empress is in a plight?!" Mighty Lord Mor Hall turned to look at the other Martial Grandmasters in the main hall. Most people avoided his gaze. A small portion of them even chose to move and stand behind the eldest prince directly. "Senior Mor Hall, you don''t have to care about me now that things havee to this," Seetho Khouge was devastated and whispered, "All you have to do is head back and tell father that even if I die, I won''t fall into the hands of the three dynasties and allow them to humiliate me!" "Hahahaha!" When he saw that the oue was already set, the eldest prince could not help but break intoughter. "Sister, don''t me me for being ruthless. You can only me yourself for being born in the royal family! You should have never fought me for the throne!" Before hisughter was over, a change happened! Chapter 1012 1012 - The Return? ? The tiles above the main hall shattered all of a sudden! A dark light descended into the crowd within the blink of an eye. At that moment, the tension was nigh within the main hall. Although there were many martial artists inside, including Martial Grandmasters, nobody could react to the sudden appearance of the dark light! "Watch out!" "Who''s there?!" The crowd dispersed. There was a swoosh! The dark light was already pinned into the ground before it dispersed slowly C it looked like a bolt of dark energy. The bolt of energy was so powerful that its tail was still quivering after more than half of its body was embedded in the ground! Everyone focused their attention. There were six spirit patterns on the body of that bolt of energy! "It''s a top grade artifact weapon!" "No wonder it was so fast!" The Martial Grandmasters in the main hall felt a sense of trepidation. Given the situation earlier, if any of them were struck by the bolt of energy, they would have died on the spot, unable to avoid at all! It was chaos in the main hall but there was one person who did not move. The eldest prince! Motionless, the eldest prince was particrly striking in the crowd. Everyone looked at the eldest prince and could not help but shudder; their eyes widened in disbelief. There was a horrific hole of blood in the head of the eldest prince! The eldest prince was dead! That bolt of energy had pierced his head! "This" A momentary silence filled the main hall. Immediately after, Mighty Lords Jin Sahn and Tioh Tahl were enraged as they shouted with murderous looks, "Who is the scum who dares to take the life of a prince of the Great North Dynasty?!" Boom! Mighty Lord Jin Sahn waved his sleeves and attacked. A massive hole punctured the ceiling of the main hall. It was empty . The person who attacked had already left. "Fellow Mighty Lords, heed my call!" Mighty Lord Jin Sahn calmed down and said darkly, "This is a spirit weapon so this man''s martial arts realm is Martial Master at most. He can''t have escaped Iron City just yet." "Soldiers, hunt him down in the city!" "Reporti"" Suddenly, an urgent voice sounded outside the main hall. A martial artist in martial arts attire sprinted over, panting heavily. He was drenched in sweat and looked agitated, but there was a hint of fear deep in his eyes. "Reporti"! Reporti"!" The martial artist barged right into the main hall and yelled while stuttering. Mighty Lord Tioh Tahl berated him, "No matter what it is, hold on first!" "It''s an u-urgent news from the scouts at the front!" The martial artist panted heavily and said abruptly. The expressions of everyone in the main hall changed. "Did the allied army of the three dynasties not restst and chose to cross Iron Mountain Range?" "Ah!" "If that''s the case, they must have arrived at Iron City by now!" A chaoticmotion broke out in the crowd. "Silence!" Suddenly, Seetho Khouge''s voice sounded and overwhelmed the mor with her aura as the empress. She asked deeply, "Speak, what happened?" The martial artist managed topose himself by now. "Last time, the allied army of the three dynasties did not set up a camp. Instead, they chose to cross Iron Mountain Range!"I think you should take a look at The hearts of everyone in the main hall sank when they heard that. After a pause, the martial artist continued, "However, a beast stampede broke out in Iron Mountain Range!" "What!" "Beast stampede?" "How is that possible?" A series of exmations broke out from the crowd. Mighty Lord Mor Hall had a calm expression and said darkly, "From what I know, there are no fiend demons in Iron Mountain Range. Even if there''s a beast stampede, it shouldn''t be of concern to the allied army." The martial artist gulped and continued, "The allied army is almostpletely destroyed. They had several million troops but only a few hundred thousand of them managed to escape!" "The three princes died and the allied army has already withdrawn in defeat!" Silence engulfed the main hall. Completely destroyed! The three princes were dead! The news were so shocking that everyone almost forgot that the prince of Great North was just killed by a bolt of energy. "The heavens are watching over the Great North Dynasty!" Many generals andmanders knelt on the ground and eximed emotionally. Seetho Khouge frowned with a pensive expression. The martial artist''s mouth twitched, as though he wanted to say something but stopped himself. Mighty Lord Mor Hall frowned C although this was a joyous piece of news, there were way too many questions left. "A hundred Martial Grandmasters apanied the allied army. Where are they?" Mighty Lord Mor Hall asked again. The martial artist replied with a trembling voice and a fearful expression, "T-They''re all dead." "They''re all dead?" Mighty Lord Mor Hall shuddered and pressed on. "The fiend demon of Iron Mountain Range is so powerful?" "There''s no fiend demon," The martial artist shook his head. "Someone triggered the beast stampede in Iron Mountain Range. Later on, the hundred Martial Grandmasters chased that person into a small town." "A thick fog shrouded the small town and by the time it dispersed, all the Martial Grandmasters were dead with no survivors!" The main hall went silent once more. Everyone had puzzled and shocked expressions. There was a person who couldmand thousands of demons and trigger such a terrifying beast stampede to devour the allied army? Or could that have been a quasi-divine ferocious beast? But why would a quasi-divine ferocious beast run to the town? Why was there a fog shrouding the town? How did the hundred Martial Grandmasters dieter on? Everything sounded extremely odd. After pondering for a moment, Mighty Lord Mor Hall asked, "Why did that man stand in the way of the allied army?" The martial artist replied, "His kin passed away at the same time as the invasion of the allied army. In his rage, he triggered the beast stampede andmitted the massacre, dering that he wanted everyone to be buried along with his kin!" When Seetho Khouge heard that, she thought of something and shuddered. Ignoring her injuries, she dashed out of the main hall and gazed into the distance. Mighty Lord Mor Hall asked once again with a sharp gaze, "What''s the name of that person?" "I think it''s Aiden!" Psst! The moment that name was spoken, everyone in the main hall gasped in shock. Aiden the strongest monster incarnate in history from many years ago! He defeated all the paragons of the Martial Grandmaster and incinerated Martial Grandmasters in the Great Forbidden Ruins, dying the skies red! Almost everyone had forgotten about that name after so many years. To think that it would be mentioned once more today! "Impossible!" Mighty Lord Jin Sahn interrupted, "Everyone knows that Aiden leaped into the Dragon Burial Valley. How could he still be alive?" Mighty Lord Mor Hall was in disbelief as well. However, deep in his heart, he knew that if there was a person in the world who couldmit such an act, it would have to be Aiden! "I heard that this top grade ck Gold bolt of energy was used by Aiden in that battle of the North Region paragons many years ago," A martial artist said in a hushed tone within the crowd. There were some rumors in the imperial court of Great North regarding the rtionship between Seetho Khouge and Aiden. Chapter 1013 1013 - Bravery Or Stupidity ? Everyone came to a realization. If the rumors were true, he was exerting his authority by killing the eldest prince with that bolt of energy! He did not even give thetter a chance to exin! It was a direct kill! With the death of the eldest prince and the withdrawal of the allied army, who else would dare harbor evil intentions towards Seetho Khouge? None of the Martial Grandmasters in the main hall, including Jin Sahn and Tioh Tahl who stood by the eldest prince, dared to provoke Aiden. Even a hundred Martial Grandmasters of the three great dynasties were dead, who else would dare provoke him? A single statement shed through Mighty Lord Mor Hall''s mind. A bolt of energy to determine life and death! To think that the means of that young man had turned even more frightening 20 yearster! Outside the main hall. Seetho Khouge gazed into the distance with a dejected look in her eyes. There was nothing over there and the person from earlier on had already left. Mighty Lord Mor Hall arrived beside Seetho Khouge and asked curiously, "You knew that he wasn''t dead a long time ago, empress?" "That''s right, I knew it since all those years ago." "All those years ago?" Mighty Lord Mor Hall frowned with a pensive expression. A momentter, he shuddered and blurted, "That middle-aged monk at Dragon Burial Valley!" Seetho Khouge nodded. "That exins why the monk wanted to save you despite the tremendous risk and even escorted you all the way out," Mighty Lord Mor Hallmented, "That monk was decisive to kill and his attacks were sharp. Not only that, his thought process was frighteningly detailed and he did not seem like someone from the usual religious sects." "At that time, I had a fleeting thought that the means of the monk resembled someone. To think that it was really him." When Mighty Lord Mor Hall saw Seetho Khouge remain in silence, he knew that everything that happened today had quite a huge blow for the child. The betrayal of a kin was not something that everyone could deal with. The sudden appearance and disappearance of that man also dealt a huge blow to her. Mighty Lord Mor Hall did not know how to console her and merely asked, "Why did he choose to avoid meeting you?" "He''s afraid of implicating me as well as the Great North Dynasty," Seetho Khouge said softly, "Senior Mor Hall, do you really think that he triggered a beast stampede andmitted a massacre just because he wanted to vent his frustrations over the death of his kin?" "Was it not?" Mighty Lord Mor Hall froze for a moment. "Of course not," Seetho Khouge shook her head. Frowning, Mighty Lord Mor Hall asked, "If that''s the case, why would he say that?" Seetho Khouge replied, "It''s because that''s the only way it wouldn''t be linked to me or the Great North Dynasty. That way, no major sect or faction would direct their rage towards the Great North Dynasty." Mighty Lord Mor Hall was enlightened. Aiden''s identity was truly way too sensitive. He had offended way too many factions back then! There was nowhere for him left in the North Region! Given the circumstances back then, even anyone who sheltered Aiden''s brother would bring upon great troubles for themselves, let alone Aiden himself. It would have been fine if Aiden had died at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley. But now that he was alive, he had to deal with the pursuit of the ten upper sects, four gentry ns and major factions such as Crystal Pce Sect! That was why he chose to sever all ties with the Great North Dynasty so as to not implicate thetter. It wouldn''t be long before the battle at Iron Mountain Range was made known to the entire North Region. At that time, countless sects, factions and martial artists would partake in the hunt for Aiden, whether or not they had any grudges with him. That was because Aiden possessed the divine phoenix bone and many secret skills! Anyone who could obtain Aiden''s possessions would take over,to be the new strongest monster incarnate in history! Everyone was hunting down the prey. And Aiden was none other than the prey. Mighty Lord Mor Hall sighed gently. "It''s tough on him." He knew clearly well that from this day forth, Aiden would have to bear the infamy of being called a violent and bloodthirsty demon et cetera. Nobody would express any gratitude to him. That was because everyone would deem Aiden as a violent and cruel demon whose hands were tainted with the blood of countless mortals just because he wanted to vent his frustrations! Since he was not a mortal, he was amon enemy for everyone! Seetho Khouge vaguely realized that the two of them may never meet again after this departure.I think you should take a look at "Empress, let''s head back," Mighty Lord Mor Hall said softly, "The Great North has no more worries now that the allied army of the three dynasties have withdrawn. I believe that from today on, nobody in the entire Great North will dare to question you." Seetho Khouge sighed and turned to leave. Because of the passing of his kin, Aiden appeared and triggered a beast stampede to murder millions of martial artists and a hundred Martial Grandmasters in a town! The piece of news rippled through the entire North Region like a whirlwind. A shocking wave was stirred in the cultivation world of the North Region once again! "How can that be? Everyone witnessed him leaping down the Dragon Burial Valley 20 years ago! How is he still alive?" "Millions of martial artists! How strong!" "I heard that he hasn''t managed to train to be a fiend demon. If so, how did he manage to kill a hundred Martial Grandmasters? Could his strength have grown to such a terrifying degree?" "I think the Martial Grandmasters fell into an ambush and their spirit energies and Essence Spirits were locked." "Is he dering war against the mortals?!" It was amon topic of discussion among all the martial artists of the North Region. Initially, the cultivation world had calmed down with the imminent opening of the intermediate ancient battlefield because all the major sects and factions were busy preparing to send their disciples inside. However, the piece of news stirred the entire North Region! The number of martial artists in the Great North Dynasty increased significantly. All the major sects and factions moved C all of them wanted to be the first to hunt down Aiden. Martial artists of the ten upper sects, four gentry ns, two aristocratic families and even super sects such as Crystal Pce Sect and Malefic Demons n appeared one after another in search of Aiden. It was almost impossible for Aiden to continue hiding given the current circumstances! However, for 10 consecutive days, nobody found Aiden. Even those in the legendary divinity realms were alerted for this period of time. It was said that the higher ups of the Crystal Pce Sect visited Azure Myst Sect personally to capture Aiden but to no avail. Within the capital of Great North, powerful spirit consciousnesses would sweep past daily to check everyst corner of the capital. It was as though Aiden had vanished into thin air. Nobody knew where he was. Suddenly, a spirit crane that arrived in the vicinity of Crystal Pce Sect caused yet another huge stir! There was a deration written on it. "You had better not send any martial artists into the ancient battlefield, or I''ll murder each and every single one of them I see! Blood will be paid by blood for the destroyed cities of North Country!" It was signed with a name Aiden! The fact that nobody from Crystal Pce Sect stood out to deny it meant that it was probably true. The piece of news caused a huge uproar. There was someone in this world who dared to threaten Crystal Pce Sect! This was a deration of war! A Martial Master was dering war against a massive titan of history in the world! That was courage that no one could match! There were no scheming or conniving plots. It was a deration of war in bright daylight! He threatened Crystal Pce Sect under the watch of the entire martial world! If they dared to send anyone into the ancient battlefield, everyone would be murdered by Aiden! Blood will be paid by blood for the destroyed cities of North Country! A full 20 years had passed. Nobody expected Aiden to survive. Less than that, nobody expected this monster incarnate to reappear with such a domineering stance that he would dare to trample on the dignity of Crystal Pce Sect and dere war against them! The entire cultivation world was in a full uproar and discussions were strife. "Steel is easily snapped if it''s too rigid. Thatd is way too ballsy to dare to provoke Crystal Pce Sect as a Martial Master realm spirit demon. I think he has a death wish!" "I don''t think so. In my opinion, I think he''s very smart." "Huh? Why do you say that?" "If he charges at Crystal Pce Sect directly, that would be having a death wish. However, he''s very smart to shift the fight onto the ancient battlefield." "So what?" "Thatd murdered Jorl Wuya 20 years ago and can be considered as the true number one Perfected Being of the North Region! With the restriction of the ancient battlefield at the Martial Master realm, he would be equivalent to a god within! How could anyone from Crystal Pce Sect be a match for him?" "That might not be true. Don''t forget that a Lesser Divine realm powerhouse crushed his inner core entirely, that''s undeniable. Furthermore, thatd had no spirit energy in the battle at Iron Mountain Range. In my opinion, his strength has dropped instead." Chapter 1014 1014 - Is it just for fame? Chapter1014 1014 - Is it just for fame? Aiden dered war on the Crystal Pce Sect. Regarding that, the major sects, factions and individual martial artists had varying opinions. Some of them felt that the momentum was with Aiden now that he managed to survive and kill millions of martial artists now that he had returned. Some felt that Aiden was arrogant, overconfident and did not know his limits C what he did was equivalent to an ant trying to move a tree. He had a strong physique, shocking bloodline and frightening meleebat strength. However, what was undeniable was the fact that his Martial Master was crippled! Many years ago, there was no way a direct attack from a Quasi-Divine Powerhouse could have missed. There was no way of recovering a destroyed Martial Master as well. Furthermore, in the battle at Iron Mountain Range, none of the surviving martial artists felt any spirit energy fluctuation from Aiden. The destruction of his Martial Master core meant that he had no Martial Master phenomenon to rely on. For some people, the oue of a fight between Aiden who had lost his Martial Master and the peerless paragons of Crystal Pce Sect''s Martial Master realm was indeterminate. Furthermore, there would be Sealers in the intermediate ancient battlefield! Crystal Pce Sect had a long history, solid foundation and they were one of the immortal sects C how could they be threatened by a single spirit crane from Aiden? A massive battle was bound to break out in the ancient battlefield! Crystal Pce Sect prepared for the battle while searching for Aiden, even offering a hefty reward for his capture. Unfortunately, another 20 days passed without any news of Aiden. The date to the opening of the ancient battlefield approached. A tranquil old temple at the bottom of Dragon Burial Valley. In the courtyard, there were two people and a fox. A little monk sat in a meditative position facing the sun with his head lowered. Bathed in sunlight, he recited his religious prayers and seemed like he was shrouded by a bright glow. On the other side, a gray-robed schr sat on a stone bench casually with his hands behind his back. He seemed like he was resting with his eyes closed in an extremely rxed manner. A fiery red little fox hopped around on the gray-robed schr''s body in joy. Old temple, monk, schr, fox, prayer Everything seemed like a scene from a painting. The monk was Mor Hall. The schr was naturally Aiden who had just caused a huge stir in the North Region. An old monk walked out from the grand hall. "Mind Jin, Mor Hall, prepare yourselves. The ancient battlefield is about to open up. Let me exin to you guys about the origin of the Phenomenon Ranking." Aiden and Mor Hall bolted upright and sat at attention. "In the ancient era, mortals rose and fought against the Primordial Races. In order to ensure that the legacy of the mortal race continued, an expert of the ancient era, Fairy Lia Long, set up the ranking to select those with the strongest potential in the younger generation to groom intensively and retain our heritage." "Therefore, there''s a strict rule in the ranking for age. Anyone that''s above 200 years old is not allowed to be included into the ranking!" Aiden nodded in agreement. The ranking was meant to gather the paragons of the mortal race and strong monster incarnates. Naturally, there had to be a strong limitation to age. Compared to Martial Masters who had a lifespan of 500 years, anyone who was 200 years old was considered young. Aiden could not help but think about someone. The number one of the previous Phenomenon Ranking! Back when he was in his thirties a hundred years ago, he had already attained the number one spot of the Phenomenon Ranking. The reason why he wanted to enter the ancient battlefield again was so that he could achieve the number one position twice in session! "Fairy Lia Long had long ascended after riding through the tribtion. Now, the release of each Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking is done by Enigma Pce which she founded," At that point, the old monk paused for a moment. Nine immortal sects, eight demon ns, seven fiend sects, all the religious monasteries, five heretical doctrines, four unorthodox groups, three aristocratic families, two inds and one pce! Those were the strongest factions in theon the world as of now. If Enigma Pce was qualified to publish the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking in the ancient battlefield, it should be the ''one pce'' in the top factions. "Enigma Pce?" Aiden''s eyes shimmered as he murmured. In his mind, a pale, rotund and beardless martial artist with a folding fan appeared. Aidenmented, "Enigma Pce, Lohn Kong hmm, I wonder if they''re connected." After a moment of contemtion, Aiden asked, "Fairy Lia Long must have been an ancient emperor as well if she had such an influence to gather all the monster incarnates in the world?" "Although Fairy Lia Long was an expert of the ancient era, she wasn''t an emperor." The old monk shook his head. "However, she had another identity C she was the wife of the Great Emperor!" The wife of the Great Emperor! That exined everything. Furthermore, the fact that Fairy Lia Long was able to set up Enigma Pce and pass down her legacy was proof that she was no weakling in the past. The old monk continued, "That''s also part of the reason why Enigma Pce has a unique status in the martial art world and is ranked alongside the immortal, religious and fiend sects. Because the Great Emperor did not leave behind any legacy, Enigma Pce is the only sect that is rted to the Emperor." "Apart from the Phenomenon Ranking, Enigma Pce has two other rankings, the Dharma Characteristic and Divine Power Ranking respectively. Those are the famous Three Enigma Rankings in the martial art world!" Mor Hall had a lost expression and asked curiously, "Master, apart from being famous, what''s the use of being on the Phenomenon Ranking? If it''s just for fame, I''m not going to fight them for it." To Mor Hall, being able to study Buddhism in peace meant more than fighting to the death with everyone else. "Of course, there''s more to it than fame," The old monk chuckled. "Any martial artist that''s able to get their name on the Phenomenon Ranking would be known to the world and they would be watched by all the super sects. For example, if you''re able to get into the Phenomenon Ranking, you''ll have a chance to join the six religious monasteries." "I don''t want to join the other monasteries, I just want to follow you, Master," Master shook his head. "You must not be emotional," The old monk said with good intentions, "It''s a rare opportunity and you can only grow more if you discover more about the strengths of others. Martial Art isn''t merely hiding in seclusion away from the world forever." "You''re still young and you''ll have to head out eventually to experience the pains, love, and emotions of the mortal realm and secr affairs. That is the true path of martial arts." The old monk said, "The only way to leave the mortal realm is after you enter it!" Mor Hall nodded, seemingly confused. He had never left the bottom of Dragon Burial Valley nor had he experienced secr affairs C how could he understand any of that? However, he could tell that the old monk wanted him to leave. Mor Hall felt disappointed internally. Aiden eyed the old monk and sighed internally. He was probably the only one who understood the old monk''s underlying intentions. The old monk was trying to seek an alternative path for Mor Hall. He was already old and knew that he would leave this world one day. That was the reason why he wanted Mor Hall to join other sects. That way, thetter would be able to gain the protection of the super sect. At that thought, Aiden smiled bitterly in self-deprecation. He had offended all the major factions of the North Region. There was no ce left for him in the North Region. No other sects or factions would ept him either. That was because everyone saw him as a demon! Mortals and demons were different. Sensing the sorrow in Aiden''s eyes, the old monk said warmly, "Apart from the chance to join super sects, there will also be rewards for leaving your name on the Phenomenon Ranking," "Naturally, the higher the ranking, the better the rewards. It could be Earth-grade Divine arts or martial art techniques, or supreme or can be a top grade Divine weapon!" perfect-grade Divine weapons. In fact, there''s a small chance that it Chapter 1015 1015 - Enlightenment Chapter1015 1015 - Enlightenment Martial Artists would experience life-changing transformations after forming a core. That was the first time they would break free from the restraints of Heaven and Earth and they would not only be able to soar through the skies, their lifespans would even extend to 500 years. The core formation could be considered as a rift in the path of martial art. The difference between Martial Master and Martial Grandmaster realm was another great rift. That was because one would break free from the restraints of Heaven and Earth once more at Martial Grandmaster realm by training their Essence Spirits and extending their lifespans to 1,000 years! With an Essence Spirit, Martial Artists were able to channel Divine powers for their own use. At the same time, it meant that Martial Artists would require new Divine arts, weapons and even some secret skills to refine their spirits. Simply put, the intermediate ancient battlefield was where many paragons of the Martial Master would prepare themselves for what they require after ascending to Martial Grandmaster realm! The old monk said, "There were even heaven-grade Divine arts and martial art techniques that appeared in the rewards of previous Phenomenon Rankings!" When he heard that, Aiden''s heart skipped a beat and he was secretly speechless. After advancing to Martial Grandmaster realm, one would enter a new world and reach a new level. Divine powers were the powers of the universe. Divine arts and martial art techniques were differentiated by grades. The four grades in the martial art world for Divine arts and martial art worlds were heaven, earth, dark and light. Naturally, the most frightening techniques that could release the strongest Divine powers were heaven-grade Divine arts! Thereafter, the power level was reduced per grade. Light-grade Divine arts had the weakest Divine powers. Of course, there were also stronger and weaker light-grade Divine arts. Furthermore, in the martial art world, most of themonly seen light-grade Divine arts and martial art techniques could be found in various major sects and factions. Dark-grade Divine arts and martial art techniques were most likely only possessed by aristocratic families and true gentry ns. Earth-grade Divine arts and martial art techniques were only possessed by major super sects of the world. However, heaven-grade Divine arts and martial art techniques Were things that could only be hoped for. In the ancient era where paragons dominated and multiple emperors rose, there were many heaven-grade Divine arts and martial art techniques that were created. However, few were passed down till now. Furthermore, many of them that were passed down were iplete by now. That was the reason why all the paragons of the world looked forward to the intermediate ancient battlefield. The Daring Divine Seal that Aiden trained was originally an earth-grade Divine art. However, with the loss of the Nigal Prayer Beads such that there were only four Divine Seals remaining, Daring Divine Seal could only be considered as a dark-grade Divine art. Strictly speaking, the Fiend Suppression, Demon Subduing, Immortal Trap and Immovable Foundation Seals could only be considered as dark-grade Divine arts. When released in tandem with Daring Mantra, it was only a superior dark-grade Divine art. Within the Daring Divine Seal, only the lost Great Sacred Wheel and Great Mount Iron Seals were true blue earth-grade Divine arts! However, the strange thing was that Daring True Prayer was clearly listed as a heaven-grade Divine art in the ancient books of Daring Monastery! Even if he managed to recover the two lost Divine Seals, Daring Divine Seal was only an earth-grade Divine art. However, it could actually turn into a heaven-grade Divine art after it wasbined with the sound secret skill, Daring Mantra, to form Daring True Prayer? That was something that Aiden could not figure out. Of course, Martial Grandmasters would not be able to release heaven-grade Divine arts even if they obtained it. Heaven-grade Divine arts had extremely strict requirements of one''s Essence Spirits! Even if Martial Grandmasters were to set their Essence Spirits aze, they would not be able channel the heaven-grade Divine arts. Theoretically, heaven-grade martial art techniques could be trained the moment one entered Martial Grandmaster realm. However, heaven-grade martial art techniques were extremely difficult toprehend and having just trained their Essence Spirits, there were many things that Martial Grandmasters did not know about this realm. It would be extremely difficult for them to train! Of course, the benefits of training a heaven-grade martial art technique were clear as day as well. In the same realm, an Essence Spirit that trained a heaven-grade martial art technique would be much stronger than the Essence Spirits of other Perfected Lords! The old monk continued, "After advancing to Martial Grandmaster realm, you will have to change all your weapons. Even if you''re wielding a top-grade artifact weapon, it won''t be able to release the might of Divine arts." In terms of toughness, even ordinary Divine weapons would not be able to shatter top-grade artifact weapons with ease. However, at the end of the day, top-grade artifact weapons were still only on the level of spirit energy. "Divine weapons are ssified into four types for the four different realms and it''s extremely simple. Weapons used by Martial Grandmasters were called Perfected Lord Divine weapons and weapons used by Quasi Divines were Dao Being Divine weapons." "Following that, Quasi-Divines used Lesser Divine rank Divine weapons and Lesser Gods used Perfected Divine weapons." At that point, Aiden''s heart stirred and he asked automatically, "There''s also the Mahayana realm above Lesser God. In that case, do those patriarchs use Patriarch Divine weapons?" "Wrong" The old monk smiled. "Mahayana Patriarchs use Divine treasures!" "Divine treasure?" Aiden and Morwyn ckstone were stunned. That was a term that was foreign to them. The old monk replied, "The logic is simple. Divine powers are above spirit energy and divine weapons are above Divine powers. With that, Divine arts are above spirit arts and divine arts are above Divine arts." "With the sameparison, Divine weapons are above artifact weapons and Divine treasures are above Divine weapons!" "The reason why one has to change weapons at a new martial art realm is because their strength would also transform in terms of quality as their martial art advances." "Artifact weapons will explode if they are injected with Divine powers. Simrly, Divine weapons aren''t able to withstand divine powers and those that undergo the baptism of divine powers are known as Divine treasures!" Aiden was enlightened. "Be it Mighty Lord or Divine Beings with Divine weapons, the difference in grade is simr to artifact weapons." The old monk continued, "A single Divine pattern makes an inferior-grade Perfected Lord Divine weapon, two Divine patterns, middle-grade Perfected Lord Divine weapon, three Divine patterns, superior-grade, four Divine patterns, supreme-grade, five Divine patterns, perfect-grade and six Divine patterns, top-grade. I''m sure you know about this by now." Aiden nodded. After a brief pause, the old monk took a deep breath, "There''s another important thing I want to talk about." "If you guys are able to advance to Martial Grandmaster realm sessfully, you''ll be able to train your Essence Spirits. Every single Martial Grandmaster has a chance to refine a Destiny Divine Weapon that belongs to themselves!" "Destiny Divine weapon?!" Both of them were stunned. Aiden asked, "What is a Destiny Divine Weapon?" "A Destiny Divine Weapon is interlinked with your Essence Spirit. By refining it day and night with your Essence Spirit, a tight connection will be made between you and your Divine weapon over time. It will be like a part of your body." The old monk exined, "You will be able to release your greatest strength with a Destiny Divine Weapon." Upon hearing this, Aiden frowned. Even with that exnation, there was nothing special about Destiny Divine Weapons. However, the old monk continued, "The true strength of a Destiny Divine Weapon lies in the fact that it will be stronger as your martial art advances!" "Hmm?" Aiden''s eyes shone brightly, seemingly realizing something. The old monk revealed a look of admiration and nodded. "If the Divine weapon you choose at the start is a superior-grade Perfected Lord Divine weapon, by the time you train to Quasi Divine realm, your Destiny Divine Weapon will also grow into a Dao Being Divine weapon after the refinement of your Essence Spirit. Furthermore, it will still be at three Divine patterns superior-grade!" "Indeed!" Aiden nodded andmented, "That will be incredible." This meant that the grade of a Destiny Divine Weapon will not change even as it grows! In other words, if Aiden chose a top-grade Perfected Lord Divine weapon as his Destiny Divine Weapon, by the time he reaches Quasi Divine realm, his Destiny Divine Weapon would transform into a Dao Being Divine weapon. However, its grade will still be at top grade! Chapter 1016 1016 - Something had gone wrong again Chapter1016 1016 - Something had gone wrong again Aiden''s eyes shone brightly, seemingly realizing something. The old monk revealed a look of admiration and nodded. "If the Divine weapon you choose at the start is a superior-grade Perfected Lord Divine weapon, by the time you train to Quasi Divine realm, your Destiny Divine Weapon will also grow into High Grade Divine weapons after the refinement of your Essence Spirit. Furthermore, it will still be at three Divine patterns superior-grade!" "Indeed!" Aiden nodded andmented, "That will be incredible." This meant that the grade of a Destiny Divine Weapon will not change even as it grows! In other words, if Aiden chose a top-grade Perfected Lord Divine weapon as his Destiny Divine Weapon, by the time he reaches Quasi Divine realm, his Destiny Divine Weapon would transform into a High Grade Divine weapon. However, its grade will still be at top grade! The old monk said, "Of course, it will be best if you can get a top-grade Divine weapon as a Destiny Divine Weapon. However, perfect or supreme-grade Divine weapons are also eptable." Aiden nodded. Of course, top-grade Divine weapons were way too rare and could only be chanced upon. The old monk continued, "Other than its rich spirit energy, the intermediate ancient battlefield also contains two spirit herbs that have gone extinct in the world, the Spirit Gathering Fruit and Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng." "Martial Masters face extreme danger while attempting a breakthrough to the Martial Grandmaster realm. There''s the risk of crippling their martial art or even dying on the spot without any corpse remaining! The Spirit Gathering Fruit is meant to help Martial Masters gather their Essence Spirit while attempting the breakthrough." "Only one Spirit Gathering Fruit is required and it''s useless to consume more than that." "After advancing to Martial Grandmaster realm, Martial Artists will be able to enhance their martial art speed by consuming the Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng to nourish their Essence Spirit and strengthen it. It''s a rare spirit material! Naturally, for the Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng, the more the better." Aiden had a rough understanding. Apart from countless opportunities, the intermediate ancient battlefield also had an unimaginable amount of martial art resources. If he could obtain sufficient benefits from within, his martial art path in the future would be much smoother! "Of course, there''s also countless threats on the intermediate ancient battlefield. It''s 10 times more dangerous than everything you''ve experienced in the elementary ancient battlefield!" The old monk said sternly, "You''ve made too many enemies so you must be extremely careful. Additionally, demons of the world will also be in the intermediate ancient battlefield." "Demons?" Aiden froze for a moment. The old monk nodded. "After forming their cores, demons will also go on to form their Essence Spirits. Therefore, they will also enter to fight with you guys for the Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng and Spirit Gathering Fruits." After training their Yin Spirits, demons be fiend demons and can take on mortal form and speak in themon tongue. In fact, they can even hide their demonic energy such that Martial Artists won''t be able to tell them apart! After training Yin Spirit, demons were able to control Divine powers as well. Once released, they would be the legendary demonic techniques. The old monk said, "Ordinary demons are of no threat to you. However, there are vastnds in the world where the eight major demon races reside known as the eight demon regions!" "In those eight regions, there are countless frightening birds and beasts that only stand out after going through endless bloodshed and possessing extraordinary bloodlines. You must be careful." "I''ll remember them all to heart," Aiden nodded. "There''s nothing else." The old monk walked down the stone steps and red at the void before him. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he extended his withered palm, pping the void gently. Boom! A resounding boom exploded in the void. Right in front of Aiden and Morwyn ckstone, the void shattered and caved in, turning into a pitch-ck vortex! The vortex connected to an unknown ce that gave off an ancient aura. The old monk turned to Aiden. "You''re nning to leave the North Region this time round?" "Yes." Aiden did not choose to hide the truth. There was no point in him staying here any longer. All his objectives have been filled, and his family was no longer in this strange world but should be long back in their original one, Eora. Furthermore, there was no ce left for him in the North Region. If he continued staying here, more people would be implicated! The reason why Aiden did not even return to Azure Myst Sect when he reappeared was because he did not want thetter to be burdened because of him. The old monk had a benevolent gaze and said warmly, "There''s only one thing you need to remember after leaving the North Region. If you truly encounter any danger and have nowhere left to run, use the Major Transference Talisman and return here!" "As long as I''m alive, I''ll definitely be able to guarantee your safety!" Aiden pursed his lips in silence and bowed deeply to the old monk. "Go on!" The old monk waved his hand. Aiden and Morwyn ckstone exchanged nces and did not hesitate, leaping into the vortex in the void along with the little fox. Aiden felt the world spin. In the blink of an eye, it seemed as though his body and soul had separated out of his control! His surroundings were pitch-ck and he could not see anything. All his senses had vanished. Even his spirit perception felt hazy. The two of them seemed to be traveling through a dark tunnel. Initially, Aiden could still rely on his spirit perception to sense the presence of Morwyn ckstone and the little fox. However, not longter, Aiden discovered that Morwyn ckstone and the little fox had vanished from his spirit perception! Gradually A spot of light appeared before him, erging and turning clearer! His consciousness returned. His body and soul seemed to have rbined. Swoosh! Aiden burst out of the light spot and his body descended rapidly. It was a brand new world. Spirit energy was multiple times richer than it was outside. Aiden knew that he had already entered the intermediate ancient battlefield! Releasing his spirit perception, Aiden put on his guard and surveyed his vicinity. It was vast and empty! Morwyn ckstone and the little fox had already vanished. Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. He realized that something had gone off course in the teleportation process and they were separated. A slight deviation in the teleportation could send them hundreds of kilometers apart. Aiden was not worried about Morwyn ckstone. After Number 13 left the old temple, Morwyn ckstone spent many years in the Great Forbidden Ruins, fighting with the otherworldly soldiers and undergoing countless brushes with death. Morwyn ckstone''sbat experience had already grown by a lot. Furthermore, he was not weak to begin with and he had even trained the World Cleansing Green Lotus which was previously ranked top ten in the Phenomenon Ranking. The little fox was whom Aiden was truly worried about. Trying to find a fox in this vast world was akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. The spirit energy here was way too rich and spirit herbs and materials could be found everywhere. Taking a deep breath of air, Aiden made a rough gauge of direction before heading towards the center of the ancient battlefield. The spirit energy here was way too rich and spirit herbs and materials could be found everywhere. There were some ces wherekes were even conjured out of spirit energy. If everything went smoothly, Aiden would definitely be able to reach perfected Martial Master a yearter! Even though his surroundings were filled with lush greenery along the way, he did not encounter any Martial Artist. Not long after. "Hmm?" Aiden sensed something. In the nearby grass that was taller than a human''s height, a demon beast sprawled and red at him with green, frightening eyes! Aiden was not bothered and continued advancing. When he passed by the demon beast, the grass moved and the demon beast leaped into the air, lunging towards Aiden with a berserk killing intent! "Roar!" A deafening roar sounded from the depths of the demon beast''s throat. If it was any other Martial Artist, they would be shocked into a daze by that sudden attack and roar, thereby perishing under the ws of the demon beast. However, Aiden trained the Mystic ssic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness and was the greatest demon! That roar did not affect him at all! Turning slightly, he looked at the iing demon beast and suddenly spoke with a fake smile, "Om!" The iing demon beast froze in midair with a stumped expression C it waspletely shocked! Chapter 1017 1017 - A Wolf and a Lion Chapter1017 1017 - A Wolf and a Lion It was a Heaven''s Bane Wolf, a type of ancient remnant beast. Their bodies spanned several dozen feet and they had thick bloody-red fur all over their bodies. Bloodthirsty, most of them traveled by themselves and they were extremely strong and violent. But now, the eyes of this ancient remnant beast were dazed C it was shocked unconscious! In truth, such a frightening effect couldn''t be achieved if it was the Daring Mantra alone. More than that, it was because Aiden trained those ancient techniques from the old man in the Ancient One''s Temple and had extremely strong lungs. With rich stamina and high senses, his burst power was shocking! No ordinary beast would be able to take a simple roar from him, let alone the burst of Daring Mantra. Weaker Martial Artists would die on the spot from the shock! Aiden reached out with extended fingers and pushed down on the head of the Heaven Bane Wolf! The man and wolf''s figures descended rapidly. Boom! The head of the Heaven Bane Wolf was crushed into the mud by Aiden, creating a huge pit almost instantly. "ck, ck!" The Heaven Bane Wolf woke up and struggled endlessly. Its sharp ws dug on the ground like daggers, causing mud to ssh as it roared threateningly C all its fur stood on end! However, no matter how it struggled, it could not break free from Aiden''s palm. His hand was pale and smooth, resembling jade, and did not seem like it had ever held any weapons. However, his outstretched fingers pinned the head of the Heaven Bane Wolf on the spot like a mountain! Aiden''s gaze was cold with a murderous look. Sensing something, the Heaven Bane Wolf shuddered and stopped struggling. Demon beasts were the sharpest towards danger. Furthermore, it was already sentient by this point of its martial art and could naturally tell that Aiden was showing mercy. Aiden released his palm when he saw the Heaven Bane Wolf motionless. The Heaven Bane Wolf panted heavily and raised its head slightly. When it saw the distance between it and this mortal, the killing intent in its heart returned. Normally, Martial Artists had weak bodies. Given this distance, it had a 90% chance of sess. However, it gave up on that thought in the blink of an eye. Aiden was expressionless and had a calm gaze. The Heaven Bane Wolf could vaguely sense that it would be murdered on the spot by this mortal the moment it behaved abnormally! Aiden climbed onto the Heaven Bane Wolf''s back and patted its head, pointing towards the depths of the battlefield. "Head there." The Heaven Bane Wolf rose, somewhat reluctantly, and shrugged the mud off itself. It growled deeply and sprinted toward the depths of the battlefield. In its mind, it was willing to listen to this mortal''s arrangements first as long as it was not forced into a blood oath. Riding on the back of the Heaven Bane Wolf, Aiden could train in peace. Right now, he was at the peak ofte-stage Martial Master. Given the rich spirit energy in the environment, he was sure that he could sense the opportunity for a breakthrough if he trained for a period of time! 10 dayster. Aiden who was riding on the Heaven Bane Wolf woke up from his martial art in a jolt. His ears twitched and he could vaguely hear the sounds of a fight going on far away with the roars of demon beasts mixed within! "Head over there and check things out." Aiden patted the Heaven Bane Wolf and pointed in another direction. The Heaven Bane Wolf sprinted the entire way and arrived before the entrance of a valley before long. There were at least a thousand demon beasts in the valley surrounding a group of Martial Artists. The scary thing was that almost all of them were ancient remnant beasts! On a mountain peak near the valley stood a mighty lion filled with golden fur. It possessed a divine might and looked down at the valley with eyes that were asrge as bells. Golden Lion! That was a true blue pure-blooded ferocious beast! Furthermore, Aiden could sense that this Golden Lion was extremely strong and had already trained to the peak of its Inner Core. All it needed was one more step for it to be a fiend demon! The Heaven Bane Wolf looked evidently fearful and wanted to retreat and escape. However, Aiden''s body turned increasingly heavier, as though he was about to force the Heaven Bane Wolf to sprawl on the ground and it could only whine in misery internally. With a calm expression, Aiden swept his gaze across the valley. A green-colored flower bloomed on a cliff in the valley. The flower had a green fruit that was around the size of an infant''s fist. It was filled with white dots and carried a faint fragrance. Spirit Gathering Fruit! The reason for this conflict should be the Spirit Gathering Fruit. The old monk had mentioned previously that Martial Artists were not the only ones who required spirit items such as the Spirit Gathering Fruit and Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng C even demon beasts coveted them. There were males and females on the side of the surrounded party with dozens of corpses beneath their feet. All of the corpses were trampled and had mangled faces. There were more than ten of them remaining and all of them were injured. However, they huddled into a group and defended in a structured manner with extraordinary methods to try their best and survive C it was clear that they came from a major sect. The Golden Lion turned and swept its gaze across Aiden, seemingly sensing no threat as a look of mockery shed through its eyes. "Roar!" The Golden Lion roared and stomped heavily on the mountain peak. The mountain peak crumbled instantly! Countless rocks tumbled down in a terrifying manner! This was truly earthshaking! The Heaven Bane Wolf shuddered and turned even more fearful. As though there was an order, the thousand remnant beast beasts slowed down and came to a gradual stop in their attacks. However, those ancient remnant beasts surrounded the remaining Martial Artists with ferocious gazes and devoured the flesh of the corpses beneath their feet in an iparably cruel manner with drool all over! The only two remaining female Martial Artists in the group vomited at the sight of that. Those were the corpses of their sect mates! One of them broke down on the spot and howled in tears. The remaining men were equally frightened, trembling with pale faces. "Puny mortals, do you still want to resist? I''m going to give you a chance. Sign a blood oath with me and turn into my ve!" The Golden Lion spoke in themon tongue with a ferocious gaze. When he heard that, Aiden frowned. In order to control demon beasts and prevent betrayals, Martial Artists signed blood oaths with them. Aiden had not expected that demons would make simr blood oaths! These demons wanted to keep mortals as ves instead! The Golden Lion roared, "It''s your honor to be my ves!" "In the primordial era, mortals were enved by the thousands of races. The bloodlines of mortals are weak and you''re cheap right down to the bones! Your lives are equivalent to grass! All of you are born to be ves!" Born to be ves! Those words were extremely piercing to Aiden. It was true that he undertook demonic martial art. However, he was a mortal after all! There was contempt in the tone of the Golden Lion, making Aiden feel as though he had been teleported back in time to the period when mortals were disgraced in the primordial era. The remaining Martial Artists looked horrified. That was the final warning from the Golden Lion! If they rejected it, they would be torn into pieces by the thousand ancient remnant beasts surrounding them! Although their leader was indignant, he could only sigh. "We" "How cocky," Before his words could be said, a mocking voice sounded from outside the valley, interrupting him. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! Countless gazes turned to the entrance of the valley. A gray-robed Martial Artist riding on a Heaven Bane Wolf entered slowly with an indifferent expression and a calm gaze. Chapter 1018 1018 - Fight Chapter1018 1018 - Fight The legs of the Heaven Bane Wolf shivered against the gazes of a thousand ancient remnant beasts. At that moment, it could only force itself to head inside reluctantly. "Herees another puny ant!" The Golden Lion sneered coldly when it could not sense any threat from Aiden. The surviving Martial Artists that were surrounded looked at Aiden expectantly. However, they could not help but feel disappointed when they could not sense any spirit energy fluctuation from the gray-robed Martial Artist. Aiden carried the Nigal Prayer Beads and had remained dormant at the bottom of Dragon Burial Valley for 20 years, reciting Prayers and studying Buddhism daily. Right now, his bearing was extraordinary and ordinary people were unable to see through him. "I''m going to take these mortals in as my ves because their strengths are eptable. But you? You''re a worthless ant that isn''t even qualified to be my mount!" The Golden Lion gazed down with an icy stare at Aiden beforemanding indifferently, "Kill him!" "Howl!" Two demon beasts that were closest to the entrance of the valley turned around with ferocious gazes. Their Inner Cores circted and they lunged towards Aiden with surging demonic energy! Aiden pped his storage bag with a calm expression. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! Two flying swords appeared in midair. The swords buzzed continuously with bright spirit lights! Four spirit patterns, they were supreme-grade artifact weapons! Just a shy away from being top grade! If this was in the martial art world, it would be rather remarkable for him to release two supreme-grade artifact weapons right away. However, this was the ancient battlefield. Everyone who was qualified and had the capabilities to enter were the paragons and elites of major sects and factions C it was considered normal for them to have a couple of supreme-grade artifact weapons with them. The surviving Martial Artists exchanged nces and shook their heads disappointedly. "He truly has a death wish." "If he wants to fight these demon beasts with just those two supreme-grade flying swords, it''ll be equivalent to an ant trying to shake a massive tree." "He looks young. I think he must have gotten famous in his teenage years and is inexperienced and cocky without having experienced setbacks before, sigh." The two ancient remnant beasts were expressionless when they saw Aiden''s flying swords and continued charging at an even faster speed. However, the next moment, their expressions changed! Pshew! The two flying swords vanished right before everyone and there was only the sound of the void tearing! The two ancient remnant beasts felt their hearts skip a beat. Although they were ancient remnant beasts and had tough flesh and skin, the sharpness of a supreme-grade flying sword could still threaten their lives! Poof! Poof! Before the two ancient remnant beasts could dodge, a stream of blood spewed from their heads. The two flying swords pierced their heads right away! The blood did not even stain the swords as they revolved in midair before returning to Aiden. It was too fast! Furthermore, they were traceless! It was as though two flying swords had appeared out of thin air to kill the two ancient remnant beasts! "Hmm?" The leader of the survivors, a blue-robed man, murmured softly with widened eyes, "What an impressive sword-wielding technique!" In the crowd, the female Martial Artist who was initially having a breakdown on the ground stopped crying. Her misty eyes widened with shock as she looked at everything. Up till this point in his martial art, Aiden had learned a wide spectrum of skills. However, all of them were top-tier martial art techniques and secret skills! That sword-wielding technique could only be considered as one of the most basic skills among his methods. Ethereal Sword had three levels C Shadow, Void, and Ethereal. Right now, Aiden has already trained it to the Ethereal realm! The speed of the flying swords was extremely fast, erratic, and untraceable. Only Martial Artists with extremely sharp senses would be able to defend against Level 3 of Ethereal Sword! Against these ancient remnant beasts, Aiden had way too many means of dealing with them. The most simple and crude way was to barge right in with his frightening bloodline and body C no ancient remnant beast could stand in his way at all! However, Aiden did not do that. When he heard the Golden Lion''s mockery and ridicule, he was insistent on using the methods of immortal Martial Artists to kill the ancient remnant beasts and suppress that Golden Lion! With the death of the two ancient remnant beasts, dozens more charged over without the need for the Golden Lion to make any orders. "This is bad," The blue-robed man shook his head. "Although he is skilled in maneuvering his swords, he only has two of them" Before his words were finished, he had to swallow them. Aiden pped his storage bag and 25 flying swords appeared in midair. Coupled with the two from before, that was a total of 27 flying swords! More than that, the scary thing was that all of them were supreme-grade flying swords! While it was nothing much for a Martial Master in the ancient battlefield to possess two supreme-grade spirit items, it was rather frightening for someone to possess 27 supreme-grade artifact weapons! "He has so many flying swords?" The surviving Martial Artists were dumbstruck. None of them had ever seen anyone summon that many flying swords in one go. The 27 flying swords hovered before Aiden in an orderly manner and shed with a ring beam before surging toward the dozens of ancient remnant beasts! Pshew! Once again, the 27 flying swords vanished. In the blink of an eye The 27 of them reappeared. At the same time, the ancient remnant beasts that lunged over fell one after another with blood streams spurting from holes in their heads C all of them were dead! "This" The blue-robed man''s group was shocked. It was extremely difficult to control 27 flying swords to such a precise degree! The most frightening thing was that right from the beginning, there was no emotional fluctuation in the eyes of the gray-robed Martial Artist! It was as though everything happened exactly as he had predicted! "GRAWR!" "Roar!" Amotion broke out among the demon beasts. Although the death of dozens of ancient remnant beasts did not amount to muchpared to their massive numbers, they could sense danger exuding from the green-robed Martial Artist. "You''re rather interesting, mortal! You''re worthy of being my mount!" The Golden Lion spoke in mortal tongue and nodded with confidence. "Hahahaha!" Aiden reared his head inughter and 27 flying swords circled and danced before him. "Yellow lion, let''s see who is going to be subdued today, you or me!" "Senior Brother Zhu, this man isn''t weak. There''s a chance we might be saved," The eyes of a beautiful female Martial Artist at the side shone brightly as she whispered. "It''s hard to tell," The blue-robed man shook his head. "By the looks of it, this man is already at his limits controlling 27 flying swords. Don''t forget, there''s a thousand demon beasts surrounding us. There''s no way this man will be able to defend if they all swarm him together!" The beautiful female Martial Artist raised her brow. "What should we do then?" "Let''s seize the time to recuperate and recover ourbat strength as soon as we can. Listen to my order in a bit!" The blue-robed man said in a deep voice. Everyone nodded. Before his sentence was finished, another hundred demon beasts lunged forward. But this time round, the demon beasts were smarter C they split into three directions towards Aiden. A mocking look shed through Aiden''s eyes as he extended his forward and tapped in front of him. "Go!" The 24 of the 27 flying swords split away. Forming groups of 6, the flying swords streaked through the air, leaving sword scars in the void. The expression of the blue-robed man changed as he yelled, "Sword formation! It''s a sword formation!" "Ah! He''s a Sword Formation Master!" Four hexagonal sword formations streaked through the air and shone with a dazzling glow. Buzzing loudly with frosty sword energy, they kept the hundred demon beasts at bay! Poof! Poof! Poof! A blood mist spewed out! The limbs of many demon beasts flew everywhere and stained the voids red. Chapter 1019 1019 - The fight continues Chapter1019 1019 - The fight continues Sword Formation Masters were extremely rare and had a unique status in the martial art world. Although Sword Formation Masters were not considered sword Martial Artists, their killing powers were not inferior! In fact, if one could set up a powerful sword formation, it could even go head-on against many Martial Master phenomenons with ancient legacies without being disadvantaged! Of course, Sword Formation Masters had an obvious disadvantage. Although the speed of setting up sword formations was fast, it could notpare to the speed of releasing spirit arts or secret skills. If they were to meet with top-tier experts, their opponents would strike and defeat them before their sword formations could be set up! The ancient remnant beasts in the valley were clearly not sharp enough yet. The hundred ancient remnant beasts charged over but were minced by the four Hexagonal Sword Formations, causing their flesh and blood to stter in an extremely miserable sight! "Roar!" The Golden Lion''s expression finally changed as he roared in Aiden''s direction, enraged. The valley quaked and the leaves of the ancient trees scattered one after another! The sight of the fresh blood triggered the remaining ancient remnant beasts entirely. The beasts rumbled and roars reverberated through the valley! Thud! Thud! Thud! The remaining thousand-odd ancient remnant beasts turned around with vicious gazes and sprinted towards Aiden, ignoring the blue-robed man''s group even! "Opportunity!" The eyes of the blue-robed man lit up as he shouted softly, "Hurry, let''s go!" Before his words were finished, the blue-robed man leaped into the air and circted his Martial Master fanatically, turning into a streak of light to bolt to the other side of the valley. The remaining survivors were stunned and could not react to it. The beautiful female Martial Artist was even looking at the blue-robed man with a slightly agape mouth in disbelief. She had not imagined that he would do something so lowly. No matter what, the green-robed Martial Artist was here to help them. However, the blue-robed man took advantage of the moment when the gray-robed Martial Artist was surrounded by the ancient remnant beasts to escape himself! How was that different from a lowly ingrate? "What are you guys waiting for?!" The blue-robed man who was sprinting in midair turned around. When he saw the beautiful female Martial Artist and the others still standing on the spot, he sneered, "That man''s about to be devoured by the group of demons soon. If you miss this chance, all of you can wait to die!" A few Martial Artists who were initially hesitant were evidently moved. Everyone could tell that although the green-robed Martial Artist''s four sword formations were extraordinarily strong, they were definitely not enough to deal with the rush of the thousand-odd ancient remnant beasts. By the time the gray-robed Martial Artist was ripped into pieces, they would be next in line! Not everyone could be so noble and daring in the face of death. Furthermore, the reason why everyone trained was due to the pursuit of longevity. If they were to really die here, they would be left with nothing. A conflicted look shed through the beautiful female Martial Artist''s eyes but she still made up her mind and chose not to leave. However, beside her, around eight of her sect mates soared into the air, wanting to escape from the valley with the blue-robed man. When he saw the decision of the beautiful female Martial Artist, the blue-robed man could not help but frown and curse internally, "Truly the epitome of stupidity!" Just as the blue-robed man was about to turn around and sprint with all his might, he discovered that his sect mates who soared into the air did not catch up to him. Instead, they were frozen on the spot and trembling. All of them had horrified expressions, as though they had witnessed something extremely terrifying! It was the same for the beautiful female Martial Artist C her arm was outstretched and her eyes were filled with fear as she pointed in his direction! There was a damp aura with a hint of blood stench behind him. The blue-robed man''s heart sank. He turned around by instinct and there sat a demon beast with a murderous aura standing at the mountain peak before him. It had a huge figure and its golden fur danced with a chilling aura as it red ferociously with widened eyes. It was the Golden Lion! Unknowingly, the Golden Lion had already arrived in front of him. Its mouth was opened wide and it had a menacing expression as saliva dripped alongside streams of nauseating breaths. By sprinting with all his might, the blue-robed man had almost sent himself into the mouth of the Golden Lion! "Ah!" The blue-robed man eximed and felt his scalp prickle and legs go limp. It was impossible if he wanted to get away given that distance! Scared out of his wits, the blue-robed man was about to beg for mercy when a mocking look shed through the Golden Lion''s eyes. Suddenly, it reached out and closed its massive mouth shut! Crack! The blue-robed man was gone. Upon seeing that, the Martial Artists who wanted to take advantage of the situation to escape fell from midair one after another, frightened with pale expressions. The Golden Lion munched a couple of times, seemingly unsatisfied, and extended its grisly tongue to spit out a few pieces of minced flesh with blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. The beautiful female Martial Artist had a terrible expression and nearly threw up. In the blink of an eye, a live person was eaten by that pure-blooded ferocious beast! Am I truly going to die here today? The eyes of the beautiful female Martial Artist dimmed as shemented internally. Right then, a sound echoed from the direction of the entrance of the valley. It was ordinary, but it seemed to possess a noble might that could calm one down! "Illumination Sword Formation, transform!" Everyone subconsciously looked up. However, dust billowed and their vision waspletely blocked by the bodies of the thousand-odd ancient remnant beasts at the front and they could not catch sight of the green-robed Martial Artist at all. ng! ng! All of a sudden! The sounds of swords buzzing reverberated through the world! Sharp streams of light burst into the air one after another. Countless flying swords gathered with their tips pointed outwards, forming a circr disk of swords. Immediately after, right in front of everyone, a series of bedazzling sword lights appeared from the entrance of the valley and illuminated the entire world! Countless flying swords gathered with their tips pointed outwards, forming a circr disk of swords. It was as though a zing sun had descended upon the valley and released 27 streaks of sword energy. Radiant and domineering, it could tear through the voids and destroy the firmaments! The might of the Illumination Sword Formation was way more frightening than the Hexagonal Sword Formation! Poof! Poof! Poof! A blood mist spewed out. The thousand-odd ancient remnant beasts rushed up but they were minced by the Illumination Sword Formation. Flesh and blood sttered everywhere and corpses were strewn C the entire valley was filled with blood! Bang! Bang! Bang! Countless ancient remnant beasts that did not fear death charged forward but none of them could go against the Illumination Sword Formation. The sword formation started advancing gradually! When the group of the beautiful female Martial Artist saw this and heard the sounds of flesh and bone being cut, they were shocked. The ancient remnant beasts were in chaos and were retreating! The green-colored figure reappeared in their line of sight . Riding on the Heaven Bane Wolf, the green-robed Martial Artist was heading toward them with a calm expression and deep gaze. The sword formation was gathered right in front of his palm! The green-robed Martial Artist merely waved his arm casually and the terrifying sword formation danced in midair, mincing and destroying everything in its path! The group of people stared nkly. How was that a sword formation? In the hands of the gray-robed Martial Artist, it was like a zing sun that was retrieved from above the skies, annihting all life wherever it passed! A bloodied path lined with endless blood, flesh, and corpses appeared behind him. Wielding the zing sword, Aiden, the green-robed Martial Artist traveled through the blood, flesh, and corpses like a divine being, looking down at everything with unquestionable might! The eyes of the beautiful female Martial Artist were fixated with a lost expression. Chapter 1020 1020 - Lowly Mortal The number of ancient remnant beasts in the valley was decreasing rapidly! Although there were almost a thousand ancient remnant beasts, they could not deal with the grand Illumination Sword Formation! Mountains of corpses and rivers of blood were formed. The entire valley seemed to have transformed into a blood-colored purgatory! Finally, some of the ancient remnant beasts could not take it anymore and the ferocity in their eyes dissipated. Overwhelmed by the fear of death, they started fleeing in all directions wildly. The Golden Lion stood on top of the mountain peak and looked at the puny mortal with a grim expression C it had finally stopped underestimating the mortal. This mortal was strong! That sword formation seemed to possess an extremely ancient power such that even it felt its heart pounding! However, the more that was the case, the more excited the Golden Lion became as the glint in its eyes shone brighter with a raring battle intent. If he could subdue such a strong mortal as a ve, it would be worth it to lose those ancient remnant beasts. "Roar!" The Golden Lion roared and its blood energy surged, shrouding its body with demonic energy. Descending from the skies, it reached out with its ws and lunged toward the Illumination Sword Formation! Those watching were always clearer at the end of the day. Although the sword formation was mighty, every single flying sword had been tainted by the blood of countless ancient remnant beasts up till this point of the battle and their sword lights dimmed gradually. The bloodline of ancient remnant beasts was powerful. Even top grade spirit weapons would weaken in strength after being tainted by the demon blood. In fact, top grade spirit weapons could even be destroyed entirely if they were soaked in demon blood for a long period of time! It was evident that the cirction of the Illumination Sword Formation was not as smooth as before. The radius of its sword energy had shrunk considerably and its movement was slightly sluggish. The reason why the Golden Lion waited till this moment to strike was because it wanted to destroy the Illumination Sword Formation in one move! Boom! There was a deafening noise. The Illumination Sword Formation and the Golden Lion collided against one another. After a short pause The sword formation dispersed and countless flying swords scattered from the skies one after another C all their sword lights had dimmedpletely. Everyone who was watching engrossed could not help but exim. They were even more worried than Aiden was at the sight of the sword formation''s destruction. On the other hand, Aiden was not surprised and his gaze was calm. He put away the 27 flying swords into his storage bag expressionlessly. Once this battle was over, the flying swords could be returned to their original states after wiping away the demon blood on them. The Golden Lion was sent flying and rolled on the ground before getting up once more. Its ws trembled slightly with an intense pain. Even so, the Golden Lion''s eyes could not conceal their excitement. It had finally managed to destroy that scary sword formation with a full-powered attack! The Golden Lion reared its head inughter and shouted, "Useless one, your strongest technique has already been destroyed by me, hahahaha!" "Strongest technique?" Aiden had an odd expression. The Golden Lion looked down at Aiden in the valley with glowing eyes. "If you give up obediently now and sign a blood oath with me, you can suffer less. Otherwise fufu!" It sneered menacingly and threatened Aiden directly. "Let me return that statement right at you," Aiden gave a fake smile and jumped down from the Heaven Bane Wolf. "Yellow lion, if you sprawl before me obediently to be my mount right now, you can suffer less." The Golden Lion was enraged. However, the Heaven Bane Wolf was delighted and howled in joy as it sprinted towards the entrance of the valley. "Useless one, you''ve made me angry!" The Golden Lion ground its teeth and saliva drooled from its fangs slowly as it snarled word by word, "You had better ask for mercy as soon as possible or I''m going to eat you alive once I change my mind!" When he heard that, Aiden smiled. The Golden Lion was triggered at the sight of Aiden smiling and roared. All its fur stood on end and its blood energy surged, causing its body to ergepletely! "I''m going to eat you up!" The Golden Lion roared. "Humph!" Aiden retracted his smile and extended his palm suddenly, intertwining his fingers to conjure a spirit art before pointing at the Golden Lion. Swoosh! A wild wind howled and spirit energy surged. The beautiful female martial artist''s group could clearly feel the spirit energy in the valley converging towards Aiden''s spirit art like a stream of water. It was as though a spirit energy vortex was being formed! "What a frightening spirit art!" Everyone was shocked. In the blink of an eye, a gigantic palm of spirit energy appeared before Aiden; its fingers were outstretched and its palm prints could be seen clearly. That gigantic palm nketed the skies and pushed down fiercely towards the Golden Lion! "Hmm?" The Golden Lion''s expression changed. It could sense an extremely terrifying aura from the conjured palm. In fact, the palm was clearly suppressing its blood energy! "What is this?" The Golden Lion circted its Inner Core wildly and demonic energy rumbled and circled it. "Ma!" Suddenly, a Holy sound boomed in an earthshaking manner! The Golden Lion shuddered and its fur fell instantly. Its blood energy dissipated irreversibly and the speed of its Inner Core''s cirction slowed down as well! "How could this be?" The Golden Lion was internally shocked. In reality, this was the first time that Aiden had released the Daring Divine Seal together with Daring Mantra after he trained Daring True prayer. At the same time, the reason why this Divine Seal had such a clear suppression effect on the Golden Lion was because It was the Demon Subduing Seal! The Demon Subduing Seal was meant to subdue demons! The ancient remnant beasts at the side who had not managed to escape yet found the blood energies in their bodies dissipating as they sat on the ground limply with frightened expressions. The reason why the Golden Lion was able to hold on forcibly was because it was a pure-blooded ferocious beast. However, the Demon subduing Seal was descending right above its head! Bang! Right as the Golden Lion was about to stand up to go head-on against the spirit energy palm, it was pushed right back down! Against the spirit energy palm, the massive body of the Golden Lion could only tremble. One had to possess tremendous power if they wanted to subdue demons! The bloodline of the Golden Lion trickled slowly within its body, unable to flow properly. Thud! The Golden Lion knelt on the ground with an aggrieved expression. Although it was indignant, its massive head had no other choice than to bow down! "Ee.. " It did not give up and there was a low growl that came from the depths of its throat. However, no matter how it struggled, it could not do anything to the Demon subduing Seal! Crack! Crack! Crack! They were at a stalemate but the power of the Demon subduing Seal was evidently growing stronger. Cracking sounds could be hearding from the bones in the Golden Lion''s body and its body was shrinking repeatedly with its blood energy suppressed! The beautiful female martial artist''s group was dumbstruck. The pure-blooded ferocious beast with a torrential arrogance moments earlier was now pinned on the ground, unable to budge! The gray-robed martial artist''s methods were truly frightening! The spirit energy palm was still pushing against the Golden Lion''s body. Aiden strode before the Golden Lion and said indifferently, "I can spare your life if you be my mount for a period of time." The eyes of the Golden Lion shone with an endless ferocity as it ground its teeth jarringly. Aiden''s gaze turned cold. Boom! The power of the Demon subduing Seal intensified once again! The Golden Lion gave a dull thud and nearly spat out blood from the pressure C its organs were being squashed together! It realized that it was going to be killed if it continued to be stubborn! However, the Golden Lion was aggrieved and indignant! It was a pure-blooded ferocious beast with a noble bloodline from one of the eight demon regions, Wild Lion Ridge C how could it be a mount for a lowly mortal? Chapter 1021 1021 - Stupid Or Sufficiently Strong ? The Golden Lion felt itself suffocating from the mounting pressure on its body. It had to make a decision! The Golden Lion''s gaze fluttered and finally, it could not take it any longer and snarled, "I can be your mount, but there can''t be a blood oath between you and I!" That was its bottom line. As part of the Golden Lion race, it would be disgraced and humiliated by its tribe if it signed a blood oath with a lowly mortal! There had been Golden Lions who signed blood oaths with mortals in the past. However, all of those mortals were peerless heroes! Even if they were not emperors, they were Mighty Figures, Patriarchs, or even paragons of the generation that looked down on every one of the same level. While the mortal before it was well-versed in some methods and managed to subdue it by luck, Aiden was way too skinny in the Golden Lion''s opinion. The Golden Lion still belittled Aiden from the bottom of its heart. It made up its mind and sneered, making a final gamble. "Don''t sign a blood oath with me if you''ve got the guts!" "Sure," Aiden nodded. This time around, the Golden Lion was the one that was stunned. When it said that, it thought that it was going to die C it had not expected Aiden to agree to it so readily. Did my provocations work? Or is thisd trying to y a trick on me? Everyone had to be wary of anyone that wasn''t of the same race as them. If it was in the same position, the Golden Lion would definitely force Aiden to sign a blood oath with it. That way, it could save itself the worry of thetter''s betrayal in the future. Another situation where a blood oath was not required was if the martial art realm between both parties was great enough C minimally two major martial art realms. That way, one party would not be afraid of the other party''s betrayal. Rather, the former had the confidence of suppressing thetter if a betrayal were to happen! However, that was a contradictory situation. If Aiden was a Quasi Divine or a Lesser God, there was no need for him to look for a Golden Core realm spirit demon to sign a blood oath with. As the Golden Lion''s thoughts ran wild, Aiden released the spirit art and dispersed that mountainous Demon subduing Seal above it. The Golden Lion was delighted upon being relieved from its burden! Thisd really let me off without a blood oath! Although the Golden Lion was trying its best to contain its emotions, it was certain about one thing There was something wrong with the brains of this skinny schr before it! "Hahahaha!" The Golden Lionughed wildly in its heart. "He has really let me off! I can leave anytime now! Do you really think that I''m going to be your mount?" Aiden dispelled the Demon subduing Seal and turned around right away, seemingly unguarded towards the Golden Lion that was now behind him as he headed towards the Spirit Gathering Fruit not far away. The Spirit Gathering Fruit naturally belonged to Aiden. Initially, the Golden Lion wanted to leave right away. However, a fierce look shed through its eyes, and killing intent surged as it caught sight of Aiden''s back! If it were to pounce forward right now, the schr would definitely not be able to react! Even if he could react, the schr wouldn''t be able to release the same spirit art from earlier on in this brief moment and would definitely turn into his food! However, the Golden Lion hesitated on second thought. No matter what, this schr had just spared its life. It did not feelfortable about eating this schr up like an ingrate. Bloody hell, does that mean that these demon beasts under my charge died for nothing? Thisd pinned me on the ground earlier on and my head was almost stuffed into the mud! Am I going to let that off just like this? The more the Golden Lion thought about it, the angrier it became. This was something it could not endure! It could not let things go just like this! While it was contemting, Aiden had already retrieved the Spirit Gathering Fruit and was heading back. A thought crossed the Golden Lion''s mind. When thisd rides on me, I''ll circte my Inner Core and erge my flesh and tendons, causing him to fly in embarrassment! Hahahaha! That''s right! That''s the way! The more the Golden Lion thought about it, the more excited it became and it could not help but smirk. Although Aiden had plenty of methods, he had not trained the Holy divine power of telepathy and naturally did not know what was on the Golden Lion''s mind. However, when he saw how creepy the lion looked with that smile, Aiden frowned and threw out a p. "What are you smiling so stupidly for? Time to go!" With that, he hopped onto the Golden Lion''s back. That single p stunned the Golden Lion. It stood frozen on the spot, unable to react. Did this person just p me? H-He pped me! The Golden Lion was enraged and growled deeply, circting its Inner Core wildly to expand its flesh. Demonic energy emanated and its body was about to expand. Aiden had a calm expression and was sturdy as a mountain as a mocking look shed through his eyes. Thump! Before anyone could see what Aiden did, the Golden Lion was sprawled onto the ground with dust flying all over once more. "Erm " The Golden Lion groaned in pain. It felt like its spine was nearly snapped by that seemingly skinny schr! The legs of the schr sped on both sides of its ribs like indestructible iron pirs and it could not free its body at all. How could it send the schr flying when it was already close to suffocating from the pressure?! Impossible! The Golden Lion yelled internally in disbelief, "How could this skinny schr possess such a frightening amount of physical strength?!" Right then, the schr leaned down close to its ears and whispered, "Be obedient, and don''t try anything funny." The schr ced his palm on its head and stroked while saying. Although the action seemed gentle, the Golden Lion shuddered and felt chills run down its spine! It could clearly feel the schr''s fingernails protruding slightly and gliding across its scalp. His fingernails were even sharper than knives! It had no doubt that if the schr exerted strength, five holes would definitely appear on its head! The Golden Lion wanted to cry. It had finally realized that this schr was not a fool C he was just sufficiently strong. He was so strong that he could suppress it at any moment even without a blood oath! "Let''s go." Aiden''s voice sounded. Suddenly, the Golden Lion felt its body turn lighter, as though a massive ton of weight had disappeared. However, that schr was still riding on it. Where did this monster incarnatee from? I''m bloody unlucky! The Golden Lion sighed internally and realized that it was futile to struggle. Instantly, it turned listless and strode to the exit of the valley. In the Wild Lion Ridge, it was considered a ferocious beast with status. When it entered the ancient battlefield, it intended to defeat all the paragons of the mortal race and look down on all demons, disying its might and gaining fame throughout the world. To think that it would suffer such a huge loss a few days after it entered. And now, there was no need for it to defeat the paragons of the mortal race anymore as it could only be a mount obediently. What the Golden Lion was most worried about was encountering demon beast acquaintances on the ancient battlefieldter on. If those demon beasts saw this, it would truly be embarrassed and the Golden Lion race would be disgraced as well! At that thought, the Golden Lion''s eyes turned misty out of sorrow. "Senior Sister, take a look! That lion was beaten up so badly that it''s weeping!" A martial artist at the side said softly. When it heard that, the Golden Lion''s expression darkened and it stumbled, almost puking out blood. "Hold steady!" Aiden scolded. Piak! Once again, a pnded on its head. This time around, the Golden Lion was truly on the brink of tears. Chapter 1022 1022 - Gratitude ? Naturally, no outsider could understand the power struggle between the man and the lion. Everyone could not imagine that the pure-blooded ferocious beast had beenpletely subdued in this short period of mounting it as well! As Aiden approached slowly riding on the Golden Lion, a martial artist looked at the beautiful female martial artist at the side and whispered, "Senior Sister, should we head up and thank him?" The beautiful female martial artist had a lost gaze and was first frozen upon hearing that. Immediately after, her beautiful eyes shed with a hint of panic as she nodded with blushed cheeks. "Of course." The way she looked at the gray-robed martial artist was different. Everyone was martial artists who had trained for dozens and hundreds of years. Naturally, all of them could see and understood it internally as well. The beautiful female martial artist''s name was Lysabel K. She was famous in their sect and was the de facto number one beauty. Coupled with her extraordinary talent and powerful strength, she was a shining crown jewel of her generation! It would be a lie to im that all the male martial artists of the same sect present were perfectly fine without any envy after noticing Lysabel K''s intentions. However, everyone was also clear after this battle. The gray-robed martial artist was indeed a rare paragon with a distinguished bearing. He seemed schrly but every single move of his had an overwhelming dominance that was admirable! Lysabel K took a deep breath and approached Aiden, bowing with cupped fists before saying gently, "I am Lysabel K of Southern Duel Sect. Thank you for your lifesaving grace, dear friend!" Aiden paused in his tracks and turned to look at Lysabel K indifferently. Lysabel K''s head was lowered slightly, revealing a slender and smooth neck. Trickles of sweat sparkled down her neck with a charming allure. It would be exaggerated to im that she fell in love with Aiden at first sight. However, at that moment, Lysabel K''s heart was truly pounding in an unstoppable manner. She felt as though everyone could hear her heart and did not dare to look Aiden in the face. In reality, she could not be med either. If any other girl were to be rescued from the brink of death by someone who killed off all threats in his path and subdued all demons with such overbearing methods, they would also be flustered. "It''s nothing," Aiden replied indifferently before patting the Golden Lion. The Golden Lion understood his intentions and ignored Lysabel K''s group before continuing towards the exit of the valley. Lysabel K lowered her head instinctively only to catch sight of a fading green-colored figure. She could not help but feel a wave of disappointment. Standing rooted on the spot, she bit her cherry lips and hesitated for a long time as she stared at that shrinking green figure. Finally, she made a decision and chased in pursuit with light steps. The survivors from Southern Duel Sect followed hurriedly as well. "Exalted friend, please wait up!" Lysabel K shouted. The figure at the front paused. Delighted, Lysabel K hastened even more. Before long, she caught up to the figure, panting slightly. "Is there anything?" Aiden turned around with a questioning look. Earlier on, Lysabel K did not leave when he was fighting the ancient remnant beasts. Her actions gave him a decent impression of this woman. Otherwise, he would have left much earlier on without stopping. Lysabel K tried her best topose herself as she looked at Aiden''s refined features and smiled. "I don''t know your name and sect or faction. After all, you are our benefactor. I need to know where to find you if I ever want to repay the debt in the future." Aiden smiled lukewarmly. "It''s too much to call me a benefactor. I merely passed by coincidentally and did it for the Spirit Gathering Fruit as well." Lysabel K''s cheeks flushed, be it because she was rushing earlier on or for some other reasons, and asked again, "You haven''t said your name, dear friend?" "My name" Aiden hesitated for a moment. "I am Aiden, I''ve got no sect or faction." At the same time, he focused his gaze on Lysabel K''s expression. There were not many changes to her expression. It was the reaction one would expect upon hearing the name of a stranger. Aiden nodded silently. It seemed like Southern Duel Sect should not be from the North Region. There were few martial artists in the North Region who had not heard of the name Aiden. "Honored Young Master, Aiden, where are you headed? If it''s convenient, can we travel together?" Lysabel K invited with sincerity. Aiden raised his brow slightly C his first instinct was to decline. When Lysabel K saw Aiden raising his brow, she knew that things would most likely not go her way as she added hurriedly, "Many living beings have awoken from their slumber and entered the ancient battlefield. At the same time, there are also ferocious beasts from the eight demon regions. This ce is extremely treacherous and if we travel together, we can help one another." At that point, Lysabel K felt a little embarrassed. After all, from Aiden''s disy of strength earlier on, he truly did not require their help. After pondering for a moment, Lysabel K continued, "Southern Duel Sect is one of the upper sects of the South Region. Although we can''tpare to you in terms ofbat strength, we can still offer some help. Furthermore, Senior Brother Kell is alone outside, but he must be rushing over here upon receiving our spirit crane sent for help." "That''s right, we won''t be defeated so badly if Senior Brother Kell was here with us," The martial artists at the side sighed. "Senior Brother Kell is strong and is a paragon listed on the previous Phenomenon Ranking. If he was around, these beasts wouldn''t have been able to get this cocky!" Another Southern Duel Sect martial artist snarled and red at the Golden Lion Aiden was mounted on with hateful eyes. Initially, the Golden Lion was listless and dispirited. However, upon sensing hostility, it turned around furiously and opened its mouth, roaring at the person with an aggressive stance primed to lunge! "Roar!" The mountains and forests shook! The Southern Duel Sect shuddered out of fear and wanted to retreat instinctively with a pale face. However, his legs went limp and he fell onto the ground. "Hahahaha!" The Golden Lion reared its head inughter with a mocking gaze. Although it was subdued by Aiden, its might was still existent C it did not mean that it would allow anyone to trample on it. After all, the Golden Lion was a pure-blooded ferocious beast and was innately feral, unable to be tamed. Ashamed, the Southern Duel Sect martial artist''s expression turned even more vengeful! This time round, Aiden did not lecture it. Instead, he was gazing at the distant horizon in deep thought. Suddenly, a robust swoosh sounded from the horizon! An extremely powerful aura sped over rapidly and the sound of clothes fluttering cut through the air like a streak of lightning! "Senior Brother Kell!" "Senior Brother Kell is back!" Everyone from Southern Duel Sect was excited and eximed. Aiden had an indifferent expression and was not surprised. He had already noticed activity from the area before the sound was heard. Indeed, this martial artist with the surname Kell definitely had some capabilities to be able to tread alone on the ancient battlefield. Moreover, there were at least millions or more Martial Masters that entered this ce! However, there were only a total of 108 spots on the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking C anyone that could upy a spot was definitely extraordinary. Chapter 1023 1023 - Ordinary? ? The neer had a sharp face and a robust figure with huge bones. Wearing a set of ck robes, he arrived with the wind seemingly effortlessly with a tremendous aura! A casual nce from Aiden was enough to tell that the ck robes were far from simple. The surface of the robes was dotted with stars that seemed like they were sewn on and they even shone faintly in a dazzling manner! If an enemy was unprepared during a fight and the stars on the robes shone brightly, their eyes would be impacted and they would be flustered! Naturally, the robes posed no threat to Aiden. He had trained Illumination Eye and looked at the rise and set of the zing sun daily. Naturally, those specks of starlight would not faze him. The ck-robed martial artist had a sharp gaze and his expression darkened after he swept his gaze at Lysabel K''s group. "This is Senior Brother Kell Yue." Lysabel K said to Aiden first before dering, "Senior Brother Kell, this is our dear friend Aiden. It''s all thanks to him that we were saved." Kell Yue''s gazended on Aiden. At first nce, this person seemed way too ordinary. Wearing amon set of green robes, his features were refined and he did not carry any sect badge on his waist. More than a martial artist, the first impression this man gave off was of a weak schr. Most of the time, the strength of a martial artist would be disyed in their aura. Some people had auras so powerful that they could shock everything without making a move! Some people had fierce gazes that could fill the air with a blood stench at a single nce! However, in Kell Yue''s eyes, Aiden was truly ordinary. The only thing that surprised him was the lion beneath Aiden. It was golden all over and seemed like it was from the Golden Lion race. However, Golden Lions were usually much tougher than this lion! This lion seemed listless and dispirited without the dominance and ferocity of a pure-blooded ferocious beast. "Its bloodline should be mixed with some other trash breed." The thought crossed Kell Yue''s mind and he did not think too much about it. Kell Yue nced once at Aiden and asked deeply without the intention of greeting thetter, "What happened?" Martial artists of Southern Duel Sect headed up and recounted everything that happened in the valley. Kell Yue''s expression turned increasingly darker. Southern Duel Sect had sent a hundred martial artists for this trip but now, there were only less than 20 of them C it was a severe loss. However, the ancient battlefield had only just started. As though he suddenly recalled something, Kell Yue scanned the group and asked coldly, "Where''s my younger brother?" "He was eaten by that Golden Lion!" The martial artist that was scared earlier on blurted hurriedly, seizing this rare opportunity as he red at the Golden Lion hatefully. The Golden Lion shrugged its head fearlessly. If Aiden was not riding on its back, it would have lunged forward a long time ago to rip this guy called Kell Yue apart! Aiden raised his brow. In that case, it meant that the blue-robed man who tried to escape alone earlier on was Kell Yue''s younger brother. "Hmm?" Kell Yue spun around and red at Aiden and the Golden Lion mount with a murderous look. Lysabel K''s expression changed slightly. The tension in the atmosphere had dipped to a freezing point! "Senior Brother Kell, please calm down," Lysabel K said hurriedly, "Honored Young Master, Aiden is our benefactor and this has nothing to do with him. Furthermore, Zor N was the one who abandoned us and tried to run away alone while dear friend Aiden was fighting. That was the reason why he was eaten." When Kell Yue saw how close Lysabel K was to Aiden coupled with her clear intention of defending thetter, his expression turned darker and his killing intent deepened. "Fufu." Kell Yue sneered and asked, "So you mean that my brother deserved to die?" "N-No, that''s not what I meant! I-It''s just that" Lysabel K was anxious and wanted to exin but she did not know how to start. Instead, she could only turn to Aiden in a pleading manner. Aiden had a nonchnt expression and said in a leisurely manner, "In my opinion, your brother truly deserved to die." The moment he said that everything went silent. Complete silence! "What. Did. You. Say?!" Kell Yue''s spirit energy surged and his eyes shone with a sharp killing intent! "No!" Lysabel K moved and stood between the two of them, saying nervously on the brink of tears, "Senior Brother Kell, dear friend Aiden, please don''t fight. This is a misunderstanding." "Misunderstanding?" Kell Yue smiled darkly and said with a chilling tone, "The death of my brother is a misunderstanding? Can I kill him right now and say that it''s a misunderstanding too?" "Senior Brother Kell, this had nothing to do with dear friend Aiden at all! He was the one who stood in to save us!" Lysabel K tried her best to exin things. "Please calm down, both of you," A martial artist of Southern Duel Sect tried persuading as well. "Senior Brother Kell, dear friend Aiden, a fight between the two of you will only lead to severe losses for both parties. There''s no point to that." When it heard the phrase ''severe losses on both parties'', the Golden Lion could not help but stifle a chuckle. It looked at Kell Yue like it was looking at a retard. How ignorant! In truth, right from the beginning, Aiden had not been agitated at all C he was indifferent and there were no emotions in his eyes. "Fufufufu!" Kell Yueughed sinisterly with a dark expression before saying coolly, "I can heed the suggestions to not attack, Sure. However, who is going to pay for my brother''s life?!" The Southern Duel Sect martial artist caught sight of the snickering Golden Lion and a thought crossed his mind as he pointed to it. "Senior Brother Kell Wei was eaten by that lion! Let''s kill it and have it pay with its life!" Lysabel K was delighted as well and looked at Aiden instinctively. After all, he was unrted to that Golden Lion and it was merely a demon beast that he had just subdued without even a blood oath. Thispromise on both parties was the best way to resolve this matter. "Alright," Kell Yue''s lips curled as he red at Aiden coldly. "Since my juniors sought mercy for you, I''ll spare your life for now and kill that beast beneath you first!" Aiden smiled and asked indifferently, "And if I refuse?" The situation that had toned down a moment earlier turned intense once more! Both their gazes shed in midair with sparks flying! In truth, in Aiden''s heart, that martial artist named Zor N deserved to die! When he appeared to fight the demons, that person chose to take advantage of the situation and escape instead of helping out C there was nothing to pity about the death of someone like that! Even if the Golden Lion did not devour him alive, Aiden would have chased after that person and killed him personally! However, given Aiden''s character, he could not be bothered to exin such things. If that person was killed, so be it! The reason why he trained was to gain rity of mind and peace in his actions C there was no need for him to have such hesitations! That was the reason why the only reply he had when those thoughts crossed his mind was, "And if I refuse?" What can you do to me if I refuse to relent?! His disy of strength was shuddering! In that instant, Kell Yue felt his vision blur, as though the refined schr had just bared menacing fangs at him all of a sudden! Kell Yue experienced a hallucination. It was as though that schr could eat him alive! Chapter 1024 - Teaching a lesson 1024 Chapter 1024 - Teaching a lesson Kell Yue shrugged his head to try and shake that thought out of his mind. He gazed at Aiden once more. The fangs and shuddering aura he experienced earlier had vanished and that man was merely riding on the back of the Golden Lion silently looking like a weak schr. It was as though a single gust of wind could blow him over. "So, you''re relying on your status as a Sword Formation Master as your trump card?" Kell Yue raised his head slightly and gradually said with a menacing gaze, "Let me tell you, in the ancient battlefield, only martial artists who can cultivate Martial Master phenomenons can protect themselves! The true paragons are those who make it into the Phenomenon Ranking!" Before his words were finished, Kell Yue''s Martial Master was already circting wildly. The spirit energy in his body was rich and torrential C it was clear that he was already at perfected Martial Master realm! "Against the power of a phenomenon, your sword formations and spirit arts are worthless!" The killing intent in Kell Yue''s eyes seemed to materialize as he snarled word by word, "If you don''t make way, I''ll kill you first!" Boom! A deafening boom echoed from the ground before his words were even finished. Aiden leaped down from the Golden Lion and stomped on the ground heavily, bolting towards Kell Yue like an arrow! A deep footprint extended outwards with cracks from where he was initially standing! It was too fast! Everyone merely felt their visions go blur before Aiden vanished from the spot. Psst! Kell Yue''s expression changed starkly. A terrifyingly shuddering aura was surging towards him from the void ahead, almost suffocating him! Buzz! The stars on Kell Yue''s robes shone brightly with a series of glimmers. However, the light had no effect on the attacker! "Southern Duel Star" Kell Yue shouted. His voice broke off. Aiden had already arrived before him in an instant, grabbing his throat with outstretched fingers and lifting him from the spot! Kell Yue could not even breathe, let alone speak. Kell Yue''s Martial Master phenomenon was destroyed before it could even be released! With a cold gaze, Aiden gripped tighter on Kell Yue''s throat and swung left and right gently. A series of weird sounds echoed from Kell Yue''s body, creaking and popping. Kell Yue''s expression was horrendous and he felt as though his bones were about to break apart. All his blood energy and spirit energy had dissipated and he no longer possessed any strength. He could not even maintain his grip on the flying sword he took out from his storage bag as it fell to the ground. The entire process happened in less than a breath. Everyone was stunned and dumbstruck. To everyone, it was as Kell Yue had said C although Aiden''s sword formation and spirit arts were strong, they could not go against Martial Master phenomenons! Nobody expected this oue in a fight between the two of them. Nobody expected Kell Yue to suffer such a swift and tragic defeat! In Aiden''s hands, Kell Yue''s mighty figure was like a duckling, struggling helplessly in midair with ying legs. Even the Golden Lion was shocked. In its mind, there was no doubt that Kell Yue would be defeated. However, it had not expected that Kell Yue would be suppressed without even being able to let out a fart! More than that, the thing that terrified it was Aiden''s burst speed! The two of them were a full ten feet apart! Even if it released its bloodline and attacked with its full power, it would not be able to match that speed! The Golden Lion''s regard for Aiden''s strength had been raised by yet another level. "You''re not wrong, Martial Master phenomenons can be considered as the epitome of spirit arts and are the strongest means avable to Martial Masters." Aiden looked at Kell Yue''s suffocating purple face and smiled gently. "However, that''s only if you''re able to release it." "Ee.. " Kell Yue could not speak at all and the best he could do despite his greatest struggle was a weird sound. "Let go of Senior Brother Kell!" "Y-young Master Aiden, hurry and let go, or don''t me us for being nasty!" Everyone from Southern Duel Sect brought out their artifact weapons and shouted. "Hmm?" Maintaining his grip on Kell Yue''s throat, Aiden turned around and grazed his gaze past everyone from Southern Duel Sect like a sharp dagger before asking coolly, "You guys want to attack me?" Everyone felt their hearts skip a beat and did not dare to meet his gaze! Some of them were even so rattled that a single nce from Aiden caused them to retreat half a step and tremble from head to toe. "Don''t!" Lysabel K was rmed. She was way too familiar with the look in Aiden''s eyes. This was the same look he had when he looked at the ancient remnant beasts in the fight earlier on! It was a sign that he was about tomit a massacre! Lysabel K came before everyone from Southern Duel Sect and said darkly, "Keep your weapons! Have all of you forgotten that we would all be dead by now if not for Young Master Aiden''s help earlier on?" tter a lesson. "There''s no need for that," "Are you going to point your weapons at our benefactor right after you get out of danger?" Everyone from Southern Duel Sect exchanged nces embarrassedly and did not dare to reply, putting away their artifact weapons hurriedly. When Aiden saw that, the killing intent in his eyes lessened considerably. His killing intent was truly triggered earlier on! Everyone from Southern Duel Sect had already forgotten that he was the one who saved their lives! If I can save your lives, I can naturally kill all of you! Lysabel K hurried before Aiden. "Young Master Aiden, they were only reckless out of emotions. Please don''t take it to heart." Aiden remained silent and did not reply. However, Lysabel K could clearly tell that the scary look in Aiden''s eyes had faded gradually before vanishing. "Young Master Aiden, please spare Senior Brother Kell''s life," Lysabel K said, "Although Senior Brother Kell was in the wrong, it was because he lost control of himself due to the death of a close kin. That was the reason why he attacked you." In truth, that was also the reason why Aiden did not kill Kell Yue immediately. He had just experienced the pain of losing a kin and could naturally empathize with that feeling. Otherwise, he would have crushed Kell Yue''s throat a long time ago just for the fact that thetter possessed a killing intent towards him. Kell Yue''s face was already purplish with bulging eyes and a tongue that stuck out. His consciousness was hazy by now. "Young Master Aiden, thank you for saving the lives of everyone from Southern Duel Sect, but please spare Senior Brother Kell''s life. Although he was in the wrong, I don''t think it was severe enough to render his death." Lysabel K was about to kneel down as she spoke, "I guarantee you that from this day forth, no matter what happens in the ancient battlefield, Southern Duel Sect will definitely try our best to assist you, Young Master Aiden!" Naturally, Aiden could sense the sincerity in Lysabel K. Furthermore, he had no intention of killing Kell Yue, to begin with C he merely wanted to teach thetter a lesson. "There''s no need for that," Aiden waved his robes and prevented Lysabel K from kneeling. At the same time, he relinquished his grip. Kell Yue fell to the ground limply and gasped in huge breaths with wheezing sounds, as though he wanted to consume every single bit of air in the universe. Lysabel K was overjoyed. Everyone from Southern Duel Sect heaved a breath of relief and swarmed forward as well. Some people took care of Kell Yue while some of them bowed deeply to Aiden. "Thank you, Young Master Aiden." Chapter 1025 - Hidden power 1025 Chapter 1025 - Hidden power Aiden returned to the back of the Golden Lion, prepared to leave. Lysabel K bit her cherry lips and bolstered her guts, saying with cupped fists, "Young Master Aiden, the skies are dark now and we''ve got to find a resting ce. Since the misunderstanding has been resolved, shall we travel together? We can look after one another at the same time." In the ancient battlefield, the night was home to countless demon beasts and variant species of living beings! This was a ce that opened up once every hundred years. Flora grew wildly and fauna treaded overwhelmingly C many powerful living beings would awake from their slumber! For most martial artists, traveling in the ancient battlefield at night was equivalent to having a death wish. Naturally, Aiden had nothing to fear about that! He was just about to decline when Lysabel K spoke again, "I know that there''s an ancient city near here where many martial artists use as a resting ce. It takes around a day to get there by foot." In the ancient battlefield, there were many ancient cities left behind from the ancient era that could be used to defend against ferocious beasts. If powerful sects or factions were to guard the ancient cities, they could even defend against the rush of most beast stampedes! Lysabel Kmented, "Furthermore, I heard that Crystal Pce Sect has upied that ancient city all these years." When he heard that, Aiden raised his brow slightly, seemingly moved. Lysabel K was delighted when she noticed that and said hurriedly. "Crystal Pce Sect is one of the immortal sects and is the strongest body tempering super sects in the martial art world. Their legacy disciples can even take on ferocious beasts barehanded! With that super sect guarding the ancient city, there would definitely not be any danger." Initially, Aiden had no interest in the ancient city at all. But he changed his mind upon the mention of Crystal Pce Sect. Back in the world, he mentioned that he was going to make Crystal Pce Sect pay by blood for the massacre of 13 cities of Great North! Aiden nodded. "Alright, I''ll have to trouble you to lead the way." "It''s fine, there''s no trouble!" Lysabel K replied ecstatically. On the other end, Kell Yue''s panting had already calmed down gradually. He was not injured, to begin with, and had already recovered after this short period of rest. However, his expression darkened as he listened to the conversation between Aiden and Lysabel K! He lowered his head and covered his appearance with his long hair. His eyes shone coldly and a thought swam through his mind endlessly. Right now, he had two choices. The first was to endure everything for the time being and look for another opportunity after understanding more about this person. The second was to strike now and release his Martial Master phenomenon with his full power without giving this man a chance to get close! After a long hesitation, Kell Yue chose not to attack in the end. He could not figure out if Aiden had any trump cards still. If he were to attack now and that man had unrevealed trump cards, more than his face, he would lose his life instead! Aiden''s gaze had been flickering casually past Kell Yue from time to time. Kell Yue did not know at all that he had just barely escaped death''s door! He thought that he had concealed himself well. However, what he did not know was that Aiden''s spirit perception was way too frightening and thetter had sensed every single bit of his hostility! If he had made any unusual movements, he would have been dead by now! The skies were dark and night had already arrived. "Let''s go and find a ce to rest for the night," Aiden patted the Golden Lion beneath him. "Go and look for one." "Ok," The Golden Lion replied listlessly. As a pure-blooded ferocious beast, it naturally knew best as to where wasparatively safer in the ancient battlefield. Furthermore, it had just been subdued by Aiden as a mount and was thoroughly embarrassed C it wanted nothing more than to avoid other demon beasts. Therefore, the Golden Lion carried Aiden and sprinted to the front. Everyone else from Southern Duel Sect followed close behind. Not long after, they arrived beneath a mountain peak and located a cave. The Golden Lion stood at the cave''s entrance and its cold eyes widened. Twitching its ears, it sniffed into the cave to check if there were other living beings. "Go in it, it''s empty," Before it could detect anything, Aiden already patted it on the head. Aiden had trained the old man''s unique Ancient Dragonification Manual and was much sharper than the Golden Lion in terms of eyesight, hearing, or smell! The Golden Lion entered warily with slight disbelief. After taking a spin around, it was discovered that there was truly nothing. There were many turns in the cave but it was linked from the front and back with two exits. It was better that way as well C if they truly met with an ambush, there would be an escape. Aiden said, "You guys can rest near the entrance here. I''ll take the entrance to the back mountain. Once day breaks, we''ll set off from this ce." "Alright," Lysabel K nodded. After mulling for a moment, Lysabel K pulled Aiden alone to a corner and whispered, eying the Golden Lion nearby, "Young Master Aiden, you didn''t sign a blood oath with this Golden Lion. Isn''t that way too careless?" Aiden smiled and did not exin. When she saw the nonchnt attitude of Aiden, Lysabel K reminded again, "It''s a pure-blooded ferocious beast after all. Although it''s submitted to you for the time being, it has a feral nature. You should keep a distance away from it while asleep or it might betray and kill you!" "Got it," Aiden could tell that Lysabel K was saying it out of goodwill and nodded in agreement, embarrassed to correct her. Thereafter, he left the ce with the Golden Lion and arrived at the back entrance after many turns. The night got darker. Outside the cave, the roars of ferocious beasts echoed everywhere! From time to time, there would be hurried and piercing screeches from birds. The scuttling sounds of ants and insects crawling were even more unnerving. The Golden Lion was sound asleep and drooled all over. Aiden ced his arms behind his back as a pillow and closed his eyes motionlessly, maintaining the same position. Four hours passed and it seemed like he was fast asleep. All of a sudden! The Golden Lion turned around without any sound in the silence and opened its eyes slowly. Those eyes were bright without any bit of drowsiness in them! It had not slept the entire time! They would arrive at the ancient city where martial artists gathered the next day and it would no longer have a chance to escape. Therefore, tonight was its only chance! The Golden Lion stared at Aiden who was fast asleep not far away and hesitated for a moment,menting to itself internally, "Forget it, I''ll spare your life tonight on ount that you didn''t force me to sign a blood oath." Rising slowly, the Golden Lion tiptoed towards the entrance. Before it could leave, a voice sounded in the cave. "Where are you going?" The Golden Lion jumped and its fur stood in shock. It did not dare to turn back at all and replied with a quivering voice, "T-To take a piss outside." There was no more sound behind and it seemed like it had permission to do so. Feeling relieved, the Golden Lion tried its best topose itself and walked out of the entrance calmly. It arrived beside a stone b and stood as though it was pissing while looking back at the cave. It was dark inside and silent without any activity. Hmph, you really believed that I was going to take a piss? The Golden Lion sneered andmented internally, "I''m still the smarter one after all. I''ll be long gone by the time you realize what''s happening!" Just as it turned around and was about to leave, it looked upwards by instinct. On an ancient tree not far away, a gray-robed figure sat on a branch with bright eyes, swinging his legs idly while looking down at it with a fake smile. "Holy sh*t, motherf*cker!" The Golden Lion fell on its bum in shock and in its nervousness, spoke in human tongue with some funky words it had learned Chapter 1026 1026 - Bad Intentions ? Deep at night. Beasts roared and birds screeched. In the ancient battlefield, these various sounds intertwined and filled the world. At the top of a towering mountain peak that was hazy with countless ancient trees, there were many powerful ferocious beasts coexisting. However, the strange thing was that it waspletely silent throughout the entire mountain! In the leafy forests, pairs of green beast eyes appeared, gazing at the top of the mountain with fear. Two figures stood on the mountain peak. One of them was tall and although it looked humanoid, it was not wearing any clothes and it was covered with fur all over its body and face. Its arms were extremely long and slumped down naturally, extending to its knees! It was clearly a demonic beast! The demon beast with long fur had a dark expression and stood on top of the mountain peak, gazing at an ancient city with a blood thirst in the depths of its eyes. The other figure looked extremely strong with muscles that looked like steel. Covered with ck and yellow stripes, it had a tiger''s head and its eyes shone fiercely. The demon with the tiger head turned to look at the demon beast with long fur and whispered, "Boss, this ancient city withstood the test of time and is still standing right now. There are also many martial artists guarding over it. It''s probably going to be difficult to take it down." "You''re afraid?" The demon beast with long fur asked with blood lust in its eyes. "N-No!" The tiger-headed demon shuddered and shook its head. A momentter, the tiger-headed demon asked once more, "Boss, when are we attacking?" "Hold on, he hasn''t arrived," The demon beast with long fur shook its head. "What if he doesn''te?" "He will definitelye!" With that said, the demon beast with long fur turned around and opened its mouth, letting out a deafening howl toward the forests beneath the mountain. The ancient trees swayed and countless demons dispersed. Next morning. Aiden rode on the Golden Lion and arrived at the front entrance of the cave. The Golden Lion looked listless and its eyes were even more lost than they were the previous day. It was almost scared to death by Aiden the previous night and spent the rest of the night jittery, not daring to fall asleep. Now that it had to be awake this early, how could it have any energy left. Of course, the greatest blow it received was mentally. In its opinion, the only way it could leave now was if the schr waspassionate enough to permit it to leave. Otherwise, it would have to be a mount for this schr for the rest of its life. Everyone from Southern Duel Sect had reddened eyes and was drowsy as well. Although this cave was extremely secluded, none of them dared to sleep when they heard the activity outside and spent the night fearfully awake. Aiden was the only one who was energetic and seemed like he had a good rest. He trained the Mystic ssic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness and his breathing and expiration was conducted even when he was asleep without being affected. Kell Yue nced at Aiden without saying anything. Lysabel K smiled and nodded in Aiden''s direction. Everyone arranged themselves and under Lysabel K''s lead, headed for the ancient city. Along the way, Lysabel K traveled beside Aiden and was extremely curious about him. "Young Master Aiden, which region did youe from?" "North Region." "Oh, we''re from the South Region. The South and North regions are separated by millions of kilometers. If not for the ancient battlefield, we might not have had the chance to meet. This can be considered as affinity too." Kell Yue followed behind the two of them silently with a darkened expression. Lysabel K said, "Ah, right! Crystal Pce Sect is from the North Region as well! You must have heard of them, Young Master Aiden?" "Yes, we''ve had some interactions before," Aiden replied. When he heard that, Kell Yue stifled a chuckle. "Young Master Aiden, be careful of biting your tongue when you brag! Crystal Pce Sect is one of the immortal sects. Since you aren''t affiliated to any sect or faction, how can you be qualified to interact with them?" "That''s not for sure," Afraid of another conflict between the two of them, Lysabel K added hurriedly. Aiden smiled without replying. Along the way, the group encountered many corpses on the vast ins C their flesh was not dried up yet and looked horrifying. Those mortals seemed to have died the previous night. Most martial artists who could not find a ce to hide or a city with humans before nightfall would find themselves dead! Martial artists slewed demons and demons devoured humans as well. That was the cruelty of the ancient battlefield where ferocious beasts roamed! At evening, a row of dark, ancient city walls finally came into view at the horizon ahead. A vicissitude city gradually erged in everyone''s eyes. When they approached, they could see martial artists standing on top of the city walls with cold expressions and sharp gazes. Wearing the same attire, it was clear that they were from the same sect. On the city wall above the city gates, a triangr g was erected with a massive word etched on it C Crystal! Dozens of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists stood on both sides of the city gates. When Aiden''s group arrived, the city gates were about to close and the Crystal Pce Sect martial artists urged impatiently. One of the city gates guards red at the group from Southern Duel Sect and extended his palm, remarking without emotions, "20 Soul Nourishing Blood Ginsengs per person!" "What!" "Isn''t it 10?" "Why did it double?" Everyone from Southern Duel Sect could not help but argue. Lysabel K raised her brow as well, whispering to Aiden, "Normally, they collect 10 Soul Nourishing Blood Ginsengs from each person as an entrance fee into the city. For some reason, the price has doubled." "What are youining about?" A guard remarked coldly with an icy expression, "The city gates are about to close. If you don''t have them, stay outside the city!" When they heard that, the hearts of everyone from Southern Duel Sect sank. Keeping all of them outside at this moment would be equivalent to sending them to their deaths! Kell Yue tidied his attire and headed front, saying deeply, "I am Kell Yue from Southern Duel Sect. I wonder if an exception can be made?" "Southern Duel Sect, one of the 108 upper sects?" "Kell Yue, someone from the previous Phenomenon Ranking?" Two guards asked with a frown. "That''s right!" Kell Yue dered proudly. The two Crystal Pce Sect martial artists exchanged nces and nodded. "Alright, 10 Soul Nourishing Blood Ginsengs from you will do. The rest will still have to pay 20!" They had to give some respect for any martial artists on the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking since these were true paragons. When Kell Yue saw the firm attitude of the two guards, he did not push further and nodded. Everyone from Southern Duel Sect was exasperated and could only hand over the Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng that they had risked their lives for in the past few days. Aiden did not have any Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng. Lysabel K helped him hand over 20 automatically. Expressing his thanks, Aiden said in a seemingly casual manner, "I''ll return you 10 times that in the future." Everyone entered the city. Throughout the journey, Kell Yue had not said anything. Now that he had finally regained some dignity, he looked at Aiden with a provocative expression and mocked, "Aiden, didn''t you say that you''ve had interactions with Crystal Pce Sect before? Why didn''t you greet them earlier on?" "Howe you aren''t acting cocky anymore in front of Crystal Pce Sect?" Aiden did not say anything. He could not be bothered with Kell Yue. That was because the moment he entered the city, he had already sensed a faint and imperceptible killing intent! Countless eyes hidden in the darkness gazed past his body. One after another, spirit cranes delved into the darkness. Chapter 1027 1027 - Joking? ? The remaining structures in the ancient city were almost entirely made from gigantic rocks and were filled with signs of age. Some of them were mansions and others wereparatively cramped stone huts and rooms. There were even some huge pces scattered around various parts of the city and the grandeur of the past could still be seen. Of course, there were also many structures that looked rtively new in the ancient city that were builtter on. Although it was evening, there were many martial artists on the spacious streets of the ancient city and it was bustling. Every few thousand feet, there would be Crystal Pce Sect martial artists walking on both sides of the streets. There would even be martial artists patrolling in midair from time to time C security was tight! "Hmm, strange," Kell Yue frowned slightly and remarked softly, "Something seemed to have happened for Crystal Pce Sect to send this many martial artists for the ancient battlefield this time around." "I guess it''s because Crystal Pce Sect is trying to attain a better position on the Crystal Pce Sect Phenomenon Ranking?" A Southern Duel Sect said. "No," Kell Yue shook his head. "The Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking is an individual measure of strength and has nothing to do with the number of martial artists or the strength of any sect." Riding on the Golden Lion, Aiden listened to everyone''s discussions with an indifferent expression. However, a mocking look would sh through his eyes from time to time." "Young Man, please hold on," Kell Yue held back a green-robed martial artist and asked with cupped fists, "Young Man, may I ask you what happened to Crystal Pce Sect? Why does it feel like they''re facing a great enemy?" The green-robed martial artist looked at Kell Yue from head to toe and asked instead, "Young Master, you''re not from the North Region, right?" "I''m from an upper sect of the South Region, Southern Duel Sect," There was a hint of pride in Kell Yue''s voice. Indeed, the green-robed martial artist greeted them with cupped fists immediately upon hearing that and said softly, "Young man, you don''t know but the monster incarnate of the North Region has returned alive once more!" "Monster incarnate? What monster incarnate?" Kell Yue asked hurriedly. Everyone from Southern Duel Sect closed in curiously. The green-robed martial artist said, "There''s no other monster incarnate than the one from Holy Fire Ind!" "Ah!" A look of realization shed through Kell Yue''s eyes. He had heard about some rumors regarding the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind as well. Back in the elementary ancient battlefield, that monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind defeated all paragons and overwhelmed strong foes beneath the Ancient One''s Pce, obtaining the Ancient One''s recognition. Not only that, he had caused quite a ruckus in the world. The green-robed martial artist continued, "I heard that the monster incarnate openly dered war on Crystal Pce Sect before entering the ancient battlefield, saying that he was going to murder all Crystal Pce Sect martial artists who entered!" Lysabel K could not help but ask, "Why?" "I heard it''s because Crystal Pce Sect massacred 13 cities of mortals. That''s the reason why the monster incarnate wants to kill them," The green-robed martial artist replied. Everyone from Southern Duel Sect was stunned. None of them couldprehend why someone would bother offending a major faction such as Crystal Pce Sect for the sake of mortals. "How stupid!" Kell Yueughed coldly. "A single Martial Master wants to go against Crystal Pce Sect. He truly doesn''t know his ce!" Lysabel K raised her brow slightly. "In my opinion, I think that this person isn''t bad by nature just with the fact that he''s willing to stand up for mortals." "Isn''t bad by nature?" The green-robed martial artist sneered, "When the monster incarnate reappeared, he triggered a beast stampede and murdered millions of martial artists. There were mountains of corpses and rivers of blood and you say that he''s not bad by nature?" "Ah!" Lysabel K''s expression changed slightly. Millions of martial artists that was no small figure! "That''s not all." The green-robed martial artist continued, "The inner core of the monster incarnate was destroyed 20 years ago. Right now, he''s a true demon. Anyone that isn''t of the same race is amon enemy of all martial artists in the world!" Noticing martial artists of Crystal Pce Sect patrolling nearby, Kell Yue remarked loudly, "That''s right! The reason why our generation of martial artists have trained is just so we can get rid of evil! If that b*stard dares to show himself here, I, Kell Yue of Southern Duel Sect, will be the first to strike!" The patrolling Crystal Pce Sect martial artists merely nced at Kell Yue indifferently before brushing past everyone. The green-robed martial artist bid Kell Yue farewell with cupped fists as well. The group continued forward, prepared to look for an empty house to rest. "Young Master Aiden, you''re from the North Region as well. Have you also heard of that monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind who murdered millions of martial artists?" Lysabel K turned and conversed with Aiden. "I have," Aiden nodded. Seemingly interested in the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind, Lysabel K asked, "Why did he have to murder so many martial artists?" "Hmph, the reason is that he''s a demon while the martial artists are human!" Kell Yue harrumphed and interrupted. Lysabel K frowned and asked in confusion, "If so, why is he standing up for those mortals?" "This" Kell Yue was rendered speechless. Turning around, Lysabel K asked again, "It sounds like this monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind used to be a human. Do you know what''s his name, Young Master Aiden?" Aiden smiled gently and replied, "I think it was Aiden." Everyone from Southern Duel Sect froze. Suddenly, the air was still. A strange mood filled the air! "Pfft!" Lysabel K was the first tough and reached out, thumping Aiden on the shoulder gently with her fist and teasing, "This joke isn''t funny at all!" "What''s wrong?" Aiden asked with a smile. Lysabel K replied, "Haven''t you heard from that guy that the core of the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind was destroyed? He has no spirit energy so how can it be you?" When they heard that, everyone from Southern Duel Sect exchanged nces and heaved sighs of relief. A moment earlier, everyone had truly thought that Aiden who was beside them was the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind! However, Lysabel K''s words set everyone''s minds at ease. The core of the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind was destroyed while everyone had witnessed Aiden use spirit energy personally C the two of them could not be the same person. The night darkened and the skies were dotted with stars. Suddenly, a Crystal Pce Sect martial artist strode over quickly and stood still before Kell Yue and the others, greeting them with cupped fists. "Our sect is holding a banquet in the main hall of the city. We''d like to invite martial artists of Southern Duel Sect to participate." "Alright!" Kell Yue was delighted and instantly turned to look at Aiden with a proud and provocative expression. Aiden was indifferent and merely looked up into the skies deeply. A faint smirk appeared on his lips as he murmured, "Killing on a dark and windy night" At the same time. In the wilderness in a part of the ancient battlefield, a slightly rotund martial artist in gray robes walked idly. He passed by countless ferocious beasts but none of them reacted, as though they could not see him! Birds flew above his head, seemingly oblivious to this man as well. The green-robed martial artist held a folding fan and the fingertips of his right hand shifted and made contact with one another rapidly, letting go after every single touch as though he was divining something. After a while, the green-robed martial artist suddenly raised his head, sensing something. "Hmm?" His expression changed. The countless stars in the heavens were shifting positions rapidly and the constetions above werepletely disoriented. "Psst!" Gasping, the green-robed martial artist had a grim expression. "What a strong killing intent to be able to move the heavens and cause the stars to shift! Something big is about to happen!" Chapter 1028 1028 - Dont Blame Me ? Under the lead of the Crystal Pce Sect martial artist, everyone from Southern Duel Sect arrived at the center of the ancient city and entered a majestic grand hall. At that moment, there were many martial artists from various major sects and factions gathered in the hall. Everyone from Southern Duel Sect did not stand out when mixed in the crowd. Around them, there were many martial artists riding on ancient remnant beasts and it was bustling with the roars and cries of countless demon beasts. In fact, some Martial Masters rode on ancient war chariots that were pulled by ferocious wyrms and some of them even stood on ancient ferocious birds C all of them looked imposing! There was nothing special about Aiden riding on a Golden Lion. "What''s the reason why Crystal Pce Sect invited us to this banquet?" "I''ve got no idea as well nor do I know what''s the purpose of this banquet." "I think that it should be for the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind. They probably intend to have us help out and make contact with them the moment anyone sees any trace of that person." The crowd was bustling with noise. Any martial artist that was famous could gain a seat in the main hall. Some of the itinerant martial artists or martial artists from minor sects merely stood outside the main hall and watched by the sidelines. Kell Yue nced at Aiden beside him and smirked, raising his head. "Young Master Aiden, if not for our Southern Duel Sect, you won''t be able to enter at all given your status, got it?" "Entering this main hall might not be a good thing either," Aiden remarked indifferently. "Humph!" Kell Yue scoffed coldly. Just as he was about to rebut, Lysabel K interrupted them and pointed to the side. "Hurry, look! Someone''s heading over!" Not far away, a group of martial artists arrived in the skies. Their leader was a man in faint golden robes with hands behind his back. He had a dignified demeanor and sharp brows thatplimented his sharp gaze, seemingly able to reflect a rainbow ss light through his eyes. "That''s Kher Melen of Crystal Pce Sect!" "So, that''s him! I heard that after the death of the number one Perfected Being of the North Region, Jorl Wuya, 20 years ago, Kher Melen was the one who reced the former." Aiden''s gaze turned cold at the mention of Kher Melen. The Holy Maiden had told him previously that the one who led the martial artists to massacre the 13 cities of Great North was Kher Melen, one of Chaos Divine Being Tao Johr''s disciples! Shifting his gaze behind Kher Melen, Aiden narrowed his gaze. Two old men with gray hair followed close behind, seemingly stiff in their movements. However, both of them gave Aiden an extreme sense of danger! They were Guardians! Those two old men were definitely Guardians of the Martial Grandmaster realm! Aiden sneered internally. In reality, although Guardians in the ancient battlefield were Martial Grandmasters that could release Divine powers, they did not pose much of a threat to him! That was because the ancient battlefield was a pocket dimension that was unstable. There were way too many restrictions for Guardians. As long as they were to invoke the strength of Martial Grandmaster realm, they would cause a fluctuation, resulting in a dimensional tear that would devour them! In other words, Guardians only had a single opportunity to attack. If they failed, they would be the ones dead! Behind the three of them were dozens of Martial Masters. In the blink of an eye, Kher Melen and everyone else had already arrived at the foremost of the main hall. Surveying the surroundings and looking down at the many martial artists below, he let out a pensive smile. "Everyone!" Although Kher Melen''s voice was neither loud nor soft, it echoed through the entire main hall. The crowd gradually went silent. "I''m sure everyone''s curious about the intention of today''s banquet," Kher Melenughed and said, "Actually, it''s nothing much. We just don''t want to let everyone miss out on a good show." The martial artists below revealed puzzled expressions. Slowly, Kher Melen said, "I''m sure everyone has already heard that a monster incarnate appeared in the North Region. He''s inhumane and murdered millions of martial artists, even dering that he wants to kill off martial artists of Crystal Pce Sect." "I''ve heard of him!" "Holy Fire Ind''s monster incarnate!" "I know! That man''s name is Aiden!" "Yes, I heard that he loves to wear green robes and looks like a schr." A series of voices sounded from the crowd. The expressions of everyone from Southern Duel Sect changed as they turned around slowly to look at Aiden beside them by instinct. The more Kell Yue listened, the more unnerved he became and his eyes flickered with uneasiness. Aiden patted him gently on the shoulder and said with a gentle voice, "Don''t be afraid." Kell Yue shuddered and his hairs stood on end. Kher Melen''s gaze shifted towards the group from Southern Duel Sect and said with a fake smile, "Let me tell everyone that monster incarnate is among you right now!" The crowd was in an uproar! Everyone from Southern Duel Sect was flustered and looked at Aiden in fright, retreating as quickly as they could to put distance between them and thetter. Many martial artists followed Kher Melen''s gaze and gradually noticed Aiden as well. "It''s him!" "Holy Fire Ind''s monster incarnate!" "He has trulye!" In the blink of an eye, Aiden was isted in the entire main hall. Lysabel K was rooted to the spot, somewhat lost and dazed as she looked at Aiden, as though she could not manage to react. Despite the circumstances, Aiden''s expression was still calm. He turned around and asked gently, "Why aren''t you leaving?" "I don''t know," Lysabel K shook her head with a conflicted expression. "I only know that you''ve saved me and is my benefactor. I can''t" On the contrary, Kell Yue turned to Kher Melen after distancing himself from Aiden, dering agitatedly with cupped fists, "Young Master Melen, I''m Kell Yue of Southern Duel Sect. I barely know this guy and I truly didn''t know of his identity!" "T-That''s right! We don''t know him at all!" The other Southern Duel Sect martial artists chimed in and could not wish for more than to draw the line between them and Aiden. "Beast!" "We have to be cautious of everyone that isn''t of our race!" "Kill him as revenge for those millions of martial artists!" "Kill! Kill! Kill!" The crowd was fervent and excited. Everyone had bloodshot eyes and wanted to rip Aiden up alive! The group of martial artists formed a torrential force that was crushing. If it was anyone else, they would have broken down even before they were attacked! Although the Golden Lion was a pure-blooded ferocious beast, it sprawled on the ground in fear at that moment and did not dare to move. A single spirit art released by everyone present could destroy him without any corpse remaining! It cried internally but no tears came forth. However, Aiden was still calm. There was an invisible and unparalleled aura shrouding him. In fact, it was not weakerpared to all the martial artists inside and outside the main hall! "Hahahaha!" Kher Melen reared his head inughter and looked down at Aiden. "Aiden, to think that you would have the guts to enter this city! However, you''re not qualified to fight against Crystal Pce Sect!" Expressionlessly, Aiden surveyed his surroundings and said slowly, "This is a grudge between me and Crystal Pce Sect and has nothing to do with all of you. Anyone that doesn''t wish to get involved should leave as soon as possible." "Bullsh*t!" Kell Yue hollered and dered righteously, "You''re a demon so you''re amon enemy of all martial artists in the world!" Kher Melen sneered coldly and raised his voice, "Everyone, there''s only a single dish in tonight''s banquet the flesh and blood of this monster incarnate! This man has a rich blood energy and his flesh contains a tremendous amount of life force essence which is a great tonic! Whether or not you get to enjoy this delicacy depends on yourselves!" Many martial artists smacked their lips instinctively and their eyes shone with excitement. "Well, well, well!" Aiden nodded andmented indifferently, "Since that''s the case, don''t me me for the massacre!" Chapter 1029 - The massacre begins 1029 Chapter 1029 - The massacre begins "Massacre?" Kell Yue had already been displeased with Aiden the entire journey. At that moment, he released his Martial Master phenomenon without hesitation and shouted, "You have to get through me first!" "Southern Duel Star Formation!" Boom! The heavens were initially dotted with stars. All of a sudden, six stars shone brightly with a ring beam and shrouded Aiden. A series of terrifying auras burst forth around Kell Yue C that was the power of his phenomenon! "Escape yourself," Aiden patted the Golden Lion beneath him and leaped down with a cold gaze. In a sh, he vanished from the spot. Swoosh! In the blink of an eye, he had already arrived beside Kell Yue. Swoosh! It was too fast! Most martial artists could not react in time. "Om!" Aiden opened his mouth and a prayer boomed! Poof! Poof! Poof! Everyone from Southern Duel Sect who stood beside Kell Yue and wanted to draw the line between them and Aiden exploded into blood mists C none of them were spared and they all died! A single prayer word sted them to death without any corpses remaining! Kell Yue was shocked as well. His Martial Master phenomenon was shaken with a single prayer word! The six Southern Duel Stars up in the heavens shed repeatedly and showed signs of dispersion! "How strong!" Kell Yue was taken aback. In reality, if not for the protection of his Martial Master phenomenon, that single prayer word would have sted him to death given their distance! He would not have met with a different endingpared to his sect mates. Before that thought of his was finished, Kell Yue felt his eyes blur. Aiden''s figure did not pause at all. His knees buckled forward like a sprinting stallion as he charged over with a surging blood energy! His aura was terrifying! Bang! There was a split dy between the both of them. Immediately after, Kell Yue''s body was sent flying and the phenomenon power that surrounded his body dispersed entirely; the six Southern Duel Stars in the skies dimmedpletely. His body hovered in midair before splitting into pieces, dying the voids red with blood! "Ah!" A wave of shock and astonishment could be heard from the crowd. Most of the martial artists in the ancient city had heard of Aiden''s reputation but there were few who had seen him fight personally. Or rather, most of the people who had seen him attack were dead. Right now, when everyone witnessed how Aiden destroyed a Martial Master phenomenon domineeringly with his bare body, the blow to their mental states was immense! How could the power of bloodline and one''s body reach such a level? Kell Yue was someone who was once on the Phenomenon Ranking! Although he was ranked near the end, he was one of the paragons! Nobody expected him tost less than a single round despite the release of his Martial Master phenomenon. Aiden was strong 20 years ago. However, the power of his bloodline and body had not reached this level. There had not been anybody who had witnessed his actualbat strength 20 yearster! Although Kher Melen''s group watched the sight with constricted pupils, they were stillposed. Instead, a mocking look shed through their eyes. Naturally, Crystal Pce Sect was thoroughly prepared before entering the ancient battlefield this time round. Nothing that happened so far had gone beyond Crystal Pce Sect''s expectations. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Countless flying swords tore through the air. Countless spirit arts nketed the skies. Aiden stared at Kher Melen who was at the highest point of the main hall and killing intent surged in his eyes. His body''s blood energy flooded and echoed with the sound of a tsunami in a shuddering manner! Boom! Kicking off from his toes, Aiden vanished instantly. Spiderweb cracks appeared on the stone b he stood on originally and extended outwards. A figure darted into the crowd with an unstoppable might like a human weapon, sending many martial artists flying! Most of the flying swords and spirit arts missed. When some of the flying swords got close, Aiden reached out and grabbed wildly in the void C he caught most of the iing flying swords in his palms! "Break!" Exerting strength in both arms, he yelled! Crack! Crack! Crack! The flying swords in his palms were snapped by his bare hands! Most of those flying swords were top grade flying swords. The sharpness of a top grade flying sword could not injure Aiden''s flesh! "Kill!" Aiden opened his mouth and released Thunderp Kill against the descent of many spirit arts. A tremendous roar boomed forward, apanied by the power of thunder. The entire main hall shook! Right in front of everyone, countless spirit arts dispersed before they could make contact with Aiden''s body, turning into spots of spirit light that dissipated into thin air! The crowd was in an uproar. There were countless rumors about the monster incarnate of Holy Fire Ind, however, none of them experienced the same shock as they did now since nobody saw it personally. Right now, none of the martial artists in the ancient city realized it. The true massacre had only just begun. What they witnessed today was merely the tip of the iceberg for this strongest monster incarnate in history! Aiden treads in thin air and nobody could match his edge! If Aiden could destroy a phenomenon on the ranking barehanded, the Martial Master phenomenons of ordinary martial artists could not stand in his way at all! He was getting closer to Kher Melen. "Senior Brother Kher, should we release the formation?" A Crystal Pce Sect martial artist behind Kher Melen whispered. "There''s no need," Kher Melen''s hands were hidden deeply in his robes and he smirked, remarking coolly, "I''m rather curious to test and see just how strong this monster incarnate is in reality!" "Senior Brother Kher, there''s no need to take that risk personally right?" Another Crystal Pce Sect martial artist frowned. "Take the risk personally?" Kher Melen harrumphed coldly. "In the past, I wasn''t weaker than Jorl Wuya in meleebat. So, where does the riske from?" "Furthermore, Crystal Pce Sect is famous for body tempering! Why should I fear a beast?" "Watch out, Senior Brother Kher!" Everyone from Crystal Pce Sect tried to warn repeatedly. Kher Melen''s expression turned cold as he charged towards Aiden who was arriving. "Aiden, take my punch!" Striding forward, Kher Melen''s blood energy surged and his hair flew furiously as he threw a punch towards Aiden''s head violently! Although he threw out a punch, his palm was still hidden in his robes and wasn''t revealed, merely showing the shape of a clenched fist. Narrowing his gaze, Aiden did not retreat or avoid and returned with a punch of his own! Apart from the top of the Phenomenon Ranking, the absolute king of the rankings, he had never encountered any other martial artist of the same martial art realm who could match him in meleebat. Kher Melen''s eyes shone with uncontroble excitement when he saw Aiden''s decision to take the punch head-on. Bang! The two fists collided! Kher Melen''s sleeve was ripped apart instantly, flying away like butterflies. borate magical patterns shone brightly on Kher Melen''s fist! He was wearing a glove and it was a top grade artifact weapon! That was his killing move! Therefore, Aiden had just collided against a top grade spirit weapon head-on rather than flesh! Their fists had already collided and it was toote to avoid even if he wanted to! A light injury would cripple Aiden''s arm. A heavy injury would result in his death if Kher Melen took advantage of the situation! "Haha, Aiden! Prepare to die!" Kher Melenughed menacingly. Before hisughter subsided, his heart sank. There was no hint of panic in Aiden''s eyes C they were calm as water! "Impossible! I-It can''t be!" Before that thought was finished, Kher Melen shifted his gaze. Aiden''s fist merely collided gently against his before turning limp. Like an anaconda, it wrapped forward along with the momentum. Wrap, hit, pull! Shing! A mist of blood filled the air. Kher Melen''s arm was ripped off by Aiden just like that! Chapter 1030 - No escape 1030 Chapter 1030 - No escape "Ah!" Kher Melen''s eyes widened with disbelief as he let out a jarring shriek while blood drained from his face! He truly hadn''t expected a victor to be decided between them within a single round of their sh! If he was dealing with inexperienced martial artists, his methods would have worked. However, he was naive to think of tricking Aiden. How fast were Aiden''s reactions? The moment he sensed something amiss in the sh between their fists, he had already changed tactics to release a killing move from his secret skills to rip off Kher Melen''s arm! The two of them were way too close. Aiden had no intention of letting Kher Melen escape. "You''re the one who should prepare to die!" Roaring, Aiden strode forward and reached out with outstretched fingers. Pang! Pang! Pang! Jade-white fingernails protruded, shining with a cold glint like daggers as he grabbed for Kher Melen''s head. If that grabnded, five bloody holes would definitely appear on Kher Melen''s head! All of a sudden! A sense of danger rang in Aiden''s mind. Without time to hesitate, Aiden gave up on killing Kher Melen decisively and retreated swiftly. A rainbow-colored ss light shot down and brushed past his body C it was extremely sharp and almost wanted to sever the void! If Aiden was a single bit slower, he would have been cut into two by that ss light! A terrifying energy fluctuation spread through the void. The energy had already surpassed the power of phenomenons! Divine powers! The Martial Grandmasters had attacked! It was one of the two Guardians behind Kher Melen! The information filtered into Aiden''s mind as he retreated without turning back. Only Guardians would have that reaction and could rescue Kher Melen from his hands! Nobody else would have been able to do it! True enough. Not far away, the eyes of an old man with gray hair and a beard dimmed as he shook his head. "This man is way too frightening. We can''t even trap him with ourbined forces." Suddenly, the void behind the old man ripped apart and a dark tear appeared silently. Sinister winds gusted from within, threatening to devour everything! The appearance of Divine power would result in a dimensional fluctuation. With the fluctuation, dimensional tears would appear to cleanse the origin of that energy so as to ensure the stability of the dimension! The old man sighed. "Summon the formation." The moment he said that his body was swallowed by the dimensional tear in the void and his Essence Spirit was destroyed C he turned into dust with nothing left behind. The tear in the void closed slowly until there was no gap left. Summon the formation? Aiden raised his brow slightly as he felt a sudden sense of danger! Another Guardian behind Kher Melen surveyed the surroundings before soaring into the air and dering, "Everyone, please help us to kill thisd!" "Alright!" "It''s wonderful if I can kill a monster incarnate like this before my death!" "Hahaha! My life won''t be wasted with thisd''s death to apany mine!" A series of voices echoed from above the four walls of the ancient city. North, south, east, and west, old men with gray beards and hair appeared. Although they did not release their powers, there was a shuddering aura repressed within their bodies! Four Guardians! Typically speaking, it was already at the limits if there were two Guardians that apanied the paragon of a sect into the ancient battlefield. In fact, some super sects would not even have any Guardians. After all, Guardians would die the moment they attacked. Even if their lifespans were about to end a few yearster, no martial artist would be willing to enter the ancient battlefield. Yet, Crystal Pce Sect activated six Guardians this time round! This was clear proof of how highly they regarded Aiden. No matter what, Crystal Pce Sect had indeed felt immense pressure from Aiden''s deration letter of war! During this period of time, Kher Melen''s injury had already been bandaged. He red at Aiden venomously and snarled, "Aiden, I''m going to slice the flesh off your body piece by piece and eat it up! I''m going to torture you to death!" "Hahaha!" Aiden stood in the air and burst intoughter. "You think that you can kill me with just four more Guardians?" "Humph!" Kher Melen smirked menacingly. "Don''t get cocky! We knew that you would send yourself to us so we prepared a long time ago! Prepare yourself!" The fingertips of the Guardian on the East city wall shifted repeatedly and his be shone, emitting a series of bright beams thatnded on a circr artifact weapon. Whoosh! The artifact weapon spun and instantly emitted a column of light that engulfed Aiden. "Hmms? Demon Revealing Mirror!" Aiden''s expression changed slightly as he released his blood energy. His body shed repeatedly as he tried to get away from the radius of the Demon Revealing Mirror''s column of light. However, no matter how fast his movement techniques were, they were not faster than light. The Demon Revealing Mirror was not harmful to demon beasts by itself. Its only purpose was to restrict the Inner Core or Essence Spirit. When the Inner Core was restricted, demon beasts would lose the power of their Inner Cores and that was the reason why their true forms would be revealed. Whoosh! Another column of light shone from the West and shot down. Aiden''s body shuddered. A mysterious energy was trying to prate his body to reach his circting Inner Core. However, the Nigal Prayer Beads that were hidden on his wrist shone and blocked the energy! The Nigal Prayer Beads was a top-grade Divine weapon, to begin with. Although two Buddha Beads were missing and it was iplete, it still managed to retain some of its mysterious Divine powers. When the column of light shone on Aiden, he paused for a moment and his blood energy circted furiously. The power of his Inner Core surged and his speed received a massive boost, allowing him to break free from the light column. Aiden could clearly feel that his Inner Core waspletely sealed and was unable to circte! 21:25 "Hmm?" A Guardian eximed softly, "A single Demon Revealing Mirror is not enough to hold him down!" "Thankfully, we''re prepared!" Whoosh! Whoosh! Another two columns of light shone down. With nowhere to run, Aiden was pinned to the spot by the two columns of light! Immediately after, the first two columns of light descended on Aiden as well. Four columns of light from four Demon Revealing Mirrors in all directions shone down on Aiden''s surroundings! Aiden could clearly feel that his Inner Core waspletely sealed and was unable to circte! The Nigal Prayer Beads was a damaged Divine weapon after all. At the same time, Aiden had not cultivated an Essence Spirit and could not release the true strength of the Nigal Prayer Beads. The most he could do was use the damaged Divine weapon to defend against one of the Demon Revealing Mirrors. Now that Crystal Pce Sect had brought out four Demon Revealing Mirrors, even the Nigal Prayer Beads couldn''t do anything about it! "Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation!" The four Guardians shouted at the same time with stern expressions. Suddenly, mysterious runes lit up on the areas the four columns of light from the Demon Revealing Mirrors shone on! Aiden grunted dully and the pressure on him intensified! In the hands of four Guardians, the four Demon Revealing Mirrors had turned into a formation! The formation pinned down Aiden like a gigantic mountain and exerted pressure relentlessly, locking him motionlessly on the spot! Aiden could clearly feel his bones and tendons trembling inside his body, letting out cracking sounds that were jarring! He refused to bow down and clenched his teeth with a ferocious glint in his eyes. Channeling his bloodline with all his might, he pushed against the pressure on his spine and green veins popped on his neck. A series of dimensional tears appeared above the four walls. The four Guardians were devoured in session. However, the formation wasid down and the situation was set in stone C Aiden could not escape even with the death of the Guardians! Chapter 1031 1031 - Last Chance ? That scene shocked all the martial artists in the ancient city! The death of four Guardians in exchange for an opportunity to kill Aiden C that seemed like a price that was too heavy. However, it had to be said that this was the only way to ensure that nothing went wrong! That was because even if the six Guardians of Crystal Pce Sect joined forces, they might not have been able to kill Aiden. Now, Demon Revealing Mirrors on the walls in all four directions were activated with Divine powers, forming a formation that targeted demons specifically. As such, Aiden was rooted to the spot motionlessly! This power had far surpassed the strength of the Martial Master realm! Even if a hundred pure-blooded ferocious beasts were to arrive, they would be turned into meat sludge! In other words, if this was Aiden 20 years ago, he wouldn''t be able tost 10 breaths! "Hahahaha!" Kher Melen''s face was pale as he had lost a significant amount of blood after his arm was ripped off. However, he still reared his head in wildughter and grit his teeth. "Aiden, why aren''t you cocky anymore? So what if you''re the strongest monster incarnate in history? You''ve still got to die under Crystal Pce Sect''s Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation!" Aiden''s expression was dark and he remained silent. Ssh! His bloodline was already channeled to its limits and echoed with the dull sound of a rising, raging tide. Heads started bobbing everywhere. Countless martial artists formed a wave of humans and encircled Aiden in the middleyer afteryer. All the martial artists wanted to personally witness the moment of the strongest monster incarnate in history''s death! Outside the crowd, a yellow-haired burly man stood at the side and gazed towards the center of the ancient city. Staring at the green-robed man who was rooted to the spot motionlessly, he could not help but pout his lips and mutter, "What a pity that such a monster incarnate of an entire generation has to die by a group''s ambush." "Although you suppressed me and forced me to be your mount, we can call off this grudge between us given that you don''t have long to live." The yellow-haired burly man was the Golden Lion in humanoid form. The Golden Lion sighed and turned to leave, preparing to escape out of the city. Not far away, a red fox squatted on the ground and swayed its huge, furry tail. It clutched its tiny paws tightly with a nervous look on its face. It had eyes that resembled ck gemstones, blinking at the green-robed man in the crowd with ayer of mist over them. A momentter, the little fox reared its head and sniffed. Wiping away the tears in its eyes, it gazed at the Demon Revealing Mirror that was erected on the wall above it and emitted a scary column of light. A hint of resolve shed through its eyes. Pshew! A streak of red light burst into the darkness and the little fox vanished. In the crowd Lysabel K seemed like she had lost her soul and was squeezed and pushed forward by countless martial artists. She had gone through way too many changes in the past two days. Of more than a hundred Southern Duel Sect martial artists, she was now the only one left. The martial artist whom she had regarded as a benefactor and even had affections towards was a demon that was despised by everyone. She red at the front squarely. The green-robed man who was struggling bitterly against tens of thousands of people looked pitiful and tragic, like a trapped beast that had lost its fangs. In fact, Lysabel K wanted to scream. She wanted to scream that even though he was a demon, he had saved her life! However, what would that do? She could not change the situation at all. The green-robed man wouldn''t be able to escape death. In fact, he would have to endure an unimaginable amount of humiliation before his death! All the martial artists around her were worked up and yelled loudly. "Kill him!" "Drink his blood and consume his flesh!" All those martial artists had scary looks in their eyes as they wished for nothing more than to rip Aiden apart! "It''s all my fault." "If I hadn''t suggested it, he wouldn''t havee here, and neither would he have met with Crystal Pce Sect." Lysabel K had a pained expression. Coincidentally Her gaze met with Aiden''s in midair. Instantly, tears streamed down Lysabel K''s face as she shook her head and muttered repeatedly, "I''m sorry, I''m sorry" However, her voice was nothingpared to the mor around her, and was drowned immediately. Right then, Lysabel K caught sight of a smile. Even despite the situation, the green-robed man smiled and seemed like he was consoling her! She bawled loudly in tears. Aiden retracted his gaze. Lysabel K was not to me for this. Even without her, he would have definitelye here! That was because he had said that he would make Crystal Pce Sect pay with blood! The crowd not far away dispersed and a path appeared as Kher Melen strode over with a cold expression, clutching the area of his broken left arm. Arriving ten feet before Aiden, Kher Melen stood firmly. His eyes were vengeful with a hint of ridicule as he red down coldly before snickering sinisterly. Aiden pursed his lips. Given normal circumstances, he had a hundred methods of killing Kher Melen on the spot in less than a breath given this distance! However, he was now suppressed by the power of the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation and could not even lift his arm. Kher Melen pushed down into the air with his palm. The crowd gradually went silent. ring at Aiden, he chuckled. "Beast, your martial power has already been destroyed, and your Inner Core is sealed. Right now, you''re like fish on a chopping block that''s waiting for me to cut up!" "Since you broke my arm, I''ll snap your limbs!" Kher Melen pped his storage bag and a saber appeared in his palm. He injected spirit energy. The saber trembled and shone with five spirit patterns. A perfect artifact weapon! Dragging the saber, Kher Melen looked at Aiden in a rxed manner and was in no rush. He was relishing this sensation. Kher Melen circled around Aiden and sized up thetter. He gestured at Aiden''s body and pretended to be in deep thought. "Hmm where should I start?" "Young Master Melen, how about letting out some blood first to share with everyone!" "That''s right! The blood of this monster incarnate must be delicious!" Many martial artists in the crowd shouted. "Alright, let''s do that then." Kher Melen was in a great mood. Right then, Aiden turned his head and surveyed his surroundings. Due to the immense pressure on him, the sounds of bones cracking could be heard from his neck. With a dark expression, Aiden smirked and revealed a set of pearly whites before remarking coolly, "I''m going to give all of you a final chance. This is a grudge between me and Crystal Pce Sect. Anyone that''s unrted should get lost now!" "Bloody hell! This demon is trying to be cocky on the brink of death!" "What a sharp tongue!" "I say we should p his mouth until it''s battered first!" Many martial artists sneered and mocked. "Hehehehe!" Lowering his head, Aiden let out a chillingughter as the killing intent in his eyes intensified C it was almost materialized and could spew out! The stars in the heavens above went into chaos, flickering constantly. His killing intent was torrential and had affected the heavens! Outside the crowd, the remaining Guardian of Crystal Pce Sect stood in midair. Sensing something, he reared his head and frowned. Although he knew nothing about astrology, he knew that the chaotic alignments of the stars was an evil omen symbolizing that something big was about to happen! Chapter 1032 1032 - Comeback ? "Y-You! Beast, how dare you get cocky! I''ll have you kneel down first!" Kher Melen''s shout broke off the thoughts of Crystal Pce Sect''s Guardian. Instinctively, he looked down. Right in the middle of the crowd, Kher Melen swung the de and circted his Martial Master. Spirit energy surged forward and the de shone with a spirit light, slicing at Aiden''s knees! "Nothing should change. There''s no way a spirit demon can escape from the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation that was created with the death of four Guardians." The thought crossed the Crystal Pce Sect Guardian''s mind. Immediately after, his expression changed! He was a Martial Grandmaster after all and had cultivated an Essence Spirit. Although it was restricted and he could not attack at will, his senses were much sharper than ordinary Martial Masters with his Essence Spirit! He sensed spirit energy fluctuating in Aiden''s body! Furthermore It was terrifying! "Ancient Primordial Dragon Art!" Aiden''s eyes were frighteningly bright as he snarled word by word. A primordial energy seemed to be awakened as the aura in Aiden''s body climbed endlessly! "Spirit energy!" "That''s the aura of a Martial Master! His Martial Master hasn''t been destroyed!" "That''s impossible!" The crowd fell into an uproar. There were many martial artists that witnessed a Quasi Divine powerhouse destroying Aiden''s Inner Core personally in the battle of the paragons in the North Region. But now, Aiden''s Martial Master power had reappeared and was even more terrifying than before! Immediately after, right in front of countless gazes, an extremely long-living being appeared from thin air. It coiled a couple times around his body before extending upwards into the air! Kher Melen''s de was repelled before it could reach Aiden''s knees and a series of sparks burst forth in the void! His body shuddered and he could not maintain his grip on the de as it was blown away! "Psst!" "What is this?" Many martial artists gaped with disbelief. Green scales appeared one after another on the living being''s body, shimmering with a cold light. The bones on its back and its sharp fangs and ws were fully exposed with horns thrusting fiercely above its head. "I-Is that a d-d-d-d-dragon?!" A martial artist asked with a trembling voice and frightful expression as he nearly knelt on the ground. Although none of the martial artists in the ancient city had seen what a dragon looked like, that was the only answer that crossed their minds when they caught sight of that living being. It was one of the Primordial Ancient Races, the dragon! Only a True Dragon could release such a terrifying aura! The True Dragon was life-like and its scales, bones, and ws were fully formed with flesh and blood. The eyes of the dragon opened gradually. Those eyes opened and closed together with Aiden''s eyes in unison. Its gaze was cold, dignified, and unquestionable! Against the sweeping gaze of the dragon''s eyes, some martial artists could not withstand the pressure and knelt on the ground with a thud, shivering from head to toe in silence. Back in the primordial era, humans were enved by ten thousand races and were puny as ants with cheap lives. The primordial dragon race was the leader of the ten thousand races, riding over all of them and dominating the world! It was a suppression of the bloodline, a fear that originated from an ancient memory! Although Aiden was still unable to move against the power of the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation, his aura had intensified with a True Dragon coiling around him! That was the terror of a True Dragon. Yet, how frightening was a man who couldmand the True Dragon? A divine being! This was a divine being who could control the world and decide the fates of all beings! Even the Crystal Pce Sect Guardian who stood in the air afar felt chills run down his spine, let alone the Martial Masters in the surroundings. "Kher Melen, hurry and retreat!" The Crystal Pce Sect Guardian was the first to react and shouted. Kher Melen shuddered and snapped out of his stupor. Instinctively, he wanted to retreat and pull himself away from Aiden. However, it was all toote. Aiden''s eyes were like lightning as he took a deep breath and opened his mouth. Almost at the same time, the True Dragon coiling around him took a deep breath and its body expanded a few times. Puffing its chest, a gigantic air current churned and formed a cyclone in midair. The True Dragon also opened its massive mouth at the same time, revealing menacing fangs that dripped with drool! "Roar!" Both of them opened their mouths and let out a deafening roar that could break metal and rocks! Aiden''s ck hair danced wildly and the veins on his neck popped up. With a sharp gaze, he howled in front of him and the sound of a dragon roar burst forth from his mouth! Instantly! The weather changed as sand and rocks flew. That was a True Dragon roar. It was much more powerful than the sonic attack known to them! Poof! Poof! Poof! Most of the martial artists in the circle closest to Aiden could not endure the shock of the dragon roar and exploded into blood mists. Some of the martial artists that were slightly further away had scars of blood appearing on their faces C although their bodies did not explode, their organs were already ruptured into dust! There were more martial artists who stood on the spot motionlessly with widened eyes as blood oozed out of their seven orifices C all of them were dead! After the dragon roared, silence ensued. The demon beast mounts of some martial artists, be it ancient remnant beasts or pure-blooded ferocious beasts, were all shivering in fear at the moment with poop and pee flowing freely. There were countless people who died from the dragon roar! Corpses were strewn all around Aiden and rivers of blood were formed C it was akin to purgatory! The Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation could restrict his Inner Core and root him to the spot but it could not seal his Martial Master! "Even if I can''t move, I can cull all of you like dogs!" Aiden''s voice was cold and his killing intent was torrential! Kher Melen was the only one who could remain standing in a radius of 30 feet around Aiden. It was true that his body was strong. He was not dead despite that dragon roar. However, his eardrums were ruptured and the injury of his right arm had burst again as well. Right now, his mind was nk and his consciousness was hazy C he could no longer sense what was happening around him. "Hurry and retreat!" Crystal Pce Sect''s Guardian yelled. Many Crystal Pce Sect Martial Masters were bolting through the crowd towards Kher Melen, hoping to save him. Gradually, Kher Melen regained some of his senses and his eyes were filled with fear as he tried to retreat. The next moment, he saw Aiden smirk with mockery. "Go!" Aiden opened his mouth and said a single word indifferently. Swoosh! The True Dragon that coiled around him upwards surged down and descended upon Kher Melen''s head instantly, ring down with a fixed gaze. Kher Melen was scared out of his wits. Drip! In fact, Kher Melen did not even dare to wipe his face when drool dripped from the corner of the True Dragon''s mouth onto his face! "Pfft!" The next moment, the True Dragon lowered its head and chomped down on Kher Melen! Blood sshed out with a slight warmth. Kher Melen was dead, devoured alive by the True Dragon conjured by Aiden! The killing intent in Aiden''s eyes surged. This was the first time that he released the Ancient Primordial Dragon Art after 20 years of dormancy at the bottom of Dragon Burial Valley. He could clearly sense that the True Dragon around him had gotten more corporeal and sentient, as though it possessed a life of its own! In reality, there was a huge difference between this and the description of the Ancient Primordial Dragon Art. The Ancient Primordial Dragon Art merely made use of a trickle of dragon blood and spirit energy to conjure an illusory dragon. But the dragon summoned by Aiden was life-like andplete with flesh and blood! More than that, the beguiling thing was that he had a feeling that this True Dragon seemed to have an extremely close connection to him C it was as though the origin of their bloodline was inseparable! Chapter 1033 1033 - Common Enemy ? The Crystal Pce Sect Guardian had a terrible expression. Kher Melen was the youngest, most talented, and strongest Martial Master paragon in Crystal Pce Sect after Jorl Wuya. He was definitely poised for a top 30 position for this Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking! However, the Guardian did not expect that Kher Melen would be killed by Aiden''s spirit art without the chance to even release his Martial Master phenomenon. Crystal Pce Sect was not going to return without anything for the Phenomenon Ranking this time around. "Destroy that Azure Dragon!" The Crystal Pce Sect Guardian was enraged and pointed to the menacing Azure Dragon in midair with a darkened expression, shouting, "That dragon is merely condensed through spirit energy! What are you guys scared of!" Many martial artists calmed down rapidly with the words of a Guardian. "I refuse to believe that this monster incarnate can get out of hand!" "That''s right! Let''s join forces!" "Let''s kill him and take revenge for senior brother!" The crowd was worked up. Many martial artists released flying swords that flew over like an arrow rain. Countless spirit arts nketed the skies and crushed down with a terrifying might! "Kill!" Aiden spat out coldly. The True Dragon understood his intentions and reared its head malevolently before soaring into the air with torrential ferocity. Baring its fangs and ws, it lunged into the crowd! Bang! Bang! Bang! Many flying swords and spirit arts shattered upon collision with the True Dragon and only perfect artifact weapons could survive. Even for supreme-grade artifact weapons, cracks would appear upon contact with the True Dragon, causing their spirit lights to dim and the weapons renderedpletely useless! Although the spirit arts in the air surged like a tsunami, they could not withstand the power of a True Dragon! Another blood storm was created as the True Dragon crashed into the crowd! Even without using its sharp ws and fangs, the passing of the True Dragon''s body was enough to shatter supreme-grade flying swords C there was no way the martial artists could defend against it with their physical bodies! The Ancient Primordial Dragon Art was a spirit art created by the Ancient One and could even go against the power of ordinary Martial Master phenomenons! Furthermore, it was clear that the spirit art had already transformed in the hands of Aiden. It was much more powerful and frightening than before! Even thebined forces of many martial artists could not defend against the killing power of the True Dragon! Finally, some martial artists were forced to release their Martial Master phenomenons. An energy fluctuation that was even more terrifying than spirit arts surfaced! "Heavenly Piercing Pir!" A thick stone pir appeared behind the martial artist, piercing through the world with an ancient and majestic aura. It crushed down toward the body of the True Dragon. Without even taking a look, the True Dragon swiped its tail viciously. A True Dragon''s tail whip! Boom! The Heavenly Piercing Pir was destroyedpletely by the dragon''s tail! The expression of the martial artist changed starkly and he spat out a huge mouthful of blood. With dimming eyes, he fell from midair. Another Martial Master had just released his phenomenon when it was swiped away by the sharp ws of the True Dragon and his body was ripped apart! However, it was clear that the glow on the True Dragon''s body had dimmed slightly after enduring the impact of two Martial Master phenomenons. "Respected Fellow Masters, let''s join forces! This evil dragon won''t be able tost much longer!" Someone yelled. Many martial artists were invigorated. Bang! Bang! Bang! Thousands of Martial Masters attacked at the same time with their Martial Master phenomenons, sending an apocalyptic st toward the True Dragon! Crack! Crack! Crack! The True Dragon froze in midair and cracks appeared on its massive body, extending and deepening. Of the thousands of Martial Master phenomenons, there were even Crystal Pce Sect martial artists who released ancient phenomenons from their sect such as the ss Divine Light. Thebined power of those Martial Master phenomenons was like the convergence of countless streams into a massive river with the capability to annihte all life C the True Dragon was instantly destroyed! "Hahahaha!" "Even if it''s a True Dragon, so what?!" "So what if you''re the strongest monster incarnate in history? You can''t fight against all of us heroes in the world single handedly!" "Kill him!" Many martial artists released their Martial Master phenomenons excitedly and yelled as they charged towards Aiden! As long as they could kill Aiden personally, they would be famous throughout the world! "You dare call yourselves heroes?" Aiden''s expression turned increasingly cold as he roared inughter. Even despite the circumstances, there was no hint of panic in his eyes. Instead, they turned brighter and fiercer! An endless amount of phenomenon power surged over. It was a suffocating pressure! Against that pressure, the Martial Master in Aiden''s Inner Core churned wildly and a frighteningly shocking phenomenon rose behind him. With a boom, the firmaments were shattered! Water currents surged and meteors rained endlessly C it was an apocalyptic sight. Bang! Bang! Bang! An iparably massive ancient demon descended with a terrifying aura and four legs that were akin to heavenly-piercing pirs. Standing in the middle of a dark, deep sea, it did not move and suppressed the raging tides. Lightning shed and that massive demon''s shell held up the broken firmament, nketing over the world as it protected all living beings from the surging water currents. "This phenomenon" "It''s the Divine Turtle!" "That''s the long-lost Primordial Divine Turtle!" A series of exmations could be heard from the crowd. The Divine Turtle had arrived and reared its head, roaring into the skies! Instantly, it was filled with torrential rage! The size of the Divine Turtle wasrger than the ancient city. Protecting Aiden under it, all the iing Martial Master phenomenons were blocked! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The Primordial Divine Turtle stood unyieldingly against the impact of thousands of Martial Master phenomenons! Many martial artists were shocked. The Primordial Divine Turtle''s defense could not be broken with thebined force of thousands of phenomenons! "The Primordial Divine Turtle lives up to its reputation indeed!" The Crystal Pce Sect Guardian murmured softly. Legend has it that the Primordial Divine Turtle could be ranked as a top ten on the Phenomenon Ranking when its true power was released! That was a divine being that saved countless living beings in the primordial era! Suddenly, as though he called something, the expression of Crystal Pce Sect''s Guardian changed. "This is bad! It''s said that thisd has trained another phenomenon apart from the Primordial Divine Turtle!" The Crystal Pce Sect Guardian howled, "Watch out!" Bang! Boom! Boom! His voice was drowned by an explosion before it could travel over. Another phenomenon appeared behind Aiden! "What is this?" "It''s a double phenomenon!" The ground caved continuously, opening up bottomless ravines one after another. A baleful aura surged forth. The mountains were tumbling and the ground was disintegrating! Lava surged forth endlessly with a scorching heat, flowing rampantly on the vastnds and burning everything in sight C countless living beings were turned into ashes! In mid-air, the Martial Master phenomenons of some martial artists who could not endure it dissipated. Without the protection of their Martial Master phenomenons, those martial artists were exposed to the torrential waves and were devoured instantly, vanishing without a trace. "Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!" Some martial artists who were sshed by the scarletva burst into mes as they howled in misery. Although most of the martial artists were still channeling their Martial Masters furiously to gather their phenomenons, the chaos within the crowd was evidently growing. However, that was merely the start of Aiden''s counterattack! A gigantic living being with a terrifying aura crawled out of the crack in the ground. It had a snake''s head, anaconda''s body and was lined with red, scarlet scales that were stacked on top of one another like ming iron tes! Snake''s head, anaconda''s body, dragon scales, phoenix wings, no horns on its head, and no legs beneath its abdomen C it was the Primordial Soaring Serpent! Divine beings had descended with the resurgence of the phenomenons! Chapter 1034 1034 - Breaking Out ? The Primordial Soaring Serpent spread its wings and a heatwave surged into the nine heavens as it surveyed the surroundings with scarlet eyes. The formidable power of this phenomenon was spreading! Crack! Crack! Crack! Some of the flying swords and artifact weapons in midair could not handle the pressure and cracked. Their lights dimmed as they turned into fragments, scattering onto the ground. A single nce from the Primordial Soaring Serpent caused some of the martial artists to burst into mes that engulfed them rapidly, burning them into ashes! The might of a divine being was unstoppable! Gulp! Gulp! The Primordial Soaring Serpent devoured theva inrge mouthfuls and its aura turned increasingly frightening. The scales on the serpent became brighter and shone with a blinding shade of scarlet that resembled metal tes that were heated red! Gazing at the thousands of Martial Master phenomenons and the puny humans, the Primordial Soaring Serpent reared its head and hissed between its breaths. Psst! Psst! The Primordial Soaring Serpent fanned the mes with its wings and its eyes spewed fire. Opening its blood-red mouth, it spat out a stream of scorchingva! Instantly, the void turned into a sea of mes! Thebined Martial Master phenomenons of many martial artists could only manage to hold out the Primordial Divine Turtle. However, the descent of the Primordial Soaring Serpent broke that stalemate! Crack! Crack! Crack! Apanied by loud sounds, countless Martial Master phenomenons shattered and many Martial Masters were devoured directly by the steamingva, turning into ashes without corpses. "Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!" A series of tragic, shuddering wails sounded. Although there were thousands of Martial Master phenomenons, none of them could withstand the st of the two divine beings, the Divine Turtle and Soaring Serpent! Even the Crystal Divine Light could not do it! The Divine Turtle roared with rage and currents surged, raising torrential tides that engulfed all living beings! The Soaring Serpent hissed andva spewed, igniting a sea of mes that spanned hundreds of kilometers and incinerated all living beings! Even the bodies of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists could not withstand the crash of the tides and the roast of theva. 20 yearster, Aiden had not only recovered his Martial Master, but the two Martial Master phenomenons that he had once trained had also resurfaced in the world as well! All the martial artists were horrified and scurried for their lives. Nobody noticed that although the two phenomenons behind Aiden were the same 20 years on, there were a few changes to the phenomenons themselves! 20 years ago, the Divine Turtle and Soaring Serpent phenomenons were irreconcble; fire and water, immortal and fiend. The two phenomena werepletely distinct. But now, there was no longer any conflict of fire and water nor was there any contention between immortal and fiend between the two phenomenons C their boundaries were blurred and fire and water were intertwined. The heavens shattered and void currents flowed everywhere as meteors fell. A Divine Turtle stood between the world and stabilized the void currents with its limbs while holding up the heavens with its back as it roared into the skies! The ground caved in and a volcano exploded spewingva. The Primordial Soaring Serpent tore through the ground and devoured theva as it descended upon the world! The heavens copsed and lightning shed. The two divine beings, the Divine Turtle and Soaring Serpent, seemed like they could fuse together at any moment! After his 20 years of dormancy at the bottom of Dragon Burial Valley, aplete transformation had happened both inside and outside of Aiden and it was not only in terms of his Inner Core and body. It was for his Martial Master phenomenons as well! To be precise, apart from Aiden, nobody knew what sort of Martial Master phenomenons he had trained and nobody had seen it before. "Everyone, don''t panic!" The Crystal Pce Sect Guardian stood in midair and said loudly, "Although this little b*stard can circte spirit energy, he is pinned to the ground by the formation and can''t move at all!" "Hmm?" Some of the martial artists who had escaped noticed that as well and let out beguiled expressions. "He''s a demon so there''s no way he can break free from the restraints of the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation! Everyone, avoid his attacks, and don''t fight him head-on! Once his Martial Master phenomenons are gone and his spirit energy is expended, he will be a sheep waiting to be culled!" The words of Crystal Pce Sect''s Guardian caused the eyes of the surviving martial artists to light up. Although Aiden could release spirit art and the dragon roar, he had not left his original position from the get-go! Everyone was escaping from the battlefield to try to get away from the two divine beings around Aiden. Although Martial Master phenomenons were strong, they could not go too far away from the martial artists. A cold glint shed through Aiden''s eyes as he cursed internally. Although the Guardian was at the end of his lifespan, he was a Martial Grandmaster after all and he was truly sharp after living for close to a thousand years. He managed to identify Aiden''s weakness despite the chaotic battle. The formation that enveloped Aiden was created with four Guardians sacrificing their lives to activate four Demon Revealing Mirrors! It was set up to target him specifically! As long as he had his Inner Core, he could not break free of the restraints of the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation nor could he move at all! The pressure was present all the time! That was also the reason why Aiden had been counterattacking without moving from the spot the entire time. It was not because he did not want to, it was because he couldn''t! It was actually simple to dispel the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation. All he had to do was destroy the formation eyes. For this formation, the formation eyes were none other than the four Demon Revealing Mirrors on top of the four walls! He did not require all four Demon Revealing Mirrors to be destroyed C as long as three of them were shifted, Aiden could break free with the use of Divine power from the Nigal Prayer Beads! However, despite the simplicity of the matter, it was extremely difficult for Aiden. That was because he couldn''t move at all! He could not even manage a simple act such as shifting his hand towards his storage bag, let alone move towards the Demon Revealing Mirrors above the walls. This was a doomed situation! No matter how much of a monster incarnate Aiden was, there was also a time where his strength was limited. The martial artists in the ancient city did not have to attack him at all C all they had to do was wait for time to pass and they could exhaust him to death! That was the main point that Crystal Pce Sect''s Guardian noticed as well. "Fufufufu!" A cruel glint passed through the eyes of Crystal Pce Sect''s Guardian as he remarked sinisterly, "Little b*stard, I''ll wait here and watch you die from the suppression!" Aiden chuckled and replied coldly with a fierce gaze, "Old dog, I''ll make sure I take your life before I die!" "Sure, let''s see whosts till the end!" Crystal Pce Sect''s Guardian nodded and sneered. "Roar!" Suddenly, an earthshaking dragon''s roar sounded from outside the ancient city with a shuddering impact! Instantly, a wild wind gusted, and sand flew into a storm! When he heard that roar, Aiden''s heart skipped a beat as his eyes widened with disbelief. "Spirit tiger?" There was nothing special about the tiger roar in the ears of ordinary martial artists. However, Aiden undertook demonic cultivation and had spent a lot of time with the spirit tiger previously C naturally, he could tell the difference. He had once imparted the Void Thunder Manual to the spirit tiger. That was the reason why there was a tough electric element to the tiger roar and it was bright and resounding! Of course, the most obvious portion was the ending of the roar where it had a coquettish note C Aiden did not know when it got into the habit of doing that. Back in Ethereal Peak, each time Aiden heard the spirit tiger make that dirty sound, he wanted to send thetter flying with a kick! "Elder Hon, a beast stampede is attacking us!" A Crystal Pce Sect martial artist yelled. Thud! Thud! Thud! The ground shook violently. Although he was inside the ancient city, Aiden could feel everything clearly. "Ah!" Rearing his head, he could not help but howl into the air emotionally. Chapter 1035 1035 - Realization ? Aiden''s roar reverberated through the world and prated metal and stone. "Roar!" The tiger roar sounded once more with a hint of excitement mixed in. The two roars harmonized with one another in midair! "Gagagaga!" A wildughter echoed from outside the ancient city and was piercing like the shing of metal! When he heard thatughter, a tall figure with long limbs covered in its own feces appeared in Aiden''s mind and he couldn''t but help but chuckle. Monkey! Spirit tiger! They were both alive! Both of them were here! Aiden was ted. Ever since what happened in the Ancient Burial Grounds and Aiden was hunted down by countless forces, he had to use Blood Escape to flee thousands of kilometers away. With his status unknown, his two newly met partners in crime, the spiritual creatures were left practically missing in action. Ever since then, he had not heard anything from them. The thought of searching for them came across Aiden''s mind as well. However, without any clue, trying to find two demon beasts in this vast world was more difficult than searching for a pin in a haystack. To think that the three of them would reunite in this intermediate ancient battlefield! East. Dust billowed. Countless demon beasts charged over with thundering gallops C the ground shook wildly due to their frightening might! Most of the demon beasts sprinted on the ground with dust flying around them. With their feet on the ground, they could make use of even more power to dodge. Some ferocious birds tore through the skies with piercing screeches! "Defend the city with all our might! We can ignore Aiden first, there''s no way he can escape!" The Crystal Pce Sect''s Guardian, Elder Hon, had a calm expression as he ryed the order swiftly. With the Crystal Pce Sect martial artists leading the way, many martial artists in the ancient city rushed towards the East wall. At that moment, nobody could retreat nor did they dare to! It was night at the moment and if the ancient city''s defense was breached by the beast stampede, everyone would die! Spirit light filled the skies. Countless flying swords shot down towards the city wall. Spirit arts descended with a nketing might! Although Aiden was rooted to the center of the ancient city and could not see what was going on outside, the situation outside was bloody, and more than half the skies were already dyed red with blood! It was clear evidence of how tragic the battle was! The cries and roars of demon beasts sounded repeatedly. The city wall was cramped with martial artists. For martial artists in the ancient city, all they had to do was rely on their terrain advantage and the unyielding defense of the ancient city. By releasing their flying swords, spirit weapons, and arts with those factors, they could deal the most damage to the beast stampede! On the ground, any demon beast that was severely injured would be drowned by the pushing beast stampede. More and more demon beasts fell! However, the beast stampede had no intention of backing off! That was because, at the front of the beast stampede, there were two demon beasts with frightening auras leading the way, charging towards the ancient city with murderous intent! So many years had passed. The spirit tiger had turned stronger and its aura was malevolent. Every single swipe of its ws produced a lightning sh and it was extremely shuddering! Spirit arts and flying swords descended but most of them were pped away by the spirit tiger with brute force! After training the Void Splitting Manual, it went through aplete transformation as well! The sharpness of its fangs and ws could even repel perfect spirit weapons! However, there were way too many spirit arts and flying swords in midair that rained down; even the spirit tiger could not avoid sustaining some injuries on its bodypletely. Thankfully, none of those injuries were lethal. Instead, those injuries enraged the spirit tiger further as it howled furiously and gained a burst in speed! On the other hand, monkey kicked off from its toes and relied on its nimble movement techniques to dodge rapidly in the rain of swords and spirit arts. Although it was silent, the scarlet glint in monkey''s eyes intensified! The fact that the spirit tiger and monkey charged at the front and opened up a path of blood was the reason why the beast stampede at the back did not disperse and charged at the ancient city swiftly! It was a path of blood that was made up of corpses and bones! Elder Hon stood in the air and looked down at the dense beast stampede with a cold expression. "A bunch of beasts that don''t know what''s good for them. Kill them all!" Crystal Pce Sect has sent more than two thousand Martial Masters this time round. Although hundreds of them died in the battle earlier on, there were still more than a thousand Crystal Pce Sect martial artists. Coupled with the other martial artists in the city, there were close to 10,000 people. Alongside the terrain advantage, there was no way the beast stampede could break through the ancient city''s defense! The beast stampede was bound to eventual retreat given the unfavorable circumstances! As time passed by, instead of diminishing, the roars outside the ancient city sounded closer! In fact, it was already approaching the ancient city! "Hmm?" Elder Hon''s expression changed slightly as he gazed down at the battlefield in the East. Beneath the ancient city, corpses were strewn and there were rivers of blood. Although the beast stampede managed to push its way towards the ancient city, that short distance of a few thousand feet was filled with the carcasses and flesh of demon beasts. It was grisly and shuddering with a blood stench that resembled the purgatory! The beast stampede had lost more than half of its numbers! "Something isn''t right!" Elder Hon frowned and murmured, "Has the Demon King leading them gone mad? It''s insisting on attacking the city despite the heavy losses?" Normally speaking, before half of the beast stampede was killed, the Demon King would be able to notice the situation and order for a retreat so that they could retain their strength to bide for a better opportunity. But now, the two Demon Kings leading the charge seemed to have lost their minds as they ordered the remaining beast stampede to attack the ancient city relentlessly! Beneath the ancient city, there were already mountains of corpses. Be it on the side of the martial artists or the remaining demon beasts, both parties were immersed in killing. The demon beasts trampled on the carcasses of theirrades and charged up the city walls with all their might! The martial artists on the city walls defended with their full strength as well. If the demon beasts managed to charge up the wall, countless martial artists would die. That was because apart from Crystal Pce Sect martial artists, there were not many people who could engage demon beasts in meleebat. The two Demon Kings were filled with injuries but they continued charging up the wall fervently with bloodshot eyes, intent on scaling it. Each time they were pushed down, they charged back up! Even Elder Hon felt a sense of trepidation at the sight of that frightening determination, let alone the martial artists on the wall. "What is pushing those demon beasts?" Elder Hon could not figure out C it was as though there was a treasure in the ancient city that the demon beasts were bent on getting their hands on! "Hold on!" A spark shed through Elder Hon''s mind. He spun around furiously and red at the gray-robed martial artist in the middle of the city. At that moment, the gray-robed martial artist''s expression was so dark that it was scary. His features were menacing and veins popped from his neck. The killing intent in his eyes was almost corporeal and could spew out! "It''s him!" "Those demon beasts are here to save him!" Elder Hon was enlightened! At the same time, he sensed a chilling intent creeping up his back, causing his hairs to stand on end and his scalp to prickle. Initially, there was no way Aiden could break free from the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation. This was a doomed situation! But now, a variable has appeared in the situation. Finally, a hint of panic shed through Elder Hon''s eyes. "Nothing must happen to the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation! If the formation is destroyed, who can stop Aiden when he breaks free? At that time, when the beast stampede breaches the city, everyone inside will" Chapter 1036 1036 - Fighting to the End

Chapter 1036 Chapter 1036 - Fighting to the End

Elder Hon''s reaction was swift as he spun around and bellowed to the martial artists on the wall, "Defend the Demon Revealing Mirrors with all your might! Don''t let the beasts get their hands on it!" The Crystal Pce Sect martial artists obeyed his orders and dashed towards the Demon Revealing Mirrors. That sudden shift caused chaos to break out from the group. Inevitably, an opening was revealed in the defenses on the wall! Boom! A gigantic, thick arm filled with ck fur reached up from below and pped heavily against the wall! An aura rumbled! There were at least four martial artists who did not manage to dodge and were smashed into sludge by the gigantic palm, causing blood to stter all over the wall. Instantly, a pitch-ck figure pulled up from the gigantic palm and arrived at the top of the wall! It was a monkey-like humanoid figure that was filled with long fur. It bared its fangs at the martial artists with bloodshot eyes, pounding its arms furiously against its chest. It was as though a divine being was beating the heavenly drums with a shocking aura! When they heard that, the demon beasts beneath the city wall became even more excited and charged continuously toward the top of the city wall with the monkey. "Roar!" There was a deafening tiger roar. After the monkey breached the wall''s defenses, the pressure on the spirit tiger decreased significantly and it charged up the wall as well. Diving right into the crowd, it swiped with its sharp ws and bared its menacing fangs! The crowd was in chaos. Martial artists who could enter the ancient battlefield were mostly capable elites of their sects and factions. However, it was the same for demon beasts as well! In that distance, most martial artists were no match for demon beasts. Monkey charged into the crowd and despite being barehanded, nobody could stand in his path C everyone in his way was overwhelmed! Both monkey and the spirit tiger were covered with injuries. However, they continued charging ahead fervently, as though they could not feel any pain! Aiden watched from the center of the ancient city silently with a dark gaze. However, the slight trembling of his body was a clear sign of his inner emotions. "Over there, I see him!" The spirit tiger carved out a bloodied path and caught sight of Aiden who was in the center of the city. Shrugging its head and tail, the spirit tiger wanted to charge down and rescue Aiden right away. Elder Hon''s lips curled. He was not worried about these demon beasts charging over. Any demon beast that entered the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation would be killed, no matter how many of them there were! "Don''t go!" Monkey growled deeply. The spirit tiger paused in its tracks with a confused expression. Turning around, the monkey red at the Demon Revealing Mirror that was protected by a dense crowd with a shimmering gaze. Prior to this, he had heard someone in the city yelling for the Demon Revealing Mirror to be protected! Furthermore, the monkey could clearly tell that the columns of light emanating from the Demon Revealing Mirrors on the four walls were the reason why Aiden was rendered immobile in the center of the city. Those four Demon Revealing Mirrors were the key! "Boss, it''s too difficult!" The spirit tiger could also tell what the monkey intended to do and curled its lips, murmuring. The more than a thousand martial artists from Crystal Pce Sect had already abandoned the defense of the city wallpletely and had gathered around the Demon Revealing Mirror instead. If they wanted to get their hands on the Demon Revealing Mirror, they would have to get through the defenses of the Crystal Pce Sect martial artists first! Every single Crystal Pce Sect martial artist was strong physically with immense strength that could match demon beasts barehanded. Because the city wall was much longer, their strength had to be divided and it was inevitable that there would be weaker spots in the defense. However, it was much simpler defending a single Demon Revealing Mirror! It was impossible to bypass all the Crystal Pce Sect martial artists! "Kill!" Pointing forward, the monkey roared and the blood energy in his body surged. Without hesitation, he dashed towards the Demon Revealing Mirror in huge strides! Even if the whole Crystal Pce Sect was ahead of him, the monkey was going to run them over! "Kill! Kill! Kill!" Many Crystal Pce Sect martial artists hollered and attacked at the same time. Flying swords tore through the air. Ignoring them, the monkey''s speed did not dip at all as it swerved to avoid lethal damage while extending its gigantic palm to throw out a vicious p! Poof! Poof! Poof! Instantly, a few more wounds appeared on the monkey''s body. One of the wounds was so deep that it even revealed his white bones! However, the monkey merely frowned and the ferocity in its eyes intensified. Exerting strength in its palm, it sent a few Crystal Pce Sect martial artists in its way flying! Crack! Crack! Crack! The sound of bones cracking could be heard while the Crystal Pce Sect martial artists were in midair. The full-powered attack of the monkey was something that even Crystal Pce Sect martial artists could not withstand with their bodies! It was way too ferocious! Charging the entire way, the monkey did not care about itself at all and was fighting with its life! Even if it was injured, it was bent on fighting the Crystal Pce Sect martial artists to the end! Although the Crystal Pce Sect martial artists were elites of their sects that had been through countless life-and-death bouts, none of them had witnessed such cruel and bloodthirsty methods! Monkey''s eyes were already stained red with blood! Under the night skies, he bore a pair of bloodied eyes! It was even brighter than the stars in the skies! Nobody dared to meet his gaze! A bloodied gaze was born! A power deep within the bloodline of monkey was silently awakened! Berserk! It was a power that was unique to the ancient monkey race, the Sanguine Ape! "Roar!" Monkey reared its head and howled into the skies,pletely immersed in its berserk state! It no longer had logic or reason. The only thing in its mind was the thought of killing! The true terror of the berserk state was that the monkey''s strength and speed would increase and it would not sense any pain at all! The only thing that could stop it from its killing spree was an extremely severe injury! In fact, it could not even remember the spirit tiger! Anything that stood in its path was killed, killed, and killed! Monkey swung its thick arm and swept through the crowd like a heavenly-piercing pir. All the martial artists in front of it were mmed away with broken bones and tendons! Its gigantic fist resembled a pitch-ck seal! With each punch, the city wall would tremble once! The spirit tiger followed closely behind, killing with its full might as well. The lightning in its ws had already faded and turned gradually weaker. In fact, there were countless cuts in its ws that were inflicted by the spirit weapons and they could snap at any moment, no longer as sharp as before. However, it was still trying its best to kill. Even without its ws, it would use its fangs to chomp! Even if its fangs were shattered, it would use its head and body to ram ahead! "Insane!" "These two beasts have gone insane!" The martial artists were shivering in fear. Most martial artists in the ancient city had fought against demon beasts in the past in one way or another. However, none of them, including Elder Hon who was almost a thousand years old, had ever seen demon beasts fighting to the extent that they were no longer concerned about their own life and deaths! On the southern wall of the ancient city, a yellow-haired burly man was initially contemting an escape from the city. However, when he saw what happened, he felt a shock that resonated deep in his heart and gripped his fist subconsciously. It was the feeling of blood boiling! In fact, he wanted to rush forward and help the monkey and spirit tiger! However, he calmed down swiftly and had to remind himself constantly. ''Do not be reckless, do not be reckless!'' On the other side, a fiery-red fox that was hidden in a corner watched everything with a nervous expression. From time to time, her gaze would shift towards the Demon Revealing Mirror which was guarded by dozens of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists. The little fox was biding her time for an opportunity. Her target was the Demon Revealing Mirror on the southern wall! Although there were only dozens of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists guarding, it was more difficult than ascending the heavens for the little fox to break through their defenses and get her hands on the Demon Revealing Mirror! She had never exchanged blows with humans before. At that moment, her heart was filled with fear. However, she knew that she had to stand forth! Chapter 1037 1037 - Fighting till the end

Chapter 1037 Chapter 1037 - Fighting till the end

The killing on the east wall was still ongoing. Monkey''s bloodshot eyes widened, resembling two sinister rednterns in the dark night. Wherever thenterns passed, a blood storm would rise! Snap! The sound of bones cracking could be heard. A Crystal Pce Sect Martial Master seized advantage of the chaos to close in, waving his fist to pummel monkey''s kneecap fiercely. The kneecap turned into a bloodied mess of flesh and blood and the bones were shattered on the spot! Although the monkey was in a berserk state and could not feel any pain, the severe injury on his left kneecap caused him to almost fall from ack of bnce! That brief dy in his movement technique caused a few iing flying des from the air to shoot right into the monkey''s tall figure. Poof! Poof! Poof! Arrows of blood sttered. Instantly, a few bloodied holes appeared on the monkey''s body. One of them prated his chest and was right beside its heart C a slight difference would have ended its life there and then! Filled with injuries all over, the monkey''s body was drenched in blood as it panted heavily. Every single pant would cause blood to spurt out of its nose and mouth C it was a shuddering sight! Gradually, the monkey''s footsteps came to a stop. It was truly tired. If not for the berserk power that was triggered from the depths of its bloodline, it would have copsed a long time ago. The blood glint in the monkey''s eyes faded gradually. The berserk power was vanishing from its body! What reced it was throbbing pain from every part of its body that intensified by the moment. Apart from physical weakness, therge amount of blood lost also caused the monkey to experience bouts of dizziness and blurred consciousness C even its vision was fluttering. Monkey shrugged its head. Blood spurted out of its mouth and nose. The Demon Revealing Mirror was not far ahead. There were only two rows of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists before him. Right now, the monkey was fully exhausted. However, it was indignant! Although the blood light in the monkey''s eyes dimmed, their ferocity was not reduced as it red furiously with clenched teeth at the Demon Revealing Mirror that was not far ahead! The martial artists on the opposite end did not dare to advance recklessly after meeting with the monkey''s gaze. Two Crystal Pce Sect martial artists stood out andposed themselves. With a shout, they summoned their flying des once again and thrust toward the monkey''s head! The two flying des shone with five spirit lights. Two perfect spirit weapons! All the martial artists who managed to survive up till this point were the strongest elites of their respective sects and factions. As such, it was only natural that their weapons were special. Monkey wanted to dodge when it caught sight of the two iing flying des, however, its body felt iparably sluggish and would not obey its mind! If it was struck by the two flying des, the monkey would definitely die even if it had 10 lives! All of a sudden! A dark shadow bolted over from the side and sent one of the swords flying. The other flying de stabbed into the shadow. The ck shadow fell to the ground weakly with a grisly hole that spewed blood in its abdomen! It was the spirit tiger! At thest moment, the spirit tiger rushed over to save the monkey. To begin with, the spirit tiger was already exhausted. Now that its abdomen was pierced by the flying de, it no longer had the strength to get up and could only lie on the ground and whimper with dimmed eyes. Aiden''s gaze was cold as he gripped his fists so tightly that his knuckles went white. Unknowingly, sharp curved ebony ws had protruded and stabbed into his flesh but he did not realize it at all! "Roar!" When the monkey saw that, it was first stunned. Immediately after, its massive body convulsed in a seemingly spastic manner as it roared to the front! Ta! Ta! Ta! Dragging its battered body, the monkey used the final bits of its strength and took three consecutive strides towards the two rows of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists at the front! "Crystal Divine Light!" One of the Crystal Pce Sect Martial Masters harrumphed and released the legacy phenomenon of Crystal Pce Sect towards the monkey. Ssh! The power of phenomenon surged and Crystal Divine Light shone brightly! Streaks of rainbow light shone behind the Crystal Pce Sect martial artist one after another! Some of the demon beasts nearby were enveloped by the rainbow lights and their flesh crystallized immediately, cold as ice without any life in them. A single touch would turn them into ice blocks to shatter onto the ground. Monkey had a menacing expression and charged toward the Crystal Divine Light with no intention of stopping. It reached out for the Crystal Pce Sect martial artist with its massive palm! "You must have a death wish!" The person sneered and snarled. Given the might of Crystal Divine Light, there was no way the monkey''s arm coulde into contact with him C even the bloodline of a pure-blooded ferocious beast would be turned into powder by Crystal Divine Light! Crack! Crack! Crack! True enough. Monkey''s arm was instantly covered by ayer of rainbow crystal upon reaching into Crystal Divine Light. Its fur fell off and its flesh was revealed! In the blink of an eye, even the flesh on its arm was covered by ayer of rainbow crystal! Once the power of the phenomenon seeped into the arm''s flesh, blood, and bones, the monkey''s arm would be as good as gone! However, the monkey''s arm had already reached the throat of the Crystal Pce Sect martial artist before it was fully prated by Crystal Divine Light! "How is that possible?" The Crystal Pce Sect martial artist''s eyes widened with disbelief. There was only a single exnation. Monkey''s bloodline was even stronger and more frightening than a pure-blooded ferocious beast''s bloodline! It managed to defend against the pration of Crystal Divine Light for the time being! At that moment, as long as the monkey exerted some strength on its fingers, it could kill the Crystal Pce Sect martial artist right away! However, the monkey did not do that. Gripping the person''s throat, it made aim and tossed the person viciously towards the Demon Revealing Mirror that was not far away! The Crystal Pce Sect martial artist''s head spun from the toss and he could not control his figure at all, maintaining his Martial Master phenomenon subconsciously as he flew through the crowd. A few martial artists who did not manage to dodge in time were crystallized by Crystal Divine Light and smashed into powder! Of the remaining martial artists, nobody could release Martial Master phenomenons to defend against this person. Boom! The person smashed heavily into the Demon Revealing Mirror. ng! The Demon Revealing Mirror rolled and fell from the city wall! There were initially four columns of light from the four city walls. But now that one of the Demon Revealing Mirrors was sent flying, there was one less column of light! The pressure on Aiden''s body diminished by a fraction. However, the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation was notpletely dispelled yet! He could only break free if there were at least three Demon Revealing Mirrors that were moved! On the city wall, the monkey heaved a deep breath of air when it saw the Demon Revealing Mirror fall over. Its eyes dimmed and it could no longer hold on. With a thud, the monkey''s massive body fell weakly onto the city wall, causing blood to ssh and dust to billow. nting its head, the monkey gazed at Aiden in the center of the city and tried its best to shift its chaffed lips and smile, the same way it did back in Iron Mountain Range. Ayer of mist filled Aiden''s eyes. In mid-air, Elder Hon''s palpitating heart calmed down as well. The fall of a single Demon Revealing Mirror did not have much impact on the current situation. Furthermore, the two Demon Kings were already exhausted and could be killed at any moment. The remaining demon beasts were of no threat either. "Everyone, heed my orders! Abandon the East city wall and guard the other three walls with all your strength! Protect the other three Demon Revealing Mirrors!" Before Elder Hon''s words were finished, something happened on the Southern city wall! Chapter 1038 - Cant be imprisoned forever 1038 Chapter 1038 - Can''t be imprisoned forever The most intense conflicts on the battlefield happened at the East side. There were only dozens of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists above the South city wall guarding the Demon Revealing Mirror. At that moment, the dozens of martial artists were drawn to themotion on the East side. Suddenly, from a corner of the South city wall, a streak of red light burst out and bolted towards the Demon Revealing Mirror not far away! The streak of red light was tiny and maneuvered through the legs of many Crystal Pce Sect martial artists at an extremely fast speed like a wisp of smoke! "Hmm?" "What''s that?!" Dozens of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists were momentarily stunned before they reacted to it and shouted. The red streak of light was the little fox. Aiden was both surprised and delighted when he saw that the little fox was fine. However, the next moment, when he realized what the little fox was up to, he found himself on edge once again. The moment of the fall of the Demon Revealing Mirror on the East city wall was the moment when the martial artists felt the most rxed. Bolstering her courage, the little fox clenched her teeth and dashed towards the Demon Revealing Mirror! However, everyone realized by the time she passed by a few figures. Right as she was in the midst of sprinting with her full might, she felt her body lifting into the air, pulled by the tail. Someone yanked her from behind! "Ah!" The little fox whimpered and she was lifted with ease. Because she was scurrying too quickly, there was a ripping pain beneath her body when she was pulled up by the tail. Coupled with the fear deep within her heart, the little fox''s body could not help but tremble. "Fufu, it''s a fox." "We can''t kill this fox." "I heard that after taking on human form, those of the fox race are fairy-like beauties. With perfect figures and an innate charm, they are the best at pampering their masters." "Pfft! That sounds great!" A group of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists circled around the little fox and snickered lustfully. With an embarrassed and furious expression, the little fox clenched her tiny paws and swayed her tail gently. Instantly, a fragrant aroma emanated from her lower body and spread. The first to be struck was the martial artist grabbing the little fox''s tail. The Crystal Pce Sect martial artist was dazed with a gaping mouth, drooling in his imaginations. He relented his grip and the little fox broke free! When the surrounding martial artists caught scent of that fragrance, all of them froze on the spot with intoxicated gazes, as though they had lost their souls. That bewitching aroma was a means unique to the fox race. People who were kind and open by nature would not be hurt by the aroma. On the contrary, it would be a boon for their cultivation and would help boost their physical and mental health. People who were evil and lustful would be mesmerized by the fragrance and even lose themselvespletely, allowing them to be manipted by the foxes! The little fox scurried past dozens of martial artists and sprinted towards the Demon Revealing Mirror with her full might! She had to be fast! Given the strength of the Crystal Pce Sect martial artists, it won''t be long before they snapped out of their stupor. By the time they realized what was going on, she would not have any chance left! The Demon Revealing Mirror was right in front of her. Suddenly, a pair of boots appeared right before the little fox! A dark shadow dawned down. Before she could react, she felt her breathing choke C her throat was gripped by a thick arm! A Crystal Pce Sect martial artist gripped the little fox''s throat with his arm and whisked her up, smirking with a cold, mocking expression. He was called John Howl, the leader of the dozens of martial artists and also the strongest among them. He stood right in front of the Demon Revealing Mirror and had never left it. As such, he was naturally not affected by her attack. "Hehehehe!" John Howl red at the little fox and sneered in ridicule, "Little thing, you think you''re strong enough to create trouble?" The little fox struggled with her petite body. However, John Howl''s palm was like an iron grip that she could not break free from! All of a sudden! The little fox''s figure shuddered and right in front of John Howl, she transformed into a youngdy in her prime. The youngdy wore a red, thinly veiled dress that entuated her curvy figure. Most of her long legs were revealed in a barely visible manner. John Howl shuddered and lust surged in his lower body. He turned to look at the youngdy''s face. She was truly befitting of the word ''peerless''. Even the most beautiful descriptions in this world would do injustice to the features of this youngdy. Her beautiful eyes were clear as water and seemed like they could draw out one''s soul. The youngdy''s expression seemed like she was grumbling and her eyes were deep. With a straight nose and slightly agape cherry lips that revealed her pearly whites, she emanated a faint fragrance. Instantly, John Howl''s mind went nk with a bang. His grip relented instinctively. The martial artists who were rushing over from other ces to give reinforcement paused in their tracks instinctively when they caught sight of the youngdy''s features. It was apanied by a ngingmotion. The weapons in their hands were falling one after another! This was what it meant to topple nations and cities. The little fox broke free from John Howl''s hand and ran towards the Demon Revealing Mirror that was not far away. She had barely taken a few steps when she heard a deep growl behind her! Like a wild beast, John Howl lunged toward the little fox with bloodshot eyes. He panted heavily as he gripped the little fox''s throat tightly, shouting, "Demoness! Don''t dream of bewitching me!" The little fox could not catch her breath and her legs yed wildly. However, her arms were still fervently trying to reach the Demon Revealing Mirror that was close by. ''Even if I have to use all my strength, I have to knock the Demon Revealing Mirror over!'' That was the only thought in the little fox''s mind. When he saw that, Aiden clenched his teeth tightly and circted his blood energy to its limit. His eyes were bloodshot as he let out a shuddering roar from the depths of his throat! Not far away on the city wall, a yellow-haired burly man had half a foot out and was prepared to seize the chaos and escape. However, he froze when he saw that. For some reason, he felt his blood boiling! "Bloody hell, damn it! I''m going for it!" The yellow-haired burly man took back his feet and roared, lunging towards John Howl at the side. In mid-air, his figure transformed into a mighty Golden Lion with outstretched ws and a widened mouth baring its fangs. John Howl''s mental state was inplete chaos right now. In reality, he had beenpletely bewitched by the little fox. However, the secret skills he had trained such as the Crystal Technique were reminding him constantly that something was amiss! The two conflicting thoughts shed in his mind, resulting in the current situation. He did not even notice the Golden Lion lunging in. "Pfft!" The Golden Lion chomped down on John Howl''s head, crunching it before devouring it! At the same time, the dozens of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists at the side stirred awake and rushed over. "I''ll hold them back, hurry and leave!" The Golden Lion did not have time to look at the little fox and merely left thatment before rushing towards the dozens of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists. The little fox struggled to get up and sprinted to the Demon Revealing Mirror before she could even catch her breath. She reached for the corner of the Demon Revealing Mirror and shoved it with all her might! ng! The Demon Revealing Mirror was knocked over. Yet another column of light vanished from Aiden. Instantly, it seemed as though the world had gone silent. The air went stale. The ancient city was filled with a murderous intent! An extremely frightening aura was being released gradually from the center of the ancient city. It was as though an extremely terrifying existence was being awakened! Chapter 1039 - One more down 1039 Chapter 1039 - One more down The shuddering aura emanated from the center of the ancient city and permeated to every single corner, shrouding over every martial artist! On the South city wall, many martial artists were about to charge up to kill the spirit tiger and monkey. However, they paused in their tracks all of a sudden. On the East city wall, the youngdy transformed from the little fox panted slightly. The Golden Lion''s massive figure fell to the corner of the wall, coughing out huge mouthfuls of blood with a tuckered expression. Although it was a pure-blooded ferocious beast, it could not withstand thebined force of dozens of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists C it was severely injured the moment they shed! However, the dozens of martial artists did not continue in their pursuit. Every single martial artist in the ancient city felt a chill down to their bones and turned around instinctively. Nobody knew what would happen after two Demon Revealing Mirrors were knocked over. All the martial artists wanted to know if the remaining two Demon Revealing Mirrors could support the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation and continue locking the monster incarnate where he was! Even the heartbeat of the Guardian, Elder Hon, in midair skipped a beat. At that moment, it seemed as though time had frozen. One breath. Two breaths Aiden was still motionless where he was. Although there were two Demon Revealing Mirrors missing, the runes of the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation were still present and hovered above Aiden''s head with a firm lock! Elder Hon was the first to react as he yelled, "Everyone, don''t panic! The runes of the formation are still present and that beast can''t break free! The rest of you, head over to guard the Demon Revealing Mirrors on the West and North city walls!" "Nothing must happen to the two Demon Revealing Mirrors!" Elder Hon bolted toward the West city wall as he spoke. "HAHAHAHA!" Suddenly, Aidenughed from the middle of the formation in the ancient city in an unsettling manner. Elder Hon was not wrong. Aiden was still unable to break free after two Demon Revealing Mirrors were knocked over. However, it was also logical that the strength of the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation would diminish after two columns of light were gone. With the diminished strength of the formation, another power within Aiden''s body had already been unsealed! Turning around, Aiden red at the back of Elder Hon coldly. Elder Hon who was in midair suddenly frowned. He could vaguely sense that someone was ring at him from the back; it was like a piercing light. Immediately after, he felt an extreme sense of danger surging from the depths of his heart! It was an extremely ufortable feeling. Elder Hon turned around. Immediately, his eyes widened with fear in them, as though he had just witnessed an iparably horrifying scene! In the middle of the ancient city, a white light was bouncing in Aiden''s right eye, intensifying and turning brighter! "Visual technique?" Elder Hon could not react from his stupor in time. A bedazzling beam of light shot forth from Aiden''s right eye, illuminating the entire world like day as though it was a zing sun! Draconic Eye! The first power to break free after two Demon Revealing Mirrors were knocked over was the Draconic Eye! Draconic Eye was trained through gazing at the zing sun day and night. In reality, it had already transcended beyond the power of Inner Core and was almost on the same level as the Heaven and Earth powers. In other words, the power of Draconic Eye was a type of Divine power! Boom! An iparably brilliant beam of light shot forth and prated the void, almost crossing half the ancient city as it pierced Elder Hon''s abdomen! The world seemed to have gone still. Instantly, the darkness in the ancient city was purged away by the beam of light. A gigantic hollow wound appeared on Elder Hon''s abdomen and his body was almost snapped. In fact, there was no trace of blood around the wound C everything was scorched into ash by the power of the Draconic Eye and it was terrifying! The beam of light did not strike Elder Hon at his vitals. However, all life had been wiped away from Elder Hon at that moment. Draconic Eye had already burned away every single bit of life in his organs! In reality, that body was already a corpse at that moment! The only reason why he did not fall immediately was the presence of his Essence Spirit. Unfortunately, he was almost at the end of his lifespan to begin with and his Essence Spirit was extremely weak. Even if it could break free from the shell of his body, it would notst for more than three breaths! The murderous intent that shrouded the ancient city alone was more than enough to destroy his extremely fragile Essence Spirit! Elder Hon''s dimmed and he no longer had any hopes left. His death was certain and he did not have any regrets. His true concern was that the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation was most likely unable to hold down the monster incarnate any longer! The true target of the visual technique was not him, but the Demon Revealing Mirror on the West city wall behind him! The beam of light prated his body and struck the West city wall. Five martial artists that were standing guard in front of the Demon Revealing Mirror were pierced by the beam of light instantly. One of them had a full half of his body cut off entirely. Another martial artist''s head was sliced in half! Boom! Eventually, the beam of light from Draconic Eye struck the Demon Revealing Mirror and knocked it onto the ground. Another column of light from the Demon Revealing Mirror disappeared from Aiden. Night loomed down once more. At the same time, a dark fog enveloped everyone''s minds. Although the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation was still present, the runes surrounding it had faded considerably. "All Crystal Pce Sect martial artists, listen up! Hurry and leave this ce, escape as far as you can!" Elder Hon exhausted the final bit of his strength and bellowed. Immediately after, Elder Hon''s be shone and a ck mountain peak the size of a thumb appeared in midair. Divine power fluctuated right after. The ck mountain peak expanded rapidly with the wind and nketed Aiden''s head with arge shadow before crushing down! Elder Hon knew that he was dead for sure and this was the final thing he could do. It would be for the best if he could kill Aiden on the spot. If not, he would still make his death worthwhile if he could buy enough time for the remaining Crystal Pce Sect martial artists to escape. "Ah!" The moment he knew that the monkey and the spirit tiger had attacked the city, Aiden was already fuming with rage. Now that three Demon Revealing Mirrors had been knocked off and the pressure on him was relieved considerably, he could not help but rear his head and release a deafening roar filled with killing intent! The final Demon Revealing Mirror that was remaining and the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation could no longer seal his Inner Core! Aiden''s eyes shone brightly, dark as ink, and his ck hair swayed in the air. Blood energy surged in his body while his Inner Core circted wildly, releasing scarlet demonic energy around him C his body was expanding at a rapid pace! Crackle! Pang! Pang! Pang! Aiden''s tendons and bones sounded at the same time as his flesh expanded. Right in front of everyone, that body that was around seven feet tall instantly grew to more than a hundred feet C he was like a towering ancient archdemon with torrential ferocity! Many martial artists on the city walls were already scared out of their wits. Right in front of them, the massive figure grew to a height that was even taller than the city walls! What happened was way too shocking! Like a demon king and divine being, that figure seemed like it could crush and destroy everything in its path! Chapter 1040 1040 - The Night Ends ? The flesh on that massive body expanded and green veins were exposed densely, slithering on the body like spirit snakes. The body shone with a metallic luster that was indestructible! There was ayer of runes shining over Aiden''s body still. Although three Demon Revealing Mirrors were knocked over, the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation was still present and had not beenpletely dispelled. The light barrier formed by the formation was still bound tightly onto Aiden''s body. However, the runes on the light barrier flickered as though they could be destroyed at any moment! With a menacing gaze, Aiden''s arms expanded and his entire body grew once again! Crack! Crack! Crack! The surrounding light barrier shattered instantly. The runes on it dimmedpletely. With a boom, the Omnidirectional Demon Suppression Formation exploded! Aiden broke free and the dark sinister energy in his body surged out, conjuring a series of ancient demonic beasts one after another around him! The martial artists in the ancient city were scared witless. Prior to this, Aiden had reminded them twice that this was a grudge between him and Crystal Pce Sect and that it had nothing to do with them. At that moment, all of them took Aiden as a joke. But now, everyone realized that the only shot they might have at survival was if they left at that moment! Bang! Boom! Boom! Arge shadow engulfed, covering the sky and the sun! The ck mountain peak released by Elder Hon at the end crushed down but Aiden did not dodge or avoid. Extending his arms, he growled deeply and his massive palms supported the base of the mountain peak! Boom! The mountain peak was extremely heavy since it contained the Divine powers of a Guardian after all. The moment he made contact with it, Aiden''s figure shrunk and the stone bs beneath his feet exploded, causing his legs to sink deeply into the ground! However, his knees did not buckle and his spine was still upright. Like a divine being, he lifted the ck mountain peak with his body! That was the final scene Elder Hon witnessed in this world. "Hais." He closed his eyes and sighed gently. He knew that the martial artists in the ancient city were mostly doomed. As for the Crystal Pce Sect martial artists, there was a high chance that they would all die here! A tear opened up silently behind Elder Hon, blowing with an evil wind in its darkness. The tear enveloped Elder Hon in a single motion before closing gradually. "Hurry, run!" Finally, some martial artists realized what was happening and fled into the distance. Aiden had a menacing gaze and smiled sinisterly. He threw the mountain peak in his hands towards the escaping crowd viciously! Boom! Half the West city wall was crushed with the descent of the mountain peak. Although Aiden could support the mountain peak, the other martial artists could not C even theirbined strength could not withstand the pressure of the mountain peak. In an instant, hundreds of martial artists were crushed into sludge! "Kill!" Aiden widened his shining eyes and his blood energy surged into the air, shrouding around him. Facing the escaping martial artists, he roared loudly! Almost at the same time. The seven ancient demon kings surrounding Aiden opened their mouths and released deafeningly scary howls! Poof! Poof! Poof! Many martial artists did not manage to escape far before they exploded from the shock of the howls and died on the spot! The number of demon beasts gushing into the city increased continuously. "Roar!" Looking at them, Aiden let out a deep growl. All the demon beasts understood him and chased after the martial artists from other factions and sects. None of the demon beasts dared to disobey Aiden''s orders! For demons, the rules of the jungle were absolute for them. Anyone who was strongest could dere themselves as king! At this moment, anyone that dared disobey Aiden was looking to die! Aiden ced the monkey, the spirit tiger, the little fox, and Golden Lion down in a corner and poured out all the elixirs in his storage bag. Monkey and the spirit tiger had the most severe injuries. However, the monkey''s bloodline was special, to begin with, and vital force was already recovering within its body by now. The spirit tiger underwent a transformation after training the Void Thunder Manual and also started recovering. The Golden Lion''s condition was fine and was in no danger of death. The three of them merely had to consume a few elixirs before recovering. As for the little fox, she was merely shocked, not injured. However, for some unknown reason, she reverted to her true form and looked at Aiden nervously with shifty eyes, seemingly embarrassed. After cating the four of them, Aiden did not linger and turned immediately. He strode with huge steps in that massive body and hunted down Crystal Pce Sect martial artists! The other martial artists in the ancient city could naturally be settled by the remaining beast stampede. Aiden was not bothered even if some of them slipped away. The only ones who were not allowed to leave were Crystal Pce Sect martial artists! Aiden had mentioned that he would make Crystal Pce Sect pay with blood for the millions of innocent living beings from the 13 cities of Yan Country that were killed. Furthermore, Crystal Pce Sect had to pay for the severe injuries of the monkey and the spirit tiger as well! It was truly way too difficult for anyone that hoped to leave this ce alive against Aiden''s pursuit. His body was massive and his burst power was shocking C he could catch up to anyone within a few steps with his huge strides. Additionally, he had trained in universal hearing and his five senses were frighteningly strong as well C nobody could avoid detection from him! Aiden chased after a small group of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists and his massive palm descended from the skies. He did not have to use any technique at all C this was aplete suppression of strength! He was overwhelming everything with brute force! Boom! When the palmnded on the ground, the ancient city shook, and dust billowed. By the time Aiden lifted his palm, there was a gigantic handprint on the ground with a dark shade of fresh blood seeping into every single corner of the soil. The small group of Crystal Pce Sect martial artists were all dead! Some martial artists who brushed past Aiden heaved secretly in relief to have escaped. Unexpectedly, the ancient demon kings surrounding Aiden burst forth! The Wild Bovine raised its horns, the Stone Bear pushed with its palms, the Anaconda coiled, the Sanguine Ape threw out seals with its fists and the Divine Steed rammed Every single move was a killing technique! None of those martial artists could withstand it at all. Aiden passed through the ancient city and nobody within a thousand feet radius around him was spared C he ughtered all living beings mercilessly like a walking human weapon! Even for Crystal Pce Sect martial artists who could release Martial Master phenomenons, nothing changed. There was a chance that a Martial Master phenomenon released by those of Xi Wuya or Ye Tiancheng''s level could defend against Aiden. For the remaining Crystal Pce Sect martial artists, their Martial Master phenomenons could deal with the martial artists of other sects and factions sufficiently. However, against Aiden, they were like weaklings that could not even take a single attack! A few punches and kicks were enough to shatter the phenomenons! The massacre continued. Gradually, the ancient city went silent. Aiden had already killed his way to the ins outside the ancient city. All Crystal Pce Sect martial artists, even if they had escaped thousands of kilometers away, had to die under him! The night gradually cleared as time passed by. By the time daybreak arrived, a green-colored figure appeared on the horizon with fluttering clothes. Standing in the air with dancing hair, he weed the return of the sunlight! Chapter 1041 1041 - Envy ? Overnight, the ancient city was destroyed. There were more than 2,000 Crystal Pce Sect martial artists with six Guardians included but none of them survived! Lysabel K stood squarely on the city wall, gazing at the derelict ancient city that was strewn with corpses and blood with a dazed expression. The ancient city was already upied entirely by demon beasts. She was the only martial artist still alive. If Aiden had not handed her over to the side of the monkey, spirit tiger, and the other demon beasts, she would have been ripped apart by the demon beasts a long time ago. Although it was only a short night, it felt like a long time to Lysabel K. She witnessed with her own eyes her sect mates being murdered mercilessly by someone. However, that person was her life-saving benefactor. She witnessed hundreds of thousands of martial artists buried here. She also witnessed a flourishing and relentless ancient city transform into ruins overnight! Lysabel K should feel hatred towards Aiden. After all, that man killed Southern Duel Sect martial artists personally and attracted a beast stampede to kill off more than half the martial artists in this ancient city. However, she could not bring herself to do that. It wasn''t only because Aiden had saved her previously. More than that, it was because, in the depths of her heart, it was difficult to distinguish between who was right and wrong. At that moment, that man returned, basking in sunlight. Monkey grinned and the spirit tiger yelled in joy. The Golden Lion reared its head and roared while the little fox clutched its tiny paws with an emotional look. During Lysabel K''s moment of silence, the man had already descended upon the city wall. Pursing her lips, Lysabel K headed forward and said with cupped fists, "Thank you for not killing me, Young Master. I''ll take my leave here." She had already sensed how out of ce she was with everything here. There was no way she could stay on. "Yes," Aiden replied, "Although it''s daytime now, there are still many dangers lurking in the ancient battlefield. If you''re not in a hurry, you can rest here for the time being and I''ll escort you to another gathering spot." What he meant by the time being was for the monkey, the spirit tiger, and the other demons to recover. Lysabel K shook her head. She truly did not know how she should get along with Aiden in the future. When he saw that, Aiden did not force her and said, "Take care along the way then." Lysabel K nodded and turned to leave. Not long after she left the ancient city, she could not help but turn back to gaze at the green-colored figure, saying, "It won''t be long before news of what happened here spreads to the rest of the ancient battlefield. You''ve got to take care as well." "Alright," A reply transmitted over from the ancient city. Sighing internally, Lysabel K let go of the slight reluctance in her heart and sped into the distance. On the city wall. Aiden swept his gaze across the monkey, the spirit tiger, little fox, and the Golden Lion. When he saw that they were recovering nicely, he finally smiled, unable to conceal the joy in his eyes. There was nothing more joyous than to reunite with old friends and acquaintances. There seemed to be endless things to say between Aiden, the monkey, and the spirit tiger and they could not stop conversing. "Aiden!" Ignoring its injury, the monkey strode over and extended its fist, thumping heavily on Aiden''s chest. Dong! Aiden did not dodge and took the blow. The man and monkey looked at one another and smiled. It was as though at that moment, they had gone back in time and returned to the days when they fought side by side in Iron Mountain Range. Golden Lion looked on and felt envy at their chemistry and rtionship. After witnessing the terror of Aiden''s strength, it wanted to get to know him as well. However, at the end of the day, it had only known Aiden for a couple of days. Previously, it was even just a mount for Aiden and there was naturally no way it couldpete against the status of the monkey and the spirit tiger. The spirit tiger walked over and shrugged its head, chuckling. "After forming his Inner Core, the first word that Boss said in themon tongue was your name." Aiden felt warmth in his heart. Previously, be it monkey or the spirit tiger, neither of them formed an Inner Core and could not speak in the human tongue. Their interactions were mostly a series of shouts. To think that the first word the monkey said would be his name. They had not seen each other for more than 20 years. Monkey had changed a lot. The only thing that remained the same was its feral nature, the pride in its eyes, and its feelings towards Aiden! The spirit tiger said smugly, "After we could take on human form, we gave ourselves names so that it would be more convenient for us to roam the world." Monkey pouted its lips in disdain. The spirit tiger perked up and took a deep breath before speaking as though it was dering something of paramount importance, "My name is Little Dragon!" "Pfft!" The little fox could not help but blurt outughing. Aiden could barely hold it in as well. The moment the spirit tiger saw that, it was worked up. "What are you guysughing about? What''s bad about that name?!" "Shameless," Monkey snorted and remarked ruthlessly. The spirit tiger''s eyes widened and it raised its chin, arguing with a flushed face, "What''s so shameless about it? It''s such a great name that''s rare in the world and absolutely dominating!" Aidenughed. "The name is crude and gaudy, but I guess it''s quite matching with your character." "All of you guys are jealous!" The spirit tiger''s face darkened as it clenched its teeth in a huff, trembling from head to toe such that its wounds reopened. "What about you? You didn''t get yourself a name?" Aiden turned towards the monkey. Pouting, the monkey''s eyes were filled with disdain as it raised its head. "I''m me, I don''t require a name! I''m going to be the strongest monkey demon in this world from this day forth! The moment anyone mentions a monkey demon, I''ll be the first toe to mind!" Aiden nodded. That was the true meaning of domineering! Monkey''s ambitions had never been small. Back in the Iron Mountain Range, it was already bent on being the demon king of the mountain range! Eventually, it was proven that monkey indeed had the capabilities. Its bloodline was extremely unusual! Aiden witnessed how monkey entered a berserk state on the city wall. This secret skill of triggering one''s power of bloodline was definitely a legacy of an extremely powerful and rare race! Suddenly, something else came to Aiden''s mind. In the world, apart from him who knew about the unique and ancient technique from the old man in the Ancient One''s Temple, the monkey also knew about one of its sections C the Tendons Transformation section. Aiden asked, "Where did you guys go after leaving Azure Myst sect? Why did you enter the ancient battlefield ande here?" "Boss could not stay in Azure Myst sect any longer after knowing that you were missing and there was no news of whether you were dead or alive," The spirit tiger said, "Later on, Boss insisted on leaving to look for you and I followed along. There was no meaning to us staying in Azure Myst sect if you weren''t there." "Initially, that stupid bird wanted to sneak out along with us as well. However, it was caught by the old immortal crane and had no choice but to stay in Azure Myst sect." At the mention of the stupid bird, there was a reminiscent look in the spirit tiger''s eyes as it showed a rare disy of emotions. "I wonder how that stupid bird''s doing. Has it formed its Inner Core yet?" The stupid bird the spirit tiger was referring to was the child of Azure Myst sect''s immortal beast. The spirit tiger and the immortal beast''s child spent the most time together and their rtionship was naturally closer. Chapter 1042 - Old Friends Reunite 1042 Chapter 1042 - Old Friends Reunite Thest time Aiden saw little crane was during the battle at Azure Myst sect. At that time, when the Demonic Crow Sect invaded with the intention of annihting Azure Myst sect, little crane had yet to form its Inner Core. However, Aiden believed that with the guidance of the old immortal crane, it should not be an issue for little crane to form an Inner Core in 20 years. Right now, it was truly joyous recalling the times back in Azure Myst sect together with monkey, the spirit tiger, little crane and Night Spirit. There was probably no way he could return to those days. From now on, be it in the ancient battlefield or the world, Aiden had to tread with caution! The spirit tiger said, "After the two of us left Azure Myst sect, we tried looking for you before. Later on, we continued traveling while asking about you but there was no news for around three years. Do you know that during that period of time, Boss and I" Monkey frowned and shot the spirit tiger a look. The spirit tiger did not continue. They could not take on human form and would naturally be killed if they were spotted by martial artists. Although the spirit tiger did not continue, Aiden could guess what happened C the two of them went through endless hardships and dangers during that period of time in order to search for him! After pondering, the spirit tiger continued, "Thereafter, we stayed for a period of time in Demonic Crow Mountain. We thought that you were dead after hearing about the paragon battle at the Great Forbidden Ruins and even headed to Dragon Burial Valley to pay our respects to you." Aiden smiled. "Later on, we wandered all over the ce and found ourselves in the Wild Lion Ridge!" The spirit tiger said. When he heard that, the Golden Lion''s expression changed. Aiden frowned slightly and asked, "One of the eight demon regions?" "Yes." The spirit tiger nodded. "We hung out there for 20 years and had no intention of entering this ce initially. However, when the battle at Iron Mountain Range broke out and you dered war to Crystal Pce Sect, we found out that you were still alive." "Later on, we obtained two spots in the territory there and were teleported here with the help of high-leveled fiend demons." After listening at the side for a long time, the Golden Lion finally spotted an opportunity and chimed in hurriedly, "The eight demon regions are filled with danger everywhere with countless beasts and ferocious birds roaming all around! In fact, there are even great and old demons!" Great demons were equivalent to Quasi Divine Powerhouses of the mortal races. Old demons were equivalent to Lesser Divine Patriarchs! The eight demon regions were the eight greatest gathering ces of the demon race. From puny spirit beasts to notoriously mighty great demons, all of them could be found in the eight demon regions. ces like the Iron Mountain Range could not even be considered the tip of the iceberg of the eight regions. It was said that there were even Demon Emperors in the eight demon regions! Even martial artists did not dare to step foot lightly into the eight demon regions. The Golden Lion said, "Killing is intense between the different territories because everyone fights for the position of overlords. The fact that the two of you are able to obtain two spots without the backing of any race is an impressive feat." For the Golden Lion, he had the backing of the Golden Lion race and they had their own territory. As the name implied, the Wild Lion Ridge was ruled over by the lion race and the Golden Lion race was one of them. To the Golden Lion, the fact that monkey and the spirit tiger could reside in the Wild Lion Ridge for a full 20 years without any backing and even obtain two spots to enter the ancient battlefield was impressive. Monkey nced at the Golden Lion and nodded. It was not easy to garner such a response from monkey. In the fight earlier on, monkey and the spirit tiger saw how the Golden Lion saved the little fox and held back Crystal Pce Sect martial artists alone. That was precisely the reason why they felt that the Golden Lion was qualified to sit around them. The spirit tiger was ted after beingplimented by the Golden Lion. However, it put on a front and nodded at that moment. "Yellow Hair, you''re pretty sharp. Not bad, I like it!" At the mention of ''Yellow Hair'', the Golden Lion frowned and rolled its eyes. The little fox sat at the side and covered her mouth, chuckling. Since she was young, she lived in the underground cave locked up by the gigantic crocodile and spent her days in fear. Now that she was reunited with Aiden and had so manypanions, she was truly overjoyed listening to their conversations. The spirit tiger smiled sheepishly at the sight of the little fox''s smile and wagged its tail in a pandering manner C there was no ferocity in its behavior at all. Bang! Monkey could not stand it anymore and pped the spirit tiger on the face, scolding disappointedly, "Bloody wagging your tail again! Are you a dog?!" "Haha!" Aiden roared inughter, as though he had returned to the past. The spirit tiger did not dare to fight against monkey and climbed up, sping its tail while grumbling, "Why are you always getting physical! Just talk things out! Furthermore, these are new friends! Give me some face!" Monkey snorted with a chuckle and ced its hands behind its back, looking up the skies and ignoring the spirit tiger. Turning to Aiden with an aggrieved expression, the spirit tiger closed in on the little fox and whispered, "Foxy, let me tell you, I didn''t like to wag my tail in the past. It''s all Aiden''s fault!" The little fox shuddered at the way the spirit tiger addressed her and backed off a few steps with goosebumps rising. Aiden raised his brow. How was he to me for that? The spirit tiger said in a mysterious manner, "Foxy, you''ve got to keep your distance from Aiden in the future. He''s got a fetish!" "Back then, after he captured me, he forced me to roar everyday until my throat went hoarse. Forget about that from then on, I started wagging my tail unconsciously. Before I met Aiden, I was extremely manly!" Aiden smiled. Up till now, the spirit tiger did not know the reason for its torture, even if it had a good reason, and merely thought that Aiden was perverted. The little fox pouted her lips in displeasure. She disliked people talking bad about Aiden. "You''re the one with a fetish! You like wagging your tail! You''re a small dog!" With that, the little fox turned around and darted to Aiden''s side, leaving the spirit tiger alone, flustered and howling internally, "I''m not a dog, I''m Little Dragon!" The little fox wanted to hop onto Aiden''s body like in the past. Unexpectedly, he retreated and red at her, asking with a fake smile, "Little fox, when were you able to take on human form?" "A long time ago," The little fox lowered her head shyly and in a turn, transformed into the youngdy with peerless looks in a red veil dress once more. She bowed towards Aiden and said tenderly, "Greetings, mister." Drip! Drip! An odd sound came from the side. The spirit tiger''s eyes widened as drool dripped from its gaping mouth. Its tail wagged furiously behind it Monkey reared its head and sighed before sending the spirit tiger flying with a p, snarling, "Sorry, can''t help it!" Chapter 1043 - The team assembled 1043 Chapter 1043 - The team assembled They had not seen each other for more than twenty or so years. The spirit tiger was still as chirpy as before and monkey was as prideful as before C everything was the same as in the past. Aiden felt a sense of warmth in his heart as he looked at them ying around. At times, it was simpler to get along with demons instead. There were no schemes and plots. On the other hand, humans were much moreplex. For monkey and the spirit tiger, everything became much simpler after they entered the ancient battlefield. The same way Crystal Pce Sect predicted that Aiden coulde knocking, the two of them thought about the same thing as well and subdued a group of demons to form a beast stampede. The little fox had the same idea. However, the regrettable thing was that there was still no news of Morwyn ckstone, the little bald monk. "Stay here and recover first. I''ll go clean up the battlefield." Aiden rose to leave after settling down monkey and the others. Hundreds of thousands of people were buried in this battle. All the storage bags of the martial artists had to be retrieved. For Aiden right now, apart from top-grade artifact weapons or rare ancient treasures, no other artifact weapons could attract him. However, he could not abandon the storage bags as well. What was most important to Aiden were the Soul Nourishing Blood Ginsengs, Spirit Gathering Fruits, and other elixirs that could be used to cultivate and nourish one''s Essence Spirit collected by those martial artists. Those were consumables and naturally, the more the merrier. There were demon beasts all over the ancient city. However, when Aiden walked through the ancient city, all of them chose to avoid him instinctively. A docile and shy youngdy walked behind him C it was the little fox who had taken on human form. "Is there anything?" Aiden did not stop in his tracks and nced sideways. Slumping her head, the little fox snuck a gaze at Aiden with her huge, watery eyes, whispering, "Mister, are you angry at me?" The little fox could have taken on human form a long time ago, however, she chose to conceal that fact due to some embarrassing reasons. She was still feeling uneasy. After a moment of contemtion, Aiden said intentionally, "Since you don''t trust me, you don''t have to follow me from now on." The moment the little fox heard that, she was flustered. She stood on the spot nkly with tears brimming in her eyes that could fall at any moment. "My mother is dead and now you don''t want me anymore after bringing me out of the cave. I don''t have any kin at all." "And from now on, nobody wants me anymore! Boohoo!" The little fox bawled and broke out into tears. Aiden was shocked. He had only mentioned it casually to tease the little fox C he hadn''t expected her to take it for real. A few heads popped out one after another from the top of the city wall. Monkey, the spirit tiger, and the Golden Lion sprawled on the top of the wall and looked over in secret C all three of them had mes of gossip zing in their eyes. The spirit tiger said, "Aiden must be treating Foxy badly and bullying her! I''m going to head down and help her!" Monkey replied, "Go on." The Golden Lionmented, "Rest in peace, warrior." Spirit tiger: "" Aiden turned around and wiped away the tears in the little fox''s eyes gently, smiling bitterly. "I was only teasing you. How could I be angry at you for something so small?" "For real?" The little fox stopped crying and tilted her head slightly, asking in slight disbelief. "Absolutely." "So you won''t chase me away in the future?" "No," "Thank you, mister." The little fox broke into a smile. There were still droplets of sparkling tears hanging onto her longshes, reflecting a brilliance under the shine of the sun. Aiden only managed to clean up the battlefield after a long time. He gathered the items within the storage bags C there were close to a hundred thousand artifact weapons, various elixirs, and countless talismans. Aiden did not have much use for those items. He could not be bothered with ordinary artifact weapons. For elixirs, he only consumed perfect-grade elixirs without any fault. There was only a single top-grade artifact weapon among the hundred thousand artifact weapons. It was the glove that his friend, Drake wore previously. Although there was only one, that was already sufficient for Aiden. His right hand was in possession of the divine phoenix bone and even Dharmic weapons wouldn''t be able to destroy it! As long as he wore that top-grade glove on his left hand, he could catch almost any weapon barehanded with both his hands! He would be close to invulnerable! There were more than a hundred Spirit Gathering Fruits in total. Be it demons or martial artists, they merely had to consume two at most while cultivating their Essence Spirits C consuming more won''t make a difference. With more than a hundred, it was enough for them to split evenly. There were a total of 12,000 stalks of Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng! At first nce, that seemed like a massive number. However, Aiden had a hunch that the number of Soul Nourishing Blood Ginsengs he required was much more than ordinary martial artists! It wasn''t only because he had both traditional and a unique sort of power technique. More than that, be it his own Draconic Core or his Inner Core, they were different from ordinary people. Furthermore, monkey, the spirit tiger, and the other demons also required Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng for a breakthrough to the Martial Grandmaster realm. Therefore, Aiden had to collect as many Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng as he could in the ancient battlefield! 10 dayster. Monkey''s bloodline was extremely strong. After the spirit tiger trained the Void Splitting Manual, its bloodline contained the power of thunder. The rumbling of thunder in spring brought about the birth of all living beings. To begin with, the power of life could be found within thunder. Although monkey and the spirit tiger were the most badly injured, their injuries had mostly recovered after 10 days. Both of them were active by nature and did not want to continue staying in the ancient city. Aiden asked, "What ns do you guys have after leaving the ancient city?" "I''m following you," Monkey replied. To begin with, Aiden was the reason why he entered the ancient battlefield. The spirit tiger scratched its head and coughed gently. Licking its face, it walked over to the little fox and smiled deviously, wagging its tail. "Foxy, where are you headed for?" The little fox replied, "I''m naturally following mister." Piak! The spirit tiger pped its thighs and shouted, "What a coincidence! We''re both thinking about the same thing!" The spirit tiger''s shout could be heard from midair. 11:30 Bang! A massive palm appeared from the side andnded squarely on the spirit tiger''s face, sending it flying. "F*ck!" The spirit tiger''s shout could be heard from midair. The little fox snickered endlessly. Aiden turned around and looked at the Golden Lion. "What about you? If you wish to leave, I''ll split you some of the Spirit Gathering Fruit and Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng." The Golden Lion replied, "I don''t have anywhere to go either." After pondering for a moment, the Golden Lion said with a hesitant expression, "If you don''t mind, I can even be your mount." Through the battle in the ancient city, it had already witnessed how strong Aiden was. In the depths of its heart, although it was unwilling, it was not embarrassed if it could be a mount for someone as strong as this. "Hahahaha!" Aiden reared his head inughter and patted the Golden Lion on the shoulder. "I should be thanking you for standing out for me righteously a few days ago! How can I still see you as a mount! Don''t look down on me, Yellow Hair." When it heard the first part, the Golden Lion was initially touched. However, its expression darkened and it grumbled when it heard ''Yellow Hair'', "Is there any other name?" "Yellow Hair is pretty good," Monkey consoled, "If it was up to me, I''d call you a lion dog" "Ugh," The Golden Lion remarked, "Yellow Hair''s better." Aiden waved forward in an awesome manner. "Since that''s the case, let''s head to the center of the ancient battlefield and take a look at the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking as well as the paragons of the world! I''ll definitely get my hands on the top spot of the ranking!" "Let''s go!" "Time to go!" "Foxy, wait for me!" Chapter 1044 1044 - Traversing And Bonding ? Aiden, the monkey, the spirit tiger, the little fox, and the Golden Lion made their way to the center of the ancient battlefield. The fight for the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking would take ce half a yearter. The location would be at the center region of the ancient battlefield C High Heaven City! Aiden did not know if Xiaoning entered this time round nor did he know where Morwyn ckstone was. However, the greatest possibility of locating both of them would be in High Heaven City! That was because every single martial artist who entered the ancient battlefield would try their best to rush towards High Heaven City. Even martial artists who knew that they wouldn''t be contesting for a position on the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking would rush over as well to witness the glory of all the paragons in the world and a sh between countless ancient phenomenons! This was a rare battle that happened once in a hundred years C nobody wanted to miss it! Even if they merely watched from the sidelines, it would only be beneficial for their personal martial arts. Furthermore, the ancient battlefield was boundless, and searching for two people without any clues would be equivalent to searching for a needle in a haystack. Half a yearter, the various major sects and factions of the world would gather in High Heaven City along with all the heretical doctrines, unorthodox groups, and itinerant martial artists. With that crowd, it would be easier to get news about anything. Even if Aiden could not find the two of them by then, there was a high chance he would be able to obtain some useful information. Of course, although there were millions of martial artists who entered the ancient battlefield, there might only be less than half of them who could arrive at High Heaven City eventually! Apart from the countless demon beasts and ancient living beings that resided in the intermediate ancient battlefield, to begin with, demon races from the world would also be teleported in to fight for treasures and resources. With everyone rushing towards High Heaven City at the center, the journey was extremely treacherous! Most martial artists, they would choose to travel during the daytime. At night, they would try their best to look for gathering grounds to rest. They would then continue traveling after the day arrived. Not many people dared to travel at night in the ancient battlefield where birds and beasts roamed. However, for Aiden''s group, day or night made no difference to them. Apart from Aiden, the other four were true blue spirit demons! Although there were only five of them in a group, none of them were to be trifled with. Notwithstanding Aiden, the monkey, and the spirit tiger Although the Golden Lion was suppressed by Aiden with ease, it was a pure-blooded ferocious beast to begin with. Furthermore, it was from the Golden Lion race of Wild Lion Ridge and had an extraordinary bloodline that surpassed most demons! Most demon beasts could not even approach the little fox that seemed the weakest. Foxes were natural-born seductresses and could bewitch the masses just by standing at a spot. A single beckon of her finger or a release of fragrance was enough to subdue a group of demons! The spirit tiger was long charmed out of its wits by the little fox. Along the way, the spirit tiger followed behind the little fox and expressed concern constantly while wagging its tail C it almost became a mount for the little fox. Its pandering expressions naturally attracted quite a few ps from the monkey again. However, the little fox would avoid as far as she could each time. If she truly couldn''t avoid, she would revert to her true form and bury herself into Aiden''s embrace. The spirit tiger could only watch with frustration. During this period of time, each time the little fox hid herself in Aiden''s embrace, the spirit tiger would sigh constantly with a miserable expression. In the blink of an eye, a week passed. Although there were naturally fights against other demons during this period of time, they got out perfectly fine each time. The Golden Lion had also started getting chummier with the monkey and the spirit tiger and integrated itself into the group. This night, Aiden''s group continued ahead. The man had elegant features and flowing green robes while the youngdy had peerless features that could bewitch the masses. To be honest, Aiden and the little fox looked extremelypatible as they walked together side by side at the front. Monkey, the spirit tiger, and Golden Lion followed behind. The spirit tiger''s head was slumped listlessly. The Golden Lion asked curiously, "Brother Tiger, why haven''t you been bugging the little fox recently?" With its hands behind its back, the spirit tiger raised its head slightly and sighed with a fake look of wisdom. "Sigh, I''ve fallen out of love!" Monkey rolled its eyes and snorted with a chuckle. The Golden Lion consoled, "Don''t worry, Brother Tiger. When we return to Wild Lion Ridge, I''ll introduce some girls to you!" "For real?" The spirit tiger''s eyes lit up and its worried look vanished instantly, almost drooling from the mouth. "Definitely!" The Golden Lion patted its chest loudly. "What a bro!" The spirit tiger hugged the Golden Lion by the shoulder with one arm excitedly. Monkey pouted its lips and could not be bothered with the two of them. Right then, Aiden suddenly frowned. His ears twitched and he said darkly, "Everyone, watch out. A beast stampede is charging over here!" Beast stampede! Monkey narrowed its gaze and his eyes shone with a scarlet glint of blood. Both the spirit tiger and Golden Lion stopped ying around and their expressions turned grim. The presence of a beast stampede also meant that a demon king was present! Furthermore, they were no longer at the outer perimeter of the ancient battlefield. Any demon king that could subdue a group of demons in this region and trigger a beast stampede definitely possessed frightening strength and was not to be trifled with! In a one-on-one fight, none of them had to fear anybody. However, they would be embroiled in a bitter fight if they had to go against a beast stampede! Another whileter. Monkey and the others finally felt the ground trembling. Thud! Thud! Thud! It was as though a massive army was attacking! Although it was at night, Aiden''s eyes were sharp and he could clearly see dust billowing in the distant horizon as a thunderous force charged over! The five of them stopped in their tracks. Not long after, the beast stampede arrived before them! The beast stampede consisted of mostly ancient remnant beasts and a few pure-blooded ferocious beasts. Each of them looked menacing with demonic energy rumbling around them, looking as though they wanted to rip Aiden''s group of five apart! However, the strange thing was that there were more than a thousand ''humans'' in the center of the beast stampede. Although they were in their advanced, mortal form, all of them emanated demonic energy C it was clear that they were transformed from demons. In the center of the group was a man and a woman. Standing on a war chariot, they seemed to be revered by the rest. The man had a skinny face and his expression was dark, wearing colorful clothes that seemed extremely showy. The woman beside him looked no older than 28 and she was transformed from a demon as well. Wearing green robes and trousers, her ck hair was tied into a bun on the back of her head and she looked extremely handsome. Her legs were long and slender and could be described as perfect. The spirit tiger''s eyes widened nkly once again when it caught sight of the woman''s legs. Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. The woman seemed to be restrained with a thin, rainbow-colored thread coiling around her. She could not move at all and even her lips were sealed such that she could not speak. The rainbow thread coiled around all the ferocious beasts in the beast stampede as well. The other end of the rainbow thread led to the hands of the thousand-odd group of humanoid demon beasts. It was obvious that the beast stampede was subdued by the humanoid demon beasts! The thousand-odd demon beasts on the other hand were subservient to the man with colorful robes on the war chariot! The colorful-robed man was the demon king of the beast stampede! The moment she caught sight of Aiden''s group, the long-legged woman on the war chariot seemed agitated and cried endlessly with an indescribable expression in her eyes. Chapter 1045 1045 - Strange Familiarity ? It was extremely normal for demon beasts to be suppressed and captured by one another. Although they could vaguely guess that the long-legged woman was begging them for help, Aiden''s group could not interfere directly. That was no logic to speak of in thew of the jungle where it was survival of the fittest. Furthermore, this was the ancient battlefield. Although Aiden retracted his gaze, the long-legged woman did not give up and continued to yell with all her might. However, she could only let out a muffled sound. The colorful-robed man smiled. "Stop kicking up a fuss. These few demon beasts can barely save themselves, let alone you. Just be obedient and I won''t make things difficult for you." "Roar!" In the thousand-odd group, a man''s expression changed and he suddenly released the thread in his hands. An ancient remnant beast roared and charged forward C it arrived before Aiden in the blink of an eye! The ancient remnant beast had a menacing gaze and opened its bloody mouth, causing the nasty stench in its mouth to surge forward. Aiden''s expression did not change at all and he only attacked when the demon beast was close to him! He merely extended his palm without any special technique, pping the ancient remnant beast fiercely on the cheek. Bang! The massive body of the ancient remnant beast was sent flying and it was no longer breathing by the time itnded. Although its head was intact, everything that was inside was already smashed into sludge! It was clean and precise! The colorful-robed man narrowed his gaze gently. There were way too many martial artists in the ancient battlefield who could kill ancient remnant beasts. However, few could do it as casually as this man! "Do you have a death wish?!" Monkey was the first to lose its temper. Its eyes were bloodshot as it circted blood energy, causing demonic energy to spread. In a single move, it transformed into its true form and stomped on the ground heavily with its massive feet. There was a boom and the ground shook! With a prideful expression and fierce gaze, monkey red at the colorful-robed man on the war chariot C it would be the first to charge forward as long as Aiden ordered! For monkey, it did not matter who its opponents were or the situation ahead. It would fight the moment it was bothered! "Roar!" "GRAWR!" The Golden Lion and spirit tiger roared at the same time as well with cracking sounds echoing from the depths of their bones. Their bodies shuddered and they reverted to their true forms as well! For demons, their peakbat strength could only be released in their true forms! Aiden defended in front of the little fox with an icy stare and released his blood energy. Tough and ferocious, it surged into the air like a zing cauldron! The long-legged woman was extremely excited at the sight of that. However, the colorful-robed man''s pupils constricted and his gaze turned evidently darker. Although the monkey, tiger, and lion had strong auras with rich demonic energy, none of them made him feel threatened. However, he sensed a hint of danger from the green-robed man! It was extremely dangerous! The man''s blood energy was way too rich! The colorful-robed man had a feeling that if a fight broke out between both parties, although he could kill the five of them with the help of the beast stampede, he would definitely suffer immense losses as well. With a dark expression, the colorful-robed man contemted his options internally. On the other end, Aiden did not make a move either. After all, there was no deep hatred between them. Furthermore, he could also sense that the colorful-robed man''s background was far from simple. Coupled with the presence of the beast stampede, it would be for the best if they could avoid this fight. Of course, Aiden was naturally fearless! At that moment, his thoughts were mostly focused on the long-legged woman beside the colorful-robed man. For some reason, he felt that the long-legged woman''s gaze was familiar. However, even upon careful recollection, he was certain that he had not seen this woman before! "They seem to be from the Poison Spider race from one of the eight demon regions, the Thousand Spider Sand Dune! There''s a high chance that the demon king of the beast stampede, the colorful-robed man, is from the royalty of the Rainbow Spider race and is a Rainbow Wolf Spider!" With a grim expression, the Golden Lion whispered, "Everyone, be careful. These spiders are extremely poisonous! It''s said that even the web of a Rainbow Wolf Spider isced with poison and it won''t take long for one to melt into pus once they are trapped in it!" Aiden nodded silently. The intermediate ancient battlefield was truly a gathering ce for paragons and demons. Within the short span of a month, they had already encountered demon beasts of two demon regions! "Fufu." The colorful-robed man suddenlyughed and said loudly, "Golden Lion race all of you should be from the Wild Lion Ridge? You are right, my true form is the Rainbow Wolf Spider and I''m from the Thousand Spider Sand Dune!" "Since you''re a Young Master from the Wild Lion Ridge, there''s no need for us to fight." After contemting, the colorful-robed man chose not to attack. His aim was to fight for the resources and treasures in the ancient battlefield such as the Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng C there was no need for him to fight to the death with these five people before him. With the colorful-robed man''spromise, Aiden did not get aggressive either and merely nodded calmly. Monkey shrugged with an indifferent attitude. The spirit tiger and Golden Lion exchanged nces and both heaved sighs of relief. The little fox calmed down as well. Thud! Thud! Thud! The beast stampede rumbled and wrapped around Aiden''s group before advancing. "Whoo-hoo-hoo!" The long-legged woman on the war chariot screamed repeatedly with an anxious expression. "How irritating!" Extending a finger, the colorful-robed man tapped the woman on the forehead. The woman shuddered and her face turned purplish. She could no longer speak and merely looked at Aiden, monkey and the spirit tiger with widened eyes. Those eyes were filled with absolute despair! The distance between both parties increased as the war chariot left. The woman closed her eyes and two streams of warm tears flowed silently from the corner of her eyes. Dust billowed and gradually extended into the distance. Frowning, Aiden turned towards the direction of the beast stampede with a pensive expression. A long whileter, he turned back and shook his head before continuing forward. "That woman is rather pitiful," The little fox said softly with pursed lips. The spirit tiger sighed as well. "For a moment, I had the urge to save her!" "Actually, there''s no need for that," The Golden Lion remarked, "If we have to rescue everyone wee across, there will be way too many people along the way we have to save. We''ve got to save rabbits from being eaten by snakes, and goats from being eaten by wolves. All lives in the world have to be saved, how can we save them all?" "That makes sense," The spirit tiger nodded. After a while, it could not help but turn to monkey, asking, "Boss, what do you think?" Monkey stifled a chuckle. "If I were you, I''d just do what I want. If I want to save somebody, I''d do it! It''s bloody irritating to be wishy-washy, just do what you like!" "While that''s the case, I can''t possibly implicate all of us because of a moment of recklessness," The spirit tiger remarked with a bitter expression. The Golden Lion closed in and whispered, "Brother Tiger, you fell for her, right?" "Get lost!" The spirit tiger barked. "Hais." After a few more steps, the spirit tiger sighed once more. "For some reason, it felt like I knew that woman. It''s really strange." Suddenly, monkey frowned and murmured. "Now that you mention it, I seemed to have that feeling too." When he heard that, Aiden suddenly paused in his tracks and the spirit tiger nearly knocked into him in its distraction. Turning around slowly, a cold glint shed in Aiden''s eyes. Chapter 1046 1046 - The Captive ? The beast stampede moved and demonic energy filled the air with dust billowing through the vast ins. Any individual demons along the way avoided them a long time ago. In the center of the war chariot, the colorful-robed man had a moody expression. He eyed the woman beside him and remarked coldly, "You had better be obedient. If I didn''t require your blood to train daily, I would have killed you a long time ago!" The woman lowered her head and her eyes were filled with dejection, as though she had lost her soul. "Don''t dream that anyone woulde and save you," The colorful-robed man sneered, "In the ancient battlefield, any sect and faction thates across the Rainbow Wolf Spider race will have to keep their distance!" He was not entirely bragging about that. It was especially so at night C even the sessors of super sects would not want to openly provoke this group of demons. "Those few people earlier on knew their ces. Otherwise, they would be nothing but corpses by now." The colorful-robed man harrumphed. Swish! Suddenly, the sound of clothes fluttering tore through the air behind them! "Hmm?" Sensing something, the colorful-robed man turned around. Not far away, a green-colored figure was speeding towards them at lightning speed. He was at the horizon a moment earlier but in the blink of an eye, he arrived right before them! The gray-robed martial artist that they encountered earlier had backtracked! The four people behind the gray-robed martial artist gradually caught up as well. Aiden stood in the air above the beast stampede and ignored the countless demon beasts with menacing looks and gaping, bloody mouths. With a calm expression, he held back the war chariot forcefully! The colorful-robed man''s gaze narrowed and his pupils constricted with a momentary sh of killing intent! When the woman caught sight of that, she was visibly agitated. However, she could not speak. "Audacious!" "Insolent!" A few young men stood out from both sides of the war chariot, shouting with unfriendly expressions. Thin threads could be seen flickering faintly from their fingertips, as though they could attack at any moment! "Roar!" The beast stampede let out a ferocious roar that shook the world as well! However, be it monkey, the spirit tiger or Golden Lion, all of them were much stronger mentally after experiencing the battle in the ancient city. Furthermore, they had been through countless fights in the days after and they could no longer be threatened by a scene as such. Even the little fox who was the most timid merely had a slightly paler expression right now. However, her gaze was resolute without any trace of fear! To her, she would follow Aiden on anything he decided on without hesitation, even if it was a mountain of des or sea of mes ahead! The colorful-robed man gestured for silence by pushing down his palms. Gradually, the roaring of the beast stampede calmed down. Raising his brow slightly, the colorful-robed man asked coolly, "What''s the meaning of this, fellow warrior?" After standing in the way of the war chariot, Aiden''s gaze had been fixed on the long-legged woman''s face, as though he was trying to make out something. It was the same for monkey and the spirit tiger. After gazing at the woman deeply, Aiden shifted his gaze towards the colorful-robed man and said indifferently, "I suddenly thought of something so I returned to verify it." "Oh?" The colorful-robed man frowned and asked, "What?" Expressionlessly, Aiden pointed to the woman on the war chariot. "Please remove the seal on her mouth. I''ve got a few questions for her." Aiden''s tone sounded impolite! Although he said please, it sounded more like an order! "Who are you to talk to the young master as such?!" A Rainbow Wolf Spider at the side stood out and shouted. The spirit tiger widened its eyes and barked, "Who are you to talk to my master as such too? There''s no room for you to talk here, scram aside!" "You must have a death wish!" The thousand-odd Rainbow Wolf Spiders revealed cold, menacing expressions as the demonic energy within them surged. Their bones shifted and the flesh on their faces expanded. Thin, rainbow-colored fur appeared on their skin as sharp, green mouth parts pointed out of their mouths with a nauseating stench! The colorful-robed man''s expression turned cold as well. With a dark gaze, he replied in an unfriendly manner, "I''d advise you to not push your luck! I was already starting to regret letting you guys off earlier on. Don''t force me to change my mind!" Bang! Bang! Bang! Beside the war chariot, explosions sounded from the bodies of dozens of young men. In the blink of an eye, their bodies expanded and they transformed into terrifying gigantic spiders! With the head of a wolf and the body of a spider, their bodies were lined with thin fur and they had eight legs with demonic energy surging into the air. Every single leg had a different color. Different colored spider silk shot out of their massive abdomens thickly, as though they could form a massive web that could nket the world at any moment! Rainbow Wolf Spider! Monkey twisted its neck and its eyes shone scarlet. Its fists crackled repeatedly as battle intent surged through it. The tension was tight on both sides! As long as Aiden or the colorful-robed man made a single wrong statement, a huge battle could be triggered! Suddenly, Aiden chuckled. "Well, I''ll back off then and not ask her about those questions." "The wise recognize their circumstances," The colorful-robed man nodded. "You guys had better disappear from my sights before I change my mind, otherwise" "Hold on," Before the colorful-robed man could finish, Aiden interrupted, "I''m not going to ask her anything, but please remove the seal on her. I want to see her true form." For some unknown reason, the colorful-robed man felt an uneasy feeling in his heart. Naturally, there was no way he would heed Aiden''s orders that easily and remove the seal on the woman. After contemting, the colorful-robed man said in a dark voice, "There''s nothing much to her true form. At the most, she''s just an extremely ordinary immortal crane." His statement removed all doubts in everyone''s hearts! Aiden retracted his smile and nodded as his expression gradually turned cold. "Well, very well." Monkey''s eyes shone brightly scarlet. The spirit tiger was already at its limits a long time ago, yelling towards the long-legged woman agitatedly, "Stupid bird, stupid bird! Is that you?!" The long-legged woman''s eyes reddened and tears streamed down. Vaguely sensing something, the colorful-robed man frowned and asked, "You know one another?" "There''s no need for you to change your mind any longer," Aiden''s gaze was dark as he red at the colorful-robed man with a chilling killing intent, snarling word by word, "That''s because I''ve already changed my mind." Before his sentence was finished, an ebony-colored thick de had already appeared in Aiden''s hands! An invisible threatening power radiated from it. Instantly, blood energy surged into the air. It was Rygintarth that had evolved into a top-grade artifact weapon! Dong! Dong! Monkey circted its Inner Core and blood energy surged as it reverted to its true form. Its eyes were bloodshot and it had a torrential ferocity, pounding against its chest heavily with loud, dull thuds! The spirit tiger was extremely emotional and yelled, "Stupid bird, don''t be afraid! Hu Batian is here to save you!" There was nothing that could stop them. It did not matter if there was an endless beast stampede before them. It did not matter if the Rainbow Wolf Spider was from one of the eight demon regions. It did not matter if there were only five of them. The moment they recognized the identity of the woman, they had to save her even if it cost their lives! "Roar!" There was a roar apanied by a thunderous sh of lightning. The spirit tiger reverted to its true form and electric currents shot through its eyes C its might was ferocious and its aura was frightening. The Golden Lion and the little fox reverted to their true forms as well. Chapter 1047 - Protecting her at all costs 1047 Chapter 1047 - Protecting her at all costs "Die!" Aiden roared and gripped Rygintarth with both hands. His blood energy surged as he descended from the skies, shing down towards the colorful-robed man! A blood beam extended a hundred feet and burst forth! The force of that sh was extremely strong with a furious killing intent that threatened to rip the voids apart! The expression of the colorful-robed man changed slightly. He could sense that if he were to take the sh head-on, he would definitely suffer a huge loss given the amount of power it contained! Tapping lightly off his heel, the colorful-robed man dodged to the side nimbly. The blood beam descended heavily onto the war chariot. With a boom, that terrifying power split the war chariot into pieces! A set of gray robes fluttered. Before the war chariot was smashed, Aiden had already reached out to rescue the woman. Rygintarth danced around the woman and a blood beam shed. Although Rygintarth was huge, it was as fluid as water in the hands of Aiden. It sliced off all the spider silk on the woman without injuring her at all! Aiden gripped the woman by the wrist and circted his Inner Core, sending a rich demonic energy into thetter''s body. Before long, he located the seals within her body. Demonic energy surged forward like a tide. Bang! Bang! Bang! The woman shuddered briefly and her seals were removed, reverting her to her true form. There was a red patch on her crown as she spread her wings and screeched C it was indeed the little girl from Azure Myst Sect! Little crane was a little different from ordinary immortal cranes. Ordinary immortal cranes had snow-white bodies but little crane''s body had a tinge of jade-green to it C it was extremely easy to differentiate them! Aiden could clearly sense that the blood energy within the little crane had deteriorated to a severe extent. Although she could revert to her true form, she had nobat strength. "Protect her, I''ll go kill those spiders!" Aiden ordered murderously with a cold gaze. Monkey, the spirit tiger, and Golden Lion huddled in swiftly and protected the little crane and fox within their midst in a circle. With that, they shed intensely against the iing beast stampede! Click! ck! Click! The moment the giant centipede lunged forward, the spirit tiger leaped with an open mouth. 20:38 Dust and gravel flew from the ground. A giant scarlet centipede that was dozens of feet long surged forward. Its hundred legs were sharp as daggers, causing sparks to fly as it crawled on the ground. Emanating a thick demonic energy, it exuded a stench that was nauseating! The moment the giant centipede lunged forward, the spirit tiger leaped with an open mouth. Reaching out with its ws, it grabbed the centipede by the body and chomped down fiercely on thetter''s neck! Snap! The formidable bite strength of the spirit tiger snapped the giant centipede''s neck instantly! The poisonous demonic energy that it released was instantly purged away by the power of thunder that was shing on the spirit tiger''s body. "Roar!" The Golden Lion''s blood energy surged as it let out a deafening roar to the front. The sound wave rumbled and a ripple surfaced! A gray wolf that just rushed forward bled from all seven orifices instantly. Its brain was crushed into sludge by the roar and it died on the spot! Among beasts, a lion''s roar possessed the strongest roar power and was tough and invincible. In fact, demons and fiends could be purged by its roar! In the ancient era, Mighty Figures of the Buddhist sectprehended a sound secret technique after fighting against the lion race C it was the Lion Roar technique of the modern Buddhist sects. Another few ancient remnant beasts were stunned for a moment. Before they snapped out of their stupor, the Golden Lion had already pounced forward and bit them to death! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! A Ground Dragon a hundred feet long with a body and the width of a bucket shook its head and swept its tail. With a ferocious re, it charged towards monkey! Resembling lizards, Ground Dragons were not dragons and belonged to a branch of the crocodile race; they merely had a trickle of bloodline from the dragon race. They had massive strength and scales all over their bodies that made them invulnerable! It was difficult to break through a Ground Dragon''s defense even with a perfect artifact weapon. The weak spot of a Ground Dragon was their abdomen. That was the only part of their body that was not covered with scales. However, Ground Dragons were smart. Even after forming their Inner Cores, they rarely traveled through the air and would stick closely to the ground most of the time so that their opponents would not get any chance at all! Dust billowed as the Ground Dragon charged with its bared mouth that was lined with sharp fangs, biting toward monkey''s calf! If that bitended, monkey''s calf would have been snapped instantly! At the same time, a Heaven Devouring Mastiff seized the opportunity to lunge over from the side. With a ferocious stance, it leaped and aimed to bite monkey''s throat! Monkey''s eyes were filled with rage as it raised its leg the moment the Ground Dragon bit on them. Crack! The Ground Dragon missed. At the same time, monkey smashed down heavily with its raised leg! Boom! Its massive feet crashed heavily onto the Ground Dragon''s head, sending forth a terrifying amount of strength. Sinking into the mud, the Ground Dragon''s head was smashed by monkey! On the other side, monkey reached out and grabbed the Heaven Devouring Mastiff by its jaws. "Ugh!" Monkey''s eyes shone brightly scarlet and instantly, both its arms grew with intertwining muscles that resembled the tough, firm trunk of an ancient tree! "Die!" Roaring, monkey exerted strength in both arms and yanked the jaws of the Heaven Devouring Mastiff in opposite directions! Shing! A blood mist spewed out. Organs sttered everywhere with a blood stench! The Heaven Devouring Mastiff was torn into two alive by monkey! Monkey''s body was dyed red with blood as it tossed the torn carcass of the Heaven Devouring Mastiff to the ground casually. With a torrential ferocity, it whirled its arms and punched another iing ferocious beast! Although the little fox was protected in the middle by monkey and the others, she was not idle. An ancient gigantic elephant charged over with a massive body that resembled a mountain. With a frightening might, it swung its massive trunk wildly as though it could knock out all the stars up in the skies! The power of a gigantic elephant was extremely scary and was evenparable to the dragon race! This was also the origin of the power of a dragon elephant! The triangr formation of monkey, the spirit tiger, and the Golden Lion would most likely be knocked apart instantly if the ancient gigantic elephant charged over! The little fox red into the eyes of the ancient gigantic elephant and a demonic glint shone in her beautiful eyes. The speed of the ancient gigantic elephant slowed down gradually and its consciousness turned hazy. Opening her mouth slightly, the little fox breathed out a fog of fragrance. Instantly, the eyes of the ancient gigantic elephant turned dazed after it breathed in the fragrance. "Go, stop them!" The voice of the little fox sounded. As though it had lost its soul, the ancient gigantic elephant obeyed the little fox and reversed into the beast stampede, swinging its thick trunk to kill wildly! The elephant trunk was like an ancient divine whip and any living being struck by it had their bones and tendons snapped instantly! The gargantuan body crushed everything in its path and some demon beasts that did not manage to dodge in time were struck so badly they were severely injured and coughed blood. Chaos started to spread out within the beast stampede. However, the chaos could not bepared to the ferocious beast stampede, merely dissipating instantly like ripples in a river. Although the ancient gigantic elephant was immensely powerful, it could not withstand the force of the beast stampede. In the blink of an eye, it was drowned by the endless beast stampede, leaving behind nothing but a carcass! The situation was not optimistic for monkey, the spirit tiger, and Golden Lion as well. Individually, each of them had torrentialbat strength and within this short period of time, there were already hundreds of demon beasts carcasses beneath their feet. However, the beast stampede was endless and charged relentlessly. Injuries started appearing on their bodies one after another inevitably and fresh blood seeped! They had no way of retreat for this battle! Aiden had already held back all the nsmen from the Rainbow Wolf Spider race. However, the triangr formation of monkey and the other two would have been broken through a long time ago if the Rainbow Wolf Spiders were involved! On the other side. The battle was even more intense with Aiden taking on the Rainbow Wolf Spiders and the beast stampede single handedly! Chapter 1048 - Like a helpless bird 1048 Chapter 1048 - Like a helpless bird A bloody, scarlet mist spread in midair and it was extremely sharp! The two distinct regr and fiend de techniques, Void Splitting and the Dark de techniques functioned perfectly and smoothly in Aiden''s hands without any sluggishness. Creation, Raging Tides, Vortex, and Ripple Alongside the terrifying power of the Dark de Although Aiden was alone with his de on the battlefield, in the eyes of the many Rainbow Wolf Spiders, it was as though there was a raging tide that was crashing onto the shore! At the side, the sound of ghosts wailing could be heard and there were white bones beneath their feet. Phantoms appeared everywhere as corpses climbed out from blood pools like a grisly purgatory! This was force! At the level of ''force'', a martial artist''s mental state would be affected and various surreal and ridiculous illusions would appear before them. In the mortal realm,moners would experience massive pressure and get all jittery when they meet the emperor. In reality, it was because they were affected by the ''force'' of the emperor! At that moment, there were already dozens of Rainbow Wolf Spider carcasses on the ground! Against the shroud of the terrifying de stance, all it took was a brief moment of distraction for the Rainbow Wolf Spiders to be chopped up, leaving green, sticky blood oozing everywhere. The blood of Rainbow Wolf Spiders was filled with toxic poison. When it sshed onto the ground, the surrounding flora withered in the blink of an eye. The initially moist mud started drying up and even showed signs of turning into gravel and sand! Some of the demon beasts that could not dodge in time were sttered by the blood of the Rainbow Wolf Spiders. Within 10 breaths, they would copse to the ground C the toxicity of the poison was rare in this world! Aiden''s blood energy was fervent, like a zing cauldron C the demonic energy and poison were evaporated into emptiness before they could even get close. The colorful-robed man had already reverted to his true form. Compared to the other Rainbow Wolf Spiders, he had the smallest frame. The moment hended on the ground with his eight legs, his movement technique was unusual and he was extremely swift C he did not fight Aiden head-on at all. "Kikiki!" The colorful-robed man let out a series of piercing sounds, as though it wasmanding its nsmen at the side. Under hismand, the surrounding Rainbow Wolf Spiders created a formation rapidly at a shocking swift speed. They no longer fought Aiden head-on and chose to revolve around him rapidly instead. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! As the Rainbow Wolf Spiders darted around, rainbow silk shot out from their abdomens, coiling around Rygintarth. Rygintarth was extremely sharp and coupled with Aiden''s burst power, it could destroy any supreme-grade artifact weapon with ease! However, the silk of the Rainbow Wolf Spider was extremely tenacious. Even with the sharpness of the Rygintarth, it could not easily sever the endless spider silk that was wrapping around it. Furthermore, the silk was poisonous to begin with, causing the light on Rygintarth to dim down as its blood beam diminished rapidly. Aiden dominated the battlefield and was still undefeated C none of the Rainbow Wolf Spiders could withstand his might. However, not long after, Rygintarth was wrapped in endless spider silk. Each time he swung the de, Aiden felt a great resistance as though he was in a swamp! A great part of the reason why most martial artists were not willing to provoke Rainbow Wolf Spiders was that their silk was an artifact weapon that countered martial artists. The spider silk was extremely formidable! Thankfully, Rygintarth was a top-grade artifact weapon. If it was an ordinary supreme grade artifact weapon, it would have been destroyed a long time ago after being covered by the endless spider silk! The reason why Aiden did not release his Illumination Sword Formation was also because he noticed that. Although the sword formation was powerful, it was created using supreme-grade flying swords. As long as something happened to one of the flying swords, the entire sword formation would not be able to function normally C the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. In truth, for the past 20 years, Aiden had been pondering about how he could raise the grade of that set of flying swords once more. All he needed was for each flying sword to be slightly stronger. Thebined increase in strength would be even more obvious with the dozens upon dozens of flying swordsbined. If the Illumination Sword Formation was created, its power would be even more terrifying! However, the battlefield was filled with changes and there was no room for Aiden to ponder excessively. Although more than a hundred Rainbow Wolf Spiders had fallen and the number was still increasing, Rygintarth was already trapped by an endless amount of spider silk. It was almost like a cocoon and the de could no longer be seen. Aiden had no choice but to let go. It wasn''t because Rygintarth was not sharp enough. Rather, the eternal truth of the world was that everything had a counter. "Fufufu!" The colorful-robed man smiled smugly and said in a creepy manner, "Do you think that you''re able to challenge the dignity of the Rainbow Wolf Spider race just because you have a top grade artifact weapon?" "I will make you pay for the deaths of my nsmen!" Although Aiden lost Rygintarth, there was still no fear in his expression as he stood in midair and sneered, "At the end of the day, you''re all nothing but ugly bugs. It doesn''t matter how many of you are killed!" "Haven''t you noticed the situation you''re in?" The colorful-robed man reared his head inughter. "You''ve already fallen into my Rainbow Web Formation and you''re nothing but a trapped bird! There''s no way you can escape!" Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Countless Rainbow Wolf Spiders were still revolving in midair, spitting silk. Unknowingly, the Rainbow Wolf Spiders had already weaved a gigantic spiderweb around Aiden. The dense silk weaved together and had no gaps between them! At the same time, the spiderweb was still getting thicker! It was isting him from the outside worldpletely! There was no air or spirit energy here. He waspletely sealed and was unable to utilize any energy from the outside world. Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. Given his strength, he could rip off a single thread of silk without the use of any weapons. However, millions of threads weaved together endlessly formed an all-epassing web that could not be broken free from! The more he struggled, the deeper he would sink within! "I can sense that your blood energy is extremely strong and rich with a robust lifeforce essence," The Rainbow Wolf Spider smiled menacingly. "Don''t worry, I''m not going to kill you directly. I will keep you and devour your blood bit by bit! Hehe, I believe that your blood will definitely be delicious!" Aiden''s gaze turned cold as he said icily, "Drink my blood? You''re not going to be alive to do that!" "Reel in the web!" The colorful-robed man shouted. Creak! Creak! The massive spiderweb pulsated and started shrinking. Although the spiderweb looked bright and colorful, it was poisonous and filled with killing intent! Thick, scarlet demonic energy shrouded around Aiden. However, the demonic energy sizzled as the rainbow spiderweb enveloped him! "Interesting." His eyes shimmered as he murmured. He had trained the old man''s Ancient Primordial Dragon Manual. Although he was only at the Core Formation section, his own energy was enough to defend against most damage. To think that the web of these Rainbow Wolf Spiders was able to corrode his demonic energy! A race that could reign over a demon region was nothing to be scoffed at. However, the same way the rainbow spiderweb countered Rygintarth, there was always a counter to everything in this world! Chapter 1049 - Nemesis 1049 Chapter 1049 - Nemesis More Rainbow Wolf Spiders started climbing up and spitting silk repeatedly, weavingyer overyer on that gigantic colorful cocoon. There were also some Rainbow Wolf Spiders that stood all around, moving their eight legs to reel in the spiderweb. That gigantic cocoon was shrinking continuously! The remaining space Aiden had was decreasing! In the cocoon, Aiden was expressionless. His Martial Master appeared gradually from the ck hole in his core and started circting. A shuddering aura spread from within his body! It was bright and scorching! Crack! Crack! Crack! In that instant, the earth and mountains shook! Mountains toppled and the ground cracked, revealing an unsettling fissure. Bang! Boom! Boom! Volcanoes erupted as balls of scarletva surged from underground, forming a red sea that could even melt rocks! The heat within the cocoon rose rapidly! When theva sshed onto the rainbow spiderweb, wisps of green smoke rose instantly. Although the spiderweb was burned and its light dimmed, it did not break! When he sensed what was happening inside, the colorful-robed man''s pupils constricted and his expression changed slightly. The silk of the Rainbow Wolf Spider was indeed a counter to most artifact weapons. However, there was always a counter to everything and the greatest nemesis to the silk was fire! Thankfully, the Rainbow Wolf Spiders were royalty of the spider race and had powerful bloodlines. They trained unique martial art techniques that made their silk exceptionally tenacious such that it could defend against most fire. If it was any other spider, the cocoon would have been burned into ashes by the mes a long time ago! When he saw that the cocoon was merely charred without any lethal damage, the colorful-robed man heaved a sigh of relief and sneered, "You want to burn the silk of Rainbow Wolf Spiders using that level of mes? You must be dreaming!" Although he said that, the colorful-robed man was in cold sweat moments earlier! In the martial art world, Rainbow Wolf Spiders feared martial artists of a few super sects. For example, of the many religious monasteries, monks of the Daruhm Monastery train a ball of True Fire in their bodies at the start of their martial art paths. It was extremely strong and illuminated their organs, igniting their spirits. If a Rainbow Wolf Spider got into contact with the True Fire of a Daruhm Monastery monk, it could be severely injured or even burned into ashes! Suddenly, the colorful-robed man''s expression changed. He could sense that the temperature in the cocoon was rising at a scary speed and was not at its limits yet! From a fissure in the ground, a menacing head stuck out with a frightening aura. It had the head of a snake, the body of an anaconda, and was scarlet red all over its body! Its scales were stacked on top of one another tightly with no gaps, burning with a thinyer of mes. Swoosh! The living being rose with a single leap and a pair of scarlet wings zing with mes burst forth from its back! With each p, a heatwave would be sent forth. The eyes of the colorful-robed man widened as he murmured, "Snake head, anaconda body, dragon scales, phoenix wings, no horns above its head or limbs beneath its abdomen. This is" A memory that was embedded deep in its bloodline gradually came to mind. "Soaring Serpent!" The colorful-robed man eximed in shock. Deep in its soul, there was a fear that stemmed from the primordial era, causing it to shiver uncontrobly. The Spirit Fire was a divine being of the mes in the primordial era and was not inferior to phoenixes in reputation! However, that frightening living being had gone extinct a long time ago in the primordial era. It could be considered as the greatest nemesis for the Rainbow Wolf Spiders! Or rather, in the primordial era, that golden era where the ten thousand races ruled, the Rainbow Wolf Spider race was nothing in the eyes of the Soaring Serpents. The colorful-robed man truly had not imagined that Aiden would be able to summon this primordial divine being! The temperature in the cocoon continued rising! Standing in the zing mes, Aiden''s hair danced. His aura was torrential as he stood in the scarletva with electric eyes! The figure of the Primordial Soaring Serpent rose continuously behind him. It was an extremely shocking sight! Many Rainbow Wolf Spiders stood rooted to the spot and did not escape immediately. When it sensed that it was being restricted, the Soaring Serpent twisted its head and surveyed the surroundings. Its cold eyes contained an endless ferocity and fury as it reared its head and hissed with its darting tongue! It was a divine being of the mes with a noble bloodline. In the primordial era, the Rainbow Wolf Spiders were no different than ants to it. Now that thousands of years had passed and it was reborn, there was no way it was going to be insulted by such bugs! Psst! Psst! Psst! 10:30 The Primordial Soaring Serpent pped its zing wings and fire spewed from its eyes as it opened Psst! Psst! Psst! The Primordial Soaring Serpent pped its zing wings and fire spewed from its eyes as it opened its gigantic mouth to spit out streams of scorching redva! Theva that came from the mouth of the Primordial Soaring Serpent was much scarier than theva flowing underground! Swoosh! The gigantic cocoon burst into mes instantly! "Ah!" Aiden tore into the air, rearing his head as he howled! The Rainbow Wolf Spiders that were climbing on the cocoon were unable to escape at all, screeching terribly as they were engulfed in the sea of mes. Those mes were absolutely destructive for them! In the blink of an eye, the cocoon turned into ashes. The mes spread and zed through the vastnds C a few hundred Rainbow Wolf Spiders perished in the sea of mes without any corpses left! Even if any Rainbow Wolf Spider escaped from the sea of mes, a single spark thatnded on them was enough to burn thempletely! That was the terror of the Soaring Serpent mes! "GRAWR!" "Roar!" Theva surged and extended underground thousands of kilometers. The entire beast stampede went into chaos, howling constantly as everyone escaped in fear of being burned by the scarletva. The Soaring Serpent was sentient and flew with the mes to hunt after the remaining Rainbow Wolf Spiders. Aiden shifted his gaze and red at the colorful-robed man who was running. Instantly, he chased after thetter! The Rainbow Wolf Spider was the culprit behind little crane''s sufferings! Sticking close to the ground, the colorful-robed man scurried extremely swiftly with his eight limbs, fleeing into the distance with dust clouds in his wake. "Mmm? You''re still trying to escape?" Aiden narrowed his eyes. Ssh! His blood energy exploded and spirit energy burst forth! Swoosh! At the same time, a pair of wings appeared behind Aiden, raising his speed to its limits. He vanished from the spot, bolting forward like an arrow! The colorful-robed man did not dare to stop at all, scurrying for his life with all eight limbs ying. Thankfully, the Rainbow Wolf Spiders were nimble and had swift movement techniques C most demon beasts wouldn''t be able to catch up to them if they truly wanted to escape. Right then, a buzzing sound echoed in the colorful-robed man''s ears. It was as though something was closing in rapidly! The colorful-robed man turned around. That single nce scared him out of his wits. The gray robed martial artist was not far behind him, looking murderous with a cold gaze! Furthermore, the distance between them was decreasing rapidly! If this continued, he would be caught within 10 breaths! Suddenly, the colorful-robed man stopped in his tracks and his body shrank repeatedly, turning into a spider the size of a palm. Digging with eight limbs, he burrowed himself into the ground and vanished! Chapter 1050 1050 - How Dare You? ? "Hmm?" Aiden''s gaze turned cold. "Trying to burrow away?" The Rainbow Wolf Spiders naturally had means that were superior to others for them to be able to survive from the primordial era, or they would have gone extinct a long time ago as well. It was a demonic technique that wasparable to ground burrowing. By shrinking themselves, Rainbow Wolf Spiders could enter the mud and travel through the cramped gaps underground at an extremely fast speed. In a short period of time, they could escape more than a hundred feet away! The troublesome thing was that Rainbow Wolf Spiders glided with their legs in the gaps in the mud and caused extremely small vibrations that were almost silent C it was extremely difficult for living beings on the surface to detect them! Furthermore, there were many tiny bugs in the mud. The sound released by those bugs crawling was enough to cover the tracks of the Rainbow Wolf Spiderpletely! The only way to detect the Rainbow Wolf Spider was for a Nascent Soul to arrive and release their spirit consciousness. Aiden stood on the spot motionlessly and suddenly closed his eyes. He seemed to have entered a trance and the sound of bugs, ants, and wind around him was filteredpletely! Universal hearing! Aiden''s senses were way too sharp for such meager, paltry tricks to work on him. Although he did not have an Essence Spirit, he could sense everything by opening up his five senses, and a clear image formed in his mind. Three foot and seven inches underground, there was a spider the size of a fingernail scurrying and it was 280 feet away! "Humph!" Aiden opened his eyes and a streak of lightning shed through them. Swash! Aiden had already vanished from where he was. In the blink of an eye, he arrived above the Rainbow Wolf Spider. Conjuring a hand seal, Aiden''s fingertips shuttled with an unusual movement. Eventually, a gigantic palm was conjured and nketed over the path that the Rainbow Wolf Spider was escaping on! "Ma!" At the same time, Aiden opened his mouth and said a word in prayer! The Demon Subduing Seal was released together with the Daring Mantra! The Rainbow Wolf Spider that was initially scurrying through the mud shuddered. Boom! A massive palm descended from above with an apocalyptic might that threatened to subdue everything in its way! The massive palm had yet to touch the ground. However, a gigantic handprint had already appeared in the ground deeply embedded into the mud! The Rainbow Wolf Spider was instantly exposed and it could no longer hide. "Lowborn filth, how are you trying to kill me!" The Rainbow Wolf Spider shouted, "There''s a Demon Emperor in the Rainbow Wolf Spider race, do you wish to die?!" "Demon Emperor?" Aiden sneered, "Do you think someone of the Demon Emperor''s level will stand out for a puny spirit demon like you? Furthermore, we''re in the ancient battlefield!" "Here, I''m the emperor!" The moment he said that the world shook! Who would dare to say something like that? A torrential aura surged from Aiden and the power of the Demon Subduing Seal intensified before crushing down! "Scree!" The Rainbow Wolf Spider knew that it couldn''t escape and screeched shrilly. The blood energy in its body surged rapidly and it grew to the size of a hundred feet in the blink of an eye! Whoosh! Whoosh! A series of rainbow silk threads shot out from its abdomen towards the palm in the sky. The poison in the silk was extremely domineering and instantly corroded the palm that was formed from the Demon Subduing Seal with a sizzling sound. The palm''s spirit light flickered and its power diminished. Exerting strength in all eight legs, the Rainbow Wolf Spider bounced and took the Demon Subduing Seal in midair head-on. Boom! There was a deafening sound. The Demon Subduing Seal dispersed. The Rainbow Wolf Spider fell heavily to the ground, creating a huge dent. It was injured all over and one of its legs was snapped, oozing with green blood that stank. "Not bad," Aiden nodded. "You''re rather capable to be able to take on my Demon Subduing Seal." The Rainbow Wolf Spider struggled and crawled out of the pit, charging towards Aiden with bloodshot eyes and a menacing expression. Its remaining seven legs were like sharp spears that wereced with poison. There were even reverse spikes on the surface of the spider legs. If they thrust into the flesh, they would pull out a huge chunk of flesh upon extraction, leaving behind a bloody hole! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The Rainbow Wolf Spider looked down from above and thrust its legs in a flurry towards Aiden''s head! Aiden''s gaze was cold and Rygintarth that was in his hands buzzed. ng! ng! Its blood beam expanded! Releasing a movement technique, Aiden shuttled through the chaotic spear shadows and circted his blood energy. Wielding Rygintarth, he shed viciously at the critical joints of the Rainbow Wolf Spider''s legs! "Pfft!" Green, oily blood spewed out. Three spider legs were sliced off by Aiden! Apart from the spiderweb, another weapon for the Rainbow Wolf Spiders was their legs which could go against perfect-grade artifact weapons. However, Aiden''s attacks were targeted at the joints of the legs where they were weakest. Coupled with the sharpness of Rygintarth, a single sh severed three of the Rainbow Wolf Spider''s legs! "Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!" The Rainbow Wolf Spider let out a heart-wrenching scream. "Since you drank her blood, I''m going to break all eight of your legs!" There was no pity in Aiden''s cold eyes. He was indebted to the old immortal crane of Azure Myst Sect and little crane had apanied him for a long time in his cave abode. Aiden regarded monkey, the spirit tiger, and little crane as his kin a long time ago. If he hadn''t returned earlier on, little crane would have been doomed to eternal damnation if she was brought away by the Rainbow Wolf Spider! At that time, he would be immensely remorseful as well. The thought of that gave Aiden a sense of trepidation. Pshew! Pshew! The Rainbow Wolf Spider had four legs remaining that were intact and could support its body. "Break!" Suddenly, it screamed and broke off two of its legs, turning them into long spears that shot towards Aiden at an extremely fast speed! "Puny tricks." Aiden sneered and swung Rygintarth in reverse, sweeping around gently like a Ripple to send the two spider legs flying! The Rainbow Wolf Spider waspletely despondent. The killing moves that it used to dominate over the demon region were worthless in the face of thismoner filth! How could such a terrifying monster incarnate exist in the world? Before that thought was finished, the Rainbow Wolf Spider''s eyes blurred with a sh of green robes. Before it could react, a sharp pain surged through its body, and its remaining two legs were severed! Thump! Without any support, the Rainbow Wolf Spider fell onto the ground. Due to the immense blood loss, its body shrank continuously and became the size of amoner filth before long. Slumped in the mud, the Rainbow Wolf Spider red at Aiden with a venomous gaze. Aiden took out a rope from his storage bag and tossed it at the Rainbow Wolf Spider''s body. Instantly, it coiled itself around thetter. After the battle at the ancient city, he had gathered tens of thousands of storage bags. There were way too many artifact weapons in his storage bag now and he could casually pull out a supreme-grade artifact weapon at any moment! "I''ll leave your life for little crane!" Aiden dragged the Rainbow Wolf Spider and sped back to where he came from. Chapter 1051 1051 - Last Moments ? The battlefield had gone silent, leaving behind nothing but charrednd. The Soaring Serpent flew into the air sprayingva wildly and incinerating everything within five hundred kilometers. The Rainbow Wolf Spiders were not the only ones suppressed by its aura as a divine being, but other demon beasts as well. Most of the Rainbow Wolf Spiders were already burned to death. The remaining demon beasts broke free of the Rainbow Wolf Spiders'' control and fled one after another. The retreat of the beast stampede left nothing but a pile of carcasses and bones on the ground, some of them torn and still fuming with smoke. Monkey, the spirit tiger, and Golden Lion were filled with injuries all over and panted heavily. "Thank you, monkey and spirit tiger." Little crane spoke inmoner filth tongue and rubbed against monkey and the spirit tiger''s cheeks with her long beak. "It''s nothing," Monkey grinned and waved it off, pointing to the spirit tiger at the side. "This perverted tiger was the first to notice that something was off and mumbled the entire journey. That was when we noticed what was amiss." The spirit tiger''s heart was pounding furiously in happiness when it felt the little crane''s intimate act. However, at the mention of ''perverted tiger'' from monkey, the spirit tiger''s expression turned awkward and it coughed twice to divert little crane''s expression. Little crane was a little confused. Monkey snickered. Both the Golden Lion and little fox knew the reason for that and grinned secretly. Patting itself on the chest, the spirit tiger said, "Although I''ve never seen you in your mortal form before, I recognized you right away when I saw your huge, beautiful eyes!" "Hmph, since when did you stare at her eyes? You were looking at her long legs the entire time!" Monkey pouted and grumbled softly. ring at monkey, the spirit tiger said hurriedly, "Don''t listen to his nonsense, little crane!" The spirit tiger looked deeply at the little crane to build up the mood, as though there was something it wanted to say. After a long time, just when the little crane was starting to get creeped out, the spirit tiger yelled, "Ah!" The Golden Lion and little fox were caught unaware and jolted in shock, looking at the spirit tiger in confusion, unsure what it was up to. Monkey rolled its eyes. The spirit tiger continued, "Ah, your eyes are so beautiful and pretty, like the stars and the moon and the sun and the erm" The Golden Lion frowned. The little fox went nk. Monkey was dumbfounded, as though it was struck by lightning. Was the spirit tiger making a poem?! Notwithstanding how lousy the poem was, it was stuck halfway whileposing it?! Monkey reached out and wanted to send the spirit tiger flying with a p. However, it truly could not muster up strength after the massive battle earlier on. Monkey could only sigh and turn away, hiding its face. It truly did not wish to look at the spirit tiger and looked down on thetter from the depths of its heart. With an embarrassed expression, the spirit tiger scratched its head and was struck by inspiration, yelling, "Like a huge gemstone deep in the ocean!" The spirit tiger shrugged its head smugly and smiled to itself foolishly. In its opinion, that final statement was the vital finishing touch to make everything perfect! Little crane felt chills run down her spine and could not help but shudder. "What do you think, little crane?" The spirit tiger closed in and licked its own face, asking. ring at the spirit tiger, little crane asked coldly, "Are you in heat?" "Pfft!" The little fox could not help but burst intoughter. Monkey and the Golden Lion snickered wildly at the side, beaming as well. The spirit tiger had not expected little crane to be so sharp and direct with her words. Unable to take it at all, its face flushed red and it was thoroughly embarrassed, wanting nothing more than to find a hole to bury itself. Right then, a person flew through the air from the distant skies. He dragged a long rope tied to a spider with eight legs severed C it was the true form of the colorful-robed man! Little crane''s eyes were filled with endless hatred and her body shivered in rage. "Are you guys alright?" Descending before everyone, Aiden took out bottles of elixirs from his storage bag. No matter what was required, internal or external application, there was something. Right now, he was in nock of such items. Monkey and the spirit tiger applied medicine silently while taking care of little crane. Charging right in front of the colorful-robed man, little crane extended her feet and stomped on the man''s body, questioning, "You said that you once saw a man that resembled me in the Thousand Spider Sand Dune! Was that for real?" The colorful-robed man was severely injured to begin with. Now that little crane stomped on him, his internal organs were shocked as he coughed out a mouthful of blood and panted. "Of course it''s real!" Little crane asked hurriedly with an agitated expression, "Where is he?" "That creature this ''man'' was he your father?" Now that he knew he was dead for the sure, the colorful-robed man mocked gloatingly. "Unfortunately, you''ll never see him ever again. He died a long time ago! Hahaha!" Little crane''s body shuddered and her face turned frightfully pale. Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. They were ferocious birds of the primordial era and were extremely fierce. With the ability to manipte fire, they were one of the fiercest species of ferocious birds. However, the phoenix race was way too terrifying and reigned supreme over the ferocious birds while manipting fire at the same time C as such, the creature was not as well known. However, in reality, the true strength of a fiery bird wasparable to the divine being of the mes, Soaring Serpent! Early on, Aiden had already noticed that little crane looked different from ordinary divine birds. Ordinary divine birds had vermilion crowns and snow-white bodies. However, little crane''s body also had jade-green feathers that were extremely beautiful. Everything would make sense if she had the bloodline of fiery birds running in her. After all, fiery birds were jade-green in color! Aidenmented internally, "No wonder I''ve never seen little crane''s father or heard the old divine bird mention it. So, he died a long time ago." "I don''t believe you!" Little crane shook her head repeatedly and red at the colorful-robed man, saying with a quivering voice, "Y-You are lying, am I right?" "Lying?" The colorful-robed manughed bitterly. "Your father had a death wish barging into the Thousand Spider Sand Dune thinking that he was strong! The Rainbow Wolf Spider sucked his blood dry a long time ago! We ate his flesh and drank his blood to train, hahaha!" Little crane had a weakened blood energy to begin with. Upon receiving this blow, her vision darkened and her head spun. "Sister Little Crane!" Little fox rushed up to support little crane. Bang! Suddenly, a pnded on the back of the colorful-robed man''s head, splitting it into pieces as brain juice flowed on the ground. Shrugging his palm, the spirit tiger grumbled, "Annoying! How dare you continueughing when yourughter sounds so disgusting? I''ve had it with you!" Aiden heaved out a sigh of relief. He could tell that the spirit tiger did that because it did not want little crane to get agitated further. In truth, he was about to attack even if the spirit tiger did not do it! It was clear that the colorful-robed man meant to trigger little crane as much as it could, seeing that it wasn''t going to survive! Aiden patted little crane gently on the shoulder and consoled her, "Don''t think too much. This spider was clearly spouting nonsense upon knowing that it was about to die. Things might not be as you''re imagining them to be." Little crane nodded, but the sorrow and misery in her eyes could not be concealed. Chapter 1052 1052 - Save Her ? Sensing the sadness in little crane''s heart, the spirit tiger scratched its ears and cheeks. It wanted to help her share the load but did not know what to say. Nobody knew how to console her for something as such. The atmosphere turned heavy. Looking at Aiden, the spirit tiger hoped that he would say something. After pondering for a moment, Aiden decided to distract little crane. "Little crane, how did you enter the intermediate ancient battlefield?" Although the old divine bird had broken through 20 years ago into a high-level fiend demon that was equivalent to the Quasi Divine realm of mortals, it was probably impossible for her to open up a teleportation point to the intermediate ancient battlefield single-handedly. As though she called something, little crane''s expression changed all of a sudden and she turned into her mortal form. She grabbed Aiden''s arm and said anxiously, "Save little Nora! Think of a way to save Nora Zell!" "Hmm?" Aiden''s heart sank and he took a deep breath. "What happened? Calm down and speak slowly." Nora Zell was the small girl that he ''picked up'' in the capital of Great North and she contained many secrets in her body. For example, Nora Zell was already incredibly strong before she trained. Also, Nora Zell did not seem to age. Or rather, time seemed like it passed extremely slowly for her. This meant that Nora Zell''s lifespan was much longer than anyone else of the same level! Even so, Aiden had no doubts towards Nora Zell. Everyone had secrets. Furthermore, she was only a child and had a pure heart. Be it to him or Azure Myst Sect, she carried no evil intentions. She fought with all her might for the battle at Azure Myst Sect and almost died C it was clear that she had already regarded Azure Myst Sect as her home. Little crane replied, "An old patriarch of the Great North Dynasty appeared and took the initiative to look mother up with the intention of opening a teleportation spot together." "The patriarch was a Quasi Divine, but his blood energy has deteriorated and his lifespan is about to end. That was why he decided to use a secret skill to burn up thest of his lifespan and release a burst together with mother to open up a teleportation spot." "However, the teleportation tunnel was extremely cramped and only two people can be teleported. The patriarch of Great North gave both spots to Azure Myst Sect." When he heard that, Aiden raised his brow. That action was equivalent to sacrificing his life to give a great gift to Azure Myst Sect! The patriarch of Great North must have a motive for doing that! Little crane continued, "The patriarch of Great North knew that his life was about to end and was worried that a cmity would befall the Great North Dynasty after his demise. As such, he wanted to use this gift in exchange for the protection of mother and Azure Myst Sect." In the battle at Azure Myst Sect, the other four major sects suffered immense losses and their Void Reversions perished. Although Azure Myst Sect suffered immense losses as well, its surviving disciples had great potential for the future! Furthermore, the old divine bird managed to extend her life with that battle and advanced to the Quasi Divine realm. She broke free of the restraints of Heaven and Earth and freed herself from the threat of her demise with an extension of her lifespan. With that, Azure Myst Sect became the leader of the five major sects instantly! Its strength surpassed the other four major sects firmly and there were more and more martial artists that wanted to join the sect. In the past 20 years, Azure Myst Sect turned into the true number one sect of Great North! It was not hard to understand why the patriarch of Great North made that decision. Little crane looked at Aiden and continued, "Mother told me that part of the reason why the Emperor of Great North left the throne to her daughter was because of you and your actions. At the same time, it was also because of her rtionship with you as well as the fact that Azure Myst Sect was backing you." Aiden nodded. This was something he had guessed as well. ording to customs, the throne was passed down to the sons in order of seniority C no matter what, Seetho Khouge would not have inherited it. Furthermore, she was a female. Finally, despite the unrest and internal and external strife in Great North for the past 20 years after the throne was passed down to Seetho Khouge, she was not removed from position C that was definitely not a decision made by the Emperor of Great North alone. So, the patriarch of Great North also backed the idea! With that, everything made sense. This patriarch of Great North had nned a long time ahead. Furthermore, he made the right gamble. The fact that the old divine bird sent little crane here meant that they had agreed on the deal! Although he was dead, he paved the way for Great North before his demise with the protection of an expert at Quasi Divine realm. From there on, it was no longer up to his control how Great North would grow in the future. A thought struck Aiden as he asked, "Old divine bird sent you and Nora Zell in here with those two spots?" "Yes," Little crane nodded. "Many martial artists joined Azure Myst Sect and the strength of the sect has grown. However, there are issues as well. We no longer have enough elixirs, weapons or martial art techniques to supply them." "Both mother and the sect master looked highly forward to the opening of the ancient battlefield, hoping to use this opportunity to strengthen our sect''s foundation." "Although Nora Zell joined the sect prettyte, she is already the number one of the Martial Master realm in our sect right now! In fact, the sect master said that she might beparable to you!" "Mother also mentioned that Nora Zell''s Martial Master phenomenon has a chance of making it to the top ten of the Phenomenon Ranking!" Aiden''s eyes lit up. He was surprised enough at the fact that she might be able to make it to the top ten of the Phenomenon Ranking. Sect Master Lian Liu was already at the peak of the Martial Grandmaster realm and both he and the old divine bird were wise and sharp. The fact that they gave Nora Zell such a high evaluation was proof of her strength! Of course, neither the old divine bird nor Sect Master Lian Liu knew of Aiden''s true strength after heid dormant for 20 years at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley. Nobody had witnessed it as well. As though she recalled something, little crane''s eyes were filled with fear. "Not long after we entered the ancient battlefield, we came across a group of seven! There were six men and one woman!" "The seven of them were extremely strong! Extremely, extremely strong!" Little crane emphasized continuously C it was clear how much of a blow it was for her! "The group of them looked down on everything with a cold, arrogant indifference. However, something was off the moment they caught sight of Nora Zell." "Nora Zell''s expression turned terrible as well the moment we saw them. At that time, we were holding hands and her palm went ice-cold right away, filled with sweat." Aiden and the others could not help but feel anxious at this point. Little crane continued, "Thereafter, the seven of them had odd expressions and walked towards us, looking at Nora Zell with fake smiles. Nora Zell told me not to ask about anything and just run before rushing to them." After pausing for a moment, little crane gulped. "The moment Nora Zell rushed up, she released her Martial Master phenomenon. However, it was shattered by a single punch from the leader of the opposing group!" "Ah!" Little fox eximed. Narrowing his gaze, Aiden asked, "He destroyed Nora Zell''s Martial Master phenomenon with a single punch?" "Yes!" Little fox nodded with conviction. Aiden''s expression turned grim. ording to the old divine bird, Nora Zell''s Martial Master phenomenon had a chance of making it to the top ten of the Phenomenon Ranking. In other words, her Martial Master phenomenon was definitely not weaker than his Soaring Serpent and Divine Turtle! However, such a terrifying Martial Master phenomenon was shattered by a single punch! Aiden was secretly shocked. Even he might not be capable of releasing such a powerful burst! Suddenly, Aiden realized that the ancient battlefield this time round might be much scarier than he had imagined it to be! Chapter 1053 1053 - Cheering Her Up ? "Nora Zell did not manage tost three moves against that person. At that time, I was scared out of my wits and my mind was filled with nothing but Nora Zell''s voice asking me to escape." Little crane''s eyes were filled with guilt and self-me as she said with a slumped head, "I know that I''m very weak for not choosing to fight alongside Nora Zell. However, I truly could not muster any courage in the face of those people." "The only thought on my mind as I escaped frantically was to look for you and inform you about this! However, I did not escape far before Inded in the hands of the Rainbow Wolf Spiders." The spirit tiger consoled hurriedly, "It''s not your fault. You can''t defeat them either. I would have escaped too if I was in your shoes." Aiden patted little crane with the back of her palm. "You did the right thing. If you fought those people recklessly, you would have only lost your life for nothing." "Furthermore, it''s lucky that you escaped. Otherwise, I would not have found out what happened to you guys either." Little crane''s expression was slightly relieved. After a moment of silence, Aiden asked, "Did they hurt Nora Zell?" "No." Little crane shook her head. "Their leader merely wanted to capture Nora Zell alive. He mentioned something about returning to the elders for punishment but I didn''t hear anything more," At that point, little crane sighed again. "The reason why I escaped wasn''t because they couldn''t catch up to me. It was because they could not be bothered with me at all. I''ll never forget the way they looked at me, it was as though I was an ant." Who would care about letting an ant go? Aiden pondered for a moment before suddenly asking, "What did they look like?" Little crane replied, "The seven of them wore extremely ancient costumes. All of them had golden hair, blue eyes, straight, high noses and were extremely good-looking. It''s easy to recognize them." The mention of that had Aiden''s heart skipping a beat. Nora Zell''s appearance did resemble them somewhat. In the battle at Azure Myst Sect, Nora Zell once released her potential in a moment of desperation and her strength exploded. Her initially withered yellow hair turned straight and danced with a golden shade as well. Her eyes were blue and her aura was peerless, resembling a dignified divine being! Nora Zell''s background definitely had something to do with these guys! However, Aiden could not identify where they were from exactly. He had a vague guess in his heart. "Judging from their behavior, I don''t think Nora Zell''s life is in danger for the time being," Aiden looked at the worried little crane and said gently, "Don''t worry, leave this to me." "Yes," Little crane nodded. If there was anybody in the ancient battlefield who could save Nora Zell, it would have to be Aiden. "Let''s leave this ce first and look elsewhere to rest," Monkey, the spirit tiger, and Golden Lion were injured. Although they consumed quite a bit of elixirs, it would take them a few days to recoverpletely. For the next few days, Aiden and the others did not rush to travel and rested in a cave. They were already in the ancient battlefield for more than a month. The rich spirit energy coupled with the massive battle and fights they encountered triggered Aiden''s Martial Master realm C he finally sensed the opportunity for a breakthrough! In his core, a golden dazzling core revolved slowly around the space. The Martial Master''s aura was slightlyplicated. It had the aura of immortals as well as fiends. The two auras were supposed to oppose one another. However, there was an aura of the Buddhist sects in the Martial Master that created a harmony tobine the immortal and fiend auraspletely. Aiden assumed a lotus position with his eyes closed and his ck hair danced on its own. On the left, water mists rose and the phantom of a Divine Turtle appeared. On the right, mes zed and the phantom of a Soaring Serpent descended. Gradually, as time passed, the aura within Aiden''s body intensified. It continued until fire and water fused and the turtle and serpent intertwined! The entire void quaked for a moment! A shuddering aura emanated from Aiden''s body, spreading through the hole like a ripple. Monkey and the others were rmed and ran outside, watching from the entrance of the cave. Everywhere the ripple extended, rocks and sand disintegrated into emptiness! It was as though the entire cave was sliced by a sharp knife! Bang! Boom! Boom! The mountain itself trembled. The mountains were tumbling and the ground was disintegrating! Boom! There seemed to be a loud explosion within Aiden''s body. Two divine lights appeared in the cave. Aiden opened his eyes and jolted upright, roaring into the skies! His roar was resounding and prated metal and rock! Right in front of monkey and the others, an air current exited from Aiden''s mouth like a flying sword, bursting the ceiling above! His breath was like a sword! That level was beyond the limits of a Martial Master! Sess! At this point, Aiden was at perfected Martial Master! A step further and he would advance into Martial Grandmaster realm, training the legendary Essence Spirit and gaining control of Divine powers! His martial art speed was not considered the best. However, given the fact that he could reach this stage with his immortality and demonic martial art, it was quite a rare feat. Aiden''s Martial Master faded gradually. He reined in his aura and tranquility and returned to the cave. Monkey and the others had also attained breakthroughs in their martial art realms in the past few days and were almost all at perfected Inner Core realm. The flesh they consumed by being with Aiden was filled with the richest life force essences. Coupled with the countless elixirs, it was only logical that they would reach this stage of martial art. Little crane was still slightly dejected for the past few days. It wasn''t merely out of concern for Nora Zell. More than that, it was also the news of her kin''s demise. Aiden could empathize with her emotions. The spirit tiger apanied little crane day and night, trying his best toe up with ways to cheer her up but to no avail. This day, the spirit tiger seemed to have thought of something and rushed in front of everyone excitedly, yelling, "Hey, hey! I''ve got a suggestion" After a brief pause, the spirit tiger took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Let''s be sworn siblings." "Sworn siblings?" Monkey''s eyes lit up. The group of them had an extremely deep rtionship to begin with. Although the Golden Lion and little fox joinedter on, they had already integrated themselves into the group with their recent interactions. Furthermore, be it little fox or the Golden Lion, both of them had gained everyone''s acknowledgment after the battle at the ancient city. The Golden Lion was naturally delighted. Little fox was not going to decline. She had even more reason to follow along with Aiden after being sworn siblings. When she heard that, little crane perked up and there was a little more life in the way she looked at monkey, the spirit tiger and everyone else. Aiden nodded silently. Although the spirit tiger seemed crude and brutish, this was a decent suggestion. The reason why little crane was upset was because she had lost a kin. But after they be sworn siblings, she would gain a few more kin! After pondering for a moment, monkey looked at Aiden and said with slight hesitance, "Don''t join in. You''re a mortal after all. If you be sworn siblings with us, you''ll definitely get into trouble in the future." "Hahahaha!" Aiden roared intoughter. "Monkey, do I look like someone so cowardly? It''s true that I''m a mortal, but I insist on being sworn siblings with you guys. No matter the amount of trouble, I''ll take it all on!" "Alright, let''s do it then!" Monkey was invigorated as well. "Sure!" The spirit tiger cheered. At that moment, no one realized that this seemingly casual ceremony of being sworn siblings in a corner of the ancient battlefield would end up dictating the state of the world''s future to a certain degree! Chapter 1054 1054 - An Old Acquaintance ? As monkey mentioned, Aiden would not be able to exin things for the rest of his life if he became sworn brothers with them. However, Aiden did not care! The reason why he trained was so that he could do as he wished C how could he be restricted by the confines of moral guidelines or the different ideals of the righteous, the good, and the so-called ''bad''? If he wanted to establish his own rule, his own technique, he must possess the boldness to break free of all restraints and rules! The spirit tiger said, "We should add someone else although he''s not here with us right now." Little crane asked, "Little Dark Demon, right?" The spirit tiger nodded hurriedly and wagged its tail, praising, "You sure are smart, little crane." Little crane blushed slightly and extended her leg, kicking the spirit tiger. "After forming my Inner Core, my mother gave me a name. I''m now called Kiki." Little Crane possessed the bloodline of the fiery birds and looked different from other divine birds with a tinge of jade-green in her feathers C the name was fitting. Little fox called out obediently, "Sister Kiki." "Yes," Kiki nodded and hugged little fox. Although this was the first time they met one another, they were already close as sisters after these few days of interaction. "Who is this Little Dark Demon?" Little fox asked curiously. A reminiscent look shed through Aiden''s eyes as he replied sadly, "It was a little beast that I picked up in the Iron Mountain Range more in the long past. It should have grown up by now." At the mention of Dark Demon, monkey, the spirit tiger, and little crane let out looks of concern. After all, the few of them witnessed Dark Demon''s birth and growth in Azure Myst Sect back then. Dark Demon was picky with food and would not touch the flesh of ordinary demon beasts. In order to feed Dark Demon, monkey, the spirit tiger, and little crane fought through the jungle and sustained injuries all over to obtain different flesh so that Dark Demon could taste them all. Although that period of time was tough and dangerous, they were ecstatic as they watched the Dark Demon grow bit by bit. It felt like everything was worth it! Dark Demon was well-behaved the moment he was born and knew who was good to him. His fangs and ws were extremely sharp but he had never bared them to monkey, the spirit tiger, and little crane. "It''s been a long time since I''ve seen that cub. I wonder what he''s like now that he''s grown up. Does he still remember us?" Monkey was in a rare emotional state. In the blink of an eye, more than 20 years had passed. Aiden gazed into the distance and murmured, "20 years ago, Dark Demon is far away with Aiden''s mortal friends, secretly protecting them on the other side of the world. I wonder if we''ll get to meet them again this time round in the intermediate ancient battlefield." "There should be no issues including Dark Demon with us, right?" The spirit tiger asked. Monkey and Kiki nodded. There was naturally no way little fox would object to it C she was satisfied as long as Aiden was inside. The Golden Lion was a little confused and did not know what Dark Demon was. However, he shrugged to express that he was fine with it since everyone agreed to it. The spirit tiger shifted his gaze and coughed gently. "Since we''re swearing to be siblings, we should talk about seniority. If we make that clear, we can''t change that in the future, right?" Monkey scoffed coldly as he saw through the spirit tiger''s intentions right away. "Why, you want to be the boss?" "N-N-No!" The spirit tiger shuddered in shock and waved it off immediately with a sheepish smile. "No way! Even if I thought that way, I wouldn''t have the balls. Heh!" There were a total of seven of them along with Dark Demon and there were demons and mortals. Everything would definitely be a mess if they judged purely based on age. "What do you have in mind? Hurry and spit it out!" Kiki extended her legs and kicked the spirit tiger again. The spirit tiger was not frustrated. Instead, it said joyfully with a slight excitement, "Aiden is the reason why we''re all here today. He''s the only one suitable to be the big brother. Furthermore, it''s undeniable that he''s the strongest." Everyone nodded. Monkey had no objections either. He had a prideful nature and he wouldn''t object to Aiden being the only one that was ranked before him. Aiden smiled calmly without interrupting and merely listened to how the spirit tiger wanted things to be arranged. Invigorated, the spirit tiger wagged its tail and smiled in a pandering manner to monkey. "Only Brother Monkey has the right to be second!" "Firstly, Brother Monkey knew our Big Brother the earliest and is the most experienced. Secondly, apart from Big Brother, Brother Monkey is the strongest inbat." Monkey was satisfied with the exnation and grinned. Kiki, little fox and the Golden Lion naturally had no objections. Actually, the spirit tiger wanted to be the second ce as well. However, he was most likely going to be tormented back and forth by monkey if he took over that position. As such, he decided against it. The spirit tiger took a deep breath and cleared his throat, saying deeply with a solemn expression, "I guess you will have to be the third!" "I knew Big Brother a long time ago and I''m strong as well!" The spirit tiger patted his chest and dered with gusto. This was his true intention. With this position settled, he could openly bully everyone at the back in the future! Of course, he could not bully Kiki. Little fox was protected by Aiden so he could not touch her as well. There was Dark Demon but he had better forget about that. With that, there was only Golden Hair left. In the past few days, given the violent objection of the Golden Lion, he finally fought for a slightly better name for himself, from Yellow Hair to Golden Hair At least with the ''Golden'' word, he would not be disgracing the bloodline of the Golden Lions. The spirit tiger red at the Golden Lion and snickered evilly. With that arrangement, Kiki would logically be number four. There was not much to discuss about the first four spots. However, the Golden Lion was pretty done by the time it came to number five. ording to the spirit tiger''s arrangement, Dark Demon would be number five. After all, Dark Demon was the first to know Aiden after monkey, the spirit tiger, and Kiki. However, the Golden Lion did not know who Dark Demon was at all! He was definitely indignant being ranked behind a little beast that he had never seen before. Yet, immediately after, he was suppressed mercilessly by monkey, the spirit tiger and Kiki. His objections were to no avail! Little fox was number six. The Golden Lion hid in a corner with misty eyes, a few ps on his face, and a few footprints on his body. He had a gloomy look on his face and no longer spoke The spirit tigerughed when he looked at the Golden Lion. "Golden Hair, are you happy to be number seven?" The Golden Lion seethed at the smug look on the spirit tiger''s face. Monkey teased, "It''s okay, Golden Hair. If we have anyone else joining us in the future, they will be ced behind you." "Brother Golden Hair, although I''m in front of you, I''m not going to bully you!" Little fox said with an earnest expression. The Golden Lion wanted to cry. To be fair, he truly could not afford to mess with the people before him. Although little fox was the weakest, she was protected by Aiden. There was only a single person he was indignant about the more he thought about it. "I don''t know who this Dark Demon is but you better stay away from me! Otherwise, I''m going to teach you a good lesson so that you hand over the number five position, little thing!" "How dare a nameless little beast climb over my head. Hmph!" The Golden Lion rubbed his palms and grumbled internally. Chapter 1055 1055 - What is happening there?

Chapter 1055 Chapter 1055 - What is happening there?

Among the seven of them, apart from Aiden, the rest of them were demons with easygoing attitudes C there was no need for any messy formal ceremonies. After the suggestion, everyone used the ground as a recement for incense and kowtowed towards the skies C that action alone sealed the oath of their swear. Thereafter, everyone became closer and Ki Ki''s mood improved as well. The spirit tiger followed behind Ki Ki everyday, pandering with his butt twerking. There was naturally much joy in their journey with the presence of the spirit tiger. This day, they arrived at a vast in. Aiden''s expression changed as he paused in his tracks and listened. Among the seven of them, his five senses were the strongest C a whole different level above the other six. He was always the first to notice if something was wrong. "First, what''s wrong?" The Golden Lion asked. Aiden said deeply, "There''s quite a bit ofmotion in the East, so there should be quite a lot of people there. It''s not just martial artists, there''s also the faint roars of demon beasts!" Suddenly, the ground quaked gently. Dong! Dong! Dong! A series of movements sounded faintly from the East, as though someone was beating the heavenly drums. The next moment, a bedazzling light surged into the air and illuminated the world! A treasure was born! The reason why the major sects and factions of the world were willing to give it their all to send martial artists to the ancient battlefield was because there were many cave abodes here that were left behind by ancestors! There were also a few inheritance grounds, many ancient secret grounds, and countless tombs with endless mysterious treasures in them! If anyone could obtain some of the secret skills or mystic weapons, they had a chance of turning extremely powerful overnight! Even if they did not need it themselves, they could present it to their sects in exchange for fabulous rewards. Some factions and sects could even rise because of a single opportunity, establishing their foundation and transforming into a powerful major faction from a nameless small sect! In fact, there was even a chance that they could instantly be ranked among one of the many Upper Sects! Aiden narrowed his gaze and whispered, "Let''s go and check things out!" With that, he sped over in a sh. Monkey and the others followed closely behind. Not long after, Aiden gradually slowed down and gazed into the distance. Not far ahead, there was a towering mountain peak that extended into the clouds. Around the mountain peak were many martial artists. There were also countless roars of demon beasts above and below the mountain peak. A massive conflict had broken out between martial artists and demons! Spirit energy surged in midair, releasing beams of light with scorching heat waves. Countless ancient trees were cut with sand flying everywhere. Nobody knew how long the battle had been ongoing but the sight was tragic with the mountain peak drenched in blood! Aiden could clearly see that there was something strange about the mountain peak. It was split from the middle, as though a pair of invisible hands had ripped it apart! However, in the middle of the mountain peak, instead of mountains and rocks, there was a gigantic pce that did not seem like it was man-made C it was like a work of god! The pce was riddled with holes but within, there were ancient weaponsid out one after another. There were also many elixirs and a few ancient books that were filled with dust! Aiden whispered, "This is the birth of an ancestor cave abode and two major factions are fighting within for the treasures!" "The fight is too chaotic, there''s no way to see what''s within," Monkey frowned. "If we barge in right now, we''ll definitely be targeted." Little fox shifted her gaze and nced around. "There must be quite a number of martial artists and ferocious beasts waiting by the sidelines for an opportunity to strike!" "Let''s wait a while more to see if there''s any treasures worthy for us making a move for. We shouldn''t get involved in this mess." Aiden had a calm expression. The fight did not seem simple given how secretive it was located in the middle of a mountain peak. However, Aiden was not in a rush. It won''t be toote even if he struck when a great treasure truly appeared! Boom! A mortal paragon released a Martial Master phenomenon and shed against a few ferocious beasts. The resulting force spread outwards and even the entire pce trembled. Many weapons were caught up in the energy fluctuation and scattered in midair. The eyes of the mortal paragon shone as he grabbed one of the swords and injected spirit energy into it. The sword shone brightly with five spirit patterns! A perfect artifact weapon! "sh!" The mortal paragon shouted and waved the sword. A bedazzling sword light streaked through the air with rainbow colors, slicing the ferocious beasts on the other end into two, creating a bloody mist. "Haha, good sword!" The mortal paragon was delighted. His strength had increased significantly after gaining the sword and it meant that he would stand a greater chance at obtaining a spot on the Phenomenon Ranking! Many other martial artists moved as well to snatch the weapons that were scattered in midair. Aiden could see clearly that among the weapons, the weakest were at top grade and there were more than 10 perfect-grade ones! A single pce contained so many treasures! For most martial artists, gaining a top grade meant an increase in strength. Gaining a perfect artifact weapon meant their strength would increase ten-fold! Be it top-grade or perfect artifact weapons, none of them attracted Aiden any longer. The greatest goal of his trip this time round was to see if he could get any high-leveled divine weapons! It was not only for himself but also monkey and the others. Although monkey and the others were demons, after they broke through their Inner Cores and formed their Essence Spirits, they would be able to refine divine weapons for themselves as well. It was best if they could get their hands on a suitable divine weapon before breaking through to the Martial Grandmaster realm. Boom! It was yet another deafening sound. Another wall in the pce toppled and many weapons that were hung on it bounced. Those weapons were clearly different from artifact weapons. Even in the void where spirit energy was fluctuating in a berserk manner, they had no reaction at all and their patterns were even more intricate and seemingly divine! Divine weapons! There were divine weapons in the pce! "Look, that flying sword has two divine patterns!" "It''s a middle-grade divine weapon!" For Martial Masters and the many spirit demons, a single divine weapon was enough to fuel their greed. It meant that they would get to possess a middle-grade divine weapon the moment they advanced to Martial Grandmaster realm! "Ah! Three divine patterns! It''s a top grade divine weapon!" "Attack!" A series of exmations came from the crowd. A scarlet spear hovered in midair with three divine patterns on it! Boom! A gigantic demon beast soared into the air. It resembled a tiger but it had a pair of wings behind its back, emitting an endless ferocity with a menacing gaze! "One of the four great ancient ferocious beasts!" The Golden Lion said slowly with a grim expression. Even among pure-blooded ferocious beasts, they had varying strength levels. For example, the legendary four great ancient ferocious beasts were much stronger than other ferocious beasts. "Pfft!" The moment the strange, primordial beast appeared, it opened its mouth and devoured a martial artist who was supporting a Martial Master phenomenon. Within a few chomps, thetter was crushed and swallowed as blood oozed from the side of the primordial beast''s mouth. It was way too violent C even a Martial Master phenomenon could not withstand it! "Raging City ze!" A roar sounded from the ground. A mortal paragon wearing zing scarlet robes charged into the battlefield with a gigantic ancient city behind him. The ancient city zed with mes that surged into the air and incinerated all living beings. The moment the ancient city descended, it crushed another pure-blooded ferocious beast into sludge before burning it into ashes. That was one of the ten upper sects of the North Region, a paragon of zing Phoenix Valley! A top grade divine weapon had shown itself. More paragons and ferocious beasts were entering the battlefield! Chapter 1056 1056 - Way Too Risky ? "Should we go and fight for it?" The spirit tiger was raring to go with excitement in his eyes. "There''s no need to," Aiden had a calm expression and a glint sparkled in his eyes. "Although top-grade divine weapons seem good, it''s not worth us taking the risk to enter this mess." In the ancient battlefield, even for divine weapons that once belonged to Divine Beings or Lesser Gods, their divine powers had long dissipated without the refinement of Essence Spirit and the passing of countless years. These weapons had fallen to the grade of Perfected Lord divine weapons a long time ago. The only difference was that their divine patterns were still around and their grades were unchanged. Therefore, even if any divine weapons appeared, they were mostly for Quasi Divine Beings. "Go, let''s leave this ce first!" Aiden waved and prepared to leave with monkey and the others. "You want to leave aftering here?" A gigantic ferocious bird spread its wings and covered the skies with a torrential demonic aura. Its gaze was sharp as it red down, diving toward little fox with its outstretched talons. Foxes were natural-born seductresses. Unless they had a strong backing, countless demon beasts would fight for them the moment they appeared! "Hmm?" Ki Ki raised her brows with a hint of displeasure. Without even transforming, she leaped into the air and crossed her legs, kicking a series of shadows into the air. Her thighs were like guillotines, letting out the sound of air slicing. Ki Ki was already rather beautiful in her mortal form. Coupled with her slender and tall figure, she was like a graceful dragon dancing in the air! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! On the ground, the spirit tiger watched with a gaping mouth, drooling constantly. His gaze was dazed and he remarked squarely, "Her legs seem like they can spread apart right beneath her belly button" Piak! Monkey sent the spirit tiger with a single p. Bang! Bang! Bang! Ki Ki avoided the talons of the ferocious bird and pummeled it furiously on the head, causing it to explode! Croak! Croak! A Golden Toad the size of a mountain squatted at the side with widened eyes, puffing its cheeks and letting out a strange sound that grew louder and louder. It was as though thunder had just rumbled! All of a sudden! The Golden Toad opened its mouth! A blood beam shed and wrapped around little fox. It was the tongue of the Golden Toad race! It was so fast that it could not be seen clearly. This was the strongest killing move of the Golden Toad it used mainly to capture other demon beasts for food. Most demon beasts were devoured by the Golden Toad before they could react. Although little fox was unable to defend against this, there was no trace of fear or panic in her eyes. Any single one of the few figures around her was enough to kill the Golden Toad! Piak! Just as the blood tongue was about to make contact with little fox''s body, a hairy palm appeared and grabbed the Golden Toad''s tongue! Monkey''s eyes shed with a scarlet glow as he red at the Golden Toad not far away and grinned. Shing! Exerting strength in both arms, monkey ripped the blood tongue off with blood spraying everywhere. Boom! Immediately after, monkey''s legsnded on the ground and his body expanded. He arrived before the Golden Toad in a stride and swung his massive fist down towards thetter! The Golden Toad retracted its severed tongue and its mouth was filled with fresh blood as hatred surged through its eyes. Suddenly, blood bubbles the size of fists appeared on its body, erging by the second! Snap! Aiden pointed gently and a divine thunderbolt struck down onto the Golden Toad''s head. The Golden Toad shuddered and all the blood bubbles that appeared burst immediately with fuming smoke C the poison in its blood was cleansed by the power of thunder instantly! Bang! Monkey''s fist crushed heavily on the Golden Toad''s head, killing that ferocious beast instantly! More demon beasts charged towards them. Aiden raised his brow slightly. "Follow me. We''ll leave this ce first." Before his words were finished, Aiden retrieved Rygintarth from his storage bag and his blood energy surged. shing his way through, he created a bloodied path in the pack of beasts. When they arrived at the outer perimeter, Aiden''s group turned back. More and more demon beasts and martial artists were arriving in the vicinity of the mountain peak and all of them were bloodthirsty in the fight for the treasures. This was the ancient battlefield. It was a ce where opportunities and dangers coexisted! "Let''s look elsewhere. There seems to be something else that''s odd around this area." Aiden circted his universal hearing and after a moment, pointed in a direction before speeding over with everyone. Not long after, the group of them stopped. There was a swamp ahead of them where another pce stood with many elixirs and weapons hovering in midair. Many martial artists from various factions and sects were fighting to the death with demon beasts in midair for the weapons and elixirs. The swamp was dyed red with blood! Many corpses fell from midair into the swamp, sinking slowly before vanishing. Aiden focused his gaze. There were many weapons in midair and some of them were divine weapons. However, the best among them only had three divine patterns C they were top-grade divine weapons. For most martial artists, it was worth fighting for top-grade divine weapons. However, after a moment of hesitation, Aiden decided against it. "Let''s go!" There was naturally no way monkey and the others would object. The group of them continued. Not long after, they caught sight of another cave abode appearing and another group of sects and factions fighting for the treasures left behind. After watching by the sidelines for a moment, Aiden shook his head and left with monkey and the others. For the next day, the group of them traveled in twists and turns. In that area, more than 10 cave abodes appeared with various factions and sects fighting for them! Among them, they even caught sight of disciples from super sects! "Weird." Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. He did not know what happened but it seemed like many cave abodes that were hidden in that area had appeared all of a sudden. The group of them continued and once again, the sound of a fight apanied by the roars of demon beasts and screeches of ferocious birds could be heard ahead C it was extremely noisy. Yet another cave abode! The Golden Lion''s gaze shimmered and he murmured, "The rod that those guys are fighting for seems to be a top-grade divine weapon at the very least!" In midair, two groups of martial artists were fighting for it. One party only had two martial artists. The other side had dozens of martial artists, all of whom had frightfully pale faces with an a deathly aura around them. Their lips were purplish-green and they resembled malevolent ghosts from Hell. The martial artists stood motionlessly on the ground, wielding long rods in their hands as they controlled dozens of ghastly corpses on the other side! Every single corpse emitted a thick, rotting smell and shone with a metallic luster all over their bodies. They were invulnerable, as though they were refined with something unknown. Their fingernails were long and looked like sharp daggers that shimmered with a faint green glow C all of them wereced with poison! It was one of the five heretical doctrines C Corpse Refinement Cult! The corpses were battle corpses specially refined by Corpse Refinement Cult. Invulnerable to weapons with immense strength and toxic poison in their bodies, they were extremely frightening and troublesome to deal with! The dozens of corpses surrounded the two people in their midst and attacked wildly. Chapter 1057 1057 - Honest Mistake ? Of the two of them, one of them was rotund and short, like an airbag. The other one had a buzz cut and looked square and honest, like a country bumpkin. The honest martial artist wielded a thin, iron rod in his left hand that was etched withplex and intricate patterns. Thin threads that were almost invisible extended from the fingertips of his right hand. He was gathering energy like threads! That was the secret skill of one of the five heretical doctrines, Puppet Sect. By condensing the spirit energy in their cores into threads to wrap around the puppets they refined, they could control their puppets from a distance to fight against their enemies. The honest martial artist was controlling five different puppets! One of them was extremely heavy and shone with a metallic luster. Every single step it took created a deep footprint in the ground. Every single move it made was heavy and firm! Another puppet''s body that was made with an unknown material was almost transparent. It was fluid like water and seemed weak. When the puppet''s body was prated by a battle corpse, its muscles twitched and covered the wound swiftly. Another puppet was scarlet and zed with mes all over. Every single move it made carried a scorching heatwave that turned the surroundings dry. The honest martial artist was dividing his attention to train five corpses of the five elements, creating a formation that increased hisbat strength! "Amazing!" The Golden Lion praised. Although their group consisted mostly of demons, they had fought with many martial artists and naturally knew how to judge thebat strength of martial artists. However, although the honest martial artist was strong and could control five puppets, he could not defend against the wild attacks of dozens of battle corpses! It was thanks to the Martial Master phenomenon released by the fatty that the two of them were able to survive till now. It was a pale yellow river current that was huge with countless ripples. It emitted an endless Yin aura that seemed like it could wash away all the sins in the world! Many corpses floated in the yellow river. "Oo, Oo!" It was as though countless ghosts were screaming. Menacing faces appeared one after another in the river! The Martial Master phenomenon surrounded and protected the two of them in the middle, creating waves to defend against the charging battle corpses. The battle corpses seemed wary towards the yellow river. Each time water from the yellow river sshed onto the battle corpses, green smoke would fume along with a sizzling sound. As though they were sentient, the battle corpses would yelp and retreat, hopping on the spot. Their horrifying greenish-ck eyes bulged slightly, bloodshot and filled with fright. "What is this?" Little fox shuddered. The sight of the yellow river gave her chills. If Aiden and the others were not standing in front of her, she would have escaped in fright a long time ago! "That''s one of the ancient phenomenons, Yellow Springs[!" Aiden said slowly, "In the era where ancient emperors rose one after another, the Underworld Emperor mustered his courage with great conviction to purge his own soul and take a walk around death''s gates. He witnessed the Yellow Springs personally and was inspired to create that Martial Master phenomenon!" "It''s said that there''s a dragon vein hidden in the depths of the Yellow Springs and it''s extremely powerful! With that, the Underworld Emperor created a peerless mystic ssic, the Astounding Dragon Prayer and it''s the number one mystic ssic for locating acupoints!" "Eh?" Ki Ki raised her brow slightly with a contemtive expression before murmuring, "That fatty looks familiar." Although there was a putrid haze that affected one''s vision all over the ce, Ki Ki noticed something amiss after looking for a moment. "It''s Little Fatty from Azure Myst Sect!" Ki Ki eximed. After more than 20 years, Little Fatty had matured significantly and his features had changed slightly as well. However, his countenance remained the same. "That''s right, it''s him," Aiden nodded. "The other martial artist is also an old friend. He was originally a martial artist of Southern Mountains Sect, Sean Jean. Do you guys recognize him?" The legacy left behind by the Underworld Emperor in the world was one of five current heretical doctrines C Tomb Sect! In the elementary ancient battlefield, Little Fatty was taken away by Tomb Sect. Sean Jean on the other hand joined another of the five heretical doctrines C Puppet Sect. "Fatty, I''m sorry for burdening you." Sean Jean''s face was pale and he was sweating on the forehead C it was evident that his spirit energy was exhausted and he could not carry on. While he gained powerfulbat strength controlling five puppets, the toll on one''s spirit energy was also increased by multitudes! "What are you saying that for? Hold on and don''t get distracted! We''ll definitely be able to get out!" Little Fatty''s chubby palm trembled as he controlled the water of Yellow Springs, creating waves that defended the rush of the battle corpses. Although he said that, Little Fatty''s Yellow Springs phenomenon was also showing signs of exhaustion with diminished power C it had be unstable against the continuous rush of the battle corpses! As he defended against the battle corpses outside, Little Fatty said, "Do you know why I looked to you for help this time round?" "Why?" Sean Jean asked. "Because you''re stupid!" Even at this moment, Little Fatty was optimistic and said cheerily, "As the saying goes, the dumb are favored by fortune. Since you''re so stupid, you definitely have a good, long life! The reason why I looked to you for help was because I wanted a little bit of that fortune!" "You''re still in the mood for idle chat?" A Corpse Refinement Cult martial artist pped his storage bag with a cold expression, waving his hand to ssh a pale-yellow powder on the battle corpses. Little Fatty took a sniff and eximed in shock, "Corpse Berserk Powder!" Before his words were finished, the battle corpses that were covered by the pale-yellow powder roared in a deep, resounding manner! The battle corpse grew and the clothes they were wearing exploded, revealing thick green veins on their body, neck, and face. They slithered around the skin like small snakes and looked menacing! As they roared, the battle corpses emitted a foul stench from their mouth and two pairs of sharp fangs grew from their upper and lower jaws. They were stained with blood and looked extremely unsettling! Bang! Bang! Bang! The strength of the battle corpses grew significantly and they no longer feared the power of Yellow Springs, as though they had gone berserk. They charged towards Little Fatty''s Martial Master phenomenon continuously, causing it to quake violently. Instantly, the Yellow Springs phenomenon quivered. Even the Yellow Springs itself seemed to have calmed down! Lone souls, hungry ghosts, and the corpses of archdemons were contained in Yellow Springs! But now, Yellow Springs seemed to have been suppressed by the dozens of battle corpses that were standing in it as they roared into the air with torrential ferocity! A wrathful look shed through Little Fatty''s eyes. If the Underworld Emperor knew that the Yellow Springs phenomenon had fallen to this point with its corpses within suppressed, he would definitely explode in rage. Right then, a voice sounded. Although it was neither loud nor soft, it overwhelmed the roars of the battle corpses and spread to every single corner of the battlefield! "How dare a bunch of evildoers behave so audaciously in the ancient battlefield where countless emperors have perished!" Little Fatty shuddered when he heard that voice and his bead-like eyes widened with disbelief. Sean Jean panted but a curious expression appeared on his face as well. That voice sounded familiar. "It''s Boss!" Little fatty could not help but exim. "Boss?" Sean Jean stoned for a moment before asking, "Brother Aiden of Azure Myst Sect?" "That''s right! I can''t be wrong!" Little Fatty supported his Yellow Springs phenomenon and leaped, looking outward frantically as he waved with an excited look on his face. "Boss, I''m here! Hurry ande save me!" Chapter 1058 1058 - Scram

Chapter 1058 Chapter 1058 - Scram

"Who is the tactless one trying to meddle in the affairs of the Corpse Refinement Cult!" The leader of the Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists red at Aiden''s iing group. His eyes were unblinking, resembling those of dead fishes, and his voice was sinister and murderous. Another person said coldly, "Beasts, you had better scram far away. Otherwise" "Hehe, given Corpse Refinement Cult''s supreme mystic ssic, we can easily turn you guys into battle corpses and let you suffer a fate worse than death!" "Is that so?" Aiden raised his brow slightly. Nobody saw what he did but in a sh, he bolted into the Corpse Refinement Cult group like an arrow. It was too fast! The distance between both parties was not far to begin with. Aiden''s Inner Core and Martial Master were at perfected realm. When he circted both cores together with his demonic and spirit energy alongside the power of his blood energy Even pure-blooded ferocious beasts with sharp, keen senses and powerful bodies wouldn''t be able to react to that burst speed, let alone the martial artists of Corpse Refinement Cult! Poof! Poof! Poof! There was no technique or spirit art. He barged in purely with his body! Right in front of everyone, the Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists that stood in Aiden''s way were rammed into pieces with blood spewing everywhere, like gigantic watermelons! He was a mortal weapon! Nobody could withstand his might as he charged his way through the crowd! Seven Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists were sneering a moment earlier. Immediately after, they were rammed to death without even understanding how they died! A Corpse Refinement Cult martial artist reacted to it and defended instinctively by propping his Chaos Essence Iron Rod in front of him. Unexpectedly, a ck shadow darted over. Snap! The iron rod in his hands was snapped into two. The middle portion where it was snapped thrust into his chest like a spear, prating itpletely! Another Corpse Refinement Cult martial artist yelled and withdrew a shimmering silver shield from his storage bag before injecting spirit energy into it furiously. Instantly, a bright beam shone. The shield expanded with the wind like a silver mountain peak that guarded the man behind it. It shone with five spirit lights and was bedazzling! It was a perfect-grade defensive artifact weapon! In the training world of the Great South Dynasty, a perfect artifact weapon would cause quite a huge stir. However, Aiden''s expression did not change C in fact, there were no emotions in his eyes. He had seen too many of such weapons! Right now, he had dozens of perfect artifact weapons in his storage bag alone! Aiden''s speed did not slow down as his body rose gently. With a cold gaze, he strode forward and stomped down furiously on that gigantic silver shield! Plow Heaven Stride! A torrential force surged forward from Aiden''s body. Even if he was facing the heavens, he could plow a massive ravine beneath his feet, let alone a single mountain. Boom! The glowing silver shield was stomped beneath Aiden''s feet! The Corpse Refinement Cult martial artist that hid behind the shield was stomped into sludge despite the shield standing between him and Aiden without even making a peep of sound. Aiden''s execution of the many killing moves in the Mystic ssic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness was getting more fluid. As his demonic training deepened, the power of those killing moves became even more frightening as well! The crowd was in an uproar. Not far away, many martial artists were prepared to join the fight. However, all of them stopped instinctively with dumbstruck expressions when they witnessed this. It was way too ferocious! In the blink of an eye, nine Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists died in the hands of this green-robed martial artist! The scary thing was that the nine of them werepletely helpless against him! "Who is he? What''s his background?" "I don''t know. The ancient battlefield is indeed a ce where paragons roam and monster incarnates are everywhere. It''s too scary!" "That''s right, notwithstanding the legacy disciples of the various super sects, I heard that a monster incarnate unlike anything history has ever seen appeared in the North Region." "I heard of him as well! I heard that he sowed a grudge with Crystal Pce Sect and actually managed to murder all their martial artists that have arrived in the ancient battlefield!" "Man, that''s savage!" The discussions were loud and fervent. On the battlefield. The remaining Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists were shocked and retreated hurriedly along with the battle corpses that they were controlling not far away. Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists were almostpletely reliant on their battle corpses for strength. Without the protection of their battle corpses, they were extremely weak physically and their actual strength was not much different from ordinary martial artists. The leader of the Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists said coldly, "You truly have a death wish. Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists spend their days with corpses as theirpanions and their bodies are filled with poison as well. You won''t be able to escape death after crushing their bodies!" "That''s right!" Another Corpse Refinement Cult martial artist sneered, "Beast, have you realized that the blood energy in your body is starting to deteriorate? Hehe!" "Hahahaha!" Aiden reared his head inughter loudly. The blood energy in his body surged with the mighty sound of a tsunami! He did not seem like he was poisoned at all! His bloodline was like a cauldron zing with mes. It could incinerate, evaporate, and cleanse everything! Even the poison of Poison Sect might not be a threat to him, let alone the poison from corpses. "You " The faces of the Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists turned pale as a sheet. A tall and mighty shadow charged in front of them, whirling two fists like hammers and barging left and right in the crowd. There was no way the Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists could withstand the iron fists of monkey. One after another, figures were sent flying. By the time theynded on the ground, they were corpses without any life in them. An evil gust of wind blew past! A ferocious tiger with rumbling malevolent energy lunged down from above the lion, ripping the body of a Corpse Refinement Cult martial artist apart by the stomach as though it was extremely hungry! The moment the poison of the corpse made contact with the fur of the spirit tiger, it was cleansed into emptiness by an electric current. "Roar!" A Golden Lion with a dignified might charged into the crowd and let out a deafening roar! The few Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists closest to it started bleeding from the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. They were bleeding from all orifices! The brains of those martial artists were shaken into sludge! Ki Ki and little fox did not head up. The two of them definitely wanted nothing more than to get far away from those eerie martial artists with the stench of rotting corpses. Even so, it took slightly more than 10 breaths for Aiden, monkey, the spirit tiger, and Golden Lion to decimate the dozens of Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists entirely! Everything ended before the dozens of battle corpses that surrounded Little Fatty and Sean Jean could retreat to help. In truth, Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists were extremely troublesome to deal with in the training world. Unless there was a need to, disciples of various super sects would not want to provoke them intentionally. The battle corpses they had were invulnerable to fire, water and were extremely strong such that they could take on perfect or even top-grade artifact weapons head-on! Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists were almost impossible to defeat with a battle corpse standing before them! However, the weakness of Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists was evident as well. The moment they fall, their battle corpses would not be controlled and were no longer any threat. By understanding that weakness, Aiden and the others did not give the Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists any breathing room and ughtered the group of them with a thunderous might in slightly more than 10 breaths! The dozens of battle corpses fell forward stiffly, turning into true corpses. Chapter 1059 1059 - Same roots

Chapter 1059 Chapter 1059 - Same roots

Little Fatty had just consumed a few elixirs and was panting. Before he could calm down, he saw that the Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists were already inpletely! His eyes widened and his jaws almost dropped to the ground. "The rumors are not lying, Big Brother is still as ferocious as ever." Sean Jean gulped and muttered his thoughts. "Bro, I''m d you''re here! I''ve missed you to death!" Little Fatty''s character had not changed as he scurried over like a gigantic meatball. He lunged into Aiden''s embrace emotionally with tears and snot. Peeling that fat face away, Aiden scolded with a chuckle, "Stop acting." Sean Jean came over as well and smiled at Aiden with cupped fists. "Much thanks, Big Brother." "What''s with the politeness after not meeting each other for 20 years?" Aidenughed with a rxed expression. Back in Ugburg City in the elementary ancient battlefield, he weed the Four Mounted Bandits single-handedly. It was a bloody and gruesome battle that also gave way to new and unexpected friendships, like this one. They were brothers who had gone through thick and thin! Little Fattyughed. "Silly Jian is foolish as always, you can just ignore him, Boss." The three of them had reunited after a long time and words could not describe Little Fatty''s joy. Sean Jean did not have much to say and merely chuckled foolishly the entire time. Although Aiden seemedposed, he was smiling a lot more than usual as well. "Thank you for your help, fellow brothers of the demon race," Little Fatty chuckled and greeted monkey and the others with cupped fists. He got along with people easily, to begin with. Furthermore, he already knew monkey and the spirit tiger from back in Azure Myst Sect. "Boss, I''ve heard from Silly Jian about everything in the North Region," Little Fatty consoled, "Don''t worry, follow me back to my sect this time round. I''ll persuade my master to take you in. Although Tomb Sect''s legacy is not strong, we''vested through history and have some foundation as well!" "Furthermore, Tomb Sect is the best at being secretive. There''s no way outsiders know about where we''re located!" Almost the entire North Region knew about Aiden''s feud with Crystal Pce Sect. Ordinary martial artists would want nothing more than to get far away from Aiden in fear of being implicated. However, Little Fatty had no such considerations at all. Instead, he was thinking up ideas and solutions for Aiden. Aiden patted Little Fatty on the shoulder gratefully. Although it sounded like a possible idea, it was not practical. Little Fatty was a Martial Master. Even if he was a legacy disciple, his words would not carry much weight in the sect. Most sects would definitely not want to go against a super sect such as Crystal Pce Sect just for someone like him C the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. Furthermore, although Tomb Sect was one of the five heretical doctrines, it was well known that they had few disciples C there was no way they could go against Crystal Pce Sect. "Big Brother, I-I could head back and exin things to Puppet Sect as well" Sean Jean mustered his courage and wanted to help Aiden with his troubles as well. Aiden waved it off with a smile and diverted the topic. "It''s fine, we can talk about this next time. Right, how did you guys end up fighting against Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists?" Sean Jean gripped his fists and said hatefully, "Puppet Sect and Corpse Refinement Cult have a deep enmity to begin with. There''s naturally no way they would let me off the moment they saw me." "Oh?" Aiden raised his brow. In the world, among the many martial sects, the seven fiendish, or ''evil'' sects, six religious monasteries, five heretical doctrines, and the four unorthodox groups there were truly deep-rooted enmity between some super sects that went a long way back! For example, the Ancient Sword Sect of the martial, ''righteous'' sects and the ''evil'' Malefic Demons n of the fiend sects were long enemies. There were also simr conflicts between martial sects. Crystal Pce Sect had an extremely poor rtionship with Snowdrift Valley of the Middle Continent. Sean Jean continued, "Originally, there weren''t five heretical doctrines. Corpse Refinement Cult was established by a traitor of Puppet Sect!" "He was the most talented martial artist in Puppet Sect and even had the potential of bing an emperor if he continued training! However, he ended up veering onto the wrong path and focused entirely on corpses." "In order to refine corpses, he became addicted to killing and sinned endlessly, training himself to the point where he resembled neither mortal nor ghost. Eventually, he incurred the wrath of the sect." Everyone was immersed as Sean Jean recounted the history of Puppet Sect. When Sean Jean paused briefly, little fox could not help but ask, "What happened after?" Sean Jean let out a deep breath. "An expert of a sect took pity on his potential and could not bear to see him cripple his training just like that. That person tried to persuade him to repent countless times but was eventually killed by him instead!" "Sigh, he was truly powerful. He managed to escape even against thebined attack of experts from many sects!" "Although a patriarch of the sect eventually moved in, that person had already established himself and forged an alliance with one of the other heretical doctrines, Poison Sect. Even if we gave it our all to kill him, Puppet Sect would suffer immense losses and even face possible annihtion!" "Left with no other choice, we could only allow him to leave. Not long after, he created Corpse Refinement Cult in the world and as it grew stronger, it became one of the five heretical doctrines." "No wonder." At that point, realization shed through Aiden''s eyes. "Earlier on, I noticed that the technique Corpse Refinement Cult used to refine their battle corpses was simr to the technique of Puppet Sect. The only difference was that one was evil and the other righteous. So, they had the same background." "Unfortunately, although our backgrounds are the same, the situation between us is now irreconcble," Sean Jean said. Little Fatty shifted his beady eyes and surveyed the surroundings. When he saw that more martial artists were gathering, he whispered, "Let''s leave first. This is not a good ce to linger further!" "Yes," Aiden nodded. "You guys leave first. I''ll go get my hands on that iron rod!" Although the fight between them and Corpse Refinement Cult had subsided, more martial artists had been attracted over due to themotion. Right now, many martial artists and demon beasts were already fighting and it was all for that top grade divine weapon with four divine patterns in mid-air! Aiden had his eyes set on that object as well. They traveled for an entire day past more than 10 cave abodes but this was the highest graded divine weapon. "No, don''t go!" Little Fatty held back Aiden by the arm and whispered, "There''s no need for us to fight for that scrap metal. Let''s head somewhere else!" "Ah? Aiden froze for a moment. Wasn''t his tone way too arrogant? A top grade divine weapon was considered as scrap metal in the eyes of Little Fatty? Little Fatty said in a mysterious manner, "Follow me, I''ll take you guys elsewhere!" "What?" Aiden could not help but ask. Little Fatty asked instead, "How many cave abodes have you seen appear today?" Aiden replied, "More than 10." "Yes," Little Fatty was not surprised. "Based on my deductions, more than 10 more of such cave abodes are going to appear!" "So many?" Aiden was surprised and asked with a frown, "Why are so many cave abodes appearing all of a sudden? Did something happen to this ce?" "Sort of." Little Fatty retracted his smile in a rare manner and said darkly, "There''s a huge tomb beneath this ce where the true treasures lie!" "These cave abodes are nothing but a distraction left behind by the tomb master!" Chapter 1060 1060 - Helping others

Chapter 1060 Chapter 1060 - Helping others

Aiden was surprised when he heard that. How extravagant! This legendary master of the tomb was willing to painstakingly set up dozens of diversionary cave abodes so as to hide his treasures and legacy! More than that, the diversionary tombs contained quite a number of treasures that caused countless martial artists and demons to fight for it, leaving corpses in their wake! Aiden deduced, "I''m sure the identity of the tomb master is far from simple if he has this many treasures." "The tomb master is a fearsome existence far into the Divine realms! At least a Lesser God!" Little Fatty said with conviction. "No wonder." Aiden nodded. A Lesser God was probably the only one who had the capability to disregard spirit and divine weapons, nting them in diversionary tombs to confuse outsiders. After hesitating for a moment, Little Fatty decided to reveal the truth, "This Mighty Figure was even the titr disciple of Tomb Sect in the past!" "Ah!" Aiden was rmed. The old monk in the old temple had once warned him that apart from legacy disciples, the strongest sessors of the super sects were the titr disciples! Furthermore, there could only be a single titr disciple! They were the elites among the legacy disciples of the sect. In order to be the titr disciple of a sect, one has to defeat all the other paragons. In the fiend sects, that was a path that was paved with fresh blood and corpses! A single person''s sess came from the corpses of many others! A titr disciple was a peerless paragon! Titr disciples were the faces of the super sects and ruled over the world. Their statuses in the sects were extraordinary and they couldmand all the disciples in the sect. In fact, their status was even greater than most of the elders in the sect! At this point of his training, Aiden had only encountered a true titr disciple C the Asura, Ward Atrez! Upon recollection of Ward Atrez''s methods in the battle at Azure Myst Sect, it was obvious how strong titr disciples were. In that generation, Ward Atrez was even the number one of the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking! As a titr disciple of Tomb Sect in the past, this Mighty Figure must have been a glorious and peerless elite who roamed the world in the past and looked down on the rest of the world. Little Fattymented, "Unfortunately, this senior was unable to advance to the Normal God realm and was eventually buried here." The Normal God realm came after the Lesser God realm! For mortals, there was an ancient saying C one is unable toprehend divine powers until they enter the Normal God realm. In other words, as long as one advanced to the Normal God realm, they couldprehend divine powers. Divine powers were boundless but divine powers were vast. Even for Lesser God Mighty Figures, they were not free from the shackles of Heaven and Earth and still had to utilize divine powers and arts. However, divine powers were no match for divine powers! In the training world, spirit energy was weaker than divine powers and divine powers were weaker than divine powers. What were divine powers? They were incredible and beyond imagination! These were abilities to reach the firmaments that were beyond godly! Divine powers came after one broke free of the shackles of Heaven and Earth and were at an even more terrifying level! In the old temple, there was a saying in one of the ancient books describing the means of a Normal God Patriarch C Normal God was indestructible and could be reborn through a drop of blood! This meant that experts of the Normal God were almostpletely indestructible! Even if their bodies were destroyed and their limbs were snapped, a single drop of blood would suffice for them to recover to their original selves! Those methods were truly unimaginable and sought after by many. Only at that training realm can one be barely worthy of the title ''immortal''. With a deeper understanding of the path of training and the training world, Aiden could understand what an old monk said in the past, "What kind of immortals are energy Refinement Warriors considered as? Even the Martial Master dare not be so impudent to call themselves immortal!" Even the titr disciple of Tomb Sect could not make the step forward and passed on before the Normal God realm C it was imaginable how horrifying that realm was. Little Fatty said, "Boss, I''m not going to hide it from you. The reason why I entered the ancient battlefield this time round was because of a test left for us by our sect." "Test?" Aiden raised his brow slightly and asked, "You guys?" "Yes," Little Fatty nodded. "The senior carried with him an utmost treasure of the sect that was lost after he disappeared." "That remained the case until dozens of years ago when our sect master beseeched experts of Enigma Pce for help. At that point, they decided roughly that the senior may have passed on and was buried in the intermediate ancient battlefield." Aiden understood. "So, the test for you by the sect is to locate the tomb and retrieve the utmost treasure?" "That''s right," Little Fatty replied, "This utmost treasure belonged to the Underworld Emperor and is extremely important to the sect. The reason why my Yellow Springs phenomenon isn''t strong is also because of the loss of this utmost treasure." "I see," Suddenly, Aiden was enlightened. When he saw Little Fatty release the Yellow Springs phenomenon earlier on, he already had the feeling that the true power of the phenomenon was not unleashedpletely. The true Yellow Springs phenomenon could definitely be ranked within the top 20 of the Phenomenon Ranking! Little Fatty continued, "However, this test wasn''t for me alone. There''s another senior brother of mine. Whoever gets their hands on this utmost treasure of the sect first will be qualified to be the titr disciple of Tomb Sect for this generation!" Aiden realized what was happening. The test for Little Fatty from Tomb Sect was not only to locate the tomb and the belonging of the Underworld Emperor, but also to do it before someone else! This test would determine Little Fatty''s future! Aiden asked, "You can receive help from others?" "Of course!" Little Fatty nodded. Aiden urged, "Let''s not waste time then. Hurry, lead the way." Little Fatty wanted to speak but did not; he did not move immediately as well. "What''s wrong?" Aiden was confused. With a hesitant expression, Little Fatty said, "That senior brother of mine grew up in Tomb Sect. He even traveled in the Middle Continent once and has deep connections, befriending disciples of super sects. I''m sure he will get some of them to help him with this. Boss, you" Little Fatty did not continue but Aiden understood. Little Fatty was worried about him. He already had a grudge against Crystal Pce Sect. If he were to offend another few super sects because of this matter, it would be equivalent to seeking death. "It''s nothing," Aiden smiled casually and patted Little Fatty on the shoulder, saying in a leisurely manner, "I''m not afraid, what are you worried about?" "But" Aiden interrupted with augh. "Don''t forget, if you''re thinking that I might offend them, I''ve already offended all the righteous, religious, and even the fiend sects beneath the Ancient One''s Pce 20 years ago!" "Boss" Little Fatty''s eyes brimmed with tears emotionally. After all, he had arrived in Tomb Sectter on. When they heard that he was going topete with that senior brother for the utmost treasure, none of his fellow sect mates, including some seniors, stood by his side. He did not know many people in the training world either. After entering the ancient battlefield, Little Fatty''s senior brother gave him a savage warning before leaving to seek super sects to back him up. However, Little Fatty was left all alone and helpless. It would be a lie to say that Little Fatty hadn''t been suffering all these years. However, he knew that he could only endure no matter how much he suffered! The more he could endure, the greater his future aplishments would be. Right now, when he heard Aiden''s words, Little Fatty''s heart was filled with warmth. He sniffled and mumbled to himself, "I''ve also got my Boss helping me! Lend Mind, we''ll see if you can still bully me now!" Chapter 1061 1061 - Secrets ? "Fatty, I''m here too," Sean Jean said with a silly smile, "Although I''m not as strong, I''ll also help you for sure." "Brother Fatty, we''ll help you too!" Little fox was a sentimental person to begin with. At that moment, she raised her furry paws and cheered Little Fatty on; her voice was cute and extremely soothing. During this period of time, she traveled with Aiden and witnessed many things in the world. She was no longer as shy and cowardly as before and had be much more lively. Aiden chuckled. "Fatty, if you don''t mind, the seven of us brothers will stand by your side." "Boss, what are you talking about?" Little Fatty rolled up his sleeves and rubbed away his tears hastily. He patted his chest soundly with his fat palm and dered, "Boss, other than that utmost treasure of the sect, you guys can have every other treasure in the tomb!" "There''s no need for that. After all, these are items of Tomb Sect," Aiden shook his head. "You must take them all!" Little Fatty''s eyes widened and he turned serious. "We might encounter a lot of danger along the way and there will definitely be a massacre if wee across Lend Mind. You guys deserve all the treasures in the tomb." Lend Mind was Little Fatty''s senior brother. Through Little Fatty''s words, it could be seen that the two of them were not on good terms. Aiden remained silent. This was the tomb of a Lesser God Mighty Figure! Furthermore, this Lesser God Mighty Figure was once a titr disciple C all the treasures in the tomb were definitely extremely rare! If the dozens of diversionary tombs outside were enough to fuel everyone''s greed, how could there be ack of amazing treasures in the actual tomb? When he saw how Aiden was still hesitant, Little Fatty almost got angry. "Boss, don''t decline any further. I''m sure Lend Mind promised treasures inside the tomb to the super sect disciples that he sought help from." "For the two of us, the true treasure we have to get our hands on is that utmost treasure of our sect!" "Alright," Aiden nodded. "If Ie across something suitable for me, I''ll take it." "That''s settled then! Let''s go!" Little Fatty cheered and withdrew a circr geomanticpass The geomanticpass was filled with countless circles with stars, the five basic elements of the universe C it was as though it contained endless secrets. Little Fatty followed the geomanticpass and verified the way before pointing in the southeast direction. "That way!" Aiden and the rest followed closely behind. After speeding for close to an hour, Little Fatty suddenly stopped and looked at the geomanticpass again. After a moment, he pointed in another direction. "This way!" Aiden and the others had no objection. Although he was strong inbat, he knew nothing in this regard. Everyone had their specialties. In terms of sense of direction, Aiden could notpare to Little Fatty. In terms of controlling puppets and multitasking, he could notpare to Sean Jean either. Sean Jean was honest and not very sharp. In fact, he was a little slow. However, he was appreciated by one of the five heretical doctrines, Puppet Sect, and taken in as their disciple. In the past, Aiden doubted their decision for a moment. He wondered why Puppet Sect took to Sean Jean. However, during this journey, Sean Jean cleared that doubt of his. One had to be able to multitask if one wanted to train the art of controlling puppets. When a person is too sharp and articte, it''s difficult for them to multitask! Sean Jean did not have Aiden try his hand at multitasking five things in one go, merely two. He tried to have Aiden draw a circle and square on the ground at the same time. However, Aiden could not do it no matter how many times he tried and could only chuckle in exasperation. Although he was the strongest monster incarnate in history, it did not mean that he was good at everything. When Little Fatty was looking for the actual tomb, he was not smiling. Instead, he looked extremely serious. Under Little Fatty''s lead, the group of them traveled through vast ins, deserts, swamps, mountains, and forests At times, they headed east. At times, they went north. The direction was never fixed and always changed. As Little Fatty expected, they encountered many more cave abodes along the way C there were at least 10 of them! There were many martial artists fighting around all those tombs. "That''s the power of a Mighty Figure from Tomb Sect," Aiden was secretly shocked. "The terrain is soplicated and there are countless diversionary tombs. Unless it was by ident, no one would be able to locate his tomb." However, on second thought, Aiden understood the reason for it as well. The tomb should have been prepared by the Mighty Figure for the sessors of Tomb Sect. Only sessors of Tomb Sect would be able to distinguish and locate the actual tomb among the diversionary tombs. In the blink of an eye, six hours passed. It was alreadyte at night. The group of them did not rest at all, traveling with twists and turns for a long time. Although the journey was long, in actual fact, they had not left the region. Up ahead, Little Fatty suddenly stopped and looked at the geomanticpass with a deep, pensive expression. "What''s wrong?" When he saw Little Fatty stop for a long time, Aiden could not help but head up and ask. "We''re lost," Little Fatty looked a little helpless and dazed. "Ah? Everyone was stunned. If even Little Fatty was lost, the rest of them had even less idea of what to do. Aiden took a look at the geomanticpass in Little Fatty''s hands. Initially, there was a maic needle indicating the direction of the geomanticpass. But now, the maic needle had gone crazy and was spinning wildly on the geomanticpass! They could not even identify where they were at currently, let alone locate the tomb. Aiden asked with a frown, "What happened to the geomanticpass?" "I have no idea as well." Little Fatty said with a vexed expression, "It suddenly became like this when we arrived here." The moment he said that Little Fatty''s eyes lit up as he exchanged nces with Aiden. The both of them blurted almost at the same time, "The tomb is here!" Everyone looked down. Not far away, there was a verdant mountain peak and they were surrounded by greenery as well. There was also a smallke not far away with a little beast drinking water at the moment C everything looked serene and peaceful. Although they deduced that the tomb was around here, nobody knew its exact location. The spirit tiger said loudly, "Since the tomb is here, let''s smash the ground together! Sooner orter, we''ll dig out a hole!" "No, we can''t," Aiden shook his head. "Although this region is not humongous, it''s not that small either. There''s no way of finding out how deep the tomb lies. How long are we going to dig for?" "That''s right, themotion will most likely attract countless martial artists before we even locate the tomb," Ki Ki nodded in agreement. "We must not do that!" Little Fatty said with a solemn expression, "There must be many seals set up around this senior''s tomb! If we try to break through them forcefully, the seals might injure us instead!" The spirit tiger shuddered when he heard that and no longer dared to offer any suggestions. If they triggered the seal of a Lesser God Mighty Figure, they might not survive even if they had ten lives. Little Fatty looked up into the skies and his eyes shed with a gradual realization. "I''ve got it!" A momentter, he leaped up in joy. "This is the legendary Astral Dragon''s Lair !" Chapter 1062 1062 - Dragon veins

Chapter 1062 Chapter 1062 - Dragon veins

Sean Jean asked with curiosity, "What''s the Astral Dragon''s Lair?" Little Fatty beamed widely and became more excited the more he thought about it. "It''s a burial method from the ancient era that has been lost for a long time. To think that this senior would have set it up." Gradually, Little Fatty calmed down from his excitement and asked, "Do you guys remember the dozens of diversionary cave abodes we came across?" Everyone nodded. Little Fatty chuckled. "Although those dozens of diversionary cave abodes were merely distractions, they are in fact arge part of this tomb''s formation! Or rather, they are the key to locating the tomb!" "These dozens of diversionary tombs align to dozens of stars up in the skies. Although they seem messy, they form thework of a dragon''s veins. This is the dragon vein that is mentioned by Tomb Sect!" There were two types of dragon veins C the first was made by nature and the second was man-made. A dragon vein can be used to gather fortune as well as great luck. It is extremely mysterious and it''s almost impossibly difficult for anyone to create a man-made dragon vein. Ordinary martial artists would not be able to identify a dragon vein. However, legacy disciples of Tomb Sect could sense the presence of a dragon vein and could even make use of its power to kill their opponents C it was incredibly amazing! Everyone followed Little Fatty''s gaze and looked upwards. Right now, the skies were dark. Stars dotted the heavens. Above the region they were at, dozens of stars shone with a particr brightness, flickering in tandem with the dozens of diversionary tombs on the surface as though they had a mysterious connection. Although the stars seemed like they were in a chaotic order if one were to connect them through a particr order, the shape of a dragon vein could be seen! A dragon''s tail, ws, head, body C everything was present! Aiden closed his eyes and was able to visualize a gigantic dragon with magnificent horns hovering in the firmaments, looking down at the world with cold indifference! Suddenly, Aiden felt a sensation in his body and his blood energy surged, as though it was resonating in a faint manner with the gigantic dragon up in the firmaments. He shuddered and opened his eyes. That feeling went as quickly as it came. Aiden did not think too much about it and merely assumed that it was a change brought along by his training in the Ancient Primordial Dragon Art. After pondering for a long time, Little Fatty blurted as though he thought of something, "I''ve got it!" "What?" Everyone turned to him with curious looks in their eyes. He said slowly, "The reason why this tomb has been buried for such a long time and only appeared now was because this dragon vein was only just formed!" "Dragon veins are almost entirely made by nature. It''s not so easy making one artificially." "This senior of Tomb Sectid down the Astral Dragon''s Lair to connect Heaven and Earth, drawing in the power of the stars into this ce so as to gather fortune from the universe to form the dragon vein. Eventually, the dragon vein was finally formed in this era!" Sean Jean could not help but ask, "When did that senior pass on?" Little Fatty replied darkly, "At least dozens of thousands of years ago!" "Ah!" Everyone was dumbfounded with shock in their eyes. "That''s incredible," Aidenmented internally, secretly in awe. Using an ancient secret skill to connect Heaven and Earth in order to form a dragon vein and pass down a legacy after dozens of thousands of years! Although this Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect did not manage to advance to the Normal God realm, his methods could be considered divinely! "Brother Fatty, what did you mean by the Dragon Sputum Lair?" Little fox blinked herrge, clear eyes and asked curiously. The spirit tiger urged as well, "Fatty, so where is the entrance to the tomb after everything you said?" He was anxious to enter the tomb and see if he could get a few treasures. Noticing the spirit tiger''s intentions, Ki Ki red at him with a warning look. Aiden smiled gently. After all, Ki Ki had been in Azure Myst Sect for a long time and knew more about manners. While Little Fatty made the promise that they could take anything they wanted from the treasures in the tomb, this was still a tomb of a Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect after all. It would be greedy of them if they were to just stuff anything they saw that was good into their storage bags. Furthermore, none of them knew the situation within the tomb right now. With his intentions seen through, the spirit tiger looked embarrassed and coughed gently to hide his awkwardness. Little Fatty pointed to theke not far away. "If I''m not wrong, the entrance to the tomb is thatke!" "Beneath theke?" The Golden Lion asked with disbelief. Theke looked unassuming with dirty waters C there was nothing special about it. Little Fatty pointed up into the skies. "Check out the direction of the dragon vein." Everyone raised their heads. Little Fatty continued, "That''s the dragon''s tail and that''s the dragon''s body. When we continue up, the dozens of stars that are clustered together more tightly form the dragon''s head!" "At the lower end of the head is the mouth where sputum is produced. Thiske corresponds to the dragon''sir directly!" Everyone was enlightened. Sean Jean was the only one who shook his head with a confused expression. "I''m still unable to understand. I''ll just tag along with you guys." "Follow me!" Little Fatty waved and pointed to theke not far away, leading the way. When they approached theke, everyone started noticing something unusual. The surface of theke was cold and ghastly! Little fox could not help but shudder. She hid behind Aiden and secretly tugged his sleeves. Aiden nced sideways. Little fox looked up, revealing her tender neck as she gazed at him with widened, pitiable eyes. Although she was clearly afraid, she bit her cherry lips and did not say anything. Aiden let out a smile C he naturally knew what was on little fox''s mind. "Come on in, but just this once," Aiden smiled and nodded. Little fox snickered and transformed into her true form. A fiery-red fox waved its furry tail and climbed up Aiden''s leg into his embrace in an experienced manner. She only stuck her petite head outside, blinking her huge eyes in a beautiful manner. The moment she scurried into Aiden''s embrace, she felt a sense of warmth. The chilling aura of theke vanished instantly! Aiden''s body was like a gigantic cauldron that was warm C she almost wanted to take a nap if they weren''t about to enter the tomb. When he saw that, the spirit tiger''s eyes darted as a thought struck his mind. Puffing his chest, he walked beside Ki Ki and dered courageously, "Ki Ki, don''t be afraid. Hu Batian''s chest will warm you up! Hurry ande scurry in too!" As he said that, the spirit tiger bared his chest and revealed chest hair with rows of ck and yellow Monkey rolled its eyes. Little fox eximed and chuckled. "F*ck, is this guy for real?" The Golden Lion frowned and his jaws nearly dropped to the floor. Ki Ki''s face was steely dark as she clenched her fists, snarling, "Get lost!" The spirit tiger scratched his head and his naughty eyes darted towards Ki Ki''s puffed up chest, muttering, "Ki Ki, it''s fine if you don''t like this. How about you bare your chest for me to scurry inside instead?" Silence overwhelmed their surroundings. The Golden Lion roared internally, "I''ve never seen anyone so utterly shameless before!" Without a second word, Ki Ki raised her legs and kicked the spirit tiger viciously on the bum! Thud! The spirit tiger was instantly sent flying into theke, looking extremely wretched. Everyone roared inughter. The eerie atmosphere from earlier on lightened significantly as well. Little Fatty waved his arm. "Come, let''s head in too!" Chapter 1063 - Deep down 1063 Chapter 1063 - Deep down All of them were Martial Masters. After entering the water, monkey and the others circted their Inner Cores and released demonic energy, forming light barriers around them to keep theke water out. Little Fatty and Sean Jean released spirit energy to form a barrier so that they could breathe with ease as well. It was dark beneath theke. Theke water was extremely dirty. Although Aiden''s eyes were sharp, they could not see through material obstructions C his vision right now was not great either with the filth in the water blocking his sights. Aiden was extremely cautious and looked on keenly while twitching his ears, not daring to be careless. Although they had verified the location of the tomb, nobody knew what was in theke. This dimension of the ancient battlefield had existed for a long time and it would not be surprising if any monster was born in that ghastlyke. Furthermore, up till now, they had not found any traces of Lend Mind, Little Fatty''s senior brother. Nobody knew if he had arrived here before them! With little fox in Aiden''s embrace, the remaining seven of them formed a circle with Ki Ki in the middle before sinking gradually. The water was cold when they just entered. However, everyone''s training realm was high and they could endure it. The deeper they dove, the colder the water became. In fact, it was so chilling that it showed signs of prating the demonic energy and spirit energy barriers! Not only that, the water pressure in the surroundings intensified the deeper they went. Right now, apart from Aiden, even monkey experienced waves of pressure and difficulties in breathing. "Thiske seems unassuming, but it''s actually so deep?" The spirit tiger was secretly shocked. Frowning, monkey asked, "How deep are we now?" Aiden said darkly, "We''re more than three thousand feet down now!" That meant that they were a kilometer down! The pressure of the water a kilometer down was shockingly strong. Ordinary Martial Masters would die bleeding from all orifices by the time they reached this point. Furthermore, there was a piercing chill everywhere in the water! The spirit tigermented with relief internally. If they had smashed the ground as he had suggested, they wouldn''t have found this ce even if they spent an entire year smashing. The water was dirty and it was pitch-ck underneath, resembling an eerie endless abyss that was waiting for them to jump in on their own ord. The surrounding pressure was intensifying. Apart from Aiden who could still maintain hisposure, the demonic energy and spirit energy around everyone else had started shrinking. The Golden Lion was a little worried. Where would be the end if they continued as such? Even Aiden would not be able to withstand it if they sank another kilometer down and explode to death! "How much further is it?" The Golden Lion panted with breathing difficulties. Aiden shook his head. Even his senses were suppressed firmly given the environment. He said deeply, "If we still don''t reach the bottom of theke a while longer, you guys can head up first. I''ll continue alone to check things out." Little Fatty waved it off with his forehead filled with sweat. Already unable to speak, he patted his storage bag and withdrew an azure bead. The bead was the size of an infant''s fist and swirled with an azure current, illuminating a beautiful glow. The moment that bead was taken out, it emanated a mysterious energy that pushed away the water around the nine of them, forming an azure barrier of light with a huge space that could fit dozens of people! The light barrier did not only suppress the pressure of the water, but also filtered more than half of the chilling aura in the water. Everyone was invigorated and heaved a breath of relief instinctively. Aiden''s eyes lit up. "Anti-Water Bead?" Anti-Water Beads were mostly refined from the Inner Cores of river or ocean demons. The fact that this Anti-Water Bead could have the strength to create such a huge barrier a kilometer down meant that it was definitely made from the Inner Core of an ocean demon! It was extremely hard for martial artists that lived onnd to obtain the Inner Cores of ocean demons. In the world, there were three deep oceans with a myriad of demon races in them. Coupled with the unique environment, most martial artists and demons that lived onnd could not enter them with ease. The three oceans took up three of the eight demon regions! "Brother Fatty, you''re amazing!" Little fox was sprawled in Aiden''s embrace and stuck her head out, pping her paws merrily. Sean Jean grumbled, "Why didn''t you take out such an amazing treasure earlier? I could barely breathe! A little longer and I would have fainted." "There''s already a crack on this Anti-Water Bead and it won''tst much longer. I can only take it out at the most critical juncture," Little Fatty exined as he wiped the sweat on his forehead. In truth, he had no confidence either. If they did not manage to reach the bottom of theke by the time the Anti-Water Bead was destroyed, their expedition would be aplete failure. Suddenly, Aiden''s expression changed as he warned everyone hurriedly, "Watch out!" Not far away, the water currents shifted, as though a gargantuan creature was headed towards them! The others were not as sharp as him and by the time they realized, a massive shadow had already shrouded them! Boom! The shadow shed against the barrier of the Anti-Water Bead violently, causing everyone to tremble. Instantly, another crack appeared on the Anti-Water Bead! Little Fatty''s face turned frightfully pale. If things continued the way it was, it would take less than 10 attacks for the Anti-Water Bead to be destroyed! Everyone turned their gazes over. Outside the light barrier, there was a massive demon beast that was silver-white all over and had a menacing gaze. It emanated a chilling aura and bore sharp teeth that resembled daggers! "Ancient Frost Crocodile!" The Golden Lion''s expression was terrible. "Legend has it that this Frost Crocodile lives deep in the seas where it''s coldest and is extremely violent. They''ve gone extinct in the world a long time ago. To think that one of them would be in thiske!" The moment he said that, the water on the other side rumbled. Another shadow enveloped them! It was another Ancient Frost Crocodile! In less than three breaths, two Ancient Frost Crocodiles could shatter the barrier of the Anti-Water Bead! "You guys take care! I''ll head out!" Aiden had a cold expression and with that said, he darted out of the Anti-Water Bead''s barrier in a sh! At that moment, they were a kilometer deep in the water. Notwithstanding the piercing chilling aura of theke, the pressure alone could kill most living beings! The reason why the Ancient Frost Crocodiles could move about so freely at this depth was because they were not weak and at the same time, this was the ce they first lived in. Their bodies were formed after countless years of evolution and they had long adapted to their surroundings. At that moment, monkey and the others could not leave the protection of the Anti-Water Bead and could only look at everything from within the barrier! The Inner Core in Aiden''s chest circted wildly and his blood energy surged with a terrifying might C even the water in the surroundings was affected! "Ahm!" Before his sentence was finished, a blood-colored saber had already appeared in Aiden''s hands! Rygintarth trembled and shone brightly, bursting forth with a massive blood beam! In theke, Aiden wielded Rygintarth and his ck hair danced while his eyes shone brightly. A rumbling demonic energy surged out of his nose and mouth. Even against the crushing waters of theke, he was unyielding like an unquestionable divine being! As though they were agitated, the two Ancient Frost Crocodiles roared in rage and abandoned the Anti-Water Bead before them, charging toward Aiden instead. Chapter 1064 - Changing temperatures 1064 Chapter 1064 - Changing temperatures The two Ancient Frost Crocodiles seemed to be able to sense the strength of Aiden the intruder and they did not hold back, releasing their Inner Cores immediately! Instantly, the temperature of theke dipped! The Inner Core was like an ice-cube shrouded with thick demonic energy, emitting an endless frost. The chilling aura shot over and ayer of frost formed over Aiden''s body. In the blink of an eye, ice crystals extended from his limbs to his entire body and finally his head. They covered everything and stackedyer overyer thickly! The chilling aura was so intense, ferocious, and terrifying that it froze the demonic energy Aiden conjured around his surroundings! Everyone in the barrier of the Anti-Water Bead became nervous. Although they were protected by the barrier, they could sense the chilling aura. Given the environment, any external living beings that arrived at this extremely cold ce, no matter if they were martial artists, demon beasts ofnd, or the deep oceans, theirbat strength would be diminished! It would be considered good if they could even retain half of their originalbat strength. As for Ancient Frost Crocodiles, because they lived here, they could unleash their maximum potential! Given the severe disadvantages he faced, everyone was not confident whether Aiden could defend against the attacks of the two Ancient Frost Crocodiles. One of the Ancient Frost Crocodiles swiped its tail. Although it had a massive body, it was unusually agile in theke with a shocking speed and it arrived before Aiden instantly! Crack! Crack! Crack! Suddenly, cracking sounds echoed from within Aiden''s body! Cracks started appearing on thatrge humanoid-shaped ice statue! Boom! Immediately after, there was an explosion! Right in front of monkey and the others, a huge figure burst forth from the ice crystals and soared into the skies. His tendons and bones echoed at the same time and his blood energy soared! In the blink of an eye, Aiden''s body expanded to a height of a hundred feet and his ck hair danced. In the dirtyke waters, his eyes were frighteningly bright and he resembled a towering divine being! The two Ancient Frost Crocodiles were much stronger than Aiden had imagined. When he circted his Inner Core, his blood energy surged and his body was like a cauldron. Despite that, the two Ancient Frost Crocodiles could freeze him! Right now, he was no longer holding back and the power of his blood energy and Inner Core was released entirely! Swash! Aiden gripped Rygintarth tightly, red at the Ancient Frost Crocodile that was charging towards him before shing forward! A series of ripples spread through theke. Although they seemed gentle, they possessed a terrifying killing intent! The Ancient Frost Crocodile was smart. When it saw that it was unable to dodge in time, it channeled the power of its Inner Core wildly and formed an invisible ice wall before itself! Crack! The ripples struck the ice wall. Immediately after, another ice wall rose! The ice wall thickened continuously. Continuing forward, the ripples shattered ice wall after ice wall. Finally, at the seventh ice wall, the power released by the sh waspletely dissipated! "Not bad," Aiden nodded with a sh of surprise in his eyes. The Ripple stance was a de stance created by the Sword Emperor. That sh possessed the power of ''force'' and was something that most demon beasts wouldn''t be able to defend against. However, it was clear that the Ancient Frost Crocodile was rather capable since it could go unscathed against the Ripple stance. Another Ancient Frost Crocodile seized the opportunity to rush forward murderously. "sh!" Aiden stood where he was motionlessly and attacked once more. Swoosh! Creation was released! In thatke, not only would there be no sluggishness in the de stances of the Void Splitting Manual, they could even be released to their full potential! Creation was the stance with the greatest power in the Void Splitting Manual. Against that sh, the Ancient Frost Crocodile did not dodge or avoid at all. Instead, it lunged forward and spat out its chilling Inner Core in front of itself! ng! The demonic energy released by the Inner Core formed a shield of ice. When Rygintarth struck the shield, the shield exploded instantly C it could not defend against the sharpness of Rygintarth and the power of Creation! The Inner Core was repelled. It dimmed significantly as the Ancient Frost Crocodile devoured it back into its stomach. Rygintarth descended. The eyes of the Ancient Frost Crocodile were extremely calm without any trace of panic, as though it had already expected everything. It opened its mouth and bit Rygintarth! Head-on! This Ancient Frost Crocodile chose to take on a top grade artifact weapon head-on! Aiden''s gaze turned cold and the blood beam on his de intensified. Crack! Crack! Crack! That single sh severed close to a hundred of the Ancient Frost Crocodile''s sharp teeth! The remaining few hundred teeth were loosened as well as blood seeped out from its mouth, dying theke waters red. 13:55 However, the Ancient Frost Crocodile''s mouth was lined with sharp fangs that crossed in a zig-zag manner like a valley of swords. The depletion of the power of Aiden''s sh caused Rygintarth to be jammed in that mouth of sharp fangs! "Watch out!" Ki Ki and the others yelled nervously and pointed to Aiden''s back from within the Anti-Water Bead barrier. A dark shadow nketed over Aiden''s head. Behind him, another Ancient Frost Crocodile surged over with a widened mouth, devouring Aiden who was a hundred feet tall in a single mouthful! At that moment, Aiden finally understood why the Ancient Frost Crocodile at the start wanted to take his attack head-on. Both Ancient Frost Crocodiles sensed his strength and one of them wanted to open up an opportunity for its partner regardless of how severely it would get injured! "Boss!" "Big Brother!" Little Fatty and Sean Jean yelled and in a moment of impulse, wanted to charge out of the Anti-Water Bead barrier. "Don''t go out first!" A tall figure blocked the two of them. He red at the Ancient Frost Crocodile outside with a flickering scarlet glint and said in a deep, hoarse voice. Monkey said, "Let''s wait first." Among the group, monkey and the spirit tiger had been through many fights with Aiden in the ancient battlefield and understood his strength best. Although Little Fatty and Sean Jean had not seen Aiden for many years, their impression of him was the same as it was 20 years ago. In theke. After devouring Aiden, the Ancient Frost Crocodile floated in its original spot quietly and motionlessly, as though it was trying to feel something. A momentter, it suddenly opened its mouth and let out a tragic shriek C its eyes were filled with endless pain! Right in front of everyone, the water current that flowed out of the Ancient Frost Crocodile''s mouth burned with a thinyer of mes! Swish! A zing me ignited from within the Ancient Frost Crocodile''s body and covered it instantly, turning that massive body transparent from the heat! Within the Ancient Frost Crocodile''s body, a faint figure of a dragon-like gigantic beast could be seen, spreading its wings and roaring into the skies withva gushing out of its mouth. "Ah!" Little Fatty came to a realization and yelled, "That''s the legendary Primordial Soaring Serpent!" "Not bad," Monkey and the others nodded. The Ancient Frost Crocodile belonged to the extreme end of the cold spectrum while the Soaring Serpent was a divine being of the mes and belonged on the extreme end of the heat spectrum. The difference between cold and hot produced an intense reaction in the Ancient Frost Crocodile''s body that resulted in a destructive power. In less than a few breaths, the Frost Crocodile''s life was wiped away entirely! Aiden broke out with a phantom of the Primordial Aiden behind his back, standing among the zing mes with a torrential aura! Theke water that was initially piercingly cold had already started to bubble with heat. Theke was now boiling! Chapter 1065 1065 - It is close

Chapter 1065 Chapter 1065 - It is close

Little Fatty and Sean Jean''s eyes widened with disbelief. Those means were far from the legendary divine powers of being able to incinerate the heavens and boiling the oceans. At best, it could only be boiling ake. However, the visual impact caused by the scene was way too shocking! Fear filled the eyes of the other Ancient Frost Crocodile and it turned to flee. "Go!" Aiden raised his arm and pointed forward. The Primordial Soaring Serpent behind him spread its wings and tore through theyers of waves, causing theke to bubble and boil everywhere it passed. Almost instantly, the Soaring Serpent arrived above the Ancient Frost Crocodile and devoured it in a single mouthful! Swoosh! The Ancient Frost Crocodile struggled and howled miserably within the stomach of the Soaring Serpent, causing endless mes to surge inside and outside of thetter''s body. Before long, it was burned into ashes that scattered across theke. No matter how violent the Ancient Frost Crocodile was or how strong of a bloodline it possessed, it could not do anything against the presence of a Primordial Soaring Serpent! The Soaring Serpent was a divine being of the mes. Back in the primordial era, it would even dare to roam the deep oceans, let alone a punyke as such. Everyone in the Anti-Water Bead''s barrier heaved a sigh of relief. Without the threat of the Ancient Frost Crocodile, the Anti-Water Bead could still hold out for a period of time. Suddenly, something moved in water currents in the depths of theke! Everyone in the Anti-Water Bead was unnerved once again, gazing around with widened eyes. It was as though their dive into theke had alerted a certain life form within it! The movement intensified and came from all directions! However, the strange thing was that no matter how they tried, they could not detect any signs of life C all they could see was the water currents surging towards the Anti-Water Bead barrier! Aiden''s spirit perception was strong and he had naturally noticed danger a long time ago. However, even with his powerful vision, he could not identify the origin of that danger! Psst! Psst! The Primordial Soaring Serpent reared its head and hissed, surveying the surroundings with its cold eyes in a warning manner. Swoosh! Opening its mouth, the Primordial Soaring Serpent spewed out scorchingva that surged into the waters. "Squeak, squeak!" Suddenly, a strange sound could be heard from the waters in front of them, as though some living being was screeching! Aiden focused his gaze. Within theke, there were countless thick and thin arms that came from long fish demons who were howling and screaming. Their gaping mouths were lined with sharp teeth that shimmered with a cold glint! The bodies of those fish demons were almost transparent and it was difficult to identify them as they moved through the water. If not for the scarletva zing on their bodies, even Aiden would have difficulties identifying their existence! "Bloodthirsty Silverfishes!" Aiden was rmed. Bloodthirsty Silverfishes and the Soaring Serpent were both beings of the primordial era. The former was violent, bloodthirsty, and chewed through every single thing they came across C they were ferocious beasts that were irrational and showed no fear! The most frightening thing was that Bloodthirsty Silverfishes moved in schools! At any moment, hundreds or thousands of Bloodthirsty Silverfishes could appear! Life was devoid everywhere they passed, leaving nothing but corpses in their wake! Even a perfect spirit weapon would be shredded into shards by the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes, let alone bodies of flesh. In the deep oceans back in the primordial era, even the strongest demons within would stay away when they encountered Bloodthirsty Silverfishes. Aiden had not expected that he would lure out these bloodthirsty things after summoning the Primordial Soaring Serpent! In the eyes of the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes, it did not matter if they were facing the Soaring Serpent or Divine Turtle C they lunged at everything that showed signs of life! "Squeak, squeak!" Many Bloodthirsty Silverfishes were burned to death by theva the Soaring Serpent spewed. However, many more Bloodthirsty Silverfishes surged forward and gnawed at Aiden''s Martial Master phenomenon relentlessly! A small portion of the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes swam to where monkey and the others were and started attacking the barrier of the Anti-Water Bead! The barrier showed signs of dissipation. Another crack appeared on the Anti-Water Bead! Aiden channeled his spirit energy to control his Martial Master phenomenon, purging away the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes near the Anti-Water Bead as he shouted, "Hurry and head down! The bottom of theke is right below! See if you can locate the entrance of the tomb!" During his fight with the Ancient Frost Crocodile earlier on, Aiden''s body expanded to a height of a hundred feet and his feet touched the bottom of theke C that was how he knew they were close. Everyone''s eyes lit up and hope reignited in their hearts. Buzz! Buzz! More Bloodthirsty Silverfishes surged forward and chewed at Aiden''s Martial Master phenomenon. The glow of the Primordial Soaring Serpent had already started to diminish. The Martial Master phenomenon was on the verge of dissipating! After all, this was a phenomenon created by spirit energy and was not the true body of the Soaring Serpent C even the Soaring Serpent phenomenon was showing signs of defeat against the relentless bites of the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes! "I see it!" Right then, Little Fatty''s voice echoed excitedly from the bottom of theke. On the west of the bottom of theke, there was an obvious semicircr entrance to the tomb with a width of 20 feet apart and height of 50 feet tall. Although tens of thousands of years had passed, it still looked extremely majestic! Little Fatty maneuvered the Anti-Water Bead and advanced towards the tomb. There was a gigantic stone door at the tomb''s entrance with no handle on it. "Let me try and lift this stone door up!" The spirit tiger dered bravely. Ki Ki red at the spirit tiger and scolded, "Stand at the side! Don''t interfere blindly if you don''t wish to die!" With that, Ki Ki turned to look at Little Fatty. The spirit tiger nced over instinctively as well. Little Fatty was standing on the spot, ring at the ground on the tomb''s entrance motionlessly as though he was in a trance. He had a grim expression that did not look good. Attice diagram was etched on the ground at the entrance of the tomb with nine identical squares C it looked extremely mysterious. The spirit tiger felt a sense of trepidation. It was obviously a seal that was left behind by the owner of the tomb. If he had barged in forcefully earlier on, he might have already triggered the seal and died on the spot! "Don''t worry, I''ll hold back these silverfishes! Hurry and try to dispel it as soon as possible!" Aiden''s back was facing the group as he fought against the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes before him, trying his best to fight for time for Little Fatty. Little Fatty''s gaze shimmered with a wise look in his eyes. His brains were churning furiously! Although the diagram before them seemed simple with only nine squares, an immense amount of calction was required if they wanted to dispel the seal of the tomb master! This Nine Pce Diagram originated from the legendary River Diagram. The River Diagram was one of the most mysterious treasures of the primordial era! Some people managed toprehend training techniques from the River Diagram, some managed toprehend secret skills while others managed toprehend formation techniques! Rumor has it that the River Diagram contained the mysteries of the universe and the absolute truth of Heaven and Earth! No matter what, anyone couldprehend something just by taking a look at the River Diagram. Time slowly passed. Aiden fought against the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes singlehandedly. The Primordial Soaring Serpent phenomenon had already cracked against the fanatic attacks of the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes and could disperse at any moment. At the back, Little Fatty was frowning in deep thought, squeezing his brain juices at every single second! Nobody could help them. Finally "It worked!" Little Fatty''s eyes lit up. He lifted his foot and stepped on the Nine Pce Diagram, confident in every step he took. That seemingly clumsy and fat body of his was extremely light-footed on the Nine Pce Diagram. He tapped left and right, front and back swiftly in a dizzying manner, looking messy and unorganized. "Open!" Little Fatty shouted with his final step. Bang! Boom! Boom! The stone door rose apanied by a massive explosion! Chapter 1066 1066 - First to enter…

Chapter 1066 Chapter 1066 - First to enter

There seemed to be a mysterious energy within the tomb. Although the entrance was open, the waters of theke were unable to seep in. "Hurry, let''s enter!" Little Fatty beckoned and brought everyone in. When he saw that, Aiden did not continue fighting against the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes either. He withdrew and bolted through the waters like a fish, leaving a stream of ripples in his wake. In the blink of an eye, he had already entered the tomb. Everyone''s eyes lit up. Sean Jean could not help but praise, "Brother Aiden, yourbat strength and movement techniques don''t seem to be affected even in the waters. Impressive." Aiden was puzzled regarding that as well. Normally speaking, demon beasts or human martial artists of thend would naturally be affected in terms ofbat strength and movement technique upon entering water. After all, most demon beasts and martial artists were used to living life onnd and their physical structures and habits were starkly distinct from living beings underwater. It was impossible for them to adapt to a foreign environment underwater. Furthermore, there was water resistance that intensified the deeper they were underwater! However, for some unknown reason, Aiden could not feel that resistance when he was in the waters and adapted almost instantly. His body seemed to be one with the waters around him. It was as though he had grown up living underwater! Of course, that was merely a fleeting thought for Aiden that he did not bother much about. After everyone entered the tomb, the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes at the back swarmed after them. However, all of them paused in front of the Nine Pce Diagram with wary expressions and did not dare to advance. After lingering for a moment, the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes slowly dispersed. Bang! Boom! Boom! Right then, the stone door descended slowly and sealed the tomb once again! Everyone heaved a sigh of relief and surveyed their surroundings. They were weed with a spacious passage that was huge and grand. A Night Luminance Bead the size of a fist was hung on the walls on both sides, spaced a hundred feet apart. The Night Luminance Beads illuminated the entire passage as bright as daylight! "Wow, these are good stuff!" The spirit tiger red at the Night Luminance Beads above his head and almost drooled. "Fatty, you''re quite something," Sean Jean thumped Little Fatty on the shoulder and praised, "You''ve truly learned many things during these years you spent in Tomb Sect!" Whether it was his means of locating the tomb or theplex steps he took at the entrance of the tomb earlier, everyone was in awe! If Little Fatty had not led the way, they would have never found this ce even if they had a hundred years in the ancient battlefield! Even if they managed to find it, they wouldn''t have been able to enter! This great opportunity was given to everyone by Little Fatty. "Hah!" Little Fatty smiled and did not say anything. Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. Something seemed to be wrong with the way Little Fatty was acting. Earlier on at the entrance of the tomb, Little Fatty was already stoned for a long time and had a grim expression when he looked at the Nine Pce Diagram. Given his character, he should have been cheering a long time ago after they entered the tomb. However, he seemed somewhat dejected at the moment. "What''s wrong?" Aiden asked, "Did something happen?" Little Fatty grit his teeth. "We might bete." The moment the spirit tiger heard that, he got anxious and asked, "What do you mean byte?" Little Fatty replied darkly, "Along the way, I did not catch sight of anything suspicious so I thought that we were the first to enter this ce. However, it was clear from the Nine Pce Diagram at the entrance of the tomb that someone arrived before us!" "Ah? Everyone looked shocked. Little Fatty exined, "Tens of thousands of years have passed and there should be a thickyer of dust on the ground at the entrance of the tomb. However, from the Nine Pce Diagram, it''s obvious that someone has arrived before us and wiped away the dust on the surface of the ground." "Even if he wiped away the dust, he might not have been able to enter this ce," The Golden Lion said, "The Nine Pce Diagram is extremelyplex. There''s only a few people in this world that can crack it." At that point, the Golden Lion suddenly went silent. Everyone exchanged nces and a thought crossed their minds. If Little Fatty could locate this ce and crack the seal of the Nine Pce Diagram, this meant that there was a high chance Little Fatty''s senior brother could do the same! Instantly, much of everyone''s joy earlier on was erased. If Little Fatty''s senior brother had arrived first, he would definitely not leave any treasures for them C the utmost treasure of the tomb would naturally be taken away as well. "Ugh!" The spirit tiger sighed and murmured dejectedly, "What a wet nket. We made the trip for nothing," He gazed at the Night Luminance Beads above his head. "How about removing these Night Luminance Beads? We can''t possibly leave with nothing" Ki Ki frowned and kicked the spirit tiger for thetter to shut his mouth. "Your senior brother is definitely rather capable if he managed to arrive first," Aiden said darkly, "There was no blood stench or signs of any fights that happened after we entered theke." "This proved that he managed to avoid the detection of the Ancient Frost Crocodile, Bloodthirsty Silverfishes, and many other extinct life forms to enter this tomb sessfully!" At that point, a vague thought flickered through Aiden''s mind. However, he could not figure out what he was thinking about exactly. Little Fatty shook his head. "I know my senior brother very well. Although he''s definitely stronger than me inbat, he isn''t at the level where he canpletely avoid detection from everyone. An expert is definitely helping him out." "Let''s go." Aiden remarked, "Since we''re already here, we''ve got to head in no matter what. We can''t just turn and leave." Little Fatty took a deep breath and nodded. "Boss is right. Let''s enter!" He walked right at the front so that he could react to any changes. After all, he knew best about the types of traps, seals, and formations in this tomb. Aiden followed at the back of the group. The passage was extremely long and although it was lit up, their surroundings were quiet and eerie with the sounds of their footsteps echoing. Aiden looked increasingly grim C he had not let his guard down at all. Little Fatty''s senior brother was much scarier than he had imagined! He had not noticed any signs of anyone else''s presence in this ce along the way. If Little Fatty had not noticed something unusual at the entrance of the tomb, nobody would know that someone else had arrived here! A whileter, they finally arrived at the end of the passage and the ce opened up. They had arrived at a majestic and spacious chamber. Greenish bronze coffins were ced in all four corners of the chamber and the ce had a morbid aura. The wall on the opposite end of the tomb revealed 16 passages, each dark and creepy without the light from the Night Luminance Beads. Everyone had a vague idea of what the tomb master was up to. The chamber before them was definitely not the main tomb C only one of the 16 passages led to the right one! If they chose the wrong one, they might never be able to return! Little Fatty stood where he was and calcted for a long time before pointing to the seventh passage from the left. "This way!" With that said, he prepared himself to step into the chamber. Aiden frowned slightly and said with a grim expression, "There''s something odd about this chamber. Everyone, watch out!" Chapter 1067 1067 - Traps upon traps

Chapter 1067 Chapter 1067 - Traps upon traps

Aiden''s spirit perception was not too useful in that morbid chamber. However, the moment he caught sight of the chamber, he sensed danger that disappeared immediately after. Legend has it that ancient Mighty Figures had boundless divine powers and their means could even conceal heavenly secrets, let alone Aiden''s spirit perception! "It''s fine, follow me," Little Fatty smiled and headed towards the seventh passage. Aiden and the rest followed closely behind. The spirit tiger looked around furtively. "Boss, Fatty, the four coffins look extremely old and no one has opened them before. Let''s go and check out if there are any treasures hidden within." The spirit tiger snickered. "Don''t go!" Aiden shook his head with a fierce gaze. The spirit tiger straightened up immediately after meeting Aiden''s gaze and no longer dared to entertain those thoughts. Suddenly, amotion broke out in all four corners of the chamber! Crack! Crack! Crack! It was piercing and sounded as though the coffin lids were being shifted! Click! ck! Click! The next moment, an even creepier sound echoed through the chamber. Everyone subconsciously turned towards the sounds. As though they were moved by someone, the four coffins revealed massive gaps and dense shadows crawled out from within. Like a flood, they swarmed towards everyone at an extremely fast speed! "Carrion Beetles!" Little fatty could not help but exim. The shadows were swarms of Carrion Beetles! Every single Carrion Beetle was dark as ink, the size of an adult''s palm, and carried heavy shells on their backs. Their six scarlet legs danced and were extremely sharp. Although they had no eyes and ears, they could sense everyone''s location clearly! Everyone''s faces turned pale. The little fox was so scared that she hid in Aiden''s embrace a long time ago and did not dare to look up. "Hurry, let''s go!" Aiden shouted. Everyone soared into the air and bolted towards the seventh passage. The Carrion Beetles soared into the air along with them like ck water currents, surging from all directions to seal all the exits! Aiden was about to attack when he saw Ki Ki turn into her true form. She reared her head and screeched, churning her bloodline as the temperature around her rose rapidly! Opening her mouth, she spewed out green mes in all directions as she turned her head! The green mes formed an imprable barrier! Although the Carrion Beetles were deadly, everything in life had a counter to them C they too had things they were fearful of. They feared the mes of divine beings! The mes that were released through Ki Ki''s bloodline were not ordinary mes of the mortal realm. These were mes used by the legendary bird, Bi Fang, and wereparable to the mes of the Soaring Serpent! The ck Carrion Beetles swarm surged over and stopped instantly against the green barrier as countless Carrion Beetles screeched miserably in the mes. They fell, struggled, and turned into ashes. Everyone was invigorated. With the mes of the Bi Fang, they could definitely break through the obstruction of the Carrion Beetles and enter the passage on the opposite end! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Suddenly, loud explosions reverberated from the four corners of the chamber and a shuddering aura descended, engulfing every corner of the chamber. Everyone shivered. Against that aura, even the raring mes of the Bi Fang showed signs of extinguishing! "So strong!" Aiden took a deep breath. He did not have time to think as he circted his Martial Master to its limits immediately to release his phenomenon! Bang! Boom! Boom! The firmament cracked opening as thunder roared and lightning shed. Countless stars and meteors fell with river currents surging! A massive demon beast descended and suppressed the raging currents with its limbs, protecting everyone beneath it as it held up the broken firmament with its shell. It roared into the skies and its eyes were unyielding! The Primordial Divine Turtle had descended! At the same time, four powerful auras had already torn through the Carrion Beetles and the mes of the Bi Fang and arrived before everyone. It was four sets of skeletons! To be precise, these were four skeletons from tens of thousands of years ago! The bones were pristine and perfect after thousands of years. This implied that the owners of the four skeletons were definitely Mighty Powerhouses of the Divine Ranks Lesser God Realm in the past! Lesser God Realm Mighty Figures trained for tens of thousands of years and their bones were infused with their divine powers such that they would not corrode. Snap! The skeletons were expressionless against the Primordial Divine Turtle. A sinister glint shone in their be as they struck together and shattered the Divine Turtle instantly. The Martial Master phenomenon was shattered the moment it was conjured! Although the four skeletons had lost their divine powers a long time ago, the power their bones contained was enough to shatter the Martial Master phenomenon with ease! Even a single set of skeleton was enough to kill everyone present, let alone four! Aiden''s Martial Master was interconnected to the Primordial Divine Turtle. The moment it shattered, the blow caused him to spit a mouthful of blood as he hurriedly thought of a way to deal with things. The scarlet glint in monkey''s eyes shed furiously and it was ready to enter the berserk state at any moment. Little Fatty seemed to be scared stiff and was thinking about something. Everyone else had frightfully pale faces and despair in their eyes. Against the skeletons of Mighty Figures, their powers were as insignificant as ants! "Oh my!" All of a sudden! Little Fatty seemed to have recalled something and eximed. He bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood before chanting aplex incantation. With the augmentation of the incantation, that mouthful of blood hovered in midair and did not disperse. The four skeletons stopped their attacks as well. However, the glints in their bes were still flickering. The incantation was recited with increasing haste. A thinyer of sweat filled Little Fatty''s forehead as well. Gradually, the mouthful of blood was divided into four drops that floated to the heads of the four skeletons before descending slowly. The glint on the bes of the four skeletons was gradually extinguished. Turning back, the four skeletons returned to their coffins in the corners of the chamber and crawled within before closing the lid after themselves. The surrounding Carrion Beetle swarms retreated slowly back into the coffins as well and disappeared before long. Boom! The coffins were once more. Peace returned to the chamber. If not for the smoking carcasses of the Carrion Beetles on the ground, it would seem as though everything that happened earlier was an illusion. "W-What is this?" Sean Jean was drenched in cold sweat as he panted and asked. "The four coffins could be considered as a trump card left behind by the tomb master. If outsiders were to intrude upon this ce, those existences would be rmed and they would kill the outsiders!" Little Fatty exined with trepidation as well. After heaving a breath, he continued, "The incantation earlier was from the supreme ssic of Tomb Sect, Astounding Dragon Prayer. It''s something that every single legacy disciple has to memorize, but nobody knows what it is used for nor have they ever used it." "However, master once mentioned that at a critical juncture, that incantation can be used to prove one''s identity as a disciple of Tomb Sect!" Normally speaking, tombs of other martial artists would not have such frightening killing techniques left behind. Naturally, there was no use for that incantation and it was useless most of the time. However, the owner of this tomb had set down countless restrictions to ensure that his legacy is only passed down to those in Tomb Sect. With that, there was a purpose for the incantation. This time round, Sean Jean understood as he said with lingering fear, "No matter what, I''m never entering another tomb of Tomb Sect again." Suddenly, Aiden said, "Let''s talk about thister, Little Fatty. Hurry and locate the main tomb. Earlier on, I sensed some activity in the depths of this tomb. There are others here!" "You mean to say" Little Fatty''s eyes lit up. There was a high chance that his senior brother had only arrived slightly before him and had yet to leave! Chapter 1068 1068 - Life and Death

Chapter 1068 Chapter 1068 - Life and Death

Under Little Fatty''s lead, everyone rushed into the seventh passage. After countless maneuvers and turns, a spot of light appeared at the front C that was clearly the end of the passage! Everyone was invigorated and made haste. After exiting the passage, their vision opened up and they found themselves in yet another tomb chamber. This time round, there were eight dark passages on the other end of the chamber C it was clear that they had to make another decision. Everyone turned in unison to Little Fatty. He brought out the geomanticpass and oriented it ording to Tomb Sect''s secret technique. When he opened it, the maic needle gradually stabilized and pointed towards one of the passages. Little Fatty blurted, "This way!" Before he finished speaking, he had already darted inside. They arrived at yet another chamber at the end of that passage. There were four passages on the opposite end. Sean Jean was out of breath and speechless. "There''s really something wrong in the heads of you guys from Tomb Sect. Isn''t this way too cautious?!" Little Fatty brought out the geomanticpass once more and received directions before long. He bolted towards the passage on the most left and everyone followed hot on his heels. The spirit tiger shrugged his huge head and said confidently, "If I''m not wrong, at the end of this passage, there should be another chamber with two passages!" Little Fatty nodded. "You''re right. There were a total of 32 diversionary tombs outside. Earlier on, there were 16, 8, and 4 passages so there should be 2 at the end of this passage," "I''m awesome, right?" The spirit tiger inched closer to Ki Ki and remarked smugly. Ki Ki pouted her lips. Indeed, when they exited from the passage, they were met with another chamber with two passages opposite! Above the passage on the left was a gigantic word, ''Life''! Above the passage on the right was a gigantic word, ''Death''! The paths of life and death were right in front of them C everyone had to make a choice once again! They turned their heads in unison towards the geomanticpass in Little Fatty''s hands. At that moment, the maic needle of the geomanticpass was inplete chaos and spun wildly. "What''s happening?" Aiden frowned slightly. Little Fatty had a grim expression and said in a dark tone, "It''s this ce This ce is chaotic and the geomanticpass is useless here. This is the final test left behind by the tomb master. One of these paths must definitely lead to the true main tomb!" "How should we choose?" Aiden asked. "I don''t know," Little Fatty shook his head and pondered. "Hey, aren''t you awesome? Choose one then!" Ki Ki nudged the spirit tiger''s ribs and pointed forward while whispering. The spirit tiger coughed gently. "The path of life might not necessarily be life and the path of death might not necessarily lead to death. The two words above were left behind by the tomb master to confuse theter generations. In my opinion, the path of death is the true path to life!" "Extreme sorrow turns to joy, life is sought in death!" Monkey thumped the spirit tiger on the shoulder, "Not bad, perverted tiger!" "I know, right?" The spirit tiger raised his head. Little Fatty had a pensive expression. Given the tomb master''s wary nature, coupled with the series of traps and formations he set previously, there was a chance that the spirit tiger''s deduction was urate. The little fox hopped out of Aiden''s embrace and spun, transforming into a youngdy. She walked towards the path of life on the left and sensed her surroundings in silence. A momentter, she headed towards the path of death. The moment she approached it, her expression changed and she staggered backwards instinctively. "What''s wrong?" Everyone swarmed forward and asked. When they arrived at the path of death, their expressions changed as well! Everyone smelled a strong blood stench from within. In fact, there were even howls of ghosts and wolves in the depths of the passage, as though countless living beings were struggling in misery C it was unnerving! The passage was like a gateway to Hell! As for the path of life, there was a spring breeze that was filled with life C it was like paradise. It was no wonder why they were distinct paths of life and death! Ki Ki analyzed, "There''s a high chance that there''s an actual tomb at the end of the path of life and that should be where the main tomb is." "That''s right, we''ve got the same idea," The spirit tiger smirked in a pandering manner. The Golden Lion nodded. "We can only move in reverse. This path with the torrential blood stench may very well be the true path of life." "It can''t be!" Suddenly, Aiden shook his head and rejected everyone''s guesses. "The auras within the passages are so obvious and clear. Why would the tomb master need to go through the hassle of adding the words life and death above their respective passages?" Everyone was stunned. Aiden was right. From that perspective, there was no need for the tomb master to leave those words behind. Little Fatty asked, "What do you think, boss?" Aiden said darkly, "Those words should be instructions left behind for theter generation by the tomb master. The passage with life is the true path to life and the other passage leads to an irreversible path of death!" Almost everyone had oveplicated the issue. However, nobody thought that the path of life truly led to life while the path of death truly led to death! Little Fatty pped his thighs. "I trust in Boss. Let''s head down the path of life!" "How about this," Aiden said, "I''ll head down this path with Little Fatty first and you guys can wait outside. If we don''t return within an hour" "There''s no need," Monkey waved his arm. "An additional person means an additional helping hand. Even if the end of the passage is Hell, we''ll be able to break out of it together!" "That''s right!" "We''ll go together!" The spirit tiger and everyone else stood out and shouted as well. "Alright, let''s do it then!" Aiden nodded and withdrew his Rygintarth from his storage bag, walking at the front with Little Fatty. They were not only facing the possible dangers of the tomb C they also had to face the people who had arrived here before them! In less than 15 minutes, a light shone at the front of the tunnel. Everyone was invigorated. They knew that they had chosen the right path! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! Everyone rushed towards the front at full speed. The moment they arrived at the entrance, danger shed through Aiden''s mind as he yelled, "Watch out!" A shadow the size of a finger swept over like a spirit snake! Rygintarth quivered and shone brightly scarlet. Aiden shed in reverse towards the shadow! "Hmm?" Aiden''s expression changed. He did not manage to sever the shadow with that sh! Instead, the shadow coiled a couple of loops around Rygintarth before slithering towards Aiden! Aiden was decisive and abandoned Rygintarth right away. He fell to the ground and was almost one with it, slithering away like an anaconda. Without catching sight of the attacker''s appearance, Aiden followed the shadow before him and threw out a punch. It transformed into a gigantic seal that descended fiercely! That was a killing move from the Mystic ssic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness! The person wore gray robes and did not panic nor fluster. Wielding an iron ruler, the person tapped on Aiden''s wrist at an extremely fast speed! "Eh?" A puzzled look shed through Aiden''s eyes. The gray-robed martial artist''s motion looked familiar! Chapter 1069 1069 - The right of looting Chapter 1069 1069 - The right of looting If the gigantic seal conjured by Aiden''s palm continued descending, his wrist would be snapped by the iron ruler in the gray-robed martial artist''s hands before thetter was even injured. Aiden harrumphed coldly and his eyes shone. He switched tactics immediately and instead of punching, he opened up his fingers to grab the gray-robed martial artist''s iron ruler. The gray-robed martial artist knew the consequences of this as well C his iron ruler would definitely be snatched away if Aiden got his hands on it. Swash! Retracting his attack right away, the gray-robed martial artist retreated. Aiden had expected that. After missing, he strode forward and threw a punch! The gray-robed martial artist''s other hand was nimble and swiftly conjured a massive chessboard in his palm, using it to defend. The spirit art was extremely domineering. The moment the chessboard appeared, almost all the spirit energy in the surrounding was absorbedpletely! Boom! Aiden''s fist collided heavily against the chessboard and let out a resounding bang! Snap! The chessboard shattered. The gray-robed martial artist staggered a few steps back but was not injured. There were few martial artists who could defend against a full-powered frontal attack from Aiden! Shrugging his arm which was growing numb, the gray-robed martial artist looked up at Aiden. Suddenly, his expression changed as he eximed, "It''s you?!" Aiden was motionless and did not continue with his attacks. He red at the gray-robed martial artist on the opposite end with bright eyes. The gray-robed martial artist was slightly rotund and had ordinary features. He wielded an iron ruler but there were no sect badges or tokens on him. Aiden raised his brow and asked with a narrowed gaze, "You know me?" "Humph!" The gray-robed martial artist avoided Aiden''s gaze and harrumphed. Footsteps sounded. Monkey and the others had already rushed up and surrounded the gray-robed martial artist with unfriendly, fierce gazes. Little Fatty rushed over with an imposing aura. The moment he caught sight of the gray-robed martial artist, Little Fatty froze for a moment before asking with a confused look on his face, "Who are you?" "Oh?" The spirit tiger was even more stunned. "Isn''t this guy your senior brother, the guy named Lend Mind?" "No," Little Fatty shook his head. The Golden Lion asked, "How did he enter this ce if he''s not your senior brother? This man managed to get through the Ancient Frost Crocodiles, the Bloodthirsty Silverfishes, unravel the Nine Pce Diagram, and chose all the right passages to get to this ce?" Little Fatty was extremely puzzled as well. Monkey waved it off and remarked casually, "No matter who he is, let''s just kill him and there won''t be any problems anymore!" The gray-robed martial artist jolted in shock. "Don''t attack first," Little Fatty held back monkey and sized up the gray-robed martial artist. He asked in an unfriendly manner with widened eyes, "You know how to unravel the Nine Pce Diagram?" "I could unravel something as simple as that when I was eight years old!" The gray-robed martial artist pouted his lips in disdain. "Oh my!" The spirit tiger sneered and cursed internally, "This guy that''s on the brink of death is even more arrogant than me!" Little Fatty was indignant but he did not know how to refute. After all, this person managed to enter this ce before him. Clenching his teeth, Little Fatty asked spitefully, "How did you find this ce?" "Astral Dragon''s Lair? Something as easy as this can''t be hidden from me," The gray-robed martial artist replied nonchntly. Repressing the anger in his heart, Little Fatty panted and asked again, "Only disciples of Tomb Sect are able to pass through the first chamber. How did you manage to get through it?" "I walked through it of course," The gray-robed martial artist snickered with mocking eyes. "Don''t tell me that you''re so stupid that you went to rm the four coffins in the corners?" "F*ck!" Little Fatty was fuming internally! Although he had asked many questions, he did not get any answers. They still knew nothing about the background of this gray-robed martial artist. They had no clue how this person managed to get in as well. Aiden patted Little Fatty on the shoulder and gestured for thetter to retreat. Turning to the gray-robed martial artist not far away, he asked again with a fake smile, "You know me?" The gray-robed martial artist rolled his eyes and pouted. "The great monster incarnate of Divine Phoenix Ind who annihted Crystal Pce Sect back in the Ancient One''s Pce and the Burial Grounds, the one who has a double phenomenon, Aiden. Who doesn''t know you?" "Ok," Aiden retracted his smile and said indifferently with a cold expression, "Since you know that much, all the more I can''t let you go." "Hey!" The moment the gray-robed martial artist heard that, he panicked. "What are you talking about? We don''t have any deep feud between us and I only wandered into this ce by ident. I didn''ty my hands on anything in this tomb. Why are you trying to kill me?" This main tomb was extremely huge C it was like a gigantic pce! There were many things arranged neatly in the pce filled with dust C indeed, they did not seem like they had been touched. Little Fatty had a hesitant expression. He could not bring himself to kill this person just because he wandered into this tomb. Aiden was expressionless and his eyes were filled with cold killing intent. "There''s no other way. Since you know so many things, I have to kill you!" "Fuc-" The gray-robed martial artist nearly cursed. When he saw how worked up the gray-robed martial artist was, Aiden was delighted and greeted with a wide beam, "Long time no see, Lohn Kong!" "Ow?" Monkey and the others were initially prepared to attack but when they heard that, they were all stunned. A nervous look shed through the gray-robed martial artist''s eyes as he looked all around, asking pretentiously with a lost expression, "Who are you talking to, young brother?" Aiden smiled coldly. "Lohn Kong, stop pretending!" The gray-robed martial artist''s expression changed. A momentter, he reached out and removed an extremely thin mask from his face. The man was pale with no beard and had a dignified appearance C it was Lohn Kong whom Aiden met in the Dragon Bone Valley! Lohn Kong red at Aiden and remarked fiercely, "Bloody hell, how did you recognize me even with my disguise?!" Aiden smiled gently. "I''ll recognize you even if you turn into ashes!" In reality, back when they entered the tomb, a thought had already crossed Aiden''s mind. However, he did not think too much about it. Lohn Kong was someone who had the capabilities to avoid the Ancient Frost Crocodiles and Bloodthirsty Silverfishes'' senses and sneak his way into the tomb! Previously, countless martial artists were buried in the forest outside the Dragon Bone Valley. However, Lohn Kong was perfectly fine. It was as though the ferocious beasts could not see him at all. This man''s methods and background were extremely mysterious and Aiden knew nothing about them initially. Later on, when he learned about the super sects of the world, Aiden realized that there was a high chance this person came from the most mysterious faction of the world, Enigma Pce! The moment he exchanged blows with Lohn Kong earlier on, Aiden confirmed thetter''s identity. Back in the Dragon Bone Valley, the two of them exchanged blows briefly and Lohn Kong managed to dispel his Sanguine Ape Fist Seal easily with his folding fan. It was the exact same technique that he had used earlier on! A yful look shed through Aiden''s eyes as he mocked, "You''re quite something aren''t you. The sessor of Enigma Pceing all the way here to rob someone else''s tomb." "Hmph, no one would be able to recognize me if it wasn''t for you." Lohn Kong grunted in displeasure. He made full preparations for this trip. Notwithstanding the mask that could alter his appearance, he even hid away his folding fan intentionally and reced it with an iron ruler. To think that he would be recognized immediately upon bumping into Aiden. Chapter 1070 1070 - Treasures Chapter 1070 1070 - Treasures Judging from their tone, it seemed like they knew one another a long time ago and had a good rtionship. With that, everyone''s expressions eased gradually. The tension in the air cleared up as well. "So, you''re a young brother from Enigma Pce. That exins your capabilities," As a disciple of one of the five fiendish ces, the Tomb Sect, Little Fatty had naturally heard of the famous Enigma Pce. It was a great sect created by the ancient expert, Fairy Ling Long, that has its roots traced back to history. Enigma Pce was the host for every generation''s Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking. Enigma Pce did not have many disciples and there would only be a single legacy disciple for every generation to roam the secr realm. The disciples of Enigma Pce that roamed the secr realm were the most mysterious and almost nobody knew how strong they were. However, apart from the sessors of Tomb Sect, among the sessors of the other super sects, the sessor of Enigma Pce had the highest chance of locating this ce! Aiden knew about Lohn Kong''s capabilities a long time ago. Back then, this was the person who infiltrated the Dragon Bone Valley stealthily and brought him along to escape alive! Lohn Kong put away the iron ruler in his hands and withdrew his folding fan once more, saying embarrassedly, "You guys sure got here quick. I haven''t had time to take anything yet." Aiden smiled. "Don''t dream about it. This is the tomb of Tomb Sect." Little Fatty waved it off. "It''s fine, since you''re a friend of Boss, you can take anything you fancy in here as well apart from the utmost treasure of our sect." Lohn Kong''s eyes lit up when he heard that. Aiden sensed that something was amiss. That was when Lohn Kong snickered. "young brother, you sure are easygoing. However, I''m also not a greedy person. I won''t take a single treasure within the tomb." "Humph!" Aiden sneered, "Stop pretending. I know your character well enough!" Previously, Lohn Kong had already coveted Night Spirit for a long time after noticing that thetter had an unusual bloodline C there was no way he would return empty-handed with so many treasures here. Lohn Kong''s mouth cramped for a moment as he ignored Aiden and said, "The reason why I''m here isn''t for the treasures in the tomb. It''s for the dragon vein here!" "You want to take the dragon vein away?" Aiden frowned. "That''s right!" Lohn Kong nodded and turned to Little Fatty. "The dragon vein here is man-made. Although it was prepared for you by the tomb master, given your strength, even if you get your hands on the utmost treasure of Tomb Sect, you''ll only be able to receive 50% of it." "If you take in too much fortune, you won''t be able to absorb itpletely as well. Too much of something will bring about an adverse effect and at that time, you will only bring disaster to yourself." Little Fatty remained silent. He knew that Lohn Kong was not exaggerating. The dragon vein represented fortune! This Powerful Figure of Tomb Sect set up the Astral Dragon''s Lair and connected to Heaven and Earth, gathering the fortune of the ancient battlefield to form this dragon vein. It took a few tens of thousands of years before it was fully formed in this era. Fortune was something that was incorporeal and illusory. Although Fairy Ling Long was not an emperor, her status in the ancient era was extraordinary. It was not only because she was the wife of the Ancient One. More than that, she was a legendary wielder of great fortune who could divine everything, predict blessings and disasters, and even steal a glimpse of the heavenly secrets! It was due to her capabilities that the mortal race managed to gain the upper hand in the ancient war, avoiding countless cmities that would have wiped out the race! The Primordial Nine Races hated her to the core. Legend has it that in the ancient war, in order to gain the upper hand, the Primordial Nine Races sent countless experts in their races to ambush and assassinate Fairy Ling Long but to no avail. Although fortune had no form to itself, it truly existed. Anyone who possessed great fortune could convert disasters into blessings and even meet with more opportunities! Although fortune would not bring about a direct raise to a martial artist''sbat strength or any visible changes, it held an imperative importance to the martial artist''s future! Experts who could train to the level of Mighty Figure or Patriarch were all blessed with fortune! If they were surrounded by bad luck, they would have died a long time ago at the breaking of the Mortal realm or Martial Practitioner realm. In fact, it would be considered lucky if they only died at old age. Notwithstanding the experts that were so strong they were out of reach, even for the true paragons from the various super sects that entered the ancient battlefield this time round, the 108 on the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking, all of them had met with an immortal fate! All of them had entered an ancestral cave or ancient ruin! All of them had obtained a legacy left behind by some experts! Lohn Kong said, "If you absorb 50% of the dragon vein, the remaining of it will dissipate into the world. Rather than letting that happen, you might as well let me take the rest." The spirit tiger rolled his eyes and asked, "ording to your words, the seven of us brothers can absorb the dragon vein as well. How can we let you be the only one getting all the benefits!" "Yes," The Golden Lion nodded as well. This time around, Ki Ki did a rare act of not refuting the spirit tiger. Lohn Kong said with a fake smile, "Sure thing. If you can manage to snatch the dragon vein away, go ahead. You don''t have to care about me." "Remember those words! Don''t regret themter on!" The spirit tiger said. Lohn Kong swore honestly, "I won''t regret!" "Great!" The spirit tiger said, "First, tell us how to absorb this dragon vein." Lohn Kong rolled his eyes. Aiden was speechless and broke into a chuckle. "Don''t ask any further. The method to absorb the dragon vein is definitely a secret skill of Enigma Pce. There''s no way he''ll impart it to outsiders." The spirit tiger scratched his head. "Doesn''t that mean that we can only stand by the sidelines and watch?" "Since Fatty has already said that there are so many treasures in the pce, just take one of them," Aiden smiled. "Ah, alright! The spirit tiger grinned. He had already set his sights on the treasures that filled the tomb a long time ago and was just waiting for Aiden to say that. There were two stone shelves on both sides of the pce that spanned several thousand feet into the depths. On the left stone shelf were weapons, rare ores, and materials C there was everything. On the right shelf was secret martial techniques of all kinds. With a casual nce, Aiden even caught sight of many secret skills from the immortal, Buddhist, and fiend super sects! "Amazing!" Aiden was secretly speechless. Those were the treasures amassed by the Tomb Sect Mighty Figure during his lifetime. Monkey and the others were not interested in training techniques for mortals. After condensing their Essence Spirits, they would innately inherit some of the memories of their race that were hidden deep in the bloodlines C there would be demonic techniques suitable for them. They walked towards the stone shelf on the left right away. It was rare for demons to get their hands on a weapon suitable for them. This was a rare opportunity. Aiden was also looking to seek a treasure for the little fox. Previously, her special little basket wouldn''t have been taken away by that nasty old man if she hadn''t been trying to save him. That was the only thing left behind for little fox by her mother. Monkey and the others meandered along the stone shelf down. In between, they caught sight of many supreme-grade and even some perfect divine weapons with five divine patterns. However, they did not take any of them. They had to be extremely careful if they could only choose one. Suddenly, monkey paused in his tracks and his gaze lingered on a rusty long rod. Monkey lifted the rod and observed it carefully. There was nothing special about the rod. In fact, it did not even have any divine patterns on it and it was rusted all over. The only thing that was special was that it would shimmer with a faint golden glow from time to time when it was moved. It was not a divine weapon. However, the moment monkey picked up that iron rod, Aiden realized that the corner of Lohn Kong''s eyes twitched for a moment! Chapter 1071 1071 - Choices Chapter 1071 1071 - Choices Although Aiden did not know the origin of the iron rod, he knew that Lohn Kong had a sharp eye for things! He was about to tell monkey to take the iron rod. However, monkey had already turned to Little Fatty. "Fatty, I want this rod." "Sure, no problem!" Little Fatty was in a great mood and agreed to it readily. "Hah." Aiden''s ears twitched and he could vaguely hear a faint sigh from Lohn Kong. Chuckling internally, Aiden walked over and whispered, "So, what''s the origin of that iron rod?" "How should I know?" Lohn Kong rolled his eyes and was not willing to borate. "Why did you sigh then?" "F*ck! You could even hear that!" Lohn Kong went silent for a moment with widened eyes before pouting his lips. "I don''t know what that thing is exactly, but I know it''s definitely something good. It''s not weaker than a top grade divine weapon!" "Psst!" Aiden gasped. That evaluation was rather remarkable! Lohn Kong exined, "There are too many sacred, mysterious, and divine objects in this world. Those aren''t things that man-made weapons can everpare against." Aiden understood. For example, the divine phoenix bone in his right hand did not have any divine patterns but it was stronger than any other divine weapon! Monkey looked around casually for a random piece of cloth to tie the rod and carry it behind him. The spirit tiger walked down along the right shelf and was in awe. There were too many treasures that it made him giddy. He picked up a long saber with a chilling aura. After tens of thousands of years, the saber was still sharp as ever and gave off a chilling intent. Its de was almost transparent with patterns etched on it C it was like a work of god! It was a perfect divine weapon. Although the spirit tiger was in love with it, he ced it back reluctantly after ying with it for a long time. A whileter, he picked up a spear and yed with it, looking truly ferocious. A momentter, he ced the spear back as well. "Ugh!" The spirit tiger sighed once more. If only he could take away all the treasures. As he walked, he suddenly sensed something and shifted his gaze to a corner of the shelf. There were four hooks. The spirit tiger walked forward and picked up the four hooks. He wiped away the dust on them and revealed the hooks that were white as jade and almost transparent. There were no patterns on them. They did not seem like they were crafted from any metal ores. For some unknown reason, the moment the spirit tiger picked up the hooks, he felt his bloodline stir and a mysterious sensation in his heart. It was as though the four hooks were rted to him! The spirit tiger''s heart skipped a beat as he circted his Inner Core to form his tiger''s paw and extended his sharp ws. "Eh, they do look simr." The spirit tiger grinned. He discovered that his ws were simr to the four hooks. The spirit tiger extended his ws and touched the hooks in his hand. Piak! It was a casual touch. However, the spirit tiger''s ws were cut apart neatly by the hooks in his hand right away! "How sharp!" Aiden''s pupils constricted slightly upon seeing that. After training the Dark Thunder Manual, the spirit tiger''s bloodline was extraordinary. Even Rygintarth would have difficulty cutting through the sharpness and toughness of his ws! "Bloody hell what''s this lousy thing! It destroyed my ws!" The spirit tiger was stunned and cursed in a huff, prepared to toss the four jade-like hooks back. All of a sudden! By ident, the spirit tiger''s fingernails made contact with the hooks. Instantly, fresh blood gushed and stained the hooks red! The next moment, something even scarier happened! The hooks moved up along the spirit tiger''s fingertips uncontrobly and dug its way inside slowly! The veins of the fingers were connected to one''s heart. "Ah!" The spirit tiger reared its head and howled in misery, moving his palm by instinct. With that, the remaining three hooks pierced his palm! When they made contact with the spirit tiger''s fresh blood, the remaining three hooks fused into his palm as well! The entire process happened extremely swiftly and by the time Aiden realized, the four hooks had already vanished, leaving behind the spirit tiger who was rolling on the ground in extreme pain. "Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!" The spirit tiger let out a deep growl. Crackle! His bones and tendons rang at the same time and his bloodline surged. Instantly, he reverted to his true form and a faint, terrifying aura emanated from his body with torrential ferocity! The skin of the spirit tiger had already started tearing and his flesh was rupturing! The next moment, he recovered once again. "Hmm?" Aiden and Lohn Kong''s expressions changed slightly as they eximed at the same time, "Complete body transformation!" The spirit tiger was undergoing a great opportunity! The progenitor of the opportunity was the four hooks! Lohn Kong said deeply, "If I''m not wrong, there''s a high chance the four hooks are the ws of a divine being of the tiger race! Right now, the spirit tiger has no use for them. Once he trains his Essence Spirit, he will be able to utilize them." An hourter, the spirit tiger''s tragic screams subsided. A momentter, he turned into his mortal form once more and leaped up from the ground. Without using much strength, he could already leap to a height of a hundred feet. It was clear that he had undergone aplete transformation and received an immense boost to his strength, bringing his power to the peak of Inner Core! A single step further and he would be able to train his Essence Spirit and turn into a fiend demon! On the other side, the Golden Lion hesitated for a long time before deciding on a saber C it was a perfect divine weapon. Ki Ki also chose a perfect divine weapon, but it was a fan. There was a hint of sorrow in her eyes as she gazed at the fan. The fan was azure green in color. Although there was no divine power in it, it emanated a scorching heat. Aiden figured it out instantly. The fan must have been created from the feathers of the elder guardian of the sect! Ki Ki''s sorrow must have stemmed from her reminiscing about her father who might have died in the Thousand Spider Sand Dune. On the other side, the little fox hesitated for a long time before deciding on a ck umbre. "Why this umbre?" Aiden asked, "This type of weapon isn''t strong offensively. Most of the time, it can only be used defensively." "It''s fine," She smiled. "With this umbre, when I''m around you, I''ll be able to help you block some fatal blows at critical moments." Aiden went silent. A momentter, he raised his head and looked at the little fox sincerely. "Foxy, don''t worry. I''ll definitely retrieve that Fire Blocking Basket for you personally!'' "Ugh!" The little fox nodded. "I believe in you." Monkey and the others had already chosen the treasures they wanted. However, Aiden had no clue still. At the end of the pce was a skeleton draped in robes. That should be the owner of this tomb! Although tens of thousands of years have passed and the flesh and blood of the Lesser God Realm Mighty Figure had already dried up, his bones were pristine! Legend has it that for those that crossed over to the Divine Realm, their flesh would not rot even after 100,000 years had passed C their physical bodies were truly in the state of indestructibility! The skeleton of the Lesser God Realm Mighty Figure was not the most catching thing. Behind him, there was a round electric pool that shed frighteningly with purple lightning! Chapter 1072 - What to take? 1072 Chapter 1072 - What to take? In that electric pool, purple lightning shed and electric snakes slithered. It possessed an extremely terrifying aura, as though it could decimate all living beings! What sort of powers were these? To gather the divine thunder above the nine heavens at a ce as such? Thunder was the toughest and most righteous type of energy in the universe and it was also the hardest to control. The martial techniques involving thunder were the most dangerous and a single mistake could cause one their lives! Legend has it that after the Divine Realm was the Tiding Tribtion realm where a Heavenly Tribtion would descend. The Heavenly Tribtion would be created from thunder and was extremely powerful C even the strongest experts of the world and ancient emperors might not be able to withstand it. If they could not tide through it, even Patriarchs or emperors with the divine power of rebirth through blood would have to be annihted into ashes! Heavenly Tribtions were the epitome of the power of thunder. While Aiden was pondering, Little Fatty had already advanced in front of the Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect. Although he was only facing a skeleton, there was no hint of disrespect on Little Fatty''s face. He knelt down and kowtowed three times politely to the Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect. "Senior, I entered this ce under orders from the sect master to retrieve the utmost treasure of Tomb Sect left behind by the Underworld Emperor. Do forgive me for anything that I have done that might have offended you!" Aiden''s gaze shifted. The Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect was in a lotus position with one hand on his knees. His other hand pointed to the ground at a diagram that was pieced together before him. Lohn Kong''s gaze shone as he waved the folding fan in his hands and said softly, "If I''m not wrong, this should be the Yellow Springs Diagram that shook the world in the past. It''s a great killing weapon that''s said to be able to bury all life and the six paths of reincarnation!" "Unfortunately, when the Underworld Emperor underwent his tribtion transcendence, the Yellow Springs Diagram was nearly destroyed after withstanding the power of the Heavenly Tribtion. That''s the reason why it has been relegated to the level of a divine weapon." "Ah!" Aiden eximed. He had not imagined that the scroll of the diagram had such an origin. Lohn Kong continued, "However, even so, this was the emperor weapon of the Underworld Emperor. Although it suffered immense damage and has fallen to such a level, it''s not something that ordinary weapons canpare against." "Emperor weapon?" Aiden furrowed his brows in confusion. He knew that Divine treasures came after divine weapons. If so, where did emperor weaponse about? "Simply put, emperor weapons are the Destiny Divine Treasures of Emperors. They carry with them the force, aura, and fortune of the emperors and are even more terrifying!" Lohn Kong gave a brief exnation. Aiden was secretly shocked. How terrifying was the power of the Heavenly Tribtion to be able to relegate an emperor weapon to such a state! With a respectful expression, Little Fatty extended both hands and raised the Yellow Springs Diagram before opening it up slowly. Ssh! The sound of a river surging and sshing sounded from the Yellow Springs Diagram! Everyone turned their gazes over. There was an actual yellow river surging within the Yellow Springs Diagram! The Yellow Springs Diagram was shrouded by ayer of fog and gave off a terrifying yellow glow, illuminating the entire pce as though it was about to drown it! Everyone felt suffocated. It was not imaginary. Even with Aiden''s powerful physique, he felt waves of difort. "Amazing!" Lohn Kong was speechless. "Legend has it that when the Yellow Springs descend, it can wash away all the weapons in the world. Even if a perfect-grade weapon falls into the Yellow Springs, it will turn into scrap metal! Only top grade level weapons that can escape in time can survive." Aidenmented as well, "To think that even after its fall to this level and countless years, the Yellow Springs Diagram can still release such a frightening aura!" The Yellow Springs Diagram hovered above Little Fatty''s head. Little Fatty''s eyes were tightly shut and he shuddered. From time to time, his body would glow yellow C he was undergoing a baptism from the Yellow Springs Diagram! Layers of ck things that were extremely smelly appeared gradually on the surface of Little Fatty''s skin. Those were the impurities in his body! The fog released by the Yellow Springs Diagram seeped into Little Fatty''s body and helped him to cleanse it, purging away as much impurities as it can. This was an opportunity for Little Fatty! Outsiders would not even have the chance to take this away from him. Lohn Kong pouted his lips in envy. "The water of Yellow Springs. That''s good stuff." "You mean to say that the yellow fog surrounding Little Fatty is the water of Yellow Springs?" Aiden asked with eyes widened in disbelief. The actual Yellow Springs was deep underground and had one to pass through the gates of death and the bridge of no return! Only dead people could see the Yellow Springs. How could anyone that''s alivee into contact with water from the Yellow Springs? "This can only be considered as diluted Yellow Springs water. The power contained by the Yellow Springs fog is merely a fraction of a hundred million of the power of Yellow Springs water." Lohn Kong pouted his lips. "If it was a drop of water from the actual Yellow Springs, this Fatty''s body won''t be cleansed, it would instantly turn into pus!" After pausing for a moment, Lohn Kong continued, "However, the true Yellow Springs does exist within the Yellow Springs Diagram!" "Hmm?" Aiden''s expression changed. "An ancient book within Enigma Pce recorded that the reason why the Yellow Springs Diagram became a true emperor weapon was because the Underworld Emperor released his divine powers. With a bold, fearless resolve, he walked through the gates of death and crossed the bridge of no return to retrieve a trickle of Yellow Springs, sealing it within the diagram and turning it into an emperor weapon!" Lohn Kong remarked with slight pity, "Of course, given the Fatty''s current capabilities, he won''t be able to utilize the diagram." Even after dropping in level, the Yellow Springs Diagram was still a divine weapon. If Little Fatty wanted to utilize the Yellow Springs Diagram, he would have to first advance to Martial Grandmaster realm and train an Essence Spirit so that he can manipte divine powers. Everyone stood where they were and waited in silence. None of them wanted to make any reckless moves that could interrupt Little Fatty''s opportunity. A full six hours passed. Finally, Little Fatty''s cleansing came to an end. After the cleansing, Little Fatty turned much skinnier The inheritance process was not over yet. Ssh! Suddenly, a Martial Master phenomenon appeared behind Little Fatty. A hazy yellow river gushed with ripples and emanated an endless evil aura with many corpses floating in it. The Yellow Springs phenomenon seemed like it wanted to fuse with the Yellow Springs Diagram as one. The power of the phenomenon was climbing rapidly! Aiden suddenly saw the light. Back when he witnessed Little Fatty fighting against Corpse Refinement Cult martial artists, he already had the feeling that Little Fatty had yet to unleash the true power of the Yellow Springs phenomenon. The Yellow Springs phenomenon could be ranked top 20 in the Phenomenon Ranking at the very least! It was only now that Aiden realized it wasn''t because Little Fatty''s potential was limited C it was because the utmost treasure of Tomb Sect, the Yellow Springs Diagram, was lost in this ce! The Yellow Springs Diagram contained the true Yellow Springs. The power of the Yellow Springs phenomenon can only be fullyprehended and released after experiencing the aura of the true Yellow Springs! By obtaining the Yellow Springs Diagram, Little Fatty''s body was not the only thing that would grow stronger. Even his Yellow Spring phenomenon would strengthen and might even reach its glory in the past! This was another long process. It took an entire day before the inheritance process ended. The Yellow Springs Diagram fell back into Little Fatty''s palms. Bang! Boom! Boom! Suddenly, the entire pce vibrated immensely. It was as though something terrifying had awakened from the depths underground and was prepared to rise! Lohn Kong''s eyes lip up. "The birth of the dragon vein!" Chapter 1073 - Inspiration 1073 Chapter 1073 - Inspiration The dragon vein represented fortune! Fortune was incorporeal while the dragon vein was corporeal. "Roar!" A dragon roar sounded. A ferocious divine dragon surged up from the ground and coiled with its head raised. It arrived in the pce and reared its head, roaring so loudly it could crush rocks and metals! This was not a true dragon and it could not even bepared to the phantom of a divine dragon. It waspletely formed from air current and merely possessed the shape of a dragon. The dragon vein was under this ce. It was because of the Yellow Springs Diagram that the dragon vein could be suppressed! Now that the Yellow Springs Diagram had appeared into the world, the dragon vein was finally free of its restrictions as well. The dragon vein was not an actual living being. It was formed by gathering the fortune of the world. After breaking free, its goal was to get out of the tomb and return to the world. The moment the dragon vein exited the tomb, it would dissipate. The fortune would return to the world none the wiser as to which martial artist in the vicinity would receive a trickle of the dragon vein. All of a sudden! The Yellow Springs Diagram shone brightly and pped without wind. Within it, a hazy yellow wave surged out. It was massive and gushed towards the dragon vein, trying to pull thetter within the Yellow Springs Diagram! "Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar!" The dragon vein howled in midair and struggled repeatedly as it tried to break free of the Yellow Springs'' absorption. The two different powers were fighting against one another. A momentter, the Yellow Springs Diagram seemed like it realized it could not possibly devour the entire dragon vein whole. The yellow river current gathered in a certain spot and smashed against the dragon vein fiercely, breaking up thetter into pieces. The dragon vein dispersed and turned into streams of dragon-shaped air currents that swam wildly in midair. Swoosh! Immediately after, a series of massive waves rose from the yellow river once more, attempting to drown the five parts of the dragon vein and pull them into the Yellow Springs Diagram. It was augmenting itself onto Little Fatty''s body! It was exactly as Lohn Kong had predicted. Even with the help of the Yellow Springs Diagram, Little Fatty could only absorb 50% of the dragon vein! Lohn Kong stood out and dered with a confident smile, "Everyone, I won''t be standing on courtesy!" Lohn Kong hung the folding fan in his hands casually on his waist and reached out with both hands. He circted his Martial Master and conjured a series of spirit arts that were dizzying. As the spirit arts were formed, a massive chessboard filled with ck and white chess pieces appeared behind Lohn Kong, spinning wildly. The chessboard seemed as though it could divine the secrets of the universe and the life of all beings! "Go!" Lohn Kong pointed at the front. The chessboard erged repeatedly and nketed the top of the pce. Spiraling slowly, it emitted a mysterious aura. The dragon vein air currents surged wildly in midair but their path of exit waspletely sealed by the chessboard! "Hehe, don''t bother trying to escape!" Lohn Kong smiled brightly and released his spirit perception as streams of spirit light surged from his fingertip into the chessboard. Some of the dragon vein air currents started surging into the chessboard before entering Lohn Kong''s body. Most of the dragon vein air currents shuttled around the pce like headless flies, even passing by monkey and the others. "Ha!" The spirit tiger reached out with his massive paws and grabbed onto one of the dragon vein air currents, yelling, "Let''s see you run!" The dragon vein air current dissipated immediately against his grab. However, the fortune was not augmented onto him. Monkey, the Golden Lion, Ki Ki and little fox all attempted as well but none of them could catch hold of the dragon vein. "How does one get their hands on this stupid thing!" The spirit tiger red at Lohn Kong with displeasure and a hint of envy as thetter captured the dragon vein. Lohn Kong remarked gleefully as he controlled the chessboard, "Brother Tiger, character is important when ites to fortune. Your character just doesn''t cut it, haha!" In reality, a secret technique was required to capture the dragon vein. To begin with, the Founder Master of Enigma Pce, Fairy Ling Long, was an expert of great fortune. She naturally understood how to capture the dragon vein as well as the fortune in the world. Monkey and the others were merely demon beasts C there was no way they would understand such things. "F*ck!" The spirit tiger almost exploded from the smug look on Lohn Kong''s face! The spirit tiger turned to monkey with a frustrated expression and asked with clenched teeth, "Brother Monkey, can I bash him up?" "Sure," Monkey nodded and continued, "But I doubt you can win him" Spirit tiger: "" "Roar!" Suddenly, a shuddering roar echoed through the pce! This roar was extremely simr to the dragon roar earlier on but it was much more frightening! Majestic and vicissitude, it swept through the nine heavens in a grand manner! Compared to this roar, the dragon roar released by the dragon vein earlier was akin to the roar of an infant dragon. Everyone turned towards the voice instinctively. Not far away, Aiden was motionless. However, there was a divine dragon several dozen feet long coiling around his body. It possessed actual flesh and blood and was lined with dragon scales that shimmered coldly. A series of sharp spikes protruded from the spine of the divine dragon and it had sharp ws and majestic horns! Its eyes were cold and authoritative as they looked down on the masses! Aiden hovered in midair within the coiled dragon wearing his green robes. His ck hair danced and his eyes were deep as his aura climbed endlessly like a divine being that was meant to rule over the world! It was as though the divine dragon was a pet of his! Monkey, the spirit tiger, and the others had seen Aiden release this technique before in the battle at the ancient city and were ratherposed. However, Little Fatty and Sean Jean were stupefied. Even Lohn Kong was dumbfounded and froze on the spot, even forgetting to release his spirit art. A momentter, he muttered, "That''s the secret skill of the Ancient One, Ancient Primordial Dragon Art!" Aiden nodded. It was no wonder why Enigma Pce was a super sect of the world and was rted to the Ancient One as well. Among everyone of the same generation, Lohn Kong was the only one who identified the Ancient Primordial Dragon Art. "Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar!" After the emergence of the Ancient Primordial Dragon Art, the initially chaotic dragon vein air currents in the pce surged towards Aiden''s body as though they had found a home. It was a spectacr sight as though hundreds of rivers were converging into the ocean! "Fu*k!"" Lohn Kong snapped to his senses in envy. He arrived at this ce painstakingly after crossing through endless traps and not taking any treasures all for the sake of the dragon vein. Yet, Aiden was the one who stood to gain at the end of the day! "Aiden, I''ll fight you!" Lohn Kong shrieked and circted his Martial Master with all his might. His hands formed seals even faster and spirit energy surged even more wildly. A powerful suction force was produced from the chessboard at the top of the pce! However, the stronger the suction force was, the faster the dragon vein air currents converged towards Aiden. In less than ten minutes, 80% of the remaining 50% dragon vein was snatched away by Aiden, leaving only 20% for Lohn Kong. "Hahaha! That''s your due dessert!" The spirit tiger roared inughter at Lohn Kong''s frustrated expression. "Good job, brother! Piss him off to death!" Little Fox smiled brightly and said aptly, "Mister Lin, your character can''t cut it either." In truth, it was only a stroke of inspiration for Aiden to release the Ancient Primordial Dragon Art. He had not thought that he would steal away 80% of the remaining dragon vein from Lohn Kong after releasing the secret skill! Part of the reason was that the dragon vein air current had a closer connection to the aura of the Ancient Primordial Dragon Art. Another reason was because this was a secret skill of the Ancient One that was created using the secrets of Heaven and Earth. It was not surprising that it could steal away the fortune from Lohn Kong''s hands. Chapter 1074 1074 - Its alive Chapter 1074 1074 - It''s alive The dragon vein that was formed after tens of thousands of years was gradually divided among Little Fatty, Aiden, and Lohn Kong. Little Fatty took up 50% with the help of Tomb Sect''s Yellow Springs Diagram. With the help of the Ancient Primordial Dragon Art, Aiden obtained 40%! Lohn Kong tried his best to release the secret skill of Enigma Pce but only managed to obtain 10% in the end. In the mortal realm, any vassal state that captured a dragon vein could grow swiftly and develop into a dynasty that could dominate over a part of the world! Fortune was something that was illusory and there would be no immediate rise in one''s strength after obtaining it. However, it had a huge impact on the future of the martial artist. The greater the fortune, the more opportunities and encounters that would ur. In fact, it could even reach the extent of converting disasters into blessings and altering one''s fate! Lohn Kong gripped his fists tightly and red at Aiden with indignance. He was so worked up that his teeth were chattering. "Aiden, you''re really a jinx!" Aiden shrugged his shoulders with an innocent expression. Little foxughed. "Mister Lin, you said it yourself that the dragon vein will go to whoever is capable of capturing it and you won''t regret it at all!" "I won''t regret I won''t regret!" Lohn Kong panted and said gloomily, "But I''ll feel spite!" Monkey and the others watched by the sidelines with gloating expressions as they burst intoughter. Naturally, all of them wished for Aiden to obtain the dragon vein. "I''ve realized that nothing good everes out of bumping into you!" Lohn Kong sighed and turned even more moody when he thought about what happened during their first encounter back then. It was the same thing the previous time around. However, it was consumed by this seemingly frail schr and a useless dog! "F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!" Lohn Kong hopped in rage when he thought about what happened in the past. "How unlucky!" Lohn Kong wished that he could p himself right now as he red at Aiden begrudgingly. "Once we leave this ce, let''s part ways! I''ve got to keep my distance from you in the future!" "I''ve discovered that everything in this world has their counters. You are born to jinx me!" Aiden coughed gently and patted Lohn Kong on the shoulder, saying with a fake serious tone, "Let''s not talk about jinxing and whatnot. That''s going to hurt our rtionship." "Hmph!" lightsvel Lohn Kong rolled his eyes. Right then, a sigh echoed from the voids. The next moment, the pce went into dead silence! Everyone stood motionlessly on the spot, as though their limbs were bound by an invisible force. Their expressions were frozen and their eyes were filled with confusion, surprise, and fear A faint repressing aura engulfed downwards. Against the pressure, all of them felt insignificant like ants! There was another existence in that pce! An existence that was far more powerful than everyone present! An evil gust of wind blew past. The temperature of the entire pce dipped! Everyone''s hairs stood on end and they shuddered. "Ah!" Little fox was frightened and reverted to her true form, burrowing herself into Aiden''s embrace as she shuddered. Even the spirit tiger and the Golden Lion who were manly were now trembling in fear, let alone her. "Could you show yourself, senior?" Aiden took a deep breath and surveyed his surroundings before asking. The aura emanated by the existence was extremely scary! In fact, it could kill any of them in the pce with ease, including him! Rather than lose his wits, Aiden chose to stand out and converse with the existence directly. "Someone has finally arrived after so many years." The voice rang again, filled with sadness and emotions. Everyone was shocked when they heard that. There was probably only a single person in the tomb who would spout such words Everyone turned towards the sound. The skeleton that sat in front of the electric pool shifted sinisterly. Possibly because it had not moved for tens of thousands of years, the skeleton creaked as though it could scatter at any moment. Immediately after, right in front of everyone, the skeleton stood up! Psst! Everyone gasped. The Golden Lion''s fur stood on ends and made his entire body seem muchrger! Monkey, the spirit tiger and everyone else nearly had their hearts pop out of their throats. Lohn Kong ced one of his hands behind his back and his fingers moved rapidly as they divined. Aiden narrowed his gaze and was ratherposed. He was not dead! The Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect from tens of thousands of years ago has survived till now! The Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect stood up and the robes that were initially draped on his body turned into dust and dispersed, unable to withstand the corrosion of time. There was no flesh on the skeleton. However, there was a faint light spot shining from its be, flickering with a sliver of life. Crack! Crack! Crack! The skeleton turned its head and surveyed everyone with its empty sockets. Finally, it lingered for a moment on Aiden before looking away. Aiden felt a strange sensation. Although the Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect had no eyes, Aiden could vaguely sense that the Mighty Figure was looking at him oddly C it was as though the Mighty Figure was pinning some hopes on him. Aiden could not sense any hostility from this Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect using his spirit perception. Of course, for an expert of that level, if he wanted to kill everyone present, he could even conceal the heavenly secrets with a single thought, let alone escape Aiden''s spirit perception. Aiden looked over to Lohn Kong at the side. He could not see any fear in Lohn Kong''s eyes at the moment as well. Aiden was relieved. The skeleton walked down the steps and closed in to Little Fatty, gazing at the Yellow Springs Diagram in thetter''s hand silently in a daze. Little Fatty was almost frightened to tears. A momentter, the skeleton reached out and grazed its finger gently across the Yellow Springs Diagram. It was like a farewell. Little Fatty was almost scared out of his wits in the face of the skeleton and could not think about anything else. He propped up the Yellow Springs Diagram with both hands, unsure whether he should hold on to it or pass it over. "Senior, I''m only here to retrieve this utmost treasure of Tomb Sect from the orders of the elders." "I did not know that you were still alive!" Little Fatty''s voice was almost whimpering. "Senior, although I''ve got a lot of flesh on my body, I''m not delicious" He waspletely scared out of his wits. "Fatty!" Aiden called softly. At that moment, Aiden used a Sanskrit secret skill from the Buddhist sects that had the effect of clearing one''s mind. Little Fatty had lost his rationalitypletely at the moment. If he did not sober up, there would be the danger of him veering off onto the wrong path in his future martial path due to this trauma! His sobbing stopped and his eyes widened, slightly lost. "Fatty, sober up!" Aiden said darkly, "If this senior wanted to harm you, he would have done so a long time ago! There''s no need for him to let you take away the Yellow Springs Diagram and leave the dragon vein of this ce for you." When he heard that, Little Fatty was enlightened and his initially flustered heart calmed down gradually. The skeleton looked at Aiden deeply and nodded. Chapter 1075 1075 - The long wait Chapter 1075 1075 - The long wait Although it was a seemingly insignificant action, it was a form of recognition. Or rather, it was the Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect expressing his gratitude to Aiden. "This treasure has followed me for more than 10,000 years. To think that it''s still degraded to such a state in the end." The skeleton retracted its palm and looked at Little Fatty before saying slowly, "Keep this Yellow Springs Diagram well. Once you advance to Martial Grandmaster realm, use it as your Destiny divine Weapon." "Even if it can''t reim its glory of the past, you''ll have to repair it to the state of a Divine treasure!" The pretext of the Yellow Springs Diagram turning into a Divine treasure was for Little Fatty to advance to the Divine Realm! However, how difficult was it to achieve that? Even this paragon who was once a titr disciple of Tomb Sect in the past right before them did not manage to finish that advancement. "Don''t worry, senior, I''ll do my best!" Little Fatty nodded furiously and put the Yellow Springs Diagram away with utmost importance. The skeleton surveyed its surroundings and looked at the nervous spirit tiger, Ki Ki, and everyone else, saying gently, "There''s no need to be afraid, I died a long time ago. The only thing remaining in my skeleton is a remnant of my consciousness." "50,000 years ago, I failed to break through to the Divine Realm and was almost at the end of my lifespan. As such, I could only set up this Astral Dragon''s Lair and await the future generation." Everyone was confused. Since he was already dead, how did his consciousness manage to survive till now? The skeleton seemed to understand everyone''s confusion and exined, "By making use of this tomb, my remnant consciousness fused into the dragon vein and concealed this heavenly secret. That was how I managed to remain here. Now that the dragon vein has been absorbed, I''m about to dissipate too." Everyone was enlightened. The skeleton continued, "The reason why I left this remnant consciousness was to prevent the Yellow Springs Diagram from falling into the hands of outsiders. The final test of this tomb is me!" Upon hearing that, everyone had conflicted expressions and felt trepidation. It was obvious what the skeleton was implying. If one of them in the group harbored evil intentions and designs on the Yellow Springs Diagram, they would have been dead by now! Although it was only a remnant consciousness of a Lesser God Realm Mighty Figure, it was strong enough to kill any of them present! Aiden''s mouth twitched. The thoughts of this Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect could not be described simply as being cautious. It was more like he was twisted! Who would have expected that there would be a final test even after passing through all the various ones at the start! At the same time, it was the scariest and most fatal test! Aiden''s heart skipped a beat as he turned to Lohn Kong at the side. There was no hint of surprise in Lohn Kong''s eyes, as though he had predicted this. "Indeed!" Aiden sneered internally, "What a crafty person!" Back when they first entered, a thought crossed Aiden''s mind when he saw that nothing in the pce seemed to have been touched C could Lohn Kong truly be so considerate? It was only at this moment that he finally understood. Lohn Kong had expected this scene before them long ago. The skeleton turned and walked towards Aiden. "There are four distinct aurasing from you!" The skeleton said slowly, "From the immortal, Buddhist, and fiend sects as well as a demonic energy!" "Yes." Aiden nodded. Naturally, the secrets in his body could not be hidden from a Lesser God Realm Mighty Figure. "Good, good. Very good." The skeleton nodded repeatedly, seemingly pleased. The skeleton retrieved an ancient book from the stone shelf at the side and wiped away the dust on it before handing it to Aiden. "Take this book with you. If you can fulfill my wish, you will definitely bring about blessings for the masses." Aiden retrieved the ancient book and flipped it open gently. He merely took a quick nce before his expression changed. The ancient book recorded trial methods for how mortals should train and form Martial Masters if they had no spirit roots! Of course, all of those methods ended in failure. However, there were a lot of thoughts and conclusions described behind the methods! When he witnessed Su Hong reach the end of his lifespan and the pitiful lives of the citizens of Yan Country as their corpses sprawled everywhere, Aiden made a vow that he would create a Dao and alter the fates of the masses! For anyone else, this ancient book would be equivalent to trash. However, it was extremely important for Aiden! The failed attempts and methods were precious experiences left behind by their predecessors. It would save him a lot of time and effort! The skeleton said, "I''ve lived for more than 20,000 years and most of my time was spent on this. It''s a pity that I did not manage to find a path further." "If you have the heart to do so, I can only rely on you to continue down this path. If even someone like you can''t do it, I''m afraid this is probably a dead end" Aiden was someone who trained at all the paths that one thinks of. Be it the traditional righteous, themonly epted ''evil'' fiendish, or the conservative ''religious'', Aiden studied them all to create his own. If even he could not create a path and establish a brand new path, there would probably be no one else in this world qualified to do so. Of course, given Aiden''s current martial realm, experience, and knowledge, he was way too far from being able to establish his path. Aiden bowed deeply towards the skeleton and dered earnestly, "My sincere gratitude, senior! This book is of utmost importance to me!" "Alright!" The skeleton nodded and the light spot on its be had already grown faint. After pondering for a moment, it turned and pointed towards the electric pool at the back that shed purple. "This is a Purple Electric Pool and it can be used to refine one''s body and weapons." "There''s an ancient manual in the middle of the electric pool and it''s one of the martial techniques of the Dark Thunder Manual, known as the Purple Thunder Manual. It''s a heaven-grade martial technique and contains a myriad of techniques. Apart from mental arts, there''s also divine arts. Take it with you." Aiden was delighted when he heard that. martial techniques had four grades C heaven, earth, dark and light. Azure Myst Sect did not even have a dark-grade martial technique or divine art! Only aristocratic families and upper sects possessed dark-grade martial techniques and divine arts. Earth-grade martial techniques and divine arts were limited to super sects and they were not allowed to be imparted or leaked to outsiders. Although there were many martial techniques and divine arts on the stone shelves, Aiden saw that they were mostly light-grade. Even if there were any at dark-grade, they were individual volumes and were iplete. But now, there was a heaven-grade martial technique right in front of Aiden C this was a divine opportunity! Furthermore, this was a section of the Dark Thunder Manual! Aiden possessed the power of thunder within his body, to begin with. As such, his martial process would be much easier! Now that everything was ready, Aiden only had to advance to Martial Grandmaster realm to be able to traine the Purple Thunder Manual. Lohn Kong was green with envy once more. "This must definitely be the effect of the dragon vein!" Lohn Kong was on the brink of tears andmented internally, "Otherwise, this opportunity would have most likely been mine!" The skeleton turned back and returned to the tform. It sat down slowly with a relieved expression. "I can finally leave in peace now. All of you are good, very good." With that, the light spot on the skeleton''s be dimmedpletely. After losing the support of a Mighty Figure''s energy, the skeleton copsed and turned into dust! Aiden sighed gently, looking emotional. Legend has it that the lifespan of a Lesser God Realm Mighty Figure was more than 20,000 years. However, this Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect was able to disy such godly abilities to extend its time in this world to 50,000 years and witness this scene today. It was only at this moment that his final trace of existence vanished from this world! Without a word, everyone bowed in unison deeply towards the mound of dust. It was a form of respect. At the same time, it was a final farewell. Chapter 1076 1076 - Opportunities for everyone Chapter 1076 1076 - Opportunities for everyone The Purple Electric Pool crackled and shed with an extremely terrifying aura! Aiden said, "This electric pool can be used to refine one''s body. Those that can withstand it, we''ll refine our bodies inside together. However, do take note that the power of thunder is the most dangerous. If you feel anything amiss, leave right away, and don''t push yourselves." "Heh, I was waiting for you to say that!" Lohn Kong gave an odd chuckle. He naturally wanted to obtain somepensation for the fact that he only captured 10% of the dragon vein for his trip here. The little fox hopped out of Aiden''s embrace hurriedly and pouted her lips, shaking her head. Although demons were mostly strong physically, there were some exceptions. The fox race did not depend on their bodies for their martial. Aiden nodded and walked forward C this was something that could not be forced. In the mortal realm, there was the saying that one should never trespass an electric pool. To them, an electric pool represented danger and destructive power! Aiden entered the Purple Electric Pool and shuddered. The electric pool shone brightly and shed with a dazzling streak of lightning. One after another, purple lightning surged around Aiden before entering his body wildly. Aiden took a deep breath and advanced into the depths of the Purple Electric Pool. Lohn Kong rushed behind immediately after. The moment he entered, his eyes revealed a look of pain. However, he withstood it immediately after. The more pain one could endure within the electric pool, the stronger their body would be refined! The power in the outer perimeter of the electric pool was considered to be calm. The closer to the core, the wilder the power of thunder became. It rose with streaks of thunderbolt, as though it wanted to annihte, drown and devour everything! One could only truly experience the meaning of the wrath of thunder in the center of the electric pool! Monkey, the spirit tiger, the Golden Lion, and Ki Ki followed behind Lohn Kong. The four of them belonged to demon races that ced emphasis on the strength of one''s body C there was naturally no way they would miss an opportunity as such. Initially, Little Fatty and Sean Jean had no intention of entering. However, when they saw everyone rush in, including Lohn Kong, it seemed as though the electric pool was nothing terrifying and they were both tempted. "Should we linger for a moment at the outer perimeter of the electric pool?" Sean Jean suggested. "Yes," Little Fatty''s eyes flickered as he said, "I think that''s fine. We shouldn''t be in danger as long as we don''t venture deep into the electric pool." "Let''s go!" The two of them entered the electric pool. "Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!" The moment they entered, they shrieked. It was the worst for Sean Jean C his flesh was split, his hair stood on end and smoke rose from all his seven orifices. To begin with, Puppet Sect was not bothered about body tempering. Before he was electrocuted unconscious, Sean Jean scurried out, looking extremely wretched with a ckened face. The little fox sniffed and said with confusion, "Strange, why is there the smell of delicious roasted meat?" Sean Jean nearly spat blood when he heard that. Little Fatty was slightly better off than Sean Jean. After all, his body had just undergone a transformation due to the fog released by the Yellow Springs Diagram. As such, it was not injured by the electricity. lightsvel Even so, Little Fatty was in immense pain as his fat body twitched repeatedly. "Isn''t this just suffering for nothing?" Little Fattymented internally, "I''m having a good life eating good food, enjoying good sleep with a nice round body. Why should I be torturing myself like this?" It did not take long for him to exit. Right now, there were only six people in the electric pool C Aiden, Lohn Kong, monkey, the spirit tiger, the Golden Lion, and Ki Ki! Although they were all in the electric pool, their positions varied. The difference between the six of them was also clear! Aiden had arrived at the center of the electric pool and assumed a lotus position. The blood energy in his body surged as he absorbed the rampant power of thunder to refine his body. Unexpectedly, Lohn Kong was the closest to the center of the electric pool! It was no wonder why he was this generation''s sessor to Enigma Pce. His methods were endless, his strength was unpredictable and even his physique was terrifying to such an extent! Monkey was slightly behind Lohn Kong. Behind monkey was the spirit tiger. In truth, the spirit tiger''s bloodline was the most ordinary among all of them. Thankfully, he had trained the Dark Thunder Manual and was able to swap blood through his marrow. By ident, he managed to absorb four ws of unknown origin into his body as well. The spirit tiger''s physique was also transforming silently! After the spirit tiger was the Golden Lion and Ki Ki. The six of them found the limit which they could endure in the electric pool and sat down, taking in the power of thunder for their martial. A scroll made of beast skin hovered in the middle of the electric pool. Aiden reached out and retrieved the beast''s skin before unfolding it. At the top corner of the beast skin, there were three words C Purple Thunder Manual! This was a section in the Dark Thunder Manual that was crafted by the Thunder Emperor and was a heaven-grade martial technique! If one could train a heaven-grade martial technique upon advancing to Martial Grandmaster realm, not only would they be able to train at a terrifying speed, their Essence Spirits would also be much stronger than the Essence Spirits that were trained with light-grade martial techniques! It was the difference between Heaven and Earth! A powerful Essence Spirit meant that one would be able to manipte more divine powers and was stronger! Aiden took a quick nce before putting the Purple Thunder Manual carefully into his storage bag. This martial technique was going to be his strongest support for his immortality martial after he advanced to the Martial Grandmaster realm! At the same time, Aiden gained an immense curiosity towards theter stages of the Ancient Techniques! Without training these Ancient Techniques, Aiden would not be able to see the martial techniques of the old ages, and learn those mysterious secrets of the world. He did not know what its limits were. Aiden was looking forward to whether another demon king would appear with the Yin Spirit section! As he experienced the berserk power of thunder, a thought crossed his mind and he withdrew 27 supreme-grade flying swords from his storage bag. That was the set of flying swords required to form the Illumination Sword Formation. Prior to this, the supreme-grade flying swords were tainted by the blood of powerful demon beasts and their powers would diminish after prolonged exposure. Aiden was also contemting how he could upgrade the set of flying swords. Now, with the help of the electric pool, he could truly refine the 27 flying swords once again. Although he could not raise their grades, he could boost their power by imbuing them with the power of thunder. The resultant impact would be even greater with 27 of them together. The increase in power of the Illumination Sword Formation would be seen even clearer! Aiden waved his hand and the 27 flying swords scattered around him into the Purple Electric Pool, shining with streaks of lightning on their des. Everyone who entered the tomb had obtained opportunities for themselves respectively. At that moment, a group of martial artists arrived above the tomb C there were several thousands of them! Their leader was a scrawny man that resembled a bamboo pole. He stood in midair with a cold expression, ring down as his eyes flickered. Chapter 1077 1077 - All for nothing? Chapter 1077 1077 - All for nothing? "So Lend Mind, this ce where we''re at is where the tomb is?" A man behind the scrawny martial artist walked over. He had a haughty expression and a frightening aura as his eyes shed with electric currents! A sect badge hung on his waist with the words Zephyr Thunder. The person who spoke was the legacy disciple of one of the nine immortal sects, Dark Thunder Sect C Goil Hon. Goil Hon was also the leader of more than a thousand Dark Thunder Sect disciples who had entered the ancient battlefield! The scrawny martial artist was the other legacy disciple of Tomb Sect this time round, Lend Mind! Lend Mind withdrew a geomanticpass and started calcting. A momentter, he nodded. "There should be no mistake. This should be where the tomb is." He red down coldly at the formation of the terrain beneath him. Gradually, a look of realization shed in his eyes as he nodded. "No wonder it''s so secretive. It''s the Astral Dragon''s Lair!" "Since we''ve located the tomb, let''s head down," Goil Hon said. "There''s no need," Lend Mind shook his head. "The dragon vein here has already dispersed, meaning that someone has arrived before us. There''s no need for us to barge in. We can just wait outside to collect the rewards." "That works too," Goil Hon nodded and surveyed his surroundings, raising his voice intentionally, "The treasures in the tomb are secondary! There''s a martial technique in there that I''m determined to get my hands on! Nobody shall fight me for it!" "The legendary Purple Thunder Manual, right?" Another voice sounded behind the two of them. A man with a deathly aura arrived beside the two of them. The person was extremely ugly with a pale face and purplish lips C he resembled the malevolent ghosts in Hell! Behind him was a towering giant that was a full 30 feet tall. The giant was draped tightly by a silver-white skin from head to toe such that even his nose and mouth were covered! Even so, a faint rotting stench could still be smelled emanating from the giant. The ugly man was the legacy disciple of Corpse Refinement Cult this time round, Shato Shin! The giant behind him was his battle corpse! Shato Shin said, "Do you think that I don''t know? In the martial techniques passed down in Dark Thunder Sect, the reason why many powerful divine arts aren''t able to be unleashed is because you guysck the Purple Thunder Manual." Goil Hon''s eyes shed with a hint of disdain as he said indifferently, "I''m sure you''re not here solely for revenge huh, Brother Situ?" "That martial artist of Puppet Sect murdered disciples of Corpse Refinement Cult! I definitely have to get my hands on him!" Shato Shin remarked coldly, "I also want a share of the treasures in this tomb as well!" "Young Master Lend Mind, I''m here with hundreds of disciples from my sect to assist you. Naturally, you have to give me my share of the treasures in the tomb as well." Another martial artist draped in white robes stood out, looking graceful and extraordinary. He was the legacy disciple of another of the nine immortal sects, Chaos Essence Sect C Niel Sen. The leader of the Chaos Essence Sect disciples this time round was the top of the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking who was publicly acknowledged as the number one Martial Master C John Din! Naturally, against the reputation of John Din, it was easy to overlook Niel Sen. However, in reality, Niel Sen was extremely strong and had trained the legacy phenomenon of Chaos Essence Sect. If not for a monster incarnate like John Din, he would have been the leader of the Chaos Essence Sect disciples! Lend Mind smiled faintly. "Everyone, don''t worry. I only wish to retrieve the legacy and utmost treasure of Tomb Sect. You guys can split the remaining treasures among your disciples!" He surveyed the ground and smiled indifferently with extreme confidence, as though he could peer through all the obstacles. In order to prevent any idents, he sought help from two major immortal sects, Dark Thunder Sect and Chaos Essence Sect! Along the way, Corpse Refinement Cult of the five heretical doctrines joined them. With the backing of the three super sects, Lend Mind was confident that the Yellow Springs Diagram was definitely his! "My dear junior brother, I heard that you found some helpers for yourself too. Let''s see what sort of people you''ve sought help from, fufufu" Within the tomb. Lohn Kong, monkey, the spirit tiger, the Golden Lion, and Ki Ki left the electric pool one after another. Aiden was the final one to leave. In part, it was because his physique could withstand the refinement of thunder for a longer duration. At the same time, he was refining the sword formation! Right now, he had alreadypleted the sword formation. Although the many superior swords were still at supreme-grade, each of them had streaks of purple lightning coiling them. Aside from the sharpness of the de itself, there was now the tough and righteous power of thunder that could suppress evil! Aiden furrowed his brows gently. "Fatty, put away the treasures of this ce. Let''s leave as soon as possible, I''ve got a feeling that something is amiss." "Yes," Little Fatty nodded. It was way too strange that his senior brother, Lend Mind, had yet to show himself! Furthermore, they had spent a long time in this tomb C other things might happen if they continued staying here. Little Fatty walked along the stone shelves and stuffed all the other treasures into his storage bag. Apart from some of them that he would use for himself, he would hand the rest over to the sect. It would be a huge merit on his part! With that merit and the acknowledgment of the Yellow Springs Diagram, Little Fatty''s status in the sect would definitely surpass Lend Mind although he had joinedter! "Let''s leave!" Little Fatty waved his hand after wiping the treasures clean and everyone returned from where they came from. Unlike when they entered, the group of them did not encounter any obstacles on the way out; even the Ancient Frost Crocodiles and Bloodthirsty Silverfishes seemed to be hiding themselves. Everyone entered theke and rose continuously. When they were dozens of feet from the surface, Aiden''s eyes shed as he whispered, "Everyone, watch out. There''s a lot of people up there!" "Fufu, the oriole stalks the mantis as it stalks the grasshopper." Lohn Kong chuckled. "Fatty, that senior brother of yours has already arrived." He looked extremely rxed. Aiden sneered, "It isn''t easy being an oriole!" Swoosh! Before long, sshes appeared on theke as Aiden''s group rushed out and hovered in midair. They were surrounded by several thousand murderous martial artists and all of them had endless greed in their eyes! Four martial artists stood in four directions and looked down with a torrential aura. They were none other than Lend Mind of Tomb Sect, Goil Hon of the Dark Thunder Sect, Shato Shin of Corpse Refinement Cult, and Niel Sen of Chaos Essence Sect! "Senior Brother, you''vee indeed!" Little Fatty red at a scrawny martial artist and grit his teeth. "Fufu." Lend Mind smiled faintly. "Junior Brother, I truly hadn''t expected you to arrive here a step before me, but" lightsvel He changed the topic and retracted his smile, shaking his head. "Everything you''ve done is for naught and merely to set things up for me! You''re too naive to fight with me!" "Senior Brother, the sect master said that whoever gets their hands on the Yellow Springs Diagram wins. You''ve already lost the fight!" Little Fatty said deeply. A series of exmations broke out in the crowd at the mention of the Yellow Springs Diagram. That renowned emperor weapon had been with the Underworld Emperor for many years. Although its grade had fallen, it was still a rare utmost treasure! Even Goil Hon, Shato Shin, and Niel Sen''s eyes shed with temptation. "How naive!" Lend Mind shook his head with a mocking gaze. "Junior Brother, you''re still as naive as ever. Before you refine it to be your Destiny divine Weapon, the Yellow Springs Diagram belongs to no one still. I can naturally snatch it away from you!" Chapter 1078 1078 - Nobodies Chapter 1078 1078 - Nobodies Themotion here was rather great and many martial artists in the vicinity were already rushing over. Shato Shin frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "Let''s settle this as soon as possible lest outsiders get to be the oriole!" Lend Mind nodded and red at Little Fatty with a cold gaze before saying slowly, "Junior Brother, don''t me me for not taking into ount our rtionship as sect mates. I''ll give you two options to choose from!" "The first option is to hand over the Yellow Springs Diagram alongside all the treasures in the tomb. I will then spare your life! The second option" "There''s no need to say anything more!" Lend Mind was interrupted by Little Fatty before he could finish. Little Fatty gripped his fists tightly and snarled word for word, "I''ll never hand the Yellow Springs Diagram to you!" He went through immense danger and found it with his own capabilities C why should he hand it over to Lend Mind?! "Well, well, well!" Lend Mind nodded with an endless killing intent in his eyes. "You chose this so don''t me me for not giving you any chances!" Little Fatty withdrew a flying sword from his storage bag with a resolute expression without any bit of fear. Lend Mind nced briefly at Aiden and the others with a mocking gaze before jeering, "Junior Brother, I''ve got to say that you''ve truly grown. To think that you would know how to seek help, that''s impressive." "However, these few people and some beasts are your backing?" When they heard the word ''beasts'', monkey and the others revealed wrathful looks. The spirit tiger was murderous as he red at Lend Mind fiercely before chuckling. "Bamboo pole, you had better run awayter. Otherwise, if I get my hands on you hahaha!" Lend Mind chuckled. "Junior Brother, you can''t be naive enough to think that you can fight me with these nobodies?" "Nobodies?" Little Fattyughed as well. There were a total of nine of them. Apart from monkey, the spirit tiger, Ki Ki, the little fox, and the Golden Lion who were demons, which of the remaining four were nobodies? He was a legacy disciple of Tomb Sect. Sean Jean was a legacy disciple of Puppet Sect. Lohn Kong was their generation''s sessor of Enigma Pce! Although Aiden had no sect or faction currently, there was probably nobody in the ancient battlefield who would dare im that he was a nobody! Everything else aside, the name Aiden was enough to scare people to death! "What, you don''t believe me?" Lend Mind burst intoughter. "Since that''s the case, let me introduce to you these few true paragons of the world so that you''ll understand how you die at least!" "This is the legacy disciple of Corpse Refinement Cult, Shato Shin." Shato Shin had a cold gaze and red at Sean Jean as though he was looking at a dead man. Sean Jean said softly, "Leave that man to me!" Lohn Kong whispered, "Although that man has no Martial Master phenomenon, he is not weak. The 30-foot tall battle corpse behind him is already showing signs of evolution into a Silver Corpse." The battle corpses of Corpse Refinement Cult were differentiated by levels. A corpse was the lowest level and was extremely weak C they could be destroyed easily with weapons, fire, and water. Iron and Bronze Corpses came after. Normally, Martial Masters of Corpse Refinement Cult were able to control Bronze Corpses. Above Bronze Corpses were Silver Corpses! Lend Mind pointed to another person and smiled leisurely, "This young brother is Niel Sen from one of the nine immortal sects, Chaos Essence Sect!" "Chaos Essence Sect?" Aiden murmured and a figure that resembled an emperor shed through his mind. John Din of Chaos Essence Sect! That person was truly frightening and was the strongest foe Aiden had encountered by far! Lohn Kong remarked nonchntly, "He is John Din''s junior brother. The only reason why he''s not so well known is because of John Din''s reputation, but he does have some skills." Aiden did not have much knowledge about the paragons of the various super sects but Lohn Kong knew everything at the back of his hand. Aiden turned to Lohn Kong. "We''ll leave that guy to you since you seem so nonchnt." "It''s fine," Lohn Kong waved it off and pouted. "I''m not together with you guys. Most of the benefits within the tomb were taken by you guys and I only got a fraction of it." "Mister Lin, are you thinking of running away?" The little fox wanted to agitate Lohn Kong psychologically but he did not fall for it. Without even blushing, Lohn Kong said sincerely, "A gentleman knows that he should not stand in the face of danger. Don''t worry, once the battle starts, I''ll definitely be the first to run and not create trouble for you guys." "This is Goil Hon, the number one Martial Master of one of the nine immortal sects, Dark Thunder Sect!" Lend Mind''s voice sounded once more as he left Goil Hon''s introduction for thest. The martial artists that were watching nearby eximed at the mention of that name. Lohn Kong disyed a rare moment of seriousness and said deeply, "He is extremely strong. It''s said that he trained the strongest legacy phenomenon of Dark Thunder Sect, the Apocalyptic Five Thunders!" Aiden narrowed his eyes. In the previous Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking, a sessor of Dark Thunder Sect was ranked nine and his phenomenon was the Four Thunderbolts. Behind that Martial Master phenomenon, it was clearly stated that the highest level of the Martial Master phenomenon was to create five divine thunderbolts that had an apocalyptic might! Four divine thunderbolts were enough for one to be ranked top ten in the Phenomenon Ranking. How strong was this person inbat if he could summon five divine thunderbolts? Lohn Kong continued, "This person is strong enough to be top five or even top three in the Phenomenon Ranking! The reason why he''s here this time round is so that he can challenge John Din." Aiden nodded. Lohn Kong reminded, "Don''t underestimate your opponents. Although you have a double phenomenon, they might not be able to go against the five divine thunderbolts released by this guy!" Aiden frowned. Up to this point of his martial, he had not encountered anyone who could challenge his double phenomenon. At the most, they could only enter a stalemate with one of his phenomenons. Once his second phenomenon appeared, his opponents would definitely be defeated without chance! To think that he would meet such a savage character before arriving at Myriad Phenomenon City! Lend Mind looked at Little Fatty with a fake smile. "How about introducing your helpers so that we can broaden our knowledge too?" A series of chuckles sounded from the Chaos Essence Sect, Corpse Refinement Cult, and Dark Thunder Sect crowd. Shato Shin and Niel Sen had haughty expressions. Goil Hon''s hands were behind his back as he looked up in the skies; he could not even be bothered to look at Aiden''s group. Given the current situation, everything would be resolved before he was even required to make a move. They knew most of the paragons of the various super sects. In their opponent''s group, apart from Little Fatty and Sean Jean who were from super sects, the remaining two looked extremely foreign. They were either itinerant martial artists or disciples of minor sects who were just here to join the crowd and broaden their knowledge. Before he left the tomb, Lohn Kong already wore his mask. As such, it was only natural that Shato Shin and the others could not recognize him. Little Fatty harrumphed before pointing to Lohn Kong. "This is" Lohn Kong waved it off hurriedly and grinned brightly. "There''s no need to introduce me, I''m just a nobody who will be leaving soon! You guys can carry on fighting, it''s none of my business" "Hahahaha!" The martial artists present burst intoughter. Lend Mind held back his amusement and pointed to the green-robed martial artist beside Lohn Kong with disdain in his eyes. "Who is that? Hurry and introduce him so that we can learn more too, junior brother!" Just as Little Fatty was about to speak, the green-robed martial artist said with indifference, "My name is Aiden." Suddenly, theughter in the crowd went silent! It was as though all the martial artists present were choked by the throat! Chapter 1079 1079 - Negotiation Chapter 1079 1079 - Negotiation lightsvel ? After a momentary silence, the crowd broke into an uproar! The martial artists who were watching from nearby eximed as well! "Psst! It''s him!" "Aiden? The monster incarnate of Divine Phoenix Ind?" "I heard that he triggered a beast stampede previously and decimated an ancient city of Crystal Pce Sect in the ancient battlefield! Crystal Pce Sect was annihted and only a few martial artists managed to escape!" "Ah!" My name is Aiden. He said it casually. There was no overbearingness or arrogance in his tone. However, it shocked everyone present! The name Aiden alone had the greatest impact! At the very least, in the intermediate ancient battlefield, that name was scarier than any super sect! The expressions of Corpse Refinement Cult''s Shato Shin and Chaos Essence Sect''s Niel Sen changed slightly upon hearing that name as well. Their pupils constricted and they had grim looks on their faces. Lend Mind frowned deeply with a cold gaze too. If Aiden was a nobody, everyone else would be trash. Even Goil Hon of Dark Thunder Sect who was gazing into the skies indifferently previously looked down, ring at Aiden with a narrowed gaze as his eyes shed with electric currents! "Aiden? Double phenomenon?" A curious look filled Goil Hon''s eyes. Initially, Little Fatty''s group of nine looked weak, surrounded by thousands of martial artists, as though they could be drowned to death at any moment. However, after Aiden spoke, the aura around them rose to a point where they could contend against the thousands of martial artists and the three super sects without being disadvantaged! In the ancient battlefield, Aiden''s infamy was second only to John Din! "Senior Brother, you sure are arrogant. This is the nobody that you were referring to," When he saw the tides shift, Little Fatty rxed and said with a grin. Lend Mind had a grim expression as he ignored Little Fatty and turned to Aiden. He greeted with cupped fists before saying darkly, "young brother Su, I''ve heard of your reputation a long time ago. Indeed, your reputation precedes you now that we''re meeting in real life." Aiden had an indifferent expression and could not be bothered. Although killing intent surged within Lend Mind, he chuckled in a fake manner before saying, "Young Brother, this is a fight between disciples of Tomb Sect. As long as you''re willing to stand by the sidelines and not interfere, I will definitelypensate you for it!" "Oh?" Aiden raised his brow. "I want the Yellow Springs Diagram. Are you going to give it to me?" "Hahahaha!" This time round, Little Fatty''s group was the one that burst intoughter. Lend Mind took a deep breath to repress the rage in his heart as he controlled himself with another fake chuckle. "You must be joking, young brother. The Yellow Springs Diagram is the utmost treasure of Tomb Sect so I can''t give that to you. Other than that, you can have your pick from any treasure in the tomb!" "That won''t do!" Before Aiden could speak, Goil Hon stood out from the side and interrupted coldly. "The Purple Thunder Manual in the tomb belongs to me!" Aiden remained silent. "Dark Thunder Sect possesses part of the Thunder Emperor''s legacy. Of course, Dark Thunder Sect was not founded by the Thunder Emperor, but his disciple. The Purple Thunder Manual is the part of the martial technique that Dark Thunder Sectcks." Lohn Kong used a secret technique to transmit his voice into Aiden''s mind. Aiden nodded. Goil Hon looked at Aiden''s group before making a sudden remark, "Whoever has their hands on the martial technique, as long as you hand it over, I can back out of this fight!" "Brother Goil, you" Lend Mind''s expression changed, but he was interrupted by Goil Hon''s hand just as he was about to speak. Goil Hon said indifferently, "I only want the Purple Thunder Manual. I''m not interested in anything else!" No matter how scheming Lend Mind was, he could not conceal his emotions at the moment. Little Fatty sneered, "So, that''s how deep your connections are, senior brother. Indeed, I''ve learned something today. Impressive, impressive." "Is nobody going to hand over the Purple Thunder Manual?" When no one replied after a moment, Goil Hon''s eyes crackled with electric currents and his killing intent surged! He said coldly, "If no one hands it over, I''ll have to assume that someone is trying to keep a lost ancient technique of Dark Thunder Sect for themselves insolently!" "The Purple Thunder Manual is with me. If you want to get it" Aiden said nonchntly, "Come then." Although those were two simple words, they caused the blood of the martial artists watching nearby to surge with excitement! "They''re going at it!" "If these two paragons fight, there will definitely be an earthshaking battle. Could this be the prelude to the fight for the Phenomenon Ranking?" Lend Mind was delighted at the sight of that. Things had truly worked out for him. If someone gave in and handed the Purple Thunder Manual over, nobody could determine the victor of the current situation. But now, Goil Hon had no choice but to stand by his side! Now that it was known to everyone that the Purple Thunder Manual was in Aiden''s hands, Goil Hon had no reason to back off and could only fight! "Well, well, well!" Goil Hon nodded repeatedly and red at Aiden with a raring battle intent. His aura rose continuously as he said slowly, "I was intending on sparing you for now and only fight after we arrived at Myriad Phenomenon City!" "But since you have a death wish, you can''t me me for this!" The tension was high and they were on the cusp of a massive battle just because of a single disagreement! "Oh my!" A yful voice sounded from the crowd. "Since it''s so happening here, let me join in the fun," When the voice sounded, martial artists of Corpse Refinement Cult, Chaos Essence Sect, and Dark Thunder Sect retreated hurriedly to create a path C it was as though they had seen the gue. A group of martial artists walked over briskly. The martial artists wore dark blue robes and their leader had his hands behind his back. He had a nonchnt attitude and walked over, licking his grisly red tongue. It was one of the five heretical doctrines, Corpse Poison Sect! In Poison Sect, every single martial artist carried a myriad of toxic poisons in their bodies and anyone that came into contact with any single poison could lose their lives! The Seven Lethals of Poison Sect was even more notorious. It did not matter what one''s martial realm was, they would most likely die upon contact with the Seven Lethals Toxins! Although there were only slightly more than a hundred Poison Sect martial artists, it was enough to send chaos through the Corpse Refinement Cult, Chaos Essence Sect, and Dark Thunder Sect martial artists, causing thetter to retreat. Goil Hon looked at the young man leading the pack and frowned slightly. "Duan Ren, whose side are you on?" Lohn Kong seemed to have recalled something and whispered to Aiden with a gloating expression, "I guess that they''re here to take revenge on you." Aiden was not surprised. Several years ago in the elementary ancient battlefield, Dara was poisoned and nearly lost her life. In his wrath, Aiden annihted the Poison Sect faction in the ancient battlefield! Duan Ren rubbed his chin and asked despite the obvious situation, "young brother Lend Mind, I heard that you guys are in trouble?" "Indeed," Lend Mind was not bothered to guess Duan Ren''s intentions. Duan Renughed. "I can help you out, but I want a share of the treasures in the tomb!" "Alright!" Lend Mind was delighted and replied hurriedly, "That''s for sure! As long as you''re on my side, you''ll definitely have a share of the treasures in the tomb!" Duan Ren turned to Aiden slowly and jeered with a venomous re, "Aiden, do you remember a Corpse Poison Sect martial artist named Dorah Kai whom you killed in the ancient battlefield 20 years ago?" "I''m his older brother and today, I''m here to im your life!" Duan Ren''s smile was unsettling, resembling a malevolent ghost from Hell. Aiden had a calm expression as he withdrew Rygintarth from his storage bag before nodding. "You came at the right time. I''ll kill you guys together!" Chapter 1080 1080 - Dont mess with us Chapter 1080 1080 - Don''t mess with us "In my opinion, Aiden''s group is most probably doomed." "That''s right, even without the Corpse Poison Sect, it was the nine of them against a few thousand people. That''s an overwhelming suppression in strength. With the inclusion of the Corpse Poison Sect now, they''ve got no chance at all." "That''s not for sure," Another martial artist remarked, "Crystal Pce Sect had dozens of thousands of martial artists in the ancient city, but they were still destroyed nevertheless!" "It''s different now. I heard that Aiden had the help of the beast stampede previously. Furthermore, Goil Hon of Dark Thunder Sect alone is enough to hold down Aiden while the rest of them are of no threat at all." The martial artists watching from far away started discussing in hushed voices. With the inclusion of Corpse Poison Sect, Lend Mind was certain that he had already won this fight! Corpse Refinement Cult''s Situ Shi could go against Puppet Sect''s Sean Jean. Chaos Essence Sect''s Niel Sen could easily take down the gray-robed martial artist with the iron ruler who imed that he was a nobody. As for the most troublesome person on the other party, Aiden, Dark Thunder Sect''s Goil Hon and Corpse Poison Sect were enough to take him down! Finally, there''s his junior brother Lend Mind smirked. Little Fatty was indeed more talented than him in terms of sense of direction. However, he was firmly above Little Fatty in terms of strength! As for the remaining few beasts, they would be drowned by saliva if the several thousand Martial Masters around them spat once per person! The Yellow Springs Diagram was already his! "Roar!" "GRAWR!" When Aiden withdrew Rygintarth, monkey, the spirit tiger, Ki Ki, and the Golden Lion reverted to their true forms, revealing menacing res and torrential ferocity. The surrounding martial artists were shocked and brought out their flying swords and weapons as though they were faced with a grave enemy. They felt an unprecedented pressure from the few demon beasts! It was a pressure that they had not experienced even against pure-blooded ferocious beasts! Little fox hopped out of Aiden''s embrace and spun on the ground. A fragrance wafted out as a youngdy with peerless features appeared. Her beautiful eyes shimmered brightly as though they could steal one''s soul! Some of the martial artists had barely just withdrawn their weapons when everything fell to the ground with a ng. Of the several thousand martial artists present, most of them were dazed momentarily! Goil Hon, Niel Sen, and a dozen others were the only ones who could maintain theirposure with frozen expressions. Although little fox seemed like she was the weakest among the seven sworn siblings, in reality, her capabilities were the most frightening and beguiling! "Demoness, how dare you behave so brazenly before me!" Goil Hon hollered. His voice was robust and strong, bursting in the ears of many martial artists like thunder and snapping them out of their stupor. This was a sound-killing move from Dark Thunder Sect, Green Thunder Shock! Previously, Aiden saw an iplete sound killing move in the Dark Thunder Manual and used it as a basis to create his own killing move. Theplete version of the killing move was Green Thunder Shock which Goil Hon had just released! Monkey and the others were strong physically and had frightening bloodlines. As such, they could withstand Green Thunder Shock more easily and merely frowned. However, little fox shuddered and her face turned somewhat pale. "How irritating!" Aiden sneered and Rygintarth quivered in his hands with a metallic buzz. Spirit light shone brightly and a blood beam burst! The de let out a shuddering blood stench. Boom! Aiden leaped and the mud beneath his feet was overturned. Wielding Rygintarth, he was already charging towards Goil Hon! "Good timing!" Goil Hon was fearless and swiped his storage bag, causing a de to appear in his palm as well. The de was nine feet long and five inches wide,parable to a spear or halberd in length. Its de was veiled by a greenyer of electric currents that sizzled unnervingly. "I heard that your Rygintarth is a top-grade artifact weapon." Goil Hon said coldly, "Today, we''ll see just how sharp your Rygintarth is against my Green Thunder de!" Before his sentence waspleted, the Green Thunder de shone brightly with infused power. A top-grade artifact weapon! Within the Great North Dynasty, there wasn''t even a single top-grade artifact weapon. However, all of these legacy disciples of super sects would definitely have top-grade artifact weapons with them. Suddenly, a friendly voice sounded erratically. "Goil Hon, this man''s body is iparably strong and he is terrifying, almost invincible in meleebat. You''ve got to be careful!" Duan Ren shifted nimbly like a maggot behind Aiden. He did not attack and was merely awaiting an opportunity patiently. Someone like that was even scarier! It was like a venomous viper that was hidden C a single bite could take one''s life away! On the other side. Situ Shi red at Sean Jean coldly. With a gentle wave of his hand, the thirty feet tall giant behind him charged forward. "Roar!" The giant roared into the skies and the skin that draped its body tore into pieces, revealing an iron frame that reeked of a nauseating stench! The battle corpse was bronze in color from head to toe. However, there was ayer of thin white fur that grew on it! At the sight of that, Sean Jean''s pupils constricted and his expression turned grim. The battle corpse was already starting to evolve into a Silver Corpse! Silver Corpses were terrifying things that could fight against Martial Grandmasters! Sean Jean pped his storage bag and withdrew the five puppets that he trained. He condensed energy into threads to control the puppets and surround Situ Shi''s battle corpse. Compared to Situ Shi''s battle corpse, Sean Jean''s puppets were extremely short. However, the puppets contained the power of the five elements and formed a formation with their movements, counteracting against one another and restricting the battle corpse to the spot! The two sessors of Corpse Refinement Cult and Puppet Sect had now met earlier than expected in the ancient battlefield C it was difficult to tell who would stand victorious in this fight. The great battle had broken outpletely. In a sh, Shen Ton fled into the distance like smoke, trying to seize the chaos to escape. Unexpectedly, a silver-white beam of light shot down with an extremely sharp and chilling aura that almost sliced the voids into two! Shen Ton stopped in his tracks hurriedly. Boom! A gigantic ravine tore the ground asunder the moment the silver-white light descended! If Shen Ton had taken a half-step more, he would have been decimated by the silver-white light! "F*ck!" Shen Ton turned back and red in a huff. Not far away, Niel Sen of Chaos Essence Sect had a mocking expression and held a horsetail whip in his hand. Its silver-white tail had just been retracted and was still swaying. "You''re thinking of escaping from my watch?" Niel Sen sneered. Although Shen Ton cursed internally, he squeezed out a smile on his face. "Little friend, I''m just a nobody who isn''t in cahoots with them. Why are you trying to kill me?" Enigma Pce maintained the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking in the ancient battlefield. As the current generation''s sessor to Enigma Pce, it was inappropriate for him to sow grudges with other paragons. That was also the reason why he wore a mask and hid his identity. "What can you do if I want to kill you? Hahaha!" Niel Sen burst intoughter with a mocking look in his eyes. Shen Ton frowned. The reason why he endured things was not because he was afraid of Niel Sen C he was afraid of being scolded by his elder if he returned after causing trouble! "Hey, let me tell you something," Shen Ton''s face darkened as he said with extreme seriousness. "It''s truly better if you don''t mess with me." Chapter 1081 1081 - Battle Chapter 1081 1081 - Battle "What?" Niel Sen could not believe what he heard and red at Shen Ton as though he was looking at a dead man, snarling word by word, "I want to mess with you, what can you do?" "I''ll bash you up if you mess with me!" Shen Ton leaped into the air towards Niel Sen. "You must have a death wish!" Niel Sen was enraged and the horsetail whip in his hands shone with a dazzling luster. A bright light shone in his hands, a top-grade artifact weapon! Although he was undermined by Di Yin''s reputation, Niel Sen was still in possession of a top-grade artifact weapon. It was obvious that his status in Chaos Essence Sect as a Martial Master was not weak, the power was at the very top! Swash! Niel Sen waved the horsetail whip in his hands and three thousand silver-white threads turned into a spectacr beam of white light, slicing towards Shen Ton''s waist like a sword! The light was blinding and traveled at an extremely fast speed C it was almost instantaneous! Shen Ton''s expression did not change, as though he had predicted it beforehand, and he dodged downwards, avoiding Niel Sen''s killing move by a hair''s breadth! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! He swung his arm in reverse and three supreme-grade flying swords tore through the air. The three flying swords split into three different directions and thrust towards Niel Sen''s vital points with unusual movements. His sword maneuvering technique was already rather advanced. At the same time, Shen Ton made a series ofplex and mysterious hand seals. Heaven Dominating Palm! Root Departure Finger! Frost Palm! Cloud Stirring Palm! Clear energy Explosion! Tri-Green Phantom de! Icicle Formation! After a series of confusing hand seals, Shen Ton burst forth with 18 spirit arts that surged towards Niel Sen like raging tides! Shocking! That was the only word in everyone''s minds when they saw it. "This" "Amazing!" "What''s the background of this man?" "There''s spirit arts from different sects among the 18 of them. I can''t tell where he''s from!" An uproar broke out from the crowd. In order to conceal his identity, there was naturally no way Shen Ton would release Enigma Pce''s ultimate secret skills. However, he had vast knowledge and knew a little about everything C a simple attack from him could suffocate his opponents! Even Aiden could not grasp Shen Ton''s true strength, let alone Niel Sen. "F*ck!" Niel Sen was scared out of his wits and cursed internally. "This guy''s ying cheat!" How was this a nobody? He waved the horsetail whip in his hands and the three thousand strands of hair split into three directions to receive the iing flying swords. The next moment, Niel Sen circted his Martial Master wildly and released a secret skill of his sect C Chaos Essence Palm! Huff! Huff! Huff! Niel Sen was flustered and released Chaos Essence Palm repeatedly. A series of palm prints materialized in midair and shed against the 18 iing spirit arts! Bang! Bang! Bang! The collisions created deafening bangs and shockwaves. Niel Sen stood in the air with a frightfully pale expression C he was almost sent flying. He had expended almost half the spirit energy in his core with the sessive release of his secret skill! "What a lunatic!" Niel Sen cursed and withdrew a few elixirs from his storage bag, ready to consume them to replenish his spirit energy. "Let go!" All of a sudden! A voice exploded in Niel Sen''s ears, almost scaring him out of his wits. Unknowingly, Shen Ton had already arrived beside him, tapping him gently on the wrist that held the elixirs with an iron ruler! "Ah!" Niel Sen shrieked tragically and his wrist swelled instantly, causing him to relinquish his grip on the elixirs. "How dare you attack me!" Niel Sen''s eyes were bloodshot as he clenched his teeth; he wished for nothing more than to tear Shen Ton apart! In reality, Shen Ton had already shown mercy with that attack. If he had attacked with his full force, Niel Sen''s hand would have already been crippled! In other words, that iron ruler could have been tapped on Niel Sen''s head rather than his wrist As long as he pondered calmly, Niel Sen would definitely be able to understand. However, he could not care less at that moment. The only thought on his mind was how to kill Shen Ton so that he could regain his dignity. "I''ve already told you not to mess with me but you refused to heed my advice," Shen Ton pouted his lips and murmured, "Is there something wrong with your brains? You really believed me when I said that I was a nobody? What an idiot! Have you gone stupid after receiving daily beatings from your master?" "Kill!" lightsvel Niel Sen was so angry that he was trembling with smoke steaming from all orifices. The horsetail whip in his hands quivered and all three thousand strands of hair burst into the air before scattering down like a waterfall. It resembled a jail as it tried to envelop Shen Ton. "Fufu." Shen Ton''s eyes shone with mockery. In a sh, he had already darted far away. He dered with a raised voice, "Hey, don''t me me for not reminding you. If you mess with me, I''ll bash you up!" "Hahahaha!" Far away, a series ofughter broke out from the crowd. Niel Sen''s face flushed red and he almost exploded from rage. Unable to contain himself any longer, he cursed, "I''ll bash your mother!" As he said that, Niel Sen dashed forward once more. On the other side. Lend Mind and Little Fatty, the legacy disciples of Tomb Sect, had collided as well! This was an inevitable battle. The victor would be this generation''s true sessor of Tomb Sect! "Junior Brother, admit defeat," Lend Mind shook his head. "You''ve joined the sect for 20 years and have fought me for 20 times. When have you ever defeated me?" "It''s enough as long as I defeat you this time round!" Little Fatty said darkly. Lend Mind''s gaze turned cold as he remarked frostily, "Junior Brother if you hand over the Yellow Springs Diagram, I can consider sparing your life. If you insist on your folly, don''t me me for being ruthless!" "You''re the one insisting on your folly, not me," Little Fatty withdrew a flying sword from his storage bag. "There''s no need to speak further, let''s fight!" "Alright!" Little Fatty bellowed and summoned his flying sword as well, fighting to the side with Little Fatty. Before the remaining thousands of martial artists could attack, monkey, the spirit tiger, the Golden Lion and Ki Ki had already rushed into the crowd and brought forth a massacre! Their opponents had the advantage in numbers. If they waited, a single flying sword from each opponent would be enough to injure monkey''s group. Right now, they split into four groups and charged into the crowd, ughtering wildly and causing chaos. The martial artists could only fight for themselves. Little fox stood motionlessly on the spot and released her bewitching techniques from the fox race. She opened her mouth slightly and sent forth a fragrance that charmed dozens of martial artists before long, causing them to fight theirrades. ng! A jarring sound of metal shing rang, causing the ears of martial artists nearby to ring in pain as they winced. It was Aiden shing against Goil Hon. The collision of Rygintarth and the Green Thunder de. Sizzle! The blood beam and lightning, two entirely different powers, interweaved in midair and devoured one another! The stalematested for a single breath. Goil Hon shuddered and his expression changed as he fell to the side. Dark Thunder Sect specialized in thunder techniques and there were many body tempering methods in the legacy of Void Thunder Manual as well. Although they could notpare to top-tier body tempering sects such as Crystal Pce Sect and Overlord Pce, their meleebat strength was not to be underestimated as well. However, Goil Hon had not expected that he couldn''t withstand a single sh from Aiden! He could not defend even though Aiden did not use his full strength! The power of thunder imbued on the Green Thunder de surged into Aiden''s body as though it was treading through a swamp and did not even cause a single ripple. However, the power of bloodline from Rygintarth surged into Goil Hon''s and caused his blood energy to turn chaotic! He was nearly ruptured on the spot from the reverse flow of his blood! Chapter 1082 1082 - No one can match him Chapter 1082 1082 - No one can match him Goil Hon retreated backwards as his eyes shed with a grim expression. Although it was merely a single exchange of blows, his arms had already gone numb and his blood energy was fluctuating wildly. However, Aiden wielded Rygintarth and charged over as though he waspletely unaffected! "I can''t fight him head-on anymore!" Goil Hon made up his mind decisively and gripped his Green Thunder de with one hand. His other hand conjured a hand seal before eventually releasing a spirit art that burst forth immediately! "Dark Thunder Break!" Goil Hon hollered. A wild wind gusted and fluttered towards Aiden C sand was already flying everywhere before it arrived! In the wild wind, there was even a sizzling green lightning that looked extremely horrifying! Goil Hon also released the sound secret killing move of Dark Thunder Sect through his voice. His voice materialized into soundwaves that surged toward Aiden, causing the entire void to quake! Thebination of his spirit art and sound secret killing move arrived at the same time! Aiden''s expression was unchanged as he put away Rygintarth and sped his palms together. His fingers interlocked into a grip, leaving only his forefingers upright as their fingertips touched. When he released that Divine Seal, Aiden''s aura changed entirely! A divine light covered his body. Lowering his head, Aiden ignored the wild gust coiled with lightning. In fact, he looked extremely dignified as he opened his mouth slightly without even looking at Goil Hon, "Pa!" The entire world went silent with that Prayer exmation! There were six different Daring Divine Seals. This was the only defensive Divine Seal among them C the Immovable Foundation Seal! Daring Mantra! It was released together with the Daring Divine Seal! This was a secret technique in the Daring True Prayer! However, this secret skill had been buried in the sands of time, lost with Daring True Prayer after the destruction of Daring Monastery. Nobody expected that secret skill to resurface in the ancient battlefield! Shen Ton was initially ring at Niel Sen while bashing thetter up. When he heard that Prayer exmation, he was surprised and turned towards the voice. "Mmm? That is" As though he recalled something, Shen Ton''s expression changed as he eximed, "The Immovable Foundation Seal from Daring Monastery!" Niel Sen was bruised from head to toe and had a swollen face. Flustered, he finally managed to catch a breath with Shen Ton''s pause. However, when he heard the words Daring Monastery and Immovable Foundation Seal, his eyes were filled with disbelief. 10,000 years ago, Daring Monastery was destroyed. Although none of the legacy disciples from super sects had witnessed the true Daring Divine Seal, all of them had heard of the famous Daring Monastery. Throughout all these years, countless martial artists have risked danger to head to the Great Forbidden Ruins in hopes of locating the secret skills of Daring and South Wind Monasteries. The Prayer rang throughout the world. Almost instantly, Goil Hon''s sound killing move dissipated. Against the divine light from the Immovable Foundation Seal, the raging winds and shining lightning around Aiden dispersed as well. Goil Hon''s eyes shone coldly. He had not expected his attack to be swept away by Aiden with such ease. All of a sudden! Duan Ren appeared behind Aiden, throwing out a bunch of blue poison needles that were as thin as a cow''s hair and arrived instantly. From his swaying robes, he tossed out another handful of green powder. Pshew! Pshew! Pshew! Immediately after, iron needles that were an inch long appeared from Duan Ren''s fingertips. He circted a unique force before shooting them towards Aiden! Aiden''s Immovable Foundation Seal had just dissipated after colliding against Goil Hon''s Dark Thunder Break and his defense was now at its weakest. After biding his time, Duan Ren finally spotted a great opportunity. He released Corpse Poison Sect''s most frightening killing move the moment he attacked! Corpse Poison Sect specialized in poison. In the sect, the seven most frightening killing moves were known as the Seven Lethals. The blue poison needles earlier on were one of the Seven Lethals, the Heart Seeking Spike. Thin as a cow''s hair, they were hard to spot with one''s naked eyes. The moment they made contact with a person, they could enter the veins through the pores on one''s body, dooming the person instantly! The purplish-green powder was another one of the Seven Lethals, the Purple Corpse Corrosion Poison! The final five iron nails were even scarier and were also one of the Seven Lethals C Armor Bursting Bone Corrosion Nails! Those iron nails possessed a frightening corrosive poison that could prate armor and robes C they were extremely difficult to defend against. Any martial artist that was struck by the Armor Bursting Bone Corrosion Nail would have their bones turned into powder within 10 breaths! Three of the Seven Lethals were flying towards Aiden at the same time! "You truly have a death wish!" Aiden''s gaze turned cold as he circted his Martial Master. His spirit energy gushed and he released the Ancient Primordial Dragon Art right away! A divine dragon dozens of feet tall appeared in the air with magnificent horns on its head. It coiled a few rounds around him upwards before hovering in midair! The divine dragon was lined with scales that shone with a cold gleam. With spikes on its back, it bared its fangs and ws menacingly towards Duan Ren who was not far away! A slight collision against the spiraling divine dragon caused all the Heart Seeking Spikes, Purple Corpse Corrosion Poison, and Armor Bursting Bone Corrosion Nails to disperse immediately! When the Armor Bursting Bone Corrosion Nails struck the divine dragon, sparks merely flew before they scattered to the ground. The dragons once ruled over the ten thousand races and had the noblest bloodline that was the most terrifying and was immune to poison. For the dragons, the Seven Lethals of Corpse Poison Sect was nothing but puny tricks! Alongside the birth of the divine dragon, a shuddering aura that was extremely frightening descended! "Ah!" A series of exmations came from the crowd. "What is this?" "Could that really be a True Dragon?" "Goodness, that man is guarded by a True Dragon? Just who is he? Could he be an immortal reincarnated from the upper world?" Even martial artists who were watching from afar had shock on their faces as they sensed the repressive pressure, let alone the martial artists directly in the battlefield. Duan Ren felt his limbs go cold after the divine dragon targeted him. His scalp prickled and his back was already drenched in sweat. "Go!" Aiden pointed forward. The divine dragon that spiraled around him soared into the skies with divine light and horrifying aura, lunging towards Duan Ren with a nefarious howl of wind! "Ah!" Duan Ren was scared out of his wits. "Senior Brother, watch out!" Many Corpse Poison Sect martial artists attacked one after another, aiming the divine dragon in midair with poisoned weapons. The divine dragon swayed its tail. The massive sweep of the dragon''s tail ruptured the bodies of dozens of Corpse Poison Sect martial artists. They turned into blood mists and a trail of blood appeared in midair! More than half of the Corpse Poison Sect martial artists were dead! Realizing that he could not escape in time, Duan Ren released his Martial Master phenomenon right away! "I''ll send you down to meet your brother in Hell!" Aiden hollered. The divine dragon understood his intentions and extended its head, chomping down on Duan Ren while neglecting thetter''s Martial Master phenomenon! Snap! Duan Ren''s Martial Master phenomenon dissipated instantly! "Pfft!" With a few bites, the divine dragon minced Duan Ren and swallowed thetter! Blood oozed from the side of its mouth. Duan Ren died on the spot! Corpse Poison Sect martial artists were not proficient in head-onbat, even if they were legacy disciples. Duan Ren''s Martial Master phenomenon could not even be ranked on the Phenomenon Ranking. The Ancient Primordial Dragon Art was a secret skill of the Human Emperor and could go against most of the phenomenons! Chapter 1083 - Returning a favor 1083 Chapter 1083 - Returning a favor The crowd was shocked! Corpse Poison Sect had more than a hundred martial artists. Nobody expected more than half of them to be wiped out by the divine dragon Aiden summoned before they could release their true strength! Even the paragon of Corpse Poison Sect, Duan Ren, died without a corpse remaining! The Corpse Poison Sect martial artists who managed to survive fled in all directions and did not dare to linger on the battlefield. "Immortal! He''s definitely the reincarnation of an immortal!" "How can ordinary martial artists be protected by a True Dragon?" Some of the Corpse Poison Sect martial artists were scared out of their wits and began mumbling incoherently. Fear was an infectious emotion. Against the repressive pressure of the dragon, it was already difficult for most martial artists to maintain theirposures. When they witnessed the tragic state of the Corpse Poison Sect martial artists, even martial artists of the three super sects, Dark Thunder Sect, Chaos Essence Sect, and Corpse Refinement Cult, went into chaos. Monkey, the spirit tiger, Ki Ki, and the Golden Lion seized the opportunity tounch a series of powerful attacks. Little fox made use of the martial artists'' shock to prate their mental defenses, controlling even more martial artists to fight against their fellowrades! Although the three super sects had the advantage in numbers, they suffered immense losses and could not handle the situation at the moment. "What are you guys getting flustered for?!" Goil Hon astutely sensed that something was amiss with the situation and yelled. He pointed at the divine dragon spiraling in midair before shouting, "Open your eyes! That''s a fake dragon that''s created by this man using spirit energy!" There was no wonder why Goil Hon was a paragon of Dark Thunder Sect. Although he did not know the origin of the Ancient Dragonification Art, he could maintain hisposure and deduce that the divine dragon as a product of Aiden''s spirit energy. Aiden sneered and said indifferently, "It''s rude to not return favors. Have a taste of my sound killing move too!" "Hmm?" Goil Hon''s expression changed slightly and he felt fear. Aiden took a deep breath and his cheek puffed up like an airbag at a visible speed; it was swelling rapidly! The most beguiling thing was that the divine dragon spiraling in midair was taking a deep breath as well. Its body expanded as it puffed up its chest with surging air currents, forming a series of cyclones in midair! The man and the dragon seemed to be moving at the same time! There was a slight pause. Both of them opened their mouths at the same time! "Roar!" A roar that could tear through the clouds and metal was released! Aiden was also letting off a dragon roar! Instantly, the world changed and dust billowed! The sounds of killing, screams, spirit arts, and weapons colliding seemed to have vanished from the battlefield. It was as though the dragon roar was the sound only remaining in the world as it reverberated relentlessly! Some of the martial artists from the three super sects that were closest to Aiden bled from all orifices with lost gazes. Unable to withstand it, their brains were quaked into sludge on the spot! Figures fell from midair one after another. For Goil Hon who was facing Aiden directly, the blow he received was even more frightening. Most of the dragon roar''s power was focused on him. "Ugh!" Goil Hon grunted dully and staggered in retreat. Every single step created a deep footprint on the ground that flickered with electric currents. It took Goil Hon more than ten steps before he could stop and his face was extremely pale by then. Goil Hon''s blood energy moved as he gulped, causing a trickle of blood to ooze from the corner of his lips! That dragon roar had already prated his flesh and injured his organs! Martial artists of the three super sects received an immense blow from the dragon roar while monkey and the others fought even fiercer! The tides were slowly turning! Goil Hon wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth and swallowed a bunch of elixirs. He circted his Martial Master slowly and a scary aura began to emanate from his body as his eyes shed with lightning! The only way they could turn the tides right now was if they killed their opponents as soon as possible. If things were to drag and the few demon beasts managed to break free, all of them would be doomed! "I''ll admit that you are strong indeed," Goil Hon said slowly, "However, you must be dreaming if you think that you can beat me! Today, I''ll let you have a taste of Dark Thunder Sect''s Martial Master phenomenon so that you can give uppletely!" Snap! A thunderbolt that was as thick as a water bucket struck the divine dragon on the head C the power of phenomenon was released instantly! A series of cracks appeared on the divine dragon''s body. At the end of the day, the Ancient Primordial Dragon Art was merely a spirit art and could not defend against a top-tier Martial Master phenomenon. Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. There was a chance that Goil Hon''s Martial Master phenomenon was scarier than he had imagined it to be! Shen Ton reminded him that Goil Hon managed to train the strongest phenomenon in Dark Thunder Sect''s legacy, the Apocalyptic Five Thunders! If this was the power of Goil Hon after releasing a single divine thunderbolt, things would definitely Crack! Crack! Crack! get sticky if he released all five thunderbolts. On another side of the battlefield at the moment, things were even worse for Niel Sen of Chaos Essence Sect C he waspletely suppressed by Shen Ton without the chance to retaliate at all! Shen Ton had a lot of techniques and it seemed as though there was nothing he didn''t know. Up till this point of the battle, Shen Ton had not repeated a single spirit art twice. At the same time, he even released some of Chaos Essence Sect''s spirit arts! "Hey, it''s about time. You''ll have a shot at survival if you hurry and escape now," Shen Ton reminded out of goodwill, "A whileter and you won''t even be able to escape!" Shen Ton had more than ten chances of taking Niel Sen''s life by now, but he did not do it. His words were truly earnest advice. However, Niel Sen was bruised from head to toe and only felt embarrassed after the beating in front of the crowd. Adrenaline surged through him and he could no longer be bothered as he released his Martial Master phenomenon with a roar! Most Martial Masters could not release their phenomenons casually in a battle. Martial Master phenomenons were the strongest methods avable for Martial Masters. The release of a phenomenon meant that there was no going back between the two parties. They would have to fight to the death! Shen Ton frowned and cursed, "What a lunatic! You don''t know what''s good for you!" "Since you refuse to leave, I''ll leave!" Shen Ton was unwilling to get entangled further and turned to leave. "Where are you headed to?!" Niel Sen''s features were contorted and his expression was menacing. Killing intent filled his eyes as he charged toward Shen Ton while roaring, "Chaos Essence Hole!" Spirit energies visible to the naked eye spiraled and collided in streams before caving eventually. A ck hole surfaced behind Niel Sen that gusted with an evil wind. Initially, the hole was cramped and small. However, it erged as Niel Sen circted his Martial Master wildly, looking like the bloody mouth of a wild beast that wanted to devour everything! Chaos Essence Hole, the legacy phenomenon of Chaos Essence Sect that was ranked 28 on the Phenomenon Ranking! Essence was indeterminate and one with chaos. Some of the distracted martial artists found the weapons in their hands sucked in by the Chaos Essence Hole! Crack! Crack! Crack! A supreme-grade was swallowed by the Chaos Essence Hole immediately and disintegrated into dust! The ck hole moved towards Shen Ton with a powerful suction force! Although Shen Ton gave in the entire time, Niel Sen kept pushing his luck. Instantly, Shen Ton''s expression darkened and his eyes shed with coldness C he was truly angered! Chapter 1084 - Corpses and Puppets 1084 Chapter 1084 - Corpses and Puppets "Hurry, look! They''re using Martial Master phenomenons now!" "An ancient phenomenon ranked 28 on the previous Phenomenon Ranking, Chaos Essence Hole sure is frightening!" "Although that gray-robed martial artist knows many things, all his spirit arts cannot do anything against the Chaos Essence Hole and will disintegrate into nothing!" The martial artists watching from afar discussed excitedly. They felt spectacr, able to witness the fight of ancient phenomenons earlier here! "You''re truly pushing your luck!" Shen Ton no longer gave in and red coldly at the iing Niel Sen. His Martial Master circted slowly and an extremely terrifying aura rose in him! Suddenly, a hazy mist appeared around Shen Ton. The mist carried an ancient aura, as though they had returned to the beginning of the century; an age where chaos had yet to form! The hazy mist rumbled as though it possessed the most enigmatic energy in the universe C even Chaos Essence Hole could not envelop it! "Hmm?" Niel Sen''s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the mist. "Goodness, that gray-robed martial artist released his Martial Master phenomenon as well!" "What phenomenon is that? It seems like it can go against Chaos Essence Hole!" "It looks like" As he listened to the discussions in the surroundings, Niel Sen''s eyes shed as though he recalled something. His expression changed starkly and he eximed, "Ancient phenomenon, Great Expanding Mist!" The crowd''s expression changed at the mention of those words! Not far away, Goil Hon who was fighting against Aiden frowned and looked over as well. The Great Expanding Mist was created by the ancient expert, Fairy Ling Long, and could only be released by the sessor of Enigma Pce! Initially, everyone thought that the gray-robed martial artist was merely an itinerant martial artist with a mysterious background. But now, his identity was fully revealed! "A disciple of the Enigma Pce?" Lend Mind had a vague feeling that something was amiss. The situation had gonepletely out of control! Niel Sen calmed down gradually with a tinge of regret at the sight of the Great Expanding Mist. Initially, his opponent had no intention of intervening. However, he was the one who pushed his luck and fought that man to the death, leading to the current irreconcble situation. Lend Mind shifted his eyes and dered, "Why did Enigma Pce interfere in a fight between disciples of Tomb Sect?" The moment he released the Great Expanding Mist, Shen Ton had no intention of hiding his identity. "I had no intention of interfering," Shen Ton removed his mask and put away the iron ruler. He pulled out his folding fan from his embrace and sneered, "However, someone refused to let me go!" Lend Mind and the others red at Niel Sen and cursed him to the core in their minds! "I had not thought things through for this. It was my mistake for pushing my luck when I did not know your identity, fellow disciple," Niel Sen took a deep breath and said, "Fellow Disciple, feel free to leave. I''ll definitely not stand in your way!" "Fufu." Shen Ton sneered and shook his head. "It''s toote for you to bow down now," He pointed to Niel Sen with a stern expression and said word by word, "I warned you a few times not to mess with me. But now, you''ve truly riled me up!" Boom! Shen Ton took a stride forward and the Great Expanding Mist churned into a gigantic chessboard in front of him that seemed like it could engulf the entire world! Niel Sen had a conflicted expression. No matter what, he was a paragon of Chaos Essence Sect and possessed the pride of one! "Fine, let''s see just how strong the Great Expanding Mist of Enigma Pce is!" Niel Sen hollered and controlled his Chaos Essence Hole, using it to devour the chessboard that was formed in front of Shen Ton! From the ancient era till now, although Fairy Ling Long was the one who set up the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking, no sessor of Enigma Pce took part in the fight for the ranking spots. Most martial artists merely knew that this ancient phenomenon had a powerful background and extraordinary might. However, nobody knew just how strong it was or what position it could take on the Phenomenon Ranking. Right now, despite knowing Shen Ton''s identity, the fact that Niel Sen was willing to fight bravely was proof that he was confident Chaos Essence Hole could devour the Great Expanding Mist! "Humph!" A look of ridicule shed through Shen Ton''s eyes as he sent the giant chessboard created by the Great Expanding Mist into the Chaos Essence Hole without dodging or evading. The darkness of the hole tried to engulf the chessboard repeatedly. However, the chessboard spiraled and released streams of mysterious energy that tore the Chaos Essence Hole up instead! "Hmm?" Niel Sen''s mind was connected to the Chaos Essence Hole and his expression changed as he sensed the changes in it! "Break it!" Shen Ton pointed forward and a streak of spirit light surged into the Chaos Essence Hole. The chessboard expanded swiftly! Crack! Crack! Crack! Under countless gazes, a series of tears appeared on the Chaos Essence Hole! "Ah!" "There''s an oue to the fight between the two ancient phenomenons!" "To think that the Great Expanding Mist would be this scary!" Before their discussions were finished, a resounding bang reverberated through the world! Boom! The Chaos Essence Hole exploded! "Pfft!" Niel Sen shuddered and spat out a huge mouthful of blood, looking despaired instantly. The chessboard created by the Great Expanding Mist merely dimmed significantly after destroying the Chaos Essence Hole. However, it did not dissipate and continued spiraling above Niel Sen''s head! A single thought from Shen Ton was enough to kill Niel Sen at the moment! "Kill!" At that moment, another battle elsewhere had reached its peak! Situ Shi controlled his thirty foot tall battle corpse to fight against the formation created by the five puppets repeatedly. The battle corpse was extremely strong and every single punch and kick possessed frightening power C Sean Jean''s five elements puppets could not hold on for much longer! Even so, there was no trace of panic in Sean Jean''s eyes. He pursed his lips tightly and spirit energy threads coiled around his fingertips as he controlled the five elements puppets. Among them, the fire puppet zing with mes and the water puppet attacked the battle corpse relentlessly, releasing different powers into the body of the battle corpse. At this point of refinement, the battle corpse was almost invulnerable to fire and water. in fire or water could not damage the battle corpse. However, water and fire were irreconcble. When the two different powers were used at the same time on the battle corpse, a violent sh would happen! Being irreconcble, the different powers of water and fire would use the body of the battle corpse as a battlefield. Against the iparably strong and resilient battle corpse, the sh had no impact on it initially. However, as time passed and the powers of water and fire were injected continuously, the sh stacked endlessly, and finally something changed! The movements of the battle corpse turned increasingly sluggish! Its skin and flesh showed signs of degradation and even its bones that wereparable to artifact weapons turned extremely fragile amidst the fire and water! It was already toote by the time Situ Shi noticed it! "Go!" Sean Jean pointed forward and his earth, wood, and metal puppets shed, splitting into three directions before charging towards Situ Shi who was not far away! The thirty foot tall battle corpse was already rooted to the spot by the fire and water puppets and could not get close to Sean Jean! On one end, it was battle corpses. On the other end, it was puppets. Even if the battle corpse fought against the puppets for three days and nights, it would be hard to determine the victor. But now, that bnce has finally been broken! Situ Shi could not protect himself any longer! Chapter 1085 - Legends are born 1085 Chapter 1085 - Legends are born "Ah!" Situ Shi eximed with fright in his eyes. Be it martial artists of Puppet Sect or Corpse Refinement Cult, they spent most of their efforts refining their puppets and battle corpses. The martial artists of the Corpse Poison Sect and Tomb Sect would have simr inclinations by spending most of their efforts on external objects. That was also the reason why they were defined as heretical doctrines. There were limits to a person''s strength. Less aplished in their personal cultivations, martial artists of the five heretical doctrines were also naturally weaker physicallypared to martial artists of other super sects. There were even fewer martial artists who could train Martial Master phenomenons. For example, Duan Ren of Corpse Poison Sect was already a rare paragon for Corpse Poison Sect. Unfortunately, he was killed by the Ancient Primordial Dragon Art the moment he released his Martial Master phenomenon! Situ Shi''s capabilities werepletely tied to his thirty-foot battle corpse. Now that his battle corpse was restrained by Sean Jean and three more puppets were heading his way, Situ Shi instantly realized that something was amiss! "Go!" He pped his storage bag and summoned a flying sword, thrusting it to the metal puppet on the left. ng! The flying sword was repelled instantly with sparks when it struck the metal puppet. The metal puppet had the toughest and most resilient body such that even Situ Shi''s battle corpse had difficulty destroying it. If so, how could it be injured by Situ Shi''s flying sword? In his panic, Situ Shi conjured a spirit art. The earth puppet created a shield using sand and defended against the spirit art with ease. Realizing that he could not win, Situ Shi turned to flee. Unexpectedly, a series of green vines surged beneath his feet and bound them together! Before he knew it, the wood puppet had already arrived before him. The leaves of the vines were thin as paper and equally sharp, cutting wounds on Situ Shi''s thighs as fresh blood flowed. "Ah!" Situ Shi shrieked tragically. The metal puppet had already arrived and used its palm as a knife, chopping down fiercely on Situ Shi''s head! It shone coldly with a chilling killing intent! Before the knife arrived, Situ Shi could already feel his hairs standing on end. He had no time to hesitate as he waved the long rod in his hands. ng! The sound of metal colliding could be heard. Situ Shi felt a piercing pain in his ears as though they had gone deaf! Although he managed to defend against the attack, the earth puppet had already closed in. It stuck to Situ Shi and wrapped him up inyers of mud! In the blink of an eye, Situ Shi vanished, leaving behind a human-shaped mud block. Thump! A momentter, the mud block fell to the ground and shattered, revealing Situ Shi''s body once again. There was no longer any trace of life within the body of the Corpse Refinement Cult paragon and his eyes were widened with fear and indignance. They were the first group with a victor determined among the various paragons who were fighting! "What a surprise. Situ Shi has been famous for many years. To think that he would be killed by this unknownd who looks like a dunce." "He can multitask and control the five elements puppets to kill the paragon of Corpse Refinement Cult. This dunce of Puppet Sect is about to get famous!" "At the end of the day, the Dao of corpse refinement is evil and is inferior." The martial artists watching nearbymented with sad expressions. "Huff! Huff!" Sean Jean half-knelt on the ground and panted heavily. His clothes were already drenched with sweat and he was thoroughly exhausted. Although he did not fight Situ Shi with his bare hands, the continuous control of five puppets took a huge toll on his spirit energy and mental state! If the battle continued for another hour, it would be hard to determine the victor. Niel Sen was defeated and Situ Shi died a horrible death. Lend Mind realized that if he could not take down Little Fatty as soon as possible and take away the Yellow Springs Diagram, it would be difficult for him to escape unscathed today! "Kill!" Decisively, he hollered and released his Martial Master phenomenon! "Junior Brother, admit defeat!" A hazy yellow river appeared behind Lend Mind. It was massive and huge, emanating a richher aura as corpses floated on the surface while ghosts squirmed within. Ssh! Little Fatty was fearless as he released his Martial Master phenomenon as well! The two legacy disciples of Tomb Sect released their Yellow Springs phenomenon at the same time! "Haha, Junior Brother. So what if you''re able to release the Yellow Springs phenomenon as well?" Lend Mind''s eyes were filled with mockery as he shook his head. "Throughout all these years, when has your Yellow Springs phenomenon ever defeated mine? You''re too far from me" Before Lend Mind could finish, his expression changed and he froze up! A hazy yellow river current appeared behind Little Fatty as well. It was massive with corpses and ghosts inside but the aura released by it was much scarier than Lend Mind''s! "How is that possible?" Lend Mind looked at everything in disbelief. Little Fatty had not trained his Yellow Springs phenomenon to this extent before he entered the ancient battlefield! "Roar!" In that hazy yellow river current, there was even a faint figure of a wyrm that created torrential waves and released a loud roar! After he received the acknowledgment of the Yellow Springs Diagram, Little Fatty not only underwent a physical transformation, his Yellow Springs phenomenon evolved as well! Furthermore, he had obtained 50% of the dragon vein in the Yellow Springs Diagram! Against the shroud of Little Fatty''s Yellow Springs, Lend Mind''s Yellow Springs resembled a feeble stream of water. The Yellow Springs rumbled and buried the six paths of reincarnation! This was the true Yellow Springs phenomenon! Amidst the torrential tides, Little Fatty supported his Yellow Springs phenomenon and dragged Lend Mind into it. "That''s impossible!" Within the Yellow Springs, Lend Mind screamed from the depths of his throat as he struggled furiously with a menacing expression. However, his Yellow Springs phenomenon was extremely weak against the true Yellow Springs and could not withstand a single blow! "How could this be? How could this be!" Lend Mind''s body was enveloped by the power of the Yellow Springs phenomenon and his clothes disintegrated while his flesh and skin started rotting! "I''ve got it! It must be because of the Yellow Springs Diagram!" "Your phenomenon has been imbued by the true Yellow Springs!" "What are you trying to do? Do you really dare to kill me?!" Lend Mind red at Little Fatty and howled. Initially, there was a hint of hesitance in Little Fatty''s eyes. However, when he heard what Lend Mind said, Little Fatty took a deep breath of air and channeled his Martial Master with his full strength. The Yellow Springs were torrential and swallowed Lend Mind whole! "Junior brother, we''re from the same sect! Please spare my life!" Lend Mind did not give up in the Yellow Springs and resisted with all his might. His voice stuttered and turned weak. "Senior Brother, the only thing I know is that you will definitely not let me off if the situation is reversed!" Little Fatty''s voice was calm as the Yellow Springs howled and drowned Lend Mindpletely! Any martial artist that saw that watched with gaping mouths and shock in their eyes! The true Yellow Springs phenomenon was born! Along with the defeat of Niel Sen and death of Situ Shi and Lend Mind, the oue of the fight was almost determined. However, the martial artists spectating still watched fixedly with excited expressions, as though they were afraid of missing something. A showdown between two peerless paragons was happening on the other side! The world changed! Chapter 1086 1086 - Forced into a corner Chapter 1086 1086 - Forced into a corner Niel Sen was defeated tragically while Situ Shi and Lend Mind died in session. martial artists of the three super sects were also mostly defeated and dead after the charge of monkey and the others! It was almost certain that Goil Hon''s side was defeated! However, at that moment, Goil Hon had no intention of retreating still and his eyes had a raring battle intent. He locked onto Aiden with his gaze and lightning crackled from the Martial Master phenomenon behind him! Everyone could retreat except him! The Purple Thunder Manual was in Aiden''s hands. As long as he retrieved it, he would have done a huge merit for the sect and would also obtain the opportunity to train the Purple Thunder Manual. Of course, that would naturally lead to a boost in hisbat strength as well! In Dark Thunder Sect, a legacy cultivation technique was the Green Thunder Manual and it was also at heaven-grade. It was clearly recorded in the sect that individually, the Purple Thunder and Green Thunder were both low quality heaven-grade cultivation techniques. Combined, they would be a high quality heaven-grade cultivation technique with unimaginable power! Goil Hon believed that this was his opportunity. As long as he killed Aiden and retrieved the Purple Thunder Manual, he would be the number one Perfected Lord upon advancing to Martial Grandmaster realm! In fact, he could dominate everyone as a real master at the Quasi-Divine realm and be the new titr disciple of the sect for this generation! Goil Hon could not retreat. He was the number one disciple of Dark Thunder Sect in the ancient battlefield and he had his pride to maintain! Even if he escaped cleanly today, the two of them would definitely fight again in the Myriad Phenomenon City for the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking. At that time, he would lose in terms of aura before the battle even begins! Goil Hon believed that he could kill Aiden with overwhelming strength and regain the Purple Thunder Manual. In fact, he could even try to get his hands on the Yellow Springs Diagram! "Alright!" He nodded as he swept his gaze across the battlefield with a torrential aura. "Without Situ Shi and the others, I''ll take all the treasures in the tomb single handedly! It''s all thanks to you guys for killing them!" "You have yet to realize your situation," Just by standing in the air indifferently with his hands behind his back, Aiden was already able to contend against Goil Hon who had his Martial Master phenomenon released without being disadvantaged. Aiden remarked coldly, "You can barely protect yourself right now, but you''re coveting the treasures of the tomb?" "Hahahaha!" Goil Hon reared his head inughter. "Aiden, I''ll admit that you are strong in meleebat. However, the strongest means avable to Perfected Beings are Martial Master phenomenons!" "The ranking list created long ago is called the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking, not the Melee Combat Strength Ranking! I heard that you have a double phenomenon, so let''s see just how strong they are today!" "As you wish!" Although Aiden''s tone was calm, lightning shed and electricity crackled behind him. The firmament copsed and countless meteors fell with raging currents flooding. A gigantic Divine Turtle appeared in the world, rearing its head as it roared with a divine might and an imposing gaze! The Primordial Divine Turtle had descended! Mysterious patterns shone from its shell one after another as it supported the shattered firmament. Its limbs suppressed the raging currents like heavenly-piercing pirs! "Go!" Goil Hon pointed forward after sensing the tremendous pressure. Initially, there was only a single thunderbolt behind him. Instantly, two more appeared, thick as water buckets and shining brightly! Snap! Snap! All three thunderbolts struck the shell. Sizzle! Lightning shed and created frightening arcs on the shell. Even after enduring three thunderbolts, the Primordial Divine Turtle did not yield and protected Aiden beneath it! "Ah, there''s no wonder why that''s a lost primordial phenomenon. It''s so strong!" "Seems like there''s nothing Goil Hon can do to Aiden." "That''s not for sure. The Martial Master phenomenon Goil Hon trained is the Apocalyptic Five Thunders but he has only just summoned three divine thunderbolts! However, the strength of every single divine thunderbolt multiplies!" "Hmm?" Goil Hon narrowed his gaze. He did not expect to defeat Aiden with three divine thunderbolts. However, he did not expect that three divine thunderbolts would not deal much of an impact to Aiden''s Primordial Divine Turtle as well! "We''re just getting started!" Goil Hon said coldly as he swallowed a handful of elixirs before circting his Martial Master once more. The dark clouds above his head turned thicker and darker as though they were about to fall at any moment! Sizzle! As the clouds moved, lightning shed and another divine thunderbolt was created, striking instantly! Four divine thunderbolts descended at the same time! Boom! The four divine thunderbolts resembled lightning spears as they struck the Divine Turtle fiercely on its back, creating a deafening explosion! "Roar!" The Divine Turtle cried tragically with a hint of pain in its eyes. Against the strike of four divine thunderbolts, the Martial Master phenomenon behind Aiden quaked violently and its luster dimmed. "Humph!" Aiden had a cold gaze as he circted his Martial Master with a single thought. Once again, an iparably strong and scorching aura burst forth from his body! Bang! Boom! Boom! The mountains toppled and volcanoes spewed. One after another, scorchingva sprayed across thend and incinerated all living beings, zing through the masses. Hiss! The Primordial Soaring Serpent pped its wings and hissed endlessly as it glided into the air from a fissure in the ground. It took a deep breath and devoured all theva before spewing it out once more! Shing! The scorching scarletva let out a strange sound when it sshed on Goil Hon''s Martial Master phenomenon. Even the divine thunderbolts were burning as a red re surged into the air! The descent of the two primordial divine beings, the Divine Turtle and Soaring Serpent, formed the union of fire and water C the birth of the double phenomenon caused the entire world to quake! "Hmm?" Goil Hon''s expression changed starkly. The power of the double phenomenon was much scarier than he had imagined! In the past, the Soaring Serpent and Divine Turtle phenomenons could both be ranked in the top ten of the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking! When the two great phenomenons were released at the same time, how frightening would their powers be? The four divine thunderbolts could not deal with it and their lightnings dissipated C the Martial Master phenomenon was on the verge of dispersing at any moment! "Well, well, well!" Goil Hon clenched his teeth and said coldly, "You should feel proud that you''re able to force me to such an extent. This Apocalyptic Five Thunders that I''ve trained was meant for Dol J''ol initially. But now, I''ll use it to suppress you first!" "The fifth divine thunderbolt, gather!" Goil Hon''s Martial Master was already at its limit and there were even waves of throbbing pain! A series of thunderbolts shed around him and he seemed as though he was possessed by the God of Thunder. He pointed into the skies into the depths of the forming sea of dark clouds where a single light spot was intensifying! An even more terrifying divine thunderbolt descended! With the creation of the fifth thunderbolt, Goil Hon''s Martial Master phenomenon was finally fully formed and evolved in quality! Five divine thunderbolts possessed an apocalyptic might! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The five divine thunderbolts descended and struck the Divine Turtle and Soaring Serpent phenomenons repeatedly. Naturally, the two primordial divine beings were unwilling to express weakness against such provocation. They howled and stirred raging tides and nketing mes to sh against the five divine thunderbolts! A blinding and resplendent aurora was created where the three great Martial Master phenomenons shed. The surrounding spirit energy was already dried up, absorbedpletely by the three phenomenons! The air currents surged! The martial artists nearby the two of them who could not dodge in time were drawn in by the shock waves created by the sh of the three phenomenons and evaporated into blood mists instantly! Everyone witnessed a perfect artifact weapon trapped among the three phenomenons and cracks appeared on it one after another! Psst! The crowd fell into an uproar. The explosion was so terrifying that even a perfect artifact weapon could not withstand it! Chapter 1087 - Worthy 1087 Chapter 1087 - Worthy A series of terrifying energy fluctuations were released by the repeated shes between the three phenomenons. The martial artists in the vicinity had already retreated far away a long time ago. The voids were quaking violently! Goil Hon had a deranged expression and green veins popped on his neck one after another C he had already circted the power of his phenomenon to its limits! Even so, the five divine thunderbolts could not break through the Soaring Serpent and Soaring Serpent primordial phenomenons. The Martial Master phenomenons of both parties were in a stalemate in midair and expended energy continuously! Compared to Goil Hon, Aiden was much moreposed. Although his double phenomenon had a slight advantage, he could not take down the five divine thunderbolts either! It was as Shen Ton had said, apart from Dol J''ol, Goil Hon was the most troublesome paragon Aiden hade across. The Apocalyptic Five Thunders was also the only Martial Master phenomenon up till this point that could defend against the Divine Turtle and Soaring Serpent! In mid-air. The three phenomenons devoured and shed against one another C it was difficult to determine who would prevail. Goil Hon''s eyes shone. During this short period of time, the sessor of Enigma Pce as well as the legacy disciples of Puppet Sect and Tomb Sect had consumed some elixirs and regained some strength after the breather. He would definitely be defeated if the three of them were to charge forward! "Aiden, I''ll consider this a draw today," Although he was indignant, Goil Hon could only swallow this as he grits his teeth. "I''ll definitely fight you to the death in Myriad Phenomenon City. Don''t worry, I''ll make you hand over the Purple Thunder Manual for sure!" Goil Hon wanted to withdraw after saying that. Unexpectedly, Aiden continued pushing with a look of disdain in his eyes as he said indifferently, "Why should we wait till we get to Myriad Phenomenon City? I''ll fight you to the death today!" "Humph!" Goil Hon sneered, "Aiden, I''ll admit that you''re strong. However, you must be naive if you think that you can kill me with just your double phenomenon!" "You''re the naive one, not me," Aiden sneered as well, "Do you really think that the double phenomenon is all I''ve got?" "Hmm?" When he heard that, Goil Hon''s expression changed as his heart skipped a beat. This man had a stronger trump card? That was impossible! Goil Hon denied that thought in his mind right away. However, his eyes widened immediately after with endless shock in them. "Fuse!" Aiden stood in the air and shouted as his hands sped together slowly. Along with hismand and motion, the two primordial phenomenons behind him leaned towards one another and gradually fused! The Primordial Divine Turtle and Primordial Soaring Serpent belonged to two extremities. One was fire while the other was water. One was passive while the other was active. But now, the Soaring Serpent wrapped around the Divine Turtle and coiled itself on thetter''s shell with its massive body as their heads were lined one above the other. The two primordial divine beings seemed to have fused as one! This was not only the fusion of two primordial divine beings. In it, there was a mysterious truth of the universe. The entwining of turtle and serpent, the fusion of water and fire, thebination of passiveness and activeness! An even more frightening aura was released and spread into the surroundings, epassing the world! Be it martial artists in the battlefield or watching from afar, all of them shuddered in fear and instinctively wanted to kowtow onto the ground! Even for monkey, he felt the jitters despite his untamed nature. This was a suppression that came from the depths of the bloodline! It was a fear that originated from the memories of one''s soul! The turtle and serpent vanished. There was only a single Martial Master phenomenon remaining! Although Goil Hon''s Apocalyptic Five Thunders was frightening, it swayed as though it could dissipate at any moment in the face of this Martial Master phenomenon! None of the martial artists present could recognize the origin of the phenomenon. However, Shen Ton''s eyes were widened as he muttered softly, "That is" After a moment, he gasped as though he recalled something and eximed, "The entwining of turtle and serpent, one of the four great sacred beasts, the ck Tortoise[1]!" Legend has it that at the origin of Chaos, before the world was created, there were the four sacred beasts, the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger and ck Tortoise! In reality, the dragon race of the Primordial Nine Races in Tianhuang Maind had its bloodline from the Azure Dragon. As for the phoenixes, their bloodline came from the Vermilion Bird bloodline. The four sacred beasts could be considered as the oldest and scariest existences in the universe and were considered as the progenitors of many demon beasts! Aiden remained dormant in the Dragon Burial Valley for 20 years, studying the various tenants of religions. Through the wisdom he gained, he resolved the conflict of his immortality and demonic martial arts, allowing water and fire to fuse together C there was no distinction between immortals or demons and the serpent and turtle had fused! For the past 20 years, the only thing that Aiden did apart from strolling was studying scriptures. Although it seemed like a carefree life, he had benefited immensely! The serpent and turtle were entwined and the ck Tortoise had descended! "Go!" Aiden pointed forward with a calm expression. The ck Tortoise reared its head and moved with four limbs, pushing forward gently. Crack! Crack! Crack! Instantly, a series of cracks appeared on Goil Hon''s five divine thunderbolts. They dimmed significantly before dissipating into light spots in the surroundings! "Pfft!" Goil Hon spat out a huge mouthful of blood and color drained from his face. The ck Tortoise was a sacred beast! Sacred beasts were existences that came before the origin of Chaos and were more frightening than the legendary immortals and immortal beasts of the upper world. Although it was only a phenomenon, it was not something that Goil Hon''s divine thunderbolts could contend against! In the face of the ck Tortoise phenomenon, Goil Hon felt as though his life was as insignificant as an ant! "How scary, Dol J''ol finally has an opponent!" "This is an unprecedented phenomenon. Even against the top-tier phenomenons throughout history, this phenomenon can make it into the top ten! No, top five! In fact, maybe even top three!" "In my opinion, the Human Emperor''s Chaos Ocean is probably the only thing that can contend against it." "Aiden will definitely be able to leave his name on the Martial Master phenomenon ranking for creating such a frightening phenomenon by tracing back to the ancient experts of the past. I''m so envious!" In the fight for the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking, if someone managed to create an unprecedented Martial Master phenomenon through their ownprehension or opportunities and managed to get into the rankings, they can name their phenomenons! It was an immense honor and would truly embody leaving their mark in history! On the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking, many of the ancient phenomenons were handwritten by top-tier experts of the past personally. Goil Hon could not be bothered with his severe internal injuries and grabbed a handful of elixirs from his storage bag, devouring them. "Aiden, although I''m defeated, you can dream about killing me!" He ignored his injuries and made a decisive decision to turn and leave while dering, "You had better not show yourself in Myriad Phenomenon City or you''ll die miserably!" A pair of wings made of wind and lightning appeared behind Goil Hon. In that mor, he had already vanished from the spot and fled far away at a frightening speed! Goil Hon endured the pain in his body and snarled, "This is a secret skill of our sect, the Dark Thunder Escape! Even ordinary Martial Grandmasters won''t be able to catch up to me!" In the Purple Thunder Manual, Aiden caught sight of a section introducing a secret escape technique called the Lightning Escape. Although it was simr to the Dark Thunder Escape, it was a pity that he could not train it just yet. Right now, it was rtively simple for him to capture Goil Hon. First, he could release his martial arts and circte both cores. Coupled with Ethereal Wings, there''s a high chance he could catch up. Second, he could release Blood Escape. Right as Aiden was considering his options, he sensed danger! Chapter 1088 - The wrong choice 1088 Chapter 1088 - The wrong choice As Goil Hon fled into the distance, Aiden retracted his ck Tortoise phenomenon. The support of a Martial Master phenomenon requires immense expenditure of spirit energy. Now that the oue was determined, there was no need for Aiden to maintain his Martial Master phenomenon everywhere he went. However, the moment he retracted his ck Tortoise phenomenon, he sensed an immense danger that was close by! Aiden did not have time to check it out. The person struck at a perfect moment when his defenses were at its weakest C it was also the moment when he was the most rxed! There was already no one within a hundred feet of his battle with Goil Hon. Aiden had not expected anyone to close in to him stealthily and attack without warning! The killing intent enveloped him immediately and it was chilling to the bones! If he had not trained the Mystic ssic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness and possessed his unpredictable spirit perception, Aiden would not have been able to react and would have died on the spot! This could be considered a perfect assassination attempt! Although he did not turn to look, a figure crossed Aiden''s mind. Someone whose attire was indeterminate and had shifting appearances; a woman at times, a child at times, an elderly person at times The assassin of Hidden Death Sect! Only a legacy disciple of Hidden Death Sect could have the insight tounch such a frightening assassination attempt! Aiden fought against the most prominent sessors of Hidden Death Sect twice and each time was equally treacherous. 20 years ago, Aiden only managed to kill the Thousand-faced Assassin beneath the Human Emperor''s Pce! To think that an assassin of Hidden Death Sect would leech onto him in the ancient battlefield again and try to im his life immediately upon striking! "Ah!" A series of exmations broke out from the crowd. "Mister!" "Bro!" "Aiden, watch out!" Little Fox, the spirit tiger, and everyone else did not have time to move and could only shout. Shen Ton had just taken a half-step forward before he stopped. It was already toote. Nobody could save Aiden. The sword of the assassin was inches away from Aiden! A wary look shed through Shen Ton''s eyes C this was the true terror of a legacy disciple of Hidden Death Sect! If he was in Aiden''s position, he would be doomed from this assassination as well! There was nothing much to offend an ordinary martial artist. However, if one offended an assassin, one would never have a moment of peace in their future unless either one of the parties was truly dead! Nobody could know when an assassin would appear and they would always have to be on guard. The assassin could be far away or nearby, always biding an opportune moment for a fatal strike like a ghost in the dark! The mental torture was extremely frightening and most martial artists wouldn''t be able to handle it. "Om!" In that instant, Aiden shouted with Prayer and released his robust voice as his blood energy surged and reverberated relentlessly like the crack of a thunderbolt! Sound killing moves had almost instantaneous power bursts. At that critical moment, only a sound killing move could save Aiden! The assassin''s body shuddered upon hearing the Prayer word. Even for legacy disciples of Hidden Death Sect, they were not superior in head-onbat. The Prayer was released with haste and might not have had an impact on someone like Goil Hon. However, the impact was great for the Hidden Death Sect assassin! The sword in the hands of the assassin paused for a moment! However, immediately after, the assassin released Hidden Death Sect''s secret skill and suppressed the wild blood energy in his body. He straightened the sword and thrust towards Aiden''s heart from the back! The pausested for less than a single breath. Most martial artists wouldn''t be able to react to it. However, Aiden possessed the warning from his spirit perception to begin with. There 15:18 was no way he could miss this fleeting opportunity! Ssh! His blood energy rumbled. Aiden''s body expanded massively all of a sudden and his robes were torn, revealing muscles that resembled molten steel! Although the transformation did not seem like anything much, the expansion of Aiden''s body caused the initial position of his heart to deviate! Buzz! Buzz! Six spirit patterns shone on the assassin''s thin de C it was a top grade artifact weapon that was extremely sharp! However, the moment the thin de entered Aiden''s flesh, it was met with great resistance and let out a strange noise. Half of his thin de was pushed through but it did not hit any vitals. Furthermore, when the assassin wanted to withdraw the sword, he discovered that his sword was stuck tightly within Aiden''s flesh! The next moment, a gigantic palm descended from the skies as a dark shadow nketed the world! "How dare you!" Aiden hollered and disregarded his injuries as he counterattacked! He was truly enraged by the assassination! Thankfully, he had energy remaining after his fight with Goil Hon. If he was facing an opponent like Dol J''ol, it would be deadly to have an enemy like this assassin lurking nearby! He had to strike this person to death with his palm! Right here, right now! The assassin was decisive without any hint of panic in his eyes. He abandoned his thin sword and turned to flee, scurrying into the distance without touching the ground. His movement technique resembled a ghost and he would disappear from one''s line of sight if one was careless! "You''re still trying to escape?" Aiden withdrew the long sword from his body and stuffed it into his storage bag. A stream of blood spewed out but Aiden ignored it. His physique was way too strong that an injury like this would not impact him much C he would recover on his own before long. In a sh, Aiden chased in the direction of the assassin. "Om Ma Ni Pa Mi Hom!" Aiden released the six Prayer words of the Daring Mantra immediately, bursting like thunder! A single word was enough to affect the assassin. Now that all six words of the Daring Mantra were released, a terrifying power was formed in the voids! A golden, holy light shed and the energy reverberated endlessly! "Pfft!" Against the shock of the Prayer words, the assassin spat out a mouthful of blood and instantly revealed his position. "You''re far weakerpared to the Thousand-faced Assassin!" Before his sentence was finished, Aiden had already arrived behind the person. He reached out and punched the assassin heavily on the back! Snap! A tremendous power almost snapped the assassin, causing a lump to protrude from his chest in a shocking manner! That single punch severed the life of the assassin! Thump! The assassin fell forward stiffly. Aiden arrived beside him and put away thetter''s storage bag. He then reached out and kicked the assassin''s corpse to flip it. The assassin was naturally unable to maintain Hidden Death Sect''s secret skill after his death and his appearance was revealed. He was an ordinary person. His features could not have been any more ordinary. He was someone that would not be noticed at all when thrown into a crowd. Although Aiden had just seen how this person looked, the moment he closed his eyes, he could not even remember the person''s face! Someone like that was a natural-born assassin! However, it was a pity that he chose the wrong prey! Chapter 1089 - God race 1089 Chapter 1089 - God race Although the assassin of the Hidden Death Sect was dead, Goil Hon of the Dark Thunder Sect managed to escape with the opening as well. It was already toote for Aiden to chase in pursuit. In the end, Shen Ton did not kill Niel Sen of Chaos Essence Sect ruthlessly either, choosing to release thetter. Enigma Pce had an exceptional status in the world and would naturally not sow grudges with other super sects. Shen Ton could not be as indifferent as Aiden in handling things. There were few martial artists remaining from the three super sects and they fled in all directions wildly, vanishing without a trace. The martial artists watching nearby were emotional upon seeing that. After this battle, Aiden''s would be even more prominent in the ancient battlefield! To many martial artists, Dol J''ol was probably the only one who could fight with him! This battle was an eyeopener for many martial artists. Notwithstanding the spirit arts andbat technique used in the massacre, there were quite a few ancient phenomenons that appeared! Chaos Essence Hole, Yellow Springs, Apocalyptic Five Thunders, Primordial Divine Turtle, Primordial Soaring Serpent, and the extremely mysterious Great Expanding Mist. At the end, everyone had the fortune of witnessing the birth of a brand new Martial Master phenomenon. Furthermore, it was so scary that it could destroy the Apocalyptic Five Thunders with ease! "To think that even terrifying existences such as Lend Mind, Situ Shi and the assassin of Hidden Death Sect would die here. What a pity." "Don''t forget, this is the ancient battlefield where anything can happen!" "That''s right! If the assassin of Hidden Death Sect had not appeared in the end, Goil Hon of Dark Thunder Sect might not have been able to escape as well!" Many martial artists dispersed as they discussed in hushed voices. The battle hade to an end. Although everyone knew that this group was in possession of treasures such as the Yellow Springs Diagram and Purple Thunder Manual, nobody dared to fight them for it. "Thank you." Aiden turned to Shen Ton and nodded. Shen Ton was different from Little Fatty and Sean Jean. His identity was sensitive and there was no need for him to help out. Although Niel Sen was the one who pushed his luck, given Shen Ton''s capabilities, if he truly wanted to escape, there was no way Niel Sen could have stopped him. Shen Ton waved it off and said deeply, "This ck Tortoise phenomenon that you''ve created is extremely strong and terrifying. Perhaps it can truly go against Chaos Ocean, but" He paused for a moment before saying slowly, "From what I know, Dol J''ol is way scarier than he was a hundred years ago. I don''t even dare to divine anything pertaining to him. You must be careful!" Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. The fact that Shen Ton was so wary was proof of how frightening Dol J''ol was! "Don''t worry, I haven''t wasted my past 20 years as well," Aiden replied. Shen Ton nodded with a pensive expression. "There''s one more thing, you''ve got to be careful after entering Myriad Phenomenon City. You''ve already offended almost everyone from the immortal, religious, and fiend sects in the elementary ancient battlefield." "You killed and injured many of them in the battle at the Human Emperor''s Pce. Although they can''t me anyone since they were the ones that joined forces, some sects might hold on to the grudge and make things difficult for you because of it." "Since Goil Hon and Niel Sen are not dead, the two great immortal sects, Dark Thunder Sect and Chaos Essence Sect, will definitely cause trouble for you in Myriad Phenomenon City!" "Humph!" Aiden sneered, "That''s great. I''ll send Goil Hon down to the Yellow Springs if hees to look for me!" "There''s something you might not know," Shen Ton said slowly, "In Myriad Phenomenon City, there''s formations and seals left behind by seniors of Enigma Pce. Martial Grandmasters can make use of Divine powers freely without being detected by the outside world." He was implying that Martial Grandmasters could attack freely in Myriad Phenomenon City without being devoured! That was a little troublesome. Shen Ton continued, "Dark Thunder Sect and Chaos Essence Sect have Martial Grandmasters tagging along for their expedition. These Martial Grandmasters are not Sealers that are in their twilight years, but people in their prime with immense vitality!" "You must be careful of these Martial Grandmasters causing trouble for you after entering Myriad Phenomenon City!" In that case, anyone that did not have the backing of Martial Grandmasters in Myriad Phenomenon City was definitely disadvantaged! Shen Ton said, "Alright, I''ll leave you guys to clean up the battlefield. I''ll take my leave first," "Hold on!" As though he recalled something, Aiden called back Shen Ton. "What''s wrong?" Shen Ton froze for a moment. Aiden asked, "Have you seen a group of martial artists, around eight of them, with ancient attires? They have golden hair, blue eyes, sharp noses and every single one of them is extremely good-looking!" When he heard that description, Shen Ton''s expression turned increasingly grim. "Why are they here?" He murmured with a dark look on his face. Aiden asked, "Who are they?" He had to know their background since Nora Zell was taken away by them. Shen Ton asked instead, "You know about the Primordial Nine Races, right?" Aiden nodded. Shen Ton said slowly, "They are part of the Primordial Nine Races, the god race!" God race! Aiden''s heart skipped a beat at the mention of those words. There was a race in the world that dared to refer to themselves as gods! They were either lunatics or They must be truly frightening that they resembled gods! Shen Ton frowned deeply and murmured, "The Primordial Nine Races would almost never appear in the ancient battlefield. To think that beings of the god race from this generation would enter!" "Why are you asking about that? Have you seen them?" Shen Ton asked. "No." Aiden shook his head. "However, I''ve got a friend that was taken away by that group. I''ve got to rescue her!" Shen Ton sighed gently and shook his head. "You haven''t interacted with the god race before so you don''t know about their terror." He continued, "In the god race, killing above their level is something as simple as drinking water! The only thing that would pique their interest slightly is killing someone that''s a major realm above them!" "To put it simply, against the god race, your body, blood energy, and advantage in meleebat is almost non-existent!" Aiden did not doubt Shen Ton. From Nora Zell''s description, he could already vaguely guess how frightening the group of martial artists were! How terrifying was Aiden''s body and own energy? He had yet to experience defeat in meleebat! Even when he exchanged blows with Dol J''ol in the old temple at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley, he had a slight advantage. But now, it was said that the god race could match him in terms of physique and blood energy! "As one of the Primordial Nine Races, the god race has a noble bloodline and possesses many ancient secret skills and techniques. Even Dol J''ol would not dare to provoke them recklessly." Shen Ton mulled, "The arrival of the god race seems like something big is about to happen in the ancient battlefield!" "This is not good, I''ve got to hurry back and inform the elders of the sect so that they can prepare for things." With that said, Shen Ton vanished right in front of their eyes in a puff of smoke. "God race, god race" Aiden murmured with an unfathomable expression as he said coldly, "To think that I''lle across the Primordial Nine Races so quickly!" It was no wonder why Nora Zell possessed such immense strength in the past without knowing anything. It was because she carried the blood of the god race in her body! Chapter 1090 - Big City 1090 Chapter 1090 - Big City Of course, there were many indications that showed that even with the bloodline of the god race in her, Nora Zell''s background might be even moreplicated. There was naturally a reason why the Primordial Nine Races ruled over the ten thousand races back in the primordial era. If not for the battle royale in the primordial era which reduced the ten thousand races and caused immense damage to the strength of the Primordial Nine Races, mortals wouldn''t have been able to overthrow the rule of the Primordial Nine Races even if they had immense fortune and multiple emperors! The Ancestral Dragon that appeared more than 10,000 years ago had frightening strength. Two super sects and an empire were annihted because of it! After the ancient war, the nine races fell and mortals ruled over the world . Even so, there were nine forbidden grounds for martial artists in the world! The nine forbidden grounds were the ces where the Primordial Nine Races resided! Any living being apart from those of the Primordial Nine Races would be killed mercilessly if they entered the forbidden grounds! Previously, the Pce Lord of Demon Crow n arrived at the Dragon Bone Valley and rmed a divine dragon. The reason why the Pce Lord exined hurriedly that he was one of the nine races was so that he could save himself. Unfortunately, the divine dragon could tell with a single look that the Pce Lord''s bloodline was impure and almost killed him on the spot! After a while, Little Fatty and the others swept through the battlefield and reaped their rewards. "Boss, where should we go next? I''ll go along with you," Little Fatty said. Aiden replied deeply, "We''ll find a ce to rest for the day. Tomorrow, we''ll head for Myriad Phenomenon City!" "Alright!" Everyone nodded. If they wanted to search for the god race aimlessly on the ancient battlefield, it would be akin to seeking a pin in a haystack C it was unrealistic. There was definitely a reason why the god race appeared in the ancient battlefield! They merely discovered Nora Zell by ident. The ce where the god race had the highest possibility of appearing was at the center of the ancient battlefield, Myriad Phenomenon City! Myriad Phenomenon City existed for a long time and had been around since the ancient era. Fairy Ling Long named the ancient city and it represented endless phenomenons. She hoped that mortals would be able to create Martial Master phenomenons limitlessly in the future! Right now, even if there weren''t ten thousand, there were several thousand different Martial Master phenomenons. However, there were not many that could be ranked at the top of the Phenomenon Ranking. Most of them were familiar ones that had been passed down from the ancient era. This day, a group of strange, travel-worn martial artists arrived outside Myriad Phenomenon City. To be precise, there were only three martial artists in the group. The other five martial artists gave off a faint demonic energy and showed clear signs of being demon beasts! Although demon beasts could take on mortal form after creating a core and even speak in a mortal tongue, they could not erase their demon beast roots entirely. After creating an Essence Spirit, demon beasts can resonate with the universe and absorb the essence of the sun and moon, allowing them to take on mortal formpletely while hiding their auras so that they can hide among mortals! Those demon beasts were difficult to detect and that was the reason why they were called fiend demons! Among the five demon beasts, three of them looked menacing and had burly bodies filled with long fur. Their gazes were vicious and they emanated a rich demonic energy. The other two were female. One of them was tall with long, slender legs that looked extremely flexible. The other one was in her prime and had peerless looks. She wore fiery red robes that were daring and barely concealed her body. Every single blink of her huge, watery eyes seemed as though they could steal someone''s soul! As the group of them walked, the youngdy in her prime drew away half of everyone''s attention alone! The reason why the group of them was described as strange was not because of the five demons or the youngdy with the charming looks alone. In the ancient battlefield, many disciples or strong paragons of different sects had their own mounts or spirit beasts C it was a part of theirbat strength! Previously, there were even martial artists that rode on seven wyrms into Myriad Phenomenon City and emanated an exceptional aura C five demon beasts were nothingpared to that! Wyrms were pure-blooded ferocious beasts and looked way stronger than the five demon beasts! There was even a female martial artist with an unmatched grace who rode on a Snow Bird and descended into Myriad Phenomenon City. There were spirit chariots that flew through the air as well where men could be faintly seen lying on theps of beautiful women while enjoying wine and making merry! The spirit chariots were followed by many gorgeous women and flower petals were scattered everywhere they passed with an aromatic fragrance that others envied. In terms of grandeur, this group of people was nothing. However, the truly odd thing about the group of them was the attitude between the three martial artists and the five demons. All of them conversed happily and rather than ves, they seemed like good friends. "Hmm?" Finally, someone eximed softly and sized up a gray-robed martial artist among them before murmuring with a puzzled expression, "Could he be" Aiden and the others had finally arrived here after an arduous journey. Myriad Phenomenon City was like an ancient gigantic beast that sat here motionlessly, giving off an antiquated aura as it witnessed history pass by. Beneath Myriad Phenomenon City. Everyone raised their heads. The tiles on the city walls were greenish-ck with marks left behind by sharp swords, as though they were telling a story. "How tall!" Little Fox eximed. The group of them were akin to insignificant ants beneath the walls of the ancient city! "This ancient city sure is grand," Ki Ki could not help but exim as well. The spirit tiger shifted his eyes and gazed at the entrance of Myriad Phenomenon City, pouting his lips. "It''s a pity that there''s no gates to this ancient city. Its defenses are too weak. If a beast stampede arrives, the city will be infiltrated instantly!" "You''re mistaken." Aiden smiled and shook his head. "There''s no need for city gates in Myriad Phenomenon City!" Given the treacherous environment of the ancient battlefield, the only ancient city that did not require a city gate was Myriad Phenomenon City. "Ah? The spirit tiger froze for a moment in confusion. Aiden pointed beneath his feet and said slowly, "The most outstanding martial artists of the Martial Master realm in the world are all gathered here in this city!" "Of the hundreds of thousands of martial artists who entered the ancient battlefield, at least a hundred thousand of them will make it to Myriad Phenomenon City!" "With that figure, no demon beast, beast stampede, or any living being would dare to attack Myriad Phenomenon City. That would be akin to having a death wish!" Ki Ki kicked the spirit tiger and teased, "Hey, go and trigger a beast stampede. I''ll see how you take down Myriad Phenomenon City." The spirit tiger coughed twice hurriedly with an awkward expression. Suddenly, a voice sounded above the city walls that caused amotion! "Aiden! He is Aiden!" "Huh? What are you talking about? The monster incarnate who obtained the legacy of the Ancient One''s Pce, has a double phenomenon, destroyed ss Pce''s ancient city and defeated Goil Hon?" "I''m definitely not mistaken, it''s him!" "It truly looks like him. Gray robes and apanied by the legacy disciples of Tomb Sect and Puppet Sect!" "There will definitely be a good show to watch. I heard that there are many people in the city that have their eyes set on killing him!" "Hehe, they should be eying his treasures instead, right?" Above the city walls, on both sides of the pathways, and within buildings, countless gazes looked down. Some of them were in awe, some were envious, some hostile. But more than that, most of them were gloating. Chapter 1091 - Schemes 1091 Chapter 1091 - Schemes Who wouldn''t know of Aiden?! In the ancient battlefield, there might not be many who have seen Aiden in person before. However, there was barely anyone who had not heard of him before! Right now, Aiden was already a scary figure that no one dared to approach or mess with. Knowing what he is capable of The moment he stepped foot into Myriad Phenomenon City, amotion broke out! Aiden was calm and nonchnt despite the numerous gazes. Little Fatty and Sean Jean wereparatively flustered. The people who could survive endless dangers and make the arduous journey to Myriad Phenomenon City were far from ordinary! There were hundreds of thousands of martial artists who entered the ancient battlefield! However, only a hundred thousand or so could make it to Myriad Phenomenon City alive! The gazes from these people naturally carried an immense pressure that ordinary martial artists would not be able to endure. Ki Ki frowned slightly. Instinctively, Little Fox hid behind Aiden. The Golden Lion had a grim expression and tried his best to retract his demonic energy. No matter what, they were demon beasts C it was natural for them to feel uneasy being sized up by so many paragons of the mortal race. The spirit tiger ignored all the surrounding gazes and swaggered his way into the city boldly. Although monkey could sense the hostility, he had no fear or reservations. Instead, he snarled and red back with a menacing expression! He had a proud nature and apart from Aiden whom he was on friendly terms with, he did not have any regard for anyone else! "That demon monkey sure is cocky!" "Forget it, we had better not mess with it since it was probably brought here by the monster incarnate of Divine Phoenix Ind." "Hmph, let''s see how long more that Aiden can continue smiling! He''s already made enemies with so many people before the fight for the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking. There will definitely be people who want to cause trouble for him!" Right then, a group of martial artists walked over, and everywhere they passed, the crowd made a path for them. Aiden furrowed his brows slightly. There were dozens of them in the group and they came from three different sects, wearing different attires and had varied sect badges. Among them, there were even martial artists who were transformed from spirit beasts. Aiden had seen one of their sect badges on Goil Hon before. Dark Thunder Sect ! There were many martial artists of Dark Thunder Sect that died outside the Astral Dragon Sputum Lair and Goil Hon escaped with grave injuries after barely scraping through death. The arrival of this group was definitely hostile! The other two groups of martial artists were from Purple Firmament Sect and Clear Wind Temple. There were three super sects gathered! "Fufu, what did I say? A tall tree is susceptible to being knocked over by strong winds. Aiden is bound to die after offending so many factions!" "I don''t think anything much is going to happen since killing is forbidden within the city. Those martial artists can''t possibly just start a fight on the streets." "Wait and see, hmph!" Many martial artists were waiting to watch a spectacle. Aiden stopped in his tracks and narrowed his gaze as he looked at the dozens of people approaching. "Fufu." The Martial Master leading Clear Wind Templeughed gently before he arrived as he cupped his fists and raised his voice. "I am Lockster Kong. It''s a pleasure, Young Little Brother, I''ve heard a lot about you." The Martial Master named Lockster Kong gave a fake smile and his words were merely pleasantries. The Martial Master leading Purple Firmament Sect sized up Aiden from head to toe before nodding expressionlessly. "I am William Fern." "It''s the two of them!" "Things sure are heating up. Both Lockster Kong and William Fern are the top disciples of the two super sects!" The martial artists of Dark Thunder Sect had cold gazes that were filled with killing intent! Aiden was not even bothered to put on a facade of politeness towards the group of them and had remained in silence with an icy gaze right from the beginning. Monkey and the others red opposite with extreme hostility! "Fufu." Lockster Kong chuckled and waved it off gently. "Fellow Martial Artists, there''s no need to be nervous. Fighting or killing is forbidden in the city apart from the Myriad Phenomenon Hall. Why are you guys so tensed up? Rx, rx!" Aiden remained silent. He had no doubt that killing was forbidden in the city. After all, if there wasn''t such a rule, all the paragons that were gathered in Myriad Phenomenon City might fight over any disagreements given their haughty and prideful natures! At that time, most people would be dead and there would be rivers of blood before the fight for the Martial Master Phenomenon Ranking! Even so, Lockster Kong and the others must have a motive foring here! Lockster Kong maintained his smile and swept his gaze across monkey, the spirit tiger and everyone else before continuing, "However, there''s no restrictions about killing demon beasts in the city." "Hmm?" Aiden raised his brow and his face was filled with killing intent! This group of people were here because they wanted to make a move on monkey and the others? They were already sworn siblings. None of them was a spirit beast of anyone. To Aiden, monkey and the others were like his kin! Anyone that harbored designs on his kin had to die! Lockster Kong chuckled again after sensing Aiden''s killing intent. "Fellow Daoist Su, don''t get worked up. As martial artists, there''s naturally no way we willy our hands on your spirit beasts. However" He changed the topic. "It''s inconvenient for us to fight lest we spoil our rtionship, but we can let our demon beasts spar with one another. How about that?" With that, Lockster Kong nted slightly and a tall man walked out from behind him. The man emanated a rich demonic energy and had a savage gaze. He was muscr with a bare upper body that was lined with steel-like muscles C he looked extremely terrifying! Lockster Kong remarked casually, "This is a spirit beast that was hatched from a spirit beast egg I found by wandering into a cave abode by ident in the past. It''s nothing special," A gorgeous woman from Purple Firmament Sect at the side walked forward. She had a long, slender body that curved in the right ces charmingly. William Fern pointed to the woman. "This is a spirit beast reared by me. She''s a demon beast of the snake race and is extremely ordinary as well. Your spirit beasts can pick any of them as an opponent for a spar," Aiden sneered internally. Neither monkey nor the spirit tiger were spirit beasts reared by him! As such, a spar like this was naturally extremely amusing to him! Just as Aiden was about to decline, a hairy palm appeared on his shoulder. Monkey stood out and rubbed his palms with a grin. "I''ve been feeling itchy anyways, I''ll fight them!" Since monkey made his decision, Aiden did not stop the former. A look of delight flickered through the depths of Lockster Kong and William Fern''s eyes. Lockster Kong asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist, which of these two ferocious beasts do you want to challenge?" "Ptoo! What''s with the hassle? Let the both of theme together!" Monkey spat in disdain and shouted. "You have a death wish!" The mighty man''s expression darkened instantly and the demonic energy surrounding him grew thicker. "Huehuehue," The snake woman waspletely amused but her eyes were colder than anything else as she said frostily, "Demon monkey, don''t regret this." Chapter 1092 - Monkey unleashed 1092 Chapter 1092 - Monkey unleashed As though he was afraid that Aiden might regret things, Lockster Kong said hurriedly, "Since that''s the case, we''ll let them spar!" Although he said it was a spar, everyone could tell that once the spirit beasts on both sides started fighting, blood would be spilled and no mercy would be shown! Lockster Kong and William Fern exchanged nces C both could see the delight on the face of the other. Earlier on, they pretended to be weak intentionally by iming that their spirit beasts were ordinary C to think that Aiden would be fooled with such ease! Lockster Kong sneered internally, "Although this monster incarnate has quite a reputation, he''s probably nothing much. Even that spirit monkey reared by him is so impetus like a moron." Lockster Kong and William Fern had rxed expressions, convinced of their victory. On the other side, Aiden had a calm expression and his gaze was deep as the ocean C no one could read his mind. Little Fatty and Sean Jean had odd looks on their faces. Both of them had witnessed monkey''s strength personally previously. Although that demon monkey seemed like its bloodline was ordinary, it was definitely not inferior to ferocious beasts inbat strength! The Golden Lion had a frozen expression as he tried his best to look worried. Ki Ki and Little Fox tried their best to hide their amusement. The spirit tiger grinned evilly, looking at the mighty man and snake woman as though he was looking at two corpses! They had a better understanding of monkey. If the mysterious power in monkey''s bloodline was forced out and it entered a berserk state, a cmity would definitely unfold! At that time, monkey would not be able to recognize and would attack anyone even if it was Aiden. Before long, a space opened up on the long street. The number of martial artists gathered increased and a crowd was formed. Monkey had already entered the battlefield and was twisting his neck to stretch. The mighty man and snake woman formed a triangle opposite him. With a mocking expression, the mighty man said slowly, "Demon monkey, it''s not toote for you to regret now!" 14:20 "Regret?" Monkey rolled his eyes and sprinted towards the mighty man in huge strides while cursing, "Regret your mother!" Boom! He guarded his chest with his left hand and his right hand expanded as he threw a punch with it! The size of his fist grew and resembled a gigantic greenish-ck seal that descended from the skies. The tremendous force caused the air to explode with a boom! Sanguine Ape Fist Seal! That was a killing move from the Mystic ssic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness. Apart from Aiden, monkey was the only one who knew that! "Ah!" The mighty man was about to refute when he swallowed his words out of fear towards the frightening iing force! In fact, there was even a stench of blood around the gigantic seal! "Psst!" Recognizing how powerful this attack was, the mighty man gasped and his expression changed. Crackle! The tendons and bones in the mighty man''s body rang at the same time and his blood energy surged C he reverted to his true form without hesitation after monkey''s attack! Although demons could take on mortal form after forming a core, their fullbat strength could only be unleashed in their true forms! A gigantic demon beast appeared where he was. It resembled a tiger and a pair of wings appeared on its back with a swoosh. It had sharp teeth and fangs as it red menacingly with a torrential ferocity! "Ah!" "It''s a Kilong Energy!" "The Kilong energy is one of the four great ancient ferocious beasts! It''s almost impossible to capture one alive and tame it thereafter! Lockster Kong sure is lucky!" Any paragon that could be a top disciple of a super sect would definitely have his own opportunities and encounters. "Lockster Kong sure is scheming to hide the identity of his spirit beast!" "Seems like that demon monkey is doomed." On the other side, the snake woman seemed to have sensed the immense pressure and reverted to her true form as well. A gigantic snake coiled up from the ground and it was a thousand foot long. The scales on its body were asrge as a person''s face. Its head could almost reach the heavens as it flicked its forked tongue while ring at monkey coldly. Its gigantic snake tail swayed with a nauseating stench! Its tail was filled with poison! The martial artists in the vicinity held their breaths hurriedly. Everyone was even more shocked when they turned to look over. The snake''s tail was forked like a pair of hooks that shimmered coldly as though they could pierce anything in the world! "Heavens, it''s a Hook Snake!" "Yet another pure-blooded ferocious beast!" "Lockster Kong and William Fern came prepared! Aiden''s demon beast is bound to die!" Even in the ancient battlefield, pure-blooded ferocious beasts were rarely seen. Even if they were seen, it was almost impossible to capture them alive and force them into a blood oath! But now, an ordinary monkey was fighting against two pure-blooded ferocious beasts C wouldn''t the monkey be ripped apart alive?! Bang! Monkey had already arrived in front of the Kilong Energy and the gigantic seal descended fiercely. The Kilong Energy raised his arms to defend head-on and his blood energy surged in a torrential manner as a dull thud of defeat echoed out! There was a momentary pause. The next moment, the crowd went into an uproar! Right in front of countless gazes, the massive body of the Kilong Energy was sent flying and fell onto the ground, rolling on the long street for a long time beforeing to a stop C it was knocked away by a seemingly ordinary demon beast! How powerful was that burst power? What was the background of that demon monkey such that it was able to send the Kilong Energy, one of the four great ancient ferocious beasts, flying?! "Psst! Psst! Psst!" An evil gust of wind weed him. The gigantic tail of the snake swept over like a heavenly-piercing pir. It had a frightening might as sand and gravel flew before it even arrived! Monkey did not move at all and channeled his blood energy. Reaching out, he opened his palms and grabbed the iing snake tail directly! Bang! The stone bs beneath monkey''s feet exploded instantly. However, monkey did not move at all against the full-powered attack of the Hook Snake! A cold glint shed through the eyes of the Hook Snake. The sweep of her tail was only her first move. Her true killing move came from her snake hooks thereafter! The reason why they were called Hook Snakes was because their most frightening means were the hooks on their tails! The pair of hooks was iparably sharp and when trained to the peak, they could even prate perfect spirit weapons! Not only that, the hooks contained toxic poison. Most living beings would explode into pus within ten breaths if they were struck by the hooks! The snake tail swept over like a stone pir and steel whip. However, after monkey grabbed it with both hands, the snake''s tail went limp. As though it had a life of its own, it moved unusually and thrust towards monkey''s legs! "Pfft!" Monkey could not dodge in time and two bloodied holes appeared on his legs! Hiss! The Hook Snake smiled. In her eyes, monkey was already a dead man. Even a pure-blooded ferocious beast could only endure slightly longer against the spread of the toxic poison but they would also die sooner orter! Monkey''s expression did not change but his knees buckled and he almost fell over. However, the blood glint in his eyes intensified and he stood up immediately after while his body expanded as he roared into the skies! That attack had enraged monkey thoroughly! Chapter 1093 - Miscalculated 1093 Chapter 1093 - Miscalcted The Inner Core in the Monkey''s chest circted fanatically and his blood energy surged. Instantly, he reverted to his true form with an expanded body and a torrential ferocity. "Roar!" Monkey red with his bloodshot eyes and let out a deafening scream! "Ah!" Many martial artists watching in the vicinity eximed and their expressions changed. Some of the martial artists had it even worse and even retreated a few steps by instinct against the mighty of the demonic energy! Monkey grabbed the Hook Snake''s tail with both arms and dug into its flesh with ten forceful fingers. When he exerted strength in his arms, his muscles bulged and looked like defined rocks! "P-sst!" The Hook Snake hissed into the air in turmoil. With a godly might, monkey lifted the gigantic snake from its tail and swung it through the air with a massive arc before smashing it onto the ground violently! There were shouts and the crowd had already dispersed. The martial artists in the city were extremely alert and had retreated the moment they sensed that something was amiss. Boom! Apanied by a deafening explosion, the Hook Snake''s body smashed heavily onto the ground and created a fissure that was a thousand feet long. Sand and gravel flew everywhere along with flesh and blood! All the martial artists who were watching in the vicinity winced with immense shock in their eyes. It was too ruthless! If they were in the Hook Snake''s position, they would have been smashed into sludge by that attack! The Hook Snake convulsed on the ground as she let out a stuttering, tragic sound with injuries all over her body. Although she was a pure-blooded ferocious beast, she could not withstand monkey''s frightening attack! She had truly not expected monkey to turn even more fearsome and produce such a shocking power after he was struck by her poison. Monkey panted slightly. In truth, the poison of the Hook Snake was rather lethal and had already entered his body. However, the poison triggered the mysterious power in his bloodline and the two different powers ate at one another. Neither side could overwhelm the other within a short period of time and that stalemate was the reason why he had not fallen. Even the conniving Lockster Kong could no longer smile. William Fern''s expression was even darker. On the other side, the Kilong Energy was sent flying far away by monkey''s punch. Its bones were nearly broken as it struggled to stand up. Swoosh! The Kilong Energy spread its wings and descended from the skies, lunging towards monkey viciously! ng! ng! It reached out with extremely sharp ws that shimmered coldly toward monkey''s head. At the same time, the Kilong Energy reared its head and opened its mouth to reveal fangs one sharper than the other to chomp down on monkey''s neck! Monkey would be doomed no matter if he was scratched or bitten by the Kilong Energy! Standing motionlessly on the spot, monkey reared his head and red with his bloodshot eyes. He did not dodge or avoid and suddenly counterattacked fiercely! Crack! Crack! Crack! Monkey reached out with both arms. The sound of bones cracking and tendons twitching could be heard loudly from his muscr arms! Right in front of countless gazes, the tendons of the two arms stretched and their flesh were filled with blood, expanding more than three feet instantly! Although the Kilong Energy had the initiative, the sudden change caused it to be in a passive position! Before its fangs could reach monkey, thetter''s arms were already extended close to it! The Kilong Energy changed tactics at thest minute and grabbed monkey''s arms with Bang! Monkey managed to grab the Kilong Energy''s jaws before thetter could bite down! Boom! Monkey''s bloodshot eyes shone brightly as he howled in rage, yanking the Kilong Energy down from midair and smashing it onto the ground violently! That smash caused the Kilong Energy''s head to spin and it felt like its bones were about to break. Its skin had already split apart and it was on the verge of fainting from the pain. Its situation was not much better than the Hook Snake! Before it could react, a foot stomped down on its lower body with a thunderous might! The sound of bones cracking could be heard. "GRAWR!" The Kilong Energy shrieked in pain. Monkey stomped down on the Kilong Energy''s lower body with one foot while grabbing its upper and lower jaws with both arms. He had a feral gaze as he smashed them towards his own knee! Snap! The tragic shriek came to a stop. The Kilong Energy''s upper and lower jaws were ripped apart by monkey and its brains were smashed into sludge C it could not be any more dead! The martial artists watching were dumbfounded. This was an oue that nobody had expected. The Kilong Energy was one of the four great ancient ferocious beasts. Even in the ancient era, it dominated the forests and was a superior demon beast C who would have thought that it would be killed by a seemingly ordinary demon monkey?! Aiden was unsurprised and had a calm expression. Apart from him, monkey had the most frighteningbat strength among the seven of them sworn siblings! Although the two pure-blooded ferocious beasts had powerful backgrounds, they were no match for monkey. Each time he attacked, Aiden would always be amazed. His kills were clean without any unnecessary actions. Lockster Kong''s expression turned dark but reverted to normal within a moment. Initially, they wanted to kill Aiden''s spirit beasts with this spar and conveniently agitate thetter. Martial Grandmasters backing them would have sufficient reason to attack and kill Aiden on the streets! However, they''ve miscalcted! "Snake woman,e back!" William Fern shouted hurriedly when he realized that the battle was already lost C he did not want his spirit beast to end up in the same state as the Kilong Energy. The Hook Snake obeyed and was invigorated for a moment, slithering her body toward the direction of William Fern. A single drop of juice from the Hook Snake''s gall dder was sufficient to refine a 15:08 superior-ss antidote. "Trying to flee?" Monkey sneered and stomped on the ground. Instantly, his body shed and he dashed over at an extremely fast speed! Bang! Stomping down on the Hook Snake''s waist, monkey exerted strength in his foot and almost split the Hook Snake''s body into two! "Ah! Ah! Ahhhh!" The Hook Snake shrieked shrilly and twisted her body wildly, yet she could not break free from monkey''s grip no matter what she did. Before William Fern could react, monkey had already leaned forward and hammered down his massive fists in a flurry! Bang! Bang! Bang! He attacked a dozen times in session. The Hook Snake''s head was smashed into a pulp! The Hook Snake had fallen! The battered half of the snake''s body that remained twitched unconsciously. "Haha!" Monkey grinned and sliced open the snake''s body, retrieving a slimy green gall. He raised his head and swallowed it as he smacked his lips. "Spat!" He spat out and pouted his lips. "How bitter, this sucks!" The martial artists in the vicinity were speechless. The gall of a Hook Snake was the most valuable part of its body and was worth even more than its Inner Core! After consumption, martial artists gain immunity to most poison and can even dispel the poison of the Hook Snake itself! A single drop of juice from the Hook Snake''s gall dder was sufficient to refine a superior-ss antidote. To think that this demon monkey would be unsatisfied after consuming the entire galldder and it was even filled with contempt! Chapter 1094 - Saved 1094 Chapter 1094 - Saved "ursed beast, how dare you!" William Fern had finally snapped out of his stupor, and his expression was extremely grim. He red at monkey with a deep killing intent, and released his Martial Master''s spirit energy while summoning a flying sword! Aiden''s gaze turned cold. As long as William Fern dared to move, he would attack and crush this man to death with his palm! William Fern''s aura had barely surged when he shuddered. Aiden''s hands were tainted with the blood of many paragons; a single gaze from him carried an overbearing aura and a terrifying suppression! "Brother Wu!" Lockster Kong was the first to react as he held William Fern back by the arm and shook his head gently. The killing intent in William Fern''s eyes dissipated. He took a deep breath before calming down and retracted his flying sword. "Humph!" Monkey nced at the two of them from the corner of his eyes before snorting and returning to Aiden''s side. This was almost a perfect victory for him! Although he was injured as well, those were external injuries and his bones and tendons were unaffected. After he swallowed the snake gall, the greatest threat to him, the Hook Snake poison, was already dispelled. Lockster Kong cupped his fists from far away and said with a smile, "Young Master Aiden, to think that not only are you strong, even your spirit beast is so terrifying. I''m impressed." Aiden frowned. The fact that Lockster Kong was able to smile despite the immense losses meant that he was plotting something much greater! Lockster Kong smiled. "Young Master Aiden, the reason why we''re here is actually to invite you for a banquet." ''Here ites!'' Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. This was probably their true motive! Lockster Kong continued, "The elders of our three immortal sects have heard of your reputation for a long time as well. They''ve prepared a banquet specially for you and we''d like to invite you for a gathering." Needless to think, this was definitely a banquet of no return! Goil Hon of Dark Thunder Sect was nearly killed by Aiden. The Purple Thunder Manual was in his possession as well C how could Dark Thunder Sect be so kind as to invite him for a banquet? The battle beneath the Ancient One''s Pce 20 years ago shocked the world. Sessors of the righteous, religious and evil sects were left dead and injured. The sessors of two major immortal sects, Purple Firmament Sect and Clear Wind Temple, died in Aiden''s hands! In other words, the three major immortal sects before them, Dark Thunder Sect, Purple Firmament Sect and Clear Wind Temple, all had grudges with Aiden in one way or another! It was easy for him to attend the banquet, but he would most likely be left with no choice after attending. Naturally, there was no way Aiden would be deceived by a plot as such. He sneered internally and was about to decline when Lockster Kong gave a sudden smile and said slowly, "This is the goodwill of the elders of our three major immortal sects. I''m sure you will give them some face, right, Young Master Aiden?" "Hmm?" Aiden''s expression changed slightly. He felt a chill run down his spine after Lockster Kong finished speaking and he was rmed internally as a cold killing intent engulfed him! At least three killing intents were fixed on him at that instant! Aiden finally understood the meaning behind the invitation. However, the invitation came from the Martial Grandmaster Perfected Lords of the three major immortal sects! If he declined right away, it would be equivalent to disrespect towards the three Martial Grandmasters! The Martial Grandmasters of the three major immortal sects would have a reason to attack him! Private duels were forbidden in Myriad Phenomenon City. However, those restrictions meant little to the Martial Grandmasters C they could make a move as long as they had a reason to justify it! There were many seals in Myriad Phenomenon City that could prevent the detection from the outside world and it was like a pocket dimension of its own. Even if the Martial Grandmasters attacked with their full powers, they would not cause dimensional tears! The Martial Grandmasters in Myriad Phenomenon City were not Sealers in their twilight years. These were also no ordinary Martial Grandmasters. They were Perfected Lords of various super sects and came from the immortal sects C these were people with countless trump cards and terrifying means avable to them! Naturally, at the end of the day, it was because Aiden did not have any powerful backing or the support of Martial Grandmasters. He remained silent as his mind surged rapidly, considering the pros and cons of his options. At that moment, a single wrong statement from him could bring about attacks from Martial Grandmasters! "What a savage scheme, they''re not leaving Aiden any way out at all." "That''s right, he''s doomed whether he epts or refuses the invitation." The crowd had gone silent as well and only a few martial artists were left whispering. "Are you attending or not, hurry and reply!" William Fern hollered impatiently. His killing intent had already reached its peak after the death of the Hook Snake that he had reared for many years! Lockster Kong gave a cold smile as well. "Young Master Aiden, aren''t you someone that''s decisive to kill? Why have you gone so cowardly such that you don''t even dare to ept an invitation?" "It''s not because he doesn''t dare to," At that moment, a woman''s voice sounded from outside the crowd. Immediately after, dozens of female martial artists passed through the crowd briskly and the temperature on the long streets dipped! The martial artists wore snow-white robes that were spotless and each of them had extraordinary features. Graceful and elegant, the only thing was that their expressions were cold as ice. "Eh? Martial artists of Snowdrift Valley." "What are they doing here?" "Could they be here to take revenge on Aiden as well?" Many martial artists discussed softly. Aiden swept his gaze across. The leader of the group of Snowdrift Valley female martial artists looked familiar. Running through his memories, Aiden recalled that person before long. Under the Ancient One''s Pce, there was a martial artist from Snowdrift Valley that attacked him as well. It was this female martial artist and her name seemed to be Le Han. Lockster Kong frowned slightly and cupped his fists before asking with a raised voice, "What did you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Le Han?" Le Han walked closer with her group of martial artists before nodding to Aiden. She then turned to Lockster Kong and William Fern and replied indifferently, "It''s not because Young Master Aiden does not dare to ept your invitation, it''s because he has epted Snowdrift Valley''s invitation to a banquet earlier on. You guys are toote." A look of surprise shed through Aiden''s eyes. He had not seen any martial artists of Snowdrift Valley after entering the ancient battlefield, much less agree to attend a banquet of theirs. However, Aiden did not expose her and merely stood silently at the side as he watched. He had a vague feeling that Snowdrift Valley was not here for revenge, but to save him! Lockster Kong frowned. "Le Han, what''s the meaning of this? The Martial Grandmasters of our three major sects have invited him personally, what''s your business being here?" "Humph!" Le Han sneered coldly, "There''s an order to things. So what if you guys are from the immortal sects? Snowdrift Valley is part of the immortal sects as well! Furthermore, this is the wish of our elder, old master Luo Jue!" There was an obvious shift in Lockster Kong and William Fern''s expressions at the mention of Perfected Lord Luo Jue C a hint of cautiousness and fear could be seen from the depths of their eyes. At the same time, Aiden could vaguely sense with his spirit perception that another aura had appeared in the voids. It was extremely chilling and protected Aiden''s group, facing the other three murderous auras in a stand-off! This ''aura'' was the spirit consciousness that only Martial Grandmasters possessed! The three auras previously should have been from Martial Grandmasters of Dark Thunder Sect, Purple Firmament Sect and Clear Wind Temple. The aura that cameter on was from Perfected Lord Luo Jue! Chapter 1095 1095 - Instincts (AN: I’m sick, sorry) Chapter 1095 1095 - Instincts (AN: Im sick, sorry) The situation turned tense for a brief moment with the inclusion of Snowdrift Valley. Lockster Kong and the others did not dare to behave recklessly after Le Han brought out the name of Mighty Lord Luo Jue. Mighty Lord Luo Jue was a top martial artist of the Martial Grandmaster with frightening strength. In fact, she had a shot at bing this generation''s titr disciple of Snowdrift Valley! Even the Martial Grandmasters backing Lockster Kong and the others were cautious towards dealing with Mighty Lord Luo Jue. The four terrifying auras engaged in a stand-off in midair for a long time before dissipating gradually. Thereafter, the expressions of Lockster Kong and the others changed, as though they had obtained instructions. William Fern was indignant as he gripped his fists and red at Aiden and monkey before harrumphing. After a moment of silence, Lockster Kong said with cupped fists, "Since that''s the case, we won''t insist on it. However, I''ve got to remind you, Young Master Aiden, there are many people who harbor intentions towards you in Myriad Phenomenon City. You''ve got to watch out," Although Lockster Kong did not pinpoint anyone, he was clearly referring to Snowdrift Valley! "Lockster Kong, what are you implying?!" Le Han hollered with a cold gaze, "If you have anything on your mind, say it! Don''t beat around the bush!" "Heh, I didn''t mention who those people were. Why are you getting worked up, Fellow Daoist Le Han?" Lockster Kong chuckled softly and turned to leave with everyone from Clear Wind Temple without saying anything more. The martial artists of Dark Thunder Sect and Purple Firmament Sect followed soon after. Le Han turned to Aiden and asked softly with an inquiring look, "Young Master Aiden, follow me?" "Alright," This time round, Aiden nodded without hesitation. He could naturally tell that Lockster Kong was trying to sow discord between them. At the same time, he did not have any deep feud with Snowdrift Valley. The only thing that struck out was that Le Han was injured by Aiden beneath the Ancient One''s Pce 20 years ago. The crowd that was spectating dispersed as Aiden''s group departed. However, everyone was clear that there would definitely be no peace in Myriad Phenomenon City from this day forth! The entire journey was silent. Under Le Han''s lead, Aiden''s group arrived at Snowdrift Valley''s residence before long. The area upied by the residence was extremely huge and a snowy field with a freezing temperature could be seen immediately upon crossing the gates! There were crystal snowkes falling from the skies. Beneath their feet was white snow that crunched with every single step they took. The group of them crossed the snow and arrived at a gigantic pce in the depths before long. Before Le Han could report their arrival, a cold voice sounded from within, "Come on in." Aiden did not hesitate and entered with monkey and the others, looking towards a woman who was not far away immediately. She looked extremely young and had hair that was as ck as ink. Her robes resembled snow, herplexion was smooth and her bones and muscles looked coldly C she was like a fairy from the moon pce without any warmth at all! "How beautiful," Little Fox could not help but remark softly. If nothing was wrong, this should be Mighty Lord Luo Jue of Snowdrift Valley! The eyes of the white-robed woman shone brightly and looked at Aiden without blinking. For some unknown reason, Little Fatty, Sean Jean and the others felt an uneasy nervousness being gazed at like that. Monkey reared his head and tried his best not to meet the white-robed woman''s eyes. Even for the spirit tiger who was normally incapacitated at the sight of a beauty, he lowered his head at the moment without any vile thoughts, resembling aposed old monk. Ki Ki, Little Fox and the others averted their gazes instinctively as well. Aiden was the only one who stared at the white-robed woman quietly with a calm expression. A momentter, the white-robed woman nodded and looked back as an imperceivable hint of admiration shed through her eyes. "I am Luo Jue. Everyone, have a seat, there''s no need to be uptight." At that moment, Little Fatty and the others finally heaved a breath of relief. Unknowingly, their backs were drenched in cold sweat! The chair beneath Mighty Lord Luo Jue was sculpted from a gigantic ice block and was transparent with a cold chill. However, she sat on it as though she could not sense the coldness at all. Aiden said with cupped fists, "I am Aiden. Thank you for your assistance earlier on, Mighty Lord Luo Jue," Mighty Lord Luo Jue asked instead with a fake smile, "And you aren''t afraid that I might be harboring ill intentions?" "Initially, I had reservations about that," Aiden smiled. "However, I was no longer worried the moment I caught sight of you. I know you will definitely not do that?" "Hmm? Why so?" Mighty Lord Luo Jue leaned forward slightly and questioned. Aiden replied, "Instinct." Mighty Lord Luo Jue gave a smile as a form of silent acknowledgment. "Although personal fights are forbidden in Myriad Phenomenon City, this is the territory of Snowdrift Valley and I''ve gotplete control over your life! If I kill you right here, nobody can stop me," Mighty Lord Luo Jue said, "You''ve sure got guts for following her here without ascertaining anything," By her words, Mighty Lord Luo Jue was telling Aiden that that was the n of the three major sects, Dark Thunder Sect, Purple Firmament Sect and Clear Wind Temple! Aiden pondered for a moment before speaking, "20 years ago" "Nothing happened 20 years ago," As though she could read Aiden''s mind, Mighty Lord Luo Jue waved it off casually and interrupted. "The immortal, Buddhist and fiend sects were underhanded in that fight beneath the Ancient One''s Pce! Although all of them imed to be paragons, they fought you together! Notwithstanding the fact that Le Han survived, even if she had died, she could me no one for herck of skills!" Mighty Lord Luo Jue''s words had the true magnanimity of someone from an immortal sect! "Do you want to make a guess why I helped you?" She shifted the topic and looked at Aiden, asking with a fake smile. Aiden pondered for a moment before saying in a probing manner, "Crystal Pce Sect?" It was inevitable for super sects in the world to hold grudges against one another. The greatest opposition was between immortals and fiends! However, even among the nine immortal sects, they were not always chummy as well. Crystal Pce Sect and Snowdrift Valley had a deep feud with one another! Aiden dered war against Crystal Pce Sect and annihted their faction in the ancient battlefield immediately after he entered. It was only natural that Snowdrift Valley would feel closer to Aiden because of that. "That''s one of the reasons. Another reason is because I was also curious personally and wanted to see you," Mighty Lord Luo Jue looked at Aiden. "I wanted to see how the strongest monster incarnate in history that defeated paragons of the three factions beneath the Ancient One''s Pce looked like. I wanted to see if the brave, courageous man that dared to wage war against Crystal Pce Sect has three heads and six arms." Aiden smiled. "I''ve disappointed you then. I look extremely ordinary, much less possess three heads and six arms." "You did not disappoint me, you are good." Mighty Lord Luo Jue smiled as well. Little Fatty shifted his beady eyes and paused for a moment on Mighty Lord Luo Jue''s face before looking at Aiden with an odd expression. Monkey and the others were brutish and did not sense anything. However, Little Fox had a nervous expression and gripped her paws instinctively. There was a hint of hostility in the way she looked at Mighty Lord Luo Jue, as though something dear to her was about to be snatched away! The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!